Assassination of Hamas, Hezbollah leaders spark escalation fears, impact Gaza truce talks
Xinhua) 08:22, August 01, 2024
JERUSALEM/GAZA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Within 24 hours, Israeli forces allegedly assassinated a top Hezbollah commander and Hamas's chief political leader, moves likely to heighten regional violence and jeopardize ongoing Gaza ceasefire negotiations.
Before dawn, Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an airstrike in Iranian capital Tehran, who was there to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president. Both Iran and Hamas attributed the attack to Israel, though Israeli officials have yet to confirm their involvement.
Hours before the assassination, Israeli forces executed airstrikes in Beirut, killing Fouad Shokor, a senior Hezbollah commander in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 youngsters in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights over the weekend.
Following warnings of harsh retaliation from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, Israel was bracing itself for "days of fighting," a government official told Xinhua. The country was closing its airspace from the north to central Israel, but the Defense Ministry said in a statement that there was no change to the Homefront Command's defensive guidelines for civilians.
The killings could provoke retaliation from Hezbollah and its ally Iran, and may prompt Hamas to withdraw from months of Gaza truce negotiations.
Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, citing Israeli diplomatic sources involved in the negotiations, reported that Haniyeh was a key figure in the talks, and his assassination is expected to "significantly impact" the negotiations.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's chief negotiator, expressed doubts about the continuation of talks. "Political assassinations and the continued targeting of civilians in Gaza during negotiations lead us to ask: how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? Peace needs serious partners," he wrote on the social media platform X.
Egypt, which leads the negotiations alongside Qatar, condemned the attacks. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stated that the killings "further complicate" the talks and undermine efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and negotiate the release of over 100 hostages held by Hamas.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to kill all Hamas leaders involved in the Oct. 7 surprise attack last year, including Haniyeh. However, his assassination came at a sensitive time, just as mediators awaited Hamas's response to a revised deal proposal from Israel.
Nimrod Goren, a senior fellow for Israeli Affairs at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told Xinhua that the timing might have been influenced by "an operational opportunity" due to Haniyeh's presence in Iran rather than in Qatar or Turkiye, where Israel avoids such attacks. "It could also be tied to other events happening in Lebanon and Iraq, showcasing the linkage between the different components of the Iran axis," he said.
Retaliation attempts and "some sort of escalation" are expected, but international mediators should work to prevent it from spilling over into a full-fledged war, Goren said.
Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, thinks that an all-out regional war is unlikely.
"Neither side wants a war," Goldberg said. According to Goldberg, Israel is overextended with domestic turmoil and the ongoing Gaza war, depleting its resources, while Hezbollah, facing severe conditions in Lebanon, risks losing power if war occurs.
Ahmed Rafiq Awad, a Ramallah-based political expert, told Xinhua that the assassination will no doubt impede the truce talks and lead to the continuation of the war in the Gaza Strip.
The expert noted that the axis of resistance might respond to the attack with "large and dangerous" operations, further expanding the current conflict.
Jihad Harb, a Ramallah-based analyst, said the assassinations in Lebanon and Iran portrayed Netanyahu before the Israeli public that he can make decisions regarding the operation, and restores confidence and part of the deterrence on the external level for the Israeli army.
Harb noted that it is still too early to predict the possibility of a regional war, but there's a chance that the Iranian government will respond to the attack at a certain time, and Israel and Hezbollah expand their confrontations on the northern front. Enditem
(Nick Kolyohin from Jerusalem also contributed to the story.)
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Foreign tourists enjoy cultural experiences in NW Chinas Xian
People's Daily Online) 10:45, August 01, 2024
International tourists dressed in antique style Chinese attire pose for photos with Chinese tourists at the Grand Tang Mall, a bustling pedestrian area, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 14, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jialin)
Since the beginning of this year, an increasing number of foreign tourists have come to Xian, capital of northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province, to experience the beauty and unique cultural resources of a city with 3,100 years of history, 1,100 of which it served as the capital for 13 dynasties.
Growing popularity
On April 7, following China's visa-free policy implemented on March 14 for six European countries, including Austria, Shaanxi welcomed its first large-scale international tourist group. The group consisted of 80 Austrian tourists, most of which were members of the Vienna University Philharmonics Symphonic Womens Choir.
During their stay in Xian, a music tour of choral art and cultural exchange activities was held in the Qujiang Hall of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Center.
In addition, they visited scenic areas including the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the ancient Xian City Wall, and the Datang Everbright City, a tourist landmark featuring a grand street designed to resemble an ancient street of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). They also watched a dance show on the Tang Dynasty, attended a dumpling banquet, and savored local snacks.
Veronika Schmid, deputy head of the tourist group, said they managed to make a trip to China after the visa-free policy was implemented.
Noting that visiting the Terracotta Warriors had been her dream for years, she said she would organize more Austrian visitors to travel to Shaanxi in the future.
As inbound tourism gains momentum, streets in Xian are packed with more and more foreign tourists.
Recently, 35 American students and teachers arrived in the ancient city for a summer camp. They visited historical sites, including the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, and experienced the charm of intangible cultural heritages like shadow puppetry, clay sculpture, and paper cutting.
The Terracotta Warriors are so cool, said an American student who loves Chinese history.
Data shows that from January to April this year, Xian welcomed 132,500 inbound tourist visits, and Alipay transactions by inbound tourists in the city increased nearly seven times compared to the same period last year.
Diverse Experiences
As night fell, the Datang Everbright City lit up with colorful lanterns and was teeming with tourists. Dressed in Hanfu, the traditional attire of the Han ethnic group, Antonio from Spain and his family members had an immersive experience of the culture of the Tang Dynasty.
The mix of traditional and modern elements is truly mesmerizing, Antonio said, adding that they felt the charm of the lighting, music, and traditional Chinese architecture at the tourist attraction. People here are very friendly, he noted.
At the Huaqing Palace scenic area, another spectacle unfolded. Oliver, an Australian visitor, watched the live historical dance drama The Song of Everlasting Sorrow with his Chinese friends. The performance narrates the legendary love story of Tang Emperor Li Longji and his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan.
The unique costumes of the performers and the ever-changing stage lighting are very distinctive, Oliver said. Especially impressive is how the mountain behind the stage becomes part of the performance. It's breathtaking, Oliver added.
New scenes, forms, and industries enable foreign tourists to enjoy a diverse range of unique travel experiences as they wander through the ancient city of Xian.
Convenient visits
Thanks to a series of measures, Xian has become much more welcoming and accessible to foreign tourists.
A service platform for the Emperor Qinshihuangs Mausoleum Site Museum was launched on April 3, allowing overseas tourists to buy tickets online. By the end of May this year, the platform provided services in 24 languages, enabling tourists from 39 countries and regions to use 29 currencies when making visit reservations. More than 15,000 foreign visitors had booked tickets on the platform, said Zhou Ping, deputy director of the museum.
At the 12 ticket booths of the ancient Xian City Wall scenic area, POS machines accept payments with international bank cards like Visa and MasterCard, as well as UnionPay, facilitating swift entry, according to Shang Chuqiao, a staff member of the scenic area.
These POS machines can be found at all the citys 5A-class tourist attractions, the highest level obtainable in Chinas tourist attraction rating system, Xian metro stations and railway stations, the Xian Xianyang International Airport, as well as many shopping malls, convenience stores and restaurants.
(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention Wednesday in Chicago, Illinois. His answers were disgraceful. Scott Olson/Getty Images
The dumpster fire otherwise known as former President Donald Trumps appearance Wednesday before the National Association of Black Journalists was an act of arson.
The culprit was Trump, a walking kindling of grievances and fury.
The incendiary devices he used were his lies, crassness, petulance, ignorance, arrogance, racism, misogyny and inability to handle tough questions and facts.
Wednesday morning, Trump posted on his social media site, Crazy Kamala disrespectfully refused to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Conference, but I am on my way to meet with them now in Chicago.
The disrespect he showed toward Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was simply a smoke signal for the disrespect he showed his hosts at the conference, especially the three Black female journalists who interviewed him onstage.
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Whether Trump should have been invited to the conference had been a source of heated contention among NABJ members because of his past comments, but he is a former president and the 2024 Republican nominee. Its important to ask candidates tough questions.
Thats what happened Wednesday. The interview began late because of Trumps objection to NABJs plan to live fact-check his comments, but once it started, ABCs Rachel Scott asked him: I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today, Scott said.
You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congressmen, women of color, who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from. You have used words like 'animal' and 'rabid' to describe Black district attorneys. Youve attacked Black journalists, calling them a 'loser,' saying the questions that they ask are, 'stupid and racist.' Youve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar a Lago resort.
All that Scott said was correct and too much for Trump, who attacked Scott rather than address the substance of the question: I dont think Ive ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, he said. Dont even say, 'Hello, how are you? ' Are you with ABC? Because I think theyre a fake news network.
It never got better.
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Trump said he was the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.
He claimed that immigration was taking away Black jobs and Hispanic jobs while not explaining what Black jobs and Hispanic jobs are.
Asked if he would pardon the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters who assaulted police officers at the Capitol, Trump said, Oh, absolutely I would. If theyre innocent.
When Scott responded, Theyve been convicted, the audience laughed and Trump said, Well, they were convicted by a very tough system.
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But of the many absurd comments Trump made, none was as insulting as questioning the ethnicity of Harris, the nations first Black and Asian-American vice president.
The semi-truck driver who lost his life Wednesday at Mormon Island was Verlin Hunt of Battlefield, Missouri, according to the Hall County Sheriffs Office.
Hunt, 69, was the driver and sole occupant of the truck, a portion of which wound up in a lake at Mormon Island. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
He died from injuries in a collision, said Hall County Chief Deputy Josh Berlie.
Hunt was traveling east on Interstate 80, crossed over the median and across the westbound lanes and entered the park, Berlie said. He drove through some trees before hitting the water.
Hall County deputies and State Troopers were called to the scene at 5:40 p.m. The Grand Island Fire Department water rescue crew was dispatched to the scene.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, Berlie said.
The President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (LCCI), Mr. Babatunde Ruwase, has advised the federal government to ensure appropriate measures are put in place to protect vulnerable sectors of the economy and to ensure that there is effective enforcement of the rules of origin.
According to the chamber, the economy has been characterised by uncertainty which had affected investor confidence in the country and have caused a deceleration in the tempo of economic activities.
He noted that the apprehension of investors about the possible outcomes of the electioneering process as well as the electoral campaigns in the country had become worrisome to economic managers and business operators in the country.
Ruwase, made the disclosure in Lagos at a press briefing organised by the chamber in Lagos, recently.
Commenting on the countrys visa policy, Ruwase said the policy should be more liberal.
We should grant nationals of selected advanced economies visa free entry into Nigeria for a maximum of 30 days, he said.
This, he said was the practice in many of the emerging economies, saying such economies have benefitted tremendously from the policy, which according to him, impacts on the FDI, hospitality and tourism industry.
Ruwase, noted that the series of Executive Orders focused on promoting the ease of doing business were impacting positively on growth in the business environment.
He requested that the PEBEC secretariat should be further strengthened and the scope of its activities broadened to cover all sectors of the economy and all agencies of government that interface with the private sector, We believe that the economy will be positively impacted if this is done.
On state of power in the country, Ruwase said efforts made by government to improve liquidity in the power supply chain caused the drastic reduction in the debt owed to gas suppliers and the generating companies, improvement in power generation, and the enhancement of carrying capacity of the transmission grid.
He further stated that the power situations continue to pose challenges to business operators and that there have been complaints across all sectors about high energy cost especially high expenditure on diesel.
Ruwase, further maintained that the situation had worsened with the increase in global crude oil price.
Many businesses spend as much as 20 to 30 per cent of their total operating cost on generating power to run their businesses. We propose that policies and incentives be put in place to encourage decentralisation and more off grid solutions.
The government should encourage and facilitate more off grid power generation for improved access to power. The Aba and Sura market power initiatives should be widely replicated across the economy, he added.
Nwolisa
A Nigerian man has reacted to the recent increase in the number of people committing suicide in the country as he said they should be dumped in the evil forest.
The man identified as Nwolisa Onyeozi who mocked RCCG pastor, Michael Arowobaiye for killing himself said the act is a taboo in Igbo tradition.
While sharing photo of the RCCG Minister who recently took his own life, he wrote:
It is not right for you to type RIP for someone who commits suicide, in our tradition as an Igbo people we dont mourn them, we threw them away in an evil Forest, what they commit is an abomination it is a taboo you dont have right to take your life we consider it evil ,so be careful so as not to cause calamity in your family thank you all
BLOOMINGTON The second of two defendants convicted of murder in the 2020 shooting death of a Bloomington man has been sentenced to 103 years in the Department of Corrections by a McLean County judge.
Kevon Moon, 25, of Chicago was convicted in May alongside co-defendant Malcolm Johnson, 31, of Riverdale, after a six-day jury trial and roughly five hours of deliberations in the fatal shooting of Jaleel Johnson, a 20-year-old Bloomington man, on Oct. 12, 2020 in the 1600 block of Iowa Street in Bloomington.
Prosecutors argued Moon and Malcolm Johnson killed Jaleel Johnson with a motive of revenge.
A second man was also injured in the shooting, but he survived the attack.
A third suspect, James Moon, Kevon Moon's brother, is believed to have been involved in the shooting as well. He remains at large, wanted on McLean County warrants for the murder of Jaleel Johnson.
Danielle Matthews, Jaleel Johnson's mother, thanked the police for doing their job in this investigation, when she spoke to The Pantagraph after the sentencing.
"All of my thanks go to that guy right there," she said, gesturing toward Detective Ty Klein, lead investigator in this case.
In an altercation at a party two days before the fatal shooting, Jaleel Johnson and another man were reportedly involved in a dispute with a relative of Malcolm Johnson. Malcolm Johnson sought revenge on the two men, enlisting the aid of Kevon and James Moon in his act of retaliation, the prosecution said during trial.
Hal Garfinkel, defense attorney for Malcolm Johnson, told the jury his client was not the shooter, noting Johnson was also shot in the back during the incident. Moon's defense attorney, Patrick Fagan, said his client "was not even there," during opening statements for the trial.
The investigation into the fatal shooting led police to videos on social media that showed Kevon and James Moon holding a Glock 33 and Glock 27 the weapons prosecutors said were used in the shooting only two days prior to the shooting. "Twin Glocks," the brothers said in the video.
"What might you use twin Glocks to do?" First Assistant State's Attorney Brad Rigdon asked, rhetorically during his closing statement. "Murder Jaleel Johnson and try to kill (the other individual injured in the shooting)."
The Glock 27 was found with another person who is not believed to be connected to the shooting, and testing could not definitively determine the handgun to be the exact murder weapon, according to evidence presented at trial. However, forensics analysists said it was likely this was the handgun used, based on rifling characteristics and the .357 shell casings found at the scene.
Garfinkel suggested the individual found with this gun to be an alternate suspect. The state argued the defendants had gotten rid of the evidence connecting them to the murder, resulting in this handgun being in another man's possession. Evidence recovered from Kevon Moon's cellphone showed him posting pictures of the gun on Oct. 25 and Oct. 27, 2020 with captions advertising a possible trade.
Fingerprints were collected from a vehicle the state said the defendants used as a getaway car from the address on the 1600 block of Iowa Street, matching Moon's fingerprints and connecting him to the crime. This vehicle was seen on surveillance cameras dropping Malcolm Johnson off at the hospital shortly after the shooting to be treated for his gunshot injuries.
In attempting to obtain samples to test for gunshot residue, an officer visited Malcolm Johnson in the hospital. Johnson wiped his hands on the blanket of the hospital bed, preventing the officer from collecting a sample, the officer testified during trial.
Police seized Johnson's clothing to test, finding the left cuff of Malcolm Johnson's sweatshirt tested positive, meaning it was in the environment of or in contact of a discharged firearm.
Each of the two defendants present during the May trial were found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, mob action and obstructing justice in this offense.
Both men were set for a sentencing hearing on July 22, but after they each filed claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, Judge William Yoder re-set Moon's sentencing to Thursday, Aug. 1, to allow for a proper amount of time to conduct Krankel hearings for each defendant.
Johnson's sentencing proceeded on July 22 after a Krankel hearing, which is a type of hearing in which a defendant can address their accusations of ineffective counsel, prior to his sentencing.
Yoder upheld his rulings made during trial and deemed Garfinkel fit. The Krankel and sentencing hearings together lasted approximately five hours. Yoder ultimately sentenced Johnson to 123 years in the Department of Corrections.
On Thursday, another Krankel hearing commenced for Moon's accusations against his attorney. Moon cited seven issues he wanted to address to the court and said his Sixth Amendment right was violated "all around," during trial.
Moon said he "didn't see any" of his discovery. After he educated himself about the law and discovered he was entitled to this information, including digital evidence, he said he thought the social media pictures and videos showed him in "bad character" and said the Snapchat account used against him was not his account.
During trial, Fagan had mentioned Moon having previously been in custody. Moon said allowing this information to be known to the jury may have swayed their opinions on him.
"This case was very fragile, and I just feel like my image was destroyed during trial," Moon said.
Fagan disagreed with Moon, saying he did share discovery with his client with the exception of items he was prevented from sharing by court order. He also said he discussed trial strategy extensively with his client during at least a dozen jail visits.
Yoder ruled Fagan was fit. The attorney continued to represent Moon for the sentencing hearing.
Fagan filed a motion to grant a new trial, arguing the state failed to prove Moon guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Maintaining Moon's innocence, Fagan said "errors that were made necessitate a new trial."
Yoder found he had made appropriate rulings at the time of trial and denied this motion.
Sentence recommendations
Assistant State's Attorney Aaron Fredrick asked Yoder to sentence Moon to 55 years in prison, to be served at 100%, plus the 15-year firearm enhancement for the first-degree murder charge, 25 years to be served at 85% plus the 15-year firearm enhancement for attempt murder and three years to be served at 50% for obstructing justice.
In total, the state asked Moon be sentenced to 113 years.
"He endangered everyone in that neighborhood that day," Fredrick said, noting the shooting took place outside, with rogue bullets hitting residences nearby.
Fredrick brought attention to the defendant's prior criminal history including past prison sentences.
"This defendant and his accomplices hunted their victim," Fredrick ended his argument.
Fagan asked for the minimum sentence for his client. Each defendant in this case was eligible for a sentence ranging from 58 to 148 years.
'Nobody wins'
Matthews, Jaleel Johnson's mother, took the stand to give a victim impact statement during the hearing.
"I'm at peace because I know who my son was," Matthews said.
Although she lost her son, she said she is confident in the man she raised him to be.
"Jaleel Johnson was a man at 20," she told the court. "He was a family man. He did what he was supposed to do."
Corey Johnson, father of Jaleel Johnson, was not available to be at the sentencing, but he wrote a victim impact statement, which was read to the court by his wife, Kiara Armstrong.
He recalled last speaking to his son in October 2020, without knowing it would be his last opportunity to talk to his only son. He wrote that he had asked about his grandchildren.
"Your children will also feel the impact of your actions," Johnson wrote, noting Jaleel Johnson will never be able to see his children again.
"You didn't have the right to take my son's life. You have contributed to a national problem, nobody wins," he continued.
Moon declined the opportunity to give a statement to the court.
Sentencing
After hearing from both sides, Yoder sentenced Moon to 65 years for first-degree murder, 50 years plus 15 years added for the firearm enhancement because the jury found he was in possession of a firearm when he committed the offense. For attempt first-degree murder, he will serve 20 years plus the 15-year enhancement, totaling 35 years to be served at 85%, and three years for obstructing justice to be served at 50%.
His sentence is to be served consecutively and followed by three and a half years of mandatory supervised release. Moon earned 1,220 days of credit for time served.
Yoder noted he considered all factors in aggravation and mitigation, victim impact statements and the complete history of the defendant in making his decision. Yoder said while Moon took many classes during his time in jail, which provided evidence in mitigation, he had significant rule violations while in jail as well.
Fagan declined to comment after the hearing.
New research finds young gun violence survivors experience lasting physical and mental trauma New research finds young gun violence survivors experience lasting physical and mental trauma Firearms are the leading cause of death among children
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.
100 years ago
Aug. 1, 1924: That one of the biggest years in the history of the school is expected for 1924-25 is the news that comes from the north-side Wesleyan university. Prospects for the biggest freshman class In history are great, despite the fact mat more strict entrance requirements are set each year and that the standard of the school grows more and more fine.
75 years ago
Aug. 1, 1949: Fire at the Anthony A. Ottis electric motor repair shop at 213 S. Center St. razed the rear half of the roof, damaged machinery extensively and resulted in a stack of debris shoulder-deep at the rear of the shop before Bloomington firemen were able to squelch it after a 45-minute workout. The one-story building, which is sandwiched between two taller brick buildings, was filled with smoke when firemen showed up at 2:55 a.m.
50 years ago
Aug. 1, 1974: Darla Price, 17, was chosen from five contestants Wednesday night (July 31) as the 1974 queen of the McLean County Fair. The runner-up was Candi Neubauer, 18, R.R. 1 Shirley. Darla, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Price, R.R. 1, Chenoa, will be eligible to represent McLean Count yin an upcoming state contest for county fair queens.
25 years ago
Aug. 1, 1999: Work continues on the expansion and remodeling at Eastland Mall in Bloomington. Famous-Barr is on schedule for a Nov. 19 opening and Kohl's 20,000-square-foot expansion is now visible. Along with Bergner's remodeling, it's a constantly changing picture at the mall.
From stilettos to sneakers, Pantagraph shoe ads through the years Moore & Lain's - Sept. 8, 1891 Boston Shoe Store - July 3, 1896 McLean Moore - April 2, 1909 W.H. Roland - April 5, 1909 Gerhart Shoe Co. - April 13, 1909 William Fahey - Aug. 31, 1923 Gerhart's - Oct. 6, 1926 Carl's - March 4, 1938 Hanger Boot Shop - April 26, 1938 Bunnell Bros. - May 6, 1938 Penney's - May 31, 1946 Town & Country Shoes - Dec. 17, 1948 War Surplus Store - March 29, 1949 Schiff's Shoe Store - April 4, 1949 Schiff's Shoes - April 26, 1949 Kinney's - June 2, 1949 Schiff's Shoe Store - June 2, 1949 Schiff's Shoe Store - June 3, 1949 The Bootery - June 5, 1949 Livingston's - June 5, 1949 Carl's - June 5, 1949 Gerhart's - June 5, 1949 Gerhart's - Sept. 19, 1954 Schiff's Shoe Store - Sept. 19, 1954 Livingston's - Jan. 2, 1956 Roland's - Feb. 22, 1957 Schiff's Shoe Store - Sept. 5, 1958 Branom's Junior Boot Shop - Sept. 7, 1958 The Bootery - Sept. 7, 1958 Livingston's - Aug. 7, 1959 Carl's - Sept. 3, 1959 Barkers - Dec. 1, 1960 Roland's - June 6, 1963 Livingston's - June 6, 1963 Marben's - May 5, 1967 Murray's - Sept. 3, 1973 Roland's - Sept. 3, 1973 Mary Jane Shoes - Sept. 6, 1973 Bergner's - March 30, 1980 Read's of Normal - Aug. 21, 1981 Brown's Sporting Goods - June 3, 1982 Hush Puppies - Feb. 2, 1984 Brown's Sporting Goods - Aug. 9, 1984 Bergener's - Nov. 10, 1985 JC Penney - April 10, 1992 Bergner's - May 26, 1999 Murray's Shoes - June 2, 1999 Bergner's - June 3, 1999
CREST HILL Civil rights lawyers representing people incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center filed a court motion on Wednesday requesting that the state transfer or release them no later than Sept. 20, citing the aging prisons degradation and deterioration.
The state has announced plans to tear down the sprawling facility in Crest Hill, near Joliet, and build a new prison on the Stateville site as part of a nearly $1 billion project that would also include demolishing Logan Correctional Center in downstate Lincoln, a womens prison, and possibly rebuilding it on the Stateville grounds.
Lawyers for the Stateville inmates are trying to force the state to move ahead on the plan quickly, arguing the living conditions for people incarcerated at the nearly century-old prison are appalling.
Right now theres over 420 residents at Stateville who are at risk of dire injury due to the structural vulnerabilities, degradation and deterioration of those buildings that put them at risk of serious physical injury or even death, attorney Heather Lewis Donnell said in a news conference at the law firm Loevy + Loevy. While the motion is premised on these decaying buildings, we also know that every condition at Stateville the water, the excessive temperatures, heat and cold, the vermin, the birds are all exacerbated and compounded when the structure is not secure and when it is vulnerable.
The states project to tear down and rebuild the two prisons is expected to take three to five years. In addition to the lack of a start date, state officials have not laid out a plan for how those housed in the prison will be handled during the transition.
The motion filed Wednesday asks the court to direct the Illinois Department of Corrections to come up with a plan that details the transfer of all (plaintiffs) from Stateville to another facility and/or their release by August 12. The motion also calls for the court to direct IDOC to transfer and/or release all (plaintiffs) from Stateville by no later than September 20.
An IDOC spokesperson declined to comment on the motion. State officials have said the process of closing Stateville could begin as early as September.
At Wednesdays news conference, former Stateville inmates shared complaints about the prisons conditions that included falling concrete, electrical outages and a lack of ventilation amid excessive heat.
Advocates say some of those conditions contributed to the death of 51-year-old Michael Broadway, who was incarcerated at the facility and died during a June heat wave. The Will County coroners office has not released a cause of death for Broadway, who graduated last year from Northwestern Universitys Prison Education program.
I know from my experience, the heat, the way it was, and Michael having passed perhaps due to the heat, I really want to see that Stateville is closed and that no other harm comes there, said James Soto, who was incarcerated for more than 40 years after being wrongfully convicted in a 1981 double homicide before being released from the prison last year. This is really a public health issue, a safety issue of those that are in there.
Benard McKinley, who was also formerly incarcerated at Stateville, said the prison has so many inhumane conditions that it has to close.
When that water comes down and goes for that foundation it creates what is called black mold, so when you go in these cells and you have black mold in your cells, they contribute to respiratory issues, McKinley said, noting Broadways respiratory problems. These conditions is pure torture.
The court motion describes floors, beds and sinks covered in bird feathers and excrement and discolored, bad-smelling drinking water from faucets.
Although some repairs have been made at Stateville, the facility continues to be extremely dangerous, according to the motion. The structural damage and disrepair to Statevilles many compromised buildings pose an ongoing risk to (plaintiffs), as well as those employed there.
In one of the footnotes of the motion, plaintiffs alleged the state has stopped investing in quality care for the living and common areas and that since Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the plan to close the prison, staff has stopped coming to work or has refused to do their jobs while at the prison, leaving (the plaintiffs) to suffer in abject conditions.
Asked about the court motion at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday, Pritzker said the safety concerns at Stateville are the very reasons why were taking action to replace Stateville and Logan and why were going to have to continue to make upgrades and changes in our Department of Corrections.
But he stopped short of offering specifics as to when Stateville could be shut down.
We want to make sure that were doing it in the right way, in the way that keeps people safe but also moves us forward with the broader plan with the Department of Corrections, Pritzker said.
Meanwhile, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, a union that represents IDOC employees, disagreed with the idea of relocating people incarcerated at Stateville at this time. Instead, the union said it supports building a new prison on the Stateville grounds while keeping the current facility open during construction and continuing to make repairs as needed.
We have not seen any sound rationale for beginning to move individuals in custody out of Stateville Correctional Center. There is no evidence that these individuals would be safer elsewhere in the system, AFSCME said in a statement. Deferred maintenance is a problem throughout the Department of Corrections, as are staffing shortages and outbreaks of violence.
aYo Intermediaries Ghana LTD (aYo Ghana), the microinsurance subsidiary of MTN Ghana, has again won three prestigious industry awards this year, confirming its position as the leader in mobile insurance and a promoter of financial inclusion in the country.
At the recent Ghana Corporate Brands Awards 2024, aYo Ghana received the Mobile Insurance Brand of the Year award, confirming its outstanding performance. Again, at the Ghana Insurance Awards 2024, aYo grabbed the Mobile Insurance Leadership Award. Its innovative and inclusive motor insurance product, aYo Pay & Drive, also won the Product Innovation of the Year Award.
Under its CEO, Francis Gota, aYo Ghana has made significant strides in insurance penetration, covering up to 25% of the Ghanaian population, particularly those in the low-to-middle income bracket. This achievement is notable in a country where insurance penetration is still less than 2%.
Mr. Gota dedicated the awards to his team, stating, "Your dedication and resilience are truly appreciated. I am so proud of all the achievements of the team for the past few years and last year in particular. We wouldnt be where we are today without each employee's input and hard work. Thank you for making us successful.
He charged aYo employees to remain positive and continue striving to better lives with customer-centric products and services.
Over the past 7 years, aYo has committed to creating a future where every Ghanaian not only buys insurance but uses it to improve their quality of life. With over 8.2 million customers and more than GHS20 million claims paid to over 47,000 policyholders and beneficiaries, aYo remains the leading microinsurance company in Ghana.
In partnership with MTN and MobileMoney Ltd, aYo provides accessible, affordable, easy-to-use microinsurance products and solutions to all MTN subscribers. Leveraging technology and underwritten by Sanlam Allianz Ghana (Life and General), aYo offers Hospitalization and Life Insurance cover to policyholders and their family members through airtime deduction or MoMo.
Currently, aYo offers four main products which are Recharge with Care (RwC), RwC Annual Cover, aYo Family Cover, and the recently introduced aYo Pay & Drive, which aims to revolutionize motor insurance in the country.
aYos products also help low-income Ghanaians cover funeral expenses for loved ones while strengthening household resilience to risk. Often, covering funeral expenses relies on family members, loans, and trading capital, leading to emotional distress and financial strain. The hospital cash benefits cover hospital bills and income replacement for the policyholder's income loss during hospitalization.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Chairman of the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament has deeply expressed his displeasure over the Lands Commissions failure to provide an up-to-date data on public lands and how the lands have been used so far.
The Committee posits that the data they require of the Lands Commission is to tackle the issue of fraudulent activities that have allegedly engulfed the commission in recent times.
According to the committees Chairman, the instances where government lands have been registered as private lands is nothing to write home about, hence, the need to have the Lands Commission furnish the committee with the requisite data to enable them unravel the mystery behind the lands Commissions activities.
During the committees sitting in parliament on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, the Chairman for the committee, who is also the Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, noted that, all efforts made to get the Lands Commission to provide the data has proven futile since 2022.
Mr. Ablakwa said, If this data is put together and provided, it will help all of us. These instances of government lands being registered as private lands and the fraud that is going on at the Lands Commission, as exposed by the Soul Enquirer, the only way to stem this, to prevent this, to forestall this, is to have the data, to put the data together."
That is why I am clear in my mind that there are elements at the Lands Commission who dont want the Ghanaian people to have this data.
However, Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, explained that the Commission is doing all it can to transition from the manual system of operation to the digital system.
Samuel Abu Jinapor said, The Lands Commission for all these years has been operating manually and it is just recently that we have started making efforts to digitise the records of the Lands Commission.
The information I have from the Commission since I gave them the instructions to compile this list is that compiling the list from the 16 regions of the Lands Commission across the country from 1993 to now is an extraordinary undertaking and therefore they have not been able to put it all together as yet. And so I am unable to provide it now, but there is work in progress.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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"Invasive alien birds" sounds like the strapline to a scary Hollywood blockbuster but for the people of coastal Kenya it is not a matter of fiction.
The authorities there are so worried about the nuisance created by Indian house crows that they have begun the process of culling a million of them.
They have not targeted humans, as in the Alfred Hitchock horror film The Birds, but these ones have for decades caused widespread disruption, by preying on wildlife, raiding tourist areas and attacking poultry farms.
Poison is now being used in the towns of Watamu and Malindi to kill the first tranche of the ruthless sub-species.
This ambitious poisoning campaign is aimed at halting the crows advance towards the capital, Nairobi.
The birds, known on the coast as "kunguru" or "kurabu", originated from India and other parts of Asia, often spreading elsewhere by travelling on trading ships.
But they are believed to have been intentionally introduced in East Africa around 1890s in a bid to tackle a mounting waste problem on the Zanzibar archipelago, then a British protectorate. From there, they spread to the mainland and up the coast to Kenya.
They were first recorded in the port of Mombasa in 1947 and since then, their numbers have exploded, thanks to the growing human population and the accompanying mounds of rubbish, which provide an ideal environment for the birds to feed and breed. They also have no natural predators.
The Indian house crows, considered one of the worlds most invasive and destructive birds, have continued their northward journey.
"They prey on the indigenous species, not just birds but also mammals, reptiles - and so their impact on biodiversity is devastating," Jaap Gijsbertsen, a Dutch bird expert, who is visiting Kenya's Watamu area, told the BBC.
Conservationists say that the crows have significantly reduced the number of small indigenous birds in the region, such as weavers and waxbills, by ripping their nests apart while targeting eggs and even chicks.
"When the population of local birds declines, the environment begins to suffer. There will be a possible increase of harmful pests and insects that the birds prey on," Lennox Kirao, a research scientist with conservation group A Rocha Kenya, said.
Source: BBC
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Nigerian police have fired live bullets and tear gas to try and disperse thousands of protesters in the northern city of Kano rallying against the rising cost of living.
Many businesses across the country have closed as demonstrators in major cities chant slogans such as: We are hungry.
In Kano, which has seen the largest crowds so far, the gunshots were fired after protesters set alight tyres to make a bonfire in front of the state governors house. Four wounded people have been taken to hospital.
The protests have been organised via social media and inspired by the recent success protesters in Kenya who forced the government to scrap plans to increase taxes.
Officers have also sprayed hot water on the crowds in Kano, but they remain on the streets.
Looters have also broken into a warehouse near the governor's house and people have been seen carrying away 25-litre cartons of vegetable cooking oil and mattresses.
On Wednesday night, a court ordered that protesters in the capital, Abuja, to keep to the National stadium, which is located on the citys outskirts.
But after gathering at the stadiums gate on Thursday morning, the demonstrators - who have also been shouting the refrain End bad governance - began heading into the city centre.
This prompted police to fire tear-gas canisters to try and stop the procession, which is affecting traffic.
The security forces are deployed at strategic locations within the capital, where even banks are closed, and in surrounding towns.
Source: BBC
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This is the disturbing moment Turkeys president slapped a child on the face for refusing to kiss his hand.
Footage shows Recep Tayyip Erdogan extending his hand for the boy to kiss it a traditional sign of respect in the country.
The child appeared to hesitate for a moment and the politician flicked his wrist, hitting him on the cheek.
Erdogan then extends his hand again until the boy finally pecks it.
The incident happened at the opening ceremony of the Aider Plateau Protection and Renewal Project in the northern Rize province on July 27.
It was televised on Dokuz 8 TV and the clip has since been widely circulated on X.
The child appeared to be giggling following the slap and remained unfazed by Erdogans treatment.
He then hugs the president alongside a second boy also on stage at the event.
Both boys were then handed some money as a gift.
Although some people did not take the slap seriously, arguing that it was light, it has sparked a discussion on social media.
One said: "I wonder how he treats people behind closed doors if he can do that in front of camera."
Some people came to Erdogans defence.
One said: "Kissing the hand of your elders, parents, grandparents is a sign of respect especially in Turkey.
"If you dont do it you get corrected. Especially at a young age."
This is also not the first time the Turkish leader has hit a child publically.
In 2021, he hit a child on the head at an opening ceremony for the offence of cutting a ribbon too early.
Watch the recent video below.
Turkeys wannabe autocrat Erdogan slaps an infant boy for not immediately kissing his hand. pic.twitter.com/UKdoVrxDu1 Pyotr Kurzin (@PKurzin) July 28, 2024
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Personal possessions including 11 luxury Hermes bags were stolen from the luggage of the sister-in-law to the Emir of Qatar while she took a Nice to Paris train at the weekend to watch the Olympic games.
The unnamed royal family member boarded the TGV at Cannes (one of the first stops on the route) on Saturday, July 27, it has been revealed.
She was travelling with her housekeeper, according to a police source, but soon into the trip realised her belongings, including the bags, were missing.
The two informed guards on board, who stopped the train service for around 20 minutes at Toulon station whilst they searched for the missing luggage but were not able to find it.
The case has been referred to the Toulon Criminal Court, which opened an investigation into the theft. The town of Toulon is thought to be where the thief or thieves got off the train.
The Olympics officially opened in Paris on Friday, July 26, and continue through Sunday, Aug. 11, although some team events started on July 24. The opening ceremony was held on the Seine river, which flows through Paris. The closing ceremony, which includes a parade of flags and athletes, will take place on Aug. 11.
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MTN has closed all its offices and customer service centres across Nigeria after a weekend of customer outrage. Many customers had their lines disconnected, and despite the NCCs order to reactivate them, some lines still werent working, leading to escalations.
In a viral video, customers in Lagos tore down the fence of an MTN office in FESTAC town and stormed the area in protest.
Its not clear if they got inside the building.
The Lagos State Police stepped in to restore order, with the local DPO and his team quickly calming the situation.
MTN announced theyre shutting down all offices for the day but are available 24/7 through digital channels.
Source: Asaaseradio.com
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The robotics team of Vine Christian High School (VCHS), has emerged victorious at the Pan African Robotics Competition held on Sunday 28 July, 2024 in Dakar, Senegal.
This prestigious competition, which drew top robotics High School teams from across the continent, witnessed the VCHS team securing first place with their innovative design and exceptional performance.
The Pan African Robotics Competition challenges teams to design, build, and program robots to complete complex tasks and compete in a series of trials. VCHS, who are also the Ghana Robotics Competition 2023 Champions, demonstrated extraordinary skill, creativity, and teamwork, earning the top spot among a field of highly competitive teams.
The competition featured about 400 top young minds from across 14 African countries including Mali, Uganda, Lesotho, Madagascar, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire.
Our students have put in several hours of hard work, dedication, and innovation to reach this milestone, said Mr. Triumph Tetteh, Head of the Coding and Robotics Department at Vine Christian High School.
Their success at this competition is a testament to their commitment and passion for robotics. We are incredibly proud of what they have accomplished.
The team, which was made up of Miss Alexine Seiba Amoako-Mensah, and Masters Zachary Opoku, Joshua Sunkwa-Mills, and Joshua-Caleb Dadzie, used their diverse skills and a strategic approach to achieve their success.
This achievement highlights the growing excellence of VCHS in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education and its commitment to fostering young innovators. The schools administration extends its congratulations to the team and expresses gratitude to the community and parents who have supported their journey.
VCHS celebrates this remarkable achievement, to the glory of God, and is excited about the future opportunities for its talented students.
About Vine Christian Schools
Vine Christian Schools is a renowned educational establishment committed to delivering excellence in academic rigour, Christian values, and student achievement.
The institutions approach creates a nurturing, inclusive and harmonious learning environment that fosters the holistic development and academic success of its students.
Founded in October 2005 by Dr. Michael McCarthy and Mrs. Georgette McCarthy, the school has experienced steady growth and expansion over the past nineteen years.
Currently, Vine Christian Schools offer comprehensive preschool and primary education, as well as a secondary school with Cambridge and GES programmes catering to students from Years 1 to 11, providing diverse opportunities for advancement and growth.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh has been k!lled during a raid at his residence in Tehran, according to the Palestinian military group Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Haniyeh was k!lled on Wednesday, July 31, after attending the swearing-in inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, Hamas said in a statement.
The Revolutionary Guards confirmed Haniyeh's de@th in a separate statement.
"Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his bodyguards' martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon," the Revolutionary Guards said.
Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Ismail Haniyeh a martyr, the terse statement said.
In another statement, the group quoted Haniyeh as saying that the Palestinian cause has costs and we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.
Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar and Turkey. Considered a pragmatist, he had acted as a negotiator in the ceasefire talks during the Israel-Gaza war, liaised with Hamass main ally, Iran, and met with the Turkish president.
Haniyeh was also said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.
He was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal, but was already a well-known figure having become Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory by Hamas in that years parliamentary election.
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Following former President John Dramani Mahamas commendation of Judges that adjudicated the Ambulance Purchase case at the Court of Appeals, the National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, has slammed Mr. Mahama over what he describes as selective outrage at the judiciary.
He accused the NDC flag bearer of hypocrisy after Mr. Mahama expressed his satisfaction with the courts decision.
On his official Facebook page on Tuesday July 30, Mr. Mahama applauded the Court of Appeals acquittal and discharge of former deputy Finance Minister and incumbent Minority leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, describing it as a victory for the rule of law.
To him, the Appeals Court decision confirms his long-held view that the case was a form of political persecution.
Inyetestingly, the NDC which has on several occasions openly condemned the judiciary, sometimes even alleging that they work in tandem with President Akufo-Addos government appointees and its cronies, turned around to
hail the ruling as a triumph for justice.
It is on the basis of this that the NPP National Organiser descended heavily on former President Mahama and the NDC for praising the judiciary because the outcome of the case went in their favour.
He described their double standards on judiciary matters as regrettable and stated that their actions do not bode well for democracy.
Nana B expressed hope that the NDC and Mahama will not change their stance if the Supreme Court reverses the Court of Appeals decision.
Suddenly, John Mahama and the NDC are singing the praises of the judiciary they have bastardised and maligned for several years. Suddenly, the rule of law is at work because they have won. Suddenly, the court is no longer an appendage of government. Suddenly, the judges appointed by Akufo-Addo are not partisan.
He re-echoed, The double standards of the NDC is regrettable and does not bode well for our democracy. While we disagree with the decision of the Court, we accept it in good faith and hope Mr Mahama and the NDC do not change their chorus should the decision of the Court of Appeal be reversed by the Supreme Court.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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Ghanas Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, who doubles as the President of the Executive Committee of the Association of African Election Authorities (AAEA), Mrs. Jean Mensa is set to host a delegation made up of women who are Chairpersons from eight Election Management bodies in Africa.
The women chairpersons are from Cape Verde, Liberia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In a press release from Ghanas Electoral Commission, dated 31st July, 2024, the EC indicated that the meeting is under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Service Centre for Africa and the United Nation's Electoral Assistance Division in collaboration with International IDEA, the Association of African Election Authorities and the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
The purpose of the meeting is to offer opportunity for women leaders of EMBs to establish a network that will open up a continental opportunities for them in their various chosen fields of work.
It will also establish a continental network of Senior Electoral Administrators to foster peer support among women in Election Management Leadership in Africa.
The Commission also noted that the meeting, which is scheduled for the 5th & 6th of August, 2024 will seek to review international and regional normative frameworks on women's political participation in the continent of Africa.
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Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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Russia's Wagner mercenary army acknowledged Monday that it suffered heavy casualties while battling Tuareg rebels in Mali, where a pro-independence coalition claimed to have killed dozens of soldiers and foreign fighters.
In a rare statement, the Wagner Group said its troops fought alongside the Malian army last week near the country's northeastern border with Algeria, Reuters reported.
The mercenaries were commanded by Sergei Shevchenko, whose call sign was "Pond" and who was among those killed, Wagner said.
Wagner didn't detail the number of casualties but a message posted Saturday on the Telegram website said, "The three of us stayed. We continue to fight," according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for the CSP-DPA coalition, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said Saturday that the rebels "routed the entire column of Malian army and Russian mercenaries" during a two-day battle on the outskirts of the village of Tinzawaten, according to the Associated Press.
Ramadane said that "the enemy suffered huge losses in terms of lives and equipment, including dozens of dead and wounded" and that some Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries surrendered to the rebels.
A Tuareg commander said 54 Wagner fighters and seven Malian soldiers were killed, along with seven rebels, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Video clips posted on social media showed the bodies of several white men and Malian soldiers lying on the ground near destroyed vehicles, AP said.
On Friday night, the Malian army claimed it killed about 20 rebels and destroyed several vehicles during a rebel attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 10 others.
In its statement, Wagner said the fighting took place from July 22 to 27.
"On the first day, the 'Pond group' destroyed most of the Islamists and put the rest to flight," Wagner said on Telegram. "However, (an) ensuing sandstorm allowed the radicals to regroup and increase their numbers to 1,000 people."
The Kremlin-linked Wagner Group sent mercenaries to Mali in December 2021 to support the country's ruling military junta, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C.
The Wagner troops reportedly set up an operating base next to the Modibo Keita International Airport near the capital of Bamako, with personnel and equipment believed to have been transported on Russian military aircraft.
Former CPP General Secretary and a devoted member of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church, James Kwabena Bomfeh alias Kabilla has issued a stern warning to the Electoral Commission over the date of the elections this year.
James Kwabena Bomfeh strictly backed his church's decision not to participate in the elections if the Commission doesn't change December 7 which falls on Saturday, the Sabbath Day of the church.
The Sabbath Day is the SDA's sacred day and, to them, December 7 is a breach of their religious faith, hence Kabilla calls on the Commission to review the time for the election since it is final that the election will be held on Saturday.
To Kabilla, should the EC fail to make room for the Adventists, "something can happen".
"If the State fails to accommodate, encourage and promote us, something can happen...I, as a student of democracy, the last thing that any State should do is to allow anything that will discourage the slightest or minutest minority from participating in that election", he said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has taken a shot at the opposition National Democratic Congress and their leader, John Mahama, over the launch of their national campaign over the weekend.
The National Democratic Congress held their campaign event on Saturday, July 27, at Tamale Jubilee Park.
During the event, Mr. Mahama asked Ghanaians to vote for him and his party on December 7, telling them he will be honest and accountable to the citizenry.
But Kwamena finds the NDC's campaign launch as a "panic reaction", stating Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party, has sent shivers down the spine of the opposition party and their leader, hence their "rush" to launch their campaign in the North.
He listed some development projects that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration has brought to the North, stating projects ranging from better roads to hospitals and a facelift to the Tamale airport among others.
"When you compare Bawumia and Mahama, you will see that Bawumia is far, far ahead of his time; think and look ahead", he opined during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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The minority NDC in Parliament appears to have been hit by the overwhelming endorsement government has received across the country following the commissioning of District Road Improvement Project (DRIP) on Wednesday by President Akufo-Addo in Accra.
The equipment, government has explained, is to facilitate the rehabilitation of bad roads in every district by their respective MMDAs.
The DRIP equipment includes 6 x 4 tipper truck, water tank truck, wheel loader, motor grader and roller.
Following the commissioning of the equipment and the praise for government, the NDC questioned the source of funding.
Mahama Ayariga, NDC MP for Bawku Central, on the instructions of Minority Leader, wrote to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development asking for the source of funding and how much each equipment cost.
Despite the letter admitting it was aware Parliament approved funds for the acquisition of the equipment, the Minority still requests cost analysis as well as payment schedule for the equipment.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah has disclosed that lack of trust in the judiciary system is a recipe for chaos in the upcoming December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
According to him, if politicians do not trust the judiciary, it is becomes difficult for peace to prevail before, during and after the elections.
Speaking at an election forum in Accra, the National Security Minister admonished politicians to desist from passing comments that have the tendency of inciting political party sympathisers to engage in violence which will mar the peace of the country.
He, therefore, urged politicians not to run down the judiciary with their unsavoury comments during the campaign period.
As Ghana prepares to go to the polls come December 7 2024, the various political parties and independent candidates have started making their manifestos known to the electorates. The ruling New Patriotic Party faces a fierce contention from the National Democratic Congress, whose flag bearer had lost to the incumbent President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.
The NDC desires a come-back while the NPP seeks to retain the power, thereby, breaking the 8-year cycle.
There have been constant backlash from the opposition party as well as the leader, John Dramani Mahama, who have accused the judiciary of working in favour of the ruling government, however, the national Security Minister, shares the opinion that, such comments should not be taken into the campaign as it would have a dire repercussion on the electoral integrity of the country.
We may for the first time experience a situation where none of the major political parties will be willing to explore the courts to address their grievances.
Indeed I have heard some senior people in the political space saying that, that they have lost faith in the courts ability to address their concerns when it comes to elections. So this can create a situation that can set the stage for chaos.
And it underscores the need for us to build a robust and transparent electoral system where results coming from same will be acceptable by all parties.
The Minister further urged citizens to prioritise peace in the upcoming polls.
Ghanaians must also be aware of their responsibilities. They must not allow themselves to be used by politicians who lose elections. Peace is very expensive and sometimes we have to make sacrifices one time or the other to maintain it. So may nobody participate in violence. So those who lose, accept it peacefully, he said.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, is currently in the Western North Region to campaign and canvass for votes for her husband and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, towards the December 7 general election.
The Second Lady, who is touring the area for six days, is expected to engage some key stakeholders and the general public to discuss the vision and policies outlined by the NPPs presidential candidate.
She will highlight, among others, the reasons the NPP should be retained in power to continue the progress and development of Ghana.
The Communication Officer of the NPP in Western North Region, Addo Yaw Harry, said the Second Lady started the visit on Tuesday, July 30, 2024 adding that she will pay a courtesy call on the Omanhene of Sefwi and meet with queen mothers.
He said Samira Bawumia and her entourage will also visit Aowin, Bodi, Juaboso, Suaman, SefwiWiawso Market, Akontombra, Bia East, Bia West and Bibiani/Ahwiaso/Bekwai.
He encouraged the residents to actively participate in the various engagements, to gain insights into the NPPs plans and policies for the countrys future.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
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A former Central Regional Minister and a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwamena Duncan has said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC)s campaign launched in Tamale, the capital of the Northern region on July 27, 2024, was borne out of fear and panic.
The NDC launched their campaign in Tamale. The campaign launch witnessed an array of political liturgies from the rank and file of the party.
Present at the campaign launch in the heart of the Northern region was the revered National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the flag bearer of the party, John Dramani Mahama, his running mate, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, amongst many national and regional executives of the party.
However, Kwamena Duncan, during a live radio discussion on Peace FMs 'Kokrokoo' morning show on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024, stated that, the launch of the campaign was as a result of panic reaction from the pressure being mounted on them by the flag bearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP at large.
"NDCs campaign launch in Tamale on Saturday, if you will be truthful to yourself, was a panic reaction done out of fear. If you observe carefully how the organization of the campaign went, you will realise that the NDCs effort could not match NPPs Dr. Mahamudu Bawumias constituency by constituency campaign.
Theres grave fear in the NDC and John Mahama which resulted in the rush to have their campaign launched, he stressed.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, running mate of Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has asked women, particularly traders, to be patient with their husbands who are unable to provide funding to support their businesses, saying the deteriorated economic situation is to blame for that predicament.
Most of the time, when you are unable to get credit from the financial institutions to support your trade, you turn to your husbands for help, but they cannot help because they are either out of jobs or their businesses are not doing well due to the economic difficulties in the country.
Be patient with them because it is not their fault. The poor economic management has created all this hardship, she said.
Addressing market women in Dunkwa Mfoum in the Central Region as part of her tour of the region, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the NDC has taken cognisance of the hardship facing Ghanaians, especially traders and small-scale enterprises, and has developed measures to effectively address the challenge of poor access to credit and high cost of doing business.
In that regard, she said the next NDC government would introduce the Womens Development Bank to facilitate effective access to credit without any hindrances such as collateral and high interaction rates.
According to her, the Womens Development Bank is one of the many interventions that the next NDC administration would roll out to enhance the lot of women in Ghana. More than one million women are expected to benefit from easy access to loans from the Womens Development Bank, she said.
But she reminded them that the plans can only materialise when women vote to ensure that the NDC regains the power to implement that vision.
When women get access to funding to grow their businesses, it will positively affect men, children and households, she said.
She also commented on the exorbitant cost of food items which has led to dwindling patronage for traders in markets across the country, reminding the market traders that they have an opportunity to change the situation.
You have the opportunity to vote for change, she said.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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In the quest to reverse the economic downturn that has engulfed the country, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Running Mate to Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged manufacturing companies and traders to prepare for the 24-hour economy envisioned by the next NDC government.
According to her, the 24-hour economy policy is a key component of the agenda by the NDC to rescue and reset the country from the effects of economic mismanagement by the present government.
While providing benefits to companies in the form of tax waivers, reduced tariff rates and increased productivity, the job shift system will create more employment and financial dependence for workers and households, she explained.
Speaking at a durbar of Chiefs at Denkyira Bibianiha in the Upper Denkyira East constituency of the Central Region today at the start of her regional campaign tour, Prof Opoku-Agyemang urged all organisations to actively take part in the incoming national 24-hour economy.
Her remarks on the 24-hour economy were in response to concerns raised by the chief of Denkyira Bibianiha, Nana Appiah Kubi, about the high rate of joblessness and poverty in the area, which has created a hopeless situation for the youth in the area.
The NDC will restore hope and rebuild the economy to meet the aspirations of the Ghanaians, she said.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang, who had interacted with traders at the market in the town, noted that the government must provide the needed support, including credit, to enable small-scale enterprises to grow.
In addition, she said it was the duty of the government to provide the necessary infrastructure that will facilitate the rapid development of areas such as Dunkwa and Denkyira.
She reminded the Chiefs that all the major infrastructure projects such as roads, health centres and schools were provided under the previous NDC governments, and therefore urged them to vote massively for the NDC to continue its good works in the area.
We have done it before, and you can trust us to do it again for you, she said.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Actor and comedy skitmaker, Ebenezer Akwasi Antwi, popularly known as Dr Likee, has announced his intention to retire from acting.
In an interview circulating on social media, Dr Likee explained the reasons behind his decision. Despite his dedication and hard work in helping up-and-coming actors and content creators succeed on YouTube, he expressed frustration over false accusations and negative remarks directed towards him.
Two weeks after I return to Ghana, I wont do it again. I am not going to act nor will I produce movies again, he stated. Dr Likee highlighted the demanding nature of his work, noting that he often works from 6am to 6pm, which has taken a toll on him.
He also addressed accusations of favoritism, asserting that he has worked with a wide range of creators and refuted claims that he has preferred collaborators.
Present all the creators here and point out who I have not worked with before, he challenged.
Dr Likee has been instrumental in the recent resurgence of the Kumawood movie industry. His popular YouTube comedy skits have not only entertained audiences but have also provided a platform for many emerging talents, including Kyekyeku, 39/40, C-confion, Jordan, and Sobolo, among others.
When I quit, I wont be accused or blamed for anything, he concluded, hinting that his departure would bring him peace from the scrutiny and false allegations.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Demographic model of North African populations obtained with the GP4PG algorithm. Credit: Genome Biology
Made up of Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria, north Africa is a melting pot of cultures with two predominant human populations with their own language and culture: the Arabs and the Imazighen. Part of their history has been buried beneath the desert, from which some research has extracted human remains up to 300,000 years old. However, their origins remained a mystery.
Now, research led by David Comas, a full professor at the UPF Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) and principal investigator at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), and Oscar Lao, also an IBE principal investigator, has discovered, using artificial intelligence tools, that the Imazighen (Amazigh in the singular) and the Arab people of north Africa have different genetic origins.
For the first time, the study reveals that the two separated more than 20,000 years ago and sheds light on the region's complex demographic history. The work is published in the journal Genome Biology.
The ancestors of the Imazighen reached north Africa more than 20,000 years ago
Due to its geographical location, north Africa is a conclave of cultures that has received people from Europe, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa for thousands of years. This confluence of populations has enriched the population genome of the region, generating a complex phylogenetic puzzle.
To shed light on the origin and evolution of the Arab and Imazighen populations, the team conducted a comprehensive analysis of 364 complete genomes from different populations.
To do so, it developed an innovative computational model with natural computing methods, within the field of artificial intelligence, dubbed "genetic programming for population genetics" (GP4PG). The results reveal that the differentiation between the Arab people and the Amazigh took place far earlier than expected.
"The new GP4PG model has allowed a more precise, robust and refined analysis, which for the first time clearly separates the two peoples more than 20,000 years ago, when the Imazighen returned to Africa from Eurasia in the movement known as 'back to Africa'", says Oscar Lao, principal investigator of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE).
"Human remains from about 22,000 years old have been found in Morocco that, according to these results, could be the ancestors of today's Imazighen," says David Comas, a full professor of Anthropology at the MELIS-UPF and a researcher at the IBE.
Arabs and Imazighen reached north Africa thousands of years apart
The Arab and Amazigh peoples arrived in north Africa with the migratory phenomenon known as "back to Africa," after the departure by human populations out of Africa, a population movement whose genetic legacy endures today in its inhabitants.
"With this study we have seen that Arabs and Imazighen have not separated recently due to a question of geography, culture or language, but the genomes confirm that they became genetically differentiated about 20,000 years ago due to the different times at which the two populations colonized north Africa," David Comas comments.
Previous studies argued that the region's current Arab population originated in the Neolithic. However, research reveals that the majority of the Arab population colonized north Africa from the Middle East much later, during the "Arabization" of the 7th century AD.
Thus, this would be the cause of the close genetic relationship between today's Arab populations of north Africa and those of the Middle East.
"With the GP4PG model we can observe that the arrival of the Arab people around 600 AD generated a gradual genetic gradient that declines from east to west, from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa," Oscar Lao comments.
More information: Jose M. Serradell et al, Modelling the demographic history of human North African genomes points to a recent soft split divergence between populations, Genome Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03341-4 Journal information: Genome Biology
The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public's help in identifying six vandals accused of spray painting pro-Hamas graffiti on historical landmarks during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial visit to Capitol Hill last week.
The individuals, who appear to be five men and one woman, are also responsible for assaulting a police officer at Columbus Circle in Washington, D.C., authorities alleged.
The Israeli leader's speech to Congress Thursday sparked waves of chaos near Capitol grounds.
Bystander video showed a dramatic scene of police dressed in riot gear pepper spraying, striking, and arresting pro-Palestinian protesters outside Union Station, where demonstrators also set fire to the American flag.
Pepper spray deployed as police make arrests outside Union Station in DC pic.twitter.com/irjE5tt4XI Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) July 24, 2024
A separate clip appeared to show extensive vandalism to the Columbus Fountain, with the phrase, "Hamas is Coming" spray painted across.
The Liberty Bell was also subject to similar defacement.
During his address to Congress Thursday, Netanyahu vowed "total victory" in the Israel-Hamas conflict and called American critics of the war "idiots," according to the Associated Press.
Netanyahu continues to face immense pressure from his cabinet members to reject a deal that would eliminate the possibility of an attack on Rafah.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, with 80% currently sheltering in Rafah after forced from their homes amid Israel's destruction throughout the enclave.
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New Dehli, India. Credit: Hakan Nural from Pexels
As global temperatures continue to rise, India is grappling with increasingly severe heat waves. As early as April, many Indian cities, including New Delhi, the capital, have experienced record temperatures above 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Recurring heat waves in recent months have killed more than 100 people, including dozens of poll workers, during India's recent six-week election. Scorching temperatures are also responsible for over 40,000 suspected cases of heat stroke.
Extreme heat poses unique challenges to the world's largest democracy due to its geographic, economic and infrastructural context. Located in the tropical belt, India and neighboring countries experience significant heat and the impact is exacerbated by factors that differ greatly from those in wealthier nations.
"While countries like the United States have extensive networks of air-conditioned spaces and robust safety nets, India's capacity to mitigate the effects of heat waves is limited," said Teevrat Garg, associate professor of economics at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy, whose research focuses on environmental policy and energy transitions in low-and middle-income countries.
"In cities like New York and Chicago, heat advisories prompt the activation of cooling centers in public libraries and schools, which often shut down to protect children. Conversely, in India, air conditioning remains a luxury, accessible to only a small fraction of the population."
The penetration of air conditioning in India is hampered by high costs and the unreliability of the electricity grid.
On the hottest days, when the demand for electricity peaks, the grid often becomes congested, leading to frequent power outages. This makes owning an air conditioner a less effective adaptation strategy if the power supply is not consistent, according to Garg, who is a faculty affiliate with the campus's 21st Century India Center and Deep Decarbonization Initiative.
An expected link between outdoor occupations, heat exposure and children' test scores
A significant portion of India's workforce is employed in outdoor occupations, such as agriculture and construction. Unlike office workers who can stay indoors, these laborers face direct exposure to extreme heat.
To add to that, India's large population of subsistence workers cannot afford to miss a day of work, even in extreme heat. Many live hand-to-mouth, relying on daily earnings to buy food.
Garg's research finds an unexpected consequence of extreme heat's impact on reduced work for agricultural laborers lower test scores for children. While there is ample evidence that heat impacts cognitive functions, astudy by Garg and co-authors published in theJournal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists found that hot days during the growing season in the previous year, were affecting students' academic performance in the current year, rather than heat in the non-growing season.
"We know that heat has a direct effect on the brain, so it shouldn't matter whether heat happens in the growing season or the non-growing season," Garg said.
"Either one should have the same effect on academic performance, but the fact that we saw all of these effects coming from the growing season told us that these impacts are really being driven by an agricultural income mechanism."
Essentially, children in India had lower test scores, likely because their parents experienced income loss due to lower crop yields.
"It could be because parents couldn't afford to pay for books and other school supplies, or put as much food on the table, so children may be hungrier," Garg said.
The paper underscored the importance of social protection programs in helping vulnerable populations cope with climate-induced stresses.
Specifically, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA), a major workfare program in India, was found to significantly weaken the link between high temperatures and reduced test scores. By providing a safety net for the poor, NREGA attenuated the negative effects of temperature on test scores by 38%.
No amount of money can buy relief when working outdoors in extreme heat
Another study from Garg also evaluating extreme heat's impact on outdoor laborers revealed that no matter how motivated employees may be, they will reach a breaking point at certain temperatures.
In a field experiment in neighboring Indonesia, workers were randomly assigned to perform duties in forested and deforested areas. The black globe temperaturewhich measures how hot it feels in direct sunlightin deforested areas was 30 to 50 degrees warmer compared to forested areas.
Not surprising to Garg and co-authors of a study published in Nature Communications, workers in deforested areas had to take many more breaks compared to those working in much cooler, forested settings. However, the authors were surprised to find that when the workers in hot settings were paid twice as much to perform each task, there was no difference in productivity compared to workers getting base pay in the same setting.
"What that tells us is that reduced productivity during extreme heat is not behavioral preferenceit's not that people are working less hard because they're just uncomfortable, heat actually represents a binding constraint on productivity," Garg said. "People literally cannot work harder in these extreme conditions."
Heat not only hurts productivity, but it's also bad for collaboration
Garg and Elizabeth Lyons, professor of management at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, wanted to explore how warmer conditions impact cooperation between team members, an area previously unexplored.
In a field experiment in Bangladesh, their working paper focuses on the varying impacts of warm conditions on individual and team performance working in indoor settings and in cognitively demanding occupations.
"These occupations are increasingly located in high-temperature regions with limited climate control, like India, and neighboring countries in South Asia," Garg said.
The study found that individual computer programmers working in warm rooms performed comparably to those in control rooms. However, teams in warm rooms significantly underperformed relative to teams in control rooms and individuals in both temperature settings. Teams in warm environments were less likely to make progress on tasks.
"There's a breakdown in communication and interaction between workers when it's hot," Garg said. "When it's hot, you're more irritable and annoyed and therefore less likely to work collaboratively with people, which is essential for creativity and innovation."
Climate change, decarbonization and sustainability are among the 21st Century India Center's research focus areas, as increasing temperatures pose unique difficulties to the country.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a major environmental group working within the state, is pleading with wildlife officials not to remove bald eagles from the endangered species list as planned, saying a virus that's killing peregrine falcons will inevitably prove lethal to eagles.
In June, the state's Department of Environmental Protection said the bald eagle has made such a remarkable recovery that it was proposing to remove it from the state's endangered species list. There was only one nesting pair in the state in 1970. As of last year, there were 267.
But Emile DeVito, who wrote Monday to the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife, asked officials not adopt the change because of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that is striking peregrine falcons along the coast. DeVito is manager of science and stewardship for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
"The peregrine falcons are dying left and right," DeVito told The Inquirer. "And they are dead within 24 hours of showing symptoms. What we know about it from Michigan and Wisconsin is that it's going to be huge problem."
DeVito wrote in his letter, which was sent as a formal comment on the endangered species list removal proposal, that the HPA is "already serious and ongoing" and removing the bald eagle from the list would weaken protections.
'Actively discussing the issue'
Larry Hajna, a spokesperson for the DEP, said that Fish and Wildlife officials are aware of the spread and impact of HPAI on wildlife.
"It is premature for us to take a position regarding the potential impacts HPAI is having on our wildlife, including bald eagles, but we are actively discussing the issue and reviewing data," Hajna wrote in an email.
DeVito said he had learned of the spreading flu to eagles at a briefing of New Jersey's Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee. HPAI is a highly contagious disease known as bird flu or avian flu, transmitted from bird to bird. It does not normally infect humans, but it has sporadically.
At the briefing, Fish and Wildlife officials said that 44 N.J. nesting peregrine falcons have been identified so far this year as falling ill with the disease and that 21 adults, or nearly half, had died. Losses were higher in coastal nests. The loss ratios are similar in Virginia and Maryland's Eastern Shore.
The New Jersey Conservation Foundation initially supported the state's removal of the bald eagle from the endangered list, which the peregrine falcon remains on. DeVito was on the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee for 25 years but recently left it.
"We shouldn't be delisting them now," DeVito said. "This is highly transmittable."
He said that the avian flu has already infected some eagles and that the birds get the disease while eating infected prey.
"It's not widespread yet," DeVito said. "But it's just starting to impact them. Chances are next year, there's going to be a big hit to the population."
Seeking public comment
The delisting of bald eagles is part of a larger rule proposal currently open for public comment, Hajna said. The bald eagle is just one of many species being proposed for either listing or delisting for various categories in a process that the state takes on sporadically. The public can comment on the rule through Aug. 24.
If adopted, the rule would move the bald eagle from New Jersey's endangered species list and categorize it as a species of special concern. The bald eagle would still remain listed as a non-game species, meaning it cannot be hunted.
DeVito believes it would be easier to remove the bald eagle from consideration for now. It could then be reintroduced separately for delisting later if the avian flu runs its course.
Bald eagles have made a remarkable comeback nationwide since DDT was banned in 1972. They were removed from the federal government's endangered species list in 2007. Pennsylvania has also removed the raptor from its endangered or threatened list, but it is protected under the state's Game and Wildlife Code.
It was not immediately clear of the strain of avian flu that is striking peregrine falcons and bald eagles.
But the Centers of Disease Control reports that the HF or H5N1 bird flu, forms of HPAI, has struck nearly 10,000 wild birds across the U.S. in wild birds, including bald eagles. It has struck at least 593 bald eagles since early 2022, according to an Inquirer analysis of the data. Two cases were logged in New Jersey this year in Mercer and Bergen Counties.
William Bowerman, a professor of wildlife ecology and environmental toxicology, wrote a letter "with urgency" to the federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in June, stating that he's studied bald eagles in Michigan and the Great Lakes for 40 years, and said his findings indicate the first regional population declines since the DDT era. Bowerman wrote that the decline is, "likely caused by" HPAI.
2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Art depicts the Roman Emperor Henry III viewing the supernova explosion of 1054.
The stars aren't fixed and unchanging, unlike what many ancient people thought. Once in a while, a star appears where there wasn't one before, and then it fades away in a matter of days or weeks.
The earliest record of such a "guest star," named so by ancient Chinese astronomers, is a star that suddenly appeared in skies around the world on July 4, 1054. It quickly brightened, becoming visible even during the day for the next 23 days.
Astronomers in Japan, China and the Middle East observed this event, as did the Anasazi in what is now New Mexico.
In the second half of 2024, a nova explosion in the star system called T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, will once again be visible to people on Earth. T CrB will appear 1,500 times brighter than usual, but it won't be as spectacular as the event in 1054.
I am a space scientist with a passion for teaching physics and astronomy. I love photographing the night sky and astronomical events, including eclipses, meteor showers and once-in-a-lifetime astronomical events such as the T CrB nova. T CrB will become, at best, the 50th brightest star in the night skybrighter than only half the stars in the Big Dipper. It might take some effort to find, but if you have the time, you'll witness a rare event.
What is a nova?
In 1572, the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe observed a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. After reporting the event in his work "De Nova Stella," or "On the New Star," astronomers came to associate the word nova with stellar explosions.
Stars, regardless of size, spend 90% of their lives fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. How a star's life ends, though, depends on the mass of the star. Very massive starsthose more than eight times the mass of our Sunexplode in dramatic supernova explosions, like the ones people observed in 1054 and 1572.
In lower mass stars, including our sun, once the hydrogen in the core is exhausted, the star expands into what astronomers call a red giant. The red giant is hundreds of times its original size and more unstable. Eventually, all that is left is a white dwarfan Earth-sized remnant made up of carbon and oxygen. White dwarves are a hundred thousand times denser than diamond. Unless they're part of a binary star system, where two stars orbit each other, they slowly fade in brightness over billions of years and eventually disappear from sight.
T CrB is a binary star systemit's made up of a red giant and a white dwarf, which orbit each other every 228 days at about half the distance between Earth and the sun. The red giant is nearing the end of its life, so it has expanded dramatically, and it's feeding material into a rotating disk of matter called an accretion disk, which surrounds the white dwarf.
What the Los Angeles sky will look like on, as an example, Aug. 15, 2024, at 10 p.m. local time. The view will be very similar across the U.S., but T CrB will get closer and closer to the horizon and will be halfway between where its shown here and the horizon by early September. By early October, it will be right on the horizon. Credit: Vahe Peroomian/Stellarium
Matter from the accretion disk, which is made mostly of hydrogen, spirals in and slowly accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf. Over time, this blanket of hydrogen becomes thicker and denser, until its temperature exceeds 18 million degrees Fahrenheit (10 million degrees Celsius).
A nova is a runaway thermonuclear reaction similar to the detonation of a hydrogen bomb. Once the accretion disk gets hot enough, a nova occurs where the hydrogen ignites, gets blown outward and emits bright light.
When will it occur?
Astronomers know of 10 recurrent novaestars that have undergone nova explosions more than once. T CrB is the most famous of these. It erupts on average every 80 years.
Because T CrB is 2,630 light-years from Earth, it takes light 2,630 years to travel the distance from T CrB to Earth. The nova we will see later this year occurred over 2,000 years ago, but its light will be just reaching us later this year.
The accretion of hydrogen on the surface of the white dwarf is like sand in an 80-year hourglass. Each time a nova occurs and the hydrogen ignites, the white dwarf itself is unaffected, but the surface of the white dwarf is wiped clean of hydrogen. Soon after, hydrogen begins accreting on the surface of the white dwarf again: The hourglass flips, and the 80-year countdown to the next nova begins anew.
Careful observations during its past two novae in 1866 and 1946 showed that T CrB became slightly brighter about 10 years before the nova was visible from Earth. Then, it briefly dimmed. Although scientists aren't sure what causes these brightness changes, this pattern has repeated, with a brightening in 2015 and a dimming in March 2023.
Based on these observations, scientists predict the nova will be visible to us sometime in 2024.
How bright will it be?
Astronomers use a magnitude system first devised by Hipparchus of Nicaea more than 2,100 years ago to classify the brightness of stars. In this system, a difference of 5 in magnitude signifies a change by a factor of 100 in brightness. The smaller the magnitude, the brighter the star.
To find Corona Borealis, locate Arcturus, and then look about a handspan above.
In dark skies, the human eye can see stars as dim as magnitude 6. Ordinarily, the visible light we receive from T CrB comes entirely from its red giant, a magnitude 10 star barely visible with binoculars.
During the nova event, the white dwarf's exploding hydrogen envelope will brighten to a magnitude 2 or 3. It will briefly become the brightest star in its home constellation, Corona Borealis. This maximum brightness will last only several hours, and T CrB will fade from visibility with the naked eye in a matter of days.
Where to look
Corona Borealis is not a prominent constellation. It's nestled above Bootes and to the west of Ursa Major, home to the Big Dipper, in northern skies.
To locate the constellation, look due west and find Arcturus, the brightest star in that region of the sky. Then look about halfway between the horizon and zeniththe point directly above youat 10 p.m. local time in North America.
Corona Borealis is approximately 20 degrees above Arcturus. That's about the span of one hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinky, at arm's length. At its brightest, T CrB will be brighter than all the stars in Corona Borealis, but not as bright as Arcturus.
You can also use an interactive star chart such as Stellarium, or one of the many apps available for smartphones, to locate the constellation. Familiarizing yourself with the stars in this region of the sky before the nova occurs will help identify the new star once T CrB brightens.
Although T CrB is too far from Earth for this event to rival the supernova of 1054, it is nevertheless an opportunity to observe a rare astronomical event with your own eyes. For many of us, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime event.
For children, however, this event could ignite a passion in astronomy. Eighty years in the future, they may look forward to observing it once again.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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During the interviews, the researchers used a method called mental sketch mapping to invite young participants to contribute to the conversation through drawings/paintings/sketches of their rooms, homes, streets and neighbourhoods. As the interviews continued, they asked children prompt questions to find out the story behind the drawings, what home meant to them and how children relate to those places. Credit: University of Waterloo
There have been ongoing accusations that international students are flooding university towns and taking up all the affordable housing. These narratives paint international students as the culprit, but a new study affirms that there is no basis for blaming international students for Canada's housing crisis and looks to change the narrative.
The study was led by a team of researchers at the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Environment and debunks popular myths about international students. For example, international students are often perceived as temporary visitors who are young, hyper-mobile and care-free individuals.
While some may fit this demographic, the researchers point out that the reality is much different. Currently, one in five international students is estimated to live with their partner and children during their studies, and these families are overlooked in Canada's policy and planning in higher education, migration and housing.
"The needs of international student families haven't really been discussed," says Dr. Alkim Karaagac, researcher in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management and principal investigator of the new study. "There is an invisibility and silence, which is a perfect recipe for vulnerability and exploitation."
Focusing on this vulnerable population, the researchers conducted a two-year case study on the housing experiences of 21 international student families living off-campus in the Waterloo region. The region is a unique location to investigate given it has the largest purpose-built student housing market in the country and is reported to have one of the least affordable housing markets among Canadian university towns.
Their interviews centered on the lived experiences of international students making a home in Canada and the challenges they face in the housing market. The findings suggest that all international student families face many hurdles to finding adequate housing, plus there are not enough diverse options to meet their needs.
"We talked to a family who had been living in an Airbnb for the last eight months who used up all their savings on tuition and housing," Karaagac says. "While the Airbnb is expensive, when you settle somewhere and the kids start school, you cannot just move somewhere else. Especially when there aren't a lot of options."
Other countries don't share these problems. Subsequent interviews with experts that can speak about the housing crisis detailed how the United States and United Kingdom support their international students with subsidized housing. From these conversations, plus a review of government documents and reports, Karaagac and her team put forward a series of recommendations.
"We don't have to wait years for major policy changes. There are small changes that we can make now to have a positive impact. One thing is that international students should receive accurate information on university housing, waiting lists, cost of living and housing in the local context. They also need hands-on support when applying for housing, so they don't fall victim to fraud, and help upon arrival as they navigate their first week," Karaagac says.
The researchers believe these short-term actions can be complemented by longer-term actions, such as implementing polices and bylaws that curb rental scams and discrimination by property owners. They also share that creating partnerships with housing market actors can lead to creative affordable housing solutions and that it is essential to expand how universities in towns can be more interconnected with town centers.
At Waterloo, international students comprise 19% of our total graduate student body. Developing solutions within the institution and with partners to improve the graduate student housing experience is a key area of focus. For example, the Graduate Student Association, a key project partner, is using the findings to propel their advocacy work for affordable housing in the region and recently held an event with international student families.
Moving forward, they would like to continue creating events to bring together international student families and share resources and programs available within the region.
Later this year, Karaagac and the team will be presenting their findings and recommendations with actors in the community. They are also scheduled to present at conferences held by the Canadian Association of Geographers and British Association of Geographers.
"We need to see international students as complex and more than one type of student. They are a diverse group which you can't house in a standard dormitory. We need to step up and be prepared as towns, universities and provinces to support them."
More information: Learning from International Student Families, Making a Home in Canada: https://www.makeahome.ca/publications
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(a) The specific structure of a natural biological cell membrane, which owns an ultrathin structure and a dual hydrophilic-hydrophobic character. (b) Interface strain as the driving force to curl the ultrathin nanosheets into nanovesicles. Credit: Science China Press
Inspired by the cell membrane structure, researchers, led by Dr. Xiaoqing Huang (State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University) and Dr. Qi Shao (College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University), propose a biomimetic strategy for synthesis of nanovesicles by utilizing the interfacial strain as the driving force to curl the ultrathin nanosheets into nanovesicles.
Meanwhile, the electrocatalyst with the vesicular structure displays excellent HOR activity and stability.
To study the formation mechanism of RhRu nanovesicles, morphologies and compositions of the reaction intermediates were initially collected using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM) line scan and TEM energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDS) analysis, respectively.
It was found that the pure Rh small nanosheets were formed in the beginning stage; then the small nanosheets grew gradually along the lateral direction.
As the reaction time went on, the Ru element was gradually reduced and the nanosheet began to bend to form a bowl-like structure. Prolonging the reaction time, the bowl-like structure gradually formed a vesicle structure.
The researchers conclude that the introduction of Ru atoms plays a critical role in the curling growth of the nanosheet structure. Meanwhile, density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the Ru atoms make the curling of the nanosheet more favorable in thermodynamics.
Owing to the unique vesicular structure, the RhRu nanovesicles/C displays excellent hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) activity and stability.
The mass activity of RhRu nanovesicles/C at an overpotential of 50 mV is 7.50 A mg (Rh+Ru) 1, which is 24.19 times higher than that of Pt/C (0.31 A mg Pt 1). Moreover, the RhRu nanovesicles/C-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) displays a high peak power density (PPD) of 1.62 W cm2, possessing a potential application in hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cell (HEMFC).
This work shows that it is feasible to design new structures by the biomimetic strategy, which can draw rapid attention in biomimetic synthesis.
The research is published in the journal National Science Review.
More information: Juntao Zhang et al, An all-metallic nanovesicle for hydrogen oxidation, National Science Review (2024). DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwae153
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Trends of outer cortex fruit firmness (M1maximum hardness at region one) and inner cortex fruit firmness (M2maximum hardness at region two) at-harvest ('H') and after-storage ('S') of Phase Two (P2) selections and individual reference cultivars from 2005 to 2019. Credit: Fruit Research (2024). DOI: 10.48130/frures-0024-0020
A research team at Washington State University has demonstrated considerable advancement in enhancing apple firmness and its retention during cold storage, which is vital for fruit quality. The study analyzed 15 years worth of data from, from 2005 to 2019, emphasizing increased inner cortex firmness, which was influenced by cultivars like "Cripps Pink" and "Honeycrisp."
This research underscores the value of genetic selection in breeding programs, potentially leading to apples with superior storability, which aligns with the program's goal of improved fruit quality during cold storage.
The trend analysis of breeding records revealed that the Washington State University apple breeding program (WABP) has been focusing on the selection of apples with improved eating quality and storability. Current research predominantly measures outer cortex firmness, with relatively limited attention paid to inner cortex firmness.
The study, published in Fruit Research on 2 July 2024, aims to address the gap by focusing on after-storage retention of inner cortex fruit firmness, examining the genetic contributions of key cultivars, and assessing the WABP's overall progress in breeding for improved fruit storability.
The phenotypic distribution of maximum hardness in R1 (termed M1) and maximum hardness in R2 (termed M2) values for both "at-harvest" and "after storage" samples over multiple years was analyzed using penetrometers to measure outer and inner cortex firmness. For M1 measurements, most "at-harvest" (H) samples ranged between 16 and 22 lbs, with higher variance in certain years. "After-storage" (S) samples showed reduced firmness.
M2 measurements followed similar trends, with "H" values typically between 24 and 31 lbs and "S" values consistently lower. The data revealed that M1 and M2 firmness values were generally highest for "H" selections, followed by "H" cultivars, "S" selections, and "S" cultivars. Notably, selections exhibited better after-storage firmness retention in comparison to cultivars. Year-to-year analysis showed smaller deltas in firmness loss for selections than for cultivars.
Additionally, the average allelic representation (AAR) indicated increasing genetic contributions from "Honeycrisp" and "Cripps Pink," while "Golden Delicious" remained consistently represented. This study highlights the effectiveness of the WABP in selecting apples with enhanced firmness and storability, emphasizing the genetic influence of key cultivars on these traits.
According to the study's lead researcher, Kate Evans, "This 15-year trend analysis showed that the WABP has been selected for increased fruit firmness (particularly of the inner cortex), and retention of inner cortex firmness among the P2 selections. This breeding progress also aligns with one of the three WABP's overarching objectivesimproved fruit storability."
In summary, the WABP resulted in enhanced apple firmness and storability over a 15-year period, as evidenced by data collected from 2005 to 2019. The study revealed that the selected cultivars exhibited superior and more sustained firmness, particularly in the inner cortex, influenced by "Cripps Pink" and "Honeycrisp." Future efforts will focus on breeding strategies and leverage genetic insights to further elevate apple quality and align with consumer demands.
More information: Soon Li Teh et al, Multi-year trends of retention of fruit firmness after storage and influence of cultivar representation among apple breeding selections, Fruit Research (2024). DOI: 10.48130/frures-0024-0020
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Credit: ACS Nano (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c01888
Viral vectors hold much potential for gene editing and gene therapy, but there is a pressing need to develop quality control methods to minimize potential side effects on patients. Addressing this, researchers from Japan developed a nanosensing-based approach that can differentiate between functional and faulty viral vectors at the single-particle level. This convenient and inexpensive technique will hopefully get us one step closer to advancing treatments for genetic disorders.
Over the past few decades, there has been remarkable progress in genetic manipulation technologies, bringing us closer to the point where genes can be modified in vivo. Such tools would open up the way to gene therapy, ushering in a new era in medicine. Thus far, the most promising strategies for gene therapy involve leveraging the existing molecular machinery found in viruses.
In particular, adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have recently garnered significant attention from the scientific community, given their potential to serve as nucleic acid vaccines for diseases such as COVID-19. However, during AAV vector manufacturing, some particles may carry only a partial copy of the intended genome, while others may be empty. These defective vectors can lead to unexpected side effects, underscoring the urgent need for robust quality control methods in their production.
Addressing this challenge, a team of researchers from Japan recently reported a novel nanosensing technique to measure viral vector characteristics. Their findings were presented in their latest paper, published online on 5 June, 2024, in ACS Nano.
The team includes Associate Professor Makusu Tsutsui and Professor Tomoji Kawai from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University; Lecturer Akihide Arima from the Institute of Nano-Life-Systems at Nagoya University; Specially Appointed Professor Yoshinobu Baba from the Institute of Nano-Life-Systems Institutes of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University; Project Researcher Mikako Wada, Assistant Professor Yuji Tsunekawa and Professor Takashi Okada, all from the Institute of Medical Science at The University of Tokyo.
The proposed approach involves measuring the ionic current that flows through a nanopore opening when a voltage differential is applied to a solution containing AAVs. When the nanopore is unobstructed, the measured ionic current is relatively constant. But when a viral particle passes through the nanopore, the flow of ions is partially blocked for a brief moment, producing a spike or pulse in the ionic current readout.
Interestingly, because AAV vectors with full genomes are heavier and slightly bulkier than empty or partially filled vectors, it's possible to discriminate between them as they pass through the nanoporefaulty vectors produce a "signature" in the measured ionic current that is noticeably different from that of full-genome vectors.
The team verified this through experiments, finite-element simulations, and theoretical analyses. "By designing a sensor with an optimal structure, we identified for the first time the gene-derived sub-nanometer-scale differences in the size of the viral vectors," explains Tsutsui.
This technique allows for the convenient and inexpensive quality control of AAV vectors, which thus far has relied on complex methods such as mass photometry, transmission electron microscopy, and analytical ultracentrifugation.
"The present work may revolutionize medicine by providing a tool for preparing AAV vectors with ultra-high quality for safe and effective gene therapy," highlights Tsunekawa. "It may be key in the development of production and purification systems for AAV vectors," he adds.
Moreover, beyond AAV vectors, this approach holds promise for studying other types of viral vectors, potentially opening new avenues for effective gene therapies and advancing our understanding of viral biology. Moreover, ensuring the high quality of clinically used AAV vectors could allow for lower patient doses, thereby minimizing side effects.
More information: Makusu Tsutsui et al, Identifying Viral Vector Characteristics by Nanopore Sensing, ACS Nano (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c01888 Journal information: ACS Nano
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Thursday's rainfall in Lahore breaks a record dating to July 1980.
Pakistan's second-largest city of Lahore was deluged with record-breaking rainfall on Thursday, the national weather agency said, with hospitals flooded, power interrupted and streets in the metropolis submerged.
The eastern city was lashed by almost 360 millimeters (14 inches) of rain in three hours, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said.
"This was record-breaking rainfall," the agency's deputy director Farooq Dar told AFP.
The previous record dates to July 1980, when 332 millimeters fell over three hours.
"Look at all these buckets and how much water has accumulated. We're exhausted from trying to remove the water," Sadam, a 32-year-old shopkeeper, told AFP as he took stock of his considerable losses.
The PMD had forecast a wetter-than-usual monsoon season this year for Pakistan, one of the countries experts say is most vulnerable to extreme weather being spurred by climate change.
Over the past three days, 24 people have been killed by rainfall in the country's mountainous northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said.
In Lahore, a city of 13 million in the eastern Punjab province, one person was killed by electrocution as a result of Thursday's cloudburst, according to local police.
The city's commissioner declared an emergency and said offices and schools would be shut for the day.
Yasir Ali, a 26-year-old resident, said it was a "sad day for the nation".
"For a poor person it is heartbreaking that he's been unable to go to work today," he told AFP.
'Pay some attention here'
Two government hospitals in Lahore reported flooding in their wards, and there were intermittent power outages continuing into the afternoon.
Roads were also submerged, bringing traffic and businesses to a standstill.
Ahmed Khan, 48, who earns a daily wage, appealed to the government "to pay some attention here and resolve this water issue".
Maryam Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab province, posted on X that "the entire government machinery is in the field" to drain the water.
The summer monsoon brings to South Asia about 70 to 80 percent of the region's annual rainfall between June and September.
It is vital for agriculture, but changing weather patterns that scientists attribute to climate change are putting both lives and livelihoods at risk.
Earlier this year Pakistanhome to 240 million peoplewas hit by a succession of heat waves and this April was the wettest since 1961.
At least 143 people died from lightning strikes and other storm-related incidents in April.
In neighboring India, at least 160 people, most believed to be laborers and their families, have been killed by torrential rains causing landslides in the southern coastal state of Kerala.
In 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost $30 billion, according to a World Bank estimate.
2024 AFP
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Four decades ago, fragile falcon eggs were saved from certain death by Ken Yager and a small team of expert climbers from a nest on Yosemite's El Capitan sheer granite wall, as protective parents dive-bombed from the sky.
Those rare eggs hatched a new generation of baby birds, then another, testament to one of the most successful conservation stories in California historyand proof of the power of human partnerships to protect a species that was once on the brink of extinction.
The number of breeding pairs of peregrine falcons, the world's fastest animal, has doubled during a 15-year-long collaborative recovery plan involving climbers, the National Park Service and Yosemite Conservancy, the park announced on July 31.
This spring, there were 17 breeding pairs in the Park, up from only eight pairs in 2009. A total of 51 nesting sites have been counted since 2009, yielding 385 baby birds.
"It feels wonderful," said Yager, now 65 and living in Mariposa. "I thought that the project had a very slim chance of working. I am glad I was wrong."
The relationship between rock climbers and the cliff-dwelling birds could have been a fraught one.
Majestic birds, peregrine falcons choose cliffs for their nesting sites because the sheer walls protect chicks from terrestrial predators. The high altitude allows the birds to spot potential threats as they approach from below. Their dive speeds can exceed 200 miles per hour.
But the presence of rock climbers can scare birds away from their nesting sites, leaving their young unprotected from predators, according to research. An assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the leading information source on the global extinction risk status of animals, lists rock climbing as a threat to the species.
Yosemite's Peregrine Falcon Protection Program protects the birds by temporarily closing off some climbing routes. In its early years, it enlisted rock climbers as a valuable resource for the bird conservation project, traversing hard-to-access habitats.
"By avoiding off-limits areas and educating fellow adventurers, climbers help ensure falcon fledglings have the best chance of survival," said Jesse McGahey, a Yosemite park ranger.
Before the mid-20th century, there were more than 3,800 adult peregrine pairs in the United States.
But by 1974, only 324 pairs remained in the U.S., killed off largely by widespread use of the synthetic insecticide DDT. An accumulation of DDT in birds caused them to lay eggs with very thin shells that easily broke.
Peregrines were declared a federally endangered species in 1970, and they were added to the California endangered species list the following year. DDT was outlawed in the U.S. in 1972.
In Yosemite, the birds vanished. The last pair was spotted in 1941 on Mount Broderick, above the Mist Trail.
In 1978, climbers Dale Bard, Hugh Burton, Bruce Hawkins and Ron Kauk were startled to discover an active nest while ascending "New Jersey Turnpike" on the southeast face of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot-high granite monolith that looms above the valley floor, according to Yager.
This spurred a recovery effort.
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group hired climbers to gather egg shell samples from the nest ledges for testing. Then the group launched a bold plan: take the thin-walled eggs from nests, incubate and hatch them in the safety of a laboratory, and return the young to the nests.
Yager and his group ascended to a second nest on the left of an 80-foot Ponderosa pine and removed the eggs. The eggs were placed in foam-protected containers and passed from climber to climber"like a fire brigade," said Yagerto a backpack. Then a lab-hatched chick, carried in a small blue fabric cage during the climb, was gently placed in the nest.
"I was terrified," he recalled. Overhead, "the peregrines would sort of stall out, flying upward about 150 to 200 feet. When they lost their airspeed, they would do a wingover and tuck their wings in and drop like a rock."
"Just when I thought I was going to die, they would flare their wings above my neck and glide off, just inches from me," so close that Yager could feel the breeze. Fellow climber Rob Roy Ramey, who was supervising the process, was hit on his pack. But he didn't fall.
Carrying the eggs, the climbers rappelled down. Within a half hour, the adult birds returned to the nest, feeding their new baby.
With climbers' help, these captive breeding programs successfully released over 1,000 young peregrines back into the wild. Peregrines are versatile enough to nest in cities, but national parks are intended to conserve the birds' natural ecosystems.
Now the Peregrine Falcon Protection Program, launched 15 years ago by the late wildlife biologist Jeff Maurer and supported by donors and a large gift from Maurer's family, protects the peregrines through targeted closures of climbing areas.
Rather than issuing indiscriminate route closures, Yosemite implemented a plan based on routine monitoring of dozens of cliff sites. Buffer zones above the cliffs prevent helicopters from flying unnecessarily close.
The park imposes, adjusts or lifts closures based on each peregrine family's activity. No more than 5% of climbing routes at a time are closed, starting in March. Once the babies have left their nests in mid-July, the routes are re-opened.
This year, for instance, the park closed routes on Higher Cathedral Rock between and including "Power Point" and "The North Face," routes on The Rostrum in Lower Merced Canyon, and parts of the southwest face of El Capitan, between and including the routes "Octopussy" and "Dihedral Wall."
Elsewhere around the nation, about 85 to 100 climbing areas nationwide are closed to protect falcons, as well as golden eagles, during their nesting period.
"Without help, peregrines probably would have disappeared from the park," said Yager, who still climbs almost daily. "I am proud that I was able to have a small part in their future survival."
2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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While many welcome the return of wetland wildlife to the delta, local authorities are bracing for battle with farmers who want it drained again.
Tour guide Eugen Grigorov steered his boat past half-underwater combine harvesters and last year's flooded crops in a part of Romania's Danube Delta reclaimed by the great river.
After a dike burst last summer near his village of Mahmudia, swathes of the delta once drained for farmland were submerged again, creating the region's second-largest lake and a paradise for the region's battered biodiversity.
"Isn't it lovely now? Less pollution than with tractors and herbicides," the 51-year-old said, marveling at the hundreds of wild pelicans, ducks and gulls flocking to the lake.
But while many welcome the return of wetland wildlife to the delta, local authorities are bracing for battle with farmers who want it drained again.
'Let the lake remain'
Grigorov remembers how the delta first made way for crops in the 1980s, when communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had the reed islands burnt down and the marshes drained to turn them into farmland.
Since the floods the area has returned to what it was like 40 years ago, Mahmudia's mayor Ion Serpescu told AFP, adding the town was "happy" after the dike breached.
Serpescu pointed to the fishermen and tourists drawn to visit his village by the lake, saying that "more than 15 guest houses have been built in two years" to accommodate them.
After a dyke burst last summer near the village of Mahmudia, swathes of the delta once drained for farmland were submerged again, creating the region's second-largest lake and a paradise for the region's battered biodiversity.
Estimating the cost of rebuilding the dike at 20-30 million euros ($22-32 million), the 67-year-old believed there was little point in draining the lake again.
"Let the lake remain as it is," he said.
Many of Mahmudia's 2,000 residents hope the Romanian government will agree, after a commission of experts issued an opinion in favor of the delta's ecological restoration.
And during a visit in June, Romania's Environment Minister Mircea Fechet said that nature was "already repairing" the damage and "the delta has done nothing but reclaim its own land".
But others were less keen on the idea, with businessman Emanuel Dobronauteanu suing the local authorities for damages after losing 730 hectares (1,804 acres) of wheat, corn, sunflower and alfalfa in the floods.
Demanding "just compensation", the 58-year-old said the estimated two million lei ($435,000) in damages caused by the floods was too low a figure.
But even he said that he was not completely opposed to the lake's return, telling AFP he would be "most happy" to "go out there to fish" if he was compensated adequately.
Fishermen and tourists have been drawn to visit the village by the lake.
Many of Mahmudia's 2,000 residents hope the Romanian government will agree to keep the lake, after a commission of experts issued an opinion in favour of the delta's ecological restoration.
Environmentalists say that leaving the lake flooded would speed up the restoration process.
The ruptured dyke, which local authorities have blamed on a series of construction flaws, came as no surprise to biologist Dragos Balea.
'Nature takes its due'
In 2012, Romania launched a project aimed at restoring the Danube Delta's damaged ecosystems with the help of funding from the European Union.
Environmentalists say that leaving the lake flooded would speed up the restoration process.
"Aquatic ecosystems recover much faster than forests," said biologist Dragos Balea, who coordinates the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)'s programs in the delta.
"If you leave an aquatic ecosystem alone, in 10 to 15 years it will recover more than 70 percent" of its original biodiversity, Balea told AFP.
The signs are already encouraging.
"More and more birds are showing up," he said, with his project monitoring more than 90 species in the delta.
The ruptured dike, which local authorities have blamed on a series of construction flaws, came as no surprise to the biologist.
"You can't mess with nature. Nature takes its due," he said.
2024 AFP
Three men accused of helping orchestrate the Sept. 11 terror attacks struck a plea deal with prosecutors, according to the Department of Defense.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi "entered into pretrial agreements" with Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, the DOD announced Thursday.
The men, who had been in U.S. custody since 2003, agreed to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy in exchange for life sentences, instead of standing a death-penalty trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The New York Times reported, citing prosecutors.
The plea deal was approved by a senior Pentagon official, according to a source with knowledge on the arrangement.
Family members of victims were first notified of the plan in a letter from federal prosecutors.
"In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet," the letter authored by Rear Adm. Aaron Rugh read, according to the Times.
Rugh admitted that after "12 years of pretrial litigation" the decision "was not reached lightly. However, it is our collective, reasoned and good-faith judgment that this resolution is the best path to finality and justice in this case."
Mohammad is accused of devising the plan to hijack airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, and crash them into New York City buildings. He presented the idea to Osama bin Laden and helped train the terrorists, prosecutors said.
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A researcher collects a sample of bedrock from the Queshque Glacier in the Peruvian Andes Mountains. The samples show tropical glaciers have retreated to their smallest size in more than 11,700 years based on cosmogenic nuclide measurements of recently exposed bedrock, an international team of scientists, led by Boston college researchers, reports in the journal Science. Credit: Emilio Mateo, Aspen Global Change Institute
Rocks recently exposed to the sky after being covered with prehistoric ice show that tropical glaciers have shrunk to their smallest size in more than 11,700 years, revealing the tropics have already warmed past limits last seen earlier in the Holocene age, researchers from Boston College report in the journal Science.
Scientists have predicted glaciers would melt, or retreat, as temperatures warm in the tropicsthose regions bordering the Earth's equator. But the study's analysis of rock samples adjacent to four glaciers in the Andes Mountains shows that glacial retreat has happened far faster and already passed an alarming cross-epoch benchmark, said Boston College Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Jeremy Shakun
"We have pretty strong evidence that these glaciers are smaller now than they have been any time in the past 11,000 years," said Shakun, a paleoclimatologist and co-author of the report.
"Given that modern glacier retreat is mostly due to rising temperaturesas opposed to less snowfall, or changes in cloud coverour findings suggest the tropics have already warmed outside their Holocene range and into the Anthropocene."
In other words, the glaciers may no longer be classified as being of the Holocene interglacial period, a significant epoch that saw the birth of civilization, where the flow of water and sea level dictated where towns and cities formed, and where agricultural and commercial activity emerged. Instead, they may be best classified by an epoch that may be well on its way to spelling their end: the Anthropocene.
The findings signal more of the world's glaciers are likely retreating far faster than predicted, possibly decades ahead of a grim climatological schedule.
"This is the first large region of the planet where we have strong evidence that glaciers have crossed this important benchmarkit is a 'canary in the coalmine' for glaciers everywhere," said Shakun.
Glaciers have been retreating worldwide over the past century but it has been unclear how the magnitude of this retreat compares to the range of natural fluctuations over the past several millennia, Shakun said. The team set out to determine how small tropical glaciers are today compared to their range over the last 11,000 years.
Researchers who formed the international team of scientists traveled to Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia to measure the chemistry of bedrock only recently uncovered in front of four melting glaciers spanning the tropical Andes. Two rare isotopesberyllium-10 and carbon-14build up in bedrock surfaces when they are exposed to cosmic radiation from outer space, Shakun said.
"By measuring the concentrations of these isotopes in the recently exposed bedrock we can determine how much time in the past the bedrock was exposed, which tells us how often the glaciers were smaller than todaykind of like how a sunburn can tell you how long someone was out in the sun," Shakun said.
Shakun led the project with former BC graduate student Andrew Gorin, partnering with researchers from the University of Wisconsin and Tulane University on the American Cordillera project, then seeking samples and data from colleagues at Aix-Marseille University, the National University of Ireland, Aspen Global Change Institute, Ohio State University, Union College, University Grenoble Alpes, and Purdue University.
"We found essentially no beryllium-10 or radiocarbon-14 in any of the 18 bedrock samples we measured in front of four tropical glaciers," said Gorin, now a Ph.D. student at UC-Berkeley. "That tells us there was never any significant prior exposure to cosmic radiation since these glaciers formed during the last ice age."
Twenty years ago, researchers at the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru, the largest tropical ice mass in the world, found rooted plant remains melting out of the ice margin as it retreated. Radiocarbon dating showed that those plants were 5,000 years old, indicating Quelccaya had been larger than its size at the time of that study for that whole interval otherwise the plants would have decayed away if there was a prior period of exposure, Shakun said.
Those Quelccaya findings suggested that modern ice retreat has been abnormally large, but was not yet progressing to an alarming level compared to ice melt across the entire Holocene, Shakun said. He and his team wanted to study a larger number of glaciers and use a technique that can unambiguously show if a glacier was ever smaller than today.
Shakun and his colleagues have been applying the same technique to glaciers along the entire length of the American Cordillera, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The team previously published the results of its North American sampling last year and aims to publish the results from southern South America soon.
"Once we do that, then these studies can all be put together into a global perspective on the current state of glacier retreat," said Shakun.
More information: Andrew L. Gorin et al, Recent tropical Andean glacier retreat is unprecedented in the Holocene, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adg7546. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7546 Journal information: Science
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An illustration of the visualization bias that can occur due to the trade-off between temporal and spectral resolution. Credit: Ecology and Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11636
Research, conducted by The University of Warwick and the University of New South Wales in Australia, analyzes animal sounds from endangered species including types of elephants, whales and birds.
It uses a new method adapted from tech used to analyze brain waves in neuroscience. The study is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
Analysis of animal sounds can be used to estimate their population size, to identify what animals live in a particular area, to understand their migration patterns, and to understand any negative impacts they may experience due to the increasing levels of noise created by human activity that are occurring in most of their habitats. Such insights are vital in developing environmental management and conservation strategies.
The new method was shown to be more accurate than the conventional methods for analysis of animal sounds. While testing this new method, called the Superlet transform, the study also revealed some previously unreported or disputed details in animal sounds:
The Asian elephant call isn't just made up of continuous tones, but also contains sounds that are "pulsed," or comprised of regularly timed bursts of sound energy.
Pulsing was also shown in the southern cassowary (a large bird similar to an emu) and American crocodile calls.
New evidence was uncovered that helps to solve a debate around the characteristics of the Chagos pygmy blue whale's song.
These are not conclusive findings, as each one is based on just a single recording. To confirm them, more sounds will need to be analyzed. They illustrate, however, the power of this new method to clarify details that previously might have been ambiguous.
Lead Researcher Ben Jancovich, a Ph.D. candidate from The University of New South Wales, and visiting Ph.D. student at The University of Warwick's Mathematics Institute, said, "Our new study highlights that sometimes, the accepted tools that we've become comfortable with, may not actually be the best tools for the job."
"This is especially true in cross-disciplinary fields like bioacoustics, where the methods are highly technical, and require expertise in multiple fields."
"The new method we demonstrated offers increased accuracy and requires less expertise to use, so it should prove to be a hugely valuable tool for animal sound researchers that don't have an engineering background."
Current methods (including the "Short-Time Fourier Transform," STFT) have difficulties in accurately revealing both the rhythms and pitch of sounds at the same time.
These limitations are more pronounced at lower frequencies, affecting the analysis of sounds like those made by blue whalesgentle giants of the sea, sadly listed as an endangered species.
The new technology will be available for people to use for free, via a simple-to-use app, making it easy for researchers from different fields to use, without needing extensive knowledge of audio signal analysis.
More information: Benjamin A. Jancovich et al, BASSA: New software tool reveals hidden details in visualisation of lowfrequency animal sounds, Ecology and Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11636 Journal information: Ecology and Evolution
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Researchers examine evidence of animal fossils, which are about 550 million years old, in field work in Namibia. Credit: Rachel Wood/University of Edinburgh
A newly developed timeline of early animal fossils reveals a link between sea levels, changes in marine oxygen, and the appearance of the earliest ancestors of present-day animals.
The study, published in Science Advances, reveals clues into the forces that drove the evolution of the earliest organisms, from which all major animal groups descended.
Ancient fossils
A team from the University of Edinburgh studied a compilation of rocks and fossils from the so-called Ediacaran-Cambrian intervala slice of time 580510 million years ago. This period witnessed an explosion of biodiversity according to fossil records, the causes of which have baffled scientists since Charles Darwin.
The early animals found from this era were all sea-dwellers, at a time when oxygen levels in the air and ocean were much lower than today.
While the very first lifeforms before this time were mostly single-cell and simple multi-celled organisms, creatures in the Ediacaran Period started to become more complex, with multiple cells organized into body plans that allowed them to feed, reproduce, and move across the ocean floor.
This era also marked the emergence of so-called bilaterian animalswhich display symmetrical body plans, in common with most present-day species including humans.
Biodiversity timeline
By compiling data from different sourcesincluding radioactive dating and geochemical information about the layers of rock in which fossils were foundthe team mapped all major fossil finds and various environmental datasets onto a single timeline.
The new chronology allowed the team to study trends in biodiversity for the period in question with more detail than before.
They combined these insights with further chemical clues from the geological recordconfirming a link between major changes in global sea levels, intervals when shallow marine environments gained more oxygen, and the appearance and diversification of early animal groups.
This dynamic set the stage for several significant bursts in biological diversity, known as the Avalon, White Sea, and Cambrian assemblages, each marking the arrival of new animal groups and the decline of others.
By reconstructing environmental conditions in deepest time, the study unlocks new insights into the ancient forces and pressures that shaped the earliest life on our planet.
The team also identified gaps in the fossil record, suggesting that current knowledge about early animals is biased by the clusters of sites worldwide where fossils have been found and studied.
"Constructing a timescale of early animal evolution using the rock record is a daunting task, only made possible through international and interdisciplinary research. But an integrated global approach is crucial. It exposes biases in our records, while also revealing patterns in fossil appearances, sea level cycles, and environmental oxygen," says Dr. Fred Bowyer.
"Knowing what drives biodiversity is a fundamental piece of knowledge in the puzzle of life. I feel very privileged to have built upon decades of interdisciplinary global research, and contributed to a better understanding of the role that sea level plays in early animal evolution," says Mariana Yilales Agelvis.
More information: Fred T. Bowyer et al, Sea level controls on Ediacaran-Cambrian animal radiations, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado6462 Journal information: Science Advances
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Inshore coral reef at Yunbenun Magnetic Island. Credit: Matt Curnock, CSIRO
Griffith researchers are among the 200 experts who have contributed to the most comprehensive and rigorous review about the effects of land-based activities on Great Barrier Reef water quality and ecosystem condition: the 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement.
The Statement brings together the latest scientific evidence to understand how land-based activities can influence water quality in the Great Barrier Reef, and how these influences can be managed.
Led by C2O Consulting and funded by the Australian and Queensland governments, the Statement involved more than 200 experts including 78 authors and 69 reviewers from Australia and overseas. The outputs are based on evidence from more than 4,000 publications.
Australia's Chief Scientist Dr. Cathy Foley provided oversight of the process to ensure that the approaches used were best practice, credible and robust. She says, "The 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement is an exemplar of the academic methods for reaching scientific consensus. The public can trust the processes used to develop the Statement, and the conclusions can be relied upon and trusted to inform decision-making."
Experts addressed 30 priority questions examining evidence from the catchment to the reef. The questions cover values, conditions and drivers of the health of the Great Barrier Reef, sediments and particulate nutrients, dissolved nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants, as well as human dimensions of water quality improvements and emerging science. All outputs were independently peer reviewed by local, national, and international experts.
Based on the evidence, 35 scientific experts reached consensus on eight overarching conclusions, Concluding Statements and a Summary report.
Overarching conclusions
Historical and continuing land management and catchment modification impair Great Barrier Reef water quality through extensive vegetation degradation, changed hydrology, increased erosion, and expansion of fertilized land uses, urban centers and coastal developments.
Pollutant loads from the catchment area to the Great Barrier Reef have increased from pre-development loads by 1.4 to 5 times for fine sediments, and 1.5 to 3 times for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (with variations depending on basins).
Poor water quality, particularly elevated levels of fine sediments, nutrients and pesticides, continues to have detrimental impacts on Great Barrier Reef ecosystems. The greatest impacts are on freshwater, estuarine, coastal and inshore marine ecosystems.
Human-induced climate change is the primary threat to the Great Barrier Reef and poor water quality can exacerbate climate-related impacts. Good water quality is critical for healthy and resilient ecosystems and supports recovery from disturbances such as mass bleaching and extreme weather events. Meeting water quality improvement targets within the next ten years is imperative.
While several land management practices and remediation actions are proven to be cost-effective in improving water quality, translating these into more substantial pollutant reductions will require significant scaling up of the adoption of these actions, prioritization of pollutant hotspots, and greater knowledge of the costs and potential co-benefits of practice adoption.
Greater focus on locally effective management solutions can encourage faster adoption, especially when designed and delivered using collaborative approaches involving landholders, Indigenous communities, the broader community, policy makers and scientists.
World-leading monitoring, modeling and reporting programs underpin the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems and provide essential knowledge to inform water quality improvement strategies. These programs could be strengthened and refined by increasing their spatial and temporal coverage to capture regional and local differences, provide more balanced coverage across land uses and ecosystems, improve trend analysis and quantify uncertainties.
Ten Griffith University experts contributed as authors to the Statement, including three as lead authorsAssociate Professor Andrew Brooks, Professor Guillermo Diaz-Pulido and Professor Michele Burford.
"There is good evidence that the remediation of large alluvial gullies applying treatments typically used on major civil engineering projects, is both highly effective and highly cost-effective. Fine sediment reductions over 90% were demonstrated within one to two years of remediation.
"The 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement confirms that gully and streambank erosion represent around 80% of all sediment delivered to the Great Barrier Reef," Associate Professor Brooks said.
"The evidence for riparian management was, however, more equivocal. The review found that while there was a sound theoretical basis for the sorts of management activities currently being undertaken to reduce channel erosion through riparian management, the scientific evidence specific to the Great Barrier Reef does not yet exist to back this up."
More information: 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement. www.reefwqconsensus.com.au/
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Fluorescence microscopy image of Paramecium bursaria showing Chlorella spp. algal symbionts in green. Credit: Dr. Ben Makin
Hotter conditions prevent two tiny organisms working together for mutual benefit, new research shows.
University of Exeter scientists studied a single-celled organism (Paramecium bursaria) which can absorb and host algae (Chlorella spp). This pairing is common in freshwater worldwide, and their symbiotic relationship provides benefits including trading of nutrients and protection for the algae.
But when scientists made the water 5C warmer, the partnership stopped workingand the results suggest the algae may even become parasitic.
The breakdown of such relationships could have a major impact on ecosystems.
The paper, published in the journal Aquatic Biology, is titled "One year of warming leads to the total loss of productivity in a widespread photosymbiosis."
"This kind of relationshipcalled photosymbiosisis an important part of freshwater and ocean ecosystems," said Dr. Ben Makin, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
"To illustrate their importance, these relationships provide around half of all marine photosynthesis.
"A well-known example is found in coral reefswhere the reef-building corals host resident photosynthetic partners. In recent years, we have seen many high-profile 'bleaching' eventswhen corals expel these partners, often due to high temperatures, leaving them at risk of stress and mortality.
Fluorescence microscopy image of Paramecium bursaria showing Chlorella spp. algal symbionts in green. Credit: Dr. Peter Stilwell
"That is a short-term, 'immediate' reaction to changing conditions, but in this study we wanted to find out the possible evolutionary effects of high temperaturesoccurring over multiple generations. Such effects remain virtually unknown, as they are difficult to study in slow-growing organisms.
"The single-celled organisms we chose in our study have short lifespans, so by testing them in sustained high temperatures we were able to examine how they respond over many generations."
The Paramecium bursaria and Chlorella spp. in the study had been kept in lab conditions at 25Ca realistic temperature for these species in the environment.
The researchers kept some at 25C as a control group, while others were exposed to cooling (20C) or warming (30C) for 295 days.
"With 5C of warmingconsistent with worst-case climate scenarios by the end of this centurythe relationship between these species appears to be fundamentally changed," Dr. Makin said.
"While some algae stayed within host cells, the relationship was strongly degraded in warmer conditions.
"Net photosynthesis and carbon-use efficiencyin effect the amount of energy produced by the algae for its host and the capacity for the association to use that energy to growboth strongly declined to zero.
"The complete loss of net photosynthesis was a striking result. Alarmingly, this implies the photosynthesis rates provided globally by these associations could be at risk over evolutionary timescales under warming.
Paramecium bursaria with Chlorella spp. (red) and nucleic acid (bright greenyellow), highlighting the nucleic acid in symbiont nuclei and ribosomes. Credit: Dr. Ben Makin
"It also means the algae no longer provide the key photosynthetic benefit to their hosts, with the association showing signs of becoming parasitic."
This is an 'inversion' of the mutualistic association these photosymbioses typically formwhich means the species no longer receive benefits from one another, and instead partners can exploit or harm the other.
It is hoped that evolution can "rescue" some species, allowing them to adapt quickly enough to rapid environmental changes being caused by humans.
While these species did manage to raise their "growth rate thermal optimum" (their ideal temperature for reproduction), they did not evolve to save their symbiotic relationship.
This type of algae usually relies on organic nitrogen sourced from its host, but in the study, more and more of the algae became free livingexisting outside the host and now relying on inorganic nitrogen found in the water.
Dr. Makin concludes, "Warming has the power to erode these relationships over evolutionary timescaleswith serious implications for global, highly productive photosymbiotic associations, like those found in coral reefs."
More information: B Makin et al, One year of warming leads to the total loss of productivity in a widespread photosymbiosis, Aquatic Biology (2024). DOI: 10.3354/ab00769
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Zeynep Talip, Rugard Dressler, and Dorothea Schumann (left to right) are happy about the result of a years-long effort on the half-life of samarium-146, which plays an important role in the astrophysical and geological determination of time. Credit: Paul Scherrer Institute PSI/Markus Fischer
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Australian National University have re-determined the half-life of samarium-146 with great precision. The result fits perfectly with the data astrophysicists and geochemists have obtained from extraterrestrial samples. The study is published today in Scientific Reports.
Samarium-146 has a half-life of 103 million years. Or 68 million years. Or maybe 98 million years? Until now, it wasn't known precisely, because researchers have repeatedly come up with contradictory results since the first measurements in the 1950s.
For astrophysicists and geochemists, this is a major problem. They need to know the half-life of samarium-146 as accurately as possible to explain the formation of asteroids and planets and to precisely date rocks. Now their uncertainty is over. Samarium-146 has a half-life of 92 million yearswhich aligns very well with the age assessments of meteorites and moon rocks.
The most precise result to date
This result was achieved by a team of researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in Villigen, Switzerland, and the Australian National University in Canberra. "Our result is the most precise to date," says Dorothea Schumann, who led the team.
The fact was also acknowledged by the peer reviewers who assessed the work: "This is an outstanding paper. It's like Columbus's egg," they wrote. They particularly highlighted that, in this publication, all steps were described in a comprehensible manner and thus the result is fully traceable. "I am impressed by the detailed documentation and quantification of possible artifacts," state the reviewers.
There are good reasons for this. In 2012, a team from Japan, Israel, and the U.S. published a surprisingly low value for the half-life of samarium-146: 68 million years, with an uncertainty of 7 million years. That caused worldwide consternation among geoscientists, as this value neither matched the older experiments nor the measurement data from meteorites used to date the formation of our solar system.
Because no one could definitively conclude which of the outcomes was the more correct result, a team of experts recommended using this new value and the previously established value in parallelan untenable situation for researchers. For moon rocks, for example, this would result in differences of 90 million years, which corresponds to about 35% of their formation age.
Then relief came in 2023: The authors of the 2012 publication identified an inconsistency in one of the steps during the sample preparation and consequently withdrew their paper.
A problem postponed
With that, though, the problem was merely postponed. Geoscientists still required a more accurate value for the half-life of samarium-146 and some other radionuclides that play important roles in dating the formation of planets. What all these radioisotopes have in common are half-lives of many millions of years. That's how long it takes for half of the radioactive material to decay.
Samarium-146 is a pure alpha emitter; the atom emits a helium nucleus and decays into neodymium-142. Because you obviously can't wait millions of years for a significant amount of a material to decay, other methods are needed that can produce results more quickly.
In theory, that is quite simple. To determine the half-life of any radioactive isotope, you only need to determine the number of atoms in the sample as well as the activity, that is, the rate of decay. The quotient then gives the half-life up to a constant factor, the natural logarithm of 2.
"Only" is a very optimistic little word here, however, because the path to determining the two values exactly is complicated and paved with experimental pitfalls. But the team found solutions for all of these challenges.
The experiment was divided into three parts. First came the extraction of sufficient quantities of the isotope samarium-146, which does not occur naturally on Earth. For this purpose, tantalum samples irradiated at PSI's Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ turned out to be the most suitable material.
After a series of highly selective chemical separations, an extremely pure solution of a samarium compound was obtained to produce a very thin sample for the activity measurement. Part of the solution was deposited on a carbon film only 75 micrometers thick.
Second was the activity measurement: The carefully prepared samarium sample was placed at a well-defined distance from an alpha radiation detector. The samarium film was only a fraction of a micrometer, so it would not stop the alpha particles. By determining the energy, the researchers could also discern whether or not an alpha particle actually came from the decay of samarium-146.
The apparatus had been calibrated with a very precisely determined sample of americium-241 produced by the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB in Braunschweig. Because of the tiny amount of samarium-146even a grain of icing sugar weighs 10 times morethe team had to carry out measurements for three months to determine the activity with sufficient precision; the rate was almost 54 decays per hour.
Third was the determination of the number of atoms: Here the samarium solution was examined for its composition using various mass spectrometers at PSI and at the Australian National University by counting the number of atoms of samarium-146 as well as all other samarium isotopes present in the sample.
After adding additional quantities of natural samarium, which contains no samarium-146, the total amount of all samarium isotopes and also of samarium-146 could be determined accurately. Because the mixture also contained an additional artificial isotope of samarium that emits gamma radiation, the researchers were able to deduce how many samarium-146 atoms were deposited on the thin foil: exactly 6.28 times 1013 atoms or only 0.000018 milligram samariumoxide (146Sm 2 O 3 ).
In addition, the team was able not only to claim the high purity of the sample, but also to actually prove it through additional measurements. "This is the specialty of our lab at PSI, and the reviewers of our publication have particularly underlined it," says Rugard Dressler from the Laboratory for Radiochemistry.
Once all these experimental challenges had been overcome, the rest was a case for the pocket calculator. The result for the half-life of samarium-146 is 92.0 2.6 million years.
Only possible at PSI
These measurements were made entirely and exclusively feasible thanks to the ERAWAST initiative (Exotic Radionuclides from Accelerator Waste for Science and Technology), a long-term project that reuses radioactive accelerator waste from PSI for research purposes. In
PSI's proton accelerator and the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ, many radioactive isotopes are produced in various nuclear reactions. Most of these only cause serious issues through their radioactive decay and are therefore categorized as radioactive waste, but some of them are extremely rare and highly desired in fundamental research.
The researchers of the Isotope and Target Chemistry group at the Laboratory for Radiochemistry at PSI, managed by Schumannproject leader, initiator of the ERAWAST initiative and also co-author of the samarium paperhave developed techniques to chemically separate many isotopes of interest from the waste and to produce samples of high purity over the last 15 years.
"Only in this way was it possible to obtain a sufficient amount of samarium-146 for the precise determination of its half-lifea possibility that is not available anywhere else around the world," says Zeynep Talip, who now heads the research group and is also a co-author of the samarium paper.
For Dressler, the work on samarium-146 is complete for now. For others, it's just now getting started. The physicist from the Laboratory for Radiochemistry at PSI emphasizes, "There is no finally correct value for the half-life of samarium-146. Our result is very precise indeed, but now it needs to be confirmed and, if possible, improved by other groups."
More information: Nadine M. Chiera et al, The 146Sm half-life re-measured: consolidating the chronometer for events in the early Solar System, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64104-6 Journal information: Scientific Reports
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A helicopter looks to make a drop of water as the Quarry wildfire burns in the foothills near the Ken Caryl Ranch development Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, southwest of Litteton, Colo. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
A wildfire burning in Colorado's heavily populated Front Range region has burned dozens of homes and outbuildings, while a second fire crept within a quarter-mile of evacuated homes near Denver on Thursday.
Authorities said they were hopeful that hundreds of threatened homes could be saved. But firefighters working in the tree-covered foothills on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains faced sweltering temperatures, and some were sidelined by heat exhaustion.
The struggle to contain the blazes came after authorities said Wednesday that a person was killed in a wildfire west of Lyons, Colorado. The person's remains were found inside one of five houses that burned.
Almost 100 large fires are raging across the West. The largest, in Northern California, has burned more than 400 houses and other structures, officials reported.
New, large fires were reported in Idaho, southeast Montana and north Texas.
About two dozen homes and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed in a wildfire near Loveland, Colorado, authorities disclosed after an initial survey of the burn area.
Meanwhile, the Quarry Fire southwest of the Denver suburb of Littleton encroached on several large subdivisions after people in 600 homes were ordered to evacuate.
Onlookers gather at a roadblock to watch as a wildfire burns in the mountains near the Ken Caryl Ranch development Wednesday, July 31, 2024, southwest of Littleton, Colo. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
By Thursday afternoon, firefighting aircraft zipped back and forth between the blaze and a nearby reservoir. Planes skimmed the surface to scoop up water and hovering helicopters pumped water into their tanks before returning to the fire to dump their loads.
Jim and Meg Lutes watched from an overlook near their house northeast of the fire as smoke plumed up from the ridges. Their community west of Littleton was not under evacuation orders, but the couple had been ready to start packing a day earlier when flames could be seen blanketing the mountains.
"It can come over that hill pretty quick if the wind changes," said Jim Lutes, 64, pointing to a nearby ridge.
Five firefighters were injured Wednesday, including four who had heat exhaustion, said Mark Techmeyer, a spokesperson with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The fire was in steep terrain that made it difficult to access but had been held to less than one square mile (1.8 square kilometers) with no houses yet destroyed, authorities said. It remained a major hazard, with hot temperatures and low humidity elevating the danger.
A helicopter heads in for a water drop as the Quarry wildfire burns in the foothills near the Ken Caryl Ranch development Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, southwest of Littleton, Colo. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
The fire was discovered Tuesday night by a deputy on patrol in what authorities described as "open areas." It was small at first but quickly spread.
"I think anytime that you see a small fire in an area like that at 9:00 at night, it makes you scratch your head a little bit," Techmeyer said at a Wednesday briefing when asked if he thought the fire was suspicious.
On Thursday he said the fire has "proven to be one of the most challenging firefights I've seen," as helicopters passed overhead.
He was flanked by hillsides where firefighters labored to keep the blaze from hopping a road separating the conflagration from populated areas.
"If we lose that fight, the fire is coming this way," Techmeyer said, motioning toward dense neighborhoods and Littleton.
The ranks of firefighters more than doubled since the day before, from 75 to 155, most of them volunteers. No structures had been lost as of Thursday afternoon but authorities expected the battle to be a long one.
Helicopter heads toward a ridge to make a water drop on a wildland fire burning near the Ken Caryl Ranch development Wednesday, July 31, 2024, southwest of Littleton, Colo. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
A helicopter collects water from a small lake to use in a drop on a ridge as the Quarry wildfire burns in the foothills near the Ken Caryl Ranch development Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, southwest of Littleton, Colo. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which operates a large facility just outside the evacuation zone, closed it as a precaution.
Miles to the north near Lyons, officials lifted some evacuations and reported making progress on the Stone Canyon Fire, which has killed one person and destroyed five houses. The cause is under investigation.
California's arson-caused Park Fire northeast of Chico continued to grow, covering about 610 square miles (1,590 square kilometers) as of Thursday morning. That's more than 25 times the size of New York's Manhattan Island.
Losses also increased. The latest updates tallied 437 structures destroyed and 42 damaged, according to Cal Fire. The fire was 18% contained.
Authorities said they faced critical fire weather in the coming days with potential triple-digit temperatures, thunderstorms and erratic winds. Almost 6,000 personnel were helping battle the Park Fire as more fire crews arrived from Utah and Texas.
Scientists say extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the U.S. West and others parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and droughts become more severe.
2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Two Texas railroad workers have been charged in connection with an alleged scheme to steal Garmin watches during shipment and resell them, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas announced Wednesday.
Gerald Ditz, 31, and Michael Alaniz, 35, both of El Paso, Texas, have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen property, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, one count of mail and wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of mail fraud.
According to the indictment, between May 2023 and May 2024, Ditz and Alaniz allegedly used their employment at a freight contracting company that serves a train station in Santa Teresa, N.M., to access Garmin watches that were en route to the company's warehouse in Olathe, Kan. Garmin produces a variety of sports, outdoor and fitness watches, including smart watches.
Ditz and Alaniz allegedly stole the Garmin watches from their shipping container and resold dozens of them online to unwitting buyers.
According to the indictment, some of the watches stolen from the shipping container also have registrations connected to more than a dozen people assigned or formerly assigned to the Santa Teresa train station, or about 15% of the workforce.
Both men were arrested in Texas, and made their initial court appearances this week in the Western District of Texas.
-With TMX
For Geneseo police detective Jamie Shoemaker, building trust in her community is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. Without much prompting she can rattle off success stories of community members shes connected with, like a mother shes helping with managing substance abuse.
It was one day I went to speak to her and check on her, that her daughter came up and gave me a hug, and the daughter recognized me as a person that was there to help their mom, not take their mom to jail. Thats a huge one, Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker heads the department's Integrated Model Police And Crisis Team, or IMPACT, a crisis prevention task force focusing on people with mental illness or facing difficulties with substance abuse.
Shoemaker said that their work has evolved over the years to ensuring that people get care past the point of their crisis. Sometimes thats as simple as following up with a phone call or going on a walk with someone making connections and advocating for people that otherwise might not have support.
As one of the multiple hats she wears with the department, Shoemaker helps plan and host IMPACTs annual conference for first responders. Held this past Friday, July 26, at Augustana College in Rock Island, the conference promotes local collaboration by connecting attendees with presenters and vendors that all work to address mental health in area communities.
Law enforcement in general over the last few years, a lot of what we deal with are mental illness calls and substance abuse calls, Shoemaker said. You have limited resources. So, we can complain about the problem, or we can create a solution to help with the problem.
Some of this year's speakers were police Crisis Intervention Team trainers; a retired police officer-turned mental health advocate; a former drug user that works with Illinois Recovery Oriented System of Care; and a representative of The Gray Matters Collective.
They discussed responding to mental health crises; mental health struggles faced by police, firefighters, dispatchers and nurses; and firsthand experiences with addiction, despair and recovery. A point of emphasis throughout the conference is that mental health challenges can affect anyone.
Its been taboo in the past. We dont talk about mental illness, we dont talk about our loved one that has the methamphetamine addiction, Shoemaker said. But the more conversations Ive had with people, I realize that this is close to home for a lot more people than what I think has been previously talked about.
This year's keynote speaker was Ernie Stevens, former San Antonio police officer and one of the stars of the HBO documentary, Ernie & Joe Crisis Cops. The documentary focuses on Stevens and his partner, Joe Smarro, as they respond to people experiencing mental health crises.
Shoemaker said watching this documentary was instrumental in informing the approach her department takes to mental health.
The IMPACT conference is only in its third year but continues to grow. This is the biggest event yet, with more than 100 attendees including the vendors. At the conference there were organic conversations between different responders and agencies, exactly the sort of connection Shoemaker hoped to see.
Despite the challenges and stigma surrounding mental health, Shoemaker thinks that IMPACTs approach has so far been a success.
I know for a fact that its working, because people are coming to me now going, Would you help us do this? Shoemaker said. Its building that trust within law enforcement, its building that trust within the mental health and substance use communities, so they know were not just here to show up on their bad day, but we also want to be there before it gets to that point.
Shoemaker said that there are already plans forming to have the conference again next year.
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A Florida man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for bringing a loaded firearm into a terminal at Tampa International Airport and trying to hide it in a bathroom, prompting an evacuation.
Abraham Othman Yacoub, 26, of Lakeland, pleaded guilty in April to violating airport security requirements and attempted possession of a dangerous weapon on an aircraft, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement announcing the sentence on Wednesday.
On Aug. 4, 2023, Yacoub arrived at Tampa International Airport to board a flight to Las Vegas. He placed his backpack, shoes and other items into a Transportation Security Administration bin and proceeded through TSA screening.
During the X-ray scan of Yacoub's items, TSA agents observed a firearm in the backpack. While the agents searched for the bag, Yacoub removed it from the conveyor belt and took it to the nearest men's restroom, where he wrapped the gun in toilet paper and hid it in a trash can.
Upon leaving the restroom and returning to the TSA screening area, he was met by an agent and his backpack was re-screened. When the gun was no longer inside, agents questioned Yacoub, who claimed he had not brought a gun the the airport.
The terminal had to be evacuated, delaying flights, until the firearm was found.
The Tampa Airport Police Department arrived and questioned Yacoub, then searched the restroom. They located a black Glock 19 partially wrapped in toilet paper with 14 nine-millimeter rounds of ammunition inside a magazine loaded into the gun. The gun and ammunition, which Yacoub agreed to forfeit, were seized.
According to prosecutors, this was Yacoub's second time bringing a firearm into a Florida airport. In 2020, Yacoub brought a gun into the TSA screening area at an airport in Miami-Dade County. In that case, Yacoub pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed firearm in 2021.
A man who recently was sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison has become the second person charged in connection with the March 2023 shooting death of 34-year-old Dimitri Larese Martin.
Sylvester George Taylor Staples, 31, formerly of East Moline, is charged in Scott County District Court with one count of first-degree murder, a Class A felony under Iowa law that carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Staples also is charged with one count each of assault while participating in a felony causing serious injury, and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. Each of the charges is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.
He also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years, and use of a dangerous weapon in commission of a crime, an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years.
Trevelyan J. D. Pugh, 24, of Davenport, was arrested July 25 on the same charges.
Staples was arrested July 26 on the Scott County charges while in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service at the Muscatine County Jail.
According to the arrest affidavits filed by Davenport Police Detective Brandon Askew, police and firefighters responded to a report of shots fired in the area of West Third and Ripley streets at 12:45 a.m. March 3, 2023.
Man charged with first-degree murder for 2023 fatal shooting in Davenport A 24-year-old man has been arrested in relation to a fatal shooting on March 3, 2023, in Davenport.
Martin, of Rock Island, was found lying on a bench located on the north side of Third Street at Ripley Street. Martin had suffered numerous gunshot wounds and was taken to Genesis Medical Center-East Campus, Davenport, where he died of his injuries.
According to the affidavits, Staples and Pugh approached Martin and fired multiple shots. Martin was struck multiple times.
During a hearing on July 10 in U.S. District Court, Davenport, Staples was sentenced to 13 years and five months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and violating his federal supervised release. He has appealed his sentence to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.
Staples was on federal supervised release when he allegedly participated in the shooting of Martin.
There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Staples' bond on the murder charge is $2 million, cash only. Pugh is being held in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $100,000.
Guns are the leading cause of childhood death in the US. Here are 6 tips to safely store firearms at home How to safely store firearms at home
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about residential and boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here is a resource list for trauma responses from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition in the U.S. In Canada, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-866-925-4419.
Editors note: This story will be updated as ICT receives additional reactions to the report.
The U.S. Department of the Interior released its final investigative report Tuesday on the ugly history of federal Indian boarding schools, calling for a formal apology from the U.S. government and ongoing support to help Native people recover from the generational trauma that endures.
The second and concluding report from the departments Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative also calls for return of lands that once housed the boarding schools, and construction of a national memorial to honor the children who were separated from their families and forced to attend schools that sought to wipe out their culture, identity and language.
The overarching theme of the boarding school initiative report and recommendations is that of healing for Indian Country, with a list of specific ways the federal government can tangibly assist tribal nations and peoples.
The federal government facilitated by the department I lead took deliberate and strategic actions through federal Indian boarding school policies to isolate children from their families, deny them their identities, and steal from them the languages, cultures and connections that are foundational to Native people, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, said in a statement released with the report.
These policies caused enduring trauma for Indigenous communities that the Biden-Harris administration is working tirelessly to repair, said Haaland, who became the first Native person to be included in a presidential cabinet when she was tapped by President Joe Biden to lead the department.
The Road to Healing does not end with this report it is just beginning, she said.
The report and its recommendations were authored by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community.
For the first time in the history of the United States, the federal government is accounting for its role in operating historical Indian boarding schools that forcibly confined and attempted to assimilate Indigenous children, Newland said in a statement.
This report further proves what Indigenous peoples across the country have known for generations that federal policies were set out to break us, obtain our territories, and destroy our cultures and our lifeways, Newland said. It is undeniable that those policies failed, and now, we must bring every resource to bear to strengthen what they could not destroy. It is critical that this work endures, and that federal, state and tribal governments build on the important work accomplished as part of the Initiative.
Ruth Anna Buffalo, president of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, said the report is a good step but that more research and effort are needed.
The coalition has led efforts to bring the facts of the boarding school era out of history's shadows, focusing its efforts on the people most impacted by the schools especially the Native ancestors who died at the schools but remain uncounted.
"The report is important for the families of those directly affected, for those left with no answers," said Buffalo, a citizen of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation. "It's a heavy topic that deserves to be handled with love and care. ... Our ancestors were very spiritual people and I find it hard to comprehend how they were treated in such a way."
The wounds of the era hit home for Buffalo and her family.
"Unfortunately, it's a common thread for the First Peoples of these lands," to have personal, lived experience with boarding school era trauma, she said. "There is much more work that needs to be done."
Hundreds more deaths
The Department of the Interiors final report of the Federal Boarding School Initiative largely makes good on promises from its initial report issued in May 2022, which called for continuing the investigation into the scope of the federal boarding school system.
Haalands initiative and the launch of the investigation in 2021 represented the first official U.S. effort to acknowledge the existence of the boarding school era and its negative impact on Native peoples.
The initial report for the first time included historical records of boarding school names and locations, and the first official list of burial sites of children who died at the schools.
The latest report, which officials said included a review of more than 100 million pages of documents, expands on those findings to report that student deaths at boarding schools are nearly double what had previously been reported, increasing from an estimated 500 to 973.
The estimated number of identified boarding schools also increased, from 407 to 417, and the number of other institutions such as orphanages and asylums with similar missions of assimilation increased from 1,000 to 1,025.
Researchers verified the identity of 18,624 students who attended boarding schools from 1819 to 1969, and identified 74 marked or unmarked burial sites at schools versus 53 sites shared in the first report.
The report also estimates that the U.S. government budgeted more than $23 billion, converted to 2023 U.S. dollars, on the federal boarding school system.
Notably, the latest report contains additional findings and recommendations that are more specific than those found in the past document, and in all cases, authors stated that the actual numbers in all categories will likely increase as research continues.
The latest report comes as Congress is making progress on legislation in the House and Senate that would create a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies with authority to investigate not just federal schools but also private and church-run schools.
A series of recommendations
The latest report outlines a series of eight recommendations that appear to be guided, at least in part, by steps that Canada took in response to that countrys Indian residential school history, which closely mirrors the U.S.
Unlike the U.S., however, which has only recently recognized such a history existed, Canada began its work with an apology in 2006 before moving on to reparations and other substantive actions.
The U.S. commission would be patterned after the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was created as part of the 2008 Indian Settlement Act. Canada eventually paid to residential school survivors more than $3 billion in reparations, which are notably absent from the U.S. initiatives recommendations.
The Canadian government also collected survivor stories, provided traditional and mainstream mental health supports, issued a government apology, collected and made boarding school records publicly available and helped locate unmarked graves of children who died and were buried at the schools.
The U.S. Indian boarding school system served as a model for Canada and operated far more schools, with 417 schools compared to 139 in Canada.
Haaland and Newland traveled the country on an historic Road to Healing tour, with 12 stops that provided Indigenous survivors the opportunity to share for the first time with the federal government their experiences in federal Indian boarding schools. Transcripts of the tour, which finished in late 2023, are available on the Federal Boarding School Initiative website.
The Interior Department also launched an oral history project documenting and making public experiences of generations of boarding school survivors. Funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is interviewing survivors for what will be a collection of first-person narratives that will be shared with the public.
This report further proves what Indigenous peoples across the country have known for generations that federal policies were set out to break us, obtain our territories, and destroy our cultures and our lifeways, said Newland. It is undeniable that those policies failed, and now, we must bring every resource to bear to strengthen what they could not destroy. It is critical that this work endures, and that federal, state and tribal governments build on the important work accomplished as part of the Initiative.
Ongoing efforts
The report also states that the Department of the Interior is working with tribes to repatriate or protect human remains and funerary objects from Indian boarding schools sites located on U.S. government lands, and will do so under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
The efforts will include remains at the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where nearly 180 students who died at the school are buried. The site is controlled by the U.S. Army.
The Land Back recommendation will also be ongoing, with calls for return to tribes of the Indian lands that the government provided to religious organizations and states for the purpose of building schools. In many cases, the lands were to have reverted back to tribal ownership if organizations stopped operating schools.
Churches and other organizations, however, continue to hold some of this land today long after boarding schools closed. In an independent investigation, ICT found that Catholic entities may continue to hold more than 10,000 acres of these lands.
The report also identifies 127 treaties made between the federal government and tribes in which boarding schools figure highly, and calls for the U.S. to make good on its promises in treaties and other legislation to provide quality education for Native Americans as well as essential Indigenous language preservation curriculum.
Anger and hurt
Reactions from tribal leaders were mixed.
Peter Lengkeek, the chairman of the Great Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, welcomed the report but said the wounds from the boarding school era remain deep.
I believe it is a step in the right direction, he said. But coming into the tribal office I stopped different [individuals] and asked their opinions. If someone was to come to you and say they want to make it right with tribes, what would that look like? The common (answer) was, It doesn't matter what they do, I still have this anger and hurt in my heart.
The pain from the era is still alive on Lengkeeks reservation, which is not far from the St. Joseph Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The school is still in operation but no longer operates under the policies of the boarding school era.
My brothers went to Vietnam after and fought in war. To this day what bothers them is St. Joseph Indian School, not the war. The school. I cant imagine what they went through for that to be worse than war, Lengkeek said.
Report highlights
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiatives second and final investigative report released Tuesday, July 30, 2024, by the U.S. Department of the Interior includes eight recommendations from Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, who authored the report. Here are recommendations:
*Apology: The U.S. government should acknowledge its role in a national policy of forced assimilation of Native children and issue a formal apology to individuals, families and tribes that were harmed by U.S. policy.
*Investments: The U.S. should invest in tribal communities in five key areas: individual and community healing; family preservation and reunification, including supporting tribal jurisdiction over Indian child welfare cases; violence prevention on tribal lands; improving Indian education; and working to revitalize First American languages.
*A national memorial: The U.S. government should establish a national memorial to acknowledge and commemorate the experiences of Native people within the federal Indian boarding school system.
*Repatriations: The government should identify children interred at school burial sites and help repatriate their remains
*Return school lands: The government should work to return the federal Indian boarding school sites to tribal ownership.
*Tell the story: The government should work with institutions to educate the public about federal Indian boarding schools and their impact on communities.
*Further research: The government should study how policies of child removal, confinement and forced assimilation have impacted generations of families, particularly the present-day health and economic impacts
*Advance international relations: The government should work with other countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand with their own similar but unique histories of boarding schools and assimilationist policies, to determine best practices for healing and redress.
A 26-year-old Vale woman was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted of sexual contact with a minor on July 25.
District Judge Karen Schreier sentenced Leslie White to a 30-year sentence followed by 10 years of supervised release and an order to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $29,424.20 in restitution.
White will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
She was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023 for production of child pornography by a parent. White pleaded guilty May 1
According to the press release from the United States Attorneys Office, the FBI received a tip on Dec. 13, 2022, about a married couple producing child pornography of their minor daughter. The pornographic images were found on a social media platform Wickr.
After investigation, it was determined White and her husband, Timothy White, were trading images and videos containing child pornography involving their daughter to other individuals.
When White spoke with law enforcement on Dec. 15, 2022, she told them she is pictured in some of the images, and her husband took the photos and video, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office..
At that time, the account was still posting. On Dec. 19, 2022, law enforcement arrested Timothy White while he was working at the Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service.
He admitted he produced the images in Utah and South Dakota and identified the woman pictured in the images as his wife.
He told law enforcement he is a nudist and was "educating" the child.
After searching White's locker at the fire department and the couple's Vale home, law enforcement seized 33 devices. Evidence on three devices showed 169 videos, 443 images, and eight live photos of the child. At least 37 of the pornographic images were distributed.
Timothy White distributed over 500 images of other victims and received over 11,000 images and videos that law enforcement found on several devices, officials said. He also asked someone else to have their child engage in sex acts on a web camera.
White pleaded guilty to the attempted enticement, exploitation, and receipt of child pornography charges in November 2023. In exchange, the government dismissed additional charges of sexual exploitation, enticement, and child pornography distribution.
Chief Judge Roberto Lange sentenced Timothy White on Feb. 5 to 30 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, 45 years in prison for attempted enticement of a minor, and two years in prison for receipt of child pornography.
All sentences will run concurrent to each other. Lange also sentenced Timothy White to 10 years of supervised release and ordered he pay $28,000 in restitution and $300 to the federal Crime Victims Fund.
Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia since being arrested in 2023, is on his way back to the United States after being released as part of a massive prisoner swap, President Biden announced on Thursday.
Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan have been freed as part of the deal. Both men were held on espionage charges.
Also released were Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimire Kara-Murza.
"The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy. All told, we've negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia-including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Under the deal, the United States will return prisoners to Russia.
President Biden said he hoped to greet the former prisoners when they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
He called the negotiations that led to their freedom as "difficult" when talking to reporters at the White House.
They took the ballots, sealed in their manila envelopes since Election Day, out from the Goochland County Circuit Court vault just before 7:30 a.m. Thursday and, under the watchful eye of clerk Amanda Adams, marched them over to the Parks and Recreation Department gym.
So began one of the biggest recounts in Virginia in years, repeated in the 23 other counties and cities of the 5th Congressional District. Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, requested a recount of his 374-vote, 0.6 percentage-point loss to state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, in the June 18 Republican primary.
The count will determine whether McGuire unseated Good, who since 2021 has represented the sprawling Southside district that extends from western Hanover, Louisa, Goochland and Powhatan counties in the Richmond area, south to the North Carolina line.
Its an elaborate, formal process that was unlikely to end until early Friday morning. A special three-judge recount court was to review results from all 24 city and county recounts, resolve any disputes over what ballots say, check that the numbers all match total votes cast, totals for each candidate, total of ballots that were blank or unreadable and then certify a winner.
Recounts are unusual but not unheard of in Virginia elections. In the past 20 years, two statewide contests for attorney general went to recounts, with Republican Bob McDonnell winning in 2005 and Democrat Mark Herring in 2013.
In 2018, with control of the House of Delegates at stake, a recount for a crucial Newport News seat and a courts decision on one disputed ballot resulted in a tie. Republican David Yancey won the seat when the head of the State Board of Elections picked Yanceys name out of a bowl in a random drawing.
How the process works
In the gym on Thursday, Goochland General Registrar Ryan Mulligan had set up tables covered with blue cloth, with four seats at each and a tabulating machine at one end, ready for the six election officials and six observers two officials and two observers for each machine who would spend most of the day on their part of the recount.
The tabulating machines they look a bit like dark gray rolling trash bins but contain a computer that can count ballots read the blacked-in bubbles that show who a voter chose and spit out yards of paper tape tallying results.
The six election officers raised right hands at 8 a.m. and swore to perform the duties of this recount according to law and to prevent fraud, deceit and abuse. The first step in the recount was for those officers, Mulligan and the observers to check that the seals he had put on the machines after testing them and resetting counters to zero were unbroken.
Then when Mulligan broke the seal and flipped open the top of each tabulator, a laptop screen popped up, asking for a password. But before punching that code in, Mulligan unlocked the doors at the bottom of each machine, pulled out the bin inside, to make sure they were empty and so could not affect the count, as the officials and observers watched.
All the while at the back of the gym, Adams and deputy clerk Kendall Hutchinson stood guard over the ballots.
After Mulligan punched in the passwords, the officials ran tests that double-checked that the machines had been programmed and that their counters had been set to zero. One official watched the pop-up screen; the other checked the yards-long paper test reporting on the test.
It all took time; it wasnt until about 8:35 that Keith Flanagan and Joanne Cousins stepped over the table where Adams and Hutchinson were guarding the ballots to sign out the envelope for Precinct 101. Electoral Board chair Pam Johnson and board member Bob Walker watched the handover and that Hutchison and Flanagan filled the paperwork for the handover and signed the papers.
It was Flanagans job to feed the ballots, some 1,080, one by one into the machine. Cousins riffled through each batch she handed him to make sure none was sticking together. She also placed the 37 ballots that the machine kicked out back on the table. It took about 20 minutes to do this for one of the smaller precincts in the county 101, in the rural western part of Goochland.
Flanagan and Cousins then sat across from each other. As an observer from the Good campaign and another from the McGuire campaign watched, they checked each kicked-out ballot to see why the machine rejected it. In this case, all 37 were ballots cast for the Democratic primary that day.
If a voter had filled in a choice in both the Republican and Democratic primary or had circled a name or used a check mark or made some other kind of marking on the ballot, it would initially be up to Flanagan and Cousins to try to figure out what the voter intended. If they couldnt, the job would fall to Johnson and Walker. And if they couldnt, it would go to the recount court.
It went like that throughout the day, precinct by precinct, for all 10 precincts plus the absentee, in-person and mail-in ballots.
It has to balance
By early afternoon, most of the way through the recount, there were only two unreadable ballots basically, voters had circled the name of their choice rather than filling in the right bubble and it was easy to see what the voter intended, Johnson said.
If the Goochland officials couldnt, the unclear ballot would have to go the special, three-judge recount court.
Once the six officials handed in all of the precinct results, two Goochland sheriffs deputies took the ballots back to the courthouse vault, where they will stay for the next three years.
Adams took the election officials paperwork to Goochlands 198-year-old circuit court courtroom, where the special recount court will check all the paperwork, and make sure all numbers of votes cast for each candidate add up to the total of ballots counted.
It all has to balance, Johnson said.
From the Archives: A look back at the Chincoteague Island pony auction
Authorities make new Foatqroo Trust to replace Fonatur official
Cancun, Q.R. A new trust to replace phased-out Fonatur has been officially created. On Wednesday, state authorities signed the new Trust Agreement for the Strengthening of Tourism Activity in Quintana Roo (Foatqroo).
The official signing was made July 31 between the State Government through the Secretary of Tourism, Bernardo Cueto Riestra, the Secretary of Finance and Planning, Eugenio Segura Vazquez and representatives of Banco Multiva, SA, Multiple Banking Institution, Multiva financial group, Fiduciary Division.
The signing was held with the objective of serving as an administration vehicle and source of payment for the operation, maintenance and conservation of the Cancun Integrated Planned Center (CIP Cancun) and the Cozumel Integrated Tourism Project (PTI Cozumel), as well as for the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment and composting plants in Cancun and Cozumel.
With the signing of this trust, the State Government complies with the collaboration agreements signed with Fonatur and Fonatur Infraestructura SA de CV with the objective of receiving the operation of the services provided in the CIP Cancun and the PTI Cozumel.
The new Fideicomiso para el Fortalecimiento de la Actividad Turistica en el Estado de Quintana Roo (Foatqroo) will replace Fonatur.
Photo: CGC July 31, 2024.
The new Fideicomiso para el Fortalecimiento de la Actividad Turistica en el Estado de Quintana Roo (Foatqroo), which was created earlier this month, will allow the development of a modern, sustainable, resilient and quality tourism infrastructure, respectful of the environment and the conservation of natural resources, promoting sustainable and comprehensive development and generating social well-being.
Authorities say criminal group responsible for 12 year old Cancun beach shooting identified
Cancun, Q.R. State authorities have identified the criminal group responsible for a beach shooting Sunday that left a 12 year old dead. State prosecutor and head of the FGE, Raciel Lopez Salazar, said great progress has been made regarding their investigation.
The investigations are making great progress. We have already identified who the attacking group is. It was a regrettable event. The family arrived, like many others here in Cancun, who went to enjoy the beaches with their family and were about to leave, but, unfortunately, the minor was hit when these criminals arrived who will soon be brought to justice, Lopez Salazar reported Wednesday.
We are moving forward with this investigation and we will soon have results. It was a regrettable, tragic situation that occurred on Sunday. We will not allow this type of situation, he said.
He reported that they are working with Cancun Hotel Zone hotels to better position existing cameras as well as install additional security.
Raciel Lopez Salazar, head of the Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE)
We held a strategic meeting immediately after the Sunday shooting to design the corresponding securing of the hotel zone so that such a regrettable event does not happen again, he said.
According to Salazar, the family were getting ready to leave the beach when the shooting happened. Photo: July 28, 2024.
Governor Mara Lezama said hotels have already been asked to direct their surveillance cameras toward the beaches of Cancun in order to reinforce surveillance. She also said they are working on ways to install cameras on beaches.
We are constantly working with hotels to find a way for them to install cameras on the beaches. We are working on that request, she said.
State and municipal governments will also install video surveillance cameras to complement and reinforce those security systems that businesses have already installed, she added.
Cancun hotels are being asked to face their security cameras toward the beaches. Photo: Riviera Maya News
Lezama said that technology has helped authorities carry out arrests and operations and that they will continue to work to strengthen this area since money allocated for security will never be considered an expense.
Volaris announces start of new Tulum-Guadalajara route in December
Tulum, Q.R. Mexican airline Volaris will connect the Tulum International Airport with the city of Guadalajara as of December 5, 2024. The new direct route will become operational after a signed collaboration with the government of Quintana Roo.
In a statement, Volaris said the collaboration was signed in April during the Tianguis Turistico Mexico 2024 in Acapulco.
Volaris, the Mexican ultra-low-cost airline that operates in Mexico, the United States, Central and South America, announced the launch of its new route that will connect Tulum and Guadalajara starting December 5, they announced.
The new Tulum-Guadalajara route was one of three collaboration agreements made. The airline also signed collaboration agreements with the governments of Baja California and Nayarit with the aim of strengthening the countrys connectivity and contributing to state, regional and national economic development.
The opening of Tulum-Guadalajara route joins the international route previously launched by Volaris to connect Cancun with McAllen, Texas, which began July 3.
The opening of these routes responds to Volaris commitment to meet the growing need for connectivity within and outside the country for the benefit of customers who are looking for new and better options to travel at the lowest prices to these destinations, which also contributes to boosting and strengthening the economic development of these regions and their communities, said Omar Carrera, Commercial Director of Volaris.
On December 5, Volaris will offer the Tulum-Guadalajara route Monday to Sunday, leaving Guadalajara at 09:15 hrs and arriving in Tulum at 13:04 hrs. The reverse flight will leave the Tulum International Airport at 1:45 p.m., arriving in Guadalajara at 3:34 p.m.
Regarding the agreements signed with the government of Quintana Roo, Volaris seeks to take a more active role in supporting regional economic development, collaborating in the execution of projects for the promotion of tourism in the three states by promoting air connectivity in each of the entities, they said in a statement.
Despite the odds and social disapproval, there are women having large families as part of their vocation to fulfill Gods purposes in their lives. And theyre finding great personal satisfaction along the way.
Its trendy for pundits and politicians to advocate for declining birth rates, but a new book tackles one of the most pressing global crises over the next century: depopulation in industrialized countries. Catherine Pakaluk, empowered by her faith and armed with sound economics, introduces us to the women quietly defying this trend in her new book, Hannahs Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. Pakaluk holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and is a mother of eight. Its an interview-based, qualitative research project with autobiographical insights. Throughout Hannahs Children, we learn how to apply the economic way of thinking to the calculus of family size, a deeply personal matter with profound social implications.
The books title references the biblical Hannah, who deeply desires a child and promises to give her firstborn to God. She becomes the mother of King Samuel. Her faithfulness is rewarded, and she finds her purpose in motherhood, much like the mothers in Hannahs Children. Pakaluk and her colleague Emily Reynolds hit the road to interview 55 women with five or more children in 10 American regions: if we can understand their stories, we can productively revise our theories about birth rates and population growth.
Today, a little more than 8 billion people are alive, with a population growth rate of about .91% last year, resulting in 73 million new human beings. Thats good and bad news. Humans are essential for human flourishing, so population growth is definitely good, as depopulation creates a demographic and economic catastrophe. The troubling news, however, is that the population growth rate is declining, particularly in wealthy countries like the United States and western Europe, as well as in South Korea and Japan. The primary source of population decline is falling birth rates.
Pakaluk reminds us of Thomas Malthus now famous 1798 essay, arguing that unconstrained population growth would always outstrip the food supply. Almost 200 years later, the apocalyptic book The Population Bomb by biologist Paul Ehrlich argued that the end was in sight and that nothing could be done to avoid the social calamities of overpopulation. Despite being wildly incorrect for 50 years, in 2023, at age 90, Ehrlich appeared on 60 Minutes, unironically doubling down on these claims.
Whether one perceives declining birth rates as positive or negative hinges on individual religious, political, and economic positions. People who view the world as a zero-sum game are terrified about population growth. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised the question in 2019 about whether it is still OK to have children given her assumption that things are getting worsethe climate is getting warmer, for example, and people are the culprit. On the political left, anti-natalists and pseudo-trendy BirthStrikers regard human beings as a blight on the planet and call for depopulation. On the right, however, the natalists are having three or more children and more likely are Republican voters, yielding red-diaper babies. In the U.S., family size correlates with voting policy.
The false overpopulation hysteria infects even our humanitarian aid. It assumes that poverty results in part from overpopulation and that poor women are perhaps too stupid to understand they need to reduce their family size. The reality is that they live at subsistence levels, and they have many children because child mortality rates are high relative to the rich world.
Macroeconomic trends matter, such as astounding post-WWII economic growth and the innovation of birth control. Nobel laureate economist Robert Lucas refers to the first demographic transitionthe reduction in fertilitywhich occurred after the first Industrial Revolution, when economic growth surpassed population growth for the first time in human history. Pakaluk argues this was fostered by better nutrition, health, education, and family stabilityin and of themselves all good things. She then highlights scholars who debate whether there was a second demographic transition in the mid-20th century, during which modern choices around family life changed again. Rising cohabitation and divorce rates began in the 1960s, for example, which altered decisions about the timing and quantity of children.
Pakaluk is keen to point out a paradigmatic shift: women went from adopting contraception to avoid a pregnancy to stopping contraception to start a pregnancy. One of her subjects, Hannah, puts the shift another way: Do we fit ourselves into the narrative of having children, or do we fit children into the narrative of self?
Relying on sociologists work, the book explores the influence of expressive individualism, where individuals increasingly reject the idea of fitting themselves into traditional roles in marriage. Part of that narrative is that children hold women back from fulfilling their career goals. I am reminded of my microeconomics class and learning about corner solutions, the all-or-nothing tradeoff. Women feel pressured to choose a prominent career and have no children or many children and no career.
Enter the women of Hannahs Children, who defy the trends. They see children as gifts to the world, part of an eternal story that begins in marriage. These mothers defy simple caricatures and are from across the country; some come from big families, while some have no siblings. The most important common underlying variable is their faith: they are Mormon, Catholic, evangelical, and Jewish. They know what they are doing is different and even countercultural, but they dont view themselves as revolutionaries and ask for no public praise. In their faith communities, they find solidarity and support in their decisions.
And support is definitely needed. There are no atheists in foxholes, as the saying goes, and motherhood presents profound foxholes, including postpartum depression, loneliness, feeling out of control, panic at the weight of the responsibility, and the sheer horror of failing at every stage of the childs life. It is no accident that there are no atheists interviewed in the book. The astounding faith of these women carries them through the high costs of their decisions. Each of these women had challenging moments: some suffered multiple miscarriages, many faced scorn from strangers and were misunderstood even by old friends.
They all tell a story of allowing God to guide them and to reveal how their family would grow. That pushes them through loneliness, estrangement, and ridicule. Angela, mother of five and a college professor, declares that, while we have free will to make these decisions, This is not your show. She understands God to be in charge. The women in the study repeatedly disclose that God is changing them through motherhood, so they view the cost and benefit calculus differently.
Many of the mothers with large families surveyed continued to work and have significant careers, even if they worked part-time, including professors and medical doctors. Others were trained in graduate school and decided not to pursue their career upon having children; in every case, their husbands were partners in the decision to have a large family. It was also clear that, with each birth, the couples would reassess and try to determine if they should have more. Discerning this brought them closer in their marriages and closer to God.
Those women with advanced degrees knew that their professional peers generally discouraged or disagreed with the decision to have large families because it would restrict their careers. I will never forget telling my dissertation adviser in graduate school that I was getting married. He looked me square in the face and said, Thats fine, but dont you dare have a baby. This is the advice that women are getting. That was 20 years ago, and it still stuns me. Did he give the same advice to his male students? Hardly. Yet this is a terrible idea, and scary for a young graduate student. In his twisted way, he was trying to help me. He knew that, statistically, getting pregnant meant that a student was more likely to drop out. The stories in this book help us understand that we dont have to listen to that advice, nevertheless.
Its not the case that you can either be an academic or have a large family. But Angela knows she would have written a book had she chosen to have fewer children; she was not a superstar careerist, but she has both the fulfillment of a large family and a career she enjoys. Publishing a book is less important to her than each decision to have another baby. As the great Thomas Sowell argues, There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. These women are deliberate and committed to the tradeoffs they make without being sanctimonious.
Economics is about understanding choices in the context of cost-benefit analysis. Pakaluk masterfully weaves into her story the economic way of thinking, bringing us back to the framework of cost, choices, incentives, and scarcity on a topic that, frankly, economics cannot itself solve. Family size is a personal decision, yet economic thinking helps us understand why this small but mighty band of mothers is defying the trends and why it matters. As they grow their families, they learn something that expected cost-benefit analysis cant tell us, and its a counterintuitive lesson. Before choosing, we can only judge what we anticipate about the costs and benefits. We dont realize the total costs or benefits until the choice is made. This leads to more of the corner solution world, where women feel like they must postpone children or not have them at all. Postponing children is risky because, as you wait, your fertility declines, and your ideal family size may over time become unobtainable.
Yet, the women in Hannahs Children dont look at children as merely adding expense to the family; they see the value they add over and above the costs, and they seem to agree that the benefit grows as you have more. We can learn this only through lived experience, which is why this book is so compelling. By reading their stories, we get to participate in and imagine not only a countercultural but also a counterintuitive narrative about large families. At one point in Hannahs Children, the claim is made that three is the most challenging number of children to have! Three means you move from one-on-one to zone defense, but apparently, after that, it gets easier, as older children become involved with and cherish their new siblings.
These mothers helicopter less and give their kids more freedom because time constraints dictate it, allowing them to keep having children. Their kids are never alone and must learn to sacrifice, so they understand early that the world doesnt revolve around them. Pakaluk observes that it also changes the parents. Living with young children for an extended period fosters other-regarding virtues, including empathy, generosity, solidarity, and self-denial, which are all necessary for the extended social order to function well.
Financially, raising a large family is difficult but not impossible; what matters is the willingness of the parents to make it work. They remark that its not a deal-breaker to move from driving a minivan to driving a passenger van and that feeding six is doable if youre already feeding five. The incomes of the surveyed women vary; some are married to doctors and some to pastors. Yet it was not income that most persuaded them one way or the other; it was a desire to live according to Gods purposes for their lives. No one surveyed argues that this lifestyle is prescriptive for other families; they recognize that this is not for everyone. But they want others to know how wonderful it is. Moreover, to overcome the birth dearth, Pakaluk calls us back to our faith, not to some newfangled government program to stimulate births, because this is a matter of the heart, not a matter of policy.
Like the biblical Hannah, the women in this book find their ultimate purpose in motherhood and, with that, a joy they didnt know was possible. They forgo extra vacations and fancier cars because this is their vocation. Unlike the Malthusians, who see people as problems to be solved, they know their children are made in the image of God, problem solvers, and essential to the future of humanity.
The State Department is urging Americans to "reconsider" travel to Jamaica because of the high instances of violent crime including sexual assaults and the absence of health care.
A new travel advisory said while crime occurs throughout Jamaica, tourist areas see lower rates than the rest of the country, whose homicide rates are among the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
"The U.S. Embassy routinely receives reports of sexual assaults, including from U.S. citizen tourists at resorts. U.S. citizens report slow or unsatisfactory response to serious criminal incidents. When arrests are made, cases are infrequently prosecuted to a final verdict and sentence," the State Department said in a statement issued this week.
It also said that U.S. citizens should not expect to see the same level of healthcare in the Caribbean nation that they experience at home.
"This includes generally lower levels of emergency service response times or routine care for illness or injury. Private hospitals require payment up front before admitting patients and may not have the ability to provide specialized care," it said.
"Ambulance services are not always staffed with EMTs or always readily available, especially in rural areas," the statement continued, adding a recommendation that Americans carrying extra prescription medications with them because they could be hard to obtain in Jamaica.
For those traveling to Jamaica, the State Department urges people now to bring firearms or ammunition, noting penalties can include lengthy prison sentences.
It also advised not to walk or drive at night, avoid public buses, stay away from secluded places, do not resist a robbery attempt, and keep a low profile.
DILLON, S.C. Dillon School District Four is opening a new Dillon Elementary School on Monday.
The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962).
The principal will be Jan Powers-Penuel with assistant principals Jenise Bracey and Frankie Camp.
20240716_083631.jpg Dillon School District Four will open a new Dillon Elementary School on Monday.
The new Dillon Elementary School was built without cost to the taxpayers of Dillon County through Covd-19 relief funds, the State Department of Education and legislative channels.
The new 120,000-square-foot school sits on 40 acres. Its features include:
A mini-gym which includes the Lu Interactive Playground which makes the mini-gym an active learning space. The LU improves student engagement and collaboration during physical education, so no student is left out during class.
A library with more than 10,000 new books that also includes a video production room.
A cafeteria that includes a stage with a sound and projection system including menu boards to display the food choices.
New playground equipment that is also handicapped accessible.
An art room with a display case for student work and a music room to provide students with up-to-date musical experiences.
All classrooms are specifically designed for the appropriate age groups with age-appropriate furniture.
The latest Promethean panels with built-in features to engage students and help teachers showcase instruction.
The Epic system, a modern PA system. Microphones for classroom teachers are provided to reduce vocal strain, allowing teachers to speak in a natural tone, increase student engagement, and improve test scores.
An Access Control security system that determines who is allowed into the building at various times.
Modern video surveillance cameras to monitor the campus
Digital signage to provide school-related information to parents when entering the building.
An outdoor digital sign to provide updated information for parents and the community.
IN PHOTOS: DSD4 opens new Dillon Elementary School Close Dillon School District Four will open a new Dillon Elementary School on Monday. Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). Dillon School District Four is proud to announce the opening of the new Dillon Elementary School on August 5, 2024 for students. The PreK- grade 3 facility combines the former schools of East Elementary (1926), South Elementary (1954) and Stewart Heights Elementary (1962). +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7
A ribbon cutting will be held in September.
My brother-in-law, Don, was a Communications Professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He died too young. As everyone knows who has lost a loved one to death, its astonishing how quickly the time seems to pass. Im surprised to realize that hes been gone 10 years. And yet, it seems like an entire lifetime since I last saw him. He passed away five years after my husband Dave died and two years before their mom went home to heaven, where Im sure that the three of them had a wonderful reunion.
My mother-in-law Joan told me that she prayed for Don for 40 years to come back to the Lord. He left his faith while he was in college, a time when many young people question their beliefs. Thankfully, as he was dying, Don came home to the Lord. When Joan told me the good news, I thought of a Bible verse that describes her faithful petitions. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results (James 5:16b).
Don loved talking about his students, the New York Yankees, life growing up, and anything that made a good story. He was a great storyteller. He saw stories everywhere he went. I know that even my family was a subject of some of his stories, especially the ones he shared with his students during class.
One time when he was visiting, we were playing Scrabble. Don was extremely competitive and unusually good at games. He played to win. No one expected him to show any mercy and no one was ever disappointed.
During our Scrabble game I said, Oh, if only I had the letter d I could make a great word. Dave picked up a d from his pile of letters and handed it to me. Don was shocked. You cant do that! he said to his brother.
Dave replied, What does it matter if I lose a game by giving her one of my letters? Its only a game. And if it makes her happy, it makes me happy. Don thought about it and surprisingly said, Youre right. What does it matter? He was always so intent on winning that hed never thought about anything else when it came to games. Later, he told us that this incident was part of one of his lectures.
I admired the fact that even though Don always assumed that he was right, he was also willing to learn something new and to see a different perspective.
Another time, when cell phones were becoming more popular, Don told us about something hed recently observed. He noticed two students, who were very good friends, walking across campus. Both were looking down at their cell phones as they walked forward. They werent talking to one another at all.
I remember how shocked Don was. He said that this was the first time hed observed this type of behavior. As a communications professor, he couldnt understand why these two werent communicating with one another.
They were communicating, just not with the friend walking beside them. Maybe they were reading their email. I dont think that Facebook was very common at this time. Maybe someone texted them and they were reading that. Or maybe they were sending a text. Whatever they were doing, they were good friends who werent talking to one another.
Fast forward many years. If you go out to eat, how often do you see two people sitting together and both of them are looking at their phones instead of talking to one another? They could have stayed home and done the same thing.
Do we do the same thing with the Lord? Do we spend countless hours on our cell phones and very little time with Him? What distractions exist in our world that pull us away from spending time with our Savior?
Communication is so important, especially communication with our Lord. And its so easy. Before there were cell phones. Before there were rotary dial phones or phones that hung on the wall with party lines. Before the telegraph existed. Before anything in this world, there was God. He was, and is. and always will be. He is truly the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
God wants us to pray to Him. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16).
King David asks an important question in Psalm 8 that we might all think about. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers the moon and the stars that you set in place what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care about them? (Psalm 8:3-4).
And the fact that He seeks a relationship with us is truly amazing. For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them (Ezekial 34:11). God not only wants to communicate with us, He wants to take care of us just like a shepherd takes care of his sheep.
Communication is important with those we love and especially with our Lord. Never stop talking to God. Never stop praying for one another. If even a Communications Professor can say a few words on his deathbed and surrender his life to the Lord, maybe a lost sheep you love will do the same.
Kathy Yoder is a devotional writer. She may be reached at Kathyyoder4@gmail.com.
The family of Mica Miller and her estranged husband, John-Paul Miller, have settled a lawsuit following her suicide in April.
Both parties have agreed to end all legal disputes and called on protesters to drop demonstrations in front of Miller's Market Common church.
However, Mica's family and the pastor are now calling on state lawmakers to implement a coercive control law in her memory.
Attorneys announced the joint initiative following a hearing at the Horry County Porbate Court.
The combined stance means all pending lawsuits between Mica's family, John-Paul, and his Solid Rock Ministries have been addressed through a global settlement but under confidential terms, including Mica's estate, according to WBTW-TV.
"This is over. This global agreement is Mica's justice. The next step is the legislative goal. We only ask that you remember Mica as the wonderful, beautiful person that she was," said Russell Long, an attorney for John-Paul Miller.
The compromise also means that Miller will not face any civil wrongful death claims related to his wife's suicide at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County on April 27.
It was shortly after her death that her sister, Sierra Francis, filed the petition to become special administrator of her estate, but attorneys revealed that the request was withdrawn on Monday.
"I know that some of you are going to be disappointed," said Regina Ward, a Conway-based attorney representing Mica's family.
Ward noted that it could unfortunately take years for litigation of this magnitude to go through a court system.
John-Paul Miller, a senior pastor at Rock Solid Church and founder of its umbrella, Solid Rock Ministries, has continually blamed Mica's family for withholding medication that reportedly kept her mentally stable, whereas the family believes it was his abusive behavior that drove the 30-year-old to suicide.
Since her death protestors have been outside the church every Sunday demanding "Justice for Mica."
Long expects Monday's settlement to put an end to the demonstrations.
"The Francis family just asked them, through their attorney, to focus their energy on something else. She asked them to focus their energy toward the passing of this coercive control act," he said.
A South Carolina lawmaker filed a bill four years ago that would criminalize "coercive control," with punishments of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
But efforts to adopt the law have stalled in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Several states, including California, Connecticut, and Hawaii, have adopted "coercive control" laws. Meanwhile, similar efforts are pending in Florida, Maryland, New York, and Washington.
On Wednesday, the United States government announced that it had reached a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammedthe accused principal architect of the 9/11 attacksand two alleged co-conspirators, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi. All of them have been held at Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba since 2003.
In a letter to families of the Sept. 11, 2001, victims sent by the Defense Departments Office of the Chief Prosecutor for Military Commissions, the government explained that In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three Accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet, and to be later sentenced by a panel of military officers.
This news puts opponents of the death penalty in an awkward position. Surely, if anyone deserves the ultimate punishment for their horrible crimes, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his collaborators would be at the top of the list. They would qualify as being among what law professor and death penalty supporter Robert Blecker calls the worst of the worst.
Abolitionists should not be afraid to say that.
But deservedness is not all there is in any punishment decision. Other things come into play, including the costs in time, money, and emotional distress of seeking a particular punishment.
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When deciding about punishment, we rightly weigh pragmatic considerations, including whether any given punishment will make us safer or instead incite others to commit new crimes.
And for abolitionists, cases of mass murder and terrorism are the hardest cases and the most difficult politically. Should abolitionists take solace in the plea deal for the 9/11 terrorists and use this case to remind Americans that no one, not even the three terrorists in Guantanamo, ever deserves to die?
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That is a losing proposition. It puts abolitionists out of the moral mainstream. And even if that battle could be won, it could come at the cost of associating the campaign against the death penalty with some of the worlds most heinous killers.
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Before looking more closely at what it means to spare the lives of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others, lets recall that the plea deal was accompanied by the agreement of the terrorists to participate in a process in which they would respond to questions submitted by VFMs regarding their roles and reasons for conducting the September 11 attacks. This process borrows from what has been done in certain truth and reconciliation proceedings worldwide, which seek to convert knowledge into acknowledgment, though the analogy is imperfect here.
Moreover, neither that process nor the sentencing of the terrorists will happen quickly. The letter to the victims families indicated that the earliest the first sentencing hearing will occur is the summer of 2025.
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During those hearings, the government guaranteed an opportunity for families to testify about the impact the September 11 attacks have had on you and your loved ones, and to provide a victim impact statement that will be considered by the military jury in determining a sentence.
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That may be a small consolation for people who lost someone on 9/11 and who have been waiting for two decades to see justice done. Last August, more than 2,000 family members wrote to President Joe Biden asking him to stop any plea deal for KSM and the other defendants because it would prevent a public trial and remove the possibility of the death penalty.
Thus, it is unsurprising that many of them were outraged by what the government has just done. As the brother of a New York City policeman who died on 9/11 said, The prosecution and families have waited for 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones. They committed the worst crime in the history of our country. They should receive the highest penalty.
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A spokesman for the New York Fire Departments Uniformed Firefighters Association put it this way, We feel betrayed and disgusted that these terrorists were offered a plea deal which will allow them to live into old age with contact with their families. Three hundred and forty-three New York City firefighters died on that day, and hundreds have died since then. We are betrayed. We feel betrayed and disgusted that they will not face the ultimate justice of the death penalty.
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What do people opposed to executing terrorists have to say to those demands for justice?
The best arguments are purely pragmatic. Writing in 2001, months before the 9/11 attacks, Harvard Universitys Jessica Stern said, One can argue about the effectiveness of the death penalty generally. But when it comes to terrorism, national security concerns should be paramount.
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Stern warned, The execution of terrorists has effects that go beyond retribution or justice. The executions play right into the hands of our adversaries and enhance the public relations and fund-raising strategies of our enemies.
Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon agrees. Some may argue that capital punishment will diminish terrorism. This is not true. Experience has shown that putting terrorists to death serves as propaganda for their movements by making their macabre recruiting campaigns more effective.
Stern offers another reason that may apply with particular force to KSM. She says, Our most powerful weapon against terrorists is our commitment to the rule of law. We must use the courts to make clear that terrorism is a criminal act, not jihad, not heroism, not holy war. And then, we must not make martyrs out of murderers.
Martyrdom is exactly what KSM had been seeking for years.
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In 2008, during an arraignment for a commission that ultimately got canceled, he pleaded guilty to multiple murder counts and told his judges, This is what I want. Im looking to be a martyr for a long time.
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But, as a 2012 report in Wired suggested, KSM wants something else: a soapbox. Hes after an opportunity to tell the world, again, what he thinks, why he did it, how hes really the good guy and a commanding general on par with George Washington, leading an insurgent army fighting the oppressive forces of tyranny and evil.
Wired quotes Josh Meyer, author of The Hunt for KSM, who said the terrorist wants to die because it fits into his massively egotistical narrative. Hes like Napoleon. Wasting away in a cell is not his style. Going out in a bang of glory is.
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Or, as retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who was once chief commissions prosecutor, explained, The worst thing we could do to KSM is to keep him alive for as long as possible while making him totally irrelevant. Not mattering matters more to him than dying.
These are not arguments about what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi deserve. They are warnings about what executing them would mean to them and other terrorists.
Abolitionists can agree that they deserve to die even as they support the governments decision not to pursue death sentences. They can remind us that it is sometimes wise, even if wrenchingly difficult, not to give people what they deserve, and also be grateful that in the case of KSM and the others, wisdom has prevailed.
With the all-but-certain elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris to being the Democratic nominee for president, a flurry of criticism has flooded the airways in recent days. The most talked about is the notion that she was just a DEI hire. When asked about this sentiment at the convention for the National Association of Black Journalists, former President Donald Trump evaded the question and chose to query Vice President Harris racial identity, stating, She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she wentshe became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, DEI, is not a slur or offensive term. However, suggesting that the vice president was only selected because of her racial or gender demographic not only ignores her career and professional credentials but is also an insult to the millions of Americans who have worked hard to earn their achievements and just so happen to be a woman, person of color, or other underrepresented demographic in government. (In terms of underrepresented demographics, its worth noting that if elected, Trump would be the first to occupy the Oval Office as a convicted felon and after being found civilly liable for sexual abuse.)
DEI does not mean underqualified or not qualified. The concept is focused on talent and, more specifically, the best talent. These initiatives are intended to recruit and retain talented, qualified individuals who are underrepresented or who have historically been denied access or limited participation and promotion within an organization due to specific demographic characteristics. In government institutions, DEI initiatives aim to produce innovative thought, more innovative solutions to incredibly complex and complicated problems facing the national security apparatus today. These solutions will not be found within a government of homogenous citizens, but only through the collaborative efforts of our brightest strategic minds. As the talent pool that holds these minds has diversified, DEI initiatives are essential to ensuring that the best cache of eligible citizens is recruited, retained, and elevated in all government and defense establishments.
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The diversification of the government service and military talent pool can be traced back to the early 1940s. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, directing that Black Americans be accepted into defense-sector job training programs, prohibiting employment discrimination by defense contractors, and establishing the Fair Employment Practices Committee to enforce the new policy. During World War II, the Army became the nations largest employer of people who identified as minorities. Of note is that Roosevelt, who served from 1933 to 1945, contracted polio in 1921 at age 39, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Using a wheelchair and leg braces during his tenure, FDR, as a disabled American, might be called a DEI president.
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After FDR passed away, the U.S. military remained at the forefront of DEI efforts. Following the war, in 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 mandating the desegregation of the U.S. military. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Hart-Celler Act, which removed restrictions that limited immigration from Asia, Africa, southern and Eastern Europe, and the Americas. Johnson also signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting. This critical legislation solidified the voting rights for Black Americans as well as immigrant Americans whose native language was not English empowering them with political and social influence. In 1965, the U.S. population was around 193 million people, 13 percent of whom were people of color; 59 years later, people of color represent almost 35 percent of the nations population.
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As the racial and ethnic diversity of Americas population has steadily increased, so has the number of Americans who openly identify as queer, transgender, or nonbinary. Seventeen percent of young adults (below the age of 30) identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; 8 percent among those ages 30 to 49. Similarly, 5.1 percent of young adults (below the age of 30) identify as transgender or nonbinary, and 1.6 percent among those ages 30 to 49.
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Meanwhile, women have become more prominent and integral to the United States economy and workforce. In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that womens labor-force participation rate was 56.8 percent. Women own nearly 10 million businesses, accounting for roughly $1.4 trillion in receipts.
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Executive Orders 8802 and 9981, along with the Hart-Celler and Voting Rights Act, ushered in a new era for the United States. By facilitating the growth and empowerment of women, racial minorities, and immigrants from all over the world, America transformed. It birthed a diverse, newly empowered population; the pool of talent was no longer homogenous.
In recent years, many Republicansnot those criticizing Harris as a DEI hire, obviouslyhave begun to see the benefits of diversity. Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy recently described standing behind the president at a State of the Union, seeing a sea of white faces on his side of the aisle, and realizing something wasnt right. I look over at the Democrats, and they stand upthey look like America, he said. We stand upwe look like the most restrictive country club in America. And I decide then, either I am going to be the leader of a declining end of a party or I have to change the opportunity in this party. Since that time, weve elected the most women Republicans, the most minority Republicans ever to the House.
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McCarthy understood the importance of diversity in government institutions. To serve the people, the government must relate to and reflect them. The longevity and effectiveness of any government institution lie in its ability to account for and adapt to the nations evolution. Again, its worth looking to the military: Prominent members on both sides of the aisle have recognized the necessity of having a diversified and inclusive military force. The FY20 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the Department of Defense to implement a five-year plan to expand DEI initiatives, was sponsored and introduced by Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, passed by a Democratic-controlled House (37748) and Republican-controlled Senate (868), and signed into law by Republican President Donald Trump.
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A nation that seeks to be a global leader and force for democracy must first recognize the talent derived from its diverse population and not allow antiquated ideas regarding demographic differences to dictate qualifications for leadership. As Americans aim to counter the spread of authoritarianism, we must lead by example in showing that although we may not all look, love, or think alike, we can still relate and reflect the same democratic values. All aspects of American life, from our political parties and fashion and music industries to our science, technology, and industrial business sectors, reflect our diversity; we are a democratic republic of blended cultures.
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Demographics cannot and should not be the sole metric shaping our collective decisionmaking, nor should they be the defining characteristic of one individual. Whether a presidential ticket comprises two women, a heterosexual person and a homosexual person, or a person of color and a white person is irrelevant. If Americans have learned anything from the past few years, rational, unhinged, unethical, and deceitful are characteristics that come in all ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. It doesnt matter if a candidate is a woman, a man, a person of color, white, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, heterosexual, short, tall, disabled, or otherwisewhat matters is their talent, qualifications, and ability to get the job done.
The best known of the three Klak hills is the one with the distinctive rocky nose in Mala Fatra.
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Back in 2017, a group of far-right extremists prompted a wave of jokes after they climbed the wrong hill. Instead of the iconic Krivan peak in the High Tatras, climbed by Ludovit Stur and other significant Slovak nationalists, they climbed Velky Krivan, the highest hill in the Mala Fatra mountains. A similar mistake is imminent if you decide to climb Klak, as there are three hills with this name in Slovakia.
The best known is Klak hill in the Mala Fatra, known by its distinctive rocky nose. Another Klak is in the neighbouring mountain range of Velka Fatra, while even their heights are similar 1,352 and 1,394 metres above sea level, respectively. To climb the third Klak, the highest one, 1,409 metres above sea level, you should head to the Slovenske Rudohorie mountains in central Slovakia.
Never before had I scaled Klak hill in the Mala Fatra, even though I had been in this area of Slovakia several times. Thus, when the TK Jamp, a group of enthusiastic tourists, announced that it has been organising a bus trip to Klak, I immediately registered. The advantage of their trips, apart from sharing the company of the same aficionados, is that the bus always picks hikers up at a different place. They do not need to return to the starting point of the hike.
This was the case of the Klak hike. It started in Fackovske Sedlo saddle and ended in Rajecka Lesna, a small distinctive pilgrimage village. It is famous for its Bethlehem, a large nativity scene carved from wood, as well as the Baby Jesuss Christmas post office. Children can write him about what they dream of finding under the Christmas tree.
Inspired by American ambulance drivers in world wars, former U.S. official Brock Bierman takes on similar mission to war-torn country.
Used emergency medical vehicles from America and Europe make a stop in Slovakia in June 2024. (Source: US Embassy Bratislava)
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On February 24, 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Brock Bierman, a former U.S. public official, found himself in Slovakia for work instead of his planned destination, Moldova. The unexpected detour was due to the temporary closure of the airport in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
Ive visited Slovakia countless times. Its a beautiful country, and I love it, Bierman, a Rhode Island native and former employee of the U.S. Agency for International Developments Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, told The Slovak Spectator.
This time though he didnt stay in the country long enough to enjoy that beauty.
After calling a friend, he travelled to Ukraine, where he travelled across the western part of the country, speaking to everyone from plumbers to doctors, asking about their needs as the number of internally displaced people swelled.
Inspired by Ernest Hemingway and other Americans who volunteered as ambulance drivers during WWI, Bierman started driving ambulances to help Ukraine in its efforts to resist the Russian invasion.
Radicals from across Europe, the US, and Russia were using Telegram to plan attacks on LGBT+ communities and other minorities.
A couple is pictured at this year's Rainbow Pride in Bratislava on July 20, 2024. (Source: SITA)
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The Czech police have apprehended a minor suspected of plotting an armed attack on the Rainbow Pride event in Bratislava, which drew thousands on July 20.
The arrest, first reported by Czech news outlet Voxpot, helped expose a disturbing network of young radicals connected via Telegram, a social media platform founded by Russian siblings. The group, which included several hundred - and often underage - members from across the globe, was co-founded by a Slovak national and the underage suspect from Moravia, Czech Republic.
As Voxpot reports, extremists from the EU, the United States, and Russia were utilising this Telegram channel to plan attacks not only on LGBT+ communities but also on other minorities, including Muslims and migrants.
Two days before planned attack
Just two days before the planned Pride event in the Slovak capital, Slovak authorities disclosed that they had dismantled a dangerous extremist cell, averting what could have been a catastrophic attack.
These channels were a breeding ground for neo-Nazi symbolism, hate speech, and calls for violence or terrorist acts against minorities, the Slovak police stated on July 18.
A source involved in the investigation described the situation as extremely critical, highlighting the imminent danger. The Telegram group reportedly contained Russian-language materials offering instructions on weapons-making. The arrested Czech youth allegedly intended to produce these weapons, though it remains uncertain whether he had begun the process.
Now facing severe charges, including the promotion of movements aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms, as well as supporting terrorism, the young man could be looking at a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
Far-right extremism as a European problem
This foiled plan to attack the queer event comes less than two years after a tragic incident in Bratislava, where a 19-year-old gunman killed two queer individuals, Matus Horvath and Juraj Vankulic, outside a local bar before taking his own life.
Voxpots story sheds light on Slovakias troubling status as a hub for far-right and neo-Nazi online communities. Figures like Pavol Benadik, known by the pseudonym Slovakbro, have been instrumental in spreading extremist ideology, including a self-radicalisation manual.
This alarming rise of far-right extremism is not confined to Slovakia.
On July 26, the European Union took the unprecedented step of designating the international neo-Nazi group The Base as a terrorist organisation. As the first far-right entity to make the EUs terrorist list, The Base views immigration, sexual diversity, interracial relationships, and declining birth rates as existential threats to the white race, aiming to exploit existing societal crises and conflicts to hasten societal collapse, with the hope of establishing a new world order.
Kelia Gallina, 11, surfs her home shore break during a break in the 2024 Summer Olympics surfing competition, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Teahupo'o, Tahiti. While Teahupo'o has been a coveted destination for surfers from around the world for decades, it's only in more recent years that local surf culture and talent has begun to develop across Tahiti. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (AP) As the heavy, barrel-shaped waves of Teahupoo, Tahiti where the Paris Olympics surfing competition is being held crashed in the distance, another, smaller surf session was underway just off the shore.
Go, go, go! one lanky teenager with sun-bleached hair yelled in French to another, sitting on their surfboards in the ocean. Allez, allez!
Seconds later, whoops and whistles of approval from other young surfers in the water and parents sitting on the beach filled the air, as 14-year-old French Polynesian surfer Kiara Goold cruised along a 4-foot-high (1.2-meter-high) wave, smiling.
It's a sight locals and visitors to Tahiti would not have been able to see until recently, 38-year-old French Polynesian professional surfer Michel Bourez said.
Back in the day, there were no kids surfing, said Bourez, who first hopped on a board as a teenager.
While Teahupo'o has been a coveted destination for surfers from around the world for decades, it's only in more recent years that local surf culture and talent among younger generations began to develop across Tahiti. With two French Polynesian surfers included in the 2024 Olympics, the surfing community expects local interest in the sport to grow.
Locals said Bourez has been a steward in the development of local surfing talent and culture in recent years. Partly driven by the lack of resources he had when starting out and then finding success in his own career, Bourez said he began training talented young local surfers he spotted across the island's shores.
Otherwise, all the knowledge that I gained during all these years will be gone and for no reason," Bourez said. "We have to give back to the local community and surfers.
Goold is one of the young local surfers Bourez has mentored. Growing up in French Polynesia, Goold said she has spent time on the ocean since before she could remember, but only got serious about surfing around age 8.
I challenge myself by doing things that maybe I don't want to do, she said. That means hitting the gym and surfing when the waves are really big. "I just try to train really hard.
Goold said she feels it's paid off: she's traveled internationally to compete and won youth tournaments at home in French Polynesia.
But most days, she can be found with other young surfers along the shores of Tahiti, catching waves and playfully competing against each other.
We keep pushing each other, Goold said with a laugh. We just hang out, and its super fun.
The inclusion of two French Polynesian surfers Vahine Fierro and Kauli Vaast in the Paris Olympics also has been a major boost for the promotion and development of local surfing, Bourez said.
They've become kids' idols here," he said.
Fierro and Vaast know they have inspired young local surfers.
This is the best thing in the world, because I was them a couple years ago," Vaast said after winning his second round heat. "We try to do our best, to give the best energy, the best personality for them. We try to be the best example possible.
Vahine, who was the first Tahitian wild card to claim a victory during the World Surf League at Teahupoo, said the shift in surfing culture for French Polynesian women has been especially noticeable.
Ive really seen the change, whether its out here at home, or on the beach breaks. Theres almost as many girls as men, and its really cool to see," Fierro said.
While Goold plans to have years of surfing and competition ahead of her, she said she already knows what she will say to the next generation of French Polynesian surfers who might come asking her for advice.
Im going to say, Follow you dreams the only thing you can do for now is work really hard and stay positive. Have fun.
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Back in 2023, Starbucks rolled out a new drink, the Oleato, created by then-CEO Howard Schultz himself. A mix of coffee and olive oil, the concoction was met with a range of responses, from not that bad to makes you poop your pants. While not the wildest coffee combination to go viral in the post-COVID world, the Oleatos widespread rollout to all US Starbucks-operated and licensed cafesas well as to locations in Canada, France, Japan, England, and Chinaleft many scratching their heads as to how the divisive drink could have made such a splash.
Turns out, it may be because Schultz was looking to do a little double dipping. Partanna, the brand of olive oil used in all Oleato beverages, is partially owned by the former Starbucks CEO.
As reported by Semafor, Schultz bought a 19% stake in the company named after the Sicilian city it calls home. Between Q4 2022 and Q3 2023, Starbucks has paid Partanna a cool $26.5 million for their olive oil. And its not just buying Schultz-brand olive oil, Starbucks is hyping it up by name. On their page for the Oleato, the brand mentions Partanna no less than four times. Schultz himself has even been quotes as saying, people are going to add a tablespoon of Partanna extra-virgin olive oil into their drink. Im sure of it.
Schultz and Starbucks rolled out the Oleato after doing no consumer research. Instead, Schultz was trusting his gut, believing that the Oleato would transform the coffee industry.
Per Semafor, Schultz offered Starbucks the opportunity to invest in Partanna when he was acting as CEO but left the decision up to incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan, who was in the middle of a CEO apprenticeship and ultimately decided to pass.
In a statement about the relationship between Schultz and Partanna, Starbucks states, Starbucks through its Board and multiple audit committee meetingshad a strong governance process in place in the establishment of the business relationship with Partanna/United Olive Oil This included a thorough review of conflict of interest, including ensuring Howard had no role in business decisions related to the Partanna/United Olive Oil relationship.
Im sure its all just a big coincidence, the Starbucks drink nobody asked for that bypassed all market testing just so happens to line the pockets of their on-again-off-again CEO. So the next time youre enjoying an Oleato, no doubt hovering over a toilet just in case, you can thank Howard Schultz and his olive oil.
Farmers in NE China's Heilongjiang cultivate thriving rice business
People's Daily Online) 16:08, August 01, 2024
In Bohai township, Ning'an, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the village of Shangguandi can be found. The village is a core area for one of the worlds unique resources, the Shiban, translated as rock board, fields and the Shiban rice they produce.
Photo shows Shiban rice fields in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ning'an, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Chu Lijuan, Party chief of the village, is a veteran rice grower. Her daughter, Chen Yujia, returned to her hometown to embark on an entrepreneurial journey eight years ago.
The mother-daughter duo has led local villagers in transforming Shiban rice into wealth.
Aerial photo shows Shiban rice fields in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Li Jiangrui)
Ningan city, known as the Hometown of China's Volcanic Rice, boasts 85,000 mu (about 5,666.67 hectares) of Shiban fields.
Around 10,000 years ago, volcanic eruptions unleashed lava that eventually cooled and solidified, creating vast stretches of land made up of basalt. After thousands of years of erosion and weathering, a layer of loose, fertile humus soil was formed on the land. The soil, ranging from 10 to 30 centimeters thick, is rich in organic matter and minerals. These conditions are what have allowed the growing of Shiban rice.
Photo shows a clear view of the cross-section of a rice field. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
How though, can rice be grown on rock boards?
Chen says, Buried beneath the earth, these honeycomb-shaped stones work like heaters, soaking up warmth during the day and emitting it at night. This heat retention guarantees superior maturation of Shiban rice. This process is one of the reasons it has a superior taste to ordinary rice.
The local rice growers employ traditional farming methods like manual transplanting and harvesting to effectively protect the fields. They also use organic fertilizers to ensure rice quality.
With the help of weather monitoring equipment and field cameras, they achieve traceability and ensure quality and safety. In addition, solar powered insect traps are used to reduce pests in the rice fields.
Photo shows a water channel for irrigation in a rice field located in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Beyond just growing quality rice, they are also taking steps to effectively market it.
In a glass-walled live-streaming room, live-streaming sessions are done to promote and sell locally grown rice on e-commerce platforms.
Chen, using the name rice girl, hosts livestreams where she explains the advantages offered by the Shiban fields and the ecological environment of the area. An expert now, but eight years before she was a complete outsider to the industry and could barely tell the difference between crops and weeds.
Farmers sell locally grown rice during a live-streaming session in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
In 2008, Chu took the lead in establishing a cooperative in the village, rallying the local villagers to cultivate organic rice.
However, traditional sales methods proved to be a hurdle, and the villagers faced difficulties in making a decent living. Despite having high-quality rice, Chu grew worried about the lack of sales channels.
In 2016, Chen made the bold decision to leave a stable job and return to the village to assist in selling the rice.
Photo shows plots of rice fields remotely owned by individuals in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Some villagers doubted Chens decision, believing she would soon return to the city. Chen persevered and with determination steadily built a foundation.
Chen has introduced an innovative model that allows individuals to remotely become rice field owners in spring and receive organic rice in autumn. This distinctive approach provides them with an immersive experience that includes the planting and harvesting of the rice.
By enhancing the consumer experience through order-based agriculture and exploring new e-commerce channels, the rice brand has gained popularity and entered the national market.
Today, the cooperative has garnered 157 members. The scale of organic rice cultivation has surged from an initial 50 mu to 1,800 mu, resulting in an annual production of over 1.5 million kilograms of high-quality rice.
Chen Yujia (left) and a villager check on the growth of rice in the fields in Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Tourists ride on a little train to enjoy the picturesque rural scenery. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Photo shows a bowl of Shiban rice. (People's Daily Online/Su Jinggang)
Arial picture shows Shangguandi village, Bohai township, Ningan, a county-level city administered by Mudanjiang city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo/Li Xiangrui)
(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
A Florida man is facing charges for allegedly intentionally setting a house fire that killed four people and three dogs, officials said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said a fire was reported on South County Line Road, just southwest of Lakeland, at around 12:08 a.m. Wednesday. While extinguishing the blaze, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue discovered four deceased adults inside the mobile home, along with three dogs.
Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said during a press conference Wednesday that detectives located a suspect, 25-year-old Shawn Gossett, "adjacent" to the residence. Gossett allegedly admitted starting the fire at the home in which he lived, with the "intent to burn the house down," by using a "BIC lighter" to ignite "some paper towels," Maurer said.
Gossett's motive for allegedly starting the fire is still under investigation, Maurer said.
Although the sheriff's office described Gossett as a "resident" of the home, Maurer described him as being "friends with the family" that lived there. He said detectives were "still working" to uncover the extent of their relationship, as well as how the family became "trapped" inside the home.
"I know that they could not get out. The manner and reason why they could not get out, I cannot get into that right now. We're still working through that," Maurer said.
The victims were not named pending positive identifications and family notifications.
Gossett was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder while engaged in arson, three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, and one count of arson of a dwelling.
"This is an utterly senseless and horrific crime where four innocent lives were tragically taken due to the evil actions of this man," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "I want to commend our detectives and our partners at Hillsborough County Fire Rescue for their swift actions which resulted in the arrest of this individual and their relentless efforts to ensure justice is served."
--with reporting by TMX
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/oas-fails-to-adopt-resolution-pressing-venezuela-to-be-transparent-with-election-results-1119588517.html
OAS Fails to Adopt Resolution Pressing Venezuela to Be Transparent With Election Results
OAS Fails to Adopt Resolution Pressing Venezuela to Be Transparent With Election Results
Sputnik International
The Organization of American States (OAS) failed to adopt a resolution calling on Venezuela to be transparent with the results from Sunday's presidential election.
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The resolution needed 18 votes to pass on Wednesday but only had 17 votes in favor. No OAS member states voted against the measure but 11 abstained. The presidential election of July 28 saw Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro win a third term in office. The announcement of the results sparked protests in the capital of Caracas and other cities. The Venezuelan government also accused several countries of election meddling. The proposed OAS resolution did not include any language about rejecting the election results, but the measure pushed the Venezuelan government to be fully transparent about the election results in order to guarantee credibility. Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the election after securing 51% of the vote. On July 29, protests started in Venezuela. Clashes between the police and protesters began in Caracas. Protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers. The Prosecutor General's Office said 77 law enforcement officers were injured; 1,062 people were detained on charges of destruction of state infrastructure, incitement of hatred and terrorism.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/zelensky-calls-us-presidential-election-challenge-risk-for-ukraine-1119588142.html
Zelensky Calls US Presidential Election Challenge, Risk for Ukraine
Zelensky Calls US Presidential Election Challenge, Risk for Ukraine
Sputnik International
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the upcoming presidential election in the United States could pose a challenge and risk for Ukraine.
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"The current situation in the United States is a challenge. There are risks that cannot be predicted ... If Donald Trump wins ... we do not know what our dialogue will be. It used to be quite reasonable, but we do not know what will happen after the election," Zelensky said on Wednesday in an interview with French media, including Le Monde newspaper. At the same time, Zelensky believes that the majority in the US Congress will remain supportive of Ukraine. The US presidential election will be held on November 5. Earlier in July, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's nominee for US president. Former US President Donald Trump secured the Republican Partys nomination earlier this month and picked Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate. The selection of Vance was described as a "disaster" for Ukraine by EU officials. Vance has been vocal in his opposition to providing Kiev with additional aid.In May, Trump claimed that he would end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours, and reportedly reiterated his intention to end the conflict in a phone call with Zelensky. Earlier this month, the Trump campaign's communication director Steven Cheung confirmed that negotiating an end to the conflict in Ukraine will be "a top priority in [Trump's] second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war."
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/f-16-delivery-to-ukraine-means-escalation-lack-of-any-restraints---russian-deputy-foreign-minister-1119596917.html
F-16 Delivery to Ukraine Means Escalation, Lack of Any Restraints - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
F-16 Delivery to Ukraine Means Escalation, Lack of Any Restraints - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Sputnik International
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Thursday, commenting on the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, that escalation and the fact that there are no restraints left are a problem.
2024-08-01T18:42+0000
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Media reported on Wednesday that the first batch of several F-16s had been delivered to Ukraine and had already made the first flights in an "air defense" capacity. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said earlier on Thursday that Kiev would not comment on reports about the arrival of F-16 fighters. The Russian diplomat added that no Western equipment, including the delivery of the NATO-supplied F-16s, will not change the situation in the special military operation area for Ukraine. He reiterated that any means and forces used against Russia during its special military operation in Ukraine are legitimate targets for the Russian military.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/hamas-chief-assassination-to-have-disruptive-effect-on-gaza-peace-talks---experts-1119591582.html
Hamas Chief Assassination to Have Disruptive Effect on Gaza Peace Talks - Experts
Hamas Chief Assassination to Have Disruptive Effect on Gaza Peace Talks - Experts
Sputnik International
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as Israel's strike on a senior Hezbollah official, will have a detrimental effect on the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, experts told Sputnik.
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Ceasefire and hostage release are becoming even less probable. Furthermore, the death of Haniyeh, which is "a major blow for Hamas and a huge embarrassment for Iran," will increase the risk of the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalating into a regional war, the expert added. At the same time, Iran's options are limited as Tehran "knows that it cannot defeat Israel on the battlefield," the expert also said. Meanwhile, Kanishkan Sathasivam, a professor in the Political Science department at Salem State University, believes that the ceasefire negotiations will continue, although the situation is "very fluid" at the moment. The situation between Hezbollah and Israel is not quite as simple, he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas confirmed that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack on his residence in Tehran after he took part in the inauguration of newly elected Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. On Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had carried out a strike in a southern suburb of Beirut, adding later that the "most senior military commander" of Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, had been killed in the attack. A local source told Sputnik on Wednesday that Shukr's body had been found under the rubble.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/us-eu-holding-talks-to-prevent-large-scale-conflict-after-haniyehs-death---reports-1119590611.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/dod-decline-comment-on-posture-changes-amid-report-iran-ordered-retaliatory-strike-on-israel-1119586954.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/iranian-analyst-warns-of-harsher-response-to-haniyehs-killing-than-previous-strike-on-israel-1119593044.html
Iranian Analyst Warns of Harsher Response to Haniyeh's Killing Than Previous Strike on Israel
Iranian Analyst Warns of Harsher Response to Haniyeh's Killing Than Previous Strike on Israel
Sputnik International
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran. Hamas and Iran blamed Israel and the US, vowing retaliation.
2024-08-01T12:52+0000
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Irans retaliation to Tel Aviv for killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will be more severe, more painful to the Israeli regime than what Tel Aviv experienced after it attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a political analyst and professor at Tehran University, tells Spuntik.Marandi believes that "any escalation will simply make things worse for the regime in Tel Aviv," predicting that Iran and other members of the Axis of Resistance will deliver a "major response" to recent actions by Israel.Marandi elaborates that "the Israeli regime has lost the war."Marandi also warned that if the US were to intervene, they would "lose" and face severe consequences, including being expelled from Iraq and seeing their bases in the Persian Gulf region destroyed.At the same time Marandi argues that only the Americans and the Europeans are able to stop the full-fledged war in the region.They are the ones who are supporting this Holocaust. They are the ones who are enabling the regime in Tel Aviv to continue raping prisoners and murdering children. This is a war that they endorse. They are providing the funding, the ammunition, the weapons, the political cover. Without full Western support Tel Aviv would not be able to continue this war for two weeks. So we all know that the leash is in Washington, so it's up to the Americans to make a decision, he says.On Wednesday, Palestinian movement Hamas confirmed the death of Haniyeh as a result of an Israeli strike on his residence in the Iranian capital. According to the movement, Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli "raid" on his residence in Tehran after his participation in the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Iran."The death of the hero Ismail Haniyeh after his participation in the inauguration of the Iranian president will not affect the decisions of the leadership [Hamas] and its structures. Israel will pay the price for this crime and for all crimes against our people," Hamas representative in Algeria Youssef Hamdan told Sputnik on Wednesday.Later that day, Iran's Foreign Ministry stated that Tehran has an inalienable right to respond appropriately to the murder of the Hamas politburo chief.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/blatant-assassination-of-haniyeh-may-have-been-crossing-a-red-line--ex-cia-officer-1119576337.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/israel-reports-successful-strike-on-hamas-military-chief-deif-1119592407.html
Israel Reports Successful Strike on Hamas Military Chief Deif
Israel Reports Successful Strike on Hamas Military Chief Deif
Sputnik International
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that it can confirm the elimination of the chief of the Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif, in the Gaza Strip.
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israel-gaza conflict
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According to the statement, Israeli fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis and following an intelligence assessment." The Commander of Hamas' military wing Mohammed Deif was killed in the strike. According to the statement, Deif allegedly initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 hostages abducted into the Gaza Strip."
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The Israel Defense Forces say they eliminated the leader of Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, Mohammed Deif. Sputnik International The Israel Defense Forces say they eliminated the leader of Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade, Mohammed Deif. 2024-08-01T09:58+0000 true PT0M08S
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/over-10-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza-school---palestinian-civil-defense-1119595734.html
Over 10 Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza School - Palestinian Civil Defense
Over 10 Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza School - Palestinian Civil Defense
Sputnik International
More than 10 people were killed as a result of a strike by Israel on a temporary refugee camp in a school in Gaza City, Mahmoud Basal, a representative of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, said on Thursday.
2024-08-01T16:56+0000
2024-08-01T16:56+0000
2024-08-01T16:56+0000
world
middle east
gaza strip
israel
palestine
israel defense forces (idf)
hamas
palestine-israel conflict
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"A new massacre by Israeli security forces took place today. Some time ago, one of the schools in the Shejaiya area, where a large number of families lived, was hit ... at the moment, the bodies of 10 victims have been taken to the hospital," Basal told reporters, adding that dozens of people and the bodies of the dead still remain under the rubble. The airstrike was prompted by intelligence indicating that Palestinian movement Hamas was using a compound at the school to plan attacks against Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said later in the day. Before the attack, "numerous steps were taken" to reduce civilian casualties, the IDF added. On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. In response, Hamas fighters infiltrated the border areas, opened fire on the military and civilians and took more than 200 hostages. According to the authorities, about 1,200 people were killed during the raid. In retaliation, the IDF launched Operation Iron Swords in the Gaza Strip, which included strikes on civilian targets. Israel announced a complete blockade of the enclave, cutting off supplies of water, electricity, fuel, food and medicines. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the death toll from Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7 has exceeded 39,400, with more than 91,100 people injured.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/prisoner-exchange-involving-russia-us-germany-other-countries-underway---reports-1119593727.html
Prisoner Exchange Involving Russia, US, Germany, Other Countries Underway - Reports
Prisoner Exchange Involving Russia, US, Germany, Other Countries Underway - Reports
Sputnik International
A large scale prisoner exchange involving Russia, the United States, Germany and other countries is currently underway, CNN reported on Thursday, citing a senior administration official.
2024-08-01T12:52+0000
2024-08-01T12:52+0000
2024-08-01T12:52+0000
world
russia
germany
us
evan gershkovich
prisoner swap
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The transfer of prisoners is currently underway and American prisoners are expected to soon be in US custody, the administration official said. The administration official did not provide the names of the detainees or the parameters involved in the swap. Meanwhile ABC News, citing a senior Biden administration official, separately reported that Russia and the US have agreed to a multiparty prisone swap that would allow Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan to return to the US.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/russia-willing-to-cooperate-on-ukraine-crisis-resolution-seeks-solutions-considering-its-interests-1119592593.html
Russia Willing to Cooperate on Ukraine Crisis Resolution, Seeks Solutions Considering Its Interests
Russia Willing to Cooperate on Ukraine Crisis Resolution, Seeks Solutions Considering Its Interests
Sputnik International
Russia is ready to cooperate with all those who seek to facilitate the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, taking into account Russian interests and current realities, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.
2024-08-01T10:15+0000
2024-08-01T10:15+0000
2024-08-01T10:15+0000
russia's special operation in ukraine
ukrainian crisis
us arms for ukraine
russia-nato showdown
vatican
maria zakharova
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Commenting on the recent visit by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to Ukraine, she said his statements in general are in line with the Vatican's mediation efforts. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is open to a diplomatic resolution, yet the same seemingly does not hold true for Ukraine.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240731/russia-open-to-peace-initiatives-in-ukraine-but-no-reciprocity-on-kievs-part-1119585931.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/southport-stabbing-suspect-charged-with-murder---police-1119591777.html
Southport Stabbing Suspect Charged With Murder - Police
Southport Stabbing Suspect Charged With Murder - Police
Sputnik International
A 17-year-old boy suspected of stabbing three children to death in the UK town of Southport has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, the Merseyside Police department has said.
2024-08-01T07:44+0000
2024-08-01T07:44+0000
2024-08-01T07:44+0000
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"We can confirm that a 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar; 10 counts of attempted murder; and Possession of a bladed article, following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday, 29 July," the police said in a statement on Wednesday night. The suspect was not named for legal reasons. He was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday. County police detained three people during riots on Wednesday following a deadly attack on a children's dance club in Southport, in northwestern England. The stabbing left eight other children and two adults injured, many of them critically. In London, protesters clashed with police amid unconfirmed reports that the knifeman was a refugee. More than 100 demonstrators were arrested for violent disorder, assault and breach of protest conditions. Some of them suffered minor injuries.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230608/at-least-4-children-2-adults-injured-in-knife-attack-in-eastern-france---reports-1111007236.html
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Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, pleaded guilty and admitted to issuing deadly threats against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Tuesday.
In three separate incidents in November 2023, Cirillo called the Washington, DC, office of US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and made multiple threats while speaking to staffers.
"I got a bead on her. Like a sniper rifle. A sniper rifle. And I'm gonna kill her next week. I'm gonna murder her," he said on one occasion.
"I'll kill you too if you want," and "You're gonna die. Your family is gonna die," Cirillo threatened in another call.
"Threatening to kill a public official is reprehensible," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
"Our office will not tolerate any form of violence, threats, or intimidation against public officials. The prosecution of individuals who threaten the lives and welfare of public servants is a top priority for our office as well as for our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners," he added.
Cirillo, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting interstate threats.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"We will not normalize violent threats in America, whether targeting elected officials or average citizens," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.
"Our democracy depends on the ability of members of Congress to do their jobs without fearing for their safety. We will continue to prosecute threats against public servants made in any form."
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/the-us-failed-to-coup-maduro-because-he-has-the-respect-of-the-people-1119590032.html
The US Failed to Coup Maduro Because He Has the Respect of the People
The US Failed to Coup Maduro Because He Has the Respect of the People
Sputnik International
The West failed to coup President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela because he has the support of his people, geopolitical analyst Christopher Helali told Sputnik.
2024-08-01T03:44+0000
2024-08-01T03:44+0000
2024-08-01T04:34+0000
analysis
hugo chavez
nicolas maduro
venezuela
venezuelan
national endowment for democracy (ned)
white house
us
the critical hour
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The United States hoped to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by supporting a coup. It failed because the people of Venezuela support Maduro and the Bolivarian revolution, researcher and geopolitical analyst Christopher Helali told Sputniks The Critical Hour on Wednesday.Of course, weve seen this playbook before not only in Latin America, weve seen it in Eastern Europe, weve seen it in the Caucasus in Georgia, weve seen it all throughout Central Asia, Helali explained. Anywhere the United States feels that its interests are threatened, or that a country doesnt kowtow to Washington or Brussels.On Monday and Tuesday, supporters of the opposition started violent riots in the streets, utilizing Molotov cocktails and firearms to fight police. By Wednesday, the government had regained control and tens of thousands of Venezuelans from across the country traveled to the capital Caracas, and took to the streets supporting Maduro. The President joined them in what appeared to be a jubilant and peaceful celebration.[The West] already were giving people the heads up that there was going to be chaos and disorder if President Maduro was reelected. And, lo and behold, it happened. They said it. It happened, he explained. Theyre trying to spin it as a crackdown by the government, but thats not the case. In fact, the government is trying to maintain peace and order. Its the opposition that wants disorder and chaos, [which is] just the recipe for the US to come in and gobble up all of Venezuelas oil and natural resources and begin plundering the country like they did before Hugo Chavezs time.While the United States has a long history of successfully supporting coups in other countries, it has had a string of failures that raise the question of whether it is as effective as it used to be.Helali noted that they may not have the support of the elite in the countries who have dreams of plundering the countries once more with the help of the West. However, the working class is fighting to defend their sovereignty and their territorial integrity and their own mode of development and prosperity outside of Western imperialism.Ultimately, the people decided that they were not going to allow some gringos from the north to come and take [Venezuela] and plunder it, Helali said.The United States has been trying to overthrow the democratically elected government of Venezuela since Hugo Chavezs time and the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, was arrested for taking payments from the US-funded Non-Governmental Organization National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in the early 2000s and met with then-US President George W Bush in 2005.Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks revealed that the meeting was primarily designed to strengthen the opposition and anger then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.Opponents of President Chavez greeted the May 31 meeting with high fives for poking Chavez in the eye, and momentarily put aside differences, reveling in having one of their own being received at such a high level, the diplomatic cable read.On balance, in our judgment, the attention the White House meeting brought Sumate [the Venezuelan NGO founded by Machado] has been exceptional. It is important now to let the organization ride this surge largely on its own. A continuing, too evident, public identification with the U.S. could now be counterproductive. At the same time, however, we need to ensure that Sumate has the resources it needs to exploit this new vantage point it enjoys.As was the case during the Cold War, the United States remains desperate to stop socialist countries from succeeding, particularly in the Western hemisphere, because they fear success could cause it to spread.Why does America fear little Venezuela? Because they know that if Venezuela becomes a shining beacon, an example, it will be another pink tide across Latin America. They dont want that. They dont want the Venezuelan people to stand up and thats the real point of this. Its the Monroe Doctrine continued on. This is the United States hemisphere and nobody can go beyond that," Helali explained.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/trump-facilitated-collapse-of-us-russia-arms-control-by-scrapping-inf-treaty-1119598173.html
Trump Facilitated Collapse of US-Russia Arms Control by Scrapping INF Treaty
Trump Facilitated Collapse of US-Russia Arms Control by Scrapping INF Treaty
Sputnik International
Trump made a "stupid mistake" by deciding to scrap the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as the consequences of that fateful decision have paved the collapse of strategic arms control policies between the US and Russia.
2024-08-01T21:35+0000
2024-08-01T21:35+0000
2024-08-01T21:33+0000
analysis
us
russia
donald trump
philip giraldi
edward lozansky
soviet union
cia
inf treaty
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The INF treaty, signed between the Soviet Union and the US in 1987, banned the countries from developing and possessing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500-5,500 kilometers. In 2019, Trump withdrew the US from the treaty, which prompted Russia to suspend its participation in the Cold War-era accord in response. August 2 marks the fifth anniversary of the US' formal withdrawal from the INF Treaty. Restraint Abandoned"The consequences have been that strategic arms control policies between Russia and the US/NATO have largely been abandoned and both sides have developed nuclear capable intermediate range missiles that raise the likelihood that they will be resorted to in a potential escalating conflict like in Ukraine," former CIA analyst, founder and chair of the Council for the National Interest Philip Giraldi said. There were sharp differences of opinion in the Trump administration on whether to retain the treaty, in spite of both sides' claims that there was "cheating," Giraldi recalled. "The neocons predictably won the argument." Back in the 1980s, despite hawkish governments in London and Bonn, popular sentiment across Europe, especially in Germany overwhelmingly favored creating the treaty, Giraldi emphasized. "Interestingly enough, I was in the CIA German station in Hamburg 1982-5 when the whole issue of intermediate range missiles, which theoretically allowed for no warning devastating nuclear capable attack, was being debated," he said. "There were huge demonstrations in all German cities against the deployment and in favor of an agreement," Giraldi reported. "The US Consulate General was located near Hamburg's central lake, the Alster and thousands of demonstrators would gather along the lakefront and storm the front of the building by crossing the access road that surrounded the lake." Attempt to Show He's 'Tough' on RussiaAmerican University in Moscow President Edward Lozansky, a former Soviet nuclear physicist, noted that Trump had heeded his two most influential advisers at the time, CIA chief and then secretary of state Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, both of whom were determined to kill the treaty. One can excuse Trump for being a "political novice who miraculously won in 2016 and found himself in an ocean of sharks," he added. The recent events show that "the Deep State learned the 2016 lessons" and the chances of Trump repeating the miracle of that year are quickly decreasing, at least for now, according to Lozansky. "Almost each of the next 100 days till November 5 elections might bring unexpected events, not all of them bright for America and mankind," the expert concluded.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20201101/giant-mistake-reagans-secretary-of-state-condemns-us-withdrawal-from-inf-treaty-with-russia-1080945070.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20210111/pompeo-says-obama-risked-us-lives-by-complying-with-inf-treaty-1081725863.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/ukraine-will-not-restore-transit-of-russian-oil-to-slovakia-hungary---prime-minister-1119589552.html
Ukraine Will Not Restore Transit of Russian Oil to Slovakia, Hungary - Prime Minister
Ukraine Will Not Restore Transit of Russian Oil to Slovakia, Hungary - Prime Minister
Sputnik International
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he will not resume the transit of Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary.
2024-08-01T03:19+0000
2024-08-01T03:19+0000
2024-08-01T08:02+0000
world
europe
peter szijjarto
robert fico
slovakia
hungary
ukraine
european commission
lukoil
russia
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In July, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Ukraine had stopped the transit of Lukoil's oil. The Slovak Economy Ministry confirmed that the country was no longer receiving oil from the Russian oil giant, which was sanctioned by Ukraine. He added that the parties agreed on another intergovernmental meeting in October to continue "pragmatic dialogue." On July 22, Szijjarto said that Hungary and Slovakia had launched consultations of the European Commission with Ukraine due to a stop in the transit of oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline. On July 24, the commission postponed the consideration of the appeal, citing the need for additional information.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240725/eu-denies-support-to-hungary-slovakia-after-ukraine-halts-russian-oil-transit---reports-1119496931.html
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Jeremy Smith was involved in a racing accident on June 15 and has made his way back to the racetrack, and the winners circle, in spectacular fashion at Eldorado Scioto Downs.
The accident happened when GD Western Joe and Chris Page went down in the 13th race and the three horses directly behind the duo could not get out of the way and fell. All three drivers of those horses were taken to local hospitals, while the rest of the drivers, and all the horses, walked off the track.
The 44-year-old Smith, from Washington Court House, took it easy for a whole 12 days before attempting to come back racing.
I wasnt ready to be honest, said Smith. My head was telling me I could, but my body said I couldnt. My back on the left side was hurting too much.
Smith, however, did make a successful return to the track at Eldorado Scioto Downs. On Friday, July 19, Smith had 11 drives on the 14-race card, with three wins and five total on the board finishes. His first win came with the two-year-old Twin B Beachside for trainer Mike Polhamus, followed by two wins for Antonia Storer with Rose Run Warner and Premier Dancer.
All told since return on the 19th, Smith has 94 starts with 26 wins and 43 total on the board finishes. His win percentage is at 27.7, which is 4.2 per cent higher than any other driver at Scioto during that time period.
Now that I am back, I am ready to go. My body feels great, its all systems go, continued Smith. The timing was not the greatest right before the two-year-olds started qualifying as I thought I was going to get a real opportunity, but we will make the most of every opportunity.
Smith started his driving career with a couple qualifiers in 2001 and since has amassed 28,599 starts with 3,683 wins and more than $31 million in earnings. Prior to June 15, Smith was the leading driver at Scioto and while he had dropped to fifth in the standings before his return, it shouldnt take him long to get right back into contention. Smith drove 365 starters prior to July 19 with 62 wins.
Currently, Dan Noble sits atop the Scioto driver standings with 138 wins in 764 starts and Chris Page is second with 119 wins in 679 starts. Tyler Smith is sitting third with 90 wins and Brett Miller is tied with Smith with 88 wins.
The 90-day 2024 Eldorado Scioto Downs race meet runs through Saturday, Sept. 14.
(Scioto Downs)
"You get a very minute taste of it when you're at the racetrack as a spectator, or if you've placed a wager. This Unfiltered series takes you right behind totally behind the scenes. Unfiltered. This is the real deal."
The second episode of Ontario Racing Unfiltered is set for release on Thursday, Aug. 1. The first episode aired on July 18, providing a look at the four harness racing participants this year: Tyler Jones, James MacDonald, Bob McClure and Doug McNair. In case you missed it, here's the first episode.
In advance of the second episode, show participant Kelly Spencer joined CP24 Breakfast on Wednesday, July 31 to discuss the upcoming season.
"Season Two really shines a light on what's happening underneath, psychologically and emotionally," noted Spencer. "The Olympics are on right now, we're looking at all the athletes' mental outlooks and psychological thinking going into their events and that's really what this is...this docuseries is a sneak peek of what's under the surface of these professional athletes who are then driving these professional athletes the racehorses.
"It's a great character study, I think people will find it very compelling even if you know very little about horse racing. Very, very compelling cinema."
In episode two, Unfiltered profiles the participants from the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse side of the industry. Emma-Jayne Wilson and Rafael Hernandez return as featured jockeys, with up-and-coming rider Sofia Vives joining the series. Trainers Kevin Attard and Mark Casse complete the lineup as those two individuals set their sights on the 2024 King's Plate.
Woodbine's Jeff Bratt was a guest on CTV Your Morning on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming season and that amazing bond between the people and horses.
"To watch these thousand-pound majestic animals with a 100-pound jockey on their back, and they have to be in sync, and the horse has to trust that human so much...I think that's really kind of the storyline for me. "
On the Quarter Horse side, trainer Lauren Spada and jockey Alexis Sanchez join the cast. The trainer-jockey duo are a tandem both on and off the track, second-generation participants looking to ascend to new heights in their respective fields.
The second episode of the four-episode season will be available on multiple digital platforms on Thursday, including Crave, tsn.ca, ctv.ca and affiliated YouTube channels. A full schedule breakdown can be found below:
Episode 1 - July 18
Episode 2 - Aug. 1
Episode 3 - Aug. 15
Episode 4 - Sept. 12
(Standardbred Canada)
Fashion Green, who has launched his career with three straight victories including a pair of stakes wins will try to extend his unbeaten streak in Fridays $160,336 USD Pennsylvania Sires Stakes leg for freshman colt and gelding trotters, known as the Florida Pro, at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.
The card also features an $80,000 USD PA Stallion Series leg. First post is 5:10 p.m.
Fashion Green looked nothing if not precocious in grabbing a Sire Stakes split at The Meadows, where he took his mark of 1:55.2, and a Pennsylvania All-Stars division at Pocono Downs. But his trainer, new U.S. Hall of Fame inductee Jim Campbell, notes that his path to early success has had twists and turns.
He broke in like a really nice colt and did everything we wanted him to, said Campbell. Then he started messing up a bit, making breaks for no reason and not paying attention to his work. Thats when we decided to geld him. Hes come back really nicely from that. Hes pretty easygoing and drama free.
Fashion Green is a homebred son of Greenshoe out of the Broadway Hall mare Fashion Athena, who won the Kentucky Futurity at two en route to $308,290 in lifetime earnings. Moreover, Fashion Athena produced Millies Possesion, who wowed the harness world at three her only year on the track by opening her career with nine consecutive wins before finishing second in the Hambletonian Oaks.
That strong family is what persuaded Campbell and owner Jules Siegel of Fashion Farms to keep the colt and race him rather than send him through the auction ring.
Fashion Athena has been a really good producer weve trained most of her foals so there was no doubt we would keep him and train him.
Known for his conservative approach to bringing young horses along, Campbell has mapped out just such a campaign for Fashion Green.
I always take it one step at a time, he said. Right now well follow through on the PA Sires trail and see how that goes. He has some major stakes in the fall, but well see how hes doing.
Fashion Green goes from post six, race eight, with Dave Palone aboard.
The other division of the Florida Pro goes as race nine and features local phenom Wapiti Blue Chip, who, on July 12, became the fastest two-year-old gelding trotter ever at The Meadows when he triumphed in 1:54.2 for Braxten Boyd. Boyd again will be in the sulky for trainer Mahlon Martin and owners Ashley Berslem, Steven Mullen and Gregory Garton.
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)
My sincere hope is that I am just one of many people in your life saying this: we need and want you here in Nebraska.
Generation Z will have a massive impact in our state, especially in rural Nebraska. You have come of age in a world of constant change and technological advancement, shifting like the braids of the Platte River under a powerful current. Your formative years unfolded amid a pandemic, recessions and political unrest but also abundance and cooperation. You have, with technology youve known since childhood, forged new forms of connection by cultivating communities across national and international borders. Navigating a world in a permanent state of flux has made you resilient and inquisitive. Its unlikely that the rate of change will slow anytime soon. Your adaptability will be an incredible asset in the decades ahead.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are the most diverse generations of Nebraskans in recent history. With that comes a predisposition to inclusivity that can change the long-held misconceptions people have about our state. For Nebraska to have a future, it must be a place where everyone belongs. For you, this is an obvious foundation for success, and you arent afraid to have your voice heard on the matter.
Your curiosity and insistence on innovation will carry our state into the future. Have dreams of starting your own business? I speak with homegrown entrepreneurs every day who credit their success to community support, something they say they never would have found in a big city. Many of them are young, fresh out of college or still enrolled in classes, but their communities have welcomed their dreams to build something new and contribute to shared well-being.
Gen Z, you crave purpose, not just a paycheck. The research shows young Nebraskans and other members of your generation are values driven, perhaps more so than any generation before you. You are attracted to work be it paid or volunteer that lights your fire. In Greater Nebraska, the opportunities for making a tangible impact are abundant. In fact, we work with thousands of volunteers of all ages who share your desire to leave the world better than you found it. Trust us, they are looking for bright minds and passionate hearts like yours to lead the way.
But perhaps your generations most admirable quality is your authenticity something that will serve you well in the leadership roles you fill in the future. Your awareness of mental health is long overdue and something that would serve those before you well.
Nebraska Community Foundation and its network of affiliated funds hope to play a part in empowering your generation. Over the last five years, weve sponsored dozens of Hometown Interns across our state. These college students return to their hometowns for the summer and dive headfirst into discovering the hidden potential of their places. Many have returned to the program after their first year because they found it so eye-opening.
One of those young Nebraskans is Jadyn Schultis of Diller in Southeast Nebraska. Jadyn joined the program in 2022 and has returned in both 2023 and 2024. In her first year, supervisors challenged her and another intern to innovate ways to involve youth in community-building efforts. Together, they created the Diller Serviceship Camp, an event that educates elementary students on Dillers history and assets before asking them to generate their own ideas for projects that could make Diller even better. The camp has been a major success for Diller, and its broadened Jadyns horizons regarding the role she can play in crafting the future of her hometown.
Jadyn tells us she now feels like a changemaker and leader for communities throughout the state, thanks in part to her internships. Thats exactly the feeling we want young Nebraskans across the state to experience.
Dear Young Nebraskan, know that we your elders see ourselves in you. We too once felt misunderstood and underappreciated. Sometimes our eagerness for change was met with doubt and negativity. But without change, there cannot be progress. You will not be alone in this pursuit. Community leaders throughout this state are ready to listen, extend an invitation and make space for you and your peers.
Dear Young Nebraskan, stick with it. Our future depends on you.
Cowlitz County Superior Court is barring a former Kalama city councilmember from having guns after telling his therapist he wants to shoot the local leaders who wronged him, court records show.
The court granted the protection order against Matthew Michael Merz, 45, of Kalama earlier this month, preventing him from accessing firearms for a year.
The order protects the more than a dozen people ranging from elected officials to private citizens named in lawsuits Merz filed in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
Merz accuses locals of libel, misconduct and even making a false arrest, which led to his emotional distress and, in some cases, loss of business due to a tarnished reputation in the city of roughly 3,000.
People protected in the order include Kalama Mayor Mike Reuter, Kalama Police Chief Ralph Herrera and Cowlitz County Sheriff Brad Thurman.
In all the current lawsuits, Merz represents himself.
The litigation stems from longrunning disputes between Merz, Kalama citizens, his former city councilmembers, and the citys police department.
Merz only served a single term in office from 2020 to 2023. A jury found him guilty of felony computer trespass and data theft after a two-day Cowlitz County trial, preventing him from holding the seat under state law.
Merz illegally accessed the email account of another city councilmember in 2022 in an effort to uncover misconduct involving the Kalama police and the citys elected officials, the jury found.
But officials never discovered evidence of misconduct in Kalama, and a whistleblower claim filed by Merz with the state on the issue found he wasnt the subject of retaliation by the city, the state office on administrative hearings reports.
Threats
Merz never served jail time for his convictions, only community service, but his desire for retribution lives on, court records show.
Merzs therapist reported to the Kalama police in June that he said in theory he would find and shoot the people that are responsible for his convictions, though he plans to see how his current lawsuits go first.
By state law, health professionals are required to tell authorities after reasonable threats of violence.
The therapist said Merz told him he thinks about his wrongful convictions all day. He did not reveal exact names of targets, just that he would like to harm the people involved in his lawsuits, the order states.
The therapist thought Merz had access to guns, the order continues, though Merzs father told police his son could not reach the four handguns in the safe of their shared Kalama home.
Merz told The Daily News the allegations are clearly an act of retaliation against me for filing a lawsuit against, in part, the citys police chief, as the police department filed the petition to have his firearms access revoked.
Chief Herrera was also granted a temporary restraining order against Merz in Clark County based on the protection orders reported threats.
In court filings, Merz attests the inexperienced therapist violated privacy laws while trying to help Merz with anxiety attacks brought on by the very people he is suing.
The Rio Grande as it flows near Eagle Pass. Persistent drought has raised tensions between the U.S. and Mexico. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer A worker harvests grain sorghum on farmland in Cameron County, not far from the Rio Grande. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
WASHINGTON For almost a century, farmers in Texas and Mexico have maintained a tense but workable compact around the water that flows through the Rio Grande, vital to irrigating crops in a hot climate prone to water shortages.
But that relationship has grown increasingly fraught in recent decades as repeated droughts limit water flows into the river, driving heated political attacks on both sides of the border.
Tensions reached new heights this year as Mexico fell far behind on its water deliveries to the Amistad and Falcon reservoir systems through which the Rio Grande flows, threatening the livelihoods of farmers in Texas Rio Grande Valley, a major producer of sorghum, grapefruit, oranges and other crops.
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Brian Jones, a farmer in Edcouch and a member of the board of the Texas Farm Bureau, said hed only planted half his fields this year knowing he wouldnt have water to irrigate with, leaving him at the mercy of nature.
Were just waiting and praying on a tropical storm, he said. The Rio Grande Valley has already lost its sugar cane crop, and citrus is next.
Under a water treaty signed in 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mexico and the United States divvy up water supplies from the rivers that mark and cross their borders the Rio Grande in Texas and the Colorado River in Arizona and California.
With much of the watershed for the Rio Grande flowing from mountains south of the border, Mexico agreed to deliver 1.75 million acre feet of water to U.S. reservoirs every five years the equivalent to more than 500 billion gallons with the United States delivering water from its portion of the Colorado River watershed to Mexico.
But beginning in the mid-1990s, Mexico struggled to keep up with its obligation, repeatedly missing its targets, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission that manages water supplies on the Rio Grande.
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The current deficit is the worst yet, with Mexico only delivering 396,000 acre feet, or 22% of its five-year water obligation, almost four years into the cycle. That has prompted discussions between the U.S. State Department and Mexicos government, with U.S. officials urging Mexico to deliver desperately needed water at the earliest possible date, a State Department spokesperson said.
The Mexican Embassy in Washington did not return requests for comment.
Complicating the situation is the ongoing drought, which has diminished tributaries flowing into the Rio Grande from the United States and Mexico alike, said IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner, an appointee of President Joe Biden.
Overall drought has started to reduce the hydrology of the river. The increase in temperatures warms the soil so you get a lot more drying and when it rains, less of that water accumulates, she said. The management of the basin needs to be changed, to better understand the hydrology and improve conservation and build up drought resilience, but we are also pushing Mexico in the short term because the region needs the water.
Those efforts have done little to assuage Texas politicians, including Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, who have called on Congress to reduce U.S. funding to Mexico if it doesnt deliver 350,000 acre feet of water, the annual average for deliveries under the treaty, to the United States each year.
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The current situation is unsustainable and unacceptable. The U.S. must use every diplomatic tool at its disposal to ensure Mexicos compliance, they said in a joint statement earlier this year.
Meanwhile in Mexico, politicians are under pressure from farmers in the north, one of the countrys most important agricultural areas, not to release more water to the United States.
That region is struggling from water shortages too, with the IBWC reporting Mexicos reservoirs on the Rio Conchos, one of the largest tributaries to the Rio Grande, at less than 20% capacity due to declines in water flow.
Mexican officials last year walked away from negotiations with the United States that would have made water transfers to the Untied States easier. Under constitutional reforms passed in 2012, access to water is a fundamental right in Mexico, and ahead of Mexicos national election in June President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came under increased pressure not to release water to the United States, said John Mckiernan-Gonzalez, a history professor at Texas State University.
You can see why Texas farmers are pressuring the federal government to force Mexico to release the water, he said. But on the other side, northern Mexico is going through a historic drought. A lot of the large landowners were not big fans of AMLO, and they dont want to give up their water even though its part of this diplomatic agreement.
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With climate change causing more intense heat waves and changing weather patterns, the potential for prolonged droughts in the United States is increasing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Texas Water Development Board is projecting the states existing water supplies to decline 18% by 2070, and is the middle of figuring out a solution at a time Texas population and thirst for water continues to grow.
With Mexico struggling under near similar conditions, tensions on the two sides show little sign of abating anytime soon. In the meantime, federal water officials are coming under increasing pressure to renegotiate the 1944 treaty in hopes of creating more dependable water supplies, Giner, the IBWC commissioner, said.
Thats not our decision. Thats up to Congress, she said. But were not recommending it. There could be unintended consequences. It could get better; it could get worse.
Birlasoft reported its unaudited consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2024. Birlasoft is part of the $3 bn CK Birla Group, which has over 35,000 employees and operates 52 manufacturing facilities globally.
Mr. Angan Guha, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Birlasoft, said, Our performance during the quarter under review reflects a challenging operating environment and tightened discretionary spends by customers. In that backdrop, I am pleased to note that our Infra and ROW businesses, both historically smaller contributors to our revenue, have done particularly well on the back of our efforts to enhance our capabilities and footprint there. Our deal wins during the quarter are also up 10% year on year at $160 Mn. We continue to invest in our business across our verticals and service lines to strengthen our position as a domain and emerging tech capabilities-led player.
Ms Kamini Shah, Chief Financial Officer, Birlasoft, said, Our revenue during the quarter under review grew 5.1% year on year to Rs 13,274 million. PAT for the quarter grew 9.2% year on year to Rs 1,502 Mn. Our quarterly collections continued to be strong, resulting in a 46% rise year on year in cash and cash equivalents to Rs 19,143 Mn. Our DSO improved sequentially to 52 days and on this key parameter we continue to be among the best in the industry. We have started the new financial year with a robust balance sheet and healthy cashflows that enable us to keep investing in capabilities for future growth even as we navigate through the current challenges in the macro-economic environment.
Key Financial highlights for Q1 FY25
In INR
Revenue at 13,274 M, up 5.1% YoY
EBITDA at 1,951 M; EBITDA margin at 14.7%
PAT at 1,502 M, up 9.2% YoY translating to basic EPS (not annualized) of 5.41
Cash and cash equivalents increase 45.9% YoY to 19,143 M
In USD $
Revenue at $159.1 M, up 3.6% YoY
In constant currency terms, revenue up 3.8% YoY
EBITDA at $ 23.4 M; EBITDA margin at 14.7%
PAT at $ 18.0 M, up 7.6% YoY
Other operating highlights
Growth during Q1FY25 driven by BFSI and E&U among verticals, by Infra among service lines, and by ROW among geographies BFSI up 8.4% and E&U up 3.7% QoQ while Manufacturing and Lifesciences & Services (LSS) registered a sequential decline among verticals Infra up 36.1% QoQ The number of $1Mn+ clients increased from 87 to 88 QoQ and the number of $10Mn+ clients remained stable QoQ. Revenue from Top 5, Top 10 and Top 20 clients grew YoY by 12.7%, 10.0% and 5.5 % respectively
Signed deals of TCV $ 160 M during the quarter with new deal wins TCV of $ 94 M and renewals of $ 66 M.
Active Client Count at 258 in Q1FY25 (compared to 259 in Q4FY24 and 285 in Q1FY24), reflecting rationalisation of the tail.
Cash & Cash equivalents rise to $229.7 M by end of Q1FY25 versus $209.2 M at end of Q4FY24. In rupee terms, cash and cash equivalents increased to 19,143 M at the end of Q1FY25 from 17,447 M at the end of the preceding quarter
DSO improved to 52 days , led by continued strong collections .
Workforce strength increased to 12,865 as on 30 th June 2024 and attrition improved further QoQ to 11.6% during Q1FY25.
During the quarter under review, Birlasoft attained AWS Migration Consulting Competency. This underscores Birlasofts expertise in helping enterprise customers migrate applications and legacy infrastructure to AWS, evident through successful client solutions across diverse industries. As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, Birlasoft has demonstrated extensive technical proficiency and professional services excellence in guiding businesses through every stage of migration on AWS, from initial discovery and planning to migration and ongoing operations.
Key deal wins for the quarter
Awarded a key contract from one of the top global Insurance companies to migrate their SharePoint from On-Prem to Cloud
Initiated engagement with one of the top 3 US banks on GenAI based Data Center Optimization
Secured an order from a Fortune 500 automotive component manufacturer in North America for carve out/integration support across the infrastructure and security stack.
Signed a new key customer (an S&P 500 company) in the P&C Insurance space.
Won and executed a vendor consolidation exercise in one of the top custodian banks, enabling seamless technology integration for multiple wealth management products.
Won a Cloud FinOps consulting services deal from a large agro-industrial customer in the Americas geo.
Awards & Recognitions
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A health care worker walks by the Big Red Bus from OneBlood outside at Cano Health in Hialeah, Fla., July 29, 2020. Oneblood, which serves much of the southeast United States, is facing a ransomware attack, officials said Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Credit: David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP
A not-for-profit blood center serving much of the southeastern United States is facing a ransomware attack, officials said Wednesday.
OneBlood said the attack had disabled its information technology, forcing it to operate at a reduced capacity in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. To manage its blood supply, the blood center was asking more than 250 hospitals to activate their critical blood shortage protocols. The blood center also was using manual processes to maintain basic operations, officials said.
OneBlood is working with cybersecurity specialists as well as federal, state and local agencies to determine the scope of the attack and how to respond, officials said.
"We are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible," Susan Forbes, OneBlood's senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, said in a statement.
Blood centers across the U.S. were sending extra blood and platelets to OneBlood, which said there's a particular need for O-positive and O-negative blood.
2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The automated mosquito pupa sex sorting system. Credit: Jun-Tao Gong. From Science Robotics (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adj6261
A team of engineers and pest control specialists in China has developed a machine that is capable of gender-sorting 16 million mosquito pupae a week. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group describes how they designed and built their sorter and how well it has worked during testing.
Prior research has shown that mosquitoes carry viruses such as Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya and dengue, as well as parasites such as those responsible for the spread of malaria. Scientists have been looking for efficient ways to reduce their numbers in places that are most susceptible to the diseases they spread.
One approach involves breeding millions of sterile male mosquito pupae and releasing them into the wild. The sterile pupae develop into mosquitos that take the place of fertile males in mating with females, resulting in fewer viable mosquito larvae and eventually fewer mosquitoes overall. Such breeding efforts require that the female mosquitos produced during breeding are not released into the wild; thus, the pupae need to be sorted by gender.
Currently, the process is inefficient because it is done manually. The research team developed a machine that is able to do the job automatically, approximately 17 times faster and with fewer mistakeswhich the researchers claim comes to approximately 17 million pupae a week. The researchers note that the machine, which has a special sorting glass, is capable of collecting, loading and sorting millions of pupae every day.
Given the potential variation in mosquito immature development across different batches, the sorter was calibrated for each batch of pupae at the beginning of sex separation to optimize the accuracy by adjusting the technical parameters, including the slope of the outer sorting glass, through the touch screen on the control panel. Once calibrated, sex separation operated automatically until all pupae were sorted. Credit: Jun-Tao Gong
The research team has already tested their sorting machine on two kinds of mosquitoes in parts of Guangzhou, China. They report that use of their sorting machine resulted in significant reductions in mosquito populations in the area. During testing, they also discovered that their device was so easy to operate that one person could run several of them at the same time. Several of the machines have already been sold to customers in Italy, France, the U.S., and Mexico.
More information: Jun-Tao Gong et al, Upscaling the production of sterile male mosquitoes with an automated pupa sex sorter, Science Robotics (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adj6261 Journal information: Science Robotics
2024 Science X Network
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A Tesla logo is shown on Feb. 27, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. Authorities in Washington announced Tuesday, July 30 that the Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April was operating on the companys Full Self Driving system. Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File
U.S. road safety investigators say they will look into an April crash near Seattle after authorities determined that a Tesla was operating on the company's "Full Self-Driving" system when it hit and killed a motorcyclist.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it is gathering information on the crash from law enforcement officers and Tesla.
Investigators from the Washington State Patrol determined that the system was in use after downloading information from the event-data recorder on the 2022 Tesla Model S involved in the crash, agency spokesman Capt. Deion Glover said Tuesday.
No charges have been filed against the driver but the investigation is still under way, Glover said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that "Full Self Driving" should be able to run without human supervision by the end of this year. He has been promising a fleet of robotaxis for several years. During the company's earnings conference call, he acknowledged that his predictions on the issue "have been overly optimistic in the past."
Musk is staking much of Tesla's future on development of self-driving software and a humanoid robot. He has told investors that Tesla should be seen as a robotics and artificial intelligence company, and he has scheduled an event in October to reveal a new robotaxi.
Tesla did not return messages seeking comment.
Tesla has two partially automated driving systems, "Full Self-Driving," which can take on many driving tasks even on city streets, and Autopilot, which can keep a car in its lane and away from objects in front of it. Sometimes the names are confused by Tesla owners and the public.
Tesla says at present neither system can drive itself and that human drivers must be ready to take control at any time.
"Full Self-Driving" is being tested on public roads by selected Tesla owners.
Twice NHTSA has made Tesla recall "Full Self-Driving" because it disobeyed traffic laws. It also forced a recall of Autopilot, alleging that Tesla's system for making sure drivers pay attention was inadequate. In April, the agency began investigating whether the Autopilot recall actually worked.
2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Union executives gathered on Thursday outside Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong's house.
Leaders of a South Korean union representing tens of thousands of workers at Samsung Electronics staged a protest Thursday outside the house of the company's chairman and heir, after fresh negotiations failed.
Thousands of union members stopped working on July 8 for what was initially meant to be a three-day strike, part of a long-running battle over pay and benefits. The union subsequently extended the work stoppage "indefinitely".
It is unclear exactly how many workers have downed tools, and Samsung has said the action is not affecting production, posting record growth and profits earlier this week for the second quarter.
"If a delay occurs in semiconductor processing, the effects won't be immediate. It takes weeks or months," Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), told AFP.
The union engaged in eleventh-hour talks with management for three days, until Wednesday, but has failed to reach an agreement.
Union executives gathered on Thursday outside Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong's house, holding pickets that read "Samsung Electronics' strike, Lee Jae-yong should be accountable".
Another displayed a picture of Lee holding a finger to his mouth with the caption, "Shh! Labor union, what's that? Samsung strike, what's that?"
A handful of police were deployed at the premises and the protest was interrupted by the police warning the union they were not allowed to chant.
"In the 25 days since the strike began, all Lee has done is attend the wedding of the son of Asia's richest man and give out Samsung phones to Olympic athletes that are worth over 30 billion won ($22 million)," union member Kim Jae-won told reporters.
Lee was a guest at the wedding of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant in July.
Last week he attended a banquet co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at the Louvre Museum.
The union claimed that the company was trying to break the strike with illegal means, including creating a "blacklist" of strike participants.
"We will publicize all of this," Son Woo-mok, head of NSEU, told AFP.
"Labor suppression, unfair labor practices, industrial accidents, the list continues."
Samsung said Wednesday it was "communicating and discussing to ensure that this labor union strike ends early", adding there was "no problem with responding to our customer volume".
The first labor union at Samsung Electronics was formed in the late 2010s.
The National Samsung Electronics Union, which has around 36,000 members, or nearly a quarter of the company's total workforce, claims labor organizing remains taboo at the company.
Two years ago, the union staged a demonstration in front of Lee's residence, successfully securing three additional holidays.
In 2020, former Samsung employees faced criticism for their unorthodox protest methods, which included grilling pork belly, drinking soju, and strumming guitars outside Lee's home.
2024 AFP
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Purdue University professor Luna Lu, at left, and students in her lab made the discoveries and conducted the experiments that have led to the development of a promising new concrete strength testing method and commercial product. Cihang Huang, at right, a Ph.D. student in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, is part of Lu's research group. Credit: Purdue University /Greta Bell
A Purdue University invention that may shorten construction timelines and increase long-term durability of concrete highways, bridges and other transportation infrastructure is emerging as a viable alternative to methods that have been used for decades to estimate when newly poured concrete is mature enough to withstand heavy loads such as those from trucks and other vehicles.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Committee on Materials and Pavements (AASHTO COMP) has approved the Purdue-developed method as a new national standard. AASHTO membership is comprised of the departments of transportation (DOT) of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The creation of this standard, published Wednesday (July 31), puts the method on a path for states and contractors to consider looking into it as a new practice.
Embedded directly into fresh concrete, the Purdue invention uses sensor technology to provide engineers with relatively precise and consistent real-time data on concrete's strength, which may be comparable or even surpass the accuracy of several current tools and methods.
For highways and bridges, less uncertainty associated with determining when concrete pavement is strong enough to handle heavy truck traffic can potentially allow newly repaired road sections to open sooner, which could save money spent on those repairs and increase convenience for the traveling public.
In the long term, a more precise determination of strength gain of the concrete over time can also help pavements last longer by not loading them too soon and inducing early damage or fatigue, affecting durability.
Opening roads sooner to traffic after construction and improving their condition could also result in financial savings for the commerce sector by reducing delays for the transportation of goods and services and leading to less wear and tear of long-haul freight trucks.
"The majority of our infrastructure was built in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, the population in the U.S. was only half of the current population," said Luna Lu, Purdue's Reilly Professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, who invented the sensor technology. "This means that all this infrastructure was not built and designed for the volume of traffic, the frequency of use and the amount of people we have today. We have to think of a better way to communicate with our infrastructure."
The Indiana Department of Transportation in June conducted a verification test of REBEL sensor technology, a beta product of the startup Wavelogix that was invented by Purdue researchers. Sensors were installed within a bridge deck in Anderson, Indiana. Credit: Purdue University /Rui He
Working with states on a promising new idea
Concrete pavement makes up less than 2% of U.S. roads but approximately 20% of the U.S. interstate system, which supports much of the nation's traffic.
As part of a Federal Highway Administration pooled-fund study, Purdue researchers and Wavelogix, a startup Lu founded in 2021, have been testing the invention as a commercial beta product in these states: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Utah and California. Rui He, a Ph.D. student in Purdue's Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, has led the team's work in completing more than 20 tests over the past year, installing the sensors into highways, bridge decks and retaining walls.
Initial results from testing in these states indicate that the sensor technology is potentially more accurate and consistent than some of the existing concrete strength tests which are considered to be "state-of-the-practice." The Purdue-Wavelogix team also has plans to test in other states. However, creating awareness of this new AASHTO standard is a crucial step toward DOTs officially adopting this method into their state construction and materials testing specifications.
As awareness grows, more state DOTs will likely experiment with the new method to validate and attain their own experience and expertise. If during this process state DOTs conclude this new method is viable, they will gradually implement its use through specifications for construction project contracts. Whether the new AASHTO standard gains traction in the field leading to widespread acceptance will not likely be known for several years to come as innovation and change generally happen gradually in the construction industry.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), which has funded the sensor technology since the beginning of its development, proposed the method as a standard to AASHTO COMP's technical subcommittee on hardened concrete last summer, as the Purdue invention was starting to become a commercial product.
"There have been wins all along in the lab and with the technology," said Mike Nelson, a concrete engineer in INDOT's Division of Materials and Tests, who has worked with Lu and her team throughout the entire process of establishing this technology as a new concrete strength test.
Purdue University researchers and the startup Wavelogix worked with a crew to test REBEL sensor technology, invented by Purdue, within a section of Interstate 25 in Colorado last summer. Credit: Purdue University /Rui He
This process has included a handful of tests in several Indiana highways and bridges to develop the model that Wavelogix launched to market in December as a commercial product called the REBEL concrete strength sensing system. Wavelogix licenses the technology from the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for patent protection on the intellectual property.
INDOT is currently conducting its own verification tests of the REBEL product and has added this technique to its Indiana Test Methods Index, which will allow the technology to be used in Indiana once it is validated by field trials and pilot projects.
"The implications of this technology are staggering because everybody who pours concreteit doesn't matter whether you're building a skyscraper or a roadwhat you want to know is the strength of the concrete so you can move on with construction. There's nothing anywhere else in the world that can determine concrete strength in place like this does," Nelson said.
Daniel Tobias, a member of AASHTO COMP's technical subcommittee on hardened concrete and the engineer of concrete, soils and metals for the Illinois Department of Transportation, also saw the value of this method and assisted with the drafting of the standard based on INDOT's proposal. In November, DOT representatives in the subcommittee and the parent Committee on Materials and Pavements voted to advance this standard to publication.
"The committee agreed that the idea and the research had worth based upon the introduction of the work from Indiana and its sponsors, and so we decided to try to move it forward," Tobias said. "If we can get a reasonably good estimate of concrete strength quickly, that gives us a faster answer about when we can open the road or the bridge to traffic. We're always looking for new ways to do that. This was a novel application that was developed from scratch that nobody had seen before."
Challenging the status quo in concrete strength testing
Lu and her lab started developing this technology in 2017, when INDOT requested help in more accurately determining when pavement is ready to be opened to traffic.
From beneath a concrete pour, this black circular sensor transmits data about concrete strength levels through a cord plugged into an aboveground device called a data logger. Engineers receive real-time data from this device through an app. Credit: Purdue University /Greta Bell
The most common method that the industry has used for decades calls for testing large samples or "cylinders" of hardened concrete at a lab or on-site facility. Using that data, engineers estimate the strength level that a particular concrete mix will achieve after being poured and left to cure at a construction site. Although these tests are well understood by the industry, discrepancies between lab and outdoor conditions can result in inaccurate strength estimates due to the different cement compositions, the temperature of the surrounding area and other factors.
Another less frequently used method for determining strength is known as the maturity concept, which uses a recently established time and temperature history of a particular concrete to develop a maturity-strength curve. Measurement of the heat given off over time during the chemical reaction of cement with water provides a reasonable estimate of strength gain over time, but this method is very specific to a particular mix used at a particular time and place.
"You might think that it's super straightforward to measure the strength of concrete, but it's not as exact of a science as you might think it is," Tobias said.
With the technology Lu and her team invented, engineers no longer have to rely on concrete sample cylinders or the maturity concept to estimate when fresh concrete has cured enough. Instead, they can more directly monitor the fresh concrete and accurately measure its strength and temperature.
Construction workers install the sensors by securing them to reinforcement or placing them on the subgrade, a layer of soil that provides the foundation for paving concrete. After pouring the concrete, they plug each sensor cable extending from the concrete's formwork into a reusable handheld device that automatically starts logging data. Using the app, workers can receive information on real-time growth in the concrete strength for as long as the strength data is required.
"Every time I've handed a sensor to a contractor, the only question they've asked me is 'When will this be available?' The value added to the industry is so apparent to the people who would be using this technology on a day-to-day basis," Lu said.
Lu's lab invented this sensor technologybased on its discovery that vibrations in concrete could be used to detect rigidity and other mechanical properties that convey the concrete's strength. This technology uses electrical energy to excite the sensors, which vibrates the concrete, and then converts the mechanical energy of these vibrations back to electrical energy. The sensors measure the change in the frequencies of the vibrations of the concrete over time and correlate this change to concrete strength gain.
Purdue University professor Luna Lu holds the REBEL concrete strength sensing system, which her lab invented to improve estimates of in-place strength of concrete structures. As a beta product of Wavelogix, founded by Lu, the REBEL sensor technology is being tested in several states. Credit: Purdue University /Greta Bell
A mathematical model that Lu's lab developed to describe this physical phenomenon and later create the software for the REBEL product was awarded the Alfred Noble Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2022. "This was an indication from the scientific perspective that people see this as a very important discovery," Lu said.
The technology has received numerous other accolades over the course of its development. In April the REBEL product was recognized as a gold winner of an Edison Award in the category of Critical Human Infrastructure. The innovation has appeared on Time's Best Inventions of 2023 list and Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech for 2022, and it was named a "Gamechanger" on the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure.
The process of turning this invention into a commercial product has also been supported by multiple awards from the National Science Foundation. Wavelogix recently received a $3 million investment from Rhapsody Venture Partners and has secured support from a group of angel investors.
Lu is optimistic about the technology's future and the benefits it will bring to concrete infrastructure throughout the U.S.
"What has me really excited is getting the industry's feedback and seeing a matching of the technology to a problem," Lu said. "Invention is when you develop something, but when this something solves a bigger problem, that is innovation."
More information: T 412, Standard Method of Test for Real-Time Estimate of In-Place Concrete Strength Using Acoustical Resonance Method, store.transportation.org/Item/ cationDetail?ID=5264
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:
The Uber logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Aug. 16, 2019. The ride sharing giant Uber and Chinese automaker BYD plan a partnership to introduce 100,000 BYD model EVs on the Uber platform in Europe and Latin America, eventually expanding to other markets, the companies announced. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
The ride sharing giant Uber and Chinese automaker BYD plan a partnership to introduce 100,000 BYD model EVs on the Uber platform in Europe and Latin America, eventually expanding to other markets, the companies announced.
The arrangement would offer Uber drivers access to favorable pricing, insurance, financing and other services for BYD vehicles, the companies said in a statement seen Thursday.
Plans call for the partnership to expand to the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
The companies said the plan would help accelerate the switch to EVs and that they also plan to collaborate in introducing autonomous-capable EVs on the Uber platform. BYD, China's largest EV maker, has fast been expanding its reach into world markets after switching entirely to production of EVs and hybrids in 2022.
The BYD logo is pictured during the press day at the 91th Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. The ride sharing giant Uber and Chinese automaker BYD plan a partnership to introduce 100,000 BYD model EVs on the Uber platform in Europe and Latin America, eventually expanding to other markets, the companies announced. Credit: Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP, File
The rapid emergence of low-priced EVs from China is shaking up the global auto industry in ways not seen since Japanese makers arrived during the oil crises of the 1970s.
The European Union imposed provisional duties on Chinese electric vehicles in June, alleging that government subsidies give automakers in China an unfair advantage. BYD EVs aren't being sold in the U.S. now largely because of 27.5% tariffs on the sale price of Chinese vehicles when they arrive at ports.
But Chinese makers are moving production overseas. BYD, has opened a plant in Thailand and plans to build factories in Brazil, Hungary and Turkey.
2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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:
Toyota aims to sell 1.5 million pure electric vehicles annually by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030.
Toyota reported a small rise in net profits on Thursday as a weak yen and cost cuts helped the Japanese auto giant overcome a drop in production and sales in its home market.
The firm said first-quarter net income rose 1.7 percent to 1.33 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) and operating profit jumped 16.7 percent to 1.31 trillion yen. Revenues climbed 12.2 percent to 11.8 trillion yen.
The world's largest automaker by sales also stuck to its full-year forecasts, predicting net profit of 3.57 trillion yen, marking a drop of 27.8 percent, on sales of 46 trillion yen, which would be a gain of 2.0 percent.
Toyota said the rise in profit was "despite a decrease in production and sales volume in Japan, due to the effects of foreign exchange rates and cost reduction efforts".
"Despite the inability to maintain stable production in Japan due to factors such as certification issues and recalls, we achieved an increase in profit, thanks to the support of all our stakeholders, including suppliers and dealers," a statement said.
In June, the government instructed five firmsToyota, Honda, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamahato stop delivering certain vehicle models within Japan because of certification issues.
This week Toyota was also slapped with a correction order by the transport ministry over a failure to comply fully with national vehicle inspection standards.
That followed inspections in June by officials at its headquarters in the central Aichi region to probe breaches declared by the company related to domestic shipment certifications.
Toyota last year reported record bumper results, with net profit doubling to 4.94 trillion yen and revenues soaring by a fifth to 45.1 trillion yen.
The results were driven by strong sales of hybrid vehicleswhich combine internal combustion engines and batteriesan area that Toyota pioneered with the Prius.
Electric challenge
But it has been criticized along with other Japanese automakers for being slow to embrace purely battery-powered vehicles, allowing firms like Tesla and China's BYD to steal a march and gain market share.
However, there are signs consumers are going cold on pure EVs because of high prices and worries about reliability, range and a lack of charging points.
The firm is also hoping to mass-produce solid-state batteries, a potential game-changing technological breakthrough that could mean faster charging times and greater range.
On Thursday Toyota's rivals Honda and Nissan said that they would cooperate on research in batteries for EVs and other areas.
The news follows an announcement in March that they were exploring a "strategic alliance" to join forces to cope with a "once-in-a-century" upheaval in the car industry.
Japan's number two and three automaker also confirmed in a statement that Mitsubishi was considering teaming up with them.
"The partnership was initiated when the top management of both companies recognized that the global automotive industry is undergoing dynamic structural changes due to technological innovations in intelligence and electrification, and that companies that cannot cope with these changes will be eliminated," Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told a news conference.
"The Japanese auto industry, like many others globally, is facing unprecedented challenges. These challenges include the rapid transition to electric vehicles, stringent environmental regulations, and intense competition from both established foreign carmakers and new entrants, particularly from China and the US," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tatsuo Yoshida told AFP.
"While alliances can provide significant benefits, the success of such collaborations will depend on effective integration and execution," he said.
2024 AFP
Amanda Drane is the energy investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle.
Amanda is responsible for holding major energy companies, power providers and their leadership to account. She works to help audiences make sense of these companies roles and responsibilities in major news events, while diving into some of the consequences of their choices and decisions in our region.
Before joining the papers business desk in May 2020, she worked as a City Hall reporter in Massachusetts, where she won regional awards for covering issues such as police accountability and the exploitation of undocumented restaurant workers.
The Hall County Election Office has rejected 60 or 70 ballots that voters have filled in for this months by-mail election involving the possible creation of a Good Life District economic development program.
Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet reported those numbers at a Good Life question and answer session Wednesday.
Many of the flawed ballots have been corrected, Overstreet said Thursday.
When phone numbers are available, the Election Office staff calls people to tell them their ballot problem needs to be cured, Overstreet said.
A new ballot envelope is being used in the election.
Nebraskas new Voter ID law requires voters to not only sign the envelope, but also provide their drivers license or state ID number on the envelope.
Ballot envelopes that do not have Voter ID information and a signature that matches data on file with the Hall County Election Office will be rejected.
The envelope has two security seals and a privacy flap to cover the voters signature and Voter ID number. Those voters who do not have a drivers license or state ID number must provide a photocopy of a different form of identification, such as a concealed carry permit, a passport, or a Nebraska college ID. Voters using a drivers license or state ID number do not have to provide any photocopies.
Overstreet encourages voters to write their phone numbers on the ballot.
Ballots must be returned by 5 p.m. Tuesday, August. 13 to be counted.
Many voters are delivering their ballots by hand to the Hall County Election Office or depositing them in the ballot drop box at the east entrance of the Hall County Administration Building. The election office is in the Hall County Administration Building at 121 S. Pine St.
If people plan to mail their ballots, Overstreet encourages voters to get them in the mail by this Saturday, Aug. 3. The phone number of the election office is 308-385-5085.
A complete list of acceptable IDs can be found at the Nebraska Secretary of States website at https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/voter-id.
Voters can go online to Nebraska Voter Check to check if their ballot was accepted. Nebraska Voter Check is at https://ne.gov/go/votercheck.
Headlining the Aug. 1, 1974 Grand Island Daily Independent, Grand Island Public Schools superintendent Dr. Glenn Lundstrom reported on assuming his new duties as the director of the systems secondary curriculum program.
The storied educator looked back over his 15 years of service to the district in the article, noting he was proud of the dramatic changes that took place under his superintendency.
When school opened in the fall of 1959, there were 5,300 students and a staff of 240 housed in eight elementary buildings and the secondary schools, he recalled. The budget that year was $1,580,000 and the valuation of the school district was $36.7 million.
In the article, written by Kyle Lawson, Landstrom further explained that then (in 1974), enrollment had grown to more than 6,400 students, with a staff of 390. There were then 13 elementary schools an three secondary schools. The budget was well over $5 million.
When you have growth like that, its bound to be dramatic, Lundstrom said.
The superintendent attributed the growth in budget to staff.
We increased our curriculum and, of necessity, we had to increase our staff, he said. This can be seen in our expanded programs in the fields of special education, special reading, media aides, elementary physical education, elementary vocal and instrumental music and on the job training at Grand Island Senior High.
He further credited the districts use of federal funds to help sustain its growth noting he looks back on it with pride.
The Grand Island schools have consistently been recognized as an educational leader and as an AA accredited school, he said. Barr and Walnut Junior Highs were among the first junior highs in Nebraska to be admitted to the North Central Accrediting Association. I am very proud of that.
Large construction projects, including the building of Barr Junior High, Knickrehm and Jefferson elementary schools, and an addition al Newell. Other schools also underwent large changes during this period and the planning of the new Starr Elementary school (under construction in 1974) took place.
The development of this educational system during my 15 years as superintendent could not have been possible without strong community support and the elected board of education, he said. ...This leadership for Grand Island Public Schools should continue, providing administrators are permitted to function in their respective roles.
Lundstrom died at the age of 79, in June of 1991, in Omaha.
I always thought a lot of Glenn Lundstrom, said then-Superintendent Marv Maurer. The Grand Island Public Schools grew more during the years under Glenn Lundstrom than ever before.
Lundstrom was also remembered by colleagues as a very personable person, a caring kind of person.
Lundstrom was born in Ceresco and received his bachelors degree from Midland College and masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Nebraska. Her served as a principal at Bruning and superintendent in Carlston, North Bend, Hebron, Blair and Beatrice, as well as Grand Island.
According to his obituary, published on June 24, 1991, Lundstrom was a veteran of the United States Navy, serving in WWII as a Lt. J.G. in the Southwest Pacific. He was survived by his wife, Marjorie Darlene Lundstrom, as well as a son, Tom, and two daughters, Mary Hoover and Doris Jones. Other surviving relatives included brothers, step-children and eight grandchildren.
Indian pharma giants eye $200 mln investment in Vietnam
By Tri Duc Thu, August 1, 2024 | 4:07 pm GMT+7
Indian pharma giants SMS Pharmaceuticals and Sri Avantika Contractors aim to invest $200 million in building a high-tech pharmaceutical park in Vietnam that can attract investments of $4-5 billion, executives said Wednesday.
Ramesh Babu, chairman and managing director of SMS Pharmaceuticals, and Narendra Reddy, managing director of Sri Avantika Contractors, presented the parks proposal at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during the latters three-day state visit to India.
Ramesh Babu, chairman and managing director of SMS Pharmaceuticals, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right), meet in New Delhi, July 31, 2024. Photo courtesy of the government news portal.
The two firms and their Vietnamese partner have established a joint venture to prepare for the investment. The facility, within Nghi Son Economic Zone in Vietnams central province of Thanh Hoa, can attract $4-5 billion in the next decade for exporting products to the United States and Europe, the executives said.
So far, 50 investors have expressed their interest in investing in the facility, Babu said, adding that Vietnams favorable investment environment and dynamic economy were strong attractions.
Dharmesh Shah, chairman and founder of BDR Group, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) meet in New Delhi, July 31, 2024. Photo courtesy of the government's news portal.
Also Wednesday, Dharmesh Shah, chairman and founder of BDR Group, told PM Chinh that the firm plans to invest and manufacture medicines in Vietnam.
As the biggest manufacturer of cancer medicine in India with 80% of the market share, BDR currently provides input materials for several medicine factories in Vietnam and is preparing to distribute cancer medicines in the country, he said.
Aiming to become a strategic and long-term investor in Vietnam, BDR was researching suitable areas to invest in Vietnam, alongside making technology transfers, he added.
Welcoming the initiatives of Indian firms, PM Chinh said Vietnam encouraged, facilitated and offered incentives for pharmaceutical investments. Indian products now account for about one-third of the medicine market in Vietnam, he added.
He asked Vietnams Ministry of Health and local authorities to cooperate with the Indian firms to deploy the projects. He also urged Indian firms to make suggestions on Vietnams ongoing efforts to update its legal framework.
Chinh also emphasized Vietnams advantages, including the large population of 100 million, participation in many free trade agreements and abundant materials for medicine production.
Frisco is a fast-growing suburb north of Dallas. You get there by driving on one the many anonymous toll roads that ring the outer limits of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Frisco is often mentioned in those articles about Californians moving to Texas, with the low cost of housing being the main driver of the West Coast influx.
On a recent visit, I crept up the toll road on a weekday rush hour heading to the Frisco location of Hutchins Barbeque, a venerable Dallas-area barbecue joint.
Dry rub baby-back rib box at Ribbee's, Fort Worth J.C. Reid/Contributor Ribbee's in Fort Worth J.C. Reid/Contributor Menu at Cattleack BBQ, Farmers Branch J.C. Reid/Contributor Fleet of smokers and line of guests at Hutchins Barbeque, Frisco J.C. Reid/Contributor Brisket at Cattleack BBQ, Farmers Branch J.C. Reid/Contributor Ribbee's in Fort Worth J.C. Reid/Contributor Ribbee's in Fort Worth J.C. Reid/Contributor Cattleack BBQ in Farmers Branch J.C. Reid/Contributor
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I was in town a few days to survey the DFW barbecue scene, and since Hutchins was open for dinner, I figured Id swing in and grab a quick bite to kick things off.
Instead, I was greeted with a full parking lot, part of which was filled with a fleet of free-standing, trailer-mounted barrel-smokers. Beyond that, a line snaked out of the front door and into the lot, even as temperatures hovered in the high 80s on this early evening.
What gives? You rarely find an hourlong wait in line at a barbecue joint for dinner. Certainly, a booming population of hungry suburbanites fed the frenzy, along with a recent visit from a highly influential TikTok food critic.
Ultimately, though, it comes down to the quality of the experience and smoked meats, and Hutchins excels at both. Especially for a location that does such a large volume, the barbecue here is great and the staff is welcoming and engaging.
The main barbecue tour began in earnest the following day.
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I hadnt been to Dallas for barbecue since the early days of the craft barbecue movement, when places such as Pecan Lodge, Lockhart Smokehouse and The Slow Bone were the new kids on the block.
My first stop was Cattleack Barbeque, founded by Todd and Misty David and now owned by employee Andrew Castelan. Starting around 2010, I began bumping into Todd David at various events around Texas where hed tell me about his upcoming barbecue joint.
I finally got to visit, and Todd David is still working the pits and the cutting block. The barbecue here is some of the best in Dallas, and I was happy to catch up with him, though briefly, as he cut the meat and assembled my tray.
Over the next few days, I visited a selection of DFW-area barbecue joints, both old and new, including the classic Sonny Bryans Smokehouse, Daynes Craft Barbecue in nearby Aledo, Sabar BBQ in Fort Worth and the Tex-Mex-influenced Sosas Barbecue pop-up.
My final stop was at Ribbees, a bright-red former Sonic location that specializes in baby back ribs. Conceived by the owners of nearby Goldees Barbecue (the No. 1 barbecue joint in the state according to Texas Monthly), Ribbees is a clever concept meant to economize and simplify the growing menu choices at many barbecue restaurants. The focus here is on the crowd-pleasing and user-friendly cut of pork known as a baby back rib that can be mixed and matched with various dry rubs and wet glazes.
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Ribbees is one of my favorite new barbecue joints in the state, both for the unique concept and quality of barbecue.
Overall, my impression is that DFW certainly holds its own in the overall quality of the barbecue there, though I feel it lacks the breadth, depth and diversity of barbecue in Houston. Theres still plenty of room for DFW barbecue to grow, so that may someday change.
Hutchins BBQ
9225 Preston, Frisco
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Cattleack Barbeque
13628 Gamma, Farmers Branch
Open for lunch Wednesday-Friday only.
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Crinkled slats from tin roofs and splintered wooden beams were among the debris strewn along Broughton Street on Wednesday morning.
A Tuesday night microburst, with straight-line winds, is to blame. There was no tornado.
Tuesday nights thunderstorm in Orangeburg resulted in a cell merger event, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Meteorologist-in-Charge Richard Okulski said.
What we see by the damage was we had a microburst, with straight-line wind damage that occurred, Okulski said Wednesday.
Those are difficult to pick up on radar, he added.
We had several thunderstorm warnings just south of here. We had a special weather statement for wind gusts up to 50 mph, he said.
He visited the heart of the damage at the intersection of Broughton Street and Russell Street. Referring to one building, he said, It took part of the roof off and put the damage out on the street.
The storm occurred between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., Orangeburg County Office of Emergency Services Director Billy Staley said.
Its like the bottom falling out of a thunderstorm. When the microburst comes down, all of the wind comes straight down to the ground and when it gets to the ground, it fans out like a fan. And when it fans out, you get damage in all directions and all of it pointed outward, he said.
And thats what were seeing.
Storm damage was reported as far away as five miles out of the city limits.
Weve got one house thats damaged off of Brentwood Drive and then weve got several structural damages downtown near the intersection of Russell and Broughton, in addition to some damage at Mirmow Field, he said.
Today were out doing damage assessments. (The Orangeburg Department of) Public Safety is out making sure everything is safe, as they did last night, Staley added.
Staley noted his agency and others were documenting the damage on Wednesday.
The push today is to try to make sure weve got everything as safe as we can make it, get our dollar figures in how much damage we actually have, he said.
There were no reported injuries.
Staley urges property owners and residents to have plans for emergency events. He suggests:
Keeping insurance up to date
Having adequate supplies on hand to get through the first few hours
Calling 911 to report emergencies
Reporting structural property damage to the Orangeburg County Office of Emergency Services
Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Director Charles Austin Sr. said some homeless people often seek shelter in some of Orangeburgs vacant buildings.
With that storm and significant wind elements, I had concerns someone was in one of those buildings and suffered injuries, but that didnt happen and were grateful, he said.
Exotic Styling Salon, located at 1061 Broughton Street, is a few feet from where debris covered most of the street. It was not damaged.
Salon owner Jackie Elmore stepped out of the salon wearing a shirt that said, Woman of Faith.
Its a blessing. I mean God is so awesome, she said. Thats why I love me some God because it couldve gone the other way.
I actually worked last night and right when I got off, it started raining real hard. I could barely see to get home, she said.
I had no idea all of this was going to appear.
When I got here this morning, Im like, Oh my God! but Im grateful. I am forever grateful, Elmore added.
And to come here and see all of this just feet away from where I work and our place is still intact. No leaks. Its just amazing. Im just grateful to God that he spared us, she said.
Me and my co-worker, Mrs. Jean Goodwin, we are grateful that were able to still be able to work and come in and help people and transform them by making them extra pretty, she added.
I am truly a woman of faith. I believe in God with all my heart. I always put him first. Hes amazing, she said.
Gilbert and Shirley Williams own ETR Truck Repair, located at 582 Broughton Street.
Their rollup garage doors were damaged and cement blocks fell from an upper wall onto the ground. And there was a gas leak.
Shirley Williams said she and her husband had just left tending to a family member in Denmark before returning to Orangeburg on Tuesday night.
They received a text message containing a photo of their damaged business.
Go to the shop! Go to the shop! Go to the shop! Shirley Williams said to her husband.
The two dogs and the cat who live at the shop were fine.
She noted, Were not going to try to stay closed for long.
Gilbert Williams said, We have a school bus in there to get out. We have a truck in there to get out.
It is what it is, he added.
A pine tree from Veronica Richardsons yard, on Woodbine Drive, fell onto the street.
The storm woke Richardson.
The whole house felt like something just shook it, she said.
I couldnt see because it was raining so hard and the wind was blowing, she said.
When I looked out the dining room window, I saw limbs blowing around the yard, she added.
Richardson has lived in the home for 13 years and hasnt experienced what she did on Tuesday night.
Workers from the S.C. Department of Transportation cleared the felled tree Wednesday morning.
Over on Sherwood Drive, Kenneth and Ada Fairey were watching television around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when the weather got bad.
We heard what sounded like the wind getting up, then we heard hail, Kenneth Fairey said.
As the wind got up, we heard pinecones hitting the house, he added.
His wife suggested turning the television channel to get a weather report.
And then Boom! Thats when the tree fell down, he said.
An oak tree from a neighboring property fell onto the house.
The Williams werent physically injured.
Local officials arrived and turned the electricity off in their home. The Williams stayed with a niece for the remainder of the night.
The storm also knocked a tree onto Cannon Bridge Road.
At Mirmow Field, off Whaley Street, the storm damaged a block outfield wall, roofing over part of the bleachers and one of the stadiums light towers.
(TBTCO) - Theo bao cao tai chinh hop nhat quy III/2024 moi uoc cong bo, Cong ty CP Tong cong ty ia oc Sai Gon (ma CK: SGR) ghi nhan doanh thu gap 3 lan va loi nhuan sau thue tang hon 2 lan so voi cung ky nam truoc. Tuy nhien, du ket qua kinh doanh quy III kha quan nhung SGR van con mot chang uong dai e at uoc muc tieu nam, khi moi chi hoan thanh uoc 13,1% ke hoach e ra.
The Sugar Land City Hall at 2700 Town Center Boulevard, Sugar Land. Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Sugar Land will implement a new tenure-driven step pay plan for public safety employees this week, after city leaders determined a merit-based pay system made it more difficult to attract new hires.
The updated city compensation policy for the city totals $8.8 million annually, with $4.74 million allocated to the step program for police, fire, EMS, dispatch, detention and other public safety employees. Non-public safety employees will continue to be paid on a merit-based system.
The new compensation plan will be implemented for the remainder of the current fiscal year, going into effect for the next pay period on Aug. 3, and will be worked into the budget for next fiscal year.
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Paula Kutchka, Sugar Lands director of people and culture, presented the plan to council members before they approved it July 24.
Because the majority of the cities and agencies we actively compete against for public safety staff utilize grade and step systems, we found that we were increasingly struggling to attract talent, said Kutchka. Further, we were risking the loss of talent, both current employees, and possible future hires to these agencies that highlighted their compensation commitment through career progression steps.
City Manager Mike Goodrum confirmed the new policy would not result in a tax increase.
City spokesperson Doug Adolph said city officials will find ways to be more efficient, which could mean not filling some vacant positions.
"This will not result in anyone losing their job, and we will not cut essential services important to our residents," Adolph said. "This means we will work together to find savings necessary to fund the plan."
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Combining the allocations for Fire/EMS, Dispatch, and Police, we arrive at $4.74 million set aside for the step program for public safety personnel. City of Sugar Land
How does step pay work?
A grade and step pay system is a structured approach to employee compensation. Employees are assigned levels based on the complexity and responsibility of their roles, plus steps within their roles that represent incremental salary increases based on factors such as years of service, experience, or performance.
The step program establishes the minimum pay as $75,605 for police officers, $71,490 for firefighters, and $55,016 for dispatchers.
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The revised compensation policy allows us to utilize a compensation plan and salary structures that demonstrate our commitment to employee growth and development, not only in their current role with the city, but throughout their career at the city, said Kutchka. They ensure that we're paying employees appropriately for the positions they hold, and that we value the experience and knowledge.
Councilors express concerns over short notice
Councilors Stewart Jacobson, Suzanne Whatley, and William Ferguson said they felt the plan was being rushed but ultimately approved it.
"It's a fundamental change in the way we pay our employees," Jacobson said during the meeting, noting the compensation committee had only found out about the change the day before. "We've been a merit based city, we pay on merit. And in less than an hour we're being asked to change. I want some time to study this thing."
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Mayor Joe Zimmerman said the change has been a topic of discussion for years.
We have known since 2020 we needed to address compensation, he said. You invest in your people. Well, we haven't been investing in our people quite frankly, we've gotten behind.
A recent compensation study found Sugar Land police officers were earning $20,000 less annually than the market average, while firefighters and sergeants were $15,000 below the average.
We've been looking at financial forecasts for the last five years that have shown expenditures exceeding revenues we have to become more efficient as an organization, we are going to have to do more with less, Goodrum said.
The council unanimously approved amending the current budget to incorporate the new compensation plan and agreed that further work was required to address financial implications during the budget process for next fiscal year.
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Budget workshops will start Aug. 8, Zimmerman said.
Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF has announced that it had signed MoUs worth up to $50 billion with six leading Chinese financial institutions aimed at boosting co-operation in key sectors.
These institutions are Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BoC), China Construction Bank (CCB), China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) Export-Import Bank of China (Cexim) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
These agreements cover areas of cooperation such as encouraging two-way capital flows through both debt and equity, and come as part of PIFs strategy to foster institutional partnerships globally, said a top official.
"The MoUs demonstrate our strong and deepening relationships with leading financial institutions and accentuate our commitment to enhancing partnerships globally," remarked Fahad AlSaif, the Head of the Global Capital Finance Division and Head of Investment Strategy and Economic Insights Division, at PIF.-TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based Azizi Developments has announced that 97% of the construction work has been completed on its premium condominium project - Amber - located within Al Furjan community in Dubai.
The key project, featuring a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences, is set for completion in Q3.
Giving a project update, Azizi said the structure, blockwork, internal plaster, MEP, and HVAC work are now fully completed at Amber, along with the tiling, swimming pool, and elevator jobs.
External works and facade works are 90% and 98% complete, respectively with the overall finishes now standing at 98%.
Lauding the steady progress, CEO Farhad Azizi said: "We are excited to share the remarkable progress at Amber. Our proactive and meticulous strategy in material procurement and our partnerships with some of the most premier, renowned contractors and suppliers across the globe are propelling our progress forward, both in terms of speed and quality.""
Situated in one of new Dubais most promising growth corridors, Al Furjan - positioning it at the heart of the action yet at a comfortable distance from the daily hustle of the city - Amber is nestled within a booming community, amidst lush greenery and mega-retail stores.
It features several premium amenities, including a variety of retail and dine-in options, landscaped walking areas, a well-equipped gymnasium, childrens play areas, two swimming pools, ample parking and 24-hour security, said Azizi.
"As we near completion, our unwavering dedication to enhancing lives through the communities and properties we create remains central to our mission," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
UAE and Azerbaijan have agreed to develop their existing economic tie-up in the sectors including entrepreneurship, SMEs, tourism, aviation, industry, innovation, technology, agriculture, renewable energy and investment.
This was decided at the ninth session of the UAE-Azerbaijan Joint Intergovernmental Commission (JIC) for Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation between the two countries which was held in the Azerbaijani city of Shusha, chaired by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; and his Azerbaijani counterpart Mikayil Jabbarov. The session was attended by several senior officials and government and private sector representatives from both sides.
Both parties agreed to establish joint work teams consisting of members from relevant entities from both sides to explore further opportunities for economic collaboration in priority sectors at both government and private sector levels. They will also provide comprehensive support for exporters and importers to facilitate and enhance the exchange of goods and services, as well as to diversify them.
Trade gateway
This is particularly significant given that the UAE serves as a vital trade gateway, facilitating the movement of Azerbaijani exports to regional markets. The meeting also explored promising investment opportunities in the food and manufacturing industries and sought to create new communication channels between the two business communities.
Al Marri said the UAE and Azerbaijan share strong bilateral relations and economic bonds that have evolved over more than three decades. These relations are characterised by the frequent exchange of high-level visits between the two countries. The most recent of them was the visit of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, to Azerbaijan last January, during which, MoUs were signed between the two countries in areas of mutual interest.
He said: "The latest JIC session is a milestone in strengthening the economic ties between the UAE and Azerbaijan. The meeting discussed several vital economic sectors that have the potential to drive the sustainable development of both economies. We are keen to work closely with our Azerbaijani partners to open up new avenues for collaboration and create diverse opportunities in various sectors, thereby supporting the sustainable growth of both economies.
Al Marri reviewed the opportunities and advantages offered by the UAEs business environment, most notably the amendments made to the Commercial Companies Law to allow 100% foreign ownership. The amendment led to the registration of more than 275,000 new companies in the UAE within a year and a half. Thus, the total number of companies operating in the UAE exceeded 788,000 by the end of 2023. In addition to this, visa and residency systems were revamped, and self-employment and green residency routes were introduced, thereby promoting the country's attractiveness to talents, competencies, and entrepreneurs in various strategic sectors.
Wooing Azerbaijan's private sector
Al Marri urged the Azerbaijani private sector to capitalise on the flexible and competitive policies offered by the UAEs business environment, which facilitate the establishment and launch of new ventures. He noted that the recent updates made to various legislations, including the family businesses law, commercial agencies, cooperatives, and trade through modern technology means, have contributed to ensuring a more supportive business climate.
Furthermore, he emphasised the UAE's commitment to driving sustainable economic growth through promoting circular economy, particularly highlighting the UAE Circular Economy Agenda 2031. The agenda is key to enhancing sustainability in the countrys development journey through the next decade.
Entrepreneurship and SMEs
The UAE and Azerbaijan explored the potential for implementing tailored programmes and initiatives to boost the growth of startups in both markets. The discussions focused on enhancing investment opportunities and enabling exports to access new markets. The two sides agreed on the importance of motivating SME-owners and entrepreneurs to invest in new economy sectors, thereby increasing their contributions to the GDP of both nations.
Tourism
The UAE and Azerbaijan expressed their interest in organising joint tourism exhibitions, events, and conferences to highlight the key tourism and historical attractions of both countries and to leverage their diverse tourism offerings The collaboration is expected to boost tourism inflows from across the globe, particularly given that there are over 185 flights connecting the two destinations every month, operated by the UAE's national carriers.
Digitalisation and Innovation
Both parties discussed ways to strengthen collaboration in the areas of digitalisation, innovation, and technology. The need to exchange insights on the development of an innovative ecosystem and promote cooperative efforts between the government entities focused on AI and innovative solutions in both countries was highlighted.
Agriculture and food security
The UAE and Azerbaijan explored the means to strengthen cooperation in food security and agriculture through increased trade in food products as well as agricultural and livestock goods. The two sides also reviewed the latest trends in the agricultural sector.
Energy and Renewable Energy
The strengthening of cooperation and investment exchanges in the energy and renewable energy sectors was another major area of focus. The JIC session further explored prospects for partnerships to launch new projects, particularly in power generation, and for organising workshops for experts from both countries on energy efficiency improvement.
Investment and trade relations
The UAE is Azerbaijan's number one trading partner in the Arab world, accounting for 40% of its trade with the region. In 2023, the value of non-oil trade between the two countries surpassed $1.64 billion (AED6 billion), reflecting an impressive growth of 68% compared to that of 2022.
Preliminary figures also suggest a rise in non-oil trade between the two countries during the period from January to April 2024, which has reached $617 million (AED2.3 billion), reflecting a 62% growth compared to the same period in 2023.
The UAEs investments in Azerbaijan are estimated at $1.1 billion by the end of 2022, which makes the UAE the largest Arab and seventh largest global investor in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani investments in the UAE amounted to over $210 million as of the end of 2021.--TradeArabia News Service
The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon) has signed nine substantial contracts with the private sector worth over SAR1 billion ($266.4 million) as part of its efforts to significantly boost the development of industrial cities across the kingdom.
This initiative is strategically designed to establish and enable an industrial and investment environment that perfectly aligns with Modons vision to become the preferred destination for investment growth and the primary partner in the industrial sector, in line with the objectives of the National Industrial Strategy and the Kingdoms Vision 2030.
The new projects include infrastructure development works for the initial phase in the third industrial city in Jeddah and another for the initial phase of second industrial city in Makkah, along with allocating 4.3 million sq m of land for investment to enhance its investment system, in line with the expectations of local and international investors.
A contract was also signed to develop the infrastructure in the third industrial city in Dammam and allocate 2.5 million sq m of land to meet the growing demand for industrial investment in the Eastern Province.
Modon also sealed a deal to establish 132 kV overhead lines in the industrial city of Tabuk, with a capacity of 100 MVA, and another contract for the establishment of 115 kV overhead lines in the industrial city of Hafar Al-Batin, also with a capacity of 100 MVA, to improve operational efficiency and fulfil the electrical energy requirements of industrial investors.
Modon is dedicated to developing industrial cities that adhere to international standards, supporting Saudi Arabias transformation into a prominent industrial force and logistics hub.
At the beginning of 2024, it launched Modon Oasis in Jeddah as part of its initiatives to attract quality industries, promote entrepreneurship projects, and assist small and medium-sized enterprises.
Since its inception, Modon has successfully developed over 209 million sq m and has implemented a comprehensive infrastructure system. It currently oversees 36 industrial cities, including six industrial oases across the kingdom, housing over 6,500 industrial facilities that bolster the industrial sector and contribute to significantly increasing national exports.-TradeArabia News Service
Ozon Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with Tecom Group for establishing its new manufacturing facility on a 150,700 sq ft area in Dubai Industrial City, the regions leading industrial and logistics hub.
The new AED293 million ($79.7 million) facility, coming up at Dubai Industrial City, is being built in two phases and is set for complete operation by next year.
Ozon is the latest medical leader to join Dubai Industrial City, which is home to more than 1,000 local, regional, and international customers, including Standard Carpets, Himalaya Wellness, IFFCO Group, and Unilever and over 300 operational factories.
The Phase 1 of the project will be developed at an investment of AED110 million and will have a production capacity of more than 300 million tablets a year. Upon completion, the facility will serve key markets in the GCC and regional countries such as Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, and Libya, reported Wam.
In the initial phase, 100 employees across specialisations such as quality assurance, pharmaceutical control, and manufacturing will work at the facility, featuring advanced medicine tracking systems to provide traceability and security through all stages of the product development lifecycle.
The musataha agreement was signed by Saud Abu Alshawareb, Executive Vice President of Industrial at Tecom Group, and Dr Mustafa Khalaf, General Manager at Ozon Pharmaceuticals, on the sidelines of Innoprom 2024 in Ekaterinburg in Russia.
The signing ceremony was attended by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Alexey Gruzdev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
"Localised medical manufacturing strengthens supply chains, response times, and self-sufficiency, all of which are essential levers to embed resilience in the healthcare sector," said Abu Alshawareb.
"Such socioeconomic security through the manufacturing sector is among the visions of Operation 300bn, Make it in the Emirates, and Dubai Economic Agenda D33 strategies, he stated.
Dr Khalaf said: "Our vision through the launch of this facility is to have a positive impact on the manufacturing and healthcare sectors in the UAE, the wider Middle East, and the CIS regions by ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality medicines."
"We also aim to foster technological innovation and elevate the standards of healthcare delivery in these regions," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Valu, Menas leading universal financial technology, has announced a partnership with Truecaller to enhance customer safety and streamline business communication.
Valu, understanding the crucial need for a trustworthy, safe, and secure experience for its partners and customers, has onboarded Truecaller Verified Business Caller ID solution. This will enhance phone-based communication by instilling trust and ensuring safety through verified communication channels. It empowers users to distinguish genuine business calls, vastly improving their communication experience.
By leveraging Truecallers Verified Business Caller ID solution, Valu is enriching the customer experience through verified and contextual business communication, featuring elements such as the brand name, logo, category name, verification tick, and a distinctive green badge. This solidifies Valu's presence as a consumer-centric brand in the market.
Language localisation
By providing a call reason, Valu empowers users with additional context before answering, fostering trust and boosting communication efficiency. Additionally, language localisation ensures regionally relevant communication, further enhancing the user experience.
Mostafa El Sahn, Group Chief Risk Officer of Valu, commented: At Valu, customer safety is paramount. Our partnership with Truecaller empowers us to provide a secure and reliable communication channel for our users. Truecaller's Verified Business Caller ID solution fosters trust and transparency, allowing users to confidently identify and engage with Valu representatives."
Commenting on the partnership, Priyam Bose, Global Head G & Developer Products, Truecaller, said: Truecaller stands for reliability and security in communication. We equip businesses with capabilities that enhance communication efficiency and their brand's credibility and ensure secure consumer interactions.
We are excited to collaborate with Valu, enabling them to provide an effective and secure communication experience for customers in the Mena region. Valu is building customer trust and satisfaction by leveraging our Verified Business Caller ID solution, making financial communications seamless and customer-centric for the industry.
Egyptian fintech landscape
Since its inception at the end of 2017, Valu has continued to revolutionise the Egyptian fintech landscape through its innovative offerings as part of its broader strategy to improve peoples quality of life and contribute to promoting financial inclusion across the country. Over the years, Valu has consistently pushed the boundaries of the market by introducing innovative and deeply integrated financial solutions. Today, Valu is a household name in Egypt; it plays a pivotal role in fostering financial empowerment and inclusivity within the market.
Under its product universe, Valu pioneered Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) solutions in the Mena region through U and its newly introduced high-value purchases financing product, Ulter. Valu also offers investment products, an instant cash redemption programme, savings solutions, and a financing solution to facilitate the purchase of big-ticket items in the luxury space and e-gift cards through the AZ Valu fund, and EFG Hermes ONE, Sha2labaz, Akeed, Ulter, and Flip respectively. In addition, Valu offers business-to-business solutions through Valu Business. Valu has also recently introduced its prepaid card and its credit card in collaboration with Visa.
Truecallers Verified Business Solution empowers business calls with brand identity and context, fostering reliable customer communication. Over 2,500 active businesses worldwide have benefited from the Verified Business Caller ID and other advanced communication capabilities. This solution enhances business call efficiency and significantly reduces phone call-related frauds and scams, promoting heightened customer safety in business communications.--TradeArabia News Service
It's All in A Day fashion show is making a return to Dubai for its third season, taking place for the first time show in the land of technology and innovation the Dubai Silicon Oasis from November 9-10, in partnership with IFZA, the Free Zone Community in the UAE.
The show, which promises a unique fusion of high fashion and cutting-edge surroundings, will showcase the exceptional talents of 10 outstanding fashion designers who will present their latest ready-to-wear and couture masterpieces, showcase their creativity, craftsmanship, and trend-setting collections.
We are thrilled to bring 'It's All in A Day' fashion show back for its third season, especially with the incredible support of IFZA," said Kevin Oliver, co-founder & Creative Director.
This partnership allows us to elevate the event to new heights, offering an immersive experience that goes beyond traditional fashion shows.
With the combination of fashion, art, music, and theatre, we aim to inspire and captivate our audience in a way that has never been done before, said Martin Victor Al Masri - co-founder & Partnerships Manager.
The two-day extravaganza will feature not only stunning fashion displays but also live performances, art installations, and musical acts, ensuring a dynamic and engaging experience for all attendees.
Fashion enthusiasts, industry professionals, and the general public alike are invited to witness this groundbreaking event that celebrates the convergence of various forms of artistic expression. TradeArabia News Service
Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy reported that Japan's oil imports from the UAE in June amounted to 25.84 million barrels, representing 41.3% of total imports, Emirates News Agency, WAM, said.
In June, Japan imported approximately 62.54 million barrels of oil, of which 96.4%, or 60.26 million barrels, came from four other Arab countries besides the UAE, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.
Milaidhoo Maldives, a luxurious resort, has appointed Paul van Frank as its new General Manager.
With over three decades of experience in luxury hospitality, Paul brings a wealth of expertise in boutique resort management and a proven track record of success in remote and prestigious destinations worldwide.
His career includes leadership roles at properties such as Fregate Island in Seychelles and Maradiva Villas Resort & Spa in Mauritius.
Before joining Milaidhoo, Paul served as the General Manager at Le Jadis Beach Resort & Wellness Mauritius, formerly known as Angsana Balaclava Mauritius, where he rebranded and optimised operational efficiencies. His strategic leadership contributed to significant financial improvements and enhanced guest experiences, showcasing his commitment to excellence in hospitality management, a statement said.
"Joining Milaidhoo is an honour," said Paul van Frank. "I look forward to working and leading the Milaidhoo family to further enhance our private island resort's reputation as a premier destination, offering unparalleled guest experiences amidst the natural beauty of the Maldives."
"We are delighted to welcome Paul van Frank to Milaidhoo," said Shuhan Ahmed, Director of Operations for Universal Resorts. "His extensive experience, strategic vision, and commitment to excellence makes him the ideal leader to guide our resort into its next chapter. -TradeArabia News Service
The prevalence of bullying in our school system has become a critical issue that demands immediate attention.
Too many students face harassment and intimidation from their peers, which can have severe emotional and psychological impacts.
This toxic environment not only affects the victims but also creates an atmosphere of fear that hinders the overall learning experience for all students.
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Re: the June 25 article Hobbs water-bill veto is missed opportunity for states future.
As the Governor of the Gila River Indian Community, I am writing to take issue with the opinion column by Scottsdale Rep. Alexander Kolodin, which attacked Governor Katie Hobbs for her veto of SB 1172, the so-called Ag to Urban bill. Like much of the debate over this bill, Rep. Kolodin relies on broad generalizations while overlooking the need for real data and analysis to support critical water-policy decisions. Gov. Hobbs was right to veto SB 1172 because, while the policy might have proved beneficial, we must take the time to get it right and base our policy on science not self-interest.
Rep. Kolodin is correct that agriculture is more water-intensive than residential or municipal uses, but that simple statement does not get to the heart of the issues the Gila River Indian Community began to raise early during the consideration of SB 1172, both with Senator Shope, the primary sponsor in the Senate, and with Governor Hobbs office. Our concerns focused on both the policies proscribed by the bill and the process being followed to consider it.
On the policy side, the Community was concerned that there was no data or analysis to back up the major policy choices the bill included, such as how much water could be transferred to obtain the benefits sought and where the water could be used. We raised these concerns in February, only to be ignored by the proponents of the bill. It was not until very late in the process that the Arizona Department of Water Resources provided an analysis of the bill. This analysis showed that SB 1172 would harm the aquifers in the Pinal AMA, not help them, and that potential benefits to the Phoenix AMA had been overstated. Rep. Kolodin brushes off this analysis as ostensible concerns, but the data clearly demonstrated that the bill needed more work to ensure it worked for everyone.
Rep. Kolodin makes it appear that this bill was the result of a considered, open, and transparent process. Nothing could be further from the truth. This bill was the product of closed-door meetings of one set of stakeholders who purposefully sought to keep out anyone who raised legitimate questions about the bill including the Community. I know this because I specifically asked to participate in these meetings beginning in February and was told I was not welcome.
Gov. Hobbs set up a Water Policy Council to consider such groundwater policy changes, with representatives from all affected parties to ensure an open, transparent process. I am honored to sit on the Council and Im pleased that, after she vetoed this bill, Gov. Hobbs indicated she wants to have the Council consider the policy behind SB 1172 to see if we can come up with a better bill. I look forward to doing just that.
Finally, I want to call out Rep. Kolodins gratuitous slur of the Communitys intentions in raising objections about this bill. Our aquifers are in both the Pinal and Phoenix AMAs. This water supply is directly affected by the major changes proposed in SB 1172. ADWRs analysis shows we were right to be concerned by the bills potential impact on the Pinal AMA and its overly generous allowances for transfers in the Phoenix AMA.
As to his innuendo about the GRIC benefiting financially by opposing SB 1172, the Communitys record speaks for itself. Since 2016, the Community has undertaken a consistent policy of shifting its water supplies to conservation in Lake Mead for the benefit of every Arizonan. We have conserved over one million acre-feet of water to date with more committed at a value much lower than if we used our water in a different way. To put GRICs contribution in perspective, this conservation has raised the elevation at Lake Mead by over 15 feet, enough to ensure the state avoids a Tier 2 drought condition today.
It is our sacrifice that keeps the State out of Tier 2 drought. Rep. Kolodin would do well to remember that before he makes such insulting comments about the Community again.
Jimmie Tramel Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow Jimmie Tramel 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
Oklahomans who have dreams of being on American Idol can take their shot Wednesday, Aug. 14 when Idol Across America visits Oklahoma via Zoom.
American Idol hopefuls can sign up to audition face-to-face in front of producers and receive real-time feedback for a chance at making Idol history and being crowned the ABC shows next champ.
For the fifth year in a row, Idol Across America, the live virtual nationwide search for the next superstar, features audition days for all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C.
Visit americanidol.com/auditions for more information on Idol Across America and specific audition details, locations, full eligibility requirements, submission forms, terms and conditions.
The Tulsa World is where your story lives
MUSKOGEE You could say Tony Corbell, executive director of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, is feeling like a million dollars, but that would be underselling the figure by about $1.4 million.
More than 100 people, including officials from the city and state, attended a Wednesday event at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame to unveil a $2.4 million renovation and rebranding project for OMHOF.
This project is being funded by public and private sources, according to a news release, and will result in a redesign of the historic OMHOF building, museum, concert hall, exterior and overall branding to create an engaging, interactive experience celebrating Oklahomas rich musical heritage.
The redesign will be led by Narrate Design in collaboration with Hampton Creative. The goal is to start construction in the first quarter of 2025 in anticipation of an opening in the second quarter of 2026.
Fittingly, the unveiling of redesign details was preceded by a drumroll.
Obviously, Im pretty energized, Corbell said after the one-hour launch event.
When I came to work here, my main thrust and my main goal was to raise visibility somehow. This landed in my lap. I didnt go do this. Im the beneficiary of this. But it absolutely ties in what what I hoped we could do, which we have a hidden gem and we didnt have enough people knowing about it. Nobody was talking about it. Nobody was coming very often. The hall of fame has had some trouble over the years keeping it going. And, all of a sudden, there is an influx of enthusiasm and excitement.
The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame debuted in 1997 and is located in the historic Frisco Depot in Muskogee, not far from where Merle Haggard recorded the song Okie From Muskogee for a live album.
Inducted music artists honored inside OMHOF include Haggard, Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry, Patti Page, Vince Gill, Wanda Clark, Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, Color Me Badd, Hanson, Roger Miller, Leon Russell, Hoyt Axton, Carrie Underwood, Kristin Chenoweth, JJ Cale, B.J. Thomas, Elvin Bishop and dozens of others.
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell described the renovation as a years-in-the-making project. He said many of Nashvilles biggest stars grew up in Oklahoma, and the states musical heritage is hard to beat.
From the earliest traditional folk and country songs of Oklahoma Territory to our states role in gospel and blues and, later, contemporary rock and even rap, our state has produced a variety of sounds and artists, he said. We should have a hall of fame museum that is worthy of that legacy.
Narrate Designs Hank Spieker, principle project architect, introduced the audience to renovation plans that include a new entry, a new reception area and added exhibit space. OMHOF will continue to have a performance area.
Were not changing the magic of the room, Spieker said. Were just enhancing it.
OMHOFs rebrand is built around the tagline Music Lives Here.
Music is alive, Nate Olsen of Hampton Creative said. Its breathing. Its always moving forward.
New branding imagery will reflect the states rich and diverse music history and will have appeal as a lifestyle brand.
If it doesnt look good on a T-shirt, why would we do it anyway? Olsen said. FYI, the renovation will include a merch shop.
Shelley Zumwalt, executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, credited Pinnell for his role in the project and said the project is not just an investment in OMHOF, but rather an investment in the rich musical history of the state and the Oklahoma artists of tomorrow.
The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame project makes it the premier music venue in northeast Oklahoma, Muskogee mayor Patrick Cale said. Muskogee has a rich history of music that crosses cultures and genres. Muskogee is centrally located in a way that draws music goers from all over, and this remodel project keeps Muskogee on the path to being great.
Corbell began his remarks by crediting former Mayor Marlon Coleman for his role in the renovation becoming reality.
Something is happening here, and I am overwhelmingly excited about it, Corbell said. There is just so much energy around this.
Claremore High School recently hired Owasso resident Michelle Butler as the new director of the Claremore Learning Center, the schools alternative learning program.
Under her leadership, the Learning Center will focus on life skills, career skills and academics, preparing students for success both in the classroom and beyond.
I have always believed in the power of alternative education to transform lives by providing students with opportunities to learn outside the traditional classroom setting, Butler said in a release. My goal is to help grow the program for Claremore students and ensure they have the support and resources they need to succeed.
Butlers background in public education spans 29 years, during which she has dedicated her career to fostering educational opportunities for students in alternative settings. an alumna of both the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, Butler has worked in Oklahoma and Missouri, most recently serving as an alternative education specialist for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Her approach is centered on empowering students to take ownership of their educational journeys. She emphasizes the importance of connecting students with mentors from the Claremore community to help them discover and harness their talents.
Butlers vision for the alternative learning program includes creating an environment where students are passionate about their work, acquire essential skills for college and careers and develop the mindset necessary for lifelong success.
All students have potential. Sometimes they need mentors to help them discover their talents and how to use them best, Butler said. Students must want to be here, and once they are, we will work together to overcome challenges and achieve great things.
The district added: Claremore High School is excited to welcome Dr. Butler and looks forward to her positive impact on the students and the community. Her leadership and passion for alternative education will undoubtedly drive the Claremore Learning Center to new heights.
Butlers hiring follows the retirement of Chrissy Province, who served in CPS for 26 years.
The billboards of Pusch & Nguyen is photographed at Gulf Freeway northbound and Telephone Road Wednesday, July 31, 2024 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
To a passing motorist on Houstons stretch of Interstate 45, personal injury lawyers Anthony Pusch and Chi-Hung David Nguyen flaunt an unabashed affinity for puns and each other. Behind the scenes, their law school friendship and business venture appears to be on the outs.
One of the lawyers, Pusch, has accused his law partner of theft and other grievances in a recent lawsuit that outlines their fraught relationship.
The lawyers, both South Texas College of Law graduates, are behind a creative billboard blitz, with one sign at the northbound Telephone Road exit near their offices hailing the legal duo as Avocados at Law a play on abogados, the Spanish word for lawyers.
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The two famously use homophones for their surnames in the advertising slogan: We Push, You Win.
A billboard of Pusch & Nguyen is photographed at Gulf Freeway northbound and Telephone Road Wednesday, July 31, 2024 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer
Pusch accused Nguyen of taking $1 million in recent settlement earnings from their law firms joint bank account without authorization in June, as both lawyers negotiated the end of their partnership, according to a civil suit filed last month.
Like all good relationships, they sometimes come to an end, Puschs lawyer, Rodney Drinnon, said.
He declined to say whether a police report had been filed in connection with the $1 million withdrawal.
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Drinnons petition, filed on Puschs behalf, also accuses Nguyen and his brother, the firms chief operating officer, of receiving disproportionately large compensation from the companys revenue. Pusch and Nguyen own equal 45% shares of their firm, while Puschs father, also an attorney, owns the remaining amount, documents show.
Nguyen rejected claims of theft in a response to the court filings this week, saying he was entitled to the $1 million and that he voiced his intent in June to withdraw the funds to buy land for a new business. By then, the lawyers were in the thick of mostly amicable separation discussions, with Nguyen telling his longtime law partner that it seemed best to wind up the business of the firm and go their separate ways, his attorney wrote.
The two formed their law firm in 2018.
Nguyen also questioned the spending of the elder Pusch and son on their litigation. He urged the father-son duo to audit their expenses on several occasions and skipped his share of earnings for several months in 2023 to save the firm money, his attorney wrote. Pusch and his father conducted an audit at some point prior to the lawsuit, according to the court document.
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Nguyens lawyer, Joe Little, thinks both lawyers would benefit by reviewing their books together.
The allegations against Mr. Nguyen are absolutely false and result from an unfortunate misunderstanding between law partners, Little said in a statement. We expect this situation to be resolved quickly, either by agreement or through the judicial process.
The lawsuit has also accused Nguyen of disparaging his partner to employees and those outside the firm, as well as attempts to poach those employees for a new law firm the latter of which Nguyen denied.
Another of Puschs grievances pertains to their oft-used slogan.
Nguyen registered the phrase WE PUSH YOU WIN with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under his own name, rather than that of the law firm, in October, federal records show. He defended his registration of the slogan, saying Pusch stood idly by and watched rather than help him for two years as he tried obtaining the trademark protection.
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Federal records show Nguyen first applied to trademark the slogan in January 2022.
OKLAHOMA CITY Bixbys superintendent has drawn the ire of State Superintendent Ryan Walters for going public about a significant delay in notices to schools about their federal funding allocations.
What were trying to figure out is how much money were going to have, how we will divide it up based on the number of students at each site who qualify for Title I services and whether or not we will have the funding to pay for additional teachers, tutors, staff or resources, whatever the case may be, said Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller.
The issue is not isolated to this one, large suburban school district.
Tulsa Public Schools, the states largest school district, as well as the Jenks, Sand Springs and Union districts all confirmed Wednesday that they, also, have yet to receive notice from the Oklahoma State Department of Education about their federal Title I allocations for the fiscal year that began July 1.
Each year, the federal government distributes billions of dollars in Title I grants for school districts based on the number of low-income children they serve. The funding is intended to help address those students extraordinary academic needs, with such things as more teachers, tutors and school counselors.
Christine Gonzales, director of federal programs at Union Public Schools, said: It is very hard to plan when you dont know your funding level ... The abnormality here is not having an allocation in August, when weve already had to rehire teachers for which we may not have the funding.
Walters was called out by a lawmaker about the exact same delay on June 20, when he appeared before a legislative panel about a new report that put his handling of federal funds for public schools under a microscope.
At the time, state Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, peppered Walters and his staff about why school districts are not being notified about their annual federal funding allocations as early in the summer as they were under all previous state superintendent administrations in recent memory.
Walters and his team responded that the process is a complicated one and that they have to wait for more information to determine how much charter schools and private schools will receive before calculating all other schools allocations.
Walters Chief Academic Officer Todd Loftin claimed to Provenzano that districts already knew their Title I allocations for the upcoming year at that point in June.
They do know, he told her.
No, they dont, Provenzano responded
Provenzano told the Tulsa World on Wednesday that she herself called and spoke to a supervisor at the education department this week and was told nothing had been communicated to districts.
Ive heard concerns from more than 10 districts around Green Country that have not been notified even of their preliminary budget figures. School starts in two weeks, Provenzano said.
This supervisor in the Office of Title Services told me they will receive roughly the same amount as last year. I asked, When was that communicated to districts? She said it hadnt been. It was very apparent to me that the office is understaffed and unable to even communicate properly.
At the conclusion of Wednesdays state Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, reporters asked Walters about a Sunday tweet from Miller, questioning when his district would receive its initial Title I allocation.
Walters accused the Bixby school leader of lying and attention-seeking.
Hes a liar. I mean, hes really a true embarrassment. He knows every year when he gets the Title I funds, and were dealing with all kinds of financial problems with his district that were hoping to address right now. So you know, Rob Robs a clown and a liar. So he knows that, Walters said. Same time every year at least late August. Its the same way its been every year for, my team tells me, over a decade. So he knows that has been communicated to districts. Robs never reached out, never indicated theres an issue. Theres not an issue. He made it up. So he wants his name in the press.
Miller said his district has not had any financial issues other than trying to budget for the 24-25 year without having a preliminary Title I figure to work with, particularly given that an additional Bixby school now qualifies for Title I supports. As recently as the 2022-2023 school year, he said, districts received a preliminary figure in the spring from OSDE about how much to expect in Title I funds.
Its just information, he said. While he (Walters) is correct about funding going out in late July or August, the difference is the preliminary numbers.
Staff writer Melissa Jacques contributed to this report.
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OKLAHOMA CITY Several lawmakers were denied access Wednesday to a State Board of Education executive session, despite an advisory email from Attorney General Gentner Drummond affirming their right to sit in on such closed sessions.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters defended the decision, saying, Were looking legally, and it doesnt appear that she has jurisdiction.
Walters referred to state Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, who was one of the lawmakers who wished to join Wednesdays executive session. She had attempted to join the executive session at a previous meeting, as well, but was denied.
Its disturbing that the superintendent and board continue to ignore the law that clearly allows legislators to observe their executive sessions, even after Attorney General Gentner Drummonds office has stated they must, Boren said in a statement issued after the meeting. In addition, they did not follow their published agenda. I believe a violation of the Open Meetings Act has occurred, nullifying those votes.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the attorney generals office said it was very concerned by what appeared to be a willful violation of the Open Meeting Act. Our office will look further into the matter and take appropriate action.
The board first went into executive session to determine whether they would allow the lawmakers to sit in on the second closed session on the agenda. During the second, they planned to discuss revoking or suspending teacher licenses.
The board asked the lawmakers who wished to sit in on the executive session to offer proof of jurisdiction before they would be permitted to join. This goes directly against the advice sent by the attorney general on the issue.
After citing the statute that allows legislators to enter executive session with boards and commissions, the email says, First, this provisions use of the word shall removes any discretion from the state agency, board, or commission to disallow a legislator from entering executive session.
The board returned from executive session and tabled the discussion on lawmakers. They then voted on revoking or suspending several different teachers certificates without returning to executive session as scheduled.
After the board meeting, Walters said that the board was holding off on allowing lawmakers into its executive session because clarification was needed from the attorney general.
Because we want to make sure that everything were doing is clear, everything were doing is well within the law, and that we feel very confident in what were doing, Walters said.
Walters also said that the attorney general should offer clarity on the rule in light of the difficulties he said Borens presence presented.
Ive got left-wing Democrats like Mary that want to come in and make it where we cant remove pedophiles from the classroom. So what shes wanting to do, shes wanting to disrupt that process, Walters said.
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OKLAHOMA CITY State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced at Wednesdays Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting that school districts will soon be expected to give an account of the overall cost of teaching undocumented students.
What we will be doing in the upcoming weeks is issuing guidance to districts where they will be helping us to find accurate and effective accounting of the costs and burden that illegal immigration has not only on their schools, but on the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma, Walters said.
However, under federal law, public school districts are prohibited from asking about citizenship or immigration status of any student or their family and are required to provide equal access to all children. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Plyler v. Doe that states and school districts cannot bar a student from enrolling based on their immigration status.
In 2021, the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey counted 649,000 children nationwide between the ages of 5-17 who have been in the country for three years or less and an additional 1.5 million immigrant children who had been in the United States for four years or more.
The federal government has failed to secure our borders, our schools are suffering over this and where the federal government has failed to act, Oklahoma will step up, Walters said. So we will step in. We will make sure that we understand the costs to taxpayers so that our kids can get the best education possible.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, released a brief earlier this year urging states to start charging public school students tuition if their parents are undocumented immigrants or the children themselves are unaccompanied minors. That practice was explicitly barred under the Plyler ruling.
The Heritage Foundations president, Kevin Roberts, was among the appointees announced in July charged with helping overhaul Oklahomas academic standards for social studies.
Walters initial announcement did not provide any additional details as to when or how districts are expected to carry out this directive without violating the law. He did not take any questions after Wednesdays meeting about his announcement.
Indian corporations and billionaires have expressed their commitment to invest billions of U.S. dollars in a series of projects in Vietnam, contingent on the Southeast Asian country providing preferential policies.
This commitment was discussed during meetings between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian business leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday, as part of the premiers visit to India. PM Chinh and his delegation arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday evening (local time) to begin a state visit aimed at enhancing multifaceted cooperation under the comprehensive strategic partnership with the South Asian nation. His visit, which concluded on Thursday, was made at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The top Vietnamese official received dozens of Indian business leaders and attended the Vietnam-India Business Forum on Wednesday.
At the meetings, the prime minister pointed out some fields where Vietnam is attracting foreign investment, including infrastructure, seaports, airports, pharmaceuticals, energy, and oil and gas.
Several Indian investors have come to Vietnam to survey the market and explore cooperation opportunities, while also anticipating the removal of certain obstacles to implement projects in these areas.
Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, the largest Indian conglomerate specializing in infrastructure and energy, expressed his desire to invest in seaport and energy plant projects in Vietnam.
He wanted to pour 100 percent of the capital, equivalent to over $2 billion, into a smart port project in Lien Chieu District, Da Nang City, central Vietnam but the intention seems to be hindered by the regulation on foreign investment, which allows foreigners to own just 49 percent of the total investment, he said.
Adani also expected to invest in the Chu Lai and Long Thanh airport projects, as well as the Vinh Tan 3 thermal power plant with a combined capital of nearly $3 billion.
Therefore, he hoped the Vietnamese side would create more favorable conditions related to investment procedures and climate to smooth the firms plans.
Besides, multiple pharmaceutical firms such as SMS Pharmaceuticals, Sri Avantika Contractors, and BDR Pharmaceuticals Internationals Pvt. Ltd. presented their intention to inject some $5 billion into a pharmaceutical production facility in Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam.
These firms also want to build a cancer medicine manufacturing plant in the Southeast Asian nation.
Moreover, many other secondary investors plan to transfer technology and train employees, smoothing the path for Vietnamese firms to strengthen the local pharmaceutical ecosystem.
As for the oil and gas field, Arun Kumar Singh, chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), expected to exploit oilfields in Vietnam.
Addressing the meeting with the prime minister, Shikhar Malhotra, director of HCL, said that the Indian firm has cooperated with Vietnams Viettel in 5G services and IT infrastructure.
Also, numerous Indian firms showed their interest in the Vietnamese market at the forum attended by PM Chinh.
Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Electronics and Information Technology, underlined that Vietnam boasts a dynamic, developing economy with in-depth international integration.
Indias Look East Policy
Speaking at the forum, PM Chinh reiterated Prime Minister Modis statement about the Look East Policy of India, which has fostered bilateral ties, with a focus on the economic sphere.
The Vietnamese premier called on Indian enterprises to expand their reach in Vietnam and upskill staff in the semiconductor, innovation, pharmaceutical, hydrogen, renewable energy, and digitalization areas.
He affirmed that the Vietnamese government always creates favorable conditions and offers incentives to lure investors.
Vo Xuan Vinh, deputy director general of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that India sees Vietnam as one of the cornerstones of its Look East Policy,' which is the effort by the Indian government to boost economic and strategic relations with Southeast Asian nations.
He suggested the Vietnamese government perfect the legal system to attract and retain foreign investors.
In addition, Vietnam and India should effectively deepen their partnership in some spearhead sectors such as software, semiconductor, green energy, AI, hi-tech agriculture, defense, and medicine and medical equipment production.
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Youths walk by the windows of the dining hall on their way to lunch Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, at the Giddings State School in Giddings, Texas. Giddings State School is a juvenile detention facility east of Austin and one of those named in the DOJ's report released August 1, 2024. BRETT COOMER, STAFF / HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Juveniles detained in facilities across Texas face rampant sexual abuse, violence, discrimination and inadequate access to mental healthcare and education, according to a new report from federal authorities.
The report is the culmination of a joint investigation by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Districts of Texas that began in October of 2021. Officials found that staff at the Texas Juvenile Justice Departments five secure facilities frequently sexually abused, beat and pepper sprayed juveniles.
The conditions in the facilities are unacceptable, said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas in a news release Thursday. Our investigation found that children in these facilities face sexual abuse by staff and other children. Tragically, this is not the first investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at TJJD facilities.
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A spokesperson for the Texas agency said they worked closely with investigators to identify deficiencies in their facilities.
"TJJD worked closely with DOJ investigators during their site visits in 2022, the peak of the agencys unprecedented staffing shortages. We provided extensive responsive material and appreciate the DOJs professionalism throughout this process."
A growing concern
The juvenile justice department currently operates five secure facilities in areas across Texas. These detention centers are designed to house juveniles convicted of serious offenses, according to the department. In 2023, the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association called for a moratorium on sending juveniles to these facilities following the release of an early version of the DOJs findings.
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Less than a week prior, the Chronicle reported on the departments systemic issues. At the time, a spokesperson for the department said they were already taking steps to improve conditions across their juvenile detention centers.
But the allegations in the DOJs investigation showed otherwise. The report said officials found reasonable cause to believe the juvenile justice departments treatment of inmates routinely violated both the Fourth and Eighth Amendments, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to our report, TJJD falls short of creating an environment that fosters rehabilitation, said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas. Instead, some of its personnel engage in the use of excessive force and subject children to prolonged isolation, both of which are damaging. Texans know that this is not how we rehabilitate our children.
Pepper spray, violence frequently relied on
The DOJ alleged the state agency staff made inappropriate use of both chemical and physical force as a deterrent to treat inmate behavior. Corrections personnel often pepper sprayed inmates without first attempting to de-escalate the situation, according to the report.
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The investigation includes quotes and testimony from inmates and staff that provide a glimpse into the life within the states juvenile facilities.
One inmate, who was given the pseudonym Emily, was verbally berated and goaded into attempting to assault a staff member, the report said. The DOJ alleged staff swore at Emily before daring her to do something, and subsequently pepper sprayed her.
The departments use of pepper spray is further compounded by inadequate access to decontamination, according to the report.
As soon as the threat is over, individuals should flush their eyes with cool water to alleviate the burning sensation, wash affected skin with mild soap and receive a medical evaluation, the report stated. As a result, children who are pepper sprayed are generally not decontaminated until after transport to the RSU.
The Regulation and Safety Unit is the juvenile justice department's term for solitary confinement, which the report also accused the department of being overly reliant on. In some cases, the investigation found inmates were placed in the RSU for reasons unrelated to disciplinary issues, like one individual who spent eight days there while awaiting transfer to a halfway house.
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TEEN DIES IN CUSTODY: 7 prison officials face dismissal after teen commits suicide at Fort Bend psychiatric unit
Cameras often turned off
The reports findings may only represent a small portion of the story, however. An internal audit conducted by the Sunset Commission in 2021 found that two-thirds of the officers reviewed turned off their body-worn cameras during interactions with inmates and other staff. This is directly contrary to department policy that prohibits turning off body cameras when interacting with juvenile offenders, a department spokesperson told the Chronicle.
Texas authorities have 49 days to address the concerns outlined in the report. After that, the U.S. Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit against the state.
Adani, India's leading infrastructure and energy group, expressed its keen interest in mega seaport, airport, and thermal power projects in Vietnam during a Wednesday meeting between its chairman Gautam Adani and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is in India for a state visit through Thursday.
The Indian firm revealed its plans to invest in the Lien Chieu seaport project in central Da Nang City, the Vinh Tan 3 thermal power project in south-central Binh Thuan Province, as well as Chu Lai Airport in central Quang Nam and the second phase of Long Thanh airport in southern Dong Nai Province.
Adani said the group had proposed investing in the Lien Chieu seaport project and submitted dossiers, including a pre-feasibility report.
It sought to fully fund the project with a capital of over US$2 billion.
Adani also wanted to invest $2.8 billion in the Vinh Tan 3 thermal power project and cooperate with its Vietnamese partners to get involved in aviation and logistics projects in the Southeast Asian country.
Le Quang Nam, vice-chairman of the administration in Da Nang, said the Lien Chieu Port project had been approved and the city was attracting investors for it.
Some Vietnamese and foreign enterprises have expressed their interest in the project. However, foreign enterprises are allowed to contribute 49 percent of the needed capital for each logistics project, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.
Dung suggested Adani study and choose appropriate investment models.
As for the Vinh Tan 3 thermal power project, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien asked Adani to provide sufficient documents for consideration.
Prime Minister Chinh expressed his gratitude to Adani for extending condolences to the Party, the state, and the people of Vietnam over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Party General Secretary Trong passed away on July 19 in Hanoi at the age of 80.
Chinh welcomed the Indian firms proposals to invest in infrastructure projects in Vietnam, affirming that infrastructural development is a key strategy of Vietnam.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Adani chairman Gautam Adani during their meeting in India on July 31, 2024. Photo: Ngoc An / Tuoi Tre
Vietnam aims to choose competent and experienced investors to conduct such projects.
PM Chinh affirmed that the Vietnamese government would create favorable conditions for Adani to choose investment models appropriate to Vietnams law and the investors demands.
Vietnam may weigh allowing foreign investors to fully fund infrastructure projects.
PM Chinh also recommended that Adani get involved in a free trade zone project in Da Nang.
As for airport projects, he advised the Indian firm to focus on the Chu Lai airport project as it is connected with three large national highways.
Some 1,200 hectares of land has been cleared for the project and the airport will become an international one in the near future.
Chu Lai Airport is located at an ideal site and a transit site for many international tourists and investors.
Concerning Adani's proposal to join the Vinh Tan 3 thermal power project, PM Chinh noted that after COP26, Vietnam and other countries committed to reducing emissions. As a result, Vietnam is now encouraging investment in clean energy.
He, therefore, urged Adani to invest in clean energy projects.
The Vietnamese government leader added that Vietnam would offer preferential policies to the Indian group, provided they transfer technology to and collaborate with Vietnamese enterprises.
He urged Adani to immediately work with Vietnamese ministries, agencies, and localities.
Expressing his gratitude to PM Chinh for removing obstacles, Adani said his group would immediately deploy projects meeting international standards, comply with Vietnams law, and create a pervasive effect on the Vietnamese economy.
PM Chinh and his entourage arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday evening (local time) for the state visit to India.
This is the first state visit by PM Chinh as the head of government and also the first business trip to India by a Vietnamese prime minister in 10 years.
Last year, two-way trade reached nearly $15 billion, a 2.5-fold increase over seven years, according to official figures.
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Indias leading pharmaceutical enterprises, including SMS Pharmaceuticals, Sri Avantika Contractors, and BDR Pharmaceuticals International Pvt. Ltd., committed to their investments in pharmaceutical projects in Vietnam during their meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday (local time).
The Vietnamese prime minister is in the South Asian country for a state visit through Thursday.
P. Ramesh Babu, chairman and managing director of SMS Pharmaceuticals, and Narendra Reddy, managing director of Sri Avantika Contractors, proposed developing a 500-hectare pharmaceutical park at Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam.
The project will initially carry a price tag of some US$200 million. The investment will be increased to $4.5-5 billion in the next decade.
The park will gather vaccine, antibiotic, and anti-cancer drug factories, whose products will be exported to the U.S. and European markets.
About 50 secondary investors are willing to participate in the project. We want to become a partner of the Vietnamese government and bring secondary investors to Vietnam to create jobs and incomes for local residents and support local startups as well as Vietnams pharmaceutical sector, Babu said.
They had worked with authorities in Thanh Hoa Province and secured great support, the Indian entrepreneur noted, adding that Vietnam is a dynamic country in Southeast Asia and a leading destination for investment.
After the COVID-19 pandemic was kept at bay, many international investors have chosen Vietnam as an ideal investment destination.
Babu expected the Vietnamese government to create favorable conditions in land banks, site clearance, investment procedures, tax incentives, and other policies.
Dharmesh Shah (L), chairman and founder of BDR Pharmaceuticals International Pvt. Ltd., seeks to invest in an anti-cancer drug production project in Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc An / Tuoi Tre
Meanwhile, Dharmesh Shah, chairman and founder of BDR Pharmaceuticals International Pvt. Ltd., expressed his interest in a cancer drug production project in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Chinh praised Indian pharmaceutical companies for their plans to invest in Vietnam, stating that their decisions are wise given the high demand for pharmaceutical products and medical checkups and treatments in the country.
Up to 33 percent of pharmaceutical products in Vietnam are imported from India.
Vietnam has a large population, diversified materials for pharmaceutical production, and a high demand for high-quality pharmaceutical production, PM Chinh said.
He asked Indian investors to use land sparingly and effectively, prioritize high tech and technology transfer, and participate in policy improvement, infrastructure development, and manpower training.
Indian firms should continue working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and other relevant ministries and localities to carry out projects in line with regulations, the Vietnamese government leader noted.
He stressed that the Vietnamese government always supports and is willing to make legal frameworks favorable for investors, including Indian companies.
The Vietnamese prime minister and his entourage arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday evening (local time) for a state visit to India.
This is the first state visit by PM Chinh as the head of government and also the first business trip to India by a Vietnamese prime minister in 10 years.
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CHOORALMALA, India -- Hopes of finding survivors began to fade as hundreds of rescuers worked through slush and rocks and pulled out bodies from debris in the hills of India's Kerala state on Wednesday, a day after 167 people were killed in monsoon landslides.
Steady rain that intensified as the day progressed and the rising water level in a local river hampered the rescue, with a temporary bridge built to connect the worst affected area of Mundakkai being washed away.
The weather department has forecast more heavy rain over the next 24 hours, Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said and urged people to be on "high alert".
Volunteers eat food as rescue operations continue after multiple landslides hit the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Heavy rain in Kerala, one of India's most popular tourist destinations, led to the landslides in its Wayanad district early on Tuesday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept.
It was the worst disaster in the state since deadly floods in 2018. Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the last two weeks that softened the soil. Extremely heavy rainfall on Monday then triggered the landslides.
Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from the hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates, authorities said on Wednesday.
They said at least 167 people died, while the local Asianet news TV channel put the death toll at 230. More than 8,000 people were being sheltered in camps across the district, authorities said.
Wayanad's district administrator said people had been asked on Wednesday to shift to camps "as soon as possible as there is a danger".
Rescuers hold a stretcher as the search for survivors continues after several landslides hit the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Rescuers had found 24 bodies and six body parts on Wednesday and were not hopeful of finding any survivors more than 36 hours after the tragedy, one official in Chooralmala town said.
The landslides were mostly on the upper slopes of hills which then cascaded to the valley below, M R Ajith Kumar, a top state police officer, told Reuters.
Warming Arabian Sea
Nearly 350 of the 400 registered houses in the affected region have been damaged, Asianet reported, citing district officials.
The Indian Navy said its disaster relief team had reached the area on Tuesday night and search and rescue helicopters were deployed early on Wednesday but adverse weather conditions due to "incessant rains" posed challenges.
India has witnessed extreme weather conditions in recent years, from torrential rain and floods to droughts and cyclones, blamed by some experts on climate change.
"Climate change has led to significant alterations in our environment. We need to take proactive steps to address and adapt to these changes," Chief Minister Vijayan said. "Effective measures should be taken to prevent impending disasters."
An excavator clears tree branches as rescue operations continue after sevaral landslides hit the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. Photo: Reuters
The region hit by the landslide was forecast to get 204 millimeters (8 inches) of rainfall but ended up getting 572 millimeters (22.5 inches) over a period of 48 hours, Vijayan said on Tuesday.
"The Arabian Sea is warming at a higher rate compared to other regions and sending more evaporation into the atmosphere, making the region a hotspot for deep convective clouds," said S Abhilash, head of the Advanced Center for Atmospheric Radar Research at Kerala's Cochin University of Science and Technology.
"Deep developed clouds in the southeast Arabian Sea region were carried by winds towards land and produced this havoc," he told Reuters.
A drone view shows Army and rescue teams building a temporary bridge to cross a river at a landslide site after multiple landslides in the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. Photo: Reuters
The European Union (EU) sees Vietnam as one of the leading partners in its Indo-Pacific Strategy and wishes to elevate relations with the Southeast Asian country to a comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming time, its senior official has said.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, Vice President of the European Commission (EC) and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, made the statement at his meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi on Tuesday, as part of his three-day visit to Vietnam, which started on Monday, at Minister Sons invitation.
After their talks, the two officials co-chaired a press conference providing the main details of their meeting.
Affirming that Vietnam is a crucial partner for the EUs Indo-Pacific Strategy, Borrell expressed his wish that his visit would kickstart a process to raise the relationship to comprehensive strategic partnership.
Borrell stated that Vietnam currently holds the most cooperative agreements with the EU among Southeast Asian countries, including a Free Trade Agreement and a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
I would like my visit to be the moment to launch the process to upgrade our relations. And one of the most important deliverables of this meeting will be the decision to start working, from today onward, to upgrade our relations toward the level of Strategic and Comprehensive [Partnership], the European External Action Service cited Borrell as saying.
The EC Vice President said the EU is actively implementing various strategies, policies, and specific projects to beef up cooperation with Vietnam as well as the broader Asia-Pacific region, while coordinating with the Southeast Asian country to address global challenges, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
He affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner in implementing the EUs Indo-Pacific Strategy and wished to further strengthen cooperation between the two sides in this strategy.
The EU supports Vietnams goal of achieving net-zero emissions through the effective implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and seeks to enhance collaboration with Vietnam under frameworks like the EUs Global Gateway Initiative, which aims to promote the global transition to carbon-neutral economies.
An overview of the meeting between the Vietnamese delegation led by Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (R) and the EU delegation headed by Josep Borrell Fontelles, Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Hanoi on July 30, 2024. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre
Minister Son told the media that the two sides are effectively implementing four cooperation agreements and eight dialogue mechanisms in various fields to promote their partnership.
Vietnam is the first ASEAN country to have all pillars of cooperation in politics, economics, defense, and security with the EU, Son said, adding that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has achieved positive results after nearly four years of implementation.
He proposed that the EU continue providing official development assistance to Vietnam through bilateral and multilateral cooperation channels, as well as regional programs. The focus should be on urgent areas such as public governance capacity building, green economy, digital economy, circular economy, and sustainable fishery development.
The minister also asked for support from the bloc in financial aid, technology transfer, and human resource training for Vietnams effective JETP implementation, including the establishment of a carbon credit market connected to the international market and the development of green hydrogen projects.
Welcoming the EU to play an active role in the Indo-Pacific region, Vietnam stands ready to serve as a bridge for the grouping's cooperation with the region, including strengthening the ASEAN-EU strategic partnership and implementing their action plan for 2023-27, Son affirmed.
He proposed that the EU remove its illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing yellow card warning, which has been imposed on Vietnamese seafood since 2017.
The diplomat also urged EU member countries that have not yet ratified the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to do so promptly for mutual benefits.
On this issue, Borrell stated that he would intensify efforts to encourage the remaining EU member states to ratify the EVIPA, facilitating a breakthrough in bilateral investment cooperation.
On the East Vietnam Sea issue, Minister Son said that Vietnam welcomes and highly appreciates the EU's active contribution to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the waterway, based on international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Borrell stated that the EU supports Vietnam and ASEAN's stance on freedom of navigation and overflight, as well as peaceful settlement of disputes in compliance with international law, particularly the UNCLOS.
Minister Son expressed sincere thanks to Borrell for attending the state funeral for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who passed away on July 19.
The EC Vice President highlighted the late Party chief's significant contributions to strengthening the position of Vietnam on the global stage and fostering Vietnam-EU relations.
Currently, the EU is Vietnams fourth-largest trading partner while Vietnam is the blocs largest trading partner in ASEAN.
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Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha Thavisin directed all governmental agencies and state-owned enterprises across the country to lower national flags to half-mast on August 1 and 2 to commemorate General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnam News Agency cited the Thai Secretariat of the Cabinet.
Party General Secretary Trong passed away on July 19 in Hanoi at the age of 80.
Prime Minister Srettha, representatives of many Thai ministries and agencies, as well as dozens of delegations arrived at the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand to pay tribute to the late Party leader.
The prime minister wrote in the condolence book for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, On behalf of the government and people of Thailand, I would like to send my deep condolences to the government and people of Vietnam over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, the government and people of Vietnam during this difficult time.
Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha Thavisin (sitting) writes in the condolence book for Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand. Photo: VOV
Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong drew his last breath at 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi despite the efforts of leading doctors and healthcare experts to treat his age-related serious illness.
A state funeral was held for him on July 25 and July 26.
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President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday evening, commencing a four-day state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam.
The top Timor-Leste leader and his entourage were welcomed at Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport by Chairman of the Presidential Office of Vietnam Le Khanh Hai, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste Ta Van Thong, along with several senior officials from Vietnam.
This is the fourth high-ranking visit by a top Timor-Leste official to Vietnam since the two countries established their bilateral diplomatic ties in 2002.
President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta (L, 2nd) walks at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, July 31, 2024. Photo: Vietnam News Agency
Jose Ramos-Horta, who received the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, paid his first official visit to Vietnam as Timor-Leste president in April 2010, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking to the press, Ambassador of Timor-Leste to Vietnam Joao Pereira said that Timor-Leste looks to promote and deepen cooperation with Vietnam in such priority sectors as science-technology, agriculture, and fisheries.
The ambassador elaborated that both sides have huge potential for cooperation in various sectors such as agriculture, oil and gas, fisheries, infrastructure development, consumer goods, education, culture, and many others.
Import-export activities between the two countries have been almost one-way over the past years, with rice accounting for more than 90 percent of Vietnams exports to Timor-Leste and the rest including consumer goods and processed food items.
As for multilateral cooperation, Vietnam continued to team up with other ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretariat to support Timor-Leste in making preparations for joining the bloc.
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The Department of Health of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that eight bank employees in the provincial capital city of Bien Hoa were hospitalized on the same day for carbon monoxide poisoning.
They showed symptoms of dizziness, headache, and shortness of breath before being rushed to Hoan My Dong Nai Hospital.
Among them was a woman who is 29 weeks pregnant.
The carbon monoxide poisoning allegedly resulted from generators which were used after a power outage.
These patients tried to work indoors, leading to the poisoning, while some others went out after suffering headache and shortness of breath.
After receiving intensive care, seven of the eight were released from the hospital on Thursday.
The pregnant woman, identified as B.T.A.N., remains in hospital for further monitoring.
She is now in stable health, said a doctor.
Dr. Vo Van Ut at the emergency department of the hospital said that carbon monoxide is a gas that has no odor, color, or taste and is very dangerous.
The gas is produced by burning wood and charcoal and the operation of generators, furnaces, and engines powered by gasoline, said the doctor.
When breathing carbon monoxide, people become sleepy and glassy-eyed.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can affect the brain and organs, and can even cause death.
To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, Dr. Ut advises residents not to use gas stoves, furnaces, and wood-burning stoves in poorly ventilated spaces.
When detecting someone developing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, rescuers should open windows, wear anti-poison face masks, and quickly take the victim to a safe place.
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Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:
Politics
-- President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday evening, starting his four-day state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese State President To Lam.
-- Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai on Wednesday hosted a reception for a high-ranking delegation from the Lao People's Revolutionary Party led by Deputy Minister of Technology and Communications Santisouk Simamlavong.
Society
-- The Department of Health of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that eight employees of a bank in Bien Hoa City were hospitalized on the same day over suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
-- Heavy rain is forecast to continue battering the northern region of Vietnam on Thursday with rainfall estimated to reach up to 250mm, while the central and southern regions will experience showers, plus thunderstorms, late in the afternoon, according to the national weather center.
Business
-- Several major Indian firms active in the technology and oil & gas fields expected to invest in Vietnam, heard meetings between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian business leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday, as part of the premiers ongoing visit to India.
-- National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines and India's Innovation India on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on collaboration in enhancing the two countries economic, investment, cultural, and tourism connections, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
Lifestyle
-- The Ba Den Mountain Tourist Area in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam starts halving the price of each cable car ride at night on August 1 to attract tourists during the upcoming Vu Lan Festival, a major Buddhist holiday held annually on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month. The price reduction is set to stop at the end of September.
-- Quang Tri Province in north-central Vietnam will host the Vietnamese Ethnic Groups Culture Festival in September, which will feature the participation of 17 localities, to honor traditional cultural values of Vietnams 54 ethnic groups.
Sports
-- The Vietnam Football Federation on Wednesday named Cristiano Roland, a retired Brazilian footballer, as head coach of the U16 men's national football team for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U17 Championship 2025, replacing Tran Minh Chien.
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Old walls in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam have been given new coats as they now feature colorful and eye-catching paintings of local landscapes thanks to efforts by students from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City.
With their skills, artistic thinking, and simple tools, over 20 students from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City have joined hands with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union chapter in Phu Yen Province to paint pictures on the walls along Le Duan Street in Tuy Hoa City.
Renowned destinations in the province, such as Ganh Da Dia (Reef of Plates), Nghinh Phong Tower, Ganh Den Lighthouse, Mui Dien (Dien Cape), and Nhan Tower, are featured on the walls.
Students from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City create the paintings with great care. Photo: Nguyen Hoang / Tuoi Tre
Tran Triet Vi, a sophomore at the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City, said he arrived in Tuy Hoa in late July to join the universitys Mua He Xanh (Green Summer) volunteer campaign there.
They do the paintings from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm every day.
"We painted the walls with a white base layer, then used acrylic colors to draw the pictures and covered them with a glossy paint layer to protect the artwork," Vi shared, adding that all of the paintings were done with great care.
Dong Thi Thuy Vy, a fourth-year student at the university, said they came up with ideas and sent them to the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union chapter in Phu Yen Province for approval.
Paintings feature culture, tourism, and people in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Hoang / Tuoi Tre
Le Hoai Phuc, a 35-year-old resident of Tuy Hoa, expressed her excitement about the new walls, noting that popular destinations in her homeland were painted beautifully.
"The walls may become a new highlight of Tuy Hoa City in the future. Locals and tourists will visit the walls," Phuc added.
According to Vo Duy Kha, deputy secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union chapter in Phu Yen Province, the students efforts helped promote tourism in Tuy Hoa City and Phu Yen Province as a whole.
"The activity was creative and practical," Kha noted.
Students mix paints. Photo: Nguyen Hoang / Tuoi Tre
A student from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City paints on a wall in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Hoang / Tuoi Tre
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EXCLUSIVE:
Lingo Pictures is developing a television drama around the RoboDebt scandal which plagued successive Coalition governments, for ABC.
Lingo Pictures, led by producers Jason Stephens & Helen Bowden, has secured the rights to adapt upcoming book Mean Streak by journalist Rick Morton.
The mini-series Robodebt is being developed for ABC iview and ABC TV and tells the emotionally compelling story of one of the most egregious, large-scale failures in Australian government history.
The Robodebt scandal resulted in Australias largest class action; it cost the Government $1.8 billion dollars; and it involved compensation being paid to more than half a million Australians. It is a story of shocking hubris and of incredible bravery.
With the mounting cases, miscarriage of justice and royal commission, is a subject some have likened to being Australias own Mr. Bates vs the Post Office.
Lingo Pictures secured the rights for Mortons book from publisher HarperCollins. The writing team will be led by Stuart Page (Total Control), with Magda Wozniak (The Messenger) and Sophie Miller (Family Law). Helen Bowden will produce for Lingo Pictures with Jason Stephens and Stuart Page as Executive Producers.
Rick Morton said: Writing Mean Streak is the most difficult thing I have ever done but it is a story that deserves to be seen and heard by as many people as possible. I am so grateful that Lingo Pictures are creating the top tier drama it deserves; a production that will show all Australians and others around the world what happens when crude government systems encounter real people.
Helen Bowden said: Lingo Pictures is very excited to be working with Rick Morton to bring the story of the Robodebt scandal to Australian screens. Its one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Australian history and we will focus on the human stories: the grieving mothers whose sons took their own lives; the Centrelink worker who blew the whistle after decades of loyalty; and the digital activists who helped bring the scandal to light. We are very grateful to so many of these people who are working closely with us to bring this story to the screen. We believe it will make great television drama.
ITV Studios Global Distribution will handle international sales.
Acting Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite and Houston Mayor John Whitmire are shown during a media conference about the police department's report on the origin and cause of the Suspended-Lack of Personnel code Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Interim Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite speaks to reporters during a press conference to announce Noe Diaz, at right, as the new police chief Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at Houston City Hall in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Acting Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite are shown during a media conference about the police department's report on the origin and cause of the Suspended-Lack of Personnel code Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Acting Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite leaves after speaking to Mayor John Whitmire and City Council members about the police department's report on the origin and cause of the Suspended-Lack of Personnel code Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Acting Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite speaks to Mayor John Whitmire and City Council members about the police department's report on the origin and cause of the Suspended-Lack of Personnel code Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Cadets from Houston Police Academy Class 263 take their oath of office during their graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 6, 2024 in Houston. Acting Police Chief Larry Satterwhite welcomed 68 new officers to the police force during the ceremony. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Interim Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite looks over at Noe Diaz, the incoming police chief, during a press conference to announce Diaz as the new chief Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at Houston City Hall in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Samphors Ruth, who is from Cambodia, receives her badge from Acting Police Chief Larry Satterwhite during the graduation ceremony for Houston Police Academy Class 263 on Thursday, June 6, 2024 in Houston. HPD welcomed 68 new officers to the police force during the ceremony. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Acting Houston Police Chief Larry Satterwhite speaks to Mayor John Whitmire and City Council members about the police department's report on the origin and cause of the Suspended-Lack of Personnel code Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
Houston Police Department investigators are reexamining a 2018 auto-pedestrian crash, later determined to be a deliberate killing, more than six years after it was first reported, because the case was one of 264,000 suspended over lack of personnel.
The case is one of two homicide investigations in HPD's ongoing suspended cases scandal but the only one that is being investigated. Details about the homicide investigations came after Acting Chief Larry Satterwhite confirmed that two slayings had been included in the list of 264,000 cases that were suspended with an internal code citing a lack of personnel.
The other homicide case was tagged with the internal SL code but was included mainly because of a clerical error police made an arrest in the investigation the night of the crime, and charges were filed the next day. The SL code was entered later, when a detective accidentally reopened the case while trying to add information to it. That case is considered closed.
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MORE FROM HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Former Police Chief Troy Finner alleges he was pushed out to bury HPD scandal
Both homicide cases originated in the vehicular crimes division, which handles all road deaths but usually forwards intentional deaths to the homicide division, according to Jay Coons, a professor at Sam Houston State University who retired from the Harris County Sheriff's Office in 2018.
Police have to pick up investigation 6 years later
The earlier of the two cases came in 2018, when vehicular crimes investigators responded to the scene of an auto-pedestrian crash in the 5600 block of Bellaire Boulevard, according to a news release at the time. Paramedics declared a 61-year-old man, later identified as Nicholas Martinez, dead at the scene.
Witnesses told police a man in a black Ford Expedition had hit Martinez before fleeing the scene. As of Thursday, detectives hadnt made any arrests in connection with the case.
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Calls to the victims family werent immediately returned. A spokesman for the department declined to say whether the case being suspended had opened an internal affairs investigation into its handling but said detectives were looking into the case as part of the larger review of suspended cases.
Family members in May spoke with Houston television station ABC13, saying they hadn't known that the case was suspended before a reporter contacted them and that they feared the delay meant officers could have missed out on crucial evidence, such as video of the crash.
Second case a clerical error and closed
HPD officials described the codes use in the second homicide case as an administrative error. While the investigation ended up logged in internal records with the SL code, officers made an arrest on the night of the death in October 2020, according to records.
A then-18-year-old man was charged with murder in connection with the death of Joe Puentas, 22, according to Harris County court records. The case was dismissed this past April, with prosecutors citing insufficient evidence to prove the mans guilt.
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Detectives in 2020 alleged that they watched the 18-year-old and Puentas sell narcotics in a gas station parking lot before leaving and breaking traffic laws, according to the HPD. Officers attempted to pull their vehicle over, but it instead sped away.
During an ensuing chase, the arrested man's vehicle slammed into a concrete barrier on Byram Street where the road ends, police said. Puentas was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other man was taken to a hospital.
The night after the chase, charges had been filed in state District Court in Harris County.
These are cases where some of this should have been more delineated in department policy, said Coons, the professor.
Cases part of larger scandal
Coons said that from the start of the suspended cases scandal, hes assumed the code began with good intentions but was a bad idea the public wouldnt accept contentions that bore out in the release of an HPD report Wednesday.
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MORE FROM HOUSTON CHRONICLE: What to know about the Houston Police Department's dropped cases scandal
Satterwhite brought up the two murder cases while detailing the results of the investigation before Houston City Council on Wednesday. He attributed the cause of the scandal, which led to the ouster of former Chief Troy Finner, to a systemic failure of leadership.
The report echoed many findings already made public about the codes spread through divisions, including that the code was born out of a 2014 audit, that it spread rapidly through the departments divisions with poor oversight and that an antiquated records management system has stifled efforts to contain it.
Coons said different divisions in law enforcement agencies handle their affairs differently and that while policy should dictate how case transfers should happen, individuals frequently play a bigger role in the proceedings.
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BNP Paribas SA
BNP PARIBAS ENTERS INTO EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATIONS WITH AXA FOR THE ACQUISITION OF AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS AND A LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP IN ASSET MANAGEMENT
Press Release
Paris, 1 August 2024
The BNP Paribas Group announces today that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with AXA to acquire 100% of AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), representing close to 850bn1 assets under management, together with an agreement for a long-term partnership to manage a large part of AXAs assets.
BNP Paribas Cardif, the insurance business of BNP Paribas, after having directly proceeded to the proposed transaction as principal, would have the opportunity to rely on this platform for the management of up to 160bn of its savings and insurance assets1.
With the combined contribution of BNP Paribas asset management platforms, the newly formed business, which total assets under management would amount to 1,500bn1, would become a leading European player in the sector.
Specifically, it would become the European leading player in the management of long-term savings assets for insurers as well as pension funds, with 850bn of assets1, leveraging powerful platforms of public and private assets. The acquisition would also allow the combined businesses to benefit from AXA IM Alternatives leading market position and track record in private assets which will drive further growth with both institutional and retail investors.
The agreed price for the acquisition and the set-up of the partnership is of 5.1bn at closing, expected mid-2025.
With a CET1 impact of circa 25 bp for BNP Paribas, the expected return on invested capital of the transaction would be above 18% as soon as the 3rd year, following the end of the integration process.
The signing of the proposed transaction, expected by the end of the year, is subject to the information process and consultation of the employees representative bodies. The closing of the transaction is expected by mid-2025 once regulatory approvals have been obtained.
This project would position BNP Paribas as a leading European player in long-term asset management. Benefiting from a critical size in public and alternative assets, BNP Paribas would serve its customer base of insurers, pension funds, banking networks and distributors more efficiently. The strategic partnership entered into with AXA, the cornerstone of this project, confirms the ability of both our groups to join forces. This major project, which would drive our growth over the long-term, would represent a powerful engine of growth for our Group. said Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, Director and CEO, BNP Paribas.
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AXA Investment Managers has been a homegrown success story for the AXA Group. Over the past 25 years, we have built an exceptional franchise anchored in investment expertise, a relentless client focus and a proven track record on sustainability. Thanks to the quality of its teams, AXA IM is today a leading player, notably in Alternatives in Europe. said Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA. By joining forces with BNP Paribas, AXA IM would become a global asset manager with a wider product offering and a mutual objective to further their leading position in responsible investing. I would like to thank all AXA IM employees for their unwavering commitment, and their continued focus on delivering value for our clients.
The creation, within the Investment & Protection Services (IPS) division of the BNP Paribas Group, of a European leader in the management of long-term insurance and savings assets, would enable the IPS division to exceed EUR 2 trillion of assets entrusted by its clients. This operation would allow BNP Paribas Cardif to benefit from premium access to the services of an asset management expert on the asset classes required for insurance management. The combined expertise of the BNP Paribas Asset Management and AXA IM teams in public and private assets, as well as their leadership in sustainability, would be valuable assets to better meet future needs of clients. said Renaud Dumora, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Investment & Protection Services, BNP Paribas.
Press contact
Sandrine Romano sandrine.romano@bnpparibas.com +33 (0)6 71 18 23 05
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is the European Unions leading bank and key player in international banking. It operates in 63 countries and has nearly 183,000 employees, including more than 145,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services for the Groups commercial & personal banking and several specialised businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval; Investment & Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated commercial & personal banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Turkey, and Eastern Europe. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific. BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group's performance and stability.
Disclaimer
This press release includes forward-looking statements based on current beliefs and expectations about future events. Forward-looking statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance and synergies. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and assumptions about BNP Paribas and its subsidiaries and investments, developments of BNP Paribas and its subsidiaries, banking industry trends, future capital expenditures and acquisitions, changes in economic conditions globally, or in BNP Paribas principal local markets, the competitive market and regulatory factors. Those events are uncertain; their outcome may differ from current expectations which may in turn significantly affect expected results. Any forward-looking statement contained in this press release speaks as of the date of this press release. BNP Paribas undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
1 Based on assets as at 31.12.2023
Attachment
High Arctic Energy Services Inc.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAW
CALGARY, Alberta, July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Arctic Energy Services Inc. (TSX: HWO) ("High Arctic" or the "Corporation") wishes to provide an update on the previously announced reorganization of High Arctic to separate the Corporation's North American and Papua New Guinea businesses, by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") between the Corporation and High Arctic Overseas Holdings Corp. (SpinCo). Although the Corporation has been working toward completion of the Arrangement by July 31, 2024 as previously announced, it is not yet in a position to do so.
The Arrangement was approved by shareholders, along with a distribution of $0.76 per share to its shareholders by way of return of capital (the "Return of Capital") and other matters, at the annual general and special meeting held on June 17, 2024. On June 27, 2024, the Court of King's Bench of Alberta granted its final order approving of the Arrangement, and the Return of Capital was distributed to shareholders on July 17, 2024. The Corporation has received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) for the listing of the new High Arctic common shares to be issued concurrently with completion of the Arrangement (the New High Arctic Common Shares). It is a condition of closing of the Arrangement (which condition may be waived by the Corporation) that the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), or another acceptable stock exchange, approve the listing of the common shares of SpinCo (SpinCo Common Shares) to be issued concurrently with the closing of the Arrangement.
The Corporation remains engaged with the TSXV and expects to receive conditional approval from the TSXV for the initial listing of the SpinCo Common Shares. The Arrangement and the listing of the New High Arctic Common Shares remain subject to the final approval of the TSX.
As at the closing of the Arrangement, each shareholder will receive one-quarter of one (1/4) SpinCo Common Share and one-quarter of one (1/4) New High Arctic Common Share for each current common share of High Arctic.
The Corporation will continue to update shareholders and other interested parties of the progress towards approval from the TSXV for the initial listing of SpinCo Common Shares and the completion of the Arrangement.
For more information on the Arrangement and the Return of Capital, please see the management information circular of the Corporation dated May 9, 2024, and news releases dated May 11, 2024, May 21, 2024, May 29, 2024, June 12, 2024, June 18, 2024, June 27, 2024, and June 28, 2024 available on the Corporation's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
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About High Arctic
High Arctic is an energy services provider. High Arctic is a market leader in Papua New Guinea providing drilling and specialized well completion services and supplies rental equipment including rig matting, camps, material handling and drilling support equipment. In western Canada, High Arctic provides pressure control and equipment supporting the high-pressure stimulation of oil and gas wells on a rental basis to exploration and production companies, from its bases in Whitecourt and Red Deer, Alberta.
For further information, please contact:
Lonn Bate
Chief Financial Officer
1.587.318.2218
1.800.668.7143
High Arctic Energy Services Inc.
Suite 2350, 3305th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0L4
website: www.haes.ca
Email: info@haes.ca
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "seek", "propose", "estimate", "expect", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Corporation's current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the Corporation's actual results, performance or achievements to vary from those described in this press release. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements pertaining to the following: the Corporation's ability to obtain TSXV approval for the listing of the SpinCo Common Shares, the Corporations ability to obtain final approval of the TSX for the listing of the New High Arctic Common Shares, and the closing of the Arrangement. The Corporation's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors set forth above and elsewhere in this press release. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These statements are given only as of the date of this press release. The Corporation does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.
From Mr. Duarte's 2021 Demons 1 & 2 4K UHD Review
Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava, son of "Spaghetti Horror" maestro Mario Bava, joined forces to provide gore-hounds everywhere with a perversely twisted spectacle of demonic possession run amok in Demons. With Argento in the producer's chair, Bava is given free rein to splatter the screen with grisly details, a vibrant, colorful palette thanks to cinematographer Gianlorenzo Battaglia, and one of the wildest soundtracks. While the disgusting special effects stun and shock audiences to their wits, the fast-paced screeching sounds of the heavy-metal tunes blast through the speakers, creating a tensely energetic and frantic complement to the visuals. Adding a subtle comical atmosphere to the gorefest is Claudio Simonetti's original musical score, particularly the main composition at the beginning, which has to be one of the best and most memorable pieces for a horror movie. The creepy but highly spirited circus-like undertones are bizarrely fun.
Revisiting this childhood favorite for the umpteenth time, I'm amazed the cult Italian horror classic still holds up surprisingly well, overwhelming its audience with a heavy-metal madness that's as comically contagious as it is sensationally over-the-top. Admittedly, the tense, action-packed moments can also seem somewhat corny and screwball, especially when one character rides a dirt bike through the aisles of a theatre while wielding a samurai sword, but they nonetheless remain visually exciting to behold. Meanwhile, Gianlorenzo Battaglia's cinematography works in surprisingly perfect harmony, generating a bonkers movie-going experience that electrifies audiences into cheering the gruesome mayhem. To be clear, I'm referring to the humans and their fight for survival, not the monstrous creatures with glowing eyes, torn fingernails, and sharp, mangled teeth. They're ugly, horrifying ghouls! When charging into battle, I have my "ghetto blaster" and a mix tape at the ready.
Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Demons bites its way to 4K via Synapse Films. the sole 4K Disc is housed inside a hard, black plastic case. This is the same BD-100 disc fans found in the Demons 1 & 2 4K UHD set Synapse released in 2021. There is no cardboard sleeve. There is the golden replica ticket from Metropol and a Synapse product catalog. The artwork is reversible. One side features the original movie poster art and the other features the iconic demon only from a movie still.
Beijing Declaration: China Palestine Diplomacy Trumps Again
By hosting a historic signing of a unity agreement, Beijing Declaration, between 14 Palestinian political parties in Beijing on July 23, China has, once more, shown its ability to play a global role as a peace broker
Friday August 2, 2024 0:32 AM , Dr Ramzy Baroud
Chinese diplomacy has done it again.
By hosting a historic signing of a unity agreement between 14 Palestinian political parties in Beijing on July 23, China has, once more, shown its ability to play a global role as a peace broker.
For years, China has attempted to play a role in Middle East politics, particularly in the regions most enduring crisis, the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In 2021, China announced its four-point plan, aimed at comprehensively, fairly and permanently resolving the Palestinian question.
Whether the plan itself was workable or not, it mattered little, as neither the Israeli government nor the Palestinian Authority were prepared to ditch Washington, which has dominated Middle East diplomacy for decades.
For the Israelis, their interests lie largely within their historic alliance with the United States, which has translated into very generous aid packages, military support and political backing.
As for the PA, since its inception in 1994, it revolved largely within a US-foreign policy sphere.
With time, the Palestinian leadership grew even more reliant on American-western financial handouts and validation. Thus, allowing China to flex its diplomatic muscles in the Middle East, at the expense of the US, would be considered a violation of the unspoken agreement between Washington and Ramallah.
Consequently, the Chinese efforts yielded nothing tangible.
But Chinas success in ending a seven-year rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran re-introduced Beijing as a powerful new mediator, in a region known for its protracted and layered conflicts.
The latest horrific war in Gaza has further highlighted the possible role of China in Palestine and the region at large.
For years, China attempted to find the balance between its historic role as a global leader, with clout and credibility in the Global South, and its economic interests, including those in Israel.
That balancing act began eroding soon after the start of the war.
The Chinese political discourse on the war was committed to the rights of the Palestinian people and their historic struggle for freedom and justice.
The above notion was highlighted in the words of Chinas ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, when he said that the establishment of an independent state is the indisputable national right of the Palestinian people, not subject to questioning or bargaining.
Such language, which came to define Chinas strong stance against the war, the massive human rights violations and the urgent need for a ceasefire, continued to evolve.
On February 22, Chinas representative to the Hague, Ma Xinmin, said that in pursuit of the right to self-determination, Palestinian peoples use of force to resist foreign oppression () is (an) inalienable right well founded in international law. His statement was made during the fourth day of public hearings held by the ICJ to address Israels decades-long occupation of Palestine.
The Chinese, and other countries efforts, paid dividends, as the ICJ released its Advisory Opinion on July 19, stating that the sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying Power and continued frustration of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates fundamental principles of international law.
It is within this context that The Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity was signed.
The agreement was not a mere document, similar to those signed between rival Palestinian parties in the past. It proposed a three-step initiative that includes a comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, followed by a post-conflict governance plan, which is itself predicated on the principle of Palestinians governing Palestine.
The final step seeks long-term peace, all of which is achieved through broad-based participation of regional and international players. In other words, ending the domination of a single country over the future of Palestine and her people.
There will certainly be attempts to undermine, if not cancel, the Chinese efforts entirely. But there are reasons that give us hope that the diplomatic push by China may, in fact, serve as a foundation for a change in the global attitude towards justice and peace in Palestine.
The fact that western European countries like Spain, Norway and Ireland have recognized Palestine shows that the US-dominated western diplomacy is breaking apart.
Moreover, the growing role of the Global South in supporting the Palestinian struggle suggests another seismic shift.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, much of the world has been sidelined from the struggle in Palestine. This is no longer the case.
Chinas growing role in Palestinian and Middle East politics is taking place with changing global dynamics, and the practical end of the US traditional role as the honest peace broker.
The war on Gaza has presented China with the opportunity to play the role of an advocate for Palestine. This has given Beijing the needed credibility to achieve the most comprehensive agreement among Palestinian groups.
Time will tell if the agreement will be implemented or thwarted. But the fact remains that China is now officially a peace broker in Palestine and, for most Palestinians, a credible one at that.
[Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out. His other books include My Father was a Freedom Fighter and The Last Earth. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net.]
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'A Hero Taken Away Too Soon': Colleague Pays Tribute to Journalist Killed in Gaza
Your death, Ismail al Ghoul, is the latest reminder of how Israel has silenced so many of us, too many to name, but each one is forever lodged in our memories as a hero taken away too soon. All for practicing journalism
Thursday August 1, 2024 9:58 PM , Maram Humaid
Deir el-Balah (Gaza, Palestine): I sat on my knees, heartbroken and trembling.
We were on the cusp of marking 300 days of the Gaza war a tragic milestone. But tragedy wasnt nearly done with us.
We had woken up on Wednesday to the news of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh , the Hamas political boss. Peoples faces were marked by sorrow and frustration as I reported on the reactions to his killing from Gaza. As they mourned a prominent leader, Israeli raids continued.
I finished my interviews and went to the Al Jazeera tent at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to write. Amid my work, I watched ambulances bring more bodies to the hospital, saw people crying and collapsing in grief.
I stared silently, then remembered my urgent article and resumed writing. When youre a journalist, reporting on a war and at the same time being a victim of the war, theres no time to process feelings amid the chaos and madness.
As I pressed send, my colleague Hind Khoudary arrived to start her TV shift, frustration etched on her face. It was our usual exchange: about our psychological fatigue and the futility of our situation. We ended the conversation. We each had plenty to do.
I went home to my family and children.
Thats when the messages started coming on WhatsApp: Our colleagues Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera journalist, and Rami al-Rifi, his cameraman, had been killed after Israel struck the car they were travelling in with a missile.
We didnt want to believe it, but then, the confirmation came from colleagues out in the field. And I collapsed on my knees.
It was a fresh slap in the face of all journalists in Gaza. According to our count, 165 journalists have now been killed since the start of the war on October 7. Yet each time, the shock is indescribable.
Its the same shock that sweeps over us every time we lose a journalist colleague despite our knowledge that everyone is under the guillotine of war and everyone is a target.
And its the same shock that reminds us of the bitter truth that no one hears us, no one cares about us.
A woman told me on Wednesday that the world is tired of us and our news. Bored of the war on Gaza, indifferent to our suffering. She was right!
The world is tired of us, oh, my colleague Ismail.
Tired of seeing you on screen for 300 days, broadcasting live news around the clock from northern Gaza.
Tired of you reporting, hungry and unable to find food. You wrote about your hunger, lost your brother and father in the war, were arrested and tortured at al-Shifa Hospital, separated from your displaced wife and children in the south of Gaza.
The world was tired of you until the screen reported on your killing, your head severed from your body in a brutal reflection of the war that you covered.
You were a kind, humble and persistent colleague.
My colleague Marah Al-Wadiya told me how you used to check on her house after every Israeli operation in her area and reassure her it was fine.
Another colleague, Mohammad Al-Zaanin, said you checked in on his family in the north and did your best to provide them shelter after their house was demolished. Mohammad also wont forget how you brought bread for his mother.
Your death is the latest reminder of how Israel has silenced so many of us, too many to name, but each one is forever lodged in our memories as a hero taken away too soon. All for practicing journalism.
Since when have journalists been targets? Since the world turned its back on Gaza, stripping us of humanity and denying us international and human rights protection in times of war and crises.
But from now on, I wont ask where the world is. What world? There is no world here. Not even our blown-up heads in press uniforms or the dismembered bodies of our children changes anything.
This false world is not our place, dear Ismail. Perhaps today, for the first time in 300 days, you sleep peacefully and comfortably, understanding the full meaning of truth.
The truth that all Gaza residents now know well: Its only a matter of time. We are all awaiting our turn in this war, and in heaven, we will not forgive anyone.
[The writer, Maram Humaid, is Al Jazeera English's digital correspondent in Gaza. The above article is originally published by Al Jazeera English .]
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Watch Malaysia PM Anwars Tribute to Ismail Haniyeh removed by Facebook
Tech giant Meta is facing flak from the Malaysian administration for removing from the Facebook page of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a post tagged with a video paying tribute to slain Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh. Watch the video here.
Thursday August 1, 2024 2:04 PM , ummid.com Social Media Desk
[Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim with slain Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh when the former met him in Qatar May this year (Image posted on X by Anwar Ibrahim)]
Tech giant Meta is facing flak from the Malaysian administration for removing from the Facebook page of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a post tagged with a video paying tribute to slain Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Ismail Haniyeh assassinated
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a guided rocket attack on his residence in the outskirts of Iranian capital Tehran Wednesday July 31, 2024. Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held a day before.
Palestinian Resistance Group Hamas has called Ismail Haniyehs brutal killing assassination and blamed Israel.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the incident. It had however in the past on several occasions vowed to eliminate Palestinian leadership.
Before his assassination Wednesday, Haniyeh had already lost a number of his family members, including his three sons and 14 grandchildren in Israeli raids.
Several world leaders - including from Russia, China, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and others condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
Joining the world leaders, who decried the killing of Hamas political leader calling it a heinous crime, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim too issued a statement which was also posted on Facebook and other social media platforms.
The tribute post was however disappeared from Facebook soon after it was posted by Anwars office.
Anwar Ibrahim's post removed by Facebook
In his tribute to Ismail Haniyeh, which has now been removed from Facebook, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said:
It is patently clear that this could only have been carried out in an environment of utter impunity. Only the heedless and unconscionable will not see the need to intensify pressure on Israel to stop their murderous rampage. I am deeply concerned about what this tragedy would mean for the Palestinian people, who have already been so cruelly subjected to so much pain, hardship and suffering for so many decades. Detractors who have criticised me for meeting with Haniyeh in the past, fail to appreciate Haniyehs profound desire for a peaceful Middle East and a Palestinian nation restored to its rightful dignity. I mourn the loss of a dear friend and a valiant advocate for his people. Al-Fatihah, he said.
Anwar's conversation with Hamas leader
Tagging with the post, Anwar also uploaded a video of him having a teleconference with Hamas Political Bureau Member, Dr Basem Naim, during which he reiterated Malaysias stance in supporting the Palestinian struggle and fight for an independent Palestinian state.
Ismail Haniyeh is one of the pillars in this (Palestinian) struggle and one of the things that is being fought for is a peaceful resolution to defend the rights of the Palestinian people. Clearly, theres an element of sabotage. They dont want this to succeed. They dont want this peaceful resolution, he said while talking with Dr Basem.
During the conversation with Dr Basem, Anwar also expressed his anger at the failure of the international community to ensure peace and justice and defend the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people, saying that he would continue to do his level best to condemn the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime.
"Cowardice, disgraceful"
Malaysia has accused Meta Platforms of cowardice while condemning the removal of Anwar Ibrahim's tribute to Ismail Haniyeh from Facebook.
Meta has once again acted disgracefully and has insulted the struggle of the Palestinian people by removing the video and condolence post criticising the assassination of the late Ismail Haniyeh, Anwar posted on Facebook this morning.
Malaysia has previously complained to Meta over its takedown of content, including local media coverage of Anwars last meeting with Haniyeh in Qatar May this year, which was later restored.
Meta at the time said it was not deliberately suppressing voices on its Facebook platform and was not restricting content supporting the Palestinians, according to Reuters.
It has however did not respond to the news agency's request for comment on the removal of Anwar Ibrahim's latest Facebook page.
Meta has designated Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs Gaza, as a dangerous organization and bans content praising the group. It also uses a mix of automated detection and human review to remove or label graphic visuals.
Watch Video
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands attended the funeral of Ismail Haniyeh held in Tehran Thursday August 01, 2024. Irans Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei led the funeral prayers.
Ismail Haniyeh will be buried in Doha, Qatar after the final funeral prayers at Doha Central Mosque Friday August 02, 2024.
The funeral of Ismail Haniyeh in Doha on Friday is likely to see representation by a number of countries including Russia, China and others.
[With inputs from thesun.my]
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A woman puts down flowers on Sunday, May 20, 2018, in front of the Santa Fe High School where 10 people were shot. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle
More than six years after the mass shooting in Santa Fe High School, the tragic event is back in the news because of the start of a civil trial involving the parents of the victims and the accused shooter.
The civil trial that started this week in Galveston County will be the first time questions about responsibility are litigated inside a court room. The accused shooter hasn't gone to trial because of questions about his mental health and ability to aid in his own defense.
The families are seeking damages from the accused shooter for battery and from his parents over claims that they should have intervened before the shooting took place.
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The trial revealed new details about what happened in the days leading up to the shooting. Here's what to know about the tragedy while the trial is under way.
What happened at Santa Fe High School?
On the morning of May 18, 2018, a 17-year-old student walked into hallway inside the Santa Fe High School and began firing into an art classroom with a shotgun and handgun, killing students and teachers inside, including some who had taken shelter in a closet.
Police responded to the shooting within minutes, and exchanged gunfire with the student. One of the officers was shot, but survived. After a standoff, the student, later identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a high school senior, was arrested and charged with capital murder of multiple persons and aggravated assault against a public servant.
Warrior Spirit is unveiled as a remembrance of the ten victims, survivors of the Santa Fe shooting during the fifth year anniversary remembrance ceremony and dedication of the Warrior Spirit sculpture at Santa Fe High School on Thursday, May 18, 2023 in Santa Fe. Karen Warren/Staff photographer
Who were the victims?
Eight students and two teachers were killed inside the school. Another 13 people were wounded.
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The dead were teachers Cynthia Tisdale and Glenda Ann Perkins, and students Jared Conard Black, Shana Fisher, Christian Riley Garcia, Aaron Kyle McLeod, Anglique Ramirez, Sabika Sheikh, Chris Stone and Kimberly Vaughan.
Sheri Shubert looks at her son Rome Shubert, 16, glad he returned home alive after he got shot during a shooting at his school, Santa Fe High School, Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe. ( Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle ) Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle
What is the status of the accused shooter?
Pagourtzis was arrested on the day of the shooting and charged with capital murder of multiple people and aggravated assault of a police officer.
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Pagourtzis was held in Galveston County for about a year ahead of the planned start of his criminal trial. In November 2019, however, a district court judge ruled he was mentally unfit to stand trial and could not aid his own defense.
Since then, Pagourtzis has been treated at a state hospital in north Texas. Prosecutors have maintained hope that he will be restored to competency, but it's unclear if that will happen. The criminal trial is on an indefinite hold until then.
In a Monday, May 21, 2018 file photo, Santa Fe High School freshman, Jai Gillard writes messages on each of the 10 crosses representing victims in front the school in Santa Fe, Texas. Texas, which for years has buckled to pressure from the National Rifle Association, has quietly gone around the organization by slipping a $1 million public safety campaign on gun storage into a massive spending bill now headed to Republican Gov. Greg Abbotts desk. Steve Gonzales, MBO / Associated Press
What is the Santa Fe civil lawsuit about?
Shortly after the shooting, the parents of the one of the victims, Chris Stone, sued the alleged gunman and his parents in civil court. The lawsuit accuses Pagourtzis of battery and his parents of negligence for not securing their guns or seeking treatment for his alleged mental health issues. The lawsuit was ultimately joined by the families of seven people killed, as well as four people who were wounded. A jury trial is planned to begin in Galveston on July 29.
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The lawsuit also at one time included Luckygunner, an online ammunition seller, as a defendant. The victims accused the company and its executives for failing to verify the accused gunman's age before selling him the ammunition used in the shooting. Luckygunner and the families settled the lawsuit last year for an undisclosed amount of money. The company also agreed to create an age verification system for its sales. The company in statement after the settlement it would continue to use the age-verification it put it place in 2019 -- the year after the shooting -- and called the lawsuit a failed attempt to put it out of business.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks about the shooting at Santa Fe High School, during a press conference at the Santa Fe ISD Agricultural Center Friday, May 18, 2018, in Santa Fe. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle
What changed in Texas after the shooting?
The Santa Fe shooting spurred the legislature to increase some security in schools across the state, but the tragedy had little affect on the state's firearm laws.
In the shooting's aftermath, Gov. Greg Abbott held a series of roundtables about policies that could reduce mass killing. Ideas at the time included requiring people report their lost or stolen firearms, clarifying laws that make parents responsible for the safekeeping of guns to children under the age of 18, arming teachers or creating "red flag" laws that could allow authorities to take guns from people exhibiting potentially violent behavior.
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A month after the shooting, Abbott tweeted that he didn't advocate for red flag laws.
In 2019, Abbott signed a law allowing more teachers to have guns in school, increasing mental health services for students and funding programs to "harden" schools against future attacks. In 2021, Texas abolished its law requiring people to have a license to open carry a handgun.
HCM CITY The southeast region must enhance its logistics services, establish robust logistics companies to support import-export operations, develop high-quality brands, and promote regional trade, speakers said.
Speaking at a trade promotion conference held in HCM City on Wednesday, experts recommended stakeholders in the region advocate for improvements in logistics systems to ensure the efficient and secure transportation of goods.
Numerous businesses in the region have expressed concerns over the inadequacies of logistics infrastructure and the rising costs associated with logistics activities.
These challenges have resulted in reduced storage durations for goods, leading to an increased incidence of product damage.
Nguyen Van Dung, deputy chairman of HCM Citys Peoples Committee, said businesses in the region should capitalise on the free trade agreements in which Viet Nam is a signatory.
They should also diversify markets and supply chains, he said.
Its important to also enhance regional connectivity, which allows localities to leverage their inherent advantages in enhancing trade, he added.
The city is focusing on exporting to key markets, particularly those with which Viet Nam has established free trade agreements (FTAs), according to Dung.
ang Phuc Nguyen, a representative from the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that geopolitical conflicts have led to increased shipping costs and transit times for agricultural products.
He recommended businesses target nearby markets such as Japan, China, and South Korea.
Ly Kim Chi, chairwoman of the HCM City Food Association, also expressed concern over the insufficient availability of cold storage facilities, which adversely affects the food industry.
She said it was essential to prioritise training and developing human resources, as well as attracting talent and fostering innovation and creativity.
Phan Thi Thang, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said it was vital to enhance human resources to bolster the competitiveness of Vietnamese logistics companies.
The region has established itself as an economic leader and the foremost centre for trade, industry, tourism, and service development in Viet Nam.
This achievement is attributed to its natural advantages and its strategic, economic and political positioning.
The region has also emerged as an attractive destination for foreign investors and a promising area for the relocation and restructuring of supply chains.
Despite constituting only 7 per cent of the countrys total land area and 19 per cent of its population, the southeast region has contributed over 30 per cent of Viet Nams GDP, 38 per cent of total State budget revenue, and 32 per cent of total exports.
As part of the event, an exhibition showcased local products and facilitated trade connections between regional suppliers and import-export businesses.
The southeast region encompasses HCM City and five provinces: ong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, and Tay Ninh, forming the countrys largest economic hub.
In May, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved the master plan for the development of the southeast region for the period of 2021-2030.
According to data from the General Department of Customs, the regions import-export turnover in the first half reached $115.7 billion, accounting for 31 per cent of the nations total trade.
Exports from the region are present in nearly 200 countries and territories, primarily in markets with which Viet Nam has free trade agreements, including China, the EU, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN nations.
Last year, this regions growth was estimated to exceed 5 per cent, and it attracted nearly $11.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), accounting for over 31 per cent of the countrys total FDI.
The event was co-organised by the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the HCM City Peoples Committee. VNS
HA NOI Developing human resources is critical for Ha Noi to build an ecosystem for the semiconductor industry, a conference held on Wednesday morning heard.
The conference was organised by Hanoi Promotion Agency (HPA) under the instruction of Ha Noi Peoples Committee within the framework of three-day Ha Noi Semiconductor Investment Festival 2024, discussing solutions for the capital city to exploit potential and affirm the position in the global technology map.
According to Nguyen Nhat Quang, director of Viet Nam Science and Technology Institute under Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association, building a semiconductor ecosystem needs to be placed in harmony with building digital and green industries.
He stressed that the core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is digital transformation and green transition.
Ha Noi has shown determination in developing into a smart city in its planning, Quang said, adding that to fulfill the goal, the capital city will need to develop a strong and secure digital information infrastructure. The process will require large numbers of semiconductor chips.
It is critical for Ha Noi to develop corresponding capacity in electronic technology and semiconductor industry to build and operate smart city safely and sustainably, he said.
There are significant opportunities for major cities of Viet Nam like Ha Noi and HCM City to develop a semiconductor ecosystem, said Nguyen Thanh Yen, general director of Korea invested CoAsia Semi in Viet Nam. Yen said that early preparations, especially in human resources, are critical for Ha Noi to engage in the global semiconductor value chain.
Experts at the conference also stressed that semiconductor is a global industry and no one country can master it from A to Z. Thus, Ha Noi needs to position itself in the global semiconductor ecosystem and prepare a workforce to be able to seize the opportunities.
Ha Noi Semiconductor Investment Festival 2024, which closed on Wednesday, provided a platform for policy makers, industry insiders and enterprises to discuss solutions to promote investments and enhance cooperation in the semiconductor industry in Viet Nam. VNS
SYDNEY Viet Nam has a market economy, if the pace of reforms it has undertaken from the oi Moi (Renewal) period in 1986 to now is taken into consideration, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Australias Deakin University Dr Cong Pham has assessed.
Viet Nam joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2007 and has since signed numerous multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with various countries, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.
The FTAs signed have increasingly integrated Viet Nam into the global economy with stringent competitive rules and also encouraged the country to adopt practices of free competition, the scholar said.
According to the expert, another point showing Viet Nam has rapidly transitioned from a centrally planned economy to a market one is the emergence of private companies and startups. He noted that the private sector has grown alongside a reduction in the number of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) through the equitisation of small- and medium-sized enterprises.
He pointed to six factors that prove Viet Nam is a market economy.
First, the private sector has grown rapidly, and now accounts for nearly 45 per cent of GDP, contributes one-third of the State budget, provides 40 per cent of investment capital, and employs 85 per cent of the countrys workforce.
Second, Viet Nam has reformed its foreign investment laws, and attracted over US$18 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first seven months of this year.
Third, Viet Nam has developed a competitive market environment across various sectors.
Fourth, the legal framework has evolved to support the growth of the private sector, with the promulgation of intellectual property protection laws, the Enterprise Law, and the Investment Law. These laws, introduced in the mid-2000s and revised several times, have become crucial in creating a transparent environment, stated Cong Pham.
Fifth, Viet Nams financial market is developing rapidly, with significant increases in stock market capitalisation over the past time.
Sixth, Viet Nams national target programme for poverty reduction for 2021-2025 aims to reduce the poverty rate by 1-1.5 per cent per year on average. According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the poverty rate is projected to be around 0.9 per cent by the end of 2025, he added. VNS
Quynh Anh
Originally from Switzerland, Michael Gerber has called Viet Nam home since 2018, captivated not only by its stunning landscapes but also by its promising terrain for sport tourism lovers, leading him to run a motorbike tour community for foreigners when they are in Viet Nam.
Joining Namduro, a prominent motorbiking community in Ha Noi four years ago, Michael has since embarked on countless adventures exploring Viet Nam on two wheels.
With extensive experience navigating Viet Nam's diverse landscapes on motorcycles, he is in the process of setting up guided motorcycle tours and creating their merchandise.
I moved to Viet Nam in early 2018 and have been working as an English teacher but also as a guide for motorbike tours, he told Viet Nam News. The low cost of living compared to my home country, allows me to experience a lifestyle I wouldnt be able to back home and affords me the luxury of being able to regularly go on trips to explore the beautiful country and surrounding ones.
After living here for a while, I have formed some incredible lifelong friendships and a great relationship, which played a big part in my decision to stay here for so long.
I have many years of experience travelling Viet Nam by motorcycle and have organised and run many tours myself, as well as helped a lot with running and organising the previous Namduro events.
When the founders of Namduro decided to leave Viet Nam, they entrusted him with taking over due to his deep passion for riding motorcycles and organising events firsthand.
"I have decided to continue what they started with the goal of turning it into a profitable business while sharing Viet Nam's hidden gems with other motorcycle enthusiasts, " he said.
With the knowledge I have gained through that, I believe that I can provide unforgettable experiences to my customers with the highest quality standard."
After six years as an expat in Viet Nam, this place has left Michael with a deep appreciation. Through his lens, Viet Nam has incredible landscapes that are amazing to explore by motorcycle.
"The country's beautiful landscapes are truly captivating, and the hospitality of the people is heartwarming. Plus, the delicious food is a major highlight for me.
"Travelling by motorcycle is the most common way for Vietnamese people to get around. Therefore, the country is set up very well for motorcycle travel, as there are mechanics and petrol stations even in the most remote locations.
"Travelling by motorcycle allows tourists to reach destinations they couldn't reach by other means of transport which ensures an incredibly unique travel experience."
He believes Viet Nam has tremendous potential to become an attractive and safer destination for foreign tourists with a few key improvements.
One area that could make a big difference is simplifying the visa process.
"If Viet Nam could offer more affordable visas and a smoother application process, perhaps even introducing a visa on arrival option, it would significantly boost its appeal to international visitors," Micheal said.
"Additionally, many tourists might not realise that a one-month visa isn't enough to fully explore all that Viet Nam has to offer.
"Making it easier to extend visas would encourage longer stays, allowing visitors to enjoy the country's rich cultural heritage and stunning landscapes at a more relaxed pace."
He sees traffic safety as another area where improvements can have a positive impact.
"With the recent increase in cars, the streets have become more congested, affecting the overall experience of walking around cities. However, it's encouraging to see the government actively working on various projects to address this issue."
As he prepares to relocate to Hoi An for the next chapter of his journey, he said: "I am looking forward to living near the beach and in a quieter place with less air pollution. I still have a lot of love for Ha Noi and I'm looking forward to visiting it regularly in the future."
Since Michael continues to weave his love for adventure with his admiration for Viet Nam, his tours stand as a testament to the country's allure and the endless possibilities it holds for those willing to venture off-road.
If you're an off-road motorbike travel lover, come to Viet Nam for riding now. VNS
HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday hold talks with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi, hoping that the Viet Nam-India relations will enter a new phase of growth following his official visit.
The Indian minister sends his condolences on the passing of the late Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, a great friend of the South Asian country.
Sending his gratitude to the Indian leaders and delegation who travelled to Viet Nam to pay respects to the late Vietnamese Party chief, PM Chinh also expressed his appreciation to the Indian external affairs ministry and the minister himself for their effective coordination in preparation for the visit.
This trip is one of the first state visits by a foreign leader since Indian PM Narendra Modi was re-elected for the third term.
PM Chinh also commended foreign ministers of both country for the successful 18th India-Viet Nam Joint Commission Meeting in September last year, an important step for this visit as well as the finalisation of the action plan for the Viet Nam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2024-2028 period.
The Vietnamese government leader hoped to further discuss with India key areas of cooperation in the near future, including delegation exchanges, economic-trade-investment cooperation with the bilateral trade turnover aimed at US$20 billion, as well as emerging sectors such as green transition, digital transformation, innovation, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
He hoped that the two foreign ministries would continue their focus on coordinating with relevant departments to realise the high-level agreements between Viet Nam and India.
The two countries also agreed to maintain their cooperation in international and regional forums, and their support for the ASEANs stance on the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea). VNS
HA NOI President To Lam on Thursday hosted a red-carpet welcome ceremony for President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta who is paying a state visit to Viet Nam from July 31 to August 3.
Following the welcome ceremony, the two leaders started their talks to evaluate the cooperation results over the past time, and pen orientations for collaboration in the future. They will witness the signing and exchange of several cooperation documents.
This is the second trip to Viet Nam by Jose Ramos-Horta following the first in 2010, and the fourth by a high-ranking leader of Timor-Leste.
Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations on July 28, 2002, Viet Nam and Timor-Leste have seen substantial development in their friendship and multi-faceted cooperation. They have maintained close ties and supported each other in the international arena, while leaders of both sides have kept high-level contacts.
The two nations have enhanced collaboration and coordination at both regional and international forums. Viet Nam, together with other ASEAN nations and the ASEAN Secretariat, has always supported Timor Leste to fulfil the criteria necessary for ASEAN membership.
Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Timor-Leste remains modest, mainly driven by Viet Nam's rice and garment-textile exports to Timor-Leste. Last year, Viet Nam's shipment to the country stood at US$15.49 million, while its import was worth $371,000. In the first five months of this year, Viet Nam sold $6.09 million worth of goods to Timor-Leste, up 29.4 per cent year-on-year
Regarding investment, Viettel Telemor run by Viet Nam's Military Industry and Telecommunications Group (Viettel) has gained a firm foothold in the market with its investment capital rising to $15 million from the initial $500,000 in 2012, becoming one of the three largest telecom service providers in the country.
Timor-Leste holds substantial potential for Viet Nam's exports like rice, processed food, milk and dairy products, footwear, beverages, household utensils, and machinery. Meanwhile, to serve its economic activities in the coming years, Viet Nam will need more inputs such as fuels (oil and gas), raw wood, and minerals, which are of Timor-Lestes potential.
Jose Ramos-Hortas state visit is of significance to consolidating political trust while creating opportunities for both nations to continue discussing measures to boost their cooperation and deepen the bilateral ties, thus tightening the traditional friendship that has been nurtured over the past time. VNS
BANGKOK Thailand decided to fly flags at half-mast on August 1-2 to commemorate General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.
According to the Secretariat of the Cabinet, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had directed all government agencies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) across the country to lower flags on the first two days of August to show respects to the late Vietnamese Party leader.
Previously, Prime Minister Srettha, along with representatives from various Thai ministries, visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand to pay their respects to General Secretary Trong.
In the condolence book, the PM extended his deepest condolences to the Government and people of Vietnam over the passing of Party General Secretary Trong. Our thoughts and prayers are for his family, the Government and people of Viet Nam during this difficult time, he wrote.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong passed away on July 19 afternoon at the age of 80. VNS
Caroline Wilburn is a breaking news reporter for the Houston Chronicle.
A May graduate of Texas A&M University, Caroline worked as an election stringer for the Associated Press and as a breaking news fellow at the Texas Tribune. At the Tribune, she got a crash course in interpreting data, distilling complicated policy and following statewide trends on a tight deadline. Shes also a skilled video editor and podcast producer.
She won a first-place award for audio news production at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang suggested that Viet Nam and Chinas Hong Kong work together to enhance the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in key areas such as economic and trade relations, investment, finance, tourism, law enforcement and citizen protection.
He made this statement on Thursday during talks with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee Ka-chiu, during his official visit to Viet Nam from July 31 to August 2.
Deputy PM Quang warmly welcomed Chief Executive Lee on his first official visit to Viet Nam and expressed confidence that the visit would mark an important milestone, making a tangible contribution to promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between Viet Nam and Hong Kong.
He congratulated Hong Kong on its significant achievements, which have continued to strengthen and enhance Hong Kongs position as a leading economic, financial, trade, science and technology hub in the region and globally.
The Deputy PM affirmed that Viet Nam always supports and encourages local ministries and sectors to deepen and enhance friendly exchanges and comprehensive cooperation with Hong Kong.
Chief Executive Lee expressed his pleasure at making his first official visit to Viet Nam. He emphasised that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region places great importance on the mutually beneficial relationship with Viet Nam and is ready to advance cooperation in various fields to achieve deeper and more effective results, benefiting the people and businesses of both Hong Kong and Viet Nam.
Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the robust development and positive results of Viet Nam-Hong Kong relations, with economic and trade cooperation, investment and tourism continuing to stand out.
Viet Nam is currently Hong Kongs second-largest trade partner in ASEAN and its seventh-largest trade partner globally. In turn Hong Kong is Viet Nams seventh-largest trade partner and fifth-largest investor.
The two sides agreed to continue exploring and leveraging the opportunities, potential and advantages of both Viet Nam and Hong Kong, expanding the scope of cooperation to achieve mutually beneficial and developmental goals.
Deputy PM Quang welcomed Hong Kongs corporations and businesses to actively engage in the Vietnamese market, undertake high-quality investment projects and increase the import of goods from Viet Nam.
He also urged Hong Kong to continue supporting and facilitating the stable education and employment of the Vietnamese community and to increase scholarships for Vietnamese students.
Furthermore, the Deputy PM suggested enhancing cooperation within multilateral mechanisms and forums, with particular emphasis on Hong Kong's support and close coordination during Viet Nam's hosting of APEC 2027.
Chief Executive Lee welcomed Viet Nam's participation in the 9th Belt and Road Summit held in Hong Kong and encouraged Hong Kong businesses to expand their investment cooperation in Viet Nam.
He also proposed enhancing exchanges between the two sides in areas such as finance, trade, investment in transportation services, the digital and green economies and science and technology.
He emphasised leveraging Hong Kong's role as a super connector to further develop and make economic cooperation between the two sides more effective and substantial.
Chief Executive Lee also expressed a desire to further promote people-to-people exchanges, tourism and educational training, and to advance cooperation in multilateral forums.
During the meeting, Chief Executive Lee extended a formal invitation for Deputy PM Quang to visit Hong Kong.
At the end of the talks, the Deputy PM and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two sides in the fields of finance, trade, investment and aviation. VNS
NEW DELHI Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over an official welcome ceremony for visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on Thursday morning.
At the ceremony, the national anthems of both countries were played by a military band, followed by PM Chinh reviewing the Indian Armed Forces' guard of honour. Afterwards, the two PMs introduced the members of their respective delegations to each other.
The state visit marks PM Chinh's first trip to India in his capacity as head of the Vietnamese government, and the first one by a Vietnamese PM to India in a decade.
It aims to strengthen political trust and deepen multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and India, driving their comprehensive strategic partnership toward tangible and effective outcomes in various fields, including politics, diplomacy, security, defence, economy, trade, and investment.
The trip also provides an opportunity for both nations to share their stances on regional and international security and strategic issues, affirming their mutual support within multilateral forums of common interest.
Also on the morning of August 1, PM Chinh and the Vietnamese delegation laid a wreath in tribute of Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial complex in New Delhi.
In the guestbook, PM Chinh wrote that the ideology of Gandhi the "great soul" of the Indian people will forever resonate as an eternal symphony in the hearts and minds of the people of India, Viet Nam, and other countries around the world. VNS
QUANG NINH A ceremony to commemorate the heroes and martyrs who bravely fought and gave their lives in the battles on August 2 and 5, 1964 was held on Thursday in Cua Luc beach of Bai Chay, Ha Long City.
Jointly organised by the Viet Nam People's Navy and Quang Ninh Province, this event marks the first victory of the Viet Nam People's Navy.
Recalling the victory, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Bong, Secretary of the Party Committee and Political Commissar of the Navy, emphasised that the victory demonstrated the political and spiritual strength of the entire nation, as well as the resolve and capability of the Navy and the people of the north to fight and win.
This victory was the first notable achievement of the force nine years after it was established, marking the beginning of a glorious combat history for the heroic Viet Nam People's Navy.
It also represented the first victory of the military and the people of the north in the resistance war against the United States.
In this battle, many officers, soldiers, and citizens bravely fell and were wounded, among them, 78 naval officers and soldiers were killed.
Their blood soaked the sacred soil and waters of the nation's islands and seas, adding glory to the flag of the Party, illuminating the image of 'President Ho Chi Minh's soldiers' and enhancing the proud history of the heroic Viet Nam People's Army. These individuals embodied the shining examples of revolutionary heroism, selfless sacrifice for the country and the people.
In a solemn and respectful atmosphere, the delegates revisited the past victory, remembering and expressing boundless gratitude to the previous generations, thereby recognising the significant responsibility in the current mission of building and defending the country.
Lieutenant General Bong noted that the global and regional situation continues to evolve in complex and unpredictable ways and so the task of protecting maritime and island sovereignty imposes new and urgent demands on the Navy.
Under that circumstance, he added, the Navy must thoroughly grasp the resolutions and directives of the Party, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence. It must also uphold the glorious traditions of the Army, the Navy and the victorious first battle, fostering unity and coordination, continuously improving overall quality, and combat readiness and strength to excellently fulfil its core mission of firmly protecting the sacred sovereignty of the nation's seas and continental shelf, deserving the trust and love of the Party, the State, the Army and the people. VNS
HA NOI National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man hosted a reception in Ha Noi on Thursday for Tokai Kisaburo, member of the House of Representatives of Japan and Chairperson of the Policy Research Council under the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
On behalf of the Party and State leaders and people of Viet Nam, Man expressed sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nukaga Fukushiro, President of the House of Councillors Otsuji Hidehisa, and members of the Japanese Parliament for their messages of condolences on the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
He also thanked former PM Suga Yoshihide, Senior Advisor of the Japan-Viet Nam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance, who, as a special envoy of Prime Minister Kishida, led a Japanese delegation to the state funeral in Ha Noi. This gesture reflects the appreciation and respect of the Government, Prime Minister, and people of Japan for General Secretary Trong and the Viet Nam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Affirming that the Viet Nam-Japan relationship is currently at its best stage, the NA Chairman stated that bilateral political trust continues to be strengthened, with frequent exchanges of high-level and all-level delegations; economic, trade, and investment cooperation boosted in an in-depth, more substantive, and effective manner; and labour and education cooperation, and collaboration between localities, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges becoming closer.
To further enhance the bilateral relations, the Vietnamese top legislator suggested continuing to intensify the exchange of high-level and all-level delegations, increase exchanges between parliamentarians, especially young and female parliamentarians, and strengthen the sharing of legislative experiences between the two countries.
Regarding economic cooperation, Man proposed Japan continue to support Viet Nam in its industrialisation and modernisation efforts and in ensuring economic independence and integration into the global economy, improving the investment environment and addressing issues related to official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) cooperation between the two nations.
He expressed his hope that Tokai will support and prompt the Japanese Government to provide new generation ODA, with high incentives and both simple and flexible procedures, to Vietnam, focusing on large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects such as urban and high-speed railways, promoting investment and technology transfer of Japanese enterprises, supporting Vietnamese enterprises engagement in the global value chain of Japanese partners, and considering the opening of the market to Vietnamese fruits.
Man also proposed the Japanese official to push the Japanese Government to simplify procedures and move towards visa exemption for Vietnamese people entering Japan to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges.
Regarding education and training, he suggested Japan continue to support Viet Nam in training strategic-level officials and leaders, andboost cooperation in student exchanges by increasing the number of scholarships for Vietnamese students to go to Japan.
There are currently nearly 600,000 Vietnamese people in Japan, making it the second-largest Vietnamese community in the world.
Man proposed that Japan offer preferential policies and create conditions for the Vietnamese community to study and work in Japan, as they make a significant contribution to Japan's socio-economic development and serve as an important bridge for the bilateral relationship.
As for cooperation in new areas, the top legislator suggested the two countries pay attention to and ramp up cooperation in green transition, digital transformation, emissions reduction and energy transition; and continue to promote more cooperation programmes and new projects within the framework of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Initiative. He asked for Japans support for Viet Nam in achieving the goal of training 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030.
Man also voiced his hope that the two sides will strengthen coordination in, share stances, and cooperate on regional and international issues of shared concern, including the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue.
Tokai Kisaburo, for his part, extended his deepest condolences to the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam over the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
He expressed his confidence that under the leadership of NA Chairman Man, the Vietnamese legislature will develop further, and the relationship between the two parliaments will continue to be strengthened in the time ahead.
He said that his visit aims to intensify bilateral collaboration in education-training, science-technology, and innovation.
Agreeing with Man's proposals, the Japanese official expressed his hope that the Vietnamese legislature will continue to build a transparent legal corridor, improve the investment and business environment, simplify administrative procedures, and create favourable conditions for Japanese firms to invest and do business in Viet Nam. VNS
HA NOI President To Lam on Thursday held talks with his Timor-Leste counterpart Jose Ramos-Horta, affirming Viet Nams support for Timor-Lestes growth and their bilateral cooperation.
This is Ramos-Hortas third visit to Viet Nam and the second in his position as Timor-Leste president.
The Vietnamese leader also congratulated Timor-Leste on its socio-economic achievements and hoped for the success of the countrys Strategic Development Plan for 2011-30, aiming for better international integration and contributions to peace, prosperity and growth in the region.
Expressing his gratitude for the warm welcome, President Ramos-Horta said Timor-Leste sees Viet Nam as a development model and hopes to further improve the relations between the two countries.
The two leaders agreed that bilateral relations have seen remarkable progress with practical high-level delegation exchanges.
In terms of trade and economic relations, import-export turnover between the two countries reached over US$15.9 million in 2023.
Telemor, Viet Nam's Viettel Group, has also positively contributed to Timor-Lestes socio-economic growth.
The two countries expect to increase delegation exchanges at all levels, in addition to the effective implementation of the Framework Agreement on Technical and Economic Cooperation, as well as the first meeting of the Viet Nam-Timor Leste Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation at the ministerial level.
They are also aiming for new bilateral mechanisms.
President Lam underlined that Viet Nam is ready to supply rice for Timor-Leste to ensure food security, adding that the two countries should extend or renew their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the rice trade.
The Vietnamese state leader also encouraged Timor-Leste to increase the imports of Viet Nams high-quality products, including textiles, footwear, as well as food and dairy products.
He hoped that Timor-Leste would soon ratify the bilateral trade agreement signed in 2013 and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to scale up their operations and investment in Timor-Leste.
Thanking President Lam for sharing Viet Nams valuable experiences in development and international integration, the Timor-Leste leader agreed to strengthen coordination for better bilateral trade-economic-investment cooperation.
They should expand cooperation to other highly potential sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, forest and mineral resource mining, he added.
Agreeing with Viet Nams recommendation to take advantage of new trends for growth, President Ramos-Horta hoped that Timor-Leste would continue to receive assistance from Viet Nam to improve human resources, ensure food security and eradicate poverty.
The two countries also expect to expand their effective cooperation to other key sectors, notably agriculture, aquaculture, telecommunications, education, oil and gas, infrastructure, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
Discussing regional and global issues of mutual concern, they agreed to strengthen support and cooperation in regional and international forums.
President Lam also highlighted Viet Nams support for Timor-Lestes roadmap to ASEAN full membership, giving high regard to Timor-Lestes efforts and determination in this matter.
President Ramos-Horta also affirmed his countrys support for Viet Nams candidacy at multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council.
Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, the two countries commit to the rule of law in maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in this area.
They also expressed their support for resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and the negotiation for the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC).
Following their talks, the two state presidents witnessed the signing of the bilateral visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders. VNS
NEW DELHI As part of an official State visit to India, following the solemn welcome ceremony held at the Presidential Palace, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi held official talks.
PM Chinh conveyed the warm greetings of President To Lam and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to PM Modi, the Indian leadership, and the people of the nation.
He sincerely thanked the Indian leaders for their condolences and for sending the National Security Advisor Ajit Dova to pay respects to the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, a distinguished and exemplary leader who dedicated his life to the country and the people of Viet Nam.
PM Modi, on behalf of himself and 1.4 billion Indians, expressed his deep condolences for the great loss suffered by the Vietnamese people. He affirmed that General Secretary Trong was a close friend of the Indian people, and India highly values his significant contributions to the bilateral ties.
The two Government leaders had an extensive, sincere, and trusting exchange on bilateral cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern.
They stressed that the Viet Nam-India relationship has deep historical roots, nurtured by generations of leaders and people from both countries, highlighting the need to cherish and preserve the traditional and strong friendship, a valuable asset between Viet Nam and India.
The two PMs expressed satisfaction with the remarkable progress since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016 during PM Modi's visit to Viet Nam. This relationship has achieved significant accomplishments in various areas from political trust, defence and security cooperation, economic and trade cooperation and investment, to culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges.
Bilateral trade has tripled from over US$5 billion in 2016 to $15 billion in 2023. In 2019, airlines from the two countries launched the first direct flight route, significantly boosting Indian tourism to Viet Nam by 2.5 times (from 170,000 visitors in 2019 to 400,000 in 2023), with now 56 weekly flights between major cities in the two countries.
Building on the strong foundation of 52 years of bilateral relations, the two leaders affirmed their determination to strengthen and deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and India in the coming years, meeting the legitimate aspirations and interests of the peoples of both countries.
PM Chinh and PM Modi agreed to consolidate traditional areas of cooperation further and expand into new potential areas with the guiding principle of "Five Mores": more political trust; more defence and security cooperation; more substantial and effective economic, trade, and investment cooperation; more cooperation in science and technology, and innovation; and more cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Both sides agreed to maintain regular exchanges and high-level contacts, including annual meetings between the two PMs either through visits or on the sidelines of multilateral conferences. They also agreed to enhance the role of the Joint Committee co-chaired by the Foreign Ministers of both countries, in reviewing and concretising areas of cooperation and effectively implementing the Action Plan for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 2024-28 period.
The two leaders highly appreciated the effective implementation of the Joint Vision Statement on India-Viet Nam Defence Partnership towards 2030 (signed in 2022). They agreed to expand cooperation in defense and security industries, enhance maritime security cooperation, foster reliable cyber security cooperation, and exchange intelligence and counter-terrorism information. India agreed to continue supporting Viet Nam in training and capacity building for its defence and security forces.
The two leaders expressed their commitment to strong measures aimed at doubling bilateral trade and investment by 2030 compared to current levels. They agreed to instruct relevant agencies to regularly exchange through existing mechanisms to remove trade barriers and promote other trade promotion measures.
PM Chinh requested India to consider positively the proposals from Vietnamese businesses regarding the issuance/renewal of Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certificates for Vietnamese imports. He also suggested signing agreements on e-commerce and bilateral trade to maximise the retail market's potential in line with new trends.
He encouraged major Indian corporations and technology billionaires to invest in Viet Nam, creating large symbolic projects of economic cooperation, seizing the shift in supply chains and helping both countries better participate in global supply chains.
The two leaders proposed expanding cooperation in science and technology, especially in core technologies, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and innovation, as well as cooperation in rare earth mining and processing, information technology development, and IT workforce training in each country.
They agreed to move towards establishing a Digital Partnership Forum and signing a Digital Partnership Agreement.
The two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in education and training, culture, and tourism and deepen people-to-people exchanges based on shared cultural, historical and spiritual values, including Buddhism and Yoga.
Discussing regional and international issues, the two leaders agreed to continue supporting each other and cooperating closely at regional and international forums, especially the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and ASEAN-led mechanisms.
The two sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring a peaceful, stable, secure, safe, and free maritime and aviation environment in the South China Sea (known in Viet Nam as the East Sea); resolving disputes through peaceful means based on respect for international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. They also agreed to exchange and share information and enhance cooperation to make the East Sea a region of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation, and development.
The two PMs also announced the adoption of the Joint Declaration on Enhancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and inaugurated the Military Software Park in Nha Trang.
The two PMs also witnessed the signing of nine cooperation documents between the two countries and their respective ministries, agencies, and organisations. In addition to the "Viet Nam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Action Program 2024-28" and the Diplomatic Note on Viet Nam's accession to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the two sides signed and exchanged cooperation documents in the fields of law and justice, radio and television, finance, culture and cultural preservation, tourism, medicinal plant production, agriculture, education and training.
PM Chinh expressed his gratitude to PM Modi and the Indian government for their warm and respectful reception and invited PM Modi to visit Viet Nam again in the near future. VNS
NEW DELHI Viet Nam and India have released a joint statement on strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries following the talks between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday, as part of the former's State visit to India.
Below is the full text of the joint statement:
1. At the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, H.E. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, H.E. Pham Minh Chinh paid a State Visit to India from 30 July - 01 August 2024. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was accompanied by a high level official delegation including Ministers and leaders of many ministries of Viet Nam.
2. On 01 August 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and he visited Raj Ghat to pay floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. This was followed by bilateral talks between the two Prime Ministers. Thereafter, the Prime Ministers witnessed the signing and exchange of bilateral documents. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the banquet hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on President of India H.E. Droupadi Murmu and the Vice President of India H.E. Jagdeep Dhankhar. External Affairs Minister of India H.E. S. Jaishankar called on Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also delivered a policy speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs and addressed at the Viet Nam - India Business Forum and held discussions with Indian businesses.
POLITICAL RELATION
3. The delegation level talks between Viet Nam and India were held in a warm, cordial and friendly atmosphere. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on winning a historic third term and expressed his belief that India would continue strong development course and have an increasingly greater role and position in the international arena under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. The leaders reviewed the deep-rooted and long-standing friendship between India and Viet Nam and expressed their satisfaction with the strong development of bilateral relations since the elevation of the relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016. The leaders agreed to continue the effective implementation of the outcomes of high level talks and visits in recent years, including the India - Viet Nam Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People in 2020, and the outcomes of the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on 01 August 2024 in New Delhi, among others.
5. The leaders agreed to maintain regular exchanges at all levels. The leaders agreed that the current geo-political realities call for closer cooperation between India and Viet Nam. They recognised convergence in their world view and expressed support for a greater voice and role for Global South in international affairs. The leaders agreed to further strengthen the Viet Nam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all areas.
6. On the basis of the existing excellent bilateral relations, the two leaders agreed to maintain regular exchanges at all levels.
7. The leaders appreciated multi-dimensional institutional mechanisms between the two countries in the fields of foreign policy, security and maritime domain, defence cooperation, parliamentary exchanges, trade and investment, agriculture, healthcare, civil aviation, information and communication technology, science & technology including space & nuclear technology, tourism and culture. They agreed to intensify and strengthen the bilateral dialogue in various domains, including the Joint Commission for Economic, Trade, Science and Technology for mutual benefit. They welcomed the signing of the Plan of Action for the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the period of 2024-2028.
ECONOMIC, TRADE AND INVESTMENT COOPERATION
8. As two rapidly growing economies, the leaders of India and Viet Nam agreed to reinforce cooperation at the level of governments and businesses for increasing two-way trade, investment and technological partnership. The leaders agreed to further elevate trade from the present level of around US$15 billion. Both sides also agreed on the need for closer cooperation on removing trade barriers with a view to facilitating and enhancing bilateral trade. They concurred that the ongoing review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement should generate a more user-friendly, simple and trade facilitative regime for both countries.
9. The leaders agreed to continue efforts to promote investment flows between the two countries. Viet Nam welcomed investment from India in infrastructure, high technology, source technology, clean technology, information technology, support and manufacturing industries, textile, automobile and materials industry, green agriculture, smart agriculture, innovation and startups, semi-conductors, renewable energy and energy conservation projects, electricity generation, biogas and polyester fabrics, among others, in Viet Nam. India welcomed investment from Viet Nam in agriculture, agro-processing, aquaculture, wood processing, urban development and infrastructure, production of bamboo and forestry products, hospitality and tourism, digital technology, e-vehicles, healthcare and services in India. This mutual commitment aims to further strengthen the economic cooperation between the two countries.
10. India welcomed Viet Nams decision to join the Coalition on the Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and early completion of domestic procedures to officially join the International Solar Alliance. Viet Nam appreciated Indias Global Bio-fuel Alliance initiative.
11. As two coastal countries in the region, they agreed to bolster cooperation in oceanography, marine sciences and blue economy, as well as in capacity building in this area. The leaders also reiterated their mutually beneficial cooperation in the oil and gas sector, including exploration and production in Viet Nams continental shelf.
12. The leaders agreed to enhance sharing of experiences in building regulations and policies supporting the promotion of e-commerce and digital economy. Support businesses from both sides to participate in e-commerce and digital platforms to take advantage of e-commerce in improving export capacity and participating in regional and global value chains in a sustainable way. They also encourage relevant government agencies and businesses of both sides to explore cooperation opportunities in green economy, circular economy, digital economy and critical industries such as rare earth elements, semi-conductor, nano materials.
DEFENCE AND SECURITY COOPERATION
13. The leaders commended the effective implementation of the Joint Vision Statement on India-Viet Nam Defence Partnership towards 2030 and strengthening of defence cooperation between the two countries in recent years covering dialogues, training and capacity building cooperation, exchange of best practices, exercises, defence policy and industry cooperation. They agreed to further enhance defence cooperation based on mutual interest and priorities of the two countries which will also contribute to greater stability in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
14. The leaders agreed to continue enhancing cooperation in various areas including human resource development and maintaining collaboration in peace-keeping operations, hydrography, cybersecurity, information sharing, strategic research, maritime security, maritime safety, search and rescue operations, humanitarian assistance, disaster management, and emergency response and relief.
15. The leaders agreed for the early operationalisation of the Implementing Arrangement on Hydrography and forming a Joint Committee.
16. The leaders welcomed the signing of Loan Agreement under US$ 300 million Line of Credit extended by the Government of India to the Government of Viet Nam for defence procurement.
INNOVATION AND SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION
17. The leaders reiterated the significance of digital technologies and encouraged the development of a framework to promote bilateral cooperation in financial innovation and digital payments between Viet Nam and India.
18. Recognising the national priorities of both countries for digital transformation and energy transition, the leaders decided to encourage greater exchanges and cooperation in areas such as digital public infrastructure, space technology applications, renewable energy, biotechnology and disaster resilience technologies.
19. The leaders noted with satisfaction the ongoing collaboration in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy and agreed to intensify follow-up on various avenues of further cooperation emerging from the 3rd India-Viet Nam Joint Committee Meeting on atomic energy.
20. They welcomed the progress towards the establishment of ASEAN-India tracking, data reception station and data processing facility in Viet Nam.
DEVELOPMENT, CULTURE, TOURISM COOPERATION AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES
21. The leaders appreciated bilateral development cooperation under the framework of Mekong-Ganga Cooperation through quick impact projects, ITEC training and educational scholarships. They appreciated the establishment of Centre of Excellence for Software Development and Training at the Posts & Telecommunications Institute of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City with Indian cooperation. They also welcomed the establishment of Army Software Park at Telecommunications University, Nha Trang with support of the Government of India.
22. The leaders encouraged greater student, faculty and research exchanges between universities, think-tanks and other institutions of the two countries in the context of Viksit Bharat @ 2047 and Viet Nams vision to become a high-income developed country by 2045. They also supported collaboration among institutions on issues of interest to Global South.
23. They appreciated increase in direct flights between the two countries which have expanded two-way travel and tourism flows. They encouraged further increase in connectivity and tourism between India and Viet Nam.
24. Recalling historical and heritage bonds between the two countries, the leaders encouraged greater exchange of Buddhist scholars, monks, pilgrims, students, and in this direction welcomed the ongoing development of Buddhist and other spiritual sites and institutions. Viet Nam appreciated Indias commitment for the restoration and conservation of My Son UNESCO World Heritage Site and the work done by Archaeological Survey of India in the A, H and K Blocks as well as the forthcoming project in the F Block.
25. India appreciated Viet Nams support for the annual organisation of the International Day of Yoga in a large number of Vietnamese cities and provinces. The leaders expressed support for greater cooperation among yoga institutions of the two countries and the bilateral exchanges in the field of traditional medicine, including the field of medicinal plants. They also agreed to enhance cultural exchange and media cooperation between the two countries.
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
26. The leaders agreed on the key role of ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture for regional peace, stability and prosperity. They supported further strengthening of ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which complements bilateral relations with respective Member States. The leaders appreciated the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) for Peace, Stability, and Prosperity in the Region which provide opportunities for further cooperation between the AOIP and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. They agreed to continue strengthening cooperation and mutual support at all international fora. India appreciated Viet Nams consistent support for Indias permanent membership in the reformed United Nations Security Council.
27. Underlining the link between prosperity and security, the leaders reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea (East Sea as known in Viet Nam), while pursuing the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), without resorting to threat or use of force. Both leaders underscored the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states, and avoidance of actions that could further complicate the situation or escalate disputes affecting peace and stability. Both leaders emphasized the legal framework set out by the UNCLOS within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and that UNCLOS is the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones. Both leaders further called for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and the substantive negotiations towards the early conclusion of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS, that does not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations including those not party to these negotiations.
28. Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. They stressed the importance of international collaboration in combating this menace in accordance with international law, particularly the principles of the United Nations Charter, and reiterated their commitment to joint efforts in this endeavour.
29. The leaders welcomed the signing of various bilateral cooperation documents, which are annexed.
30. The Prime Minister of Viet Nam appreciated the arrangements for the visit and hospitality extended to him and his delegation. He extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of India to visit Viet Nam.
New Delhi 01 August 2024
List of India-Viet Nam Agreements/MoUs/Announcements
NEW DELHI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed Viet Nam and India implement measures to double two-way trade, investment and tourism by 2030.
He was speaking following talks with Indian President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Thursday.
Chinh congratulated India on obtaining great achievements in economic development, science-technology, defence-security, infrastructure development and constantly improving people's lives.
He thanked the Indian President and the Government of India for their condolences and touching gestures upon the passing of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese people, a close friend of the Indian people.
The Prime Minister emphasised that Viet Nam always remembers India's valuable support in the past cause of national liberation struggle, as well as the current process of national construction and development.
He delivered his thanks to India for supporting Viet Nam during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of ventilators, oxygen generators and masks.
Viet Nam also donated a number of ventilators and medical equipment to India, showing that the two countries are always standing side-by-side in difficult times.
Viet Nam always supports and wishes India to grow stronger and have an increasingly higher role and position in the regional and global arena, he said.
The Indian President noted that the two countries have a long-standing traditional friendship, diligently nurtured by generations of leaders and people.
She expressed her joy that in recent years, the bilateral relationship has grown vigorously, especially since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016.
Exchange of delegations and cooperation have been intensified at all levels and through all channels, she said.
She highly appreciated the results of the talks between Prime Minister Chinh and his counterpart Narendra Modi, especially the adoption of a joint statement on strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Chinh proposed India to continue to support Viet Nam with preferential credit packages and capacity training.
He also proposed increasing the frequency of direct flights to promote people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges.
Chinh also used the occasion to convey President To Lam's greetings and invitation to Indian President Droupadi Murmu to arrange a visit to Viet Nam in the near future. VNS
HA NOI President To Lam wished that Chinas Hong Kong will continue to facilitate entry visas for Vietnamese citizens to work, travel and study.
He made the request during his meeting with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee Ka-chiu on Thursday.
Lam said that on a consistent basis, the development of cooperative and friendly relations with China is considered a strategic choice and a top priority in Viet Nam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations.
Viet Nam always respects and supports the policy of "one country, two systems", Hong Kongs Basic Law and related regulations as well as its own prosperity, development and peoples happiness.
President Lam pinned high hope that the two sides will increase high-level and all-level exchanges as well as strengthen cooperation in economics, trade and investment.
He proposed the bolstering of cooperation at multilateral mechanisms and forums of which Viet Nam and Hong Kong are members.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to developing mutually beneficial cooperation with Viet Nam, especially in economy, trade, investment, culture, education and tourism.
He wished the two sides encourage individual businesses and business associations to connect and further promote cooperation in trade, investment, finance, banking, tourism, aviation and emerging fields such as science and technology, digital economy, digital transformation and clean energy. VNS
NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday had a meeting with Vice President and Chairman of the Indian Upper House (Rajya Sabha) Jagdeep Dhankhar on the occasion of his state visit to India.
The Vietnamese government leader thanked Dhankhar for sending a message of condolences over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, saying this reflects the sincere friendship between the two countries.
PM Chinh suggested the the Indian Upper House to continue supporting cooperation with Viet Nam in all areas, especially traditional, key fields such as defence-security and economy-trade, while expanding it to new and potential areas like science and technology, information and communications, renewable energy, green economy, digital economy, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Dhankhar stressed Viet Nam is a traditional friend and an important comprehensive strategic partner of India, adding that the two peoples have a long-standing and close relationship rooted in their spirit and civilisation connections.
He lauded positive results of the talks between PM Chinh and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, saying those contribute to strengthening and deepening the Viet Nam India relations.
The two sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the legislative bodies, and share experiences between their specialised committees and deputies.
PM Chinh took the occasion to conveyed greetings and an invitation from National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Dhankhar to visit Viet Nam in the coming time. VNS
The electric interconnection to CenterPoint at Calpine Deer Park Energy Center, 5665 Hwy 225, is shown Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Deer Park. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
CenterPoint Energy won an international award last month for its use of mapping and data analysis technology news that perplexed some Houstonians after the companys outage tracker had experienced multiple issues during the May derecho and Hurricane Beryl.
CenterPoint was one of 197 organizations to receive a 2024 Special Achievement in GIS Award from the software company Esri during its user conference in mid-July. Winners were selected from more than 100,000 Esri clients worldwide.
GIS, or geographic information systems, is technology that can be used to create, manage, analyze and map all types of data, according to the Esri website. The technology can help users better understand patterns and improve communication.
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Esri spokesperson Jo Ann Pruchniewski said the award was not for a specific CenterPoint map, but instead intended to demonstrate appreciation for the organizations who use GIS to "reveal patterns and trends from data to address some of the world's most pressing challenges."
Some Houstonians took to Reddit to express their confusion with CenterPoint's recent award.
"I worked in GIS for a long time, and their maps are a joke," one comment reads.
One commenter said "Whataburger should have won," referring to the Whataburger App map Houstonians used to track power outages after Hurricane Beryl.
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In recent months, customers have expressed frustrations with CenterPoint's outage tracker map, claiming it was inaccurate.
After May's derecho, CenterPoint said its outage tracker was not functional. Alyssia Oshodi, director of communications for CenterPoint, told the Chronicle that the company would work to improve the map in the future.
The outage tracker map was still down in the days before Beryl made landfall in Houston as a Category 1 hurricane. After the storm knocked out power for roughly 2.2 million customers, residents expressed concern and frustration when the company wasn't able to provide an answer regarding when they might get power back.
As crews worked to restore power across the city, CenterPoint provided customers with a temporary outage tracker map, indicating which areas were "energized." However, customers were quick to point out that the map was inaccurate, showing areas of the city as "energized" even though power hadn't been restored.
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CenterPoint said the map's inaccuracies were likely due to "nested outages" caused by a smaller, separate problem like a damaged transformer, service line or weatherhead causing an outage even after power has been restored to an area by fixing the main issue.
HA NOI President To Lam and visiting President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta on Thursday toured the Ha Noi-based Ho Chi Minh Museum, a repository of documents, artifacts, and original films about the life and revolutionary career of the late Vietnamese leader.
The two leaders were guided through exhibits tracing President Ho Chi Minh's life from his early years to his revolutionary activities and eventual passing. Key milestones, such as his journey to seek a path for Viet Nam's independence and the nations ongoing efforts to fulfill his testament, were highlighted during the tour.
President Ramos-Horta expressed his profound admiration for President Ho Chi Minh's illustrious career and Viet Nam's revolutionary struggle for national independence.
The Ho Chi Minh Museum, inaugurated on May 19, 1990, coinciding with the 100th birth anniversary of the President, was a decision made by the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam following his death. The 18,000 sq.m museum now stands as a vital educational resource, fostering patriotism and inspiring future generations to carry on Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary spirit.
Over the past 34 years, tens of millions of visitors, both at home and abroad, have visited the museum to learn more about Ho Chi Minh's life and ideals. VNS
HA NOI National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man has expressed his hope that parliamentary cooperation would become a key pillar in the partnership between Viet Nam and Timor-Leste, via sharing experiences in law-building, supreme supervision, and decision-making on key national issues.
During a meeting with President of Timor Leste Jose Ramos-Horta in Ha Noi on Thursday, Man underlined Viet Nam's respect and admiration for the achievements made by the State and people of Timor-Leste in their struggle for national independence in which the President was a key leader honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.
He also congratulated Timor-Leste on being accepted in principle as the 11th member of ASEAN.
Praising the substantive and extensive talks between President To Lam and President Jose Ramos-Horta, Man welcomed the signing of a bilateral agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports.
The Vietnamese NA supports and will create a favourable legal framework to promote the signing and implementation of cooperation agreements between the two countries, he said.
The top legislator of Viet Nam proposed that both countries increase the exchange of all-level delegations to raise mutual understanding, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and accelerate the organisation of the first meeting of the Viet Nam-Timor-Leste Joint Commission to review, study and outline specific measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various fields.
He also urged the two countries to promote economic and trade ties via the promotion of exports and imports of goods with high potential and demand, such as rice, apparel, footwear, beverages, and processed food. He encouraged joint work in other potential areas, including agriculture, aquaculture, oil and gas, infrastructure, education, training, and tourism.
The host asked the Timor-Leste President to support delegation exchanges and experience-sharing between the two parliaments' specialised committees and parliamentarians in parliament operations and issues of common interest. He also stressed the need to offer mutual support at multilateral parliamentary forums.
Ramos-Horta, in turn, stressed that Timor-Leste values and wishes to further foster its friendly relations with Viet Nam, especially in agriculture to ensure food security. He expressed a desire to learn from Viet Nam's experience in areas where the country holds strength.
Noting the considerable potential for bilateral collaboration, the guest hoped that the Vietnamese NA would support collaborative efforts, especially in areas where Timor-Leste has specific needs. VNS
HA NOI Warnings about declining birth rates in Viet Nam have been highlighted in many places by many experts recently.
They said that Viet Nam's fertility rate is heading down below the 'replacement level'.
Over the 19 years since reaching the replacement level in 2005, for 15 years the fertility rate has been lower than the level needed to maintain the population.
Professor Nguyen inh Cu, former director of the Institute of Population and Social Issues under the National Economics University, said that after 45 years of family planning, Viet Nam achieved its goal of reducing birth rate in 2005.
At that time the birth rate dropped to approximately 2.1 children per mother (which is that replacement level) and has been lowered since then.
Childbirth has changed from a natural, instinctive behaviour to a planned behaviour, from passive to active, from large quantity and low quality to small quantity with high quality, from less responsible childbirth to a more responsible one.
This is truly one of the most profound social changes in Viet Nam in the past 80 years, having a positive impact on life quality of each individual, family, community and the countrys sustainable development, said Cu.
However, Viet Nam's fertility rate is showing a tendency to fall below the replacement level.
In particular, the entire urban and southern regions have fallen below the replacement level for about 25 years now.
Last year, the average number of children per woman at the end of childbearing age in urban areas was only 1.7 while in rural areas it was 2.07, in the southeast it was 1.47 and in the Mekong Delta it was 1.54.
Cu is concerned that the birth rate will continue to decline if there are no new policies to respond to and prevent the downward trend.
The birth rate in some regions and provinces of Viet Nam has decreased sharply, but on average across the country, it is still around the replacement level. Therefore, the serious challenges of the issue have not yet been fully expressed.
However, lessons learnt from developed countries with similar cultures can warn of the challenges caused by the trend of deep decline in birth rates, both at the macro and micro levels, he said.
First of all, at the macro level, many countries with prolonged low birth rates are suffering population decline, labour shortages, a high elderly population, slow and even negative economic growth.
Cu analysed that at the micro level, a very low birth rate of one child for a long time will lead to the '4-2-1 syndrome', meaning four grandparents, two parents and one child.
When the only child is young, he/she is taken care of by six people including parents and grandparents. But conversely when he/she grows up, he/she is responsible for taking care of six people.
Being taken care of by many people and having to take care of many people are disadvantageous to both the development of the only child and the familys life quality in general.
The sad reality can also be that parents with only one child are left alone, when their children die from accidents or illnesses.
In addition, in many localities, the low birth rate has led to a sharp decrease in the number of primary and secondary school students. As a result, local authorities must merge schools from two different communes or wards into one new school.
Support
Cu proposed a solution to increase the birth rate, suggesting that the State should support families with small children.
If having children not only benefits the couple and the family, but also benefits society, providing human resources for society, then of course, raising children cannot be the sole responsibility of the family, especially when the cost of raising children is increasingly large compared to the income of young couples, said Cu.
Therefore, the State, family and society need to work together to raise and educate children.
The State needs to diversify the forms of sharing costs of raising and educating children with couples, such as an one-off payment, annual allowances, reduction of personal income tax, exemption or reduction of obligations to contribute to the community when raising small children, exemption or reduction of tuition fees, he said.
In addition, Cu also proposed that couples with young children enjoy flexible working conditions, such as reduced working hours, coming in late and leaving early, unpaid leave and working from home.
In Korea, female workers enjoy 90 days of maternity leave whereas male workers whose wives give birth are entitled to ten days of leave. Childcare leave is up to one year for both male and female workers. Workers can choose the appropriate time to take time off to care for their children until their children are eight years old.
At the same time, the State should have policies for couples treating infertility.
Viet Nam has more than one million infertile couples, accounting for about 7.7 per cent.
Thus, technical and financial support for infertility treatment is a great economic need, along with having great humanitarian significance and is a solution to increase birth rates.
Other proposed solutions include promoting research and communication on the declining birth rates in the country, creating forums for people, especially young people, to discuss the immediate and long-term consequences of late marriage and low birth rates, innovating policies and laws related to birth rates, ensuring social security for the elderly and developing a system of family support services. VNS
NGHE AN Viet Nam has recorded a decreasing number of children who have drowned every year.
The fall in numbers was confirmed by Nguyen Thi Ha, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) at a recent workshop on the issue in the central province of Nghe An.
According to a report from MOLISA, the drowning rate among Vietnamese children has been steadily decreasing, with an annual reduction of 3-5 per cent, equivalent to 100 fewer cases of children drowning each year.
Deputy Minister Ha emphasised that these results are evidence of the effectiveness of the coordination mechanism and the robust efforts of ministries, local authorities and international organisations.
Over the past five years, with support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Global Health Policy Advocacy, the child drowning prevention programme in Viet Nam has provided free swimming lessons to more than 29,000 children aged 6-15 and water safety education for more than 50,000 children in schools. They have also funded technical training for almost a thousand teachers and healthcare workers and 900 community-based swimming instructors.
However, drowning still claims the lives of nearly 2,000 children under 16 and it remains one of the top ten causes of death for children aged 6-15. The child drowning rate in the country is higher than that of countries in the Western Pacific region and is ten times higher than that of developed countries. Children in rural areas are twice as likely to drown as those in urban areas. Additionally, 55 per cent of drowning deaths occur among children from poor rural households.
Efforts to prevent accidents and injuries among children, particularly drowning, have consistently received the attention and support of the National Assembly, the Government and various levels of local authorities. The Child Law mandates the States responsibility to implement measures for preventing child accidents and injuries. The child accident and injury prevention programme for the 2021-2030 period includes comprehensive, multi-sectoral interventions aimed at reducing child drowning fatalities. This programme focuses on implementing solutions and models to teach water safety skills to children and ensuring a safe living environment for them.
To accelerate the progress of the child drowning prevention programmes and achieve the goals set by the Prime Minister for preventing child injuries, the Inter-sectoral Coordination Plan for Child Drowning Prevention for the period 2022-2030 has been signed between the MoLISA and nine other ministries and relevant organisations.
At the workshop, Kelly Larson, Director of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Injury Prevention Program, praised the multidisciplinary coordination mechanism for drowning prevention in Viet Nam. With its innovative approaches and the dedicated efforts of relevant authorities, Vietnam is considered a model for child-drowning prevention that other countries can learn from.
Viet Nam is a pioneer in drowning prevention, she said. They have developed a very strong programme to reduce drownings amongst 6 to 15 year olds, and they have done that in a number of different ways.
"They first have identified a best practice curriculum to teach children how to swim. I highly appreciated the collaboration between nine ministries to ensure that survival swim instruction can be brought to 6 to 15 year olds across the country and the engagement and support from provincial governments. Bloomberg Philanthropy is very pleased to partner with Viet Nam in this effort to protect childrens lives and ensure them a sustainable future.
In addition to multidisciplinary cooperation and local government commitment, community engagement, especially from schools and parents plays a crucial role in executing child drowning prevention activities.
Agarwal Vandana Shah, Vice President for Health Systems Strengthening at CTFK/GHAI said: Drowning prevention cannot be solely a top-down intervention from the government, it requires the collective effort of various ministries and the community, particularly schools and parents. Therefore, we commit to working alongside the Vietnamese government, local authorities, and partners to enhance awareness among schools and families about ensuring child safety from drowning risks and to facilitate children's participation in survival swimming classes.
The national programme for child injury prevention for the 2021-2030 period, initiated by the Government of Viet Nam, aims to reduce child drowning fatalities by 10 per cent by 2025 and by 20 per cent by 2030.
Teaching children safe swimming skills and promoting water safety are among six low-cost, evidence-based intervention strategies recommended by the WHO and constitute a vital component of the government's drowning prevention initiative.
Additional measures include training lifeguards and first responders, enhancing regulations for boats, managing flood risks, installing barriers near water sources and providing safe play areas away from water for young children.
Protecting the health and lives of citizens also has significant economic implications. Research indicates that for every VN1,000 (US$0.04) invested in drowning prevention, there is a benefit of VN9,000. VNS
HCM CITY The HCM City Peoples Court has sentenced seven former employees of a Ha Noi-based lending firm to prison terms ranging from one year and five months to four years and six months for extortion.
The court on Wednesday found that the former employees of F88 Investment JSC (F88), Viet Nams largest pawn shop operator, sent threatening messages to hundreds of thousands of customers to coerce debt repayments.
One of them harassed a female debtor by repeatedly contacting her and even following her daughter to school to intimidate the mother.
During the proceedings, the defendants, all of whom reside in HCM City, admitted their wrongdoing and sought leniency, citing financial pressures.
In March last year, police raided the lending firm following public complaints, uncovering evidence of extortion in its debt collection practices.
F88, which is seeking a US$1 billion valuation in its upcoming initial public offering, last year received $50 million in funding from Mekong Capital and the Viet Nam-Oman Investment Fund.
Established in 2013 and headquartered in Ha Noi, F88 operates at over 800 locations nationwide. VNS
From July 22-25, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) hosted a vocational education and training delegation to Vietnam, focusing on partnership opportunities in the healthcare sector by matching Australias training advantages with industry needs.
Following the visit by Ho Chi Minh Citys chairman Phan Van Mai to Australia in mid-May, there are now more prospects of collaborations between Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, universities, and colleges with the Vietnam-Sydney Institute, which was launched in June.
Australian institutions and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy are now training healthcare professionals, while there is also joint research taking place with Pasteur Institute, and regular visits from the Australian Association of Nursing to childrens hospitals in knowledge exchange conferences.
Austrade has acknowledged that, as Vietnam experiences significant demographic and socioeconomic shifts, the demand for comprehensive healthcare services is rising, particularly in elderly care.
However, Vietnam's elderly care sector is still in its early stages compared to more developed countries. While there has been some progress, such as the establishment of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the sector faces several challenges.
Vietnam's demographic landscape is undergoing rapid transformation. The percentage of the population aged 60 and above is projected to increase from 12 per cent in 2019 to 25 per cent by 2050. This shift has led to an increased demand for elderly care services, as older individuals often suffer from non-communicable diseases and multiple comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental disorders, and neurological diseases.
The healthcare system is striving to keep up with these demands by developing new facilities that adhere to international standards.
Discussion session on the healthcare sector in Vietnam at a seminar held by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission
The Vietnam government has established a supportive legal environment that encourages growth of the healthcare sector. This creates opportunities for the development of facilities to provide high-quality care for both domestic and international patients.
According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, the US magazine Travel + Leisure reported in May that Vietnam is among the top 10 most affordable retirement destinations. Therefore, healthcare tourism and the influx of foreign retirees also contribute to the expansion of this sector, highlighting the countrys potential as an excellent medical hub in the region.
However, there is a significant shortage of trained healthcare professionals specialising in geriatric care, and low pay and demanding work exacerbate this challenge. According to the Ministry of Health, the current capacity for training doctors nationwide is about 13,000 graduates per year.
By April 2024, there was already a labour force shortage of 23,000 workers across preventive medicine and the public health sector.
To achieve the governments goal of 35 doctors, 4.5 pharmacists, and 90 nurses per 10,000 people by 2050, Vietnam needs 20,000 new graduates per year, Austrade says.
Of great assistance can be Australia's vocational education system, which is highly regarded internationally. It is characterised by strong industry alignment, flexible delivery and robust systems which ensure consistent quality outcomes for learners. Australian graduates are in demand in research and healthcare institutions across the world. Work-integrated learning, including work experience, is part of most courses.
A networking session between Australian training organisations and potential partners in Vietnam
Vietnam and Australia have already had a strong education tie for 50 years. Starting with a bilateral scholarship programme, the relationship in the education sector has rapidly developed in terms of both depth and breadth.
There is a growing number of Australian institutions with programmes delivered locally in Vietnam and research collaborations with Vietnamese institutions. Currently, there are 350 collaborative training programmes, which include articulation and joint training programmes between Australian and Vietnamese institutions.
Over 100,000 Vietnamese alumni graduated from Australian education institutions currently work in Vietnam.
By leveraging Australias training capabilities, Vietnam can enhance the country's healthcare workforce, ensuring that professionals are well-equipped to meet the rising demands for international standard elderly care services.
Australian Education Delegation visits hospitals and medical facilities in Hanoi
Visit StudyAustralia to explore Australias vocational education and training system:
https://www.studyaustralia.gov.au/vi/plan-your-studies/vocational-education-and-training
Another step forward in Australia-Vietnam relations Australian industries and businesses are taking a close-up approach to the Vietnamese market through establishment of the Australian Industry Hub Vietnam (AusHub). VIRs Bich Ngoc talked with AusHub manager Edwin Law on his assessment of the platform after a year of operation.
How do you evaluate the demand for purchasing renewable energy electricity of tenants in industrial parks?
Tran Dang Khoi, general director of Hero Future Energies Vietnam LLC under Hero Group
Understandably, the demand for using renewable energy by tenants in such areas is so high because it is one of the mandatory requests from international customers or brands (for example in the garment and textile industry). Currently, textile and garment products have not been included in the first phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism application.
However, textiles and garments are also a group of products that have a large environmental impact in the EU, so they are in the group of 30 risky products which can be included in the mechanism from now until 2030. Meanwhile, Vietnam is considered a production hub of many large garments and textiles, so using renewable energy in production is an essential requirement of the textile industry.
In addition, in the context of a difficult economic situation, using renewable energy at a lower price compared to Vietnam Electricitys (EVN) electricity price has become a need to reduce operating costs to optimise profits. If in the past, businesses and manufacturers only cared about the profit created from the business activity, now one dollar saved is one dollar in profit, thus using renewable energy in production is receiving a lot of attention.
Is this mechanism completely open to make it convenient for the sale and purchase of renewable energy electricity for businesses? If not, what pending problems are there?
This mechanism received positive responses from many parties, from renewable energy project developers to units having demand to use clean energy, however, to make to sale and purchase go smoothly, both the buyer and the electricity supplier still have a series of challenges to solve.
Regarding popularity, it is important to have a bright to help the electricity sellers and buyers know the demands of each other and find each other.
According to the issued Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), projects that want to participate in the direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) mechanism need to satisfy a series of internal conditions, but almost all of these projects are entangled in legal procedures.
Over 150 solar farm projects, which can participate in DPPA with a total capacity of 13,837MW, were inspected at the end of 2023 due to a lack of legal basis for planning. Meanwhile, it may take a year or more to completely solve the problems of these projects with the eager involvement of the authorities.
In light of this, it can be seen that the gap between the mechanism promulgation and the feasible implementation is huge due to several pending issues.
Is the current grid-connected renewable energy system ready to serve this trading activity, and do fire prevention regulations cause difficulties in this electricity purchase transaction?
Basically, the grid system applied to projects participating in DPPAs is the power grid approved for projects planned in the PDP8, so the availability of the power grid has been taken into account if approved.
Regarding fire prevention and fighting, it will be also calculated during the projects development and operation process, so it should not be worth worrying about. It is necessary to add that the above content is only for utility-scale (or solar farm) projects, not to mention solar rooftop projects participating in DPPAs.
What suggestions do you have for the DPPA mechanism to be implemented feasibly?
So as to implement the DPPA mechanism in a truly feasible manner, several recommendations need to be considered by competent state agencies.
It is necessary to quickly review the problems of projects approved in PDP8 that are still in trouble so that these projects can participate in DPPA as soon as possible.
When it comes to projects that do not have legal problems but are delayed in implementation for more than 6-12 months due to the investors weak capacity, the investors status needs to be revoked and then the planned project will be bid or transferred to other potential investors, with the requirement of committing to specific months for installation.
Furthermore, it needs to quickly clarify the kind of DPPAs fee that shall be charged in case using EVNs transmission line.
Last but not least, it is necessary to develop an information portal to create a playground for investors and electricity buyers to meet each other. This portal is similar to EVNs portal for the rooftop solar segment.
DPPA decree may require supplements The draft decree on direct power purchase agreements, if adopted, will be a convenient mechanism for both renewable energy power generation projects and large customers, but there are still concerns about power transmission and expanding the number of electricity buyers.
DPPA streamlining closer to acceptance The business community has asked for relaxed regulations for large customers to be able to buy and sell electricity directly.
Vietnam authorises DPPA for rooftop solar and biomass projects A recently issued government decree permits rooftop solar, waste-to-energy, and biomass projects to engage in direct power purchase agreements (DPPA) without routing through Vietnam Electricity (EVN).
US applauds Vietnam for approving DPPA decree The United States Mission to Vietnam has applauded the government for approving a decree on the direct power purchase agreement.
During Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's state visit to India from July 30 to August 1, the PM met with Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, on July 31.
At the meeting, Adani proposed investing $2 billion in Lien Chieu Port in Danang to complete the logistics ecosystem for Danang and the central region. Additionally, Adani plans to invest $2.8 billion in Vinh Tan 3 Thermal Power Plant in Binh Thuan province. The group also expressed interest in participating in the construction of the second phase of Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai province and Chu Lai Airport in Quang Nam province.
Prime Minister Chinh assigned Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and relevant agencies and localities to discuss the projects with Adani Group, addressing related issues and reaching a consensus on implementation and investment procedures in line with regulations.
At a follow-up meeting, Minister Dung addressed questions and concerns raised by Adani regarding investments in Vietnam. He urged relevant stakeholders to expedite the investment procedures for the Lien Chieu Port project and other initiatives.
For the Lien Chieu Port project, the Vietnamese side advocates selecting a general infrastructure investor, allowing foreign enterprises to cooperate with domestic companies in exploiting the port project. Therefore, Adani and its joint venture with Vietnam's Anh Phat Investment Construction & Trading JSC need to complete the necessary procedures in accordance with Vietnamese law.
Minister Dung asserted that the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) would coordinate with competent authorities to study, support, and remove obstacles for the investor.
A representative of Adani Group stated that the company would expedite the investment procedures and closely coordinate with the MPI and other Vietnamese authorities to implement the projects soon. The group also plans to engage in additional projects in Vietnam, leveraging its financial and technical capabilities.
India's Adani Group gets nod to develop a port in Danang Indian multinational Adani Group plans to build a port in the central city of Danang in a bid to develop infrastructure abroad to capitalise on opportunities from increasing trade.
Energy and transport in sights for Adani Vietnam is continuing to increase its attractiveness to top names in the likes of renewable energy and transport, with new billion-dollar plans being crafted.
Vietnams carbon market can benefit from this growing demand, providing lucrative investment opportunities in carbon credit projects. Companies in developed countries might seek carbon credits from Vietnam to meet their compliance and voluntary offset targets.
Vu Trung Kien, director Climate Change Resilience Centre
The proactive government policies help push up the countrys efforts, primarily for compliance with Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments. The Vietnamese government has shown a commitment to climate action through policies and initiatives that support carbon market development. Government backing can create a favourable environment for investors, including financial incentives and regulatory frameworks.
Vietnams national scheme on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation aims to attract investments in forest conservation and sustainable management. The Law on Environmental Protection of 2020 provides the framework for the carbon market; Decree No.06/2022/ND-CP articulate articles 91 and 139 of the law; and Decision No.01/2022/QD-TTg listed the sectors and facilities subjected to article 9 of Decree 06. These and others provide good preparation and platforms for action. Some policies are constantly being reviewed and sometimes revised as a reality check.
Vietnam offers relatively low-cost options for emission reductions compared to developed countries. Investors can achieve cost-effective carbon credits by investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable agricultural practices. Renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind farms, can generate carbon credits at a lower cost compared to similar projects in higher-cost regions.
Abundant natural resources, including forests, wetlands, and coastal areas, are suitable for carbon offset projects. Investors can develop projects in afforestation, reforestation, and blue carbon (coastal and marine ecosystems) to generate carbon credits. Mangrove restoration projects in Vietnam can sequester significant amounts of carbon while providing additional benefits like biodiversity conservation and coastal protection.
International funding and partnerships with global organisations have focused on climate change mitigation. Investors can leverage these collaborations to access technical expertise, financial resources, and market access. Programmes like the Green Climate Fund and bilateral agreements with countries aiming to meet their NDCs can provide support for carbon projects.
Green finance mechanisms have been integrated to support sustainable development. Investors can take advantage of green bonds, climate finance initiatives, and other financial instruments to fund carbon projects. Issuing green bonds to finance renewable energy projects can attract socially responsible investors looking for sustainable investment opportunities. The taxonomy for green bonds is being worked upon by the State Bank of Vietnam, to be issued within 2024.
Boosting effectiveness
Multinational companies operating in Vietnam are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprints and adhere to sustainability commitments. Investors can partner with these corporations to develop and implement carbon offset projects that meet corporate sustainability goals. A global corporation might invest in local renewable energy projects in Vietnam to offset its carbon emissions and enhance its corporate social responsibility profile.
Advances in technology can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of carbon reduction projects. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies, such as advanced satellite monitoring for forestry projects or AI-driven energy management systems, can enhance project outcomes and carbon credit generation. Using drones for forest monitoring can provide accurate data on carbon sequestration rates, improving the verification process for forest carbon credits.
There is a growing emphasis on building local capacity and expertise in carbon market mechanisms. Investors can benefit from investing in training programmes and capacity-building initiatives that enhance local skills and knowledge, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of carbon projects. Partnering with local universities and research institutions is a way to develop specialised initiatives in carbon accounting and project management.
There remain huge challenges ahead, though. The carbon market in Vietnam is still evolving, with potential changes in policies and regulations. Regulatory uncertainty can pose risks for investors, affecting the stability and predictability of the market. Changes in national policies on carbon pricing or emissions trading could impact the feasibility and profitability of carbon projects.
Ensuring accurate measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of emission reductions is critical for the credibility of carbon credits. Limited local expertise and infrastructure for MRV can hinder the development and validation of carbon offset projects. Inaccurate or inconsistent MRV processes can lead to disputes over the validity of carbon credits, affecting market confidence.
The carbon market in Vietnam may be fragmented, with multiple standards and methodologies in use. Investors might face difficulties navigating different schemes and ensuring the compatibility of credits across various markets. Differences between national and international carbon credit standards can complicate trading and limit market liquidity.
Carbon offset projects can face operational, environmental, and social risks that affect their success. Managing these risks requires careful planning and ongoing management to ensure projects deliver expected emissions reductions. A reforestation project might encounter challenges such as land tenure disputes, community opposition, or natural disasters.
Economic conditions and market dynamics can impact the carbon market in Vietnam, influencing the supply and demand for credits. Investors need to be prepared for potential volatility in carbon credit prices and market conditions. Economic downturns or changes in energy prices can affect the attractiveness of carbon offset investments.
A landscape to navigate
As the carbon market grows, competition for high-quality projects and resources can increase. Investors may face higher costs and reduced availability of prime project locations and partners. Increased competition for land suitable for reforestation or renewable energy projects can drive up prices and complicate project development.
The infrastructure for trading carbon credits in Vietnam is still developing. Investors may face difficulties in accessing reliable market platforms and services for buying and selling carbon credits. The absence of a well-established national carbon exchange can limit market liquidity and increase transaction costs.
Ensuring that carbon projects adhere to robust environmental and social safeguards is crucial for their success. Projects that fail to meet these safeguards may face legal challenges and opposition from local communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A hydropower project might need to address concerns about its impact on local fisheries and water resources to gain community support and regulatory approval.
Navigating the legal and contractual landscape for carbon projects can be complex. Investors must ensure that contracts are clear, enforceable, and compliant with both national and international laws. Legal disputes over land ownership or carbon credit ownership rights can delay project implementation and reduce investor confidence.
Reliable data is crucial for the accurate assessment and verification of carbon credits. Limited availability of high-quality, transparent data can hinder the monitoring and evaluation of carbon projects. Inadequate data on baseline emissions and sequestration rates can complicate the calculation of carbon credits and reduce investor confidence.
Securing financing for carbon projects can be challenging, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Investors may need to explore innovative financing solutions to support the development and scaling of carbon projects. Establishing dedicated climate finance funds or leveraging public-private partnerships to mobilise capital for carbon reduction initiatives.
Effective coordination among various stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector, NGOs, and local communities, is essential for successful carbon projects. Misalignment of interests and lack of coordination can lead to project delays and conflicts. A carbon offset project that involves multiple landowners and regulatory bodies may require extensive coordination to ensure smooth implementation and compliance.
By understanding the prospects and barriers, investors can better navigate the complexities of Vietnams carbon market, mitigate risks, and leverage potential benefits for sustainable and profitable investment.
Vietnam seals major carbon credit deal, fetching $53 million Vietnam has successfully executed a landmark transaction, selling 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 emission credits to the World Bank for nearly VND1.25 trillion VND ($52.74 million), as confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the prime minister on December 28.
Training course sheds light on emission trading system, carbon market An ongoing training course on the emission trading system (ETS) and carbon market has gathered 145 participants from relevant state agencies, organisations, and enterprises, making the first capacity-building activity in Vietnam with participation from both public and private sectors.
Authorised agencies and related ministries from Vietnam and Japan will hold several meetings before the end of 2024 to discuss Japans schemes to provide more official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam. Japan is also expected to expand trade and investment by opening its doors to more Vietnamese products, especially farm produce.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expects that Vietnam and Japan will soon consider new mechanisms to create bigger breakthroughs to boost their bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation, the Government Office said two weeks ago following a Hanoi meeting between PM Chinh and Shindo Yoshitaka, Japans Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy.
In addition to calling for more Japanese investment into Vietnam, PM Chinh proposed that Japan continue supporting Vietnam in boosting national industrialisation and modernisation with new projects based on science, technology, innovation, green growth, digital economy, circular economy, sharing economy, and knowledge-based economy.
The Japanese fund is partly helping to push forward key metro line and other transport projects in Vietnam, Photo: Le Toan
Vietnam also suggested that Japan boost the consideration and opening of its doors to more Vietnamese products, including fresh fruit, starting with pomelo and then assorted grapes, passion fruit, and Japanese peaches. Japan is also proposed to facilitate Vietnamese businesses engagement in Japanese companies production and supply chains, as well as export-import chains.
Two-way trade reached $45.3 billion last year, including $23.5 billion worth of Vietnamese exports and imports of $21.8 billion. In the first half of this year, the total trade hit $21.7 billion, including Vietnamese exports valued at $11.3 billion up 1.8 per cent on-year, and imports worth $10.4 billion, up 1.7 per cent on-year, according to Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Besides the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership forged in November 2023, Vietnam and Japan are also members of many other free trade agreements and economic cooperation frameworks, most recently the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. These cooperation frameworks play an important role in promoting trade, investment, and business relations between the two countries to a new level, according to the Vietnamese Government Office.
Last December, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio told PM Chinh at bilateral talks in Japan that his country would continue assisting Vietnam in industrialisation and modernisation, and building an independent, self-reliant economy that deeply integrates into the global community. The Japanese leader expressed his desire to continue to actively support Vietnam through ODA in the sectors where Japans technology and expertise can be utilised.
Vietnam and Japan have exchanged cooperation documents involving the fourth loan agreement for Ho Chi Minh Citys urban railway construction project, the Japan Development Scholarship project, and the equipment supply project for Vietnams K Hospital, with a total sum of 42.3 billion (nearly $300 million). Construction progress of the Japanese-funded Metro Line No.1 Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien, worth over VND43.7 trillion ($1.82 billion) in Ho Chi Minh City has reached about 98 per cent, and this project is expected to begin commercial operations at the end of 2024.
At a meeting in Japan last December between PM Chinh with Tanaka Akihiko, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), he suggested that Japan continue providing new-generation ODA for Vietnam with more incentives regarding lending rates and loaning time, with a focus on five key sectors: strategic infrastructure development, emerging sectors such as digital and green transformation, human resources training, healthcare and education, and environmental protection.
Earlier, JICA effectively worked with the Vietnamese side to implement procedures for a new-generation ODA sum valued at 50 billion ($332 million) and ODA-funded projects, making Japan the largest ODA provider for Vietnam.
Vietnam and Japan have welcomed the prospect that the actual amount of yen loans in the fiscal year 2023 from Japan could exceed 100 billion ($664 million).
JICA will continue providing high-quality ODA for Vietnam to implement in a wide range of sectors such as infrastructure, health, human resource development, and climate change, Sugano Yuichi, chief representative at JICA Vietnam told VIR last week. Cooperation in such fields will make significant contributions to Vietnams economic growth and social security. It will also help it attract more private investments, including those from Japan.
JICA signs ODA loans for socioeconomic development The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on July 4 signed three loan agreements with the Vietnamese government of Vietnam to provide three official development assistance (ODA) loans worth up to $421 million in total over three years.
Japan steadfast in ODA acceleration goal The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is planning continued provision of official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in the future. Sugano Yuichi, chief representative at JICA Vietnam, discussed with VIRs Thanh Dat about the direction of this cooperation.
JICA sign $290 million ODA agreement for Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Urban Railway The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Vietnamese government in Hanoi on December 29 to provide an official development assistance (ODA) loan of approximately $290 million for Line1 of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway project.
ODA continues to play vital role Vietnam is cooperating with Japan on new schemes of official development assistance. Sugano Yuichi, chief representative at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam, spoke with VIRs Thanh Dat about how these ties will be implemented in 2024 and beyond.
South Korea to boost ODA to Vietnam by 50 per cent this year Overseas development assistance (ODA) funds from South Korea to Vietnam are expected to hit more than $52 million in 2024, an increase of 50 per cent on year.
A view of some of the pieces of African art being stored at the Harris County Reed Road Warehouse by Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis is shown Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Houston. Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The Harris County Reed Road Warehouse where African art is being stored at theby Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis is shown Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff photographer
A Houston area art buyer whose collection was scheduled for auction in July might get to keep most of the pieces after all.
A Harris County judge granted a temporary restraining order on the artwork, marking the second delay in the sheriffs sale of the collection owned by Sam Njunuri.
Plaintiff will suffer immediate and irreparable harm and will have no adequate remedies under the law, reads the order, granted on July 25.
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Harris County Judge Ursula Hall signed off on the temporary restraining order the same day art enthusiasts hoped to get a look at the pieces and bid on them. On April 4, Njunuri filed bankruptcy under Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code also the same day as the auction.
UP FOR SALE: African art collection up for sale again after owner files bankruptcy
The collection consists of more than 1,000 sculptures, tapestries and other pieces curated by Njunuri over time. The Chronicle previously reported that in 2022, District Judge Rabeea Sultan Collier ordered Njunuri to pay nearly $1 million to Darlene Jarrett and Sylvia Jones after a 2021 jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs.
The case dates back to 2015 when Jarrett and Jones entered into a lease agreement with Njunuri to rent a home in the 1700 block of Cleeves Drive in Richmond. Jarrett and Jones said they moved furniture and personal items to Njunuri's property at the end of July ahead of the "lease commencement" that began on Aug. 15, 2015. But, after returning from a trip to Arkansas around Aug. 15, Jarrett and Jones found their belongings had been either sold or taken, plus the locks on the rental had been changed.
Now, Judge Hall has asked Njunuri to identify at least two pieces in his collection that can cover the costs of the $990,000 owed to Jarrett and Jones. Njunuri has until Aug. 22, to turn over one or two pieces to the defendants' lawyer, Joseph Walker. Court documents show Njunuri must ensure that the appraisal for the pieces gets completed no later than Aug. 15.
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ON HOLD: Sale of African art collection halted as owner files for bankruptcy
In the event that, after appraisal, the appraiser determines that no one or two pieces of the African Art have a total value of at least 990,000, then, in that event, plaintiff shall make arrangements with the owner(s) and/or property manager(s) of the office building to obtain access to the African Art for the purpose of allowing the appraiser to catalogue and appraise, at Plaintiffs sole expense, the entire lots constituting the African Art, court documents read.
Sustainability linked loan agreement signing ceremony on July 31 in Hanoi
In line with the global trend towards green growth, Vietnam is focusing on green transformation in agriculture, including reducing emissions and fulfilling its climate change commitments. Mavin Group, a leading player in Vietnam's agri-food sector with 20 years of experience, is actively contributing to this transformation by building a modern, environmentally friendly business model.
Mavin Group aims to become a net-zero-emissions enterprise by 2050, aligning with the governments commitment. To qualify for a sustainability-linked loan under the "Sustainability Linked Loan Agreement," Mavin not only demonstrated positive business results but also underwent a rigorous sustainability assessment by HSBC and KPMG.
The assessment reviewed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for sustainable development, confirming that Mavin has met its goals, including reducing energy consumption, minimising waste, and maintaining a safe working environment.
The sustainability-linked loan from HSBC will support Mavins working capital, particularly in payments to suppliers, thereby reinforcing its commitment to sustainable operations and further improving core sustainability indicators from its 2023 targets.
David John Whitehead, chairman of Mavin Group, commented, Sustainable development is not just about being 'green'; its about integrating sustainable practices into every facet of the companys operations. This shift underscores that sustainability is both an environmental and a business imperative, impacting profit, brand reputation, and long-term success.
He added, Over the past 20 years in Vietnam, Mavin Group has consistently pursued sustainable production and business practices, ensuring alignment between business interests and environmental and social benefits. This commitment is supported by all Mavin employees and is central to our long-term strategic development.
Mavins commitment is evident in its actions throughout the production and supply chain, including sustainable waste management, efficient use of energy and resources, and ongoing improvement of business operations. In 2024, Mavin became the first company in its industry to issue a separate Sustainability Development Report, focusing on enhancing business efficiency, creating a positive work environment, and contributing to the community.
Mavin is also a leader in transitioning to green agriculture, applying circular economy models and regenerative agriculture in its investment projects across various provinces.
With this green loan, Mavin Group will continue its journey towards sustainable development, aiming to reduce emissions and advance towards a more sustainable future. The company believes that responsible and sustainable business practices will benefit current and future generations, contributing to a prosperous and environmentally conscious society.
Green investment requires collective efforts from all Sustainability is taking centre stage in Vietnams development plan. Amanda Murphy, head of Commercial Banking for South and Southeast Asia at HSBC Asia-Pacific, discussed with VIRs Luu Huong the pivotal role of public-private partnerships in facilitating green financing tools and emphasises the importance of clear policymaking for sustainable investments.
HSBC allocates $1 billion to scale up digital platform businesses in ASEAN HSBC has announced a $1 billion ASEAN Growth Fund to help scale up platform players in the regions booming digital economy.
Vietnam and Denmark cooperate on food and agriculture Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries Jacob Jensen is leading a high-level delegation to Vietnam from May 14-16.
Low-carbon answers reach agriculture Businesses offering low-carbon agricultural solutions are increasingly securing new funding to expand in Vietnam.
Nguyen Thanh Phuong, general director of Sao Do Group, the developer of Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park (IP), noted that sustainable IP development is an inevitable trend in Vietnam, particularly in Haiphong.
Nam Dinh Vu IP with green, clean and synchronous infrastructure
Following this trend, Nam Dinh Vu IP has become a prime location for investment, thanks to its strategic geographical position, which is favourable for logistics. This comprehensive, multi-sector IP caters to Haiphong's burgeoning socioeconomic development needs.
Nam Dinh Vu IP stands out as the only IP in Haiphong with an internal international seaport, Nam Dinh Vu Port, and it boasts four functional areas with modern infrastructure, including a container terminal and a liquid cargo terminal.
The IP also features a synchronous logistics ecosystem, attracting a variety of projects and forming a continuous, cyclical chain during operation. It provides a range of IP infrastructure products and services, including support for recruiting and training high-quality human resources.
In line with its commitment to sustainable development, Nam Dinh Vu IP is positioning itself as a green IP. The IP is promoting the implementation of rooftop solar power projects, installing solar panels to convert light energy into electricity, thus reducing carbon emissions and minimising environmental pollution.
Nam Dinh Vu IP - A successful destination for investors
Sao Do Group operates the IP based on the principle of creating a continuous chain in product and service provision. This approach helps businesses and investors reduce production costs, time, and transportation expenses, supporting the group's focus on sustainable and ecological development.
The demand for infrastructure and premises in IPs continues to rise, especially among foreign investors who require modern warehouses and connections to support services. These services facilitate investment and business procedures, training and recruitment of human resources, and connections to transport and logistics infrastructure, allowing businesses to coexist, share resources, and exploit opportunities together.
Building sustainable IPs offers numerous benefits, including increased attractiveness and competitiveness, both economically and socially. These benefits include reduced environmental impact, energy and resource savings, increased innovation and collaboration, enhanced reputation and brand image, and a reduction in potential risks and legal issues. Moreover, a sustainable IP creates a better working environment and offers benefits to the broader community.
Experts highlight the importance of green and sustainable trends in increasing IPs' appeal to investors, as this is a global trend. Investors are increasingly focusing on the circular economy. Vietnam aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, driving the demand for greener industrial real estate not only from sustainable development requirements in the manufacturing sector but also from government initiatives.
Nam Dinh Vu International Internal Port
According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of July 20, total registered foreign investment capital in Vietnam surpassed $18 billion, a 10.9 per cent increase over the same period in 2023. Foreign investors have invested in 18 out of 21 sectors of the national economy, with the processing and manufacturing industry ranking first. This sector has attracted over $12.6 billion, accounting for 70.3 per cent of the total registered investment capital, up 15.7 per cent.
Vietnam is also poised to benefit from the fourth wave of foreign direct investment (FDI), focusing on high-tech sectors such as electronics, semiconductors, AI, and renewable energy.
The development of these sectors will directly impact industrial real estate by increasing the demand for factories that meet infrastructure and service requirements. Nguyen Thanh Phuong emphasised that the greatest challenge of the fourth wave of FDI is human resources.
The government, along with manufacturing, service, and commercial enterprises, is well aware of this challenge. Consequently, the government has focused resources on attracting tech giants by crafting open policies and requesting support in training human resources for Vietnam. Simultaneously, the country continues to improve the local investment environment, reducing administrative procedures and sublicenses to create a clear corridor for investment
Green Saturday event in response to Environmental Day at Nam Dinh Vu IP
In Haiphong, a locality known for its success in attracting FDI, the first half of 2024 saw an FDI volume of $1.55 billion, achieving over 77 per cent of the full-year plan.
The positive aspect of Haiphong's FDI attraction is not only the registered capital volume but also the number of projects in high technology, processing, manufacturing, and logistics at IPs and economic zones (EZs), reaching over 93 per cent. This success indicates that Haiphong's FDI attraction strategy is on the right track, focusing on attracting new-generation FDI flows.
According to data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, by 2030, about 40-50 per cent of localities nationwide will plan to convert existing IPs into eco-IPs, and 8 to 10 per cent of localities will have orientations to build new eco-IPs.
Construction of new Vietnam-Singapore IP begins in Lang Son The Lang Son provincial Peoples Committee and the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and Township Development Joint Stock Company (VSIP JSC) on June 14 commenced the construction of VSIP Lang Son project the 16th of its kind in Vietnam.
The pros and cons of IP relocations There are many old industrial parks located in or near densely developed and populated urban areas in Vietnam that fail to provide adequate environmental protection. Timothy D. Van Epp, fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and Mai Nguyen of the American Planning Associations International Division, explain why new rules or incentives may be needed to implement the governments relocation policy.
"Finding 50 hectares of contiguous land in the Mekong Delta for high-quality, low-emission rice cultivation presents significant challenges. I have surveyed extensively, but it's difficult to find and gather 50 hectares from 40 households as some agree to participate while others do not," said Ngo Xuan Chinh, deputy director of the Centre for Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer at the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (IASVN), during the "2024 Green Agriculture Investment Development Forum" on July 30.
Chinh is among the experts involved in the "One million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice" project in the Mekong Delta, set to be completed by 2030.
According to the IASVN, green agriculture involves production methods that balance agricultural development with natural resource protection, aiming for sustainable development and ecosystem balance. Implementing this requires smart farming practices, organic fertilisers, reduced chemical use, efficient irrigation, and technology for management.
At the fourth United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2023, Vietnam reiterated its goal of becoming a transparent, sustainable food producer and supplier, meeting food security and export requirements.
Significant green agriculture projects in Vietnam include the 200,000-hectare sustainable rice-shrimp model in Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, and Tra Vinh provinces, and mechanised straw collection for mushroom cultivation in Dong Thap, Tien Giang, and Hau Giang provinces.
Experts believe that while green agriculture is developing strongly, it has not yet reached its full potential. Sustainable production requires large-scale farming areas, yet agriculture in Vietnam remains largely fragmented.
According to the General Statistics Office's 2020 mid-term rural and agricultural survey, the average Vietnamese household owns 2.8 plots of land, equivalent to 2,026 square metres, significantly less than other countries in the region.
Le Minh Dung, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association, acknowledged that small-scale production is one of the challenges for green agriculture.
"We need to continue encouraging farmers to form groups, clubs, and cooperatives. Only through collaboration can green agricultural models be expanded," he said.
Chinh said that solving the issue of green production areas requires large-scale planning.
"Currently, there is no specific plan or separate policy to support organic production; it is mainly integrated into other programmes," he said.
In addition to fragmented farming, green agriculture development faces challenges such as lack of infrastructure and policies related to reducing emissions in the processing of agricultural by-products or livestock. For instance, the "One million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice" project aims for 100 per cent of straw to be removed from fields and recycled to create added value, replacing on-site burning which causes carbon emissions. However, only an estimated 10 per cent of straw in Vietnam is collected and recycled.
Product demand is another barrier.
"Domestically, it's not that people in Ho Chi Minh City and other places can't afford organic products, but they don't trust them," Chinh said. "Therefore, it is necessary to develop traceability technology systems and promote organic labels, so customers can be informed and confident."
For the export market, Tran Chi Dung, secretary general of the Vietnam Logistics Service Association (VLA), mentioned that the association is piloting several hubs between the West Coast (US) and Vietnam to facilitate tax, customs, and quarantine procedures for agricultural products. "When international market access is smoother and higher requirements are met, domestic producers will be compelled to adopt better farming standards," he said.
In the first half of the year, the total export turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products reached $29.2 billion, up 19 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
Hoang Quang Phong, vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), predicted that the annual turnover could reach $57-58 billion, $2-3 billion higher than the governments target. "Agriculture has truly become an important pillar of the economy and is increasingly expected to lead the green development trend," he said.
Vietnam considers differential solar rates for north The Ministry of Industry and Trade is to assess the feasibility of raising the purchase rate for excess electricity to 20 per cent in the northern region - double that proposed for the rest of the country.
Thammasak Sethaudom, president and CEO of SCG, said, SCG's operating results for the second quarter of 2024 have improved from the previous quarter due to increased sales volume from SCG Chemicals and stronger spending power in the ASEAN market, particularly in Vietnam and Indonesia. Furthermore, dividend income from associated companies contributed to a total revenue of $3.54 trillion, an increase of 3 per cent on-quarter, with a profit of $102 million, up 53 per cent. For the first half of 2024, revenue was $6.98 trillion, close to last year's figure. The sales composition included 39 per cent from SCG Chemicals, 27 per cent from SCGP, 16 per cent from SCG Cement and Green Solutions, 13 per cent from SCG Smart Living & SCG Distribution and Retail, and 5 per cent from SCG Decor."
Despite SCG being impacted by the petrochemical trough, geopolitical conflicts, intense market competition from Chinese imports, and a slow domestic economic recovery due to weak spending power, SCG has enhanced its business agility and operational resilience through several strategic measures.
First is energy cost management. For example, the cement business in Thailand has increased the use of alternative fuels to 47 per cent. The company has also increased its focus on potential growth business, such as comprehensive solar energy solutions for residential markets, plants, and industrial estates. Efforts are also made to improve the supply chain and distribution of products by employing technology for delivery planning and goods receipts to reduce working time, minimise damage, and reduce errors in the receipt and delivery process.
SCG is also promoting the application of AI for operational efficiency. In particular, SCG Chemicals utilises AI solutions from REPCO NEX to precisely manage machinery maintenance, achieving 100 per cent reliability. The company also delivers solutions that meet both the functional and pricing needs of customers, such as CPACs compact concrete mixer trucks. They are designed for urban construction down narrow alleys, and capable of transporting up to 2 cubic metres of concrete per trip, facilitating efficient cement usage and reducing waste.
In the first half of 2024, SCG's new products development achieved sales of $1.07 trillion, accounting for 20 per cent of total sales. High-value added products and services registered sales of $2.13 trillion (39 per cent), while SCG Green Choice, environmentally friendly products, recorded sales of $3.76 trillion (54 per cent).
SCGs revenue from operations outside Thailand, combined with export sales from Thailand for the first half of 2024, registered $3.08 trillion, constituting 44 per cent of total revenue from sales.
For the second half of 2024, the overall economic landscape remains challenging, but SCG is prepared to respond with agility and stability. The company holds cash and cash under management totalling $2.18 trillion, along with innovative solutions that meet comprehensive customer needs.
In Vietnam, Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) is expected to restart the entire complex, with both upstream and downstream operations, in early August to begin commercial operations in October. It is anticipated that commercial revenue will be approximately $600 million in 2024 and $1.5 billion in 2025.
However, challenges persist due to the global economic slowdown and oversupply in the chemical industry. LSP, being a capital-intensive project, is expected to incur annual depreciation and interest expenses. Despite the challenges, SCG's existing chemical operations in Thailand remain profitable due to its focus on efficiency and product offerings.
For SCGs operations in ASEAN (excluding Thailand), revenue from sales in the first half of 2024 recorded a 12 per cent increase on-year, amounting to $1.32 trillion. This growth was primarily driven by improving market conditions in regional operations, especially in Vietnam. This contributed to 19 per cent of SCGs total revenue from sales. This figure includes sales from both local operations in each ASEAN market and imports from Thai operations.
As of June 30, SCG's total assets amounted to $25.77 trillion. Of these, the total assets of SCG in ASEAN (excluding Thailand) were $11.79 trillion, or 46 per cent of SCGs total consolidated assets.
In Vietnam, the company reported revenue from sales for the first half of 2024 at $656 million, marking an increase of 12 per cent on-year. This rise was mainly due to an increase in sales from LSP.
SCG in Vietnam is driving sustainable investments to bolster both the local and global economic recovery. The flagship project LSP will commence commercial operations in Q3 to meet local plastic resin demand and support related industries. These resins can be converted into essential products, such as plastic packaging, auto parts, and electrical appliances, enhancing quality of life.
To cater to the northern market, Duy Tan Plastics, part of SCGP, has launched a flagship showroom in Long Bien, Hanoi. This showroom is SCG's largest investment in Vietnam, after Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.
In line with the "Collaboration for Greener Vietnam" strategy and the national goal of net zero by 2050, SCG Cement and Green Solutions introduced SCG Low Carbon Super Cement. This environmentally friendly product reduces carbon emissions by 20 per cent during production, meeting sustainable building standards and promoting SCGs strategy of inclusive green growth.
To pursue its commitment to reducing inequality as part of SCGs ESG 4 Plus strategy, SCG is focusing on educational programmes. The ESG Engagement programme for 100 SCG Sharing the Dream scholars promotes an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) mindset through plant tours and a camp for developing community-help ideas.
SCG named in top 1 per cent in S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment SCG has been honored as the Top 1 per cent S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment in the Sustainability Yearbook 2024 by S&P Global Inc.
SCG provides career opportunities, creating sustainable future for children with disabilities SCG is continuing its collaboration with Ba Ria - Vung Tau School for Children with Disabilities through the My Career Dream initiative, in celebration of International Children's Day 2024.
SCG is the first ASEAN company to be selected for the DJSI World Index since the Sustainability Yearbook's inception in 2004, reflecting its long-standing leadership in sustainability for 20 years along with the DJSI. The recognition is a testament to SCG's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 and shape a green and sustainable future for ASEAN, including Vietnam.
The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is an annual evaluation of a company's sustainability practices. It scores companies on 100 points across industry-specific economic, environmental, and social criteria. To be listed in the Yearbook, companies must score within the top 15 per cent of their industry and must achieve a CSA Score, which is the S&P Global ESG Score without the inclusion of any modelling approaches, within 30 per cent of their industrys top-performing company. This CSA research process has been tested in practice for more than 20 years, attracting the interest of both business leaders and investors.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Yearbook, SCG has consolidated its place in the top 1 per cent for its outstanding sustainability performance. In particular, SCG achieved high scores for its environmental policies, climate strategy, and human capital development initiatives. Additionally, SCGP, a packaging subsidiary of SCG, has been ranked in the top 1 per cent in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment in the containers and packaging industry, out of more than 50 companies worldwide.
Chana Poomee, vice president and chief sustainability officer of SCG, said, SCG is greatly honoured and proud to receive this award. It reflects SCGs unwavering commitment over the past 20 years, earning widespread recognition as a global leader in sustainability. This award signifies SCG's success in implementing comprehensive sustainability initiatives encompassing ESG dimensions, as reflected in the CSA by S&P Global, which evaluated 9,400 companies across 62 industries worldwide. SCG is an organisation that continuously embraces opportunities and challenges, adapting and developing to remain resilient and ready to navigate crises and opportunities that arise.
We are ready to advance towards transitioning to a low-carbon society through the concept of Passion for Inclusive Green Growth. Our commitment is to create a sustainable net-zero society through green innovations, ensuring that no one is left behind. This involves developing the economy alongside environmental stewardship, creating sustainable opportunities and value for all sectors, and driving ASEAN society towards a sustainable future, he added.
Kulachet Dharachandra, country director of SCG, Vietnam, said, We evaluate our performance not only on business results, but also on social and environmental benefits because we believe that both are important for sustainable business operations in the long term.
Operating in Vietnam for over 30 years, SCG and its member companies have actively adopted ESG practices, from low-carbon innovations to green manufacturing, to tackle climate change and achieve net zero. Most recently, SCG Low Carbon Super Cement has been rolled out into the Vietnamese market, underscoring its commitment to contribute to Vietnams net-zero target by 2050.
This innovation is a low-carbon cement produced using green technologies and sustainable practices that significantly minimise 20 per cent carbon of emissions during the production and use processes. Meanwhile, SCGP has successfully developed sustainable packaging solutions that minimise waste and are fully recyclable.
One of its green innovations is SCGPs Green Carton, which minimises material use by 15 per cent to make carton boxes more eco-friendly and lighter. As a result, 21 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 7.16 million tonnes of carbon, were slashed by SCG in 2023 compared to 2020. Particularly in Vietnam, Vina Kraft Paper Company (VKPC), a subsidiary of SCGP, has also equipped its factory with a 4MW solar power system to generate renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions.
As a pioneer in ESG, SCG also fosters collaboration to drive Vietnams transition towards a sustainable future. Over the past few years, the group has teamed up with the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to organise the Vietnam Circular Economy Forum, bringing stakeholders together to discuss the pathway to a circular economy. At the forum, SCG shared its expertise on ESG principles and how it implements ESG practices to ensure seamless implementation across the organisation.
Moreover, SCG and its member companies strive to promote a sustainable and healthy working environment for all. Accordingly, employees receive fair and equitable treatment without being discriminated against based on their gender, age, or ethnicity. This gives employees more chances to reach their full potential in their current roles and prepare for future changes. In particular, the group and its subsidiaries provide ongoing training and communication to raise employees' awareness of ESG practices and encourage them to make sustainable decisions.
In addition, SCG is dedicated to enhancing quality of life and promoting sustainable development, firmly committed to its ESG 4 Plus strategy. The group has launched several social and environmental initiatives to achieve common goals. One remarkable initiative is the flagship annual SCG Sharing the Dream Scholarships, which has been organised for the past 17 years.
Besides financial support, over 5,500 Vietnamese students have been given the chance to engage in meaningful activities, from factory tours to workshops, extracurricular activities, and the ESG Camp to gain insights into real-world ESG practices. Meanwhile, SCG has also collaborated with Ba Ria - Vung Tau School for Children with Disabilities to improve the quality of education and life for disabled students for the past 15 years. This year, the group launched the "My Career Dream" initiative to help disabled students explore career opportunities, thereby contributing to reducing inequality in society.
In pursuit of sustainability and ESG initiatives, SCG has been making headway into the zero-emissions economy. This explains why SCG has been ranked number one in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for ten years and has consistently been in the top three for 14 years in the construction material industry since 2004.
Additionally, SCG has been recognised as a global sustainability leader through two leading indices: ESG Risk Ratings, achieving the ESG Industry Top Rated status in the industrial business sector by Morningstar Sustainalytics, and MSCI ESG Ratings, receiving an AA rating in the construction material industry from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
SCG launches its first SCG Low Carbon Super Cement in Vietnam SCG, ASEAN's leading conglomerate, has announced the launch of SCG Low Carbon Super Cement in Vietnam to contribute to the Vietnamese target of net zero by 2050.
SCG spreads spirit of humanity for Year of Dragon In the year 2024, SCG has implemented many meaningful activities to spread the message of kindness and sharing with a view to reducing social inequality.
The S&P Global Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) remained steady at 54.7 in July, indicating a continued robust strengthening of business conditions in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector. This growth rate was last surpassed in November 2018, with notable improvements across consumer, intermediate, and investment goods categories.
New orders increased for the fourth consecutive month, with the expansion rate only slightly slower than the near-record pace observed in June. The rise in new business was attributed to stronger market demand and an increase in customer numbers. However, new export orders grew at a much slower rate, with some firms citing high shipping costs as a hindrance to export demand.
To meet the surge in new orders, manufacturers ramped up production in July. The output expansion rate was the second-fastest on record, surpassed only by the initial data collection in March 2011. Despite the significant increase in production, firms had to dip into existing stockpiles to fulfill new order requirements, resulting in the second-largest depletion of finished goods stocks on record, following February 2014.
To expand capacity, firms increased their purchasing activity and employment at the start of the third quarter. Input buying rose markedly, reaching the fastest pace since May 2022. However, staffing levels grew only modestly and at a slower rate than in June. Meanwhile, backlogs of work accumulated for the second month in a row.
Manufacturers benefited from a slight improvement in suppliers' delivery times for the second consecutive month, despite some delays in sea transportation. However, stocks of purchases continued to decrease for the eleventh month in a row, with the sharpest decline since April.
Expectations for rising new orders over the coming year bolstered confidence in the production outlook. Approximately 40 per cent of respondents expressed optimism, although sentiment eased to its lowest level since January and was below the series average.
Andrew Harker, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence said, "The fact that the Vietnamese manufacturing sector was able to sustain the strong expansion seen in June through into July adds to optimism that we are at the start of a good spell of growth that will help drive the wider economy forward."
"The main issue for firms at present is keeping up with demand. While production was ramped up, firms were still forced to dip into warehouse stocks to help meet new order requirements, resulting in one of the sharpest depletions of inventories on record. Manufacturers will need to expand workforce numbers more quickly and continue to secure additional materials should current trends in new orders be sustained in the months ahead," he added.
Manufacturing confidence jumps to one-year-high Sustained growth in new manufacturing orders has prompted a renewed increase in employment, while business confidence has jumped to a one-year-high.
Chinese battery manufacturer Sunwoda to pour $300 million into Bac Giang Chinese battery manufacturer Sunwoda plans to make an additional $300 million investment in the northern province of Bac Giang.
Garments and textiles are among the industries that reported double-digit import turnover in H1 of this year, Photo: Le Toan
The General Department of Vietnam Customs last week reported that to July 15, the economys total import value this year has hit nearly $195.4 billion, up 17.6 per cent on-year. This has helped exports gained a revenue of $207.3 billion, up 15.2 per cent on-year. Total trade surplus sat at $11.87 billion.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) highlighted that such a big rise in imports are reflecting a recovery of domestic industrial production. This will also help facilitate exports.
Importation of input materials has been boosted in the recent months, and this demonstrates a fact that exports in the months to come will continue to be increased strongly, stated Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang.
Cyclically, demands for goods are augmenting both at home and abroad in the remaining months of the year. Vietnam is benefiting from a surge in shifting orders from the US and it also has many advantages in boosting exports to China, Thang added.
According to the MoIT, since early this year, the structure of imports is showing very positive signals as nearly 90 per cent of the total import turnover is for goods and materials necessitated for domestic production such as machinery, equipment, tools, and materials. Their total value reached $158.2 billion in the first six months of the year, up by more than 18 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year.
This showed very positive signals for recovery of production and exports as demands for importing machinery, equipment, tools, and materials have increased to a high level, the MoIT said.
For example, the import turnover of computers, electronics, and spare parts thereof is estimated to reach nearly $49 billion, up close to 27 per cent on-year and accounting for 27.4 per cent of the countrys total six-month imports of $178.5 billion. The key producers of these products include Samsung, LG, Intel, and Cannon, among others.
In addition, the six-month import turnover of many other key items also recorded a double-digit increase, such as assorted mobile phones and spare parts thereof (22 per cent), assorted steel (24 per cent), electrical wires and electrical cable (30 per cent), material plastic (15 per cent), materials for footwear, garments, and textiles (17.5 per cent), and assorted apparel (11 per cent).
In Vietnam, the remaining average 10-15 per cent of materials in general are locally produced because the countrys supporting industries remained weak.
The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that as compared to the same period last year, the added value of the whole industrial sector in the first six months of this year rose 7.54 per cent on-year, only lower than the on-year ascension of 8.32 per cent in the corresponding period of 2022 in the 2020-2024 period, generating 2.44 per cent in the added value increase in the economy.
Under the GSOs Q2 survey on enterprises manufacturing and processing released in July, when it comes to production volume, about 39 per cent of the respondents said their production volume in Q2 was higher than in Q1; some 44.5 of the surveyed companies said their Q2 volume was kept stable. Only nearly 21 per cent said the volume decreased. Meanwhile, in Q3 as compared to Q2, 40 per cent of the respondents said that they expect a rise in production volume, and 45.8 per cent expect stable production, and merely 16.2 per cent of the survey enterprises said they predict a reduction.
The global economy and trade are recovering and expected to grow better in 2025. According to the World Trade Organization, the worlds commodity trading volume is projected to increase 2.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025.
This has consolidated confidence that Vietnams exports will continue witnessing positive growth in the latter half of 2024, the MoIT said. Many enterprises have already secured orders until the end of Q3.
The government has set a goal that in 2024, the total export turnover will be $376 billion up 6 per cent from the recorded figure in 2023 of $354.7 billion, and total import turnover will be $352.5 billion up 8 per cent from $326.4 last year. Total trade surplus will be $23.5 billion.
According to the MoIT, with positive export performance since early this year, the whole-year export target will possibly be reached due to rising demands in the remaining months of the year. However, more efforts must be made.
The MoIT is required to make frequent updates about the new developments and new regulations, standards, and conditions of foreign markets, and to advance recommendations for localities, associations, and enterprises so that they can adjust their production and business plans, and also can look for new orders from suitable markets, stated the prime minister in a dispatch sent to ministries and localities on key related tasks for Q3.
The Ministry of Finance, meanwhile, has been ordered by the PM to effectively implement policies on extending the time for paying taxes and land rental, and on keeping VAT reduced as well as lowering fees and charges that have been already promulgated.
In the second half of this year, the government will continue carrying out the policy of exempting and reducing lending rates from bank loans. It will also postpone and restructure debts, and exempt, reduce, and extend the payment of assorted taxes, fees, charges, and land rental for businesses and individuals so that they can soon escape from difficulties.
The government will apply this fiscal policy in the latter half of 2024, with the total value of about $4.08 billion, including VAT remaining at 8 per cent.
VIR and Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association sign deal Vietnam Investment Review, the press agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association signed a cooperation agreement at the Vietnam Industrial Property Forum 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City on July 30.
Industrial developers honoured for green transformation strategies 17 industrial infrastructure developers were honored for their green transformation strategies in 2024 at the Vietnam Industrial Property Forum 2024, held on July 30 in Ho Chi Minh City.
On the morning of July 31, during his visit to India, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with leading Indian pharmaceutical corporations to discuss significant investment proposals for Vietnam's pharmaceutical sector.
P. Ramesh Babu, chairman and managing director of SMS Pharmaceuticals, and Narendra Reddy, managing director of Sri Avantika Contractors, proposed establishing a 500-hectare pharmaceutical manufacturing park in Nghi Son Economic Zone in the central province of Thanh Hoa.
The initial investment for the project is approximately $200 million, with plans to expand total investment to $4.55 billion over the next decade. This project aims to create an eco-industrial park housing vaccine production facilities, antibiotic manufacturing plants, and anti-cancer drug factories. Numerous secondary investors are expected to participate in producing and exporting products to the United States and Europe.
"There are currently about 50 secondary investors ready to join this project. We want to partner with the Vietnamese government to bring secondary investors to Vietnam, create jobs and income for the Vietnamese people, help Vietnamese businesses start up, and develop Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry," said Babu.
The Indian pharmaceutical leaders explained their choice to invest in Vietnam by highlighting their collaboration with Thanh Hoa province and the significant support they have received. They noted that Vietnam is a dynamic country in Southeast Asia and a top investment destination.
Post-COVID-19, Vietnam has become an attractive investment hub, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. They expressed hope that the Vietnamese government would facilitate land acquisition, site clearance, investment procedures, tax incentives, and other supportive policies.
Dharmesh Shah, founding chairman of BDR Pharmaceuticals, expressed his intention to invest in a high-tech anti-cancer drug production project. "BDR aims to manufacture finished products and transfer technology to Vietnam, contributing to elevating Vietnam's position in the pharmaceutical sector," said Shah.
Welcoming the interest of Indian pharmaceutical corporations in investing in Vietnam, PM Chinh described the decision to invest in Vietnam as a smart choice. "The demand for pharmaceuticals, medical treatment, and healthcare among the Vietnamese population is currently very high, while Vietnam imports up to 33 per cent of its pharmaceuticals from India," he said.
Novo Nordisk Vietnam Ltd. welcomes first shipments of products as FIE Denmarks Novo Nordisk Vietnam Ltd. on July 9 announced its first shipments of products as a foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) with a Certificate of Satisfaction of Pharmaceutical Business Conditions in Vietnam.
Leading industry experts and business representatives convened on the afternoon of July 31 in Hanoi to discuss Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry and its journey towards globalisation. The seminar provided a platform for sharing insights, experiences, and solutions for advancing Vietnam's medicine sector.
A doctor giving medicine to patients
Le Van Truyen, chairman of the Advisory Council for Drug Registration at the Ministry of Health, highlighted the significant changes in Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry over the past decade.
"Vietnam has experienced rapid growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.3 per cent. The current pharmaceutical market is valued at approximately $7 billion, with an average per capita drug consumption of $70a 10-fold increase since 2000," Truyen said.
He noted that Vietnam is now among the countries with the highest pharmaceutical market value and growth rate globally. The market value surged from $2.7 billion in 2015 to $5.1 billion in 2018, and reached $6.1 billion in 2020. According to the World Health Organisation classification, Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry is at level 3, signifying the capability to produce generic drugs and export some pharmaceutical products.
Vo Thi Tuan Anh, chairman of Newtechco Group, which focuses on investment and connections in Vietnam's healthcare sector, also highlighted the potential for growth in the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market.
"The healthcare sector has made significant strides, ensuring a proactive supply of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. With improved industry capabilities, many leading global pharmaceutical companies are eager to transfer new inventions to Vietnam, confident in the sector's potential," Anh said.
Tran Thi Thu, vice chairman of the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association, emphasised that the National Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Pharmaceutical Industry outlines clear principles, goals, and a development roadmap.
"Vietnam aims to become a high-value pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in the region by 2030, with domestically produced drug exports reaching approximately $1 billion," Thu said.
The national strategy focuses on developing Vietnam's pharmaceutical industry to be on par with advanced countries in the region. It aims to ensure affordable drug access for citizens, enhance research capacity, and apply technology to produce original drugs and new formulations, with the goal of establishing Vietnam as a centre for manufacturing and technology transfer of original drugs in Southeast Asia.
Outlook for pharmaceutical stocks in 2024 At a macro level in which there is still complexity, the pharmaceutical industry is expected to continue witnessing positive business results in 2024.
Promoting Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry The Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry is seeing great advantages.
According to the National Hurricane Center, a tropical wave of low atmospheric pressure has a strong chance of developing into a tropical depression in the coming days. National Hurricane Center
Houston still shouldnt worry about another hurricane hitting the Texas Gulf Coast just yet, but a low-grade tropical system in the Atlantic Ocean near the Dominican Republic and Haiti has the potential to enter the Gulf of Mexico and become a tropical depression as early as this weekend.
The well-defined tropical wave is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters were projecting that the tropical wave of low atmospheric pressure which on Thursday was drifting across the Dominican Republic on the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola would move west-northwest through the Bahamas, then cross the Florida Straits and enter the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.
LA NINA SEASON: What could the emergence of La Nina mean as the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches?
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The National Hurricane Centers tracking map shows the system heading into the Florida Peninsula and its Panhandle, but the projected path only represents where the storms rotating center could be. As Hurricane Beryl reminded us last month, the effects of a tropical cyclone can extend beyond the center.
That said, the tropical system is expected, for now, to stay well to the east of Texas. Houston and the rest of the Texas Gulf Coast, though, should be mindful of updated projections from the National Hurricane Center and daily local forecasts.
This cluster of clouds in the center of this weather satellite photo taken Thursday indicates a tropical wave of low atmospheric pressure. The National Hurricane Centers latest projected path for the tropical system has it heading into the Florida Peninsula and toward its Panhandle. NOAA/National Weather Service
What is a tropical wave?
A tropical wave is basically an elongated area of low atmospheric pressure that forms in the Atlantic and gets pushed westward by prevailing winds. If these tropical atmospheric disturbances garner enough heat energy and moisture, they can organize into cyclones with stronger winds that rotate counterclockwise.
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TROPICS EXPLAINED: Want to watch the tropics for the next potential hurricane? Here are tips from weather experts
Although the tropical waves development has been stymied by atmospheric factors, including wind shear and dry air as a Saharan dust plume moved across the Atlantic, hurricane center forecasters gave the wave a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression this weekend or early next week over the eastern Gulf of Mexico or near the Florida Peninsula.
A tropical wave of low atmospheric pressure has a 30% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours. National Hurricane Center
Development of this system should be slow to occur during the next couple of days while it moves west-northwestward over portions of the Greater
Antilles, the National Hurricane Center said in a forecast update Thursday. However, environmental conditions are forecast to be more conducive for development after the wave passes the Greater Antilles.
TEXAS HURRICANE AND STORM TRACKER: Keep an eye on tropical storms and hurricanes as they approach the Lone Star State
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What is a tropical depression?
A tropical depression is the earliest, weakest kind of a tropical cyclone. Once a tropical wave has organized deep thunderstorm activity and begins to form rotating winds around a well-defined center, it becomes a functioning tropical cyclone that can extract heat energy from the atmospheric moisture over warm ocean water.
A tropical depression has maximum sustained winds of up to 38 mph. If the winds grow stronger, the system is designated a tropical storm, which packs sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph. The cyclone attains hurricane status once maximum sustained winds reach and exceed 74 mph.
If this tropical wave develops into a stronger tropical cyclone, it would be named Debby, following Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris this hurricane season.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called for answers Tuesday over the "communication breakdown" between Pennsylvania law enforcement and the Secret Service that led to the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Text messages, police body camera footage and an after-action report obtained by Grassley provide the most detailed picture yet of security failures surrounding the shooting at the July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Grassley, appearing Tuesday on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" ahead of a Senate hearing with the FBI and Secret Service, said "there's just a lot of shortcomings" about law enforcement lapses in the hours before the attempted assassination of Trump.
"It's just bad when a member of Congress has to get his information from local law enforcement instead of from the federal agencies," Grassley said. "(I've) turned over everything (I) have now, and if (I) get more, (I)'ll turn it over. I believe in transparency. The public's business ought to be public, and the protection of a presidential candidate ought to be a top priority."
The acting director of the Secret Service said Tuesday he "cannot defend" why the roof used by the gunman was not secured, the Associated Press reported.
Ronald Rowe became acting director last week after Kimberly Cheatle resigned amid mounting criticism by members of Congress over a lack of substantive answers during a hearing about the communication failures preceding the July 13 shooting.
Rowe testified Tuesday before two Senate committees. He was joined by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.
Grassley pressed Rowe about the failed vetting and communications procedures that led to the near-assassination of the former president.
Rowe said he "had no explanation" for some of the Secret Service's shortcomings at the July 13 campaign rally, and committed to improving certain agency procedures and providing "rolling" updates to Congress and the public.
Grassley also asked about the Secret Service and local law enforcement's use of a drone to monitor the rally location. In a letter last week asking for the Secret Service's operational plan and other records, Grassley included a document showing that a Counter Unmanned Aerial System operator was on the list of personnel for the rally.
NBC News has reported that deceased gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks flew a drone over the rally site a few hours before Trump began speaking.
"According to the Secret Service, the drone system was supposed to be operational at 3 p.m. that day," Grassley said during his questioning of Rowe. "However, we've been told by Secret Service that because of cellular bandwidth problems, it wasn't operational until about 5:20 (p.m.) on that day. If the system was operational, Secret Service would've had the ability to detect the shooter and his own drone use. Why is the Secret Service dependent upon local cellular networks? Does Secret Service have back up plans in place?"
Rowe said the Secret Service's failure to detect the shooter's drone has "cost me a lot of sleep." Had the Secret Service's platform been operational, Rowe noted, it might have been able to locate Crooks and intervene.
Rowe committed to leveraging Department of Homeland Security resources to provide the Secret Service guaranteed connectivity to its drone. He said the lapse "is something that I have struggled with to understand."
"It is something that I feel as though we could have perhaps found him," he said. "We could have maybe stopped him."
According to documents released by Grassley's office, law enforcement officers knew of and communicated presence of Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania., at the rally to federal counterparts more than 90 minutes before he climbed onto a roof of what's known as the AGR Building and fired eight rounds toward Trump.
CenterPoint Energy CEO Jason Wells, center, speaks to Jimmy Glotfelty, a commissioner with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, during a meeting Thursday, July 25, 2024, in the Commissioners Hearing Room at the William B. Travis State Office Building in Austin. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Public Utility Commission of Texas Chairman Thomas Gleeson speaks to CenterPoint Energy CEO Jason Wells during a PUC meeting Thursday, July 25, 2024, in the Commissioners Hearing Room at the William B. Travis State Office Building in Austin. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer FILE - Utility crews work to restore electricity in Houston, Thursday, July 11, 2024. Houstons prolonged outages following Hurricane Beryl has some fed-up and frustrated residents taking out their anger on repair workers who are trying to restore power across the city. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File) Lekan Oyekanmi/Associated Press A convoy of electric trucks from several different states gather to support power outage efforts the day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Houston causing mass power outages on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer A convoy of electric trucks from several different states gather to support power outage efforts the day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Houston causing mass power outages on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer
Nearly $2 billion in surprise storm costs would be enough to scare most companies into an existential crisis, if not shutter them completely. But CenterPoint has little reason to fear.
The regulated utility provider can easily pass its costs to Houstonians, as it plans to do with the $1.8 billion it says it spent restoring the citys power after a rare derecho windstorm in May and Hurricane Beryl in July. Houstonians could see a 2% increase in their electricity bills for the next 15 years to pay down the debt plus interest assuming CenterPoints request to recover the costs from customers is successful.
FOOTING THE BILL: Patrick says CenterPoint should shoulder $800 million in generator costs
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Houston became 60% of CenterPoints business after it learned the hard way that expanding too fast into too many states was not in its best financial interests. Now, the company says it is working to get back to our roots of serving its core utility business in the region.
Despite floods, freezes and windstorms, CenterPoint enjoys a profit that is nearly guaranteed as part of its monopoly over the network of poles and wires serving disaster-prone Houston, the nations fourth largest city and among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas. As Houston grows, so does CenterPoints opportunity to build its costs and profits into bills paid by the citys residents and businesses.
Its a sweet deal for CenterPoint, said state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, who during a legislative hearing this week described the companys ability to pass on costs to customers and recoup 9.4% profit as a pretty amazing business model. Last year, the company earned $917 million in profit.
For all of our business owners out there, Kolkhorst said, Wouldnt we love that?
Rates of return are relative. A technology company, for example, might expect a rate of return that is much higher than 9.4%, while a restaurant would generally expect something lower than 9.4%. What stands out for CenterPoint is the reliability of that rate. Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson said during the hearing that historically there is very little risk on that return.
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State senators werent the only ones asking CenterPoint tough questions this week. The publicly traded company headquartered in Houston was in the hot seat on two fronts as the timing of its second quarter earnings call coincided with the first hearings of a special legislative committee tasked with examining the companys response to Beryl.
Was CenterPoint incentivized to do right by Houston? That was a question Kolkhorst was particularly interested in answering during Mondays hearing. She urged Gleeson to revisit the states incentive structure so it aligns with the needs of CenterPoints customers.
Obviously, they did not during Beryl, Kolkhorst said, and I dont think they do going forward unless we make major adjustments.
The challenge is that customers and shareholders dont always want the same things. Reliable electricity service is paramount for Houstonians paying for it; shareholders prioritize cash returns.
CENTERPOINT DEPARTURES: Head of CenterPoints electric utility business leaves company
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Short of regulatory intervention, CenterPoints shareholders call the shots. CenterPoint President and CEO Jason Wells acknowledged as much Monday during the hearing, noting the companys compensation incentives are heavily weighted toward its earnings per share.
And indeed CenterPoint delivered for shareholders during the earnings call Tuesday, when it reaffirmed its commitment to grow shareholder dividends by as much as 8% this year. The company announced $228 million in second quarter profits, bringing its yearly profit earnings to $578 million.
However, as CenterPoint comes under heightened regulatory scrutiny for its Beryl failures, investors are nervous there is risk that politicians will be too punitive on the company, said Shahriar Pourreza, a utility analyst with the investment bank Guggenheim Securities.
This could make it harder not only for CenterPoint but all Texas utilities to attract funding, he said.
The investor base is very nervous that this turns to the old Texas when Scott (Prochazka) was running the company, he said.
We review the proposals for a 6-seat and 9-year limit on so-called INEDs, along with other changes that do nothing to address HK's corporate governance deficit. Meanwhile, a slow-motion disaster is underway in the UK as it scraps fundamental investor rights.
Meaningless board games at HKEX, and how the UK FCA has just made an awful mistake
Over the last quarter century, Webb-site has written repeatedly about the fundamental problem with Hong Kong's so-called Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs): they are not independent. Nearly all (about 90%) of HK-listed companies have controlling shareholders, and these controllers vote to elect the INEDs. So the INEDs are only as independent and competent as the controlling shareholders want them to be. Even the good INEDs (and there are a few) serve at the pleasure of the individual, family or Government that controls the company.
INEDs should be elected by Independent Shareholders
All of this could be simply solved with a rule change requiring that on the election of any candidate (whether proposed by the board, or by shareholders), the controlling shareholders and those directors who are non-INEDs must abstain, leaving the decision to independent shareholders. Their electoral mandate would empower INEDs to ask the difficult boardroom questions that they should be asking if they are performing their duties properly, without fear of removal by controlling shareholders. Remember, in HK the board is only required to have at least one-third of its seats occupied by INEDs, so the controller can still call the shots through the other seats.
Each of the INEDs should also be required to confirm, in each annual report, whether he/she is satisfied with the corporate governance and if not, what the issues are. Remember that it is the INEDs who are supposed to opine on whether transactions between the company and its controlling shareholder are "fair and reasonable" and whether to accept a privatisation offer, from the same controller who currently elects them. The whole system is a charade and it would be better if regulators just admitted that under this system, there are no INEDs, only NEDs.
In its latest proposals announced on 14-Jun-2024, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX, 0388) via its subsidiary The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd (SEHK) does nothing to address this problem and instead engages once again in rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, oblivious to how this poor standard of governance is driving investors away from HK, lowering valuations, increasing cost of capital and undermining the prosperity of our country (China). A lower cost of capital would make the nation more competitive.
Instead of addressing the election process, SEHK proposes cosmetic changes including that nobody should have more than 6 HK-listed issuer directorships and that no INED can serve more than 9 years, both rules to become effective at the AGMs to be held in 2028, and allowing them to come back on board after a 2-year cooling-off period, so they could serve 18 years out of 20 or 27 out of 31.
Predictably, the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies (CHKLC) came out last week to oppose even these reforms, accusing SEHK of micromanagement. They do have a point: it would be far better to allow independent shareholders in each case to decide whether a candidate has too many jobs or has served too long. With an independent shareholder vote on the elections, that would be the case. A crappy INED with only 1 board seat would still be crappy from day one - there's no reason to think that they would only be crappy after 9 years or when they have more than 6 jobs.
It's worth noting, however, that SEHK has chosen the 6-seat limit to affect only 23 people as of 31-Dec-2023. If they had set the limit at 3 (the limit in mainland China) then 270 people would be "over-boarding".
The Blackout Rule and quarterly reporting
Incidentally, despite its name, don't assume that CHKLC is representative of HK-listed companies. It only has 224 companies in its membership, many of them sharing the same controlling shareholders, or about 8.5% of the 2,625 current HK-listed companies. It is very much a fringe group with a committee populated by representatives of HK property tycoons, although a few other large companies have, perhaps accidentally, signed up. CHKLC's history includes opposing in 2009 the "Blackout Rule" which proposed a ban on directors' share-dealing from the end of the financial period until the results were published. They succeeded, and to this day, there's an incentive to release results at the last possible moment so that directors have longer to deal in the shares (until 2 months before annual results, 1 month before half-year results).
The Listing Committee, in reversing its decision to implement the Blackout Rule, did state: "To ensure a regular flow of timely information concerning issuers financial performance and position, the Listing Committee believes that the Listing Rules should be enhanced to require issuers to report to the market on a quarterly basis." That was of course quietly dropped, and the requirement for quarterly reporting on the junior GEM board was abolished effective 1-Jan-2024.
The regulators' theory is that the deterrent of being taken by the SFC to the Market Misconduct Tribunal (MMT) for withholding Inside Information is sufficient to incentivise voluntary financial updates. It isn't. The MMT, chaired by retired judges, operates with sloth-like speed and can only handle a handful of cases per year, including insider-dealing cases. We continue to frequently see full-year "profit warnings" from listed companies some 8 months after their previous half-year ended, revealing earnings surprises (usually negative) that should have been obvious much earlier to any competent board receiving monthly management accounts. Some institutional investors and brokers rather like this system because they can get inside information through company visits and calls, but that leaves other investors out in the cold, degrading market quality.
Quarterly reporting remains a "Recommended Best Practice" (RBP) in paragraph D.1.5 of the Code on Corporate Governance. RBPs are "comply or don't explain", and apart from HKEX itself, almost zero HK-listed companies voluntarily report quarterly. If you see a HK-listed company reporting quarterly, then it is usually because it has an overseas listing - including mainland China, where quarterly reporting has been mandatory since 2003, and USA.
Genders
In other proposals, SEHK proposes a "Code Provision" (comply or explain) that the Nomination Committee should have different (at least 2) genders. This is meaningless given that the Nomination Committee on a controlled board normally only considers a single candidate put forward by the controlling shareholder. There is no real recruitment process, the jobs are not advertised, and independent shareholders are not consulted on possible INED candidates. In any event, in our view, boards should obtain the best mixture of skills and experience they can get regardless of sex, gender, race, sexual preference, number of legs or any other irrelevant characteristic.
As part of a previous review, SEHK has already passed Listing Rule 13.92 requiring boards to have at least 2 genders by the end of 2024. That may be politically correct, but the peer-reviewed academic literature provides no statistical evidence that such rules significantly improve corporate performance. Anyway, at least as far as INEDs are concerned, if the decision is left to independent shareholders then they can decide for themselves whether to elect a man to an all-female board, or a foreigner to an all-Chinese board, or vice versa.
Capital discipline
In another crucial area, SEHK makes no material progress on getting cash-hoarding companies to return surplus capital to shareholders. Back in 2016, we proposed a simple "cash shell test" that would require that any company with more than 50% of its audited net tangible assets held as net cash or liquid investments should be required to propose a distribution of the excess, for independent shareholders' approval at the AGM. If a board can persuade independent shareholders that it is in their interest not to have the money back then the resolution would be vetoed. The cash shell test would provide the sort of capital discipline for which regulators in Japan, South Korea and Mainland China have recently been calling. 50% is a rather generous limit which would capture relatively few companies but it would at least put a cap on the extent of capital hoarding, boost returns on equity and make HK more attractive to outside investors who would have less risk of being caught in a "value trap".
Instead, SEHK proposes that companies which have a dividend policy should explain what factors they take into account. Such a requirement is easily satisfied with meaningless boilerplate text, and places no obligation on capital hoarders to change their ways.
Board navel-gazing
SEHK also proposes a Code Provision (comply or explain) requiring boards to conduct a "board performance review" every 2 years. This is yet another piece of window-dressing that will, if it ever becomes mandatory, simply increase the costs of being listed and create a gravy train for consultants who are hired to tell the board that they are doing a good job. Shareholders and INEDs should be the judge of that, if the INEDs are ever elected by independent shareholders. Indeed, SEHK seems to have pulled this proposal out of the oven in such a half-baked state that it doesn't know what it wants, and simply says "we will provide further guidance on the areas to be covered in a board performance review" in paragraph 65 of the Consultation Paper.
Conclusions
These feeble proposals will do nothing to enhance corporate governance in HK and attract investors back to our market. The opinion poll we conducted in 2011 on the election of INEDs is as valid now as it was then, so we won't bother to repeat it. HKEX, with the staunch support of the HKSAR Government which controls the majority of its board, continues to dodge the real issues and has spent most of the last decade weakening the rules in the mistaken belief that the consequently higher-risk, lower-valuation market will somehow attract high quality listings.
Meanwhile in the UK
That's not how markets work, and on that subject, we should just mention with sadness that the UK's Financial Conduct Authority has embarked on exactly this course, scrapping its "Premium Listing" category and no longer requiring independent shareholders' approval for connected transactions with controlling shareholders, despite widespread opposition from institutional investors. Both the new and previous UK Governments appear to have drunk the Kool-Aid from City lawyers and bankers who see their IPO gravy train drying up, but attracting companies that see the lack of checks and balances on their behaviour as being the worth the discount for risk will only dilute market quality and increase the UK's cost of capital.
If that were to happen in HK, it would be disastrous - allowing controllers of listed companies to inject or strip out assets, or borrow money from the company, on any terms that are not completely absurd, backed up by an opinion from a cheap adviser and nodded through by INEDs elected by the same controllers. The UK will come to regret this choice. New UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed that it would bring the UK "in line with international counterparts" (read:USA), but that conveniently overlooks that the USA has a much stronger litigation and class-action system that deters egregious behaviour and often motivates companies to seek independent shareholders' approval anyway.
Want to make a submission to HKEX? E-mail response@hkex.com.hk . You won't find that address in the consultation paper - they try to force you to use a survey form instead.
Webb-site.com, 2024
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U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, pictured in 2008. Todd Yates/AP Judge Janis Graham Jack has brought welcome oversight to a system desperately in need of change. Billy Calzada, Staff / Staff Photographer
After 13 years of fighting a lawsuit over Texas troubled foster care system, state lawyers are now trying to remove a longtime judge from overseeing the case a bitter escalation in a case concerning thousands of children in the states long-term custody.
U.S. District Judge Janis Jack has presided over the suit since 2011, and she ruled in 2015 that the state was leaving foster children more traumatized than when they entered the system. Since then, she has regularly battled with state leaders as shes pushed them to work with court-appointed monitors and comply with remedial orders intended to provide better care to foster children.
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State attorneys say officials have complied with the remedial orders to near perfection an assertion that Jack and lawyers representing the some 9,000 foster children find ludicrous. Court monitors regularly find new examples of abuse and neglect that werent investigated properly, and dozens of children are still sleeping in hotels and other unlicensed placements.
But the state contends that Jack has a deep-seated bias against child welfare officials that has affected her ability to be fair and impartial and see the overarching positive trends in foster care metrics. Attorneys say she regularly tears into state leaders in court hearings and orders the state to take costly, time-consuming actions without attempting to connect them to any remedial order, they wrote in a June filing asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene.
Its difficult to avoid the conclusion that a high degree of antagonism and appearance of a lack of impartiality regrettably requires reassignment on remand, they wrote, adding later: The concerns over the appearance of bias and prejudice are only heightened by the district courts stated position that there is no end in sight for its supervision of the states foster-care system.
There is a hearing set for Monday, when the appeals court is expected to address the states request for reassignment.
IN DEPTH: Meet the Houston lawyer whose charity work sparked the epic battle over Texas foster care
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The request marks Texas officials most dramatic move yet to wrap up the long-running case, which has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in lawyers fees, payments to court monitors and upgrades to the foster care system.
The 5th Circuit, the most conservative appeals court in the country, is no stranger to the case. In 2017, it mostly upheld Jacks ruling that the state had violated foster childrens constitutional rights, but it has also at times found that she overstepped her authority.
State officials spent years regularly calling on the 5th Circuit to intervene, but they seemed more compliant after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered them in 2020 to fully comply with the remedial orders at issue and submit certifications of compliance by the required dates in order to avoid unnecessary fines. His directive came after Jack found the state in contempt for the second time and threatened to levy more fines.
A sharp-tongued adjudicator
The tide turned again after Jack found the state in contempt for a third time in April for failing to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect in a timely fashion. She fined the state $100,000 a day until it made the fixes she requested.
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It is the courts ongoing concern that caregivers failure to report as required is a systemic issue and not merely anecdotal, Jack said in a 427-page order listing more than a dozen examples of insufficient investigations. The state has a responsibility to follow-up and investigate outcries made by the children in its care and ensure each childs safety and well-being.
The state immediately appealed Jacks order, and the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas did not have to pay the fines.
A three-judge panel said the state could not reasonably respond to the quick timeline she implemented. It acknowledged that the state has not adequately completed every investigation it launched, but the number of children affected was relatively small.
In their June filing, state attorneys said the April contempt finding was an example of Jack's apparent bias, noting that the appeals court has now overturned three of her decisions. They also argue that Jack has adopted a disturbing line of questioning and suggested that leaders of the states child welfare agencies should be thrown in jail.
Attorneys pointed to one incident in which Jack told commissioners for the Department of Family and Protective Services and the Health and Human Services Commission that she didnt know how you all sleep nights, referring to an incident in which a 13-year-old girl in the care of Child Protective Services was raped after she ran away from a Waco home that police described as being in a high-risk location.
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The plaintiffs, led by Houston attorney Paul Yetter, wrote in a brief that the states request to have the case reassigned appeared to be its latest strategy for evading its constitutional and moral obligation to keep children safe.
Though Jack has developed a reputation as a sharp-tongued adjudicator, the plaintiffs argued that her institutional knowledge and expertise on the particulars of the foster care system make her the right judge for the case. They said she has consistently focused on finding solutions for the beleaguered department.
The state has denied the dangers, then opposed reforms, and now wants a new judge who doesnt know the system or the harm it is causing, Yetter said. The message is unavoidable: the State of Texas just doesnt care about keeping these children safe.
"Moving the goalposts"
Its unclear exactly what it would take to wrap up the litigation. Similar lawsuits in other states have taken more than 20 years to come to a conclusion, and Jack and the plaintiffs say it shouldnt end until the state is fully compliant with the remedial orders, which cover topics such as timely investigations, reasonable caseloads for state workers and updated technology to track and care for foster children.
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State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said Jack has earned the right to rebuke state authorities for their alleged failure to safeguard the children in their care. Wu, who has authored several bills related to the foster care system and represented families in court against Child Protective Services, noted that those children represent the most vulnerable populations in Texas and dont have the means to stand up for themselves.
As far as I know, Judge Jack has not done anything biased or unethical. She's been holding the state accountable to the people its supposed to serve, Wu said. Theyve been doing this for 13 years, and (the state) still cant get their act straight. I would hope the judge is angry with them.
But state Rep. James Frank, a Wichita Falls Republican who chairs the House Committee on Health and Human Services, said Jack is often condescending to state leaders and picks apart individual anecdotes instead of highlighting overall positive trends in the foster care system. He said Jack is constantly moving the goalposts for the state.
While the states child welfare system isnt perfect, Frank said the case could benefit from a judge who can set clear benchmarks and focus on progress over perfection.
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (31 July 2024)
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
The Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 42nd Mechanised Brigade, 82nd Assault, 92nd Air Assault, 57th Motorised Infantry brigades, and 36th Marine Brigade near Tikhoye, Staritsa, Liptsy, and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
Two counter-attacks launched by enemy assault groups have been repelled in the past 24 hours.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered losses of up to 350 troops, one U.S.-made HMMWV armoured fighting vehicle, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, and one 100-mm Rapira gun. One ammunition depot was wiped out.
The Zapad Group of Forces continue to take more advantageous lines and positions. The Group inflicted fire damage on the 30th and 67th mechanised, 3rd Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade, and 1st Territorial Defence Brigade near Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Novosadovoye, Krasny Liman (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Nevskoye, and Makeyevka (Lugansk Peoples Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by AFU assault groups were repelled.
The enemy lost up to 470 troops, nine motor vehicles, one UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, one UK-made 105-mm L119 gun, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and two 122-mm D-30 howitzers. In addition, three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces improved its tactical position, inflicted fire damage on manpower and military hardware of the 24th, 32nd, and 54th mechanised, 79th Air Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Chasov yar, Verkhnekamenskoye, Seversk, and Katerinovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). One enemy counter-attack was successfully repelled.
The AFU units lose up to 710 troops, one German-made Leopard tank, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, three U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzers, two motor vehicles, one UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, two UK-made 105-mm L119 guns, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, two 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and two Anklav-N EW stations.
Three ammunition depots of the enemy were eliminated.
The Tsentr Group of Forces continue advancing to the west. The Group has engaged the 31st, 32nd, 47th, and 53rd mechanised, 151st motorised infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and 111th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Dzerzhnisk, Zhelannoye, Novogorodskoye, Grodovka, and Vozdvizhenka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).
In addition, three counter-attacks launched by the enemys assault detachments have been repelled.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 350 troops, one tank, one armoured personnel carrier, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, five 122-mm D-30 howitzers, one U.S.-made 105-mm M119 gun, and one 100-mm Rapira gun.
The Vostok Group of Forces improved its positions on the front line and caused fire damage to manpower and military hardware of the 116th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 108th, 120th, and 129th territorial defence brigades close to Rovnopol, Velikaya Novosyolka, Vodyanoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), and Zaliznichnoye (Zaporozhye region).
The enemy losses amounted to 150 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, two 155-mm self-propelled artillery systems (Polish-made Krab and U.S.-made Paladin) as well as one 152-mm D-20 howitzer.
The Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 35th Marine Brigade, and 121st Territorial Defence Brigade close to Lugovoye, Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region), and Tyaginka (Kherson region).
The enemy lost up to 100 troops, seven motor vehicles, one U.S.-made 155-mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 electronic warfare radar, and one 152-mm D-20 howitzer.
Moreover, one AFU ammunition depot was wiped out.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 143 areas during the day.
Air defence units shot down two U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, one Neptune long-range guided missile, and 42 unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, 631 airplanes and 278 helicopters, 28,734 unmanned aerial vehicles, 556 air defence missile systems, 16,732 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,393 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 12,597 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 24,225 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
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Vice President Kamala Harris addresses attendees during a Celebration of Life Service for Sheila Jackson Lee at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Vice President Kamala Harris addresses attendees during a Celebration of Life Service for Sheila Jackson Lee at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Vice President Kamala Harris addresses attendees during a Celebration of Life Service for Sheila Jackson Lee at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Elwyn Lee, husband of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, center, is comforted after the Celebration of Life Service Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer
Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders praised the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lees legacy, urging support for Harris' presidential bid as a way to continue the congresswomans fight for womens and civil rights.
Jackson Lee, 74, died on July 19 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Her celebration of life service Thursday at Fallbrook Church was the last in a series of memorials paying tribute to the congresswoman this week. The ceremony showcased her toughness, her love of Houston and her often relentless resolve.
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Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, delivered a eulogy for Jackson Lee before returning to Washington, D.C. A fellow member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Harris described her late sorority sister as both tough and caring, unrelenting and encouraging, and one of the smartest and most strategic legislators in Washington, D.C.
Now, there were times, I will admit, if I saw her walking down the hall, I would almost want to hide because I knew whatever else may be on my mind, Sheila Jackson Lee would require a very serious and specific conversation with you about what she had on her mind, and then she would tell you exactly what she needed you to do to help her get it done, Harris said, drawing laughter from attendees.
Vice President Kamala Harris addresses attendees during a Celebration of Life Service for Sheila Jackson Lee at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
The event featured tributes from over two dozen national and local elected officials, community leaders, family members and friends. A photo of the late congresswoman, dressed in a white suit with one of her signature scarves, was displayed above the stage. White flowers adorned Jackson Lees casket.
Among the speakers were Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford, former Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, George Floyds family, Mayor John Whitmire and around 50 members of Congress were also in attendance.
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Musician Stevie Wonder performed Falling In Love With Jesus by Jonathan Butler and Kirk Whalum, as well as his song As, to cheers from the audience toward the end of the service.
The vice president said she understood Jackson Lees intensity came from a desire to fight for her country and constituents, from helping immigrants with their visa applications to keeping Houston pools open amid a historic heat wave to spearheading bills to protect the rights of Black residents, LGBTQ communities, women and children.
She never allowed anything to be mediocre, Harris said. She always expected in all of us that we would rise to a point of excellence, knowing life was too short, and theres too much to be done.
National leaders remembered Jackson Lees contributions
Hillary Clinton said the passing of Jackson Lee marked a significant loss for Democratic leaders and supporters, especially as they face the upcoming November election. The work of trailblazers like Jackson Lee has paved the way for the potential election of the first woman president in the countrys history, said the former secretary of state.
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We lost her too soon. We could use her voice now, Hillary Clinton said Thursday. But come next January, when our first woman president takes up office, Ill be thinking of Sheila, wondering what up in heaven shes wearing, what magnificent long scarf she has wrapped around herself, what hairdo she has managed to achieve for this special occasion.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during the Celebration of Life Service for Sheila Jackson Lee at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
Jackson Lee had been a staunch supporter of the Clinton family for decades. In 2008, the congresswoman defied many Black leaders and her own constituents to endorse Hillary Clinton over former President Barack Obama in the Democratic Party presidential primary, leading to her being booed by hundreds of Obama supporters at a local event.
Bill Clinton, who also delivered a speech, said Jackson Lee was the only freshman member of Congress who made it to his just say yes list when he was president, meaning whatever it is they want, sooner or later youre going to do it.
One of her critics once said shes an acquired taste, and I said I acquired it, Bill Clinton said.
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Jackson Lee and her husband, Elwynn Lee, had been married 51 years. He is a vice president at University of Houston, and they met when they were students at Yale. The Clintons also met at Yale.
Jackson Lee served the 18th Congressional District for nearly three decades and was poised to win her 15th term in office this fall after a decisive victory in the March primary. One of the most recognizable members of Houstons congressional delegation, she was known among Democratic leaders as a prominent voice on social justice issues.
The congresswoman, among other accomplishments, led the rewrite of the Violence Against Women Act and championed the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Jackson Lee was the only person she knew who managed to get an amendment into every bill that came before them.
As one of the first progressive women of color to have a national platform, she used that platform to speak with deep moral clarity at every opportunity despite rampant racism, sexism and discrimination, Jayapal said.
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Local leaders and supporters praised Jackson Lees legacy
Turner, Jackson Lees longtime friend and ally in Houston politics, recalled her many efforts big and small to support local communities in an impassioned speech.
He highlighted her leadership in trying to prevent the shutdown of the North Forest Independent School District, helping an Acres Home church make repairs at no cost, getting unhoused residents wraparound services and setting up numerous COVID-19 testing sites during the peak of the pandemic.
Hidalgo said she had struck up a unique friendship with Jackson Lee despite their disparate personalities and the generational gap. Initially put off by Jackson Lees curt approach, which stood in contrast to her own warm and fuzzy tone, Hidalgo said she later realized that the toughness commanded respect.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks during the celebration of life service for Sheila Jackson Lee while Commissioner Rodney Ellis laughs at Fallbrook Church on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer
At first I felt a bit taken aback by her approach. I wondered if she was trying to control me, tell me what to do, Hidalgo said. But then I realized it was much simpler than that. She had an abundance of toughness and wasnt afraid to show it.
Glenn Rushing, one of Jackson Lees longest-serving employees and chief of staff from 2011 to 2022, said Thursday that behind the congresswomans Type-A, perfectionist and demanding personality was her strong work ethic and commitment.
I know firsthand the long nights working with her from 12 and 1 a.m. in the morning and back at 9 a.m., Rushing said. I know about her attending multiple hearings at the same time, maybe late, but debating bills and making floor statements daily. I know about her attending hundreds of funerals and birthday parties and attending every high school graduation ceremony in her district.
Several attendees of Thursdays service told the Chronicle they were struck by the high energy and celebratory atmosphere throughout the event.
It was a really beautiful service for the GOAT of Congress people, said Isaiah Martin, one of Jackson Lees former interns, using an acronym for "greatest of all time." It was very dignified. It was like the home going for a queen. To see a former president on the stage, to see a future president on the stage, future speaker, former speaker, you had ambassadors there it was regal.
The congresswomans children expressed pride in their mothers accomplishments, saying they will honor her legacy but will not attempt to match her brilliance.
I wore her cape. I wore her cloth. But I will never wear her crown, said Jackson Lees daughter, Erica Lee Carter, draping herself in her late mothers clothes.
Jackson Lees son, Jason Lee, shared a similar sentiment.
Human evolution is about one generation exceeding the next, he said. Thats not in the cards for us, and if I had any doubt, after today, it is clear I will not be greater than the generation before me, and thats OK because the bar was set so high.
In the tight race for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, voters favor incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown over Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, but only by four percentage points. When the lens moves to voters 50-plus, the race flips and Moreno takes a slight lead, according to an exclusive AARP poll released today.
The survey shows Brown ahead of Moreno 46 percent to 42 percent among all Ohio voters surveyed. Among voters 50-plus, however, Moreno leads Brown by just two percentage points. The outcome of the race could help determine the overall balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
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Pollsters interviewed 1,384 likely Ohio voters about the U.S. Senate and presidential races and about the issues motivating them to vote. The bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research conducted the AARP-commissioned survey from July 23 through July 28.
AARP (Source: Getty Images)
Bob Ward, a partner with Fabrizio Ward, said older Ohio voters are more likely to support candidates who champion policies to help older adults as they age.
The Senate race in Ohio is a toss up among voters 50-plus, Ward said. If a campaign wants to appeal to older voters, they need to be talking about issues like supporting family caregivers and supports to allow seniors to age at home."
When it comes to the race for president, more Ohio voters say they plan to cast their ballot for former President Donald Trump, a Republican, than for Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, according to the AARP poll.
Among Ohio voters of all ages, 52 percent favor Trump, compared with 42 percent for Harris, a 10-point spread. That lead widened to 18 points among voters 50-plus, with 57 percent for Trump compared with 39 percent for Harris. Black voters over 50 overwhelmingly prefer Harris, 87 to 8 percent.
AARP (Source: Getty Images)
Harris is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president after President Joe Biden announced July 21 that he wouldnt seek reelection and endorsed her.
When pollsters asked voters who they would support in a race between Trump, Harris and third-party candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 48 percent of voters favor Trump, 39 percent support Harris, and 9 percent favor Kennedy, who has not yet gained access to the Ohio ballot.
Jeff Liszt, a partner with Impact Research, said the poll results indicate Ohio voters could split their tickets in November, rather than voting along party lines. Liszt noted that Trump is ahead in the state at the top of the ticket, while in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Brown is up over Republican Moreno among voters of all ages.
Abby Church is a City Hall reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at abby.church@houstonchronicle.com.
Before coming to the Chronicle, Abby covered Tarrant County government at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As an Air Force brat, she spent her childhood everywhere, but she claims Virginia as home. She graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and creative writing.
June 2024 Quarterly Activities Report
Sydney, July 31, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tamboran Resources Corporation ( ASX:TBN ) ( TBNNY:OTCMKTS ) ( NYSE:TBN ) completed an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), issuing approximately 3.4 million shares (including the underwriters' partial exercise of the overallotment option) of Common Stock at US$24.00 per share. The proceeds of US$82 million (before fees) are expected to fund Tamboran's two well 2024 drilling program, which are planned to supply the Company's proposed Shenandoah South Pilot Project.
Tamboran announced an average IP90 flow test for the Shenandoah South 1H (SS-1H) well of 2.9 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) over a 1,644-foot (501-metre) horizontal section within the Mid Velkerri B Shale (normalized at 5.8 MMcf/d over a 3,280-foot (1,000-metre) horizontal section). The flow results were the highest normalized rate produced in the Beetaloo Basin to date.
In April 2024, Tamboran announced a binding, long-term take-or-pay Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) to supply the Northern Territory Government (NTG) with 40 TJ per day (~19 TJ per day net to Tamboran) for an initial term of nine years from the proposed Shenandoah South Pilot Project.
In June 2024, Tamboran was granted Major Project Status (MPS) by the NTG for the development of the Company's Beetaloo Basin assets. The MPS designation demonstrates the NTG's support for Tamboran's integrated development of the Beetaloo Basin.
In July 2024, Tamboran was granted an Interim Agreement by the NTG over its 420-acre (170- hectare) site at Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct. The agreement provides Tamboran with exclusivity over the acreage until the end of 2027 (with two 1-year extensions).
Tamboran continued operational activities in preparation of the upcoming two well 2024 drilling program. The program includes the first ~10,000-foot (~3,000-metre) horizontal sections and 60 stimulation stages in the basin. Drilling of the first well is expected to commence in Q3 2024 and stimulation activity is planned for Q4 2024 ahead of the announcement of gas rates in Q1 2025.
As at 30 June 2024, the Company had a cash balance of A$111.6 million (US$73.9 million), which does not include the US$7.4 million gross proceeds from the over-allotment.
Tamboran Resources Corporation Managing Director and CEO, Joel Riddle said:
"Tamboran successfully delivered on several key milestones during the quarter, including the highly anticipated NYSE listing. Tamboran raised approximately US$82 million (before fees), which is expected to fund our upcoming two well 2024 program, which includes the longest lateral section drilled in the Beetaloo Basin to date. We hope to demonstrate the impressive flow rates from the 500-metre section in the Shenandoah South 1H (SS-1H) well are replicable over the extended 3,000-metre horizontal section.
"The NTG continues to demonstrate strong support for our Beetaloo Basin and Middle Arm developments.
During the quarter, Tamboran signed a binding, long-term Gas Sales Agreement with the NTG for 40 TJ per day over an initial nine-year period and was granted Major Project Status for our Beetaloo Basin development. We have also received an Interim Agreement for exclusivity for our Middle Arm site for our proposed NTLNG project having demonstrated significant progression through the Concept Select phase.
"We are progressing activities to deliver further drilling success during the second half of the year with the Shenandoah South 2 pad 1H (SS-2H) and 2H (SS-3H) wells in EP 98. These wells will be key to demonstrating the production profile for 10,000-foot lateral sections within the Mid Velkerri B Shale and lay the platform for our future drilling programs across our proposed Phase 2 and 3 projects."
*To view the full quarterly report, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/6M0O167H
About Tamboran Resources Corporation
Tamboran Resources Corporation (ASX:TBN) is a natural gas company that intends to play a constructive role in the global energy transition towards a lower carbon future by developing low CO2 unconventional natural gas resources in the Beetaloo Sub-basin within the Greater McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Tamboran's key assets are a 25% working interest in EP 161 and a 100% working interest in EP 136, EP 143 and EP(A) 197 which are located in the Beetaloo Sub-basin.
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Arrow Expands Bulks Presence with Major Bauxite Transaction
Perth, Aug 1, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Arrow Minerals Limited ( ASX:AMD ) is pleased to announce it has entered into a Share Purchase Option Agreement (Agreement) to acquire the Niagara Bauxite Project, located in Guinea (Niagara Bauxite Project or the Project). See Appendix 1* for a summary of the Agreement.
Highlights
- Arrow expands its bulk commodity presence with agreement to acquire Niagara Bauxite Project located in Guinea, the world's largest exporter of high-grade low-impurity bauxite
- Niagara Bauxite Project is an advanced asset with a significant exploration history
- Simandou railway, due for commissioning in 2025, is located only 100km from the project
- Niagara Bauxite Project, combined with Arrow's Simandou North Iron Project, are projects with significant scale potential and operating synergies
- Arrow's future work program will focus resource drilling, economic studies, permitting and development pathways
- The agreement is structured as an option agreement, with an option fee of $400,000 payable in cash and shares, with $2,000,000 in cash or shares payable upon option exercise
- Provides Arrow and its shareholders with the opportunity to rapidly progress a project at a time when bauxite prices and analysts have noted a strong outlook
Arrow Managing Director David Flanagan said: "We are delighted to significantly expand our bulk commodity exposure, leveraging our rapidly growing presence, strong relationships and reputation in country. Past exploration on this project has identified 6 high quality bauxite targets for resource drilling. This agreement gives the Company up to 12 months to test and evaluate the project before completing the acquisition. On visiting the site and reviewing the prospects, and in light of access to the multi-user railway due to be commissioned from end of 2025, coupled with the strong prices and outlook for bauxite, it presents a highly compelling and potential value transformational opportunity for the Company."
"As indicated by historical technical studies on the Niagara Bauxite Project, there is substantial potential based on historic foreign estimates indicating excellent potential for direct shipping grade mineralisation."
"Arrow, with the assistance of its technical advisors have reviewed a compilation of historic work completed on the Niagara Bauxite Project tenure as part of the significant bauxite prospectivity works led by Dr V.I. Mamedov, and summarised in the 2010 two volume publication "Geologie de la Republique de Guinee". As the source drilling and chemical analysis information used in preparation of these foreign estimates is not currently available to the Company, the Company is unable to verify and validate these foreign estimates at this time."
"The Arrow team is dedicated to growing the Company, and has a strong track record of delivering logistics supply chains, developing new mines, exporting bulk commodities and engaging productively with the community. This asset is strategically located in our back yard and compliments what we are doing at the Simandou North Iron Project," Mr Flanagan added.
Background on Niagara Bauxite Project
The Niagara Bauxite Project is located approximately 100km north of the Simandou multi-user railway, which extends roughly 285 km to the Morebaya port (Figure 1*). The project falls within the three prefectures of Mamou, Dalaba and Tougue, and includes bauxite plateaux from the studied and documented Dabola and Tougue bauxite regions shown in Figure 1*.
Foreign Estimates on the Niagara Bauxite Project
A compilation of historic work was completed on the Niagara Bauxite Project tenure as part of the significant bauxite prospectivity works led by Dr V.I. Mamedov, and summarised in the 2010 two volume publication "Geologie de la Republique de Guinee".
The Company's independent consultants have advised that these foreign estimates are assumed to be aligned with the Russian GKZ system, however no details have been found to date to verify the basis for these estimates.
As the source drilling and chemical analysis information used in preparation of these foreign estimates is not currently available to the Company, the Company is unable to verify and validate these foreign estimates at this time.
The Company's independent consultants have also advised that these estimates should be treated as historic foreign estimates, and with caution, until a verification program has been conducted which supports (or not) the summary tonnages and grades reported therein. These foreign estimates should not be considered equivalent to an estimate that follow contemporary best practices and are reported in line with a modern international reporting code that is a member of the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards ("CRIRSCO") or the JORC Code.
Next Steps
As at the date of this release the Company plans to:
- Endeavor to locate and acquire the source information and documentation that support the historic foreign estimates given in Mamedov et al (2010).
- Evaluate the methods and analytical techniques used to inform the historic foreign estimates.
- Transcribe and digitize all historic information for use in validating the historic foreign estimates.
- Validate historic drill and assay data by completing an expedited drill program during 2024.
- Conduct further exploration drilling as required to inform the estimation of Mineral Resources in accordance with the JORC Code.
- Conduct economic studies and permitting and development pathways.
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/T28WX0H9
About Arrow Minerals Ltd
Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) is an exploration and development company focused on delivering long-term shareholder value through the discovery of economic mineral deposits in West Africa. The Company has implemented a systematic science-based exploration philosophy whilst remaining commercially nimble to ensure we capture and retain value.
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Vice President Kamala Harris steps off Air Force 2, Wednesday, July 31, 2024 in Houston. Harris visits Houston for a private fundraiser, speech, and to attend Sheila Jackson Lees memorial. Ishika Samant/Staff photographer
Vice President Kamala Harris used a pair of speeches in Houston on Wednesday to deliver a sobering message to supporters after a whirlwind 10 days running for the White House, where expectations are skyrocketing.
Harris acknowledged a big fundraising burst and a surge of volunteers signing up for a campaign that is making gains on former President Donald Trump. But she warned that despite the enthusiasm, she still has an uphill climb to win in November.
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We are the underdog in this, Harris told a crowd of more than 340 people at a private fundraiser in a ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel. This is not the time to raise up our hands. This is our time to roll up our sleeves.
Public polling makes clear what Harris is talking about. A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday showed Trump leading Harris in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin all states President Joe Biden won in 2020 en route to a narrow victory.
Just 30 minutes later, speaking to thousands of Black sorority members with Sigma Gamma Rho at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Harris detailed what she needs from supporters around the nation, with 97 days left in the campaign.
At this moment, once again, our nation is counting on you to organize and to mobilize, to register folks to vote, and to get them to polls, Harris said.
It was her second stop in Houston in just a week. Last week she spoke to teachers unions and met with city officials to get an update on the recovery from Hurricane Beryl.
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Harris was staying overnight in Houston and was expected to attend the memorial services of the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Thursday morning.
In both Wednesday speeches, she warned that Trump had already succeeded in banning almost all abortions everywhere in the South including in Texas and is a threat to sign a nationwide ban, though Trump says he would not support such a measure.
Our fundamental freedoms are on the ballot, Harris said.
Harris warned that is Trumps elected, his allies are going to push him to enact extreme policies such as eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, ending Head Start preschool programs, and ending the Affordable Care Act that provides health care to millions of Americans.
Harris also responded to Trump, who earlier in the day said he had been aware of Harriss Indian heritage but didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. Speaking in Chicago to the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump added that Harris now wants to be known as Black.
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In Houston, Harris said Trumps attack showed he is putting on the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman announced that Microsoft and other tech companies must pay if they seek to continue scraping the website's data for training their AI models.
The social network forum has already inked deals with Google and OpenAI, allowing them to scrape the site's content for AI training legally.
Reddit Seeks Mutual Agreements With Tech Companies for Data Scraping
Last June, the company announced that its Robots Exclusion Protocol would be implemented in the following month. The robots.txt prevents bots from other tech companies from scraping data from its site to train AI models.
Huffman is keen on securing agreements with companies before allowing them to continue scraping content from Reddit. He disclosed that Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity have been refusing to negotiate.
"Without these agreements, we don't have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it's used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven't been willing to come to terms with how we'd like our data to be used or not used," he said in an interview.
Reddit Actively Blocks Data Scrapers Without Agreements
Last week, search engine users experienced a decreased appearance of recent Reddit discussions on non-Google search results. The blocking of results is part of the company's strategy to prohibit non-consented crawling of the website.
Search engines like Bing, Mojeek, and DuckDuckGo no longer show results from the site's recent discussions. Other search engines have also started to experience limited results outside Google's engine.
The company is actively blocking commercial entities from scraping Reddit. The Robots Exclusion Protocol aims to stop others from benefiting from the site's content for any use case that they want.
Reddit sealed an annual $60 million agreement with Google, allowing the company to take advantage of its content.
The Generative AI market is estimated to reach $0.64 billion in 2024, growing at a CAGR of around 46.32% between 2024 and 2030, leading to a market volume of approximately $6.28 billion by the year 2030 as per industry reports. The reports also suggest that Generative AI has the potential to boost the GDP of India by $359-$438 billion by 2030.
Generative AI or Gen AI provides several advantages for marketers, by way of automation of the marketing communication process and in saving time, resources, and capital for strategic thinking and brainstorming. It helps in generating targeted and personalized ads, by identifying the appropriate customer segments and developing engaging, interactive content tailored to their tastes and preferences. The processes such as gathering insights for marketing campaigns, content design, execution, targeting, etc., that used to take much time, can now be done in less amount of time. Moreover, Generative AI gathers data and research about the target consumer personas and their preferences at a rapid pace, aiding marketers in gathering and analysis of data, enabling automated testing and hyper-personalisation. Even if Gen AI is not integrated entirely into the marketing communication process, it can be a great tool for marketers to get new ideas in less time and deal with tight deadlines.
According to a McKinsey report, Gen AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion in annual global productivity. In the marketing sector alone, the productivity gains could increase marketing spend efficiency by 5-15 per cent, translating to approximately $463 billion annually.
Gen AI also helps employees to invest their time and energy towards more complex tasks, by the way of automation of manual ones and others such as drafting emails for email marketing campaigns, generating imagery, videos, etc. It further helps to offer product recommendations and to decipher customer feedback, resulting in reaching the right product and service to the right consumer. It assists in exploring opportunities for product innovation, however comes with risks of adherence to data privacy, copyright violation, and generation of unverifiable facts.
However, Gen AI is not without its downsides. According to digital marketing experts in the US, one of the biggest risks of utilizing Gen AI in marketing are legal and ethical concerns as per a report by NP Digital, along with serving wrong information, mechanical or similar content with a lack of human creativity and SEO.
A Forbes report suggests relying too much on AI for generating content can lead to the loss of the brands voice and its authenticity factor. It can also lead to communicating messaging that is in non-alignment with the values of the brand, requiring accurate quality control measures.
In this two-part series, Adgully seeks to understand the pros and cons of utilizing Gen AI in marketing, how it is helping to create targeted and personalized ads, the cost factors involved in utilizing Gen AI in marketing, how it is enhancing marketing efforts and impact and the various ways in which Gen AI is helping marketers, as well as the Dos and Donts of using Gen AI in marketing.
Weighing in the Pros and Cons
Speaking about the pros and cons of utilizing Gen AI in marketing and how Gen AI is helping in the creation of targeted and personalized ads, Swati Nathani, Co-Founder, Team Pumpkin, said, Gen AI is a game-changer for marketing. Its like having a super-smart assistant that knows your customers inside and out. It can identify specific customer segments, predict preferences, and generate tailored ad copy and visuals. This level of customization leads to higher engagement, click-through rates, and conversions. But, like any powerful tool, it comes with risks. Privacy concerns, ethical questions about biases, and the potential to spread misinformation are real challenges that need careful handling.
Valay Lakdawala, Co-Founder & Director - Client Relations, Neoniche, commented, Imagine every marketers dream: reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time and place. This is what Generative AI has in store for marketers. It brings us closer to achieving hyper-personalization at scale, making marketing more efficient and effective. Gen AI offers numerous advantages, such as enabling hyper-personalization, improving efficiency, and providing deeper customer insights, which collectively enhance the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Hyper-personalization: Delivers highly relevant content tailored to individual preferences, enhancing customer engagement and satisfaction.
Delivers highly relevant content tailored to individual preferences, enhancing customer engagement and satisfaction. Efficiency: Automates content creation and testing, reducing time and effort.
Automates content creation and testing, reducing time and effort. Scalability: Generates content at scale, ensuring consistent messaging across multiple platforms.
Generates content at scale, ensuring consistent messaging across multiple platforms. Customer Insights: Analyzes vast amounts of data, providing deeper insights into customer behavior and trends.
Analyzes vast amounts of data, providing deeper insights into customer behavior and trends. Innovation: Helps marketers identify new opportunities and innovate faster, staying ahead of the competition.
Commenting on the cons of utilizing Gen AI in marketing, Lakdawala said, However, challenges include a reliance on high-quality data, privacy concerns, high initial costs, and the potential risk of inaccuracies and over-reliance on AI, which can stifle human creativity.
Data Dependency: Requires high-quality data to produce accurate results; poor data quality can lead to ineffective strategies.
Requires high-quality data to produce accurate results; poor data quality can lead to ineffective strategies. Privacy Concerns: Extensive use of customer data raises privacy issues, necessitating robust data protection measures.
Extensive use of customer data raises privacy issues, necessitating robust data protection measures. Initial Costs: High setup costs for AI tools and skilled personnel.
High setup costs for AI tools and skilled personnel. Risk of Inaccuracies: Can produce plausible but factually incorrect outputs, requiring human oversight.
Can produce plausible but factually incorrect outputs, requiring human oversight. Over-reliance: Risk of stifling human creativity and intuition due to dependence on AI.
Speaking on how marketing can effectively use Gen AI, Ambika Sharma, Founder & Chief Strategist, Pulp Strategy, said, Generative AI is adding advantage to the marketing landscape by enhancing personalization, efficiency, and data-driven insights. This is not to say it replaces a good marketer, but it has its advantages in time saved in repetitive tasks. On the positive side, it enables the creation of highly personalized ads by analyzing vast amounts of data, ensuring that the content resonates with individual consumers, thereby boosting engagement and conversion rates. It also reduces the time used in content creation, allowing marketers to produce larger volumes of tailored content swiftly and efficiently. Gen AI offers deep insights into consumer behaviour and preferences, informing more strategic marketing decisions. On the flip side, poor use of the tech is the bigger fear, garbage in garbage out, it cannot solve poor input or incorrect use. There are also the high initial costs associated with implementing Gen AI, including investments in infrastructure, and software, and the largest cost which is training, can be a significant drawback. There are privacy concerns, as the use of consumer data for personalization must be carefully managed to avoid breaches. There is the matter of balance: while AI-generated content is highly efficient, it lacks the creative nuance and emotional depth that human marketers bring to campaigns, so using it in a balanced form, keeping the creativity for creative humans is my current recommended best practice.
Neena Dasgupta, CEO & Founder, The Salt Inc, added here, Generative AI is progressively reshaping the marketing landscape, it has significantly maximized what marketing can achieve. If properly utilized, it can help marketers accelerate content creation, enhance data analysis, and enable hyper-personalization. However, like all new technology learning curves, proper deployment of Generative AI requires extensive research, experimentation, and talent training. Accelerating this learning curve and consistently managing human oversight across the process are the two main barriers that marketers need to tackle to leverage Gen AI. Crafting highly personalized experiences for each customer is a key application of AI in marketing. Generative AIs quick data analysis capabilities enable predictive modelling to understand and anticipate consumer behaviours and interactions, this segmented identification tooled with real-time content generation empowers marketers to deliver highly targeted and personalized ads.
Upasna Dash, Founder & CEO, Jajabor Brand Consultancy, noted, AI and Gen AI have rewired the way brands interact with consumers. While these advancements have streamlined many processes and SOPs, the essence of strategizing and choosing the right fit and narrative for the brand still lies with the brand custodians. Gen AI serves as a supplementary aide in this context, assisting rather than replacing human decision-making. On the positive side, Gen AI excels in personalizing data, enhancing efficiency by automating tasks, and processing vast datasets to identify patterns and extract actionable insights. However, there are significant data privacy concerns, integration challenges that require careful planning and technical expertise, and high implementation costs, which can be a barrier for smaller businesses.
Dash further said, In creating targeted and personalized ads, Gen AI is transformative. It identifies specific patterns and information through vast databases, analyzing data to uncover trends and valuable insights. This enables marketers to segment their audience effectively, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions. AI tools also automate tasks like content creation and campaign optimization. With continuous learning capabilities, AI algorithms improve over time, fine-tuning their predictions and recommendations to deliver better outcomes. While challenges exist, the benefits of Gen AI in marketing are profound, offering a competitive edge in creating ads that resonate with audiences.
Manjul Wadhwa, Founder and CEO, Anagram Media, said, Understanding how Gen AI personalizes marketing is easy. Think of it as hiring this amazing intern. But not your average intern this one is a super-smart, all-rounder who can handle anything from research and planning to executing complex marketing strategies working tirelessly and can process mountains of data in seconds. So, imagine you have a campaign to run. You need detailed market research, audience segmentation, personalized ad copies, and more to make it successful. You dont have to do it all yourself, Gen AI steps in here. It analyzes customer data like a pro, identifies key trends, and helps you craft messages that speak directly to individual customers. Its like having an intern who remembers every little detail about each customer and knows exactly what they want to hear. One of the biggest perks is the efficiency. Tasks that used to take days or even weeks can now be done in a flash. Plus, Gen AI is cost-effective. By automating repetitive tasks, it frees up your human team to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of your campaigns. However, you need to watch out for a few things. Despite its capabilities, Gen AI can sometimes miss that subtle human emotion and empathy that make marketing truly personal. Gen AI follows instructions perfectly but cant always gauge the nuances and emotional depth behind them. Thats why you must oversee it to ensure the messages remain genuine and relatable.
According to Ritesh Saraf, Co-Founder & CEO, Promilo, following are the pros and cons of Gen AI in marketing:
Pros: Gen AI enhances marketing by creating personalized ads based on user data such as browsing history, preferences, and demographics. This personalization increases engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, Gen AI automates content creation, campaign management, and data analysis, streamlining processes and reducing costs. The technology also provides valuable insights by analyzing large datasets, helping marketers understand customer behaviour and optimize strategies.
Cons: However, the use of Gen AI in marketing presents challenges. Privacy concerns arise from the collection and use of sensitive user data. The effectiveness of AI models heavily depends on the quality and accuracy of this data, which can be a limiting factor. Moreover, the initial implementation of Gen AI systems can be costly, requiring investment in technology, training, and integration.
He further added, Gen AI helps create targeted ads by analyzing data to predict user preferences and behaviours. It tailors content to individual interests, making ads more relevant and engaging. This leads to higher click-through and conversion rates, improving overall marketing effectiveness. However, maintaining data privacy and ethical use remains crucial to sustaining consumer trust.
Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions, pointed out, Gen AI leverages vast datasets to craft highly personalized ads, improving customer engagement and conversion rates. AI analyzes user behaviour, preferences, and purchase history to tailor content to individual needs. Automating repetitive tasks like data analysis, content creation, and customer segmentation saves time and resources, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity. AI provides actionable insights by identifying trends and patterns in customer data, enabling more informed marketing decisions and better targeting. AI systems can handle large volumes of data and execute campaigns across multiple channels simultaneously, ensuring consistent messaging and broad reach.
Pointing out the cons, Hamidani said, The extensive use of personal data raises privacy issues. Ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR and gaining user trust can be challenging. Integrating AI technologies requires significant investment in infrastructure, software, and talent, which may be prohibitive for smaller businesses. The effectiveness of AI-driven marketing heavily relies on the quality of data. Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to poor targeting and ineffective campaigns. The use of AI can raise ethical concerns, such as biased algorithms and the potential for manipulation through hyper-targeted ads. Gen AI helps create targeted and personalized ads by analyzing vast amounts of data to identify individual preferences and behaviors. It uses machine learning algorithms to segment audiences and predict future actions, allowing marketers to deliver relevant content at the right time. For example, AI can recommend products based on previous purchases or browsing history, ensuring that ads resonate with the user's interests. This level of personalization increases engagement, drives conversions, and enhances the overall customer experience.
Discussing the pros and cons of utilizing Gen AI in marketing, Joydeep Sen. Thinking Director, Speaking Mirror, said, Generative AI offers significant advantages in marketing by enabling the creation of highly targeted and personalized advertisements. Its ability to analyze large datasets and learn consumer preferences allows marketers to craft content that resonates with specific audience segments, enhancing engagement and conversion rates. For example, AI can generate personalized email campaigns, recommend products based on browsing history, and tailor advertisements to match individual consumer interests. However, while the benefits are substantial, there are also challenges to consider. A primary concern is the risk of data privacy breaches, as AI systems require access to vast amounts of consumer data. Additionally, the reliance on AI-generated content could lead to a lack of human creativity and authenticity in marketing campaigns, potentially alienating some customers. Balancing the efficiency of AI with the need for genuine, human-driven interaction is crucial for maximizing its effectiveness in marketing.
AI is poised to revolutionize traditional teaching methods by serving as a powerful tool to enhance both instruction and learning experiences. With advanced data analytics, AI can conduct real-time assessments, providing insights into student engagement, which will further guide teaching methods. By analyzing the time spent on specific topics, AI can predict students comprehension levels, enabling teachers to modify approaches for key areas where students may need additional support or enrichment. Another positive impact on student learning could be in the form of sentiment analysis. Such an analysis will help educators monitor student emotions and stress levels, allowing them to adjust the curriculum to optimize content delivery and pace, remarked Prashant Bhonsle, Founder of Kuhoo of Edtech.
Shivani Kamdar, Associate Creative Director, SoCheers opined: "The first pro is definitely the faster turnaround time in terms of conceptualisation and production. With the data that it shares, your ad creative can be based on targeted messaging thus making them a more personalised and effective piece of communication. Gen AI can generate new ideas and approaches, inspiring marketers to think outside the box and also prove to be a time efficient tool. The cons or the risks if we have to evaluate - first would be and its a no brainer - the lack of emotional connect! Thank God and technology for this, we wont be replaceable with AIs for the sheer lack of emotional resonance. The other problem that I see is that with everyone using the tool, somewhere storytelling might get templatised and well experience a fatigue period, unless there are any upgrades."
Delphin Varghese, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, AdCounty Media commented: "Cutting-edge innovations within the realm of generative AI have had a transformative impact on marketing. From augmenting automation to powering hyper-personalization, generative AI has been an indispensable part of every marketers toolkit. Generative AI makes scalable content creation seamless and less time-consuming. Besides, it also offers insights into consumer behaviour and trends that help marketers craft tailored ad campaigns and make data-driven decisions. Personalisation fosters improved customer experience that boosts brand loyalty and customer retention.On the downside, Generative AI can pose data privacy and security risks. Besides, AI might often fail to understand the nuances of human creativity and seem repetitive or incoherent in terms of quality of the output."
(Tomorrow: Part 2 of the report will dwell on the cost factor involved in using Gen AI for marketing, how Gen AI is helping marketers, the Dos and Donts manual for marketers, and more.)
Kia India, a leading premium carmaker, today announced the appointment of Mr. Joonsu Cho as the Chief Sales Officer. Mr. Cho was elevated to the CSO role from being the company's Regional Manager (Eastern Region) for the company. In his new role, Mr. Joonsu Cho will be responsible for driving the company's sales initiatives, enhancing operational efficiencies, and steering its long-term growth plans.
Mr. Joonsu Cho brings 32 years of experience in the automotive industry. He has held leadership positions globally, including Kia headquarters in Australia, the UK, and Europe. Before his tenure in India, he held the role of CEO to Kia Australia, playing a pivotal role in driving the company's growth and success in the country.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Joonsu Cho, Chief Sales Officer, Kia India, said, I am excited to step into the role of Chief Sales Officer at Kia India. Our commitment to delivering innovative products and fostering sustainable growth is stronger than ever. As we expand our product line, I will focus on enhancing our sales strategies, strengthening our dealer network, and ensuring we continue delivering innovative products that resonate with Indian consumers. Together, we will drive forward and continue shaping a bright future for our company and customers.
Kia India continues to strengthen its leadership team, reaffirming its commitment to delivering cutting-edge products and sustainable solutions to its customers.
Landor announces the promotion of Lulu Raghavan to the role of President, APAC.
Lulu has been with Landor for 23 years and brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the branding industry. Throughout her tenure, she has held various roles across several geographies (San Francisco, New York,London and Mumbai). She will remain based in Mumbai and report to Christian Schroeder, Global President of Landor.
Lulu Raghavan said: "I am honoured to take on the role of President for the APAC region. This is an exciting time for Landor, and I am eager to build on our strong foundation and continue to drive innovation and growth. I look forward to working closely with our talented teams across APAC to deliver exceptional value to our clients."
Christian Schroeder, said; "We are very excited to see Lulu step into the APAC President role. Her extensive experience, dedication, and innovative approach make her the perfect fit to lead the region. I am personally delighted for Lulu, and confident that she will continue to drive growth and excellence across our APAC offices."
Meta Platforms has reported total revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, an increase of 22% year-over-year. Revenue on a constant currency basis would have increased 23% year-over-year.
Ad impressions delivered across Metas family of apps increased by 10% year-over-year. Average price per ad increased by 10% year-over-year.
Family daily active people (DAP) was 3.27 billion on average for June 2024, an increase of 7% year-over-year.
Commenting on the Q2 performance, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, said, We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year. Weve released the first frontier-level open source AI model, we continue to see good traction with our Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and we're driving good growth across our apps.
CFO Outlook Commentary
Meta expects third quarter 2024 total revenue to be in the range of $38.5-41 billion. The companys guidance assumes foreign currency is a 2% headwind to year-over-year total revenue growth, based on current exchange rates.
Meta expects full-year 2024 total expenses to be in the range of $96-99 billion, unchanged from its prior outlook. For Reality Labs, Meta continues to expect 2024 operating losses to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to its ongoing product development efforts and investments to further scale its ecosystem.
In addition, Meta will continue to monitor an active regulatory landscape, including the increasing legal and regulatory headwinds in the EU and the US that could significantly impact its business and financial results.
In a pivotal move towards empowering women entrepreneurs and spurring economic growth, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is excited to unveil the Women Entrepreneurship Program. This initiative, aims to tackle the challenges faced by women in entrepreneurship by offering crucial skills, knowledge, and networking opportunities.
The program has been launched with the introduction of complimentary self-learning basic entrepreneurship courses available in multiple languages on the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH). Upon completion of these courses, participants will receive a co-branded certificate from NSDC, Britannia Industries and National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), acknowledging their entrepreneurial skills and competencies. This initiative aims to empower approximately 25 lakh women across India, providing them with the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to start and grow successful businesses.
The initiative will culminate in a grand finale where the top 50 contestants will present their business ideas to a distinguished jury. To further encourage innovation and excellence, Britannia Industries will award financial grants of 10 lakh rupees each to 10 of the most successful contestants.
At the launch of this program, Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, GOI said, It is our privilege that Britannia has partnered with us, focusing on women entrepreneurship.
We have achieved significant progress in entrepreneurship through NIESBUD and special programs with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Rural Development and other ministries. We are also collaborating closely with other corporates and government departments, to provide skill training to women's self-help groups, whether individually or collectively, and to help organize them into various business entities.
In the skilling segment, under Jan Shikshan Sansthan, 82% of our trainees are women. In the PMKVY short-term training program, close to 45% of the participants are women.
Echoing this sentiment, Shri Ved Mani Tiwari, COO (Officiating CEO), NSDC & MD, NSDC International stated, Today, this program is about women-led entrepreneurship and aligns with the Prime Ministers vision for women development. One of the most important component of this is that private and public sector organisation are going together telling women to have entrepreneurial ambitions. From Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao to Lakhpati Didi, India has travelled a lot of distance when it comes to women development.
Speaking about Britannias motivation to join forces with NSDC, Shri Rajneet Singh Kohli, CEO and Executive Director, Britannia Industries, said Britannia Marie Golds vision is to help women entrepreneurs to soar together to do more. Our MoU with the National Skill Development Corporation is a game-changer for women's empowerment in India. By providing free courses and advanced training to millions of aspiring women entrepreneurs, we are not just opening doors but breaking down barriers. This partnership amplifies our commitment to creating a nurturing ecosystem where women can lead, innovate, and drive our economy forward. Together, we are empowering women to reach their full potential.
The Indian government is dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs through opportunities for essential skills development, access to free self-learning courses, and comprehensive incubation support. This program is designed to address the distinct challenges that women face when starting and growing businesses. In partnership with Britannia Industries Limited, the initiative will also offer financial grants and feature their products and services on the Skill India Digital Hub, reflecting a strong commitment to fostering an inclusive environment for women entrepreneurs.
Aligning with the governments commitment to fostering women's entrepreneurship, this program will be implemented in multiple phases to ensure comprehensive support and maximum impact.
Divided into two phases, NSDC, with support from the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), will offer free online self-learning entrepreneurship courses through the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH). These courses, available in multiple languages, will cover crucial topics such as entrepreneurial skills, enterprise setup, finance basics, digital skills, and market analysis.
In the next phase, NSDC extends robust incubation support to 10,000 shortlisted contestants across 100 business models. This support encompasses business model selection, entrepreneurship development programs, industrial workshops, business registration assistance, project report preparation, and guidance on funding through various government entrepreneurship and startup schemes. Additionally, participants products and services will be highlighted on SIDHs e-commerce platform, UdhyamKart and Britannias digital ecosystem for women entrepreneurship.
NSDC will conduct periodic impact assessments to evaluate the success and sustainability of the supported businesses, ensuring the programs long-term effectiveness.
This initiative marks a significant effort to broaden the reach and visibility of women-led enterprises, creating a supportive ecosystem that empowers women entrepreneurs to realize their full potential. The partnership between NSDC and Britannia highlights a shared commitment to cultivating an environment where women entrepreneurs can flourish and significantly contribute to Indias economic advancement.
Authored by Kumar Saurav, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, AdCounty Media
India has witnessed an upward trend when it comes to smartphone adoption and it can be hailed as the cornerstone of Indias advertising landscape. Seamless internet connectivity alongside the availability of affordable and feature-packed smartphones have propelled the industry to unimaginable heights. This has been the driving force behind brands utilising mobile advertising to tap into a heterogenous user base in a country populated by 141.72 crores people.
India ranks 2nd after China in terms of smartphone users (659 million, as of 2024). Businesses can make the most of this ecosystem of mobile advertising to connect with potential customers in innovative and impactful ways.
Mobile advertisers can leverage this humongous user base to craft targeted ad campaigns which would consequently boost the overall engagement and conversion rates. A Dentsu report suggests that the digital advertising industry is projected to surpass the Rs 62,000 crore mark, by 2025, with mobile advertising claiming a significant share in the ever-changing digital advertising terrain. Around 73% of the Indian advertising revenue is expected to come from mobile advertising by 2027 (IBEF report).
Social media has become an indispensable part of humans with an increasing number of people glued to their screens 24*7.A report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggests that roughly 84% of Indians check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. An App Annie report suggests that Indian users spend approximately 4.6 hours everyday on their mobile phones, making it a lucrative opportunity to tap into a vast user base.
Advertisers can capitalise on this trend to reach out to their audiences through the device they are most active on to drive user engagement. With approximately 462 million social media users (as of January 2024), applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can serve as fertile grounds for building stronger connections with consumers. From enabling hyper-personalisation to providing sophisticated targeting options, these platforms help brands to establish real-time connections with their audiences and boost brand visibility.
There has been an unprecedented rise in video content in the mobile marketing realm in recent years. The major reason behind is the undeniable power of videos to capture attention and drive engagement. A Google study reveals that mobile video ads have the highest click-through rates in contrast to other ad formats.Video ads have the ability to evoke emotions unlike static image or text-based ads. According to SocialPilot video will constitute 82% of the total internet traffic. The video ad spending is projected to cross $450 billion by 2025. Brands can use platforms like YouTube, Instagram, etc. to showcase their products and services by creating visually appealing bite-sized videos that are easy to comprehend and engage with. Content consumption habits have undergone a massive change since the proliferation of smartphones. Apart from being immensely engaging, video ads help brands connect with their audience at an emotional level through story-telling. Programmatic video ads and personalised video content offer a more personalised experience and interactive elements incorporated within them foster better engagement rates.
The importance of mobile marketing is also underscored by the e-commerce boom and the rise of online shopping. E-commerce giants heavily invest in mobile advertising to peak interest of consumers, and to acquire and retain them. Technological innovations like AI and ML, will unlock greater opportunities within the mobile advertising environment.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.
WPPs Leading marketing transformation company VML India today launches a report titled Employee Experience (EX) and why it matters. Findings from the report show that improving EX can influence organisational credibility, perception management and ultimately, Customer Experience (CX) and revenue.
Organisations need to understand what matters to the employees and provide them with the right environment, people, resources and ways of working. An optimal EX is an intricate symphony of integrating functional operations, culture and human elements to significantly enhance brand performance.
The report reveals that a superior EX is associated with a 27% increase in revenue from new products. Furthermore, employees with a positive experience are 1.5 times more likely to find satisfaction in customer interactions.
According to the report, Employee Experience (EX) has moved from a series of isolated projects into a dynamic, continuously evolving process, influenced by industry and cultural factors. EX programs are distinctly different from traditional HR initiatives: they are organic and driven by Employee Data Experience (EDX), focused on addressing the organisation's unmet needs, and require strong leadership backing. Additionally, EX programs are measurable and must be designed with clear metrics in mind.
VML's approach to EX represents a connected, system-based strategy that integrates various aspects of employee experience and their impact on organizational performance. The agency believes that EX Transformation is movement of shared goals which cannot be achieved top-down. To create a movement, an organisation needs to stir emotions, incite action, provide pathways, and rally employees, with quick wins, to achieve a shared business goal.
Babita Baruah, CEO - VML India said, " We believe that unlocking the potential of the employee experience is an important part of customizing brand experiences. Our research demonstrates factors that derive from brand loyalty, such as service quality, quality of deals, quality of inventory, and personalized experience, are directly influenced by employee experience. Improving EX requires organizations to have a clear strategy tailored to their unique challenges, supported by continuous listening and improvement."
Payal Vaidya, Chief Experience Officer, VML India said, EX has evolved into a dynamic, ever-changing process unique to each department. Identifying the right mindset helps align thoughts that influence how clients perceive their path to success. By integrating EX, employees can identify the resources needed to excel in their specific roles with the organization. The VML EX Approach begins with a clear strategy designed to solve problems unique to every organization, paving the way for continuous execution and success.
VML's EX transformation focuses on fostering a mindset of success by identifying key areas and drivers of change. It's crucial to understand that employees will embrace their mindset and practices towards BAU only if they see a point in the change and agree with it.
Also read: Saurabh Saksena launches Next Wave Worldwide after departing VML India
A pair of young creatives based in India is among the select group of winners from 11 countries in the 2024 Ascenders competition from the Type Directors Club, the worlds leading typography organization. Winners for 2024 based in India are Namrata Goyal, a type designer in Alwar, and Maithili Shingre, a type designer at Ek Type Mumbai.
Ascenders, which celebrates typographers, lettering artists, and type designers ages 35 and under, is the worlds premier portfolio-based competition dedicated to type in all its versatile forms, and the inspiring designers individuals or duos who are elevating the medium.
This years Ascenders, selected by an esteemed jury of typography and type design professionals, join prominent past winners, including Au Chon Hin (2022), Kevin Cantrell (2018), Roxane Gataud (2022), Gemma OBrien (2022), Juan Carlos Pagan (2018), Tre Seals (2018), and others.
TDC, part of The One Club for Creativity, will host a reception for the 2024 Ascenders and scholarship winners on August 14, 2024, at the clubs gallery space in New York.
Wavemaker India, the most awarded agency of GroupM, has recently bagged the integrated media mandate for Taco Bell, the well-known American fast-food chain that offers Mexican-inspired cuisine.
The account will be handled out of Wavemakers Delhi Office. Wavemaker India will be responsible for developing and executing innovative media strategies across various online and offline channels. The partnership will focus on bolstering Taco Bell's brand visibility, and establishing the brand as a leading player in the rapidly growing Indian fast-food landscape.
Speaking about the partnership, Kunal Malhotra, Chief Marketing Officer Taco Bell said, We are delighted to partner with some of the best minds at Wavemaker as we set out to build Taco Bell as one the most loved QSR brands in India. We are sure that with the media prowess at Wavemaker, we will together establish Taco Bell as food which the new generation of Indian consumers love, by giving them a Loaded with More experience - with Taco Bell Food as well as our communication.
Taco Bell in partnership with Wavemaker, recently launched its latest large scale campaign Loaded with more, showcasing the brand's commitment to delivering crave-worthy, Mexican-inspired cuisine. Orchestrated by Wavemaker and brought to life by the creative powerhouses Media.Monks and Creativeland Productions, the campaign encourages consumers to explore new offerings like the Loaded with More Crispy Chalupa Taco or the 7 Layer Burrito.
The revamped Taco Bell menu promises an enhanced dining experience with more taste, flavors, fillings, portion sizes, and variety, all while offering exceptional value to customers.
Commenting on this partnership, Ajay Gupte, CEO South Asia, Wavemaker, We are excited to welcome a dynamic brand like Taco Bell to our family. We are thrilled to explore new opportunities and build innovative strategies that resonate with Taco Bell's unique vision. By fusing our expertise with their bold spirit, we're confident of creating something truly exceptional.
Shekhar Banerjee, Chief Client Officer and Office Head for West, North & East, Wavemaker India stated, Taco Bell isnt just about food; its about creating memorable, engaging experiences. Winning this mandate is a call to unleash unparalleled creativity and collaboration that Wavemaker is known for.
Our debut large-scale campaign, Loaded with More, exemplifies this vision. Our media strategy for this dynamic brand was focused on maximizing mental availability in a high cluttered category and sparking conversation and 'wow' factor that truly resonates with consumers. We will continue to harness diverse channels, our exclusive partnerships and platforms for Taco Bell.
Taco Bell is a global leader in Mexican inspired Cuisine. Started in 1962, the brand has over 7000 restaurants across multiple countries globally. In India, Taco Bell has a strong presence of 130+ restaurants across 30+ cities.
Meta has agreed to pay a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas to clear its privacy lawsuit over allegations of using facial recognition data of users without consent.
The company faced the same allegations and settled it with a $650 million agreement last 2021 as Facebook in Illinois.
Read Also : Meta Oversight Board Recommends Update on Deepfake Policies
Meta Resolves Biometric Lawsuit With Texas
In a statement, Meta shared that the situation is now resolved. The company also stated that it is looking forward to creating opportunities, especially the potential of developing data centers in the state.
"This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world's biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans' privacy rights," said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, argued that Meta has violated the state law that prohibits companies from collecting and selling biometric information, such as face and fingerprint, without any permission.
Meta Experiences Increased Expenses With Settlements
According to a Chicago-based class action attorney Jay Edelson, Meta has already paid more than $2 billion to settle lawsuits against its biometric privacy violations. In 2021, Facebook decided to delete and remove its facial recognition procedure.
More than a third of Facebook's daily active users had chosen to use the facial recognition feature to log in to their accounts. The social media platform also stopped the automatic facial tagging and left the choice to its users.
"That is a huge signal to other companies that they should be extremely careful if they want to trade in individuals' biometric information," Edelson added.
The $2 billion cost of settlement is only a small portion of Meta's overall revenue which totaled $36.46 billion for the first three months of 2024.
Image: Reuters
Hours after the deaths of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday said that his nation has delivered crushing blows to enemies in the last few days, CNN reported.
Netanyahu, during the address to the nation, however, didnt claim Israels responsibility for Haniyehs killing. Notably, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind Haniyehs assassination.
Three weeks ago, we attacked the military chief of Hamas, Mohammad Deif. Two weeks ago we attacked the Houthis, in one of the farthest attacks the Air Force has carried out. Yesterday we attacked the military chief of Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, the Israeli PM said.
Netanyahu said Israel is facing challenging days and it will settle score with anyone who harms the country.
These are challenging days. There are threats From Beirut. We are ready for any scenario. We are prepared, CNN quoted him as saying.
Well settle the score with anyone who harms us, anyone who massacres our children, anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who hurts our nation, blood is on his head, Netanyahu added.
He further affirmed that Israel will keep fighting until the aims of the war are achieved.
Netanyahu referenced previous calls he has received to end the war in Gaza, saying, I did not give in then and I am not giving in today.
Reacting to Haniyehs death, the White House said it cant confirm or verify reports from Hamas that the groups political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
The United States National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, however, acknowledged that the deaths of Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr in southern Beirut Tuesday certainly dont help with the temperature going down.
Im not going to be Pollyannish about it were obviously concerned about escalation, Kirby told reporters during Wednesdays White House press briefing. All of this adds to the complicated nature of what were trying to get done.
In another development, Hezbollah confirmed the death of senior commander Fuad Shukr on Wednesday, as reported by CNN.
We celebrate the great jihadist leader, dear beloved brother Fuad Shukr (Moshin), as a great martyr on the path to Jerusalem, Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel said on Tuesday itself, that its strike in Beirut killed Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly Saturday attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 children.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas announced a national day of mourning Wednesday over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as he condemned the killing as a cowardly act and dangerous development., the Times of Israel reported.
Palestinian flags were flown at half-staff for the day, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported, as Palestinian factions announced a general strike and called for demonstrations in the West Bank.
Notably, the mourning for the leader of the terror group marked a rare moment of Palestinian unity amid fragmentation and uncertainty about Gazas future leadership after the war.
SC Refuses to Stay Patna HC Decision Striking Down Hike in Quota in Bihar 2
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Courts decision striking down the law introduced to enhance reservation from 50 per cent to 65 per cent for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Bihar.
Refusing to pass any interim relief, a Bench presided over by CJI Chandrachud agreed to examine the state governments plea seeking restoration of the quota hike, which was applicable in jobs and educational institutions in Bihar.
The matter is listed for final hearing in September, 2024.
In a major blow to the state government, the Patna High Court, in its June 20 judgment, nullified amendments passed by the Bihar Assembly in 2023, saying that they violated the equality clause under Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution.
The quota was raised by the Bihar government after it carried out a caste survey in the state.
In a notification issued in November 2023, it sought to amend the existing reservation laws.
Several petitions were filed in the Patna High Court challenging the decision of the Nitish Kumar government.
The pleas contended that as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court judgments, reservation cant extend beyond 50 per cent.
The impugned law would have brought the quota to a total of 75 per cent in the state, which included 20 per cent for SCs, 2 per cent for STs, 25 per cent for Extremely Backward Classes, 18 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent for Economically Backward Classes.
Wayanad Landslides: Over 200 Deaths, Bodies Being Recovered, Says NDRF DIG Mohsen Shahidi 2
Over 200 deaths have been reported and bodies are being recovered in the aftermath of massive landslides that struck Wayanad, Kerala, early Thursday. DIG Mohsen Shahidi stated that numerous central force teams are on the ground to aid in the rescue operations.
The landslides in Mundakkai and Churalmala have led to extensive destruction and injury to hundreds, as confirmed by the Kerala Revenue Department. Rescue teams, including the Indian Army and NDRF, are working tirelessly to recover bodies and provide aid. More than 150 people were rescued on the first day, and the efforts continue.
Keralas Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan chaired a meeting to discuss the ongoing rescue operations and assured swift rehabilitation for the affected. Rescue efforts are further supported by assistant collectors from neighboring districts. The Chief Minister plans to visit the affected areas later today.
U.S. Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) unveiled two bills Wednesday that aim to help families, workers and businesses amid the growing child care crisis.
The legislative proposals hope to make child care more affordable and accessible for families, provide financial bonuses for child care workers and incentivize businesses to offer child care. The bills would expand parents tax credits and increase resources for local businesses.
My husband, Wesley and I had our own challenges as we went through the journey as new parents, Britt said Wednesday. By addressing affordability and accessibility, our legislation will save hard working parents money.
More than half of all American families live in child care deserts, according to the Center of American Progress. In 2022, almost 85,000 Alabama families needed access to child care but had no affordable, quality options in their communities, according to the Womens Foundation of Alabama.
Over the last three decades, the cost of child care has increased by 220%, forcing families to make impossible choices between work, bills and child care. In Alabama, mothers have reported having to file for bankruptcy or having to choose between buying household essentials like toilet paper or paying for child care.
Those choices cost the countrys economy, to the tune of $122 billion in economic losses each year, according to a 2023 Council for a Strong America report.
When the cost of child care is that high, parents face the question of whether or not its financially rational to return to work, and for many its not even a question. Its unaffordable, and it leaves them with no realistic option, Britt said.
On top of that, child care workers are struggling to make ends meet, with some opting to leave the industry for better wages, and child care providers are struggling to simply stay afloat.
Britt said this new legislation will provide relief for all parties. In a news release, Kaine added that he was proud to work on the issue.
Britt said she believes the legislation is realistic and has a chance of passage.
The legislation would increase the size of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (not to be confused with the existing Child Tax Credit) and make it refundable, allowing lower income working families with out-of-pocket child care expenses to benefit from the credit for the first time. The proposal expands the maximum tax credit to $2,500 for families with one child and $4,000 for families with two or more children.
The proposal also would strengthen the Dependent Care Assistance Program by allowing families to deduct 50% more in expenses, up to $7,500.
Britts plan could also bolster the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit to encourage businesses to provide child care to their employees by increasing the maximum credit from $150,000 to $500,000 and the percentage of expenses covered from 25% to 50%.
The legislation also includes a larger incentive for small businesses, a maximum credit of $600,000, and allows for joint applications for groups of small businesses who want to pool resources.
Our state is made up of main streets full of small businesses that give character to each and every community. We want those small businesses to thrivewe think that this will be a game changer for so many of them, Britt said.
For child care workers, the Child Care Workforce Act will establish a competitive grant program for states, localities, tribes and tribal organizations that are interested in adopting or expanding pay supplement programs for child care workers to reduce turnover.
This story has been updated.
This is another installment in Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series Beyond the Violence. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Jerica Magee, 29, a single mother of five, got help paying her rent one month last spring.
The reason? Her three oldest children logged perfect attendance at Oxmoor Valley Elementary School.
I wasnt working at the time and was asking my family to help me. It was a struggle to get the money that I needed to pay my rent with my childrens needs, and household needs and bills, Magee said. So this was a big blessing to me because I was struggling and I was in need.
Birmingham, which recently has seen high rates of absenteeism in the city school district, started a program in January to encourage more families in public housing to get children into classrooms. Each month, students with perfect attendance are entered into a monthly Every Day Counts drawing where one qualified household is chosen from each of the housing authoritys 13 eligible properties.
The awards, $300 toward the households rent, are sponsored by community partners and coordinated by the City of Birmingham, Birmingham City Schools and the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District.
Officials say the program is improving school attendance. And with the districts first day of school quickly approaching on Aug. 5, theyre going to keep drawing names through the 2024-25 school year.
Magee said that with the money she saved on rent, she bought diapers and household products for her children, ages one, two, six, eight and 10.
She said she always made sure they got to school on time every day, so she was happy for the additional reward.
Its definitely important to get your kids to school on time and make sure that they go to school every day because education is just so important, Magee said. I definitely believe that children being in school keeps them out of trouble.
Birmingham City Schools faces a high rate of chronic absenteeism; last year, local officials sounded alarms about the amount of students missing school.
About 23% of local students were chronically absent in 2022-23, higher than the statewide rate of 18%, according to the most recent information available. Many districts have seen increasing rates of absenteeism since the pandemic.
Regular school attendance of school-aged children is a requirement of housing authority lease agreements and state law.
Kids stay home for many reasons: finances, housing instability, illness, transportation issues, school staffing shortages, anxiety, depression, bullying or generally feeling unwelcome at school, experts say.
Absent students miss out not only on what is being taught in class but also on all the other things schools provide such as free meals, counseling, socialization and safety. Students who are chronically absent are at higher risk of not learning to read and eventually dropping out.
Addressing absenteeism often requires addressing those root causes.
When children are not in school, there are issues that arise. The impact that we see is that when theyre in school, theyre not getting into trouble or getting mixed up in crime, or violence or things like that, said Larry Williams, chief housing and program officer of the housing authority.
The department also is working with residents to ensure students have transportation and help with homework.
Some of them have actually been in financial situations to where this has really helped them prevent eviction, Williams said. Were helping kids get to school by tackling the underlying issues and providing supportive services.
Williams said every month the pot has more names to draw from. That shows, officials said, that more families are making a point of getting children to classrooms every day.
At the first Every Day Counts drawing in January, there were only 2 qualified households in the drawing. In February, there were 135 qualified households, 155 in March, 210 in April and 196 in May, according housing authority officials.
So far, officials have awarded 53 families a total of $16,000.
All parents should know that its important for their children to be at school, to get an education, so that they can grow and be successful as possible, Magee said.
Alaina Bookmans role at AL.com and the Beyond the Violence collaborative is supported by Report for America and individual contributions. Support her work today.
Besides juggling class registration, extracurricular activities, and sports, students must also consider dress code and policies on prohibited items.
Some Alabama school districts are updating their dress code and their messaging to families about appropriate attire before the first day of school. Some rules are familiar; some may leave families scratching their heads.
On Wednesday, parents at Sparkman High School in Madison County received a notice saying students could not wear Crocs.
Later, in another email, the school clarified that students can wear the popular sandals, but should be cautious when the ground is wet.
Madison Countys dress code specifies no hats or sunglasses at school; no bonnets or bandanas; no tights as pants; no pants with holes above the knee; and no headbands. And no house shoes or slippers.
Bessemer City also wants to crack down on shoes.
No flip-flops, slides or slippers (house shoes) are allowed, according to current the student handbook, circulated this summer. Shoes with heels are inappropriate for elementary school students. Only shoes appropriate for the school environment, with safety being the primary concern, may be worn.
Baldwin County kindergarten through sixth graders are ditching uniforms this year, and will follow the districts dress code, which similarly has safety and modesty rules.
Foley Elementary reminded parents that shirts shouldnt depict logos or words that are graphic or vulgar. And elementary school students shouldnt wear flip flops or Crocs.
Safety and the ability to consistently monitor student activities are a concern for many rules.
Several school systems, such as Bessemer, mandate clear, transparent, or mesh backpacks and bookbags.
Some Tuscaloosa County schools recently told parents that students can only bring a clear water bottle to school for refills.
When in doubt, check your local schools recent emails and messages, and the handbook. Rules may vary from school to school within districts.
Keep these tips in mind to prepare for the first day of school:
1) Many schools require that students should wear closed-toe and closed-heel shoes. That means no slippers or flip-flops.
2) Ensure students wear jackets or long-sleeved shirts to stay warm inside. Several school systems, like Tuscaloosa City Schools and Madison County Schools, allow children to wear casual clothing like hoodies, but ask that students keep hoods down and faces uncovered on school premises.
4) When in doubt, check the handbook: Schools and school systems generally include a dress code in the student/parent handbook. Ask school administrators how to obtain a copy and ask if its up to date.
In its long and colorful 94-year history, The Ark restaurant in the small St. Clair County town of Riverside has had just four owners.
Now, after nearly a century, the iconic Alabama restaurant famous for its fried catfish and butterfly shrimp has a second home, too.
Kyle Ostermeyer, who bought The Ark two years ago, has opened a new location in Springville, about a 30-minute drive from the one in Riverside.
The second-edition Ark, on Main Street in the heart of downtown, was formerly the longtime home of the old Springville Cafe and, more recently, Top Notch Cafe and Catering.
The main draw for Ostermeyer was Springvilles small-town charm, he says.
It still has that, I like to call it, Hallmark movie feel -- that small town, Norman Rockwell-ish type feeling, Ostermeyer says. With who we are as a restaurant and how we started in a small town, Riverside, I thought that was pretty cool.
Since opening the restaurant, Ostermeyer says he is seeing lots of new faces that he never saw in Riverside.
I would say its probably about 80 percent new business, he says. Theres a lot of people that just never made it out there (to Riverside).
So, its the word of mouth, he adds. Its like, Hey, did yall hear The Ark opened in Springville? . . . Youve got to try it.
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Shirley Abts bought The Ark restaurant in Riverside in 2013 and ran it for nearly a decade before she sold it to current onwer Kyle Ostermeyer in 2022. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
A new beginning
Before buying The Ark, Ostermeyer worked as a food sales rep, and he used to call on each of the Riverside restaurants previous two owners -- Shirley Abts, who ran The Ark for more than a decade, and her predecessor, Sylvia Cornett, who, along with her husband, Bob, owned the restaurant for more than 30 years.
So he is well-versed in the restaurants history.
Abts had come out of retirement to buy The Ark from Sylvia Cornett in 2013, but after running it for nearly a decade, she mentioned to Ostermeyer that she was ready to sell the restaurant and retire for good this time.
Ive never had a restaurant before, but my whole life has been in the food and beverage industry in some form, Ostermeyer says. You go into these restaurants, and you call on successful owner-operators and you see what works. . . .
Shirley was wanting to retire, he adds. It was one of those things. I hadnt thought about buying it. It wasnt on the top of my list. And then one day, Im just like, What do you think? Me and my wife talked about it and decided its something that we wanted to do.
I mean, there were very few restaurants I would have bought, but that one had everything, Ostermeyer continues. It had the history and the customers and the story behind it.
This rustic sign, which is almost hidden by trees, lets customers know they have arrived at The Ark restaurant in Riverside(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
A colorful history
That history goes back to around 1930, when A.J. Bud Thompson took an old river barge and converted it into a restaurant and bar that he christened The Ark.
At a time when both St. Clair and Talladega counties were dry and didnt allow alcohol sales, Thompson got around that inconvenience by anchoring The Ark about 30 feet out in the Coosa River. Customers arrived by boat or via a narrow walkway that led from the riverbank to the barge.
The floating restaurant, as Marie West Cromer wrote in a 1990 Birmingham News story, was like an oasis between dry counties.
RELATED: The colorful history behind a timeless Alabama restaurant
The old barge later burned and sank, according to newspaper accounts, and Thompson moved The Ark to dry land, building a log-cabin structure on the west bank of the Coosa River.
When a fire destroyed that building, too, The Ark settled into its current location on U.S. 78, just south of the Coosa River bridge, in the early 1960s.
With its proximity to the nearby Talladega Superspeedway, which opened in 1969, The Ark became a destination for visiting NASCAR drivers and their fans on race weeks at the Talladega track.
The Ark is famous for its fried catfish and butterfly shrimp, which have been featured on the Alabama Tourism Department's list of "100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die."(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
A tried-and-true menu
In 1997, the Catfish Institute named The Ark one of the Top 10 restaurants in America to eat catfish, and more recently, the restaurant was a finalist in the 2018 Bamas Best Catfish Restaurant Challenge sponsored by the Alabama Catfish Producers.
The Arks catfish and shrimp have also been included on the Alabama Tourism Departments list of 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.
When he took over The Ark two years ago, Ostermeyer was wise not to tinker with the menu or the recipes although he was tempted.
Id rather put green onions in the hush puppies, but you dont reinvent the wheel, he says. Its working. It doesnt matter what I like. It matters what the customers like.
Im not changing anything, he adds. Our coleslaw is four simple ingredients, and weve been doing it that way forever. Im not about to change it.
In addition to its famous catfish and shrimp, The Ark menu includes a ribeye, a hamburger steak, chicken tenders, chicken livers, po boys, a burger and a Philly cheesesteak, along with a selection of appetizers, salads, sides and desserts.
The Ark restaurant began in Riverside in 1930, and current owner Kyle Ostermeyer opened a second location in this building in downtown Springville in April 2024. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
A second home
Last summer, Ostermeyer reached out to another one of his old clients from his food rep days, Top Notch Catering owner Tommy Jones, who had opened a lunch spot to go along with his catering business in the old Springville Cafe location.
They got to talking, and when Jones expressed an interest in selling the building, Ostermeyer told him he might want to buy it as a second home for The Ark.
As he did when he bought the Riverside Ark, Ostermeyer felt a connection to the building and the town.
I know what that building means to the community, he says. I remember it being the Springville Cafe and Tina (Baran) owning it, and I remember calling on Tina. I had a good feeling about what this would do here.
Ostermeyer closed on the building last fall and spent the next few months giving it a total makeover -- knocking out an interior dividing wall to open the dining room, replacing the ceiling with black vinyl tiles, staining and sealing the concrete floors, painting the exterior charcoal gray and installing corrugated tin awnings over the entrance.
We essentially bought a shell of a building, and we redid everything, he says. There were a lot of tears because we did a lot of that on our own.
The restaurant, which seats 116 guests, opened in early April.
Were doing well, Ostermeyer says. Its good to see those new people coming in the door. . . . Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday after church are our biggest days.
Ostermeyer and his wife, Amanda, live nearby in Trussville, and he splits his time between the old Ark in Riverside and the new location in Springville.
I dont have off days, he says. Im three days at Riverside and four days here.
The new-look Ark in the old Springville Cafe features black tile ceilings and polished concrete floors. (Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)
The next chapter
After buying the old restaurant and opening a new one, its Ostermeyers turn to write the next chapter in The Arks history.
Im the fourth owner in 94 years of The Ark, he says. I was the food rep for the previous two owners, so Ive been part of The Ark in some form or fashion for a while.
We try to do a good job, he adds. Shirley (Abts) did the same thing before me, and Sylvia (Cornett) did the same thing before her. . . . .
Thats the scariest thing, is to make sure that it succeeds to the next owner.
The Springville location of The Ark is at 6204 Main Street. The phone is 205-467-0252. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
The Riverside location of The Ark is at 13030 U.S. 78. The phone is 205-338-7420. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
For more information, go here.
For those who havent eaten at Magnolia Point, the new restaurant in a 90-year-old building on Birminghams Southside, Saturday may be your day to check it out.
Thats when the restaurant -- which boasts a billboard-sized mural of the late Willie J. Perry, the everyday hero known as Birminghams Batman -- will celebrate Willie Perry Day with a special menu and cocktail in his honor.
From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Magnolia Point will offer some of Perrys favorite foods -- including fried chicken, mac and cheese, pinto beans and chocolate cake -- as well as a Kool Aid-inspired cocktail.
Commemorative placemats at each table will share more about Perrys story, and guests will have an opportunity to get photos of themselves alongside the Birminghams Batman mural.
In the early 1980s, Perry cruised the streets of Birmingham in a 1971 Ford Thunderbird that he called the Rescue Ship, helping stranded motorists whose cars were out of gas or had a flat tire or a dead battery.
He was also known to drive those without a car to their doctors appointments and to give kids a ride in the Rescue Ship on their birthdays.
He was the AAA for the inner city, Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson, who was in elementary school when Perry was making his rounds, said in a 2015 interview with AL.com. He was the AAA we never had. He was the Meals on Wheels. He was the party organizer.
This photograph of the late Willie J. Perry's Rescue Ship was taken when the car was on display at Old Car Heaven in Birmingham in 2015. Perry's family now has the car in storage.(Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)
Like the Batmobile, Perrys Rescue Ship was equipped with all sorts of electronic gadgetry, including a TV, a stereo system, an Atari video console, a toaster oven, and in the days before Waze, an electric address finder.
Youll find people are not going to stop for anyone whos in trouble, especially in rush hour, Perry said in a 1982 interview. Batman was known for helping people in distress. And thats my image, too.
Perry died in 1985 of carbon monoxide poisoning when the door to his garage closed while he was working on his Rescue Ship.
In 1982, then Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. declared Aug. 3 as Willie Perry Day in Birmingham, and its been celebrated with sporadic events ever since.
RELATED: New restaurant breathes life into an old Birmingham building
Michael Mouron of Capstone Real Estate Investments owns the Magnolia Point building, and he commissioned Birmingham street artist Marcus Fetch to paint a mural on the north wall of the restaurant.
It was Fetchs idea to honor Perry and his Rescue Ship
Everybody loved him, Fetch told AL.com earlier this year. The whole city loved him. He was an icon.
Fetch and his partner, spray paint artist Dewon Moton, finished the mural earlier this year. While they were painting, Moton dressed up in a red jumpsuit and white helmet to channel the spirit of Perry.
Willie J. Perry was a beloved Birmingham legend whose Good Samaritan acts left an indelible mark on the city, Mouron, the developer, said in a statement.
By commissioning this mural at Magnolia Point, our hope is to not only pay homage to his story and impact but also remind the community the importance of treating others the way we would all hope to be treated if in need.
Magnolia Point is at 2234 Magnolia Ave. South in Birmingham, Ala. The phone is 205-732-7146. For more information, go here.
The Admiral Hotel, a downtown Mobile landmark since 1940, has reopened after extensive renovations that leave it with a new identity heavily predicated on the French heritage of one of Mobiles founders, and a top-tier steakhouse due to open later in August.
The hotel was built in 1940 and named The Admiral Semmes in honor of a Confederate commerce raider, Raphael Semmes, who became an honored public figure in Mobile after the Civil War. Its fortunes rose and fell in the following decades. For a period in the early 70s, aspiring songwriter Jimmy Buffett played in the Admirals Corner bar for $10 a night plus tips. The hotel closed in 1978 and was on the verge of a new life as a retirement home, Admiral Semmes Manor, before damage from Hurricane Frederic put an end to that plan.
The building changed hands several times from the 80s onward and underwent at least two major renovations. The last was in 2014, and sometime after that, the Semmes and with it the names Confederate connotation -- was quietly dropped from the name. Avocet Hospitality, an independent company that operates historic hotels in its home base of Charleston and in Chattanooga, bought it for a reported $21 million in June 2022 and announced plans for a makeover in summer 2023.
The bar area of The Admiral Hotel is named, simply, The Living Room" for an inviting feelCourtesy of The Admiral Hotel
The hotels decor, and its new flagship restaurant, pay tribute to French explorer Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur dIberville, a pivotal figure in the establishment of Mobile in the early 1720s as the capital of the territory of French Louisiana.
Our revival of The Admiral Hotel seeks to honor Pierre Le Moyne dIbervilles legacy in a way thats never been done before, Jon Weitz, the owner of Avocet Hospitality, said in a statement released by the company. We delved deep into Mobiles origins, exploring its identity beyond its Mardi Gras roots. This journey ignited our passion for Pierres story, leading us to create a destination that mirrors the grandeur and elegance of the French court. Today, every traveler who steps through our doors will feel like a guest of King Louis XIV himself.
The new interior look was designed by Avocet co-founder Lisa Weitz. Avocet says it captures the vibrant soul of Mobile while introducing a touch of cosmopolitan sophistication. Bright jewel tones of purples and gold pay homage to the citys French-colonial and Mardi Gras heritage, creating a space where guests can revel in moments of discovery. The upside-down oak tree chandelier, reminiscent of the majestic oaks lining Governor Street, symbolizes the blend of nature and culture that Pierre so admired. Meanwhile, walls adorned with mirrors and portraits evoke the splendor of the Palace of Versailles, transporting guests to another era.
A 34-ounce Tomahawk steak is one of the flagship dishes in Le Moyne's Chophouse, a restaurant in The Admiral Hotel.Courtesy of The Admiral Hotel
Le Moynes Chophouse, which has begun taking reservations for service starting Aug. 19, uses high-end steaks and locally-sourced ingredients to tell the destination story through cuisine, according to Avocet. One signature dish is Oysters Louis, featuring oysters farmed by Baldwin County-based Admiral Shellfish Co. that have been charbroiled in Wagyu beef fat and garnished with Pernod pearls, aromatic herbs and caviar.
Le Moyne's Chophouse in The Admiral Hotel offers high-end steaks and locally-sourced ingredients.Courtesy of The Admiral Hotel
A sample menu for Le Moynes incudes steaks ranging up to a $99 34-ounce Tomahawk and a 15-ounce A5 Wagyu (no price listed); a Chilled Seafood Tower including lobster claw, red royal shrimp, lump blue crab salad and oysters ($69 or $130); and Duck Leg Confit ($34). A recent media preview dinner also revealed some excellent and distinctive sides, including Conecuh Mac & Cheese, Crawfish Risotto and a Pomme Puree take on mashed potatoes.
For reservations or more information about The Admiral Hotel, visit theadmiralhotel.com.
An Alabama couple is facing multiple charges including capital murder in the death of their toddler foster child.
Brooklyn Paige Posey Grimes, 31, and Mason John Grimes, 36, are charged with capital murder of a child, murder, felony murder and aggravated child abuse under the age of 6, according to court records made public Wednesday.
The 18-month-old boy arrived at a Blount County hospital in November, emaciated and cool to the touch. He was pronounced dead that day.
I have handled dozens of cases classified as child abuse cases during my career,' said Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey. But this case is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
The photos of this child from Nov. 22 are heartbreaking,' Casey said.
This child needed food. This child needed medical care,' she said.
This child deserved to be loved just like any other child regardless of any congenital anomalies in the childs appearance or development.
The couple, who live in Oneonta, were booked into the Blount County Jail between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The indictments against them were issued by a grand jury on July 24.
Mason Grimes attorney, Edward Lowe, has request bond be set.
Lowe said his client is not guilty of the charges against him, has extensive family ties to Blount County, no prior felony convictions, no substance abuse issues, and his home has been an approved, thoroughly investigated foster placement for years.
The attorney also noted that Mason Grimes does not have an active U.S. passport.
Court documents do not yet show that Brooklyn Grimes has an attorney.
According to a motion to deny bond for both filed by Casey and Assistant District Attorney Scott Gilliland, the boy was placed in the Grimes care on Aug. 5, 2022, when he was just 3 months old.
The child flourished for about a year, the records state.
But on Sept. 25, 2023, the boy was taken to Childrens of Alabama and diagnosed with multiple congenital disorders and genetic testing was performed.
The child was to return to the Birmingham hospital on Oct. 20, 2023, but the Grimes didnt take the child to the appointment or return follow up telephone calls.
On Nov. 22, 2023, the Grimes took the boy to St. Vincents Blount because he wasnt breathing.
Upon arrival, the child was severely emaciated, asystolic, and cool to the touch, prosecutors wrote.
The boy had lost about one-third of his body weight since Sept. 25.
There is no evidence of the child receiving any medical care subsequent to being diagnosed as having multiple congenital disorders, prosecutors wrote.
Mason Grimes in a Mothers Day 2024 post on Facebook said he and his wife have fostered 17 children over five years. He lashed out at DHR for the handling of the boys care. The couple was licensed through Marshall County.
Two days ago, he posted this: God help us for what me and Paige are about to endure this week. You would think others involved in this case would have eventually grown a conscience, come to our aid, and scream from the roof tops this wrong.
But this is a sign of the times, evil has penetrated every part of this system. Please pray for us, the truth will be revealed.
The couple is set for arraignment on Aug. 29.
Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon has scheduled a Thursday press conference to discuss the arrests.
The Washington State Patrol revealed that the Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle was under the Full Self Driving (FSD) mode during the incident.
The 2022 Tesla Model S was investigated after an incident that caused death last April.
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Washington Authorities Reveal Details From Tesla Incident
Investigators of the case found that the car was operating in FSD mode at the time of the crash which hit and killed a motorcyclist. The data came from the downloaded information from the event data recorder of the car.
The driver of the car shared with the police that he activated the Tesla Autopilot system. The autonomous driving mode allows the driver to look at his cell phone while the car continues moving.
"The next thing he knew there was a bang and the vehicle lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him," the trooper wrote in a probable-cause document. The driver was then arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide due to his stated actions on the car.
Tesla's FSD Continues to Bear Problems for Company
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that there have now two fatal accidents involving the company's FSD software since August 2022. The agency also stated that there were 75 recorded crashes while the FSD mode was used.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously stated that the company targets to achieve its full self-driving capability within the next year. The company also showed more interest in pushing the FSD feature to more customers.
The EV company is looking forward to launch its much-awaited robotaxi vehicle on October 10. The initial release was delayed and was supposed to be revealed on August 8.
This story is republished with permission from The Birmingham Times
With a love for creativity and self-expression, the men behind the Broken Dreams clothing brand knew they were destined to partner for a bigger purpose. After much deliberation, Jonathan Blanks, Carlton Gamble, and Anthony Sears, whove known each other since they were teenagers, decided to collaborate and debut their first collection in 2014.
The brand is for all genders and all ages, with a colorful yet simplistic stylebut there is also something else at play. The whole concept behind the brand is to keep pushing, keep your faith, and always believe in yourself, said 32-year-old Gamble, also known as Tae.
As you keep pushing, things will start to manifest, and youll be able to see things come together for you, he added. keep pushing and keep your faith regardless of what might happen.
A strong pillar for the Broken Dreams team is brotherhood, which is the foundation of the partnership.
Inspiration
Blanks, 32, and Sears, 33, met in middle school, and then attended Minor High School in Adamsville, Alabama. They met Gamble through a mutual friend later. The three have been a trio ever since, but it wasnt until they all transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) that they reconnected and their friendship grew into a business relationship.
We kind of just all had a passion for it, had an interest in it, Blanks said, adding that the group came up with a plan, a concept, and a name inadvertently.
Although fashion had always been something the three gravitated toward, they didnt know anything about the business. One night, while they were hanging out in Blanks apartment, the conversation turned toward starting a business. Someone threw out the idea of a clothing line, and they each agreed that it was something they could accomplish. They came up with the name that same night.
It was just natural for us, recalled Blanks. The [origin of the name] connected with us because it has many layers to it, and we each can give our own interpretation of it. The foundation of the name represents overcoming any obstacles or setbacks that may come in life. Never stop working toward your dreams and goals.
Their inspiration for clothing designs can come from anywheremusic, their travels, anything positive. They each bring ideas to the table, which brings diversity to the brands image because we all have unique styles, but [theyre] kind of the same, said Gamble.
We might start with something as small as a jacket, and then we might just add on from there, he said. We might have a certain silhouette we like, but then we might eventually put our own touch on it. Its a group effort for sure.
Once they come up with a concept, Gamble is usually the team member who designs the mock-up, which they all review, suggesting changes or next steps. After that the team discusses fabrics, cuts, colorways, samples, marketing ideas, and more to complete the final product. Then they send it to the manufacturer, and it takes approximately two weeks to get their sample product back.
Broken Dreams designs clothing for men, women, and children at a price point that ranges from $12 to $185.
We put a lot of thought into the pieces and the quality of the product, Sears said.
Blanks added, Were not just here to make a quick dollar. We could easily just throw out anything just to try to sell it, [but] we go out of our way, spend more on high quality, and cut our profit to give the people a better product.
We pride ourselves on customer service, said Gamble.
A Shoulder to Lean On
The best part of being part of this team is that if one of us is lacking, if one of us is going through something, if one of us is not able to perform at our highest level, you know your brother is going to have your back, Blanks said. Ive been through a lot of different things in life. There were times when I was down and just couldnt be part of certain things at certain points, but it wasnt an issue for the brand at all because [Sears and Gamble] had my back and vice versa: If they go through something, Ive got their back.
Sears said, I look at them like they are my brothers. If they ever need somethingI know they probably wouldnt ask, but they can askand Ive got it, Ill give it. Loving each other is what kind of keeps us from butting heads.
Gamble added that a valuable piece of their friendship is that there are no egos, and they mesh as friends: Were brothers, and we know how to separate the business from the brotherhood. Were not getting in our feelings about anything. We dont really have fallouts. Its a brotherhood, no egos, and weve been going for 10 years plus.
Because each team member is a co-founder, the responsibilities of taking care of the brand are shared.
I know a lot of people say, Dont start a business with your friends, but we havent experienced [problems with working together] at all. Its actually been the total opposite, Blanks said. I wouldnt want to do this with anybody but these guys.
Making Mama Proud
The brotherhood held Blanks, Gamble, and Sears together not only within their Broken Dreams clothing business but also during their hardest times. The co-founders all share the trauma of losing their mothers. Sears mom passed in 2005, Gambles mother passed in 2011, and Blanks lost his mother in 2019and theyve all been there to lift one another up.
I had to depend on my brothers to help me through that, as well as help me with the brand, Blanks said. These guys definitely inspire me, and for sure my mom does. [Im] just trying to keep going and make her proud.
In addition to being inspired by one another, they also all share the sentiment that their mothers are a substantial driving force when it comes to the brand. Although there isnt one special collection dedicated to their mothersyetthe team believes in some way each collection is dedicated to their mothers.
Ever since [my mothers death], its just kind of been like, I gotta make it happen, gotta get to it, you know, dont fall off because she wouldnt want you to, Gamble said.
Falling off and quitting are not options for this group. Its actually what they want to be a piece of their legacy. Never quitting regardless of the circumstances is part of life, to be honest, said Sears. Everybody is going to have circumstances that will either inspire them to go further or inspire them to quit. [I want to] keep going and do it with love.
The Broken Dreams team is eying the future on a grand scale.
Gamble wants the clothing line to be a Birmingham staple, like the statue of Vulcan at the Vulcan Park and Museum or the Birmingham Museum of Art: [We want] to be one of the biggest fashion brands, or just brands period, because we plan to expand outside of fashion, [to] have different layers, he said.
Blanks added, We dont have small goals when it comes to the brand. We want to be the biggest brand possible. Were trying to be worldwide. Its not easy to get people to buy your product at all, but its definitely not easy, honestly, to get Birmingham to stand behind you. Being able to accomplish that was a big milestone for us.
To learn more about the Broken Dreams clothing line, visit https://shopbrokendreams.com; you can also follow the brand on Instagram (@brokendreamsclothing), Twitter (@BrkDreamsClothg), and TikTok (@brokendreamsclothing).
A group that takes care of feral cats, feeding them and having them sterilized, says that Birmingham Animal Control has been capturing the cats and taking them off the streets, which they say is a bad idea.
As part of its recent Safe Streets Initiative, Birmingham has been clamping down even more on stray animals, which included the recent capture of a pig, along with numerous dogs and cats.
The city released a statement defending its animal control tactics after complaints by Kitty Kat Haven and Colony Cats of Birmingham.
The City of Birmingham Animal Control follows and enforces the City Code Ordinance 6-1-14, which states that it is unlawful for animals to roam at large unrestrained and, whether restrained or not, allows for the possession of no more than four animals, the city said in its statement. The City of Birmingham only handles the capture and transport of these animals. Beyond that, the Greater Birmingham Human Society Animal Control manages any next steps.
In a Facebook post, Colony Cats of Birmingham said that people who feed feral cats have been threatened with fines.
Several weeks ago we were contacted by our friends at GBHS letting us know Birmingham Animal Control had brought in cats from an established colony we had already fixed, vaccinated, and returned, they wrote. We initially believed it was an honest mistake and realized if Birmingham Animal Control caught a cat they legally had to bring in to the Humane Society. We got the first round of trapped cats from GBHS and returned them to their colony and caretaker. And then, there were more cats trapped from the same colony and brought in to GBHS again. At this point we were getting really concerned about what was happening. The colony caretaker reached out to us and let us know Birmingham Animal Control approached her and told her they would be continuing to trap and remove the cats and would issue her citations for $100 per cat that she feeds. We reached out to Birmingham Animal Control, but they never contacted us back. Unfortunately, cats have continued to go missing; from Birmingham neighborhoods like East Lake, Roebuck, Titusville, Crestwood, etc. As recent as yesterday, Birmingham Animal Control was at another one of our colonies in Roebuck harassing their caretaker at her front door. They told her they would give her 72 hours to find homes for each of the feral and fixed cats in the colony. They even tried to take the one 15-year-old friendly cat in the colony from her! Dont worry, he is safe now. They gave her the same ultimatum and said if you continue to care for the feral cats the first citation would be $100 per cat and if it continued it would be $250 per cat. They were rude from the beginning and tried to bully her into submission.
Allison Black Cornelius, CEO of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, said theres no need to capture cats as part of a Safe Streets Initiative.
GBHS was not aware that animals would be included in an initiative of this kind, she posted on Facebook. And none of us are aware of a cat killing anyone or needing to be included in making streets safe.
A former FBI agent was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl while serving as an Alabama state trooper.
Alabamas state police hired Christopher Bauer even after he was kicked out of the FBI amid earlier claims he raped a co-worker at knifepoint.
An Associated Press investigation showed Bauer, 45, moved from one law enforcement job to another with the help of a forged letter making it appear he was eligible for rehire.
The forgery prompted an FBI investigation but federal authorities held off charging Bauer as the state proceedings played out.
A jury convicted Bauer in June of first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse of a child under 12 following a weeklong trial in which defense attorneys claimed the girl made up the allegations.
Shackled and wearing an orange jail uniform, Bauer told Montgomery Circuit Judge Jimmy Pool that he never imagined he would end up on the prisoner side of a jail cell. He said juries dont always get it right.
It seems no matter what I say, no one wants to believe Im innocent, he told the judge. All it took was an accusation to strip me of everything.
The girls mother stood with prosecutors, who asked for the maximum sentence. Daryl D. Bailey, the Montgomery County district attorney, called Bauer a sexual predator following his conviction, saying he needed to be removed from our streets forever.
Hes a monster, the girls mother told the judge. Bauer, she added, used the badge to project the image of a good person.
He had everyone fooled, she said.
Pool told Bauer as he pronounced the life sentence that he believed every single word of the victims testimony.
Bauers defense attorneys argued the disgraced lawman deserved leniency following his own abusive childhood in foster homes and orphanages. He was removed from his parents at the age of 5 and later diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder.
Several instances stick out to Mr. Bauer, including once when he was pushed out of the third floor of a building and another when he was left in a burning apartment, his attorneys wrote in a court filing.
Bauer, who was arrested in 2021, faces similar child sex abuse charges outside New Orleans. Louisiana State Police said they intended to extradite him following the Alabama case.
During the Alabama trial, the child who is now a young teen testified through tears that she was repeatedly abused by Bauer for years, too scared to say no or to tell anyone what was happening.
Jurors saw a recording of her interview with a child abuse investigator in which she described the same abuse. Law enforcement became involved after the girl eventually told a friend and the friends parent alerted the school.
Bauer took the stand in his own defense during the trial, responding no, never when asked if he had abused or sodomized the child. If she said I did something to her, then yes thats a lie.
Bauers time in the FBI was not discussed in detail at the trial. The judge granted a defense request to exclude statements about allegations by a co-worker in Louisiana that he had raped her at knifepoint.
The FBI has said Bauer forged a letter that scrubbed his record clean and helped clear the way to his hiring by the Alabama state police in 2019. The document, obtained by AP, confirmed his decade of creditable service and deemed him eligible for rehire, but the FBI told AP the letter in question was not legitimate.
Alabama authorities have refused to explain how Bauers earlier misconduct was overlooked. APs investigation found he omitted his ouster from the FBI on his application to the state police, including that he had been suspended without pay and stripped of his security clearance in 2018 amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations he faced working in the FBIs New Orleans office.
Many of the allegations played out in Louisiana court filings that had been public for a year when Bauer was hired in Alabama. The woman who accused him of rape, a co-worker at the FBI, wrote in an application for a restraining order that Bauer had choked her and made her scared for my life.
Bauer disputed those claims, telling colleagues the acts were consensual. But the woman previously told AP that Bauer sexually assaulted her so frequently her hair began to fall out.
It was a year of torture, she said. He quite literally would keep me awake for days. I couldnt eat. I couldnt sleep, and in six months I went from 150 pounds to 92 pounds. I was physically dying from what he was doing to me.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bauers sentence. The agency has refused to release records from its internal investigation into Bauers hiring, with a spokeswoman saying only there were no disciplinary actions taken as a result of the review.
A former Walker County Jail corrections officer has agreed to plead guilty after being charged in connection with the 2023 death of Anthony Tony Mitchell and the assault of another inmate the year before.
Joshua Conner Jones, according to federal court records, this week signed plea agreements involving the death of Mitchell and in a 2022 case in which an inmate was beaten in the head and face with a chemical spray can.
The documents do not name either inmate, but the dates of Individual 1 and the circumstances of his arrest are the same as Mitchells case.
Mitchells attorney, Scott Brower, confirmed the proposed plea agreement deals with Mitchells death. Brower declined to comment further.
The Walker County Sheriffs Office had no comment.
According to the 18-page plea agreement made public late Wednesday, Jones has agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter involving reckless conduct in Mitchells death and faces up to life in prison.
He is set for arraignment on Aug. 15, at which point a federal judge will set a date to accept Jones plea.
Other individuals could be charged in the case.
The documents reveal the horrific conditions which Mitchell was forced to endure before his death.
The records, citing statements from Jones, said Mitchell was almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces as he was held in jail in a notoriously cold cell with no sink, toilet, or running water.
From welfare check to death in jail
Mitchell, 33, died Jan. 26, 2023 at Walker Baptist Medical Center, just over two weeks after he was arrested on charges that he shot at Walker County deputies as they responded to a welfare check requested by his family.
The county coroners death certificate listed Mitchells manner of death as homicide and listed the causes as hypothermia and sepsis resulting from infected injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect.
Lawyers for Mitchells mother, Margaret Mitchell, filed a federal lawsuit in March 2023, claiming that jail deputies tased Mitchell and locked him in a freezer, causing his death.
The lawsuit alleges abuse and medical neglect of Mitchell at the hands of Sheriff Nick Smith and staff at the county jail, including corrections officers, nurses and an investigator.
A response to the lawsuit filed by jail nurses disputed Mitchells familys claims that he was locked in a freezer.
Attorneys for the sheriffs office also said Mitchell was never placed in a freezer, and asked that the allegation be removed from the lawsuit.
He was not held in a freezer, the document stated. In fact, the only times that he left the booking area was to attend his 72-hour hearing and to be transported to the hospital.
Mitchell family attorneys responded by saying the claim was mischaracterized.
They said the claim about the freezer was not definite, but rather a likely possible explanation for Mitchells death and that a physician they interviewed for the case told them as much.
If defendants had another means of bringing an inmates body temp. to 72 degrees or lower, plaintiff will uncover that during the discovery phase of this case, the familys lawyers argued.
The plea agreement states that the Walker County Jail had eight booking cells that could be directly observed by officers at the booking desk several feet away. Among the eight cells, BK5 was unique in that it was essentially a cement box with a small grate on the floor that opens into a hole for fluids to drain from the cell, documents state.
BK5 was often referred to as the drunk tank in that it could easily be hosed down when inebriated people held there would vomit,' documents state.
BK5 was unlike all other cells in the jail, but for observation cell AH3, which had no hole in the floor and was used only for detainees for hours at a time. It did not have a sink, toilet, access to any running water or a raised platform to be used as a bed.
BK5 was notoriously cold during winter months and the temperature on the bare cement floor was even colder,' the plea agreement states.
Medical and mental health services were provided by an outside contractor hired by Walker County. As part of the booking process, all detainees were supposed to receive a medical and mental health screening to ensure that emergent and urgent health needs were met.
He gets what he gets
On Jan. 12, 2023, Walker County deputies responded to a mental health check at Mitchells home. He was arrested after authorities said he allegedly fired a gun while deputies were on his property, the documents state.
Jones, the documents state, was informed that he was being brought in because he shot at deputies.
When Mitchell arrived, he was met at the jail sallyport by corrections officers and supervisors including Jones and and five other unnamed co-conspirators.
Mitchell could not walk or stand on his own, was disoriented, non-combative and could not follow directions, records show.
These observations were obvious to everyone who removed Individual #1 from the car and defendant Jones believed that Individual #1 needed to be taken to the hospital or mental health facility rather than being incarcerated at the jail,' the plea agreement states.
Mitchell was taken to a changing room to put on a jail uniform and was not capable of undressing or dressing himself. After several attempts, records state, officers simply wrapped a suicide smock around him which is known as a turtle suit.
Mitchell was taken by wheelchair to the medical unit which was attended by the health services administrator, two nurses, and four of the unnamed co-conspirators. The nurse told the group that she wanted to wait referring to instructions from one of the co-conspirators to deny the initial fit for confinement screening.
Mitchell was taken by wheelchair and placed in BK5.
Jones said in the plea agreement that Mitchell never received any medical evaluation until the morning of his death, two weeks after he was arrested.
The corrections officer said he worked seven shifts during Mitchells two-week incarceration and said neither he nor any of the other jailers made efforts to provide him with medical care nor alter the conditions of his confinement.
To the contrary, the document states, Jones and the co-conspirators actively denied medical access to Mitchell by falsely telling medical staff that Mitchell was too combative to be evaluated when in truth that was not the case.
Calling (Mitchell) combative was an excuse to mistreat him,' documents state. There was no conduct that could have been committed by (Mitchell) that would have justified the denial of medical access.
The efforts to deny Mitchell medical and mental health care persisted event though he was frequently expressing severe mental health symptoms such as talking incoherently about demons and portals.
He was often covered in feces, which was an indication that he could not care for himself,' records state.
Jones, in his plea agreement, said he observed Mitchell deteriorate over the course of his incarceration.
At the time he passed, (Mitchell) was almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket,' the records state.
By the second week of being jailed, the agreement states, Mitchell was largely listless and mostly unresponsive to questions from officers.
Repeatedly during Mitchells incarceration, records show, corrections officers actively chose not help him and would dismiss his needs by saying, (Expletive) him, he gets what he gets since he shot at cops, or words to that effect,' the document states.
The officers also repeatedly made comments that Mitchell should have been killed because he shot at deputies rather than being brough to the jail,' the document says.
At times, Jones (and the other jailers) spoke directly to (Mitchell) saying that he was now in their house and that he had to deal with them (the officers),' records show.
On the morning of Jan. 26, 2023, one of the unnamed officers told Jones that a nurse had seen Mitchell and ordered that he be taken to a hospital.
The officers were told by the nurse that Mitchell could die if he was not taken to the hospital, according to documents, and one of the co-conspirators replied, Ill tell you what, next time youre on the toilet taking a (expletive), Ill call you to bother you with something unimportant.
According to Jones, two co-conspirators - both jail supervisors - failed to arrange for Mitchell to go to the hospital for more than three hours after officers reported the nurses urgent instructions.
Jones said after he transported several detainees to court, he was instructed to join others at Walker Baptist Medical Center Hospital where Mitchell had been taken in the back of a patrol car - rather than an ambulance.
Jones said in the plea agreement that when he arrived, he learned that Mitchells mother had been called to the emergency room and overheard her giving permission to medical staff to remove Mitchell from life support.
In the case of the second inmate, Individual 2 was a pre-trial detainee held in A-Dorm. The inmate was placed in a cell with two other inmates that would have caused the cell to be unnecessarily overcrowded, records state.
When the inmate complained, an unidentified officer placed him against a wall in the cell and hit him. Jones then hit the inmate in the face three times with a can of O.C. spray that he carried with him, according to the plea agreement.
The investigation found that no force was necessary, and that Jones hit the inmate so hard that the lever or trigger on the chemical spray can broke with the force of the blows and O.C. spray was dispersed throughout the cell.
Jones and the other unidentified officer then wrote false reports stating that inmate advanced on them in a way that justified force.
A massive prisoner swap involving the United States and Russia was underway Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details had not been publicly disclosed, did not specify who is included in the deal. But Americans considered by the U.S. to be wrongfully detained in Russia include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan. Both had been convicted of espionage charges that the U.S. government considered baseless.
In a statement posted online, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and CEO Stephen Capus acknowledged media reports that a journalist working for the broadcaster, Alsu Kurmasheva, would be released as part of the deal.
Capus said the broadcaster welcomed news of Alsus imminent release and are grateful to the American government and all who worked tirelessly to end her unjust treatment by Russia. Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.
The deal would be the latest exchange in the last two years between Washington and Moscow, including a December 2022 trade that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner back to the U.S. in exchange for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout and a swap earlier that year of Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
President Joe Biden placed securing the release of Americans held wrongfully overseas at the top of his foreign policy agenda for the six months before he leaves office. In his Oval Office address to the American people discussing his recent decision to drop his bid for a second term, the Democrat said, Were also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
Russia has long been interested in getting back Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscows security services.
Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of a confluence of unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich that Washington regarded as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.
Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations.
Gershkovich was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the U.S. The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, he moved to the country in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022.
He had more than a dozen closed hearings over the extension of his pretrial detention or appeals for his release. He was taken to the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared in the defendants cage, often smiling for the many cameras.
U.S. officials last year made an offer to swap Gershkovich that was rejected by Russia, and Bidens Democratic administration had not made public any possible deals since then.
Gershkovich was designated as wrongfully detained, as was Whelan, who was detained in December 2018 after traveling to Russia for a wedding. Whelan was convicted of espionage charges, which he and the U.S. have also said were false and trumped up, and he is serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Whelan had been excluded from prior high-profile deals involving Russia, including those involving Reed and Griner.
Salaries for employees of the city of Bessemer range between a little over $25,000 to more than $150,000 annually, according to a list published by Alabama Messenger earlier this year.
When The Birmingham News contacted Bessemer City Clerk Wanda Taylor for the citys public salary records, she directed reporters to Alabama Messenger. Since 2003, Alabama law has required that all cities and towns in Jefferson County provide their salary lists to a weekly newspaper once a year.
The race to replace John Rogers in the Alabama state House isnt over yet.
Republican Erskine Brown Jr., has jumped into the race to challenge Democrat Kelvin Datcher for the House seat representing parts of Birmingham and the suburbs in Jefferson County.
Brown and Datcher will both be on the ballot in a special election on Oct. 1, according to Laney Rawls, director of communications for Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen.
Brown told AL.com that, if elected, he wants to increase benefits for seniors, and bolster support for healthcare and education support. He said he also supports strengthening Birminghams curfew ordinance for kids younger than 17.
Browns late entrance to the race came as a surprise to political observers who initially called the election for Datcher, a senior aide to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.
When Datcher won the Democratic primary runoff on July 16, there was no Republican challenger following the withdrawal of Carols Crum.
The district, which includes parts of Birmingham, Fairfield, Homewood and Mountain Brook, will have a new representative for the first time since 1982.
John Rogers, who held the seat for more than 40 years, resigned and pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme involving public money intended to benefit nonprofits. A federal judge this week sentenced Rogers to 13 months in federal prison.
The district is heavily Democratic.
Brown, 67, first ran for office as a Democrat four decades ago in an unsuccessful state senate race. He said the party back then did not support him.
Just give me a chance, Brown told AL.com today. They didnt want to give me an opportunity 40 years ago. The Democratic party didnt even want me to qualify to run. I think they were looking at my age at that time. Now Id rather for (voters) to just give me a chance.
Brown is retired and works as a caregiver. He grew up in a political environment as the son of the late Erskine Brown Sr, a longtime lobbyist, and former member of the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority.
The Republican Party submitted Browns name on Wednesday morning, just before the noon deadline, Rawls said.
Democratic officials question the timing of Browns candidacy and whether the GOP followed the rules for substitute candidates.
We do have questions as to whether or not the Republican party followed the proper procedures to get Mr. Brown on the ballot, and the state party is going to investigate that, Jefferson County Democratic Chairman Wayne Rogers told AL.com. We would expect that Wes Allen would enforce the rules against Republicans the same way hes enforced them against Democrats, and if proper procedures were not followed that Mr. Brown would not be allowed on the ballot.
Rawls said Allens office had not received a complaint by Thursday afternoon.
Turnout in the special election primary was dismal with just 1,506 voters participating in a district with 34,245 registered voters. Thats a turnout rate of about 5 percent.
Alabama Republican Party John Wahl in a statement to AL.com Thursday evening said that Browns entry into the race represents the GOPs interest in competing in all state political races.
The Alabama Republican Party is committed to being competitive across the entire state, because we believe our values and principles liberty, freedom, and economic prosperity are ones that resonate with all Alabamians, Wahl said. We are excited to have an outstanding nominee in Erskine Brown, Jr., who will fight for the people of his district in Montgomery, not special interests, and look forward to the general election on October 1.
Two men convicted in the fatal 2020 shooting of another man in Mobile County were sentenced on murder and other charges, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Michael Youngpeter sentenced George Green Jr. to30 years in state prison in connection with the fatal Dec. 6, 2020, shooting of Antonio Rowe Jr., 26, said Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood.
Green was sentenced to 30 years for murder and 20 years for shooting into an occupied vehicle. The sentence is to run concurrently, meaning Green will serve 30 years.
Nathaniel Henderson, who was found guilty of murder and who prosecutors claimed acted as the driver of the getaway car used after the slaying, was sentenced to 20 years and one day in state prison.
I am committed to ensuring that violent criminals are held accountable and face substantial prison sentences, reflecting our dedication to justice and public safety, Blackwood said in a statement.
Green and Henderson were convicted by a Mobile County grand jury in May.
Its a blazing hot Monday afternoon, the temperature topping 110 degrees in the deserts of southern Arizona, and Maria Rodriguez is on a mission of mercy. Shes delivering a huge load of dog food to the Mexican border town of Sasabe, Sonora.
By her count, some two hundred and fifty stray dogs roam the streets hunting for whatever food they can find to stay alive. The town itself has largely been abandoned. Shootouts between cartel factions fighting to control smuggling routes into the U.S. have reduced the population of almost a thousand people to about fifty, in Marias rough estimate.
The trouble began last October. The fighting was so intense that residents grabbed a few valuables and left as fast as they could. Months of quiet led some to trickle back, but more gunfire erupted in late May and they left again. [See also previous AT piece on Sasabe here -ed.]
Sasabes basically a ghost town, says Maria, who for safety reasons asked that her real name not be used. But when people fled for their lives, they left their dogs behind.
Feeding the dogs of Sasabe is deeply personal for Maria Rodriguez, a way of soothing the heartbreak she feels at whats happened to her hometown. She was born there and remembers it as a happy place where kids played in the streets, families all knew one another and parents didnt worry for their kids safety.
But in 2005, with the danger from cartel activity increasing, Marias parents moved the family to Tucson, eventually becoming citizens. Maria was eleven.
She does her volunteer work for Paws Without Borders, a Tucson-based 5013c charity founded in 2021 by Kimberly Kelly, a medical anthropologist for a healthcare company. Paws came together almost by accident. Folks doing rescue work in Agua Prieta, Mexico, were struggling to handle a dog in a wheelchair.
I had experience with that and brought him here to get the care he needed, says Kelly. Eventually we found him a home in Canada. I saw there was a lot of need and we got started after that.
On this Monday afternoon, Maria drives seventy-two miles southwest of Tucson to the border at Sasabe, Arizona. Her toddler sits comfortably in his car seat and the flatbed of her pickup is stuffed with eight hundred pounds of donated dog food.
After consulting U.S. Customs agents on the American side, she drives into Mexico, chats briefly with Mexican National Guard troops temporarily manning the international crossing, then meets a woman from Sasabe, Sonora, who parks her truck beside Marias to transfer the food from one flatbed to another.
The woman Maria normally works with is unavailable this day. She has twenty dogs of her own and refused to leave them and her home when the trouble began. She knew she was taking a big risk.
But her mentality was, I have nothing to do with the smuggling so theyll leave me alone, and they have to this point, says Maria. Her whole life is feeding the dogs and trying to stay alive.
As Maria and her partner work, about fifteen skin-and bones dogs bark and jump around knowing a meal is coming. The women take a break from hoisting the fifty-pound bags to feed kibbles to the animals. A stray cow wanders in from the desert and she chows down, too.
With the work done, Marias partner turns around and drives back to Sasabe, Sonora to fill the feeding stations set up around town.
Maria is careful to drive no more than fifty yards into Mexico. Its too dangerous to enter Sasabe itself. Cartel gunmen, young men who, as Maria says, are sometimes drunk and sometimes drugged up, drive the streets carrying big guns and thinking they own the world.
They cover their faces, she says. It reminds you of the Taliban.
The fighting is part of a drug war raging across Sonora, prompting the U.S. State Department to advise Americans to reconsider going to certain areas of that Mexican state, due to widespread crime and kidnapping.
The charitys efforts to save Sasabes dogs faces more than a food problem. Dead cows litter the land, due in part to the cartel taking over ranches in the surrounding area, especially those abutting the Arizona border, and using them to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S.
Of those outlying ranches, Maria says, Its a no mans land out there now.
The starving dogs feed on the dead cows and a few of the remaining locals seed the carcasses with poison, killing the dogs. Maria says it represents an old-school attitude that some still have toward strays.
That practice, combined with starvation and a myriad of health problems, takes its toll on the stray population, especially puppies and their mothers. Maria sometimes picks up sick dogs at the Sasabe border and drives them to a vet in Nogales, Sonora to have them treated and quarantined for the required two weeks before they can be brought into the U.S.
But the process is expensive. For the nine animals she recently brought to Nogales, two adults and seven puppies, the cost was $4,500.
For her part, Kelly, the executive director at Paws, searches for people to adopt the dogs. She has done some of that, but with their numbers so large, she says, We will never adopt our way out of this problem. The long-term answer has to be spay and neutering.
A small such effort is underway. A vet from the Mexican town of Altar, two hours from Sasabe, has agreed to spay and neuter, free of charge, dogs that can be brought to him. But with gangsters controlling roads around Sasabe, its unclear how many animals can be taken there.
Meanwhile, Paws relies on kind-hearted donors to keep its mission going. Itd be amazing if we could bring awareness to this huge problem and get help down here, says Maria. My Sasabe dogs are really struggling.
Leo W. Banks is a writer in Tucson. His latest novel, The Flying Z, is about an Arizona family fighting a drug gang trying to take over their ranch. Reach him at leowbanks.com
Image: Leo W. Banks
As street protests over the nakedly fraudulent election result dissipate across Venezuela and the Maduro regime sends in its henchmen, rounding up hundreds of dissidents and issuing arrest warrants for opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, the White House seems to be stirring from its torpor.
According to The Hill:
The Biden administration is ratcheting up its tone on Venezuela, pushing President Nicolas Maduro to publish automatically generated election results to back up his claims of winning Sundays election. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that the administration is reaching the end of its rope with Maduros deflections. Our patience, and that of the international community, is running out, running out. Im waiting for the Venezuelan electoral [authority] to come clean and release the full detailed data on this election so that everyone can see the results, Kirby said. Kirby was referring to precinct-by-precinct printouts of election tallies, which Venezuelas electronic voting machines automatically emit at the end of a voting day. Those printouts, the opposition says, will show a landslide victory for Edmundo Gonzalez, a former ambassador and the unified oppositions presidential candidate.
The opposition has already gotten hold of most of those printouts, or actas, as they are called in Spanish, and knows it won the election. It posted its results online below.
Aca agarre los datos de https://t.co/r2Gd0giENy y los grafique por distrito.
1. Actas digitalizadas pic.twitter.com/1NRK1XISaQ Andres Snitcofsky (@rusosnith) July 31, 2024
Maduro claims his side won instead, but piece by piece, the actas add up to approximately a 70% to 80% vote in favor of Machado and Gonzalez, and about 15% for the miserable Maduro. Voters don't want that guy.
Rather than take their word for it, as many Latin American presidents have done, particularly Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Milei, Kirby is still calling on Maduro to release what he's got soon, which, while better than the previous mealy-mouthed responses seen so far, could be problematic, based on this credible report from conservative Colombian former vice president and ambassador to the U.S., Francisco "Pacho" Santos, who by trade is a journalist:
" Former Vice President of Colombia, Pacho Santos, reveals that in the CNE warehouses in Filas de Mariche,there is a team of 150 employees from the Venezuelan electoral body, supervised by a group of Chinese engineers, with the purpose of creating false documents!! pic.twitter.com/VHdYahbPUI Gateway Hispanic (@GatewayHispanic) July 31, 2024
BREAKING: EX-COLOMBIAN AMBASSADOR ALLEGES ELECTORAL FRAUD IN VENEZUELA
Francisco "Pacho" Santos, journalist and former Colombian ambassador to the United States, has made serious allegations of electoral fraud in Venezuela's recent presidential election.
Santos claims the https://t.co/fCBijvMshf pic.twitter.com/7QFAMuU00y Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 31, 2024
He's got sources.
His report is buttressed by the Cuba-watchers, who can see the supporting role. This is from the daughter of a top Cuban dissident who was murdered by the Castroite oligarchy several years ago:
This, from someone who has had bitter experience with brutal dictators https://t.co/8Kq2JwpnJi Eric Farnsworth (@ericfarns) July 31, 2024
Meanwhile, Maduro's Chinese and Russian sponsors have moved quickly to give Maduro the support he needs to cling to power, given their stakes Venezuela as their catspaw ally to check Uncle Sam up north.
Which is why we see such a confident rounding up of dissidents now:
General Prosecutor Tarek W. Saab threatens human rights NGOs and says security forces detained 749 citizens. "I want to give a preliminary figure that may grow over the course of the day, so far there are 749 of these criminals detained," he reported. https://t.co/lmle3yh4qt Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) July 30, 2024
BREAKING:
Maduro and his thugs have launched a wave of arrests of election observers who saw too much and spoke out in public.
This woman thought she would help safeguard honest elections.
Now, she gets arrested from home while just in her underwear.
Via @AlertaMundoNews pic.twitter.com/O866LgfyGf Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2024
#BREAKING | The regime of Nicolas Maduro created an app so that Chavistas can denounce their opposition neighbors for demonstrating against the fraud.
Then, the regime's security forces kidnap the demonstrators from their homes. Orlando Avendano (@OrlvndoA) July 31, 2024
They're also trying to memory-hole their violence:
Maduros chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab is on live TV saying that the opposition have been staging deaths by taking pictures of protesters covered in ketchup laying on the ground. Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) July 31, 2024
And much of the press is following:
Ughhhhh Venezuela is getting pushed WAY down on major US news outlets this morning by Hamas - but also other news. Go look. Much of worlds attention is already moving on. It shouldnt. Brian Winter (@BrazilBrian) July 31, 2024
This tweet, by the way, was from a sitting Reuters correspondent, a good one.
Maduro got the foreign backing from the world's rogue states he wanted, while the U.S. is still chasing pieces of paper of "proof" that the election was stolen, which turns out are easy to forge with the time Biden has given them. They're always in a reaction mode.
As for Maduro, he's asking for even more time so his Chinese worker-ants can get the job done to produce the results to his liking for gullible Western observers and his leftist amen-corner in the West. He has this additional excuse to stall them:
This was always going to be the strategy. Maduro will say the voting data was corrupted by a fascist cyberattack. https://t.co/LqVIXOAfnQ Brian Winter (@BrazilBrian) July 31, 2024
Soon enough, he'll come out with the actas of the Chinese and Cuban making, and then the White House will have to try to prove that they were not the actas, which will mean weeks and weeks of wrangling and argument, while Maduro keeps rounding up the dissidents and consolidating his power further and the Bidenites will wonder why they can't prove anything.
Had the Biden administration called out the fraud immediately, there would not have been time for this current charade that stands to waste a lot of time and will only give Maduro the space he needs to make his dictatorship stronger, viler, and nastier. The Russians and Chinese acted quickly because they know they have got a lot at stake. The U.S. also has a lot at stake, as in, are we safe from Russian weapons and spying while Maduro runs Venezuela, and will we get another seven million fleeing migrants once this guy seals his power?
The Bidenites got to quit reacting to events and call a fraud a fraud. It's a sensitive topic for them, of course, for obvious reasons. Anybody think Joe Biden or his minions are up to that?
Image: Twitter screen shot
First, the good news: The scheme to feed our troops lab grown meat while confined in operational environments is now officially defunct, according to a press release from the National Cattlemens Beef Association via Cowboy State Daily.
Now, for the not-so-good news. The plan doesnt appear to be entirely dead but just on ice, with the schemers having simply adjusted fire, seemingly setting their sights on an easier target: school children.
Allow me to break it all down.
In June of this year, Adam Kredo at The Washington Free Beacon reported on a collaborative effort between the Department of Defense and BioMADE (at taxpayer expense of course) to grow and expand the lab-grown meat industry using our troops as guinea pigs, because of global warming or something:
BioMADE, a public-private company that has received more than $500 million in funding from the Defense Department, announced earlier this month that it is seeking proposals to develop innovations in food production that reduce the CO2 footprint of food production at ... DoD operational environments, according to an online announcement. These include novel cell culture methods suitable for the production of cultivated meat/protein, or lab-grown meat, a product that is still in its experimental phases.
Lab-grown meat is a filthy and disgusting product with a far greater (negative) environmental impact than traditional ranching and is wholly barbaricunlike sourcing meat the old-fashioned way from your local farmeras the cultures largely used in the process come from aborted cow fetuses:
Foetal Bovine Serum: Lab-grown meat relies heavily on animal serum, particularly foetal bovine serum (FBS), sourced from slaughtered pregnant cows. FBS is a versatile option compared to other serums, as it contains an array of proteins suitable for growing and duplicating different types of animal cells.
(And wouldnt you know it, the pseudo-bleeding hearts cry about the barbarity of murdering an unborn cow, yet still support abortion.)
Anyway, the revelation prompted serious outcry, because lab-grown meat is experimental, and laced with unknown chemicalsthis is proprietary information which needs to be kept away from the prying eyes of the publicwhich is why the NCBA fought back hard, and for now, can claim a victory. (And as you might have been able to guess, there are just two degrees of separation between BioMADE and Bill Gates; Gates was part of a $275-million investment into Ginkgo Bioworks, which is one of the industry members of BioMADE.)
However If you go to the BioMADE website, you see that the companys mission includes large-scale public-private collaboration on technology, supply chain, and education and workforce development. And, some of those public collaborators are public school districts; I count no fewer than four on the BioMADE website:
Davis School District (Utah)
Eden Prairie School District (Minnesota)
Murray School District (Utah)
Worcester Public Schools (Massachusetts)
Are these schools handing out free lunches? Whats really in the food in the cafeteria?
Furthermore, its even more concerning considering that history provides us with a plethora of examples in which the the government has poisoned Americans, particularly military members and school-aged children, for the sake of sick science experiments. From the Smithsonian:
When Fred Boyce and dozens of other boys joined the Science Club at Fernald State School in 1949, it was more about the perks than the science. Club members scored tickets to Boston Red Sox games, trips off the school grounds, gifts like Mickey Mouse watches and lots of free breakfasts. But Fernald wasnt an ordinary school, and the free breakfasts from the Science Club werent your average bowl of cereal: the boys were being fed Quaker oatmeal laced with radioactive tracers. The Fernald students experiment was just one among dozens of radiation experiments approved by the Atomic Energy Commission. Between 1945 and 1962, more than 210,000 civilians and GIs were exposed to radiation, often without knowing it. What seems unthinkable in today's era of ethics review boards and informed consent was standard procedure at the dawning of the Atomic Age.
Oh, and how could we forget when the National Institutes of Health funded research that tested novel AIDS drugs on minority foster children, from infancy into the teens; heres this, from an NBC News report:
In one study, researchers reported a disturbing higher death rate among children who took higher doses of a drug. That study was unable to determine a safe and effective dosage.
Parents, let this serve as a sobering reminder that the government cannot be trusted, especially when it comes to the health and welfare of our precious children.
Image: Free image, Pixabay license.
As the Left grows more confident of its sway upon our country, it also becomes less mindful of the growing pushback from the American people; its ugly vulnerability is in open view. Their values have decayed into a chimerathe vile Olympic ceremonies and Harriss role models at her rallies are current cases in point.
Furthermore, as a federal priority against the people, the administrative state, a.k.a., The Swamp, has burgeoned into a lawless fifth estate, branching out to spy on us, opening our borders, and grabbing, every which way, powers, far beyond our wildest expectations. (The Founders were not unaware of these dangerssee their separation of powers, largely dissed in current practice.) Joe Bidens recent foray into bruising the Supreme Court for his own personal aims against Trump, of course to protect himself, is yet another example.
Which leaves the American peoplewhere? Well, where we have always beenin our homes, doing our jobs, biding our time, and increasingly confident that the federal government, and its obliging state media arm, are our biggest enemies.
Its timely to consider the rise and fall of communist and socialist regimes; we may yet see one of these rises. Of the three women befriended by my mother in the 1950s in D.C., attracted to their grace and steadiness, all three had separately fled from the then-communist regimes in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. If they had stayed in Eastern Europe, they would have been killed. They had lost family (murdered) and fortune. All three had a certain qualitythey, their families, and friends, had all endured the worst of oppressive, heartless systems, and all felt blessed to have survived and gotten out. To them, U.S. citizenship was the ultimate blessing of their lives. Melania Trump, in her amazingly tranquil steadfastness, reminds me of these three womenfor similar reasons. Melania is quite clear about what it means to be an American. She is not afraid to thank God for that.
So, okay, what if we do getin the fullness of timea uniparty, say a newly minted Democratic partyor socialism or communism for real? What if we are forced into the same experiences as our fellow-citizens who have lost their God-given liberties? Theyve been killed, imprisoned, scorned, and hated by what is becomingin one of the spectacularly consistent ironies of these brutish progressive systemsthe ruling class. A total reversal of America the Free (as it is not even now) would be earth-shaking for us and felt around the world. Our miseries challenge us every moment. We feel the tickling of their hateful whips, we see their tasteless delusions multiplying, we sense the tremors of fear of them even in our beloved countryside.
Just to be clear, everything, each iota of the Obama/Biden/Harris agenda, along with every work of its ugly administrative state, is blatantly unconstitutional. Will the Bill of Rights survive? When our illiterate youth do not even know what is the Bill of Rightshaving had a lousy public educationis there really any hope?
Yes, there is. Even if it is over, it will not be over. Our hope lies in reclaiming the Judeo-Christian faith that empowers every single document for liberty, the same one that our founders so extraordinarily deployed to get America on its feet. The Left hates this Jewish/Christian thing, because of course they do. Faith in God makes demands upon our morals, our respectfulness, our consciences, and our souls; those spoiled by prideful ways and erring wills simply cannot stomach. Yes, there are other belief systems, and we have no argument with them. But America was not founded nor made great on other belief systems. If you pull the Founders faith and fortitude, you pull the rug.
What patriotic Americansmillions strongfeel now is the tickling of the Lefts whip on our legs, but they have just begun. We will and must now take the offense, and have faith, not fear. We need far more from our elected leaders from now onand quickly. They need to understand that when our countrys virtue just comes down to the American people, decisions will be taken out of federal hands.
The American people have been taking it, fast and hard, from Biden/Harris Inc. since 2020and from Obama for eight years beforehand, of very much the same. It is important that we do not abandon the fray. It is important that we play offense and stand firm. We hope to be at the beginning of a big turning towards the good. We must hold our strength close, act in faith, and be ready to effect that good change.
Image: DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered.
Not satisfied with erasing Confederate names, DoDs Star Chamber has reconvened, this time to strip the Medal of Honor from the 20 soldiers who received it during the incident at Wounded Knee. Wielding the club of "presentism," they will review those citations through the 21st-century social justice lens.
This effort was spearheaded by Representative KaialiI Kahele (D-HI) and championed in the past by Senator Elizabeth Fauxcahontas Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Reuben Gallego (D-AZ).
Somehow, Congress allowed this farce to make it into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) while omitting more important actions for inclusion.
At the time, the Medal of Honor was the only valor award; today, there are many grades of valor awards (rank-ordered from lowest to highest), from the Commendation Medal with V (valor) device to the Bronze Star with V device to the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service, Navy, and Air Force Crosses, and finally, the Medal of Honor.
A significant problem with this foray into the past includes questions on what definitively sparked the incident, supposedly the accidental discharge of a rifle being taken away from a Native American, nor an accurate account of the number of Native American casualties; estimates range from 150 to 300. Twenty-five soldiers were killed. That indicates a two-way fight. Citations for the Medal of Honor are sketchy and brief, ranging from distinguished bravery to went to the rescue of the commanding officer who had fallen severely wounded, picked him up, and carried him out of range of the hostile guns.
Again, the lowly soldier is accountable for being placed in a dangerous situation by inept and feckless senior political and military leadership. A more appropriate target would be Major General James Forsyth, then a colonel and the commander during this episode. Will Camp Forsyths name at Fort Riley be changed?
Im sure those 20 soldiers will have adequate representation during this objective historical witch hunt. Would this review have happened if the 9th or 10th Cavalry (all black units commanded by white officers) were involved? Are all of their actions on the frontier squeaky clean? Or is it the continuation of the DEI push to purge the imaginary toxic white extremism and masculinity from our Army? See Pete Hegseths The War on Warriors on this subject.
As if the purge of Confederate names from DoD wasnt enough to negatively impact the recruiting crisis, let's purge Irish and German immigrant names from the Medal of Honor role, too. Large numbers of those ethnic groups comprised the Army on the frontier, as witnessed in the names of those on the chopping block. German names: Mosheim Feaster, Joshua Hartzog, Bernhard Jetter, Jacob Trautman, Herman Ziegner, Paul Weinhart, and Adam Neder. Irish names: Albert McMillin, Thomas Sullivan, and John Clancy. These men represent fifty percent of those awarded the Medal of Honor for that action. The remainder have mostly British surnames.
Ive seen this rewriting of history before for political reasons, such as when Mary E. Walkers Medal of Honor was restored in the era of feminism and the effort to add the Equal Rights Amendment. The Left's efforts to make her the American Joan of Arc for progressivism are nauseating. She wasnt even in the Army but a contractor and received it for meritorious services. At least the soldiers at Wounded Knee received theirs for gallantry and heroism in combat.
Given the threats facing our homeland, perhaps these resources would be better used to fix the recruiting crisis plaguing our army. Who is setting the priorities?
Until significant reforms and a personnel house cleaning at the Pentagon, aka the Puzzle Palace, are implemented, this retired Army officer cannot and will not recommend anyone enlist in the military.
Cincinnatus is a retired Army officer and Army civilian with 40 years of service in the Department of Defense, 18 of which were overseas. He holds three Master's Degrees in International Relations-Strategic Studies, US History, and Secondary Education.
Image: U.S. Government
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and countless other Democrats have called President Trump and his supporters irredeemable, deplorable, terrorists, racists, sexists, homophobes, transphobes, xenophobes, Hitler, fascists, dictators, and the greatest existential threat to our freedom and survival, and that is all just a-okay; Democrats are uniters who want to bring the country together.
But it is supposedly repulsive and the most vile and divisive rhetoric ever spoken if Trump points out that Kamala used to play up her Indian heritage for political points before she focused on being black.
It is also not okay to say she is a DEI hire, even though Biden said he was going to pick a black woman as VP specifically for diversity purposes.
In 2016, Kamala and the media cheered that she was the first Indian-American senator. Now they act like Trump just pulled that comment out of thin air.
KJP says no one should ever question how someone identifies, even when they play the race card every day. One day you can identify as a man, the next minute as a woman, and no one should question it. After all, Democrats cant seem to tell the difference between men and women anymore, while they falsely claim they are the party of science.
No one is allowed to bring up how liberal Kamalas voting record was as a senator or what her policies are:
BREAKING: GovTrack just DELETED their 2019 page that ranked Kamala Harris as THE MOST LIBERAL of all 100 Senators
It would be a shame if we made it viral: pic.twitter.com/Pi6KvngOTh End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 24, 2024
We arent allowed to bring up the fact that she was put in charge of the disastrous border, as the complicit media members attempt to gaslight into thinking she was never named border czar by Biden:
The media is claiming that Kamala Harris was NEVER Biden's border czar.
Unfortunately for the regime, we have .
Here's the moment she got the title: pic.twitter.com/n78ovTOLA4 End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 24, 2024
They are even pretending that 10 million illegals coming across during Bidens time in office is the fault of Trump and other Republicans.
Questions about Kamalas lack of accomplishments seem to be off-limits to people posing as reporters. Her professional record is as irrelevant and uninteresting to journalists as the Biden family business of collecting kickbacks.
The public is also not allowed to know how Kamala crawled up the political ladder, and how corruption charges surrounding her sugar daddy Willie Brown were dropped as soon as she took office. We are supposed to believe that she is tough on crime and that no one is above the law. From The Federalist:
The Media Wont Tell You Political Corruption Defined Kamala Harris Affair With Willie Brown The New York Times says its sexist to question why Harris had an affair with a powerful political boss twice her age but the facts theyre not telling you are damning. ... Once in [the DAs] office, Harris then dropped or pled out corruption charges against friends of Willie Brown that Hallinan had been pursuing. There were a number of Browns friends let off the hook, but most notably this included a sweetheart plea deal for a notorious city contractor caught defrauding the city by using inferior recycled concrete in sensitive projects such as parking garages and the Bay Bridge. This compromised the structural integrity of those projects and endangered lives. But Harris dropped all the fraud charges and accepted a guilty plea on a single count involving an environmental violation. Harris office had no explanation for why it dropped the concrete case, reported the Chronicle.
We were also not allowed to see how Obama moved up the political ladder, or point out his relationship to terrorist Bill Ayers or political fixer Tony Rezko.
Just remember, the media and other Democrats dont care about facts or corruption or science. They havent for a long time. They only care about power!
And also remember it is Biden and other Democrats who think they are entitled to black votes no matter what they have or havent done.
Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered.
What do people after their eighth, ninth, or tenth election is stolen in front of their faces? And in this recent election, in the most brazenly, nakedly, fraudulent way possible?
Probably the same thing California's voters do, after getting the same result over and over again in the solid blue state.
Axios found a poll indicating what people in Venezuela would do:
More than 40% of Venezuelans polled in the past few months said they'd consider emigrating if Maduro stayed in power.
Nevertheless, advocates say hope is pushing people to keep fighting. What they're saying: "Obviously, if [President Nicolas] Maduro stays in power, there's going to be a new exodus. That's a fact," Adelys Ferro, Venezuelan American Caucus executive director, told Axios Miami.
The New York Times on July 18 found a second poll showing that a third of Venezuelans would flee the country if Maduro stays in power.
One private poll by the company ORC Consultants, conducted in June, suggests that as many as one-third of Venezuelans are considering the possibility of migrating if the current government remains in power. Half of those said they would leave in the six-month period after the July 28 vote.
... and ...
For thousands of Venezuelans, the decision to remain or flee their homeland depends on a single date: July 28. On that day, the country will vote in a high-stakes presidential election. If the countrys authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, declares victory, they say they will go. If the opposition candidate wins, they will stay. Everyone says the same thing, said Leonela Colmenares, 28, the opposition activist. If Maduro wins, they are leaving.
World Population Review notes that Venezuela has 29.4 million people as of 2024.
The Times notes that a quarter of that population has already fled the country, meaning, 8 million people, probably over the course of a few years. Whether that means the country had 32 million people as of that counting, or that Venezuela now has 21 million people to use the recent World Population Review chart, or the population used to be 37 million people (I don't think it was ever that high), give or take a few hundred thousand, is unknown, as the numbers don't match up entirely.
But what it could mean, rounded up to 30 million, is that the numbers who would flee, at the lowest end of the scale, would be about 10 million, based on the World Population Review numbers, to take the one-third figure from the ORC poll, or about 13 million, to take the Axios-found poll, which is more than the 8 million whom the United Nations says have already fled.
Most are real refugees who take the first country of refuge, meaning, they tend to be spread among their neighbors in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Panama and the like.
But 750,000 or so, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a leftist think tank, are here, and the number is likely low, given the various ways Venezuelans have to get into the U.S., including through Joe Biden's special app for "parole in place" for Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, which lets 30,000 into the country each month to file asylum claims and live here while they wait for adjudication. Venezuelans are already the largest group let in through that program. It does not include other ways of getting in, such as through illegal border crossings known as "encounters" or "gotaways" whose numbers are truly unknown.
Migrants tend to move where their families are, so Florida, where most Venezuelan migrants live, is likely to get inundated, much as it already is from Cuba and Haiti. Axios notes that Florida officials are getting ready. Whatever the number is, it's likely to be more than the number who are already here.
It's sorry stuff, because this stolen election is being stolen based on the swift support provided to the Maduroites from its allies in Russia, Cuba and China, who know what they have at stake if the Venezuelan voters throw Maduro out, along with the slow, pokey, show-us-the-proof, and get the international organizations to make rulings first reactive response of the Biden White House.
It's almost as if Biden and Harris want this huge migrant wave, even if the people coming are likely to have very cold views of election fraud. Why not bankrupt the state of Florida with more migrants as well as re-populate the blue states that have seen population fleeing in order to hold onto congressional seats?
It's a seemingly cynical move, but more likely, just the Bidenites not thinking anything through as they hem and haw about "transparency" and Maduro runs away with another electoral theft amid all the time wasted. Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, all led by radical leftists, are gumming up the basic condemnation of what happened in the Organization of American States now. The Bidenites should have called out the fraud immediately, as President Javier Milei of Argentina did, and not taken any guff, nor fraudy data manufactured and released by the Maduroites which is coming up for the international left to tout and promote as 'fact.' Time wasted is Maduro's and Russia's advantage. No wonder people there just want to leave.
As if having Russia and China ever more entrenched in Venezuela to spy on and harass us isn't enough of a problem for the U.S. with this stolen election, the migrant surge that follows from it is bound to be big and hit the U.S. hard.
Are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ready for it? Of course they aren't. That means the U.S. taxpayer pays, and pays again, for the upcoming wave. But who's counting under this ignorant and reactive administration?
Image: Thomasbelloofficial, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
They are doing everything possible to detach VP Kamala Harris from the Biden-Harris record. I can understand why, but it won't work because the evidence is overwhelming. This is from Jim Watson:
Democrats now insist that Vice President Kamala Harris, the partys presumptive presidential nominee, was never actually the border czar in the Biden administration and instead only had responsibility for a small slice of the immigration portfolio -- tackling the root causes of migration from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. It's easy to see why theyre downplaying her role: The border has been, and remains, one of the Biden-Harris administrations biggest electoral liabilities. Cities and states are struggling to house an unprecedented surge in immigration, with even blue states like Massachusetts imposing new restrictions on shelter for migrants. The blame for this ultimately lies with President Biden. Harris, though, is a senior member of the administration and deserves her share of the responsibility for its border fiasco. Even judging her just on what the vice president was said to be responsible for, however vaguely defined, she still fell short: Harris barely addressed the true root causes of immigration over the past three and a half years.
Yes, she fell short objectively. However, her biggest mistake was not taking the task seriously, an insult I would think to the President who appointed her. The VP never spoke with border governors like our own Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. She took a meaningless trip to look for the root causes when everybody knows that the issue is an open border and lack of enforcement of laws.
So the VP cannot escape the issue because she made it worse with her lack of respect for Americans impacted by the issue. It's on her and that's no joke, as her boss would say.
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Image: AT via Magic Studio
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelen, both of whom have been languishing in the Soviet, I mean, Russian prisons for years on trumped-up espionage charges, have been released. It appears that their release is part of a larger, multi-nation prisoner swap that includes the exchange of prisoners from Germany, Great Britain, the US, and Slovenia on the one side and Russia and Belarus on the other.
The basis for the suspicion about the multi-national, multi-prisoner release is the sudden disappearance and possible removal of prisoners in Russia from their places of incarceration and, as-of-yet unconfirmed reports online that at least six special Russian government planes had flown to and from the regions where their prisons were located.
Additionally, a host of Russians imprisoned in the U.S. are no longer in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons database.
Both Gershkovichs and Whelans releases are long overdue, along with the as-yet-unreported release of former teacher Marc Vogel, convicted in 2022 for possession of pot. It is a badge of shame that these men have languished in Soviet Gulags, I mean, Russian prisons, for as long as they have.
Image: Evan Gershkovich. YouTube screen grab.
If they and several other wrongfully imprisoned Americans are indeed freed and returned (one hopes in good health), lets not overlook the timing of this. By agreeing to this prisoner swap, Putin is signaling his support for Harris. He knows a Harris presidency is a continuation of a weak America on all fronts, foreign and domestic, which makes room for increased Russian (and Chinese) hegemony.
There can be no doubt this is a campaign ploy by Biden and Harris so they can brag on the campaign trail about their foreign policy prowess and strength and look tough on crime, tough on foreign policy, and tough on Russian oligarchswhitewashing their history of pusillanimity, of bending the knee and bending over to our enemies while kicking our allies in the behind.
Russians, in particular former Soviets, think Americans are stupid, and they themselves are brilliant. When I lived in St. Petersburg, this was one of many things I detested among the people I met there. It is in that spirit that Putin will likely continue to think he is the most clever guy in the room for this move, but the reality is he just played his hand: he fears Trump and a Trump presidency.
He knows Trump will push him to end the war with Ukraine, a war Putin wants to continue until Ukraine is either crushed into submission or obliterated in its current form.
He knows Trump will again cripple the Russian economy by providing American energy to the Europeans.
He knows Trump will strengthen a faltering US economy and that an economically healthy America with strong leadership threatens Putin, his ally China, and their terrorist allies in the Middle East.
He knows Trump will not hesitate to employ economic sanctions and any other tools available to make life difficult for Putins brand of Soviet-style, I mean, oligarchical governance.
He knows America is likely to find her center under a Trump presidency and return to normalcy in the culture wars, making her more united and stronger, whereas Harris will plunge America into deeper despair and cultural chaos, allowing her enemies to move in for the kill.
Putin trembles at the possibility of a Trump Administration. What do we do with that information?
Celebrate the release and regained freedom of these Americans, but remind your friends that when they step into the voting booth, a vote for Harris is a vote for Putin and China, and a vote for Trump is a vote for America.
Since Colorado turned blue, Democrats have done significant damage in the Legislature and have created some disastrous consequences. Here is one outrageous example. It is a cautionary tale for voters in other states.
During the 2024 Regular Session of the Colorado House, Rep. Sheila Lieder (D) sponsored HB24-1344, the Sunset Plumbing Board bill. Her cosponsor was Rep. Naquetta Ricks (D). (My husband Peter is running against the incumbent Lieder, which is why I learned about this travesty.)
The bill to keep the Colorado Plumbing Board from expiring was a pretty good bill through the first two readings, after all had made minor changes. However, before the third reading, Rep. Ricks added an amendment, and Lieder seconded it, ruining the bill and causing havoc.
The amendment changed a clause that said certified backflow prevention assembly testers are exempt from the licensed plumber requirements to say that those testers are not exempt. It meant that only licensed plumbers could now perform the work.
According to a letter from Colleen Morrison of Morrison Backflow Testing to Governor Jared Polis, The Sunset Review: State Plumbing Board made recommendations in October of 2023. Nothing in this report made recommendations to change the licensure requirements for backflow testing. On March 21, 2024, Mr. Sean Wyatt, representing the Plumbers Local 3, testified to amend the bill. Dave Miller, representing the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. This appears to be motivated by commercial interests of the plumbing industry.
Were commercial interests a good reason? Thats questionable, because licensed plumbers dont want to do the testing, generally its not worth their time and the effect of the change will be terrible.
Note: Representative Lieder is known to be supported by unions and was a lobbyist. Also, she does not seem to have much expertise on subjects such as plumbing.
Backflow is important. It is reversed water flow within a plumbing system and can contaminate clean water supplies. Morrison said in a 9News interview, A backflow prevention device prevents any used water from getting into our public drinking water. So, a big deal. Indeed.
Annual backflow prevention assembly testing is a requirement under public health rules, and failure to conduct the tests is a violation that can result in notices and even the shutdown of water systems.
Said Morrison to Governor Polis, I am requesting you take Executive Action on HB24-1344 section 18 prior to July 1, 2024 to prevent this legislation from going into effect.
This bill will impact my small backflow business and many others. We have been a Colorado business for 17 years. Our company tests and repairs backflow prevention assemblies. It has never been a requirement in the State of Colorado to be a licensed plumber to test and repair backflow assemblies. This bill affects more than small businesses testing backflows. By confining the testing and repair of backflows to a small group of licensed individuals that are not capable of taking on the tremendous amount of work, it will have a larger impact on Colorados economy. As water districts will be forced to shut off water to businesses and residents for non-compliance; Impacting tourism, health care providers and housing to name few.
Denver Waters CEO and manager, Alan Salazar, confirmed and expanded what Morrison told the governor in a letter to the Colorado Plumbing Board with 11 municipal water providers and others.
As you are aware, this change drastically reduced the pool of available backflow assembly inspectors around 80-90% of whom are not licensed plumbers. Consequently, Denver Water and water utilities across the state have lost the ability to obtain timely test results. For perspective, Denver Water alone has 44,000 inspections that must occur throughout its system each year, and with each passing week the number of outstanding tests increases. This will create an insurmountable backlog that will put drinking water at risk, increase the potential for customers being shut off from water, and lead to unnecessary and costly violations for Colorados water utilities. ... Denver Water is already 42% behind schedule for testing in July. The costs associated with this delay ultimately passed onto our customers will be extreme.
Indeed, the cost of testing a backflow assembly when done by licensed plumbers is $200 to $300 per test, or more, at least two to three times the average pricing by certified testers.
The Colorado Plumbing Board has instituted a temporary stay, but fines may still be imposed by government agencies. What a mess.
Democrat legislators caused damage to Coloradoans through poor legislating. At least one may be hiding what she did from voters. Learn by this negative example: choose carefully whom you vote for in local races this November!
CS Boddie writes for Meadowlark Press, LLC.
Image via Pixabay.
Make America Great Again is perhaps one of the greatest political slogans Ive ever heard: its easily abbreviated, unambiguous, and infuriates the opposition.
But, its now got some competition, unsurprisingly from the same side of the political aisle that brought us MAGA. Its memorable, damning, and utterly conclusive: Kamala supports this alongside images or stories of destruction, chaos, injustice, and death.
Heres the tweet that seemingly started it all, from John LeFevre:
Kamala Harris supports this
Vote accordingly.
pic.twitter.com/RHJzfrQlvv John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) August 1, 2024
A man gives a smaller, weaker woman such an unforgiving beating that she has to pull from the competition less than a minute into the boutKamala supports that.
But the ludicrousness of Kamalas agenda doesnt stop there, so I feel compelled to go through a brief list of what else she supports.
Kamalas historic first was visiting an abortion mill during operating hours earlier this year, in a state that permits the murder of preborn children at any gestational age, for any reason. Abortion has been at the center of Harriss senate and presidential campaigns, which means Kamala supports this:
Bevelyn Williams, a wife and mother to a 2-year-old daughter, was just sentenced to over 3 years in federal prison for protesting the murder of preborn babies.
Abortion is the #1 killer in the Black community.
In New York City, where Bevelyn was protesting, more Black babies pic.twitter.com/pIJDPCKNhW Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) July 30, 2024
And this:
Today, outside SCOTUS, we held up pictures of five viable babies killed by abortion right here in DC. The opposition turned their heads, refusing to acknowledge the five. America must know the truth. There must be justice for the five. #JusticeForTheFive
@eternallystoked pic.twitter.com/lu3oywZQRT Mark Lee Dickson (@MarkLeeDickson) June 27, 2022
Kamala has the blessings of countless LGBTQ++ organizations as a great ally to the cause, which means she supports this:
Biden Faces Backlash After Trans Activist Goes Topless At White House Pride Event: A Disgrace To Our Country https://t.co/9NEwxnsa3G pic.twitter.com/3hpbJN7UXu Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 13, 2023
The individual pictured above, bare-breasted on the White House lawn, has since been accused of sexually assaulting a handful of peoplewho knew a mentally ill male with perverse sexual fetishes and a tendency to stripping in public might not care about other peoples personal boundaries?
Kamala also supports transitioning children, which means she supports doing this to their precious little bodies:
Im on the side of history that doesnt do this to children pic.twitter.com/81c8OECd7s DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) April 3, 2023
Kamala supports this:
Republicans are creepy and weird pic.twitter.com/saId5fFR9h Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 29, 2024
Kamala also supports this:
NEW: The illegal suspects in the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray accuse each other of her brutal r*pe and killing
Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, are both charged with capital murder in connection to Jocelyn Nungarays death
Pena denied touching pic.twitter.com/8jlwRGLJcD Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) July 24, 2024
Kamala the border czar is pro-migrant and anti-border, which means she supports this:
NEW - Illegal immigrants arrested, and then released without bail, for brutally beating NYPD police officers flip-off reporters giving them the middle finger. pic.twitter.com/oNI0LNroEl Constitutionalist (@Kc_Casey1) February 1, 2024
Kamala is for green energy, which means she supports this:
A dead whale washed up in NJ on Feb 13,2023. It's the 6th dead whale along the Jersey Shore (+another 3 in NY) since Dec 5 following construction of wind turbines off the coast
Mayor Paul Kanitra asks Governor,when do these stop becoming coincidences?How many more will it take? pic.twitter.com/W2GsLazk4p John Carter (@JohnEdgarCarter) February 15, 2023
And this:
On a sparkling perfect beach day on #CapeCod, doesn't everyone want to go shell-seeking and styrofoam collecting? This lovely 3-inch cube was found today in West Harwich, ~40 miles across the ocean from Nantucket.
At least we can subtract 2 ounces from the 70 tons of debris pic.twitter.com/DEs4O55HaU Cape Cod Concerned Citizens-Legal Citizens First! (@CapeCodCitizens) July 27, 2024
And this:
If you drive an electric vehicle to do your bit to save the planet, it is more than likely that the vehicle has a battery with cobalt in it.
Over 40,000 child slaves mine the cobalt in horrific conditions in Congo. Electric cars are now the biggest source of cobalt demand. pic.twitter.com/BdniRiapn2 James Melville (@JamesMelville) July 26, 2024
Kamala is viciously against a persons God-given right to keep and bear arms, which mean she supports leaving little girls like these defenseless against deranged killers:
These are the young girls that lost their life during the mass stabbing in Southport yesterday.
Six-year-old, Bebe King
Seven-year-old, Elsie Dot Stancombe
Nine-year-old, Alice Dasilva Aguiar
RIP Angels pic.twitter.com/6wrLmWod6z Western Invasion (@WesternInvasion) July 30, 2024
As LeFevre added, Vote accordingly.
Image: YouTube video screen grab, edited.
Democrats have apparently decided that their new line of attack against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance is to call them weird.
Weird.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Think of Biden alternately yelling and whispering during an address, then turning to shake hands with someone who isnt there. Or Kamala Harris describing her love for yellow school buses and Venn diagrams, then cackling like the Joker. Conjure up the image of Sam Brinton, a non-binary Biden administration nuclear official whose hobby is stealing womens suitcases from airport baggage claims. Or of Admiral Rachel Levine, U.S. assistant secretary for health, a man who once donned a necklace and called himself a woman. Then try to un-conjure up those images. I dare you. Sorry.
And what of Hillary, AOC, Nancy Pelosi or Ilhan Omar, who (allegedly) temporarily married her brother? Or Maxine Waters, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, et al.? Weird? Shall I go on?
I thought Democrats didnt like labels, found them triggering and hurtful. Why are they being so mean-spirited and exclusionary?
This is simply more preposterous projection, the repulsive but sadly effective tactic todays Democrats use more than any other.
After all, its all theyve got.
They accuse others of doing what they are doing and being what they are. (See also Russian collusion, racists, white supremacists, authoritarians...etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam.)
In a saner world, that would be considered weird.
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
President Trump was invited by the Black Journalists of America to be a guest at a debate or conversation with his opponent.
But no opponent showed up; it was a set-up thats what the left does.
ABCs Rachel Scott submarined the former president right off the bat. She was arrogant, rude, and so unserious. She was just a hit-person, disrespectful and oozing contempt. Like the rest of the left, she didn't play fair. But, no matter, Trump can handle himself with far more aplomb and respect for his interrogators than those on the left ever do.
Harris Faulkner is one of the fine exceptions to the rule. She is the real deal, an actual journalist. Rachel Scott? Not so much. She was so very concerned to hear from Trump, Was Kamala Harris a DEI hire? Of course, she was. Biden made that abundantly clear at the time. He pledged to appoint a black woman. Someone had a binder and Kamala Harris was the lucky hire because she filled the bill.
Yes, she was appointed because she is nominally black but not African-American. She is Indian-Jamaican. She has zero experience as an African-American person because she is not African-American. She hails from Berkeley, California, and the part of her childhood that wasn't there was spent in Montreal, Canada. She ran for the public offices she eventually held in California as an Indian-American.
Only after becoming Bidens DEI hire did she suddenly identify as black. Pity the American blacks who fall for her pretensions that she cares a bit about them. She does not. Of that, you can be sure. Just ask the young black men she threw into prison for petty offenses and kept there beyond their terms in order to have their captive labor to fight wildfires.
Those of us in California are meant to forget what we know to be true, that she is a woman without any core beliefs beyond her ambition to power.
She got every job, and every promotion to higher office she eventually got, thanks to patronage from a powerful man and her submission to such men. She was a terrible, craven, politicized district attorney. Before she became pro-criminal, she put thousands of black men in prison for marijuana possession!
She dropped cases her donors found inconvenient including numerous sex abuse cases involving priests. The San Francisco Catholic Church had donated generously to her campaign.
She also dismissed cases against her husbands clients.
She is nothing more than a tool of the left and/or whoever pays the big bucks. That she is a candidate for the president of the U.S. is an affront, an assault, and an insult to all patriotic Americans whose family members have sacrificed their lives for generations to keep America a free and democratic republic.
As a vice presidential candidate, she raised money to bail out countless rioters who committed all manner of crimes during the George Floyd riots that she wholeheartedly supported. That cash she raised bailed out criminals who went on to commit more serious crimes with impunity.
ABCs Rachel Scott is hardly unique or special. She is just another anti-white racist like Joy Reid, the women of The View, Rachel Maddow, Whoopi Goldberg in her current incarnation, etc., women hired to incite racial rage.
Racial rage sells.
The media is chock full of such women (and men) white and black, who believe their path to fame and power is full-scale anti-white sentiment.
Thank you, Barack Obama. What is more convenient to their cause than Trump-bashing? That is where their contempt becomes their full-scale campaign to destroy the man that stands opposed to everything they stand for: Open borders, the thorough restriction of fossil fuel, irresponsible spending ($35 trillion debt), the imposition of censorship of speech, religion and the Second Amendment and the mandated sexualization of children.
The defining characteristic of the American left today is their contempt for traditional Judeo-Christian values, for the family as the basis of Western civilization.
Rachel Scott is the poster child of the lefts contempt for all things essentially American. She has no gratitude for her opportunities, her obvious success in this not-racist nation. She has only contempt, even for the man who did more for black Americans than any president since Lincoln.
Perhaps Rachel Scott, like Kamala Harris, does not know that it was the Republican party that freed the slaves, that got the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s passed despite the Democrats opposition.
Maybe she does not know that it was Democrats who imposed the Jim Crow laws that were meant to prevent American blacks from succeeding and that it was Republicans who overturned those laws.
Rachel Scott, again like Kamala Harris, is very likely ignorant of the actual facts relevant to black Americans throughout U.S. history. She is one of those easily indoctrinated, mind-numbed souls who learned at the seat of far-left professors who embrace CRT and DEI at USC. (She knows DEI is destructive but will never admit it.) Thanks to forty years of anti-American indoctrination in our public schools, she was likely taught from an early age to loathe the country of her birth that has given her every opportunity to become massively successful and perhaps famous.
Gratitude is not a left-wing value as Dennis Prager has reminded us for decades.
Her verbal abuse of President Trump was despicable but hardly surprising, given who our corporate media seek to hire. Is it any wonder that fewer and fewer people watch ABC, or NBC, or CBS, or CNN, or MSNBC?
The left is about one thing, one thing only contempt. They are intolerant. They hate any and all things truly American: the national anthem, faith, the flag, families, love of country, sovereignty, the rule of law, the protection of innocence, and common decency.
For inexplicable reasons, they cannot fathom why Trump is a hero to millions of Americans who see their country slipping away into some version of Orwells 1984. Rachel Scott and Kamala Harris are the poster pols for that arrogance and contempt. ABC should be ashamed but they are probably proud of Scotts incivility. Contempt is the name of their game. It is what characterizes the American left, the Democrat party of today.
Image: LiveNOW from Fox video, screen shot, via YouTube
The hype around Samsungs next-gen mobile flagships is starting to build. Past leaks have revealed some of its specs and features. Now, a Samsung executive has hinted at key areas of the Galaxy S25 series that will get notable upgrades.
It seems that the South Korean giant is planning major improvements in several specs for the Galaxy S25. In recent years, Samsung has been conservative when it comes to upgrades, which has made it lag behind other big names. However, the next devices in the Galaxy S line could show a slightly different approach.
Samsungs executive confirms top-of-the-line upgrades for the Galaxy S25 series
Daniel Araujo, Vice President of Samsung MX, spoke to the companys shareholders during the second quarter earnings call. Regarding the Galaxy S25 series, Araujo said that areas such as camera, display, SoC, RAM, and AI will get top-of-the-line upgrades. Interestingly, the executives words seem to confirm the rumored Galaxy S25 RAM bump.
The improvements in camera and display were to be expected considering were talking about Samsung. The company has its own divisions dedicated to developing and manufacturing some of the best displays and image sensors on the market. However, it will be interesting to see if there will be a big jump from the previous generation. Araujos words invite us to be optimistic about it.
According to leaks, the Galaxy S25 Ultra will arrive with a 200 MP main camera, a 50 MP telephoto camera (3x optical zoom), a 50 MP periscope camera (5x optical zoom), and a 50 MP ultra-wide camera. Regarding the chip, the company will maintain the dual strategy, implementing the Exynos 2500 in most markets and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in others.
Google helping to develop AI with natural language understanding
Plus, it seems that Samsung continues to work hand in hand with Google for the development of its AI features. The company debuted its Galaxy AI suite earlier this year alongside the Galaxy S24 series. According to Araujo, Google is helping Samsung implement a natural conversation and experience across [its] devices. So, the company is also working on AI services with better contextual understanding.
The Galaxy S25 series is expected to launch in early 2025. Currently, the company is working on the One UI 6.1.1 rollout and One UI 7.
Canalys has just revealed that Samsung shipped the most smartphones in Q2 2024, 53.5 million of them. The company actually shared numbers for all five top smartphone manufacturers in Q2.
Samsung shipped out 53.5 million smartphones in Q2 2024
Just to be clear, in mid-July, Canalys did share information for the second quarter of the year (top smartphone OEMs), but without actual shipments per brand. Well, those numbers are now here. We also know that the market has grown for the third time in a row.
Before we get down to breaking down each brand, lets just say that the overall sales reached 288.9 million units. That is 12% more compared to the same period last year.
As already mentioned, Samsung sold most devices with 53.5 million shipments. The company claimed 19% of the market. Apple shipped out 45.6 million phones, claiming 16% of the market, and is second-placed.
Xiaomi took the third place, followed by Vivo & TRANSSION
Xiaomi sits in third place, and its not that far away from Apple. The company shipped out 42.3 million smartphones and claimed 15% of the market. Xiaomi is followed by Vivo. That Chinese company shipped out 25.9 million phones and took 9% of the smartphone market.
The last company that squeezed into the top 5 list is TRANSSION. That is a company behind TECNO and Infinix, by the way. It shipped out 25.5 million smartphones, so its not far away from Vivo. TRANSSION took 9% of the smartphone market as well.
That leaves 33% of the market for all the other companies out there. Together, they shipped out 96.2 million smartphones in Q2 2024, less than Samsung and Apple combined.
It will be interesting to see how will things proceed from here. Samsung recently announced new, powerful foldables, while Apple is expected to strike back with the iPhone 16 series in September. Xiaomi also recently announced compelling foldables, at least one of which is coming to global markets.
Folks over at Zimperium discovered a massive SMS stealer campaign That SMS stealer campaign affected Android devices in 113 countries, and weve asked Google for a comment before reporting on it.
Google offered up a response to a massive Android SMS stealer campaign
The company behind Android did offer up a comment, and its good news. Well, its good news for those of you who use a smartphone with Google Services, as youre protected by default in this case, it seems.
A Google spokesperson told us the following: Android users are automatically protected against known versions of this malware by Google Play Protect, which is on by default on Android devices with Google Play Services. Google Play Protect can warn users or block apps known to exhibit malicious behavior, even when those apps come from sources outside of Play.
So, Google Play Protect does protect against the known versions of this malware. As long as you didnt disable it (as its on by default), youre good to go. The companys spokesperson also emphasized the importance of having Google Play Protect enabled.
This SMS-stealing malware managed to steal one-time 2FA passwords for over 600 services
This malware campaign targeted Android devices all over the globe. It utilized thousands of Telegram bots in order to affect them. That SMS-stealing malware also managed to steal one-time 2FA passwords (OTPs) for over 600 services.
Zimperium also reported that the operation used 2,600 Telegram bots in order to promote various Android APKs. They were controlled by 13 command and control (C2) servers.
The vast majority of victims of this malware are located in India and Russia. Brazil, Mexico, and the US also have a significant number of victims, the company said.
The whole point of this malware was to generate income, of course. The vast majority of such scams are motivated by financial gain, and this one is no different.
Reddit is one of the most popular social platforms, boasting millions of daily active users. Therefore, it can be a very valuable source of data in the age of AI. However, the company does not want big companies to take advantage of its data for free. Reddit CEO has said publicly that they want Microsoft and others to pay for use of its content.
Reddit has already reached agreements with such big names as Google and OpenAI for the use of data in LLM training. This allows the company to receive compensation, while AI-powered third-party services have access to a gigantic data library. However, things have not been so easy with Microsoft, who seems to have a different point of view.
Microsoft should pay for using Reddit content in AI training, Reddit CEO says
It is public that, with respect to AI, Microsoft considers most of the content available on the internet to be free to use. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of the Microsoft AI division, made this clear in a public interview. Suleyman said that they do not take content whose author explicitly requests not to be used for AI training. However, the executive considers the rest of the content on the internet as freeware. Of course, this goes completely against Reddits intention of making Microsoft pay for using the platforms content.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman not only criticized Microsoft for taking data without paying but also other AI companies such as Anthropic and Perplexity. A Reddit spokesperson told The Verge that Microsoft and Reddit have attempted to negotiate on the matter. However, they were unable to reach a satisfactory agreement for all parties. Meanwhile, Huffman warns that they will implement blocks for companies taking data from Reddit without authorization or compensation.
Reddit blocked Bing from accessing content on the platform
In fact, the company has already implemented some blocks. For example, by not reaching an agreement with Microsoft, Reddit blocked Bings access to its data in search results. The Reddit dev team even has a Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt) designed for this purpose. Still, Huffman admits that applying blocks to such large companies is a real pain in the ass, so hed probably rather not have to.
Reddit CEO says the company is selective about who we work with and trust with large-scale access to Reddit content. Only time will tell if Reddit and Microsoft resolve their dispute and come to an agreement, or if we will see blocks on a larger scale in the near future. After all, Huffman and Suleymans views regarding the use of content available on the Internet seem totally antagonistic, and someone would have to give in.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold2 has arrived on the Google Play Console, which suggests it could launch soon. The foldable smartphone has also appeared on TUV Rheinland certification, revealing some key specifications and features.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold2 Google Play Console listing reveals key specs
Tecno isnt a big brand like Samsung or Xiaomi, but its pretty popular in some regions like Africa. However, the company has been launching devices that compete with several smartphones that are way above their price range.
Tecno launched the Phantom V Fold back in February of 2023. It was one of the most aggressively priced foldable Android smartphones. It had appealing features and capable hardware.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold2 first surfaced on Geekbench way back in January, and now it has reportedly appeared on the Google Play Console.
Tecno Phantom V2 Fold 5G/Phantom V Fold2 5G has received Bluetooth SIG certification, suggesting that its launch is imminent.#Tecno #TecnoPhantomV2Fold pic.twitter.com/6gd09TlEap Vinish Keshri (@vinishkeshri12) June 24, 2024
The listing confirms Tecno has embedded a MediaTek chipset inside the foldable smartphone with the model number MediaTek MT6983Z/TCZA. The octa-core chipset has a single Prime Performance core clocked at 3.2GHz, three cores clocked at 2.85GHz, and four Efficiency cores clocked at 1.8GHz.
The SoC is packing a Mali G710 GPU clocked at 955MHz, which suggests Tecno may have opted for a Dimensity 9000+ SoC. Some reports suggest Tecno may have used a slightly tweaked version of the same SoC that powered its predecessor.
Previous reports have suggested the foldable Tecno smartphone is packing 12GB of RAM. The outer display could have a 1.5k resolution, while the inner display could have a 2000 x 2296 pixels resolution with a 480 PPI screen density.
The TUV certification for the device reveals Tecno has opted for a dual battery setup comprising 2973mAh and 2637mAh. This means the Tecno Phantom V Fold2 should have a combined battery capacity of 5610mAh.
Tecno might be offering two foldable smartphones
It is interesting to note that Tecno is readying the Tecno Phantom V Fold2. The device isnt named Phantom V2 Fold. Moreover, the Google Play Console listing mentions the model number AE10, which is also present in the TUV and the EEC certification.
Back when the device surfaced on Geekbench, it had the model name Phantom V2 Fold. It is possible that the company could be readying two foldable smartphones.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold2 should be a foldable smartphone with a regular screen on the front, and a large screen when unfolded. This is because Tecno already offers a clamshell-style foldable smartphone called the Tecno Phantom V Flip. Hence, it is more likely that Tecno might launch two identical smartphones with different names for different regions.
Regular exercise can lessen your risk of dementia (Getty Images) (Halfpoint Images via Getty Images)
Dementia affects nearly 1 million people in the UK, with the latest projections estimating that this number could rise to 1.4 million by 2040.
However, a new major report has earmarked several health conditions that, if reduced or eliminated, could essentially halve the amount of dementia cases worldwide.
A previous study from 2020 found 12 risk factors that could lead to a dementia diagnosis, including obesity, smoking, depression, lack of physical activity, low level of education, high blood pressure, diabetes, excessive drinking, hearing problems, traumatic brain injury, air pollution, and social isolation.
This new review, published in The Lancet journal, has added vision loss and high cholesterol to this list.
The researchers said that the potential for prevention is high, in that some of these conditions can be prevented or reversed.
"Nearly half of dementias could theoretically be prevented by eliminating these 14 risk factors," the study said.
Getting help with mental health could lessen your dementia risk. (Getty Images) (Westend61 via Getty Images)
In fact, the authors estimated that 45% of our risk of the disease can be changed by preventing or reversing these conditions.
"Its never too early or too late to take action," lead author Prof Gill Livingston, from University College London, told the BBC.
Governments must reduce risk inequalities by making healthy lifestyles as achievable as possible for everyone.
The researchers have also provided a recommendations list for healthcare systems to use when looking to reduce the likelihood of dementia. This includes:
Ensuring hearing aids are accessible
Investing in good quality education
Emphasis on exercise and sports
Encourage people to stop smoking
Treating high cholesterol and blood pressure
Preventing obesity
Reducing problem drinking
Eyesight screening
Air pollution reduction
Ensuring people are not isolated or lonely
While there are some factors on the list that may be out of your control, such as hearing loss, a traumatic brain injury, and poor eyesight, there are others where you can take action in order to prevent the likelihood of dementia.
Quitting smoking can lessen your dementia risk. (Getty Images) (JGI/Tom Grill via Getty Images)
If you suffer from, or are affected by, social isolation, excessive drinking, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, many of these are modifiable lifestyle factors that you can speak to your GP or a qualified healthcare professional about.
There are also organisations that offer support for some of the conditions stated, such as mental health charity Mind, Alcohol Change, or the NHS Smokefree National Helpline on 0300 123 1044.
Health: Read more
One of the cutest things that almost all animals do is get the zoomies. They run! They jump and play! They have fun getting out all of that pent-up energy in a short amount of time! I've seen a lot of animals with the zoomies, but one that I hadn't seen before was a giraffe with zoomies. TikToker Gerald's Life posted a video of an adorable baby giraffe named Finn who had a case of the zoomies, and it's the cutest thing you'll see today!
Gerald posted the video on Monday, July 29th. Finn, whose mom is close by watching, is ready to tackle the new week and is filmed running around his enclosure. The video is set to the song Footloose, which fits it perfectly! I could watch this video on repeat!
Well, where can I get a baby giraffe?! I wish the video was longer because it was the cutest thing ever! Commenters loved Gerald's video of Finn as much as I did. One commenter said, "Thats a Finn sized package of pure happiness!" @KimAdams15 pointed out, "That sweet baby wants to play!" and @brighteyes92 added, "Baby Finn has moves!"
Related: Baby Giraffe Being Allowed in the Big Boy Enclosure for the First Time Is Too Cute
Fun Baby Giraffe Facts
Giraffe babies are born big, really big! At birth, they weigh between 110-150 pounds and stand at 6 feet tall. They are born with their eyes open and come out feet first. They look like miniatures copies of mom, but their horns, called "ossicones", don't stick straight up. They're born folded against their head, and it takes a few hours for them to stand up straight.
Baby giraffes are pretty active almost from the moment they are born. Within an hour or so after being born, the baby (called a calf) is ready to take its first steps. And not only does it walk, but it can run soon after, with zoomies not far behind!
While giraffes are born big, they grow fast as well. Giraffes double in size within the first year...talk about growing up quickly! Even though they are "big" babies, they'll nurse from mom for 9-12 months. In the wild they'll stay with mom for up to their first two years. Females will return to visit mom and the herd throughout her life, and males like Finn set off on their own around 15 months old. Normally, they'll join an all-male herd to learn how to fight, protect themselves, and how to care for themselves before they are old enough to mate, around 7 years of age.
One of my favorite facts about giraffes has to do with how little they sleep. Giraffes have one of the shortest sleep durations among all land mammals and it's probably a lot less than you might guess. Wildlife FAQ explains, "On average, adult giraffes sleep for about 30 minutes a night, and their entire sleep cycles are typically around 35 minutes or shorter. This brief period of sleep is divided into short bursts that rarely exceed five minutes. Despite their limited sleep time, giraffes seem to function well and thrive in their natural habitat." Baby giraffes don't sleep a whole lot more than that; just a few hours a night total. Adults sleep so little for two main reasons: to protect themselves from predators and because they're constantly on the move for food. They prioritize feeding over sleep, and spend their time grazing and digesting food. Needless to say, I'm glad that I'm not a giraffe because I prefer sleeping over eating!
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A current BBC employee and a former member of staff at the broadcaster have been critical of an internal inquiry into Huw Edwards behaviour following them speaking to the corporations investigation team.
The veteran broadcaster, 62, admitted accessing indecent images of children earlier this week, and the corporation was aware he was arrested on suspicion of serious offences in November.
Edwards, who resigned in April, was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBCs latest annual report.
Last year, one current and one former BBC worker told BBC News that they had received inappropriate messages from Edwards.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards at Westminster Magistrates Court, London. (Aaron Chown/PA)
The staff member said they felt like we had an obligation to report it, and during the internal investigation they felt the whistleblowing team had all the questions they hoped they would.
Then I was sort of surprised that I havent been informed about the findings or how the report was used, they said.
I certainly dont feel like Ive heard anything of substance about how the investigation went. In a way thats disappointing because it was quite a stressful thing to go through. It was all a big ordeal.
The former BBC employee claimed Edwards was pushy for them to see each other, and invited him to a hotel room that was paid for by the corporation, during the coverage of the funeral of Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
They claim they gave everything and co-operated, which included a photograph sent by Edwards of his suite.
They say the BBC not publishing findings, doesnt seem transparent, it seems like things have been swept under the carpet, theyve marked their own homework.
The BBC did publish another report, which was commissioned in the wake of the Sun alleging that Edwards paid a young person for sexually explicit photos, in February, that looked into the complaints process.
The family of the young person received an apology, and the review highlighted failures in the complaints process, and promised improvements.
Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this matter, but the mother of the young person told the Sun that she feels vindicated following Edwards guilty plea on Wednesday.
She said: It sickens me to my core that he had those videos of that little boy when he was also talking to my child and asking them for sexual pictures.
I knew he was an abuser but now I know he is truly a monster.
She added: It felt like we were just the little men, so could be easily brushed aside. They all said we had destroyed Huws life and seemed to think we just wanted money.
Their comments, and comments like theirs by other presenters, caused a massive backlash which even made me doubt myself. I couldnt eat, I couldnt sleep, I felt so alone.
Even family members turned against me after reading all of this. I thought is it even worth it?. But now I can at least say it was. I hope they will apologise.
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
Edwards has now admitted three charges of making indecent photographs after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams.
The BBC and the legal team for Edwards have been contacted for comment.
The BBCs share of the time people spend listening to radio in the UK has fallen to a post-pandemic low, despite some of its flagship stations seeing an increase in audiences, figures show.
The corporations stations accounted for 42.6% of radio listening in April to June, down from 43.4% the previous quarter, according to data from research body Rajar.
The figure was 50.9% in July to September 2021 when the reporting of radio listening figures resumed after a break at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
((PA Graphics)
The downward trend for the BBC looks to have been driven mainly by a slow decline in the number of people listening to local and regional services.
The average weekly audience for these stations was 7.0 million in April to June, down from 7.7 million 12 months earlier and a drop of more than two million since July-September 2021, when the figure was 9.2 million.
BBC local and regional stations accounted for 4.3% of total radio listening in the latest quarter, compared with 5.7% a year earlier and 6.1% in July-September 2021.
In its annual report for 2023/24, the BBC said efforts to increase the depth and volume of local news stories online had seen an increase in the size of audiences consuming local news online but this had necessarily resulted in schedule changes for audiences across local radio, with more sharing of programmes, off-peak and at weekends.
NUJ members on the picket line at Broadcasting House (James Manning/PA)
Proposals to reorganise its local radio stations to share more content and transmit fewer programmes unique to their areas resulted last year in BBC local journalists going on strike, as well as long-running work-to-rule action, with the dispute formally resolved in November.
Several of the BBCs flagship stations fared far better in the last quarter, with Radio 1 up by 11%, taking its average weekly audience to 8.1 million.
Coverage of Radio 1s Big Weekend in May is likely to have contributed to the 812,000 increase in weekly listeners since the previous quarter.
Radio 5 Live enjoyed an increase of 10% on the quarter, bringing its average to 5.4 million, thanks to coverage of major sporting events including the Euro 2024.
England at Euro 2024 (Adam Davy/PA)
After facing turbulence over the departure of veteran presenter Ken Bruce, Radio 2 listenership appears to be holding more steady with an average weekly audience of 13.3 million, similar to its 13.2 million level during the previous quarter and 13.5 million a year ago.
Bruce left the station in March 2023 after more than three decades hosting the mid-morning show, to join Greatest Hits Radio, taking his PopMaster quiz with him.
The commercial station, which is also now home to former BBC DJ Simon Mayo, had been enjoying an increase in listener numbers for the past two years but its rise seems to have slowed as this is the first quarter since June 2022 that its average audience has not increased.
Despite the 2% dip to 7.5 million compared with 7.7 million last quarter, Greatest Hits Radio has still had a 30% increase from the 5.8 million average a year ago.
While some stations across the spectrum have seen drops, the total average weekly radio audience in UK passed 50 million people for the first time since post-pandemic records began.
The steady increase over the last few years suggests there is still a major appetite for radio amid changes to the digital landscape.
Ken Bruce (Jonathan Brady/PA)
The BBCs chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, said: Im delighted to see the strength of the audio landscape with a record number of people listening to radio and podcasts across the UK.
She also celebrated the increases for Radio 1 and 5 Live as she said there would be more world class coverage on sporting events.
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: Were incredibly proud that Radio 2 remains the UKs favourite station with over 13.3 million people tuning in each week, and delighted that The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show and Vernon Kay on weekday mid-mornings continue to be the UKs most listened to shows.
The latest Rajar figures also show:
The audience for Radio 4s Today programme was broadly unchanged, with an average of 5.5 million listeners in the most recent quarter, compared with 5.6 million in January to March and 5.5 million a year earlier.
Zoe Balls Radio 2 breakfast show had an average audience of 6.4 million, down from 6.6 million the previous quarter and 6.7 million a year ago.
Greg Jamess breakfast show on Radio 1 held steady with 4.0 million listeners, up from just under four million in the previous three months, with comparable year-on-year figures not available due to a change in the shows transmission time. This comes after James saw an increase in his salary in the past year to a pay bracket of 415,000 to 419,999 for 2023/24, up from between 395,000 to 399,000 in 2022/23.
The BBC Asian Network hit a post-pandemic high of 644,000 listeners in the latest quarter, while BBC 1Xtra saw its second highest figure since the pandemic of 829,000.
Among the smaller speech-based stations, GB News recorded its best quarter since launching in 2022, with an average weekly audience in April to June of 518,000, up from 455,000 in the previous quarter and 317,000 a year earlier.
Times Radio had an average of 478,000, down on the previous quarter (503,000) and a year ago (523,000), while Talk Radio had an audience of 689,000, also down on the quarter (757,000) and the year (727,000).
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinskys 3.57 billion takeover deal for the owner of Royal Mail has been called in by the UK government under security rules.
International Distribution Services, the parent company of Royal Mail, agreed a takeover deal by Mr Kretinskys EP Group in May.
The PA news agency understands that the Cabinet Office has now launched a review process into the bid under the National Security and Investment (NSI) act.
Mr Kretinskys EP Group and the Cabinet Office declined to comment.
The process will assess whether the sale to Mr Kretinsky, who is already IDSs largest shareholder, could affect the UKs economic infrastructure or pose a security risk.
The BBC reported that Government officials will particularly look into links to Russia, with the billionaire investor owning stake in a major gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.
Government officials could block a deal or ask for specific commitments from the suitor if the review raises major concerns.
The review process is expected to take up to two months.
Sources close to the process told PA that a review under the NSI act is not a surprise, with the Government taking a similar process when Mr Kretinsky increased his shareholding in Royal Mails owner to 27.5% in 2022.
Last week, Labours Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds indicated the new Government was likely to call in the takeover, stressing that we would speak with Mr Kretinsky directly.
Labours General Election manifesto pledged that it would ensure that any proposed takeover is robustly scrutinised.
Mr Kretinsky has vowed to maintain the services requirement to deliver letters six days a week throughout the UK, known as its Universal Service Obligation.
However, last month Martin Seidenberg, IDSs chief executive, doubled down on the groups calls to reform the service requirement as letters continue to dwindle.
Police officers line a street in Westminster on Wednesday during the 'Enough is Enough' protest, following the Southport stabbings. (PA) (Jordan Pettitt, PA Images)
A second night of unrest in the wake of the Southport stabbing led to the arrest of more than 100 people in central London.
Protesters gathered in Westminster on Wednesday evening to attend the Enough is Enough demonstration, two days after a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed event on Hart Street in Merseyside.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed when a knifeman entered the dance class. Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in critical condition while two adults were also critically hurt.
In London, arrests were made after demonstrators clashed with officers. The Metropolitan Police said: Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions. Some officers suffered minor injuries.
Demonstrators were seen launching beer cans and glass bottles at a line of police in riot gear in front of Downing Street and throwing flares onto the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Violent incidents linked to the deaths of the three young girls were also seen in Hartlepool, Manchester, and Aldershot. Police in Hartlepool were attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs, Cleveland Police said. A police car was set alight during the violence after a large group of people gathered in the Murray Street area of the North East town on Wednesday evening.
A group of around 40 people, including children and young men wearing balaclavas, gathered outside the Holiday Inn hotel on Oldham Road in what appeared to be a stand against asylum seekers currently being housed in the hotel.
Chants of "we want our country back" and "shame on you" were yelled by the group, some of whom were parading cardboard banners around, as glass bottles were hurled at police vans, with eggs also smashed in the road.
The protests came a day after riots broke out in Southport, leading to several arrests. Police officers were attacked and riot vans were set alight as violence erupted in the area on Tuesday, following a vigil for the girls.
The unrest comes as a 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of the three girls.
Nigel Farage has rejected claims he whipped up protesters. (PA) (ZUMA Press, ZUMA Press, Inc.)
Nigel Farage has rejected criticism that comments he made online had whipped up rioters in Southport, as the Reform UK leader was branded nothing better than Tommy Robinson in a suit.
Farage doubled down on remarks he made in a social media video in which he questioned whether the truth is being withheld from us following the killings of three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Monday (29 July).
The newly-elected MP has come in for strong criticism from Brendan Cox, husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, who told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Wednesday (31 July) that Farages remarks were right out of the Trump playbook and make him nothing better than a Tommy Robinson in a suit.
Over 100 arrests in London after flares thrown at Downing St gates as unrest breaks out across UK over Southport attack
Protesters clashed with police outside Downing Street following the stabbing incident in Southport. (Alamy) (See Li/Picture Capital)
More than 100 people have been arrested in London as further protests took place across the country in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
The prime minister will host senior police leaders in Downing Street on Thursday afternoon in the wake of violent unrest in multiple parts of the country.
He is expected to remind the police that people exploit the right to protest in order to sow hatred or commit violent acts should be met with the full force of the law.
Fifth arrest after police 'recognise man' in Southport riot video
A police van set alight during a violent protest in Southport on Tuesday evening. (PA) (Richard McCarthy, PA Images)
A fifth man has been arrested after violent scenes broke out during a protest in Southport on Tuesday...
Merseyside Police confirmed that a 39-year-old man from Southport is the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the violent disorder.
The arrest came after officers were called to a report of a domestic incident in Southport on Wednesday, where it was reported a man had made threats to a family member.
Police deal swiftly with violent mob in London and Hartlepool after previous Southport riot
Firefighters tend to a burning police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest on Wednesday. (PA) (Owen Humphreys, PA Images)
In Hartlepool, County Durham, a number of arrests were made after protesters clashed with riot police in the centre of town as they attempted to march towards a nearby mosque, reports suggest.
Social media reports claimed protesters hurled missiles at the police on Murray Street, in the centre of town, as they attempted to make their way towards a Mosque in the area.
The Northern Echo reported that men in balaclavas were seen hitting police with wooden bats as waves of protesters clashed with officers.
Helen Glover hinted her glittering rowing career is over after being denied a third Olympic title by the wafer-thin margin of 0.18 seconds.
Just 24 hours after Team GB womens quadruple sculls crew claimed gold by the margin of 0.15secs, Glover, Rebecca Shorten, Esme Booth and Sam Redgrave were on the wrong side of a race to the line as the Netherlands held on in a thrilling finale.
Glover, who won pairs gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016 with Heather Stanning, took four years out of the sport before the Tokyo Olympics to start a family with her husband Steve Backshall, the naturalist, explorer and TV presenter.
The Team GB rowers about to receive their silver medals for the womens four event (John Walton/PA)
She took another 12 months off after those Games before deciding to come back for more in the womens four boat, despite now being a mother of three and trying to balance family commitments with rowing.
Half the team think Ill carry on, but I dont plan to carry on, said Glover, 38, whose children and husband were among the crowd at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
My focus has been on crossing the finish line and then well see.
Right now I just want to spend time with my family and enjoy being mum.
Im not really thinking about rowing and Ill take my time to reflect on the Olympics.
British rower Helen Glovers husband Steve Backshall watches his wife race at the Paris Olympics alongside their children (John Walton/PA)
Its been totally different (build-up to Paris 2024) as my world doesnt revolve around rowing or results.
My world revolves around my kids, and this is just a really awesome extra I get to do.
The British crew conceded early water to the Netherlands, with the world champions signalling their intentions from the start.
Pressure was gradually applied on the Dutch and it was anyones race with 500 metres remaining.
The two went stroke for stroke in the final 250 with the Netherlands holding on to win in six minutes 27.13secs and New Zealand nearly two seconds behind Britain in third.
As far as our internal plan was concerned it went to plan and we did what we could, said Glover, who would have become the first British woman to win three Olympic rowing golds.
We all have to hold our heads high that we raced with heart and should be pretty proud coming away with a medal.
You never think you have it won, but both crews would have believed the whole way that they could.
You have to expect fine margins when you race the best in the world.
IT'S BRONZE What a journey this team have been on! pic.twitter.com/zVvNT12PP0 Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2024
We felt we raced every stroke we could and for these guys to win their first Olympic medal is a massive achievement.
The mens four were also on the podium with Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson collecting bronze.
Brushing off a sedate start that left them at the back, the British crew gradually moved into the medal positions with 800 metres to go.
The United States held off New Zealand in a frantic fight for gold, with Britain over three seconds down on the winning boat.
Davidson said: Its been a great group of guys racing the fours in this Olympiad.
The fours field is a savage field and it seems to have got more and more savage as we have gone through the Olympiad, so Im just glad we have got ourselves onto the podium.
Helen Glover missed out on a third Olympic title as Great Britain were agonisingly edged out in a dramatic womens four final at Paris 2024.
The mum-of-three, who won pairs gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016, took four years out of the sport before the Tokyo Olympics and 12 months off after those Games before deciding to come back for more.
Alongside Rebecca Shorten, Esme Booth and Sam Redgrave, the 38-year-old helped the British crew gradually close the gap on the Netherlands after a fast start from the Dutch.
It was anyones race with 500 metres to go with the two crews neck and neck, and Britain looked as if they would just get the upper hand as they pushed for glory.
Great Britains Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde with their bronze medals for the womens double sculls (John Walton/PA).
But the Netherlands held on to cross the line in six minutes 27.31 seconds 0.18secs ahead of the British boat.
Afterwards Glover said: I think today we put it all out there, we raced the plan we wanted to race, we raced together with so much heart. You know what, there cant be regret looking back and knowing you did all you can.
I think no matter how we do, they (family and friends) are the people we go back to who love us no matter what. So its really nice to have everyone out there and everyone whos supported us from near and far.
Great Britain mens four followed up immediately with a bronze medal.
The quartet of Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson produced a patient race, coming right through most of the field after a watchful start.
The British crew swept past Italy 800 metres from home into third place, eventually settling for bronze with the United States taking gold and New Zealand silver.
IT'S BRONZE What a journey this team have been on! pic.twitter.com/zVvNT12PP0 Team GB (@TeamGB) August 1, 2024
Earlier the womens four secured the first British medal of the day with a bronze in the womens double sculls.
Becky Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, in lane two, went out hard from the start and led at the 500m mark with Romania taking over by halfway.
New Zealand eventually moved into pole position for gold to edge out Romania, but Wilde and Hodgkins Byrne staved off a late challenge from the Netherlands to take bronze.
It was quite an achievement for the pair to win medals as Wilde had surgery on her forearms 10 months ago and Hodgkins Byrne took time away from the sport after Tokyo 2020 to have her son Freddie, now two.
Hodgkins Byrne said: Secretly to ourselves, we were determined to try and get on the podium and thats what weve done.
Wilde added: Mathilda has been such a great woman to have in the bow. I have learned so much and I just know if I do my job, push as hard as I can, she will get me over the line.
The States failure to provide for the needs of homeless asylum seekers is a breach of their fundamental rights, the High Court in Dublin has ruled.
The court made the ruling after the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) took a case against the State over its failure to provide adequate accommodation to people seeking asylum in Ireland.
Mr Justice Barry ODonnell delivered the judgment on Thursday afternoon, saying the court found that the approach adopted by the State breached the human rights of the relevant unaccommodated IP (International Protection) applicants.
Tents that were pitched by asylum seekers along Dublins Grand Canal before they were removed (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
By failing to meet their basic needs and leaving unaccommodated IP applicants without accommodation or the means to access accommodation, the State has breached the rights of those persons as provided for in Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the judge said.
The IHREC asked the court to make declarations that the state has failed its obligations and is breaching applicants rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
On December 4 last year, the Government stated that it could no longer offer accommodation to men seeking international protection.
However, the court did not grant the mandatory orders sought by the IHREC.
While the court is satisfied that declarations to that effect are warranted, the court will not grant the mandatory orders sought by the Commission, Justice ODonnell added.
Very briefly, the court is not satisfied that there is a basis for concluding that the State will ignore its obligations.
The State has made clear, and the court accepts, that it is making strenuous efforts to redress the situation.
Moreover, in response to the decisions of the High Court in 2023, the State in fact altered its approach by taking steps to improve the provision for unaccommodated IP applicants.
While those steps were not sufficient to avoid a breach of the rights of those applicants, it demonstrated that the State did not intend to ignore the court orders.
In the premises, it is not appropriate for the court to take the very serious additional step of making mandatory orders to support the declaratory relief sought by the Commission.
It was the first time that the Commission took legal action in its own name to defend the human rights of others.
The Commission sought orders to compel the State to fulfil its legal obligations to provide food, shelter and access to basic hygiene facilities to asylum seekers.
In its judgment, the court said that the State has raised the weekly payments to homeless IP applicants by 75 euro and has an arrangement with charities to provide those with food, hygiene facilities and health supports.
The Commission argued that increasing the weekly allowance to 113.80 euro for all eligible applicants was insufficient.
The State also argued that applicants are also provided with a 100 euro shopping voucher to cover the initial period before their weekly allowance is first received.
The Commission claimed that the new efforts by the State are not effective in addressing the core difficulties facing unaccommodated IP applicants.
The case was heard over three days in June.
In its judgment, the court said that it is satisfied that the financial assistance provided is not adequate to ensure that these IP applicants can access housing where it is not being provided directly by the State.
In a statement, the Commission welcomed the judgment.
Michael ONeill, head of legal at the Commission, said: The Commission welcomes this significant judgment.
Not only has the Court clarified important points of law, but critically, it has recognised that the States failure to meet the basic needs of IP applicants has put them in a deeply vulnerable position where they cannot live in dignity and security.
When we began these proceedings in December, 259 IPAs were unaccommodated by the State. That number now stands at 2,352.
The Commission notes the expectation of the Court that the State will comply with its decision.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has urged actors in the Middle East to avoid miscalculation as he visited Lebanon in an effort to prevent escalation of tensions.
Mr Lammy was joined by Defence Secretary John Healey to meet with the Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Bou Habib.
The Foreign Secretary and his Cabinet colleague also visited Qatar on Wednesday to call for de-escalation of the fighting and to press for an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Fears about escalation in the region have grown after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an air strike on Iranian capital Tehran which the militant group blames on Israel.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy was joined by Defence Secretary John Healey to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Bou Habib (FCDO/PA)
Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over Mr Haniyehs coffin during his funeral at Tehran University on Thursday while Irans new president Masoud Pezeshkian stood next to him.
State television later showed the coffins placed in a truck and moved on the street toward Azadi Square in Tehran, and people throwing flowers at them.
The Israelis have, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a strike on a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, targeting the Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend.
Earlier in the week the Foreign Office advised all British citizens to leave Lebanon, with Mr Lammy warning they risk becoming trapped in a warzone if they stay in the country.
Following his meeting with Lebanese officials, Mr Lammy posted to X: We must prevent further escalation in the Middle East and avoid miscalculation.
We must prevent further escalation in the Middle East and avoid miscalculation. I visited Lebanon with Defence Secretary @JohnHealey_MP for talks with PM @Najib_Mikati, Speaker Nabih Berri and FM Bou Habib. It is in no ones interest for others to be drawn into this conflict. pic.twitter.com/UaoWTiQGBn David Lammy (@DavidLammy) August 1, 2024
He added: It is in no-ones interest for others to be drawn into this conflict.
Israel had pledged to kill Mr Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the groups October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The strike came just hours after Israel targeted a top commander in Irans ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Iran supports Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said all parties in the Middle East must avoid escalatory actions that could plunge the region into further conflict.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have welcomed the prisoner swap between Russia and the West which has seen British nationals Vladimir Kara-Murza and Paul Whelan released.
Among those released by Moscow are Mr Whelan, a corporate security executive with joint British nationality from Michigan, who has been jailed since 2018 on espionage charges he and Washington have denied.
Also freed was Mr Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality and is a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who was serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated.
Mr Whelan was designated as wrongfully detained following his arrest in December 2018 after he had travelled to Russia for a wedding.
He was serving a 16-year sentence.
Their release comes as part of the biggest prisoner swap between the US and Russia in post-Soviet history.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer posted on X saying: I welcome the release of a number of prisoners held in Russia, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich.
My thoughts are with them and their loved ones as they are reunited.
We will continue to call on Russia to uphold freedom of political expression.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: I strongly welcome the news that Russia has released a number of prisoners today, and am particularly relieved that British nationals Vladimir Kara-Murza and Paul Whelan will soon be reunited with their families.
Mr Kara-Murza is a dedicated opponent of Putins regime. He should never have been in prison in the first place: the Russian authorities imprisoned him in life-threatening conditions because he courageously told the truth about the war in Ukraine.
I welcome the release of a number of prisoners held in Russia, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. My thoughts are with them and their loved ones as they are reunited. We will continue to call on Russia to uphold freedom of political expression. Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 1, 2024
I pay tribute to his familys courage in the face of such hardship and hope to speak to him soon.
Paul Whelan and his family have also experienced an unimaginable ordeal. I look forward to speaking to him as he returns home to his family in the United States after over five years in detention.
Others freed include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was jailed in 2023 and convicted in July of espionage charges that he and the US vehemently denied and called baseless; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected; associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny; and a German national arrested in Belarus.
The trade followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations, despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has secured the freedom of its own nationals convicted of serious crimes in the West.
A Maoist cult leader who committed a string of sex assaults and kept his daughter captive for three decades was found dead in bed in his prison cell, an inquest heard.
Aravindan Balakrishnan, 81, called himself Comrade Bala and brainwashed his cult into thinking he had godlike powers and could read their minds.
He was jailed for 23 years in 2016 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan, 81, died in prison from natural causes (Hannah McKay/PA)
Devon Coroners Court heard Balakrishnan was found dead by a fellow inmate at HMP Dartmoor in Devon on April 8 2022.
He was on a wing for prisoners who were either in poor health or regarded as vulnerable.
The inquest heard he was suffering from diabetes and vascular dementia and was described as pretty frail.
After being alerted by the inmate, prison officers attempted CPR but were unable to revive Balakrishnan.
Devon and Cornwall Police were informed of his sudden death, but an investigation did not find any suspicious circumstances.
Pathologist Dr Russell Delaney found Balakrishnan had died from a lower respiratory tract infection, with secondary causes of vascular dementia, diabetes and ischemic heart disease.
No external injuries were found and a test for Covid-19 was negative.
Aravindan Balakrishnan was found dead at HMP Dartmoor (Ben Birchall/PA)
Philip Spinney, senior coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, recorded a conclusion of natural causes.
On April 8 2022 Aravindan Balakrishnan was discovered deceased in his cell at HMP Dartmoor where he was serving a sentence of imprisonment, he said.
He died of natural causes and my overall conclusion will be natural causes.
No members of his family attended the brief hearing at County Hall in Exeter.
Balakrishnan, previously of Enfield, London, had been convicted of four counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault, two counts of ABH, cruelty to a child under 16, and false imprisonment.
Following his sentencing, his daughter Katy Morgan-Davies waived her right to anonymity to speak out about the years of psychological and physical bullying she endured at her fathers hands.
It was horrible, so dehumanising and degrading. I felt like a caged bird with clipped wings.
The pensioner idolised tyrants Chairman Mao, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein and wanted to be bigger than all of them, his daughter said.
He ran his tiny south London cult, the Workers Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, with an iron fist banning his daughter from leaving the house or mixing with other children, and sexually assaulting two of his followers by appointment.
To keep his devotees in check, Balakrishnan invented an invisible war machine called Jackie which he said could kill or trigger earthquakes if anyone went against his will.
The datacentre will be in the Science Park, a tax-free zone near the capital, Montevideo. The centre is predicted to add 2.7% to Uruguays CO2 emissions. Photograph: Parque de las Ciencias
Googles plans to build a datacentre in Uruguay have angered environmentalists, who say the project will release thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide and hazardous waste.
Uruguays environmental authorities recently approved the datacentre, which will use air conditioning to cool its servers. The company initially proposed using millions of litres of fresh water to cool its infrastructure, but this caused an outcry in a country that suffered its worst drought since 1950 last year, causing its capital city to run short of drinking water.
However, Daniel Pena, an academic at the University of the Republic in Montevideo and an environmental campaigner, said using air conditioning would be equally damaging to the environment.
Based in Canelones, southern Uruguay, the datacentre is predicted to release 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and generate 86 tonnes of hazardous waste, including electro-electronic residues, oils and chemical packaging, according to the governments environmental assessment report.
It will provide internet services for Googles users worldwide. However, Pena said: For Uruguay, it will provide nothing except toxic waste and greenhouse gases. The datacentre would be in a tax-free zone, he added, the company not pay tax.
Environmentalists are concerned that the datacentre will significantly impact Uruguays carbon footprint. According to Penas calculations, based on official figures, the countrys carbon dioxide emissions from energy production would increase by 2.7%.
Uruguays carbon emissions are very low because it generates more than 90% of its electricity from renewables one of the highest rates in the world. But during periods of high electricity usage or water scarcity, like last year, the country relies on oil-based power stations.
Maria Selva Ortiz, from Friends of the Earth in Uruguay, said the datacentre would put added pressure on the countrys energy grid, forcing it to rely on fossil fuels more often. The environmental organisation calculates that the datacentre would require the same amount of energy as 222,898 households in a country with a population of little more than 3 million people.
We feel that foreign multinationals come to use our natural resources with no benefit to us, Selva Ortiz said.
In addition, the new project was approved so rapidly, she said, there has been no time for scrutiny of the proposals. Environmental groups were not informed when the government approved the datacentre more than a month ago, and the 30-day period for legal appeals has expired.
Ana Filippini, from the Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay (MOVUS), said: The environmental impact is uncertain as the studies requested by citizens have not been completed. Greenhouse gas emissions will increase, and we do not know how the waste from the plant will be disposed of.
She added: Protests by civil society achieved important changes in the Google project, which was initially going to use large quantities of water. However, the new plan has been approved under time pressure, making it hard to assess its impacts.
Related: Uruguays green power revolution: rapid shift to wind shows the world how its done
A Google spokesperson said: Weve engaged extensively with local authorities, community members and local leadership to share the project details and follow the regulatory process to secure all the necessary permits.
The spokesperson added: Once built, the datacentre will operate within the standards approved by the local authorities, and it will be part of Googles longstanding commitment to sustainability across areas such as accelerating the transition to a net zero future and innovating to run the most efficient infrastructure.
The company also argued that Google products were widely used and that the infrastructure generated investment in the country. Datacentres power products that help billions of people around the world, like search, YouTube and Gmail, and were proud to keep investing in infrastructure in Latin America, the spokesperson said.
Uruguays environmental ministry did not respond to the Guardians request for comment. However, its environmental assessment report said there was a management plan to deal with waste from the datacentre and the impact of this waste on the environment was of low significance. The Google datacentre would account for just 0.3% of all carbon dioxide emitted by Uruguays energy sector, the report said.
An Apple store in New York City on Thursday. Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA
Apple reported better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter of 2024, with buzz about its new AI features offsetting a continuing decline in its key China market.
Earnings exceeded analyst predictions despite a year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, with revenue rising 4.9% to $85.78bn in the three months ending 29 June, beating the average analyst estimate of $84.53bn. The company maintained its cash dividend at 25 cents for each share.
The strong report represented a bright spot in the tech space after difficult earnings reports from other tech giants like Amazon, Snap and Intel. The market saw a sell-off on Thursday amid disappointing results, including from Intel which announced plans to cut more than 15,000 jobs as it tries to cut billions of dollars in costs to turn its business around. Amazons stock also dropped more than 4% on Thursday after the company reported lower-than-expected sales this quarter and forward-looking statements indicating a continued slowdown in the next.
Related: Intel announces plan to cut 15,000 jobs to resize and refocus business
Investors were keen to get updates on Apple sales in China, the companys third-largest market, where its market share has been on the decline. Apple dropped out of the top five smartphone providers in the country for the first time earlier this year, overtaken by local brands like vivo, OPPO and Huawei. Third quarter earnings results showed China sales declined 6.5% to $14.73bn more dramatically than the decline of 2.4% analysts had predicted.
In a call with investors, Tim Cook, the Apple CEO, addressed these concerns, attributing some of that lag to fluctuating exchange rates. On a constant currency basis, Cook said, the decline was less than 3% and iPad sales have returned to growth there.
We continue to be confident in the long-term opportunity in China, he said. I dont know how every chapter the book reads, but were very confident in the long term.
Although China sales struggled, overall iPhone sales were better than expected falling 0.9% to $39.30bn, a smaller decline than the 2.2% drop analysts expected. That improvement is due in part to rising demand in anticipation of Apples launch of its artificial intelligence features, which it announced at its annual developers conference WWDC in June.
The tech firms foray into artificial intelligence includes a range of generative AI tools integrated into the operating systems of its devices, including a partnership with OpenAI that integrates into its voice assistant Siri.
Those AI features will only be available iPhone 15 Pro models and later, but analysts say this report shows a strong start. Apple typically announces new devices in September, so analysts will be looking ahead to determine how the AI announcements affect future sales.
Its an incredibly solid quarter for Apple, which validates the companys turnaround toward becoming the leading player in the AI-to-consumer space, said Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com. These numbers should look even better once the AI features hit the market in the quarters ahead.
The company also reported substantial growth in iPad sales. The segment increased 23.7% to $7.16bn, above analyst expectations of $6.61bn, after Apple launched a new AI-focused iPad Pro and a larger iPad Air in May to revive demand for a product line that had languished for the past two years.
In the companys wearables segment, which represents sales of Apple Watches and AirPods headphones, sales fell 2.3% to $8.10bn, compared with analyst estimates of $7.79bn.
Reuters contributed reporting
James Dawkins used information from Dean Youngs position as a commonwealth employee at Australia Post to place dozens of bets on the awards between 2017 and 2019. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Two high school friends used insider information to bet on the winner of three Australian of the Year awards, and pocket thousands of dollars, a court has heard.
James Dawkins, 39, and 38-year-old Dean Young fronted Dandenong magistrates court in Melbourne on Thursday after details of their plan came to light.
Young pleaded guilty to one charge of abuse of public office and Dawkins pleaded guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring the abuse of public office.
Dawkins used information from Youngs position as a commonwealth employee at Australia Post to place dozens of bets on the awards between 2017 and 2019.
At the time, Young was working as a project coordinator at Australia Post, where stamps featuring Australian of the Year winners were being printed before the awards were announced.
Australian federal police alleged Dawkins, from nearby Mount Martha, received $13,302 from the bets.
In 2017 alone, the friends won $9,363 from 20 bets while they made $2,614 the following year and $1,325 in 2019.
Winners over the three years included biomedical scientist Alan Mackay-Sim, quantum physicist Michelle Simmons and Thai cave rescuers Craig Challen and Richard Harris.
The mens plan came undone when the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission reported betting irregularities in the 2022 Australian of the Year awards.
This involved examining phone calls Young made to Dawkins hours after he was told the identities of the winners despite previously signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Related: Victorias tobacco wars: police investigate suspicious fire that destroyed Melbourne shop
Youngs lawyer, Stephen Schembri, told the court he was extremely remorseful for his involvement in the bets but didnt provide a reason for the behaviour.
He still cannot explain why he would act in such a stupid irresponsible way he calls it the worst thing that hes ever done, he said.
Hes no master criminal clearly, neither is Mr Dawkins.
AFP Det Supt Glenn Tod said authorities were committed to disrupting major financial crime based on inside information.
The misuse of official or privileged information erodes public trust in our institutions, Det Supt Tod said.
The consequences for those abusing positions of trust can be extremely serious.
The matter was adjourned for sentencing at a later date.
Fin whale numbers globally are thought to be rising, but remain vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Photograph: Francois Gohier/VWPics/Alamy
The Australian government is deeply disappointed by Japans decision to add the worlds second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.
Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japans decision to hunt fin whales the worlds second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.
The Japanese government this week confirmed it would allow itself to take up to 59 fin whales in its commercial hunt, which is confined to the countrys economic zone.
Related: The vast new whaling mother ship that Japan hopes will revive a shrinking industry
Japans new US$47m (A$71m) whaling ship, the Kangei Maru, is being readied for its maiden hunt and has a deck long enough to haul whales up to 25 metres long.
Australia is deeply disappointed by Japans decision to expand its commercial whaling program by adding fin whales, Plibersek said.
Japan left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019 after previously killing whales under a clause that allowed whaling for scientific research a rationale challenged by conservationists.
Japan already catches Brydes, minke and sei whales. Fin whale numbers globally are thought to be rising, but remain vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The giant mammals can live up to 90 years.
Plibersek said: Australia is opposed to all commercial whaling and urges all countries to end this practice.
Australias efforts through the International Whaling Commission have contributed to a whaling-free Southern Ocean and a decline in commercial whaling around the world. Australia will continue to advocate for the protection and conservation of whales and the health of our ocean for future generations.
Darren Kindleysides, a whale campaigner and the chief executive of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, called the hunts inhumane, cruel and unnecessary.
We welcome this strong statement from [Plibersek] in protection of whales and opposing commercial whaling, he said.
Australia has a long and bipartisan history of opposing commercial whaling and we expect Australia to take a strong stance when the IWC meets next month in Peru.
In 1986 the IWC put a global moratorium in place on commercial whaling. Norway and Iceland have remained members of the commission, but have hunted under loopholes.
Whales are also caught by a small number of countries under IWC rules that allow for some indigenous and subsistence whaling.
Kindleysides said: The worlds great whales have populations that are threatened. We still know relatively little about whales, but we do know for species like fin whales that they are at risk following the legacy of whaling in the 18- and 1900s, so we must do what we can to protect them.
We have learned that whales are worth more alive than dead. We have a multimillion-dollar whale watching industry now on the back of the recovery of humpback whales.
Sir Keir Starmer has been keen to build closer ties with the EU - Stefan Rousseau/AFP via Getty Images
Sir Keir Starmers plans for a speedy defence and security pact with the EU have suffered a blow from senior figures in Brussels.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister leading the drive for Sir Keir, briefed EU ambassadors last week that he wanted substantive talks lasting into spring 2025.
But The Telegraph has talked to figures both at the EU end and inside the UK Government who fear the proposed timeline is too optimistic if a significant deal is to be secured.
Senior positions in the European Commission and European Council will only be finalised later this year, potentially making it difficult to make progress before then.
The EU is also understood to be unclear about what the UK wants. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is believed to have sought answers when he saw Sir Keir in July 2024.
It is also unclear if wider security issues, involving energy and immigration, will be discussed alongside the proposed deal or separated from it.
Step by step is the way to go
These challenges have led to cautionary comments from EU figures about whether negotiations intensifying in March, April and May 2024 are really deliverable or whether longer is needed for the talks.
An EU diplomat said: Its an ambitious timeline and stuffing all kinds of things into a security pact isnt going to make it easier.
From the EU side, taking this step by step on areas of common interest is the way to go.
There is still a lot of Brexit-PTSD going around here. Lets not overburden ourselves and ruin the good thing we got going since the Windsor Agreement [on Northern Ireland].
An EU official said if there is a will there is a way but cautioned that given the timings for commission appointments, progress can only begin to be made from November.
A UK government source monitoring developments sounded downbeat: You go into a negotiation with very clear aims, what we want out of it, what we are willing to give up and what our red lines are. We dont have any of those things. The wider you go, the more difficult it is.
Three broad areas are emerging in what the pact could include, according to discussions with figures involved from both sides.
The first is some form of regular dialogue. Mr Thomas-Symonds has said publicly he wants a UK-EU summit, as Labour attempts to build on its reset in relations since taking office.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, will attend a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in October, becoming only the second UK minister to do so since Brexit.
The second area is more complicated. The UK wants to see improved defence industrial cooperation, which would allow UK and EU defence companies to work closer together.
Brussels is working on a defence union with a flagship project to create an air defence network solely through EU firms.
Britain could seek to join the scheme but would have a difficult time in convincing Mr Macron to endorse the move, as he seeks to end Europes traditional reliance on the US for its security.
The EU official did not rule out the possibility but said it would be difficult without almost entirely aligning to the blocs rules.
Might not be as easy as with Norway
Anything is possible if there is a will on both sides, the official said. But practically it might not be as easy as with Norway since Norway is aligned with the EU to 90 per cent on all legislation and other things, like the single market and Schengen.
Its easier for them and this might make it more cumbersome for the UK but again its important to have the will and the way to get there will then be worked out.
Norway, a non-EU member, has been invited to take part in Brussels-funded schemes to donate weapons to Ukraine that only provide cash to companies based in the bloc.
A third area is broader security issues, which remains ill-defined. This could include topics such as energy with Ed Miliband, the Energy Security Secretary, said to be keen for scoping out a deal here with the EU.
Meanwhile, the commission has warned Britain that its failing to fully implement the Windsor Framework, the deal that prevents a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, could complicate future negotiations.
Sources in Brussels told The Telegraph that the commission has become frustrated by the inaction in carrying out the required trade checks on shipments between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Telegraph understands that seven complaints were set out in a document that was shared with Westminster.
They include demands that British officials punish traders not using not for EU labels correctly, British customs officials begin turning back consignments that dont meet the EUs rules and full implementation of a new pet passport system that requires microchips checked on every animal crossing the Irish Sea.
A commission spokeswoman said: The EU is committed to a positive agenda with the UK, based on the full respect and the faithful and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which are the cornerstone for the EU-United Kingdom relationship.
The CEO of Djirra, Antoinette Braybrook says Aboriginal women in Victoria are 45 times more likely to experience family violence. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP
Indigenous mental health experts say serious action is needed after the latest Closing the Gap data showed suicide, child protection and incarceration rates are all worsening.
The Productivity Commissions annual report released this week found only five of the 19 measures monitored are considered to be on track, with the number of Indigenous Australians imprisoned, taking their own life and losing children to out-of-home care all increasing in the first Closing the Gap report since the voice to parliament was defeated in the referendum.
Gayaa Dhuwi Australia a group of the nations leading Indigenous health and mental health professionals said the trend will continue to worsen unless something is done.
Our people deserve to live long and happy lives, enjoying high levels of social and emotional wellbeing, said Gayaa Dhuwi chair, Prof Helen Milroy.
Prof Milroy said governments were not undertaking partnership actions in the spirit in which they were drafted.
Wide scale systemic changes are needed including genuinely sharing decision making with and building up the community-controlled sector, addressing institutional racism and providing access to locally-relevant data, Prof Milroy said.
There was no available data on some targets including access to clean drinking water, sewerage treatment, electricity, and the proportion of women and children experiencing family violence, according to NACCHO, the peak body for Aboriginal health.
This data gap stresses the necessity for comprehensive and transparent reporting to ensure all aspects of community well-being are addressed, a NACCHO statement said.
Indigenous domestic and family violence organisations also expressed frustration and disappointment at the worsening figures.
Related: Walk with me: new Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy wants a new kind of discourse
The CEO of Djirra, a family violence support organisation for Aboriginal women, Antoinette Braybrook, said family violence is the single biggest driver of the vast over-representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.
If you are an Aboriginal woman in Victoria, you are 45 times more likely to experience family violence perpetrated by men from all backgrounds than other women, Braybrook said.
Yet again, the Closing the Gap report does not provide an update on progress towards a 50% reduction by 2031 of all forms of family violence and abuse against First Nations women and children.
This is completely outrageous. You cannot manage what you dont measure, she said.
CEO of First Nations advocates against family violence, Kerry Staines, agreed current measures to assess domestic and family violence are inadequate.
The only current indicator used to capture domestic and family violence data is based on the rates of hospitalisation for family violence assaults of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children, which as a data source is a skewed observation as physical injuries are just one way of observing the impacts of violence, Staines said.
Data should capture the prevalence of murdered and missing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, she said, adding they have some of the highest homicide/missing persons rates, which are not currently captured in the progress report.
Long and healthy lives
Improving, but not on track
71.9 years was the life expectancy for males born in 2020-22, while for females it was 75.6
Early childhood education
On track
101.8% of children were enrolled in preschool in 2023
Criminal justice
Worsening
2,265.8 per 100,000 adults in prison in 2023
Youth justice
No change
29,8 per 10,000 young people were in detention 2022 - 23
Child protection
Worsening
57.2 per 1,000 children were in out-of-home care in 2023
Social and emotional wellbeing
Worsening
29.9 per 100,000 people took their own life in 2022
Land
On track
4,213,978km2 were subject to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights or interests in 2023
Waters
On track
113,461km2 were subjected to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights or interests in 2023
Children thriving
Worsening
34.3% of children commencing school were developmentally on track in 2021
Student learning potential
Improvement, but not on track
68.1% of people ages 20-24 years had attained year 12 of equivalent in 2021
Further education pathways
Improvement, but not on track
47% of people ages 25-34 years had completed a tertiary qualification in 2021
Youth engagement
Improvement, but not on track
58% of people aged 15-24 years were fully engaged in employment, education or training in 2021
Economic participation
On track
55.7% of people aged 25-64 years were employed in 2021
Housing
Improvement, but not on track
81.4% of people were living in appropriately sized housing in 2021
Coalition of Peaks co-convener Catherine Liddle said the targets that were being met were ones where community control was in place.
Its clear that when we control our services we get better outcomes for our people, she said.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, described some of the data as deeply troubling.
Related: Domestic violence perpetrators could be tracked by specialised agency, Australian crime institute says
I am determined to work in partnership with First Nations Australians, the Coalition of Peaks and state and territory governments to bring about positive change, McCarthy said on Wednesday.
I will be reaching out to my colleagues across the parliament to seek a bipartisan approach to Indigenous affairs.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said his government was committed to closing the gap and working with Indigenous communities and defended the governments funding record, including the $4bn spend in remote housing for Northern Territory communities.
Quite clearly governments of all persuasions at all levels have not done well enough in the past but we are committed to working with those communities and also, of course, working with the private sector as well to make a difference, Albanese said.
The ACCC has called for greater policing of Centrepay, a service for people receiving Centrelink payments which makes automatic deductions. Photograph: Darren England/AAP
The consumer watchdog has joined a group of regulators, lawyers and financial advocates calling for a crackdown on predatory businesses using the government-run Centrepay to cause financial harm to welfare recipients, including Indigenous Australians.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said the watchdog had heard complaints about Centrepay a debit system giving businesses early access to peoples welfare money for many years.
Related: Corporate regulator urges crackdown on Centrepay after more than 40% of businesses found to be non-compliant
Lowe, a leading consumer advocate prior to her appointment to the ACCC, alleged unscrupulous businesses had signed welfare recipients up to Centrepay payment arrangements for goods they do not want or need, or could not afford.
The ACCC is also aware of circumstances where it is alleged that consumers experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage, including some First Nations consumers, have been signed to Centrepay arrangements where they have not given their free, prior and informed consent which has also led to those consumers experiencing financial harm, Lowe said in a submission to a current Centrepay reform process.
Centrepay was established in 1998 under the Howard government as a voluntary bill-paying service for people receiving Centrelink payments to make automatic deductions for essentials like rent and utilities.
It currently has more than 620,000 users. A large percentage of them are receiving disability support payments. Almost a third are Aboriginal people, predominantly women, from remote areas, receiving jobseeker or parenting payments.
Over time Centrepay has expanded to include a range of businesses and services.
There are now more than 15,000 companies approved to access Centrepay, which facilitated 23.7 million transactions last year worth $2.7bn. Each transaction incurs a 99c fee, paid to the government by businesses using the system.
Over the past decade, consumer advocates have raised concerns that several of the businesses registered to access Centrepay may be causing financial harm to vulnerable customers.
The corporate regulator is investigating dozens of companies. At least four that it has already penalised remain on the system.
In May 2024, the government announced a full review of the system to increase compliance, transparency and strengthen auditing processes.
Services Australia, which operates the system, says it is working towards improving delivery.
In 2022-23, contracts ended for 12 Centrepay businesses due to non-compliance.
The ACCC has added its voice to a growing group calling for greater policing of the Centrepay system, including the corporate regulator Asic, energy and water ombudsman agencies in four states, the Australian Energy Regulator, the Law Council of Australia and an alliance of Australian financial counselling groups.
A Guardian investigation earlier this year revealed how the system had been used by major energy retailers allegedly including AGL to continue taking money from the welfare payments of former customers, sometimes over a period of years, and by rent-to-buy businesses to charge remote Indigenous communities exorbitant rates for low-value home appliances.
The investigation also revealed how an extreme and controversial rehabilitation centre, which allegedly practised exorcisms and gay conversion practices, had forced its vulnerable clients on to Centrepay and then used their welfare money to prop itself up financially.
The ACCC said the government should adopt a robust compliance model administered by Services Australia to stop Centrepay being used for financial abuse, aided by a high-profile public information campaign to incentivise improved compliance.
A robust compliance framework is particularly important, as the ACCC considers that some consumers, including those experiencing vulnerability, may be reluctant to complain about the conduct of Centrepay businesses for fear of losing access to the service, Lowe said.
Asic has voiced its concern over the high rate of non-compliance among the small number of Centrepay-approved businesses investigated by Services Australia. In 2022-23, the government only investigated 382 of the 10,205 registered Centrepay businesses about 4% for their compliance with the rules. About 42% were found to be non-compliant.
The Law Council of Australia, in its submission to the Centrepay reform process, said there was an ongoing reticence to enforce the Centrepay rules on businesses.
Consequently, approved provider business practices remain largely unchecked, and customers remain vulnerable to financial exploitation and harm, the council said.
A joint energy and water ombudsman submission from watchdogs in four states New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia also warned they had identified a string of problems with the way energy retailers were using Centrepay.
In some cases, energy companies were continuing to deduct money from the welfare payments of people who were no longer customers. In others, they were changing Centrepay deduction amounts without telling the customer, which reduced their welfare payment without warning.
Some retailers were stopping Centrepay deductions without informing customers, meaning that consumers [were] unknowingly accruing debt because Centrepay deductions were not occurring, according to the submission.
The joint ombudsman submission called for greater transparency and communication with customers when problems are identified, including when energy retailers have been found continuing to take money from former customers.
When overpayments occur and the account has been closed, it is critical for consumers to receive refunds and any other relevant redress such as customer service gestures as soon as possible, the submission said.
When an overpayment issue is identified, we consider Services Australia and the relevant businesses should promptly alert impacted consumers.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is now pursuing AGL in the federal court over its alleged receipt of overpayments via Centrepay. The company was accused of taking more than $700,000 in Centrepay payments from about 575 vulnerable people who had ceased being AGL customers years earlier.
Related: Unscrupulous businesses abused Centrepay to take welfare money from women fleeing domestic violence, advocacy groups claim
After the Guardians investigation, the government referred a further three energy retailers to the AER. The regulator said it was awaiting a decision in the AGL case before deciding whether to launch further legal action against other energy companies.
In its submission to the reform process, the AER said energy retailers were taking an excessive period to identify and remediate instances of non-compliance with the Centrepay framework. The regulator added Services Australia should be given the power to compel energy retailers to audit their own use of Centrepay.
We have concerns that businesses may not have adequate policies, systems and procedures in place to monitor compliance with the Centrepay framework, the AER said.
Services Australia has previously acknowledged the system needed improvement and said reform was a priority.
It has also previously said it was committed to further consultation after reviewing the submissions.
There will be more consultation ahead with the community, and particularly those who have direct experience using Centrepay, as we progress towards meaningful reform, spokesperson Hank Jongen said.
Huw Edwards charges did not come to light until two days before his court appearance - Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
The decision to charge Huw Edwards with child sex offences was not publicised by the police or prosecutors amid concerns over his mental health, The Telegraph understands.
The former BBC presenter was arrested in November 2023 on suspicion of receiving indecent images of children as part of a WhatsApp exchange with a 25-year-old convicted paedophile and was charged on June 26 2024.
Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing seven category A images, 12 category B images and 22 category C images of children in his first appearance in front of a court, at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday.
He is due to be sentenced on Sept 16.
But despite the huge public interest in the case, details of the charges and his pending magistrates court appearance were not made public at the time, as would be normal practice.
Instead, news of the case only emerged on Monday when a media organisation spotted that he was due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday and demanded details from Scotland Yard.
Both the Met and Crown Prosecution Service have denied suppressing information or giving Edwards preferential treatment but one former attorney general has questioned the decision not to release the information earlier.
Sources have now told The Telegraph concern over Edwards vulnerability and mental health played a part in the decision to withhold information until the last minute.
The source, with knowledge of the case, said: In a situation like this, where there is so much public interest, it would be standard practice for the police or CPS to inform the public as soon as the person was charged.
But concern over Edwards mental health was certainly a factor in deciding not to release all the details immediately. The intention was to release details of the charges the day before he was due in court.
This was not an attempt to cover it up but simply to manage the inevitable frenzy that would follow the news being made public. The important thing was that justice was seen to be done.
The decision not to publicise that Edwards had been charged is understood to have raised eyebrows among some of those who worked on the case, who feel it is out of sync with normal practice.
Stephen Parkinson, the head of the CPS as director of public prosecutions, took up the post in October 2023 and is now expected to face pressure to explain why the prosecutors took the approach they did in Edwards case.
Edwards mental health struggles had been well publicised after he was suspended by the BBC in July 2023 when it emerged that he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a young man.
His wife revealed that he was being treated for serious mental health issues in hospital and, in April 2024, he resigned from the broadcaster on medical advice.
In 2022 Caroline Flack, the TV presenter, took her own life after she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend.
The police and CPS came under fire at the time for pursuing the case after Flacks boyfriend said he did not support the prosecution.
TV presenter Caroline Flack took her own life after she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend - Ray Burmiston/BBC
The CPS has already faced criticism for breaching open justice principles.
One former attorney general told The Telegraph: It is very puzzling that the CPS did not release the charge details to the media. Normally, with high-profile cases, an announcement is made that charges have been brought.
This notifies members of the media that a first court appearance is imminent to allow them to report on it, in accordance with the principles of open justice.
Im therefore puzzled that the CPS did not announce charges when they were brought in June, as at that point it became a public matter.
In a statement issued earlier this week, the CPS denied it had deliberately suppressed details about Edwards being charged or given him preferential treatment.
A CPS spokesman said: Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.
Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.
Scotland Yard also denied it had taken a different approach in informing the media in the case of Edwards.
A spokesman said: The approach taken in this case isnt unusual. Quite often when there is a lengthy gap between the date someone is charged and their first appearance we will publish the details immediately before the first appearance.
The purpose of us releasing the details is to allow [the] media to cover the court proceedings so providing it is prior to that date we have met that requirement.
Let's get ready to rumble: In an era of celebrity fights perhaps Maduro vs Musk would be the most bizarre?
Elon Musk has accepted an invitation by Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, to a fight following criticism of his contested re-election.
Mr Musk, the worlds wealthiest man, repeatedly criticised Mr Maduro on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, accusing him of major election fraud and labelling him a dictator.
Mr Maduro was declared the winner in Venezuelas election on Sunday, but electoral authorities have failed to disclose detailed results to back up the claim.
The result has been widely called into question, with the US and EU demanding Venezuelan authorities release detailed voting data.
Shame on Dictator Maduro, Mr Musk wrote on X on Sunday.
In response to Mr Musks attacks, Mr Maduro declared on national television in Venezuela on Monday: Do you want to fight? Lets do it. Elon Musk, Im ready. Im not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Lets fight, wherever you want.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Musk tweeted: I accept, adding that Mr Maduro will chicken out.
If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela, Mr Musk posted to X. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.
Analysis shows Maduro lost by 30 percentage points
Sundays elections were held in the shadow of Mr Maduros warnings of a bloodbath if he were to lose.
Venezuela has been thrown into uncertainty following the results, which Mr Maduro claims show he received 51 per cent of the votes.
Mr Maduro had promised to lead a free and fair election, but opponents have flagged issues including the barring of his oppositions main leader Maria Corina Machado from running and reports that witnesses for his opponent were allegedly denied access to the centralised vote count.
The opposition claims their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, is the rightful winner.
They have released extensive voting data they argue shows Mr Gonzalez defeating Mr Maduro by a significant margin, in line with pre-election polls.
On Wednesday, the New York Times released an analysis showing Mr Gonzalez beat Mr Maduro by more than 30 percentage points.
The news outlet made the conclusions based on partial election results, provided by a group of researchers associated with Venezuelas main opposition alliance.
The researchers estimated a result of 66 per cent for Mr Gonzalez versus 31 per cent for Mr Maduro, which closely matches the findings of an independent exit poll conducted nationwide on election day.
Maduro said he was ready to present 100 per cent of the records, as he addressed journalists outside the Supreme Court of Justice, where he filed an appeal against what he termed an attack against the electoral process.
But he voiced outrage at opposition leaders Ms Machado and Mr Gonzalez, saying they should be behind bars.
Detentions and forced disappearances
Protests have erupted across the country, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen individuals and the arrest of more than 1,000.
On Monday, security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets against Venezuelans who flooded the streets chanting Freedom, freedom! and This government is going to fall!
Ms Machado reported 177 detentions and 11 forced disappearances, while Tarek William Saab, the attorney general, stated that over 1,000 people had been arrested during the protests, with some potentially facing terrorism charges.
He added that one military officer was killed and 77 officials were injured.
Mr Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013, during which time GDP has plummeted by 80 per cent, prompting over seven million of Venezuelas 30 million citizens to emigrate.
He faces allegations of imprisoning critics and harassing opponents amidst a growing climate of authoritarianism.
Mr Maduros previous reelection in 2018 was widely condemned as a sham by numerous Latin American countries and other nations, including the US and members of the EU.
Prison regulations required Evan Gershkovich to write a letter to Vladimir Putin requesting clemency as one last formality - so he included a cheeky proposal at the bottom of the form - Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
As he was released from his Russian jail cell, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had a dazzling parting shot for Vladimir Putin.
Prison regulations required him to write a letter to Putin requesting clemency as one last formality. He was happy to do so, relying on the past 16 months he had spent honing his Russian language skills in custody.
A journalist to the last moment of his confinement, he scribbled a cheeky proposal at the bottom of the form: would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview after his release?
Mr Gershkovich, 32, became a free man on Thursday as part of a historic prisoner swap in which eight Russian criminals were exchanged for a group of 16 comprising German nationals, Russian political prisoners and US citizens.
Former detainees in Russia: Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Paul Whelan pose with a US flag as they celebrate their freedom - US Government/Handout via REUTERS
The breakthrough that secured the deal appears to have come in April 2024 when President Joe Biden made a phone call to Olaf Scholz, his German counterpart.
At that time Germany was working to release a group of citizens languishing in Russian prisons on dubious espionage and criminal charges.
Berlin also held the key to a deal for Mr Gershkovich: Vadim Krasikov, a notorious hitman whom Putin keenly wanted to free, was serving a life sentence in a German prison for gunning down a Chechen dissident in Tiergarten in Berlin.
Sources in the White House said the moment had come to bring Mr Scholz deeper into the negotiations - without his assent to release Krasikov, the deal risked collapsing.
During their call, the two leaders discussed an earlier written proposal which fleshed out the key details of a prisoner swap. It envisaged trading Mr Gershkovich, the ex-US marine Paul Whelan and some German citizens and Russian dissidents for Krasikov, plus some other notorious Russian prisoners.
Vadim Krasikov assassinated a Chechen dissident in Berlin's Tiergarten park in 2019
Basically, Chancellor Scholz responded to the President, saying for you, I will do this, a US administration official said. The president then turned to Jake [Sullivan, US national security adviser] and said get it done.
The official added: It became clear that the Russians would not agree to the release of these individuals without an exchange that included Vadim Krasikov, a Russian criminal who was in German custody. [He was] not someone we could offer ourselves.
Another key figure was Mr Gershkovichs mother, Ella, who tirelessly lobbied US officials for his release. She even confronted Mr Biden at the 2023 White House Correspondents Dinner, imploring him: You are the only one who can bring my boy home.
According to the Wall Street Journal, she finally learned that a deal had been done on the 491st day of Mr Gershkovichs detention, at a meeting in the White House with Mr Biden. Tell no one, she was warned.
A third important figure was Mr Bidens chief hostage negotiator Roger Carstens, who goes by the nickname of Captain America due to his maverick tendencies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The nations of Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey also played a role, according to Mr Biden, who hailed the prisoners release as a feat of diplomacy.
All those efforts led to what US officials called a package of eight individuals of interest to Russia for the 16 individuals including German nationals, Russian political prisoners and US citizens being agreed upon.
Three of the prisoners released by Russia in a prisoner swap operation include Evan Gershkovich (front left), Alsu Kurmasheva (front right), and Paul Whelan (front second right)
Prior to this, there had been serious bumps in the road during late 2023 and early 2024. At that time, US efforts had partly been focused on setting free Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, as part of the swap - but he was killed in a penal colony, plunging the negotiations into turmoil.
According to The Insider, an investigative news website, Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, had also felt deeply uncomfortable about releasing Krasikov, a notorious contract killer serving a life sentence for the Tiergarten murder.
Ms Baerbock reportedly felt that releasing Krasikov would signal weakness in Berlin, a view shared by some other figures in Germanys coalition. However, they were all eventually brought around to support the deal by the autumn of 2023.
In April 2024 another breakthrough was secured, around the same time that Mr Biden made his phone call to Mr Scholz. Germany felt it needed Putin to offer much more than just US prisoners in order to fully justify the release of Krasikov, and suggested the idea that Moscow also set free a number of political prisoners of Russian nationality.
The BND, the German equivalent of MI6, was brought on to shepherd the deal through to its final stages. Putins replacement of Sergei Beseda, a top FSB official, with a new foreign relations chief, Alexei Komkov, may also have removed some outstanding hurdles.
Once the deal was done, Krasikov was among the Russian list of prisoners flown to Ankara, where Russian officials picked him up.
Turkish television footage captured the moment that both sides exchanged their hostages, passing each other as they crossed the tarmac.
Another video of the prisoners release showed a stoic Mr Gershkovich being led out of a prison bus by a masked Russian guard, who gripped his elbow.
On Thursday night, Mr Gershkovich was due to land back in America at Andrews Air Force Base, where his family was waiting to greet him.
Meanwhile, a group of Russian journalists and dissidents had also gathered at Berlin airport on Thursday evening, hoping to celebrate the former prisoners freedom.
As all the concerned families and friends waited for proof of their loved ones release, there was, at last, a flash of joy. A US government photo was released showing a beaming Mr Gershkovich holding an American flag, alongside Mr Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmashava: they were free.
A national capability will be established to tackle violent disorder and rioters, Keir Starmer has announced, as he warned social media firms they had a responsibility to clamp down on misinformation.
Speaking after violent disorder followed the Southport stabbing attack, the prime minister said the initiative would pull together intelligence and action across the countrys police forces. This would range from the immediate challenge, which is clearly driven by far-right hatred and all violent disorder that flares, regardless of motivation.
Starmer appeared furious during a press conference on Thursday afternoon as he condemned the tiny mindless minority in society a gang of thugs [who] got on trains and buses, went to a community that is not their own, a community grieving the most horrific tragedy, and then proceeded to throw bricks at police officers police officers who just 24 hours earlier had been having to deal with an attack on children in their community.
He said the new plan was designed to show that Britain would not allow understandable fear to curdle into division and hate in our communities and that will not permit, under any circumstances, a breakdown in law and order on our streets. He added: Lets be very clear about this. Its not protest. Its not legitimate. Its crime and violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice.
The national capability will aim to improve intelligence gathering and sharing on extremist troublemakers after police were surprised by the scale of disorder on Tuesday in Southport, with further unrest in London, Manchester, Hartlepool and Aldershot on Wednesday night.
The new initiative should identify agitators from all parts of the ideological spectrum, while enhancing the sharing of community tension indicators and the coordination of mutual aid, where specially riot-trained officers are rushed from one area to another, Starmer said.
The prime minister said there was a balance to be struck when it came to social media platforms efforts to tackle misinformation online, with discussion needed on whether they could face consequences if they failed to act.
Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, its happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.
That is the single most important duty of government; service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.
Starmer said nobody but nobody involved in the rioting or spread of misinformation should pretend they are speaking for the grieving families. The far right are showing who they are we have to show who we are in response to that, he said.
Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after mosques were targeted, he said: In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear: I will take every step thats necessary to keep you safe.
He held the press conference after meeting senior police chiefs, including the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Dame Lynne Owens; Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside police; BJ Harrington of the National Police Chiefs Council; and Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions.
Starmer thanked police officers who stood up to intimidation and violence, adding: Im not going to pretend to you that they werent affected by what they had had to witness, what theyd had to deal with. They said to me, as they always do, I was simply doing my job, and of course, they were, but theres no way what they had to endure was anything other than extraordinarily challenging.
It is hoped that increasing the number of specialist public order officers who can be rushed into an area of trouble will increase the number of arrests when violence breaks out.
The new officers will sit with the national police operations centre, which is part of the National Police Chiefs Council.
The plans were drafted by Downing Street, and a source said heads of police meeting Starmer in No 10 on Thursday were in broad agreement.
The financing and full details are yet to be ironed out. Consideration is to be given to the potential greater use of live facial recognition at places where disorder is expected or has broken out.
There was 'widespread mistrust' of the misconduct reporting process, the watchdog said - E+
Fire services are covering up abhorrent abuse of staff, by bullying the whistleblowers who raise concerns, the official watchdog has found.
Victims are failing to report bullying, sexism and racism for fear of reprisals from managers, said HM inspectorate of police and fire services.
Some who reported misconduct said that an ally of the perpetrator was then appointed to investigate their allegations, in what amounted to a cover-up, inspectors revealed in a report published on Thursday.
In an exclusive article for The Telegraph, Roy Wilsher, the chief fire service inspector, said the widespread and often deep mistrust of the misconduct process was one of the most worrying findings in his report.
It meant there were still pockets of abhorrent behaviour across fire services in England including bullying, harassment, intimidation, abuse of power and racist, sexist and homophobic language, said Mr Wilsher. And women were more likely to fear reprisals for blowing the whistle than men, he said.
Roy Wilsher, a former chief fire officer, heads the watchdog - Paul Grover for The Telegraph
A lack of faith in the confidentiality of the process means they fear repercussions if they report an issue. Tellingly, we found women were more likely than men to express a fear of reporting.
This begs the question; how can we root out misconduct if people are scared to report it? he asked.
Abuse of power
More than one third of nearly 4,500 firefighters surveyed by the inspectorate said they had suffered bullying, harassment, abuse of power and racist, sexist and homophobic language. More than 40 per cent said they had witnessed such misconduct in the last year.
The report was commissioned by the Government after an investigation last year uncovered bullying, harassment and discrimination in every fire and rescue service in England. Cases included a male firefighter telling a colleague he would rape her and a senior officer using a racial slur.
The Inspectorate said there had been an improvement in the culture since then but it still found compelling evidence of a widespread fear among firefighters to report the behaviour, in case reprisals damaged their career prospects.
Some whistleblowers told the inspectors they had been singled out and overlooked for promotion, which they felt was a direct result of reporting misconduct.
This fear and mistrust was so widespread that many staff members doubted whether our survey was truly confidential and expressed concerns that they would be vulnerable if they disclosed information to us, said the report.
Whistleblowers persecuted
One former firefighter told the inspectors that staff were almost persecuted, vilified, because they have blown the whistle on individuals.
Another said: Some people are just taking the abuse, the harassment, because they dont want to put a target on their back.
Many firefighters believed the misconduct system was biased and not impartial, which was closely related to the fear of reprisals.
They told us investigations were sometimes conducted by someone close to the person alleged to have perpetrated the misconduct, such as their line manager. They considered such cases to be cover-ups, said the inspectors.
Women most often expressed a fear of reporting. For example, one firefighter told us she did speak to her line manager about something and it wasnt dealt with.
The manager breached her confidentiality and she felt humiliated by her peers. She was adamant she would never raise a concern again.
Another firefighter said when she raised a concern to her manager, she was told it would be held against her when she went for promotion. Because of this fear of reporting, it is likely that the actual level of misconduct within FRSs [Fire and Rescue Services] is higher than the evidence suggests.
Many staff members decide to just put up with unacceptable behaviour rather than use the systems they distrust so thoroughly. Staff in many of the services we visited told us that people dont want to put their heads above the parapet.
A Home Office spokesman said: The findings from the Inspectorates report are deeply concerning. There is no space for misconduct in our Fire and Rescue Services, and we expect it to be addressed at the earliest opportunity.
We will be carefully considering the recommendations, and will be kept updated by HMICFRS on progress made. We will also continue to work with closely with the fire sector to ensure that the highest levels of integrity are maintained across services.
We cannot allow this bullying, harassment and abuse to continue
By Roy Wilsher
What makes a good working environment? For me, its trust. Trust in your colleagues and your leaders. And, crucially, trust that if anything goes wrong theres a system there to protect you and your team. This becomes even more vital when the work youre doing can be tough, risky and take a physical and emotional toll.
Thats why the findings of our latest report into the fire and rescue service remain concerning. Firefighters and fire and rescue staff carry out a vital public service, with thousands of people helping our communities every day.
But at His Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), we have repeatedly found evidence of poor values, culture and behaviour in the fire and rescue sector. Our report on values and culture in the sector, published last year, was a wake-up call. It led to the Government commissioning us to review the handling of misconduct in the fire and rescue service. Today we have published our findings.
We were pleased to find early signs of improvement. On the whole, senior fire and rescue leaders have demonstrated a commitment to creating a positive, inclusive culture. And they recognise that tackling unacceptable behaviour is a big part of this.
Most services have made it a priority to raise awareness of expected standards of behaviour and have action plans in place to get better at identifying, managing and investigating misconduct.
Distrust of misconduct process
But our review also paints a stark picture. One of the most worrying things our inspection team found was a widespread and often deep distrust of misconduct processes. This is holding back progress and positive culture change.
Most staff who want to report an issue know where to go and what to do. But many lack confidence in the process. They dont believe their voices will be heard or that bad behaviour will be addressed.
A lack of faith in the confidentiality of the process means they fear repercussions if they report an issue. Tellingly, we found women were more likely than men to express a fear of reporting. This begs the question; how can we root out misconduct if people are scared to report it?
To try to change this, we are calling for a more rigorous and well-resourced misconduct process in every one of the 44 fire and rescue services across England. Trust and confidence in the system is a priority.
All fire and rescue staff need to know they can report unacceptable behaviour without fear of reprisal. They must feel safe in the knowledge that their service will investigate issues fairly and thoroughly, and that sanctions will be appropriate and just. Until this happens, some will suffer in silence, while others will remain free to bully, harass and discriminate against their colleagues without challenge.
Racism, homophobia and misogyny
During this inspection, it was extremely disappointing to find that pockets of abhorrent behaviour persist across the fire and rescue service. An unacceptable number of staff told us they had experienced and witnessed misconduct, including racism, homophobia and misogyny, during the last 12 months
This cannot continue. This kind of behaviour is, of course, deeply damaging to the people involved. But it also has far wider implications. To protect the public, firefighters need to be able to work effectively together in high-pressure, emergency situations.
Without trust and respect within teams, their ability to do this is eroded. In the longer-term, a continued overhaul of values and culture is required: one that will help prevent this type of behaviour from happening in the first place.
But, right now, we need to see more and faster progress towards fire and rescue services that swiftly and effectively challenge and deal with unacceptable behaviour. This can only be achieved by getting the fundamentals right.
Positive change
We have made 15 recommendations in our report to help bring about positive change. These are intended to directly improve the way misconduct is handled and help to earn the trust of staff.
For example, we want to see the introduction of the right training and support for all staff investigating misconduct, and for every service to have access to a professional standards function to support fair and transparent investigations. We also recommend that robust probationary policies are put in place, so early serious misconduct leads to dismissal.
Fire and rescue workers deserve better. They protect the public day in and day out. By taking these practical steps, fire and rescue services can continue to bring about lasting cultural change. Change that is long overdue for their staff and for the public they serve.
Roy Wilsher is HM Inspector of Fire & Rescue Services
Rico Krieger, a German who was sentenced to death in Belarus but has now been pardoned. Photograph: Belteleradio Company/Reuters
The German government has said it did not take the decision to release a jailed FSB hitman lightly, as it confirmed its involvement in a historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the west.
Chancellor Olaf Scholzs spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said the deal involving the release of Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany for murder had been arranged in close and trusting cooperation with the United States and European partners, making it possible to secure the release of 15 people who were unlawfully detained in Russia and a German national [Rico Krieger] who had been sentenced to death in Belarus.
Hebestreit said their liberation was only possible by deporting Russian nationals with a background in intelligence who were in prison in Europe and transferring them to Russia. He confirmed that among them was Krasikov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany after murdering a Georgian citizen in a Berlin park.
The German government did not take this decision lightly, Hebestreit said. The states interest in carrying out the prison sentence of a convicted criminal was weighed against the freedom, physical wellbeing and in some cases ultimately the lives of innocent people imprisoned in Russia and those unjustly politically imprisoned.
Our duty to protect German nationals as well as solidarity with the USA were important motivations, he said.
Krasikov, a high-ranking officer in the Russian secret service the FSB, was serving a life sentence in a German jail for the 2019 murder of an opponent of the Russian regime in a central Berlin park.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian-born Chechen dissident registered as an asylum seeker in Germany, was shot dead in broad daylight by Krasikov. The assassin had entered Germany using false papers.
Sentencing Krasikov in 2021, the Berlin court called the killing state-ordered murder, a claim that Russias president, Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin denied.
The assassination sparked a diplomatic crisis involving the expulsion of two Russian envoys from the German capital.
Krasikov was long seen as a potential linchpin in securing the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the former US marine Paul Whelan, who were both freed on Thursday.
Putin alluded to Krasikov in an interview with the rightwing US media personality Tucker Carlson in February, saying the release of Gershkovich could be secured in a prison swap involving a man whom he described as a patriot serving a life sentence in a US-allied country after being convicted of liquidating a bandit.
Krasikovs name had reportedly surfaced as early as 2022 in the context of a potential cold war-style prisoner swap.
However, German government representatives had long resisted the overture, reportedly floated by US diplomats, given the severity of Krasikovs crime and the independence of the justice system.
Berlin also remained tight-lipped in response to accusations earlier this year by Maria Pevchikh a close ally of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in a Russian Arctic penal colony in February that US and German negotiating partners had dragged their feet in two-year-long talks over his possible release in a swap in early 2023.
Hebestreit said on Thursday that Germany hoped all those freed today would recover from their physical and psychological suffering, in the company of their family and friends.
Our thoughts go out to all those who are still imprisoned in Russia today for expressing their opinions and telling the truth about Putins war of aggression against Ukraine, Hebestreit said. Their courage should be an example to all democrats.
The German government called on Russia and Belarus to release all other political prisoners who are being unjustly held.
Vaughan, the head at Pool Hayes primary school in Willenhall, accused the watchdog of failing to put in place reasonable adjustments to accommodate her disability Photograph: Handout
A primary school headteacher with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been paid damages in a landmark disability discrimination case against Ofsted, after her request to postpone an inspection over a relapse in her symptoms was refused.
Kelly Vaughan, the head at Pool Hayes primary school in Willenhall, in the West Midlands, accused Englands schools watchdog of failing to put in place reasonable adjustments to accommodate her disability.
Ofsted apologised for the distress caused and has since agreed to introduce mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training for inspectors and other staff. It will also meet with disabilities charities to help with organisational change.
However, the schools inspectorate said Vaughans request for a deferral was refused in line with Ofsted policy and that a number of reasonable adjustments had been made during the inspection.
The case, which was settled out of court, has raised fresh concerns about the culture at Ofsted, which has been widely criticised and subject to scrutiny after the death of Ruth Perry in January 2023.
Perry, who was the headteacher of Caversham primary in Reading, killed herself in January 2023 after her school was downgraded from the highest Ofsted ranking to its lowest. Berkshires senior coroner found that the inspection had contributed to Perrys death.
Related: Headteachers demand end to inhumane school ratings in England
Vaughan, in the run-up to the Ofsted inspection, had been suffering from laryngitis, which caused a relapse of her MS symptoms, impairing her coordination and thought processes. She asked for the inspection to be deferred, but Ofsted refused.
According to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), who supported her case, Vaughan struggled to respond quickly to inspectors demands for information during the inspection, explaining that her laryngitis, combined with her underlying MS, meant she was unable to think clearly and multitask. She was also critical of some of the conduct during the inspection.
Vaughan submitted a disability discrimination claim to the Central London county court, accusing Ofsted of breaches of the Equality Act 2010 including failing to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate her disability, harassment and discrimination.
My last year was an extremely challenging one and no other education professional should go through the same thing, she said. As leaders and as professionals, we hope to be treated fairly by those who come to inspect us and unfortunately this hasnt always been the case.
I hope the changes won in my case help to ensure Ofsted deliver positive change in their wider culture as well as for other education professionals living with disabilities.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: We are sorry for the distress Ms Vaughan describes. A number of reasonable adjustments were made during the inspection, including encouraging Ms Vaughan to be assisted during meetings, providing regular breaks and adjusting how we conducted the inspection.
But we recognise the impact on Ms Vaughan. In response to this case, we have strengthened our guidance and training to make sure that inspectors can better support leaders with disabilities on inspection and consider any reasonable adjustments needed.
Paul Whiteman, the NAHT general secretary, said the case showed how far Ofsted had to go to fix its deeply entrenched culture.
He said: Ofsteds refusal to listen and its determination to try to defend the actions of its inspectors for so long raises serious concerns and shows that despite the recent change in leadership the organisation has a very long way to go if it is to rebuild trust with the profession.
The Labour government has said it will scrap Ofsteds headline judgments, such as inadequate and requires improvement, and replace them with a report card system.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Nigel Farage
The tragedy in Southport and the unnecessary violence that followed it are likely to be an early test for Starmers government. One unfortunate distraction has been the Twitter tussle between Jess Phillips and Nigel Farage. While facts from the attack first dripped out, the Reform leader speculated whether the truth is being withheld, a nod to rumours about the identity of the attacker in response, the Minister for Safeguarding and Victims criticised Farage for not turning up to parliament, accusing him of grift[ing] instead.
Nigel Farages comments were designed to inflame the situation he knows the power of floating rhetorical questions before the facts are fully known. It was an unacceptable play into conspiracies that were already whirling. He did not solely provoke the violence that followed, but he certainly added to a febrile situation that already threatened to spill over. Yet, the correct response from the government is not to pick a further fight with him.
MPs have a duty to calm rather than inflame, but this is even heavier upon Ministers. Responding in anger is often understandable. It is, however, rarely a course of action that improves the situation. Most people will form their own views of Farages comments, and those who support him will only be encouraged by Labours disdain, not dissuaded. Instead, ministers should get to grips with the underlying causes and tackle them.
Phillips holds an important brief that she cares deeply about. She also understands the dangers of online rhetoric. She has spoken powerfully about threats and harassment she has received, including during her recent re-election campaign. Picking fights with Farage is a poor way to continue this work.
The way in which both the violence in Southport and support for Palestine can spill over into ugly incidents has similar causes. They lie in marginalisation, poverty, and sections of society where people, mostly men, are prone to violence and seize upon a cause as a flimsy excuse for this. Farage played into this when he made his remarks, but going after him only plays into his games. He, and his supporters, relish in the disdain of people like Phillips.
Its the sort of behaviour that flies in Opposition but cannot stand in government. Those who chose to turn Southports tragedy into an excuse for violence are a real problem, but they are a problem the government needs to understand as it tries to fix it. This doesnt mean appeasing the mob, but it has to go further than simply picking online fights. The problem of opposition, as the Tories are learning, is that you can only take potshots from the sidelines. You give that up when you enter government and gain the ability to actually engage with the problems.
As Labour gets used to governing, they need to understand that there are some fights you are better off not picking. Unguarded comments about foreign leaders undermine diplomacy, while hurried responses on domestic issues can stoke the same sort of division you are responsible for quelling. While Farage was clearly beyond the pale, understanding why such a febrile environment emerged after the Southport attacks is probably more important than attacking him for stirring it.
Alex Williams has reportedly gone into hiding since his messages to Edwards were revealed. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures
The man who shared indecent images of children with the former BBC presenter Huw Edwards is a 25-year-old fellow Welshman who was given a 12-month suspended jail term earlier this year.
Alex Williams, from Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced in March at Merthyr Tydfil crown court after pleading guilty to seven offences related to possessing and distributing indecent images.
On Wednesday, Edwards was ordered by a Westminster magistrate not to contact Williams after the former BBC news presenter admitted accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven.
In court, Edwards pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children after he was sent 41 illegal images by Williams. The court was told that seven of the indecent images shared with the broadcaster by Williams were classed as the most serious type, known as category A.
The Metropolitan police have confirmed that their investigation into Edwards began in November after they were passed information by South Wales police. The Welsh force, as part of their investigation into Williams, found he had forwarded indecent images of children to the BBC presenter.
South Wales police confirmed to the Guardian that Williams was arrested in August 2022 and bailed as its investigation continued. Williams was charged in December 2023 and appeared in court in January. He pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing category A, B and C images as well as possessing prohibited images of children.
The final indecent image he sent to Edwards was in August 2021, Westminster magistrates court was told on Wednesday. It was a category A film featuring a young boy.
Messages showed that Williams told the newsreader that the child was quite young looking and that he had more images that were illegal, the court heard. Edwards told him not to send any illegal images and no more were sent, the court heard. The pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
Williams has gone into hiding since his messages to Edwards were revealed, according to the MailOnline, which made contact with his parents. They told reporters Williams was no longer living in their home and they had not seen him for up to four months. They denied knowledge of his conviction for sexual offences.
His grandmother, who also had no knowledge of his conviction, told the Times that he has been working in Cardiff after graduating from university in the city two years ago.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan says the health department is testing and cleaning cooling towers in response to the legionnaires disease outbreak, with cases expected to rise. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
At least 60 people in Melbourne now have legionnaires disease, with a further 10 suspected cases being examined, Victorias health department has confirmed.
Dr David Lister, the states acting chief health officer, on Thursday issued an alert that said the number of confirmed cases in the outbreak had risen by 20 over a 24-hour period.
Most cases have required hospitalisation, with multiple admissions to intensive care for severe community acquired pneumonia, the alert said.
It is Victorias largest outbreak of the infection since 2000, when more than 150 fell ill and four people died after Melbourne Aquarium cooling towers became infected with legionella pneumophila bacteria.
According to the alert, authorities were still looking for a contaminated water source most likely a cooling tower responsible for the outbreak that first emerged on Friday.
All cases mostly in adults aged over 40 years have visited or reside in metropolitan Melbourne. Earlier in the week, the health department had narrowed the cases down to the north-west suburbs.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, said it would take some time to determine the precise source of the outbreak.
As people are presenting with the illness, thorough testing is being undertaken and those tests take a number of days to go through processing, she said earlier on Thursday.
It is helping to identify a geographic range around the north-west of the city. Further work is being undertaken to pinpoint precisely that location and advice will be provided [when it is available].
She said the health department was testing and cleaning cooling towers across the city as part of its response to the outbreak.
Allan urged anyone with symptoms of the illness, including chills, fevers, a cough or feeling unwell, to seek medical attention.
Particularly for people who may have other underlying conditions or who may be vulnerable or immunocompromised, this can be quite a severe illness, Allan said.
There are many people in ICU and many who are currently hospitalised as theyre getting treatment for this illness.
Related: Legionnaires outbreak: Australians are contracting the lung disease, what is it and do I need to worry?
Sanjaya Senanayake, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University, said cases of legionnaires disease could be difficult to detect because very few of the people exposed to the bacteria get seriously ill.
For a lot of people, they may only present with mild systems and they get better by themselves, he said.
He said there was also evidence cooling towers with legionella could send aerosols out into the air for more than a kilometre.
People can inhale it even though theyre not right next to the cooling tower, and thats what also makes it a challenge, from a public health outbreak point of view, trying to pin down where people have been to isolate the cooling tower source, he said.
Certainly, theyll be looking at things like that with the patients here. Was there a single exposure? Did they all go to some big event or have they just been walking within the kilometre or two of a cooling tower thats spitting out Legionella into the air?
He said it was important for people most at risk including people with a weakened immune system, smokers and those with chronic lung, heart and kidney issues to remain vigilant until the source is located.
The health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, conceded it was concerning they were yet to locate the source.
Its not an infectious disease. So we need to locate the source and thats how we resolve the impact, she said.
The health department said legionella was found in natural bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, creeks and hot springs. It is also found in spas, warm water systems and artificial systems that use water for cooling, heating or industrial processes such as cooling towers, as well as potting mix.
Writing in the Conversation, Flinders Universitys Richard Bentham said the large number of cases in a short period indicates a single source.
A cooling tower attached to a building is most likely responsible. Most explosive outbreaks of legionnaires disease are associated with cooling towers, Bentham said.
Chidimma Adetshina was born in Soweto and lives in Cape Town. Photograph: Miss South Africa Organisation
A South African beauty pageant contestant with a Nigerian father has been subjected to relentless online abuse and interrogations of her right to compete for the Miss South Africa title, as a persistent strain of xenophobia against immigrants from other African countries has resurfaced.
Since Chidimma Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student who was born in Soweto and lives in Cape Town, was announced on 1 July as one of the contestants in the running to represent South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant, there has been constant questioning of whether she is a South African citizen.
In recent days, politicians have waded into the debate, media figures have come to her defence and TV news and talk radio shows have discussed her nationality.
Adetshina said last week that, after about three weeks of the unexpected online onslaught including questions over whether she favoured Nigeria after a video of her celebrating with Nigerian relatives went viral she began to ask whether it had been worth entering the Miss South Africa competition.
I accept criticism, Adetshina told the Sowetan SMag, in an interview where she also clarified that her mother is South African with Mozambican roots.
But its just a matter of you trying so hard to represent a country, and you wear it with so much pride and so much grace, and the people that youre representing are not even in support of you.
She added: Im still finding my feet as to how do I go about [it]. Not taking away from the fact that I am South African, but also understanding that I am still proudly Nigerian and I am proudly South African and just being that symbol of peace and unity.
However, the tide of questions has continued. This includes from South Africas minister of sport, art and culture, Gayton McKenzie, who told a radio station on Wednesday: I have to go and investigate.
Minister Gayton McKenzie speaks on the Miss SA saga involving Nigerian born contestant Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina @NkosinathiShazi pic.twitter.com/vcHCEfyzVS POWER987News (@POWER987News) July 31, 2024
It would be a travesty for this country to be represented globally by someone who identifies more with Nigeria than South Africa, but I made it clear that I hadnt made up my mind, said McKenzie, a self-described reformed bank robber who leads the Patriotic Alliance party, which calls for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
The intense scrutiny and vitriol aimed at Adetshina reveal a continued colonised mindset among many South Africans, the leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters party said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said that white and Asian former Miss South Africa contestants with foreign parents had not received the same Afrophobic scrutiny.
Chronically high rates of unemployment more than four in 10 adults are out of work and violent crime have fuelled anti-African immigrant sentiment in South Africa. Operation Dudula, which was founded in 2021 and takes its name from the Zulu word meaning to push away or drive back, has attacked people accused of being foreign drug dealers, as well as businesses thought to have had non-South African employees.
Riot police stand guard after violent clashes near the Southport Islamic Society Mosque on Tuesday. Photograph: Roland Lloyd Parry/AFP/Getty Images
Police forces have been urged to step up patrols outside mosques and asylum seeker accommodation amid plans for at least 19 far-right rallies across England in coming days.
Violent demonstrations have spread from Southport to London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot after the stabbing atrocity at a childrens holiday club on Monday.
Community leaders on Thursday said they were increasingly fearful of further unrest after mosques and asylum seeker accommodation were targeted by crowds of intimidating agitators.
The riots began after misinformation circulated widely online about the identity and motives of the suspect in the Southport murders, who was named on Thursday as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana. The media had been unable to name the teenager, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, because he is under 18.
But a judge, Andrew Menary KC, said his name should be reported on the basis that continued anonymity risked allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread disinformation in a vacuum.
Rudakubana, is next due to appear in court in October accused of murdering Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, and attempting to murder 10 others.
Mosques in Southport and Hartlepool were attacked by rioters on Tuesday and Wednesday amid unfounded online rumours that the suspect was Muslim, when little if anything is known about his beliefs or motivation.
In Manchester and in Aldershot in Hampshire, asylum seeker accommodation was targeted by demonstrators carrying placards that read deport them, dont support them and no apartments for illegals. In central London, demonstrators threw flares and cans while chanting rule Britannia, save our kids and the mantra of the previous Conservative government: Stop the boats.
Mosque Security, a company that advises faith leaders on protection, said it had received inquiries from more than 100 mosques seeking help in recent days. Shaukat Warraich, its director, said the firms online security recommendations had been downloaded in their hundreds as a result of the false anti-Muslim narrative being peddled following the Southport murders.
There were also anecdotal reports of mosques cancelling events this weekend because of security fears.
The Guardian has seen details of at least 19 far-right rallies being planned for the coming days in towns and cities across England. Many of the events are taking place under the banner enough is enough and protect our kids the same slogan used by demonstrators outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening. More than 110 people were arrested after protesters clashed with police.
Counter-demonstrations are due to take place in Manchester and Liverpool amid fears that anti-immigration groups are feeling emboldened by the unrest inspired by the Southport murders.
One online group said its membership had absolutely rocketed in the past few days. Tell Mama, an organisation that tracks Islamophobia, called for greater police protection for mosques.
Iman Atta, its director, said: We absolutely need to see the police organise and step up their patrols around mosques and asylum seeker accommodation. It would be good to see neighbourhood teams change their patrol times to provide additional reassurance to the communities.
Last week has demonstrated how the far right can organise online and promote hate and misinformation towards Muslim communities, refugees and asylum seekers. We ask communities to keep calm, look out for each other and to remain vigilant.
Nahella Ashraf, of Stand Up to Racism Manchester, said it would be great to see more police patrolling far-right activity this weekend but said this would not solve the longer-term problems behind the riots.
Before the election, with all the attacks on asylum seekers, its not surprising were seeing this unleashed, she said. Weve had years where people are feeling angry and neglected and the cost of living crisis feeds into it. Its the climate the politicians have set.
Mark Webster, the chief constable of Cleveland police, said the unrest in Hartlepool was mindless thuggery. Asked what the motivation was for the disorder, he said: There is an opportunity to go out and damage things, and just exhibit a bit of violence. I dont think there is a principle at stake, this was not a legitimate protest or demonstration.
I think there is some mindless thuggery and thats why we are being really proactive to go out and arrest people. Theres no excuse for last night.
Sir Keir Starmer at a briefing with Merseyside Police chief Serena Kennedy following the knife attack in Southport - TEMILADE ADELAJA
The Prime Minister will host police leaders from around the country on Thursday to discuss disorder which has spread across the country in the wake of Southport stabbings.
Sir Keir Starmer is to meet force chiefs after violent protests in the Merseyside town spread to London and Hartlepool.
Fifty-three police officers were injured in clashes in Southport on Tuesday that followed the deadly knife attack on children attending a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Monday.
Dozens of far-Right protesters were arrested on Wednesday night after a rally outside Downing Street, while riot police faced down men in balaclavas at a march in Hartlepool.
The unrest came after incorrect claims were made on social media that the suspect who was charged overnight was an asylum seeker who arrived in the United Kingdom in a small boat.
A No 10 spokesman said: The Prime Minister will convene senior policing leaders in Downing Street today to offer them the Governments full backing following multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets.
At a roundtable this afternoon, he will say that the shocking events in Southport this week serve as a reminder of the bravery of our emergency service workers and the vitally important work they do to keep the public safe.
The spokesman said the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs, but added: He will be clear that criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law.
He will commit to working in partnership with police forces across the UK and reiterate that they should not hesitate to use their powers to stop mindless violence in its tracks and make sure justice is served.
Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, have said those responsible for the violent scenes should face the full force of the law.
The rioting in Southport followed a peaceful vigil to remember the three girls killed in the attack six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar that took place nearby.
Patrick Hurley, the MP for the town, accused the mob of using the death of little kiddies for their own political purposes.
Calling the protesters beered-up thugs, he pointed to intelligence that suggested the vast majority of those taking part were from out of town and said the peaceful memorial was representative of the real Southport.
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, has suggested the English Defence League (EDL) could be proscribed as a terror group in the wake of the Southport riots.
Supporters of the EDL were blamed by police for violence outside a mosque on Tuesday night, in which a police van was set on fire and officers were attacked with rocks.
Wednesdays Enough is Enough rally in Whitehall was promoted by Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who founded and once led the EDL.
The Metropolitan Police issued a warning ahead of the planned rally saying that any disorder will be dealt with swiftly.
The force told protesters to remain in the immediate vicinity of the Downing Street entrance gate and to leave by 8.30pm, sweeping in to make arrests after the deadline passed.
Crowds hurled bottles and pyrotechnics towards police officers as they shouted chants including England till I die and We want our country back.
Writing on social media, Richard Tice, the chairman of Reform UK, accused the establishment liberal class of trying to smear anyone who asks questions as far-Right.
Mr Tice added: But violent protest against police is utterly wrong and plays into the Lefties hands We have condemned riots of any kind and attacks on police. But we are also the only party asking serious questions about lawless Britain.
The Sussexes were in Nigeria in May in a visit linked to Prince Harry's Invictus Games. Colombia has also entered a team to the tournament for sick and wounded veterans - Sunday Alamba/AP
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are going on tour to Colombia, it has been announced, days after Prince Harry said it was too dangerous to bring his wife to Britain.
The Sussexes, who visited Nigeria earlier this year, are to travel to the South American country this summer at the invitation of its vice president.
They are said to be planning to engage with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress as well as enjoying the vibrant locations of Bogota, Cartagena and Cali.
Francia Marquez, the vice president of Colombia, said in a statement: I am pleased to announce that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have kindly accepted my invitation to visit our beautiful country.
The trip follows the Sussexes trip to Nigeria, which was linked to Prince Harrys Invictus Games. Colombia has also entered a team to the tournament for sick and wounded veterans.
The Duke is not known to have previously visited Colombia during his official royal duties, and it is not part of the Commonwealth.
Their 2024 trip will come ahead of the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, which takes place on Nov 7 and 8.
Ms Marquez says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will have 'the opportunity to engage with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress' - CARLOS ORTEGA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The trip was announced via the vice presidents office, shortly after Prince Harry said he would not bring his wife to Britain because of the security threat to his family.
Last week, in an ITV interview about tabloid phone hacking, he said of the UK: All it takes is for one lone actor who reads this stuff to act on what theyve read.
Whether its a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me.
Its one of the reasons why I wont bring my wife back to this country.
The Duke of Sussex has a long-running dispute with the Home Office and Royal family over his security in the UK, and has lost a case demanding its review.
He is currently required to give 28 days notice of visiting his country of birth if he is seeking Met Police protection, with decisions being made by Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec).
In America and overseas the Sussexes use a private armed protection firm, with the countries they visit sometimes providing additional official security.
US cautions against travel to Colombia
Colombia is described by the US government as a Level 3 or orange risk, with advice stating: Reconsider travel due to crime and terrorism. Exercise increased caution due to civil unrest and kidnapping.
In the country summary published by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, it says: Violent crime, such as homicide, assault, and armed robbery, is widespread. Organised criminal activities, such as extortion, robbery, and kidnapping, are common in some areas.
The UK government advice for the country suggests only essential travel to some regions of the country, but all three areas the Sussexes plan to visit are considered safer and marked green.
In 2012, Colombia launched a major campaign to overcome its reputation for kidnapping and violence, under the slogan: Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay.
Cartegena now hosts a branch of the Hay Festival and is a major cruise destination.
Ms Marquez said of the upcoming visit from the Sussexes: During their trip, The Duke and Duchess will join me in visiting Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali.
In these vibrant locations, they will have the exceptional opportunity to engage with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress.
In addition to these meaningful interactions, the Duke and Duchess will experience the rich heritage of Colombia, she said.
Timing of visit significant
Ms Marquez added that the couples visit would be at a particularly significant time as it will precede the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, to be held in Colombia this November.
The Archewell Foundation, founded by the Duke and Duchess, is renowned for its global leadership in fostering a safer online environment.
The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats.
It will offer actionable solutions and commitments for countries around the world.
During their visit, the Duke and Duchess, as well as the Archewell Foundation, will engage in several activities related to this important topic.
We are confident that their visit will further illuminate Colombias role as a beacon of culture and innovation.
The Duke and Duchess will also speak about child safety online in a television interview due to be broadcast on Sunday.
Speaking to CBS, the American television channel, they will talk about their Archewell project to help parents protect their children online.
THIS SUNDAY: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex talk with Jane Pauley this Sunday about a new program supporting parents of children affected by online harm. Jane also interviews parents in the pilot program about its impact on their healing. pic.twitter.com/YNRMA86I65 CBS Sunday Morning (@CBSSunday) August 1, 2024
In a promotional clip, Meghan says: Our kids are young, theyre three and five. Theyre amazing.
But all you want to do as parents is protect them. So as we can see whats happening in the online space, we know that theres a lot of work to be done there and were just happy to be a part of change for good.
As the reporter Jane Pauley begins to say that every parent hopes someone is there to help their children, Prince Harry interrupts to add: If you know how to help.
At this point weve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder.
And even the best first responders in the world wouldnt be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this.
The interview is due to be broadcast in full on Sunday.
Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years in jail in Russia in July. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Prisoners leaving Russia
Evan Gershkovich
A Wall Street Journal reporter, Gershkovich became the first western correspondent to be arrested for espionage since the fall of the Soviet Union. Detained in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to Ekaterinburg, Russian authorities claim he was collecting information for the CIA, but have never made public any of their supposed evidence. Gershkovich, his newspaper and the US state department have all denied the charges. He was sentenced to 16 years in jail in July in a speedy, closed trial.
Related: Russia frees Evan Gershkovich and others in biggest prisoner swap since cold war
Paul Whelan
Arrested in 2018 on espionage charges, the former US marine has been in Russian prison since. Whelan, who also holds UK, Irish and Canadian citizenship, has always said the evidence against him was falsified. In a recent interview with the BBC, he said he spent his days stitching overalls and hats in a prison factory, and that his barracks were mouldy and unheated.
Late last year, Whelans family said he had been hit in the face by another prisoner, breaking his glasses.
Alsu Kurmasheva
A 47-year-old editor for Radio Liberty, based in Prague, Kurmasheva is a joint US-Russian citizen. She was arrested last year during a family visit to the city of Kazan, and accused of failing to register as a foreign agent and for spreading false information about the countrys armed forces, under harsh censorship laws enacted after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ilya Yashin
Yashin is one of Russias best-known opposition leaders, a longtime ally of Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in 2015, and Alexei Navalny, who died in prison earlier this year.
In an interview last year with the Guardian, written from prison, Yashin said he had stayed in Russia rather than emigrate because he felt that after the invasion of Ukraine it was important to remain and speak out. I understood that an anti-war voice should be speaking in Russia, he said.
Oleg Orlov
A veteran of the Soviet-era dissident movement, 70-year-old Orlov is one of Russias most respected human rights defenders, and for the past two decades was one of the leaders of Memorial, an organisation that won a share of the Nobel peace prize in 2022. Orlov was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail earlier this year for criticism of the Russian army.
Sasha Skochilenko
A 33-year-old anti-war artist, Skochilenko was jailed for seven years late last year after she replaced price tags in a St Petersburg supermarket with anti-war messages. Amnesty International declared her a prisoner of conscience.
Vladimir Kara-Murza
A 42-year-old longstanding opposition politician and activist, Kara-Murza has accused the Kremlin of trying to poison him twice, in 2015 and 2017. He was jailed for 25 years last year for his criticism of the war in Ukraine and for links with an undesirable organisation. His family said Kara-Murza, who has dual Russian-UK citizenship, had suffered health problems in prison, as an after-effect of the earlier poisonings.
Kevin Lik
Nineteen-year-old Lik is the youngest person to be convicted of treason in Russia. He was sentenced last December to four years in jail, apparently for emailing photographs to representatives of a foreign state at the time of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Lik is a German-Russian dual national; he was born in Germany but moved to Russia at the age of 12.
Rico Krieger
Unlike everyone else in the swap, Krieger was held in Belarus, not Russia. His case became public only in recent weeks, when it emerged he had been sentenced to death in the country, supposedly for carrying out a terrorist attack on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence. He appeared in an emotional interview on state television, begging for clemency and asking the German government to intervene. According to Belarusian authorities, the 30-year-old Krieger was arrested late last year after setting off an explosion in the country in which nobody was injured, though no evidence was presented publicly. On Tuesday, the Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko, pardoned Krieger.
Ksenia Fadeyeva
An associate of the late Alexei Navalny in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Fadeyeva was with Navalny when he was poisoned with the novichok nerve agent in the city in 2020. She later won election to the municipal council. However, Russian authorities outlawed Navalnys organisation in 2021, and last year Fadeyeva was sentenced to nine years in jail on charges of organising an extremist group.
Liliya Chanysheva
Chanysheva was another of Navalnys regional coordinators, running his office in the city of Ufa. She was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for organising an extremist community, and the sentence was extended by a further two years in April, after prosecutors said the initial sentence was too lenient.
Vadim Ostanin
Ostanin was another former coordinator of Navalnys office in the Siberian city of Barnaul. In July 2023, he was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on charges of extremism.
Andrei Pivovarov
Pivovarov is a Russian opposition politician who served as the head of Open Russia, which was outlawed in 2021. In 2022, Pivovarov was convicted of carrying out activities of an undesirable organisation and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Dieter (Demuri) Voronin
Voronin is a dual Russian-German national, and a political scientist. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison on charges of state treason. He was implicated in the case of Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, who was accused of state treason for passing classified information to foreign nationals and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2022. Safronovs lawyers have said he was only using publicly available information in his work.
Patrick Schobel
Schobel is a German national who was arrested earlier this year at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg in February when gummies containing cannabis were allegedly found in his possession. He had been detained since and was facing drug-smuggling charges, the outlet said.
German Moyzhes
Moyzhes is a dual Russian-German national, and a lawyer who had been helping Russians obtain residence permits for countries in the EU including Germany. He was arrested in May this year in St Petersburg, and accused of committing state treason. His trial was still pending.
Prisoners returning to Russia
Vadim Krasikov
Vladimir Putin had long indicated Krasikov as his number one demand in any swap. He was arrested in 2019 after shooting dead the Chechen exile Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in broad daylight in a Berlin park. Believed to be a former FSB officer, Krasikov travelled to Germany on a false identity. German authorities believe the assassination was an officially sanctioned mission a Berlin court called the hit a state-ordered murder.
In his interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Putin described Krasikov as a person who eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals, due to patriotic sentiments.
Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva
The pair were illegals deep-cover Russian spies who are dispatched abroad on long-term missions that can last decades, posing as foreigners. Artem and Anna pretended to be a married Argentinian couple named Maria Meyer and Ludwig Gisch, a gallerist and IT entrepreneur respectively. They lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with their two children, from where they are believed to have carried out tasks for Russian intelligence across Europe. When they were arrested in late 2022, a source told the Guardian there was so much cash found in their office that it took hours to count.
Their two minor children are also believed to have been included in the swap. The two had been taken into foster care after their arrest and continued to attend school in Ljubljana.
Mikhail Mikushin
Another Russian illegal, Mikushin was arrested in Norway, where he used the Brazilian identity of Jose Assis Giammaria. He was arrested in the northern Norwegian city of Troms, where he worked as a researcher at a university, ironically engaged in assessing hybrid security threats. He was due to stand trial in September.
Vladislav Klyushin
A Russian businessman with ties to the Kremlin, Klyushin, 43, was sentenced in September 2023 by a court in Boston to nine years in prison for his role in a $90m insider-trading scheme involving hacked secret earnings information about multiple companies. Klyushin, the owner of a Moscow-based IT company that worked with the Russian defence ministry, was one of the highest-profile Russians in US custody.
Roman Seleznev
The son of a Russian Duma deputy, Seleznev, 40, was arrested on holiday at an airport in the Maldives in 2014 and sentenced three years later in Washington to 27 years in prison, the longest-ever hacking-related sentence in the US. Seleznev, known by his hacker name Track2, was accused by a US court of perpetrating a cyber-assault on thousands of American businesses resulting in $169m in losses.
Vadim Konoshchenok
Konoshchenok, 49, was arrested over a scheme to export American-made technology intended for use by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Initially detained in Estonia and later transferred to the US, Konoshchenok was alleged to be involved in the Serniya Network conspiracy. This network, comprising seven Russians and Americans, was implicated in illegally sourcing and shipping millions of dollars in western military hardware to Russian military contacts.
Pablo Gonzalez/Pavel Rubtsov
A dual Spanish-Russian national, Gonzalez was a journalist who had worked for many years for Spanish publications, frequently in Russia and Ukraine. He was arrested in Poland, near the border with Ukraine, in March 2022 and has been held in jail in Poland since, accused of being a Russian spy. Polish officials said he worked for GRU military intelligence, using cover as a journalist to travel the world and gain access to conflict zones. Poland had been criticised by press freedom groups for not making any evidence against him public, and Gonzalez had denied the charges.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich
Amid the desolation of the war in Ukraine and its fallout, the West can allow itself one moment of celebration today to mark the release of several high-profile Russian political prisoners. In what can confidently be called the largest prisoner swap with Russia since the Cold War, the West has secured the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian opposition politicians Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin and former US marine Paul Whelan, amongst others.
Some of those released, such as Gershkovich, Whelan and Kara-Murza, have become well known in the West since their wrongful incarcerations. Others, such as the artist Sasha Skochilenko, who was sentenced to seven years in jail last year for swapping supermarket stickers with anti-war messages, less so. All those being released to the West by Russia were innocent of the crimes the Kremlin accused them of: treason, spreading fake information and discrediting the Russian army, espionage.
The same cannot be said of those the West has traded them for. Returning to Russia today are the married Russian spies Artem and Anna Dultsev, imprisoned until today in Slovenia, and the hitman Vadim Krasikov, serving a life sentence in Berlin for the murder of a Chechen dissident in 2019. Meanwhile, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznev are common criminals: both had been serving sentences in the US for, amongst other things, fraud. Handing them over to freedom in Russia before justice has run its course is a bitter pill to swallow.
The Kremlins motivation for releasing so many of what were in reality political hostages in one fell swoop is, as yet, unexplained. Some have suggested that, with Novembers US presidential election drawing ever closer, and great uncertainty as to what the diplomatic landscape will look like in its aftermath, there was an desire on both the Russian and Western sides to seal a deal before their many months of negotiations were frittered away by a change of administration in the White House. Joe Bidens decision last month to step away from the presidential race may have made the decision a little easier for the Kremlin to accept.
But Russias decision to negotiate and agree to the largest prisoner swap in 35 years has left Putin without a stockpile of political pawns to manipulate the West with. This should concern us. With the war in Ukraine still raging, it would be a mistake to regard todays prisoner swap as a thaw of any kind in West-Russia relations. So what will Putin do next?
Sooner or later, Putin may have to sit down at the negotiating table opposite Ukraine and its western allies to hash out an end to the bloody conflict he began two and a half years ago. Could the behind-the-scenes negotiations for todays exchange have been a way for the Kremlin to test the water for the Wests receptiveness to striking a deal with Russia ahead of any peace negotiations? And if things dont go his way, could the President sanction the arrests and false imprisonment of yet more Westerners?
Today the West can breathe a sigh of relief that innocent people can be brought to safety. But the danger posed by Russia has by no means passed.
Demonstrators in Abuja complaining of hunger mainly caused by a hike in the cost of everyday essentials. Photograph: Marvellous Durowaiye/Reuters
As many as seven people have died, according to reports, after clashes between Nigerian security personnel and citizens on the first day of a weeklong nationwide protest against bad governance and a cost living crisis.
The newspaper Daily Trust reported that six people were killed on Thursday during clashes with police during an attempt to dislodge a roadblock protesters had installed in Minna, the capital of Niger state. One person was killed and another critically wounded by stray bullets fired by police in Kano, where another set of protesters breached the seat of government in the city.
In Abuja, the capital, police fired teargas at demonstrators. Elsewhere, hundreds of people came out in force across Kaduna and Katsina in the north, and Lagos and Yenagoa in the south, in the #EndBadGovernance protests.
Security personnel and armoured trucks were deployed in many cities and towns. In Lagos, where many businesses were closed for the day, one middle-aged woman carried an empty pot, drumming and chanting as she followed younger marchers.
The catalyst for mass action nationwide was the hike in everyday commodities owing to multiple policy changes, in particular the removal of a popular but controversial fuel subsidy. That has caused hunger for millions and squeezed more people out of Nigerias thinning middle class, forcing youth groups to mobilise for mass action.
The protests began a few days before schedule in Niger state, despite being planned for Thursday. Analysts say the change in timing and the fact they began in the north, where for decades protests against socioeconomic conditions have been slower to catch up, indicates the depth of frustration in the country.
Ikemesit Effiong, the head of research at the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence, said this was because the much poorer region, which was experiencing an acute malnutrition crisis, was disproportionately impacted by a triple whammy of high insecurity particularly from jihadists and kidnap rings elevated levels of political instability and a food-growing crisis which has left many families hungry, frustrated and seething.
The government has been scrambling for several weeks in the buildup to the protests, fearing a Kenya-type mass action. On Thursday, there were more security personnel than protesters in some cities. Scores of pro-government protesters were also out to counter demonstrations in part of Lagos, but found little resistance.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, one commentator said the governments efforts to stifle the protests had instead triggered a Streisand effect that is, it served to give them even more publicity.
The turnout is largely a case of Streisand effect. The Government made the protests more popular in their effort to control and quell it. The racket that was created didnt help either Ayobami (@dondekojo) August 1, 2024
On the eve of the protests, religious figures continued to plead with young people to stay indoors and talk instead, while government officials rushed to secure multiple court orders restricting protesters to certain areas. One such injunction was defied in Abuja on Thursday.
Today is the hunger day, we all promise you that we are going to be on the streets of Abuja, one protester told Channels TV in the capital. Hunger has brought me out.
Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli (left) and premier Steven Miles. The Labor government and the LNP opposition are both campaigning on a tough on youth crime platform. Photograph: David Clark/AAP
New data released by the Queensland Police Service shows youth crime rates in the state have fallen to near-record lows.
With a state election looming and the unofficial campaign in full swing, the Queensland youth crime crisis or epidemic has become a totemic issue. Labor and the Liberal National party continue to push tough and tougher plans to address community concern.
The government says police statistics showing a reduction in youth offences last financial year are proof that its police-led policies, including high-arrest saturation operations, are working.
Experts, however, warn that crime suppression operations will only ever have a temporary effect and that any reduction in crime is simply kicking the can down the road until after the election.
What are the major political parties saying?
The Labor government has twice suspended the states Human Rights Act to implement more punitive policies, as it reacts to public concern about youth crime.
Most recently, it removed the international law principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act. It claims its policies are the toughest in the nation.
The LNP opposition announced last month that it would introduce an adult time for adult crime policy that would remove sentencing concessions for children convicted of a range of serious offences.
Challenging the notion there is a youth crime crisis has proved borderline scandalous. Last year a Labor backbencher, Don Brown, described youth crime as a media beat up in a Facebook post. He was quickly forced to backtrack.
What does the data (and the experts) say?
The data suggests that youth crime has consistently decreased in Queensland over the past two decades.
The Queensland Government Statisticians Office (QGSO) shows that the rate of unique child offenders has consistently decreased and reached its lowest-ever level in 2021-22, during the Covid pandemic.
The rate increased slightly in 2022-23 (by 2.7%) and was described in media reports as an alarming spike in youth crime.
According to the Queensland Police Service, the rate of child offenders dropped by 2% in 2023-24. Since 2012-13, rates have decreased by 18%
The QPS said offence numbers dropped by a greater amount (6.7%) last financial year.
The former president of the childrens court, John Robertson, has said statistics completely refute the notion of a major youth crime wave.
Has there been an increase in serious crime?
At the same time, while offender numbers are down, there have been concerns about a small cohort of young people dubbed serious repeat offenders, who are the ones most-often targeted by police operations and government policies.
When the government suspended the Human Rights Act to introduce a new criminal offence for children breaching technical bail conditions, it justified the move by saying that 17% of youth offenders commit almost half of the offences. This amounted to, it claimed, an exceptional crisis situation.
QGSO data shows that as the rate of youth offenders has decreased, those who do come before the courts are, on average, facing more charges.
The most recent police data shows that while youth offences have dropped across the state, offences against the person have increased.
William Wood, a criminologist at Griffith University, says the long-term trends certainly dont show a youth crime epidemic.
Its more accurate to say that during and immediately following Covid there were regional increases, in some cases substantial increases, in certain offences and offender types.
Theres a uniform understanding that compared to 10 or 20 years ago crime rates are far lower. In most western industrial nations, they really peaked in the 90s for youth crime and theyve continued to decrease overall since then.
Why is the community on edge?
Much of the community concern about crime has followed very serious incidents, including fatal car accidents, home invasions and alleged murders. Those high-profile incidents have often galvanised community concern and prompted government policy shifts to meet community expectations.
Experts have also warned that the growing prevalence of anti-crime Facebook groups can amplify the scope and seriousness of crime within a community and fuel calls for more extreme responses.
Victims of crime groups say statistics mean little to those living with the effects of the offending.
You can throw whatever statistics you want out there, but when you are a victim and someone kicks down your door, what difference does the crime rate make? a Townsville resident, Jenny*, said before the 2020 election.
What does a number mean to me when Im having to buy new locks again? Everyone knows someone who has been a victim. No one I know will support that [the idea that the crime crisis is exaggerated].
How is the government responding?
Queensland has more children in custody than ever before. The state already locks up more children than anywhere else in Australia and has been promoting arrest numbers from police saturation operations such as taskforce Guardian.
The large numbers of children in the system have create serious problems in the detention system. Detention centres are overcrowded and last year Guardian Australia reported on the extensive use of separation another word for solitary confinement in youth detention.
Where places are not available in detention centres, children are kept for indefinite periods sometimes weeks at a time in police watch houses.
The Queensland Family and Child Commission says children in the detention system almost invariably reoffend. A recent report found that up to 96% of children leaving detention reoffended within 12 months of release.
Is the recent drop in offences proof that this works?
The police and the state government have claimed declining youth offending rates are evidence that their strategies including operations such as taskforce Guardian are working.
Experts and advocates warn that the results will only be temporary, and that problems will emerge in the long term.
The chief executive of the Youth Advocacy Centre, Katherine Hayes, says that the approach simply hides issues and risks making them worse in the long term by keeping more children in custody in the lead-up to a state election.
The youth crime figures [might] do go down momentarily, but thats just shifting the problem into the watch house and not preventing it from recurring, she says.
Wood says suppression tactics work only in the short term.
Any time you flood areas with police officers you do get a crime suppressing effect, he said.
The thing that we know [is] you cannot arrest or incarcerate your way out of a youth crime problem. The US tried this for 20 years, it was an abysmal failure, youre just kicking the can down the road.
If you wanted to write a playbook about how to turn younger kids [into offenders] this is it.
How will this affect the election?
Concern about youth crime is nothing new. Last year, ABC Brisbane combed through old newspaper reports and showed that the same tropes spoilt children, irresponsible parents, and lenient judges have been blamed for youth crime since the late 1800s.
The issue was a factor at the 2020 election, particularly in Townsville, where Labor held on to marginal seats despite last-minute promises by the LNP to introduce a youth curfew.
This time, the opposition leader, David Crisafulli, appears to have managed to cut through. He is well ahead in the polls and frequently spends time in regional Queensland, platforming victims of youth crime.
Polling shows the LNP well ahead of Labor with less than three months until election day.
Tom Tugendhat Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman,
Civil wars tend to be marked by a distinct lack of civility. The early signs are that the latest Conservative party leadership contest will conform to type. Former colleagues know each others weak points even better than other political parties. Blows can be aimed to inflict maximum discomfort and tend to land.
This can most clearly be seen in the various lumps that three of the candidates Suella Braverman, 44, Robert Jenrick, 42, and Tom Tugendhat, 51 have been taking out of each other. In September 2022, the trio were thrown together in the Home Office by Rishi Sunak in an uncomfortable partnership for all three, but by all accounts ended up forming an effective if unlikely alliance.
And yet the match-up between Braverman and Jenrick, in particular, has resulted in some of the sharpest barbs of the contest so far and ultimately resulted in the former home secretary having to pull out of the race. It gives a fascinating insight into both the nature of the fight to become the next Tory leader and the likely key issues.
Braverman has long been a darling of the Right wing of the Tory party. Tugendhat has generally been considered to be part of the centrist One Nation group of Conservative MPs. Jenricks position has shifted over time, from a Remain-supporting loyalist during David Camerons premiership, to one of the partys most outspoken voices on the perils of high levels of migration.
Suella Braverman turned on her former Home Office colleagues before pulling out of the leadership contest - Reuters
At the time that Sunak installed Braverman as home secretary the appointment was seen as a snub to Jenrick, who despite being touted for the job, became her effective number two, as immigration minister. Supporters of Jenrick encouraged rumours that he was at the Home Office as a lieutenant to Sunak, to keep an eye on Braverman.
But the pair were contemporaries at Cambridge University and ended up uniting over two key issues: immigration and extremism. Indeed, shortly after her subsequent sacking last autumn, Braverman described her close working relationship with Jenrick, saying: We were partners at the Home Office.
Tugendhat, another unlikely ally of Braverman, registered protests at the political views of his Home Office superior in private conversations with colleagues. In April 2023, he publicly distanced himself from the then home secretary in his response to a tweet which criticised the fact you could even contemplate a position working for @SuellaBraverman. Tugendhat responded: I dont. I work for the country.
But in a further unlikely twist of fate, Braverman, Jenrick and Tugendhat all ended up joining forces last autumn, following the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas. As the police drew flak for an insufficiently robust response to anti-Semitic slogans and material surfacing at pro-Palestine protests, Braverman, Jenrick and Tugendhat, who was security minister, were united behind the scenes in their disgust at the behaviour being allowed on Britains streets, and worked together to encourage senior officers to take tougher action.
Initially Robert Jenrick and Braverman were united by the threat of anti-Semitism in the UK following Hamas attacks - Maja Smiejkowska
Chris Philp, who was policing minister at the time, was also part of the effort, which also included putting pressure on Downing Street to take a tougher line. Public statements by all four demonstrated their anger and frustration at the police and other institutions they believed were failing to take sufficient action.
They wanted the police to take a more proactive approach to anyone glorifying or promoting terrorism, or celebrating the attacks, said one source familiar with the efforts. There was frustration, particularly in the initial weeks after Oct 7 that officers were failing to take action against numerous examples of anti-Semitism at protests being documented by videos and photographs posted online.
Braverman, Tugendhat and Jenrick also warned that universities should use stronger disciplinary measures to tackle anti-Jewish hate on campuses.
In the meantime, Braverman and Jenrick had also teamed up to present a united front on immigration in negotiations with No 10, continually attempting to persuade Sunak to do more to bear down both on legal and illegal arrivals amid deep public dissatisfaction over the Tories handling of the issue.
Soon after Braverman was sacked as home secretary towards the end of last year, Jenrick, the then immigration minister, heaped further pressure on Sunak by suggesting he was keen to consider her idea of a radical Australian-style cap on annual net migration numbers.
Within weeks, Jenrick resigned from the cabinet saying the Governments emergency Rwanda legislation wouldnt work. In March, he claimed both he and Braverman repeatedly pressed Sunak on the importance of failing to take legal migration seriously enough but that the then Prime Minister didnt want to talk about it.
And yet, at the beginning of this month, before any candidates had announced they were running for the Tory leadership, Braverman publicly turned on her erstwhile Home Office colleague. She described Jenrick as a centrist Rishi supporter and a Remainer from the Left of the party in a speech to the National Conservatism Conference in Washington.
He definitely comes from the Left of the party, Braverman told The Telegraph soon after the speech. He voted for Remain in the Brexit referendum. He was a big, kind of centrist, Rishi supporter. I remember talking to him about leaving the European Convention on Human Rights a year ago, and him looking horrified by that prospect.
Braverman also judo-threw the old story that was briefed to journalists about Jenrick having been placed in the Home Office to keep an eye on her. Back then, this was seen as evidence of Jenricks level of influence. He was also given a seat at cabinet. Now, Braverman was using the anecdote to damn Jenrick by association with the Prime Minister who led the Conservatives to a historic defeat.
Braverman took shots at Jenrick as they jockeyed in the leadership battle, calling him a 'centrist' Remainer - Eddie Mulholland
Supporters of Jenrick point to the fact that Bravermans comments came at about the same time that Sir John Hayes, who backed Braverman in the last leadership contest, and Danny Kruger, another of the former home secretarys key allies, announced they would be supporting Jenrick. These endorsements were said to have effectively grounded her leadership bid before it ever took flight. Braverman appeared to fear that Jenrick was taking the role of true blue candidate whether or not his views were as deeply held as hers.
For his part, Jenrick has been somewhat more magnanimous in his comments about Braverman. When asked what he made of Bravermans recent claims that he is a Left-winger, he said hed been friends with Suella since we met at freshers week at university and is never going to say a bad word about her.
Bravermans recent attacks tap into mixed feelings about Jenrick on the right of the party. One insider describes the MP for Newark as a plastic, cosplay Right-winger. However, another believes that Jenrick was radicalised by his time in the Home Office and now displays the zeal of the convert. Hayes has in the past described Jenrick as a true believer on immigration.
Braverman dropped out of the contest, earlier this week, days after Tugendhat announced his bid to lead the Tories in an article for this newspaper in which he suggested he was willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) if such a move was necessary for Britain to regain control of its borders. Braverman, in a subsequent article announcing that she would not put herself forward after all, contained a clear swipe at her old colleague: Reader, beware of those reinventing themselves as ECHR-sceptics.
Critics have pointed out that Tugendhats carefully crafted position on the ECHR is little different to the formulation that Sunak employed while prime minister.
Tugendhat distanced himself from his superior Braverman when they worked together at the Home Office - Jamie Lorriman
Jenrick is due to officially launch his candidacy at an event on Friday. There is speculation about whether he will repeat his previous commitment to leave the ECHR. This would likely play well with the Tory party membership but be less appealing to the MPs who must whittle the six candidates down to just two before the leader is picked by members. The remaining Tory MPs are not a bunch of rabid wets but they are not overly Right-wing either, says one insider.
James Cleverly and Priti Patel are two other candidates who have held the position of Home Secretary. The former only did so in the dying days of the Conservative government. But the latter presided over a period in which immigration peaked and is likely to face questions about this during the leadership contest.
Priti objected to pretty much every attempt to weaken the rules during her time at the Home Office, says one adviser who worked in the department at the time. However, she was often overruled at cabinet with other departments and especially the Treasury constantly making the case for extra visas.
The various spats illustrates the extent to which the Conservative Party leadership is likely to be marked by candidates attempting to disassociate themselves from past Tory failings and arguments about who can come up with the most credible solutions to legal and illegal immigration, one of the topics believed to have resulted in Conservatives supporters defecting to Reform.
And because the Tory party faithful have grown used to hearing lots of pledges about immigration being made only to see them broken soon after, the contest is likely to hinge on which candidate appears the most trustworthy (and can paint their opponents as the least trustworthy) when it comes to the promises they make.
Thats why the race has the potential to get very personal very quickly. The swipes exchanged between the three former Home Office colleagues may just be the amuse-bouche.
Earlier this week, Bob Blackman, the new chairman of the Conservative 1922 committee that will oversee the race, said he will issue a yellow card and a public dressing down to those leadership candidates who attack their rivals.
However, sceptics have questioned the effectiveness of such a warning given that the most vitriolic briefings tend to be anonymous. Time will tell whether the various candidates are the best of enemies or the worst of friends. Or both.
The Schrammsteine rocks are among the national parks highlights in a hikers paradise of table mountains, elevated plains, cliff tops, rock needles, gorges and woods. Photograph: Michael Breitung/Getty Images
Look at that on the rock. Do you know what it tells us? Kristin Arnold, my guide in south-east Germanys Saxon Switzerland national park, points at a large mass of light green moss growing on a boulder.
It tells us that the air quality is great here, says Kristin. This moss doesnt grow if theres any pollution around. She inhales deeply, causing the backpack buckles strapped across her chest to creak. Its contagious, like a yawn. The chirrupping of unseen birds and drizzle on fern mix with the sounds of our breath as we fill our lungs with premium Saxony oxygen.
Saxon Switzerland crosses Germany and the Czech Republic, and got its name when two 18th-century Swiss painters, Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff, noted that the beauty of its sandstone mountain landscape was reminiscent of their homeland. The area has attracted hardcore hikers for centuries, but the western edge of the 94 sq km national park has become easily accessible to skinny-calfed amateurs like myself.
This is thanks to Bad Schandau, a spa town on the bank of the Elbe River, served by direct trains to Dresden, Berlin and Prague to the south. A night train connects Zurich and Bad Schandau, and in March the European Sleeper running between Brussels and Berlin was extended to here.
From Bad Schandau station, a dinky passenger ferry takes me across the Elbe to Hotel Elbresidenz an der Therme, where Im given a free public transport card: standard issue for tourists. The town is walkable, buses and a tram run to hiking trails, and an art nouveau elevator built in 1904 connects Bad Schandau to the suburbs.
Kristin says that most tourists head to Bastei Bridge, built in 1851 to connect bulbous rock formations, or the nearby grand hilltop Konigstein Fortress. She smiles with relief when I ask for an excursion that is non-Tripadvisor, then takes me to a trail beginning at the Schrammsteinbade bus stop. We duck under forested sandstone ridges, climbing slowly upwards on metal ladders through craggy crevices.
A huge jagged sandstone wall looms over the forest: a gnarly ridge with wiry trees sprouting from its midriff. Winter scenes like this inspired Caspar David Friedrich, the German Romantic artist, to paint works such as his 1818 masterpiece Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. Kristin says this area, Schrammsteine, becomes crowded with selfie-seekers during summer, but today it belongs to us.
A huge jagged sandstone wall looms over the forest. Scenes like this inspired Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich
Kristin points out small metal boxes on some of the most perilous-looking stone peaks. They contain logbooks in which climbers can record their vertical conquests. Leisure climbers have been scaling the 90-metre Falkenstein, the areas most famous climbing rock, since the mid-19th century, but Kristin says tools dating back to medieval times have been found on it.
She opens a picnic box containing salami made from local wild pig and walnuts, plus local cheese. Kristin doesnt accept hiking groups of more than eight people, to help minimise her tour businesss impact on the national park. Climate change poses a big enough problem for the park without the added troubles of overtourism, she says. Over the past few years, bark beetles have chomped through the parks spruce trees, as warmer winters fail to kill off the bugs.
Kristin says some local businesspeople dont want the national park, which has 250 miles of trail routes, to continue as a protected area, so they can put up zipline parks and bring more tourists. Id rather help protect it for future generations.
Sustainability is also promoted in Schmilka: a one-street village on the border with the Czech Republic and a short bus ride east from Bad Schandau. While eating sausage and lentil soup in the village restaurant, Gasthof Zur Muhle, I admire antique wooden pinball games attached to the wall: they are part of a collection owned by entrepreneur Sven-Erik Hitzer.
Hitzer started playing a form of rustic Monopoly in Schmilka in the late 2000s, buying and renovating buildings until he owned almost every venue here. His friendly employees show me a 200-year-old wooden bread oven in the village bakery, which was then their organic brewery.
Some sustainable measures, such as a huge water-powered wooden wheel that grinds grain, are for show. However, Kristin tells me that although Hitzer is a canny businessman, he focused on sustainability before it became an industry buzzword. Heat from the bakery and brewery helps power the village, and electric car chargers were recently installed.
After two serene days among the mountains of Saxon Switzerland, Id probably marry a clump of Saxony moss if it proposed
Im tempted by the steam rising from Schmilkas outdoor wooden hot tubs, but instead I end my trip in Toskana Therme, the large pool and sauna complex I have free access to as a guest at Hotel Elbresidenz an der Therme. After being scolded by an attendant for not removing my trunks quickly enough in the sauna room, I float in the circular Liquid Sound pool, my breathing slowing as tinkling classical music emanates from underwater speakers.
While watching purple jellyfish shapes cast on to the ceiling, I initiate a whispered chat with a dreadlocked man floating near me. His name is Andreas Ullrich, and hes an artist from Dresden who founded an artists residence here to attract more creatives making works inspired by the great outdoors.
The drama of life plays out here, says Andreas. Theres a tree with cherries that we visit, and consider family. At our house, a bird comes in the morning and taps on the window. Maybe this is just the romantic view of a guy who was in a city most of his life, but these sensations feel deep and rich.
Normally, talk of friendly trees and anthropomorphic birds would have me sprinting to wash the hippie from my system. But after two serene days among the mountains of Saxon Switzerland, Id probably marry a clump of Saxony moss if it proposed.
Travel from London to Brussels was provided by Eurostar (from 38 each way). Travel from Brussels to Dresden was provided by Omio, whose app allows travellers to compare different transport methods simultaneously. Accommodation in Bad Schandau was provided by Hotel Elbresidenz an der Therme (doubles from 190 B&B, with Toskana Therme entry), via Tourism Association Saxon Switzerland. The European Sleeper train runs between Brussels Midi and Bad Schandau station (one-way couchette from 69)
The ATO says more than $557m was paid to scammers engaging in identity fraud between July 2021 and February 2023. Photograph: Fairfax Media/Getty Images
Scammers are duping Australian taxpayers out of thousands of dollars by fraudulently accessing online government accounts during the annual rush to complete tax returns.
Federal government platforms are not immune to scams with users of myGov being targeted in recent weeks. How do victims fall prey to those criminal scammers and how can people protect themselves?
Its tax time are tax scams on the rise?
MyGov users who use the platform to access the Australian Taxation Offices online services say their accounts have been fraudulently accessed in July with tax refunds diverted to scammers.
Related: Labors planned anti-scam laws are too complicated, too lenient and too slow, advocates say
The ATO received 2,464 reports of impersonation scams in June, the last month of the financial year and the latest available data. Thats a 48% increase from the previous month. The tax office said there were no reports of payments being delivered to scammers in June.
In June 2023, there were 1,793 reports of impersonation scams and the following month the ATO revealed more than $557m had been paid to scammers engaging in identity fraud between July 2021 and February 2023.
Dr Henry Cheung, a lecturer in cybersecurity, risk and privacy at the University of New South Wales, said tax season came with heightened scam activity related to the ATO and myGov.
You can expect scams about tax from June to October, he said this week, adding that after that time scammers continued to target taxpayers by shifting their messaging to falsely warn individuals they have missed the tax window and needed to take action.
What kind of scams are they?
Generally, its phishing. Methods include individuals receiving a text message which contains a link to a fake myGov site. Victims are then prompted to enter their details, unwittingly giving criminals access to their genuine myGov accounts linked to their ATO accounts.
The scammers immediately change phone and email details preventing the real user from receiving any notifications from myGov, before altering tax returns and bank account details so that falsely inflated tax refunds are redirected to the scammers accounts. The entire process takes just minutes.
In online forums, victims have in recent weeks reported having their ATO accounts hacked, losing from $3,000 to $8,000 to criminals.
Another myGov user said she had been repeatedly blocked from her account in the past week after scammers had attempted to access it many, many times. She was notified by email and then encouraged to change her password by an automated phone system, but was unable to speak to a human to seek advice about improving her account security.
How secure is myGov?
Last year, Services Australia and partners responded to more than 6,000 scams attempting to impersonate myGov, the federal minister Bill Shorten said in April.
MyGov users have queried why the site does not require users to sign up for two-factor authentication or to use passkeys secure alternatives to passwords such as a fingerprint. Neither are compulsory and users can choose to use secret questions and answers instead.
A spokesperson from Services Australia, which runs myGov, confirmed the platform only holds names and phone numbers along with email and postal addresses. Bank account and other sensitive details are held by the individual agencies linked to myGov accounts such as the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink.
Who do myGov scammers target?
Cheung said that the most susceptible people were first-time users of ATOs online platform and older people. The Services Australia spokesperson suggested many victims were online-savvy and used to sharing personal details remotely.
Its everyone, scammers target everyone, they said. All demographics.
Cheung said scammers operated seasonally and responded to policy changes. In February, a high number of Medicare scams were reported, possibly the result of changes to bulk billing practices. Scammers were also targeting superannuation accounts.
What is myGov doing to reassure users?
The Services Australia general manager, Hank Jongen, said tax season was a timely reminder for everyone to keep their myGov accounts secure in a challenging global security environment.
Jongen said myGov was continually evolving to combat increasingly sophisticated scams, identity theft and other cybersecurity threats.
A new myGov personal security overview will prompt users to update settings to better secure accounts. The overhaul was funded in the 2024-25 budget.
Related: Australian of the Year betting scandal grows to three arrests for allegedly using inside information
How can myGov users protect themselves?
Never click on a hyperlink that has been texted or emailed. Both myGov and the ATO have policies to never send a hyperlink in a text message or email part of a growing recognition by large organisations and businesses that links are used by fraudsters.
Enable two-factor authentication and set up a passkey such as facial or fingerprint recognition. Both myGov and the tax office encourage users to use the myGovID authentication app.
MyGov encourages anyone with security concerns to contact its specialised scams and identity theft helpdesk. The ATO urges those who believe they may have divulged personal information to call its helpline.
Are scams in general on the rise?
The number of scams is on the rise 601,000 scams were reported in 2023 up from 507,000 in 2022. However, losses from scams are decreasing, according to a National Anti-Scam Centre report published in April.
The crime is believed to be under-reported. The centres Scamwatch received reports of 143,106 scams in 2024 to June, amounting to financial losses of $134.47m. Phishing such as the scams targeting myGov accounted for $9.65m with text messages the top contact method. NSW was the most scammed state.
Brian Whittle is one of two declared candidates in the race to be the next Scottish Tory leader - KEN JACK/GETTY IMAGES
Scots are ready for a conversation about scrapping free tuition and prescriptions, a contender for the Scottish Tory leadership has claimed, as it emerged that Douglas Rosss successor will be named next month.
Brian Whittle, the former Olympian who is one of two declared candidates, said it was time for the Tories to begin asking hard questions about the viability of universal perks and whether those who could afford to pay for them should do so.
The next Scottish Tory leader will be named on Sept 27 after party chiefs rejected calls for a lengthy contest. Nominations for the post will formally open on Aug 8, and will close two weeks later at noon on Aug 22.
All those running will have to get the backing of 100 party members before they can stand and take part in hustings including a national digital event.
So far, Mr Whittle and Russell Findlay, the partys justice spokesman at Holyrood who is seen as the front runner, are the only declared candidates. However, it is expected that several more will declare their candidacy in the coming days.
Brian Whittle celebrates winning gold as part of the British men's 4x400m team at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki - PA/ALAMY
Mr Whittle, a South Scotland MSP who competed for Britain as a runner in the 1998 Seoul Olympics, claimed that the Scottish Tories were as guilty as every other Holyrood party of engaging in blame game politics rather than proposing solutions.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said that his party must come forward with practical, serious policies that will make things better, and that this must include reconsidering universal freebies which the Scottish Tories have previously said they would maintain.
That starts with being willing to ask the hard questions about the viability of things like free prescriptions and free university tuition for those who could afford to pay, he said.
Having these conversations will be hard, not least because Labour and the SNP will see it as a golden opportunity to attack us, but I believe Scotland is ready to have those conversations.
Before more voters will back us, they need to respect us. Few things make me respect someone more than them telling me something that I might not want to hear, but definitely need to.
In contrast to the UK party, the Scottish Tory manifesto at the last Holyrood election backed continuing to provide free university tuition. It also endorsed expensive SNP welfare policies and backed an expansion of the Scottish Child Payment, a Scottish-only benefit for low income families.
Timetable criticised
Murdo Fraser, a high-profile party veteran who has called for a commission to be created after the 2026 elections that could consider setting up a new Scottish centre-Right party for Holyrood elections, is also considering standing.
Other possible candidates include Meghan Gallacher, the deputy leader at Holyrood, and Jamie Greene, seen as being on the Left of the Holyrood group.
Mr Greene criticised what some saw as a truncated timetable that would favour Mr Findlay, seen as the preferred choice of the party establishment.
My immediate reaction was that they may as well just hand the keys to the leaders office to their preferred candidate now, and we can all have a nice summer, Mr Greene said.
But the race to save the partys future is now formally on, although its a strange race given that one of the runners appears to have left the starting blocks early.
If the party was serious about a meaningful member-led discussion about its future it wouldnt be cramming that hugely important debate into a two-week window during the school holidays.
Russell Findlay is the front runner in the Scottish Tory leadership race - KEN JACK/GETTY IMAGES
Under the timetable announced on Thursday, ballot papers will be sent out to party members on Sept 4, with members having until Sept 26 to return them. The winner will be announced the following day.
Mr Findlay, a former investigative crime journalist, said he was looking forward to a positive contest about our partys future.
He added: Change is coming in Scotland. I want us to lead it and to do so as proud and passionate Conservatives.
Im standing to unite our party behind a common-sense Conservative platform with aspiration and opportunity at its heart.
I want to invite everyone to join my campaign to build a modern, dynamic and member-led party that can deliver the electoral success that conservative Scotland needs.
Scottish Tories need to challenge the consensus and offer solutions
By Brian Whittle
What problem are we trying to solve?
Its the first question I ask myself whenever Im thinking about how to achieve a goal.
Over time the goal has changed from improving my running technique, to advising entrepreneurs looking to grow their business or, more recently, to scrutinising legislation at Holyrood and developing policy ideas.
So, when it comes to the future leadership of the Scottish Conservatives, what problem are we trying to solve? For me, the central problem is how do we win?
I dont think the answer is to be found in the comforting, but unproven, idea that Scotland is full of Conservative voters who dont vote for us because were not spending enough time talking about conservative values.
Every Conservative leader believes in conservative values, as does every potential candidate in this race. We all see the value in fostering individual talent, entrepreneurialism and ambition in people; because its those attributes that grow the economy that pays for the public services everyone relies on.
Services should be effective
We all believe that those services should be effective, efficient and empower people; not bloated, bureaucratic or trapping people in dependency.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Our values as Conservatives are important to us. However, to the voting public, the solutions we offer are far more important. After a difficult few years with Covid and the cost of living crisis, people are frustrated about services that havent recovered.
Roads full of potholes. Councils unable to fund services. A planning system that holds back investment and alienates communities. Schools short of teachers.
A police service that cant promise to turn up if youre the victim of a crime.
Worn out ferries and wildly expensive taxpayer funded replacements.
Colleges and universities that cant afford to educate everyone who wants to learn. Businesses crying out for trained staff.
People are angry
People are angry, and they should be.
But instead of offering solutions, Scottish politics has become a blame game.
Were as guilty as every other party of focusing on recriminations more than solutions.
We argue about how we got here; selectively trading statistics to persuade the public that its someone elses fault or argue that because its worse somewhere else, we should be satisfied with the situation here. But thats just noise.
It doesnt solve the problem.
Already, this leadership contest is making a lot of noise. About presentation, branding and our relationship with the UK party.
But if this leadership election becomes only about those issues, then well have missed a prime opportunity to show the public that were thinking about more than just ourselves.
Change for a purpose
The party needs to change, but that change must be for a purpose.
Labour won at Westminster promising change, and Scottish Labour plans to do the same at Holyrood. Whether that change will amount to anything more than a new name above the shop remains to be seen, but as Scottish Conservatives we need to ask ourselves what change we want to see in Scotland and what we need to do to make it happen.
That means showing voters that we have practical, serious policies that will make things better.
That starts with being willing to ask the hard questions about the viability of things like free prescriptions and free university tuition for those who could afford to pay.
Having these conversations will be hard, not least because Labour and the SNP will see it as a golden opportunity to attack us, but I believe Scotland is ready to have those conversations.
Before more voters will back us, they need to respect us. Few things make me respect someone more than them telling me something that I might not want to hear, but definitely need to.
Define ourselves
As a party weve allowed ourselves to become defined by what others say about us.
Under my leadership we will decide how we define ourselves and give voters the opportunity to see that we are more than the stereotypes our opponents make us out to be.
In a Scottish political landscape full of vague promises of better futures, unspecified change and short-term, quick fixes for headlines, we can be something different.
We can be the party that challenges consensus, that asks the difficult questions and offers solutions to problems.
We can be the party the public sees as a credible future government for Scotland.
Brian Whittle is a Scottish Tory MSP for South Scotland who is standing to become the next Scottish Tory leader
This years Eyemouth Herring Queen, Holly Blackie, centre, with her lady in waiting, Dee MacDonald, and maids Lucy McKirdy, Aila Akhtar, Faye Aitcheson and Cassie Black. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
The sun is battling the clouds, but the forecast rain holds off as the flotilla enters the harbour. Lining the quayside, hundreds of local people and tourists cheer each boat as it appears, and the sound of a pipe band skirls on the breeze as families crane their necks. They are looking for WaveDancer, the final, most important vessel. Today it is carrying an honoured passenger: the Eyemouth Herring Queen.
Fourteen-year-old Holly Blackie is the 80th Eyemouth Herring Queen (EHQ) and this year is particularly special as 50 former queens have travelled from all over the world to witness her coronation.
Many are wearing sashes identifying the year they were crowned; knots of women grouped according to decade, friendship or family ties chat and reminisce. One thing they all agree on is that nothing compares with the thrill of passing into the harbour on that boat and seeing the cheering crowd.
Holly Blackie is crowned by the outgoing Herring Queen, Sophie Crowe
Coming in on the boat was just magic, remembers the oldest surviving former EHQ, 93-year-old Anne Collin, nee Rosie, of her coronation day in 1946. We were just coming out of the second world war and all the deprivations.
Everyone was buoyant, she says, as the fishing boats that had lain dormant throughout the war were finally out at sea. They all sailed out to find a new queen to bring prosperity to Eyemouth.
Crowds welcome the boat carrying the new herring queen, Holly Blackie, as it enters Eyemouth harbour
A pipe band escorts the new herring queen, Holly Blackie, and her court of attendants from the quayside
This part of the Scottish Borders has many longstanding often ancient summer traditions, akin to the May Queen, in which young community members are chosen to carry out duties aimed at ensuring peace and abundance. On the coast, two towns Berwick-upon-Tweed in England and Eyemouth in Scotland choose a salmon and herring queen respectively. While Eyemouths celebration has modern roots in a peace picnic held after the first world war, the origins of Berwicks festival is widely believed to date back to 1292.
The roles of herring and salmon queen are not merely ceremonial. Blackie and her Berwick counterpart, Darcy Martin, will represent their towns at civic events throughout the Borders and raise funds for charity.
Fifty former queens gathered on the steps of Gunsgreen House. The group includes the only mother-daughter queens in the events history: the oldest EHQ, Anne Collin, and her daughter Margaret (queen in 1969); and the new queen, Hollie Blackie, and her mother, Lynne Blackie, nee McFarlane (queen in 1993)
Anne Collin, left, at this years Eyemouth celebrations and as queen in 1946, right
But beyond the pipes and parades is a darker reality. Both towns have areas of deprivation, in part linked to the almost total decline of the industry they are celebrating.
The North Sea herring fisheries that once brought wealth to Eyemouth are now closely managed since overfishing in the 1970s led to a collapse of the population. Instead, boats from Eyemouth go out hoping for a catch of crab, langoustine and lobster or carry day-trippers and divers.
Today, two of the towns most striking features are the new Neart na Gaoithe windfarm operations base, which dominates one arm of the harbour, and the holiday park on the cliff overlooking the bay.
Crab and lobster, not herring, are the main catch now in Eyemouth
Sailor boys Noah Wilson, Reagan John Strachan and Ruaridh Mutch during the coronation ceremony
Im hearing from fishermen that they wouldnt want their children to get involved in this industry any more, says Caitlin Turner, of the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust.
Fishing villages are about men. The Eyemouth Queen is about women. And a womans voice, a womans speech and women coming together Emma Dixon
Its heartbreaking because so many of our coastal island communities are built upon fishing. Its integral to them; it runs within their language, their culture, their history.
Related: Holy Island vicar leads fight against fishing ban that would rip the heart out of Lindisfarne
The story is perhaps even starker over the border in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The collapse of the Atlantic salmon population means that fishing on the River Tweed itself is limited to one remaining commercial fishery and strictly licensed rod-fishing for sport, with catch and release of the salmon strongly promoted.
At the Eyemouth crowning ceremony, the toll on the communities is well illustrated by the presence among the face painting and beer stalls of a gazebo carrying the logo of a mens suicide prevention charity Andys Man Club (AMC). Meetings have recently started in Eyemouth and Berwick and the enthusiastic take-up has surprised even the charity.
David Windram, an AMC volunteer who used to fish for a living, agrees that for many the shift from traditional jobs has been painful. Suddenly youre scraping about trying to find different work, so youre no longer the provider, he says. Youre struggling with the stress.
The childrens procession, led by a pipeband, opens the festivities. In the fishing industrys boom years, a child would represent each boat in the harbour
Being chosen as queen or part of the court is a huge honour; households buy and install plaques to celebrate their childs achievement and display them all year, while flags bearing the pictures of former queens adorn lamp-posts
Farming in the area has been similarly affected, says Windram, and the jobs that were promised as part of the new windfarm development have mostly gone to those commuting from elsewhere.
That doesnt mean to say that there [arent] any other opportunities, he says. I think you need to have a positive mentality.
A spectator and her dog appear to be wearing matching tartan as a pipe band passes
Eyemouth harbour is much quieter these days than when the herring queen festival began
Against this background of change, the herring queen festival harks back to a bygone era, but in some ways is more relevant than ever. You have it [being queen] for life, says Wendy Lough, a member of the festival committee.
And it is clear that just as the queens promote and support their community and heritage, so in turn they benefit from becoming part of a wide-ranging network of women keen to help one another succeed. Former queens have gone on to become everything from civil servants to pilots, and while not all stay in the town, they are all fiercely proud of it.
Find me a fishing village that celebrates women like this, says Emma Dixon, nee Ross, a headteacher who was herring queen in 2002.
Fishing villages are about men. The Eyemouth Queen is about women. And a womans voice, and a womans speech and women coming together. And then using that to gain confidence, to go into next steps, to get places within the community. Nothing else is like that outside of Eyemouth.
Flowers and tributes left for the victims of Mondays attack. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder and attempted murder after 13 people, including 11 children, were stabbed at a dance class in Southport while violence has flared in Manchester following on from rioting elsewhere sparked by disinformation about the suspect.
In Manchester on Wednesday, demonstrators gathered outside the Holiday Inn hotel on Oldham Road at about 6pm, the Manchester Evening News reported. About 40 people including children and men wearing balaclavas were reportedly involved in what the paper said appeared to be a stand against asylum seekers currently being housed in the hotel.
Hours beforehand, Merseyside police said they had charged the Southport suspect, who is from the village of Banks, Lancashire, with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of an offensive weapon. He was due to appear at Liverpool city magistrates court on Thursday morning.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed, while five children remain in critical condition after they were attacked while taking part in a dance and yoga class on Monday morning. Two adults, who were injured trying to protect the children, were also in a critical condition.
The suspect, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Monday. Earlier on Wednesday, detectives were granted more time to question the teenager. The only details released about the suspect were his age, that he is from the village of Banks, about five miles from where the stabbings took place, and was born in Cardiff.
Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside police, said: A 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday 29 July. The 17-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons as hes under 18.
Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire police and counter-terrorism police in the north-west.
I would like to thank all the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the north-west.
Sarah Hammond, chief crown prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. Our thoughts remain with the families of all of those affected by these harrowing events.
Manchester on Wednesday night became host to the latest in a series of flare-ups egged on by far-right agitators spreading lies online. Two men were arrested after the group outside the Holiday Inn threw bottles, bricks and at officers who were in riot gear, the Manchester Evening News reported. A bus driver also appeared to have been assaulted by a group of young men who jumped in front of his doubledecker on Grimshaw Lane, the news outlet said.
This is the moment riot cops clashed with protestors in Newton Heath tonight. Officers have been pelted with rocks, bricks and bottles. @MENnewsdesk pic.twitter.com/gjCSoqdlTM James Holt - M.E.N (@jameshjourno) July 31, 2024
The Newton Heath, Clayton and Openshaw division of Greater Manchester police said: Due to the early intervention from our officers this criminal behaviour thankfully didnt cause any serious injury or damage. Two men aged 18 and 25 were later arrested for violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker and remain in custody at this time for questioning.
Enquiries into a further related report of an assault of a bus driver [are] ongoing at this stage.
Local councillor John Flanagan condemned the sickening incident and the mindless thugs attacking innocent men who are asylum seekers They have been there for months and we have not had any issues or problems. They have been in a place of safety.
Earlier on Wednesday, crowds of protesters marched on Downing Street in London. In Whitehall, demonstrators threw flares and cans while chanting Rule Britannia, save our kids and stop the boats, while police were seen wrestling a man off the road and on to the pavement next to the Cenotaph, near Downing Street. Others attempted to kick down a fence and were confronted by riot police while some threw flares on to the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Police said more than 100 people were arrested for offences including violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker while several police officers suffered minor injuries.
There was also a protest in Hartlepool, County Durham, which resulted in eight people being arrested after police officers had missiles, glass bottles and eggs thrown at them. Late in the night a police vehicle was set alight in the town centre. Several officers suffered minor injuries responding to the disorder, Cleveland police said. In a later statement after the protesters had been dispersed they said a full criminal investigation was under way and that we expect further arrests to be made in the coming days.
Jonathan Brash, the Labour MP for the town, said he was deeply concerned about the situation and would be meeting with police to discuss their response to the incident.
Brash wrote on X: These events do not represent what Hartlepool is or the values that our people hold. Violence is never the answer.
In Aldershot, local MP Alex Baker condemned the violence in her community, stating that there was no justification for disorderly behaviour and the scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough.
I have been liaising with Hampshire police this evening regarding a significant incident at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot, where a peaceful protest descended into intimidating behaviour, she said.
More than 50 police officers were injured in far-right riots in Southport on Tuesday night, which broke out as the town reeled from the knife attack. Five people were arrested over the disturbances, police said.
The mother of Elsie, one of the children who was killed, intervened. This is the only thing that I will write, but please, please stop the violence in Southport tonight, Jenni Stancombe said. The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we dont need this.
Alex Goss, assistant chief constable for Merseyside police, said: Our work to identify all those responsible for the despicable violence and aggression seen on the streets of Southport on Tuesday continues.
We have been inundated with images and footage from members of the public who were outraged at the destruction carried out. The individuals involved in the disorder had no regard for the families and friends of those who so tragically lost their lives, and a community in grief.
It has been heartening today to see the reaction of the whole community, who have pulled together to clean the streets, rebuild walls and reglaze broken windows.
PA Media contributed to this report
Stella Maris became rector at the University of St Andrews in November - University of St Andrews
The rector at one of Britains top universities has been dismissed from its ruling body after inflaming tensions on campus by accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.
Stella Maris has been stripped of key positions at the University of St Andrews after she repeatedly refused to accept the findings of an independent report highly critical of her conduct in the wake of Israel launching its offensive against Hamas.
Ms Maris, who became rector in November 2023, issued a message to thousands of students that month denouncing weeks of genocidal attacks by the Israeli government against Gaza and referring to apartheid.
The websites linked to included material that was offensive and appears to be in the conspiracy theory zone, according to the independent report.
St Andrews University Court admitted it was a 'difficult and unusual' decision - Jane Barlow/PA Wire
On Thursday, the University Court, its governing body, stripped Ms Maris of her role as its president and as a charity trustee, in what it admitted was a difficult and unusual move. She will no longer sit on the court, described as being the institutions supreme governing body.
It said it had been left with no choice after Ms Maris refused to accept the findings of an investigation that her statement and combative and hostile social media activity created division.
Ms Maris vowed to appeal the judgment and repeated her claim that there was a genocide, a position she said was supported by a majority of students.
Ray Perman, the senior lay member and chairman of the University Court, said that there had been extensive attempts at dialogue over three months with Ms Maris.
Serious breach of responsibilities
However, he said court members concluded that she was guilty of a serious and persistent breach of her responsibilities and can no longer sit as president.
Mr Perman added: We wish to stress most explicitly that the rector has never been asked to diminish or change her support of the Palestinian cause, only to acknowledge that in her handling of this matter she caused distress and fear to some students, whom it was her duty to support and represent.
As the chairman of University Court, I wish to offer an apology to all students, and others, who were upset or feared for their safety as a consequence of the rectors handling of this matter, and those who were subsequently upset by the rise in tensions and disagreements which ensued.
Ms Maris, an English and philosophy graduate at the university, will remain rector until 2026, a post in which the holder is traditionally expected to represent students.
She had insisted that she had an obligation to speak about what she believed did amount to a genocide and to use that term.
Very poor judgment
However, Morag Ross KC, who carried out the investigation, found that she had displayed very poor judgment and ignored the possibility her outspoken statements might encourage the expression of anti-Semitism by others, especially in a tense and divided environment.
Ms Ross went on to describe it as a concern that Ms Maris sees and responds to one group who are distressed, on her own side of the debate, but dismisses, and even disparages, the distress of another group.
The investigation found that for some St Andrews students, the rectors words had been an important source of comfort.
However, they provoked a backlash among others, with an open letter calling for a retraction being signed by hundreds of students and alumni.
In her report, Ms Ross said that some Jewish students were very distressed and angry, with feelings of fear for their safety as a result of Ms Mariss interventions.
The rector said she was disappointed by the decision. She claimed it shows a lack of respect for the role of the rector in speaking independently for students and sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech in higher education.
Adding that she would appeal the decision, Ms Maris said: It is clear that I have been removed from University Court because I called for an end to Israels war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologise for doing so.
As a young, neurodiverse black woman with limited financial resources, I have faced the full force of the university, including a KC investigation, all because I made a statement supported by the overwhelming majority of students, calling for an end to a genocide.
Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar died
Follow our Southport stabbing live blog for updates as the suspect appears at Liverpool magistrates court today.
A teenager has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder over the attack on a holiday club in Southport.
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Liverpool City Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Three girls six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar died after being stabbed while they were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on Monday. Eight other children suffered stab wounds, with five in a critical condition.
Local businessman John Hayes was stabbed in the leg while trying to disarm the attacker and Leanne Lucas, one of the workshop organisers, was seriously wounded while trying to protect the group of children. Both adults remained in hospital after undergoing surgery.
Police confirmed in a midnight press conference that they had charged a suspect with three counts of murder, ten attempted murders and the possession of a bladed article.
Leanne Lucas was hurt while protecting the children - Instagram
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Merseyside Police to charge a 17-year-old male, of Banks, Lancashire, with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder following the tragic incident that took place in Southport this week.
He will appear at Liverpool City Magistrates Court on Thursday August 1, 2024.
We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
Social media theories about the attacker have fuelled clashes - Owen Humphreys
A man during a demonstration in London on Wednesday - Jordan Pettitt
She added: Our thoughts remain with the families of all of those affected by these harrowing events.
News of the charges came as police quelled violent demonstrations which spread across Britain on Wednesday night.
Riots started after false information shared
Hundreds gathered in the centre of London before some rioters were seen hurling beer cans and lighting flares near British Prime Minister Keir Starmers residence.
The crowd was shouting, Save our kids, We want our country back and Stop the boats, as well as English football chants.
In Hartlepool, Co Durham, a number of arrests were made after violent groups clashed with riot police in the centre of town as they attempted to march towards a nearby mosque, reports suggested.
A police car was set on fire and officers at the scene said they were also attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs.
Clashes were seen between agitators and officers
Firefighters and police were deployed again to Hartlepool on Wednesday night - Owen Humphreys
In Manchester, children and men in balaclavas were part of a group of 40 people gathered outside the Oldham Road premises in what the Manchester Evening Standard said appeared to be a stand against asylum seekers currently being housed in the hotel.
Violence first broke out amid claims that the police were not telling the truth about the suspects background and his motives, with rumours swirling on social media.
It came after social media users incorrectly named the attacker and also wrongly claimed he was an asylum seeker.
Tributes continued to pour in at the scene - Christopher Furlong
Police faced rioters on Murray Street in Hartlepool - TEBL
Southport locals, who were cleaning up after clashes erupted in their streets on Tuesday, described the protests as a disgraceful hijacking of our tragedy, and a failed attempt to divide us.
Jenni Stancombe, the mother of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, appealed on social media for the violence to end.
She said: The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours, and they and we dont need this. This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
Suspect is quiet teenager
Neighbours reported seeing a heavy police presence at the semi-detached house where the suspect was living with his parents in the village of Banks, three miles from the scene of the attack,.
People who knew the teenager described him as an introvert who had been interested in karate and theatre, having once performed in a show at a West End theatre.
He was born in Cardiff but later moved to Merseyside with his parents, originally from Rwanda, and his brother.
The siblings went to school locally but also became involved in a performing arts group, where they produced shows and films with other youngsters.
Jonathan Hayes was stabbed in the leg while trying to disarm the attacker - Alice Hepple
I was in the same group as him, a friend told The Telegraph. He was quite quiet. They kind of just turned up and they said, oh theyve moved here from somewhere else, they are brand new to the community, they are trying to branch out and make friends and stuff. Thats what we got told.
He just kind of turned up one day in class and we were told to make him welcome. Hes come from quite far away.
The friend said the group involved musical theatre, TV production and singing and dancing and also making making their own movies, adding that one of the major events was a show in Londons West End.
It was just working in groups collaborating with people. Theyd have a musical every year, like a big production and that would sometimes get done with other groups, the friend said. He was at one in London, he went to one in London on the West End.
A police car on fire in Hartlepool - TEBL
Riot police in Hartlepool - Owen Humphreys
The friend added: I was in the same group as him. He was enjoying it, but he was never really... you know how musical theatre kids [are]; they are very extroverted. He wasnt, he was very quiet. He got involved, but he was a lot quieter.
Didnt really talk about himself that much
He added that he didnt really talk about himself that much but did mention his family were originally from Rwanda.
However, he said that his older brother was more outgoing, he was a lot more talkative, he was more in the crowd, adding: His Dad came across quite educated. He presented well.
The father of the suspects friend said that while the suspect appeared to enjoy the theatre group, he was not pushing to be at the front of the stage.
He wasnt a normal theatre kid, he said. He wasnt pushing for main leads and stuff like that. When they went to London hed just got involved [in the group], he enjoyed it.
Dame Priti Patel said: 'We cannot let anyone undermine our freedoms and democracy' - Carl Court/Getty Images
Threats to MPs should be treated as terrorist offences, Dame Priti Patel has said.
Dame Priti, a Conservative leadership candidate and former home secretary, condemned abuse targeted at parliamentarians as an attack on democracy.
Her remarks came after Jonathan Hall KC, the reviewer of terror legislation, said police must be open to launching terrorism investigations into threats of violence to MPs.
Dame Priti said: I agree. Threats towards MPs are an attack on democracy, and should be treated in the same way as terrorism.
I have seen too many friends and colleagues from all parties both afraid and physically hurt, and not a day goes by where I dont think about my dear friend Sir David Amess.
As leader of the opposition, I would continue to work with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Government, and the police and security services to ensure that the safety of our public servants is paramount. We cannot let anyone undermine our freedoms and democracy.
Sir David, who was the Conservative MP for Southend West, was killed by an Islamist terrorist during a constituency surgery in October 2021.
In June 2016, Jo Cox, who was the Labour MP for Batley and Spen, was murdered in her constituency by a far-Right extremist.
Fresh concerns around the security of MPs were raised after a number of senior politicians were targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters.
The family home of Tobias Ellwood, who lost his seat at the general election, was targeted by around 80 protesters who accused him of being complicit in genocide.
Frontbenchers including Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, and Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, spoke of intimidation by pro-Gaza activists ahead of the election.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, was attacked twice on the campaign trail, with a milkshake thrown over him in Clacton and wet cement and a coffee cup thrown at him in Barnsley.
In an interview with The House magazine, Mr Hall said terrorism was absolutely whats in play when politicians receive threats of violence.
The police should be open to carrying out terrorism investigations if they find concerted and organised threats not use of violence but threats of violence to MPs, he said. The police shouldnt take that off the table just because its done under cover of being protest activity.
However, he rejected the idea that terrorism [legislation] should suddenly rain down when abusive posts were directed at MPs on social media.
Mr Hall said: The definition of terrorism is really simple. Its violence or threat of violence in order to advance a cause for example, a political, racial, religious cause and its done with the intent to influence the Government or intimidate the population. This is absolutely whats in play where MPs are being threatened with rape or death.
You can see how the foundations of the shared state could begin to be shaken if politicians felt they couldnt vote in a certain way.
Sir Lindsay, the Commons Speaker, came under fire in February after breaking convention over a Labour amendment about its position on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict. He later apologised and said he had been motivated by concerns about the targeting of MPs over how they voted on the issue.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists had gathered outside Parliament shortly before the vote to demand that Labour backed an unconditional and immediate ceasefire.
Dame Priti is one of six candidates in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as the Tory leader. She is up against James Cleverly, another former home secretary, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride.
Donald Trump shakes hands with Harris Faulkner, a Fox News anchor, after speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago - Vincent Alban/Reuters
Donald Trumps claims that Kamala Harris had only recently turned black have been criticised by his fellow Republicans.
In a rare rebuke of their presidential nominee, a number of Republicans voiced concerns over the remarks, which have been condemned as racist.
I think the better approach is to focus on the policies of Kamala Harris - thats what Ive been talking about, said Senator Steve Daines of Montana, the GOP campaign chief.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri also told reporters it was not a great idea for either of the parties to be playing racial identity politics.
And Thom Tillis, the North Carolina senator, said he clearly didnt like what he heard from Trump.
Appearing at a convention for black journalists on Wednesday, Trump asked if Ms Harris, the US vice-president and presumptive Democrat nominee, was Indian or black.
I respect either one but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became black, he continued.
Ms Harris responded by saying the American people deserve better than such divisiveness and disrespect.
Ms Harris did not directly address Trump's remarks but said he had put on the 'same old show' of 'divisiveness and disrespect' - KEVIN LAMARQUE/AFP via Getty Images
Trump, 78, then doubled down on his controversial remarks. On his Truth Social page, he posted a previously published photograph of Ms Harriss mothers family wearing traditional Indian clothing.
Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago, he wrote with apparent sarcasm. Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated.
JD Vance, Trumps running mate, piled on at a campaign rally on Wednesday evening, mocking the way Ms Harris had spoken at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the battleground states.
And you guys saw yesterday she was in Georgia, and she put on a southern accent for a Georgia audience, said Mr Vance. She grew up in Vancouver. What the hell is going on here? She is not who she pretends to be.
Ms Harris, 59, is of mixed race. Her father is Jamaican and her mother Indian. She spent her teenage years in Montreal, where her mother, a breast cancer researcher, worked at a hospital and university.
She served as Attorney General of California before being elected as senator for the state.
A tougher fight than Republicans expected
After barely 10 days of campaigning, she is running level with Trump in battleground states, and Republicans are realising they face a tougher fight than most anticipated.
Politico reported that virtually every Republican it contacted was flat-out distraught by what they perceive as a self-inflicted wound not only for Trump, but for Republicans down the ballot.
Without mentioning Trump by name, former Maryland governor Larry Hogan, a GOP candidate for the Senate, said it was unacceptable and abhorrent to attack vice-president Harris or anyones racial identity.
Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist, told CNN that Trump cr---d the bed in his appearance at the NABJ convention.
The only question is whether hes gonna roll around in it or get up and change the sheets, he added.
Lisa Murkowski, the Republican senator for Alaska, listed a series of recent mishaps by Trump and Mr Vance when talking about Ms Harris recently.
Childless cat women, DEI candidates, now, Is she black? Is she Indian? she said
Democrats also condemned the comments. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, termed Trumps appearance a meltdown that showed he was unfit for office.
Mark Kelly, a senator from Arizona and one of the favourites to become Ms Harriss running mate, said the remarks were overtly racist.
Another potential pick, JB Pritzker, said Trumps comments showed racism coming through him.
This is not the first time Trump has been accused of race-baiting. For many years he spearheaded the birther movement that falsely claimed Barack Obama was not born in the US and thus not eligible to run for president.
Believing it was a distraction for Americans, Mr Obama released his full birth certificate showing he had been born in Hawaii as he had said.
In 2016, while running for president, Trump finally admitted as much, saying: President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.
People rally outside of a polling location for people to vote uncommitted in the Democratic primary in Dearborn, Michigan, on 27 February 2024. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The Uncommitted National Movement has announced a number of demands in the run-up to the Democratic national convention (DNC) later this month, part of an effort to use its voting power to influence Kamala Harris and the Democratic partys stance on Israels war in Gaza.
In a press call on Thursday, movement leaders demanded that the DNC allow Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American physician whos worked in Gaza, to speak at the convention about the humanitarian crisis that she witnessed first-hand. They have also requested that an uncommitted delegate be given five minutes to speak at the convention, and for Kamala Harris to meet with movement leaders about their concerns.
Uncommitted leaders say that hearing from Haj-Hassan will help the Democratic party and Harris make informed policy decisions on Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials.
More than 700,000 Americans voted uncommitted or its equivalent in the Democratic party primaries this year in a message to Joe Biden that he could not count on their support if he did not change his approach to the war. The movement has particular influence in Michigan, where more than 100,000 people cast uncommitted ballots in the primary. It will send 30 delegates to the DNC in Chicago.
Related: Kamala Harris says I will not be silent on suffering in Gaza after Netanyahu talks
The movements latest appeal follows demands announced last week that include an arms embargo on Israel and support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Convention planners received the demands in writing, say movement leaders, but they have yet to receive a response.
Still, Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan, said that the movement is hopeful that the vice-president will take this opportunity to turn a new page as it relates to Gaza policy, and hopefully that can start with this specific initiative.
During the Thursday call, several doctors who volunteered in Gaza and have experience in other conflicts said that the scale of atrocities they witnessed in Gaza were the worst that theyd ever seen. Haj-Hassan shared that shed seen Palestinians being killed in 1,001 ways. In the emergency department, she often saw the dead bodies of entire families, with only one surviving child who was fighting for their life. We received children maimed, killed, beheaded, shot, she said.
And it is for that reason I have decided to become very vocal and go beyond my capacity as a pediatric intensive care doctor confined by the walls of the ICU, said Haj-Hassan, to get on the media to speak to politicians and to advocate for this genocide to come to an end. Last week, Haj-Hassan and dozens of other US doctors and nurses delivered a letter to Biden that described the scene in Gazas hospitals and urged him to withdraw military support for Israel.
Alawieh said that Harriss team has signalled a greater openness to engaging with their movement than Biden did. Shes expressed a level of concern about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that perhaps we werent seeing from the president, said Alawieh. He was also encouraged that her team was in touch with Arab and Muslim American leaders. Were getting more engagement than we did under President Biden being at the top of the ticket, and so Im hopeful that we can move in a direction that leads to her engaging directly.
Layla Elabed, a Palestinian American organizer with the Uncommitted National Movement, said a meaningful response from Harris could influence her success against Donald Trump in November. To have any chance in fighting authoritarianism and fascism that will be on the ballot in November, then the demands of Uncommitted need to be taken seriously.
The movement plans to host programming at the convention regardless of the DNCs response to their demands, said Elabed, and referenced the famous address at the 1964 DNC delivered by civil rights giant Fannie Lou Hamer, who recounted the violence that she experienced when registering to vote and called for integration of the all-white Mississippi delegation.
We will find a way for Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan to speak officially or unofficially, one way or another, said Elabed, in the tradition of Fannie Lou Hamer and the civil rights movement, who made moral witness in the 1964s convention to human suffering.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he has no doubt Glasgow will reject the far right ahead of a planned protest.
A pro-UK rally has been planned for the citys George Square on September 7, with English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon promoting the event on social media.
Plans for the rally come after violence in Southport, Merseyside, this week following the killings of three young girls in a knife attack.
Police say the scenes were sparked by supporters of the far right, claiming those present backed the EDL although the organisation has not existed for around a decade.
Three girls died in the attack on Monday (James Speakman/PA)
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr Sarwar said the single most important issue was to support the families of the children who were killed: Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and the wider community of Southport.
His comments come as the 17-year-old charged with the murder Axel Rudakubana appeared in court.
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured.
On Wednesday evening, more than 100 protesters were arrested in Whitehall, where bottles and cans were thrown at police, and violence broke out in Hartlepool, County Durham, where a police car was set alight.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the Scottish Labour leader mentioned the planned rally.
Im a son of Glasgow, I was born in Glasgow Glasgow is my city, he said.
I know as a Glaswegian, that we have always had a view we cant be complacent, we cant pretend that there arent issues here but weve always been a city that regardless where you come from, regardless of where you were born, when you come here youre one of us and were one Glasgow.
There have been attempts by the far right before to do protests here or to sow divisions here.
Every single time the far right has tried to do that in Glasgow, Glasgow has overwhelmingly rejected them.
I have no doubt Glasgow will do that again if this happens.
Mr Sarwar was joined by Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken, who wrote on social media site X: Glasgow City Council has received no notification of any rally but then we know Tommy Robinson and his ilk dont really care about respecting laws or public places.
Hes not welcome in Glasgow, and neither is anyone who chooses to align with his poisonous rhetoric.
Violence targeting police officers, the public, and mosques, all to drive forward the far-right's hateful ideology. Rhetoric is not enough. We need to take action against the far-right. I have asked the Home Secretary to use her powers to proscribe the English Defence League. pic.twitter.com/9orWrKUiop Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) July 31, 2024
In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Wednesday, former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf urged her to proscribe the EDL and its offshoots under terrorism legislation, making it illegal to be a member of the groups.
Asked about such a move, Mr Sarwar told the PA news agency every option should be on the table.
Mr Yousaf also said in the letter that the UK has a far-right problem, but Mr Sarwar suggested such a characterisation could portray such movements as being more mainstream.
They want to pretend that they are a mainstream movement that represents a significant level of the population, he said.
Im not pretending there isnt an element, Im not pretending there isnt a challenge we have to push back against, but I continue to believe that the overwhelming majority of our country, whether that be here in Scotland, across the rest of the UK, are fair minded, decent individuals who believe in pulling our communities together rather than pulling our communities apart.
Mr Sarwar went on to call on social media firms to do more, saying the far right is recruiting, organising, amplifying, fundraising online.
He added: All of that can stop if the social media platforms take the appropriate action.
Elsewhere, Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie has written to his fellow Glasgow MSPs calling for a united response to the rally.
Glasgow is a proudly multicultural city with a long history of standing up against the far right, he said.
Theres no place for the fear, hate and division of these gangs here, nor for the violence and criminality they bring.
Pinky Jolley travelled to Turkey for weight loss surgery. (SWNS)
A woman who suffered from a botched weight loss surgery saw her organs turn to concrete which left her unable to eat for two years.
Pinky Jolley, 46, travelled to Turkey for gastric sleeve surgery in 2022 after feeling unhappy with her 17st 11lb weight and her diabetes diagnosis.
"They totally botched the operation and left my insides so infected they were all hard and like concrete the doctors said," Jolley explains.
"It's been a horrible ordeal. I just want to be well again. Looking back it was so cheap that I really should have thought twice but I just got so swept up."
Jolley had been told to lose weight after medical complications left her in a wheelchair. She raised 2,100 via GoFundMe for the accommodation, flights, and surgery.
The surgery saw 85% of her stomach removed but she suffered from intense stomach pain, vomiting, and dehydration straight after the surgery.
Four days after the procedure, Jolley returned home to the Wirral in Merseyside where her GP recommended an immediate visit to the hospital.
Pinky was told to lose weight after medical complications left her wheel chair bound, but her weight loss surgery saw her being fed through a tube. (SWNS)
A CT scan revealed that a serious leak in her stomach had led to an infection, which left a ball of concretised pud inside of her.
She then underwent emergency life-saving surgery in January last year which involved three doctors jet-washing the inside of her stomach.
Since the operation, Jolley has been using a feeding tube to eat and was told that she may never eat solid food again.
However, she received a pioneering operation this week to build her a new stomach. The surgeons also released her colon, liver and spleen which were stuck and out of position.
"I know that it wont correct everything and it wont be a cure, but I will be able to eat again," she says.
"I will be able to go out with friends, to have a life. I feel misled and upset that something that was meant to help has caused me so much suffering.
"I lost four stone in four weeks because my stomach was so tiny. I wanted to lose eight stone within two years. I've had to have a feeding tube to help but everything is so painful."
Jolley wants to celebrate her new stomach by eating her favourite dish of garlic mushrooms and cheese.
After not being able to eat solid foods for over two years, Jolley now weighs 11.5st and went from a size 24 to a size 18.
Professor Rishi Singhal, who performed the stomach restoring surgery, said that Jolleys stomach was "like cutting through concrete".
Pinky has now had her stomach reconstructed. (SWNS)
"This is normally routine surgery but because of the state of her insides, on a scale of one to 10, this is an 11, he added. "Surgeons elsewhere in the NHS have declined to do it.
"We have to try to avoid the septic mass if we cut into it, then she could become septic very quickly and die."
According to the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS), around 5,000 Brits travel abroad for weight loss surgery each year, while 4,500 have it on the NHS.
Additional reporting by SWNS.
Health: Read more
More than 100 arrests in London after unrest in response to Southport attack
More than 100 people have been arrested in London as further protests took place across the country in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
Violent incidents linked to the deaths of three young girls have been seen in Hartlepool, Manchester, and Aldershot.
Police in Hartlepool were attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs, Cleveland Police said.
A police car was set alight during the violence after a large group of people gathered in the Murray Street area of the North East town on Wednesday evening.
In Manchester, demonstrators turned out in large numbers outside the Holiday Inn hotel on Oldham Road at around 6pm, the Manchester Evening News reported.
A police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool following violence on Wednesday (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Around 40 people, which the paper reports included children and men wearing balaclavas, gathered outside the Oldham Road premises in what the paper said appeared to be a stand against asylum seekers currently being housed in the hotel.
In Aldershot, local MP Alex Baker took to social media to rebuke violence in her community, stating that there is no justification for disorderly behaviour and the scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough.
I have been liaising with Hampshire Police this evening regarding a significant incident at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot, where a peaceful protest descended into intimidating behaviour, she said in a statement shared on X.
I have visited the scene myself this evening and have been in touch with the Chief Inspector. This incident was exacerbated by people from outside our community who came here determined to cause unrest. I would like to pay tribute to the brave police officers who worked hard to restore order.
There is no justification for disorderly behaviour and the scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough. We all support our shared right to peacefully protest, but we will not stand for people coming into our towns determined to stir up trouble and divide our community.
In London, a large protest was staged under the title of Enough is Enough, with arrests made after demonstrators clashed with officers in Whitehall on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police arrested 111 people after officers were attacked and subjected to assault during the protest, the force said.
Demonstrators were seen launching beer cans and glass bottles at a line of police in riot gear in front of Downing Street and throwing flares onto the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
People attending the Enough is Enough protest in Parliament Square, London, following the fatal stabbing of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Monday in Southport (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
The angry scenes also included loud chants of we want our country back and Oh Tommy Robinson, referring to the right-wing activist.
Last night our officers faced unacceptable scenes of disorder and violence, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
All our thoughts should be with the victims and families of those impacted by the most dreadful attack in Southport. It is shameful that some have sought to exploit this tragedy as justification for their own violence and criminality.
A dedicated team of officers is working to bring charges, the force said.
Cleveland Police also said it had made eight arrests for various offences including public order and affray after violence broke out in Hartlepool on Wednesday, with more arrests expected.
Road closures have been lifted, but a visible police presence remains in the area, the force said.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.
In Manchester, local councillor John Flanagan took to social media to respond to the violence, labelling those involved in the sickening incident as mindless idiots.
Id like to condemn these mindless thugs, attacking innocent men who are asylum seekers. They have been there for months and we have not had any issues or problems. They have been in a place of safety, the councillor for Newton Heath said.
Its sickening to think they are being targeted because of their race or their religion, and I hope this isnt tied with the disgraceful scenes in Southport where a mosque was attacked last night.
Videos on social media show a crowd of people in a street, with one showing a youth throwing objects at a line of police in riot gear holding shields (Owen Humphreys/PA)
These idiots are attacking innocent people. My initial reaction is to contact GMP and support them. The whole of the city and reasonable thinking people will be horrified and sickened by these actions. Idiots is too soft of a word I hope the police use the full force of the law.
We cannot allow our country and our city to descend into anarchy, which seems to be being driven by madness on social media.
It comes after violence erupted in Southport on Tuesday following a vigil for three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
Police officers in Southport suffered serious injuries when bricks, stones and bottles were thrown and cars were set alight during violent protests.
The disorder near the towns mosque came after false rumours were circulated online about the suspect.
In an effort to avoid a second night of rioting, Merseyside Police were given extra powers, under S60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, on Wednesday to stop and search people suspected of carrying weapons.
Community Inspector Doug Chadwick said the public was shocked and disappointed by the disgraceful scenes of rioting and called on the public to come forward with information about what they had seen.
Five people have been arrested over the unrest so far, which saw 53 officers and three police dogs injured.
The unrest comes as a 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of the three girls.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in critical condition while two adults were also critically hurt.
The 17-year-old has been remanded in custody to appear on Thursday, August 1, at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.
Oil firm Shell has revealed profits of 14 billion dollars (10.9 billion) for the first half of the year after a stronger-than-expected second quarter.
The energy giant saw a slowdown in earnings over the three months to June after previously warning about lower fossil fuel prices, refining margins and an impairment hit linked to plants in Singapore and Rotterdam.
Nevertheless, it still delivered 6.3 billion dollars (4.9 billion) of earnings for the period, surpassing analyst guidance.
Shell told shareholders on Thursday that earning were 19% lower quarter-on-quarter due to weaker liquified natural gas (LNG) trading and refining profitability.
The company somewhat offset this through stronger profit margins and total volumes in its marketing division.
The company also confirmed plans for further returns to shareholders through an extended 3.5 billion dollar (2.7 billion) share buyback programme.
Chief executive Wael Sawan said: Shell delivered another strong quarter of operational and financial results.
We further strengthened our leading LNG portfolio, and made good progress across our Capital Markets Day 2023 financial targets, including 1.7 billion dollars of structural cost reductions since 2022.
We continue to demonstrate that we are delivering more value with less emissions.
The update showed that Shell posted a 187 million dollar (147 million) loss in its renewables business, while it reduced its pipeline of renewable projects from 4.6.GW to 3.8GW for the past half-year.
Last month, it paused construction on its major biofuel plant in Rotterdam.
Bosses at the company stressed on Thursday that it will still be on target to meet carbon reduction targets, with it set to have invested between 10 and 15 billion dollars (7.8 billion to 11.8 billion) between 2023 and 2025.
The fresh results came amid an update of political upheaval, with a raft of major elections across the world this year and potential for changes to energy policy and tax regimes.
Earlier this week, the new Labour Government in the UK confirmed it would increase energy windfall taxes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it would increase the Energy Profits Levy by three percentage points and remove a 29% investment allowance in order to draw in more tax revenues.
Mr Sawan told reporters that Shell has been engaging with new governments, including in the UK.
We have been engaging with the UK Government and expect to speak more with them in the coming week, he said.
We are a willing partner for any government as long as we recognise that there is strategic sense, and we have backed that up with a lot of investment in recent years.
The one thing we do wish to see will be stability in policy and an ecosystem that allows us to grow with our investments.
It comes days after rival BP also posted higher-than-expected profits, despite write-downs and weaker refining margins.
Sir Keir Starmer has said action will be taken following violent disorder in parts of England in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
The Prime Minister summoned police chiefs to Downing Street on Thursday afternoon following scenes of violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight, while a demonstration in Aldershot saw a tense stand-off with riot police.
At the meeting, he told the senior officers: I wanted to send a message to each of you and, through you, your officers to say that this Government supports the police, supports what you are doing, and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist and Deputy Commissioner Lynne Owens arrive in Downing Street for the meeting with the Prime Minister (Yui Mok/PA)
This Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson also attended the meeting with the police leaders.
They included Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones, director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson and His Majestys Chief Inspector Andy Cooke.
Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told the meeting by videolink that the force is determined to get justice for the deadly attack on Monday, and to identify all those who took part in rioting on Tuesday in the seaside town.
Sir Keir is also set to hold a press conference to address the disorder at around 4pm on Thursday.
In London on Wednesday, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Demonstrators wearing England flags and waving banners saying enough is enough and stop the boats had congregated outside Downing Street in the wake of the killing of three young girls in the Southport knife attack, which social media posts had wrongly claimed was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Demonstrators in Hartlepool set fire to a police car during clashes with officers on Wednesday (Owen Humphreys/PA)
The angry scenes also included loud chants of: We want our country back and: Oh Tommy Robinson, referring to the right-wing activist. One man wore a shirt with the slogan: Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary.
The Met arrested 111 people for alleged offences including violent disorder, assaults on police officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and breach of protest conditions.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Axel Rudakubana, centre, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murder of three young girls (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
The string of violent incidents followed similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
The meeting in Downing Street came after a 17-year-old charged with the murder of three girls in the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.
He is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on Monday.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas, businessman John Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.
The leader of Edinburgh City Council has called on First Minister John Swinney to intervene and prevent refuse workers from taking strike action during the Scottish capitals busy summer festival period.
Cammy Day warned the eight-day strike later this month, announced by three local government unions, will be a tough time for the council, adding the impact will not be pleasant over the festival time.
Having already warned strikes could lead to a stinking Scottish summer, the unions Unison, Unite and the GMB all announced waste and recycling staff will walk out over pay from 5am on Wednesday August 14 to 4.59am on Thursday August 22, with in 26 of Scotlands 32 councils affected.
The action comes after the unions rejected the 3.2% pay rise offered, which local government body Cosla insisted was at the limit of affordability for councils.
STRIKE ACTION. Members of the trade unions GMB & Unite are planning strike action in Edinburgh from 14 22 August. Bin collections & street cleaning services will be severely disrupted across the city during this time. Please read the updates & follow the advice in this thread pic.twitter.com/6fdtPuvIFx The City of Edinburgh Council (@Edinburgh_CC) July 31, 2024
A similar strike in 2022 was only resolved when the Scottish Government stepped in and provided additional funding for council workers pay.
With the unions insisting the offer is less than that being made to their counterparts in England, Mr Day urged Scottish ministers to find that little more to avert strike action.
He told BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: It is now time for John Swinney or his Cabinet secretary to intervene with a solution, that is what we are waiting for.
Twenty-six councils will have strike action in two weeks time, and the only resolution to that will be if Cosla and the Scottish Government can work with the trade unions to find a solution.
What were asking is for Cosla and the Scottish Government to get round that table and find that little more to avert strike action across the 26 councils all over Scotland.
First Minister John Swinney, centre, has been urged to intervene after talks involving his Finance Secretary Shona Robison failed to find a deal (Jane Barlow/PA)
The Labour councillor insisted local authorities are not able to stump up more cash themselves, saying the 3.2% offer was already a stretch for many of them and any more would mean reductions and cuts in services from local government.
Talks took place on Tuesday involving Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison, Cosla leaders and the unions.
While no new deal was agreed Ms Robison said afterwards that her officials will work with local government to understand what an improved negotiating envelope may look like.
Mr Day said his understanding is the unions expect no less than the national settlement, which was around 4%.
He added: I think we are nearly there, but local governments across Scotland are stretched to their maximum and we need the Government, as they have done the last few years, to support local government and our trade unions and Cosla to find that little bit more and avert strike action.
Speaking to journalists later on Thursday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urged the Government to get unions and local authorities back to the table to ensure the strikes do not become an annual event during the festivals.
Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie also demanded action from ministers, saying: Two years ago, stinking columns of rubbish were allowed to pile up in the streets, and now this SNP Government has allowed it to happen again.
Ministers need to skip the posturing and bring something meaningful to the table.
But the Lib Dem MSP added: The unions need to be reasonable too, they are not the only public sector workers who need a pay rise.
A Hawaii resident was found dead in his home days after being identified as a suspect in the 1991 murder, rape and kidnapping of a 23-year-old woman, police said.
Dana Ireland was attacked on a fish trail in the Kapoho area of Hawaii Island on Dec. 24, 1991, the Hawaii Police Department said Monday in a news release. She died the next day at the Hilo Medical Center, police added.
For 33 years, our Department has been resolute in investigating the Dana Ireland case, Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in the release.
Using "evolved" DNA technology, investigators were able to identify 57-year-old Albert Lauro Jr., who lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder, as a potential suspect in the case, according to the department. Before police had enough evidence to charge Lauro Jr. for Ireland's murder, he was found dead in his home on July 23 from an apparent suicide, Moszkowicz said, per ABC News and KITV.
"This case is still under investigation. Albert Lauro Jr. has been linked to the victim by DNA; however, his exact involvement is still under investigation. And his death was ruled a suicide by the forensic pathologist," Hawaii Police Department Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins told USA TODAY on Thursday.
Albert "Ian" Schweitzer, who had spent more than 20 years in prison for Ireland's murder, was released a year ago based on new evidence.
Pictured is Dana Ireland, a 23-year-old woman who was murdered, raped and kidnapped in Hawai'i on Christmas Eve in 1991.
How did Hawaii police identify Albert Lauro Jr.?
The Hawaii police's initial investigation involved several pieces of evidence being recovered, including some that contained DNA evidence. DNA was recovered from a swab taken from Ireland's body, from a sheet used to transport Ireland to the hospital and from a t-shirt found at the scene. None of the DNA evidence analyzed at the time matched any DNA in the department's database, but police did learn that it belonged to a male.
The DNA evidence was sent to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California in 2008, where it remains today as part of a cooperative agreement with the Innocence Project, police said.
With the DNA found at the scene, analysts were able to build a family tree based on the known DNA from relatives. Earlier this year, an FBI agent in the Honolulu Field Office shared with police investigators some names of people who could potentially be matches for the DNA found at the scene. One of those names was Lauro Jr.
Once police had a name, officers surveilled Lauro Jr. to gather more evidence. In early July, they collected a utensil Lauro Jr. had been using after he threw it away. The DNA from the utensil was analyzed and matched the unknown male's DNA investigators found at the scene of Ireland's murder.
Albert Lauro Jr. went to the Hawaii Police Department's station for court-ordered cheek swab
Once Lauro Jr.'s DNA matched the DNA found at the murder scene, police asked him to come into the station on July 19 for a court-ordered buccal swab. Lauro Jr. spoke to investigators, did the buccal swab and left.
Police sent the buccal swab to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California, along with a request to rush the analysis and return the results as soon as possible. The swab confirmed that the DNA collected at the crime scene again matched Lauro Jr., police said.
Albert Lauro Jr.'s 2017 drivers license photo.
Although police now had probable cause that Lauro Jr. committed the offense of rape, the statute of limitations for that charge ran out several years ago, according to the department.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unwarranted search and seizure, Moszkowicz said in the release. In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators would have to have established probable cause for the crime of murder and explained specifically what evidence it was seeking.
Police hope Lauro Jr.'s cell phone will help them, and that family and friends who knew him well will help investigators determine what happened on Christmas Eve in 1991, Moskowicz said at a news conference live streamed from Hilo.
We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over, the chief said in the release.
Schweiztzers convicted of Dana Ireland's murder
Frank Pauline Jr. and Ian Schweitzer were convicted in 2000 for Ireland's murder. Pauline Jr., who was beginning a 10-year prison sentence for sexual assault and theft when he became a suspect in 1994, was killed by another inmate while incarcerated in New Mexico on April 27, 2015.
Shawn Schweitzer, Ian Schweitzer's brother, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter and kidnapping of Ireland on April 17, 2000, after he saw juries convict his siblings. He received credit for nearly a year served and five years of probation.
Pauline Jr. was indicted for Irelands murder, rape, and kidnapping, on July 30, 1997, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Two months later, on October 9, 1997, Ian, 20 at the time, and Shawn, 16 at the time, were indicted on the same charges.
Although the Hawaii County Prosecutors Office dismissed the indictments against Ian and Shawn Schweitzer On Oct. 20, 1998, the brothers were charged again when a man told prosecutors that Ian Schweitzer confessed to him about his involvement in Ireland's murder.
In October 2023, a Hawaii court judge dismissed the cases against Ian and Shawn Schweitzer and reversed their convictions based on new DNA evidence that clearly exonerates them, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.
For me, the hardest part was having to put my brother out of my brain, so I wouldnt think about him, miss him, or be angry at the world for what happened to us. I had to put him in a closet in the back of my brain so I wouldnt have breakdowns every day," Shawn Schweitzer told KITV after being exonerated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dana Ireland murder Suspect dies by suicide after Hawaii police ID him
Two Al Jazeera correspondents were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp, northern Gaza, on Wednesday, sparking condemnation from advocacy groups and highlighting the dangers for local reporters covering the horrors of Israels offensive.
Ismail Al-Ghoul and cameraman, Rami Al-Rifi, who lived in the besieged enclave, were killed in an airstrike on their car in Al-Shati, according to the Qatar-based network. The journalists, both aged 27, were reporting live for much of the day from a location close to the family home of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday.
Al-Ghoul was wearing a press flak vest when he was killed, according to his colleague. He had not seen his wife and two-year-old daughter Zeina, who were displaced in central Gaza, in 10 months. These days are not like any other, he said in a post on X in June. Zeina began running, talking, asking questions She was growing up without me seeing her.
A third Palestinian, 16-year-old Khaled Al-Shawa, was also killed in the strike on Wednesday, according to local reporters. Footage on social media filmed in the aftermath of the attack shows his lifeless body sprawled in the street. Al-Shawa was an only child, reporters told CNN.
The teenager had been riding his orange bicycle to deliver food for an elderly resident in the local neighborhood, before he was killed, according to Saudi-backed broadcaster Al-Arabiya.
Al Jazeera condemned what it claimed was the targeted assassination of its journalists by Israeli forces, claiming the attack was part of a systematic targeting campaign against the networks journalists and their families since October 2023.
In a statement to CNN Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli Security Agency alleged Al-Ghoul was a member of Hamas military wing and had participated in the attack on Israel on October 7.
The IDF alleged that as part of his role in the military wing, Al-Ghoul instructed other operatives on how to record operations and was actively involved in recording and publicizing attacks against IDF troops. His activities in the field were a vital part of Hamas military activity. The IDF did not provide CNN with any proof for their allegations.
The IDF did not allege that Al-Ghoul had a direct combat role in its statement to CNN, nor did it address the killing of his colleague Rami al Rifi in the same strike.
Al Jazeera denied what it called baseless allegations made by the Israeli occupation forces in an attempt to justify its deliberate killing of our colleague, journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul, and his companion, cameraman Rami Al-Rifi.
It said the IDF had made accusations against Al-Ghoul without providing any proof, documentation or video, and accused Israel of a long history of fabrications and false evidence used to cover up its heinous crimes.
Al Jazeera bureau chief for Israel and Palestine, Walid Al Omari, said that Israeli forces had previously arrested (Al-Ghoul) in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza when they invaded it in mid-March. They detained him for twelve hours, then released him unconditionally.
If their claim were true, would they have released him? It is clear that the occupation authorities are trying to justify their crime by claiming that he was one of the elite and participated in the October 7 attack.
The IDF has said previously that they had no record of detaining Al-Ghoul.
Without Ismail, the world would not have seen
Al Jazeeras managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, said in a post on X that Al-Ghoul was renowned for his professionalism and dedication, bringing the worlds attention to the suffering and atrocities committed in Gaza Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres.
More than nine months of Israels bombing campaign has shredded the besieged enclave, erased entire neighborhoods and deepened a humanitarian crisis. Palestinian reporters have become the eyes and ears of those suffering under the shadow of war. Both Israel and Egypt, which control Gazas borders, have so far refused to give international journalists unfettered access to the strip, saying that they cannot guarantee their safety.
It is the photos, footage and reporting from local reporters, often gathered at great personal risk, that have shown the world what is happening. The Israeli offensive in Gaza has marked the deadliest period for journalists since 1992. As of July 31, at least 113 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 108 of whom were Palestinian according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
A reporter in Gaza who had spent much of the day with the Al Jazeera crew told CNN on Wednesday that he was 300 meters away from the missile that hit their vehicle. Video from the scene shows the burnt-out shell of a small saloon car that appears to have been targeted from above.
I was going home close to where we were filming when one, exactly one missile from a drone targeted Ismail and Rami, said Ayman Abed, a resident of Al-Shati camp. There was nothing unusual except the sound of drones in the sky humming. It was one strike on their car.
Israel launched its military offensive after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted.
Israeli strikes in Gaza have since killed more than 39,000 Palestinians and injured another 90,000, according to the Ministry of Health there.
Israel must stop killing journalists
Palestinian journalists and press freedom groups paid tribute to Al-Ghoul and Al-Rifi in the wake of the strike, demanding greater accountability for those responsible for attacks on reporters in Gaza.
Reporters Without Borders urged the Israeli government to immediately commit to ending violence against journalists and described such actions by the IDF as flagrant examples of war crimes.
The CPJ asked Israel to explain the killing of both Al Jazeera staffers, in what it said, appears to be a direct strike. Jodie Ginsberg, the CPJ chief, added: Journalists are civilians and should never be targeted.
The worlds largest union for journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, also criticized the strike, in a post on X: We are running out of words to condemn this massacre. Israel must stop killing journalists.
Khader Al-Zaanoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, recalled his friendship with the Al Jazeera journalist. Its a difficult and painful feeling to cover this horrific story; hes my friend and colleague, and were together in the field most of the time during this war, he said.
Dozens of Palestinian journalists protested on Thursday against the killing of their colleagues in an Israeli airstrike in Al-Shati refugee camp, northern Gaza, on July 31. - Dawouod Abo Alkas/Anadolu/Getty Images
CNN video filmed in the aftermath of the attack on Wednesday showed dozens of Palestinians gathered outside the nearby Al-Ahli Baptist the Hospital in Gaza City, as they mourned the loss of Al-Ghoul and his colleague. Al Jazeera reporters Yousef Al Saudi and Anas Al Sharif could be seen breaking down as they held Al-Ghouls bloodied flak jacket.
Our colleague Ismail was wearing this blood-stained vest, fellow Al Jazeera journalist Yousef Al Saudi said, as he removed the PRESS sign from the jacket. The sign was covered by blood to silence the world and the images in Gaza. The pictures continue and the coverage continues, God willing.
Choking back tears, Al Sharif said: Dear Ismail, we will complete the mission after you.
Another video shows journalist Wadi Shehandeh addressing a crowd, saying: By targeting us as media professionals, they want this coverage to stop, and to silence us. But no, by God, if only one of the media professionals remained in northern Gaza, they will continue to share the images.
He said journalists in Gaza would not cease their coverage, adding, Ismail is not dead. Ismail lives in our hearts. His message will continue.
CNNs Sarah Dean, Jon Passantino, Mick Krever and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting. Khader Al-Zaanoun of WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, also contributed reporting.
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Dogs are naturally adventurous creatures. They love to sniff and explore new and unfamiliar territories, using fundamental parts of their instincts. These experiences not only provide them with the physical activity they need but also give them plenty of mental stimulation.
Going out to see new things also helps strengthen the bond we share with our beloved pets. If youre planning a trip to Northern California with your four-legged friend, this is a hike you wont want to miss.
Watch this video from July 30th to discover this captivating location.
How beautiful! This amazing trail is in Mill Valley, just 14 miles north of San Francisco. Hikers, along with their dogs, are welcome to explore these trails and admire the stunning sight of majestic horses. Bernies (@bigcitybernie) mom considers it one of her favorite spots in California, and its easy to see why. While some parts of the trail allow dogs to be off-leash, she advises us to keep them on lead if youre unsure how theyll react to horses. This ensures that the horses are treated with respect and helps keep your dog safe and unharmed.
Related: Village in England Where Ponies Run Free Is Like Something Out of a Fairytale
Things To Know about the Horses of Mill Valley
Horse Hill offers a mix of natural beauty, recreational activities, and community involvement, making it a beloved location. This stunning open space is leased by the non-profit Alto Bowl Horse Owners Association, and up to 14 horses can be seen grazing in the area. These are not wild horses but cherished pets that are boarded here. During their stay, they are still under the care of their parents. Since they are privately owned, feeding or approaching these horses is strictly prohibited. According to the Horse Hill website, our furry friends are welcome, but Dogs must be leashed on the trail, and under voice command on fire roads, with a leash readily available. As Bernies mom pointed out, unless you are certain about how your dog will behave, its best to keep them leashed at all times.
If you plan on hitting this trail, visitors are asked to be courteous and safety conscious when sharing these roads and paths. During the rainy season, trails may be muddy, so its essential to dress accordingly for the conditions. They also advise us to steer clear of the poison oak, bring plenty of water, and caution that there are no restrooms.
If youre planning a visit to wine country, this hiking trail is roughly 45 minutes south of Sonoma and just over an hour from Napa Valley. Its a great place to take the areas beauty and get in a few extra steps before indulging in the incredible food and wine.
Airlines would no longer be allowed to charge parents extra fees for their kids to be seated next to them under a new rule proposed by the Biden administration. White House officials say their fee-free family seating proposal could potentially save parents up to $200 per round trip flight.
Families dont need any additional stresses or costs when flying on top of how demanding it can be to be a parent flying with your kids, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters when announcing the proposed rule.
Buttigieg said, The idea that parents ought to be seated next to their own children on a flight is common sense and also seems like something that ought to be standard practice.
Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard echoed that sentiment, saying, No parent should have to pay a fee to sit with their child when they fly. Its just that simple. Todays ban on family seating fees could save a family of four as much as $200 per round trip. That might not matter much to wealthy Americans, but it could be the deciding factor on whether to take a family trip for working Americans.
President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address, while watched by Vice President Kamala Harris and then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2023. - Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images/File
The move is one that President Joe Biden himself had previewed in his 2023 State of the Union address as part of the administrations ongoing effort to protect consumers from having to pay junk fees.
Well cap service fees on tickets to concerts and sporting events and make companies disclose all fees upfront. And well prohibit airlines from charging up to $50 roundtrip for families just to sit together, Biden said in 2023. Baggage fees are bad enough they cant just treat your child like a piece of luggage.
The rule, an administration official explained, would require airlines to seat children 13 and under next to their parents within 48 hours of purchasing the ticket.
If adjacent seats are not available, then the airline would need to provide you the option of a refund if you no longer want to take that flight, the administration official added.
Some airlines already do not charge passengers extra to sit next to children. Alaska, American, Frontier and JetBlue will seat children under 13 next to an accompanying adult at no additional cost, according to a dashboard on the Department of Transportations website.
The proposed mandate still needs to clear a public comment period and is unlikely to be enacted until sometime next year.
Airlines For America, an industry lobbying group, said its member airlines, which include the major carriers in the US, make every effort to accommodate customers traveling together especially those traveling with children. Each carrier has established individual policies, but all make every effort to ensure families sit together. A4A passenger carriers do not charge a family seating fee.
This week, a federal appeals court sided with airlines by temporarily blocking a rule that would have required carriers to show passengers the total cost of a trip including checked baggage fees.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated an extraordinary prisoner exchange that freed several Americans wrongfully detained in Russia, calling it a "feat of diplomacy and friendship" in remarks from the White House.
Biden was surrounded by family members of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza as he spoke about the efforts involved in the swap, which is the largest since the Cold War involving 24 people and several countries.
"This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here," Biden said. "It's a relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country, who've been praying for this day for a long time."
MORE: Why were Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan being held prisoner in Russia?
PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks about the release of Americans detained in Russia during brief remarks from the White House, Aug. 1, 2024, in Washington. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
Biden took a moment to describe the three American citizens and one legal permanent U.S. resident being brought back to the U.S. He said each was arrested, convicted and sentenced by Russian authorities "with absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever."
"And now their brutal ordeal is over and they're free," Biden said.
Biden, who officials said was directly involved in helping negotiate the deal, had gathered the families at the White House earlier Thursday to inform them that the release was underway. Biden said he and the families were able to contact the freed Americans over the phone.
When asked what he said to them, Biden replied: "I said, 'Welcome almost home.'"
PHOTO: President Joe Biden, right, reaches out to hold hands with Elizabeth Whelan, left, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia from the State Dining Room of the White House, Aug. 1, 2024, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The multipart prisoner swap is the product of months of detailed, painstaking negotiations, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The nations involved also included Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey.
A senior administration official said even the day Biden announced he was no longer seeking a second term, he was on the phone working to secure this deal.
Sullivan, who addressed reporters at the White House daily briefing, choked back tears as he emotionally talked about the extensive effort to secure the deal and said it "was vintage Joe Biden rallying American rallying American allies to save American citizens."
Biden, in his remarks, touted his administration's work and the power of global alliances while also seemingly criticizing his Oval Office predecessor Donald Trump.
"For anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do. They matter," he said.
"Our work did not start just on Day 1. It started before Day 1," Biden said. "During the transition, I instructed our national security team to dig into all the cases of hostages being wrongfully detained, which were inherently -- well, we inherited them from the private -- the prior administration."
"I wanted to make sure we hit the ground running, and we did," Biden continued. "As of today, my administration has brought home over 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. Many since before I took office."
Later, when asked by a reporter about Trump's repeated claims he could've gotten the hostages out of Russia without concessions, Biden took a more direct jab at his former political opponent.
"Why didn't he do it when he was president?" Biden responded.
PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks about the release of Americans detained in Russia during brief remarks from the White House, Aug. 1, 2024, in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
PHOTO: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia from the State Dining Room of the White House, Aug. 1, 2024, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
MORE: Russia agrees to free Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in multi-country prisoner swap
Speaking further on Thursday's release, Biden noted several of the 16 individuals freed on Thursday were Russian political prisoners who "stood up for democracy and human rights" and were subsequently jailed by their own leaders. He took a moment to contrast that with the work of the U.S. and its partners.
"The United States helped secure their release as well. That's who we are in the United States," he said. "We stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice, not only for our own people, but for others as well. And that's why all Americans can take pride in what we've achieved today."
As he closed his remarks, Biden turned back to the families gathered in the State Dining Room, saying he couldn't imagine what they've endured these last few years.
He then led the singing of "Happy Birthday" to Miriam, the daughter of Kurmasheva, an American-Russian journalist who was freed on Thursday. Biden said Mariam will turn 13 on Friday and will now be able to celebrate with her mother.
"That's what this is all about. Families able to be together again, like they should have been all along," Biden said. "So, I want to thank you again to everyone who did their part. In just a few hours, we'll welcome home our fellow Americans."
The two top Republicans in Congress issued a joint statement calling the Gershkovich and Whelan release "encouraging news" but then went on to cite the "costs of hostage diplomacy."
"Without serious action to deter further hostage-taking by Russia, Iran, and other states hostile to the United States, the costs of hostage diplomacy will continue to rise. As we renew our call for the return of all persons wrongfully detained by the Kremlin, we recognize that trading hardened Russian criminals for innocent Americans does little to discourage Putin's reprehensible behavior," House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
ABC News' Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
Biden tells Americans freed from Russian detention, 'Welcome almost home' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said former President Trumps comments on Wednesday questioning Vice President Harriss heritage as a Black woman represent an effort to deflect from key issues in the election and divide the country.
This is a standard playbook for Donald Trump to try to deflect and divide, Booker said in an interview on MSNBCs 11th Hour on Wednesday.
He brings up things that he knows will be considered outrageous by people on our side of the aisle, and all we want to do now is talk about that, Booker continued. And this is really his ability to deflect from what the real issues of this election are and try to divide our country against itself and opportunistically capitalize on that.
Booker pointed to Trumps past inflammatory remarks, from falsely claiming former President Obama was not born in the U.S. to calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five.
This is what he does, Booker said. As opposed to bringing our country together for common aspiration and common purpose and, really, the sense of common cause, he divides us against each other, using racial tropes as his tool. Ive seen this in the Republican Party too much.
Booker called on Democrats and Harris supporters to ignore Trumps comments and refocus their attention on positive messages that matter to voters.
Think about this for a second: We are talking about whether a Black woman is Black, and all these people are rushing to say, Oh, Shes in AKA, and she went to a historically Black college. Enough of that. Lets talk about the economy. Lets talk about health care. Donald Trump doesnt want to talk about that, Booker said.
Bookers interview comes after Trump took part in a heated question-and-answer event on Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalistss (NABJ) annual convention in Chicago.
Trumps combative interview drew some negative and animated responses from the crowd, including when he questioned Harriss heritage. Harris is Indian American and Black. Her mother emigrated from India, and her father emigrated from Jamaica.
She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black, Trump said of Harris. So I dont know, is she Indian, or is she Black?
But you know what, I respect either one, Trump said. But she obviously doesnt. Because she was Indian all the way then, all of a sudden, she made a turn. And she became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that.
Harris responded to Trumps comments on Wednesday night, saying at a convention of a prominent Black sorority in Houston that the American people deserve better.
The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us they are an essential source of our strength, she said.
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A former FBI agent and Alabama state trooper convicted of child sexual assault was sentenced to life in prison Friday.
Christopher Bauer, 45, was sentenced in Alabama Circuit Court after a conviction in June on charges of first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years of age.
"It is always extremely disappointing when someone who is supposed to enforce and uphold the law commits a crime against the people they have sworn to protect," Mongomery District Attorney Daryl Bailey said in a news release. "He is a bad apple a depraved monster who abused his power to irreparably harm a vulnerable, innocent child."
An Associated Press investigation found that Bauer used a forged letter in his application to join the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to hide that he was kicked out of the FBI after repeated sexual assault allegations were levied against him when he worked at the FBI's New Orleans field office.
The Bureau had no comment on the sentencing Thursday. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not respond to a request for comment.
Former FBI agent convicted of abusing 5-year-old
On April 23, 2021, the victim, told a friend that she was being abused by Bauer, who she testified had been sexually assaulting her since she was 5-years-old, the Montgomery Advertiser a part of the USA TODAY Network reported.
A few days later, her friend shared what was happening to the victim with her own mother, who reported it to the victims school.
School administrators then contacted the Montgomery Police Department, and the investigation began. Bauer was arrested and charged the same day, records obtained by the newspaper show.
The Associated Press found that Bauer is wanted on similar charges in Louisiana.
Public defenders listed in court documents as representing Bauer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christopher Bauer, ex-FBI agent who assaulted Alabama girl, gets life
WASHINGTON Vice President Kamala Harris said "the American people deserve better" as she responded to former President Donald Trump's combative interview with the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention that included false claims about her racial identity.
"It was the same old show the divisiveness and the disrespect," Harris said Wednesday night in Houston, while addressing members of a historically Black sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, during its 60th Biennial Boule.
"The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength," Harris said.
More: Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial identity at NABJ, says she 'happened to turn Black'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule event in Houston, Texas, U.S., July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
In his interview earlier Wednesday with the NABJ in Chicago, Trump questioned the Black racial identify of Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, who is half Black and half Indian-American.
"I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black," Trump said of Harris. Is she Indian or is she Black? Because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went she became a Black person.
Harris, whose father is Jamaican and mother Indian, attended Howard University, a historically Black college. She is the first female vice president in U.S. history and also the first Black woman to hold the office.
Trump's remarks came as Harris is enjoying polling momentum in her still-young campaign for president after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race July 21. The Trump campaign has set out aggressively to define Harris and calling into question her racial identity appears to be part of that strategy.
"Crazy Kamala is saying shes Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, doubling down on his false claims from his interview.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa. later Wednesday night, Trump accused Harris of adopting a "new southern accent" when she spoke the previous night at a campaign event in Atlanta.
A big screen above Trump's stage prior to his remarks at the rally featured a photo of a smiling Harris and a 2016 Associated Press headline that read, "California's Kamala Harris becomes first Indian-American US Senator."
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on a panel of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent Alban
Warming up for Trump at the rally, his attorney Alina Hubba told the crowd up Trump supporters, "Unlike you, Kamala, I know who my roots are. I know where I come from."
Trumps vice presidential running-mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, in a speech Wednesday in Arizona said, Kamala Harris is a phony who caters to whatever audience is in front of her.
It isn't the first time Trump allies have attacked Harris' racial identity. Similar suggestions were made in 2019 about Harris when she was a presidential candidate in the Democratic primary. The Harris campaign back then compared the assertions to Trump's birther claims against President Barack Obama in which Trump falsely suggested Obama was born in Kenya.
"The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president," Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, said in a statement Wednesday following Trump's NABJ interview.
"Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us," Tyler said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris responds to Trump's false claim about her Black identity
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters.
The escape of Ri Il Gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016.
In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.
While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump - who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term - won re-election in November, Ri said.
Pyongyang's diplomats were mapping out a strategy for that scenario, with the goal of lifting of sanctions on its weapons programmes, removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and eliciting economic aid, said Ri.
His comments signal a potential about-face from the North's current stance after recent statements ditching the possibility of dialogue with the U.S. and warning of armed confrontation.
A summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump in Vietnam in 2019 collapsed over sanctions, for which Ri partly blamed Kim's decision to entrust "inexperienced, clueless" military commanders with nuclear diplomacy.
"Kim Jong Un doesn't know much about international relations and diplomacy, or how to make strategic judgment," he said.
"This time, the foreign ministry would definitely gain power and take charge, and it won't be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea's hands and feet again for four years without giving anything."
RUSSIAN TIES, JAPAN AID
By forging closer ties with Russia, North Korea received help with its missile technology and economy. But a bigger benefit could be to block additional sanctions and undercut existing ones, Ri said, adding it would raise Pyongyang's bargaining power against Washington.
"The Russians got their own hands dirty by engaging in illicit transactions and, thanks to that, North Korea no longer needs to rely on the U.S. to lift sanctions, which essentially means they stripped the U.S. of one key bargaining chip," he said.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he wants to meet Kim, but the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s has long been a stumbling block.
According to Ri, Kim would seek to hold a summit with Japan, aiming to get economic assistance in return for concessions on the abductee issue.
Tokyo believes 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang sees the issue as settled, having admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals and saying those unaccounted for had either died or their whereabouts were unknown.
Ri said Kim would be willing to change that position, established under his father Kim Jong Il, in order to obtain economic support.
"They're saying that the issue was resolved, but that's just to boost negotiating power until he makes concessions at a summit," he said.
RESENTMENT AND DEFECTION
Having studied at a French school in Algeria and lived in Cuba alongside his late father, who was a state media reporter, Ri says he had imagined a life in South Korea since his childhood, but never acted to flee until he was bullied by a diplomatic colleague for refusing his demand for bribes.
Then the defining moment came when Pyongyang instantly refused his request to get medical treatment in Mexico, at his own expense, for a ruptured disc in his neck.
"That exploded all the resentment I had been harbouring towards the regime," he said.
The COVID-19 lockdown deepened hardships at home and for those stationed overseas, with most telephone lines to Pyongyang cut to prevent any information from spreading in the outside world, Ri said.
Financial troubles have also forced North Korea to shut down a dozen of its 54 diplomatic missions.
"When they began reopening and summoning those working abroad in early 2023, they asked to bring everything from used toothbrushes to spoons back home, saying there's nothing there," he said.
Ri had also witnessed - and in his job tried to impede - the launch of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba, a Cold War-era ally of North Korea.
"I had done everything to block that from happening, but establishing relations with Cuba was the best thing South Korea had done since last year," he said. "It was a model example of how the tides of history have turned, and where a normal civilisation of the international community is headed."
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Alex Richardson)
More than 160 leaders directly impacted by incarceration and criminalization have sent a letter to Vice President Harris calling on her to create a campaign platform that addresses mass incarceration.
The Hill received an exclusive look at the letter to the likely Democratic nominee, which calls on Harris to reject harmful language around the criminal justice system, including the narrative that this years match-up between her and former President Trump is between a tough-on-crime prosecutor and a criminal.
Such language, the leaders state, is harmful to both Harriss campaign and those impacted by the criminal justice system.
First, we believe you have been and will be a criminal justice reform leader. And, also, words like criminal and felon paint with a broad brush that stains more than 70 million Americans with criminal records including the 1 in 3 Black men who have felony convictions, the letter reads.
Signatories of the letter include Norris Henderson, co-founder and steering committee member of the Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People and Families Movement; DeAnna Hoskins, president and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA, an organization dedicated to criminal justice reform; and members of the National Council for Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.
Though the total number of people incarcerated has dropped significantly since the 2008 peak of almost 2.4 million people, according to FWD, a bipartisan political organization focused on reforming the criminal justice and immigration systems. Mass incarceration and the subsequent consequences disproportionately affect Black and brown Americans.
The national incarceration rate of Black Americans is six times the rate of white people, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
Before joining the Senate, Harris was an attorney general and a prosecutor. She has leaned into this history since announcing her bid for the presidency last week.
Before I was elected as vice president, before I was elected as United States senator, I was the elected attorney general, as Ive mentioned, of California. And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor, Harris at a campaign event in Wilmington, Del., the day after President Biden announced he was dropping out and endorsed her.
In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trumps type.
But the letter argues Harris can hold Trump accountable for his conduct and the impact of his actions and policy proposals without the outdated fear-mongering rhetoric that dehumanizes us and opens the door to the ridicule and slander that has long plagued us since the Black Codes.
Shouting felon! without acknowledging the injustices taking place daily in courts, prisons, and jails depresses the tremendous electoral potential of engaging with the tens of millions of us who have criminal convictions and the even greater number of American voters who love us, the letter states.
The letters signatories acknowledge that in 2019, Harris was the first candidate to agree to attend the criminal justice reform presidential town hall held inside a shuttered prison.
You spoke directly to the millions of us on both sides of the prison walls who have been personally impacted by mass incarceration about your plans to prioritize safety and justice for our families, the letter states.
Leaders added that they hope Harris will create a criminal justice reform platform, as there is nothing less than freedom on the line.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Climate change is drastically impacting the world around us, including the way people travel and the destinations themselves. Green Travel is a seven-part series delving into how climate change is transforming the landscape of travel.
OAHU, Hawaii Hawaiis most famous coastline, Waikiki Beach, is not going to be the same in the next 50 years.
Oahu is the most visited Hawaiian island, with its iconic Waikiki neighborhood serving as a central base for many travelers, but it has already been changing. The beaches flanking Waikiki have narrowed, and in some areas, are nonexistent. During high tide or if theres a swell, waves crash onto walkways, soaking passersby.
These issues didnt exist decades ago, at least not as noticeably as theyve become today. And its only expected to get worse.
In as little as 20 years, roads, condos and resorts located just a few blocks from the water could be flooded as groundwater continues to rise. In the future, storm drains could fill up imagine a bathtub running over and the beaches could continue to disappear. Waikiki was actually built on top of water, a wetland that was drained then filled for development, although youd never think so looking at the high-rises and concrete today.
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The famous Waikiki Beach is likely the most popular in Hawaii, and groins and breakwalls protect the sand from eroding.
Thats a huge problem in Waikiki and its probably ground zero for this problem, said Charles Fletcher, the Interim Dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and one of the leading climate scientists in the state.
Its not just rising waters and stronger swells from the makai (ocean) side, but heavy rainfall and flooding from the mauka, or mountain side that threaten Waikiki, which has the highest density of hotels in the state and accounts for $7.8 billion in visitor dollars.
Confronted by climate change, Waikiki and the broader Hawaiian islands are rethinking their future to ensure survival, including an adaptation plan for the tourist hub. Recognizing the high stakes such as the fact that tourism accounts for a quarter of the economy both private and public sectors are collaborating to build Hawaii's resilience for future generations.
Beaches are a big part of the tourism experience and with sea level rise and this applies to every coastline in the world Hawaii is facing some serious challenges in getting out of the way of the migrating shoreline, said Fletcher. So far, we are having a hard time winning the battle of preserving beaches against a rising ocean.
Pacific islands, including Hawaii, are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as intense storms, wildfires, and coral reef bleaching, due to their remote oceanic locations. Swift action is being taken to address these challenges.
Whats happening to Hawaiis beaches?
Stronger swells and rising sea levels mean waves crash onto walkways and into seawalls, like at this beach on the eastern end of Waikiki.
Hawaii's beaches are disappearing, with about 13 of the state's 750 miles of coastline gone, according to the 2022 Annual Report by the Climate Resilience Collaborative, which is funded by the Office of Naval Research and partners with researchers at University of Hawaii at Manoa. Seventy percent of Hawaii's beaches are chronically eroding. One big reason for that is rising sea levels.
Its extremely urgent, it's an impact today, its not a tomorrow issue, said Matthew Gonser, Chief Resilience Officer at the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, which was established through a city charter amendment approved by public vote in 2016.
Alongside rising sea levels, coastal erosion on Oahu is exacerbated by a common beach management practice. As seen on the ends of Waikiki, the ocean has swallowed up the beach. No sand, just water crashing into the seawall.
These types of barriers are known as shoreline hardening, a manmade way to prevent the ocean from flooding land and development behind it. Unfortunately, this has caused more harm than good.
Nearly one-third of Oahus beaches are hardened, according to a 2020 study by the Climate Resilience Collaborative. Using computer models, the researchers predicted that by 2050, nearly 40% of the islands beaches could be lost.
Sea level has been rising over the last century, and its projected to continue to rise and actually rise faster than it has been, so what that means is most of our beaches are wanting to migrate inland, said Kammie Tavares, a graduate researcher who led the study.
In the past century, sea levels in Hawaii have risen over six inches, according to the City and County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission.
The loss of beaches carries more than just the economic implications of tourism. Natural systems depend on the beach like sea turtles that nest and endangered Hawaiian monk seal that raise their pups along the sand. The beach is part of a crucial marine life cycle, so its disappearance will impact the livelihoods of fishermen. Theres also a cultural loss as many Hawaiian ancestral bones have been buried in the beaches and risk being exposed.
Then of course, theres also us, Tavares said. When we lose beaches, we lose our connection to our spaces.
However, the main strip of Waikiki Beach, situated in front of the iconic pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel, is a different story: its a completely man-made beach. Historically, sand is vacuumed from offshore to resupply sand on the beach. Most recently, this was done in 2021 with 21,700 cubic yards of sand, but will likely happen every five to 10 years in the future as the shoreline erodes faster. Groins and break walls have been built into the water to protect the sand from the water.
Prior to that, we hadnt put sand there for 20, 25 years, said Dolan Eversole, a coastal geologist and the Waikiki Beach Management Coordinator for the Hawaii Sea Grant Program. (Now it is like) whoa, we have to do something here because its getting really bad.
Whats next for Oahus beaches?
It will take four feet of sea level rise to drown nearly half of Waikiki, and researchers plan on one foot of sea level rise by 2050 and four to six feet by 2100. One foot, we can adapt, but four to six can be catastrophic, said Eversole. Its not going to be pretty.
This isnt news to government officials. For the past decade, scientists and officials have had their eye on Waikikis fate, Fletcher said. The state is pushing for regenerative tourism, where travelers help steward the islands and natural resources are properly managed and protected.
Currently, the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency has sensors in different storm drains throughout Honolulu to evaluate if water is coming back up. In partnership with the Board of Water Supply and other public agencies, monitors will be placed underneath Waikiki to track if water is getting closer to the surface.
Several projects are underway, including constructing a groin along a section of Waikiki Beach in front of the Halekulani Hotel and the OUTRIGGER Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, which has nearly eroded. The plan involves replenishing the beach with sand, and the groin will protect this sand from the waves.
The beach in front of the OUTRIGGER Reef Waikiki Beach Resort was a small pocket of sand but is virtually gone.
Before Oahu communities face the daunting and contentious task of migrating inland, the primary focus is on adaptation. The Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency also engages with the community, having met with neighborhood boards in 2016 to get their input.
In a place like Waikiki, its so important and most people agree, were going to have to adapt, Eversole said.
Eversole serves as an advisor for the Waikiki Special Improvement District Association, which was created in 2015 to focus on the areas resiliency and made up of stakeholders such as property owners to government officials and hotels themselves. The organization is working on an adaptation plan for the neighborhood and is in the visioning stage.
Some ideas being floated include raising Waikikis streets into walkways to allow water to run under or more canals (right now, theres just the Ala Wai Canal running along the mountain-side of Waikiki). Another is to build a boardwalk.
We need to be, in my opinion, innovative and creative in how we picture adaptation in Waikiki and whats possible, Eversole said.
Currently, $800,000 in state funding is appropriated for the Waikiki Adaptation Plan. Although significant work remains, the future holds strong potential. Im confident and the reason why, working with government officials right now, theres a wild acceptance we need to do something, he said.
Some researchers are also finding value in going back in time to Native Hawaiian stewardship practices. After all, these people took care and lived off the land for centuries before heavy development. Centuries-old indigenous knowledge and history can help better inform scientists and current resource management systems.
Resiliency is a big push for us, said Fletcher. It doesnt exist yet, but we are working to create it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hawaii could lose 40% of its beaches by 2050. What happens now?
A 26-year-old woman had a near-death experience when she got stuck in a remote canyon in northern Arizona.
Madison Hart, 26, was stemming down the Wildcat Tank Canyon in Page, located just by the Utah border when she got stuck. Stemming is a technique used to travel up or down a slot canyon and requires a lot of effort from the legs.
In a detailed video on TikTok, Hart shared that she and her friend had started their hike around 12 p.m. that day and reached the top of the canyon around 1 p.m. Hart said temperatures were high that day and that she and her friend had "underestimated" how it hot it actually would be. Temperatures touched 103 degrees on July 19 in Page, according to AccuWeather.
Watch: Hart captures video from where she got stuck
'I just slid to the bottom'
They had stemmed about 100 to 200 feet when the heat and exhaustion took a toll on Hart, and she became shaky and started sliding.
"I started panicking...and I slid," Hart said. "I started going deeper into the canyon and I just slid to the bottom, and she (Hart's friend) also did, but then she kept going because she had more stamina than me."
Hart was unable to pull herself out and ended up getting stuck from her hips and was only able to twist side to side, adding she couldn't lay down or go back further because the canyon curved in and there was a puddle of water right beneath it.
If I went forward or backward, I would have been stuck completely and gotten a crush injury where I'm not able to move and then I basically suffocate, Hart said, adding that she "decided to stay put," to avoid further incidents.
No signals for emergency call
While Hart was stuck in the canyon, her friend sprang into action, lighting a fire as a signal, moving some rocks to try to get Hart out and calling for help, despite limited to no coverage. Hart, who also had her phone with her, said she attempted to call 911 several times but was unable to get through due to lack of service.
"When she got service, she called 911 and they answered for about like 10 seconds," Hart said. "They said they couldn't hear us and then it disconnected."
After about three hours of being stuck in the canyon, Hart's friend was able to send some messages via Snapchat. Her roommate responded to one of them and told them that they'd send for help.
A spokesperson for the Coconino County Sheriffs Office, Jon Paxton, told USA TODAY Thursday they were notified of the stuck hikers around 5:30 p.m. on July 19 by the National Parks Service. Paxton said rescue teams with multiple agencies responded to the situation and were able to remove the stuck women.
Hart's friend was rescued first since she had "climbed out a little further up the canyon and was uninjured." Hart, who was a "another hundred yards back down the canyon" and was unable to climb up, as per the sheriff's office, was rescued after.
Stuck for almost 13 hours
Hart said by the time help came and she was rescued, she'd been stuck in the canyon for almost 13 hours and had been without water for almost nine hours.
Rescue officials with the Page Fire Department were able extradite Hart from the canyon and flew her to a local hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. Hart said she initially declined medical assistance since she didn't have medical insurance, but first responders advised her that the accident had impacted her kidneys due to standing in one position for so long and was dehydrated. Hart said she spent a night at the hospital and was discharged the next day, though her kidneys are still healing.
"My legs had turned purple from standing for so long, Hart told Storyful about her experience.
Hart said she also damaged a nerve in her arm and the sheriff's office said she had an ankle injury when she was rescued.
Hart also recorded the moments while she was stuck in the canyon, saying that she only started filming when she was sure that help was coming and the two would be going home. The video captured by Hart shows her deep inside the narrow canyon.
'Accidents happen'
Hart said that she's previously "been through a lot of canyons," and to those that are way more technical but "accidents happen" and cannot be predicted.
"The whole thing was embarrassing," Hart said. "I did not anticipate getting stuck. I did feel like a failure. It was very embarrassing. I never wanted to be those people. I never did want to waste resources or waste people's time or energy."
However, she thanked rescue officials and the medical team for saving her and her friend's life.
"Thank you, guys," Hart said. "Just glad to be alive."
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman gets stuck while stemming down Wildcat Tank Canyon: Watch video
A 43-year-old man has been killed outside a Philadelphia mosque in an execution-style shooting that's been condemned by Pennsylvania's governor.
Officers found the man, later identified as Raheem Jefferson, unresponsive on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds on Tuesday afternoon, including at least one to his head and multiple to his torso, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly afterward.
The killer fired at least 17 shots using a large-caliber semi-automatic weapon, police Chief Inspector Scott Small said a news conference on Wednesday. Security footage reviewed by police shows Jefferson and another man walking to the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society for prayer service when a suspect approaches from behind before opening fire, Small said.
"It's all caught on camera," Scott told reporters. "The shooter stands over the victim from just a few feet away and continues firing shots at this 43-year-old victim while he lays on the parking lot. So clearly, an execution-type homicide."
Suspect remains at large with motive uncertain
No arrests have been made in the case and police haven't determined a motive but Small said it appears Jefferson was the intended target of the crime.
The shooter was seen getting into a vehicle and fleeing the parking lot while wearing dark-colored clothing, Small said.
A $20,000 reward has been offered for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
The shooting happened at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society mosque, established in 1989 in the lower northeast neighborhood of Kensington. Its goal is to "maintain the Islamic Identity and to protect and sustain the Islamic Community in Philadelphia," according to its website.
Governor comments on shooting
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro condemned the incident on X and shared his condolences.
Violence outside of a house of worship is deeply painful and traumatizing for those simply showing up to worship and practice their faith.
As an investigation into this killing proceeds, I'm praying for Philadelphia's Al-Aqsa Islamic Society community, a place Ive been several https://t.co/g5Slc0oIMf Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) July 30, 2024
"Violence outside of a house of worship is deeply painful and traumatizing for those simply showing up to worship and practice their faith," Shapiro wrote. "As an investigation into this killing proceeds, I'm praying for Philadelphia's Al-Aqsa Islamic Society community, a place Ive been several times, and hoping they find peace in each other and in their faith."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man killed execution style outside Philadelphia mosque; no arrests
On Nov. 6, 2016, doctors told Aisha McClellan her cervical cancer had metastasized, spreading to her liver, lungs and lymph nodes
Aisha McClellan Aisha McClellan poses in a selfie with her three kids while going through cancer treatment.
Aisha McClellan learned in November 2016 that her cervical cancer had metastasized, spreading to her liver, lungs and lymph nodes
Doctors told McClellan, a mom of three, she had three months to live
Now, 7 years later, McClellan is in remission
When Aisha McClellan sat in her doctor's office on Nov. 6, 2016, she felt oddly calm. She even took photos around the hospital, finding it surreal to be back.
It had been three months since the single mom finished her treatment for stage 2B cervical cancer. She was diagnosed in May 2016, just two days before her 32nd birthday, after experiencing irregular bleeding and back pain.
But as the doctor entered the room, McClellan, who was unusually chatty and upbeat, noticed the medical team acting strangely. "I asked, 'What's going on?' " McClellan, now 40, recalls in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE.
It was then that the doctors informed the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, native that her cancer had metastasized, spreading to her liver, lungs and lymph nodes. They told her she had about three months left to live.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, metastasis occurs when cancer cells break away from the original tumor, enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system and spread to other parts of the body.
"The very first thing I said was, 'So you're telling me that I have 90 days left to be with my children?' " McClellan says of her kids Lia, Tyler and Arianna, who were 7, 8 and 9 years old at the time.
"I was hysterical," she adds. "There was nobody else who could take care of my kids. I'm very close with my children. Now I only had 90 days to teach them things they need to know for the rest of their lives? I was thinking about their graduations, about what would happen if they got hurt and needed someone to clean them up or if they just needed someone to tuck them in at night."
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Aisha McClellan Aisha McClellan's three kids Lia, Tyler, and Arianna.
Related: Woman's Finger Amputated After Shocking Discovery That Stiff Hand Was Actually Benign Tumor (Exclusive)
McClellan remembers how doctors explained that, even with treatment, her life might only be extended by a few months. But she knew that if she could spend even a few more days with her kids, she would take the chance.
Now, seven years later, McClellan is beyond grateful to have made that decision.
After McClellan chose to undergo a combination of two chemotherapies along with targeted therapy, her cancer went into remission.
"The first few years were really nerve-wracking," she says. "Your battle just changes. You're fighting to get rid of the cancer, then you're just terrified of it coming back and so you're fighting to keep it gone. I was really nervous, but every scan that went well, my doctor would say, 'Your chances of recurrence get lower and lower each time.' "
Aisha McClellan Aisha McClellan in the hospital during cancer treatment.
Since going into remission, McClellan has shared her cancer journey on TikTok, including the pivotal role her children played throughout and how she talked to them about the possibility of her dying.
"I didn't even tell any of my friends or anybody really about my page just because it was like, what if I'm saying all this and two people see it?" she adds. "I was thinking about the likes or the validation at first. Then I was like, you know what? Hey, if this helps one person, that's what I need to do."
Looking back on the day when she received the diagnosis, McClellan recalls how she put on a brave face before driving to pick up her kids from school to break the news to them.
"They asked, 'How long did they say you have to live?' " McClellan recalls. "I told them what the doctors said. Then I added, 'But there's a 14 percent chance that people with this cancer live longer than three months. So I'm going to be one of those people. There's always hope.' "
"For everything that scared or saddened them, I tried to focus on how much we've already overcome. I spoke to them with gentleness and maturity because I didn't want them to be naive about the situation."
Aisha McClellan Aisha McClellan takes a selfie with her three kids.
McClellan recalls how, during her second treatment, her children witnessed some of her most difficult moments. Still, she remained determined to maintain a sense of normalcy.
After her chemotherapy treatments, she would throw on a scarf and head to work before heading home and preparing dinner for the kids, even if she felt terrible.
"I remember one night after getting home, I was in the bath and couldn't hold back the tears. I tried to be quiet, but my daughter either woke up or needed the bathroom and found me upset," she recalls. "She said, 'Mommy, you don't have to do this alone. You don't have to pretend you're okay when you're not.' "
She continues: "It was such a touching moment. She gave me permission to be vulnerable and showed me that I didn't have to maintain a strong facade for them. The next morning, they made me breakfast and tried to be nurturing."
Aisha McClellan Aisha McClellan poses with her three kids at the beach.
Since entering remission, McClellan continues to find solace in her children, now ages 17, 18 and 19.
"The love I feel for them saved my life," she says. "Every day, I strived to get better for them. They gave me the strength to heal and be there for them, and I can't imagine where I would be if they weren't a part of my journey."
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Read the original article on People.
John Stossel (right) interviews Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Stossel TV
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won applause at the Libertarian National Convention by criticizing government lockdowns and deficit spending, and saying America shouldn't police the world.
It made me want to interview him. This month, I did.
He said intelligent things about America's growing debt:
"President Trump said that he was going to balance the budget and instead he (increased the debt more) than every president in United States history$8 trillion. President Biden is on track now to beat him."
It's good to hear a candidate actually talk about our debt.
"When the debt is this largeyou have to cut dramatically, and I'm going to do that," he says.
But looking at his campaign promises, I don't see it.
He promises "affordable" housing via a federal program backing 3 percent mortgages.
"Imagine that you had a rich uncle who was willing to cosign your mortgage!" gushes his campaign ad. "I'm going to make Uncle Sam that rich uncle!"
I point out that such giveaways won't reduce our debt.
"That's not a giveaway," Kennedy replies. "Every dollar that I spend as president is going to go toward building our economy."
That's big government nonsense, like his other claim: "Every million dollars we spend on child care creates 22 jobs!"
Give me a break.
When I pressed him about specific cuts, Kennedy says, "I'll cut the military in halfcut it to about $500 billion.We are not the policemen of the world."
"Stop giving any money to Ukraine?" I ask.
"Negotiate a peace," Kennedy replies. "Biden has never talked to Putin about this, and it's criminal."
He never answered whether he'd give money to Ukraine. He did answer about Israel.
"Yes, of course we should,"
"[Since] you don't want to cut this spending, what would you cut?"
"Israel spending is rather minor," he responds. "I'm going to pick the most wasteful programs, put them all in one bill, and send them to Congress with an up and down vote."
Of course, Congress would just vote it down.
Kennedy's proposed cuts would hardly slow down our path to bankruptcy. Especially since he also wants new spending that activists pretend will reduce climate change.
At a concert years ago, he smeared "crisis" skeptics like me, who believe we can adjust to climate change, screaming at the audience, "Next time you see John Stossel and [others] these flat-earthers, these corporate toadieslying to you. This is treason, and we need to start treating them now as traitors!"
Now, sitting with him, I ask, "You want to have me executed for treason?"
"That statement," he replies, "it's not a statement that I would make today.Climate is existential. I think it's human-caused climate change. But I don't insist other people believe that. I'm arguing for free markets and then the lowest cost providers should prevail in the marketplace.We should end all subsidies and let the market dictate."
That sounds good: "Let the market dictate."
But wait, Kennedy makes money from solar farms backed by government guaranteed loans. He "leaned on his contacts in the Obama administration to secure a $1.6 billion loan guarantee," wrote The New York Times.
"Why should you get a government subsidy?" I ask.
"If you're creating a new industry," he replies, "you're competing with the Chinese. You want the United States to own pieces of that industry."
I suppose that means his government would subsidize every industry leftists like.
Yet when a wind farm company proposed building one near his family's home, he opposed it.
"Seems hypocritical," I say.
"We're exterminating the right whale in the North Atlantic through these wind farms!" he replies.
I think he was more honest years ago, when he complained that "turbineswould be seen from Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard Nantucket.[They] will steal the stars and nighttime views."
Kennedy was once a Democrat, but now Democrats sue to keep him off ballots. Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls him a "dangerous nutcase."
Kennedy complains that Reich won't debate him.
"Nobody will," he says. "They won't have me on any of their networks."
Well, obviously, I will.
I especially wanted to confront him about vaccines.
In a future column, Stossel TV will post more from our hourlong discussion.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.
The post RFK Jr. Pays Lip Service to the Debt While Pushing Policies That Would Increase It appeared first on Reason.com.
LONDON (Reuters) - South Korea lost an appeal on Thursday against a ruling that required it to pay U.S. hedge fund Elliott more than $100 million in a dispute over the 2015 merger of two affiliates of electronics group Samsung.
Last year the South Korean government was ordered to pay around $108.5 million, including damages, interest and legal fees, by the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.
South Korea sought to appeal against that decision at London's High Court, arguing the PCA did not have jurisdiction to make the ruling under a free trade agreement with the U.S., but its legal challenge was rejected on Thursday.
Elliott welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement that the decision was "the proper outcome based on well-established principles of English law".
Elliott had sued over the role played by South Korea's National Pension Service in approving an $8 billion merger between Samsung C&T, in which Elliott was a minority stakeholder, and Cheil Industries.
The 2015 merger has also prompted similar legal action from New York hedge fund Mason Capital Management which in April was awarded about $32 million plus interest and separate criminal proceedings in South Korea.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee was found not guilty of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by a Seoul court in February, a ruling which is under appeal by prosecutors.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by David Holmes)
After a turbulent year for the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants that saw both its 2023 titleholders resign for the first time ever, both events are returning this week to Los Angeles to crown two new winners.
To vie for the titles, the 51 contestants from each competition will showcase themselves through multiple rounds: swimsuit (Miss USA) or athletic wear (Miss Teen USA), evening gown, and an onstage interview, as well as a preliminary interview with the judges.
The reigning Miss USA, Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, is last years first runner-up who stepped into the role two weeks after Noelia Voigt resigned in May. She will crown her successor, but she may also crown the new Miss Teen USA, since that role remains vacant another first in the pageants history. Former Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava gave up her title just days after Voigt, and the competitions first runner-up, Stephanie Skinner, declined to take the title in the aftermath of the astonishing week that rocked the pageant world.
Why did the 2023 titleholders resign?
In early May, Voigt and Srivastava separately announced on social media that they were relinquishing their crowns Voigt citing mental health reasons, and Srivastava citing a clash in personal values with the Miss USA organization and have yet to speak publicly on the specifics. (Internet commenters quickly pointed out that Voigts cryptic post appeared to contain the hidden message I am silenced, sparking rumors of a strict non-disclosure agreement that kept her from further explanation.)
However, Voigts resignation letter to the Miss USA organization, which was obtained by CNN, shed light on her experiences. In the letter, her concerns ranged from frustrating administration issues that she said led to a delay in her receiving her prizes including an apartment and a car, as well as more serious allegations. Among those, Voigt noted a toxic work environment and the absence of an effective handler that she claimed led to her being sexually harassed during a parade appearance. She also alleged that the pageants president Laylah Rose had slandered her character in conversations with other people within and outside of the organization, including calling Voigt mentally ill.
Laylah Rose has served as president for Miss USA since last year. - Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
Rose is an entrepreneur and CEO of the VIP Pageantry Network, who took over Miss USA in 2023.
The Miss Universe Organization and Rose, through Miss USA, did not respond to CNNs requests for comment in May. At the end of the month, Rose released a statement, reported by the Los Angeles Times, refuting the allegations.
What has happened since the titleholders resigned?
Soon after the double resignations, CNN spoke with several insiders who described a pageant organization in disarray.
The pageant queens mothers, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, also appeared on Good Morning America together, calling the experience a nightmare and asking for an apology from the parent organization Miss Universe, which has yet to respond to the claims. They also sent a warning to the state titleholders competing in 2024. We just dont want these families and these girls to go through what were going through, Jackeline added.
Miss Hawaii 2023 Savannah Gankiewicz at her Miss USA coronation in Honolulu. She filled the role after Voigt resigned. - Erik Kabik/MediaPunch/AP
Gankiewicz was crowned on May 15 amid criticism in a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii. She did not respond to CNNs requests for comment at the time. Her reign has been particularly short at less than three months.
What are this years prizes?
This year, Miss USAs website is absent of information about the prize package or who hosts and judges will be, though it has shared an Instagram post that Garcelle Beauvais of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will take up hosting duties. For Miss Teen USA, Rachel Lindsay of The Bachelorette and Justin Sylvester of E! News have promoted themselves as hosts on their respective accounts.
In the past, the winner of Miss USA has reportedly received a six-figure salary, a Los Angeles apartment and a luxury car for one year as she makes appearances and supports causes on behalf of the organization, as well as other perks like designer clothes, five-star resort stays and guest spots on television shows, according to previous versions of its website.
Miss USA did not answer CNNs questions about the forthcoming pageants.
Who can participate in Miss USA?
An eligible Miss USA participant must be a US citizen and either a permanent resident, full-time student or full-time employee of their given state for a set period of time. They must also affirm they are recognized medically and legally as female, according to the pageant website. The pageant saw its first openly trans woman compete only three years ago, when Miss Nevada USA Kataluna Enriquez competed in 2021 but was eliminated before the finals.
In 2022, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) announced that married, divorced and pregnant women could compete for the first time at Miss Universe and Miss USA. Previously only legally single women without children could compete. Miss Maine USA 2023 Juliana Morehouse became the first married woman to compete in Miss USA.
Marissa Teijo was a hopeful for Miss Texas USA following the pageant organization's loosening of age restrictions, but she did not move on to compete in Miss USA. - Courtesy Marissa Teijo
Last year, MUO announced that it was eliminating its age restrictions, too, allowing contestants 28 and older to compete in Miss USA and Miss Universe. That opened it up to competitors like Marissa Teijo, a 71-year-old grandmother from Texas who hoped to take home the state title Miss Texas USA in June but did not move forward. However, several women in their late 20s and older did win their state titles this year, the oldest being 41-year-old Miss Arizona USA K Johnson, while 33-year-old Miss Indiana USA Stephanie Sullivan was the first married mother to win her state title. Sullivan has expressed online that she is hoping to continue to make history at Miss USA.
Whats the difference between Miss America and Miss USA?
Miss America and Miss USA are both major national beauty pageants, but they are two different brands with a shared history. Miss America began in 1921 as a small Atlantic City boardwalk beauty contest and grew to national prominence. In 1952, a sponsor of Miss America, Catalina which made swimwear founded Miss USA in response to the defiance of the 1950 Miss America titleholder Yolande Betbeze, who refused to appear in bathing suits during her reigning year. Today, Miss America is a non-profit that promotes itself as a scholarship program, while the Miss USA franchise is part of MUO, and its winners automatically go on to represent the United States at the international pageant Miss Universe. In 2022, the Thai conglomerate JKN Global Group bought MUO for $20 million and filed for bankruptcy days before the 2023 Miss Universe.
Miss America Yolande Betbeze inadvertently caused the founding of Miss USA when she refused to wear swimsuits during her reigning year, prompting the pageant's swimsuit sponsor to create a competing event. - AP
Miss Universe has had a number of owners during its tenure, and headline-making controversies are not unfamiliar to the brand. It was famously owned by former President Donald Trump for nearly 20 years, who sold it in 2015 after his inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants led to NBC, the pageants broadcast partner at the time, refusing to air the Miss USA pageant that year.
Today, Miss USA is managed by Rose, but before she was appointed as president, it was led by Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart, who left the organization after she was embroiled in scandal that included claims of favoritism toward the 2022 winner RBonney Gabriel. (Gabriel later went on to win Miss Universe). Stewart denied allegations that the pageant was rigged.
Onstage, there are differences as well. Miss America has a talent portion, while Miss USA does not. And, ironically, Miss America got rid of its swimsuit portion altogether in 2018, two years after Yolande Betbeze died at 87 years old.
How to watch Miss USA and Miss Teen USA
The finals of the 42nd edition of Miss Teen USA will take place August 1, followed by the 73rd edition of Miss USA on August 4 at the Peacock Theater. Both finals will air on The CW at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. local time).
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the oldest competitor of Miss USA 2024.
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The day before Sonya Massey was fatally shot by a deputy in her kitchen, her mother detailed in a 911 call that her daughter was having "a mental breakdown," asked police not to send any "combative" officers, and said "I don't want you guys to hurt her."
The emergency call was one of three recordings and several dispatch reports released to the public Wednesday morning by Sangamon County. They detail several interactions between Massey, 36, and local law enforcement on the day before she was shot and killed by former Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy, Sean P. Grayson.
In one of the calls, a woman police believe was Massey said people were trying to hurt her. In another, Massey called 911 and said her neighbor hit her with a brick, after which Massey checked into a hospital "to seek treatment of her mental state," the dispatch record says.
Grayson has been charged with Massey's murder. He pleaded not guilty in Sangamon County Court on July 18 and remains in custody. It's unclear whether Grayson and the other deputy, who did not fire his weapon, knew about the 911 calls or Massey's mental health history when they responded to Massey's home over a possible intruder.
Donna Massey mourns the loss of her daughter, Sonya Massey, who was fatally shot in her home on July 6. Donna Massey was attending a protest in front of the Sangamon County Building on July 12, 2024. A former Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy has charged with murder.
Massey's family members and civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, have acknowledged on several occasions that Massey struggled with her mental health.
"She was dealing with some issues," Crump said in an appearance in Springfield on July 22. "She needed a helping hand. She didn't need a bullet to the face."
In the 911 call placed shortly after 9 a.m. on July 5, Donna Massey described her daughter's behavior and what she was experiencing. "The mental health people told me to call 911 because she could get in her car and kill herself or somebody. She's run a couple of red lights," she told dispatch.
Donna Massey said Sonya Massey wasn't a danger to herself and "she's not a danger to me."
"I don't want you guys to hurt her, please," she added.
Just before the end of the call, Donna Massey told dispatch about not sending any "combative policemen who are prejudiced. I'm scared of the police. Sometimes they make (the situation) worse."
Talking to Springfield police at her mother's house about an hour later, Sonya Massey said she didn't want to seek treatment. She spoke to emergency medical technicians at the scene and "both cleared her," the report read.
But Massey did go to a hospital later that afternoon "to seek treatment of her mental state" after an alleged confrontation with her neighbor.
There, Massey told Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy Shane Matli about a neighbor who broke the driver's side window of her Chevy Equinox with a brick. Massey then told the deputy she broke the window on the back driver's side "in an attempt to get into the car to get away. She was unable to get in through the back, so she ripped out the driver side window in order to gain entry into the vehicle" resulting in some minor scrapes.
The narrative mentioned that Massey recently had been released from a mental health facility in Granite City.
Massey shared paperwork with Matli from the Mobile Crisis team, a co-responder program between Springfield Police and Memorial Behavioral Health, dated from July 3. Massey was out with Mobile Crisis and Springfield Police "who attempted to run her off the road," she told Matli.
Protesters make their way from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church to Comer Cox Park on July 22, 2024, during a peace march for Sonya Massey. The 36-year-old Black woman was fatally shot in her home by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy on July 6.
A seven-minute 911 call placed at 12:49 p.m. on July 5 features an expletive-filled conversation that seemed to be between Massey and the neighbor.
It also was believed that Massey called 911 at 10:27 p.m. on July 4 about "(somebody) trying to hurt me." When the dispatcher asked who was trying to hurt her, she replied "a lot of them."
In a message from 2:02 the morning of the shooting, someone writes that "(we) were under the impression it was self-inflicted until just a minute," according to a dispatch report.
The fact that the Illinois State Police were called in shortly after the shooting "raised questions with us, too," a response said.
Several family members last week insisted they weren't able to get a straight version of what happened to Massey at the scene.
Jimmie Crawford, the father of Massey's youngest daughter, Jeanette "Summer" Massey, said a family friend heard police telling HSHS St. John's Hospital nurses that Massey killed herself.
"Not once was I told the officer did it," Crawford said.
Crawford was at Massey's house later on the morning of the shooting.
Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY
Contact Steven Spearie: sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sonya Massey's mother asked police not to 'hurt' daughter in 911 call
NORTH TEXAS The founder of a North Texas adoption agency has been arrested on allegations of paying pregnant female inmates in the Tarrant County Jail to put their unborn babies up for adoption.
Jody Hall, head of Adoptions International Inc., posted a $50,000 bond after being booked into a Central Texas jail last week. She is an attorney and founder of an adoption agency promoted as a licensed nonprofit.
Back in May, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said it began looking into what it calls unethical adoption practices involving Hall.
Jody Hall / Credit: Tarrant County Sheriff's Office
"During this investigation, information was discovered that Jody Hall was paying money to multiple, pregnant Tarrant County inmates for the purpose of placing their unborn children up for adoption with Hall's agency," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Two months later, sheriff's detectives served arrest warrants on Hall at her home in Kyle, Texas.
In 2019, the U.S. State Department canceled Adoptions International's accreditation, which prevents the agency from engaging in adoptions outside the U.S. for failing to maintain standards.
The crime of selling or purchasing a child is a felony in Texas.
It's unclear at this point whether any inmates in the Tarrant County jail actually received any money or put their babies up for adoption.
CBS News Texas has not been able to reach Hall for a comment.
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A 65-year-old Texas woman was sentenced to life behind bars on Tuesday for her role in a Ponzi scheme targeting senior citizens.
Debra Mae Carter worked with William Neil Gallagher, a Christian radio host who called himself the "Money Doctor," to scam more than 170 people out of around $31 million, Tarrant County prosecutors said in a news release. Gallagher brought in the money which Assistant DA Lori Varnell described as retirement savings while Carter made sure the victims couldn't recover their money.
"These were hard-earned retirement (dollars) which got put into her account over and over again," Varnell said.
Carter laundered the money through rental homes, land and fake charities. Investigators found around $200,000 in gold and silver when they searched her travel trailer.
Carter represented herself during the trial. Victims spoke out during sentencing about the impact the Ponzi scheme had on them. Brenda Wilkerson, 84, lost savings in the scheme. She said that without the money, she'll be stuck making mortgage payments on her home until she dies.
"Debbie Carter deserves life in prison," Wilkerson said. "She has ruined so many lives."
Carter and Gallagher planned to retire to a ranch together, prosecutors said.
Gallagher was sentenced on Nov. 1, 2021, to three life sentences in prison, plus another 30 years, on charges including forgery, theft of property and exploitation of the elderly. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Before his conviction, he ran the Gallagher Financial Group. The group advertised on Christian radio with the tagline, "See you in church on Sunday," CBS Texas reported. Gallagher promoted his investment business in books such as "Jesus Christ, Money Master."
Varnell described Carter as "a blight on society," adding, "She's just a liar. That's what she does."
Man confesses to the murder of his best friend: "He was in a panic - I was in a panic."
Estranged husband kidnaps his wife at gunpoint
How Stimulating Our Microcirculation Can Have Macro Health Effects
Thinking about a last minute vacation? Well don't count boat travel out if you're hoping to bring your pet. A woman on the Queen Mary 2 recently shared the fancy digs her two dogs shared while on the ship and TBH it's actually pretty nice.
Traveling with dogs can be tricky, but the woman's sneak peek into her dogs' accommodations on the ship is pretty darn interesting.
Dog mom Katie was of course going to bring her Pug/Beagle/Bulldog mix Piper and Brussels Griffon Penny with her as she traveled from the United States to Germany. But like the good dog mom that she is, she made sure her two pups would be as comfortable as possible.
Related: Cruise Ship Captain Gets Unwelcome Surprise After Making Her Cat a Birthday Cake
There are lots of neat features at the dogs' kennel area. Like a special "potty deck" where the dogs can go to the bathroom and a special room where ship guests can spend time with their animals. Only guests who have pets are allowed to visit the animal area, which means that her two fur-babies were always safe and secure.
Commenters were here for pets traveling in style. "This is so helpful to see this thank you!" praised one person. "Wait, I actually love this. It takes the stress out of traveling with your dog and keeps the anxious ones from disturbing other guests," another commenter pointed out. "Omg thank you so much for sharing this. New pup owner, and I do plan to travel with her as she gets older so Im just starting my research so I greatly appreciate all of this," another person gushed.
Best Ways to Travel With Your Dog
Obviously how you decide to travel with your pet depends heavily on where you're going. No amount of hours spent in the car will get you from the United States to Europe (unfortunately). But if you do have a choice, what's the right one to make?
The truth is that there are lots of different factors that go into this decision finances for one. And many people find air travel to be especially risky, given that you sometimes can't be with your pet while you travel. Planes are also a risk for dogs with "smushed in" faces, like Pugs or Bulldogs, because they could suffer from oxygen deprivation or heat stroke.
No matter which option you choose, make sure to read through any pet travel guidelines carefully. Try and choose the shortest routes possible (including direct flights) and get your dog microchipped with current information before boarding. Put identifying information on your dog's carrier as well, in case the worst happens.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. When it comes to traveling with your animal, it's always better to have the answers than to be left wondering what if.
Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
Local Pennsylvania authorities released a one-page report Thursday outlining how the man who attempted to kill former President Donald Trump died.
Butler County Coroner William Young determined Thomas Crooks, 20, died from a single gunshot wound to the head at 6:25 p.m. on July 13. He ruled the official cause of death a homicide.
A counter-sniper team shot Crooks while on the white roof of the warehouse owned by AGR International near the rally site.
Butler County declined a request from the USA TODAY Network for a full copy of the autopsy results, citing the states record law that specifically exempts it. It is unknown whether officials tested Crooks for chemicals or medications as is standard in autopsy examinations.
Congressional oversight committees have been critical of federal officials for slowly releasing information about the shooting. In recent weeks, Sen. Chuck Grassley released a raft of local video and investigative materials publicly.
The autopsy does add one more specific to the timeline of the shooting released this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, which showed that local law enforcement had identified Crooks as suspicious shortly after 5 p.m., more than an hour before the shooting.
At around 5:30 p.m., SWAT operators saw him using a range finder and browsing news websites on his phone, then at 5:56 p.m. with a backpack.
Crooks was observed climbing HVAC piping outside the warehouse, and traversed across multiple rooftops to his ultimate shooting position, leading a local police officer to be boosted onto the roof at 6:11 p.m., where he spotted Crooks and immediately dropped to the ground.
FBI officials say 25 to 30 seconds later, Crooks fired eight rounds at Trump. He was then shot and killed by the Secret Service counter-sniper.
Contributing: Bryce Buyakie, Akron Beacon Journal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump shooter autopsy reveals cause of death
By Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom
(Reuters) - United Nations Security Council countries on Wednesday called for stepped-up diplomatic efforts to avert a wider Middle East conflict after the killings of two militant leaders raised tensions.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday, sparking threats of revenge against Israel and fueling concern the Gaza conflict was turning into a wider Middle East war.
The assassination occurred less than 24 hours after Hezbollah's most senior military commander was killed in an Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut in retaliation for a deadly rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
"We fear the region is at the brink of all-out war," Japan's deputy U.N. representative, Shino Mitsuko, said on Wednesday, urging international efforts to prevent such a conflict.
China, Russia, Algeria and others condemned Haniyeh's assassination, which Iran's U.N. ambassador called an act of terrorism, while the U.S., U.K. and France raised what they said was Iranian support for destabilizing actors in the region.
Fu Cong, China's ambassador to the U.N., said failure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza was responsible for worsening tensions.
"Countries with major influence must put more pressure and work more vigorously ... to put out the flames of war in Gaza," he said.
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward urged calm and restraint, reiterating a call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. She said Israel and Hamas needed to recommit to a peace process that would result in a two-state solution with a secure Israel and a sovereign Palestinian State.
"The path to peace must be through diplomatic negotiations. Long-term peace will not be secured by bombs and bullets."
Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called for members of the Security Council with influence over Iran "to increase pressure on it to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel and other actors."
Iran's U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Tehran has consistently exercised maximum restraint but reserved its right to respond decisively. He called on the Security Council to condemn Israel and punish it with sanctions.
Israel's deputy representative to the U.N., Jonathan Miller, called on the Security Council to condemn Iran for support of regional terrorism and increase sanctions on Tehran.
"We will defend ourselves and respond with great force against those who harm us," Miller said, calling on the world to support Israel.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A near-total abortion ban will remain on hold in Utah after the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the law should remain blocked until a lower court can assess its constitutionality.
Democrats cheered the decision, which means that abortion will, at least for now, remain legal up to 18 weeks under another state law that has served as a fallback as abortion rights have been thrown into limbo.
The panel wrote in its opinion that the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah had legal standing to challenge the state's abortion trigger law, and that a lower court acted within its purview when it initially blocked the ban.
Their ruling only affects whether the restrictions remain on pause amid further legal proceedings and does not decide the final outcome of abortion policy in the state. The case will now be sent back to a lower court to determine whether the law is constitutional.
The trigger law that remains on hold would prohibit abortions except in cases when the mothers life is at risk or there is a fatal fetal abnormality. A separate state law passed last year also allows abortions up to 18 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest.
Utah lawmakers passed the trigger law one of the most restrictive in the nation in 2020 to automatically ban most abortions should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. When Roe fell in June 2022, abortion rights advocates in Utah immediately challenged the law, and a district court judge put it on hold a few days later.
Kathryn Boyd, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, celebrated the ruling Thursday and said she hopes the lower court will ultimately strike down the trigger law so they can continue serving patients without political interference.
Todays decision means that our patients can continue to come to us, their trusted health care providers, to access abortion and other essential reproductive services right here in Utah, Boyd said. While we celebrate this win, we know the fight is not over.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he was disappointed by the court further delaying the laws implementation, but hopes it will only be a temporary setback.
Sen. Dan McKay, the sponsor of the trigger law, told reporters Thursday after the ruling that the Legislature will likely seek to bring down the existing 18-week limit to a six-week limit as a short term solution while the trigger law is tied up in litigation. A special legislative session on abortion is a possibility this year, he said.
In a joint statement, Utahs Republican legislative leaders, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz, accused the state Supreme Court of undermining the Legislatures constitutional authority to enact laws for the people of Utah.
Several other Republicans who had worked to pass the law, including Rep. Karianne Lisonbee of Davis County, criticized the court for keeping it on hold.
Its deeply unfortunate that Utahs strong pro-life law continues to be tied up in litigation more than two years after the Dobbs decision, resulting in the deaths of thousands of unborn babies in our state," Lisonbee said.
Meanwhile, House Democrats praised the decision and urged their district court colleagues who will be reviewing the law to consider how it could jeopardize the health and well-being of Utah residents.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, most Republican-led states have implemented abortion bans or heavy restrictions. Currently, 14 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more have bans that kick in after about six weeks of pregnancy before many women realize theyre pregnant.
Besides Utahs, the only other ban currently on hold due to a court order is in neighboring Wyoming.
When the U.S. Supreme Court determined there was no right to abortion in the federal Constitution, a key legal question became whether state constitutions have provisions that protect abortion access. State constitutions differ, and state courts have come to different conclusions. In April, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an abortion ban adopted in 1864 could be enforced but lawmakers quickly repealed it.
Abortion figures to be a major issue in Novembers elections, with abortion-related ballot measures going before voters in at least six states. In the seven statewide measures held since Roe was overturned, voters have sided with abortion rights advocates each time.
As part of the largest post-Cold War prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia executed on Thursday, American officials agreed to release Russian nationals held within its prisons for crimes ranging from hacking to money laundering.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan are being welcomed back to the U.S. in a swap that involved the release of 16 people previously detained in Russia in exchange for eight held in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian American journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who was arrested in Russia in 2023, was also released from Russia along with Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian British dissident.
"Their brutal ordeal is over. And theyre free," President Joe Biden said on Thursday in an address from the White House.
Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Paul Whelan, who were detained in Russia, pose with a U.S. flag as they celebrate their freedom in this undated handout photograph obtained on August 1, 2024.
Here's what we know about some of the freed Russian prisoners:
Vadim Konoshchenok
Vadim Konoshchenok was accused of illegally providing U.S. electronics and ammunition to the Russian military. He was extradited from Estonia and charged last year with conspiracy in a money laundering scheme on behalf of the Kremlin.
This defendant, who is suspected of having ties to the (Russias Federal Security Service), smuggled hundreds of thousands of illicit munitions in support of Moscows war machine, using front companies to conceal his criminal enterprise, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a Department of Justice news release last year.
Konoshchenok allegedly identified himself as an Federal Security Service "colonel" in communications, with a photo of himself in a security service uniform. He used a front company in Estonia to help smuggle more than half a ton of military-grade ammunition into Russia, an indictment said. He was facing up to 30 years in prison.
Vladislav Klyushin
Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin was sentenced last year to nine years in prison for a "hack-to-trade scheme" that raked in about $93 million for the trading of corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks, the DOJ said.
He was also ordered to pay over $34 million in fees and additional restitution.
He was extradited from Switzerland in 2021.
Mr. Klyushin hacked into American computer networks to obtain confidential corporate information that he used to make money illegally in the American stock market, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in September after sentencing. He thought he could get away with his crimes by perpetrating them from a foreign base, hidden behind layers of fake domain names, virtual private networks and computer servers rented under pseudonyms and paid for with cryptocurrency. He found out otherwise and will now spend nearly a decade of his life in a U.S. prison."
Klyushin and four co-conspirators worked at his Moscow-based IT company M-13. From January 2018 to September 2020, he used hacked and stolen information earnings reports and other information that hadn't been made public to trade in the stock market.
Roman Seleznev
Roman Seleznev, son of a Russian lawmaker, was handed a 27-year sentence in 2017 for a massive hacking scheme that targeted point-of-sales systems to steal credit card information, which resulted in $169 million in losses.
The sentence from a Washington state federal court was the longest ever imposed for hacking crimes in the U.S.
Seleznev was also serving two concurrent sentences of 14 years each for racketeering in Georgia and conspiracy to commit bank fraud in Nevada.
From 2009 to 2013, Seleznev targeted businesses that included several small businesses in Washington. Broadway Grill in Seattle went bankrupt after Seleznev's cyberattack, the DOJ said. Seleznev would hack into the point-of-sale systems, steal the credit card numbers and then sell them in illegal networks. The credit card numbers were then used in fraudulent purchases.
Released from Germany: Vadim Krasikov
Considered the biggest concession from another nation toward releasing those detained in Russia, Vadim Krasikov was convicted of a 2019 murder of a former Chechen militant in a Berlin park. He was serving a life sentence in Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously hinted he might want Krasikov traded for Gershkovich's release in an interview with Tucker Carlson in February.
An undated picture obtained by Reuters shows Russian hitman Vadim Krasikov who was sentenced to life in 2021 for the assassination of a Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.
Germany's government confirmed Krasikov's release and said it was "not an easy decision," but it was motivated by protecting German nationals and solidarity with the U.S.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Kim Hjelmgaard and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prisoner swap: Who were the Russians released?
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) One spent over 5 years behind bars in Russia while other, higher-profile detainees were released ahead of him. Another was jailed for only a few months. They include journalists, veteran political activists and those simply opposed to the war in Ukraine. The youngest is 19, the oldest 71.
Among the Russians jailed in the West were alleged sleeper agents who lived double lives. Others were convicted of hacking computers. One was imprisoned for the brazen, daytime shooting death of a man in a Berlin park.
On Thursday, they walked free part of the largest East-West civilian prisoner swap since the Cold War:
Released by Russia and Belarus
EVAN GERSHKOVICH, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023. Without providing evidence, authorities accused him of gathering secret information at the CIAs behest about a military equipment factory an allegation that Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently denied. Jailed since then, a court convicted Gershkovich, 32, of espionage in July after a closed trial and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
PAUL WHELAN, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friends wedding. He was accused of espionage, convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Whelan, 54, has rejected the charges as fabricated.
ALSU KURMASHEVA, a dual U.S.-Russian national, was arrested in 2023 in her hometown of Kazan, where she was visiting her ailing mother. The Prague-based editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Tatar-Bashkir service was accused of not self-reporting as a foreign agent and was convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military charges rejected by her family and employer. Kurmasheva, 47, was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, a dual Russian-U.K. citizen and prominent opposition politician, was arrested in 2022 after criticizing the war in Ukraine that had begun weeks earlier. He was convicted in 2023 of treason and other charges, and sentenced to 25 years in prison in a case he called politically motivated. A columnist for The Washington Post, Kara-Murza, 42, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize this year. He fell ill in 2015 and 2017 from near-fatal poisonings he blamed on the Kremlin. His wife said his health deteriorated in prison as a result of the poisonings.
ILYA YASHIN is a prominent Kremlin critic who was serving an 8 1/2-year sentence for criticizing Russias war in Ukraine. Yashin, a former member of a Moscow municipal council, was one of the few well-known opposition activists to stay in Russia since the war.
ANDREI PIVOVAROV, 42, headed the opposition group Open Russia, outlawed in 2021. He was pulled off a flight and arrested that same year. In 2022, he was convicted of carrying out activities of an undesirable organization and sentenced to four years in prison.
OLEG ORLOV, a veteran human rights campaigner, was convicted of discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in February for his protests of the war in Ukraine. Orlov, 71, is co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial.
SASHA SKOCHILENKO, 33, was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison in November 2023 for replacing several price tags in a supermarket with anti-war slogans.
KSENIA FADEYEVA, LILIA CHANYSHEVA and VADIM OSTANIN are former coordinators of regional offices of the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny. They were arrested after Navalnys political network was outlawed in 2021 and later convicted of extremism. Fadeyeva, 32, and Ostanin, 47, each were sentenced to 9 years in prison, and Chanysheva, 42, got a 9 1/2-year term.
KEVIN LIK, 19, a dual Russian-German national, was arrested in southern Russia in 2023 and accused of taking photos of a military unit and sending them to a representative of a foreign state. Court officials said he opposed to the war in Ukraine. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to four years in prison, with rights advocates saying Lik, who was 17 at the time of his arrest, was the youngest person convicted of that crime.
RICO KRIEGER, a German medical worker, was convicted in Belarus of terrorism charges in June, and sentenced to death. He was pardoned Tuesday by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.
DEMURI VORONIN, a dual Russian-German national, is a political scientist who ran a consultancy that reportedly collaborated with journalists. He was arrested in 2021, convicted of treason in 2023 and sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison. He was implicated in the treason trial of Ivan Safronov, who allegedly passed him information on Russian military activities, which Voronin allegedly then gave to German intelligence.
PATRICK SCHOEBEL, a German national, was arrested in February 2024 at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg when gummies containing a psychoactive component of cannabis were allegedly found in his possession. He has been detained since then, facing drug-smuggling charges.
GERMAN MOYZHES, a dual Russian-German national, is a migration lawyer who helped Russians apply for European Union residence permits. He was arrested in May in St. Petersburg and reportedly accused of treason, but little else is known about his case.
Released by the West
VADIM KRASIKOV was convicted in 2021 of shooting to death Zelimkhan Tornike Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity, in a Berlin park. The German judges concluded it was an assassination ordered by the Russian security services. Krasikov, 58, was sentenced to life imprisonment. President Vladimir Putin this year hinted at a possible swap for Krasikov.
PAVEL RUBTSOV, also known as Pablo Gonzalez, a journalist working for Spanish media, was arrested on espionage charges in eastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border, in the first days after Russias full-scale-invasion in 2022. Polands Internal Security Agency identified him as a Russian intelligence agent, although some rights groups criticized Warsaw for holding him for more than two years without charge, and Reporters Without Borders called for his release.
ROMAN SELEZNEV, the son of a Russian lawmaker, was convicted in the U.S. in 2017 of hacking into more than 500 businesses and stealing millions of credit card numbers, which he then sold on websites. Seleznev, a Russian citizen, was sentenced to 27 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $170 million in restitution to his victims.
VLADISLAV KLYUSHIN, a wealthy businessman with ties to the Kremlin, was convicted in Boston in 2023 of charges including wire fraud and securities fraud in a nearly $100 million scheme that relied on secret earnings information stolen via hacking U.S. computer networks. Klyushin, 43, who was said to have personally pocketed $33 million in the scheme, was sentenced to nine years in prison. He was arrested in Switzerland and extradited to the U.S. in 2021.
VADIM KONOSHCHENOK, a suspected officer in Russias Federal Security Service, was extradited to the United States from Estonia last year to face charges he smuggled ammunition and dual-use technology to help Moscows war in Ukraine. U.S. prosecutors say he was detained in 2022 while trying to return to Russia from Estonia with about three dozen types of semiconductors and electronic components.
ARTEM DULTSEV and ANNA DULTSEVA, a Russian couple arrested on espionage charges in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2022, pleaded guilty Wednesday and were sentenced to 19 months in prison, and released on time served. Posing as Argentine citizens, they reportedly had used Slovenia as a base since 2017 to travel to neighboring countries and relay Moscows orders to other Russian sleeper agents. They have two children.
MIKHAIL MIKUSHIN was arrested in Norway in 2022 on espionage charges. Norways domestic security agency PST said Mikushin entered the country saying he was a Brazilian citizen. He was in Norway under a false identity while working for a Russias intelligence service, Norwegian investigators said.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia, Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed.
A woman captured the moment that her baby walked down the aisle at her wedding and by baby we mean her Silver Labrador Retriever. Lexi just knew that she wanted her dog Scout to be part of her big day. So naturally she gave her a key part of the ceremony, which now has people online in tears.
There was no way Scout wasn't going to be part of the proceedings. Her mama loves her as if she were her own biological child.
In fact in the footage she shared, Lexi joked that the Silver Labrador Retriever was "raised by a woman who thinks she actually birthed me." Doesn't that sum up so many of our relationships with our pets?
Related: Wedding Couple's 'First Look' with Their Dog Couldn't Be More Precious
The video shows the Lab walking down the aisle with a well-timed sign in her mouth. It reads, "Daddy here comes mommy!" The video then cuts out, but something tells us Lexi followed in her wedding dress.
People in the comments section were so emotional by the video. "You can tell by the walk thats a happy dog," wrote one person. "The happy prance. That dog did the job well, deserves extra love and treats," someone else wrote. "I could never do this because my dog would want to say hi to everyone," joked another commenter. "Babeey, she made you from scratch!" teased another commenter, addressing the pup.
Video of Teen Abusing His Dog Leads to Arrests
There's another reason why the dog mom shared the footage. A 2023 video showing a Louisiana teenager allegedly beating his dog has bubbled up again online.
Hot 1079.1 reports the original video showed the teenager getting frustrated while training his Labrador Retriever to be a bird dog. When the dog didn't respond, the teen allegedly beat the dog in a pond while his friends recorded beside him and laughed.
A recent press release from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office seems to indicate an arrest has been made and states the dog in the clip has since been surrendered.
"On Saturday, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs Office was made aware of a video that was circulating on social media showing a male abusing a dog on what appeared to be a hunting trip," the press release from July 30, 2024 states. "It was determined this incident occurred in the Manchac area a year-and-a-half ago (early 2023) and that there were three people involved in the video who are all 15-year-old boys today."
"One was arrested on one count of Animal Cruelty; the other two were each arrested on one count of Principal to Animal Cruelty," they added.
The main suspect's family has since agreed to give the dog up to a new home. It will receive a full medical evaluation before it is rehomed.
It's not clear if the teens have obtained a lawyer at the time of this reporting.
Clearly the story has still touched many pet owners online, who could never imagine hurting their fur-children, including Lexi.
"Loving my baby extra hard after seeing that video," Lexi wrote in the caption of her video. "My heart breaks for that poor dog."
Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
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A top line priority for Cisco in 2024 is to ensure customers have an agile and secure environment to capture the benefits of the technology transitions the industry is currently facing.
This includes enabling customers to use software-defined environments to provide agile networks and ensuring these are designed to provide security from the ground up.
Partners play a role in helping customers achieve their business outcomes all while helping them choose and deploy technology and what can sometimes be a very crowded and confusing market, Cisco A/NZ managing director of partner and routes to market, Rodney Hamill said.
As a partner-led business, Cisco relies on partners to ensure our customers get the best of their technology investments.
Strategic key focus areas for Cisco remain within the AI and cyber security landscape.
Hamill said AI will increasingly play a role in the way partners and customers interact with technology.
He pointed to one example in the launch of Ciscos AI assistants across much of the Cisco portfolio.
The aim here is to access an unmatched breadth and scale of data to guide and inform decision-making more intelligently.
AI innovation like this will transform the way technology is used and managed, he said.
Partners need to start thinking about the role AI will play in their business model and how they will assist their customers in achieving the best out of AI technologies.
This technology has the ability and promise to revolutionise the way we operate network infrastructure and secure and manage the ever-increasing cyber threat landscape.
In the realm of security, Cisco is seeking to revolutionise the landscape with AI-native security for data centres and the cloud through Cisco Hypershield.
Hypershield is an AI native security platform that will redefine how businesses safeguard their infrastructure, data and digital assets in the era of sophisticated cyber threats.
As a diamond sponsor for Dicker Datas TechX roadshow this year, Hamill said the two companies have maintained a long standing partnership, helping to deliver technologies, market-wide.
Cisco and Dicker Data maintained a long-standing partnership that helps our partners deliver the best-of-breed technologies in the Australian market, Hamill said.
Dicker Data has made significant investments to align Cisco in driving portfolios such as security and focusing on how our partners can grow in the Australian market.
Ciscos acquisition of Spunk, which was completed in March this year, set the foundation for delivering visibility and insights across an organisations digital footprint.
Hamill pointed out this was also a key area in which partners should start to consider and understand the opportunities ahead as the power of Cisco and Spunk comes together.
Cisco offers the most comprehensive partner-led GTM program on the planet, Hamill said.
Coupling this with the breadth of our portfolio, our value to partners is unrivalled. By choosing Cisco as a key vendor, partners can address many of their customers needs and truly help their customers transform their business.
From ensuring they can operate an agile and secure network environment to ensuring application performance in hybrid and cloud environments and to having the best collaboration technology to engage with their staff and customers.
HPE recently announced new solutions, programs and resources, providing greater partner value by helping them to adopt the latest technology trends.
During Dicker Datas TechX, HPE South Pacific Vice President and Managing Director, Chris Weber said it will be sharing its latest updates in the AI space, including enhanced HPE GreenLake capabilities and new HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 7 innovations along with the expanded hybrid cloud offerings within its virtualisation capability for HPE Private Cloud.
Our comprehensive channel enablement tools allow partners to advance their expertise and create new exciting growth opportunities, Weber said.
We are laser focused on customer needs and offering the right solutions that partners can capitalise on.
We know that from a customer perspective, their focus is on removing risk from their organisation, creating new revenue streams, driving automation and improving security measures as the landscape develops.
Weber outlined a series of solutions to support these outcomes including a new partner AI enablement program in collaboration with NVIDIA, which offers new capabilities and resources spanning AI, compute, storage, networking hybrid cloud, and sustainability.
In offering enhanced security, Weber said the SASE framework continued to be critical to business success and the latest Wi-Fi 7 solutions, as well as opportunities with private 5G.
We are always looking to grow and nurture our partner ecosystem so we thoroughly enjoy meeting new faces at TechX while continuing to educate and catch up with our current partners, he said.
Were looking forward to sharing HPEs key announcements and strategy, to help our partners find new opportunities in the market.
Weber said it will also inform partners of its new revenue-growing updates as part of the HPE Partner Ready Vantage program.
Weber said HPE can help channel partners win in the market by addressing the three mega trends of edge, hybrid cloud and AI, backed by compute technology.
We are helping partners increase their relevance with their customers by combining HPEs innovation with partner value-added services to capture the latest trends and opportunities, he said. We are laser focused on helping partners grow their profitability by becoming order-makers and unlocking margin-rich opportunities through HPE Partner Ready Vantage.
We are expanding capabilities for participating partners to add their own value and IP to our solutions, while further aligning our competency roadmap to key workloads, industry trends, and customer needs.
The majority of businesses are turning to hybrid cloud to modernise their legacy IT environments and drive efficiency, agility and innovation, Weber said.
We are constantly investing in our hybrid cloud offerings to make HPE GreenLake the future-proof hybrid cloud destination for businesses, he said.
HPE Aruba Networking is partner-first, and our priority is to ensure partners are empowered to take the growing portfolio to customers and build solutions, he added.
We are proud to be the first vendor to offer a full suite of enterprise-grade capabilities and services across the hybrid cloud technology stack, through HPE and HPE Aruba Networking solutions, Weber said.
This means partners can provide customers with a single-vendor full-suite of capabilities that minimises technology and operational risk, while streamlining management.
Weber anticipates AI adoption will grow and mature considerably therefore partners need to be on the front foot when it comes to offering the right expertise and tools for their end-customers to seamlessly expand on their AI capabilities.
To support this, HPE is offering AI acceleration workshops including a readiness assessment, tools for building tailored AI growth strategies and a roadmap for AI service practices, he said.
We encourage our partners to engage with us wherever they are at on their AI journey, and our workshops will go a long way to setting up those newly embarking on their AI learning.
At HPE we are constantly delivering on new innovations to stay ahead of market demands and assist our partners and customers with technology that streamlines their operations and creates competitive opportunities.
The collaboration with Danfoss to deliver HPE IT Sustainability Services Data Centre Heat Recovery is an example of this.
Its partnerships like this which show HPE is constantly looking to build the blueprints for the next generation of sustainable technologies, he said.
Our HPE Aruba Networking portfolio is also continuing to deliver on the innovation that helps partners meet the needs of their customers.
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by Gianni Criveller
The editor-in-chief of AsiaNews recounts his trip back to the Chinese capital, which he had to forcibly leave in 2011 when his visa was cancelled in one of the moments of friction between China and the Holy See. The tale of "a great modern metropolis which, like it or not, shares the uncertainty of a generation struggling to survive with many other cities in the world. A social and existential emergency that transcends the boundaries of political systems and ideologies".
Milan (AsiaNews) - Last June I went back to Beijing for a few days. It was an exciting trip: it was the first time I had been back there since I was stopped at Beijing airport in July 2011 and prevented from returning to my workplace.
Over the past months, friends in Beijing have written to me: 'It is time for you to come back and visit us! I was already planning a trip to Macao and Hong Kong: I thought the time was right. There was a facilitation: a new experimental scheme allows Italian (and other European) citizens to enter China without a visa for 15 days. This is, I believe, an opening on the part of the authorities who fear economic setbacks to the significant decrease in the number of tourists, businessmen and visitors from abroad.
There are five ancient churches in Beijing: I know their founders, their complex historical events, the protagonists of a long missionary season, the decades in which they were closed and put to other uses. Visiting them is like a pilgrimage for me. They speak to me of the faith and the testimony of a small people that yesterday as today, in ever difficult circumstances, maintains the faith with a moving resilience.
The churches have evocative names: church of the north, south, east and west. The northern church is now the cathedral and has beautiful new stained glass windows. Seat of the Portuguese Jesuits, it was later the headquarters of the French mission. The southern church, which was also a cathedral in past decades, was started by Matteo Ricci on the site where he resided.
The east church formerly housed works of art by the favourite court artist of three emperors, Giuseppe Castiglione, a Jesuit missionary. It is majestically located in Wangfujing, the pedestrian island that has become Beijing's most glamorous shopping and tourist street. The west church was built by Lazarist missionary and court musician Teodorico Pedrini. There is a fifth church, dedicated to St Michael, closest to Tiananmen Square, in the former foreign legation area.
The churches are restored and open. Masses are in Chinese, of course, but there are many celebrations in various world languages, and foreign faithful flock to them. I have seen a large Korean community fill the Church of the West. They celebrate in English (and on Sunday mornings also in Latin) in all the churches. In the northern one, they also celebrate in Italian and Spanish.
I do not have the feeling that the Chinese Catholic faithful have increased. Rather the opposite. As in other world metropolises, the churches are crowded more by foreigners than by residents. And I fear that the transmission of the faith to the younger generations is rather difficult, as it is everywhere in the world. What is more, the rules of religious policy require minors not to attend church, amplifying the effect.
The old Beijing, that of the districts with their characteristic small, low houses and narrow streets, called hutongs, no longer exists. There are a few exceptions, dedicated to tourism.
Today Beijing is a very modern city, with palaces, wide streets, and an extensive and well-functioning underground network. Traffic is very heavy: I visited Beijing for the first time in 1992; it was still crowded with bicycles then the main means of transport. If you took a taxi, you could cross the city in a few minutes.
Now this is no longer the case. In the past decades, factories have been moved away from the cities in order to improve air quality. Only electricity or gas can be used for winter heating, and no longer the polluting coal. The results are there: I have seen the sky as blue as I can remember seeing it in the past.
Many other things have changed in these 13 years: Beijing is highly digitised. To visit Tiananmen Square you have to register online; cash has almost completely disappeared, everything goes through mobile phone apps.
Even ordering in restaurants and shopping, almost everywhere, is done digitally. These procedures simplify many things, especially for those who are familiar with using their mobile phones. The city is safe: hardly any theft or violence happens, I was told. The network of cameras that pervades the area certainly contributes to this. Many admit that individual privacy certainly cannot be invoked as a priority.
In its history, China has alternated between phases of openness to the world and its novelties and phases of exaltation of its national resources and centralisation of thought. I believe we are now in the latter phase. If you do not stay overnight in a hotel, you have to register at the nearest police station.
The foreign visitor is only asked one question: do you have faith? And as a secondary question: do you attend church? I find this a rather curious question, and that visitors even find it bizarre! Years ago it would not have been asked of a foreigner.
The Covid crisis has had a major impact on people's lives, especially the younger generation. In Beijing and China, as in many other cities and nations around the world, young people are emotionally, psychologically and structurally fragile.
Two teacher friends told me that, unfortunately, discontentment, inner anger, hostility towards the world, depression and suicide are widespread among young people in their early years of university. They are the ones who have emerged from an adolescence spent in covid closures.
Many of them know that they will not find a job after graduation, and face their university years with deep uncertainty. Until a few years ago this was not the case: it was difficult to get into university, but then you came out with an assured career. The authorities now recommend teachers not to be too strict towards students, but rather to evaluate their academic performance with great generosity.
In short, Beijing, a great modern metropolis, like it or not, shares with many other cities in the world the fatigue of these difficult years and the uncertainty of a generation struggling to make a living.
I was struck by the fact that some social and existential emergencies have no boundaries, and even transcend political systems and their ideologies. Chinese children are more like their peers around the world than their older compatriots.
There is a well-known saying of Confucius that I often thought of in those days: "a friend from afar: is this not a great joy?" It describes the excitement of catching up with some people whom I had not even been able to say hello to in July 2011 and with whom it had been difficult to keep in touch since I feared I was under control after what had happened to me.
I thought back to that night spent at the airport, isolated in a waiting room and after hours of being awake, with my visa cancelled, put on the first plane to Hong Kong. Although I was always treated with kindness, it was a rather traumatic experience: I was forced to do things I did not want to do and I realised very well that it was the anticipated end of a life project to which I had devoted so much energy and hope.
A project that had Beijing as its destination. Nineteen years after my first arrival in Taiwan (1991) and after having resided for a long time in Hong Kong and Macau, I had finally settled in Beijing in 2010. It felt like exactly where I was supposed to be.
I had even calculated that Matteo Ricci, the missionary to whom I have devoted many years of study and who is an ideal reference point, had taken the same number of years - 19 in fact - for his 'ascent' to the capital of the empire (Macao 1582 - Beijing 1601). I had just a few weeks before obtained a work visa valid for 13 months, and was the research director of a study centre at a university in the capital.
I was rejected in retaliation: the Holy See had formalised the excommunication of some Chinese bishops who had agreed to be ordained illegitimately. The Chinese authorities did not take it well, and some people, including me, were prevented from returning to China. I was included in the list, I have reason to believe, because of some articles I had written years before on religious politics.
There followed for me a period of bitterness and a sense of failure, which I overcame thanks in part to six wonderful sabbatical months in Jerusalem. After five years the ban was lifted and in the spring of 2016 I was invited to speak at a conference dedicated to Ricci in the city of Nanchang, the fourth leg of his ascent to Beijing.
PIME superiors then called me to Italy (first to Monza and then to Milan), and I was never allowed to return to Beijing, Ricci's last stop, where his tomb still lies. And to Beijing, God willing, like Ricci, I would like to return and stay.
"RED LANTERNS" IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO CHINA . WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY THURSDAY ON YOUR EMAIL? SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER AT THIS LINK
by Vladimir Rozanskij
The meeting of the economic ministers of the body that brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was held in Moscow and recently expanded to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Common criticism of "green protectionism" while talks continue on "an inclusive system of faster and cheaper interstate payments".
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The economy and trade ministers of the Brics countries have met in Moscow, agreeing on a common position within the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The ministers assessed the customs conditions of their mutual relations, with the intention of cancelling taxes on technology deliveries to each other's markets, as a Kommersant report explains, illustrating the dimensions of the trade union of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which has been underway for 15 years and which other countries such as Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates have joined.
Russian Economy Minister Maksim Resetnikov, who led the Russian delegation, stated that 'many countries are concerned about the raising of trade barriers with the justification of the defence of national security interests'.
The final communique states that 'the Brics countries oppose the anti-competitive trade measures, which damage the process of industrialisation and economic modernisation of various countries', and also speak out 'against the increasingly complex restrictions' that are being decided against various companies and businesses, which makes any procedure of technology export and related payments very difficult.
The agreements reached in the Moscow talks presuppose that the representatives of the Brics countries will start a procedure to compare positions on these issues, with the revision of the arbitration mechanisms against the WTO, whose appeal tribunal does not function properly due to a shortage of judges, whose appointment was blocked by the US. In fact, the appeals have not been resolved since 2019.
The greatest harmony between the countries of the 'alternative' union occurs on climate issues, in the common criticism of 'green protectionism', and they declare themselves ready to represent this position not only before the World Trade Organisation, but in all other international bodies.
As the head of the Trade Negotiations Department, Ekaterina Majorova, explains, 'disputes in the WTO are becoming more and more complicated, and the agreement of Brics positions can strengthen the ability to achieve results'. In particular, the most disputed issue at the moment is the conversion of plastics, which is being addressed at the UN level.
The final document highlights the fact that the Brics countries are among the main holders of natural resources, including those 'critical' and most needed today, which can be fed into trade chains to achieve a leading position in green energy globally. The Brics view with considerable scepticism the EU's efforts to gain access to these resources, in its various trade negotiations in all directions.
They also note the need to join forces to more actively develop logistical solutions for trade routes, with 'economic and legal stimuli for the realisation of joint industrial projects and investments', with technology exchange 'for the structural transformation and industrialisation of all Brics-related countries', integrating regional connections with various transport options.
Particularly delicate are the issues of financing, for which 'a faster and cheaper inclusive system of interstate payments' is needed, and on this the contents of the Moscow negotiations have been kept in the strictest secrecy.
The President of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, did, however, observe at the press conference that 'the process of achieving these results will not be short', and new 'digital' share issues will be necessary, a procedure for which both Russia and China are still at the stage of 'pilot projects' that cannot be immediately translated into economic carriers.
However, he has set a number of preconditions to the talks that will be difficult to meet. The Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) leader has been in jail for about a year. Meanwhile, the population has been protesting for days about rising energy prices and army violence in Belucistan.
Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) is ready to hold talks with the military establishment. He told local journalists this from Adala Prison, where he has been held for about a year to serve a sentence he says was imposed on him on charges designed to keep him out of power.
However, the former premier has set a number of preconditions for the talks, including the release of the other PTI leaders, the return of the government mandate to his party (Khan had been ousted in a vote of no confidence by Parliament in April 2022) and the holding of transparent elections.
In the February elections, the PTI candidates had been forced to stand as independents and, despite winning a majority of the votes, they were sidelined by what are called the establishment-controlled parties, i.e. the Pakistani army, which has also ruled the country for a long time in the past.
Imran Khan said he had appointed Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a close political ally and a known critic of the army, as his representative in any talks.
"If the military leadership appoints its representative, we will start conditional negotiations," he continued on social statements. "We prefer negotiations with the military leadership, who are the real decision-makers," he continued, refusing to sit at the table of talks with the current government (described as a "puppet" by PTI) led by Shehbaz Sharif.
The army responded by releasing a video clip of a press conference dating back to May in which the spokesman, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, declared that it was not possible to support 'any political ideology, any political leader or any political group involved in attacks on its army'.
Imran Khan and his supporters are in fact accused of storming some army bases and the headquarters of institutions during the protests that broke out after Khan's first arrest last year. Government spokespersons did not take the news about the former premier's intentions well. They accused him of seeking the army's pardon only because he fears that he will be given harsh sentences for the various cases in which he is accused.
In the meantime, Pakistan continues to be rocked by protests: at least 3,000 people supported by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party blocked one of Islamabad's main roads at the beginning of the week against the increase of electricity taxes. Before the end of June, the government had increased the cost of the bills by 26%, which then increased by another 20% on 13 July. Officials repeated that this was a necessary measure to obtain a USD 7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, Belucistan is also shaken by demonstrations: thousands of people protested against the army's violence towards the local population. For decades, various groups have been demanding independence for the south-western province of Pakistan, but the government has always tried to quell aspirations for autonomy, often resorting to internet blockades and forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
The Beluci people have also long denounced the exploitation of the region's natural resources, to the detriment of the local population. The port of Gwadar, part of the Economic Corridor between China and Pakistan, has often been the epicentre of these protests and Chinese workers also targeted with armed attacks.
At least one person has died in the violence in recent days. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a human rights group, issued a statement addressed to the government in Islamabad: 'In the last two days you have created an apocalypse in Belucistan, injured many people, martyred a young man and forcibly displaced hundreds of people. Some government representatives are trying to achieve a peaceful resolution with the leaders of the protests.
Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev has met with the residents of Gabala's Duruj village in the framework of the project "Tourist Village", Azernews reports.
During the meeting, residents were informed about the plans and tasks to be done on the efficient use of the village's tourism potential, and their opinions were heard.
Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev brought to the attention that the work to be done in Duruja village within the framework of the "Tourist Village" project by the State Tourism Agency will be carried out in two stages.
The first stage envisages the construction of the main tourist infrastructure in the village and the implementation of improvement works, including the installation of informative and other tourist boards, renovation of fences, restoration of two springs, formation of mountain-pedestrian trails, etc.
Next stage covers implementation of measures for further development of infrastructure and expansion of tourism activities will be implemented in the village.
At the meeting, it was noted that the village has a wide potential for nature and active tourism, that work is underway on the organization of hiking tours to the Duruja Waterfall and the preparation of a hiking route, as well as that it is planned to conduct training for residents who want to operate as a guest house, and guide training for tourist tours.
The Tourist Village project is being implemented by the State Tourism Agency under the task of "Creation of tourism infrastructure in accordance with the concept of Tourist Village" in villages with tourism potential" mentioned in the Action Plan of the "2022-2026 Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan".
The main goal of the project is to increase the tourist attractiveness of villages through improvement works in villages with tourism potential, to develop rural tourism by providing alternative recreation places for local and foreign tourists, to contribute to the creation of new types of economic activities in villages and the formation of new jobs.
It is also planned to carry out works within the framework of this project in the villages of Ilisu and Saribash of Gakh district, Leza village in Gusar district, Duruja village in Gabala district, Gryz village in Guba district, Bibiyoni village in Lerik district and Ivanovka village in Ismayilli district.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr
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1 August 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Greece to the Republic of Azerbaijan Christos Kapodistrias met with the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
At the meeting, views were exchanged on preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be hosted by Azerbaijan this year.
At the same time, environmental protection and future cooperation opportunities between the two countries were discussed at the meeting.
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1 August 2024 11:25 (UTC+04:00)
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation, Azernews reports.
The letter reads:
"Dear madam President,
On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all your people on the occasion of the national holiday of the Swiss Confederation.
I believe that the relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland will continue to develop based on friendship and cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in line with the interests of our peoples. I am confident that we will cooperate closely with Switzerland in the fight against climate change within the framework of COP29, which will be hosted by our country in November.
On such a remarkable day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities, and the Swiss Confederation everlasting welfare and prosperity.
Sincerely,
Ilham Aliyev
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Baku, 29 July 2024"
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1 August 2024 12:44 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
During a working visit to USA, Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special assignments Elchin Amirbayov met with Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Europe at NSC Michael Carpenter, Azernews reports, citing the post shared by Azerbaijan's Embassy to US on its official "X" account.
"Constructive and useful discussions were held covering bilateral Azerbaijan and USA agenda, current state of affairs in the Azerbaijan and Armenia peace process and recent developments in the region" post reads.
During a working visit to Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special assignments Elchin Amirbayov met with Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Europe at NSC Michael Carpenter @mikercarpenter, Assistant Secretary of State for European and pic.twitter.com/YLJGLufwox Azerbaijan Embassy US (@azembassyus) August 1, 2024
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1 August 2024 16:36 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
A meeting was held at the Ministry of Health with Yuri Husev, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.
Health Minister Teymur Musayev emphasised that bilateral relations between the two countries are successfully continuing in many areas. The Minister noted that after the restoration of independence, friendly relations were established between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and effective bilateral relations were developed. T. Musayev stated that the organisation of a rehabilitation course for Ukrainian children aged 7-17 deprived of parental care at the Sanatorium-Resort Rehabilitation Centre with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan is a clear confirmation of this.
The minister also mentioned the significant potential for the development of bilateral relations in the healthcare sector. He highlighted that President Ilham Aliyev pays great attention to and prioritises the development of national healthcare, modernization of the sector, digitalization, development of human capital, and strengthening the healthcare economy.
Additionally, the Minister informed that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change would be held in Azerbaijan in November this year.
In conclusion, the Azerbaijani Minister of Health expressed confidence that cooperation would further develop in the future.
Yuri Husev expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani state for its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The Ambassador emphasized the high level of inter-state relations and noted the existence of historical and traditional friendly relations between the two countries. He acknowledged the importance of COP29 and highlighted that Azerbaijan has always organised important international events at the highest level.
The diplomat noted the great potential for expanding cooperation with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health and its subordinate institutions. Yuri Husev also thanked for organising the rehabilitation course for Ukrainian children in Baku.
The meeting emphasised the importance of medical education, the training of professional personnel in this field, and the exchange of experience between medical universities.
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1 August 2024 17:16 (UTC+04:00)
Fatima Latifova Read more
The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, met with the First Deputy Director of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mirzatillo Tillabayev, and the Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Murodjon Turqunov, Azernews reports.
During the meeting, the Commissioner noted the close friendship and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, highlighting the effective cooperation in various fields, including the protection of human rights and freedoms. She expressed gratitude for the construction of a school in the liberated Fuzuli region by Uzbekistan.
The Ombudsman provided detailed information to the guests about her activities in the field of human rights and freedoms, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with international organizations and mentioning the existing relationships with foreign ombudsmen and national human rights institutions.
The Commissioner discussed the amendments to the Constitutional Law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan," stating that her mandate has been expanded in areas such as the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and children, and the prevention of discrimination.
Aliyeva also talked about the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism, noting that visits are conducted to places where individuals cannot leave of their own free will, and the conditions of treatment and detention are investigated.
She highlighted that Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change this year, and mentioned that preparations for the event are underway at a high level.
The Ombudsman also announced the upcoming Baku Forum of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest and future cooperation prospects.
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1 August 2024 21:38 (UTC+04:00)
The first floating natural gas production platform to be included in the energy fleet, FPSO, has set off from Singapore. The platform, which will be active in the Sakarya Gas Field, will meet the needs of 5 million households. The giant ship, which is a floating industrial facility, is expected to arrive at Filyos Port within 2 months.
The new addition to Turkey's energy fleet, the floating production, storage, and discharge platform (FPSO), departed from Singapore yesterday. After a journey of approximately 2 months, the platform will enter Turkey through the Dardanelles Strait and will undergo maintenance at a shipyard in Marmara before proceeding to Filyos Port.
The floating industrial facility will produce enough natural gas to meet the needs of 5 million households daily. The platform is reported to be 298.45 meters long and 56 metres wide. With a maximum gas processing capacity of 10.5 million cubic metres, it is set to commence production in the Black Sea in 2026 and will continue to operate for 20 years.
As part of the first phase of its operations in the Black Sea, the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) aims to increase production to 10 million cubic meters per day. Currently, TPAO produces more than 5.5 million cubic metres of gas per day from the Sakarya Gas Field. During the first phase, production will be ramped up to 40 million cubic metres per day in Phase 2. TPAO is preparing for Phase 2, which will involve processing raw gas from the depths of the Black Sea on the platform and delivering it to land via pipelines. The platform's production capacity will be increased to 20 million cubic metres, which is the target for Phase 2.
With the FPSO, Turkey will become the 6th country to operate such a platform, following the USA, Russia, Brazil, Norway, and Malaysia. There are also suggestions for naming the platform. It is rumoured that the platform may be named 'Republic' in honour of the Republic's centennial. Other name suggestions include 'Gazi' and 'Ertugrul.'
Turkey's energy fleet currently includes 4 drilling ships and 2 seismic research ships. Drilling operations are ongoing in Turkey's sea areas with the Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Abdulhamid Han ships, while seismic data collection is being carried out with the Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa and Oruc Reis ships. There are 40,000 data collection points in the Sakarya Gas Field Development Project. Turkey aims to first bring Black Sea and Mediterranean gas into production and then shift focus to the Aegean.
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1 August 2024 19:21 (UTC+04:00)
Turkiye's natural gas imports decreased by 21.9 percent in May compared to the same month last year, reaching approximately 2 billion, 882 million, and 340 thousand cubic metres.
According to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority's "Natural Gas Market Sector Report" for May, 2 billion, 336 million, 480 thousand cubic metres of imports were made through pipelines, and 545 million, 860 thousand cubic metres were made through liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.
Total natural gas imports decreased by 21.9 percent compared to 3 billion 692 million 270 thousand cubic metres in May last year, reaching approximately 2 billion 882 million 340 thousand cubic metres.
The highest natural gas imports in May were made from Azerbaijan, with 1 billion, 8 million, and 580 thousand cubic metres. This country was followed by Russia with 734 million 410 thousand cubic metres and Iran with 593 million 490 thousand cubic metres.
During this period, 371 million 640 thousand cubic metres of LNG were imported from Algeria.
Gas consumption in residences decreased by 53.3 percent.
Total natural gas consumption in the country decreased by 26 percent on an annual basis in May, falling to 3 billion, 203 million, and 640 thousand cubic metres.
Natural gas consumption in the industrial sector increased by 9.7 percent and was recorded at 1 billion 99 million cubic metres. Natural gas consumption in power plants decreased by 20 percent, falling to 633 million 960 thousand cubic metres.
Natural gas consumption in residences decreased by 53.3 percent in May, falling to 851 million 530 thousand cubic metres.
Turkiye's natural gas stock decreased by 21.1 percent in May compared to the same month last year, reaching approximately 3 billion, 685 million, and 300 thousand cubic metres.
Approximately 3 billion 412 million 220 thousand cubic metres of natural gas stock are in underground storage facilities, while 273 million 80 thousand cubic metres are in LNG terminals.
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1 August 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)
After Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement was killed in Tehran, European and American high-ranking diplomats held urgent talks in the Middle East to prevent a large-scale war in the region, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.
According to sources, Enrique Mora, Undersecretary General for Political Affairs of the EU External Action Service, held "vital" talks in Tehran, while Brett McGurk, the Middle East and North Africa coordinator of the White House National Security Council, was in Saudi Arabia.
The unnamed officials told the media that the discussions were aimed at persuading Iran to either not respond to the attack, which it blames on Israel, or to limit itself to symbolic actions. "Since last night, everyone has been pressuring Tehran not to respond and to hold back," a Western diplomat participating in the negotiation process told the publication.
It should be recalled that earlier "The New York Times" reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered direct strikes on Israel in response to the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Tehran.
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1 August 2024 10:41 (UTC+04:00)
Meetings between Azerbaijan and Armenia continue.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this in an interview with the "Sabah" publication.
He said that if relations normalise, Ankara will prepare a certain scenario.
"In the end, we can implement a positive scenario, i.e., we can open the border with Armenia."
Recall that the fifth round of meetings between the special representatives for the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkiye, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Klc, took place at the Armenia-Turkiye border early this week.
The borders between Turkiye and Armenia have been closed since April 3, 1993. After Armenia's occupation of Garabagkh, Turkiye closed its borders, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were suspended.
However, in July 2022, the Turkish Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced that the two countries, in the context of a general thaw of their relationship, plan to reopen the border "at the earliest possible date," albeit only for third-party nationals.
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1 August 2024 18:43 (UTC+04:00)
By Alimat Aliyeva
The tourism departments of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation plan to continue developing cooperation, including the implementation of joint investment projects, Azernews reports.
According to the press service, a working meeting of representatives of the trade mission, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the first deputy chairman of the Committee on Tourism under the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan Jamshid Abdusalamov took place in Tashkent the day before, during which prospects for cooperation in the field of tourism were considered.
It is noted that the parties discussed the further development of bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism, including the coordination of mutual visits of tour operators of the two countries and the implementation of joint investment projects. During the meeting, it was also reported that in the coming days an Uzbek delegation will visit the regions of Russia to present the tourism potential of the republic.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, over the past four years, the number of trips of Russian tourists to Uzbekistan has increased more than 10 times from 37 thousand to 403 thousand people. At the same time, in 2023, Uzbeks made more than 800 thousand trips to Russia, which is twice as much as in 2022.
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1 August 2024 23:30 (UTC+04:00)
By Alimat Aliyeva
The OPEC+ Ministerial Monitoring Committee will meet on Thursday in a videoconference format to analyze the current situation in the oil market, Azernews reports.
This time, only a meeting of the monitoring committee is scheduled. At such meetings, the state of the oil market is usually analyzed and a recommendation for further OPEC+ oil production policy is determined. At the same time, the committee may, if necessary, request a general ministerial meeting of OPEC+ at any time. Meetings of the monitoring committee are now held every two months. The last such meeting was held on the same day as the meeting of all the ministers of the alliance - on June 2.
At a meeting in June, OPEC+ extended the parameters of the deal with minor changes until the end of 2025. Only one country, the UAE, will increase the permitted level of oil production next year by 300 thousand barrels per day (b/d), but not immediately, but gradually - from January to the end of September 2025.
The remaining decisions concerned voluntary reductions, which have been adhered to by several OPEC+ countries since the first quarter of 2024, including Russia and Saudi Arabia. Thus, the "volunteers" extended production cuts totaling 2.2 million b/d for the third quarter. And starting from October 2024, these countries will gradually restore production until the end of September 2025. In addition, the same OPEC+ countries from the spring of 2023 to the end of 2025 voluntarily reduce oil production in total by 1.66 million b/d.
At the same time, by the end of September 2025, three countries that had previously undersupplied oil production - Russia, Iraq and Kazakhstan - should gradually compensate for these volumes. The total amount of their "debt" to reduce production is 2.284 million b/d. Of these, most of them are in Iraq - 1,184 million b/d. Russia will have to gradually reduce 480 thousand b/d, Kazakhstan - 620 thousand b/d.
As the Reuters news agency notes, citing sources in the OPEC+ delegations, the alliance's monitoring committee is unlikely to make changes to any parameters of the deal and obligations for voluntary reductions.
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1 August 2024 21:55 (UTC+04:00)
Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister, met with Mehmet Samsar, Director General for Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.
During the meeting, the sides discussed the current alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, cooperation within multilateral formats, as well as regional and international security.
The two emphasized that reciprocal visits and consultations between the foreign ministries are crucial for detailed discussions on bilateral and regional issues.
They stressed the necessity of enhancing cooperation between the two countries within international and regional organizations, including the Organization of Turkic States, and through various trilateral and multilateral formats.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov highlighted the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He underlined the challenges facing the peace process, including ongoing claims against Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty, issues related to Armenias constitution, and steps threatening regional stability, such as the militarization of Armenia by third countries.
The minister underscored that these threats impede peace, stability, and regional cooperation, and hinder the development of regional transport relations, stressing the importance of their elimination.
The meeting also covered other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
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Like her colleague Joe Biden, Kamala Harris seems to be allergic to unscripted press conferences. Since entering the presidential race, she has gone ten days and has not had one yet. Most presidential candidates hold an unscripted press conference the very day they announce, but not Harris. If she ever does one, will it be a stage managed affair like all of Biden's press conferences? Is she afraid she will let her guard down and start cackling? Is she afraid another word salad will come out of her mouth? Is she afraid of being asked about all of her radical stands on issues as a senator and attorney general?
https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/07/31/hiding-kamala-no-press-conferences-10-days-after-announcing-presidential-run/
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2024/07/31/kamala-harris-is-evading-press-conferences-why-n2177587
On the other hand, Trump went into the lions den with a convention of black journalists in Chicago today and handled himself well and with confidence. It began with an interview with a very hostile ultra left wing reporter from ABC News. Trump drew good crowd response from the other journalists several times as he responded to her questions, including once when he described ABC News as "fake news".
Kamala Harris was invited to the same event but she ducked it.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/07/31/larry-kudlow-trump-went-into-the-lions-den-and-came-out-a-big-winner/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/fireworks-chicago-crowd-erupts-after-president-trump-unleashes/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/crowd-erupts-laughter-as-trump-mocks-kamala-harriss/
If you can't handle the American media, how can a presidential candidate be expected to handle tough situations with foreign leaders? Most of the American media tilts pretty heavily to the left, so why is Kamala afraid of them?
Of course, one of the reporters injected race into the questioning, asking Trump if he was saying Harris was only chosen vice president because she was a black woman. Trump responded that Harris has been fluid about her ethnicity, in the past telling the media that she was the "first Indian-American senator". That has sparked internet interest and her birth certificate has gone viral which lists her parents ethcity as "Indian", "Jamaican" and "Caucasian". Kamala also grew up in Montreal, Canada from elementary school through high school, so maybe at some point she will also claim to be Canadian.
The family of a patient who died during a colonoscopy in 2018 at the Portland (Ore.) Clinic is suing the facility for $50 million, according to an Aug. 1 report from the Courtroom View Network.
A jury heard opening arguments in the case July 31. The family of Erric Gilbert is suing the clinic and a team of medical providers.
The lawsuit accuses medical staff of failing to provide emergency resuscitation in time after Mr. Gilbert's vital signs began to crash. The clinic, meanwhile, has placed the blame on an anesthesiologist who settled out of the case.
The family is seeking approximately $7.7 million in economic damages and $50 million in non-economic damages.
Mr. Gilbert scheduled a colonoscopy in 2018 to determine the cause of blood in his stool. Despite having high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea and a high body mass index, the Portland Clinic sent Mr. Gilbert to its affiliated surgery center, the Alberty Surgical Center, for the procedure.
Shortly after David Stellway, MD, administered anesthesia, Mr. Gilbert's blood pressure began to rise and his blood oxygen levels began to fall, according to testimony presented in court.
Young Choi, MD, the gastroenterologist performing the colonoscopy, continued with the procedure even when Kathryn Carlson, the sedation nurse, noted signs of respiratory distress, according to the report.
Dr. Stellway implemented an external respiration mask but did not have Dr. Choi stop the procedure. Eventually a surgical technician in the room called an EMS team, at which point Mr. Gilbert was in full cardiac arrest, the report said.
CPR began 22 minutes after Mr. Gilbert stopped breathing, and he was transported to a local hospital, declared brain dead, and died shortly afterward. Dr. Stellway was brought before a state medical board due to the incident and subsequently surrendered his medical license, according to the report.
Becker's has reached out to Portland Clinic for and will update this story if more information becomes available.
After earning a net revenue of $5.1 billion in the second quarter of 2024, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare cemented its status a major player in the healthcare market at large.
Further, United Surgical Partners International, Tenet's ASC arm, remains a longstanding leader in the outpatient surgery sector, both by number of facilities and net revenue earning $1.14 billion in the second quarter.
Here is a brief introduction to the financial playmakers at both companies:
Tenet
CFO: Sun Park Mr. Park serves as both executive vice president and CFO at Tenet. He joined the company in January 2024, and previously served as executive vice president and group CFO for pharmaceutical distribution and strategic global sourcing at pharmaceutical company AmerisourceBergen.
Sun Park
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development: Michael Maloney In his role, Mr. Maloney handles Tenet's acquisition, divestitures and joint ventures strategy. He previously served as managing director and head of not-for-profit investment banking at J.P. Morgan.
Michael Maloney
USPI
CFO: Patrick Roberts Mr. Roberts joined USPI in April 2024. He previously served as CFO and vice president of strategic partnerships at Dallas-based Baylor Scott and White Health. He joined Tenet in 2015.
Patrick Roberts
Here are 23 ASCs opened or in development in July, as reported by Becker's:
1. Little Rock-based Arkansas Children's received a $1 million donation in support of its $235 million expansion project to expand hospital capacity, redesign clinical spaces and add an ASC
2. Shorepoint Medical's multi-specialty center opens in North Port, Fla.
3. Memorial Healthcare and Florida State University, both based in Tallahassee, are planning a joint venture with an ASC in Panama City, Fla.
4. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth moved forward with plans to build a 48,000-square-foot medical office building and a 17,585-square-foot freestanding emergency room.
5. The University of Florida and UF Health broke ground on UF Health Durbin Park, a 42.5-acre health and wellness campus in St. Johns, Fla., that will house a hospital, a medical office building and an ASC.
6. BayCare Health System set an opening date for its new hospital in Plant City, Fla.
7. The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson is opening a new ASC in the nearby suburb of Ridgeland, Miss.
8. Winston-Salem, N.C.- based Novant Health is opening a new community hospital in Wilmington, N.C., the Novant Scotts Hill Medical Center, featuring Atlantic SurgiCenter, an outpatient surgery center.
9. Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health filed a certificate of need with the state to develop an $18.9 million ASC in the area.
10. Florence S.C.-based McLeod Health is expanding its campus to include an ASC.
11. Stafford, N.J.-based Southern Ocean Medical Center broke ground on a $34 million expansion project that will add an ASC.
12. Johnson City (Tenn.) Eye Surgery Center broke ground on their new ASC.
13. Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine proposed a new medical office building at its Hunley (Ill.) location.
14. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist opened a 20,000-square-foot medical office building in Greensboro, N.C.
15. Manitowoc, Wis.-based Renovo Health opened a direct-pay ASC that aims to cut out the need for payers.
16. Akron (Ohio) Children's Hospital's new pediatric ASC in Beachwood, Ohio, opened July 23.
17. Snoqualmie (Wash.) Valley Health is moving forward to build a $71 million ASC and medical office building next to its hospital.
18. Minneapolis-based medical real estate firm Davis opened Eagan (Minn.) Specialty Center.
19. University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System affiliate UAB Medical West opened a 127,000-square-foot, seven-story medical office building.
20. Saratoga Hospital announced plans to demolish and rebuild a new office building to house several specialists.
21. Las Vegas Urology opened their most recent surgery center.
22. HCA Surgery Ventures opened a five-operating-room ASC in Kansas City, Mo., in a partnership with 20 physicians.
23. Osage Beach, Mo.-based Lake Regional Health System set their fundraising goals for a 21,000-square-foot ASC, Lake Regional Surgery Center Lebanon (Mo.).
UAB Health System in Birmingham, Ala., is set to open its new nine-story replacement facility for UAB Medical West, which will begin treating patients Aug. 3.
The new facility in Bessemer, Ala., includes the 200 bed-hospital with 12 operating rooms and a seven-story medical office building. UAB Medical West's former location built in 1964 was also in Bessemer.
"To move to our new campus marks a novel chapter for our healthcare facility," UAB Medical West CEO Keith Pennington said, noting the system has been planning for the past year with local officials and transportation services for the Aug. 3 move.
Development of UAB Medical West began in 2017 with the selection of the site, breaking ground in 2021. The facility cost $400 million, funded through a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan program designed to build and improve community facilities.
In addition to the new hospital, UAB Health is looking to acquire a five-hospital subsidiary system in central Alabama from St. Louis-based Ascension for $450 million.
Hospitals continue to deal with the fallout of a ransomware attack on a large blood supplier.
OneBlood, which operates blood donation centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina, has been experiencing an IT outage, caused by a cyberattack, since July 30. The organization alerted more than 250 hospitals to activate their critical blood shortage protocols.
Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial HealthCare had to postpone two complex elective surgeries to preserve its blood supply amid the ransomware attack and make a deal with another blood distributor, WCTV reported Aug. 1.
"Our comprehensive response efforts are ongoing and we are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible," said Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, in a statement.
The American Hospital Association noted Aug. 1 that this cyberattack, along with two others in recent months that disrupted the blood supply, should put hospitals on notice.
"These incidents provide ample reason and impetus for [healthcare delivery organizations], hospitals and health systems to review contingency plans for possible disruption to the blood supply chain and other mission and life-critical medical supplies," the AHA stated.
If you're looking for an academic health system, don't expect to find "university" in its name.
From UPMC to UNC Health to UChicago Medicine, many of these organizations have gone with shorter, snappier monikers because their brands are so recognizable already, health system leaders told Becker's.
"I think that the University title makes it cumbersome, and true academic health systems like UPMC and Penn don't need to remind people that they are academic health systems," said Thomas Beeman, a professor of the practice of healthcare administration at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia and former executive with Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine (formerly known as University of Pennsylvania Health System). "They already have very strong brands."
The rise of acronyms for academic-affiliated systems reflects the shortening of health system brands overall, following years in which words like "hospital" and even "system" were largely dropped from the names.
Other health systems didn't include "University" because they aren't technically owned by a university. For instance, Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth, which rebranded in 2017, is not part of the University of Colorado but works closely with CU School of Medicine.
"After extensive research conducted with more than 4,000 participants, the decision to name the new hospital system UCHealth was to further differentiate between the university and the healthcare system, while also preserving the partnership, which is very important to providing the best care options for patients," said Manny Rodriguez, chief marketing and experience officer of UCHealth.
Some of the names end up looking pretty similar. There is Seattle-based UW Medicine and Madison, Wis.-based UW Health, for instance. Meanwhile, Cincinnati-based UC Health differs from its Colorado counterpart by only a space in the name. UCHealth no space is a recognizable-enough brand in Colorado and surrounding states where there isn't confusion locally, but the health system sometimes has to correct national organizations or news outlets that confuse it with UC Health, according to a spokesperson.
Morgantown, W.V.-based WVU Medicine launched its new brand in 2015. "WVU, which is shorthand for West Virginia University, was already a well-established, highly regarded, and widely recognized brand in West Virginia and the surrounding region," said Tony Condia, chief marketing and communications officer of WVU Medicine. "We leaned into our university's shortened name and strong brand and leveraged its goodwill and equity as we created our health system's identity."
The health system will sometimes spell out "West Virginia University" in the name when it promotes in outside markets or presents at national or international conferences, where people might not be as familiar with "WVU," Mr. Condia added.
Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health formed via the 2021 merger of East Carolina University and Vidant Health to create a new academic health system. The organization never considered another name because ECU is the official branding of the university, according to an ECU Health spokesperson.
Really, the decision to go with shorter names has been quite simple for many academic health systems. "We've always been UAB Medicine or UAB Health," said Rosie O'Beirne, chief digital strategy and marketing officer at UAB. "We've always used UAB because the acronym is shorter than us using the University of Alabama at Birmingham."
Cigna is planning to vigorously defend its pharmacy benefit manager from scrutiny.
On an Aug. 1 call with investors, Cigna Group CEO David Cordani said the company will be more aggressive in communicating the value of its PBM to lawmakers, customers and the public.
"We challenge ourselves to be much more aggressive and complete relative to communication and engagement in support of our clients, be they employers or health plan customers, collaborating even more deeply and intensely with independent pharmacies and working on the Hill, of course," Mr. Cordani said.
Mr. Cordani's comments come as PBMs are under intense scrutiny in Washington. In July, a Federal Trade Commission report alleged PBMs show favoritism toward their own pharmacies and hold vast market control, affecting both medication access and affordability.
Cigna operates Express Scripts, one of the largest PBMs.
In July, the CEOs of Express Scripts, OptumRx and CVS Caremark testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FTC is preparing to sue Cigna, UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health over their PBM business practices.
Mr. Cordani told investors PBMs are the "only part of the drug supply chain who works to drive down costs," and negotiations to settle on prices can "at times generate friction in the system."
"This friction has spilled into and now reached heightened levels in the political arena and media, with winners and losers being declared in every report and every headline," he said.
The current environment requires Cigna to be "more proactive," Mr. Cordani said, both in its messaging on the value of PBMs and in reducing drug costs.
"In 2023, 1% of the patients in the U.S. experienced out-of-pocket costs above $2,000 a year. From our point of view, that's too many. We accept the responsibility to accelerate innovation to make medications more affordable while continuing to improve outcomes and finding solutions for every person we serve," he said.
Three Texas health systems are facing major potential changes for their health plans amid the state's decision to remove them as Medicaid administrators earlier this year.
"We were all formed at roughly the same time specifically to serve the Medicaid and CHIP populations, and none of us are in any other lines of business at the current time," Karen Love, President of Cook Childrens Health Plan, told Becker's. "We are exploring some other options, but this is dire if we are not awarded this contract."
In March, Texas tentatively awarded a majority of its Medicaid STAR and CHIP contracts to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Molina Healthcare, Aetna and UnitedHealthcare, which are collectively worth $116 billion. If the new contracts are implemented, nearly 1.8 million Medicaid beneficiaries in the state will have to move to new insurers by next year.
Fort Worth-based Cook Children's Health Plan, Houston-based Texas Children's Health Plan and Corpus Christi-based Driscoll Children's Health Plan were all denied contracts in the tentative award process.
Executives at Cook Children's and Driscoll Health told The Texas Tribune in April that their health plans will likely shut down if they are not awarded the Medicaid contracts from the state.
Texas Children's has not said the same a system spokesperson told the newspaper that the health plan "has a long and storied history of serving the children and women of Texas and looks forward to continuing to support Texass Medicaid population." Collectively, the three plans serve more than 700,000 people.
"This would take a significant amount of top level revenue from our system," Ms. Love said. "Last year, we were in the neighborhood of $900 million in premium revenues. Above all, this would dismantle our ability to collaboratively coordinate care for these kids, most of whom have a relationship with one or more providers. This change is going to hurt the families we serve much more than it's going to hurt Cook Children's."
Cook Children's is challenging the new Medicaid contract awards in court. Texas HHS has also rejected challenges from Cook Children's and seven other organizations disputing the contract awards, a process that is still ongoing.
"We're seeing a disturbing trend nationally of more and more contracts going to these big national Medicaid companies, and the landscape is getting tougher for provider-sponsored plans," Ms. Love said. "We are an integrated delivery system with hospitals, a physician group and the payer all under one umbrella. To take the health plan out of that is removing one of the key pillars of our pediatric system."
The procurement is still considered open until all protests and appeals have been resolved. If the procurement is not successful, it would mark the state's third unsuccessful attempt within six years to award new Medicaid contracts, the Texas Tribune reported.
In response to evolving demands within the healthcare landscape, hospitals and health systems are reconfiguring their C-suites and leadership teams to align with organizational priorities. Among the recent developments, several institutions have introduced new roles to their executive teams.
Editor's note: This article was updated Aug. 14 and will continue to be updated.
Here are new roles hospitals and health systems have added to their C-suites since Feb. 2:
Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota graduated its first cohort from its BA/MD program.
The program started in 2017 for freshmen students interested in becoming physicians. The seven-year education program allows students to graduate in any degree from the college of liberal arts before moving straight into their four-year MD program, Ana Nunez, MD, vice dean of diversity, equity and inclusion of the medical school, told Becker's.
"We also focus on underrepresented students in medicine and sciencethose from rural areas, first-generation college students and immigrants," Dr. Nunez said. "These students often face unique challenges that can derail their academic trajectory. Our goal is to provide holistic support to help them overcome obstacles and stay on track. This support includes addressing developmental needs, such as improving presentation skills or gaining research experience, and ensuring they have the resources to handle any bumps in the road."
The program is competitive with about 200 applicants considered for the 12 slots each year. Any student who shows an interest in a career in healthcare can be considered. Interested students are evaluated until the final 12 students are selected. Those in the program are provided with scholarships to reduce the economic burden.
Five students graduated in the first cohort. Of those, one will work within MHealth Fairview and the others have taken positions in neighboring systems. Dr. Nunez said they expose students to a variety of health professions and celebrate whichever path they chose.
"Effective communication and strong partnerships are essential for the success of longitudinal programs," she said. "Our collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and ongoing feedback from students are crucial for refining the program. It's important to recognize and support the incredible talents of underrepresented students in medicine and science. By reducing barriers and increasing access, we can harness their potential and contribute to advancing health equity."
Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, N.H., is integrating Valley Regional Hospital into its network.
Dartmouth Health has previously collaborated with 25-bed Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, N.H., for many services, including cardiology, oncology, pathology and radiology.
With the acquisition effective July 31, the hospital will now formally integrate with Dartmouth Health to share in its technology, clinical research and network of more than 2,000 physicians and providers. Dartmouth Health negotiated the acquisition terms with New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella this spring.
Dartmouth Health is New Hampshire's only academic health system and the largest private employer in the state.
Philadelphia-based Jefferson and Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network completed their merger Aug. 1.
Here are 10 things to know about the combined system:
1. The combination creates one of the 15 largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S. with 32 hospitals and more than 700 sites of care.
2. Jefferson brings 18 hospitals to the combined system: 15 in Pennsylvania and three in New Jersey. LVHN brings 14 hospitals, all in Pennsylvania.
3. The combined system employs more than 65,000 people.
4. In fiscal 2023, Jefferson posted total revenues of $9.7 billion. It posted an operating loss of $78.5 million for the year ended June 30, 2023.
5. In fiscal 2023, LVHN posted total revenues of $4.1 billion. It posted an operating income of $10.4 million for the year ended June 30, 2023.
6. Jefferson and LVHN first shared plans to unite in December after signing a non-binding letter of intent. They signed a definitive agreement to merge in May.
7. Jefferson CEO Joseph Cacchione, MD, will serve as chief executive of the Jefferson enterprise. He joined Jefferson as CEO in September 2022 from St. Louis-based Ascension, where he served as executive vice president of clinical and network services.
8. LVHN president and CEO Brian Nester, DO, will serve as executive vice president and COO of the Jefferson enterprise and president of the legacy LVHN. He served as LHVN's president and CEO since 2014. He joined the health system in 1998 as chairman of the emergency department at Lehigh Valley HospitalMuhlenberg in Bethlehem, Pa.
9. Patients in the region served by LVHN will soon have access to Jefferson Health Plans, the system's health insurance business.
10. Dr. Cacchione told The Reporter that LVHN will undergo some type of rebranding, but final decisions have not yet been made. He said the Lehigh name "will be preserved and will not go away. The Lehigh Valley name has a lot of brand equity, its a very important brand one of the reasons for our whole plan."
San Francisco-based UCSF Health has acquired two Dignity Health hospitals.
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center, both also located in San Francisco, bring a total of 1,800 employees and providers onto the UCSF Health team, according to an Aug. 1 news release.
The two parties signed a $100 million definitive agreement for UCSF Health to take on the hospitals in February. In early July, UCSF Health and California Attorney General Rob Bonta signed a cooperative agreement that preserved key services and cleared the way for the two hospitals to join UCSF Health.
The hospitals shed their religious affiliation and are now known as UCSF Health Saint Francis and UCSF Health St. Mary's under the acquisition. The facilities will keep their existing services and UCSF Health will also retain employees from both hospitals, the release said.
UCSF plans to immediately invest $100 million to support the integration of the two hospitals over the next two years.
"At this time, all Saint Francis and St. Mary's patients will continue to access services just as they do today at the same locations, through the same telephone numbers, and using the same digital health tools," the release said. "Patients will be able to continue to receive primary and specialty care from their current providers."
The acquisition includes a $430 million investment to expand the number of patients seen, improve physical facilities and upgrade technology at the hospitals.
UCSF Health's commitments under the acquisition include $10 million in annual charity care from the two hospitals and at least $12.3 million in annual combined community benefit spending, with a 2.4% annual increase for charity care and community benefits at the hospitals.
Several staff members at Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus in Philadelphia were injured including a specialist who was stabbed with a needle in a struggle with a patient on July 31, CBS News Philadelphia reported.
A 39-year-old male patient arrived with EMTs at the hospital, and he was agitated and behaving violently when a nurse tried to administer medication with a syringe. Police said the patient knocked the syringe from the nurse's hand and it poked a security guard in the arm. A recovery specialist tried to intervene, but the patient grabbed the used syringe and stabbed them twice in the arm with the needle.
The patient tried to stab a third staff member who was able to back away, but that person accidentally elbowed a nurse in the head. The nurse was rendered unconscious, ABC affiliate WPVI reported Aug. 1.
When police arrived, the patient had been restrained by hospital staff and was taken into custody. He is charged with several counts of assault.
All those injured are in stable condition.
"The safety of our employees, patients and visitors is our first priority at Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus," a hospital spokesperson told Becker's. "We are working with police as they continue to investigate this incident. We are offering onsite support and resources to those impacted."
From the warehouse to a hospital storage cabinet, supply chain leaders see a direct connection between employee satisfaction and patient care.
George Godfrey, chief supply chain officer for Coral Gables-based Baptist Health South Florida, and Steven Chyung, chief supply chain and procurement executive for Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, told Becker's how they support and empower their employees.
Satisfaction
Both leaders stressed the necessity for employee satisfaction, specifically within a supply chain environment they see as a service.
"Satisfied employees are engaged employees," Mr. Chyung said. "It's probably the most critical aspect to making sure we're delivering quality services to our members and clinicians."
"It's easy to get lost in the boxes and forget what the end result is," Mr. Godfrey said. "We are dealing with a loved one's care; it's very important that we get it right."
Engagement
Mr. Chyung said Kaiser Permanente promotes employee engagement through targeted initiatives. The company launched three programs after the pandemic to address employee emotional and physical well-being, learning and development, and reinforce the company's "speak up" culture.
One aspect of those programs are the wellness calls Kaiser Permanente uses to support employees' overall health and wellness, providing tools that support healthy eating and encourage mental health awareness.
At Baptist Health South Florida, Mr. Godfrey holds weekly huddles to keep his team connected. Different team members host and participate in the huddle each week. The huddles include a problem-solving session, where more than 100 supply chain employees watch a few colleagues work through a problem in real time. The result? Fewer problems.
"Now I have 100 people solving problems before they become problems," Mr. Godfrey said.
Improvement
Mr. Godfrey and his team utilize data and technology to create tools that allow supply chain employees to self-manage everyday tasks. These tools assist with processes including inventory management, contract and invoice administration, vendor communication and workload management.
"Employees have better satisfaction because they're managing a process," Mr. Godfrey said. "Letting the computer manage the transactional, weedy-type stuff [instead]."
Kaiser Permanente utilizes biannual anonymous surveys to take the "pulse" of employee satisfaction and identify opportunities for improvement.
"We look at things like engagement, team dynamics and culture of health. It's something we're continuously measuring," Mr. Chyung said. "As a result of the programs that we've launched, we can see our engagement scores continue to track very positively. Employees feel like they belong, that they're adding value."
Leadership
Within all the initiatives and huddles, both Mr. Chyung and Mr. Godfrey said leadership holds a key to continued employee satisfaction.
Mr. Chyung noted how leadership participation in wellness initiatives is crucial to employee engagement and leads to a sense of inclusion.
"It's leading by example," he said. "When we talk about mental health, people have to see that their leadership is demonstrating, in a very tangible way, the things that we say are important."
Mr. Godfrey expressed how important it is for communication between a leader and their team to not only be frequent, but consistent and meaningful. Trust is equally important, he added, for employees to feel like their boss is "ready to go" if they need help.
"Leadership has to be committed to the cause," he said. "Having employees know they can go to leadership escalate an issue and it will be addressed. Those elements are critical to having a very successful operation."
From physician independence to data collection, spine surgeons are thinking about the future of autonomy in their field.
Five spine surgeons discuss their perspectives on autonomy and its future.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What will spine surgeon autonomy look like in five to 10 years?
Brian Fiani, DO. Mendelson Kornblum Orthopedic & Spine Specialists (West Bloomfield, Mich.): In five to 10 years, spine surgeon autonomy may involve advanced AI-assisted decision-making tools, enhanced minimally invasive techniques, and improved patient engagement through telemedicine. Surgeons will likely have greater access to real-time data personalized care, fostering collaborative approaches while maintaining their expert judgment in treatment decisions.
Vijay Yanamadala, MD. Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare: Autonomy is an evasive term in medicine. Today, we continually face prior authorizations that question our recommendations to patients. This is not necessarily a bad thing we are all human beings and not infallible. In theory, having checks and balances is a good thing. However, prior authorizations have become more of a hoop to jump through, a hurdle to climb over, than a process through which we can collectively optimize care for patients. Rarely is the patient involved in this process either, which is perhaps its most important failure. I think even more important than spine surgeon autonomy is patient autonomy will patients be free to choose their own care, based on their own values, goals and desires? Will they be adequately informed to make those decisions, and can we as surgeons make sure of this? We never had autonomy as surgeons only the privilege to honor the autonomy of our patients. How do we ensure that this autonomy of patient's choice is honored and respected, not eroded?
Morgan Lorio, MD, of Advanced Orthopaedics and Pain Management (Orlando, Fla.) and ISASS president (2024-2025): In the next five to 10 years, advancements in robotics, AI, and advanced imaging will enhance spine surgeons' decision-making and reduce the need for invasive procedures. AI, trained on large datasets, will ensure patient-specific outcomes, while telemedicine and mobile health technologies will expand surgeons' reach and improve patient care. Advances in genomics, bioinformatics, and AI will enable personalized treatment plans by identifying unique patient phenotypes. Collaborative networks will allow surgeons to leverage collective expertise while maintaining autonomy, and evolving healthcare policies will support disease prevention and early detection through AI and precision medicine. Continuous medical [spine] education will keep surgeons updated on new techniques and technologies, enabling them to handle complex cases independently.
The convergence of AI and precision medicine will revolutionize healthcare by addressing challenges with patient-specific diagnostics and treatment. This synergy will enhance spine surgeon autonomy, focusing on prevention, early detection, and personalized care, ultimately reducing the disease burden and healthcare costs. The amalgamation of more granular ICD-10 codes for discogenic back pain with interventional algorithms, including MRI spectroscopy, will further ease the cost of managing low back pain.
The integration of patient-centered high-value spinal endoscopy, including fusion procedures, will improve outcomes by minimizing invasiveness and recovery times. Rasch analysis will complement this process by providing a robust statistical framework to measure patient-reported outcomes and treatment effectiveness, ensuring interventions are precisely tailored to individual patient needs.
Additionally, Rasch analysis will enhance surgeon experience by offering data-driven insights into treatment success, allowing for continuous improvement and refinement of surgical techniques and patient care strategies.
Lali Sekhon, MD, PhD. Spine Surgeon at Reno (Nev.) Orthopedic Center: It will be reduced. Already payers who verbally state 'they dont practice medicine,' through their prior authorization system, practice medicine.
Vendor consolidation will occur and hospital systems will more and more limit access to vendors to reduce cost. All this will reduce surgeon autonomy.
Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): Healthcare economics and its direction will factorially depend on political lean, as the costs to the insured escalate, demand/expectations continue to rise, and specialty care becomes scarcer. Proclamation of dissolving private insurance and 'Medicare for all' decrees will surely bury an already overburdened system. Elections do have consequences.
The scale of practice management and overhead, especially in this area, has led to the closure of private surgical facilities and bankruptcy of previously formidable medical groups. Upgrades of EHR alone and other technology are staggering and prohibitive. Being an independent practitioner carries great financial risk and is not the choosing of the timid. Best practices for the complex spinal surgeon and meeting the needs of the OR and its expenditures remain employment models and ventures with larger institutions.
Select Medical and Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai launched a specialized spine care program for acute or chronic spine patients, according to a July 31 news release.
The physical therapy program will be offered at 11 Select Physical Therapy locations in the Los Angeles region. Plans will be tailored to each patient and their goals.
"This partnership reflects our conservative spine care philosophy to offer patients non-invasive therapeutic options before turning to surgery, and it allows us to combine our medical and surgical expertise with Select Medical's extensive network and physical therapy experience," David Skaggs, MD, co-director of Cedars-Sinai Spine, said in the release.
Cedars-Sinai and Select Medical entered a joint venture partnership in 2021.
The first outlet of hot chocolate chain Knoops on the island of Ireland is due to open in Belfast's Victoria Square.
Hot chocolate outlet Knoops is to open a location in Victoria Square, Belfast.
Victoria Square will become home to the first outlet of the hot chocolate business on the island of Ireland.
Their websites page for their Belfast store says: We're really looking forward to opening our Belfast store in Victoria Square Shopping Centre.
The news is welcome for Victoria Square, which has seen several businesses leave in recent months.
The fashion store Tessuti, which opened at the site of the former Topshop in December 2022, has been holding a closing-down sale.
Signs in the shopfront of the flagship location said it would close in August.
H&M also left Victoria Square after opening a location at The Keep in Castle Lane.
Outdoor wear shop Craghoppers also announced it was ceasing trading from its store in Victoria Square, although they still have a location in Boucher Retail park.
And fashion retailer Ted Baker is also expected to close its store in the centre along with all its other shops around the UK.
Speaking in July, Russell Banham, UK head at property company Commerz Real, which owns Victoria Square, said: There continues to be strong interest from market-leading retailers who recognise Victoria Square as Northern Irelands premier shopping destination.
We are currently in advanced discussions with a number of exciting, well-known brands who will be announced in the coming months.
Knoops proposed Belfast opening was first reported in the Irish News.
The first Knoops outlet opened in 2013 in East Sussex, and it currently lists over 20 stores on their website, with several due to open shortly.
The company was founded by Jens Knoop, who grew up in the German countryside.
They sell a number of different blends of hot chocolate both to go, and to sit in. They also sell their blends online.
They recently opened their first stores in Scotland with two locations in Edinburgh, and are set to expand across the Irish Sea.
East Belfast company secures new $25m loan with lenders
Harland and Wolff have secured an additional $25m of loans from existing lenders.
The former chief executive of Harland & Wolff has left the company, it announced on Thursday.
It had been announced last month that John Wood was taking a leave of absence following the failure to secure a government loan guarantee.
However, Mr Wood is now no longer a member of the board, it was confirmed today.
The company also announced a new $25m (19m) loan with existing creditors, which takes its overall debt to $140m (109m).
It has also ceased operations on Scilly Ferries to focus on core business functions.
The famous shipbuilder has been facing financial uncertainty in recent weeks, after it failed to secure a 200m loan guarantee from the Government.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that after reviewing the loan application, the government believed there was a very substantial risk that taxpayer money would be lost.
Harland & Wolff is part of a consortium with a 1.6bn contract to build new fleet solid support ships for the Royal Navy.
The firm, whose UK shipyards include the famous east Belfast location, has employed the financial services company Rothschild & Co to assess strategic options for the group.
After announcing Mr Woods departure, it was confirmed Russell Downs and Alan Fort are due to become board members.
Malcolm Groat, chairman of Harland & Wolff, said: "We are grateful to our lenders in continuing their funding commitment to support Harland & Wolff Group's ongoing stabilisation and long-term strategy objectives.
"We also look forward to working with the very experienced team from Rothschild & Co to help us achieve that objective.
The board look forward to Russell Downs and Alan Fort joining us once their appointment formalities are completed and, in the meantime, I wish to place our thanks to John for his invaluable contribution to the company's business and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.
The company has also closed its Scilly Ferries service between Penzance and St Marys on the Isles of Scilly, which are located off the coast of Cornwall.
Harland & Wolff said the planned service was overly ambitious given the current circumstances.
They said that everyone with reservations for the Atlantic Wolff fast ferry will be directly contacted, and that all impacted staff have been advised.
The vessel itself is to be returned to its Dutch manufacturer Damen.
Speaking about the decision to terminate Scilly Ferries, Mr Downs, the interim executive chair, said: We understand that this will be difficult news for those affected immediately and for the community it was intended to support.
It is important to note that this is an isolated and unique situation within the group which continues to deliver its business as usual, serving its ship repair fabrication and ship building customers.
Mr Groat said: It is regrettable that we have taken the tough decision to terminate the fast ferry, but we need to focus our energies and resources in continuing to grow the core business across our four delivery centres.
"This decision aligns with and brings us back to our fundamental five markets and six services strategy.
"Our ferry service team will be working closely with passengers and other counterparties to ensure a smooth transition out of this business."
At the Chambers of Distinction, a fabulous boutique hotel on Belfasts Malone Road, each of the rooms are named after well-loved figures with links to the city.
And it has been such a hit with guests, owner Melanie Harrison is expanding the venue with a major investment. Inside, as well as the Heaney and Lewis rooms you will find, among others, the Bronte, Samuel Beckett, Percy French, John Lavery and Jonathan Swift bedrooms.
Each opulent space tells a story about a famous person with strong ties to Belfast and celebrates their life.
The Bronte room
The Swift - named after the Anglo-Irish author who wrote Gulliver's Travels - is in a French style with a mountain view
No two rooms are the same, with owner Melanie Harrison going to extreme lengths to fill each with unique items synonymous with the rooms namesakes.
For example, the Heaney Room gives a real nod to Bellaghy, the poets homeplace. Tweed and leather cushions evoke thoughts of traditional farmers jackets while Seamus Heaneys works of poetry and prose are available to read on the shelves.
Plates on the wall and a crystal lamp in the room with some Irish lace throughout and an antique typewriter lend to the theme. The dark green colour gives a stylish, elegant feel.
Cosy yet spacious for a single traveller with a double sleigh bed.
Melanie Harrison
Melanie said: Belfast has given the world so much and this city has been home to so many extraordinary people that I wanted to create somewhere which really celebrates them. What better way to get acquainted with a city than through the people who helped shape it?
We are a city of storytellers, and we find the rooms are really helping us portray interesting and important stories about Belfast in an entertaining way.
Described as a bohemian bolthole, the hotel currently comprises 16 elegant rooms, but this is about to change with Melanie investing in an adjoining property.
We are located on what I believe is one of the most stunning rows in Belfast, with the building originally built in 1879 as Victorian merchants residences.
Our expansion will create a further 11 suites, a piano lounge, larger kitchen, dining spaces and pleasant communal areas, she said.
I am so proud of the progress we have made in the short time since opening in 2020.
We were in the midst of the pandemic and the world was a very different place back then, it was quite a scary time to be opening a new hotel.
But the reception from our guests has been wonderful. The Chambers of Distinction is a place where you check in as a guest but check out as a friend, we create a real homely feel with a warm Irish welcome.
We are located close to the Lyric Theatre and the Grand Opera House as well as the Crescent Arts Centre, Mandela Hall and Queens Film Theatre, so its not uncommon for those performing or attending shows to either stay with us or enjoy our hospitality in the lounge afterwards.
Harrison Chambers, Belfast
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Prior to 2020, Melanie had returned from living in France and was living in the top-floor apartment in the home next door and renting out five bedrooms.
She then acquired the property next door, taking the plunge and transforming the two buildings into the Harrison Chambers of Distinction.
Now, just four years later, she is in expansion mode again with a further acquisition.
Melanie restored the historic buildings to their former glory and is currently in the process of doing the same to the newly acquired building.
I have spent a large part of my life travelling and have lived in places such as America, New Zealand, Luxembourg, England and France.
It was on my travels that I fell in love with hospitality and of course meeting new people, she explained.
Opening the hotel has transformed my life and given me a new energy.
It has been the best thing I have ever done.
We really went the extra mile when refurbishing the building. Its such a beautiful and historic property so we wanted to be really sympathetic to that when it came to fixtures and fittings.
There was beautiful period cornicing and as we got further into the refurbishment the building started to give up original features which had been hidden behind plaster board when the properties were transformed into offices and apartments in the 1960s.
It was such a joy to discover these original pieces which add so much character and charm to each room.
We have also added local features like floorboards from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, carpets from Ulster Weavers and handmade Arroll radiators everywhere you look there is a story to be told.
The Ruby Murray room
The rooms have everything from four-poster beds, rolltop baths, huge bay windows, antique furniture and sumptuous velvet curtains.
They are both decadent and elegant but always with Melanies personality woven in through the use of eccentric curios and one-off pieces of furniture.
I have a real passion for auctions and antique shops, and I am always scouring them for unique pieces or quirky items which will be perfect for the hotel.
But far from being a living museum, the Chambers of Distinction has everything a modern traveller expects.
Guests dont have to compromise on modern facilities to stay in a hotel which is brimming with old-world charm. From powerful rain-showers to professional customer service, we have thought of everything, said Melanie.
As well as the seal of approval from guests, the Chambers of Distinction has also won a series of awards during the short time it has been open.
One year after launch it won the prestigious National Geographic Best of the World Award.
It has also won the Irish Independents Fab 50 Award these are awarded to Irelands best 50 places to stay.
Melanie reveals, It has been a real whirlwind since we opened but I have loved every minute.
The work is hard, but it is so rewarding, and I adore meeting new people.
We are currently in the middle of refurbishing the new building and I am so excited for the next chapter in the life of the Harrison Chambers of Distinction.
That new chapter has been supported by the British Business Banks Investment Fund for Northern Ireland through a 160,000 loan which was facilitated by Whiterock.
The news follows the recent announcement of the funds first deal which was with the new owners of the Bucks Head in Dundrum, Co Down, Alex Greene and Bronagh McCormick.
A 100,000 loan enabled them to refurbish the popular restaurant ahead of a grand re-opening.
Melanie recalled, The process of working with Whiterock was very straightforward and the team really helped and guided me.
I would have no hesitation in recommending them to other business owners.
I had been a bit nervous of meeting my deadlines, but Whiterock helped me feel really assured and when the loan was agreed the funds were transferred in a really timely manner which helped me with my plans to buy the property.
The deal with the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will really help us go to the next level, building on what we already have and attracting even more people from all around the world.
The 70m fund offers a range of commercial finance options including debt finance and equity investment to support businesses from all sectors in Northern Ireland and at different growth stages.
Whiterock manages the debt fund, offering loans of 25,000 up to 2million while Clarendon Fund Managers provide equity stakes in smaller businesses up to 5million.
To book a stay at the Harrison Chambers of Distinction, visit www.chambersofdistinction.com.
To find out more about the fund, visit www.investmentfundnorthernireland.co.uk
A Co Antrim woman who knocked down and severely injured a pedestrian in the car park of her local Tesco was today banned from driving for a year.
Imposing the 12-month disqualification on Lesley Kennedy (64), District Judge Nigel Broderick said the case highlighted that, with a lot of things going on in supermarket car parks, drivers have to have your wits about you, including for other vehicles and pedestrians.
Photo from Fr McCaffertys student ID card when James Donaghy's abuse was at its worst
The Bishop of Down and Connor has apologised for the misjudged and unfair manner in which it handled the case of a vulnerable young cleric who was abused by predator priest James Donaghy.
It comes almost six months after the diocese received the final report of a review led by Dr Tony McGleenan KC into how the late Bishop Patrick Walsh dealt with a complaint by Fr Paddy McCafferty.
Bishop Alan McGuckian said the protection of children and vulnerable adults must always be a priority for the Church, but he acknowledged its focus on child sex abuse had eclipsed the clerics report of being abused by the paedophile priest as a vulnerable young adult.
Fr McCafferty came forward out of concern for others who could be at risk, he said.
He showed courage and leadership in the face of incredulity, disbelief and animosity on the part of many, including clergy of the diocese.
At the time of the abuse Fr McCafferty was a vulnerable young adult.
It is clear now that the report of his abuse was eclipsed by the dioceses focus on child sexual abuse. This should not have occurred.
What Fr McCafferty reported in extensive written detail, in 2003, was clearly criminal.
The Bishop said that in contemporary Church law the sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult victim is of no less magnitude than the abuse of a minor which was not recognised at that time in the case of a dominant adult abuser and a vulnerable young victim.
The senior cleric also referred to a newspaper article published in 2012 after Donaghy had been convicted that printed assertions by the diocese that there was an equal standing between an adult abuser and a vulnerable adult and described the stance taken as misjudged and unfair to Fr McCafferty who was not believed and supported by the diocese when he should have been.
On behalf of the diocese, I apologise to Fr McCafferty most sincerely and I readily acknowledge the toll all of this has taken on him over the years since his initial reporting in 2001, Bishop McGuckian continued.
An earlier statement made by the diocese in 2006, following the decision of the PPS not to prosecute James Donaghy, supported the then alleged perpetrator at the expense of his victims.
In the light of his subsequent conviction as an abuser, the statement was ill-judged.
The 2006 diocesan statement also clearly compounded the hurt and pain for all the victims.
Bishop McGuckian said that even when Donaghy was finally convicted there was a lack of demonstrable regret in the apology from the diocese for the wrongs done to his victims.
I want to take this opportunity now to apologise sincerely to all the victims in that case and all cases, he added.
Courageous victims have led the way in uncovering abuse.
Fr Paddys speaking out has encouraged others to come forward. I welcome this and in turn I encourage anyone who has suffered abuse to come forward. We, as a diocese, will ensure that our response is victim-centred, professional and just.
The diocese encourages anyone who has concerns, suspicions or allegations of abuse to come forward and to report that abuse to the statutory authorities or to the appropriate safeguarding representatives.
Donaghy was dismissed from the priesthood by Pope Francis in 2015 for the good of the Church while serving a 10 year jail sentence for abusing three victims following a trial in 2011.
The paedophile, who had already stepped down in 2004, was convicted again of indecently assaulting a boy and in 2013 was given two more years in jail to run concurrently.
Fr McCafferty helped jail Donaghy and has published a book about the silence of shame after suffering years of rapes and violent sexual assaults at the hands of Donaghy when he was a young student training for the priesthood.
On Thursday, he accepted the apology as an important step towards further healing and recovery on what has a very long and painful road.
When I was being raped and abused as a young adult, by the then Fr Jim Donaghy, the way I coped was to dissociate and pretend it wasnt happening, said.
I didnt feel anything even though I was being physically subjected to violent acts of depravity. I left my body and became an onlooker to what he was doing to me.
For decades, I have suffered, since the abuse stopped, with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Two and a half years ago, the enormity of what Donaghy inflicted hit me like a ton of bricks.
This is because I was now strong enough to face the horror of what I suffered.
I welcome todays apology from Bishop Alan on behalf of the diocese of Down and Connor.
NI TikToker Kyle Thomas will be the subject of a new documentary commissioned by BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland
NI TikToker Kyle Thomas will be the subject of a new documentary commissioned by BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland
Controversial TikToker Kyle Thomas is set to be the subject of a new documentary film which will follow his efforts to build a zoo for his exotic animals.
Kyle Thomas originally from Kent but based in the Lisburn area is one of the UKs most popular video personalities on the social media platform.
His videos regularly document his collection of animals, frequently posting videos of them online to his 35.4 million TikTok and 1.5 million Instagram followers. He was also featured on this years Forbes Under 30.
The 19-year-olds efforts to open the zoo, which was to be based in Stoneyford in Co Antrim, will now be the subject of a documentary commissioned by BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland and produced by Waddell Media.
In January it was reported the land on which Mr Thomas zoo was situated had been sold and the animals moved from the site.
The official logline for the documentary states the one-off film digs into the social media sensations controversial past when he posted clips of his animals that drew criticism from animal rights activists and the media alike.
"As he tries to move on and find suitable forever homes for his 39 animals (and after a failed attempt to create his own sanctuary), Kyle teams up with Co Tyrone builder Phil Hughes, and the duo are now planning to turn Phils existing modest petting farm into a world class wildlife park for Kyles animals and other unwanted exotics.
The controversial past refers to how earlier this year, it was revealed Thomas was being investigated by police and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) over the death of the capybara, named Queen Elizabeth, in 2022.
However, Daera recently said it had closed its investigation, having found no welfare concerns.
It is understood the PSNI has now also closed its criminal investigation pending further evidence.
Three people were prosecuted for illegally importing the capybara a species native to South America into Northern Ireland.
Mr Thomass mother, Zena Foorde, was convicted of keeping a wild animal without a licence. Her conviction came after a vet alerted the authorities after treating the capybara, which later died, for an illness.
The highly social rodents normally inhabit forests and savannas. It is not against UK law to own one.
Thomas continues to post videos on TikTok about his wild animals and recently said he is planning on travelling to Malaysia for a unknown project with Channel 4.
Smoke plume seen across Dublin as firefighters battle large blaze
Emergency services are battling a large fire at an industrial premises in the Clonshaugh/Coolock area of North Dublin, which can be seen from across the city.
A large plume of smoke can be seen from across the city and by passengers flying in and out of Dublin Airport.
Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade are currently attending the fire at Clonshaugh Industrial Estate in the Clonshaugh/Coolock area of Dublin 17.
Flights at the airport have not been affected, although local people have been advised to remain indoors.
An image of the scene in the Clonshaugh area. Source: Dublin Fire Brigade
The fire is understood to be at a business premises that neighbours a data centre owned by US tech giant Amazon.
Gardai from Santry Station are currently providing assistance to Dublin Fire Brigade at an industrial fire occurring at a premises in the Clonshaugh are of Dublin 17, a garda spokesperson said.
Six fire engines including a turntable ladder are at an industrial unit fire off the Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock, Dublin Fire Brigade said.
At 16.59 hrs Dublin Fire Brigade received multiple 999 calls reporting a fire in an industrial unit off the Oscar Traynor Road.
At present six fire engines including a turntable ladder are fighting the fire and Dublin Fire Brigade are advising as a precaution for local residents to close all windows and doors if affected by smoke.
"This is an ongoing operation and we expect to be at scene for the foreseeable, Dublin Fire Brigade said in an updated statement.
If you can smell smoke we're advising local residents to close all windows and doors as a precaution
Smoke is drifting across the locality, they advised.
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A garda spokesperson added that Dublin Fire Brigade currently have primacy at the scene.
"Gardai are assisting with traffic management at this time, they said.
The industrial premises is around 2km from the disused former Crown Paints factory earmarked for asylum accommodation that has been the focus of protests and arson attacks in recent weeks, leading to initial online speculation that that premises was again on fire. However, this evenings fire is at a different location.
Dublin Airport has said the fire, close to the airport, is not impacting any flights.
A fire in the Santry area is resulting in smoke blowing towards the airport this evening. This is not impacting on operations at the airport and flights continue to operate as normal.
"The airport team, in collaboration with AirNav Ireland, continue to monitor the situation, a spokesperson for airport operator DAA said.
Social media users from across the city have been posting pictures and videos of the large blaze.
Emergency services are at the scene of a massive fire in Coolock in north dublin @rtenews pic.twitter.com/o4EIpuw75X Samantha Libreri (@SamanthaLibreri) August 1, 2024
The fire is visible from Dublin Airport also.
A fire in North Dublin, seen from Dublin Airport pic.twitter.com/XVE7vvL3NO Diari Liffey (@DiariLiffey) August 1, 2024
Here is the fire from a closer angle posted by one social media user
Huge fire has broken out in Dublin.
It wouldn't surprise me if it's something to do with batteries (smoke looks very much like other battery fires I've posted)pic.twitter.com/fQgxfl85xQ Volcaholic (@volcaholic1) August 1, 2024
More to follow...
Irelands premier has welcomed the release of Irish citizen Paul Whelan from prison in Russia.
Mr Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who also holds Irish citizenship, was designated as wrongfully detained following his arrest in December 2018 after he had travelled to Russia for a wedding.
He was convicted of espionage charges which he and the US said were false, and was serving a 16-year sentence.
His release comes as part of the biggest prisoner swap between the US and Russia in post-Soviet history.
Others released by Moscow include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he had received confirmation from the US government that Mr Whelan was part of a prisoner exchange on Thursday.
The process had been negotiated for months.
Mr Harris said: I have spoken to the US ambassador in Ireland who confirmed the news.
I know this will be an enormous relief to his family who have campaigned for many years for his release.
I would also like to thank Irelands diplomatic team in Russia and our consular team in Dublin for their years of tireless work on this case.
An Irish teenager has been arrested in Portugal on suspicion of attempted homicide after several Dutch holidaymakers were attacked (PA)
An Irish teenager has been arrested in Portugal on suspicion of attempted homicide after several Dutch holidaymakers were attacked.
Police in the Algarve said that an intense and violent fight broke out between a number of Irish and Dutch holidaymakers.
On Wednesday, the 19-year-old Irishman was arrested for attempted qualified homicide following the alleged fight, which happened in the popular area of Albufeira on Monday.
The Judicial Police (PJ) said that the victims, four men, were attacked with a sharp weapon, causing injuries that put their lives in danger and required hospitalisation.
According to the investigation by the Southern Directorate of the PJ, the attacks occurred following an argument, which led to an exchange of insults and which quickly escalated into a physical confrontation.
The attacks were carried out in an intense and violent manner between three Irish citizens and nine Dutch citizens, aged between 17 and 21, inside the apartment complex where they were staying, a spokesman for the PJ said.
During the investigations carried out, evidence was collected that led to the complete identification of the suspect and subsequent arrest outside of flagrant crime.
The detainee will be brought before the competent judicial authorities for the first judicial interrogation and application of coercive measures.
The investigation is led by the Public Prosecutors Office, Department of Investigation and Criminal Prosecution of Albufeira.
Officers walk past a burnt out police vehicle as they are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool (PA)
Sir Keir Starmer has warned social media carries responsibility over tackling misinformation in the wake of violent protests around the country following the stabbings in Southport.
The Prime Minister said the Government would uphold the law everywhere, including online, where far-right groups have been accused of inciting violence and stirring division in the wake of the tragedy, which has led to unrest in Southport, London and Hartlepool.
Speaking directly to social media firms during a press conference in Downing Street, Sir Keir said: Violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, its happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.
That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer answers questions during a press conference in Downing Street (Henry Nicholls/PA)
But he added that it was important for Government and tech firms to work together to keep the country safe, saying government blaming everybody else and pointing fingers does not work well.
The Prime Minister said there is a discussion to be had about companies striking the right balance, warning social media carries responsibility, but suggested he wanted to work together to keep the country safe.
He added: What has not worked well recently with the previous government, in my view, is the performative politics of a government blaming everybody else and pointing fingers. That approach to me is not effective.
My approach is different, which is to roll my sleeves up, get the relevant people around the table and fix the problems, and meet the challenges that we have as a country.
We did that with law enforcement and police this afternoon similar approach with social media, which is not performative politics which gets us nowhere, but the politics of service, which is to actually work together to address the challenges that we have and make sure that we keep the country safe and respect the values of our fellow citizens, which are about law enforcement, security and safety.
Earlier this week, Merseyside Police issued a warning over the spreading online of an incorrect name for the Southport attacker now named as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana and a false story around his background.
People attending the Enough is Enough protest in Westminster (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, highlighted a number of high-profile online figures, including Laurence Fox and former kickboxer Andrew Tate, who were sharing that false information on X, formerly Twitter.
A number of experts said this misinformation had been used by a vocal minority to sow division and fuel their own agenda and trigger a summer of thrill-seeking impulsive insurrection following violent disorder in Southport, London and Hartlepool in the days since the attack.
John Coxhead, a professor of policing at Staffordshire University, said groups were being cynically stirred up by opportunistic populists with nothing better to do.
Social media giant X has come under increased scrutiny since being taken over by billionaire Elon Musk in late 2022.
Mr Musks approach to running the platform has been heavily criticised after he substantially cut staff numbers and rowed back on the sites verification and content moderation systems, claiming he wanted to allow absolute free speech on the site.
Under his leadership, the company has also restored the accounts of many figures previously banned for breaking site rules around hate speech, including far-right figures in the UK such as Tommy Robinson real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and Katie Hopkins.
Since then, many users claim to have seen an increase in hateful content, as well as pornography and spam posts and accounts, despite Mr Musk claiming he would defeat the bots after taking over the company.
Court artist drawing of 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana (centre) covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, following a knife attack in Southport (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
A 17-year-old charged with the murder of three girls in the Southport knife attack has now been named as Axel Rudakubana.
Questions were raised after the teenagers arrest about why his identity had not been made public while detectives were given more time to question him.
He has also since been charged with the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults, as well as possession of a kitchen knife.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Andrew Menary KC ruled he would not impose reporting restrictions to keep the defendants identity anonymous and said: Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.
Earlier in the day, Rudakubana appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court, which was sitting as a youth court where automatic reporting restrictions were applied due to his age.
The boy was not identified earlier this week because of his age amid active ongoing criminal proceedings.
The criminal age of responsibility in England and Wales is 10-years-old, meaning children aged between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime.
The identity of defendants and witnesses under the age of 18 who are subject to criminal proceedings in youth courts is protected by automatic reporting restrictions under Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
If a child is charged with an offence and is facing criminal proceedings in adult courts magistrates and crown courts then magistrates and judges have legal powers to grant anonymity to a child defendant, witness or victim under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
Police officers and a police van block the vehicle entrance at Liverpool Magistrates Court (Danny Lawson/PA)
Both of these laws ban the press from publishing a child defendants name or any detail which could lead to them being identified while the reporting restrictions remain in place.
This is why media reports sometimes say they cannot identify a child involved in a criminal court case for legal reasons.
The automatic restrictions technically begin once court proceedings are active when a suspect has been charged and is appearing in court for the first time.
But media organisations typically refrain from identifying any child arrested on suspicion of a crime, having considered their ethical and other legal responsibilities, because there is the prospect this could then lead to prosecution and court proceedings where the reporting restrictions in question will activate.
Press regulator IPSO advises editors to generally avoid naming children under the age of 18 after arrest for a criminal offence but before they appear in a youth court unless they can show that the individuals name is already in the public domain, or that the individual (or, if they are under 16, a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult) has given their consent, adding: This does not restrict the right to name juveniles who appear in a crown court, or whose anonymity is lifted.
If restrictions are imposed, or automatic restrictions apply, child defendants remain anonymous throughout legal proceedings and the rulings can be challenged usually by reporters after the court case has ended.
If a child is convicted of a crime, having either pleaded guilty or been found guilty after a trial, magistrates and judges have powers to lift reporting restrictions so the defendant can be identified in some circumstances, including if this is considered in the public interest.
Media may try to challenge the anonymity order if identifying the child could help to maintain public confidence in the justice system, or deter others from offending, by allowing full details of the case to be reported.
There could be a strong public interest in lifting reporting restrictions when the convicted child had been involved in significant disorder so the public can be satisfied an offender has been brought to justice, or if the case involved serious offences which undermined the publics confidence in the safety of their communities, for example.
In February, teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were identified for the first time as they were both handed life sentences for the sadistic 2023 murder of transgender 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, after a judge lifted a ban on them being named by the press.
But the restrictions automatically end when the child turns 18.
In Rudakubanas crown court hearing, in light of applications by lawyers to impose a section 45 restriction, Judge Andrew Menary said: Whilst I accept it is exceptional, given his age, principally because he is 18 in six days time, I do not make an order under section 45.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads a prayer over the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Irans supreme leader and representatives of Palestinian militias he backs prayed on Thursday over the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed in an assassination blamed on Israel that risked escalating into an all-out regional war.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over Mr Haniyehs coffin at Tehran University while Irans new president Masoud Pezeshkian stood next to him. State television later showed the coffins placed in a truck and moved on the street toward Azadi Square in Tehran and people throwing flowers at them.
After the funeral services in Tehran, Mr Haniyehs remains are to be transferred to Qatar for burial on Friday.
Mr Haniyeh came to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Mr Pezeshkian. Associated Press photos showed the Hamas leader seated alongside leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group and Hezbollah, and Iranian media showed him and Mr Pezeshkian hugging. Mr Haniyeh had met earlier Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iranians follow a truck carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Hours later, he was killed in an airstrike that hit a residence Mr Haniyeh uses in Tehran. Iranian authorities said the attack is under investigation but have not provided details.
Israel had pledged to kill Mr Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the groups October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The strike came just hours after Israel targeted a top commander in Irans ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Iran supports Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said all parties in the Middle East must avoid escalatory actions that could plunge the region into further conflict.
Speaking in the Mongolian capital of Ulaaanbataar on Thursday, Mr Blinken appealed for countries to make the right choices in the days ahead and said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was the only way to begin to break the current cycle of violence and suffering.
Mr Blinken did not mention Israel, Iran or Hamas by name in his comments.
Bitter regional rivals, Israel and Iran risked plunging into war earlier this year when Israel hit Irans embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each others soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
During Mr Pezeshkians inauguration ceremony, in his speech, he spoke in support of Palestinians, saying: Iran demands a world where no Palestinian childs dreams are buried under the rubble of their home.
We are seeking a world where the proud people of Palestine are freed from occupation, oppression and imprisonment and genocide, Mr Pezeshkian said.
On Thursday, Irans Revolutionary Guard said that an Iranian military adviser died in the Israeli airstrike in Beirut earlier in the week that killed a senior Hezbollah commander.
In a statement on its website, the Guard identified the adviser as Milad Bidi, saying he had been operating in Syria and Lebanon. The Guard has advisers in both countries working with key allies Hezbollah, the Syrian government and other militias.
The Guard did not specify the day of the strike that killed Mr Bidi, but Tuesday evenings attack was the only Israeli strike hit in the Lebanese capital since January. The strike hit a building in a Beirut suburb, killing Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, along with at least five civilians.
Mr Shukurs funeral was set to take place on Thursday in Beirut.
Singapore said it is deeply concerned about developments in the Middle East, including the killing of Mr Haniyeh, who was involved in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This puts at risk efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement that would allow for the release of all hostages and facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Singapore called on all parties to take steps to de-escalate tensions to avoid a wider regional conflagration.
Al-Qassam previously holding a celebration and a military parade to honour the families of the martyrs in northern Gaza (Alamy/PA)
Mohammed Deif, Hamass longtime shadowy military leader and one of the alleged masterminds of the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, is said to be dead following an Israeli airstrike last month.
The Israeli military said it killed Mr Deif in a massive strike in southern Gaza on July 13, citing an intelligence assessment.
One of the founders of Hamass military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s, Mr Deif led the unit for decades. Under his command, it carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis on buses and at cafes and built up a formidable arsenal of rockets that could strike deep into Israel and often did.
He gained mythical status among Palestinians, surviving a string of Israeli assassination attempts and not showing his face in public for decades. For years, he topped Israels most-wanted list.
Israel says Mr Deif and Hamass political leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, were the chief architects of the October 7 attack. Together they succeeded in foiling Israels vaunted border defences, surprising the regions most powerful military and unleashing an unprecedented attack that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 others hostage into Gaza.
A graphic released by Israel Defence Forces announcing the death of Mohammed Deif (Israel Defence Forces via AP)
The attack triggered the Israel-Hamas war that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
On the morning of the attack, Hamas issued a rare voice recording of Mr Deif announcing the Al Aqsa Flood operation. In the message, he railed against military raids in the occupied West Bank and violence in east Jerusalem and called on all Palestinians to rise up and take part.
Enough is enough, he said. Kill, burn, destroy and block the roads. Make them understand that the Al Aqsa Flood is more powerful than they think and believe.
The militarys claim that he was dead came a day after Hamass political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an alleged Israeli strike on Tehran.
Those developments could help set the tone for the remainder of the war. They could imperil ceasefire talks and raise fears of a regional escalation.
But the alleged demise of Mr Deif, a long-wanted figure said to be behind the deadliest attack in Israels history, would also be a major win for Israel. It could present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a political off-ramp to end the war, allowing him to retreat from his lofty promises of total victory while showing Israelis that Hamass military capabilities suffered a debilitating blow.
At the same time, his killing would be a significant setback for Hamas, both symbolically and strategically, since it may have lost a unique player in the Palestinian armed struggle against Israel, even if that struggle likely will not end with Mr Deifs alleged death.
Born Mohammed al-Masri and believed to be 58 or 59, his nom de guerre, Deif, means guest in Arabic a moniker that reflected his tendency to change locations frequently to hide from Israel.
Mr Deif, like Mr Sinwar, grew up in a refugee camp of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in the mid-1960s. Gaza is home to several such camps whose inhabitants fled or were forced from their homes in what is now Israel during the war surrounding the countrys establishment in 1948.
Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 13 (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
He is believed to have joined Hamas shortly after the formation of the Islamist Palestinian group in the late 1980s, at the onset of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The groups ideology calls for armed resistance and the violent destruction of Israel.
In 1989, during the height of the uprising, Mr Deif was arrested by Israel but later released.
Michael Koubi, a former director of the investigations department at Israels Shin Bet domestic security agency, is one of the few Israelis to have met Mr Deif personally when he was a quiet, bookish 16-year-old imprisoned in a detention facility in Khan Younis for throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers.
He was very, very patriotic, very involved in the intifada, Mr Koubi said.
He would go on to found Hamass network in the West Bank in 1993, the year that Israel reached an interim peace agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the Israeli military said. That same year, he was also promoted to the head of Hamass armed wing, it said.
Israel holds Mr Deif responsible for plotting many attacks that killed scores of Israeli civilians, including the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldier Nahshon Wachsman in the West Bank in October 1994, and suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon in 1996.
The attacks in the mid-90s are widely believed to have tipped the 1996 Israeli election in favour of Benjamin Netanyahu, who eked out a surprise victory over the more moderate front-runner Shimon Peres.
Under Mr Netanyahus lengthy leadership and his successive nationalist governments, the prospects of an independent Palestinian state have grown dimmer, chances that have further diminished because of Hamass attack and the war.
Under Mr Deifs watch, Hamas developed its rocket programme, beginning with rudimentary weapons capable of travelling just a few kilometres and evolving into an arsenal that struck deep inside Israel, reaching its seaside metropolis Tel Aviv and the foothills of Jerusalem.
He was also in command when soldier Gilad Schalit was kidnapped into Gaza in 2006. Mr Schalit would be released five years later in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a trade that set Mr Sinwar free.
Mr Deif is also thought to have helped expand Hamass labyrinth of underground tunnels in Gaza where he is believed to have hidden during the ongoing war.
Mr Koubi said Mr Deifs fingerprints were all over the October 7 attack, from its sweeping scope to the more surprising aspects such as the paragliders who flew over the fence and landed in the border communities at the start of the attack.
He was very creative, he said.
There are few photos of Mr Deif, and he is thought to be unrecognisable to most Palestinians.
He has been so elusive that even his appearance was a point of speculation. Some media reports say he was paralysed and used a wheelchair for years following injuries he sustained during past assassination attempts, while others reported he was able to walk unassisted.
In 2014, Palestinian media said his wife and two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike, one of the many failed attempts to kill him.
Moshe Fuzaylov, a long-time investigator and former senior official for the Shin Bet, said that if Mr Deif was killed, it could open a window of opportunity where Hamas will be in disarray, including over Mr Haniyehs death. It could push the group toward a ceasefire with Israel while they are in a weakened state.
Its a morale hit and a very strong operational hit, and it changes this organisation from something that has two legs to lean on to one that is limping, he said.
But it would not necessarily be a death blow for Hamas.
Israel has targeted Hamas political and military leaders in the past, said Khaled el-Gindy, an analyst specialising in Palestinian affairs with the Washington-based Middle East Institute.
But leaders are always replaceable.
Public Domain
In today's society, a Saint is most commonly associated with the Catholic Church. While the Catholic Church does not maintain a definitive list of named saints, the number is easily over 10,000. However, popular Catholic saints are not just related to the Church; many religions and cultures have identified individuals as saints, and we as a culture have embraced those individuals and their life stories.
It is often said that the Church does not make a saint; God does. Individuals who become names as saints most often demonstrate the qualities of being a positive role model and teacher who exemplifies generous and unselfish behavior. Often, saints are believed in their lifetime to be channels for God in some fashion. Saints are believed to have a life mission where they intercede for the salvation of others and help humanity to evolve. In many cases, the life of the saint, over time, becomes something of legend that inspires, guides us toward our truth and tells of the time in which they lived.
A specific group chooses Saints at times or causes because of the values that the saint espoused to be the Patron Saint for the group or cause. While saints are not to be prayed to or worshiped, often we keep pictures or statues of those saints whose struggles or virtues are relevant to what we face in our own lives nearby, just as we keep pictures of our ancestors nearby in order to magnify the feeling that they are close to us, especially in times of crisis. The following ten famous saints are shared across many religions and cultures. Learn about their lives and virtues to find a Catholic saint who can help to motivate and inspire you along life's journey.
St. Patrick
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. His symbol is the shamrock. Ironically, St. Patrick was not Irish. He is believed to have been born in Scotland. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by pirates and forced into slavery in Ireland as a sheep herder. After six years in captivity, legend says he received a dream from God guiding him to escape. He continued his life, becoming a priest and then a bishop, returning to Ireland after another dream guided him to do so. St. Patrick spent the rest of his life traveling through Ireland, converting the country to Christianity and writing his Memoir. Legend also speaks of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland; while there is no evidence that there were ever snakes in Ireland, the snakes could have been a metaphor for the eradication of pagan religions. St. Patrick was humble and courageous. St. Patrick has been said to help those who interpret dreams and follow divine guidance.
St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis was born in Italy to a wealthy family. He served as a soldier. During the war, he was captured as a prisoner of war and held for ransom, which his father paid after nearly a year of imprisonment. During his imprisonment, St. Francis began receiving visions that told him to build God's church. After his release from prison, he abandoned his life of luxury to spread the word of God. Later in his life, legend says that he received a vision that left him with "the stigmata of Christ," meaning marks that resemble the wounds Christ suffered at his crucifixion. St. Francis is the first recorded person to receive the stigmata.
St. Francis is known for his compassion and his deep connection to all beings, particularly the animal kingdom. During his lifetime, he cared for the sick and the poor. St. Francis traveled the countryside delivering sermons to humans and animals. He believed all creatures were his brothers and sisters under God. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.
St. Valentine
Little factual information is known about this saint. Some legends claim he was a priest or possibly a bishop who went against the direction of the Emperor by marrying young couples. It was the Emperor's theory that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers. Other legends claim that the Emperor simply forbade the marrying of Christians. Whatever the reason for the mandate, it is believed St. Valentine was beheaded for defying the Emperor's edict around 270 A.D.
St. Valentine is believed to have been a kind-hearted and compassionate soul. As with many who go on to become saints after their death, St. Valentine was persecuted for his beliefs. It was his courageous behavior demonstrated by acting as he believed was right despite the consequences that led to his death and also his martyrdom. Some scholars believe that St. Valentine was not actually recognized at the time but that it was actually the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer who rewrote history, creating Valentine's Day as a holiday. However, romance and love are not all St. Valentine is known for. St. Valentine is known as the patron saint of lovers and romance. St. Valentine also is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy.
St. Christopher
According to legend, St. Christopher was a very tall, strong man who served as the king of his time. St. Christopher determined he wanted to serve the greatest king, so he left his human king's service to serve the devil. While serving the devil, St. Christopher saw that the devil was afraid of the cross and Jesus Christ. Seeing this, St. Christopher left the service of the devil in search of Jesus Christ so that he could serve the greatest of kings. For some time, St. Christopher believed he was serving God by carrying people across a dangerous river on his shoulders. Because of his size and strength, he could easily carry people across the river, while others of lesser strength would succumb to the currents and drown. One day, a small child asked St. Christopher if he could carry the child across the river. As they entered the river with the child on his shoulders, the river became turbulent, and the child became heavier than anyone St. Christopher had ever carried. When they reached the other side, the child revealed that he was, in fact, Jesus Christ. This story has been passed down from century to century. It is because of this legend that St. Christopher is known as the patron saint of travelers.
St. Bernadette
St. Bernadette lived in Lourdes, France. As a teenager, she began receiving visions from the Virgin Mary. Throughout her life, she was reported to receive 18 visions from the Virgin Mary. These visions guided her to dig in the ground, where there appeared only to be dry dirt, to open up a spring. The spring at Lourdes still flows today. The water from that spring is believed to have healing properties. When Bernadette reported her visions, she was interrogated and threatened with imprisonment. However, St. Bernadette did not waiver and continued to speak her truth. Later visions instructed St. Bernadette to build a chapel. Today, Lourdes, with its healing spring and chapel, is a pilgrimage site for people all over the world. Over the centuries, many who have made this pilgrimage have experienced miraculous healing after drinking the spring water. St. Bernadette is the patron saint of illness, those who are ridiculed for their beliefs, people experiencing poverty and shepherds.
St. Anthony
was born into Portuguese nobility. He was very intelligent and spent most of his youth focusing on his studies, especially those related to theology, sacred texts and the church. After the death of 5 Franciscan monks who were murdered in Morocco by the Moslems, St. Anthony was so moved by their faith and suffering that led to their death that he decided to dedicate his life to preaching the gospel to the Moslems. St. Anthony was an eloquent and passionate preacher who claimed to preach by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through him. Throughout his life, St. Anthony spent his time preaching the gospel, organizing relief efforts for the poor, the abolition of debtor's prisons and advocating for the release of prisoners of war. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things, lost causes and, most importantly, lost souls.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine was the son of a minor officiant of the Roman Empire. He was born on the northern coast of Africa in 354 A.D. At 16, his parents sent him away to attend university in Carthage. Soon after leaving for school, St. Augustine's father died. After his father's death, St. Augustine took to a life of partying and sin, living with his concubine and the mother of his child. While St. Augustine was interested in religion and mythology, it wasn't until he was 32 that he experienced a spiritual awakening that would lead him to renounce his career and life of sin and partying to dedicate his life to God. For the rest of his life, St. Augustine committed to living a life of poverty. Ultimately, St. Augustine became a bishop of the church and wrote over 800 sermons and letters on religious topics at the time.
St. Augustine's miraculous conversion is shared as an inspiration for those who are struggling with a vice or a habit they are trying to break. It is because of this conversion and his partying ways as a young man that St. Augustine is known as the patron saint of patron of brewers and of those who struggle with a vice or habit they wish to break.
St. Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc was born a peasant girl in France during medieval times. It was during these times that France and England were embroiled in what historians now refer to as the Hundred Years' War. As a child, Joan took care of the family's animals and became a skilled seamstress. Around the age of 10, Joan of Arc began having spiritual visions that instructed her to live a virtuous and God-fearing life. As Joan of Arc grew, the visions she received became more and more vivid. At 16, Joan's visions instructed her to lead an army into war to support the efforts to take back France from the English and restore the French thrown. Joan and her army won their first battle, known as "The Battle of Orleans"; however, in a subsequent battle, she was captured and taken prisoner. Ultimately, Joan of Arc was turned over to the church, which charged her with multiple crimes, including witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man. St. Joan of Arc was convicted of the charges and publicly burned at the stake at the age of 19.
St. Joan of Arc is a patron saint of soldiers, prisoners, captives, the Woman's Army Corps and France. St. Joan of Arc's integrity, courage and strength of character are an inspiration and remind us that anyone can make a difference.
St. Catherine
St. Catherine was born to nobility in Alexandria, Egypt, sometime in the 4th century. Nothing factual is known of her life, and legends vary. She is thought to have been very beautiful and intelligent. Legends say that she was a student of philosophy medicine and spoke numerous languages. She loved to read, and it was through her love of reading that she learned about Christianity. She never married, refusing to marry any man she did not consider her equal.
At the age of 18, legends say that she challenged the emperor on the issue of Christianity. The emperor is said to have brought in 50 philosophers to debate her ideas on Christianity. The outcome of this was that she converted all 50 of them and others, including the empress herself. When the emperor ordered St. Catherine to be his mistress, she refused and was subsequently tortured on a spiked wheel. When the wheel miraculously fell apart, the emperor had her beheaded.
St. Catherine is said to be one of the voices heard by Joan of Arc. Some legends believed her to have had a mystical marriage to Christ. She is the patron saint to philosophers, wheelwrights, mechanics, millers, scribes and preachers. She is considered a protector of young girls.
St. Padre Pio
St. Padre Pio was born in a small farming town in Italy in 1887. His family was a strong family of faith, and by the age of 5, St. Padre Pio dedicated his life to God. Even as a small child, his family reported that he loved to pray and loved the church. In early childhood, St. Padre Pio communicated with spiritual guides, angels, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. St. Padre Pio joined an order of Friars at 15 years old and, by the age of 23, was ordained as a priest. It is said that even spending a few moments in St. Padre Pio's presence was life-changing.
St. Padre Pio suffered from ill health his entire life, although the cause of this was never found and after offering himself as a "victim for poor sinners and souls in purgatory," at the age of 31, the stigmata of Christ, the wounds of Christ, appeared on his hands, feet and side remaining there painfully for 50 years.
St. Padre Pio was a tireless worker, being of service in the church and hospitals, consistently working 19-hour days without ever being known to take a vacation day in all of his 51 years. His miraculous healing and protection from harm are legendary. St. Padre Pio is the patron saint of civil defense workers, adolescents and stress relief.
Each of these ten famous Catholic saints has an amazing life story that tells of faith, courage and bravery in the face of adversity. Their stories are inspirational. Not only do these stories motivate us to become the best we can be, but they also provide us with a unique historical perspective of the time in which each saint lived. Select a saint that you connect with or a patron of a cause you are passionate about and learn more about them. Open yourself up to allow that saint to help you, to motivate you and to inspire you along your life's journey.
Dawn Demers is a Strategic Coach, Change Master and speaker. Dawns training includes Pranic Healing, Reiki and other healing modalities in addition to traditional bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in business and psychology. Learn more about Dawn at ACORDA Strategic Coaching.
Bennington, VT (05201)
Today
Cloudy. Some light rain will fall throughout the day. High 56F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Tonight
Cloudy with occasional rain...mainly this evening. Low around 40F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
PITTSFIELD Theres a splash pad at The Common, and another at Clapp Park, providing cool summer fun for children of all ages. Chances are, if youve seen kids playing in the water at either park, you havent seen them frown.
So why not a splash pad at Durant Park, too?
Residents of the West Side wanted one. So they asked. And the answer was yes.
Theres no timeline for construction and completion. But James McGrath, the city's park, open space, and natural resource program manager, hopes a third splash pad for city children can be up and running within the next 24 months.
On Thursday, the Conservation Commission will consider the proposal from the city of Pittsfield Parks and Recreation Department. If permits are approved, McGrath said, that will allow the department to finalize construction costs and seek funding. The project is presently estimated at between $350,000 and $450,000, McGrath said.
This has been a project we have been working on the past year. Its something that was brought to our attention by the users of Durant Park and other park stakeholders, McGrath said. Given that theres [a splash pad] at the Common and one at Clapp, they felt its important for the park to provide one at Durant as well. We felt the same way.
Tony Jackson of West Side Legends, a community nonprofit group dedicated to improving the neighborhoods quality of life, said the idea was first raised at a Smart Growth America meeting convened by the Berkshire Regional Planning Council. That's where someone asked why Durant Park didnt have a splash park while two others did.
Collectively the group decided to ask [for the splash pad], and there was more than agreement, Jackson said. They said Yeah, lets make it happen.
The proposal requires Conservation Commission approval because the park, at John Street and Columbus Avenue, is adjacent to the West Branch of the Housatonic River, and within the river's 100-year flood plain.
One positive for the project: Durant Park already has city water service, and a building on the site with bathrooms and room for water controls. The benefit of restrooms on site is incredibly important for these types of operations to be successful, McGrath said.
About that water infrastructure: It uses copper pipe to comply with state plumbing codes, and a few people see dollar signs where most others see a public good.
Thieves stole copper pipe from both the Common and Clapp Park earlier this year, leading to delays in reopening those splash pads.
"The city is making security modifications to many of our park restroom buildings," McGrath said when asked if the Durant Park splashpad would be designed to minimize that risk. "This will include better locks, alarms and cameras."
According to the application, brought forward by Berkshire Design Group on behalf of the city, the pad will be 700 square feet and will connect to other park features with asphalt paths. The finished splash pad will not affect the amount of water the floodplain can hold, according to the submission.
Durant Park, formerly Pitt Park, has seen a number of upgrades since it was renamed for the late Rev. Willard Durant and his wife, the late Rosemary Durant, in 2015 amid overwhelming support. It's annually the home of the city Juneteenth celebration.
The Rev. Durant, who died in 2013, was pastor at AME Zion Price Memorial Church, and executive director of The Christian Center on Robbins Avenue. Rosemary Durant, who passed in 2010, was The Christian Centers program director.
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PITTSFIELD Lack of transportation and cell service. Income eligibility. Staff retention.
Those were among the topics of concern Wednesday as state education officials met with Western Massachusetts child care and early education advocates.
During a listening session at Berkshire Community College, Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler and Early Education and Care Commissioner Amy Kershaw, among other officials from other state departments, welcomed feedback on how to bolster child care and early education in the state.
Many families whod like to access child care simply cannot afford it, Kershaw told The Eagle. Many classrooms are not able to open because theyre not able to recruit and retain teachers. Wages are too low, benefits are too few and far between, so we know we need to adjust those.
The discussion was the 11th of 14 such listening sessions held specifically to gather information to develop the Early Education and Child Care Task Forces strategy to secure affordable and effective child care statewide.
An executive order from Gov. Maura Healey in January resulted in an all-out effort to improve the states comparatively lackluster early education and child care system. Every department in state government is involved in the endeavor.
Studies have ranked Massachusetts lower than expected, given the state's reputation for education, on issues like spending for preschool.
"We're first in the country in so many things K-12 education being among the top and we should also be a leader in child care and early education," Kershaw said. "[It] couldn't be clearer that child care is among the top challenges" for Massachusetts workers.
Since the executive order in January, the task force has come together and planned its report, including collecting best practices based on the listening sessions, concluding the sessions in August, completing an interim report the same month, and putting out the Year One report in December.
Tutwiler said the sessions, in part, are meant to hold up a mirror to state government, ensuring that its agencies are less siloed.
We acknowledge the importance of the sector in terms of creating opportunities for families and caregivers to engage in their professional dreams, he said, to engage with higher education, to have the time and the wherewithal to do whats necessary for their families.
Alice Barber, a child therapist for Northampton Public Schools, spoke of the traumatic impact the pandemic has had on some young children.
It is important that early childhood programs are equipped to handle the mental health challenges children may face, Barber said, adding that small classes, a safe outdoor space and supportive teachers/staff are essential for children, the latter of which involves better retention of teachers.
Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative grants, one of several state funding sources for preschool programs, establish a districtwide preschool program across classes in public and community-based early education and care programs, according to the governors office.
Tamara Stephens of Childcare of the Berkshires said she hoped state money, which has been helpful, would continue to come in. Stevens was one of several to bring up better recruitment of educators.
The grades are improving, but we have to make the child care rates comparable and competitive with public schools if we want a high-quality staff, Stevens said.
Sarah Lipinski, also of Child Care of the Berkshires, pointed out that the money for community programs had only increased 2.7 percent overall in five years.
Our budget has not increased at all in that time, Lipinsky said. Were spending more time trying to find other funding sources.
Melissa Fawcett owns Ready Set Learn, a child care center in Pittsfield that is private pay-only. She said her business lost $30,000 when state grant funding was decreased.
Kellie Brown, the COO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Westfield, urged for certain early education and child care workers to receive the same benefits as state workers.
Katherine von Haefen of Berkshire United Way discussed staffing, noting, A skilled, consistent educator in the classroom creates long-lasting change for children and our families.
She advocated for a search for solutions, which could start regionally, and criticized the current system in the state, as it doesnt provide all educators with basic financial stability.
Folks leave the field because we are unable to make their finances work, she said. In addition to struggling with transportation, affordable housing and lack of mental health resources, we are also seeing a huge rise in economically challenged households.
This still from Season 6, Episode 1 of "Love Is Blind" shows a top-down view of the "pods" that participants meet each other in as part of the experiment. The pods allow romantic hopefuls to meet without actually seeing each other.
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NORTH ADAMS The new North Adams Regional Hospital wont have to worry about money like the old one.
Berkshire Health Systems announced Thursday that NARH has been deemed a critical access hospital. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved the designation on July 31, which applies retroactively to July 12.
Since opening in March, NARH has provided outpatient services to people while waiting on the vital designation, which frees up federal Medicare and Medicaid money.
Reestablishing inpatient beds at the new North Adams Regional Hospital is a key component of our organizations strategy to keep health care services and care close to home, as often as possible, BHS CEO Darlene Rodowicz said in a news release Thursday.
In an interview with The Eagle on Thursday, Rodowicz noted that the designation means NARH can become a swing bed facility: Critical access hospitals with swing bed services allow patients to recover from acute care in the hospital, rather than a nursing home, before heading home.
More importantly, the designation allows us to know well be able to keep the hospital open because the cost of Medicare and Medicaid services we provide will be fully reimbursed, Rodowicz said. We give up the opportunity to create a profit margin. For Medicare and Medicaid, we wont have a loss, but the best well do is break even.
Rodowicz hopes there will be a high enough volume of commercial insurers such as Blue Cross, United, Cigna and Health New England to at least break even and hopefully create a small margin. A 1 percent or 2 percent profit margin would allow the health system to be able to continue to make the capital investments health care requires.
The hospital at this time has the staff to fill up to 12 beds. Under the current plan, the number of beds could increase to 18.
Rodowicz credited U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, as well as the Berkshire delegation of state legislators and others in the region.
Neal said in the release that the designation will have an enormous impact on the Northern Berkshire community.
This designation works to resolve stark inequities in rural and underserved communities as it relates to our nations health system, Neal wrote. I have long advocated for legislation that addresses health equity, allowing everyone to have a fair and just opportunity to achieve their highest level of health, regardless of who they are or where they live.
After multiple surveys from the state Department of Public Health on behalf of CMS, NARH has achieved a yearlong goal with its critical access hospital designation.
Apart from the widely recognized need to get a hospital back in North Adams after NARH abruptly closed in 2014, the main reason BHS was able to open the facility was a change in federal guidelines that would allow for NARH to become a critical access hospital.
The designation triggers increased cost-based reimbursement for provided services, which Rodowicz has said would prevent a reopened North Adams Regional Hospital from operating at a loss. Before the federal change, which was finalized last year, a hospital with inpatient care in the city was not viewed as financially viable.
I am pleased, Neal said, that the work of my colleagues in Congress working with the Biden/Harris administration has led to this Critical Access Hospital designation for North Adams Regional Hospital.
Obtaining the designation was years in the making. Rodowicz said, Its been 10 years of watching the regulations and hoping thered be a time North Adams would be eligible for a critical access hospital.
GREAT BARRINGTON It was their 31st wedding anniversary, and one of them spent it on the toilet. She had been sitting there for days.
Not just one strain of bacteria had rioted in the body of Suzi Banks Baum. There were two bugs: E. coli and campylobacter.
My body was saying, Just absolutely no nothing can be inside of us, Banks Baum said of what were five full days and nights of diarrhea and an inability to keep food and drink down.
She had gone swimming in Lake Mansfield the evening before the trouble started. The evening before health officials closed the lake to swimming due to "hazardous levels" of E. coli bacteria. That was July 24. The town announced Wednesday that the lake had reopened.
But when she went for a swim that fated evening, Banks Baum didn't know a bacteria problem was brewing there.
The main suspects of the bacteria? The geese that have taken a liking to the beach area, town officials say. The problem was their droppings. Bacteria levels fell after the geese were shooed away and the droppings cleaned up.
And while there is no way to scientifically trace Banks Baums illness back to her neighborhood lake, she and a local health official suspect it, she said.
Officials had closed the lake on July 24 due to E. coli counts that were more than 40 colony forming units, or CFUs, above the safety threshold as of July 23, according to the state's Interactive Beach Water Quality Dashboard. As of July 30, E. coli levels had dropped from 275.5 CFUs to 10.9 CFUs.
The town retested late afternoon on Wednesday, said Rebecca Jurczyk, the towns health agent. Municipalities have to test public swimming areas weekly during the warm season.
When asked how many E. coli and campylobacter cases she is seeing this summer, Jill Sweet, the lead public health nurse for the Tri Town Health Department, referred questions to Jurczyk. Jurczyk said she had heard from Sweet of two cases of campylobacter attributed to the lake.
The Department of Public Works came to the rescue, said Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Ilana Siegal. The DPW is using a combination of tactics, she said, to keep the geese away. These include sound, light and motion like construction tape streamers that make the geese uncomfortable.
Geese have wreaked havoc on summer fun at at least a few Berkshires beaches. Card Pond in West Stockbridge has been closed all summer due to high E. coli levels. A Pittsfield resident complained in a letter to the editor published Wednesday about geese droppings befouling the grounds at Onota Lake where the free Live on the Lake concert series is held every summer.
With some extra work, there are solutions. Since the relentless attention from the DPW, Siegal said, the geese havent been back as of Tuesday.
It was likely construction at the beach and recreation area that led geese to settle in, she added, because there were no people or dogs around to scare them off. The beach and recreation area were reopened to the public July 1.
Residents have been fed up. Someone apparently set off firecrackers on the beach last week to scare the geese off.
Others took a long-term approach. They implored the DPW to act. And before the DPW stepped in, Paige MacKenzie Turner told DPW Superintendent Joe Aberdale in an email that she spent $63 on pooper scoopers for the lifeguards, according to the neighborhood Google chat group.
And Banks Baum said she was beginning to feel better on Monday, after the antibiotics started kicking in. She said she'll be wary in future of swimming while the water is "bathtub" warm.
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
ARCHIVE - Relations between Moldova and Russia are tense. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa Keystone
The Republic of Moldova, which lies between Romania and Ukraine and is striving to join the EU, has expelled a Russian diplomat.
SDA
The Russian ambassador to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, Oleg Vasnetsov, was personally informed of the decision, according to the authorities in the capital Chisinau. The embassy employee had carried out activities that were incompatible with diplomatic status, it said.
Previously, allegations had been made that a Russian diplomat had recruited an employee of the Moldovan parliament and an employee of the border guard service. According to a statement from the public prosecutor's office, both Moldovans had been provisionally arrested the previous day. A search was also carried out in parliament rooms. They are being investigated for high treason and conspiracy against Moldova, it said. The recruitment attempts had already taken place in 2023. The Russian embassy denied the allegations.
Moldova had already expelled 45 Russian diplomats in 2023 amid accusations of espionage. Russia is bothered by the Eastern European country's western orientation under President Maia Sandu. Moldova has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022 and has officially begun accession talks. In October, a referendum on accession to the European Union is planned alongside the presidential election.
SDA
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Police are working to establish if social media calls for anti-Islamic protests in Northern Ireland this weekend will materialise on the ground, the chief constable has said.
Jon Boutcher urged people in society to push back against the poisonous nonsense being propagated by those seeking to organise demonstrations against the Islamic faith.
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At the monthly meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the PSNIs oversight body, independent member Marian Cree asked the police chief if he was aware of social media posts calling on people to attend a series of anti-Islamic events on Saturday.
We are aware of it, were still trying to understand whos behind it, said Mr Boutcher.
Theres no set organisation showing themselves on social media which sort of defines the cowardly nature of the people who do this nonsense.
There is obviously, from the social media calling, an intention to try and do something on Saturday.
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We have got a gold (command) structure in place around this.
Were looking into the intelligence now to see who, if anybody, is actually involved and going to respond to this.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton (PA)
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His comments came after two nights of disorder in England following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport on Monday.
Violent unrest has been witnessed in Southport as well as in London, Hartlepool and Manchester.
I would point people to what happened in London yesterday and Hartlepool, and obviously Southport, this is based on poisonous nonsense, Mr Boutcher told the board meeting in Belfast.
It has no basis in a society thats seen what hatefulness can do to a society and I would appeal for everybody, everybody to push back against any of this utter awful nonsense.
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But if there is going to be any gatherings, we will police them and we will police them effectively.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said he was aware of a social media post calling for a gathering at Belfast City Hall and a subsequent protest march.
He warned that any march needed the permission of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission.
To date no such procession has been notified to the Parades Commission, he said.
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Id advise that if anybody was planning on attending that, the fact that thats not notified, of course, could mean that they could see themselves liable to a criminal investigation.
Protest is a fundamental human right. But everything that the chief has said is right, you know, our real concern around this is that, in fact, its simply people intent on stirring up fear and hatred.
And I would ask that anybody that does intend to engage in any form of protest activity follows the advice that we issue to the public regularly on this, the advice is you should engage with the police and to stay lawful, you must not endanger the safety of yourself or anybody else.
You should not block any road or foot path, you should respect the rights of others and the Parades Commission must be notified in respect of any procession.
Alliance board member Nuala McAllister expressed concern that some of the posts had urged women and children to take the lead in the protests.
Mr Singleton replied: I think that was a sinister element that weve seen, and I think it speaks volumes potentially about the mindset of those that are involved in this activity.
But, again, let me reassure you, from a policing perspective our response will be proportionate.
As the chief says, itll be policed effectively.
Despite protests, asylum seekers will be housed as planned at properties in Coolock in Dublin and Dundrum, Co Tipperary.
This comes following violent scenes at the former Crown Paints site in recent weeks, that included arson attacks, while a number of gardai were injured.
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On Wednesday night in the High Court, residents of Dundrum, Co Tipperary were refused an injunction to stop asylum seekers being put up locally in the Dundrum House Hotel.
The Minister for Integration says they will continue to engage with communities about their concerns.
But Roderic O'Gorman said the state has an obligation to accommodate International Protection applicants.
We will respond to the issues that protestors are raising. Im clear we need to provide this accommodation, so families arent left homeless, he told Newstalk on Thursday morning.
A Co Clare retailer has told a court that she and her staff "now operate under a cloud of fear" after three armed robberies on her businesses over the space of 10 days.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Flora Crowe said that the three armed robberies last October have had a profound effect on my family, our staff and also the sense of safety within our community.
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Ms Crowe said that prior to the robberies last October, the family run business had been very fortunate never to experience a robbery, let alone an armed robbery over the past 40 years.
In the case, Judge Francis Comerford imposed a three year-one month prison term on Dylan Considine Kelly (23) of no-fixed abode for the robberies with the final nine months suspended resulting in a two year-four month jail term to serve.
Judge Comerford said that he could see how terrifying it was for an Irish town to have this series of robberies with threats of violence in a short space of time.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Crowe said: During each of these traumatic events, armed robbers entered our store, threatened the well-being and safety of our staff."
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She said: The fear and uncertainty experienced during these robberies cannot be overstated."
Two of my dedicated staff members have resigned, unable to cope with the recurring threat of violence. Additionally, three others were so terrified by these incidents that they were unable to produce their own victim impact statements today.
Ms Crowe said: These crimes have not only shaken our sense of security but have also undermined the trust and community that we have in Sixmilebridge.
Many of our staff are female and youth workers so it adds to the vulnerability we face.
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Ms Crowe stated that the emotional and psychological toll on my employees and myself has been significant. We now operate under a cloud of fear, constantly worried about the possibility of another robbery."
She said: I myself was pregnant at the time of the robberies, and it added to the real sense of fear that I had when I had when I had to lock up each night until the suspect was caught.
Our store has always been more than just a place to buy groceries; it has been a gathering spot; a place where neighbours meet and support each other.
Ms Crowe said: The repeated violations have eroded that sense of safety and community. We live only two minutes from our shops and to know that these armed robberies could happen when we live so close by frightens me.
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In the case, Considine Kelly pleaded guilty to the robbing spree that commenced at 8.29pm on October 14th, Tim Crowes shop at Ministers Cross, Bunratty taking 500 in cash and 800 cigarettes where Considine Kelly was armed with a claw hammer.
Seven days later, Considine Kelly robbed Tim Crowes Gala shop, The Green, Sixmilebridge of 400 in cash, armed with a scissors. He later robbed Tim Crowes shop, Ministers Cross, Bunratty armed with another make-shift weapon, stealing 500 in cash and 900 in cigarettes.
Judge Comerford said that Considine Kelly - of no fixed abode but staying at Laurel Lodge in Ennis at the time - was in receipt of 129 social welfare per week while spending 500 per week on his cocaine addiction.
Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman has expressed concern that more than a fifth of Irish voters believe the establishment is replacing white Irish people with non-white migrants.
That is according to a recent survey carried out on behalf of the Electoral Commission on the publics view of immigration.
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Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr OGorman said that the statistic came from an online dialogue that had originated in the United States and had now travelled here.
I think that's hugely, hugely concerning. And I think it stems from the fact that there are large chunks of the population now who, I suppose, are sucked into rabbit holes on social media and don't get the opportunity to hear other sides of a particular debate. And I think that is concerning.
"And I think when we see some of the protests that have taken place in terms of refugee accommodation, we see these conspiracy theories trotted out as fact.
It's very hard to refute that when someone is so convinced that anybody who has an alternative view is themselves kind of somehow corrupted by it.
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When asked about reports that there could be a 20 increase in the old age pension in the forthcoming Budget, Mr OGorman said there was a range of considerations when it came to allocating the social protection budget.
I'm particularly interested in supporting families who are at risk of poverty but may be looking to return to work. So I think something like the working family payment is really important.
The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, said gardai are re-examining the original Garda investigation into shocking allegations that late Bishop Eamonn Casey sexually abused a number of children, because concerns had been raised about the original Garda investigation into the claims.
Mr Harris was speaking to reporters in Limerick at the launch of Garda body worn cameras to beef up Garda crime detection measures and provide additional safeguards for Garda members on duty.
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When asked what form the review of the original Garda investigation, into the claims against Bishop Casey, would take, Mr Harris revealed the reason he sanctioned a fresh review of the investigation was because concerns had been raised about the original probe.
Clarifying why he ordered the review, Commissioner Harris said: Maybe a couple of different elements of things were said last week in terms of prolific sex offending, so, in respect of Bishop Casey, what I have asked for is for the original file to be examined.
"There was a query as to, actually, the nature and efficiency and effectiveness of that investigation.
I want to be sure as to the standard of the (original) investigation that was conducted and that is what is happening in respect of that file, Commissioner Harris added.
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The Garda Commissioner refused to say if An Garda Siochana had received any fresh complaints of a sexual nature in respect of Bishop Casey, following on from last weeks television documentary by Irish Daily Mail journalist Anne Sheridan, broadcast on RTE television, which revealed that Casey allegedly molested children, including his niece Patricia Donovan, and that he had had a number of sexual relationships with adult women.
When specifically asked if gardai had received any new complaints since the documentary aired on July 22d, Commissioner Harris replied: Im not going to comment on individual complaints coming forward, thank you.
When asked if he had watched the documentary, Mr Harris responded: No, I didn't see the documentary.
The Limerick Catholic Diocese, where Casey began is ministry, told Ms Sheridan it paid 100,000 to an alleged victim of child sexual abuse by Casey.
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The compensation was one of a number of explosive revelations in the documentary.
Casey, who was born in Kerry but grew up in Adare, Co Limerick, and went to school in St Munchins College, Limerick, was once credited with tackling inner city poverty and homelessness in parishes in Limerick and later in England.
However, while Caseys fall from grace over fathering a child with his distant cousin Annie Murphy was widely reported in the 1990s, Ms Sheridans investigative reporting into the allegations that Casey had sexually assaulted children, has once again rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Speaking publicly for the first time, in the documentary, Caseys niece, Patricia Donovan, alleged he sexually abused her for a number of years from when she was five years old.
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Ms Donovan said: Some of the things he did to me, and where he did themthe horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence...and it just carried on in that vein.
Ms Donovan said Casey had no fear of being caught and that he thought he could do what he liked, when he liked, how he liked.
He (Casey) was almost incensed that I would dare fight against him, that I would dare try and hurt him, I would dare try and stop him It didnt make any difference.
Ms Donovan, in her 60s, reported the abuse claims about her uncle in 2005, but Casey, who was forced to resign as Bishop of Galway in 1992, after his affair with Ms Murphy came to light, was never charged with or convicted of any sexual offences.
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Despite her claims, Ms Donovan has not received any compensation from the church. However, the Galway Diocese did pay for physiological counselling on her behalf.
The explosive documentary, Bishop Caseys Buried Secrets, highlighted a total of eight allegations of child and adult sexual assaults and child safeguarding concerns against Casey, who was and still is, despite the claims, revered by some.
The former chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Ian Elliot, said that in his opinion, Casey, who died aged 89, was a sexual predator.
Mr Elliott said he found Patricia Donovans claims as entirely credible.
In 2019, the Galway Diocese, where Casey was bishop from 1976 to 1992, told Anne Sheridan that it had received just one allegation of child sexual abuse against him.
However, Sheridan revealed in the documentary that Galway has since confirmed it had records at that time of five people who had complained of childhood sexual abuse against Bishop Casey relating to alleged events in every Irish diocese where Casey worked Limerick, Galway and Kerry.
The first known allegation of paedophilia against Casey was made in 2001 by an unidentified female who claimed that she had been sexually abused by Casey on two occasions, when he was a chaplain to St Josephs Reformatory School in Limerick in 1956.
This woman later took High Court proceedings against Casey for personal injury damages, alleging Casey sexually assaulted her in Limerick, when she was aged fifteen.
This woman was eventually awarded a financial settlement through the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
The documentary also revealed that the Vatican confirmed it had actually banned Bishop Casey from ministry before 2006 and that his ban was reiterated to him formally in 2007 after they received multiple child sex abuse complaints against him, including the 2001 complaint, as well as the complaint by Ms Donovan in 2005.
A spokesman for Limerick Diocese said it received the first complaint about Casey in 2001.
However, despite the Limerick Diocesan Office passing on Ms Donovans complaint to the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, England, where Casey was serving, Casey - who should have then been suspended - remained active in ministry for a further four years, because the complaint went missing.
A statement provided to the documentary by the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton read: Had this allegation been made today the police would have been informed immediately. We are deeply disappointed that this course of action does not appear to have been taken in 2001.
We have undertaken a very thorough search of diocesan records. Regrettably, given the passage of time, we have been unable to locate relevant written records or to speak to anyone able to shed light on Limerick Dioceses communication in 2001.
The current Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy, who has access to documents relating to complaints against Casey which were made in the Limerick diocese, has expressed his deep sorrow and regret to anyone who has been wounded by clerical abuse, including the people referred to in this documentary.
They deserve our respect, belief and support. Without commenting on any specific allegation, I have no reason to disbelieve any of the allegations made, added Bishop Leahy.
Casey, who died in 2017, had always vehemently denied all allegations against him of sexual abuse.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris admitted that a body worn camera (BWC) system, which is currently being piloted in garda divisions in Dublin and Limerick, is open to potential abuse by rogue gardai.
Commissioner Harris also warned Garda members that they will face dismissal from the force, and potential criminal prosecution, if they are found to have shared or leaked footage of incidents captured on Garda BWCs.
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In a warning to gardai, Mr Harris said: An investigating member obviously has to review the footage in terms of (preparing) a file, so if somebody really wants to act outside our rules and instructions and indeed our discipline code, then on their head be it.
Commissioner Harris said the BWC system is secure and cannot be tampered with or altered. However, he admitted that Garda members would have the opportunity to record the footage from a third party screen, such as a mobile phone, and share it with others.
Commissioner Harris said the system had built-in safeguards to try to prevent a garda/civilian from directly recording footage from he BWC, but, he admitted that while the opportunity for someone to take a recording (of the footage) is exceptionally limited it is possible.
They would, in effect, have to be recording it from a screen during a playback session, and that in effect then would be regarded very seriously, a breach of privacy, and in certain circumstances, it would have to be regarded as a complete breach of trust, and, in effect, gross misconduct, Mr Harris told reporters at a launch of the BWC system in the Limerick Gardai Division on Thursday.
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Commissioner Harris further warned that such a breach would be dealt with accordingly, and there may well also then be breaches of criminal law as well, we would regard that as a very serious matter.
The garda chief said, in his opinion, any garda found to have shared BWC footage externally, would be guilty of a complete breach of trust.
While the BWC system has yet to be rolled out nationwide, and is currently being piloted to the tune of 3million in Limerick, Dublin and soon to be in Waterford, there have been no incidents of any garda sharing or leaking BWC footage, Mr Harris said.
He said BWCs worn by members attached to Store Street Garda Station were very effective in policing and managing serious disorder in Coolock where over 30 persons were arrested following recent rioting.
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Audio recordings built-in to garda BWCs are as important as video footage as this can also provide gardai with key evidence as to whats been said, and the intent of individuals, the Garda chief said.
The Commissioner revealed that, gardai had secured forty-eight pieces of evidential footage from a single deployment of members to the recent Coolock riots.
This footage is to be submitted as part of witness evidence, CCTV evidence to identify persons who may have committed offences and will subsequently be reported to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions).
Mr Harris said gardai have reported to Headquarters that BWCs are also helping members diffuse situations as well as providing very important evidence be it during arrests in terms of drink driving, searches, domestic abuse incidents and incidents of sexual assaults where you are recording the first complaint of the victim.
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Hundreds of pieces of evidence from BWC footage are either awaiting DPP approval or have been used in the courts.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, who also attended the BWC launch in Limerick City, said: I want every member of An Garda Siochana to have access to body worn cameras - it is absolutely vital to ensure we can, in so far as is possible, keep gardai safe.
Ms McEntee said gardai using BWCs in Dublin have reported they feel more protected and that the cameras have deescalated, potentially-dangerous stations.
The minister revealed that in the month and half since BWCs have been rolled out in Dublin, body worn camera evidence has been used in court cases where we have had 12 hundred pieces and, in particular, 300 that have been marked as evidence.
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Ms McEntee said she was also, as a matter of urgency, intent on publishing legislation, after the Dail summer recess, that would allow gardai more powers in using facial recognition technology which she said, may include linking retrospective evidence from body worn cameras, to potentially identify suspects.
This would free up garda resources by doing away with the current system trawl through thousands hours of footage on BWCs to identify suspects.
The States failure to provide for the needs of homeless asylum seekers is a breach of their fundamental rights, the High Court has ruled.
The court made the ruling after the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) took a case against the State over its failure to provide adequate accommodation to people seeking asylum in Ireland.
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Mr Justice Barry ODonnell delivered the judgment on Thursday afternoon, saying the court found that the approach adopted by the State breached the human rights of the relevant unaccommodated IP (International Protection) applicants.
Tents that were pitched by asylum seekers along Dublins Grand Canal before they were removed.
By failing to meet their basic needs and leaving unaccommodated IP applicants without accommodation or the means to access accommodation, the State has breached the rights of those persons as provided for in Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the judge said.
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The IHREC asked the court to make declarations that the state has failed its obligations and is breaching applicants rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
On December 4th last year, the Government stated it could no longer offer accommodation to men seeking international protection.
However, the court did not grant the mandatory orders sought by the IHREC.
While the court is satisfied that declarations to that effect are warranted, the court will not grant the mandatory orders sought by the Commission, Justice ODonnell added.
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Very briefly, the court is not satisfied that there is a basis for concluding that the State will ignore its obligations.
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The State has made clear, and the court accepts, that it is making strenuous efforts to redress the situation.
Moreover, in response to the decisions of the High Court in 2023, the State in fact altered its approach by taking steps to improve the provision for unaccommodated IP applicants.
While those steps were not sufficient to avoid a breach of the rights of those applicants, it demonstrated that the State did not intend to ignore the court orders.
In the premises, it is not appropriate for the court to take the very serious additional step of making mandatory orders to support the declaratory relief sought by the Commission.
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The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) welcomes the ruling of the High Court declaring that the Irish governments failure to provide for the basic needs of asylum seekers amounts to a breach of Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
MASI supported this court action by IHREC and is pleased with the declaration which confirms our belief that the government is undermining the rights of people who have no way of meeting their basic needs.
It is disgraceful that we have a government that restricts the right to work for asylum seekers and fails to provide for their basic needs.
MASI calls on the Irish government to reflect on this ruling and its conduct and implement changes that improve the quality of life for asylum seekers.
None of the reforms that the government has introduced improved the standard of living for asylum seekers and we are concerned that homeless asylum seekers are being interviewed to assess their asylum claim while they are still homeless.
A London-based rabbi accused of travelling to Ireland to perform an illegal circumcision on a young child has been refused bail.
Jonathan Abraham, 47, was arrested in Dublin on Tuesday and is charged with carrying out a surgical procedure, male circumcision on a child, without being a registered medical practitioner at an address in Dublin 15.
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The father-of-10 appeared before Judge Michael Connellan at Dublin District Court on Thursday.
Detective Garda Megan Furey told the judge that Mr Abraham "made no reply" when charged at Blanchardstown Garda station.
There were objections to bail due to the seriousness of the case.
The detective said the offence, contrary to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, could result in a maximum fine of 130,000 and five years' imprisonment.
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Detective Garda Furey said there was strong evidence in support of the charge. Gardai entered an address in Dublin 15 just after 1 pm on Tuesday with the homeowners' consent.
According to the detective, they observed the accused "dressed in a white robe, a doctor's-style coat, with blue gloves and a scalpel in his hand."
The court heard there was a table in the middle of the room with a changing pad, scissors and other medical supplies and implements.
"Gardai at this time also observed a very young child on the changing pad naked," she said, adding that they established that a circumcision procedure had already been carried out on another child at the premises.
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The detective told the court that a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and "it's envisaged that there will be multiple further charges in due course".
Citing "significant flight risk" fears, she said that the accused flew into Ireland on July 30th around noontime and had a return flight booked for the same evening. She added that he had no ties to this jurisdiction and did not have any property, assets or dependents in this country.
She described him as a man of means and had grave concerns that he would evade justice, adding that he had a strong incentive to leave the country.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor Tertius Van Eeden, she agreed that if the DPP directed that the case stay in the District Court, the penalties would be considerably lower: a maximum of six months imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000.
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He put it to the detective that she left that out during her bail objections and that it was too enthusiastic to suggest the case would go to a higher level, but she did not accept that suggestion.
In later exchanges with the defence, the detective agreed that the accused had not held himself out to be a doctor, and she accepted that he was a rabbi.
The garda detective claimed he had not given any information about his training and that he used the name rabbi Y. Abraham. The solicitor replied that the Y was for Yoni, Hebrew for Jonathan.
The solicitor said his client was a member of the Initiation Society, which governs the practice or procedures of the Jewish faith, specifically circumcisions.
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Mr Van Eeden added that his client, who did not address the court, was registered as a Mohel, the Hebrew word for a person qualified to carry out circumcisions.
The detective conceded she was informed of this and said enquiries were still being conducted.
When asked if she had done any Google research about that, she said she only learned this at about 8 pm on Wednesday.
Pleading for bail, Mr Van Eeden said the Initiation Society was the oldest Anglo-Jewish organisation founded in 1745. As a Mohel, he was allowed to perform circumcisions and had done so for more than 13 years, and he was fully trained medically and ethically to perform them.
The solicitor submitted that in the Jewish community, only a Mohel could perform such procedures, and he was insured to do them.
Mr Van Eeden submitted that if his client had performed the same procedures in England, it would have been completely legal.
However, the judge pointed out that it was a separate jurisdiction.
The solicitor stressed that these were allegations at this stage, and his client had no prior convictions and had the presumption of innocence.
The court heard he was the primary breadwinner for his family and also received state benefits while his wife worked part-time tutoring children with learning difficulties.
The solicitor said that his client could face a lengthy period in custody, and the trial venue has not been confirmed.
He added that a 5,000 independent surety could be offered, and Mr Abraham would obey conditions not to perform such procedures in Ireland.
Judge Connellan refused bail due to the seriousness of the case, potential flight risk and strength of evidence. Legal aid was granted to the accused, who was remanded in custody pending directions from the DPP. Mr Abraham has yet to enter a plea and will appear again on August 6th at Cloverhill District Court.
This weeks top book takes you back in time to the Roaring Twenties
Fiction
1. Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott is published paperback by Faber & Faber. Available now
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(Faber & Faber/PA)
Were in New York, and Patricia is splitting up from her husband, Peter. This is not 2024, but 1924, the setting for Ursula Parrotts Ex-Wife. Reissued 95 years after it became a bestseller, its vivid descriptions of the cocktails, the clothes, the speakeasies, the dancing and the romances jump off the page and spin the reader into a giddy whirl of the Roaring Twenties. However, along with the glitz and glamour comes a dark side of violence and shame. The book is witty and smart although some lines are undoubtedly problematic and jarring for the reader of today. Author Parrott, as intriguing as the characters she expertly builds, was one of the most successful female writers of the 1930s but died aged 58, destitute and alcoholic. Through Ex-Wife a tale of love, heartbreak and friendships, which still resonates after almost a century her voice lives on.
9/10
(Review by Eleanor Barlow)
2. The Villa by Jess Ryder is published in paperback by Penguin. Available now
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THE VILLA
by Jess Ryder
A gripping read that switches between two timelines when Aoife's life ended tragically during her hen party in Marbella
The four friends reunite at the villa, but rivalries & secrets simmer beneath the surface
A fairly engaging story #writingcommunity pic.twitter.com/2rcPm0Wrkt Kathryn Caraway (@UnfollowMe_KC) June 6, 2024
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Why would a group of women return to the Spanish villa where they spent a hen weekend three years ago and where the bride-to-be was murdered? To find out who killed their friend, and discover answers to a series of tragic events leading to the murder. The women quickly realise it was a bad idea, as they fall out with each other, rekindle dreadful memories and dice with death themselves. Different versions of the murder keep the group confused and angry, but at least one of them is determined to stay until the truth is known. Youll love the way the chapters switch from the weekend of the murder to the return visit, as the hunt for the killer takes some unexpected, and violent, turns. The Villa looks destined to be Jess Ryders most successful psychological thriller yet as long as you dont read this in a Spanish villa on a hen weekend.
8/10
(Review by Alan Jones)
3. The Echoes by Evie Wyld is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape. Available August 1st
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Written in an intriguing style that keeps you turning page after page, author Evie Wyld takes you back and forth in time following the narratives of partners Max and Hannah. Starting with Max having died and living as a ghost in their house, the reader gains insight into their deteriorating relationship and his reflections on it from the afterlife. Wyld also weaves through Hannahs childhood past in Australia that she struggles to confront in the present and keeps secretive from Max, making her a particularly complex, unpredictable character to follow. Its an enjoyable read, but has an ending that might leave you wanting more.
6/10
(Review by Anahita Hossein-Pour)
Non-fiction
4. Iconic: My Life In Fashion In 50 Objects by Zandra Rhodes and Ella Alexander is published in hardback by Bantam. Available now
We are thrilled to announce that Zandras first ever memoir, co-written by Ella Alexander will be published on July 18 2024. Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects is available to pre-order now via the link below @TransworldBooks https://t.co/OJrnFCR8nx pic.twitter.com/VOfR4uchLs Dame Zandra Rhodes (@Zandra_Rhodes) January 25, 2024
British fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes new memoir explores her fierce and multifaceted life through 50 of her most treasured possessions. From fly spray to Diana, Princess of Wales watercolour sketch, Rhodes disparate objects culminate in humorous and heartwarming stories. Unusually, it is a memoir that doesnt require to be read chronologically, as its form lends itself well to leafing through one object at a time. Iconic isnt filled with jaw-dropping celebrity gossip, perhaps aside from Rhodes relationship with Vivienne Westwood, rather the book relays the trials and defiance of a young woman making her way in the fashion industry in 1960s Britain. Uninhibited and humorous, Iconic is an astute read for anyone interested in fashion tales from the swinging Sixties and beyond.
7/10
(Review by Lara Owen)
Childrens book of the week
5. Were Moving House by Mick Jackson, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh, is published in hardback by Walker Books. Available now
(Walker Books/PA)
A small child completely misunderstands what his mum means when she tells him theyre moving house in this picture book. He suddenly has a vision of his home having to be picked up and moved, and worries about the logistics of it all creating a few fascinating scenarios captured in interesting detail in the illustrations, with lots of things to point at. It will be helpful to any parent wanting to explain to small children about a move especially as it ends on a really positive note. But also any child fascinated by cranes, boats, lorries and helicopters will have their imagination piqued. Mick Jackson, nominated for the Booker Prize for adult novel The Underground Man, can clearly write for small children too.
7/10
(Review by Bridie Pritchard)
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 27th
HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. The Book Of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves & China Mieville
2. You Are Here by David Nicholls
3. When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
4. Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
5. The Book Of Bill by Alex Hirsch
6. Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
7. All The Colours Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker
8. The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
9. Long Island by Colm Toibin
10. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. So Good by Emily English
2. Pinch Of Nom Air Fryer by Kay & Kate Allinson
3. Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum
4. My World by Ami Charlize
5. Paris 44 by Patrick Bishop
6. Ask Not by Maureen Callahan
7. Iconic by Zandra Rhodes & Ella Alexander
8. Greekish by Georgina Hayden
9. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
10. Restore by Will Kirk
(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)
1. Message Deleted by K. L. Slater
2. Atomic Habits by James Clear
3. Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
4. None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
5. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
6. The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
7. A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
8. MILF by Paloma Faith
9. Unruly by David Mitchell
10. The School For Good And Evil Audio Collection: The School Years (Books 1-3) by Soman Chainani
(Compiled by Audible)
A significant proportion of women experience problems linked to pelvic floor damage up to 26 years after giving birth, new research suggests including urinary and faecal incontinence and pelvic floor prolapse.
The study by Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), which involved 8,000 women whod given birth in 1993-1994, found 61% had recently experienced urinary incontinence, 22% had faecal incontinence and 17% had symptoms pointing to prolapse. Rates for mothers whod had a Caesarean delivery were slightly lower, at 53%, 16% and 9% respectively
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So, what exactly is the pelvic floor, how does it get damaged during pregnancy, and is there anything you can do to restore it?
What is the pelvic floor?
(Alamy/PA)
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Mari-Carmen Sanchez-Morris, former nurse turned personal trainer and womens health expert, explains that the pelvic floor is a layer of muscles and connective tissue that stretches from the pubic bone to the tailbone, which acts a bit like a hammock. These muscles play a crucial role in supporting the bladder, bowel and in females the uterus.
Hollie Grant, founder of pre- and post-natal fitness platform The Bump Plan, agrees, adding: There are three holes within the pelvic floor, the urethra, vagina and anus. The pelvic floor muscles wrap quite tightly around these holes to help keep the passages closed.
These muscles, just like many other muscles of the body, can be voluntarily contracted and hence strengthened. The difficulty for many women is that without being able to see these muscles, it can be hard to know if they are activating the correct ones.
How can pregnancy and giving birth damage the pelvic floor?
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Pregnancy puts extra pressure on pelvic floor structures, and hormonal changes can also have an impact, leading to a higher chance of weakening.
During vaginal births, the babys head passing through the vagina can stretch and potentially tear muscles, with prolonged pushing straining them too.
For those who have deliveries that involve instruments like forceps or vacuum, these can also increase the risk of pelvic floor damage due to the pressure and force they can use, adds Sanchez-Morris.
For C-sections, the abdominal incision can affect pelvic floor nerves, leading to possible dysfunction. Much like with vaginal births, C-sections can also damage the pelvic floor due to the pressure from the babys weight and position.
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What problems can women be left with?
There are lots of different symptoms women can struggle with due to pelvic floor damage or dysfunction, including urinary or faecal incontinence. Prolapse is another issue that can occur.
Women can also struggle with urinary or faecal urgency, which means they have less time to make it to the bathroom. This can be really stressful and anxiety-provoking, says pelvic health physiotherapist, Clare Bourne. Pelvic organ prolapse is much more common than we realise, and is where one or more of the pelvic organs (bladder, bowel and womb) move downwards into the vagina due to changes to the support of the vaginal walls.
This can feel like a heaviness or dragging sensation in the vagina, and it can significantly impact a womans mental health. The support and awareness around prolapse can be very poor and leave women feeling alone, she adds.
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Another common symptom can be pain with intercourse. This is not exclusive to after birth, however it can be a new symptom due to scar tissue from perineal tears, or due to temporary dryness due to altered hormones postpartum, especially if breastfeeding. This is not in your head and there is lots that can be done to help.
Can you prevent pelvic floor damage in pregnancy?
(Alamy/PA)
The good news is, there is lots women can do to help both prevent and improve pelvic floor weakness. Pelvic floor exercises are a great way to prepare think of it as training the muscles ahead of birth. Kegels are a popular method, which involve squeezing the muscles, while other physio exercises can also help.
By strengthening these muscles, you can help reduce the risk of dealing with physical issues from a weakened pelvic floor post-birth, says Sanchez-Morris. Perineal massages can also be great, with regular massages helping to increase tissue elasticity and possibly reduce the risk of tears during birth. It is best to consult your midwife for guidance on techniques that will be best.
If you are worried about your pelvic floor head of birth, it is best to consult a health professional who will be able to give tailored advice.
What can be done post-birth to help?
When you feel comfortable after birth, you can incorporate pelvic floor exercises and deep breathing into your routine (always seek advice from your doctor or midwife if you experienced any complications or severe tears).
This will also help improve Diastasis recti, a separation of the abdominal muscles, says Sanchez-Morris.
There are exercises that can help strengthen these muscles but the hardest part for many people is first identifying the right muscles to target. The best way to do this is to imagine you need to stop the wind bring the anus to the vagina (closing the gap) and then gently lift from front to back, she adds.
The muscles you feel contract as you do this are the pelvic floor muscles. The key to exercising these muscles is to use the squeeze and release technique. To do this, contract the muscles for five seconds (it should feel like a tightening and lifting process) then relax them for five seconds, remembering to breathe throughout.
As you practice this and the muscles strengthen, steadily increase the duration of each contraction, the number of repetitions, and the positions in which you perform the exercises. Like with any strength-building, remember consistency is key.
Seek professional advice if you are experiencing symptoms and incontinence that doesnt improve or is impacting your quality of life these things are very common and help is available.
BBC director-general Tim Davie will face tough questions from UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy about what the corporation knew about Huw Edwardss case after the veteran broadcaster admitted accessing indecent images of children.
The corporation has said it knew of the veteran broadcasters arrest on suspicion of serious offences in November, but continued employing him until April.
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Questions will surely be raised about why he continued to receive his large salary as the highest paid newsreader at the corporation for five months after his arrest on charges of making indecent photographs of children.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Before he resigned in April on medical advice, Edwards was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBCs latest annual report.
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This last salary marked a 40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between 435,000 and 439,999.
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
After his guilty plea on Wednesday, a BBC spokesperson said: In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
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The corporation added: The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
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UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy (Jeff Moore/PA)
During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.
Davie was expected to hold urgent talks with Ms Nandy over the phone on Thursday, according to BBC News.
The public currently pays 169.50 a year for the licence fee and questions will surely be raised if Edwards salary was the best use of that money.
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The fact Edwards has now admitted three charges of making indecent photographs after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams will also likely raise serious questions of trust in figures at the BBC.
The scandal with Edwards comes in the wake of the crimes of Jimmy Savile, the TV star and serial sexual abuser who managed to conceal his crimes until after his death in 2011.
It also comes weeks after the BBC delayed publishing a report in the conduct of former Radio 1 presenter Tim Westwood because of an ongoing police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct going back four decades.
Westwood strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour and refutes all accusations of wrongdoing. He has not been charged with a criminal offence.
At the time the annual report was published, Davie defended Edwards 40,000 pay rise, saying: We are always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no-one wants to waste a pound.
BBC director-general Tim Davie (Peter Byrne/PA)
But what youre trying to do, and from the onset of that affair, was trying to act proportionally, fairly and navigate this appropriately.
I think thats what we did but I think we wouldnt have wasted money if we werent doing the right thing.
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April on the basis of medical advice from his doctors after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this matter but the mother of the young person has said she feels vindicated following Edwards guilty plea on Wednesday.
She told The Sun: It sickens me to my core that he had those videos of that little boy when he was also talking to my child and asking them for sexual pictures.
I knew he was an abuser but now I know he is truly a monster.
She added: It felt like we were just the little men, so could be easily brushed aside. They all said we had destroyed Huws life and seemed to think we just wanted money.
Their comments, and comments like theirs by other presenters, caused a massive backlash which even made me doubt myself. I couldnt eat, I couldnt sleep, I felt so alone.
Even family members turned against me after reading all of this. I thought is it even worth it?. But now I can at least say it was. I hope they will apologise.
The family of the unnamed young person originally complained to the BBC about Edwards in May 2023, and he was publicly named by his wife as the TV presenter at the centre of the allegations the following July.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16th.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, England.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
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Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in a critical condition while two adults were also critically hurt.
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Violent disorder has broken out across the country following the attack, with more than 100 people arrested at a protest in Whitehall on Wednesday night.
Speaking at a press conference just after midnight on Thursday, Chief Constable of Merseyside Police Serena Kennedy said: A 17-year old-boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday July 29th.
The 17-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons as hes under 18.
He has been remanded in custody to appear (today), Thursday August 1st, at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.
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Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and counter-terrorism police in the North West.
The boy, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
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A police van was set alight as trouble flared during the far-right protest on Tuesday (Richard McCarthy/PA)
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport on Tuesday evening, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured.
Five men have been arrested following the violence.
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After rioting broke out, Elsies mother, Jenni Stancombe, wrote on Facebook: This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we dont need this.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had hijacked a vigil for victims and will feel the full force of the law, while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as violent attacks from thugs on the streets, which she branded appalling.
On Wednesday, a cleanup operation took place outside the mosque, with residents coming together to clear roads where fires had been set and rebuild walls which had been knocked down.
Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.
Protesters, chanting youre not English any more and throwing bottles and cans at police in riot gear, were detained on Whitehall.
Police officers on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest (Owen Humphreys/PA)
A Met Police spokesman said: Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions.
Some officers suffered minor injuries.
In Hartlepool, County Durham, a police car was set alight and glass bottles and eggs were thrown at officers.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.
US vice president Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that former president Donald Trumps false assertions about her race were the same old show as she emphasised the need for black women to organise for his defeat this November.
Addressing the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc one of Divine Nine historically black fraternities and sororities in Houston, Harris told the crowd: When I look out at everyone here, I see family.
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She drew knowing chuckles from the audience as she mentioned Mr Trumps comments earlier in the day at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
Mr Trump said Ms Harris, the first black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past promoted only her Indian heritage.
Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Matt Rourke/AP)
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I didnt know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black. So, I dont know, is she Indian or is she black? Mr Trump said while addressing the NABJ in Chicago.
Ms Harris responded briefly during her address to the sorority, saying Mr Trumps display was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect.
She added: And let me just say, the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better.
Our differences do not divide us, they are an essential source of our strength, Ms Harris said.
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Referencing the combative tone of Mr Trumps interview at the NABJ convention, she said: The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts.
Ms Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the US.
As an undergraduate, Ms Harris attended Howard University, one of the nations most prominent historically black colleges and universities, where she also pledged the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
As a US senator, Ms Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
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Speaking to Sigma Gamma Rho members, Ms Harris said the nation is counting on you to register people to vote and ensure they go to the polls. When we organise, mountains move, she said.
India on Thursday offered a 300 million-dollar (234 million) loan to build up Vietnams maritime security, as the two sides said they want to double their trade and investment within five years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that India considers Vietnam a key pillar of its policy toward Southeast Asian nations and an important partner in its Indo-Pacific vision.
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After their talks, Mr Chinh said the world faces fierce security challenges but there are opportunities for co-operation.
The Asia Indo-Pacific region is a locomotive for growth, but it is also where major politics is taking place fiercely, he said. We need an approach and methodology that is global and upholding multilateralism.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, receives his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh as the latter arrives for talks in New Delhi, India (AP)
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The prime ministers said both sides wanted to further their co-operation in defence and other areas such as semiconductor and green technology, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and climate action.
Mr Modi and Mr Chinh virtually inaugurated the Army Software Park in Vietnam, an educational facility set up with Indias help to train Vietnamese soldiers in digital skills.
Bilateral trade between the two countries in 2022 grew 27% and reached 14.14 billion dollars (11.04 billion). Indian exports to Vietnam touched 6.7 billion dollars (5.23 billion), while Indian imports from Vietnam amounted to 7.44 billion dollars (5.81 billion) in the same period, Indias Ministry of External Affairs said.
Indian exports to Vietnam include iron and steel, cotton, cereals, meat and fishery products, electrical machinery and equipment, vehicle parts, cement, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
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Indias import basket from Vietnam mainly includes electrical and electronic equipment, inorganic chemicals, machinery and mechanical appliances, copper and rubber, coffee and tea, spices, iron and steel.
Indias investments in Vietnam are estimated at around 1.9 billion (1.48 billion) in energy, mineral exploration, agriculture, information technology and other areas, according to the countrys External Affairs Ministry.
Vietnam has invested more than 28.5 million dollars (22.3 million) in India, mainly in pharmaceuticals, information technology, chemicals and building materials.
A massive prisoner swap involving the United States and Russia was under way on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details had not been publicly disclosed, did not specify who is included in the deal.
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But Americans considered by the US to be wrongfully detained in Russia include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive with joint British nationality from Michigan.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in court (AP/File)
Both had been convicted of espionage charges that the US government considered baseless.
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And Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality, has been imprisoned in Russia since April 2022 for speaking out against the war on Ukraine.
The deal would be the latest exchange in the last two years between Washington and Moscow, following a December 2022 trade that brought basketball star Brittney Griner back to the U.S. in exchange for notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Russia has long been interested in getting back Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscows security services.
Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of some unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich that Washington regarded as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison.
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The US released notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for getting back WNBA star Brittney Griner (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations.
Gershkovich was arrested March 29 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.
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Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US. The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, he moved to the country in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022.
He had more than a dozen closed hearings over the extension of his pre-trial detention or appeals for his release. He was taken to the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared in the defendants cage, often smiling for the many cameras.
US officials last year made an offer to swap Gershkovich that was rejected by Russia, and President Joe Bidens Democratic administration had not made public any possible deals since then.
Gershkovich was designated as wrongfully detained, as was Whelan, who was detained in December 2018 after travelling to Russia for a wedding. Whelan was convicted of espionage charges, which he and the US have also said were false and trumped up, and he was serving a 16-year prison sentence.
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Whelan had been excluded from prior high-profile deals involving Russia, including the April 2022 swap by Moscow of imprisoned marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
That December, the US released notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for getting back WNBA star Ms Griner, who had been jailed on drug charges.
North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters.
The escape of Ri Il Gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016.
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In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the US and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.
While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Mr Trump - who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term - won re-election in November, Ri said.
Pyongyang's diplomats were mapping out a strategy for that scenario, with the goal of lifting of sanctions on its weapons programmes, removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and eliciting economic aid, said Ri.
His comments signal a potential about-face from the North's current stance after recent statements ditching the possibility of dialogue with the US and warning of armed confrontation.
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A summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Mr Trump in Vietnam in 2019 collapsed over sanctions, for which Ri partly blamed Kim's decision to entrust "inexperienced, clueless" military commanders with nuclear diplomacy.
"Kim Jong Un doesn't know much about international relations and diplomacy, or how to make strategic judgment," he said.
"This time, the foreign ministry would definitely gain power and take charge, and it won't be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea's hands and feet again for four years without giving anything."
Russian ties, Japan aid
By forging closer ties with Russia, North Korea received help with its missile technology and economy. But a bigger benefit could be to block additional sanctions and undercut existing ones, Ri said, adding it would raise Pyongyang's bargaining power against Washington.
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"The Russians got their own hands dirty by engaging in illicit transactions and, thanks to that, North Korea no longer needs to rely on the US to lift sanctions, which essentially means they stripped the US of one key bargaining chip," he said.
In Tokyo, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida has said he wants to meet Kim, but the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s has long been a stumbling block.
According to Ri, Kim would seek to hold a summit with Japan, aiming to get economic assistance in return for concessions on the abductee issue.
Tokyo believes 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang sees the issue as settled, having admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals and saying those unaccounted for had either died or their whereabouts were unknown.
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Ri said Kim would be willing to change that position, established under his father Kim Jong Il, in order to obtain economic support.
"They're saying that the issue was resolved, but that's just to boost negotiating power until he makes concessions at a summit," he said.
Resentment and defection
Having studied at a French school in Algeria and lived in Cuba alongside his late father, who was a state media reporter, Ri says he had imagined a life in South Korea since his childhood, but never acted to flee until he was bullied by a diplomatic colleague for refusing his demand for bribes.
Then the defining moment came when Pyongyang instantly refused his request to get medical treatment in Mexico, at his own expense, for a ruptured disc in his neck.
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"That exploded all the resentment I had been harbouring towards the regime," he said.
The Covid-19 lockdown deepened hardships at home and for those stationed overseas, with most telephone lines to Pyongyang cut to prevent any information from spreading in the outside world, Ri said.
Financial troubles have also forced North Korea to shut down a dozen of its 54 diplomatic missions.
"When they began reopening and summoning those working abroad in early 2023, they asked to bring everything from used toothbrushes to spoons back home, saying there's nothing there," he said.
Ri had also witnessed - and in his job tried to impede - the launch of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba, a Cold War-era ally of North Korea.
"I had done everything to block that from happening, but establishing relations with Cuba was the best thing South Korea had done since last year," he said. "It was a model example of how the tides of history have turned, and where a normal civilisation of the international community is headed."
South Korea has offered to send aid supplies to North Korea to help the country recover from heavy rains and floods that submerged thousands of homes and huge swathes of farmland.
It is unclear whether North Korea would accept South Koreas proposal for help.
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Animosity between the war-divided rivals is at its highest in years over the Norths growing nuclear ambitions and the Souths expansion of combined military exercises with the US and Japan to counter the Norths threats.
South Koreas Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the South was willing to swiftly provide supplies to address the humanitarian difficulties facing North Korean residents following the recent storms.
A flood-hit area in Sinuiju city, North Phyongan province, North Korea (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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The ministry in a statement urged North Koreas Red Cross to respond promptly to its calls for discussions to determine the types and amounts of South Korean supplies and how to deliver them.
North Korea did not immediately respond to the Souths offer.
North Korean state media said on Wednesday that recent heavy rains left 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of agricultural fields and numerous other public buildings, structures, roads and railways flooded in the northwestern city of Sinuiju and the neighbouring town of Uiju.
The North has not reported details about casualties.
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In an emergency Politburo meeting on Wednesday in Sinuiju, leader Kim Jong Un asked authorities to strictly punish those who he said neglected their responsibilities for disaster prevention and caused even the casualty that can not be allowed, according to the Norths Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea has suspended virtually all co-operation and diplomacy with the South after its larger nuclear negotiations with the US derailed in 2019 over disagreements on lifting crippling US-led sanctions and the Norths steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programme.
The North had also rejected South Koreas offers for help while battling a Covid-19 outbreak in 2022.
Tensions between the rivals have worsened since 2022 as Mr Kim used Russias war on Ukraine as a distraction to further accelerate the expansion of his nuclear arsenal and issued belligerent threats toward Washington and Seoul.
Western countries and Russia have completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history.
Among those released by Moscow are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive with joint British nationality from Michigan and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality.
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The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny but after his death in February ultimately stitched together a seven-nation, 24-person deal that required significant concessions from European allies, including the release of a Russian assassin, and secured freedom for a cluster of journalists, suspected spies, political prisoners and others.
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US President Joe Biden trumpeted the exchange, by far the biggest in a series of swaps with Russia, as a diplomatic feat while welcoming families of the returning Americans to the White House.
But the US and allies gave up Russians charged or convicted of serious crimes in exchange for Russia releasing journalists, dissidents and others imprisoned by the countrys highly politicised legal system on charges seen by the West as trumped-up.
Deals like this one come with tough calls, Mr Biden said but added: Theres nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad.
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Under the deal, Russia released Mr Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was jailed in 2023 and convicted in July of espionage charges that he and the US government vehemently denied. The papers editor-in-chief, Emma Tucker, called it a joyous day.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been freed (Russian Federal Security Service/RTR via AP)
While we waited for this momentous day, we were determined to be as loud as we could be on Evans behalf. We are so grateful for all the voices that were raised when his was silent. We can finally say, in unison, Welcome home, Evan, she wrote.
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Also released was Mr Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed since 2018, also on espionage charges he and Washington have denied; and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.
Mr Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated, was also released along with multiple associates of Mr Navalny.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is among those who have been released (AP Photo, File)
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Other freed Kremlin critics included Oleg Orlov, a veteran human rights campaigner convicted of discrediting the Russian military, and Ilya Yashin, a former member of a Moscow municipal council who had been imprisoned for criticising the war in Ukraine.
The Russian side secured the release of Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison for killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscows security services. Throughout the course of negotiations, Moscow had been persistent in pressing for his release, with Mr Putin himself raising it.
At the time of Mr Navalnys death, officials were discussing a possible exchange involving Krasikov. But with that possibility erased, senior US officials, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, made a fresh push to encourage Germany to release Krasikov. In the end, a handful of the prisoners Russia released were either German nationals or dual German-Russian nationals.
Paul Whelan, centre, is escorted by Russian Federal Security Service agents as they arrive at an airport outside Moscow (Russian Federal Security Service/RTR via AP)
Russia also received two alleged sleeper agents who were jailed in Slovenia, as well as three men charged by federal authorities in the US, including Roman Seleznev, a convicted computer hacker and the son of a Russian politician, and Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence operative accused of providing American-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military. Norway returned an academic arrested on suspicion of being a Russian spy, and Poland also sent back a man it detained on espionage charges.
Today is a powerful example of why its vital to have friends in this world, Mr Biden said while joined by the families.
Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza have endured unimaginable suffering.
Today, their agony is over.
Because of President Bidens leadership, they are on their way home. pic.twitter.com/yu6HZ7MD3P The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 1, 2024
Seven nations participated in the deal, which was executed in Ankara in the final months of his administration and during the course of a presidential race upended by his decision not to seek re-election.
Mr Biden placed securing the release of Americans held wrongfully overseas at the top of his foreign policy agenda for the six months before he leaves office. In an Oval Office address discussing his decision to drop his bid for a second term, Mr Biden said: Were also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
At one point on Thursday, he grabbed the hand of Mr Whelans sister, Elizabeth, and said she had practically been living at the White House as they tried to free Paul. He then motioned for Ms Kurmashevas daughter Miriam to come closer and took her hand, telling the room it was her 13th birthday, and then asked everyone to sing Happy Birthday with him. She wiped tears from her eyes.
Alsu Kurmashevas daughter wiped away a tear during Mr Bidens White House address (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
His administration has now brought home more than 70 Americans detained in other countries, deals that have required the US in the past to give up a broad array of convicted criminals, including for drug and weapons offences. The US governments top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, has defended the swaps against criticism that they incentivise future hostage-taking, saying the number of wrongfully detained Americans has actually gone down.
We know the US government is keenly aware, as are we, that the only way to prevent a quickening cycle of arresting innocent people as pawns in cynical geopolitical games is to remove the incentive for Russia and other nations that pursue the same detestable practice, Ms Tucker, the Journals editor, wrote, saying there needed to be a dynamic change.
But for now, she added, we are celebrating the return of Evan.
Former president Donald Trump, who had claimed that if elected he would immediately get Mr Gershkovich home, bashed the deal and speculated incorrectly that the US had given cash to Russia.
Thursdays swap of 24 prisoners surpassed a deal involving 14 people that was struck in 2010. In that exchange, Washington freed 10 Russians living in the US as sleepers, while Moscow deported four Russians, including Sergei Skripal, a double agent working with British intelligence. He and his daughter were nearly killed in 2018 in Salisbury by nerve agent poisoning blamed on Russian agents.
Elevation Worship - "When Wind Meets Fire" | Merge PR
CHARLOTTE, NC / NASHVILLE, TN (AUGUST 01, 2024) Multi-Platinum, GRAMMY-Award winning group Elevation Worships latest release, When Wind Meets Fire, tops Billboards Top Christian Albums Chart. This is the groups eighth No. 1 chart debut, the most Top Christian Album No. 1s of any artist.
Speaking with Billboard, Elevation Worships Chris Brown said, Were so grateful and honored to have this new album hit No. 1. Our hope is that these songs will continue helping people encounter Gods presence just like they have for our church over the past year.
In addition to the No. 1 album debut, Elevation Worships hit song Praise continues to resonate with listeners as it entered the 20th week at No. 1 on Billboards Hot Songs Christian Chart. This is only the ninth song in the genre to reach this milestone in the charts history. The song was also nominated for two GMA Dove Awards last week as Song of the Year and Worship Recorded Song of the Year.
Four dates remain for Elevation Worships Praise Party Summer Tour, including seven outdoor major-market shows and three special club-style shows. The tour will conclude with a sold-out show at the historic Ryman Auditorium next week. Praise Party Summer Tour will be followed by Elevation Nights this fall featuring Elevation Worship, Pastor Steven Furtick, and ELEVATION RHYTHM. The sold-out spring run of Elevation Nights became one of the largest Christian tours in history, averaging more than 11,600 tickets sold each night. Tickets for Elevation Nights are on sale now by visiting ElevationNights.com.
Soweto Gospel Choir & Groove Terminator - "History of House" | Shore Fire Media
The South Africa-based, 3x GRAMMY-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, and Australias first Superstar DJ, the electronic artist Groove Terminator, will release their joint album, History of House, this Friday, August 2nd, via Music is Fun (a division of Seeker Music), House of Latroit, and Gallo Records. Produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Dennis White, aka Latroit, the album is a truly global reimagination of the most iconic dance tracks of the last 50 years.
Dreamt up back in 2019, the project began as a live show series featuring the Choir and Groove Terminator performing dance music covers that showcased the evolution and History of House from the 70s through th 2000s. When the pandemic put live shows on pause, the concept took on a recorded element and ultimately grew into a multi-pronged collaboration intended to honor the Black history of the genre, and bring opportunity to artists and creators across Africa.
When Groove Terminator (Simon Lewicki) first conceptualized History of House, his appreciation for the roots of dance music within Africa pointed him in the direction of Soweto Gospel Choir, which was founded in 2002 to celebrate African Gospel music, and has since collaborated with everyone from U2 to Beyonce. As the 16-member Choir put their own spin on the House staples, the decision was made to record, primarily in Zulu, and to incorporate more elements of South African culture in both the musical and visual aspects of the project. And to ensure the recordings kept that classic House vibe, Latroit was brought onto the project.
Some of the tracks on the album include Zulu versions of Good Life (originally written and recorded by Kevin Saundersons seminal Detroit Techno group Inner City in 1988, when Latroit was the group's music director), Everybodys Free (To Feel Good), a cover of Zimbabwean artist Rozallas 1991 dance anthem, World Hold On by Parisian DJ Bob Sinclar & a stunning rework of Ride Like The Wind by Christopher Cross
Listen to Good Life HERE, and check out remixes of the song commissioned by a cultural exchange program created by Latroit, Mbongasani Dube (leader of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce Youth Commission), and Ivan Turanjanin (the visionary behind the Cape Town Electronic Music Festival) called Orna Create HERE.
Started specifically to create opportunities, discover, and promote emerging artists from within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, Orna Create ran contests for regional musicians and producers to work on several songs on the album. The resulting collaborations with some of Southern Africa's most promising emerging artists, came together to even more effortlessly fuse the global beats, Afro house, Amapiano, and house music styles on History of House.
The new album is composed of predominantly live musical performances - a rarity for the genre. Check out the full track listing below, and catch Soweto Gospel Choir and Groove Terminator bringing History of House to life at the Sydney Fringe Festival this September if youll be in Australia.
History of House tracklist:
Silence Troubled Good Life (Chantty Natural remix) [Inner City cover] World, Hold On Phumula Everybodys Free (Stakev Remix) [Rozalla cover] Ride Like The Wind Pride (A Deeper Love) Free Children You Got The Love
Soweto Gospel Choir, Groove Terminator, and Latroit on History of House:
Shimmy Jiyane from the Soweto Gospel Choir said, We met Groove Terminator when he came to watch our show at the Sydney Opera House and he was blown away by the choir. That is when we started putting everything together and discussing how we are going to work on the History of House project together. In South Africa, we have twelve official languages with Zulu being the most popular language all around the world and its easy to catch the words, so we decided to use languageSoweto Gospel Choir has been translating songs into language for many years now.
Groove Terminator explains how the History of House album came together: Traveling to South Africa in early 2020 to workshop the live show in Soweto Theatre became a transformative experience. Driving into Soweto each day, rehearsing amidst the community's vibrancy, and witnessing Soweto Gospel Choir's full-throated renditions of Zulu lyrics fused seamlessly with House beats was awe-inspiring. Their ability to imbue songs first with phonetic, then English lyrics, while maintaining emotional resonance, underscored the universal language of music for me. This collaborative journey with Soweto Gospel Choir has not only illuminated the transcendent power of music but also affirmed its capacity to bridge cultures and histories. I remain profoundly grateful for the opportunity to fuse my passion for House music with the choir's rich heritage, creating something that speaks to the soul and embodies the enduring spirit of unity and joy.
GRAMMY-winning producer Latroit adds, Simon called me a couple years ago to talk to me about the live show History of House, with the aim of adding an album to the concept. He had one song recorded, You Got The Love. He sent the vocals, I put a demo together, and it was instant chills for us, and anyone that I played it for. We knew we were onto something special. Our mission from the start of the project was to use its energy and international access to create opportunities for South African artists. With leadership from the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce Youth Commission, we decided to create a cultural exchange program called Orna Crea+ with the launch of a remix context for the first History of House single Good Life'. From this initiative, we were introduced to an incredible wealth of talent from the Southern African region, with two of the remixes (Chantty Natural & Stakev) featuring on the album.
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Hes a bundle of conflicting emotions, she believes in reason and moderation. Byrne is a gifted comic because you can always detect a cautious streak underlying the wackiness. But this time round shes all caution, playing straight woman to Cannavales mercurial moves between boisterous humour and tearful desperation.
His parents, Jenna and Max, adore him but cant agree on the right school for him or the best way to handle his outbursts. Played by Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, who are married in real life, they present a neat study in contrasts.
Ezra is a nine year-old boy with autism who is highly intelligent and articulate, has a violent hatred of bananas and an aversion to being hugged.
Max is a former comedy writer who has decided to take his chances as a stand-up comedian. Since he and Jenna have broken up, he lives with his father, Stan (Robert De Niro) and their acerbic exchanges are among the films highlights. Stan, who was once a successful chef, is one of the subtler additions to De Niros burgeoning gallery of grumpy old men. His notorious irascibility comes with a measure of self-knowledge that proves useful when hes dealing with his sons impetuousness.
The film was written by Tony Spiridakis, a Hollywood veteran inspired by his experiences with his own autistic son and the marriage break-up that occurred during the boys adolescence. Its directed by Tony Goldwyn, who also plays Jennas boyfriend, Bruce, a hard-headed lawyer she may well regard as an antidote to life with Max.
Things reach a climax when Ezra is sent to a special-needs school, where hes miserable. Maxs solution is to kidnap him from Jennas house and take him on a road trip. Designed as a father-son bonding expedition, this turns into a manhunt after Jenna is reluctantly persuaded to tell the police.
It sounds like a cliche and some of the time, it plays out like one. Maxs protests become tediously repetitious but the trips saving grace is his relationship with Ezra, played by William Fitzgerald, who is autistic, with a fragility offset by a bracing dose of mature commonsense.
Max likes to take him along to his comedy gigs, seeing him as a sort of talisman, and just as youre wondering if hes motivated by concern for his sons welfare or his own, Ezra voices the same thought. Im not your mojo. Im not your buddy. Im your son, he says in what turns out to be the most effective line in the film.
If the FWC fails to win court approval for an administration, the federal government has flagged passing legislation to force through its reforms. Because it is not deemed a law enforcement agency, the FWC is incapable of accessing significant police intelligence holdings that cast light on suspected union corruption and relationships between union officials and underworld figures. The general manager of the FWC, Murray Furlong, acknowledged the limits of his agencys powers and jurisdiction in a letter dated July 16 which stated many of the allegations that have been made in the media coverage to date fall outside this jurisdiction. In the letter, Furlong also wrote the FWC was committed to working with law enforcement agencies and sharing information with other regulatory agencies where appropriate.
However, police sources from Victoria and NSW said state police were deeply reluctant to launch their own investigations because of resourcing concerns and, in the case of Victoria, were referring potentially important police witnesses to the FWC. The FWC is unable to access information gathered via phone taps, listening devices or coercive questioning hearings held by agencies such as the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission or Victorias Office of the Chief Examiner. This means it will not have key evidence and intelligence from major police investigations revealing alleged involvement of CFMEU officials and delegates in improper activities, including dealings with bikie gangs and underworld figures. Between 2017 and 2021, two major state-federal taskforces uncovered detailed information exposing the alleged involvement of still serving union officials and delegates in kickback and corruption schemes.
In Victoria, Operation Pantile gathered extensive phone tap material suggesting Victorian union assistant secretary Derek Christopher may be involved an alleged kickback scheme in which he is suspected of receiving $200,000 worth of supplies and labour from commercial building companies seeking CFMEU favours. Victoria Police recently said Pantile was an ongoing investigation, while official sources told this masthead that the force had not only compiled voluminous material implicating Christopher in alleged wrongdoing, but material implicating another influential CFMEU insider. There is no suggestion from this masthead that Christopher is guilty of an offence, a finding that can only be made by a court. Derek Christopher. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui In NSW, detectives from a second joint taskforce operation covertly recorded hours of two serving union officials suspected of corruption. A third Victorian police inquiry, Operation Spitfire, has recently scrutinised two bikie figures who worked as union delegates, including a sergeant at arms of the Rebels bikie gang.
Separately, a federal police taskforce operating in Sydney and Queensland covertly recorded conversations between a still serving senior union official and a notorious underworld figure previously implicated in the bribery of a now retired union boss. Because the FWC is not deemed an enforcement agency under commonwealth legislation, it is prohibited from accessing much of the material gathered in these police investigations. However, the commission will be able to access some police evidence if it is eventually aired in court. The Fair Work Ombudsman, which is investigating misconduct around making CFMEU agreements, also acknowledged criminal matters are outside its jurisdiction and it is limited to looking at coercion, misrepresentation or unions failing to disclose benefits. A Victorian inquiry into the construction industry, initiated by Premier Jacinta Allan and due to provide an interim report by the end of the month, also had no public channel to receive evidence until Thursday. After questions were asked by this masthead a link was published on its website. The independent investigator, Geoffrey Watson, SC, hired on Tuesday by the CFMEUs national office to probe allegations of corruption and criminality has even less power than the Fair Work Commission and ombudsman.
Both watchdogs are also hampered in their ability to access information held by the federal police as part of the investigation that led to NSW District Court Justice Jennie Girdhams May 2022 conclusions about a businessman who, between 2017 and 2020, bribed three CFMEU officials, including two who are still serving. While the businessman and union officials are given pseudonyms in the judges remarks and cant be named publicly for legal reasons their identities are known to CFMEU executives. In the previously unreported judicial remarks, Justice Girdham described a scheme in which the building company owner paid almost $31,000 in bribes to secure the unions help in winning contracts on NSW construction sites. The judge concluded that the scheme not only infected the unions integrity but potentially tainted the honest assessment of tenders to the detriment of other parties or competitors in the industry. Girdham said the corrupting of the union was serious and deliberate and while the sums of money involved were not large, it is recognised that in cases of bribery that a relatively small bribe may still have a very substantial corrupting effect.
Glorious sunny weather will continue through the weekend offering great conditions for outdoor recreation.
Australias longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival, Greazefest runs all weekend at Redland Showgrounds, with music, flashy cars, markets, food trucks and a lot of tattoos.
Alana Wilkie at Greazefest, Australias longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival. Credit: Mark Greenmantle
On Sunday, the annual Winter Design Market comes to the forecourt of the Gallery of Modern Art/Queensland Art Gallery from 9am to 4pm. Shop for local craft and design, with music by DJ Aidan Beiers.
Four locations across the Gold Coast are the hubs for the Bleach festival, the 12-day arts festival which launched yesterday and features a number of free concerts and dance performances.
Indoors, the Brisbane Portrait Prize opens at the State Library on Saturday. This free exhibition showcases winning and shortlisted paintings and photographs of distinguished Brisbane people.
A new Holey Moley putt putt has opened at the Westfield in Mount Gravatt offering 18-hole mini golf, karaoke and challenge rooms along with pizza and cocktails.
An exhaustive exhibition on the 112-year-old disaster Titanic: The Human Story continues at Uptown with relics from the ship, recreations of cabins, large-scale photographs and an engrossing audioguide.
The Albanese government has warned that the conflict in the Middle East is at risk of severe escalation and urged Australians in Lebanon to return home after the deaths of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Israeli airstrikes.
Israel said it had killed Hezbollahs most senior military commander Fuad Shukr on Wednesday in an airstrike on Beiruts southern suburbs that also killed at least one woman and two children and wounded dozens of others in escalating hostilities with the Lebanese terrorist group.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Australians in Lebanon to come home. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Hours later, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, which the terrorist group said was a Zionist airstrike on [Haniyehs] residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of Irans new president.
Irans leaders vowed to retaliate for Haniyehs death having been carried out on their soil. Iran supports Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza.
Find out who the candidates are and the key issues in your local area in our in-depth coverage of Victorian council elections.
Independent councillor Jamal Hakim will run for Lord Mayor of Melbourne in the upcoming local council election and is pushing to change donation rules to make candidates disclose campaign donors.
Its time for change, Hakim said. Its about making the change that the city needs to move forward.
Councillor Jamal Hakim is running for Lord Mayor and is calling for transparency on campaign donations. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Hakim is running on a platform advocating for transparency and integrity and is calling on all candidates to declare donations to their election campaign in real time.
For election campaigns, you dont know whos donating to campaigns until well after the election, he said. There is no requirement to declare donations up front, which means that you dont know who are the people who are playing behind the scenes, who is truly making the decisions in town hall, and how decisions are being considered.
He was disappointed there were no recommendations to relocate affected residents within the retirement village or to buy back their homes. A lot of us have come here at later stages of life seeking peace and security and all thats happened is we have lost our wealth. The government should recognise that, he said. Korkliniewski said there was enough evidence laid out in the report about faults in the planning process for a class action to be considered. Its not a question of if we get flooded again, its a question of when, he said. We in the west get treated like second-class citizens. The impact to property values at Rivervue is spreading beyond just homes that were inundated in 2022. One unit that was not flooded has not received a buyer offer in the two years since it was put on the market. A property expert with knowledge of the situation, but who asked not to be named to speak freely, said it was frustrating that a buyback scheme was rejected by the parliamentary committee. Theres the contagion impact of the village being known as flood-prone. I feel for those who have actually been flooded because their houses are worth virtually nothing, he said.
The report found that inadequate record-keeping by Melbourne Water regarding the Rivervue development resulted in a lack of transparency about the decision-making process in the early 2000s. A Melbourne Water spokesman confirmed that it was the relevant referral authority that had reviewed the proposed retirement village plan. Melbourne Water found the developer had removed the flood risk despite this, the village flooded in 2022. The spokesman said Melbourne Water had, since the village flooded, been working with Rivervue residents to support development of an emergency management plan for the site. He also said retrofitting could be an appropriate response to flood risk in some cases. David Ettershank, a Legalise Cannabis MP and the inquirys deputy chair, said Melbourne Waters inability to explain what had happened because of historical events was not good enough.
Loading In a dissenting report, Ettershank said it was hardly likely to encourage public confidence that lost in the mists of time barely extends back 15 years. Ettershank had hoped the report would deliver more solutions for flood-hit residents along the Maribyrnong River. What weve not come up with are long-term resolutions for these peoples terrible problems, he said. Its absolutely incumbent upon government to actually start looking at solutions for those people, not simply noting their complaints. The report noted the Flemington Racecourse flood wall built by the Victoria Racing Club in 2007 had increased the extent and duration of the flood in [the suburb of] Maribyrnong.
The flood wall around Flemington Racecourse on October 14, 2022. Credit: Aisha Dow The wall increased flood levels by up to three centimetres in some residential areas and lengthened its duration. Some properties flooded would likely have avoided inundation had the wall not been built, an earlier report overseen by Melbourne Water found. The parliamentary report found that construction works on the river, designed to offset the impact of major flooding on locals, failed to work. The Allan government has until January to respond to the report. Water Minister Harriet Shings spokeswoman said the government was considering the reports recommendations. She said the state was investing more than $22 million for council flood planning and spent $2.5 billion with the Commonwealth supporting flood-hit communities. Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell said the report showed major failures in Victorias planning system.
While the report makes some good recommendations, Im disappointed that residents ... are still facing significant costs and uncertainty for poor government decisions. These residents deserve justice and compensation. Rivervue Retirement Village in Avondale Heights. Credit: Rivervue The report questions the reliance on mitigation works to justify floodplain development, but Maribyrnong Community Recovery Association president Madeleine Serle criticised the lack of mitigation solutions for at-risk residents. We want to continue to push for federal climate change disaster funding to do whole-of-catchment mitigation work, she said. Other recommendations in the report include overhauling the states early warning system and emergency management, and disclosing when a property is flood-prone in vendor statements.
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 article is part of Travellers Holiday Guide to the worlds greatest road trips. See all stories . Route 66 is a ghost highway. It officially vanished in 1985 but try telling that to the good folk of Springfield, Missouri. This Springfield (one of 67 in the US) is nicknamed the Buckle of the Bible Belt, thanks to its hundreds of churches. Even while Uber-ing from the airport to my Route 66-themed motel, my driver confesses he glimpsed heaven the previous night as he hunkered down during a minor tornado. A few years ago, a reporter calculated Springfield has six times as many churches as Chinese restaurants, which is saying something considering many residents are addicted to a local invention called cashew chicken. The city of 180,000 mostly God-fearing people is also the birthplace of another pivotal development it was from here that a telegram was sent to federal officials on April 30, 1926, suggesting the new diagonal highway connecting Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast be christened 66. The designation was approved on November 11, the highways official birthdate. Route 66 was born and Springfield, in the Missouri Ozarks, wrote itself into the history books (although Tulsa, Oklahoma, this year claimed the Capital of Route 66 title, as the guy who first noticed the 66 designation was available was a Tulsan). While this part of Middle America might be unfamiliar to many Australians, its the perfect place to start exploring the near-mythical highway that ran almost 4000 kilometres through eight states. With these states and their retro roadside attractions already gearing up for an influx of visitors in 2026, nows the time to do the route as it was meant to be done: in a leisurely fashion, so you can shoot the breeze with characters you meet along the way. Tracking down the routes historic wisps of blacktop, superseded by more efficient but less interesting interstate highways, can take grunt work, though. Many Route 66 attractions can help, as they sell guidebooks describing exactly how to trace that journey back to simpler times. It also helps that, as the eight states increasingly recognise the power of Route 66 tourism, brown-and-white Historic Route signage has sprouted alongside the former highway, turning the ephemeral into something more concrete. Time travel on four wheels What do travellers hope to find beyond photo opportunities as they journey along whats also called the Main Street of America? I have no idea, but my nostalgia trip starts on Springfields West College Street. We snap pictures of the 1929-built Rockwood Motor Court a fine example of whats known as giraffe-rock architecture (where sandstone or limestone is collected, sometimes split and then mortared in place, creating a pattern that resembles a giraffes hide) and head to College Street Cafe. Inside the tiny diner, a breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash brown, toast and percolated coffee makes for a classic American diner experience right on Route 66. Before taking leave, we ink our name on the walls as many others have done.
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Old motel sign along the route. Credit: iStock Right out front, a Route 66 badge is painted onto the road. We snap selfies then stroll over to the Route 66 Car Museum a vast display space for businessman Guy Maces collection of historic and movie-themed vehicles, including a Batman-inspired 1971 Gotham Roadster and a Ghostbusters ECTO-1. Im an unusual collector in that I drive most of my cars, says Mace, whose favourite set of wheels is a bronze 1967 Austin-Healey, while the most expensive (valued at $US1.5 million, or $2,240,000) is a 1936 Horch. Many vehicles on the museum floor are on trickle chargers to keep their batteries in shape. If you want to see the true America travel Route 66 and youll see a lot of small towns. People want to see the real America, he says. With up to 40 per cent of the museums visitors drawn from overseas, Mace says: Its just incredible the mystique that Route 66 has worldwide. Gary Turners Gay Parita. Equally amazed, even though he meets Route 66 tourists every day, is George Bowick of Gay Parita, a replica Sinclair gas station 37 kilometres west of Springfield on Old 66. The stop is a mere dot on the map but it illustrates how 66 is really about something other than landmarks: its about people. Bowick is continuing the legacy of his gregarious father-in-law, Gary Turner, who died in 2015 but is fondly remembered as a route ambassador. Hed spend hours shooting the breeze with passers-by and giving tips for the best stops along the route. Some people thought that with the passing of the one-of-a-kind Turner (and his wife, Lena, just a few months later), thatd be the end of Gay Parita.
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Clearly, theyd never met Bowick (he and his partner, Turners daughter Barbara, lived way off the route in Charleston, South Carolina, until duty called). Here in south-west Missou-rah, this stretch of Route 66 is known as the ghost stretch because so many things have faded away, says Bowick in his cigarette-roughened voice. Hes lounging on the porch of the gift shop-cum-museum from where, in summer, he watches goldfinches dive-bomb his sunflowers. On the quiet road out front, an oversized Route 66 painted badge provides a perfect photo op. Were keeping all of Mister Garys traditions we do things exactly the same way Gary did, he says. Perhaps not everything. Its hard to know what Miss Lena would have made of the 3D Sinclair green dinosaur (the fuel companys logo), christened Lena and gussied up with red lipstick and toenail polish, which has joined the memorabilia collection. This memorable pit-stop has been saved but, because of the mom-and-pop scale of many little businesses along the route, some have shuttered while others, such as Californias Bagdad Cafe, are struggling to stay open. Click and connect If you think Route 66 is only about collecting clicks (on your camera) think again. Its also about slowing down and chewing the fat. Route 66 is just a road its always been a road, nothing but a road, says Bowick. Its always been about the people and, when folks are travelling Route 66, if they keep that in mind they will not have missed the boat on anything. You wont meet a better bunch of people on the planet.
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Carthage Courthouse. Between his place and Missouris western border, we clock up other iconic Route 66 experiences. In Joplin, where Bonnie and Clyde holed up for several weeks in 1933 and a 2011 tornado ripped through the city, killing 158 people, art is helping recovery. Striking murals, along with half of a 1964 red Corvette, feature at the Route 66 Mural Park. Fifteen minutes drive out of Joplin is the teeny-tiny Supertam On 66 Ice Cream Parlour and Superman Museum home to 2500-plus items celebrating the Man of Steel along with ice-cream flavours such as Superman, Fat Elvis and Exhausted Parent. On the way to Carthage, we snap the 66 Drive-In, which would make a very cool night out if youre staying at the nearby Boots Court Motel. After showing us around the Streamline moderne-style motel where Clark Gable was a guest, manager Jeremy Morris takes us to another quirk. He lives in an old-timey house called The Parsonage at Red Oak II a recreated community that is part art installation, part open-air museum just off Old 66. Visitors can stroll around the collection of early 20th-century buildings that include a Phillips 66 gas station, schoolhouse and general store. A road divided Detouring from the route to catch nearby sights was de rigueur for yesteryears road-trippers so we follow in their tyre tracks. Near Springfield is the ride-through-in-a-jeep-drawn-tram Fantastic Caverns and, on the way to St Louis in the states east, youll find Meramec Caverns, which the outlaw Jesse James used as a hideout. The Meramec caverns.
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Yet Route 66 isnt all nostalgia for everyone. As Springfields History Museum on the Square reminds us, journeying through segregated America was fraught for African-American motorists. To help them find places to eat, drink and stay, African-American New York City mail carrier Victor Hugo Green published The Negro Travellers Green Book from 1936-66 (a copy of the annual guidebooks 1956 cover is displayed in the museum). The guide included Grahams Rib Station and Motel in Springfield. Springfields unofficial historian, David Eslick, said a 1960 campaign visit by then Vice-President Richard Nixon led to a significant moment for racial integration in the city. As Nixons press delegation included two African-Americans, a local hotel was forced to change its segregation policy. Two years later, it reversed its stance, saying the Springfield area unfortunately is not quite ready to accept desegregation on a broad or unlimited scale. History Museum, Missouri. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal for hotels and motels to discriminate based on race. Another poignant spot along the route is the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge on St Louiss outskirts. Cyclists and pedestrians who cross the bridge, themed with Route 66 signage, to reach Illinois will find a plaque honouring two young women murdered here in 1991. A museum like no other Among all its other monikers, Route 66 is also called Americas Longest Museum and its easy to see why. Heading east from Springfield, we tick off the very silly fudge factory at Uranus, spend the night at Cubas classic Wagon Wheel Motel and explore the Old 66 displays at both Red Cedar Inn Museum and Visitor Centre and at Route 66 State Park (where the visitors centre is fashioned from a 1935 roadhouse that serviced the route).
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As one senior US official noted Wednesday, the Israelis could have killed Haniyeh, one of the main interlocutors on a ceasefire and prisoner-exchange deal that appears imperilled again, anywhere in the Middle East. Loading The official noted that the Israelis chose to do it in Iran during the inauguration. Foreign dignitaries from more than 80 nations were at the ceremony, where security was tight. The message was obvious. The assassins were not only retaliating against Hamas leaders for the October 7 terror attack in Israel that killed more than 1100 civilians, but were also reminding Irans new leaders that they, too, were within easy reach. But as Pezeshkian is bound to discover as Iran considers its options, measuring the right response without tipping the country into a devastating war, is no easier for the new president than it was for the previous eight men who have held the office since the Iranian revolution. The attack injects a major crisis for Irans new president on his first day on the job, Ali Vaez, head of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, said on Wednesday. Pezeshkian ran on a pledge to rebalance Irans foreign relations and to relieve sanctions, a vow he made in his inauguration address to the country.
A regional escalation against a key US ally will shut the already extremely narrow window there might have been for diplomatic engagement, Vaez said. In truth, that window was all but shut before the killing. Iran was engaged in indirect negotiations with the Biden administration in 2021 and 2022, and at moments the two sides seemed close to reviving some version of the 2015 nuclear deal, which put sharp limits on Irans nuclear fuel production, in return for sanctions relief. As president, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018. But President Joe Bidens effort to fashion a new accord collapsed in talks with the government of President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. With the American presidential election so close and the prospect of Trumps return to office the Iranians had little incentive to revive the conversation.
For Pezeshkian, the news that a key ally and a guest at his inauguration was killed was also a personal blow, according to two members of his advisory committee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record. He emerged from an emergency meeting with Khamenei and members of Irans Supreme National Security Council to accuse Israel of staging the attacks. We will make the occupying terrorist regime regret its action, he said in a statement. Loading But attending the meetings and influencing the decision-making on retaliation are different. It is unclear that a man who was elected to relieve social tension, touting a platform of liberalising social rules on wearing the hijab and use of the internet, will have influence over the Revolutionary Guard, which was particularly humiliated by the strike. Pezeshkian has said that he fully backs Irans state policy toward Israel and supports the militant groups in the region. My sense is Pezeshkian will not have an impact on the decision, said Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and a long-time Iran expert. He was never a part of the inner circle on security.
Maloney said it was possible that the supreme leader, in ordering a direct retaliatory strike on Israel, meant a missile attack similar to what it attempted April 13, its biggest and most overt attack on Israel since the 1979 Iranian revolution. It launched hundreds of missiles and drones in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, which killed several Iranian military commanders. But even that show of force was telegraphed well in advance. General Michael E Kurilla, who heads US Central Command, had time to organise a comprehensive missile defence that included US, Israeli and Jordanian forces, among other allies. Nearly all the weapons were shot down and little damage was done. Now the United States is likely to try to assemble that coalition which some US officials describe as a nascent NATO-like defensive alliance to fend off another attack in days or weeks. They will urge the Israelis not to escalate when and if an attack comes, noting that in April, the fears of a regional war dissipated after Israel dropped a few weapons into Isfahan, Iran, while keeping them far from the nuclear sites surrounding that city. Other forms of retaliation could also follow. While US officials believe that neither Israel nor Hezbollah wants a war on the territory of Lebanon, the possibilities for an accident or overreaction are ripe. The riskiest move would be crossing the line from developing fuel for a nuclear weapon to developing the weapon itself. Instead of being at least a year away from having breakout capacity to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, theyre probably one or two weeks away from doing that, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 19 at the Aspen Security Forum. Where we are now is not a good place.
In Iran, Israels great rival in the Middle East, a grinning Haniyeh was welcomed as a hero. Waving and pressing his heart in gratitude, his white beard neatly trimmed, he glad-handed dignitaries at President Masoud Pezeshkians inauguration in the Iranian parliament on Tuesday. Chants from politicians of death to Israel, death to the USA rang out at the ceremony. Pezeshkian embraced Haniyeh warmly before the Hamas leader was granted an audience with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans Supreme Leader.
Haniyeh wished Khamenei a long and healthy life during their meeting. In a matter of hours, he would be dead in the veterans residence where Irans proxy warriors were being hosted. A young woman reacts during a protest to condemn the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, at al-Bass Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon. Credit: AP The 2am explosion that killed Haniyeh and his bodyguards was reported by Israeli media to have been an air strike launched from within Iran. Deep, perhaps unprecedented, Mossad infiltration
Whether the munition was delivered by drone or a different kind of projectile, a launch from inside Iran would suggest deep, perhaps unprecedented, infiltration by Mossad. It was a missile, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told reporters in Tehran. Hundreds of protesting Iranians take part in a protest against the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Palestine Square in Tehran. Credit: Getty Images The missile targeted the room where Ismail Haniyeh was present. The impact of the missile caused the windows to shatter and the walls to collapse. Investigation by our Iranian brothers is ongoing. The assassination came less than 24 hours after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut in revenge for the death of 12 children in a missile attack.
Haniyeh escaped an earlier attempt on his life in the early 2000s before he won fame in 2006 after leading Hamas to an election victory and ultimately its takeover of the Gaza Strip. Israeli air strikes killed three of Haniyehs sons and four of his grandchildren in April. Even so, he continued the ceasefire negotiations. My father survived four assassination attempts during his patriotic journey, and today Allah has granted him the martyrdom that he always wished for, said Abdul Salam Haniyeh, the dead terror chiefs son. We affirm that this assassination will not deter the resistance, which will fight until freedom is achieved. The assassination has plunged the Middle East into dangerous waters.
It was an escalatory crime that will push towards more tension and chaos in the region, Sufyan Al-Qudah, a spokesman for Jordans foreign ministry, warned. Loading I dont think war is inevitable. I maintain that. I think theres always room and opportunities for diplomacy, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said in the Philippines. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyehs death but, as far as a humiliated Iran was concerned, there was no doubt who was responsible. As loudspeakers on mosques relayed the news of Haniyehs death across Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the Islamic Republics leaders vowed harsh and painful revenge.
Yesterday, I raised his victorious hand, and today, I must take his body on my shoulders, Pezeshkian said. In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Leader attended a meeting of Islamic Republics Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning to plot the response. Irans embarrassment was compounded by the boasts of its outgoing intelligence minister just six days ago. Esmail Khatib had crowed that his biggest achievement in office was breaking up Mossads infiltration network. We are waiting for our officials to kill someone in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv for Tehran, one presenter raged on Iranian state TV.
Outside the University of Tehran, a few dozen people gathered to chant Death to Israel. The Zionists have just dug their own graves with their own hands, one Revolutionary Guards official told The Telegraph. We have been at war with Israel for the past four decades, and they have just made it official. Calls for all-out war And a member of the Basij paramilitary group, calling for all-out war said: We should use the opportunity they gave us to show them who is the real power in the region.
There was anxiety as well as anger within Iran. I was hoping that with the new president, we would have some peace, but now I am worried that we may have to leave Tehran again, said Afshin, a shopkeeper in the capital. Loading He and his family fled Tehran when Iran fired about 300 suicide drones and missiles at Israel in April, almost all of which were shot down by the US, UK, and Israel. Why should this guy be here? Everyone knows Israel is looking for him, and we host him in the heart of Tehran, added Afshin. Iran has declared three days of mourning for Haniyeh, whose funeral will be held in Tehran on Thursday.
The government will take a call on whether to continue the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme in September, which coincides with the borrowing calendar discussions with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.
A view on continuing SGB is likely to coincide with the RBI borrowing meeting in September. We see SGB not as a social security scheme, but as an investment option. Also, the government is not looking for an alternative to the gold bond scheme for now, the official said.
The perspective aligns with the Union Budgets decision
His deportation has raised concerns about freedom of the press and access to information in Pakistan. (Photo: Reuters)
A 73-year-old British-American author and journalist, who sought an interview with Pakistan's jailed former premier Imran Khan, has been deported after his tourist visa was revoked, a media report said on Thursday. Charles Glass, an author, journalist, broadcaster, and publisher who specialises in the Middle East, was told by law enforcement agencies on Wednesday that his visa had been cancelled and he had five hours to leave the country, the Dawn newspaper reported. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp Glass has served prominent media organisations such as Newsweek, ABC TV, and The Telegraph, among others, and currently works as a freelance journalist. He had been trying to secure a meeting with Khan.
Sources told the paper that Glass, who was recently spotted outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi alongside Khan's sister Aleema, was at the residence of Islamabad-based senior journalist Zahid Hussain when they were visited by a large police contingent. Around noon on Wednesday, a team led by an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) arrived, initially saying they wanted to meet the foreign journalist.
They then informed Glass that his visa had been cancelled, After arguing for nearly an hour, the ASP reportedly told the journalist he had to leave the country by 5 pm.
"Mr Glass wondered how he would secure a flight and said his luggage is still at [his lodgings]. The ASP offered to accompany him to the hotel to collect his luggage and informed him that there was a flight to Abu Dhabi available at 4 pm, which he should take to leave the country. The ASP said he had a clear order to deport the journalist, the paper quoted sources as saying.
Sources said that Glass was initially taken to his lodgings to collect his luggage, and then deported to the Middle East.
Shahzad Akbar, a former aide of ex-PM Imran Khan, also mentioned the incident on social media.
There are reports of the deportation of British journalist Charles Glass who was visiting Pakistan to see @ImranKhanPTI at Adiala prison, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Sources said that Glass had been trying to secure an interview with Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and it was possible that his tourist visa was cancelled because of this.
However, Kohsar police station chief Shafqat Faiz, in whose locality the journalist was staying, denied any such activity within their jurisdiction. The Dawn newspaper also reached out to Islamabad police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi for comment on the issue, but he did not respond.
His deportation has raised concerns about freedom of the press and access to information in Pakistan.
This story has been updated.
The heavy rains in Delhi on Wednesday caused water to leak into the lobby of the newly inaugurated Parliament building, raising concerns about the weather resilience of the structure, which was built at a cost of Rs 971 crore. The construction was completed just last year.
Additionally, waterlogging was noted around the premises, particularly near the New Parliaments Makar Dwar, with several videos of the flooding going viral on social media.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav shared a video of the leaks with the caption: "The old parliament was better than this new parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the parliament built with billions of rupees. People are asking whether water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their well thought out design." Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
, , , -- , , pic.twitter.com/PpJ36k6RJm August 1, 2024
Congress MP Manickam Tagore has given adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha, urging the formation of a specialised committee to investigate and address the issue.
Background of the new Parliament building
The foundation stone of the new Parliament building was laid on December 10, 2020, and it was inaugurated on May 28, 2023, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The building was first used for official business on September 19, 2023, during a Parliamentary Special Session where the landmark women's reservation bill was passed.
The need for a new building emerged in the early 2010s due to stability concerns with the older structure, which was a 93-year-old building suffering from inadequate space and structural stability issues. The new Parliament building, constructed to be modern, efficient, and earthquake-resistant, has been designed with a projected lifespan of over 150 years and incorporates diverse Indian architectural styles.
The project, led by HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd with architect Bimal Patel, cost an estimated Rs 971 crore and covers an area of 64,500 square meters.
Details of the leakage inside the Parliament
Manickam Tagores adjournment notice stated that the water leakage occurred along the path used by the President of India when entering the new Parliament building. He emphasised that the incident highlights potential issues with the building's weather resilience, just one year after its completion.
Tagore proposed forming a specialised committee, including MPs from all parties, to inspect the building thoroughly. The committee would investigate the causes of the leaks, evaluate the design and materials used, recommend necessary repairs, establish a maintenance protocol, and ensure transparency by publicly sharing its findings.
The Lok Sabha released a statement addressing these leakages stating that displaced adhesives used to attach glass domes to parts of the building to allow natural light flow, were the cause of the leakage.
The press note said, "... in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the Building, including in the Lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilised in day to day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby."
"The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately. Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed. Similarly, accumulated water opposite Makar Dwar also got drained out quickly," the note added.
Previous structural issues with Parliament building
Despite its modern design, the new Parliament building has faced several issues since its inauguration. The special session of Parliament in the new building experienced technical glitches, including snags in the microphones and earphones provided to members of Parliament and a faulty acoustics system that generated echoes in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers.
During its inaugural session, the biometric and barcode security system was not yet activated, leading to confusion and strict entry restrictions in the new Parliament building.
Beautiful but inefficient: MPs struggle to communicate
During the special Parliament session in September 2023, while many appreciated the buildings aesthetic appeal and intricate design work, there were clear signs of work in progress. Some people noted that the huge chambers made it difficult for MPs to interact with each other and the visitors and press galleries, unlike in the old building.
Additionally, the new uniform for the staff was met with dissatisfaction due to its design and quality, and the biometric and barcode security system was not yet activated, leading to confusion and strict entry restrictions.
Specialised committee to investigate leakage
On Thursday, Congress MP Manickam Tagore highlighted that the water leakage could point to potential issues with the buildings weather resilience and called for the formation of a specialised committee to address these concerns. The proposed committee would investigate the causes of the leaks, evaluate the design and materials used, recommend necessary repairs, establish a maintenance protocol, and ensure transparency by publicly sharing its findings.
Parliament session continues amid downpour
Despite the disruption caused by the leakage, the parliamentary proceedings continued as scheduled. Key items on the agenda for Thursday include the introduction of a bill to amend the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in both Houses of Parliament by Amit Shah and Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to move the statutory resolution regarding Section 8A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
The monsoon session of Parliament, which commenced on July 22, is scheduled to conclude on August 12. Despite the heavy rains and ensuing challenges, the legislative business continues to address crucial issues and proposals.
Bank of Maharashtra raised only Rs 811 crore through a 10-year infrastructure bond issue at a coupon rate of 7.8 per cent on Thursday. The bank had aimed to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore, but bids totalled only Rs 1,390 crore, with most proposals seeking higher rates. The issue had a base size of Rs 500 crore and a greenshoe option of Rs 2,500 crore.
Investors sought returns between 7.85 per cent and 7.9 per cent, but the bank opted to stick with 7.8 per cent, which limited the amount raised.
Market sources noted that bids totalling roughly Rs 500 crore were placed at 7.85 per cent.
A dealer at a state-owned bank commented, Most bids exceeded 7.8 per cent, and the bank was not prepared to meet those rates.
The dealer added that only Rs 500 crore of the total bids were at 7.85 per cent.
In contrast, Canara Bank secured Rs 10,000 crore at a 7.4 per cent coupon rate on July 16.
State Bank of India raised Rs 10,000 crore on July 10 at a 7.36 per cent rate for a 15-year tenor, and another Rs 10,000 crore at the same rate on June 26.
Bank of India also sold Rs 5,000 crore in 10-year bonds at a 7.54 per cent rate on July 19.
Earlier, Bank of Maharashtra raised Rs 1,000 crore through Basel III Tier II bonds with a 7.89 per cent rate. On July 18, the banks board approved raising up to Rs 10,000 crore through long-term infrastructure bonds this financial year, in multiple tranches via public issues or private placements.
The missile that killed Hamas Qatar- and Turkiye-based political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran has likely substantially weakened the chances of peace in the Israel-Hamas war and escalated the conflict in West Asia in unpredictable ways. Haniyeh was Hamas chief negotiator. His death, which Iran claims was orchestrated by Israel, which is yet to formally claim responsibility, silences a relatively moderate voice within Hamas. He had been an advocate of a ceasefire with Israel, often clashing with other Hamas officials. Not surprisingly, leaders in Egypt and Qatar, key mediators in ceasefire talks, have raised serious doubts about
If you were to walk into your nearest electronics store to buy a Sony TV, chances are you would get confused by how different models are named. Take the X90 or X95, for example. Dont confuse them with the A95 or A90, please. The X series are LED televisions, while the A series are higher-end OLED televisions. So you can buy a Sony A95L or Sony X95 or some other such TV. Doesnt quite roll off the tongue, does it?
Well, over the decades, Japanese electronics companies have adopted rather strange nomenclature systems. There have been exceptions of course. Sony does that even when it comes to its headphone or earphone ranges. Take its flagship wireless headphones, for example, the WH-1000XM5. The M5 is said to stand for Mark 5. The previous generation was an M4, for example. These are Sonys top-of-the-line personal headphones in the market these days, retailing for somewhere around Rs 30,000 (MRP is Rs 34,990). While the world raves about the sound they deliver, the name isnt really a branding success. Well, not quite like the AirPods Max from the house of Apple. Or even the AirPods Pro. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Not that Sony hasnt tried to change things. It has a series of smart TVs under the Bravia brand name. Simpler naming conventions. Like a series of smartphones. Or its latest range of personal audio products in the ULT series. The series includes some speakers and a pair of headphones. Sony ULT lineup has three speakers and a pair of headphones, the ULT Wear. You can read our review of ULT Field 1, the smallest speaker in the series here.
The Sony ULT Wear is the focus of this review, and here is what Sony promises:
40 mm drivers (allowing for deeper bass)
Ear detection sensors (the audio automatically gets paused if you take the headphones off)
30 hours of battery life with noise cancellation, 50 hours without it
1.5 hours of playback with a charge of just 3 minutes
5 hours of playback with a charge of just 10 minutes
360 reality audio
Multi-device pairing (lets you pair both your mobile phone and laptop to the headphones)
Quick attention mode
The Sony ULT Wear retail for around Rs 16,500 (MRP Rs 24,990). Even the ULT Wear carries an MRP Rs 10,000 lower than the flagship XM5s, the street prices are much lower. This is a good bargain price for a new product that tries to bridge the gap between the XB and the XM series. Till now the XB series promised extra bass, something the ULT Wear delivers with ease too.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is now a necessary feature, even in budget headphones or earphones. Like other premium Sony headphones, the ULT Wear doesnt disappoint when it comes to this feature. You could be in the middle of a loud crowd, and the headphones would make you feel as if you are on an island alone, immersed in your favourite music. How easy is it to switch between the ANC mode and the non-ANC mode? Just put your hand on the right ear cup, and the headphones switch from the noise cancelling mode to ambient noise mode while lowering the playback volume simultaneously. Sony calls it the Quick Attention Mode.
You can get them in three colours: Off white, black, and forest gray. They come with Sony 360 Reality Audio, Sonys version of spatial audio, and it works well. Even without pressing the ULT button on the headphones, they deliver deep bass thanks to the 40 mm drivers (in comparison, the XM5 have 30 mm drivers). If you still feel the need for more bass, just press the ULT button and they will deliver it. We, however, found the sound to be a bit muddy with ULT on.
There isnt much to choose between the XB910, ULT Wear, and the XM5s when it comes to weight. At 255 gm, ULT Wear is comfortable for walking or sitting, but it may not be the most comfortable if you are lying in bed, listening to your favourite music.
We checked out old Hindi film classics, classic rock numbers, and the latest pop sensations, and the headphones sounded good.
The long battery backup, good ANC, and quick charge options make these headphones perfect companions for a commute. There is no sound leakage, either, so the person sitting next to you in the metro is unlikely to be disturbed. With their easy thump, ULT Wear is likely to be really popular with younger users, even as those who prefer a more balanced sound veer towards the XM5s.
In a contentious exchange at the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ) on Wednesday, former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris's ethnicity. Hours later, far-right commentator Laura Loomer posted Harris's birth certificate, listing her mother's ethnicity as "Caucasian," ostensibly supporting Trump's claim that Harris is not Black.
The post was met with mixed responses, with many pointing out the lack of logic in it, stating that Harris's father could be both Black and Jamaican. This echoed Trump's comment where the Republican nominee could not seem to understand that Harris could be of both Indian and Black origins. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Kamala Harris' heritage
Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was an Indian-American biomedical scientist, and her father, Donald Harris, is a Jamaican-American professor emeritus at Stanford University. Despite these facts, Trumps questioning of Harriss racial identity has stirred significant controversy.
In response, Harriss team issued a statement condemning Trumps remarks: "The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people."
Fact-checkers clarify Harris' certificate does not mention race
Fact-checkers, including Snopes, have clarified that California birth certificates in the 1960s often did not specify a child's race. Harris's team reiterated that her mothers listing as "Caucasian" does not alter her identity.
Controversy around Obama's ethnicity and birthplace
This incident also echoes similar allegations faced by former US President Barack Obama. During and after his 2008 campaign, Obamas birthplace and citizenship were widely questioned, with theories falsely claiming he was born in Kenya or that he lost his US citizenship by becoming an Indonesian citizen.
These claims have been largely characterised as racially motivated attacks against Obama, the first African-American president of the United States.
Ultimately, Obama had the White House release his birth certificate in 2011, while he was in office, to end conspiracy theories around his birth and citizenship.
Trump's interview with Black journalists
During his interview at the NABJ event in Chicago, Trump repeatedly questioned Harriss racial identity. When pressed about his previous comments questioning the birthplace of prominent Black figures, including Obama, and why Black voters should support him in the 2024 elections, Trump deflected, criticising the interviewers "hostility" and the network they represented.
I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? Trump remarked.
One of the moderators tried to point out that Harris has always identified as Black and attended a historically Black university; however, their comments were ignored.
In a bizarre move, Trump went on to compare himself to Abraham Lincoln, claiming he was the best President for Black voters since Lincoln, who ended slavery and paved the way for civil rights.
Additionally, Trump reiterated his promise to pardon January 6 rioters, including those convicted of assaulting police officers.
This latest incident highlights the enduring racial tensions and controversies in American politics, highlighting the challenges faced by minority leaders in their pursuit of public office.
According to a Bloomberg poll, Harris is currently leading in five of seven battleground states against Trump. The US presidential polls are scheduled for November 5.
Pakistan is all set to launch its own home-developed messaging platform, "Beep Pakistan," initially for government employees with plans for a wider public rollout, according to a report by Al Jazeera. This initiative follows growing concerns about WhatsApp's performance in the country, which some users attribute to possible internet restrictions.
The Beep Pakistan messaging app is currently being used within the IT Ministry. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
Officials highlight the app's strong security features and data privacy, positioning it as a more secure alternative to foreign platforms.
Beep Pakistan to be launched in 45 days for public
State Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khwaja was quoted by the report as saying that the app is designed robustly enough to eventually offer it to the general public if desired. Haque, who heads the National Assemblys standing committee on IT, noted that the government plans to roll out the application to all its employees within the next 45 days.
Although previously referred to as a "WhatsApp killer," the government now emphasises that Beep Pakistan is not intended to compete with existing platforms. Instead, it is presented as a tool to protect sensitive information and enhance digital sovereignty.
The push for a domestic messaging app follows a December 2019 incident where Pakistani officials were targeted by Pegasus spyware, raising concerns about WhatsApp's security. While the government denies plans to ban WhatsApp, the promotion of Beep Pakistan indicates a preference for a homegrown solution.
The former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government announced the app in 2021.
Amid disruptions and bans across all social media platforms, Pakistan announced the development of the Beep app in August 2023. Government officials are reportedly already using the app for internal communications. Development officially began on July 27.
Why are Pakistani citizens anxious about the new messaging platform?
According to a report by the Times of India, critics view the app as part of a broader government strategy to control online discourse and restrict information access. The recent disruptions to WhatsApp, along with the development of Beep Pakistan, have raised concerns about the governments commitment to a free and open internet. Digital rights advocates suspect that the countrys testing and deployment of an internet firewall, aimed at suppressing dissent and limiting free speech, might be contributing to these disruptions.
In recent months, users have lodged complaints with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) about internet throttling and reported difficulties in accessing multimedia content on WhatsApp such as images, documents, and voice notes.
According to Beep Pakistans privacy policy as reported by Al Jazeera, the application will collect various information about the device used to access it, such as location, connection information, and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, among other data.
Additionally, the privacy policy states that this information will be stored on local servers at the National Telecom Corporation (NTC), the official telecom and information communications technology provider to the government of Pakistan.
The privacy policy assures that personal information will not be shared, rented, or sold to other parties and will only be stored on NTC local servers. However, it also notes that the app would be legally obligated to disclose relevant personal information if required by law.
Samsung has made important headway in its comeback, including winning the long-awaited approval from Nvidia. | Representative Picture
By Yoolim Lee
Samsung Electronics Co.s chip business leader warned that Koreas largest company risked getting caught in a vicious cycle if it didnt revamp its workplace culture, in an unusually harsh memo issued to employees months after taking the helm.
Jun Young-hyun, who ascended to the role after his predecessor allowed SK Hynix Inc. to take a big lead in AI memory chips, said his divisions recent turnaround was based largely on a market rebound. To sustain that recovery, Samsung must take steps to eradicate communication barriers between departments and stop hiding or avoiding problems, he said in a staff memo seen by Bloomberg News. Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
The executives communique reflects frustration over Samsungs missteps in the hot new market of supplying memory chips for Nvidia Corp. AI accelerators. While the company this week reported its fastest pace of net income growth since 2010, Jun listed a litany of issues eroding Samsungs long-term competitiveness.
Still, the conglomerate is beginning to make progress in narrowing the gap with SK Hynix. We need to rebuild the culture of fierce debate that is unique to semiconductors, the 63-year-old engineer wrote in his brief memo. If we rely on the market without restoring fundamental competitiveness, we will be stuck in a vicious cycle that will repeat last years situation.
Samsung has made important headway in its comeback, including winning the long-awaited approval from Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth memory chips called HBM3, Bloomberg News reported this week. It also anticipates approval for the next generation, HBM3E, in two to four months.
Its unusual and humbling for South Koreas largest company to be playing catchup. Historically, Samsung has led the way in the market, capitalizing on its scale and engineering expertise.
We are currently in a difficult situation, Jun said. With our accumulated research experience and know-how, we are confident that we will quickly regain our competitive edge.
Global IT firm FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation (FPT), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ebm-papst, a global manufacturer of fans and motors headquartered in Germany with 30 production sites worldwide. This partnership will see the two companies commitment to driving digital transformation and co-innovating to enhance industry standards.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240730760228/en/
The MoU signing ceremony took place at FPT Tower, Hanoi, with the participation of ebm-papsts CTO Dr. Tomas Smetana, FPT Software Deputy CDO Mr. Le Hai, and other executives from both sides (Photo: Business Wire)
Given the rising trend of integrating advanced technologies in the manufacturing sector, FPT Software will assist ebm-papst in enhancing operational efficiency, quality, and sustainability. The solutions to be applied include IoT and Digital Twins technologies, which create replicas of objects and conditions in the physical world for effective management, while gathering data to drive performance, conduct testing, and anticipate issues before they occur.
FPT Software will help us fulfill our mission of delivering sustainable, intelligent, and innovative air and heating technology solutions to customers worldwide, said ebm-papsts Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Tomas Smetana.
FPT Software has been a trusted digital transformation partner of several manufacturing giants around the world. With our global workforce, wealth of experience, and diversified delivery model, we are well-positioned to accompany ebm-papst in their digital transformation journey. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will set a new benchmark for the manufacturing sector," said FPT Softwares Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Delivery Officer, Le Hai.
The partnership with a top-tier company like ebm-papst reaffirms FPT Softwares position as a trusted partner in digital transformation and highlights the companys extensive experience in the European market. Since establishing its presence in Europe in 2012, FPT Software has dedicated over 1,000 employees globally to projects in this region, providing digital transformation services and solutions to Europes leading companies across industries, including E.ON, Schaeffler, Viessmann, Covestro, and Siemens. Specifically for the manufacturing domain, the company leverages advanced technologies such as Cloud, AI, RPA, and digital twins to enable resilient and agile businesses, helping clients adapt their infrastructure and smart manufacturing operations.
About FPT Software
FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $1 billion in revenue (2023) and over 30,000 employees in 30 countries.
The company champions complex business opportunities and challenges with its world-class services in Advanced Analytics, AI, Digital Platforms, Cloud, Hyperautomation, IoT, Low-code, and so on. It has partnered with over 1,100 clients worldwide, nearly 100 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Aviation, Automotive, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing, Utilities, and more. For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/
About ebm-papst
The ebm-papst Group, a family-run company headquartered in Mulfingen, Germany, is the worlds leading manufacturer of fans and motors. Since it was founded in 1963, the technological leader has set international industry standards with its core competencies in motor technology, electronics, digitalization, and aerodynamics.
ebm-papst offers sustainable, intelligent, and tailor-made solutions for virtually every requirement in ventilation and heating technology. ebm-papst sets the benchmark in almost all sectors, such as ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration technology, heating technology, information technology, mechanical engineering, intralogistics, and medical technology.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the Group generated a turnover of EUR 2.408 billion. It employs just nearly 14,000 people at 30 production sites including in Germany, China, and the US, as well as 50 sales offices worldwide.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240730760228/en/
Novotech, the global full-service clinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) that partners with biotech companies to accelerate the development of advanced and novel therapeutics at every phase, has released its latest industry report, Oesophageal Cancer Global Clinical Trial Landscape.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240729339816/en/
This detailed analysis focuses on the extensive research and innovative treatments being developed to combat oesophageal cancer (OC), the seventh leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, and the 11th most diagnosed cancer globally, with Asia accounting for nearly 70% of cases. Other areas of the report detail the research pipeline for OC, highlighting significant advancements in treatments aimed at improving patient outcomes as well as providing a robust analysis of the funding landscape from both public and private sources, which is currently led by entities based in China and the USA with approximately $5B USD in investment across those two nations.
The Novotech research analyst team provides these expert reports monthly, highlighting key metrics on the current status of specific diseases and outlining future trends that may impact the development of treatments. This is provided completely free of charge.
Key takeaways from the report:
Global Clinical Trial Activity:
Since 2019, over 1,530 clinical trials for OC have been initiated globally, with the Asia-Pacific region (49%), North America (28%), and Europe (18%) leading the research efforts.
Countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, and the USA are at the forefront of trial activities.
Rising Incidence:
OC is the 11th most diagnosed cancer globally, with approximately 511,000 new cases and 445,400 deaths in 2022.
By 2050, the annual incidence is projected to rise to 923,000 new cases, an 80.5% increase.
Innovative Treatment Approaches:
The treatment landscape is shifting towards personalized medicine, with systemic therapies based on disease stage and molecular markers being recommended by the 2024 NCCN and 2022 ESMO Guidelines.
The development pipeline is robust, with over 90 drugs in progress, including numerous Phase III trials focusing on diverse mechanisms of action.
Funding and Investment:
Significant investment has been channeled into OC research, with China leading with $2.9 billion USD and the USA following with $2.1 billion USD.
Other notable contributors include Switzerland, Singapore, Canada, and Japan.
Market Leaders:
The report identifies key players in the OC treatment market, including Advanz Pharma Corp. Ltd, BeiGene Ltd., InnoKeys Pte. Ltd., and Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd.
Strategic Insights:
The report includes a SWOT analysis, demonstrating the effectiveness of current treatments in managing symptoms and improving quality of life, while also identifying areas where emerging techniques may offer improvements.
Download the report here
About Novotech
Founded in 1997, Novotech is a global full-service clinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) focused on partnering with biotech companies to accelerate the development of advanced and novel therapeutics at every phase.
Recognized for its industry-leading contributions, Novotech has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CRO Leadership Award 2023, the Asia Pacific Cell & Gene Therapy Clinical Trials Excellence 2023, the Asia-Pacific Contract Research Organization Company of the Year Award since 2006.
The Company offers a comprehensive suite of services including laboratories, Phase I facilities, drug development consulting, regulatory expertise, and has experience with over 5,000 clinical projects, including Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials and bioequivalence studies. With a presence in 34 office locations and a dedicated team of 3,000+ professionals worldwide, Novotech is a trusted end-to-end strategic partner of choice.
For more information or to speak to an expert team member visit here
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240729339816/en/
Today, Lenovo has joined forces with Databricks to drive AI adoption amongst its customers. As a Databricks Consulting & Systems Integration (C&SI) Select Tier Partner, Lenovo will work with businesses to help them take advantage of enhanced data management capabilities, streamlining access to data from multiple sources and removing barriers to successful AI usage.
The offering will run through the Lenovo AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE), designed to help customers put AI to work for their organizations quickly, cost-effectively and at scale, with solutions that bring AI from ideation to reality. Working with the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, Lenovo will help businesses to bring their data sources together, allowing them to increase the use of generative AI, improve their data analytics capabilities and drive innovation. The Lenovo AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) will provide services to help customers define outcomes and rapidly innovate with the Databricks Platform to meet the unique needs of their organization.
Weve spoken to many customers at various stages of their AI journeys and, while most want to reap the benefits and feel the urgency to do so, their organizations arent ready, commented Linda Yao, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy, Lenovo Solutions & Services Group. Our latest study showed that 90% of the CIOs we surveyed see AI as a game changer, yet over half feel their organizations lack the technical skills to scale AI quickly. By adding Databricks to Lenovo's ecosystem of leading software vendors, we can further enable our AI for all vision and bring the technology to a broader set of customers."
Starting in the Greater China and Asia Pacific Region, then rolling out globally, Lenovo will offer end-to-end expertise in solutions and services for data management, including cloud, data and AI strategy, data platform modernization, data migration, pre-built code for quick implementation, optimization, governance and audit management, and AI and ML use cases.
"Our partnership with Lenovo showcases our unwavering commitment to democratize data and AI for all organizations. We are proud to see our relationship with Lenovo transform from customer to key partner. Together, we are driving unprecedented innovation, accelerating growth, and delivering exceptional value to our customers on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform," said Greg Taylor, VP of Partners, Databricks.
Lenovo was awarded partner status due to its broad and deep expertise in IT solutions, including over 10 years of public cloud solutions practice and rich operational experience gained in more than 15 years of data platform construction. The new offering forms part of Lenovos comprehensive AI Services practice that provides training and tools to help customers maximize their use of AI.
Based on insights from the recent Lenovo CIO report, most organizations struggle with how to deploy AI-powered solutions quickly, effectively, and securely. To support customers globally, Lenovo announced a comprehensive AI services portfolio aligned with the Gartner Five Critical AI Adoption Phases. The Lenovo AICoE aims to accelerate these services and use cases to deliver faster outcomes and improve efficiency by harnessing AI to unlock the value of their data.
"With an experienced and expert team on hand, our collaboration with Databricks will accelerate AI readiness and move customers closer to responsible and efficient AI adoption, added Art Hu, SVP & CIO for Lenovo, and Chief Technology and Delivery Officer for Lenovos Solutions and Services Group. "From architecture and data management, through to implementation and governance, we can provide end-to-end solutions that remove obstacles to AI integration and help customers get to the benefits at pace."
A relationship built on Lenovos own experience with the Databricks Platform
Lenovos work with Databricks builds on a relationship that started in 2022, with Lenovo creating its own enterprise-level global data warehouse through Databricks and fundamental Azure services. Incorporating corporate common data models and 200 core KPIs to date, the warehouse supports the breadth of the organization, from product and production to supply, sales and services.
With its experience in digital and intelligent transformation and now as an implementation partner for Databricks, Lenovo is able to provide data and AI solutions based on Lenovos Hybrid Cloud infrastructure. The Lenovo and Databricks collaboration means customers will benefit from a modern data platform with streamlined data governance to help them accelerate their enterprise reporting and analytics and the adoption of AI applications.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a US$57 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #217 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the worlds largest PC company with a pocket-to cloud portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovos continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY). To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.
LENOVO is a trademark of Lenovo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2024 Lenovo Group Limited.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731568838/en/
Sonar, the leading Clean Code solution provider, has expanded its SonarCloud offering with the availability of two new plans, SonarCloud Enterprise and SonarCloud Team. SonarCloud, the companys fully managed SaaS solution for improving the quality and security of human-developed and AI-assisted code at scale, is used by thousands of organizations to analyze proprietary and open source projects. With the new Enterprise and Team plans for SonarCloud, Sonar empowers development teams of all sizes to deliver Clean Code with confidence.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731528446/en/
Sonar Introduces SonarCloud Enterprise and Team Plans for Advanced Analysis of AI-assisted and Developer Written Code. (Graphic: Business Wire)
When code isnt clean, it can cause business outages, security risks, and poor application performance. Sonars Clean Code solutions help developers catch bugs, quality concerns, and security flaws early in the development process, as code is being created. This allows them to find and resolve issues before they can make it through to production, improving developer productivity, software quality, and business performance.
Our ROI in SonarCloud kicked in from the first month. We were able to gain a better understanding of the quality of our code and start rolling out suitable adjustments for the engineering team, said Furkan Yavuz, QA lead for Recognyte, an AI-driven real estate intelligence company.
As organizations increasingly adopt AI assistants to write code and develop software, having scalable, flexible solutions, with high availability and built-in security has become a business imperative. The new SonarCloud plans ensure developer teams can leverage SonarCloud as their needs grow, to continuously reduce exposure to risk at all levels and sustain the performance of their software, growing business through systematic development and delivery.
The adoption of AI coding assistants and the push for faster software development have increased code volume and raised reliability concerns. However, most code scanning tools are just adding to the growing list of issues that are potential threats to business, most of which are false positives. Developers need to be empowered to find issues early and be motivated to fix them with the tools they love and have confidence in. Development teams who use SonarCloud are able to pinpoint and remediate as early in the development process as possible, said Fabrice Bellingard, VP of Product at Sonar.
Features Made for the Enterprise
SonarCloud Enterprise offers organization-wide portfolio management, new authentication and security features, executive reporting functionality, simplified administration, enterprise service-level agreements, and dedicated commercial support for all customers. Additionally, SonarCloud Enterprise is available on AWS Marketplace, ensuring simplified procurement and onboarding.
Centralizing Controls.
Managing multiple organizations in a DevOps environment can be difficult, causing a lack of visibility into the overall security of the companys software and the needed actions to improve it on various levels. Specific features include: Enterprise hierarchy, portfolio creation, organization-wide configurable settings, project PDF reporting for technology leads and managers, and security standard reports for IT security teams.
Authentication and Security.
Organizations tend to use a combination of different tools in their DevOps toolkit to ensure code quality and security, on top of multiple linters to support the complexity that comes with leveraging a variety of languages. Managing organization and group membership to various solutions and ensuring they are synchronized can be a large administrative effort, and lead to security risks. Features that support this and ongoing security assurance include: Single Sign-On (SSO), synchronized access management, and more scalable token management.
Simplified Administration.
At onboarding, default settings can be prepared and applied to all projects with organization-wide project configuration. This relieves the tedious and slow task that large enterprises face of configuring a high number of projects, project by project. Automated project creation at scale also supports ease in standing up SonarCloud. It enables the auto-creation of projects in SonarCloud that were initially built in an enterprise DevOps platform. Additionally, enterprise billing means that billing can be done as a single entity while being applied to multiple organizations.
More about the SonarCloud Team Plan
Flexible plans to meet the needs of all organizations.
SonarClouds existing Private Repo plan has been replaced by SonarCloud Team and will continue to provide the reliable, SaaS solution that users trust and rely on today. At an affordable price, SonarCloud Team provides all the benefits of the SonarQube Community Edition plus additional features like branch analysis, pull request decoration, and injection flow detection. With the Team plan, developers can scan both public and private projects for actionable insights that enable consistent and efficient Clean Code delivery all in a simple, fast time-to-value SaaS model hosted by Sonar. Teams also have control to define the quality standard they want their codebase to follow.
As a company rooted in open source, the Free plan of SonarCloud will continue to be available and will evolve through the year.
SonarCloud on AWS Marketplace
SonarCloud is available on AWS Marketplace, a curated digital catalog of independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This enables seamless access to Sonars SaaS solution and acceleration of its deployment for AWS customers globally, whether on the Enterprise or Team plan. Hosted at AWS and replicated across multiple availability zones, data remains accessible in case of hardware failures or natural disasters. In addition, Sonar has joined the AWS Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program, which will help it to provide improved customer support and cloud cost management. Through its membership in the program, Sonar will increase the visibility of its services to AWS customers and partners. More information about SonarCloud on AWS Marketplace can be found here.
When developers arent burdened by fixing issues downstream, they have more time for creativity, quicker release cycles, and advanced problem-solving, which all support a more positive developer experience and contribute to higher retention and lower recruitment costs, added Bellingard.
Features described in this release will be made available throughout 2024. To learn more, visit our SonarCloud page, here.
About Sonar
Sonar's Clean Code solutions, SonarQube, SonarCloud, and SonarLint, help developers prevent code quality and security issues from ever reaching production. Sonar analyzes all code, regardless of who writes ityour internal team or genAIresulting in more secure, reliable, and maintainable software. Rooted in the open source community, Sonars solutions support over 30 programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure technologies. Today, Sonar is used by 7M+ developers and 400K organizations worldwide, including the DoD, Microsoft, NASA, MasterCard, Siemens, and T-Mobile.
To learn more about Sonar, please visit: https://www.sonarsource.com/products/all/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731528446/en/
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Friday, July 26, 2024 at 10:29AM
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CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz announced today that 97% of sensors are back online following last week's widespread outage. In a LinkedIn post, Kurtz acknowledged that the company's work is not yet finished and reiterated their commitment to fully restoring all affected systems.
Yesterday, CrowdStrike released a comprehensive report detailing the software update that caused a crash affecting 8.5 million Windows machines. The report also outlines steps the company plans to take to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Source
Ellen O'Donoghue
Despite protests, asylum seekers will be housed as planned at properties in Coolock in Dublin and Dundrum, Co Tipperary.
This comes following violent scenes at the former Crown Paints site in recent weeks, that included arson attacks, while a number of gardai were injured.
On Wednesday night in the High Court, residents of Dundrum, Co Tipperary were refused an injunction to stop asylum seekers being put up locally in the Dundrum House Hotel.
The Minister for Integration says they will continue to engage with communities about their concerns.
But Roderic O'Gorman said the state has an obligation to accommodate International Protection applicants.
We will respond to the issues that protestors are raising. Im clear we need to provide this accommodation, so families arent left homeless, he told Newstalk on Thursday morning.
David Raleigh
The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, said gardai are re-examining the original Garda investigation into shocking allegations that late Bishop Eamonn Casey sexually abused a number of children, because concerns had been raised about the original Garda investigation into the claims.
Mr Harris was speaking to reporters in Limerick at the launch of Garda body worn cameras to beef up Garda crime detection measures and provide additional safeguards for Garda members on duty.
When asked what form the review of the original Garda investigation, into the claims against Bishop Casey, would take, Mr Harris revealed the reason he sanctioned a fresh review of the investigation was because concerns had been raised about the original probe.
Clarifying why he ordered the review, Commissioner Harris said: Maybe a couple of different elements of things were said last week in terms of prolific sex offending, so, in respect of Bishop Casey, what I have asked for is for the original file to be examined.
"There was a query as to, actually, the nature and efficiency and effectiveness of that investigation.
I want to be sure as to the standard of the (original) investigation that was conducted and that is what is happening in respect of that file, Commissioner Harris added.
The Garda Commissioner refused to say if An Garda Siochana had received any fresh complaints of a sexual nature in respect of Bishop Casey, following on from last weeks television documentary by Irish Daily Mail journalist Anne Sheridan, broadcast on RTE television, which revealed that Casey allegedly molested children, including his niece Patricia Donovan, and that he had had a number of sexual relationships with adult women.
When specifically asked if gardai had received any new complaints since the documentary aired on July 22d, Commissioner Harris replied: Im not going to comment on individual complaints coming forward, thank you.
When asked if he had watched the documentary, Mr Harris responded: No, I didn't see the documentary.
The Limerick Catholic Diocese, where Casey began is ministry, told Ms Sheridan it paid 100,000 to an alleged victim of child sexual abuse by Casey.
The compensation was one of a number of explosive revelations in the documentary.
Casey, who was born in Kerry but grew up in Adare, Co Limerick, and went to school in St Munchins College, Limerick, was once credited with tackling inner city poverty and homelessness in parishes in Limerick and later in England.
However, while Caseys fall from grace over fathering a child with his distant cousin Annie Murphy was widely reported in the 1990s, Ms Sheridans investigative reporting into the allegations that Casey had sexually assaulted children, has once again rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Speaking publicly for the first time, in the documentary, Caseys niece, Patricia Donovan, alleged he sexually abused her for a number of years from when she was five years old.
Ms Donovan said: Some of the things he did to me, and where he did themthe horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence...and it just carried on in that vein.
Ms Donovan said Casey had no fear of being caught and that he thought he could do what he liked, when he liked, how he liked.
He (Casey) was almost incensed that I would dare fight against him, that I would dare try and hurt him, I would dare try and stop him It didnt make any difference.
Ms Donovan, in her 60s, reported the abuse claims about her uncle in 2005, but Casey, who was forced to resign as Bishop of Galway in 1992, after his affair with Ms Murphy came to light, was never charged with or convicted of any sexual offences.
Despite her claims, Ms Donovan has not received any compensation from the church. However, the Galway Diocese did pay for physiological counselling on her behalf.
The explosive documentary, Bishop Caseys Buried Secrets, highlighted a total of eight allegations of child and adult sexual assaults and child safeguarding concerns against Casey, who was and still is, despite the claims, revered by some.
The former chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Ian Elliot, said that in his opinion, Casey, who died aged 89, was a sexual predator.
Mr Elliott said he found Patricia Donovans claims as entirely credible.
In 2019, the Galway Diocese, where Casey was bishop from 1976 to 1992, told Anne Sheridan that it had received just one allegation of child sexual abuse against him.
However, Sheridan revealed in the documentary that Galway has since confirmed it had records at that time of five people who had complained of childhood sexual abuse against Bishop Casey relating to alleged events in every Irish diocese where Casey worked Limerick, Galway and Kerry.
The first known allegation of paedophilia against Casey was made in 2001 by an unidentified female who claimed that she had been sexually abused by Casey on two occasions, when he was a chaplain to St Josephs Reformatory School in Limerick in 1956.
This woman later took High Court proceedings against Casey for personal injury damages, alleging Casey sexually assaulted her in Limerick, when she was aged fifteen.
This woman was eventually awarded a financial settlement through the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
The documentary also revealed that the Vatican confirmed it had actually banned Bishop Casey from ministry before 2006 and that his ban was reiterated to him formally in 2007 after they received multiple child sex abuse complaints against him, including the 2001 complaint, as well as the complaint by Ms Donovan in 2005.
A spokesman for Limerick Diocese said it received the first complaint about Casey in 2001.
However, despite the Limerick Diocesan Office passing on Ms Donovans complaint to the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, England, where Casey was serving, Casey - who should have then been suspended - remained active in ministry for a further four years, because the complaint went missing.
A statement provided to the documentary by the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton read: Had this allegation been made today the police would have been informed immediately. We are deeply disappointed that this course of action does not appear to have been taken in 2001.
We have undertaken a very thorough search of diocesan records. Regrettably, given the passage of time, we have been unable to locate relevant written records or to speak to anyone able to shed light on Limerick Dioceses communication in 2001.
The current Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy, who has access to documents relating to complaints against Casey which were made in the Limerick diocese, has expressed his deep sorrow and regret to anyone who has been wounded by clerical abuse, including the people referred to in this documentary.
They deserve our respect, belief and support. Without commenting on any specific allegation, I have no reason to disbelieve any of the allegations made, added Bishop Leahy.
Casey, who died in 2017, had always vehemently denied all allegations against him of sexual abuse.
Michael Bolton
There has been a partial building collapse during a fire at an industrial estate in Dublin.
Six fire engines are fighting a very large blaze at an industrial unit in North Dublin.
It's off the Oscar Trayor Road in Coolock.
Smoke from the blaze can be seen across the city, even as far as St Stephen's Green.
5 Five fire engines including a turntable ladder are at an industrial unit fire off the Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock If you can smell smoke we're advising local residents to close all windows and doors as a precaution Smoke is drifting across the locality pic.twitter.com/JidEwtLrnm Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) August 1, 2024
Dublin Fire Brigade has advised local residents to close all windows and doors to protect from smoke.
In a statement from gardai, they said: "Gardai from Santry Station are currently providing assistance to Dublin Fire Brigade at an industrial fire occurring at a premises in the Clonshaugh are of Dublin 17."
The smoke plume is close to Dublin Airport. However, a spokeswoman for airport operators DAA said flights were so far unaffected.
A fire in the Santry area is resulting in smoke blowing towards the airport this evening. This is not impacting on operations at the airport and flights continue to operate as normal. The airport team, in collaboration with AirNav Ireland, continue to monitor the situation, the DAA spokeswoman said.
It is understood the incident is not believed to be connected with recent fires at the Crown Paints site around 3km away.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
The Taoiseach has welcomed the release of Irish citizen Paul Whelan from prison in Russia.
Mr Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who also holds Irish citizenship, was designated as wrongfully detained following his arrest in December 2018 after he had travelled to Russia for a wedding.
He was convicted of espionage charges which he and the US said were false, and was serving a 16-year sentence.
His release comes as part of the biggest prisoner swap between the US and Russia in post-Soviet history.
Others released by Moscow include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he had received confirmation from the US government that Mr Whelan was part of a prisoner exchange on Thursday.
The process had been negotiated for months.
Mr Harris said: I have spoken to the US ambassador in Ireland who confirmed the news.
I know this will be an enormous relief to his family who have campaigned for many years for his release.
I would also like to thank Irelands diplomatic team in Russia and our consular team in Dublin for their years of tireless work on this case.
By Cate McCurry, PA
An Irish teenager has been arrested in Portugal on suspicion of attempted homicide after several Dutch holidaymakers were attacked.
Police in the Algarve said that an intense and violent fight broke out between a number of Irish and Dutch holidaymakers.
On Wednesday, the 19-year-old Irishman was arrested for attempted qualified homicide following the alleged fight, which happened in the popular area of Albufeira on Monday.
The Judicial Police (PJ) said that the victims, four men, were attacked with a sharp weapon, causing injuries that put their lives in danger and required hospitalisation.
According to the investigation by the Southern Directorate of the PJ, the attacks occurred following an argument, which led to an exchange of insults and which quickly escalated into a physical confrontation.
The attacks were carried out in an intense and violent manner between three Irish citizens and nine Dutch citizens, aged between 17 and 21, inside the apartment complex where they were staying, a spokesman for the PJ said.
During the investigations carried out, evidence was collected that led to the complete identification of the suspect and subsequent arrest outside of flagrant crime.
The detainee will be brought before the competent judicial authorities for the first judicial interrogation and application of coercive measures.
The investigation is led by the Public Prosecutors Office, Department of Investigation and Criminal Prosecution of Albufeira.
James Cox
Daniel Wiffen's Olympic gold medal victory sparked joy both north and south of the border this week, but questions over the swimmer's home county soon emerged.
The 23-year-old won gold in the 800m freestyle in Paris on Tuesday night, and his family were there to celebrate with him.
Down GAA posted on X, formerly Twitter, to congratulate Wiffen: Congratulations to Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen from Magheralin who won the Gold Medal for Ireland in the pool this evening. A wonderful achievement for Daniel, and joy for his family and the community of Magheralin.
Congratulations to Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen from Magheralin who won the Gold Medal for Ireland in the pool this evening.
A wonderful achievement for Daniel, and joy for his family and the community of Magheralin. pic.twitter.com/jhb50Z7Mqh Official Down GAA (@officialdowngaa) July 30, 2024
Armagh were also quick to claim Wiffen.
Armagh GAA posted: ARMAGH GOES GOLD AGAIN. Here Daniel Wiffens twin can be seen watching the Armagh game on Sunday before watching his brother grab Gold at the Paris Olympics today!! Well done to Daniel Wiffen! The pride of Armagh (past pupil of St Pats Armagh) & Ireland along with our county players.
ARMAGH GOES GOLD AGAIN
Here Daniel Wiffens twin can be seen watching the Armagh game on Sunday before watching his brother grab Gold at the Paris Olympics today!!
Well done to Daniel Wiffen! The pride of Armagh (past pupil of St Pats Armagh) & Ireland along with our pic.twitter.com/fa1AojBGD0 Armagh_GAA (@Armagh_GAA) July 30, 2024
Wiffen's family are from the village of Magheralin. While it is in Co Down, it is right at the border with Co Armagh.
It seems Wiffen and his father have now clarified his home county.
Jonathan Wiffen told BBC Ulster: "My daughters are saying there's a big debate. The postcode for our house is County Armagh, although the village is in Co Down. The boys went to school in Armagh so they consider themselves County Armagh."
Meanwhile, Wiffen said his gold medal is another win for Armagh after their All-Ireland success.
What can we say? Were All-Ireland champions and Olympic gold medallists. What a great county."
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
Sinn Fein has pledged to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over five years if elected to government.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the target was achievable as she unveiled a new policy document on Thursday.
Sinn Fein said it would also deliver 75,000 social homes in the same period.
It says the plan will see the State fund the delivery of 50,000 affordable homes through local authorities, approved housing bodies (AHBs) and community housing trusts at a cost of 13.2 billion.
That figure comes from 6.9 billion euro in voted Exchequer funding as well as 6.3 billion in borrowing by local authorities and AHBs from the Housing Finance Agency and other sources.
Sinn Fein said the homes will be available to buy for prices between 250,000 and 300,000, or to rent at or below 1,000 per month.
Along with price, Sinn Fein said the difference in its plan and the Governments is the scale of ambition.
For comparison, the Government delivered more than 4,000 affordable housing options last year.
Ms McDonald said the coalition was delivering unaffordable homes at a cost of up to 500,000 or 1,800 per month in rent.
The 50,000 figure breaks down to 25,000 one-to-three bedroom homes to buy for households with mortgage approval, a gross household income of up to 90,000, do not own a home at time of purchase and whose savings are insufficient to purchase a home on the open market.
It said that affordable cost rental should be no more than 33 per cent of net income and that mortgages in affordable purchase should also be less than a third of net disposable income.
Sinn Fein said it can achieve a lower price by separating the cost of land and site servicing from the cost of building the home.
In essence, the State would for all land related costs and retain ownership of the land while the purchaser pays the price of construction.
It would mean the householder would own the home but not the land, but would be able to sell the property on at an affordable rate.
Sinn Fein also plans to deliver 25,000 similar size homes for households with a net income of up to 66,000 in Dublin and 59,000 outside of the capital.
Sinn Fein housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.
Speaking to reporters for the launch of the document on Thursday, Ms McDonald said: We have the finance, the land and the builders to solve this crisis, what is needed is the right plan and Sinn Fein has that plan.
She added: People that dont have time out to wait any longer. Were in a situation of real stress and crisis in peoples lives and that needs to be addressed.
A core component of that is those people who earn too much to qualify for social or council housing if there was council housing and those who are completely priced out currently of having any prospect of purchasing their home.
And indeed those people who will struggle and are struggling hard to afford rent, who have been promised affordable rental and close rental homes and it hasnt materialised.
Sinn Fein housing spokesman Eoin O Broin took aim at current Housing Minister Darragh OBriens response to the opposition partys policy platform.
He said: Given that homelessness is at the highest levels in the modern history of the State, that house prices and rents are higher than theyve ever been before and that he misses every single target of his own, he would spend his time doing his job and not wasting his officials time emailing me for political stunts.
This is too serious for the kind of nonsense that we get from Darragh. Darragh should do his job. Hes had four years, and hes showed he cant, hes failed.
Thats why were setting out a clear and radical alternative, so people can make up their minds.
Mr O Broin also said that increased delivery of affordable homes would have a moderating effect on house prices in the open market, but said that impact would be over a long term and unpredictable.
Housing Minister Darragh OBrien. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.
Mr OBrien said the Sinn Fein document is really very weak.
In a statement, he said: There was absolutely no detail in it and a complete failure to answer even basic questions. What we do know from it is that the affordable leasehold purchase scheme is not home ownership, and worse still, they have not confirmed with commercial lenders that its actually possible.
As well as that, its an exclusionary scheme. A Garda and a teacher on point five of their respective salary scales would not be eligible for apply for these homes. Unlike the Government schemes which contain no arbitrary salary caps.
Its clear from this document that the Sinn Fein alternative homes plan is built on foundations of sand, he concluded.
Sinn Fein said it would publish its full five-year housing plan in September.
By Cate McCurry, PA
The States failure to provide for the needs of homeless asylum seekers is a breach of their fundamental rights, the High Court has ruled.
The court made the ruling after the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) took a case against the State over its failure to provide adequate accommodation to people seeking asylum in Ireland.
Mr Justice Barry ODonnell delivered the judgment on Thursday afternoon, saying the court found that the approach adopted by the State breached the human rights of the relevant unaccommodated IP (International Protection) applicants.
Tents that were pitched by asylum seekers along Dublins Grand Canal before they were removed.
By failing to meet their basic needs and leaving unaccommodated IP applicants without accommodation or the means to access accommodation, the State has breached the rights of those persons as provided for in Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the judge said.
The IHREC asked the court to make declarations that the state has failed its obligations and is breaching applicants rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
On December 4th last year, the Government stated it could no longer offer accommodation to men seeking international protection.
However, the court did not grant the mandatory orders sought by the IHREC.
While the court is satisfied that declarations to that effect are warranted, the court will not grant the mandatory orders sought by the Commission, Justice ODonnell added.
Very briefly, the court is not satisfied that there is a basis for concluding that the State will ignore its obligations.
The State has made clear, and the court accepts, that it is making strenuous efforts to redress the situation.
Moreover, in response to the decisions of the High Court in 2023, the State in fact altered its approach by taking steps to improve the provision for unaccommodated IP applicants.
While those steps were not sufficient to avoid a breach of the rights of those applicants, it demonstrated that the State did not intend to ignore the court orders.
In the premises, it is not appropriate for the court to take the very serious additional step of making mandatory orders to support the declaratory relief sought by the Commission.
The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) welcomes the ruling of the High Court declaring that the Irish governments failure to provide for the basic needs of asylum seekers amounts to a breach of Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
MASI supported this court action by IHREC and is pleased with the declaration which confirms our belief that the government is undermining the rights of people who have no way of meeting their basic needs.
It is disgraceful that we have a government that restricts the right to work for asylum seekers and fails to provide for their basic needs.
MASI calls on the Irish government to reflect on this ruling and its conduct and implement changes that improve the quality of life for asylum seekers.
None of the reforms that the government has introduced improved the standard of living for asylum seekers and we are concerned that homeless asylum seekers are being interviewed to assess their asylum claim while they are still homeless.
First a light novel and a webtoon, Solo Leveling has been on every anime fans lips this year, as its first season produced by A-1 Pictures and Aniplex rolled out globally on Crunchyroll in January.
While working on the second season and in the midst of their world tour going from one anime expo to another, the creative team stopped in Paris a few weeks ago for Japan Expo 2024, providing a rare occasion to dive deeper into anime production. There, fans and professionals alike had the chance to chat for over an hour with Atsushi Kaneko, producer at A-1 Pictures, and Yoshihiro Kanno, action director and key animator.
For their team, it was the first time they had adapted a webtoon. Kaneko, whos been with A-1 Pictures for over ten years, recalled how the project came to him: The idea was brought to me by Mr. Sota Furuhashi [producer in charge of Solo Leveling at Aniplex] back in 2020. I knew nothing about it, so I checked it out and asked around my team who had heard of this story. Their feedback was enthusiastic, and I saw the opportunity to make a great action anime with this material.
Yoshihiro Kanno, who had already worked on several A-1 Pictures anime including Sword Art Online: Alicization, was also excited by the project. It took me some time to start reading it, he said, but eventually I found it really interesting. I love stories and characters with ranks and levels, and starting with Sung Jinwoo at the lowest rank of this universe was appealing to me. Plus, there were some killer action sequences to be made.
The project kicked off pre-production in April 2021, with animation starting in October 2022. To complete the 12-episode first season, A-1 Pictures and its partners worked tirelessly. Kaneko explained the process in greater detail:
In my team at A-1 Pictures, there were twelve people including myself, but the total workforce of the production must have been between 500 and 600 people throughout the whole process. As producer, my role was to push these teams forward, to go beyond what we had done before with projects such as Sword Art Online. I remember Mr. Furuhashi telling me, We have to destroy Sword Art in terms of animation! For each episode, it took the teams between eight and ten months to complete animation, working synchronously. But pushing them doesnt mean pushing my ideas upon them, I prefer to let them elaborate, and then decide with them what remains and what gets cut. For example, the giant snake fight was interpreted in a new way in the anime, an idea brought by my colleague Yoshihiro Kanno.
Anime production is often strongly compartmentalized, but as action director, Kanno had the chance to step beyond those lines. He said:
Usually, when you have that role on a project, you mostly correct animation made by others. However, I wanted to put my fingers into it this time. I had been working mostly with pen and paper until then, but I switched to digital drawing during this production due to the huge amount of animation and the high quality standards needed for this adaptation. Jinwoo has a distinctive combat style, kind of a brutal-yet-amateuristic vibe, and I studied a lot of live-action fight sequences in order to portray this flow perfectly. I think my interest for animation first expressed itself when I saw the action scenes and visual storytelling of Princess Mononoke back in the day, but in Solo Leveling the fighting is mostly urban, which brings a different approach. In natural settings, backgrounds are made by background artists, while when you draw fights in an urban environment, you can use background as part of the scene. You can throw it, you can break it, you can smash it into characters, and it makes for much more fun. But also a lot of extra work.
One particular scene spoilers ahead stuck out during the behind-the-scenes the team provided in Japan Expo. In episode eleven, Jinwoo surpasses himself in order to defeat Blood-Red Commander Igris, his strongest foe to date. To convey this climactic moment, Kanno, who storyboarded and animated most of the sequence, worked closely with showrunner Shunsuke Nakashige and the production supervisors.
It was decided early in the process that we would retain a white-on-black style for the final moments of the fight, Kanno said, and then I was able to play with the material, deform the lines and monitor the whole shot. As I explained before, usually we dont get to do our own backgrounds and coloring, but the fact that I was drawing digitally, along with the particular style we were looking for, allowed me to combine those aspects myself.
The level of animation provided by A-1 Pictures and its partners is definitely the kind that seduces global audiences. But for Kaneko, the original material also plays a big role in this success. Solo Leveling is driven by universal themes and motives that appeal to modern audiences, while providing a new way of telling this story. This world that sometimes mirrors role playing games while sometimes paying tribute to great anime and mangakas is definitely part of what captivated audiences. And were working very hard to blow them away with season 2.
Following the release of a first teaser for season two (embedded below), Kaneko shared some behind-the-scenes drawings on X (formerly Twitter). Kanno is also back to work on season two.
For those who may want to dive deeper into Solo Levelings transition from light novel to anime, Crunchyroll offers a 40-minute documentary on the making of the first season, which now streams exclusively on the platform.
The internationally acclaimed childrens short Luce and the Rock (2022) has launched online. Every kid young and old will want to see it.
Young Luce lives a simple, cozy life in a small village with her family and neighbors. That peaceful existence is suddenly disrupted by the arrival of a giant boulder that demolishes all the village homes. An irate Luce decides to confront the boulder and give him a few choice words.
This beautifully designed fable, dominated by sea blue, red, and yellow hues, is a story about compassion, friends, and overcoming misguided fears. In an era where people are often too swift to judge and condemn others, Luce and the Rock is an earnest call for exchange and empathy. It reminds us that were all human and sometimes need to step outside our comfort zones and see things from others perspectives to truly understand who they are.
Luce and the Rock, which has played in over 200 festivals and won over 40 awards, is the Belgian-born animators second professional film following her award-winning debut, Catherine (2016). Raes is currently developing multiple projects, including a series, a special, and a childrens book.
Luce and the Rock was produced by Thuristar in co-production with La Cabane, Studio Pupil, VRT-Ketnet and RTBF, with the participation of France Televisions.
A neighbor of a Hixson man taken down at his home by some 20 SWAT Team members testified Wednesday that it was "so cruel and inhumane I think I could have gotten sick and thrown up."
Judy Dixon, who lives directly across Crabtree Road from the home of Ray Rzeplinski, said the sudden appearance of the SWAT Team "was the most scary thing I've ever seen in my life."
The state earlier closed out its proof against Rzeplinski after rolling in two cartloads of rifles found at his home, including in two gun safes. There were 54 guns in all.
Rzeplinski is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, possession of a prohibited weapon, and possession of a firearm with a conviction of a prior violent felony. Judge Amanda Dunn, at the close of the state's proof, ruled out the reckless endangerment.
In the incident on Aug. 16, 2019, Ms. Dixon said she was in her dining room planning a party for her daughter when she "suddenly saw a whole team of officers with guns squatting down."
She said she saw Rzeplinski come out of his garage with his hands up, then he went to his knees halfway down the driveway with his hands still up. She said the officers "began piling on him and dragging him down to the street."
The witness, who described Rzeplinski as "my neighbor, my friend and my plumber," said, "They just kept piling on."
Ms. Dixon said about the time the SWAT Team arrived an officer knocked on her door and asked to come in so he could view the Rzeplinski house. She said he watched the incident from her living room window. She said, on reflection, she might not should have let him in.
An earlier state witness said he heard Rzeplinski fire off a gun earlier in the day.
Detective Jason Maucere said he had been contacted by Rzeplinski earlier that week, and he was upset about alleged embezzlement at his plumbing business.
The detective said he did a background check on Rzeplinski and noticed "a red flag." He said he learned through one police source that he had a felony conviction in Bradley County back when he was 19. He is now 50. He said that meant he was not suppose to be in possession of weapons. Detective Maucere said he went himself to Bradley County to get a copy of the document.
Attorney Ben McGowan told the jury earlier that Rzeplinski went to a meeting the morning of that Aug. 16, but he was told the detective was not going to be meeting with him and he became very agitated about that. Detective Maucere said Rzeplinski did not show up for the meeting.
Questioned by attorney McGowan, the witness said the fact that there was no video of the SWAT Team takedown may have been because officers at that time had not been issued body cameras. Attorney McGowan said Rzeplinski had surveillance cameras, but he said they may have been cut by the SWAT Team.
Attorney McGowan said the night after the trial opened that he was given a packet of information in which Rzeplinski had bought numerous guns openly and with background checks. Detective Maucere said it was "an oversight" that he did not turn that over earlier.
Attorney McGowan said the TBI did not have Rzeplinski listed as a felon in its records.
He said Rzeplinski as a teen was involved in an incident in which he and other youths knocked out a window on a closed store and stole some cigarettes. He pleaded guilty to burglary (a felony) and theft under $500 (a misdemeanor). He got three years on the burglary, but received probation after serving 30 days in jail.
Attorney McGowan said as a result of the SWAT Team arrest Rzeplinski suffered a head injury and spent four days in the Intensive Care Unit. Photos submitted to the jury showed a large amount of blood on the driveway. None of the officers were injured.
The attorney said Rzeplinski will lose "his valuable gun collection and it will be sold with the proceeds going to law enforcement."
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A new partnership between the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Erlanger will provide UTC students the opportunity to obtain their Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) license for free and secure employment at Erlanger while also training Erlangers non-certified medical assistants.
Starting in August, UTC pre-health student services, the UTC Center for Professional Education (CPE) and Erlanger Baroness Hospital will launch a CMA training program for UTC students aspiring to attend medical or physician assistant (PA) school.
A CMA is a health care professional who focuses on administrative tasks such as managing patient records, insurance claims and appointment scheduling.Erlanger will fund an initial cohort of 10 seats in the CMA course offered by the CPE, with more seats offered during the spring semester.Partnering with UTC to provide the opportunity for medical assistants to earn their certification is a natural fit for Erlanger, said Haley Johnson, director of nursing for Erlanger Medical Group. With our 130-year history of teaching and caring for the community, we are proud to extend those hands-on learning opportunities to a new group and, ideally, help them along their professional journey.The partnership aims to provide UTC students with valuable hands-on experience and professional training in a clinical setting desired by professional schools. Selected participants will have the opportunity to earn their CMA license, benefit from unique clinical training and mentorship opportunities, and enhance their readiness for medical or PA school applications.UTC student participants in the new program will commit to one of two work arrangements following the completion of the training and obtaining certification: Working full-time for one year in an Erlanger-run clinical setting, which is ideal for students planning a gap year before starting professional school. Working part-time for two years, allowing students to gain experience while continuing their studies.As part of the collaboration, the CPE has also developed a prep program to help non-certified Erlanger employees prepare for the CMA exam.Investing in our staff and the future of health care not only benefits Erlanger but also the community, Ms. Johnson said.Erlanger, as one of Chattanoogas regional hospitals, has decided to step up and invest in UTC students by providing them the opportunity to further their education and acquire national certifications at no cost to them, CPE Workforce Development Specialist William Watson said. Erlanger is investing this money in UTC students so that they can better themselves for life after UTC.In turn, UTC is upskilling the current workforce at Erlanger. When you think about UTC and how we are Chattanoogas University, this is a great opportunity to underscore our investment and commitment to supporting local employers, local job opportunities and local students.Theresa Blackman is UTCs assistant director of pre-health student services and an advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences. She said UTCs pre-health career tracks include medical, dental, physician assistant, physical therapy and occupational therapy.We think this opportunity to get the CMA and paid medical experience is going to be something that a lot of students are going to be able to benefit from, Ms. Blackman said. Students with this type of experience on their resume are trending higher in their medical school application acceptance rates.This is the second partnership with Erlanger benefiting UTC pre-health student services launched in 2024.From early February through late April, a collaboration between the pre-health advising program, Erlanger and the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine Chattanooga provided an opportunity for 76 UTC students spanning 11 majors to job shadow in the Erlanger Baroness Hospital Emergency Department, obtaining valuable experience watching emergency room doctors and other medical personnel in action.
We are very thankful for this partnership with Erlanger and for everything they are doing to immerse our pre-health students in the medical field, Ms. Blackman said.
An historic partnership for the state of Tennessee and the nation is being launched with an $800,000 funding award from the National Science Foundation.
EXPAND TN (Experiential Learning in Advanced Manufacturing towards Novel and Diverse Career Opportunities for Rural Tennessee Students) was successfully proposed by Dr. Bradley Harris, director of the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The partnership represents a multi-institutional collaboration between UTC, Cleveland State Community College, and the PIE Innovation Centera first-of-its-kind workforce development hub, working together with local industry to address an anticipated workforce shortage in advanced manufacturing. Success at the end of the three-year project could lead to replication elsewhere in the U.S.
The initiative will allow at least 120 high school students from counties in rural southeast Tennessee to explore careers in engineering and technology. These students will participate in a six-week, hands-on learning program as part of a dual enrollment mathematics course offered by Cleveland State to high schools in three rural districts, which primarily serve low-income, first-generation students.
Upon successful completion of the dual enrollment course, students from the class can apply for a paid, six-week summer internship with industry partners at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. These students also will be eligible for college scholarships if they pursue an engineering or advanced technologies degree at Cleveland State or UTC.
We wanted to partner with Cleveland State because of dual enrollment courses they offer, Dr. Harris said. They have this workforce development center called the PIE Center, for Partnerships for Industry and Education. It offers certificate programs, workshops and dual-enrollment credit.
Advanced manufacturing is among multiple emerging technologies identified by NSFincluding advanced wireless, biotechnology, semiconductors, microelectronics and morein its call for proposals. Harris said EXPAND TN focuses on advanced manufacturing because it involves a broader range of local manufacturers.
The experiential learning project involves making a solar energy cell. On July 26, Dr. Harris and his co-principal investigator on the project, Dr. Stephanie Philipp, held a train the trainer workshop with Cleveland State faculty on incorporating the solar energy cell project into their Technical Calculations classes.
Those faculty will teach Cleveland State students about existing solar cell technology, potential innovations and drawbacks, along with assembling a cell capable of generating actual electrical current.
Dr. Harris explained that NSF is using this funding opportunity to recruit people into the workforce and sectors of the economy they might not otherwise pursue. Its also not his first experience with an NSF-funded project targeting underrepresented populations.
He was co-principal investigator for ASSETSor Academic Intervention, Social Supports and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Studentsawarded $1 million by NSF from 2018 to 2023 in support of high-achieving, low-income UTC students with financial need. Over its five-year timeline, the project funded two-year scholarships for 28 students and three-year scholarships for eight students.
Two key takeaways from that experience influenced the EXPAND TN proposal, Dr. Harris said. One is that Cleveland State courses for future engineering transfer students could be better integrated with UTC engineering curriculum. The other is the need to support a sense of community among transfer students.
We have a very, very well-oiled machine in students coming from Chattanooga State to here, and the programs they offer have been tailored to UTCs engineering degrees, but the pathway from Cleveland State to here was a little bit rougher, Dr. Harris said. Realizing that, I went for another NSF award, a research experience for faculty opportunity that was funded, This is actually our final summer of offering (yearly) educational and research training for faculty in STEM fields from five feeder colleges in the Chattanooga area.
When it comes to transfer students, we found with the S-STEM (NSF engineering scholarships program) program that community is what they lack the most. As simple as this sounds, we did a few hours of orientation for those scholarship cohortsand they also had faculty and peer mentors and that was also valuableand we saw them form connections within their cohort and have a really beneficial sense of community.
Dr. Harris said this most recent NSF funding program seemed an opportunity to benefit from the lessons learned from his experiences with the previous two. He also said hes learning, since joining UTC in 2015, that hes increasingly drawn to finding solutions to challenges to student success.
Its very important that we pursue breakthroughs in the body of knowledge, and we are, Dr. Harris said, but the area I find myself to be more and more interested in is what I can do that benefits my students, and how that may ultimately benefit the workforce.
The Chattanooga Heart Institute at CHI Memorial welcomes Tyler Emerson, MD. Dr. Emerson earned his medical degree from University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis. He completed his residency in internal medicine and a general cardiovascular medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He worked as a critical care nurse and nurse leader for five years before returning to school to earn his medical degree.
Dr. Emerson is board-certified in internal medicine and a member of the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Preventive Cardiology.
At The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Dr.
Emerson joins 28 cardiologists and four cardiothoracic surgeons. This team of experts is the regions heart leader providing compassionate care while effectively treating heart disease, no matter how complex. The Chattanooga Heart Institutes board-certified cardiologistsincluding specialists in interventional procedures, electrophysiology, imaging, and vascular diseaseexceed national standards for education, training, and skill. Their collaboration with cardiothoracic surgeons means they can offer the most comprehensive cardiac care in the area.
In July, CHI Memorial was named best regional hospital by the U.S. News and World Report for the 10th year. The health systems cardiac team was also recognized by the U.S. News as high performing in the treatment for heart attack, heart failure, and heart bypass surgery. The team is dedicated to providing patients with exceptional care using cutting-edge technology. Earlier this year, CHI Memorial was also named one of the 2024 PINC AI 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals.
The Chattanooga Heart Institute offers seven convenient locations in Tennessee and North Georgia. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 423 697-2000.
In this 2019 photo, Dist. 11 Tribal Councilor Victoria Vazquez talks to Cherokee Nation citizens about the economic impact the tribe has on the Craig County area at a community meeting on at the Vinita Health Center. Vazquez announced her resignation from the Council on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Chosen by Kristin Elizabeth Couch, author of Deep Roots, Good Fruit: Seeing the Fruit of the Spirit Through Story and Scripture .
Illustration by Elizabeth Kaye / Source Images: Unsplash
Keeping the Heart
John Flavel
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This book, written by an English Puritan minister, is an alluring masterpiece: ancient, beautiful, and true, shining a spotlight into the souls crevices. To produce authentic spiritual fruit, Flavel declares, a heart must first be soft and tender. He writes, To keep the heart, then, is to carefully protect it from sin, which disorders it, and maintain that spiritual frame, which fits it for a life of communion with God. In stunning prose, Flavel implores Christians to remember that God has obliterated our stony hearts and made them new. We are meant to walk circumspectly, bowing low before God as the Holy Spirit generates godly fruit.
The Mystery of the Holy Spirit
R. C. Sproul
Sproul deftly unpacks the mysteries surrounding the Holy Spirit, showing through Gods Word who he is and what he does in the heart of every true Christ follower. Many have been swept away by false teachings regarding the third person of the Trinity, and Sproul graciously guides the readers gaze back to the Bible. As he explains, the Holy Spirit is God himself, and he has chosen to take up residence within each Christian, stirring up the heart while convicting, comforting, helping, and guiding.
The Character of Christ: The Fruit of the Spirit in the Life of Our Saviour
Jonathan Landry Cruse
This short book is a perfect delight. Cruse, a Presbyterian pastor in Michigan, guides us to Jesus, who manifested the Spirits fullness of perfect fruit. With captivating writing, Cruse heartens the reader to cling to the true vine, Christ, forever bearing in mind that spiritual fruit is the result of Gods work in us rather than the product of our own striving. The chapters move along with the Spirits fruit as listed in Galatians 5, punctuated by vivid examples from common life.
The Hiding Place
Corrie ten Boom
Dutch Christians Corrie and Betsie ten Boom suffered inconceivable tortures in a Nazi concentration camptheir punishment for hiding Jews in their home. During their captivity in Ravensbruck, the sisters discovered that triumphant living is possible anywhere, in all circumstances, with God as their souls hiding place. Bed bugs, selfishness, brutality, and pain became the sisters portal to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as they embraced the Holy Spirits work. Readers can trace the Spirits luscious fruit as it ripens in this unforgettable tale, beholding magnificent sanctification forged in the hothouse of dark affliction.
Safely Home
Randy Alcorn
Alcorns novel introduces the characters Li Quan and Ben Fielding, who met as college roommates at Harvard. Decades later, Quan resides in China, facing daily persecution and death threats as he heeds the Holy Spirits governance and ushers his beloved family into the perilous underground church. Meanwhile, Ben has scaled the American corporate ladder, simultaneously experiencing financial wealth and spiritual bankruptcy. While on a business trip in China, Ben reconnects with Quan, and a masterful story unfolds, full of darkly unexpected twists and turns. Alcorn brilliantly reveals what happens when the Holy Spirit stirs and softens, taking up residence in the human heart.
In a moment of great fear, Sonya Massey understood the power of the name of Christ. We should too.
Aashish Kiphayet / AP Images / Edits by CT
It was the early 90s when I was first introduced to the idea of rebuking the Enemy in the name of Jesus. My sister and I had just finished watching the horror movie Candyman, and I was scared out of my mind.
I cried when the movie was over, terrified to be alone, and I was certain that the man on the screen was out to get me. For days, the Candyman lingered in my thoughts, making it impossible to focus. I was lost in my fears until I shared them with my Aunt Judy, a God-fearing woman. As she listened to me and saw my tears, she reminded me that I did not have to be afraid. All you have to do, she said with a confident calm, is rebuke the Enemy, and he will flee from you.
I needed to hear that because, in my young mind, Candyman was not just an enemy from a movie but the Enemy. The next time thoughts of him entered my mind, I took a deep breath, gathering my small courage, and with eyes closed and fists clinched, shouted out loud, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus!
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Peeking out of one eye, I felt calm for the first time since Id watched the movie. My childish conception of evil may have been a little confused, but the peace and deliverance from the sense of foreboding evil that the name of the Savior brought me was deep and real.
Evil takes a different form when we become adults, a subtler and cleverer shape. Talk of the Devil is relegated to charismatics, and those who speak of Satan are often dismissed as unreformed, uneducated, or holdovers from the naive hellfire-and-brimstone version of Christianity that we moderns work hard to forget.
Maybe people in developing countries, where witchcraft is vibrant and corruption prevails, are seeing manifestations of evil, we might allow. But that doesnt happen here. Not in America. Here, when we think of evil, were more likely to think of those across political and ideological divides. We might well rebuke them, but that has little to do with Jesus.
Yet the Bible is clear about the reality of evil and the importance of rebuke. God regularly exercises this power, from the cursing of Satan in Genesis (3:1415) to the rebuke of Satan in Peter (Matt. 16:23) and the chastening of believers who do not repent (Rev. 3:19). In the Old Testament, we see God cursing operatives of the Enemy and reproving kings who do evil (Mal. 1:3; Ps. 11:5; Isa. 59:18; Jer. 22). In the New Testament, Jesus scolds religious leaders who act with evil intent (Matt. 23). Scripture assumes that evil is real, that it is the enemy of God, and that it is overcome by the name of Christ.
As believers, we still have the authority to rebuke in order to resist Satan and the evil of this world. Scriptural rebuke is not a personal power to be manipulated for our own purposes and rivalries. It is a weapon of spiritual warfare in Gods plan to destroy the devils work (1 John 3:8), a sign of the intolerability of evil in the presence of a holy God.
Perhaps this is why Sonya Masseys last instinct, before being fatally shot by a police officer in her Illinois home last month, was to rebuke evil in the name of Jesus.
Massey was reportedly having a mental health crisis when she asked police to come to her home to look for a possible prowler. We dont know exactly what was going through her mind in her final exchange with the officer who shot her. But we do know that in extremis, in a moment of great fear, she understood that evil is defeated by the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). She understood the truth that when we resist the Enemy, he will flee (James 4:7).
I dont think, as some have speculated, that Sonya believed the officer who killed her was literally a demon. But because he had the audacity to authenticate his threat to shoot her in the face, there is no doubt that evil was present. As believers, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12)and these are the enemies Sonya was right to rebuke in her final moments.
She called on the only name that could save her. And while her life was not spared on this side, because of her faith in Jesus, we can be confident she has attained the eternal life for which we long.
Sonyas story is a reminder of the necessity of rebuking evilof refusing to be so sophisticated that we imagine ourselves not in need of Gods help in the face of the Enemy. With every generation, we yearn for the coming of Christ who will wipe every tear and finally destroy the advancing darkness of this world (1 Cor. 15:2426; Heb. 2:1415; Rev. 21:4). But until that time, it is our duty to rebuke the evil around us. The tactics of the enemy are not to be placated or normalized. They are to be bound and defeated.
For this reason, we must rebuke the evils of racism and sexismnot because we simply dislike them, but because they work against the equality of believers (Gal. 3:28) and the goodness of God. We must rebuke political idolatry and apathy to violence not because they are a threat to us, but because they are a threat to the power and peace of God. Our calling, as followers of Jesus, is to hate the evil that Jesus hated and to love the truth Jesus loved. While the Enemy is not always clear to us, and evil isnt always easy to discern, God will overcome the Enemy once and for all.
The timing of that final victory is unknown, but Gods promise is sure. I pray that the church can find courage to hate evil as we cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9). The power to rebuke the Enemy is a privilege we cannot take lightly, a reiteration of the victory of Christ. The one who overcame death on the cross is the same one who overcame my childhood fearsand the same one who heard and loved Sonya Massey as she cried out for his help. In him, God has already triumphed over evil. In him, we can embrace the power of spiritual rebuke with confidence that, one day, evil will surely end.
Nicole Massie Martin is chief impact officer at Christianity Today.
Courtesy of A24
As a reporter, I sometimes receive mail from those behind bars who have story ideas or who keep in contact after a prison interview. Recently, I had a note from someone in a New York prison suggesting I see Sing Sing, a new movie about a theater program at Sing Sing, the maximum security prison in New York . This person hadnt seen the film, but he had heard the buzz about it and that it was about redemption.
A movie about prison? One look at the Christianity Today news section this summer will tell you why I didnt feel like watching something that would make my spirits lower than they already were. Im sure Im not alone in feeling that way lately.
But oddly enough, Sing Sing, in theaters August 2, parted the clouds for me. For one thing, its a very good movie. Led by the twin talents of Colman Domingo and Clarence Divine Eye Maclin, its generating Oscars chatter for its actors performances.
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It wasnt the movies award chances that raised my spirits, though. It was its vision of community, its stunning use of the word beloved in one line of dialogue. Thats what the movie is about: how being beloved can change someone, can make the irredeemable redeemed. The person who wrote me that letter was right.
Sing Sing is based on a real theater program at Sing Sing called Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), where a group of men behind bars puts on productions of Shakespeare and other plays.
When we join the story, the men are skipping the Bard to do a production of their own making, featuring time travel, Westerns, ancient Egyptand sure, a little Shakespeare. They title it Breakin the Mummys Code.
The film is funny and its heartbreaking. It depicts the heaviness of prison without being gratuitous; it depicts people changing their stories without being naive. The men dont become better by reading self-help books, embarking on a private program of personal growth. Instead, its their community that hauls them by the collar into a better version of themselves. When one man doesnt understand a stage direction, the other men jump in to explain; when one is angry, the others try to de-escalate the situation; when one is crying, another listens and comforts through the prison wall. Without spoiling anything, youll want to stay for the credits.
At one point in Sing Sing, the director of the play says, Who would have thought the healing of the planet could start behind the walls in Sing Sing?
The healing of the planet? At moments, the movie has this almost-too-earnest dialogue. But Christians know what the character is talking about. Restoration of all thingsof the whole worldcan come from unlikely places. Like a stable, or a prison.
In Surprised by Hope, theologian N. T. Wright comments on John 21:17: that moment when Jesus, after his resurrection, asks, Simon son of John, do you love me?
There is a whole world in that question, a world of personal invitation and challenge, of the remaking of a human being after disloyalty and disaster, Wright says. Resurrection, Wright argues throughout his work, is not just about going to heaven but about restoring all things. That restoration happens not through individuals figuring out the big questions of life on their own, but through the entire body of Christ working togethera restored community of head, hands, feet, and elbows.
RTA is not a faith-based program, but in real life, its working toward aims similar to those of Christian organizations behind barsorganizations that want to give the incarcerated some measure of a restored life, that want to remake a human being after disloyalty and disaster, as Wright describes it.
After seeing Sing Sing, I spoke to Sean Pica, who grew up in New York prisonshe went in at age 16 and was released at 34. Pica says his years in Sing Sing should have been the worst of his life after he failed everyone. Instead, he was restoredand became the first in his family to earn a college degree.
Pica recalled that when he first arrived at Sing Sing as a skinny teenager, a group of older Black men came to his cell. They told him to make his bed and sign up for school.
They wouldnt take no for an answer, he said. They pushed him to get a high school diploma. Pica did. He went on to get an undergraduate degree from Nyack College, a now-shuttered Christian college that had a program at Sing Sing at the time. Then he got a masters degree from the now-shuttered New York Theological Seminary.
He also experienced the benefits of RTA; while incarcerated, he became the carpenter for the productions and built sets. He knew the men portrayed in the film.
A free man for 22 years now, Pica runs Hudson Link, a nonprofit college education program behind bars that has 700 students enrolled (it had early ties to Nyack before Nyack began to struggle). Hes not quite sure how he ended up leading a college program.
That is Gods hands all over that, he said, underlining how he needed community to get to where he is now. Its not a solo [expletive] sport.
The film hits close to home for Pica, literally: Hudson Link operates within a 30-yard radius of RTA, so the organizations ties are close. Pica still builds sets for the theater productionsincluding the sets for Breakin the Mummys Code, the production depicted in the movie. When A24, the studio behind the film, held a screening at Sing Sing this year, they invited Pica.
He was in disbelief, sitting in the packed chapel auditorium in the maximum security prison and watching men he knew quoting Shakespeare on the big screen. He didnt care if the film screened anywhere else.
And what did he think of the film?
Its the real deal, he said. I cried through most of it.
Emily Belz is a staff writer on the news team.
Home News Black preachers condemn Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood: 'Nothing is more racist in America'
LEESBURG, Virginia Black faith leaders featured in "The 1916 Project," a documentary about Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and her influence on society's views on sexual morality, urged black pastors to oppose abortion during a segment of the film highlighting Sanger's views on race and eugenics.
White Rose Resistance screened "The 1916 Project" last Monday at the Cornerstone Chapel, one of many churches nationwide planning to screen it this year.
The documentary's title refers to the year Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States. It is also an allusion to The New York Times' "The 1619 Project," which critics argue presents an inaccurate, anti-American view of history.
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The film featured interviews White Rose Resistance founder Seth Gruber conducted with faith leaders and historians on a series of topics, including abortion, birth control, Sanger's history and what the documentary called "the secular moral revolution."
Two faith leaders Gruber interviewed for the documentary were John Amanchukwu, the youth and young adult pastor at North Carolina's Upper Room Church of God in Christ, and the church's Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr.
Wooden condemned Sanger and declared that he would not endorse any politician who praises the Planned Parenthood founder. Wooden said the role of black pastors is "to preach God's truth with power and authority and without compromise."
"In my opinion, what we're seeing is too many ministers being influenced by political parties," Wooden said. "And many preachers today are more Democrat than they are Gospel preacher when it comes to things like preaching against abortion, the slaughter of the unborn."
"Nothing is more racist in America than the abortion industry," he added.
Amanchukwu also bemoaned an unwillingness on the part of black ministers to speak out about Sanger, stating that many have instead become "parrots" for Planned Parenthood.
The outspoken faith leader described Sanger's agenda as "wicked," arguing that the Planned Parenthood founder intentionally sought to destroy the United States' black population and those she deemed "unfit."
Gruber cited Sanger's endorsement of the Supreme Court's 1927 decision in Buck v. Bell, which allowed states to sterilize people deemed 'unfit' without their consent.
He highlighted other controversies surrounding Sanger's views that resulted in Planned Parenthood distancing itself from the organization's founder in 2021, citing her association with white supremacist and eugenicist groups.
In 1939, Sanger sent a letter to birth control advocate Dr. Clarence Gamble describing one of the most controversial campaigns in the birth control movement called "The Negro Project."
Sanger wrote about the need for black ministers to help lead the project and gain the trust of African American communities, writing, "We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."
While some defenders of Sanger argue that the Planned Parenthood founder merely used the language of racists to help advocate for birth control, critics still contend that many would classify Sanger's views as racist and ableist today.
Amanchukwu recounted a conversation he had in 2020 with a black man while he was praying outside of a Women's Choice abortion facility. The man was wearing a "Black Lives Matter" shirt, according to Amanchukwu, and he asked the youth pastor, "Why are you out here fighting a white man's issue?"
"Now, I was taken aback when he said that because a majority of people out there praying, trying to save the babies, are white," Amanchukwu said. "But the majority of the moms in the clinic prepared to abort their babies, they're black, including this gentleman's girlfriend."
"But he could only see a racial issue in that I was over there with the white people, trying to worship and pray and save babies," the youth pastor said.
White Rose Resistance, a pro-life organization founded by Gruber, is named after a youthful resistance movement against the Nazi regime in Germany. During the Third Reich, White Rose members, including Hans and Sophie Scholl, distributed leaflets condemning the Nazis and urging German citizens to cease to remain apathetic to the regime's actions.
Home News 'Duck Dynasty' star Willie Robertson on turning darkness into light one conversation at a time
As people of faith, we have all been there. You find yourself in a situation that begs for you to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but for whatever reason, you stop short. The timing isn't right, the logistics are bad, or you feel awkward and out of place doing it.
The problem is that it just doesn't feel natural. Perhaps you fear the other person will not be receptive or will become hostile about hearing the Good News. Or, you don't know where to start.
Whatever the reason, sharing your story of faith and what it means to you is one of the hardest activities a Christian will ever face. But sharing your faith is not complicated. In fact, the more you share Jesus with others, the easier it gets.
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Christian reality television star Willie Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" fame found salvation in Christ in large part because a stranger went outside his comfort zone to have a spiritual conversation with his father, Phil Robertson.
Phil Robertson accepted Christ and then shared the Gospel with his family. If that conversation had never taken place, Willie Robertson may never have found his salvation. Thus, his life would have taken a completely different path, one that may have been filled with misery and doubt.
"My dad was the guy just preaching the Gospel to everyone, including my own family," Willie Robertson shared. "He wasn't a pastor. He was a duck call builder, but man, he would share the Gospel with anyone, publicly or personally. Him sharing the Gospel with me changed everything in my life."
In his latest book, The Gospeler: Turning Darkness into Light One Conversation at a Time, Willie Robertson tells readers how they can talk comfortably about Jesus with their family, friends, neighbors and even complete strangers they meet in everyday life. In the book's 224 pages, he stresses that sharing the Gospel is not preaching but simply having a conversation. The key is to focus on what's truly important (Jesus) instead of what's not (religion).
"People sharing their faith is, in a lot of ways, sort of gone by the wayside," explains Willie Robertson, the CEO of Duck Commander. "I think people expect their pastors to do it. They think that's why you go to church. And so this book is hopefully to get us to start talking about this the other six days out of the week, even besides Sunday. These are the conversations that happen at work, in our homes with our children, people we know, perhaps a stranger that we're sitting beside somewhere."
Willie Robertson joins us on the "Crossmap Podcast" to discuss why well-meaning Christians often shy away from sharing the Gospel with people. Listen as he shares why it is so important to understand that sharing the Gospel is not preaching but simply having a conversation.
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Home News 'Satan Cannot Destroy Us': First Baptist Dallas members cling to faith after massive fire
The congregation of First Baptist Dallas in Dallas, Texas, is holding on to hope after their historic sanctuary was destroyed by a massive fire.
While questions remain and the pain caused by the incident is evident, Christian Post reporter Jon Brown spoke with members who believe God will use the tragedy for good.
Brown joins host Billy Hallowell on a recent edition of "The Inside Story" to explore what unfolded and what church members are saying. Read the full story here.
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The Inside Story takes you behind the headlines of the biggest faith, culture and political headlines of the week. In 15 minutes or less, Christian Post staff writers and editors will help you navigate and understand whats driving each story, the issues at play and why it all matters.
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Home News Liberty University faces civil rights lawsuit after firing trans-identified employee
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the legal group Butler Curwood have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Liberty University on behalf of a trans-identified former employee fired after telling his employer he identified as a woman.
Filed Monday, the lawsuit claims that the Evangelical institution founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bans employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
The Christian Post reached out to Liberty University for comment. A response is pending.
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The complaint alleges that Liberty hired 30-year-old Jonathan Zinski to work as a full-time information services apprentice at its IT Helpdesk in February 2023 and that a supervisor at one point told him he was on the path to success.
On July 5, 2023, Zinski emailed Libertys human resources department about his ongoing hormone replacement and his intent to legally change his name from Jonathan to Ellenor.
On July 8, Zinski was told via email that the human resources department would eventually respond to the email. After waiting for a response for over a month, Zinski followed up on Aug. 8, and a meeting with the human resources department was scheduled for later that day.
The legal filing states that Zinskis employment was terminated effective immediately at the meeting in which two Liberty executives were present.
No one should be fired because of who they are but Liberty University made it clear thats exactly why it fired Ellenor, said ACLU of Virginia Senior Transgender Rights Attorney Wyatt Rolla in a statement.
The ACLU reports that during the meeting, officials read a termination notice to Zinski stating that denial of biological and chromosomal sex assigned at birth is in conflict with the universitys doctrinal statement listed in the employee handbook of personnel policies and procedures.
The doctrinal statement lists denial of birth sex by self-identification with a different gender among many other acts and behaviors that are sinful and prohibited by God.
The plaintiff is seeking damages of $300,000 in addition to back-pay with interest and attorneys fees.
In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII employment law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ruling that a Michigan-based Christian-owned funeral home was wrong to fire a male employee after he transitioned to female.
The opinion applied to three cases Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Aimee Stephens & EEOC.
The progressives and the Biden administration have relied on the Bostock ruling to bolster their arguments that federal civil rights protections for sex extend to gender identity and sexual orientation.
The majority opinion, delivered by Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, held that while federal law doesnt specifically mention gender identity or sexual orientation, LGBT identity is still linked to sex. Gorsuch was joined on the majority by five of his colleagues.
The statutes message for our cases is equally simple and momentous: An individuals homosexuality or transgender status is not relevant to employment decisions, the majority opinion stated. Thats because it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.
However, the majority held that claims made by religious employers under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act might supersede Title VIIs commands in appropriate cases.
But how these doctrines protecting religious liberty interact with Title VII are questions for future cases too, Gorsuch stated, ruling that the funeral home did unsuccessfully pursue a RFRA-based defense in the proceedings below.
So while other employers in other cases may raise free exercise arguments that merit careful consideration, none of the employers before us today represent in this Court that compliance with Title VII will infringe their own religious liberties in any way.
Home News Lutherans, Orthodox Church reach agreement on 1,000-year debate over Nicene Creed
The Lutheran World Federation and the Orthodox Church have announced an agreement on the debate over the Filioque clause of the Nicene Creed, which prompted the schism between Western and Eastern churches over 1,000 years ago.
Meaning and the Son in Latin, Filioque was added to the Nicene Creed during the Medieval Era to make the statement of faith say that the Holy Spirit proceeded from both God the Father and the Son.
The dispute over whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from both personages of the Trinity helped lead to the Great Schism of 1054, which split Christianity into a Western Church and Eastern Church.
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In a joint statement released Tuesday, the LWF and Orthodox leaders explained that they agreed to suggest that the translation of the Greek original (without the Filioque) be used in the hope that this will contribute to the healing of age-old divisions between our communities and enable us to confess together the faith of the Ecumenical Councils of Nica (325) and Constantinople (381).
Renewed focus on the original wording of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed may encourage renewed theological reflection on the Trinity and the role of the Holy Spirit, they continued.
Moreover, we both affirm that in our Trinitarian doctrine the Father is the cause (i) of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit.
Also known as the Common Statement of the Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue between the LWF and the Orthodox Church, the statement is the byproduct of 40 years of dialogue between the two denominational bodies.
LWF and the Orthodox leaders also view the Common Statement as a sign of reconciliation in advance of 2025, which will mark the 1,700 anniversary of when the Council of Nicaea took place.
Named after Nicaea, an ancient city located in modern-day Turkey, the Nicene Creed was originally written in 325 and later revised at the Council of Constantinople in 381.
The creed was formulated in response to Arianism, an early church heresy that claimed, among other things, that God the Father created Jesus and thus were not coequal as a part of the Trinity.
The filioque clause was first reportedly added to the Nicene Creed at the Third Council of Toledo in 589, as a way to further emphasize the equality of God the Father and God the Son.
However, many Eastern churches took issue with the phrasing, believing that it did not properly reflect the relationship between the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. This, along with concerns over the power that the bishop of Rome was attempting to exert over other regional bodies, led to the Great Schism of 1054.
In 1999, the LWF signed an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church known as the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," which sought to resolve theological differences between the two bodies over the nature of justification by faith.
Later signed by representatives of the World Communion of Reformed Churches in 2017, the Joint Declaration said that Catholics and Protestants "are now able to articulate a common understanding of our justification by God's grace through faith in Christ."
"It does not cover all that either church teaches about justification; it does encompass a consensus on basic truths of the doctrine of justification and shows that the remaining differences in its explication are no longer the occasion for doctrinal condemnations," stated the declaration, in part.
The LWF was founded in 1947 and is based in Geneva, Sweden. It has a reported 150 member churches in nearly 100 countries, representing more than 77 million Lutherans.
Home News Nigerian bishop leaves UMC amid homosexuality schism; regional bodys future uncertain
The bishop of the United Methodist Churchs Nigerian Episcopal Area has reportedly resigned from his position, with some or all of the African-based regional body possibly leaving with him in response to the denomination allowing same-sex marriage and ordination of noncelibate homosexuals.
A UMC Council of Bishops spokesperson emailed The Christian Post a statement on Tuesday in which the denominational leadership announced that they accepted the resignation of Bishop John Wesley Yohanna.
Council of Bishops President Bishop Tracy Smith Malone sent a letter to her fellow bishops confirming the resignation, saying it became effective on Monday.
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We are saddened by his decision to no longer continue ministry with The United Methodist Church. I invite us to pray for our former colleague and the church in Nigeria, especially those who choose to remain in The United Methodist Church. This is a very difficult and confusing time for them, wrote Malone.
Malone stated that the UMC bishops are working with the West Africa College of Bishops and Episcopacy Committee to enact interim episcopal leadership for the region.
Until then, Malone urged bishops with covenantal relationships with UMC congregations in Nigeria to immediately withhold sending funding and escrow the funds until new episcopal leadership is in place and new mechanisms are in place.
Malone's request was made of the denominations general secretaries, as there are concerns that church funds will not go to the UMC ministry and mission in the African nation.
On Monday, Yohanna sent a statement to Nigerian state officials explaining that at a special called session of the Nigeria Episcopal Area held last week, the entire regional body voted to leave the UMC and join the Global Methodist Church.
The GMC was officially launched in 2022 as a theologically conservative alternative to the UMC. Thousands of congregations in the United States have already switched their affiliations to the GMC
According to Yohanna, the decision to disaffiliate from the UMC came in response to the denominations decision earlier this year to allow for same-sex marriage and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals.
Therefore we want to make a statement that since the church has derailed from Biblical principle we cannot be in this church where homosexuality can be celebrated, said Yohanna.
Yohanna warned that any UMC congregation agreeing with the changes would find themselves at odds with Nigerian law, which prohibits both same-sex relationships and LGBT advocacy groups.
A group of Nigerian UMC church officials released a statement disputing Yohannas claim that the Episcopal Area had disaffiliated. They claimed instead that the former bishop and around 10% of the regional body opted to leave.
Even though we are saddened by their exit, we hold them in our prayers and wish them Gods guidance in their new found faith community, read the statement.
We also wish to make it categorically clear ... that our denomination does not permit them to leave with any of the United Methodist property in the way and manner the left.
The local church officials called on Yohanna and his allies to treat their exit with integrity and not tamper with any of the UMC properties.
CP contacted the GMC for more information. A spokesperson said the denomination is aware of the Yohanna statement and that we do not have any further information to share.
In June, it was claimed that the UMC Nigeria Episcopal Area had held a special called session earlier this month at Jalingo in the Taraba state, where delegates voted to leave the denomination.
The conservative Methodist blog People Need Jesus posted a copy of the resolution, which explained that the Nigerian regional body believed that the UMC prioritizes the LGBT community over the traditional beliefs held by many United Methodists in Nigeria.
The resolution also claimed that the current United Methodist Church has altered the original language of our Discipline to accommodate cultural values divergent from ours.
The UMC presence in Nigeria is divided among four annual conferences, which reportedly have a total membership of more than 560,000 members.
However, when reached for comment by CP at the time, a UMC spokesperson replied that the denomination cannot respond until they receive an official report from the Nigerian conference. Others disputed the claim that the session was an official gathering of the regional body.
Dianne Burnett, spokesperson for GMC, told CP in June that we are actively praying for" Nigerian Methodists "as they discern their future.
The Global Methodist Church maintains strong connections with the leadership of the Nigeria Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church, she stated earlier this year. We are informed about the recent votes by clergy and laity concerning the direction of the Nigerian church.
Currently, the Global Methodist Church does not have any member churches or clergy in Nigeria. However, we are aware of the interest from churches and clergy in aligning with us. As the Nigerian church makes crucial decisions, we stand ready to collaborate with and support their leadership in any way we can.
In the spring, delegates at the UMC General Conference voted to remove language from the UMC Book of Discipline that prohibited the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.
The moves came after approximately 7,500 mostly conservative congregations disaffiliated from the mainline denomination because of the decades-long debate over the hot-button issues in which progressive leaders within the denomination weren't enforcing the Book of Discipline rules.
While the UMC voted to allow LGBT ordination and same-sex weddings in June, many within the UMC have stated their intention to not host same-sex weddings at their churches or have been moved to leave the denomination.
Soon after the changes were made, the Cote d'Ivoire Conference, a West African-based regional body with over 1 million members, voted to leave the UMC because the Book of Discipline had been amended.
Malone said in a statement at the time that the denominational leadership was working with the Ivory Coast-based conference as it becomes autonomous.
While we are not all of one mind in all things, the strength of our connection is love, respect, compassion and a shared commitment to faith in Jesus Christ, stated Malone.
The General Conference decisions that removed the restrictive language in the Book of Discipline related to LGBTQIA persons do not force pastors or churches to act contrary to their conscience and can make decisions in their missional contexts.
Home News Planned Parenthood executive, pastor sues abortion giant for racial, religious discrimination
An ordained pastor and the first black man on Planned Parenthood of Greater New York's executive leadership team recently filed a civil rights lawsuit accusing the organization of discrimination.
The lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by Samuel Ricarlos Mitchell, Jr., alleged that the plaintiff had been subjected to a "campaign of discrimination" since he was hired as an interim chief operating officer in September 2021. He later moved into a permanent COO role in April 2022.
The defendants listed in the lawsuit are PPGNY and several women who hold executive or board member positions Wendy Stark, Andrea Hagan, Anne Davis and Gillian Dean.
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According to the complaint, PPGNY required Mitchell to "endure a disproportionate number of background checks due to his age, race, color, disability, and gender."
"In fact, PPGNY required Plaintiff to undergo a disproportionate number of background checks which is so far above what younger, Caucasian, and non-disabled prospective employees go through as to be clearly discriminatory and harassing," he claimed.
In October 2021, Mitchell claimed that after Hagan, the organization's board treasurer, discovered the COO was an ordained pastor, several board members insinuated that Christians and religious leaders "were not welcome to work for PPGNY."
The complaint accused members of the board of attempting to investigate whether his church held pro-life beliefs, which the lawsuit described as an "invasive attempt to terminate Plaintiff's employment."
After the plaintiff filed a formal complaint in October 2021, Mitchell alleged that Hagan "began disproportionately and excessively monitoring and micromanaging" him in retaliation for the complaint.
In August 2022, Mitchell alleged that he was passed over for the position of interim CEO in favor of his white colleague, denying him a salary increase of $13,000. As COO, Mitchell was the "second in command," and a "long standing policy" at the organization meant that he should have received the promotion, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff also has a southern accent and a "neurological condition," which causes him to stutter when stressed, which he claims subjected him to other forms of discrimination. During a November 2021 team meeting, Mitchell claims he was mocked for his accent and stutter.
In another meeting in September 2022, a younger, white subordinate of Mitchell's presented a report on his behalf. The COO's colleagues allegedly said the woman was a "much better communicator" than him.
"These comments were in direct, discriminatory reference to the symptoms of Plaintiff's disabling condition," the lawsuit reads.
Mitchell also accused PPGNY staff, including Davis and Dean, of using "racist terms" to refer to him, such as "angry, aggressive, and out of control." The complaint stated that each term "plays into cruelly racist stereotypes about black, African American men in the workplace and beyond."
Another alleged incident of racial discrimination involving Dean occurred in February 2022, with Dean stating, "She was a loud black woman," in reference to PPGNY chief equity and engagement officer Merle McGee.
"This lawsuit is meant to shine a light on the discriminatory and retaliatory employment practices that permeate the organization and bring justice to Mr. Mitchell for the unrelenting discriminatory practices he has and continues to endure," the lawsuit reads.
In a statement published by The Daily News, Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Jacquelyn Marrero denied "the spurious allegations made by a recent addition to our executive team."
"PPGNY vehemently renounces any form of discrimination or retaliation. Our top priority for our team members is a safe, diverse and equitable workplace that supports our mission to provide access to reproductive health for all," she stated.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.
Allegations of racism against Planned Parenthood are not new, as Mitchell's lawsuit noted.
In October 2022, Nicole Moore, Planned Parenthood's former director of multicultural brand engagement, filed a lawsuit claiming the organization had a "structural racism" issue.
Moore, who worked for Planned Parenthood from January 2020 to November 2021, alleged that "racism was widespread at the organization." She accused the corporation of reprimanding her for "raising her concerns about racial disparities in leadership" and of holding black employees to a "double standard regarding contract work."
As CP reported, over 120 black American leaders signed a letter asking Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson to renounce the organization's founder, Margaret Sanger, and to address the impact of abortion on black communities.
"Today, we are saying emphatically and unequivocally that Planned Parenthood must confront its racist founding, mission and practices. Too many Black lives have been lost to abortion. All Black lives matter," the letter reads.
Louisiana state Sen. Katrina Jackson, Georgia state Rep. Mack Jackson and Michigan's Kent County Commissioner Monica Sparks, all Democrats, are just a few individuals who signed the letter. Republican signers included then-Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and former Texas state Rep. James White.
In April 2021, Johnson published a New York Times op-ed addressing questions about Sanger's views on race and eugenics. In the op-ed, the Planned Parenthood president acknowledged Sanger's association with "white supremacist groups" and endorsement of Buck v. Bell, a Supreme Court decision permitting the sterilization of those deemed "unfit."
Johnson promised that the organization would make "Margaret Sanger less prominent in our present and future." However, she maintained that Planned Parenthood's founder remains an influential part of our history and will not be erased."
Mitchell's lawsuit attests to the organization's troubling past.
"Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger who was an unabashed racist, eugenics believer and KKK sympathizer," the legal filing states. "As late as April 2021, Planned Parenthood's leadership acknowledged that Sanger was coddled by the organization and protected despite her discriminatory animus."
"[T]he reality is that Planned Parenthood continues to be run by people who are openly hostile to racial minorities, the disabled, older workers and those who complain about discriminatory practices."
Home News Russell Brand slams Olympics opening ceremony 'decadence,' shares favorite Bible verse
Comedian Russell Brand spoke out against the recent controversial Olympics opening ceremony and shared one of his favorite Bible verses in recent social media posts.
"There are times that I've told you when I felt far from Christ," Brand said in a video he posted to Instagram on Wednesday. "This is the verse that brought me back into connection with our Lord."
Brand went on to read Isaiah 43:1, which reads: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
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"My feelings of faith have altered lately, because I've had the sense that through fear I might take back my self-will, that I might through fear think I have to be in control of the situation," Brand said. "If you feel that you're being attacked, if you are under threat, it seems obvious, rational, sensible to take back control."
Brand went on to explain that he has found a new freedom in surrendering to Christ in faith and relinquishing his desire for control, which he said is not a concept he understood before becoming a Christian.
"But the sensation of faith allowing Christ in His sub-molecular potency, right down to the granular, right out into the cosmological to order all things for we are dealing with the King of eternity," he said. "And this is something I never understood before I was a Christian, but you are stepping out of the cubic reality afforded to you by materialism and rationalism and into a transcendent realm where you are given grace where, once I've accepted sin, and surrendered, and allowed Him to carry me, I'm granted a new freedom.
"'Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I've called you by your name, you are mine.' I don't belong to myself anymore," he added. "And that is true freedom."
In another post, Brand also blasted the recent opening Olympic ceremony in Paris that drew global backlash for its mock portrayal of the Last Supper with , exposed male genitalia, and an obese, lesbian DJ in the place of Jesus.
"I'm pretty down with inclusivity and diversity," he said. "I think people should be able to be who they want to be, whether you've got a traditional or progressive lifestyle. In a decentralized culture, where you're not continually being cajoled and bludgeoned by a powerful state backed by commercial interests, you might choose to be a traditional Christian or a Muslim or a Jew or an atheist. And you might want to be a drag queen or whatever. It's actually no one else's business."
Brand, who has been open about the hedonistic lifestyle he renounced to become a Christian, suggested the spirit of the opening ceremony seemed to fly in the face of inclusivity. He said they represented instead the destructive values he personally fled in the wake of multiple sexual assault allegations against him, all of which he has denied.
"What was extraordinary, I suppose, to me [about the opening ceremony] appears to be the deliberate evocation of Christian imagery in order to what? Deride it? In order to what? Attack it? Undermine it?"
"What are the values that are being proposed here? Is it hedonism? Is it decadence? Is it individualism? Is it that the self your own personal set of decrees, desires and edicts are the apex and supreme hierarchy of ideologies? That there is nothing superior and supreme to which we have to surrender?"
In another post, Brand suggested the Olympic opening ceremony is an example of the pervasive decadence that reminds him of biblical descriptions of the End Times.
During an interview with Tucker Carlson last year in the months leading up to his conversion, Brand said, "Like many desperate people, I need spirituality. I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people."
He acknowledged that he "didn't have enough self-discipline to resist the allure of stardom" and "fell face-first into the glitter, and I'm only just pulling myself out now."
Brand made international headlines earlier this year when he converted to Christianity following a lengthy public wrestling with faith. In April, he was baptized in the River Thames, along with Bear Grylls and another friend.
During an interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, Brand said he believes a "spiritual darkness" is becoming increasingly apparent in society.
Home News Sen. Mike Lee warns of 'increased hostility' toward Christianity in Washington
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, believes that federal lawmakers have grown increasingly hostile toward Christians in recent years and some feel justified in discriminating against them to a degree unprecedented in United States history.
During a two-hour interview with conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson on the Tucker Carlson Network earlier this week, Lee answered affirmatively when Carlson asked if he noticed "this hostility toward Christianity increasing in Washington."
"I think there is increased hostility toward Christianity, toward organized religion in general in Washington," said Lee, who is a Mormon.
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Everyone in Washington knew Joe Biden was senile. At times he couldnt operate a cell phone. Sen. Mike Lee was there.
(0:00) Obama Kicking Biden Out
(8:13) Bidens Impairment
(20:33) Bidens Scripted Phone Calls
(23:17) The Federal Government Is Too Powerful
(36:02) The pic.twitter.com/MxObwUhfOy Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 30, 2024
While he said the Senate has "a pretty healthy culture" of religious toleration among colleagues, Lee has noticed unconstitutional religious tests for judicial nominees emerge during the Trump administration.
"I've started seeing a couple of things that are disturbing that I never thought I would see, just in the last few years," said Lee, who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"I remember during the Trump administration, we started to see, for the first time ever, a couple of my Democratic colleagues, including some on the Judiciary Committee, who would say things like this: 'I'm not comfortable with this nominee because I fear that the dogma lives loudly within her.'"
Lee was referencing the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who suggested during Justice Amy Coney Barrett's 2017 confirmation hearing to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that her Roman Catholic faith would interfere with her ability to be impartial.
"She was afraid that she was too Catholic and because the Catholic dogma, as she put it, 'lives too loudly,'" Lee recalled. "I thought that was a little unsettling."
Lee recalled the time he confronted Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, in 2019 after she asked then-D.C. Circuit Court nominee Neomi Rao during her confirmation hearing if she believes gay relationships are a sin.
"I felt the need to weigh in at that meeting because sometimes we need to do that in order to set the record and to give the member an opportunity to pare it back," Lee said. "So I thought, I'm not sure she meant I'm not sure she realized exactly how far she went in saying that."
Lee noted that Hirono remained unapologetic about her line of questioning.
Carlson, who said Hirono is not considered "a genius" by the outside world, questioned whether people like her are "self-aware enough to know that they're the religious fanatics."
Lee noted the apparent antipathy toward Christians who want to serve in government is unchartered territory for the U.S., which he noted has been historically Christian.
"Relative to not just the founding generation, but pretty much all generations of Americans until very recently, those who are hostile toward Christian beliefs or toward any belief system when it comes to somebody's worthiness to serve in government," he said. "That's historically aberrational. That's extreme."
"Culturally also, throughout most of our history, we have been a religious nation. We are still a religious nation," he added.
Noting how someone would not be able to get away with opposing a nominee for being too Jewish, Carlson asked how discrimination against Christians gets a pass.
"I really don't know, other than that the the media won't go after you," Lee said, to which Carlson replied, "Because they share the view."
Lee said he has personally witnessed President Joe Biden's decreasing mental acuity since his first year in office, including when he asked Lee's wife twice if she worked in the White House despite having met her before. He also recounted a time when he saw Biden appear too confused to take a phone call.
Home News Trump pressed on calls for police 'immunity from prosecution' after Sonya Massey killing
Journalists pressed former President Donald Trump on his support for qualified immunity for police officers during an appearance in Chicago after the murder of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old black woman shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy in her Illinois home earlier this month.
Trump answered questions during a Wednesday discussion organized by the National Association of Black Journalists. Kadia Goba of Semafor, a news outlet founded by former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith, asked the Republican presidential nominee if he believed the deputy who shot Massey should receive immunity.
Former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey on July 6 after responding to a call from the woman about a prowler in the area. After body-camera footage of the encounter was shared online, Grayson was charged on July 17 with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
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The shooting occurred not long after Trump vowed during a May rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, that, if elected president, his administration would "give our police their power back" and ensure they have "immunity from prosecution."
In response to Goba's question, Trump replied that he didn't know the full details of the case, stating that he "saw something, and it didn't look good."
When Goba pressed again about whether officers should receive immunity, Trump explained that he did not mean that officers like Grayson should receive immunity.
He went on to cite Chicago crime statistics as an example of why certain police need immunity, highlighting the dangers associated with the job that can force officers to have to make a quick decision that may result in a fatal shooting.
"I'm talking about people that are much different cases, and that we need police to protect ourselves," he said, pointing to the series of shootings that took place throughout Chicago over Fourth of July weekend, where 19 people were killed and over 100 shot in over 74 shooting incidents.
The youngest victim, 8-year-old Bryson Orr, was killed in a shooting in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the morning of July 4, NBC News reports.
The number of shootings over the July 4 weekend this year surpassed last year's numbers. In 2023, 11 people were killed over the holiday weekend and 62 were injured, the outlet notes.
"Nobody wants that. We need to have our police officers have the respect and dignity back. In this particular case, I saw something that didn't look good," Trump said on Wednesday. "I didn't like it at all."
Trump said that for the most part, people are protected by their police unions or their police departments.
"There's a big difference between being a bad person and making an innocent mistake," he added. "If someone made an innocent mistake, I would want to help that person."
"Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life and death decision, and sometimes very bad decisions are made," he continued. "They're not made from an evil standpoint, but they're made from the standpoint of 'they've made a mistake.'"
During an interview shortly after the Massey shooting, the woman's father, James Wilburn, told CBS Mornings that he believes his daughter "feared for her life."
"There was something, some premonition that she had, and it seems like [Grayson] was just an emissary of Satan. And that's what caused him to do what he did. It's just unexplainable," Wilburn said.
Family members of Massey told CBS Evening News after the shooting that Massey had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia days before the incident.
In video footage of the shooting, Massey appears agitated, and she told the two deputies who responded to her 911 when they arrived, "Please don't hurt me." At one point, Massey walked over to a boiling pot of water after Grayson requested that she check on it. As the woman removed the pot, the deputies backed away and ordered her to move away from the boiling pot.
"Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," Massey is heard saying in the video. "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
"You better f not, or I swear to God I'll f shoot you in the f face," Grayson told her.
Massey, who appears in the video to be holding the pot next to her running faucet in her sink, can be seen taking her hands off the pot while still holding what looks like mittens in her hand. The woman placed her hands over her ears, and Grayson advanced toward her with his gun drawn, shouting "drop the f pot" and firing several shots.
The officer later stated in the video that he had shot the woman in the head and implied that he did not see the need to provide her medical attention, arguing that Massey was likely dead anyway.
In a statement, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell called the shooting "unjustifiable and reckless."
"Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson," Campbell said.
"Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement. Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them."
Bidens Plan To Reform Supreme Court, Christian Discrimination In Scotland, Deadpool And Wolverine Criticism
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Top headlines for Thursday, August 1, 2024
In todays episode, President Biden proposes Supreme Court reforms, the United Methodist Church faces controversy over same-sex marriage and clergy ordination, and the 2024 GMA Dove Awards nominees are announced, celebrating gospel musics unity and impact.
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Home News 2 Ukrainian priests released by Russia after 19 months were likely tortured, church says
Two Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church priests, Redemptorist Fathers Ivan Levytsky and Bohdan Geleta, have been released from Russian captivity after more than 19 months through a prisoner exchange facilitated by diplomatic efforts involving the Vatican.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church announced that Levytsky and Geleta, hieromonks of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, were released last Friday after initially being arrested on Nov. 26, 2022, in the occupied city of Berdiansk.
In a recent interview with Ukrinform, a church leader said that the church received "alarming signals" that the priests were being "tortured regularly."
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"His Beatitude Sviatoslav expressed his deep gratitude to the Apostolic See for the rescue of the UGCC priests," the announcement reads. "He conveyed special thanks to Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the entire Vatican diplomatic corps. Special gratitude for mediation was expressed to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine. Each of them contributed invaluably to making this event a reality."
Pope Francis publicly expressed his thanksgiving after the priests' release, according to National Catholic Reporter.
I give thanks to God for the freeing of the two Greek Catholic priests, the pope said after the Angelus prayer on Saturday, calling for prayers for all prisoners of war.
Supporters say the priests were arrested after military items were falsely placed in their church, leading to charges of illegal possession of weapons.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Levytsky and Geleta chose to stay in the occupied territories and served both Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic communities as a "beacon of hope for people under occupation," the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church contends.
"They were arrested, followed by some military items being planted in the church and accused of illegal possession of weapons," the statement continued. "There were reports that they were being tortured mercilessly to extract a confession to a crime they did not commit."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a social media post on X, announced the release of Levytsky and Geleta among 10 prisoners returned to Ukrainian authorities. President Zelenskyy acknowledged the Vaticans pivotal role in securing their release, conveying gratitude towards the Holy See.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Ombudsman, told the Interfax news agency that this is the first instance of the Vaticans direct involvement in the repatriation of Ukrainian adults, indicating a new potential channel for further civilian returns. He claims that Russia is illegally detaining over 14,000 Ukrainian citizens.
Numerous cases of detainment and torture of Ukrainian clergy have been reported from occupied Ukrainian territories.
The Rev. Stepan Podolchak, 59, of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, disappeared on Feb. 13 in the Ukrainian village of Kalanchak after Russian occupation forces took him away for questioning in his bare feet with a bag over his head.
The priest had chosen to remain with his church after Russians invaded the village in the southern Skadovsk District of the Kherson Region in early 2022. His battered body was found on a village street by a passer-by, and taken to the morgue.
Lubinets said at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. in February that Russian soldiers and occupation officials had committed at least 76 acts of religious persecution in Ukraine since the invasion of February 2022 as part of an attempt to destroy national identity. Additionally, he alleged that Russian forces had killed or captured at least 29 clerics or religious leaders in Ukraine since the war began.
Since the invasion, he said Evangelical Christians, including Baptists, Pentecostals and Seventh-day Adventists, had suffered greatly.
The Russian military has repeatedly threatened the total physical elimination of all Evangelical believers, calling them American spies, sectarians and enemies of the Russian Orthodox people, Lubinets said. To kill a person, to demolish a church, the Russians do everything to destroy us as a nation.
Home News A feat of diplomacy: Biden hails Russia-US prisoner swap
Update Appended
President Joe Biden hailed as historic the recently announced prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, which included freeing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Gershkovich, 32, was one of three Americans and one American green card holder whose freedom was confirmed on Thursday. Five Germans and seven Russian political prisoners, some of whom had been imprisoned for years, were also released.
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Along with the Journal reporter, American Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive who was jailed on espionage charges, and Radio Free Europe reporter Alsu Kurmasheva were also freed in the swap.
In return, the United States and assorted European nations gave Russia several prisoners, including Vadim Krasikov, a former intelligence officer and hit man who had been serving a life sentence in Germany after being convicted of murder.
In a statement released Thursday, Biden described the negotiations process and the deal that led to their release as a feat of diplomacy that was aided by Americas allies in the region.
I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why its vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon, stated Biden.
Biden also promised that he will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family, citing over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office.
We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world, he added. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.
In their reporting of Gershkovich, the Journal described the prisoner swap deal as the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War.
According to the Journal, Gershkovich had been imprisoned by Russian authorities for over a year on a false allegation of espionage, and had been sentenced to 16 years in a penal colony following a hurried and secret three-day trial.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the arrest of Gershkovich, claiming in an interview with Tucker Carlson in February that the journalist "was caught red-handed when he was secretly getting classified information."
Putin also told the former Fox News opinion host that Russia was willing to release Gershkovich, but that there were certain conditions that are being discussed between special services."
During a press conference, Biden was asked to respond to comments made by Donald Trump in which the Republican presidential candidate said that he would have gotten the American hostages released without giving anything in exchange.
"Why didn't he do it when he was president?" Biden replied before leaving the conference.
While Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018, which was during the Trump administration, Gershkovich and Kurmasheva were detained while Biden has been president.
Update, 8/5/2024
Article updated to include the press conference comment by President Joe Biden about the hostages and when they were first detained.
Home Opinion Media rewrites Kamalas record
Which senator had the most liberal voting record in 2019? According to GovTrack.us in January 2020, it was then-Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Today, that same webpage can no longer be found, nor can the page for Harris 2019 report card. The internet Wayback Machine first noticed the pages missing on Monday. Coinciding with this disappearance was only one relevant change: last weekend President Joe Biden announced via X that he would not seek reelection and endorsed Harris as his replacement.
Is the media scrubbing the web of Harriss past liberal record?
According to GovTrack.us in July 2024, there was a perfectly innocent-sounding explanation for the sudden scrubbing of a 5-year-old webpage. That page was based on a single calendar year. Several years ago we discontinued creating new single-calendar-year report cards because a single year of data is not sufficient to create a reliable portrait of the activity of legislators.
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It is true that more years of data provide a fuller picture. However, having only served in the Senate for four years, Harris didnt develop a large legislative record there. In 2017 (also archived), GovTrack.us ranked Harris as the 8th-most liberal senator by voting record. In 2018 (live), she ranked as the 4th-most liberal. Harris was the most liberal in 2019, and in 2020 (also live) she ranked as the 2nd-most liberal senator. In 2021, she became vice president.
But arguing that a reliable portrait of a legislators activity required information from multiple years is not an explanation for deleting pages from certain years and not others. Indeed, deleting any record of voting scores seems beneath an organization described as a non-partisan government transparency site.
Their poor excuse for deleting the 2019 report card (and a 2019 page ranking all senators ideologically), combined with the suggestive timing of the move, only stoked suspicions that GovTrack.us deleted the pages to obscure Harriss voting record, which was the most liberal of the year. What made GovTracks coverup even more embarrassing is that their patchwork deletions did not even effectively obscure Harriss consistently liberal voting record.
When CBS news anchor Norah ODonnell asked Harris about the most-liberal ranking in an interview for 60 Minutes, Harris first deflected, then characteristically laughed it off. You supported the Green New Deal, you supported Medicare for all, youve supported legalizing marijuana. Joe Biden doesnt support those things, ODonnell pressed.
Harris did not deny that statement. Instead, she responded, What I will do and I promise you this, and this is what Joe wants me to do, this was part of our deal I will always share with him my lived experience as it relates to any issue that we confront. And I promised Joe that I will give him that perspective and always be honest with him.
Two things seem to be true at the same time. On one hand, Kamala Harris is on the far-left flank of the American political spectrum, or at least she wants the support of that constituency. On the other hand, Harris also has national political ambitions and enough political instincts to recognize that being the most liberal senator doesnt play well in most places outside of California.
The best explanation to be offered so far for GovTrack.us deleting Harriss record from their site is that they, too, recognize the political liability of being the most liberal senator, and they removed the page as an intangible contribution to Harriss campaign for president. If they wish to dispute this, let them offer a better explanation to convince us. The American people know when we are being gaslighted.
Border Czar?
GovTrack.us is not the only organization to be exposed for polishing up Harriss record by, well, denying what they had previously said about it. In the past few days, Axios claimed Wednesday, the Trump campaign and Republicans have tagged Harris repeatedly with the border czar title which she never actually had.
Again, the urge to exonerate Harris of any responsibility for the border serves the short-term, political goal of separating her from the unpopular border policies of the Biden-Harris administration.
Yet this critique would surprise Axios writers from five years ago, when they unironically called Harris the border czar. The very same writer who is now denouncing Republicans use of the label border czar, Stef Kight, wrote an article on March 24, 2021 titled, Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis. As with all American applications of the word czar, the border czar refers colloquially to the person in charge of an issue, not to that persons technical title.
Even worse, this shifts the focus of history revisionism from Harriss Senate career to her record as vice president. In other words, it memory-holes Harriss actions not from a role she held five years ago, but from a role she holds right now. In other words, to identify Axioss infinitesimal distinction, their readers would not only have to rewrite their memory of their recent past but also override their current political knowledge about the present.
Axios knows better, and their readers do too. But they went ahead and published this ridiculous argument for cheap political points, hoping no one would notice that they had drawn a distinction without a difference. After getting called out in a community note on X, Axios doubled-down on their recent resolve to split hairs. At the bottom of their most recent article, an editors note now declares that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a border czar in 2021.
Theres some kind of oligarchy there thats running the country, declared Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) on Washington Watch Thursday. Youve got the massive cover up and cleaning up of the image of Kamala Harris, who has bungled everything that shes been put in charge of, like the border.
She was the border czar, Biggs added. Everybody calls her that. And if you dont like border czar, she was appointed to lead the border effort. She was the manager. She was the director, whatever you want to call it. The bottom line is still the same. She failed, and Joe Biden, stuck with her.
Rioter bailouts
Yet another attempt to rehabilitate Kamala Harriss political image came when CBS News claimed, Trump falsely accuses Harris of donating to Minnesota Freedom Fund, bailing out dangerous criminals.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund was a Democrat-organized fundraiser to bail out violent activists who were arrested for attacking police, torching businesses, and terrorizing neighborhoods during the height of the George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020. Again, its obvious why Harris and her supporters would want to distance themselves from such a politically unpopular policy.
CBS News got tagged by a community note informing their readers that Harris publicly promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund in a June 1, 2020 tweet that is still live, If youre able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.
CBS has since updated its headline to read, Despite Trump claim and 2020 tweet showing support, Harris never donated to Minnesota Freedom Fund. In other words, to salvage the news story, CBS twisted it into a story about something a politician didnt do four years ago. Do these people ever listen to themselves?
Even if they hadnt descended into absurdity, its hard to see that Harris appears in a better light after CBSs amended story. Perhaps she didnt personally donate to the rioter bail fund. But she promoted it and encouraged others to donate to it. If the point was to distance the presumptive Democratic nominee from a radical, unpopular stance she took four years ago, the mission was most definitely not accomplished.
In late 2023, The New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy profile of Harris that described how she is still struggling to make the case for herself and feels she shouldnt have to. The bottom line is that many Americans have never been very enamored with the radical, leftward-pressing fringe of the Democratic Party that Harris so often represents. Until recently, it was okay for the media to say so. But, with Biden bowing out of the race, and no other Democrat stepping forward to challenge Trump, refurbishing Harriss rusty image has become the prime objective.
In unburdening Harris from what has been, it seems the media is not above rewriting the past.
Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Home Opinion The war on education: Overcoming evil with good
The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. / Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. / Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it. / The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. / Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. Proverbs 22:4-8
The threat of globalism and neo-Marxism has become increasingly apparent over the last decade. What began as a group of theorists and power-hungry bureaucrats meeting once a year has turned into a demonic assault on Christianity, the family, and education. Families in many countries, even in the United States, have experienced the repression of homeschooling as their governments work tirelessly to funnel them into the government mind-grinder the public school system.
Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released its 17 global goals for the year 2030 the fourth of which is quality education. Their vision is simple:
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In addition to free primary and secondary schooling for all boys and girls by 2030, the aim is to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to quality higher education.[1]
Those familiar with the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles will recognize this agenda from The Communist Manifesto. In his renowned political pamphlet, Marx outlined ten steps or planks necessary to implement in order for communism to be established in a society. The tenth plank reads Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of childrens factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.
Both UNESCO and Marx agree that the implementation of free universal government-run education with the aim of industrial production is absolutely necessary to achieve their utopian ends. The fact that UNESCO aligns its vision with the deadliest idea known to history is telling.
When internationally powerful people insist on controlling the upbringing of your children, what ought you to do? Are they too powerful to resist? Should we hand them our children in exchange for their free money? Of course not! In the face of the globalist threat, the best tactic to overthrow their tyranny is to raise and educate your own children in the way they should go independently from the state. Praise God, millions of parents are doing just that.
Raise your children
Sadly, countless parents around the United States have been convinced that their job is simply to drop their precious babies off at daycare to be nurtured, ship them off to free government schools to be trained in humanist religion and Critical Theory, only to be reunited as stakeholder (pesky conservatives might even deign to call them mom or dad) and product on the day of graduation when the tassel goes from Right to Left. The effects of this have been undeniably disastrous whether you examine the breakdown of the family, the dumbing down of the American mind, and the rise of humanist globalism in the West.
Let me be clear: we should not slander the parents who have fallen for this lie because the Left has always been good at marketing. A big sign that says, Free stuff here! always looks enticing. So, it should not be surprising when millions of otherwise reasonable people join the fray calling for free public education. They do not know that the very minds, bodies, and souls of their children are at stake.
Thankfully, millions more parents have not been persuaded by the Left to divorce themselves from their children. These mothers and fathers, rather than offer up the bodies, souls, and minds of their children to father government, have taken upon themselves the God-given duty to have, nurture, raise, and educate their beloved children independently from the state.
The truth is that our Creator, sustainer, and Savior God has given parents, and parents alone, the jurisdiction to raise their children in the way they should go. If you are skeptical of this point, I would encourage you to search the Scriptures for a verse that suggests that the state has a role to play in the upbringing and education of children.
Furthermore, a brief overview of history will expose government schools as a radical and novel idea, foisted upon society by humanists with the aim of uprooting Christianity and implementing Marxism. Alex Newman makes this case undeniably clear in his groundbreaking book Indoctrinating Our Children To Death.
By raising your own children independently of the government, you are depriving the Marxist, humanist, globalist elites of the thing they need most the next generation.
Educate your children
Keeping your children out of the governments reach is not the final step that parents must take. They also must educate their children.
What is the purpose of education? In modernity, the perceived purpose of education is perfectly in line with the Marxist and globalist vision. UNESCO said, the aim is to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to quality higher education. Just think we go to high school to get a diploma so we can go to the university to get a degree for a job so we can be a productive member of society. Today, education is strictly a matter of establishing social roles.
We want more for our children! Traditionally, education is about the soul, the mind, the heart, and the desires of an individual. It is meant to cultivate virtue and instill wisdom. By removing the soul from education, modern Marxist school tyrants have nulled the desire of individuals to search out and know truth, beauty, and goodness. As The CIRCLE Institute says, The purpose of classical education is to cultivate virtue and wisdom. The classical Christian does not ask, What can I do with this learning but What will this learning do to me? Briefly put, education is a matter of the soul as much as it is of the mind.
Thankfully, though men have forgotten the truth about education, Christians can still rejoice in the Proverbs when it says:
How much better to get wisdom than gold! / To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver (Proverbs 16:16).
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper (Proverbs 19:8).
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7).
Through education, we can prepare our children to be sent out as sheep among wolves, being wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). Through education, we can teach our children to be virtuous men and women, full of wisdom and understanding, and equip with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6). This is how we will protect children from globalist manipulation and humanist lies.
Overcome evil with good
Oftentimes, it can feel like we have already lost the battle. It can seem like the elite class has all the power required to shape the world into their image but take heart, Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). As we continue to pierce souls with the sword of the Spirit, let us not be discouraged by the fiery arrows of the devil. By raising and educating your own children, you are depriving the globalists of the one thing they require the bodies, minds, and souls of your children. Without control of the next generation, they are incapable of implementing their wicked agenda. So, as you continue to walk the straight and narrow, do not be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6), Trust in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5-6), and Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
[1] United Nations (2016, January 1). Quality Education. Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/#:~:text=When%20people%20are%20able%20to,more%20healthy%20and%20sustainable%20lives
French Christians ask for respect after Paris Olympics 'Last Supper' controversy
Evangelicals in France have taken their concerns about the Paris Olympics Opening ceremony to the French government.
Organisers were accused of mocking Christianity over a scene with drag queens and a haloed lesbian DJ that many Christians interpreted as a representation of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.
In response to the backlash, Paris Olympics spokeswoman Anne Descamps said, "If people have taken any offence we are, of course, really, really sorry," while artistic director Thomas Jolly said he had wanted "to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus".
"You'll never find in my work any desire to mock or denigrate anyone," he said.
"I wanted a ceremony that brings people together, that reconciles, but also a ceremony that affirms our Republican values of liberty, equality and fraternity."
Even the apology caused anger among Christians, though, as some felt it was insincere.
CNEF was among the critics of Friday's ceremony. It questioned why Christianity had apparently been targeted if the aims were fraternity and inclusion. It said the scene had caused "distress" and "deep hurt" to many Christians., although it said it accepted the organisers' apology.
CNEF president Erwan Cloarec raised concerns about the controversial tableau during a meeting this week with the office of the Minister of the Interior.
He asked that the French government "guarantee that everyone, believers or not, will be respected in their essential convictions within a Republic that wants to unite".
CNEF is encouraging Christians to use the controversy as an opportunity to witness to the Christian faith and engage with culture.
"For months ... we have dreamed that these games would be an opportunity for Christians to share in words and deeds the Gospel that animates them," said Cloarec.
"Let us see in the situation that arises a real opportunity to bear witness to our faith as the person of Christ has just been placed at the centre of these games.
"Let us hear the cries of the heart and the need for reconciliation of our contemporaries, their quest for identity and belonging.
"They cry out in a pluralistic society; let us show them how to cry out louder to the one who invites them all to his table and offers true reconciliation, true identity and belonging.
"During these Games and beyond, let us share with all peoples the Good News that we have received."
Would a third province undercut the ecclesiology of the Church of England?
In an open letter responding to a statement from the conservative 'Alliance' grouping in the Church of England the Bishop of Oxford has declared that the creation of a conservative third province in the Church of England, as proposed by the Alliance, would be something that 'undercuts the very essence of Anglican ecclesiology.'
In this article I shall set out the ecclesiology of the Church of England and then ask whether, in the light of this evidence, the bishop's claim is true.
The Church of England is the historic Church of the English people
Contrary to a popular misconception, the Church of England did not come into existence at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. We can see this, for example, from the fact that the Venerable Bede, writing in the eighth century, refers to the Ecclesia Anglicana, the 'Church of the English people.'
This Church was formed in the seventh century as a combination of three streams of Christianity, the remnants of the Romano-British church which had a history going back to the first century, the mission from Rome led by St Augustine of Canterbury which began in 597 when he landed in The Isle of Thanet and began to evangelize the kingdom of Kent and the Celtic tradition coming down from Scotland and associated with figures such as St Aidan and St Cuthbert.
The 'Church of England' is simply the modern name for Bede's 'Church of the English people,' Britian's oldest continuously existing institution.
The Church of England is a Church with a clear set of core beliefs
At the Reformation, the Church of England repudiated the authority of the Pope and reformed its theology and practice in line under the influence of the mainstream Protestant reformation. When challenged that it had therefore become a heretical church, the theologians of the Church of England replied by arguing that the Church of England still held to the basic principles of faith and practice that the Church as a whole had always held.
The classic example of this sort of argument is the Apology of the Church of England published by the Bishop of Salisbury, John Jewel, in 1562, a work which is generally forgotten today, but which laid the groundwork for subsequent defences of the position of the Church of England.
In this work Jewel responds to the charge that those in the Church of England are 'heretics' who 'have nothing to do, either with Christ, nor with the church of God' by setting out that 'faith wherein we stand.'
He begins by stating that the Church of England believes in the Trinity:
'We believe that there is one certain Nature and divine Power, which we call God; and that the same is divided into three equal Persons, into the Father, into the Son and into the Holy Ghost; and that they all be of one power, of one eternity and one Godhead; and of one substance.'
He then moves on to the person of Christ. He first of all declares that:
'We believe that Jesus Christ, the only Son of the eternal Father (as long before it was determined before all beginnings), when the fulness of time was come, did take of that blessed and pure Virgin both flesh and all the nature of man.'
He then adds:
'We believe that for our sakes He died, and was buried, descended into hell, the third day by the power of His Godhead returned to life, and rose again; and that the fortieth day after His resurrection, whiles His disciples beheld and looked upon Him, He ascended into heaven to fulfil all things, and did place in majesty and glory the self-same body wherewith He was born, wherein He lived on earth....From that place also we believe that Christ shall come again to execute that general judgment, as well of them whom He shall then find alive in the body as of them that be already dead.'
After that he turns to the Holy Spirit, writing that the Church England believes: 'that it is His property to mollify and soften the hardness of man's heart' and that 'he doth give men light, and guide them unto the knowledge of God; to all way of truth; to newness of the whole life; and to everlasting hope of salvation.'
Having looked at what the Church of England believes about the Trinity, Christ and the Holy Spirit, Jewel then turns to what it believes about the Church, stating that it believes that there is 'one Church of God, and that the same is not shut up (as in times past among the Jews) into some one corner or kingdom, but that it is catholic and universal, and dispersed throughout the whole world.' Furthermore, he adds: 'we believe that there be divers degrees of ministers in the Church; whereof some be deacons, some priests, some bishops; to whom is committed the office to instruct the people, and the whole charge and setting forth of religion.'
Next, Jewel explains that those in the Church of England:
'.... receive and embrace all the canonical Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, giving thanks to our God, who hath raised up unto us that light which we might ever have before our eyes, lest either by the subtlety of man, or by the snares of the devil, we should be carried away to errors and lies. Also, that these be the heavenly voices, whereby God hath opened unto us His will: and that only in them man's heart can have settled rest; that in them be abundantly and fully comprehended all things, whatsoever be needful for our salvation.'
Jewel goes on to say that the Church of England holds that there are two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The former is, he says, 'a Sacrament of the remission of sins, and of that washing, which we have in the blood of Christ.' The latter is 'is a Sacrament; that is to wit, an evident token of the body and blood of Christ' by means of which 'Christ Himself, being the true bread of eternal life, is so presently given unto us as that by faith we verily receive his body and his blood.'
Furthermore, the Church of England believes in justification by faith in the sense that:
'We say also, that every person is born in sin, and leadeth his life in sin: that nobody is able truly to say his heart is clean: that the most righteous person is but an unprofitable servant: that the law of God is perfect, and requireth of us perfect and full obedience: that we are able by no means to fulfil that law in this worldly life: that there is no one mortal creature which can be justified by his own deserts in God's sight: and therefore that our only succour and refuge is to fly to the mercy of our Father by Jesu Christ, and assuredly to persuade our minds that He is the obtainer of forgiveness for our sins; and that by His blood all our spots of sin be washed clean.'
However, the Church of England does not say that justification by faith means:
'.... men ought to live loosely and dissolutely: nor that it is enough for a Christian to be baptised only and to believe: as though there were nothing else required at his hand. For true faith is lively, and can in no wise be idle. Thus therefore teach we the people, that God hath called us, not to follow riot and wantonness, but, as St. Paul saith, "unto good works, to walk in them.'
Finally, Jewel notes that the Church of England holds, 'that this our self-same flesh wherein we live, although it die, and come to dust, yet at the last day it shall return again to life, by the means of Christ's Spirit which dwelleth in us.'
The beliefs set out by Jewel remain the basis of the faith and practice of the Church of England. They are reflected in the theology found in Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571 and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and Ordinal, the three 'historic formularies' which are normative for Church of England's theology, liturgy and view of Christian ministry. To put it simply, the Church of England is a church which holds these basic beliefs and reflects them in its practice.
The Church of England is a Church with a clear historic pattern of church organisation
The Church of England has a clear pattern of church organisation, which it has maintained for over a thousand years. It has two provinces, Canterbury and York, each of which has its own Archbishop, and which governs itself by means of a Convocation of bishops and clergy and an attendant House of Laity. The two provinces are subdivided into dioceses overseen by bishops, which are in turn divided into archdeaconries overseen by archdeacons, and parishes overseen by the parochial clergy. Each diocese has a cathedral, which is the mother church of the diocese, is the place where the bishop has their official seat or 'throne', and is the setting for formal diocesan services such as ordinations.
In ecclesiological terms, the two provinces of the Church of England are churches in their own right because they have their own archbishops and are self-governing. Therefore the Church of England is, strictly speaking, a federation of two churches linked by a joint legislative body, the General Synod, in which the Convocations and Houses of Laity of the two provinces meet to make decisions about matter of common concern and to enact joint laws in the form of measures and canons.
A third province would not undermine the Church of England's ecclesiology.
A conservative third province in the Church of England, established to provide a space within the Church of England where the Church's historic teaching that marriage is between one and one woman - and the only legitimate place for sexual activity is within marriage thus defined - would be permanently maintained, would not depart from any of the elements of the Church of England's ecclesiology set out above.
It would still form part of the historic Church of England. It would still adhere to the basic Christian beliefs set out by Jewel and reflected in the historic formularies. It would still uphold the Church of England's historic pattern of Church organisation and would take part in the meetings of General Synod. What would be different about it would be its willingness to use the powers of self-government which the two existing provinces already possess, to legally safeguard the Church of England's traditional teaching on marriage and sexual ethics.
The Bishop of Oxford is thus simply wrong.
Todays CIOs face unprecedented challenges in modernizing their data centers to accommodate the rapidly rising demands on their infrastructureswhile also facing increasingly constrained budgets. Generative AI (genAI) burst onto the scene in November 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, surprising almost everyone in the industry with its capabilities, and suddenly every CEO and board of directors began telling their CIOs to get genAI capabilities online as fast as possible.
Its common knowledge that genAI workloads are demanding, but the scale of additional power, cooling, and processing that CIOs will need to provide to support them is hard to comprehendespecially considering the increasingly short turn times companies have come to expect from IT initiatives.
According to Sajjad Moazeni,1 a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington, given that ChatGPT receives hundreds of millions of queries daily, its likely consuming 1 GWh every day, enough to power 33,000 US homes over that same time period.
Even more worrisome, the decades-long scale-up for enterprise computing has already stretched global electrical supplies to the limit, and the new demands of AI data centers threaten to surpass current capacity. In 2022, data centers accounted for 4% of US energy consumption, and in 2026, theyre projected2 to account for 6%, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report.
AMD
GenAI isnt the only factor putting pressure on CIOs to modernize. Business models, licensing costs, and modern, highly demanding workloads are also concerns. If a CIO is working with older hardware that requires more cores to deliver the desired level of performance, IT could be looking at big increases in costs without changing anything significant in the stack.
Power and cooling costs continue to rise, and aging data center infrastructure is becoming less reliable and more expensive to maintain. At the same time, demands from the business to support new workloads are growing daily. However, data centers have very little unused space or power drops for deploying additional gear to handle the increase. IT leaders will need to find ways to meet intense resource requirements without expanding their real estate footprint or consuming additional power.
AMD
Data centers must become far more efficient, and AMD EPYC CPUs can play a significant role in achieving these goals.
4th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs enable data centers to use fewer servers and less power to do the same amount of work when compared to the competition. For instance, the AMD EPYC 9474F CPU enables data centers to use up to 47% less power and up to a 42% reduction in software licensing cost when compared to legacy Intel Platinum 8280 CPU-based servers3. Additionally, with the savings realized from upgrading to AMD EPYC CPUs, a customer can fully recoup the cost of the hardware investment to upgrade in, approximately, two months. The older Intel servers are the type of target highly suited for replacement, given their relative inefficiency, and are often beyond the depreciation cycle.
AMD
The change from older servers to AMD EPYC CPU-based systems can be surprisingly simple. AMD has deep technical relationships across the server ecosystem, from OEM manufacturers and OS vendors to hypervisors and application providers. You can still buy from known and trusted suppliers. The only things CIOs might have to give up are a hefty chunk of their current power billand all of their worries about supporting the coming workload onslaught.Learn how AMD can help your organization get ready to say yes to AI: https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/server/epyc/ai.html
1 Q&A: UW researcher discusses just how much energy ChatGPT uses | UW News (washington.edu)
2International Energy Agency (IEA) report
3SP5TCO-073: As of 06/18/2024, this scenario contains many assumptions and estimates and, while based on AMD internal research and best approximations, should be considered an example for information purposes only, and not used as a basis for decision making over actual testing. The Server Refresh & Greenhouse Gas Emissions TCO (total cost of ownership) Estimator Tool compares the selected AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon CPU based server solutions required to deliver a TOTAL_PERFORMANCE of ~9020 units of VMmark3 matched pair performance based on the published scores (or estimated if indicated by an asterisk) for Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC CPU based servers. This estimation reflects a 5-year time frame.This analysis compares a 2P AMD 48 core EPYC_9474F powered server with a VMmark 3.1 score of 26.95 @ 26 tiles, compared to a 2P Intel Xeon 64 core Platinum_8592+ based server with a VMmark 3.1 score of 27.52 @ 28 tiles, versus legacy 2P Intel Xeon 28 core Platinum_8280 based server with a VMmark 3.1 score of 9.02 @ 9 tiles, Environmental impact estimates made leveraging this data, using the Country / Region specific electricity factors from the 2020 Grid Electricity Emissions Factors v1.4 September 2020, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Results generated by: AMD EPYC Server Refresh & Greenhouse Gas Emission TCO Estimation Tool version 1.51 PRO
AI regulation in the European Union is getting serious. The text of the EU AI Act was published in the Official Journal of the EU on July 12, 2024, and the set of rules around the development and use of AI tools officially entered force at the beginning of August. The measures take effect in stages: Affected companies have to follow the first rules in just six months.
In the industry, AI regulation is viewed with mixed feelings. While some welcome guardrails for the correct use of AI tools, others warn of a bureaucratic monster associated with it and fear that the rules could slow down further innovation. Read the first comments on the launch of the AI Act here.
Bitkom: AI Act must not become a stalemate
For Ralf Wintergerst, president of German digital association Bitkom, many questions remain unanswered even after the entry into force at both national and European level. Whether Germany and Europe become innovation locations for artificial intelligence or laggards depends crucially on the further design and implementation of the AI Act. The implementation must not become a stalemate for companies: Long legal uncertainty, unclear responsibilities and complex bureaucratic processes in the implementation of the AI Act would hinder European AI innovation. The goal must be to consistently advance the use of AI both in business and administration as well as in society. This can only succeed if the implementation is carried out with little bureaucracy and in a practical manner, he said.
Adobe/tete_escape
The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator have published guidance on how to give with confidence to registered charities helping people affected by the stabbings in Southport.
Earlier this week, Merseyside police reported that three young girls had died as a result of injuries sustained in a knife attack in Southport on Monday morning.
Following the attack, the Community Foundation for Merseyside, Sefton Council for Voluntary Service and Sefton Council launched an urgent fundraising appeal on JustGiving to support victims, survivors and their families.
The charity regulators said they want to ensure that every donation reaches its intended cause, and urged the public to follow their recommended safer giving checks .
We want to ensure every donation reaches its intended cause
At the time of writing, the Southport Strong Together Appeal had raised over 60,000.
Its fundraising page says that donations to the appeal will go directly to those who have lost loved ones or sustained physical or psychological injuries and be awarded as grants to charities providing vital support services to those affected.
The Commission and Fundraising Regulator advised anyone who wants to donate to a charity in response to the attack to check its name and registration number on the charity register .
They said donors should ensure a charity is genuine before giving any financial information and be careful when responding to emails or clicking on links within them.
The regulators also recommended that donors look for the fundraising badge and check the Fundraising Regulators directory of organisations that are committed to fundraising in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: My heart goes out to the families of the victims of this horrific attack. Their pain is unimaginable.
Many Charity Commission staff are based in Merseyside, and this tragedy has deeply affected all of us who live and work here.
As so often, charities are bringing people together to provide support for the victims and the wider community.
That, along with the generosity of people who are showing their support by making donations, is heartening, and people can continue to give to registered, established charities knowing they are well placed to get that help to them quickly.
Gerald Oppenheim, chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator, said: The attack in Southport is horrifying and devastating.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, we know the British public will be eager to support those affected.
We want to make sure that every donation reaches its intended cause, and one of the ways of making sure this happens is by following our recommended safer giving checks.
Giving through registered charities like the Community Foundation for Merseyside appeal will ensure your donations reach their intended destination and are used for the purpose they were fundraised for.
Well be taking an active role, to support those raising money for the community.
sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
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For thirty-four minutes on Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump, former president of the United States, current Republican nominee for that same office, and popularizer of the idea that the free press is the enemy of the people, held forth about his achievements in office (the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln); the purported deficiencies of his Democratic opponent, who he alleged had not passed the bar exam; and the nasty disposition of one of his interviewers at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.
The audience in the packed Waldorf ballroom at the Chicago Hilton at various points gasped, sighed, and grumbled in response to the discussion taking place between Trump and three Black women interviewers. Word of the invitation for Trump to participate in a staged Q&A at the convention was divisive among the organizations ranks. Karen Attiah of the Washington Post resigned her position as a co-chair of the convention in the wake of the Trump announcement. Ken Lemon, the president of NABJ, defended the decision as an opportunity to pose tough questions to the Republican nominee in service of the audiences NABJ members serve.
The organization has a tradition of inviting presidents and presidential aspirants to address the organization, but Trump had declined multiple invitations during his presidency. While in office he had also verbally attacked several Black women journalists, including April Ryan, Abby Phillip, Yamiche Alcindor, and Jemele Hill. On Wednesday he added Rachel Scott of ABC to that list, accusing her of posing her questions in a horrible and hostile manner and working for a fake news network. Scott was part of a trio of interviewers that also included Kadia Goba of Semafor and Harris Faulkner of Fox News.
Trump has been in the unusual position of struggling for media attention in the eleven days since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and Kamala Harris emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee. (Harris was also invited to address the gathering, but cited a scheduling conflict and plans to do a Zoom call with NABJ members in September.) The contentious context in which the event took place ensured, even before any of the participants walked onstage an hour late, that it would not be a typical campaign stop.
Donald Trump has been a central figure in American political life for nearly a decade, yet the debate about his appearance in Chicago illustrated the extent to which the press is still grappling with the same questions that attended his emergence in 2015.
Lemons defense of the Trump invitation cited the standard protocols of political journalism: pose tough questions to powerful people in the interest of the public. At the outset, Scott noted, As journalists we use opportunities like these both to inform our reporting but also to help voters understand the choices they face in a consequential and historic election year. Yet, as Roland Martin, host of Roland Martin Unfiltered and a longtime NABJ member, noted ahead of the event: Youre not dealing with a normal situationthis is not Bob Dole and Jack Kemp when they came to NABJ in Nashville in 1996. It was important, he said, to recognize when a media forum is being used as a political prop.
The trade-off for this style of engagement, whether conscious or unwitting, is that a journalists ability to pose these questions to a figure of Trumps temperament and mendacity in no way correlates to the likelihood of getting serious answers. Moreover, the very pursuit of this information grants him the ability to spread great volumes of disinformation. NABJ hoped to offset this final dynamic by partnering with Politifact for a live fact-check of the event. This presented a kind of platform asymmetryTrumps misleading commentary would be articulated in public, but corrections would be issued via social media. The irony: the theme of this convention was Journalism Over Disinformation.
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The event, which was scheduled to start at noon, didnt begin until 1pm. Onstage, Trump blamed an unspecified problem with NABJs audio equipment for the delay. But Philip Lewis, deputy editor of the Huffington Post, tweeted during the delay that the event was being held up because Trumps people were arguing with the journalists about the terms of the real-time fact-checking.
The abbreviated discussion featured direct, mostly tough questions. Scott began by asking Trump about his history of spreading false narratives about the birthplaces of Nikki Haley and Barack Obama, attacking Black journalists, and having dinner with a known white supremacist. Goba asked him about his unflagging advocacy for greater police immunity in the face of incidents like the killing of Sonya Massey, an unarmed Black woman shot in her home by an Illinois police officer. Faulkner asked Trump what specifically he planned to do if reelected to the White House. He was asked about his running mate J.D. Vances disparaging comments about childless adults, and he was pressed on his views about abortion. En route to responding to these questions Trump falsely asserted that Vice President Kamala Harris had not identified as Black until comparatively recently and that she had not passed the bar exam before conceding that she might have qualified to practice law. (Harris was admitted to the California bar in 1990.)
Trump exaggerated the level of his support for historically Black colleges and universities (they were stone-cold broke and I saved them) and reiterated the false argument that millions of undocumented migrants are driving up crime rates and taking away Black jobs. With every minute of his appearance onstage, Trump generated headlines but produced very little actual information. His articulation of his support for exceptions to abortion bans in the case of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother was significant considering the weight reproductive rights will likely carry in the coming election. But the pursuit of this fractional portion of reportable information facilitates the spread of many more statements that will require diligent corrections, contextualization, and explanation.
The event was scheduled to run for a full hour but ended abruptly after just over half the allotted time. In the ballroom after the event, Attiah pointed out the problems with this approach to covering Donald Trump: He steamrolls over this format every single time. And the lies are almost impossible to keep up with by design. Kevin Merida, the former editor of the Los Angeles Times, was present for the discussion and pointed to the need for journalists to engage with public figures: I do think its good to bring newsmakers to our convention. I think thats the right thing. But he conceded that Trump presented particular challenges that require journalists to fine-tune how we approach him. Alcindor, of NBC News, who sat near the front of the room during the event, noted that Trump had succeeded simply by walking in. Hed wrested the spotlight away from his rival, drawn attention to his presence in Chicago and her absence, and galvanized an audience, albeit not necessarily the one gathered on the second floor of the Hilton. None of this is necessarily novel. Political figures have always engaged with the press in self-interested ways. The calculation for journalists, however, is the line at which that self-interest represents an unacceptable conflict with our own professional mandates. The forum at NABJ was combative, at points ridiculous, and, in the aftermath, just as divisive as it had been beforehand. It was, in other words, exactly what we should have expected.
Jelani Cobb is the dean of the Columbia Journalism School.
A Colorado man who aided a former insurance claims adjuster in an auto insurance claims scheme was sentenced this week.
In 2020, Brassfield, 55, of Aurora, reportedly aided former Travelers Insurance employee Colette Palin, 63, of Aurora in committing fraud. An internal company investigation by Travelers flagged several of Palins claims as suspicious, and revealed that Brassfield, a known associate of Palin, was the beneficiary of two claim checks she issued.
Palin admitted she issued fraudulent payments to herself, Brassfield, and another associate, Malee Lor, 47, a former Thornton police officer.
After Travelers referred the case to the Financial Fraud Unit in the Criminal Justice Section of the Colorado Department of Law, the states investigation found Palin issued 64 fraudulent payments totaling $268,530 between 2018 and 2020. Brassfield received $23,344 and Lor received $31,495.
All three pleaded guilty to felony theft and insurance fraud.
Brassfield was sentenced to eight years of probation, ordered to pay $23,344 in restitution and serve 80 hours of community service. Palin pleaded guilty to felony theft and fraud charges in June and is scheduled to be sentenced August 19. Lor was sentenced to 10 years of probation and 120 hours of community service. Lor will pay restitution equal to the amount stolen.
Software company Pegasystems convinced a Virginia appeals court on Tuesday to throw out a $2 billion jury verdict for rival Appian in a court battle over Pegasystems alleged theft of Appians trade secrets.
The award from 2022 had been the largest damages verdict in Virginia court history, the Court of Appeals of Virginia said in the decision.
We are extremely pleased by todays decision throwing out an award we believe was never rational, a Pegasystems spokesperson said in a statement.
An Appian spokesperson said in a statement the company would appeal the decision.
McLean, Virginia-based Appian had said in a 2020 lawsuit that Pegasystems hired a contractor to steal confidential information from Appians software platform in order to improve its own products and better train its sales force.
Appian said that Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Pegasystems referred internally to the contractor as a spy and to its scheme as Project Crush, with Pegasystems employees using fake credentials to access Appians software.
Pegasystems characterized Project Crush as competitive research in a 2022 statement.
A jury in Fairfax County, Virginia state court determined in 2022 that Pegasystems misappropriated Appians trade secrets with willful and malicious intent and ordered it to pay Appian nearly $2.04 billion in damages.
Pegasystems CEO said in a statement following the verdict that Appians CEO could not identify one trade secret that Pega had allegedly misappropriated during the trial.
A Pegasystems attorney told the appeals court during a hearing last year that the verdict was the result of a series of cascading errors that pose a threat to trade secret law and to competition in Virginia, according to a court transcript.
Judge Frank Friedman agreed on Tuesday that the trial court had committed a series of errors related to jury instructions and evidence that required a new trial.
(Reporting by Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Marguerita Choy)
Norfolk Southern got a boost during the second quarter from insurance payments related to last years disastrous East Palestine derailment, but it also made progress in reducing its expenses and getting more efficient.
The Atlanta-based railroad said it earned $737 million, or $3.25 per share, in the quarter, but there were several unusual factors influencing the results. And last years $356 million profit, or $1.56 per share, was heavily weighed down by costs related to the derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
But CEO Alan Shaw is most proud of the $250 million in productivity and safety gains the railroad has made this year. Norfolk Southern also hauled 5% more freight during the quarter thanks to the efficiency and new business it was able to attract.
Related: Insurers Seek Subrogation Against Norfolk Southern Over Ohio Train Derailment
Im really encouraged by our progress and Im really confident in our future, Shaw said. We did everything we said we were going to do.
The $156 million in insurance payments the railroad received as it recovered some of the more than $1.7 billion it has spent in response to the February 2023 derailment in eastern Ohio more than offset the $91 million in costs this quarter. That resulted in a $65 million net boost to earnings. Much of the derailment costs, including the $600 million class action settlement the railroad agreed to this spring, will likely eventually be covered by the railroads insurance.
Further complicating the financial picture is the fact that Norfolk Southern spent $22 million in the quarter to fight back against investor Ancora Holdings campaign to take over the board and fire the railroads management. Ancoras nominees ultimately won three board seats, but not enough to take control.
Related: Norfolk Southern to Pay Civil Penalty, Cleanup Costs Over 2023 Ohio Derailment
Without any of those unusual factors, Norfolk Southern estimated that it would have earned $694 million, or $3.06 per share, in the quarter. The analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected the railroad to report earnings per share of $2.86.
Its stock rose almost 7% in after-hours after the earnings report came out.
Norfolk Southern endorsed all of the recommendations the National Transportation Safety Board made in its final East Palestine report, and the railroad said it has largely addressed the safety concerns the Federal Railroad Administration raised in a report last year. But the rail industry has been lobbying against many of the proposed regulations Congress has been considering.
During the proxy fight, Shaw hired a new operations chief and promised to make the railroad more efficient, though he still says he doesnt want to cut so deep that Norfolk Southern wont have the resources it needs to handle additional freight when the economy does improve.
The railroad said has already parked more than 320 locomotives and pulled some 7,000 cars off its network as it moved to run fewer but longer trains to handle the same freight without as many engines or crews.
Over the next two years, Norfolk Southern predicts will improve productivity by about $550 million and boost its profit margin.
Already, the railroad reported improvement in every single performance metric in its quarterly report Thursday with everything from the average velocity of its cars to the amount of time trains spend in railyards getting better.
Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau said Norfolk Southern has been steadily improving its efficiency and put together a really solid quarter.
The railroads revenue grew 2% to $3.04 billion in the quarter, in line with Wall Streets forecast.
Norfolk Southern is one of the nations largest railroads operating trains across the eastern United States.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CLEVELAND, Ohio Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee will have his next start pushed back until at least after this weekend and will not face the Orioles after experiencing tightness in his right shoulder, manager Stephen Vogt told reporters Thursday.
Bibee allowed a pair of runs on seven hits over six innings in his last start in Detroit on Monday. Vogt said his shoulder tightened up after the outing and that he will not pitch until after Baltimore leaves town.
We just want to make sure that were being smart, Vogt said. So were going to push him back to after the weekend.
Rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo will start Saturday for Cleveland against Baltimore righty Zach Eflin. Cantillo allowed three runs on four hits, including a pair of home runs to Kyle Schwarber, in his major league debut on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Guardians went on to win that game, 4-3.
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Air quality continues to be a focus this summer as ferocious wildfires burn in the West, prompting air quality alerts across Oregon and parts of California, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho and Washington. It comes a little over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court further curtailed the federal governments power to regulate certain air and water pollution types.
In June, SCOTUS paused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Good Neighbor initiative, which would have restricted smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution.
The 6-3 conservative majority has decreased the agencys authority to fight all kinds of pollution, including a landmark ruling in 2022 preventing the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants contributing to global warming.
More significantly, the court also struck down the Chevron Doctrine , a 40-year-old ruling that required judges to defer to federal agency interpretations of ambiguous laws. Judges will now be able to interpret the laws themselves, altering the balance of power between the branches of government.
This all comes as record-breaking fires scorch the western states, including mega-fires in Oregon and California. As of Tuesday, there were around 89 large active wildfires nationwide, including 31 in Oregon and 10 in California and Idaho, according to the National Interagency Fire Center . The active fires cover more than 2 million acres.
The Durkee Fire in Oregons Blue Mountain region is the countrys largest current wildfire and the fifth largest in state history. Since lighting ignited the fire about two weeks ago, it has burned around 300,000 acres and is more than 50% contained. The states dozens of other large wildfires are close to collectively surpassing the massive and destructive 2020 wildfire season , which burned around 1.2 million acres and thousands of homes.
Californias Park Fire has burned close to 400,000 acres but was allegedly started on purpose, according to local law enforcement . That fire is around 20% contained.
While current air quality data is available for all counties in the U.S., it doesnt appear in formal reports until the following year. The EPAs most recently available data shows that regions affected by wildfire smoke often have the worst air quality, although temporary. It also shows places affected by more present forms of pollution, like pesticides and diesel emissions from heavy traffic.
It includes pollution types regulated under the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (PM10 and PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2).
It ranks using the number of days each county experienced different air quality levels, categorized as Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG), Unhealthy (U), Very Unhealthy (VU) and Hazardous (H).
Here are the ten counties with the worst air pollution from 2023.
10. Imperial County, California
Days: 11 USG, 1 U, 2 VH, 3 H
Main Issue: Pollution from Mexico and local agricultural emissions
Action: Participates in cross-border air quality monitoring initiatives.
9. Inyo County, California
Days: 12 USG, 2 U, 5 H
Main Issue: Dust storms and wildfires
Action: Studying and implementing measures to mitigate the impact of dust storms.
8. Cook County, Illinois
Days: 27 USG, 7 U
Main Issue: Cross-state pollution from Wisconsin, local vehicle emissions, industrial activities
Action: Implementing green infrastructure projects to improve air quality.
7. Tulare County, California
Days: 35 USG, 4 U
Main Issue: Agricultural activities, industrial emissions, vehicle pollution. Among the worst air qualities in the nation.
Action: Part of a regional effort to reduce agricultural emissions through sustainable farming practices.
6. Duchesne County, Utah
Days: 22 USG, 11 U, 1 VH
Main Issue: Emissions from oil and gas extraction and wildfires
Action: Monitoring and regulating emissions from local industries.
5. Maricopa County, Arizona
Days: 51 USG, 4 U
Main Issue: Vehicle emissions, construction dust, industrial activities
Action: Deploy dust control teams to reduce particulate matter from construction sites and unpaved roads.
4. Uintah County, Utah
Days: 16 USG, 18 U, 3 VH
Main Issue: Oil and gas extraction
Action: Natural gas from local wells is used to power public transportation, reducing local air pollution.
3. San Bernardino County, California
Days: 48 USG, 7 U, 1 VH
Main Issue: Vehicular emissions, industrial activities and wildfires
Action: Frequent Spare the Air alerts advise residents to limit outdoor activities.
2. Riverside County, California
Days: 46 USG, 19 U, 2 VH, 3 H
Main Issue: Traffic and industrial pollution. Pollutants are trapped due to geographical factors. The county consistently ranks among the top five worst counties in the U.S. for ozone pollution.
Action: Notable for high vehicle emissions, wildfire smoke, and industrial activities.
1. Bannock County, Idaho
Days: 1 USG, 31 H
Main Issue: Frequent large wildfires lead to high PM2.5 particles, posing serious health risks. The regions topography traps pollutants
pollutants
Action: Implementing no-burn days during high pollution periods.
WASHINGTON Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the mastermind of al-Qaidas Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The development points to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that killed thousands and altered the course of the United States and much of the Middle East.
Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week.
Defense lawyers have requested the men receive life sentences in exchange for the guilty pleas, according to letters from the federal government received by relatives of some of the nearly 3,000 people killed outright on the morning of Sept. 11.
Terry Strada, the head of one group of families of the nearly 3,000 direct victims of the 9/11 attacks, invoked the many relatives who have died while awaiting justice for the killings when she heard news of the plea agreement.
They were cowards when they planned the attack, she said of the defendants. And theyre cowards today.
Pentagon officials declined to immediately release the full terms of the plea bargains.
The U.S. agreement with the men comes more than 16 years after their prosecution began for al-Qaidas attack. It comes more than 20 years after militants commandeered four commercial airliners to use as fuel-filled missiles, flying three of them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.
Al-Qaida hijackers headed the fourth plane to Washington. But crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit, and the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
The attack triggered what President George W. Bushs administration called its war on terror, prompting the U.S. military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and years of U.S. operations against armed extremist groups elsewhere in the Middle East.
The attack and U.S. retaliation brought the overthrow of two governments outright, devastated communities and countries caught in the battle, and played a role in inspiring the 2011 Arab Spring popular uprisings against authoritarian Middle East governments.
At home, the attacks inspired a sharply more militaristic and nationalist turn to American society and culture.
U.S. authorities point to Mohammed as the source of the idea to use planes as weapons. He allegedly received approval from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to craft what became the 9/11 hijackings and killings. U.S. forces killed bin Laden in 2011.
Authorities captured Mohammed in 2003. Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times while in CIA custody before coming to Guantanamo, along with other torture and coercive questioning.
The use of torture has proven one of the most formidable obstacles in U.S. efforts to try the men in the military commission at Guantanamo, owing to the inadmissibility of evidence linked to abuse. Torture has accounted for much of the delay of the proceedings, along with the courtrooms location a plane ride away from the United States.
Daphne Eviatar, a director at the Amnesty International USA rights group, said Wednesday she welcomed news of some accountability in the attacks.
She urged the Biden administration to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which holds people taken into custody in the so-called war on terror. Many have since been cleared, but are awaiting approval to leave for other countries.
Additionally, Eviatar said, the Biden administration must also take all necessary measures to ensure that a program of state-sanctioned enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment will never be perpetrated by the United States again.
Strada, national chairperson of a group of families of victims called 9/11 Families United, had been at Manhattan federal court for a hearing on one of many civil lawsuits when she heard news of the plea agreement.
Strada said many families have just wanted to see the men admit guilt.
For me personally, I wanted to see a trial, she said. And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment.
Michael Burke, one of the family members receiving the government notice of the plea bargain, condemned the long wait for justice, and the outcome.
It took months or a year at the Nuremberg trials, said Burke, whose fire captain brother Billy died in the collapse of the World Trade Centers North Tower. To me, it always been disgraceful that these guys, 23 years later, have not been convicted and punished for their attacks or the crime. I never understood how it took so long.
I think people would be shocked if you could go back in time and tell the people who just watched the towers go down, Oh, hey, in 23 years, these guys who are responsible for this crime we just witnessed are going to be getting plea deals so they can avoid death and serve life in prison, he said.
Burkes brother, New York City fire captain Billy Burke, ordered his men out but remained on the 27th floor of the North Tower with two men whod stayed behind: a quadriplegic who, because the elevators had gone out, was essentially stuck there in his wheelchair and that mans friend.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The fight against impunity must continue in Guinea, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday, welcoming the long-awaited verdict in the trial into the 2009 massacre at a stadium in the capital, Conakry
RAWANews, July 30, 2024
Reports of the Taliban abducting young girls in various parts of Afghanistan frequently appear on social media and local Afghan media. Taliban fighters arrest these girls under various pretexts and then subject them to sexual abuse and rape. Due to the sensitivity of the issue and the stigma it brings to families, these incidents often go unreported.
The body of a 16-year-old girl from Shirin Tagab district in Faryab province has been widely circulated on social media. This girl was first gang-raped by a group of Taliban and then murdered. The body of a 16-year-old girl from Shirin Tagab district in Faryab province has been widely circulated on social media. This girl was first gang-raped by a group of Taliban and then murdered.
The most recent case that received widespread media attention is the abduction of a 19-year-old girl named Tahira in the Panjab district of Bamiyan province. This girl, who owned a tailor shop in the center of Panjab district, was forcibly taken by the Taliban while returning home and was thrown into a military vehicle. It is said that she was held by the Taliban for three days, during which she was sexually assaulted. She was released in the city of Bamiyan after protests and efforts by the local people. Tahira filed an official complaint against the Taliban, but no one came to her aid. (An image of her complaint form was circulated in the media.)
Tahira, forced by circumstance, went back to her home in Tagab Berg village, Panjab district, and word quickly got around. Sadly, she was killed at her house on the night of July 27, 2024. There are different accounts of her deathsome claim she took her own life, while others suggest the Taliban broke into her home and killed her to hide their wrongdoing.
Local sources said that Tahira was 19 years old, had studied up to the ninth grade, and had turned to tailoring due to her family's economic problems. Several other reports of suicides of young girls in different parts of Afghanistan have been released in recent days. However, Tahira's death is one of the rare cases that has been reflected in more detail in the domestic media.
The abduction and mistreatment of girls by the Taliban have deeply worried Afghan families. This crime by the Taliban leads more families to prevent their daughters from leaving the house, which adds to the suffering of the girls.
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for modernizing the country's border, coastal and air defense to make it strong and solid as he chaired a leadership group study session prior to the country's Army Day, which falls on Aug. 1.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks at the study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Tuesday.
Xi extended Army Day greetings to all service personnel, as well as the members of the militia and reserve forces, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC.
Huang Jizhong from the CMC's Joint Staff Department elaborated on issues concerning the building of modern border, coastal and air defense systems and put forward suggestions. Members of the Political Bureau then had a discussion.
After hearing the briefing and discussion, Xi made an important speech. He said that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee has spearheaded a raft of major institutional reforms and led a series of key border, air and sea defense actions.
These efforts have vigorously safeguarded China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, as well as upheld the strategic initiative of national security and development, Xi said.
However, he noted that China's border, coastal and air defense is faced with new opportunities and new challenges, and stressed the need to strengthen overall planning to enhance the border defense capability.
Xi called for intensified efforts to boost infrastructure connectivity and joint development to forge a border, coastal, and air defense that is conducive to both national security and economic and social development.
Xi also said greater emphasis must be placed on integrating science and technology into national defense efforts, and urged more efforts to enhance friendly and practical cooperation with neighboring countries to foster a conducive environment for China's defense development.
The Chinese leader also underlined the importance of improving air traffic management, boosting the sound growth of the low-altitude economy, and optimizing the civil air defense model.
George Kurtz, co-founder and chief executive officer of Crowdstrike Holdings Inc., during a Bloomberg Technology television interview at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, California, US, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.
CrowdStrike has been sued by shareholders who said the cybersecurity company defrauded them by concealing how its inadequate software testing could cause the July 19 global outage that crashed more than 8 million computers.
In a proposed class action filed on Tuesday night in the Austin, Texas federal court, shareholders said they learned that CrowdStrike's assurances about its technology were materially false and misleading when a flawed software update disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals and emergency lines around the world.
They said CrowdStrike's share price fell 32% over the next 12 days, wiping out $25 billion of market value, as the outage's effects became known, Chief Executive George Kurtz was called to testify to the U.S. Congress, and Delta Air Line s reportedly hired prominent lawyer David Boies to seek damages.
The complaint cites statements including from a March 5 conference call where Kurtz characterized CrowdStrike's software as "validated, tested and certified."
In a statement on Wednesday, Austin-based CrowdStrike said: "We believe this case lacks merit and we will vigorously defend the company," Kurtz and Chief Financial Officer Burt Podbere are also defendants.
The lawsuit led by the Plymouth County Retirement Association of Plymouth, Massachusetts, seeks unspecified damages for holders of CrowdStrike Class A shares between Nov. 29, 2023 and July 29, 2024.
Shareholders often sue companies after unexpected negative news causes stock prices to fall, and CrowdStrike could face more lawsuits.
Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian told CNBC on Wednesday that the outage cost his airline $500 million, including lost revenue and compensation and hotels for stranded fliers.
CrowdStrike shares closed on Wednesday down $1.69 at $231.96. They closed at $343.05 on the day before the outage.
The case is Plymouth County Retirement Association v CrowdStrike Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, No. 24-00857.
Apple's fiscal third-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday mark the next big test for a market struggling to recover from a recent tech wreck. Analysts forecast earnings to come in at $1.35 per share, and revenue to hit $84.53 billion for the period, per LSEG. iPhone sales are expected to reach $38.64 billion and decline more than 2% year over year as the company grapples with a stretch of stagnant growth. AAPL YTD mountain Shares performance this year That makes guidance the most critical component of Apple's print, especially as it readies for what some analysts are calling the most significant upgrade cycles in years this September, driven by new artificial intelligence features dubbed Apple Intelligence. "We expect iPhone commentary to be the key catalyst this quarter with bullish statements about iPhone 16 expectations and continued stability in China likely to drive shares higher," said Evercore ISI's Amit Daryanani, who has an outperform rating. "We think the AI features coupled with a sizable portion of the base up for refresh should drive an iPhone Super Cycle in the Dec-qtr and through FY25." Barclays analyst Tim Long, who has a neutral rating on Apple, referred to the September guide as the "main event" that should determine share performance. He lifted his estimates for the September quarter but retained a neutral rating on shares given the stock's recent run. Long also echoed concerns the new iPhone won't be enough to fuel a "meaningful" upgrade cycle to support the premium. "We believe the stock has already run in anticipation of iPhones bottoming and the upcoming ramp of AI features," he wrote. AI-fueled upgrade cycle Apple's September quarter is expected to include about a week of new iPhone sales. This should enable iPhone revenues to return to growth, said Evercore ISI's Daryanani. The delayed launch of the new AI features should also extend in this cycle, some analysts say. That push-out could bode well for the stock and create a period of "sustained growth" versus a strong cycle and "digestion" period, said Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi. Several Wall Street analysts have boosted their price targets in recent weeks, citing AI tailwinds. JPMorgan's Samik Chatterjee upped his target to $265 from $245 and placed a positive catalyst watch on shares. The revision reflects roughly 19% upside from Wednesday's close. Revenue upside from this opportunity should fuel revisions to full-year earnings and "ease investor concerns around a premium valuation multiple," he added. Baird's William Power upped his target to $240 from $200 a share, reflecting 8% upside from Wednesday's close. He estimates that every additional 10 million iPhone units could contribute $9 billion in revenue, or 12 cents to 2025 earnings per share estimates. "Following years of slowing upgrade rates, including new lows for AT & T and Verizon this week, we believe Apple Intelligence could provide a much-needed upgrade catalyst, boosting revenue and EPS growth meaningfully," he wrote in a recent note to clients. Wall Street will also keep a close watch on China sales following an 8% decline during the second quarter. Analysts warn that ongoing share losses in China to Huawei could hurt iPhone revenues. "While Greater China sales remain sluggish, mainland China iPhone sales have been stronger than expected and we are encouraged by iPhone demand picking up in emerging markets," said Raymond James analyst Srini Pajjuri.
A test tube is seen in front of displayed Biogen logo in this illustration taken on, December 1, 2021.
Biogen on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and hiked its full-year guidance, as the company's cost cuts showed progress and sales of its breakthrough Alzheimer's drug, Leqembi, and other new products beat expectations.
Biogen now expects full-year adjusted earnings to come in at $15.75 to $16.25 per share, up from a previous forecast of $15 to $16 per share.
The biotech company also expects 2024 sales to decline by a low-single-digit percentage. Biogen's previous outlook was a low- to mid-single-digit percentage decrease from last year.
Leqembi, which Biogen shares with Eisai, became the second drug proven to slow the progression of Alzheimer's to win approval in the U.S. last summer. The therapy's launch has been gradual due to bottlenecks related to diagnostic test requirements and regular brain scans, among other issues.
But uptake of Leqembi appears to be picking up, with roughly $40 million in sales for the quarter. That's above the $31 million analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by StreetAccount.
The drug posted just $10 million in sales last year following its launch.
Biogen did not disclose how many patients are currently on Leqembi. The company in May said roughly 5,000 people were taking the drug.
Still, Leqembi faces hurdles in Europe, where a drug regulator recommended against approving the treatment due to its risk of brain swelling and bleeding. Biogen was "quite surprised and rather perplexed" by the decision and will seek a reexamination of it, the company's CEO Chris Viehbacher told reporters on a press call Thursday.
Biogen hopes Leqembi and other new products will drive growth as it reduces costs and grapples with plunging demand for its multiple sclerosis therapies, some of which face competition from cheaper generics.
"I can say today that all of the launches are in line with or ahead of expectations," he said.
The company is on track to achieve roughly $1 billion in gross cost savings, or $800 million in net savings, by the end of 2025, according to Viehbacher.
Viehbacher added that "while you can see a significant decline in our operating expenses, we have at the same time, been able to invest massively in our new product launches and in those research and development projects that we think are the most important."
Here's what Biogen reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: $5.28 adjusted vs. $4.03 expected
$5.28 adjusted vs. $4.03 expected Revenue: $2.47 billion vs. $2.38 billion expected
Biogen booked sales of $2.47 billion for the quarter, which is roughly flat from the year-earlier period.
The drugmaker posted net income of $583.6 million, or $4 per share, for the second quarter. That compares with net income of $591.6 million, or $4.07 per share, for the same period a year ago.
Adjusting for one-time items, the company reported earnings of $5.28 per share.
Investors are closely watching other newly launched drugs apart from Leqembi. That includes Skyclarys, which came from Biogen's acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals in July 2023.
The treatment booked $100 million in sales for the second quarter. Analysts had expected the drug to take in $92.3 million for the quarter, according to StreetAccount.
The Food and Drug Administration greenlit Skyclarys last year, making it the first approved treatment for Friedreich's ataxia, a rare inherited degenerative disease that can impair walking and coordination in children as young as 5.
As tensions escalate in the Middle East , investors should consider adding gold and oil as a hedge. "A wider regional war could affect oil supplies, which would likely lead to quick price spikes. Gold, meanwhile, should serve its role as a more conservative asset," UBS analysts led by Tilmann Kolb told clients in a Wednesday note. Israel and Iran appear on the verge of a direct conflict after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran this week. Iran has vowed to retaliate, with sources telling The New York Times that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel. Days prior, a rocket launched from Lebanon killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel blamed Iran-backed Hezbollah and launched a strike in Beirut that killed one of the militia's senior commanders, Fuad Shukr. "We do not believe anyone has a clear interest at the moment to broaden the war, but the risk of any retaliation or miscalculations triggering a wider military conflict is high," the UBS analysts wrote. Gold has risen since the Beirut strike, "underlining its risk hedge characteristics," the analysts said. High demand from banks and a likely uptick in demand when the Federal Reserve lowers rates should also push gold prices higher, they said.
This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here .
Rate cut on horizon
The Federal Reserve expectedly kept its benchmark rate steady at 5.25% to 5.50% on Wednesday, but Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the U.S. central bank could cut the rate in its September meeting. The Fed's overnight borrowing rate, currently at its highest in 23 years, has held steady over the past year but is widely expected to come down this year as inflation begins to ease.
U.S. stocks rally
U.S. stocks jumped after Powell said a rate cut in September was "on the table." The S&P 500 closed 1.58% higher, the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.64%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.24%. Nvidia soared 12.8%, its best one-day performance since Feb. 22, after better-than-expected results from rival Advanced Micro Devices brought chip bulls back. Boeing added 2% even as it reported a bigger loss and weaker revenue than what analysts had expected and named a new CEO. Treasury yields fell after the Fed announcement while gold rose.
Meta shines
Meta beat expectations as second-quarter revenue grew 22% to $39.07 billion while net income jumped 73% to $13.47 billion, boosted by higher advertising on Facebook and Instagram. The results come a week after Alphabet reported an 11% increase in Google ad sales. Meta expects "significant capital expenditures growth in 2025 as we invest to support our artificial intelligence research and product development efforts." The stock rose 7% in after hours trading.
Oil gains
U.S. crude oil futures rose 4% on Wednesday after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Iran accused Israel of the killing, which comes a day after Israel said it had eliminated a senior Hezbollah leader in Beirut. Oil also got a boost from declining U.S. oil and gas stockpiles, a positive sign for demand. The West Texas Intermediate September contract last traded at was last trading at $78.63 per barrel.
Japan currency intervention
Japanese authorities spent 5.53 trillion yen, or $36.8 billion, to support the yen in July, official data showed. The size of the intervention was nearly in line with estimates and came after several warnings from authorities against heightened volatility in forex markets. The yen fell to a 38-year low against the U.S. dollar in early July.
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Crude oil futures fell 2% on Thursday, as anxiety about the U.S. economy overshadowed red-hot tensions in the Middle East.
The manufacturing sector contracted in July for a fourth consecutive month and jobless claims surged last week, renewing fears that the U.S. economy could tip into a recession.
Here are Thursday's closing energy prices:
Oil prices had rallied Wednesday after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran heightened the risk of a regional war in the Middle East.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to the killing of Haniyeh, three Iranian officials told The New York Times.
Khamenei ordered the direct strike at an emergency meeting of Iran's national security council Wednesday morning after the Hamas leader was assassinated, the officials told the Times.
Top Iranian officials are scheduled to meet Thursday with representatives of Yemen's Houthis, Lebanon's Hezbollah and militant groups in Iraq, five sources told Reuters.
"The assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh overnight in Tehran moves this conflict appreciably up the escalatory ladder and edges the region closer to a wider war," Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told clients in a note Wednesday.
Iran and Israel traded direct strikes in April, pushing oil prices to the highest point of the year, but the enemies ultimately pulled back from a full-scale war.
"At the time of writing, we are not certain whether the same containment dynamics will prevail, especially given that this current chapter involves Hamas, Hezbollah, as well as Iran," Croft wrote.
"At a minimum, the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks appear to be severely imperiled," she said.
An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
Eli Lilly 's weight loss drug Zepbound showed benefits in patients with a common type of heart failure and obesity, according to late-stage trial data the company released Thursday.
The findings add to mounting evidence that Zepbound and other popular GLP-1 drugs have health benefits beyond promoting weight loss and regulating blood sugar, which could potentially lead to broader insurance coverage for those treatments.
Eli Lilly said it plans to submit the results from the phase three trial to regulators in the U.S. and other agencies starting later this year.
Shares of Eli Lilly closed more than 3% higher Thursday.
Patients who took Zepbound were 38% less likely to be hospitalized or die because of heart complications, and less likely to need to increase their heart failure medication compared with those who received a placebo, the study found. Zepbound also significantly improved heart failure symptoms and physical limitations, Eli Lilly said in a release.
For a median of two years, the trial followed more than 700 patients who have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, and obesity. Some patients also had diabetes.
HFpEF refers to when the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. Eli Lilly said the condition is linked to a "high burden" of symptoms and physical limitations that affect a patient's daily life, including fatigue, shortness of breath and a lower ability to exercise, among other issues.
Roughly 6.7 million adults ages 20 and above have heart failure in the U.S., according to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Eli Lilly estimates that HFpEF accounts for almost half of all heart failure cases, and in the U.S., nearly 60% of patients impacted also have obesity.
Musk later said on X that Lemon's approach "was basically just 'CNN, but on social media,' which doesn't work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying."
"We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently," Lemon said of Musk when he announced that the partnership had fallen apart.
The deal to host "The Don Lemon Show" on X was scrapped in March, shortly after the taping of its premiere episode, a one-on-one interview with Musk.
Lemon had "incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses" in preparing for the show, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that Musk who bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and later renamed it X used news of a partnership with Lemon to boost the media company's profile, then reneged on the deal without compensating him.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued Elon Musk on Thursday, accusing him of making false promises to entice the journalist into a canceled deal to host a show on the billionaire's social media platform.
Thursday's lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleges that Musk and his co-defendants "deliberately misrepresented what they intended to do."
If they "accurately represented" that their plan was to use Lemon to "rehabilitate Defendants reputation and draw in advertisers to the X platform," Lemon would never have agreed to it, the suit says.
Lemon accuses Musk and X of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of name and likeness, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. He is seeking damages and other relief.
Lemon's attorney, Carney Shegerian, in a statement Thursday said that X's executives "used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don's name through the mud."
"You don't have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here," Shegerian said. "Don's a hard-hitting journalist who's committed to defending his good name. We look forward to our day in court."
Lemon was fired from CNN in April 2023, following a sexist on-air remark about then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley and a Variety report about his behavior behind the scenes during his 17 years at the network. Lemon's spokesperson at the time said that report was "riddled with patently false anecdotes" and old gossip.
The 29-page lawsuit says Lemon, after leaving CNN, was a "top prospect" for Musk and X, who were looking for "reputable figures" to help in the struggle to keep advertisers on the platform.
"A gay, Black man with an excellent reputation and a household name, [Lemon] was the perfect candidate to partner with to aid their dying advertisement revenue," the lawsuit alleged.
Lemon in mid-December met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Brett Weitz, another X executive, at a New York City restaurant, to discuss a potential exclusive partnership. They assured Lemon that he would have "full authority over his work," and later promised "a revival of his career," the lawsuit says.
"You're set up for a lot of $$ this year," Weitz allegedly told Lemon in a Dec. 30, 2023, text.
The lawsuit does not say Lemon signed a contract, but alleges that the defendants agreed to pay him $1.5 million, plus other financial perks, for a one-year deal.
The suit alleges Lemon was "rushed" into agreeing to the partnership, in part because he was told that the offer would be withdrawn unless he attended the CES Conference in Las Vegas and publicly announce the partnership on the same day.
Within one day of Musk's March 8 interview with Lemon, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO texted the host's agent that Lemon's "contract is cancelled," the lawsuit alleges.
Weitz then allegedly told Lemon that he would not be paid "because there was no signed agreement, despite Musk previously representing to Lemon that there would be no need for a formal written agreement or to 'fill out paperwork.'"
"To this day, Defendants have not compensated Lemon pursuant to the exclusive partnership deal that Defendants induced Lemon to enter into," the lawsuit says.
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked legislation that would have expanded the child tax credit, a key tax break for millions of families.
Despite strong bipartisan support for the House bill passed in January, the legislation met resistance from Senate Republicans. Thursday's procedural vote was not expected to clear the 60-vote hurdle needed to move forward. However, Senate Democrats forced the vote to show election-year positions.
"Today's a good opportunity for both sides to show we back up good talk with strong action," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said from the Senate floor before the vote.
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, in a statement described Thursday's vote as a "blatant attempt to score political points." He said Senate Republicans have concerns about the policy, but are willing to negotiate a "child tax credit solution that a majority of Republicans can support."
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Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who caucus with Democrats, also voted against the measure.
"That is a vote against giving families with children a tax cut, against reducing child poverty, against lowering rents, against fiscal responsibility and against bipartisanship," National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said in a statement.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will "continue to fight for an expanded child tax credit," she added.
If enacted, the bill would have improved access to the child tax credit and retroactively boosted the refundable portion for 2023, which could have triggered refund checks from the IRS.
Roughly 16 million children would have benefited during the first year of the proposed child tax credit expansion, according to an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Eligible families could have seen an average tax cut of $680 for 2023 taxes, based on estimates from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
"It's a sad day for these 16 million kids," especially after the support from House Republicans, said Chuck Marr, vice president for federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
But expanding the child tax credit is still a "top priority for Democrats," particularly as the 2025 tax cliff approaches, he said.
An employee stands by a logo for Glencore Agriculture in Glencore Plc's offices in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Glencore's former head of oil Alex Beard has been charged with bribery offences relating to the Swiss commodity trader's operations in Africa, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Thursday.
Beard, 56, is charged with two conspiracies to make corrupt payments to government officials and officials of state-owned oil companies in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014 and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014, the SFO said.
He is one of five ex-Glencore employees charged with conspiracy to make corrupt payments and is the most high-profile commodity trader to have been charged in Britain for alleged corruption.
Beard joined Glencore in 1995 from BP, the biggest trading desk at that time, and became head of oil in 2007, a position he held until he retired in 2019.
Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield have also been charged, relating to Glencore's operations in Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
Gibson and Wakefield are also charged with conspiracy to falsify documents between 2007 and 2011. All five are due to appear at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on Sept. 10.
A Glencore spokesperson said the company noted the charges and had "cooperated with the SFO in its investigation into this past conduct and resolved its SFO investigation in 2022".
"This (alleged) conduct has no place in Glencore and we are committed to acting ethically and responsibly across all aspects of our business and have taken significant action towards building a best-in-class ethics and compliance programme," the spokesperson said.
Neither the individuals charged nor their representatives could immediately be reached for comment.
SFO Director Nick Ephgrave said in a statement: "Bribery damages financial markets and causes lasting harm to communities.
"Today's action is an important step towards exposing overseas corruption and holding those who are responsible to account."
Goldman Sachs added four new stocks to its conviction list going into August for equity investors looking to capitalize on the bull market. Introduced in June, Goldman's new "Conviction List Directors' Cut" curates 20 to 25 of the firm's most differentiated fundamental buy-rated ideas across its U.S. stock coverage. Dollar General , Philip Morris International , S & P Global and Woodward were the newest additions to the Wall Street firm's coveted stock list. For Dollar General, Goldman analysts believe the worries around low-income consumer discretionary spend and competition are overdone. Meanwhile, Goldman said the market is underappreciating the growth opportunity for Philip Morris as the company innovates around its smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes. Dollar General shares have fallen more than 11% since the start of the year, but Philip Morris stock has been gaining momentum and is up more than 22% in 2024, with a 14% jump over the past month. Goldman also said S & P Global is "well-positioned" to continue to benefit from a strong debt issuance business, while Woodward is expected to deliver more products to plants under a relatively new management team, the firm said. Both S & P Global and Woodward have recorded solid gains so far this year, rising 11% and nearly 17%, respectively. The conviction list also included Royal Caribbean , Ally Financial , Citigroup, Amazon and Nvidia .
Alexa Graham had long dabbled in video editing for fun, whether it was cutting One Direction clips together or creating movie trailer-style Marvel videos. Her fan content creation was just a hobby, until one Marvel TikTok edit landed her a job. Graham, 26, had been working as a student advisor at Westcliff University in Irvine, California, when she first posted the video complete with dramatic fade-ins, carefully timed action sequences and the constant echo of Kendrick Lamar's "DNA." in the background. "This edit took 20ish hours so if you could take a second to watch I'd really appreciate it," Graham said at the beginning of the 2021 TikTok. As of July 2024, the edit has 2.5 million views with just over 400,000 likes. It was because of that edit, and the attention it received, that Graham was offered a job as a contractor for New Rockstars in 2021, a YouTube channel that focuses on Marvel, among other franchises. Graham called the start of her professional editing career "a gift from God." "I was too scared to pursue film school or leave my job to try and get into editing," Graham tells CNBC Make It. "So, He's like, 'Here, I'm going to hand it to you on silver platter.'" Graham has secured other editing roles since then, but she's not the only person who's pivoted her fan-driven hobby into full-time work. Emily Levine is the executive vice president of recruiting firm Career Group Companies, where she has recruited for clients in New York and Los Angeles. Even with the rise of artificial intelligence, "it's really hard to compete with the creative aspect of someone's mind," she says, which actually gives job seekers an advantage. "I think if somebody is a really good editor or really good content creator, digital marketer, those are people's ideas versus math, versus writing a simple paragraph with ChatGPT," Levine says. "People have the ability to be storytellers and I think that goes hand in hand with the fandom and sharing a perspective or a story." Levine says those skills are "super transferrable" and can be applied to multiple industries. Here are three pieces of advice for folks looking to transform their fan skills into professional assets.
Own your interests
Cailey Merulla, 23, is aware of how people view fans, but rather than shying away from her interests, she places them front and center. Her LinkedIn page is a melange of posts related to her work at an ad agency, her YouTube channel, which chronicles moments in her K-pop fan journey, and her work as social media editor for EnVi Media, a "fan-project turned media company." Her YouTube channel is what helped her secure a job at Impactable B2B Ad Agency, where she is now the head of the content. When she applied, she included a video that did well, just as an example of skills she could transfer, Merulla says. But recruiters went through the rest of her channel.
Merulla's YouTube channel, which showcases her life as a K-pop fan, helped her secure a job at her current company, as she highlighted transferrable skills applicable to her role. Photo: Cailey Merulla
"They said that they watched a couple other videos on my channel," Merulla says. "They found that I had the skills, but they also learned my personality and they liked that I had passion for something outside of that, but I can still transfer it to what I'm doing professionally." If you're worried that your experience as a fan might be met with skepticism during an interview, Levine suggests calling out those potential doubts early on. Once you've acknowledged that there might be preconceived notions about being a fan, you can start highlighting all the tangible skills you've gained. Levine has worked with folks who are switching careers to something that seems completely unrelated, like going from nannying to becoming an executive assistant. She told them they can say something like, "I know that some people may feel this way about this profession. I really want to take the time to highlight not only what I learned but the recognition I'm getting from it so far." That kind of preface signals to recruiters "that you have that self-awareness and that you're able to relate to them," she adds, after which you can explain the benefits of that experience and underscore the positives.
Highlight results
Davonna Gilpin, 32, never thought the work she did as a fan could ever translate to a job. As a fan of boy bands and K-pop groups, like NLT and Wonder Girls, she spent years planning fan events, organizing Myspace campaigns and bolstering trends on a very nascent Twitter, now known as X. But when she started her career in insurance in 2016, she dialed back her work as a fan. As Gilpin volunteered her time outside of the job she described as making her feel "so miserable" to help record labels track fan engagement, one of her friends told her that people are paid to do that sort of work. "I was like, 'Wait, what?'" Gilpin says. She quit her insurance job and began to consider social media marketing as a possible career. After freelancing, she went on to land jobs at creative agencies, where she has since managed the social media strategy for clients like Amazon Music and Levi's. Gilpin, who is also deputy editor at EnVi Media, credits her unique perspective as a fan to her success, but she also recommends folks drive home that experience with quantitative results. Don't rattle off that type of data in an interview, Levine says, but instead list those metrics on a resume or within your portfolio. Gilpin suggests tracking in-app insights for platforms like X and Instagram to understand who's viewed your posts and the rate of engagement. "Numbers are always going to be your best friend," Gilpin says. "So, if you have a social media account that has 10,000 followers, make sure you note that you grew that account from scratch to 10,000 followers." In an interview, Levine says it's a good idea to have work samples ready to go, just in case you have time to walk the recruiter through examples of your experience.
Emphasize your professionalism
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Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hold party flags as they celebrate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony on June 9, 2024. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
There is an "internal battle" happening within India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over inviting Chinese investments, as the country strives to become Asia's manufacturing powerhouse, Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief Asia Pacific economist at Natixis said. In the country's annual economic survey released last week, India's Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran proposed promoting foreign direct investments from China as a better option than increasing trade activity between the two countries. He reports to the finance minister. This proposal was shot down by Trade Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday who said that there was "no rethinking at present" on allowing Chinese investments into India, Reuters reported. "Nobody wants to put up with the consequences in terms of how this will affect the BJP's image. Indians will not like this policy, but Modi and his finance ministry realized that this is needed," Garcia-Herrero told CNBC in an interview. CNBC did not immediately receive a response from the BJP on whether there was an internal strife within the party on the issue. The world's fastest growing economy aims to attract $100 billion in FDI annually over the next five years, Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, told Bloomberg in June. It received $70.95 billion of FDI inflows in financial year 2024.
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Experts told CNBC that Chinese investments are needed in India's solar panel and battery manufacturing sectors two areas that a report, citing Indian government sources last week, mentioned could see easing restrictions on Chinese investments. "U.S. and Europe are a little bit hesitant to invest in India's manufacturing sector, most of the foreign investments have gone to the ICT [Information and Communication Technologies] sector, such as digital services," Herrero said. Harsh V. Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at New Delhi's Observer Research Foundation, shared a similar stance, saying that India needs to be "plugged into Chinese supply chains" if it wants to meet its aspirations to become Asia's manufacturing hub. However, he added that this is not just an economic issue, especially since the Asian giants have been at loggerheads on the Himalayan border issue.
Armoured vehicles of the Indian army at a military camp in Eastern Ladakh on May 19, 2024. Tauseef Mustafa | Afp | Getty Images
"From an economic point of view, you need Chinese investments in certain sectors and a perfectly logical argument can be made. But the government of India is going to take a whole approach where national security and geopolitical dimensions are going to come into the calculus." Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, India's Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said relations with China were "not good [and] not normal right now." In June 2020, 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died in a faceoff in the western Himalayas. Although no shots were fired, this was the biggest loss of life in combat between the two countries since 1967. India increased scrutiny on Chinese investments into the country, and also blocked several Chinese mobile apps including TikTok following the incident.
Sectors in focus
India aims to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and meet 50% of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030. But generation of solar power the country's largest source of renewables totaled just 113 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year, compared to 584 TWh in China, and 238 TWh in the U.S., according to energy think-tank Ember. "India really can't afford missing on Chinese investment for manufacturing. It's trade deficit with China has increased enormously last year, mainly because of green tech," said Herrero said, adding that China also has the lowest, most effective and least costly production of green technology. India has little choice but to rely on China to enhance its renewables sector, choosing to improve domestic production through more Chinese investments would be a better choice rather than to increase imports, Herrero said. "At least there will be more money to create jobs."
An employee walking past solar panels at an Adani Group factory in Mundra on Jan. 11, 2024. Punit Paranjpe | Afp | Getty Images
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on March 4, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel's military on Thursday said it killed the chief of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July.
"We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated," the Israel Defense Forces posted on their official X account.
The military said it spent weeks trying to confirm whether Deif, the target of the strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, was killed in the blast, while Hamas denied his death. Hamas did not immediately comment on Thursday's IDF announcement when contacted by CNBC.
Israel says that Deif and Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' top leader in the Gaza Strip, were the chief planners of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took a further 253 hostage. Around 116 of those captives have since been freed.
The October attack set off the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, now in its 10th month, and the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that local authorities say has killed more than 39,000 people there.
The Israeli military said that the strike that killed Deif took place on July 13 and hit a compound on the outskirts of Khan Younis, near a tent encampment for displaced Palestinians. More than 90 people were killed in the strike, many of whom were living in the tents, Gaza health authorities said at the time.
The IDF announcement comes just one day after the killing of Hamas' political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a strike on Tehran, Iran. Hamas and Iran say this was carried out by Israel, while the Jewish state has declined to comment on Haniyeh's death.
Haniyeh's death was preceded by an Israeli strike on southern Beirut just hours earlier that the IDF said killed Fuad Shukr, a senior leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah who had directed and been involved in numerous terror attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets.
The triple deaths of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders announced over barely three days mark a severe blow to Hamas, but also a serious blow to any hopes of a cease-fire in the near term, regional analysts say.
Melinda French Gates' three children grew up in one of the world's wealthiest families. Not wanting to raise entitled kids, their parents worked to give them something resembling a "middle-class" upbringing, French Gates says.
"I think it was much more of an upbringing like I grew up in: a very middle-class household where money did dictate whether I got an extra pair of shoes that year or not, right? And I thought that was a good principle to have," French Gates told The New York Times on Sunday.
The billionaire philanthropist grew up in Dallas, one of four children to an aerospace engineer and a homemaker. She married Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1994, and the couple raised their three children together before getting divorced in 2021.
In the interview, French Gates was asked how wealthy parents can possibly "ground kids" meaning raising them to be well-adjusted and not entitled. Her answer was simple, and relatable to parents across the country: allowances.
"First of all, they had an allowance, so we absolutely did not just buy them things," French Gates said. "And they either had to buy [something] with their allowance or put it on their wish list, that maybe they'd get it from their grandparents or us on their birthday or Christmas."
The Gates children, who are now all in their 20s, were also encouraged to save at least one-third of their allowances for donations to charity, which their parents would match, French Gates told Time in 2014.
French Gates was frank with her children about how coming from a family with a lot of money could isolate them from their peers: She warned them to never boast about extravagant trips, as if that sort of thing was typical for everyone, she said.
She never wanted to raise the sort of wealthy kids who'd see their family's name on a building and believe they were entitled to special treatment, she added.
"You know what?" French Gates told The New York Times. "I went to school with some of those kids at Duke University, and I vowed to myself that if I ever had resources at my disposal, those were not the kind of children I wanted to raise."
Whether their families are wealthy or not, children who earn an allowance or get a job learn how to work for what they want, and the importance of managing their own finances, according to wealth advisor and author Coventry Edwards-Pitt.
Mark Cuban, another billionaire parent, agrees. The serial entrepreneur and investor's three children grew up with a mandate that they'd have to get a job and earn money to buy the things they wanted, Cuban told Steve Harvey during a 2020 episode of "STEVE on Watch."
"I tell them: After your health, my No. 1 thing for you all is, I don't want you to be entitled jerks," said Cuban, adding: "I'm not going to write you checks. You don't just get a credit card. You can't just buy whatever you want."
If you avoid simply giving your kids everything they want, you can more effectively help train their future work ethic, psychotherapist Amy Morin told CNBC Make It last year. Children who grow up to become highly successful adults typically learn early that "if they want to succeed, it may not come naturally," Morin said.
Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank," which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.
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The Moderna Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Moderna on Thursday reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations but slashed its full-year sales guidance, citing lower expected sales in Europe, a "competitive environment" for respiratory vaccines in the U.S. and the potential for deferred international revenue into 2025.
The biotech company now expects 2024 product revenue to come in between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, down from previous guidance of $4 billion.
Shares of the company closed more than 20% lower on Thursday.
The company has started shipping doses of its vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, called mRESVIA, in the U.S. following its approval in May for older adults. It's Moderna's second-ever commercially available product after its Covid vaccine, which has seen demand plunge as the world emerges from the pandemic and relies less on protective shots and treatments.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC there has been "more intensity of competition" for both RSV and Covid vaccines. He noted that mRESVIA is the third RSV shot to enter the market following jabs from Pfizer and GSK , the latter of which dominated the market last year.
He added that "we've been having quite intense discussions with governments across Europe" to get Covid vaccine supply from Moderna.
But "some countries, as recently as of last week, have told us that because of a very tight budget they just don't have the capacity to buy more vaccine than they need because they already have" another contract, Bancel said.
He is referring to the European Union's massive renegotiated Covid vaccine supply contract with Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech . He also pointed to the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is straining government budgets.
Still, Moderna expects to return to sales growth in 2025 and to break even by 2026, with the launch of new products, Bancel said.
Here's what Moderna reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Loss per share: $3.33 vs. loss of $3.39 expected
$3.33 vs. loss of $3.39 expected Revenue: $241 million vs. $132 million expected
The company booked second-quarter revenue of $241 million, with product sales from its Covid shot dropping 37% from the same period a year ago. Moderna reported $344 million in revenue in the prior-year period.
The company said the revenue decline came in part from an expected transition to a seasonal Covid vaccine market, where patients typically take their shots in the fall and winter. But Bancel said Moderna had a "good spring season" in the U.S. for seniors, who are recommended to receive an additional dose of the latest round of Covid shots.
Moderna posted a net loss of $1.28 billion, or $3.33 per share, for the second quarter. That compares with a net loss of $1.38 billion, or $3.62 per share, reported for the year-ago period.
Bancel said the company lost less than Wall Street expected in part due to its progress in cutting costs.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich, accused of espionage, smiles from inside a glass defendants' cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court on June 26, 2024.
Whelan, a businessman who has been detained since visiting Russia for a friend's wedding in 2018, was also convicted of espionage and had been serving a 16-year sentence in a penal colony. The U.S. has denied those charges.
Gershkovich, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, was arrested in March 2023 while reporting in Yekaterinburg, an industrial city east of Moscow. In July, he was convicted of espionage in a Russian court in a trial widely condemned as a sham as his publication vociferously advocated for his release across its front pages. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison .
The massive deal, cut among six nations, involves 24 people, including 12 German nationals held in Russia, and eight Russians imprisoned in the U.S., Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland.
Four U.S. residents including journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were released Thursday, part of a major multinational prisoner exchange the likes of which has not been seen since the Cold War.
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020.
Whelan was excluded from two previous prisoner exchanges, and in an interview from prison last December, Whelan told the BBC that he considered the U.S.'s decision to leave him behind a "serious betrayal."
President Joe Biden had gathered with the family members of those being returned to the U.S. ahead of the swap being announced, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
"This morning, the president is gathering the families of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza at the White House to share with them the news that an exchange is underway to secure the release of their loved ones from Russia," he said before the swap was finalized.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was and Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a dual Russian-British national and U.S. permanent resident who was jailed on treason charges for 25 years in April 2023, were also released.
The prisoners in Russia were flown to Turkey before heading home.
The complex prisoner swap is a rare example of cooperation amid heightened political tensions between the U.S. and Russia, including from sanctions imposed on Russia and Russian officials over the invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022. Relations between the two countries had been strained before the war, following Russian interference in the 2016 election and its annexation of Crimea.
The most notable Russian prisoner released as part of the swap is Vadim Krasikov, who was jailed for life in Germany for the 2019 murder in Berlin of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen separatist, in what prosecutors believed was a Russian state-sanctioned assassination. Russian authorities say they believed Khangoshvili was involved in multiple attacks on Russian soil, including the 2010 suicide bombings on the Moscow Metro.
The U.S. released three Russian prisoners, including an intelligence operative facing charges of smuggling U.S. technology and ammunition to the Russian military. Slovenia released two Russian prisoners, Norway and Poland each released one.
Russia released 12 German prisoners, most of them connected to opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in prison in February, following a yearslong struggle against official corruption and President Vladimir Putin's government that included several poisoning attempts.
The Biden administration has been working on Thursday's swap since December 2022 after the most recent high-profile prisoner swap, when WNBA star Brittney Griner was exchanged for notorious Russian arms dealer Victor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death."
Griner was arrested at an airport near Moscow after two vape cartridges containing hashish oil were found in her luggage.
The swap raised a debate about the risks of exchanging wrongfully detained Americans for Russian prisoners, with critics pointing out that there was no equivalence between the crimes Griner and Bout were convicted of, and that it may encourage foreign adversaries to kidnap Americans abroad and use them as bargaining chips.
Discussions involved several swap offers with Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was the first U.S. official to reach out to Russia, through his counterpart, and national security adviser Sullivan engaged his German counterpart, a senior administration official said.
A breakthrough came in January 2024, when Biden called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and invited him to the White House, telling him a swap would be on the agenda. The goal was for a deal to include Russian opposition leader Navalny, and the release of Krasikov. Scholz later indicated he was receptive.
Then, days later, Navalny died at an arctic penal colony in Russia, setting off a new round of discussions that led to Thursday's larger swap, the senior administration official said.
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WASHINGTON The White House announced a massive, multinational prisoner swap Thursday between the United States, Russia and other nations. As part of the historic deal, the Russian government released high-profile Americans held in captivity there, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who had been in a Russian prison for more than a year. Also included in the trade were a number of Russians who had been arrested for various crimes and held in prisons in the U.S. and other countries. Among that group was a wealthy young Russian entrepreneur named Vladislav Klyushin who was incarcerated in a federal prison for his role in one of the most damaging insider trading schemes in Wall Street history. For much of the past year, CNBC has been working on a documentary about the spectacular rise and fall of Klyushin and his business empire. That story begins in early 2021, when a private jet carrying an up-and-coming young Russian oligarch and his wife touched down at tiny Sion airport high in the Swiss Alps.
Vladislav Klyushin, an owner of an information technology company with ties to the Russian government, is seen in an undated photograph attached to a U.S. Department of Justice filing. U.s. Department Of Justice | Via Reuters
Sion is the gateway to the famed ski resort of Zermatt, where the world's elite go to ski and party. But the airport is still an hour's drive from the slopes, so the truly wealthy walk across the tarmac and board helicopters to take them directly to the resort. The young oligarch was at the absolute height of his powers. He had built a fabulously successful company in Moscow and cultivated connections at the highest levels of the Russian government.
Vladislav Klyushin, who was sentenced to nine years in an American prison for his $93 million hack-to-trade conspiracy. Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
His efforts won him the ultimate prize: He worked for the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin. What the oligarch did not know was that U.S. law enforcement had been monitoring his flight ever since it left Moscow. Or that they were planning to capture him and charge him with crimes that cut to the heart of the American financial system. The man on the private jet in Switzerland was Vladislav Klyushin, and he owned a cybersecurity company in Moscow called M-13. But M-13 was a front for Klyushin's real business hacking into American companies and stealing confidential information, then using it to make trades on Wall Street before that information became public.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The homepage for the Russian cybersecurity firm M-13, which was stealing financial information from American companies. Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
It was a multilevel crime: illegal insider trading made possible by illegal hacking. And it had made Klyushin very rich. The victims of his crimes are investors in iconic American companies like Tesla , Roku and Skechers . Welcome to the dangerous underworld of the global financial system. Here, markets are just another sphere for the great powers to demonstrate their strength and undermine their rivals. The Kremlin sees America's capital markets as one the country's key strengths, and therefore a prime target for attack. "It's a war right now happening between Russia and the West. Finances and banks and financial sector itself is just one of the battlefields," said a former high ranking member of the Russian FSB intelligence service. CNBC granted him anonymity to describe these crimes in detail because he fears for his safety.
CNBC's Eamon Javers speaks to a former Russian spy, who asked to remain anonymous, about the Klyushin case. CNBC
CNBC has spent months investigating this criminal network, which represents one of the most damaging episodes of insider trading in Wall Street history. But it's not over yet. On the contrary, our reporting revealed a persistent, ongoing, threat to American companies, investors, and to the markets themselves. The product of this yearlong project is the documentary above, called "Putin's Trader." It features exclusive access to the FBI agents and U.S. prosecutors charged with bringing down the criminal organization, and new reporting on the incredible lifestyle of the oligarch and his friends as they profited from their illegal trading. A limited podcast series called "The Crimes of Putin's Trader" will be released Aug. 15. As for Klyushin, federal prosecutor Steven Frank said, he was, "a lot like the kind of people that we prosecute for white-collar crime here in the United States every day. Who don't really need to turn to white-collar crime in order to be successful, because they're already successful."
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CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz back stage with soon to be Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan at Starbucks Headquarters during Investor Day in Seattle, Washington Tuesday September 13, 2022.
Days before reports surfaced that Elliott Management had amassed a significant stake in Starbucks , the activist investor proposed a settlement that would involve board expansion and governance improvements but would allow CEO Laxman Narasimhan to keep his job, according to people familiar with the matter.
Elliott submitted its offer to Starbucks weeks ago, but the coffee chain's board, chaired by Mellody Hobson, hasn't responded, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.
Looming over the negotiations is Starbucks' former CEO Howard Schultz, who stepped off the board last year but remains one of the company's top shareholders and is forever entitled to attend Starbucks board meetings unless barred by Starbucks' directors. Schultz has privately expressed to some directors his opposition to Elliott's settlement offer, The Financial Times reported earlier.
A Starbucks spokesperson declined to comment on whether Schultz, who has a close relationship with Hobson and other Starbucks directors, had attended board meetings where Elliott's settlement offer was discussed.
Elliott has accumulated a stake that could worth as much as $2 billion, CNBC has previously reported. No disclosure has been filed to indicate its stake in the company and it's unclear what specific governance improvements Elliott is seeking. A spokesperson for Elliott declined to comment.
Schultz, meanwhile, has been unusually vocal in his criticism of the company's direction under the leadership of Narasimhan, his hand-picked successor, who has leaned on discounting and new product launches to try and revive the business since taking over in March 2023. Schultz hasn't said why he opposes Elliott's offer, and his representatives didn't return multiple requests for comment.
Starbucks has faced successive quarters of falling sales, with steep declines in China and weakness in the core U.S. business. Starbucks' stock price is down 18% this year, badly underperforming the broader market, as the S&P 500 has climbed 16% in 2024.
Demonstrators burn rubber and objects during a protest against reelection of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for the 3rd term one day after the Venezuelan presidential elections in Caracas, Venezuela on July 29, 2024. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Shops and public transport across Venezuela shut down on Wednesday as tensions over a fiercely disputed presidential election and rumors of more opposition arrests and sporadic violence kept many people home. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has ruled since 2013, was proclaimed the winner of the Sunday vote by the electoral council. But the opposition says its tally of about 90% of votes shows that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, received more than double the support attracted by Maduro. As the dispute entered its third day amid growing calls for more transparency, the government insisted it had not produced comprehensive vote totals at the polling station level because of a system hack originating in North Macedonia for the extended delay, without providing any evidence to back that up. The U.S.-based Carter Center, one of the few independent monitors allowed to observe the election, announced in a statement late Tuesday that the election "cannot be considered democratic." It said the process was slanted in favor of Maduro and flawed throughout, describing the electoral authority's failure to publish disaggregated results a "serious breach."
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In remarks broadcast on state television on Wednesday, Maduro said he rejected all threats, including the possibility of new U.S. sanctions. Maduro pledged that his socialist party is ready to release all of its vote tallies, and said he has asked the top court to force opposition parties to do the same. Early Monday morning, Venezuela's electoral authority which the opposition accuses of being in Maduro's pocket - announced that he won another term in office, attracting 51% of the vote, with a seven-point margin over Gonzalez. But shortly afterwards, Venezuela's main opposition alliance launched a website with detailed ballot box-level vote counts covering tallies from the vast majority of the country's 30,000 voting machines, including scans of vote tally print-outs from the machines. As of late afternoon on Wednesday, the website showed opposition hopeful Gonzalez with 67% of the vote versus 30% for Maduro, representing nearly 82% of polling station data. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of each individual tally. Independent exit polls, however, showed a similar margin of victory for Gonzalez. Meanwhile, international pressure on the government has mounted to release full results, including from regional heavyweights the United States and Brazil. At a session of the Washington-based Organization of American States, Brian Nichols, a senior U.S. diplomat for Latin America, said the reason Venezuela's electoral authority has failed to release full vote tallies is "obvious." Either officials do not want to confirm Gonzalez's lopsided triumph, or they need more time to falsify results, he argued.
A Toyota logo is seen at the New York International Auto Show Press Preview, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., March 27, 2024.
Toyota Motor said on Thursday it posted a 17% rise in first-quarter operating profit, as the Japanese automaker got a boost from cost reduction efforts and a weak yen that helped offset lower sales and production volume at home.
The world's top-selling automaker said operating profit for the three months through June totaled 1.3 trillion yen ($8.70 billion), matching the average of six analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.
"Despite the inability to maintain stable production in Japan due to factors such as certification issues and recalls, we achieved an increase in profit thanks to the support of all our stakeholders," Toyota said in a statement.
The automaker's challenges include a tough market in China and fallout from a certification scandal, which has also involved Toyota and Lexus-branded cars and hurt sales in Japan.
Its consolidated vehicle sales declined 3% in the quarter, presentation materials showed, with the share of petrol-electric hybrids in sales reaching about two fifths.
Toyota maintained its forecast of 4.3 trillion yen profit for the full year, versus a 5.3 trillion yen average of 18 analyst estimates.
The automaker is grappling with a series of scandals at group firms over botched product certification test procedures that are undermining its reputation for safety and quality.
The transport ministry ordered Toyota on Wednesday to take drastic steps to prevent a recurrence of misconduct after discovering new wrongdoing in certification procedures.
Toyota's share price, which was down 5.5% just before the earnings release, fell further immediately afterward and was down 8.4% at 2,702 yen by 0446 GMT.
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Speaking at the HLPF 2024 (United Nations, New York), side event titled Good Practices and Challenges in the 2030 Agenda Showcasing ongoing inclusive strategies of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent, Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives [1] from Canada, Spain, Colombia, North Macedonia, Nepal, Sri Lanka as well as a representative from UN Women acknowledged the importance of addressing Discrimination based on Work and Descent (DWD) as critical towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Numbering close to 270 million people across the globe, Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) are known by many names depending on where they live and the languages they speak. They are the Dalits and Burakumin in Asia, the slave caste, Osu, Haratin and others in Africa, the Quilombola and Pelanque in Latin America, and Roma in Europe to name a few.Discrimination based on Work and Descent or DWD [2] is any distinction exclusion, restriction, or preference based on inherited status such as caste, including present or ancestral occupation, family, community or social origin, name, birth place, place of residence, dialect and accent that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, or any other field of public life. This type of discrimination is typically associated with the notion of purity and pollution and practices of untouchability, and is deeply rooted in societies and cultures where this discrimination is practised.At the event, representatives from the UN member states endorsed working collaboratively by coming together as an informal working group -- a critical step on the journey towards a UN resolution. Leading the expressions of support for this approach, H.E. Robert Rae, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN said, I can assure you that we will continue to talk about these issues and figure out how we can create this informal discussion at the UN in New York. I know there are some discussions about it in Geneva but it is something we need to talk about more and more.In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Ljubomir Danailov Frchkoski, Permanent Representative of the Republic of North Macedonia to the UN, outlined several good practices and reform measures that, if adopted and implemented at the national and regional level can go some way in meeting SDGs for CDWD. He said, there are no excuses for countries not to adapt good practices on the ground [in spite of their different legal and political systems] which can fulfil the transition period from the status quo to the real deep law reform which we are all waiting for but in this transition period, effective improvement of this situation can be done..and there is no excuse to skip.Ms Anita Paudel also highlighted cases of good practice implemented by the Government of Nepal in relation to Dalits such as the constitutional provisions prohibiting untouchability and discrimination on the grounds of caste; as well as affirmative action policies for the upliftment of Dalits.Ms Paula Fernandez-Wuff outlined specific measures taken by Spain to address anti-Roma sentiment including through strong legislation in the criminal code, a national Roma integration strategy that focuses on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion of the Roma, in particular in the areas of education, employment, health and housing and, to acknowledge the historical debt and repair the harm done to the Roma community in Spain, the appointment of a commission of memory and reconciliation. Mr. Gustavo Bolivar, emphasised education and the integration of a gender perspective into government programs to address social castes. The first step to end discrimination is education, he said.Notwithstanding the adoption of good practice measures at the national level for specific communities, the side event panellists underscored the need for deeper long term reform to address the structural issues faced by CDWD as a whole. This includes the establishment of group-specific norms in international human rights frameworks. Queen Bisseng, Africa Coordinator, GFoD, stated, What we are asking for is a UN Resolution on the Rights of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent.
Lisa Kudrow is obviously doing quite well right now, considering that shes starring in the new Time Bandits show on Apple TV+ and presumably has a Scrooge McDuck-esque vault full of Friends royalty checks.
But there was a time when Kudrow was still a struggling young actor, and had to grapple with the pain of losing out on a role in one of the 90s most successful sitcoms that in no way involved singing about malodorous cats.
While guesting on the SmartLess podcast, Kudrow chatted about how she was hired, and promptly fired, from Frasier after being cast as Frasiers sassy, relentlessly-shamed producer Roz Doyle. It was devastating to get fired, Kudrow revealed, recalling that she was told by director James Burrows this isnt working, while performing the pilots run-through, and let go shortly afterwards.
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I think they did make a casting mistake, the Friends star reasoned, because I went to the network with Peri Gilpin. Peri should have always been Roz. Although she did admit that it was devastating for her at the time possibly even more so than when David Duchovny lost out on the chance to play Uncles Joey or Jesse.
For fans of the show, its hard to imagine anyone other than Gilpin as Roz. As Frasier executive producer Peter Casey once explained, after Kudrow and Gilpin auditioned for NBC, Kudrow was ultimately cast, not because she was right for the role as it was written, but because her line readings always got laughs. Lisa didnt exactly fit the mold of what we were looking for in terms of a strong-willed character, but she was really funny, Casey stated. Her quirkiness made lines that werent intended as jokes hilarious.
Burrows has said in the past that what ultimately convinced him that Kudrow wasnt right for the part was the climactic moment in the pilot when Roz convinces Frasier to be more tolerant of his father with a monologue about the death of Hollywood starlet Lupe Velez.
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You had to do that speech with some toughness, and Lisa did it, but it was more ditzy, Burrows told an interviewer from the Television Academy.
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Because Kudrow was booted from Frasier, she was free to appear as Ursula the waitress/future identity thief porn star in Mad About You and, eventually, to star in Friends, which again required working with James Burrows. I was the only cast member for Friends that had to audition for Jimmy Burrows, Kudrow told the SmartLess hosts. Because I had just gotten fired from Frasier.
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After her audition for Burrows, Kudrow was simply told no notes but understandably wasnt sure if that meant that it was hopeless or perfect. Clearly it was the latter, because she got the job.
Who knows, maybe well eventually get to see Kudrows take on Roz when the Frasier reboot inevitably runs out of ideas and introduces the concept of the multiverse, a la Marvel.
You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time youre reading this).
If you trust news outlets quoting unnamed network executives and anonymous showbiz insiders, then we have a comedy front-runner to host the Academy Awards next year. The job opened up after Jimmy Kimmel, a four-time host who has handled the duties for the past two years, decided to take a pass. You cant say he didnt warn us when Kimmel took the job in 2023, he declared, I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.
Many assumed Oscars next host was already waiting in the wings. Thats John Mulaney, the hot new name to assume the job after killing it as host of the Governors Awards last year.
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He passed that audition, as well as delivered one of the most memorable moments during last years Academy Awards ceremony.
When the Hollywood Reporter asked Mulaney in 2022 if hed take the job one day, the comedian sounded ready. Sure, why not? he said. It would be really fun. Its hosting the Academy Awards. Johnny Carson did that.
Carson did, but Mulaney wont not yet anyway. He reportedly passed on an offer to take over for Kimmel, citing prior commitments for next winter, including what sounds like another run for his well-received Netflix talk show, John Mulaney Presents: Everybodys in L.A.
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So if Kimmel and Mulaney are out, whos in? The U.S. Sun is reporting a clear front-runner: Anthony Anderson, the ABC comedy star who got good reviews after hosting the Emmys last year.
ABC insiders are claiming Anderson is Kimmels likely successor, providing these anonymous quotes to the Sun:
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Anthony is well-liked across the network both as an actor and entertainer.
"He is respected, considered easy to get on with, a great collaborator and is friendly with many major Hollywood stars.
He is on the shortlist to present the Academy Awards, especially after his performance at the Emmys.
Hollywood A-listers love seeing him live, as he has that talent to be cheeky rather than snarky about many of them in his jokes.
His appeal to audiences across many age groups is also a huge plus.
"He is seen by many at the network as being in the hot seat.
All good reasons to put Anderson at the front of the line when Oscar hires its new host. A bonus? Additional insiders (or the same insiders?) say Anderson has the Jimmy Kimmel seal of approval.
Anthony has Jimmys backing to take the Oscars gig and also feels he would make a great go at his late-night role when he leaves," said the anonymous Kimmel confidante. Jimmy and his production team rate Anthony so highly and feel being a late-night host allows him to show off his stand-up comedy skills and natural gift of being funny and clever on screen. The fact he has hosted in his place over a dozen times speaks volumes too. It has not gone unnoticed how smooth the transition is and the laughter from the audience during recordings.
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The anonymous nature of the endorsements raises suspicions about their veracity, but Anderson does make sense. After scoring as Emmys host, reporters did ask him about taking over the Oscars next.
I would love to host another one, Anderson said. Youll have to ask the Academy that.
Janno Lieber, facing the abyss. Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Janno Lieber, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, stood before his board on Wednesday and put a hopeful face on a nearly hopeless situation. We do take the governor at her word that she is committed to funding the capital program, Lieber told the MTAs board of directors. Governor Kathy Hochul, of course, decided two months ago to indefinitely pause congestion pricing, the tolling plan that would pour $15 billion into the transit system. The ripple effect from that decision just keeps growing at a cost to her credibility, weeks into the mess without detailing a realistic alternative to replace funding, and to the finances of the MTA, where Lieber continues to say Hochul will find a way to fill the giant hole she punched into his budget, even as his accountants quietly warn of a crippling financial mess.
On July 30, shortly before Lieber addressed the board, Hochul pulled $54 million from a previously untapped $85 million state account to fund some utilities-relocation work for the future 106th Street Station of the Second Avenue Subway. Lieber celebrated the decision in his remarks, recognizing that it means the project is not, for the moment, dead. Then he brought up the rest of the subway system and dropped the hammer. Concrete and steel, you poke holes in it, subject it to water and salt for 100 years, its going to give out. And that is whats happening and we must do something about it. Im optimistic that the decision-makers in Albany, all of them hint, hint understand the need and that they will respond. After all, $54 million down means that theres $14.94 billion (give or take) to go.
Lieber has to cling to hope in part because Hochul is his boss, in part because her decision is just getting more expensive. The MTA has commitments from the federal government for an additional $1.5 billion to capital projects like the Second Avenue line and its money that arrives only if the MTA comes through with its share, so it too is in jeopardy. But the loss of new subways is just the start. Without that funding, the MTA will have to slow down its bus orders and keep running older vehicles that need more maintenance: Thatll cost $50 million in 2025 and grow to $150 million by 2027. Ditto delays on replacing old commuter trains ($20 million a year). The agency will have to spend more on overtime and on-call contractors to keep up with breakdowns in signals, switches, and other systems that were set to be replaced, costing $90 million a year by 2026. Congestion pricing was going to cut the number of cars entering the Manhattan core by 17 percent, which would have meant faster buses, again saving the MTA some money: Thats another $10 million per year. Officials also forecast that it would increase overall transit ridership by about 1.25 percent, and thats another $70 million in potential revenue taken off the books.
It gets even worse. The MTA has roughly 7,000 permanent employees providing labor on construction projects flaggers for track work, for instance who wont have any projects to work on. Theyre prized union jobs, and having them idle will cost $100 million in 2025 and another $200 million in 2026. That cost will likely go away by 2027 because officials hope to attrit (their word, not mine) the MTAs payroll. It would likely take a brutal hiring freeze to shrink the MTAs overall payroll by about 10 percent (or execute enormous layoffs). Bonds that were set to go out in 2030 to finance projects far down the line will instead go as early as 2027. Thats another $300 million in unexpected expenses. Altogether, this comes out to roughly $245 million for 2025, another $490 million for 2026, and potentially $640 million in 2027 a total of nearly $1.4 billion in onetime and recurring costs over three years.
Put that on top of the $16.5 billion that would pay for new subway cars, commuter trains, buses, expansion of subway lines, wholesale replacement of decrepit La Guardiaera mechanical signals, and on and on. Its $18 billion at risk from one decision by Hochul, with no plan B ready to go.
Lieber knows that there are three possible outcomes here, and he laid them out. He openly beseeched Hochul and the Democratic leaders in Albany to avoid the first and worst of them: Everyone fails to come to a deal or agrees that the easiest way to deal with the mess is just to shove it all under the carpet, knowing that it will take a few years for the lack of maintenance to show up in ways that really hurt straphangers, after which they can blame MTA management. After all, generations of Albany leaders did exactly that and basically got away with it until the 2018 Democratic primary, when Andrew Cuomos opponent, actress and activist Cynthia Nixon, managed to put a catchy hashtag on his stewardship: #CuomosMTA. (Not that it stuck well enough for her to win.)
Second, and perhaps even more cynically, Hochul and lawmakers strike a deal (likely via the state budget) that forces the MTA to borrow against money that would otherwise be used to run buses and trains. Thats what happened two decades ago during George Patakis governorship, when politicians loaded up the agency with debt to finance East Side Access, the first leg of the Second Avenue Subway, and a whole host of other projects. Extra debt service burdens the operating budget, and that will force the board again to deal with the grim options: layoffs, service cuts, fare hikes, Lieber said. He also noted that Cuomo who struck the budget deal that ordered up congestion pricing, then came out for its cancellation warned that the toll was needed to avert a 30 percent fare hike, which if enacted now would take us to about $3.80. And if you think a toll is unpopular, try jacking the fare.
Then theres Door No. 3: Hochul finds the money somewhere and the MTA has publicly professed that it doesnt care where it comes from. But the politicians will. Hochul justified whacking (sorry, indefinitely pausing) the toll by saying that it would hurt businesses in New York City, yet her first proposal to replace the money quickly rejected by lawmakers was to tax those very businesses. Other Albany ideas for raising more money include the perennial suggestion of casinos as well as their mutually opposed twin, expanded online gambling.
Or, of course, congestion pricing could come back. Hochul has, depending on the day, argued that this really is just a pause; complained that the proposed peak toll rate of $15 is too much at this time; reportedly floated a lower rate to lawmakers (who then floated it to the New York Times); and told a forum organized by the Albany Times-Union that she was examining all options. But, when pressed a few days later, she told a roomful of reporters, Im looking at options. I dont know how you define on the table. Her staff got her off the podium shortly after that exchange.
Hochul is not the only person to say theyre afraid the toll would crimp Manhattans recovery which leads to the great paradox of Manhattan in the post-pandemic era. Theres no shortage of traffic. Theres a shortage of people. The streets are full and maybe never have been fuller backups to the tunnels and bridges are commonplace well after rush hour ends, and buses and ambulances have never been slower. Theres no space left for cars. Yet, entire office towers sit empty and Broadway theaters struggle to sell out. Manhattan, after all, is smaller than DallasFort Worth International Airport. Even if every car were smaller than a Mini Cooper, say ten feet long and five feet wide, that still adds up to one person per 50 square feet. That space on a subway train can move two dozen people at a time. The shift from trains to cars has itself become a major drag on Manhattans recovery, and the sooner we get back to the business of bringing people into Manhattan instead of traffic, the sooner we get Manhattan back in business.
Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn
When my mother-in-law, Marta, invited her 100-year-old mother to move in with her, she didnt have a spare bedroom and she knew her mother wouldnt be able to go up to the second floor anyway. So she put up a curtain to divide the first-floor study and picked up some furniture at Ikea with her mothers needs in mind: a dresser with easy drawer pulls that wouldnt aggravate her arthritis, a daybed with a metal railing on three sides to help her get in and out of bed. Marta soon found the bed wasnt high enough, the bedside table tipped over too easily, and the lamp switch was too hard for her mother to reach. As a pharmacist who has worked in hospitals for decades, she had seen the assistive furniture she needed in medical settings, but none of it was easily available (or affordable) for her at home.
Like Marta and her mother, the vast majority of baby boomers prefer to age in place, as the phrase goes, opting to stay at home or in the home of a family member as they get older, rather than move into an assisted-care facility. Marta and her husband are just entering their 70s, and when I ask if they have adapted their house for themselves, she says, We havent gotten that far. I dont blame her. A general taboo around aging and limited mobility is compounded by the fact that theres not much out there for the home that is exciting or even remotely aesthetically pleasing. Who wants to see a couch rail jutting out of their sofa or a Wonder Pole safety bar while they shower?
Designers have, of course, been thinking about this problem for a long time. This year, the Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi organized an exhibition of elegant even playful walking sticks at Milans Triennale in May. Student prototypes like Swiss designer Sarah Hosslis elegant Lotte armchair offer extended armrests to help anyone safely get in and out of the seat; these have hit the market in Europe but are available only on a commercial scale. More recently, during the 3 Days of Design festival in Copenhagen, Danish designer Anker Bak presented a selection of what he calls everyday assistive furniture, like a walker with integrated storage and a cane with a seat, that follow a rolling crutch Bak designed for his grandmother in 2014. Yet most of these products are also generally difficult for the public to purchase.
Perhaps one of the few firms that have consistently brought accessible design to the general public is Michael Graves Design. Graves, who made his name as a postmodernist architect, expanded his practice to health and assistive industrial design after he became paralyzed from the chest down in 2003. His firm already had pioneered bringing design to the masses; it was the first to launch a Target collaboration of household goods back in the 1990s and had worked with brands like Alessi, Steuben, and Disney. For the past 20 years, its consultations with occupational and physical therapists, social workers, and people of different abilities have led to collaborations with CVS and Stryker on medical equipment such as walkers and shower stools. This month, it launches designs that are much bigger than a teakettle or cane: bedroom furniture for Pottery Barn. As MGD president Donald Strum says, the community that needs this kind of design hasnt been underserved, its been ignored. But now theres enough of us that were setting our own trend.
The Sausalito dresser now comes with a raised edge that helps support someone standing or in a wheelchair and prevents items from falling off. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn
Instead of creating something new, the firm tweaked Pottery Barns best-selling Cayman, Farmhouse, and Sausalito bedroom collections with features that are probably most notable for how unobtrusive they are. Theres no plastic or chrome in sight but there is, for example, enough ground clearance below the pieces for wheelchair users to get close to the furniture, plus raised edges on the dressers and side tables that people can grab onto and that prevent items from falling to the floor.
Other design changes are more ergonomic: Two new armchairs, the Yardley and the Bradford, have a firm foam density and a seat height that allows users knees to bend at 90 degrees, the ideal nose over toes position recommended by occupational therapists. Youre not going to get lost in this chair that someone has to come to rescue you, says Strum. The Bradford chair is height-adjustable and includes a rear grab rail to facilitate furniture surfing, i.e., allowing users to support themselves on it as they walk. And the problem Martas mother had with her Ikea daybed has also been addressed with wooden armrests on the sides of the bed to push yourself up.
The Farmhouse canopy bed was redesigned to include a rail near the head of the bed frame. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn
From left: The side table has easy-to-reach power outlets and can hold medical equipment. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn A rear grab rail on the Bradford chair for someone who may need more support to get around. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn From top: The side table has easy-to-reach power outlets and can hold medical equipment. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn A rear grab rail on the Bra... more From top: The side table has easy-to-reach power outlets and can hold medical equipment. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn A rear grab rail on the Bradford chair for someone who may need more support to get around. Photo: Michael Graves/Pottery Barn
All of the pieces in the collections look like they can be incorporated into anyones bedroom. And thats partly the point. Designing to accommodate aging or disabled people often makes the world more comfortable and accommodating to everyone. Who wouldnt want a rail to help get out of bed, or a nightstand with concealed outlets for your phone and tablet that can also hide a bulky sleep apnea machine or any other device of your choosing? We like to say everyone is either disabled or not yet disabled, says Ben Wintner, the CEO of Michael Graves Design. This is Pottery Barns second foray into accessible furniture, after it introduced ADA-compliant features into some of its collections in 2022. And the prices of its latest collections are more approachable too, compared to bespoke designer pieces; they range from $349 for an armchair to a $2900 King canopy bed.
Even when accessible furniture is marketed to everyone, shopping for it still makes a lot of people self-conscious. There needs to be a cultural shift around this, says Vancouver-based industrial designer Kaly Ryan. She remembers as a child seeing her grandfathers home get adapted so he could age in place there. It granted him 25 more years of at-home independence. There are so many families like mine that need better options, Ryan says. With her startup, Capella Design, she created a shower seat from high-end decking material that looks like wood but is a breeze to clean. Plus, it looks nothing like the plastic shower stools that get thrown out immediately after someone recovers from a temporary disability. We want it to be useful for everyone, she says, and part of what will reduce stigma is that anyone can use a shower seat.
Laura Portugal, an occupational therapist, thinks about beds and bathrooms all the time. She works with patients to improve their New York City homes to minimize the risk of falling or getting injured and often recommends things like a shower chair or a raised toilet seat along with devices to help raise beds. Most of our recommendations are from durable medical-supply companies and cost-effective assistive-device items from Amazon, she says. I would honestly love to see more high-end designer durable medical-equipment items we could offer to clients as they age in place.
Adani Ports clocks record net profit at Rs 3,107 crore in Q1, revenue Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Thursday posted the highest-ever net profit at Rs 3,107 crore (up 47 per cent year-on-year) along with record EBITDA at Rs 4,848 crore for the quarter that ended June 30. The Adani Group's flagship company posted the highest-ever quarterly revenue at Rs 7,560 crore, a 21 per cent growth, as volume grew 8 per cent to 109 MT in the April-June quarter.
FY25 has begun on a strong note for us with a stellar performance on both financial and growth fronts. On the financial front, we posted all-time high earnings. But for the temporary disruption in Gangavaram Port, which is now fully restored, our Q1 cargo volume would have been at 114.7 MMT, a 13 per cent increase, said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director and CEO, APSEZ.
On the growth front, we won two new port concessions and a port O&M contract. We are proud that four of our ports featured in the World Banks Container Port Performance Index 2023, Gupta added.
The cargo volume growth was primarily driven by containers (up 18 per cent YoY) and liquids and gas (up 11 per cent YoY).
The company had a temporary disruption leading to a loss of 5.7 MMT at the Gangavaram Port, which is now fully restored.
Mundra port handled the highest quarterly volume by any Indian port (51 MMT) in the quarter.
Mundra, Kattupalli, Hazira, and Krishnapatnam featured in the World Banks Container Port Performance Index 2023. The index benchmarks ports globally across multiple parameters, including productivity, efficiency and reliability.
Adani Ports signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanzania Ports Authority to operate and manage Container Terminal 2 at the Dar es Salaam Port, Tanzania.
The quarter also saw the first mothership arriving at the Vizhinjam Port, Indias first trans-shipment port equipped with South Asias most advanced container handling technology.
Last month, 'San Fernando', a vessel of the world's second-largest shipping company Maersk, arrived at the Vizhinjam Port with over 2,000 containers on it.
Vizhinjam Port is a perfect example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's triple focus -- Ports for Prosperity, Ports for Progress and Ports for Productivity.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been closely monitoring the situation in Himachal Pradesh in the wake of heavy rains and a cloudburst, sources said on Thursday.
He has asked officials to ensure all possible assistance to the affected as relief operations are underway.
Two bodies were recovered and over 50 people went missing due to multiple cloudbursts in Kullu, Shimla and Mandi districts.
Two additional battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed by the Centre for the relief and the rescue operations, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu told the media in Shimla.
After chairing a high-level meeting to review the rescue and relief operations, the Chief Minister said Rampur tehsil in Shimla, Padhar tehsil in Mandi and Jaon in Nirmand village of Kullu were the worst hit.
The Army and the Air Force have been requested to remain on high alert to handle any exigency as the Met Department has predicted heavy rainfall would continue for the next 36 hours.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to Chief Minister Sukhu to assess the situation following the cloudbursts that caused significant disruption in the Samej Khad area in Rampur in Shimla District.
The Home Minister has assured the Chief Minister of the Centres assistance and the support of the NDRF.
The Chief Minister, who is visiting disaster-hit areas, said two bodies were recovered and teams of NDRF, SDRF, police, Home Guard and fire services have been engaged in relief, search and rescue operations.
Union Minister and BJP Chief J.P. Nadda also spoke to the Chief Minister and assured all possible help from the Central government.
Nadda also spoke to former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and directed all BJP workers to engage in relief operations.
* China is on the cusp of an industrial revolution powered increasingly by basic research, where AI technology is rapidly emerging as a key catalyst for the advancement of frontier sciences. * The Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China, launched a project to harness the power of AI in advancing frontier scientific research. * "AI4Science has enormous potential and will comprehensively transform the process from scientific research to industrial application," said E Weinan, a professor from Peking University. BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- At a state-of-the-art lab, a researcher scribbles a chemical formula on the smart glass surface. Instantly, with a digital command, the robotic "scientist" empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) launches into executing a sequence of tasks including material retrieval, reagent addition, reaction initiation, monitoring and testing, all with the ease and precision of a culinary expert preparing a dish. This vivid scenario unfolds within the cutting-edge automated laboratory at XtalPi's Shanghai headquarters. Here, AI is revolutionizing the field of new drug discovery, infusing the process with unprecedented efficiency and innovation. China is on the cusp of an industrial revolution powered increasingly by basic research, where AI technology is rapidly emerging as a key catalyst for the advancement of frontier sciences. In recent years, the prowess of machine learning and the emergence of generative AI technologies in tackling complex mathematical challenges have combined to usher in a transformative approach to scientific inquiry -- AI for Science (AI4Science). This innovative paradigm is redefining the boundaries of research, enabling deeper exploration and discovery across various scientific disciplines. Last year, the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China, launched a project to harness the power of AI in advancing frontier scientific research. The project is designed to deploy sophisticated AI models and algorithms to drive breakthroughs in genetic studies and stimulate significant progress in the field of biological breeding. NEW MODELS Earlier this month, OpenLAM, a Chinese open-sourced large language model (LLM), introduced a suite of seven innovative model solutions tailored to address complex challenges in areas such as alloy development, pharmaceutical small molecules, solid-state battery technology, semiconductors and high-temperature superconductivity. AI technology has also made significant strides in enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of weather forecasting, revolutionizing the way that people predict and prepare for meteorological events. A Shanghai team has developed an AI weather forecast system named FengWu, based on multi-model and multi-task deep learning architecture, capable of generating high-precision global meteorological forecast results for the following 10 days in just 30 seconds. Compared with traditional physical models, FengWu reduces the rate of error by 19.4 percent and extends the forecast range to 10.75 days based on reanalysis data, according to the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, one of its developers. "The FengWu model exemplifies the transformative potential of AI within the realms of Earth sciences and beyond," said Ouyang Wanli, the lab's lead scientist. Pangu Weather, another cutting-edge model developed by Huawei, is also making waves in the field of meteorology with its precise weather forecasts. Its predictive accuracy, ranging from a period of one hour to seven days, has surpassed that of several meteorological centers in Europe and the United States for these same periods. According to the Central Meteorological Observatory of China, the model showed impressive performance in the trajectory prediction of Typhoon Mawar in June 2023 and was successfully utilized in forecasting Typhoon Doksuri last year. Moreover, in the vast expanses of the universe beyond our planet, AI is proving its capabilities, contributing to our understanding and exploration of the cosmos. In a pioneering collaboration with the National Astronomical Observatories, Tencent, a Chinese tech giant, is spearheading a star exploration initiative that utilizes AI to boost the efficiency of pulsar searches conducted by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). Remarkably, this AI-assisted approach can complete data processing work in three days that would otherwise have taken a year. The initiative has already detected two fast radio bursts via the processing of celestial survey data, thereby contributing to studies that aim to deepen our understanding of the universe's origins. NEW DISCOVERY A research team in China's eastern coastal city of Yantai has successfully trained an artificial intelligence system for the purpose of catalyst screening. From an extensive pool of more than 14,000 potential candidates, they have pinpointed four molecular formulas, all of which have yielded highly satisfactory outcomes. "Using conventional approaches, a seasoned analyst could perform approximately 20 experiments annually. To explore such a vast array of candidates, it would have required the efforts of 20 analysts over the span of 35 years," said Liao Zengtai, chairman of Wanhua Chemical. "However, with the adoption of AI, this extensive endeavor was completed in a mere six months," Liao added. The chemical supplier stands out as a pioneering enterprise that has mastered comprehensive manufacturing technology across the entire production chain of nylon 12, a polymer with excellent mechanical and corrosion-proof properties. Another team from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has leveraged AI algorithms to design a de novo type of enzyme called cytochrome P450, which is known as a "universal catalyst" in the field of industrial biotechnology. The catalytic capability of this enzyme has seen a 1.3- to 3.5-fold enhancement, according to the researchers. AI technologies are instrumental in the intelligent optimization of chemical synthesis pathways, thus enabling the automation of lab procedures and expediting the discovery of new materials through sophisticated high-throughput screening, said Yang Jinlong, a professor from the University of Science and Technology of China. Zhang Linfeng, the president of the AI for Science Institute in Beijing, cited an example of the enigmatic growth of lithium dendrites, which can render lithium batteries inoperative and remains an unsolved puzzle. This is largely due to the limitations of conventional techniques in capturing the rapid, millisecond-scale transformations involving hundreds of thousands of atoms, according to Zhang. Zhang's team and scientists from Peking University have worked with CATL, China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, to develop new battery materials. "The use of AI, particularly large language models, offers a promising avenue to achieve both precision and efficiency in this challenging domain," Zhang explained. Zhang is also a founder of DP Technology, a Beijing-based startup that utilizes AI for molecular modeling to offer industrial design across a spectrum of industries, including bio-pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and chemical engineering. DP Technology has been listed in CB Insight's AI 100 ranking in 2024. This exemplifies the significant shift of China's AI4Science from the confines of research labs to the broader market arena, emerging as a highly sought-after investment opportunity. MindRank, a Hangzhou-based biotech firm, utilized its own AI drug discovery to develop a small molecule medication. The AI tool assisted it to achieve an impressive feat which saw the research team identifying a preclinical candidate among nearly 100 molecules in just eight months. The drug MDR-001 has now received clinical trial approvals in both China and the United States, targeting conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. AI4Science is set to exert a deep and lasting influence on the realm of basic sciences, with ripple effects extending to subsequent technological innovations and the field of smart manufacturing, according to a report by Crystal Stream Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital investor. "AI4Science has enormous potential and will comprehensively transform the process from scientific research to industrial application," said E Weinan, a professor from Peking University. "It represents the best opportunity in the history of China's sci-tech innovation," he added. (Video reporters: Sun Qing ; Video editors: Zhang Nan, Wei Yin, Liu Yutian, Wang Han)
Power has gotten to his head, SC raps Delhi CMs aide in Swati Maliwal assault case The Supreme Court on Thursday rapped Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar, who approached the apex court seeking bail in AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal's assault case. "We don't want to read in open court. But once she tells him (Bibhav Kumar) to stop because of this particular physical condition, this man continues. What he thinks, the power has gotten to his head?" said a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant.
The Bench, also comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan, remarked that the accused did not feel shame to assault a young woman.
Responding, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared on the accuseds behalf, said that the question of assault is a subject matter of trial and the apex court was dealing with the bail plea.
Singhvi submitted that Maliwal suffered simple and non-dangerous injuries as per the MLC report contrary to the allegations contained in the FIR.
He added that Maliwal did not lodge an FIR on the date of the incident, though she went to the police station, but after three days on May 16.
At this, Justice Kant-led Bench said, But she did dial emergency number 112 on the date of the incident.
Ultimately, the apex court agreed to examine Bibhav Kumars special leave petition against the decision of the Delhi High Court refusing to admit his bail plea.
Listing the matter for next Wednesday, it asked the petitioner to place on record the copy of the charge sheet and other documents, including the MLC report.
In its impugned July 12 order, a bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta of the Delhi High Court rejected Bibhav Kumars bail plea saying that at this stage, the possibility of tampering with the evidence or influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out by the accused, who happened to be the personal secretary of Delhi CM.
Earlier on May 27, a Delhi court refused to release CM Kejriwal's aide on bail. Bibhav Kumars counsel contended that Maliwal went to the CMs residence with the intent to malign his aide. Questioning the three-day delay in lodging the FIR, he argued that Bibhav Kumar was not present at the CMs residence at the time of the incident and Maliwal had no appointment.
Kumar was arrested on May 18 in connection with the assault on Maliwal on May 13 and produced late at night before a local court which sent him to five days of police custody.
Delhi Police registered a case against Kumar after he allegedly assaulted Maliwal at the Chief Minister's residence.
The FIR at the Civil Lines police station includes charges under Sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354(B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
For all his faults, Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, was always very fond of his grandmother.
His best-selling 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, is a love letter to her. His grandparents were, he says, 'the best things that ever happened to me' though his grandmother, whom he called 'Mamaw', was far from cuddly.
Her favourite show was The Sopranos and she particularly admired the main character, Tony Soprano.
'Though he murdered countless enemies . . . Mamaw respected his loyalty and the fact that he would go to any length to protect the honour of his family.'
Born in 1933, and pregnant by 1946, Mamaw 'came from a family that would shoot at you rather than argue with you'.
For all his faults, Donald Trump 's running mate, J.D. Vance , was always very fond of his grandmother, whom he called Mamaw
Aged 12, she spotted two men stealing the family cow.
'She ran inside, grabbed a rifle, and fired a few rounds. One of the men collapsed the result of a shot to the leg and the other jumped into the truck and squealed away.
'The would-be thief could barely crawl, so Mamaw approached him, raised the business end of her rifle to the man's head, and prepared to finish the job.
'Luckily for him, Uncle Pet intervened. Mamaw's first confirmed kill would have to wait for another day.'
Eek! Mamaw was clearly a far cry from the grandmother celebrated by our very own St Winifred's School Choir in their Christmas 1980 chart-topper:
There's no one quite like Grandma
She always has a smile
She never hurries us along
But stays a little while.
Indeed not. Mamaw had a temper. She once poured a canister of petrol over Vance's drunken grandfather, Papaw: 'She lit a match and dropped it on his chest.
'When Papaw burst into flames, their 11-year-old daughter jumped into action to put out the fire and save his life.
'Miraculously, Papaw survived the episode with only mild burns.'
No matter how random or violent her behaviour, Vance sets Mamaw up as the great American role model.
For instance, she once ignored the direction signs on a highway and drove straight towards the oncoming traffic.
Vance (pictured earlier last month) paid tribute to his granny in his speech to the Republican convention in Milwaukee, as he officially accepted Trump's vice presidential nomination
'I was screaming in terror, but after a U-turn on a three-lane interstate, the only thing Mamaw said about the incident was, 'We're fine, goddammit. Don't you know Jesus rides in the car with me?'
You or I might see this as the behaviour of a madwoman, but not Vance, who draws a cosy, cracker-barrel moral from it.
'In Mamaw's contradictions lay great wisdom,' he reflects. 'It provided a message I needed to hear.
'To coast through life was to squander my God-given talent, so I had to work hard.
'I had to take care of my family because Christian duty demanded it . . . I should never despair, for God had a plan.'
Vance paid tribute to his weirdo granny in his speech to the Republican convention in Milwaukee, as he officially accepted Trump's vice presidential nomination.
He told delegates that, after Mamaw died in 2005, 'we went through her things [and] we found 19 loaded handguns' pause for cheers 'now, the thing is, they were stashed all over her house.
'Under her bed, in her closet. In the silverware drawer. And we wondered what was going on.'
And here comes the moral . . .
For one reason or another, Vance (pictured on Tuesday) failed to mention how his grandmother kept '19 loaded handguns' in her home in Hillbilly Elegy, even though he covered his grandmother's death and its aftermath. Did he consider it too sinister to mention? Or possibly more likely did he, invent it for his speech?
'It occurred to us that towards the end of her life. Mamaw couldn't get around very well. And so this frail old woman . . .' she was, in fact, six years younger than Donald Trump is now, but best not mention it 'made sure that no matter where she was, she was within arm's length of whatever she needed to protect her family.
'That's who we are! That's who we fight for! That's American spirit!'
(More cheers from the crowd, accompanied by chants of 'USA! USA! USA!')
For one reason or another, Vance failed to mention this episode in Hillbilly Elegy, even though he covered his grandmother's death and its aftermath.
Why not? Back then, did he consider it too sinister to mention? Or possibly more likely did he invent it for his speech, thinking, rightly or wrongly, that it would boost his electoral appeal?
There's no one quite like Grandma
She always has a gun
She never needs to hurry us
She knows that we will run.
A sex scandal involving a group of swinging Mormon momfluencers in Utah is being turned into a reality show.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives will premiere on Hulu in September and follows a group of glamorous influencer moms who had their faith and friendships rocked by a viral couple-swapping incident.
The series is produced by the team behind Netflix's My Unorthodox Life, which followed designer Julia Haart after leaving her strict orthodox Jewish community behind to become a hotshot in the fashion world.
'The scandalous world of a group of Mormon mom influencers implodes when they get caught in the midst of a swinging sex scandal that makes international headlines,' teases a press release.
'Now, their sisterhood is shook to its core. Faith, friendship and reputations are all on the line. Will #MomTok be able to survive and continue to give the rulebook a run for its money, or will this group fall from grace?'
A sex scandal involving a group of swinging Mormon momfluencers in Utah is being turned into a reality show for the Hulu network
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives follows a group of glamorous influencer moms who had their faith and friendships rocked by a viral couple-swapping incident
The group first came to national attention in 2022, when Mormon TikTok star Taylor Paul, now 30, publicly revealed that she was part of a group of Utah couples who indulged in 'soft swinging' a practice where partners are swapped but only with the understanding that they don't have full penetrative sex.
But Taylor caused a sensation when she admitted that she had broken the cardinal rule and ended up losing her husband and father of her two children Tate Paul, who divorced her over the incident.
She also lost a lot of her friends, who turned on her and denied their involvement in the couple-swapping situation.
While The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has a large cast, it's unclear which of the ladies - if any - were involved in any swinging shenanigans.
One thing the cast does have in common is their enviable social media followings, with many of the women already boasting hundreds of thousands of fans across Instagram and TikTok.
The current cast, who are all aged in their 20s and early 30s, include Demi Engemann, Jennifer Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Wessel, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Mathews, and Whitney Leavitt.
The women are already embracing their impending reality TV fame by teaming up for group TikTok dancing videos and gushing about the gig on their social media pages.
The group first came to national attention in 2022 when Mormon TikTok star Taylor Paul (pictured) exposed her swinging friend group on social media
Taylor lost her husband and the father of her two children Tate Paul (pictured) after she broke one of the rules in their 'soft swinging' arrangement
The 30-year-old was also arrested last year after a drunken domestic dispute with her new boyfriend resulted in her five-year-old daughter Indy accidentally being hit with a chair
While it's unclear what storylines will play out on the series, Taylor has certainly been in her fair share of drama since exposing the secret swinging in her Mormon sisterhood.
After divorcing husband Tate, the mother-of-three found love with real estate agent Dakota Mortensen - a former reality star and fellow TikTok star who went viral for sharing his struggles with drugs and alcohol on social media.
However, things took a turn for the worse in February, 2023, when Taylor was arrested in a domestic violence dispute after throwing a chair at Dakota that ended up striking her five-year-old daughter Indy.
She also threw her phone at him, and made him 'fear for his life', according to court records.
The records say Dakota told Taylor to stop throwing things at him because he was standing next to her five-year-old daughter, but that she carried on.
The sizzling hot cast includes glamorous boy mom Layla Taylor, who has 26,000 TikTok followers
Whitney Leavitt has two million TikTok followers and 250,000 Instagram followers
Blonde bombshell Mayci has 1.3million TikTok followers and has launched her own brand of gummies
Taylor is pictured filming a scene with one of her castmates for the new series
Eventually, one of the chairs hit the child in the head and left her with a 'goose-egg' injury, the records claim.
Bodycam footage obtained by DailyMail.com later revealed that the fight was sparked when Dakota refused to take a heavily intoxicated Taylor to a concert - causing her to fly into a rage.
The Mormon mom 'went ballistic' and eventually threw the chair that would accidentally hit her daughter.
When police arrived at the scene in a Salt Lake City suburb, the influencer told them she was so scared she had 'peed' herself.
She was charged with two counts of third degree felony domestic violence in the presence of a child with injury, a Class A misdemeanor of child abuse with injury, and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief.
Self-proclaimed 'cool mom' Jen Affleck already has over 1.1 million TikTok followers
Hairstylist Jessi Ngatikaura (left) has over 100,000 followers on both TikTok and Instagram, while Mikayla Matthews (right) boasts 2.4million on TikTok alone
The stylish Demi Engemann already has over 300,000 followers on TikTok
However, she was able to reach a plea deal after pleading guilty to aggravated assault, and the rest of the charges were dropped.
Dakota spoke with DailyMail.com after the incident, insisting that Taylor is a 'good mom.'
'She's so broken right now. I tried to help her,' he said.
'She's a good mom, she's going through a lot in her life right now. Taylor's been struggling, it's been a hard year for her. She is racked with guilt on her cheating scandal that cost her her marriage.'
The couple have since repaired their issues and in April, they welcomed their first child together - a son named Ever True.
Taylor already has daughter Indy, six, and Ocean, three, with her ex-husband Tate.
All six episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premieres on Hulu on September 6.
They eventually decided to meet up in person - and the rest is history
Each on the verge of divorce, they decided to sign up for Ashley Madison
A couple who met two decades ago through the pro-infidelity dating site Ashley Madison has revealed they have zero regrets and feel that their marriage is as happy as can be.
Back in 2004, Michael Oshust and Stephania Meyer, of Nova Scotia, were both married to other people but neither marriage was going well, as they told Business Insider.
Michael, 55, was in the midst of a divorce with his wife, who he'd been with for six-and-a-half years.
For her part, Stephania, 52, had been with her now-ex husband 11 years, and had two daughters with him - but was desperately unhappy and leaning toward divorce.
Back in 2004, Michael Oshust, 55, and Stephania Meyer, 52, were both married to other people - but neither marriage was going well
As Michael was amidst a divorce, and Stephania's split with her husband was imminent, the two separately decided to sign up for Ashley Madison
Stephania and her ex had in fact implicitly agreed to put off splitting up until after the next Christmas to give their daughters one last holiday together as a family.
At the same time, Ashley Madison was ramping up its marketing efforts, and would soon gain widespread notoriety for its tagline: 'Life is short. Have an affair.'
'I heard numerous radio ads for Ashley Madison and it peaked some curiosity as I was missing companionship in my marriage,' Stephania told DailyMail.com in 2019, then on the occasion of their 15th anniversary.
The brazen way that the service championed infidelity even led to its ads being banned in Singapore in 2013 for its 'flagrant disregard of our family values and public morality.'
Still, it gave Michael, then an IT project manager, a discreet option for starting to date other people with the finalization of his divorce not yet realized.
As for Stephania, then a stay-at-home mom, she claimed that she had initially signed up out of curiosity rather than with the express intent of finding an affair partner.
In any case, the pair, both based in Ontario at the time, found each other through Ashley Madison and began chatting.
Michael described to BI that both were 'yearning' for a deeper connection and 'intellectual conversations.'
After six weeks of exchanging messages, the two met for the first time in real life at a coffee shop - and the rest is history
Stephania and Michael went ahead and tied the knot in a 2007 wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with two friends in attendance
Stephania recalled that most of her messages were requesting nudes - but only Michael had asked her how she was.
They also bonded over a shared affinity for the same rock music.
'It intrigued me, so I just sent a little note back,' Stephania told the outlet. 'And then we just kept messaging. We had so much to talk about.
'It got to the point where every day I'd get the kids off to school and race home to get online just to chat with Michael.'
She eventually began developing real feelings for her new online beau.
'It scared me because I'm not a cheater per se,' she admitted, adding: 'It just felt so different. Natural, even.'
Six weeks after their first messages were exchanged, the duo met in person at a coffee shop in October 2004.
'I opened the door, and I gently gave her a nice kiss. And that was the best feeling I'd ever had in my life at that point,' Michael recalled to BI.
After relocating from Ontario to Nova Scotia in the years after their wedding, the two opened and currently run a house-painting business
From there, they kept seeing each other more and more frequently, but keeping everything clandestine.
Nonetheless, it only took a month from their first in-person meeting for Stephania's husband discover emails from Michael and realized what was going on.
From there, he kicked her out of the house.
After her divorce was finalized, Stephania recalled her ex admitting that he knew something was going on as she'd started to glow and take better care of herself.
It didn't take long for Stephania and Michael to move in together - in a location nearby her two girls, who were then five and seven years old.
Though Stephania did her best to be a constant presence in her daughters' lives, she was devastated when they eventually cut off contact with her, even blocking her 'on everything.'
And she became something of a pariah amongst her other family and some friends.
But she and Michael were undeterred and went ahead with tying the knot in 2007, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with two friends in attendance.
Eventually, the two relocated to Nova Scotia and now co-own a house-painting business.
Two decades after their first meeting, Stephania reflected of their relationship: 'I wouldn't trade it for the world.'
A young man has admitted he is 'extremely miserable' living Down Under and blames the 'cliquey' culture for his inability to make new friends.
The man, in his 20s, is from an African family and has lived in Western Australia since he was a baby.
While he loves the education, safety and healthcare and has no intention of 'bashing' life in Australia, he admits he is incredibly lonely despite being a naturally 'bubbly' person.
'Making and keeping friends here is very hard as many people tend to keep their school/work/uni friends around which can be very cliquey,' he wrote on Reddit.
'"Hey would should totally catch up" is said on a regular basis, when usually its just a courtesy to not straight up decline an invitation to hang out.'
The self proclaimed 'proud Aussie' also said that people his age are only into smoking and drinking, and while he's not against that, the desire to do other activities further contributes to his isolation.
He has tried visiting beaches, parks, and workshops but nothing changes - with everyone in their 'little groups' still reluctant to engage with strangers.
The young man, who thinks 'adulting sucks', also pointed to the harsh cost of living and the fact that Aussies definitely live to work, and don't work to live.
Sydney was once ranked by Time Out as the third worst city in the world for making new friends, but many agree Australia can be incredibly isolating
Even the hard water in Australia makes his skin break out with painful cystic acne, which also doesn't help when it comes to making new friends.
'I just need to know if anyone else feels the way I do about living here?' he asked.
People were sharply divided, with some saying that Australian culture wasn't to blame, but that making new friends is just universal problem once you reach a certain age.
'As someone who was born and raised in Australia but hasnt lived there for quite some time, most of the things you have mentioned are just adulthood problems and ones not unique to here,' one woman said.
Others believed that the focus on work and people being too tired and set in their own ways had nothing to do with Australia but more to do with the global economy in general.
One in six Aussies struggles with feelings of loneliness according to the Australian Institute of Health and Wellness
'It sounds like its not Australia thats depressing you, its capitalism,' one man said.
Some defended the country and said that while adulthood is hard, the laid back culture actually means that people place less emphasis on work than they do in other countries.
'A better work/life culture might be one of the main reasons people from other cultures choose to make the move to Australia,' one expat said.
Most recommended some time living abroad for the man to get out of his depressed rut, suggesting it would offer some new perspective on what Australia was really like.
Others said he was just living in the wrong part of Australia if it was new friends he was after, as some of the bigger cities such as Sydney and Perth were notoriously difficult for meeting new people.
Australians who have relocated to Perth have dubbed it a lonely city and a very hard place to make new friends
'If you can stand the heat, come to Darwin! One of the least clique-ish places Ive ever lived and everyones out walking and talking in the evening along the foreshore. Its a very international community,' a resident said.
A few people thought that location had nothing to do with the man's depression and that he needed to address his emotional and mental health.
'You are taking yourself wherever you go. If you want to be happy, start working on yourself,' one woman said.
But many people argued that Aussies were in fact to blame, and could be a lot more open when it comes to letting new people in.
'You are definitely right that Australia has become extremely socially fragmented and people experience high rates of social isolation and loneliness. Thats a fact and I dont know why people would try to dispute that,' a woman said.
'I think Australia is turning into a bit of a social hole where people have no meaningful social or community connection anymore,' another woman agreed.
'I think people say "Lets catch up" as a performance just to feel like they have a social connection.'
The Australian Institute of Health and Wellness says that one in six Australians struggle with loneliness.
The original poster's age bracket of 15 - 24 year olds experience more loneliness on average than females of the same age.
People also acknowledged that Australians can be especially hard to befriend if you're not partial to a beer at the pub.
'Ever since I stopped drinking alcohol and didnt want to go out to nightclubs or bars/pubs it seems like you get cast aside. Australian culture is heavily dependent on alcohol to have fun. Its a mandatory requirement for lots of people here,' one man said.
An Aussie who agreed that the country's culture still has a long way to go offered some interesting insights on the reasons why.
'Mate, Australia is stressful cluster f*** of gender separation and entitlement where the vast majority are insecure as heck and have forgotten what happiness means,' he said.
One labelled the poster very brave to share his true feelings as he thinks Australians are a bit touchy when it comes to hearing anything negative about themselves or their culture.
'I find us to be incredibly defensive when Australia is criticised even gently. I get piled on as a white Australian immigrant for trying to suggest that we should improve some things,' he said.
'I can't imagine what it's like to say the same as an Australian immigrant who isn't white.
'Don't let them convince you that you're ungrateful/wrong/an idiot just because they have no imagination.'
One lonely Aussie who had given up on trying to make new friends has some sage advice for the young man.
'Life is miserable sometimes, so I got myself a dog and a therapist.'
Meghan Markle wears clothing from smaller brands that is 'not possible to alter' and is 'too controversial' for bigger fashion houses, experts have claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, has often opted for floor-length garments over the past six years - most recently wearing a pair of 360 trousers to a business summit in the Hamptons over the weekend.
For the occasion, the mother-of-two - who is preparing to launch her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard - paired the beige linen trousers with a matching single-breasted waistcoat, which is also by the Australian brand St Agni.
At one point, Meghan posed for photos with makeup mogul Bobbi Brown and fashion designer Misha Nonoo - and fans noticed the Duchess' feet were totally obscured by her trousers.
Speaking to FEMAIL, celebrity stylist Rochelle White claimed Meghan's trousers were potentially a sample pair from St Agni and therefore not possible to alter to her 5ft 6in frame - either because they have to be returned or because they've been given to the stylist rather than directly to Meghan herself to keep.
Pictured: The Duchess of Sussex (with Misha Nonoo and Bobbi Brown) opted for a 700 beige linen co-ord set by St Agni for the Hamptons business summit
The expert said: 'I know that wide leg long trousers are in fashion and trend piece right now. They have been dominating instagram and runways, so I think she likes the style.
'They are great at cinching the waist but adding leg and depth to an outfit. They can also be flattering and comfortable and not so restrictive.
'But the Duchess could also be working with either a designer, fashion house, or stylist where it might not be possible to have alterations done so that they are more fitting to her leg length. So, as a result they are longer.'
What's more, fashion expert Giorgina Ramazzotti has also claimed that while Meghan has worn Dior and Givenchy in the past, she could be seen as too 'controversial' a figure to get free samples from some major fashion houses.
Giorgina said: 'As a celebrity and actress before joining the royals, Meghan would have been very used to a world in which everything is given on loan for photoshoots, an appearance or borrowed from wardrobe as part of her character in Suits.
'Celebrities rarely have to part with cold hard cash in exchange for fashion items. Often items are given as gifts, given on loan for special events, or the star is given a heavy discount to shop the brand, and whilst Meghan wasnt a well-known actress before meeting Prince Harry, she would still have been given freebies albeit from smaller brands.
'When she joined the royals, she quickly found out that loans and gifts from designers were forbidden, and the star was no doubt given an allowance to dress something Im sure she was glad to throw out of the window when she left the royal fold.
'It can be noted that Meghan rarely wears big designer brands such as the French fashion houses Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Saint Laurent etc. These brands are very careful with their image and getting loans from them for lesser or controversial stars (as Meghan, in some circles, now is) is like getting blood from a stone.'
Pictured: Meghan Markle wore another pair of floor-length trousers for the Invictus Games in Germany in September 2023
Meghan Markle wore floor-length trousers to visit Edinburgh Castle during her first official joint visit to Scotland with Prince Harry in February 2018
In June 2023, French fashion house Dior denied that they had signed a 'megabucks' deal with the Duchess, who was rumoured to become the face of the brand.
It had been speculated any deal could be worth as much as 15million to the couple.
What's more, the stylist argued that the Duchess favours floor-length trousers and skirts as she is trying to channel an 'old money' aesthetic.
Giorgina explained: 'Meghan tends to favour minimalist, understated luxury; simple separates, neutral colours, and classic tailoring think Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy meets 21st century style and her latest look from St. Agni encompasses all this to a tee.'
The expert says Meghan could be 'carving out her own version of "quiet luxury", which has proven to be a popular trend over the past few years and means favouring unbranded designer clothing in neutral colour palettes.
Giorgina continued: 'Larger than life amounts of cloth has long been a design of wealth the epitome of old money style so prevalent with Gen Z and Millennials.
'Where a maxi dress on the high street usually clings and rarely reaches below the calf, in luxury stores their summer dresses use much more fabric to create volume and length often billowing and reaching to the floor. Where lower price points scrimp on fabric, luxury brands know that their clients want to look put together with no corners cut.'
Celebrity stylist Rochelle thinks Meghan wears longer outfits that cover her feet to look taller than she is. Above: Meghan in September 2022, Germany
The Duchess of Sussex is pictured in a long ballgown at the Variety Power of Women Los Angeles in November 2023
Meghan Markle wears a long ruffled dress as she visits Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, in May 2024
But while Meghan's trouser and skirt lengths may be 'scoffed at' by some, Giorgina says her style is always 'chic and on point'.
Following Meghan and Harry's 'tour' of Nigeria in May, Rochelle argued that the Duchess frequently wears floor-length garments to give her the illusion of height.
She said: 'Long dresses and trousers, depending on body type, can help to elongate the body and shape.
'They can make you look taller and depending on the styles can help to define areas of the body you either want to highlight or cover up.'
When the royal couple spent a week in Frankfurt last summer to attend the Invictus Games, Meghan wore an all-brown ensemble on a day that saw them both watching events and attending a NATO meeting.
This was made up of a chocolate-coloured blouse and creased taupe trousers that trailed along the floor.
She stood next to Prince Harry - who is a whopping 6ft 2inches in height - and although she barely came up to his shoulder, Rochelle says she appears taller because of her outfit choice.
She said: 'Looking at Meghan, I feel that these styles make her look taller and highlight her silhouette. I feel it makes her look taller.
'I feel that she knows her body and the things or items that work for her best and is tapping into that with her looks.'
In 2018, during Meghan's trip to Edinburgh with Harry, she proudly donned a pair of lengthy, flared black trousers which were too long for her despite wearing a pair of heels.
As the Duchess was busy greeting people who braved the unpredictable Scottish weather to see the former royals, the slacks were pulled along the wet concrete, gathering dirt on the bottom of them.
A popular YouTuber has been accused of 'grooming' his ex-girlfriend, because they met when she was 14 - and he was 21 years old.
Zach Justice, 28 - co-host of the successful Dropouts Podcast which has more than 1.27 million YouTube subscribers - has come under fire for his past relationship with musician Indiana Massara, 21.
Both have vehemently denied the allegation that there was anything romantic before she was well over 18, but social media users have still remarked that they're still 'disgusted' at the situation.
It is understood that the pair dated sometime between 2020 and 2022, before breaking up, but stayed in touch as friends and even made content about being exes together.
In March, Indiana, who is originally from Australia, appeared on Dropouts - of which she also used to be a host - to address how their relationship is viewed.
Zach Justice, 28 - co-host of the successful Dropouts Podcast which has more than 1.27 million YouTube subscribers - has come under fire for his past relationship with musician Indiana Massara, 21. Pictured: Aged 20 and 27 while dating
She explained that the pair met when she was 14 and he was 21 because her mother hired him to edit her videos.
'He worked for, I guess pretty much my mum at the time,' she said.
'He edited my YouTube videos and in exchange had a room in my mum's apartment.
'Literally I cant even express to you how much nothing happened.
'Yeah, I sure hope not you were 14 years old,' Zach added.
Indiana continued: 'There have been some many things... comments, Reddits, TikTok videos, everything.
'Saying that I'm this victim, saying that Zach groomed me, like all of these things - and I would like to set the f***ing record straight.
'Number one - I am not a victim. Every time you guys are consistently drafting these narratives of this bull***t that happened when I was 14, you are constantly devaluing real victims and real people that have been in those situations.
Both have vehemently denied the allegation that there was anything romantic before she was well over 18, but social media users have still remarked that they're 'disgusted' at the situation. Pictured, the pair as friends when she was 15 and he was 22
It is understood that the pair dated sometime between 2020 and 2022, before breaking up, but stayed in touch as friends and even made content about being exes together
'I have been in those situations with some horrible people and Zach is not one of them.
'I have been in abusive relationships. I have been in situations with older men who were taking advantage of younger women in California, and that didn't f***ing happen - it never happened.'
'I edited for her mom for a couple of months, whatever it was, and then I didn't [Indiana] for years,' Zach added.
Indiana confirmed that they then didn't connect until around two and a half years later. Old Instagram photos show Zach going to a movie with her when she was about to turn 16, and him, 22.
In March, Indiana, who is originally from Australia, appeared on Dropouts - of which she also used to be a host - to address how their relationship is viewed
The pair then recounted how, around then, they realised they worked well together on video and were encouraged to make more content together.
Zach said that he expressed, at the time: 'Only way I'm doing this is if it's brother and sister content, 'cause I don't want anyone thinking were something because we weren't.'
Indiana added that she also had a boyfriend during this period, and didn't see Zach in a romantic lens.
She also opened up about being in an abusive relationship in her teenage years - and is since understood to have taken out a restraining order against the ex-partner - which Zach had helped her heal through.
'You were in an abusive relationship with someone and you kind of came to me as a friend,' he recounted.
The pair have recounted how, around then, they realised they worked well together on video and were encouraged to make more content together. Both pictured at Indiana's 19th birthday
Despite the pair denying any grooming allegations, viewers have slammed Zach as a 'creep' and 'predator'. The pair in 2020
'And I just talked to you, and I wanted to be there for you like a big brother... '
It is not clear when the pair officially started dating, but online accounts have speculated that Indiana was around 20 years old.
Zach - who was 5.5 million followers on TikTok - has also denied dating Indiana when she was 'freshly 18' on a podcast episode.
Photos from her Instagram show the pair in coupley photos, cuddling close, from around 2021, when she would have been 19 and Zach, 26. However, it is not confirmed if they were together then.
In a 2020 podcast episode of Wesam's World, when the pair were still just friends, and said they met when Zach edited her videos and stayed with Indiana's family for a few months.
It is not known exactly why Zach and Indiana broke up. As reported by Distractify, Indiana was struggling with her mental health and experiencing frequent panic attacks, whereas Zach claimed 'he had never been treated worse in a relationship than he was with her'. The pair are understood to have parted ways by late 2022.
Despite the pair denying any grooming allegations, viewers have slammed Zach as a 'creep' and 'predator'.
It is not clear when the pair officially started dating, but online accounts have speculated that Indiana was around 20 years old. Zach has also denied dating Indiana when she was 'freshly 18' on a podcast episode. Pictured in January
In a 36 minute video earlier this month, creator Film Cooper recounted the signs of grooming and compared it to the duo, claiming that old footage of the pair being close and cuddly when Indiana was a teenager now appears uncomfortable.
TikTok creator Zina (@zinaaweemaa) also remarked that Zach was consistently leaving comments and liking Indiana's posts when she was a teenager.
'It's obviously banter, it's obviously flirty,' she said. 'Like what business do you have as a 22 year old on this 15 year old girl's Instagram.'
Zach commented on the video, saying: 'Actually I would never as am actually a respectable human being. Twisting things t make someone a villain is a strange pass time.
'Hoping you can figure your life out. Rooting for you.'
In a follow up, Zina then said: 'Can we explain how this is OK? How does it make sense as someone in your twenties to know a girl for years until she becomes 18 and then date her.'
She then referenced jokes Zach has made about another influencer friend of his, Tara Yummy, 24, who he has in a podcast 'jokingly' called a 'peadophile's dream' because she is 'small and dainty'.
Zina has also shared DMs Zach sent her insisting that he is not in the wrong - but she has continued to double down on her content, and stressed that influencers must be held accountable.
Indiana's representatives told MailOnline that they had 'no comment at this time'.
MailOnline has also reached out to Zach for comment.
What's the worst chocolate bar of all time? Have your say in our poll below
Nearly everyone appreciates a good chocolate binge, whether it's as part of a meal deal or the luxurious share-sized bars (which usually end up being eaten in one sitting).
But if you think all UK chocolate bars are equally valued by the British public, then you need to think again.
This week a furious debate was ignited by discount comparison website LatestDeals.co.uk, which asked 'What is the worst chocolate bar?' - and people were quick to share their very strong opinions.
Now, almost 22,000 MailOnline readers have had their say and the question has been settled once and for all - with one very controversial bar receiving by far the most votes.
MailOnline readers have voted for their least favourite chocolate bar and the Fry's Turkish Delight was a clear non-starter with more than a third of the votes
The chocolates included were Bounty, Turkish Delight, Snickers, Milky Bar, Twix, Crunchie, Cadbury Fruit and Nut and Boost.
Mars, Caramac, Milky Way, Double Decker and Picnic also made the list.
But one chocolate outranked the others by far, gaining 36 per cent of the vote share after nearly 8,000 people ranked it in last place.
Clearly, a very sweet bar is not for everyone - as Fry's Turkish Delight was officially crowned the worst chocolate bar in the UK.
One person said: 'Fry's Turkish delight is absolutely disgusting and it shouldn't be called that.'
They added that they 'couldn't find an emoji' bad enough to express their thoughts on the classic chocolate.
Others said: 'The fresh stuff with no chocolate is delicious.'
Even though one person came to its defence, saying they 'love' the treat, it clearly wasn't enough to save it from its fate at top of the leaderboard.
In second place was a perhaps surprising contender, as Caramac managed to out-rank Bounty on the hate scale with 13 per cent of votes.
In tubs of Celebrations, Bounty famously gets a bad name and the coconut-filled treat is often the last remaining in the box.
Bounty still proved its polarising nature and was ranked as Britain's third worst chocolate bar with 10 per cent of the vote.
In joint fourth place was Double Decker, Milky Way, and Boost, with six per cent each - considerably lower than the winners, perhaps due to Turkish Delight taking so many votes.
The British public mainly took issue with Fry's Turkish Delight, with one person branding it 'absolutely disgusting'
The chocolates included were Bounty, Turkish Delight, Snickers, Milky Bar, Twix, Crunchie, Cadbury Fruit and Nut, Picnic, Boost, Mars, Caramac, Milky Way, Double Decker
Though people had complained of the raisins in Picnic bars, it ended up performing surprisingly well with five per cent of the vote share.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the table, Twix seemed to be chosen as the least controversial chocolate bar in the UK, only attracting two per cent of the vote.
The delightful biscuit-y treat was joined by the likes of Mars bars and Crunchie as the UK's favourite sweet treats.
Previously, MailOnline revealed Britain's most hated biscuit, with readers naming the variety they want banned from supermarket shelves.
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk said: 'It's fascinating to see how preferences vary so much when it comes to chocolate.
'While some flavours are cherished, others clearly don't hit the sweet spot for everyone. The results certainly spark a debate about the nation's taste buds!'
An Aussie man was shocked after learning the reason why his electricity bill had increased by a staggering $400.
At first the Sydneysider struggled to pinpoint what caused the sudden spike in price then made the infuriating discovery after investigating his unit's power source.
To his surprise, he claimed a neighbour had plugged their extension cord into his outlet at the communal power box.
Unsure how to react, he sought assistance on Facebook and wrote: 'After some investigation I saw that one of the other two tenants on the floor is regularly using our power socket. What do you recommend?'
Others couldn't believe how brazen the neighbour's behaviour was and offered advice - and some took a harder stance.
'This person should be confronted,' one man said.
'Ask them for reimbursement, if they refuse then contact the police,' another added.
But many recommended a less direct approach to dealing with the situation and suggested talking to the strata managers directly to have them solve the issue.
At first the Sydneysider struggled to pinpoint what caused the sudden spike in price then made the infuriating discovery after investigating his unit's power source. To his surprise, he claimed one of the two neighbours had plugged their extension cord into his power outlet
Others said that plugging a power cord into someone else's outlet was 'rude' at the very least.
One thought that the only proper response was for the man to use their neighbour's power outlet and see how they liked it.
'Lock yours up and start using theirs for the same amount of time they have been using yours, maybe they will politely ask you to stop,' he suggested.
'Cut the cords,' another man said.
While most were certain the neighbour's behaviour was deliberate and not an honest mistake, others said it was best not to assume anything.
Unsure how to react, he sought assistance on Facebook and wrote: 'After some investigation I saw that one of the other two tenants on the floor is regularly using our power socket. What do you recommend?' (stock image)
'Maybe they don't realise their error, you would be surprised how dense some people are,' one woman said.
'Have the strata replace all the power points with ones that are lockable,' another advised.
Many pointed out that most hardware stores sell covers and locks that are easy to install over any power outlet.
One woman took more of a compassionate view of the matter and told the original poster that the theft was probably due to hard times.
'Leave a small fruit basket at their door acknowledging they are obviously in financial hardship to resort to taking power without asking,' she said.
'Then explain as we're all experiencing similar struggles you have put a lock device on...wish them well, be mindful and kind.'
A recent dispute between neighbours over parking in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool erupted into a 'full blown war' after a Hindu family was attacked by their neighbours.
The family accused their neighbours of vile acts including smearing feces on their mailbox.
The dispute continued even after the family, who admitted both parties were at fault, had moved 20km away.
'He still continues to drive past our house and beep the horn, we don't know how they got our new address and the police wont do anything,' the family told Daily Mail Australia.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued X and its boss Elon Musk, alleging the social media company misrepresented its plans for an exclusive interview show and unfairly benefited from his likeness before refusing to pay him after a tough interview with Musk. Evan Agostini/Associated Press
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk and X, formerly Twitter, alleging the billionaire businessman owes him money after a content deal fell through with Musks social media site.
Lemon brought the suit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and misappropriating Lemons name and likeness. In the complaint, Lemon said he struck a deal with Musk and X for an interview show that would appear exclusively on the site, with a guaranteed $1.5 million annual salary along with other bonuses and incentives.
The show fell apart after one interview with Musk that appeared on the site. Lemons attorneys said he was never paid, but X profited from its association with him.
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A request for comment from the company resulted in only a generic, automated response. On Friday, a day after the suit was filed, Musk wrote on X that Lemon had made a series of impressively insane demands. We declined. Therefore, there was no deal.
After Musks purchase of the site, he laid off a significant portion of the staff and lifted bans on some controversial accounts, causing some advertisers to pull away. In an attempt to create exclusive content on the site to lure back advertisers, X reached out to Lemon, according to the complaint.
Initially wary, Lemon was eventually swayed by the companys promises. But the complaint said the company intentionally deceived him, knowing that if they accurately represented to Lemon that the purpose and meaning of the exclusive partnership deal was to use Lemons name, likeness, reputation, and identity to rehabilitate Defendants reputation and draw in advertisers to the X platform, Lemon would never have agreed.
Lemon was in a vulnerable state, the filing said, having been fired by CNN in 2023 after making comments about then Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime.
When Lemon met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino in New York last year, she and other company executives promised him total control of his show and any content he produced for the site, the filing said. They also allegedly egged him on with the promise of significant earnings.
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Shortly before signing, X informed Lemon that the terms of their offer would be withdrawn unless he attended the CES Conference in Las Vegas and that Lemon make a social media post announcing their partnership to the public on the same day, which he did.
Lemon then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars setting up a company and studio and striking production deals to record interviews for his show.
Two months after signing, Lemon interviewed Musk for the first episode of The Don Lemon Show. That interview saw Lemon press Musk on his views on conspiracy theories, which he has promoted on the site, hate speech, and other sensitive topics. Musk became irritated towards the end of the interview.
I dont have to answer questions from reporters, Musk told Lemon at one point.
Musk allegedly texted Lemons agent shortly thereafter that Lemons deal was canceled. Xs head of brand and content Brett Weitz later told Lemon he would not be paid because there was no signed agreement, despite Musk previously representing to Lemon that there would be no need for a formal written agreement or to fill out paperwork.
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The lawsuit is seeking payment as well as punitive damages and compensation for psychological and emotional distress, humiliation, and mental physical pain and anguish.
Premium British chocolatier set to open four sites across Yorkshire over summer
A premium British chocolate manufacturer is set to open its first bakery and hot food offer, with the move set to rival high street bakery chain Greggs.
Hotel Chocolat is expanding its Velvetiser Cafe format, with four new bakeries opening at sites across Yorkshire over the summer.
As the chocolate specialist's new owner Mars begins its store investment plans, the concessions are due to arrive in Harrogate, Leeds Springs and Leeds Trinity cafes in August, with a fourth site set to open in Ilkley in September.
The menu items on offer have all been developed in-house and are based on dishes from the Hotel Chocolat restaurant, as reported by The Grocer.
Providing a unique twist on the typical steak bake, a range of savoury pasties will be available, including Piton Pulled Pork and Soufriere Spinach flavours, inspired by the brand's resort in St Lucia.
Hotel Chocolat is expanding its Velvetiser Cafe format, with four new bakeries opening at sites across Yorkshire over the summer
Customers will be able to enjoy a variety of delectable sweet and savoury goods, with products ranging from a Chocolatier's Carrot Cake to a Caribbean Chicken Curry pasty.
Other sweet bakes include a Cacao Pod Pastry and a Hazelnut Crownie, which has been described as a cross between a cookie and a brownie.
To support the rollout, the retailer has converted the upper floors of its Leeds Trinity shop into a bakery, where goods will be manufactured for all the new sites.
Head of Velvetiser Cafe Ian Mackie said: 'This launch represents a significant milestone for the Velvetiser Cafe, as we expand our offerings to include a diverse and delectable menu inspired by our commitment to quality and innovation.
'Each item is crafted with care and precision, using the finest ingredients, sourced responsibly, reflecting our dedication to ethical and sustainable practices.'
He added: 'We cannot wait for our customers to experience the unique flavours and the exceptional quality that define Hotel Chocolat.'
It comes after Mars snapped up Hotel Chocolat for a staggering 534m in November, stunning experts in the industry.
Mars is now hoping to use its new purchase to tap into the luxury chocolate market, following in the footsteps of several other firms.
To support the rollout, the retailer has converted the upper floors of its Leeds Trinity shop into a bakery, where goods will be manufactured for all the new sites
The menu items on offer have all been developed in-house and are based on dishes from the Hotel Chocolat restaurant
With sales of chocolate forecast to grow by 13 per cent between 2022 and 2027 and hit a stunning 6.66 billion, firms have been racing to stand out from the crowd.
And they have identified luxury chocolate as the next big trend in the market amid the success of firms like Tony's Chocolonely and H!P Chocolate - created by the great-great-great grandson of the original Mr Cadbury.
Earlier this year, Paramount Retail Group splashed out to purchase Montezuma's, a luxury chocolate firm struggling in administration.
Helen Pattinson, co-founder of Montezuma's told MailOnline that during tough financial times, people tend to turn to little luxuries to treat themselves - and fancy chocolate seems to be an increasingly popular choice.
She said: 'It is well documented that people like to continue to treat themselves during a recession or tough financial times, and a special bag of truffles costs a lot less than taking the family out for dinner so often chocolate wins during these hard times.'
Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark died age 85 in an Athens hospital
The Greek Royal Family donned sombre black ensembles today as they led the way at Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark's burial in Athens.
The royal, who was a first cousin to Prince Philip and a renowned writer and historian under the name Michel De Gres, passed away at a hospital in Athens, it was announced on Sunday. He was 85.
Family members arrived at the First Cemetery of Athens at midday to commemorate Michael, who was the last remaining grandson of George I with a lineage to the defunct House of Bourbon through his mother's side of the family.
The funeral procession took place in the Orthodox Church of Saint Theodores situated in the First Cemetery of Athens, with the burial taking place at the Tatoi Cemetery.
Crown Princess Marie Chantal and Crown Prince Pavlos - who is now the head of the Greek royal family - cut elegant figures in all-black attire, with Marie opting for a belted short sleeved shirt dress and suede pumps.
Queen Sofia of Spain, whose father King Pavlos of Greece was Micheal's first cousin, looked sombre as she spoke to guests.
Pallbearers are seen at the Orthodox Church of Saint Theodores, in the First Cemetery of Athens, in Athens to mark the funeral of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
The family are seen gathered outside the church. From left: Pavlos of Greece, Princess Anne-Marie of Greece, Marie-Chantal Miller and Princess Olga of Greece
Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece arrived at the funeral of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark in the First Cemetery of Athens at midday
Queen Sofia of Spain along with her sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is pictured at the funeral
Queen Sofia speaks to Stephane Bern outside the Orthodox church
Princess Alexandra, Queen Anne Marie and Marina Karella embrace in a sweet hug
Pallbearers carry the coffin outside the Orthodox church in Athens
Prince Micheal of Greece is laid to rest in Athens, with many of the royal family paying their respects
Mourners opted for traditional gear as they headed into to the church
The royal was laid to rest in an Orthodox ceremony
Pavlos, son of former king of Greece Constantine II, attends the funeral of Michael, cousin of the late Prince Philip
Flowers and flags were laid out to rest
Queen Marie joined her son, 57, and daughter-in-law, 55, at the venue and looked typically sophisticated in a black midi dress.
Michael was the first cousin of the late King Constantine, who was wife to Queen Marie and father to Pavlos.
The family requested that in lieu of flowers, guests at the service donate to ELIZA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Michael's widow, Marina Karella, went against the norm and donned a white suit for the service.
He was well known for his devotion to his wife Marina Karella and his turbulent personal life which saw him tragically lose his father at the age of just one.
Prince Michael had to give up his rights to the Greek throne to marry Marina in 1965 as despite being an acclaimed painter and sculptor, she was not a member of the royal family.
Prince Michael was born in 1939 on the eve of great change in Europe and in the Greek Royal Family.
The only child of Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark - who was the younger brother of Prince Philip's father, Prince Andrew - and his second wife Princess Francoise d'Oleans of France, his youth was characterised by upheaval.
Princess Anne-Marie of Greece attends the funeral of Prince Michel (or Michael) of Greece, at the Orthodox Church of Saint Theodores
Traditional black dress was worn despite the blistering August heat
Queen Sofia, whose late father was a first cousin of Prince Micheal, looked sombre
Queen Anne Marie, Crown Princess Marie Chantal, and Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece entered the burial service together
Queen Anne Marie cut a sophisticated figure in a black belted midi dress, which she matched with a pair of black and nude pumps
Prince Michale of Greece and Denmark's funeral took place at the First Cemetery of Athens, Greece. Pictured: Queen Sofia of Spain along with her sister, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark
Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark was a renowned writer and historian under the name Michel De Gres (seen in 2013)
His father died at the age of 51 in 1940 after a short illness, while his mother passed away in 1953 leaving him an orphan at the age of 14.
Being shuttled around Europe and north Africa in the midst of the Second World War, Michael was raised in Paris following the cessation of hostilities, where he developed a fascination with Greece and its history from afar.
He would return to the country as an adult, joining its army and serving in the Cavalry-Armoured Corps and becoming the only royal to gain Greek citizenship.
His love for the country kept it close to his heart and even when spending long periods away from the country, he always returned in good time.
When the government fell to a right-wing military coup in 1967, Michael was the only member of the Greek Royal Family to remain in the country after his nephew King Constantine failed in his attempts to overthrow the Junta.
Despite this, it was his marriage to Marina Karella that captured the hearts of the nation.
The couple had met through mutual friends at a party and Michael was immediately smitten with the 'absolutely charming' woman.
Anne Marie, who is the widow of King Constantine II, complimented her outfit with pearl necklaces
The 77-year-old Queen greeted friends and family at the First Cemetery of Athens before the service
Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark's widow, Marina Karella, opted for an all-white ensemble for the sombre occasion
The 57-year-old Crown Prince of Greece greeted guests with a hug outside the cemetery
Princess Theodora of Greece also attended the burial service in Athens to commemorate Michael
Mourners greeted one another outside the cemetery before the service took place
Guests arrived at the funeral procession that took place in the Orthodox Church of Saint Theodores
Marina, who was the daughter of Athenian industrialist Theodoros Karella, had studied Fine Arts in Greece and Paris - the latter of which gave them something to talk about as Michael's mother was French and he had grown up in the country.
Michael recalled the moment in his memoir, saying: 'She was just so lovely and gracious with me. It didn't take long to decide that I wanted to marry her.
'I remember I was dancing with her at a party, and I just looked at her. It was like a revelation it was her and no one else.'
Just a few weeks later they got engaged, and despite some trepidation on her part, it would be a match made in heaven.
Their marriage took two years to negotiate, with Michael forced to give up his rights to the Greek throne in order to marry a commoner.
But when they did tie the knot on February 7, 1965, at the Royal Palace in Athens it was an event to be remembered, with the guest list including Queen Frederica, King Constantine, Queen Anna-Maria and, the Count and Countess of Paris.
He later said he 'didn't hesitate' to give away his birthright for love, adding that by doing so it 'gave me a sense of freedom' and meant he was no longer beholden to the Royal Family, allowing him to choose his own profession.
Photographers lined the venue as mourners arrived at the sombre service on Thursday afternoon
While some mourners opted for all-black attire for the occasion, other attendees donned white
Attendees opted for full black attire to mourn the passing of Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark
The service at the First Cemetery of Athens was attended by close friends and family of Michael
Mourners arrived for Prince Michael's burial service in Greece on Thursday afternoon
Mourners turned out in their dozens to pay their respects
Princess Marie-Chantal was among the mourners
'It was love at first sight it has never, ever changed,' he said last year, adding: 'Now we are married 58 years Marina and my country Greece are the same.'
The freedom he felt upon giving up his birthright gave Michael an insight into the weight working royals carry with them, including King Charles.
Speaking following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, he expressed his sympathy for Charles having to take to the throne following the death of his mother.
Referring to the new monarch, he told Fox News: 'I don't know if he's perfect or not
'What I know is that he can hardly do better than what he does now. I think he does his best. [Queen Camilla], too.
'It's very difficult I do not envy him at all, really poor guy. And he does it with dedication, with a sense of humour. She, too. But I would not like that job at all.'
The job he ended up doing was a dream come true - the prince became a celebrated novelist, writing about historical subjects including Ancient Greece, the Ottoman Empire, as well as the European royal families.
He started his career in 1970 and worked each day researching topics of interest to him which he based his books around.
Prince Michael wrote fictional biographies as well as novels in French.
He is survived by his wife Marina Karella, their daughters Princess Alexandra and Princess Olga, and their five grandchildren.
Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman has spoken out following the explosive profile centered around her family and lifestyle, claiming it 'couldn't be further from the truth' and called it an 'attack' on their family.
The 34-year-old, who gained online fame for her captivating 'trad wife' content, was the subject of intense scrutiny following an article published by the Times of London.
In a recent Instagram clip, Hannah addressed the article admitting she and her husband, 35-year-old JetBlue heir Daniel Neeleman, were 'shocked' when they read the published piece.
'A couple of weeks ago, we had a reporter come into our home to learn more about our family and business,' the mom-of-eight began.
'We thought the interview went really well,' she said. 'We were taken [aback] however, when we saw the printed article - which shocked us, and shocked the world by it being an attack on my family and my marriage.'
Ballerina Farm's Hannah Neeleman has spoken out following the explosive profile centered around her family and lifestyle
Hannah said the insinuations she was unhappy in the article 'couldn't be further from the truth'
Although she didn't name the publication in the clip, it was insinuated she was referring to the Times article.
She added that the article painted her as 'oppressed, with my husband being the culprit.'
'This couldn't be further from the truth,' she declared, adding that she believes the article's angle was 'predetermined' before it was even written.
'Together we have built a business from scratch,' she continued.
'We've brought eight children into this world, and have prioritized our marriage all along the way,' Hannah said.
'We are co-parents, co-CEOs, co-diaper changers, kitchen cleaners and decision makers, we are one,' she said passionately.
'I love him more today than I did 13 years ago, many dreams still to accomplish,' adding: 'We aren't done having babies.'
Hannah concluded the clip saying at the moment, she's doing what she loves 'the most' - being a mother, wife, business woman and farmer.
Hannah said at the moment, she's doing what she loves 'the most' - being a mother, wife, business woman and farmer
Hannah left New York City and her dreams of being a dancer behind to instead live on a farm in Utah
She makes looking after her enormous brood - while also running a successful company, managing the family's farm, and balancing her booming pageant career - seem like a breeze
In a follow-up Instagram post, Hannah urged people to read 'our story in my own words' and visit the Ballerina Farm website.
Hannah, who was an aspiring ballerina, moved to New York City at 17 to study at Juilliard, but met her now-husband Daniel not long after.
The couplewho are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often share glimpses of their idyllic life on social media, posting under Ballerina Farm, the name of their shared company.
Hannah and her husband launched their company Ballerina Farm in 2019 - which now sells an array of products made from their livestock like ground beef and pork, as well as fresh desserts and produce.
She has amassed millions of followers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube from her 'trad wife' content, a term short for 'traditional wife,' which describes a woman trading modern femininity for domestic duties, involving cooking, cleaning, and having children.
Hannah, who was an aspiring ballerina, moved to New York City at 17 to study at Juilliard, but met her now-husband Daniel not long after
Last week, fans of the Utah-based content creator have expressed their concern following the article published by the Times of London article, which described her as 'Queen of the Trad Wives,' portraying a less-than-idyllic life than her social media presence suggests.
Readers were in shock over the in-depth piece, which showed Hannah often being spoken over by her husband and noted that she was left so exhausted from her hectic lifestyle that she was bed ridden for days.
The couple are raising their eight children -Henry, 12, Charles, 10, George, nine, Frances, seven, Lois, five, Martha, three, Mabel, three, and Flora, six months - on their 328-acre farm in Utah.
However, at times, author Megan Agnew expressed her skepticism over her happiness with the article making several remarks about it not being the life Hannah initially wanted.
A woman in Massachusetts puzzled doctors when her dementia caused a frighteningly rapid deterioration.
In just five months, the 78-year-old went from living independently to struggling to form sentences and needing help with basic tasks such as bathing and eating.
A relative had died weeks before the deterioration, so the woman's daughter attributed the symptoms to grief - until it became clear something was deeply wrong.
Doctors struggled to reach a diagnosis, which meant the woman was repeatedly sent for tests at some of the finest hospitals - including Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Calgary.
The 78-year-old woman began experiencing unexplainable rapid and severe cognitive decline (stock photo)
She was eventually found to have undiagnosed lung cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, as well as a toxic build up of amyloid proteins in her arteries.
The woman was diagnosed with paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis (PEM), inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that leads to confusion, brain bleeds, cognitive decline and difficulty with thinking and speaking - similar to Alzheimer's.
PEM is a rare neurological disorder that affects fewer than one in 100,000 people each year.
It develops because of the presence of cancer somewhere in the body.
The patient's case was detailed in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Doctors said her symptoms began with a 'flat affect,' which the patients daughter had attributed to grief after the death of the woman's sister.
'More severe memory issues' then developed and she was admitted to the hospital after a frightening episode that saw her struggle to speak.
An MRI revealed areas of her brain tissue were damaged from a repeated lack of blood supply, indicating she may have experienced a stroke.
But with no conclusive answers, doctors sent her home. Just 10 days later, the patient was becoming more impulsive, confused and more forgetful.
Her primary care doctor prescribed medication to treat 'possible depression.'
Over the next several weeks, the woman's condition continued to rapidly deteriorate and she began needing more help with daily life and bathing, as well as being reminded to eat.
The above brain scans are suggestive of a stroke, brain tissue damage and narrowing of the brain's vessels
Her daughter, once again, brought her to the hospital about four months later where she underwent more extensive testing, including blood work, a spinal tap, X-rays and another MRI.
Testing revealed the woman had brain abnormalities, with damage to brain tissue and brain vessels, affecting the way blood and oxygen are supplied to the organ.
After her formal diagnosis, the patient underwent treatment with steroids but did not receive chemotherapy due to her family's concern about her poor memory and confusion.
She did undergo immunotherapy, however, for six months.
The patient was also given a drug meant to treat seizures and the authors of the case report wrote her confusion decreased slightly and her awareness improved.
She was discharged from the hospital to a nursing facility on a course of steroids. However, she became paranoid and confused and her memory worsened.
Once her steroid treatment concluded, she developed respiratory distress and pneumonia and was admitted to the intensive care unit. As her condition began to deteriorate, the family chose to forego intervention and offer end-of-life comfort care instead.
The woman died at a hospice facility.
GPs have voted to take major industrial action from today onwards which aims to bring the NHS 'to a standstill' and that experts warn 'will hit patients' hard.
More than 8,500 family doctors in England took part in the British Medical Association (BMA) ballot, with 98.3 per cent backing the mass action.
It means GPs, who earn up to 700,000 according to NHS data, could slash the number of daily appointments held in England by a third.
Family doctors have warned their industrial action could last for 'months'.
So what does this mean for your GP appointments? How have the Government responded? What other parts of the NHS will be affected and how?
Here MailOnline explains everything you need to know about the upcoming action.
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What does this mean for my appointment?
GPs are now being asked to take part in up to 10 forms of protest, including one which would put a cap on the number of daily 'patient contacts'.
This includes face-to-face appointments, remote consultations and online messages.
Under recommendations implemented by the BMA and European Union of General Practitioners, GPs should not deliver more than 25 appointments a day to ensure 'safe care'.
Patients over the cap would be diverted to 'local urgent care settings' such as 111 or walk-in clinics when the total is hit.
As many as 3million GP appointments a month could disappear if family doctors push ahead with the plans, according to estimates by primary care leaders.
What are the 10 forms of protest backed by the BMA?
Limiting daily patients to 25 - around a third fewer than normal Stop engaging with the e-referral and guidance service, which allows one GP to seek advice from another clinician Serve notice on any voluntary services currently undertaken that plug local commissioning gaps Switching off NHS software that allows discounted or free prescriptions for some people Referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following more complex NHS processes Refusing to share patient data unless it is in the best interests of a patient Withdraw permission for data sharing agreements that use data for secondary purposes Freeze sign-up to any new data sharing agreements or local system data sharing platforms Defer making any decisions to accept NHS pilot programmes Switching off GP software that allows coding into the GP clinical record by third-party providers Advertisement
But GP practices are still required to open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday during collective action.
NHS England has urged patients to come forward for care as usual.
The appointment cap comes, in part, because some family doctors are reportedly overwhelmed by patient demand.
Some have reported having to cram in nearly 90 patients a day in 'conveyor belt' style appointments which senior family doctors say is unsafe for patients. The average number of daily appointments per GP currently stands around 37.
Other measures included in the industrial action include refusing to co-operate with standard NHS systems, such as those used to refer patients to hospital specialists or to share data with local health planners.
Earlier this week, Dr Bramall-Stainer said the action aimed to 'bring the NHS to a standstill very quickly'.
However, she insisted: 'It is industrial action, but the target isn't patients. The target is NHS England [and the] Department of Health.'
BMA leaders have said the measures will remain in place until ministers agree to a new GP contract.
Is the action about pay?
Yes and no.
Family doctors across England were balloted amid a row over the new funding contract for GP services.
According to the data from NHS Digital average GP pay, across all levels, hit 118,100 in 2021/22.
This data set includes figures for GP partners as well as the family doctors employed to provide services.
GP partners in England those own their own practice and make up the majority of family doctors pocket an average of 153,400 a year.
For comparison, the average pay for salaried GPs was 68,000. This is up from 64,900 in 2020/21 and 63,600 in 2019/20.
But a freedom of information request to NHS Business Services Authority also showed in 2023 at least one GP in England pocketed a pensionable salary of over 700,000.
The medic is likely to be benefiting from a contract that allows them to run several surgeries and earn money for providing extra treatments.
Six also earned between 250,000 to 300,000, with 32 recording salaries of between 200,000 to 250,000.
More than 8,500 family doctors in England took part in the British Medical Association (BMA) ballot, with 98.3 per cent backing the mass action. Health secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) has insisted any collective action 'will only punish patients'
Announcing the ballot result today, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer (pictured), chairman of the BMA's GP committee said GPs are 'at the end of their tether'. She added: 'We have no choice but to move ahead with collective action to protect our practices, and our patients'
So why are GPs taking action?
The union say GP funding is being squeezed and the terms of a new NHS contract a 1.9 per cent funding rise for 2024/25 means 'many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable'.
GP surgeries have also faced rising levels of harassment, assaults and verbal abuse targeted at staff in recent months.
Doctors have been told they can 'pick and choose' from measures designed to wreak chaos across the health service.
Announcing the ballot result today, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairman of the BMA's GP committee said GPs are 'at the end of their tether'.
She added: 'We have no choice but to move ahead with collective action to protect our practices, and our patients.
What does the latest GP appointment data show? Appointments held: 28.5million Attended: 90.2 per cent Seen by GP: 44.6 per cent Seen by nurse: 19.6 per cent Face-to-face appointment: 64.8 per cent Phone appointment: 25.6 per cent Same day: 44 per cent Up to one week wait: 25.5 per cent One to two week wait: 12.8 per cent Two to four weeks wait: 12.6 per cent NHS England data for June Advertisement
'This will not be a "big bang". It will be a slow burn. It's likely that impact may not be felt for some time.
'We hope this will give the new Government time to consider our proposed solutions including fixing our contract once and for all.
'General practice should be the front door of the NHS, not the doormat.
'We don't want to have to take this next step but must if we're to stop our services from collapsing completely.
Family doctors launched a formal dispute over the issue in April after a referendum carried out by the BMA saw 99 per cent of 19,000 GPs rejected the contract.
But patients' groups have already said the plans are 'selfish' and GPs risk losing the support of the public in an attempt to argue against contracts which are already generous.
Why is it difficult to access an appointment?
There are now more than 950,000 GP appointments on average in England every day an increase of more than 40,000 since 2018/19.
But despite this undeniable rise in demand, the number of GPs working in the NHS has actually stagnated.
Increasing numbers of doctors are reducing their working hours and retiring early.
Some are leaving for the private sector or abroad because of the soaring pressures.
While the number of NHS consultants growing by 18 per cent between 2016/17 and 2021/22, the number of GPs has only increased by just four per cent over the same period.
Nationally, there were 27,487 fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs working in England in December, equating to one GP for every 2,078 patients, on average.
Health chiefs say the ratio of patients to every one fully qualified GP should never exceed 1,800.
The ratio is widely recognised by local medical committees local representative committees of NHS GPs as the 'safe limit'.
The Office for National Statistics projects there will be an extra 6.6million people living in the UK as of 2036.
Assuming this growth kept in line with current demographic trends, this would see England's population hit 62.2million.
Under this figure, 34,000 GPs would have to be working in the NHS to meet the one per 1,800 patient ratio, meaning an additional 7,000 family doctor positions are required over the next 12 years.
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Have GPs taken industrial action before?
GPs have not staged collective action since 1964 when family doctors handed in undated resignations to Harold Wilson's Labour government.
A proportion of GPs, however, staged industrial action in 2012 in protest against increases in pension contributions and a later retirement age for doctors.
Estimates suggest between a fifth to a third of practices took part in the action.
It's currently unclear how many GP practices will take part in the current action.
How has the Government responded?
Commenting before the ballot result was published Health Secretary Wes Streeting insisted any collective action 'will only punish patients'.
Also to the announcement, the Government today announced it had added GPs to the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS), in the hope practices will be able to hire 1,000 more doctors this year.
The ARRS scheme was introduced in 2019 and lets primary care networks, groups of GP surgeries operating in the same area, hire for other roles such as podiatrists and occupational therapists and claim reimbursement for their salaries.
Mr Streeting added 82million to the 1.4billion ARRS pot to fund what he described as an emergency measure.
The expansion of the scheme aims to allow practices to hire 'newly-qualified GPs' who face potential unemployment this summer.
This announcement follows the Governments commitment earlier this week to increase GP pay by 6 per cent, following the doctors' pay review body recommendation.
But senior medics claimed the uplift did not go far 'enough to address the erosion' of GP funding.
Labour's election manifesto carried no promises of increased investment in general practice, but in his previous role as shadow health secretary, Mr Streeting had claimed that GPs have 'a lot to look forward to' under a Labour Government.
Why is patient satisfaction with GPs currently so low?
Patient satisfaction has, as a result of the never-ending appointments crisis, plunged to its lowest level in four decades.
According to the 2023 GP Patient Survey, a poll of 759,000 Brits, just seven in ten (71.3 per cent) described their overall experience of their GP practice as 'good' overall.
Fewer than half of patients (49.8 per cent) said they find it easy to get through to their GP practice on the phone, down from 52.7 per cent in 2022 and 80.8 per cent in 2012.
And one in four people (24.2 per cent) said it was 'not at all easy' to get through, five-times higher than the 5.4 per cent in 2012.
Only one in six patients (16.4 per cent) were 'always or almost always' able to see their preferred family doctor, with 19.3 per cent saying they can 'never or almost never' see them.
Equally, patients have continually expressed frustration over a lack of face-to-face appointments.
Just over two thirds of all appointments on average are now held in person, compared to roughly 80 per cent pre-Covid.
Despite this, top doctors have suggested the figure may never return to this level arguing patients shouldn't get a face-to-face appointment if there is no clinical need for one.
Some campaign groups, however, have disagreed, warning that telephone or online calls are not appropriate for everyone and aren't always the best way of diagnosing patients.
Instead, disgruntled patients have abandoned NHS surgeries in favour of going private or visiting swamped A&E units instead.
One in 20 British adults went overseas for dental care last year amid difficulty finding an NHS dentist and soaring private costs, a report reveals.
The cost of treatments in the UK was the main reason cited by the 6 per cent of adults who headed overseas, according to the UK's dentist regulator General Dental Council (GDC).
People also told the GDC they went abroad for treatment after having tried, and failed, to join a dental practice at home or had been unable to get an appointment locally.
Younger adults were more likely to have opted in for dental tourism compared to older age groups, with rates rising to 18 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds.
People reported getting dental care in nearly 30 different countries, including France and India.
The cost of treatments in the UK was the main reason cited by the 6 per cent of adults who headed overseas, according to the General Dental Council (GDC)M
One person even told the GDC that they built dental care into their regular holidays to Greece after being unable to register with an NHS dentist near to their home in the East Midlands.
The findings are part of a wide-ranging survey of 2,000 adults, conducted by on behalf of the GDC, into the state of dentistry in the UK.
It revealed the publics confidence in NHS dentistry and their ability to access it has fallen in recent years, amid growing reports of dental deserts.
Some 20 per cent said they had tried to book an appointment for dental care or treatment during the past year but been unable to do so.
Among those who had not accessed care in the last 12 months, some 31 per cent said they had not gone because of the cost.
How much does NHS dentistry cost? There are 3 NHS charge bands: Band 1: 25.80 Covers an examination, diagnosis and advice. If necessary, it also includes X-rays, a scale and polish, and planning for further treatment. Band 2: 70.70 Covers all treatment included in Band 1, plus additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth (extractions). Band 3: 306.80 Covers all treatment included in Bands 1 and 2, plus more complex procedures, such as crowns, dentures and bridges. For comparison, check-ups can cost between 20 and 120 at private dentists, according to Which?. Dentures and bridges can also cost up to 2,520, the consumer watchdog says. Advertisement
Fewer than two in three people (64 per cent) said they had visited a dental practice in the past year.
But a third (30 per cent) said they did not have a regular dental practice; 24 per cent said they were dissatisfied with the affordability of their treatment; and 19 per cent were dissatisfied with how long they had to wait for an appointment.
Of those who had received some sort of private care, 42 per cent reported that they had only started having private dental treatment in the past three years.
Most who opted to go private did so because they had difficulties accessing NHS care.
The GDC said that some people had been prioritising treatment over preventative dental care due to the cost of living crisis.
Stefan Czerniawski, executive director of strategy at the GDC, said: The findings highlight the ongoing challenges facing dentistry and the need to make progress in addressing these systemic issues to improve access to timely appointments and the affordability of dental care across the UK.
It is particularly concerning that the research shows clear evidence of patients concerns that the recovery of dental services after the Covid pandemic has not only stalled but may have gone into reverse.
That has worrying implications for the oral health of patients and the public, which need urgent attention.
Louise Ansari, chief executive at Healthwatch England, said NHS dental care is one of the main reasons the patient champion is contacted by the public.
She added: Even when people can access NHS dentistry, many cant afford dental fees.
We now call on the new government to tell the public, when and how it will roll out the 700,000 extra appointments it has pledged to deliver under a new Dental Rescue Plan.
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We also call for NHS dental charges for 2025 to be frozen at current levels to prevent more people being put off seeking help.
In the long-term, more fundamental reforms are needed, to give everyone a right to register with a local NHS dentist, in the same way as they can with a GP, to access ongoing check-ups and appointments.
Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association, which represents dentists, said: Cost-of-living and access crises have converged, leaving millions with no options.
Some are heading abroad for needed care, but many more are simply going without.
The public arent seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for NHS dentistry. It will take bold and ambitious action to save it.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: It is unacceptable that so many people struggle to simply get a dental appointment, and this research lays bare the scale of the situation.
There are large parts of the country where NHS dentistry barely exists any more.
We will rebuild NHS dentistry, starting with an extra 700,000 emergency dentistry appointments.
We will also reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.
Prevention is better than cure, so we will also introduce supervised tooth brushing for three to five-year-olds.
These changes are fundamental to us building an NHS that is fit for the future.
GP industrial action could lead to 'disaster' in cancer care and worsen A&E waiting times, experts have warned.
More than 98 per cent of family doctors in England today backed the proposed British Medical Association (BMA) disruption.
It means from today, BMA GPs can 'pick and choose' from 10 measures designed to wreak chaos across the health service, including a daily 25 appointment cap per family doctor, which could see the up to a third of appointments slashed.
Health leaders and campaigners labelled the action 'very damaging' and warned it would pile 'huge extra pressures' on the rest of the health service.
Experts even said family doctors working-to-rule could 'have a far greater impact on patients than the junior doctors' strike'.
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More than 98 per cent of family doctors in England today backed the British Medical Association (BMA) disruption. Health secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) has urged GPs not to punish patients
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for elderly Brits which advocates for better access to GPs, told MailOnline the action was 'potentially very damaging for patients' and 'premature'.
'If patients are turned away from the GP practice, they will ring 111, visit A&E or worst of all they will just head back home and hope they get better by themselves,' he said.
A&E waiting times will 'of course' worsen, he added.
'If GPs take this action there will be huge extra pressures on the rest of the system. All the performance areas will go downhill.'
Mr Reed also said: 'The fact that the government has settled with the other unions in the health service, should mean that GPs give the Government a chance at least to actually come up with some proposals.
What are the 10 forms of protest backed by the BMA?
Limiting daily patients to 25 - around a third fewer than normal Stop engaging with the e-referral and guidance service, which allows one GP to seek advice from another clinician Serve notice on any voluntary services currently undertaken that plug local commissioning gaps Switching off NHS software that allows discounted or free prescriptions for some people Referring patients directly to specialist care rather than following more complex NHS processes Refusing to share patient data unless it is in the best interests of a patient Withdraw permission for data sharing agreements that use data for secondary purposes Freeze sign-up to any new data sharing agreements or local system data sharing platforms Defer making any decisions to accept NHS pilot programmes Switching off GP software that allows coding into the GP clinical record by third-party providers Advertisement
'To go straight into industrial action is extreme and we would certainly ask them to hold off because patients will suffer.'
Professor Karol Sikora, a world-renowned oncologist with over 40 years' experience, was also concerned about the impact on patients.
He told this website: 'This is a disaster for those developing symptoms that could be caused by cancer unless it is resolved quickly.
'Cancer survival is much higher at the early stage of the disease for all the main cancers.
'Symptoms are often vague to start with and may not cause great alarm. So getting sorted out quickly is crucial.
'Access to primary care is already appalling in the UK and this will just make it much worse.
'The GPs' action will have a far greater impact on patients than the junior doctors' strike.'
He added: 'My advice is to persist to get sorted out. Use urgent care centres, NHS 111 and if necessary book a private scan to get to the front of the queue.
'The whole system is creaking but polite persistence will usually work.
'On no account get aggressive it's not the receptionist's fault.'
Catching cancer early, when it's most treatable, can boost survival odds up to eight-fold, data shows.
More than 320,000 people in England or 900 a day are diagnosed with cancer each year, with prostate, breast, bowel and lung the most common types.
But NHS cancer services are repeatedly fail to achieve their targets.
Figures released earlier this month showed NHS England met just one of its three cancer diagnosis targets.
Of the 273,810 urgent cancer referrals made by GPs in May, 76.4 per cent were diagnosed or had the disease ruled out within 28 days. The target is 75 per cent.
Fewer than two-thirds (65.8 per cent) of patients started their first cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral.
Health service guidelines state 85 per cent of cancer patients should be treated within this timeframe.
NHS England has said the public still must come forward for care as they would normally during GP industrial action.
If patients have appointments already booked in, they should also still attend unless informed otherwise.
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Health leaders and campaigners labelled the action 'very damaging' and warned it would pile 'huge extra pressures' on the rest of the health service. Experts even said the action could 'have a far greater impact on patients than the junior doctors' strike'
The BMA has also insisted they don't want patients to be 'piggy in the middle' of the dispute, insisting patients 'won't come to harm' from any action.
Instead, the union said it wanted the impacts of their action to be felt by policymakers and administrators.
But they acknowledged, patients seeking care over the daily 25 appointments would be diverted to 'local urgent care settings' such as 111 or walk-in clinics when the total is hit.
As many as 3million GP appointments a month could disappear as a result of family doctors imposing the cap, according to estimates by primary care leaders.
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists' Association, said pharmacists are braced to see 'significantly more patients' as the action takes effect.
What does the latest GP appointment data show? Appointments held: 28.5million Attended: 90.2 per cent Seen by GP: 44.6 per cent Seen by nurse: 19.6 per cent Face-to-face appointment: 64.8 per cent Phone appointment: 25.6 per cent Same day: 44 per cent Up to one week wait: 25.5 per cent One to two week wait: 12.8 per cent Two to four weeks wait: 12.6 per cent NHS England data for June Advertisement
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of Independent Pharmacies Association, meanwhile, told MailOnline: 'This industrial action will only place a heavier burden on already stretched community pharmacies.
'Our sector is severely underfunded and overworked we kept our doors open throughout the pandemic and have worked non stop for the NHS delivering accessible care.
'Over 1300 pharmacies have already closed their doors for good due to the underfunding, yet we are asked to do more for less.
'It is a shame that NHS bosses have no way of rewarding a sector that has gone over and beyond for the NHS. We cannot continue being taken for granted.'
National Pharmacy Association Chair, Nick Kaye, also said: 'Where GP practices limit their number of daily appointments, it's likely that more patients will come to community pharmacies for healthcare advice, reassurance and over-the- counter medicines.
'However, community pharmacy's ability to be an effective shock-absorber for disruption elsewhere in the healthcare system has been eroded by persistent underfunding, which has created serious capacity challenges in our own sector.'
Announcing the ballot result today, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of BMA's GP committee for England, argued GPs are 'at the end of their tether'.
She added: 'This is an act of desperation. For too long, we've been unable to provide the care we want to.
'We are witnessing general practice being broken.
'The era of the family doctor has been wiped out by recent consecutive governments and our patients are suffering as a result.
'We understand that the new Government has inherited a broken NHS, and we've had some positive conversations with the new Health Secretary about the situation in general practice.
'This will not be a "big bang". It will be a slow burn. It's likely that impact may not be felt for some time.
'We hope this will give the new Government time to consider our proposed solutions including fixing our contract once and for all.
'General practice should be the front door of the NHS, not the doormat.
Announcing the ballot result today, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer (pictured), chair of BMA's GP committee for England, argued GPs are 'at the end of their tether'. She added: 'This is an act of desperation. For too long, we've been unable to provide the care we want to'
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'We don't want to have to take this next step but must if we're to stop our services from collapsing completely.'
The BMA has said the new GP contract, which will see services given a 1.9 per cent funding increase for 2024/25, means many surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable.
GP surgeries have also faced rising levels of harassment, assaults and verbal abuse targeted at staff in recent months.
During the action, practices are still required to be open between 08:00 and 18:30 Monday to Friday.
The BMA said it was 'not recommending which actions practices take'.
Instead, the union outlined 'it is for each practice to pick and choose as they see fit'.
GPs have not staged collective action since 1964 when family doctors handed in undated resignations to Harold Wilson's Labour government.
A proportion of family doctors, however, staged industrial action in 2012 in protest against increases in pension contributions and a later retirement age for doctors.
Estimates suggest around just a fifth to a third of practices took part in the action.
The collective action also comes after the Department of Health and Social Care made a new pay offer to junior doctors in England potentially bringing months of strike action to an end.
Junior doctor members of the BMA are now voting on whether to accept the deal, which is worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years.
In the cut-throat world of US technology, there has been no rivalry greater than that between Apple and Microsoft.
This almost mythological enmity dates back to the early 1980s, when underdog Apple waged a ferocious battle with Microsoft for dominance in the personal computer market, portraying the far larger company as a copycat.
Apples celebrated 1984 TV advertisement, directed by Ridley Scott, depicted a sledgehammer attack against an Orwellian Big Brother monopolist. Microsoft was clearly the target.
The idea of a partnership between the two would have seemed outlandish.
However, these tech behemoths appear now to be making up.
Both started out in the mid-1970s, a fact that may surprise young tech devotees. Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Microsoft was set up a year earlier by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Apples celebrated 1984 TV advertisement, directed by Ridley Scott, depicted an attack against an Orwellian Big Brother monopolist, with Microsoft clearly the target
Unsurprisingly, the driver behind this new spirit of co-operation is the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and the pressing need to prove that the billions of investors pounds and dollars being splashed out on this groundbreaking innovation will actually reap a return.
Apple has linked with OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT AI system.
Microsoft has already invested $13bn in OpenAI, so the move creates a link between Apple and its old sparring partner.
Apple Intelligence, scheduled to launch in the autumn, will put generative AI which can create new content straight into newer iPhone handsets.
This will enable the production of more sophisticated text and visual content, including more expressive emojis and proof-reading tools that can rewrite text and alter the tone according to whether you want it to be professional or informal.
Although much of Apple Intelligence will be powered by the companys own technologies, the partnership with OpenAI is a major move.
It will beef up Apples AI offer significantly by enabling Siri, the voice assistant on the iPhone, to answer more complex questions, for instance.
OpenAIs ChatGPT will in future be able to kick in if Siri is stumped.
Sam Altman, the CEO and founder of OpenAI, says the Apple Intelligence joint venture aligns with his companys vision to make advanced AI accessible to everyone.
Apple has linked with OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT AI system, while Microsoft has invested $13bn in the software, creating a link between the two old sparring partners
Apple Intelligence should be good for iPhone sales. Customers will only be able to make full use of the tools if they have an iPhone 15 Pro model or better. About 270 million people worldwide have not upgraded their phones for a while and may be tempted to do so in order to gain such features.
The rapprochement between the erstwhile adversaries has triggered huge speculation in tech circles.
Does the alliance mean Microsoft finally - sees Apples many millions of iPhone customers as an opportunity rather than a threat?
Or does it signify Apple lost its awesome talent for innovation and is now forced to go into partnerships with third parties?
Focus on the relationship between the two tech titans has intensified in the wake of slightly disappointing results posted by Microsoft this week.
These showed lower-than-expected growth from cloud computing the infrastructure companies need to put in place in order to incorporate AI into every aspect of their business.
And the soul-searching comes as worries are mounting over the valuations of the Magnificent Seven Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Nvidia, Amazon, Googles owner Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta.
The shares of the Magnificent Seven were propelled into the stratosphere by the conviction that their generative AI gamble would yield fortunes. Doubts are now simmering over how quickly these riches will arrive.
What does it mean for me?
Though you may not own shares in Apple, Microsoft or any other of the Magnificent Seven directly, many UK private investors will be a holder through their Isa, pension and through investment trusts and funds. Millions of Britons, therefore, have a personal interest in the truce between Apple and Microsoft.
So we should be observing this entente: it looks cordiale, but will it last? And what might it mean for their shares?
Stashing some money away in Apple and Microsoft shares makes sense, provided you are realistic.
The price gains of 2023 are unlikely be repeated. The major online platforms AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor enable to buy and sell shares and place them in an Isa.
Should I take a bite of Apple?
The worlds love affair with Apples sleek devices, designed by the British creative genius Jony Ive, is one of the great romances of the 21st Century.
Veteran investor Warren Buffett argues that Apple shares are not a bet on technology, but on a company thats beloved by customers.
His leviathan Berkshire Hathaway fund has a substantial holding in Apple based on the principle that the business has wide moat a dominant market position protecting the brand in the same way that a moat filled with water shields a castle.
Tim Cook, Apples CEO, argues all of us have to make sure we are using AI in a way that is for the benefit of humanity, not to the detriment of humanity
The deal with OpenAI has breathed new life into Apple shares.
They had fallen back amid fears consumers were at a peak iPhone moment and that Apple was no longer an all-conquering creative force.
The original Mac computers changed the world in the 1980s and 1990s, and the iPod and iPhone created an even bigger splash.
However, the Apple Watch could be described as a modest success at best. Far less popular than the iPhone, it is more an optional add-on than a distinct product line.
The much-hyped Apple Vision Pro augmented reality headset has generally been regarded as a flop. Its eye-watering starting price of 3,499 has kept it in the realm of being a niche product and the reviews have been mixed at best.
Yet there are also reasons to be cheerful. Tim Cook, Apples CEO, argues all of us have to make sure we are using AI in a way that is for the benefit of humanity, not to the detriment of humanity. This suggests he knows how to take a long-term view.
Apple is also sitting on a 50bn pile of cash thanks to the hefty profit margins on iPhones.
That cash mountain opens the door to two things investors love: big dividend payouts and share buybacks. When a company buys its own shares, this reduces supply, which in turn can push their price up.
Apples diversification into streaming is another source of confidence. Apple+ whose dramas include British spy thriller Slow Horses may be far behind the market leader Netflix. But Apple+ has one key advantage over Netflix the ability to cross-sell streaming services to iPhone, iPad and Mac owners.
The hope of bumper iPhone sales has boosted Apples value to $3.35trillion (2.7trillion). This is more than all the companies in the UK blue chip FTSE 100 index which are together worth about 2.1trillion.
Apple and Microsoft may not be kindred spirits, but they do have something in common: strained relations with regulators in America and Europe. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are keen to curb the power of Big Tech.
Apple was recently admonished by the European Commission over claims its App Store has been stifling competition unfairly.
The sagacious Buffett seems entirely happy to continue to own Apple and this is also the view of most analysts, with Goldman Sachs being the most enthusiastic advocate of the stock.
The shares currently stand at $218. The average analysts target price is $226, but Goldman has revised its target upwards to $265.
Veteran investor Warren Buffett argues that Apple shares are not a bet on technology, but on a company thats beloved by customers, giving it a 'wide moat' in the stock market
Can I make money on Microsoft?
Microsoft which is valued at $3.11trillion 2.4trillion does not inspire the same level of affection as Apple.
Earlier this year, though, one analyst did describe the companys impressive figures for the second quarter as a masterpiece that should be hung in the Louvre.
Despite such effusions, the gains of last year when shares soared by 53pc are unlikely to be repeated this year. Microsofts relations with its users are somewhat strained in the wake of the global meltdown caused by the CrowdStrike glitch.
This disabled 8.5 million computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
The Windows product is one of Microsofts largest revenue streams. Other key activities include gaming Microsoft owns Xbox and Activision Blizzard, the company behind the Call Of Duty franchise.
Azure, the cloud computing platform, is seen as the engine of growth. Satya Nadella, Microsofts CEO, has spent lavishly on this arm of the group. But this weeks results mean there will be more questions about this strategy in the weeks to come.
Nadella urges employees to be constantly adapting. His catchphrase is: Dont be a know-it-all, be a learn-it-all.
That philosophy may ensure Microsoft continues to be regarded as the member of the Magnificent Seven posse most likely to make serious money from AI.
This is thanks to its investment in OpenAI, but also its ability to combine AI with its Microsoft 365 office products.
Analysts at JP Morgan say that this is a tailwind that will only build over time.
Its Copilot AI service is already proving hugely popular. This carries out laborious and time-consuming processes such as summarising scores of emails into bullet points. Office workers armed with Copilot are reported to finish their tasks almost 30 per cent faster.
AI is also boosting the effectiveness of GitHub, Microsofts platform for software developers.
Microsoft is in hot water with the EU over its investment in OpenAI, which some consider to be a merger by any other name.
There is long-running tension between Microsoft and the UKs Competitions and Market Authority (CMA). The watchdog is currently investigating the dominance of Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud computing market.
One expert says if you have to pick just one tech company to invest in, make it Microsoft as it is a one-stop shop bet on every aspect of the AI revolution
Microsoft has accused the CMA of making a misleading analysis of the situation and threatened that it will reduce its investment in the UK.
The CMA is also looking into the OpenAI deal and the $1.3bn in funding given to US start-up Inflection AI, which could also be seen as a merger.
Most analysts rate Microsoft a buy, despite the results from cloud computing, with JP Morgan reinstating its view that the shares were worth a bet immediately after the figures. The shares currently stand at $422, but JP Morgan has set a target of $470. The average target price is $498, with one optimist believing that $600 is a possibility for those who are patient.
As Ben Barringer, of Quilter Cheviot, emphasises: AI integration into business processes takes time. This will be reassuring news for anyone with money in the popular Fundsmith fund, where Microsoft is one of the major holdings.
Which should I choose?
It makes sense, if you are a tech fan, to invest in both. But Barringer says if you have to pick just one, make it Microsoft. Why? It is a one-stop shop bet on every aspect of the AI revolution.
Apple, though it has notched up prodigious achievements and innovations, could be considered a luxury goods supplier, due to the appeal of its designs, rather than a tech company. Shares in some companies selling luxe products, including Burberry, LVMH and Tiffany have been hit by fears wealthy shoppers may tighten their belts.
Departing HSBC boss Noel Quinn (pictured) dished out 26.7bn during his final 18 months in charge
HSBC shareholders will be given a 2.3billion share buyback as chief executive Noel Quinn bows out.
The lender, which is based in the UK but makes most of its money in Asia, had already announced a 2.3billion buyback earlier this year.
Investors are also set to receive 1.4billion in fresh dividends. In total, 26.7billion has been dished out during Quinns final 18 months in charge as part of a strategy that helped to fend off calls to break up the bank, led by its top shareholder, Chinas Ping An Asset Management.
The departing boss said yesterday that his five years steering the bank had been a joy. Chief financial officer Georges Elhedery replaces him in September.
Dual structure: Mining giant Rio Tinto has a primary listing in London and also trades shares on the Sydney market
Rio Tinto has rejected calls from an investor to ditch its UK listing and concentrate on Australia in a boost for the London Stock Exchange.
The mining giant has a primary listing in London and also trades shares on the Sydney market.
But activist investor Palliser Capital had urged the group to unify the corporate structure in Australia and ditch the London listing. Palliser also argued that the miners dual structure is a barrier to making acquisitions and had resulted in Rio Tinto shares trading at a 24billion discount to those listed in Australia.
But chief executive Jakob Stausholm told the Wall Street Journal yesterday: Its very clear that it does not make economic sense to unify Rio Tinto. Our conclusion is that it would destroy value.
A still frame from a San Francisco police officers body-worn camera during an officer-involved shooting that occurred on July 21 at Willow Street and Van Ness Avenue. Courtesy of SFPD
The man who was shot and killed by police earlier this month in San Francisco fired a weapon at an officer while fleeing, footage released by police on Wednesday shows.
On July 21, just before midnight, San Francisco police fatally shot the armed man suspected of stealing a red-and-black scooter in the Tenderloin. Footage released by the San Francisco Police Department at a virtual town hall Wednesday showed the suspect firing back at an officer before the officer returned fire.
Alexander Antonio Lopez, the 28-year-old identified as the suspect, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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At the town hall, Chief Bill Scott called the incident resulting in Lopezs death tragic.
Id like to express my deepest condolences to Lopezs surviving family members, Scott said.
Click here to see the video. Warning: Graphic and disturbing content.
Police responded to reports of an armed robbery near United Nations Plaza, in which the victim said a man with a gray pistol stole his scooter. Officers said they later found Lopez, who matched the suspect description and was in possession of the scooter, on Willow Street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street. He then ran west on Willow Street toward Van Ness Avenue, police said.
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Body camera and surveillance camera footage provided on Wednesday shows a man who police identified as Lopez firing back once at an officer pursuing him after multiple commands to stop. The officer returned fire as Lopez pointed his gun a second time and Lopez fell to the ground, police said. Four gunshots were heard in the video.
Capt. Jason Sawyer of the departments Northern Station expressed gratitude that there were no additional injuries.
The officers displayed incredible bravery under extreme circumstances and upheld the core tenets of what it takes to be a San Francisco police officer, Sawyer said at the town hall. Please be patient and allow the necessary parties to complete their part.
The incident remains under investigation.
Huw Edwards suggested a junior colleague could stay over in his BBC-funded hotel suite on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral and sent a picture of the room including the bed, it was reported today.
The recent ex-Beeb employee said that the newsreader reached out and said there had been 'plenty of room' to stay the night.
Edwards allegedly urged the unnamed TV worker to join him - but the young producer declined because it would have breached strict Covid-19 restrictions that saw the Queen sat alone at her husband's funeral in St George's Chapel, Windsor.
The Sun claims that on the day before the service, Edwards had texted to say he was 'staying there overnight then all day Saturday', adding: 'If youre around tomorrow night let me know'.
The next morning, the day of the funeral, Edwards apparently texted again and said: 'Missed a good night.
'You could have stayed here.
'We had a nice evening after the show'.
A young BBC worker claims that Huw Edwards invited him to stay in his hotel suite on the eve of presenting coverage of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 (pictured)
Huw apparently sent a picture of his suite and said there was 'plenty of room' for him
The text messages said to have been sent to a junior colleague
Alone in grief, the Queen sat alone as she said goodbye to her husband at his funeral in extraordinary and poignant circumstances due to the pandemic
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Mr Edwards is said to have moved from the family home he shared with wife Vicky Flind in south London
The producer asked if there had been a spare room and Edwards replied: 'Not spare but plenty of room'.
Edwards apparently messaged the producer on social media before asking to switch to WhatsApp.
Married father-of-five Edwards' first messages started with: 'Hello beauty', The Sun has said today.
The TV worker told them: He wanted to meet in private and put quite a lot of pressure on me to do so.
I thought it was odd and very inappropriate given his position and the age gap.
When asked about Edwards' conviction over indecent images of children, he added: 'I am shocked but it just shows what sort of person he is, and that people were right to try to speak out'.
Edwards has made a 'mockery' of the BBC and was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months, betrayed staffers said today.
The corporation faces yet more damaging questions after another of its biggest stars was revealed to be a sex offender after Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and others.
'It's unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie', one BBC employee said today.
And BBC News Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said: 'The facts are the BBC continued paying Huw Edwards his vast salary for five months after he was arrested,' adding: 'Why, also, did they let him leave on his own terms?'.
'In the end, this was a judgement call for the people at the very top of the BBC and the optics are reputationally damaging. The BBC spent taxpayers' money on a man now guilty of serious offences. Many people will believe the corporation made the wrong judgement', she said.
The Director General has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
There are also reports that someone in the Met Police called BBC management to alert them that Edwards had been charged, before it was made public.
Nicky Campbell, one of the BBC's most senior radio broadcasters, has branded his ex-colleague Edwards 'disgusting'. And responding to social media calls for the BBC to get back the 200,000 of licence fee money paid to Edwards while he was suspended, Mr Campbell gave a hint he might agree, tweeting it is 'my money too'.
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
Writing for the BBC website Katie Razzall said: 'Why didn't the BBC sack Edwards, in light of his arrest, instead of giving him the space to leave, apparently on his own terms, albeit with no pay off?
'There will have only been a handful of people in the room where these conversations were taking place.
'The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. The decisions they took can't have been easy and they will have been weighing up different scenarios - and competing advice.
'It's important to note that BBC News, where I'm employed, is editorially independent from the corporate side. We didn't know about the arrest or charges until earlier this week when the story broke'.
She added: 'Senior HR and legal advisors will have advised the BBC it had a duty of care towards Edwards as an employee. They will likely also have said he would have a legal case against the corporation if he was sacked unfairly. The BBC says it was made aware of significant risk to his health.
'But it is difficult to see this specifically through an HR or legal prism'.
Former BBC broadcaster Roger Bolton said today: 'The nature of what Huw Edwards has done is so disgusting and dreadful that I think any residual sympathy for him has gone.'
'The questions are, when did they [the BBC] know? What did they know?'
'There is the BBC at the very highest level, the executives, and BBC News. It's absolutely clear that BBC News and all its editors did not know until this week that Huw Edwards had been charged.
'But we now know the BBC executives were told in confidence that Huw Edwards had been charged. When did they know he was charged? And the big question is, why did they continue to pay him so much money in these circumstances?'.
It came a BBC insider claimed it was common knowledge that married father-of-five Edwards had messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years. The source believes that bosses 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him as an asset.
The disgraced BBC anchorman, 62, yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
It comes as the BBC admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April.
A BBC insider said last night: 'It was known for a few years he was messaging an assortment of lads in the newsroom for drinks etc, yet the feeling is senior editors might have turned a blind eye. If this was the case, it points to the usual ''protect the star'' stuff.'
Huw Edwards (pictured) messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile kAlex Williams, it has emerged.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday
Yesterday, Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were 'Category A', the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip's funeral to the nation.
Just this week, the BBC would not reveal if it had been aware of Edwards' arrest in November. But it tried to defend its actions in a statement last night.
The BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
It continued: 'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.' It added: 'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards's actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
An airline passenger who refused to move in first-class for a six-year-old whose mother failed to book a nearby space for their child is the latest big travel bust up to hit the headlines.
With the summer holidays well underway, horror stories about blazing rows on planes, trains and buses over seats, excessive noise and drinking are also all over the news.
Here MailOnline reveals the ultimate travel etiquette guide with the help of three of the world's leading experts.
Today these authorities on the subject give definitive answers on burning questions including whether a man should always stand up for a woman and who deserves a seat more out of a pregnant woman, the elderly, the disabled and children.
They also have the last word on at what point in a flight it is acceptable to start drinking, whether it is fair to recline seats or lift armrests on planes at all and when and how it is best to intervene with parents if their child is screaming, or watching loudly on a tablet or phone with no headphones.
Etiquette guru Sara Jane Ho, host of the Daytime Emmy-nominated Netflix series Mind Your Manners, reveals her travel etiquette tips to MailOnline
Philip Sykes, Founder and Principal of the British School of Excellence, believes that the disabled and pregnant women should get priority seats over the elderly. While etiquette expert and tutor Jo Sykes insists that parents with children shouldn't be given priority boarding on planes
Should a plane passenger refuse to give up a first-class seat so a child can sit with their mother or father?
The debate over travel etiquette exploded after it was revealed how a plane passenger refused to give up her first-class seat so a six-year-old boy could sit with his mother.
The airline seat incident emerged on Reddit's popular 'Am I The A**Hole' thread and has opened a can of worms.
Etiquette guru Sara Jane Ho, host of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Mind Your Manners, told MailOnline today that she agreed with the passenger who refused to budge.
She said unless a child is very young - or difficult - they 'can sit on their own because it's not like they're going to get lost on a plane'.
'A parent should think of these things in advance and seat their kids with them when checking in', she said.
If an old person gets on a bus at the same time as a disabled person or pregnant woman - who should get a priority seat?
When people ride buses there can be a case of musical chairs as people stand up and move when pregnant women or the disabled get on board.
On other occasions there are just steely, cold stares from those people who refuse to move from their seats for someone older or less mobile - with culprits often looking down at their phones or out of the window to avoid contact.
Etiquette expert Philip Sykes, Founder and Principal of the British School of Excellence, believes there are clear social rules about who people should move for.
'I feel the priority should typically go to the disabled person or pregnant woman, as they may have a more immediate need for seating', he told MailOnline.
But others believe that it should be less rigid and left to judge the situation.
Jo Bryant, a leading etiquette expert and tutor offering courses in British etiquette including travel and dining, said: 'If you are sitting in a priority seat, be ready to move and give it up to someone else more in need both willingly and quickly'.
And should children get somewhere to sit over the pregnant and disabled?
A relatively new trend has been to treat children, not just those carrying a child or disability.
MailOnline's etiquette panel are largely clear: children shouldn't come first - but also it women who are in the early days of pregnancy shouldn't expect a seat either.
Philip Sykes said: 'I feel that pregnant women and disabled individuals should be given priority for seats over children, as their need for seating is generally greater. If the parents have a seat, their children can sit on their laps'.
While Netflix star Sara Jane Ho said: 'I'm not sure that a pregnant lady or a disabled person should be kicked out of their seats for a child.
'And I guess, you know, with pregnant women as well, it depends on long depends how far along they are. If, you know they're sort of up to three months, not even showing, I mean, it might be harder to make a case.
'But if they're like seven or eight months and really about to pop and they're waddling around and they're uncomfortable, the last thing you want to do is make those make them even more uncomfortable by shifting them around.
'Same thing with a disabled person. I mean, like a disabled person really comes first to the top of the of the top of the pecking order'.
But Jo Bryant said it should be done on a case by case basis.
'The priority seat should be given to the person who needs it the most. This is a a matter of common sense, consideration and honesty', she said.
Should I intervene if I think someone should give up a seat for a pregnant, elderly or disabled person? If so, what is the politest way to do it?
Sara Jane Ho says the decision to intervene 'depends on how close you're sitting'.
If you're sitting like on the same row, or the one in front or behind then it is acceptable to say something.
But being a 'nosey parker' and chipping in from further afield isn't.
She said: 'Let's say you are sitting in that area. And you feel strongly that somebody should have this seat. First, if you're being such a gentleman or gentlewoman, you could give up your seat. Be the role model, right? That's what I've done. When I see an older person that's a on the subway and they don't have a seat. First thing I do is I jump up and I say "please take my seat".
'Firstly, it should come from within. But if you don't have a great seat but you think somebody else should move. 'Let's say it's a young person. A young man, you can say something like: "Ah, why doesn't this nice young gentleman here give up your seat for this disabled person?"
"So if you couch it in a way that is complimentary, and sort of fun, as opposed to critical and judgmental, then that is the best way to do it'.
'Or you could say: Excuse me, would you like to sit here? This keeps the situation respectful and avoids any potential conflict'.
Philip Sykes agrees.
Passengers can say something as long as it doesn't cause conflict.
He told MailOnline: 'Yes, you can intervene politely. The best approach is to address the person who should be offered the seat directly rather than confronting the seated person.
'You could say, Excuse me, would you like to sit here?
'This keeps the situation respectful and avoids any potential conflict'.
Should men stand up for women and offer them a seat?
Is chivalry dead?
Many think so, although etiquette experts do still think that it is a good thing when men stand up for women to give them a seat.
Sara Jane Ho says: 'I would say that tradition would say yes, feminists would say no, I'm somewhere in between.
'But if a man is going out of his way to be a gentleman by offering his seat then I'm impressed and I'm grateful'.
But she also says that age is a factor.
'I often say that etiquette is about context. There's no black or white. And, I mean, if it's like a really elderly gentleman if it's like you know, grandpa or somebody who was in the 80s or 90s, well, then he's geriatric, and he should not have to go out of his way. If it's a young man in his 20s or 30s, and and the woman is old, then you know, he should go out of his way', she said.
Jo Bryant says gender is irrelevent now. 'Gone are the days when men were required to give up seats for women; today, anyone should offer their seat to someone who needs it more than them, regardless of gender', she said.
Should passengers be able to eat what they want on planes or public transport?
Nothing can be more unpleasant than the stench of strong food on packed public transport.
Sara Jane Ho says that people should even think about the kind of fruit they eat around others.
She said: 'Strong smelling pungent foods in any kind of enclosed space, whether it's on a plane, on a train or even in your office should be a no no' - citing curry and fish.
She went on: 'Things that do not do not have a strong smell and and will bother other people. Even some fruits like oranges have a strong smell and even though oranges smell kind of nice, but not everybody may like oranges that remember in these enclosed spaces. It's not like you could open a window on an airplane or most trains'.
Philip Sykes cited the ban on strong-smelling in foreign countries.
'It is considerate to avoid eating strong-smelling food on trains to prevent discomfort for other passengers. In Hong Kong, food and drink are banned on public transport', he said.
Jo Bryant is in agreement.
She said: 'Avoid eating smelly foods on trains; pungent smells from meal and snacks are amplified in a train carriage, so think about your choice and opt for something that wont be unpleasant or overwhelming for fellow passengers'.
Should nuts be banned on buses and trains, as well as planes?
The family of a teenage girl who died after suffering an allergic reaction on a plane today demanded airlines clamp down on passengers eating peanuts - after another girl passed out at 30,000ft over her nut allergy.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, died in 2016 after suffering an anaphylactic shock to sesame seeds in a Pret a Manger baguette she had bought at Heathrow before catching a flight to Nice.
Some airlines have banned nuts from flights completely. Others read out a warning before take-off if someone on board has an allergy,
Outspoken Ms Ho has said believes that airlines have gone 'too far' with blanket bans on nuts and passengers should be able to eat them unless there is someone with a known severe allergy on board.
She said: 'Peanuts are the largest cause of food related deaths and if somebody has an allergy the last thing you want to be is on a plane because you don't have access to the hospital.
'So if elements wanted to completely eliminate the risk of not allergy shocks or deaths, then they can just not serve it, but I think it's going too far now.
'Because if somebody else wants to bring their own nuts onto the plane, they should have the right to bring them and take them'.
Philip Sykes says that a blanket ban is sensible.
He said: 'Yes, I feel they should be banned due to the fact that nut allergies are very serious; in turn, it would protect passengers with severe allergies and prevent potential allergic reactions in confined spaces.
'You may recall the tragedy on the Easyjet flight a few years ago, where a person died from a sandwich prepared at Pret a Manger - known as Natasha's Allergy Law'.
Should families with children be allowed to go to the front of the queue when boarding a flight?
Some have said that one of the oddities of plane travel is letting on families with children first.
MailOnline's etiquette experts are split.
Philip Sykes said: 'In my opinion, this does make sense for families with young children to board first to allow extra time for settling in and storing luggage. This, in turn, will also benefit other passengers by reducing overall boarding congestion and delays'.
But Jo Bryant disagrees.
'There is no need to queue-barge with kids. Airlines usually offer families the option of a designated boarding time, often first, or if not, you must wait until your row is called. Boarding early with kids isn't always the best idea - some savvy parents prefer to board later, preventing children from sitting on the plane for longer than necessary and getting bored before take off', she says.
Is there an acceptable time on a flight to recline your seat?
People have the right to recline - but should choose when carefully.
Philip Sykes says that air passengers should wait until everyone has eaten if people are having a meal on board.
He said: 'Its courteous to wait until after the meal service is over before reclining your seat.
'I would always suggest you recline slowly and check behind you to ensure the passenger behind is not inconvenienced'.
Sara Jane Ho says the ruled are clear that 'you're not allowed to recline your seat as takeoff or landing'.
But added that it's fine after that.
She said: 'If you want to recline, you can recline your seat when the plane is not at an angle - ie when it's going up or it's going down, because then it's just uncomfortable for the person behind you.
'But if it's flat, then you can recline. You can recline your seat. Remember when when you do it, don't do it suddenly, because you don't know what the person has behind you behind you. You want to do it smoothly and gently'.
Plane armrests: When should they come down - and who gets ownership of the middle seat ones?
Experts say that armrests should never be raised - unless you are with family or a loved one.
But anyone in the middle on a row of seats has the worst seat so should get the armrests to themselves.
'Armrests are usually down on takeoff and should remain down for the duration of the flight for comfort and separation of space. In my opinion, the person in the middle seat typically has the right to both armrests, as they have the least space', Philip Sykes said.
Sara Jane Ho added: 'The person sitting in the middle seat tends to have a worse seat. So they usually get both armrests.
'And on armrests: as long as you're sitting next to a stranger they should always be down. Because do you really want to basically share seat with a stranger? I don't think so. Right? You need that divider. That's what the armrest is.
'If you're traveling with your significant other or family member and you want to have a bit very close to each other, then you don't have to put the armrest down but if it's a stranger put it down'.
In the day and age of having to book specific seats for extra cash on many airlines, can you ask to move to a different empty seat once on board?
Yes, absolutely.
Philip Sykes says: 'You can ask to move to an empty seat once the plane is in the air, but its courteous to wait until the plane has reached cruising altitude and to ask a flight attendant for permission.
'This ensures there are no last-minute seating adjustments needed and respects the booking system'.
Sara Jane Ho says that you should stay in your seat and not disrupt boarding before moving.
'Let's say there were like rows and rows of empty seats. You have to wait till the doors closed. The last thing you want to do is to be switching seats around with the doors not closed yet.
'That's just annoying for everybody. So you wait until the plane doors are closed. And then ask the air steward or stewardess: "Can I move to that row?" That is fine because you're not bothering anybody'.
Is it 'cheeky' for newlyweds or people flying for a special event to ask for an upgrade on a plane?
Airlines are well used to being asked for a class upgrade by newlyweds.
But in fact there are more people asking becaiuse of birthdays, special holidays and graduations, for example.
Etiquette experts say that as long as passengers ask with charm - they are ok to 'try their arm'.
Philip Sykes said: 'It really boils down to asking with charm and good manners - chancing your arm a bit. As we all know, the upgrade is not guaranteed; I do know that some airlines sometimes accommodate these requests if space and policies permit, but there's no obligation for them to do so.
'It's generally seen as a goodwill gesture rather than a standard expectation. Again, in my opinion, airlines could dine out on this offer, especially if there is space for the honeymooners. In turn, the honeymooners will rave about the airline, what a lovely story to tell'.
Jo Bryant agrees - people should feel comfortable with asking - but it should be in a nice way.
'Why not? As long as its done politely, with the awareness its a cheeky ask you can only be refused', she said.
Is putting a bag on a seat on an empty seat okay? If a passenger does it - should they have to pay for an extra ticket?
It is a scene repeated on every train, bus and sometimes even planes around the world.
A passenger places their bag on the seat next to them - often to stop someone sitting there.
Sometimes on a quieter day, there are plenty of seats to go around. But on busier services - the fireworks can fly.
One of MailOnline's experts believes that if you want a bag on the seat next to you, you need to pay for it!
Philip Sykes says simply: 'If someone wants to occupy a seat with their bag, they should purchase an additional ticket to account for the space'.
But Sara Jane Ho and Jo Bryant say that no one would believe you if you said you had a ticket for your bag.
Ms Ho said: 'Well, listen, if there's nobody sitting next to you, you can put your bag on the seat.
'But if I mean it, just bizarre, I don't think you should have to pay an extra ticket. But also, I don't think you should be putting your bag on your seat.
'If there's nobody, if there's somebody sitting there, right. If it's somebody's seat, like, that's somebody's seat. But if it's an open seat, then yeah'.
She says it is also ok on a plane.
She said: 'I'll be in an aisle. There'll be a person on a window, and then there'll be a middle seat that's open. Both of us will put our hand back, so that's totally fine'.
But Jo Bryant says it is not convinced.
'Bags shouldnt be stored on seats unless you have the luxury of an empty carriage or bus etc. Put them away in luggage racks, on the floor or on your lap. No one will believe or realise you have bought an extra ticket for your bag, so best be practical and store it sensibly and considerately instead', she said.
Are there any circumstances where it is acceptable for someone to put their bags in the aisle of a train?
No.
Sara Jane Ho goes further, and says that you should store luggage safely and always where you can see it.
'The aisles should always remain clear. You're supposed to put it at the end of the carriage. Make sure that if you do that you sit in a direction facing where your bag is because with with thieves these days.
'I've had friends where we've been on the train in Switzerland or in the UK, and they put the bags in the back of the carriage. They sat in a way where the bags were behind them and lo and behold, the bags was stolen'.
Philip Sykes says that it doesn't matter how busy a train is, luggage in the aisles is not acceptable.
Even if it ends up on your lap.
'Leaving bags in the aisles of a busy train is generally not acceptable as it can obstruct movement and pose a safety hazard. Always store bags in the designated luggage areas or keep them with you without blocking the aisle. There are usually overhead racks and, on some trains, specific areas for luggage', he says.
Can you sit in first class if the rest of the train's carriages are full? Is it even acceptable on a plane?
Another question many commuters ask themselves - sometimes daily - is whether they dare sit in first class if standard is fill.
The experts are split.
Philip Sykes says: 'No, you should not sit in first class unless you have a first-class ticket, regardless of how full the other carriages are. I have been on a few train journeys where the trains were full, and the guard offered to passengers that they may occupy the empty first-class seats; that is thoughtful and kind'.
Jo Bryant agrees that you should wait for guidance.
She said: 'If the area is declassified and it has been announced so, then go for it. Otherwise you obviously risk a fine if you dont have top ticket'.
But Sara Jane Ho is more open to the idea.
'Well, I don't think it's up to you to decide if you can sit in first class if the standard carriages are full', she said.
She also believes that there is even a chance to go to first class on a plane.
'If the plane is full, then you know they won't be allowed on but if there are no shows and they will be allowed. So let me just say it's not up to the traveler, where they sit. It's really up to the or the air stewardess to decide'', she said.
Is it acceptable to decline someones request to switch seats? Whats the best way to decline a request?
The debate around swapping seats still rumbles on.
Many passengers are certain they'd never give up their assigned seat - but others much more willing to move.
However, according to Sara Jane Ho, declining a seat-swapping request is perfectly acceptable. 'You are not obligated to switch seats with anyone, she says.
Of course, she explains, this depends on which seat they want to move to. 'If its better, take it gladly. If its worse (like a middle seat) then you are justified [to decline].'
Sara advises to politely brush it off.
'"I paid a lot for this seat, thank you for understanding,"' is a good dismissal, she claims. 'Nobody knows exactly how much you paid anyway.'
She adds: 'Or you can say, "32G is my lucky seat, I always have to fly in this seat otherwise I get anxiety."'
Is there any good reason to ask to swap seats on public transport? For example if you have longer legs
Experts say that asking to swap seats on a train or bus where no seats are reserved is fine when done politely - but don't be offended if your request is declined.
Experts say that asking to swap seats on a train or bus where no seats are reserved is fine when done politely - but don't be offended if your request is declined.
Sara Jane Ho says that the person in the seat you want has every right to refuse if they were there first.
She said: 'If it's public transport, technically, you're not assigned seats. But that means technically it's first come first served.
'So if somebody first got there and has a seat, then they that is their seat. You don't really have a right to kick them out of their seat. You can always ask I mean if you don't ask, you don't get but you should not feel entitled'.
Philip Sykes believes there is no harm in asking.
And in fact the person in that seat should perhaps be proactive themselves if sat next to someone very tall.
'Its acceptable to politely ask to swap seats if you have a legitimate reason, such as needing more legroom or easier access to the toilet. Simply explain your reason and be understanding if the other person prefers not to switch.
'On the other hand, passengers could be observant and offer a taller person their seat if it were doable', he said.
How should passengers deal with someone else's noisy or upset children?
Be prepared for noisy youngsters on public transport. To quieten them down, Sara advises non-verbal communication such as eye contact to begin with before speaking to the parents
Cacophonous children are almost a given on public transport.
To quieten them down, Sara Jane Ho advises non-verbal communication to begin with.
'Eye contact should be enough of a warning,' she says.
'If it really is getting out of hand, you can try to come across as though you are giving advice [to the parent] out of the goodness of your heart. [With babies, for example] something like, "Poor baby, do you want to try changing their nappy?"'
And her message for parents.
Sara says: 'Look apologetic and at least appear to look like youre trying to pipe them down.'
Is it ever acceptable to play something on a phone or iPad without headphones on planes and trains?
'It's never okay to have your phone on speaker phone in public. Wear headphones if your volume is on', says Sara
There has been a plague of people blaring out music and videos using their phones.
All over the country Britons squirm in their seats as they ponder intervening.
When up in the air or in the middle of a long train journey, passengers may want to unwind by watching a movie or listening to music on their devices.
But, there's one thing they should keep in mind.
According to Sara Jane Ho: 'It's never okay to have your phone on speaker phone in public. Wear headphones if your volume is on.
'It is unacceptable. For anybody child or adult to watch stuff on public transport loudly.
'It smacks of lack of consideration and respect for the people around you. And unfortunately this does happen a fair bit.
'I believe public transport is not as bad as in enclosed space such as on the plane or the train.
'If let's say the subways are ready loud, noisy and rattling anyway, then okay if you have it on low volume, so that it's so that not everybody can hear it.
'Maybe just you and the person listening to left or right can hear it. I mean that's still borderline and still not great. But if you're in a quiet closed area, then absolutely no sounds'.
Philip Sykes says that children can listen without headphones if it keeps them calm and quiet. But not so it disturbs others.
He said: 'Its generally considered courteous for children to use headphones when watching iPads on public transport. This minimises disturbance to other passengers.
'If headphones arent available, keeping the volume very low is a considerate alternative. However, I still feel that it should not be a loud'.
Drinking alcohol on trains or the Tube? Is it ever acceptable?
Experts believe it is acceptable on trains if it is allowed - but getting drunk isn't.
Philip Sykes said: 'Follow the specific rules of the transport company you are using. If alcohol is allowed, drink responsibly and be mindful of your fellow passengers. It's never acceptable on the Tube, where it is banned'.
Sara Jane Ho added: 'I think it's acceptable - if you don't get drunk.
'Of course, not everybody is able to control themselves. Listen, if it's a beer, some people want to kick back with a beer. So this is really just up to the company and what their policy is'.
And what about drinking on planes: What stage of a flight can you start hitting the booze?
Philip Sykes says drinking from the start of the flight is completely acceptable - but don't let it go too far.
He said: 'Drinking alcohol on planes is generally acceptable and often served by the airline. Its appropriate to start once the beverage service begins, usually after takeoff.
'Always drink responsibly and be mindful of your fellow passengers. The crew have the authority not to serve alcohol if they deem it to be an issue with a drunk passenger'.
But Sara Jane Ho is less supportive - if a person can't handle their drink.
'To drink on planes is legal right now and it is acceptable. But remember, it's not actually good for you because on a plane you're dehydrated.
'And as you climb higher and higher and the altitude in the bubbles will have the alcohol will have a bigger and bigger effect. It's highly not advised, especially for your own health.
'But hey, it's your choice - as long as you're able to control your liquor and not get rowdy or emotional'.
What should you say to someone talking loudly to their companion in a quiet carriage of a train? Is there any recourse I should take if it continues - or should I silently fume?
'Start with a polite request: Excuse me, this is a quiet carriage. Would you mind keeping your voices down?, says Philip Sykes.
'If the noise continues, you can seek assistance from a train attendant to handle the situation, as they are trained to enforce carriage rules'.
But if the problems continue - it is ok to push for people to be ejected.
'I was at a cinema a month ago, and the three people in front of us kept talking and looking at their phones. Having been asked at the beginning of the film to turn their phones off and keep quiet during the film, I asked them twice to refrain, to then be sworn at. So I got up and informed the officials, who in turn informed security, and they were removed', he said.
Ms Ho says that a polite way to confront it is to claim you were asleep.
'This is one of my pet peeves. I will actually just look over I will make eye contact which usually you know, when they catch your eyes, they should have the wherewithal to lower their voice. Or I say, I say excuse me, "I'm trying to take a nap and I can hear every single word of a conversation and this is the quiet carriage. Do you mind? Do you mind you know lowering your volume?"
But she says move yourself if you can if people are being too loud in a normal carriage.
She said it happened to her on one occasion.
'This American man had a full on loud conversation that the whole carriage could hear, unfortunately, I was sitting on the same row as him and I was fuming.
'But you know what? I wasn't in the quiet carriage so I couldn't quite say anything. What I ended up doing was moving to the quiet area'.
The Warsaw Uprising, which broke out exactly 80 years ago today, was the largest and most savage insurgency against Nazi occupation ever seen.
Starting on August 1, 1944, by the time it ended 63 days later, close to 85 per cent of the Polish capital had been decimated.
Around 18,000 insurgents were killed during brutal fighting and another 25,000 injured.
More than 180,000 civilians were also killed in German mass executions and bombings.
Although the German atrocities and acts of Polish heroism are well documented, lesser known is that the insurgency also saw hundreds of men and women from 18 different countries involved in the fight for Warsaw's survival.
One of them was Birmingham RAF pilot John Ward, who had been shot down over France and then imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp in occupied Poland.
Also involved was Irish-born nurse Eileen Short, French pilot Jean Gasparoux, and Nigerian musician August Agboola Browne, who is thought to have been the only black person to have taken part in the Uprising.
Birmingham RAF pilot John Ward fought on the Polish side in the Warsaw Uprising - which began 80 years ago today - after being shot down and then escaping from a prisoner of war camp. Nigerian musician August Agboola Browne also fought in the Uprising against the Nazis
Eileen Short and her husband Jozef Galinski after the war. The couple joined the Polish resistance movement known as the Home Army (AK)
After escaping from the POW camp he was in, Ward joined the Polish resistance movement known as the Home Army (AK).
When the Uprising broke out, the 25-year-old began sending reports directly to London, where they were shared with British prime minister Winston Churchill.
Ward, who sent more than 100 dispatches, was counting on the Allies to paradrop arms and supplies to the insurgents, which they initially did.
When Joseph Stalin's Red Army arrived on Warsaw's east bank shortly after the Uprising broke out, it was widely expected that the Russian troops would cross the river and fight alongside the Poles.
But Stalin refused to help.
Instead, Stalin decided to 'wait the battle out', and refused to let British planes enter its airspace to drop supplies to the Polish fighters.
His plan was to let the Nazis win so the Red Army could then roll in and take the Polish capital.
In a plea for supplies from the Allies, on August 28, 1944, Ward wrote: 'Extremely urgent, to Sir Archibald Sinclair, Minister of Air. The situation in Warsaw is critical.
'We do not have sufficient quantities of arms and ammunition to conduct any offensive operations.
'The losses are colossal. There is not a house that has not been shelled by artillery, mine throwers or aircraft.
'The inhabitants of the city are desperate.'
In another dispatch, Ward wrote: 'The time of the uprising is measured not only by the fatigue of the insurgents, but also by the number of dead.
'The dead are everywhere. Sometimes it seems that there are more of them than the fighting.'
In his last dispatch on September 29, three days before the resistance surrendered, Ward wrote: 'There are only two Polish "islands" of resistance left - in the north and in the city centre.
'The lack of food is so severe that even front-line soldiers have nothing to eat.'
Following the collapse of the Uprising, Ward fled Warsaw and continued fighting with the resistance.
Around 18,000 insurgents were killed another 25,000 were injured in the Warsaw Uprising. Above: A soldier from the Polish Home Army looks down a ruined street
August Browne getting married in Krakow before the war. He had emigrated from Nigeria - then a British colony - to Warsaw in 1922
Jazzman August Brownes application for membership of a Polish veterans organisation
Stills from 1953 propaganda film 'Soldier of Freedom', which Browne appeared in
In 2019, a monument to Browne was erected in Warsaw's Old Town district
Jean Gasparoux's 'Baszta' unit. The French pilot challenged a German officer to a pistol duel
By 1945, the Soviet troops had taken control of large swathes Poland and began hunting down AK members and executing them.
Ward at first dodged both German and Red Army troops, but was then captured by Soviet secret police when he returned to Warsaw in March 1945.
After being interrogated he was thrown into a cell.
Incredibly, he escaped once again - this time with the help of an American captain - and returned to England.
Dodging both German and Red Army troops, in March he returned to Warsaw where he was captured by the Soviet secret police and after being interrogated was thrown into a cell.
The following day he managed to escape and with the help of an American captain eventually managed to return to England.
He died in 1995 in London.
When Irish-born Eileen Short, from Liverpool, arrived in Warsaw in 1935 to teach English to a wealthy Polish woman she had met in Windsor, it must have seemed she'd arrived on a different planet.
With its cocktail parties, high-class restaurants and heady nightlife, the Polish capital was dubbed the 'Paris of the East'.
It was a far cry from the industrial port city ravished by unemployment she had left behind.
A year later, the 24-year-old met and fell in love with a dashing army lieutenant named Jozef Galinski.
But life as she knew it was thrown into disarray following Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939, an act of aggression which triggered the outbreak of the Second World War.
The couple married four days after the war erupted and then joined the AK movement.
Eileen narrowly avoided being arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, after her husband was seized and sent to notorious death camp Auschwitz.
Insurgents are seen fighting in the streets during the Warsaw Uprising
Polish insurgents are seen holding weapons during the Warsaw Uprising
When the Uprising started, Eileen joined a combat unit called 'Kryska' as a nurse.
Alongside Polish actress Malgorzata Lorentowicz, they first saw action in the riverside district of Powisle, where they came up against Hitler's equivalent of the Dirty Dozen.
It was an SS division led by a child molester and made up of psychopaths, murderers and rapists.
They executed captured AK soldiers, raped nurses and shot civilians in a rampage of brutality.
After retreating to a nearby district, Eileen's unit found itself penned in on three sides.
Two more weeks of bitter fighting saw Kryska reduced to just 200 makeshift troops.
When the Uprising eventually ended, more than 700 members of Eileen's unit had been killed.
She was arrested after stumbling from a bombed out hospital, where she had been tending to the wounded.
To avoided being shot, she and other resistance nurses pretended to be civilians.
After being taken to Gestapo HQ, six of the women were immediately executed.
Eileen survived and was dumped along with other civilians in a disease-ridden transit camp destined for forced labour camps in Germany.
After fleeing the camp, she went into hiding before making her way back to the UK, where she began work as a translator for the exiled Polish government.
Remarkably, she was reunited with her husband after the war ended and was later awarded some of Poland's highest medals for bravery.
She died in 1990 and was buried in Gunnersbury cemetery in Kensington, London.
Also involved in the fighting was 26-year-old French pilot Jean Gasparoux, who became known for challenging a German officer to a pistol duel.
He was one of five Frenchmen to take part in the Uprising but the only one to survive. The rest were killed during the fighting.
The mustachioed second-Lieutenant had escaped from a German POW camp before joining the AK's 'Baszta' unit, where he became known as 'the mad Frenchman'.
During fierce fighting in the centre of the capital, insurgent Wojciech Militz, who fought alongside Gasparoux, later recalled him standing in a broken window and challenging a German officer.
Saying that both sides had 'ceased fire' following the challenge, Militz said: 'Jean and the German shot at each other several times.
'Neither of them hit each other, because as we know it is very difficult to hit with a handgun.
'Up close it is possible, but at a distance of several dozen feet you have to be well-trained.
'So he must be crazy.'
In another incident, during heavy fighting at the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth church, the beret-wearing Gasparoux stunned both sides even more.
On August 27, 1944, German tanks began blasting a building where the insurgents had put up a barricade.
Militz said: 'We saw him suddenly stand up in front of German tanks 20 feet away, take out a small umbrella and, dancing and singing tra-la-la, he crossed the entire street to the other side without receiving even a scratch.'
Gasparoux is said to have survived the war but it is not known what happened to him.
During last year's Uprising anniversary, the French consulate in the Polish city of Krakow posted a photo of Gasparoux's unit alongside a small dedication to the Frenchman.
As well as the French, there were five Dutchmen, around 12 Italians who had deserted from Mussolini's forces and even a German - a Luftwaffe NCO pilot named Willy Lampe - involved.
He had joined the Bartkiewicz unit after switching sides and taught the resistance fighters how to use captured German weapons.
Female members of the Polish resistance seen during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The fighting began 80 years ago today
The 36th Waffen SS Grenadier Division. It was the unit made up of rapists and murderers that Eileen Short's unit went up against
Polish soldiers are seen after being captured by Nazi forces following the Warsaw Uprising
Another foreign fighter on the Polish side was Australian Walter Edward Smith, a former barman who signed up to the Army after the outbreak of the war.
He was captured during the Nazi invasion of Crete, escaped from a POW camp in Germany and managed to make his way to Poland, where he was taken in by members of the resistance.
Despite the AK trying to convince him to go to England, Smith decided to stay.
During the Uprising, he fought in the city's downtown area and also relayed messages to London asking for support.
After the resistance failed, he fled to the Polish city of Krakow where he met a priest who advised him to report to the Germans saying he was lost.
They beat him senseless and sent him back to the POW camp, Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf in what is now Silesia in Poland.
After the war, he returned to Sydney and only revealed his wartime experiences in the late 50s.
Perhaps one of the more surprising participants was a Nigerian jazz musician.
In 2019, Warsaw locals woke to the news that a new monument had been erected in the city's Old Town.
The block of polished stone was embossed with the name August Agboola Browne, who had emigrated from Nigeria - then a British colony - to Warsaw in 1922.
He had wowed Warsaw's pre-war nightlife with his intricate percussion skills, but when war broke out, the twice-married jazz player, who fathered four children, is said to have distributed underground newspapers and hidden Jews who had managed to escape the Warsaw Ghetto.
At the start of the Uprising, he joined an AK unit named 'Iwo' and adopted the codename 'Ali'.
Little is known about his activities, which only came to light in 2008 when a Polish archivist at the Warsaw Uprising Museum came across a document with Browne's photo.
The document was an application form Browne filed in 1949 for membership of a Polish veterans' organisation called the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy.
Members of the Polish resistance seen fighting during the Warsaw Uprising
The form contained his date and place of birth, his parents' names and the name of his commanding officer during the Uprising.
After the defeat, the officer was taken prisoner by the Germans.
A former member of Browne's unit later recalled: 'I saw a black man in the command of the Iwo battalion at Marszakowska 74 street.
'I think he worked in communications. I don't remember anything more.'
After the war, it is known that Browne stayed in Warsaw, where in 1949 he was employed in the city council's Department of Culture and Art.
He continued playing jazz, and appeared in a 1953 Communist propaganda film about the Uprising called 'Zolnierz Wolnosci' (Soldier of Freedom).
In the late 50s, Browne moved back to the UK with his second wife and their children.
He died at the age of 81 in 1976 and is buried in Hampstead cemetery.
Mark Kelly was a public figure but by no stretch a politician when a deranged gunman shot his wife Rep. Gabby Giffords in the head while she was meeting with constituents in a supermarket parking lot.
Now, leading Democrats and even some Republicans say he is a natural choice to be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, citing his background as a naval aviator and an astronaut and as someone who summoned the horrifying family tragedy to push for gun control and reducing gun violence.
'What I know is that he and Gabby are really close, and its very touching to me how much hes embraced the cause that she has championed,' said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who knows Giffords from his time in the House and who was the first senator to publicly call on Joe Biden to step back from his presidential campaign.
'Its just a very moving story of a loving couple turning their tragedy into hope for so many people,' he told DailyMail.com, calling it 'inspiring.'
After an initial flurry of reports about a handful of centrist governors who might help carry Harris to victory in a battleground state, Kelly has risen to be a leading prospect who might help Harris shore up political weaknesses on the border while getting a lift from his inspiration biography.
'The guys done more days of active military service than anybody in Congress. Hes got two Distinguished Flying Crosses. Hes been vetted by life beyond what most people could ever imagine. Hes the closest thing weve got to a national hero,' said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), another booster.
Ready to rise? Sen. Mark Kelly is on VP Kamala Harris' short list for vice president. He spent a total 54 days in space, and has pushed to secure the southern border
'The guy doesnt play politics. But he knows more about the ships and the planes and the armaments we use to defend our country than anybody in Congress, to my knowledge. Everything hes done has been in service of his country,' he added.
At a time when potential picks have been hogging the airwaves Kelly took to the airwaves to defend Harris and rip Trump Wednesday Kelly's low-key approach could provide assurances that the astronaut won't outshine Harris.
'He doesnt go out and beat his chest. You dont see him doing the talk show circuit. Hes a public servant. And the nice thing about him, if I was looking at Vice President Harris point of view, he doesnt need a lot of oxygen. He doesnt need to take up a lot of space. Its going to be the president there whos going to be the real leader of this country. And hes going to be a partner for her [if chosen]. But my God, what a good partner hed be,' Hickenlooper added.
The data points on his resume inside and outside of politics were enough to vault Kelly onto a short list that includes governors who could help deliver battleground states (Donald Trump holds a narrow poll lead in Arizona, which Biden won in 2020).
- He flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm as a Navy pilot.
- He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
- He traveled to space four times as an astronaut, spending 54 days high above earth.
- He piloted the space shuttle Endeavor, lived aboard the International Space Station, and even flew aboard a Russian rocket.
- Kelly, 60, took part in a NASA twins study along with his brother Scott.
Kelly entered politics after his wife Gabby Giffords was shot while meeting with Arizona constituents
Harris has travel planned for next week with her running mate, and is considering swing state governors
Vice presidential immunity: Kelly and his twin Scott Kelly (above) took part in a NASA twins study while Scott Kelly was in the international space station. Here Scott Kelly gets a flu shot
The Trump camp continues to lob criticism at Kamala Harris over border intrusions
Kelly served in Operation Desert Storm and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses before taking part in four space shuttle missions. Hes the closest thing weve got to a national hero,' said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.)
And he has occasionally taken on the Biden administration by calling for tough action at the border, where his state receives a regular influx of migrants making illegal crossings from Mexico.
That gives him the opportunity to help compensate for a top weakness of Harris, who Republicans continue to blast for her effort as 'border tsar' who failed to step a migrant influx.
His appeal even earns him plaudits from Republicans in the clubby Senate. 'I know Mark. He's a good guy. I like him. I mean he's got one of the most incredible stories you could have,' said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
'I think he's got a unique resume. He'd be a tough pick,' said Graham, who has traveled with Kelly.
Elected in 2020 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. John McCain, a war hero known for taking on his party at times, Kelly has made frequent visits to the border and pushed the Biden administration to fill gaps in the border wall.
An Armed Services Committee member, he is accustomed to speaking on some of the global issues that could trip up a governor on the debate stage, at a time when there are feast of an expanding war in the Middle East.
When it comes time to vetting at a time when comments by Republican Sen. J.D. Vance keep coming back to cause headaches the former astronaut has been poked and prodded more than any politician in recent memory, save for the late Sen. John Glenn (R-Ohio).
Kelly took part in a unique NASA twins study that monitored his physiology and even his cognitive function compared to his twin Scott, who was also an astronaut. Mark Kelly was on the ground while his brother spent about year in space in 2015 and 2016, in effect serving as the baseline, having not been in space for years at the time.
'For a few measures, persistent changes were observed even after 6 months on Earth, including some genes expression levels, increased DNA damage from chromosomal inversions, increased numbers of short telomeres, and attenuated cognitive function,' according to the study, which was meant to study how humans could handle extended space flight.
The brothers each got flu vaccines, had their cardiovascular systems analyzed, and even had their genes studied.
Kelly met privately with Harris' vetting team, Politico reported.
A regretful young Aussie said she should have thought more beforehand about how much it was going to cost her to go to university after racking up $83,000 in student debt.
Jessica Herbert, who now works in disability and community service, said if she had her time over, she would have chosen different areas of study and pursued a career in nursing or teaching.
Ms Herbert completed two Masters degrees after she studied a Bachelor of Business majoring in Event Management and Marketing.
'I don't regret going to university, but I do regret not thinking it through with the cost,' Ms Herbert told SBS Insight.
'I think if I had chosen something that wasn't as heavily saturated like event management ... it would have led me down a different path.'
Ms Herbert was forced to drop out of her Masters' degree due to a lack of government funding for the course.
She later spent 10 years working in event management for music festivals and bush doofs.
While she was working, her HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) debt soared due to the annual rate of indexation.
Jessica Herbert (pictured), who works in disability and community service, said she would have pursued a career in nursing or teaching to reduce her massive HECS debt
The figure is adjusted every year in June to reflect cost-of-living rises.
Ms Herbert, who was employed as a contractor, wasn't earning enough to pay the fees back.
The annual rate soared to a massive 7.1 per cent in 2023 - the biggest increase in 33 years.
The current income threshold over which students must make compulsory repayments on HECS loans is currently $54,435.
Ms Herbert said that on reflection, she might have felt differently about pursuing higher education if she'd chosen different courses because it would have reduced her overall HECS debt.
She experienced additional hits to her income during the Covid-19 pandemic when many outdoor events were forced to shut down.
Eventually Ms Herbert decided to pursue more education and did a six-month community services course at TAFE.
Figures by leading comparison website Finder found that 28 per cent of people with student debt are extremely concerned about their ability to pay the loan back.
The indexation rate, which is adjusted each financial year, soared to a massive 7.1 per cent in 2023 - the biggest increase in 33 years (stock image)
The survey, which featured 271 respondents, also found that 12 per cent believe they will never be able to pay back their debt.
Another Aussie student Alicia, 28, who has racked up $81,000 in debt due to indexation, said she fears she will never be able to repay the money.
The high school teacher completed a double degree in science before she went on to do a Bachelor of Environmental Town Planning.
She then did a Masters in teaching, but the degrees combined set her back $71,000 in student debt before indexation was applied.
Alicia said even though she doesn't regret going to university, the cost structure of student loan repayments needs to be revised.
'It is frustrating that even on a good salary, my HECS seem to just keep increasing; I was so shocked when I saw that amount doing my tax this year,' she recently told news.com.au.
HECS allows students to avoid paying tuition fees upfront. While the loan is interest free, the amount is indexed during the financial year.
The current rate of indexation is 4.7 per cent.
The family of a police officer who was killed by a repeat criminal in Missouri found itself at the center of a contentious GOP primary in the state.
The two Republican candidates for state attorney general - current AG Andrew Bailey and Trump attorney Will Scharf - are running on very similar platforms.
They also both received strong endorsements from former President Donald Trump, in a unique feat.
Despite almost no daylight policy-wise between Scharf and Bailey, the race has become so intense that it is now one of the most expensive down-ballot races in the country at nearly $20 million.
Bailey's record on crime is in the spotlight in a new ad and mailers being funded by a political action committee supporting Scharf.
It blames Bailey for the death of police officer Mason Griffith, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in March 2023 at age 34.
Now, the widow of the slain cop is demanding that her late husband be left out of the contentious campaign as she raises two young sons.
The widow of a slain cop in Missouri is demanding those backing Trump attorney Will Scharf, who is running for attorney general, stop throwing her late husband into the middle of his campaign
Jennifer Griffith says the ads have sent her family spiraling once again and is demanding they cease.
'They're hitting this pretty hard,' Griffith told DailyMail.com, adding that she's received three mail ads, countless phone calls, surveys and text messages with videos exploiting her husband's death.
'I have to explain to my son every time he sees a commercial on TV why Kenneth Simpson's face is on TV,' she added, referring to her husband's alleged killer.
Alleged cop killer Kenneth Simpson had a long history of run-ins with the police beginning in 2004. He spent the next decade in and out or prison, according to court records.
The ad primarily hits Bailey for his time as assistant prosecutor in Warren County in 2017 when he handled multiple cases involving Simpson.
Simpson was arrested, charged and released on bond multiple times in the fall of 2017 for allegedly punching his father in the face and possessing brass knuckles, two misdemeanors.
He ended up spending 10 days in jail for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia under Bailey's prosecution. A judge sentenced him to another six months for unlawful possession of a weapon.
The pro-Scharf PAC's attack ads and mailers go on the offense against Bailey, saying Simpson's short sentences allowed him to commit more crimes.
'As a prosecutor, Bailey went easy on a violent career felon who once shot up a cop car,' the contentious ad states.
'Bailey knew that, and yet charged him with mere misdemeanors after he struck again, out within months,' the ad went on.
At the time of the shooting, Simpson had been out on bail for crimes that were being prosecuted after Bailey had left the prosecutor's office.
Kelly King, Bailey's successor in the Warren County prosecutor's office, claimed she had asked a judge to revoke Simpson's bail but was denied.
After his arrest for shooting Griffith, Simpson told police he was on the run for several warrants.He told them he believed he was going to die and decided to commit 'suicide by cop.'
He is accused of killing police officer Mason Griffith and wounding officer Adam Sullentrup.
Police said Simpson had six felony warrants out of Warren County and one misdemeanor warrant from Franklin County.
Bailey's team is accusing the pro-Scharf PAC of 'exploiting' the tragedy during the campaign.
Scharf, as a candidate, is prohibited from coordinating with PACs like Defend Missouri on messaging or strategy.
Sgt. Mason Griffith is survived by a wife and two young sons, above
Tribute to Griffith
'Will Scharf and his supporters at Defend Missouri PAC are exploiting this tragic death to spread lies, Bailey campaign spokesperson James Lawson told DailyMail.com.
'Their deceitful ads not only disrespect Mason's memory but also jeopardize the prosecution of his killer.'
Now, calls for the ad to be taken off the air have grown so loud that even the state's governor, Republican Michael Parson and the state's fraternal order of police have joined in.
'Sergeant Mason Griffith's wife, children and mother have had to witness live-action footage from the most terrible day of their lives play over and over again in a political television advertisement,' Parson wrote on official state letterhead to Defend Missouri PAC.
'I call on the Defend Missouri PAC to remove the footage of this tragic event. NO family should be forced to be revictimized by the sensationalism of the man charged with shooting their loved one.'
Jennifer Griffith, meanwhile, is asking for an apology and for the onslaught of ads to stop. She said she's reached out to Scharf's campaign and the PAC and has not gotten a response.
After Simpson's 2023 arrest, his neighbors told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch they were completely unsurprised to find out he'd been involved in the shooting. One said: 'He's always had problems. That officer should not be dead.'
Angela Koepke, Jennifer Griffith's mother, has been leading the charge to have the ads taken down by contacting the campaigns, writing op-eds and letters to the editor across the state. She said she even plans to contact Trump's campaign since he endorsed Scharf.
Scharf said the ads were not his doing, but stood by the sentiment expressed in them.
The ad was launched by a group that supports Bailey's opponent, Will Scharf
Ad accuses AG Andrew Bailey of being too lenient on a cop killer
'My campaign has no control over these independent ads,' Scarf told DailyMail.com.
'Mason Griffith's death was a terrible tragedy, and my heart goes out to all of those who knew and loved Mason Griffith. When prosecutors don't do their job and lock up violent repeat offenders, tragic consequences ensue.'
'Missourians who care about law and order should be deeply concerned that Andrew Bailey has a history of treating violent criminals with kid gloves.
But Koepke argues Scharf could distance himself from the ads in public statements.
'His willingness to use a fallen officer and grieving family as political pawns is a testament to his character,' Koepke said in one letter. 'We urge voters to reject Scharf's tactics and honor Mason's legacy by supporting those who respect the rule of law and the sacrifices of law enforcement.'
Donald Trump brought on stage the staff member he credits with saving his life and said he decided he didn't need to be more 'nice' to Democrats after he came close to death.
The former president returned to Pennsylvania just 17 days later after the historic assassination attempt where he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Margaret Thatcher as he looked to woo voters in the battleground state.
If Trump had not turned his head to look at an immigration chart on the screen at his Butler rally, it's likely the bullet would have gone into his head rather than graze his ear.
The Republican nominee said the woman who made the graphic is the reason he is alive and brought her on stage.
While many speculated Trump was 'changed' after the shooting, he continued the attacks and unveiled even more nicknames for his new 2024 rival Kamala Harris at his latest rally just his third since being shot.
Donald Trump brought on stage at a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania rally the staff member who created the graphic that caused him to turn his head and likely avoid death at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month
'Thrilled to be back in this beautiful state,' Trump said. 'As you know this is my first return to the state since my rally in Butler.'
He vowed: 'We're going back to Butler, by the way.'
Just 225 miles from the scene where he walked away from his rally with a bloody ear, Trump was back to his usual programming hurling a barrage of insults against Vice President Harris.
Speaking at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Trump railed against the 'personality makeup' he claims has attempted to turn Harris into beloved late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
He also flaunted the immigration chart that 'saved my life' and brought on stage for the first time the staffer who created the graphic and who he credits to preventing disaster.
'I love that chart. I'm going to sleep with that chart for the rest of my life,' Trump said.
The campaign staffer who made the graph came on stage and quickly said 'hi' into the microphone.
'She's a computer genius. She saved my life,' the former president lauded.
Trump called Kamala 'crazy' before stopping himself and explaining why he didn't
'When I got hit, everyone thought I was going to be a nice guy and they thought I changed. Remember? Right before the Republican Convention,' Trump said.
The Republican nominee said the woman who made the graphic is the reason he is alive and brought her on stage
President Donald Trump returned to Pennsylvania for the first time since he was shot at a rally in the Keystone State just 17 days prior. He explained why he is not more 'nice' after the assassination attempt and claimed he only felt that he might be changed for a few hours after he was shot
Trump says that media are attempting to change the view of the vice president. 'Kamala is now being given a personality makeover. Don't forget, four weeks ago, she was like the worst. And all of a sudden she's the new Margaret Thatcher' he said, referencing the beloved late conservative British Prime Minister
The former president claimed everyone thought he was 'going to be a nice man now' because 'he came close to death.'
'And I really agreed with that for about eight hours or so,' he said to laughter. 'And then I realized they were trying to put me in prison for doing absolutely nothing wrong.'
'I was nice for about three, four, five hours. And then I said, these are bad people.'
At his rally in Butler on June 13, shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, shot Trump in the ear just centimeters from a potentially fatal shot. The only thing that saved his life was the last-second turn of his head to look at the chart on a screen at his rally.
Crooks was neutralized by Secret Service, but not before he was able to kill a rally goer, critically injure two others and graze Trump's right ear with his father's AR-style rifle.
Pennsylvanian MAGA fanatics went absolutely wild for the former president's return to the Keystone State and were happy to boo his new lines about Harris.
'The radical and Democrat party bosses have installed a puppet candidate to fight only for themselves, she's totally strictly owned and controlled by the donors,' Trump claimed.
'After lying to the country for years about Joe Biden's mental and physical condition, Kamala is now being given a personality makeover. Don't forget, four weeks ago, she was like the worst,' he said of the vice president. 'And all of a sudden she's the new Margaret Thatcher.'
'Everything about the Kamala rollout is phony and it's fake,' he said.
Thousands lined-up outside the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg to hear from the former president upon his return to Pennsylvania on Wednesday
Trump was shot in his right ear at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13
The FBI, Secret Service and multiple congressional committees are investigating the incident, and specifically looking at security failures that allowed Crooks to get on a roof just 130 yards from where the former president was speaking that day.
Kimberly Cheatle, who was Secret Service Director, resigned after a brutal House hearing where she faced blistering questions and bipartisan calls to step down.
New Holland Arena boasts 7,318 wooden seats with chipped blue, red and orange paint but the floor can hold another several hundred chairs. With every seat filled in the stadium, along with floor seating and some standing, it seems there were approximately 8,000 attendees at the Wednesday evening rally.
While Ismail Haniyeh was described as 'moderate and pragmatic' by the BBC yesterday, the bloodthirsty Hamas terror leader was anything but.
As his terrorists poured over the border to rape and slaughter 1,200 Israelis on October 7, he was seen watching gleefully on a TV from his luxury apartment in Doha.
Later, referring to the atrocity, he told his followers: 'The blood of the women, the children and the elderly we are the ones who need this blood, so it awakens within us the revolutionary spirit.'
Born in a refugee camp in Gaza while it was under Egyptian control in 1963, Haniyeh became a founding member of Hamas. Rising through the ranks, he was jailed by Israel for three years in 1989 before being exiled to Lebanon.
He returned to Gaza and by the time Israel withdrew in 2005 he was head of the Hamas office in the strip. He finally became leader of the political bureau in 2017 and moved to Qatar.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country's new president, Iran and the militant group said early Wednesday
Ismail Haniyeh was described as 'moderate and pragmatic' by the BBC yesterday, sparking backlash
But Israel considered him one of the key players in the October 7 attack and has hunted down his family throughout the war.
When his sons were killed last April, he showed little emotion. 'May God have mercy on them,' he said.
As the US would not allow the Israelis to strike while he was on Qatari soil, given it is an ally, they finally took their chance while he visited Tehran.
He was seen chanting 'Death to Israel, death to America' in Iran on Monday. Less than 12 hours later, he was dead.
A BBC article stated on Wednesday: 'Despite his tough rhetoric, he was generally seen by analysts as moderate and pragmatic, compared to the more hardline Gaza-based leaders.'
On the BBC Radio Four Today Programme earlier yesterday, a presenter stated: 'Ismail Haniyeh had been overseeing talks on a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.
'Despite his tough rhetoric he was generally seen by analysts as moderate and pragmatic compared to the more hardline Gaza-based leaders.'
Last night, critics slated the BBC for their account of Ismail Haniyeh, which was repeated multiple times on and published online on Wednesday.
Dave Rich, author of 'Everyday Hate: How antisemitism is built into our world & how you can change it' said: 'If Ismail Haniyeh was 'moderate and pragmatic' as every media outlet claims, that means his open Jew-hate and repeated calls for the violent destruction of Israel are a 'moderate and pragmatic' position to hold.
'And what does that tell us about the status of Jews today.'
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrives at the Iranian parliament to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, hours before his death
Palestinian group Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh attends Iran's new President, Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran
Labour MP Mike Tapp, a former solider, told The Sun: 'Ismail Haniyeh was a dedicated antisemite and the leader of a proscribed, genocidal terrorist group which on 7 October perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
'To describe such an individual as moderate and pragmatic is grotesque and an absolute disgrace.'
Greg Smith, Conservative Shadow Business and Trade Minister, added: 'Its absolutely outrageous for the BBC to dare call a Hamas terror chief moderate.
'In what reality can the head of an organisation responsible for so much death, sexual violence and hate be called moderate?
'Hamas want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and kill Jewish people simply because they are Jewish, yet the BBC think theyre pragmatic.'
Earlier this year, former attorney general Sir Michael Ellis said that the BBC was 'institutionally anti-Semitic' and has inflamed community tensions due to its 'biased' reporting of the Gaza conflict.
He also said that the broadcaster's impartiality had been brought into 'disrepute' over its coverage of Israel and Hamas.
Opening a Westminster Hall debate on the subject, he warned that the corporation's reporting had 'fuelled the appalling rise of anti-Semitism' and 'harmed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the violence'.
The incident he was referring to an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab hospital was initially reported by the BBC as being caused by an Israeli air strike.
It later admitted it was wrong after growing evidence emerged that it was due to a failed rocket launch by terrorist group Islamic Jihad.
But the dispute sparked a row with Israel, and there were suggestions it could have contributed to US President Joe Biden abandoning his Middle East peace summit at the time.
'The BBC has found itself at the centre of ever-increasing controversy in recent years and it is the organisation's coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which has led it to comprehensively fail the British public,' said Sir Michael, who is Jewish.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala and Palestinian group Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh attend Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2024.
A man watches the news on a tv after Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran, Iran on July 31, 2024
The assassination on Haniyeh in Tehran came hours after Israel also targeted a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024, hours before the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran
'A careful review of BBC output shows a clear failure to uphold its obligation to impartiality and, in doing so, BBC News's broadcasting and online content has actively inflamed community tensions here in the UK, fuelled the appalling rise in anti-Semitism, and in one particularly shocking case at least, harmed diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the violence.'
A BBC spokesman said at the time: 'We don't agree with this opinion which we reject entirely and is not borne out by the facts.'
The Mail Online has reached out to the BBC for comment.
Iran's supreme leader has vowed to inflict severe punishment on Israel after the political head of Hamas was assassinated in Tehran early yesterday.
Ismail Haniyeh, 62, was killed with a guided missile launched from within Iran in a 2am attack that risks sparking an all-out regional war.
Experts say he was the fourth hit on an Israeli kill list of Hamas leaders drawn up after October 7, with only two still alive.
Hamass military chief Mohammed Deif, 58, was targeted in a strike on Khan Yunis last month, although his death has not yet been confirmed.
The terror groups deputy chairman Saleh Al-Arouri, 57, was killed by a drone in Beirut in January, while deputy military commander Marwan Issa, 59, died in an air strike in Gaza last March.
Ismail Haniyeh, 62, was killed with a guided missile launched from within Iran in a 2am attack that risks sparking an all-out regional war. Experts say he was the fourth hit on an Israeli kill list of Hamas leaders drawn up after October 7, with only two still alive
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the countrys new president, Iran and the militant group said early Wednesday
The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, 61, is hiding in the territorys vast tunnel network
Meanwhile, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, 61, is hiding in the territorys vast tunnel network, while 68-year-old Khaled Mashal, head of Hamass overseas political bureau, is alive in Doha, Qatar.
Yesterdays strike, for which Israel has not claimed responsibility, is embarrassing for Tehran, coming straight after the inauguration of its new president.
Only 12 hours earlier, Israel assassinated Fuad Shukr, the military leader of Hezbollah and another Iranian proxy, after 12 Israeli Druze children were killed in a rocket attack last weekend.
The Middle East is already dangerously unstable due to the war in Gaza where nearly 40,000 have died but now it risks spreading into a regional conflagration.
Israel was last night bracing for a multi-front response from Iran, which has proxies in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged to avenge the death of Haniyeh, saying it was Tehrans duty.
Head of Hamass overseas political bureau, Khaled Mashal, is alive in Doha, Qatar
Hamass military chief Mohammed Deif, 58, was targeted in a strike on Khan Yunis last month, although his death has not yet been confirmed. Pictured: Deif in 2001
Hours from death: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Ismail Haniyeh (L) before Israel's lethal strike on the Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran July 30, 2024
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrives at the Iranian parliament to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, just hours before his death
Palestinian group Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh attends Iran's new President, Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran
Israel's Defence Forces seized the chance to hit Haniyeh and conducted a daring missile strike on his residence in Tehran just hours after the event, killing the Hamas leader and a security guard
The assassination on Haniyeh in Tehran came hours after Israel also targeted a senior Hezbollah official in Beirut
With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime has paved the way for its own severe punishment, the supreme leader said.
Haniyeh had been visiting Tehran for the inauguration of president Masoud Pezeshkian on the day before his death and joined in chants of: Death to Israel, death to America.
Mr Pezeshkian warned Israel it would regret this cowardly killing.
Four dead two alive on Israel's hit-list
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, 62, was killed with a guided missile launched from within Iran in a 2am attack early Wednesday. Experts say he was the fourth hit on an Israeli kill list of Hamas leaders drawn up after October 7, with only two still alive. Hamas deputy political leader, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in Beirut, Lebanon, by a drone strike on January 2, while Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, was killed in a strike on a tunnel complex under the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza in March. Hamass military chief Mohammed Deif was targeted earlier this month by Israeli forces, however there has been no official confirmation that he was killed. Meanwhile, Head of Hamass overseas political bureau, Khaled Mashal, is alive in Doha, Qatar and the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, 61, is hiding in the territorys vast tunnel network. Advertisement
It was initially reported that the Hamas political chief was killed by a drone or aerial strike. But last night local media claimed his bedroom was targeted by a short-range Israeli-made Spike missile launched from a building nearby .
Haniyeh was killed with his bodyguard in the official guest house of Irans Revolutionary Guards in the Shahran neighbourhood in the north of the capital.
Iranian media reported that the terror leaders close protection team leaked information leading to his assassination.
The Iranian regime is reportedly in shock over the strike in the heart of its own territory. Ismail Khatib, Tehrans minister of intelligence, recently claimed to have dismantled [the Israeli secret service] Mossads infiltration network, calling it a turning point for the ministry.
There are fears that Iran could use proxies to hit Israeli embassies abroad. In Britain, the Community Security Trust urged members of the Jewish community to keep gates and doors closed at all times and avoid congregating outside communal buildings and events.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not confirmed the strike, with the Israel Defence Forces saying it is conducting a situation assessment, but vowed his country was prepared for all scenarios.
Israelis were yesterday celebrating the death of one of their biggest enemies.
Amos Yadlin, ex-IDF intelligence chief, said there were now only two key Hamas leaders left to kill after Haniyehs death.
Israel is basically implementing here the Munich Olympics revenge that took about a decade to assassinate all those who were involved in Munich 72 massacre, he added.
A man watches the news on a tv after Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran, Iran on July 31, 2024
We are now four out of six of the top leaders that have already been punished for what they have done for October 7.
It is feared the latest killing could derail hostage negotiations that appeared to be edging towards a compromise.
Haniyeh, based in Doha, Qatar, was one of the key players in the November ceasefire and was heavily involved in talks.
Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said: How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?
Major General Yadlin said the attack might freeze the negotiations but would make Hamas leaders realise Israel could come for them next, which will improve the chances.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said America was not aware of or involved in the attack and that nothing takes away from the importance of getting to the ceasefire.
A strong cold front moving across the country will keep temperatures low throughout the weekend.
A cold front is moving into South Australia and will bring a few showers and thunderstorms, primarily along the coastal areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The system will spread across Victoria and NSW this weekend, but it won't be as intense as previous cold fronts and won't extend far inland.
As for the winds barraging the country's south-east, particularly New South Wales' Central Coast, conditions should start to ease from Thursday afternoon.
'A low pressure system over the Tasman Sea is causing those strong winds across the NSW coast and gusts in south-east Queensland,' Weatherzone meteorologist Yoska Hernandez told Daily Mail Australia.
'Today, those gusty winds around Sydney will start to ease in the afternoon and further weaken to light winds tomorrow.'
Large areas from Central Queensland down to southern Victoria are set to see frost on Friday morning, as well as Western Australia's south.
A strong cold front moving across the country is set to cause temperatures to remain cold over the weekend.
Sydney
Friday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming southerly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late afternoon. Min 6, Max 15.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Light winds. Min 8, Max 17.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. The chance of fog and frost in the west in the morning. Light winds. Min 7, Max 16.
Melbourne
Friday: Mostly sunny. Patches of frost and the chance of fog in the morning. Winds northerly 25 to 35 km/h. Min 5, Max 15.
Saturday: Cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds northerly 25 to 35 km/h turning west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 9, Max 14.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog in the northeast suburbs. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 4, Max 14.
Brisbane
Friday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 9, Max 22.
Saturday: Sunny. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 10, Max 23.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. The chance of morning fog in the west. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 9, Max 23.
Perth
Friday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds. Min 8, Max 17.
Saturday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 7, Max 19.
Sunday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 6, Max 19.
Adelaide
Friday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending north to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. Min9, Max 17.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. The chance of morning fog about the northern suburbs. Light winds. Min 7, Max 15.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 6, Max 16.
Hobart
Friday: Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 3, Max 14.
Saturday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely during the morning and afternoon. Winds northerly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light during the morning. Min 6, Max 13.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending westerly during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 4, Max 13.
Canberra
Friday: Areas of frost and the chance of fog in the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Light winds. Min -3, Max 14.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Areas of frost and the chance of fog in the morning. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min -3, Max 14.
Sunday: Patches of frost and the chance of fog in the morning. Mostly sunny afternoon. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min -2, Max 14.
Large areas from Central Queensland down to southern Victoria are set to see frost on Friday morning, as well as Western Australia's south (forecast for Friday morning pictured: frost marked in pink, fog in grey, rain in light green, possible storms in dark green)
Darwin
Friday: Sunny. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the late afternoon. Min 21, Max 33.
Saturday: Sunny. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then turning north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon. Min 20, Max 32.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 21, Max 31.
The federally mandated point-in-time count of homelessness relies on a one-night observation. While experts say thats a valuable source of information, its widely understood to result in a vast underestimate of the true scale of homelessness, missing some types of homelessness entirely. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle 2022
How many homeless people are in San Francisco? It depends on where you look.
According to an annual one-night tally, the most frequently cited measure, the city had about 8,300 people experiencing homelessness in January 2024. Thats the number thatll be repeated by public officials, compared to counts from previous years and weighed by state agencies to help determine where funding should go. Its also widely cited in the media, by the Chronicle and others.
But theres another, lesser known metric that counts how many people accessed San Franciscos homelessness services, including from outreach teams. That measure suggests that there were at least 20,100 homeless people in 2023.
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The reason those numbers differ so much is that they reflect different ways of measuring homelessness. The federally mandated point-in-time count, or PIT count, relies on volunteers and workers observing people sleeping on streets and in shelters and vehicles over a single night. While experts say thats a valuable source of information, its widely understood to result in a vast underestimate of the true scale of homelessness, missing some types of homelessness entirely.
As a result, many advocates and researchers say the PIT count should be paired with the kind of service use data San Franciscos homelessness department collects.
A pedestrian walks past tents on 19th Street at Mission Street on May 7, in San Francisco. The most recent point-in-time count tallied about 8,300 people experiencing homelessness in the city. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle A pedestrian walks past tents under the Central Freeway along Division Street next to Showplace Square on May 7, in San Francisco. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle A tent is pitched on a sidewalk on 19th and Mission streets on May 7, in San Francisco. While the city tallied 8,300 people experiencing homelessness in Januarys point-in-time count, another metric suggests that there were at least 20,100 homeless people in 2023. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle
What is the PIT count?
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Since 2005, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, has required local governments to count the number of homeless people in their areas every two years in order to receive federal funding. The timing and methodology of the count has generally stayed the same with some exceptions and even those who criticize the PIT count say its chief strength is that consistency.
If you want to know whether homelessness is going up or down over time, the PIT count is your best bet. The count is also usually paired with a more detailed survey that can reveal specific disparities, often indicating that Black, Latino and LGBTQ people make up disproportionate shares of the homeless population.
Its not that (the PIT count) is a bad thing, said Emily Cohen, director of San Franciscos Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Its just (only) good at what its good at.
What are its flaws?
HUD provides guidance to jurisdictions on how they should conduct their count, which in theory should ensure that trends in one area are comparable to those in another. But in practice, locales have a fair degree of leeway in how they run the PIT count.
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For example, while most Bay Area counties did a count this year, Santa Clara County which typically reports more than a quarter of the regions homeless population pivoted to conducting its count on odd-numbered years like it did before the pandemic. That makes calculating Bay Area-wide homelessness trends difficult.
Regions may also have methodological differences. Many jurisdictions rely on volunteers, while San Francisco recently switched to using staff and contractors who have experience working with homeless people. Some counties aim for a full census, while others estimate the total based on a partial tally.
Advocates for people experiencing homelessness also argue that the count itself does a poor job of capturing some types of homelessness. Volunteers are generally told not to disturb people in tents or vehicles, forcing them to make an educated guess about how many individuals are inside. Homeless people living in hotels or staying at friends homes are excluded from the count, as are those in jails and hospitals.
HUD told the Chronicle that the PIT count isnt meant to capture every unhoused person throughout the year, but that its the most accurate source of national homelessness data. The department has also considered changes to its methodology such as requiring more counts throughout the year and door-to-door surveys to determine how many people are couch surfing, a spokesperson said, but decided theyd take too much money and staffing.
Shannon McConville, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California, said that the PIT count is whats available, and Id say its the most often used, but we do just need better resources to try to understand both this problem and how well were doing.
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What do experts recommend?
Homelessness experts told the Chronicle that counties should pair the PIT count with other sources of data, especially numbers showing how many people access homeless services throughout the year. That longer-term look would more accurately show the scale of homelessness, said Jamie Chang, a homelessness researcher at UC Berkeley.
I do think that leaning toward service utilization data will give us much clearer estimates, and those clearer estimates are essential for (research), Chang added.
Leaning on service use data would also allow officials and researchers to better understand which demographic groups are becoming homeless and which programs are most effective, said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of UCSFs Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. That, in turn, would help service providers develop more targeted and effective initiatives.
Californias Homeless Management Information System already collects, de-duplicates and reports some service use data from each region, though Chang said its not very detailed. In San Francisco, the homelessness and public health departments track how many unhoused people access their services, which the city uses for planning alongside the PIT count. By the time of the next count in 2026, the city could be using administrative records as its main source of data, said Cohen, the homelessness department director.
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Were close to having that level of data, but not quite to the level of the confidence we need to do that, she said.
Thats not to say that administrative or service data is perfect, experts warn. It only measures the people who use homelessness services or interact with outreach times, and not all unhoused people do. Expanding or cutting services over time could make it seem like more or fewer people are becoming homeless. And its also sometimes difficult to verify whether someone who stayed at a shelter at one point is still homeless later in the year, if theyre no longer accessing services.
Perhaps most importantly, not every community has enough funding to collect and analyze service data, or extensive enough services to reach most of its people experiencing homelessness.
Ultimately, Kushel said, neither the PIT count nor administrative data should stand alone.
A major Mexican supermarket chain has been forced to shutter all of its stores in a troubled region after a striking rise in incidents involving drug cartels and gangs.
Oxxo, Mexico's largest chain of convenience stores, announced late last week that it was closing its 191 stores and seven gas stations in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
The problem came to a head when Femsa corporation, which operates the chain, said they had been dealing with cartel demands concerning fuel distributors.
However, in recent weeks gang members abducted two store employees and demanded they act as lookouts or provide information to the gangs.
Since convenience stores are used by most people in Mexico, the gangs see them as good points to keep tabs on the movements of police, soldiers and rivals.
Oxxo, Mexico's largest chain of convenience stores, announced late last week that it was closing its 191 stores and seven gas stations in Nuevo Laredo
Mexican soldiers stand guard outside an Oxxo grocery shop near the Tamaulipas Chamber of Commerce, where its president Julio Cesar Almanza was killed, in Matamoros, Mexico, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Veronica Cisneros)
Robert Campa, Femsa's director of corporate affairs, told local media: 'We had incidents in stores that consisted of them (gangs) demanding we give them certain information, and they even abducted two colleagues to enforce this demand.'
In a statement Monday, Femsa said its stores in Nuevo Laredo remain closed this week 'due to acts of violence that put our colleagues safety at risk.'
Cartel violence in Mexico has long been focused on smaller businesses, where owners are abducted or approached by gang members for extortion payments.
But Femsa is the largest soft drink bottler in Latin America, the largest Coca Cola bottler by sales volume and is listed on the Mexican stock exchange.
Nuevo Laredo has long been dominated by the Northeast Cartel - an offshoot of the old Zetas cartel - but the problem is starting to hit larger companies nationwide.
Sectors ranging from agriculture, fishing and mining to consumer goods have been plagued by cartels trying to essentially take over their industries.
On Monday, Julio Almaza, head of the business chambers' federation in Tamaulipas, gave interviews in which he complained about drug cartel extortion in the state.
Hours later on Tuesday, Almaza was shot to death outside his offices in the city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas.
Mexican soldiers stand guard near the Tamaulipas Chamber of Commerce, where its president Julio Cesar Almanza was killed, in Matamoros, Mexico, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Veronica Cisneros)
In one of his last interviews, he said: 'We are hostages to extortion demands, we are hostages of criminal groups.
'Charging extortion payments has practically become the national sport in Tamaulipas.'
This week, the American Chamber of Commerce, whose members tend to be larger Mexican, American or multinational corporations, released a survey of its members in which 12% of respondents said that 'organized crime has taken partial control of the sales, distribution and/or pricing of their goods.'
That means drug cartels are distorting parts of Mexico's economy, deciding who gets to sell a product and at what price.
In return they are apparently demanding sellers pass a percentage of sales revenue back to the cartel.
In the past, cartels have carried out violent attacks, arson and even killings of those found selling goods that had not been 'authorized' by them or bought from distributors they control.
Almanza, seen here, was shot to death outside his offices in the city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas
Investigators collect evidence at the site where Almanza, president of the Tamaulipas Chamber of Commerce, was killed in Matamoros
About half of the 218 companies in the American Chamber survey said that trucks carrying their products had suffered attacks, and 45% of the companies said they had received extortion demands for protection payments.
Of the companies that reported how much they had to spend on security measures, 58% said they spent between 2% and 10% of their total budgets on security; 4% spent at least a tenth of their total outlays on security measures.
On Tuesday, Femsa said in a statement that it was making progress in talks with authorities that might provide guarantees for the safety of its employees and allow the chain to reopen its stores in Nuevo Laredo.
Mexico's powerful drug cartels have expanded their income sources by both extorting money from companies and even taking over legitimate businesses.
In 2014, authorities confirmed the Knights Templar cartel had essentially taken over exports of iron ore from the western state of Michoacan, and the ore trade with China had become perhaps its biggest single source of income.
Cartels have also been accused of controlling production and manipulating domestic prices for crops like avocados and limes.
And late last year, authorities in Michoacan confirmed one cartel had set up its own makeshift internet system and told locals they had to pay to use its Wi-Fi service or they would be killed.
Dubbed 'narco-antennas' by local media, the cartel's system involved internet antennas set up in various towns built with stolen equipment.
The group charged approximately 5,000 people elevated prices between 400 and 500 pesos ($25 to $30) a month.
Femsa's Oxxo convenience stores are a target in part because they are so ubiquitous in Mexico: there are about 20,000 nationwide.
In 2022, gangs set fires at about two dozen of the stores in the central state of Guanajuato to protest attempts to arrest a cartel leader.
On Wednesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - whose policy is to avoid confronting the cartels - displayed the recommendations authorities had made to Femsa in a meeting Monday.
Those recommendations largely placed responsibility on the company, asking it to hire in-store security guards, install panic buttons and place cameras outside the stores.
In 2009, police in the western state of Jalisco found at least four severed heads in Styrofoam coolers with the stores' logo on them; such coolers were sold to hold chilled drinks, but it became something of a trend for gangs to use them to hold decapitated heads.
Meghan Markle wishes Prince Harry could 'let go' of the legal battle over their family's security as she wants the Duke to be 'free', sources have said.
Harry is continuing to appeal against a UK High Court decision about his security, having lost several rounds of the case against the Home Office.
A friend close to Harry said the Duke's calls to his father over the issues are going 'unanswered', according to a report by People magazine.
Meghan wishes the Duke 'could let go of these lawsuits' and 'live in the moment', sources told the US magazine.
The report quoted a former employee of the Sussexes' Archewell Foundation, who said: '[Meghan] wants him to be free of all of this, but she also knows that because of everything he's been through and his love for [her and their children], he can't.
Meghan Markle wishes Prince Harry could 'let go' of the legal battle over their family's security as she wants the Duke to be 'free', sources have said
A friend close to Harry said the Duke's calls to King Charles over the issues are going 'answered', according to a report by People Magazine
Harry previously told an ITV interviewer that he 'won't bring my wife back to this country' over 'genuine concerns' about security
'She wants him to live in a world where he is not burdened by this.'
Harry previously told an ITV interviewer that he 'won't bring my wife back to this country' over 'genuine concerns' about security.
Earlier this year, a High Court judge ruled that Harry had 'comprehensively lost' a bid to appeal against a Home Office decision about his UK security.
He had hoped for a judicial review over a decision made by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) to remove his right to automatic police protection after he decided to exit the working Royal family.
Harry still receives protection when he comes back to Britain in certain circumstances, but must give 28 days' notice on his plans.
Harry allegedly believes that his father should intervene in the security issue to make sure his youngest son and family are safe when in the UK.
The communication between Harry and Charles, the sources told People Magazine, has moved from frustration to 'complete silence'.
Prince Harry and Meghan with Archie in May 2019, then a newborn son
'He's not asking his dad for a nicer house or nicer cars. He's asking because of the reality of the situation. He is at risk,' a source said.
The legal battle has sparked fears that Charles may never reunite with his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as Harry refuses to bring his family to the UK.
Royal experts told The Mail on Sunday that the King will become 'more and more remote' from the children in an 'incredibly sad situation'.
King Charles last saw Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, in June 2022 when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Newly-released body camera footage captured the horrifying moment a migrant who was stuck on the border wall pleaded for help before plunging to her death.
Petronila Elizabeth Poma Perez, a 24-year-old Guatemalan national, could not be seen in the footage released by US Customs and Border Protection, but she could be heard repeatedly calling out for help.
A Border Patrol agent tried to reassure her that help is on the way, but after more than 20 minutes Poma Perez slips and falls to her death from the top of the 30-foot wall in the California border city of Otay Mesa on March 21.
She is said to have arrived with a group of other migrants that night, and brazenly scaled the wall in front of agents who warned her to stay put.
Border Patrol now says the San Diego Fire Department did not arrive on the correct side of the border wall in time to help Poma Perez and provide her with a ladder down.
Petronila Elizabeth Poma Perez, a 24-year-old Guatemalan national, tragically fell to her death from the top of the border wall in March
The body camera footage shows an unidentified agent arriving on the scene between the primary and secondary fences separating the US and Mexico in California at around 10.30pm.
He could be heard advising the woman not to go over the fence or scale down the north side, telling her in Spanish: 'Do not go down, do not go down.'
But Poma Perez apparently does not listen and begins to scale the fence anyway, prompting the officer to advise her 'Don't do that, don't do that.
'Stay there, do not go down, please, please,' he could be heard telling the woman as he calls for help.
He then promises the woman that the San Diego Fire Department is on its way to assist, telling her to hold tight until the firefighters arrive on the scene.
At one point, another migrant approaches the fence and asks the agent if he could use a nearby ladder to rescue the woman - to which the officer replies that they need to wait for the fire department before they could take any action.
Body camera footage shows a Border Patrol officer telling her not to scale the wall
The officer then tells her to hold on, telling her that fire crews are on their way
The fire department arrived on the scene about 14 minutes later - but is on the wrong side of the wall to help the woman.
Making matters worse, the fire truck could not make the sharp turn through the nearest gate and had to take a longer route around.
As they were doing so, Poma Perez could be heard crying that she was struggling to hold on.
By 10.54pm, Poma Perez yelled that she was going to fall - and just moments later a loud thud could be heard as her body struck the elevated concrete base.
A border patrol agent on the scene then finds her sprawled, unresponsive on the ground with massive head trauma and profuse bleeding.
'I think she's done, bro,' the agent could be heard telling another officer before calling EMS crews.
As she waited for the fire crews to arrive on the correct side of the border wall, she yelled that she was about to fall
The Border Patrol officer called for EMS help after finding her sprawled, unresponsive on the ground with massive head trauma and profuse bleeding
Meanwhile, firefighters finally arrived on the correct side of the wall about 10 minutes after Poma Perez fell.
An agent could then be heard in the body camera footage saying, 'They didn't make it in time, she couldn't hold on.'
Poma Perez was pronounced dead at the scene.
The San Diego Fire Department now says Customs and Border Protection officers directed the engine to the wrong side of the wall and had to perform 'lengthy maneuvers' to get to the correct location.
'While the environment at the border is very challenging, there are thousands of examples over the years where our crews, in concert with CBP agents, have saved lives,' the fire department told NBC San Diego.
'Our personnel feel horrible when a fatality occurs because our intent is always to rescue and render aid, and get those folks who need further medical care to the hospital.'
The San Diego Fire Department said Customs and Border Protection agents called them to the wrong side of the wall
But Poma Perez's death has prompted concerns about the protocols the Border Patrol follows when a migrant's life is in danger - with some human rights groups calling it part of a larger policy failure in Washington.
'If Ms. Poma Perez had the ability to walk up to seek safety at a port of entry as required by US law, instead of being forced to wait in danger in Mexico, she may have not tried to climb that wall,' Amy Fischer, the director of refugee and migrants rights at Amnesty International USA told Newsweek.
'People will risk their lives in order to save their lives, and this heartbreaking tragedy is one of far too many deaths that occur at the border because of cruel US policies at the border.'
Pedro Rios, who advocates for migrants as the director of American Friends Service Committee, also told NBC San Diego that the 'tragic situation... could have been avoided.
'When we were advocating that 30-foot border walls would only bring more suffering and more death, this is exactly what we meant,' he claimed.
Rios added that 'we should not be normalizing someone falling to their death and us not questioning why that is wrong.'
Customs and Border Protection said its Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the incident.
A long-running and highly regarded Melbourne restaurant has become the latest victim of a crisis slamming Australia's hospitality industry.
Epocha, which styles itself as a European restaurant, announced on Wednesday night that after 12 years in business it will shut for good on September 14.
Based in the inner suburb of Carlton, the imminent closure of the venue run by Angie Giannakodakis and Guy Holder led to an outpouring of grief from supporters.
But no one is as sad as the owners, who wrote on social media that it was 'with a mix of heavy hearts and deep gratitude' that they came to the conclusion to close down.
'Looking at what's happened (with the economy) in the last three to four years, it takes a lot of strength and courage to get through these things,' Ms Giannakodakis told Daily Mail Australia.
'I live in an industry where we're very good at altering things and we're very good at pivoting and we're very good at adjusting and change.
'But the one thing that we can't do is (control) all the externalities, we can't change those things.'
One of those externalities is the building the restaurant is based in. After its owner died last year, his family want to sell it and Epocha's owners can't afford to buy it.
Epocha, which styles itself as a European restaurant, announced on Wednesday night that after 12 years in business it will shut for good on September 14. Co-owner Angie Giannakodakis is pictured
This led to the hard decision that 'it was a wiser choice to close it now rather than allow it to go silent in the night', Ms Giannakodakis said.
'Hopefully in years to come, people will look back at this restaurant and go "That was a restaurant. That's the definition of a good restaurant".'
Diners took to social media to comment on the closure, including one from a huge fan of the restaurant.
'I reckon this hits me the hardest of all the recent closures across our great city and across the country,' the commenter wrote.
'Epocha (and Elyros) were like a beacon of hope and ambition on opening, all these years ago now. So many great memories!
'Don't give up Angie Giannakodakis, you are one of our national treasures.'
Ms Giannakodakis said she was 'truly grateful for all the messages that people have sent to us and also the comments from people who have replied to our post (online).'
She added: 'It's a little bit overwhelming. But at the same time it's also great for the staff to see that, (so) they do know that they work for a good restaurant.'
As words spreads that Epocha has just over six weeks left, its bookings have increased, so much so that they are trying to move people to some of the less popular nights such as Sunday evening, or Monday nights where they are specialising in catering for other hospitality workers.
Though the building was the main catalyst behind the decision to close, Ms Giannakodakis said economic factors played a part too.
'I even see it myself when I go shopping. My money doesn't go as far as it used to,' she said.
'So I'm mindful about where I'm going to spend that dollar, and value for money is very important.'
She is also very aware of how competitive the Melbourne market is for restaurants.
'As a Melburnian myself, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is, this is our social currency, dining out.
'We do this very, very well... apart from wearing black extremely well,' Ms Giannakodakis joked, still able to have a laugh despite the business she has put a dozen years of her life into being in its last days.
She also spoke about her philosophy of what a restaurant should provide for its clientele, which she plans to carry on to whatever her next hospitality venture is.
'Restaurants should be more about (having customers) looking at a dish and going, "I want to eat that. It's good for me. It's wholesome. It's gonna warm me. I need it".'
Ms Giannakodakis said creating that sort of feeling is vital and creates an 'essence of nourishment' beyond the food itself.
'If you put a beautiful roast chicken in front of them, the smile from (customers) is ridiculous (and other foods don't) have the same impact.
'I feel like people are looking towards (Epocha's) food in a different way ... what it's going to do to their body and their soul.
'But I think in essence, over the week they would go around thinking about that meal and going, "that was really good. I feel good this week because of that".'
Epocha is one of the many long-established restaurants across the country shutting down in recent months, including Angler in Adelaide and Brisbane hipster restaurant Nota.
The long-running and highly regarded Melbourne restaurant (pictured) has become the latest victim of a crisis slamming the hospitality industry
Based in the inner suburb of Carlton, the imminent closure of Epocha (chefs pictured) led to an outpouring of grief from supporters
Both said skyrocketing costs contributed to the decision to close.
With the reputation earned at Epocha, Ms Giannakodakis and Mr Holder could be back in business in a new location before too long.
'The main thing right now is to look after our customers,' she said. 'Hold our people tight and make sure that the people that collaborate and also work with us are looked after.'
When they do finally close, she said she wants 'to go home and I want to cook some dinner and I want to look at my family and have a bit of a think about the future.'
A class action lawsuit has been filed after thousands of hospital patients were told they may have been exposed to various illnesses including HIV.
Nearly 2,400 patients who underwent anesthesia at the Oregon facilities could also be at risk of infections such as hepatitis B and C, the Oregon Health Authority said this month.
The tainted procedures were the fault of a since-fired anesthesiologist, they said - all administered between March 2022 and February 2024.
All were informed the physician who administered anesthesia 'failed to adhere to infection control procedures' and, as a result, potentially exposed them to infections, the complaint filed by four people in Clackamas County claimed.
They are suing Providence Health for negligence, as well as the Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG). The unnamed anesthesiologist was employed by OAG, but treated patients at various Providence medical centers.
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A class action lawsuit has been filed after thousands of hospital patients were told they may have been exposed to various illnesses including HIV. 'I don't think this fair for us to be going through this,' one of the potentially exposed patients told KATU News in Portland this week
'I don't think this fair for us to be going through this,' one of the potentially exposed patients told KATU News in Portland this week.
'Because, just imagine, people who go to take a blood test are going to go with the fear I can be infected.'
She, like the others, received treatment at one of the centers in the aforementioned timeframe.
The doctor, the hospital said, may not have followed 'infection control' practices when administering the anesthesia.
The woman interview was not among those who filed the suit, which claims the hospital's actions have caused patients 'pain, suffering, shock, horror, anguish, grief, anxiety, nervousness, embarrassment, [and] humiliation' beyond belief.
Their also suing for 'loss of enjoyment of life and other general and special damages', as the woman in the clip received treatment another, non Providence location owned by Legacy Health
The healthcare company said it notified 221 patients who may have been exposed to infections at their clinics since they hired OAG last year, after Providence cut ties with them months before.
The hospital chain said the provider worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham for less than six months, from December to May.
She received potentially tainted treatments at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham at some point between December and May, when an anesthesiologist responsible for the exposures worked there
Within that span, the woman interviewed was treated by the doc in question, who is no longer employed with OAG and is not treating patients at their facilities, the organization said.
'The safety of our patients is our top priority. When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the physician's termination,' OAG said in a statement earlier this month.
'Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.'
The plaintiffs, meanwhile, are four Clackamas County patients who all received IV anesthesia during surgery at Providence's Willamette Falls Medical Center.
One was tested for HIV and Hepatitis B and C and their results came back negative, the lawsuit filed Wednesday say, while three others are still awaiting their results.
State officials well-versed on hospital-acquired infections are assisting the hospitals' investigations, as the hospital chains and the anesthesiology firm have kept relatively mum on the ongoing situation
They have only said that there was a 'low' risk of potential infection and that new protocols have been put in place.
The lawsuit, however, names Providence Health and the Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG) as defendants. Before moving to Legacy, the unnamed anesthesiologist - employed by OAG, - treated patients at various Providence medical centers like the one seen here
Both Legacy and Providence are providing free screening for HIV and hepatitis B and C for patients potentially affected.
The lawsuit states the patients now have to undergo medical treatment for exposure 'which would not have been necessary in the absence of [the d]efendants' violations alleged herein, and have to live with severe emotional and mental anguish due to [the defendants'] negligence.'
It also notes that hepatitis and HIV are often not detectable for months initially, so the patient 'will live with the anxiety, stress, and emotional distress that they may be infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and/or HIV.'
In addition to demanding a jury trial, the patients are seeking class action certification and also asking unspecified damages, injunctive relief, declaratory judgments, costs and attorneys' fees, per the complaint.
'Over 2,000 patients have now learned they were at risk of having contracted an infectious disease because of the defendants' alleged failure to implement proper protocols to prevent this possible exposure,' Adam Polk, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told ABC News.
'Since shortly after these notifications were sent out, we have been speaking with patients on a daily basis who were impacted by the potential exposure,' added attorney Joe Sauder, who is also on the case.
The early 2,400 patients who underwent anesthesia at the Oregon facilities could also be at risk of infections such as hepatitis B and C, the Oregon Health Authority said earlier this month
'They are obviously distressed and concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones.'
Providence previously said that patients were at low risk of exposure, while OAG said there were no investigations underway but 'acknowledge[d] the worry, pain and loss suffered by anyone affected by a health care-associated infection (HAI).'
"Out of an abundance of caution, we are encouraging these patients to get a blood test to screen for the aforementioned infections, at no cost," Providence said on July 11.
'If a patient tests positive, Providence will reach out to discuss their test results and next steps.'
The investigation into how the contaminations actually occurred remains ongoing.
Medicare won't help despite it happening in Aus waters
A P&O cruise ship passenger has shared a warning after her sister shattered her ankle and was told her injuries wouldn't be covered by Medicare.
The pair were on board the Pacific Adventure from Queensland to NSW when her sister became injured on the dance floor.
Doctors on the ship quickly tended to her and X-rays revealed her ankle had been dislocated and fractured.
The woman was shocked to learn that despite her sister's injuries happening on Australian waters, Medicare would not cover the $8,000 medical bill.
She took to social media to warn others that without travel insurance they would have been forced to pay the bill themselves.
'Don't play Russian roulette with your health and safety, get insurance,' she wrote.
'We don't leave home without it.'
The injured woman will be transported to hospital for surgery once the cruise docks in Circular Quay where an ambulance will be waiting for her.
A woman who injured herself on a domestic cruise was shocked to find that Medicare would not cover her $8,000 medical bill despite the injury happening in Australian waters
Her sister wrote on social media that without travel insurance they would have been made to cover the costs themselves
The woman's sister said the experience was a 'great reminder why insurance is so important' and added that theirs only set them back $60.
She wrote that many other passengers said they did not think travel insurance would be needed for a domestic cruise.
1Cover head of marketing Natalie Smith agreed that it was a common thing Aussies overlooked.
'One of the biggest mistakes Aussies make is not buying travel insurance when cruising Australian waters,' she told Yahoo.
'You are not covered by Medicare or your private health fund if you need medical treatment once your ship has set sail.
'Without travel insurance, any medical fees and emergency transport expenses would be at your own cost and these can quickly soar into the tens of thousands of dollars.'
The woman who injured herself on the dancefloor will be covered by Medicare again once she arrives back on land.
Ms Smith said it was lucky that she did not require emergency travel back to the mainland - which is another cost Medicare would not cover.
When buying travel insurance for cruises, Ms Smith advised travellers to opt for comprehensive cover with additional cruise benefits, which is usually an add-on.
Additional cruise benefits cover passengers with any cruise-specific travel benefits, such as missed port cover, she said.
A former corporate lawyer who worked up to 23 hours a day for weeks on end on million-dollar deals revealed she regrets 'every minute' of her 16-year career.
Anjani Amriit said it was one patronising comment made to her as a teenager that led her to pursue a career in law.
She told her school career adviser that she wanted to be the first in her family to go to university and was thinking of studying either law or medicine.
'He literally laughed in my face and said: "You can't be a lawyer, you're a woman," Ms Amriit told SBS' Insight on Tuesday.
'So I thought, "well, I'll show you".'
Her hard-headedness would prove to have disastrous consequences, with the long hours demanded by her high-pressure position eventually leaving her physically, emotionally and spiritually spent.
I hated every minute of it,' Ms Amriit said.
It destroyed me from day one. Doing corporate mergers and acquisitions law, my typical days for months on end on deals were 22 to 23 hours.
A former corporate lawyer who worked up to 23 hours a day for weeks on end on million-dollar deals said she regretted 'every minute' of her 16-year career
'I would literally fall asleep at my desk and literally wake up a couple of hours later.
'My secretary would come in in the morning and I would get her to buy me a new shirt and a new blouse and Id keep working.'
Ms Amriit, who was speaking on part of a program discussing regrets in life, said she was eventually 'consumed' by her role at the expense of her relationships, social life and happiness.
'I lost 19kilos of weight and I didnt have that much to lose,' she added.
'I would run to the bathroom and have a panic attack in the bathroom and then come back to my desk and keep working.'
She claimed the work left her with a 'black hole' at the heart of her being.
Another motivation to pursue law had been to impress her family, even though she was more interested in studying journalism or archeology.
I believed that going to university and getting a white collar job was something that I could do to make my family proud to make a life for myself that my m other or father didnt have,' Ms Amriit said.
My father was actually a shepherd growing up in Cyprus so coming from those humble beginnings I thought that it was a life choice that would benefit not just me but my family as well.
Anjani Amriit said it was one patronising comment that led her to pursue a career in law
But her role isolated her from her loved ones and although she earned 'good money', it never made her happy.
'Looking back, I regret wasting 16 years of my life, burning out, almost killing myself trying to prove something to society, to my family, I don't know and doing something that was totally out of alignment with who I really am,' she said.
Ms Amriit eventually quit her job, sold her house in Sydney and went to India to 'find herself'.
She now helps others find their purpose in life through motivational speaking and writing.
A Sydney motorist has warned drivers of a little-known law that could cost them five demerit points and $544 after police confronted him for using his phone while parked.
Fred Khoury had been pulled over by police for failing to indicate while changing lanes, before he touched his phone as he sat in the car by the side of the road.
He posted video on TikTok of the incident which happened in May 2022, and shows the officer speaking to Khoury through the driver's side window of his vehicle.
'You're in a motor vehicle. You can't use the mobile phone,' the officer said.
Khoury fired back at the officer claiming the car 'is not in operation' while turning the ignition off.
The officer again explained: 'The phone was in your hand and the car was running. You cannot use the mobile phone while the car's running.'
Khoury argued with the officer that his car was parked and questioned whether it was an offence to use a phone while in a parked vehicle.
'Yes, you cannot operate a mobile phone while you're operating a vehicle,' the officer said.
Sydney man Fred Khoury filmed his interaction with police after he was pulled over for failing to indicate while changing lanes. He was informed it was illegal for him to use his mobile phone despite his car being parked
'The car was still running, you took your foot off the brake and the car still moved forward.
'You can take your phone out to use your driver's licence when directed to by police but you can't just be pulling it out and waving it at the window while the car is running and you're operating a motor vehicle.'
Khoury insisted: 'I wasn't operating it bro, the car was in park.'
But the officer said the 'car was still running'.
Khoury - who admitted he was released from jail on Monday after serving three years behind bars - told Daily Mail Australia the police officer was 'abusing his power'.
'I'm just trying to better my life and they keep trying to bring me down and I'm not committing any crime so why do they have to keep harassing me,' he said.
He said he was being 'picked on' for an obvious reason: 'Coppers want to pin me for whatever they can.
'There should be better reasons for someone to be punished rather than that,' he said.
'I have recorded every interaction with police I've had while parked, thousands of them, and I've never been told that I can't use my phone while I'm parked.
I wasn't doing anything wrong.'
The NSW government website says under 'mobile phones and driving' that it is illegal to hold and use a mobile phone while stationary at traffic lights or stuck in traffic.
It is also illegal for a motorist to touch their phone unless being instructed by a police officer to do so.
A motorist is allowed to handle their mobile phone to access their digital driver's licence once asked by a police officer.
If a driver needs to use their phone for functions - other than their driver's licence or navigation - including texting, emailing and social media they 'must be parked out of the line of traffic'.
Police told the recently released inmate that his car needed to be turned off before he could touch his phone
Illegal mobile phone use while operating a motor vehicle carries a fine of $410 - or $544 if detected in a school zone - and could incur a penalty of five demerit points.
Social media users slammed Khoury for his attitude, claiming he should know the road rules.
'Y'all know its still illegal. Y'all know nothing about laws,' one person commented.
'I got fined for this too and went to court and lost. apparently the car must be off as well,' a second person wrote.
'If the car is on you can only use the phone if the cop says its ok. Sorry bud, them's the rules,' a third chimed.
TikTok users have been left divided over Ring doorbell footage showing a mother who managed to evade a pair of burglars, but left her two children inside her home.
Leah Amberly Wittsche, from Dallas, Texas, shared Ring footage of herself outside of her home she shares with her partner Jake and two sons in a frantic state.
Wittsche is seen draped in a towel having been forced from her home due to two burglars as she frantically calls her husband for help.
She can be heard telling her husband: 'Call the police. I was in the bath, I thought you were home. These two guys walked in, I begged them not to hurt the kids.'
Wittsche can be seen clutching her dog as she shakes, but TikTok users were quick to point out why she didn't think to grab her children during the ordeal last July.
Wittsche can be seen clutching her dog as she shakes, but TikTok users were quick to point out why she didn't think to grab her children during the ordeal last July
One person commented on her video, which has since been seen over 32 million times, saying: 'She was in the bath, begged them not to hurt the kids then LEFT WITHOUT THE KIDS but grabbed her dog?!'
Another added: 'So she took the dog with her out the house and left the kids?!'
While another posted: 'I'm sorry why does she have the dog and not her child????'
In another video, she explained how it came to be that she made it out of the house without her kids, and just what happened.
Wittsche said she thought the two men who broke into her home were going to murder her after they made their way into her bathroom while she was in the bath.
She said: 'I had just put my kids down for bed and I was upstairs in my house. I went into the upstairs bathroom, locked the door and went to take a bath.
'I heard a bunch of walking around upstairs like really loud stomping. I thought it was my husband.
'I thought that's weird, I had just checked his location and it said he was still at work. Didn't think much of it, I just thought his phone must not be working correctly.'
Wittsche said she thought the two men who broke into her home were going to murder her after they made their way into her bathroom while she was in the bath
Wittsche added that the two men made off with nothing and shared footage of a smashed downstairs door showing their point of entry
Leah then claims she heard banging and someone trying the door to the bathroom, as well as shouting coming out from the hall.
She said that the door handle then broke and two men dressed in black stormed into the bathroom.
Wittsche continued: 'The guy standing closest to me looks me up and down and then smiles.
'I am in shock, I stand up and stare at them. Then it clicks, 'oh my god my children'.
She claims the man then started screaming at her and threatened to kill her should she move before stealing her phone.
Leah then claims she heard banging and someone trying the door to the bathroom, as well as shouting coming out from the hall
After the two men fled the bathroom, she says she ran to both her son's bedrooms and checked on them.
She claims she then managed to activate the alarm in her home, before making a dash for the front door in an attempt to get the attention of her neighbors.
After nobody answered her, she then uses the ring doorbell on her front door to call her husband where she is seen in the original video begging for help.
In yet another video, Wittsche added that the two men made off with nothing and shared footage of a smashed downstairs door showing their point of entry.
She also added that the robbers left her phone behind, hiding it underneath a pillow in her living area.
A thug murdered his partner by strangling her when she pulled the television plug out while he was watching it, a court has heard.
John Higgins, 63, battered and choked Amanda McAlear on May 7, 2022.
The 50-year-old's son Liam discovered her body when he visited her home in Barmulloch, Glasgow, the next day.
Higgins had been due to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
But via his KC, Michael Meehan, he instead pleaded guilty to the murder charge. The delivery driver now faces a life sentence when he returns to the dock in September.
John Higgins, 63, battered and choked Amanda McAlear on May 7, 2022 when she pulled the television plug out while he was watching it
Amanda McAlear. The exact details of the fatal attack are not known but prosecutors said Higgins grabbed Ms McAlear, repeatedly punched her on the head and body as well as strangled her
Prosecutor Neil McCulloch told how Higgins had been to the pub before getting a taxi to Ms McAlear's flat.
He had chatted in the cab about 'looking forward' to having an Indian takeaway and watching television.
Ms McAlear also returned home, having visited her elderly mother.
The exact details of the fatal attack are not known but prosecutors said Higgins grabbed Ms McAlear, repeatedly punched her on the head and body as well as strangled her.
The court heard Higgins then left her and spent the night with his sister and brother-in-law.
He claimed he had a 'fight' with his partner after she unplugged the television as he was watching it.
Mr McCulloch said: 'He did not say anything about Amanda McAlear being injured or needing medical attention.'
Lady Haldane adjourned the case for reports. She told Higgins: 'You have pleaded guilty to taking the life of your partner in the truly tragic circumstances described.'
Chronicle higher education reporter Nanette Asimov (not shown) takes Kollegio AI college counseling software on a test drive and finds it eye-opening. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
After Chronicle higher education reporter Nanette Asimov wrote about an emerging class of software tools that use artificial intelligence to help students navigate the college application process and edit their essays, she was fascinated to try out one of the platforms herself. Her report:
Chances are good that Im not as nervous as a real college applicant when I fire up Kollegio to see how this new AI-driven company my personal college counselor can help me get into a good school.
But I know this: My head is just as empty of ideas for my application essay. Probably more so.
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I log in, pleased that the service is free, and Im relieved to see that I have no upcoming deadlines. But when I click on my activities list, a must for getting into college, the artificial intelligence admonishes me for failing to list a single activity, whether science club or fly fishing.
You definitely need to work on filling it up, it nags.
My AI counselor doesnt talk, which is just as well. There are things my nearby colleagues in the office dont need to know.
Im about to click on Essay Editor to begin that fearsome task, when a thought occurs to me. This would be better with a cookie. So I run down to the Chronicle cafe and buy one.
Chocolate chip in hand, I click and face my first dilemma. Beneath the Create New Essay button are two options: Common App or Princeton University.
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I know the Common App to be a magical document that, by filling it out once, will let me apply to 20 colleges if I want to.
And yet there is Princeton, inexplicably, listed just below.
Why? Does my AI adviser consider me to be somehow worthy of that great, Ivy League institution? Does it know something about me that I dont?
It doesnt explain. I dont care. When Princeton extends a hand, you take it.
Besides, the Princeton essay is 250 words. The Common Apps is 650.
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Ive eaten my cookie but have made no essay-writing progress. I click on Kollegio Resources for help.
Suddenly, my screen is filled with tips, including one that is extremely helpful: I shouldnt write about drugs, sex or violence, as these topics can be an instant turn-off for admissions committees.
Also, I learn that my essay doesnt have to be about me. It must, however, be from my point of view. My essay should also contain a personal reflection.
Fortified by sugar and tips, I feel ready.
Up pops my essay prompt: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals?
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As I stare, my AI counselor nudges. It wants to know what Im writing about.
Ok, ok.
I type: My career as an education reporter.
Then I recall my AI counselors seventh tip: My essay will need conflict and resolution.
I delete my career and turn to our Chronicle archives for inspiration. Did I ever write about something that Princeton might be interested in?
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After 20 minutes staring at old headlines, I decide that, no, I have not written about anything Princeton might be interested in.
Then suddenly, like a movie script, Ive got it. I type: Why its OK to disclose difficult information.
I click next. And what happens next floors me. My AI counselor has outlined my topic into five easy chunks: Introduction, Personal Story, Challenges Faced, Resolution and Learning, Conclusion.
Not only does my looming responsibility feel easier, but my AI counselor has also told me how many words I should write for each part, and what kind of information to include.
Im struck by a wave of relief. An hour ago, I had nothing. Now, I feel, its Princeton or bust.
To begin with, my AI counselor says I should write 40 words that mention the importance of service. I type:
The United States has been called a grand experiment because its unique in the world: a participatory democracy where citizens are not only expected to run the place ourselves, but to hold ourselves accountable for running it well. Journalists are among the nations watchdogs.
OK, I did not actually write that on the first pass. I could sense my AI counselor fussing, so I cut out a bunch of words.
Now comes 80 words of personal stuff. Im supposed to describe an instance where I had to disclose difficult information.
So I write about a time when, in my stories for the Chronicle, I revealed financial problems at a beloved local college. In those stories, I explained, an accrediting agency complained about the colleges management, and the college defended itself.
Next up, according to my AI counselor, I need 60 words explaining the backlash or criticism I received.
I say that, as an impartial messenger, I was caught between both sides: faculty furious that my stories made the college look bad, and accreditors ticked at me for airing complaints about them. I write that it hurt when people stopped taking my calls and someone spit at me.
Nearly done. Just 50 more words on how I handled the situation. I write:
When the stories won a prize for keeping the public informed, honorees were told to restrict remarks to five (!) words. Four that applied were certainly these: Both sides hate me. But a fifth? I was supposed to be a watchdog. I chose, Good.
For my final 20 words, my AI counselor says I need to connect everything back to Princeton. So Ill finish with this:
As a research institution, Princeton teaches students to investigate the facts and fearlessly disclose the truth. Its what our participatory democracy demands and, I believe, its what Ive learned to do as a news reporter.
OK! Im excited to run my essay through Kollegios review feature. Nervous, actually. My actual Chronicle editor is a kind person. I dont feel that I know my AI counselor well at all. It could be far less kind.
My AI counselor is fast, Ill say that. Its instant critique starts with nice comments, including that my essay aligns with the values of Princeton. But its clearly buttering me up for worse.
This sentence is unclear and lacks specificity, my AI counselor informs me, sounding quite a bit like my actual Chronicle editor. Awkward phrasing. Consider revising for clarity.
Obviously, machines have achieved persnickety.
I take a final look at my review and see something I hadnt noticed: This essay is suitable for university admissions.
Princeton, here I come!
Very movingly, the people of Southport yesterday rose at dawn to clear up the filthy, dispiriting mess left on their streets by rioting interlopers on Tuesday.
They wanted to remove every trace of the shameful occasion and show that they had no part in it.
The collective clean-up was an act of repudiation and coldly furious condemnation. It was also an eloquent and peace-loving statement of their close-knit town's support for civility and order, and of their solidarity with and deep sympathy for the victims of the appalling rampage killings at a dance class on Monday.
This is surely how we in this civilised nation combat such evil. Yet the crime and what followed have left damage that cannot be undone, lives that cannot be restored and wounds that will not heal.
Three beloved children, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar who on Monday had their whole lives before them lie dead. Five other children were terribly wounded. So were two adults who bravely sought to protect them.
Volunteers sweep Sussex road, after violent protests following a vigil for victims of the knife attack in Southport on July 31
Police officers suffered serious injuries when bricks, stones and bottles were thrown and cars were set alight during violent protests following a vigil for three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Monday. (Pictured: Volunteers clean up after the protests)
A homemade poster saying 'Leave our town' on a bridge near the mosque on Sussex Road in Southport that was targeted during the disturbance on Tuesday night
Flowers and tributes outside the Atkinson Art Centre Southport, after three children were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport on Monday
But, thanks to evil minds and stupid, dangerous rumour-mongering, this was not the end. Tuesday's squalid riot, stirred up by persons unknown, left 53 police officers injured, with several hospitalised.
Whatever punishment eventually befalls these people, we hope they will never be able to forget the searing rebuke they received from Jenni Stancombe, mother of Elsie, who paused in the midst of her mourning to tell them with dignified scorn:
'This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight. The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'
After Southport's own potent condemnation of the rioters, outsiders can do little but endorse it with all their hearts. Only abject fools seek to destroy the peace and order of civil society. There is no telling where violence will end once it is unleashed, but it is very likely to devour those who begin it, along with everyone else.
The span in time between the first hurled rock and first bullet is appallingly short, as the people of Northern Ireland can attest.
What we can do is offer some sort of analysis of the problems which came together on Merseyside on Monday and Tuesday, in the hope that they can be prevented in future.
Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out on July 30, 2024 in Southport
Rumours about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect in yesterday's deadly stabbing attack sparked violent protests
According to authorities and media reports, the suspect was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, but the person cannot be named due to his age
Quite rightly, we and other traditional media obey strict rules preventing us from naming arrested juveniles. We also scrupulously avoid saying anything which might prejudice a fair trial. For this responsible restraint we are falsely accused by morons of 'concealing' what they would like to be the truth but isn't.
But the internet and 'social media', where poisoned rumours and plain lies were spread, continue to function like the Wild West, with authority taking little interest.
This would be a very good moment for that to change, and for good. For now we see in the smashed windows of Southport's mosque and the howls of the self-righteous, pig-ignorant mob, looted bricks in their hands, where this folly can quickly lead.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was confirmed to have died on Monday as nine other children and two adult women were rushed to hospital
Six-year-old Bebe King was pronounced dead shortly after the attack in Southport on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday following the attack
Yes, there are tensions in many of our cities and yes, sometimes the authorities seem too keen to pretend our multicultural society is more harmonious than it is.
And the elite decision to pursue an undiscussed policy of large-scale immigration has created problems which will take many years to overcome. But these problems can and must be solved by open debate, not by rumour and riot. As Jenni Stancombe so rightly says, we do not need this.
Huw Edwards messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed.
The disgraced BBC anchorman, 62, yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
A BBC insider claimed that bosses at the corporation may have 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him.
It comes as the BBC admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April.
A BBC insider said last night: 'It was known for a few years he was messaging an assortment of lads in the newsroom for drinks etc, yet the feeling is senior editors might have turned a blind eye. If this was the case, it points to the usual ''protect the star'' stuff.'
Huw Edwards (pictured) messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile kAlex Williams, it has emerged.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday
Yesterday, Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were 'Category A', the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip's funeral to the nation.
Just this week, the BBC would not reveal if it had been aware of Edwards' arrest in November. But it tried to defend its actions in a statement last night.
The BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
It continued: 'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.' It added: 'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards's actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
Her parents have broken their silence
EXCLUSIVE
The grieving parents of a mother-of-three killed in a fatal late-night lawnmower incident say their RAAF pilot son-in-law has been left heartbroken by the tragedy.
Frances Crawford, aged in her 40s, was found dead at her home on Thomas Road at Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday.
Her body was found after police were called to the property following reports she had been crushed by a ride-on lawnmower.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday, Ms Crawford's parents Joke and Ben Pilon said their son-in-law Robert was devastated by his wife's death.
They dismissed local reports police had previously been contacted due to domestic violence matters at the home and there is no suggestion that he was in any way involved in Ms Crawfords death.
'He's broken,' Ms Pilon said.
'They lived here happily together. It's rumours.'
The Pilons said their daughter, a psychologist, grew up in the local Toowoomba area, and the community has been left reeling in the wake of her death.
Frances Crawford, aged in her 40s, (pictured) was found dead at her home on Thomas Road, at Upper Lockyer, near Toowoomba, in south-east Queensland , at about 3.40am on Tuesday
A police vehicle is seen at the rural property on Thursday morning
One of the vehicles included a cop in an unmarked ute
Ms Crawford leaves behind her husband, three children, her parents, and siblings.
Her parents spoke out after detectives staged a massive swoop on the rural property on Thursday morning as investigations into the death continue.
Ten police cars were seen arriving at the property, which is located in bushland at the end of a 1km-long driveway.
The vehicles included two forensics vans, detectives in a four-wheel drive, a ute filled with forensics supplies, two patrol vehicles, and uniformed officers in an unmarked car.
The Pilons said police have been poring over the home, which remains a crime scene, with Mr Crawford asked to temporarily vacate the property amid the investigation.
Despite the huge police presence at the couple's home, detectives have yet to confirm how Ms Crawford's death is being treated.
Mr Crawford is a RAAF cargo plane pilot and Squadron Leader - a senior role and the equivalent of a Major in the Army - who operates out of the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley, about 8km southwest of Ipswich.
Over the past two decades, the couple have lived around Australia - including in Sydney, Adelaide and in Queensland - as Sqn Ldr Crawford worked numerous roles within Australian Defence Force.
Husband Robert Crawford (pictured) is an squadron leader - a senior role and the equivalent of a Major in the Army - who operates out of the Royal Australian Airforce Amberley Base
Detectives spent Tuesday collecting evidence from the home (including the lawnmower, pictured) which has now been declared a crime scene
Forensics equipment could be seen in one of the arriving cars
Tributes have begun to flow for the respected psychologist, who has been remembered for her 'gentle nature' and kindness.
Quality Life Psychology Services said she was a 'dearly loved and well-respected member' of their team.
'Frances always took the time to ask after others with kindness and consideration, often responding with humility and thoughtful humour,' the clinic said.
'Frances was easy to be around and her gentle nature will be sadly missed but long remembered by her colleagues, friends and clients at Quality Life Psychology Services.
'Our hearts and prayers are with Frances family at this tragic time.'
Worried residents living near a creek locals describe as a 'hidden gem' were shocked after they discovered that the water had mysteriously turned a shade of bright electric blue.
A member of the public noticed the water in Humpybong Creek at Moreton Bay in Brisbane's north had turned aqua blue on Monday morning.
Officials from Queensland Fire Department (QFD) were alerted before three fire crews attended the scene following reports of a possible chemical spill.
Fire crews determined that around five square metres had initially been affected by the unusual colour change.
A QFD spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that scientists conducted tests and found that the substance was not poisonous.
A Moreton Bay Council spokeswoman told Daily Mail they are investigating the unknown blue substance.
'There has been little dispersion and the spill remains localised. There is no indication of any current impact on wildlife,,' the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said council officers have taken samples for assessment.
A member of the public noticed the water in Humpybong Creek, in Moreton Bay, (pictured) in Brisbane's north had turned aqua blue on Monday morning
'These tests will not be able to identify the exact substance, however the test will indicate if there is any presence of significant pollutants such as any increase in heavy metals,' the spokeswoman said.
The type of substance is not known and it is unclear how it entered the water.
Testing to determine what caused the water to so drastically change colour could take up to seven days.
Officers have inspected the stormwater system within a 400m radius of the impacted area to determine where the substance came from.
A Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) spokeswoman said DESI is aware of the contaminated water.
The spokeswoman there is no indication of any environmental harm.
Locals expressed their anger on social media over the bizarre sight and said it could impact animals living in the area.
'Heartbreaking for the wildlife,' one person wrote.
'I hope whoever is responsible is held accountable,' another local wrote.
But others thought the bright colour made the creek look better.
'Looks amazing,' one person said.
The water could be removed from the creek by pumping out the contaminated liquid before it is disposed of properly.
Experts are also baffled by the strange discolouration.
Head of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney, Professor Stuart Khan, said the type of substance will be determined by conducting a chemical analysis.
Locals expressed their anger on social media after the colour of the creek - which normally looks like this - suddenly changed (pictured, Humpybong Creek at Moreton Bay in Queensland)
'It does look like copper contamination, which would be very easy to test for and confirm, 'Prof Khan told Yahoo.
Prof Khan, who is also a water expert, said copper has been used as a chemical in ponds to kill algae.
He said a significant amount of the mineral may have been used if this was the case.
The creek is an important catchment that transports untreated storm water from several residential and urban areas.
Kamala Harris has responded to Donald Trump's Wednesday rant where he claimed she 'happened to turn black' a few years ago.
Taking the stage at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston, Harris addressed the interview hours before, where Trump insisted that 'all of a sudden, she made a turn'.
His comments came at a gathering of black journalists in Chicago, as an interviewer asked him whether he agreed with Republican sentiment that his rival is a 'DEI hire.'
Asking the journalist 'to define DEI', he went on to question Harris's heritage.
The Vice President, in turn, said 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech that also urged the African-American sorority to 'fight' because 'there is so much at stake.'
While speaking the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston Wednesday, Kamala Harris responded to Donald Trump's claims that she 'happened to turn Black' a few hours before
Trump's comments came at a gathering of Black journalists in Chicago, as an interviewer asked him whether he agreed with Republican sentiment that his rival a 'DEI hire'
'This afternoon Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists', Harris said during her speech.
'And it was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect.
'Let me just say, the American people deserve better.
'A leader who tells the truth,' she went on. 'Who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands our differences do not divide us.
'They are an essential source of our strength,' she added.
She appeared to attempt to stay above the fray seen since the interview, however, electing to not directly quote it or refer to the comments aired by the conservative earlier in the day.
Instead, she continue to talk down her competitor and his long-finished presidential term, which she framed as unsuccessful and something to be left in the rearview.
The sorority she spoke to is a member of the 'Divine Nine,' a group of distinguished black sororities and fraternities that have rushed to vote on Harris's behalf.
The sorority she spoke to is a member of the 'Divine Nine,' a group of distinguished black sororities and fraternities that have rushed to vote on Harris's behalf
Harris thus thanked them for getting her and Biden elected, and suggested they have the power to do it again come November.
'I believe in the promise of America. And aren't so many of us empirical evidence of the promise of America,' Harris, who is a member of a different Divine Nine sorority, said.
'Greater service brings greater progress,' she continued, before listing some of the historic sorority's accomplishments.
'You helped elect Joe Biden as the president of the United States and me as the first woman Vice President of the United States.'
'Our nation needs you,' she went on.
Vowing to take on big pharma, landlords, big banks, and corporations and champion the middle class, she defiantly declared: 'We are not going back.'
Harris also spoke of the so-called 'promise of America' - one that she said consists of 'greater service and greater progress.'
She addressed the current cost-of-living crisis and concepts like equal pay for women, before briefly touching on the elephant in the room - Trump's controversial comments.
Vowing to take on big pharma, landlords, big banks, and corporations to champion the middle class, Harris at one point defiantly declared: 'We are not going back', in reference to another term of Trump
It started when ABC's Rachel Scott, seated opposite the Republican, mentioned how a lot of people didn't think it was appropriate for him to be in Chicago considering his past comments about people of color, including Indian-American Nikki Haley.
First of all I dont think Ive ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, Trump told Scott, calling the journalist 'nasty' and 'hostile' in a unintentional ode to his 2016 campaign.
You dont even say hello how are you? Trump went on, before slamming ABC as a 'fake news network.'
I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country, he continued.
'I think it's a very rude introduction. I dont know exactly why you would do something like that,' he said.
That's when he offered his contentious comments about Harris, after also being asked if he felt it appropriate to refer to her as a 'DEI hire' as several Republicans already have.
Among other things, he appeared to falsely claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became beneficial to do so.
'She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage,' Trump said.
Earlier in the day, Trump appeared to claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became suitable - and beneficial - to do so.
'I didnt know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black.
'And now she wants to be known as black. So I dont know. Is she Indian or is she black?
'Someone should look into that,' he concluded, to a combination of laughs and jeers - the latter outweighing the former.
'I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt.'
Scott pointed out that Harris has always identified as Black, before asking if agreed with his contemporaries that Harris was a 'DEI hire.'
Seemingly feigning confusion, the conservative countered, 'I really dont know - could be', before being met with a chorus of boos.
Later on, after the interview's conclusion, Trump further claimed on Truth Social: 'Crazy Kamala is saying shes Indian, not Black.
'This is a big deal,' he continued. 'Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!'
Scott pointed out that Harris has always identified as Black, before asking if agreed with his contemporaries that Harris was a 'DEI hire.' Seemingly feigning confusion, the conservative countered, 'I really dont know - could be'
Harris went on to issue her own statement in response to the interview - one similar to the small section of her Houston speech.
'The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power,' she wrote.
'Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency while he failed black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in.
She added how Trump, with his comments to the press and on social media, 'has already proven he cannot unite America.
'[S]o he attempts to divide us,' she said.
'Todays tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trumps MAGA rallies this entire campaign.
'Its also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans,' she added, issuing yet another challenge to the GOP candidate.
'All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10.'
Earlier in the day, Harris claimed that though his comments to the press and those on social media, her rival 'has already proven he cannot unite America', and instead seeks to divide it
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, a black woman, added that Trump's comment were 'insulting.' and that as vice president, Harris deserves 'respect.'
'No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,' Jean-Pierre said.
Shaking her head as NBC's Peter Alexander read aloud Trump's words, she added 'What you just read out to me, is repulsive.
'It's insulting for anybody - it doesn't matter if it's a foreign leader or former president - it is insulting.
'She is the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name.'
Trump, meanwhile, told Scott earlier in the day: 'I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country
Before leaving, he offered some memorable parting words.
'I have been the best president for the black population since Abraham Lincoln.'
As for Harris, she promised in her speech to reverse the recent nixing of Roe v. Wade with a new law, while daring a hesitant to debate Trump yet again, 'Bring it on.'
She said she will be at ABCs September 10 debate - to which Trump and President Joe Biden had both already agreed - regardless of Trumps attendance.
She suspected he was trying to access the First Home Buyers Grant
A renter looking for a property to lease said she turned down one place because of a very suspicious request made by the landlord.
Jill Clark, 26, had been struggling to find a rental in Sydney when a real estate agent offered her a lease on one condition: the electricity bill must remain in the landlord's name for the first six months of her tenancy.
The offer fell through after Ms Clark told the agent such a request would be illegal to which he replied that it was 'what the landlord wants'.
'The unfortunate thing is that someone will be desperate enough for a property to accept that without question and real estate agents and landlords know this,' she told news.com.au.
Ms Clark believed the landlord had been trying to take advantage of the First Home Buyer's scheme.
The grant is available for first homebuyers who purchase a property under $1million.
Applicants are only eligible if they live intend to live in the property for the first 12 months.
Ms Clark believed the landlord wanted to keep their name on the bill so it appeared they were actually living at the house - and not renting it out.
Jill Clark, 26, turned down a lease offer after a real estate agent said that the electricity bill had to be kept in the landlords name for the first six months
The 26-year-old is a development manager and was working with a budget of up to $700 per week but still struggled to find a home in the 'difficult' market.
Sydney currently has a vacancy rate of just 1.68 per cent and the median price of rent in the city has soared to $600.
Ms Clark said that while some real estate agents were 'helpful' the one who asked her to keep the electricity bill in the landlord's name had been 'incredibly frustrating'.
Ms Clark immediately suspected the real estate agent's request was an attempt by the landlord to access the First Home Buyer's scheme while renting out the property
The First Home Buyers Grant varies by state but in NSW it can offer new homeowners a $10,000 lump sum towards their first property purchase.
To be eligible however, the buyer must live in the property for the first 12 months.
Ms Clark was told that in order to move into the home she would need to agree to the landlord forwarding the bill onto her.
Eventually she declined the offer and continued hunting for a rental under immense stress.
In her most dire moment Ms Clark revealed she was only two weeks away from being homeless.
Despite working with a $700-per-week rental budget Ms Clark still struggled to find secure a lease in Sydney (pictured) which has a vacancy rate of just 1.68 per cent (stock image)
Her lease was about to run out, she had no family in the city to fall back on in case for a place to stay, and she had a pet which made everything even harder.
'For those of us who dont have the option to couch surf with friends or move back in with family, the thought of having my lease ending before finding a new apartment is incredibly stressful,' she said.
Luckily Ms Clark was offered a new lease at the last minute.
'But had I not been, there would have been no plan, honestly,' she said.
A mother-of-three killed by her estranged husband fled the family home with her children almost a decade earlier after he hit her with a hammer and stomped on her, a jury has been told.
Nelomie Perera, 43, was found dead in her kitchen in December 2022 after Dinush Kurera allegedly murdered her in what prosecutors alleged was a 'sustained, brutal and vicious attack' with a hatchet and kitchen knife.
The 47-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the murder, and to assaulting his 17-year-old son.
Kurera has admitted he killed his wife, but claimed he did so to save his own life, his lawyers told Victorian Supreme Court jury on Wednesday.
'He grappled with her over the knife, in her murderous rage, and he defended himself and the deceased was killed,' defence barrister John Desmond said.
'Rage met rage.'
Ms Perera was found in a pool of blood with 35 separate injuries, after Kurera allegedly killed her in front of their children in December 2022.
Kurera, who was assessed by paramedics and taken to hospital, had no signs of any physical injuries, prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said.
Mr Gibson has alleged Kurera was fuelled by a 'deep-seated hatred' for Ms Perera when he killed her, after she told him she wanted a divorce and he discovered she was seeing other people.
Dinush Kurera (pictured left) admits killing his wife but claims it was in self-defence
Prosecutor Mark Gibson has alleged Kurera was fuelled by a 'deep-seated hatred' for Nelomie Perera when he killed her, after she told him she wanted a divorce and he discovered she was seeing other people.
He said Ms Perera had discovered Kurera was cheating on her while he was on a trip in Sri Lanka and ended their marriage over the phone.
She told him he could no longer stay at their family home, organised a storage unit where she moved his belongings and was allegedly fearful about his return to Melbourne, Mr Gibson said.
About two days after he flew home, on December 3, 2022, Mr Gibson said Kurera purchased a 30cm crowbar and a fibreglass hatchet.
That evening Kurera drove to the family home in Sandhurst, in Melbourne's southeast, and used the crowbar to break through the fence while wearing dark clothing and gloves.
'Mr Kurera, under the cover of darkness, approached Nelomie, taking her by surprise as she was about to have a cigarette on the back patio area,' Mr Gibson said on Tuesday.
He alleged Kurera struck his wife in the head with a hatchet, which Mr Desmond said Kurera denies, and their two teen children ran down to their mother's screams.
The family then moved to the lounge room where the estranged couple argued before Mr Gibson claimed Kurera again hit Ms Perera with the hatchet, which Kurera also denies.
Their 17-year-old son tried to run for help when Mr Gibson alleged Kurera chased him and hit him with the axe, which the accused man further denies.
Mr Gibson alleged Kurera, Ms Perera and their 16-year-old daughter moved to the kitchen where he grabbed a 30cm long kitchen knife and stabbed her.
But Mr Desmond said this was a 'stark issue' for the jury to decide as Kurera claims Ms Perera came at him with the knife.
'Nelomie took the opportunity when it arose to get the kitchen knife and came at the accused in a wild rage, violently swinging this large kitchen knife at the accused, trying to kill him,' he said.
'He did what any person would do and was entitled to do in those circumstances - he defended himself.'
Ms Perera's sister Minoli gave evidence on Wednesday afternoon, describing an alleged history of violence perpetrated by Kurera.
The jury was told Ms Perera fled to her parents' home with her three children in 2013 after Kurera allegedly hit her with a hammer and stomped on her.
'She had bruises on her face and she was struggling to walk,' Minoli said.
'She told me that she couldn't leave (Kurera) because of the children.'
She said when Ms Perera caught her husband cheating on her with a woman in Sri Lanka he denied it and said 'it was all in her head'.
The trial continues.
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Shocking video has shown the moment an Officeworks manager refused to laminate a Jewish man's newspaper because she is 'pro-Palestine'.
The customer, who was wearing a yarmulke at the time of the incident, took an article from the Australian Jewish News newspaper to an Officeworks store at Elsternwick, in Melbourne's east, on March 4.
The piece was titled, 'The indomitable spirit of our people', and featured a photo of a group holding Australian and Israeli flags.
After seeing the newspaper, the Officeworks manager refused to serve the Jewish man, stating: 'I'm pro-Palestine.'
She claimed Officeworks' policies gave her the right to deny the man service based on her political beliefs. Officeworks has since clarified that is incorrect.
'I'm not comfortable proceeding with it (the job),' the manager told the man.
The customer asked: 'Maybe there's another staff member that's comfortable doing it.'
An Officeworks worker refused to laminate the page of the Australian Jewish News newspaper because she was 'pro Palestine'
She claimed Officeworks' policies gave her the right to deny the man service based on her political beliefs. Officeworks has since clarified that is incorrect
The worker replied: 'You can wait for (another staff member) and see if she's comfortable doing it, but I know I'm not.
'I'm pro-Palestine and, for political reasons, I'm not comfortable.'
The customer questioned whether Officeworks' policies gave workers the discretion to refuse service based on their personal beliefs.
Embarrassingly, the staff member failed to find the words to justify her position when asked to explain her actions.
'We have the right to deny jobs, because I'm not comfortable proceeding with it,' she said.
'Israel and Judaism can be completely separate.
The customer asked: 'From what?'
The worker replied: 'From religion and ... um ... I can't find the word right now but you can separate the two.'
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The worker then asked if she was being recorded by the man and threatened to call the police if he did not leave the store.
The customer has since lodged a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, claiming Officeworks discriminated against his race and religion by refusing him service.
'This incident has caused my family and me significant distress and has raised concerns about whether it is safe to visit our local stores and conduct our usual activities,' he said.
'None of the staff intervened during the situation with the manager, and the embarrassment and harassment we experienced have left a lasting impact.'
Officeworks has since apologised, but will not fire the manager, instead sending her for 'education and training', including a visit to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.
'We can confirm that we have taken this matter extremely seriously and, since the matter occurred, have investigated internally and taken the appropriate action to ensure this doesn't take place again,' they said.
The Australian Jewish News publication that the worker refused to laminate
'In this particular incident, our policies were incorrectly applied and in accordance with our Officeworks' policies, the laminating should have taken place.
'Additionally, we have provided ongoing training and education to our team members so they are aware of the legal requirements in respect of discrimination and of Officeworks' policies and procedures.'
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, slammed the worker.
'Who would have thought that in Melbourne 2024, people would be denied a service because of their faith and for Israel?' he said.
'We should have zero tolerance for this kind of profiling and indefensible prejudice.
'No one should be singled out or denied service because of their ethnic origin, the country they support, gender, creed, faith, or sexual orientation.
'Being different should be a cause for celebration, not a liability that makes one subject to bias.'
Dr Abramovich said the incident was a 'stain' on Melbourne's reputation as a multicultural and welcoming city.
'It is time for Officeworks to not just talk the talk but walk the walk by sending the unmistakable message that Jewish Australians and anyone supporting Israel are welcome in their stores,' he said.
'I urge the Human Rights Commission and the government to condemn this unacceptable conduct.'
New Israel Fund Executive Director, Michael Chaitow, similarly criticised the worker's actions as 'regrettable'.
'We must be able to work together in this difficult moment, even if we disagree,' he said.
'While Officeworks' policies are there to protect the safety and wellbeing of their employees, which is critical, the customer's printing request does not pose a threat to their safety or wellbeing.
'As all sides of politics have emphasised, Israel's war with Hamas is a sensitive issue, one that affects people deeply and personally.
'However, discrimination based on religion or political views does not have a place in our society.'
The mother of Sonya Massey, a black woman who was fatally shot in the face in her kitchen by a white police officer after she called 911 for help, pleaded with dispatchers to not send a 'prejudiced' officer to her daughter's home.
The mother, Donna Massey, said in a 911 call on the day before her daughter's death that she was worried police would 'make the situation worse,' pleading with the dispatcher: 'I dont want you guys to hurt her.'
'Please don't send no combative policemen that are prejudiced, please,' the elder Massey said. 'I'm scared of the police. Sometimes they make the situation worse'
Donna added that her daughter was suffering a 'mental breakdown.'
Massey, 36, a mom-of-two from Springfield, Illinois, was shot dead by deputy Sean Grayson, 30, on July 6 after Grayson and another deputy arrived at her home to investigate a prowler.
According to records released on Wednesday, Sonya had made two 911 calls in the days leading up to her death.
Her mother Donna, seen here, said in one call on the day before her daughter's death: 'Please don't send no combative policemen that are prejudiced, please.'
This undated photo provided by the family's lawyers in July 2024 shows Sonya Massey
The distraught mom added: 'She is not a danger to herself, she's not a danger to me'. She referred to Massey's mental episode as 'paranoid schizophrenic'.
The recordings also show that some officers and first responders discussed whether Massey had shot herself.
An official says in a call to report the police shooting that, 'They are now saying it's self-inflicted'.
Another adds: 'Either self-inflicted or they may have shot her', it's unclear where the wrong information about it being possibly self-inflicted came from.
The Sangamon County Sheriff's Department is still trying to determine whether Massey's history of mental health issues were relayed to deputies responding.
Body cam footage suggests they were not aware, with Grayson asking dispatch if there are any record of calls from Massey indicating mental health troubles.
Such information is passed along if it's known, but there's no built-in mechanism that ensures it, said Jeff Wilhite, spokesperson for Sheriff Jack Campbell.
Wilhite said: 'It's possible, if the dispatcher knew the calls were linked, but it's not an automatic.
'The dispatcher would have to know 'yes, it's the same person' and 'yes, it's the same address.'
Massey was shot at three times by Grayson earlier this month after she called police to report a prowler
Deputy Sean Grayson's gun drawn as Sonya Massey cowers for cover in her kitchen on July 6
Grayson's file was also released which showed that he has two drunk driving convictions within a year, the first of which led to discharge from the army.
His psychological evaluation found him fit to serve, but added: 'He knows he can move too fast at times. He needs to slow down to make good decisions.'
Footage captured the night Massey died shows her greeting deputies at her front door, saying 'don't hurt me', and appearing confused.
After Grayson directed her to remove a pot of water from the stove she told him: 'I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.'
Grayson then pulls his gun on the mother-of-two and yelled at her to drop the presumably scalding water before firing three times, hitting her below the left eye.
Family members have said Massey struggled with mental health issues and had undergone treatment.
Her son, Malachi Hill Massey, said he and his sister had to live with their fathers because Massey checked herself into an inpatient treatment program.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges in Massey's killing
At a press conference, Malachi told the audience that he could not bring himself to watch the bodycam footage which showed his mother's death
Autopsy findings released Friday on Massey confirmed that she died from a gunshot wound to the head and that she died on July 6.
The report was released shortly before civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey's family, denounced the killing by the ex-sheriff's deputy as senseless, unnecessary and excessive.
In addition to the bullet striking her just beneath her left eye, Massey had 'minor blunt force injuries' to her right leg, the autopsy said.
The bullet caused her skull to fracture and perforated her carotid artery, which caused her brain to bleed, before exiting the back of her upper neck.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges in Massey's killing.
He was fired by the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office and has been jailed without bond.
READ MORE: Town furious over plans to hand land to an Aboriginal group
A cleaner claims they were told by staff to flush a foetus after they discovered it in a toilet at an independent Aboriginal school.
The cleaner, who did not want to be named, was working at Hymba Yumba Independent School (HYIS) in Springfield, southwest of Brisbane, on July 25, 2023.
The school, which has almost 300 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, receives about $9million in funding from the state and federal governments annually.
The worker said she was waiting for a group of girls - she believed to be in Year 6 to Year 8 - who were inside one of the toilet stalls to leave so she could clean the area.
However, once the girls left, the cleaner made a gruesome discovery - a suspected foetus inside the toilet.
'I waited for them to come out I walked in there [and] on the bottom of the toilet there was a foetus,' she told NITV's Living Black.
She immediately locked the cubicle and spoke with another cleaner who then agreed the discovery looked as though it was foetal tissue.
The pair went straight to a staff member and reported the shocking find.
A cleaner claims they were told by staff to flush a foetus after they discovered it in a toilet at an independent Aboriginal school
The worker said she was waiting for a group of girls - she believed to be in Year 6 to Year 8 - who were inside one of the toilet stalls to leave so she could clean the area (stock image)
However, the staff member claimed the women's suspicions were wrong and that it was not human foetal tissue.
'She took photos of it and [said] it wasn't a foetus, but we were trying to tell her that it was, because it had legs [and] hands but she still turned around to us and told us it wasn't,' the cleaner said.
She said she was 'scared and traumatised' and told the staff member she would take the foetus out of the toilet so that they could conduct an investigation.
'She gave us a toilet brush lifted it up and just flushed it,' the cleaner said.
The cleaner's aunty, local Elder Theresa Tyson, had concerns for the student's welfare and reported the incident to Queensland Police.
'I was thinking all the time [about] how this child's coping... She could have bled to death, or it could be a normal thing for her, getting sexually abused,' Ms Tyson said.
The school claimed it reported the matter the very same day to police, with officers attending the school the next morning to investigate the incident.
HYIS claims police established that what was found was not a foetus 'but a decidual cast' - which is when the lining of a uterus sheds in one piece.
Police confirmed with Living Black that officers did in fact visit the school two days after the incident rather than the next morning as reported by the school.
'Ipswich Child Protection Investigation Unit attended the school,' QPS said in a statement.
'At the time, no child was identified as being involved, and no offences were detected.'
Local Elder Theresa Tyson (pictured), who is the aunty of the cleaner, had concerns for the child's welfare and reported the incident to Queensland Police Service
Police failed to interview the cleaners when they visited the school.
Queenslands Child Protection Investigation Unit contacted the cleaners for an interview just this month - almost a year after the incident - only after the Living Black program questioned the handling of the investigation.
A former teacher at the school, who was there when the incident occurred, said she was advised by the nurse counsellor to try and subtly find the student involved.
However, on the morning the Child Protection Unit visited the school, HYIS school CEO Karla Brady put an end to staff investigations.
In an email to a colleague, Ms Brady said she wanted to speak to a 'few girls' to tell them that 'the witch hunt needs to stop'.
Ms Brady added she wanted to 'nip' the issue immediately so that the 'drama queens' don't make the incident bigger than what it was.
HYIS adamantly denies that what was found was human foetus tissue.
FibroGen, which has a headquarters in Mission Bay, announced it will be laying off 75% of its U.S. workforce. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Numerous Bay Area companies slashed hundreds of jobs in the past week, a sign that downsizings are continuing and expanding beyond the tech sector.
San Francisco biotech firm FibroGen said it would cut around 75% of its U.S. workforce, following the failure of two pancreatic cancer drug clinical trials. The company plans to implement an immediate and significant cost reduction plan in the U.S.
FibroGen had roughly 400 global workers last year, following 104 U.S. layoffs last summer.
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CEO Thane Wettig said the company was deeply disappointed and thanked patients, clinical trial investigators and his FibroGen colleagues.
San Francisco personal finance firm NerdWallet said it would lay off 15% of its staff to reduce operating expenses, or more than 100 employees. The company had over 730 employees at the end of 2023, down from more than 770 at the end of 2022.
NerdWallet expects $8 million to $10 million in charges related to the layoffs.
We are committed to building NerdWallet with a long-term orientation, and that sometimes requires difficult decisions, CEO Tim Chen said in a statement. This decision is part of a larger effort to improve our operational efficiency and better position NerdWallet to invest more in our most important long-term strategic initiatives.
Moxion Power, which made batteries and raised $110 million, is laying off 247 workers at its Richmond headquarters and shutting down operations, according to a state filing. Two workers are also being laid off in Los Angeles County, after 101 workers in Richmond were laid off in June.
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The company said in a letter to the state that it was unable to raise additional money to sustain operations and would close.
Another Richmond energy company, SunPower, is laying off 290 employees, according to a state filing. Affected employees include 182 in Richmond, 20 in Berkeley, 11 in San Jose, 19 in North Hollywood, 18 in Ontario (San Bernardino County), 16 in Elk Grove (Sacramento County), 13 in Santee (San Diego County) and 11 in Anaheim.
The company previously filed layoff notices for 358 workers across California in April.
Despite the wave of layoffs, the Bay Areas unemployment rates are relatively low. San Francisco had a 3.6% unemployment rate in June, and Santa Clara County had a 4.1% rate. Although Contra Costa County was higher at 4.7%, that is still below Californias rate of 5.2%.
San Francisco-based Humble Games also reportedly laid off its entire staff of 36 workers. Tech giant Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, is planning to cut thousands of jobs, according to Bloomberg.
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A Greens proposal to force Australians to cough up billions of dollars in reparations for climate change and 'colonialism' - and tax 'large' family inheritances - has been slammed as 'crazy'.
Documents on the party's website outline a little known economic agenda that would heavily impact younger generations, who already face exorbitant rent and property prices, comparatively low wages, and inflated HECS repayments.
According to the documents, the party has reimagined the idea of an inheritance tax - traditionally unpopular in Australia - and rebranded it as a 'dynastic wealth transfer' tax.
New taxes would also apply to financial gifts, such as house deposits from parents to children who are unable to save money faster than the rising property prices.
Further plans include $4.5billion for 'climate reparations' and 'the ongoing impacts and legacy of colonialism'.
'As a wealthy, colonial country, Australia has a responsibility to contribute its fair share of aid, and pay reparations for its role in the climate crisis and the ongoing damage caused by western imperialism,' the policy agenda read.
The funds would be provided to a program named Official Development Assistance, which is run by the Department of Foreign Affairs and trade. It is unclear how exactly the funds would be linked to western imperialism.
The party also outlines plans to wipe all debt owed to Australia in the hope that it would inspire other countries to follow suit.
Greens leader Adam Bandt is pictured with his partner Claudia Perkins during the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball in the Great Hall at Parliament House
Pictured: People in Sydney protesting at an Invasion Day rally on January 26
Critics say the proposals - which were taken to the last election and are still on the party's website - go well beyond its agenda pushing environmentalist causes, renter-focused housing policy and sympathy to Palestine.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Greens continue to prove they are extreme, not green.
'The crazy economic policies of the modern-day Greens pose a grave threat to Australia. Their extreme agenda is detrimental to our way of life.
'Most concerning though, is their passion to disrupt social cohesion and tear down institutions which are vital to our prosperity, security and international partnerships.'
He said the modern Greens party is a far cry from the environmental group Bob Brown founded in 1992.
The documents, under the heading 'climate finance and reparations,' say that Australia 'must provide climate finance and reparations to affected countries and communities'.
They also state that Australia's level of aid must be 'commensurate with our historical and ongoing contribution to the climate crisis,' but does not expand on the idea.
The site also states that debts other countries owe Australia are 'the unjust result of colonialism and imperialism'. It does not identify which countries whose debt Australia would wipe.
'The Greens will cancel all of Australias bilateral debt and ensure we are a strong and principled advocate for global debt cancellation.
'By unconditionally cancelling repayment of these debts, Australia would signal its clear intent to advocate for wider debt cancellation.'
A Greens spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the dynastic tax, climate change and colonial reparations policies were ideas it took to the 2022 election, and do not necessarily reflect its current beliefs.
However, the party is yet to release its plans for the upcoming election, which is expected before May next year, and quite possibly earlier, given a recent Albanese government ministerial reshuffle.
The significance of Greens' policies is particularly heightened this year with polls showing Anthony Albanese's Labor party is quite likely to be returned to power with a hung Parliament.
That could force Mr Albanese to strike a deal with the Greens, crossbenchers or both in order to form a minority government - much as Julia Gillard did in 2010.
The 2022 policies remain readily available on the party's website under the first menu tab, which is called 'Our Plan'.
Greens leader Adam Bandt told Daily Mail Australia the party will put forward a plan to tax the wealthy, rather than taking money from the average young Australians.
'The Greens will be taxing billionaires and ending tax handouts to wealthy property investors to make sure that every Australian can afford to buy a home, and the country's billionaires aren't able to keep hoarding more money than everyday people could ever imagine,' he said.
'Our priority is making sure that renters and mortgage holders can afford to keep a roof over their heads, that parents can see their kids get a home, and that the price of groceries stops going up.'
Last month, Daily Mail Australia revealed video emerged of young Greens federal MP Max Chandler-Mather explaining how the party plans to seize power in Australia by 2040.
The 32-year-old, who has developed a reputation for getting under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's skin, is touted by Canberra insiders as a rising star who could well be head of that future Greens government.
Mr Chandler-Mather told supporters that you get one vote for every three meaningful, genuine conversations you have with constituents.
By that reckoning, if the Greens could have 1,866,216 meaningful conversations with Australian voters, they would get enough votes to seize power at a Federal level.
According to his long-term strategy, the Greens should have won just one extra seat in the 2022 election. Instead they won three, including his own, putting them well ahead of target.
In the 2024 or 2025 election, with an additional 1,633 volunteers, the goal will be to engage with 130,635 more voters with an anticipated yield of three additional lower house seats giving them six in total.
Over the next five elections, that would then build up to 6,998 volunteers in the 2040 election reaching 559,865 households.
Under the Chandler-Mather plan, the Greens would have nine seats by 2028, building to 15, 23 and 32 at subsequent elections, and then the 45 seats needed to form a minority government in 2040.
By his reckoning, 45 seats would allow the Greens to be the senior party in a coalition with Labor which would have 44.
A conservative political analyst said Donald Trump made a huge mess by questioning Kamala Harris 's race Wednesday.
Scott Jennings appeared on CNN NewsNight when host Abby Phillip pressed him about the strategy behind Trump claiming that the vice president just 'happened to turn Black' a few years ago.
'He did crap the bed today,' the pundit and political strategist said, before offering an applicable metaphor. 'The only question is whether he's gonna roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.'
Trump started the trash talk earlier in the day when he questioned whether his rival was Indian or black, in what amounted to an off-the-rails interview at the National Association of Black Journalists.
The comments spurred responses from the White House, countless media personalities, and Harris herself - and was thus a featured talking point on Wednesday's CNN NewsNight.
Scroll down for video:
Conservative political analyst Scott Jennings - political director for President George W. Bush's 2000 Kentucky campaign - on Wednesday claimed Donald Trump shot himself in the foot by questioning Kamala Harris's race
On the CNN program, Phillip started by asking Jennings whether he believes Trump's remarks were part of a premeditated strategy.
'I don't know if I agree with that,' Jennings replied.
'Look, first of all, I think he deserves some points for showing up at this thing and giving it a go,' he said.
'Where's Kamala Harris today? Not there,' he continued, citing her failure to show up to the anticipated event remotely as many believed she would.
'But, that having been said, he did crap the bed today. The only question is whether he's gonna roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.'
Phillips, visibly intrigued, proceeded to ask for more insight.
'My advice would be, get up and change your sheets, and do what your campaign is doing,' Jennings answered in turn.
'The campaign knows how to prosecute the case, ok?
'They're on the air with it - to the tune of millions of dollars on her policy record,' he continued. 'That's what they should be doing.'
Earlier in the day, Trump raised eyebrows when he questioned whether his rival was Indian or black in an off-the-rails interview at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago
The comments spurred responses from the White House, countless media personalities, and Harris herself - and was thus a featured talking point
The Vice President, on Wednesday, appeared to agree, when she 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston.
There, she urged the African-American sorority to 'fight' because 'there is so much at stake.'
'This afternoon Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists', Harris said during her speech.
'And it was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect.
'Let me just say, the American people deserve better.
'A leader who tells the truth,' she went on. 'Who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands our differences do not divide us.
'They are an essential source of our strength,' she added.
During her speech, Harris also spoke of the so-called 'promise of America', and addressed the current cost-of-living crisis and concepts like equal pay for women, before briefly touching on the elephant in the room - Trump's comments.
The Vice President, on Wednesday, appeared to agree, when she 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston
They were offered hours earlier, when ABC's Rachel Scott, seated opposite the Republican, mentioned how a lot of people didn't think it was appropriate for him to be in Chicago considering his previous comments concerning people of color.
Visibly outraged, Trump began, First of all I dont think Ive ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, before calling the journalist 'nasty' and 'hostile' in an ode to his 2016 campaign.
You dont even say hello how are you?' he continued, slamming ABC as a 'fake news network.'
I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country, he pressed on.
'I think it's a very rude introduction. I dont know exactly why you would do something like that.
That's when he offered his contentious comments, after being asked if he felt it appropriate to refer to Harris as a 'DEI hire' - as several Republicans already have.
He appeared to falsely claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became beneficial for her to do so.
'She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage,' Trump said.
Hours before, during his now widely seen sitdown, Trump seemed to claim Harris did not lean into her black identity until it became suitable - and beneficial - to do so
To this, Jennings told host Abby Phillips, 'This is not gonna end the way he wants it to end. 'There's a better way to do this and they know what to do, but it's on him to do it. It's on him to do it'
'I didnt know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black.
'And now she wants to be known as black. So I dont know. Is she Indian or is she black?
'Someone should look into that,' he concluded, to a combination of laughs and jeers - the latter outweighing the former.
'I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt.'
Scott pointed out that Harris has always identified as Black, before asking if agreed with his contemporaries that Harris was a 'DEI hire.'
Seemingly feigning confusion, the conservative countered, 'I really dont know - could be', before being met with a chorus of boos.
To this, Jennings said, 'This is not gonna end the way he wants it to end.
'There's a better way to do this and they know what to do, but it's on him to do it. It's on him to do it.
'My strong advice is to perform,' the CNN staffer, who is frequently quoted as a political analyst concluded.
Locals have described the horrific moment when they heard a woman scream in agony after a toddler was killed when he fell out of a car and was run over.
The three-year-old boy died after he fell out of the station wagon as it headed north on Arthur Street at Dayton, in Perth's north-east, around 3.50pm on Wednesday.
The boy, who it's believed was sitting in the back of the car, suffered critical injuries and died at the scene.
Residents in the suburban street heard a woman scream in distress before emergency services rushed to the scene.
A nearby resident, Sinikiwe Dumba, said she went outside after she had finished work and only realised what had happened when she saw several people gathered near a park.
'It was only after work when I came out I saw police cars and police people manning the roads and blocking the roads,' she told the West Australian.
'At the corner opposite the park, there were many civilians and police there and I heard a woman scream out of agony and I knew something was wrong.'
The boy's grandmother is understood to have called tripe-0 in a state of panic after he was found unresponsive.
The boy, who it's believed was sitting in the back of the car, suffered critical injuries and died at the scene (pictured)
Resident Sinikiwe Dumba (picture) said she went outside after she finished work and heard a woman scream in agony
Officers from Western Australia Police returned to the scene on Thursday morning.
Police were seen door knocking homes along Arthur Street.
The person driving the Kia station wagon at the time of the incident is not yet known.
Another resident, Camila Filardo, told the newspaper it can be difficult driving a car with children seated at the back.
'I've got 11 grandchildren and I know what it's like. I always make sure they've got seatbelts on in the back,' Ms Filardo said.
'Major Crash investigators are conducting an examination of the scene,' WA police said on Wednesday.
Anyone with CCTV and dashcam footage or information about the incident has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Anthony Albanese has again hit out at endangered airline Rex, saying the regional carrier should not have tried to break into the lucrative city routes.
The Prime Minister says it is critical that regional communities 'continue to have access to aviation services'.
But he has deflected criticism that his government's perceived lack of action on improved access to slots at Sydney Airport was part of the problem for Rex.
'There are a range of issues relating to Rex,' Mr Albanese said on Thursday.
'One is that a regional airline made decisions to invest in routes that they hadn't previously gone in.
'Sydney to Melbourne is not a regional route. It is one of the top-10 routes in the world and at various stages has been literally No.1 in the world.
'It is a tough industry, aviation.'
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie accused Mr Albanese of running a 'protection racket for his favourite airline Qantas'.
Anthony Albanese is copping flack for saying that regional airline Rex should not have tried to fly its planes between cities: 'Sydney to Melbourne is not a regional route'
The Prime Minister deflected criticism that his government's perceived lack of action on improved access to slots at Sydney airport might have been part of the problem for Rex
She said Rex entered the capital city route competition with a $150m investment from its partners and when Virgin was grounded during the pandemic.
'For the Prime Minister to stand up and say that Rex doesn't have the right, the expertise or the skill to actually compete against his favourite customer, Qantas, I think says a lot about this Prime Minister's view of Qantas,' she told Sky News.
'He's run a protection racket for that particular airline since coming to power, and it continues.'
Regional Express Holdings Limited went into voluntary administration late on Tuesday, leading to the cancellation of flights on its Boeing 737 services between capital cities.
But flights between regional locations on its Saab 340 fleet are so far unaffected.
The Transport Workers' Union said more than 600 jobs had been lost in the move, with 360 jobs set to be made redundant.
Ernst & Young has been appointed as voluntary administrators for Rex, and Samuel Freeman, Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins are set to manage the administration.
The government has repeatedly said Rex provided important links with regional communities, particularly with capital cities and would work with the administrators.
The competition for access to major airports, such as Sydney, at prime times was considered to be an issue - which Mr Albanese rejected.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie accused Mr Albanese of running a 'protection racket for his favourite airline Qantas'
'Regional slots have been guaranteed at Sydney airport for a long period of time (and) there is some reforms suggested that have been recent,' he said.
'The former government was there for a decade, didn't do anything about it. We are doing something about it as a result of the recommendations.'
Senator McKenzie said the Albanese government needed to help Rex and improve competition in the aviation sector, dominated by Qantas and a revived Virgin.
'The government has to have a plan and longer term has to do something to improve competition for airlines in this country because we've seen two airlines who sought to bring competition to the table go into administration in under four months under his leadership.'
Rex's fall into administration followed the collapse of upstart regional airline Bonza earlier this year.
Senator McKenzie said the government could have changed the slots process, but neither Mr Albanese or Transport Minister Catherine King had acted.
'She put out a press release, she's done actually nothing to change the situation to make it easier for other competitors against Qantas.'
EXCLUSIVE
A serial rapist who has spent almost all his adult life in jail was caught viewing hardcore pornography after he asked an officer supervising his release from prison to help clear the browsing history on his phone.
Police subsequently found that Wayne Wilmot's internet searches included looking for 'very very very extreme hard Asian threesome porn' and '16 men for one Asian girl'.
Wilmot, now 51, was part of a gang who abducted, raped and murdered bank teller Janine Balding in September 1988 and has spent all but 20 months since then behind bars.
He was paroled in October 1996 but committed further assaults against female victims and has continued his sexual offending against other inmates while in jail.
In April, a Supreme Court judge declared Wilmot a high-risk sex offender and made him the subject of an interim extender supervision order (ESO).
An ESO can be sought to provide ongoing monitoring of a high-risk sexual or violent criminal when his or her custodial sentence is over and they are let back outside.
One of the conditions of Wilmot's order was that he not access, possess or view pornography, including X18 + restricted material.
Wilmot was released in June and acquired a mobile phone the next day.
Serial rapist Wayne Wilmot (above) was caught viewing hardcore pornography after he asked an officer supervising his release from prison to help clear the browsing history on his phone. Above, upon his initial arrest at 15
For the first five days of his freedom, he used the phone to make searches 'deemed appropriate' such as for the contact details for Service NSW, according to documents tendered in court.
From then on, Wilmot began looking for pornography, starting with a simple request for 'porn site'.
Two weeks after Wilmot's release he asked a Department Supervising Officer (DSO) making during a routine visit to his residence to 'have a look at my phone'.
'The accused asked the DSO to delete his browsing history as he thought it would make his phone work better,' a police fact sheet stated.
'Whilst trying to assist the accused, the DSO noticed a number of tabs were open which showed he had visited Pornhub.'
Police reviewed the predator's Google history and found his inquiries had quickly escalated from an initial search for 'porn site', which he made one week after he gained his liberty
Among the early search terms Wilmot entered were 'hardcore porn videos', 'extreme hardcore porn videos' and 'Asian porn'.
Wayne Wilmot was 15 when he and a group of four others aged 14, 15, 16 and 22 travelled to Sutherland train station in Sydney's south and abducted Janine Balding (above) at knifepoint
He followed that with 'very very extreme hard f*** porn videos', 'rough Asian threesome porn videos' and '14 year old Asian teenage very very hard porn'.
By the time he'd finished, Wilmot was looking for '6 naked men to one Asian girl', 'very very very extreme hard Asian threesome porn' and '16 men for one Asian girl'.
Wilmot was arrested and pleaded guilty to searching for and viewing X 18+ pornographic material in breach of his interim supervision order.
On Tuesday, Wilmot appeared via audio-visual link in Waverley Local Court where Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge jailed him for a fixed term of 18 months.
Wilmot's lawyer Dev Bhutani had suggested a sentence in the vicinity of six months, arguing a 'short sharp term of imprisonment' would deter his client from again breaching the order.
'Since the age of 15, he's been in custody almost continuously,' Mr Bhutani said.
Ms Milledge: '[From] what I've read about his history, that's where he belongs.'
Wilmot has since lodged an appeal against the severity of the sentence, which will be heard in the District Court.
There was public outrage when it was revealed Wilmot would receive taxpayer-funded support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) when he got out of jail in June.
Wayne Wilmot, 51, has been charged with breaching his supervision order by viewing pornographic material
That support included a total of 24 hours' assistance each week to improve his 'daily life' as well as 'social, economic and community participation'.
Wilmot was 15 when he and a group of four others aged 14, 15, 16 and 22 travelled to Sutherland train station in Sydney's south and abducted Ms Balding at knifepoint.
The 20-year-old was forced into a car driven by Wilmot and raped in the back seat before being driven to an isolated area of Sydney's west, where she was again sexually assaulted.
Wilmot and the other 15-year-old - an intellectually disabled girl - did not actively participate when Ms Balding was dragged to a dam and drowned.
Justice Peter Newman, who sentenced the group, accepted Wilmot 'knew nothing of their decision to kill her afterwards' and was not involved in the murder.
He determined Wilmot had not raped Ms Balding but was guilty due to his involvement in the joint criminal enterprise.
Wilmot was jailed for nine years and four months over a raft of offences, including sexual intercourse without consent, detain with intent to gain advantage, and robbery in company.
A Florida man convicted of raping a woman and killing her brother in a national forest nearly three decades ago has learned his fate.
Loran Cole, 57, is set to be executed by lethal injection on August 28 at the Florida State Prison after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant on Monday.
He had been sentenced to death in 1995, when he was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and sexual battery for the death of John Edwards and the assault of his sister, Pam.
Cole and his best friend, William Paul, befriended the siblings when they set up their camp at Ocala National Forest on February 18, 1994, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Loran Cole, 57, is set to be executed by lethal injection on August 28 at the Florida State Prison
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Cole's death warrant on Monday
After the friends ate dinner, they met back up with the siblings - and all four decided to walk to a nearby pond at around 10.45pm to take photos of alligators.
Cole then knocked 21-year-old Pam to the ground and handcuffed her.
When John tried to fight back, both Paul and Cole subdued the brother and threw him on the ground next to his sister, court records show.
Meanwhile, Paul brought Pam back up the path, while Cole stayed behind with her 18-year-old brother - who died later that night from a slashed throat and three blows to the head, which caused his skull to fracture.
He later returned to the campsite, where he threatened to kill Pam if she did not have sex with him.
Cole had been sentenced to death in 1995, when he was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and sexual battery for the death of John Edwards and the assault of his sister, Pam
The next day, Cole raped her again and then gagged her and tied her to a tree before Cole and Paul fled in one of their cars.
By Sunday, Pam was able to free herself by chewing through the rope.
She looked for her brother, but was unable to find him, then flagged down a motorist who took her to call 911, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
'The men who committed these crimes are damnable animals,' then-Marion County Sheriff Ken Ergle said after John's body was found.
DeSantis moved forward with the execution on Monday
Paul, now 51, pleaded no contest to murder, kidnapping and robbery charges and was sentenced to life in prison.
Cole, who was also convicted of two counts of rape, however, was sentenced to death.
He has tried for years to get his conviction overturned, but all of his efforts were either denied at the trial court level or at the Florida Supreme Court, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
He even tried to take his case to the US Supreme Court in 2007, but his petition was denied.
The Florida Supreme Court has now 'direct[ed] that all further proceedings in this case be expedited.'
A notice of appeal must be filed by 9am on August 12 to stay the execution.
If the execution moves forward, it would be the first in Florida since Michael Zack was put to death last October for the 1996 murder of Ravonne Smith.
A WA construction company has had its building registration revoked following years of delays and projects left sitting half-completed.
Nicheliving co-founder and managing director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj lost his building licence this week leaving more than 230 homes unfinished.
Affected customers were told they could claim up to $200,000 from insurance following the Building Commissioner's decision but because Nicheliving intends to appeal the ruling, they face an even longer wait to recoup any cash.
Building Commissioner Saj Abdoolakhan said that he took action after information provided to the Building Services Board by Nicheliving left him 'unsatisfied the company could pay its debts'.
One customer said when they tried to claim their insurance payment through the company they hit a brick wall.
'They said they are looking at contacting QBE and telling them not to process any indemnity insurance claims,' the customer told Nine News.
'They're going to be issuing an appeal to the state tribunal and asking for a stay on the decision as well.'
The young father's home in the southern Perth suburb of Orelia has been sitting half-done for two years after work stalled and he added he was unable to even access his own building documents.
Nicheliving co-founder Ronnie Michel-Elhaj has had his building licence revoked
One of the construction sites which the owners said has been left sitting half-done for years
Nicheliving is the fifth WA builder to have its licence revoked in the last 18 months.
WA Premier Roger Cook blamed an 'extreme period of imbalance after Covid' for the chaos in the construction industry.
'We are now getting through that period. This is another chapter as part of that process,' he said.
WA Opposition leader Shane Love said: 'Many people have put their lives on hold, and their letters to the State Government, the State Administrative Tribunal, and the Building Commission have not been met with the urgency or empathy needed.'
'It's clear the writing has been on the wall for Niche Living for many months, yet the state government has sat on their hands.'
WA Opposition leader Shane Love (centre) with some of Mr Michel-Elhaj's affected customers
The deregistration of Niche Living is expected to cost the state government over $40million in payments.
Mr Love said that for some customers the $200,000 they are able to access will be insufficient to allow them to complete their builds and the government should work with them to find a solution.
Nicheliving has been involved in more then $500million worth of property deals in WA.
Mr Michel-Elhaj himself was previously recognised as one of WA's top entrepreneurs at the 40under40 awards.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Nicheliving for comment.
The Pentagon has launched a review that could see 20 Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers in the Wounded Knee Massacre rescinded.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the review into the awards handed to those who participated in the 1890 battle in South Dakota.
Around 250 Native Americans, including women and children, were killed in the fight and at least another 100 were wounded.
Medals of Honor were given to 20 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry regiment for their actions on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek.
Their awards cited a range of actions including bravery, efforts to rescue fellow troops and actions to 'dislodge Sioux Indians' who were concealed in a ravine.
Around 250 Native Americans, including women and children, were killed in the fight and at least another 100 were wounded
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the review into the awards handed to those who participated in the 1890 battle in South Dakota .
Native American groups, advocates, state lawmakers from South Dakota and a number of Congress members have called for officials to revoke the awards.
Congress apologized in 1990 to the descendants of those killed at Wounded Knee but did not revoke the medals despite then deeming it a massacre.
In a memo signed last week, Austin said the panel will review each award 'to ensure no soldier was recognized for conduct that did not merit recognition'.
Those could include rape or murder of a prisoner or attacking a non-combatant or someone who had surrendered.
In a 2024 University of Oklahoma paper by Dwight Mears, an Army veteran and former professor at West Point, Mears said most recipients failed to meet the requirements.
Mears wrote in his findings that two soldiers might have their medals revoked because of their actions.
While another, Private Matthew Hamilton was awarded the medal for 'rounding up and bringing to the skirmish line a stampeded pack mule'.
Austin has directed the panel to present him with recommendations by October 15 on each medal that was awarded, according to USA Today.
American scout and Indian fighter, William Cody (left), with the American General, Nelson A Miles and two other horsemen near Pine Ridge, South Dakota, a few days after the Massacre at Wounded Knee.
Austin said the panel will review each award. A Medal of Honor is seen here being held up during a ceremony at the White house
His order is significant in part due to the Medal of Honor becoming imbued over the years which borders on a sacred reverence.
One official told the outlet: 'The Medal of honor is much more than being in combat and doing well.
'The Medal of Honor goes to those who decide to do much, much, more than fight. They display honor, gallantry - a word we don't use every day.
'There's a case to be made that there was no honor present at Wounded Knee that day. That's why we need this review.'
President Benjamin Harrison had ordered the army to prevent an uprising in South Dakota and sought to disarm the Lakota tribe.
According to the U.S. version of the story, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote resisted attempts to disarm him that morning and in the struggle a shot was fired.
This August, 2001 photo shows a monument at the burial site of Lakota Native Americans killed in the 29 December 1890 massacre
U.S. troops then opened fire in response and a small number of Lakota fighters who still had guns fired back.
The 7th Cavalry overwhelmed the Lakota warriors and began shooting haphazardly killing men, women and children of the Lakota Sioux.
Maj. Gen. Nelson Miles ordered an investigation into the massacre at the time, expressing to his superiors his 'strongest disapproval'.
In a private letter, he wrote: 'I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee.'
The Wounded Knee site has since become a place of remembrance for Native Americans.
According to USA Today, the Medal of Honor was the only award available to soldiers at the time.
A young doctor accused of taking intimate photos of patients at a major regional hospital has been told to prepare himself for jail.
Nicholas Chia Wei Chu, 27, of Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs, is facing two charges of producing child abuse material and 14 counts of intentionally recording intimate images without consent.
Eleven of the charges relate to allegations he took photographs of patients' genitals while working at Orange Health Service, a hospital in central west NSW, between January 2022 and February 2023.
The remaining allegations involve incidents outside of hospital settings in Orange and Randwick, according to court documents.
There are 15 known alleged victims, none of whom can be legally identified.
During a brief mention in Orange Local Court on Thursday afternoon, prosecutor Shaun Towers said the charges against Chu were ready to be resolved.
Defence lawyers have been in negotiations with prosecutors for months.
Nicholas Chia Wei Chu, 27 (pictured) of Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs is facing charges on 14 counts of intentionally recording intimate images of patients without consent
Chu, who has been suspended from practising, has not entered a plea, but is due to be committed for sentence in the NSW District Court on August 15.
Mr Towers indicated there would be an application to revoke Chu's bail on that date.
Magistrate David Day reminded Chu he is on conditional bail and cannot approach international departure points.
The charges are serious enough to warrant extradition proceedings if he left Australia, Mr Day said.
He also flagged the likelihood of Chu's bail being revoked in a fortnight.
'Mr Chu can put his house in order,' the magistrate said.
Chu (pictured) is yet to enter a plea, but is due to be committed for sentence in the NSW District Court on August 15
Chu was ordered to appear in court in person for his next appearance.
'He'll have to be at court, he can't go into custody from a solicitor's office,' Mr Day said.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency records show Chu studied at the University of NSW and graduated in 2021.
He first registered as a medical practitioner in December that year and his principal place of practice was Orange.
Chu remains on bail with strict conditions, including daily reporting to Sydney police.
The teenager accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, used a 'curved kitchen knife' in the attack, a court heard today.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
He is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
The suspect, from Banks in Lancashire, was remanded into youth detention accommodation and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court later today.
The hearing at Liverpool City Magistrates' Court by District Judge James Hatton lasted just five minutes, where prosecutor Deanna Heer said he used a 'kitchen knife with a curved blade' during the rampage.
During that time the defendant, who is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon, wore a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers and pulled his sweatshirt of his face above his nose, keeping his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
The suspect arrived at the court around 9.30am in a white prison van flanked by a large escort of at least eight police vehicles.
The white van carrying the murder suspect accused of killing three young girls arrives as Liverpool Magistrates Court
The suspect was surrounded by a convoy of eight police cars and vans, with officers fearing they could be met with angry protesters following Monday night's riots
Bebe King, aged six, was also killed in the attack. A teenager is set to appear in court charged with three counts of murder
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
The suspect - who cannot be named legally because he is under 18 - seen arriving at court in a police convoy
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
The large police presence comes amid fears angry protesters will turn up outside the courthouse, after a series of riots have swept the country in recent days.
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest in Whitehall, with further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.
On Tuesday night, an angry mob took to the streets of Southport after a vigil to remember victims of the mass stabbing at the workshop attended by 25 children.
The defendant, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is accused of entering a dance studio in Hart Street and attacking children and adults who were inside on Monday afternoon.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds - with five left in a critical condition in hospital - while two adults who tried to save the young ones in the summer holiday club were also seriously wounded.
The adults harmed were dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes who tried to help.
The youth's identity has not been revealed because suspects under the age of 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases.
In a statement Merseyside Police said: 'We can confirm that a 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice; 10 counts of attempted murder; and Possession of a bladed article, following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday, 29 July.
'The 17-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons, as he is under 18.
'He has been remanded in custody to appear tomorrow, Thursday 1 August at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.'
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: 'Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
'I would like to thank all of the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside Police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the North West.'
The boy, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: 'We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Forensic officers on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside, where a horrifying knife rampage took place
Emergency crews swoop on the area after a group of children were attacked at Taylor Swift-themed dance class
False claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat had sparked riots across Southport on Tuesday night, despite pleas from one of the victim's mother's for calm.
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured. Five men have been arrested following that incident.
After rioting broke out, Elsie's mother, Jenni Stancombe, wrote on Facebook: 'This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
'The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had 'hijacked' a vigil for victims and will 'feel the full force of the law', while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as 'violent attacks from thugs on the streets', which she branded 'appalling'.
On Wednesday, a clean up operation took place outside the mosque, with residents coming together to clear roads where fires had been set and rebuild walls which had been knocked down.
Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.
More than 100 people were arrested in London after crowds gathered in Whitehall turned on police, throwing bottles and cans at officers in riot gear.
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack
Some were heard shouting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, while others shouted 'Rule Britannia', 'save our kids' and 'stop the boats' and chanting 'you're not English any more'.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions. Some officers suffered minor injuries.'
Responding to last nights riots, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'The scenes of disorder and violence yesterday evening were completely unacceptable.
'There is no place for criminality on our streets and I fully support the Met Police taking action against those intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city.'
In Hartlepool, County Durham four people were arrested after violent protests broke out, with people detained for various offences after missiles, glass bottles and eggs were thrown at officers.
A police car was also set on fire before protesters posed for selfies with it.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: 'At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
'Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.'
Kyra Worthy, the former San Francisco SAFE executive director, was arrested for suspected fraud over her actions with the nonprofit organization. SF Gov TV
In 2019, five years before Kyra Worthy was charged with what investigators described as flagrant and habitual misspending of her nonprofit San Francisco SAFEs money, an accounting firm hired to audit the groups finances rang the alarm.
The accountants repeatedly wrote to SF SAFEs board president and treasurer in emails that they needed to place controls on Worthys spending, and they needed to review her purchases, San Francisco investigators wrote in court documents released this week.
Audits completed by a different firm in 2021 and 2022 raised similar concerns. In a letter to the board, accountants urged them to set up a system to restrict Worthys ability to spend charity money without oversight, according to court records.
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On Tuesday, investigators from the District Attorneys Office arrested Worthy at her home in Richmond and booked her into San Francisco County Jail. She was charged with 34 felonies related to wage theft, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds. Worthy was released on a $100,000 bond, made her first appearance in court Wednesday, and plans to plead not guilty at her next hearing in September, according to her attorney.
The charges come six months after SF SAFEs board fired Worthy after another intervention by city auditors that scrutinized the nonprofits spending and flagged ineffective oversight by one of its city funders, the San Francisco Police Department. The case offers the clearest accounting yet of the groups missing finances, which investigators said Worthy used on extravagant parties, luxury gift boxes and personal expenses like her parents home nurse.
But court documents also raise fresh questions about how Worthys alleged scheme was allowed to continue, unchecked, for so long.
Founded in the late 1970s, SF SAFE acted as the nonprofit wing of the San Francisco Police Department. It ran a camera program for the city, provided home safety assessments to prevent burglaries, and helped assemble neighborhood watch groups. Worthy led the organization beginning in 2018 and collected a salary of $157,000 as of 2022, according to the most recent available tax filings. During her tenure, she oversaw a major increase in its funding from city agencies as well as an influx of cash from crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, who donated to the nonprofit to help fund its camera program.
Worthys arrest marks the latest in a series of troubling revelations against nonprofits accused of misspending San Francisco tax dollars, including the CEO of homeless service provider United Council of Human Services, who allegedly used nonprofit funds to enrich herself.
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This has been a long time coming, said Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, adding that he asked the controller to examine spending by the nonprofit in 2022 after hearing concerns about it. The real question is how did she get away with this for so long.
In their arrest affidavit, which was released Tuesday, investigators with the District Attorneys Office highlighted what they described as inaction by the board in the face of Worthys allegedly questionable spending. It would be difficult to prove that all of Worthys misspending constituted theft, investigators wrote, because the board was aware of her spending for years and neglected to intervene.
Board President Dan Lawson did not respond to the Chronicles requests for comment, and an attorney representing the current board members did not immediately return calls and emails. Other current and former board members declined to comment.
A nonprofits board of directors is ultimately responsible for the organization, including evaluating the performance of its leadership, said Joan Harrington, a lecturer at Santa Clara University School of Law who specializes in nonprofit policy.
If you get any information that there are financial irregularities, the board needs to act, Harrington said.
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Worthy is the only person accused of a crime in the SF SAFE case, though prosecutors said their investigation is ongoing.
According to court records, SF SAFEs board president told investigators early in the probe that the board had no idea that Worthy had spent a total $250,000 that was in the groups savings CD account.
However, as (I) received records from three different accounting companies that served SF SAFE, his assertions became questionable, investigator Mike Reilly wrote in his affidavit.
Reilly also noted that Worthy kept meticulous records of her spending and stored them at the SF SAFE office in numerous thick binders labeled as expenditures. Reilly said the board had access to these records, which included statements showing more than $130,000 in bounced checks and payments that were declined due to insufficient funds.
While investigators said board members probably knew or should have known about some of Worthys problematic spending, in other instances they said Worthy allegedly created false invoices and made false representations about purchases to hide her personal spending.
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Further, Reilly said, board members attended or were invited to various pricey events thrown by Worthy. A board meeting was held at the private San Francisco club the Battery apparently ran up a tab of $16,000. At a holiday party that was not a fundraiser, investigators found a $50,000 invoice for catering that included a Champagne greeting, open bar and a prime rib carving station.
The accountant reports also werent the first time Worthy came under fire for financial issues at charitable organizations. Seven years ago, the West Contra Costa County Unified School District terminated its contract with a community group run by Worthy called For Richmond after investigators found that the group allegedly submitted false invoices and failed to complete work it was paid for.
The conclusion from that investigation is that For Richmond failed to complete many services and, in some instances, did not perform them at all, despite receiving payment for such services from the District, school officials wrote to Worthy in a September 2017 letter obtained by the Chronicle.
In January, when revelations of Worthys problems in Contra Costa County were first made public, Lawson, the SF SAFE board president, told the Chronicle that SF SAFE was not in possession of the 2017 letter.
If we had that, of course we would not have hired her, he said.
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Iran held funeral processions this morning for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated in a suspected Israeli missile strike on Tehran yesterday just hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new president.
The Islamic Republic's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was seen weeping over the coffin of Haniyeh as he led prayers for the slain Hamas leader, having earlier declared Iran had 'a duty to seek revenge' for his killing.
The typically stony-faced supreme leader bowed his head as he delivered the prayers, flanked by Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and a host of Iranian and Hamas delegates at the ceremony at Tehran University.
Haniyeh's coffin was then loaded onto a truck for a stunning procession which saw tens of thousands of people pour into the capital city's streets bearing banners emblazoned with Haniyeh's likeness, as well as Palestinian and Hamas flags.
The caskets, with a black-and-white pattern resembling a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, were borne on a flower-bedecked truck that trundled through Tehran's leafy streets where cooling water mists sprayed the crowds.
Haniyeh's corpse will later be flown to Doha in Qatar, where he has governed in exile for years, to be laid to rest.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated desperate calls for calm, appealing to 'all parties' in the Middle East to 'stop escalatory actions' amid fears the strike on Tehran could trigger an all-out regional war.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stands over the coffin of Ismail Haniyeh as he leads funeral prayers in Tehran today
The typically stony-faced supreme leader bowed his head as he delivered the prayers, flanked by Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and a host of Iranian and Hamas delegates at the ceremony at Tehran University
A funeral procession for Haniyeh makes its way through the streets of Tehran as tens of thousands of mourners turned out
A truck carrying Haniyeh's coffin was emblazoned with a huge portrait of the slain Hamas chief
His corpse will later be flown to Doha in Qatar , where he has governed in exile for years, to be laid to rest
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrives at the Iranian parliament to attend the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Streets in Tehran were crowded with supporters of Haniyeh today
Haniyeh's death was announced yesterday morning by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who said he and his bodyguard were killed in a strike on their accommodation in the Iranian capital at 2:00am on Wednesday.
The Hamas leader was in Tehran for the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President Pezeshkian on Tuesday and died as he slept in an IRGC residence.
Videos and pictures from the final hours of his life show how Haniyeh and Pezeshkian shared a warm embrace, before the Hamas leader sat alongside leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group and Hezbollah for talks.
The strike came just hours after Israel targeted and killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a retaliatory strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut, sending fears of a wider regional war soaring.
Khamenei, who has the final say in Iran's political affairs, said after Haniyeh's death that it was 'our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran'.
Iran's conservative parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran 'will certainly carry out the supreme leader's order (to avenge Haniyeh.)'
The newly inaugurated Iranian president meanwhile said Wednesday that 'the Zionists (Israel) will soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act'.
During his inauguration ceremony, Pezeshkian spoke in support of Palestinians, saying 'Iran demands a world where no Palestinian child's dreams are buried under the rubble of their home.'
'We are seeking a world where the proud people of Palestine are freed from occupation, oppression and imprisonment and genocide,' Pezeshkian said.
Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk also vowed retaliation, saying: 'The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered.'
The international community, however, called for de-escalation and a focus on securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the strikes in Tehran and Beirut represented a 'dangerous escalation'.
All efforts, he said, should be 'leading to a ceasefire' in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel.
US Secretary of State Blinken also said Wednesday that a ceasefire in Gaza was still the 'imperative', with White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later adding that the twin killings 'don't help' regional tensions.
Thousands of Pakistani supporters of Islamic party Jammat-e-Islami (JI) attend the funeral prayer in absentia for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on July 31, 2024
Thousands of Pakistani supporters of Islamic party Jammat-e-Islami (JI) attend the funeral prayer in absentia for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on July 31, 2024
Iranian protesters wave Iranian, Palestinian and Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group flags in a demonstration to condemn the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a huge portrait of him is seen on a wall at background, at Felestin (Palestine) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 31, 2024
A supporter of the Lebanese Islamic group and the Islamist Hamas movement holds a mock rocket as he attends with other supporters a protest to condemn the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh
Hours from death: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Ismail Haniyeh (L) before Israel's lethal strike on the Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran July 30, 2024
Palestinian group Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh attends Iran's new President, Masoud Pezeshkian's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tehran
Israel's Defence Forces seized the chance to hit Haniyeh and conducted a daring missile strike on his residence in Tehran just hours after the event, killing the Hamas leader and a security guard
From the early hours of Wednesday, crowds took to the streets in cities across Iran and the Middle East to condemn Haniyeh's killing, with hundreds gathering in Tehran's Palestine Square to chant 'Death to Israel, Death to America'.
The Islamic republic has not yet published any information on the exact location of the strike.
While Iran has blamed the attack on its arch-foe, Israel has declined to comment on Haniyeh's death.
It did, however, claim the killing of Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly weekend rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The killings come with regional tensions already inflamed by the war in Gaza, a conflict that has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
One of those groups, Yemen's Houthi rebels, 'declared three days of mourning' for Haniyeh, with political leader Mahdi al-Mashat expressing 'condolences to the Palestinian people and Hamas' over his killing, according to the group's Saba news agency.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, meanwhile, spoke by phone after the attack with his acting Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri to discuss 'the latest developments in the region'.
The UN Security Council also convened an emergency meeting Wednesday at Iran's request to discuss the strike, with Tehran's envoy Amir Saeid Iravani urging members to take 'immediate action to ensure accountability for these violations of international law'.
Hamas has for months been indirectly negotiating a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange deal with Israel, with Egypt, Qatar and the United States facilitating the talks.
Analysts say Haniyeh was a moderating influence within the Islamist group, and that while he would be replaced, the dynamics within Hamas could change.
A procession for Haniyeh is seen in Tehran today
Ali Khamenei prays over the coffin of Ismail Haniyeh alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
Palestinians carry children on their shoulders, one holding a toy gun and the other a Palestinian flag, as they protest the assassination of Hamas top leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 31, 2024
A large banner bearing a picture of slain Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh hangs in a street in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on July 31, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack that ignited war in Gaza.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,445 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The prime minister of key ceasefire broker Qatar said Haniyeh's killing had thrown the whole mediation process into doubt.
'How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?' Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a post on social media site X.
A man who allegedly set off chemical explosives at Westfield has been accused of planning a terrorist attack.
Sebastian Newman, 21, allegedly threw bottles filled with chemicals into the toilets at Westfield Miranda, in Sydney's south, at 2pm last Thursday.
An explosion was heard from within the bathroom before police were called to the scene with officers arresting Newman.
He was charged with leaving a substance to create a false belief of danger, possessing a chemical explosive device, and possessing a knife in a public place.
NSW Police laid additional charges against Newman at Sutherland Local Court on Thursday alleging he collected or made documents connected to terrorism.
Court documents allege Newman prepared the bottles of chlorine and alcohol and wrote a manifesto before posting it online.
A NSW Police spokesman said officers will allege the man had 'mixed and unclear ideological beliefs'.
He remains on remand and is next set to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on September 25.
A man who allegedly set off chemical explosives at Westfield has been accused of planning a terrorist attack
One of the bottles exploded with police immediately called to the scene and arresting Newman
Following the extra charges, police reiterated calls for people with information about 'extremist activity or possible threats to the community' to come forward 'no matter how small or insignificant you think the information may be'.
'The National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400,' they said.
A finance worker who stole 75,000 from his dead bank customers to fund a 'lavish lifestyle' was caught out by his girlfriend's social media posts.
Corey Casagrande, 37, used the stolen money to fund his gambling addiction and expensive holidays which his girlfriend posted all over social media.
The father-of-three worked as a team leader for Target Financial Services which provided a range of services for big names like the BBC, Barclays, and Credit Suisse.
During an internal investigation, the Facebook account of Casagrande's girlfriend Jemma Connor - who also worked for the firm - was checked.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard 'entries that suggested that she had been spending large amounts of money and living a lavish lifestyle' were found.
Corey Casagrande stole 75,000 from his dead bank customers to fund a 'lavish lifestyle' but the social media posts of his girlfriend Jemma Connor exposed his crime
Casagrande used the stolen money to fund his gambling addiction and expensive holidays
Her social media included pictures of holidays and of Christian Louboutin designer shoes
This included pictures of holidays and of Christian Louboutin designer shoes.
The court heard Casagrande had a 'sophisticated' understanding of the internal systems of the company and used fake documents from real solicitors to steal the money from dead customers.
Prosecutor Hashim Salmman said that the firm launched an internal investigation when it became aware of possible irregularities.
It found that 75,000 had been taken from three different accounts belonging to deceased customers of Credit Suisse.
The money had been paid to third parties who had submitted claim forms accompanied by solicitors signed letters.
But the solicitors involved showed they had no knowledge of the documents bearing their names.
After being exposed by the social media posts, Casagrande was then interviewed and dismissed after failing to appear for a disciplinary hearing.
Miss Connor and another female employee were dismissed from the firm after the internal investigation, the court heard.
Casagrande admitted fraud by abuse of position for the crimes which occurred in 2020.
The court heard Casagrande had a 'sophisticated' understanding of the internal systems of the company and used fake documents from real solicitors to steal the money
Casagrande of Duffryn, Newport, was handed a 20 month suspended sentence
Amelia Pike, defending, said Casagrande committed the fraud 'at the peak of addiction' to gambling while he was 'living the lifestyle that accompanies it.'
Ms Pike said that he was deeply ashamed of his actions and his partner was in the early stages of a pregnancy.
Casagrande was previously jailed for working as a cocaine courier when he and Connor were caught smuggling cocaine from Liverpool to South Wales but the court heard he had 'turned his life around' since being released from prison.
She added that he has tried to 'started afresh' and started his own construction business - which has three employees.
Recorder Carl Harrison told Casagrande it was clear he was motivated by a financial desire to pay off debts and also fund a 'lavish lifestyle'.
Casagrande of Duffryn, Newport, was handed a 20 month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.
Police were advised not to go there alone
There was no police radio signal in the area
Large bushland blocks similar to where six people were violently killed in Queensland were known for having 'mantraps' and signs threatening to shoot upon entry, a coroner has heard.
Two police officers were killed at a remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, on the afternoon of December 12, 2022 when an arrest warrant turned into an ambush by shooters with high-powered rifles.
Constable Craig Loveland testified on Thursday at the inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court.
He told State Coroner Terry Ryan he was at Tara Police Station about 30km south of Wieambilla when he got the call to assist a 'shots fired' incident.
Const Loveland said the incident was in an area known as 'the blocks' and he had been advised by more experienced officers not to attend that area by himself.
'I was told to get a second officer for certain areas and certain addresses ... there were signs saying 'do not enter or you will be shot',' he said.
Const Loveland said he had seen the signs himself and had probably entered properties with them.
'Certain addresses had mantraps, pits with spikes and other things around the block in certain properties ... to injure people when they entered,' he said.
Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train had lain mantraps to ambush the cops at their compound
Two police officers were killed at a remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, when an arrest warrant turned into an ambush on December 12, 2022
Constable Craig Loveland testified that the incident was in an area known as 'the blocks' and he had been advised by more experienced officers not to attend that area by himself
Constable Christopher Sharman, who responded from Dalby about one hour's drive away, testified he could not get a police radio signal when he arrived.
'We had no communications by radio ... the QLITE (police tablet computer) dropped out. Our map was not working very well,' he said.
Mr Ryan heard the officers who responded to help were not allowed to approach the shooting scene as they were armed with Glock pistols with a 15-metre accuracy range.
The suspects were armed with high-powered rifles and had fired at officers while at long range and hidden.
Const Loveland said one of the few officers trained to use the rifles kept at police stations was Constable Matthew Arnold, who had been killed during the initial shooting.
Mr Ryan released multiple videos ahead of Thursday's inquest hearing.
They were mainly captured after sunset that day via infrared cameras on two police helicopters as they circled a house surrounded by bushland about three hours after two officers had been killed.
Gareth Train and his wife Stacey, and Nathaniel Train, set a perimeter of small fires around the property before police arrived, then Gareth shot at a helicopter and filmed a YouTube video
A burning police vehicle and a perimeter of small fires set by Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train around their property can be seen in the footage.
Gareth Train is seen firing a rifle at one of the helicopters before sitting down at an outside table with his wife Stacey and recording a YouTube video with her.
'They came to kill us and we killed them ... If you don't defend yourself against these devils and demons, you're a coward,' Gareth Train said in the video.
Nathaniel Train can later be seen lying prone behind a log and firing at an armoured BearCat police vehicle using a rifle with a scope.
Soon after the video ends, all three Trains were fatally shot by police within minutes of each other.
Constables Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead at 4.37pm as they walked with another two officers up a driveway leading to the property intending to locate Nathaniel Train.
Constables Arnold and McCrow were shot dead at 4.37pm while attempting to locate Nathaniel Train
Mr Ryan previously heard that then-Inspector Wayne Rasmussen was assigned the role of forward commander at 4.47pm after reports of two officers being shot.
Mr Rasmussen was due to give evidence on Thursday at the five-week inquest.
Mr Rasmussen approved a rescue mission for Constable Keely Brough as she was in danger of being shot or burned to death by a fire lit by the Trains to flush her out.
During Mr Rasmussen's command, Wieambilla resident Alan Dare was shot dead by the Trains after he went to investigate the fire.
Mr Rasmussen handed over command of the scene to the Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) at 9.05pm.
By 10.41pm, all three Trains had been fatally shot by SERT officers after they refused to negotiate and fired on police.
The victims of a freak accident that saw a fall on their moving vehicle have been identified as a much loved couple who were well-known for their charity work.
Brian and Lynne Warren were driving along Graphite Road near Burnside Road in Deanmill near Manjimup in Western Australia's south on Wednesday when tragedy struck.
Mrs Warren, 78, was driving their grey Isuzu ute at the time while her husband, 75, was in the front passenger seat. Both died at the scene.
Locals claim that roadside trees weren't being kept in check and had become a hazard in wild weather.
The couple were keen Rotarians and well known in the Margaret River community.
'Some sad news of a wonderful couple,' Rotary Club Mandurah Districts post on Facebook.
'Volunteer Rotarians. Rest in peace.'
The tragedy sparked an outpouring of tributes for the Warrens.
WA couple Brian and Lynne Warren died when a when a large tree fell and struck their grey Isuzu ute
'Oh my God Im gutted. I served them for years in Urban Bean and continued to see them around town and they were so lovely,' one person wrote.
Another wrote: 'That's is devastating they were such beautiful people. So sad to hear.'
Mrs Warren enjoyed a decorated career in nursing, which saw her awarded for excellence in the State Residential Aged Care awards while working in Carnarvon.
'I had the pleasure of working with Lynne years ago and she was a brilliant nurse,' a former nursing colleague wrote.
'Very sad, may they both RIP.'
Mr Warren was involved in a number of programs in the Margaret River community, including volunteering for Rotarys Alternative Leavers program.
This project took high school graduates to Timor Leste to help with community-building projects.
Brian and Lynne Warren were remembered as a 'lovely couple' who did a lot of charity work through Rotary
Police are investigating the scene of the accident on Graphite Road with one local saying trees have not been kept in check and have become a hazard in wild weather
Mr Warren told Augusta-Margaret River Times in 2019 that generous support from the community allowed young people to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate communities overseas.
The couple had also raised money to provide Timorese firefighters with protective gear.
Major crash detectives will examine the scene of the accident.
Police are appealing for anyone who has any information or dashcam footage.
The first Western fighter jets have reportedly taken flight over the skies of Ukraine after months of delays that have hamstrung Kyiv's war effort and left its cities susceptible to constant aerial barrages from Russian attackers.
Half a dozen US-made F-16 jets supplied by the Netherlands are believed to have arrived in the country earlier this week, with grainy images supplied by Ukrainian outlet Dumskaya claiming to show one jet soaring through the sky on its first sortie.
Ukraine will soon take delivery of additional F-16s from Denmark, Belgium and Norway in the hopes that the fourth-generation jets - long coveted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - will bolster Kyiv's depleted air defences and reduce Russia's aerial superiority.
The Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small fleet of Soviet-era jets as it has fought to hold back Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion.
The West has hesitantly moved toward providing the jets, after previous concerns that arming Ukraine with advanced weaponry would further escalate the war with Russia.
Ukrainian officials say the addition of the F-16 represents a vital upgrade for its Air Force, but analysts say the deployment of the jets is unlikely to prove a turning point in the war, particularly given their delayed delivery date.
Half a dozen US-made F-16 jets supplied by the Netherlands are believed to have arrived in the country earlier this week, with grainy images supplied by Ukrainian outlet Dumska claiming to show one jet soaring through the sky over Odesa
Ukraine has received the first tranche of western F-16 fighter jets that it has sought for months to be able to fight back against an onslaught of Russian missile strikes
A Royal Danish Air Force F-16 aircraft performs a demonstration flight during the fifth day of Farnborough International Airshow at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Farnborough, United Kingdom on July 26, 2024
F-16s, built by US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, have been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability.
The fighter jet is equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles specialised in suppressing enemy air defences.
The F-16s could also United Kingdom-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia.
They might also get long-range air-to-air missiles that would threaten Russian bombers and fighter jets, and the plane's advanced radars will allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their Soviet-era MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.
But the initial use of the F-16s is expected to be defensive and their pilots will likely have three core missions, said Federico Borsari of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine, suppress enemy air defence systems, and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles.
'They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war),' Borsari says.
Confirming the arrival of the aircraft, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said: 'F-16s in Ukraine.
'Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible.'
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the delivery had been complete, although Ukraine has not formally commented.
'Western partners delivered the planes, as agreed, at the end of July,' said Oleksiy Sukhoi, a military columnist for Ukrainian outlet Dumska.
'This is undoubtedly a big step forward.'
Russia meanwhile is said to be offering a 135,000 reward for the downing or destruction of each F-16.
Vladimir Putin has stated that the warplanes would not change the situation on the battlefield, but lead to a prolongation of the war.
He claimed that they would burn like other much-touted Western military equipment, and has openly said he will authorise Russian forces to strike Ukrainian airbases hosting the NATO jets.
It is unclear whether the F-16s can be immediately deployed on combat missions or whether further training is required inside Ukraine, though the pilots and ground staff have received extensive training from NATO air forces for months.
F-16s, built by US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin, have been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sit in a F-16 fighter jet at Skrydstrup Airbase, in Vojens, Denmark, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023
Denmark has committed to donate 19 F-16 jets in total, while the Netherlands has promised to deliver 24 aircraft.
Both countries have been driving forces behind an international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s.
Norway has also said that it would donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
The first delivery of the jets comes almost a year after US President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for used F-16s to be deployed to Ukraine, though the US won't be providing any of its own planes.
But there are still a long list of challenges that Ukraine must negotiate to effective deploy the jets, said Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at King's College London.
The roughly nine-month training in the US and Europe for Ukrainian pilots amounted to a crash course compared with the usual three-year course for Western pilots in what Miron calls 'a very complex piece of machinery.'
The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews.
Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems. Quality airfields are also a must as the F-16 air intake is close to the tarmac and runs the danger of sucking debris and dirt into the engine.
'So many associated issues need to be sorted out,' Miron says.
A couple have appeared in court charged with manslaughter after their three-year-old son was mauled to death by a dog.
Toddler Daniel Twigg died from his injuries after being attacked by a dangerous dog on Carr Farm in Milnrow, Rochdale on May 15, 2022.
His mother and father Mark Twigg, 42, and Joanne Bedford, 36, appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with gross negligence manslaughter.
Twigg was dressed in a grey jumper and dark trousers, whilst Bedford wore a white blouse and black pants.
The pair only spoke to confirm their names, date of birth and address.
Parents Mark Twigg, 42, (left) and Joanne Bedford, 36, (right) appeared at court charged with manslaughter and gross negligence after their son was mauled to death by a dog
Daniel Twigg died from his injuries after being attacked by a dangerous dog on Carr Farm in Milnrow, Rochdale on May 15, 2022
No pleas were entered and the couple, of Radcliffe, Bury, were given unconditional bail to appear at Manchester Crown Court for a plea hearing on September 4.
Officers were called to the farm at 3.22pm after receiving reports that the child was 'unconscious and not breathing'.
Following the incident, Daniel was rushed to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Authorities destroyed a Cane Corso breed and seized another ten dogs after launching a 'significant' investigation into the little boy's death.
Pictures of the property in Carr Lane, Milnrow, Rochdale, showed 'beware of the dog' warning signs plastered on the gates outside.
Following the incident, a Cane Corso dog was destroyed and ten others were seized (pictured: beware of the dog' signs on the farm gates in Milnrow, Rochdale)
The parents , of Radcliffe, Bury, were given unconditional bail to appear at Manchester Crown Court for a plea hearing on September (pictured: the farm where the three-year-old had died following a dog attack)
A statement from the family previously shared by Greater Manchester Police described Daniel as a 'happy, kind and caring little boy who was loved by all who knew him'.
It read: 'He loved Paw Patrol and playing with his brother and sister, he also loved being around animals - especially his pony, Splash.
'He brought us many laughs and was a comical character. He was brave, intelligent and full of many characteristics.
'Daniel loved being with his whole family and will be missed by all. On behalf of our family, we ask people to respect our privacy.'
Huw Edwards appeared 'confident' and showed 'bravado' as he walked out of court yesterday after pleading guilty to a string of child porn offences, a body language expert has claimed.
The fallen BBC star, 62, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday wearing dark sunglasses and a navy suit - seemingly unbothered by the dozens of cameras surrounding him.
The veteran news reader kept seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by another paedophile. He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14.
Body expert Judi James said that Edwards kept 'his chin raised' as he left the court 'in a gesture of what looks like enduring star status and resilience or defiance following his appearance in court'.
She said: 'This is not a man who looks keen to act out any non-verbal signals of humility or shame in these clips.
Huw Edwards appeared 'confident' and showed 'bravado' as he walked out of court yesterday after pleading guilty to a string of child porn offences, according to a body language expert
Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London yesterday surrounded by a police escort
Body expert Judi James said that Edwards kept 'his chin raised' as he left the court 'in a gesture of what looks like enduring star status'
'There is no head-bowing or head-covering here or any cut-off or barrier rituals, like holding a hand to the head to hide the face. In fact, the opposite.
'He looks determined to take on the cameras, turning from one side to the other as he walks slowly past them and even raising his head to show his face to the cameras being held high by the photographers at the back of the pack.'
At another moment outside the court, Edwards used a 'hand gesture normally associated with status,' Ms James said, placing his hands in a flattened clasp across hi waist.
His stride out of court appeared 'confident' with his 'head held high', the body language expert explained, before he was slowed by the press around him.
As he chose to wear sunglasses, his eye expression was concealed meaning that a 'more complex and authentic emotional display' is not available as 'Edwards [was] keeping his inner emotions guarded'.
She added: 'His upright posture suggests levels of confidence or bravado and there is no raising or hunching of the shoulders to suggest any inner desire to hide. His chest looks relatively splayed or puffed which also projects confidence.
'He performs a mouth shrug at one point, pulling the corners of his clamped lips down in a wry smile.
'His 'thank you' and nod to a policewoman sounds authoritative and firm, as though there is no erosion of his star status in his mind and a following 'thank you very much' gives the same impression of firm, polite authority.'
Edwards remained silent as he left the court building surrounded by the press today
A court sketch showed Edwards standing in the dock after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
Last night, in a shocking revelation, the BBC admitted they knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail today.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind.
It comes amid questions over why the CPS waited weeks to confirm charges against the presenter.
The ex-News at Ten presenter was charged in June, but the details were only revealed on Monday, after the date of his first court appearance was released by Westminster Magistrates' Court.
A former attorney general said last night it was 'very puzzling' that the CPS did not publish details of the charges brought against Edwards around the time he was charged.
He added that the CPS's actions did not seem 'in accordance with' the principles of open justice, The Telegraph first reported.
Friends of the ex-BBC News host said he kept his arrest 'a secret' and that they were stunned when news he had been charged was revealed this week
Edwards has since left the family home and has reportedly split with his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind (the pair are pictured together in 2018 in London)
The CPS denied it had purposely suppressed details about the presenter being charged or given him preferential treatment.
A CPS spokesperson said: 'Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.
So what is 'making an image'? The court's interpretation of 'making' indecent images is broad and can confuse those outside the legal profession. Simply opening an email attachment, downloading an indecent image or storing it on a device can constitute an offence. Zita Spencer, partner at Olliers Solicitors, said: 'Making means creating it on your device. People can get it confused with 'production', which is actually taking the photo itself.' It is not necessary to have intentionally saved an indecent image to a device to be found guilty. Ms Spencer said Edwards would have had a defence had he been sent the images unsolicited and immediately deleted them. Advertisement
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.'
The paedophile was only uncovered after Welsh detectives investigating another sex offender uncovered the BBC's stars number in a depraved WhatsApp chat.
Detectives stumbled onto the household-named star while investigating another paedophile, 25-year-old Alex Williams from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
When officers from South Wales Police seized Williams' phone, they uncovered a vile WhatsApp chat full of child pornography - which Edwards was involved in.
A Met spokesman said: 'The investigation into Huw Edwards began in November 2023 after information was received from South Wales Police.
'An examination of a phone seized by South Wales officers as part of an entirely unrelated investigation had revealed Edwards participation in a WhatsApp conversation.
'There was no connection between this investigation and the matters reviewed in July 2023.
'One other person was charged in relation to the messages shared via WhatsApp.
'He is Alex Williams, 25, of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Williams pleaded guilty to seven offences following an investigation by South Wales Police.'
Edwards was arrested on November 8, 2023 before being charged on June 26 with three counts of making indecent images.
Seven of the pictures were category 'A' images of the very worst kind. This included two moving images of a young boy, possibly aged between seven and nine years old.
He also had photos of other children aged between 13 and 15 stored on his phone that were classed as Category A.
Edwards, whose marriage and journalistic career have now been destroyed, will find out his fate during a sentencing hearing in September. He could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
Four houses worth 215,000 in total have been stolen by crooks in Sweden, leaving cops baffled at how the burglary occurred.
On Saturday morning, the four mobile homes on wheels vanished from a fenced area within the University of Stockholm where they were being displayed.
The houses weigh around three tonnes each, according to the mobile homes founder Manuel Kohout, who told local media that they only way they can be moved is by being pulled with strong cars.
After waking up on the weekend to the empty spot of where his houses once were, Manuel immediately reported the incident to the police and his company, Vagabond Haven, released a wanted list on Facebook.
Two of the houses were discovered on the day of the theft in Skogas, located around two km south of the university campus.
Four mobile homes were stolen from the University of Stockholm on the weekend. Pictured: One of the homes that was stolen
The homes weigh around three tonnes each and all four are worth a total of 215,000. Pictured: The second home stolen
Two homes were found on Saturday, and the following two were located on Sunday. Pictured: One of the homes that was stolen on the weekend
Police in Stockholm are still on the hunt for a man who was spotted with two of the homes in a parking lot on Sunday. Pictured: The fourth home that was stolen from the university campus
On Sunday, the final two were found in Tungelsta, Haninge, after locals spotted the homes with a man and a broken-down car in a parking lot.
They alerted Manuel, who visited the site with police and retrieved the final two stolen houses.
'It is absolutely fantastic that the neighborhood was so vigilant,' a relieved Manuel told Enkoping-Balsta.
All four houses are now back on Manuel's farm in Orsundsbro and cops have received a description of the man in the parking lot but are yet to make an arrest.
Speaking to local media on the incident, Stockholm police spokesperson Ola Osterling said: 'I have never heard of this before. Caravans are stolen, but not such large houses on wheels'.
Preliminary investigation leader Jonas Martensson echoed Osterling's statement, saying: 'It is common for trailers to be stolen, but not for houses to be stolen.
'It's a bit strange. It's planned, but we don't really know how it went.
'The crime classification is aggravated theft and we still have some investigation measures to carry out, such as searching with cameras'.
Following the retrieval of all four homes, Manuel took to Vagabond Haven's Facebook to thank police and locals for their help
He wrote: 'Our last two houses were found in Haninge tonight !! They are secured by police and we will soon get them home. We are so excited! Many thanks for all the help we received from all possible places and corners. Eternally grateful'.
Vagabond Haven founder Manuel Kohout thanked the local neighbourhood for being so vigilant after the homes had been retrieved
It comes after a spate of luxury caravan thefts across Scotland in June.
Brazen thieves targeted and stole the vehicles and organised crime gangs broke into secure sites before towing them away.
Some vehicles vanished in just a matter of minutes, with the crooks snatching caravans worth tens of thousands of pounds, sometimes in broad daylight.
In March, Police Scotland warned that owners should take extra security measures as criminals look to cash in on the boom in staycations.
The force said: With more people staying at home this summer, demand for caravans and mobile homes has increased and is likely to lead to a rise in thefts, often by organised gangs.
In the same month that Police Scotland issued their warning, thieves grabbed a white Swift Sprite Quattro from a yard in Kelso, Roxburghshire, in an early morning raid.
The caravan, which can cost upwards of 20,000, was snatched by two men who attached it to their BMW and towed it away.
Meanwhile, husband and wife Mark and Kaylie Corrieri from Stirling lost their beloved 9,000 Swift Sterling Europa 600 on April 5.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Patrick, acquisitive crime lead for Police Scotland, said at the time: In recent months, we have seen a number of caravan thefts across the country.
Officers have been carrying out inquiries to return the caravans to their owners and bring those responsible to justice.
We know that vehicle thefts can have a significant impact on victims, whether its through the invasive nature of the offence, or the financial impact it causes.
This type of behaviour has no place in our communities and we are committed to disrupting and reducing this criminality.
Amanda Abbington hugged fans and posed for selfies following a triumphant return to the stage putting her Strictly woes behind her.
Abbington received a rousing ovation after performing at the intimate Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, north London, in front of a near sell-out 209-strong crowd.
She appeared in the lead role in When It Happens To You by American playwright Tawni O'Dell her first public appearance since the Strictly furore.
The former Sherlock actress, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'Quiet no more', later told MailOnline of her pride after receiving a rapturous reception.
Speaking outside the Park Theatre, she said: 'It is a wonderful play and an important story to be told.
'I was chomping at the bit to perform it in front of an audience.'
Referring to her slogan t-shirt, she said: 'It's an important message. It's all about protecting sections of society, it's not rocket science.
'It's about trying to be nice and expecting others to be nice in return, but it's not always the case.'
Actress Amanda Abbington (pictured) hugged fans and posed for selfies following a triumphant return to the stage last night
Amanda took on the role of Tara in the true story about a mother trying to hold her family together after a devastating event changes the course of their lives
After her performance, Amanda posed for photos with the play's director Jez Bond
The former Sherlock actress, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'Quiet no more', later told MailOnline of her pride after receiving a rapturous reception
Play director Jez Bond said he had wanted to work with Abbington for a number of years and first sent her the script 18 months ago.
Speaking after the play's first public performance in Britain, he said: 'After I sent her the script, she got back to me immediately and said she wanted to do it, because it was an important story to tell.
'When the Strictly situation blew up the misogynistic narrative was deeply frustrating.
'Amanda's hands are tied at the moment because she can't talk about it publically while the investigation is ongoing.
Amanda Abbington commanded the stage as she made her debut performance in her new play When It Happens To You at the Park Theatre in London on Wednesday
For her performance, she wore a white blouse along with a pair of mauve trousers while her brunette locks were slicked back
'Do I have faith in the investigation? Not at all. But the truth will out as it always does.'
The Sherlock actress has made allegations about dance partner Giovanni Pernice's tough training techniques last year.
In January, it was reported the 51-year-old requested footage of the duo's 'tense' training sessions, leading to a misconduct probe.
The results of the investigation are expected to be revealed this week with Pernice's camp confident he will be cleared.
Giovanni Penrice has always denied all of the allegations, claiming to have provided a dossier of evidence to Beeb investigators.
Giovanni is convinced he has presented evidence that proves he is far from the 'cruel, abusive and mean' man the Sherlock star Amanda claims he is.
Abbington put the Strictly controversy behind her with a confident performance.
With her dark hair slicked back and wearing a cream blouse, pleated baggy brown trousers and brown Doc Marten-style boots, she remained on stage throughout the intense four-person 90 minute performance.
She played Tara, an American writer, whose chef daughter Esme calls her to say she has been raped in New York.
Her performance comes after the actress is said to be considering fresh legal action against Giovanni Pernice , 33, after he reportedly refused to release their Strictly rehearsal videos
The latest legal development comes after it was revealed the accusations have now widened after more complaints surrounding the hit show
Giovanni faces an even longer wait for an outcome after Amanda, Laura Whitmore (pictured) and Ranvir Singh all came forward to complain about their dance partner
The intense play deals with the traumatic after effects on the whole family.
Abbington smiled broadly as the cast received rapturous applause from the audience at the conclusion,
Her delighted fans praised her performance.
Bronte Henwood, 26, a writer from London, had attended to support Abbington.
Ms Henwood said: 'The show is an important story to tell. It has been a difficult period for Amanda.
'I don't want to speak for her, but in the situation she has found herself in nobody wins.'
Theatre lover Sarah Bezem, 58, also praised Abbington.
She said: It was an excellent performance: very powerful.
'The play was very intense. I really enjoyed it.'
An order of matzo ball soup and half of a pastrami sandwich at Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco. The Bay Area deli closed its Oakland location. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle Prep cook Gabriel Velasquez prepares orders in the kitchen at Little Star Pizza on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. The restaurant closed that location in July. Juliana Yamada/Special to The Chronicle
The following is a list of notable Bay Area restaurants that closed in July. Click here for a list of June closings.
The Wise Sons Jewish Deli near Lake Merritt in Oakland is now closed. The company confirmed the details to the Chronicle, citing nearly a dozen break-ins at the restaurant on 1700 Franklin St. over the past two years. Its San Francisco delis in the Mission, Hayes Valley and the Fillmore remain open.
Newark teppanyaki and sushi destination Nijo Castle closed on July 31, SFGATE reported. (SFGATE and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate separate newsrooms.) For nearly 40 years, East Bay residents flocked to the restaurant to celebrate special occasions or to simply watch the flashy dinner shows around a cooking flattop. The owners did not disclose any specific reasons behind the closing, but the Newark Planning Commission approved the construction of a five-story hotel at the property in 2022.
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Fried kitchen with cornbread and sides served at Minne Bells Soul Movement at Emeryvilles Public Market food hall, photographed in 2018. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
After a six-year run serving some of the best fried chicken in the Bay Area out of a kiosk, Minnie Bells Soul Movement will end its presence at Emeryvilles Public Market food hall. Chef-owner Fernay McPherson said she is focusing all her efforts on her new Fillmore district restaurant. Emeryville will always be a special place to me but the Fillmore is where I was born and raised and still live today so I want to give it my all, she wrote on Instagram. The kiosks last day in business was July 28.
Old Oaklands Souvenir Coffee location at Swans Market closed on July 31, East Bay Nosh wrote. The local company will continue to operate its Albany, Berkeley and San Francisco locations and will soon launch a nearby shop on Broadway in Oakland at the former site of Rawr Coffee Bar, a company director told the Chronicle.
The selection of A5 snow beef kushiyaki served at Gozu restaurant in San Francisco. The now-closed restaurant specialized in Wagyu beef. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle
Gozu, a Michelin-rated restaurant celebrating Wagyu beef, closed to make way for a new restaurant from chef and co-owner Marc Zimmerman, formerly of Alexanders Steakhouse. The new project, dubbed the Wild, opens Friday, Aug. 2, and will focus on California ingredients cooked in a live-fire hearth, per a press release.
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Belly Burger, an old-school burger shop on Geary Boulevard, has closed, Reddit users report. The menu wasnt limited to hamburgers, and also offered grilled chicken sandwiches, salads and seafood plates like fish and chips.
The Meateor pizza at Little Star Pizza on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. The original location of the longstanding pizzeria is now closed. Juliana Yamada/Special to The Chronicle
Beloved deep dish pizza spot Little Star closed its original San Francisco location on Divisadero Street. The restaurant announced on Instagram that its final day of service was July 7. The popular pizza shop originally announced it would close in November 2023, but continued serving diners. Little Stars other San Francisco location on Valencia Street will remain open, as will the Albany location.
The downtown Hayward location of Caspers Hot Dogs, at 951 C St., served its last-ever hot dog. The company did not specify a reason for the closing in a press release, but stated the move will strengthen the companys future a similar story as when Caspers shut down its Walnut Creek location in 2023. A real estate listing shows the property for sale for $825,000. Another Caspers location in Hayward will still offer old-fashioned, snappy hot dogs with toppings like sauerkraut and chili with cheese.
Barrel Head Brewhouse in Western Addition closed in early July. The brewery and taproom offered a variety of house beers and a food menu with burgers, pretzels and chili. Co-owner Ivan Hopkinson told the Chronicle that orders never rebounded after the pandemic, and rising operating costs made the business less and less viable.
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Duende chef-owner Paul Canales poses inside his now-shuttered Oakland restaurant in 2013. John Storey/Special to the Chronicle
Famed Bay Area chef Paul Canales closed his downtown Oakland restaurant Duende in July. Canales said post-pandemic dining habits and a challenging business environment in downtown Oakland led him to close.
The Chronicle confirmed Silver Crest Donut Shop in the Bayshore area has closed. A nearby business owner said the diner and doughnut shops windows were blocked off with plywood on Monday. Owners George and Nina Giavris purchased the restaurant in 1970 and famously kept it open 24 hours a day ever since. The Los Angeles Times reported George Giavris suffered an injury which has kept him from cooking dinner and making doughnuts.
Hordes of tourists have been seen streaming off a ferry onto the tiny Greek holiday destination of Santorini as fears mount the relentless torrent of arriving holidaymakers is making the island unlivable.
Inflammatory footage showed long lines of people disembarking from a ferry as those waiting to board were left queuing up in the heat in their droves.
Locals have increasingly shared outrage at the perceived over-saturation of the picturesque isle in the Aegean, with 17,000 tourists expected to arrive each day in the peak holiday season, according to councillor Panos Kavallaris.
'I work seasonally here in Santorini,' one commented under the clip on TikTok. 'There is no respect for the island or for us, from garbage, to times when the buses don't take us.'
'Santorini was a stop on our cruise last year,' one aggrieved tourist added, seeing the queues. 'Should never have got off (and wont next time). One Instagram spot, litter everywhere and absolutely rammed streets.'
The volcanic island, with a population of around 15,500, saw around 3.5million arrivals last year, with more expected to come through 2024.
DREAM: The picturesque volcanic island of Santorini, home to a tiny population of 15,500
REALITY: Huge crowds are drawn to the island each year, straining life for Santorini's locals
Santorini has a population of just 15,500 - but welcomed some 3.5million tourists last year
Shocking video shows the crowded streets in Santorini with hordes of tourists packed onto the tiny island
Victor Karayannis, a local tour guide on the island, shared the footage of tourists arriving in Santorini with the caption: 'I heard on the news that Santorini does not have so many tourists nowadays... cap [false]'.
The video was met with mixed responses, some saying they had visited quiet parts of the island or seen less foot traffic when travelling outside of the peak months.
One said: 'The port yes is always a bit chaotic but Santorinis is getting an unfair bad rep. Its stunning and there are quieter areas eg Perissa. Just had a 10/10 holiday here.'
'I'm so glad I went in 2007 before Instagram influencers were even a thing!' another added.
'Honestly, what did you expect in the middle of July?' a third said.
But for many on the island, the arrival of tourists en masse presents a potentially existential threat.
Santorini has relied on tourism since the 1960s, before which it largely depended on agriculture to support its economy.
'They need to find the right balance' hotel worker Onur Kilic, 28, told the i. 'They could limit the amount of cruise ships, but the government is not doing enough if this continues I will leave the island.'
Days prior, Mr Kavallaris urged residents in a since-deleted Facebook post to stay at home and avoid the 17,000 tourists he said authorities expect to arrive on the island per day.
'Another difficult day for our city and island is ahead with the arrival of 17,000 visitors from cruise ships. We ask for your attention: limit your movements as much as possible,' the councillor said, but the post quickly caused outrage among locals.
Residents criticised the councillor's request, with one commenting on social media: '[He] officially asks locals to lock themselves at home, so that tourists can wander around free. Marvelous.'
Shocking images from the picturesque island this week show masses of tourists queuing on narrow walkways along white buildings with the famous sea-blue domes for the best holiday shots.
The queue to reach the viewing spot in the clifftop village of Oia can now take more than 20 minutes.
Santorini is a key stopover of the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
'We need to set limits if we don't want to sink under overtourism,' Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos said.
'There must not be a single extra bed... whether in the large hotels or Airbnb rentals.'
Hundreds of tourists perch on the steep hills in Santorini that watch and photograph the famed sunset on July 25, 2024
Shocking images from the picturesque island show masses of tourists queuing on narrow walkways along white buildings with the famous sea-blue domes for the best holiday shots
Furious locals have threatened to leave the Santorini after officials told them to keep out of the way of the thousands of tourists (some pictured above this month) who descend on the small island every day
Hundreds of tourists gather at the village of Oia, Santorini, to watch the sunset, on July 20
Tourists leave after viewing Santorini's sunset from the Castle of Oia, on Santorini, Greece
Concerns about overtourism and its impact on locals have seen mass protests take place across Europe this year, with residents calling for restrictions on short-term lets to manage spiralling house prices, and greater diversification of economies.
Earlier this month, hundreds of residents in Alicante massed for the first time to demonstrate through areas of the Spanish city popular with tourists to 'demand that limits be placed on the tourism industry'.
Salva, a spokesperson for the organising 'Alicante donde vas?' group, told MailOnline: 'It is the administrations (city council, autonomous community, central government) that must take measures to put the needs of the people who live in the city at the forefront, compared to the wishes of those who visit the city.
'We hope that the demonstration is the first step so that more people feel that it is legitimate to claim the right to live with dignity in our city, and to be able to join together to build a neighbourhood movement that says that Alicante is not for sale.'
At the start of July, tourists in Barcelona were sprayed with water guns as residents made their feelings known following perceived inaction by the local authorities.
Under the banner 'Enough! Let's put limits on tourism', some 2,800 people - according to police - marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.
Protesters carried signs reading 'Barcelona is not for sale,' and, 'Tourists go home,' before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots.
Chants of 'Tourists out of our neighbourhood' rang out as some stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.
Barcelona's rising cost of housing, up 68 percent in the past decade, is one of the main issues for the movement, along with the effects of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million inhabitants.
Rents rose by 18% in June from a year earlier in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista.
For years, the city has worn anti-tourist graffiti with messages such as 'tourists go home' aimed at visitors some blame for the rising prices and shaping of the economy around tourists.
An England supporter stands among the crowd near the tourism office as protestors look on
A banner is held up during a march against overtourism in Alicante earlier this month
Another said 'F*** AirBnB', expressing locals' frustration with the holiday home rental company
Violent clashes broke out in Venice in April over a contentious new 'tourist tax' aimed at reducing numbers to the historical Italian city.
Demonstrators armed with signs and banners lined the historic canals and narrow alleyways of the Italian city to show their contempt for the unique new policy aimed at clamping down on overtourism in busy periods.
Critics have claimed that the 5 (4.30) fee, to be implemented in the busy summer months, is unlikely to put a significant dent in the circa 30 million trips made to Venice each year - and could backfire by tarnishing the city's public image.
Under the new rules, a fee will be charged to tourists passing through the city without staying overnight.
Authorities hope this might help manage the flow of some 30 million tourists drawn in by the city's history and romantic canals each year.
Venice has had a long wait to see the plan come to fruition, with initial proposals brought in 2019 set back by the pandemic.
The city also dropped plans to charge day-trippers 10 a day last year, citing 'resistance'.
Canadian cops raided a hotel room this week to arrest a father and son who were in just hours away from carrying out a mass casualty event.
The duo had gone so far as to record a video showing them brandishing their weapons in front of an ISIS flag while explaining their intended actions.
The family members were named as Canadian citizens Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were allegedly armed with an axe and a machete in the video. They were arrested on July 25.
Police say that their target was an unspecified location in Toronto. The hotel where they were taken into custody is located just 30 minutes drive from the downtown area.
They are each facing six ISIS-related terrorism offenses, including possessing weapons for the benefit of the Sunni-terror organization.
This screenshot from a surveillance camera shows heavily armed Canadian police raiding the home that the two suspects shared in a quiet Toronto suburb
Neighbors were shocked to learn of the pair's involvement with terrorism and were awoken to the sound of flash grenades going off in the early hours of Sunday
Just this week, Canadian citizen Khalid Hussein, 29, was found guilty in England of being a member of Al-Muhajiroun, a terrorist group, and sentenced to five years in prison. He stood trial alongside hate preacher Anjem Choudary, who was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
Ahmed is also charged with aggravated assault that resulted from an ISIS video he is accused of appearing in that was shot in a different country in 2015, reports Global News.
The network reports that the video from a decade ago shows Ahmed, clad in a black robe with his face visible, hacking at an ISIS prisoner in an orange jumpsuit with a sword as the victim was suspended on a pole.
The video was shot in a desert and distributed by one of the ISIS media arms, Al-Raud Media.
The connection between Ahmed and that video was made through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
Meanwhile officials in Canada have said that there is no outstanding threat as a result of Ahmed and Mostafa's intended actions, indicating investigators do not believe that they were part of a larger cell.
Officials did not say if the duo were working with other ISIS operatives in different countries.
Despite decimated in their former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, officials have long maintained that ISIS activists are still active worldwide
Just this week, Canadian citizen Khaled Hussein was sentenced to five years in prison in the UK for his membership of Al-Muhajiroun, a terrorist group
'As you know, they were charged with having particular weapons. In other words, we're pretty confident how close they were to moving from simply having those tools and then moving on to actioning that threat,' RCMP Supt. James Parr said.
The father and son lived together in the eastern Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
The home was also raided on Sunday night, reports The Toronto Star. Neighbors told the newspaper that they were awoken to a sound akin to a 'car crash' which is thought to have been a stun grenade.
Surveillance video from the area showed officers with assault rifles raiding the home. Later, an ambulance arrived to take a woman from the home.
'I don't feel safe at all to know that somebody in my backyard was (arrested for terrorism),' a neighbor told The Star while adding that they hadn't seen the family that much this year.
Another neighbor echoed that sentiment.
'I feel uneasy, I feel very disappointed that this happened... This street is very quiet, it's very secluded. Any strange car comes here, and we know,' Hema Ramperasad said.
The neighbors said that they had previously complained to the family about the amount of cameras set up in their backyard that appeared to be focused on the surrounding homes.
The suspects were unknown to police prior to this incident. Officials have not said what prompted an investigation into the pair.
Nearly 40 members of ISIS have been charged with various crimes in Canada since the group was established in the borderlands between Syria and Iraq in 2014. Around 20 of those have been convicted, another 14 are awaiting trial.
Ahmed and Mostafa will make their first court appearance on Thursday.
A decade after the Islamic State militant group declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria, the extremists no longer control any land, have lost many prominent leaders and are mostly out of the world news headlines.
Still, the group continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for deadly attacks around the world, including lethal operations in Iran and Russia earlier this year that left scores dead.
Its sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq still carry out attacks against government forces in both countries as well as U.S.-backed Syrian fighters, at a time when Iraq's government is negotiating with Washington over a possible withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The group that once attracted tens of thousands of fighters and supporters from around the world to come to Syria and Iraq, and at its peak ruled an area half the size of the United Kingdom was notorious for its brutality.
It beheaded civilians, slaughtered 1,700 captured Iraqi soldiers in a short period, and enslaved and raped thousands of women from the Yazidi community, one of Iraq's oldest religious minorities.
'Daesh remains a threat to international security,' U.S. Army Maj. Gen. J.B. Vowell, the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said earlier this month.
'We maintain our intensity and resolve to combat and destroy any remnants of groups that share Daesh ideology,' he added.
An international fashionista is facing up to two years in jail over 'forgery' findings during a 1.6million court fight with her boutique boss former friend.
Ekaterina Barrett was sued by Bridget Hutchcroft, whose Pandora Dress Agency boutique was a favourite of Princess Diana and Hollywood stars, for failing to repay cash she had borrowed to get through a costly divorce.
Ms Hutchcroft, 63, claimed that when she asked for her money back, Ms Barrett responded: 'The next time you ask, I'll not pay you for a hundred years.'
In 2022, she secured a judgment against Ms Barrett, 67, for more than 1.6million - including interest - but accused her of repeatedly lying about her wealth in a bid to avoid paying.
Now Ms Barrett is facing as much as a two-year prison sentence after a High Court judge found she had put forward a 'forged' document to try to get out of stumping up the cash.
Ekaterina Barrett, pictured outside London's High Court, was sued by a former friend for allegedly failing to repay cash she had borrowed to get through a costly divorce
Bridget Hutchcroft, seen outside the High Court in London, launched the legal action and has now been backed by a judge's ruling
The pair argued at a beauty salon in London department store Harvey Nichols (pictured)
Finding her in contempt of court, Mrs Justice Heather Williams said Ms Barrett had produced a 'settlement agreement' - purportedly signed by Ms Hutchcroft - saying Ms Barrett only owed 800,000.
But that document was in fact 'forged', said the judge, adding that he was 'quite sure' Ms Barrett was 'responsible' for the document.
The Pandora Dress Agency has been a successful fixture in Knightsbridge in west London fashionistas since its establishment more than 70 years ago, just after the end of the Second World War.
From its base behind Harrods, the boutique sells second-hand modern designer clothes, all seasonal and less than two years old, from labels such as Chanel, Hermes, Versace and Prada.
The two women originally met when Ms Barrett began visiting Pandora seven years ago while she was living in a plush 4.2million Mayfair flat and driving around town in a Bentley.
They became close after Ms Hutchcroft bought up some of her 'high-end' designer fashion items to sell in her shop, and took a shine to her two greyhounds.
But after her former friend failed to repay when asked, Ms Hutchcroft sued her over the debt, claiming in court documents that she was the victim of 'fraudulent misrepresentation' at the hands of her 'exploitative' pal.
Ms Hutchcroft accused her of posing as a 'multi-millionaire' with riches 'equivalent to a Rothschild' in order to cajole her to hand over her cash.
She said she understood her friend's grandfather had set up a substantial family trust for her in Liechtenstein, but that she was temporarily unable to get her hands on the funds.
The pair eventually reached an out of court settlement over the missing 1.3million, but in October 2022 - with the money still outstanding - Ms Hutchcroft secured a High Court judgment against Ms Barrett for 1,665,560, covering the unpaid 1.3million loan plus interest.
Ms Hutchcroft at her shop The Pandora Dress Agency whose customers included Diana.
The Mail tracked down Ekaterina Barrett to Monaco where she lives in June 2023
In her defence, Ms Barrett had initially denied borrowing the cash, insisting that the transactions related to the sale of designer clothes.
With the 1.6million court bill still unpaid, Ms Hutchcroft and her company went back to court in a bid to pin Ms Barrett down about the extent of her wealth.
And in a short High Court hearing back in June 2023, Ms Barrett insisted that she is not a wealthy woman and 'that her lifestyle is funded entirely by her family'.
However, Ms Hutchcroft's lawyers claimed she lied about her wealth, masking the fact that she owns a home in Monaco worth millions.
On top of that, Ms Barrett had faked a document with a forged signature in a bid to prove that the case against her had been settled long before reaching court, they claimed.
In an email sent by Ms Barrett in May 2024, she wrote that she understood that 'the case had already settled at a meeting between me and Bridget Hutchcroft' for 800,000 - attaching the settlement agreement supposedly signed off by Ms Hutchcroft.
James McWilliams, for Ms Hutchcroft, described the document as an 'obvious forgery'.
He said: 'The signature on the alleged settlement agreement is transparently not that of Ms Hutchcroft - as even a cursory comparison between the document and formal documents signed by her in these proceedings will show.'
It was also 'fanciful' to suggest that Ms Hutchcroft and Pandora would have struck a settlement deal with Ms Barrett for 800,000 when they already had a court judgment against her for more than 1.6million, the barrister argued.
In a two-day hearing this week, he urged the judge to find Ms Barrett in contempt for producing a fake document and for giving 'false evidence in relation to the nature of her interest in and connection to a property in Monaco referred to throughout the examination as 'Saint Andre'.
The home had been described in her evidence that it was not her property but her brother's'.
Over the decades, the boutique in Knightsbridge counted Princess Diana (pictured), Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ava Gardner among its clientele
In an 'extraordinary' twist this week, Ms Barrett's barrister claimed Ms Hutchcroft had made fresh overtures to his client, 'instigating' a meeting at Harvey Nichols beauty salon on the morning of the last day of the hearing - just hours before Mrs Justice Williams was due to give judgment.
During the alleged meet-up, Ms Hutchcroft made an offer to 'settle the proceedings', claimed Ms Barrett, although Ms Hutchcroft denied agreeing to meet or making a settlement offer.
'Ms Hutchcroft said she was sitting having her eyebrows done when she was accosted by Ms Barrett and that there was no discussion about a settlement', said the judge.
Ms Barrett's solicitors had also exhibited pictures taken of the two women at the salon, but the judge said the photos simply showed Ms Barrett standing nearby, while Ms Hutchcroft was being groomed.
'The two women are not speaking to each other, are facing in different directions and there's no separate evidence to say that they are discussing a settlement', she added, refusing permission for Ms Barrett to testify about the salon encounter and 'derail' the case.
'In the circumstances, where the evidence is not capable of being probative, I'm not prepared to allow the proceedings to be derailed in this way,' she told the court.
Labelling Ms Hutchcroft an 'honest witness', the judge said there was no evidence that she agreed to settle the dispute for 800,000 - as Ms Barrett claimed - which was in any case only about half the sum she had already been awarded.
Analysing the alleged March 2024 settlement agreement, the judge said the signature of Ms Hutchcroft on it 'does not look like the specimens she has produced', adding that there was no clear motive for her to have agreed a 800,000 deal.
Giving judgment, the judge said she was 'quite sure that the defendant was responsible' for the faked settlement agreement.
'I am sure that the settlement agreement including the signature was a forgery,' she said.
'Ms Barrett had a motive to try and derail the committal proceedings against her.
'She was the person who sent the email to the court relying on it and her signature appeared on the document.
'I have no doubt at all that she acted as alleged and it follows from my conclusions that I am satisfied that she acted dishonestly in telling the court that the claim had settled.
'I find that she committed a contempt of court by sending the email...to the court which falsely alleged she had met with Ms Hutchcroft and settled the proceedings.'
Ms Barrett had also deliberately lied about her stake in the Monaco property, the judge found.
'I am satisfied so that I am sure that her testimony at the examination in relation to the St Andre property was false,' the judge told the court.
'She deliberately lied on oath about her ownership of St Andre. I am satisfied to the criminal standard that contempt has been proved.'
The case has now been adjourned to await sentencing of Ms Barrett later this month.
In an earlier interview, Ms Hutchcroft likened Ms Barrett to notorious international conwoman Anna Sorokin, who inspired the Netflix drama 'Inventing Anna' after posing as a super-rich German heiress to siphon cash from wealthy New Yorkers.
Ms Barrett was sued by Ms Hutchcroft and by Lester & Hamilton Ltd, trading as Pandora Dress Agency.
A hospitality manageress who used her smartwatch to hack tills to give herself thousands of pounds of bogus refunds at the world's oldest racecourse has avoided prison.
Lucy Kaur, 41, used her smart device to pocket more than 4,000 from Chester Racecourse by carrying out fake refunds and diverting the cash straight into her own bank account.
The mother-of-one got away with the thefts for four months until bosses were tipped off an employee was using the hi-tech watch to steal cash from the tills.
Inquiries revealed Kaur, who had a previous conviction of benefit fraud and possession of goods with false trademarks, was the only employee present at the 16th Century venue when the fake refunds were carried out.
An investigation into a Halifax account operated by an unknown person showed 'large incoming payments' whilst further investigation discovered that 4,237.90 of the stolen money had been sent by bank transfer to Kaur's own account.
Lucy Kaur (pictured), 41, used her smart watch to steal more than 4,000 from Chester Racecourse by carrying out fake refunds and diverting the cash straight into her own bank account
The mother-of-one got away with the thefts for four months until bosses were tipped off an employee was using the hi-tech watch to steal cash
Chester Racecourse in Chester where Ms Kaur worked as a hospitality manageress
At Chester magistrates court Kaur, from Anfield, Liverpool admitted theft by employee and was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months with an order to pay Chester Racecourse 2,000 in compensation.
When quizzed she cited anxiety and depression for her criminal conduct and said she owed money. It was not disclosed how she used the smart watch to carry out the illegal transactions.
Elizabeth Browne, prosecuting, said: 'The circumstances are that on September 12, 2023, Emma Harrison, the HR manager of Chester Racecourse reported an employee was suspected of having refunded 4,237.90 by smart watch to two accounts when not authorised to do so between May and September 2023.
'The defendant had managerial access to the company account which allowed her to complete the refunds.
'The defendant was the only employee present when the refunds were received. She was interviewed in November 2023, but made "No comment". There was a breach of a high degree of trust.'
Kaur had 12 previous offences on her record including benefit fraud in 2011 and possession of goods with false trademarks in 2014 for which she received a suspended prison sentence.
Ms Kaur cited her anxiety and depression for her criminal behaviour and said she owed money
Ms Kaur had 12 previous offences on her record including benefit fraud in 2011 and possession of goods with false trademarks in 2014 for which she received a suspended prison sentence
In mitigation her solicitor Steven Alis said: 'She did have a degree of trust and that degree of trust was limited. She was slightly higher than a general bartender but had no other responsibilities. They could all do refunds as such.
'There are previous convictions but they are not identical to this one. There are recommendations in the probation report regarding a community aspect which could be attached to a suspended sentence.'
Kaur was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activity.
District Judge Jack McGarva told her: 'You have pleaded guilty to theft of 4,237.90 from the Racecourse and you did that by using your access to and ability to make refunds you were entrusted with to transfer money directly into your account when no money was due to you.
'That is an offence of theft in breach of trust and is made more serious by your record of relevant offences.
'It is implicit that the racecourse did trust you to give refunds in appropriate cases and not for your benefit but I do bear in mind that quite a large number of staff had the same access to the same facility.
'There is significant mitigation in the report. I do bear in mind that you have had trouble in the last few years. You have suffered anxiety and depression and your mental health is in question.
'The decision I have to make is whether the custodial sentence is immediate or suspended. I have come to the decision that it can be suspended. My view is that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
Kaur avoided jail and was handed a 16 week suspended sentence in prison, with an order to pay Chester Racecourse 2,000 in compensation
She was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activity
'You do not shy away from what you have done wrong and I am thinking of your struggles with anxiety and depression and also the impact on others.
'I am not ordering you compensate for the full amount that you stole as I am aware that you owe money in relation to other cases. That is part of the reason why this offence occurred.'
Chester Racecourse is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the 'oldest racecourse still in operation'.
Horse racing in the city dates back to the 16th century, with 1539 cited as the year racing began, although some sources give a date of 1512 for the first races in Chester.
It is also thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile and 1 furlong or 1.8 km long.
Here is everything you need to know about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The families of 9/11 victims have said they were 'deeply troubled' after the architect of the attacks and two others reportedly agreed to plea deals after decades in US detention.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi have all agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening that the pleas, which will see the men dodge a death penalty trial, have been approved by Pentagon officials.
But who exactly Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? How was he involved in the 9/11 attacks? Where is he currently and what will happen to him now?
Read on below for everything you need to know about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
A photograph dated Saturday March 1 2003 shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attack, shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan
Who is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
Widely considered to be the architect of the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was born on 14 April 1965 in Pakistan.
Having joined the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist organization, aged 16, Mohammed travelled to the United States after graduating from high school in 1983.
Upon arrival, he enrolled at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, before transferring to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1986.
Mohammed, known to the FBI as 'KSM,' is said to have proposed the idea for the 9/11 attacks to Osama bin Laden back in 1996.
How did the horrific events of 9/11 unfold?
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11, 2001 in New York City
People run away as the North Tower of World Trade Center collapses on September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001, conspirators from al-Qaida seized control of airplanes and hit New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near Washington.
A fourth plane was headed for Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
It was Mohammed who presented the very idea of such an attack on the United States to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Mohammed also received authorization from bin Laden to craft what became the September 11 attacks, the United States' 9/11 Commission concluded.
The other defendants are alleged to have supported the hijackers in various other ways.
Officially, the casualty count associated with the attacks is numbered at 2,996 - including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers.
Thousands more were injured, and New York bore the brunt of the death toll - with an estimated 1,600 victims in the North Tower and a further one thousand in the South.
In the aftermath of the attacks, both Mr Mohammed and Mr al-Hawsawi were captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
What has Khalid Sheikh Mohammed pleaded guilty to?
The Department of Defense says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow attackers have entered into a pre-trial agreement which will see them avoid the death penalty. Pictured: Walid Bin Attash (left) and Mustafa al-Hawsawi (right)
The Department of Defense says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow attackers have entered into a pre-trial agreement which will see them avoid the death penalty.
However, the exact terms of the agreements have not been revealed by the Department of Defense, which said that 'the specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time'.
Mohammed, Bin Attash and al-Hawasawi were accused of a number of different charges, including attacking civilians, murder in violation of the laws of war, hijacking and terrorism.
After being captured by the CIA, the three men were subjected to a number of 'enhanced interrogation techniques', including waterboarding, at least 183 times before the practice was banned by the US government.
This has been a key reason behind why the trial has been delayed, as attorneys argued that the interrogation techniques used amounted to torture and could have undermined the evidence against the detainees.
Two of the original five defendants were not part of the new plea deal, Ramzi bin al-Shibh was found incompetent to stand trial because of mental illness.
Al-Shibh was accused of helping to organize a cell of hijackers in Hamburg, Germany, while Ammar al-Baluchi was also not part of the plea agreement.
Al-Baluchi is the nephew of Mohammed and is charged with helping the hijackers with finances and travel arrangements.
What will happen to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed now?
An undated FBI file image shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, as he appeared on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists website
Having agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges, the hearings could take place as early as next week.
A letter obtained by the New York Post also revealed that the sentencing hearings could be expected to take place in summer 2025.
The letter from the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) revealed that Mohammed and his co-conspirators have also agreed to respond to any questions that family members of victims have 'regarding their roles and reasons for conducting the September 11 attacks.'
The letter adds that families will now have 45 days to submit questions to be answered by the alleged co-conspirators by the end of the year.
It also revealed that prosecutors have made plans to meet with the families in person this fall to discuss the plea agreements.
Where is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
A photo dated October 16 2018 shows the main gate at the prison in Guantanamo at the US Guantanamo Naval Base, where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been in custody since 2006
Having been captured in 2003, Mohammed spent three-and-a-half years in secret CIA detention, before being moved to US custody - along with Bin Attash and al-Hawasawi - at Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
After news of the plea deal emerged, the White House issued a statement through a National Security Council official distancing itself from the agreement.
The statement said: 'The President and White House played no role in this process.
'The President has directed his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter.'
Many famous names have been incarcerated at Brixton Prison, from Mick Jagger to the Kray twins and more recently the rapper Giggs to reality star Stephen Bear.
And now you can follow them by entering the South London jail without even having to commit a crime - by having afternoon tea for 37.50 in the old governor's house.
The Clink charity which operates a restaurant at HMP Brixton has begun offering sandwiches, scones and pastries served by inmates being trained in hospitality.
The prisoners with three to 24 months of their sentence left can volunteer for the programme which is intended to simulate a professional working environment.
They go through full-time training at the Category C prison to gain a City & Guilds National Vocational Qualification that can help them into a job upon leaving.
Visitors are pictured at The Clink restaurant at HMP Brixton in South London in 2014
The Clink restaurant is located at the old governor's house in the centre of the prison courtyard
Queen Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall, visited The Clink at Brixton on February 4, 2016
Afternoon tea at The Clink costs 37.50 per person and is served in the old governor's house
The restaurant is surrounded by six jail wings which can house up to 798 prisoners and is situated in the middle of the main courtyard, which dates back to 1819.
Afternoon tea at HMP Brixton: The full menu Sandwiches Egg mayonnaise and watercress (wholemeal bread)
Prosciutto, basil pesto and rocket (rosemary and sea salt focaccia)
Pickled cucumber, dill, and cream cheese (white bloomer)
Smoked trout and chive creme fraiche (rye bread) Scones Plain and fruit (with rhubarb and strawberry jam and clotted cream) Patisserie items Raspberry and ruby chocolate eclair (choux paste, raspberry diplomat, ruby chocolate disc, raspberry gel)
Blackcurrant and coconut fruit bavarois (coconut sponge, blackcurrant mousse, jelly, Chantilly, coconut tuille)
Citrus meringue tart (sweet pastry, lime curd, Italian meringue, candied lemon)
Mango and passionfruit macaron (mango creme pat, white chocolate ganache, passionfuit jam, almond praline) Advertisement
Brixton's Clink restaurant opened in 2014 and has become a major success with diners, rated 54th out of 15,291 restaurants in London on TripAdvisor.
Many of the inmates are taken on by chains such as Wahaca and Carluccio's, and Queen Camilla visited The Clink in 2016 when Duchess of Cornwall.
Guests at the restaurant are given plastic cutlery, alcohol and mobile phones are banned, the walls have panic buttons and the room features barred windows.
Now, it has expanded to open The Clink Bakery from the same location - with bread, cakes and other items produced on site by the bakery team and students.
The development comes after the project suffered controversy in 2017 when diners were found to have been smuggling drugs and mobile phones to inmates working in the kitchen.
A report by inspectors at the time said smuggled mobiles led to inmates setting up drug deliveries and being able to 'maintain control of criminal enterprises'.
The Prison Service said at the time that anyone caught smuggling in contraband would 'face the full force of the law', and that HMP Brixton had invested in new sniffer dogs and dog handlers.
The afternoon tea has been taking place on alternate Fridays since July 5 and will run throughout the summer.
Sandwiches include egg mayonnaise and watercress on wholemeal bread; prosciutto, basil pesto and rocket on rosemary and sea salt focaccia; pickled cucumber, dill and cream cheese on white bloomer; or smoked trout and chive creme fraiche on rye bread.
Plain and fruit scones are available with rhubarb and strawberry jam and clotted cream.
Patisserie items - which are designed to incorporate what the inmates are learning in their NVQ level 2 in patisserie and confectionary include the raspberry and ruby chocolate eclair.
HMP Brixton is a Category C prison which offers inmates the chance to train in hospitality
A prison officer is seen on duty on one of the wings at Brixton Prison in South London in 2001
The Clink restaurant at Brixton opened in 2014 and has become a major success with diners
An inmate at Brixton Prison in C wing of the Category C prison, pictured in January 2001
Others on the list are blackcurrant and coconut fruit bavarois; citrus meringue tart; and mango and passionfruit macaron.
Diners must pre-book at least seven working days before their visit, with security checks carried out on all those attending before a booking reservation can be confirmed.
All visitors must be over 18 and bring a driving licence, passport or Freedom Pass for photo identification which will be taken from them in return for a prison pass.
Upon arrival, visitors can also lock personal items away in lockers, including mobile phones and any other banned items.
Prison policy means they cannot accept bookings from friends and relatives of inmates currently at HMP Brixton.
The restaurant's FAQs also state that visitors are free to ask inmates 'questions about their training and hopes for the future', adding: 'By dining with us, you are giving them a valuable learning experience.'
Stephen Bear outside HMP Brixton following his release on January 17 this year, after being sentenced to 21 months for voyeurism and disclosing private sexual photographs or films
Mick Jagger in a mugshot taken at Brixton Prison in 1967 after a drug bust at Keith Richards's home in Sussex. Jagger only spent one night in the jail and was released the following day
TV chef Gordon Ramsay taught at HMP Brixton in his 2012 Channel 4 show Gordon Behind Bars
No alcohol is served because the training environments and situated on prison grounds, and a discretionary 12.5 per cent tip is added to the total bill.
The charity adds: 'Visitors to The Clink can be assured that they are taking part in something unique, while helping someone rebuild their life at the same time.'
The restaurant is also open for lunch on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; a gourmet night on Thursdays; and Sunday lunch.
The Clink trained 830 students in prisons around the UK last year, delivered around 550 NVQ qualifications and got 52 per cent of their students into employment.
Bookings at The Clink Restaurant at HMP Brixton can be made by clicking here
Huw Edwards has made a 'mockery' of the BBC and was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months, betrayed staffers said today.
The corporation faces yet more damaging questions after another of its biggest stars was revealed to be a sex offender after Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and others.
'It's unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie', one BBC employee said today.
And BBC News Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said: 'The facts are the BBC continued paying Huw Edwards his vast salary for five months after he was arrested,' adding: 'Why, also, did they let him leave on his own terms?'.
'In the end, this was a judgement call for the people at the very top of the BBC and the optics are reputationally damaging. The BBC spent taxpayers' money on a man now guilty of serious offences. Many people will believe the corporation made the wrong judgement', she said.
The Director General has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
There are also reports that someone in the Met Police called BBC management to alert them that Edwards had been charged, before it was made public.
Nicky Campbell, one of the BBC's most senior radio broadcasters, has branded his ex-colleague Edwards 'disgusting'. And responding to social media calls for the BBC to get back the 200,000 of licence fee money paid to Edwards while he was suspended, Mr Campbell gave a hint he might agree, tweeting it is 'my money too'.
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
Writing for the BBC website Katie Razzall said: 'Why didn't the BBC sack Edwards, in light of his arrest, instead of giving him the space to leave, apparently on his own terms, albeit with no pay off?
'There will have only been a handful of people in the room where these conversations were taking place.
'The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. The decisions they took can't have been easy and they will have been weighing up different scenarios - and competing advice.
'It's important to note that BBC News, where I'm employed, is editorially independent from the corporate side. We didn't know about the arrest or charges until earlier this week when the story broke'.
She added: 'Senior HR and legal advisors will have advised the BBC it had a duty of care towards Edwards as an employee. They will likely also have said he would have a legal case against the corporation if he was sacked unfairly. The BBC says it was made aware of significant risk to his health.
'But it is difficult to see this specifically through an HR or legal prism'.
Former BBC broadcaster Roger Bolton said today: 'The nature of what Huw Edwards has done is so disgusting and dreadful that I think any residual sympathy for him has gone.'
'The questions are, when did they [the BBC] know? What did they know?'
'There is the BBC at the very highest level, the executives, and BBC News. It's absolutely clear that BBC News and all its editors did not know until this week that Huw Edwards had been charged.
'But we now know the BBC executives were told in confidence that Huw Edwards had been charged. When did they know he was charged? And the big question is, why did they continue to pay him so much money in these circumstances?'.
It came a BBC insider claimed it was common knowledge that married father-of-five Edwards had messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years. The source believes that bosses 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him as an asset.
The disgraced BBC anchorman, 62, yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
It comes as the BBC admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April.
A BBC insider said last night: 'It was known for a few years he was messaging an assortment of lads in the newsroom for drinks etc, yet the feeling is senior editors might have turned a blind eye. If this was the case, it points to the usual ''protect the star'' stuff.'
Huw Edwards (pictured) messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile kAlex Williams, it has emerged.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday
Yesterday, Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were 'Category A', the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip's funeral to the nation.
Just this week, the BBC would not reveal if it had been aware of Edwards' arrest in November. But it tried to defend its actions in a statement last night.
The BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
It continued: 'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.' It added: 'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards's actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
New footage has emerged of the moment a stunning Italian superyacht began sinking off an idyllic Greek holiday island just two months after it underwent a full renovation.
The 150ft megayacht 'Ethos', a vessel that sets renters back a whopping 180,000-a-week, was seen taking in water off the coast of Kefalonia while in the Paleokaravo Bay earlier this week.
It was later revealed the inflow came after one of the crew accidentally left a door wide open - and did not have time to close it once the weather 'turned', local media reports.
The award-winning Maltese-flagged yacht is rented out to up to 12 guests looking for a 'relaxed' charter experience.
It boasts five cabins, an onboard gym, deck jacuzzi and jet skis, promising guests 'exceptional comfort levels at anchor or when underway', and had just undergone a complete interior renovation after its new owner purchased the vessel for some 16 million.
The 150ft megayacht 'Ethos', setting renters back a whopping 180,000-a-week, was seen taking in water off the coast of Kefalonia
It was later revealed the inflow came after one of the crew left a side door open - and did not have time to close it once the weather 'turned', local media reports
The yacht had just undergone an interior renovation two months prior to the sinking
Astonishing scenes showed the moment the ship started taking on water in the Ionian Sea
The five tourists aboard safely disembarked with the five crew on board, Protothema reported yesterday, after the vessel was tugged to shore.
Shocking footage showed the vessel off balance on the blue waters around Kefalonia, a popular island in the Ionian Sea known as the setting for Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
A private boat, shown in the footage, was reported to be at the scene as harbour guards monitored the situation.
Waves are seen lashing at the stern of the yacht that was adrift some distance from the shoreline.
It then tilted to starboard and began to sink, but the captain managed to prevent a total catastrophe by moving the ship to shallower waters.
Another clip circulating on social media later showed the stricken craft being pulled out of danger for its guests and crew to disembark.
The extent of the damage is not yet known, but it is thought the yacht will have to undergo significant repairs and the newly renovated interior may need to be refitted.
Divers were assigned to clear out the water from the vessel as it lay on the east side of Kefalonia yesterday.
Crew had left a door open and did not have time to close it when the weather 'turned'
The vessel was seen off balance in the waters around the port on Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea
All tourists and crew on board were able to safely disembark from the vessel
A private boat appeared nearby as guards monitored the situation from the shore
The stunning 150ft megayacht comes fully equipped with an onboard gym and beach club
The vessel can set holidaymakers back as much as 180,000 per week plus expenses
The partial sinking of the Ethos is just one of several maritime mishaps to have unfolded in waters off Greece in recent years.
Five British tourists had to be rescued from their burning 21ft motor boat off the coast of the Greek island of Zakynthos last August after it erupted into flames.
One of the passengers reportedly suffered burns when the craft caught fire some 250 feet from shore.
It is unclear what triggered the blaze, but the flames quickly engulfed the 21ft craft, before the vessel was completely overcome by the inferno.
Footage showed huge black plumes of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the boat as rescue teams waded in to lend assistance.
Only two months prior, British holidaymakers had to be rescued from a burning boat after it went up in flames off the island of Rhodes.
British holidaymakers were on board as the inferno engulfed the entire boat after a fire broke out about 300 metres from Stenga beach in the town of Archangelos.
Passengers told of how they were forced to make the plunge into the water below as the entire wooden deck started to catch fire where they were standing.
The Greek coast guard said all 82 passengers were eventually taken to land, but witnesses said children were still left 'traumatised' by the horrifying ordeal.
A terminally ill cancer patient plans to livestream his final moments when he takes his own life under assisted dying laws on Friday.
NSW Central Coast resident Scott Hollingshed, 58, has been documenting his battle against lung cancer on Facebook.
Despite only being diagnosed in June, the cancer has already progressed to stage four, dashing any hopes of being cured.
Mr Hollingshed said he was 'scared' to end his life but he has 'beautiful people with me' and wanted to show his gratitude to those who had supported him more widely as he takes part in NSW's voluntary assisted dying program.
'I am going to do one (a livestream video) from the hospital just to say thank you to everyone and good bye,' Mr Hollingshed said in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday.
'If you have come through this journey with me you need to see the ending.
'I've asked to do the screen with the flatline and all the rest.'
Mr Hollingshed revealed that his partner would say a few words after he was gone.
Cancer victim Scott Hollingshed plans to livestream his death by lethal injection on Friday
'I thank you all so much for everything through my life,' an emotional Mr Hollingshed said.
'The compassion and support you have shown through this journey, you have all been incredible.'
Mr Hollingshed had just bought a yacht with his partner and was enjoying life on the water when he began suffering chest pains.
'I've had heart attacks before but I knew it wasn't my heart,' he told 7News.
Watching his father die in a hospice influenced his decision to seek assisted dying.
'Seeing him wither away ... I don't want to see myself like that and I don't want other people to see me like that, especially people who care about me,' Mr Hollingshed said.
'I've been given the control to say, "Alright, it's time".'
After coughing up blood and being unable to sleep on his side without spluttering, Mr Hollingshed was delivered the devastating news that he had three to six months to live.
His condition has since deteriorated even quicker.
Mr Hollingshed had just bought a yacht with his partner when he began noticing chest pains that led to a lung cancer diagnosis
'It got to the point where I couldn't even put my socks on and my missus used to get down on her hands and knees and put my socks on,' Mr Hollingshed said.
'I know people do things for people they love but that broke my heart seeing her do that.'
On Wednesday he wrote in a Facebook post that he 'would be lucky to go another week before I can't do the normal things, like going to the toilet, showering, cooking (I already can't get that done)'.
'I'm coughing up blood in large lots all day and all night,' the post read.
In another recent video, Mr Hollingshed said it had been 'a beautiful journey but a very fast one compared to what I thought it would be'.
Explaining that he could only sleep propped on the lounge and only in two-hour stretches while the painkillers were working, he said was considering 'f**king off to hospital'.
'All they are going to do there is put me on the oxygen and pump me full of a painkillers,' Mr Hollingshed said.
'I have my hydromorphone pain here and a bottle of bourbon, I will be alright,' he said.
'Everyone is saying I have been an inspiration and thank you to those people for those comments.
'We only get one go at this s*** make the most of it, eh.'
Mr Hollingshed says he hopes his story is an inspiration to others to make live life to the fullest and turn negatives into positives
Friend Kellie Lott has organised an online fundraiser to help Mr Hollingshed and his partner with end-of-life expenses.
'We have all been watching this man do amazing lives on fb. for me and I bet all of us an inspiration every time we see him talk,' the page reads.
'He is trying his hardest to pass with dignity and Im sure we all agree that if he had less to worry about for him and his partner it will make his last days much more peaceful.'
'Please try to donate anything as every dollar helps especially at this time.'
The page had raised nearly $1,000 of its $5,000 goal.
NSW became the last Australian state to allow medically assisted dying late last year.
Under the laws voluntary assisted dying is only available for NSW residents older than 18 who have an advanced illness or disease that will cause death in at least 12 months and is causing suffering that cannot be relieved.
Mr Hollingshed said sharing his story had helped others going through similar circumstances as he urged Aussies to live life to the fullest.
The paedophile who sent disgraced news reader Huw Edwards child porn images can today be pictured for the first time.
Alex Williams, 25, shared 41 indecent images with Edwards, 62, in an abhorrent WhatsApp chat.
Among the sickening trove of abusive pictures shared by the sex offender included two showing a boy as young as seven.
Edwards was snared by chance by police in Wales who were investigating Williams and stumbled upon his messages sent to the famed newsreader.
On Wednesday, the former broadcaster pleaded guilty to making 41 indecent images of children and could now face up to 10 years behind bars.
Williams, pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot, fled his family home in Wales shortly before his connection to the disgraced BBC star emerged yesterday. He has now gone into hiding.
Do YOU know Alex Williams? Please email tom.cotterill@mailonline.co.uk
Alex Williams, 25, can today be pictured for the first time. He shared indecent images with Huw Edwards that led to the newsreader's downfall. Williams is pictured here as a teenager on a family trip to a Welsh beauty spot
Williams has since gone into hiding after his link with Edwards was exposed by the Mail on Wednesday. He is pictured at a family event
Williams (pictured) was snared by Welsh police - who later discovered he had sent Edwards a series of indecent images of children
Huw Edwards was snared by chance by police in Wales who were investigating Williams and stumbled on his messages to the now-disgraced newsreader (Edwards is pictured on Wednesday leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court)
He sent Edwards 377 images, 41 of which were indecent and formed the charges to which the veteran broadcaster pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Two images involved a boy believed to be as young as seven, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
Williams himself was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years in March after pleading guilty to seven offences relating to possessing and distributing indecent images.
Last night his parents confirmed that Williams is no longer living with them - and denied having any knowledge that he was a sex offender.
Williams' mother claimed to be unaware that her son was convicted of child pornography offences at Merthyr Crown Court earlier this year.
She and Williams' father said they had not seen Williams for three or four months - although neighbours said they spotted him in the street within the last few weeks.
The sex offender's mother also claimed she knows of no connection between her son and the disgraced anchorman.
Edwards on Wednesday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
His offending came to light by chance after police in South Wales found his number on Williams' phone.
The investigation was unrelated to allegations reported in July 2023 that Edwards had paid a teenager more than 35,000 for sexual images.
Edwards is also unlikely to face prison after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, experts said last night.
'Although the conduct in the case amounts to no more than just opening the images, it is essentially treated as a form of possession,' Ian Hope, prosecuting, told the court on Wednesday. 'There's no suggestion that Mr Edwards had anything to do with making the images or did anything beyond opening that image.'
Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine (Edwards is seen leaving court)
Edwards' offending came to light by chance after police in South Wales found his number on Williams' phone
Edwards, 62, received and opened seven category A the most indecent images, 12 category B and 22 category C photos between December 2020 and August 2021, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
Williams, of Merthyr Tydfil, was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years in March after pleading guilty to seven offences relating to possessing and distributing indecent images.
Edwards will find out his fate during a sentencing hearing in September. He could face up to 10 years in jail.
The news comes as a BBC insider today claimed Edwards had messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years.
A BBC insider claimed that bosses at the corporation may have 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him.
It comes as the BBC admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April.
A BBC source said last night: 'It was known for a few years he was messaging an assortment of lads in the newsroom for drinks etc, yet the feeling is senior editors might have turned a blind eye. If this was the case, it points to the usual ''protect the star'' stuff.'
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career alongside his marriage is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court on Wednesday
Edwards, of Wandsworth in south-west London, wore a dark blue suit with a blue tie in the dock
During his court hearing on Wednesday, Edwards' lawyer said that his early guilty plea, previous good character, mental health issues and 'genuine remorse' might lead to the disgraced star avoiding a potential prison term.
Philip Evans KC, defending Edwards, said: 'It is important to remember for context that, as you would expect, the devices were seized and searched and there's nothing on those devices.
'He didn't keep any images. He didn't send any to anyone else and hasn't sought images from anywhere else. Before this, Mr Edwards was not only of good character but of exemplary character.'
He added there was 'no suggestion' Edwards had 'anything to with making the images or indeed doing anything beyond the opening of the images'.
Director at criminal defence firm Olliers Solicitors, Ruth Peters, said that while a jail term was an option open to chief magistrate Paul Goldspring during Edwards' sentencing hearing on September 16, a suspended sentence or community order was more likely.
The former Ten O'Clock News presenter will be added to the sex offenders' register automatically.
Edwards, of Wandsworth in south-west London, wore a dark blue suit with a blue tie in the dock after passing through a scrum of photographers, journalists and protesters to get into the court.
During the 26-minute hearing, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, his street name and postcode, before entering three guilty pleas. Releasing Edwards on bail until September 16, Mr Goldspring said his sentencing powers might be limited and he could still transfer the case to the Crown Court for a stiffer punishment.
Chief chocolatier and CEO Wendy Lieu smooths the chocolate and caramel mixture into a mold for cooling before using a confectionery guitar cutter to cut the pieces uniformly at Socola Chocolatier in 2019. Celeste Noche/Special to The Chronicle
Wendy Lieu fills her chocolate truffles with the flavors of a four-course Vietnamese meal: jasmine tea, pho, Sriracha, durian, lychee, Cognac.
The chocolate collection is the perfect bite-size feast to take on a plane which travelers at San Francisco International Airport can now do. Lieus SoMa chocolate shop, Socola Chocolatier, opened its second location at the airport on Thursday, Aug. 1
Lieu said she expects to offer most of her products at the new location, a 300-square-foot space with glass walls in Terminal Three. That includes several boxes of truffles some with Vietnamese flavors, others with Western flavors like burnt caramel and hazelnut praline as well as chocolate bars with ingredients like black sesame, a few confections and some alpaca-themed merch, a nod to Socolas flying alpaca logo.
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Wendy Lieu with a collection of alpaca plush toys at Socola Chocolatier in San Francisco in 2019. Socolas mascot is a flying alpaca. Celeste Noche/Special to The Chronicle
Lieu first applied to open in the airport in 2018. Her initial proposal wasnt accepted, but she decided to try again last year. Though SFO might not be the most glamorous of locations, she said it makes a lot of sense for her: Chocolate is a holiday-driven business, peaking between the fall and Mothers Day. Sales dry up at her SoMa shop during the summer as people travel so Lieu wanted to recoup some of that business at the airport.
I feel very blessed and happy with how things turned out, she said. Im ready to take (the second location) on now.
Lieu launched Socola with her sister Susan in 2001, when they were both teenagers. Theyd grown up helping their parents in their nail salon. It was located right by a Sees Candies store, and the two used to eat samples there almost every day, Lieu said.
Always interested in home cooking, Lieu decided she wanted to try her hand at making her own. She found a recipe for mocha espresso chocolates in Gourmet Magazine and whipped up a batch.
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It was one of those things, where, you know, you had eaten Chips Ahoy! your whole life, and one day you eat a chocolate chip cookie, Lieu said. Its life changing.
From there, she dove into the world of chocolate making: How do you add other flavors? How do you temper chocolate? Within the year, she and Susan started selling truffles in four flavors dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel and raspberry at local farmers markets. They named the company Socola, after the Vietnamese word for chocolate.
Wendy Lieu paints molds with edible colored cocoa butter that later become the outer shells of chocolate Easter eggs filled with sweets in San Francisco in 2019. Celeste Noche/Special to The Chronicle
At the time, Lieu was working in consulting; chocolate was her passion project on the side. But in 2012, she quit her day job to focus on Socola full-time. She opened her SoMa shop, where she both makes and sells chocolates, in 2014.
From the start, Lieu said, her Asianness impacted the way customers saw her business. Some would give her weird looks, unaccustomed to seeing a Vietnamese woman as a chocolatier. Others would ask if she sold chocolate from Vietnam, though Vietnam wasnt growing much chocolate when Socola got started. (It has since started to produce more, and Lieu now uses some Vietnamese cacao.)
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Eventually, Lieu decided to lean into her heritage. She developed chocolate collections themed around Lunar New Year and sold mooncake chocolates for the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the pandemic, hoping to set Socola apart online, she designed one of her most in-demand items: the 12- or 24-piece Little Saigon Box, with its four-course meal inspiration.
The pho confection, in particular, represented a breakthrough for Lieu. Despite its name, the chocolate doesnt actually contain beef or rice noodles. Instead, Lieu makes it by infusing cream with the spices that typically go in soup broth.
I was like why are we conforming to these traditional flavors? And why are we always trying to fit in? Because well never fit in, Lieu said. So we might as well stand out.
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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's bitter legal battle over Chateau Miraval is due back in court today after Jolie's side filed a new motion in court.
Pitt, 60, and Jolie, 49, have been embroiled in a dispute over their co-ownership of the idyllic French winery, which they purchased while happily married in 2008, with the actor suing his ex-wife for selling her half to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without his consent for $62 million in October 2021.
The former couple's 'war of the rose' legal battle is entering another round as the latest hearing of the case is scheduled at an LA courthouse at 9am today, although Pitt and Jolie are not expected to appear.
Jolie's former company Nouvel LLC - a subsidiary of Shefler's Tenute del Mondo B.V. - filed a motion to compel Campari America LLC to produce an agreement about wine distribution with Chateau Miraval.
Since Jolie sold her stake, the former partners entered into an acrimonious mudslinging over NDA's, which have become a key battleground in their fight.
Jolie sold her stake in Chateau Miraval (pictured) to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler in 2021, which Pitt argues went against their agreement to offer the other the right of first refusal
The estranged couple, who met in 2004, have been embroiled in a dispute over their co-ownership of the winery since 2021 and have entered into an mudslinging over NDA's
In the motion filed on July 29, Nouvel LLC asks to 'produce the most knowledgeable person(s) and relevant documents regarding a distribution agreement executed on or around September 2023' between Campari America LLC - a non-party in Pitt and Jolie's legal battle - and Chateau Miraval.
Nouvel LLC accused Pitt 'and his allies' of freezing the company out of the winery, including the decision to give Campari the right to be the sole distributor of the rose wine produced at Chateau Miraval.
Pitt and Jolie, who met in 2004 while filming Mr. And Mrs. Smith before tying the knot in 2014, share six children together: sons Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, - who was involved in a terrifying e-bike crash in July - and Knox, 16, and daughters Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and Vivienne, 16. They filed for divorce in September 2016.
Daughter Shiloh is embroiled in her own legal battle, as she is trying to drop Pitt from her last name of Jolie-Pitt.
A hearing on the case was scheduled in court on Monday, but it was rescheduled for August 19 after 'the court was unable to complete the background check', Peter Levine, who is serving as legal representation for Jolie-Pitt in the matter, told People.
In her parents' case, Pitt accused Jolie of breaching their purchase agreement to not sell to a third party without offering the other the right of first refusal when she sold her 50 per cent stake in Chateau Miraval to Shefler in 2021.
Pitt (pictured right in February), 60, and Jolie (pictured left in June), 49, have been embroiled in a dispute over their co-ownership of the French winery, with the actor suing his ex for selling her half without his consent in October 2021
Pitt poured millions into the estate (pictured), riding the rose wave, and expanding the business in an effort that saw sales grow 300 percent
The exes share six children together: sons Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, and Knox, 15, and daughters Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and Vivienne, 15 (pictured in Tokyo in November 2011)
The actor requested the sale be made void and sought monetary damages and legal fees, but it went through on October 5, 2021.
Pitt says in his complaint that the transaction to Russian oligarch Shefler harms the brand of Chateau Miraval after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But Jolie's former company launched a $250million suit against Pitt in return, alleging that Pitt was trying to get control over the the company as revenge on Jolie over their split.
When the then couple bought the 1200 acre winemaking enterprise and estate, Pitt took a 60 per cent stake while Jolie took 40 per cent.
Pitt poured millions into the estate, riding the rose wave, and expanding the business in an effort that saw sales grow 300 percent.
Soon the estate they purchased for an estimated $60million was worth closer to $164million.
By the time of their wedding, Jolie had 'stopped investing,' according to previously filed court records something that she has denied.
Still, Pitt transferred 10 percent of his share to her by way of a wedding gift in December 2013 'for the sum of 1 [never paid]' so that by the time of their marriage in August 2014, they were 50/50 equal partners.
The estranged couples' eight-year divorce, which has had them at war over custody of their children, has not been finalized after filing in 2016 (pictured: Jolie and Pitt in 2015)
Jolie claims she backed out of their agreement because Pitt asked her to sign an NDA as part of their business deal, which allegedly would prevent her from speaking out about the abuse allegations, including the September 2016 incident onboard the private jet.
Her team described this as an 'unconscionable' attempt by her ex-partner to 'control her' after their split.
A source close to Pitt, later told People: 'Brad requested a mutual NDA and non-disparagement strictly related to Miraval over concerns around sensitive financial information and protecting the brand, which is standard with these types of transactions.'
His legal team claimed that Jolie 'weaponized' NDAs, and asked for Pitt to sign a broader NDA just six months later as part of their divorce settlement talks.
In a ruling made public back in May, Judge Lia Martin ordered the actress to produce all NDAs she proposed, or that were proposed to her by others, regardless of whether they were finalized or agreed.
In July, Jolie's lawyer, Paul Murphy, said: 'When Angelina again asks Mr. Pitt to end the fighting and finally put their family on a clear path toward healing, unless Mr. Pitt withdraws his lawsuit, Angelina has no choice but to obtain the evidence necessary to prove his allegations wrong.'
Recent documents filed on behalf of Pitt in objection to Jolie's latest request list the pieces of evidence she would obtain.
These include 'any therapy in which [he] voluntarily agreed to engage from September 14, 2016 through December 31, 2018, his consumption of alcohol from 2008 through 2021, his random drug and alcohol testing following the flight, communications with various government agencies about the flight, and confidential filings from the parties' divorce case.'
'These requests are not designed to discover relevant evidence but rather to embarrass Pitt and/or to prejudice the trier of fact, which is not permitted by California's discovery statutes,' the documents read.
The estranged couples' eight-year divorce, which has had them at war over custody of their children, has not been finalized after filing in 2016.
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Huw Edwards has been urged to return up to 200,000 he received from the BBC following his arrest by a former colleague who says the broadcaster's reputation has been 'tarnished'.
Jennie Bond, a former BBC royal correspondent, said if the disgraced 62-year-old newsreader has 'any dignity left' he would hand back the money, reported to be 200,000, after pleading guilty to 'making' indecent photographs.
Meanwhile, BBC director-general Tim Davie will face questions over the corporation's handling of the scandal after he hauled in for talks with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.
Our live coverage has now ended but for a full recap see below
Hamas commander Mohammed Deif has been assassinated in an airstrike, the Israeli military revealed today, a day after group leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran.
'IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,' the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement today.
The one-eyed Hamas commander was allegedly killed on July 13, confirmed Thursday after Hamas' political chief was killed by an 'airborne projectile' in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh's death.
Deif is believed to have been responsible for planning and executing the bloody October 7 incursion into Israel, in which Hamas members and their allies killed some 1,200 Israelis and took some 240 hostage.
Mohammed Deif, the chief of Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an airstrike, the IDF claimed
Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 13
Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas's military wing (left), and Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade
Deif is believed to have been responsible for planning and executing the October 7 incursion into Israel
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike that killed Mr Deif was a 'significant milestone' toward achieving the goals of the war.
'The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organisation in disintegration,' he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas's military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the October 7 attack.
Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
The head of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, Deif had been among Israel's most wanted man for nearly three decades and on a US list of 'international terrorists' since 2015.
Israel had reportedly tried to kill him at least eight times - including in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2014 and in May 2021.
The attempts saw both of his legs and an arm blown off and his wife and two children killed.
Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Israel targeted Deif in a strike on July 13 that hit a compound on the outskirts of the city of Khan Younis, but there had been no immediate confirmation he was killed.
More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
The house where Deif was believed to have taken residence was hit with a 2,000lb (900kg) bomb, leaving a giant crater.
One of the founders of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, the former bombmaker, who studied physics, chemistry and biology at the Islamic University in Gaza, had led the unit for decades.
He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention before rising through the ranks.
Under his command, it carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis on buses and at cafes and built up a formidable arsenal of rockets that could strike deep into Israel.
He remained a mysterious, underground figure in Gaza. He never appeared in public, was hardly ever photographed and only rarely was his voice heard in audio statements.
Deif operated along with Yahya Sinwar, the Israeli military said.
'During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing,' it added.
There were rumours the sinister mastermind of the October 7 attacks had been killed earlier this month, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in mid-July it was 'still not absolutely certain' whether Deif was dead.
The announcement came a day after political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran.
Haniyeh, a multi-billionaire who had been living in exile in Qatar since 2019, was reportedly killed when an 'airborne guided projectile' hit his compound in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
After being appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Turkey and Qatar's capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The role enabled him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas' ally Iran - and as a relay between hardline figures like Yahya Sinwar and the outside world.
But many living in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, including members of Hamas, became disillusioned with Haniyeh as he became removed from the lives of people on the ground.
'The fact that he lived in a five-star hotel in Doha made him very unpopular with some of the Hamas figures on the ground in Gaza,' Dr Andreas Krieg, associate professor of Security Studies at King's College London, told MailOnline.
'He's not someone who the organisation is relying on very much. But it is clearly a very symbolic strike.'
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, pictured in Iran on Tuesday hours before his death
Haniyeh (pictured right) joined other senior Hamas officials on a private jet, undated
Displaced Palestinians leave western Khan Yunis to areas in the eastern parts of the city following reports of Israeli forces withdrawing from the area on July 30
Smoke rises from an Israeli air strike in Rafah as seen from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza strip, on July 29
Palestinians mourn for their relatives killed in Israeli airstrikes hit the eastern areas of Khan Yunis, at Nasser Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on July 28
Palestinians mourn lost relatives following an attack on Gaza City in the north, on July 29
While Iran has vowed 'revenge' for Haniyeh's death, it is not expected his killing will lead to a dramatic escalation of the regional conflict.
'What this offers is a head on a silver platter,' Dr Krieg added. 'Netanyahu can say this is the end of the organisation. And that's pretty much as close as Israel will ever get to defeating Hamas.
'But that can only work if Israel says now 'we're willing to enter ceasefire talks.''
'All sides don't want all out war. All sides want to maintain their reputation. Nobody wants to lose face. These people are replaceable.
'All sides will find a way in this tit-for-tat escalation to respond in measure beyond a certain ceiling... all sides have been pushing the threshold but on all accounts they have always tried not to breach it.'
In its 10-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
More than 80% of the population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, the vast majority crammed into tent camps in the south-west corner of the territory, with limited food and water.
This is the moment an out-of-control paraglider wiped out a hiker after crash landing on his first flight using a DIY kit.
The man had been flying over Mount Toratau in Russia's Bashkortostan Republic on July 29 before speeding out of control and smashing straight into the ground.
Footage from the incident shows the paraglider soaring over a green field at speed while hanging on to his yellow-winged flier.
But within seconds he comes crashing down before hitting an oblivious hiker head on, sending her flying backwards due to the impact.
A second clip shows emergency workers scrambling to rescue the woman as a team of five carry her on a stretcher down the mountain foothills to an ambulance.
Footage captured the moment a paraglider came crashing down from the sky before hitting a hiker in Russia
The woman went flying back after being smashed into by the man on the paraglider lost control of the DIY equipment
The woman was carried off the mountain on a stretcher and was later treated for a fractured collarbone, two broken ribs, and concussion
Hospital medics in nearby Sterlitamak treated her for a fractured collarbone, two broken ribs, and concussion, according to local media.
Russian Federation Ministry of Emergency Situations in a statement: 'In Bashkortostan, a paraglider fell on a tourist.
'On Mount Toratau in the Ishimbay district, a man made a hard landing directly on top of the woman.
'She was injured and unable to move on her own.'
They added: 'Emergency Ministry personnel and volunteers transported the injured woman on a stretcher to an ambulance.
'The woman has been hospitalised. The paraglider received minor bruises.'
It's unclear if police have charged the pilot with negligence.
It comes after a woman's paragliding flight to conquer her fears ended in tragedy in March when she slipped off her seat mid-flight and fell to her death in a Colombian forest.
Daniela Barrios had uploaded a photo to her social media account prior to the deadly flight and advised her friends and family that she was finally ready to get the better of her flying phobia.
Barrios and the pilot took off from the El Castillo mountain in the Quidio municipality of Calarca but during the flight she fell from her seat while they were flying over the Pradera Alta trail, according to the Calarca Fire Department.
The pilot was unable to stop and continued the flight until he was able to land.
A horrified witness saw her fall from the paraglider and immediately sought emergency assistance.
A search-and-rescue mission was launched and firefighters located Barrios body in the middle of the night.
She did not show vital signs when she was found and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Keir Starmer will face questions this afternoon after crisis talks with police over the outbreak of rioting following the Southport knife attack.
The PM summoned chiefs to No10 and will hold a press conference at 4pm after thugs again took to the streets in London, Hartlepool and Manchester.
In the capital, more than 100 people were arrested after crowds in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
People wearing England flags and waving banners saying 'enough is enough' and 'stop the boats' congregated outside Downing Street.
Violence flared after social media posts wrongly claimed the killing of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Keir Starmer has summoned police chiefs to No10 as thugs again took to the streets in London, Hartlepool and Manchester
HARTLEPOOL: An angry mob set fire to a police car
LONDON: Violence erupted on the streets of the capital as a flag-waving crowd clashed with police
MANCHESTER: Protesters were seen launching glass bottles at a police van
The angry scenes also included loud chants of: 'We want our country back' and: 'Oh Tommy Robinson', referring to the right-wing activist. One man wore a shirt with the slogan: 'Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary'.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Manchester police confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
According to the Manchester Evening News, this incident also saw chants of: 'We want our country back', while a group of men were seen jumping in the path of a bus, smashing its wing mirror and assaulting a passenger.
Aldershot appears to have escaped the violence seen in other parts of the country, but a demonstration there was still met by riot police.
The string of violent incidents follows similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
In the meeting this afternoon Sir Keir is expected to praise the 'bravery' of police in dealing with both the incident in Southport and its aftermath, and encourage them to use their powers to 'stop mindless violence in its tracks'.
Lord Walney, the Government's independent adviser on political violence, said he hoped the meeting would examine powers to 'refuse and prevent further so-called 'protests' that are being used by far right activists as a vehicle for serious disorder and violence'.
He said: 'There is a right to protest in the UK but that is not a right to riot.'
The meeting comes as a 17-year-old boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - has been charged with the murders of the three girls.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in a critical condition while two adults were also critically injured.
HARTLEPOOL: Rioters break down a fence as violence erupted in Britain for the second night running
HARTLEPOOL: One person was live streaming the chaos when an Asian man was punched by a thug as he tried to walk past in what appeared to be a racially motivated assault
MANCHESTER: Video shows protesters clashing with riot police with parts of the UK at boiling point
HARTLEPOOL: Protesters run towards riot police as chaos unfolded on the streets
HARTLEPOOL: Firefighters try and put out a blaze which completely destroyed a police vehicle
A judge has told of having 'stumbled into an alternative reality' when ruling in London's High Court in a battle between ex-partners over access to three-year-old twins who the mother says do not exist.
Lady Emma Arbuthnot has now said there is 'some evidence' that at least one child was born, in what she described as a 'perplexing' case.
The ex-husband from the separated couple insists he believes his wife was pregnant when they parted and gave birth to twin boys, who would now be aged three - and with whom he wants to have contact.
But his ex-wife denies ever being pregnant, while accusing her former partner of 'coercive and controlling behaviour' - and no births have been registered.
Yet the High Court heard there was evidence at least one child does exist, said by the ex-husband to have been born after the couple married in 2019 then split in 2020.
Lady Emma Arbuthnot has now said there is 'some evidence' that at least one child was born in a dispute between a former married couple, in what she described as a 'perplexing' case
London's High Court (pictured) has heard there is evidence at least one child exists
Lady Arbuthnot said in her ruling that she believed a birth to have taken place in a private hospital though was unable to say where the child was now.
She also told of being 'struck' by the difficulties of exploring facts without lawyers representing the couple.
The judge added that 'the Family Court cannot act as an investigator' and that a different conclusion 'may well' have been reached with more evidence.
Leading family barrister Lucy Reed described such cases as 'extremely challenging' for family courts.
She said: 'It would be difficult for an outsider to believe a tale involving the many twists and turns.'
The man, referred to as AA for legal reasons, said the woman - described as ZZ - had informed him of her being pregnant, seeing a midwife and also the babies' weight.
She told the court she had never been pregnant and her ex-husband 'doctored' evidence suggesting otherwise as 'revenge' after she reported one of his relatives to police.
Lady Arbuthnot's 74-page ruling found 'insufficient evidence' to say whether the woman gave birth to twins.
She added: 'This is an unusual case because either (AA) or (ZZ) had lied about the pregnancy and the birth of these children for more than three years.
'The lies one of them had told had been complicated, persistent and very well planned and executed.'
Locals living in a tiny village fear potential plans for a 2,000 new houses on nearby farmland will worsen their already 'nightmare traffic'.
Residents of Larling in Norfolk - which currently has around 100 homes - fear the area will lose its countryside charm if the proposals are given the green light.
Barkers Farm in the north of village was put forward by the farm's owners as part of Breckland council's call for potential developments another 1,900 homes.
Father and son duo Steve and Nick Lewin said they expected the 163-acre site . development would not be an extension of Larling but a new village altogether.
However locals believe the possible new wave of houses will exacerbate travel issues while others pointed out they would have lived in a town if that's where they wanted to live.
Dudley Growm, 77, said the traffic through the village was already 'horrendous' if there was an accident on the nearby A11 - and new houses would only make it worse.
Residents of Larling in Norfolk fear potential plans for a 2,000 new houses on nearby farmland will worsen their already 'nightmare traffic'
The tiny village only currently has 100 homes scattered across its picturesque scenery
'I can't pull out of our road safely most days as we live down a little track,' the retiree said.
'The road traffic is bad. My wife walks our dog 10 miles through the village and fields most days and it is dangerous.
'With almost 2,000 new homes that would be twice as many cars and I don't see how Larling would cope.
'There's been a few new developments crop up in nearby places and they've had to think about building a doctor's, dentist or a shop.
'We don't have anything here so all of that would have to be thought about.
'Hopefully it won't affect me if it takes 20 years to build it, I'm 77 so I might well not be here.
'We'd become one of the largest villages in Norfolk if it happened.'
Amber Grave, 49, has lived in her home in Larling for 30 years.
She said if she wanted to live in the middle of a busy town, she would have moved to one.
'It would be such a shame for them to build around here, I would be so upset and disappointed.'
She added: 'The road is a nightmare if there's any accidents on the A road, it's bad enough as it is without any more cars.
Father and son duo Steve and Nick Lewin of Bakers Farm said they expected the 163-acre site . development would not be an extension of Larling but a new village altogether.
However certain locals are outraged with the possible plans, stating they would have originally moved to a town if they wished to do so (pictured: resident Jan Scarlett)
Dudley Growm, 77, (pictured) said the traffic through the village was already 'horrendous' if there was an accident on the nearby A11 - and new houses would only make it worse
'I don't want to live in a town, I want to stay living in the countryside.'
The grandmother also claimed Larling does not have mains sewage and lacks the amenities needed for such a huge development.
She said: 'I can't see them putting a school or a surgery around here, maybe it's just to keep people happy.
'You have to think about all these things if you want to put thousands of houses in. There's nothing for kids to do at the moment - no parks or play areas.
'I know we've all been bored teenagers but you do worry about the state of the place if you have a lot of them hanging about. It's just fields after fields and it's lovely.'
Becky Smith, 48, move to the village for a slower paced and a calmer life in the countryside last September.
'I don't think the two primary schools we feed into have any space so that is something we have to think about,' the dog groomer said.
'We have a pub but you can't walk to it, it's too far and definitely not along these roads.
'The doctors' can't cope and the roads are so busy all of the time. We'd need a clear plan of how it was going to work.'
Joanna Hutnik, who renovated her new home for seven years, is defiant against the potential plans, adding: 'I moved here because it's not too busy.
'We wouldn't want anymore houses. We moved here because they built near us in our old place. Now it feels like houses are following us.
A locator map displaying where the current homes in Larling are and where the potential development site will be
Joanna Hutnik, (pictured with Rob Scott) who renovated her new home for seven years, is defiant against the potential plans, adding: 'I moved here because it's not too busy
Larling is one of three locations in the region which could become the new home for a large-scale development (pictured: local Laura Walker)
The village is very different to the other two proposed sites - one being Dereham which has a population of 19,000 may potential get an extra 2,500 on one of its brownsites
'You can see trees and fields everywhere and it's nice. I wouldn't want to lose that.'
Larling is one of three locations in the region which could become the new home for a large-scale development.
But the village is very different to the other two proposed sites - one being Dereham which has a population of 19,000 and may get have another 2,500 built on one of its brownsites.
And an old army base in Swanton Morley which may be transformed into a housing estate.
A further review of the plans by the public will take place in early 2025 prior before the proposal will be submitted for independent examination.
Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press, Nick Lewis said the family were aware that local people were 'up in arms' over the proposals.
However he believed, they were being portrayed unfairly.
'I think most people would have done the same thing if presented with the opportunity - and they're lying if they say they wouldn't,' he said.
'We did this based on the poor state of farming at the moment.
'It doesn't look like there's a light at the end of that tunnel and we were offered such good value for the land, we had to take it.'
This comes as Labour unveiled a major overhaul in planning laws as part of their bid to 'get Britain building' and deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.
An old army base in nearby Swanton Morley which may be transformed into a housing estate (pictured: Larling)
Nick Lewis said the family were aware that local people were 'up in arms' over the proposals - but he believes they are being portrayed unfairly (pictured: Larling)
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was among flagship legislation in the King's Speech as Sir Keir Starmer's agenda was set out to Parliament on July 17
The Government signalled their intent to remove the power from local residents to block new developments.
They warned their planning shake-up means communities will only be consulted on 'how, not if' homes and infrastructure are built.
Labour branded the current planning system a 'major brake' on economic growth and has vowed to press ahead with reforms.
A former police officer accused of killing former Channel Ten presenter and AFL umpire Jesse Baird allegedly broke into his share house six months beforehand to stalk the television star, according to new court documents.
Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, faces three new charges as police allege he shot dead Mr Baird and his Qantas flight attendant boyfriend Luke Davies in the inner eastern Sydney suburb of Paddington on February 19 in an act of domestic violence.
Police alleged the act stemmed from Mr Lamarre-Condon's previous relationship with Mr Baird. Officers have now also added a charge of aggravated break and enter with intent, according to court documents seen by Nine Newspapers on Thursday.
Lamarre-Condon is accused of breaking into Mr Baird's share house on August 17 last year to commit a serious indictable offence, six months before the alleged murders.
The alleged offence is listed on the charge sheet as 'stalking Jesse Baird'.
Police sources told Nine earlier this year that Baird told friends in the months before his death of seeing a shadowy figure at the end of his bed late at night.
Lamarre-Condon's lawyer John Walford told the publication he was 'a little bit surprised' about the break-in charge, but they would 'deal with it'.
He added that his client is 'hanging in there' as Lamarre-Condon enters his sixth month in custody.
Beau Lamarre-Condon, 29, faces three new charges as police allege he shot dead Mr Baird and Mr Davies
'It's a tough place, that's the way it is,' Mr Walford said.
Police allege Lamarre-Condon shot dead Mr Baird, 26 and Mr Davies, 29, with his service pistol at Mr Baird's home on February 19 and then dumped their bodies two days later in the NSW Southern Tablelands.
Mr Baird and Lamarre-Condon were previously engaged in what police described as an 'off and on' romance but Mr Baird had not wanted to pursue a relationship.
Lamarre-Condon, who used to regularly post pictures of himself with international celebrities on social media, turned himself in to police on February 23.
After briefly appearing in court that day, Lamarre-Condon was transferred to the maximum-security Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, where he was placed in protective custody due to his status as a policeman.
Prison authorities also deemed him potentially at risk because he was accused of extremely serious offences, had attracted saturation media attention and had never previously been in jail.
Police subsequently located the bodies of Mr Baird and Mr Davies on a property at Bungonia, about 180km south-west of Sydney.
Lamarre-Condon has been in protective custody and under constant surveillance at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater in Sydney's west for the past four months.
His mental state is reported to be deteriorating.
The bodies of Mr Davies (left) and Mr Baird were found on a property at Bungonia, about 180km south-west of Sydney
Police allege Beau Lamarre-Condon broke into Jesse Baird's share house in inner-city Paddington six months before the TV star and his new boyfriend were allegedly shot dead
'He's not doing real well at the moment,' a source close to the 28-year-old told Daily Mail Australia earlier this year.
'Obviously it's set in now - what's happened and the allegations and where he is. I think the rot's set in mentally-wise. He's at a low point at the moment.
'He's very down. He's hit the lows.'
Prison authorities do not necessarily consider Lamarre-Condon a particular suicide risk but his circumstances combine to suggest he would be vulnerable in jail.
Lamarre-Condon is yet to enter any pleas.
His case returns to Downing Centre Local Court on August 13.
The two domestic violence-related murder charges set to replace the two original murder charges as the case proceeds through the courts.
1800RESPECT
Follow the latest on the Huw Edwards scandal on MailOnline's live blog
Josie Gibson has slammed the BBC for paying Huw Edwards his 475k-a-year salary while he was suspended after sex images scandal, saying 'it makes my blood boil'.
The tearful This Morning host, 39, shook her head angrily and made the comments while discussing whether the BBC was wrong to continue paying the disgraced star.
Speaking on the Thursday This Morning show, she said it 'makes my blood boil' and 'as a mother, it makes my stomach turn'.
Speaking about one of the charges involving a child under nine, she said: 'I'm fuming,' before Craig Doyle agreed it is 'disturbing'.
The BBC admitted it knew that Huw Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his salary until he resigned in April.
The corporation said Edwards would have been sacked had he been charged over accessing indecent images while still working for the them, adding that it was 'shocked' at his 'abhorrent behaviour'.
Shockingly, the Welshman remained the third-highest BBC journalist despite coming off-air, according to the organisation's figures.
Josie Gibson has slammed the BBC for paying Huw Edwards his 475k-a-year salary while he was suspended after sex images scandal
The tearful This Morning host, 39, shook her head angrily and made the comments while discussing whether the BBC was wrong to continue paying the disgraced star
Edwards was surrounded by a media scrum as he left the court in central London
Friends of the ex-BBC News host said he kept his arrest 'a secret' and that they were stunned when news he had been charged was revealed this week (he is pictured reading the news)
Edwards is pictured leaving the court in London on Wednesday morning
This was the moment Edwards entered his car before being driven away from the court
This was in spite of him only being on air for three months of the financial year ending in March.
Talent pay figures show that Edwards, 62, saw his pay increase shoot up from up to 439,999 to up to 479,999.
This put him only behind Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker, who was once again the BBC's highest paid star for the seventh year in a row on 1.35 million and Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball, who brought in up to 954,999.
Appearing on This Morning alongside Gibson, Tim Campbell said: 'Its really difficult, as an employer youre sometimes faced with disciplinary processes which mean you may have to suspend an individual while an investigation is going on.
'The headline figures around paying someone can be very inflammatory because nobody wants to see someone who has now admitted guilt receiving tax-payers money.
Today, betrayed staffers said the newsreader made a 'mockery' of the BBC and claimed he was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months.
The corporation faces yet more damaging questions after another of its biggest stars was revealed to be a sex offender after Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and others.
'It's unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie', one BBC employee said today.
It comes as the disgraced newsreader, 62, pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
The veteran news reader kept seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard today.
Edwards is pictured leaving the court after his brief appearance where he admitted to making indecent images of children
Edwards was flanked by police officers when he turned up for his court hearing on Wednesday
Edwards has since left the family home and has reportedly split with his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind (the pair are pictured together in 2018 in London)
Edwards faced a media frenzy as he approached Westminster Magistrates' Court
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
Huw Edwards: A timeline of shame Before pleading guilty to indecent images today, Edwards had faced an earlier scandal after being accused of paying a young person for sexually explicit images last year. April 2023 - Police were contacted but 'no criminality was identified'. May 18, 2023 - A family member of the young person, who was 17 at the time, made an in-person complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter. May 19. 2023 - A complainant contacted the BBC in a 29-minute call to the BBC's audience services team, and the details were referred to the Corporate Investigations Team. June 6, 2023 - After getting no reply to the email, the Corporate Investigations Team tries to call the complainant but the call does not connect. July 5, 2023 - Edwards is last seen on air as he covered King Charles' visit to Scotland. July 6, 2023 - The Sun informs BBC Press Office about allegations against the star presenter. July 7, 2023 - The Sun published its exclusive which alleged that a BBC star, unnamed at the time, paid 35,000 for sexual content to someone beginning when they were 17. But a lawyer acting on behalf of the young person told The Sun there was 'no truth' to the claims. July 9, 2023 - The BBC confirms that a male presenter has been suspended from all duties. July 11, 2023 - Director-general of the BBC Tim Davie defends the delay in speaking to the BBC presenter. July 12, 2023 - Huw Edwards is revealed as the BBC presented by his wife Vicky Flind. July 13, 2023 - The Met Police said detectives from its specialist crime command have 'concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed November 8 - Edwards is arrested on suspicion of making indecent images of children. April 22, 2024 - Edwards resigns from the BBC having not appeared on air for months. June 26, 2024 - Edwards is charged with three counts of making indecent images of children. July 29, 2024 - Met Police first reveal the charges against Edwards in a press statement. July 31, 2024 - Edwards appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court and pleads guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, between December 2020 and August 2022. September 16, 2024 - This is when Edwards will be sentenced Advertisement
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail today.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind.
In a statement after Edwards appeared in court, the BBC said: 'The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
'The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.
'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
'During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.
'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards' actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
It comes amid questions over why the CPS waited weeks to confirm charges against the presenter.
The ex-News at Ten presenter was charged in June, but the details were only revealed on Monday, after the date of his first court appearance was released by Westminster Magistrates' Court.
A former attorney general said it was 'very puzzling' that the CPS did not publish details of the charges brought against Edwards around the time he was charged.
He added that the CPS's actions did not seem 'in accordance with' the principles of open justice, The Telegraph first reported.
The CPS denied it had purposely suppressed details about the presenter being charged or given him preferential treatment.
A CPS spokesperson said: 'Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.'
The charges mark a sensational fall from grace for the veteran broadcaster who until July last year was widely regarded to be at the height of his powers.
During a glittering four-decade career, he covered general elections and commentated on the weddings of both Prince Harry and Prince William.
In March 2023, Edwards was riding high on the back of a new three-year deal with the BBC after being widely praised for the way he led the coverage of the Queen's death.
In June that year, Edwards picked up the best live event honour at the Tric Awards for being among those to cover the state funeral of the late Queen, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards' special recognition award.
It came in the weeks after he had just fronted the coverage for King Charles' coronation as he led the BBC broadcast of the historic event.
Edwards was last seen on our screens on July 5 as he covered King Charles' visit to Scotland.
The cause of death for the 'boy in the attic' has been revealed four years after he vanished after telling his mother he was going to the grocery store.
Jaylen Griffin's badly-decomposed body was discovered by a maintenance man in the attic of 107 Sheffield Avenue in South Buffalo, New York, on April 12.
His father, Brian Griffin, has now revealed that Jaylen was stabbed to death with a sharp object, according to HNGN, citing the boy's death certificate - but it remains unclear how many times he was stabbed or when he was killed.
The 12-year-old had last been seen before heading out to the grocery store near his Warren Avenue home - just five miles from where his body was found - on August 4, 2020.
He was reported missing two days later, but police classed him as a runaway until his body was discovered nearly four years after his disappearance, kickstarting a homicide investigation.
Jaylen Griffin (pictured), 12, who mysteriously went missing nearly four years ago was discovered in the attic of 107 Sheffield Avenue in South Buffalo - just five miles from his home
The house at 107 Sheffield Avenue (pictured) in South Buffalo, New York has a chilling past as several reports have been made about dead bodies being found there
Close family friend and spokesperson pastor Tim Newkirk of GYC ministries told WIVB: 'How did he end up here? Was he moved? The questions are still remaining.
'How long was he dead? How long was he deceased? Was he found in something that was locked and had to be opened? And did a certain aroma come out that would be a major complaint to this community?
'This looks like the type of community where if anything is taking place somebody will report it, or say something.'
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said in a press conference on April 15 that Jaylen's body had been in 107 Sheffield Avenue 'for a significant amount of time.'
While he was unable to elaborate on how long the body had been there, Gramaglia said it was so deteriorated that the medical examiner's office had to confirm Jaylen's identity using dental records.
'First and foremost, I do want to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family of Jaylen,' Gramaglia said.
'This department has conducted extensive searches and I want Jaylen's family to know that we are working diligently to bring the next closure for the family.'
But while father has received a sense of relief since his son was found, mother Joann Ponzo will never know as she passed away due to illness and a 'broken heart' in September 2023.
But while father has received a sense of relief since his son was found, mother Joann Ponzo (pictured) will never know as she passed away due to illness and a 'broken heart' in September 2023
Jaylen's (pictured) body was so badly deteriorated that the medical examiner's office had to identify him using dental records
It wasn't only Jaylen's mystery that gave Ponzo grief as his brother, Jawaan had also been shot and killed in front of the family's home in November 2020.
After Jaylen's body was found, neighbors have revealed that they had seen people moving in and out of the house and police had responded to the home 'many times' over the years.
It turns out that the house where his body was discovered has a dark history, as Jaylen was the fourth body found on the property over the last four years, according to WIVB.
A series of 911 logs revealed that the address has been the subject of more than 160 complaints since 2007 - ranging from domestic violence, fire, wellness checks, and the discovery of bodies.
Local police records found that a call for a welfare check at 2.18 pm on June 23, 2020, resulted in the discovery of a dead body at the Upstate New York house.
Separately, on September 11, 2022, a report of another dead body at 2:27 pm resulted in an arrest.
Another dead body was found in the yard of the house a year later in August 2023 after a call was put into police at 5:27 am - making it the third gruesome discovery.
The identities of these three bodies have yet to be revealed, and it is unclear if the cases which did not result in an arrest were treated as suspicious. DailyMail.com have contacted the local police for further information.
The litany of eerie discoveries comes as it was revealed the address has a long history of troubled residents - including sex offenders and criminals out on parole.
Officials told WIVB that while the multi-room home is not an official halfway house, it has housed people recently out of prison. Jail records show that a sex offender lived in the property until last month.
Neighbors, who chose to remain anonymous, told the outlet they have been in the area long enough to see the house frequently change tenants over the years.
After Jaylen's (pictured) body was found, neighbors have revealed that they had seen people moving in and out of the house and police had responded to the home 'many times' over the years
Records from 911 logs show that over the last four years, there have been four dead bodies found at the address in Buffalo, New York
The identities of the other three bodies have yet to be revealed and it is unclear if these cases were treated as suspicious.
Jaylen was the most recent body found from that house, concluding a four-year search for him on April 12. His body was so badly decomposed that authorities has to identify him using dental records.
Notably, 107 Sheffield is not where he and his family lived. Him and his family lived around five miles away from this house.
The development came too late for Jaylen's grieving mother, Joann Ponzo, who was laid to rest in September without knowing what had happened to her son.
Ponzo, 48, died at Sisters of Charity Hospital after her health rapidly deteriorated. It is unclear why she was sick, but friends and loved ones have said they suspect her illness was only aggravated by the loss of her children.
Three months after Jaylen's disappearance, Ponzo's elder son, 18-year-old Jawaan, was gunned down just steps away from the family home.
Kareema Morris, founder of Bury the Violence, worked closely with Ponzo before her death. Ponzo showed Morris a drawing that she found in their house weeks after Jaylen's disappearance. It was scrawled with a message: 'I'm gone already.'
Jaylen was last seen leaving his home on Warren Avenue in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. His mother told People in 2021 that he disappeared shortly after walking his new puppy.
Joann Ponzo (pictured), 48, died at Sisters of Charity Hospital after her health rapidly deteriorated. It is unclear why she was sick, but friends and loved ones have said they suspect her illness was only aggravated by the loss of her children
Jaylen (pictured) was last seen leaving his home on Warren Avenue in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. He told his mother that he was heading back out after returning from a walk with his new puppy
He had reportedly said to his mother that he was heading back out, which 'wasn't unusual' as he would often carry people's back from nearby stores to earn some pocket change.
A maintenance worker for 107 Sheffield sounded the alarm when he stumbled upon a body in the attic of the multi-unit home. The worker said he didn't smell decomposing matter.
The new 911 police logs show that the call was made at 10.19am.
Homicide detectives arrived just before 10.30am and said they would need more time at the scene because of a 'dead on arrival.'
Morris also spoke at the press conference on Jaylen's body being found, where she shared a statement from the family thanking the community's combined efforts to bring Jaylen home.
Jaylen would have turned 16 years old on April 22. A birthday memorial service was held in his honor.
San Franciscos Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center will begin readmitting former residents it was forced to move out over the past two years after it regained federal certification to care for patients. Salgu Wissmath/The Chronicle 2023
San Franciscos largest skilled nursing facility, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, will begin readmitting former residents it was forced to move out over the past two years while it underwent a grueling process to regain federal certification to care for patients.
At least 10 former residents are slated to return in the coming weeks, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, which oversees the public hospital. This week, one new resident moved in.
The 150-year-old Laguna Honda houses about 400 residents and has a third of the citys skilled nursing beds. It came under scrutiny in 2021 when two residents overdosed but survived. That triggered inspections that found deficiencies and safety violations, including many residents testing positive for narcotics.
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As a result, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services revoked the hospitals eligibility to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, which pays for about 90% of residents care. That brought Laguna Honda to the brink of closure because it receives most of its funding for patient care from those payments. CMS mandated that Laguna Honda begin transferring residents to other facilities and prepare to be shut down.
Twelve of the 41 residents who moved out in 2022 died shortly after, raising concerns that the move may have contributed to their death. The transfers were halted after the city attorney filed a lawsuit to stop the discharges.
The hospital regained Medicaid certification in 2023 after demonstrating it had improved safety and monitoring procedures and retrained staff. It regained Medicare certification in June, which meant it could begin admitting new residents and bring back the residents who previously transferred out.
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Record-breaking Team GB diver Tom Daley has paid tribute to his family and his late father as his latest medal success - and given a hint about whether he will compete in one more Olympics.
Daley, who won silver at Paris 2024 to take his medal tally to five, spoke of son Robbie getting to see him compete for the first time at an Olympics - Daley's fifth.
He also reminisced fondly of his inspirational father Robert, who died a year before Daley won his first Olympic medal as an 18-year-old at London 2012.
He was bronze in the 10m platform event that summer, before clinching bronzes at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 as well as synchronised 10m platform gold in Japan.
Daley, also known for his knitting while watching fellow competitors at poolside, won silver at Paris 2024 on Monday with partner Noah Williams.
Five-time Olympic medallist Tom Daley has been speaking about whether he could take part in the next Summer Games scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028
He was interviewed today on ITV by Good Morning Britain's Sian Gibson and Craig Doyle
Tom Daley paid tribute to his late father Robert, who died of a brain tumour in 2011
The presenting pair talked to Daley, 30, after he won silver at Paris 2024 earlier this week
He was teased today on TV by ITV's Good Morning Britain presenter Craig Doyle, who told the diver: 'You look tired.'
Daley joked, 'Oh, thanks!', before opening up in his emotions following his latest Team GB glory.
He said: 'It's nice my kids will be able to look back and see all the things I did. It has been great to come back.
'Will I get to do another one? I went to Paris because Robbie wanted to see his dad at the Olympics.
'He said, "I want to see you dive". I thought I was done after Tokyo but when I decided to go again my husband was so supportive of it. It's hard when two parents are working and also training for the Olympics.'
Daley also recalled his father Robert, who died of a brain tumour in 2011 aged 40.
Tom, from Plymouth, said: 'My dad was my biggest cheerleader.'
When asked whether he might compete in a sixth Olympics, with the next one due to be staged in Los Angeles in 2018, he said today: 'We'll see,. I'll be 34 then, I don't know if I'll be able to get out of bed then!
'I thought I was done after the last one and here I am, so Robbie has already cashed in his token, so maybe Phoenix will want to cash in a token - who knows?'
Daley made his Olympics debut aged just 14 at Beijing 2008, also becoming the youngest diver to reach a final - though had to wait four years for his first meal, that bronze at London 2012.
The Olympic diver, who has been competing at his fifth Olympiad in Paris, told how he thinks about his father 'every day' after he passed when he was just 17
His father Robbie died aged 40 in 2011 following a long five year battle with brain cancer
Tom got stuck into some knitting as he watched the Women's Synchronised 3m Springboard Final at the Aquatics Centre on the first day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Saturday
He finally won gold at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Summer Games held in 2021, alongside Matty Lee in the synchronised 10m platform event.
Daley wept on the podium and told interviewers afterwards: 'I was gone, I was blubbering. To finally have this around my neck - I've been diving over 20 years.'
And after his latest feat, Daley said earlier this week: 'This year has felt like a bonus really - 19 months ago, I was sitting on my sofa doing nothing, and deciding to come back because my son - he wanted to see me at the Olympics.
'And now to be here with a silver medal, to be diving with Noah and, you know, to be diving in front of my family, it was really special.'
He described today how son Robbie inspired him to take on Paris 2024, saying: 'We went to a museum and at the end there was this inspirational video about what it means to be an Olympian and at the end I was crying.
'My husband turned to be and said, "Oh, no, I know what this means", and Robbie was like, "Whats the matter, Pappa?"
'I explained that I missed diving and I miss the sport and after taking two years away from it, he said, "Well, Pappa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics", and that was it.
'The family and supporters really are the unsung heroes of Olympians and give you everything you need to help you perform at your best.'
Daley was yesterday seen supporting Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson as they took bronze in the women's event.
On Saturday, he was filmed knitting cardigans as he gave his support to Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew as they secured a bronze in the women's synchronized 3m springboard.
Daley regularly knitted while poolside at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as he watched his team-mate Jack Laugher secure a bronze medal.
Tom Daley 's husband Dustin Lance Black, 50, took to Instagram with a series of family snaps as they celebrated the diver's Olympic win in Paris on Monday
Daley beamed while showing off his medal and cuddled up to his youngest son, before eldest Robbie could be seen proudly draped in a Union Jack flag
In another snap Oscar winner Dustin, 50, chocked back tears following his husband's silver
Daley was seen checking his knitting while watching the women's diving events yesterday
Daley was supporting British team-mates Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson
Daley has showcased his knitting skills regularly, showing off several pieces such as a cream garment, adorned with the Team GB logo in 2021.
Daley has previously spoken about the cathartic effect knitting has on his mindset during competitions, after setting up an Instagram page showing his fits called Made With Love By Tom Daley.
He said: 'When we went to Japan for the test event I actually took my knitting with me and was doing it during my competition because sometimes there's 45 minutes in between each dive so I'd sit there and knit and just take my mind off the competition completely. I'm obsessed!'
His film-maker husband Dustin Lance Black followed up this week's silver medal achievement by sharing on Intagram a series of family photos.
They had dressed their sons Robbie, six, and 16-month-old Phoenix in T-shirts that read 'That's My Papa'.
Daley beamed while showing off his medal on the podium and cuddled up to his youngest son, while eldest Robbie was draped in a Union Jack flag.
In another snap Oscar winner Dustin, 50, was seen choking back tears - captioning the post: 'Spectacularly special day.'
The Southport knife suspect was once known to be a 'quiet' schoolboy who starred in a West End show before he was accused of killing three little girls on Monday.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, was named and pictured for the first time today, as he appeared in Liverpool Crown Court charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
He is accused of carrying out the attack that killed innocent Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, as they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the Merseyside town.
During the rampage, the boy, who turns 18 in just six days, is also accused of attempting to kill eight children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
Up until now, the teenager's identity could not be revealed because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances.
But after a successful application to the judge by the Mail, Rudakubana's name can now be reported.
Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents in 2006 before his family relocated in 2013 to the quiet village of Banks - a 15 minute drive from Southport.
Axel Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport with a 'curved kitchen knife'
Court artist drawing of Rudakubana covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court
Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, now 17, pictured as a child, is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others
Bebe King, aged six, was also killed in the attack. A teenager is set to appear in court charged with three counts of murder
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
Leanne Lucas, who organised the Taylor Swift-themed holiday club, has had life-saving surgery and is now awake, her family said on Wednesday
His father, who moved to the UK for a better life in 2002, reportedly 'came across quite educated and presentable' while his brother, who was 'wilder and more boisterous', 'was a lot more talkative'.
Why did the judge name Rudakubana?
Usually a defendant under the age of 18 is granted anonymity during court proceedings. This means media are not allowed to name or picture them unless there are exceptional circumstances. Today, however, Judge Andrew Menary KC decided to name Axel Rudbakubana. The judge at Liverpool Crown Court listened to 20 minutes of legal submissions before declining to make an order to protect the teen's identity. He said: 'Whilst I accept it is exceptional giving his age, principally because he is 18 in six days' time, I do not make an order under section 45. 'Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.' He noted that any order would have been lifted on Rudbakubana when he turned 18 anyways. The judge's decision comes after misinformation spread by fake news websites and Russian state media wrongly identified the suspect. The false claim said the suspect had arrived to the UK by boat last year sharing claims he was an M16 watchlist. It led to violent riots in Southport and beyond which saw dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire. Advertisement
Schoolmates described Rudakubana as a 'very quiet' boy who 'turned up in class one day' with teachers instructing pupils to 'make him welcome' as he had moved from 'quite far away'.
In a bid to 'branch out and meet kids in the community,' the boy reached out to the drama group at his school, which later saw him perform on the West End stage.
The friend told The Times: 'I think it was more him trying to branch out and meet kids in the community he was enjoying it but you know, with musical theatre kids they're very extroverted.
'He wasn't, he was very quiet. He didn't really talk about himself that much.'
The threatre group, which included 'singing, dancing and musical theatre, on one occasion ended up on a show at the Shaftesbury Theatre on the West End.
On another, they created 'their own movie' which was reportedly shown at a Vue cinema where they walked down a red carpet.
'He wasn't a normal theatre kid. He wasn't pushing for main leads and stuff like that,' the friends father added. 'When they went to London, he'd just got involved, he enjoyed it.'
The revelations about the teenager's early school days come as he appeared in court accused of using a 'kitchen knife with a curved blade' during Monday's rampage.
Rudakubana was driven to Liverpool Magistrates Court this morning in a white van, surrounded by a convoy of police vehicles.
Appearing in the dock he wore a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers and pulled his sweatshirt over his face above his nose, keeping his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
In the afternoon he was taken to Liverpool Crown Court. As he arrived in the same white van, dozens of people stood on the side of the road shouting, with one man having to be held by back police officers.
Rudakubana (pictured in a video) could not previously be named because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances
Another young picture of Rudakubana who previously took part in a West End show
Rudakubana seen arriving at court in a police convoy
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police vehicles leaves Liverpool Crown Court
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police cars leaves Liverpool Crown Court
A provisional trial date set to last six weeks, was scheduled for January 20 next year, also taking place at Liverpool Crown Court.
Rudakubana spent the entire 55 minutes of the hearing covering his whole face, with his grey sweatshirt pulled up to his hairline and at times rocking back and forth, side to side.
He will next appear at Liverpool Crown Court on October 25 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
Until then he will be remanded in youth accommodation detention.
Judge Menary told the defendant, who did not acknowledge the judge and continued to keep his head down: 'You are remanded to youth detention accommodation until these proceedings have been completed.
'That position might change when you achieve your majority in a short while.'
Throughout the hearing, the judge explained why he had chosen to release the identity of the suspect.
Judge Menary said he had to balance the risk to the suspect's family and the risk to him in custody with the public interest accurately reporting his identity.
Far-right mobs took to the streets of Southport and and other major UK cities this week after a fake news website spread misinformation about the identity of the suspect.
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
Police chiefs arrive to meet Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss clashes following the Southport stabbing
Russian state media were among those falsely claiming that the suspect had arrived by boat to the UK last year, sharing claims that he was on an M16 watch list.
It led to violent riots, seeing dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire.
Rudakubana's identity was revealed in a bid to quell tensions that have been building after more riots broke out in London, Manchester Hartlepool, and Aldershot last night.
Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the defendant's family and the initial risk while in custody against the public interest in accurately reporting his identity.
He said: 'By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.
'Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.'
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest in Whitehall, with further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.
Chief Constable Mark Webster said events in Hartlepool were 'mindless thuggery' as he revealed 150 had attended the riot, with 11 people being arrested at this time.
The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
He said: "There is an opportunity to go out and damage things, and just exhibit a bit of violence. I don't think there is a principle at stake, this was not a legitimate protest or demonstration.
"I think there is some mindless thuggery and that's why we are being really proactive to go out and arrest people. There's no excuse for last night."
On Tuesday night, an angry mob took to the streets of Southport after a vigil to remember victims of the mass stabbing at the workshop attended by 25 children.
This afternoon, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called a meeting to discuss the ongoing violence.
He told police chiefs: 'I wanted to send a message to each of you and through you, your officers, to say that this Government supports the police, supports what you are doing and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
'So, this Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.'
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones and chief constables from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police all attended the No 10 meeting.
The Prime Minister was also joined by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, leaves Liverpool Magistrates' Court after being charged with three counts of murder
The suspect was surrounded by a convoy of eight police cars and vans, with officers fearing they could be met with angry protesters following Monday night's riots
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: 'We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
False claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat had sparked riots across Southport on Tuesday night, despite pleas from one of the victim's mother's for calm.
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured. Five men have been arrested following that incident.
After rioting broke out, Elsie's mother, Jenni Stancombe, wrote on Facebook: 'This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
'The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'
Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had 'hijacked' a vigil for victims and will 'feel the full force of the law', while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as 'violent attacks from thugs on the streets', which she branded 'appalling'.
The Prime Minister is set to face questions this afternoon after crisis talks with police over the outbreak of rioting following the Southport knife attack.
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Yesterday floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon
Friendship bracelets reading 'Beautiful Swifties' are seen next to electric tea lights amid floral tributes for the victims of a deadly knife attack at the Atkinson in Southport
On Wednesday, a clean up operation took place outside the mosque, with residents coming together to clear roads where fires had been set and rebuild walls which had been knocked down.
Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.
More than 100 people were arrested in London after crowds gathered in Whitehall turned on police, throwing bottles and cans at officers in riot gear.
Some were heard shouting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, while others shouted 'Rule Britannia', 'save our kids' and 'stop the boats' and chanting 'you're not English any more'.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions. Some officers suffered minor injuries.'
Responding to last nights riots, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'The scenes of disorder and violence yesterday evening were completely unacceptable.
'There is no place for criminality on our streets and I fully support the Met Police taking action against those intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city.'
The dramatic moment when a group of would-be pickup truck thieves rammed a police cruiser, running right on top of it, was captured on video with authorities believing the group was on their way to commit 'more serious crimes.'
The shocking incident occurred on July 25 in Dallas. Multiple officers were responding to the reported theft of a Chevy Tahoe truck at an apartment complex when the ramming occurred.
The driver, Damon Price, 21, 'intentionally accelerated,' Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a press conference this week, driving on to the hood of the police cruiser.
After the attempted robbers rammed the car the four suspects, all dressed in black and wearing masks, made a run for it. One of the suspects, Deantae Moore, 19, who has an outstanding warrant for double homicide, was held at the scene of the crash by officers as the other cops gave chase.
At that point, another of the suspect, Erik Lampkin-Scarborough, 17, fled from the car while armed with a Glock handgun. He was then shot by Officer Travis Marks, the chief said.
Officers were responding to a report of a stolen Chevy Tahoe red pick up at an apartment complex in Dallas on July 25
Body cam footage shows the moment one cruiser arrived on the scene only for the driver of the truck to intentionally ram the car, landing on top of the hood
The suspect was treated at the scene before being rushed to a local hospital. Bodycam footage shows the officers reassuring him that an ambulance was on its way.
Chief Garcia said in a press conference this week that none of the suspects fired on the officers. However, Garcia added that ramming a police cruiser is considered aggravated assault. Garcia added that the cops have his full support.
The suspects were heavily armed, the chief went on to say. Among the guns recovered was a Glock with an extended magazine, two other guns were found in the car.
'This is not a choreographed dance. Officers werent going to wait until a masked individual with a firearm was going to turn on the officers and shoot first. The proper thing would have been done for the individual not to run out of the car, not to be armed and to have given up,' Garcia said.
'The gun carried by Lampkin-Scarbrough was stolen out of the city of Dallas in February and, again, had been modified with an extended magazine and a Glock switch,' Garcia said.
Another of the cops, Officer Timothy Steed, who was a passenger in the car that was hit by the truck, shot four times at a suspect but did not hit him. One of the suspects, who has not been named, managed to escape.
The responding officers quickly gave chase as the four heavily armed suspects attempted to flee
One of the suspects is shown after his apprehension following a brief chase
Dallas Police Chief Eric Garcia said that he believes the group were on their way to commit 'more serious crimes'
Suspect Deantae Moore, 19, shown left, had an outstanding warrant relating to a March double homicide, one of his alleged partners in crime, Damon Price, 21, is who right.
'There was about four or five cops shooting at the suspects,' witness Michelle Gonzalez told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Deantae Moore was wanted for a double murder that occurred outside of a Dallas convenience store in March.
According to the police, Moore was buying a Glock from two other men, named as Kamari Smith-Capps and Camren Stacy, 18, whom he killed.
'The damage that he did and caused over nothing, nothing, pride and ego. Thats it,' Smith-Capps' mother, Holly, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth following news of Moore's arrest.
In a separate interview, Holly Smith-Capps told The Dallas Morning News: 'I struggle daily just wanting to live. He was all I had, literally all I had and all I lived for.'
Garcia spoke to the suspects being involved in gang activity during Monday's press conference.
'My 32 years of policing tell me that this was not just a joy ride with someone stopping at an apartment complex. I feel that there was something far more nefarious planned,' he said.
'Someone is alive today, I fully believe, because of the actions of our men and women and the actions of our officers that day.'
One of the suspects did not get very far as he was held at the scene of the ramming by an officer
The moment when Damon Price was caught by the cops was caught on bodycam footage
Garcia went on to say that officers are continuing to investigate and that additional charges are possible.
'Not all the time, but oftentimes this is the reason why individuals steal cars is to commit more serious crimes,' he said.
The suspect who escaped has yet to be publicly named.
None of the responding officers were injured.
Her parents have broken their silence
EXCLUSIVE
The ride-on lawnmower at the centre of a mother-of-three's 'suspicious' late night death has a safety feature designed to stop the vehicle from moving when no one is sitting on it.
Frances Crawford, 49, was found dead at her home on Thomas Road at Upper Lockyer, southeast Queensland, at 3.40am on Tuesday after police were called to the property following reports she had been crushed by a ride-on lawnmower.
Police on Thursday announced the case was being treated as suspicious - just hours after ten cop cars - including several forensics vehicles - were seen descending on the rural property.
Now, Daily Mail Australia can reveal Husqvarna ride-on-mowers - like the one towed away from the property on Tuesday - are equipped with a built-in 'kill switch'.
Kill switches, a common feature on ride-on mowers, work by turning off the device's major systems - like its engine and blade - when a driver leaves the seat.
However, the setting - which operates via a pressure sensor situated under the seat - can be disabled - and it is not unusual for riders to do so for ease of use.
It is also unclear how effective this feature would be in preventing injury if a lawnmower encountered trouble on a slope and rolled down an embankment - as was initially reported to be the case in Ms Crawford's death.
The revelation comes as police work to piece together the circumstances surrounding the unusual death, with detectives reportedly baffled as to why Ms Crawford was outside mowing at that time of night in the middle of winter.
Frances Crawford, 49, (pictured) was found dead at her home on Thomas Road, at Upper Lockyer, near Toowoomba, in south-east Queensland, at about 3.40am on Tuesday
Detectives spent Tuesday collecting evidence from the home (including the lawnmower, pictured)
Husband Robert Crawford (pictured) is an squadron leader - a senior role and the equivalent of a Major in the Army - who operates out of the Royal Australian Airforce Amberley Base
Temperatures in Toowoomba early on Tuesday morning plunged to as low as -5C.
Two days into the investigation, police revealed on Thursday that they have now 'deemed the death as suspicious' following 'further investigations'.
However, detectives are still waiting on the results of forensic testing - including autopsy results.
Nine police cars were seen arriving at the property, which is located in bushland at the end of a 1km-long driveway.
The vehicles included two forensics vans, detectives in a four-wheel drive, a ute filled with forensics supplies, two patrol vehicles, and uniformed officers in an unmarked car.
Ms Crawford is a psychologist who grew up in the Toowoomba region.
Her husband Robert Crawford is a RAAF cargo plane pilot and squadron leader - a senior role and the equivalent of a Major in the Army - who operates out of the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley, about 8km southwest of Ipswich.
Over the past two decades, the couple have lived around Australia - including in Sydney, Adelaide and in Queensland - as Sqn Ldr Crawford worked numerous roles within Australian Defence Force.
Pictured above is one of the nine police cars that arrived at the property on Thursday
A police vehicle is seen leaving the rural property on Thursday afternoon after the case was deemed suspicious
Forensics equipment could be seen in one of the arriving cars
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Crawford's parents Joke and Ben Pilon said their son-in-law Robert was devastated by his wife's death.
'He's broken,' Ms Pilon said.
'They lived here happily together.'
Tributes have begun to flow for Ms Crawford who has been remembered for her 'gentle nature' and kindness.
Her brother, David Pilon, said she had 'a loving heart'.
'She loved Jesus and it is a great comfort to her family and friends that she is now at peace in heaven,' he told the Toowoomba Chronicle.
Ms Crawford's family said that her gentle grace and compassionate nature will be missed by everyone in a statement to Seven News.
'She cared deeply about the people around her and put their needs before her own,' it read.
'While Frances was taken from her family far too soon, she touched the lives of so many people during her 49 years.'
Ms Crawford is a psychologist who grew up in the Toowoomba region
He added that she had a 'beautiful soul inside and out'.
Quality Life Psychology Services said she was a 'dearly loved and well-respected member' of their team.
'Frances always took the time to ask after others with kindness and consideration, often responding with humility and thoughtful humour,' the clinic said.
'Frances was easy to be around and her gentle nature will be sadly missed but long remembered by her colleagues, friends and clients at Quality Life Psychology Services.
'Our hearts and prayers are with Frances family at this tragic time.'
Ms Crawford was also an active member of Toowoomba's Restoration Church.
'She loved Jesus and lived a life which reflected him well,' Pastor Peter Sondergeld told Seven News.
'She was a beautiful person and her passing has left a hole in our hearts.
This video is no longer available
This video is no longer available
Police have launched an investigation to find the thug who punched a lone Asian man as he walked along a street in Hartlepool last night.
Hartlepool erupted into violence for the second night yesterday as anger continues to grow over the Southport stabbing which claimed the lives of three young girls.
As angry mobs descended on the seaside town, footage livestreamed on TikTok surfaced of a young man believed to be of black or ethnic origin being punched.
In what appeared to be a racially motivated assault, the young man could be seen walking on Lowthian Road in Hartlepool.
As the lone walker approached the end of the street to turn the corner, an unidentified yob struck him in the face causing him to stumble a couple of steps backwards.
DO YOU KNOW THE MEN INVOLVED? EMAIL ARTHUR.PARASHAR@MAILONLINE.CO.UK
A lone Asian man was punched in the face by a thug in Hartlepool as he walked down the street as violence ensued for a second night as anger grows after the Southport stabbing, which claimed the lives of three young girls
The crowd can be heard yelling racial slurs at the man following the assault. Police are now investigating the incident
The group standing at the end of the road can be heard yelling a series of racial slurs towards the assaulted man as he turned around and walked back in the direction from which he came.
Cleveland Police have now urged the victim or anyone with information on his identity to come forward.
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: 'Detectives are investigating an assault towards a young boy of black or ethnic origin.
'Mobile phone footage that was posted on social media showed he had been punched to the face.
'It is believed to have occurred on Lowthian Road and detectives are urging him, or anyone who may know who he is, to come forward and contact police on 101.'
The shocking scene came as droves of angry mobs descended on Manchester and London.
But it was Hartlepool that saw the most chaotic riots, with yobs throwing objects at riot police, striking their shields and setting a police car on fire.
False speculation surfaced online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had travelled to the UK on a boat, which appeared to be fuelling the shocking violence which started outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and spread across the UK yesterday.
The misinformation is believed to have originated from a Russian-linked fake news website.
The suspect, who is from the nearby village of Banks, Lancashire, but was born in Cardiff, Wales, has been charged with the murders of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
The teenager, who cannot be named because he is under 18, has also been charged with ten counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. He has been remanded in custody and will appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court today.
Southport locals - including Elsie's mother - called for the violence to stop after police vans were set on fire and bricks were hurled in violence that left 53 officers injured on Tuesday.
But her wishes were ignored as angry mobs took to the streets - in other parts of the country - amid mounting anger as many were filled with an anti-migrant rhetoric.
Elsewhere in Hartlepool rioters set fire to a police car and series of pops could be heard from as it was destroyed.
HARTLEPOOL: A police car was torched by protesters as anger mounts over the Southport stabbings
HARTLEPOOL: Rioters broke down a fence as violence erupted in Britain for the second night running
HARTLEPOOL: Masked thugs stare down riot police as violence engulfed the town
Initially, there was a louder bang as the fuel tank went up in flames as right-wing protesters posed for selfies with the wreck after firefighters put the blaze out.
Missiles including glass bottles and eggs were also hurled at the police who were braced for attacks with shields after hundreds gathered in the town centre.
Officers shut off a large section of Murray Street, a busy road full of takeaways and shops.
It is understood the Salaam Community Centre came under threat and police were working to keep the area safe.
Rioters were also filmed shouting racist chants. Many had their faces covered and aggressively clapped their hands and waved their arms in the air during the violence.
Huw Edwards could face jail after he pleaded guilty to making 41 indecent images of children.
Any hope of him returning to broadcasting has also been extinguished by his convictions at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday.
The disgraced newsreader will be sentenced on September 16.
But many questions remain about his crimes, including how the vile indecent abuse pictures of children ended up on his phone in a WhatsApp chat with a paedophile.
How they swapped numbers and why the BBC's star newsreader didn't go to the police over indecent images of children sent to him by sex offender Alex Williams also remains unknown.
Instead they chatted over text for eight months in a period where Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philips funeral to the nation.
How did Huw Edwards end up on a WhatsApp chat with a paedophile who sent him child porn?
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
Alex Williams (pictured) was snared by Welsh police - who later discovered he had sent Edwards a series of indecent images of children
Detectives discovered last November that 25-year-old Alex Williams had been speaking with the former BBC anchor and sending him sick images over WhatsApp, passing the evidence onto Scotland Yard.
The pair chatted for several months, after apparently meeting on social media and then swapping phone numbers.
Ian Hope, prosecuting, told the court yesterday that Williams had sent Edwards 377 images, 41 of which were indecent and formed the charges to which the veteran broadcaster pleaded guilty yesterday.
Two of the images involved a child believed to be as young as seven, Westminster Magistrates Court heard.
Edwards, 62, received and opened seven category A - the most indecent - images, 12 category B and 22 category C photos between December 2020 and August 2021.
Prosecutor Ian Hope told the court: 'The bulk of those indecent images were sent to Mr Edwards within a two-month period and indeed the bulk of those were within a two-day period,' Mr Hope said.
'Towards the end of February 2021, the male queried whether the children were too young, to which Mr Edwards responded to say not to send any more.
'At this point a further five images were sent and read by him.
'The final one was sent in August 2021.
'It depicted a male child of a younger age than the other images.
'Mr Edwards and the male discussed the images. Mr Edwards tells this male not to send him these images and no more were sent, although the chat continues.'
Alex Williams is yet to comment.
Why didn't Huw Edwards go to the police and keep chatting with paedophile Alex Williams AFTER being sent indecent images of children?
Huw Edwards' offending only came to light by chance - after police in South Wales found his number on the phone of another paedophile, Alex Williams, 25
Huw Edwards' offending only came to light by chance - after police in South Wales found his number on the phone of another paedophile.
The married father-of-five did not go to the police when Alex Williams began sending him child porn.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philips funeral to the nation.
UK law makes it an offence to make, distribute or possess all forms of child pornography.
It is also a so-called strict liability offence, meaning that the prosecution is not required to prove any intention or knowledge of criminal wrongdoing.
But experts have said that Edwards should have gone to the police - but didn't.
In fact he continued contact with Alex Williams afterwards.
'Just to be clear, if you are sent unsolicited child porn and report it immediately to the police you will not be prosecuted', according to one on the Roll On Friday legal blog.
'It happens quite often and there is never any question of prosecuting the reporting party. If you delete it and block the sender but don't report it there is a very small chance that you may later be prosecuted.
'There is a child victim at the other end of the offence and, if you don't report it, we can't investigate and protect the child'.
Why was Huw Edwards charged with 'making' child pornography?
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), 'making' an indecent image has been broadly interpreted by the courts.
It can range from opening an attachment to an email containing an image, to accessing pornographic websites in which indecent photographs of children appear by way of an automatic 'pop-up' mechanism.
In the case of Edwards, he received the illegal images as part of a WhatsApp conversation.
Speaking in Edwards' defence, his barrister Philip Evans KC said his client had not 'created' the images 'in the traditional sense of the word'.
A number of potential defences to the charge exist, including not seeing the images and having no reason to believe that the images were indecent, having a legitimate reason to possess the images, or if the images were unsolicited and not kept for an unreasonable amount of time.
But Edwards decided to plead guilty.
Will Huw Edwards go to prison?
The maximum prison sentence for making an indecent image of a child is 10 years.
Sentencing guidelines set the starting point for any jail term for possession of a Category A image at 12 months, with a range of 26 weeks to three years.
The starting point is 26 weeks for a category B image, and a community order for category C.
Aggravating features to be taken into account for Edwards include that the images included moving images, and the young age of the child thought to be seven to nine years old in two of the category A images.
The disgraced newsreader (sketched in the dock yesterday) will be sentenced on September 16.
Mitigating factors are Edwards' early guilty plea, his previous good character, his mental health issues, and his remorse.
Director at criminal defence firm Olliers Solicitors, Ruth Peters, said that while a jail term is an option open to chief magistrate Paul Goldspring during Edwards' sentencing hearing on September 16, a suspended sentence or community order is more likely.
Edwards is a first-time offender who pleaded guilty with a relatively low number of images, which were strong mitigating factors, she added.
The former Ten O'Clock News presenter will be added to the Sex Offenders' Register automatically following his guilty pleas.
'He will be required to notify the police of certain personal information within three days and must attend a local police station in person to notify,' Ms Peters said.
Who at the BBC knew that he had been arrested in November 2023? When were his bosses told he had been charged?
The BBC knew of Huw Edwards' arrest over accessing indecent images of children in November but continued employing him until April, the corporation has said.
BBC News Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall has said a 'handful of people' at the Corporation were told of Edwards' arrest.
In a statement, the BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
'At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
BBC News staff claim they did not find out he was charged until it was revealed on Monday.
But there are claims that the Met Police had contacted the BBC to tell them ahead of the announcement.
There are also major questions about why there was a gap of five weeks between Edwards being charged and it being announced and him being put in the dock.
But the corporation defended its actions last night, saying had he been charged while he was still employed there, rather than after he resigned, it would have acted immediately to dismiss him.
Despite the admission, questions were still circulating within the BBC about what bosses knew and when, and whether the star was given preferential treatment.
The corporation is also facing mounting pressure to publish the findings of its own secretive internal review into the conduct of the now disgraced household name, which it never made public.
Two children injured in the Southport stabbing have been discharged from hospital, with five children now 'in a stable condition'.
Alder Hey Children's hospital said it was 'delighted' that two youngsters had been released following the stabbing rampage on Monday that left three girls dead.
It comes as the teenage suspect, 17, appeared at Liverpool City Magistrate's Court charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
The tragedy saw Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, killed as they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Eight other children also suffered knife wounds, with two adults, dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes, injured as they tried to help.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Bebe King, aged six, was also killed in the attack. A teenager is set to appear in court charged with three counts of murder
Alder Hey Children's hospital said it was 'delighted' that two youngsters had been released following the stabbing rampage on Monday that left three girls dead
Forensic officers on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside, where a horrifying knife rampage took place
One of the five children recovering at Alder Hey hospital had been only transferred recently from Aintree University Hospital.
In a statement the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We are delighted that two of the children involved in Monday's awful incident have now been discharged.
'We continue to treat five children involved in the devastating incident in Southport on Monday, including one recently transferred to us from Aintree University Hospital.
'All the children in our care are currently in a stable condition. Out heartfelt sympathies remain with all those affected by Monday's incident. We will not be providing any further information.'
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at the Liverpool court this morning where he was remanded to a youth detention centre.
The hearing last just five minutes. During that time the defendant, wearing a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers, pulled his sweatshirt of his face above his nose and kept his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
The boy, from the village of Banks, just outside of Southport, is due to appear in Liverpool Crown Court later on today.
The teenager was taken to the magistrates court in a white van, flanked by a convoy of police cars.
There was also a large police presence outside the court amid fears that angry protesters would turn up after a series of riots swept across the country in recent days.
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest in Whitehall, with further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.
On Tuesday night, an angry mob took to the streets of Southport after a vigil to remember victims of the mass stabbing at the workshop attended by 25 children.
The defendant, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is accused of entering a dance studio in Hart Street and attacking children and adults who were inside on Monday afternoon.
The youth's identity has not been revealed because suspects under the age of 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases.
In a statement Merseyside Police said: 'We can confirm that a 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice; 10 counts of attempted murder; and Possession of a bladed article, following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday, 29 July.
'The 17-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons, as he is under 18. He has been remanded in custody to appear tomorrow, Thursday 1 August at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.'
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: 'Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
'I would like to thank all of the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside Police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the North West.'
This is a breaking story. More follows.
Russian troops practiced installing dummy warheads onto launchers in the latest nuclear weapons drills intended as a threat to the West over its support for Ukraine.
Footage showed a military unit armed with Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems carrying out the third stage of exercises ordered by Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the drills would prepare the army and air force for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
This includes equipping launch vehicles with missiles 'and covertly advancing to designated position areas in preparation for conducting electronic launches'.
Last week, Putin's forces carried out nuclear drills with hulking Yars mobile missile launchers, each carrying warheads with a force six times the strength of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Russian armed forces carry out drills involving a MiG-31 aircraft and missiles
The missiles are capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads
The drills aim to prepare the army and air force for the combat use of nuclear weapons
A Russian nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile fired from a mobile launcher, undated
Russian units carried out the third stage of exercises designed to prepare for nuclear war
This includes equipping launch vehicles with missiles 'and covertly advancing to designated position areas in preparation for conducting electronic launches'
The Interfax news agency reported that missile launcher crews were set to move over 100km to practice camouflage and deployment techniques. The systems can also be mounted on truck carriers or deployed in silos.
Naval forces carried out similar drills last month, practicing 'hitting the button' on a warship believed to be in the Baltic Sea.
The drills came as the US announced fresh sanctions against the Kremlin, prompting Russia's deputy chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev to declare that Moscow should inflict 'maximum harm on the USA and their 'f***king allies' as tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine's foreign backers.
The Iskander-M used in the most recent drills is a short-range ballistic missile system with the capability to carry both conventional and non-strategic - or battlefield - nuclear warheads.
One of the most advanced tactical missile systems in Russia's arsenal, it has a range of 250-310 miles, reaching speeds of up to Mach 6-7.
Conventional versions of the missile have been used in Ukraine.
Troops were also seen loading a missile onto a MiG-31 as part of the drills.
Moscow has claimed Putin ordered the drills tactical nuclear drills to 'cool the hot heads in Western capitals'.
It followed French President Emmanuel Macron hinting at sending European troops to fight in Ukraine earlier this year.
Former British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron also said Kyiv had the right to use weapons provided by London to strike targets inside Russia.
Both statements infuriated warmonger Putin who is struggling to make significant progress in his invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, the US has permitted Kyiv to use American missiles to attack border region targets inside Russia used to hit Ukraine.
Russian ally Belarus has also been involved in the tactical nuclear tests.
Putin supplied Belarus with such weapons.
Russian defence ministry channel Zvezda said: 'The Kremlin has repeatedly noted that the nuclear manoeuvres were a response to harsh Western rhetoric in Ukraine and NATO's eastward expansion.
'After Finland and Sweden joined the North Atlantic Alliance, our borders with the military bloc hostile to Russia expanded.'
In the latest clash, the Kremlin said today that any F-16s delivered to Ukraine by allies would be shot down and have little impact on the battlefield, in response to reports that the first fighter jets have arrived.
'Their number will gradually decrease, they will be shot down... But of course, these deliveries will not have any significant impact on the development of events on the front,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
For more than two years, Ukraine has pleaded with Western allies for the US-made fighter jets - long considered the crown jewel in the sprawling list of military hardware Kyiv has sought from its Western backers.
The F-16 has been touted for its precision, speed and range.
A Russian nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile launching, undated
Huge trucks involved in the drills aimed at preparing for nuclear launches
Moscow has claimed Putin ordered the drills tactical nuclear drills to 'cool the hot heads in Western capitals'
The third set of drills came as Russia pledged to shoot down any F16s delivered to Ukraine
A USAF F-16 fighter takes off during an annual joint air exercise with South Korea, in 2017
Kyiv hopes the arrival of the fighters will enable it to better protect itself from Russian bombardment.
Several NATO countries have pledged to supply varying numbers of the fighter jets and have been training Ukrainian pilots and crews for months.
Amid a blistering Russian air campaign in recent months, President Volodymyr Zelensky has placed Ukraine's need for improved air defences at the top of his agenda at meetings with allies.
During an interview with AFP in May, Zelensky said Ukraine needed around 130 F-16s to secure parity with Russian aviation.
Ukraine's partners, however, have promised less than 100 F-16s to date, with most of the planes likely to arrive over the course of years following the substantial training of the pilots that will fly them.
A notorious Just Stop Oil activist is finally in prison after being arrested for a protest at Heathrow Airport while awaiting sentencing for throwing soup over a painting.
Phoebe Plummer, 22, was sent to HMP Bronzefield, a women's prison near Ashford in Surrey, following an appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday.
She had been arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of criminal damage after spraying paint on departure boards at Heathrow along with fellow activist Jane Touil, 58.
Plummer and Touil were both remanded into custody over the Heathrow incident until August 28, to appear at Isleworth Crown Court for a case management hearing.
It comes after Plummer and another activist, Anna Holland, also 22, were warned last Thursday to prepare for jail after being found guilty of criminal damage at Southwark Crown Court over a separate incident at London's National Gallery in October 2022.
The duo threw tinned soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers, with prosecutors claiming they caused as much as 10,000 worth of damage to the artwork's frame.
Phoebe Plummer (left), 22, and Jane Touil (right), 58, were remanded into custody after spraying orange paint on passenger information screens at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday
Phoebe Plummer is arrested on suspicion of criminal damage at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday
Police officers remove Phoebe Plummer after arresting her at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday
The judge in that case said Plummer and Holland would be released on bail until they are sentenced on September 27 in Southwark, but warned them to come to the court 'prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison on that date'.
As for the Heathrow protest on Tuesday, Plummer and Touil allegedly caused 50,000 worth of damage when they sprayed orange paint from large cylinders on departure boards, floors and glass walls inside the airport's Terminal Five.
Just Stop Oil claimed in a press release that during yesterday's court hearing in Westminster, Plummer told the judge: 'Sending peaceful protestors like me to prison isn't going to prevent us from resisting.
'You're upholding an abysmal system. And you're doing that to maintain business as usual. You won't be protected from the climate emergency.'
Speaking before the hearing, Touil was quoted by the group as saying: 'I have become increasingly terrified about climate breakdown and increasingly appalled by politicians' failure to take appropriate action.
Phoebe Plummer (left) and Anna Holland (right), were found guilty last Thursday of criminal damage at Southwark Crown Court over a separate incident at London's National Gallery in October 2022, when the duo threw tinned soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers (above)
Prosecutors claimed they caused as much as 10,000 worth of damage to the artwork's frame
Plummer were warned to be 'prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison' when they are sentenced in September for the demonstration at the National Gallery in 2022
'Convinced that the most effective thing I could do as an ordinary person was to take direct action to highlight the catastrophic situation we're in, I became a Just Stop Oil supporter.'
Touil said she was arrested for the first time in April 2022 and had been detained 'several times since' including one incident in November 2022 that saw her spend time on remand in prison after climbing an M25 gantry.
But she added: 'I will continue to act on my conscience to protect life and to challenge the greed, corruption and cowardice that are killing people right now. I refuse to die for fossil fuels.'
A video issued by Just Stop Oil on Tuesday showed Plummer and Touil carry out the protest near check-in desks for at least three minutes and 55 seconds without being approached by police officers or airport staff.
In the footage, one member of the public is heard exclaiming: 'Oh my goodness, what is this?'
Phoebe Plummer (pictured in March 2024) is regularly seen at Just Stop Oil demonstrations
Phoebe Plummer is a 22-year-old Just Stop Oil activist who is now being held in prison
Plummer studied social anthropology at Londons School of Oriental and African Studies
The Metropolitan Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, adding that officers remained in the area to 'deal with any further offences'.
Last Thursday, a judge told Plummer and Holland that they could be jailed after they 'came within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the most valuable artworks in the world' by pouring soup over the van Gogh painting.
The duo were found guilty of criminal damage by a jury after three hours of deliberations at Southwark Crown Court.
After the verdicts were read out, Judge Christopher Hehir who the week before jailed the co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion for five years at the same court told the activists that staff at the gallery had 'frantically' inspected the painting for damage after the incident.
'They were worried the soup may have dripped through by condensation,' he said.
Phoebe Plummer was sent to HMP Bronzefield which is a women's prison in Ashford, Surrey
HMP Bronzefield is a privately run female prison in Surrey which is managed by Sodexo
Inside one of the prison cells at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey where Plummer is now being held
Prosecutors believe the soup may have caused 10,000 worth of damage to the artwork's precious frame, he added.
The protesters, wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts, threw two tins of Heinz tomato soup over the 1888 work in October 2022, before kneeling down in front of the painting and glueing their hands to the wall beneath it.
Tomato soup covered the image, which is covered by glass, as well as parts of the gold-coloured frame. Visitors were escorted out by security, who then shut the doors to the room where the painting hangs.
A number of Just Stop Oil supporters were present in the court room as the verdict was delivered. A lawyer for Holland said they would consider whether to appeal.
The offence of criminal damage can be punished with a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.
In a separate protest, Just Stop Oil activists blocked an area at Heathrow Terminal Five today
In another protest on Monday, Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested at Gatwick Airport
The women's bail conditions stipulate that they must not carry glue, paint or any adhesive substance in a public place, and must not visit any galleries or museums.
Plummer was privately educated at St Mary's Ascot boarding school in Berkshire before studying social anthropology at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
She grew up in her parents' 2.85million Chelsea townhouse but according to court hearings now resides at a house in Lambeth.
In another Just Stop Oil protest today, seven activists were arrested on suspicion of public order offences after blocking the passenger search area at Heathrow's Terminal 5.
The protesters, who tried to disrupt access to the departure gates inside the airport at just before 9am this morning, were seen holding signs reading: 'Oil Kills' and: 'Sign the Treaty'.
Both the Metropolitan Police and Heathrow said minimal disruption was caused, and it is understood the demonstrators were removed within 20 minutes.
Passengers continued to access security lanes either side of where the group sat.
A teenager charged with murdering three children and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport has been named as Axel Rudakubana.
The 17-year-old, who turns 18 in just six days time, was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff in 2006 before moving to the village of Banks in Lancashire in 2013.
He is accused of carrying out the attack that killed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
Rudakubana is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
Up until now, the teenager's identity could not be revealed because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances.
But after a successful application to the judge by the Mail, Rudakubana's name can now be reported.
Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the suspect's family and the risk to him in custody with the public interest accurately reporting his identity.
Far-right mobs took to the streets of Southport and and other major UK cities this week after a fake news website spread misinformation about the identity of the suspect.
Russian state media were among those falsely claiming that the suspect had arrived by boat to the UK last year, sharing claims that he was on an M16 watch list.
It led to violent riots, seeing dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire.
In a bid to quell tensions - after more riots broke out in London, Manchester Hartlepool, and Aldershot - Judge Menary revealed Rudakubana's identity.
As the suspected murderer arrived at the court he was met by dozens of people shouting, with one man having to be held back by police officers as the van holding him past.
The revelation comes as two children hurt in the attack were discharged from Alder Hey Children's Hospital, with five others in a 'stable condition'.
Pictured for the first time: Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, now 17, pictured as a child, is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport with a 'curved kitchen knife'
Court artist drawing of Rudakubana covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes
Rudakubana covers his face in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court after being charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder
Rudakubana (pictured in a video) could not previously be named because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances
Another young picture of Rudakubana
Bebe King, aged six, was also killed in the attack. A teenager is set to appear in court charged with three counts of murder
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police cars leaves Liverpool Crown Court
The white van carrying Axel Rudakubana, 17, who is accused of killing three young girls arrives as Liverpool Magistrates Court
Rudakubana seen arriving at court in a police convoy
A prison van (centre) escorted by multiple police vehicles leaves Liverpool Crown Court
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police vehicles leaves Liverpool Crown Court
Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the defendant's family and the initial risk while in custody against the public interest in accurately reporting his identity.
Why did the judge name Rudakubana?
Usually a defendant under the age of 18 is granted anonymity during court proceedings. This means media are not allowed to name or picture them unless there are exceptional circumstances. Today, however, Judge Andrew Menary KC decided to name Axel Rudbakubana. The judge at Liverpool Crown Court listened to 20 minutes of legal submissions before declining to make an order to protect the teen's identity. He said: 'Whilst I accept it is exceptional giving his age, principally because he is 18 in six days' time, I do not make an order under section 45. 'Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.' He noted that any order would have been lifted on Rudbakubana when he turned 18 anyways. The judge's decision comes after misinformation spread by fake news websites and Russian state media wrongly identified the suspect. The false claim said the suspect had arrived to the UK by boat last year sharing claims he was an M16 watchlist. It led to violent riots in Southport and beyond which saw dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire. Advertisement
He said: 'By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.
'Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.'
A provisional trial date at Liverpool Crown Court, set to last six weeks, was scheduled for January 20 next year.
Rudakubana spent the entire 55 minutes of the hearing covering his whole face, with his grey sweatshirt pulled up to his hairline and at times rocking back and forth, side to side.
He will next appear at Liverpool Crown Court on October 25 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
Until then he will be remanded in youth accommodation detention.
Judge Menary told the defendant, who did not acknowledge the judge and continued to keep his head down: 'You are remanded to youth detention accommodation until these proceedings have been completed.
'That position might change when you achieve your majority in a short while.'
Earlier today, the suspect attended a hearing at Liverpool City Magistrates' Court which lasted just five minutes.
During proceedings, prosecutor Deanna Heer alleged a 'kitchen knife with a curved blade' had been used during the rampage.
During that time Rudakubana, who is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon, wore a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers and pulled his sweatshirt over his face above his nose, keeping his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
The suspect arrived at the court around 9.30am in a white prison van flanked by a large escort of at least eight police vehicles.
The large police presence comes amid fears angry protesters will turn up outside the courthouse, after a series of riots have swept the country in recent days.
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest in Whitehall, with further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.
On Tuesday night, an angry mob took to the streets of Southport after a vigil to remember victims of the mass stabbing at the workshop attended by 25 children.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, leaves Liverpool Magistrates' Court after being charged with three counts of murder
The convoy of police vans escorted the prison van away from Liverpool Crown Court
The suspect was surrounded by a convoy of eight police cars and vans, with officers fearing they could be met with angry protesters following Monday night's riots
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Forensic officers on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside, where a horrifying knife rampage took place
Emergency crews swoop on the area after a group of children were attacked at Taylor Swift-themed dance class
The defendant, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is accused of entering a dance studio in Hart Street and attacking children and adults who were inside on Monday afternoon.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds - with five left in a critical condition in hospital - while two adults who tried to save the young ones in the summer holiday club were also seriously wounded.
The adults harmed were dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes who tried to help.
In a statement Merseyside Police said yesterday: 'We can confirm that a 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice; 10 counts of attempted murder; and Possession of a bladed article, following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday, 29 July.
'He has been remanded in custody to appear tomorrow, Thursday 1 August at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.'
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: 'Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
Leanne Lucas, who organised the Taylor Swift-themed holiday club, has had life-saving surgery and is now awake, her family said on Wednesday
Yesterday floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon
Friendship bracelets reading 'Beautiful Swifties' are seen next to electric tea lights amid floral tributes for the victims of a deadly knife attack at the Atkinson in Southport
'I would like to thank all of the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside Police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the North West.'
The boy, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: 'We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
False claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat had sparked riots across Southport on Tuesday night, despite pleas from one of the victim's mother's for calm.
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured. Five men have been arrested following that incident.
After rioting broke out, Elsie's mother, Jenni Stancombe, wrote on Facebook: 'This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
'The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'
Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had 'hijacked' a vigil for victims and will 'feel the full force of the law', while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as 'violent attacks from thugs on the streets', which she branded 'appalling'.
The Prime Minister is set to face questions this afternoon after crisis talks with police over the outbreak of rioting following the Southport knife attack.
On Wednesday, a clean up operation took place outside the mosque, with residents coming together to clear roads where fires had been set and rebuild walls which had been knocked down.
Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.
More than 100 people were arrested in London after crowds gathered in Whitehall turned on police, throwing bottles and cans at officers in riot gear.
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
Police chiefs arrive to meet Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss clashes following the Southport stabbing
The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack
Some were heard shouting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, while others shouted 'Rule Britannia', 'save our kids' and 'stop the boats' and chanting 'you're not English any more'.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions. Some officers suffered minor injuries.'
Responding to last nights riots, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'The scenes of disorder and violence yesterday evening were completely unacceptable.
'There is no place for criminality on our streets and I fully support the Met Police taking action against those intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city.'
In Hartlepool, County Durham four people were arrested after violent protests broke out, with people detained for various offences after missiles, glass bottles and eggs were thrown at officers.
A police car was also set on fire before protesters posed for selfies with it.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: 'At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
'Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.'
19 fresh professions released in China to keep pace with demand of new quality productive forces
Global Times) 09:41, August 01, 2024
China has released 19 fresh professions to keep pace with demand of new quality productive forces, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) on Wednesday. Observers said that the new professions hint that job seekers should be more open to adjust to the changing environment. Also, young elderly (generally referring to age between 65 and 74) who are well educated can explore the possibility of transitioning into a career in digital and intelligent technologies as a way to adapt to the ageing society.
The 19 new professions include cloud-based intelligent operations and maintenance personnel, generative artificial intelligence system application staff, and user growth operation specialists, as well as 28 new job categories such as live recruitment specialists. These new jobs have been included in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
The emergence of new professions reflects the new changes and trends in China's economic and social development, meeting the new needs of production and life, and providing laborers with more employment choices.
Over half of the 19 new professions released are closely related to new quality productive forces. Among them are generative artificial intelligence system application staff, intelligent connected vehicle testers, intelligent manufacturing system maintenance personnel, and industrial internet operations and maintenance personnel.
Other new positions nurtured by the digital economy are online anchors and user growth operation specialists.
The release of the new occupations came at a moment when the governments and social forces are pouring in policies to stabilize employment, and rolling out more targeted policies to boost employment.
In June, the country's surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5 percent, with the employment situation remaining generally stable, according to the MHRSS.
China has set an annual target of creating more than 12 million new urban jobs this year. It also aimed to keep the surveyed urban jobless rate at around 5.5 percent this year.
Observers said that with the upgrading of digital technology and the continuous development of society in recent years, a number of new occupations have been approved by the state and are appearing more and more around us. These new occupations offer job seekers direction and more options.
The ministry said China will continue efforts to foster new employment growth in areas such as advanced manufacturing and the digital economy, and provide more assistance to key groups, including college graduates and migrant workers.
The increasing of new professions has also provided clues on how to live better in the ageing society, especially for the young elderly.
"Digital and intelligent technologies have reduced the labor intensity of positions, thereby increasing the possibility of employment for the elderly," Yuan Xin, deputy head of the China Population Association and a demographer from Nankai University, told the Global Time on Wednesday.
People need to actively adapt and realize that we are already in a moderately ageing society. Currently, the average life expectancy of Chinese people has reached over 78 years. For the younger elderly who are in good health and well-educated, they are able to adapt to new job opportunities if they voluntarily embrace delaying their retirement so that they have longer period of time to create wealth, the demographer said.
The new occupations included within the NOC are not newly created jobs but those occupations that are not included in the classification, but already have a certain scale of practitioners and require relatively independent and mature professional skills.
According to the MHRSS, "green" is another major label for these new professions. There are already 134 green professions marked in the NOC, accounting for 8 percent of the total number of professions.
Many of these newly included professions stem from the new needs of economic transformation and green low-carbon development, such as hydrogen-based direct reduction ironworkers originating from traditional industries, energy storage station maintenance administrators and power quality administrators to meet the development of emerging industries.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- China's steel industry has been accelerating the optimization of steel variety structure in pace with the adjustment and optimization of national industrial structures, the China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA) said Wednesday.
Data showed that in the first half of this year, the output of steel mostly used in construction, bridges and machinery dropped year on year, while that in areas including auto and ship manufacturing continued to grow.
Yao Lin, head of the association, said at a CISA council meeting that since the beginning of the year, China's steel sector has been coping with challenges, including an imbalance between market supply and demand, falling steel prices, high raw material prices and low economic efficiency.
The overall production and operation of the industry have remained generally stable, Yao said, adding that with the transformation and upgrading continuing to advance and the constantly optimized variety structure, the higher demand for steel products in the downstream industry was effectively met.
The steel industry's pace of green transformation has accelerated significantly, and intelligent manufacturing has been upgraded, he said.
Currently, the number of enterprises that use industrial internet technology to achieve smart production process control accounted for 79.6 percent of the total.
Yao said that the manufacturing industry will be the main driving force to support the steel sector.
The rapid development of new energy vehicles, the increase in orders for new energy-powered ships, and the accelerated renewal of old ships will support the demand for steel, and large-scale equipment renewal will also bring development opportunities for the equipment manufacturing industry, according to Yao.
A teenager has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after he was allegedly stabbed outside a shopping centre.
The alleged incident happened near the CS Square Shopping Centre in Caroline Springs in Melbourne's west on Thursday.
Police were called to Lake Street near the shopping centre at 5.15pm after reports of a stabbing.
The suspects had left the scene by the time police arrived.
The teen aged in his late teens suffered stab wounds to his hand and upper body and was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Paramedics said the boy was in a serious condition, however police said his injures were 'life-threatening'.
'Investigators are still trying to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and the investigation is ongoing but it is believed the offenders have left the area,' Victoria Police said in a statement.
Detectives and uniformed police remained at the scene on Thursday night.
A teenager has been rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after an alleged stabbing near the CS Square Shopping Centre in Caroline Springs in Melbourne's west
The scene of an alleged stabbing near the CS Square Shopping Centre in Caroline Springs in Melbourne's west
The scene remains cordoned off as officers canvass for possible evidence and witnesses.
The latest incident comes a fortnight after police swarmed Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston in south-east Melbourne amid reports a group of teens were allegedly spotted with 'an edged weapon'.
Anyone with information about the Caroline Springs stabbing to urged to call Crime Stoppers.
Stephen Lawrence's body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica 31 years after his racist murder in London, his mother Doreen Lawrence revealed today.
Baroness Lawrence said his family had decided to 'bring Stephen home to be closer to us' after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt 'he would not be at peace in this country'.
She added that images of her son's grave had appeared on social media after his body had been exhumed, which had caused the family 'distress'.
Stephen was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, South East London, in April 1993 as he went to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks, and only two of his five or six killers have been brought to justice.
The original police investigation into the 18-year-old's death was marred by institutional racism in the Met, incompetence and alleged corruption.
In a statement issued through her lawyer, Baroness Lawrence said: 'My family and I have been made aware of the recent images of my son's grave that have been circulated on social media.
Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, South East London, in 1993
Doreen Lawrence said her son Stephen's body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica
'Following Stephen's passing, we made the decision to have him laid to rest in Jamaica, as we felt he would not be at peace in this country. After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.
'The images that are circulating were taken after the funeral home exhumed Stephen's body. However, we would like to express our distress at the funeral home's lack of regard for our feelings and privacy, as evidenced by the decision to leave Stephen's grave open to the public, rather than closed off.
'We are disheartened by the individual who chose to take images and post them on social media without consideration for the potential impact on our family.
'We had hoped to have carried out this sensitive task privately, but due to unforeseen circumstances, this was not possible. We apologise for any distress caused by those who saw the images and kindly request that, out of respect for us and our privacy, these are removed from all media platforms.
The bus stop in Eltham, South East London, at the scene of the murder is pictured last year
Gary Dobson (left) was jailed for at least 15 years and two months and David Norris (right) was jailed at least 14 years and three months for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993
'We kindly request that our privacy be respected during this time.'
In later years following the murder, it emerged that undercover police officers had spied on campaigners supporting the Lawrence family in their fight for justice.
And last year further failures were revealed, linked to a sixth suspect in the case, Matthew White.
In June, Baroness Lawrence said she was 'bewildered, disappointed and angry' at an upheld decision not to charge four officers involved in the original bungled investigation into her son's murder.
She said this marked 'a new low' in how her family has been treated by the criminal justice system, and means that no police officer will ever take responsibility for the failures in the case.
Stephen was murdered as he went to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks (pictured)
Clive Driscoll was the Met Police detective who finally brought Dobson and Norris to justice
Last year a BBC investigation claimed that White, who died aged 50 in 2021, had a central role in the attack on Stephen, running ahead of the others towards the teenager.
His stepfather, Jack Severs, who died in 2020, told a police officer not involved in the case that White had admitted being present that night.
But Mr Severs was misidentified by the murder investigation team because White had two different stepfathers a failure the Met called a 'significant and regrettable error'.
It was 20 years before Mr Severs was spoken to by a detective investigating the murder, Clive Driscoll, the officer who finally brought Gary Dobson and David Norris to justice nearly two decades after they murdered Stephen.
The Met said that White was arrested twice but there was not enough evidence to charge him.
The Met Police have revealed 111 arrests were made during Whitehall riots over the Southport mass stabbing - that saw bottles, flares and fists rain down on officers.
The arrests were made for offences including violent disorder, assaults on police officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and breach of protest conditions.
Around 1,000 protesting yobs were condemned by the force as 'shameful' - as they accused them of exploiting the tragedy 'for their own violence and criminality'.
It came as Britain was engulfed in riots for the second night in a row, with thugs torching police cars and clashing with cops in Hartlepool and Manchester.
False speculation online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who had travelled to the UK on a boat appears to be fuelling the shocking violence which started outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and spread across the UK last night.
The misinformation is believed to have originated from a Russian-linked fake news website.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: 'Last night our officers faced unacceptable scenes of disorder and violence, as others across the country have done in recent days.
LONDON: Violence erupted on the streets of the capital as flag-waving protesters clashed with police
LONDON: Protesters were seen wearing t-shirts with the faces of the three Southport victims on. That's despite families of the victims calling for the violence to stop
LONDON: A furious protester lifts up the mask of a riot policeman's helmet amid growing tensions
SOUTHPORT: Locals have called on rioters to leave their town after Tuesday night's violence
'They acted with great courage and the highest levels of professionalism in the face of hateful behaviour.
'All our thoughts should be with the victims and families of those impacted by the most dreadful attack in Southport. It is shameful that some have sought to exploit this tragedy as justification for their own violence and criminality.
'There is absolutely no place for this on our streets. We will ensure that anyone involved in any violent disorder and criminal behaviour will be stopped, arrested and will face justice.'
The teenager accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport appeared in court today accused of murdering of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
He is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
The suspect, from Banks in Lancashire, was remanded into youth detention accommodation and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court later today.
Southport locals - including Elsie's mother - have called for the violence to stop after police vans were set on fire and bricks were hurled in violence that left 53 officers injured on Tuesday.
But her wishes were ignored as angry mobs took to the streets - in other parts of the country - amid mounting anger. Many were filled with anti-migrant rhetoric.
LONDON: Protesters hold a Union Jack banner which says: 'Enough is enough. Stop the boats.' They were also wearing t-shirts with the faces of the three girls who died in Southport
LONDON: Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against illegal immigration outside of Downing Street
LONDON: A protester draped in a Union Jack flag was seen mounting a traffic light in front of an army of riot police officers
LONDON: Protesters drinking Stella Artois march through the capital on Wednesday night
LONDON: People attending the 'Enough is Enough' protest in Whitehall, London, following the fatal stabbing of three children
London's 'Enough is Enough' protest marked the largest gathering of thugs in the UK this week.
Yobs took to the streets chanting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and yelled 'stop the boats'.
Riot police were also pelted with glass bottles in Manchester, after protesters targeted a Holiday Inn hotel where migrants are believed to be housed.
The most chaotic riots, however, were seen in Hartlepool where thugs were seen throwing objects at riot police, striking their shields and setting a police car on fire.
One person was live streaming the chaos when an Asian man was punched by a thug as he tried to walk past in what appeared to be a racially-motivated assault.
In Manchester, shocking footage emerged of a group of thugs, some masked, throwing bottles at riot police vans and officers. It is understood they were targeting a hotel where migrants are being housed.
The most large-scale clashes took place in the capital, however, as riot police were forced to fend off a group of flag-waving thugs on Whitehall.
Some protesters were wearing t-shirts with the faces of the Southport victims on - despite families calling for an end to the violence.
LONDON: Hundreds of protesters gather on Whitehall - days after the Southport knife rampage
LONDON: Met Police officers clash with protesters as ugly scenes break out in Whitehall on Wednesday
LONDON: Police officers were forced to put on riot gear as they try to deal with the breakouts of violence
Police were forced to put on riot gear after chanting activists threw cans and launched flares outside Downing Street.
Around 1,000 right-wing activists descended on Whitehall last night, with some waving a Union Jack flag banner with the words: 'Enough is enough. Stop the boats.'
Huge scuffles between police and protesters broke out, with officers wrestling activists to the ground and leading them away in handcuffs after they tried to breach police lines.
Loud chants of 'Oh Tommy Robinson' and 'we want our country back' were also heard as protesters surrounded The Cenotaph, despite police vans trying to protect the war memorial on Whitehall.
The Wall Street Journal has praised the release of three Americans, including reporter Evan Gershkovich, as part of a historic prisoner swap between Russia and the US.
Gershkovich's release was negotiated along with that of former marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmashevas, as part of a major inmate swap with Moscow.
A total of 24 prisoners from seven different countries were freed - making it the largest and most complex East-West inmate exchange since the Cold War era.
The exchange took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday morning. The country has previously mediated prisoner exchanges between Russia and the West.
'Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey's capital, Ankara, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia,' WSJ Editor in Chief Emma Tucker said.
A plane carrying American prisoners has landed in Turkey following a major swap between Russia and the US
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is among those released from prison in Russia
'That it was done in a trade for Russian operatives guilty of serious crimes was predictable as the only solution given President Putin's cynicism.
'We are grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn't commit.'
She praised Gershkovich's 'strength, composure, humor' and described him as an 'inspiration' during his near 500-day incarceration.
'The bogus case against him represented many significant things,' Tucker said. 'A blow against press freedom. A warning to foreign journalists covering the Kremlin. A new tension in America's relationship with Russia.'
Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour also hailed the 'unrivaled courage, resilience and poise' of Gershkovich and his family during his ordeal.
A Russian Tupolev Tu-204-300 aircraft prepares to land at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara amid the exchange
'We are overwhelmed with relief and elated for Evan and his family, as well as for the others who were released,' he said.
'At the same time, we condemn in the strongest terms Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia, which orchestrated Evan's 491-day wrongful imprisonment based on sham accusations and a fake trial as part of an all-out assault on the free press and truth.
'Unfortunately, many journalists remain unjustly imprisoned in Russia and around the world.'
It is understood that White House officials, diplomats and the CIA were all part of the negotiation process - and painstakingly assessed which other Western and Middle Eastern countries were willing to release Russian prisoners as part of the deal.
According to the WSJ, last week CIA Director William Burns traveled to Turkey to finalize the logistics for the exchange with his Kremlin equivalent.
President Biden also played a role in the historic exchange - speaking directly with prime minister of Slovenia Robert Golob to get him on board with pardoning two Russian spies, who were to be handed back to Russia in the swap.
The exchange took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday. The country has previously acted as a mediator for prisoner exchanges between Russia and the West
The president lauded the deal as a 'feat of diplomacy' as he confirmed 16 prisoners had been released from Russia, including seven opposition figures incarcerated in their homeland.
'Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,' Biden said.
'This is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.
'And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.
'Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families.'
Gershkovich, 32, was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
Former US marine Paul Whelan has also been released as part of the major prisoner swap
Whelan, 54, has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on spying charges. The US has denied he was ever involved in espionage operations.
His brother David Whelan, who had campaigned tirelessly to spotlight his brother's plight, said his work as family spokesman is finally over as he praised the media for reporting on it.
'It is vital that he be given agency over his life again, something the Kremlin took away for so many years,' he said.
'I cannot adequately express my deep admiration for your hard work and courage. Some of you were hounded from Russia, or labeled foreign agents, and took great risks to follow Paul's story,.'
Radio journalist Kurmasheva was arrested in October last year and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident journalist also jailed in Russia, was also reported to have disappeared from view, prompting speculation he is among those released.
Kara-Murza, 42, was arrested in April 2022 just hours after a CNN interview was broadcast in which he stated Russia was run by a 'regime of murderers'.
He was sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian jail in a tiny punishment cell just ten feet long and five feet wide.
Radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who was arrested in October last year and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, has also been released
A Russian government plane is seen on the tarmac after landing at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey
Four Russians detained in the US on charges including murder, cyber crime, smuggling and money laundering were thought to possibly be part of the exchange.
The Moscow Times reported the individuals recently disappeared from the federal inmates' database in America.
Details of exactly who has been released have not been made public yet.
The Kremlin has previously pushed for the release of convicted assassin Vadim Krasikov in previous prisoner swaps, raising speculation that he could be among those freed.
It comes after Slovenian broadcaster, N1 Slovenia, reported on a possible deal being struck earlier this week.
The reports cited an exchange including the US, Germany, Russia and Belarus.
The prisoner swap is the biggest between the United States and Russia since the end of the Cold War.
According to the anonymous source cited by the Moscow Times, Russian authorities have made 'great efforts to keep the information inside Russia as much a secret as possible until the last moment.'
The developments came as recently as Wednesday, when Kremlin military aircraft reportedly flew to isolated regions in Russia where political prisoners are being held.
Gershkovich, seen during happier times, was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friend's wedding
The US government has repeatedly stated its commitment to freeing both men, who they say were wrongfully detained.
The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, Gershkovich was fluent in Russian and moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the WSJ in 2022.
He was the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
Russian prosecutors alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret information on the orders of the US Central Intelligence Agency about a company that manufactures tanks for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which he and his employer denied.
Officers of the FSB security service arrested him on March 29, 2023, at a steakhouse in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow. He had since been held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.
Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friend's wedding.
He maintains his innocence, saying the charges were fabricated.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands listening to the verdict in a glass cage of a courtroom inside the building of 'Palace of justice,' in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Friday, July 19, 2024
To mark the one-year anniversary of his arrest, the Wall Street Journal published a powerful blank page with the headline: 'His Story Should Be Here'
Details about the conditions both men have been facing behind bars are scant and in recent days, Whelan's lawyer said she had lost track of where he was being housed.
His family previously told how he had been attacked in prison at the remote IK-17 camp in Mordovia by an inmate who allegedly punched him in his face and broke his glasses.
US officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using Gershkovich and Whelan as bargaining chips for a possible prisoner exchange.
Russia previously pushed for the release of former Federal Security Service (FSB) colonel Krasikov in prisoner negotiations around the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner, who was detained on drug possession charges.
Krasikov was convicted of gunning down a Georgia-born Chechen separatist in broad daylight in a central Berlin park in June 2019.
He rode up to his victim on a bicycle and executed him in Berlin's Kleine Tiergarten park in December 2021. A German court called it a 'state-contracted killing.'
Griner was ultimately released in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident journalist also jailed in Russia, was also reported to have disappeared from view, prompting speculation he is among those released
Russia previously pushed for the release of former Federal Security Service (FSB) colonel and convicted hitman Vadim Krasikov as part of prisoner swap negotiations sparking speculation he could be released although this has not been confirmed
Among the prisoners released were at least seven Russian dissidents who were being held in jail in their homeland.
Kremlin critics Ilya Yashin, 41, Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, Oleg Orlov, 71, Lilia Chanysheva, 42, Ksenia Fadeeva, 32, Vadim Ostanin and Andrei Pivovarov have all now been released, CNN reports.
Many of those on the list were allies of former opposition leader Alexey Navalgny.
Navalgny was reportedly on a list of potential prisoners who could be part of a prisoner exchange until his mysterious death aged 47 in a penal colony in Kharp, Russia in February.
Wyoming residents were left fearing for their lives after a satirist page falsely claimed a truck filled with king cobras had overturned on a highway.
Casper Planet, a well-known satirist news Facebook page told its followers on July 30 that a 'semi truck carrying a shipment of king cobras from a scientific research lab overturned on Interstate 25 near Casper' which caused them all to go loose.
The post, which also has a fake crash pic attached, goes on to 'inform' locals that emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene immediately and a portion of the highway had been closed off for public safety'.
Despite it being popularly known as a spoof page, the post created massive panic among some of its 69,000 readers.
Wyoming residents were left fearing for their life after Casper Planet, a well-known satirist news page falsely claimed a truck filled with king cobras had overturned on a highway
'This is frightening,' one alarmed Facebook user wrote as another quipped, 'I will have nightmares tonight, thank you very much!'
Another follower joked: 'The beginning of a Stephen King movie.'
As a result of the prank, highway officials were forced to issue a statement to assure Casper residents that no such incident had occurred.
'We would like to clarify that a commercial vehicle carrying cobras did NOT overturn on I-25 near Casper.
'There is no danger to the public and I-25 is open,' the Facebook post read.
The post, which has a fake crash pic attached, goes on to 'inform' locals that emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene immediately and a portion of the highway had been closed off for public safety'
Three hours after the original fake post was uploaded, Casper Planet also released an update telling its viewers that the incident is 'not real' and they should 'respect authorities.'
'I have been gone for 3 minutes and you are actually calling authorities about this? Don't you look away! Back over here! We respect our authorities and they have better things to do.
'This is not real *coughs* NebraskaI mean everyone,' the page wrote.
The king cobra is regarded as a fierce and aggressive snake, and its length and size give it an awe inspiring appearance.
As a result, highway officials were forced to issue a statement to assure Casper residents that no such incident had occurred
Despite its aggressive reputation, it is said that the king cobra only attacks people when it is cornered, in self-defense or to protect its eggs
The predator's deadly fangs are almost 0.5 inches long and help push the prey on its path to the stomach.
They are known to be native to northern India, southern China, throughout the Malay Peninsula along with Indonesia and the Philippines.
Despite its aggressive reputation, it is said that the king cobra only attacks people when it is cornered, in self-defense or to protect its eggs.
Throughout its entire range from India to Indonesia, the king cobra causes fewer than five human deaths per year, about one-fifth as many as caused by rattlers in North America.
Two grieving parents claim the New York doctor who delivered their baby killed him after 'recklessly' ignoring guidelines on using a vacuum pump more than a dozen times on their baby's head.
Danielle Mackenzie was 40 weeks and three days pregnant when she arrived with partner Fabrice Diaz at the Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut for the birth of their son, Alexander, in February.
Dr. Jay Matut allegedly applied a vacuum pump 15 times to the baby's head in a bid to deliver him, despite NIH guidelines recommending no more than three sets of pulls.
The doctor, who practices 'minimally invasive surgery,' ignored the mother's increasingly frantic pleas for a C-section as the situation deteriorated,' the suit claims.
Her baby had a swollen and bleeding head when he eventually emerged, before being transferred to a different hospital where he died hours later.
'Matut acted with a reckless and conscious disregard for the safety of the infant in a situation where a high degree of danger was apparent,' the lawsuit claims.
Dr. Jay Matut of the Westchester Medical Group is being sued by two grieving parents after allegedly using a vacuum pump 15 times in a bid to deliver their baby who died hours later
Mother Danielle MacKenzie, from Peekskill, New York, had her pleas for a C-section ignored and suffered 'extreme psychological and emotional distress'
'As a result of the carelessness and negligence of Jay Matut, Danielle suffered and continues to suffer extreme psychological and emotional distress and impaired ability to carry on and enjoy life's activities.'
The 31-year-old research manager had enjoyed a 'normal and healthy' pregnancy, and took 20 hours to reach full dilation after being admitted to the hospital on February 17.
She had pushed for 90 minutes before Matut applied the vacuum pump for the first time.
He then applied the pump 12 times in succession in a bid to deliver the child, persisting even after the device twice came off the baby's head.
'It is recommended that vacuum-assisted deliveries be achieved with no more than three sets of pulls and a maximum of two to three cup detachments or pop-offs,' the guidelines state.
They also note that 'the decision to continue with operative vaginal delivery should continuously be re-evaluated during the delivery progresses'.
'If there is no descent, further attempts should be discontinued and cesarean section considered.'
But after a further half-hour of pushing, he applied the vacuum three more times before giving Danielle an episiotomy, which finally allowed the baby to be delivered.
Baby Alexander was 'limp,' had a slow heart rate and did not cry, the lawsuit claims.
Alexander's father Fabrice Diaz is also a party to the lawsuit against the doctor and the hospital
Greenwich Hospital, where the baby was delivered, in Greenwich, Connecticut, said it is 'committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible'
He also had a swollen head 'consistent with a subgaleal hemorrhage between the scalp and the skull.'
He was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit where he was intubated in a critical condition.
He was transferred to the nearby Yale New Haven Hospital 'where his condition continued to deteriorate,' before he died just before 11pm on February 18.
Dr. Matut has been in practice for more than 20 years after receiving his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine.
The couple are seeking punitive damages at a Bridgeport court for negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and recklessness against Greenwich Hospital, the Westchester Medical Group (now Summit Health) and Dr. Matut.
'His care was willful, wanton and/or reckless, and represented an extreme departure from ordinary standards of care in the delivery of a baby where a vacuum assisted delivery has been utilized,' the suit claims.
A spokesman for the hospital said 'Greenwich Hospital is aware of this lawsuit and is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care possible.'
'While we are unable to comment on pending litigation, we have offered our deepest condolences to the family.'
Residents of an idyllic California coastal town have banded together to fight off a Monaco billionaire's attempts to reshape their community.
Patrice Pastor, dubbed the 'octopus billionaire' for his property acquisitions, has been buying up real estate in Carmel-by-the-Sea for nine years. But now, the town has had enough.
The billionaire's grand plans for a 13,428-square-foot mixed-use development were unanimously shot down by the town's Planning Commission.
Planning Commissioner Robert Delves accused Pastor of showing 'no respect for the neighbor behind you' with his massive building plans.
The Monaco tycoon, who attended the heated meeting via Zoom, was told to go back to the drawing board - a first in his nine-year property buying spree in Carmel.
Patrice Pastor, dubbed the 'octopus billionaire' for his property acquisitions, has been buying up Carmel real estate for nine years. But now, the town has had enough
He paid $4.2m in 2018 for the Der Ling Building on Ocean Ave between Dolores and Lincoln
Earlier this year, the Monaco real estate titan bought up at least 15 iconic properties in the seaside village of Carmel, leaving locals 'terrified they are handing over our town to one person who's doing what he wants to do.'
Long-time resident Kristi Reimers, whose family home would be overshadowed by Pastor's latest project, told SFGate: 'Ever since the flagging went up last week, I have felt incredible anxiety and, to be honest, grief at the notion of having the home I've lived in for almost two decades turn into a cave.'
'This project as it stands will cause a substantial adverse change in two historic resources: one actual and one eligible,' she added.
'Because two of the three lots are deemed historic, additionally, this needs to be reviewed in the context of the Reimers' Stonehouse Terrace.'
His $7.5million purchase of the La Rambla building earlier this year was one in the series of deals landed by the 51-year-old since he and his company Esperanza Carmel set their sights on the village ten years ago.
The billionaire's grand plans for a 13,428-square-foot mixed-use development were unanimously shot down by the town's Planning Commission
His $7.5million purchase of the La Rambla building last month is the latest in a series of deals landed by the 51-year-old
Police were called after a fist-fight broke out between a small business owner and a village administrator in October after Pastor demanded permission to override planning laws so he could move a historic wall.
And locals fear that soaring prices will drive them out of a village where the population has already fallen from 3,700 to 3,200 since 2010.
'What's going to happen as he spends so much money on the building, the property tax goes up and the rents go up and the only people who can afford it are chain stores?' one business owner told SFGATE at the time.
'What's going to happen to our mom-and-pop shops? What's going to happen to our local feel?'
Pastor's relationship with the town worsened further after he made a controversial statement in March, threatening to maintain a historic home 'only to continue to bother those jealous people who will never have access to it.'
Earlier this year, the Monaco real estate titan bought up at least 15 iconic properties in the seaside village of Carmel
Locals were left 'terrified they are handing over our town to one person who's doing what he wants to do'
Pastor who is a fourth-generation property magnate is notorious for his feud with Monaco's crown prince which has been raging since 2021.
In 2021, an email from Prince Albert II's press advisor to one of the Prince's close friends was shared on an anonymous website, LesDossiersDuRocher.com, which published incriminating evidence about Monaco's royal family.
The email said: 'That octopus Pastor is everywhere! He has gotten his hooks into Monaco. He has gone mad, he has no limits!'
Le Monde reported at the time: 'This supposed 'octopus' appears to be multi-billionaire Patrice Pastor, a 49-year-old who for decades constructed and rented buildings and apartments for small fortunes.
'Proud and with no frills, he is an unmistakable character in Monaco. 'I'm not a nice guy,' he said. 'I'm free, independent and I have money, so... Everything in the 'Dossiers du Rocher' is true, and everyone knows it! The truth is that I irritate them.''
The Rocky Point project on Highway 1 between Carmel and Big Sur
He bought renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright's only ocean front home for $22 million
The $9 million Ulrika Plaza project will create 9,000 square feet of retail space
But some supporters warn of potential lawsuits if Pastor's project is treated differently from others in town.
'... I'm hoping that there's not a decision that this particular project requires an EIR when the Hofsas House does not because that is called discrimination and would be evidence for a lawsuit,' Karyl Hall, who supports the project told SFGate.
But Carmel residents are standing firm in their fight to preserve their town's unique character against the billionaire's deep pockets.
'There's a finite number of parking spaces in town, and if we keep crowding up this town and buying our way out of parking spaces, it's really not going to be fun to live here much anymore,' Carmel restaurateur Rich Pepe told the outlet.
Video of a cowboy kicking an exhausted wild horse in the head during a government funded roundup sparked outrage from advocacy groups.
American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) obtained the footage of a worker for the Bureau of Land Management abusing the horse in northern Nevada on July 26.
During the roundup in Nevada's Blue Wing Complex two cowboys chased the wild horse and when it collapsed, kicked the horse multiple times in the head.
AWHC filed a formal notice of abuse to the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday demanding they hold the workers accountable.
'Besides being appalling and disturbing, the unprofessional and violent conduct of your contractor is prohibited by all governing authorities and demonstrates the inadequacy of this contractor in performing its duties,' said Fernando Guerra, AWHC Director of Law and Policy.
A worker for the Bureau of Land Management was filmed repeatedly kicking a wild horse in the head after it collapsed
'These [Bureau of Land Management] contractors, demonstrating a complete lack of qualifications to conduct this work, repeatedly strike and kick the downed and restrained horse.
'The contractors' brutal handling of this wild horse also included yanking the downed horse's tail so hard that the animal's hindquarters were lifted and subsequently slamming the defenseless and restrained horse's head on the ground.'
AWHC said the cowboys chased the wild horse through extreme heat and caused the horse to collapse when they roped it. When the horse was on the ground, they assaulted the animal.
The roundup began on July 8 and as of Tuesday, the agency has reported 39 deaths during the operation. Nine of the deaths have been categorized as acute, meaning the animal died as a direct result of the roundup.
A total 1,261 wild horses and 360 wild burros have been gathered so far. The agency planned to gather 1,373 wild horses and 365 burros because it claimed the land only has room for 539 horses and 120 burros in the complex.
Contracts reviewed by 8 News Now found the federal government awarded a contract to 'C D Warner Livestock' based in Spanish Fork, Utah, to gather the animals. The company has earned a total of $7.1 million in contracts since 2012.
American Wild Horse Conservation said the cowboys chased the wild horse through extreme heat and caused the horse to collapse when they roped it
When the wild horse was on the ground, one cowboy got of his horse and kicked the wild animal
The local news station reported the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund have called for the Bureau of Land Management to suspend its contract with the company.
'This type of behavior not only goes against the core beliefs of Americans and it is a clear violation of the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Protocol,' said Stephanie Boyles Griffin, senior program director for wildlife protection at the HSUS.
'This protocol was established to ensure the protection of horses during dangerous roundup operations, and it is clear from the footage that it isn't being followed.'
The Bureau of Land Management told 8 News Now they are reviewing the incident.
'The BLM is currently reviewing the incident and will follow all laws and policies in place to determine a course of action and ensure that similar incidents will not occur in the future,' said public affairs specialist Heather O'Hanlon.
O'Hanlon confirmed the horse involved in the incident is alive, uninjured and being monitored.
A newborn girl has been found covered in bites and sever sunburn being abandoned on an ant hill by her mother who now faces an attempted murder charge.
Nadezhda Sorokina, 32, from Russia, left the day-old girl in Milenino on July 23 before a horrified passerby spotted the screaming baby.
Nikolai Pakhomov found the newborn covered in agonising ant bites and told local media that he initially thought the baby's crying was kittens mewing.
The 25-year-old said: 'Automatically, I dialled '112' and called the paramedics.
'I took off my T-shirt, wrapped the baby in it, and carried her to the ambulance'.
A one-day-old baby girl was abandoned by her mother on an ant hill in Russia
She was left with agonising bites and severe sunburn following the ordeal
The newborn's mother, Nadezhda Sorokina, 32, is now facing an attempted murder charge
Medics, who declared the newborn fit apart from the insect bites and sunburn, called in a local priest who named the tot Maria Nikolaevna, in honour of her rescuer.
Maria is in the custody of local child services and there is already a married couple waiting to adopt her, reports local media.
Police later tracked down Sorokina, who now facing an attempted murder charge.
The single mum of three reportedly confessed to giving birth to the girl on July 22 and then abandoning her because she could not afford to feed a fourth child.
One neighbour Veronika Dokukina, however, claims Sorokina may have decided to abandon the baby after a break-up with the girl's dad.
She said: 'I have a small child myself a one-year-old. I was giving her baby clothes, and she said, 'I don't need them anymore.'
'I asked, 'What happened?' She said, 'He stressed me out, I got so nervous that I had a miscarriage.'
'It seems she didn't have a miscarriage at all, she hid it. It means she planned it in advance.'
Pictured: Newborn Maria at the Regional Perinatal Center of Kursk, Russia, on July 29
Doctors scrambled to save the baby after she was left abandoned by her mother
The single mum of three reportedly confessed to giving birth to the girl on July 22 and then abandoning her because she could not afford to feed a fourth child
Nadezhda's ex-husband, the father of her other children, claimed he had no knowledge of her actions.
He stated that she was never an exemplary mother, but he could never have imagined this.
It comes after a three-day-old baby girl was found being eaten by ants after being abandoned in remote woodland in Russia in 2015.
Cops began their investigation after a passerby discovered the badly-bitten baby on the outskirts of Chelyabinsk in central Russia.
A police spokesman said at the time: 'The person that found the baby girl heard her crying and on investigating discovered the child lying on a pile of leaves and covered in ants.
'It was clear that the child had been abandoned and there was no one else in sight, so they picked her up and called for an ambulance.'
The baby still had an umbilical cord attached when she was found by the man, who was on his way to work.
Delegations arrive at the Trocadero as spectators watch French singer Philippe Katerine performing on a giant screen during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday in Paris. Ludovic Marin/Getty Images
Commentators were divided on Pariss wild, wooly, extremely French opening ceremony, which kicked off the Olympics on Friday in the City of Lights. The Los Angeles Times call it unprecedented while the Washington Post praised it as a grand vision. Meanwhile, the New York Times was less impressed, complaining that the spectacle, which had athletes floating down the Seine, missed the boat.
But if there was one thing that everyone could agree on, it was this: The drag performance that strongly evoked despite organizers later saying it wasnt intended to Leonardo da Vincis The Last Supper was a bold stroke. If you missed it (or if you gave up social media for election season), the events most memorable moment was a full-on drag performance that played out on the Passerelle DeBilly, one of the Seines famous bridges. The catwalk culminated in a provocative tableau that had a dozen-odd performers pose in attitudes that, for many, looked like they were taken from da Vincis second-most-famous painting and not from van Biljerts Feast of the Gods as organizers later claimed. (The Mona Lisa came creepily to life elsewhere in the evening.)
The send-up was a cheeky celebration of the vibrant Paris drag scene, a welcome testament to the enduring influence of great art and a powerful symbol of inclusion and belonging.
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Unless, of course, youre Mike Johnson. Shortly after the ceremony concluded, the Speaker of the House took to X to decry it as shocking and insulting to Christian people. Next, the influential American Catholic Bishop Robert Barron joined in, calling it a gross mockery. The French Bishops Conference followed suit, shedding a tear for the Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes.
Johnson wasnt done. He was back on social media Tuesday, flogging the White House for failing to issue a formal condemnation and writing, a little darkly, that 200 million Christians in America should take note.
The message was clear albeit inaccurate: Olympic organizers took one of the sacred symbols of the faith, painted by one of Europes great religious artists, and turned it into heresy.
Even more important than whether the drag performance was supposed to be the Last Supper is what Johnson, Barron and the bishops seemed to have missed in their blistering critiques: Leonardo da Vinci was very likely a heretic.
And dont think this is some new revelation or the result of crank progressive revisionist history. Indeed, the verdict comes straight from the pen of one of the artists first biographers, Giorgio Vasari. In the da Vinci entry of his epochal 1550 tome, The Lives of the Italian Artists, Vasari wrote that Leonardo formed in his mind a conception so heretical as not to approach any religion whatsoever perhaps he esteemed being a philosopher much more than being a Christian. That he would omit the phrase in future drafts has done little to stop art historians from quoting it frequently.
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For the Italian novelist Umberto Eco, da Vincis impulse to put the human (philosophy) over the divine (Christianity) wasnt that uncommon among Renaissance painters. Indeed, when it comes to this particular heresy, Eco calls the painter a man of his time and sees Italian humanism as a whole (as) fundamentally heretical.
Yet da Vincis heterodoxy didnt stop with his not-that-uncommon self-regard. As the Russian philosopher Vasili Lubov explains in his book on the artist, da Vinci was by turns suspicious or disdainful of multiple Christian practices and beliefs, implying or sometimes stating outright that the world makes too much of the crucifixion, that post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were unlikely and that Communion closely resembles rejected pagan rituals.
And sometimes, his suspicions crept into his paintings. Another example of da Vincis unorthodox religious beliefs comes from his writings about the great flood in Genesis. Christians in his time thought that fossils of seashells on Italian mountains were evidence of the deluge, but da Vinci was unconvinced. Art critic Kelly Grovier argues that da Vinci saw these shells as evidence that the Earth was much older than the biblical narrative suggests. And, Grovier said, the artists penchant for sneaking seashells into his paintings and notably the devotional Virgin of the Rocks is a subversive critique of Christian teaching.
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
All of this is to ignore what would have been the most heretical thing about the artist in Renaissance Europe: his sexuality. Many scholars, Walter Isaacson famously among them, now accept that da Vinci likely was gay. In 1467, the artist was charged with sodomy, which in 15th century Catholic Italy was a capital offense. Of course, talking about da Vincis romantic tendencies a half-millennium later is complicated, but suffice it to say that some of his desires would have drawn religious authorities ire.
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Two security guard fathers are offering free protection for children's clubs as fears sweep across the country in the wake of the Southport knife attack.
Parents have been left worried over sending children to summer classes after the horrifying attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday saw three young girls killed.
Eight children were also injured as well as two adults, with a 17-year-old - now named as Axel Rudakubana - charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder.
After watching the tragic events unfold on the news, fathers Ben Moss and Tom Doolan decided to step in and offer free security services for children's clubs.
The pair, who run Napier Security Services in Huyton, Merseyside, have been inundated with security requests for children's events since the attack, they told the BBC.
Security guard fathers Ben Moss and Tom Doolan are offering free protection for children's clubs in the wake of the Southport knife attack
Members of Merseyside fire service laying flowers near the scene of the Southport attack where three children were killed and eight injured
They say they have already sent security staff to 16 different venues this week.
In the aftermath of the attack, anxious parents across the UK have considered cancelling their children's classes, while organisers have said they are unsure about running them.
Mr Moss came up with the idea to offer up free protection after he learnt of the attack when watching TV as he was making his daughter breakfast.
The father-of-one said his daughter was planning to attend some classes and he'd become concerned to hear some organisers were re-thinking summer clubs in the wake of the incident.
He told the BBC: 'I know my daughter is going to some clubs and stuff like that over the summer and I thought it would give them more peace of mind if they knew somebody was there.'
He said himself and father-of-three Mr Doolan were touched to see how many security staff across the country reached out to them to offer their services for free.
Posting on Facebook, Napier security services wrote: 'After the horrendous events in Southport if any local summer holiday clubs are thinking of not opening due to security risks we will happily put staff on there for free where we can, kids should be enjoying their summer.'
Pictured for the first time: Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, now 17, pictured as a child, is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others
Court artist drawing of Rudakubana covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court
Bebe King, aged six, was killed in the attack
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
It comes as teenager Rudakubana appeared in court today charged with murdering three little girls Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, in the attack on Monday.
A court heard that the 17-year-old - who turns 18 in just six days time - carried out the rampage with a 'curved kitchen knife'.
He is said to have been born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff before moving to the village of Banks in Lancashire.
Rudakubana is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
The suspect was remanded into youth detention accommodation and will appear at Liverpool Crown Court later today.
Up until now, the teenager's identity could not be revealed because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances.
But after a successful application to the judge by the Mail, Rudakubana's name can now be reported.
The hearing at Liverpool City Magistrates' Court by District Judge James Hatton lasted just five minutes, where prosecutor Deanna Heer said he used a 'kitchen knife with a curved blade' during the rampage.
During that time the defendant, who is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon, wore a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers and pulled his sweatshirt of his face above his nose, keeping his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
The Southport attack led to days of violent riots in the town, which also spread to Hartlepool, Aldershot and central London last night.
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest which saw around 1,000 right-wing activists descend upon Whitehall.
Violence erupted on the streets of London as flag-waving protesters clash with police
A furious protester lifts up the mask of a riot policeman's helmet amid growing tensions
Protesters hold a Union Jack banner which says: 'Enough is enough. Stop the boats.' They were also wearing t-shirts with the faces of the three girls who died in Southport
SOUTHPORT: Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out on Tuesday night
SOUTHPORT: A police van was set on fire near a mosque in Southport on Tuesday evening as riots broke out
Southport locals have called on rioters to leave their town after Tuesday night's violence
Police were forced to put on riot gear after chanting activists threw cans and launched flares outside Downing Street.
Loud chants of 'Oh Tommy Robinson', 'we want our country back' and 'stop the boats' were also heard as protesters surrounded The Cenotaph, despite police vans trying to protect the war memorial on Whitehall.
False speculation online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who had travelled to the UK on a boat appeared to fuel the shocking riots outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday night.
Southport locals - including Elsie's mother - have called for the violence to stop after police vans were torched and bricks were hurled in violence that left 53 officers injured.
A bomb used to kill a top Hamas leader was smuggled into a guesthouse two months before his assassination in Iran, it has been claimed.
Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Wednesday after an explosive device erupted inside a heavily guarded complex where he was staying in the Iranian capital Tehran, according to a New York Times report.
The bomb was said to have been covertly placed inside the building two months ago, despite the complex being protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, sources told the newspaper.
The Hamas leader had been visiting the guesthouse in Tehran for the presidential inauguration when the bomb was detonated remotely once it had been confirmed that Haniyeh was inside his room, the report stated.
A bodyguard was also killed as a result of the blast which Iranian officials and Hamas said Wednesday was caused by Israel, although the country has not publicly claimed responsibility for the assassination.
It comes as the IDF today released footage of an airstrike that claimed the life of group commander Mohammed Deif.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device that was smuggled into a Tehran guest house two months ago
Haniyeh had been staying at the guesthouse in Tehran for the presidential inauguration when the bomb was detonated remotely. Pictured: Satellite image of the heavily guarded complex
The bomb was detonated once it had been confirmed Haniyeh (pictured) was in his room
Footage of the Israeli airstrike that killed 90 - including Hamas commander Mohammed Deif - has been released by the IDF
Deif, the chief of Al-Qassam Brigades, is considered the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks
After Haniyeh was killed, it was believed he had died from a missile strike - but it has now been reported that a lapse in Iran's defences meant assassins were able to covertly plant and hide the bomb for several weeks before it would be triggered.
But questions around how such a catastrophic breach of security was made remain unanswered with Middle Eastern officials admitting that the execution of such an attack would have taken months of surveillance and planning.
The IDF today released new footage that captured the moment Hamas commander and mastermind behind the October 7 attacks Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The IDF released the clip of the strike in Khan Yunis, Gaza, which it confirmed took the life of Deif on July 13.
A huge orange blaze could be seen erupting among dozens of tightly-packed homes in an explosion which Gazan authorities said left at least 90 people dead and many more injured.
'IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,' the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement today.
Yoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister, posted footage of him drawing an X over the face of Deif, calling him the 'Osama Bin Laden of Gaza', as he vowed to pursue all Hamas terrorists behind October 7.
'We will not rest until this mission is accomplished,' he declared.
The death of the one-eyed Hamas commander was confirmed Thursday after Hamas' political chief was killed by an 'airborne projectile' in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh's death.
Deif is believed to have been responsible for planning and executing the bloody October 7 incursion into Israel, in which Hamas members and their allies killed some 1,200 Israelis and took some 240 hostage.
Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on July 13
Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas's military wing (left), and Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade
Deif is believed to have been responsible for planning and executing the October 7 incursion into Israel
Gallant added the strike that killed Mr Deif was a 'significant milestone' toward achieving the goals of the war.
'The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organisation in disintegration,' he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas's military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the October 7 attack.
Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
The head of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, Deif had been among Israel's most wanted man for nearly three decades and on a US list of 'international terrorists' since 2015.
Israel had reportedly tried to kill him at least eight times - including in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2014 and in May 2021.
The attempts saw both of his legs and an arm blown off and his wife and two children killed.
Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Israel targeted Deif in a strike on July 13 that hit a compound on the outskirts of the city of Khan Younis, but there had been no immediate confirmation he was killed.
More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
The house where Deif was believed to have taken residence was hit with a 2,000lb (900kg) bomb, leaving a giant crater.
One of the founders of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, the former bombmaker, who studied physics, chemistry and biology at the Islamic University in Gaza, had led the unit for decades.
He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention before rising through the ranks.
Under his command, it carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis on buses and at cafes and built up a formidable arsenal of rockets that could strike deep into Israel.
He remained a mysterious, underground figure in Gaza. He never appeared in public, was hardly ever photographed and only rarely was his voice heard in audio statements.
Deif operated along with Yahya Sinwar, the Israeli military said.
'During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing,' it added.
There were rumours the sinister mastermind of the October 7 attacks had been killed earlier this month, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in mid-July it was 'still not absolutely certain' whether Deif was dead.
The announcement came a day after political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran.
Haniyeh, a multi-billionaire who had been living in exile in Qatar since 2019, was reportedly killed when an 'airborne guided projectile' hit his compound in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
After being appointed to the Hamas top job in 2017, Haniyeh moved between Turkey and Qatar's capital Doha, escaping the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The role enabled him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas' ally Iran - and as a relay between hardline figures like Yahya Sinwar and the outside world.
But many living in the beleaguered Gaza Strip, including members of Hamas, became disillusioned with Haniyeh as he became removed from the lives of people on the ground.
'The fact that he lived in a five-star hotel in Doha made him very unpopular with some of the Hamas figures on the ground in Gaza,' Dr Andreas Krieg, associate professor of Security Studies at King's College London, told MailOnline.
'He's not someone who the organisation is relying on very much. But it is clearly a very symbolic strike.'
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, pictured in Iran on Tuesday hours before his death
Haniyeh (pictured right) joined other senior Hamas officials on a private jet, undated
Displaced Palestinians leave western Khan Yunis to areas in the eastern parts of the city following reports of Israeli forces withdrawing from the area on July 30
Smoke rises from an Israeli air strike in Rafah as seen from Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza strip, on July 29
Palestinians mourn for their relatives killed in Israeli airstrikes hit the eastern areas of Khan Yunis, at Nasser Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on July 28
Palestinians mourn lost relatives following an attack on Gaza City in the north, on July 29
While Iran has vowed 'revenge' for Haniyeh's death, it is not expected his killing will lead to a dramatic escalation of the regional conflict.
'What this offers is a head on a silver platter,' Dr Krieg added. 'Netanyahu can say this is the end of the organisation. And that's pretty much as close as Israel will ever get to defeating Hamas.
'But that can only work if Israel says now 'we're willing to enter ceasefire talks.''
'All sides don't want all out war. All sides want to maintain their reputation. Nobody wants to lose face. These people are replaceable.
'All sides will find a way in this tit-for-tat escalation to respond in measure beyond a certain ceiling... all sides have been pushing the threshold but on all accounts they have always tried not to breach it.'
In its 10-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
More than 80% of the population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes, the vast majority crammed into tent camps in the south-west corner of the territory, with limited food and water.
The Biden administration's plea deal that will allow three terrorist 9/11 plotters to escape the death penalty even has Democrats concerned.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi, plotters of the evil 9/11 terrorist attacks, have all agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for life sentences.
The New York Times reported that the pleas, which will see the men dodge a death penalty trial, have been approved by Pentagon officials.
But the terrorist trio escaping from capital punishment due to the Biden administration's agreement is worrying both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.
'I am very concerned about this plea deal,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday. 'I think we ought to scrutinize it very carefully.'
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the main 9/11 mastermind, shown after his capture during a raid in Pakistan in 2003 (L), and on the shown in captivity at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2009 (R). He struck a deal with U.S. officials to serve a life sentence in exchange for pleading guilty after being in captivity for around two decades. His deal infuriated senators who had to deal with the aftermath of the devastating attacks
'I think there are interests here that may not have been represented as fairly and aggressively as they should have been.'
Over 150 of the nearly 3,000 victims of the dreadful 9/11 plot were Connecticut residents, according to local outlets.
'I championed the 9/11 families and their legal action against Saudi Arabia,' Blumenthal continued. 'There is so much here that we don't know, and we have an obligation to tell the American people about the potential complicity, not only of these defendants, but of Saudi Arabia and other countries.'
The Democrat demanded the White House explain their reasoning for the deal.
'No explanation whatsoever. And they owe me and Congress an explanation. But more importantly, the 9/11 families and the American people.'
New Mexico Democrat Sen. Ben Ray Lujan told Daily Mail: 'The United States of America should be prosecuting fully those responsible for terrorist attacks on the United States soil. And I don't necessarily agree when sentences are lenient.'
On September 11, 2001, conspirators from al-Qaida seized control of airplanes and hit New York's World Trade Center, seen here, and the Pentagon near Washington
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., demanded the White House provide an explanation for why they decided to accept a plea deal that allows the masterminds behind 9/11 to escape the death penalty despite orchestrating an attack that killed thousands
New Mexico Democrat Sen. Bey Ray Lujan told DailyMail.com he does not necessarily agree when sentences are lenient
Republicans were also outraged by the Biden administration's deal.
'It's par for the course for these guys,' Sen. Marco Rubio said of the Biden administration negotiating the deal, saying he was 'not a fan' of the arrangement.
'They've released almost everybody that's there. Some of them have reengaged in terrorism.'
'If anyone should be facing the death penalty it should be these people,' he told DailyMail.com.
'We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them,' Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said of the deal.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called the deal 'a disgrace' adding 'these terrorists deserve the death penalty.'
'Anything short of their execution is a complete and total miscarriage of justice,' Cruz posted on X. 'Time and time again, this administration shows weakness to our adversaries.'
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement to DailyMail.com that it's a 'slap in the face' for the families of those murdered by the terrorists.
'The Biden-Harris Administration has done the unthinkable: theyve agreed to a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, and two of his accomplices.'
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said: 'It's absolutely the wrong signal at the wrong time. The world is on fire. Terrorism is rampant. And we give a plea deal to the mastermind of 9/11? That just encourages more attacks.'
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11
The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening that the pleas, which will see the men dodge a death penalty trial, have been approved by Pentagon officials. Walid Bin Attash, left, and Mustafa al Hawsawi, right, are seen here
Firefighters walk towards one of the tower at the World Trade Center before it collapsed
Others were pleased with the Pentagon's deal, saying it helps bring closure to painful tragedy.
'9/11 was one of the worst day for many of us,' Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., told DailyMail.com. 'We've lived through that again and again and again.'
'And it's funny that there's an emotional scar there that's never going to be erased. But in a funny way, it's comforting that they'll never see the light of day where they're not in prison.'
The Coloradan said he was satisfied with the plea deal.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., also told DailyMail.com he was satisfied with the deal, saying the terrorist's guilty plea is 'compelling.'
Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine told DailyMail.com: 'It is generally good news. I think the ability to have some closure to that after so many years is generally positive.'
Others were surprised a deal was even reached.
'It's been more than 23 years since it occurred,' Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said. 'I wasn't sure if they were gonna get anything done on it.'
'I doubt that we would have gotten to the point of a death penalty execution anyway,' he added, saying he is glad they are 'out of circulation' and 'still in prison.'
This is the two-bedroom flat where sex predator Huw Edwards has been living after separating from his wife as he faces up to ten years in jail after admitting having indecent images of children on his phone.
The ex-BBC star, 62, has been dividing his time between the maisonette in a south London suburb and Carmarthen, south Wales, where he has regularly stayed with his elderly mother.
The married father-of-five previously lived in Dulwich, south-east London, with his TV producer wife Vicky Flind, from whom he is reported to have separated.
The couple bought their family home for 1.85million in 2006.
But he recently moved out of the family home and rented a bachelor pad.
This the two-bedroom flat in southwest London where shamed ex-BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards has been living since splitting from his wife Vicky Flind
Edwards, pictured arriving at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children
The veteran broadcasters new spacious flat is in a quiet neighbourhood, boasting a large bay fronted living room with a fireplace, wood flooring throughout, two bedrooms and one bathroom.
One neighbour said: The properties here are quite charming with good light and high ceilings. Its a really nice corner of London - and very quiet.
He has kept a very low profile and I dont think most people in the vicinity are even aware he is here.
Edwards landlords, who bought the property almost 30 years ago, are based in Australia so the news of his guilty plea could mean they will soon be in the market for a new tenant, if the shamed star is jailed.
Its unclear how much hes paying or how long his lease is for but similar properties nearby go for as much as 3,000 a month.
The Daily Mails Richard Eden revealed in April how Edwards escaped to Carmarthenshire, south Wales, to be with with his mother after he was suspended by the BBC last July following allegations that a then-unnamed presenter had paid a young person more than 35,000 for sexually explicit images.
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
There are also reports that someone in the Met Police called BBC management to alert them that Edwards had been charged, before it was made public.
Nicky Campbell, one of the BBC's most senior radio broadcasters, has branded his ex-colleague Edwards 'disgusting'.
And responding to social media calls for the BBC to get back the 200,000 of licence fee money paid to Edwards while he was suspended, Mr Campbell gave a hint he might agree, tweeting it is 'my money too'.
The rector of Scotlands oldest university has been removed from its governing body after a backlash over her claim that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
Stella Maris was stripped of her powers at St Andrews University over allegations that she had breached her roles responsibilities - and made some students fear for their safety.
In an unprecedented move, she will no longer sit as the president of the universitys court after she was said to have refused to accept the findings of an independent investigation.
But Ms Maris who was appointed rector in November 2023 will officially remain in post as rector for another two years - as there is no mechanism to remove her.
Previous rectors have included John Cleese and Rudyard Kipling, and the university is alma mater of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Stella Maris has been removed from the governing body of the University of St Andrews
Her remarks about the conflict between Israel and Hamas came one month after she took up the Fife institutions most senior elected post.
In a message to thousands of students, Ms Maris claimed Israeli forces had carried out weeks of genocidal attacks in Gaza.
She said Palestinians had suffered apartheid, siege, illegal occupation and collective punishment after the conflict escalated.
Ms Maris also condemned the actions of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which killed more than 1,000 Israelis during attacks on October 7.
She said: It is also crucial to acknowledge and denounce the actions by Hamas that qualify as war crimes, notably the taking of hostages and deliberately targeting civilians, which I have and continue to do.
The investigation into her comments carried out by Lady Ross, then Morag Ross KC found she had exercised poor judgment, warning her words could potentially encourage anti-Semitic behaviour.
It also claimed she had inflamed tensions among students at the university with subsequent comments.
The university court is the institutions overall governing body, including all aspects of strategic planning and finances.
Last night Ms Maris said she intended to appeal against the universitys decision,
Principal Professor Dame Sally Mapstone said: We can disagree passionately on the most difficult issues, but it should always be with courtesy and respect for those whose views may differ from our own.
In large part, our community in St Andrews has responded to this terrible conflict and the abhorrent loss of innocent civilian life with strong, reasoned argument and commitment, but always consideration for the effects of their actions on others, and our students in particular, deserve significant recognition for that.
I believe that we can all learn from what has happened over the past few months, and that the values of listening, tolerance and respect will become even more important to our university community.
More than 1,400 students and alumni has signed an open letter to the rector, which said: We are concerned that your letter does not demonstrate equal care for Palestinian and Israeli lives.
Ray Perman, chairman of the university court, said: After extensive attempts at dialogue over three months, we have unfortunately now reached the point where university court has concluded that she is in serious and persistent breach of her responsibilities.
He said: As the chair of university court, I wish to offer an apology to all students, and others, who were upset or feared for their safety as a consequence of the rectors handling of this matter, and those who were subsequently upset by the rise in tensions and disagreements which ensued.
The university said it provided regular support to Ms Maris during the dispute.
Ms Maris read English and philosophy at the university, which she joined as an undergraduate in 2017, and has since filled a series of student representation roles.
Responding last night to her removal from the universitys court, Ms Maris said she fully intends to appeal the decision.
St Andrew University students were alarmed at the tone of Stella Maris's message
In a statement, she said: I am disappointed by the universitys decision to remove me from university court, which shows a lack of respect for the role of the rector in speaking independently for students as their elected representative and sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech in higher education.
It is clear that I have been removed from university court because I called for an end to Israels war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologise for doing so.
As a young, neurodiverse Black woman with limited financial resources, I have faced the full force of the university, including a KC investigation, all because I made a statement supported by the overwhelming majority of students, calling for an end to a genocide.
A two-year-old died of heat exposure inside a hot car after her father left her in the driveway on a scorching day, her autopsy confirmed.
Parker Scholtes was found dead in the blue 2023 Honda Acura SUV about 4.15pm on July 9 outside the family home in Marana, north of Tucson, Arizona.
Her father Christopher Scholtes, 37, was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse after police found he left her in the car to nap for three hours.
The Pima County Medical Examiner said the temperature inside the car was 108.9F when first responders arrived.
The autopsy conducted on July 10 confirmed Parker died from environmental heat exposure and the report listed the manner of death as 'accident'.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse over Parker's death. He is seen with Parker, her two older sisters and his wife Erika
Parker Scholtes, 2, died in a hot car in front of her home after she was left there for allegedly three hours on a 109F day
Scholtes told police he left Parker in her car seat inside the vehicle with the engine running and air-conditioning on because he did not want to wake her up.
He claimed she was there less than an hour after they arrived home, but CCTV footage revealed it was more than three hours in direct sunlight, according to a criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com.
His wife Erika Scholtes, a doctor at the hospital where Parker was declared dead, arrived home at 4.08pm and asked where her daughter was, then found her in the car, police said.
Scholtes' two other children, aged nine and five, told police that Scholtes had left all three siblings alone in the vehicle regularly
As Parker was rushed to the hospital, she texted him saying: 'I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you.'
She later added: 'We've lost her, she was perfect.'
Scholtes replied: 'Babe I'm sorry! How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real.'
Scholtes' two other children, aged nine and five, told police their father regularly left all three siblings alone in the car.
The kids told police Scholtes 'got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away', according to the complaint.
A PlayStation and other electronics were taken away as evidence by police.
The father-of-three told police he left the air conditioning in the Acura running but knew it would automatically shut off after about 30 minutes, based on previous experience.
Scholetes told police he got home with Parker about 2.30pm, but surveillance footage from neighbors' cameras showed his car arrived at the house about 12.53pm.
A 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the reported temperature was 109 degrees. Parker is pictured
Scholtes told cops that when he arrived home, Parker (pictured together) was asleep in the back seat and he didn't want to wake her, making him elect to leave her in the car despite the extreme heat
The cameras also showed Scholetes never went outside to check on Parker until his wife arrived home and asked where she was, police alleged.
Minutes later they found Parker unresponsive in the back of the car and a 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the temperature was 109F.
Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, called her daughter's death a 'big mistake' as she begged a Tuscon judge to reconsider holding her husband until his next hearing in August.
The judge upheld the doctor's request - agreeing to release him until his next hearing on Thursday so he could 'start the grieving process' with his relatives.
Parker was left in this blue Honda Acura SUV seen behind the police tape earlier that same day
Erika Scholtes, 35, works as an anesthesiologist at the same hospital her daughter was rushed to on the day she died
'I'm just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so we can all start the grieving process,' Erika said during a remote appearance at her husband's scheduled hearing.
She explained it would be 'so that he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week, and [so] that we can go through this poor process together as a family'.
'This was a big mistake and I think that it doesn't represent him,' the mom-of-two continued.
'I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don't have to tell them tonight that they're going to endure another loss.'
The defense proceeded to point out how Scholtes lacked a criminal history, aside from a DUI charge from 15 years ago.
He was also charged with assault but the allegation was withdrawn.
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Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to tackle the 'mindless minority' rioting in towns and cities by launching a new police 'capability' which will see thugs targeted in a similar way to football hooligans.
The Prime Minister addressed the nation today after scenes of violent unrest in London , Hartlepool and Manchester on Wednesday evening following riots in Southport on Tuesday.
Speaking during a press conference held after a meeting with senior police chiefs, Sir Keir thanked police officers who 'stood up to intimidation and violence'.
Our live coverage has now ended but for a full recap see below
A Georgia education chief has sparked outrage by saying an advanced black studies course for high schoolers breaks state law.
Richard Woods, the elected Republican superintendent of schools, says the Advanced Placement course in African American Studies falls foul of Peach State rules about teaching divisive racial concepts.
In particular, he highlights the concept of 'intersectionality' in the lesson plans.
That's an idea about overlapping systems of 'privilege' and 'disadvantage,' hatched by scholar Kimberle Crenshaw in the 1990s.
It asserts that straight, white, men, for example, get many breaks in life, while queer, black women face discrimination on all fronts.
Georgia high schools could get in trouble for teaching a controversial black studies course
Democrats and liberals in the state have railed against Woods, saying there's nothing wrong with the course.
The controversy comes as education emerges as a frontline in the culture wars between liberals and conservatives.
Many parents worry that progressive-leaning educators and curriculum designers present one-sided lessons about race, gender and sexual identity as a form of classroom indoctrination.
For that reason, Georgia lawmakers in 2022 passed a law banning the teaching of divisive racial concepts in schools.
That includes claims that America is 'fundamentally or systematically racist.'
Students should not 'feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race' due to school lessons, the law says.
So far, 18 states have passed such bans, based on an executive order from then-president Donald Trump.
The Advanced Placement course drew national scrutiny last year when Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would ban it in the Sunshine State.
South Carolina officials in June refused to approve the course, though individual districts there can still offer it.
In Georgia, Woods said he was blocking the course, but had not explained his reasoning.
On Wednesday, he said he'd reviewed the content and 'it was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law.'
'The most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality,' he said.
The designers of the course, Woods said, had made the mistake of treating a sociological theory as a fact.
'If the Advanced Placement course had presented a comparative narrative with opposing views on this and other topics, an argument could be made that the course did not violate Georgia law,' he said.
The superintendent also said he'd asked Attorney General Chris Carr if schools can still teach the course, using a carve-out in the 2022 law.
Woods has faced opposition on several fronts.
Georgia school chief Richard Woods said the 'most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality.'
Woods warns about teaching 'intersectionality,' a theory about overlapping systems of 'privilege' and 'disadvantage' that is often presented to students as a diagram
Nikki Merritt, a Democratic state senator, said Woods' approach 'makes no sense.'
Nikki Merritt, a Democratic state senator from Grayson, said Woods' approach 'makes no sense.'
Mikayla Arciaga, a campaigner for the Intercultural Development Research Association, called for the repeal of the 2022 law about divisive concepts.
'Being black in America should not be a divisive concept,' she said in a statement.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, did not comment on the course, but has reportedly asked Woods tough questions about his interpretation of the law.
The College Board, a nonprofit testing body that offers Advanced Placement curricula on a range of subjects, defended its course.
Spokesperson Holly Stepp said the black studies class is a 'dynamic and robust course that is rooted in academic scholarship.'
She denied that it seeks to indoctrinate students, saying they're 'expected to analyze different perspectives from their own.'
'No points on an AP exam are awarded for agreement with a viewpoint,' Stepp added.
Intersectionality is just one of 74 required topics in the course, she said.
The course description lists 'The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality' as one topic in the year-long course.
It seeks to explain 'how the black feminist movement of the twentieth century drew inspiration from earlier black women's activism.'
Another topic, 'Interlocking Systems of Oppression,' looks at 'how social categories (e.g., race, gender, class, sexuality, ability) are interconnected.'
It then 'considers how their interaction with social systems creates unequal outcomes for individuals.'
Some districts have said they will teach the course despite the controversy, but others have canceled their plans.
The Atlanta, DeKalb County and Cobb County school districts have all said they will offer the course in some high schools.
The state's largest district, Gwinnett County, said Tuesday that it wouldn't offer the class.
Students who score well on an exam can usually earn college credit.
Intersectionality and other aspects of the once-obscure academic discipline known as 'critical race theory' are divisive issues in the culture wars.
Conservatives use the term in schools and statehouses nationwide to denounce curricula and policies they consider too liberal.
It rests on the premise that racial bias intentional or not is baked into US laws and institutions.
High school teachers have said they do not teach the theory, but conservative critics say it's made its way into lesson plans regardless.
With wire agencies.
Harry and Meghan have released a new CBS interview about cyber abuse, with the Duke saying parents have to be 'first responders'.
The Prince went on to say that 'terrifyingly' many parents do not know to 'tell the signs of possible suicide'.
The full interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will appear on the American channel's Sunday morning show - three years on from their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Throughout the interview clip with host Jane Pauley the Royal couple speak about how parents need to protect children from online harm - reflecting on their own experiences with Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
The Duchess said: 'Our kids are young, they're three and five, they're amazing, but all you want to do as parents is protect them.
Harry and Meghan have released a new CBS interview about cyber abuse, with the Duke saying parents have to be 'first responders'
Throughout the interview talking about cyber abuse, Meghan said she was 'just happy to be able to be a part of change for good'
Throughout the interview, Meghan also spoke about her 'amazing' children - Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three
Prince Archie, who turns five today, seen with his parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and his younger sister Lilibet in 2021
'And so as we can see what's happening in the online space, we know that there's a lot of work to be done there and we're just happy to be able to be a part of change for good.'
When the broadcaster adds 'you hope that when your children ask for help, someone is there to give it' the Duke adds only 'if you know to help.'
'At this point we've got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder,' he said. 'And even the best first responders in the world wouldn't be able to tell the signs of possible suicide. That is the terrifying piece of this.'
The clip, which was shared on social media this afternoon comes after it was announced that the Californian-based royals will will visit Colombia for a tour later this year where they will 'engage with leaders, youth and women'.
They will head to the South American country at some point this year after accepting an initiation from the country's president Francia Marquez.
The exact date of the tour has not been disclosed at this time.
Throughout this time - in keeping with their latest interview - the couple will 'engage in several activities' related to 'cyberbullying, online exploitation and the mental health impacts of these threats'.
Ms Marquez's office said the couple would 'experience the rich heritage of Colombia' and help 'illuminate Colombia's role as a beacon of culture and innovation'.
Prince Harry and Meghan at the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on July 11
Colombia's vice president Francia Marquez at the Festival Of Culture in New Orleans on July 6
Meghan receives flowers from a girl on arrival for a sitting volleyball match in Abuja on May 11
She added that the visit would precede the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, which will be in Colombia this November.
Ms Marquez said: 'As the vice president of Colombia and minister of equality and equity, I am pleased to announce that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have kindly accepted my invitation to visit our beautiful country.'
She added: 'The Archewell Foundation, founded by the Duke and Duchess, is renowned for its global leadership in fostering a safer online environment.
'The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats.
'It will offer actionable solutions and commitments for countries around the world. During their visit, The Duke and Duchess, as well as The Archewell Foundation, will engage in several activities related to this important topic.
'We are confident that their visit will further illuminate Colombia's role as a beacon of culture and innovation.'
The couple's interview on CBS Sunday Morning will reflect on the same issues surrounding cyber abuse.
A note about the interview accompanied the clip on social media. It said: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex talk with Jane Pauley this Sunday about a new program supporting parents of children affected by online harm.'
For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org
A Metropolitan Police officer has been filmed repeatedly punching a man in the face as a snatch squad moved in on London protests following the Southport attacks, with 111 people now arrested.
Footage widely shared online appeared to show an officer hitting a demonstrator in central London as crowds gathered in response to the Southport stabbings near Liverpool.
Police waded in before punching the man who was also kneed as he fell to the ground during the ugly scenes near Whitehall last night.
A clip has been posted on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: 'Shocking footage shows Metropolitan Police walking up to a protester, minding his own business, and then violently punches him in the face and tackles him to the ground.'
It comes as a 17-year-old man accused of the Southport stabbings on Monday appeared in court and was publicly named for the first time.
Footage has been shared online of clashes involving police and protester in central London
A widely-shared clip showed a Metropolitan Police officer punching a man in the face
The man was forced to the ground as officers intervened near Whitehall on Wednesday night
The footage emerged as police revealed 111 people had been arrested following the protest
Crowds had gathered in London and elsewhere following this week's stabbings in Southport
The man tackled by Metropolitan Police officers on Wednesday evening has not been named
Scotland Yard revealed 111 arrests were made during Whitehall riots over the Southport mass stabbing, after bottles, flares and fists rained down on officers.
The arrests were made for offences including violent disorder, assaults on police officers, possession of knives and offensive weapons and breach of protest conditions.
About 1,000 protesting yobs were condemned by the force as 'shameful' - as they accused them of exploiting the tragedy 'for their own violence and criminality'.
The Met's Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: 'Last night our officers faced unacceptable scenes of disorder and violence, as others across the country have done in recent days.
'They acted with great courage and the highest levels of professionalism in the face of hateful behaviour.
'All our thoughts should be with the victims and families of those impacted by the most dreadful attack in Southport. It is shameful that some have sought to exploit this tragedy as justification for their own violence and criminality.
'There is absolutely no place for this on our streets. We will ensure that anyone involved in any violent disorder and criminal behaviour will be stopped, arrested and will face justice.'
MailOnline has approached the Met for further comment on the footage of a man being punched.
A teenager charged with murdering three children and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport was today named as Axel Rudakubana.
The 17-year-old, who turns 18 in just six days time, was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff in 2006 before moving to the village of Banks in Lancashire in 2013.
Violence erupted on the streets of the capital as flag-waving protesters clashed with police
Protesters were seen wearing T-shirts with the faces of the three Southport victims on
Locals in Southport have called on rioters to leave their town after Tuesday night's violence
He is accused of carrying out the attack that killed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
Rudakubana is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
Up until now, the teenager's identity could not be revealed because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances.
But after a successful application to the judge by the Mail, Rudakubana's name can now be reported.
Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the suspect's family and the risk to him in custody with the public interest accurately reporting his identity.
Far-right mobs took to the streets of Southport and and other major UK cities this week after a fake news website spread misinformation about the identity of the suspect.
Russian state media were among those falsely claiming that the suspect had arrived by boat to the UK last year, sharing claims that he was on an M16 watch list.
It led to violent riots, seeing dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire.
In a bid to quell tensions - after more riots broke out in London, Manchester Hartlepool, and Aldershot - Judge Menary revealed Rudakubana's identity.
Pictured for the first time: Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, now 17, pictured as a child, is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport with a 'curved kitchen knife'
Court artist drawing of Rudakubana covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes
Rudakubana covers his face in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court after being charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder
Rudakubana (pictured in a video) could not previously be named because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances
As the suspected murderer arrived at the court he was met by dozens of people shouting, with one man having to be held back by police officers as the van holding him past.
The revelation comes as two children hurt in the attack were discharged from Alder Hey Children's Hospital, with five others in a 'stable condition'.
Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the defendant's family and the initial risk while in custody against the public interest in accurately reporting his identity.
He said: 'By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.
'Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.'
A provisional trial date at Liverpool Crown Court, set to last six weeks, was scheduled for January 20 next year.
Rudakubana is next due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on October 25 for a plea and trial preparation hearing and will be remanded in youth accommodation detention in the meantime.
London's 'Enough is Enough' protest yesterday marked the largest gathering of thugs in the UK this week.
Yobs took to the streets chanting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and yelled 'stop the boats'.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation
Also killed at the dance sesion in Southport was six-year-old Bebe King
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Leanne Lucas, who organised the Taylor Swift-themed holiday club, has had life-saving surgery and is now awake, her family said on Wednesday
Friendship bracelets reading 'Beautiful Swifties' are seen next to electric tea lights amid floral tributes for the victims of a deadly knife attack at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
Some protesters were wearing T-shirts with the faces of the Southport victims on - despite affected families calling for an end to the violence.
Riot police were also pelted with glass bottles in Manchester, after protesters targeted a Holiday Inn hotel where migrants are believed to be housed.
The most chaotic riots were in Hartlepool where thugs were seen throwing objects at riot police, striking their shields and setting a police car on fire.
One person was live streaming the chaos when an Asian man was punched by a thug as he tried to walk past in what appeared to be a racially-motivated assault.
In Manchester, shocking footage emerged of a group of demonstrators, some masked, throwing bottles at riot police vans and officers. It is understood they were targeting a hotel where migrants are being housed.
A Diego Rivera mural is seen at the shuttered San Francisco Art Institute during a media tour in February. A group of investors and advocates led by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs has purchased the former campus. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle
Modernizing a beloved city landmark, such as the former San Francisco Art Institute, is no easy feat particularly when the goals are to address deferred maintenance and to ensure future relevance and functionality without overriding layers of history and undoing past edits while returning to core concepts. Then, there are the constraints of the citys historic preservation guidelines.
But for culture-oriented architects, complex historic design challenges offer an intriguing opportunity to stretch the imagination and to connect with chapters in San Franciscos history that make the city special.
From that perspective, San Francisco architect Mark Jensen just landed a plum project: the revitalization of the art institutes fortresslike former campus in scenic Russian Hill. Jensen, founding principal of Jensen Architects in South of Market, and his team have been hired to reimagine the 2-acre deserted art school at 800 Chestnut St. for its next act, the propertys new owner, BMA-Institute, confirmed.
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A new nonprofit, BMA-Institute is composed of local arts leaders and backed by philanthropist and entrepreneur Laurene Powell Jobs. The team purchased the campus earlier this year after the art institute its tenant of nearly a century declared bankruptcy.
Architect Mark Jensen of Jensen Architects will lead the redesign of the San Francisco Art Institute. Stephen Lam/Special to the Chronicle 2015
The scope of the project is both aspirational and nebulous. BMA-Institute has said that it wants the campus to nurture both local and international arts communities, spark a renewed arts renaissance in San Francisco, which has been struggling to redefine itself in the wake of the pandemic, and bring visitors back to the preserved $50 million Diego Rivera mural that is the crown jewel within its aging walls.
But details on how that vision will be translated into design are still being hashed out as is the campus new name, which is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
Its really too early to know what can be done there, said Stephen Beal, the former president of the California College of the Arts and an adviser for BMA-Institute. There are a lot of ideas that have been talked about, but its still very much in formation.
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A calendar, which has been left open to December 2022, is seen at the shuttered San Francisco Art Institute in February. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle
Along with Beal and Powell Jobs, the BMA advisory group also includes: Brenda Way, the founder and artistic director of San Franciscos ODC/Dance; David Stull, the president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Lynn Feintech, the president of the Los Angeles-based Liberty Building Co.; and Stanlee Gatti, an event designer and former president of the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Since the $23 million purchase was finalized in February, a bulk of the groups energy has gone into touring architects and deciding whom to partner with, said Beal, adding that he is thrilled with Jensen, whom he met as a faculty member at CCA.
I was really impressed with his ability to connect with people and also his sensitivity to the kinds of spaces that support the creative work that artists do, Beal said. This sensitivity, I think, will play a big part in helping to determine the future of the former SFAI campus.
Beal was not able to put a value on the restorations required to bring the property up to code, as granular assessments are still outstanding, but said the maintenance work will be significant.
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The San Francisco Art Institute was left as is, with books and papers on tables, when it was shuttered. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle
Jensens work has touched a long list of San Francisco institutions and open spaces. They include the David Ireland House in the Mission District; the Minnesota Street Project, a warehouse in Dogpatch that provides gallery and workspace for artists; the Willie Woo Woo Wong Playground in Chinatown; and the CCA graduate center in Showplace Square.
Hes also intimately familiar with SFAIs former campus.
I have been going to this property for decades, literally, as an architect, as someone interested in the arts, as someone going to lectures over there, Jensen said. Whenever I had out-of-town tourists visiting, it was one of the first places I would take them because its an amazing site. It has beautiful buildings. Its got a phenomenal view. I think its one of the most magical ensembles of buildings anywhere in San Francisco.
SFAI moved to Russian Hill in 1926. The campus is made up of an original Spanish colonial style building designed by Bakewell & Brown and a 1960s brutalist addition designed by Paffard Keatinge-Clay. It was declared a historic landmark in 1977.
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The San Francisco Art Institute campus will require significant maintenance work, according to Stephen Beal, the former president of the California College of the Arts and a BMA-Institute advisor. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle
Jensen said that he could not answer whether the newer structure could eventually be turned into housing for a potential artist-in-residence program that has been floated by the campus new owners.
Were not talking about housing now thats not on the table at the moment, said Jensen, adding that the focus for new construction is primarily on interior interventions to accommodate its future programming. Any exterior changes, at least as contemplated at the moment, will be light touch, he said.
Jensen described the planned work as editing.
There are a lot of changes that have been made to the property over the years that I think might detract from some of the core concepts, but theres also a lot of great stuff that you dont want to over restore, he said. I think thatll be one of the challenges.
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Jensen, the architect tasked with modernizing the shuttered San Francisco Art Institute, said he envisions a light touch on the exteriors of the campus buildings. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle
For now, his team is in discovery mode: Theyre pouring over the extensive documentation thats been gathered about the campus over decades, its history and architecture, as well as initial assessments of the maintenance work that needs to be done. There have been some initial exciting discussions about programming, he said.
There will likely be some specific, technical, specialized spaces for shops or labs, Jensen said, but added that its important to maintain universal space that can be many different things a studio, a gallery or workspace.
Keir Starmer vowed 'action will be taken' today as he held crisis talks with police over the outbreak of rioting following the Southport knife attack.
After summoning chiefs to No10, the PM told them that 'marauding mobs' must not be allowed to cause chaos.
He condemned those involved in violent disorder as 'thugs who have no interest whatsoever in the raw pain' of the community.
Sir Keir is set to hold a press conference at 4pm amid fears of more trouble, after ugly scenes spread to London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight.
The premier said: 'I wanted to send a message to each of you and through you, your officers, to say that this Government supports the police, supports what you are doing and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
'So, this Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.'
In the capital, more than 100 people were arrested after crowds in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
People wearing England flags and waving banners saying 'enough is enough' and 'stop the boats' congregated outside Downing Street.
Violence flared after social media posts wrongly claimed the killing of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Keir Starmer has summoned police chiefs to No10 as thugs again took to the streets in London, Hartlepool and Manchester
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones and chief constables from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police all attended the No 10 meeting
HARTLEPOOL: An angry mob set fire to a police car
LONDON: Violence erupted on the streets of the capital as a flag-waving crowd clashed with police
MANCHESTER: Protesters were seen launching glass bottles at a police van
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones and chief constables from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police all attended the No 10 meeting.
Sir Keir, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson spoke with the officers.
There were 19 attendees in total, including director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, HM Chief Inspector Andy Cooke and police chiefs Serena Kennedy and John Robins from the Merseyside and West Yorkshire forces.
Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, spoke to the meeting via video link.
She told the assembled ministers and police chiefs that the force was 'determined to get justice' for the attack on Monday and to identify all those who took part in rioting on Tuesday in Southport.
The angry scenes in London last night included loud chants of: 'We want our country back' and: 'Oh Tommy Robinson', referring to the right-wing activist. One man wore a shirt with the slogan: 'Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary'.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Manchester police confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
According to the Manchester Evening News, this incident also saw chants of: 'We want our country back', while a group of men were seen jumping in the path of a bus, smashing its wing mirror and assaulting a passenger.
Aldershot appears to have escaped the violence seen in other parts of the country, but a demonstration there was still met by riot police.
The string of violent incidents follows similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
Lord Walney, the Government's independent adviser on political violence, said he hoped the meeting would examine powers to 'refuse and prevent further so-called 'protests' that are being used by far right activists as a vehicle for serious disorder and violence'.
He said: 'There is a right to protest in the UK but that is not a right to riot.'
The meeting comes as a 17-year-old boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - has been charged with the murders of the three girls.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in a critical condition while two adults were also critically injured.
HARTLEPOOL: Rioters break down a fence as violence erupted in Britain for the second night running
HARTLEPOOL: One person was live streaming the chaos when an Asian man was punched by a thug as he tried to walk past in what appeared to be a racially motivated assault
MANCHESTER: Video shows protesters clashing with riot police with parts of the UK at boiling point
HARTLEPOOL: Protesters run towards riot police as chaos unfolded on the streets
HARTLEPOOL: Firefighters try and put out a blaze which completely destroyed a police vehicle
An American woman has claimed that she was repeatedly raped after being lured to India to marry a lawyer she met on Facebook.
The 45-year-old nurse, from Florida, quit her job, sold her house and travelled to India on July 3 to marry the man after he befriended her on social media and invited her to his home country, the Times of India and Bhaskar report.
She told local police that after she landed at Delhi airport, he took her to a hotel in Jaipur, the capital city of the Rajasthan state, where she claims he raped her. The woman alleges that he raped her several more times between July 3 and July 21.
During this time they reportedly stayed in hotels in Jaipur and the city of Ajmer, before the man promised the her that they would get married and organised a wedding ceremony on July 15 at a temple in Nasirabad - only to realise shortly after that it was all a ruse.
She reportedly found out that the woman he had introduced to her as his cousin at their fake wedding was actually his pregnant wife, with whom he already had a ten-year-old child, after the alleged fraudster took her to his home.
She told local police that after she landed at Delhi airport, the man took her to a hotel in Jaipur (stock image of the city above), the capital city of the Rajasthan state, where she claims he raped her. The woman alleges that he raped her several more times between July 3 and July 21
During this time they reportedly stayed in hotels in Jaipur (stock image above) and the city of Ajmer, before the man promised the her that they would get married and organised a wedding ceremony on July 15 at a temple in Nasirabad - only to realise shortly after that it was all a ruse.
The American launched a complaint with the local police force via an NGO on July 25, saying that she discovered that the fraudster deceived and raped her.
The man was arrested by Indian police for rape and deceit under the pretense of marriage on July 31 when he was discharged from hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds to his leg and chest he said he sustained while cleaning his friend's rifle.
The police superintendent in Bundhi, Hanuman Prasad Meena, told the Indian Express about the case: 'The accused took her to the hotel where they stayed for some time.
'Later, he took the woman to Ajmer and she stayed there for a while.
'According to the woman, the accused never told her that he was married.
'On July 15, he took the woman to a temple and married her. She asked the man to take her to his home.
'The man initially refused but then he introduced her to his family in Ajmer.
'There it came to light that [he] was already married with a 10-year-old child.
'His wife is currently pregnant with another child. Then both of them had a fight and the woman went back to Jaipur.'
The investigating officer added that the man had used his friend's card to check into the hotels he stayed at with the woman.
Vice President Mike Pence snubbed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she called him after January 6 to talk about invoking the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump.
Pelosi wrote about the experience in her forthcoming memoir, The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House, which will be released Tuesday.
She recalled how after the January 6 Capitol attack, 'the Democratic leadership discussed asking the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members to certify that a president is unable to discharge the duties of the office.'
She and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer 'placed a call to Vice President Pence about this possibility,' Pelosi's book reveals, according to the Guardian.
'The vice president's office kept us on hold for 20 minutes,' Pelosi wrote, adding that she was 'thankfully' at home 'so I could empty the dishwasher and put in a load of laundry.'
Vice President Mike Pence (left) snubbed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) when she called him after January 6 to talk about invoking the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump
'Ultimately, Vice President Pence never got on the phone with us or returned our call,' she said.
Throughout the book, Pelosi pushes that Trump is mentally unwell.
She said that by January 6, 'I knew Donald Trump's mental imbalance.'
The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House will be released Tuesday
'I had seen it up close,' Pelosi continued. 'His denial and then delays when the COVID pandemic struck, his penchant for repeatedly stomping out of meetings, his foul mouth, his pounding on tables, his temper tantrums, his disrespect for our nation's patriots, and his total separation from reality and actual events.'
'His repeated, ridiculous insistence that he was the greatest of all time,' the House Speaker added.
Pelosi reveals she would get calls from Trump, often late at night.
In one such call, Trump blamed former President Barack Obama for the missile strikes in Syria that he had just ordered.
Eventually Pelosi told the president it was time to go to bed.
'It's midnight. I think you should go to sleep,' Pelosi said.
She also recalled being told at a 2019 memorial service for a prominent psychiatrist by 'doctors and other mental health professionals' that they were 'deeply concerned that there was something seriously wrong' with Trump.
'And that his mental and psychological health was in decline,' Pelosi recalled.
A popular finance guru gave a woman a reality check after she complained about her friends' more glamorous lifestyle compared to her 'humble' way of life.
During a recent episode of The Ramsey Show, David Ramsey, an American radio personality known for his ultra-frugal advice, reassured a woman named Hillary that she's 'doing a great job' managing her money at the age of 33.
The woman, from Salt Lake City, Utah, told Ramsey and his co-host Dr. John Delony that she feels like she's 'losing at life,' despite making $60,000 a year - before taxes - as a health educator.
Hillary told the financial experts that she has no debt other than a $140,000 mortgage on her home, and that she recently paid for her master's degree in cash.
'And so all that money that I have saved, I'm just like, "That could've been a vacation or a car, I shouldn't have done that!,"' Hillary said.
During a recent episode of The Ramsey Show, David Ramsey, reassured a woman named Hillary that she's 'doing a great job' managing her with her money at the age of 33
Hillary told the financial experts that she has no debt other than a $140,000 mortgage on her home, and that she recently paid for her master's degree in cash, but still feels like she's missing out on the expensive adventures her friends go on. (pictured: Downtown Salt Lake City)
Both Ramsey and Delony immediately disagreed with Hillary and let her know that what she's doing is something to be proud of in the long run.
Ramsey also addressed her main concern about people her age splashing out money for luxury vacations and high-end cars.
'This is the problem that the millennial, your generation, was the one of the first ones to really really struggle with it,' Ramsey said.
He then referred to one the books his daughter Rachel Cruze wrote about 'the power of social media.'
'We used to say "dont keep up with the Joneses,"' Ramsey told Hillary.
'But [in those days] it wasnt as hard to keep up with the Joneses because they lived next door and you saw them driving their [nice] car but you also saw them have big fights and you knew their kids were messed up.'
He added that because the Joneses' life was visibly imperfect to their neighbors, it wasn't as big of a deal 'because you kind of knew some of the dirt too.'
In comparison to today's social media-ruling society, Ramsey explained how it's harder to see past what people share online.
'On social media, the only thing you're looking at is the highlight reel,' he said.
Delony added: 'And nobody posts the three weeks after the beach vacation, and the fight around the credit card bill --'
Ramsey's co-host, Dr. John Delony, told Hillary that he hopes one day his daughter finds herself in the same situation as her one day
'Because we can't buy groceries and diapers,' Ramsey chimed in.
Ramsey explained to her that even 'old people' like him can 'fall prey' to believing everything they see on social media, 'because we're not seeing reality.'
Delony then asked Hillary where exactly her worry was coming from as she explained social media and co-workers have contributed to her concerns.
'Social media is a big part of it obviously, you know with TikTok, and Instagram and Facebook, but also just, you know at work, someone says, "Oh, I'm going to the Bahamas for two weeks, or look at my new Escalade",' Hillary said.
Both experts chuckled as Delony told her that he hopes one day his daughter finds herself in the same situation as Hillary one day.
'That'd be amazing,' he said. 'You're amazing,' Ramsey followed.
'You traded a master's degree for the Bahamas, this is a good trade,' Ramsey added.
Ramsey, who started 'from nothing,' had a net worth of a little more than $1 million by the time he was 26, according to his website.
He compared where he was in life to Hillary's situation and explained to her how even though he disliked having to trade in his Jaguar for a 'hooptie,' he knew he was doing the right thing.
By the end of the show, Delony told Hillary to replace the jealousy feeling she gets from watching others living posh lives, and instead, focus on the 'lonely' parts in her life to fill the void.
'I want you to start creating the opportunity to have friends, and community, and connection and laughter right where you live.
'Start cultivating that and it's gonna make the other shiny stuff- it's just not that big a deal,' Delony added.
In another recent episode of The Ramsey Show, the radio host tore into a woman about her and her partner's spending habits despite them earning a combined income of $11,500 a month
Research from the Journal of Happiness Studies found that many people turn to social media when they feel lonely, but watching others' lives actually makes them feel worse from the constant comparison.
'When you compare yourself to others, it leads to self-judgment, low self-esteem, and a negative sense of self,' Michael Torres, PsyD, a California-based clinical psychologist at the Kaiser Permanente Mental Health and Wellness Center, said.
In another recent episode of The Ramsey Show, the radio host tore into a woman about her and her partner's spending habits despite them earning a combined income of $11,500 a month.
Ramsey spoke to a woman, Alyssa, who explained she and her husband do not contribute to their retirement and have just $3,000 in savings. They are also in debt to the tune of $138,000.
After suggesting that Alyssa set aside up to $5,000 every month to help pay off their shared $138,000 in debt, she became visibly wary.
'You know what I'm worried about? You make $130,000 a year and you're freaking broke. That's what I'm worried about,' Ramsey told Alyssa.
Eight teens held by police after people fought with machetes on Southend seafront have been further arrested on suspicion of violent disorder as police vow to stop any repeat of the mayhem.
Seven weapons were seized following the fight which saw thugs wielding huge blades in front of horrified holidaymakers.
One person was stabbed in the horror that unfolded on the Essex seafront on Tuesday evening.
The teens, aged between 14 and 18, were initially arrested on suspicion of offences including possession of offensive weapons following the incident.
Detective Inspector Alison Hooper from Essex Police, who is leading the investigation, said officers are 'working through volumes of footage to understand what has happened and individual roles in the disorder'.
It comes as a top officer said that police were 'aware of another possible event planned', and warned that anyone coming to commit crime will be 'met by officers and dealt with'.
Police are investigating a street fight in Southend which involved thugs wielding huge blades in front of horrified holidaymakers
Seven weapons have also been seized after the 'appalling' violence and disorder on the Essex seafront which was captured on cameras and shared widely online
The force has set up a dedicated phone line for people to report information about what happened on Tuesday, and police are appealing for people to share footage with them.
Police said officers responded 'quickly and robustly' to reports of people with weapons on the seafront and made eight arrests.
Witnesses have told of the horror they experienced as the fight unfolded on Tuesday evening.
Nicola Tiney, who runs the Borough Hotel on the seafront, said she believed about 1,000 young people descended on the resort town, many from London, in an organised meet-up during hot and sunny weather.
Ms Tiney described how groups began arriving in the afternoon, before pockets of violence and disorder erupted at about 7pm.
She said: 'Lots of them had their hoods up and were wearing masks and hats, just coming to the seafront resort to cause trouble.
'They congregated at the other end of the seafront and they started kicking off amongst themselves and running around - there were machetes out in the middle of the road.
'I had to get all of my customers in from the front - it was just disgusting.
'I didn't see anyone get hurt but you could see the machetes flying about at each other and then lots of them ran off down the beach with families around - I think one of them threw their machete into the sea.
'Towards the town centre they were fighting with knives and machetes as well and it's just them amongst themselves, it's nothing to do with Southend.'
Footage posted on social media shows hooded thugs fighting with huge machetes in close proximity to a park
The chaos erupted on the seafront and High Street of Southend-on-Sea on Tuesday evening
Footage shared widely online shows masked thugs fighting in the streets with machetes
The clashes broke out in broad daylight near Southend's Adventure Islands theme park
Ms Tiney also described seeing large groups running in the area 'like a herd of bulls', stopping traffic as they went.
wo of the people detained were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening or life-changing injuries, Essex Police said earlier this week.
DI Hooper said today: 'All eight arrested remain in custody and our investigation into the incidents of Tuesday night is ongoing.
'We are working through volumes of footage to understand what has happened and individual's roles in the disorder, alongside speaking to a number of witnesses.
'We need anyone who has information about what happened, and what led up to it, to contact us and we've set up a special telephone line specifically for this investigation.
'The number is 0800 096 0095 so if you do have information I need to you to get in touch.'
Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett said police will have an 'even larger visible presence' in Southend in the coming days.
'We are working with our partners to ensure if you come to Southend to enjoy our fantastic seafront you feel safe,' he said.
'If you see our officers and have any worries or concerns, please come and speak to them.
'We are aware of another possible event planned.
'We will be ready for that and will use the tools available to us to prevent any disorder.
'My message is clear - if you're coming here to create disorder or commit crime, don't bother.
'If you're planning to bring weapons, drugs, or carry out violence you'll be met by officers and dealt with.'
Suella Braverman has suggested she might be 'driven out' the Tories like '30p' Lee Anderson as she heaped praise on Reform UK.
The ex-home secretary, who has scrapped her bid to be Conservative leader, claimed Nigel Farage's party would do 'better' at the next general election.
She warned the performance of Reform at last month's poll, when they won five seats, should 'alarm' the Tories and hit out at 'complacency' among her colleagues.
The former Cabinet minister has left Westminster wondering about her political future after she abandoned an effort to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader.
She claimed she had the required support of 10 Tory MPs to enter the race, but admitted not enough of her the party agreed with her call for a shift to the Right.
Speaking to GB News, Mrs Braverman insisted she was 'not going to defect to Reform' as she dismissed persistent rumours she might make the switch.
But the Fareham and Waterlooville MP pointed to the example of Mr Anderson and added: 'I hope I'm not driven out to Reform by my colleagues.'
Suella Braverman has suggested she might be 'driven out' the Tories like '30p' Lee Anderson as she heaped praise on Reform UK
The ex-home secretary, who has scrapped her bid to be Conservative leader, claimed Nigel Farage 's party would do 'better' at the next general election
Mr Anderson, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman, was stripped of the Tory whip in February for refusing to apologise for comments about Sadiq Khan
Mr Anderson, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman, was stripped of the Tory whip in February for refusing to apologise for comments about Sadiq Khan.
The Ashfield MP claimed 'Islamists' had 'got control' of the London mayor and said Mr Khan had 'given our capital city away to his mates'.
Following the fierce row over his 'Islamophobic' remarks, Mr Anderson joined Reform and was re-elected to his Nottinghamshire seat for his new party on 4 July.
Mrs Braverman said: 'I look at Lee Anderson, Lee Anderson's a good friend of mine and it's a tragedy that we lost him to Reform.
'He is someone who speaks with an authentic voice that resonates with a lot of people in Britain. He's someone who was very brave, incredibly dedicated.
'And that we lost him, that our Conservative Party could not be the broad church, we talk about our broad church, well we weren't broad enough for Lee Anderson.
'He should be sitting as a Conservative Member of Parliament.
'We should have more Conservative MPs because Reform should not have been the force that it was, and many of our MPs lost because of Reform.
'We talk about a broad church. We should not be hounding out Conservatives, right-wingers, Eurosceptics, people who want to stand up for our flag and our faith.
'As if they are somehow 'swivel-eyed loons'... Lee Anderson should be a Conservative MP.'
Mrs Braverman, who previously stood for the Tory leadership in 2022, also told the TV channel she had given up on ever becoming Tory leader.
'I won't put myself forward again. I'm very happy, I've had a go,' she said.
Asked how well Reform might perform at the next general election, scheduled for 2029, she replied: 'I am absolutely confident that Reform can do better.
'It's very hard to put a number on it, but they came second in many, many placesthat should alarm the Conservatives.
'They came second in a lot of Labour-held seats, they are eating into the Labour vote. They took more of the under-30 vote than we did.
'Young people are voting more for Reform than they are for the Conservatives. These facts alone should seriously alarm any Conservative leader and all Conservative MPs.
'I'm just concerned that there's still a level of complacency.'
Quizzed about the possibility of Mr Farage being welcomed into the Tories, she said: 'I don't know what form it would take, but then the fact is that there is no there is not enough room in British politics for two conservative parties.
'Reform and the Conservatives cannot co-exist in the way that they are.
'We will have no chance of winning the next general election as long as Reform is a viable alternative.'
The full interview will be aired on GB News from 8pm tonight
Huw Edwards' former BBC colleague Jennie Bond today joined the chorus of critics demanding he hands back the piles of licence fee cash he was paid while suspended from his job.
The disgraced broadcaster, 62, earned more than 200,000 between his arrest last November and leaving the corporation in April - including a 40,000 pay rise.
Ex-BBC royal correspondent Ms Bond said today: 'Frankly, if Huw has any dignity left then he would hand some of the money back, certainly the 200 grand he has made since his arrest. I think it would be gracious of him to do that.'
She added: 'We need to remember the BBC as a whole is being tarnished and reputationally this is very very damaging of course. But the news division is quite rightly and thankfully quite separate from the corporation itself.
'It's quite a hard division for people to make but we in the news have without fear or favour questioned the bosses at the BBC and that is entirely right.
'In the newsroom themselves they were kept in the dark right until this week, which is extraordinary.'
It came as the BBC's former royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said that if the disgraced presenter had a 'shred of decency' he would repay the corporation.
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022. Jennie Bond, the BBC's former royal correspondent, says Huw must hand the 200,000 he earned while suspended back
Huw Edwards (pictured) messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed
Jeremy Vine has said the BBC should clarify if Edwards was asked if he was guilty at the time the corporation was informed of his arrest for making indecent images of children.
The BBC confirmed on Wednesday that it knew of the veteran broadcaster's arrest on "suspicion of serious offences" in November, but continued employing him until April.
Questions have been raised about why he continued to receive his large salary - as the highest-paid newsreader at the corporation - for five months after his arrest.
Vine, who hosts a show on BBC Radio 2, said bosses should confirm if they tried to establish whether or not Edwards was guilty of the crimes he was accused, adding: "You can't justify paying him beyond November if you know he's guilty."
Speaking on his self-titled Channel 5 chat show, Vine said: "We need to find out if BBC said, what (were you arrested) for and are you guilty?
"If he said to them, 'It's for these serious offences, but I'm not guilty,' then I would think you could start to take action to get the money back.
"Because that clearly is a lie. He's admitted he's guilty.
"I don't know whether the BBC asked him 'Are you guilty?' because you can't justify paying him beyond November if you know he's guilty."
He added: "The information may have come from an intermediary who says I've got no more information than this - Huw has been arrested."
He continued: "What a mess and the poor BBC at the centre. It has terrible moments, but there are precious reasons why we don't want it to go down the swanny.
"This is not the day to defend it because this is a bad, bad week. I couldn't believe yesterday when I heard that the BBC had been told about it in November'.
Edwards has made a 'mockery' of the BBC and was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months, betrayed staffers said today.
The corporation faces yet more damaging questions after another of its biggest stars was revealed to be a sex offender after Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and others.
'It's unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie', one BBC employee said today.
And BBC News Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said: 'The facts are the BBC continued paying Huw Edwards his vast salary for five months after he was arrested,' adding: 'Why, also, did they let him leave on his own terms?'.
'In the end, this was a judgement call for the people at the very top of the BBC and the optics are reputationally damaging. The BBC spent taxpayers' money on a man now guilty of serious offences. Many people will believe the corporation made the wrong judgement', she said.
The Director General has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
There are also reports that someone in the Met Police called BBC management to alert them that Edwards had been charged, before it was made public.
Nicky Campbell, one of the BBC's most senior radio broadcasters, has branded his ex-colleague Edwards 'disgusting'. And responding to social media calls for the BBC to get back the 200,000 of licence fee money paid to Edwards while he was suspended, Mr Campbell gave a hint he might agree, tweeting it is 'my money too'.
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
Writing for the BBC website Katie Razzall said: 'Why didn't the BBC sack Edwards, in light of his arrest, instead of giving him the space to leave, apparently on his own terms, albeit with no pay off?
'There will have only been a handful of people in the room where these conversations were taking place.
'The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. The decisions they took can't have been easy and they will have been weighing up different scenarios - and competing advice.
'It's important to note that BBC News, where I'm employed, is editorially independent from the corporate side. We didn't know about the arrest or charges until earlier this week when the story broke'.
She added: 'Senior HR and legal advisors will have advised the BBC it had a duty of care towards Edwards as an employee. They will likely also have said he would have a legal case against the corporation if he was sacked unfairly. The BBC says it was made aware of 'significant risk to his health'.
'But it is difficult to see this specifically through an HR or legal prism'.
Former BBC broadcaster Roger Bolton said today: 'The nature of what Huw Edwards has done is so disgusting and dreadful that I think any residual sympathy for him has gone.'
'The questions are, when did they [the BBC] know? What did they know?'
'There is the BBC at the very highest level, the executives, and BBC News. It's absolutely clear that BBC News and all its editors did not know until this week that Huw Edwards had been charged.
'But we now know the BBC executives were told in confidence that Huw Edwards had been charged. When did they know he was charged? And the big question is, why did they continue to pay him so much money in these circumstances?'.
It came a BBC insider claimed it was common knowledge that married father-of-five Edwards had messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years. The source believes that bosses 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him as an asset.
The disgraced BBC anchorman, 62, yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
It comes as the BBC admitted it knew Edwards had been arrested on 'suspicion of serious offences' last November, but kept paying his 479,000-a-year salary until he resigned in April.
A BBC insider said last night: 'It was known for a few years he was messaging an assortment of lads in the newsroom for drinks etc, yet the feeling is senior editors might have turned a blind eye. If this was the case, it points to the usual ''protect the star'' stuff.'
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile kAlex Williams, it has emerged.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday
Yesterday, Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were 'Category A', the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip's funeral to the nation.
Just this week, the BBC would not reveal if it had been aware of Edwards' arrest in November. But it tried to defend its actions in a statement last night.
The BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
It continued: 'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.' It added: 'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards's actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
Sir Keir Starmer today announced plans to treat rioters like football hooligans in the wake of violence on Britain's streets following the Southport knife attack.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister condemned the 'mindless minority' who have delivered nights of chaos since Monday's tragedy.
He hit out at a 'gang of thugs' who travelled by train and buses to Southport and attacked police.
There has also been mayhem in London, Hartlepool and Manchester leading to scores of arrests.
As part of a crackdown on organised riots and the 'far right', the PM said a new 'national capability' across police forces would tackle violent disorder.
This will see forces share intelligence - such as spikes in train ticket sales that could be linked to rioting - and deploy facial recognition technology.
Police chiefs will also be encouraged to restrict the movement of known agitators in a similar way to how football banning orders are used to stop hooligans attending games.
Sir Keir Starmer today announced plans to treat rioters like football hooligans in the wake of violence on Britain's streets following the Southport knife attack
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister condemned the 'mindless minority' who have delivered nights of chaos since Monday's tragedy
Riot police held back thugs near a burning vehicle after disorder broke out on Tuesday in Southport
Sir Keir earlier held crisis talks with senior officers in No10 and said the discussions centred on 'a response both to the immediate challenge, which is clearly driven by far right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up'.
'Whatever the apparent cause or motivation we make no distinction,' he added.
The PM also issued a stern warning to social media bosses about violence that was 'clearly whipped up online'.
PM's crackdown on riots: What has been announced? Sir Keir Starmer today announced a new National Violent Disorder Programme to crackdown on those causing violence and unrest on Britain's streets. According to No10, this will bring together the best policing capabilities from across the country to share intelligence on the activity of violent groups so officers can swiftly intervene to arrest them. Local insight and data will be used to gain a 'national understanding' of where criminals are operating. This will include the British Transport Police issuing an alert if they see a spike in train ticket sales that could be linked to organised violent disorder. There will also be efforts to deploy facial recognition technology more widely across the country. In a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister said talks with police chiefs also included discussions about 'criminal behaviour orders which can be attached to convictions for these sorts of offences'. 'I would personally like to see more use of those orders in the same way that they're used in football hooligan cases to stop people travelling, identify and prevent their patterns of behaviour, because these are not people going to protest,' he added. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Communities have a right to feel safe without deliberate organised violence or thuggery in our streets. 'Criminals need to face the full force of the law and today we made clear that the police have our strong support in keeping the streets safe. 'We will work with senior police officers across the country to make sure there is rapid intelligence sharing and swift action to stop violent disorder and make sure criminals pay the price.' Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said: 'We welcome any support which helps us to strengthen our policing capability to deal with these types of incidents. 'We look forward to working with Government and receiving more details on the creation of a National Violent Disorder Programme and further work on tools such as live facial recognition.' Advertisement
'That is also a crime, it's happening on your premises and the law must be upheld everywhere,' he said.
'We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.'
The PM said that 'fear' was 'an understandable reaction' following the 'inexplicably vile attack' on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
But he blasted those who had not allowed the local community in the Merseyside town the 'the time and space to grieve'.
He said they had been forced to 'suffer twice' after the horror killing of three girls was followed by a night of rioting on Tuesday.
'Make no mistake, whether it's in Southport, London or Hartlepool these people are showing our country exactly who they are,' the PM added.
'Mosques targeted because they're mosques, flares thrown at the statue of Winston Churchill, a Nazi salute at the Cenotaph.'
He continued: 'It's not protest. It's not legitimate. It's crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice.
'And so on behalf of the British people who expect their values and their security to be upheld. We will put a stop to it.'
Sir Keir said 'nobody but nobody' involved in rioting should 'pretend they are speaking' for the grieving families.
Asked what his message was to Muslims after a mosque was targeted in the riots in Southport, he replied: 'In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear: I will take every step that's necessary to keep you safe.
'Mosques being attacked because they're mosques the far right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.'
Sir Keir revealed that his talks with police chiefs had included discussions about 'criminal behaviour orders which can be attached to convictions for these sorts of offences'.
'I would personally like to see more use of those orders in the same way that they're used in football hooligan cases to stop people travelling, identify and prevent their patterns of behaviour, because these are not people going to protest,' he added.
'You don't go to a protest with a rock in your hand. You go to commit violent disorder and we need to be really clear about that and I think those orders would help us in the preventative space.'
Despite his stern warning to social media companies, Sir Keir admitted there was 'a balance to be struck' with platforms in efforts to tackle misinformation online.
He said: 'Inciting violence online is a criminal offence and that is not a matter of free speech. It is a criminal offence.
'Clearly, in relation to platform providers, there's a balance to be struck.
'Social media platform providers, it's an amazing opportunity that we all enjoy as a country that is very important to us that these platforms are there to be used for the great opportunities that they provide.
'There is also a responsibility that goes with it. That's a space for a mature conversation to take place.'
The PM was also asked about comments by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who insinuated the truth was being held from the public in relation to the identity of the attacker in Southport.
Sir Keir said: 'In relation to the comments of others, look, I'm not going to stand here and cast judgment on what others are saying.
'I know what I'm saying and I know why I'm saying it very, very clearly, which is my focus whenever I'm confronted with any questions about this is on the families and victims of those, particularly in Southport who were so affected by this.'
The PM summoned police chiefs to No10 after thugs again took to the streets in London, Hartlepool and Manchester
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones and chief constables from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police all attended the No 10 meeting
HARTLEPOOL: An angry mob set fire to a police car
LONDON: Violence erupted on the streets of the capital as a flag-waving crowd clashed with police
MANCHESTER: Protesters were seen launching glass bottles at a police van
Sir Keir spoke at the Downing Street press conference after earlier telling senior officers 'action will be taken' in crisis talks with police.
After summoning police chiefs to No10, the PM told them that 'marauding mobs' must not be allowed to cause chaos following the outbreak of rioting after the Southport knife attack.
The PM condemned those involved in violent disorder as 'thugs who have no interest whatsoever in the raw pain' of the community.
Ugly scenes spread to London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight.
Sir Keir said: 'I wanted to send a message to each of you and through you, your officers, to say that this Government supports the police, supports what you are doing and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
'So, this Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.'
In the capital, more than 100 people were arrested after crowds in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
People wearing England flags and waving banners saying 'enough is enough' and 'stop the boats' congregated outside Downing Street.
Violence flared after social media posts wrongly claimed the killing of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Scotland Yard's Deputy Commissioner Dame Lynne Owens, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, National Crime Agency chief Robert Jones and chief constables from Merseyside and West Yorkshire Police all attended the No 10 meeting.
Sir Keir, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson spoke with the officers.
There were 19 attendees in total, including director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson, HM Chief Inspector Andy Cooke and police chiefs Serena Kennedy and John Robins from the Merseyside and West Yorkshire forces.
Serena Kennedy, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, spoke to the meeting via video link.
She told the assembled ministers and police chiefs that the force was 'determined to get justice' for the attack on Monday and to identify all those who took part in rioting on Tuesday in Southport.
The angry scenes in London last night included loud chants of: 'We want our country back' and: 'Oh Tommy Robinson', referring to the right-wing activist.
One man wore a shirt with the slogan: 'Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary'.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
According to the Manchester Evening News, this incident also saw chants of: 'We want our country back', while a group of men were seen jumping in the path of a bus, smashing its wing mirror and assaulting a passenger.
Aldershot appears to have escaped the violence seen in other parts of the country, but a demonstration there was still met by riot police.
The string of violent incidents follows similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
Lord Walney, the Government's independent adviser on political violence, said he hoped the meeting would examine powers to 'refuse and prevent further so-called 'protests' that are being used by far right activists as a vehicle for serious disorder and violence'.
He said: 'There is a right to protest in the UK but that is not a right to riot.'
The meeting came after a 17-year-old was charged with the murder of three girls in the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.
He is charged with the murder of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on Monday.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of yoga class instructor Leanne Lucas, businessman John Hayes and eight children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as with possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade.
He was remanded to youth detention accommodation and will next appear in court in October.
HARTLEPOOL: Rioters break down a fence as violence erupted in Britain for the second night running
HARTLEPOOL: One person was live streaming the chaos when an Asian man was punched by a thug as he tried to walk past in what appeared to be a racially motivated assault
MANCHESTER: Video shows protesters clashing with riot police with parts of the UK at boiling point
HARTLEPOOL: Protesters run towards riot police as chaos unfolded on the streets
HARTLEPOOL: Firefighters try and put out a blaze which completely destroyed a police vehicle
Have we all taken a step closer to world peace? It may be a lofty hope, but this week an army of able and willing (not to mention attractive) volunteers did step up to do their bit.
This month they will sashay across a platform, take to a podium and in the best traditions of the beauty pageant world attempt to convince the judges that they can make the world a better place.
And all the while smiling with very white teeth, offset mostly by mahogany-hued skin.
The beauty pageant in question will not be featuring the usual lithe and lovely ladies in impossible heels, however, but muscular men. Welcome to the Mr England contest, aka Hunk Central.
Christian Hawkins, 25, from Surrey, sells home security systems by day, but is also a champion bodybuilder
Christian says: 'The competition lights will bounce off a pale body, and you can see the muscular definition better when the skin is darker.'
Nathan Angel, 21, is a sheep farmer and professional wrestler. He says: 'They are actually very complimentary'
It may have passed many of us by (who knew that male beauty pageants were even a thing?) but, just like the Olympics, the Mr England contest runs every four years and invites entries from young(ish) men who are 'single, confident, sporty, good-looking, charitable and charismatic'.
The lucky lad chosen to represent his country also wins the chance to compete in the Mr World contest in Vietnam, and will be in with a shout of being crowned 'the world's most desirable man'.
This year, however, there was a calamity when only a handful of contestants applied. In desperation, the organisers roped in Miss England Newquay surfer Milla Magee, Cornwall's answer to Pamela Anderson to drum up interest. Milla took to the beaches of the south coast in a hunt for handsome men 'with a purpose'.
Decent pecs and a current passport - were also desirable.
There is a touch of the Viking about Nathan. He has long, flowing blond locks, and the even more flowing confidence of a natural showman
Nathan says: 'Obviously, sheep farming is very physical and there isn't that much difference between wrestling a sheep and wrestling a human'
What were her chances of pushing the entries into double figures? Well glory be! the flurry of publicity worked. It emerged last week that more than 100 hopefuls have conquered their modesty and English reserve and applied, saving the contest (and our faith in mankind, surely?) from oblivion.
'The men were a little shy and slow about coming forward, but now we have some great contenders,' beamed organiser Angie Beasley last week, the relief evident.
But who are these Englishmen who genuinely think they have a shot at being crowned the world's most desirable man?
Alas, some were always destined to be disappointed. Angie tells me that the judges were a little shocked to get a handful of entries from men who have been way over the stipulated 17-27 age bracket.
'One is 67,' she reveals. 'And we've had a smattering of entries from those in their 40s and 50s.' She won't be drawn on how many 'dad bods' have been in evidence among the entries, but it does appear that several videos (the contestants had to submit short recorded videos introducing themselves) had the whiff of being uploaded in the wee small hours, perhaps after drink was taken.
The organisers of Mr England roped in Miss England Newquay surfer Milla Magee, Cornwall's answer to Pamela Anderson to drum up interest
Milla took to the beaches of the south coast in a hunt for handsome men 'with a purpose'
The flurry of publicity worked. It emerged last week that more than 100 hopefuls have conquered their modesty and English reserve and applied
Still, it seems we are now well on the way to a shortlist and what fine specimens have emerged. Among the hopefuls, coming from all corners of the country, are a policeman, an accountant, a sheep farmer (and part-time wrestler) and quite a few bodybuilder types.
Curiously, there is a hopeful who considers his hobby building things with Lego an asset.
There is also a man whose actual job description involves having made the pledge to lay down his life for King and country.
What's immediately clear is that in this contest the bodybuilders do have an advantage. Not only are they used to holding a pose, they are also skilled in that other traditional beauty contest discipline: the application of fake tan.
One of the shortlisted candidates, Christian Hawkins, 25, from Surrey, sells home security systems by day, but is also a champion bodybuilder. He tells me that it is commonplace in the competitive bodybuilding world to smother yourselves in so much fake tan that it takes weeks to scrub it off, 'and leaves your nails brown, so that you look as if you have a fungal disease'.
There is method in the madness, he says.
'The competition lights will bounce off a pale body, and you can see the muscular definition better when the skin is darker. And to give a level playing field, all the contestants aim for the same colour.'
What colour is that, precisely? 'I'd say ebony,' he muses, after some consideration.
What a revelation it is to get a sneak peak into the preparations not to mention the psyches - of the wannabe Mr Englands.
Christian was one of those entrants who didn't even know the contest existed until he was persuaded to throw his hat in the ring by chums.
'I have one friend whose dad was a former Mr Gibraltar,' he says. 'He said 'why don't you enter Mr England?' and I thought 'good point. Why don't I?'. I'm used to being judged, and obviously I'm confident that I'm in good shape. I think I've got what it takes.
'And obviously I'm no stranger to appearing in front of a crowd borderline-naked. In fact, I'll be wearing more clothes in this contest than I usually do.'
In good shape?! Christian competes at the highest level of bodybuilding (in the 'natural' category, whereby contestants are tested to prove they use no performance-enhancing drugs or steroids), which means that he has a physique which makes Michelangelo's David look quite puny (not to mention pale).
By luck, he has a big bodybuilding contest coming up in August, so is already in almost peak physical condition.
'The men were a little shy and slow about coming forward, but now we have some great contenders,' beamed organiser Angie Beasley
'I'm 80 to 90 per cent there,' he says. To where? 'In bodybuilding you are aiming for seven or eight per cent body fat, which is the lowest you can be really. I'm generally more around the ten to 11 per cent, in terms of body fat.'
He's a lean machine, he means. 'The aim, in this world, is to look as if you are a muscle diagram.'
Will his muscles impress the Mr England judges, though? Well, they might if the judges are female. Or gay. Christian is straight ('and no, no girlfriend. It would rule me out of the competition if I wasn't single'), but has first-hand experience of his looks being judged outside the competition arena too. 'It's the older generation of women say from the 40s and 50s upwards, who are also very upfront. If I'm on holiday, say, and have my shirt off, they will come up and rub my abs, or ask for my number.'
What about the younger women? 'Well, it's still there, but it's more subtle. They will hold eye contact and give a little smile. Some women might say that they don't mind a dad bod, but the evidence suggests otherwise.'
The judges are at pains to stress that Mr England is not just about pecs, though. To wow them, contestants will have to compete in a sporting round, a fashion round, and an interview where they will have to talk about more than their gym bunny routines.
Is Christian confident? 'Absolutely. It's a different psychology, but I have a good sense of humour, interesting hobbies I'm into classic cars and clay shooting and I think I have what it takes.'
He doesn't seem hugely fazed by the competition, although does express some concern about one of the other contestants, 'who looks a bit like Thor. He's a chap from Dorset'.
Step forward 21-year-old Nathan Angel, who is a sheep farmer and professional wrestler. These two things seem wildly incompatible, I suggest to him. He says I am completely wrong. 'They are actually very complimentary. Obviously, sheep farming is very physical and there isn't that much difference between wrestling a sheep and wrestling a human.'
What can we say about Nathan Angel? First, is the surname real? 'I was born from an angel,' he says, refusing to be drawn on what his passport actually says.
Nathan entered Mr England 'because one of my mum's friends said I should'. Also, his dad sanctioned it because it isn't lambing season and so he could be allowed the time off. He admits he didn't know that men could be in beauty pageants either.
'But it does feel like traditional beauty pageants have changed. It's a more positive platform now. It requires a lot of skills. It's not just a load of men who look like Joey Essex. There are good looking dudes who are also intelligent and well spoken.'
There is a touch of the Viking about Nathan. He has long, flowing blond locks, and the even more flowing confidence of a natural showman. 'There is a drama to the wrestling I do, but this is going to be a different type of performance,' he says.
Will he be going for the fake-tan look?
'Oh I'm no stranger to that. It's the bane of my hairdresser's life, to be honest. We use it for the wrestling and it dyes the roots of my hair and turns it ginger, but mostly I prefer the au naturel look. Although for the wrestling we do shave our legs to look a little more fly.'
And the ladies like this? 'Well, to be honest, it's the gay men who are most likely to express their appreciation, but the older grannies are quite vocal too. They will say what they like!'
What on earth do the other farmworkers make of Nathan and his Mr England bid?
He admits he has had some ribbing. 'On the farm, I'll have my hair up and just be in my farming clothes and it's all quite traditional there, but it gives everyone a laugh.'
Mere mortals might quake at the thought of being up against such muscle men, but one of the most confident contestants is also one with the more modest physique.
'The bodybuilder types might have the muscles, but are they well-rounded people, have they got intelligence, looks and personality?' asks Baltej Tattla, 26, who is an accountant with Deloitte and lives in West London.
Baltej too is single ('I have been single for 26 years. I have high standards. The right woman hasn't come along yet'), but convinced he can triumph.
'I think I can win not just Mr England but Mr World,' he says. 'I think I am more relatable than some of the others.'
Armed with a degree from Loughborough University, Bal has a sporting background, and considers himself a global citizen.
'I hadn't considered applying for Mr England, but then I read the requirements. They were after someone with looks and personality, an extrovert who loves travelling, someone who wants to make a difference and contribute. I thought 'if this was a job advert, I would apply because this is me! So I did. You have to be an ambassador for yourself.'
What will his employers think if he wins? Will he be allowed time off to go to Mr World (and thereafter to sort out the world peace thing?). 'Oh yes, they have very good holiday policies.'
A hitman, a weapons dealer, and a money launderer are among eight prisoners released by the US as part of a historic prisoner swap with Moscow.
The convicts were let go in exchange for the release of 16 prisoners from Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan.
The exchange of 24 inmates is the biggest prisoner swap by Russia with the West since the end of the Cold War.
The trade involves seven countries and got underway on the runway at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday.
Among those on the plane was assassin Vadim Krasikov, the so-called bicycle killer, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for murder.
Vadim Krasikov, the so-called bicycle killer, is among eight prisoners released by the US as part of a historic prisoner swap with Moscow
Krasikov, 58, was convicted of gunning down Zelimkhan 'Tornike' Khangoshvili, 40, in broad daylight in a central Berlin park in June 2019.
He rode up to the Georgia-born Chechen separatist on a bicycle and executed him in Berlin's Kleine Tiergarten park in December 2021.
A German court called it a 'state-contracted killing' on behalf of the Kremlin.
Krasikov's release appears to be central to the entire prisoner swap deal and has been personally demanded by Putin.
The two met while working as officers at the Federal Security Service, Russia's biggest spy agency, with Krasikov's family saying he boasted of doing target practice with the leader.
Putin appeared to reference Krasikov during his interview with Tucker Carlson as he discussed the possibility of a prisoner swap.
'That person, due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit,' Putin said. 'Whether he did that of his own initiative or not, that is a different question.'
Russian media outlet The Insider has also published the names of the seven others released back to Russia.
They include cyber criminals Roman Seleznev and Vladislav Klyushin who are being returned from the US, according to the outlet.
Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin was convicted for involvement in an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million
Husband and wife Artem and Anna Dultsev were living under the aliases Maria Rosa Mayer Munos and Ludwig Gisch in Slovenia when they were accused of spying
Vadim Konoshchenko, who was accused of providing US-made electronic and ammunition to the Russian military, is reportedly the final prisoner to be released from the US
Seleznev was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in a $50 million cyber fraud ring and for defrauding banks of $9 million through a hacking scheme.
Russian businessman Klyushin was convicted for involvement in an elaborate hack-to-trade scheme that netted approximately $93 million through securities trades, based on confidential corporate information stolen from U.S. computer networks.
Vadim Konoshchenko, who was accused of providing US-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military, is reportedly the final prisoner to be released from the US, according to the reports.
Spanish-Russian journalist Pavel Rubtsov who is accused of being a spy, was released from Poland, per The Insider.
Married couple Artem and Anna Dultsev were returned to Russia from Slovenia, where they were convicted of espionage charges.
The couple had been living under the assumed names of Maria Rosa Mayer Munos and Ludwig Gisch and were sentenced to 19 months in jail.
Mikhail Mikushin, an academic who entered Norway as a Brazilian citizen, has also been released. He was arrested on suspicion of spying in 2022.
The convicts were released in exchange for 16 Western prisoners, including three US citizens.
Mikhail Mikushin, an academic who entered Norway as a Brazilian citizen, has also been released. He was arrested on suspicion of spying in 2022
Valery Seleznev was sentenced to 14 years in a US prison for his role in a $50 million cyber fraud ring and for defrauding banks of $9 million through a hacking scheme
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be released imminently following almost 500 days in detention.
Gershkovich, 32, was arrested in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
Former US marine Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018, is also part of the trade.
Whelan, 54, was sentenced to 16 years in jail in 2020 on spying charges. The US has denied he was ever involved in espionage operations.
Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmashevas was the final US citizen to be released by Russia.
A total of 16 prisoners were released by Russia, including at least seven Russian opposition figures who had been incarcerated in their own country.
People living in encampments on San Franciscos streets will be offered bus tickets out of town before shelter under Mayor London Breeds order. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle
Mayor London Breed has ordered city employees to offer homeless people a bus ticket out of town before presenting shelter or housing as an option.
The mayors new executive order, which marks a shift from current practices, comes amid an escalated crackdown on homeless encampments after a recent Supreme Court ruling gave city officials more power to enforce anti-camping laws. San Francisco officials are ramping up citations and arrests against homeless people who refuse to move indoors.
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Thursdays directive marks Breeds latest effort to prove shes taking a firm stance to address the citys homelessness and overdose crises. Breed is in the middle of a tough reelection fight, with many voters focused on the conditions of city streets and the state of unsheltered homelessness.
San Francisco will always lead with compassion, but we cannot allow our compassion to be taken advantage of, Breed wrote in the order. This directive will ensure that relocation services will be the first response to our homelessness and substance use crises, allowing individuals the choice to reunite with support networks before accessing other City services or facing the consequences of refusing care.
The program of busing people out of San Francisco has existed for years, but it saw a sharp decline during the pandemic, prompting some critics and at least one mayoral rival to question why Breeds administration hadnt pushed the program more forcefully. Officials had already pledged to ramp it up earlier this year.
This is just a fundamental attempt of the mayor to cover up failings of her administration and rebrand something that had already been made permanent, said Supervisor Ahsha Safai, a mayoral candidate who wrote legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year to expand the citys flagship relocation assistance program. Its very telling that this announcement comes two days after there are videos and reports of people being pushed off the streets, arrested and stripped of belongings, without anywhere to go.
Safai was speaking about an earlier report from the Chronicle of an unhoused man who was detained by police officers Tuesday. While he was sitting in the back of a squad car, Public Works employees threw out nearly all of his belongings. The man was cited and released after about 20 minutes.
Breeds office said the city has made significant progress on homelessness in recent years, but progress has been slowed due to an increase in new arrivals, underscoring the need for the executive order.
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According to Breeds office, the citys most recent point-in-time count a federally mandated tally of homelessness across the country found that 40% of unsheltered people in San Francisco are not from the city. Thats up from 28% in 2019.
The percentage of homeless people who have been in San Francisco for less than a year before becoming homeless reportedly increased from 15% in 2019 to 37% in 2024, the mayors office said.
The full extent of the point-in-time count results have not yet been released. Christin Evans, a member of the citys Homeless Oversight Commission, said they were expected to be presented at Thursday mornings commission meeting but the presentation was delayed because of a last-minute embargo from the mayors office.
When elected officials play politics with the research and data, it makes it more difficult for us to make informed policy decisions, Evans said in an interview. Shes making our job harder to resolve homelessness.
In May, the city released high-level data from the count that found homelessness had increased 7% over the past two years. The city counted 8,328 unhoused people across the city, which was up from 7,754 in 2022. Unsheltered homelessness, which includes people living in tents, on sidewalks and in vehicles, dipped 1% after the city added hundreds of new shelter beds.
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Under the mayor's order, the Human Services Agency, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and the Department of Public Health are required to amend internal procedures to require all staff who engage with homeless people to offer the citys relocation assistance programs before any other city services, including housing and shelter. The order states that staff should be appropriately trained on how to offer this information, and how to provide appropriate referrals, though it doesnt detail what such training would consist of or allocate additional funding for the effort.
The order comes as the city struggles to open enough shelter beds.
The Controllers Office is tasked with creating a tracking system to measure the effectiveness of the program and whether those who are offered relocation services accept them.
San Francisco first responders, including firefighters and police officers, are required to carry a handout providing information on the citys Journey Home program.
Journey Home previously known as Homeward Bound provides people experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders with a free bus or train ticket within the lower 48 states, as well as a meal stipend and overnight stay if the transportation route requires it. Participants must have a connection to the destination city, such as previous residence or family and friends currently located there.
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Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, did not comment on the mayors order directly but said that family unification and relocation assistance is an important component of the homelessness response system.
Huw Edwards suggested a junior BBC producer stay in his hotel room on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral during Covid curbs even sending a photo of the room.
The veteran newsreader showed off a plush suite funded by BBC licence-payers opposite Windsor Castle.
But the young worker, who had been in touch with the star after meeting online, declined to meet.
Meeting indoors would have been in breach of strict Covid rules at the time. The regulations, which barred indoor mixing, were adhered to by the late Queen as she famously sat alone in St George's Chapel to mourn her husband of 73 years.
Her Late Majesty cut a stoic and solitary figure dressed in black and wearing a Covid mask and could not be comforted by her family during the 50-minute service on Saturday April 17, 2021.
A young BBC worker claims that Huw Edwards invited him to stay in his hotel suite on the eve of presenting coverage of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021 (pictured)
Huw apparently sent a picture of his suite and said there was 'plenty of room' for him
Edwards, who led the BBC's coverage from Windsor, appears to have been keen for company on the night before the funeral.
A day earlier, he told the youngster who was also working at the event: 'I'm there all day tomorrow. Staying overnight, then all day Saturday. If you're around tomorrow night let me know.'
Then in the early hours of the funeral day, Edwards wrote: 'You missed a good night' adding: 'You could have stayed here', attaching a photo of his 'very nice' suite at the Macdonald Windsor Hotel, which is just across the road from the castle. Edwards wrote: 'Plenty of room, so easy'.
The BBC worker, whom the Mail is calling 'Charlie', told the Mail: 'He sent me a picture of his hotel room. I felt it was very suggestive. There were lockdown restrictions at the time.'
The deluxe suite had mounted wall mirrors, a small sofa and a coffee table, and on a chair in the corner can be seen a notebook and papers and a Covid mask.
At the time, the rules in England were that masks should be worn in public areas of hotels, and they stated: 'No indoor mixing between people of different households allowed.'
In the end, the pair never met. But the funeral was one of three occasions during the period when Covid rules banned indoor socialising that Edwards suggested a meeting.
Alone in grief, the Queen sat apart from everyone else as she said goodbye to her husband at his funeral in extraordinary and poignant circumstances due to the pandemic
The text messages said to have been sent to a junior colleague
Britain's most famous newsreader and Charlie who was in their early twenties - had begun messaging online after the youngster started working for the BBC in a junior freelance role and had followed Edwards on Instagram. Charlie regarded Edwards as a role model in the industry, and said the star had been friendly.
The pair later switched to WhatsApp and Charlie has kept hundreds of messages spanning April 2021 to August 2022.
Edwards' first message was on April 13, 2021, four days before Prince Philip's funeral. When told Charlie lived in a house-share, Edwards said: 'So I could pop in to have some tea?'
During an exchange a few days after the funeral, Edwards suggested: 'Or I can come to yours.'
After Covid rules were eased in May 2021, he also made further suggestions to meet indoors, which by then was legal.
Married father-of-five Edwards, 62, who resigned from the BBC in April after a 40-year career, won plaudits for his faultless handling of the funeral coverage on April 17, 2021.
Wearing a black suit and tie, he anchored four hours of live broadcast, as he was joined by guests including Sir David Attenborough, Gyles Brandreth and Alan Titchmarsh, with pictures beamed to millions around the world.
He later wrote an article about the event entitled: 'My painstaking preparations for Prince Philip's funeral.'
Published in The Spectator magazine, he portrayed himself as poring over briefing notes before the big day: 'Ahead of these great ceremonial occasions, I love the solitary rituals of reading and revising.'
Britain's most famous newsreader and Charlie who was in their early twenties - had begun messaging online after the youngster started working for the BBC in a junior freelance role
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
However his WhatsApp messages, seen by the Mail, suggest solitude was not the only thing on his mind.
Two days prior to the funeral, he messaged Charlie, who was also working for the BBC in Windsor: 'Are you staying tomorrow night?' A day later he sent the photo.
Edwards' suggestion came on the same night as Downing Street staff held a drunken gathering at No.10 for which several of them were later handed Covid rule-breaking fines by police.
When the Downing Street story emerged, in 2022, it was trumpeted by BBC news bulletins throughout the day, with Edwards' co-host Clive Myrie informing viewers of the flagship news show on BBC1 that night: 'Tonight at ten, Downing Street apologises to the Queen.'
Myrie went on: 'It was a time of national mourning and Covid rules meant indoor mixing was banned.' There was 'public fury' at Downing Street staff breaking the rules, the newscaster added.
The BBC reported the saga had 'engulfed No.10' which had been forced into a 'chastened apology to the Queen', and BBC reporters around the country filed dispatches quoting members of the public saying it was 'disgusting' and the government was 'a rudderless ship'.
It even broadcast Labour's Angela Rayner saying: 'It's [like them saying] one rule for everybody else and one rule for us.' The story rumbled on all week, with Edwards himself fronting News At Ten live from outside No.10 Downing Street.
Yesterday Charlie told the Mail: 'The Covid rules about households not mixing were still in force, the Queen was all alone on the pews at Philip's funeral, and then Boris [Johnson] got a hammering for the parties in No.10 and that was the same night Huw Edwards suggested I stay in his hotel room.
'Afterwards he said I had missed a good night.'
The overall tone of the WhatsApp messages, which number more than 350, is friendly and consensual on both sides.
With the exception of the Covid rules, there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing. But Charlie feels that, given the age gap and professional circumstances, there was a power imbalance in the relationship. Edwards was one of the BBC's best-paid stars on a salary of 435,000 to 439,999.
Last month the news anchor - generally regarded as the pre-eminent talent of his generation - resigned from the BBC. He was given a perfunctory 55-word goodbye from his employers notably devoid of any thanks or regret.
It came nine months after Edwards - who will forever be hailed for his composure and authority announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II - saw his 40-year career spectacularly implode.
He has been off screen since last July when it was alleged he had received sexually explicit photographs from a young person and had paid 35,000. Soon afterwards, the BBC's Newsnight said that it had evidence of 'inappropriate' behaviour towards three other junior employees. The corporation launched an internal inquiry.
This is the first time a junior BBC worker has given an interview about their experience with Edwards, speaking exclusively to the Mail.
Charlie, who now has a job outside the BBC, told the Mail: 'I worked in TV, so I followed Huw on Instagram. He was someone to look up to and respect and carried a lot of clout.'
Charlie offered to help the inquiry, yet was surprised that it took four weeks to hear back from the BBC's Corporate Investigations Team. Eventually there was a meeting over Zoom with one of the lead investigators on August 21.
Charlie told the Mail: 'I told him I had been sent suggestive messages. His messages were unwise for someone in his position.'
After the nine months, in which Edwards continued to be paid his 439,000-a-year salary, he resigned on medical grounds without a pay-off. The news anchor also left without any sign of the BBC's investigation having concluded.
In September, when Charlie asked for an update, the BBC investigator replied: 'I understand that you would like to know if Huw has been spoken to about your concerns, but you will appreciate that any detail about this... is considered private to that individual and unfortunately it would not be appropriate for me to comment further due to policy.'
After Edwards resigned on health grounds Charlie had no update at all from the BBC about the investigation. Charlie said: 'It doesn't surprise me. It's the BBC marking their own homework.
'I am also disappointed that the BBC haven't kept those affected by it up to date on what is happening. I have learned updates through reading newspapers.'
Edwards' lawyers did not respond to our requests for comment.
Millions of people across Florida are locked in a desperate race against time to evacuate before the 'storm of the century' smashes into Tampa late tonight, with the city's mayor warning those who are refusing to leave that they will likely die. Officials said those choosing to stay would be left to fend for themselves, with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor declaring that the 15 feet (4.5 metres) of storm surge forecast for her city would be deep enough to submerge entire houses. 'So if you're in it, basically that's the coffin that you're in,' she said flatly. The state is holding its breath as category-5 Hurricane Milton barrels across the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the shoreline, with forecasters warning 15-foot floods and 165 miles-per-hour winds will lay waste to huge swathes of land. Emergency workers are busy making last-ditch preparations, locking down communities, readying rescue trucks and placing flood barricades around vital infrastructure, including Tampa General Hospital, which is expected to bear the brunt of Milton's wrath when it hits around midnight UK time (7pm EST).
Hartlepool families have revealed how they were too terrified to leave their homes as rioters wreaked terror on the streets following the Southport knife rampage.
The horrifying stabbing frenzy which claimed the lives of three young girls has seen parts of Britain explode into violence amid false speculation over the suspect's identity.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, named and pictured as the suspect for the first time today, has appeared in Liverpool Crown Court charged with the three murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
The teenager is also accused of attempting to kill eight children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
Fake claims that the suspect, who turns 18 in just six days, was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a boat have fuelled riots in Southport, London, Manchester and Hartlepool.
Rudakubana, who is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents in 2006 before his family relocated in 2013 to the quiet Lancashire village of Banks - a 15 minute drive from Southport.
While the Hartlepool community came together to pick up litter and clear the mess up, many were still shaken up from the ugly violence in which rioters torched a police van and hurled glass bottles at police.
Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool following a violent protest on Wednesday
There was a second night of violence on the streets of Britain last night, including in Hartlepool
Firefighters tend to a burning police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool last night
There are also fears that the shocking scenes could continue. One woman, who was with a baby, was visibly shaken up as she said: 'A man just overheard me talking about how disgusting all this is.
'He said he is going to rape me when he next sees me. He had a young son with him.'
Children as young as ten are said to have taken part in the violence against police.
In October 2023 Moroccan asylum seeker Ahmed Ali, 45, stabbed 70-year-old Terrance Carney to death on nearby Wharton Terrace in the town.
The murder, in which Ali shouted 'AllahuAkbar' as he attacked his victim, is still a fresh memory in Hartlepool.
Abdul Kadir, 43, runs the International Food Store on Murray Street, the centre of the violence and stand off with police.
He lives next to the shop with his wife and four children aged one, six, ten and 11. Abdul came under attack by the rioters who hurled bottles and other glass objects at his store.
He was forced to shut his business and stay inside with his family. The day after, members of the community flooded into his shop to offer him support.
Volunteers clear debris on Murray Street in Hartlepool following a violent protest
Like Southport, local community members came together to help clean up the mess
A volunteer clears up bricks which appear to have been launched during ugly scenes
Abdul, who is originally from Kurdistan but has lived in Hartlepool for 21 years, said: 'At about 7pm police told me to close down because of the violence.
'The shop was being attacked. People were throwing bottles and shouting.
'It was horrible. My wife is very upset.
'Since the murders in Southport she hasn't wanted to go out with the children.
'It's very frightening for them. They usually go to the park to play, but not at the moment. They are too scared to leave the house.
'Most people in Hartlepool are very friendly and respectful towards us.
'I understand the upset over what has happened in Southport but we have the support of the community as a whole and despite everything I do feel safe.'
McDonald's worker Gary Taylor, 40, found himself trapped in his house with his wife and two sons, aged 11 and 14.
He was out on the streets this morning picking up rubbish with his family.
He said: 'We had kids in the room with us during the riot. We live just off Murray Street where it happened, but there were rioters right outside.
Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool
'We heard lots of smashed glass, shouting, the police yelling. We were terrified while it was going on.
'We wanted to take the children out of there to safety but we couldn't escape. We would have had to walk through the riot.
'We couldn't risk it. When I heard there was a protest I went to have a look.
'But I quickly realised, this is not a protest it is an angry mob of people.
'They were drunk. Every single one of them had a joint in their hands. You can smell it.
'They are angry about what happened in Southport, and also the murder of Terrance Carney.
'The British don't feel protected by their own Government. But you can't solve violence with more violence.'
The Farm Shop, a butchers on Murray Street, had its windows smashed during the rioting after getting caught in the crossfire.
The police had lined up directly outside the store and missiles aimed at officers hit the glass.
HARTLEPOOL: Firefighters attempt to put out the blaze as a police car went up in flames
HARTLEPOOL: Crowds gather to watch the clashes between riot police and protesters
HARTLEPOOL: A protester clashes with riot police officers as violence broke out for a second night running
HARTLEPOOL: Riot police officers on the streets with dogs following a violent protest
The morning after, it was business as usual and doing a roaring trade in meat pies.
The owner didn't want to speak for fear of reprisal.
One man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'A lot of the rioters were not local.
'Some of them had come up from South Yorkshire. The owner of the butchers came to his shop last night as he was worried the rioters would break in and steal the knives.
'What happened in Southport was just an excuse. Why throw things at the police?
'If it keeps raining it will be less likely to happen again, but if the sun stays out, who knows.
'There were a lot of bystanders and they could have stopped the rioters if they'd pulled together.
'The parents of the kids could have helped as well, but they were nowhere to be seen.'
Nancy Pout, 37, is manager of the Salaam Community Centre, which was named as a target by rioters.
When she realised the organisation was under threat she rushed to the building and stood outside with colleagues in a show of solidarity .
Nancy spoke of how a list of addresses of houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs), where many asylum seekers are housed, had been shared on social media.
The post read: 'Keeping Hartlepool safe.
'No background on these people just places in Hartlepool.
'With men / women seeking asylum.
'Keep watch.'
In heartbreaking scenes, a family from an ethnic minority were forced out of their home during the riot by an angry mob.
One woman was pictured sobbing on the ground before the residents were taken to safety by police.
The windows of their home were smashed and they were too traumatised to speak the following morning.
Nancy said: 'We were told there was going to a vigil held for the children who were killed in Southport.
'But then we started to see on social media this was developing into a protest, a march, against immigration and knife crime.
'Everyone was coming up with different reasons.
'We spoke to the police who said, we're not trying to cause alarm but we want you to be aware of what is happening.
'I made the decision to shut the centre at about 4pm as I had seen that the situation was escalating on social media.
'We had a dance class due to take place and a prayer session upstairs and I felt I had a duty of care to the local community.
'It was in response to the riots in Southport. I thought, I don't know what's going through people's minds.
'I was worried about the violence spreading so we decided to lockdown. Later on, we noticed we had been named as a target on social media.
'I thought, right, this is our community that's under attack. It was a difficult decision to make but I wanted to come in and support the local people.
'When I arrived other members of staff had also turned up. We liaised with police, the mosque and directed people away from the scene.'
Nancy added: 'It was horrible. There was a large police presence.
'As time progressed we could hear the riot getting louder and louder. There was chanting and shouting, windows being smashed, dogs barking.
'It reminded me of reports you see on the news of civil war. It was senseless, awful.
'In my opinion what's happened in Southport has been an excuse to go out, cause trouble in the streets and fight.
'There were definitely out of area communities who came here to take part. We saw taxis pulling up.
'There were whole families taking part, kids. Some of the youngest ones were around 10-years-old.'
Nancy described how around 100 volunteers had turned up at the centre the morning after to donate money and help with the clear up.
She added: 'We are picking up the rubbish and the council are collecting it and taking it away.
'We're letting everyone know we're here if they need help. We are a safe place and the kettle is on. We don't want people to be scared.'
Tahir Selby, imam at Hartlepool's Nasir Mosque, praised police for their actions in protecting them from disorder in the town on Wednesday evening.
He said at about 6.30pm police asked them to lock the gates because a march was happening in the town centre, and a night class they were running for children was brought to a halt.
He told Hits Radio: 'I found out that the police had blocked the area to avoid any marches going past the mosque.
'The police did a tremendous job. We're very grateful to them. We have a very good relationship with the police and we're very pleased that nothing happened here.'
Mr Selby said 'sadly' the march moved elsewhere in the town where there was disorder which shocked him.
He said: 'I am very sorry for the police who's done a tremendous job that they were getting the main bulk of this.'
Mr Selby did not believe the trouble was a reflection of Hartlepool and said the mosque has a good relationship with locals and they have had 'very good support from people'.
Local MP Jonathan Brash said that the violent unrest 'doesn't represent us as a town'.
Suggesting some of those involved in the disorder had come from out of town, Mr Brash told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'This has clearly been co-ordinated on social media earlier in the day, so it's not clear what the mix was in terms of who was there.
'But what's very, very clear, and I can't stress this enough, is the behaviour of that small minority of lawless individuals is not in any way, shape or form reflective of Hartlepool, its people, its values, most of whom have been getting in touch with me today to express their absolute disgust at what we saw on the streets last night.
'It doesn't represent us as a town.'
Shocking footage captured the moment cops found an on-the-run suspect swimming through alligator infested waters and lurking in Florida's snake-filled mangroves.
Taurean Wright led Hillsborough police on a wild six-hour chase on Monday before he was dramatically apprehended by a K-9 unit. It is unclear what he was arrested for.
To avoid a felony arrest, the 34-year-old plunged into a canal and swam to a heavily wooded area near Palm River Road and S 52nd Street in Tampa.
For the next six hours, Wright reportedly lurked in the treacherous mangroves as deputies set up a perimeter and deployed K-9 units to hunt him down.
Dramatic body cam footage captured moment of arrest when a K-9 dog cornered Wright in snake-infested mangroves.
Shocking body cam footage captured the moment Florida cops found a suspect on the run as he swam through alligator infested waters and lurked in Florida's snake-filled mangroves
For six hours, Wright reportedly lurked in the treacherous mangroves as deputies set up a perimeter and deployed K-9 units to hunt him down
'Show me your hands. Come out now,' the deputy can be heard saying as the dog corners him.
'You got to come get me, ah, you got to come get me,' Wright shouts reportedly in pain.
Aerial footage then shows deputies guiding Wright out of the woods and into handcuffs.
The sheriff's office later posted on social media, emphasizing the collaborative effort of their K9, Marine, and Aviation Units in bringing the suspect in.
'On July 29, 2024, #teamHCSO's K9, Marine, and Aviation Units successfully located and arrested felony suspect Taurean Wright, 34, who had been on the run for about six hours through mangroves,' the post said.
'Earlier in the day, HCSO attempted to arrest Wright on a warrant, but he fled from deputies into a canal and swam to a densely wooded area.'
Taurean Wright, 34, led Hillsborough police on a wild six-hour chase on Monday before he was dramatically apprehended by a K-9 unit
Aerial footage then shows deputies guiding Wright out of the woods and into handcuffs
Sheriff Chad Chronister from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office praised his team's efforts, saying, 'This arrest exemplifies the exceptional skill and teamwork of our specialty units.'
'Our deputies worked swiftly and tirelessly to ensure this dangerous individual couldn't bring any more harm to our community.'
Lake Seminole in Pinellas County, which is not too far from where Wright was located, is recognized as one of the 'most alligator-infested lakes' in Florida.
The BBC was told by police not to share details of Huw Edwards' arrest for child abuse image offences in November 2023, a source has said, as the corporation faces backlash on how it handled the scandal.
The veteran broadcaster was arrested on November 8 but that was not made public until this week, when he was ultimately charged with making indecent photographs of children and pleaded guilty in court.
The corporation has said it knew of the veteran broadcaster's arrest on 'suspicion of serious offences' in November, but continued employing him until April.
A BBC source told BBC News that the police told the corporation not to share the information.
The source said: 'The information was given in strict confidence by the police and was not to be shared.'
Veteran broadcaster Huw Edwards was arrested on November 8 but that was not made public until this week
Before he resigned in April on medical advice, he was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24 (Pictured leaving court on Wednesday)
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation
There are also reports that someone in the Met Police called BBC management to alert them that Edwards had been charged, before it was made public.
However, questions are still being raised about why Edwards continued to receive his large salary - as the highest paid newsreader at the corporation - for five months after his arrest.
Before he resigned in April on medical advice, he was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC's latest annual report.
This last salary marked a 40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between 435,000 and 439,999.
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
Edwards has made a 'mockery' of the BBC and was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months, betrayed staffers said today.
'It's unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie', one BBC employee said today.
Nicky Campbell, one of the BBC's most senior radio broadcasters, has branded his ex-colleague Edwards 'disgusting'. And responding to social media calls for the BBC to get back the 200,000 of licence fee money paid to Edwards while he was suspended, Mr Campbell gave a hint he might agree, tweeting it is 'my money too'.
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
The BBC's Director General Tim Davie has been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy today to explain the BBC's role in the scandal, including who had knowledge of Edwards' arrest eight months ago
Writing for the BBC website Katie Razzall said: 'Why didn't the BBC sack Edwards, in light of his arrest, instead of giving him the space to leave, apparently on his own terms, albeit with no pay off?
'There will have only been a handful of people in the room where these conversations were taking place.
'The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. The decisions they took can't have been easy and they will have been weighing up different scenarios - and competing advice.
'It's important to note that BBC News, where I'm employed, is editorially independent from the corporate side. We didn't know about the arrest or charges until earlier this week when the story broke'.
She added: 'Senior HR and legal advisors will have advised the BBC it had a duty of care towards Edwards as an employee. They will likely also have said he would have a legal case against the corporation if he was sacked unfairly. The BBC says it was made aware of 'significant risk to his health'.
'But it is difficult to see this specifically through an HR or legal prism'.
Former BBC broadcaster Roger Bolton said today: 'The nature of what Huw Edwards has done is so disgusting and dreadful that I think any residual sympathy for him has gone.'
'The questions are, when did they [the BBC] know? What did they know?'
'There is the BBC at the very highest level, the executives, and BBC News. It's absolutely clear that BBC News and all its editors did not know until this week that Huw Edwards had been charged.
'But we now know the BBC executives were told in confidence that Huw Edwards had been charged. When did they know he was charged? And the big question is, why did they continue to pay him so much money in these circumstances?'.
It came a BBC insider claimed it was common knowledge that married father-of-five Edwards had messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years. The source believes that bosses 'turned a blind eye' to the star's behaviour within the newsroom in order to 'protect' him as an asset.
And BBC News Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall said: 'The facts are the BBC continued paying Huw Edwards his vast salary for five months after he was arrested,' adding: 'Why, also, did they let him leave on his own terms?'.
'In the end, this was a judgement call for the people at the very top of the BBC and the optics are reputationally damaging. The BBC spent taxpayers' money on a man now guilty of serious offences. Many people will believe the corporation made the wrong judgement', she said.
After his guilty plea on Wednesday, a BBC spokesperson said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
'At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
The corporation added: 'The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
'If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
'During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.'
Davie was expected to hold urgent talks with Ms Nandy over the phone on Thursday, according to BBC News.
The public currently pays 169.50 a year for the licence fee and questions will surely be raised if Edwards' salary was the best use of that money.
Charlotte Rees-John, an employment law partner at legal firm Irwin Mitchell, said: 'It would have been possible to dismiss Huw Edwards after he was arrested, but it is not without risk.
'I suspect this was considered but the safer approach was taken, which was to wait until charged.
'Suspension on full pay was then appropriate as was the pay rise if contractual.
'Many other organisations would have taken the risk to protect their reputation, but the BBC is under a greater level of scrutiny and they also had to consider that he was suffering with his mental health and as such at risk of serious harm.'
However, the fact Edwards has now admitted three charges of making indecent photographs - after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams - will also likely raise serious questions of trust in figures at the BBC.
Huw Edwards (pictured) messaged 'lads in the newsroom for drinks' for years, a BBC insider has claimed
Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams, it has emerged.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
A Met police spokesperson said: 'The Met informed the BBCs Governance Department that Huw Edwards had been arrested on 8 November 2023.
'Common Law Police Disclosure (CLPD) is the established legal mechanism through which the police can inform an individuals employer when they are arrested or alleged to have committed an offence. It is often used where the individual holds a position of trust/responsibility with the public.
'The information is provided in strict confidence in order to enable the individuals employer to consider what risk mitigation measures might be necessary.'
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest 'secret' from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail yesterday.
Meanwhile, both the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard faced secrecy allegations over the handling of Edwards's arrest and charge.
The CPS denied it had purposefully suppressed details of the charge or given Edwards preferential treatment.
'Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues,' a spokesman said.
In April, the Mail received information that Edwards had been arrested and asked the Metropolitan Police whether there had been an update in any investigation, but was told there had been 'no updates in relation to this matter'. Edwards had in fact been arrested last November.
Scotland Yard said it was not able to respond to enquiries in relation to a named person before charge.
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday
Yesterday, Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of 'making' indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were 'Category A', the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip's funeral to the nation.
It comes weeks after the BBC delayed publishing a report in the conduct of former Radio 1 presenter Tim Westwood because of an ongoing police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct going back four decades.
Westwood 'strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour' and refutes all accusations of wrongdoing. He has not been charged with a criminal offence.
At the time the annual report was published, Davie defended Edwards' 40,000 pay rise, saying: 'We are always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no-one wants to waste a pound.
'But what you're trying to do, and from the onset of that affair, was trying to act proportionally, fairly and navigate this appropriately.
'I think that's what we did... but I think we wouldn't have wasted money if we weren't doing the right thing.'
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 'on the basis of medical advice from his doctors' after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this matter.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.
Just this week, the BBC would not reveal if it had been aware of Edwards' arrest in November. But it tried to defend its actions in a statement last night.
The BBC said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
It continued: 'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.' It added: 'We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards's actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.'
A judge has revealed he decided to name the Southport stabbing suspect in a bid to stop a fresh wave of 'idiotic rioting'.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, has appeared in court accused of murdering three little girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday.
Judge Andrew Menary condemned the 'idiotic rioting' which has broken out since the attack and said he named Rudakubana to fill the information vacuum exploited by 'others who are up to mischief'.
He said: 'The idiotic rioting going on at the moment is, in part, fed by the nonsense online that feeds on the vacuum.'
Judge Menary explained what he described as an 'exceptional' decision against imposing reporting restrictions sought by both prosecution and defence, which would have granted the defendant anonymity until he turns 18 next Wednesday.
He said he had to balance a risk to the defendant's family and initial risk to him while settling into custody with the public interest in accurately reporting his identity.
Granting the Daily Mail's request not to impose restrictions, he said: 'By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport with a 'curved kitchen knife'
Judge Andrew Menary condemned the 'idiotic rioting' which has broken out since the attack and said he named Rudakubana
'Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.'
The judge added: 'The defendant Axel Rudakubana appears before me having been sent to this court earlier this morning by the Youth Court in respect of multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.
'The alleged offending in his case is shocking and could hardly be more serious, involving as it does the killing and serious wounding of multiple victims, most of whom were young children, in an incident in Southport on Monday 29 July 2024.'
He said delaying reporting of Rudakubana's name until next week could even 'provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder'.
The judge added: 'It seems to be in those circumstances that an order made today would have little practical effect in terms of protecting the welfare of AR, and the balance comes down clearly in favour of the public interest in allowing full reporting of these proceedings.
'I understand that revealing the defendant's identity will cause concern and distress to his family, but their identity is generally already known within the local community and much about them has already been widely published online, in the print media and on television reports.
Pictured for the first time: Southport stabbing suspect Axel Rudakubana, now 17, pictured as a child, is charged with murdering three little girls and harming 10 others
Court artist drawing of Rudakubana covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court
Bebe King, aged six, was also killed in the attack. A teenager is set to appear in court charged with three counts of murder
Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, was also fatally wounded in the attack which shocked the nation on Monday
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, was one of three children killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-Swift themed dance class in Southport
'Though not central to my consideration , it may be that allowing full reporting will remove some of the mystique and misreporting that has taken place typically online as to the identity and other details concerning the defendant.
'This may be a case where others have taken advantage of the perceived vacuum in information over the past few days.'
Rudakubana was born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff in 2006 before moving to the village of Banks in Lancashire in 2013.
He is accused of carrying out the attack that killed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
Rudakubana is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes.
Up until now, the teenager's identity could not be revealed because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances.
But after a successful application to the judge by the Mail, Rudakubana's name can now be reported.
Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the suspect's family and the risk to him in custody with the public interest accurately reporting his identity.
Far-right mobs took to the streets of Southport and and other major UK cities this week after a fake news website spread misinformation about the identity of the suspect.
Russian state media were among those falsely claiming that the suspect had arrived by boat to the UK last year, sharing claims that he was on an M16 watch list.
It led to violent riots, seeing dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire.
In a bid to quell tensions - after more riots broke out in London, Manchester Hartlepool, and Aldershot - Judge Menary revealed Rudakubana's identity.
As the suspected murderer arrived at the court he was met by dozens of people shouting, with one man having to be held back by police officers as the van holding him past.
The revelation comes as two children hurt in the attack were discharged from Alder Hey Children's Hospital, with five others in a 'stable condition'.
Rudakubana (pictured as a child) is also accused of the attempted murders of eight more children, along with dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes
Rudakubana covers his face in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court after being charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder
Rudakubana (pictured in a video) could not previously be named because suspects under 18 receive automatic anonymity in all UK court cases, except for in exceptional circumstances
Another young picture of Rudakubana
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police cars leaves Liverpool Crown Court
The white van carrying Axel Rudakubana, 17, who is accused of killing three young girls arrives as Liverpool Magistrates Court
Rudakubana seen arriving at court in a police convoy
A prison van (centre) escorted by multiple police vehicles leaves Liverpool Crown Court
A man is held back by police as a prison van escorted by multiple police vehicles leaves Liverpool Crown Court
Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had to balance the risk to the defendant's family and the initial risk while in custody against the public interest in accurately reporting his identity.
Why did the judge name Rudakubana?
Usually a defendant under the age of 18 is granted anonymity during court proceedings. This means media are not allowed to name or picture them unless there are exceptional circumstances. Today, however, Judge Andrew Menary KC decided to name Axel Rudbakubana. The judge at Liverpool Crown Court listened to 20 minutes of legal submissions before declining to make an order to protect the teen's identity. He said: 'Whilst I accept it is exceptional giving his age, principally because he is 18 in six days' time, I do not make an order under section 45. 'Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.' He noted that any order would have been lifted on Rudbakubana when he turned 18 anyways. The judge's decision comes after misinformation spread by fake news websites and Russian state media wrongly identified the suspect. The false claim said the suspect had arrived to the UK by boat last year sharing claims he was an M16 watchlist. It led to violent riots in Southport and beyond which saw dozens of police officers injured, wheelie bins set alight and emergency vehicles set on fire. Advertisement
He said: 'By continuing to prevent full reporting at this stage has the disadvantage of allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum and runs the risk that when the information becomes publicly available in six days' time, that will provide an additional excuse for a fresh round of public disorder.
'Allowing full reporting will undoubtedly remove some of the misreporting as to the identity of the defendant.'
A provisional trial date at Liverpool Crown Court, set to last six weeks, was scheduled for January 20 next year.
Rudakubana spent the entire 55 minutes of the hearing covering his whole face, with his grey sweatshirt pulled up to his hairline and at times rocking back and forth, side to side.
He will next appear at Liverpool Crown Court on October 25 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
Until then he will be remanded in youth accommodation detention.
Judge Menary told the defendant, who did not acknowledge the judge and continued to keep his head down: 'You are remanded to youth detention accommodation until these proceedings have been completed.
'That position might change when you achieve your majority in a short while.'
Earlier today, the suspect attended a hearing at Liverpool City Magistrates' Court which lasted just five minutes.
During proceedings, prosecutor Deanna Heer alleged a 'kitchen knife with a curved blade' had been used during the rampage.
During that time Rudakubana, who is also charged with possessing an offensive weapon, wore a baggy grey tracksuit and black slippers and pulled his sweatshirt over his face above his nose, keeping his head low.
At one point in the hearing, the teenager, who did not speak once, looked back at the group of around 20 reporters that were sat behind the dock.
The suspect arrived at the court around 9.30am in a white prison van flanked by a large escort of at least eight police vehicles.
The large police presence comes amid fears angry protesters will turn up outside the courthouse, after a series of riots have swept the country in recent days.
More than 100 people were arrested in London last night following a far-right protest in Whitehall, with further unrest in Hartlepool, Manchester and Aldershot.
On Tuesday night, an angry mob took to the streets of Southport after a vigil to remember victims of the mass stabbing at the workshop attended by 25 children.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, leaves Liverpool Magistrates' Court after being charged with three counts of murder
The convoy of police vans escorted the prison van away from Liverpool Crown Court
The suspect was surrounded by a convoy of eight police cars and vans, with officers fearing they could be met with angry protesters following Monday night's riots
Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport
Forensic officers are pictured at the scene as emergency crews battled to save children
Forensic officers on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside, where a horrifying knife rampage took place
Emergency crews swoop on the area after a group of children were attacked at Taylor Swift-themed dance class
The defendant, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is accused of entering a dance studio in Hart Street and attacking children and adults who were inside on Monday afternoon.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds - with five left in a critical condition in hospital - while two adults who tried to save the young ones in the summer holiday club were also seriously wounded.
The adults harmed were dance teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, and businessman John Hayes who tried to help.
In a statement Merseyside Police said yesterday: 'We can confirm that a 17-year-old boy from Banks has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice; 10 counts of attempted murder; and Possession of a bladed article, following the tragic incident in Southport on Monday, 29 July.
'He has been remanded in custody to appear tomorrow, Thursday 1 August at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.'
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: 'Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
Leanne Lucas, who organised the Taylor Swift-themed holiday club, has had life-saving surgery and is now awake, her family said on Wednesday
Yesterday floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon
Friendship bracelets reading 'Beautiful Swifties' are seen next to electric tea lights amid floral tributes for the victims of a deadly knife attack at the Atkinson in Southport
'I would like to thank all of the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside Police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the North West.'
The boy, who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: 'We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
'It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
False claims online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat had sparked riots across Southport on Tuesday night, despite pleas from one of the victim's mother's for calm.
Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the victims at a vigil in Southport, but violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured. Five men have been arrested following that incident.
After rioting broke out, Elsie's mother, Jenni Stancombe, wrote on Facebook: 'This is the only thing that I will write, but please please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
'The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this.'
Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had 'hijacked' a vigil for victims and will 'feel the full force of the law', while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as 'violent attacks from thugs on the streets', which she branded 'appalling'.
The Prime Minister is set to face questions this afternoon after crisis talks with police over the outbreak of rioting following the Southport knife attack.
On Wednesday, a clean up operation took place outside the mosque, with residents coming together to clear roads where fires had been set and rebuild walls which had been knocked down.
Police called in support from neighbouring forces in case of further disorder, but the seaside town appeared to remain quiet on Wednesday evening, however unrest developed in other areas of the country.
More than 100 people were arrested in London after crowds gathered in Whitehall turned on police, throwing bottles and cans at officers in riot gear.
The Southport mass stabbings have led to riots on the streets. Pictured: A police van is torched in Southport on Tuesday night
Southport burns: A street near a mosque goes up in flames as violent thugs took to the streets on Tuesday night
Police chiefs arrive to meet Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss clashes following the Southport stabbing
The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport
Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack
Some were heard shouting the name of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, while others shouted 'Rule Britannia', 'save our kids' and 'stop the boats' and chanting 'you're not English any more'.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'Over 100 people have been arrested for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker, and breach of protest conditions. Some officers suffered minor injuries.'
Responding to last nights riots, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'The scenes of disorder and violence yesterday evening were completely unacceptable.
'There is no place for criminality on our streets and I fully support the Met Police taking action against those intent on violence, causing disorder and spreading division in our city.'
In Hartlepool, County Durham four people were arrested after violent protests broke out, with people detained for various offences after missiles, glass bottles and eggs were thrown at officers.
A police car was also set on fire before protesters posed for selfies with it.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: 'At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
'Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.'
Vice President Kamala Harris is now predicted to win the presidential election in November for the first time since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
According to the online betting company PredictIt, Harris is predicted as the favorite to win this fall over former President Donald Trump.
The shares of Harris having a victory hit 54 cents on Thursday while shares of Trump winning were at 50 cents.
The company works by asking users to buy shares ranging from once cent to 99 cents. The more likely an event, the more expensive they are, signaling people still expect it to be a very close presidential race.
Harris pulled ahead on the betting platform for the first time on Wednesday before it went back and forth for a bit.
Vice President Kamala Harris becomes favorite to win the presidential election against Donald Trump, according to betting market
The shift in the betting market comes as a series of recent polls have shown Harris closing the gap with Trump and even beating him in several battleground states since Biden exited the race last month.
The latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll put Harris ahead in four battleground states: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin and tied in Georgia. Her lead in Michigan was a whopping 11 points.
Trump was leading in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to the poll.
Overall, the average of polls in the head-to-head matchup between Harris and Trump has Trump up by just over one percentage point.
The prediction market Polymarket has shown Trump's lead dropping when it comes to who will win the presidential election and Harris is on the rise, but the ex-president maintains his lead 54 percent to 44 percent.
People have also been weighing in on PredictIt on who they believe will be Harris' running mate as she is expected to announce her vice presidential pick any day now before the pair appear together for their first campaign rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has a wide lead in the betting market as her running mate at 57 cents. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is second at 19 cents followed by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear at 18 cents.
Betting market has Gov. Josh Shapiro leading as favorite to be Kamala Harris' running mate
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttgieg round out the top five.
Harris is expected to announce her running mate any day now before the pair hit the campaign trail next week, visiting seven battleground states in five days.
A 'runaway heiress' has been accused of 'accosting' her former friend in Harvey Nichols in a last ditch attempt to thwart a damming court judgement which could see her jailed.
Fashionista Ekaterina Barrett is facing up to two years in prison after the High Court found that she had 'forged' a document during her million-pound court fight with the owner of a Knightsbridge boutique.
Bridget Hutchcroft, whose Pandora Dress Agency near Harrods in London was beloved by Princess Diana and Hollywood stars, sued former pal Ms Barrett and secured a court order demanding she pay back 1.6million in cash after borrowing money to get through a costly divorce.
Miss Hutchcroft's legal team then launched a separate case, arguing that Ms Barrett showed contempt to the court by giving evidence which was 'false and known by her to be false'.
But on the final day of the contempt hearing this week - just hours before the verdict was due to be heard - it was claimed Ms Barrett had 'accosted' Ms Hutchcroft that morning while she was having her eyebrows threaded in a Harvey Nicols beauty salon in Knightsbridge.
It was claimed Ekaterina Barrett 'accosted' Ms Hutchcroft while she was having her eyebrows threaded in a Harvey Nicols beauty salon in Knightsbridge
Bridget Hutchcroft (pictured), whose Pandora Dress Agency near Harrods in London was beloved by Princess Diana and Hollywood stars, sued former pal Ms Barrett
Ms Barrett's barrister emailed the judge 40 minutes before the hearing began, claiming that Ms Hutchcroft had made an offer to 'settle the proceedings' and attached photos taken of the two women at the salon.
The photos, obtained by the Mail, show Ms Hutchcroft, 65, lying in a reclined chair having her eyebrows done as Ms Barrett, 68, poses for the camera next to her.
But Ms Hutchcroft strongly denied agreeing to any meeting or settlement and her barrister told the court that she had been 'accosted' and that there was 'no discussion' of a settlement.
The Judge refused permission for Ms Barrett to testify about the salon encounter and 'derail' the case.
Mrs Justice Heather Williams said: 'The two women are not speaking to each other, are facing in different directions and there's no separate evidence to say that they are discussing a settlement.'
It comes just over a year after the Mail tracked down Ms Barrett to her 19.2 million apartment in Monaco following our revelations that she had failed to pay the 1.6million she owed to Ms Hutchcroft.
Ekaterina Barrett is facing up to two years in prison after the High Court found that she had 'forged' a document during her million-pound court fight
The pair met when Ms Barrett began visiting Pandora seven years ago while she was still living in Mayfair and driving around town in a Bentley.
Ms Hutchcroft went on to lend her friend more than 1million for her divorce with few misgivings as Ms Barrett had claimed to be 'fabulously wealthy' and have 'a substantial trust for her in Liechtenstein' which she temporarily could not access, according to documents filed at the High Court.
But having later fled her 4.2million flat in Mayfair's Curzon Square, Ms Barrett was discovered by the Mail in Monte Carlo wearing 5,000 worth of Chanel where she said: 'I'm not paying back a penny.'
Now Ms Barrett is facing as much as a two-year jail sentence after the judge found she had put forward a 'forged' document to avoid stumping up the cash.
Finding her in contempt of court, Mrs Justice Heather Williams said Ms Barrett had produced a 'settlement agreement' - purportedly signed by Ms Hutchcroft - saying Ms Barrett only owed 800,000.
And in a short High Court hearing back in June 2023, Ms Barrett insisted that she is not a wealthy woman and 'that her lifestyle is funded entirely by her family'.
However, Ms Hutchcroft's lawyers claimed she lied about her wealth, masking the fact that she owns a pad in Monaco worth millions.
Ekaterina Barrett taking her three dogs for a walk
On top of that, Ms Barrett had faked a document with a forged signature in a bid to prove that the case against her had been settled long before reaching court, they claimed.
James McWilliams - for Ms Hutchcroft - attacked the document as an 'obvious forgery', adding: 'The signature on the alleged settlement agreement is transparently not that of Ms Hutchcroft - as even a cursory comparison between the document and formal documents signed by her in these proceedings will show'.
It was also 'fanciful' to suggest that Ms Hutchcroft and Pandora would have struck a settlement deal with Ms Barrett for 800,000 when they already had a court judgement against her for more than 1.6million, the barrister argued.
Finding Ms Barrett in contempt of court, the judge said: 'I am sure that the settlement agreement including the signature was a forgery.'
She added: 'I have no doubt at all that she acted as alleged and it follows from my conclusions that I am satisfied that she acted dishonestly in telling the court that the claim had settled.'
The case has now been adjourned to await sentencing of Ms Barrett later this month.
The family of the men involved in an incident at Manchester Airport where an officer stamped on a man's head has contacted the police watchdog to file a complaint, their lawyer has said.
Greater Manchester Police was plunged into crisis last week after footage emerged of a police officer kicking Muhammed Fahir, 19, while he was arrested alongside his brother Amaad, 25.
However, CCTV released after the initial video showed Fahir attacking three officers just seconds before he was kicked on the ground.
Now a solicitor representing the family has said they have spoken to the IOPC with 'regards to lodging a formal complaint against officers'.
A Greater Manchester Police constable was advised he is under criminal investigation for assault over the incident, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said last week.
Scottish human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar (pictured) is representing the brothers arrested at Manchester Airport
Footage of a police officer kicking Muhammed Fahir, 19, while he was arrested alongside his brother Amaad
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham urged people to 'take a step back' and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations after the new footage was released.
Fahir, Muhammad and their mother Shameem Akhtar, 56, said they wanted to understand 'on what legal basis' Mr Burnham was shown complete CCTV of the incident 'and by whom'.
Through their solicitor, Aamer Anwar, a high-profile Scottish human rights lawyer, they said the family and its legal representatives should have been 'provided with an opportunity to view footage before any politician'.
They added that leaked footage 'does not show exactly what the police did' and criticised 'attempts by so-called 'police sources' to spin a false narrative or partial context'.
Mr Anwar said if family members had engaged in criminality, 'then they must be subjected to due process'.
He added that there could 'never be any legal justification' for the 'use of excessive, disproportionate and potentially lethal force against a civilian who is incapacitated and poses no threat'.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Mr Anwar said: 'I have now spoken to the IOPC with regards to lodging a formal complaint against officers from Greater Manchester Police.'
The family's solicitor added: 'We also seek to understand on what legal basis Andy Burnham was shown the complete CCTV and by whom.
'The repeated attempts by so-called 'police sources' to spin a false narrative or partial context is deeply unhelpful to an IOPC investigation.
Controversial ' TikTok lawyer' Akhmed Yakoob (pictured) is no longer representing the two brothers
'Leaked footage does not show exactly what the police did, how the incident unfolded, nor the full conduct of officers in the aftermath of the incident in all parts of the airport, including after the arrests.
'As for leaking of CCTV, we understand that will also form part of their investigation, but whilst it may be blatantly obvious who would benefit from such a cynical and partial leak, proving who the individual or 'institution' is likely to be impossible.'
Mr Anwar added that the family expected all material relating to the incident and cameras of the aftermath to be retained, 'especially those where the detainees were taken to in other areas of the airport'.
The two brothers were initially being represented by controversial 'TikTok lawyer' Akhmed Yakoob but cut ties with him earlier this week.
Mr Anwar said it was 'the family's choice to withdraw their instruction' but declined to give a reason why.
In response, the family's solicitor Mr Yakoob released a video on Instagram on Sunday, declaring: 'After consulting with the family I have decided for now to step aside and I have recommended the family to a lawyer'.
The video appeared to show a group of people standing by ticket machines in terminal two and a man in a light blue outfit facing one of the machines.
Male and female officers appeared to attempt to restrain two men who were involved in a series of strikes and punches before one man was tasered.
An officer and a man in blue appear to grapple until the latter lies still on the ground, face-down, and a woman kneels by his side.
New footage shows the moments before a Greater Manchester Police officer was filmed kicking a teenager in the head at Manchester Airport
The new footage shows Fahir seemingly hitting a female police officer with a punch to her head
The police officers attempt to bring the men under control after the scene descended into chaos
The officer then appears to kick and then stamp on his head, which was shown in the footage already widely circulated.
The family and their solicitor will attend a press conference in Manchester on August 6.
Mr Anwar has previously represented for other high profile cases, including for the family of 'Scotland's George Floyd' Sheku Bayoh, who died in police custody.
Mr Bayoh, 31, stopped breathing in May 2015 after he was cuffed by officers responding to a call in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
During an inquiry into his death, Mr Anwar challenged the police officers involved to give a full testimony if they had nothing to hide.
The top lawyer has also represented the family of Emma Caldwell, whose killer Iain Packer walked free for 19 years despite officers being repeatedly told he 'is the man'.
Mr Anwar said some officers at Police Scotland had 'betrayed justice', Emma, and the other women who were also Packer's victims.
Mr Anwar also represented the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, who demanded answers as to why Nicola Sturgeon failed to produce any pandemic diaries for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
President Joe Biden celebrated the end of the 'brutal ordeal' for Americans 'imprisoned unjustly' inside Russia as he announced a complex prisoner swap and then led a rendition of 'happy birthday' to the teen daughter of a freed prisoner.
Biden made a surprise appearance inside the State Dining Room at the White House hours after the historic deal that freed American ex-Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
All were held inside Russia, Whelan since 2018, for 'no legitimate reason whatsoever - none,' Biden said. 'And now they're brutal ordeal is over and they're free.
The president appeared with family members of freed Americans as he announced the intricate swap that released 24 prisoners and involved seven countries.
Biden, who hasn't been seen publicly since early Tuesday, hailed the 'feat of diplomacy' and friendship involving multiple nations. In one awkward moment, he led the room in a round of 'Happy Birthday' for Miriam Butorin, the 13-year old daughter of Alsu Kurmasheva, a freed Russian-American journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Biden interrupted his remarks to bring Butorin in close, then encouraged people to join in singing, which attendees did, calling it a Biden family tradition.
President Joe Biden sings happy birthday to Miriam Butorin, 13, after delivering remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia from the State Dining Room of the White House
And he offered her some life and future dating advice while the cameras rolled.
'Remember, no serious guys until you're 30,' he told her, earning some chuckles in the room.
Responding to a question from DailyMail.com, the president also defended the release of convicted hit man Vladimir Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the assassination of an ethnic Chechen Georgian national in broad daylight in a Berlin park.
Asked how he weighed the decision to release the hit man who was able to get away with murder, Biden responded: 'I got home innocent people.'
Biden positioned family members behind him for the event, where he read from prepared remarks and took a series of questions from the press, at a time when the White House says he is 'recalibrating' his role now that he isn't seeking reelection.
'They never gave up hope. I can't imagine what they've been through,' he said.
President Joe Biden, right, reaches out to hold hands with Elizabeth Whelan, center, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia. He surrounded himself with family members of prisoners being freed in the swap as he announced the deal
Miriam Butorin, 13, wipes a tear at the White House event
Biden provided some life dating advice after the song
A plane carrying American prisoners has landed in Turkey following a major swap between Russia and the US
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is among those released from prison in Russia
He invoked his own late son Beau as he tried to describe what they grappled with. 'Family is the beginning, the middle, and the end,' he said.
The president said it 'says a lot' about American values that the U.S. also pushed for the release of Russian dissidents being held inside their country. He said they would not be free to 'live safely abroad' and said they would be able to continue working to promote democracy in Russia 'if they so choose.'
Biden focused many of his remarks on the freed Americans, who also included Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist and Russian-British dissident also part of the swap.
He referred to the quartet by the first names.
'This deal would not have been made possible without our allies,' said Biden.
The White House went into overdrive Thursday, putting together the public event and briefing the press on how the historic swap came about.
Biden and VP Kamala Harris plan to go to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to greet the returning prisoners.
Biden also posted an image of Gershkovich, Whelan, and others flying back to the U.S.
'This was vintage Joe Biden rallying American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters,' said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Plans call for further development of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, as seen in 2023, but more testing for radioactive soil will slow the projects. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle
The U.S. Navy will expand an ongoing toxic cleanup of the 500-acre San Francisco Shipyard project at the site of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on two land parcels where soil sampling unearthed radioactive objects last year, a Navy spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
The new plan is expected to delay the former shipyards cleanup by as many as 18 months.
The objects a 1.5-inch deck marker covered in radium tainted paint that was used to light passageways on ships during the Cold War, and a radioactive piece of glass were discovered on two swaths of land where the Navy has been re-examining work conducted by its former remediation contractor, Tetra Tech EC, after allegations of fraud in connection with the cleanup surfaced in 2018.
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The Navys radiological retesting plan for those sites had previously been limited to one-third of the areas where Tetra Tech EC carried out its remediation work. But, the recent discoveries led to the decision to excavate 100% of Parcels B and C, David Bennett, the Navys spokesperson for the cleanup, told the Chronicle.
Tetra Tech EC faces multiple lawsuits over its work at the former shipyard, including from the U.S. Department of Justice, which has alleged the firm cut corners and falsified radiation tests. The Navy decided in 2018 that the firms data was suspect and that areas of the former shipyard must be retested. Tetra Tech EC has denied any wrongdoing.
The Navy must complete its retesting plan which also involves another site, Parcel G and its cleanup of the larger former shipyard in order to unlock the Superfund site for its long-planned redevelopment into a mixed-use neighborhood, an effort that has been on hold.
Developer FivePoint Holdings has said previously the areas remaining nine parcels would be transferred to the city by 2026, after which it could resume the project.
But Bennett told the Chronicle on Thursday that the timeline would be altered after the expanded retesting efforts at Parcels B and C and could potentially be further impacted by a number external factors.
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The Navy is committed to the environmental cleanup of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (HPNS) and the safety and health of the surrounding community even after our work is completed and we transfer property to the City of San Francisco, Bennett said in a statement to the Chronicle. Scientific testing is at the heart of the Navys work to ensure there is no contamination left behind that would risk public health and environment.
FivePoint did not immediately respond to the Chronicles requests for comment Thursday.
During the Cold War, parts of the former shipyard were contaminated by fallout from irradiated ships that were brought to Hunters Point after atomic-bomb tests, and radiological research also was carried out there. The Navy, which operated at the shipyard from 1945 to 1974, and other agencies have spent decades trying to remove that contamination. In 2004, regulators declared the hilltop portion of the shipyard to be clean, and hundreds of people now live in recently developed housing there.
Environmental advocates have, for years, been calling for more transparency and higher standards for the cleanup. Bradley Angel, executive director for Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice which sued the Navy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June described the Navys decision to modify its plans for parcels B and C a partial victory.
Greenaction is really excited that our lawsuit and ongoing years of community pressure have now forced the Navy to expand their retesting and hopefully do it right, Angel said. This is something they had refused to do, and its apparent that our lawsuit has successfully challenged them, at least on the retesting that needs to be done.
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Greenaction has alleged that, while the Navy only agreed to test one-third of the areas where Tetra Tech worked over the span of roughly a decade, the agency also said that it would expand the scope of its retesting plan should the effort produce evidence of residual contamination.
We still have concerns, Angel said, adding that Greenactions lawsuit will remain active. We also are demanding a full, not partial, cleanup of all the contamination at the shipyard, to the extent humanly possible, which they continue to refuse to commit to.
The Navy has not committed to expanding its retesting efforts at another shipyard site, Parcel G, where the 2021 discovery of strontium-90 in soil samples exceeding the cleanup standard alarmed advocates and the EPA. The radioactive isotope is linked to increased risks of bone cancer and leukemia.
Greenaction has accused the Navy of attempting to invalidate its own data by requesting to switch from the EPA-approved method used to detect the elevated strontium-90 levels to another method that was only approved last year.
The Navy has said that the original method, known as EPA Method 905, produced unreliable data, as it was originally designed to detect strontium-90 in water, not soil.
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The new method, called the total beta strontium Eichrom method, produced strontium-90 levels that were below the remedial goal, or considered to be safe.
Parcel G was once home to a nuclear research laboratory, and the Navy said in October that its retesting plan for the site is slated to wrap up this year, after which the parcel will be eligible for redevelopment.
Last month, the EPA accepted the results of a verification study it had requested from the Navy to validate its decision to switch to the Eichrom method.
Michael Montgomery, director of the EPAs superfund and emergency management division, said that the verification study was conducted in collaboration with Californias Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Department of Public Health, which also signed off on the switch.
In order to be sure that we are using the best science, we asked the Navy to go deeper in the analysis, in comparing these different methods, said Montgomery. We had our national radiation laboratory help us design that study for the Navy. What it demonstrated was that the prior data was not reliable, and therefore really shouldnt be used for decision making.
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Angel, of Greenaction, said that his group will continue to challenge the Navy and EPA on its findings.
The Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama Bin Laden has said the 9/11 plotters should have gone to trial and been executed years before getting the plea deal that spares their lives.
Rob ONeill added he would have carried out the death penalty himself and said the agreement is a slap in the face for the families of the 2,657 American victims who have waited 23 years for justice.
The 48-year-old served his country in 400 combat missions over 16 years and was involved in arguably the most famous military raid in U.S. history that led to the death of the Al-Qaeda founder.
Now he is slamming the deal where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) - the architect of the 2001 plot that killed almost 3,000 people - and two accomplices Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will accept life sentences to avoid a lengthy criminal trial and the death penalty.
The trio have been detained in Guantanamo Bay for decades and the grieving relatives of those killed have been painfully waiting for answers.
Rob O'Neill, the Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama Bin Laden, has issued a withering response to the plea deal offered to the 9/11 hijackers
Family members of the victims reacted with fury as news of the plea deal emerged on Wednesday night, on a day when more evidence of Saudi Arabias complicity in 9/11 was revealed in a New York courtroom.
Montana native ONeill and members of SEAL Team Six stormed Bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, and cornered him.
He then says he shot the most wanted man in the world in the head, ending a global manhunt that had consumed the West for years.
He came forward in 2014 and named himself as the man who fired the kill shots.
ONeill says the deal that will spare the terrorist planners their lives is a slap in the face for the families who want to know more about who was behind the attacks.
He told DailyMail.com that the trio should have been executed years ago, and he would have done it personally to save taxpayers' money.
ONeill added he would have carried out the death penalty himself and said the agreement is a slap in the face for the families of the 2,657 American victims who have waited 23 years for justice
The 48-year-old served his country in 400 combat missions over 16 years and was involved in arguably the most famous military raid in U.S. history that led to the death of the Al-Qaeda founder
However he admitted that he wasnt surprised about the terms of the plea deal and criticized the Biden administration.
The White House has insisted the president was not involved in talks and was not aware of the arrangement reached between military prosecutors and the suspected terrorists lawyers.
This proves that we are really bad at remembering our history. Never Forget is forgotten and attorneys are proving that they will sell their souls to al Qaeda for notoriety and money.
The White House is also quick to say that the president had nothing to do with this, just like he really has nothing to do with anything.
These three terrorists are culpable for the worst attack in U.S. history and will now be living the remainder of their worthless lives on a tropical island.'
A photograph dated Saturday March 1, 2003 shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attack, shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan
The Department of Defense says that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow attackers have entered into a pre-trial agreement which will see them avoid the death penalty. Pictured: Walid Bin Attash (left) and Mustafa al-Hawsawi (right)
It is yet unclear where the terrorists will serve their sentences. Joe Biden has been wanting to close Guantanamo Bay, where they are detained, since he came into office.
If the detention facility on the military base, known as Camp Delta, is shut down, the detainees could be moved to ADX Florence, the only supermax prison in the U.S. that already houses 9/11 terrorists.
O'Neill criticized the lawyers involved in the deal and said the only just resolution for the families now is for the three plotters to spend the rest of their lives in solitary confinement.
The attorneys representing them are detestable and the prosecutors are weak. Families of the fallen have waited 23 years for the proper verdict and are, again, let down by our flawed system.
The only reasonable way forward would be solitary confinement in cold, quiet, dark cells or solitary confinement while blasting heavy metal.
But that will never happen. I wont be surprised if part of the plea-deal is unlimited sunscreen.
President Biden recently released Mohammed al-Qahtani, the 20th 9/11 hijacker, and Zuhail al-Sharabi, another hijacker, for an expanded version of the 9/11 attacks from Guantanamo Bay, so its only fitting that someone in the administration is trying to cut a plea deal with the mastermind of the attacks.
Montana native ONeill and members of SEAL Team Six stormed Bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2 2011, and cornered him
In 2009, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other scumbags entered their Islamic response to the charges against them saying, killing you and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you are considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion.
They consider the mission blessed and they will become martyrs if they are killed. Set up the meeting and let God decide.
They should have been executed years ago. I would have done it personally while saving taxpayers' dollars.
If you need to locate President Biden on September 11 this year, Ill save you some time: He wont be at Ground Zero.'
O'Neill completed some 400 missions during his illustrious career.
He was part of the mission that rescued Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and 'Lone Survivor' SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan.
In 2011, following a decade of work by multiple U.S. military intelligence agencies, a concrete location of Bin Laden's whereabouts had emerged. The story of the CIA agent who doggedly tracked Bin Laden down inspired the movie Zero Dark Thirty.
9/11 Justice President Brett Eagleson voiced the anger many of the families are feeling in response to the plea deal.
He told DailyMail.com the grieving relatives were never consulted about the agreement and didnt find out until Wednesday night.
We are deeply troubled by these plea deals. While we acknowledge the decision to avoid the death penalty, our primary concern remains access to these individuals for information, he said.
O'Neill, pictured with his wife, came forward as the SEAL team member who fired the fatal shot at Bin Laden in 2014
'These plea deals should not perpetuate a system of closed-door agreements, where crucial information is hidden without giving the families of the victims the chance to learn the full truth.'
All three men have been in US custody at Guantanamo Bay since the early 2000s. Mohammed, an al Qaeda militant, has been accused of being the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks.
The families of victims were concerned that the plea deal could stall the investigation and prevent them from learning who was really behind the atrocity.
'We need to know the extent of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. This is not just about punishment, it is about uncovering the truth and ensuring justice for the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives on that tragic day,' Eagleson said.
'Our stance is clear: if a deal is to be made, it must ensure that we obtain the vital evidence these individuals possess.
'We urge the administration to ensure that these deals do not close the door on obtaining critical information that can shed light on Saudi Arabia's role in the 9/11 attacks. Our quest for justice will not waver until the full truth is revealed, and justice is served for the victims and their families.'
Chief prosecutor Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh sent a letter to family members of 9/11 victims that explained the plea agreement.
'In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,' Rugh wrote.
The letter said the men could submit their pleas in open court as early as next week.
J.D. Vance made his first visit to the border as Donald Trump's running mate where he went on the attack against Vice President Kamala Harris as Republicans attempt to paint her as the Biden administration's failed 'border czar.'
The Ohio senator and Republican vice presidential nominee made his appearance Thursday morning in Cochise County, AZ as he made a swing through western battleground states including a rally in Glendale, AZ Wednesday night and campaign stops in Nevada.
His visit to the border comes as Republicans have seized on border security as they go after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Harris for immigration policies in the Biden administration.
'It's just unbelievable what we're letting happen at this southern border, and we're letting it happen because Kamala Harris refuses to do her job,' Vance said.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance during a campaign stop on the southern border in Hereford, AZ on August 1, 2024
The 39-year-old GOP lawmaker claimed 'it's not hard to secure the southern border' and suggested they could 'implement some common sense policies.'
During his remarks, Vance called for ending 'catch-and-release,' forcing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico and finishing the border wall.
The Ohio senator did mention 'reimplementing deportations' but he did not specifically mention Trump's push for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Vance has said in past interviews he supports the policy.
Vance claimed the U.S. effectively has an 'open border' and argued it's what Harris has 'promised.'
'Donald Trump and I promise to do exactly the opposite,' the senator said. He said he was 'ashamed of what this administration has done.'
Vance with Sheriff Robert Watkins of Cochise County, AZ, the president of the National Border Patrol Council Paul Perez and local ranchers on August 1
Republicans have been working to paint Harris as the Biden administration's 'border czar' and tie her to migrants and fentanyl illegally coming into the United States.
In March 2021, Biden specifically tapped Harris to lead the 'diplomatic effort' to address the root causes of migration.
Harris traveled to the border in El Paso that June and made trips to Mexico and Guatemala as well as a visit to Honduras in January 2022. Her work resulted in some investments in Central America, but she has not traveled to countries south of the border since 2022.
Vance said there cannot be effective border policy without someone coordinating all the federal agencies. He claimed Harris was asked to 'coordinate' but has 'done nothing.'
On Monday, the Trump campaign also launched its first attack ads on television against Harris focused on the border to air across six battleground states.
But the vice president and her campaign have pushed back, arguing Trump with Vance's help tanked the bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
Vice President Harris responded directly to GOP attacks over immigration on Tuesday during her rally in Atlanta where she vowed to bring back the bipartisan border security bill. She said Trump talks a 'big game' on border security but does not 'walk the walk'
Harris responded directly to the GOP attacks over the border during her campaign rally in Georgia on Tuesday.
'Trump has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk,' she said.
The vice president pledged if elected she would bring back the bipartisan border bill that she said 'Trump killed' earlier this year.
That bill drafted by a bipartisan group of senators included money to increase the number of Border Patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration judges. It would have also included funding to increase detention facility capacities and enhance fentanyl detection.
Three much-loved young men who died in a car crash in a weekend of carnage on Scotlands roads have been named by police.
Reece Williams, 23, Lewis Soden, 24, and Connor Page, 21, died after the white Ford Focus they were travelling in crashed on Moss Road near Dunmore, Falkirk, on Friday at around 6.15pm.
The driver, a 20-year-old woman, was treated at Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert but has now been discharged.
In a statement released via Police Scotland, Mr Williams family said: Reece will forever be a much-loved son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend.
There will not be a day where we dont hold space to remember Reece and the memories that we made together.
Wed like to express our thanks to the emergency services, witnesses and to everyone who has sent their condolences.
Lewis Soden, 24, was one of the three young men who died in a road accident near Falkirk
Reece Williams, 23, was also killed in the incident on Moss Road
Connor Page died when the white Ford Focus he was in crashed
Mr Sodens family said: Lewis has and will forever be a much-loved son, brother, grandson, nephew, and friend to many.
There will not be a day where Lewis wont be missed and where we wont hold room in our hearts to remember him and the memories that we all made together.
We would also like to express our thanks to all the emergency services, witnesses and to everyone who has sent their condolences.
Mr Pages family added: Connor was loved beyond words.
Police Scotland is appealing for witnesses and urged anyone with information or dash-cam footage to come forward.
Sergeant Elaine Scott said: Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of all involved this very difficult time.
Inquiries remain ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the crash and we continue to appeal to anyone who witnessed the crash and who has not already spoken to officers to please get in touch.
I would also appeal for anyone who was driving in the area and who may have dash-cam footage that could assist to contact us.
They were among eight people to die in crashes on Scotlands roads at the weekend.
The force issued an appeal for road safety following the series of fatal accidents.
The next Scottish Tory leader will be in post within two months after party chiefs rejected calls to delay the campaign.
Scottish Conservative officials have announced that nominations will open next Thursday, and Douglas Rosss successor will be in place late next month.
It means the new Scottish leader will begin work much sooner than the successor to Rishi Sunak, with the appointment of the new UK leader not due to be announced until November.
The Scottish Tory party management board rejected calls from a series of MSPs for a longer campaign period and for Mr Ross to be replaced by an interim leader.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy, who sits on the management board, said: Following a two-week consultation with members and elected representatives, the management board met to agree the rules and timetable for the leadership election.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said the timetable of the election had been agreed
We look forward to an open contest where candidates will be able to outline their plans and policies at hustings to be held around Scotland in the coming weeks.
Once candidates have had the opportunity to set out their stalls, a full ballot of our members will determine the next leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Mr Ross, who announced early in the general election campaign that he would stand down when a new leader is appointed following a backlash at his decision to stand as a candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, did not attend the meeting when the timescales and rules for the contest were agreed.
Nominations will open next Thursday, August 8, and close at midday on August 22.
A series of hustings will then take place across the country, including a digital event.
Ballot papers will be posted to members on September 4, with the vote closing at midday on September 26 and the winner being announced the following day.
It means that a new leader will be announced before the Conservative annual conference in Birmingham, which gets underway on September 29.
The conference is expected to be dominated by the race to be the next UK leader of the party.
Former journalist Russell Findlay, the partys justice spokesman, and former athlete Brian Whittle, a deputy business spokesman, have both confirmed they intend to stand in the Scottish contest.
A series of other MSPs are considering putting their names forward, including deputy leader Meghan Gallacher, former justice and education spokesman Jamie Greene and former economy spokesman Maurice Golden.
Current Scottish Conservative Deputy Leader Meghan Gallacher is believed to be weighing up a bid to run for the leadership
Tory MSP Russell Findlay has already announced he will stand to become the new leader
Long-serving MSP Murdo Fraser has not yet confirmed if he will put himself forward as a candidate. Last week, he said an independent commission should be set up by the next leader to consider whether the Scottish Tories should split from the UK party for Holyrood elections.
Anyone seeking to become a candidate must first secure 100 nominations from party members.
The new leader will be chosen through a preferential voting system, where members rank candidates in order of preference.
Supporters of early favourite Mr Findlay had called for the starting gun to be fired on the contest as quickly as possible, while some MSPs pushed for a delay.
Following yesterdays announcement, Mr Findlay said: Im looking forward to a positive contest about our partys future.
Change is coming in Scotland. I want us to lead it - and to do so as proud and passionate Conservatives.
Im standing to unite our party behind a common-sense Conservative platform with aspiration and opportunity at its heart.
I want to invite everyone to join my campaign to build a modern, dynamic and member-led party that can deliver the electoral success that conservative Scotland needs.
Mr Greene said: My immediate reaction was that they may as well just hand the keys to the leaders office to their preferred candidate now, and we can all have a nice summer.
But the race to save the partys future is now formally on, although its a strange race given that one of runners appears to have left the starting blocks early.
If the party was serious about a meaningful member-led discussion about its future it wouldnt be cramming that hugely important debate into a two-week window during the school holidays.
It makes running a viable alternative campaign to the current offering of the failed status quo very difficult. I am consulting with colleagues and will make a decision about my own position over the weekend.
Stephen Kerr, a former Scottish Tory chief whip, previously called for nominations to be delayed until September and for the result to be declared in the final fortnight of October.
Mr Greene also demanded that Mr Ross is removed as leader during the contest and replaced by an interim leader to ensure we have a steady and cohesive ship over the coming months and to oversee current activities fairly.
During a two-week consultation, some MSPs had called for a much longer process.
Make-up brand Morphe has suddenly closed all its stores across the UK and made dozens of staff redundant without notice.
The brand closed all seven of its UK shops yesterday, it is understood, with 73 employees made redundant effective immediately.
Morphe has removed the standalone branches from its online store locator and only shows its counters in Boots and Superdrug, as well as selected Selfridges, Flannels and H Beauty stores across the country.
A spokesperson from Morphe's parent company, Forma Brands, said: 'Forma Brands has made significant progress over the last year positioning our business for growth by focusing on our flagship Morphe brand largely through our wholesale and ecommerce operations.
'During that time, our owned Morphe stores in Europe, which have consistently provided an extraordinary experience for our customers, faced disproportionately high store rent obligations.
Have YOU been affected? Email katherine.lawton@mailonline.co.uk
Morphe in Liverpool ONE is seen boarded up, with stock apparently removed from the shelves
People took to social media to reveal they had been made redundant, effective immediately
Morphe closed all seven of its UK shops yesterday, it is understood, with 73 employees made redundant effective immediately (File image)
'We have therefore made the difficult decision to close our seven UK and one Amsterdam retail locations. This move aligns with our strategy to prioritize and expand our successful wholesale and e-commerce operations, similar to our model in the U.S.'
Photographs show boarded up Morphe stalls in locations such as Liverpool One, with stock seemingly removed from all the shelves.
The cosmetics giant opened its Liverpool store in May 2019, offering more than 300 brushes, palettes and makeup sessions with professional artists.
Some former employees of the makeup store took to social media to share that staff across the UK have been made redundant, calling it 'one of the worst things on earth'.
One person on X, formerly Twitter, said: 'My friend who works at Morphe has just let me know she's been made redundant because they're closing all UK stores with no notice.'
Another added: 'I really hope those who got made redundant by Morphe UK are able to find a new job as stress free as they can, redundancy is one of the worst things on earth.'
Morphe has removed the standalone branches from its online store locator (File image)
People took to social media to share that staff across the UK have been made redundant
People took to social media to share that staff across the UK have been made redundant
A spokesperson for Morphe said: 'Given the difficult U.K. retail trading environment and disproportionately high rents, we made the difficult decision to close our eight owned Morphe stores in the UK and Amsterdam.
'While this was a difficult decision as it impacted some incredible people who worked in our stores, this move aligns with our strategy to prioritize and expand our growing wholesale and e-commerce operations, similar to our model in the US which has proven to be very successful.
'We are immensely grateful to our incredible store teams for their dedication and passion over the years.
'We are immensely grateful to our incredible store teams for their dedication and passion over the years and are working to support them through this transition.
'Due to store closures, impacted store team members were made redundant immediately. In recognition of their dedication, the parent company Forma Brands LLC has provided goodwill payments to all affected employees, equivalent to an enhanced redundancy package.'
Cancer deaths have hit a record high in Scotland amid concerns about the impact of soaring waiting times.
Official figures show cancer was a cause of 17,014 deaths last year, up 1.7 per cent on 16,725 in 2022.
It is the first time the figure has soared above 17,000 and annual deaths are now 853 higher than they were a decade ago.
The rise comes at a time of growing concern about delays to cancer treatment after diagnosis.
Tory MSP Tess White said the cancer figures revealed 'a stark and depressing reality'
Nearly one in three patients are now needing to wait more than the 62-day standard from urgent suspicion of cancer to first treatment.
Scottish Conservative deputy health spokesman Tess White said: These stats lay bare a stark and depressing reality: spiralling cancer treatment times tragically lead to a spiralling death toll.
Scotland lags way behind comparable countries for cancer survival times and frankly it should be a source of shame for SNP ministers that their 62-day target has not been met in well over a decade.
Despite the best efforts of frontline staff, the SNPs dire workforce planning and Humza Yousafs flimsy recovery plan mean they are operating with one arm tied behind their backs - culminating in 2023 being labelled the worst year on record for cancer waiting times.
More than 17,000 people across Scotland died of cancer last year
Everyone will know someone who has been affected by this awful disease, and were all aware of the correlation between prompt treatment and survival chances.
Neil Gray must urgently get a grip on cancer waiting times before more patients die needlessly.
Figures from National Records of Scotland show that neoplasms (cancerous masses) were listed as the cause of death for 8,784 men and 8,230 women in 2023.
The most common type for men was malignant neoplasms on the trachea, bronchus and lung, which caused 1,851 deaths, followed by the prostate, which caused 1,114 deaths.
For women, the most common type was also cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung, which caused 1,927 deaths, followed by breast cancer, which claimed 994 victims.
Total cancer deaths increased by 1.7 per cent from 16,725 in 2022 to 17,014 last year, and were 5.3 per cent higher than 16,161 a decade ago in 2013.
Cancer charities have condemned soaring waiting times, and say 2023 was the worst year on record amid problems including staff shortages, broken equipment and rising referrals.
The 62-day target - the maximum time patients should wait between an urgent referral for cancer tests and starting treatment - has not been met since 2012.
Figures for the first three months of this year showed just 70.4 per cent of patients were seen in 62 days - the second-worst figure on record and little improvement on the 69.5 per cent seen in the same period last year.
Kate Seymour, head of advocacy for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: Despite the tireless efforts of NHS staff, people with cancer are being failed by a health care system that is not being given the resources it needs to support them.
Cancer can affect every part of someones life - from healthcare and finances to work, housing and relationships - but right now people living with cancer are not getting the person-centred care that they desperately need.
The latest Macmillan research shows that the UK is lagging decades behind other countries when it comes to survival rates.
For example in Scotland survival rates for prostate cancer are still below what Sweden had already achieved by the early 2000s.
It doesnt have to be this way. The Scottish Government must take action to ensure people living with cancer get the care they need before the situation gets any worse.
That means bolstering the cancer workforce and investing in equipment to ensure people are diagnosed early, treated quickly and supported through all the impacts cancer can have on their lives.
Silicon Valley parents are calling for transparency about a new ethnic studies course ahead of its launch this fall - but the California school district piloting the class is keeping tight-lipped.
Two high schools in wealthy Palo Alto will teach the new class to a small group of incoming freshmen before its state-mandated rollout in the 2025-26 school year, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ethnic studies cover the experiences of minority groups in America, especially those of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
Members of the Palo Alto Parents Alliance (PA) want to lay eyes on the lesson plan prior to its debut, fearing the controversial course will adopt a 'liberated' approach focused on discrimination and oppression versus an 'inclusive' one.
'It would sure help if we as parents could see the curriculum,' Alan Crystal, the father of an incoming senior, told the Chronicle. 'A lot of what we want is just to see whats being proposed, and to see the curriculum.'
'It would sure help if we as parents could see the curriculum,' Alan Crystal, (left) said. Members of the Palo Alto Parents Alliance (PA) are demanding transparency and wish to see the ethnic studies curriculum prior to rollout
'We arent against ethnic studies,' said Sarith Honigstein, a member of PA. 'Our issue is with a non-transparent rollout.'
Proponents argue the course helps minority students learn about their culture and history, particularly for points left out of typical textbooks.
Members of PA garnered 1,400 signatures on a petition asking for transparency, saying they support ethnic studies but want the chance to provide input.
'We arent against ethnic studies,' Sarith Honigstein, a member of PA, told The Chronicle. 'Our issue is with a non-transparent rollout.'
Bill Honig, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction, described a 'liberated' model in Ed Source as: 'Presenting non-whites as victims and whites, individually and collectively through institutions, as oppressors.'
He described an 'inclusive' approach as: 'Inclusive ethnic studies does not prioritize group membership over the uniqueness of each individual...Rejects group identity as the primary lens to understand history, society, culture and politics...Advances the importance of an individual's characteristics.'
In a May letter, PA argued 'the approach that PAUSD [Palo Alto United School District] chooses to teach is important since divisiveness and turmoil have ensued in the school district boardrooms and classrooms that embraced "liberated" Ethnic Studies.'
Guillermo Lopez, the school district's associate superintendent, insisted that students will receive an 'inclusive' curriculum
There is no one-size-fits-all curriculum for ethnic studies courses across the state as it's largely been left up to each district on how they want to teach it.
The district held three input sessions with parents, who claim they received few answers.
The parents worry the class will teach a 'liberated' model instead of an 'inclusive' one. The school district denies that it's working on a 'liberated' model and insisted to parents their students will learn an 'inclusive' curriculum, according to Associate Superintendent Guillermo Lopez (pictured)
The concerns haven't come out of nowhere.
The school district covering nearby San Mateo received hundreds of complaints from parents saying their ethnic studies course was pushing a left-wing agenda, and Mountain View Los Altos High School District was sued by a nonprofit to make their curriculum documents public, the Chronicle reported.
The debate is not limited to California's borders. Florida banned an AP course on African American studies, while Tennessee restricted teachers from teaching certain topics involving race.
DEI and critical race theory classes have sparked mass debate across America and they are becoming a focal point in the 2024 presidential election.
Parents in Palo Alto fear the course will end up like the lesson plan from the UC Berkeley History Social-Science Project, which partnered with the school district to help develop the concepts of the course.
PA highlighted its concerns with Berkeley's programming, noting that the project's key concepts include calling a white male privileged and Western society oppressive.
Lopez told the Chronicle that Berkeley's programming doesn't 'really apply to our course.'
Palo Alto High School (pictured) and Henry M. Gunn High School will be running a trial on a new ethnic studies course with a small group of incoming freshmen before its state-mandated rollout begins in the 2025-26 school year
Lopez insisted the pilot course coming this fall won't be the final curriculum as the district wants to learn what works and what doesn't
He also insisted the pilot course coming this fall won't be the final curriculum.
'All we can do is continue to have conversations and train our staff to understand some of the dos and don't,' Lopez said. 'Our goal is to be inclusive of all communities.'
Jason Muniz, the director of the Berkeley project, told the Chronicle that its role was to help 'teachers tailor the class to their own district.'
BBC boss Tim Davie has admitted that he knew Huw Edwards had been arrested over the most serious category of child porn images - yet continued to pay the paedophile presenter more than 200,000 until he resigned.
In a bombshell interview with BBC News on Thursday, the director general said: 'We knew it was serious, we knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences.'
BBC bosses, who were told about Edwards' arrest in November but kept paying him for another five months, say they were not aware of the ages of the children in the images.
Britain's most famous newsreader yesterday pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to receiving 41 indecent images of children, two of which showed a child aged between about seven and nine.
The 62-year-old received the pictures on WhatsApp from convicted paedophile, Alex Williams, between December 2020 and August 2021. Seven of them were category A images - the most serious classification - while 12 were category B and 22 were category C.
Category A images show serious abuse including penetrative sexual activity, while Category B images involve non-penetrative sexual activity. Category C images do not depict any sexual activity.
Mr Davie tonight confirmed the BBC did know the severity of the alleged offences, but claimed the police had not told them the full details.
When the ex-anchorman's charges were made public this week, Mr Davie said: 'We were very shocked. No one knew about the specifics of what we heard over the last few days, which have been deeply disturbing.'
BBC boss Tim Davie (pictured) has admitted that he knew Huw Edwards had been arrested over the most serious level of child porn images
Huw Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
The director general also reiterated that the BBC did not reveal that star's arrest at the request of the police, adding that the Beeb also had to consider its duty of care to Edwards.
'When it comes to the decision we made in November, we were obviously faced with a difficult decision, and we considered it very carefully,' Mr Davie said.
'The police came to us and gave us information that they had arrested Mr Edwards. But they wanted to be assured of total confidence, and the reason they rung us at that point, it's a technical process to ensure employees are protected and there's no risk.'
He added: 'Another factor at this point was very significant duty of care considerations. I think it was right for us to say we'd let the police do their business, and then when charges happen, we will act.'
Addressing whether Edwards would still receive his pension, he said it was 'very difficult to claw back, nigh on impossible', adding: 'These are unfortunately the specifics of how it works.
'When it comes to pay, again, [it's] legally challenging [to recover], but we'll look at all options.'
Mr Davie was also quizzed about the BBC's own investigation into Edwards, which has not been published.
He said the BBC was 'not sitting on anything that I think we need to share with the police, or is of a serious nature that would make me feel that we hadn't followed up properly'.
Before Edwards resigned in April on medical advice, he was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC's latest annual report
Alex Williams (pictured) was snared by Welsh police - who later discovered he had sent Edwards a series of indecent images of children
He continued: 'I can categorically say that when it comes to the offences we've seen, which are truly horrendous, any evidence that is out there is not in the hands of the BBC. If I saw evidence of that, that is not a complicated decision [to hand it over].'
Before Edwards resigned in April on medical advice, he was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC's latest annual report.
This last salary marked a 40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between 435,000 and 439,999.
The disgraced broadcaster earned more than 200,000 between his arrest last November and leaving the corporation in April.
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
After his guilty plea on Wednesday, a BBC spokesperson said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
'At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
The corporation added: 'The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
'If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
'During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.'
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is 'shocked and appalled' by the Edwards' news when asked about the case at a press conference in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister also confirmed the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will hold urgent talks with the BBC director-general Tim Davie on Thursday.
The public currently pays 169.50 a year for the licence fee and questions will surely be raised if Edwards' salary was the best use of that money.
Charlotte Rees-John, an employment law partner at legal firm Irwin Mitchell, told the PA news agency: 'It would have been possible to dismiss Huw Edwards after he was arrested, but it is not without risk.
'I suspect this was considered but the safer approach was taken, which was to wait until charged.
'Suspension on full pay was then appropriate as was the pay rise if contractual.
'Many other organisations would have taken the risk to protect their reputation, but the BBC is under a greater level of scrutiny and they also had to consider that he was suffering with his mental health and as such at risk of serious harm.'
However, the fact Edwards has now admitted three charges of making indecent photographs - after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams - will also likely raise serious questions of trust in figures at the BBC.
The scandal with Edwards comes in the wake of the crimes of Jimmy Savile, the TV star and serial sexual abuser who managed to conceal his crimes until after his death in 2011.
It also comes weeks after the BBC delayed publishing a report in the conduct of former Radio 1 presenter Tim Westwood because of an ongoing police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct going back four decades.
Westwood 'strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour' and refutes all accusations of wrongdoing. He has not been charged with a criminal offence.
At the time the annual report was published, Davie defended Edwards' 40,000 pay rise, saying: 'We are always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no-one wants to waste a pound.
'But what you're trying to do, and from the onset of that affair, was trying to act proportionally, fairly and navigate this appropriately.
'I think that's what we did... but I think we wouldn't have wasted money if we weren't doing the right thing.'
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 'on the basis of medical advice from his doctors' after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this matter.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.
Scotland is in the grip of an epidemic of loneliness as soaring numbers of people admit they live by themselves.
Nearly 100,000 more people are now living in single-person households compared to a decade ago.
The 13 per cent rise was more than double the jump seen in England and Wales.
Campaigners last night warned the startling figures amounted to a public health crisis as growing numbers of people fall prey to loneliness.
Increasing numbers of people in Scotland, especially the elderly, are living alone
The Scottish surge, revealed in the latest findings of the 2022 Census, was driven by the countrys growing older population.
Age Scotland chief executive Katherine Crawford said: Loneliness can have a huge impact on someones health, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia, as well as contributing to significant mental health challenges.
Almost a third of Scots aged over 55 - around 550,000 people - now live alone, with the highest levels of lone living found in the Western Isles, Argyll & Bute and Inverclyde.
Age Scotland urged SNP ministers to make the crisis a national priority.
The Scottish Health Survey recently found increasing numbers of Scots reported feeling lonely most or all of the time in 2022, up from 8 to 11 per in just a year.
But Ms Crawford said the figures were far higher among the elderly, half of whom felt lonely all or most of the time.
For a quarter of a million over-65s, the main source of company is their TV or radio.
She said: With a rapidly ageing population and 1 in 3 over 55s now living alone, its vital that older people are supported in their communities and know where to access help.
People are more likely to live alone in later life for a variety of reasons such as bereavement or children and family members moving away.
Its vital that we all play a part in tackling this public health crisis. Thats why were urging the Scottish Government to treat tackling loneliness as a national priority and ramp up activity.
Campaigners say elderly people are especially at risk of loneliness
She stressed there was a huge amount of community support if people reached out.
The Census found all Scottish households grew by 136,500 to 2.5million between 2011 and 2022, with 106,700 of the increase down to people living alone.
Most of the rise in lone living was in older age groups, with 40,600 more single-person households in the 55 to 64 group, and smaller rises in the 65 to 74 and over-75 groups.
Older people were twice as likely to live alone than the young, with around 30 per cent of over-55s in single-person households, against 14 per cent for people aged 16 to 54.
The increase in older people living alone was driven by more Scots living longer in general.
The rise in one-person households was 13 per cent in Scotland, compared to a 5.9 per cent in England and Wales and 19 per cent in Northern Ireland.
The National Records of Scotland published the data as part of its household demographics and migration findings from the Census.
Scottish Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said: While many people are happy living alone, there is a danger of social isolation and loneliness increasing as the number of single-person households grows.
'Recent studies show a rise in loneliness, leading to depression, among Scots at the same time as the SNP Government are under-funding mental health provision.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: With so many Scots - particularly those over 55 - now living alone, the government must be alert to the challenges that exist.
We know that older people living alone are more likely to suffer from loneliness or mental health issues. Thats why it is vital that the Scottish Government is prepared to act to support older people who live alone to ensure they get any help they may need.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton added: Prolonged loneliness can negatively impact anyones mental health and with more people living on their own, there is a very real risk that this takes a severe toll.
'We want to see investment in activities for those who are particularly vulnerable to isolation, like older people and disabled people.
The Census also found ever more cohabitation instead of marriage or civil partnerships.
All couple households rose 4.5 per cent to 1.25million, but cohabiting households were up 25 per cent since 2011 and 81 per cent since 2001.
Continuing a 50-year trend, the proportion of homes with married or civil partnership couples fell from 86 per cent in 2001 to 77 per cent in 2022.
Around 555,000 of the 5.5million people living in Scotland were born outside the UK, with Poland (75,400), India (37,700) and Pakistan (28,900) the most common countries of birth.
Jon Wroth-Smith, Director of Census Statistics for NRS, said: This information allows governments, businesses and charities to plan services for the years ahead.
SNP Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart said: The Scottish Government recognises that Social Isolation and Loneliness is a vital public health issue.
That is why we launched our social isolation and loneliness fund, providing 3.8 million over the next three years to organisations that help people to connect with one another in our communities.
We will continue to work with our partners to deliver the actions set out in our strategy for tackling loneliness, A Connected Scotland.
The Age Scotland Friendship Line makes weekly calls to older people in need of a friendly ear to listen. Contact 0800 12 44 222.
A woman who died after being attacked by her dog had run screaming from her ground floor flat before collapsing in a pool of blood, shocked neighbours revealed.
The victim, named locally as Michelle Hempstead, 34, managed to climb over her balcony rail before sprinting around 60 yards to a children's play area, where she fell unconscious against a wall.
Locals who rushed outside following the commotion late on Monday night in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, went over to help and found her with blood pouring from a deep wound to her arm.
Paramedics arrived within minutes and took Ms Hempstead to hospital with 'life-threatening injuries' but doctors were unable to save her and she died the following day.
Neighbours said Ms Hempstead, who has a distinctive tattoo on her face, kept a rottweiler-cross type dog and a Pomeranian, although they said there had been no previous concerns about their behaviour.
Locals who rushed outside following the commotion late on Monday night in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, (pictured) went over to help and found her with blood pouring from a deep wound to her arm
The victim, named locally as Michelle Hempstead, 34, managed to climb over her balcony rail before sprinting around 60 yards to a children's play area (pictured), where she fell unconscious against a wall
Neighbours said Ms Hempstead, who has a distinctive tattoo on her face, kept a rottweiler-cross type dog and a Pomeranian, although they said there had been no previous concerns about their behaviour (Pictured: General view of Ms Hempstead's flat)
Police seized both dogs after the tragic incident and said the pet believed to have attacked its owner had been 'assessed by a dog liaison officer as not a banned breed'.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: 'I was at home with my partner when we heard screaming.
'He went to help and I called an ambulance. By the time he had got down to her, she had run across to near the play area and had collapsed.
'She was unconscious and had a really nasty wound to the top of her arm. It was evidently a dog bite.
'I think she had climbed out of her flat out over her balcony. I came out to help. She had run screaming and made it against a wall.
'We had to move her to see where the blood was coming from. It is just awful that she has died. I can only think it was because of the blood loss.
'We did our best to try and stop the bleeding. There were people coming out to help and trying to talk to her, calling her 'Shelly' or 'Michelle'.
'She was wearing her nightclothes and we tried to cover her up.'
The neighbour said Ms Hempstead had a partner and was devoted to her dogs.
She added: 'She was quite friendly. We had had a puppy last year and she would stop us to see how he was getting on.
'I was not aware of any problems with her dogs. There was a boy aged around 14 or 15 who would come to her flat to walk the big dog.
'We saw both dogs being taken out early in the morning and they were both walking happily on a lead.'
Neighbours said they believed Ms Hempstead was unemployed and had lived in the 200,000 flat for several years (Pictured: general view of Ms Hempstead's flat)
Police seized both dogs after the tragic incident and said the pet believed to have attacked its owner had been 'assessed by a dog liaison officer as not a banned breed' (Pictured: general view of Ms Hempstead's flat)
One neighbour said Ms Hempstead had a partner and was devoted to her dogs (Pictured: general view of Ms Hempstead's flat)
Other neighbours said they believed Ms Hempstead was unemployed and had lived in the 200,000 flat for several years.
Essex Police said Ms Hempstead was treated at the scene at about 11.30pm before being taken to the Royal London Hospital, where she died 'despite the best efforts of doctors'.
A spokesman added: 'We are not seeking anyone else in connection with this incident at this time and a file will be prepared for the coroner.
'Two dogs have been seized from the address.'
Detective Superintendent Gary Biddle, of Essex Police, added: 'Our deepest sympathies are with the family of the woman involved at this time.'
Under UK law, Breed Specific Legislation bans the ownership of four types of dogs including some traditionally bred for fighting.
These are the Pit bull terrier, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino, the Fila Braziliero and the XL Bully.
Dogs that are suspected of being a banned type are typically seized by police and held in kennels away from the owner.
Banned types can be kept and exempted from euthanasia if they don't pose a risk to public safety and the owner is considered fit to keep them.
For a banned dog to be exempt from euthanasia they must be neutered, microchipped, muzzled and kept on a lead in a public space, kept securely in a home and cannot be taken out in public with anyone under the age of 16.
The XL Bully is the most recent breed to have been banned. It is now a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully dog in England and Wales without a valid Certificate of Exemption.
Spending on San Franciscos upcoming mayoral election is set to surpass the record $8.4 million seen during the 2018 race. Daniel Lurie currently has the most financial support, with a total $6.6 million raised for his campaign. Camille Cohen/Special to the Chronicle
San Francisco is seeing huge amounts of money pour into its hard-fought mayoral election this year, and so far, the candidate whos attracting the most financial support is Daniel Lurie, the nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir trying to unseat incumbent London Breed.
A Chronicle analysis of campaign finance filings released this week shows that, as of June 30, more than $6 million was already spent by the five leading mayoral candidates and the political action committees supporting them. With several crucial months left until Election Day, the 2024 mayors race is on track to easily eclipse the $8.4 million spent during the June 2018 race, when Breed won a special election to fill the remainder of the late Mayor Ed Lees term.
More than $5 million raised by the candidates and committees remained unspent, bringing the total fundraising haul to more than $11 million. Mayoral candidates and their allied PACs are stockpiling cash and continuing to seek additional donor support to invest in a blitz of advertising, voter outreach and staffing expected between now and Nov. 5.
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Records show that wealthy donors have given heavily in favor of Lurie, a well-connected political novice who founded the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community. A total of $6.6 million has been raised to support Luries candidacy, including $5.2 million to a political action committee that favors him and $1.4 million thats gone directly to Luries campaign since he launched it last year.
Luries total includes $590,000 of his own money that hes put into his campaign in recent months. He has declined to participate in the citys public financing program and is putting some of his personal wealth into his campaign instead.
By comparison, Breeds candidacy has pulled in about $2.7 million, which includes more than $1.8 million that her campaign has raised from private donors and the citys public financing program. As an incumbent, Breed is eligible to get up to $1.185 million in taxpayer-backed matching funds. A political action committee supporting Breed has raised about $850,000.
Mayor London Breed has pulled in around $2.7 million so far for her campaign. Camille Cohen/Special to the Chronicle
Mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor, has raised about $654,000 since launching his campaign in February. Farrell has sought approval of around $88,000 in public financing, but the city has yet to authorize it, according to public records. San Francisco allows nonincumbent mayoral candidates to get up to $1.2 million in public matching funds for their campaigns.
Separately, Farrell set up his own fundraising committee to support a November ballot measure to improve City Halls governance structure. That committee has reported raising more than $985,000 and its pooled many of its expenses with Farrells mayoral campaign. San Francisco politicians commonly use ballot measure campaigns as another way to get their name and image before voters.
While Farrell says the shared costs reflect legitimate expenses for items such as canvassers, office space and staff time and that his campaign has reimbursed the ballot measure committee his opponents have accused him of using the ballot measure committee as a slush fund to circumvent campaign finance restrictions.
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Mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor, has raised around $654,000 since entering the race in February. Camille Cohen/Special to the Chronicle
In San Francisco, individuals cant directly contribute more than $500 to a candidates campaign, but donors can give unlimited amounts to ballot measure committees. They can also give unlimited amounts to political action committees, like those supporting Breed and Luries candidacies. But unlike Farrells ballot measure committee, the PACs supporting Breed and Lurie are operated independently of their campaigns.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has raised more than $769,000 since he entered the mayors race in April. That includes more than $469,000 from donors and $300,000 in public financing. Peskins campaign said in a statement that it has sought approval of additional public funds that would bring his total raised to $1.5 million.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has since raised more than $769,000 since entering the mayors race in April. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle
Supervisor Ahsha Safai, meanwhile, has raised around $958,000 since he launched his mayoral bid last year, including more than $466,000 in public financing. In the first half of this year, Safai raised around $158,700 from donors, the least of any of the five leading candidates. However, after deducting his expenses, he had about $401,700 in cash on hand the second-biggest war chest heading into the final months of the campaign. Breed had the most money in the bank, with about $948,700 in cash available at the end of the fundraising period.
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Supervisor Ahsha Safai has raised around $958,000 since entering the race last year. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
Lurie has burned through his campaign funds faster than his competitors as he spends heavily to boost his name recognition in his first run for public office. His campaign had less than $65,000 in cash on hand at the end of June, the least of the leading candidates. Meanwhile, the PAC supporting Lurie had $2.6 million left in the bank, and the one backing Breed had around $455,000.
Candidates in three competitive races for seats on the Board of Supervisors have also been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In the District 1 race to represent the Richmond District, incumbent Supervisor Connie Chan has raised more than $368,000 from donors and public financing, while challenger Marjan Philhour has raised more than $455,000 from the same sources.
In the District 5 race to represent the Tenderloin, Haight-Ashbury and Western Addition, incumbent Dean Preston is trailing his main opponent Bilal Mahmood with $426,367 from donors and public matching funds. Mahmood has raised more than $437,000 from the same sources.
In the race for District 9 to represent the Mission, Jackie Fielder has raised more than $392,000 from donors and public matching funds. Trevor Chandler is close behind her with $308,000 raised from donors and public funds, while an independent expenditure committee called Families for a Vibrant San Francisco has contributed $52,500 on his behalf. Roberto Hernandez has raised more than $260,000 so far.
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A few of these candidates who ran for seats on the Democratic County Central Committee have shared expenses between their DCCC campaign fund and their supervisor fund.
A fugitive father who 'kidnapped' his daughter after taking her on holiday nearly a year ago has now breached a total of 13 High Court orders to bring her home and faces a possible jail sentence, The Mail can reveal.
Philip Thomas, 54, took daughter Alice, five, on an agreed holiday to Florida but then flew her to Dubai where the pair have remained ever since, moving between hotels.
Alice's mother Natalie Kennedy, 44, met Thomas via an unregulated co-parenting website, through which single people agree to have children without being in a relationship.
Miss Kennedy used the website because she wanted to have children and was worried about her body clock.
She said she 'wanted to start a family before it was too late' and although she 'didn't want a partner', she wanted a man who 'wanted to have some involvement in our child's life' rather than just use a sperm donor.
But relations between the school dinner lady, who has been bringing up Alice, and IT professional Thomas soured, resulting in Family Court hearings and imposed access arrangements.
Single mother Natalie Kennedy, 43, is pictured with her daughter Alice
Philip Thomas, 54, took daughter Alice, five, on an agreed holiday to Florida but then flew her to Dubai where the pair have remained ever since, moving between hotel
Miss Kennedy said IT consultant Philip Thomas (pictured) defied court orders by refusing to return their daughter Alice to the UK, leaving her 'heartbroken and in despair'
The legal saga against Thomas has continued at the High Court Family Division earlier this month, when Mrs Justice Emma Arbuthnot made the latest order for Alice's safe return.
Dubai police are now said to be investigating him for criminal offences relating to Alice not being sent to school, and impact on her psychological wellbeing.
Meanwhile police in the UK are looking at 'new information' from Miss Kennedy against Thomas.
High Court judges have described the case as 'child abduction'.
The father was last night condemned for his 'grave and flagrant' behaviour by former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland KC, as Alice's mother said she fears she will 'never see her again'.
Miss Kennedy, of Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has been helped in Dubai by American private detective firm Intertect Global in her efforts to track down Thomas.
The mother who has been able to contact Thomas and Alice by phone despite not knowing their whereabouts - went to in Dubai for nearly six weeks but returned to Britain last week.
She has now launched an online fundraising appeal in anticipation of tens of thousands of pounds of costs if the case ends up in the United Arab Emirates courts.
Alice's mother Natalie Kennedy, 44, met Thomas via an unregulated co-parenting website, through which single people agree to have children without being in a relationship
Miss Kennedy pictured with her daughter Alice before she was taken to Dubai
Miss Kennedy said she had her daughter with Mr Thomas after meeting him on an unregulated co-parenting website which aims to match people who want to share the upbringing of a child
Mr Thomas broke a court agreement by not returning Alice on August 6 last year to her mother's home in Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Alice may also face a 11,000 fine after a visa obtained by Thomas ran out. It is not certain whether the penalty will be waived, even though the youngster is there through no fault of her own.
Miss Kennedy said: 'I think the Dubai police will be able to find him. I am hopeful I can then get her back although I do not know how long the process will take.'
She added her daughter's disappearance has left her 'heartbroken'.
She said: 'To me, she was everything and I just loved her to pieces. If the authorities can't track her down, there could be a chance I'll never see her again.'
Ms Kennedy, whose UK court costs are covered by Legal Aid, also described the financial situation as 'a bit of a nightmare'.
Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland KC called on officials to investigate whether Britain's extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates can be invoked against Thomas.
He said: 'This is a grave and flagrant breach of repeated orders. There's also a question about whether there's going to be a criminal investigation.
'There is an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates which came into force in 2008 and there is a process which needs to be looked at.
'Clearly a case like this threatens to bring the system into disrepute. All efforts must be made to bring this person to book and, most importantly, for the care and welfare of a five-year-old child.'
Miss Kennedy's solicitor Anthony Argyrou praised his client for 'showing untameable persistence to bring her vulnerable daughter back to the home she needs'.
A succession of High Court Family Court judges have treated the case as 'child abduction' but Thomas has ignored court orders despite the threat of a fine, imprisonment or seizure of assets.
Miss Kennedy's daughter Alice who has been taken to Dubai by her father Philip Thomas
Miss Kennedy of Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, is battling to get her daughter Alice home from Dubai
Miss Kennedy has not seen her daughter since her father took her on a two-week holiday to the United States
Thomas, from Hertfordshire, has set up his own website called FairParentingUK and an associate podcast, which he uses to campaign against what he sees as injustices in the UK's family courts. He has made a string of accusations against Miss Kennedy and said he will only return 'with safeguards' to guarantee access.
At an earlier High Court hearing in February, Thomas seemed to show little emotion while appearing via video link as Mr Justice Cusworth warned: 'Playing with Alice as a pawn is not in her best interests'.
The judge - who imposed a 12-month prison sentence against Thomas, to be suspended if he brought Alice home by March - said: 'We need to arrange for him to come to this country with Alice soon for his sake, for her sake and for the mother's sake. He cannot live on the run with Alice forever.'
During the February hearing, Thomas's barrister, Edward Bennett, said: 'He is prepared to make a return in March if there is progress during mediation.'
Ms Kennedy is being assisted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office whose spokesperson said: 'We are supporting a British woman in Dubai and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Norfolk Constabulary said it has not previously opened an investigation into Thomas because he took his daughter out of the UK legitimately on an agreed trip.
But Miss Kennedy said she has since told officers she believes the 'abduction' was premeditated, with her daughter telling her before setting out: 'Daddy says I'm not going to see you again'.
A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm new information has been provided to us and we are seeking further legal advice.'
To contribute to Natalie Kennedy's appeal, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/reunite-natalie-and-alice-help-bring-her-daughter-home
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich made a bold request for an interview with Vladimir Putin ahead of his release from a Russian jail.
The journalist was freed as part of a historic prisoner swap involving 24 inmates from between Russia and the West.
Gershkovich, 32, had been incarcerated for almost 500 days until his release on Thursday, along with two other US nationals and other prisoners.
He was being held in Russia on espionage charges which the US government deemed illegitimate.
Now it has emerged that before his shock release, Gershkovich left a note for the Russian premier asking if he would sit down for an interview, the WSJ reports.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich made a bold request for an interview with Putin ahead of his release from a Russian jail
The request was made as part of mandated forms Gershkovich filled out as part of his application for presidential clemency.
'The last line submitted a proposal of his own: After his release, would Putin be willing to sit down for an interview?' The WSJ said.
Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.
He was released along with former US marine Paul Whelan, 54, who had also been convicted of spying and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
The US nationals were among a group of 16 Western prisoners whose release was negotiated as part of the trade.
They included green card holder Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British dissident journalist also jailed in Russia and at least seven Russian opposition figures who had been incarcerated in their homeland.
The journalist was freed as part of a historic prisoner swap involving 24 inmates from across the East and West. Pictured: Gershkovich aboard his flight to freedom
The trio posed with a US flag with returning citizen Alsu Kurmasheva (center) who was also released on Thursday
Kara-Murza, 42, was arrested in April 2022, just hours after a CNN interview was broadcast in which he stated Russia was run by a 'regime of murderers'.
Their release formed part of a complex and historic prisoner exchange involving seven different countries.
The exchange finally took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday morning.
It is understood that White House officials, diplomats and the CIA were all part of the negotiation process - and painstakingly assessed which other Western and Middle Eastern countries were willing to release Russian prisoners as part of the deal.
According to the WSJ, last week CIA Director William Burns traveled to Turkey to finalize the logistics for the exchange with his Kremlin equivalent.
President Biden also played a role in the historic exchange - speaking directly with prime minister of Slovenia Robert Golob to get him on board with pardoning two Russian spies, who were to be handed back to Russia in the swap.
The request was made as part of mandated forms Gershkovich filled out as part of his application for presidential clemency from Vladimir Putin, pictured with Indonesian Defense Minister and President-Elect Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday
The exchange took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Thursday. The country has previously acted as a mediator for prisoner exchanges between Russia and the West
President Biden shared this photo shortly after the release with the caption: 'After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families'
The president lauded the deal as a 'feat of diplomacy' as he confirmed 16 prisoners had been released from Russia, including seven opposition figures incarcerated in their homeland.
'Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over,' Biden said.
'This is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.
'And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.
'Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families.'
The deal largely hinged on the release of convicted assassin Vadim Krasikov from a German prison, where he had been serving life for the broad-daylight murder of a Georgia-born Chechen separatist.
Putin is understood to have personally requested Krasikov's release in exchange for Gershkovich and the other hostages as a reward for the 'state-contracted killing'.
A woman who died of ME was desperate for a 'loving hug' in her final months, but found it too painful to be held, her mother told an inquest.
Maeve Boothby O'Neill, 27, was left bedridden and unable to eat in the final months of her life due to the severity of her myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Her family believe her death in October 2021 exposed 'a major systemic failing' of the health service to both understand and treat severe cases of the condition.
Giving evidence at the inquest into her daughter's death in Exeter, Devon, on Thursday, Sarah Boothby accused the hospital which treated her of failing in its duty of care.
Ms Boothby O'Neill was admitted three times to the Royal Devon & Exeter (RD&E) hospital in six months, but was said to have refused a fourth admission because she felt there was no prospect of treatment or cure for her condition.
Maeve Boothby O'Neill, 27, (pictured) was left bedridden and unable to eat in the final months of her life due to the severity of her myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)
Sean O'Neill, a journalist for The Times, pictured with his daughter Maeve who died in October 2021
Her mother said that, as her daughter's full time carer, 'it seemed to me the consultants responsible for her care at the RD&E were not trying to save Maeve's life'.
Ms Boothby also described in agonising detail the final months of her daughter's life.
WHAT IS ME? Some 250,000 people in Britain suffer from the condition, which comes with flu-like symptoms, extreme tiredness and mental lethargy that can last for years. Other symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), or myalgic encephalopathy (ME), include disturbed sleep, poor memory and reduced concentration. The cause of the illness is unclear, provoking the heated debate that has lasted for decades among the medical community. Some patients return to full health and others deteriorate progressively, however, most fluctuate between good and bad periods. There is no cure for CFS, with the majority of treatments to reduce symptoms being ineffective. They include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), graded exercise therapy and medications such as antidepressants. Worldwide it is believed that 17 million people suffer with CFS, according to the ME Association. Advertisement
She said in her moving statement to the court: 'She wanted more than anything, she said, a loving hug. By then it was too late for that, hypersensitivity made all touch excruciatingly painful.'
Ms Boothby said that deaths from ME were extremely rare, but she believed the evidence showed that her daughter likely died from malnutrition and dehydration because of her severe ME.
'I therefore believe her death was both premature and wholly preventable,' she told the court.
She added: 'As it is likely her death could have been prevented, I am hoping the inquest will try to ascertain how three separate admissions to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital failed to save her life.'
Ms Boothby O'Neill was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) in a Bristol hospital in 2011.
Ms Boothby said by March 2021 her daughter was 'unable to sit up, hold a cup of tea to her lips or chew' and she said she could have been treated by tube feeding in hospital - but claimed the 'appropriate form of tube feeding was never provided' and criticised the hospital's response to her deteriorating needs as 'inexplicable'.
Rhys Hadden, representing the hospital trust, addressed the accusations of failings after Ms Boothby had given her statement.
He said: 'We do not accept it (Meave's death) was preventable. The Trust disagrees with the criticism that it failed in its duty of care or missed important opportunities.'
Ms Boothby O'Neill's father, journalist Sean O'Neill, was too overwhelmed to read his statement to the coroner who read it out aloud on his behalf.
Miss Boothby-O'Neill had been admitted to the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital (pictured) three times, during her second visit she told doctors she wished to be discharged, the inquest heard
It said: 'Medicine and medics did not know what to do. Meave encountered treatments that made her worse - such as exercise programmes - delayed diagnoses, ignorance, apathy and stigma.
'The medical orthodoxy is that ME is a behavioural problem or a psychological illness and that belief is deeply rooted in the NHS despite growing scientific evidence that it is a physical illness.
'Maeve was forced by medical prejudice and ignorance to rely on her own resources. She researched ME in great depth and was extremely knowledgeable, but she was unable to cure herself and medicine (with the exception of just a few special people) was unwilling and unable to help her.
'Maeve never wanted to die. She had dreams, hopes and plans.
'It seems a harsh thing to say but she would have been better off on the hands of the NHS if she had had cancer. And I say this as someone who is living with cancer.'
The inquest continues.
An upscale New York City hotel is offering travelers and city-dwellers one free night's stay starting this month, but with an interesting condition attached.
In honor of National Sister's Day on August 4, both Walker Hotel locations (in Tribeca and Greenwich Village) are offering an exclusive buy one get one night free deal.
But only those who have 'Walker' in any part of their name - whether it be first, last or middle- can take advantage of this offer.
The deal can be booked during the month of August for stays through the end of the year (excluding blackout dates), and can be applied to a second night in one room or a second room for the night at either one of the properties.
In honor of National Sister's Day on August 4, both Walker Hotel locations - in Tribeca (pictured) and Greenwich Village are offering an exclusive buy one get one night free deal
The stylish hotel's Tribeca location is a former ribbon factory that draws from the distinctive character of the area and the Golden Age New York City
It also includes breakfast for two at the Mostrador NYC in the Tribeca location or Society Cafe at the Greenwich Village location along with a friendship bracelet at check-in.
The stylish hotel's Tribeca location is a former ribbon factory that draws from the distinctive character of the area and the Golden Age New York City.
Guests can stay at one of the hotels many room options which includes Walker Full, Walker Queen and Walker Cozy King.
Visitors can also sip craft cocktails in Saint Tuesday bar while enjoying live music or watch a sunset with a glass in hand on the rooftop lounge, Happy Be.
Those visiting the hotel's Greenwich Village location can experience architecture inspired by the Georgian revival towers and rich romantic interiors
Each of the luxury rooms has been built with Art Deco lines, sleek furnishings and stylish amenities which include Garnier Thiebaut linens and towels, Bigelow bath products, Bluetooth stereos, room service and Planet Fitness passes
Apart from this, travelers are also treated to marble rain showers, Bigelow bath amenities and smart TVs.
Those visiting the hotel's Greenwich Village location can experience architecture inspired by the Georgian revival towers and rich romantic interiors.
Each of the luxury rooms has been built with Art Deco lines, sleek furnishings and stylish amenities which include Garnier Thiebaut linens and towels, Bigelow bath products, Bluetooth stereos, room service and Planet Fitness passes.
Guests can stay in a variety of rooms such as Greenwich Empire View, Waverly Queen and Bedford Double during their stay.
Visitors can also enjoy drinks and live music at the hotel or venture into the main dining room to enjoy market-to-table food sourced from the Union Square Green Market.
An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight during a protest in Hartlepool on Wednesday.
The police car was torched during riots which spread from Southport to other parts of the UK last night in the wake of the knife rampage which claimed the lives of three young girls.
The violence, also seen in London and Manchester, has been sparked by false speculation online that the suspect in the stabbing frenzy is an illegal immigrant who arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Murder suspect Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and lived in Banks - a Lancashire village less than 15 minutes from Southport.
Cleveland Police Assistant Chief Constable David Felton said: 'This is very much a live investigation and we are continuing to work to identify those involved in the disorder yesterday evening and bring them to justice.
'Disorder of this kind will not be tolerated and those found to be involved will be robustly dealt with.'
An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight during a protest in Hartlepool on Wednesday
Riot officers on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest on Wednesday night
Firefighters tend to a burning police car burns as officers were deployed on the streets of Hartlepool last night
Officers continue to have a visible presence in the area to reassure and protect the community.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where rioters set pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
A lone Asian man was also punched in the face in footage which was captured on a live stream.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned 'far-right hatred' in the wake of the Southport stabbings and today announced a new 'national' response to the violent disorder linking police forces across the country.
The Prime Minister said 'thugs' involved in the scenes of unrest should not 'pretend they are speaking' for the grieving families of the three young girls killed in the initial attack.
At a press conference following riots in which bricks were hurled at police officers and a local mosque targeted, Sir Keir warned: 'The far right are showing who they are - we have to show who we are in response to that.'
In a televised address from Downing Street after the disorder in London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Southport, he announced a new 'national capability' to tackle the disorder across police forces in England.
Police officers and dogs were deployed to the streets of Hartlepool amid fresh violence
A police car burns in the distance as riot police officers line up nearby
Firefighters attempt to put the intense blaze out as violence escalated in Hartlepool
The remains of the police car can be seen as riot police officers walk past
This will involve sharing intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict the movement of those involved, Sir Keir said.
He said: 'These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community.
'We must have a policing response that can do the same.'
The Prime Minister also sounded a note of caution to social media companies after misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect, including false claims that he was an asylum seeker.
'Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it's happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere,' he said.
'That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.'
Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, also warned that speculating about the attack could risk prejudicing the active criminal proceedings against the suspect and impeding justice for the bereaved families.
Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after a mosque was targeted in the violence in Southport, he said: 'In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear: I will take every step that's necessary to keep you safe.
Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool the morning after the riots
'Mosques being attacked because they're mosques - the far right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.'
The press conference was held shortly after police chiefs from Scotland Yard, Merseyside and West Yorkshire were summoned to Downing Street for crisis talks with the PM and his ministers following the violence.
Sir Keir said the meeting was held to 'pull together our response, response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up whatever the apparent cause or motivation'.
He hit out at a 'gang of thugs' who descended on Southport to riot following the initial attack, saying that as a result the community had been forced to suffer twice.
'Let's be very clear about this. It's not protest. It's not legitimate. It's crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice,' Sir Keir said.
In London on Wednesday, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police, and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
The string of violent incidents followed similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
The Government will probe a Czech billionaire's planned takeover of the Royal Mail.
Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services accepted a 3.5billion takeover swoop from Daniel Kretinsky, meaning the postal company is set to fall into foreign hands for the first time since it was set up by Henry VIII in 1516.
The Cabinet Office has now decided to scrutinise the deal under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act.
A discrete investigation will assess whether there is any harm to the UK's economic infrastructure.
The government will only publicly acknowledge the inquiry if it concludes the deal should be blocked or given certain conditions.
Business groups and unions welcomed the latest development as a sign that Labour is taking concerns seriously.
Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services accepted a 3.5billion takeover swoop from Daniel Kretinsky (pictured) but it will now be probed
Under current owners, Royal Mail has already urged regulators to let it slash second-class service in half from six-day deliveries to every other weekday (file picture)
Labour insisted it would 'robustly scrutinise' the takeover and give workers a 'stronger voice' in its election manifesto.
Communication Workers Union general secretary Dave Ward said that current assurances from the company and Mr Kretinsky were 'not strong enough to protect workers, customers and the crucial infrastructure that Royal Mail provides for our communities and the economy.'
The union wants a new ownership model that would give workers a stake, meaning ' a greater say over the future direction of the company.' There are also fears Kretinsky - known as the 'Czech Sphinx - will slash the frequency of second-class deliveries.
Groups representing thousands of small companies are terrified the postal service will be given a '21st century Beeching Axe' - a reference to the swathe of railway route closures made in the 1960s.
'Whoever owns Royal Mail, we're all looking for lock-tight, long-term undertakings on affordability and reliability. Above all communities need a postal service that performs, serving the needs of small businesses and consumers,' Amanda Fergusson, chief executive of the UK's Greeting Card Association said.
The GCA was among the groups - including the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), the Booksellers Association and the National Federation of SubPostmasters - who this week implored Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to enforce protections.
They worry second class deliveries could be 'chopped back to just three days a week' and that there may be 'runaway prices' for first class post.
As well as small firms, this would be a headache for elderly people who rely on the service.
Under current owners, Royal Mail has already urged regulators to let it slash second-class service in half from six-day deliveries to every other weekday.
Its boss said this would give it a 'fighting chance' to boost standards and help it save 300million. But the proposals also result in almost 1,000 job losses.
Labour insisted it would 'robustly scrutinise' the takeover and give workers a 'stronger voice' in its election manifesto (file picture)
At the moment, letters must be delivered six days per week, Monday to Saturday, and parcels Monday to Friday (file picture)
In April the cost of a first class standard letter rose 8 per cent to 1.35 while a second-class stamp now costs 85p - the same price of a first class stamp in early 2022.
Watchdog Ofcom is currently assessing how the troubled postal service's obligations can be reformed - which could see it allowed to offer a less frequent service.
At the moment, letters must be delivered six days per week, Monday to Saturday, and parcels Monday to Friday.
Ofcom has said there will be an update on the reforms later this year.
Kretinsky, a major shareholder in West Ham United and Sainsbury's, met with minister Reynolds last Tuesday - for the first time since the general election. They reportedly had a 'cordial and constructive' conversation.
The buyer has already insisted it will protect 'the continuance of six-day delivery for First Class letters', current parent company International Distributions Services (IDS) said earlier this year.
But this stoked concerns about what could happen to second-class deliveries.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan got emotional and choked up during the daily briefing Thursday while describing the effort to bring home American prisoners from Russia in a swap.
Today excuse me today was a very good day, Sullivan told reporters, as he celebrated the moment but also contemplated the work that went into the elaborate exchange and the suffering of the prisoners and their families.
He called it the result of a a monumental level of effort by an array of staff, and revealed details of talks that stretched on for months and had President Biden making a key phone call even on the day he decided to end his bid to retain the White House.
Sullivan and his team have been involved in the effort since the start of the administration Biden said the effort began even before he took office. That meant not only strategy sessions and 'pull-aside' meetings with foreign counterparts, but emotionally freighted meetings and updates with desperate and frustrated family members seeking the return of their loved ones.
The historic deal freed 24 including 16 who were detained in Russia, but didn't get every American out. Sullivan also confirmed that the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny who suffered in a Russian penal colony above the Arctic circle had once been part of the talks.
Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor, grew emotional while recounting the efforts to free Americans held in Russia. The historic swap came together Thursday
We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexey Navalny. Unfortunately, he died. In fact, on the very day that he, died I saw Evans parents and I told them that the president was determined to get this done even in light of that tragic news,' he said, referencing the family of freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The talks involved numerous countries and Sullivan gave 'personal thanks' to the leaders of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey.
'We've completed one of the largest and certainly the most complex exchange in history,' Sullivan said.
'I spent a lot of time with families, Evan and Paul [Whelan] and Alsu [Kurmasheva], and most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations. But not today. Today excuse me. Today was very good day,' Sullivan said, regaining his composure.
He couldn't say who decided to 'go big' with the overarching deal, saying it was an 'organic process involving a lot of people across our government.'
President Biden spoke flanked by family members of the detained Americans, and his aides briefed reporters on how the deal came together
He said Biden 'really pushed us to think about what configuration would actually work to make this happen.'
'And so I would say that if you had not had Joe Biden sitting in the Oval Office, I don't think this would have happened,' he said.
He joked about his own emotions when retelling how family members received the news.
'I saved my tearing up for this podium. I would like to strike that from the record,' Sullivan quipped, to laughs.
'So the President invited the family members in at the moment that we received the word from the tarmac in Ankara that the exchange was complete, and he was able to give them a news directly that the exchange was in fact complete.'
He said negotiators weren't sure themselves it was a done deal until hours before.
A key moment came in February when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Biden he would allow for the release of Russia's top ask: the release of Vadim Krasikov, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Berlin.
'It was two guys actually trying to figure out a solution. That was the nature of all of the conversations, and ultimately, the chancellor was able to say to the president, "Lets do this,"' he said.
Asked if Scholz told Biden: 'For you, I will do this,' Sullivan responded: 'I can confirm that he did say that,' but declined to provide further details.
Sullivan said aides gained confidence after Biden's July 21 call with the prime minster of Slovenia to put final arrangements in place (two Russians were being held there).
We steadily gained confidence following the President's call on that on the 21st of July. But that confidence was always tempered by the reality that this was a fragile deal, a complex deal that could fall apart at any moment from multiple different directions. So we held their breath and crossed our fingers until just a couple hours ago,' he said.
The president himself held an event flanked by family members of Americans detained in Russia. He even held an awkward 'Happy Birthday' sing along for Miriam Butorin, the 13-year old daughter of Alsu Kurmasheva, a freed Russian-American journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Responding to a question from DailyMail.com, the president also defended the release of convicted hit man Vladimir Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the assassination of an ethnic Chechen Georgian national in broad daylight in a Berlin park.
Asked how he weighed the decision to release the hit man who was able to get away with murder, Biden responded: 'I got home innocent people.'
A 58-year-old man has died after a nine-vehicle collision in a regional town.
The man was a passenger in a Toyota Hilux van that smashed into the other eight vehicles on Wellford St in Shepparton, 190km north of Melbourne, at about 5pm on Wednesday.
He was rushed to hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Three other people were also taken to hospital for observation.
'The investigation into the collision is ongoing,' Victoria Police said.
Police urged anyone who witnessed or has footage of the crash to contact Crime Stoppers.
There have been 164 deaths on Victorian roads so far this year, compared to 167 deaths this time last year.
A sophisticated platform used to scam 170,000 Brits out of millions of pounds has been shut down by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Russian Coms, established since 2021, supplied users with a handset that looked exactly like a mobile phone but allowed fraudsters to choose any number to appear to be calling from.
Criminals often used numbers of financial institutions, telecommunication companies and law enforcement agencies to scam victims out of their life savings.
Between 2021 and 2024, more than 1.3million calls were made by Russian Coms users to 500,000 UK phone numbers.
Of those who made a report to Action Fraud, the average loss was more than 9,400, with some victims losing hundreds of thousands.
A sophisticated platform used to scam 170,000 Brits out of millions of pounds has been shut down by the National Crime Agency (NCA)
Between 2021 and 2024, more than 1.3million calls were made by Russian Coms users to 500,000 UK phone numbers (stock photo)
Three individuals have been arrested by the National Crime Agency, including two men aged 26 and 28 detained in east London in March who are believed to be the platform's developers and administrators.
That month, the platform was taken down.
Russian Coms, not affiliated with the Russian state, was first available as a handset and later as a web app.
The platform was marketed on Snapchat, Instagram and Telegram with glossy adverts offering 'unlimited minutes' and even 'hold music.'
The handset, which could be bought for between 1,200 and 1,400 with a six-month contract, looked like a normal phone but could only be used to make spoofed calls.
The web app was marketed as a 'flagship service' that allowed full access to the Russian Coms platform and cost 350 per month, to be paid in cryptocurrency.
The platform provided a service that could alter the criminals' voices and accents, and had an 'instant handset wipe' feature that allowed fraudsters to delete all data with a swipe of the phone.
Scammers would often 'spoof' the number of a bank to gain a victim's trust, before convincing them that their account had been subject to fraudulent activity.
They would then be persuaded to transfer their money to another account to safeguard their savings.
Fraudsters would also impersonate reputable companies and steal funds for goods that were never delivered, gain full access to bank accounts and arrange for the collection of physical debit and credit cards on the pretence that they needed replacing.
Calls were made to people in 107 different countries, including the US, New Zealand, Norway and France.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre within the National Crime Agency, said criminals were increasingly using technology to carry out fraud and other crimes on an 'industrial scale.' 'It's whack-a-mole territory for us at the moment as new technologies emerge,' he added.
'Law enforcement and governments need to keep ahead of that and we can only do that with the support of the technology companies that are able to provide these platforms in the first place.'
Scammers would often 'spoof' the number of a bank to gain a victim's trust, before convincing them that their account had been subject to fraudulent activity (stock photo)
Fraud accounts for about 40 per cent of all crime in England and Wales, with more than 80 per cent thought to be technology-enabled.
Temporary assistant commissioner at the City of London Police, Nik Adams, advised: 'If you receive a phone call out of the blue from your bank, financial provider or other official organisation, even if you think it is legitimate, hang up and redial the number on the back of your bank card.
'No official organisation will pressure you to make an immediate financial decision or put pressure on you to reveal your personal details.'
Home Office minister Lord Sir David Hanson said fraud was a devastating crime which could affect everyone.
'That's why this action from the NCA is so significant, shutting down an illegal platform used by hundreds of criminals, and disrupting the flow of funds that their networks rely on to operate,' he added.
'It also sends a vital message to others committing fraud - law enforcement is monitoring you, you will be caught, and you will be dealt with using the full force of the law.'
Huw Edwards' child pornography charges were not made public due to fears over his 'mental health', it is understood.
Edwards, 62, was arrested on suspicion of receiving indecent images of children via a WhatsApp exchange with paedophile Alex Williams, 25, in November 2023. He was charged this year on June 26.
The former BBC presenter has pleaded guilty to possessing seven category A images, 12 category B images and 22 category C images of children at Westminster magistrates' court this week.
But despite there being major pubic interest in Edwards' case, the charges and his upcoming court appearance were not revealed to the public at the time, as is typical practice.
Alternatively, the shocking revelations of the case were only uncovered on Monday when it was spotted that Edwards was due to appear at magistrates' court on Wednesday by a media outlet, who demanded answers from Scotland Yard.
It comes as the BBC's director general Tim Davie has insisted that the corporation was not 'sitting on' any information regarding the police inquiry.
The Met and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have both denied suppressing information or giving Edwards special treatment.
Fears over the former presenter's mental health contributed to the decision to withhold information for as long as possible, sources have told The Telegraph.
Huw Edwards' child porn charges were not made public due to fears over his mental health, it is understood
BBC boss Tim Davie (pictured) has admitted that he knew Huw Edwards had been arrested over the most serious level of child porn images
The source said: '[...] concern over Edwards' mental health was certainly a factor in deciding not to release all the details immediately. The intention was to release details of the charges the day before he was due in court.
'This was not an attempt to cover it up but simply to manage the inevitable frenzy that would follow the news being made public.'
MailOnline has contacted the CPS and the Met for comment.
BBC boss Mr Davie admitted he knew Huw Edwards had been arrested over the most serious category of child porn images - yet continued to pay the paedophile presenter more than 200,000 until he resigned.
In a bombshell interview with BBC News on Thursday, the director general said: 'We knew it was serious, we knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences.'
BBC bosses, who were told about Edwards' arrest in November but kept paying him for another five months, say they were not aware of the ages of the children in the images.
Britain's most famous newsreader yesterday pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to receiving 41 indecent images of children, two of which showed a child aged between about seven and nine.
Edwards received the pictures on WhatsApp from convicted paedophile, Alex Williams, between December 2020 and August 2021. Seven of them were category A images - the most serious classification - while 12 were category B and 22 were category C.
Category A images show serious abuse including penetrative sexual activity, while Category B images involve non-penetrative sexual activity. Category C images do not depict any sexual activity.
Huw Edwards yesterday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine
Huw Edwards is yet another BBC star to be disgraced after he admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
Mr Davie tonight confirmed the BBC did know the severity of the alleged offences, but claimed the police had not told them the full details.
When the ex-anchorman's charges were made public this week, Mr Davie said: 'We were very shocked. No one knew about the specifics of what we heard over the last few days, which have been deeply disturbing.'
The director general also reiterated that the BBC did not reveal that star's arrest at the request of the police, adding that the Beeb also had to consider its duty of care to Edwards.
'When it comes to the decision we made in November, we were obviously faced with a difficult decision, and we considered it very carefully,' Mr Davie said.
'The police came to us and gave us information that they had arrested Mr Edwards. But they wanted to be assured of total confidence, and the reason they rung us at that point, it's a technical process to ensure employees are protected and there's no risk.'
He added: 'Another factor at this point was very significant duty of care considerations. I think it was right for us to say we'd let the police do their business, and then when charges happen, we will act.'
Addressing whether Edwards would still receive his pension, he said it was 'very difficult to claw back, nigh on impossible', adding: 'These are unfortunately the specifics of how it works.
'When it comes to pay, again, [it's] legally challenging [to recover], but we'll look at all options.'
Mr Davie was also quizzed about the BBC's own investigation into Edwards, which has not been published.
He said the BBC was 'not sitting on anything that I think we need to share with the police, or is of a serious nature that would make me feel that we hadn't followed up properly'.
Alex Williams (pictured) was snared by Welsh police - who later discovered he had sent Edwards a series of indecent images of children
He continued: 'I can categorically say that when it comes to the offences we've seen, which are truly horrendous, any evidence that is out there is not in the hands of the BBC. If I saw evidence of that, that is not a complicated decision [to hand it over].'
Before Edwards resigned in April on medical advice, he was paid between 475,000 and 479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC's latest annual report.
This last salary marked a 40,000 pay rise from 2022/23, when he was paid between 435,000 and 439,999.
The disgraced broadcaster earned more than 200,000 between his arrest last November and leaving the corporation in April.
The BBC has said that if Edwards had been charged while he was still an employee it would have sacked him, but at the point of charge he no longer worked for the corporation.
After his guilty plea on Wednesday, a BBC spokesperson said: 'In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
'At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.'
Edwards received seven category 'A' images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams
The corporation added: 'The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
'Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court.
'If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
'During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.'
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is 'shocked and appalled' by the Edwards' news when asked about the case at a press conference in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister also confirmed the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will hold urgent talks with the BBC director-general Tim Davie on Thursday.
The public currently pays 169.50 a year for the licence fee and questions will surely be raised if Edwards' salary was the best use of that money.
Charlotte Rees-John, an employment law partner at legal firm Irwin Mitchell, told the PA news agency: 'It would have been possible to dismiss Huw Edwards after he was arrested, but it is not without risk.
'I suspect this was considered but the safer approach was taken, which was to wait until charged.
'Suspension on full pay was then appropriate as was the pay rise if contractual.
'Many other organisations would have taken the risk to protect their reputation, but the BBC is under a greater level of scrutiny and they also had to consider that he was suffering with his mental health and as such at risk of serious harm.'
However, the fact Edwards has now admitted three charges of making indecent photographs - after he was sent 41 illegal images by convicted paedophile Alex Williams - will also likely raise serious questions of trust in figures at the BBC.
The scandal with Edwards comes in the wake of the crimes of Jimmy Savile, the TV star and serial sexual abuser who managed to conceal his crimes until after his death in 2011.
It also comes weeks after the BBC delayed publishing a report in the conduct of former Radio 1 presenter Tim Westwood because of an ongoing police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct going back four decades.
Westwood 'strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour' and refutes all accusations of wrongdoing. He has not been charged with a criminal offence.
At the time the annual report was published, Davie defended Edwards' 40,000 pay rise, saying: 'We are always trying to be very judicious with the spending of public money and no-one wants to waste a pound.
'But what you're trying to do, and from the onset of that affair, was trying to act proportionally, fairly and navigate this appropriately.
'I think that's what we did... but I think we wouldn't have wasted money if we weren't doing the right thing.'
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 'on the basis of medical advice from his doctors' after unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour in relation to this matter.
Edwards will next appear in court on September 16.
Abraham Shafi, founder of IRL, the San Francisco-based social media platform, was accused by U.S. authorities of defrauding investors and misappropriating millions of dollars on personal luxuries. IRL
The founder of a social media platform based in San Francisco and backed by SoftBank is accused by U.S. authorities of defrauding investors and misappropriating millions of dollars on personal luxuries like a lavish wedding, extravagant flights and high-end hotel stays.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that Abraham Shafi misled investors to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by claiming his IRL app, once considered a rival to Facebook, had organically attracted 12 million users.
However, it was later revealed that most of IRLs profiles were bot-generated, and Shafi spent $6 million on ads incentivizing app downloads. The app shut down in 2023.
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The SECs complaint states that Shafi hid these expenses by submitting documents that significantly underreported the companys marketing costs and rerouted payments for ads through third-party intermediaries.
Additionally, Shafi and his fiancee, Barbara Woortmann, allegedly used IRLs business credit cards for personal expenses, including clothing, home furnishings and travel.
Shafi took advantage of investors appetite for investments in the pre-IPO technology space and fraudulently raised approximately $170 million by lying about IRLs business practices, said Monique C. Winkler, the SECs San Francisco Regional Office director. Investors in this space should continue to be vigilant.
Before IRLs downfall, Shafi secured $200 million in venture capital, with the final round a Series C funding of $170 million led by SoftBanks Vision Fund 2, elevating the startup to unicorn status with a $1.17 billion valuation.
The SECs complaint accuses Shafi of violating antifraud provisions under federal securities laws and seeks permanent injunctive relief, civil penalties, return of ill-gotten gains with interest and a ban on Shafi serving as an officer or director.
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Woortmann is also named, with the SEC seeking the return of investor money used for personal expenses with interest.
A Canadian woman will face court after flying to Brisbane and allegedly concealing $13.4 million worth of methamphetamine in her luggage.
The 24-year-old underwent a bag examination after arriving at Brisbane International Airport from Fiji on July 28, after travelling from Vancouver.
Australian Border Force officers allegedly found 14.4kg of meth inside towels soaked in vinegar and layered with coffee beans.
The meth had an estimated value of $13.4 million, which was enough for almost 145,000 street deals, Australian Federal Police said on Friday.
The woman was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Border force Superintendent Josh Ikin said the arrest is a warning to those looking to import drugs to Australia.
'Methamphetamine has a devastating effect on the community every single day,' Supt Ikin said.
An Australian Border Force search of a piece of luggage turned up 14kg of Methamphetamine
The drugs are worth more than $13 million on the streets, Australian Federal Police said
'This result should serve as a warning to criminals that no matter where you are attempting to import or move your drugs, the ABF and our partners will be waiting.'
Federal police Detective Acting Superintendent Steve Wiggins noted that in 2021/22 there were 10,100 meth-related hospitalisations.
The woman will face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.
One of the most unedifying aspects of Prince Harry's feud with his brother has been his apparent desire to claim ownership of his mother's legacy. Scarcely a speech or interview can pass without a reference to the late Princess Diana and his claims about her wishes.
Harry's latest television interview suggests that he is now trying to invoke the memory of his late grandmother, too.
Courtiers I've spoken to in the last few days are distinctly unimpressed.
In last Thursday's interview with simpering ITV News correspondent Rebecca Barry, Harry claimed that Queen Elizabeth had fully supported his legal battle against the popular Press and had personally urged him on.
'We had many conversations before she passed and this is very much something that she supported,' he declared in a documentary, Tabloids on Trial.
'She knew how much this meant to me and she's very much up there saying 'see this through to the end'.'
In last Thursday's interview with ITV News' Rebecca Barry, Harry claimed that Queen Elizabeth had fully supported his legal battle against the popular Press and had personally urged him on
Sadly, the Queen is no longer available to support Harry's claim or deny it. So, perhaps it would be instructive to look at her actions.
It is a tribute to the late Queen's warm relationships with her grandchildren that all eight felt deeply loved.
Harry, though, was convinced that he was in some way unique. For example, in an interview with an American journalist five months before her death, he claimed that he enjoyed a 'special relationship' with the monarch.
Preposterously, he declared he was 'protecting' Queen Elizabeth from the people around her, even though he had been living in North America for more than two years.
Convinced he was, indeed, special, Harry had become increasingly frustrated that he was unable to see his grandmother in person to discuss his plans to move abroad with his new wife, Meghan.
In his bestselling memoir, Spare, the prince portrayed the Queen as a frail, elderly woman manipulated by officials, to whom he gave a series of childish nicknames such as 'The Wasp' and 'The Fly'.
In fact, as the two prime ministers she met just days before her death have testified, the Queen was as sharp as a tack until the end. And, even as her physical strength deteriorated, she was prepared to speak her mind whether it suited Harry and Meghan or not.
One courtier Richard Eden spoke to is far from happy with Harry's 'tasteless' attempt to claim his grandmother's support in his continuing 'crusade', adding: 'There is something distinctly 'off' about it'
Harry had become increasingly frustrated that he was unable to see his grandmother in person to discuss his plans to move abroad with his new wife Meghan in 2020
For example, instead of backing their plans for a 'half-in, half-out' role with the Royal Family, she made it clear that Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, would not be allowed to combine a life of public duty with money-grubbing in Hollywood.
What, then, do we make of Harry's bold new claim that the late Queen had supported his controversial legal campaign against the Press?
Did she really take such a gung-ho view of these things?
It was certainly true that the late Queen approved a decision in 2018 to threaten News Group Newspapers with legal action over its apparent lack of response to hacking claims as emails disclosed to the High Court have made clear.
But Harry has also alleged in court documents that his grandmother knew about a so-called 'secret agreement' between Buckingham Palace and the publisher of The Sun newspaper, under which he claimed the royals agreed not to sue.
Not only was the allegation strongly denied by all sides, Harry's claim was rejected by a judge as not 'reaching the necessary threshold of plausibility and cogency'.
One courtier I spoke to this week was far from happy with Harry's 'tasteless' attempt to claim his grandmother's support in his continuing 'crusade'.
As he told me: 'There is something distinctly 'off' about it.
'We'll never know what was said between grandson and grandmother. What we do know is that we will only ever know one side of the story.'
Harry's attempts to use the memory of the late Queen for his own ends is likely to be viewed by many as distasteful particularly given his disruptive behaviour in her final years.
The facts speak for themselves: Meghan and Harry conducted an explosive interview with America's chat-show queen, Oprah Winfrey, even though the Duke of Edinburgh was aged 99 and his health was deteriorating.
The royal couple made deeply hurtful claims, including an accusation of racism against unidentified senior royals. By the time the interview was broadcast, Philip was already in hospital with his final illness. Incurably sick, he died four weeks later.
The California-based couple spent the following 17 months until the Queen's death working on projects that ended up inflicting further damage on the Royal Family.
Just two months before our beloved monarch died at Balmoral aged 96, her 'special' grandson announced the forthcoming publication of his 'intimate' memoir, Spare.
Shame on Harry for now trying to use the memory of a grandmother he did so much to hurt in her final years.
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Episode Guide
Andrew Pierce is joined by Peter Hitchens as Sarah Vine is on holiday. They discuss the riot in Southport, who is stirring up the violence around the killing of the three girls and what it says about British society.
After the Chancellor admits she will have to increase tax they discuss where the tax increases might happen and if it will raise any more money.
They also answer your questions on Sovereign Wealth Funds and VAT on Private Schools.
Hosts: Andrew Pierce and Peter Hitchens
To get in touch email Reaction@dailymail.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on WhatsApp - on 07796 657512 start your message with the word 'reaction'
READ MORE: The moon has a secret underground cave , scientists confirm
'Biorepository' of frozen animal cells stored on the moon could regenerate life
Eccentric entrepreneurs like Elon Musk want to put people on the moon or Mars to ensure humanity survives a global climate disaster.
But in the event of such a catastrophe, what about our planet's wildlife?
Scientists may finally have an answer, as they propose putting a 'biorepository' on the moon to safeguard Earth's rich array of animals.
The biorepository would contain frozen cells of millions of 'cryopreserved' animal species, from mammals to reptiles, birds and amphibians.
In the event of life on Earth being wiped out, these cells could be hopefully be cloned to create new life either on Earth, the moon or another planet.
On Earth, a repository exists in Norway that stores seeds in case of crop disaster - but now scientists suggest putting something similar on the moon. This lunar vault would store cells of animal species, although they could potentially house plant seeds too (artist impression)
What is cryo-preservation? Cryopreservation (cryogenic preservation) is the preservation of animal cells and tissue by freezing. Metabolic processes grind to a halt at low temperatures, essentially keeping cells in suspended animation. These living cell banks preserve genetic materials from animals, such as DNA, embryos, semen, and live tissue, at ultra-low temperatures. These cells can be cultured and used for various applications, including potentially creating clones to give new life to species. A major challenge in cryopreservation is ensuring cells are not damaged by the freezing or thawing processes. Advertisement
Scientists at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) in Washington, DC have outlined their hugely ambitious plan in a paper published in BioScience.
Although they don't estimate the exact cost of a lunar biorepository, they say it will likely be five times more expensive to establish than one on Earth, but cheaper to maintain.
This lunar vault would store cryopreserved cells of animal species, although other versions could potentially house frozen plant seeds too.
'Initially, a lunar biorepository would target the most at-risk species on Earth today,' said lead author Mary Hagedorn, a cryobiologist at NZCBI.
'But our ultimate goal would be to cryopreserve most species on Earth.'
At an average distance of 238,855 miles, the moon is far away enough from Earth to survive a climate breakdown that would wipe out the planet's animals.
But it also has the added advantage of being cold enough to keep animal cell samples frozen, without the need for electricity like on Earth.
The scientists propose locating the 'biorepository' at the moon's particularly frigid polar regions, which have craters that never receive sunlight due to their orientation and depth.
These so-called permanently shadowed regions can be -410F (-246C) more than cold enough for cryopreservation storage.
The experts take their inspiration from the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, an underground bunker that stores frozen seeds in case Earth's crops are wiped out.
In 2017, thawing permafrost threatened the collection with a flood showing that even a subterranean bunker could be vulnerable to climate change.
At an average distance of 238,855 miles, the moon is far away enough from Earth to survive a climate breakdown that would wipe out animals
Svalbard Global Seed Vault stores 'spare copies' of valuable plant seeds in the event that the originals are lost
Pictured, a vault carved into the Arctic permafrost at Svalbard that's filled with samples of the world's most important seeds in case food crops are wiped out by a catastrophe
Compared with seeds, animal cells require much lower storage temperatures for preservation (-320F or -196C).
As part of their study, Hagedorn and colleagues have cryopreserved skin samples from a reef fish called the starry goby specifically from its fins.
The fins contain a type of skin cell called fibroblasts, which produce the structural framework for animal tissues and play a critical role in wound healing.
Next, the samples will undergo radiation exposure testing akin to what the moon's surface is exposed to to prepare for biological material to be sent to the moon.
Another future step is designing packaging that can withstand levels of radiation and microgravity that are typical of space travel.
Potentially samples would first be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to see how they'd withstand space, in case changes to packaging were needed.
Scientists cryopreserved skin samples from a starry goby, a common reef fish (pictured). The samples will undergo radiation exposure testing to prepare for biological material to be sent to the moon
Potentially samples would first be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to see how they'd withstand the space environment
Eventually, the first load of cell samples from the most threatened species could be transported along with astronauts as part of future missions to the moon under NASA's Artemis programme.
Artemis will eventually establish a permanent base and 'sustained human presence' on the moon, with buildings and infrastructure.
Of course, the ambitious project will likely face many hurdles, including the sheer number of animal species on Earth estimated at 7 million.
According to a study published in November last year, 2 million species are now threatened with extinction, both animals and plants.
But the scientists stress that this is a 'decades-long program' and a long-term project that will require huge international cooperation.
'Realizing a lunar biorepository will require collaboration by a broad array of nations, cultural groups, agencies, and international stakeholders to develop acceptable sample holding, governance, and long-term plans,' they say.
'Protecting Earth's life must be a top priority in the rush on the Moon sites for industries and many types of science.'
Olympics fans were shocked when Chinese swimmer Tang Qianting entered the pool arena on Monday with an incredibly 'snatched' waist.
Qianting's 'impossible' shape left baffled, but it was nothing more than a bizarre on-camera optical illusion caused by her suit and the arena.
The sides of her two-toned blue-and-teal Speedo bathing suit blended almost perfectly with the background wall.
IMPOSSIBLY THIN: Olympics fans were shocked when Chinese swimmer Tang Qianting entered the pool arena on Monday with an incredibly 'snatched' waist
It created an optical illusion that gave her a cinched waist that appeared to be only a few inches wide.
This type of fashion design was a trend that started in the 1960s using geometric patterns and contrasting and vibrant colors to make the wearer appear smaller.
Qianting - the reigning 100-meter breaststroke world champion - took home the silver medal with a time of 1:05.54 on Monday, but all eyes were on her waistline.
In a video posted to TikTok, Qianting stepped up to the edge of the pool and the edges of her two-toned swimsuit blended perfectly into the blue backdrop.
The video, which was viewed more than 7.1 million times, was simply captioned shes snatched as delighted social media viewers admired the swimmers curvature.
People joked in the comments section, called the video the Ozempic games in reference to the diabetic medication that can also be used for weight loss while another person wrote: Okay Kim Kardashian Met Gala 2024!!!
The swimsuit created the optical illusion by using vibrant, contrasting colors that were strategically designed along the waistline.
The trend is believed to have been inspired by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian whose paintings in the early 1900s featured similar geometric shapes.
Now known as the father of abstraction, his artistic designs were brought to the world of fashion by Yves Saint-Laurent in 1965.
Olympic swimmer Tang Qianting (pictured) shocked fans with her teal and blue swimsuit that appeared to give her a 'snatched' waist
The swimsuit created an optical illusion that caused viewers to see a different visual than the reality by using geometric patterns and vibrant, contrasting colors
This color-blocking technique uses a geometric pattern, typically in the shape of an hourglass, which appears to change the persons silhouette and creates a focal point to a certain area - in Qiantings case, the waistline - so your eyes block out everything else.
This is because the brain doesn't actually look at an image in its entirety, but instead takes shortcuts, skipping over some aspects so you can process the information faster.
In 2011, researchers from the University of Glasgow, found that when something is unclear to the eye, the mind will predict what it's going to see and fill in the blanks.
'Effectively, our brains construct an incredibly complex jigsaw puzzle using any pieces it can get access to,' explained researcher Fraser Smith.
'These are provided by the context in which we see them, our memories, and our other senses.'
'Sometimes the brain's guess can be so convincing that we see visual illusions,' Smith's co-author, Lars Muckli, from the University's Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, added.
'The brain's main function is to minimize surprise that is what it has evolved to do.'
Argentinian security forces have announced plans to use artificial intelligence to 'predict future crimes' but experts warn the move could threaten citizens' rights.
Far-right president Javier Milei has created the Artificial Intelligence Applied to Security Unit which will use algorithms to analyse historical crime data.
The data produced will then be used to predict future crimes, The Guardian has reported.
The security unit is also expected to be able to use facial recognition software to track down wanted persons and detect suspicious activity.
However, the Minority Report-esque resolution has concerned human rights campaigners who fear certain groups in society may be over-scrutinised by the AI technology.
Pictured: Argentinian President Javier Milei gives a speech in Buenos Aires on July 28
Pictured: Riot police in Buenos Aires in August 2022
Argentina's President Javier Milei arrives at the official opening ceremony of the 136th Rural Society's annual exposition in Buenos Aires on July 28
There are also concerns over who will be able to access the information that the security unit produces.
Mariela Belski, the executive director of Amnesty International Argentina. said: 'Large-scale surveillance affects freedom of expression because it encourages people to self-censor or refrain from sharing their ideas or criticisms if they suspect that everything they comment on, post, or publish is being monitored by security forces.'
The Argentine Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information added that similar technology has historically been used to profile people working as 'academics, journalists, politicians and activists'.
They added that this has the potential to threaten the privacy of those involved.
Milei came to power at the end of last year and is known for his hardline approach to tackling crime.
His government has since cracked down on protests with riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators.
Milei came to power at the end of last year and is known for his hardline approach to tackling crime
Pictured: A general view from the closing ceremony of Great Argentine Rural Exhibition that was attended by Milei
Milei's government has cracked down on protests with riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators
According to reports, Milei's security minister Patricia Bullrich also seeks to introduce a replica of El Salvadors controversial prison model in Argentina.
The South American country has a long history of state repression with around 30,000 people displaced during its dictatorship between 1976-83.
Thousands were also tortured and hundreds of children kidnapped during the period of repression.
A source from the Argentinian security services told the Guardian that the new unit will work within the current legislative framework.
This hilly, liberal city in northern California is home to some of the worlds most iconic attractions, from the Golden Gate Bridge to prison island Alcatraz.
But despite having more billionaires than anywhere in the U.S. - its only half an hour from Silicon Valley - its surprisingly affordable, with cheap public transport making exploring incredibly easy.
WHERE TO STAY
Queen Anne Hotel
Antique furniture is squeezed into every nook of this charming 19th-century Victorian mansion hotel near Japan Town (queenanne.com). Breakfast and afternoon tea (think sherry and homemade cookies) are included and most of its 48 rooms (from 150) come with bath tubs and wooden sleigh beds. It goes big on Christmas decor so come in November/December for a festive treat.
Here's our budget travel guide to San Francisco, USA, where you can book top hotels for under 150 a night
citizenM
With an abundance of books, board games and TVs, this central hotels downstairs living room-cum-bar is designed to lure guests out of bed. That said, rooms are funky with pink balloon dogs, red cushions and electronic functions (lights, alarm clock, blinds etc.) controlled via an iPad. Theres also a gym and rooftop terrace.
Prices start from 150 with a buffet breakfast at 16pp citizenm.com/hotel/sanfrancisco.
Cartwright Hotel
This hilly, liberal city in northern California is home to some of the worlds most iconic attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge (above) - cycle across it and you may even spot dolphins
Rooms at this central Best Western hotel (bestwestern.com) might be snug, but theyre clean and comfortable with powerful showers (from 94). Theres free tea and coffee downstairs where chessboards and giant Connect 4s sit on tables next to the fire. The 1913 building overlooks Union Square, so request a room at the back if you dont want to be disturbed by the ding of cable cars.
Hotel Garrett
With rooms costing 70 a night, this stylish, no-frills hotel (hotelgarrettsf.com) opposite the U.S. Federal Building (where Nancy Pelosi has an office) is a steal. Its 121 comfortable, newly-renovated rooms are well thought out with an abundance of USB sockets and a coffee maker. The locations good too, a ten-minute walk from Union Square and close to the Opera House, the subway and San Frans historic street cars.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Bay Boat Tour
The Blue & Gold Fleet offers a 60-minute cruise that starts at Pier 39 where sea lions laze, takes you under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz Island (pictured)
The best way to appreciate San Franciscos hilly skyline is from the sea and the Blue & Gold Fleet offers a 60-minute ride with a guided commentary. It starts at Pier 39 (where sea lions laze) and sails under the worlds most photographed bridge, the 1.7 mile Golden Gate. Afterwards it circuits the prison island of Alcatraz. The strong Pacific current made it impossible for prisoners to escape though many tried! (blueandgoldfleet.com)
Bike the Bridge
Feel the vibrations of the Golden Gate Bridge by pedalling across it (unlimitedbiking.com/san-francisco). The 11-mile cycle starts from Ghirardelli Square (home to the oldest chocolate factory in the U.S.) and finishes in the pretty town of Sausalito. Stop on the bridge to watch dolphins. The bikes are yours all day. Either cycle back or hop on the ferry.
Historic cable cars
Take the Powell-Hyde cable car to Lombard Street, pictured here, so you can experience the world's most crooked street
Buy a 12 one-day tram pass and ride San Franciscos iconic cable cars up and down its hills as often as you like. Be sure to take the Powell-Hyde line and hop off at Lombard Street so you can walk down (or up) the worlds most crooked street. Then pop into the Cable Car Museum (free) to marvel at these vintage trams and their mechanics. Its the only transport to run on a cable system instead of a motor (cablecarmuseum.org).
Driverless taxi
San Fran is one of the few places where autonomous taxis are available. Hail one of these robot cars (via an app) and head to hilltop Coit Tower for great views over San Fran. But be warned, theres a six-month waiting list for the taxis.
WHERE TO EAT
Z&Y
Head to Z&Y restaurant in Chinatown (pictured) to try Chef Han's famous tea-smoked duck
The moment you tuck in youll realise why this no-reservations Chinatown restaurant has a long queue (zandyrestaurant.com). Chef Han (whos cooked for presidents) is famed for his tea-smoked duck (28) but his veggies are on another level. Order dry sauteed string beans, stir fried Chinese cabbage and honey cherry tomatoes and get a bag for leftovers.
Pizzeria Delfina
Ingredients at this upmarket Italian are locally sourced. The owner even has his own farm. On the menu are pie pizzas and meatballs the size of oranges (16). Order sides of squash and Brussels sprouts (both 11 with a chilli kick) and wash down with the restaurants very own Californian chardonnay from Sonoma Valley (pizzeriadelfina.com).
Miller & Lux Steakhouse
Steaks arent cheap at this celebrity chef restaurant (millerandluxrestaurant.com) in the Mission District, but theyre seriously good. The melt-in-the-mouth 10oz Filet Mignon in Bordelaise sauce (62) is big enough for two and the creamed kale is a delicious alternative to spinach. Or head to the restaurants new Union Square stalls. Their rotisserie chickens and salads make a perfect, cheaper takeout.
Scomas
Be sure to visit Scoma's 'pier to plate' fish restaurant, seen above, which is an A-lister favourite - Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have all eaten here
Come in daylight (or at sunset) to appreciate the waterside setting of this pier to plate fish restaurant which is an A-lister favourite - Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have all eaten here (scomas.com). The steaming 9.50 cup of Clam Chowder is enough for lunch, but if youve space splurge on the Combo Louis Salad (piled high with shrimp and crab) or the tomato fish stew called Lazy Mans Cioppino.
GETTING THERE
America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit.com/020 8742 8299) offers tailor-made holidays to the U.S. A 7-night B&B stay at the Queen Anne Hotel costs from 1,415pp (two sharing) including return flights from London with Virgin Atlantic. Further information: sftravel.com; visitcalifornia.com; citypass.com/san-francisco.
Amanda Holden delighted Instagram followers on Thursday as she showed off her impossibly long legs while unwinding in Greece.
The TV and radio presenter, 53, stunned in a form-fitting orange swimming costume emblazoned with the single word Spritz as she posed for her latest social media content.
The Britain's Got Talent judge held a glass of Aperol spritz as a nod to her bathing suit and she relaxed beneath black sunglasses as she rested an arm behind her head.
She was joined by close friend Alan Carr, who inadvertently photobombed Amanda by appearing directly behind her as she reclined on the deck of a rented yacht.
The photo with Alan - who hosts Amanda & Alan's Spanish Job with Amanda - was relegated to the second slide of Amanda's post.
Amanda Holden delighted Instagram followers on Thursday as she showed off her impossibly long legs while unwinding in Greece
She was joined by close friend Alan Carr, who inadvertently photobombed Amanda by appearing directly behind her as she reclined on the deck of a rented yacht
Amanda has been posting photos and videos of her Greek adventure with her daughters Lexi, 18, and Hollie, 12, for over a week (all pictured towards the beginning of the trip)
But Alan played his accidental appearance for laughs by sharing the photos with and without him to his Instagram followers, titling them 'Insta!' and 'Reality!'
The post is just the latest in a series of stunning snaps shared by Amanda as she unwinds in Greece with Alan and her daughters Lexi, 18, and Hollie, 12.
Here's a look back at some of Amanda's sexiest swimwear shots so far from her holiday to the Greek island of Corfu.
Day 1: Azure-ing Amanda
Amanda's first post from her luxury break came on July 22 - and she started with a bang.
The radio presenter looked sensational in a floral blue bandeau bikini and a matching cover-up.
She held the brim of a straw cowboy hat and grinned in a pair of black sunglasses.
Amanda sat on the edge of a boat before she naughtily inspected beneath her bikini bottoms.
With her outfit choice, Amanda ensured all eyes were on her much like when she stunned on each night of the Britain's Got Talent live finals in June.
She accesorised with a dainty gold necklace and a number of thin gold braclets.
Amanda captioned her post: 'GR #bikini hat and shirt @melissaodabash #family'.
Amanda's first post from her luxury break came on July 22 - and she started with a bang looking sensational in a floral blue bandeau bikini and a matching cover-up
The radio presenter held the brim of a straw cowboy hat and grinned in a pair of black sunglasses as she sat on the edge of a boat, before naughtily inspecting her bikini bottoms
Day 5: Party Animal
Four days later, Amanda soaked up the sun in a tiny pink bikini for a slew of sizzling snaps draped over the back of a boat.
Her ample assets and toned stomach were on full display as she shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of oversized sunglasses.
She caressed her hair and treated onlookers to a number of poses as she enjoyed being surrounded by water.
But, Amanda proved she was not just a pretty face when she shared an incredible video of her leaping off the boat she was so demurely posing on just seconds before.
Eagerly waiting for the cameraperson's go-ahead, Amanda ensured she made plenty of eye contact.
When she was ready, Amanda screamed and threw her arms out wide diving feet-first into the cool, welcoming water which lay beneath.
Four days later after her first post, Amanda soaked up the sun in a tiny pink bikini for a slew of sizzling snaps draped over the back of a boat
Her ample assets and toned stomach were on full display as she shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of oversized sunglasses
She caressed her hair and treated onlookers to a number of poses as she enjoyed being surrounded by water but soon showed that she wasn't just a pretty face
Day 6: Jungle Girl
On Corfu Day 6, Amanda left her fans feeling hot under the collar when she shared a video showing off her sensational physique in a light green bikini covered in palm leaves.
She struck a series of poses as she walked barefoot down a cobbled path whilst holding onto a straw cowboy hat.
As she wound during the stunning getaway, she found a matching kaftan, and promptly threw it off her shoulders
The star wrote over the video: 'If summer doesn't look like this, I don't want it' before captioning the whole post: 'Summertime and litres of #aperol'.
On both wrists, Amanda wore her favourite gold bracelets - including one from Van Cleef & Arpels worth thousands of pounds.
She set the video to viral song The Spark created by Irish and refugee children aged between 9 and 12, the music video for which has received over 10M streams to date.
On Corfu Day 6, Amanda left her fans feeling hot under the collar when she shared a video showing off her sensational physique in a light green bikini covered in palm leaves
As she wound during the stunning getaway, she found a matching kaftan, and promptly threw it off her shoulders
Day 10: Saving The Best Till Last
Wednesday saw Amanda become the epitome of sophistication in an Elizabeth Hurley Beach black bikini.
The bikini, which had gold detailing, was tiny, giving Amanda the perfect opportunity to display her lithe figure.
She complemented the gold with pendant sun necklace and a choker of the same colour, in addition to her bracelets.
Amanda turned up the heat as she emerged soaking wet from a crystal-clear blue outdoor swimming pool.
She gave a glimpse of her toned bottom as she strutted along the very edge of the pool, surrounded by green foliage.
The icing on the cake of Amanda's sexiest post of the trip so far was a video of her lounging in a hot tub.
Wednesday saw Amanda become the epitome of sophistication in an Elizabeth Hurley Beach black bikini
The bikini, which had gold detailing, was tiny, giving Amanda the perfect opportunity to display her lithe figure
She complemented the gold with pendant sun necklace and a choker of the same colour, in addition to her bracelets.
Amanda turned up the heat as she emerged soaking wet from a crystal-clear blue outdoor swimming pool
As well as Alan, Amanda was joined on the trip by actress Jane Wall, 51, best-known for portraying PC Di Worrell in police procedural The Bill from 1999 to 2002.
The family holiday comes after Lexi, who is signed to Storm Models, was admitted to hospital with life-threatening E. coli amid the latest outbreak.
Lexi was on a ward for five days with her mother and her father Chris, who did not appear to join his family in Corfu, at her bedside.
While discussing the warning signs to look out for amid the latest outbreak, Amanda revealed to The Sun that her daughter Lexi had been suffering from bloating and stomach cramps.
She said: 'For about three weeks, Lexi had been complaining of bloating and stomach cramps. She was not happy at all and in quite a lot of pain with her tummy.
'It was around the time of revision and her A-levels, so I was just putting this down to exam stress.'
However, Amanda admitted that after taking her daughter to her GP, who insisted on her doing some blood and stool samples, the results came back as a bacterial infection.
The star then revealed that while she was filming in Spain, she began to get calls from various government officials asking her to fill out several forms about where her daughter might have eaten and what kind of food they had stored in their home.
The star also confessed that the antibiotics her daughter was given didn't seem to be working and claimed her doctor called her saying 'I don't want to alarm you' before telling her Lexi's bloods were 'through the roof' and she was in danger of 'contracting sepsis'.
Amanda recalled how terrified she was to hear the word 'sepsis'.
She revealed that Lexi's was the 113th case of E. coli in the country in just two weeks - and that the doctor had warned them that this was just the tip of the iceberg
DJ Fisher and his wife Chloe have shared the traumatic details of her 15-hour labour after giving birth to their first child.
The couple welcomed their daughter Bobbi Maree on June 20, and have now opened up about her difficult birth which saw Chloe spend the night in the ICU.
The model, 31, was in labour for more than 15 hours and was forced to spend her first night as a mother alone in the ICU without her family and friends.
Chloe was induced to give birth at 29 weeks pregnant because the baby 'was big' and has now described it as the 'scariest' moment of her life.
'That was pretty sad and emotional and so frightening,' she told listeners of her DarlingShine! podcast on Wednesday.
'It really has left me physically weak and completely shaken. The trauma of that and leaving Paul [Fisher] very much lingers.'
After the assisted birth, Chloe told how she was left feeling 'spacey' and ended up back in the hospital theatre after holding her daughter for no longer than an hour.
'It was a massive reminder of the fragility of life,' she said. 'You can go from the most incredible moment of your life to the scariest moment in the blink of an eye.'
DJ Fisher and his wife Chloe have shared the traumatic details of her 15-hour labour giving birth to their daughter Bobbi
The couple welcomed their daughter Bobbi Maree on June 20, and have now opened up about her difficult birth which saw Chloe spend the night in the ICU
The couple had been trying to conceive for almost five years with multiple rounds of IVF and Chloe suffering multiple miscarriages in that time.
Fisher, whose full name is Paul Nicholas Fisher, also reflected on the life-altering experience and praised his wife Chloe for her strength and calmness while welcoming their first child.
'[Chloe was] getting into her breathing and trying to focus on not being in pain and I'm like "right, I've got to get the fairy lights, the crystals, I've got to get the things the girls made her at her baby shower",' he explained.
'For me, that moment was so beautiful, I was giving her ''you've got this'',' he recalled of the first five or six hours, which Chloe spent in-between 'the bed and bath' in the hospital birthing suite.
Chloe added: 'I'm not going to sugarcoat things because it is f**king insane.'
After going into labour at 10pm, Chloe went for five hours without any pain relief, before being given shot of Pethidine, an opioid pain-relief medicine that 'took the edge off things' for an hour and a half.
At around 4.30am on June 20, she requested an epidural and described waiting for the nurse to arrive as 'the longest 45 minutes of my life'.
'As soon as we got the epidural, me and Chloe were high-fiving,' Fisher recalled. 'Smiling, laughing, that's when the tunes came on.
'We put on the push playlist and were bopping around. We even rang my manager at one point and we were all crying.
The model, 31, was in labour for more than 15 hours and was forced to spend her first night as a mother alone in the ICU without her family and friends
'She got life in her face again. I was like ''wow, she's back''. My wife is back in the room and we were chatting away. This is a piece of p**, you got this, no worries.'
However, Chloe detailed her pain after the epidural wore off and her water broke at 5am and she admitted she thought she would die from the agonising pain.
'I honestly think I forgot that you have to push,' Chloe laughed. 'I was like I've nailed it, eight in the morning, I'm having this baby before ten, let's go... Then, the epidural wore off.
'At that point, I thought ''holy sh*t I cannot do this. I think I'm going to die. How do I make this pain stop?'' The next thought was, you can't.
'I remember screaming at Paul at that point, saying if you think I'm ever doing this again, you're tripping.'
Fisher, 37, admitted he found a whole new respect and love for Chloe watching her give birth to their beloved daughter as he heaped praise on the new mother.
'I found so much more respect for women, and what Chloe went through,' he shared. 'It's just crazy what women have to go through to give birth. My respect for Chloe is just through the roof. It's like a whole new love.
'You're seeing your wife in so much pain and they're getting exhausted from all the pushing. What she had to go through was so gnarly. The midwife said have a hold of her leg, and I remember looking down, and the nurse said do you want to touch the hair on the head, and I was like: ''Are you kidding?'''
Chloe had been in labour for more than 15 hours when she asked for a C-section, and was offered forceps and an episiotomy, which is a procedure used to make the vaginal opening wider for childbirth.
Chloe was induced to give birth at 29 weeks pregnant because the baby 'was big' and she was committed to having a natural birth
'I turned over, I got back on the epidural, and on the gas,' she continued. 'Basically she was bouncing off my pelvis and coming up and down. I was never going to be able to birth her myself.'
The couple didn't know if they were going to have a boy or a girl and detailed their joy upon laying eyes on their baby daughter for the first time.
Fisher gushed: 'Normally you see movies and stuff like that where the, you know, the baby comes out there just crying and and everything like this, and Bobbi just gave out like a little sigh, I feel like it was just like, not like anything massive, and she was so mellow, and I was like she's our Bobbi girl right there and then.'
The electronic artist choked up as he told his wife: 'To see you go through so much intensity, agony, beauty and love just to give birth is insane.'
'I can't say how much I respect this woman,' he added.
Chloe went on to reveal that she has been struggling with postpartum depression and asked people to respect her space as she 'heals'.
'This is my story of the birth of our baby. It might not meet everyone's criteria for an ideal birth, but it was scary and extremely beautiful to me and to Paul,' she added.
'I'm just not in a place to receive advice and feedback on what I should or should not have done at this point.
'The trauma of pushing was just hectic and the moment I held our little daughter on my chest for the first time, nothing else mattered.'
Chloe revealed she has been struggling with postpartum depression and asked people to respect her space as she 'heals'
Just two weeks after welcoming their daughter Bobbi, Fisher had to jet off to Europe to continue his international tour, which had been pre-booked long in advance.
The Grammy-nominated star is currently performing across the US and Europe, and is next set to travel to Toronto, London and Germany, before heading to Las Vegas.
He has a string of shows booked until the end of the year while Chloe is remaining in Australia to look after their daughter Bobbi.
Fisher previously said he hopes to bring Bobbi and Chloe on his travels with him as soon as possible as he showed his support for his new family.
Two ex-Amish men have spoken candidly about becoming addicted to porn after breaking free from the ultra-strict community that was so harsh they had banned them from sex education and learning about their own reproductive organs.
In Sunday's upcoming episode of TLC's Forbidden Love, Elmer, 23, reveals that he has become obsessed with viewing X-rated content since ditching his family's extreme values and way of life.
However, Elmer's porn habits have understandably created issues within his marriage to his 32-year-old wife, Lindsey, whom he fled his Amish life to be with.
In an exclusive preview shared with DailyMail.com, he and his wife sit down with fellow ex-Amish friend Eli and his partner, Nikki, for a frank conversation about how the community's tough stance on sex has led them to a path of porn addiction.
'A lot of former Amish, including myself have struggled with pornography after leaving [the Amish community] because it can become an addiction,' Eli divulged.
Elmer, 23, reveals that he has become obsessed with viewing X-rated content since ditching his Amish community in TLC's Forbidden Love
His ex-Amish friend Eli reveals that he was never taught sex education and didn't know what a wet dream was
'Ever since I have married her [Nikki], the technology was the biggest stumbling block. I had a really hard time, especially from a sheltered lifestyle, because there's zero sex education.'
Elmer agreeing, said: 'Your testosterone level is up here. And, you know, you're walking around with a hard on all day and you don't know what's going on.'
Eli then revealed his own mother failed to speak openly about basic human anatomy and sex education.
He shared: 'The first time I asked my mom, I said, "Why am I waking up with a wet dream? Why is it looking like this?"
'And she's like, "You'll understand when you get a little bit older." Well, how am I supposed to figure this out on my own? Give me some answers here, but there were no answers.'
Elmer, who recently left his Amish community to marry Lindsey, said that the first thing he did after fleeing his Amish family was watch porn.
He shared: 'I got me a smartphone [and] one of the first things I did that night, I went and watched porn.
'It was almost like an endless trap. It just it just got deeper and deeper, you know?'
Elmer revealed that the first thing he did after fleeing his Amish community was buy himself a phone and watch porn
Eli said that his parents refused to educate him on his anatomy while he was going through puberty
Speaking in his confessional, Elmer added that he was completely sheltered from female anatomy growing up.
'[I had] not ever seen a naked picture of a woman or a porno magazine or nothing,' he said.
'And then fast forward to when I got my first phone, I had the porn in front of me.
'And once I started watching porn it triggered something like it's that adrenaline rush. It's that dopamine rush that that gets you every time you, you keep wanting more and more and more.
'And I think that's what the problem is.'
Elmer has found it difficult to adapt to the 'English' world after leaving the Amish behind and is struggling with the fact that he has been disowned by his family.
Elmer admitted he gets an adrenaline rush when he watches porn and wants 'more and more'
Lindsey, who is 11 years his senior, had many preconceived notions about who Elmer would be as a husband.
She thought he would be wholesome and would never have a wandering eye - but she soon starts to realize that being with someone who was raised Amish is more complicated than she predicted.
The stakes are very high with a baby on the way, but even with all the drama surrounding their relationship, their chemistry and sense of humor keep them going.
TLC reality show Forbidden Love follows four couples deeply in love who must come to terms with the one major hurdle complicating their relationships: religion.
'Hailing from different faiths, one partner from each couple is converting or has decided to relinquish their family-of-origin and culture entirely,' the official synopsis teases.
'Facing such intense traditional differences, can their relationships endure the trials of converting or will their love falter under the pressure?'
Just days after Marvel unveiled Robert Downey Jr. as the new Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con, the new villain for the next two Avengers movies, Jonathan Majors revealed he is 'heartbroken' over the decision.
Majors, 34, was primed to be the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) villain after his brief introduction in the TV series Loki and in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania.
Majors was arrested on assault charges in March 2023, and when he was found guilty of 3rd degree reckless assault and harassment, Marvel dropped him.
The studio confirmed that the title of their 2026 film - Avengers: The Kang Dynasty - would be changed, confirming at SDCC that it was now called Avengers: Doomsday.
Just days after the announcement that Downey Jr. - who previously played the superhero Iron Man in the MCU before pivoting to this villainous role of Doctor Doom - taking over as the new villain, TMZ caught up with Majors in L.A.
Just days after Marvel unveiled Robert Downey Jr . as the new Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con, the new villain for the next two Avengers movies, Jonathan Majors revealed he is 'heartbroken' over the decision
Majors, 34, was primed to be the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) villain after his brief introduction in the TV series Loki and in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania
Just days after the announcement that Downey Jr. - who previously played the superhero Iron Man in the MCU before pivoting to this villainous role of Doctor Doom - taking over as the new villain, TMZ caught up with Majors in L.A.
When asked if he was 'hurt' with the new direction that Marvel is heading in after dropping him from their films, Majors said, 'Yeah, heartbroken.'
'Come on, yeah, of course. I love him. I love Kang,' Majors added, when the reporter mentioned that Downey Jr. and DC actor Ezra Miller have had legal issues and were 'arrested for felonies' while he was only convicted of misdemeanor assault.
When asked if it was 'unfair' that he was not, 'given the same opportunities as them,' Majors said, 'I think it's fair that Mr. Downey has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love and that Mr. Miller has gotten the same treatment, and that they're being allowed to work their art. I didn't really get that, so, you know.'
Downey Jr. was arrested in 1996 for DUI, when officers found heroin, crack, cocaine and a .357 Magnum in his car.
He was sentenced to three years in prison for skipping his probation, serving one year of his three-year sentence before his release.
After several years of struggling with addiction, he ultimately got clean, and has been for many years, before his comeback that started with 2008's Iron Man.
He was ultimately pardoned in 2015 by then-California governor Jerry Brown, which restored his voting rights and allowed him to serve on a jury.
Miller has had a slew of legal issues over the past few years, including a 2022 felony burglary charge stemming from the theft of several bottles of alcohol.
When asked if he was 'hurt' with the new direction that Marvel is heading in after dropping him from their films, Majors said, 'Yeah, heartbroken'
'Come on, yeah, of course. I love him. I love Kang,' Majors added, when the reporter mentioned that Downey Jr. and DC actor Ezra Miller have had legal issues and were 'arrested for felonies' while he was only convicted of misdemeanor assault
When asked if it was 'unfair' that he was not, 'given the same opportunities as them,' Majors said, 'I think it's fair that Mr. Downey has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love and that Mr. Miller has gotten the same treatment, and that they're being allowed to work their art. I didn't really get that, so, you know.'
Miller most recently starred in Warner Bros.' 2023 film The Flash, though he hasn't been attached to anything in the year and a half since that was released.
When asked if he thought why she thought Downey and Miller got those chances and he didn't, Majors said, 'Wow... I don't know.'
Majors was sentenced to probation and 52 weeks of a domestic violence intervention program for his misdemeanor conviction.
It was announced in June that he would star in a supernatural revenge thriller entitled Merciless for Martin Villeneuve, the younger brother of Dune director Denis Villeneuve.
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Leonardo DiCaprio and his much-younger girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti are enjoying a lavish summer getaway in Italy this week.
And on Wednesday, the Oscar-winner, 49, and the Italian supermodel, 26, were spotted dining al fresco in Nerano before soaking up the sun on their yacht with pals.
As the couple cozied up at their lunch table, Vittoria flashed a massive heart-shaped diamond ring on her left ring finger.
Leonardo looked absolutely smitten with the bikini-clad beauty, often leaning in close to speak to her as they feasted on fine Italian cuisine.
Vittoria also sported her heart-shaped diamond ring as she hopped aboard a tender with a slew of A-list pals.
They were joined by Leonardo's BFF Tobey Maguire, British model Neelam Gill, Entourage star Kevin Connolly and former Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful, among others.
Leonardo DiCaprio's model girlfriend Vittoria Cerettti, 26, flashed a heart-shaped diamond ring on THAT finger as she vacationed with the Oscar-winner, 49, in Italy on Wednesday
The couple were first spotted dining al fresco in Nerano
Vittoria sported a similar heart-shaped ring on her right pinky finger
The couple who have been dating since summer 2023 first sparked engagement speculation earlier this year when Vittoria was seen wearing a silver diamond ring in LA.
But an insider told TMZ at the time that the couple were not engaged and that she'd owned that particular ring since 2022.
The heart-shaped ring appears to be a new addition to Vittoria's jewelry collection and it has renewed interest in the idea of Leonardo Hollywood's most infamous Lothario finally settling down.
Vittoria also wore a similar ring on her right pinky finger during Wednesday's lunch date in Nerano.
The runway maven looked fresh-faced and her brunette hair was pulled back as she spent quality time with Leonardo and his tight knit friend group.
She wore a plunging black swimsuit cover-up over a skimpy white bikini with red piping.
The cover girl had on black gladiator sandals and she carried her belongings in a colorful woven tote bag.
Along with her flashy rings, Vittoria accessorized with layered chain necklaces and a large pair of designer shades.
Meanwhile, Leo looked casual-cool in a beige Los Angeles Dodgers cap, a white T-shirt and sunglasses.
He snacked on a delicious peach while Vittoria poured over the menu.
At one point, Vittoria showed Leonardo something on her iPhone before he pulled out his own to snap a group selfie with everyone at their table.
After lunch, Leonardo, Vittoria and friends exited the restaurant and made they way to a nearby boat that took them back to their yacht.
Leonardo looked absolutely smitten with the bikini-clad beauty
At one point, Vittoria was seen showing Leonardo something on her iPhone
The couple often leaned in close to speak with one another
Along with her flashy rings, Vittoria accessorized with layered chain necklaces and a large pair of designer shades
Vittoria stunned as she let her hair down before taking a seat on the boat beside former Disney Channel star Emily Skinner, 21.
Leonardo who will turn 50 in November carefully made the leap from the dock to the boat in kaki shorts and sandals.
The couple were greeted by Tobey, who flashed a wide smile while wearing a black cap and black T-shirt.
Leonardo's vacation crew arrived in Italy over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Vittoria was spotted riding on the back of Tobey's jetski as they romped around in water.
On Monday, Leo and Vittoria joined Tobey and the rest of their friends for an intimate dinner at Gritta Restaurant.
Leo and Vittoria were first linked over the summer of last year, when she had just turned 25, and have been spotted together on several occasions since.
However in March of this year, Leo was spotted putting on a cozy display at a pre-Oscars party with none other than songstress Teyana Taylor, with whom he has been filming the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson movie.
At the pre-Oscars party, Teyana was glimpsed gently caressing Leo's face, and he in turn was seen tapping her on the derriere, according to TMZ.
However, later that same month, he was spotted enjoying a lunch date with Vittoria in Los Angeles, indicating their relationship was still going strong.
Vittoria was even sporting a gleaming silver ring on her left hand fourth finger - but TMZ reported at the time that the couple were not engaged.
After lunch, Leonardo, Vittoria and friends exited the restaurant and made they way to a nearby boat that would take them back to their yacht
Vittoria stunned as she let her hair down before taking a seat on the boat beside former Disney Channel star Emily Skinner, 21
They were joined by Leonardo's BFF Tobey Maguire , British model Neelam Gill , Entourage star Kevin Connolly and former Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful, among other elite guests
The crew looked eager to get back to they yacht after lunch
Leonardo who will turn 50 in November carefully made the leap from the dock to the boat in kaki shorts and sandals
Leo looked casual-cool in a beige Los Angeles Dodgers cap, a white T-shirt and sunglasses
After soaking up the sun, Vittoria decided to move to the other end of the boat for some time in the shade
Near the end of March, Leo and Vittoria were spotted out to dinner at the Santa Monica celebrity hot spot Giorgio Baldi - and she then drove them from the venue.
'The restaurant has been Leo's favorite for years and he's enjoyed date nights with Vittoria several times,' an insider explained to People.
'She's, of course, Italian, so she takes care of ordering all the favorites,' said the source. 'She is very cute, sweet and charming. Leo seems to really like her.'
Vittoria and Leo are said to have met at last year's Cannes Film Festival, where his new Martin Scorsese movie Killers Of The Flower Moon was premiering.
They were first linked in August 2023, after a flurry of rumors that had connected Leo to Vittoria's fellow supermodel Gigi Hadid.
Vittoria was previously married from 2020 until 2023 to the Italian DJ Matteo Milleri, who is part of the Berlin-based duo Tale Of Us.
Years earlier, she was briefly linked to the model then known as Natalie Westling, who has since undergone a gender transition and is now called Nathan Westling.
Vittoria was discovered in 2012 and has since walked over 400 fashion shows, as well as covering various international editions of Vogue 23 times.
Vittoria has spoken candidly in the past about the habits that have enabled her to retain her lithe physique and luminous complexion.
'I always try to eat healthily. I go to the gym when Im home or do some yoga if I have the time off,' she explained to Elite Model Look.
'I always make sure to wash my face at morning and at night, moisturizing my skin before I leave home or before I go to bed,' she added.
At one point, Leo pulled out his cellphone to snap a group selfie with everyone at the table
Leonardo snacked on a delicious peach while Vittoria poured over the menu
The couple who have been dating since summer 2023 first sparked engagement speculation earlier this year when Vittoria was seen wearing a silver diamond ring in LA
But an insider told TMZ at the time that the couple were not engaged and that she'd owned that particular ring since 2022
The heart-shaped ring appears to be a new addition to Vittoria's jewelry collection and it has renewed interest in the idea of Leonardo Hollywood's most infamous Lothario finally settling down
'I apply a face mask for when my skin feels tired or if Ive worked for a while,' noted Vittoria, who originally hails from Brescia in the shadow of the Italian Alps.
'I try not to eat lots of junk food,' she told W. 'In the morning I always eat fruit and yogurt with cereal. And for lunch and dinner I always have vegetables as a side.'
As far as beverages are concerned, she shared: 'I love smoothies and Vitamin Water, but I always have some iced tea in my fridge!'
In the workout department, she dished: 'When Im not working I go for runs. I live around many parks, so its nice to feel like youre not surrounded by the city.'
Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso made a glamorous duo while attending the premiere of his latest film, The Instigators, in New York City on Wednesday.
The Jason Bourne star, 53, looked dashing as he held an arm around Luciana, 48, at the event, hosted at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Luciana who's been married to the Hollywood hunk for 18 years showed off her effortlessly chic style in an elegant white dress from Helsa, paired with a black clutch and black heels.
She wore her brunette locks in a high ponytail, and accessorized with large hoop earrings and gold bracelets.
The Instigators is a heist comedy film that follows two robbers, Rory (Damon) and Cobby (Casey Affleck) who must go on the run with the help of one of their therapists, after a robbery goes awry.
Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso made a glamorous duo while attending the premiere of his latest film, The Instigators, in New York City on Wednesday
The Jason Bourne star, 53, looked dashing as he held an arm around Luciana, 48, at the event, hosted at Jazz at Lincoln Center
While at the premiere of the film Matt sported a khaki suit with a white t-shirt underneath. The actor completed the outfit with white sneakers.
Matt and Luciana have three daughters together: Isabella, 18, Gia, 16, and Stella, 13. Luciana is also mom to daughter Alexia, 24, from a previous relationship.
Matt's pal and co-star Casey, 48 Ben Affleck's younger brother was also in attendance.
The Manchester By The Sea star looked handsome in a pastel baby blue suit with a matching blue shirt underneath.
Like Matt, Casey finalized his look with white sneakers, and rocked a smattering of facial hair.
He was joined by younger girlfriend Caylee Cowan, 26, who stunned in a sleeveless white silk dress.
She wore her raven tresses down and accessorized with gold moon-shaped earrings.
The pair started dating in January 2021.
Luciana who's been married to the Hollywood hunk for 18 years showed off her effortlessly chic style in an elegant white Helsa dress, paired with a black clutch and black heels
She wore her brunette locks in a high ponytail, and accessorized with large hoop earrings and gold bracelets
While at the premiere of the film Matt sported a khaki suit with a white t-shirt underneath. The actor completed the outfit with white sneakers
He rocked a smattering of facial hair
Matt and Luciana have three daughters together: Isabella, 18, Gia, 16, and Stella, 13. Luciana is also mom to daughter Alexia, 24, from a previous relationship
Matt's pal and co-star Casey Affleck, 48 Ben Affleck's younger brother was also in attendance
The actor was joined by his younger girlfriend Caylee Cowan, 26
The Manchester By The Sea star looked handsome in a pastel baby blue suit with a matching blue shirt underneath
Like Matt, he rocked a scruffy beard
Matt and Casey have starred in several films together
Caylee stunned in a sleeveless white silk dress. She wore her raven tresses down and accessorized with gold moon-shaped earrings. The pair started dating in January 2021
Casey was previously married to Joaquin Phoenix's sister, Summer Phoenix. They were married for 11 years before divorcing in 2017. The pair have two sons together: Indiana, 20, and Atticus, 16.
Matt and Casey have starred in several films together.
Most notably they both played in Good Will Hunting (1997), along with his brother Ben, 51.
Matt and Ben co-wrote the film's screenplay, which earned them both an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Matt and Casey both also starred in Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Interstellar (2014), and Oppenheimer (2023).
Their Instigators co-star, Jack Harlow, 26, who plays Scalvo in the movie, cut a dashing figure on the red carpet.
The rapper wore an all-black ensemble, including a high-neck sweater, dress pants and black shoes.
Hong Chau, 45, who also stars in the film, looked lovely in a black dress with a green tulle cape.
Jack Harlow, 26, who plays Scalvo in the movie, cut a dashing figure on the red carpet. The rapper wore an all-black ensemble, including a high-neck sweater
He accessorised with a pair of diamond earrings
The dynamic trio posed together
Jack flashed a huge smile as he posed with his co-stars
They shared a giggle and appeared to be having a wonderful time
Jack and Casey were delighted as they caught up on the red carpet
The two men shared a friendly hug
Hong Chau, 45, who also stars in the film, looked lovely in a black dress with a green tulle cape. Taylor Rooks, 32, sizzled in a form-hugging violet dress with a saucy slit
Chau play's Damon's psychiatrist in the film
She ends up being taken hostage in the movie after Damon and Affleck go on an ill-fated heist
Keegan-Michael Key, 53, sported a black tee and pants and was joined by his wife Elle Key
The comedian rocked a salt and pepper beard
The cast and crew beamed as they posed together
The Instigators is a heist comedy film that follows two robbers, Rory (Damon) and Cobby (Affleck) who must go on the run. The movie will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on August 9
Taylor Rooks, 32, sizzled in a form-hugging violet dress with a saucy slit.
Keegan-Michael Key, 53, sported a black tee and pants and was joined by his wife Elle Key.
Damon plays a deadbeat dad struggling with depression in the movie. He eventually seeks therapy (with Chau starring as his psychiatrist).
As he attempts to put his life back together, he signs up to do a heist with Cobby, but things go south and they end up having to take Chau hostage.
The movie hits theaters August 2 and will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on August 9.
A popular TikTok couple have shared their frustration after returning home from a Sydney influencer convention to find their new Adelaide house robbed.
Influencers Mitchell O'Leary, 22, and Isabelle Petzl-Duncan, 19, posted a clip to social media which captured them discovering it had been cleaned out by burglars.
'We have just been to Sydney. We got home and, what the heck, we didn't leave the window open!' Mitchell began.
'Why is some of our stuff from inside down the driveway? Some lucky person decided to break in, they have grabbed everything that I own.'
Mitchell then issued a snide message to the heartless thief who stole his belongings: 'Enjoy everything of mine you have stolen. I don't have much to my name now.'
He also revealed the thief had gotten ahold of his car keys and ransacked their vehicle.
'They stole all my glasses, coins, wallet, everything. The only thing they didn't steal is my humour!'
He added the thief had also taken his property's spare key, so he and Isabelle were forced to vacate the premises in case the criminal returned.
Adelaide-based TikTok couple Mitchell O'Leary and Isabelle Petzl-Duncan have shared their frustration after returning home from a Sydney influencer convention to find their new house robbed. Both pictured
Sisters Amy, Kate and Sophie Taeuber discussed the incident on their Outspoken podcast, revealing the shock way the opportunistic thief may have realised the property would be vacant.
'Just last week, Isabelle shared a series of TikToks, which she dubbed her Moving Diaries. She took followers along their journey of moving into their new rental,' they began.
'She not only showed shots of the house's interior but also the exterior, including vision of their house number.'
The sisters added the couple made a huge mistake by revealing their home's location on social media, in addition to disclosing it would be vacant for the next three days.
The pair posted a clip to social media which captured them returning to their home - and discovering it had been cleaned out
'If you know the area, you would have been able to instantly identify where it was,' one sister said.
'Now, thieves took their chance when Isabelle shared she and Mitch were headed to Sydney.'
Mitch and Isabelle have 600,000 followers on social media, and have developed a reputation for sharing hilarious lip-syncing clips with their fans.
EXCLUSIVE
Sacked weatherman Paul Burt fired off a farewell missive to Seven Network staff two days after he took an extraordinary parting shot at the TV station live-on-air.
Burt, who worked at Seven for more than a decade and has spent 28 years on television, was dumped without warning amid a brutal round of redundancies.
The 51-year-old's departure upset some loyal viewers who expressed their outrage on social media and fans turned out with placards for one of Burt's last live crosses at Surfers Paradise Beach.
Now Daily Mail Australia has obtained an email Burt sent to workmates following his last broadcast where he argued he had a track record of giving Queensland audiences the weather updates they 'deserved'.
'Hey everyone, never thought I'd be writing this email anytime soon, but here we go,' Burt wrote on Monday afternoon.
'First and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone who I have worked directly with, you have all been incredibly awesome and do sensational jobs and deserve far more recognition than you get.
'Secondly, those who reached out to me after the news over the weekend and today to "check in" on me and pass on your kind words, wow, it's been very humbling so thank you.'
An insider at Seven has told Daily Mail Australia that Burt was let go because he was not popular with focus groups polled in the first quarter of this year.
Sacked weatherman Paul 'Burty' Burt has been overwhelmed by messages of support from senior Seven Network staff after sending a heartfelt farewell to his former colleagues. Burt is pictured delivering his final report on July 27
'Paul Burt was sacked after extensive audience research across the Queensland market that identified he was one of the least-liked presenters on-air, with the dreaded 'switch-off' factor,' the source said.
'Networks spend a fortune on polling and focus groups to identify emerging talent and test long-serving presenters. The audience decides who reads the news.'
Burt rejected that research and said in his email that 'I'm just a guy who loved to tell the weather "my way", no fancy BS, just fisho to fisho, boaty to boaty style, just as we deserve.
'Not over produced - just giving the best up to date reports on coastal conditions to those in our local community, those we share the water with or pass on a jetty flicking a line with their kids - our audience.'
Seven West Media, which also owns the West Australian newspaper, is slashing 150 staff in a bloodbath which has claimed other big names including Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella.
Seven West Media is slashing 150 staff in a round of redundancies which has claimed other big names including Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella. Burt is pictured far left with former Seven colleagues
The network's Queensland operations manager Craig Dyer announced his immediate resignation in June after more than 20 years with Seven.
Others forced to depart the Brisbane studio at Mount Coot-Tha were two cameramen, a news producer, and a long-serving technical employee.
One of the cameramen was reportedly called back to the office while he was shooting an assignment and told his services were no longer needed.
Burt, who was based on the Gold Coast but provided weather reports across Queensland, referred to Ghidella, Dyer and other departing staff in his email.
'What I did for the past 28 years I loved,' he wrote.
'Delivering information regarding the field I loved and lucky enough to share the screen with some of the biggest names on TV and form friendships with them and the dedicated, experienced hard working people behind the scenes.
'Thank you for that.
'We have moved into a digital era. I would have been proud to have been involved in this digital change but unfortunately that's not the case nor a choice I had.
'I love the network and like our viewers loved the 7 way. When you get staunch Ch7 people ... moved on... kind of says something in my world.'
His sign-off read: 'On that note, see on the water one day and to those who want to, let's stay in touch. Burty'.
Burt finished his last weather segment on Saturday with a pointed message to Seven management and viewers.
'If I'd had the opportunity I wouldn't have wanted to go this way - it's what happens when you get sacked,' he said at the end of Queensland's 6pm news bulletin.
The previous night, a crowd of supporters turned out at Surfers Paradise as Burt did a live cross for the Gold Coast 5.30pm bulletin.
While Burt was giving his weekend weather outlook, fans held placards declaring 'Burty's a legend', 'Qld's favourite weatherman' and 'Bring back Burty'.
Burt told Daily Mail Australia if Seven had conducted research which found he was not popular with Queensland audiences the network should find new researchers.
'I mean, these people are going to try and cover their backs,' he said.
'I think if they're looking at numbers like that, they might want to change the people who are giving them those numbers.
'Because I'm on the ground, I hear what people say and I understand what they want. I've been doing it now for 28 years.'
Burt posted a video thanking viewers for their loyalty which was posted on the I Love Robina Facebook page and has received 60,000 views. He is picturd at Surfers Paradise on July 26
Burt said Queensland had unique weather patterns which regularly included life-threatening events such as cyclones and severe flooding.
'I think it's got to be understood the network put us in all of these places when cyclones were being covered,' he said.
'When the weather turned really horrible they wanted boots on the ground to get information back to the people at home.'
Queensland audiences also had a particular reliance on accurate weather updates so they could pursue outdoor leisure activities such as boating and fishing.
'People see us everywhere we go,' Burt said.
'People see us at the boat ramp. People see us out fishing. People see us at the beaches.'
Seven's Brisbane news director Michael Coombes told Burt last month his contract would not be renewed. Word of his sacking was leaked before Burt could tell his wife and children.
Burt began his television career at Seven in 1996, before being poached by Ten then Nine, and in 2013 was lured back to the network where started in the industry.
'Don't get me wrong, I really admire the network,' he said. I love the network. I truly do.
'Unfortunately, I just think at this point in time, things could have been handled a bit differently in certain sectors of the newsroom.'
Seven's recently appointed news and current affairs boss Anthony De Ceglie has been replacing sections leaders across the country with younger managers.
He has also introduced a Friday night comedy spot and astrology to the news.
Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all have fresh news directors, and new executive producers have been put in charge of Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise and Spotlight.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was seen for the first time following news that a court hearing to legally drop 'Pitt' from her last name has been delayed.
The 18-year-old daughter of former Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stepped out solo in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon.
Shiloh whose older brother Pax, 20, was involved in an e-bike accident earlier this week was dressed in a black hoodie, black jeans and vibrant yellow sneakers.
Her cropped blonde hair was pulled back off her makeup-free face with a brown spring headband.
The teenager had another jacket over her arm and her iPhone in hand as she left a friend's home in the afternoon.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was seen for the first time following news that a court hearing to legally drop 'Pitt' from her last name has been delayed
Earlier this week, Shiloh's attorney confirmed that a court hearing in her ongoing effort to change her legal last name had been delayed due to a clerical error.
The latest development comes about two months after Shiloh expressed her intent to drop Pitt from her name after turning 18 on May 27.
Peter Levine, who is serving as legal representation for Jolie-Pitt in the matter, told People in a statement Monday, 'Unfortunately, the court was unable to complete the background check ahead of today's hearing, so the hearing was rescheduled for August 19.'
Levine explained the logistics of the process, and why Monday's hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court had been pushed back.
'Everyone undergoing a name-change request needs to have a background check conducted by the court clerk, and because of clerical error, Shiloh's hearing has been continued to a new date,' Levine told the outlet.
Jolie and Pitt - who separated in 2016 and have been finalizing the terms of their divorce in the eight years since - are also parents to children Maddox, 22, Zahara, 19, Pax, 20, Knox, 15, and Vivienne, 15.
In June, an insider close to Pitt told People that the Oscar-winning actor was 'aware and upset that Shiloh dropped his last name.'
The insider added, 'The reminders that he's lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It's very sad.'
Shiloh earlier this month published a statement in the Los Angeles Times to declare her intent to change her legal name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie, in accordance with state law, TMZ reported.
The 18-year-old daughter of former Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stepped out solo in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon
Earlier this week, Shiloh's attorney confirmed that a court hearing in her ongoing effort to change her legal last name had been delayed due to a clerical error; seen in 2021
Prior to a judge approving a name change petition, a legal form must have been published in a newspaper a month ahead, according to People.
An insider in June told Dailymail.com that Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself, so Angie doesnt know and cant speak for it. But, if youre asking if this is connected to the abuse history or the violation of Shilohs victims rights, yes, thats part of it.
Jolie said that Pitt had behaved physically abusive toward her - shaking and pushing her - during a private jet flight in 2016, per an FBI report on the altercation that was published in 2022.
Jolie told authorities with the FBI that Pitt had said to their children that she had been 'f***ing up this family,' and hit the airplane's ceiling multiple times. Jolie said to officials that Pitt had poured alcohol on a blanket she was under her children with in the 2016 incident.
Her estranged dad Brad Pitt, 60, was pictured at The Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, California in February
Shiloh's mother Angelina Jolie, 49, was seen at the Tony Awards at NYC's Lincoln Center in June
Pitt and Jolie's high-profile relationship began in the wake of his 2005 divorce from ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, 55.
Pitt and Jolie did not get legally married for years, as they welcomed multiple kids, until getting engaged in 2012 and married in 2014.
Jolie - whose films include Maleficent, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Girl, Interrupted - filed for divorce in 2016 and both she and Pitt had been declared legally single three years later.
Pitt, the star of films including Fight Club, Moneyball and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, has been romantically-linked to jewelry designer Ines de Ramon since 2022.
A former Married At First Sight star is locked in a showdown with the Australian Federal Police over an early-morning raid on her home linked to her OnlyFans content, which she has slammed as an 'abuse of power'.
Police searched the home of Stacey Lee Hampton, the former MAFS contestant and ex-partner of Rebels bikie boss Shane Smith, in September 2023, on the allegation she may not have declared income she received from work on OnlyFans.
The Federal Court in Adelaide heard on Tuesday Ms Hampton may not have declared her true income over an 18-month period and Services Australia held concerns she may have improperly received carer payments.
But Ms Hampton, appearing in court and representing herself during a civil judicial review application, said the search warrant was 'invalid' and an 'abuse of power' because it did not adequately specify the allegation of wrongdoing underpinning it.
'It (the warrant) is too broad,' she said.
'There are too many types of incomes.'
She also objected to an interview with a Services Australia officer that took place during the search.
She told the court the interview would not have happened at her home without what she argued was an invalid warrant.
Married At First Sight star Stacey Hampton (pictured) is locked in a showdown with the Australian Federal Police over an early-morning raid on her home linked to her OnlyFans content, which she has slammed as an 'abuse of power'
Police searched the home of Ms Hampton, the former MAFS contestant and ex-partner of Rebels bikie boss Shane Smith, in September 2023, on the allegation she may not have declared income she received from work on OnlyFans
'They had to exercise it through the channel of the search warrants,' she said. 'It wasn't hand delivered at the door.
'They were using the search warrant to conduct that interview.'
Justice Stephen McDonald said the case would hang on whether the 'face of the warrants' met the legal standard outlined by the High Court.
Paul d'Assumpcao, counsel for the AFP and Services Australia, argued the terms of the warrant were 'well within the threshold of what is acceptable by the courts'.
He disputed Ms Hampton's characterisation the stated allegation on the warrant was not sufficient and said the warrant provided more information that what was required by the Criminal Code.
He also argued the courts had recognised the need to provide investigative agencies like the AFP with 'sufficient flexibility' in how they investigated alleged criminal offences.
The Federal Court in Adelaide heard on Tuesday Ms Hampton (pictured) may not have declared her true income over an 18-month period and Services Australia held concerns she may have improperly received carer payments
'Balance has to be struck at some point,' he said.
'At what level do we cross the line and say that (the information provided on a warrant) is good enough?'
Justice McDonald said a warrant did not need to offer the particularity of an indictment and the complexity of the case arose in 'how to draw the line' in what was required on a warrant.
Ms Hampton has two sons, Kosta and Kruz, that she shared with Mr Smith.
Mr Smith died in a motorcycle crash in Adelaide in September 2022.
Ms Hampton has not been charged with any crimes and there is no accusation of any wrongdoing on her part.
Justice McDonald said he would 'reserve his decision' and deliver it at a later date.
Speaking with NewsWire earlier this year, Ms Hampton said she would pursue damages against the government if she won her case.
Shane Smith (left) died in a motorcycle crash in Adelaide in September 2022
'I haven't been arrested and nothing has come from this,' she said.
'But to me, it's the principle, the fact they came to my house for no reason, as an admitted lawyer, at 6am, with my two children who had lost their father, and traumatised us.'
'What's that done to my mental health, my children's health, also my work, being able to work?'
Paris Hilton has Charli XCX's new album Brat on the brain as she enjoys a family vacation at sea.
The Paris in Love star, 43, referenced the artist's recent sixth studio album on Instagram as she shared a series of bikini-clad photos from the yacht outing.
'Out of office for Brat Girl Summer #SlivingMom,' Hilton captioned the post.
She showed off her toned figure in a yellow two-piece string bikini while posing around the massive vessel.
Hilton accessorized the look with a pair of '90s neon green sunglasses featuring reflective lenses and a sheer Gucci scarf bandana around her head.
Paris Hilton referenced Charli XCX's recent sixth studio album Brat on Instagram as she shared a series of bikini-clad photos from the yacht outing
'Out of office for Brat Girl Summer #SlivingMom,' Hilton captioned the post
The DJ also wore a tropical-printed wrap around her waist and a pair of green flats, carrying a clear pink purse.
She shared photos of herself spending time with her kids, son Phoenix Barron, 18 months, and eight-month-old daughter London Marilyn.
Hilton cuddled with her baby boy in a hammock in one photo, sitting with London in another.
The proud mother also included a cute video of baby London as they played peek-a-boo.
She shares Phoenix and London with husband Carter Reum, whom she married in 2021.
Before sharing the first photos of London in April, Reum, 43, explained why they hadn't shown her face yet.
'Not quite ready to share her w the world but she's adorable and looks just like [her] mamma,' he wrote in response to an Instagram comment.
Hilton previously admitted that she hopes her kids 'won't be as addicted to social media as I am' as she appeared on a panel in March.
She showed off her toned figure in a yellow two-piece string bikini while posing around the massive vessel
Hilton accessorized the look with a pair of '90s neon green sunglasses featuring reflective lenses and a sheer Gucci scarf bandana around her head
Hilton cuddled with her baby boy Phoenix, 18 months, in a hammock in one photo, sitting with London in another
The proud mother also included a cute video of baby London, eight months, as they played peek-a-boo
She shares Phoenix and London with husband Carter Reum, whom she married in 2021
'I just want my children just to feel just so loved and seen and want to be that next generation of someone that brings positivity to the world and just to have big hearts and big loving,' she explained.
'That's something that's really important to me,' added Hilton.
'And also to live a world outside of social media and being on their phone all the time.'
Kathie Lee Gifford gave an update on her health on Wednesday after spending over a week in the hospital with a fractured pelvis.
The 70-year-old entertainer who recently revealed why she was turned down for Charlie's Angels said she's happy to be home after being discharged from the hospital, where she ended up with a fractured pelvis in two places during her recovery from hip replacement surgery.
'I'm doing well!' the star told ET. 'I'm happy to be out of the hospital. As lovely as all those people are to me, they really took good care of me, but there's no place like home.'
Gifford revealed that as her recovery from hip replacement surgery progressed, she took on book signings and travel, which ultimately led to overexertion and physical strain.
'This is what happens most of the time -- you think you're better, because you are so much better, and then you feel like you're back to absolute normal, and you're not,' she added. 'Our bones, things like that, don't heal for sometimes months -- even though you feel so much better.'
Kathie Lee Gifford gave an update on her health on Wednesday after spending over a week in the hospital with a fractured pelvis; (seen in 2022)
The 70-year-old entertainer said she's happy to be home after being discharged from the hospital, where she ended up with a fractured pelvis in two places during her recovery from hip replacement surgery; (seen in 2019)
The TV personality shared that she had a significant signing event to promote her new book and managed to physically move 300 books in just a day and a half from her home.
'I knew that night, when I went to sleep, I said, "Kathie, you did too much today. You're hurting again where you haven't been hurting." I said, "I'll sleep it off." And so the next day, I did the signing [and] it went really, really well,' Gifford recalled.
To mark her success, she set up a girls' day out. When her friend arrived and found herself locked out, she called Gifford. In Gifford's haste to help, things went wrong.
'On the way down [the stairs] and in my eagerness to get to my friend and get her out of the heat... I missed a step and I went tumbling,' she explained. 'It's my own fault. I should not have been in a hurry, you know? What am I in a hurry for?'
Now recovering at home, she's committed to daily physical therapy.
'They gotta get you up and moving. You don't want your bones to atrophy,' she said. 'It can be anywhere from three months to, you know, just a month to who knows? I just have to listen to them this time.'
She's also making sure to keep her spirits up during the vacation months.
'It's summer for everybody but me,' Gifford told People on Tuesday. 'But it's OK. I'm going to get out to my little farm one of these days and stick my feet in my salt pool.'
'I'm doing well!' the star told ET . 'I'm happy to be out of the hospital. As lovely as all those people are to me, they really took good care of me, but there's no place like home; (seen in 2018)
Gifford revealed that as her recovery from hip replacement surgery progressed, she took on book signings and travel, which ultimately led to overexertion and physical strain; (seen in April)
Gifford vowed to take life more slowly as she continues her recovery.
'The Lord is telling me it's time to slow down. I've been running my whole life. The Lord is telling me, 'You've planted a gazillion roses. Try smelling them.''
Earlier this month, Gifford revealed that she had undergone a 'total' hip replacement surgery in June after suffering from 'agonizing pain.'
'[My doctors] had been looking for the problem in my spine,' said Gifford on TODAY. 'They finally found out what it was, and by that time, I'd been in such agonizing pain.'
After the successful surgery, Gifford said her doctor told her that she 'had some of the worst hips I've ever seen.'
'It was terrible,' Gifford said of the ordeal. 'You can't fool your body, and it knows how old you are, and it knows where you've been.'
She elaborated on her recovery to PEOPLE, admitting to the outlet that it's been 'one of the most painful situations of my entire life.'
Gifford's surgeon told her that her hips were 'down to the nubs' and that her active lifestyle was to blame.
The day before her fall, Gifford explained that she had 'weakened my body' by '[moving] 300 books by myself' while at a book signing in Nashville, Tennessee; seen in March
'"You climbed mountains, you made movies, you got on stages. You never took off your high heels, and you kept going and that's why you're going through what you're going through,"' she recalled the surgeon saying to her.
Though her recovery has been 'really hard,' Gifford said that she has no regrets.
'[I ask myself] would I change that? No, I was doing what God put me on this earth to do,' she said.
'Every year of it, I was doing what He called me to do.'
Gwyneth Paltrow is 'cleansing' her spirit after she was left 'horrified' and 'embarrassed' by Derek Blasberg's recent diarrhea incident at her Hamptons home.
The Oscar-winner, 51, took to Instagram on 'Wellness Wednesday' to share footage of herself standing outside in the rain in a black one-piece bathing suit.
She recorded herself walking and swinging her arms around in her sprawling backyard as the rainwater soaked her body.
'Letting this rain wash away the people places things that are no longer right for me,' Gwyneth wrote.
She also noted that it is 'time for a cleanse' as she will soon 'enter a 9 year (completion).'
In astrology, the ninth year is associated with spiritual growth and new beginnings.
Gwyneth Paltrow took to Instagram on 'Wellness Wednesday' to share footage of herself standing outside in the rain in a black one-piece bathing suit. She recorded herself walking and swinging her arms around in her sprawling backyard as the rainwater soaked her body
Gwyneth kicked off 'Wellness Wednesday' by uploading a selfie that showed her looking incredible in a low-cut bodysuit.
She then shared her favorite 'incense' and skincare products.
Before braving the Hamptons downpour in only a swimsuit, Gwyneth relaxed in her sauna.
'Rainy day sauna,' the Iron Man star wrote over a makeup-free photo of herself mid-sweat.
Gwyneth may be keen on a 'new beginning' after insiders recently dished to DailyMail.com that she was left 'mortified' by Derek's diarrhea and dash.
Earlier this month, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that socialite and celebrity hanger-on Derek, 42, was the culprit behind the mortifying ordeal that was first mentioned as a blind item in a popular gossip newsletter.
Since then, both Gwyneth and the fashion journalist have stayed silent, with insiders claiming the Goop founder 'feels bad' but knows they need to avoid hanging out for the foreseeable future.
She is hopeful they will 'eventually laugh' at the incident.
'Gwyneth would like to eventually laugh about this with Derek, but currently there is still much embarrassment,' a source exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com.
'They both know that if they are ever seen together or if he ever returns to her house, they go out to dinner, it will be the only thing people will be talking about.'
They continued: 'It is not that they aren't friends and won't be friendly with each other in the future, it is just a bit difficult, and they both realize some time should pass before they hang out again.
'Letting this rain wash away the people places things that are no longer right for me,' Gwyneth wrote
She also noted that it is 'time for a cleanse' as she will soon 'enter a 9 year (completion)' which, in astrology, is associated with spiritual growth and new beginnings
Before braving the Hamptons downpour in only a swimsuit, Gwyneth relaxed in her sauna
'The likelihood of them being friends in the future is pretty good she has moved on from worse events in her life.'
The source claimed Gwyneth and her friends have all reacted similarly to the scenario, as they shut down claims the actress-turned-wellness guru is being seen as a snitch.
'She thought that it was horrifying at first, but has since found the humor in it and has had a good laugh about it,' they said.
'Most of Gwyneth's friends think it is shockingly hilarious and gross, but they aren't thinking differently about Gwyneth.'
A new blind item from the email newsletter titled Popb***h made it clear that Gwyneth had not been the one to leak the story across the Hamptons set.
'Ever since the phantom Hamptons c**pper was unveiled as celebrity barnacle Derek Blasberg, Gwyneth Paltrow has come in for quite a bit of flak,' it read.
'Society types are appalled she'd break a cardinal rule of hosting and blab about her guest's gastrointestinal indiscretion. But in fairness to Gwynnie, the leak may not have been her.'
The report continued: 'Gwyneth was lunching with Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Seinfeld when her irate housekeeper called, shouting loudly about the horrors she'd discovered, yelling about how much she hates 'that f**ing friend' of hers.
'And most damning - complaining about the tip that had been left at the scene of the crime.'
The source noted that Gwyneth strongly believed that the situation would soon be old news, and finished: 'She does feel bad that it got out there and everyone in the world knows about it, but it will pass.'
Gwyneth hopes she will 'eventually laugh' with longtime pal Derek about the fact his 'catastrophic' diarrhea became headline news, insiders claim
Earlier this month, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that socialite and celebrity hanger-on Derek, 42, was the culprit behind the mortifying incident
The internet was whipped into a frenzy last month when the first blind item in popular gossip newsletter Popb***h stated that Gwyneth had been tasked with cleaning up someone's 'Ozempic-induced diarrhea' at her home.
'The story goes that a recent houseguest of Gwynnie's catastrophically s**t themselves in bed while staying there, then fled back to the city before they had to face the music,' it read.
Revealing that the scandal had become 'the Hamptons set's favorite piece of gossip to text to each other,' the report continued: 'Ozempic-induced diarrhea is becoming a very hot topic of conversation between hosts there - because so many of their guests are using it. So expect launderettes to be fully booked from July 4.'
Insiders later told DailyMail.com Derek - once described as 'one of showbiz's most well-connected men' - was the culprit and that he had conveniently blamed the incident on the popular weight loss wonder drug before allegedly fleeing the property.
'It's not Ozempic, that's just what he told everyone,' the insider said, before revealing how the secret made its way through the Hamptons set.
'Gwyneth told Oprah, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, and Larry David,' they continued.
'It's shocking how many people know this story and how he has managed to keep it out of The Post probably via his best friend [socialite Dasha Zhukova] - whose mom just married Rupert Murdoch.'
Derek had been no stranger to spending time with the actress at her five-bedroom Long Island home, where she hosted her wedding to Brad Falchuk in 2018.
In 2022 the fashion expert posted a snap of himself and the actress celebrating her 50th birthday at the sprawling property.
And it appears someone tried to out Derek as the phantom pooper four weeks before the news was revealed when they commented two poop emojis, a toilet emoji and a dynamite emoji on the Instagram post.
Before his recent toilet troubles put him firmly in the spotlight, Derek had maintained a relatively private life unlike some of his A list pals.
Derek is no stranger to spending time with Paltrow at her home on Long Island - pictured in 2018 when she tied the knot with Brad Falchuk
In June, someone hinted at the scandal under Derek's Instagram post featuring Gwyneth, 51
The insider made it clear that the pair are still pals, but will likely keep their distance from each other for a while (pictured at her Hamptons home in 2022)
The former TV host and author, who penned Very Classy: Even More Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady, not only counts Gwyneth as a close friend but also frequently spends his time with the likes of Karlie Kloss, Sienna Miller, Kendall Jenner and Demi Moore.
He most recently worked as the head of fashion and beauty partnerships at YouTube and is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, and several international editions of Vogue.
Thanks to his influence and connections as a top fashion journalist, socialite, and television personality, his birthday parties often serve as a warm-up to the Met Gala for his A-list attendees.
For his 42nd birthday bash in April, A-list stars such as Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Andy Cohen were in attendance.
In 2022 his bash was attended by Jeff Bezos, Hailey Bieber, and Leonardo DiCaprio among others.
Derek is also a senior staffer at the Gagosian Gallery and has contributed texts to The New York Times, WSJ Magazine, Elle, Women's Wear Daily, Glamour, and The London Sunday Times over the course of his career.
He currently resides in New York with his partner, Imaginary co-founder Nick Brown.
Back in 2021, the pair welcomed twins Elizabeth Grace and Frederick Noah, three, via surrogate.
Fashion socialite Derek is made headlines after DailyMail.com identified him as the guest who seemingly lost control of their bowels in a bed at Gwyneth's Hamptons home
He is known to throw star-studded bashes, with his birthday parties often serving as a warm-up to the Met Gala (pictured with Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid)
Derek has built up influence and connections as a top fashion journalist, socialite, and television personality (pictured with Nicky and Paris Hilton)
Elsewhere, the original blind item stated that the popularity of Ozempic is causing an issue among the rich and famous as they holiday together in the Hamptons this summer.
Ozempic, typically used to treat diabetes and allow people to shed weight quickly, has a common side-effect that affects one in 10 users.
In recent months, a handful of celebrities have admitted to using Ozempic, including Oprah, Elon Musk, Sharon Osbourne, Chelsea Handler and Robbie Williams.
Shirley Chung's Top Chef family has rallied around her, after she announced her heartbreaking Stage 4 tongue cancer diagnosis.
The 47-year-old chef, who has appeared on Top Chef (a finalist in Season 11), Tournament of Champions and Top Chef: Amateurs, shared the news on Friday.
She shaved her head in preparation for chemo and shared the process on her Instagram.
The chef also announced that Ms. Chi Cafe, the restaurant she opened in Culver City, California in 2018, will be closing next month due to her treatment.
Her posts received countless comments of support from Top Chef contestants including Richard Blais, Stephanie Izard, Jen Carroll, Adrienne Cheatham, Brother Luck, Melissa King, Leeann Wong, Nini Nguyen, Nina Compton and more.
Shirley Chung's Top Chef family has rallied around her, after she announced her heartbreaking Stage 4 tongue cancer diagnosis and the closure of her restaurant; (L-R) Brian Huskey, Carlos Gaytan, Chung, Nicholas Elmi, and Nina Compton seen in a still from Top Chef season 11
The 47-year-old chef, who has appeared on Top Chef (a finalist in Season 11), Tournament of Champions and Top Chef: Amateurs, shared the news on Friday
Blais wrote, 'You are inspiring and strong ' underneath her post.
'Love you friend!!! Keep being badass and staying as positive as you always do! Hugs from me and Ernie!' Izard sweetly shared.
Longtime host Gail Simmons wrote, 'You are a beautiful and extraordinary unicorn. Always have been. I am so proud of you. #f**kcancer.'
Frequent Top Chef judge and French chef Hubert Keller wrote, 'You both are amazing, you both will get through this together. Sending you all my love.'
'I love you. You got this. ' wrote Wong.
Buddha Lo concurred, writing, 'Youve got this.' Carroll added, 'be the next unicorn xoxo' in reference to Shirley's treatment.
'You have always been the feisty sister, I love you and we all are here for you,' King added.
'You are a badass and Im sending you so much love ,' Nguyen wrote.
'You got this one you are very strong chef,' Carlos Gaytan added. 'Oh Shirley! You look beautiful. You got this,' Shirley's season 11 pal Nina wrote.
Season six Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio wrote, 'We've seen you kick plenty of a**, all while smiling ear to ear. we're all here to back you up chef!'
Her posts received countless comments of support from Top Chef contestants including Richard Blais, Stephanie Izard, Jen Carroll, Adrienne Cheatham, Brother Luck, Melissa King, Leeann Wong, Nini Nguyen, and more
'You have always been the feisty sister, I love you and we all are here for you,' King added
Longtime host Gail Simmons wrote, 'You are a beautiful and extraordinary unicorn. Always have been. I am so proud of you. #f**kcancer'
Frequent Top Chef judge and French chef Hubert Keller wrote, 'You both are amazing, you both will get through this together. Sending you all my love'
'Love you friend!!! Keep being badass and staying as positive as you always do! Hugs from me and Ernie!' Izard sweetly shared
'I love you. You got this. ' wrote Wong
Buddha Lo concurred, writing, 'Youve got this '
Carroll added, 'be the next unicorn xoxo' in reference to Shirley's treatment
'You are a badass and Im sending you so much love ,' Nini Nguyen wrote
'You got this one you are very strong chef,' commented chef Carlos Gaytan
'Oh Shirley! You look beautiful. You got this,' Shirley's season 11 pal Nina wrote
Season six Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio wrote, 'We've seen you kick plenty of a**, all while smiling ear to ear. we're all here to back you up chef!'
Tournament of Champions alums also reached out, including Amanda Freitag, who wrote, 'SHIRLEY!!!! You are such an incredible human and I know you are a unicorn and will beat this with style and grace you are such an inspiration for so many'
Judge Alex Guarnaschelli wrote, 'Sending you so much love. Don't be a chef at this time. Be a person who's cool with getting support and love. You are loved all around you. Sending you positive vibes. Very brave of you to share with us.'
'One day at a time and you will look back at this 10 years from now and smile with defiance,' chef Grant Achatz wrote
Shirley wrote back, 'Yes chef. I am continuing to check off my prep list one thing at the time. Your words of encouragement helped me got over my initial shock. I will look back and smile!'
Tournament of Champions alums also reached out, including Amanda Freitag, who wrote, 'SHIRLEY!!!! You are such an incredible human and I know you are a unicorn and will beat this with style and grace you are such an inspiration for so many. I love you and your chef community is here to support you!'
Judge Alex Guarnaschelli wrote, 'Sending you so much love. Don't be a chef at this time. Be a person who's cool with getting support and love. You are loved all around you. Sending you positive vibes. Very brave of you to share with us.'
'One day at a time and you will look back at this 10 years from now and smile with defiance,' chef Grant Achatz wrote.
Shirley wrote back, 'Yes chef. I am continuing to check off my prep list one thing at the time. Your words of encouragement helped me got over my initial shock. I will look back and smile!'
Shirley's video showed her taking two big swipes across her head with the clippers, as she joked about what kind of egg her head looked like.
She's told, 'You don't have to smile, Shirley,' but she insists, 'That's automatic. Camera? I smile.'
She adds, 'Surprisingly, shaving it off for my mentally... it felt better than pulling it off in the morning,' adding, 'It's kind of sexy too.'
Chung also left a lengthy caption on Instagram, where she explained how her diagnosis came to be.
'Hiiiii loves, I have some personal news to share with you. Since last year December, I had a series of dental issues, I bit my tongue severely; I fractured my tooth and had to extract it and get an implant we thought it was because I am a heavy teeth grinder,' she began.
'And I was too busy to see a EMT specialist. The end of May, ulcers erupted in my mouth and my oral surgeon discovered a hidden tumor under my tongue,' she said.
She also shared a post through her Ms. Chi Cafe announcing the restaurant will close next week so she can focus on treatment
She shared a number of snaps, including one with her staff
'In light of Chef Shirleys diagnosis, we have made the difficult decision to close Ms Chi so she can focus on recovery. Ms Chis last day of operation will be Sunday, August 4th,' the post read
Shirley shaved her head in preparation for chemo and shared the process on her Instagram
She adds, 'Surprisingly, shaving it off for my mentally... it felt better than pulling it off in the morning,' adding, 'It's kind of sexy too'
'A few days later, I was diagnosed, stage 4 tongue cancer, as cancer cells also spread into my lymph nodes,' she revealed to her
'I was very calm when doctors delivered the news, as a chef, Ive always thrive under pressure. ,' she admitted.
'I was extremely focused on getting all the tests and scans as fast as possible, so I can start on the treatment plans,' she said.
She continued that on Sunday June 2nd, 'Dr. Ho, my lead oncologist at Cedar Sinai called to discuss treatment plans,' adding she, 'broke down, crying, trying to put thoughts together and ask questions but physically couldnt.'
'All I heard was option 1, surgery, 100% removal of your tongue Jimmy was holding it together for both of us, asking if we have any option that I can keep my tongue and the survival rates .'
She was told, 'There is another option, which was a unicorn case, at University of Chicago, they cured a patient (a chef!) with radiation and chemo, but you will have to go to Chicago.'
'Higher survival rate, or keep my tongue? I chose to keep my tongue, I am a fighter, I am a chef, I can be that unicorn too,' she said.
'I just finished 6 weeks of Chemo (and have many more to go), going to the hospital 4 times a week for injections, its like a full time job,' Chung insisted.
'My tumor is shrinking, my speech is much better and I can eat most normal food now. I am learning to lean on others, to let go, to be more vulnerable,' she continued.
Chung admitted, 'it took me 2 weeks of contemplating to decide to tell my parents about my cancer, only my close circle of friends and my sister have known until now.'
'I am learning, I can be strong 98% of the time, its ok to be not ok. I have a tough long road to recovery in front of me. Your love and support will carry me through. Cheer me on, Shirley Chung 2.0 will be reborn in 2025!' she concluded.
'I just finished 6 weeks of Chemo (and have many more to go), going to the hospital 4 times a week for injections, its like a full time job,' Chung shared in her post
She also gave a positive update: 'My tumor is shrinking, my speech is much better and I can eat most normal food now. I am learning to lean on others, to let go, to be more vulnerable'
She also shared a post through her Ms. Chi Cafe announcing the restaurant will close next week so she can focus on treatment.
'In light of Chef Shirleys diagnosis, we have made the difficult decision to close Ms Chi so she can focus on recovery. Ms Chis last day of operation will be Sunday, August 4th,' the post began.
'We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of youour staff, supporters, and fans. We have truly enjoyed spreading the dumpling love over the last several years and calling Culver City our home!' the post continued.
'Please come by, say hi, and enjoy our menu before we close. We will still be operating our normal business hours until August 4th! August 14th and 15th will be the final days for @goldbelly orders, so now is the time to stock up. This is a temporary pause on orders, and we will be back!' they continued.
'Please continue to follow this account and @chfshirleychung for more updatesmore dumplings will be coming!' the post concluded.
It was revealed a day earlier that Jax Taylor had checked himself into a mental health facility to get some much needed help.
And Jax, 45, confirmed the news in his own words on Wednesday with a moving Instagram post for his son Cruz.
The former Vanderpump Rules star shared a sweet photo of himself holding the thee-year-old boy whom he shares with his estranged wife Brittany Cartwright as he planted a kiss on his cheek.
'Working on getting better for you buddy, I love you ,' he wrote lovingly in the caption.
Cruz looked happy to spend some time with his father, as he displayed a soft smile for the camera while munching on an apple.
Jax Taylor, 45, confirmed he had checked into a mental health facility on Wednesday with a sweet post in which he said he was 'working on getting better' for his three-year-old son Cruz (pictured)
He shares Cruz with his estranged wife Brittany Cartwright (pictured in April 2024 at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as guests of DailyMail.com), whom he split from in February 2024
On Tuesday, a representative for Jax shared with TMZ that he was 'seeking in-patient treatment' for 'mental health struggles.'
'Jax has always been candid about his mental health struggles, especially during the past few months on his podcast,' they shared.
'He has made the decision to seek in-patient treatment. This is a particularly sensitive time for him and his family. They ask for privacy and respect until he is ready to speak more on this matter.'
The decision to get help followed a concerning visit from the police to the home where Jax had lived with his wife Brittany Cartwright for some time after their separation in February, though she later moved out into an Airbnb after tensions between the two became too high to overcome.
He was reportedly seen speaking to police officers, who carried a brown envelope with them, before he headed to the gym for a workout.
Earlier this month, DailyMail.com revealed that their $1.9 million Los Angels home had been slapped by the California Franchise Tax Board with a lien in the amount of $35,239.88.
The tax lien was filed on June 12 of this year.
Brittany previously said that she was responsible for all of the bills for the home, while Jax was the one taking care of its mortgage payments.
DailyMail.com reached out to Cartwright's representatives at the time, who declined to comment.
According to documents detailing the lien, 'further interest and fees will accrue' until it is paid off in full.
On Tuesday, a representative for Jax shared with TMZ that he was 'seeking in-patient treatment' for 'mental health struggles.
Jax previously said he misses his family 'a lot' while speaking with TMZ. Brittany has been living separately in an Airbnb since their split; pictured in July 2021
The couple's $1.9 million LA home was hit with a $35K tax lien in June
Last month, Jax detailed some of the strategies he and Brittany were working on in hopes of saving their marriage, including therapy, on their When Reality Hits podcast.
Brittany and Jax's relationship dates back to 2015, but they hit a speed bump in 2017 when he admitted to having an affair with their Vanderpump Rules costar Faith Stowers.
The couple eventually reconciled and had gotten engaged by the following year, before they were married in Kentucky in 2019. They went on to welcome little Cruz in 2021.
Following their firing from Vanderpump Rules in 2020, the couple began documenting the dissolution of their marriage earlier this year in the spinoff series The Valley, which also stars another former Vanderpump Rules alumna, Kristen Doute.
Supermodel Adut Akech is expecting her first child with longtime partner Samuel Elkhier.
The 24-year-old runway maven confirmed her pregnancy to Vogue this week and unveiled her baby bump in a stunning photo spread.
'Beyond BLESSED and CANNOT wait to meet our bundle of joy!!!' gushed Adut, who eagerly shared the news to Instagram on Wednesday.
She currently has 10-weeks left in her pregnancy, making her due date sometime in October.
Adut told the publication that she 'always wanted to be a young mom' and recalled the moment she knew she was pregnant.
Supermodel Adut Akech is expecting her first child with longtime partner Samuel Elkhier; seen in 2023
She first suspected something was up when she randomly developed an intense, unusual craving for oranges.
Then, while getting her car serviced, Adut experienced her first bout of morning sickness.
'I was picking up my car from the service center with my bag of oranges! and when driving back home, I started feeling like I was going to throw up,' she recalled to the outlet.
She then started having bizarre dreams about her sister being pregnant, which inspired her to finally get tested herself.
The South Sudanese-Australian beauty took five pregnancy tests, all of which came back positive.
Adut is so 'excited' to be a 'young mom' and is ready for her baby to arrive.
'I always said I wanted to be a young mom because I love the idea of growing up with your kids. I'm excited. I can't wait. I'm likecan they just come already?' she said.
'I'm kind of over it and I'm just halfway.'
The 24-year-old runway maven confirmed her pregnancy to Vogue this week and unveiled her baby bump in a stunning photo spread
She currently has 10-weeks left in her pregnancy, making her due date sometime in October; seen in 2023
Adut admitted that her pregnancy has been a 'mental and physical rollercoaster' for her but still a 'beautiful feeling.'
'Nothing really ever prepares you for it,' the Victoria's Secret model added.
'I'm just waddling around like, "What the f**k is this? What is this?"' she told the publication with a laugh, adding: 'Women we're built different, honestly. I don't think men could ever.'
As for the future, Adut revealed that she'd love to one day be a mother-of-five.
After announcing her pregnancy on Instagram, Adut received an influx of congratulatory messages from fashion's elite including her close friend and 'mom figure' Naomi Campbell.
'Congratulations to my Daughter @adutakech on such a blessing can't wait to be a grandma,' the legendary catwalk queen gushed.
Fellow model Winnie Harlow also left a 'congratulations' in the comment section.
Former Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott wrote that he was 'OVERJOYED' for Adut and Samuel.
Christy Turlington who owned the runways with Naomi as part of the elite supermodel squad of the 1990's was in awe of how 'stunning' Adut looked in her Vogue spread.
Adut told the publication that she 'always wanted to be a young mom' and recalled the moment she knew she was pregnant; seen in 2022
After announcing her pregnancy on Instagram, Adut received an influx of congratulatory messages from fashion's elite including her close friend and 'mom figure' Naomi Campbell
For the shoot, Adut bared her baby bump by going topless under a denim jacket as well as in another look that featured a chic bralette and blazer.
Jessica Alba showed love to mom-to-be Adut by leaving three red-heart emojis on Thursday's post.
Adut has been in an ultra private romance with Samuel for over a decade.
In 2022, the duo reportedly got engaged but Vogue's recent Adut cover story explicitly referred to Samuel as Adut's 'partner.'
The 5foot10inch beauty is among the most sought-after faces in fashion.
When she was just eight-years-old, Adut and her mother moved from Kenya to Adelaide, Australia as South Sudanese refugees.
She was scouted and signed to her first modeling agency at age 16.
But it was Adut's Paris Fashion Week debut in the Saint Laurent show in 2016 that put her on the map.
Since then, Adut has become a runway staple for the likes of Tom Ford, Miu Miu, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta and has shot countless editorials for major fashion publications.
Adut has been in an ultra private romance with Samuel for over a decade; seen in 2022
The 5foot10inch beauty is among the most sought-after faces in fashion; seen in 2023
Adut has also become a fixture for Victoria's Secret in recent years.
She was named 'Model Of The Year' at the 2019 British Fashion Awards and in 2020 she landed her first American Vogue cover.
Adut recently posed alongside Naomi and 38 other female celebrities for British Vogue's March 2024 issue celebrating 'icons' in fashion.
While promoting her new movie Borderlands at San Diego Comic-Con last week, Jamie Lee Curtis threw some savage shade at the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The 65-year-old actress plays Tannis in the upcoming video game adaptation, in theaters August 9, and she took part in a group video interview for MTV.
At one point in the interview with the actress, along with Edgar Ramirez (Atlas), Florian Munteanu (Krieg) and director Eli Roth, she was randomly asked what 'phase' the Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently in.
Without any hesitation, Curtis - who is filming Freaky Friday 2 with Lindsay Lohan - simply said, 'Bad,' which caused interviewer Josh Horowitz and her cast mates to crack up laughing.
Curtis has never starred in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, and seemingly never will, since this isn't the first time she's thrown some shade towards the MCU.
While promoting her new movie Borderlands at San Diego Comic-Con last week, Jamie Lee Curtis threw some savage shade at the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Curtis has never starred in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, and seemingly never will, since this isn't the first time she's thrown some shade towards the MCU
Without any hesitation, Curtis - who is filming Freaky Friday 2 with Lindsay Lohan - simply said, 'Bad,' which caused interviewer Josh Horowitz and her cast mates to crack up laughing
Two years ago when she was promoting her future Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, Curtis took another stab at Marvel.
She took to her Instagram in May 2022, sharing an image of The New York Times' review of Marvel's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which also leans on multiverse themes like her film.
The review by longtime NYT critic A.O. Scott stated that EEAAO's multiverse had, 'infinitely more wit and imagination,' than Doctor Strange 2's version.
Curtis said in the caption, 'TRUTH ALERT @everythingeverywheremovie is MARVELOUS! It has a deep BEATING heart and BRILLIANT visual treats, EXTRAORDINARY performances and FANTASTIC BEASTLY FIGHT SCENES...... AND it COST LESS than the ENTIRE craft service budget on Doctor Strange and/or any other Marvel movie.'
She added in her post, 'COMPETITIVE? F**k YES. I wasn't head cheerleader in high school for nothing. And P.S. our movie has a dynamite dildo fight scene as well as a very erotic hotdog hand mating dance and rocks.'
The actress even added the hashtag, #GuessIWillNeverBeCastInAMarvelMovie to her post.
Everything Everywhere All At Once went on to gross $139.4 million from a budget estimated between $14 million and $25 million.
It received glowing reviews from critics (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it would go on to win seven Oscars, including Curtis' first for Best Supporting Actress.
Two years ago when she was promoting her future Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once , Curtis took another stab at Marvel
She took to her Instagram in May 2022, sharing an image of The New York Times' review of Marvel's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which also leans on multiverse themes like her film
Curtis' Borderlands is based on the beloved video game franchise of the same name, which has sold over 77 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness would go on to earn $955 million worldwide from a massive reported budget of $350 million.
It also earned strong reviews, though significantly less than EEAAO with 74%, and won Best Superhero Film at the Saturn Awards.
Curtis' Borderlands is based on the beloved video game franchise of the same name, which has sold over 77 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
She also stars alongside Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Arianna Greenblatt, Haley Bennett, Gina Gershon and Janina Gavankar.
An Escape to the Country buyer was left 'burning and shaking' on Wednesday's episode as this week's property hunt was derailed by a bizarre stunt.
The popular BBC show follows those wanting to escape busy city lives for a tranquil life in the country.
And while the property search is the centre of the show - each episode always features a short segment where the hosts shows the buyers some kind of cultural activity or attraction in the area.
This week's house hunters Ronnie and Claire wanted to relocate from their Watford home to Bedfordshire with the help of expert Margherita Taylor.
And they took a break from looking at homes to head to the Love My Chillies farm nearby where they grow the crop so the couple could see what the local area has to offer.
An Escape to the Country buyer was left 'burning and shaking' on Wednesday's episode as this week's property hunt was derailed by a bizarre stunt
This week's house hunters Ronnie and Claire wanted to relocate from their Watford home to Bedfordshire with the help of expert Margherita Taylor (seen)
Speaking to owner Salvatore Genovese, he gave the couple some samples one of which was a chilli called Armageddon - while a glass of milk stood on standby.
Claire laughed saying: 'Ronnie will love it! It just scares me to look at it.'
They tried a variety - going up in heat, with Claire tapping out after just a few while Ronnie continued eating them.
Taking a bite out of one, it was clear the spice was too much as Margherita said: 'Speechless! Oh here, milk, milk!'
Claire continued to laugh as Ronnie took a huge gulp of milk to ease the spice sensation.
The BBC host added: 'Oh my goodness, are you shaking?!'
As Salvatore wished the couple well with their house hunting, Ronnie let out another huge cough as he struggled to get over the spice.
It comes after Escape to the Country fans were left emotional back in June as an old episode was aired that was presented by the late Jonnie Irwin, months after his tragic death.
They took a break from looking at homes to head to the Love My Chillies farm nearby where they grow the crop so the couple could see what the local area has to offer
Speaking to owner Salvatore Genovese, he gave the couple some samples one of which was a chilli called Armageddon - while a glass of milk stood on standby
Taking a bite out of one, it was clear the spice was too much as Margherita said: 'Speechless! Oh here, milk, milk!'
The presenter passed away in February at the age of 50, three years after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer in 2020.
He left behind his wife Jessica Holmes and their young sons Rex, four, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac.
In June the BBC aired a rerun of an episode from 2022 in North Yorkshire, where Jonnie was helping Ian find a new home for 350,000, after moving back to the UK from Hong Kong.
But the episode was tinged with melancholy, as one of the last to feature Jonnie before his passing.
Viewers couldn't help but be distracted by the sad reminder and took to social media to remember the host and praise him for his presenting skills and optimism.
They wrote: 'Hearing Jonnie Irwins distinctive voice on #EscapeToTheCountry. He fought his cancer battle with dignity and no attention-seeking. God bless you, you were a brilliant presenter.'
'Episode of Escape to the Country with #JonnieIrwin is on now Tuesday 11 June. Lovely to see Jonnie still had his cheeky sense of humour; Johnnie Irwin episode today, RIP #escapetothecountry'.
'So sad to switch on the TV and hear Jonnie Irwin's voice, talking about having three kids in nappies; Great to see one of the #JonnieIrwin episodes on #EscapeToTheCountry now on BBC ONE. What a top guy & presenter he was.'
Claire continued to laugh as Ronnie took a huge gulp of the standby milk to ease the spice sensation
Craig Revel Horwood has revealed he was 'whacked with a cane' when he was training as a dancer as a 'corrective measure' but is 'gobsmacked' by the Strictly abuse scandal.
The judge, 59, who has been on the show since its inception, appeared on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday ahead of the 20th series.
Strictly has been engulfed by drama since Giovanni Pernice was suspended after his celebrity partner Amanda Abbington accused him of abusive behaviour, saying he was 'cruel and mean'. He denies the claims.
It was followed by Graziano Di Prima's sacking last month over reports he verbally and physically abused Zara McDermott during rehearsals. Graziano has apologised for kicking his former partner and added other allegations do not align with 'how he remembers it'.
Weighing in on the drama surrounding the show, Craig said: 'I'm completely gobsmacked by the whole thing.
Craig Revel Horwood has revealed he was 'whacked with a cane' when he trained as a dancer but is 'gobsmacked' by the Strictly scandal
The BBC show has been engulfed by drama since Giovanni Pernice was suspended after his celebrity partner Amanda Abbington accused him of abusive behaviour. He denies the claims
It was followed by Graziano Di Prima's sacking last month over reports he verbally and physically abused Zara McDermott during rehearsals. Graziano apologised
Craig (pictured) said when he was training as a young dancer his teacher would 'whack us with a cane' as a form of correction
'Of course I found out with the press because the judges are all kept separate from the contestants.
'The only time we ever see each other is when we are in passing going to the studio so you don't really get the opportunity to know what happens in the rehearsal room. It's not part of our jobs.'
Breakfast host Naga Munchetty, 49, asked: 'Have you ever thought about how you train? I mean, obviously you have danced, and that relationship...'
Craig said when he was training as a young dancer his teacher would 'whack us with a cane' as a form of correction.
'I know how I was trained and it was tough,' he admitted. 'I had a Russian ballet teacher who used to have a cane and she would whack us with it. Just so you're not pulling up from the thigh - doing a deboules, for instance, to engage your hamstrings.
'I mean obviously that sort of teaching wouldn't be available today. Things have changed and come a long way in the 40 years since I trained.'
Charlie Stayt, 62, asked if he was worried about how the complaints with affect the programme, and Craig admitted he was but was pleased by the measures put in place for the new series.
He added: 'Training everyone is different, what they learn they carry on into the training room. I think it's a good thing they are bringing people into the rehearsal rooms, they are mediators.
'We have chaperones in the theatre all the time, especially with children and younger people. It's a good thing to have a third eye on the whole situation.'
The judge, 59, who has been on the show since its inception, appeared on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday
Weighing in on the drama surrounding the show, Craig said: 'I'm completely gobsmacked by the whole thing'
Strictly celebrities will reportedly be required to undergo weekly psychological tests on the upcoming series (Craig pictured with judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke)
Strictly pros have already begun rehearsing group dances for the show, which will kick off in autumn
It comes as Strictly was plunged into further crisis on Monday as backstage staff branded the scandal-plagued show 'toxic and cruel'.
According to The Observer, production workers at the hit dance series have alleged they were grilled on their 'sex lives'.
One complained that 'talented co-workers were treated with cruelty,' while another added that the workplace environment on the show eight years ago was 'tense, toxic, uncomfortable'.
One then told the publication how they had been subjected to 'sexualised comments' including queries about their sex life.
A spokesperson for the BBC told the publication: 'The welfare of our crews working on each series of Strictly is always of paramount importance to us.
'We act speedily when any concerns are raised, and we have thorough, effective and longstanding processes to manage them. We do not recognise the claims relating to a negative workplace culture.'
Last week after Amanda claimed Giovanni was trying to block the release of up to 50 hours of 'toxic footage' following her bullying complaint to the BBC.
In an emotionally charged interview, the actress, 50, compared the dance show to 'the trenches'.
She told Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips that also allegedly exhibited 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature'.
The Sherlock star sensationally quit the dance competition last year citing 'personal reasons' before reports surfaced that she had demanded footage of her rehearsals after the experience with the show and her dance partner left her with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Giovanni, who has strongly denied any threatening or abusive behaviour, was later suspended, with the BBC later launching a probe over claims of off-camera misconduct made by Amanda as well as other celebrities.
Yet, in a dramatic twist in the Strictly saga, the actress has claimed Giovanni tried to stop her legal team from accessing the video 'evidence' after producers were forced to put cameras in the dance studio after Amanda raised concerns.
'There's 50 hours of footage that's being blocked. You know, 50 hours is a lot of footage, and a lot of time spent in a room that was toxic,' she told presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
'It's out there. There is evidence out there of what happened in that room and I'm not the one who's blocking it. I've said anyone can watch it, but he (Giovanni) doesn't want anyone to see it, which is quite telling if he's got nothing to hide.'
A spokesperson for Giovanni told MailOnline at the time: 'We would urge people to wait for the review's conclusion and not to pay heed to these very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.'
The actress said that cameras were installed into her and Giovanni's rehearsal studio after she raised concerns after the first week of practice with producers wanting to review the footage each week to assess what was 'going on' between the pair.
Giovanni had claimed he had asked for the cameras, which Amanda says is untrue.
'So in the first week, I raised my concerns to the producers,' the actress explained, as she fought back tears.
'Giovanni said that he asked for the cameras, he didn't ask for the cameras, I know that he didn't ask for the cameras, because the producers came to me and said: "We're going to put in cameras so we can view the footage at the end of the week and make an assessment and see what's going on."
Last week after Amanda claimed Giovanni was trying to block the release of up to 50 hours of 'toxic' footage' following her bullying complaint to the BBC
In an emotionally charged interview, the actress, 50, compared the dance show to 'the trenches' telling Channel 4 News BBC producers had been left 'horrified' by clips
'And then every Friday, after the next sort of five weeks, I would get the producer saying, on the Friday, "we just watched the footage back, we are shocked and horrified, we're so sorry".
'That was to my face on the Friday when we would go in and do the camera rehearsal.'
Throughout the interview, Guru-Murthy, who also starred on the 2023 series, asked whether it was correct that Amanda had experienced 'humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature', with the actress holding back tears as she nodded in agreement.
'Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the many things,' she said, clarifying it was not harassment.
Ever since the claims first emerged Giovanni has denied all of the allegations, claiming to have provided a dossier of evidence to the BBC investigators and 'remains fully confident in clearing his name'.
Disputing Amanda's claims once again following the interview, a spokesperson for the Italian dancer said: 'The BBC has shared the allegations they have been able to substantiate with us.
'They do not resemble Amanda's latest allegations, given to Channel 4, in any shape or form. Giovanni refutes any claim of threatening or abusive behaviour.'
After the fallout, Amanda said she did not hear from anyone at the BBC again, claiming: 'I haven't spoken to anyone from the BBC since Strictly.
'No one from the BBC has reached out to me since Strictly, either through me or my lawyer.'
The bombshell interview comes as the flagship BBC One show continues to be rocked by a string of allegations, which saw Giovanni as well as professional dancer Graziano Di Prima step down.
Giovanni was accused of bullying by Amanda as well as two other, unnamed contestants.
Graziano was axed from the show after allegations emerged that he kicked, hit and spat at reality TV star Zara during rehearsals last year.
Gok Wan left fans convinced he was dating on Thursday after sharing a handful of photos from his current holiday in Madrid.
The popular TV presenter has jetted to the Spanish capital after revealing he's in 'overwhelming pain' following the death of best friend Ali to stage four breast cancer.
And he inadvertently sparked romance rumours while posing for social media photos with bearded pal Scott, a platonic friend with whom he has travelled to mainland Europe.
In one photo from his current trip, Gok, 49, flashes a beaming smile as he posed alongside hitherto unseen 'travel companion' Scott.
The TV stylist sported a pair of fashionable orange tinted sunglasses and wore a striped jumper around his neck as they posed together.
In one sweet selfie snap, Gok, 49, can be seen beaming at the camera as he posed with his 'travel companion' named Scott
Gok Wan took to his Instagram on Wednesday to post a slew of sweet snaps during his vacation in Madrid after revealing his best friend Ali had tragically passed from stage four breast cancer
In another snap posted by Gok, Scott can be seen beaming towards the camera as the pair relaxed at the airport.
He sported a navy blue zip-up polo top and showed off his silver fox beard.
Gok captioned the post: 'Madrid youve been incredibly hot but very fun. 48Hrs is not long enough but I feel relaxed and very hydrated (hungover). Shout to my travel companion Scott'
Fans of the fashion connoisseur then flocked to the comment section to compliment the star and shipped the pair by saying they 'look good together.'
One fan said: 'You look good together, just saying (love heart eyes emoji); Scott is very handsome, nudge, nudge, Love you Gok (love heart emoji); 'Handsome companion.. little bit of eye candy (love heart eyes emoji).'
Gok's representative has since confirmed they are just friends.
It comes after Gok revealed his best friend Ali had died after battling stage four breast cancer, and shared an emotional Instagram tribute earlier this year.
The star penned a moving post revealing that Ali, who was also known by the name Fanny McPhee, peacefully passed away 'with her family by her side.'
Meanwhile, in another snap posted by Gok, Scott can be seen beaming towards the camera as the pair chilled at the airport
In his tribute, Gok shared that he's in 'overwhelming pain' following Ali's death, and said she previously called him 'the love of her life.'
He shared a selection of emotional Instagram snaps from their friendship, and a lengthy caption paying tribute to his friend.
Gok wrote: 'After many years of fighting, Ali has finally ended her battle and is now at peace, resting with the stars.'
'Ali passed away today with her family by her side. Her wonderful son, Tash, who she loved with all her might, reassured us Ali was not in pain and comfortable.'
'Ali was the smartest, most courageous, sensitive and kind person any one of us could have had the privilege to meet. In my eyes, she was simply perfect.'
'We spent many years preparing for this moment but no amount of talks or planning could have prepared me for this overwhelming pain.'
'I miss her so much already. Her wisdom. Her smile. Her naughtiness. Her kind touch. Her everything. Al my love.'
'The very moment I met you I fell in love with you. We always said it was destiny that we should have met and I thank every happy thought that we did.
It comes after Gok revealed his best friend Ali had died after battling stage four breast cancer , and shared an emotional Instagram tribute earlier this year
The fashion guru penned a moving post revealing that Ali, who was also known by the name Fanny McPhee, peacefully passed away 'with her family by her side'
'Thank you for the best years of adventures and fun. Thank you for being every inch of you. You told me you were going to the stars and I believe you. I know that one day we will dance again, together in the skies.'
'You showed the world what it means to be vulnerable yet strong. You showed every one of us how to be brave. You will never know how loved you are because thats the sweet and unselfish person you are. I miss you soo much.'
'You used to tell me I am the love of your life. I used to tell you to shut up. I would do anything to hear you say that again.'
'We both agreed this song is one of the best vocals ever sung. How lucky were we to share so much music together. You will forever be in every song I love.'
'The night sky will always be brighter now that you are shining your beautiful light from the universe.'
'Rest now my dear Fanny. I will see you in the music my love. Your, Gok x.'
Many of Gok's celebrity pals shared their sympathies in the comments, with Alan Carr writing: 'Oh Gok!! Sending you so much love - utterly heartbreaking.'
Lisa Snowdon commented: 'Gok. Darling. I'm sending you so much love. What a wonderful woman and how lucky you both were to have found one another and shared so much, the laughter, the love, the dancing, so many special moments. Love to you and all who knew and loved Ali.'
In his tribute, Gok shared that he's in 'overwhelming pain' following Ali's death, and said she previously called him 'the love of her life'
Ashley James posted: 'Oh Gok, I'm so sorry and sending you love.'
Rose Ayling-Ellis said: 'I'm so sorry for your loss,' and Lorraine Kelly added: 'Gok - so sorry.'
In February, Gok revealed that he'd seen Ali for the last time following her terminal cancer diagnosis.
In his first post, shared to Instagram, he wrote: 'Fannys last night in London. Not many words left.'
'I think weve said what we need to. Now we can just sit contently - that is the true beauty of friendship.'
Following up with another photo, Gok added: 'My little heart is a tiny bit shattered today. Fanny is on her way back to OZ. Weve had such a magical 2 months, time we never thought wed have so thank you universe for making it happen.'
He continued: 'I know she has to go home to be with her amazing Son and family Ill miss the laughs and life reckoning Bon voyage t*** face.'
The BBC has delighted fans of The Repair Shop by confirming that the BAFTA-winning show will be returning to our screens in just a few weeks.
Host Jay Blades will be back alongside the the show's team of resident fixers to bring viewers a brand new season of action, despite landing a number of other shows away from the popular programme.
And fans don't have long to wait for the new slew of episodes, as the first instalment of the new series will get underway on Wednesday August 14 at 8pm on BBC One, reports The Sun.
Jay, 54, and his highly experienced team of experts will soon be back in the barn as they prepare to undertake a whole host of fascinating and heart-warming fixes.
But, with his string of exciting new ventures, the host may struggle to make time for the BBC series.
The BBC has delighted fans of The Repair Shop by confirming that the BAFTA-winning show will be returning to our screens in just a few weeks (Jay Blades pictured above)
Host Jay Blades will be back alongside the the show's team of resident fixers to bring viewers a brand new season of action, despite landing a number of other shows away from the popular programme (pictured with Claire Vassiloulis and Christopher Shaw)
The presenter has just revealed that he will front a new Channel 5 series where he will explore the rich tapestry of a country house's history.
Jay Blades: A Country House Through Time is the latest in a string of new factual programmes the presenter is hosting, and will see him explore a series of stately homes.
In the four-part series, Jay will retrace the steps of the Bridgeman family and their servants, starting from the Georgian era, through the Victorian and Edwardian times, and up to the 20th Century.
He told The Express: 'I am fascinated by history and I love hearing people's stories, I always have been. This series allowed me to combine both these passions as well as getting a taste of what life was really like at Weston Park.'
He added: 'I was lucky enough to get hands-on experience replicating some of the main jobs of the household including being a chauffeur. I loved every moment of filming it and I can't wait to share it with Channel 5 viewers.'
It comes following the news that Jay will also host West End Through Time, a two-part series that follows him exploring the origins of the West End, also for Channel 5.
In the series, Jay will delve into the capital's past by speaking with historians and local cabbies to engage in the area's evolution.
The first episode sees Jay head to Trafalgar Square in a traditional black cab before travelling to St Martins-in-the Field Church, where he learns about an exciting historical discovery.
Jay, 54, and his highly experienced team of experts will soon be back in the barn as they prepare to undertake a whole host of fascinating and heart-warming fixes
The presenter has just revealed that he will front a new Channel 5 series where he will explore the rich tapestry of a country house's history
Moving on to the 17th century when the West End truly began to become a thriving entity, the presenter looks into the story of Henry Jermyn.
This follows the success of his previous 2023 series, Jay Blades' East End Through Time, where he delved into the history of his childhood haunts.
Jay's host of new shows comes after his fitness instructor wife Lisa, 43, walked out on him in May, saying their 18-month marriage 'just got worse and worse, until I grabbed a bag of a few things and I left'.
Following reports the online fitness instructor was planning a 'quick divorce' it's now been claimed her pupils have been doing everything they can to support her.
A source told The Sun: 'There are a lot of women who have gone through hard times in their life and Lisa's exercise workouts have been a bit like therapy and helped them through.
'So, this is very much their way of trying to give something back to her'.
Adding: 'A couple of the women have even agreed to act as organisers, and have asked for people to donate funds to them, which would then be forwarded to help Lisa.'
It is unclear if Lisa has accepted the donations and MailOnline have contacted her reps for comment.
It comes after his fitness instructor wife Lisa, 43, walked out on him in May, saying their 18-month marriage 'just got worse and worse'
Following their separation Lisa has moved into a new home and is concentrating on growing her business, a source told The Sun
Last month it was claimed Lisa was planning a 'quickie' divorce after deciding there is 'no way back' for them.
She was said to have has spoken with her lawyers and has now told friends she plans to move on from the breakdown of their marriage quickly.
Following their separation Lisa has moved into a new home and is concentrating on growing her business, a source told The Sun.
MailOnline contacted Lisa's representatives for comment at the time.
She announced her split from the TV star, who she married in November 2022, in an emotional social media post on May 2.
She said: 'I have been quiet until now, but the papers seem to be picking up this story, but some parts have been definitely missed, so it's forced my hand...
'This was the whole post on a private forum: I don't know how to say this because it's still really raw.
'I probably should be really angry but I'm just incredibly sad about the whole thing right now. I don't think I've ever cried so much.
'I wanted my husband to love me & keep me safe, and I would love him right back, but it just got worse and worse, until I grabbed a bag of a few thing's & I just left. Anyway, That's why there's been no new wkouts [workouts].'
The Repair Shop is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Kylie Minogue looked sensational as she climbed onto the DJ decs to dance to her new song Edge of Saturday Night at Pikes club in Ibiza on Wednesday.
The Aussie icon, 56, showcased her age defying figure as she slipped into a skimpy cut-out bodysuit which she teamed with a dramatic pink fringed T-shirt.
Kylie completed the look with fishnets and shades as she danced alongside American DJ The Blessed Madonna, who wrote the track.
The Padam Padam hitmaker enthusiastically climbed up onto the decks as the audience cheered before making her way into the crowd.
Kylie kicked out her long toned legs and threw her arms in the air clearly loving every moment of the impromptu performance.
Kylie Minogue, 56, looked sensational as she climbed onto the DJ to dance to her new song Edge of Saturday Night at Pikes club in Ibiza on Wednesday.
The Aussie icon showcased her age defying figure as she slipped into a skimpy cut-out bodysuit which she teamed with a dramatic pink fringed T-shirt.
Kylie completed the look with fishnets and shades as she danced alongside American DJ The Blessed Madonna , who wrote the track
Sharing her own clips to Instagram, the DJ gave an insight into the origins of the new song and said how Kyle 'breathed an energy' into the upbeat dance track.
'This song is about edges. I started this song when we were on the edge of lockdown, writing lyrics on the edge of being a new person, on the edge of levelling up as a producer,' they explained.
'The song went on a journey but finally found its edge when Kylie came into my life and breathed an energy into Edge, and into me.'
It comes just hours after Kylie T shared photos to Instagram from her night out at the DC10 nightclub for the venue's iconic Circoloco dance party.
Wearing a black mini skirt and fishnet stockings, the songstress threw her hands in the air as she danced on tables.
She completed her look with a black top and chunky boots as she partied the night away with patrons at the venue.
'Well, that was fun A few more lil Ibiza mems!' she captioned the images.
Kylie has had a jam-packed year after the success of her smash hit track Padam Padam and recently became emotional as she performed at BST Hyde Park.
The Padam Padam hitmaker enthusiastically climbed up onto the decks as the audience cheered
Kylie kicked out her long toned legs and threw her arms in the air clearly loving every moment of the impromptu performance
Kylie took to the mic to introduce the track
The pop star marked a career milestone at the iconic event, returning to perform at the festival for the first time in nine years after last appearing in 2015.
'I knew you were gonna be here tonight, but you still take my breath away, thank you,' she told the 65,000 strong crowd.
'I'm really aware the last time I played BST was nine years ago, so much has happened for me, for you, for all of us. But we are here and I am so, so grateful.
'Nine years ago was so different because so many [of my] songs didn't exist,' she said, mentioning her 2023 album Tension and its success.'
'I want to bottle this feeling, every artist would. It's because of you and I wish I had a better segue but Hold onto Now,' she added, before launching into the hit song.
Amid her huge success, Kylie also recently teased how she plans to retire after being offered a lifetime Las Vegas residency, according to the Mirror.
It comes just hours after Kylie T shared photos to Instagram from her night out at the DC10 nightclub for the venue's iconic Circoloco dance party
Wearing a black mini skirt and fishnet stockings, the Padam Padam hitmaker threw her hands in the air as she danced on tables
Pictured with DJ The Blessed Madonna
'They have offered me a lifelong residency,' she told the Mirror of Voltaire, where she played her residency from November 2023 to May this year.
'Let's see, I might do the classic and end up there, it was brilliant, the shows got crazier.
'It was what I hoped it would be. It was a cross between a 70s cabaret club and Studio 54 people got quite wild.'
Frankie Skinner revealed he's 'offended' by his old 'brutal' jokes from the 1990s as he is now 'educated' by cancel culture.
The comedian, 67, said it was the 'norm' to crack racist and sexist jokes when he broke through however, he now feels woke politics has 'had an effect' on him.
Frankie admitted his comedy act has not altered due to cancel culture but instead he has 'changed' as a person since becoming a parent.
Speaking on The Today podcast, he said: 'Sometimes even on videos of me from the 90s, I see myself do a joke and I think "oh, I wouldn't do that now" because it might be a joke I now find a bit offensive.
'It's interesting this because the most asked question is "can you do stand up comedy in the age of woke politics" and all that stuff.
Frankie Skinner revealed he's 'offended' by his old 'brutal' jokes from the 1990s as he is now 'educated' by cancel culture
The comedian, 67, said it was the 'norm' to crack racist and sexist jokes when he broke through however, he now feels woke politics has 'had an effect' on him (pictured in 1995)
'But, my comedy is very autobiographical, I don't make anything up, it's just things that have happened in my life which I process through my comedy head.
'So, it's the other way around, I change and then my act changes.
'All this recent woke politics of the last 10 years, has had an effect on me, I've become a parent during that period.
'When I was growing up in the West Midlands, I got to be brutal, racist, language, sexist, language, homophobic, it was absolutely the norm.
'It wasn't that I wasn't listening to the alternate voice, there was no alternate voice. I didn't even question it.
'But I do question it now and I have questioned it a lot. I think most of us have in recent years, I don't feel forced or bullied by woke politics - I feel educated by it.'
Frankie explained he didn't feel 'bullied' by woke politics, but has learnt from it and questioned why fellow performers 'get done' for historical things they've said if they're willing to learn from it.
He continued: 'So, I see stuff now and I think I wouldn't do that now.
Frankie admitted that his comedy act has not altered due to cancel culture but instead he has 'changed' as a person since becoming a parent
'But at the same time, it's healthy to think that, because I don't want to think of my life in stasis.
'This is a problem, I think, when people get done for historical things they said or done.
'I think the idea that we can improve, the idea that you can re-think your attitudes, there's no point in woke politics if that doesn't work.'
Frank said he's been known as a 'blue comedian' during his stand-up career of which 'a lot' of it about sex.
'I don't talk about my current sex life for the same reason I don't talk about climbing trees,' he added.
'And so I thought it's time to change and to become more sophisticated and to clean up a bit because older people, and this is definitely ageist, but older people being rude sometimes can be a bit unsettling.
'And basically I failed in that task.'
Fellow comic Ricky Gervais has been incredibly vocal about his disapproval of the woke phenomenon and more recently Jimmy Carr said he will never apologise for his comedy.
Back in 2021, Ricky slammed cancel culture and described 'wokeness' as 'a weird sort of fascism' amid calls for 'the free exchange of information and ideas.'
He said: 'There's this new weird sort of fascism of people thinking they know what you can say and what you can't and it's a really weird thing. Just because you're offended it doesn't mean you're right.'
Fellow comic Ricky Gervais (L) has been incredibly vocal about his disapproval of the woke phenomenon and more recently Jimmy Carr (R) said he will never apologise for his comedy
The Afterlife star previously said on talkRadio: 'There's this new trendy myth that people who want free speech want to say awful things all the time.
'It's just isn't true, it protects everyone. If you're mildly left-wing on Twitter, you're suddenly Trotsky, right?
'If you're mildly conservative, you're Hitler and if you're centrist and you look at both arguments, you're a coward. Just because you're offended it doesn't mean you're right.'
Meanwhile Jimmy admitted he doesn't engage with criticism regarding his comedy as he argued that jokes 'are like magnets, they attract some people and repel others'.
Appearing on The Development by David Podcast, he said: 'I try not to engage. I try as best as I can to go it's absolutely valid that people don't like some of my jokes.
'Jokes are like magnets, they attract some people and repel others. Some people are repelled by my sense of humour, they do not like it and they don't come to the shows, or watch the Netflix specials.
'But when the new Netflix drops a clip will go up online and it will show up in someone's feed and they'll watch it and go, "Ban this filth, this joke is so terrible I've got to send it to everyone I f***ing know." But you gotta rightsize that.'
He recalled: 'I remember James Corden was very sweet last time I got cancelled. He phoned me and went, "What's happened? No, I'll tell you what's happened. You told a joke and some people didn't like it. That's it. Let's go get lunch".'
In his 2022 Netflix special His Dark Material, Jimmy faced backlash after he joked that the deaths of 'thousands of Gypsies' at the hands of Nazis had been one of 'the positives' of the Holocaust.
He said: 'When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy of 6 million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.
'No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.'
He then explained why he thought it was a 'good joke', saying that it was 'f**king funny', 'edgy as all hell' and because it had an 'educational quality'. The joke caused widespread backlash and prompted a debate about racism and free speech.
Emmerdale fans are unhappy with the soap's latest heartbreaking storyline and have accused it of 'ripping off' sister soap Coronation Street.
Keen followers of the iconic soap opera will be up to date with the plotline that involves Ella Forster (Paula Lane) and her shock pregnancy.
The complex character first arrived at the village earlier this year and was harbouring a huge secret about her past.
It was later revealed that she was previously known as Ruth and had actually committed murder at the age of 11, leading her to spend time in prison before relocating around Britain.
As she made the move to the Yorkshire Dales, the character got into a relationship with GP Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson), but kept her complicated history a secret.
Emmerdale fans are unhappy with the soap's latest heartbreaking storyline and are claiming it's 'ripping off' Coronation Street (Ella Forster played by Paula Lane pictured above)
A recent Corrie storyline saw Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) be under the impression she was pregnant, before finding out she instead tragically had ovarian cancer
Once Liam found out, he broke things off with her as it was too much for him, particularly after his own daughter Leanna (Mimi Slinger) was murdered.
The revelation coming to light saw Ella leave her life in Emmerdale behind back in June, but she has recently graced our screens once again following a car accident.
However, a jaw-dropping twist revealed that Ella was pregnant with Liam's baby, with her breaking the news to her friend Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley).
Things took another distressing turn when the character received the upsetting news that she wasn't actually pregnant during Tuesday's episode of the soap opera.
Troubling scenes saw the character be informed she had an anembryonic pregnancy, which is also known as a blighted ovum or silent miscarriage.
While some fans were gripped by the storyline, others were unimpressed as they made comparisons to plot points in rival programmes Coronation Street and EastEnders.
EastEnders saw Natalie Cassidy's character, Sonia Fowler, find out that she had suffered a blighted ovum, following a round of IVF and initial struggles to conceive.
Meanwhile, a recent Corrie storyline saw Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) be under the impression she was pregnant, before finding out she instead tragically had ovarian cancer.
Meanwhile, EastEnders saw Natalie Cassidy's character, Sonia Fowler, find out that she had suffered a blighted ovum, following a round of IVF and initial struggles to conceive
Keen fans of all three soap operas took to social media to compare plotlines and accuse writers of not being able to come up with 'original ideas'
Keen fans of all three soap operas took to social media to compare plotlines and accuse writers of not being able to come up with 'original ideas'.
Viewers on X (formerly Twitter), sparked conversation by quipping:
'They're doing a Toyah to Ella #Emmerdale.'
'Can these soap writers not come up with any original ideas? First Sonia in #Eastenders has a blighted ovum. Now Ella in #Emmerdale has had a blighted ovum.'
In a Reddit thread, another user remarked: 'Character is pregnant but when they go to hospital there is no baby, seems a familiar storyline for some reason Toyah Corrie.'
'So, (spoiler) Toyah in #corrie and Ella in #Emmerdale have the same storyline.'
'Ella like toyah on #corrie she thought she was prego as well #emmerdale.'
'Damn #Cancer Toyah #Corrie #Emmerdale Ella and both running same time.'
'If Ella isnt pregnant is this going to be a cancer storyline like Toyahs #Emmerdale.'
Meanwhile, a more lighthearted conversation also took place on social media following Tuesday's dramatic episode of the soap, surrounding Caleb Milligan (William Ash)
The character was chowing down on what looked like an entire chicken, presented on a chopping board
Finding the strange detail amusing, fans took to X to confirm that they weren't the only ones who noticed it
Meanwhile, a more lighthearted conversation also took place on social media following Tuesday's dramatic episode of the soap.
Caleb Milligan (William Ash) and his wife Ruby Fox-Milligan (Beth Cordingly) had headed to The Woolpack for a quiet meal after receiving the bad news that a fire had broken out at his car dealership while he was away on holiday.
But as the pair mulled over who could have been behind the suspected arson attack, viewers attention was caught by something else entirely - the food on Caleb's plate.
The character was chowing down on what looked like an entire chicken, presented on a chopping board.
Finding the strange detail amusing, fans took to X to confirm that they weren't the only ones who noticed it, hilariously writing:
'Caleb ordering a full chicken to himself #Emmerdale.'
'That was a s*** episode except for Caleb's chicken #emmerdale.'
'Is Caleb eating a whole chicken? #Emmerdale.'
'I hope the Caleb eats whole chicken for lunch scenes win something at the National Soap Awards - best storyline @emmerdale has done in ages! Burger tomorrow?!'
'Was Caleb eating a chicken, a full chicken #Emmerdale.'
'So The Woolpack must be doing alright if they can afford to dish up whole chickens as an actual dish for one #emmerdale.'
An iconic eighties pop band looked completely unrecognisable as they performed at a festival in Sheffield 43 years after releasing their global smash hit.
The Human League, made up of Phil Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, looked worlds away from their younger selves as Phillip, 68, now rocks a shaved head.
The group, who released number one hit Don't You Want Me in 1981, proved they've still got it as they took to the stage to perform to fans.
Joanne and Susan, both 61, turned heads in glamorous all black outfits complete with up hair dos and a pair of sunglasses.
The group was initially formed in the 70s, comprising of Phillip, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh.
An iconic eighties pop band looked completely unrecognisable as they performed at a festival in Sheffield 43 years after releasing their global smash hit
The Human League is made up of Joanne Catherall (left), Phil Oakey (centre) and Susan Ann Sulley (right) and released number one hit Don't You Want Me in 1981 (pictured in 1990)
But after Martyn clashed with Phillip, he and Ian quit the band in 1980.
Phillip later discovered Joanne and Susan during a night out at Crazy Daisy nightclub in Sheffield and asked them to join The Human League.
The new line-up went on to win a Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act in 1982.
Susan previously opened up about the process of joining the group, telling the Belfast Telegraph: 'Philip saw Joanne and me together at the club, but he hadn't heard us sing.
'We were obviously friends and looked after each other. We did an audition and Joanne and I got the gig.
'I was 17 and Joanne was 18 and our parents had said no to joining a band - it was something they wouldn't have contemplated.
'We eventually got them to meet Philip and when they did they realised he was very professional - it was a job, it wasn't anything weird or sinister.'
The Human League will be taking to the stage again at Colchester Castle for their 80's Calling! festival this weekend.
The group looked worlds away from their younger selves as Phil now rocks a shaved head
Later this year, The Human League will perform eight huge arena shows in the run-up to Christmas on their Generations 2024 European tour (pictured Susan)
The Human League in 1981 with former band-member Philip Adrian Wright (top left)
The trio will then go onto perform at Deva Fest at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire in August to round out their festival season.
Later this year, The Human League will perform eight huge arena shows in the run-up to Christmas on their Generations 2024 European tour.
It was announced last year that they will have two incredible support acts joining them in the likes of Cardiff, Manchester, London, Glasgow and Birmingham.
The special guests at all shows will be hitmaker Sophie Ellis-Bextor and The Human Leagues fellow 80s icons TPau.
A Coronation Street legend has teased that he could be making a spectacular return to the soap - despite his character dropping dead five years ago.
Nigel Havers could be bringing trouble to the Cobbles yet again if he reprises his role as the villainous conman Lewis Archer.
Appearing on Tuesday's instalment of Good Morning Britain, the 72-year-old actor hinted that his Corrie villain could be making a fourth shock return - but this time from beyond the grave.
His character was first seen on our TV screens back in 2009 as a love interest for Audrey Roberts, leaving her heartbroken when he stole 4,000 from Barlow's Bookies and fled the country.
The conman, who was also a male escort, returned to the soap in 2012, insisting that he is a changed man.
A Coronation Street legend has teased that he could be making a spectacular return to the soap - despite his character dropping dead five years ago
Nigel Havers could be bringing trouble to the Cobbles yet again if he reprises his role as the villainous conman Lewis Archer
However, he soon got up to his old tricks and fleeced Audrey's daughter Gail Platt out of 40,000 by pretending to be in love with her, before leaving again.
And just when the family thought they had escaped Lewis, he made a comeback for a third time five years later, putting a plan in motion with a clairvoyant in order to extort more cash from Gail.
He was eventually caught out and was forced to return the money and spend two months in jail, which led Audrey to think he was finally a changed man.
But, in classic soap opera style, there was no happy ending and instead their relationship ended when Nigel Havers' character passed away suddenly on New Year's Day in 2019.
Speaking to GMB hosts Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh, the actor confessed: 'We always talk about Corrie.. You never know, I may come back!'
And although this is the biggest hint yet, it's not the first time Nigel has teased the character's comeback.
Chatting on Loose Women back in 2019, he said he would 'always' love to return to the soap.
The actor said she 'absolutely loved' playing the villainous character and while it seemed unlikely at the time that Nigel could ever return to the soap, the panel went onto say that there are still conspiracy theories that his character is alive.
Appearing on Tuesday's instalment of Good Morning Britain , the 72-year-old actor hinted that his Corrie villain could be making a fourth shock return - but this time from beyond the grave
His character was first seen on our TV screens back in 2009 as a love interest for Audrey Roberts, leaving her heartbroken when he stole 4,000 from Barlow's Bookies and fled the country
The conman, who was also a male escort, returned to the soap in 2012, insisting that he is a changed man.
Jst when the family thought they had escaped Lewis, he made a comeback for a third time five years later, putting a plan in motion with a clairvoyant in order to extort more cash from Gail
During the interview, Nigel reflected on his time playing Lewis, alongside his ongoing romance with Audrey Roberts.
Despite his wicked ways, many soap fans grew to love their relationship, and fans were stunned when he dropped dead of a heart attack with an engagement ring for Audrey in his hands.
When asked whether he could ever be resurrected, Nigel said: 'I'd always go back. I absolutely loved doing it.
'The people are so nice and the story lines are so great. I call myself a letterbox actor which means anything that comes through the letterbox, I do.'
He continued: 'I played a charmer years ago and this was an updated version. In the end I turned out to be really nice. I had the engagement ring in my pocket.'
The panel went onto reveal that there are conspiracy theories rife that Lewis is still alive, and Nigel refused to confirm or deny the possibility that we could see him in Weatherfield again in the future.
He added: 'You just don't know. Or he has a twin brother somewhere. Or maybe I'm in Barbados waiting to come back.'
It comes as legendary actress Helen Worth, 73, recently announced she will leave the cobbles for good after 50 years, and show bosses are pulling at all the stops.
It comes as legendary actress Helen Worth, 73, recently announced she will leave the cobbles for good after 50 years, and show bosses are pulling at all the stops (pictured in 2019)
According to The Sun , Gail will have a happy ending after all as she will l rekindle her romance with Martin Platt and sail off into the sunset
According to The Sun, Gail will have a happy ending after all as she will l rekindle her romance with Martin Platt and sail off into the sunset.
Sean Wilson, 59, who is widely known for his role as Martin in the ITV soap, will reportedly make his return for her final scenes after quitting the show in 2005 to become a cheese-maker.
And although the pair's ten-year union ended when Sean's character Martin had an affair, he is considered the most successful relationship in Gail's previous five marriages.
A source told The Sun: 'A number of options were considered for Gails departure from the cobbles but bosses knew the moment needed to truly celebrate one of Corries most iconic characters as well as honour Helens astonishing run on the soap.'
'It just didnt sit right to kill her off or have Gail suffer more tragedy after, lets face it, a pretty traumatic life.
'Martin was always considered the one that got away and bosses are thrilled theyve been able to tempt Sean back to wave Gail goodbye.'
The source also revealed viewers should expect to see 'many twists and turns' but the scriptwriters want Gail's story to end with a happy ending.
MailOnline has contacted ITV representatives for comment.
Suri Cruise, the daughter of Katie Holmes, 45, and Tom Cruise, 61, was spotted stepping out with pals on Wednesday in New York City.
The teen cut a casual figure in an off-the-shoulder ribbed dark green top, paired with colorful baggy trousers.
Suri, 18, wore slip on sandals and had a large bag slung over one shoulder.
The brunette teenager - who is now using her mother's middle name as a last name - is set to head off to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh in the fall.
Suri Cruise , the daughter of Katie Holmes , 45, and Tom Cruise , 61, was spotted stepping out with pals on Wednesday in New York City
The teen cut a casual figure in an off-the-shoulder ribbed dark green top, paired with colorful baggy trousers
Her sighting comes weeks after she attended her high school prom with with her boyfriend Toby Cohen.
Suri revealed her college in a TikTok where she and her friends wore each other their chosen college's sweatshirt, revealing the name to the camera.
The teen, whose famous father has had no part in her upbringing, has always been determined to forge her own way.
She applied to a host of colleges with the artistic teen 'leaning towards' studying fashion.
Carnegie Mellon's School of Design is one of the oldest and most highly ranked programs in the country.
Now, with her acceptance into its hallowed halls, a notably chic mother and a wardrobe said to be worth $5million, Suri is off to the best possible start if that is her chosen path.
One insider told DailyMail.com: 'She is a smart girl, and she is turning into a very intelligent mature young woman. She has a very close group of loyal friends, and she knows exactly where she comes from.'
But though Holmes will surely be proud of her daughter's stellar achievement sources say she is 'overwhelmed' at the thought of sending her little girl off to college.
Speaking recently, one told DailyMail.com: 'Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective.'
Perhaps it's little wonder given that, for the past 11 years, Holmes has effectively raised Suri solo.
Dad Cruise seen with a very young Suri on the streets of Manhattan in 2008 when he was still wed to Holmes; seen in 2008
MailOnline revealed in 2016 that Katie feared she would lose Suri to Scientology, after seeing how Tom's first wife Nicole Kidman became distanced from the children she adopted with him - pictured in 2018
Katie and Tom are pictured with a baby Suri in 2006 - heading to their wedding rehearsal dinner in Italy
Tom's only input to his daughter's life has been financial and he hasn't been seen with his daughter since 2013, after Holmes quit both the marriage and the Church of Scientology the religion to which Cruise is so devoted.
According to their divorce settlement, Cruise agreed to pay Holmes $400,000 a year until Suri turned 18 and will continue to pay for her college fees as well.
Under the terms of their agreement, though he may be physically absent from his daughter's life, he has and will continue to cover, 'medical, dental, insurance, education, college and other extracurricular costs.'
Hollywood legend Vin Diesel gate crashed a German TikTok star's secret wedding last week.
The actor, 57, sweetly posed with the bride and groom during their nuptials after he unexpectedly came across them while on his way to a film set.
Just moments after German influencer Matthias Hoehn, 28, and his wife Lejila tied the knot in Munich, they spotted Vin getting out of a limo.
As the car stopped, Vin's security guard stepped out of the limo and told the newlyweds: I have someone who would like to congratulate you on your wedding.'
The A-lister happened to come across the couple as he arrived in Germany after travelling across Europe.
Hollywood legend Vin Diesel, 57, gate crashed a German TikTok star's secret wedding last week (Matthias Hoehn and his wife Lejila pictured)
Just moments after German influencer Matthias Hoehn, 28, and his wife Lejila tied the knot in Munich, they spotted Vin getting out of a limo
Speaking of the moment, the gorgeous bride told German newspaper Bild: 'It was pure coincidence. Vin Diesel was driving past our photo location in a car.'
She added: 'Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where he was going. We were too excited to ask. But he was in a very good mood. A very likable person, so friendly and accommodating.'
'He even took some time for us and, among other things, wished us lots of love, happiness and health in our marriage. It was such an amazing feeling.'
Matthias, who boasts 1.4million followers on TikTok, married Lejla in an intimate ceremony after meeting in October 2023.
He is known for playing the hardman in action movies, but Vin Diesel is now making a name for himself in the music world.
The Fast and Furious star is the surprise guest vocal on Dimitri Vegas and Zion's new dance track 'Don't Stop The Music'.
DJ and producer Dimitri said he was desperate to get the Hollywood star involved as he knew he would bring something special to it.
Dimitri also felt the track could be the start of a new career for Vin - whose voice is easily recognisable as the track begins.
The actor sweetly posed with the bride and groom during their nuptials after he unexpectedly came across them while on his way to a film set
The A-lister was happened to come across the couple as he arrived in Germany after travelling across Europe
Matthias, who boasts 1.4million followers on TikTok, married Lejla in an intimate ceremony after meeting in October 2023
'I was super happy when Vin confirmed to be on the track, I knew his voice would really make this even more powerful,' said Dimitri - who is part of Belgian duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike.
'Vin is an incredible actor and massive force on the screen, I'm sure he's going to have the same success in music as he has in the film world.'
The Pacifier star isn't the first celebrity to team up with Dimitri, as he has previously worked with Paris Hilton to make her song 'Best Friend's Ass'.
Meanwhile, Nicole Scherzinger joined him at his Ibiza residency at Ushuaia a couple of years ago to perform their hit 'The Drop', which also featured David Guetta.
Emma Corrin and Rami Malek looked chic and summery as they stepped out for a date night in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.
The couple, who have been dating since 2923, were spotted outside city's legendary Bel Air hotel during their latest appearance together.
Emma, 28 - currently taking a break from promoting their new film Deadpool & Wolverine - and Rami, 43, both opted for casual looks on the night.
The Crown star - who identifies as non-binary - wore a pair of wide, loose-fitting black trousers with a diagonal ruffled pattern and a simple white tank top.
They accessorised with a pair of heavily tinted black sunglasses and plain black flip flops.
Emma Corrin and Rami Malek looked chic and summery as they stepped out on a date night in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening
The couple, who have been dating since last year, were spotted outside The Bel Air hotel on Wednesday evening looking relaxed and chic in the warm evening
Rami, wore a pair of cream chinos and a light cotton shirt. He added a cream cap to his look and sported a pair of black and white Adidas sambas for the warm evening.
The Crown actor has been promoting their latest project which sees the star play the character of Charles Xavier aka Professor X's evil sister Cassandra Nova in the new Marvel crossover, which features Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reprise their titular roles.
Last week, Emma and their cast mates took to the stage at San Diego Comic-Con to host a secret screening of the Marvel crossover film.
But Emma has been taking a break from the press tour and was seen on Monday looking relaxed with their partner Rami.
Emma, who played Princess Diana in The Crown, opted for a loose-fitting vest top and ripped denim shorts as they draped their arm around the No Time To Die actor.
The pair have only been dating for a year, having been first spotted together last summer at a Bruce Springsteen gig in Hyde Park.
They were soon seen together again looking 'besotted' on a dinner date in Margate, Kent.
However, their relationship was confirmed only in September when they were photographed kissing while on a London walk.
Bond villain Rami had previously been in a five-year relationship with British actress Lucy Boynton, but they separated in early 2023 (pictured together in February 2020)
And at the BAFTA Awards in February, they looked particularly smitten.
In June, they reportedly moved into a 5 million house together in Hampstead, North London
A source told The Sun at the time: 'They have got a 5million house together in Hampstead and moved in together a few weeks ago.
'Rami and Emma are both really serious about each other Even though they've only been dating for 11 months they are moving quickly because for them, this relationship feels like forever.'
Bond villain Rami had previously been in a five-year relationship with British actress Lucy Boynton, but they separated in early 2023 after apparently 'growing apart'.
However by this summer, rumours began to fly about a blossoming romance between Rami and Emma, with sources dishing about their 'loved-up dates'.
'They were very passionate and looking into each other's eyes,' said a source who caught sight of them at the restaurant.
'Rami and Emma just seemed totally besotted with each other and paid no attention to anyone else.'
Michelle Williams was spotted out and about in New York City with her daughter Matilda Ledger on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old Dawson's Creek alum held hands with 18-year-old Matilda, whose father is the late Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died in 2008 at age 28.
Their outing comes amid news that Britney Spears' memoir The Woman In Me - which Michelle successfully narrated - is set to become a major motion picture.
Matilda stood slightly taller than the petite actress, who was clad in a yellow, patterned shift dress.
The mother-of-three, who also shares two kids with husband Thomas Kail, 47, accessorized with a lime green netted purse and dark sunglasses.
Her casual summer look was punctuated with a pair of brown, leather sandals.
Michelle Williams, 43, was spotted out and about in New York City with her daughter Matilda Ledger, 18, on Tuesday
Matilda stood slightly taller than the petite actress, who was clad in a yellow, patterned shift dress
Michelle's short blond hair was parted on the side and slicked behind her ears.
Her teenage daughter wore a vintage, white Cassius Clay T-shirt with loose-fitting white pants with a red stripe going down the sides of the legs.
Cassius Clay is the birth name of late boxer Muhammad Ali who was born in 1942.
Her tousled light brown hair was parted down the middle as it fell around her face and over her shoulders.
The teen carried a black tote over her shoulder as she flaunted a short, lime green manicure.
Matilda's getup was finished with a pair of black Adidas sneakers.
For her 18th birthday last October, she received a sentimental gift from the paternal side of her family.
The Ledgers gifted her Heath's Best Supporting Actor Oscar, which he won posthumously for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
Heath's parents, Kim and Sally Ledger, and older sister Kate accepted the trophy on his behalf during the 2009 Oscars.
The 43-year-old Dawson's Creek alum held hands with 18-year-old Matilda, whose father is the late actor Heath Ledger
Matilda's father, Australian actor Heath Ledger, died in 2008 at the age of 28
Williams was in a relationship with Ledger from 2004 to 2007 after meeting on the set of Brokeback Mountain; pictured in 2005
The actor passed away after taking a fatal cocktail of drugs, leaving behind his daughter, who was two-years-old at the time.
Williams, who was in a relationship with Heath from 2004 to 2007 after meeting on the set of Brokeback Mountain, chose to raise Matilda away from the spotlight.
She moved to Upstate New York and said that the move came from her desire to provide 'a sane home environment' for her daughter.
She told the New York Post in June 2016: 'We moved we left Brooklyn and lived in the country for six years because it was an intolerable state of existence.'
Years later, Michelle returned to the city.
Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B has filed for divorce from her estranged husband Offset after seven years of marriage.
The 31-year-old performer is reportedly 'seeking primary custody' of their children Kulture, five, and a son, Wave, two.
'Theyve grown apart. Thats what drove her to this decision more than anything else,' an insider told Page Six. 'This is something she wants to do.'
The reports come just one day after Offset denied he was unfaithful.
On Thursday, Offset denied that he was out 'publicly cheating' after he was seen sitting next to a woman called PrettyRedz at a casino.
Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B has filed for divorce after six years of marriage from her estranged husband Offset; seen in 2019
'People really need to do the research I'm at a public place gambling at a casino with a married 8 month pregnant woman. [What the f***] I look like being outside publicly cheating [shaking my head!' he said during an Instagram Live.
Offset's (born Kiari Kendrell Cephus) vehement denial of the cheating rumors wound up confusing people into thinking he was referring to his 31-year-old wife as pregnant, which her rep quickly denied to TMZ on Wednesday.
PrettyRedz is actually seven months pregnant with the child of her late husband Kyng Rocky, who tragically passed away on June 18.
'It's completely crazy that I even have to do this! Please! If not for me, please respect my late husband! I am just beginning to grieve! Having a night out with my family is definitely not an opportunity for click bait!' PrettyRedz wrote via Instastory on Tuesday.
'I am carrying the last gift my husband will give this Earth! All I want is peace! If [you're] looking for a story, there is nothing to see here! Please respect all families involved. Y'all make up things not caring about the impact! Please stop. I'm pregnant as well! You people are sick [as f***] out here [shaking my head].'
The on/off hip-hop power couple allegedly separated again last November, but they put on a strong united front at Disneyland Paris with their children on July 9.
While gracing the cover of Rolling Stone's June issue, she spoke about their relationship and what attracted her to him.
'When I met Offset, he was super rich and I just got my f***ing first $200,000 in the bank,' she recalled. 'He never made me feel like I was little to him. He actually always used to tell me, "You a f***ing superstar, watch.'"
She is seeking primary custody of their children Kulture, five, and a son, Wave, two (seen in 2023)
His support was a breath of fresh air, compared to a previous partner, who she said would make her feel too loud, broke and skinny.
'Once I cut him off and I stopped caring about what he [thought] about me, I started doing videos on Instagram. Thats how I got famous,' the WAP hitmaker remembered.
While discussing the challenges in her marriage, the performer admitted they both had their own shortcomings.
'We have our own bad stuff,' she said. 'Were from two different worlds. Sometimes I cannot be not that I cannot be a wife. Its just like, my career takes my life. You know what Im saying? My career comes first, then my kids come second. And then sometimes I dont realize that Im putting so many things before my relationship.'
Still, the performer says she doesn't 'want to grow.'
Offset and Cardi (born Belcalis Almanzar) previously separated from December 5, 2018 to January 31, 2019 amid cheating allegations
The three-time Grammy nominee and the Grammy winner went on their first date at the 2017 Super Bowl, and they've been married for over six years; seen in 2023
'I remember last year when we was going through our hard time. And its like, Put your album out. Youre overstressing. When was the last time we went on a vacation? And its like, I dont got time to go on a vacation, because this comes first. This comes first and then my kids come second. The little things I have to take care of then comes. I sometimes feel like I do probably put my relationship last,' Cardi stated.
When asked if she had made a decision about her relationship, the Grammy winner explained that she and Offset are 'best friends.'
'We think it through, because we do love each other. Its not even about love. Were best friends. And its like, "OK. Well, there was a time that I didnt have a best friend, or I didnt have a support system." Its not even about "How do you leave a partner? How do you stop talking to your best friend,"' she explained.
Offset and Cardi (born Belcalis Almanzar) previously separated from December 5, 2018 to January 31, 2019 amid cheating allegations.
Offset and Cardi are proud parents of six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son (pictured in 2023)
The three-time Grammy nominee and the Grammy winner went on their first date at the 2017 Super Bowl, and they've been married for over six years.
Offset and Cardi are proud parents of six-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.
The Georgia-born ex-con fathered 14-year-old son Jordan Cephus with babymama #1 Oriel Jamie.
Offset also fathered nine-year-old son Kody Cephus with babymama #2 Justine Watson and nine-year-old daughter Kalea Marie Cephus with babymama #3 Shya L'amour.
The Migos alum - who gets 31.5M monthly listeners on Spotify - is next scheduled to headline the second day of Chinese music festival Hype Fest, which takes place August 11 at the Hangzhou Steelworks Park.
Offset originally began his career at age 11 in 2002 as a back-up dancer for Whitney Houston's music video for her single Whatchulookinat.
Meanwhile, the half-Dominican, half-Trinidadian star has yet to release the sophomore follow-up to her 2018 debut studio album Invasion of Privacy.
Sharon Stone showed off a black eye in a photo that went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The blonde Oscar nominee has been traveling throughout Europe this summer - she has been in Cannes, Rome and Turkey.
The Basic Instinct actress said that the trip has been 'tough' but she is 'tougher' as she posed in a black and white outfit.
Fans were concerned about what happened to the 66-year-old former Playboy model.
And on Thursday morning the Casino star explained exactly how she got bruised in an Instagram post from Turkey that was captioned, 'Black eye update.'
Sharon Stone showed off a black eye in a photo that went viral on social media on Wednesday. The blonde Oscar nominee has been traveling throughout Europe this summer - she has been in Cannes, Rome and Turkey
The Basic Instinct actress said that the trip has been 'tough' but she is 'tougher' as she posed in a black and white outfit. Fans were concerned about what happened to the 66-year-old former Playboy model. And on Thursday morning the Casino star explained exactly how she got bruised in an Instagram post captioned, 'Black eye update'
'I know you're all worried about how I got a black eye so I thought I would let you know,' she began her video.
The star was outside her villa in Turkey.
'I've been in so many hotels and so many countries, I got up in the middle of the night to pee and didn't know where I was and smacked my face on the marble,' she explained.
'No, nobody did anything to me and, yes, I'm just fine and I'm having a great time and I'm being welcomed very beautifully on my trip,' added The Specialist actress.
'Everywhere that I've gone and I'm having just the greatest time,' she continued.
She then raised up her black sunglasses so her black eye could be seen.
The pal of Faye Dunaway wore a Love Vote T-shirt and a beige straw hat as she stood in front of a swimming pool
'Everywhere that I've gone and I'm having just the greatest time,' she continued. She then raised up her sunglasses so her black eye could be seen
She wore a Vote T-shirt and a straw hat as she stood in front of a swimming pool
The mother to three sons said: 'It's getting better, but it really is a good looking shiner.
'You should see what I did to that marble floor,' she laughed.
Then she seemed touched: 'Thanks so much for caring about me, I care about you too. Thank you.'
Olympic archer Mauro Nespoli found himself compared to Eminem while competed with Team Italy at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
The Italian athlete, 36, stepped up to the mark sporting a tight-fitting blue T-shirt as he took part in the men's archery event.
However, his facial expressions, close cropped beard and bucket hat prompted fans viewers to make the hilarious comparison with the rapper.
Taking to X, one fan proceeded to post a snap of Mauro with the accompanying caption: 'Italian Eminem.'
Viewers then flocked to the comment section to express their shock at the uncanny resemblance.
Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to hysterically compare Olympics athlete Mauro Nespoli (seen at the Paris Olympics earlier this week) to Eminem
During the Paris Olympics on Monday, the Italian athlete, 36, stepped up to the mark sporting a tight-fitting blue T-shirt and rocked a thick beard and a staunch glare
One viewer joked: 'Italian Eminem eating mom's spaghetti it all makes sense now.'; 'You only get one shot'; 'All the other slim shady's are just imitating.'; 'so accurate lmao.'; 'Wow he is honestly looking like pro max Eminem, his more cute.'
It seems the observation has also reached Mauro, who took to his Instagram to share a hilarious post where his and Eminem's faces were swapped.
Mauro was competing in the men's team archery quarter-final earlier this week, however, Italy were defeated 6-2 by France.
He is ranked fifth in the world in men's recurve archery and is a three-time Olympic medalist.
After making his international debut in 2002, he took the team silver medal at Beijing in 2008, team gold at London in 2012, and an individual silver at Tokyo in 2020.
It comes after Eminem revealed the real reason he invented his alter ego Slim Shady.
In an interview with Complex, where the rapper, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, verbally sparred with an AI-generated version of himself, he revealed that he invented the iconic persona to resurrect his career.
In the video, entitled Slim Shady vs Marshall Mathers: The Face-Off, the rapper told his former self that he was outdated and was ready to kill him off.
Taking to X, Today Years Old proceeded to post a snap of Mauro with his game face on captioning the post with: 'Italian Eminem #Paris2024'
Viewers then flocked to the comment section to express their shock at the uncanny resemblance
It seems the observation has also reached Mauro, who took to his Instagram to share a hilarious post where his and Eminem's faces were swapped
He said: 'I invented you because my life was f****d up. My music was going nowhere and I was broke.'
He added that the character had made his life worse and didn't fix any of his problems.
He said: 'You're the reason I had to self-medicate. Because of you I almost lost my f*****g career, my f*****g family, my life.'
He also admitted that his life had been much better after moving away from the persona, referencing his battle with substance abuse.
The rapper has been sober for 16 years and has documented his previous struggles with alcohol and prescription drugs.
Throughout the video, the two went head to head, trading insults and comparing their careers.
Eminem, dressed in a black hoodie, grey trousers and a matching cap scolds his bleached blonde persona throughout the interview, telling his character he is outdated and offensive and defending his 20-year career.
It comes after Eminem revealed the real reason he invented his alter ego Slim Shady (pictured performing in Detroit in June)
A look at China's economic data in H1 of 2024 Pub Date:24-08-01 11:02 Source:China Daily China's economy demonstrated a stable expansion in the first half of 2024, which was underpinned by policy incentives, a rebound in external demand, and the emergence of new quality productive forces. Editor:Zheng Chen
Related News US execs eye opportunities in Chinese supp... Public tourism services to get boost Anhui Releases the 2023 Green Transportati... Xinhua Headlines: AI tech speeds up China'...
EQS-Ad-hoc: LION E-Mobility AG / Key word(s): Change in Forecast
LION E-Mobility AG - Adjustment of the outlook for the 2024 financial year
01-Aug-2024 / 17:30 CET/CEST
Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
LION E-Mobility AG - Adjustment of the outlook for the 2024 financial year LION E-Mobility AG announces an adjustment to its outlook for the 2024 financial year. Together with the publication of the 2023 annual report, the 2024 outlook was confirmed, according to which revenue for the 2024 financial year is expected to be in the range of 60 million to 65 million, which corresponds to growth of around 11% and an expected EBITDA of 0.5 million to 1 million. Due to the current market situation, especially in view of the current oversupply on the battery market, the management expects that sales will be partially postponed until 2025 and that sales of no more than 42million will be achieved in 2024 which could lead to a slightly negative EBITDA.
End of Inside Information
Information and Explanation of the Issuer to this announcement:
About LION E-Mobility AG
LION E-Mobility AG is a manufacturer of lithium-ion battery packs. The company offers customized plug-and-play solutions for electric vehicles as well as for stationary and industrial applications. With a current annual production capacity of 2 GWh, LION is ideally positioned to address the growing demand for high-performance energy storage solutions. The company operates highly automated module assembly lines at its own production facility in Germany. LION's battery packs offer the highest standards in terms of safety, quality, and reliability. Founded in 2011, LION E-Mobility AG (ISIN: CH0560888270, WKN: A2QH 97) is listed on the stock exchanges in Munich, Frankfurt, and Hamburg www.lionemobility.com
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Statements that express or contain forecasts, expectations, views, plans, goals and assumptions regarding future events or performance are not considered historical facts and may therefore be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations, estimates and plans at the time the statements were made, and therefore involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those currently anticipated become. LION E-Mobility AG is under no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release. 01-Aug-2024 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
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On Thursday, Emma Roberts gave her captive combined 26.1M social media followers a much closer look at the large diamond engagement ring she happily accepted from her towering fiance Cody John on July 16.
The 33-year-old bride-to-be's announcement had received congratulatory comments from a slew of celebrities: Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale, Billie Lourd, Julianne Hough, Kristin Chenoweth, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, JoJo, Isla Fisher, AnnaSophia Robb, Frances Bean Cobain, Nina Dobrev, Eiza Gonzalez, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Luann de Lesseps, Helena Christensen, Maria Sharapova, Jonathan Scott, and Lukas Gage.
But Emma's former Scream Queens co-star Lea Michele - who's pregnant with her second child - went one step further, commenting: 'Already planning the bachelorette! So happy for you babe!'
It's been eight years since Roberts and the expecting 37-year-old portrayed Chanel Oberlin and Hester Ulrich aka Chanel #6 in the Ryan Murphy satirical slasher, which aired for two seasons on Fox.
August marks the Space Cadet producer-star's two-year anniversary of dating the 33-year-old actor, whose film Jaunt premiered at the LA Greek Film Festival on June 8 following his guest-star gig on the April 29th episode of CBS' NCIS.
On Thursday, Emma Roberts (L) gave her captive combined 26.1M social media followers a much closer look at the large diamond engagement ring she happily accepted from her towering fiance Cody John (R) on July 16
Emma originally met Cody through mutual friends, and nothing is known about their relationship aside from the fact that they affectionately call each other 'sheesh.'
Roberts was previously engaged to her Adult World leading man Evan Peters, whom she dated between 2012-2019.
Also included in the former child star's new Instagram slideshow labeled 'Goodbye July' was her three-year-old son Rhodes Robert Hedlund from her two-year relationship with Desperation Road actor Garrett Hedlund, which ended in 2021.
'[Being a mom is] the best and crazy,' Emma told Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Kathryn Hahn on July 9.
'Everyone says there's terrible twos, but twos were amazing because you just cart them around with you. And then threes, they're like they're becoming their own person and all they say is "No" and put me down. And all I want to do is cuddle and have them say yes.'
While on the New Jersey set of her film Maybe I Do back in 2022, Roberts' co-star Diane Keaton picked up little Rhodes and she exclaimed: 'Oh my God. I have tears in my eyes more than the day you were born!'
But the AHS: Delicate star forgot to take a picture since she 'was trying to enjoy the moment.'
'Big mistake. Huge,' Emma said quoting her famous aunt Julia Robert's film Pretty Woman.
The 33-year-old bride-to-be's announcement had received congratulatory comments from a slew of celebrities including Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale, Billie Lourd, Julianne Hough, Luann de Lesseps, Helena Christensen, and more
But Emma's former Scream Queens co-star Lea Michele - who's pregnant with her second child - went one step further, commenting: 'Already planning the bachelorette! So happy for you babe!'
It's been eight years since Roberts and the expecting 37-year-old (L) portrayed Chanel Oberlin and Hester Ulrich aka Chanel #6 in the Ryan Murphy satirical slasher, which aired for two seasons on Fox
August marks the Space Cadet producer-star's two-year anniversary of dating the 33-year-old actor (R, pictured July 9), whose film Jaunt premiered at the LA Greek Film Festival on June 8 following his guest-star gig on the April 29th episode of CBS' NCIS
Emma originally met Cody through mutual friends, and nothing is known about their relationship aside from the fact that they affectionately call each other 'sheesh' (pictured February 10)
Roberts was previously engaged to her Adult World leading man Evan Peters (R, pictured in 2018), whom she dated between 2012-2019
Also included in the former child star's new Instagram slideshow labeled 'Goodbye July' was her three-year-old son Rhodes Robert Hedlund from her two-year relationship with Desperation Road actor Garrett Hedlund, which ended in 2021
Emma told Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Kathryn Hahn (R) on July 9: '[Being a mom is] the best and crazy. Everyone says there's terrible twos, but twos were amazing because you just cart them around with you'
Roberts added: 'And then threes, they're like they're becoming their own person and all they say is "No" and put me down. And all I want to do is cuddle and have them say yes'
The AHS: Delicate star might be close with her Oscar-winning aunt Julia Roberts, but she is estranged from her biological father Eric Roberts (L, pictured in 2004), who left when she was seven months old
The 68-year-old Oscar nominee promised to 'delve into the complicated relationship with his daughter' in his 304-page memoir Runaway Train, co-authored by Sam Kashner, which St. Martin's Press will publish on September 17
'Whenever I'm like, "I'm being present." I'm like, "I should've taken a picture." Like, why was I being present? Take a photo.'
Roberts is estranged from her biological father Eric Roberts, who left when she was seven months old and hasn't been pictured with her since 2004.
The 68-year-old Oscar nominee promised to 'delve into the complicated relationship with his daughter' in his 304-page memoir Runaway Train, co-authored by Sam Kashner, which St. Martin's Press will publish on September 17.
The Belletrist co-founder will next executive produce the eight-episode second season of Meaghan Oppenheimer's 2007-set college drama Tell Me Lies, which premieres September 4 on Hulu.
Emma's upcoming acting projects include Alexis Ostrander's thriller Fourth Wall, I. Marlene King's series Calabasas, Meaghan Oppenheimer's comedy series Second Wife for Hulu, Nathan Smith's animated film Saurus City, and Katie Locke O'Brien's comedy Hot Mess.
Worryingly, Roberts' last three films have received absolutely dismal reviews from critics - Space Cadet (27%), Madame Web (11%), and Maybe I Do (32%).
It has been 35 years since the world was introduced to Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
The two stars will reunite in 2025 to co-star in a new adventure.
They are taking their talents to Broadway to star in the latest adaptation of Samuel Beckett's existential classic Waiting for Godot.
'We're incredibly excited to be on stage together and work with the great Jamie Lloyd in one of our favorite plays,' Reeves, 59, and Winter, 59, said in a joint statement.
Reeves who is known as the nicest guy in Hollywood makes his Broadway debut as Estragon and Winter will be Vladimir in the play which will run in 2025 in an as-yet- to-be-disclosed theater on the Great White Way.
It has been 35 years since the world was introduced to Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
The two stars will reunite in 2025 to co-star in a new adventure, seen here in 1991
Reeves and Winter became instant friends when they starred in Bill & Ted in 1989, the film went on to become a cult classic and the two actors reprised their roles for sequels in 1991 and 2020.
They clicked instantly upon meeting, something they both acknowledge as rare.
'That happens in life very rarely,' Winter told SyFy Wire. 'We have a very similar perspective. Keanu is a very smart fella, and I enjoy his intellect and the way he looks at the world. And we laugh our butts off.'
'I think of him as my brother,' Reeves said in an interview with the New York Times.
'We enjoy each other's company and our thoughts and takes on the world. When we come together, it's like, 'What are you thinking?' 'I don't know, but this is kind of funny.' ''Yeah, that's kind of weird too.''
Waiting for Godot centers on two men, Vladimir and Estragon, who meet up and have conversations throughout the play. The passage of time is marked by the tree they meet at.
In the beginning of the play, it is barren, but as the scenes progress, it begins to grow leaves again.
The official logline for the play states: 'In Waiting for Godot, two wandering tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a lonely tree, to meet up with Mr. Godot, an enigmatic figure in a world where time, place and memory are blurred and meaning is where you find it. The tramps hope that Godot will change their lives for the better.'
They are taking their talents to Broadway to star in the latest adaptation of Samuel Beckett's existential classic Waiting for Godot
'We're incredibly excited to be on stage together and work with the great Jamie Lloyd in one of our favorite plays,' Reeves, 59, and Winter, 59, said in a joint statement, pictured here with their partners Alexandra Grant and Ramsey Ann Naito at the 2023 MOCA Gala in Los Angeles
Reeves who is known as the nicest guy in Hollywood makes his Broadway debut as Estragon and Winter will be Vladimir in the play which will run in 2025 in an as-yet- to-be-disclosed theater on the Great White Way, pictured here at 2024 San Diego Comic Con
Reeves and Winter became instant friends when they starred in Bill & Ted in 1989, the film went on to become a cult classic and the two actors reprised their roles for sequels in 1991 and 2020, seen here at the premiere of John Wick Chapter 4 in 2023
They clicked instantly upon meeting, something they both acknowledge as rare, seen here in 2024
The original play was written in French by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett between 1948 and 1949 and made its world premiere in Paris in 1953.
The new production of Godot will be helmed by Jamie Lloyd. His credits on Broadway include Sunset Blvd,, Cyrano de Bergerac and Romeo & Juliet, among others.
Lloyd said, 'It is a real honor to be collaborating with the brilliant Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter on Samuel Becketts sublime masterpiece one of the greatest plays of all time,' per Deadline.
Waiting for Godot is produced by The Jamie Lloyd Company, ATG Productions, Bad Robot Live and Gavin Kalin Productions. 101 Productions will serve as general manager.
Salma Hayek made a splash as she kicked off the first day of August.
The actress, 57, put on a busty display in a vibrant pink and green Pour Moi bikini as she dove into a pool in video she shared to her Instagram on the first of the month.
'Diving into August,' she captioned the post.
Salma stood at one end of the pool before she jumped into the water.
After just a few seconds underwater, she returned for air.
Salma Hayek made a splash as she kicked off the first day of August
She also included this sizzling snap wearing the Pour Moi Portofino bikini in her post
The video followed a similar post Salma shared the day prior, which captured her relaxing poolside in the same bikini.
The Olympic Games Paris torch carrier - turning 58 on September 2 - relaxed on a sun lounger floating in a swimming pool.
Salma - who boasts 32.7M social media followers - captioned her eye-popping Instagram slideshow: 'Waiting for August!'
Hayek (born Jimenez) previously revealed she stays fit by practicing restorative yoga, juice cleanses, and walking her numerous dogs whom she's called her 'trainers.'
'I thought getting older meant I wasn't going to work. I'm working. I thought getting older maybe meant that you're not in love anymore. I'm in love,' the half-Mexican, half-Lebanese American told Glamour last year.
'I don't feel that I lost my flexibility or my agility or even my strength...Hell, I'm still going. Shocker. I'm still here. They tried to get rid of me a thousand ways. I'm still here.'
Salma's fans marveled at her youthful 'bombshell' appearance giving 'mermaid vibes' with one writing: '57 years and still one of the hottest women on Earth!'
Hayek is next scheduled to co-host the third annual Caring for Women gala on September 9 at The Pool in Midtown Manhattan alongside Kim Kardashian, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Naomi Watts, Matthew McConaughey, Donatella Versace, and more.
She emerged from the water for a breath of air
The actress dove into the pool
'Diving into August,' she captioned the post
The video followed a similar post Salma shared the day prior, which captured her relaxing poolside in the same bikini
The Olympic Games Paris torch carrier - turning 58 on September 2 - relaxed on a sun lounger floating in a swimming pool
Salma - who boasts 32.7M social media followers - captioned her eye-popping Instagram slideshow: 'Waiting for August!'
Hayek's fans marveled at her youthful 'bombshell' appearance giving 'mermaid vibes' with one writing: '57 years and still one of the hottest women on Earth!'
The live auction - which raised $3M last year for victims of gender-based violence - is presented by the Kering Foundation run by the Oscar nominee's husband of 15 years, Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault.
The 62-year-old French billionaire said in a statement last Thursday: 'For women and children to be free to fulfill their potential unencumbered by the burdens of fear, threat, and trauma, it is paramount that we address violence at its roots to change behavior and heal our collective culture.'
Kering is a multinational corporation that owns luxury fashion brands Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen.
The half-Mexican, half-Lebanese American is next scheduled to co-host the third annual Caring for Women gala on September 9 at The Pool in Midtown Manhattan alongside Kim Kardashian (R, pictured March 6), Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Naomi Watts, and more
Salma and Francois-Henri - who originally met in the spring of 2006 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice - are proud parents of 16-year-old daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault, who boasts 232K TikTok followers.
Pinault is also father to three older children - son Francois Jr., 26; daughter Mathilde, 23; and son Augustin, 17 - with ex-wife Dorothee Lepere and nineties supermodel Linda Evangelista.
Reese Witherspoon is reportedly in no rush to enter a new relationship following her split from Jim Toth, last year, after 12 years of marriage.
After recently sparking romance rumors with German private equity financier, Oliver Haarmann, a source revealed the Legally Blonde star is not prioritizing dating, at the moment.
The insider divulged to People that the Oscar winner, 48, 'is taking things slow when it comes to dating.'
'She enjoys it but doesn't want it to be a big focus. She's busy with work and her son,' the insider noted. 'These are her biggest priorities.'
Although the source insisted that Witherspoon and Haarmann, 56, are just 'friends,' the pair recently found themselves at the center of unexpected dating rumors.
Reese Witherspoon is reportedly in no rush to enter a new relationship following her split from Jim Toth, last year, after 12 years of marriage
In photo, obtained by DailyMail.com earlier this week, the actress and Haarmann were seen arriving at a heliport together before heading to an apartment building on July 29.
The next day, they dined at L'Artusi in the West Village together.
Earlier in the week, she enjoyed some quality time with Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz in the Hamptons.
Haarmann is a founding partner of Searchlight Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm.
He was previously a senior partner of the global investment firm KKR & Co. He shares two sons with Gaonkar.
He earned a bachelor's degree in history and international relations from NYC's Brown University in 1990, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1996.
The Morning Show actress and her ex-husband, 54, shocked fans in March 2023 when they announced they had separated and were getting a divorce after nearly 12 years of marriage.
The actress officially filed for divorce from Toth in April 2023, a week after announcing the end of their marriage. She cited irreconcilable differences as the reason behind their split in court documents.
Reese and her ex Jim were first romantically linked in 2010, before they became engaged later that same year in December.
After recently sparking romance rumors with German private equity financier, Oliver Haarmann, a source revealed the Legally Blonde star is not prioritizing dating, at the moment
The former couple tied the knot during a romantic and intimate backyard wedding in 2011.
Their split announcement was made just days ahead of their 12th wedding anniversary.
Back in August, the pair reached a divorce settlement and agreed to continue to co-parent their 11-year-old son, Tennessee.
Reese also shares son Deacon, 20, and look-alike daughter Ava, 24, with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, 49.
An insider told People about the split that it was 'very difficult' for the movie star to accept that she and her former partner were 'two very different people.'
Reese and ex-Jim tied the knot in 2011, before announcing their split in 2023; pictured together in January 2020
Someone close to the two noted that the ambitious producer 'has her hand in a lot of pots' and Toth 'prefers less frenzy.'
It was added that, 'They've been spending less and less time together while she was working.'
More than ten years after tying the knot, the longtime duo 'found themselves with fewer interests in common.'
Reese is described by a source as 'headstrong and focused' and Jim is said to be 'more laid-back.'
The Pleasantville actress spent more time in Nashville In 2022 as she worked on producing the Apple TV music competition show My Kind of Country.
She also flipped a local house for close to twice the cost of what she paid for the home.
The star is mom to Ava, 24, and Deacon, 20 with ex husband Ryan Phillippe and Tennessee, 11, with ex Jim Toth (pictured together)
The Legally Blonde star officially filed for divorce from Toth back in April 2023, a week after announcing the end of their marriage
The mother-of-three's company Hello Sunshine also produced the Amazon series Daisy Jones & the Six.
Per Reese's solemn divorce announcement, the twosome decided to go their separate ways with 'a great deal of care and consideration.'
A source said the partners 'worked on' their issues and arriving at divorce 'took a long time.'
A source previously told PageSix that the imminent divorce was a 'badly kept secret' in Hollywood for months.
It was also shared that Reese is 'upset' over the marriage ending.
Reese and Ryan, who famously starred in the 1999 romantic drama Cruel Intentions, split in 2008 after a seven-year marriage; Pictured in 1998
The Big Little Lies actress and the talent agent's split announcement read: 'We have some personal news to share ... It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce.
'We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.
'Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter.
'These matters are never easy and are extremely personal. We truly appreciate everyone's respect for our family's privacy at this time.'
But there is no mess: 'There is no drama,' insisted People's insider. 'They love [their son] Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably.'
The exes have maintained a famously amicable relation ship - pictured with son Deacon on his 18th birthday
Amid Witherspoon's new romance, Phillippe shared a shirtless thirst trap
Reese recently discussed her first divorce from Cruel Intentions co-star Ryan Phillippe.
Speaking to Harper's Bazaar in July, Reese said she felt very 'out of control' when her first divorce went public.
'When I was divorced before, the tabloid media got to tell people how I was feeling or how I was processing, and it felt very out of control,' Reese told the publication.
But this go around, the Hollywood star feels that she's able to be more 'authentic' as she navigates this 'vulnerable time' in her life.
'To be able to talk to people directly about what's going on in my life and just share it in the way that I share great professional experiences or personal experiences, it feels much more authentic to be able to say things in my own voice and not let somebody else control what's happening,' Reese explained.
Despite going through a divorce a source close to The Last Thing He Told Me producer told People in April that she has 'no regrets' about ending the union and is 'doing much better now.'
Lala Kent treated herself to some pregnancy pampering after opening up about a recent health scare.
The Vanderpump Rules star, 33, showed off her baby bump in a skintight blue leotard as she stepped out Wednesday for a spa day in Los Angeles.
She finished the ensemble with a pair of black wayfarer sunglasses, gold hoop earrings and white sneakers.
Kent previously opened up about a 'terrifying' health scare she experienced during her baby shower last month.
'My arms and legs went numb, and I could not breathe, and [it] took everything in me to not pass out and just make it to my bed,' she recalled on her Give Them Lala podcast.
Lala Kent showed off her baby bump in a skintight blue leotard as she stepped out Wednesday for a spa day in Los Angeles
She finished the ensemble with a pair of black wayfarer sunglasses, gold hoop earrings and white sneakers
'I was trying to yell for my mom, but again, I was really struggling, and I was very, very concerned,' added Kent.
She explained, 'I don't know what happened. I've heard that she could be sitting weird, but I felt this overwhelming amount of guilt because I've been complaining a lot about my [body] aching and just wanting it to be done.'
Kent called her doctor from bed but ultimately felt better after she 'positioned [herself] in a different way.'
'And all of a sudden I could breath,' she recounted. '[The baby] was definitely active. I said [to the doctor], "She hasn't stopped moving." And he was like, "Oh, OK, I'm less concerned now."'
The Spree actress assumed the baby was just 'positioned weird,' adding, 'He was like, "I really need you to start staying off your feet. Don't overdo it during the day."
'Which I have been,' admitted Kent. 'I think I've been overdoing it since [the] second trimester.'
She announced her second pregnancy in March after using a sperm donor.
Kent also co-parents 3-year-old daughter Ocean with ex-fiance Randall Emmett, with whom she split in 2021 amid cheating claims.
During an Amazon Live appearance in March, Kent showed off her unborn baby's sonogram and explained why she used a sperm donor.
Kent previously opened up about a 'terrifying' health scare she experienced during her baby shower last month
'My arms and legs went numb, and I could not breathe, and [it] took everything in me to not pass out and just make it to my bed,' she recalled on her Give Them Lala podcast
Kent also co-parents 3-year-old daughter Ocean with ex-fiance Randall Emmett, with whom she split in 2021 amid cheating claims
'The best part about my baby daddy is that he does not exist,' she said amid her custody battle with Emmett, 53.
'I have been pretty open about wanting to really have full control of - I guess not my child, but having them around me all the time.
'I went through a really hard time with my past and just with Ocean,' added Kent. 'For me, my child will never be up for grabs again.'
Kent revealed she's having another daughter after hosting a sex reveal party with friends and family in April.
The Give Them Lala author is expecting to give birth on September 1, she previously revealed on the VPR reunion.
She announced her second pregnancy in March after using a sperm donor
She bought a $3.1 million house in the San Fernando Valley for her growing family, and plans to co-parent with her baby with mom Lisa.
After VPR spin-off The Valley was renewed for season 2 in May, Kent is reportedly 'in early talks' to join the show.
'She is very connected with that cast. Those girls are her very good friends and mom crew,' a source told Page Six of her fellow VPR stars Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute.
They star on the spin-off with Cartwright's estranged husband Jax Taylor and a cast of new faces.
Regardless, Kent would reportedly remain on VPR, which is 'her home. It's not one or the other.' However, VPR is on hiatus for a year.
Kent was brought to tears on the recent season 11 finale of Vanderpump Rules, during which she almost stormed off set.
Fans were delighted after Interview With The Vampire returned to BBC Two for the second series on Thursday.
The adaptation of the gothic cult classic of the same name has earned a plethora of fans following the release of the first series last October.
And viewers hailed the return of the supernatural series, which originally began as a classic horror novel by Anne Rice.
Taking to Twitter, fans gushed: 'Yay finally something decent on TV Interview with the Vampire is back on BBC 2 tonight right now!'
'#InterviewWithTheVampire Oh what joy to greet this wondrous show once more. A confection of riches. Louis, Lestat, Claudia, you are welcome in my home!'
Fans have hailed the return of Interview With The Vampire but are left FURIOUS as one cast member is replaced
The adaptation of the gothic cult classic of the same name has earned a plethora of fans following the release of the first series last October
'An interview with the vampire is incredible television. It definitely deserves more attention'.
'On #bbctwo 9pm new #InterviewWithTheVampire yesss'.
However some were left disappointed after realising one cast member had been replaced.
Bailey Bass, who previously played Claudia in the supernatural series, has left the show, and Delainey Hayles has now taken on her role.
The bloodthirsty vampire has undergone a change of actor between the two series after Bailey quit the show due to unforeseen circumstances.
Unhappy about the change they wrote: 'I'm so upset that Bailey Bass isn't playing Claudia in the latest and future seasons of Interview With The Vampire. She was simply breathtaking as Claudia.'
According to Deadline, Bailey said in a statement: 'Due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances I'm unable to return to Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire for the second season.
'Playing Claudia has been a dream role and an incredible ride. I wish Delainey the best of luck in taking over. I cannot wait to watch.
Taking to Twitter, fans gushed: 'Yay finally something decent on TV Interview with the Vampire is back on BBC 2 tonight right now!'
However some were left disappointed after realising one cast member had been replaced
Bailey Bass, who previously played Claudia in the supernatural series, has left the show, and Delainey Hayles (pictured) has now taken on her role
'I'm extremely appreciative of AMC, the producers, Jacob, Sam, the crew and, of course, the wonderful fans.'
In the sneak peak for the new series last October, fans were given a gory display as Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia are brought to an estate by Santiago (Ben Daniels), the leading vampire thespian of the Theatre des Vampires.
As Armand (Assad Zaman) and Louis chat outside, in the background a gory scene ensues as Claudia begins ravishing the humans inside.
As blood spatters the window, men cry and bodies fall from the estate, the two men remain unperturbed by the chaos inside.
As the two characters get to know each other there seems to be a flirtatious vibe between the pair, especially when Armand shows his admiration for Louis who only indulges in human flesh every other day.
However Armand seems to have his suspicions of Louis, particularly when it comes to his reaction when the name Lestat (Sam Reid) is mentioned.
Bailey Bass (pictured) played Claudia in season one however she quit the show due to unforeseen circumstances
Filming for the second series began in Paris - with scenes actually being shot in Prague and while the Gothic romance was originally broadcast to an American audience, British fans can now tune in through BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
For the AMC version of Interview With The Vampire, production designer Mara LePere-Schloop recreated Storyville district by building building facades for the show's Iberville and Liberty streets at The Ranch Studios in New Orleans.
The show was also shot at a number of different New Orleans landmarks, including Gallier House, which Anne Rice used as the model for Lestat's townhouse.
Beuaregard-Keys House, located in the city's French Quarter, was also used for the interior of Fair Play Saloon.
Kanye West's wife Bianca Censori returned to her typical X-rated style on Thursday - just days after covering up to spend time with the rapper's kids.
The Yeezy architect, 29, left little to the imagination as she ran errands solo in Los Angeles wearing only a see-through nude bodystocking.
The NSFW clothing piece fully exposed her thong underwear and eye-popping braless bust.
She was first seen arriving outside a building in her luxury vehicle.
As not to flash passersby, Bianca carefully climbed out of the car and trotted to the building's entrance in black heels.
Kanye West 's wife Bianca Censori returned to her typical X-rated style on Thursday - just days after covering up to spend time with the rapper's kids
The Yeezy architect, 29, left little to the imagination as she ran errands solo in Los Angeles wearing only a see-through nude bodystocking
The NSFW clothing piece fully exposed her thong underwear and cheeky backside
Her cropped brunette hair was slicked back off her perfectly made-up face.
As for accessories, the Australian beauty rocked a gold ear cuff on one ear.
Bianca went without a purse and, instead, carried her iPhone in hand.
She spent the afternoon shopping in Beverly Hills without her husband and self-appointed stylist Kanye by her side.
But Bianca did not emerge with bags from any of the high-end stores she visited on Thursday.
Instead, she swiftly made her way back to her car and hopped into the driver's seat to head off to her next destination.
In the past, Bianca's infamously near-nude looks have put her at her risk of hefty fines and, even, jail time.
But she has made it a point to go the modest route while in the company of Kanye and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian's four kids: North, 11, Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, four.
On Monday, Bianca notably stepped out in a poncho as she and Kanye took his eldest kids North and Saint to Target in Beverly Hills.
Days before that, Bianca and Kanye took 11-year-old North to the moves to see the new R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine film.
She was first seen arriving outside a building in her luxury vehicle
Her eye-popping braless bust was also on fully display during the outing
As not to flash passersby, Bianca carefully climbed out of the car
She trotted to the building's entrance in black heels
She briefly stopped to adjust the bodystocking as it began to slip down her slim frame
Bianca spent the afternoon shopping in Beverly Hills without her husband and self-appointed stylist Kanye by her side
A source previously told DailyMail.com that Kim had warned the rapper not to let Bianca wear her scandalous looks in front of their children.
'Kim instructed Kanye to never let Bianca dress like that around their kids,' the insider revealed exclusively to DailyMail.com in February.
'She is truly surprised that Kanye would let his wife leave the house like that.'
Unlike in his marriage with Bianca, Kanye used to frequently ask Kim to change her outfits if he felt she was showing too much skin, with the rapper heavily influencing her fashion choices during their six-year marriage.
'Kanye did the same thing he is doing with Bianca to Kim throughout their marriage,' DailyMail.com's source explained.
'The difference is that when Kanye dressed Kim, he was respected as a person as an artist.
'Unfortunately, Kim knows what Bianca is going through but she feels Bianca should have known what she was getting into.'
A different source previously revealed to DailyMail.com that Bianca's parents were 'mortified' by her near-naked ensembles and feared she was 'being controlled' by Kanye.
Bianca and the multi-Grammy Award-winner tied the knot in December 2022 less than one month after his divorce from Kim was finalized.
They have galavanted all over the world together with Bianca often wearing next to nothing to attend A-list fashion events as well as to promote Kanye's new music.
But the couple are seemingly enjoying some rare downtime as Kanye and his producers put the finishing touches on his upcoming album, Vultures II.
Over the weekend, Bianca and Kanye were spotted on a romantic date in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.
After her shopping spree, Bianca returned to her parked car
She hopped into the driver's seat
Bianca flashed a seductive stare before driving off
The Australian beauty appeared to be in a jovial mood after her retail therapy
The lovebirds arrived to dinner at Stonehouse Restaurant holding hands, with Bianca rocking a white tube dress that bared her pert backside.
The dinner date came shortly after news that some LA-area restaurateurs are looking to ban the couple from entering their businesses to protect customers and children from seeing Bianca's X-rated outfits.
It all stemmed from an upset that Bianca and Kanye recently caused at a local barbecue restaurant in LA after she arrived wearing a tiny silver bikini top.
They wrote: 'If I am the owner of any establishment that these two intend to enter, I will tell them due to respect for my customers, you are not allowed to enter.'
'I wouldn't have them in my restaurant. Totally inappropriate and not a good role model for young children to see this out and about. What is wrong with them?'
'She looks absolutely ridiculous. How can any decent restaurant accept a customer wearing that? Even the main supermarkets have signs up in summer advising that tops must be worn for hygiene purposes when shopping as topless men were going in. This is so much worse.'
However, the legendary Chateau Marmont declared Bianca was 'always welcome', despite the hotel operating a 'business-casual' dress code.
A valet at the $774-a-night property told DailyMail.com: 'She comes here all the time. I always know when she's here because there's always a lot of paparazzi.
'She comes a lot. She stayed here awhile, a few months I think, and last time she was here was before the weekend, Tuesday or Wednesday.'
Bianca was last photographed at the hotel enjoying drinks with friends in a black leather bikini top that barely covered her nipples and matching hot pants.
When asked about the outfit, the valet shrugged: 'She always dresses like that.'
But earlier this month it was revealed that Bianca could face jail time, a fine and mandatory registration as a sex offender for her X-rated stunts in LA.
In the past, Bianca's infamously near-nude looks have put her at her risk of hefty fines and, even, jail time; seen with Kanye in February
Bianca and the multi-Grammy Award-winner tied the knot in December 2022 less than one month after his divorce from Kim was finalized; Kanye and Bianca seen in June
Despite repeatedly stepping out in racy ensembles, some of her most revealing looks may have gone too far, as the barely-there outfits could potentially be considered indecent exposure under California law.
California Penal Code Section 314(1) makes it a crime to intentionally expose your genitals or naked body in a public place, or anywhere else where someone could be offended or annoyed.
An indecent exposure charge usually results in a misdemeanor for a first-time offense.
But if Bianca is handed the maximum penalty for her nearly-nude outfit, she could face six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, and mandatory registration as a sex offender for at least ten years.
Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank fame has revealed that he left Massachusetts for the sandy shores of Florida because of the high taxes in the East Coast state.
The multi-millionaire businessman, who had a home in Boston, called the New England state 'Taxachusetts' during an appearance on Maria Bartiromo's show on Fox Business.
'I left there in "Taxachusetts." I moved to Florida. Most of my neighbors where I live are all from hometown Boston and we can't afford to live there anymore,' he said.
He also name dropped Sen. Elizabeth Warren and squad leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, citing various policies proposed by them over the years to increase taxes on rich people.
'These ideas don't work, they just don't work,' O'Leary, who now lives near Miami Beach with his wife, said.
Kevin O'Leary said high taxes in Massachusetts is what convinced him it was time to relocate to Florida, a state without an income tax
A house located on Barefoot Beach Road at Bonita Springs in southwest Florida. The average home price there is just over $575,000
First, O'Leary mentioned what he called Warren's 'super tax.'
What this refers to is the Massachusetts senator's repeated attempts to pass a bill called the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which would see high-net-worth individuals get taxed 2 percent on every dollar they make above $50 million.
For households worth over $1 billion, Warren wants to charge them an additional surtax of 1 percent.
This billionaire tax would also apply to trusts as well, financial vehicles commonly used by wealthy people to manage and distribute their assets.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal reintroduced this act alongside Warren and a smattering of progressive co-sponsors in March, but it hasn't yet left the committee.
O'Leary didn't specifically mention AOC's tax proposal, but back in 2019 when she was first elected, she suggested raising the top marginal income tax rate to 70 percent.
The last time top marginal rates were this high was when President John F. Kennedy was in office, and he actually cut the rate from 90 percent down to 70 percent
But neither of these policies have come to pass, and even if they did, they'd be broadly applied to all Americans who meet the proposed income thresholds, not anyone from any one particular state.
So what actually forced O'Leary out of Boston?
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has long pushed for higher taxes on the wealthy and made it the cornerstone of her run for president during the 2020 Democratic Primary
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested raising the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent in 2019. She also supports Warren's tax proposal
It's likely a ballot measure Massachusetts voters approved in 2022 that hiked taxes for anyone making $1 million or more.
Essentially, any taxable income above that $1 million bracket is now taxed at nine percent instead of the previous five percent.
The state government said the new tax has generated an additional $1.8 billion in revenue, which will pay for various transportation and education initiatives.
But Florida, where O'Leary chose to officially relocate, has no state income tax at all.
Texas also doesn't have an income tax, which is partly why many Californians have fled to the state, on top of cheaper housing and better work opportunities.
O'Leary's contention is that the policies of comparatively higher taxed and more stringently regulated states like California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts lead to them becoming 'uninvestable.'
He also commented on France's new left-wing leaders vowing to bring a 90 percent tax rate for annual income above 400,000 euros.
'The French have tried this before,' he said, adding that wealthy citizens 'all moved to Monaco...or to Switzerland and they just made sure their domicile was not France.'
McDonald's and Starbucks share the accolade of being the biggest - and, in the past at least, the best - at what they do.
But they now have three other unwanted things in common.
They have both been lambasted for putting up prices in the past two years. And that has led both to lose customers - as they admitted this week in their latest earnings.
On Monday, McDonald's reported its sales had fallen for the first time in years. The next day Starbucks reported its second quarter in a row of dismal sales.
But the third thing is that they have both also been hit by boycotts over their perceived support of Israel.
McDonald's missed its earnings and revenue estimates for the second quarter of the year
Chris Kempczinski, McDonald's president and CEO admitted boycotts have been damaging
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski summed up the problem when he was talking to CNBC on Wednesday.
He said the chain had been hit by organized boycotts following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October.
'We're seeing broadly western brands have been a target for some of what has happened after the outbreak of the war in the Middle East,' Kempczinski told the broadcaster on Wednesday.
'It's a terrible situation [in terms of] what's going on over there and it is impacting our business in some markets.'
Kempczinski clarified that the franchise is 'not taking a side on this.'
'For us we're about supporting communities and that's what we're going to continue to do here,' he added.
The boycott was sparked after an Israeli franchisee, Omri Padan, offered free meals to Israeli soldiers going into Gaza in the days following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
The boycott is being run by Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), a nonviolent movement aiming to pressure Israel over its conduct in the war.
'McDonald's is now really feeling the BDS heat,' Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the movement, told Fortune on Tuesday.
'Its share price is rapidly declining, and its sales are falling globally, mainly due to the worldwide #BoycottMcDonalds campaign that we launched late last year' Barghouti added.
McDonald's stock is down 10 percent since the start of the year.
Starbucks is experiencing a sales slump and is facing continued pressure from boycotts
Starbuck's CEO Laxman Narasimhan said boycott were generated by 'misinformation'
Starbucks has also been hit by a boycott after it sued the Workers United union that represents baristas at more than 470 US outlets.
The company claimed a pro-Palestinian social media post from the union harmed its reputation.
Starbuck's CEO Laxman Narasimhan said the boycott was generated by 'misinformation' about the company's position on the conflict but has not quantified how damaging the shunning has been.
Shares of Adani Energy Solutions surged more than 8 per cent on Thursday a day after billionaire Gautam Adani-led group's power transmission unit said it has raised USD 1 billion through a share sale.
This was the first public equity raised by the conglomerate since a damning Hindenburg report.
The scrip of the company rallied 8.34 per cent to trade at Rs 1,232.95 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
On the BSE, it zoomed 7.92 per cent to trade at Rs 1,227.75 per piece.
In late morning trade, the shares of Adani Energy Solutions hit an intra-day high of Rs 1,236.70 and 1,236 apiece on the BSE and the NSE.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 88.64 points or 0.11 per cent to trade at 81,829.98, while NSE Nifty went up 53.90 points to trade at 25,005.05.
In the intra-day session, the BSE benchmark jumped 388.15 points, or 0.47 per cent, to hit an all-time high of 82,129.49 in early trade while the broader NSE Nifty scaled the record 25,000 level for the first time, rising to 127.15 points, to 25,078.30.
Billionaire Gautam Adani-led group's power transmission unit has raised USD 1 billion through a share sale, the first public equity raised by the conglomerate since a damning Hindenburg report, which wiped away billions in shareholder value.
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd had raised the funds through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue.
The QIP, which opened on Tuesday, was oversubscribed three times with demand of about Rs 26,000 crore - making it the largest transaction in India's energy space.
The issue closed at Rs 1,135 per share, as against the issue price of Rs 976 per share or a 14 per cent listing discount.
QIP is an instrument used by listed companies to raise funds from large institutions.
Marquee investors such as GQG, QIP, ADIA and few top names in the US participated in the QIP.
Domestic institutions including Bandhan MF, Nomura, and 360 India Infoline also participated in the issue.
The fundraise is the first after the group's flagship firm scrapped a Rs 20,000 crore issue in February last year, following the Hindenburg report alleging accounting fraud and stock manipulation.
Though the group vehemently and repeatedly denied all allegations, listed companies of the conglomerate at one point saw over USD 150 billion of their market value being wiped out.
While the group has largely recovered, a successful QIP is being seen as a powerful vote of investor confidence in the tycoon.
Earlier, Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) said its management has authorised the opening of the issue on Tuesday as well as approved the floor price for the issue.
The floor price was set at Rs 1,027 per equity share.
Last month, Adani Energy Solutions Ltd reported a net loss of Rs 1,190.66 crore for the June quarter of 2024-25 mainly due to exceptional losses related to the divestment of an asset.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 181.98 crore during the April-June period of 2023-24, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The total income rose to Rs 5,489.97 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 3,772.25 crore in the year-ago period.
August 1, 2024: NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) weapons are still around. This was recently demonstrated in Russia. A significant Russian nuclear accident took place at the Andreyeva Bay Soviet naval base 569 in February 1982. Andreyeva Bay is a radioactive waste repository 55 km northwest of Murmansk and 60 km from the Norwegian border, on the western shore of the Kola Peninsula. The repository entered service in 1961. In February 1982 a nuclear accident occurred in which about 700,000 tons of highly radioactive water was released into the Barents Sea from a pool in building 5 of the repository over the next few years. Cleanup of the accident took place from 1983 to 1989. About 1,000 people took part in the cleanup effort.
The nuclear fuel repository, constructed in the early 1960s, was a naval base on the shore of the Zapadnaya Litsa bay. It consisted of two piers, a stationary mooring bay, a sanitation facility, spent fuel pools in building 5 that was unused since the cleanup ended in 1989, three 1,000 cubic meter dry storage containers, a 40,000-ton crane, an open-air field for storing spent nuclear fuel containers, a security checkpoint, and other technical facilities. In 1982 the area contains spent nuclear fuel in storage facility Building 5 consisting of about 22,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies, solid radioactive waste in storage facility Building 7, and liquid radioactive waste in storage facility Building 6.
Building 5 contained two pools for storing spent fuel assemblies, encased in steel drums. Each drum contained 5-7 spent fuel assemblies, weighing 350 kg fully loaded. Each of the pools was 60 meters long, 3 meters wide, 6 meters deep, and had a volume of 1,000 cubic meters. Each was designed for about 2,000 drums. The drums were suspended underwater from massive chains, which were attached to anchor points a certain distance from each other to hopefully avoid an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction from starting. The water served as a radiation shield for people on the deck around the pools. The drums were placed underwater using the chains and a crane cart, but due to the construction's unreliability, drums often fell to the bottom of the pool. As a result, spent nuclear fuel drums dangerously piled up at the bottom which defeated the protection from uncontrolled nuclear reactions by the chains and anchor points.
Someone who worked there remarked that the first time they saw all this they were shocked. The facility seemed like a nightmare. The facility was an enormous black windowless building atop a cliff. The entrance to building 5 was decorated with deformed trucks previously used for carrying nuclear fuel and half-torn-down heavy gates. Inside, the building was dilapidated, and deteriorating electrical equipment was another hazard. Building 5 was completely radioactive.
The right-hand pool in building 5 started leaking in February 1982. Finding cracks in the metal coating required diving into the pool, which was out of the question due to the gamma radiation levels in the vicinity of the nuclear waste drums. An attempt to eliminate the leak was made by pouring in 20 sacks of flour, thus filling the cracks with dough. That did not last and the leak continued. Later it was found there was ice on the right side of the building. This indicated that earlier containment efforts were ineffective.
In April 1982, the basement part of the building was filled with 600 cubic meters of concrete but this was ineffective. There was a risk of contamination of nearby Zapadnaya Litsa bay. In order to safeguard against radioactive leaks, iron-lead-concrete covers, weighing thousands of tons, were built over the pool. In fact it was later discovered that it was only good fortune that prevented the collapse of the whole structure.
In early 1983 government officials confirmed the closing of the repository, except for work related to the cleanup of the accident. No more spent nuclear fuel was loaded in building 5. March 1983 through September 1987 saw spent fuel unloaded from the left-hand pool. All of the fuel was unloaded and sent to the Mayak nuclear facility. As of December 1989, all 1,500 drums of nuclear waste from building 5 were declared dealt with.
This was not the case. Poor welding seam quality in the pools' coating led to more leaks. The left pool sprouted a leak due to the building sagging under the weight of the iron-lead-concrete covers over the right pool. Specialists believed that temperature changes in the pool's water stressed welding seams, tearing them. When building 5's repository was designed, it was assumed that the water would be kept at a constant temperature by heat from the nuclear assemblies suspended under the surface. A separate water heating system was thus deemed unnecessary. That did not work because the extreme Arctic climate created a thick layer of ice in winter. In order to solve this problem, the ice was melted using steam from the boiler. This was a violation of radiation safety guidelines. Radioactive air spread through the building and leaked into the outside atmosphere.
Several workers were killed during the cleanup efforts due to accidents, inadequate protective equipment and the generally dangerous state of the facility.
The Indian Jute Mills Association highlighted several pressing issues at the 32nd Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting in New Delhi, including the challenges faced by the sector due to declining demand for jute bags, officials said.
Key stakeholders such as representatives from the sugar and plastic industry bodies participated in the meeting on Tuesday.
The SAC makes recommendations to the Union government on the mandatory use of jute packaging materials, and packaging norms for essential commodities such as foodgrains and sugar.
The Jute Commissioners Office (JCO) stressed upon the need for supporting the sector, the IJMA officials said.
An estimated 40 million farmers and 3.5 lakh jute mill workers are dependent on the industry.
The representatives of sugar industry bodies raised concerns about the pricing and quality of jute bags, urging the government to fix rates for sugar jute bags.
They also noted the reluctance by major buyers like some beverage giants to use jute bags, despite environmental benefits, said industry sources present at the meeting.
The non-compliance with government notifications by the sugar industry was also a cause for concern, they said.
Plastic industry representatives sought the removal of discouraging language about plastic bags in the Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPMA), the sources said.
The jute industry is operating at 55 per cent capacity, affecting over 50,000 workers. The demand for jute bags is projected to drop to 30 lakh bales for 2024-25, IJMA Deputy Chairman Rishav Kajaria said.
The IJMA also urged the SAC for immediate government intervention in enforcing 100 per cent reservation norms in foodgrain and sugar packaging in 2024-25.
Other key issues discussed at the meeting include revising policies on the use of used jute gunny bags, addressing financial constraints due to the GeM portal pricing cap, initiating investigation into subsidised jute imports, and ensuring strict compliance with labour laws and wage agreements, the officials said.
The jute industry contributes over Rs 12,000 crore to the rural economy, but is faced with challenges as raw jute prices fall below MSP levels, they added.
Despite the US unease, India charts its own course; QUAD Tokyo conference is a case in point
In a balancing act of sorts, the Government of India is trying to address US and European concerns regarding PM Modi's meeting with President Putin last month, when many of the leaders were in a huddle in Washington for the NATO summit. President Putin went an extra step to welcome PM Modi in Moscow, signalling a strong message to the US, regarding the long-standing partnership with India. Senior officials in the US expressed deep concern with the optics involved in PM Modis Moscow visit while reiterating that nothing significant was achieved.
Russia bilateral is a tightrope, that India has managed to carefully tread on, despite its growing engagement with the US in the past decades.Therefore, this week's QUAD foreign ministers conference in Tokyo where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his US counterpart Anthony Blinken was significant. The joint statement in unequivocal terms condemned Russias action in Ukraine, perhaps for the first time joining in such a multilateral official communication. The joint statement read We express our deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine including its terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences. We reiterate the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
PM Modi had also in his bilateral meetings with President Putin and public messages subsequently, mentioned the need for finding lasting solutions to the Ukraine crisis away from the battleground while condemning the attack by Russia killing nearly 41 persons including at a childrens hospital.
PM Modi said Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity, is pained when there is loss of lives. But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying.". Ukraine President Zelensky has condemned PM Modis visit to Russia. Government officials now indicate that the PM is likely to travel to Ukraine in August to balance the geopolitical dynamics and reset India and Europe's relationship.Meanwhile, the QUAD foreign ministers meeting continued to focus on the Gaza crisis, and its spillover in the Red Sea zone, impacting lives and raising freight costs.
The foreign ministers jointly communicated We urge all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law, as applicable. We welcome UNSC Resolution S/RES/2735 (2024) and strongly urge all parties concerned to work immediately and steadily toward the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire. We call on all parties to take every feasible step to protect the lives of civilians including aid workers, and facilitate the rapid transportation of humanitarian relief. We also encourage other countries, including those in the Indo-Pacific, to increase their efforts to address the dire humanitarian need on the ground. We underscore that the future recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip should be supported by the international community. We remain committed to a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian state taking into account Israels legitimate security concerns as part of a two-state solution that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in a just, lasting, and secure peace.
India would be the host for the QUAD leaders summit scheduled this year, however, the crucial US presidential elections in November would be a key determinant of the time. President Biden who has mostly shaped the Quad narrative in the past, would like to leave a lasting impression on this group of four.
(The writer is a policy analyst; views are personal)
This innovative solution promises to alleviate the long-term suffering of bone-fractured patients caused by traditional metal implants
An age-old adage "necessity is the mother of invention"still holds now. This aforementioned adage is duly proven by the fact that Nitin Pratap Varma Senior Scientist and highly esteemed research scholar from Dhanbad-based IIT-ISM and currently working as Senior Scientist for Shahjahanpur( UP) based company G Surgiwear Limited, felt the necessity of resorbable implant that could be fully absorbed in the bodies of accident victims as part of treating their fractured bones. Understanding this need of the hour, Varma held meetings with members--scientists of his research team. Many brainstorming sessions with experiments ensued. Eventually, the team led by Varma zeroed in on the final product and invented the "magnesium implant" for the first time in the world. Shedding light on factual aspects of his invention, Varma says: "For many years, I have been observing the predicaments and troubles being suffered by bone-fractured patients due to inserted implants comprising plates and screws made up of stainless steel and titanium metals Since those plates and screws remained embedded in the body, patients had to undergo painful sufferings for a long period. To remove those metallic plates from the body, the patients have to undergo surgery which is physically tormenting as patients have to bear the brunt of risk aspects of surgery.
And to add insult to injury, patients bear the huge expenses of surgery.Keeping in mind the troubles faced by patients, Varma convened a series of meetings with his fellow scientists and team members to discuss the use of plates made up of resorbable metals in place of stainless steel--made plates After having a long discussion, we reached to the scientific conclusion that implant of resorbable metals gets fully absorbed in the body within 3-5 years of insertion.
It is no hyperbole on my part if I say it vanishes into the body. Thus through continued research and experiments, we invented and zeroed in on magnesium implant due to its pathbreaking resorbable quality in the human body.
Patients do not feel any physical inconvenience afterwards., Varma explains matter-of-factly. Analysing his bone treatment-related achievement in an in-depth manner, Varma explains that there are three kinds of metals that are resorbable and biologically safe: magnesium, zinc and iron.
Undoubtedly, these metals have their pluses and minuses.Varma and his colleagues have been experimenting with resorbable metals to gain knowledge of their utilities and qualities.
For this very purpose, the team of scientists also visited the Jamshedpur-based National Institute of Metallurgy institution to seek intricate technical knowledge of metals. Expressing optimism over the utility and quality of magnesium implants, Varma avers that the invented product has reached the final stage; since the product has already been implanted in animals for testing its efficacy.
Also, to be well-versed with different clinical parameters related to experimental procedures, the animals have been kept under observation for six months.
Results from animal testing are very encouraging.After successfully experimenting with this product in animals, Varma has plans to test this product in human bodies. For this, he has decided to seek permission from the Drug Controller General of India. Having successfully tested this product in human bodies, it will be put in the public domain, Varma explains.
Eventually, it is no exaggeration to say that the invention of the magnesium implant is slated to bring revolutionary changes in the treatment of bone fractures and other bone diseases. This is more so because as per a research report, scores of scientists are engaged in experimental procedures of implants in laboratories the world over. And in this context, thousands of research papers have been inked and published. But to this date, those scientists have yet to make in-roads to reach the level of realistic utility of implants.
(The writer is a freelancer; views expressed are personal)
A Delhi court is likely to pronounce on August 1 its order on the anticipatory bail of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused in a case of cheating and forgery. During the hearing, Khedkar told the court that she was being targeted for filing a sexual harassment complaint against an officer. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala reserved the order after hearing arguments on the application filed by Khedkar, who claimed that she has imminent threat of arrest.
The prosecution opposed the application, saying that she has cheated the system. During the proceedings, Khedkar said she wanted the anticipatory bail to establish her innocence.
I (Khedkar) filed a complaint for sexual harassment and that is why all this is being done against me. This is all happening on behest of the collector against whom I have levelled sexual harassment complaint. The person asked me to come and sit in a private room. I said I am a qualified IAS and I will not do that. I am pressing for anticipatory bail to establish my innocence, advocate Bina Mahadevan, appearing for Khedkar, told the court.
Mahadevan told the court that Khedkar didnt suppress any information, and that she has wrongly mentioned the number of attempt. I wrote five but I should have said 12. It is because I availed those attempts under a different quota. Whether it was done in good faith or not is to be inquired, she said.
The advocate further said that Khedkar has been called by multiple authorities. IAS Academy Mussoorie has called me (Khedkar), Pune Commissioner has called me. DoPT has given me a notice as well. I need anticipatory bail to defend myself before all these forums, the counsel said.
She added that since this case, media is indulged in witch hunt against Khedkar, but the IAS trainee has not gone to media once, because I have full faith in the justice system. The prosecution opposed the bail application, claiming that Khedkar took advantage of the loopholes and changed her name. We are at a very nascent stage. We need her custodial interrogation, public prosecutor Atul Srivastava said. On courts query as to why police was in hurry to arrest her if the probe was at a nascent stage, Srivastava said, If she gets anticipatory bail, she will not cooperate.
She changed her fathers name and her mothers name. How? The conspiracy to cheat the examination system and public at large is there. She has done immense harm to people who would have otherwise qualified.
These kinds of persons who cheat the system must be dealt with very seriously. This person has abused the process of law, he submitted, adding that the chances of her abusing the law was still there.
The public prosecutor further said that there were nine attempts under OBC criteria.
In OBC quota theres concept of creamy layer and non-creamy layer. Her father declared his assets of Rs 53 crore. To overcome that, she claimed that her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother. That is also part of the investigation. We will also investigate the medical documents, he said.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has filed a case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing the benefits of quota by faking her identity to take the civil services examination beyond the permissible number of attempts.
Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik, appearing for the UPSC, said, She secured a public employment unlawfully. It would not only be an offence against the UPSC but the entire society.
She has cheated the examination process. If UPSC had the means to prosecute, it would have prosecuted. The offence has been committed with deep intelligence. The investigation is necessary to unearth the methods used by her because other persons can also use similar methods, he said.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday demanded a probe into deputy chief minister and NCP (AP) president Ajit Pawars ten secret visits to Delhi that too in disguise and with assumed identities -- to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of his joining the BJP-led MahaYuti government in Maharashtra in July last year.
Linking a controversial disclosure by Ajit Pawar who was the then Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly --about his secret visits to the national capital to meet Shah prior to his joining the MahaYuti government on July 2, 2023 to national security, the MVA leaders demanded a thorough inquiry and stringent action against the current deputy chief minister.
The Opposition NCP (Sharad Pawar) Working President Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut flagged the issue after a few regional television channels reported Ajit Pawars informal disclosure m wearing a cap and mask for his secret meetings with Shah before engineered a split in the Sharad Pawar-led united NCP and joined the Eknath Shinde government at the behest of the ruling BJP at the Centre.
Ajitdada as Ajit Pawar is known in the state political circles had reportedly made the disclosure to a group of journalists in Delhi during the latters visit to the national capital last week.
Tearing into Ajit Pawar, Supriya who is Sharad Pawars daughter told media persons in Delhi: I have read in newspapers that Ajit Pawar, who was then the LoP in the Maharashtra Assembly that he used to fly to Delhi in disguise and that too with assumed names. I have ask him three to four questions sincerely.. First, given that as a LoP in the Assembly, he used to criticise the BJP in public and to meet Shah secretly, was he not compromising the interests of Maharashtra?.
Secondly, the television channels have reported that he used to travel with assumed names. This is an issue of national security. If we have to fly anywhere we need an Aadhar card as proof. Here is a case where a Leader of the Opposition books his tickets with assumed names. During the checks at the airport, was the identity card shown by him matching with his actually? If Ajit Pawar does like this, even terrorists will do like this tomorrow, Supriya said
This is a national security issue. It is to be investigated as to how this security breach took place at Mumbai and Delhi airports and how Ajit Pawar travelled by the assumed identities. Even airlines need to be investigated. Who will take responsibility for this security lapse?, she asked.
Two Chinese nationals were arrested at the Indo-Nepal border area here for allegedly trying to cross over into India illegally, police on Thursday said.
A Tibetan refugee, who was helping them in the task, has also been arrested, they said.
The trio was held at the Sonouli transit point between the two countries by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Yang Meng Meng (37) and Gu Baoqiang (35), both from Peoples Republic of China, were roaming in Sonauli Indo-Nepal Border area last night when they were stopped by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for a routine checking, said Maharajganj Additional Superintendent of Police Atish Kumar Singh.
They were arrested by the immigration department in the Sonauli area after they found the Chinese passport but no Indian visa papers and no valid documents, he added.
Tibetan refugee Lobsang Jamyang (44), who had taken the responsibility of facilitating the two Chinese citizens to enter India illegally from Nepal, has also been held, the officer said.
The Tibetan refugee had also made fake Indian Aadhaar cards of both the Chinese citizens and taken the responsibility of their transportation from Kathmandu to Gorakhpur, but they could not escape the security agencies and all three were arrested by SSB jawans while entering India from Nepal, Singh added.
He said when valid documents were asked from the two arrested Chinese citizens, no visa was recovered from them, while the Tibetan refugee was found to have an Indian Aadhaar card and PAN card which had an Indian address.
The motive behind their move could not be established yet. Interrogation is being done, the officer added.
The police have registered a case against both the Chinese citizens under various sections of the law, including Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, while action is being taken against the Tibetan person by registering a case under relevant law at the local Sonauli police station.
Capital Delhi
Delhi turned into a floating city after record-breaking downpour late on Wednesday, the highest single-day rainfall for July in 14 years, leading to prolonged traffic jams and 11 deaths in the Delhi-NCR areas. A woman and her three-year-old toddler who fell into an overflowing under-construction drain in east Delhis Ghazipur were among the victims.
The weather station at Safdarjung recorded 108 millimetres of rainfall within a span of 24 hours. It caused major traffic congestion especially in Lutyens Delhi.
The rain led to water leaking from the roof of the lobby of the newly inaugurated Parliament building. Waterlogging was seen around the premises of the new Parliament, particularly near the Makar Dwar of the Parliament. Several videos of the flooding went viral on social media.
Opposition leaders took swipe at the Narendra Modi Government over water leakage in a lobby of the new Parliament building and praised the sturdy old Parliament building for its better infrastructure during monsoon. In a statement Lok Sabha Secretariat said a minor water leak in the new Parliament building was due to displacement of an adhesive material used to fix glass domes over the lobby and corrective measures were taken immediately.
During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said in a statement.
It said the problem was detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately. Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
Six weather stations across Delhi recorded over 100 mm of rain in a single day. Rains in Delhi, which was put on a red alert, claimed lives of atleast six people in the city including a 62-year-old man who died in a building collapse in north Delhis Sabji Mandi area, a 22-year-old woman and her three-year-old son in east Delhis Ghazipur area who drowned after they slipped into a waterlogged drain, a 12-year-old boy who got electrocuted after coming in contact with a live wire in southwest Delhis Bindapur area, an 18 year old boy who fell and died in South Delhis Sangam Vihar and a 28 year old Prabhat who died due to electrocution at his home in South east Delhis Meethapur.
Five deaths were reported in the adjoining regions of the city including Gurugram and Noida. In Haryanas Gurugram, three died due to electrocution after coming in contact with high tension wire after heavy rain while two died in Greater Noida after a wall collapse in Dadri area.
Multiple incidents of fallen trees, water inundated roads, and wall collapses were reported from across the city as several key stretches were choked with unending traffic and people left stranded.
A data by the Delhi Police showed that it received 2,945 calls related to traffic jams, 127 calls of waterlogging, 27 calls of building collapse and 50 calls for uprooted trees till 7 am in the morning of Thursday. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) received a total of 12 calls between 9 pm to 6 am including two calls of tree falling and 10 of waterlogging while it received 43 calls between 2 pm to 6 pm on Thursday including 22 calls regarding waterlogging and 21 calls of tree fallen. PWD officials said they received 90 calls regarding waterlogging and 20 calls for clearing uprooted trees till 6 am on Thursday.
The inclement weather also hit air traffic with many flights scheduled to land at the Delhi airport being diverted. Schools in the city remained closed on Thursday as per the announcement made by Delhi Education Minister Atishi late Wednesday night. The maximum temperature was recorded at 33.4 degrees Celsius, one notch below the average, while the minimum temperature settled at 24.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below the average.
Wayanad
Even as the South-West Monsoons fury continued unabated in Wayanad district, the death toll in the massive landslides in Mundakkai settlement crossed 283 mark by 6 pm on Thursday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who inspected the flood-affected region, told mediapersons that the landslides and deluge which wreaked havoc in Wayanad district should be declared as a national disaster. The non-stop rain in the district has affected the pace of the rescue operations as disaster response team members were finding it hard to wade through the slush, water and boulders.
Though 283 bodies have been retrieved during the last three days of search and rescue operations, rescue workers are yet to make any breakthrough regarding the dismembered human bodies recovered from the rivers and the landslide-affected regions. There is no information about 240 persons from Mundakkai missing after Tuesdays landslides.
Engineers of the Indian Army have almost completed the laying of the Bailey bridge across the Chaliyar river to facilitate rescue operations.
Soldiers and volunteers of the National Disaster Response Team numbering more than 500 are working round-the-clock in their efforts to rescue persons trapped underneath the boulders and clay.
Chief Minister Vijayan said in his media briefing that the Army officers had told him that there was no possibility of finding any survivor in Mundakkai as the entire population havehas been either drowned or washed away by the gushing waters following the landslides.
All 348 houses in Mundakkai were washed away by the flood waters. The Central Water Commission, the agency entrusted with the task of issuing warnings about floods, issued a flood alert in five districts of the State. Vijayan had on Wednesday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the failure of the central agencies in issuing timely warnings about the flood and landslides.
Water level in two rivers in Wayanad have crossed the danger level and the NDRT officials are monitoring the situation on a round-the-clock. Environmentalists like P K Ramachandran, T P Kunhikkannan and John Peruvanthanam are of the view that the Government of Kerala should launch immediate missions to mitigate the impact of future landslides and deluges instead of entering a one-up man ship race.
The arrival of Rahul Gandhi, who had represented Wayanad in Lok Sabha during 2019 to 2024 and his sister Priyanka Vadra brought a major relief to the residents of Wayanad. The sibling were accorded warm welcome by the people and the members of the Nehru-Gandho clan toured the region affected with landslide and flood. They called on those undergoing treatment in various hospitals in the district and also visited relief camps.
Chief Minister Vijayan , after presiding over an all-party meeting and the cabinet sub-committee held at district head quarters Kalpetta said that a team of five ministers would continue to work in the district till further orders to coordinate the rescue and rehabilitation works.
Rahul Gandhi, while speaking to reporters after visiting the affected regions and calling on the survivors, demanded that people should get what they require. This is a national disaster for sure and we all owe the survivors love and affection, said the Leader of the Opposition.
Anie Raja, CPI leader, who had contested from Wayanad in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and who was defeated by Rahul Gandhi is touring the landslide affected regions. She is the front runner in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to contest the by poll from the Wayanad constituency which fell vacant by the resignation of Rahul Gandhi.
Himachal / Uttarakhand
Building collapsing in Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, roads being washed away, pilgrims being airlifted these were the scenes in Uttarakhand and neighbouring Himalayan State of HP on Thursday morning as multiple cloudbursts led to rain wreaking havoc in these States.
At least 17 people were killed, 50 missing and hundreds are stranded in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to heavy rains and multiple cloudbursts and toll is likely to go up. More than 1,500 pilgrims stranded on the Kedarnath trek route, which is blocked at several places by boulders, have been shifted to safe places. Pilgrims are being rescued with the help of both helicopters and rescue teams consisting of the SDRF, NDRF, police and district administration.
According to officials, 425 pilgrims have been brought to safety by helicopter from Lincholi and Bhimbali while 1100 pilgrims have reached Sonprayag on foot from various places with the help of rescue teams. The pilgrims had got stranded beyond Bhimbali along Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route when 20-25 metres of the stretch were washed out by heavy rain on Wednesday night, Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said. While multiple cloudbursts caused severe damage with five people confirmed dead and more than 50 others reported missing in Mandi, Kullu and Shimla.
In Uttarakhand, at least 12 people including three of a family, were killed and six injured in heavy overnight rains in various parts that triggered many incidents of house collapse, flooding and rise in water levels of several rivers.
An advisory has been issued for Kedarnath-bound pilgrims asking them to wait in a safe place until the weather improves and the roads blocked here and there are restored. Both Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers in Rudraprayag district are flowing close to the danger mark.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and took stock of the situation arising due to the cloudburst in the state, and assured him of all help from the Centre.
Uttarkhand chief minister Pushkar Dhami said the government stands with the affected people. All possible assistance will be provided to them. He directed Tehri District Magistrate to streamline road connectivity, electricity and drinking water supply in the affected areas to restore normalcy.
In Kharkhari, a truck carrying rations and essentials for a group of kanwariyas was among the vehicles washed away. Roads were submerged in many areas of Haridwar and the rainwater also entered the Kankhal police station. Many colonies and markets of Bhupatwala, Haridwar, Naya Haridwar, Kankhal and Jwalapur also got flooded. Schools up to class 12 and Anganwadi centres remained closed on Thursday in various districts, including Dehradun.
In Himachal Pradesh, the cloudburst took place in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in Shimla districts.A cloudburst at Samej Khud (nallah) in Rampur subdivision of Shimla district left two people dead and 28 others missing, Superintendent of Police (SP), Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, said.
The Shimla DC and SP, who were on the spot, said that teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo Tibetan Border Police, police and home guards have started rescue operations and help of drones is being taken to locate the missing persons.
Another cloudburst in village Rajban near Terang in Padhar subdivision of Mandi district on Wednesday night left one person dead and nine others missing. Two houses have been washed away while another was damaged, officials said. A cloudburst also occurred in Kullu district, leaving seven people missing.
Speaking with reporters after an emergency meeting on the matter, HP CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that massive damage has been caused in Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts since Wednesday night and about 50 persons are missing and Manali has been cut off by road.
Keeping in mind the safety of tourists, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board in collaboration with Disaster Management Institute, Bhopal organized a two-day workshop on Risk Reduction and Rescue Operations during Adventure Activities for the adventure tour operators of the state.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Ilaiyaraaja T, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation by lighting the lamp. The main objective of the workshop is to enhance the safety protocols and emergency response capabilities of the adventure tour operators working in the state and to train them with the necessary skills in disaster and risk management.
Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, Ilaiyaraaja T said that the safety of people should be a priority in adventure activities, skill development has to be done. Local people also have to be trained so that their help can be taken in extraordinary circumstances.
In the workshop, Dr. Ilaiyaraaja discussed other points like Objective Ranking System, Self Assessment, Design and Implementation of Safety Courses. In the first day's session of the workshop on Thursday, Kamakshi Maheshwari, Nodal Officer, Adventure Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, provided information to adventure operators about the provisions of the proposed Adventure Tourism Safety Law and the new SOP.
SK Shrivastava, Joint Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, while giving information about the objective of this workshop, said that this type of workshop is being organized for the first time in the country. 55 adventure tour operators from across the state including Bhopal and Indore are participating in the workshop.
George V Joseph, Joint Director, Disaster Management Institute, provided information on risks in adventure activities and disaster risk management.In the workshop on Thursday, adventure operators will be given practical training on first aid, fire disaster management, risk reduction model program.
In a bold and decisive move, former Member of Parliament and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Wednesday announced the revocation of the expulsion of eight rebel leaders from the party. Asserting his authority as the partys patron, Dhindsa declared the expulsions unconstitutional, challenging the partys decisions and calling for a significant overhaul in its leadership.
The decision to expel these leaders was against the partys constitution. As the partys patron, I revoke the expulsion of these eight leaders, Dhindsa stated during a meeting held in Chandigarh. He emphasized the necessity of adhering to constitutional principles and announced his intention to write to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanding explanations and a resolution to this internal crisis.
The expelled leaders, who include prominent figures such as Prem Singh Chandumajra, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gurpratap Singh Wadala, Dhinsas son Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Sikander Singh Maluka, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Surinder Singh Thekedar, and Charanjit Singh Brar, were accused of indulging in anti-party activities. However, Dhindsa and his supporters argued that these expulsions were a result of internal disagreements and were not justified.
Dhindsa announced plans to convene a general assembly to elect a new party president, emphasizing the need for leadership change. The recommendations of the Jhunda Committee, which suggested a change in leadership, must be implemented. Sukhbir Badal should step down as the party president, he asserted, referring to the committee's findings during the 2022 elections, which indicated a demand for new leadership within the party.
At the meeting, Wadala and Chandumajra reiterated the Jhunda committees recommendations, stressing the need for internal reforms. We are working in accordance with the committees suggestions. Sukhbir Badals leadership has been questioned, and it's time for a change, they stated.
They pointed that the Jhunda Committee was established after SADs repeated election defeats in 2022, under senior party leader and former MLA Iqbal Singh Jhunda. The committee gathered feedback from across Punjab, and the consensus was clear there was a strong recommendation for a change in the partys leadership. The committee advised that Sukhbir Badal should step down from his position.
We are merely echoing the committees recommendations and advocating for the necessary changes as outlined, they stated, emphasizing their commitment to following the committee's guidance for the party's renewal.
The expulsions, initially carried out by the SAD's disciplinary committee, led by former MP Balwinder Singh Bhundur, were described as a necessary action against anti-party activities. Senior SAD leader Bhundur criticized Dhindsas move, stating, Dhindsa does not have the authority to override decisions taken by the partys disciplinary committee. His actions are not in line with the partys constitution.
Accusing Dhindsa of acting like a self-styled dictator by attempting to invalidate decisions made through proper channels, Bhundur said: It is unfortunate that instead of advising the party rank and file not to indulge in anti-party activities, Dhindsa had chosen to led the team of expelled leaders.
Bhundur elaborated that the disciplinary action was taken after the expelled leaders ignored a resolution passed by the partys working committee on June 26, appealing to everyone to discuss their misgivings in the party forum. The expelled leaders had made their intention to work against the party further clear by forming a parallel organization without the approval of the party president and with the sole aim of misleading the party cadre, he added.
Dhindsas stance, however, is gaining traction among many party members who feel marginalized under the current leadership. The leaders also emphasized their deep sacrifices for the Akali Dal, highlighting their enduring commitment through imprisonment and personal hardship.
In stark contrast, they argued, Sukhbir Badal has not shared in such sacrifices. The party now stands divided into two distinct factions one comprising those who have endured imprisonment for the partys cause, and another of those who arrived in luxury cars, detached from the struggles faced by the former.
The controversy underscored a growing rift within the countrys oldest political party Shiromani Akali Dal, a party historically known for its disciplined structure. The dispute over leadership and the direction of the party highlighted deeper issues and called for a resolution that aligns with the partys core values.
To improve the quality of school education in the state and further strengthen the education system, PM Shri Yojana has been started in September 2022.
For qualitative improvement in education, joint efforts are being made with the cooperation of Center and State under PM Shri Yojana. At present 553 schools in the state have been taken under PM Shri Yojana.
Under the PM Shri Yojana, two higher secondary, high school, or secondary and primary schools are being selected from each development block of the state and these schools are being developed in a way that the school can serve as an example of excellence for other nearby schools. Arrangements are being made to equip the PM Shri schools with Vatikas, Rashtriya Awishkar Abhiyan, vocational education, play facilities, libraries, and labs.
In the first phase of the scheme, 416 schools were selected which includes 14 primary schools, 91 secondary schools, 116 high schools, and 195 higher secondary schools of the state. About 2 lakh 50 thousand students are enrolled in these schools, and an amount of about Rs 220 crore has been sanctioned for these schools. 137 schools have been selected in the second phase of the Central Government. This includes 13 middle schools, 52 high schools, and 72 higher secondary schools. 91 thousand 981 students are registered in these PM Shri schools.
PM Shri schools are being developed on the lines of green schools, and students have been provided with facilities of a digital library, ICT lab, and smart classes. The mission of PM Shri Schools is to create exemplary schools where every student feels secure and cared for. A safe and stimulating learning environment is maintained in these schools, with good physical infrastructure and appropriate learning resources being provided to all students in these schools.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a strong stance on the recent Gomti Nagar incident, declaring that anyone threatening womens safety would face severe consequences.
Addressing the state assembly on Thursday, he emphasised that the accused in the July 31 incident of molestation and harassment near Hotel Taj would not be treated leniently. Womens safety is our top priority, CM Yogi stated. The accused in the Gomti Nagar incident will face strict legal action, not Sadbhavna but a bullet train approach. Preparations for this are underway, he assured.
Yogi Adityanaths comments were made in response to the violent harassment that took place in a waterlogged underpass. He condemned the perpetrators, Manoj Yadav and Mohammad Arbaaz, asserting that their actions would be met with the full force of the law.
The CM questioned, Should we garland criminals instead of taking decisive action? He stressed that the governments priority is to ensure respect and security for everyone, with strict consequences for those who create unrest.
In his address, CM Yogi reflected on the actions taken by the government. He highlighted that the incident prompted immediate and serious responses: the removal of the DCP, ADCP, and ACP involved, and the suspension of the police inspector and all personnel at the police outpost. These steps were part of the government's commitment to address the issue with the gravity it deserves.
Yogi Adityanath also criticised the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its leaders, accusing them of involvement in serious crimes. He pointed out that Moin Khan, a key suspect in the Ayodhya rape case, is an SP office bearer and MP from Faizabad. The SP has not acted against him, which CM Yogi condemned. He further criticized the former SP district president implicated in the Hardoi incident, highlighting a history of criminal activity and questioning why such individuals have not faced proper action.
The chief minister described these individuals as a blight on society and argued that improving conditions in Uttar Pradesh will be challenging until this issue is addressed. Should we honour such criminals, or should they face severe consequences? he asked. He emphasised the need for a strong and effective response to ensure justice and safety.
Yogi contrasted Uttar Pradeshs current situation with the past, noting significant improvements. He cited a substantial decrease in crimes against women from 2017 to 2022 compared to the national average. He pointed out that crime rates in states like Telangana, Odisha, and Rajasthan had increased more than in Uttar Pradesh during this period. Specifically, UP ranks 24th in terms of rape cases, with higher crime rates reported in states such as Chhattisgarh and Kerala.
The CM also highlighted the increased enforcement measures under the current government. Actions taken under the Arms Act, NDPS Act, Excise Act, Goonda Act, and Gangster Act have all seen significant rises, reflecting the state's commitment to tackling crime effectively. This increase in enforcement demonstrates the governments proactive approach to addressing and reducing criminal activities.
In addition to his comments on crime and safety, CM Yogi Adityanath discussed the broader progress in Uttar Pradesh. He highlighted that the state has seen a significant transformation, becoming the second-largest economy in India from a position of relative economic insignificance. He emphasised that the government is developing a roadmap for the next three to five years, focusing on advancements in education, health, and skill development. This includes creating new job opportunities and improving the states overall economic standing.
The chief minister criticised the SPs handling of various cases and underscored the need for rigorous action against criminals. He condemned the SP for not taking action against its members involved in serious crimes and stressed that such inaction tarnishes the partys reputation. Yogi Adityanaths remarks reflect his administration's commitment to addressing crime, improving public safety, and advancing the states development agenda.
Farmers in Punjab intensified their protests on Thursday, burning effigies of the BJP in response to the recent developments. The protests, led by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, center around demands for a legal guarantee of minimum support prices (MSP) for crops, among other issues.
The protests took place at various locations, including the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, Amritsar, and Moga. Farmers expressed their determination to continue the agitation until their demands are met.
One of the key points of contention is the Haryana Governments recent decision to recommend gallantry medals for six police officials, recognized for their role in preventing farmers from heading to Delhi during the Delhi Chalo movement in February, this year. The government's recommendations to the Centre include the names of three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and three Haryana Police Service officers for the police medal for gallantry.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher condemned the Haryana Government's decision. Police officers are being rewarded for stopping farmers from going to Delhi by using force, Pandher said, highlighting that the Haryana Police had used teargas shells and rubber bullets against farmers during their attempt to march towards Delhi.
The six officers were stationed at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, where they played a significant role in halting the farmers' march towards the national capital. The protesting farmers have been camping at these border points since February 13, when security forces initially stopped their "Delhi Chalo" march.
During the protests on Thursday, farmers raised slogans against the Centre and the Haryana government. Pandher reiterated the commitment of the farmers to continue their agitation. "The agitation will continue till the demands of farmers and labourers are not met," he asserted.
The protests have seen significant clashes in the past. On February 21, a young farmer from Bathinda, Shubhkaran Singh, was killed, and many police personnel were injured during confrontations at the Khanauri border on the Punjab-Haryana boundary.
The ongoing agitation highlights the deep-seated grievances of the farming community and their resolve to fight for their rights, despite the challenges and opposition they face.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said the Himachal government is preparing a strong legal case to reclaim the Shanan Hydropower Project which was given to Punjab on a 99-year lease.
The 110-MW Shanan Hydropower Project, commissioned in 1932, was built under a 99-year lease agreement between Joginder Sen, the then king of the erstwhile Mandi state, and British engineer B C Batty signed in 1925. During the reorganisation of states in November 1966, the powerhouse which came under Mandi district of the hill state was given to Punjab as per the lease agreement that expired on March 2 this year.
Presiding over a meeting with senior state government officials here, Sukhu directed them to present a strong case before the Supreme Court to reclaim the project. Sukhu said that the state government will fight vigorously to get back the rights of Himachal Pradesh so that the people of the state can get benefits of this project.
In a statement issued here, he said the lease period ended on March 2 and as this project falls in the territory of Himachal Pradesh, now the Punjab government must hand over this project to the hill state without any delay. "The state government is committed to ensure that the benefits of the project are redirected to the people of Himachal Pradesh. As the legal proceedings were in process, the government is preparing a strong case to reclaim the project", reiterated the Chief Minister.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday visited the 84th Shaheedi Mahasammelan of Shaheed Udham Singh at Dera Baba Bhuman Shah, Sangar Sarista in Sirsa and paid tribute to the martyrs who made supreme sacrifice of their lives for the country.
Speaking on this occasion, he said that the central and state governments are following the path shown by the martyrs to realise their dreams. There have been fundamental changes in development works across the country and the state. The double engine government has taken up the task of fulfilling the dreams of the martyrs by launching new schemes, he said.
Saini said that the state government has included the biography of Shaheed Udham Singh Ji in the history textbook for the 9th grade under the Haryana School Education Board. This inclusion is a true tribute to him, he said.
The Chief Minister said that Shaheed Udham Singh was a great revolutionary who vowed in his youth to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by General Dyer. He said that after 21 years of intense dedication, Shaheed Udham Singh avenged the massacre by shooting General Dyer at a public meeting. He also announced Rs 51 lakh for the construction of Kamboj Dharamshalas at various locations, including Sirsa, Karnal, Radaur, Bhuna, Kurukshetra, Ratia, and Jagadhri. He also announced setting up of a library in honour of Shaheed Udham Singh near his statue on the grounds of the old Government College in Hisar.
Saini, while addressing the request from the management committee members to expand the Rangoi drain, which passes through the Ghaggar River near village Musahib Wala, said that the feasibility of this project would be examined, and if all criteria are met, the government would approve it. He further said that if land is available, the government would consider making the road from NH-9 to Dera Baba Bhuman Shah a four-lane road. Besides this, he announced the construction of a bus queue shelter on the main road.
He urged everyone to pledge to plant a sapling on the birth anniversaries of martyrs, on their Shaheedi diwas, on the birthdays of parents, and on other special occasions under the Ek Ped Maa ke naam campaign. He recalled Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi's call to plant a sapling under Ek Ped Maa ke naam on World Environment Day on June 5, a goal the state government is advancing with the aim of planting 1.5 crore saplings this year.
Offers prayers at Gurudwara Sri Chilla Sahib
In another event, Saini paid obeisance at Gurudwara Sri Chilla Sahib in Sirsa. During this, he handed over the registry document of 77 Kanal 7 Marla land to the members of the Gurudwara Sri Chilla Sahib Management Committee. The members of the management committee honoured the Chief Minister with a memento and a Saropa.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that Gurudwara Sri Chilla Sahib holds significant historical importance as Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji visited this place and from this holy land, saints have guided the world through their teachings. The Chief Minister said that during the 550th Prakash Parv of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced the allocation of this land to Sri Gurudwara Chilla Sahib. Following this announcement, the state cabinet passed a proposal transferring the ownership of this sacred land to Sri Gurudwara Chilla Sahib.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made numerous announcements for the Sikh religion over the past decade, including waiving GST on langar items and observing December 26 as Veer Bal Diwas', to mark the martyrdom of sons of Sri Guru Gobind Singh - Sahibzadas Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji.
Saini said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji performed penance on this land and guided people. Through his sacred teachings and words, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji showed the entire world the path of righteousness. We should follow the path he showed in our lives, he said.
In another event, Saini visited Shri Tara Baba Kutiya located on Rania Road in Sirsa where he offered prayers at Baba Ji's samadhi. The Chief Minister also participated in the special prayers held in Kutiya. After this, he visited the Sant Ashram and received blessings from the Spiritual Orator Jaya Kishori.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, while inaugurating the Ladli Behna Utsav in Chitrakoot, announced that on August 10, Ladli Behnas will get Rs 1250 through a single click and an additional Rs 250 will be given as a Raksha Bandhan gift. He said that the Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on 19th August. But it will be celebrated throughout the month of Savan. Festivals are being organized in every district to receive blessings of Behnas.
Yadav said that sisters shower their affection on brothers. Today sisters have given me the joy by tying a huge Rakhi. He said that the festivals connect us. The whole world is amazed to see the festivals of India. Our sages started the tradition of festivals thousands of years ago to maintain love and harmony in society.
Ladli Behnas handed over a 30-feet-long Rakhi to the Chief Minister in the program. The Behnas also presented Aabhaar Sneh Pati, which was written in Bagheli dialect, to the Chief Minister.
Yadav said that Chitrakoot is the holy place of Lord Ram and Nanaji Deshmukh. The land of Chitrakoot is irrigated with the tears of love arising from the sacred union of Lord Ram and his great devotee Bharat. Continuous efforts are being made for the all-round development of Chitrakoot. As per the ideals of Nanaji and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the benefits of government schemes are being given to the deprived and the backmost person for development. Ladli Behna Yojana beneficiaries and women having Ujjwala gas connections from Ujjwala Yojana will be given at Rs 450 for refilling their gas cylinders. Continuous efforts are being made for over all development of the state.
Regional Investors Conclave will be organized in Rewa soon. With this, investors will get the opportunity to invest in large quantities in this entire region and the regional youth will get employment opportunities.
The Chief Minister reached Chitrakoot and planted saplings in the Udyamita Parisar of Deendayal Research Institute under the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign. He also laid the foundation and dedicated construction works worth Rs 131 crore. The Chief Minister distributed benefits to the beneficiaries of the Ladli Lakshmi Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, and Mukhya Mantri Udyam Kranti Yojana. The Chief Minister also performed Kanya Pujan. The Chief Minister also visited the Livelihood Project exhibition set up at the program venue.
Yadav distributed gifts to Ladli Behnas present in the Ladli Behna beneficiaries' thanksgiving program for the coming Rakhsha Bandhan festival. At the outset, Chief Minister Dr. Yadav spoke to the Ladli Behnas seated on the swings in the campus and blessed Palak. The Ladli Behnas greeted the Chief Minister by showering flowers on him. Dr. Yadav reached among the Behnas who tied Rakhis. He thanked them and gave them his best wishes. Dr. Yadav was overwhelmed with emotion at the love showered on him by Ladli Behnas and at the beginning of his address he sang, Phoolon ka taro ka, sabka kehna hai... Ek Hazaron me meri Behna hai.
Minister of State for Urban Development and Housing, Smt. Pratima Bagri expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister Dr. Yadav for attending the Ladli Behna Yojana beneficiaries' sammelan in Chitrakoot. She said that along with Rs 1250, the Chief Minister is also giving a gift of Rs 250 to the Ladli Behnas for the festival of Rakhi.
MP Ganesh Singh said that Ladli Behna Yojana is being talked about across the country. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister the state government is implementing all the schemes including Ladli Behna Yojana. An amount of Rs 9 crore 61 lakh has been given to 3 lakh 84 thousand 259 women of Satna district under Ladli Behna Yojana. Development works have started in Chitrakoot, the holy land of Lord Ram, under Ram Van Path Gaman Yojana.
Students continued to protest for the third day over the ban of entries for two wheelers in Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal. During the protest, the movement of vehicles inside the campus was also stopped. In such a situation, there was a jam at the main gate of the institute.
Students claimed that the electricity of the hostel has been cut off and food is also not being provided in the mess. Their demand is that more than half of the students of the institute come and go by two wheelers.
In such a situation, by running only four e-buses, they will not be able to reach anywhere on time. Therefore, entry by bike should be started in the campus. All the departments in the institute are at a distance.
In fact, four e-buses were flagged off in MANIT on Sunday. Since then, the vehicles of the students are not being allowed to enter the gate. After the protest on Tuesday, the director had talked to the students and assured them to find a solution.
Police force remained deployed outside the MANIT campus during the protest. Only four e-buses for 6000 students.
Four different routes have been fixed for these buses. Only 50 students can sit in one bus.
MANIT management said that efforts are being made to make a green campus. They have banned bikes in view of the safety of students. The administration said that many accidents have happened in the recent past, so two-wheelers will not be allowed to enter. Other demands of the students will be considered. However, some students are protesting against this decision.
Due to the absence of elections of Students Council in MANIT, the voice of the students is suppressed. Therefore, elections should be held soon.
The quality of food in the mess should be taken care of and there should be transparency in the operation of the mess. The operation of the mess in number-7 and 12 hostels should be given back to the girl students.
Quality is required in library, gym, sports, medical. Also, the time should be increased so that the students can take full advantage.
Insects are found in the water coolers in the hostel, water tanks are not cleaned, plaster is falling off the walls, washrooms are not cleaned and the rooms are in a pathetic condition. Therefore, the hostel should be rebuilt.
The Orientation Program 2024 at XITE Gamharia, held from July 23rd to July 30th, concluded with great success, making a significant impact on both students and facilitators. The week-long event, designed to welcome and integrate the new students into the academic environment, featured a variety of engaging activities and informative sessions.
The program began with a warm welcome from Principal Dr. Fr. E. A. Francis, SJ, who set an encouraging tone for the week. The first day included an introduction to XITE, a multi-religion prayer, a quiz, and a time management session led by Prof. Swati Singh.
Day 2 saw an ice-breaking session by Tony Castelton, followed by a talk on the responsible use of IT by IIM Indore alumna Shraddha Agarwal. The day also featured a talent hunt showcasing fitness and art.
On Day 3, students participated in a communication skills workshop with Prof. Akinchan Xaxa and attended talks on recent industrial trends by Ranjot Singh, Chairman of CII Jharkhand, and Mr. Prabhat Kumar, State Head of CII Jharkhand. The day concluded with a talent hunt that included drama and open mic performances.
Day 4 included an alumni talk by Akshit Anand and an energetic Zumba session led by Zin Usha Gope and Zin Deepshikha.
A heartfelt vote of thanks was extended to all participants and facilitators, including Prof. Sushmita Sen Chowdhury, Prof. Amit Chaturvedi, Prof. Anjali Jha, and the Branding & Communication Department. The successful orientation program has laid a strong foundation for the incoming students, enhancing their sense of belonging and readiness as they begin their academic journey at XITE Gamharia.
The Department of Pediatrics at AIIMS Bhopal celebrated ORS Day here the other day. The event highlighted the importance of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) in preventing dehydration in children and promoting overall child health. Prof. Singh emphasized that small, mindful actions can significantly contribute to the health and strength of future generations. He also underscored the importance of maintaining cleanliness for children, noting that unsanitary conditions are a major cause of various diseases.
ORS Week, celebrated from July 25 to July 31, and ORS Day, observed on July 29, aim to spread awareness about diarrhea in children and the critical role of ORS in preventing and treating dehydration. This year, the event was organized in collaboration with the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) and the Smart Unit of the Department of Pediatrics at AIIMS Bhopal.
Various activities were held to educate the public about diarrhea prevention and the importance of ORS. One such program took place in the OPD area of AIIMS Bhopal, attracting about 110 participants. Dr. Shikha Malik, Head of the Pediatrics Department, discussed the theme of ORS Day 2024, "Prevention of Diarrhea, Cleanliness, and Take Care of Yourself with ORS." She emphasized the critical importance of cleanliness for children and highlighted that timely administration of ORS can prevent diarrhea-related deaths, which remain the third leading cause of mortality in children under five years of age.
Dr. Bhavana Dhingra, Nodal Officer of the Smart Unit, provided detailed explanations on the use and benefits of various types of ORS, including Low Osmolarity ORS, Tri-Sodium Citrate ORS, Rice-based ORS, Homemade ORS, and Super ORS.
Additionally, an awareness program was organized in the Smart Unit for the relatives of children admitted to the Pediatrics Department, with around 40 participants. This program focused on educating caregivers about the prevention and treatment of dehydration in children.
The Mass Communication Department at Prestige Institute of Management and Research (PIMR) recently conducted a 96-hour skill enhancement workshop to equip students with essential industrial and business skills. This intensive program focused on preparing students to meet the demands of the industry with excellence.
Throughout the workshop, students engaged in various tasks, including film analysis, current affairs packaging, brochure design, PR campaigning, ad analysis, ground reporting, and editing montages. These activities culminated in student presentations, showcasing their learnings and creativity.
Roma Udasi and Manya Jain were recognized for their outstanding presentations, receiving awards from PIMR UG Director Colonel S. Raman Iyer.
In his address, Dr. Iyer emphasized the importance of creativity in Mass Communication, urging students to actively participate and remain productive in various activities.
Group Director of Prestige Institute of Management and Research, SS Bhaker, highlighted the institution's commitment to skill enhancement, ensuring that students develop holistically and transition smoothly into the industry. "We place a strong emphasis on comprehensive skill development to eliminate any potential challenges our students might face in their professional journeys," said Bhaker.
Professor Zuber, Head of the Mass Communication Department, reiterated the workshop's objective of helping students achieve professional excellence. "Our goal is to support students in mastering professional skills for their future success in the industry. This workshop has provided a valuable platform for students to hone their skills and display their talents," he stated.
The workshop successfully enabled students to develop and demonstrate their capabilities, preparing them for successful careers in Mass Communication.
Bhopal police arrested two accused involved in the fraud of Rs 38 lakh with a lady medical officer of Gwalior two and a half months ago, accused were committing the fraud in connivance with their accomplices from China and UAE. The accused committed the crime by posing as CBI officers and by threatening human trafficking and have also sent the money collected from the frauds abroad by transferring it online.
A record of buying US crypto currency worth about Rs 2.50 crore in a month has been found from their account, 18 accounts have come to light in which the cheated amount was transferred, including a young woman.
Gwalior police caught Shahrukh Khan son of Asif Khan from Bhopal's Aishbagh and Laiq Baig from Budhwara area. The police have taken both of them to Gwalior. They are being questioned after taking them on remand.
Gwalior SP Dharamveer Singh said that Shahrukh is the main member of the gang. After defrauding the female medical officer of Rs 38 lakh online , the amount was transferred to different accounts. Ten lakh rupees of this amount came to Shahrukh's account.
On 9 May 2024, Medical Officer Dr. Sujata Bapat complained to SP Dharamveer Singh that in the month of April, a person named Rajiv Gupta called on the mobile. The caller told himself to be from DHL courier company.
He said your parcel has been booked from Lucknow to Myanmar, which contains 20 passports, three credit cards, a laptop, 50 grams of MDMA and 4 kg of cloth. The booking address is A-16 Omnagar Road Pawanpuri Alambagh Lucknow. The receiver's address is John David resident House Number 207 City Dagan State Yangon Myanmar.
I said that this is not my parcel. The caller said to complain at Alambagh police station. When I said that I was in Gwalior, he said that I will connect your call to the police station.
The caller got the Telegram app downloaded. A video call came on Telegram. In the video, a man wearing a police uniform said that your cash is with the CBI. Your name is Ajay Mishra. You are a suspect in human trafficking and money laundering. I will make you talk to a CBI officer.
He told someone to talk to madam, sir, then that person said to arrest madam. There is an arrest warrant and property seizure order against her. The alleged policeman said that madam's Aadhaar and other information show that madam is innocent.'
'The alleged policeman made me talk to someone. He introduced himself as a CBI officer. He said that in Myanmar, eyes, noses and ears of 60 people have been removed, who are involved in human trafficking. Rs 3 crore 80 lakh of their family has come to your HDFC account, then I said that I do not have an account in HDFC bank.
When he asked, I gave the details of my bank accounts. He said that do not mention this to the family. Also, he refused to receive anyone's call. He sent a confidential contract letter on Telegram. He also asked for Rs 38 lakh. I transferred the money to the accounts mentioned.
The fraud amunt was transferred to different accounts. Police identified one of these accounts. This account was of Bhopal. Recently, a team led by Station Incharge Rajesh Singh Tomar left for Bhopal from Gwalior.
When information was collected, it was found that the account was in the name of Shahrukh Khan, son of Asif Khan, resident of Aishbagh. Police caught him. On his information, his friend was arrested from Budhwara.
Shahrukh, who was arrested, has a four-storey house in Aishbagh. It has all the amenities. Accused Laiq Beg is getting his house in Budhwara demolished and renovated. He is living on rent on two floors in a multi. He travels around in a Thar jeep.
Laiq is a cyber expert along with being a B.Com graduate. He was in direct contact with fraudsters from Dubai and China. According to his close ones, he used to earn 20-30 thousand rupees every day.
Investigation of the mobile phone revealed that accused Laiq Baig was committing cyber fraud along with his Chinese and UAE associates. The fraud racket was being operated from there.
Panchayat and Rural Development and Labour Minister Prahlad Patel has instructed to submit proposals for hospital construction in Satna, Mandideep, and Jabalpur. Existing hospitals and dispensaries be upgraded to further improve health services.
Patel was presiding over the 90th Regional Council meeting of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for Madhya Pradesh, organized by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, at Indore today.
Patel instructed that proposals for constructing hospitals and dispensaries on the land available with the corporation. Shri Patel directed the concerning officers to prepare a proposal for the construction of a 50-bed hospital in Ratlam, considering the needs of the Industrial Corridor. Attention should be given to ensuring that new hospitals and dispensaries are located close to the city to avoid inconvenience. Hospital construction in Pithampur be completed within the stipulated time frame.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday unveiled a visionary initiative, pledging to integrate the Punjabi language into the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The groundbreaking move aimed at ensuring that the Punjabi language keeps pace with technological advancements and remains relevant in the digital age.
Mann announced that the State Government has enlisted a team of renowned Punjabi historians, poets, and literary figures to spearhead this endeavour. Emphasizing the importance of this effort, he said: The integration of Punjabi into AI is not just a cultural necessity but a strategic move to preserve and enhance our linguistic heritage. Our language must evolve alongside technology to remain vibrant and influential.
Mann, addressing a state-level event commemorating the martyrdom of Shaheed Udham Singh a revered figure in India's freedom struggle, recounted his childhood visits to the memorial events dedicated to the martyr, highlighting the deep personal connection and respect he holds for the martyr. Shaheed Udham Singhs sacrifice and courage were monumental, Mann said, adding, He avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and played a crucial role in our fight against British colonialism.
Reflecting on Udham Singhs legacy, Mann underscored the enduring relevance of such historical sacrifices in shaping contemporary Punjab. He praised Udham Singhs unwavering commitment and resilience, which, he said, continue to inspire the states ongoing journey toward progress.
Mann also criticized previous administrations for neglecting essential development projects. He highlighted the Punjab Government's recent initiative to construct the Malwa Canal a project designed to transform the irrigation infrastructure of the region. For the first time since independence, our government is addressing this long-standing needThe canal will benefit nearly two lakh acres of fertile land and foster unprecedented agricultural growth, he said.
Manns speech also touched on environmental issues, criticizing former leaders for their lack of concern for ecological preservation. He vowed that his administration would prioritize environmental sustainability, quoting the Gurbani verse, "Pawan Guru, Paani Pitaah, Mata Dharat Mahat," to underscore the sacredness of natural resources.
In addition to these reforms, Mann announced plans to build an ultra-modern stadium and bus stand to harness the energy of the youth and channel it into positive development. He expressed pride in the achievements of Punjabs athletes, with 19 players from the state representing the country in the upcoming Paris Olympics, and pledged further support for their preparation.
The Chief Minister called on the youth to draw inspiration from Shaheed Udham Singhs sacrifices and contribute to the state's progress rather than seeking opportunities abroad. He assured that his government is committed to reversing migration trends by creating robust employment opportunities and enhancing the overall well-being of Punjabs residents.
Underlining the state government's dedication to public welfare, Mann highlighted significant achievements such as providing free power to 90 percent of households and creating over 43,000 government jobs.
Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has apprehended Iqbal Singh Sandhu, a retired Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer, in connection with a sprawling land acquisition scam amounting to Rs 5.49 crores (5,49,18,523). The arrest took place amidst a labyrinth of fraudulent activities related to the acquisition of 94.97 acres for the Surya Enclave Extension by the Improvement Trust Jalandhar, during Sandhus tenure as SDM-cum-Land Acquisition Collector (LAC).
VB spokesperson disclosed intricate details of the probe, revealed that the compensation process for the said land was marred by deceitful practices. Bogus documents were crafted to replace the legitimate beneficiaries, leading to a large-scale embezzlement.
The case, initially registered on October 29, 2013, under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), was later transferred to the Vigilance Bureau for a thorough investigation. The investigation unearthed a conspiracy involving Sandhu and other officials of the Improvement Trust, leading to a misappropriation of Rs 4.32 crores (4,32,15,438).
Further details revealed that Sandhu, in collusion with Manjit Sharma of Aman Nagar, Jalandhar, fabricated files with counterfeit documents for compensating the supposed landowners. These files were expedited through the system within three-four days, resulting in bank cheques worth Rs 5,49,18,523 being issued to fictitious claimants.
The investigation also highlighted Sandhu's close association with Manjit Sharma. It was discovered that Sandhu had used his position to facilitate the issuance of a new passport for Sharma in 2012, demonstrating the depth of their relationship and mutual involvement in corrupt activities.
To date, 14 individuals have been arrested in connection with this case, including Manjit Sharma, Sukhdev Singh Patwari, an Improvement Trust employee, Prem Prakash Nambardar, advocates Mohit Bhardwaj and Deepak Sadana, among others. These arrests underscored the widespread nature of the scam, implicating various officials and private individuals across Jalandhar.
Sandhu is scheduled to be presented in the competent court in Jalandhar on Thursday, where the Bureau will seek his remand for further interrogation. Spokesperson affirmed that the investigation is ongoing, with the VB committed to uncovering every facet of this elaborate scam.
ESL Steel Limited, a Vedanta Group Company, continues its commitment to societal and community welfare with a visit to the Nand Ghar in Sindur Pethi Village. This visit aimed to raise awareness about Vedantas #KhanaKhaayaKya Movement, which seeks to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and has access to nutritious food.
The initiative encourages donations, volunteering, and partnerships to support the cause. ESL Steel Limited employees have been actively participating by donating and volunteering their time at various Nand Ghars in the regions of Chas, Chandankiyari, and Nawadih. These visits include engaging activities like games, motor skill exercises, and drawing sessions for children.
Today's visit included notable attendees such as Ashish Kumar Gupta, CEO and Whole-Time Director of ESL Steel Limited; Ashish Ranjan, Head of CSR, ER & PR; Ravindra Kumar Dhing, Head of Logistics; Divya Tripathi, Head of Policy & Business Promotion; and Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Deputy Head of CSR. CEO Gupta reaffirmed Vedanta ESL's commitment to the surrounding communities, emphasizing the company's dedication to comprehensive development through robust CSR initiatives.
Vedantas #KhanaKhaayaKya Movement, envisioned by Chairman Anil Agarwal, represents a collaboration between private and public sectors to combat child hunger and promote holistic development. The initiative has seen significant participation and support from ESL employees, contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and caring society.
Quoting a Panchatantra story where thugs cheated a poor farmer by calling his goat a dog, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on the opposition INDIA blocs khata-khat scheme in the state assembly on Thursday. Panchatantra is a collection of ancient Indian animal fables in Sanskrit.
This alliance resorted to thuggery by making false promises and pushing a false narrative against the BJP. In the 2027 assembly election, it will not be the khata-khat scheme but rather the end of Congress and SP, the CM said while discussing the supplementary budget.
He urged his BJP and NDA allies to engage with the public, asking them to inquire about the unfulfilled promises.
Where did the bond of Rs one lakh promised by the opposition alliance go? Who consumed it, and who are the individuals responsible?, the CM asked.
In a pointed attack, CM Yogi denounced the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) for their allegations that PM Modis third term would lead to the abrogation of the Constitution and the scrapping of reservations for SCs and OBCs.
Who are the people who claim that the Constitution is being strangled? Prime Minister Modi has been in power for ten yearshas the Constitution been changed? No! In fact, the Constitution has become stronger under his leadership, he asserted.
The chief minister lauded PM Modi for his efforts to honour Dr BR Ambedkar, emphasising that no one has respected Baba Saheb as much as PM Modi. He highlighted PM Modis establishment of the Panch Teerths dedicated to Baba Saheb, including the grand memorial at his birthplace in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh; the house in England where Baba Saheb pursued higher education, now known as India House; the Delhi residence where he spent his public life; and the site in Nagpur where he received Buddhist initiation.
On caste-based political discourse in the country, Yogi reiterated that there are only four castesfarmers, women, youth, and the poor. He emphasised that uplifting these groups would eliminate discrimination across the nation. The CM said that for the first time, farmers have become a central part of the governments agenda.
Today, farmers are receiving the full benefit of MSP. The Soil Health Card Scheme has been introduced for the first time, and farmers are benefiting from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi without regard to caste, religion, or appearance, he said.
Emphasising that farmers, women, youth, and the poor are the only four castes, CM Yogi stated: Efforts have been made at the government level to uplift these groups, with significant work done in the agriculture sector.
The chief minister highlighted that in the past seven years, there has been a 36 per cent increase in pulse production and a 127 per cent increase in oilseed production.
We have advanced towards crop diversification. Through Agrotech, we have promoted Shri Anna alongside pulses and oilseeds. Previously, it was dismissed as a coarse grain, but now its demand has surged globally. The world is recognising the value of Shri Anna, and it is now available in every major hotel, he said.
He stated that 2.62 crore farmers in the state are benefiting from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, with each beneficiary receiving Rs 6,000 annually.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday took a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over the latter's dare to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and said those talking of challenging others must realise if they have the strength to do so.
Thackeray on Wednesday threw down a challenge to Fadnavis saying "either you will be there, or I will".
"Anil Deshmukh recently spoke about how Fadnavis planned to put me and (Uddhav's son) Aaditya behind bars. After tolerating everything, I now stand with determination. Either you will be there, or I will," Thackeray said, indicating how acrimonious the relations between the two former good friends have become.
Shinde said no one should speak of finishing others completely in politics.
"Those who talk of giving a challenge should realize where we stand. For that one needs strength. Just like making random comments, no one can finish the other one," Shinde said.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur that Thackeray's language showed his mental bankruptcy.
"Thackeray is worried about his party's falling vote share in Konkan and Mumbai. The day he aligned with the Congress, his supporters abandoned him. When aligned with BJP, he won 18 Lok Sabha seats, but now the numbers have fallen. Thackeray is showing his mental bankruptcy by stooping so low and attacking Fadnavis," Bawankule said.
The people of Maharashtra are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Mahayuti (ruling alliance comprising Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP) will win assembly polls convincingly, he asserted.
Asked on speculation about Fadnavis being considered for the post BJP national president (in place of JP Nadda who is now Union minister), Bawankule said he does not know what the central leadership will decide.
"However, Devendra Fadnavis has huge organisational experience. He has worked as Maharashtra BJP president and has national organisational experience as well. But, Maharashtra needs the vision of Devendra Fadnavis," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh to further expand the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Chinh arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night on a three-day visit that is aimed at further expanding the comprehensive strategic ties between the two countries.
"PM @narendramodi extended a warm welcome to PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam at Hyderabad House," External Affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on 'X'.
"Substantive discussions to further energise the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the agenda," he said ahead of the talks.
The strategic ties between India and Vietnam have been on an upswing in the last few years.
In July last year, India gifted its in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to Vietnam in reflection of growing bilateral strategic and defence partnership amid common concerns over China's increasingly aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea.
It was for the first time that India handed over a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.
Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region.
India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea.
India and Vietnam are boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.
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Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, addresses the US-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in New York on July 29, 2024. MINLU ZHANG/CHINA DAILY Supply chains were in the spotlight on the first day of a trade cooperation forum in the United States, as a Chinese business delegation made a reciprocal visit to the US following the conclusion of a key meeting of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. The delegation, led by Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, was the first to visit the US after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC.A business delegation from the US visited China last week. The delegation, with members including business leaders from provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, was also scheduled to attend meetings in Washington, DC, and the US state of Maryland. Addressing the US-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in New York on Monday, Ren said, "Strengthening supply chain cooperation between China and the US is conducive to keeping the global industrial and supply chains stable and unfettered, and will contribute to the economic growth of the two countries and beyond." China and the US "enjoy strong economic complementarities and have highly interwoven interests", Ren said. Lin Shunjie, chairman of the China International Exhibition Center Group, told China Daily that many foreign entrepreneurs have expressed a desire to restore and improve their global supply chain structures, which they believe "cannot be done without China". "Only in China can they maximize supply chain efficiency, minimize costs, and optimize the structure," Lin said at the forum. Many foreign companies were pleased to find that China has many innovative small and medium-sized enterprises that produce at low costs, significantly reducing supply chain expenses, Lin said. He added that US companies had the highest presence among foreign enterprises attending the China International Supply Chain Expo last year. The expo, the world's first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, was held from Nov 28 to Dec 2 in Beijing. About 515 companies from 55 countries, including more than 50 Fortune Global 500 companies, sent their CEOs to the expo. Jonathan Webb, CEO of Packable, formerly Pharmapacks, told reporters at the forum that the company is the largest seller on Amazon and Walmart in the US, shipping 60,000 to 100,000 orders a day. "We're here to connect with people who can help us integrate into the Chinese infrastructure, such as Temu and TikTok," Webb said. China is crucial "because 90 percent of everything sold online comes from there", Webb said, adding that the US market has "a huge appetite" for Chinese-manufactured goods, from selfie sticks to EV charging stations. All of those goods are being manufactured in China and brought to the US, said Webb, but "everyone is nervous about the tariffs. We need to figure out how to mitigate these issues." Continuous cooperation between the US and China is essential for maximizing global supply chain benefits, he said. Furthermore, "working with China creates jobs in the US" and stimulates the local economy, Webb said. If tariffs are increased, many US innovators that manufacture in China might have to move to other countries, which could affect supply chains, he added. Participants at Monday's forum also included Huang Ping, consul general of the Chinese consulate general in New York, and Peter Tichansky, president and CEO of the Business Council for International Understanding. More than 300 representatives from Chinese and US businesses and trade communities also attended. A delegation from the board of directors of the US-China Business Council visited China last week after the third plenary session concluded on July 18. The delegation included FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam, United Family Healthcare founder Roberta Lipson, Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson and Educational Testing Service CEO Amit Sevak. Promising market potential China's market potential offers huge opportunities for cooperation, as the country imports $2.5 trillion worth of goods and services annually and ranks second in attracting foreign direct investment, said Huang, the consul general. He noted that the recent plenary session highlighted expanding market access in various sectors and promoting an open economic system to benefit global cooperation. "Fighting against each other is not going to lead us anywhere. So I really hope that we can seize this opportunity of China's continued reform and opening-up policy," Huang said. "This momentum allows us to strengthen our relationship and do business together. Both countries, and the whole world, will benefit from this." Ren, head of the Chinese delegation, said: "Under current circumstances, the common interests between China and the US are increasing instead of decreasing. Whether in traditional areas like trade and agriculture, or emerging areas like... artificial intelligence, companies in both countries have shared interests and broad cooperation prospects." Sun Xiao, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said, "We aim to convey the important new openness measures established at the plenary session to the American business community and look forward to hearing their responses and demands."
Residents in Derry have raised concerns about the cleanliness of the city.
This is despite the city scooping the title of Best Kept Large Urban Centre at the 2024 Irelands Best Kept Town Awards.
However, contrary to this, Derry resident Libby Kennedy was concerned about the poor unkempt state of the city including Ewing and Williams Street.
She said: There is no pride taken in this town.
Im ashamed to take my friends from America and Australia around Derry when they visit.
Following this conversation with Mrs. Kennedy I decided to ask for the opinions from the people of Derry to see if this sentiment was widespread.
And my post on X, formerly known as Twitter, received an outpouring of concern at the cleanliness of Derry.
Orla Barr said: I think the city has a really low standard of cleanliness, it's hard to find anywhere without litter. We have such a beautiful city but when tourists arrive in Derry to be greeted by Foyle Street, it's letting us down. I lived in Maastricht in the Netherlands for a year and there was a clear difference.
There was essentially no litter and an assortment of bins everywhere. We don't have enough bins and the bins that we do have are just rubbish bins, not allowing us to recycle properly. The abandoned atrocity atop of Paolos Pizza at the bottom of Waterloo Street is part of the dirt, it makes the city look completely abandoned and left to rot.
The green areas that we have are relatively well looked after and Brooke Park is gorgeous. There needs to be more respect for the city from its locals.
Meanwhile Conchur O Rois added: Its overgrown with weeds all over the city centre not to mention the absolute eye sore that is Waterloo place.
And Cass75 said: When you come out of the bus depot, Foyle St just looks dire.
With the view on Foyle Street shared by Kevkop76.
He said: The smell of foyle street would turn milk, this is an ongoing sewage problem for as long as I've known.
With Jacquie Loughrey coming up with a possible solution to the weeds issue in the citys footpaths and buildings.
She said: Would love to see development and funding of "tidy town" initiatives. Community weeding/litter picking/communal areas with hanging baskets not widespread spraying of weedkiller. Educate/encourage to respect areas. Property owners maintain facades of unoccupied buildings.
However, there were those that believed the cleanliness and state of Derry was reasonable, despite needing a touch up, it was a lot better than other cities people had visited recently.
Steve Bradley said: You'll hear complaints, but Derry's not that bad in all honesty. Central Belfast is a mess these days. And parts of London have gone downhill dramatically ovr last few years with way more litter & graffiti than used to be. Derry has issues in places, but is a relatively clean city.
And Frank Hank #Stillcoviding said: I would say Derry is a pretty tidy town that presents itself well. More murals are needed and all flags should be taken down.
Meanwhile a comment was made about the myriad of potholes in Derry, with this issue only solvable by the Northern Irish Department for Infrastructure.
In response to the overgrown weeds and cleanliness of the city a spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council said: One of Councils statutory duties is providing grounds maintenance and street cleansing services throughout Derrys city centre, and this remains a key priority working alongside our partners in the Department for Infrastructure who maintain public footways.
Over the years Council has received many acknowledgements of the work of the Streetscape team through both the Ulster in Bloom and Britain in Bloom competitions, and just last month the city was awarded the 'Best Kept Large Urban Centre' title at the 2024 Ireland's Best Kept Town Awards. This is testament to the hard work and dedication of Council staff in maintaining and improving our city and towns making them attractive places to work and visit. Council would also encourage local businesses to take a proactive role in maintaining the upkeep of their own premises, including the removal of weeds and other vegetation.
Recent budget cuts from the government have meant additional pressures on all Council services, which will inevitably impact on service delivery. Despite this reduced capacity, we remain committed to striving to meet the high standards which we have set, and will continue to lobby for the resources needed from the government to successfully do this.
Local rail campaigners Into The West have given a mixed reaction to Wednesdays publication of the final version of the All-Island Rail Strategy.
The Strategy is a north-south initiative that was launched jointly in 2021 by the transport Ministers from both sides of the border. It is designed to consider how and where rail should be improved on the island to boost sustainable connectivity and address regional imbalance - with a stated focus on the north-west of the island, where rail links are largely absent. A draft version of the Review was published in July 2023, with a second round of public consultation held in the months afterwards. And it is the lack of changes to the strategy following that consultation which has most disappointed rail campaigners in Derry.
Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, commented Its fantastic to see the final version of the All-Island Rail Strategy released at long last, and it contains much to be positive about for the north-west. The strategy recommends reopening a rail line between Derry and Portadown - via Strabane, Omagh and Dungannon, as well as reconnecting Derry with Letterkenny. Together those steps would link the north-west of the island directly to Dublin, bring rail back to Tyrone and Donegal, and create a second and faster rail route to Belfast from this area. The proposal to reconnect Limavady to the rail network is also very welcome, and something Into The West has been campaigning for. But there are further aspects of the report that should be of genuine concern to everyone in this area. The draft version said that every core city on the island (of which Derry is one) should have 200km/hr rail services but then singled out Derry alone for a recommended slower speed of services instead. It has since been claimed that was done in error, with the final version of the report now stating that Derry should also have 200km/hr services but it qualifies that by saying only where this is found in further study to be beneficial. None of the other 7 core cities have such a caveat attached to their rail services so yet again Derry is being singled out for a lower quality of provision than everywhere else. This theme is replicated again when it comes to rail freight. The strategy says that all 7 core cities on the island should have a rail freight hub but then refuses to propose one for Derry. So yet again the report is going against its own recommendations by singling Derry out for poorer services. It really needs to be explained by politicians and civil servants why this keeps happening to Derry?.
Mr Bradley continued Other concerns with the final strategy include the fact that it proposes leaving Fermanagh as the only county in Ireland or Britain without rail. And it also leaves the vast majority of Donegal without even a basic level of rail. In short none of the feedback we submitted to the consultation on the draft report last year has been listened to. The only significant change made from the draft version of the strategy is the sudden appearance of a proposal that Craigavon should get a railway station. Not only are there already TWO existing major rail stations within a 3 mile radius of Craigavon (at Lurgan and Portadown), by uncanny coincidence the town just happens to be located within Infrastructure Minister John ODowds own Upper Bann constituency. Meanwhile Derry contains NIs most isolated rail station with the next nearest station being 21 miles away. Yet the rail strategy doesnt propose doing anything to address that for very many years. So this is clearly a strategy which seeks to double-down on the infrastructural dominance of the East of NI and the east coast of the island, to the detriment of places like Derry, Donegal and Fermanagh.
Mr Bradley concluded The good news is that the strategy is just a set of recommendations. It will be the Minister and the Executive who will decide what rail projects across NI should be advanced and crucially, when. However given that a simple upgrade of the out-of-date rail track between Derry and Coleraine has been delayed repeatedly over the last15yrs, and was pushed back a further 2yrs recently by Minister ODowd, the signs are not good for Derry and the north-west receiving fair treatment in the implementation of this strategy. So it is now time for the Minister to start swapping words for action and delivery. He must make clear that key rail proposals such as reopening Derry-Portadown are a top priority within this strategy, and that they will be expedited and funded accordingly. The days of treating the north-west as second-best when it comes to infrastructure must finally be brought to an end - and this strategy must be seized as the opportunity to do that.
A man facing a series of domestic abuse offences has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrate's Court today after breaching his bail.
Kiral McGilloway (35) of no fixed abode in Derry appeared charged with breaching his bail on July 31.
The court heard that McGilloway was on bail on charges of witness intimidation, harassment and non fatal strangulation of a female.
Part of the bail conditions are that he has no contact with the female involved in the case.
A police officer told the court that police on patrol in the Ardmore area on July 31 saw a car that appeared to have no insurance.
They signalled the car to stop but it made off eventually stopping outside a house and a male, the defendant, and a female alighted and were detained.
The female was the woman McGilloway was not supposed to have any contact with.
A police officer said that this was not the first breach on one occasion McGilloway was found at the woman's address and on another she was found at his address.
The officer said that the woman had made a withdrawal statement but then withdrew her withdrawal.
He opposed bail on the grounds that McGilloway would not adhere to any conditions.
Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said that while no blame attached to the alleged victim in the case there was some confusion as to whether the woman wanted to proceed with the case.
District Judge Barney McElholm said that the courts had to certain that witnesses were not intimidated or unduly influenced to withdraw evidence.
He said if that was their decision so be it.
In this case he said things should not be allowed to drag on and a decision had to be made.
But he said McGilloway did not appear to be able to adhere to bail conditions and revoked bail and remanded him in custody to appear again on August 15.
Police commanders have set out the scale of the cutbacks being implemented in Northern Ireland, as the chief constable expressed frustration that his warnings about the impact of budget cuts are not being heeded.
During the monthly meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast, Jon Boutcher asked members of his senior leadership team to spell out how spending constraints are affecting service delivery.
Board members were told the local policing department compromising frontline response officers and neighbourhood teams is currently around 900 officers short.
They were also told the PSNI has 160 fewer accredited detectives this year than last, and 50 fewer operational support officers to carry out search operations linked to serious crimes.
The board was informed that 21 officers have been taken off the roads policing team, while the performance rating of PSNI call centres has slipped from the top quarter of UK forces towards the bottom third.
The message does not seem to be getting through, said Mr Boutcher.
The PSNI has continued to be a net loser compared with all other key public services in Northern Ireland since 2010. This has to stop. The issue is linked to everything were asked to do. We need to get the protection of society in Northern Ireland right.
As I say, the message is clearly not landing but, for the avoidance of doubt, since 2010 theres been a downturn in any proper funding of the PSNI.
He said funding for the health and education sectors had increased significantly in the last 14 years.
Mr Boutcher said the current headcount of officers stands at around 6,300, but there is a need for at least 8,000. He characterised 8,000 as a conservative assessment.
He said the lack of funding is having a serious effect on the wellbeing of staff, and he reflected on the tragic death of an officer who, he said, took their own life due to issues related to workplace pressures.
I ask for support from this board and everybody in Northern Ireland who has a voice to make sure that the predicament that we now find ourselves in is arrested, he added.
An investigation by an external police force into an incident linked to Northern Irelands Police Ombudsman has proved significantly more complex than first expected, a senior commander has said.
West Midlands Police are examining events related to an incident at a property linked to Ombudsman Marie Anderson in Holywood, Co Down, last September.
Police Service of Northern Ireland officers attended the address at around 6.30pm on Saturday September 23 after a report of a domestic incident.
A man was arrested as part of the inquiries and later released pending a report to prosecutors. A file was subsequently sent to the Public Prosecution Service.
West Midlands Police were tasked to investigate further aspects of the incident.
In June the Stormont Assembly was told that Ms Anderson had taken a leave of absence from work due to ill health.
At the monthly meeting of the NI Policing Board in Belfast on Thursday, DUP member Trevor Clarke asked for an update on the progress of the West Midlands probe as he expressed concern at the time it was taking.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said it had taken far longer than any of us had anticipated.
Just to remind people we were very clear around ensuring the independence of that particular investigation because of the obvious conflict (of interest), and its the independence of the investigation that is the pillar of ensuring that this is being done properly, by the way, he said.
Mr Boutcher asked Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd to provide a fuller update.
Mr Todd told board members: The privacy rights of everybody involved need to be respected and it is an ongoing investigation, but because the time has passed I am aware of growing interest and questions from the media, freedom of information requests, etc (and) theres a danger that if we dont give some assurance around the effectiveness of the investigation that speculation will grow.
So, for that reason, I will be brief and purposeful in what I do say in response to the question and that is to highlight that it is an independently led investigation being conducted by colleagues from West Midlands Police and is ongoing.
I continue to provide strategic support and oversight to the investigation and I am satisfied that the investigation is significantly more complex than was first anticipated, but is progressing professionally and effectively.
The investigation has two principal strands. A file has been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in relation to the first strand and the decision is awaited.
The second strand of the investigation is unlikely to progress further before September for reasons that are beyond the control of the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the independently led investigation team and the SIO (senior investigating officer).
As gold commander for this, I have commissioned independent scrutiny of my own role, the strategy thats been adopted and the objectives that have been set for the senior investigating officer and consequently, through that process, Im satisfied that practical independence is being professionally maintained and the investigation is progressing effectively under what can only be described as challenging circumstances beyond the control of PSNI and the SIO.
All the relevant stakeholders, importantly, have been kept appropriately informed throughout this.
I should say again that the privacy rights of those affected must be upheld and as the investigation remains ongoing I cant give any further detail at this time.
A spokesman for the NI Police Ombudsmans office said: We are aware of the statement to the Policing Board today. However, given that the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment.
We can confirm that the Police Ombudsman remains absent due to illness.
In the Ombudsmans absence, her functions have been delegated to senior members of staff.
HIGHLIGHTS NASA has issued a warning about a significant asteroid named 2024 OC, which is set to pass by Earth on August 4th. This large space rock, measuring 410 feet (125 metres) in size, is moving at a speed of 35,996 km/h. The asteroid belongs to the Apollo group, a class of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with orbits that intersect Earth's orbit.
NASA has issued a warning about a significant asteroid named 2024 OC, which is set to pass by Earth on August 4th at 16:10 UTC (9:40 PM IST). This large space rock, measuring 410 feet (125 metres) in size, is moving at a speed of 35,996 km/h. The asteroid belongs to the Apollo group, a class of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with orbits that intersect Earths orbit.
While most NEOs pose no threat due to their distant paths, some asteroids, known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), require closer monitoring. PHAs are defined as asteroids larger than 460 feet in size with orbits coming within 7.5 million kilometres of Earths orbit.
Although 2024 OC is slightly smaller than the size criteria for PHAs, it will pass at a distance of 7.4 million kilometres from Earth, narrowly avoiding the threshold for being classified as potentially hazardous. NASA is closely monitoring this close approach to ensure there are no unexpected changes in its path, reports Times Now.
Also read: NASA issues alert for near-earth asteroid 2011 MW1 approaching at high speed
To track and assess the risks posed by asteroids like 2024 OC, NASA relies on its Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). This centre gathers data from observatories worldwide, including contributions from amateur astronomers. Major NASA-funded observatories, such as Pan-STARRS, the Catalina Sky Survey, and NASAs NEOWISE mission, provide the bulk of tracking data. Future observations will be enhanced by the NEO Surveyor mission. Additionally, radar projects, such as JPLs Goldstone Solar System Radar Group, play a vital role in NASAs efforts to monitor NEOs.
If an asteroid like 2024 OC were to collide with Earth, it could cause significant damage, similar to the Tunguska event in 1908, which flattened a large area in Siberia. Fortunately, with continuous monitoring by NASA and other space agencies, any potential threats can be identified well in advance, allowing for precautionary measures. For now, 2024 OC will safely pass by without causing any harm.
Shanghai unveils US$13.7 billion capital injection into IC, AI, and biopharma industries
Shanghai has announced the launch of the "Three Leading Industry Parent Funds," targeting integrated circuits (IC), biopharmaceuticals, and AI.
The three funds amount to RMB 1,000 billion (US$13.7 billion).
IC, AI, and biopharmaceuticals
According to reports from Chinese media outlet Cailianpress and official announcements from the Shanghai municipal government, RMB 450 billion will be allocated to the IC industry parent fund. It will focus on investments in IC design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, equipment, and components.
The AI industry parent fund, totaling RMB 225 billion, will prioritize AI chips, software, autonomous driving, and robotics. The biopharmaceuticals parent fund will be RMB 215 billion.
Industrial directives straight from the top
Wen-rong Hu, Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), emphasized that the development of this trio of fields is a "strategic task assigned to Shanghai by the central government."
He highlighted the importance of "new quality productive forces" and "accelerating the transformation of old and new growth drivers."
The funds will be managed by the State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC), which will establish professional investment teams to align with market trends and accelerate innovation. Key investors include the China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications, among nine central enterprises.
SDIC, with a registered capital of RMB 100 billion, is a major state-owned capital investment platform in China. The company focuses on significant industrial investments, connecting government resources with social capital to enhance marketization and competitiveness in the industry.
By the end of 2023, Shanghai had established nearly 600 diverse science and innovation hubs, according to SHINE news. These included 65 state-level science and technology business incubators, 60 new public service platforms for Internet-based services, and 14 national university science and technology parks.
The total area of these facilities covered 4,128,600 square meters, accommodating over 33,000 startups and incubates.
CWE, CWTC drive growth through panel-level packaging and miniLED solutions
Chang Wah Electromaterials (CWE), a Taiwanese supplier of semiconductor and electronics materials and equipment, is transitioning from 12-inch wafer-level packaging to panel-level fan-out packaging (FOPLP), anticipating promising prospects despite current yield rate challenges.
To meet the growing customer demand for encapsulating resins, CWE has partnered with Sumitomo Bakelite to establish a new factory in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. This manufacturing facility is slated to deliver sample products for customer validation later in the third quarter and is expected to start contributing to revenue in 2025.
CWE has commenced shipments of panel-level packaging materials since the beginning of the second half of 2024. Strong demand for advanced packaging technologies such as InFO, CoWoS, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging solutions is generating robust order momentum for CWE's wafer-level lamination equipment, with order visibility extending through 2026.
Additionally, the company is collaborating with its subsidiary JMC Electronics to develop new packaging substrates, which are combined with the rollable substrate materials it distributes to support emerging application fields like Micro LED, with mass production starting in the third quarter.
MiniLED solutions and market expansion
Meanwhile, Chang Wah Technology (CWTC), another CWE subsidiary dedicated to supplying packaging lead frames, reported revenue of NT$2.953 billion for the second quarter, up 8% from the previous quarter. Its gross margin and operating profit rates for the quarter rose 23% and 29% sequentially, thanks to significant improvements in its product portfolio.
Both CWE and CWTC are optimistic that miniLED solutions will offer the highest gross margins, focusing more on such solutions in 2024-2025.
CWTC has entered mass production of lead frames for packaging 1616/1515 LED chips for automotive applications. It has also developed new sizes of products for gaming screens and TV applications, securing a place in the supply chains of South Korean TV brands.
Furthermore, CWTC has developed a PMMS solution that offers high heat dissipation, reflectivity, airtightness, and high-temperature resistance. This solution has been adopted by leading international automakers, with usage volume increasing significantly quarter by quarter. It has also garnered interest from high-end consumer electronics clients for TV applications and is expected to enter mass production between the second half of 2024 and 2025.
In the second quarter of 2024, CWE's revenue rose 6% sequentially to NT$4.255 billion (US$129.45 million), with net profits soaring 55% quarter-on-quarter to NT$497 million, reflecting the company's successful growth strategies in advanced packaging and miniLED solutions.
Samsung reportedly reforming bonus system to prevent semiconductor talent outflow
Samsung Electronics has implemented the Overall Performance Incentive (OPI) reward system for over 20 years. In response to employee demands and to retain talent, the company is reportedly planning a comprehensive reform to enhance transparency and predictability in bonus calculations.
Citing industry sources, the Korea Economic Daily reported that on July 29, Samsung began work to improve its performance bonus system. This effort will be carried out by management, HR, and finance divisions like the Management Support Office, with input from internal and external board members on the proposed reforms.
Currently, Samsung issues performance bonuses based on the "annual operating profit target" set by each division and business unit. Depending on how much profits exceed the target, employees can receive between 0% and 50% of their annual salary as a bonus.
However, since calculating operating profit targets involves business secrets like investment plans, Samsung has never disclosed the details. This has long been a source of dissatisfaction among employees.
For example, at the beginning of 2024, the Device Solutions (DS) division announced the "2025 performance bonus criteria" to its employees, setting the operating profit target for 2024 at KRW11.5 trillion (approx. US$8.3 billion). Meeting this target would result in a performance bonus of 0% to 3% of the annual salary.
If profits reached KRW29 trillion, the bonus would be 50%. Interviewed employees found it unreasonable that making over KRW11 trillion for the company would only yield a 0% to 3% bonus.
Why reform OPI system now?
Introduced in 2001, the OPI initially system used 20% of excess profits for the year as performance bonuses and was seen as a better reward standard than other global enterprises. However, as Samsung expanded its business globally, especially with an annual investment of nearly KRW50 trillion in the semiconductor sector, the OPI standard became more complex, involving factors like taxes, capex, and fundraising, hence why it's considered a "business secret" now.
Now, Samsung has decided to increase the transparency of performance bonus distribution standards and reduce the fluctuations in bonus amounts. The company is considering overseas examples, such as those from Silicon Valley, and plans to increase the weight of personal performance. This move is in response to employee demands and aims to prevent the exodus of semiconductor talents.
Samsung's largest union, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), began an indefinite general strike on July 8. One of their demands is to " improve the OPI system." Samsung management and the union began final negotiations on July 29, which lasted three days. The decision to start adjusting the OPI system is seen as a move to help ease labor relations, though its effectiveness remains to be seen.
Reportedly, Samsung employees hope bonuses can be issued based on "operating profit" rather than the company-set "operating profit target." For instance, SK Hynix revised its performance bonus system at the end of 2021 to pay out bonuses within "10% of operating profits." The twice-per-year production incentives (PI) are also tied to operating profit margins, with a maximum payment of 150% of an employee's monthly base salary.
However, Samsung appears to find this approach challenging. Unlike SK Hynix, which only operates the memory business, Samsung's diverse business operations and annual capex of nearly KRW50 trillion make it difficult to directly compare or adopt the same system.
Taiwan's Economic Minister outlines bold new strategies for global competitiveness
In a recent interview, Taiwan's new Economics Minister, J.W. Kuo, outlined the government's ambitious plans to strengthen Taiwan's position in the global economy. With his extensive background in the semiconductor industry, Kuo is regarded as the most industry-savvy leader to helm the ministry, charged with guiding Taiwan through an increasingly competitive global landscape.
Kuo's vision for Taiwan centers on two key pillars: "Domestic Market, International Reach" and "Global Market, Domestic Impact." These initiatives aim to expand Taiwan's economic footprint abroad while attracting international investments at home, leveraging Taiwan's technological prowess and industrial strengths.
Strengthening Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem
As global competition intensifies, Taiwan's semiconductor industry remains crucial to the country's economic strategy. Kuo, with his insider's understanding of the sector, emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between government and industry. "The government must swiftly respond to the industry's needs and resolve issues promptly," he stated, highlighting the disconnects that have existed in the past.
Kuo's approach focuses on leveraging Taiwan's strengths in five key sectorssemiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), military technology, security, and communicationsto build a more robust and responsive economic framework.
Recognizing the challenges posed by Taiwan's declining birth rate, Kuo proposed an innovative solution to attract and retain global talent: a fully-funded scholarship program aimed at drawing young minds from around the world to Taiwan, where they can study, work, and ultimately contribute to the local economy.
Addressing Talent Shortages with Global Initiatives
Kuo's scholarship plan is part of a broader strategy to mitigate talent shortages that could hinder Taiwan's economic growth. By offering free education and subsidized living expenses to both domestic and international students, Taiwan aims to cultivate a new generation of skilled workers.
Kuo's ambitious goal is to train 200,000 AI professionals over the next four years, which he believes is achievable by combining academic training with practical industry partnerships.
He also outlined a cooperative model where foreign companies establishing operations in Taiwan would need to recruit a portion of their workforce locally, with government support ensuring that these companies find the talent they need.
Building a global innovation hub
Beyond talent cultivation, Kuo envisions Taiwan as a global innovation hub, comparable to Silicon Valley or Singapore. He highlighted Taiwan's existing strengths in semiconductor manufacturing and AI as the foundation for this transformation.
"We must build on these advantages to create a powerful market," Kuo asserted, emphasizing the need for Taiwan to diversify into other sectors like healthcare and smart technologies, where talent shortages are also expected.
To sustain this growth, Kuo plans to create more opportunities for foreign professionals to work in Taiwan, particularly in areas facing critical skill gaps. This includes potential regulatory changes that would facilitate long-term living and working arrangements for these professionals, thereby addressing the workforce needs of both emerging and traditional industries.
Expanding Taiwan's Global Footprint
Kuo's "Domestic Market, International Reach" strategy also includes fostering international partnerships and establishing overseas production bases. Reflecting on Taiwan's experience with TSMC's expansion into Arizona, Kuo noted the challenges of operating in foreign markets, such as securing local talent and navigating complex regulations.
Kuo's solution involves a more proactive government role in supporting Taiwanese companies abroad, facilitating negotiations with foreign governments, and helping to establish supply chain clusters.
This strategy has already shown progress, with a recent agreement signed with the Governor of Texas to develop a new economic base that could serve as a model for future expansions. Kuo is also exploring similar opportunities in Southeast Asia, recognizing the importance of aligning with geopolitically friendly countries.
Boosting Taiwan's domestic appeal
Domestically, Kuo aims to transform Taiwan into a shopping and cultural destination that attracts high-income tourists from neighboring countries. By inviting top global brands to set up operations in Taiwan and offering tax incentives, Kuo hopes to elevate Taiwan's profile as a luxury shopping haven, similar to Hong Kong's former status.
This initiative, dubbed "Global Market, Domestic Impact," is designed to boost local consumption and enhance the international visibility of Taiwan's own high-quality products. Kuo believes that by strengthening both domestic and international market connections, Taiwan can carve out a distinct and influential role on the global stage.
Navigating geopolitical challenges
Addressing the geopolitical shifts reshaping global trade and supply chains, Kuo acknowledged the challenges posed by ongoing supply chain reorganization. He stressed the importance of Taiwan's flexibility and efficiency in maintaining its competitive edge, particularly in industries like electric vehicles, where Taiwan's role is evolving from that of a contract manufacturer to a potential leader in niche markets.
Kuo's approach is pragmatic, focusing on integrating various industries under the "Taiwan Select" or "Formosa Select" brand to promote Taiwanese excellence internationally. By doing so, he aims to help Taiwanese companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, penetrate global markets more effectively.
As Taiwan navigates the complexities of the 21st-century economy, Kuo's strategic vision provides a clear roadmap for maintaining the country's industrial leadership while adapting to new global realities. His initiatives, if successful, could set a new standard for how small, technologically advanced economies like Taiwan can thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.
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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Bord Bia has today announced the details of the National Organic Awards, which will take place in Dublin on Thursday 17 October 2024. The National Organic Awards, held in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, celebrate the achievements of the increasing number of organic growers, producers, and manufacturers in the country.
Louth-based organic producers are invited to submit entries into one of seven categories before the closing date of 12 August. Judging will take place at the National Organic Food Fair in Merrion Square, Dublin on 31 August.
Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett commented: The organic sector in Ireland is going from strength to strength, and the standard of what we are producing here really is world-class. Im looking forward to seeing the quality of entries when they are judged at the National Organic Food Fair in Merrion Square at the end of August, and indeed to the main event itself when the award winners and the very best of our sector will be announced on October 17th.
Emmet Doyle, Organic Sector Manager in Bord Bia, said: The National Organic Awards offer a platform to highlight the best organic food and drink produced in Ireland. As the momentum for Irish organics continues to grow, we are excited to celebrate the achievements and innovations of the sectors pioneers.
"This year, in recognition of the dedicated efforts of many individuals in advancing the sector, we are proud to introduce the Irish Organic Sector Champion award. Unlike other awards, all nominees for this category will be nominated by their peers. We look forward to receiving entries from businesses across the country in the coming weeks.
Award Categories
The National Organic Awards aim to recognise developments within the organic sector across seven key categories, judged by a panel of Irish food, drink, and horticulture experts:
The Irish Organic Sector Champion 2024 This new award recognises the achievements of an individual who is a true pioneer, a positive influence for the Irish organic sector, encompassing the qualities and philosophy of what the Irish organic sector stands for, and helping to progress the sector.
Best Irish Organic Product Award Open to Irish organic branded food and beverage products available for sale in Ireland either through retail, speciality, food service, or direct-to-consumer channels.
Best Irish Organic Private Label Product Award Open to Irish organic products currently available through Irish retail/food service channels, including seasonal products that were available over the past 12 months.
Best Irish Organic Product Export Award Open to products currently being sold in the export market.
Best New and Innovative Irish Organic Product Open to new products or packaging innovations launched since October 2022.
Direct to Consumer Excellence Award Open to products being sold directly to consumers via e-commerce, e.g., company website, third-party shop, social media shop, etc. (Online sales via Irish retailer websites are not eligible).
Business in the Community Award This category will acknowledge the achievements of businesses in their local communities.
For more information on the individual categories and how to apply, please visit Bord Bias website. Applications close on 12 August, with the shortlist being announced the week commencing 27 August.
Winners of the National Organic Awards 2024 will get a one-to-one session with Bord Bias Client Capability team, who will help develop a bespoke package of supports to meet individual company needs up to the value of 5,000. There is a separate prize for the Irish Organic Sector Champion Award 2024.
Ireland has a target of 10% (450,000 hectares) of agricultural land to be farmed organically by 2030, up from approximately 1.6% in 2020. There are currently 5,000 farmers in the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), with 3,000 joining the scheme since January 2023. Last year, Bord Bia consumer research found 67% of Irish shoppers purchase organic food and drink on a monthly basis.
Summer Revels! at the Opera House is proving a huge hit with theatregoers.
Not only was it cheered to the echo on opening night last week, but people actually came up to me in the street in the following days to enthuse about it.
It was so well directed, and really tightly put together, said one woman. Her husband agreed. And so much Cork talent in there, it would make you proud!
Directed by Killian Collins and John OBrien, Summer Revels! follows the rich tradition of those wonderful summer shows of yesteryear, but puts a new spin on it to bring it totally up to date.
Brimming with local wit and characters inspired by the vibrant culture of this city we love so well, it is unmissable.
Various times for shows, to suit all ages, but at the moment it is scheduled to end next Sunday, so dont delay. We can only hope they will extend the run.
Call 021 427 0022 or see www.corkoperahouse.ie for more.
Its opening night tonight at the Everyman (they have had previews the last couple of evenings) for Mother Of All the Behans, that amazing one-woman show presented by Verdant Productions and starring Imelda May as the witty raconteur, singer and rebel Kathleen Behan.
Based on the book by Brian Behan, and adapted for the stage by Peter Sheridan, it has additional material by Rosaleen Linehan. Bringing you on a journey through Kathleens early years in an orphanage, and later, her active involvement in Dublins fight against British rule, it provides vivid retellings of her experience as a republican during the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, along with personal anecdotes of living as a working-class family in Dublin. Both humorous and heartrending.
A scene from Summer Revels at the Opera House.
Until August 10, 7.30pm (excluding Sunday/Monday). 021 450 1673 or www.everymancork.com.
And listen, you wont believe this, but they are already offering early bird tickets for the Christmas pantomime at Everyman! (Yes, we knew you wouldnt credit it, but its a fact, so if you want to grab a bargain, act right now.)
Red Riding Hood is scheduled to open in early December, but from noon tomorrow, Friday, August 2, you can get special reduced rates on tickets for Thursday, December 5 and Friday, December 6.
That special offer will end next week on Friday, Aug 9, when the full schedule for the winter season will be on sale. You might still be thinking of sunny beaches and t-shirts, but winter comes around, and savings always make sense! Booking details as above.
The Comedy Improvised Murder Mystery Gang are back with their hilarious off the cuff antics in a special midsummer show at the Cork Arts Theatre, but that ends this Saturday, August 3.
So if you want a lively time out with friends, laughing your heads off, the lively little Arts Theatre is the place to head for.
An entire plot is improvised for every single performance, based on hints and suggestions put in by you, the audience, beforehand, so each show is completely different. 1pm shows today and tomorrow, evenings until Saturday.
Only suitable for over 16s, by the way, given some of the suggestions coming from the audience!
Next week, the lunchtime and evening show is Meltdown Of An Irish Tour Guide, a hysterical whirlwind about the life endured by a hapless individual and all the characters he meets. Written and brilliantly performed by Jack Walsh. Call 021 450 5624 or see www.corkartstheatre.com.
We have summer theatre coming up at Rossmore in West Cork too, with Its The Real McCoy by Tommy Marren performed every Tuesday and Thursday in August.
Ideal for your holiday viewing if youre staying down in that lovely region, or worth a trip from the city. 8pm start. Call 086 448 1086 or https://www.gr8events.ie/sales/show_perfs.php?eid=1691.
While there are improvements and upgrades which will have a positive impact on rail services in Cork and throughout the south, the citys Lord Mayor, Dan Boyle, has said that the All Island Strategic Rail Review published yesterday could have been more ambitious in its proposals for the region.
An upgraded rail route connecting Cork with Limerick and Galway, half hourly intercity services, the halving of the time it takes to travel by train from Cork to Dublin and the electrification of a significant segment of the rail network were among the highlights of the finalised report which comes with a 32 billion price tag and a 2050 delivery deadline.
Also included in the report, which sets out 32 strategic recommendations in the Republic and Northern Ireland up to 2050, is a proposal for a rail link to Cork port and a direct service between Cork and Dublin airport while a rail link between Cork and Waterford was considered but ruled out due to geographical factors.
What is being considered however is the installation of a curve at Limerick Junction which would enable trains to leave the Cork-Dublin line and join ahe Limerick-Waterford line and this would boost connectivity between Cork and Waterford.
The report proposes the upgrade of what is described as the core intercity railway network to line speeds of up to 200 km per hour, upgrading the line between Dublin and Cork to a dual track and four tracks in places and increasing the frequency of services.
Mr Boyle, said that many Cork proposals were already baked in with relation to suburban rail this includes the opening of new stations between Cork and Mallow and suggested that changes for Cork would be about increased services more so than new infrastructure.
I would like to see the restoration of the direct Cork-Limerick line through Charleville and Patrickswell but thats not part of this document, he said.
Id be optimistic that what is being proposed is being proposed on the basis that it can and will be done, personally I would like to see it going further.
The Lord Mayor also suggested that stations beyond Mallow such as Buttevant should be re-opened and that the line between Midleton and Youghal should also be considered for re-opening.
I wouldnt say theres an element of disappointment, but we can be more ambitious in view of the potential thats there.
He said that consideration should have been given to re-opening the tunnel under Phoenix Park in Dublin, a link that was last used for the 1990 All Ireland Final, to allow rail passengers from Cork travel directly to Croke Park and onward to Belfast without having to transfer by bus or LUAS from Heuston to Connolly.
While railway connections between Dublin, Limerick and Belfast city centres with the airports in Dublin, Shannon and Belfast are included, the plan does include the hint that the proposed tram-line between Mahon and Ballincollig, one of the measures to be implemented under the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Plan, could be extended south to Cork Airport and Carrigaline.
'MORE CONCRETE PLANS' NEEDED FOR LIGHT RAIL
The Labour Party in Cork issued a statement calling for the design of more concrete plans to show how a light rail spur to Cork airport could be achieved. It is critical that Cork Airport is afforded the same connectivity enhancements like Shannon and Dublin, said Laura Harmon, the councillor recently selected to run for the party in Cork South Central in the General Election.
Cork's transport hubs must be linked in the same plans for Dublin when it comes to rail and transport connectivity and planning.
A spokesman for Cork Airport said they would welcome any and all improvements to our public transport connections. At present, we are working very closely with the National Transport Authority, Transport for Ireland, Bus Eireann and other private operators to enhance the public transport connectivity between the airport, Cork city, other large metropolitan areas in Cork and across the South of Ireland.
IMPORTANT DAY
The publication of the report was described as an "important day for the island of Ireland" by Transport Minister and former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. This is not just the first All-Island Strategic Rail Review, it is the most ambitious vision for rail in a century, bringing us forward to a new age of rail, said the Minister. This vision has been made possible by close cooperation between the Departments and agencies north and south.
"Rail not only allows us to carry more people and freight in a more sustainable way, it is the great connector, enabling greater regional accessibility and balanced regional development.
The Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister, John ODowd, said the Report provided an evidence based framework to help guide future investment in our rail network and said it would help meet Irelands climate commitments.
Getting infrastructure right, and investing in it accordingly, can create the foundations for better rural and urban communities, he said.
An unprecedentedly high trolley number in Cork hospitals for July suggests that healthcare staff are going to have a very difficult winter, a Cork INMO representative has warned.
According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, 1,341 people were treated on a trolley, chair, or other inappropriate bed space in Cork hospitals in July.
Cork University Hospital was the third-most overcrowded hospital in Ireland, with 999 patients treated on trolleys last month, just behind University Hospital Galway with 1,025, while 2,255 patients were treated on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick.
CUH saw an almost 70% rise in patients sick enough to be admitted to hospital but without a bed available to them compared to July 2023, when there were 591 patients on trolleys.
There were a further 289 admitted patients on trolleys in the Mercy University Hospital in July and 61 in Bantry General Hospital in the last month, both higher than the previous year.
Corks total of 1,349 patients on trolleys is a 56% increase from July 2023, and an increase of 170% compared to 2006, when INMO began counting trolleys.
Nationally, more than 9,755 people, including 73 children, were on trolleys during the month, the worst July that the INMO has seen for hospital overcrowding since 2006.
INMO assistant director of industrial relations, Corks Colm Porter told The Echo that the numbers were concerning, saying unfortunately, the INMOs trolley figures have been a pretty good predictor of what its going to be like in the winter.
The figures are particularly high for this time of year, he said.
Theyre figures that, in years gone by, you would see in the winter, now we are getting those high numbers in the summer months when, logic would dictate, they should be lower.
Ultimately it means that our members working in hospitals across Cork are experiencing winter pressure all year round, and its only going to get worse as it gets colder. If you were to follow the trajectory of INMO trolley figures, the higher they are in summer, the higher you can expect them to be in winter.
He said that despite the HSE announcing the lifting of the recruitment ban, it was still unclear how many staff would be hired under the newly introduced strategy which sees recruitment ceilings for each area based on the level of staff in December 2023, when the embargo was already in place.
THE Mahon community is preparing for a memorial tournament that is close to the hearts of many in the local area.
When Thomas Morrissey passed away suddenly in July 2012, Ringmahon Rangers paid tribute to the clubs dedicated player by hosting a memorial tournament in his honour.
Twelve years on, the tournament is still going strong, as are the memories of a man described as a friend to all.
This year, the Thomas Morrissey memorial tournament will take place on Sunday, August 4 from 11am to 3pm in Ringmahon Park.
The event will see teams from Ringmahon and neighbouring sides face off in a friendly atmosphere.
It will also feature a cake sale, facepainting and DJ, as well as a raffle afterwards in the Red Cove Inn, with all money on the day going towards a local charity, the Rainbow Club.
Speaking to The Echo ahead of the event, Ringmahon Rangers secretary Sean Fitzgerald highlighted the impact Thomas had on the club and community, and the importance of raising funds for a local cause.
Its a tournament that is close to our hearts, he said.
Thomas played with Ringmahon all his life and was a friend to all, a great character to have in the dressing room and we found it fitting to set up the tournament at the time.
All the Morrissey family have played with Ringmahon and his brother Gearoid (of Cork City FC fame) is with our seniors, Sean added.
His sister Jacinta is involved with our girls academy and he has nieces and nephews playing for the club as well.
Sean added that it was only fitting that the Rainbow Club was the chosen charity for the event.
Ringmahon and the parish of Mahon have very good links with them and the work they do is second to none, he concluded.
People are encouraged to text 0873393276 for raffle tickets.
Blackrock hurlers who played for Cork praised
Blackrock National Hurling Club has praised its young hurlers who lined out for Cork recently.
Four youngsters from the clubs U14 team donned the red of Cork against Clare recently.
Well done to our U14 players, namely Jack Kearney, Alan Lydon, Cian Coakley and Darragh Waters, who were part of the Cork City Rebel Og team that played against Clare in Mallow, the club stated.
Collaborative student project
Students from Nagle Community College took part in an initiative to enhance collaboration with counterparts from across Ireland and Europe.
Several students from the local secondary school were involved in the Building Walls, Breaking Walls project by Erasmus+ EU.
The programme involves the Mahon Community Development Project.
Nagle Community College praised students Jordan, Daniel, and Aoife who participated in the project on Cape Clear.
Over the course of seven days, the students worked extremely hard with their counterparts from Switzerland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Italy at building and restoring the historical walls which is a big assist to the locals, the school added.
Cape Clear has only 110 residents on the island and it was a fantastic experience! Also great to see past pupil Rhys Aherne assist the group Rhys is a master chef and a wonderful ambassador for Nagle CC.
Brown bin encouragement
Mahon Tidy Towns has encouraged locals to get a brown bin. The group addressed concerns that brown bins are smelly and impractical:
These common misconceptions about having a brown bin at home result in organic waste ending up in landfill which, in turn, is responsible for 10% of the food sectors emissions. This is easy to fix.
Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Honore Kamegni (Green Party), out and about with Mahon Tidy Towns volunteers in recent days
The bins can be incorporated into everyday life, by finding a suitable place to keep it and using bin liners to keep it clean and odour free.
Mahon Tidy Towns concluded: It doesnt have to take up space, it doesnt have to smell, and it really has an important impact.
Ambassador to Chile visits
Blackrock Castle Observatory recently welcomed Irelands ambassador to Chile.
Following Colum Hatchells visit in July, management at the observatory said: We had a wonderful morning discussing collaborations and more. In Ireland, we are lucky to be part of multiple European-wide organisations that allow us access to state-of-the-art scientific
facilities.
We became a member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in 2018, management added. ESO operates three observing sites in the Atacama Desert region of Chile and is made up of 16 member states across Europe.
ESO provides astronomers in Ireland access to the southern sky, but our membership also means Irish companies can compete for ESO contracts.
We have also been a member of the European Space Agency since 1975, allowing us to be at the heart of Europes space missions.
We have at least 87 Irish companies working with ESA to develop technologies for the space market.
Craft party
Mahon Point Shopping Centre is hosting a Craft Loco Party on Monday, August 5, from 1pm to 3.30pm.
Shopping centre management said: Get ready for an afternoon of creativity and spontaneous fun! Join us for our wild and wonderful Craft Loco Party, where well combine the fun of crafting with the excitement of impromptu dancing.
Attendees can expect headband decorating, bracelet making, and impromptu dance sessions. Bring the kids for an unforgettable experience filled with laughter, creativity, and lots of fun, management said.
Community cafe reopens
The Cottage Community Cafe in Mahon has reopened after a break-in.
Management revealed on July 22 that the cafe was broken into the previous weekend.
They expressed their disappointment at the break-in and said the cafe would remain closed until further notice.
However, just a day later, management reopened the hugely popular facility.
[The] fridge is full and we are up and running again to welcome all our wonderful customers with amazing cakes and savoury treats; pop in for lunch or for coffee and cake, management said.
Have Blackrock and Mahon news to share? Email darragh.bermingham@theecho.ie
Senator Tim Lombard and county councillor Noel ODonovan have been selected by Fine Gael to represent the party in the Cork South-West constituency at the next general election.
The two men were selected at the partys convention at the Parkway Hotel in Dunmanway on Wednesday night.
Fine Gael previously ran Mr Lombard, alongside former councillor Karen Coakley, in the constituency at the 2020 general election, but the party lost the seat which had been held since 2011 by Jim Daly.
Speaking after the selection convention, Mr Lombard said he was delighted to have been selected.
With 21 years of political experience, and having served as a senator since 2016, I believe I have the experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm to represent the people of Cork South-West as their TD, he said.
A dairy farmer based in Minane Bridge, Mr Lombard pledged to continue fighting for the farming community on nitrates derogation, VAT refunds for farmers, the fodder crisis, and ash dieback.
I will also continue my advocacy for special education and the provision of services for adults and children with learning differences across the constituency. Mr ODonovan said he was honoured to have been selected to contest the election for Fine Gael and was committed to bringing a fresh perspective to address the issues facing the local community.
As a former member of An Garda Siochana, I promise to work with families and communities across Cork South-West to address the challenges of anti-social behaviour and will prioritise law and order, he said.
From my experience as a councillor, I know I can represent the interests of the people of Cork South-West in Dail Eireann and I look forward to beginning my campaign.
The convention brings to 28 the number of general election candidates selected by Fine Gael in 17 constituencies.
A man in his forties has been arrested as Gardai seized around 75,000 worth of drugs in Cork city this week.
1kg of suspected amphetamine with an approximate value of 15,000, and 3kg of suspected cannabis valued at 50,000 were seized along with a number of mobile phones and a sum of cash from a premises in Blackrock.
A Garda spokesperson told The Echo, Gardai in Cork City have seized suspected illegal drugs valued at approximately 75,000, and arrested one man (40s) during a search operation in Cork City, on Wednesday 31st July 2024.
As part of Operation Tara, Gardai attached to the Anglesea Street Divisional Drugs Unit, targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs in Cork City, carried out the search under warrant, of a premises in Blackrock, Cork City.
During the course of the search, approximately 1kg of suspected amphetamine with an approximate value of 15,000, and 3kg of suspected cannabis valued at 50,000 were seized, along with a number of mobile phones and a quantity of cash."
They added, The drugs seized will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.
The man (40s) arrested in connection with the investigation is detained pursuant to Section 2 Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996, at a Garda station in the Cork area.
Investigations are ongoing.
This seizure is part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on 2nd July 2021.
Operation Tara focuses on disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting drug trafficking networks at all levelsinternational, national, and localinvolved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale, and supply of controlled drugs.
Employees at the Dulux plant in Cork have voted to accept redundancy terms offered by AkzoNobel for the closure of its paint manufacturing site on Commons Road.
Duluxs parent company, AkzoNobel confirmed the sites closure and loss of 45 jobs in May, with the latest developments revealing that the plant will officially close on a phased basis by December 31.
Following a period of collective consultation with local union and employee representatives, the company further confirmed that redundancy terms have been accepted by those affected by the upcoming closure.
In a statement provided to The Echo by AkzoNobel, the company expressed its gratitude to employees, acknowledging their professionalism during what has been a very difficult time for everyone impacted.
AkzoNobel further reiterated that the closure of the Cork plant will have no bearing on the companys non-manufacturing operations in Dublin, for which further investment is planned.
Managing director of Dulux Paints Ireland, Seamus ODonoghue said: Business decisions of this nature are never easy on those impacted and it has been a tough time for colleagues in Cork, who are an incredible and professional team of people.
The closure of the plant is not related to our people but rather, is part of a wider plan to continually improve the business through newer and more streamlined processes and technological advancements.
On behalf of the company, I wish to extend my thanks and gratitude to the team in Cork for their stellar work and their commitment to consistent standards of excellence over many years, he added.
There will be a period of transition over several months as production moves to the UK in a controlled and organised way.
Our customers in Ireland can feel reassured that they will receive the same product formulations and enhanced levels of supply from the Dulux team in Ireland.
Following the closure, the Dulux Academy and technical support will be relocated to Dublin, and warehouse capacity will be expanded to enhance supply and distribution for customers in Ireland, with sales, marketing, warehousing and logistics remaining unaffected.
Paint production for the Irish market will now move to the UK.
High Court reporters
A High Court judge has refused to grant an emergency injunction to the residents of Dundrum village, Co Tipperary who want to stop asylum seekers being accommodated in a local hotel.
Mr Justice David Holland said no case had been made to grant an ex partie injunction where only one side is represented. He said the application simply did not have the necessary urgency.
Dundrum residents had lodged 230 affidavits with the High Court complaining that International Protection Applicants will be offered rooms at the Dundrum House Hotel resort from Thursday.
Mr Justice Holland, who read the affidavits and gave his judgment last night, said communities may not - as a legal right - vet or veto those who seek to live among them,
He said there was a notable peculiarity that the person who brought the case lived in Co Westmeath and he did not understand why Dundrum residents were not named as applicants in the proceedings.
He said concern was raised about the potential intrusion into private dwellings. It is saying that International Protection Applicants are more likely to be burglars than those staying as guests at the hotel or Ukrainian refugees staying there. I lend no weight to that assertion, the judge stated.
In an application to the court led by Patrick McGreal from Westmeath, the village residents sought an interim injunction to stop the former mansion and estate Dundrum House Hotel being used to house International Protection Applicants (IPA).
In separate proceedings against the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage they also want to stop the use of the Planning and Development (exempted Development) regulations of 2023 which allows buildings to be used to house International Protection Applicants.
Dundrum House Hotel for the last two years has accommodated Ukrainian refugees and locals are objecting to any continued use of the hotel to house asylum seekers as the Ukrainians leave.
A round the clock demonstration which began outside the hotel in late May is continuing.
Mr McGreal submitted that locals believed the turning of the hotel into an IPA centre would cause irreparable damage to the village and the local economy and destroy tourism.
He maintained that International Protection Applicants will be at the hotel from today (Thursday) and they sought an injunction to stop this.
Mr Justice Holland asked what the difference between Ukrainians and International Protection Applicants was staying at the hotel.
Mr McGreal said the Ukrainians were refugees and they had integrated into the community and could work.
In one affidavit referred to in court from a local resident it was stated there were fears "the influx of people not of Irish origin into an Irish village will cause a lot of unrest.
Tom Tuite
A London-based rabbi accused of travelling to Ireland to perform an illegal circumcision on a young child has been refused bail.
Jonathan Abraham, 47, was arrested in Dublin on Tuesday and is charged with carrying out a surgical procedure, male circumcision on a child, without being a registered medical practitioner at an address in Dublin 15.
The father-of-10 appeared before Judge Michael Connellan at Dublin District Court on Thursday.
Detective Garda Megan Furey told the judge that Mr Abraham "made no reply" when charged at Blanchardstown Garda station.
There were objections to bail due to the seriousness of the case.
The detective said the offence, contrary to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, could result in a maximum fine of 130,000 and five years' imprisonment.
Detective Garda Furey said there was strong evidence in support of the charge. Gardai entered an address in Dublin 15 just after 1 pm on Tuesday with the homeowners' consent.
According to the detective, they observed the accused "dressed in a white robe, a doctor's-style coat, with blue gloves and a scalpel in his hand."
The court heard there was a table in the middle of the room with a changing pad, scissors and other medical supplies and implements.
"Gardai at this time also observed a very young child on the changing pad naked," she said, adding that they established that a circumcision procedure had already been carried out on another child at the premises.
The detective told the court that a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and "it's envisaged that there will be multiple further charges in due course".
Citing "significant flight risk" fears, she said that the accused flew into Ireland on July 30th around noontime and had a return flight booked for the same evening. She added that he had no ties to this jurisdiction and did not have any property, assets or dependents in this country.
She described him as a man of means and had grave concerns that he would evade justice, adding that he had a strong incentive to leave the country.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor Tertius Van Eeden, she agreed that if the DPP directed that the case stay in the District Court, the penalties would be considerably lower: a maximum of six months imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000.
He put it to the detective that she left that out during her bail objections and that it was too enthusiastic to suggest the case would go to a higher level, but she did not accept that suggestion.
In later exchanges with the defence, the detective agreed that the accused had not held himself out to be a doctor, and she accepted that he was a rabbi.
The garda detective claimed he had not given any information about his training and that he used the name rabbi Y. Abraham. The solicitor replied that the Y was for Yoni, Hebrew for Jonathan.
The solicitor said his client was a member of the Initiation Society, which governs the practice or procedures of the Jewish faith, specifically circumcisions.
Mr Van Eeden added that his client, who did not address the court, was registered as a Mohel, the Hebrew word for a person qualified to carry out circumcisions.
The detective conceded she was informed of this and said enquiries were still being conducted.
When asked if she had done any Google research about that, she said she only learned this at about 8 pm on Wednesday.
Pleading for bail, Mr Van Eeden said the Initiation Society was the oldest Anglo-Jewish organisation founded in 1745. As a Mohel, he was allowed to perform circumcisions and had done so for more than 13 years, and he was fully trained medically and ethically to perform them.
The solicitor submitted that in the Jewish community, only a Mohel could perform such procedures, and he was insured to do them.
Mr Van Eeden submitted that if his client had performed the same procedures in England, it would have been completely legal.
However, the judge pointed out that it was a separate jurisdiction.
The solicitor stressed that these were allegations at this stage, and his client had no prior convictions and had the presumption of innocence.
The court heard he was the primary breadwinner for his family and also received state benefits while his wife worked part-time tutoring children with learning difficulties.
The solicitor said that his client could face a lengthy period in custody, and the trial venue has not been confirmed.
He added that a 5,000 independent surety could be offered, and Mr Abraham would obey conditions not to perform such procedures in Ireland.
Judge Connellan refused bail due to the seriousness of the case, potential flight risk and strength of evidence. Legal aid was granted to the accused, who was remanded in custody pending directions from the DPP. Mr Abraham has yet to enter a plea and will appear again on August 6th at Cloverhill District Court.
By David Young, PA
Police are working to establish if social media calls for anti-Islamic protests in Northern Ireland this weekend will materialise on the ground, the chief constable has said.
Jon Boutcher urged people in society to push back against the poisonous nonsense being propagated by those seeking to organise demonstrations against the Islamic faith.
At the monthly meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the PSNIs oversight body, independent member Marian Cree asked the police chief if he was aware of social media posts calling on people to attend a series of anti-Islamic events on Saturday.
We are aware of it, were still trying to understand whos behind it, said Mr Boutcher.
Theres no set organisation showing themselves on social media which sort of defines the cowardly nature of the people who do this nonsense.
There is obviously, from the social media calling, an intention to try and do something on Saturday.
We have got a gold (command) structure in place around this.
Were looking into the intelligence now to see who, if anybody, is actually involved and going to respond to this.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton (PA)
His comments came after two nights of disorder in England following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport on Monday.
Violent unrest has been witnessed in Southport as well as in London, Hartlepool and Manchester.
I would point people to what happened in London yesterday and Hartlepool, and obviously Southport, this is based on poisonous nonsense, Mr Boutcher told the board meeting in Belfast.
It has no basis in a society thats seen what hatefulness can do to a society and I would appeal for everybody, everybody to push back against any of this utter awful nonsense.
But if there is going to be any gatherings, we will police them and we will police them effectively.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said he was aware of a social media post calling for a gathering at Belfast City Hall and a subsequent protest march.
He warned that any march needed the permission of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission.
To date no such procession has been notified to the Parades Commission, he said.
Id advise that if anybody was planning on attending that, the fact that thats not notified, of course, could mean that they could see themselves liable to a criminal investigation.
Protest is a fundamental human right. But everything that the chief has said is right, you know, our real concern around this is that, in fact, its simply people intent on stirring up fear and hatred.
And I would ask that anybody that does intend to engage in any form of protest activity follows the advice that we issue to the public regularly on this, the advice is you should engage with the police and to stay lawful, you must not endanger the safety of yourself or anybody else.
You should not block any road or foot path, you should respect the rights of others and the Parades Commission must be notified in respect of any procession.
Alliance board member Nuala McAllister expressed concern that some of the posts had urged women and children to take the lead in the protests.
Mr Singleton replied: I think that was a sinister element that weve seen, and I think it speaks volumes potentially about the mindset of those that are involved in this activity.
But, again, let me reassure you, from a policing perspective our response will be proportionate.
As the chief says, itll be policed effectively.
Ah, the long summer evenings of August long ago. When the days work finished, how many hearts and minds turned towards music, dance, and just possibly romance?
Whether it was a bus trip down to the Majorca in Crosshaven or across to the Highland in Newmarket, a joyous journey to Redbarn outside Youghal, or an unsophisticated but delightful platform dance in Inchigeela, those were the places that memories were made. Which do you remember best?
We were reminded of this by seeing an old rusty barn building next to a greenway recently and being told by a farmer that it was there they used to hold dances way back in the day.
Oh, in the evening you would see the lights of bicycles coming along the lane from miles away, and all the bikes stacked outside while their owners went in to enjoy themselves, the farmer reminisced.
The music from the band would float over the fields and youd hear it from your back door. It was grand.
And then afterwards, there would be the happy voices as people were going away. Maybe a girl or two who had come on foot would be offered a crosser home by a young man. You wouldnt know what might come of it!
Down in Inchigeela, that summer of the late 1950s when Johnny Creedon was determined to turn the town into a popular holiday destination, they used to hold platform dances at a certain spot outside the village. Was it a wooden platform that could be assembled for the night and then packed up and stored until the next occasion? Or was it a permanent concrete affair?
The band would play on a makeshift platform, often the open side of a truck, and people came from far and near to enjoy themselves.
And then there were the now legendary dances at the crossroads in every part of the county. Somehow it always seemed to be fine on those evenings of long ago, didnt it?
There were so many country get-togethers, ideal places for young people to meet and mingle (even if the parish priest regularly put in an appearance to ensure that the proprieties were observed).
Rory Gallagher and The Fontanas band in the early 1960s. That is the legendary and currently highly topical Stratocaster hes holding
It was the opportunity to meet people from another townland, another village, which was always exciting. And to hear the (fairly) latest tunes being belted out, and getting the chance to dance to them.
Stephen Twohig, who grew up in Kanturk, has mixed memories of those teenage days. The delight of the different dance halls (then changing slowly into discos), yes, but also the crippling shyness that made the whole evening a terrifying experience.
The coloured lights are flashing like beacons around the hall. Every once in a while, some known face is illuminated by the whirling rays of light. People slowly filter in and gather in small clusters in the different corners. Lying Eyes, by the Eagles, is playing, and the DJ is shuffling for the next tune.
On the floor are a few couples but most are hanging back, too nervous or just not in the mood yet. Its the Edel Quinn Hall of a Friday night.
These would be the first discos we would attend and we would progress to venues further afield. The Highland in Newmarket was quite the place.
If you didnt have transport, you would take the bus or stand over on OBrien Street and try and hitch a ride. This worked well on your way there, but held only a slender window of opportunity for the trip home. Its many the night we sauntered home in the dark of night by Allens Bridge and Rosacon.
Nobody who was there could forget the legendary Crush in Newmarket, Stephen muses.
It was a sight to behold. The ladies would all be lined along the upper wall in the hall, and the young men (some not so young), would file up and down in a close throng, eyeing the prospective possibilities. It was a madhouse, a meat market you could say, and worse than any crowd filing out of a sporting event. But of course this was the ultimate sporting event.
Every once in a while, a brave soul would make a go for it, shrug off all doubts, and nervousness, and stride over to interrupt a few ladies in conversation. Or more likely pull himself through the crowd like a drowning man trying to make shore.
Depending on the individual or the lady herself, you might find yourself following her on to the dance floor for a set of three, or try and muster as much composure and manly indifference as possible if she denied the request.
Stephen says he wonders what psychological inflictions and maiming occurred on these occasions that would take years to recover from, if ever.
After your first success, you then had to carry on a conversation over the loud bass of the music, the din of the crowd, or the seeming disinterest of your partner, he continues.
All around you notice the success of some previous candidate and you wonder constantly if all your friends are watching.
If you are lucky the band will play some real rocking tune by Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Queen, or Joe Jackson. If you are unlucky enough to catch the start of a slow set of Bee Gees, Exile or The Commodores, you are pretty much finished. There will be a hesitant pregnant pause, she will thank you for dancing, and will leave you in the total collapse of your already diminished confidence.
Well, Stephen says philosophically, at least you got to dance.
You return to your friends, shrug it off as her fault, she had a few missing teeth anyway, no personality, she had two left feet, or just was not your type.
There were well-known standard one-liners used on the dance floor. Will you stay on?, used after the set ended, trying to encourage a commitment beyond the required and appropriate time spent dancing with a stranger.
A St Vincent de Paul Ladies Association dance at the Arcadia Ballroom, Cork, in 1934
Do you feel like an orange? was a courteous gesture, but all too often got the off-putting reply, No, do I look like one?
Either way, we were mystified and at odds with the mind and its workings of the opposite sex. When you thought they liked you, they would walk off anyway after seeming to have a good time. If you ignored them, they told you after that you acted a snob. You couldnt win or figure them out in these early years. Come to think of it, you still cant!
On the other hand, if you were suave, played a good air guitar, could mouth the lyrics of the songs, or knew intimate details of some of the band, you were in with a chance, he reveals.
Or, if you were the son of a big farmer, with the dads big car parked outside. A large Datsun or Toyota with a cassette deck would do nicely. On this I can only surmise, as I had neither. To the best of my memory, I never once met a stranger, or carried on any semblance of a conversation. I never hit the correct notes on the extraordinary solos of Bohemian Rhapsody or Sultans Of Swing, or ever had any success in luring the candidate for another set, never mind to the fumbling clutches of a big car. (The one I didnt have outside.) No, the only windows I would fog up would be the windows of the bus home to Kanturk!
The mating habits of some species take on some strange and idiosyncratic forms, to say the least, says Stephen, from the experienced platform of adulthood.
Our own is no different. Maybe it is the frustration of misunderstanding the opposite sex, mixed with the flood of rampant and unused hormones, but somehow the male species not having success in courtship will tum on themselves. And so was the case at dances in Newmarket. Millstreet or Mallow.
There was always some scuffle, or at times more serious territorial and gang-like face-offs. Many the head was split and stitch needed after a night at a dance. Oh, the romance! Or was it just the Alpha male staking out his territory? I dont know.
The band are good tonight, do you come here often? It is the Star Ballroom in Millstreet, another favourite. We are here of a Thursday night on the balcony overhead, looking down at the dancing crowd below.
At the back is a bar and cafe where you can buy chips or burgers, and seating where you can just hang out with your respective crowd. The Memories are playing and they always fill the house. Their cover songs are perfect and they do each number justice. Gerry Raffertys Baker Street is the real thing.
From the balcony, you can watch your man gunned down in the first efforts of introduction, or your man left standing alone on the dance floor, mystified by the disappearance of his once smiling partner. This is a great spot for people-watching for sure.
If its not The Highland in Newmarket, it is Millstreet, or the odd time Mallow. Mallow can be rough though, and you have to watch yourself, so us country lads stick to our country places and to the favourite haunts and fishing grounds.
The bands also are known favourites. If youre lucky, it is The Memories or Reform, if not it is Joe Dolan or Dickie Rock or some other past success. The posters will have been stuck on every shop window or billboard for weeks .
On an August summer evening with the smell of newly-cut hay, glows of seaside tans, and the fading light of a near midnight sun, one can nearly feel again the closeness of skin and eternal romance. If only my father had bought the big farm and the big car!
You have captured so many memories there, Stephen, that others will resonate to, remembering their own experiences at dances when the world was young.
Were your first tentative steps at the Arcadia, where a young Rory Gallagher and his band (first the Fontana, then Impact) often played the warm-up shift before one of the big showbands? Or was it down by the sea in Crosshaven or Redbarn?
Perhaps your first introduction to actually making contact with the opposite sex was at a village dance hall, where that ever-present, ever-vigilant parish priest interrupted close numbers to separate couples too-closely entwined.
I remember dances at Christians back in the early 1960s, says Katie OBrien. We girls all stood at one side, that was the custom, and the boys at the other.
There was this lad I met who was over from Wales for the rugby matches they used to have with CBC, and he was staying with my then boyfriend. He came into the hall, saw the division of boys and girls and frowned in puzzlement.
Then he caught sight of me and came over. Look, your boyfriend is over there, he pointed out (unnecessarily as it happened). Will I go over and tell him youre here?
No! I countered frantically. You cant do that. We have to wait until the music starts and then he will come and ask me.
Off goes the Welsh boy, shaking his head at the strange mating customs of the Cork people.
What are your memories of those long-ago dances? Did you meet your life partner there? Was there a special location that holds wonderful recollections? Tell us about it!
Email jokerrigan1@gmail.com. Or leave a comment on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/echolivecork.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.
Coal is the heart and soul of modernity. Orville Schell is talking about the long history of coal mining, as represented in a major section of the exhibit COAL + ICE on view in New York City through August 11. Schell is vice president of the Asia Society, where the exhibit is mounted, and coal was the exhibitions catalyst.
Craig Thompson
Back in the 2000s, Schell and Susan Meiselas, this exhibits co-curator, had been collecting coal mining documentary photographs from China in the 2000s. When they first visited the coal mining areas, Schell was stunned by the landscape before him. It was completely defoliated, the sky was gray, with piles of coal everywhere, he says. It was an invocation of what happens when coal is king. The river was polluted, the air was polluted.
But after collecting images of the coal industry in China, Schell connected with a mountain photographer who had ascended Tibet numerous times. He kept saying that the glaciers are melting. The melting glaciers are having an undeniable impact on the rivers, and the people, living downstream. After Schell saw firsthand these two major environmental catastrophes, COAL + ICE was born.
The coal was the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, a kind of metaphor for fossil fuels, and the Tibetan plateau, the third pole, was the ice part of it, Schell says. COAL + ICE was first mounted in 2011 in Beijing. And one of those photos from that time is mounted here.
Hes a Chinese coal miner named Song Chao from Shandong Province, Schell says. His uncle was a photographer for the new China news agency, so he could get his hands on a camera, and he started shooting portraits of his workmates. And theyre stunningly beautiful.
Song Chao
Coal has historically been the highest emitter of CO2 on Earth. Today, China leads the way by a large margin in 2023, according to Global Carbon Budget data, the country emitted 8.25 billion tonnes of CO2, a number that continues to grow. China currently accounts for about 60% of the worlds coal use, while the country undergoes the dichotomy of increased coal plant approvals and a massive investment in solar and wind power. The exhibit contains a powerful section of video and images that shows the scale of coal production in China, with a nod to American history as well.
Craig Thompson
Since the first show in 2011, sections have been added. The first was a series of photos on consequences hurricanes, flooding, and fire and more recently, a section on solutions was added.
Craig Thompson
In one powerful section at the Asia Society, Gideon Mendels photos are presented on four panels. Mendel is a photographer who traveled around the world to where floods had occurred. He followed people home after the deluge, as they were wading home and as they got to their doors. His images show the powerful aftermath of the floods.
Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson
Clifford Ross is an artist who shot hurricane waves, both on Long Island and off the coast of Portugal, at the famous Nazare shelf. He discovered that the artist, namely me, who thought he was photographing nature wasnt just photographing nature, but nature stirred and shaken by mans intervention.
Clifford Ross
But the solutions section of the exhibition attempts to shed some positivity on the subject. One of the images is by James Stillings, a photographer who used planes and drones to fly over renewable energy projects. Theyre kind of strikingly beautiful, and sort of designed, Schell says. You get a sense of the scale of it. You get a sense that we know exactly what to do, were just not doing enough of it.
James Stillings
An installation called New York, 2050: A Possible Future shows what New York could look like in 2050, with ocean levels a couple of feet higher, notes Schell.
Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson
The show has been around the globe, to Delhi, Copenhagen, Paris, Aspen, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Shanghai.
We thought maybe visually, we could get to them, says Schell. Its an effort to try to present the climate challenge in ways that are not truly didactic in written form. Once you get people into the tent, they do become engrossed in it. You just hope to wake them up a little.
I think we all feel deeply discouraged. But on the other hand, we also know we need to do something.
COAL + ICE is showing through August 11 in New York City at the Asia Society. For more information: https://asiasociety.org/new-york/exhibitions/coal-ice
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.
The aftermath of flash flooding on Red Village Road in Lyndonville, Vermont on July 30 2024. Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Since Monday night, northeast Vermont has been inundated with heavy rain and flash flooding that washed out roads, damaged buildings and left residents stranded, reported Reuters.
Nearly eight inches of rain fell in only six hours in St. Johnsbury considered a one in a thousand year event, CNN reported.
This is devastating and was completely unexpected. I had no idea this was coming, said one of the towns residents Vanessa Allen, as reported by The Associated Press. Its just all unbelievable how bad the roads are. Were trapped. We cant go anywhere.
According to the National Weather Service, 8.41 inches fell in Vermont, among the highest totals for a calendar day in the states history.
Its too early to determine the extent of damage, a lot of areas are still underwater, said Mark Boma, spokesperson for Vermont Emergency Management, as Reuters reported.
Lyndonville and St. Johnsbury, located near state capital Montpelier, got the brunt of the flooding. Vermont Emergency Management said about two dozen rescues had been executed in the area by 10 swift-water rescue teams.
On Tuesday morning, the 7,000 residents of St. Johnsbury were ordered to shelter in place as images on local news and social media showed downed trees, damaged roads and homes that had been ripped from their foundations by floodwaters.
Vermont has been hit by more severe storms in the last few years, like the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl less than a month ago, which killed two people.
Deryck Colburn, a resident of Lyndonville, said he was awakened by a neighbor and heard the same sound of rushing water he had heard only weeks before, as reported by The Associated Press.
I went down the road to her house, and there was no road. There was just a river, Colburn said.
Peter Banacos, a weather service operations officer, said there had been four flooding events in Vermont in the past year, caused by the mountainous terrain of the state combined with climate change. Banacos said increased rainfall and more frequently saturated soil have made it more susceptible to flooding.
Scientists say extreme weather has become more frequent and intense as the human-driven climate crisis continues to wreak havoc across the planet.
The last storm was a wake-up call, Colburn said, referring to the flooding earlier in July, as The Associated Press reported. I thought I would never see anything like that again. I dont think that holds a candle to this. Not even close.
(Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC)John Christensen, World Council of Churches project officer for the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network and Mental Health,
The World Council of Churches has conducted three workshops during an Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's youth gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The meeting convened July 16-20 July, drawing some 20,000 youth, young adults, and their adult leaders.
John Christensen, WCC project officer for the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network and Mental Health, served on the team leading the workshops/
"The first one may seem incredibly obvious but sometimes we need to be reminded," said Christensen,
"Mental health struggles affect more than 25 percent of the global population at some point in their lives.
"In 2019, 14 percent of the world's adolescents (ages 10-19) were living with a mental disorder of some kind. Alongside that, 71 percent of people dealing with some form of psychosis do not receive adequate mental health services."
Christensen said this leads to suicide being the 4th-leading cause of death in people 15-29 years old, globally.
"But, there is still hope," he said.
"Thankfully, it is more and more common for people to talk about their mental health. Even when there are limited medical resources, community resources (such as church communities) can be a resource that contributes to the lessening of the negative effects of mental health struggles."
The workshops focused on where mental health and youth are in the church, helping participants understand more about mental health and wellbeing, and providing a platform for dialogue.
"I felt like the lone or token young person involved in church. But coming to the Youth Gathering in 2009 and now again to the Youth & Young Adult Gathering in 2024, it reminds me that I am not alone," said and Young Adult Gathering in 2024, it reminds me that I am not alone," said Christensen,
The Partnership Center of the US Department of Health says that mental health is at a crisis level for today's youth.
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/youth-mental-health-and-well-being-in-faith-and-community-settings.pdf
"From the Surgeon General for the United States to parents in homes across the country, people are recognizing that our nation's youth are experiencing unprecedented mental health challenges."
The center says that data supports such growing concern and more than 40 percent of teenagers say they struggle with persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
More than half of parents and caregivers express concern over their children's mental well-being.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks has successfully completed the European tour with the eActros 600. After a 45-day all-electric development tour through 22 countries, the two near-production prototypes of the eActros 600 arrived back in Worth am Rhein with over 15,000 kilometres more on the clock.
The two e-trucks covered exactly 15,269 and 15,939 kilometres respectively in this time, completing the trip with a total train weight of 40 tonnes each. Along the entire route, the developers charged the two long-distance lorries exclusively at public charging points.
Such a mammoth tour requires meticulous preparation and planning, especially with regard to charging at public infrastructure. Even though we had some very different experiences during the charging stops, it has been shown that long-distance battery-electric transport is possible. The 500 kilometre range of the eActros 600 with one battery charge was always a reliable planning parameter for us, reports Christof Weber, Head of Global Testing Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
The manufacturer intends to present the specific findings and results from the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 European Testing Tour 2024 at the IAA Transportation in Hanover in September.
Europe's northernmost and southernmost points as tour highlights
The official start of the tour was on 11 June in Frankfurt am Main. After travelling north through Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the two trucks reached the first major stage highlight just in time for midsummer: the North Cape in Norway, the northernmost point in Europe that can be reached by road. From the end of June, the convoy continued southwards through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France and Spain. After a stop in Tarifa, Spain, the southernmost town on the European mainland, as the next major highlight of the tour, the journey headed north again - through Portugal, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg back to Germany.
Important experience with regard to energy requirements
During the test tour, Mercedes-Benz Trucks gained extensive experience on a wide variety of routes in different topographies and climatic zones with regard to energy consumption. The manufacturer then intends to share these findings with interested customers.
The high battery capacity of over 600 kWh and a new, particularly efficient electric drive axle developed in-house enable the eActros 600 to have a range of 500 kilometres without intermediate charging.
Megawatt charging can be retrofitted
Around 60 percent of long-distance journeys made by Mercedes-Benz Trucks customers in Europe are shorter than 500 kilometres, meaning that charging infrastructure at the depot and at the loading and unloading points is sufficient for these cases. For all other applications, the continuous development of a public charging infrastructure is an essential prerequisite for making the electric truck fully operational for pan-European long-distance transport.
In addition to CCS charging with up to 400 kW, the eActros 600 will later also enable megawatt charging (MCS). In April, developers from Mercedes-Benz Trucks successfully charged a prototype of the eActros 600 for the first time at a charging station with an output of one megawatt at the company's own development and test centre in Worth am Rhein. Customers can order pre-equipment for MCS. As soon as the MCS technology is available and standardised across manufacturers, it will be possible to retrofit it to these eActros 600 models. The batteries can be charged from 20 to 80 per cent in around 30 minutes at a corresponding charging station with around one megawatt of power.
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Google is adding support for its School time feature to more hardware. School time allows parents to limit functionalities on a child's devices during predetermined hours. That might be the time they are in classes or for any period where an adult wants to limit screen time. Parents will be able to use the Family Link parental controls app to set School time hours on their kids' select Android phones, tablets and Samsung Galaxy Watches. However, Google hasn't shared any further specifics about which devices in those categories will receive this update. The tool was originally launched on the Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatches in May .
School time is designed to help limit a mobile device's distractions for a young user. When enabled, it sets a dedicated home page with limited notifications. Parents can select which apps remain available, and can allow texts and calls to come through from particular individuals. This encourages focus when it's needed, while still allowing for emergency contact if needed.
It's almost time once again for the tech world to stop everything else it's doing and pay attention as a major company shows off its latest hardware. Next up is Google's turn at bat. Thanks to a string of leaks and Googles own teases, we already have a pretty clear idea of what the company has planned for its Made by Google hardware event. The show will take place today: Tuesday, August 13 at 1PM ET.
We'll get the official reveal of the Pixel 9 lineup, for one thing. This includes what the company is calling the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is certainly more of a mouthful than "Pixel Fold 2." In addition, Google will certainly reveal more details about Android 15 and the operating system's public rollout. Expect to hear the word "Gemini" a lot too as Google is likely to focus on the AI-powered features of the new handsets. Some accessories could be in store in the form of Pixel Buds Pro 2 and a new Pixel Watch (or two) as well. These products are in addition to the new Nest Learning Thermostat and Google TV Streamer that the search giant launched last week.
Here's how to watch Google launch Pixel 9 phones and the other assorted devices at the press conference. Engadget is live blogging the Made by Google event it as well.
In the meantime, this is what we know for certain Google will show off at the event and everything else we expect to learn about at Made by Google:
Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL
As usual, the main event of Made by Google will be the Pixel 9 lineup. Google has confirmed (as if it were ever really in doubt) that it will show off new smartphones at the event, but it's expected to have three traditional models this year instead of two.
The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro will be straight-up successors to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. Leaks and rumors suggest Google will be adding a Pixel 9 Pro XL, with a larger screen than the other two models, to the lineup as well. YouTuber Andro-news claims to have gotten their hands on an engineering sample of the larger handset, which has flat edges, polished metal on the sides and matte-textured glass on the rear. However, the phone isn't switched on in the video.
The Pixel 9 Pro is slated to have more advanced specs than the Pixel 9 but with the same display size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, meanwhile, is expected to have almost the same specs as the 9 Pro but in a bigger handset. Per Toms Guide, the 9 and 9 Pro displays will measure around 6.3 inches while the Pixel 9 Pro XL may have a whopping 6.9-inch screen.
All three of the phones are expected to have a redesigned camera module. This large camera bar (which Google has confirmed at least for the Pixel 9 Pro) looks like it protrudes quite a bit from the main body. Unless you pick up an appropriate case, you can probably expect this to snag on your pocket more often than you'd like. The Pixel 9 is believed to have 50MP wide and 48MP ultrawide lenses in its camera array.
Google is likely to employ a new chipset this year, which will probably be called the Tensor G4. Leaks have also suggested that the base Pixel 9 will come with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The two larger phones are expected to max out at 512GB of storage. One other expected addition this year is the introduction of emergency satellite messaging, a feature that Apple has supported on the last two generations of iPhones.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Google will be hoping that consumers find the design of its latest foldable phone more elegant than its name. "Pixel 9 Pro Fold" doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as "Pixel Fold 2." However, the change does make sense if Google is looking to more clearly position the foldable as a premium product with the inclusion of "Pro" in the name. If the foldable has the same chipset as the rest of the Pixel 9 lineup, the name change is even more logical.
It's not rare for phone manufacturers to go with a major redesign on their second (or even third) stab at a new form factor as they learn more about what works and what doesn't. Like its more rigid siblings, the 9 Pro Fold also has a noticeable camera bump albeit one that positions the lenses vertically. Leaked images from a regulator in Taiwan indicate that the selfie camera has been moved on the interior screen to support a wider field of view. It appears that Google has reduced the fold crease this time around too.
Android 15 and Gemini
As ever, Google has been gradually announcing Android 15 features over the last several months, in large part to help developers update their apps ahead of the operating system's public rollout. Along with security measures such as Theft Detection Lock and Google Play fraud prevention, it should come as little surprise that Google is weaving AI more tightly into the fabric of its mobile OS.
The Made by Google teasers have made it very clear that the company is focusing heavily on the AI features of its new devices, such as the ability to draft a letter or email based on a prompt. Google confirmed back at I/O that Gemini will be more deeply integrated into Android 15 (which perhaps could spell the demise of Google Assistant) and will have better contextual awareness of what you're doing. For instance, you'll be able to ask the chatbot questions about a YouTube video you're watching and it should be able to answer them. You might think of it as a modern, interactive version of Pop-Up Video.
We should get a release date for Android 15 at least for supported Pixel devices at the event. It'll be around the same time Google starts shipping the new Pixel lineup, most likely later in August.
Pixel Watch 3
#GooglePixelWatch3 will feature thinner bezels, increased screen sizes (41mm with 10% more screen and 45mm with 40% more screen), and an Actua display with 2,000 nits peak brightness. It also promises an "ultra responsive" display, possibly with a higher refresh rate. pic.twitter.com/RsnMzQPlV9 Shilpa Sharma (@ladywithsarcasm) July 30, 2024
It's just as well Google doesn't build ships considering how many leaks it has to deal with. A couple of weeks ahead of Made by Google, Android Headlines got its hands on the specs of the Pixel Watch 3, which is expected to be available in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm.
The Pixel Watch 3 will likely have an Actua display capable of delivering up to 2,000 nits of brightness that's twice as bright as the previous model's AMOLED display. Per the leak, Google claims that a battery saver mode extends the time between charges to up to 36 hours, though you'll get up to 24 hours of standard use out of the wearable when the always-on display is enabled. The smaller model is expected to offer 20 percent faster charging compared with the previous model as well.
It had been anticipated that Google would name the larger model the Pixel Watch 3 XL. However, that's no longer expected to be the case, according to Android Headlines. Each variant will have its size listed in parentheses to differentiate them, the publication says.
Pixel Buds Pro 2
It's been two years since Google released the Pixel Buds Pro, so those are very much due for an upgrade. Rumors suggest the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will debut at Made By Google. Some unofficial renders have popped up, indicating that along with the existing Charcoal and Porcelain colorways, there will be Aloe and Hot Pink variants to match various Pixel phone options. It appears that Google is bringing back a version of the wingtip design from the original Pixel Buds too.
It remains to be seen what Google is cooking up for the audio side of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 but we do have at least some sense of the price. Rumors suggest the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will cost $229, which is $30 more than the base price of the current model.
Everything else
In all honesty, that's about everything we're expecting to see at Made by Google. It had been anticipated that the company would unveil the latest Nest Learning Thermostat and a new streaming box at the event, but Google actually revealed those a week ahead of the main showcase.
The fourth-gen Nest Learning Thermostat has a 60 percent larger LCD display than the previous model with the ability to have customizable faces. It'll be available on August 20 in three colors: silver, black and gold. It costs $280 and comes with one wireless temperature sensor.
As for the Google TV Streamer, that will run you $100 and it'll be available next month. While that's twice as expensive as the Chromecast with Google TV dongle, the company has upgraded the specs with a faster GPU, 4GB RAM instead of 2GB and four times the storage at 32GB. There's support for HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and spatial audio (via Google Pixel Buds) too. What's more, the Google TV Streamer is designed to be a smart home hub. There's Matter support and a Google Home panel through which you can control smart bulbs and view live video from connected doorbells and security cameras.
Those are at least reasonably compelling devices, so it seems a little odd that Google wouldn't want to give them more of a spotlight by instead unveiling them at its splashy August 13 event. It stands to reason then that Google wants the event to be primarily about smartphones, smartwatches and earbuds. That does make sense as those are the most likely going to be the most successful hardware categories for the company over the all-important holiday period. Still, there's always space for at least one surprise (bring back Stadia, you cowards).
Catch up on all the news from Googles Pixel 9 launch event right here!
OpenAI will give the US AI Safety Institute early access to its next model as part of its safety efforts, Sam Altman has revealed in a tweet. Apparently, the company has been working with the consortium "to push forward the science of AI evaluations." The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has formally established the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute earlier this year, though Vice President Kamala Harris announced it back in 2023 at the UK AI Safety Summit. Based on the NIST's description of the consortium, it's meant "to develop science-based and empirically backed guidelines and standards for AI measurement and policy, laying the foundation for AI safety across the world."
The company, along with DeepMind, similarly pledged to share AI models with the UK government last year. As TechCrunch notes, there have been growing concerns that OpenAI is making safety less of a priority as it seeks to develop more powerful AI models. There were speculations that the board decided to kick Sam Altman out of the company he was very quickly reinstated due to safety and security concerns. However, the company told staff members in an internal memo back then, that it was because of "a breakdown in communication."
In May this year, OpenAI admitted that it disbanded the Superalignment team it created to ensure that humanity remains safe as the company advances its work on generative artificial intelligence. Before that, OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, who was one of the team's leaders, left the company. Jan Leike, who was also one of the team's leaders, quit, as well. He said in a series of tweets that he had been disagreeing with OpenAI's leadership about the core priorities of the company for quite some time and that "safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products." OpenAI created a new safety group by the end of May, but it's led by board members that include Altman, prompting concerns about self-policing.
A federal judge dismissed a case brought by the Republican National Committee (RNC) against Google over its Gmail service. The suit alleged that Googles email platform labeled GOP fundraising emails as spam at a higher rate than those from the other side of the aisle.
District Court Judge Daniel Calabretta from the Eastern California District Court dismissed the case with prejudice, preventing the Republican party from bringing its case against Google back to court. The dismissal with prejudice means it cannot bring the case to another court but can still file an appeal to Calabrettas decision, according to The Verge.
Calabretta wrote in his dismissal order that the RNC failed to state a claim under any legislative policy or prove there was sufficient harm to users of Gmail.
The RNC has not shown Googles alleged conduct has violated any other law, which is a necessary element of intentional interference with economic relations, Calabretta wrote in his dismissal order. Accordingly, the court grants Googles motion to dismiss, this time with prejudice. Calabretta had previously dismissed the case without prejudice.
Thursdays ruling marks the second case that the RNC has lost over allegations of unfair filtering by Gmail. The RNC filed a lawsuit in the same court in 2022 seeking damages from Google for donations it allegedly lost as a result of labeling fundraising emails as spam. Calabretta called the lawsuit a close case but ultimately ruled that the RNC failed to plausibly allege its claims that Googles spam filtering was committed in bad faith, according to court filings.
Vybz Kartel has been released from prison following the overturn of his 2014 murder conviction.
Vybz Kartel, a Jamaican dancehall star, was convicted for the murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams, a fellow dancer and member of Kartel's entourage. He was murdered in the year 2011, but his body was never found.
Kartel was sentenced to life in prison, being told he must serve a minimum of 35 years, which was later reduced to 32.5 years. He's been in custody since 2011 and has served 10 years.
According to 'The Express Tribune,' Kartel's overturned conviction was due to juror misconduct and bribery. One of the jurors allegedly offered his fellow jurors $500,000 Jamaican dollars for an acquittal. Once the Privy Council in London discovered the misconduct, Kartel, real name Adidja Palmer, was released from prison on the grounds that this was "fatal to the safety of the convictions."
His case was overturned back in March 2024, but was released from prison this week. The 'BBC' reports the "Drag Dem Bat" artist would not be retried.
Jamaica's Court of Appeal determined that there would be no retrial for Kartel, 48, following this overturn on July 31st, 2024. Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop stated that "the interests of justice do not require a new trial" and the original proceedings impeded on his "fundamental right to a fair hearing."
The producer behind '1Xtra's Dancehall Show,' Seani B, expressed his joy of Kartel's return home.
"For the last 14 years, Kartel has probably become even more infamous. Now on his release, I would say he's returned to a space that's been awaiting him for so many years," he said. "There's a whole new generation of dancehall fans that are just waiting for Vybz Kartel's return to that music."
Prior to his arrest, the Kingston, Jamaica, native collaborated with Rihanna and Eminem.
Can the Dog Type Personality System help to show how different candidates are responding in the election and how they might govern? I began thinking about this question a few weeks ago, based on applying the Dog Type Personality System, which I developed and which has been featured in a series of workshops and in the book What Type of Dog Are You? published by Waterside Productions. The system is based on four different dog types which have different leadership styles -- the Golden Retriever, the supportive-helper type; the German Shepherd, the dominant-aggressive type; the Pomeranian the social, people-person; and the Border Collie the detailed-oriented researcher type.
For example, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are German Shepherd types, suggesting this will be an especially hard-fought race, between two tough, aggressive contenders. By contrast, Joe Biden is more of a Golden Retriever type, so his approach was more gentle and laid back, while he sought ways to help others as President. This is a personality system that can be applied to the vice-presidents and other candidates running for Senate and the House, as well as in state and local races. And anyone can use the system, since these popular dog personality types can be used to better understand oneself and others, have better relationships, and be more effective in business and work. It can help one in knowing how to better present ideas, make sales, and lead or work on projects, much like other personality systems, such as Myers-Briggs, color profiling, and the DISC system. But the dog personality type system features a fun, highly relatable way to think about different personality types and use the system in everyday life.
In thinking about how the system might apply to politics and the elections, I wrote a series of songs about this, including the White House Dog Race Song For Anyone Running, which describes how the dog types apply to anyone running for office. You can listen to the song on YouTube at https://youtu.be/20atG4k_DxU.
More details about this system are described in What Type of Dog Are You by Gini Graham Scott, PhD from Waterside Productions. Besides conducting workshops on using the system, I have a documentary about different people using the dog type system which will be filmed with Dear Skyyler Productions, a film production team I have worked with on 18 films, 15 in distribution by major distributors. Most recently, I worked with the team on several documentaries based on books I wrote about scams, prisons, and the criminal justice system, published by American Leadership Books. These documentaries and books include: "Conned: A True Story" based on The Big Con" and "Con Artists Unveiled" turned into I Was Scammed. Both films are distributed by Gravitas Ventures., while the books are on Amazon and the films can be seen on Apple TV: Conned: A True Story - Apple TV and Con Artists Unveiled - Apple TV. Another film, "Women in Prison or With Partners in Prison" is being launched at the American Film Market in November in Las Vegas based on two published books from American Leadership Books: Women with Partners in Prison and Women in Prison: Getting Locked Up, Being a Mother or in a Minority Group, and Getting Out.
For more information on how the dog type personality system relates to other politicians up for election and on other books and films, and to set up interviews, email or call:
Changemakers Publishing and Writing
San Ramon, CA 94583
925) 804-6333
Changemakerspub@att.net
www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com
His office subsequently opened a criminal investigation into the matter.
The USSS erased those text messages after OIG [Office of Inspector General] requested records of electronic communications from the USSS, as part of our evaluation of events at the Capitol on January 6, the inspector general wrote in a July 2022 letter to chairmen of both the Senate and House Homeland Security committees, including Rep. Bennie Thompson, who also chaired the Jan. 6 committee at the same time.
Cuffari further flagged the DHSs lack of cooperation with his inquiry, something he had already pointed out in an earlier report to the committees. DHS personnel have repeatedly told OIG inspectors that they were not permitted to provide records directly to OIG and that such records had to first undergo review by DHS attorneys, Cuffari continued in the letter.
Not true, responded Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. He claimed the texts had been deleted when cell phones were reset to factory settings as part of a device replacement program. The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false. (Guglielmis truthfulness was brought into question recently when he claimed it was absolutely false that the Secret Service rejected the Trump campaigns multiple requests for additional security prior to the Pennsylvania rally. The Washington Post later confirmed that top Secret Service officials repeatedly denied requests for more manpower and equipment to protect the former president at large events.)
And despite initially insisting the texts were not lost, Guglielmi shortly thereafter said the missing Jan. 6-related messages were not recoverable. Cuffari did acquire the cell phones of two dozen Secret Service agents on duty that day, which did not have texts from that day but could have other pertinent information.
But rather than demand that the DHS use its extensive investigative tools to retrieve the texts, Thompson instead turned his fire on Cuffari. Thompson suggested Cuffaris alleged delay in notifying the committee about the purged texts represented a cover-up and cost investigators precious time to capture relevant evidence. Cuffari had, in fact, notified the Homeland Security committee of both the Senate and House, of which Thompson was chairman, at least twice that DHS officials were not cooperating in his J6 probe.
The Department repeatedly suggested that OIG might not have a right of access to the records sought, but during the months-long period in which access was delayed the Department did not cite any legal authority that would have justified withholding the information, Cuffari disclosed in a September 2021 report to Congress.
Despite Cuffaris warnings related to stonewalling by DHS brass, Thompson accused Cuffari of withholding news of the deleted messages. In a July 2022 letter, just two weeks after Cuffari disclosed the missing texts, Thompson asked him to step aside from the J6 inquiry. Calls for Cuffaris dismissal have also been driven by the nonprofit watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight. The vice chair of POGOs board is Debra Katz, a lawyer for Brett Kavanaghs accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, during his tawdry Supreme Court nomination hearings.
Critics say Thompsons demand for Cuffaris recusal appeared to contradict his stated mission to find the truth about Jan. 6. For example, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, a star witness for the committee, provided a shocking account about how Trump allegedly assaulted one of the Secret Service agents on his detail that afternoon. Wouldnt Thompson and the other committee members want records to prove her claims, which are now in dispute by several individuals, including the driver she said Trump tried to attack? Why would Thompson want to get rid of the watchdog attempting to locate messages critical to filling an important missing piece of the Jan. 6 puzzle?
In fact, Thompson told Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) in February his committee could have had a better, more thorough report had we had access to all those records. Thompson further said that the deletions not only violated the Federal Records Act but may have also amounted to obstruction of justice since he had issued a subpoena, the only one his committee sought from an executive office, seeking the records.
Talk but No Action
But neither his committee nor a Democrat-controlled Congress did anything about it. Unlike the committees criminal referral to the Department of Justice against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding, Thompson did not pursue criminal charges against any DHS official responsible for erasing the text records.
But Thompson did continue his attacks on Cuffari aided by his House colleagues and DHS IG employees, who wrote a letter accusing Cuffari of continued mismanagement. IG Cuffari has made it clear that he wishes to remain in his position, even in the face of prolonged, deserved criticism in the media, from Congress, from other oversight entities and from his own staff. A true leader would recognize the effect of his actions on his workforce and understand the right thing to do would be to step aside, anonymous staffers wrote in a September 2022 letter to Joe Biden asking him to fire Cuffari.
The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, or CIGIE, which oversees federal inspector generals, also went after Cuffari by opening a flood of inquiries into the DHS IGs office. In response, Cuffari filed a lawsuit seeking relief from an unjust, Kafkaesque system produced by an unconstitutionally structured entity and abetted by a complete absence of independent oversight, accountability and lawful due process. A federal judge dismissed his effort to stop the investigation, ruling that he had not suffered any harm.
CIGIE is mired in its own scandals; in May, several Republican House members sent a letter to a top CIGIE official demanding answers about the politicization of the organization. During a House hearing on July 24, committee members accused CIGIE chairman Mark Greenblatt of a lack of transparency and the subjective nature of CIGIEs work.
House Democrats, including Thompson, continue to seek Cuffaris resignation more recently for deleting text messages off his government device. Cuffari told Congress he did not consider the texts applicable under the Federal Records Act.
Intriguingly, as Cuffari begins his probe of the attempt on Trumps life, his Jan. 6 report may shed light on an alleged threat to Vice President Harris.
More than three-and-a-half years later, investigators still have not arrested anyone for planting pipe bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee on the evening of Jan. 5. The FBIs investigation reportedly remains open but apparently went cold.
For reasons still unknown, Harris left Capitol Hill around 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 6 following a briefing for the Senate Intelligence Committee. Although an official schedule indicated she planned to go home, she instead arrived at DNC headquarters along with a Secret Service detail at 11:25 a.m.
Video captured by a security camera outside the building showed a bomb-sniffing dog conducting a vehicle search at 9:44 a.m., roughly two hours before Harris arrival. The canine did not detect the explosive device sitting just a few feet away near an outdoor bench.
Neither did officers from Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police, who intermittently arrived at the building throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Harris Secret Service detail did not appear to conduct any meaningful search of the premises before or during her visit.
And when a plainclothes Capitol Police officer discovered the pipe bomb at 1:07 p.m., no officer appeared overly concerned that a device the FBI later said was viable and deadly was within distance of the incoming vice president.
She was evacuated about 10 minutes later.
How did the Secret Service miss the device in plain view? Was anyone fired for failing to properly sweep the area and endangering the life of their protectee? Were new protocols put in place to avoid repeating such a frightening scenario in the future?
Cuffaris report presumably will finally answer those questions because agency officials have not.
Not only are the FBI and Secret Service tight-lipped about the incident, but Harris herself has yet to discuss it publicly.
Harris has not explained why she, a sitting U.S. senator at the time, left the Capitol 90 minutes before the beginning of the joint session of Congress to certify her groundbreaking election. She appears to have been the only senator not in attendance as the proceedings commenced. Why did she plan to miss such a historic event? How did she feel when she was told of the alleged bomb?
It would be nearly impossible for the national news media to continue to ignore her ties to the pipe bomb story if Cuffari addressed it in his investigation.
Any delay or obstruction by Mayorkas is unacceptable," Loudermilk said in an email, "especially now that the DHS IG is investigating the serious USSS security failures at the Trump rally in Butler PA.
The following is a release from Governor's Greg Gianforte's office:
HELENA, Mont. Governor Greg Gianforte today issued an executive order declaring a disaster in Missoula and Mineral counties.
A recent severe thunderstorm toppled trees and downed power poles in the Missoula area, leaving too many residents without power. I appreciate the rapid response of our electric cooperatives to restore power to affected communities, Gov. Gianforte said. Todays disaster declaration is a next step to help residents and coops in the area recover.
On July 24, 2024, a severe thunderstorm with wind speeds of 81 mph, lightning, heavy rain, and gusts up to 109 mph caused damages to power poles across western Montana leaving tens of thousands of customers of Missoula Electric and Northwestern Energy without power.
The city, counties, and electrical cooperatives have expended considerable amounts of resources and manpower in taking all possible actions to respond, mitigate, repair, and alleviate the situation safely and quickly.
With the disaster declaration issued, the State of Montana will expend funds from the general fund to meet contingencies and needs arising from these conditions and help impacted communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
For the latest updates from Missoula County, see here. For nonemergency public inquiries on restoration and assistance, please call 406-258-4636.
The governors executive order may be found here.
MARTINS FERRY, Ohio The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will clean up tons of illegal fracking waste at Austin Master Services wastewater treatment plant in Martins Ferry, Ohio, after the company failed to clean it up within a court-ordered deadline on July 22.
A judge ordered the Pennsylvania-based wastewater treatment company to suspend operations at its site along the Ohio River in April after the ODNR found the company had exceeded its permit and improperly stored brine waste.
Martins Ferry City Council, local environmental groups and residents have been pushing for the waste to be cleaned up for months to prevent it from contaminating nearby water sources. Now, ODNR will begin cleanup efforts to remove the waste, providing a breath of relief to Martins Ferry residents.
I think were moving in the right direction, said Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies. We can only right the wrong. We cant go back in time and stop it from happening again.
Cleanup begins
According to an ODNR spokesperson, the clean-up will consist of two phases. The first phase will be transporting a portion of the waste via truck to residual waste landfills in Pennsylvania. ODNR hired a contractor for phase one and removal started on July 23. Phase one is expected to take about three weeks.
Phase two may consist of moving the waste via truck or rail, ODNR said. The agency is still taking bids for the second phase of waste removal and site restoration. In total, the cleanup is estimated to take nine months.
ODNRs Division of Oil and Gas Resource Management will use Austin Masters bond forfeiture and the agencys oil and gas fund to clean up the site, and will seek reimbursement from the company afterward.
The facility will also not be re-permitted, something Martins Ferry council members and residents have been pushing for. Regardless, Martins Ferry City Council is updating its source water protection plan as a preventive measure in case another facility is permitted in the area.
Were trying to close all the loopholes we can. Ill guarantee to you for the next three and a half years, (if) they gonna put something in like that, theres gonna be a hell of a battle, Davies said.
Davies believes loopholes in local laws are how Austin Master was able to get away with operating illegally for years.
Our position is if we detect anything or hear of anything that we dont agree with, were gonna approach it that day or the next day. Were not gonna wait for nine years, Davies said.
Nine-year battle
Austin Master received a permit for its wastewater treatment facility in 2014, but signs of improper brine waste storage began in 2017. In November 2021, environmental groups found high amounts of radioactivity in the soil surrounding the facility and, a year later, the EPA flagged it as a potential superfund site.
According to ODNR, the Austin Master facility switched to new ownership in late 2022. Concerns heightened when ODNR inspected the facility in February.
A month later, ODNR ordered Austin Master to suspend operations and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued a restraining order and preliminary injunction against the company.
Belmont County Common Pleas Court Judge John Vavra initially gave the company 14 days to clean up the waste, which it failed to do.
Most recently, a contempt hearing was held in May to address this failure to clean up. Austin Master was ordered to clean up the waste before July 22 or CEO and Chairman of American Environmental Partners Inc., the parent company of Austin Master, Brad J. Domitrovitsch would go to jail for 30 days and the company would be fined $200 a day.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
The police are appealing for more information after livestock rustlers stole 36 lambs from a farm in Staffordshire.
The largescale theft happened on a farm located on Bridgnorth Road, Perton, anytime between 26 to 28 July.
Officers from Staffordshire Police were called just before 1:30pm on 28 July to reports that the lambs had been taken.
Were encouraging anyone who may have information or CCTV or dashcam footage of the area at the time that can help with our investigation to get in touch, the force said.
You can call us on 101, quoting incident number 334 of July 28, or message us via Live Chat on our website.
To make an anonymous report, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
It comes after South Yorkshire Police recently reported the theft of 126 sheep from farmland on Owday Lane in Worksop.
New figures by NFU Mutual show that livestock theft remained high in 2023, at an estimated cost of 2.7 million across the UK.
Last year also saw a spate of incidents where animals were butchered in fields.
Doctors in Vietnam removed a live eel from a man's bottom.
Doctors had to extract a live eel from a man's bottom
Horrified medics discovered the 26-inch-long sea creature last month after it had attempted to chew its way out by biting the wall of the patient's large intestine.
However, their initial attempts to extract the eel were thwarted as the man - only identified as a 31-year-old Indian national - had also stuffed a lemon up his backside.
This meant that the surgeons had to cut through his abdomen to remove the fish and were also required to manipulate the fruit down through the man's anus.
The doctors said he would have died without the procedure and he will now have to live with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.
Dr. Le Nhat Huy, Deputy Director of the Center for Colon and Rectal Surgery at Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi, told local media: "Eels are animals that can survive in anaerobic conditions for a long time and can puncture the digestive tract.
"People should absolutely not insert animals through their anus to create a strong sensation, as the consequences can be severe."
Dogs' brains are shrinking - and humans are responsible.
Dogs' brains are small due to domestication
Boffins in Hungary have found that the domestic canine's brain is much smaller than its wild grey wolf ancestor because they live in simpler environments that require less brain power.
The theory about brain shrinkage has been widely accepted by vets and researchers as modern dogs are cared for by humans in terms of their needs for food and avoiding predators.
The team at the Institute of Evolution, Centre for Ecological Research said: "The dog is a canid species that was domesticated from its ancestral species the grey wolf at least 15,000 years ago.
"Over 400 breeds of dogs exist today, and the overall platform is that relative brain size is dramatically reduced in dogs as compared with the ancestral species, the grey wolf.
"This phenomenon is thought to be a result of the decreased necessity for metabolically costly brain tissue in a domesticated environment."
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter Vivienne was spotted working as an usher at the theatre.
Vivienne was seen escorting people to their seats and chatting with staff
The 16-year-old theatre lover showed people to their seats at the 'Reefer Madness: The Musical' reunion concert in Los Angeles on July 30, after attending the opening night with her mom, according to People.
The 49-year-old Hollywood actress acted as lead producer on Broadway musical 'The Outsiders' after Vivienne indulged her love of theatre by joining the project as a volunteer and Angelina recently admitted the teen was her toughest critic.
When asked who is the "biggest theatre head" in the family, Angelina told PEOPLE: "Viv. Definitely Viv ... Hands down. Shell correct me. Shell say, Didnt you read the memo? We have to do this, we have to go through this'.
"Shes been a really tough assistant. She takes it very, very seriously."
Angelina - who also Shiloh, 18, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Knox, 16, and Maddox, 22, with her ex-husband Brad - previously admitted Vivienne reminds her of her own mother Marcheline Bertrand.
When announcing Vivienne's role on 'The Outsiders', Angelina said in a statement: "Viv reminds me of my mother in that she isnt focused on being the centre of attention but in being a support to other creatives.
"Shes very thoughtful and serious about theatre and working hard to best understand how to contribute."
She went on to reveal Vivienne is the reason she got onboard with the show in the first place.
Angelina added: " I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute where I realised my first love, as a performer, was the theatre.
"I had not found a way back until now. I hope to be able to contribute while continuing to learn from this amazing team, who I have been working with since my daughter brought me to see the show at La Jolla Playhouse ... I cant begin to express how excited I am for this musical to make its Broadway debut and look forward to sharing this new adaptation of The Outsiders with the world."
Vivienne joined her mother at the musical's premiere in New York in April.
Investing KRW 1 trillion in Vietnam to establish a bio butanediol plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons.
Building the world's first integrated production system for bio spandex, from raw materials to finished fibers.
SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cho Hyun-joon, Chairman of Hyosung, has identified "Bio BDO" as the future growth driver for the company.
Butanediol (BDO) is a chemical used to manufacture PTMG, which is used in the production of spandex. BDO is also used to manufacture packaging materials, automotive interior components, and industrial compounds.
Bio BDO is produced by fermenting sugars derived from renewable sources such as sugarcane or corn. Compared to conventional products that are produced with fossil fuels, Hyosung's bio BDO is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 90%, making it a highly regarded material in the eco-friendly market.
Investing KRW 1 trillion in Vietnam to establish a bio butanediol plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons
After observing the rapid shift in the global textile market toward eco-friendly products, Chairman Cho swiftly decided to invest in bio BDO.
In April, Hyosung TNC announced its plan to invest KRW 1 trillion in southern Vietnam's Ba R?a-Vung Tau Province to build a new plant capable of producing 200,000 tons of bio BDO annually.
The company plans to start production and sales of bio BDO with an initial capacity of 50,000 tons per year beginning in the first half of 2026.
The world's first integrated production system for bio spandex, from raw materials to finished fibers
With Chairman Cho's investment in bio BDO, Hyosung TNC will establish the world's first vertically integrated production system for bio spandex in Vietnam. The plant in Ba R?a-Vung Tau Province will produce bio BDO, which will be converted into PTMG at the Dong Nai plant, and subsequently used to mass-produce bio spandex.
This integrated production system is optimized for customers in the global eco-friendly premium textile market, including Europe and the United States. It enhances production efficiency through stable raw material supply and allows for quick responses to market demands by speeding up the production system's operations. Additionally, it secures cost competitiveness by reducing transportation costs and minimizes environmental impact by lowering fuel consumption for transportation.
Chairman Cho Hyun-joon stressed, "The bio business, which focuses on transitioning from fossil fuel-based raw materials to plant-based ones, will be a key pillar of Hyosung's centennial vision. Strengthening our global market strategy by focusing on our bio BDO and bio spandex integrated production system is key to elevating Hyosung's premium brand status."
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Following approval by the European Commission, Prestige Biopharma's Herceptin biosimilar Tuznue would become the first biosimilar from a Singaporean company to be authorized in the European Union.
SINGAPORE, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prestige Biopharma, a pioneer in biopharmaceuticals, announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended marketing authorization for Tuznue, a Herceptin (trastuzumab) biosimilar. This milestone positions Prestige Biopharma to become the first Singaporean firm to commercialize its biosimilar in the European Union.
The CHMP's positive opinion is based on clinical evidence from Phase 1 and Phase 3 clinical studies that tested the biosimilarity of Tuznue to Herceptin. The Phase 1 clinical PK study in healthy volunteers demonstrated PK equivalence, as well as similarity in safety and immunogenicity. Finally, the global Phase 3 confirmatory efficacy and similarity study met its primary endpoint and demonstrated similarity in efficacy, PK, safety, and immunogenicity in HER2-positive patients with early breast cancer. This favourable decision is a crucial step toward final approval from the European Commission (EC). Once approved, Tuznue will be commercialized across Europe.
Prestige Biopharma has already established licensing agreements with major pharmaceutical partners for global marketing and sales. These agreements are set to generate immediate milestone payments and provide early revenue for the company. Negotiations are also underway to ensure a strong market entry for Tuznue in Europe.
"Receiving a positive CHMP opinion for Tuznue marks a major milestone for Prestige Biopharma, significantly advancing our revenue generation strategy and accelerating future pipeline approvals," said Lisa Park, the CEO of Prestige Biopharma. "This recognition solidifies our position as a leading biosimilar developer. We are committed to leveraging this achievement to enhance our market presence and drive continued success."
About TUZNUE (HD201, Herceptin biosimilar)
Tuznue is a biosimilar of Herceptin (trastuzumab), developed to offer a more cost-effective therapeutic alternative for patients. It maintains comparable efficacy and safety profiles to the original branded medication. Tuznue is indicated for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC), HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC), and HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer (MGC).
About Prestige Biopharma:
Established in 2015 in Singapore and listed in the Korea Exchange in 2021 (KOSPI: 950210), Prestige Biopharma Limited is a biopharmaceutical company with a diversified portfolio, including biosimilars (HD204 Avastin biosimilar in filing stage, PBP1502 Humira biosimilar in clinical stage) and new antibody drugs. Among its many pipelines, a first-in-class antibody drug and key biosimilars referencing blockbuster drugs are ongoing clinical development. Notably, the first-in-class, PAUF-based antibody drug, Ulenistamab, has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in Korea, as well as Fast Track Designation by the U.S. FDA. A global Phase 1/2a clinical trial is currently underway in the United States, Europe, and Asia, with the aim of bringing this innovative therapy to the clinic.
Contacts
Prestige Biopharma Group
Donghee Im
donghee.im@prestigebio.com
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2472462/PBP_Logo_Large_Logo.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/prestige-biopharmas-herceptin-biosimilar-tuznue-receives-positive-chmp-opinion-from-the-ema-302211174.html
Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 31, 2024) - GIM Trading, a leading force in the financial services sector, proudly announces the expansion of its operations with the inauguration of three new offices in Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide. This strategic growth from the head office in Melbourne underscores GIM Trading's unwavering commitment to delivering superior accessibility and personalized service to clients across Australia.
The new offices aim to make GIM Trading's comprehensive range of financial services more accessible. Clients can now conveniently drop off personal documentation, arrange face-to-face meetings about their portfolios, and receive tailored advice from local experts. This expansion not only simplifies client interactions but also enhances the personalized service for which GIM Trading is renowned.
Establishing a presence in multiple cities allows GIM Trading to penetrate new markets and attract clients who prefer local service providers. This expansion is poised to broaden the client base and increase market share. With offices across Australia, GIM Trading gains a competitive edge over firms with a more limited geographic footprint, signaling to clients and competitors alike a steadfast commitment to growth and accessibility.
The new offices position GIM Trading to capitalize on regional economic opportunities and diversify its client portfolio. By spreading its presence, the company can better navigate varying economic conditions across different regions. This diversification enhances GIM Trading's resilience to economic fluctuations, ensuring stability and sustained growth even if one region experiences an economic downturn.
Local offices enable GIM Trading to provide quicker and more efficient client support. Clients benefit from timely assistance with their financial needs, leading to improved service quality and increased loyalty. Additionally, expanding into new cities elevates GIM Trading's visibility and brand awareness, attracting new clients who may not have previously been aware of the company's services.
The new offices are set to attract top financial professionals who prefer to work locally, enhancing GIM Trading's expertise and service offerings. Local offices also enable deeper engagement with the communities they serve, including participation in local events, partnerships with community organizations, and contributions to local economic development.
Stephen Cubis, Chief Executive Officer of GIM Trading, expressed his enthusiasm about the expansion: "We are thrilled to bring our services closer to our clients. This expansion is a testament to our dedication to enhancing client experiences and ensuring that our clients have the support they need, where they need it. Our new offices in Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide will enable us to build stronger relationships and deliver more localized and personalized financial solutions."
Michael Fletcher, Senior Financial Advisor at GIM Trading, added: "Having a local presence in these key cities allows us to engage more effectively with our clients. We understand the importance of face-to-face interactions in financial planning and investment management. These new offices will provide our clients with the convenience of meeting their advisors in person, ensuring they receive the highest level of service and expertise."
The new offices are strategically located to serve the growing client base in each region, reflecting GIM Trading's ongoing commitment to expanding its footprint and enhancing its service delivery across Australia. Clients can expect the same high standards of professionalism and expertise that GIM Trading is known for, now with the added benefit of local access.
For more information about the new office locations or to schedule an appointment, please visit the GIM Trading website https://www.gimtrading.com/ or contact info@gimtrading.com.
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. GIM Trading, officially registered as Global Investment Marketing Pty Ltd, is an Australian Proprietary Company incorporated on November 10, 2022. The company is registered under Australian Business Number (ABN): 56 663 732 296, Australian Company Number (ACN): 663 732 296. GIM Trading operates as a Financial Services Authorised Representative of Alpha Securities Pty Ltd (AFSL 330757) and holds an AFS Representative Number: 001309866.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218364
SOURCE: Global Investment Marketing Pty Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 31, 2024) - C21 Investments Inc. (CSE: CXXI) (OTCQX: CXXIF) ("C21" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated cannabis company, is providing a default status report in accordance with the alternative information guidelines set out in National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders ("NP 12-203").
As previously announced on May 31, 2024 (the "Announcement"), the Company applied for a management cease trade order ("MCTO") from the British Columbia Securities Commission (the "BCSC") due to an expected delay in filing of the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2024 (the "Annual Financial Statements"), annual management's discussion and analysis for the same period and management certifications of annual filings (collectively, the "Annual Filings") beyond the deadline of May 31, 2024 prescribed by Canadian securities laws. The MCTO was granted by the BCSC on May 31, 2024. The MCTO prohibits the Company's management from trading in the securities of the Company until such time as the Annual Filings are filed. The MCTO does not affect the ability of any other shareholders of the Company to trade securities of the Company. The Company filed the Annual Filings on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) on July 22, 2024.
As previously announced on July 22, 2023, as a result of the delay in filing the Annual Filings, the Company disclosed that the filing of its audited consolidated financial statements for the 2-month stub period ended March 31, 2024, its annual management's discussion and analysis for the same period and management certifications of annual filings (collectively, the "Annual Stub Filings"), which are required in connection with the Company's recent change of its financial year end from January 31 to March 31, will be delayed beyond the deadline of July 29, 2024 prescribed by Canadian securities laws. C21 and its auditors continue to work diligently and expeditiously towards completing the Annual Stub Filings, which is expected to occur on or before August 5, 2024. Upon completion of the auditors' internal review process, the Annual Stub Filings will be filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).
The Company confirms that since the date of the Announcement: (i) there has been no material change to the information set out in the Announcement that has not been generally disclosed; (ii) the Company is satisfying and confirms that it intends to continue to satisfy the provisions of the "alternative information guidelines" under NP 12-203 and issue bi-weekly default status reports for so long as the delay in filing the Annual Stub Filings is continuing, each of which will be issued in the form of a news release; (iii) there has not been any other specified default by the Company under NP 12-203; (iv) the Company is not subject to any insolvency proceedings; and (v) there is no material information concerning the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed.
About C21 Investments Inc.
C21 Investments Inc. is a vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, processes, and distributes quality cannabis and hemp-derived consumer products in the United States. The Company is focused on value creation through the disciplined acquisition and integration of core retail, manufacturing, and distribution assets in strategic markets, leveraging industry-leading retail revenues with high-growth potential multi-market branded consumer packaged goods. The Company owns Silver State Relief and Silver State Cultivation in Nevada, including legacy Oregon brands Phantom Farms, Hood Oil and Eco Firma Farms. These brands produce and distribute a broad range of THC and CBD products from cannabis flowers, pre-rolls, cannabis oil, vaporizer cartridges and edibles. Based in Vancouver, Canada, additional information on C21 can be found at www.sedarplus.ca and www.cxxi.ca.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "Forward-Looking Statements"). Forward-Looking Statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the Company satisfying the information guidelines set out in NP 12-203 and the filing of the Annual Stub Filings on or before August 5, 2024 upon completion of the auditors' internal review process. Such Forward-Looking Statements represent the Company's beliefs and expectations regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control.
Forward-Looking Statements are based on assumptions, estimates, analyses and opinions of management of the Company at the time they were provided or made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, including: (i) the expected filing of the Annual Stub Filings; (ii) the Company's continued ability to satisfy the information guidelines set out in NP 12-203; (iii) the duration of the MCTO; (iv) achieving the anticipated results of the Company's strategic plans; and (v) general economic, financial market, regulatory and political conditions in which the Company operates.
A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond the Company's control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the Forward-Looking Statements in this news release. Such factors include, without limitation: risks and uncertainties arising from any delay in filing the Annual Stub Filings; the Company's ability to satisfy the requirements of NP 12-203; the revocation of the MCTO and replacement with a cease trade order; the inability to effectively manage growth; inputs, suppliers and skilled labour being unavailable or available only at uneconomic costs; the adequacy of the Company's capital resources and liquidity, including but not limited to, availability of sufficient cash flow to execute the Company's business plan (either within the expected timeframe or at all); changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws generally and adverse future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical and recreational marijuana; the risks of operating in the marijuana industry in the United States, and those other risk factors discussed in the Company's 20F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Annual Information Form filing on SEDAR+.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such Forward-Looking Statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Should assumptions underlying the Forward-Looking Statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
The Forward-Looking Statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake to update any Forward-Looking Statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218502
SOURCE: C21 Investments Inc.
Investment in Oxford Nanopore, innovators of a transformational new generation of sensing technology that today specialises in DNA/RNA sequencing
50m to be invested by Novo Holdings as part of an equity issue
Novo Holdings intends to make further share purchases over time in the secondary market, subject to availability and price (among other factors)
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Holdings, a leading international life science investor, today announced a 50m investment in Oxford Nanopore Technologies ('Oxford Nanopore'/'the Company'), the leading UK Listed company behind a new generation of molecular sensing technology based on nanopores.
Novo Holdings will invest 50m in Oxford Nanopore as part of an equity issue and intends to add to this investment over time, with further purchases in the secondary market, subject to availability and price (among other factors).
Dr Daniel Mahony, Senior Partner, Growth Investments, Novo Holdings, said: "Oxford Nanopore has made impressive ongoing progress to advance its technology platform and gain commercial traction. This investment underscores our belief in Oxford Nanopore's platform and its expanding opportunity in biopharmaceuticals, where rapid sequencing, richer data and a streamlined platform can support discovery and delivery of new drug therapies. We are confident in Oxford Nanopore's long-term value proposition after extensive due diligence within the biopharma community and analysis of their robust and extensive IP portfolio, and we look forward to supporting the Company going forward."
Dr Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Nanopore added:"Novo Holdings is one of the world's top life sciences investors, and we are delighted to welcome them as a long-term shareholder. The Novo Holdings team brings deep knowledge of the biopharmaceutical market, including biomanufacturing, a key growth area for Oxford Nanopore. Our technology platform is uniquely suited to address the needs of this industry, where information-rich, rapid and simplified sequencing are critical to developing and delivering biopharmaceuticals faster and with less complexity. We look forward to their support given our commitment to biopharma as one of our strategic growth vectors."
Oxford Nanopore has developed a new generation of molecular analysis technology, which is today used for DNA/RNA sequencing. The technology offers rich data including epigenetics, rapid insights through real-time workflows and portable formats, in a way that is accessible and affordable.
The technology is used in life science research, and increasingly in clinical and applied industrial settings including biopharma. It is deployed to understand biology across human health, plant and animals, pathogens and planetary health, which align with Novo Holdings' mission to invest in people and the planet.
Access to fast, information-rich molecular information will have a critical role to play across the biopharma industry, from drug discovery to commercialisation. Rapid, direct RNA sequencing - provided by Oxford Nanopore - can enable biological manufacturing and quality control processes for an emerging class of mRNA-based products, potentially replacing multiple technologies with a single, streamlined platform and acting as an innovation engine for a multi-billion-dollar biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the generation of epigenetic data (variation in DNA information that can influence many diseases such as cancer) in large-scale studies can unlock discoveries with an impact across healthcare.
About Novo Holdings
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the con-trolling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis A/S (Novozymes A/S) and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seed, Venture, Growth, Asia, Planetary Health Investments and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.
As of year-end 2023, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 149 billion. www.novoholdings.dk
About Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc
Oxford Nanopore Technologies' goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology that is currently used for real-time, high-performance, accessible, and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 120 countries, to understand the biology of humans, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and environments as well as to understand diseases such as cancer. Oxford Nanopore's technology also has the potential to provide broad, high impact, rapid insights in a number of areas including healthcare, food and agriculture.
Founded in 2005, Oxford Nanopore is a spin-out from the University of Oxford and is headquartered in Oxford with satellite offices throughout Europe, US and Asia; and a broader commercial presence that includes Japan, Germany, France and India.
For more information please visit: www.nanoporetech.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/novo-holdings-invests-in-uk-listed-oxford-nanopore-technologies-302211689.html
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXV:CCE)(FSE:D7H0)(OTCQX:CMRZF) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to announce the appointment of highly experienced resources executive Mr. Ross Carroll as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2024. Mr. Carroll will also join Commerce's board of directors (the "Board") with immediate effect.
With multiple decades of experience overseeing finance, M&A and strategy, operations and major projects across the natural resources sector, Mr. Carroll has a proven track record of leadership and strategic oversight. His international experience spans Australia, USA, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, having worked with leading companies such as BHP, Woodside Energy, Macmahon Holdings, and MMG Limited.
Mr. Carroll has been appointed following an extensive global search to lead the Company's next phase of its growth as it advances the development of its world-class Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Project in Quebec, Canada, in conjunction with exploration of the adjacent and highly prospective Eldor Niobium Project.
Most recently, during his time as Chief Financial Officer of MMG, he has overseen its growth into a significant international base metals producer, including the delivery of the Dugald River Project in Australia, the recent acquisition of the US1.875 billion Khoemacau Copper Mine in Botswana, and numerous debt refinancings and equity raises.
Prior to MMG, Mr. Carroll was CEO of Macmahon, a major and well-regarded Australian mining contractor.
Mr. Carroll holds a Bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a Certified Public Accountant with the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants. He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and previously served on the Executive Committee of the Western Australian Chamber of Mines.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Carroll said: "I am excited about the significant potential the Ashram Project offers. It is very rare that you get the opportunity to work on a Tier-1 project in a Tier-1 jurisdiction like this, and I look forward to being involved in the delivery of the project at a time when the North America needs additional critical mineral projects."
Concurrently with Mr. Carroll's appointment, the current President and CEO, Mr. Chris Grove, has resigned as President, CEO, and director and will become the Company's "Director of Corporate Development." Mr. Grove will assist Ross with his vast knowledge of the Ashram Project and critical minerals landscape in North America.
The Board would like to thank Mr. Grove for his many years of service to the Company as President and CEO and his considerable efforts in advancing the Ashram Project.
About Commerce Resources Corp.
Commerce Resources Corp. is a junior mineral resource company focused on the development of the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit located in Quebec, Canada. The Company is positioning itself to be one of the lowest cost rare earth producers globally, with a specific focus on being a long-term supplier of mixed rare earth carbonate and/or NdPr oxide to the global market. The Ashram Deposit is characterized by simple rare earth (monazite, bastnaesite, xenotime) and gangue (carbonates) mineralogy, a large tonnage resource at favourable grade, and has demonstrated the production of high-grade (>45% REO) mineral concentrates at high recovery (>70%) in line with active global producers. In addition to being one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, Ashram is also one of the largest fluorspar deposits globally and has the potential to be a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets.
For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.commerceresources.com or email info@commerceresources.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.
" Ian Graham "
Ian Graham
Chairman of the Board and Director
Tel: 604.484.2700
Email: info@commerceresources.com
Web: http://www.commerceresources.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, that the Ashram deposit has the potential to become one of the largest fluorspar deposits and a long-term supplier to the mixed rare earth carbonate, NdPr oxide, and met-spar and acid-spar markets; and that the Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth element producers globally. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including: that we may not be able to fully finance any additional exploration on the Ashram Project; that even if we are able raise capital, costs for exploration activities may increase such that we may not have sufficient funds to pay for such exploration or processing activities; the timing and content of any future work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumptions based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that, with further test work, may not be comparable; testing of our process may not prove successful and even if such tests are successful, the economic and other outcomes may not be as expected; the availability of labour and equipment to undertake future exploration work and testing activities; the required permits to build and operate the envisaged open-pit shell may not be obtained in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all; and despite the current expected viability of the Ashram Project, conditions changing such that even if metals or minerals are discovered on the Ashram Project, the project may not be commercially viable; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE: Commerce Resources Corp.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
EQS-News: DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG / Schlagwort(e): Anleihe
DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG: Invitation to backstop
01.08.2024 / 09:24 CET/CEST
Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich.
DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG: Invitation to backstop Langen, 1 August 2024. In connection with the planned financial restructuring measures of DEMIRE's (the "Company") unsecured corporate bond due October 15, 2024 (the "Notes") and further to the Company's ad hoc announcements dated June 5, 2024 and July 1, 2024, respectively, the Company refers to the backstop letter entered into between the Company and certain holders of the Notes on June 4, 2024 (the "Backstop Letter") which contemplates a cash tender offer related to the Notes. DEMIRE hereby announces that any Eligible Holder (as defined below) of the Notes who wishes to accede to the Backstop Letter as outlined in the ad hoc announcement of the Company on June 5, 2024 should contact the Company (at the contact details below) within the next 14 days to receive a copy of the Backstop Letter and corresponding instructions for purposes of the accession thereto. "Eligible Holders" are defined as persons who are: either non-U.S. persons located outside the United States or dealers or other professional fiduciaries in the United States acting on a discretionary basis for the benefit or account of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, as those terms are defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act; or persons located in the United States or U.S. persons who are either (i) qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or (ii) "accredited investors" as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (2), (3) or (7) under the Securities Act, that are institutions; and persons other than retail investors in the United Kingdom, defined as a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No. 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law of the UK by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("EUWA"); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Authority and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law of the UK by virtue of the EUWA; (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law of the UK by virtue of the EUWA; and persons other than retail investors in the European Economic Area, defined as a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (as amended), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC. Contact:
Julius Stinauer MRICS
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Finance
DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG
Telefon: + 49 6103 3724944
Email: stinauer@demire.ag End of Press Release About DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG acquires and holds commercial real estate in mid-sized cities and up-and-coming locations bordering metropolitan areas across Germany. The Company's particular strength lies in realising the potential of the properties at these locations while focusing on a range of properties that appeals to both regional and international tenants. As of 30 September 2023, DEMIRE's portfolio comprises 60 assets with a lettable space of approx. 860 thousand sqm. Including the proportionately acquired Cielo property in Frankfurt/Main, the market value amounts to approximately EUR 1.4 billion as of 30 September 2023. The portfolio's focus is on office properties with a blend of retail and hotel properties resulting in a return / risk structure that is appropriate for the commercial real estate segment. The Company places importance on long-term contracts with solvent tenants and the realisation of the properties' potential. DEMIRE anticipates continued stable and sustainable rental income along with solid value appreciation. DEMIRE aims to expand its portfolio significantly in the medium term. The company focuses on assets contributing strongly to the FFO and properties with the potential for additional value creation. Properties that are not in line with this strategy will be sold. DEMIRE is being further developed operationally and procedurally with numerous measures. The company plans to enhance its operating performance through cost discipline as well as an active asset and portfolio management approach. DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG AG (ISIN: DE000A0XFSF0) shares are listed in the Regulated Market (Prime Standard segment) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Kontakt:
Julius Stinauer MRICS
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Finance
DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG
Telefon: + 49 6103 3724944
Email: stinauer@demire.ag
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Base Resources Limited - Court approves convening of Scheme Meeting and Dispatch of Scheme Booklet
PR Newswire
LONDON, United Kingdom, August 01
AIM and Media Release
1 August 2024
Base Resources Limited
Court approves convening of Scheme Meeting and Dispatch of Scheme Booklet
Base Resources Limited (ASX & AIM: BSE) (Base Resources) provides the following update in relation to its proposed combination with Energy Fuels Inc. (Energy Fuels) to create a global critical minerals company with a focus on rare earth elements, heavy mineral sands, uranium and vanadium production, to be effected by way of scheme of arrangement (Scheme).
Court orders
Today, the Federal Court of Australia made the following orders in relation to the Scheme:
That a meeting of Base Resources shareholders be convened to consider and vote on the Scheme ( Scheme Meeting ).
). That an explanatory statement which includes information about the Scheme together with a Notice of Scheme Meeting (Scheme Booklet) be dispatched to Base Resources shareholders.
Scheme Booklet
The Scheme Booklet will shortly be registered with ASIC. Following this, Base Resources will release a copy of the Scheme Booklet to ASX and AIM.
The Scheme Booklet is expected to be dispatched to Base Resources shareholders on Tuesday, 6 August 2024. At the same time, Base Resources depositary interest (DI) holders will be sent a Form of Instruction for the Scheme Meeting, containing a link to Base Resources' website where the Scheme Booklet may be viewed or downloaded.
The Scheme Booklet is an important document and requires immediate attention. Base Resources shareholders and DI holders should read the Scheme Booklet, including the annexed materials, carefully in full before making a decision about how to vote at the Scheme Meeting. If Base Resources shareholders or DI holders are in doubt about anything in the Scheme Booklet, they should contact their independent legal, financial, tax or other professional adviser.
For the Scheme to proceed, it must be approved by the requisite majorities of Base Resources shareholders at the Scheme Meeting, and then by the Federal Court of Australia.
Independent Expert's Report
The Scheme Booklet will include a copy of the Independent Expert's Report in relation to the Scheme, which has been prepared by PwC (Independent Expert).
Recommendation of Base Resources Directors
The Base Resources Directors continue to unanimously recommend that Base Resources shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to the Independent Expert concluding and continuing to conclude that the Scheme is in the best interests of Base Resources shareholders. Subject to those same qualifications, each Base Resources Director intends to vote all their Base Resources shares in favour of the Scheme at the Scheme Meeting.
Scheme Meeting
The Scheme Meeting will be held at 11.00am (Perth time) on 5 September 2024 at the Gallery Suite at the InterContinental Perth City Centre, Level 1, 815 Hay Street, Perth, Western Australia and virtually via the Lumi platform, accessible using the URL https://web.lumiconnect.com/388093896 .
Base Resources shareholders registered on the Base Resources share register at 5.00pm (Perth time) on 3 September 2024 will be entitled to vote on the Scheme. Base Resources DI holders registered on the Base Resources DI register at 6.00pm (London time) on 29 August 2024 will also be entitled to vote on the Scheme (by providing voting instruction in advance to the depositary, rather than in person or online at the Scheme Meeting).
All Base Resources shareholders and DI holders are encouraged to vote on the Scheme.
Scheme information line
If you have any questions in relation to the Scheme or the Scheme Booklet, please contact the Base Resources Scheme information line on 1300 271 804 (within Australia) and +61 3 9938 4380 (outside Australia) between 8.30am and 5.00pm (Melbourne time), Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
Updated Scheme timetable
Event Indicative timing Dispatch of Scheme Booklet to Base Resources shareholders 6 August 2024 Time and date for determining eligibility to vote at the Scheme Meeting for Base Resources DI holders 29 August 2024 6.00pm London time Latest time and date for receipt of Form of Instructions or CREST voting instructions by the depositary from the Base Resources DI holders for the Scheme Meeting 30 August 2024 6.00pm London time Latest time and date for receipt of proxy forms or powers of attorney by the Base Resources share registry for the Scheme Meeting 3 September 2024 11.00am Perth time Time and date for determining eligibility to vote at the Scheme Meeting for Base Resources shareholders 3 September 2024 5.00pm Perth time Scheme Meeting 5 September 2024 11.00am Perth time Second Court Hearing 12 September 2024 12.15pm Perth time Effective Date (Suspension of trading on AIM) 13 September 2024 Special Dividend Record Date Shareholders: 18 September 2024 5.00pm Perth time DI holders: 18 September 2024 6.00pm London time Latest time and date for receipt of Election Forms from small shareholders 18 September 2024 5.00pm Perth time Latest time and date for receipt of elections via CREST for small shareholders that are DI holders 18 September 2024 1.00pm London time Scheme Record Date Shareholders: 20 September 2024 5.00pm Perth time DI holders: 20 September 2024 6.00pm London time Special Dividend Payment Date 1 October 2024 Implementation Date (with cancellation and delisting from AIM to occur shortly thereafter) 2 October 2024
AIM Rule 41
In accordance with AIM Rule 41, the Company has notified the London Stock Exchange of the Company's intention, subject to the resolution to be proposed to the Base Resources shareholders at the Scheme Meeting to approve the Scheme (Scheme Resolution) being passed and the Scheme becoming effective, to cancel the Company's admission of its ordinary shares to trading on AIM on 3 October 2024 (being the Business Day after the Implementation Date) (Cancellation). Accordingly, if the Scheme Resolution is passed by the Base Resources shareholders and the Scheme becomes effective, the Cancellation will become effective at 7.00am on 3 October 2024.
The last day of dealings in, and registration of transfers of, Base Resources DIs on AIM will be the Business Day immediately prior to the Effective Date, with trading on AIM to be suspended with effect from 7.30am (London time) on the Effective Date.
ENDS.
For further information contact:
Australian Media Relations UK Media Relations Sodali & Co Tavistock Communications Cameron Gilenko and Michael Weir Jos Simson and Gareth Tredway Tel: +61 8 6160 4900 Tel: +44 207 920 3150
About Base Resources
Base Resources is an Australian based, African focused, mineral sands producer and developer with a track record of project delivery and operational performance. The Company operates the established Kwale Operations in Kenya and is developing the Toliara Project in Madagascar. Base Resources is an ASX and AIM listed company. Further details about Base Resources are available at www.baseresources.com.au .
PRINCIPAL & REGISTERED OFFICE
Level 3, 46 Colin Street
West Perth, Western Australia, 6005
Email: info@baseresources.com.au
Phone: +61 8 9413 7400
Fax: +61 8 9322 8912
NOMINATED ADVISER & JOINT BROKER
Canaccord Genuity Limited
James Asensio / Raj Khatri / George Grainger
Phone: +44 20 7523 8000
JOINT BROKER
Berenberg
Matthew Armitt / Detlir Elezi
Phone: +44 20 3207 7800
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Canadian Natural Resources Limited (TSX: CNQ) (NYSE: CNQ) announces that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common shares of $0.525 (fifty two and one-half cents) per common share. The dividend will be payable on October 4, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 13, 2024.
The Company has a leading track record of dividend increases, with 2024 being the 24th consecutive year of dividend increases with a compound annual growth rate ("CAGR") of 21% over that time. This demonstrates the confidence that the Board of Directors has in the sustainability of our business model, our strong balance sheet and the strength of our diverse, long life low decline reserves and asset base.
Canadian Natural is a senior crude oil and natural gas production company, with continuing operations in its core areas located in Western Canada, the U.K. portion of the North Sea and Offshore Africa.
SCOTT G. STAUTH
President
MARK A. STAINTHORPE
Chief Financial Officer
LANCE J. CASSON
Manager, Investor Relations
Trading Symbol - CNQ
Toronto Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
Certain information regarding the Company contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Such statements are subject to known or unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Refer to our website for complete forward-looking statements www.cnrl.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218449
SOURCE: Canadian Natural Resources Limited
Strong Q2 and YTD financial results in both Fire Safety and Specialty Products
Improvements driven by rigorous operational value drivers implementation, as well as supportive demand backdrops, in both businesses
Actively supporting our customers' life-saving missions during the 2024 fire season
Clayton, Missouri--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Perimeter Solutions, SA (NYSE: PRM) ("Perimeter" or the "Company"), a leading provider of mission-critical firefighting products and services, as well as high-quality phosphorus-based specialty chemicals, today reported financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2024.
Second Quarter 2024 Results
Net sales increased 67% to $127.3 million in the second quarter, as compared to $76.1 million in the prior year quarter. Fire Safety sales increased 85% to $98.5 million, as compared to $53.1 million in the prior year quarter. Specialty Products sales increased 25% to $28.7 million, as compared to $23.0 million in the prior year quarter.
Net Income during the second quarter was $21.7 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, a decrease of $30.3 million from net income of $52.0 million, or $0.31 per diluted share in the prior year quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 209% to $64.9 million in the second quarter, as compared to $21.0 million in the prior year quarter. Fire Safety Adjusted EBITDA increased 237% to $55.6 million, as compared to $16.5 million in the prior year quarter. Specialty Products Adjusted EBITDA increased 108% to $9.3 million, as compared to $4.5 million in the prior year quarter.
Year-to-Date 2024 Results
Net sales increased 55% to $186.3 million during the year-to-date period, as compared to $120.0 million in the prior-year period. Fire Safety sales increased 72% to $123.7 million, as compared to $71.9 million in the prior year period. Specialty Products sales increased 30% to $62.6 million, as compared to $48.1 million in the prior year period.
Net loss during the year-to-date period was $60.9 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, an increase of $122.3 million from a net income of $61.4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share in the prior year period.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 220% to $77.0 million in the year-to-date period, as compared to $24.1 million in the prior year period. Fire Safety Adjusted EBITDA increased 321% to $55.4 million, as compared to $13.2 million in the prior year period. Specialty Products Adjusted EBITDA increased 98% to $21.6 million, as compared to $10.9 million in the prior year period.
Conference Call and Webcast
As previously announced, Perimeter Solutions management will hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, August 1, 2024 to discuss financial results for the second quarter 2024. The conference call can be accessed by dialing (877) 407-9764 (toll-free) or (201) 689-8551 (toll).
The conference call will also be webcast simultaneously on Perimeter's website (https://ir.perimeter-solutions.com), accessed under the Investor Relations page. The webcast link will be made available on the Company's website prior to the start of the call; go to the investor relations page of our website to the News & Events menu and click on "Events & Presentations."
A slide presentation will also be available for reference during the conference call; go to the investor relations page of our website to the News & Events menu and click on "Events & Presentations."
Following the live webcast, a replay will be available on the Company's website. A telephonic replay will also be available approximately two hours after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 660-6853 (toll-free) or (201) 612-7415 (toll). The telephonic replay will be available until August 31, 2024.
About Perimeter Solutions
Perimeter Solutions is a leading global solutions provider, providing high-quality firefighting products and phosphorus-based specialty chemicals. The Company's business is organized and managed in two reporting segments: Fire Safety and Specialty Products.
The Fire Safety business consists of formulating, manufacture and sale of fire retardants and firefighting foams that assist in combating various types of fires, including wildland, structural, flammable liquids and others. Our Fire Safety business also offers specialized equipment and services, typically in conjunction with our fire management products, to support our customers' firefighting operations. Our specialized equipment includes airbase retardant storage, mixing, and delivery equipment; mobile retardant bases; retardant ground application units; mobile foam equipment; and equipment that we custom design and manufacture to meet specific customer needs. Our service network can meet the emergency resupply needs of over 150 air tanker bases in North America, as well as many other customer locations in North America and internationally. The segment is built on the premise of superior technology, exceptional responsiveness to our customers' needs, and a "never-fail" service network. The segment sells products to government agencies and commercial customers around the world.
The Specialty Products business produces and sells high quality Phosphorus Pentasulfide ("P2S5") primarily used in the preparation of lubricant additives, including a family of compounds called Zinc Dialkyldithiophosphates ("ZDDP") that provide critical anti-wear protection to engine components. P2S5 is also used in pesticide and mining chemicals applications.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will," and similar references to future periods.
Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company's control) and assumptions. Although Perimeter believes any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect Perimeter's actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, including the risk factors described from time to time by us in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including, but not limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 22, 2024. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers should consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statement made by Perimeter in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Perimeter undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
SOURCE: Perimeter Solutions, SA.
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS, SA AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Net sales $ 127,276 $ 76,137 $ 186,320 $ 119,995 Cost of goods sold 54,009 46,811 92,351 80,271 Gross profit 73,267 29,326 93,969 39,724 Operating expenses: Selling, general and administrative expense 13,906 12,226 27,368 20,243 Amortization expense 13,755 13,771 27,526 27,534 Founders advisory fees - related party 588 (60,026) 68,921 (84,262) Other operating expense - 8 - 10 Total operating expenses 28,249 (34,021) 123,815 (36,475) Operating income (loss) 45,018 63,347 (29,846) 76,199 Other expense (income): Interest expense, net 10,590 10,344 21,238 20,490 Loss on contingent earn-out - 146 - 392 Foreign currency loss (gain) 224 93 1,517 (628) Other expense, net 74 17 101 89 Total other expense, net 10,888 10,600 22,856 20,343 Income (loss) before income taxes 34,130 52,747 (52,702) 55,856 Income tax (expense) benefit (12,480) (733) (8,206) 5,589 Net income (loss) 21,650 52,014 (60,908) 61,445 Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax: Foreign currency translation adjustments (989) 2,215 (6,532) 3,808 Total comprehensive income (loss) $ 20,661 $ 54,229 $ (67,440) $ 65,253 Earnings (loss) per share: Basic $ 0.15 $ 0.33 $ (0.42) $ 0.39 Diluted $ 0.14 $ 0.31 $ (0.42) $ 0.36 Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding: Basic 145,236,526 156,525,006 145,279,938 157,109,418 Diluted 154,664,770 168,310,311 145,279,938 168,894,723
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS, SA AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
June 30, 2024 December 31, 2023 Assets (Unaudited) Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 43,162 $ 47,276 Accounts receivable, net 96,321 39,593 Inventories 142,172 145,652 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 13,662 18,493 Total current assets 295,317 251,014 Property, plant, and equipment, net 59,369 59,402 Operating lease right-of-use assets 15,446 16,339 Finance lease right-of-use assets 6,553 6,064 Goodwill 1,030,180 1,036,279 Customer lists, net 653,472 674,786 Technology and patents, net 173,456 180,653 Tradenames, net 86,745 89,568 Other assets, net 1,092 1,317 Total assets $ 2,321,630 $ 2,315,422 Liabilities and Shareholders Equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 21,805 $ 21,639 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 42,991 30,710 Founders advisory fees payable - related party 9,129 2,702 Deferred revenue 7,927 - Total current liabilities 81,852 55,051 Long-term debt, net 667,125 666,494 Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion 14,068 14,908 Finance lease liabilities, net of current portion 6,063 5,547 Deferred income taxes 247,809 253,454 Founders advisory fees payable - related party 116,708 56,917 Redeemable preferred shares 107,862 105,799 Redeemable preferred shares - related party 2,818 2,764 Other liabilities 2,151 2,193 Total liabilities 1,246,456 1,163,127 Commitments and contingencies Shareholders' equity: Ordinary shares, $1 nominal value per share, 4,000,000,000 shares authorized; 166,824,659 and 165,066,195 shares issued; 145,221,577 and 146,451,005 shares outstanding at June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively 166,825 165,067 Treasury shares, at cost; 21,603,082 and 18,615,190 shares at June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively (127,824) (113,407) Additional paid-in capital 1,704,141 1,701,163 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (26,242) (19,710) Accumulated deficit (641,726) (580,818) Total shareholders' equity 1,075,174 1,152,295 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 2,321,630 $ 2,315,422
PERIMETER SOLUTIONS, SA AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)
(Unaudited)
Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 2024 2023 Cash flows from operating activities: Net (loss) income $ (60,908 )
$ 61,445 Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: Founders advisory fees - related party (change in fair value) 68,921 (84,262) Depreciation and amortization expense 32,771 32,217 Interest and payment-in-kind on preferred shares 3,528 3,396 Share-based compensation 4,736 (1,879) Non-cash lease expense 2,622 2,271 Deferred income taxes (4,756)
(11,076) Amortization of deferred financing costs 856 824 Loss on contingent earn-out - 392 Foreign currency loss (gain) 1,517 (628) Loss on disposal of assets 9 20 Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions: Accounts receivable (57,319)
(35,640) Inventories 2,681 (19,963) Prepaid expenses and current other assets (126)
1,260 Accounts payable 277 (4,744) Deferred revenue 7,927 2,653 Income taxes payable, net 8,635 (10,479) Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 5,237 (1,805) Founders advisory fees - related party (cash settled) (2,702)
(4,655) Operating lease liabilities (1,629)
(2,263) Financing lease liabilities (262)
(67) Other, net (597)
47 Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 11,418 (72,936) Cash flows from investing activities: Purchase of property and equipment (5,196)
(4,375) Proceeds from short-term investments 5,383 - Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 187 (4,375) Cash flows from financing activities: Ordinary shares repurchased (14,417)
(27,212) Principal payments on finance lease obligations (367)
(103) Net cash used in financing activities (14,784)
(27,315) Effect of foreign currency on cash and cash equivalents (935)
(6) Net change in cash and cash equivalents (4,114)
(104,632) Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 47,276 126,750 Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 43,162 $ 22,118 Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information: Cash paid for interest $ 17,153 $ 17,153 Cash paid for income taxes $ 4,448 $ 18,317
Non-GAAP Financial Metrics
Adjusted EBITDA
The computation of Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income plus income tax expense, net interest and other financing expenses, and depreciation and amortization, adjusted on a consistent basis for certain non-recurring, unusual or non-operational items in a balanced manner. These items include (i) severance costs, and integration and restructuring related costs (ii) founder advisory fee expenses, (iii) stock compensation expense and (iv) foreign currency loss (gain). To supplement the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Perimeter is providing a summary to show the computations of Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure used by the Company's management and by external users of Perimeter's financial statements, such as investors, commercial banks and others, to assess the Company's operating performance as compared to that of other companies, without regard to financing methods, capital structure or historical cost basis. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income (loss), operating income (loss), cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP (in thousands).
(Unaudited) Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, 2024 2023 2024 2023 Income (loss) before income taxes $ 34,130 $ $ 52,747 $ (52,702) $ 55,856 Depreciation and amortization 16,359 16,130 32,771 32,217 Interest and financing expense 10,590 10,344 21,238 20,490 Founders advisory fees - related party 588 (60,026) 68,921 (84,262) Non-recurring expenses 1 23 361 563 1,920 Share-based compensation expense 2,994 1,195 4,736 (1,879) Loss on contingent earn-out - 146 - 392 Foreign currency loss 224 93 1,517 (628) Adjusted EBITDA $ 64,908 $ 20,990 $ 77,044 $ 24,106
____________________
(1) Adjustment to reflect non-recurring expenses; severance costs, and integration and restructuring related costs.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218375
SOURCE: Perimeter Solutions
With Capacity Provided by Allianz, Coalition Now Offers its Innovative Cyber Insurance Solution to German Businesses
Coalition, the world's first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, today announced the launch of its innovative Active Cyber Insurance in Germany through its subsidiary, Coalition Insurance Solutions GmbH. Coalition's offerings became available on August 1, 2024.
According to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)'s 2024 Risks in Focus Report, cyber-attacks and IT system breakdowns are among the top threats to German businesses. German businesses can now benefit from Coalition's innovative Active Cyber Insurance, which is designed to help businesses spot, mitigate, and respond to emerging cyber threats. Active Cyber Insurance does more than help businesses mitigate financial losses; it offers policyholders access to cybersecurity tools to help them better understand their risks, strengthen their defenses, and prevent future attacks.
"German businesses are frequently targeted by cyber-attacks, forcing them to spend significant time and resources dealing with the aftermath," said Joshua Motta, Coalition's Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. "Active Cyber Insurance doesn't just provide a safety net; it empowers businesses to actively defend against these cyber threats. We're excited to expand this unique solution to Germany in our quest to protect more organizations worldwide."
Coalition now offers insurance products in Germany with capacity provided by Allianz Global Corporate Specialty SE in a multi-year agreement. Coalition's Active Cyber Insurance is available to businesses with up to 1 billion in revenue on a primary basis, with no minimum premium requirement. Coalition's Excess Cyber Insurance product is expected to be available in early 2025.
"As our Allianz Risk Barometer 2024 has shown again: cyber risks are among the biggest threats to companies worldwide," said Michael Furtschegger, Allianz Commercial's Regional Managing Director, Germany Switzerland. "We are now complementing our established cyber product for complex risks of all kinds and multinational requirements with Coalition's Active Insurance market offering. This enables us to provide our German customers with even better support in managing their cyber risks in a targeted manner, recognising losses quickly and, in the best case, avoiding them altogether."
Allianz's existing strategic partnership with Coalition includes providing capacity for the company's U.S., U.K., and Australian cyber insurance programs. Oliver Bate, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SE, joined the company's Board of Directors in November 2023.
"The German cyber insurance market faces significant challenges, including a shortage of skilled cyber experts, difficulties in calculating premiums, and a lack of data," said Martin Swider, Coalition's Head of Business Development, Germany. "Coalition's data-driven approach to underwriting and risk management is well-suited to tackle these issues, helping brokers and their clients achieve comprehensive cyber coverage."
Coalition offers a streamlined quoting process through its end-to-end platform, allowing brokers to generate bindable quotes in minutes. Coalition also provides extensive training materials and resources to help brokers advise their clients on cyber risk.
Through Coalition's cyber risk management platform, Coalition Control, policyholders receive ongoing alerts about vulnerabilities and cyber threats. This continuous monitoring helps identify risks before they lead to incidents and business disruptions. If an attack occurs, Coalition's claims and incident response teams will be available to help businesses quickly recover and resume normal operations.
Brokers in Germany can start quoting now by submitting requests directly to Coalition's expert underwriting team at help@coalitioninc.de. For more information about Coalition and Active Insurance, visit: https://www.coalitioninc.com/de.
Coalition Insurance Solutions GmbH is registered in Eschborn, Germany, and will continue expanding its local German workforce in multiple cities. To learn about open positions, visit: https://www.coalitioninc.com/careers.
About Coalition
Coalition is the world's first Active Insurance provider designed to help prevent digital risk before it strikes. By combining comprehensive insurance coverage and cybersecurity tools, Coalition helps businesses manage and mitigate potential cyberattacks. Leveraging its relationships with leading global insurers and capacity providers, including Coalition Insurance Company, Coalition offers Active Insurance products to businesses in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Policyholders can receive automated cyber alerts and access expert advice and global third-party risk management tools through Coalition's holistic cyber risk management platform, Coalition Control.
Insurance cover is issued by German entity, Coalition Insurance Solutions GmbH ("CIS DE") (HRB 133708) (Vermittlerregisternummer D-JEO5-724A4-24), an insurance agent cooperating in the German market with Allianz Global Corporate Specialty SE, (HRB 208312). This information with regard to the cyber insurance products provided herein is of a general nature only and does not take into account any person's particular circumstances. All descriptions of coverage are subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the individual policy. Before making a decision (or advising your client), please refer to the relevant applicable policy or by contacting your broker. CIS DE may receive remuneration from an insurer. See imprint and disclaimers. Copyright 2024. All rights reserved. Coalition and the Coalition logo are trademarks of Coalition, Inc.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801710248/en/
Contacts:
Marisa Graves
Communications at Coalition
press@coalitioninc.com
With more than 30 years of operational leadership experience, Pete Judson joins Kao Data from NTT , where he has spent the last four and a half years aligning its EMEA-wide operations into a +350MW data centre unit.
New COO has a demonstrable track record for leading large-scale teams to deliver the highest standards of customer service and operational excellence, and joins Kao Data on the cusp of its European platform expansion.
Pete will now lead all operational duties, working alongside former COO Paul Finch, who transitions to become Kao Data's new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
LONDON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kao Data , the specialist developer and operator of data centres engineered for AI and advanced computing, has today announced it has appointed Pete Judson as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
With more than 30 years of operational leadership experience across the complete spectrum of data centre life cycle services, Pete has established an outstanding reputation, and has garnered a strong track record for creating and leading large-scale teams to deliver the highest standards of customer service and operational excellence. He joins Kao Data at a major inflection point, as it accelerates the growth of its advanced data centre platform into next-tier markets across the UK and continental Europe.
Pete joins Kao Data from global data centre operator NTT, where he spent the last four and a half years aligning its EMEA-wide operational delivery organisations into a single, multi-functional, +350MW data centre unit. From implementing EMEA-wide change transformation programs, to achieving various recognised ISO standards, his responsibilities included defining, building and leading NTT's operational capabilities, including systems, processes and procedures to help it achieve record levels of growth during the period.
His new appointment to the Kao Data senior management team will provide an integral piece of strategic and technical, operational support alongside Paul Finch, who transitions to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Pete's responsibilities will include primary ownership of key operational functions such as operations, customer implementation, design and engineering, networks and systems, security, incident management, and health and safety.
Furthermore, Pete's values are well-aligned with Kao Data's mission to build one of the industry's most diverse, equitable and inclusive digital infrastructure organisations, and he brings with him extensive people management and mentoring expertise - all of which is driven by a passion for building and leading high-performing, safe, effective, and efficient teams.
"During the last decade Kao Data has led the charge on the development of industrial-scale data centres, engineered for AI, and is recognised globally as one of the industry's most disruptive leaders," said Doug Loewe, CEO, Kao Data. "Appointing Pete as our new COO further vindicates our ethos for working with high-calibre industry professionals who have succeeded in some of the most demanding data centre environments, and we are delighted to welcome him into the Kao Data family."
"In just a short time, Kao Data has established an exceptional reputation for designing, building and operating world-class data centres, and its entrepreneurial approach to AI and supercomputing has enabled it to move at a pace that has exceeded the market," said Pete Judson, COO, Kao Data. "As its new COO, I'm excited to join the organisation on the cusp of its European expansion and to work alongside my new colleagues to exceed the high bar they've already set for design, customer service, technical and operational excellence."
Pete Judson begins his tenure as Kao Data's new Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect. To learn more about Kao Data's advanced data centre platform, engineered for AI, visit the website.
About Kao Data
Kao Data leads the industry, pioneering the development and operation of data centres engineered for AI and advanced computing. With hyperscale-inspired facilities east and west of London, and northern England's largest data centre planned for Greater Manchester, we are home to technology's most demanding computing infrastructure.
Our award-winning, NVIDIA DGX-Ready certified data centres are designed, engineered, and operated by one of the industry's most respected teams. Together, this provides colocation customers deploying mission critical AI, enterprise, and cloud workloads with a secure, scalable, and sustainable compute environment, backed by a guarantee of 100% uptime.
Kao Data's data centre portfolio includes more than 160MW of IT load, either currently operational, under development or planned - all of which is under-pinned by the highest energy efficiency, sustainability and ESG credentials.
Backed by leading international investors, and with several pioneering 'industry firsts' to our name, Kao Data represents the future in industrial scale, high-capacity data centres for AI and the next generation of compute.
Kaodata.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/kao-data-appoints-pete-judson-as-its-new-chief-operating-officer-coo-302211375.html
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- District Cooling Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $1.1 billion in 2024 and is poised to reach $1.3 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2024 to 2029 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.
Commercial, Industrial, and Residential are the major applications of district cooling. The District Cooling Market is majorly concentrated in Middle East & Africa.
Energy efficiency improvement is a key driver for the district cooling market, due to its potential for substantial energy savings and environmental benefits. District cooling systems are designed to optimize the use of energy by centralizing cooling production, which reduces the overall energy consumption compared to individual cooling units. This centralization allows for the use of advanced, energy-efficient technologies that are not feasible on a smaller scale. As energy costs rise and environmental concerns grow, businesses and municipalities are increasingly seeking solutions that lower their energy usage and carbon footprint. Additionally, many governments offer incentives and support for adopting energy-efficient systems, further driving the demand for district cooling. This focus on energy efficiency helps organizations achieve sustainability goals while also improving their bottom line, making it a crucial factor in the market's growth.
Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=27186936
Browse in-depth TOC on "District Cooling Market"
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District Cooling Market Scope:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $1.1 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $1.3 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% Market Size Available for 2021-2029 Forecast Period 2024-2029 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Source, By Production Technique, By Application, By Region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Middle East & Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Technological advancements in Smart Grid Integration and IoT Key Market Drivers Urbanization and population growth fueling demand for sustainable district cooling solutions
Electric chillers is expected to hold largest share of the District Cooling Market in production technique segment during the forecasted period.
Electric chillers segment by production technique hold the largest share of the District Cooling Market due to their high efficiency, reliability, and widespread availability. They can be easily integrated into existing infrastructure and are capable of producing large amounts of chilled water needed for district cooling systems. Additionally, electric chillers benefit from advancements in technology, which have significantly improved their energy efficiency and reduced operational costs. This makes them an attractive option for developers and operators seeking to minimize environmental impact and comply with increasingly stringent energy regulations. Their versatility in handling varying cooling loads across different applications further solidifies their dominant market position.
Commercial application segment accounted largest share of the global District Cooling Market during forecasted period.
The commercial segment holds the largest share of the District Cooling Market because commercial buildings have high and continuous cooling demands. District cooling systems provide an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution to meet these needs, reducing energy consumption and operational costs. Additionally, increasing energy efficiency regulations and sustainability goals in the commercial sector make district cooling an attractive and scalable option.
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Middle East & Africa region likely to account the largest share of the global District Cooling Market during forecasted period.
The District Cooling Market in Middle East & Africa has a huge growth potential. The increasing number of construction activities in the commercial, residential, hospitality, and retail sectors has also positively impacted the district cooling market. Thus, the demand for district cooling is expected to increase in the region. Countries worldwide are increasingly adapting non-fossil fuel sources for their energy needs. This factor can potentially impact the economy of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as crude oil and gas exports are the major revenue sources. This, in turn, may affect the spending on infrastructure projects, and subsequently, the District Cooling Market in these countries.
Key Players
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (UAE), Tabreed (UAE), Emicool (UAE), Shinryo Corporation (Japan), LOGSTOR Denmark Holding ApS (Denmark). The companies are majorly following product launches, investments, expansions, contracts, agreements, partnerships, funding, initial public offering, and acquisition as the strategy to grow and expand the market.
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This has increased the therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles of these medicines, resulting in significant nucleic acid therapeutics market development.
WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Transparency Market Research, the scope for nucleic acid therapeutics is immense in the forthcoming decade. With an astounding CAGR of 12.8%, the market is forecast to attain a valuation of US$ 22.1 billion by 2034. As of 2023, the nucleic acid therapeutics landscape was valued at US$ 6 billion.
Advances in genetic research and biotechnology are propelling the nucleic acid therapeutics market value. These medicines, which include antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), RNA interference (RNAi), and RNA aptamers, provide targeted treatments for a range of genetic abnormalities, infectious diseases, and malignancies.
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ASOs have the largest market share due to their strong therapeutic properties; they are effective in treating rare genetic disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy. RNAi medicines, with their great specificity in gene silencing, are expected to witness substantial market progress, fueled by successful drugs such as patisiran and givosiran. RNA aptamers, albeit being rare, show great potential because of their unique targeting capabilities.
The creation of synthetic oligonucleotides has resulted in substantial advances in nucleic acid treatments. To improve their medicinal capabilities, synthetic oligonucleotides undergo certain chemical changes. These alterations can take place at three different sites: the nucleobase, the ribofuranose unit, and the phosphate backbone.
Altering the nucleobase and ribose units can shield oligonucleotides against enzymatic damage, thus enhancing their stability within the body, whereas modification of the phosphate backbone can make nucleotide chains less negatively charged, thus promoting their cellular uptake and target localization.
Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Market Report Scope:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period? 2024-2034 Base Year? 2020-2022 Size in 2023 US$ 6.0 Bn Forecast (Value) in 2034 US$ 22.1 Bn Growth Rate (CAGR) 12.8 % No. of Pages 195 Pages Segments covered By Product, By Indication, By End-user, By Region
Competitive Landscape
The market for nucleic acid therapeutics is highly competitive and has a strong presence of key players. The nucleic acid therapeutics market report highlights that leading players are adopting strategies such as acquisition and launch of new products. Key players operating in the nucleic acid therapeutics domain include:
Alynylam Pharmaceutials Inc.
BioNTech
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Moderna
Nippon Shinyaku
Novartis
Pfizer
Sarepta Therapeutics
Biogen Inc.
Genzyme Sanofi
Percheron Therapeutics Ltd.
Other Prominent Players
Key Market Developments
In April 2024 , autogene cevumeran , an RNA-based cancer treatment that stimulates the immune system to target and kill pancreatic cancer cells, was investigated in a clinical trial by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This stops existing cancer as well as avoids more illness with the help of a strong immune system.
, , an RNA-based cancer treatment that stimulates the immune system to target and kill pancreatic cancer cells, was investigated in a clinical trial by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This stops existing cancer as well as avoids more illness with the help of a strong immune system. In December 2023, Ionis Pharmaceuticals expanded its Carlsbad's facility for improving its nucleotide-based therapeutics capabilities, expecting support for product investment as well as clinical trials so as bring in more innovative nucleotide drugs into the market, which constitutes the main theme of its antisense technology.
Key Takeaways from the Market Report
In 2024, the nucleic acid therapeutics market is expected to total US$ 6.8 billion.
From 2024 to 2034, the market is anticipated to expand 3.2x.
By product, demand for anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASO) is expected to be high, attributed to their capacity to specifically target and modify gene expression.
By indication, genetic disorders are expected to be primary areas for nucleic acid therapeutics.
Key Market Drivers and Trends
Modifications of chemical structure of genes address the fundamental constraints of native oligonucleotides, which include low stability and poor physicochemical characteristics.
As a result, these changes vividly improve the pharmacokinetic characteristics of oligonucleotide-based treatments, making them more promising for clinical usage.
Because of their increased stability and efficiency, nucelic acid based drugs can now be used to treat a wide spectrum of ailments, including genetic abnormalities and malignancies.
Hence, improved efficacy and safety profiles of the new synthetic oligonucleotides and innovative gene editing technologies are fueling the nucleic acid therapies market size.
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Regional Profile
North America promises to yield significant expansion opportunities for nucleic acid therapeutics . Excellent research and development infrastructure, robust regulatory environment, and high prevalence of genetic abnormalities and diseases treated with these therapies are driving market dynamics.
. Excellent research and development infrastructure, robust regulatory environment, and high prevalence of genetic abnormalities and diseases treated with these therapies are driving market dynamics. The United States, in particular, is home to prominent biotechnology and pharmaceutical businesses that invest in cutting-edge technologies such as CRISPR-Cas gene editing and synthetic oligonucleotides. The region's well-established regulatory system, which includes clear standards from agencies such as the FDA, promotes innovation and supports the timely launch of innovative treatments.
The region's well-established regulatory system, which includes clear standards from agencies such as the FDA, promotes innovation and supports the timely launch of innovative treatments. Good legislation and more clinical trials are driving the nucleic acid therapeutics market revenue in Europe. Furthermore, with improved technology and access to better healthcare, Asia Pacific is becoming a lucrative market.
Key Segments Profiled
Product
Anti-sense Oligonucleotides (ASO)
RNA Interference (RNAi)
RNA Aptamers
Indication
Autoimmune Disorders
Infectious Diseases
Genetic Disorders
Cancer
Others (Neurodegenerative Diseases, etc.)
End User
Hospitals
Physicians' Offices
Others (Academics and Research Institutes, etc.)
Region
North America
Latin America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Middle East & Africa
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The global market statistics for UV-absorbing compounds used in cosmetics are rising due to an increased emphasis on skincare. UV absorbers serve the purpose of absorbing UV radiation. They aid in protecting from UV radiation that may weaken or harm different cosmetic items.
WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The UV-absorbing chemicals for cosmetics market was projected to attain US$ 547 million in 2023. It is likely to garner a 6.2% CAGR from 2024 to 2034, and by 2034, the market is expected to attain US$ 1.1 billion.
UV-absorbing substances shield the skin from UV rays by reflecting or absorbing them. They are used in a variety of cosmetic goods, including over-the-counter sunscreens and other items for personal hygiene.
Sunscreen products are mainly utilized in situations where complete protection is required, such as swimming, snow, and mountainous areas.
Cosmetic compounds having UV shielding qualities include zinc oxide, cinnamates, salicylates, anthranilates, titanium dioxide, and benzophenones.
Lip balms and nail polishes, among other personal care items, include benzophenone to shield them from ultraviolet radiation. In contrast, hair dyes, shampoos, sunscreens, lipsticks, nail paints, and skin lotions frequently contain cinnamates.
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Key Findings of Market Report
Customers are becoming more conscious of UV radiation's negative impacts on skin health. Consequently, there is an increased need for innovative combinations that make use of UV-absorbing substances.
Customers are using sunscreens and creams more frequently because they want to make sure they are adequately protected from the damaging effects of sun exposure.
According to LOOKFANTASTIC, a U.K.-based beauty store, searches for "SPF" increased by over 338% between 2013 and 2023. Skincare accounts for over 43% of personal care spending.
Furthermore, the emergence of social media has made it easier for regular people to obtain information about skincare products, which is anticipated to accelerate the expansion of the UV-absorbing chemicals market for cosmetics in the near future. Through social media, individuals may learn firsthand how important it is to preserve their skin and use SPF.
Market Trends For UV-absorbing Chemicals for Cosmetics
Research and development of eco-friendly goods is driving the growth of UV-absorbing compounds used in cosmetics. The majority of UV absorbers have been shown to have detrimental effects on aquatic life, including coral bleaching. As a result, there is a great need for sunscreen chemicals generated organically.
Tsuno Group Co., Ltd. announced in January 2024 that they had created a new sunscreen product that included ferulic acid, a rare natural UV absorber produced from plants.
Tsuno Group collaborated with Matsumoto Trading, a manufacturer of cosmetic components, to create a cutting-edge technique that uses a solid stick formulation with a high concentration of ferulic acid. Growing worries about the sustainability of the environment will probably increase demand for natural sunscreen components.
Global Market for UV-absorbing Chemicals for Cosmetics Report Scope:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period? 2024-2034 Base Year? 2020-2022 Size in 2023 US$ 547.0 Mn Forecast (Value) in 2034 US$ 1.1 Bn Growth Rate (CAGR) 6.2 % No. of Pages 241 Pages Segments covered By Product Type, By Protection Type, By Application, By Region
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Global Market for UV-absorbing Chemicals for Cosmetics: Regional Outlook
Various reasons propel the UV-absorbing chemicals for cosmetics market growth throughout the regions. These are:
Asia Pacific held the greatest share in 2023, according to the most recent trends in the market for UV-absorbing compounds used in cosmetics. An increase in spending on personal hygiene goods is improving the region's market dynamics.
Asia-Pacific appears to be one of the fastest-growing markets for high-end skincare products. The personal care industry in India is being driven by a rise in last-mile consumer access in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as well as a surge in e-commerce adoption.
The market share of UV-absorbing compounds in cosmetics is increasing in North America due to an increase in skin cancer incidence. In the United States, one in five people will eventually have skin cancer. An estimated 5.4 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancer are identified in the nation.
UV-absorbing Chemicals for Cosmetics Market: Key Players
Key companies in the UV-absorbing chemical cosmetics market provide compounds with strong UVA protection. Additionally, they are creating goods that mix well with the majority of chemicals used in cosmetics and are soluble in water.
The following companies are well-known participants in the UV-absorbing chemicals for cosmetics market:
BASF SE
SONGWON
Clariant AG
Solvay S.A.
ADEKA Corporation
Addivant
Milliken Chemical
Everlight Chemical Industrial Co.
Key Developments
A number of sunscreen compounds with high SPF and efficient UVA protection were introduced by Croda in 2023. Utilizing Solaveil Clarus technology, which produces a precisely regulated particle size distribution, these substances were created. Solaveil CT-60W is a water-based dispersion of titanium dioxide (TiO2) that provides high SPF claims while maintaining skin purity. Additionally, Croda introduced Solaveil CT-300, a hydrophobic titanium dioxide dispersion in a naturally produced carrier oil that offers a high SPF efficaciousness and genuine transparency on the skin.
The Songnox 9228 antioxidant and the Songsorb 1164 UV absorber, which are polymer additives appropriate for packaging, agricultural, and home and personal care applications, were introduced by Songwon at K 2022 in 2022.
Global UV-absorbing Chemicals for Cosmetics Market Segmentation
By Product Type
Benzophenones
Cinnamates
Salicylates
Anthranilates
Titanium Dioxide
Zinc Oxide
Others
By Protection Type
UVA Protection
UVB Protection
UVA+UVB Protection
By Application
Sun Care
Skin Care
Color Cosmetics
Others
By Region
North America
Latin America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Middle East & Africa
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Braze Alloys Market - The global market for braze alloys was valued at US$ 2.5 billion in 2022. A CAGR of 4.3% is expected from 2023 to 2031. The market is expected to reach US$ 3.2 billion by 2031 . Advances in brazing technology, including improved alloys, should lead to further market growth. As brazed joints become more efficient, stronger, and environmentally friendly, their adoption may increase.
The global market for braze alloys was valued at US$ 2.5 billion in 2022. A CAGR of 4.3% is expected from 2023 to 2031. The market is expected . Advances in brazing technology, including improved alloys, should lead to further market growth. As brazed joints become more efficient, stronger, and environmentally friendly, their adoption may increase. Aluminum Castings Market - The global aluminum casting market is estimated to flourish at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2023 to 2031. Transparency Market Research projects that the overall sales revenue for aluminum casting is estimated to reach US$ 119.3 billion by the end of 2031. A prominent shaping the aluminum casting market, the increasing focus on additive manufacturing technologies stands out.
The global aluminum casting market is estimated to flourish at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2023 to 2031. Transparency Market Research projects that the overall sales revenue for aluminum casting is estimated by the end of 2031. A prominent shaping the aluminum casting market, the increasing focus on additive manufacturing technologies stands out. Laboratory Robotics Market - The global laboratory robotics market is slated to grow noticeably due to preference for safety of humans and property. Laboratory robotics can comfortably operate in the environment that is termed unsafe for humans.
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EQS-News: Schletter International B.V. / Key word(s): Expansion
Enstall expands into Germany with the acquisition of Schletter
01.08.2024 / 13:00 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Amsterdam, Netherlands and Kirchdorf, Germany - Enstall, the global leader in rooftop solar mounting solutions, announced today the acquisition of Schletter Group ("Schletter"), a Germany-based provider of solar mounting systems. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Schletter's current shareholders, Avenue Capital Group and Robus Capital will become minority shareholders in Enstall to support the company's long-term strategic ambitions, working in close partnership with existing shareholders Blackstone and Rivean Capital.
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Kirchdorf, Germany, Schletter is a global provider of solar mounting systems, having supplied over 55 GWp of solar installations worldwide. The company's product portfolio caters to roofs, facades, carports, and ground-mounted solar installations, including trackers and fixed-tilt systems.
The transaction represents a major step in executing on Enstall's growth strategy, following its acquisition by Blackstone and Rivean Capital in 2022. The transaction will strengthen Enstall's footprint in Germany and Central Europe, and establish Enstall as the one-stop-shop global solar mounting powerhouse, with a product portfolio covering both rooftop and ground-mount segments.
Stijn Vos, CEO of Enstall, said: "On behalf of the Enstall team, I would like to welcome all Schletter employees to the Enstall family. Schletter is the long-standing solar mounting champion of Germany, with a strong reputation for quality and innovation. We are looking forward to combining our expertise to achieve our shared vision of accelerating solar adoption to deliver solar, sooner."
Florian Roos, CEO of Schletter, added: "Enstall shares our long-term commitment to sustainable solar energy for future generations. Everything we do is guided by our dedication to improving durability, safety, sustainability, and the quality of our solar mounting systems, in support of achieving a transition to green energy. The partnership with Enstall will strengthen the combined innovation capabilities, and enable us to serve our customers with a broader portfolio of products and digital solutions globally."
Juergen Pinker, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone and Maurits Boomsma, Senior Partner at Rivean Capital, commented: "With this transformational acquisition, Enstall establishes a strong presence in Germany, Europe's largest solar market, and expands into the attractive ground-mounted solar segment. Following Enstall's acquisition of Sunfer in 2023, this deal demonstrates the continued strong momentum the company has in executing its growth strategy. We welcome Avenue Capital and Robus Capital as minority investors in Enstall, who have been long-standing supportive owners of Schletter."
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor to Schletter.
01.08.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
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Brampton, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. (CSE: SNA) (CSE: SNA.CN) ("Star" or the "Company") announces the signing of a Joint Venture agreement (the "JV agreement") with ProAce Business Solutions Inc. ("ProAce").
Star has agreed to license its ISMS technology to ProAce. The companies will create a new JV corporation which will be formed in India under the name of Star ProAce India Private Ltd. At the initial stage, Star will hold 10% of the new JV company, but will have the opportunity to acquire an additional 18% (upon Star ProAce obtaining required approvals from government bodies in India) for a total equity holding of 28% of the JV company. ProAce will assume all responsibility for expenses incurred to obtain the necessary permissions and contracts to have the Star ISMS technology implemented in India. The JV agreement also contains anti-dilutive clauses to ensure that Star's equity portion of the JV company is never less than 10%.
With extensive experience in navigating through the complexities of attaining government contracts and projects, ProAce can help Star gain unparalleled access to these projects. They have established channels and connections through previous successful ventures that grant them access to a wide array of government contracts and projects. The key to Star ProAce being successful in gaining these approvals is to have a permanent office set up and to build the Star ISMS units in India under the supervision of Star and with approval of every component to the highest standards. ProAce believes the "Built in India" approach will help with the granting of approvals in India.
Randy Koroll, Chief Executive Officer at Star, states: Star has been looking for a Partner to help open up India to the Star technology for many years now. "We have the utmost confidence that ProAce has the People and commitment to tackle this vast market and help market Stars' ISMS technology there."
Gurjot Grewal, CEO & Founder of ProAce, added: "ProAce feels that with its depth of experience and approach that this agreement between Star and ProAce will be successful in the long term and we are excited to partner with Star to market and promote the Star ISMS solution into India as well as expanding into other global markets."
About Star Navigation Systems - www.star-navigation.com
Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. manufactures the In-flight Safety Monitoring System, STAR-ISMS, the heart of the STAR-A.D.S. System. The STAR-A.D.S. System has real-time capability of tracking, performance trends and predicting incident-occurrences which enhances aviation safety and improves fleet management while reducing costs for the operator. Star's MMI Division (Military and Defence) designs and manufactures high performance, mission critical, flight deck flat panel displays for defence and commercial aviation industries worldwide.
About ProAce Business Solutions Inc. - www.proacebusinesssolutions.com
ProAce is a strategic consulting and process optimization to cutting-edge technology integration and workforce development, we partner with our clients to drive growth, enhance efficiency, and unlock new successful opportunities in the Asian markets.
ProAce operates with a holistic mindset, acknowledging and addressing both the strong points and areas for improvement within businesses. Through meticulous analysis and carefully crafted strategies, we equip enterprises with the tools they need to soar to unprecedented heights of achievement, together with an experienced leadership team, our approach blends creativity with precision and we're committed to crafting tailored solutions that drive sustainable growth for our clients.
Partnering with ProAce opens doors to valuable resources and knowledge from firms across different countries. Our collaborative arrangements enable businesses to access resources that would otherwise be beyond their reach, fostering innovation and growth. We believe that strategic alliances are indispensable tools for global expansion. By forming alliances, firms can pool resources, share risks, and enhance their presence in international markets. ProAce empowers businesses to execute their global strategies with confidence and efficiency.
Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that address or discuss activities, events or developments that Star expects or anticipates may occur in the future.
When used in this news release, words such as "estimates", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "projects", "will", "believes", "intends" "should", "could", "may" and other similar terminology are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations and beliefs of Star's management. Because forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, actual results, performance or achievements of Star or the industry may be materially different from those implied by such forward-looking statements.
Examples of such forward-looking information that may be contained in this news release include statements regarding; growth and future prospects of our business; our perceptions of the industry and markets in which we operate and anticipated trends in such markets; expectations regarding the operation of our app; and our future revenues.
Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, our ability to execute on our business plan, increase visibility amongst consumers and convert users to revenue producing subscribers and the success of the business of our partners. Forward-looking statements involve significant uncertainties, should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be an accurate indication of whether or not such results will be achieved.
Should one or more of these factors or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
Accordingly, readers should exercise caution in relying upon forward-looking statements and Star undertakes no obligation to publicly revise them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
NEITHER CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Please visit www.star-navigation.com or contact
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218524
SOURCE: Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Romios Gold Resources Inc. (TSXV: RG) (OTC Pink: RMIOF) (FSE: D4R) ("Romios Gold" or the "Company") announced today that Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will be retiring from the role of CFO as of August 1st, 2024 but will remain as an active member of the Board of Directors. Brian Crawford will assume the role of CFO.
Stephen Burega, President and CEO, stated, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and Romios' management team, I would like to thank Frank for his executive leadership and contributions since joining our management team in December 2015 as CFO, and as an ongoing member of the Board since July 2007. During Frank's tenure, we successfully completed numerous exploration programs and property acquisitions, and I would like to thank Frank for his guidance to management throughout his time with the Company, and to wish Frank all the best in his retirement."
Brian Crawford is graduate of the University of Toronto and a former partner with BDO Canada LLP, Brian co-founded and built several public companies currently listed on the TSXV and the CSE. Brian has extensive experience as CFO and as a director of private and public companies, and currently serves as CFO and Director of several public companies.
Burega continued, "I am pleased to welcome Brian into his new role as CFO. Brian has extensive experience as a financial executive and we are fortunate to have Brian joining the Romios team."
Brian's role as CFO is subject to regulatory approval.
About Romios Gold Resources Inc.
Romios Gold Resources Inc. is a progressive Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in precious- and base-metal exploration, focused primarily on gold, copper and silver. It has a 100% interest in the Lundmark-Akow Lake Au-Cu property plus 4 additional claim blocks in northwestern Ontario and extensive claim holdings covering several significant porphyry copper-gold prospects in the "Golden Triangle" of British Columbia. Additional interests include the Kinkaid claims in Nevada covering numerous Au-Ag-Cu workings, and two former producers: the Scossa mine property (Nevada) which is a former high-grade gold producer and the La Corne molybdenum mine property (Quebec). The Company retains an ongoing interest in several properties including a 2% NSR on McEwen Mining's Hislop gold property in Ontario; a 2% NSR on Enduro Metals' Newmont Lake Au-Cu-Ag property in BC, and the Company has signed a definitive agreement with Copperhead Resources Inc. ("Copperhead") whereby Copperhead can acquire a 75% ownership interest in Romios' Red Line Property in BC.
For more information, visit www.romios.com
As part of our ongoing effort to keep investors, interested parties and stakeholders updated, we have several communication portals. If you have any questions online (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) please feel free to send direct messages.
To book a one-on-one 30-minute Zoom video call, please click here.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218503
SOURCE: Romios Gold Resources Inc.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQX: APAAF) (FSE: A0I0) (MUN: A0I0) (BER: A0I0) (the "Company" or "Appia") announced today that Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will be retiring from the role of CFO as of August 1st, 2024 but will remain as an active member of the Board of Directors. Brian Crawford will assume the role of CFO.
Stephen Burega, President, stated, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and Appia's management team, I would like to thank Frank for his executive leadership and contributions since joining our management team in January 2016 as CFO, and as an ongoing member of the Board since March 2013. During Frank's tenure, we successfully completed numerous exploration programs and property acquisitions, and I would like to thank Frank for his guidance to management throughout his time with the Company, and to wish Frank all the best in his retirement."
Brian Crawford is graduate of the University of Toronto and a former partner with BDO Canada LLP, Brian co-founded and built several public companies currently listed on the TSXV and the CSE. Brian has extensive experience as CFO and as a director of private and public companies, and currently serves as CFO and Director of several public companies.
Burega continued, "I am pleased to welcome Brian into his new role as CFO. Brian has extensive experience as a financial executive and we are fortunate to have Brian joining the Appia team."
Brian's role as CFO is subject to regulatory approval.
About Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (Appia)
Appia is a publicly traded Canadian company in the rare earth element and uranium sectors. The Company holds the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in the PCH Ionic Adsorption Clay Project (See June 9th, 2023 Press Release - Click HERE) which is 40,963.18 ha. in size and located within the Goias State of Brazil. (See January 11th, 2024 Press Release - Click HERE) The Company is also focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements and gallium on the Alces Lake property, and exploring for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Otherside, Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 94,982.39 hectares (234,706.59 acres) in Saskatchewan. The Company also has a 100% interest in 13,008 hectares (32,143 acres), with rare earth elements and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones in the Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario.
Appia has 136.8 million common shares outstanding, 145.5 million shares fully diluted.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information, visit www.appiareu.com
As part of our ongoing effort to keep investors, interested parties and stakeholders updated, we have several communication portals. If you have any questions online (X, Facebook, LinkedIn) please feel free to send direct messages.
To book a one-on-one 30-minute Zoom video call, please click here.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218504
SOURCE: Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp.
TSXV: PGZ | OTCQX: PGZFF | FRA: 2EU
Soil geochemistry and gravity surveys at the high-priority Bravo gravity target proceeding ahead of schedule
Bravo target immediately east of the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery at Escacena Project
A continuous 1 kilometer-plus east-west lead-zinc soil anomaly coincides with the gravity anomaly
Soil geochemistry suggests good potential for mineralization concealed beneath shallow post-mineral cover
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQX: PGZFF) (FRA: 2EU) is pleased to announce soil geochemistry survey results for the maiden exploration program over the Bravo target ("Bravo") within the Company's 100%-owned Escacena Project ("Escacena") in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain.
"The initial soil geochemistry results are very encouraging, highlighting a more-than 1km continuous lead ("Pb") plus zinc ("Zn") surface anomaly coincident with a gravity anomaly at the high-priority Bravo target. Importantly, lead and zinc commonly occur laterally or above copper-rich mineralization in zoned volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Based on these results, the soil geochemistry survey will now be expanded to connect with the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery to the west," said Tim Moody, Pan Global's President & CEO.
"The results support our view that the large Bravo gravity anomaly could represent massive sulphide mineralization concealed beneath shallow cover sediments. A more detailed ground gravity survey at Bravo is also making good progress (30% completed) and coupled with the encouraging geochemistry results, could bring forward the timing for drilling at the Bravo target," said Mr. Moody.
The soil geochemistry results reported today are for 326 soil samples, representing 57% of the planned Bravo survey. The soil samples are collected on a 40m-spacing along lines 100m apart. Each soil sample was analyzed using a hand-held x-ray fluorescence ("pXRF") device. Spatial interpretation of the pXRF results confirms a Pb plus Zn anomaly extending over 1km east-west and up to 700m north-south. Samples are ranging from 300ppm to 1,252ppm combined Pb+Zn, and individual samples reporting up to 1,115ppm Pb and 288ppm Zn. The soil anomaly is an indicator of potential deeper underlying sulphide mineralization concealed beneath post-mineral cover sediments.
Bravo is a prominent 2km x 1.2km gravity anomaly located 1.5km east of Pan Global's La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and 4.5km southwest of the Aznalcollar and Los Frailes volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. The Bravo anomaly was originally identified from early-1980's gravity survey data and interpreted as potential concealed massive sulphide mineralization. The target is mostly covered by post-mineral rocks and sediments and has never been drill tested.
Results from planned soil geochemistry, gravity and IP surveys at Bravo will guide future drilling. Pan Global looks forward to updating shareholders as the Bravo exploration program progresses in the coming weeks.
Further to the July 3, 2024 media release announcing the engagement of Soar Financial to support public relations activities at the Company, the agreement specifies a monthly fee of 5,500.
QA/QC
The soil geochemistry survey includes samples collected from the top 20cm from surface (un-sieved, weighing approx. 1kg) on a 100m x 40m grid over the gravity target area. The samples are collected in plastic bags, and a multi-element analysis obtained using an Olympus Vanta hand-held x-ray fluorescence ("pXRF") device. Analyses are repeated on 1 per 20 samples, and standards analyzed to check for deviation. Additional sample duplicates will be sent to the ALS laboratory in Seville as a further check and comparison with the pXRF results.
About the Escacena Project
The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near the operating mine at Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage to allow new mine construction to commence. The Escacena Project hosts Pan Global's La Romana copper-tin-silver and Canada Honda copper-gold discoveries, and a number of other prospective targets, including, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, Romana Norte, San Pablo, Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, and Cortijo.
About Pan Global Resources
Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where a favourable permitting track record, excellent infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one low-risk jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, discovery, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities. The Company is a member, and operates under the principles, of the United Nations Global Compact.
Qualified Persons
Alvaro Merino. Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical information for this media release. Mr. Merino is not independent of the Company.
Forward-looking statements
Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this media release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental, and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products, and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.
The forward-looking information contained in this media release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this media release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pan-global-announces-encouraging-soil-geochemistry-results-coincident-with-bravo-gravity-target-302212155.html
LONDON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CRScube Inc. (CEO Stanley Kim), a leading clinical trial software solutions company, proudly announces the opening of its new office in London, marking a significant milestone in its global expansion strategy. Building on a foundation of unparalleled success in Asia, this strategic move underscores the company's commitment to bringing innovative solutions to the European and US markets.
CRScube's solutions have been utilized in over 5,000 clinical trials internationally over the past 14 years. It is the leader in Electronic Data Capture (EDC) solution in Korea, and it has established a robust presence across Asia. The company's relentless dedication to excellence and innovation has not only solidified its reputation but also driven significant growth, making it a trusted name in the Clinical Trials industry.
"We are thrilled to expand our footprint into the UK," said Stanley Kim, CEO of CRScube. "Our success in Asia has laid a strong foundation, and we are excited to bring our innovative solutions to sponsors and CROs in Europe and the US."
To boost its global competitiveness, CRScube recently recruited two seasoned professionals, Juan Munoz-Pujol, Chief Strategy & Development Officer (CSDO), and Sylvain Berthelot, VP of Strategy and Marketing. "Our London office is a critical step in our international growth strategy," added Juan Munoz-Pujol, CSDO. "This expansion allows us to better serve our clients in Europe and the US, providing localized support while leveraging our global expertise."
With offices in Japan, Korea, China, Europe and the United States, CRScube continues developing its global vision: driving innovation and delivering exceptional value to the Clinical Trials industry worldwide.
About CRScube
CRScube is on a mission to make clinical trials accessible to everyone. We provide a cloud-native eClinical platform that is easy to build and easy to use, increasing efficiency during both study start-up and execution. We are passionate about making clinical trials more affordable to run, without missing out on innovation.
Website: https://www.crscube.io/
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/crscube-expands-global-presence-with-new-office-in-the-uk-302211265.html
Positioning Standard Lithium for Next Phase of Corporate Growth
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Lithium Ltd. ("Standard Lithium" or the "Company") (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium development company, today announced a leadership transition that aligns with the Company's growth strategy and next steps in value creation.
Effective September 1, 2024, Robert Mintak will retire as Chief Executive Officer and remain engaged as an advisor through August 2025. David Park will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer effective September 1, 2024.
Over the past year, David Park has been actively engaged with Standard Lithium as a strategic advisor, working closely with the senior management team. His deep understanding of the Company's vision and strategic goals, coupled with his respected position within the organization, has made him a key contributor to the Company's recent successes. Mr. Park has been involved extensively across corporate, project, and strategic developments, ensuring alignment and effective execution of initiatives, including helping to secure Equinor ASA ("Equinor") as a strategic partner.
Prior to his advisory role, Mr. Park served as President of Koch Strategic Platforms ("KSP"), the division of Koch Industries which invested in Standard Lithium in 2021. Before that, Mr. Park served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development of Georgia-Pacific, LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, and held other significant roles at Koch, including President of TrueNorth Energy and Koch Exploration, and CFO of Koch's Canadian exploration and production, pipeline, and energy trading business.
Mr. Park began his career at Koch in its business development group, after serving as an International Business Development Specialist at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Throughout his career, he has successfully completed more senior and complex roles, focussed on delivering outstanding corporate growth, underscoring his ability to drive success and generate significant value for Standard Lithium.
The appointment of Mr. Park as the next CEO is the culmination of a thorough succession planning process by the Company's Board of Directors, which looked to bring in a candidate who could lead Standard Lithium in its next phase of growth and value creation for shareholders. This transition comes at a pivotal time, coinciding with the recent partnership with Equinor, which has significantly strengthened the Company's position and set the stage for accelerated progress and innovation.
During his more than seven years as CEO, Robert Mintak has been instrumental in establishing Standard Lithium as a leader in the lithium sector. During his tenure, the Company developed key strategic partnerships and secured significant investments, including those with LANXESS, Tetra Technologies, Koch Industries and Equinor. These collaborations have advanced the Company's projects and positioned Standard Lithium for success.
Robert Cross, Chairman of the Board said, "Robert was a co-founder of the Company and his leadership and commitment has been critical in our evolution from a startup to where we are today. In addition to the strategic relationships the Company garnered during his tenure, Robert was very focussed on fostering strong relationships with community and state leaders, generating substantial support for our projects in Arkansas and Texas. This collaborative approach has distinguished Standard Lithium within the resource sector. The Board is grateful for Robert's accomplishments and unwavering commitment to building a foundation for our next phase of growth."
Reflecting on his tenure, Robert Mintak commented, "It has been an incredible journey leading Standard Lithium and working with our talented team. I'm proud of what we've accomplished, particularly our strong partnerships and meaningful community engagement. As an active advisor, I will continue working with David, Andy and the team to advance our projects and maintain our efforts in generating shareholder value. I am confident that David is well-equipped to take the Company forward into its next chapter of growth and value creation."
Dr. Andy Robinson, President & COO, stated, "Robert and I started this Company together seven years ago with a shared vision for Standard Lithium. His focus on strong partnerships, deep industry relationships and community engagement has been a cornerstone of our success. We are entering the next phase of the Company's growth plans as we move towards commercial development, and the entire team looks forward to accelerating this momentum with David's leadership and we are all excited for the future opportunities that lie ahead."
David Park added, "I'm excited to have the opportunity to help build on the solid foundations Robert and Andy have laid, and work in close partnership with Equinor, Koch, Andy and the rest of the Standard Lithium team to drive the strategic direction and execution of our low cost, environmentally friendly, domestic lithium projects in support of the growing American energy storage and electric vehicle industries."
About Standard Lithium Ltd.
Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE") and purification process. The Company's flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focussed in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas Project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Additionally, the Company is advancing the Phase 1A Project in partnership with LANXESS, a brownfield development project located in southern Arkansas. Standard Lithium operates the only commercial-scale, continuously operating DLE Demonstration facility in North America. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.
Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange.
Investor and Media Inquiries
Chris Lang
Director of Finance
+1 604 409 8154
c.lang@standardlithium.com
Twitter: @standardlithium
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timeline, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Strategic partnership leads to Xsolla sponsoring monthly meetups, inspirational talks, and GDCy Fest in 2025
Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, is thrilled to announce an exclusive partnership with Game Dev Cyprus (GDCy), marking a significant collaboration in the video game industry. This partnership will see Xsolla sponsoring exciting and informative events throughout 2024 and 2025, fostering innovation, networking, and celebration within the gaming community.
Xsolla will sponsor several informative events, ranging from monthly meetups where developers can network to GDCy talks where attendees can listen to inspirational speaking sessions from like-minded and seasoned individuals in the industry.
"We are excited to partner with GDCy and support the vibrant gaming community on the island," said David Stelzer, President of Xsolla. "Our sponsorship of these events and the organization reflects our commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration in Cyprus. We look forward to seeing the creativity and talent emerging from these events."
The partnership will culminate in the highly anticipated GDCy Fest in June 2025. This landmark event promises to be the biggest gathering of game developers in Cyprus. Xsolla's sponsorship will ensure a memorable festival filled with workshops, panel discussions, game showcases, and more. Other events aimed at bringing together the community of top industry executives and thought leaders includes the GDCy Executive Lounge and the Christmas event later this year in December.
"With so many informative and inspirational events on the way, Xsolla is sponsoring us at a hugely exciting time for GDCy," said Tim Fadeev Founder CEO at GDCy. "This sponsorship will be transformative for GDCy, not only elevating our local community but showcasing Cyprus as a hub for innovation and bringing global attention to our thriving video game ecosystem in Cyprus. We can't wait to work together and help positively shape the gaming industry's future."
To book a meeting with Xsolla at GDCy, please visit:
https://xsolla.com/events/gdcy-festival/booking
About Xsolla
Xsolla is a global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the industry. Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch, and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms. As an innovative leader in game commerce, Xsolla's mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing, and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue, and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, with offices in London, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Raleigh, Tokyo, and cities around the world, Xsolla supports major gaming titles like Valve, Twitch, Epic Games, Take-Two, KRAFTON, Nexters, NetEase, Playstudios, Playrix, miHoYo, and more.
About GDCy
GDCy is the biggest community of Game Dev people in Cyprus. We are working hard to make life on the island for the people from video games industry as easier, fun and profitable as possible. For 3+ years of existence we've launched a lot of online and offline activities, including monthly networking events already supported by Google, Meta, Amazon, Snapchat, TikTik and many others. Since 2023 we've launched GDCy FEST the biggest open-air b2b event in the region, gathering more than 1000 people from all over the world every year.
For additional information and to learn more, please visit: xsolla.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801518593/en/
Contacts:
Media Contact
Derrick Stembridge
Director of Public Relations, Xsolla
d.stembridge@xsolla.com
In the dynamic and ever-evolving realm of cryptocurrency, Sybbex, a pioneering crypto finance firm based in Dublin, Ireland, is creating ripples and drawing significant attention. With Ireland's tech-friendly environment as its backdrop, the company is on a meteoric rise, capturing market share at an unprecedented pace and establishing itself as a dominant force in the digital asset space. Under the visionary leadership of CEO William Holian, Sybbex is set to revolutionize global financial markets through innovative blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies.
Sybbex's Remarkable Market Conquest:
Sybbex has been methodically making its mark in the competitive crypto finance landscape. Recent data reveals a staggering 250% increase in EBITDA over the past quarter. This explosive growth is not merely a statistic-it's a clear indication of Sybbex's rapidly expanding market share and the trust it has garnered among crypto enthusiasts and investors.
"Our recent financial performance is a testament to our team's dedication and our innovative approach to fintech. We've seen tremendous growth in a short period, and this is just the beginning," says CEO William Holian.
Global Expansion: Sybbex's Next Frontier
Sybbex isn't content with merely dominating one market. The company has ambitious plans for global expansion, targeting key regions including Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. The significant increase in EBITDA has provided the financial flexibility to invest in big development in Korea and in China, as well as hiring new staff to support this growth. Additionally, the company will launch its official iOS application in August 2024, further broadening its reach and accessibility.
"Our global expansion isn't just about planting flags. It's about bringing our unique blend of security, innovation, and user-centric services to crypto enthusiasts worldwide. We're not just growing; we're evolving the very landscape of crypto finance," shares Holian.
Innovation at its core
Sybbex's market share growth is driven by its continued commitment to innovation. The company is set to launch its first representative offices in Asia, including Korea, China and Japan, which promises to revolutionize the way users interact with the Sybbex platform.
"Global expansion is not just about achieving global recognition and trust," explains Holian. "It's a gateway to the future of finance. We're not just providing users with a secure future; we're providing them with an entire financial ecosystem at their fingertips."
This innovative decision is expected to further accelerate Sybbex's market share growth, attracting both seasoned crypto investors and newcomers alike.
The Sybbex Advantage: Why Investors Are Flocking
Sybbex's rapidly growing market share can be attributed to several key factors:
Unparalleled Security: In a world where crypto security is paramount, Sybbex has made it their top priority. Their advanced security measures have instilled confidence in investors, significantly boosting their market share.
Global Vision: By expanding into key markets worldwide, Sybbex is positioning itself to capture market share on a global scale, appealing to a diverse range of crypto investors.
Regulatory Compliance: In an industry often scrutinized by regulators, Sybbex's commitment to compliance has made it an attractive option for institutional investors, further boosting its market share.
Investor Guidance: Riding the Sybbex Wave
For crypto investors looking to capitalize on Sybbex's growing market share, the company presents an intriguing opportunity. However, as with all investments in the volatile crypto market, due diligence is crucial.
Consider these points when evaluating Sybbex as an investment opportunity:
Growth Trajectory: Analyze Sybbex's historical growth and projected market share increases.
Innovation Pipeline: Keep an eye on upcoming product and their potential impact on the company's market position.
Global Expansion: Monitor Sybbex's progress in entering new markets and how this affects their overall market share.
The Road Ahead: Sybbex's Market Share Momentum
As Sybbex continues its upward trajectory, all eyes are on this rising star in the crypto finance world. With its innovative products, global expansion plans, and rapidly growing market share, Sybbex is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of digital asset management.
"Our mission is to make financial markets more accessible, efficient, and transparent globally. We're building the future of finance, and the journey has only just begun. While the rapid growth we've experienced is encouraging, we remain focused on sustaining this momentum and continuing to innovate," concludes Holian.
For crypto investors seeking to be part of this exciting journey, now may be the time to take a closer look at Sybbex. As the company continues to capture market share and push the boundaries of what's possible in crypto finance, it's clear that Sybbex is not just participating in the crypto revolution-it's leading it.
About Sybbex:
Founded in Dublin, Sybbex stands as a leading international company setting new standards in asset management. With a rich heritage of innovation and a commitment to outstanding technology solutions, Sybbex strives to be a leader in its industry. As the company redefines the financial landscape, its pioneering spirit, supported by Ireland's strategic advantages, showcases the potential ascendancy of Sybbex in the fintech industry and trading.
Company Name: Sybbex
Contact Person: Jeff Fierro
Contact Email: support@sybbex.com
City: Dublin, Ireland
State: Dublin
Website link: https://sybbex.com/
SOURCE: Sybbex
View the original press release on accesswire.com
South Star advancing the first new natural-flake graphite mine in the Americas this century.
SOUTH STAR BATTERY METALS CORP. ("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV: STS )(OTCQB: STSBF ) is pleased to announce that further to the Company's May 6, 2024 announcement (" South Star Battery Metals Announces the First Sale of Natural Flake Graphite Concentrate from its Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil "), South Star has executed another binding commercial sales agreement (the "Agreement") for the initial purchase of 100 tonnes (more than 220,000 pounds) of graphite concentrate from the Company's flagship Santa Cruz Graphite Mine ("Santa Cruz"), located in northeastern Brazil's Bahia state.
As announced on July 29, 2024 (" South Star Announces Substantial Completion and Commissioning of the Santa Cruz Phase 1 Graphite Mine in Brazil "), the commissioning of the Santa Cruz Phase-1 Plant is underway. Once commercial production commences, Santa Cruz will be the first new graphite mine in the Americas this century. At steady-state, the Santa Cruz Phase-1 Plant will produce approximately 1,000 tonnes per month/12,000 tonnes per annum. South Star plans to fulfill initial graphite purchase orders in Q4 2024.
For competitive reasons, the Client's identity and commercial details of the Agreement will remain confidential.
South Star President and CEO Richard Pearce, commented, "We are extremely pleased to continue to develop long-term partnerships in the U.S. and execute on our go-to-market sales strategy. This latest sale Agreement was executed after our Santa Cruz graphite was subjected to two rigorous, extensive characterization, testing and qualification programs."
"The Client contacted South Star earlier this year to evaluate our graphite, specifically, as a potential long-term feedstock for several applications. The Client tested and rejected other suppliers' graphite concentrates as they failed to meet certain critical specifications. This sale is a significant achievement for South Star, underscoring our Brazilian graphite's exceptional quality and performance."
South Star's immediate go-to-market commercial strategy is to produce high-quality graphite concentrates for various industrial applications and sectors. Concurrently, technical product-development programs are continuing to advance the Company's midstream and downstream product suite for value-added applications - specifically, battery-graphite products, including specialty Coated Spherical Purified Graphite ("CSPG" or "Active Anode Material") for rechargeable lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery applications and conductivity-enhancement products applicable to all commercial primary and secondary battery chemistries -- with commercial sales planned for Q4 2026.
The Company looks forward to updating the market on the progress of developments with other potential customers as soon as details are finalized.
# # #
ABOUT SOUTH STAR BATTERY METALS CORP.
South Star Battery Metals Corp. ("South Star") is a Canadian battery-metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial- and battery-metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (> 30 tonnes) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of graphite concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% graphitic carbon (Cg). With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star is fully funded for Phase 1, and the construction and commissioning are underway. Santa Cruz will be the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996, with Phase 1 commercial production projected in Q3 2024. Phase 2 production (25,000 tonnes / year) is partially funded and planned for 2026, while Phase 3 (50,000 tonnes / year) is scheduled for 2028.
South Star's second project in the development pipeline is strategically located in Alabama in the center of a developing electric-vehicle, aerospace, and defense hub in the southeastern United States. The BamaStar Project includes a historic mine active during the First and Second World Wars. An NI 43-101 guided technical report with the maiden resource estimate has been filed on SEDAR. Trenching, Phase 1 drilling, sampling, analysis, and preliminary metallurgical testing have been completed. The testing included a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit that achieved grades of approximately 94-97% Cg with approximately 86% recoveries. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery-metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF.
South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education, and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com .
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp.
On behalf of the South Star Board of Directors,
(s) MR. RICHARD L. PEARCE, Jr., P.E.
President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
For additional information, please contact:
South Star Investor Relations
Email: invest@southstarbatterymetals.com
Phone: +1 (604) 706-0212
Website: www.southstarbatterymetals.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/
YouTube: South Star Battery Metals - YouTube
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to statements regarding moving Santa Cruz into production and scaling operations as well as advancing the Alabama project, and the Company's plans and expectations.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
SOURCE: South Star Battery Metals Corp.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
SCOTTSDALE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / RONN, Inc (OTC PINK:RONN)
Mr. Ford, the company CEO, announced today that he had received and accepted an invitation to return to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, to meet with several new company executives and tribal leaders to discuss an expanded presence in the region for an enhanced, cleaner hydrogen future for the Indigenous First Nation.
Julian Moulton, Elected Councilor of Tobique First Nation, stated that the primary agenda of this meeting is to finalize our partnership and explore collaborative ventures with Tobique First Nation's business partners in Saint John. Mr. Moulton additionally added that this meeting promises to be a cornerstone in our shared journey toward sustainable development and economic growth. The collaboration between RONN Inc. and Tobique First Nation, supported by influential partners, holds immense potential to create a transformative impact.
Notably, significant investment is anticipated in setting up hydrogen power infrastructure, aiming to revolutionize operations through sustainable energy. Additionally, there are exciting opportunities to engage with major corporations in Saint John, each seeking innovative solutions to enhance their operations through hydrogen technology.
Mr. Ford stated that in his discussions with Mr. Moulton and other stakeholders, he expected to finalize the initial agreement and strategic partnership at this meeting within two weeks. Together, they aim to expand the hydrogen initiative throughout the region, with Tobique First Nation and Saint John as partners in a cleaner, healthier future.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the success of RONN, Inc. initiatives in the hydrogen tax credit market. RONN, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Contact Information
John Morgan
IR
jmorgan@ronnmotorgroup.com
SOURCE: Ronn, Inc
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Calvin Klein, Inc., part of PVH Corp. [NYSE: PVH], and Calvin Klein Fragrances, a division of Coty Inc. [NYSE: COTY], today launch CK One Essence, an intensified, premium take on the iconic original scent that introduces a bold addition to the CK One fragrance portfolio. Launched 30 years after the introduction of the original CK One, the new CK One Essence pays homage to the original fragrance's olfactive DNA and celebrates its cultural legacy, reaffirming its evolution from a groundbreaking fragrance in the '90s to a new icon for a new era.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731704922/en/
Calvin Klein Fragrances Introduces CK One Essence (Photo: Business Wire)
[the fragrance]
This is the new intensity: Explosive. Energetic. Captivating.
To lend new emotion to the original spirit of CK One, Calvin Klein once again called upon Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas of dms-firmenich the perfumer behind the iconic original CK One fragrance to formulate this fresh iteration. Amplified with double the concentration of the original eau de toilette for long-lasting, powerful freshness, CK One Essence modernizes the original juice's defiant notes to create a new olfactory symbol of timeless unity.
Top notes open the fragrance with the bright facets and fruit-forward tonalities of vibrant Italian Bergamot, responsibly sourced from a family-owned farm in Calabria, and blood orange. The juice offers an energizing and explosive profile from the first spritz.
At the heart, a curated, high-quality selection of teas, including organic green tea, invigorates and brings a modern freshness.
To ground the base, Morillas used a specific musk upcycled from the paper industry, adding a rich and sensual warmth complemented by a woody, creamy sandalwood accord.
The resulting scent is equal parts fresh, pure and sensual-an everyday uniform for a new generation.
[the campaign]
For the debut of CK One Essence, Calvin Klein partnered with visionary creative Alasdair McLellan to introduce a cast empowered by their individuality and united by the rebellious spirit at the heart of the CK One franchise. Channeling the brand's signature black-and-white portraiture, the campaign shows the cast moving dynamically in harmony, in contrast and with total energy to the anthemic synths of New Order's "Blue Monday." The resulting visuals highlight the sensuality, togetherness and unity intrinsic to the heritage of CK One and celebrate a generation at one with themselves and each other.
[the packaging]
Grounded in the simplicity of the original CK One screw-top flask, both the bottle and secondary packaging were reimagined with premium, environmentally-preferred finishes. The bottle features a removable pump and a translucent metallic finish which reveals the juice inside. Its secondary metallic carton highlights the luxe nature of the new fragrance's ingredients.
Calvin Klein CK One Essence will be available starting August 1st, 2024.
Product line-up:
1.7 FL OZ 50 ml
3.4 FL OZ 100 ml
6.7 FL OZ 200 ml (April 2025)
[the legacy]
CK One, the world's first gender inclusive fragrance, embodied the modern minimalism at the core of the Calvin Klein brand ethos when it was introduced 30 years ago.
Launched at Tower Records in 1994, the original CK One captured the zeitgeist with a bold, defiant, anti-perfume scent that channeled music, fashion and pop culture in a bottle. The fragrance's groundbreaking campaign forecasted a seismic shift in billboard faces, featuring street-cast misfits, moody models and real young lovers. With its pioneering attitude of universality, CK One was the first of its kind: a fragrance for everyone.
CREDITS:
Perfumer: Alberto Morillas, Master Perfumer
Campaign Photographer: Alasdair McLellan
SOCIAL MEDIA: @calvinklein
About Calvin Klein:
Calvin Klein is one of the world's leading global fashion lifestyle brands with a history of bold, non-conformist ideals that inform everything we do. Founded in New York in 1968, the brand's minimalist and sensual aesthetic drives our approach to product design and communication, creating a canvas that offers the possibility of limitless self-expression. The Calvin Klein brands CK Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear, and Calvin Klein Performance are connected by the intention and purpose of elevating everyday essentials to globally iconic status. Each of the brands has a distinct identity and position in the retail landscape, providing us the opportunity to market a range of universally appealing products to domestic and international consumers with a variety of needs. Our products are underpinned by responsible design, high-quality construction, and the elimination of all unnecessary details. We strive for unique and dimensional pieces that continuously wear well and remain relevant season after season. Global retail sales of Calvin Klein products were approximately $9 billion in 2023.
Calvin Klein continues to solidify its position as an innovator of emerging digital platforms and modern marketing campaigns. PVH acquired Calvin Klein in 2003 and continues to oversee a focused approach to growing the brand's worldwide relevance, presence, and long term growth.
About COTY Inc.
Coty is one of the world's largest beauty companies with an iconic portfolio of brands across fragrance, color cosmetics, and skin and body care. Coty is the global leader in fragrance, and number three in color cosmetics. Coty's products are sold in over 150 countries around the world. Coty and its brands are committed to a range of social causes as well as seeking to minimize its impact on the environment. For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240731704922/en/
Contacts:
Coty, Inc.: Connie Tang, Global Influencer Marketing PR Director, Calvin Klein Fragrances, Connie_LamTang@cotyinc.com
Calvin Klein, Inc.: Noelia Callejas, Sr. Director, PR, noeliacallejas@ck.com
Partnership enables Trilliant to support partner and customer metering requirements quickly and cost effectively
Trilliant, a leading international provider of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities and IIoT solutions, announced it has reached an agreement with Kamstrup, a world-leading manufacturer of system solutions for smart energy and water metering, to become an Elite Distributor of the company's heat/cool metering line for Canada.
This new distributor role positions Trilliant to support partner and customer metering requirements across the country even more efficiently and cost-effectively, with priority access to shipments and more. Kamstrup's MULTICAL heat/cool meters approved by Measurement Canada are interoperable with Trilliant's AMI and Smart Buildings solutions, and the companies' combined leading technologies and expertise will enable Trilliant to provide a future-proof, robust multi-commodity sub-metering platform.
"Kamstrup is pleased to form this partnership with Trilliant to extend our reach in Canada," said Arpit Sharma, Head of Sales Operations, Heat/Cooling at Kamstrup. "Trilliant demonstrates a true dedication to providing powerful, flexible technology solutions to improve processes and increased savings for utilities and energy organizations. We look forward to working more closely with them to enable greater efficiencies for Canadians."
"This new agreement with Kamstrup is a significant milestone that will enable us to quickly address the heat/cool metering requirements of our customers and partners in Canada," said Steven Lupo, Managing Director, Canada and U.S. at Trilliant. "Kamstrup and Trilliant share many of the same tenets, with a strong focus on modular communications. We've valued our partnership with Kamstrup over the years, and this next step enables us to better serve and support the market, especially as we continue to focus on our innovative Smart Building solutions."
Heat/cool meters play an essential role in centralized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems most commonly deployed in multi-tenant buildings. As a key component of Trilliant's sub-metering solution, they help enable benefits including:
Providing a reliable solution to accurately calculate energy consumption by each tenant's unit, as well as in common areas of multi-tenant buildings such as party rooms and gyms
Encouraging tenants to use energy more efficiently and intelligently throughout the year
Helping building managers monitor system performance, in turn identifying any operational issues in the HVAC system potentially saving significant amounts in repair costs
The Power of Choice
Trilliant's end-to-end portfolio of solutions offer partners, utility companies and Smart Cities the Power of Choice. Its flexible, multi-tiered platform is device-agnostic and drives optimal endpoints and outcomes, enabling utilities to optimize assets and offer value-added services to customers.
Trilliant's comprehensive sub-metering solution enables the ability to quickly and seamlessly add applications to a single network from electricity to water and heat/cool. Trilliant offers a clear path for any building, regardless of age, to enjoy the benefits of technological advancement and participate in sustainability initiatives, improve efficiency, and encourage responsible resource consumption.
Learn more about Trilliant's Smart Building solutions:
Visit Trilliant's Sub-Metering for Smart Buildings solution page
Read this blog about how Trilliant empowers submetering in Canada
Review this Golden Horseshoe partner snapshot highlighting GHMS and Trilliant's implementation of a residential metering system and IIoT platform to improve energy management
Learn how Trilliant worked with Provident on a successful implementation of a wireless basement water metering solution for a number of townhomes in the Greater Toronto Area
The partnership between Trilliant and Kamstrup is effective immediately.
About Kamstrup
Kamstrup is a leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions and services. With a strong focus on innovation, quality, and sustainability, Kamstrup's products and solutions enable utilities and end-users to optimize resource usage, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency. For more than 75 years Kamstrup has been dedicated to delivering actionable insights to water and energy professionals, because we believe better data enables better decisions. Our solutions including meters, remote reading systems, software and services are sold in more than 90 countries. With global headquarters in Denmark, Kamstrup serves customers worldwide and is committed to shaping a more sustainable future. https://www.kamstrup.com/
About Trilliant
Trilliant empowers the global energy industry with the only device-agnostic communications platform that enables utilities and cities to deploy any application securely and reliably on one powerful network. Our purpose-built portfolio is designed to offer the power of choice, without risk of customers being "locked in" with one technology provider or meter manufacturer. We are proud to offer mission-critical solutions that support AMI, Data Analytics, Smart Metering, Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Customers worldwide benefit from Trilliant's unique combination of flexibility, sustainability and scalability that connects utilities and cities to the IIoT and a more strategic path to the Energy Transition. Visit us at www.trilliant.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801158634/en/
Contacts:
Media:
Tracey Mitchell
tracey.mitchell@trilliant.com
Cindy Watson/Anita Wong
StrategicAmpersand Inc.
TrilliantPR@stratamp.com
New facility will boost shipping efficiency and customer service across Europe
STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Waring, a global leader in high-performance commercial kitchen appliances, is expanding its global operations with a new European Distribution facility. Opening September 2024, the new facility will support Waring's presence across Europe, improving shipping speed and delivery logistics to current and future customers.
The 330,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution facility is strategically located in northern France, providing ideal access to European road network and key ports of Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Dunkirk. The facility's prime location will improve order delivery speed, resulting in more competitive pricing and shipping rates.
Waring's new European Distribution facility was constructed with advanced features designed to streamline operations throughout the purchasing and shipping process. With a storage capacity of 29,000 locations, the facility increases international accessibility to Waring's full slate of high-performance commercial kitchen appliances. It also offers more efficient service and repair capabilities, including quicker shipping of replacement items and improved customer communications.
With over 50 employees on-site, the new facility will house dedicated teams for quality control, order packing, transport, inventory management, customs clearances, maintenance and finance.
"Waring is committed to meet the evolving needs of our customer base and this integrated high-performance resource will now support the commercial distribution activities of Waring Products, throughout Europe and beyond," says Waring General Manager and Senior Vice President Dan DeBari. "Waring's new European Distribution facility will provide Waring Products with an incredible resource for continued growth globally."
For more information about the new distribution facility, please contact Info_WaringEMEA@conair.com.
About Waring:
Waring, universally known for introducing the first blender in America, is one of today's leading manufacturers of professional appliances for the foodservice and laboratory industries. Waring offers high-performance, large-volume food processors and blenders, heavy-duty heating appliances such as grills, griddles, toasters and deep fryers, and a variety of specialty products. As a Solutions Specialist in the blend, prep, cook and brew categories, Waring strives to provide innovative, customized equipment to fulfill all of the industry's unmet needs. With 85+ years of manufacturing expertise locally and globally, Waring is proud to offer continuously expanding collections of superior professional products. For more information, visit https://www.waring.com/.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2473032/Waring_European_distribution_facility.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2448810/Waring_Products_Logo.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/waring-enhances-global-operations-with-new-european-distribution-facility-302211530.html
Enstall, the global leader in rooftop solar mounting solutions, announced today the acquisition of Schletter Group ("Schletter"), a Germany-based provider of solar mounting systems. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Schletter's current shareholders, Avenue Capital Group and Robus Capital will become minority shareholders in Enstall to support the company's long-term strategic ambitions, working in close partnership with existing shareholders Blackstone and Rivean Capital.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801142034/en/
Schletter Headquarters (Photo: Business Wire)
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Kirchdorf, Germany, Schletter is a global provider of solar mounting systems, having supplied over 55 GWp of solar installations worldwide. The company's product portfolio caters to roofs, facades, carports, and ground-mounted solar installations, including trackers and fixed-tilt systems.
The transaction represents a major step in executing on Enstall's growth strategy, following its acquisition by Blackstone and Rivean Capital in 2022. The transaction will strengthen Enstall's footprint in Germany and Central Europe, and establish Enstall as the one-stop-shop global solar mounting powerhouse, with a product portfolio covering both rooftop and ground-mount segments.
Stijn Vos, CEO of Enstall, said: "On behalf of the Enstall team, I would like to welcome all Schletter employees to the Enstall family. Schletter is the long-standing solar mounting champion of Germany, with a strong reputation for quality and innovation. We are looking forward to combining our expertise to achieve our shared vision of accelerating solar adoption to deliver solar, sooner."
Florian Roos, CEO of Schletter, added: "Enstall shares our long-term commitment to sustainable solar energy for future generations. Everything we do is guided by our dedication to improving durability, safety, sustainability, and the quality of our solar mounting systems, in support of achieving a transition to green energy. The partnership with Enstall will strengthen the combined innovation capabilities, and enable us to serve our customers with a broader portfolio of products and digital solutions globally."
Juergen Pinker, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone and Maurits Boomsma, Senior Partner at Rivean Capital, commented: "With this transformational acquisition, Enstall establishes a strong presence in Germany, Europe's largest solar market, and expands into the attractive ground-mounted solar segment. Following Enstall's acquisition of Sunfer in 2023, this deal demonstrates the continued strong momentum the company has in executing its growth strategy. We welcome Avenue Capital and Robus Capital as minority investors in Enstall, who have been long-standing supportive owners of Schletter."
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor to Schletter.
Language: English Company: Schletter International B.V. Herikerbergweg 88 1101 CM Amsterdam Netherlands ISIN: NO0012530973, NO0012530981 WKN: A3K86F A3K86D Listed: Regulated Unofficial Market in Frankfurt; Oslo Intended to be listed.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801142034/en/
Contacts:
Katarina Kuzmicic
Tel.: +49 (0)221 80 10 87-85
E-Mail: kk@moeller-pr.de
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Momentus Technologies, a renowned leader in venue and event management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, is proud to announce that Steve Mackenzie, our esteemed Chief Innovation Officer, has been honored with the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) 2024 Education & Service Award at VenueConnect 2024.
The IAVM Education & Service Award is presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional professionalism and commitment to advancing the field of venue management. It recognizes those who excel in community outreach, educational opportunities, mentorship and internships, contributing significantly to both the industry and the community.
"We are incredibly proud of Steve Mackenzie for receiving the IAVM 2024 Education & Service Award," said Alex Alexandrov, CEO, Momentus Technologies. "Steve's dedication to innovation, education and community service sets a high standard for all of us at Momentus Technologies. His tireless efforts and visionary leadership have not only advanced our company but have also made a significant impact on the entire industry. This recognition is a testament to his unwavering commitment to excellence and his passion for fostering growth and knowledge within the venue management field."
At Momentus Technologies, Mackenzie works closely with customers and partners to educate them on industry best practices, gain a deeper understanding of the evolving market landscape, and enhance the company's offerings. With 38 years of experience in the hospitality and events industry, 29 of which have been focused on the technology side, Steve brings unparalleled expertise and dedication to his role.
Before joining Momentus Technologies, Steve served as president at EventBooking. Steve's remarkable career has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. In 2022, he was awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Event Tech Live Awards and inducted into its Hall of Fame. He is also a Certified Venue Executive through IAVM, holds many volunteer roles within the industry, and serves as an adjunct professor at Florida International University.
Momentus Technologies congratulates Steve Mackenzie on this well-deserved recognition and is proud to have him as a leader and innovator within our organization.
For more information about Momentus Technologies, please visit www.gomomentus.com.
About Momentus Technologies
Momentus Technologies is a global provider of industry-leading venue and event management solutions that empower organizations to create extraordinary moments. With over 60,000 users in more than 57 countries, Momentus serves the needs of convention and exhibition centers, higher education, corporate venues, stadiums and arenas, and arts and culture centers. Its powerful intuitive platform alongside intelligent data-driven solutions and unparalleled expertise provides customers a view of past, present and future event operations to increase end-to-end visibility, optimize efficiency and achieve business goals. Founded in 1985, Momentus is headquartered in the United States. The company's employees work across the globe in Momentus offices and remotely. To learn more, visit gomomentus.com.
Contact
North America Public Relations:Rebecca Meckstroth rebecca.meckstroth@gomomentus.com
EMEA and APAC Public Relations:Miriam Hageboeck miriam.hageboeck@gomomentus.com
General Information: info@gomomentus.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/steve-mackenzie-chief-innovation-officer-at-momentus-technologies-wins-prestigious-iavm-2024-education--service-award-302208988.html
NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aktiia, the Series A Swiss startup transforming Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring and management, backed by Khosla Ventures, Red Alpine, Molten Ventures, Translink, Verve and 415 Capital, announces the appointment of U.S.-based industry veteran, Raghav 'Rags' Gupta, as its new CEO and a member of the Board of Directors. Since its commercial launch in 2021, Aktiia has amassed the largest longitudinal BP dataset of its kind, with over 11 B optical signals and 300 million cardiovascular data points from over 80,000 users. This dataset serves as the foundation for Aktiia's AI-driven BP Intelligence Platform, which comprises BP measurement, management, and novel research insights.
A seasoned and entrepreneurial technology operator with a track record of growth and commercialization, Rags brings a wealth of experience across consumer, enterprise and deep tech domains. Rags has operated at the intersection of technology and market inflections for most of his career, from the early days of the Web to cloud and SaaS at Brightcove, Videoplaza and Ooyala, to sensing and deep tech, more recently, at Humatics, Butlr, and as an Operating Partner at Hyperplane.
"Aktiia's mission to reduce the impact of blood pressure on global health is deeply personal. Add to this the novel technology that's already achieved product market fit and improved patient outcomes, the unique dataset, and the talented, dedicated team, and it makes for a once-in-career opportunity. I'm thrilled to join at such an inflection point in the business," said Rags Gupta. "It's time to scale."
Aktiia's CE-marked continuous blood pressure monitor is currently available in seven European markets. Earlier this year, Aktiia received CE approval for its next-generation CALFREE technology, which utilizes optical sensors that do not require calibration with a traditional cuff. This significantly improves user convenience and adaptability for various third-party devices, while still meeting the stringent BP accuracy and precision thresholds to be medically valid. Additional regulatory submissions are underway in markets, including the U.S.
Built on 20+ years of research, Aktiia's technology provides unparalleled innovation and ease in blood pressure data collection and machine learning modelling, offering personalized, continuous, and medical-grade blood pressure and heart rate data. Aktiia empowers people, researchers, and clinicians with unique blood pressure data, paving the way for novel understanding and personalized patient care of hypertension.
"Rags' strategic vision, entrepreneurial track record and ability to operate across cultures and domains stood out to us during our search process, and we're thrilled to have him join at an inflection point for our business," said Daniel Graf, President and Board member.
"From the time we spent together, it was clear that Rags had the strategic insight, operational experience and cultural fluency to be our next CEO," said Aktiia co-founder Mattia Bertschi, who will remain as COO. "We are proud to have him on board as our recent regulatory wins, ongoing research, and real-world adoption drive the next phase of Aktiia's growth."
Aktiia's mission has never been more critical, with over 1.4 billion people, worldwide, affected by high blood pressure, resulting in more than 18 million related deaths annually. The company is dedicated to changing the paradigm of blood pressure management, making it more accessible, accurate, and actionable for people worldwide.
For more information about Aktiia, please visit Aktiia's website.
About Aktiia
Founded in Switzerland in May 2018, Aktiia was created out of a passion for developing the best products for diagnosing and treating hypertension. Founders Drs. Mattia Bertschi (CEO) and Josep Sola (CTO) spent 15 years at the prestigious Swiss research institute, CSEM, deciphering the language of the heart to deepen their understanding of blood pressure. Today, Aktiia's global, diverse team of over 50 extraordinary individuals combines years of innovative research with AI model training and fine-tuning from a unique, growing dataset into a worldwide healthcare solution, offering the most complete and intuitive blood pressure monitoring and management tools on the market.
The full media package can be downloaded here.
Media Contact: Assad Khan
Email: press@aktiia.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/swiss-health-tech-startup-aktiia-names-industry-veteran-rags-gupta-as-new-ceo-as-part-of-global-push-to-transform-blood-pressure-monitoring-and-management-302212311.html
PARIS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The construction industry is going through a transformative shift towards sustainability, with a growing emphasis on curbing carbon emissions to reduce its environmental impact. As part of this movement, Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals, with its leading brands Chryso and GCP, is proud to introduce EnviroMixC-Clay, a new groundbreaking range of admixtures aimed at reducing CO2 content in concrete by using calcined clay cements.
This new feature in our sustainable solutions portfolio broadens the EnviroMix range of low carbon concrete admixtures.
Calcined Clay cements, hailed for their potential to generate significantly lower carbon emissions than traditional Portland cement, have emerged as a promising alternative in the quest for sustainable construction materials.
New emerging cements such as CEM VI (35 to 49% of clinker content), and CEM II/C-M (50 to 64% of clinker content- ie. LC3) can lead to a CO2 reduction up to 50% compared to a "classic" Portland cement, by incorporating calcined clay. These new cements have been extensively tested in our international research laboratory.
Calcined clay cements generate specific constraints, particularly high-water demand, which requires adapted solutions.
In addition to proven cement expertise, CHRYSO and GCP's dedicated R&D team has worked significantly on characterizing more than 30 calcined clays, originating from all over the world, using in-house and patented methodologies, such as the CHRYSOClear test, to determine the optimal formulation of EnviroMixC-Clay for each configuration.
CHRYSO and GCP experts are developing a specific range of innovative admixtures designed to enhance the performance and versatility of calcined clay cements. These innovations are supported by new patents filed by our R&D teams on concrete admixtures based on calcined clays. These new admixtures, meticulously engineered through years of research and development, overcome the technical challenges of using calcined clay, primarily due to its high-water demand, enhancing both the workability of the concrete and its compressive strength.
"Our mission is to empower the construction industry with innovative solutions that not only meet the demands of today but also pave the way for a sustainable future," says Gustavo Blazquez, Concrete BU Director. "With our advanced admixtures solutions, we aim to overcome the technical challenges associated with low-carbon concrete, unlocking the full potential of calcined clay cements and accelerating the transition towards greener construction practices."
In addition to offering cutting-edge admixture solutions, Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals is committed to providing comprehensive technical support and expertise to develop and facilitate the seamless integration and optimization of products with technical specifications and local materials.
*Source: www.infociments.fr
About Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals
Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals offers cement additives, concrete admixtures and specialty building materials, through the combined activities of Chryso and GCP. Its recent technologies for sustainable construction help reduce energy consumption, lower the carbon footprint of cements and concrete, and foster the circular economy. Leveraging its global manufacturing presence, Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals serves its customers through local sites in 41 countries, employing over 3,000 people.
CONTACT: Elodie PUJO SAULNIER, elodie.pujo-saulnier@chryso.com and Daphnee Decaudin, daphnee.decaudin@chryso.com
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Subaru and its retailers providing critical supplies to schools nationwide as the largest corporate partner of AdoptAClassroom.org
CAMDEN, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) today announced that a milestone of 750,000 students nationwide will be helped following its Subaru Loves Learning program this year. In its fourth year partnering with AdoptAClassroom.org, Subaru and more than 630 of its retailers will continue to provide access to the critical supplies and resources that teachers need to help their students succeed in the classroom.
According to AdoptAClassroom.org, 92% of teachers nationwide have students whose families cannot afford to purchase school supplies for their children. This has led to teachers spending an average of $860 per year to help provide for their classrooms.
Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc.: "At Subaru, we believe that every student deserves a fair opportunity at a quality education. We are incredibly proud of the progress achieved in supporting over 750,000 students, and we know the importance of continuing to support students and teachers around the country to have the best learning environment possible."
Together, Subaru and its retailers are working to help students in high-needs* schools by providing teachers across the country with funding to purchase these supplies and resources. Many participating retailers will also be donating school supply kits with materials that are highly requested by teachers.
Ann Pifer, Executive Director of AdoptAClassroom.org: "This record number of students being supported would not be possible without the help of the Subaru community. We are grateful to extend our partnership with Subaru for a fourth year in a row and sincerely thank Subaru and its retailers for the difference they make in the lives and educational opportunities of students and teachers around the country."
To kick off the 2024 program, Subaru will continue to support students in the Camden City School District (CCSD) by once again adopting all kindergarten to fifth grade (K-5) classrooms near the automaker's headquarters in Camden, NJ. This latest hometown effort will impact over 2,090 students and 122 classrooms across eight different schools. Adopting every elementary school in the CCSD is just one of the many ways Subaru continues to do its part to be More Than a Car Company for its community.
To learn more about the Subaru Loves Learning initiative and the partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, visit subaru.com/learning or follow SubaruLovesLearning on social media.
*High-need is defined as a school that has a Title I Schoolwide Program and/or a school where 40% or more of the student population qualifies for the Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Program.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $320 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 100,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
About AdoptAClassroom.org
AdoptAClassroom.org believes every child deserves the tools and materials they need to learn and thrive in school. To achieve this, teachers are spending an average of $860 of their own money each year on their classrooms. AdoptAClassroom.org is a national nonprofit that funds PreK-12 teachers and schools across the U.S. to help equip more classrooms and students for success and offset the financial burden on teachers. Since 1998, AdoptAClassroom.org has raised $73 million and equipped more than seven million students across the U.S. 90% of all funded classrooms are considered high needs. The 501(c)(3) holds the highest 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and the highest transparency rating offered by Candid/GuideStar. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.adoptaclassroom.org.
###
Diane Anton
Subaru of America, Inc.
856-488-5093
danton@subaru.com
Adam Leiter
Subaru of America, Inc.
(856) 488-8668
aleiter@subaru.com
Subaru of America and its retailers will provide funding to teachers across the country to purchase the school supplies and resources needed to help their students succeed. In partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, the Subaru Loves Learning initiative will support a milestone of 750,000 students in 2024.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Subaru of America, Inc. on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Subaru of America, Inc.
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/subaru-america-inc
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Subaru of America, Inc.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
West Palm Beach, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Hiru Corporation (OTC Pink: HIRU) (The Company) on July 26, 2024 Completed an Off Market Private Transaction Control Block Sale of Preferred Shares. This event and other events were filed as Supplemental Filing on OTC Markets, and as a 8k with the SEC.
https://www.otcmarkets.com/otcapi/company/financial-report/408109/content, https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/conv_pdf?id=17716956&guid=YBO-knmv0E5eJth
HIRU addresses shareholders frequently ask questions regarding past management affairs of HIRU and the $1.4 million dollar debt remaining on HIRU's books. The water equipment serves as a security for this debt. Several interested prospects are currently considering the purchase of the equipment that is for sale. HIRU does not expect to be subject to a short sale or negative equity when they do so. We will cross that bridge when we get there and settle our accounts with the finance company if it is the case. There is no doubt that the equipment financier is being more than reasonable, courteous, and accommodating to the company. For clarification, the conversion rate relates to a backstop on the note and not to the actual number of shares the financier will receive from us. (See OTC filing footnote) Please research the term "backstop" in corporate finance for a more detailed explanation.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/backstop.asp#:~:text=In%20corporate%20finance
Indeed, we are familiar with the affairs of ex-management (management prior to the interim management), however we cannot dwell in the past. Our focus is on today and HIRU's future. We have also received full disclosure of this debt and the relationship of the creditor, and the M&A firm that introduced us to HIRU. Obviously, there are other WIN-WIN benefits for us and our shareholders for choosing HIRU over other options.
To that end, we would like to address HIRU's moving forward plans, HIRU's corporate vision, and future growth strategy. The company's new focus is on acquiring and/or collaborating with and merging both large and small profitable mines, as well as large real estate construction projects. Our vision is to develop the Company into a small conglomerate. Another of the FAQ's is "how big is it?" New OTC rules sanction companies that release news ahead of official filings. Without getting into details, or "stepping on anyone's toes" we can safely say some significant mines we have certain relationships with are between $70 to $150 million dollar projects. These projects have full mining reports 43101 or similar reports with GAAP audited financials. Our upcoming filings will be self-explanatory. Before the definitive closing date of the Australian mining transaction, we will consult with Hiru's corporate lawyer to determine what more information we can disclose publicly.
The next FAQ we received was: Why did we choose OTC Markets? Our answer is simple. Why not? We have no plans to dilute. Our share structure is unchanged. We see this endeavor as a WIN-WIN all-around where retail shareholders can reap the benefits of our efforts as we grow together. As per 8k and OTC filing(s) currently we are targeting New York, New York as our home office location with an additional office in either Toronto or Vancouver, Canada. Both Canadian cities have strong mining circles which fit our narrative.
In other Company news and events, the Company has launched its X (Twitter) Account https://x.com/HIRUMining
More news will follow promptly.
About Hiru Corporation
HIRU is a holding Company (The Company) in the finance and mining sector quoted on OTC: HIRU. The Company also operates a small e-commerce division.
Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements that we make may constitute "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include information concerning future strategic objectives, business prospects, anticipated savings, financial results (including expenses, earnings, liquidity, cash flow and capital expenditures), industry or market conditions, demand for and pricing of our products, acquisitions and divestitures, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory developments or general economic conditions. In addition, words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," and future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may," "could," "should," and "would," as well as any other statement that necessarily depends on future events, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although we make such statements based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Contact:
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218517
SOURCE: Hiru Corporation
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Bloomberg
Originally published on bloomberg.com
For Stacy-Marie Ishmael, innate curiosity was the driving factor behind her pursuit of a career in journalism. Well, curiosity and being able to move quickly from one task to another.
"I'm a person who likes knowing things, and I also have a very short attention span," says Ishmael, who serves as Executive Editor, Digital Assets/Digital Payments/Cross Asset at Bloomberg. "These are the essential qualities for journalism."
In this article, adapted from an interview that originally appeared on TheMuse.com, Ishmael talks about what drew her to journalism, the value of diverse newsrooms, and why she loves working at Bloomberg.
What drew her to journalism - and why she stays
Ishmael's journalism career began about halfway through her time in college, when she got involved with on-campus media, running the university radio station and contributing to the TV station, newspaper, and magazine. These experiences ignited her passion? - ?and led to her first job in the industry.
"The magazine is actually what set me on the path to journalism - I often interviewed interesting people in high positions," she says. "One of the people I spoke with was the head of talent at a publishing company. They suggested I apply for a graduate training program, which started my decades-long career in media."
After senior roles at the Financial Times, Apple, and the Texas Tribune, she joined Bloomberg as the Managing Editor, Crypto, in 2021, where she led a team of reporters and editors covering the fast-evolving world of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and decentralized finance. In March 2024, she moved into her current role, as an Executive Editor.
And it's never a dull moment, she says. "I wake up every morning wondering what's going to happen next. Markets respond to what's happening in the world, and there's a lot of upheaval in many different ways."
A champion for more diverse newsrooms
Ishmael speaks openly about how she's navigated the challenges of being a woman of color in a male-dominated industry. "When I was younger, I was often the only person who looked like me covering a story or an event. I would sometimes use it to my advantage: If someone didn't think I was qualified and simplified concepts for me, I could use that to write a better story. It was helpful to cultivate humility around those experiences, but it also really motivated me to change the expectations of who should get to be in those rooms."
But that doesn't mean you have to struggle alone, she says. "You need to have a really good group text. You will not survive without a trusted group of people who will tell you the truth and support you, but also hold you accountable. One of the mistakes people often make is they're over-mentored yet under-sponsored, meaning there are lots of people who will give them advice, but not enough who will use their position to make something happen for them. I was very fortunate to have people in my life who took those steps on my behalf."
Today, she returns that favor by serving on the board for Catchlight, an organization dedicated to visual storytelling, and the board for the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation. "I stay connected because of the kinds of students [Newmark] attracts: recent immigrants, first-generation college students, multilingual students, and those from lower-income areas. If you look around your average newsroom, those are people who are often missing."
Connecting the dots at a global scale
For Ishmael, one of the best parts of working at Bloomberg is the depth of knowledge she can tap into for context about news events. "I'm surrounded by such interesting people, and I learn from them every day. In any Bloomberg newsroom you can pick a topic and find one of foremost experts just a desk or two away."
This depth of expertise creates the opportunity to tell more holistic stories, she notes. "For example, we can help our audiences understand how what's happening in Ukraine is leading to the higher gas prices they're encountering. Connecting the dots across all these areas is something I feel we're uniquely well positioned to do."
Finally, she says she appreciates the work being done by Bloomberg's philanthropic arm. "You see how this giving back shows up in the world, and it feels good to know that, by doing my small part, I'm contributing to that work."
ACCOMMODATION
Bloomberg is an equal employment/affirmative action employer. Bloomberg provides reasonable adjustment/accommodation to individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable adjustment/accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable adjustment/accommodation include but are not limited to making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. To request an adjustment/accommodation to apply for a job, please email AMER_recruit@bloomberg.net (Americas), EMEA_recruit@bloomberg.net (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), or APAC_recruit@bloomberg.net (Asia-Pacific), based on the region you are submitting an application for.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Bloomberg maintains a continuing policy of non-discrimination in employment. It is Bloomberg's policy to provide equal opportunity and access for all persons, and the Company is committed to attracting, retaining, developing, and promoting the most qualified individuals without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, genetic predisposition or carrier status, marital status, national or ethnic origin, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, sexual and other reproductive health decisions, parental or caring status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy or maternity/parental leave, protected veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence, or any other classification protected by applicable law (each, a "Protected Characteristic"). Bloomberg prohibits treating applicants or employees less favorably in connection with the terms and conditions of employment, in all phases of the employment process, because of one or more Protected Characteristics ("Discrimination").?
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bloomberg on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Bloomberg
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bloomberg
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Bloomberg
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Kunstliche Intelligenz hat spatestens nach dem Raketenstart von Chat GPT das Leben aller verandert. Doch der Superzyklus steht nach Meinungen von Experten erst am Anfang. Wahrend Aktien wie Nvidia von der ersten Aufwartsentwicklung stark profitieren konnten, versprechen aussichtsreiche Player aus der
zweiten Reihe noch enormes Aufwartspotenzial.
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Trotz der jungsten Erfolge steht die Entwicklung der kunstlichen Intelligenz noch am Beginn eines neuen Superzyklus. Experten gehen davon aus, dass der Sektor bis 2032 global auf 1,3 Billionen US-Dollar explodieren wird, wobei ein groer Teil auf Hardware und Infrastruktur entfallen wird.
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Green Mountain Energy's capabilities allow customers to improve energy efficiency, minimize costs, and significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan recently assessed the renewable energy industry and, based on its analysis results, presents Green Mountain Energy with the 2024 U.S. Customer Value Leadership Award. Green Mountain Energy has been a trusted carbon-neutral company for nearly two decades, with sustainability at the heart of every innovation and growth strategy. With its commitment to providing superior customer value and excellent customer experience, the company sustains its remarkable position in the U.S. renewable energy market, making it the provider of choice for 100% clean energy solutions. Green Mountain Energy helps customers take environmentally friendly actions, support a cleaner grid, and improve their carbon footprint with clean energy plans, sustainable living solutions, and carbon offset purchases.
Green Mountain Energy is committed to helping customers live an eco-friendly life throughout their sustainability journey. The company is dedicated to protecting the environment by operating with a zero-carbon footprint, only providing products that have an ecological advantage. Green Mountain Energy works closely with consumers and businesses, whether they are just starting out or deeply committed to sustainability, with the choice of cleaner electricity products from renewable sources, carbon offset products, and sustainable solutions to reduce carbon emissions.
Lucrecia Gomez, Energy and Environment Research Director, Frost & Sullivan, observed, "Green Mountain Energy prides itself on providing top-of-the-line expertise and services to its customers and delivering value beyond their expectations. The company has built a sterling reputation for its commitment to supporting customers in their efforts to make a positive environmental impact."
Green Mountain Energy's customer-focused strategy caters to evolving needs and preferences through an app that enables customers to seamlessly connect their electric vehicles (EVs) to their electricity account, manage their electricity use and discover ways to strengthen their impact. The company also incentivizes the adoption of solar through its Renewable Rewards Plan which provides additional value for customers with solar panels through credit for excess renewable energy produced by their solar system. Moreover, Green Mountain Energy promotes sustainability in communities through its charitable program, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, by enabling nonprofit organizations to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. Since Sun Club was created, the completed projects have helped avoid more than 40 million pounds of carbon dioxide, generate more than 25 million kilowatts of solar electricity, capture more than 20 million gallons of rainwater, and grow nearly 370 thousand pounds of produce.
"Green Mountain Energy offers a broad range of products that help customers lead a greener lifestyle, making it the preferred provider for 100% clean energy solutions. Consequently, customers receive invaluable support and guidance, giving them access to best-in-class clean energy and innovative solutions to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve cost savings," added Gomez. For its strong overall performance, Green Mountain Energy earns Frost & Sullivan's 2024 Customer Value Leadership Award in the U.S. renewable energy industry.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers, with a focus on improving the return on investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognizes the company's unique focus on augmenting the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and customer base expansion.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
About Frost & Sullivan
For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.
About Green Mountain Energy
Green Mountain Energy is the nation's longest serving renewable energy retailer, on a mission to inspire hope and motivate action through the use of clean energy. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of cleaner electricity plans from renewable sources, as well as a variety of carbon offset products and sustainable solutions for businesses. Collectively, Green Mountain Energy customers have helped avoid more than 107 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions to date. Green Mountain is lighting the path to a brighter future by supporting the sustainable projects of nonprofits through our charitable program, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club. To learn more, visit greenmountainenergy.com.
Contact:
Ashley Weinkauf
P: 210-844-2505
E: ashley.weinkauf@frost.com
GME Media Contact
Estefania Joy
713-537-5735
media@greenmountain.com
Twitter: @GreenMtnEnergy
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WASHINGTON and BONN, Germany, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ATIS and the O-RAN ALLIANCE today announced the joint signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that enables the transposition of O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications to ATIS standards.
The MoU establishes a joint process to identify O-RAN specifications for adoption by ATIS. This transposition is a major step toward advancing the adoption of Open RAN in North America, by giving O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications the benefit of recognition by ATIS, an accredited standards body with broad membership from North American industry. It furthers both organizations' mutual objectives to advance the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and global standards-compliant mobile networks. The agreement announced today builds on an earlier MoU between the parties that addressed cooperation on Open Radio Access Network (RAN) issues, including Open RAN security and stakeholder requirements for Open RAN. It emphasizes ATIS's commitment to creating innovative standards for mobile networks that leverage the latest technical and architectural advances.
"ATIS members both from industry and government sectors are highly aligned on the importance of Open RAN in creating an ecosystem of trusted suppliers that can deliver capable and cost-effective mobile network platforms," said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. "The MoU with O-RAN ALLIANCE gives the combined weight of both organizations to a common technical basis for interoperability in the Open RAN market. It complements the ATIS work on the Open RAN Minimum Viable Profile to create comprehensive and recognized Open RAN standards and best practices for the North American market."
"O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications set the global foundation for open, intelligent, virtualized and interoperable Radio Access Networks, building on common RAN standards," said Abdurazak Mudesir, Chair of the Board of O-RAN ALLIANCE and Group CTO, Deutsche Telekom. "O-RAN ALLIANCE welcomes ATIS's transposition of O-RAN specifications to ATIS standards. The MoU ensures technical alignment and supports mutual efforts to enable truly open RAN ecosystem. North America comes as another region adopting O-RAN specifications and we remain open to similar arrangements with standards authorities in other regions."
About ATIS
As a leading technology and solutions development organization, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) brings together the top global ICT companies to advance the industry's business priorities. Our Next G Alliance is building the foundation for North American leadership in 6G and beyond. ATIS' 165 member companies are also currently working to address 5G, illegal robocall mitigation, quantum computing, artificial intelligence-enabled networks, distributed ledger/blockchain technology, cybersecurity, IoT, emergency services, quality of service, billing support, operations and much more. These priorities follow a fast-track development lifecycle from design and innovation through standards, specifications, requirements, business use cases, software toolkits, open-source solutions and interoperability testing.
ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as well as a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, visit www.atis.org. Follow ATIS on X and on LinkedIn.
About O-RAN ALLIANCE
The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a worldwide community of more than 300 mobile operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCE's mission is to re-shape the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The new O-RAN specifications enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by the mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes new RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.
For more information, please visit www.o-ran.org.
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CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fintech as a Service Market size is estimated to grow from USD 358.8 billion in 2024 to USD 806.9 billion by 2029 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.6% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The key driver of FaaS is the growing demand for rising digital financial services, open banking operational initiatives, growing demand for streamlined compliances and regulatory solutions, scalability of cloud computing technologies in operations, and driving innovation of AI and blockchain.
Browse in-depth TOC on "Fintech as a Service (FaaS) Market"
375 - Tables
51 - Figures
331 - Pages
Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=9388805
Scope of the Report
Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 2018-2029 Base year considered 2023 Forecast period 2024-2029 Forecast units Value (USD Billion) Segments Covered By Type, Technology, Application, End User, Region. Geographies covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America Companies covered Major vendors in the FaaS market include PayPal (US), Mastercard (US), Fiserv (US), Block (US), Rapyd (UK), Envestnet (US), Upstart (US), Solid Financial (US), FIS (US), Synctera (US), Stripe (US), Adyen (Netherlands), Dwolla (US), Finastra (UK), Revolut (UK), Fispan (Canada), Nium (Singapore), Airwallex (Australia), Sofi Technologies Inc. (US), Marqeta (US), Finx (US), Synapse (US).
FaaS solutions enable organizations to access pre-built financial technology solutions that can be integrated into existing systems, enabling businesses to provide innovative financial services, reducing the cost of new in-house development technology and the investment needed for resources, which makes it cost-efficient financial services, making high-tech tools available without a high upfront cost. With FaaS, companies can focus on competition and innovation with their core operations, delivering cutting-edge financial services to their customers.
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Based on the type, Payments in the FaaS market accounts for the highest market size during the forecast period.
Payments are expected to maintain the highest market share in the FaaS market for various reasons. Their ubiquitous nature, being important to daily transactions and serving a vast customer base involving individuals, businesses, and governments, and rapid technological advancements like digital wallets, biometric authentication, upgraded security on real-time payments, convenience, and efficiency play a crucial role in financial inclusion by providing services through mobile payments in the emerging market. It acts as a boon by providing solutions and services to a major segment of the population through digital platforms. It is enhancing the customer experience by integrating payment methods to various platforms such as e-commerce, ride-sharing, and digital commerce, driving the popularity of subscription-based models, and its regulatory evolution, such as open banking payments and Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), creating strong authentication and open API's.
By application, KYC Verification segment will grow at the highest CAGR during the forecasted period.
The Know Your Customer (KYC) verification segment is growing faster than any other part of the fintech-as-a-service market. This growth comes from a few key factors. Companies need to follow stricter rules, like those against money laundering and funding terrorism, as well as laws about data privacy, such as GDPR and CCPA. More cases of identity theft and financial scams make it crucial to have accurate and reliable KYC to keep customers safe.
KYC also helps make signing up new customers online smoother and quicker, improving their first experience and letting companies assess risk better. As the fintech world grows and technology improves, like fingerprint scans and smart computer analysis, the need for solid KYC checks increases. This builds customer trust and protects the good name of financial companies.
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By region, Asia Pacific will grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
Asia Pacific is forecasted to grow at the highest CAGR due to the rapid adoption of digitization, rising internet penetration, and widespread use of smartphones in countries like India, China, and Indonesia, which have a large customer base. These regions are one of the largest populations, which provides an opportunity for fintech companies for financial inclusion. The government's support and praise for fintech solutions is being heavily backed up, showing a positive future aspect of growth in the FaaS market. The region also attracts a large number of investment interests from various sources due to its population and growing demand for digital financial services, mostly among middle-class earning entities. The market is also a rising hub of digital platforms, which further enhances the strong entrepreneurial ecosystem and the fintech landscape.
Top Companies in Fintech as a Service Market:
PayPal (US), Mastercard (US), Fiserv (US), Block (US), Rapyd (UK), Envestnet (US), Upstart (US), Solid Financial (US), FIS (US), Synctera (US), Stripe (US) , Adyen (Netherlands), Dwolla (US), Finastra (UK), Revolut (UK), Fispan (Canada), Nium (Singapore), Airwallex (Australia), Sofi Technologies Inc. (US), Margeta (US), Finx (US), Synapse (US).
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Besra Gold Inc. (ASX: BEZ) ("Besra" or the "Company") is very pleased to announce the appointment of Mine Development Specialist Mr Matthew Antill (BEng [Mining] and Fellow of AUSIMM) as Managing Director of Besra's Malaysian operating subsidiary, North Borneo Gold Sdn Bhd, where he will head the mining and development team. Mr Antill will be responsible for moving the Jugan Project towards commercialisation through Pilot Production and delivery of the Definitive Feasibility Study.
Mr Antill's career spans over thirty years in mining and mine development. He has significant senior operational management experience and oversees studies in both open pit and underground operations. He specialises in gold, including refractory and narrow vein operations.
As Chief Production and Mine Development Officer at Monument Mining Limited since 2018, he played a pivotal role in commencing multiple open pit mines and commissioning the ~1mtpa sulphide gold processing circuit at the Selinsing Gold Mine in Malaysia. Mr. Antill successfully managed the transition of the mine from oxide ore production to the commencement in late 2023 of gold concentrate production from sulphide ore.
Before that, as General Manager of Operations at Rox Resources in Western Australia, Mr Antill managed various studies and metallurgical test work for the Youanmi Gold Mine, evaluating multiple processing treatment options and mining scenarios for the company's mix of open pit and underground operations. Youanmi is host to a Resource of 2.3moz Au, including refractory ore, with a recently completed PFS targeting a >100kozpa Au.
Other senior operational leadership experience includes roles at Lafayette Mining Philippines, Fox Resource's Radio Hill, Citic Pacific's Sino Iron Project and Saracen Metals' Thunderbox Mine.
Known for his practical and innovative mine design solutions, Matthew leads by example with a hands-on management style, building diverse and high-performing teams to execute plans.
A Fellow of the AusIMM, Matthew holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering from the University of Queensland and a Western Australian and Queensland First Class Mine Managers Certificate of Competency.
Appointment Letter
Commencing 1 November 2024, Mr Antill will be appointed to the Board (as Managing Director) of Besra's Malaysian operating subsidiary, North Borneo Gold Sdn Bhd.
As Managing Director of North Borneo Gold Sdn Bhd, Mr Antill will report to the Board of Besra, be remunerated at A$400,000 per annum (plus superannuation), and serve a three-month probationary period.
Subject to the satisfactory completion of Matthew's probationary period, he (or his nominee) will be entitled to be allotted 1.2 million Besra performance rights to be issued on the terms and conditions set out in Schedule 1 (also refer to Appendix 3B of today's date).
All other terms and conditions of Mr Antill's appointment letter is considered standard for an agreement of this nature.
Kenny Lee (Executive Director) authorised the release of this announcement.
Michael Higginson
Company Secretary
Schedule 1: Terms of Performance Rights
Subject to the satisfactory completion of Mr Antill's Probationary Period, the Performance Rights to be granted by Besra Gold Inc (Company or Besra) to Matthew Antill, or his nominee (Holder), will be granted on the terms and conditions set out below and as detailed in Annexure 1 (collectively the Terms):
(a)Classes of Performance Rights
The following classes of Performance Rights will be granted by Besra on and subject to these Terms:
(i) Class A Performance Rights;
(ii) Class B Performance Rights; and
(iii) Class C Performance Rights.
(b)Vesting
(i) Subject to these terms, a Performance Right automatically vests in the Holder upon satisfaction of the:
the Performance Hurdle for that class of Performance Rights as outlined in Annexure 1 ( Performance Hurdle ) being achieved or otherwise satisfied; and
if that Performance Rights (or the CHESS Depository Interests in the capital of the Company (CDIs) to be issued on vesting of the same) is classified by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as a "restricted security" subject to ASX imposed escrow restrictions, the expiry of those escrow restrictions.
(ii) If a Performance Hurdle for a class of Performance Rights is not achieved, that class of Performance Rights will not vest, subject to these Terms.
(iii) The Company's determination as to whether a Performance Hurdle has been achieved is final.
(iv) Satisfaction or achievement of the Performance Hurdle is to be determined in relation to each class of Performance Rights, subject to these Terms.
(c)Expiry and forfeiture
Each Performance Right that has not vested will automatically:
(i) lapse and terminate at midnight on the last day by which the Performance Hurdle for that class of Performance Rights must be achieved; and
(ii) lapse and be forfeited if the Holder ceases to be the Managing Director of North Borneo Gold Sdn Bhd.
(d)Transfer and encumbrances
(i) A Performance Right is not transferrable.
(ii) The Holder must not grant or permit any security interest or other encumbrances over a Performance Right.
(e)Quotation of Performance Rights
Besra will not apply to the ASX for official quotation of any class of Performance Right.
(f)Quotation of CDIs
Upon vesting, Besra will apply to the ASX for official quotation of the CDIs.
(g)New issues
The Holder is not entitled to participate in any new issue of securities made by Besra to its shareholders or CDI holders unless the Holder's Performance Rights (or any of them) have vested and CDIs have been issued to the Holder before the record date for determining entitlements to the new issue of securities.
(h)Participation in entitlements and bonus issues
A Performance Right does not entitle a Holder (in their capacity as a holder of a Performance Right) to participate in new issues of capital offered to Besra shareholders or CDI holders, such as a bonus issue or an entitlement issue.
(i)Reorganisation
(i) If there is a reorganisation (including consolidation, sub-division, reduction or return) of the Share capital of Besra, then the rights of the Holder in relation to each class of Performance Rights held by the Holder will be changed to the extent necessary to comply with the ASX Listing Rules applying to a reorganisation of capital at the time of the reorganisation.
(ii) Any calculations or adjustments which are required to be made in relation to paragraph (i) above will be made by Besra's Board of Directors and will, in the absence of manifest error, be final and conclusive and binding on Besra and the Holder.
(iii) Besra must, within a reasonable period of a reorganisation in relation to paragraph (i) above occurring, give to the Holder notice of any change to the number of CDIs which the Holder will be entitled to receive pursuant to any Performance Rights then held by the Holder.
(j)Issue of Entitlement
(i) Within 10 days of the satisfaction a Performance Hurdle, Besra will issue to the Holder that number of CDIs as set in Annexure 1 or that number of CDIs as has been advised pursuant to paragraph (i)(iii) above.
(ii) Subject to Besra's constitution, all CDIs issued in relation to an entitlement pursuant to a class of Performance Rights will rank in all respects (including rights relating to dividends) equally with the CDIs as at the date of issue.
(k)Amendments required by ASX
The Terms may be amended as necessary by Besra's Board of Directors in order to comply with the ASX Listing Rules (if applicable), or any directions of ASX (if applicable) regarding the Terms, provided that, subject to compliance with the ASX Listing Rules, the economic and other rights of the Holder are not diminished or terminated following such amendment.
(l)Governing law
The Terms and the rights and obligations of the Holder are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. The Holder irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, Australia in this respect.
ANNEXURE 1
Class Performance Hurdle Entitlement Class A Performance Right Within 18 months of the Commencement Date, the completion of a fully executed definitive feasibility study for the Company's Jugan Gold Project. 400,000 Class A Performance Rights Class B Performance Right Within 24 months of the Commencement Date, the execution by either Besra or the Company of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction agreement for the development of the Company's Jugan Gold Project. 400,000 Class B Performance Rights Class C Performance Right Within 36 months of the Commencement Date, the definition at the Company's Bau Gold Project of a JORC Resource of 5,000,000 ounces of contained gold reported at or above 0.5 grams per tonne. 400,000 Class C Performance Rights
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218538
SOURCE: Besra Gold Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd. (CSE: SXTY) (FSE: 2F40) (OTC Pink: SXNTF) (the "Company" or "Sixty North Gold")
Sixty North Gold is pleased to announce that the exercise of 678,000 - $0.18 warrants brought $122,040 into the Company in July.
Operationally, the newly reported DD-Zone is exposed for 12 m in the 3m x 4m Main Ramp where it averages 1.2 m in width within intense pink altered metasedimentary rocks of the Burwash Formation. Historic diamond drilling extends this vein 40 m up to surface and along strike for 100m where it remains open to the south. An estimated 13,000 tonnes of this gold-bearing vein is located above the ramp elevation to surface. Samples from the West Limb of the A-Zone and the DD-Zone have been submitted for assay at independent certified laboratories in late July and the results will help guide development plans. Advances along the crosscut 970 XCE are expected to intersect the east limb of the A-Zone within two weeks (see Plan View of Mon Underground Development below).
Plan View of Mon Underground Development - August 1, 2024
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The Company has completed a geotechnical drill program and has installed thermistors in compliance with its operational licenses.
Dr. Dave Webb, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.Geol., President & CEO, Director stated, "We are pleased existing shareholders have exercised their warrants. These funds will help the Company advance development of the Mon Gold Mine. We have exposed one of the two principal gold-bearing structures in the A-Zone and expect to hit the second exposure shortly. We also exposed an additional gold-bearing vein in the DD-Zone that was not expected. Bulk sample material can be extracted from the DD-Zone and West Limb and have pending assay results. The two limbs of the A-Zone can each be developed to the north and south providing us with four faces for development."
Dr. D.R. Webb Ph.D., P.Geol., P.Eng. is the Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and is responsible for the technical details of this release.
About the Company
The Company is developing mining operations for gold on its 100%-owned Mon Gold Property, 40 km north of Yellowknife, NWT. Past production of the A Zone extracted 15,000 tonnes at 30 gpt gold from this vein (Company Technical Report, August 3, 2023, author Dr. D. R. Webb, Ph.D., P.Geol., P.Eng., available on SEDAR or https://sixtynorthgold.com/projects/technical-report/). The Yellowknife gold camp hosts two mines that averaged 30 gpt gold or better (Discovery and Sixty North Gold's Mon Mine), and two that averaged 15 gpt or better for a total production of over 14 million ounces of gold (Con Min and Giant Mine) (ref. Sixty North Gold NI 43-101, August, 2023).
For more information, please refer to the Company's public filings available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), under the Company's profile.
Statements about the Company's future expectations and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Further details about the risks applicable to the Company are contained in the Company's public filings available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), under the Company's profile.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218537
SOURCE: Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd.
SAO PAULO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartKargo, the technology company that brings airlines into the age of e-commerce, and Azul Cargo Express, a subsidiary of Azul Brazilian Airlines, celebrate their success and ongoing collaboration that has revolutionized the e-commerce package delivery industry in Brazil. The two companies have been long-term partners, working together to drive innovation and efficiency in the logistics sector.
Since its inception as the cargo division of Azul Brazilian Airlines, Azul Cargo Express has rapidly positioned itself as a leader in logistics solutions, especially within the burgeoning e-commerce sector. According to Abhi Shah, President of Azul Airlines, central to this success has been the "Strategic adoption of SmartKargo's advanced cloud-based technology, which has enabled Azul Cargo Express to streamline operations, optimize Booking, inventory and visibility, deliver superior customer service and drive revenue."
Olivier Houri, CRO of SmartKargo, stated, "Azul is a phenomenal partner that shares our innovation DNA and focuses on the customers." Azul Cargo Express has witnessed a remarkable growth trajectory, with a consistent annual increase in package delivery volume averaging between 30-35%. This growth has been fueled by the rapid expansion of e-commerce in Brazil and Azul Cargo Express's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to meet customer demands.
In November of last year, Azul Cargo Express set a record by handling over 2 million packages, reflecting the robustness of its strategic initiatives and the effectiveness of the SmartKargo platform. This achievement underscores the growing demand for e-commerce and customers' trust in Azul Cargo Express's logistics solutions. Azul Cargo Express delivers e-commerce packages for Amazon, and, with Prime Day last week, increased their volume by over 45% with great efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The extension of the SmartKargo contract for another 5 year is a testament to the successful partnership and shared vision of innovation and growth. Azul Cargo Express is poised to lead the way in efficient and reliable logistics solutions, driving customer satisfaction and market growth in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
About SmartKargo:
SmartKargo empowers airlines and small package shippers with the technology platform to leverage the speed only an airline can provide. Whether it's a cargo company shipping from Miami to Bogota, or a retailer looking to send a package from New York to Los Angeles - SmartKargo is the innovative solution that enables shippers to battle the status quo. With deep expertise in air cargo, technology, and e-commerce, SmartKargo enables airlines to open new revenue streams through e-commerce package shipping and delivery. SmartKargo is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with key offices in India, the Philippines, Brazil, United Arab Emirates and Canada. For more information, visit www.smartkargo.com.
About Azul Airlines:
Azul Cargo Express, the logistics unit of Azul Linhas Aereas, has its business model in express parcels and cargo shipments, taking advantage of the capacity of Azul's airline network. Today, the Azul Cargo Express network has over 300 stores in Brazil and abroad, offering "door to door" service to over 4,200 Brazilian cities, besides the entire territory of the USA and Portugal.
The services offered include critical parcels, B2C distribution for e-commerce, parcels at economical rates, and palletized cargo in the global market. For more information, visit https://ri.voeazul.com.br.
CONTACT:Ed Burek, edward@smartkargo.com
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CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Single Use Bioreactors Market is expected to grow from USD 4.4 billion in 2024 to USD 9.1 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 15.4%. The single-use bioreactors (SUBs) market is driven by factors such as the growing adoption of single-use technologies by SMEs, CDMOs, and CMOs, the benefits of SUBs over traditional stainless-steel bioreactors, and the expanding biologics and biosimilars market. These bioreactors are favored for their lower capital investment, reduced water and energy consumption, and flexibility. However, challenges such as leachables and extractables issues, regulatory hurdles, and PFAS restrictions may impact growth. The market is bolstered by opportunities in hybrid facilities, which combine single-use and traditional systems for cost efficiency and flexibility. Despite these advantages, concerns about the potential breakage of single-use bags, which can lead to contamination and significant financial losses, pose challenges. In 2023, single-use bioreactor systems and stirred-tank bioreactors dominated the market, with North America leading regional markets due to its strong biopharmaceutical R&D presence. Key players include Sartorius AG, Danaher Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Merck KGaA.
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572 - Tables
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Sartorius AG: Leading Provider of Single-Use Bioreactor Solutions
Sartorius AG is a prominent player in the single-use bioreactors market, catering to biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies, CMOs, and CROs. The company stands out for its comprehensive range of customer-centric, technology-driven solutions and significant investments in R&D. Its extensive product lineup, which includes high-quality single-use bioreactors, is a key factor in its growing market share. Sartorius AG's robust global presence and ongoing expansion in both developed and emerging markets position it for continued growth in the single-use bioreactors sector during the forecast period.
Danaher Corporation: Key Innovator in Single-Use Bioreactors
Danaher Corporation, through its subsidiary Cytiva, offers advanced cell culture, filtration, separation, and purification technologies for the medical, biopharmaceutical, and food & beverage industries. Its strong portfolio of single-use bioreactor solutions makes it a leading player in the market. Danaher's bioprocessing technologies facilitate the development and commercialization of drugs, plasma, and vaccines, underscoring its significant role in the single-use bioreactors market.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.: Comprehensive Single-Use Bioreactor Solutions Provider
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. provides a broad range of single-use bioreactor products, effectively addressing diverse market needs. As a leading market player, Thermo Fisher leverages its extensive product offerings and strong market presence to influence trends and customer preferences. Continuous investment in R&D enables the company to stay at the cutting edge of technological advancements, addressing emerging challenges and opportunities in bioprocessing.
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Product Segmentation: Single-Use Bioreactor Systems Lead the Market
In 2023, the single-use bioreactors market is divided into several product categories: single-use bioreactor systems, single-use media bags, single-use assemblies, and other products (such as single-use vessels, sensors, tubing, connectors, software, control systems, and probes). The single-use bioreactor systems segment held the largest market share due to their lower initial investment requirements, reduced operational costs from simplified processes, and minimal environmental impact thanks to recyclable components. These advantages have significantly boosted the adoption of single-use bioreactor systems in biopharmaceutical applications.
Type Segmentation: Stirred-Tank Bioreactors Dominate
The single-use bioreactors market is segmented by type into stirred-tank, wave-induced, bubble-column, and other bioreactors (including hybrid designs and bioreactors with vertically perforated discs). In 2023, stirred-tank bioreactors represented the largest segment. Known for their versatility and scalability, stirred-tank bioreactors are extensively used in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Their impeller-driven design ensures even distribution of gases and nutrients, making them ideal for producing recombinant proteins, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies.
Molecule Type Segmentation: Monoclonal Antibodies Lead
The single-use bioreactors market is also segmented by molecule type into monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), vaccines, stem cells, gene-modified cells, and therapeutic proteins & peptides. In 2023, the monoclonal antibodies segment had the largest share, driven by the expanding pharmaceutical R&D pipeline, increasing cancer incidence, and rising demand for cancer therapies.
Cell Type Segmentation: Mammalian Cells Prevail
In terms of cell types, the market is divided into mammalian cells, bacterial cells, yeast cells, and other cells (such as insect and plant cells). The mammalian cells segment held the largest market share in 2023. This is due to the widespread use of mammalian cells in bioprocessing, known for their sophisticated metabolic functions, which drive the segment's growth.
Application Segmentation: Bioproduction Leads
The market is segmented by application into bioproduction, process development, and research & development (R&D). The bioproduction segment accounted for the largest share in 2023, attributed to the growing use of single-use bioreactors in biomanufacturing, increased regulatory approvals for biopharmaceuticals, the rise of biosimilars, and patent expirations of blockbuster drugs.
End-User Segmentation: Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies Dominate
Based on end users, the market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, contract research organizations (CROs) & contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), and academic & research institutes. The pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment was the largest in 2023 due to heightened R&D activities and increased production of biologics and biosimilars.
Regional Insights: North America and Asia Pacific Lead
The market is divided by region into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2023, North America held the largest market share, followed by Europe. North America's substantial market share is driven by the presence of major players and growing demand for personalized medicine and biologics. Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to experience the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR), fueled by the rising demand for biosimilars, expanding biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacities, and a growing contract manufacturing sector.
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MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.
MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.
Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.
The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.
Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.
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WESTFORD, Mass., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to SkyQuest, the global Regenerative Medicine Market size was valued at USD 9.59 Billion in 2022 and is poised to grow from USD 12.2 Billion in 2023 to USD 83.6 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 27.2% in the forecast period (2024-2031).
With regenerative medicine, congenital abnormalities are fixed and organs and tissues destroyed by illness, aging, or trauma can be restored or replaced. Regenerative medicine expedites patient healing compared to conventional therapy. As more investors back start-up businesses that concentrate on creating cutting-edge goods and therapies for the market, more R&D projects have been completed due to rise in investment in this sector. Research mergers and collaborations have benefited from this. The development of efficient treatment options for a range of chronic illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease, is facilitated by government investments in this sector.
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Regenerative Medicine Market Overview:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $12.2 Billion Estimated Value by 2031 $83.6 Billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 27.2% Forecast Period 2024-2031 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product, Therapeutic Area, Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Report Highlights Use of regenerative medicines and its benefits in treating range of illnesses Key Market Opportunities Government initiatives in support of reproduction medicines Key Market Drivers Increase in R&D spending that produces innovative product launches
Segments covered in Regenerative Medicine Market are as follows:
Product
Cell Therapy (Stem Cell Therapy {Cell transplantations, Stem cell therapy products [Autologous therapy, Allogeneic therapy]}, Cell-based Immunotherapy), Gene Therapy, and Tissue Engineering
Therapeutic Area
Oncology, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Dermatology & Wound Care, Cardiovascular Diseases, Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Others
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Cell Therapy: Pioneering the Future of Healing
The market leader in regenerative medicine, cell therapy, with a revenue share of over 56% and is expected to stay that way for the duration of the forecast. Primary cell-based therapies are the most advanced drugs on the market right now since they offer a range of therapeutic uses and early clinical applications. The market for stem cell and progenitor cell-based therapeutics is growing due to significant investments made in stem cell research and changes to laws that permit their use in clinical settings.
In the regenerative medicine sector, the gene therapy market is growing at the fastest rate in terms of products, nevertheless. The precise repair of genetic defects made possible by developments in gene technology such as CRISPR-Cas-9 facilitates segmental expansion. It offers long-term treatments for conditions including hemophilia and muscular dystrophy, among others. The market is expanding more rapidly due to higher gene therapy spending. Regenerative medicine is being advanced by major technology providers that provide engineering, characterization, manufacturing, quality control, management, and other facilities for clinical trials and other research. Due to this, the service sector is expected to expand rapidly due to an increase in regenerative treatment research and clinical trials.
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Oncology is driving the Regenerative Medicine Industry due to rise in the prevalence of cancer globally
Oncology represents the largest therapeutic area in the regenerative medicine industry, accounting for around 16.8% of total revenue due to the high frequency of application of regenerative therapies in this field. Effective alternatives to cancer treatment have been introduced due to rise in the incidence of cancer. Large sums of money have been invested in cancer R&D of innovative and regenerative cell therapies by several governmental agencies and commercial enterprises. Moreover, global initiatives are anticipated to reduce the cancer burden that would fuel market growth.
The area of regenerative medicine that is growing the fastest is musculoskeletal issues. As musculoskeletal disorders are becoming more common, a wide selection of products should increase the musculoskeletal segment's revenue. The field of regenerative medicine has advanced more quickly since the introduction of effective treatments such as stem cells and tissue engineering, which enable tissues to mend and regain their functional strength. This population can receive and benefit from cell- and regenerative-based therapy. Throughout the embryonic period, several unique routes encourage tissue engineering. These include using biomaterials and drug delivery methods to affect cell division and to stimulate and regulate the immune system. R&D methods in dermatology have been raised by an increase in the complexity of the wound healing process in serious conditions such as diabetes and HIV.
The regenerative medicine market has experienced significant growth in several domains, including cell therapy and oncology, due to the products' increasing demand and diverse range of applications. These advancements have the power to fundamentally rethink therapy strategies, offering patients new hope and ground-breaking chances for medical study.
Related Report:
Precision Medicine Market
Nuclear Medicine Market
Stem Cell Therapy Market
Cell Therapy Market
Compression Therapy Market
About Us:
SkyQuest is an IP focused Research and Investment Bank and Accelerator of Technology and assets. We provide access to technologies, markets and finance across sectors viz. Life Sciences, CleanTech, AgriTech, NanoTech and Information & Communication Technology.
We work closely with innovators, inventors, innovation seekers, entrepreneurs, companies and investors alike in leveraging external sources of R&D. Moreover, we help them in optimizing the economic potential of their intellectual assets. Our experiences with innovation management and commercialization has expanded our reach across North America, Europe, ASEAN and Asia Pacific.
Contact:
Mr. Jagraj Singh
SkyQuest Technology
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Westford,
Massachusetts 01886
USA (+1) 351-333-4748
Email: sales@skyquestt.com
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Expansion into emerging markets with growing agricultural sectors offers significant opportunities for increased phosphate fertilizer demand and market growth.
WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global phosphates market is estimated to ascend at a CAGR of 3.2% from 2024 to 2034. Transparency Market Research projects that the overall sales revenue for phosphates is estimated to reach US$ 109.5 billion by the end of 2034.
A notable trend is the increasing investment in research and development to create more efficient and tailored phosphate fertilizers. Companies are focusing on developing specialized products that cater to specific soil types and crop needs, optimizing nutrient absorption and enhancing yield quality.
Biological alternatives to traditional phosphate fertilizers are emerging as another key trend. These bio-based fertilizers utilize natural processes and organisms to improve soil health and nutrient availability, offering a more environmentally friendly option for farmers. This trend aligns with the increasing demand for organic farming practices and products.
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There is a noticeable shift towards digitalization in the phosphates market. Companies are leveraging big data, IoT, and artificial intelligence to monitor soil health, predict nutrient needs, and optimize fertilizer application. This digital transformation enhances decision-making and operational efficiency, ultimately contributing to better crop outcomes and sustainable agricultural practices.
Key Findings of the Market Report
Diammonium phosphate (DAP) is the leading type segment in the phosphates market, favored for its high nutrient content and effectiveness.
Agriculture is the leading application segment in the phosphates market, driven by the crucial role of phosphate fertilizers in enhancing crop yields.
Asia Pacific is the leading region segment in the phosphates market, driven by robust agricultural activities and rising food demand.
Phosphates Market Growth Drivers & Trends
Increasing population and food security concerns drive the need for phosphate fertilizers to enhance crop yields and agricultural productivity.
Growing emphasis on eco-friendly farming encourages the development and adoption of phosphate-based fertilizers with lower environmental impact.
Advances in production and application technologies improve the efficiency and effectiveness of phosphate fertilizers, boosting market growth.
Supportive agricultural policies and subsidies promote the use of phosphates, particularly in developing regions, stimulating market expansion.
The growth of livestock farming increases demand for feed phosphates, essential for animal nutrition and overall health, driving market growth.
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Global Phosphates Market: Regional Profile
Dominated by The Mosaic Company and Nutrien, this region benefits from advanced agricultural practices and strong demand for high-quality fertilizers. The focus is on sustainable production and efficient resource utilization to meet stringent environmental regulations.
Europe's phosphate market is driven by the need for sustainable agriculture and strict environmental policies. Companies like Yara International and EuroChem lead with innovative, eco-friendly products. The region's emphasis on organic farming and reducing chemical inputs shapes the market landscape.
Asia Pacific region experiences robust growth due to increasing food demand, driven by population growth and rising incomes. China and India are key players, with significant phosphate reserves and expanding production capacities.
The market is marked by investments in modernizing agricultural practices and improving crop yields, with companies like OCP and PhosAgro actively participating.
Phosphates Market Report Scope:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period? 2024-2034 Base Year? 2020-2022 Size in 2023 US$ 41.4 Bn Forecast (Value) in 2034 US$ 109.5 Bn Growth Rate (CAGR) 3.2 % No. of Pages 285 Pages Segments covered By Type, By Application, By Region
Phosphates Market: Competitive Landscape
The phosphates market is fiercely competitive, driven by key players like The Mosaic Company, OCP, and Nutrien. These industry leaders are continually innovating to enhance product quality and sustainability. Companies compete on multiple fronts, including production capacity, technological advancements, and global distribution networks.
Emerging players from regions with rich phosphate reserves, like Morocco and China, are intensifying the competition. The push towards sustainable agriculture and environmental regulations is prompting firms to develop eco-friendly products. Strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions are common as companies seek to expand their market share and strengthen their global presence in this dynamic industry. Some prominent players are as follows:
The Mosaic Company
OCP
Aliphos
ICL Group Ltd.
Nutrien Ltd.
Prayon
Jordan Phosphate Mines Co.
PhosAgro
EuroChem Group
Kazphosphate LLP
Ma'aden
Sinochem Yunlong Co. Ltd.
Sichuan Blue Sword Chemical (Group) Co. Ltd.
Yara
Phosphea
Aditya Birla Chemicals
Coromandel International
Innophos
Budenheim
Product Portfolio
The Mosaic Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of high-quality phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Their products support agricultural productivity worldwide, ensuring optimal plant health and robust yields. Mosaic's innovative solutions cater to the diverse needs of modern farming, promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Aliphos delivers premium feed phosphates for the animal nutrition industry. Their product range, including dicalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate, ensures optimal animal health and growth. Aliphos prioritizes quality, sustainability, and innovation to meet the nutritional needs of livestock and poultry.
Phosphates Market: Key Segments
By Type
Ammonium Phosphate Monoammonium Phosphate Diammonium Phosphate Triammonium Phosphate Trihydrate
Calcium Phosphate Monocalcium Phosphate Dicalcium Phosphate Tricalcium Phosphate Others
Potassium Phosphate Monopotassium Phosphate Dipotassium Phosphate Tripotassium Phosphate Others
Magnesium Phosphate Monomagnesium Phosphate Dimagnesium Phosphate Trimagnesium Phosphate
Sodium Phosphate Disodium Phosphate Trisodium Phosphate Sodium Hexametaphosphate Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Others
Single Super Phosphate
Triple Super Phosphate
Iron Phosphate
Others (including Rubidium Phosphate)
By Application
Building & Construction
Agriculture
Animal Feed
Personal Care
Water Treatment
Cleansers/Detergents
Food & Beverages Dairy Bakery & Confectioneries Poultry & Meat Others
Pharmaceuticals
Others
By Region
North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Latin America
Middle East & Africa
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WESTFORD, Mass., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to SkyQuest, the global Remote Patient Monitoring Market size was valued at USD 1.9 Billion in 2022 and is poised to grow from USD 2.2 Billion in 2023 to USD 8.5 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.3% in the forecast period (2024-2031).
Remote patient monitoring in healthcare holds great potential due to the abundant opportunities created by the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Hence remote patient monitoring technology is making the best use of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to study massive datasets, detect trends, sing customized interventions, and project health issues. Moreover, the growing use of 5G networks will help the speedy transfer of data, allowing better patient monitoring in unexplored regions.
The RPM systems deliver services with enhanced chronic disorders management comprising early detection of health signals along with a progress tracker, thereby impelling the RPM market. Also, the recent pandemic resulted in shortage of beds in hospitals, and patients suffering from chronic diseases were advised to stay at home due to the growing risk of getting infection. This ultimately propelled remote patient monitoring market.
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Remote Patient Monitoring Market Overview:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 USD 2.2 Billion Estimated Value by 2031 USD 8.5 Billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 16.3% Forecast Period 2024-2031 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Type, Application, End User, and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Escalating Use of Remote Patient Monitoring in Fighting Infectious Diseases Key Market Drivers Increasing Need to Expand Healthcare Access
Segments covered in Remote Patient Monitoring Market are as follows:
Type
Software & Services, Devices (Cardiac Monitoring Devices, Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices, Neurological Monitoring Devices, Respiratory Monitoring Devices, Multiparameter Monitoring Devices, Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices, Fetal and Neonatal Monitoring Devices, Weight Monitoring Devices, Others)
Application
Oncology, Hypertension, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes, Sleep Disorders, Weight Management and Fitness Monitoring
End User
Providers (Hospitals & Clinics, Home Care Settings and Long-term Care Centers, Ambulatory Care Centers, Others), Payers, Patients, and Others
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Growing Cases of Chronic Diseases, Needing Efficient Monitoring is Driving Devices Segment
By type, the devices segment held majority market and is expected to lead the market in future as well owing to rising cases of chronic illnesses, growing popularity, mounting use of remote patient monitoring technologies, and escalating demand for tailored healthcare. Moreover, incorporation of machine learning and artificial intelligence in RPM is also fueling the demand and ultimately the segment growth.
On the other hand, software and services segment to grow as a fastest growing since remote patient monitoring services are progressing with more remote monitoring programs being reimbursed and more individuals are getting diagnosed with chronic diseases.
Diabetes Segment to Lead the Market Owing to Constant Monitoring of Glucose Levels
By application, the diabetes segment held notable share of the market in 2023 and is projected to continue dominance in future also since diabetes is known cause death if not treated properly. This illness needs constant monitoring, mainly for blood glucose levels since it directly impacts the heart, liver, vision, and renal activity. Moreover, constant and regular monitoring is essential in diabetes which can be done with RPM devices.
On the other hand, hypertension is the fastest-growing region observed in the market since it significantly increases the risk of heart-associated disorders. Every year, more than 1 billion individuals are diagnosed with health diseases. Hence, to reduce this rate, RPM solutions can considerably monitor hypertension by tracking key body signals.
View report summary and Table of Contents (TOC):
https://www.skyquestt.com/report/remote-patient-monitoring-market
Providers Domain to be Propelled by the Adoption of a Wide Range of Diagnostic Tests for Patients
By end user, the provider segment is expected to lead since hospitals need to address mounting number of patients. Hospitals offer several diagnostic tests and employ a larger workforce who take care of patients. Rising implementation of RPM in hospitals to take quality care of patients is fueling the segment growth.
Patients segment is the fastest-growing segment since patients are constantly using different health applications and devices to track their diseases from their homes. Hence, growing adoption of remote patient monitoring technologies among patients is impelling the segment growth. This motivates patients to actively get involved in their healthcare by offering better accessibility and convenience.
Use of ML and AI to Promise More Exciting Technological Improvements in RPM
The future of remote patient monitoring is highly favorable with more exciting modernizations and advancements in technologies. They use machine learning and artificial intelligence to monitor the health of patients remotely. RPM is growing in popularity backed by the mounting use of telehealth services and wearable devices. Also, enhanced privacy and security have created trust in the minds of people, which will make it accurate, easy, and dedicated to patients.
Related Report:
Healthcare IT Market
Digital Health Market
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Market
IOT In Healthcare Market
Telemedicine Market
About Us:
SkyQuest is an IP focused Research and Investment Bank and Accelerator of Technology and assets. We provide access to technologies, markets and finance across sectors viz. Life Sciences, CleanTech, AgriTech, NanoTech and Information & Communication Technology.
We work closely with innovators, inventors, innovation seekers, entrepreneurs, companies and investors alike in leveraging external sources of R&D. Moreover, we help them in optimizing the economic potential of their intellectual assets. Our experiences with innovation management and commercialization has expanded our reach across North America, Europe, ASEAN and Asia Pacific.
Contact:
Mr. Jagraj Singh
SkyQuest Technology
1 Apache Way,
Westford,
Massachusetts 01886
USA (+1) 351-333-4748
Email: sales@skyquestt.com
Visit Our Website: https://www.skyquestt.com/
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Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that Dan Lipman has been appointed president of its Energy Systems business unit. In this role, Mr. Lipman will be responsible to deploy the AP1000pressurized water reactor and AP300 small modular reactor, as well as advanced reactor development and other non-nuclear energy systems, including long-duration energy storage.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801939638/en/
Westinghouse Electric Company has appointed Dan Lipman as president of its Energy Systems business unit. (Photo: Business Wire)
Mr. Lipman will succeed David Durham who announced his retirement in June 2025. This marks a return to Westinghouse for Mr. Lipman, who spent more than three decades of his career with the company starting as a field engineer and progressing to executive roles across multiple regions and businesses, including previously leading the company's new nuclear power plant development and projects.
"Dan has a notable track record of strong leadership, focus on operations and delivery, and deep understanding of our technology and customers that will uniquely position Westinghouse as we continue to shape tomorrow's energy future," said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and Chief Executive Officer. "He is immensely respected within the industry and has deep experience in our global markets and with our customers, which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership."
Prior to rejoining Westinghouse, Mr. Lipman also served in leadership roles at the Nuclear Energy Institute, which included oversight of nuclear exports, international trade, fuel cycle policy and programs, and policy analysis. He has also been an advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Trade and Development Agency on small reactor development and supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in emerging nuclear countries' industrial development.
Mr. Durham will remain in a senior advisory position with the company over the next several months and work closely with Mr. Lipman and members of Westinghouse's Executive Leadership team.
"We thank David Durham for his outstanding service to Westinghouse including his influential leadership in bringing the first AP1000 reactors online in the U.S. and China. David led new programs in Ukraine, Poland and Bulgaria, and ushered in an era of new advanced nuclear reactor technology with the AP300 and eVinci microreactor," said Mr. Fragman. "David has led a remarkable career in the global nuclear energy industry, and we are grateful for his expertise and commitment."
Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear and other clean power technologies and services globally. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the company's technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801939638/en/
Contacts:
media@westinghouse.com
Der Goldpreis haussiert und schwingt sich von Hoch zu Hoch. Getrieben von geopolitischen Unsicherheiten sowie der Aussicht auf eine lockere Geldpolitik der FED gehen Experten aktuell von weiter steigenden Notierungen bis sogar in den Bereich von 3.000 US-Dollar je Unze Gold aus.
Im Schatten des Basispreises notieren Goldproduzenten aus der zweiten Reihe sowie Explorationsunternehmen noch weit weg von ihren historischen Hochststanden entfernt und bieten dadurch erhebliches Aufholpotential.
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ACTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Geocomp, Inc., a leader in providing innovative geostructural solutions, is proud to announce the addition of two exceptional women to its leadership team, Anna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, Testing, and Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & Monitoring. This strategic move reinforces Geocomp's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while enhancing the company's capacity for innovation and excellence. Geocomp's technology-forward approach is central to its mission, ensuring the integration of cutting-edge solutions that help clients achieve their goals. By leveraging the latest technological advancements and maintaining strong industry partnerships, Geocomp continues to set the standard for excellence in geotechnical engineering.
Anna Kotas and Lucky Nagarajan, Geocomp, Inc.
Anna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, Testing, GeoTesting Express; and Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & Monitoring, Geocomp, Inc.
Sean P. O'Brien, PE, President of Geocomp, commented: "We are thrilled to welcome Anna and Lucky to our leadership team. Their extensive experience and dedication to advancing the field of geotechnical engineering align seamlessly with Geocomp's mission to leverage technology for innovative solutions. Their leadership will undoubtedly enhance our ability to deliver exceptional results for our clients and drive our commitment to diversity and inclusion within the industry."
New Leaders of Geocomp
Anna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, Testing
Anna is a professional Geotechnical Engineer with more than two decades of experience in the geotechnical field. In her career, Anna served as technical lead with a focus on solving client's geotechnical challenges with a personal and committed approach. Anna has been doing business development on behalf of GeoTesting Express (GTX) for 8 years. She feels that the most satisfying aspect of her work is connecting geotechnical engineers from all over the world with a lab of unmatched sophistication, attention to quality and fast turnaround. Anna is passionate about advocating for women's interests and is a dedicated mentor for women in STEM. She is committed to empowering women to become strong leaders while shedding light on the critical need to increase the representation of female leaders in civil engineering. Through her involvement with various organizations, she strives to create opportunities and support networks for women, championing diversity and inclusion in these vital sectors.
Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & Monitoring
Lucky has been in the industry for more than 20 years and brings a diverse range of experience, energy, and contagious enthusiasm to her work. Throughout her career, she has traveled around the world working in different market sectors with expertise in the design and construction of deep foundations. Lucky has developed a vast professional network around the world, leading to many conversations on challenges for women in the industry, leadership, industry advancement, and hiring and retaining talent. Her passion for culture, community, nurturing young engineers, and STEM has led her to being an active member of technical associations such as DFI, ASCE, G-I, USSD, and ISSMGE. She is the chair of Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) and Co-Founder of WiDF groups in Metro NYC, India, and Mexico, part of the Board of Trustees of DFI, serving as a member on the Women's Advisory Board- Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and one of the Board of Directors for the ASCE Met Section.
About Geocomp
Geocomp, Inc. is a leader in geotechnical engineering, technology, and testing. With more than 40 years of experience, Geocomp has a strong track record of helping clients achieve their ambitions, providing cutting-edge solutions on a wide range of projects. Geocomp provides geostructural consulting, monitoring, and laboratory testing services worldwide, and manufactures fully automated laboratory testing systems to commercial, research, and academic labs, globally.
Contact Information:
Julia Hoggins
Marketing Manager
julia.hoggins@geocomp.com
978-635-0012
SOURCE: Geocomp, Inc.
View the original press release on newswire.com.
Growth in higher-margin recurring revenue
EBITDA margin2of around 10% confirmed for FY 2023-2024
Net debt at 30 June 2024 of 102m3
Regulatory News:
Claranova (Paris:CLA):
This press release presents unaudited Group consolidated revenue, prepared in accordance with IFRS.
Revenue trends by division for FY 2023-2024
In m Jul. 2023
to Jun. 2024
(12 months) Jul. 2022
to Jun. 2023
(12 months) Change Change at
constant
exchange rates Change at
constant
consolidation
scope Change at
constant
consolidation
scope and
exchange rates PlanetArt 365 383 -5% -3% -5% -3% Avanquest 122 116 5% 9% 10% 14% myDevices 9 8 5% 8% 5% 8% Revenue 496 507 -2% 0% -1% 1%
Annual revenue trends by division for Q4 2023-2024
In m Apr. to Jun.
2024
(3 months) Apr. to Jun.
2023
(3 months) Change Change at
constant
exchange rates Change at
constant
consolidation
scope Change at
constant
consolidation
scope and
exchange rates PlanetArt 69 68 1% -2% 1% -2% Avanquest 30 30 -2% -1% 5% 5% myDevices 2 3 -56% -57% -56% -57% Revenue 100 102 -2% -3% 1% -1%
Eric Gareau, CEO of Claranova commented: "Claranova registered a marginal increase in revenue on a like-for-like basis for FY 2023-2024.
These results are testimony to our resilience and the strength of our strategy focused on profitability which is being implemented with rigor and determination by all our teams. On that basis, we maintain our target for a significant improvement in the EBITDA margin2 of approximately 10% for FY 2023-2024.
These performances confirm that Claranova has entered a new era, reinforced by a more focused governance structure, experienced management and committed teams working together to improve our overall results and continue to reduce our debt.
The entire management team is now fully focused on finalizing its new strategic plan to be presented when the annual results are published. This plan will strengthen our market position and capacity for innovation."
PlanetArt: strong growth in profitability expected for the full year
In line with the Group's strategy, reflecting a focus on profitability, PlanetArt, the e-commerce division for personalized objects, demonstrated more measured growth over FY 2023-2024. With this objective, the teams' efforts were focused on further optimizing customer acquisition costs, rationalizing expenses and giving priority to developing higher-margin product sales.
On that basis, the division's annual revenue amounted to 365m, representing a modest 3% decline at constant exchange rates (-5% at actual exchange rates), and is expected to contribute to a significant improvement in PlanetArt's EBITDA margin1 over the full year.
Avanquest: SaaS now accounting for more than 90% of sales4
The software publishing division ended the year with annual revenue of 122m, up 14% at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates (+5% at actual exchange rates), despite a stable Q4 (anticipated impact from seasonality effects and a slowdown in the recruitment of new customers for vertical applications in the Photo segment).
Avanquest's core activities delivered record sales of 111m for the year, and now account for 91% of the division's revenue (compared with 83% last year). Sales of higher-margin proprietary SaaS software solutions rose 18% at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates compared with FY 2022-2023 (+14% at actual exchange rates), with mixed trends among the different segments: Utilities (+33%5), PDF (+3%3) and Photo (-7%3). Non-core activities now account for less than 10% of annual sales or 11m, down 39% year-on-year at constant exchange rates (or -41% at actual exchange rates).
Bolstered by the strength of SaaS sales and the increasingly marginal share of non-core activities, Avanquest's operating profitability is set to improve significantly in FY 2023-2024.
myDevices: slower annual growth reflecting the postponement of certain rollouts
Annual revenue for myDevices, the IoT division, grew 8% from last year at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates to 9m (+5% at actual exchange rates). Following the strong growth momentum in recent quarters, the pace of growth eased off in Q4 in response to delayed rollouts of certain projects with partners. With the completion of these projects plus a number of new initiatives, the division is looking ahead to the coming year with renewed confidence.
The myDevices IoT offering continues to be well positioned, with nearly 220 channel partners at the end of FY 2023-2024. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) remain stable at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates (-3% at actual exchange rates) at 3.4m, compared with FY 2022-2023.
Lawsuits filed against the Group by Mr. Cesarini
Claranova confirms for the record that since the departure of Pierre Cesarini, the former CEO of Claranova, no financial transaction has been concluded between the parties.
To date, Mr. Cesarini's appointment as director of Claranova SE as well as his other offices within the Group's subsidiaries have been revoked. In Luxembourg, Mr. Cesarini's position as a company officer has also been revoked, with his definitive departure from Claranova Development SARL effective on the evening of October 31, 2024, at the end of the notice period. Until the aforementioned date, he has been dispensed from exercising all his functions.
Mr. Cesarini filed a lawsuit against the Group companies contesting his dismissal and is seeking 15m in damages.
In France, Mr. Cesarini filed a claim against Claranova before the Nanterre Court for 1m.
In Luxembourg, Mr. Cesarini filed a claim with the Luxembourg Labor Court against Claranova Development SARL, seeking compensation totaling approximately 14m.
The Group has duly noted these claims, which it considers to be without merit, and remains confident as to the outcome of these legal proceedings.
Claranova also specifies that Mr. Cesarini left the Group before meeting the different conditions of eligibility required to exercise his right to invest in the Group's subsidiaries.6 As a result, the Group considers that the preferred shares potentially conferring certain rights subscribed by Mr. Cesarini in connection with his option to invest in Group subsidiaries are, in any event, no longer justified and, in accordance with the applicable provisions7, may be repurchased from him at a price of 1 euro per type of instrument.
Financial calendar:
October 30, 2024: FY 2023-2024 results
December 04, 2024: General Meeting
Telephone number for individual shareholders available from Tuesday to Thursday between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. for calls within France: 0805 29 10 00 (local rate).
About Claranova:
As a diversified global technology company, Claranova manages and coordinates a portfolio of majority interests in digital companies with strong growth potential. Supported by a team combining several decades of experience in the world of technology, Claranova has acquired a unique know-how in successfully turning around, creating and developing innovative companies.
Claranova has proven its capacity to turn a simple idea into a worldwide success in just a few short years. Present in 15 countries and leveraging the technology expertise of its 800+ employees across North America and Europe, Claranova is a truly international group, with 95% of its revenue derived from international markets.
Claranova's portfolio of companies is organized into three unique technology platforms operating in all major digital sectors. As an e-commerce leader in personalized objects, Claranova also stands out for its technological expertise in software publishing and the Internet of Things, through its businesses PlanetArt, Avanquest and myDevices. These three technology platforms share a common vision: empowering people through innovation by providing simple and intuitive digital solutions that facilitate everyday access to the very best of technology.
For more information on Claranova Group:
https://www.claranova.com
CODES
Ticker:? CLA
ISIN: FR0013426004
www.claranova.com
Disclaimer:
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice and (ii) factors beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results or performance to be materially different from the expected results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Definitions and calculation methods for alternative performance indicators:
"Like-for-like" (organic) growth is defined as the change in revenue at constant structure (scope of consolidation) and exchange rates. "Exchange rate effects" are calculated by applying year N-1 exchange rates to year N revenue. "Consolidation scope effects" are calculated by taking into account acquisitions in the current year, contributions to the current year from acquisitions in the previous year up to the anniversary date of acquisitions and businesses deconsolidated in the current year, minus any contributions from the previous year. By definition, sales for the previous year plus the effects of changes in Group scope of consolidation, exchange rate effects and like-for-like growth for the period correspond to sales for the current year. Percentages for exchange rate effects, Group consolidation scope effects and like-for-like growth percentages are calculated on the basis of the previous year's sales.
Appendix:
Calculation of net financial debt
In m FY 20248
(Audit in progress) FY 2023
Reported basis Current financial liabilities 20 94 Non-current financial liabilities 119 85 Total financial liabilities9 139 179 Cash and cash equivalents 37 67 Net financial debt 102 112
_________________________________
1 Change at constant consolidation scope and exchange rates
2 EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.
3 Illustrative pre-IFRS 16 lease accounting data. Details provided in the Appendix
4 Software as a Service: a subscription-based, cloud-based service where software is accessed online through a web browser.
5 At constant exchange rates
6 (Faculte d'investissement au sein des filiales), Note 25.2 of the FY 2022-2023 Universal Registration Document
7 Full details are provided in chapter 3, section 3.3.2.1.1 of the FY 2022-2023 Universal Registration Document.
8 Provisional unaudited data under review
9 Excluding lease liabilities resulting from the adoption of IFRS 16.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240801902996/en/
Contacts:
ANALYSTS INVESTORS
+33 1 41 27 19 74
ir@claranova.com
FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION
+33 1 75 77 54 68
ir@claranova.com
Introducing New Digital Art and Generated Art Categories
BREA, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewSonic Corp.[i], a leading global provider of visual solutions, is thrilled to kick off the much-anticipated ColorPro Awards, marking the fifth consecutive year of the company's commitment to inspiring and empowering creators worldwide. This year's theme, "Momentum," invites creators to channel the boundless energy of momentum, riding its unstoppable wave toward the horizons of their dreams and aspirations. Submissions are open from now until September 24th, 2024. To learn more and participate, visit the ColorPro Awards website:
https://www.viewsonic.com/colorpro/event/colorproawards2024/
Over the past five years, the ColorPro Awards have transformed from a photography contest into a global celebration of diverse visual arts. This year, the competition expands beyond photography and videography, introducing a special award for the Digital Art category and the People's Choice Award for the Generated Art category. The newly introduced Generated Art category, designed to ignite and explore the creative potential of new artistic tools, will have its entries shortlisted by experts before opening to public voting, empowering the ColorPro Community to decide the winner. Meanwhile, industry professionals will evaluate entries and determine the winners in the Photography, Videography, and Digital Art categories.
Category winners will receive prizes from a pool valued at approximately $24,000 USD. These prizes include cash awards, top-of-the-line ColorPro monitors, and a suite of products and memberships designed to optimize creative workflows, including PANTONE and Calibrite products, a 1-year Shoot The Frame Premium membership, and a 1-year Tinyspace membership. Furthermore, winners will gain global exposure through ColorPro's digital channels, award ceremonies, exhibitions, and long-term collaborations as ColorPro Partners.
"We are excited to launch the fifth ColorPro Awards and continue our mission to inspire and empower creators around the world. Each year, we see astounding creativity and innovation, and this year's theme, 'Momentum,' perfectly encapsulates the forward-driving energy we hope to ignite in our participants," stated Oscar Lin, General Manager of the Monitor Business Unit at ViewSonic. "By introducing new categories for Digital Art and Generated Art, we aim to broaden the scope of creative expression and provide even more opportunities for artists to showcase their talents."
Notably, industry leaders SHOOTERS, PANTONE, Tinyspace, Calibrite, Shoot The Frame and The Design Kids will not only host workshops and promotional activities during the awards but also serve as esteemed members of the judging panel. This panel of internationally acclaimed photographers, videographers, and digital artists will review the submissions, ensuring impartiality and recognizing excellence in artistic expression. Entries will be evaluated based on their storytelling, aesthetics, creativity, relevance to the awards theme, and execution.
ViewSonic also invites five advocates to share their narratives of "Momentum." Andrea Astarita, a renowned photographer, describes "Momentum" as "freezing a moment where movement is captured in time, communicating the energy and dynamism of the subject in motion." His photographs highlight how momentum is ever-present in our surroundings.
Tim Burgess, an acclaimed nature photographer and videographer, connects "Momentum" with the immense energy of ocean waters. In his video, "The Great Migration," he captures the migration of humpback whales, showcasing their incredible momentum as they traverse the Pacific in large pods, demonstrating immense power when they breach the ocean's surface.
Discover more artwork and visual arts tips from The 5th ColorPro Awards advocates at https://www.viewsonic.com/colorpro/event/colorproawards2024/pro-tips
For more details about The 5th ColorPro Awards, please visit: https://www.viewsonic.com/colorpro/event/colorproawards2024/
[i] ViewSonic International Corp., located in New Taipei City, Taiwan, is the host and sponsor of the contest. ViewSonic International Corp. is a subsidiary of ViewSonic Corp., located in California, USA.
About ViewSonic
Founded in 1987 in California, ViewSonic is a leading global visual solutions provider with a presence in over 100 countries. The company leverages over 35 years of expertise in visual technology to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of hardware, software, content, and services. ViewSonic offers a wide range of products, with screen sizes spanning from 5 inches to a massive 760 inches. This includes interactive displays, large format displays, LED displays, pen displays, monitors, projectors, SaaS, AI services, interactive content, and more. This innovative ecosystem empowers education, workplaces, and individuals to foster creativity, collaboration, and seamless learning. ViewSonic focuses on designing products that deliver optimal performance and customer satisfaction while integrating sustainable production practices and upholding comprehensive environmental, social, and governance standards. The company's goal is to enable customers to "See the Difference". Learn more at www.viewsonic.com.
About SHOOTERS
SHOOTERS is a global creative community that hosts unique energy-filled events for creators to shoot, network, and meet like minded people from around the world. Since its inception in 2016, the community has harnessed the power of social media to grow into the millions, continuing to expand rapidly worldwide. With 12 hubs around the globe and more on the horizon, SHOOTERS welcomes new members to join its ever-growing community. For more information, please visit www.worldshooters.com or explore @world.shooters and @uk.shooters on Instagram.
About Pantone
Pantone provides the universal language of color that enables color-critical decisions through every stage of the workflow for brands and manufacturers. More than 10 million designers and producers around the world rely on Pantone products and services to help define, communicate and control color from inspiration to realization - leveraging advanced X-Rite technology to achieve color consistency across various materials and finishes for graphics, fashion and product design. Pantone Standards feature digital and physical color specification and workflow tools. The Pantone Color Institute provides customized color standards, brand identity and product color consulting as well as trend forecasting inclusive of Pantone Color of the Year, Fashion Runway Color Trend Reports, color psychology and more. Pantone B2B Licensing incorporates the Pantone Color System into different products and services, enabling licensees to communicate and reproduce Pantone values and improve efficiencies for their users. Pantone Lifestyle brings color and design together across apparel, home, and accessories. Learn more at www.pantone.com and connect with Pantone on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Tinyspace
Tinyspace is a premier portfolio, resume, and job application platform designed to help UX, UI, CX, product, service, and graphic design professionals land their next gig. Discover more at https://hey.tinyspace.io.
About Calibrite
Calibrite is dedicated to providing the very best solutions for photographers, filmmakers, designers and content creators who love color and demand the very best tools for their color-critical workflow. Learn more at https://calibrite.com/
About Shoot The Frame
Shoot The Frame, launched in 2012, hosts monthly photography competitions. Join professional and amateur photographers from around the globe and enter your best portrait, landscape, and wildlife photos for a chance to win fantastic prizes and international exposure. Learn more at https://shoottheframe.com/
About The Design Kids
TDK (The Design Kids) is a global online resource and local offline communities around the world, for thousands of student and graduate graphic designers.
We aim to educate, inspire and connect you to the design industry.
https://thedesignkids.org/
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L'Oreal announces that it has made available to the public and filed with the Autorite des
marches financiers its half-year financial report as of June 30, 2024.
The 2024 Half-Year Financial Report can be found on www.loreal-finance.com website in the Regulated information
section.
This report, available for consultation and downloading, includes:
The 2024 half-year activity report;
The summary consolidated financial statements at 30 June 2024;
Statutory Auditors' review report on the 2024 half-year financial information;
The declaration by the person responsible for the Half-Year Financial Report.
About L'Oreal
For 115 years, L'Oreal, the world's leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as essential, inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 37 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L'Oreal for the Future programme, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.
With more than 90,000 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks.
This press release does not constitute an offer of sale or solicitation of an offer to purchase L'Oreal shares. If you wish to obtain more comprehensive information about L'Oreal, please refer to the public documents registered in France with the Autorite des Marches Financiers, also available in English on our website www.loreal-finance.com. For residents of Israel, the offering described above is made pursuant to the Disclosure Document which may be obtained on the subscription website.
This press release may contain forecast information. While the Company believes that these statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of publication of this press release, they are by nature subject to risks and uncertainties which may lead to a discrepancy between the actual figures and those indicated or suggested in these statements."
CONTACTS L'OREAL
Switchboard
+33 (0) 1 47 56 70 00
Individual shareholders and market authorities
Pascale Guerin
+33 (0)1 49 64 18 89
pascale.guerin@loreal.com
Investor relations
Eva Quiroga
+33 (0)7 88 14 22 65
eva.quiroga@loreal.com
Media
Brune Diricq
+33 (0)6 63 85 29 87
brune.diricq @loreal.com
Christine Burke
+33 (0)6 75 54 38 15
arnaud.fraboul@loreal.com
For further information, please contact your bank, stockbroker of financial institution, the L'Oreal Finance app or call the toll-free number from France: 0 800 66 66 66. 0 800 66 66 66
Follow us on LinkedIn @L'Oreal
Follow us on Instagram @lorealgroupe
www.loreal.com
Attachment
Volta Finance Limited (VTA/VTAS)
Notification of transactions by directors, persons discharging managerial
responsibilities and persons closely associated with them
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
*****
Guernsey, 1 August 2024
Pursuant to the announcements made on 5 April 2019 and 26 June 2020 relating to changes to the payment of directors fees, Volta Finance Limited (the "Company" or "Volta") has purchased 3,380 ordinary shares of no par value in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at an average price of 5.2 per share.
Each director receives 30% of their Director's fees for any year in the form of shares, which they are required to retain for a period of no less than one year from their respective date of issue.
The shares will be issued to the Directors, who for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("MAR") are "persons discharging managerial responsibilities" (a "PDMR").
Dagmar Kershaw, Chairman and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 1,040 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Ms Kershaw will have an interest in 12,838 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.03% of the issued shares of the Company;
Stephen Le Page, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR, acquired 728 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mr Le Page will have an interest in 50,562 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.14% of the issued shares of the Company;
Yedau Ogoundele, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR acquired 728 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mrs Ogoundele will have an interest in 6,862 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.02% of the issued shares of the Company; and
Joanne Peacegood, Director and a PDMR for the purposes of MAR acquired 884 additional Ordinary Shares in the Company. Following the settlement of this transaction, Mrs Peacegood will have an interest in 3,505 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.01% of the issued shares of the Company;
The notifications below, made in accordance with the requirements of MAR, provide further detail in relation to the above transactions:
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated a) Dagmar Kershaw
CHAIRMAN & DIRECTOR b) Stephen Le Page
DIRECTOR c) Yedau Ogoundele
DIRECTOR d) Joanne Peacegood
DIRECTOR Reason for the notification a. Position/status Director b. Initial notification/Amendment Initial notification Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a. Name Volta Finance Limited b. LEI 2138004N6QDNAZ2V3W80 Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a. Description of financial instrument, type of instrument Ordinary Shares
b. Identification code GG00B1GHHH78 c. Nature of the transaction
Purchase and allocation of Ordinary Shares relation to the part-payment of Directors' fees for the quarter ended 31 July 2024 d. Price(s) 5.2 per share e. Volume(s) Total: 3380 f. Date of transaction 1 August 2024 g. Place of transaction On-market - London Aggregate Purchase Information a)
Dagmar Kershaw
Chairman and Director b)
Steve Le Page
Director c)
Yedau Ogoundele Director d)
Joanne Peacegood
Director Aggr. Volume:
1,040
Price:
5.2per share Aggr. Volume:
728
Price:
5.2 per share Aggr. Volume:
728
Price:
5.2 per share Aggr. Volume:
884
Price:
5.2 per share
CONTACTS
For the Investment Manager
AXA Investment Managers Paris
Francois Touati
francois.touati@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 80 22
Olivier Pons
Olivier.pons@axa-im.com
+33 (0) 1 44 45 87 30
Company Secretary and Administrator
BNP Paribas S.A, Guernsey Branch
guernsey.bp2s.volta.cosec@bnpparibas.com
+44 (0) 1481 750 853
Corporate Broker
Cavendish Securities plc
Andrew Worne
Daniel Balabanoff
+44 (0) 20 7397 8900
*****
ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED
Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands.
Volta's Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO's and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets.
*****
ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS
AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,700 professionals and 844 billion in assets under management as of the end of December 2023.
*****
This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris ("AXA IM"), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the "AIFM Directive") of Volta Finance Limited (the "Volta Finance") whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM.
This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are "U.S. persons" for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States.
*****
This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
*****
This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements.
Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved.
The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM's belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results.
The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such.
Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide - 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by the Autorite des Marches Financiers under registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive.
*****
The global inventory management software market is experiencing growth due to several key factors. The increase in adoption of e-commerce platforms and the need for efficient supply chain management are driving the demand for inventory management solutions.
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Inventory Management Software Market by Deployment Mode (On-Premise and Cloud), Application (Inventory Control and Tracking, Order Management, Scanning and Barcoding, Asset Management and Others), Enterprise Type (Large Enterprises and SMEs), and Industry Vertical (Manufacturing, Retail and Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Energy and Utilities, Automotive and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2032". According to the report, the inventory management software market was valued at $2.3 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $4.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.7% from 2024 to 2032.
Prime determinants of growth
The integration of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and blockchain is enhancing the capabilities of inventory management software, making it more attractive to businesses. However, challenges such as the high cost of software and the expenses related to implementation and training pose barriers to market growth. In addition, concerns about data security and privacy can deter some organizations from adopting these solutions. Despite these challenges, the market is poised for significant growth. The rise in demand for automation and digitalization in various industries, along with the increasing trend toward cloud-based solutions, provides lucrative opportunities for market expansion. Furthermore, the growing emphasis on real-time inventory tracking and analytics to optimize operations and reduce costs is expected to fuel the adoption of inventory management software globally.
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Report coverage & details:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2024-2032 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $2.3 Billion Market Size in 2032 $4.8 Billion CAGR 8.7 % No. of Pages in Report 200 Segments Covered Deployment Mode, Application, Enterprise Size, Industry Vertical, and Region. Drivers Growing Adoption of Business Process Automation for Seamless Inventory Control to Propel Market Growth
Adoption of Easy Integration Software for Transformation of Inventory Processes
Growth of E-Commerce Opportunities Increasing Importance of Data Analytics
The emergence of IoT and RFID technologies Restraint Lack of Visibility in Inventory Processes
Cost of Implementation and Maintenance
Buy this Complete Report (200 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) at:
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The on-premise segment contributes a major share in the growth of the inventory management software market.
Based on deployment mode, the on-premise segment held the highest market share in 2023, accounting for around three-fourths of the global inventory management software market revenue, and is likely to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. An on-premise installation strategy enables users to monitor their site through desktops or additional systems. The on-premise inventory management systems give users complete control or administrative access to their inventory management software when a program is installed at the company premises. However, the cloud segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR from 2024 to 2032. This can be attributed to the fact that the use of cloud platforms brings flexibility and stability to a business. The segment growth is attributed to the rise in e-commerce and the various methods of order fulfillment.
The inventory control and tracking segment contribute a major share in the growth of the inventory management software market.
Based on application, the inventory control and tracking segment held the highest market share in 2023, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global inventory management software market revenue, and is likely to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The demand for inventory control and tracking is driven by the fact that organizations can use this type of management software to ensure that stock levels of their inventory are kept at optimal levels, reducing the risk of overstocking or shortage. However, the scanning and barcoding segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR from 2024 to 2032. This can be attributed to the fact that barcode scanners are being extensively used for tracking inventory movements throughout a supply chain.
The large enterprise segment held the highest market share in 2023.
Based on enterprise size, the large enterprise segment held the highest market share in 2023, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global inventory management software market revenue, and is likely to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This can be attributed to the fact that large enterprises have vast inventories that are difficult to manage. Moreover, inventory management helps the enterprises to ensure that the products are not out of stock or unavailable when essential. The development of this software is being encouraged by large enterprises to respond to the growing and unique requirements of customers.
The healthcare and life science segment are expected to exhibit the fastest growth throughout the forecast period.
Based on industry vertical, the healthcare and life science segment is projected to attain the highest CAGR during the period of 2024-2032. This can be attributed to the fact that to ensure the efficient administration of healthcare organizations, effective medical inventory management is essential. The medical inventory of hospitals involves the management of stock for use by healthcare professionals. These trends are expected to stimulate the growth of the inventory management software market.
North America to maintain its dominance by 2032
Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2023, accounting for half of the global inventory management software market revenue, and is expected to continue leading throughout the forecast period. This dominance is driven by the widespread adoption of advanced technologies, the presence of major market players, and a high demand for efficient supply chain management and automation across various industries such as retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. The aging population, particularly the baby boomer generation, significantly contributes to this growth as it increases the demand for healthcare services and products, necessitating efficient inventory management solutions for medical supplies and equipment. In addition, North American businesses continually innovate to meet the evolving needs and preferences of consumers by developing new services like personalized customer experiences, self-service options, and advanced analytics for inventory optimization, further propelling the market growth in the region.
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Major Industry Players: -
Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.
IBM Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Lightspeed
CIN7 Ltd.
Linnworks
Intuit Inc.
Acumatica, Inc.
Fishbowl
Brightpearl
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global inventory management software market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Leidos
Jo Justice decided to forgo earning a traditional high school diploma in favor of a GED. Working with computers had long attracted her, so Jo then attended a technical trade school to earn her associate degree in network administration. She's since obtained a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity and information assurance and is now pursuing a master's degree in the same specialty.
While navigating her technology career, Jo continuously worked on relevant certifications to grow her skill set and elevate her prospects. Today, she serves as a business information security officer, a senior-level role supporting the digital modernization and U.S. commercial markets for Leidos.
Jo lacked cybersecurity experience when she joined Leidos 12 years ago as an entry-level junior security administrator. Since then, she's received six promotions and earned the Leidos Lead | Excellence in Integrity: Rising Star Award.
"It's been an amazing 12 years. I've grown tremendously thanks to the support and empowerment I've received throughout my career here," she says. "One of the things I love most about working at Leidos is the clear career pathing opportunities that give us so much potential for advancement."
For her part, Jo has taken advantage of several upskilling and reskilling programs. She was tapped to participate in the Leidos Executive Mentoring Program and selected for the Leidos IT Leadership Development Program.
Jo's decision to specialize in cybersecurity
"I strongly believe in continuous self-development, and I knew that a career in cyber security would demand discipline and commitment," Jo says. In fact, that's a big part of what inspired her to specialize in the demanding field. Still, Jo needed a little push from a former manager to take things further. When she told her then-boss that she felt ready for more challenging projects, he said he'd keep it in mind.
"Two weeks later, he told me I'd be the lead engineer in developing and implementing an integration strategy and execution for endpoint cyber defense capabilities across about 25,000 endpoints during our huge IS&GS merger," Jo says, noting that this was a huge turning point for her.
"My manager knew that I struggled with imposter syndrome, so even though I wasn't sure that I was ready for the challenge, he knew I was," Jo says. She took those feelings in stride and overcame all obstacles.
"It was an incredibly rewarding experience. I gained confidence in myself and my work, and then hungered for more." Jo continued working on getting certifications that focused on various aspects of cyber security. She encourages others interested in a cybersecurity career to do the same.
"If you know you want to pursue this field, you can focus on getting certifications that support this career path," she says. "Many organizations have even relaxed degree requirements, accepting certifications and experience in lieu of a degree."
Closing the cybersecurity skills gap
Jo actively mentors other professionals who want to start and grow their cybersecurity careers with two key aims: to close the skills gap and improve the field's diversity. She also serves as co-chair for the National Institute of Standards and Technology/NICE modernize talent management working group, which focuses on modernizing the talent management process to address cybersecurity skill gaps.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NIST/NICE WORKING GROUP
"There's raw talent out there-people who want to be in cyber, but they don't know how. That was me," she says. "I didn't have the guidance, especially before landing at Leidos. Now I want to give back by helping others speed their route and fill the gap."
She points out that, according to the ISC2 Insights 2024 Report, only 22% of cyber security professionals are women, and that the field's diversity does it a disservice.
How Jo builds value from diversity
"Diversity brings in a multitude of perspectives, and that's what feeds creativity and innovation," she says. "Our teams need people with different backgrounds and experiences to approach problems from different angles."
She shares that diverse talent needs to be nurtured and given the same tools, opportunities and resources as everyone else to succeed. They should also feel welcomed, valued and respected on their teams so they can fully engage and commit to their work, she adds.
To achieve this, Jo has fostered open dialogue across her teams, creating a safe space that empowers individuals to use their voices. She has also purposefully assigned work that requires people from diverse backgrounds and skill sets to work together.
"I want both seasoned people and entry-level people to come together and share ideas," she says. "I set the expectation that everyone be treated as equals. This starting point allows every person's voice to be heard, regardless of their experiences," Jo says.
Jo encourages everyone to ask questions without fear of judgment. She says the more you can make it seem commonplace to ask questions, the better chance you'll have at fighting imposter syndrome on your teams. She has also implemented inclusive activities to strengthen each person's sense of belonging, which, she says, improves collaboration within teams.
"Now each team has grown very close-knit, like an extended family that supports each other's professional and personal lives. That's how you innovate, create and build," she says.
When one-on-one with her direct reports or mentees, Jo makes a point to ask them questions and listen well so they feel heard.
Why Jo plans to stay with Leidos
Beyond thriving on how Leidos has continually provided ways to learn and grow as well as opportunities to take on new challenges, Jo appreciates that its culture supports work-life balance.
"I've learned that you can excel at your career here while still setting healthy boundaries that benefit yourself and your family," Jo says.
What Jo loves most about working in cybersecurity is its unpredictability. She enjoys the thrill of not knowing when a new challenge will present itself and is constantly preparing herself for whatever it may be.
"What I do know, though, is that I see myself staying in this field and at Leidos," Jo says.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Leidos on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Leidos
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/leidos
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Leidos
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - E-Power Resources Inc. (CSE: EPR) ("E-Power" or the "Company") is pleased to report results from the first phase of the 2024 exploration program on the Company's flagship Tetepisca flake graphite property located in the North Shore region of Quebec. Highlights include the discovery of graphite bearing metamorphic rocks along three conductor trends which include a high of 31 % Cg (Graphite Carbon) from an outcrop grab sample and a sample of proximal float rock which returned a value of 24.8% Cg from a 4th conductor target area.
James Cross, President and CEO of E-Power commented: "We are completing metallurgical and mineralogical chacterization studies on our Tetepisca Property to determine product quality and applicability to end users. At the same time, we are conducting a propecting program focussed on the northern end of our property. The prospecting is to evaluate our large land position in an effort to demonstrate large tonnage potential in multiple target areas. The results of the prospecting completed to date, including high grade grab samples, are very enouraging. We look forward to the metallurgical test work results as well as continued success in the field program through the 2024 exploration campaign."
Exploration Update
The 2024 exploration program being completed on the tetepisca property includes:
The collection of a 1-tonne sample, approximately 250 kg from each of four graphite surface showings located in the southern part of the property (Phase 1 sampling and geological mapping).
Early stage geological and geophysical prospecting at selected target areas priotizing the lesser explored northern part the property.
Collect a bulk sample of 20-30 tonnes collectively from 2 or 3 selected target areas (showings) based on the results of the Phase 1 detailed mapping and sampling. The permit application for this work has been submitted.
E-Power collected a total of 1,037 kilograms (1.037 tonnes) comprising four bulk samples from three graphite showings (2 samples taken from the Graphi West target area) on the Tetepisca property (locations of showings indicated on Map 1). Metallurgical testwork including production of graphite concentrates and graphite flake size distribution analysis is underway at Volt Carbon Technologies Inc.'s dry separation facility in Scarborough, Ont. Whole rock major and trace element geochemistry on field duplicates of the 4 samples is in progress at ALS Geochmistry in Val d'Or, Quebec and will also be completed on representative splits of the 4 x 250 kg samples as received by Volt Technologies. Mineralogy studies are also underway which includes reflected and transmitted light petrography on a total of 12 thin sections. The Company anticipates completing further detailed mineral compositions and graphite textural analysis utilizing a Scanning Electron Microscope ("SEM"). Consulting geologist Allan Miller, PhD, P.Geo, is managing and completing the mineralogy studies.
Geological and geophysical prospecting been completed on a limited area of the northwestern most claims and has confirmed three previously targeted and prioritized conductive trends to be graphite bearing (see map 2). A total of 32 grab samples from outcrop were analyzed for Cg. Twenty-two of the 32 samples contained Cg greater than 1 %, 20 samples contained Cg concentration greater than 7% Cg, and 13 samples contained greater than 10 % Cg. The highest grade samples contained 31.0 and 34.8 % Cg.
About the Tetepisca Property
The Tetepisca Property is located approximately 220 km north of the town of Baie-Comeau in the North Shore Region of Quebec. The property consists of 230 claims covering an area of approximately 12,620 hectares within the emerging Tetepisca Graphite District ("TGD"). The TGD is an active graphite exploration and development district with delineated measured and indicated resources in excess of 100 Mt at an average grade of 14% Cg. The Company's Tetepisca property is strategically located over continuous bedrock conductive horizons that are known and interpreted to be due to graphite and which hold significant potential to host flake graphite resources. The intersection of graphite in our 2023 drilling and the results of our 2024 exploration program to date confirms the Company's exploration model and provides the basis for continued exploration and evaluation.
Qualified Person
Jamie Lavigne, P. Geo, Vice President Exploration and Director for E-Power is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.
About E-Power
E-Power Resources Inc. is a Quebec Corporation based in Montreal and focused on battery minerals exploration in Quebec. The Company is currently advancing two projects; the Tetepisca property, located in the North Shore region of the Province and the Turgeon property located in the Abitibi region adjacent to the Ontario border. The Company's priority target is flake graphite on the Tetepsica Property. The Turgeon property is located in the prolific Abitibi gold and base metal mining district and the Company is evaluating Turgeon primarily for its copper-zinc and gold potential.
For more information about E-Power Resources Inc. please visit the Company website at: e-powerresources.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate.
Map 1: Tetepisca Graphite District VTEM Conductivity Map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9160/218562_767130596434ba81_002full.jpg
Map 2: North Tetepisca Target Area
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9160/218562_767130596434ba81_003full.jpg
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218562
SOURCE: E-Power Resources
Washington, Aug 1 (UNI) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, an alleged accused of the 9/11 attack, has agreed to plead guilty, the US defence department informed on Wednesday.
The alleged mastermind of 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in the pre-trial discussions, going on for the last 27 months, finally agreed to plead guilty for the September 11, 2001 attack that killed 2,976.
As per a letter issued by government agencies, the agreement finalized after 27 months of discussions eliminates death penalty for Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa Al Hawsawi. The letter was forwarded to the families of the survivors and victims, said a report in CNN.
LANCASTER, Pa., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Electron Energy Corporation ("EEC") has joined Magnetic Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Dexter Magnetic Technologies ("Dexter") and Magnetic Component Engineering ("MCE"). Magnetic Holdings is a portfolio company of Tinicum.
The Walmer family, who founded EEC as the world's first manufacturer of samarium cobalt magnets in 1970, retained a significant minority interest in Magnetic Holdings, and Michael Walmer, its Chairman and CEO, joined the Magnetic Holdings board of directors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The transaction creates a group of leading permanent magnet firms, each with unique and complementary capabilities to solve customers' most demanding challenges. The businesses of Magnetic Holdings collectively have nearly 500 employees, and over 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space, serving critical applications for aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductor, energy, and industrial customers.
The companies of Magnetic Holdings will collaborate to provide integrated solutions, utilizing the most technically advanced raw materials, world-class magnet fabrication and assembly capabilities, and expertise in designing and developing customized high-performance motors and electromechanical components, all supported by one of the largest technical engineering and commercial teams in the industry. Moreover, Magnetic Holdings now has four highly capable facilities in three distinct locations and a vertically integrated manufacturing process, creating a robust and resilient supply chain.
Magnetic Holdings is backed by Tinicum, which has over $2.4 billion of committed capital, providing the financial, operational, and strategic resources to grow and the stability that comes from its long-term ownership philosophy.
Mr. Walmer stated, "In 54 years, EEC has grown from two people with a great vision and little resources to a team of 150 committed and talented individuals serving our specialized markets with strength. EEC will continue to find new opportunities to do what has never been done before in support of space exploration, aviation, defense, medical and energy initiatives. Our growth will be enhanced by this new, dynamic relationship with these strong partners. This growth enables EEC to keep pace with increasing vital customer demand, providing continual purposeful work for our employees."
He continued, "After exploring partnerships with firms that are also rooted in and appreciate the advantages of our family-run culture, we found one that stands out as extremely well aligned with our values: Tinicum. Both Tinicum and EEC are led by their founding families, ensuring a continuation of vision for the future and legacy for the long term. Moreover, Magnetic Holdings now features three of the strongest, most entrepreneurial magnet companies in the United States. Together, each company will benefit from collaboration within Magnetic Holdings, the strength and scale of the larger enterprise, and the capital resources of Tinicum, while also maintaining agility and vitality in each of our respective markets. Based on our talent and creative spark, we know that EEC will continue to engineer solutions for a healthy, secure nation and for the challenges of a dynamic world for generations to come."
Joe Stupfel, CEO of Magnetic Holdings, stated, "We are thrilled to join forces with EEC, a firm whose capabilities, employees, and leadership we hold in the highest regard. We are excited to now be able to offer our customers a comprehensive solution-unique in the magnetics industry-with the ability to design and produce custom samarium cobalt formulations, manufacture magnetics with world class speed, precision, and quality, and engineer, design and build assemblies and motors customized to customer applications."
Stupfel added, "Our employees are our most important asset. Investing in their careers and personal development not only benefits them but increases capabilities of our businesses. The larger size of our business creates opportunities for all the employees of Dexter, EEC, and MCE to grow. We strive to attract and retain the best talent in the magnetics industry and to be the employer of choice in each market in which we operate."
Rich Dosik, partner at Tinicum, stated, "We are thrilled to partner with the Walmer family and the team at EEC, and we are honored that they have entrusted us with their business. We have the utmost respect and admiration for EEC. As we have done at both Dexter and MCE, we are excited to continue to make significant investments into EEC to help them grow as we build Magnetic Holdings for the long term."
About EEC
EEC is an expert developer and leading American producer of rare earth magnets serving the global aerospace, defense, energy, medical and semiconductor markets. Founded in 1970 by Marlin Walmer, EEC is headquartered in Pennsylvania and is the only vertically integrated American manufacturer of DFARS- and ITAR-compliant samarium cobalt magnets. EEC's ability to control material compositions allows for customization and precise control of magnetic properties. Engineers at EEC collaborate with customers to devise solutions and enable applications that were previously not possible. For more information about EEC, visit www.electronenergy.com.
About Dexter
Dexter provides specialized magnetic components and assemblies for use in demanding applications in the medical, aerospace, defense, semiconductor manufacturing, oil and gas, and industrial end markets. Dexter has been solving complex customer challenges since 1951 and manufactures its products at its headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Dexter manufactures DFARS- and ITAR-compliant products and holds AS9100D, ISO13485, and ISO9001 certifications. For more information about Dexter, visit www.dextermag.com.
About MCE
MCE manufactures permanent magnets and magnet assemblies for the most demanding applications for aerospace, defense, medical, and industrial technology customers. MCE manufactures DFARS- and ITAR-compliant products and holds AS9100D and ISO9001 certifications. For more information about MCE, visit www.mceproducts.com.
About Tinicum
Tinicum, founded in 1974 as a family investment office, is a private partnership that manages a diversified group of industrial manufacturing, distribution, and technology companies. Based in New York, Tinicum also has offices in San Francisco, Houston, and Frankfurt. For more information about Tinicum, visit www.tinicum.com.
Media Contact:
Roger Mountford, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
rmountford@dextermag.com
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/electron-energy-corporation-joins-magnetic-holdings-302212722.html
TRU Precious Metals Corp. (TSXV:TRU)(OTCQB:TRUIF)(FSE:706) ("TRU" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated July 30, 2024, it has obtained both shareholder approval and TSX Venture Exchange approval of the definitive earn-in agreement (the "Option Agreement") transaction with Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO) ("Eldorado"). Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Eldorado has been granted the exclusive option (the "Option") to earn an 80% ownership interest in TRU's Golden Rose Project ("Golden Rose"), strategically located along the gold deposit-bearing Cape Ray - Valentine Lake Shear Zone in Central Newfoundland.
Closing of the Option Agreement remains subject to TRU's receipt of a drilling permit for Golden Rose from the Mineral Lands Division of the Newfoundland government ("Mineral Lands"). The permit application is under review by Mineral Lands and is expected to be issued within the month of August.
Additional terms of the Option Agreement can be found in the Company's news release dated July 30, 2024. A copy of the Option Agreement will be filed under TRU's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The description of the Option Agreement contained herein is qualified by the complete text of the Option Agreement.
About Eldorado Gold Corp.
Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkiye, Canada and Greece. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:EGO).
About TRU Precious Metals Corp.
TRU (TSXV:TRU)(OTCQB:TRUIF)(FSE:706) is on a mission to build long-term shareholder value through prudent natural resource property development and transactions. TRU is exploring for gold and copper in the highly prospective Central Newfoundland Gold Belt on its 100%-owned Golden Rose Project, originally optioned from TSX-listed Altius Minerals. Golden Rose is a regional-scale 264.25 km2 land package, including 45 km of strike length along the deposit-bearing Cape Ray - Valentine Lake Shear Zone, directly between Calibre Mining's Valentine Gold Project and AuMega Metals' Cape Ray Gold Project. In addition, TRU has an option with Quadro Resources Ltd. to acquire up to an aggregate 65% ownership interest in two claim packages covering 33.25 km2, including a 12 km strike length along the Shear Zone within Golden Rose. TRU is approximately 36%-owned by European strategic investor Ormonde Mining plc (AQSE:ORM).
TRU is a portfolio company of Resurgent Capital Corp. ("Resurgent"), a merchant bank providing venture capital markets advisory services and proprietary financing. Resurgent works with promising public and pre-public micro-capitalization companies listing on Canadian stock exchanges. For more information on Resurgent and its portfolio companies, please visit Resurgent's website at https://www.resurgentcapital.ca/ and follow Resurgent on LinkedIn at https://ca.linkedin.com/company/resurgent-capital-corp.
For further information about TRU, please contact:
Joel Freudman
Co-Founder & CEO
TRU Precious Metals Corp.
Phone: 1-855-760-2TRU (2878)
Email: ir@trupreciousmetals.com
To connect with TRU via social media, below are links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TRUMetals
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruMetalsCorp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tru-precious-metals-corp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TRUMetals/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TRUMetals/
Acknowledgement
TRU would like to thank the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for financial support through the Junior Exploration Assistance Program and the Federal Government for its critical mineral assistance funding for the exploration activities at Golden Rose.
Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimers
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including those relating to performance of the Option Agreement, the Company's relationship with Eldorado, the Company's permit application with Mineral Lands, and exploration plans for the Golden Rose Project. These statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Option Agreement, the Project, Mineral Lands permitting, and the Company's operations at Golden Rose that are believed by management to be reasonable in the circumstances, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: the Option may never be exercised by Eldorado as proposed or at all; the exploration potential of the Golden Rose Project; delays in obtaining necessary permits; risks inherent in mineral exploration activities; and those other risks described in the Company's continuous disclosure documents. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements herein. Investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements herein except as required by applicable securities laws.
This press release is solely the responsibility of TRU, and Eldorado is not in any way responsible or liable for the contents hereof.
Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE: TRU Precious Metals Corp.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
LONDON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On Lammas Day, the traditional first day of the grain harvest, Fielden Whisky, who champion regenerative farming using heritage grains, hosted an exclusive celebration amongst the grain at Tubbs End Farm in Warwickshire to launch their new Harvest 2019 Rye Whisky.
Fielden, the Old English word meaning 'of the field', is bringing England's fields back to life using traditional farming techniques which revitalise the land, without chemical inputs. With wildlife able to thrive above and below ground, Fielden believes whisky can change farming for the better, field by field, harvest by harvest.
Harvest 2019 Rye Whisky is the first release in an annual series celebrating Fielden's grain harvest which expresses the distinct and differing characteristics of its heritage grains. The vintage indicates the year in which the grains were harvested, and reflects the weather patterns' influence on the grain. Fielden plants a mix of heritage varieties, with tiny genetic differences, which grow tall and strong and can adapt naturally to the soil and weather, creating diverse flavour profiles in the grain.
Mild weather and summer rain in 2019 meant the rye gathered was brighter and more delicate in its character. Harvest 2019 Rye Whisky is made from diverse populations of rye, wheat, barley and malted barley. The mash was fermented for five days in stainless steel tanks and then double distilled in pot and column stills. The resulting spirit matured in a combination of nine casks: mostly American oak, with a Sauternes barrel and a Ramandolo barrique. The resulting whisky tastes of early summer: fresh, floral and full of fruity flavours with a hint of zesty spice on the finish.
The grains used by Fielden are grown exclusively for the distillery on farms across England. The mixed crops they grow were common before the turn of the 20th century when the hybrid varieties now used in both conventional and organic farming were created. Fielden's fields look very different to industrially farmed fields; they are full of wildflowers, birds and insects as heritage grains thrive without the need for the pesticides and fertilisers essential in intensive arable farming. They take more nutrients in from the soil and deliver a flavour profile unique to its heritage grains.
Harvest 2019 Rye Whisky is available from fielden.com and Berry Bros. & Rudd, priced at 80 for 70cl.
fielden.com
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2474072/Fielden.jpg
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Phenom Resources Corp. (TSXV: PHNM) (OTCQX: PHNMF) (FSE: 1PY0) ("Phenom" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with MarketSmart Communications Inc. ("MarketSmart") pursuant to which MarketSmart will provide investor relations ("IR") services to Phenom for an initial term of six months.
Paul Cowley, Phenom's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We look forward to working with MarketSmart, a leading Canadian IR firm, to help accelerate awareness of Phenom's growth story."
Adrian Sydenham, President of MarketSmart, stated: "MarketSmart is thrilled to be working with Phenom at this stage of its development. Their gold portfolio and green energy vanadium assets are truly unique. Phenom is well-financed and has an experienced management team and a great share structure to achieve its corporate objectives and milestones. We look forward to working with the Phenom team and communicating with existing and potential new investors."
Phenom will pay MarketSmart a fee of $7,500, plus applicable taxes, per month and MarketSmart and Chad Levesque, a Marketsmart partner, will each be granted stock options to purchase 100,000 common shares of Phenom at a price of $0.45 per share for a term of 36 months. The options are in accordance with Phenom's omnibus equity incentive plan and will vest in stages over a period of 12 months such that 25% of the stock options will vest three months after today's date; 25% of the stock options will vest six months after today's date; 25% of the stock options will vest nine months after today's date; and the remaining 25% of the stock options will vest 12 months after today's date. The investor relations agreement and grant of stock options are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Contact: MarketSmart Communications Telephone: 1- 877-261-4466 Email: info@marketsmart.ca.
Crescent Valley Gold Project News
The Company engaged Zonge International Geophysical Services to conduct an IP/Resistivity geophysical survey on the Company's Crescent Valley Gold Project. The field work has now been completed. Data will be processed and assessed in the coming two weeks to focus drill targeting on the vein-hosted mineralization in this bonanza-type low sulfidation epithermal setting. The Company has already secured a permit to drill targets at Crescent Valley.
Dobbin Gold Project
Mapping and sampling continue by an experienced Nevada-based geologist with extensive familiarity with Carlin-type deposits. The Company will provide a geological, geochemical and structural summary mid-August. Results of the progressive soil sampling campaigns to reproduce the gold anomaly previously identified in the 1980s by Newmont will also be provided at that time along with next steps.
King Solomon Gold Project
Data consolidation, compilation and 3D modelling of previous drilling is in progress so that Company geologists can design next steps which would include field activities and multi-stages of drilling so that permitting can be designed accordingly.
About Phenom Resources Corp.
Phenom has 100% interest in the Carlin Gold-Vanadium Project, located in Elko County, six miles south from the town of Carlin, Nevada and Highway I-80 which hosts the Carlin Vanadium deposit, North America's largest highest grade primary vanadium resource. The Project lies within the prolific Carlin Gold Trend. Approximately nine million ounces comprised of multiple gold deposits, including past producing mines, are present near the Phenom property (5-15km).
The Company has options on three additional gold projects in Nevada: the King Solomon and Dobbin Properties which are Carlin Gold-type targets and the CVN Property, a Bonanza high grade gold vein-type target.
ON BEHALF OF PHENOM RESOURCES CORP.
Technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dave Mathewson, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, director and Geological Consultant of the Company.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking information
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218582
SOURCE: Phenom Resources Corp.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Teleperformance USA, a division of global digital business services company Teleperformance, is working with leading anti-hunger organization Feed the Children to provide children with backpacks filled with school supplies, personal care items and snacks to help in the new school year. Teleperformance volunteers and the nonprofit will build and deliver more than 1,000 backpacks to children across the U.S in communities where Teleperformance works.
Volunteers from Teleperformance USA distribute resources to families.
Each backpack will provide a child with a variety of supplies such as notebooks, folders, glue sticks, crayons, pens and pencils. They will also be given daily essentials and to help with personal hygiene.
With the cost of supplies steadily increasing, many families struggle to send their children to school with the proper materials needed to learn and grow in the classroom.
"For 17 years, our partnership with Feed the Children has been a powerful example of Teleperformance USA's commitment to uplifting communities where our team members live and work," said Scott Barli, Chief Operating Officer for Teleperformance USA. "This success wouldn't be possible without the dedication of our incredible employees. They've been instrumental in supporting Feed the Children's mission, ensuring students and families receive the vital resources they need. It's a true testament to the power of teamwork in making a positive impact."
Teleperformance and Feed the Children have planned multiple events across the country with local partners to help provide families with food and essentials, as well as help offset the cost of school supplies. Together, they will deliver backpacks to eight communities:
Bristol, Tenn. - Virginia Primary / Virginia Intermediate
Brownsville, Texas - Egly Elementary
El Paso, Texas - Mission Valley Elementary
McAllen, Texas - Aida C. Escobar
North Lauderdale, Fla. - Morrow Elementary
Port St. Lucie, Fla. - Hope Center for Autism
Additionally, Teleperformance and Feed the Children are partnering for four Resource Rallies serving 1,600 families across the country later this year. At each of these events, local families will receive a 25-pound box of shelf-stable food, a 15-pound box of household essentials and additional items.
Resource Rallies will be held in:
Brownsville, Texas
El Paso, Texas
McAllen, Texas
North Lauderdale, Fla.
"The Teleperformance partnership means so very much to Feed the Children, and more importantly, to the families we serve," said Travis Arnold, president and CEO, Feed the Children. "Those living paycheck-to-paycheck often do not have a safety net. Our partners are a critical part of providing compassionate support to those who are facing tough decisions about how to care for their families."
About Teleperformance in the U.S.
Teleperformance in the U.S. is part of the Teleperformance Group, which consistently seeks to blend the best of advanced technology with human empathy to deliver enhanced customer care that is simpler, faster, and safer for the world's biggest brands and their customers. The Company's comprehensive, AI-powered service portfolio ranges from front-office customer care to back-office functions, including Trust and Safety services that help defend both online users and brand reputation. Teleperformance also offers a range of specialized services such as collections, interpreting and localization, visa and consular services, and recruitment process outsourcing services. Backed by the Teleperformance Group's inspired and passionate team members globally who currently speak more than 300 languages, Teleperformance in the U.S. has a global scale and local presence which allows it to be a force of good in supporting communities, clients, and the environment.
Visit the group at www.teleperformance.com.
About Feed the Children
Feed the Children is a leading nonprofit committed to ending childhood hunger. The organization believes that no child should go to bed hungry, and so it provides children and families in the U.S. and around the world with the food and essentials kids need to grow and thrive.?
Through its programs and partnerships, the organization feeds children today while helping their families and communities build resilient futures. In addition to food, Feed the Children distributes household and personal care items across the United States to help parents and caregivers maintain stable, food-secure households. Internationally, it expands access to nutritious meals, safe water, improved hygiene, and training in sustainable living. As responsible stewards of its resources, Feed the Children is driven to pursue innovative, holistic, and child-focused solutions to the complex challenges of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty.
For children everywhere, the organization believes that having enough to eat is a fundamental right.?Learn how you can help create a world without childhood hunger at feedthechildren.org.
For more information:
Carrie Snodgrass - 405-213-9757
carrie.snodgrass@feedthechildren.org
SOURCE: Feed the Children
View the original press release on accesswire.com
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ADC Therapeutics SA (NYSE: ADCT), a commercial-stage global leader and pioneer in the field of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced that the Company has made grants of options to purchase an aggregate of 38,600 of the Company's common shares to three new employees on August 1, 2024 (each, a "Grant").
The Grants were offered as material inducement to the employees' employment. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors pursuant to the Company's Inducement Plan to motivate and reward the recipients to perform at the highest levels and contribute significantly to the success of the Company. The Grants were made in reliance on the employment inducement exemption under the NYSE's Listed Company Manual Rule 303A.08.
The Company is issuing this press release pursuant to Rule 303A.08. The Grants shall vest and become exercisable 25% on the first anniversary of the grant date, and 1/48th of the aggregate number of shares subject to the award on each monthly anniversary of the grant date thereafter, such that the entire award will be vested as of the fourth anniversary of the grant date, subject to continued employment with the Company.
About ADC Therapeutics
ADC Therapeutics (NYSE: ADCT) is a commercial-stage global leader and pioneer in the field of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The Company is advancing its proprietary ADC technology to transform the treatment paradigm for patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
ADC Therapeutics' CD19-directed ADC ZYNLONTA (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) received accelerated approval by the FDA and conditional approval from the European Commission for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. ZYNLONTA is also in development in combination with other agents and in earlier lines of therapy. In addition to ZYNLONTA, ADC Therapeutics has multiple ADCs in ongoing clinical and preclinical development.
ADC Therapeutics is based in Lausanneand follow the Company on LinkedIn.
ZYNLONTA is a registered trademark of ADC Therapeutics SA.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "would", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "seem", "seek", "future", "continue", or "appear" or the negative of these terms or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the success of the Company's updated corporate strategy including operating efficiencies, capital deployment and portfolio prioritization; the Company's ability to achieve the decrease in total operating expenses for 2024, the expected cash runway into mid-2026, the effectiveness of the new commercial go-to-market strategy, competition from new technologies, and the Company's ability to grow ZYNLONTA revenue in the United States; Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) ability to successfully commercialize ZYNLONTA in the European Economic Area and market acceptance, adequate reimbursement coverage, and future revenue from the same; approval by the NMPA of the BLA for ZYNLONTA in China submitted by Overland ADCT BioPharma and future revenue from the same, our strategic partners', including Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, ability to obtain regulatory approval for ZYNLONTA in foreign jurisdictions, and the timing and amount of future revenue and payments to us from such partnerships; the timing and future success from the University of Miami's IITs in FL and MZL; the timing and results of the Company's or its partners' clinical trials including LOTIS 5 and 7, ADCT 601 and 602 as well as the Company's early-stage pipeline research projects, actions by the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities with respect to the Company's products or product candidates; projected revenue and expenses; the Company's indebtedness, including Healthcare Royalty Management and Oaktree and Blue Owl facilities, and the restrictions imposed on the Company's activities by such indebtedness, the ability to repay such indebtedness and the significant cash required to service such indebtedness; and the Company's ability to obtain financial and other resources for its research, development, clinical, and commercial activities. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements is contained in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and in the Company's other periodic reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, achievements or prospects to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or prospects expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this document. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, except as required by law.
CONTACTS:
Investors
Marcy Graham
ADC Therapeutics
Marcy.Graham@adctherapeutics.com
+1 650-667-6450
Media
Nicole Riley
ADC Therapeutics
Nicole.Riley@adctherapeutics.com
+1 862-926-9040
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Steppe Gold Ltd. (TSX: STGO) (OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) (the "Company" or "Steppe Gold") is pleased to announce the successful completion of the previously announced transaction between Steppe Gold and Boroo Gold LLC ("Boroo Gold"), whereby Steppe Gold has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Boroo Gold (the "Boroo Gold Transaction") from an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Boroo Pte Ltd. ("Boroo Singapore"). Concurrently with the closing of the Boroo Gold Transaction, Steppe Gold also sold the Tres Cruces Oxide Project to Boroo Singapore for approximately CAD$12 million in cash (the "Tres Cruces Transaction" and together with the Boroo Gold Transaction, the "Transaction").
The Transaction is expected to deliver several benefits to Steppe Gold:
Increased Production: Boroo Gold brings substantial additional production, with an estimated 431,000 ounces of gold production between 2024 to 2031.
Immediate and strong cash flows to Steppe Gold: In 2023, Boroo Gold reported production of 67,315 oz of gold, an AISC of $847 per oz at an average gold price of $1,957.
Additional Flexibility in Financing: Expected positive cash flows will allow flexibility in restructuring the $150 million project financing for the ATO Phase 2 Expansion.
Cost Savings and Optimization: Steppe Gold has identified cost reductions through bulk purchasing, better equipment purchasing options, and lower administrative expenses as well as a number of optimization opportunities at the existing mines.
Strong social license: Over US$1 bnin benefits to Mongolia since 2003 and US$17.5 million in donations and investments in local soums.
Environmental leadership: Boroo Gold is a leader in environmental stewardship of mining assets in Mongolia, with a proven track record of innovation.
Exploration Upside: Identified exploration and resource expansion opportunities near its existing mines, offering promising opportunities for future discoveries.
Stronger Focus: By divesting the Tres Cruces Project for cash, Steppe Gold can concentrate its resources on growing its portfolio of Mongolian assets.
Forward Guidance and Near-Term Considerations
Combined ATO and Boroo Gold mine production in 2024 and 2025 is expected to be between 80,000 to 90,000 ounces. Year to date (June 30) production at Boroo Gold is 44,506 ounces.
Capital expenditures in 2024 at Boroo Gold are expected to be approximately $19 million due to some one-time upgrades of the mining fleet. 2025 capital expenditures are expected to be lower.
In order to secure terms for debt and leases, Boroo Gold hedged the majority of its 2024 gold production at $2,000. This hedge is expected to expire in Q1 2025.
Boroo Gold is being acquired on a zero net debt basis. Steppe Gold plans to provide further details on the post transaction debt structure shortly.
Steppe Gold expects to provide an update on the ATO Phase 2 Expansion construction and related financing in the near future, along with an update on improved terms reflecting the higher gold price environment and stronger financial position of the Company.
Steppe Gold Chairman and CEO, Bataa Tumur-Ochir commented, "We are very pleased to complete the acquisition of Boroo Gold and become Mongolia's leading primary gold producer. This Transaction accelerates our path to becoming a multi-asset Mongolia-focused mining group and, importantly, immediately provides strong cash flow to support our growth plans. It further provides flexibility to lower the cost of the project financing of the ATO Phase 2 Expansion. We emerge from this Transaction as a stronger company with current positive cash flow and financial strength to deliver on our ambitious growth plans in Mongolia. The combined group will have the scale and depth to both accelerate and optimize development and exploration and exploit economies of scale in operations and procurement."
The Transaction was approved at the annual general and special meeting of Steppe shareholders held on June 24, 2024. Further information on the Transaction is set out in the management information circular of Steppe dated May 8, 2024, which is filed under Steppe's profile on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.
Early Warning Disclosure by Boroo Singapore
Pursuant to the Boroo Gold Transaction, Boroo Singapore was issued 143,796,574 common shares of Steppe Gold (the "Consideration Shares") at a deemed price of $0.59 per common share. Prior to the Boroo Gold Transaction, Boroo Singapore did not hold any securities of Steppe Gold and upon completion of the Boroo Gold Transaction, Boroo Singapore holds approximately 55.9% of the common shares of Steppe Gold.
The Consideration Shares were acquired for investment purposes. Boroo Singapore has no current plans or intentions, which relate to, or would result in, acquiring additional securities of Steppe Gold, disposing of securities of Steppe Gold, or any other actions described in Item 5 of Form 62-103F1 - Required Disclosure under the Early Warning Requirements. Boroo Singapore may, depending on market and other conditions, increase or decrease its beneficial ownership of or control or direction over the Company's securities, whether in the open market, by privately negotiated agreements or otherwise, subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions and other available investment and business opportunities.
Further to the requirements of National Instrument 62-104 - Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids and National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, Boroo Singapore will file an updated early warning report which will be made available on SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca. Further information and a copy of the early warning report may be obtained by contacting Jeremy South, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at +976 7732 1914 or jeremy@steppegold.com.
Board Changes
As a result of the Transaction, and subject to stock exchange approval, Tserenbadam Dugeree has been appointed to the board of Steppe Gold (the "Board") pursuant to the share exchange agreement dated April 11, 2024 between Steppe Gold, Boroo Singapore and Centerra Netherlands BVBA. Boroo Singapore has the right to nominate another individual to the Board, which is expected to occur in the coming weeks, pursuant to the investor rights agreement dated August 1, 2024 between the Company and Boroo Singapore.
In addition, Patrick Michaels has stepped down from the Board effective August 1, 2024. The Board would like to extend its sincere thanks to Patrick for his seven years of service as a director at Steppe Gold.
Advisors
Steppe Gold's legal counsel is Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Boroo Singapore's Canadian legal counsel is Stikeman Elliott LLP. Payet, Rey, Cauvi, Perez Abogados are Peruvian legal counsel to Steppe Gold and Boroo Singapore. Steppe Gold's financial advisor is Sequeira Partners. Boroo Singapore's financial advisor is Cormark Securities Inc.
Qualified Persons
The technical content of this news release regarding Steppe Gold has been reviewed and validated by Enkhtuvshin Khishigsuren, PEng., a "Qualified Person" as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Technical Reports
Additional information with respect to Steppe Gold's Altan Tsagaan Ovoo Project, including its AuEq resource base, is contained in the technical report of Steppe Gold dated November 6, 2022 and entitled "Altan Tsagaan Ovoo Project (ATO) 2022 Mineral Resources & Reserves Report (NI 43-101)". A copy of said report can be obtained from SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Further information with respect to the Tres Cruces Project is contained in the technical report of Steppe Gold, dated August 21, 2023 and entitled "Form 43-101F1 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment". A copy of said report can be obtained from SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
About Steppe Gold
Steppe Gold is Mongolia's premier precious metals company and 100% owner of the ATO gold mine and the Uudam Khundii project in Mongolia.
About Boroo Gold
Established in 1997, Boroo Gold is a leading gold producer in Mongolia with an over 50,000 tons per day mining fleet, 5,500 tons per day mill and carbon-in-leach circuit gold processing plant, 3,000,000 tons per annum heap leach and carbon-in-columns plant and an approximate workforce of over 400 people. Boroo Gold operates the Boroo mine in Selenge province, as well as owning and operating the adjacent Ulaanbulag mine in Mongolia.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These include statements regarding Steppe Gold's intent, or the beliefs or current expectations of the directors of Steppe Gold, for Steppe Gold's growth, production and valuation post-closing of the Transaction and future market conditions for metals.
When used in this news release, words such as "anticipated", "can", "expected", "estimated", "future", "forecast", "likely", "opportunity", "ongoing", "potential", "planned", "projected", "proposed", "vision" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements as well as phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "could", "may", "should", "will", or "would" occur or the negative connotation of such terms.
As well, forward-looking statements may relate to Steppe Gold's future outlook and anticipated events, such as the Steppe Board and management team of Steppe Gold following the Transaction; the anticipated benefits of the Transaction; the potential for value creation to Steppe Gold's shareholders; anticipated gold production of Boroo Gold and combined gold production of Steppe Gold; capital expenditures of Steppe Gold; the hedging of Boroo Gold in respect of its gold production; the anticipated cash flow of Steppe Gold; potential liquidity from the sale of the Tres Cruces Project; and discussion of future plans, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts and the timing related thereto.
These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including those relating to: required stock exchange approvals; material adverse effects on the business, properties and assets of Steppe Gold or Boroo Gold; discrepancies between actual and estimated production and test results, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; and such other risk factors detailed from time to time in Steppe Gold's public disclosure documents, including, without limitation, those risks identified in Steppe Gold's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Steppe Gold assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Steppe Gold updates any one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218595
SOURCE: Steppe Gold Ltd.
Galway Metals Inc. (TSXV:GWM) ("Galway" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it intends to settle the fifth (5th) of six (6) payments (the "Fifth Partial Payment") due in consideration of an agreement previously announced on July 21, 2020 (the "Agreement") by the cash payment of $125,000 and the issuance of 806,452 common shares in the Capital of the Company ("Shares") at a deemed price equal to $0.465 per Share for a total deemed price of $375,000.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company bought back a two percent (2.0%) net smelter returns royalty (the "Royalty") from an arm's length third party royalty holder (the "Former Royalty Holder"), covering certain mineral claims at the Company's Clarence Stream property in southwest New Brunswick (the "Property"). The Agreement provided for a total purchase price of
$3,000,000 in six equal annual instalments of $500,000, with each partial payment representing the purchase of one-sixth (1/6) of the Royalty (each a "Partial Payment"). The first Partial Payment was settled on Closing in 2020 through the issuance of 434,783 Shares to the Former Royalty Holder at a deemed price equal to $1.15 per Share for a total deemed price of
$500,000. Pursuant to the Agreement, each subsequent $500,000 Partial Payment is to be paid as follows: (i) $125,000 in cash; and, (ii) the remaining $375,000, at the sole election of the Company, shall be paid either in cash, through the issuance of Shares, or a combination thereof as shall equal $375,000. The Shares will be subject to the statutory hold periods of four months and one day from the date of issuance. Completion of the issuance of the Shares is subject to the receipt of all regulatory approval including the approval of the TSXV.
About Galway Metals Inc.
Galway Metals is focused on creating significant per share value through the exploration and sustainable development of its two 100%-owned projects in Canada. Galway's flagship project, Clarence Stream, is one of the most important gold districts in Atlantic Canada as it hosts a large, high-grade gold resource in SW New Brunswick. Also important is Estrades, the former- producing, high-grade, gold- and zinc-rich polymetallic VMS mine in the northern Abitibi of western Quebec as it hosts significant resources in the middle of a major gold camp. After its successful spinout to existing shareholders from Galway Resources following the completion of the US$340 million sale of that company. The company is looking to replicate the same success in Canada with our two highly perspective projects.
Should you have any questions and for further information, please contact (toll free):
Galway Metals Inc.
Robert Hinchcliffe President & Chief Executive Officer
1-800-771-0680
Website: www.galwaymetalsinc.com
Email: info@galwaymetalsinc.com
Look us up on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn
Cautionary Statement
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, completion of the Royalty buy back on the announced terms or at all, objectives, goals or future plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to the risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
SOURCE: Galway Metals Inc.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Adjusted EBITDA reached US$ 200 million, up by 64% quarter-over-quarter and 180% year-over-year, mainly due to higher sales volume, higher zinc prices, improved margins at Aripuana and higher by-products contribution.
Net revenues increased to US$ 736 million from US$ 627 million in 2Q23 and US$ 580 million in 1Q24, driven by higher LME metal prices in both cases, increased mining sales volume year-over-year, and increased smelting sales volume quarter-over-quarter.
LUXEMBOURG / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Nexa Resources, one of the world's leading zinc producers, achieved solid financial performance in 2Q24. Adjusted EBITDA reached US$ 200 million, an increase of 64% from the previous quarter and 180% from the same period last year. This growth was primarily driven by increased by-products contribution, improved margins at Aripuana, and higher zinc prices. In 1H24, Adjusted EBITDA amounted to US$323 million, up by 58% compared to the same period a year ago.
Additionally, net revenues for the quarter increased to US$ 736 million, up from US$ 580 million in 1Q24 and US$ 627 million in 2Q23. This increase was driven by higher LME metal prices in both cases, increased mining sales volume year-over-year, and increased smelting sales volume quarter-over-quarter. Over the first six months of 2024, net revenues reached US$ 1,316 million, rising by 2% compared to the first half of the previous year.
Moreover, Nexa reported free cash flow of US$ 149 million in 2Q24, primarily due to the issuance of an ESG-Linked debenture. The issuance amounted to R$ 650 million (approximately US$ 130 million) and was part of Nexa's strategy to extend its debt maturity profile and optimize its financial structure.
In 2Q24, the net loss was US$ 69 million compared to US$ 103 million in 2Q23 and US$ 11 million in 1Q24. The quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly due to accounting adjustments associated with impairment losses, changes in the fair value of offtake agreements, adjustments to asset retirement obligations, and increased exploration and project evaluation expenses.
"We are pleased to report a favorable second quarter of 2024, highlighting our continued operational efficiency, increased production, improved margins at our Aripuana mine, and disciplined capital allocation supported by higher zinc prices. Our ability to adapt to market dynamics has led to enhanced execution across our operations," said Ignacio Rosado, CEO of Nexa Resources.
During 2Q24, Nexa's investments in sustaining CAPEX totaled US$ 64 million. This includes US$ 10 million allocated to Aripuana and Health, Safety, and Environment initiatives. These investments reflect Nexa's ongoing commitment to enhancing productivity, efficiency, and performance across operations and corporate areas, while also prioritizing the safety of its employees.
Operational Performance
In 2Q24, Nexa's zinc production totaled 83,000 tons, representing a 2% year-over-year increase, mainly due to higher average zinc grades, despite a 5% quarter-over-quarter decrease. The quarterly decrease was primarily attributed to lower volumes from the Peruvian mines and the absence of contributions from Morro Agudo in May and June, following the cessation of mining operations on April 30, 2024, due to the divestment of this mine. This divestment was part of Nexa's portfolio optimization strategy to improve cash flow generation and returns. As of today, the Company reiterates its 2024 consolidated production guidance for all metals.
Furthermore, copper production reached 10,000 tons, up by 13% from 2Q23 and 30% from 1Q24, driven by higher average grades, particularly from Cerro Lindo. Lead production totaled 17,000 tons, up 5% year-over-year and down 8% quarter-over-quarter, mainly attributed to the absence of contributions from Morro Agudo in May and June 2024. Silver production was 2.8 million ounces, up 8% year-over-year and relatively flat compared to the previous quarter.
In the smelting segment, zinc metal and oxide production totaled 152,000 tons in 2Q24, up by 3% year-over-year and 10% quarter-over-quarter. This increase was mainly driven by higher volumes at the Cajamarquilla and Juiz de Fora smelters, attributed to improved performance in the roasters, which enhanced production stability in the period.
"We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of our industry, and we are prepared to capitalize on new opportunities in our operations, always striving to create shared value for all our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate," added Mr. Rosado.
Growth strategy and asset portfolio
In 2Q24, Nexa made significant progress on the main work fronts of the Cerro Pasco Integration Project. Support activities, including technical reviews and environmental studies and permits, are also advancing as expected. This project has the potential to unlock significant value for the Company and is anticipated to be submitted for final approval to our Board in the upcoming months.
Additionally, in line with Nexa's review of its assets, portfolio optimization, and efficient capital allocation, the Company initiated a structured process to sell its non-operational Peruvian subsidiary, Minera Pampa de Cobre S.A.C (owner of the Chapi mine asset) and the greenfield project Pukaqaqa.
"We will maintain focus on our priorities, including the improvement of Aripuana's performance, the development of the Cerro Pasco Integration Project, delivering on guidance, extending the life of our mines, and consistently improving our cash generation," said Mr. Rosado.
ESG Update
In early May, Nexa implemented key initiatives to boost safety practices, reinforce leadership oversight, and reduce risk exposure as part of a structured 30-day, 90-day, and 180-day safety plan. This plan aims to further improve the solid safety system already in place. "At Nexa, the safety of our people and operations remains our topmost priority. We are committed to ensuring safe operations in our facilities and continue to invest in strengthening the organization-wide safety framework," stated Mr. Rosado.
In terms of Nexa's ESG strategy, the 2Q24 was also marked by several key initiatives:
As part of Nexa's circular economy initiatives, the Company completed its first commercial sale transaction involving 26.4 tons of waste material (manganese dioxide - MnO2) from the Tres Marias smelter. This project aims to sell significant amounts of waste from its smelters by developing partnerships and evaluating viable technologies and trade routes for these materials.
Nexa signed a three-year collaboration agreement with the National University Daniel Alcides Carrion ("UNDAC") in Pasco, Peru. The partnership aims to foster the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge in the mining sector, enhance professional training, develop innovative technological solutions, and establish a startup incubator for social impact.
Nexa provided school supplies to nearly 13,000 students from communities near its operations and greenfield projects in Peru. This initiative, part of the annual School Supplies Campaign, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") by aiming to alleviate the economic burden on families by supporting children's education.
Nexa renewed its partnership with Amazon Web Services for the second edition of the "Talento na Nuvem" (Talent in the Cloud) program in Brazil, offering 40,000 scholarships. The program focuses on generative AI and cloud solution architecture, aiming to equip professionals from various fields with valuable technological skills. This initiative is part of the partnership announced in 2Q23, intended to train 100,000 individuals in technology in Brazil and Peru by 2025.
Nexa, in collaboration with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation ("Embrapa") and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service ("Sebrae") partnered to expand the Rural Practices Project in Vazante, Brazil. This initiative aims to enhance the income of 40 selected farmers by introducing new agricultural techniques and market strategies.
Nexa Peru was recognized for the third consecutive year as one of the 16 leading companies in sustainable practices by the S&P/BVL Peru General ESG Index for the 2024-2025 period. This recognition reflects Nexa's ongoing commitment to integrating ESG strategies into its operations and advancing responsible mining practices.
In June 2024, at the Annual General Meeting, Mr. Paulo Macedo was elected as a director of the Company for a term starting on June 13, 2024, and ending at the 2026 Annual General Meeting of the shareholders. Mr. Macedo brings extensive experience in private equity, M&A, investment banking, and capital markets. He is the co-founder and partner of 4x4 Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, and serves as board observer of 1440 Foods and as board member of Hejoassu, the ownership board of Votorantim. Simultaneously, Mr. Diego Hernandez and Mr. Eduardo Borges de Andrade Filho, members of our Board of Directors who served as chairs of the Sustainability and Capital Projects Committee and Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee, respectively, ended their respective mandates.
Divestment of Morro Agudo Complex, in Paracatu (MG, Brazil)
On April 5, 2024, Nexa announced the signing of a definitive agreement to divest the Morro Agudo Complex, which encompasses the Morro Agudo and Ambrosia mines. Furthermore, on July 1, 2024, the company announced the closing of this transaction, and pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement, Nexa has sold, transferred and assigned all rights, titles, and interests in the Morro Agudo Complex to Casa Verde. The transaction was completed following the fulfillment of all closing conditions.
Throughout this transition, Nexa prioritized its employees by ensuring transparent communication and structured support to facilitate their personal and professional transitions. Many employees were successfully relocated within Nexa's operations or found new opportunities in the region through job fairs organized by the Company. This structured and empathetic approach underscores Nexa's commitment to its people and its strategy of responsible business practices.
About Nexa
Nexa Resources is one of the world's leading zinc mining companies. Operating for over 65 years in the mining and metallurgy segments, with locations in Brazil and Peru and offices in Luxembourg and the United States, supplying its products to every continent. Every day, its employees work with a commitment to building the mining that changes with the world, aiming for sustainability, innovation, and upholding the best safety practices, respect for people, and the environment. Since 2017, its shares have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with its majority shareholder being Votorantim S.A. For more information about Nexa and its ESG strategy and commitments, please visit our website.
For a full version of the 2Q24 Earnings Release document, please go to our Investor Relations website at: http://ir.nexaresources.com
For further information, please contact our teams:
NEXA | Investor Relations NEXA | Communications & Corporate Affairs
E-mail: ir@nexaresources.com E-mail: bruno.carrilho@nexaresources.com
SOURCE: Nexa Resources S.A.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - (Block Height: 854,950) - Cathedra Bitcoin Inc. (TSXV: CBIT) ("Cathedra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received its final bulletin from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") in connection with the completion of its previously announced business combination (the "Transaction"), with Kungsleden, Inc., a developer and operator of alternative high-density compute infrastructure, and that the Company's subordinate voting shares are scheduled to commence trading on the TSXV on August 6, 2024.
Cathedra also announces that it has engaged Integral Wealth Securities Limited ("Integral") to provide services as a market maker in compliance with the policies and guidelines of the TSXV and other applicable legislation. Integral will trade subordinate voting shares of the Company on the TSXV and other trading venues with the objective of maintaining a reasonable market and improving the liquidity of the Company's subordinate voting shares. Under the agreement with Integral, Integral will receive a cash fee equal to $7,000 per month, plus applicable taxes. The initial term of the agreement is three months from the date of execution, after which, the agreement may be terminated by Cathedra upon 30 days' notice to Integral. There are no performance factors contained in the agreement and Integral will not receive shares or options as compensation. Integral and the Company are unrelated and unaffiliated entities and at the time of the agreement, to the knowledge of the Company, neither Integral nor its principals have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company. The agreement is subject to the approval of the TSXV.
Integral is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization ("CIRO") and can access all Canadian Stock Exchanges and Alternative Trading Systems. The capital and securities required for any trade undertaken by Integral as principal will be provided by Integral. Integral is an independent CIRO-licensed investment dealer engaged in market making, investment banking and wealth management. Headquartered in Toronto, the firm operates from nine offices across Canada.
In connection with the Transaction, the Company's common shares were re-designated as subordinate voting shares (the "Subordinate Voting Shares"). The Company's transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services Inc., will be mailing a Direct Registration System Statement ("DRS Advice") to all shareholders of the Company (other than for those that are required to be in certificated form) setting out each holder's shareholdings. Shareholders wishing to receive a physical share certificate should contact Computershare Investor Services Inc. for information on how to obtain physical shares certificates in place of a DRS Advice. The CUSIP number for the Subordinate Voting Shares is 14919F206.
Finally, the Company has begun the process of relisting its shares on the OTCQB and expects to receive approval shortly after trading resumes on the TSXV. Trading in the Company's shares on the OTCQB would resume shortly thereafter.
About Cathedra Bitcoin
Cathedra Bitcoin Inc. develops and operates high-density compute infrastructure across North America. The Company hosts bitcoin mining clients across its portfolio of three data centers (30 MW total) in Tennessee and Kentucky. Additionally, Cathedra is a 25% partner in a joint venture that is developing a 60-MW data center in North Dakota which will also host bitcoin miners upon its expected completion in Q3 2024. Cathedra also operates a fleet of proprietary bitcoin mining machines at its own and third-party data centers, producing approximately 400 PH/s of hash rate. The Company is focused on expanding its portfolio of data center infrastructure for high-density compute applications including bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence. Cathedra is headquartered in Vancouver and its shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol CBIT.
For more information about Cathedra, visit cathedra.com or follow Company news on Twitter at @CathedraBitcoin or on Telegram at @CathedraBitcoin.
Cautionary Statement
Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws that are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this release about future plans and objectives of the Company and Kungsleden, are forward-looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this news release includes but is not limited to information concerning: the resumption of trading of the subordinate voting shares and the timing thereof and the engagement of Integral to provide services as a market maker and the terms of the engagement. Any statements that involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of its normal course of business.
Additionally, these forward-looking statements may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Cathedra and general market conditions. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but instead reflect Cathedra's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although Cathedra believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are the following: the potential impact of the announcement of the completion of the Transaction on relationships, including with regulatory bodies, employees, customers and competitors; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws and regulations both locally and in foreign jurisdictions; compliance with extensive government regulation and the costs associated with compliance; unanticipated costs; changes in market conditions impacting the average revenue per MWh, and the risks and uncertainties associated with foreign markets. Additionally, the forward-looking statements contained herein may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the business of Cathedra and general market conditions. Please see the Company's management information circular dated June 18, 2024 which is available for view the Company's SEDAR+ profile on www.sedarplus.ca. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended and such changes could be material. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218567
SOURCE: Cathedra Bitcoin Inc.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) In a landmark judgment, a seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that states are empowered to make sub-classification within Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for granting quotas in jobs and education for the more underprivileged among the marginalized communities.
A bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Bela M Trivedi, Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Satish Chandra Mishra, passed the verdict by 6:1 majority.
It was hearing 23 petitions, including the lead one filed by the Punjab government challenging a 2010 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Gavai said that there are categories within the SC/STs that have faced oppression for centuries and opined that the state must evolve a policy to identify the creamy layer among the SC/ST category.
The bench delivered six separate judgments and held that further sub-classification of SCs and STs by states can be permitted to ensure the grant of quota to more backward castes among these groups.
The majority verdict said the basis of sub-classification has to be justified by "quantifiable and demonstrable data by the states, which cannot act on its whims".
Justice Trivedi, however, passed a dissenting judgment and said that the states cannot tinker with the Scheduled Caste list notified under Article 341 of the Constitution.
Justice Trivedi said that the state's action to provide reservation even if well-intentioned cannot be justified by the Supreme Court using powers under Article 142.
She said that the affirmative action of states has to be within the constitutional fold.
The top court said members of SCs and STs are often unable to climb up the ladder due to the systemic discrimination faced by them.
The top court overruled its 2004 judgment of a five-judge bench in the EV Chinnaiah case in which it was held that SCs and STs are homogenous groups and hence, states cannot further sub-classify them to grant quota inside quota for more deprived and weaker castes in these groups.
The Chinnaiah judgment held that any 'sub-classification' of SCs would violate Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.
The 2004 verdict stated that only the Parliament, and not the state legislatures, can exclude castes deemed to be SC from the Presidential List under Article 341 of the Constitution.
The Punjab government, in 2011, had approached the top court assailing the high court's verdict, saying the apex court's 2004 judgment did not apply to it as there is no ST population in their state.
Taking up the plea of the Punjab government, a five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra (since retired), on August 27, 2020, had differed with the Chinnaiah judgment and referred it for adjudication by a larger bench of seven judges or more for an authoritative pronouncement.
The bench after hearing arguments from all the parties had reserved its judgment in February this year and had said, "There is heterogeneity in terms of past occupation social status and other indicators may be different for different castes inside the Scheduled Castes.So, the degree of social and economic backwardness may vary from one person or caste to another," the top court had said.
The Central Government had submitted before the court that it was in favour of doing sub-classification among Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
In the central government-funded higher education institutions, 22.5 per cent of available seats are reserved for SCs and 7.5 per cent for ST students.
The same yardstick is applied in the case of public employment as well.
UNI SNG RC
Rosenheim, Germany--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - A recently introduced patent by Robert Farber, a leading expert at WATERPLUS Technik GmbH, could represent a breakthrough in the fight against PFAS pollution. The innovative process promises an effective and sustainable solution for cleaning drinking water and soils contaminated with PFAS.
Patent Presentation on PFAS at Dyneon (3M)
Since 2017, Regional television network Oberbayern (RFO) has been covering the environmental pollution caused by per- and polyfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAS) in the Altotting district. The contamination of soils and groundwater, as well as initial cleanup attempts using activated carbon filters, have been focal points.
Despite improvements in measurement values, the closure of the Dyneon company in the region was planned, though led to protests by employees and unions. The Bavarian Prime Minister and the Minister of Economic Affairs visited the site to assess the situation. Recent developments from Berlin could potentially offer a solution to the situation.
"Our mission at WATERPLUS Technik GmbH is to provide sustainable solutions through advanced technologies and extensive knowledge in the field of drinking water. Robert Farber's new patent is a significant step in this direction and could have far-reaching positive effects on the environment and human health," said Robert Farber, CEO of WATERPLUS Technik GmbH.
The developments surrounding the Dyneon plant and efforts to preserve the site have garnered significant attention in the region. Many view the possibility that the new patent from WATERPLUS Technik GmbH could play a decisive role as a beacon of hope.
For more information on the latest developments and the patent from WATERPLUS Technik GmbH, visit:
Waterplus Technik New Patent on PFAS
Chancellery Wants to Preserve Dyneon Site
Johanna Freilinger | Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, University of Innsbruck
About WATERPLUS Technik GmbH
WATERPLUS Technik GmbH is a leader in providing innovative solutions for drinking water safety and quality. Specializing in advanced water treatment technologies, the company bridges the gap between operators, users, installers, and clients. With expertise in addressing Legionella and bacterial contamination, WATERPLUS Technik GmbH offers rapid testing and effective filtration systems for residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, nursing homes, and hospitals. Their commitment to sustainable and efficient water management ensures safe drinking water, protecting public health and the environment.
Press inquiries
WATERPLUS Technik GmbH
https://www.waterplus-technik.de/
Tim Rautenberg
info@webdesign-crossmedia.de
+4915201780974
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218572
SOURCE: WATERPLUS Technik GmbH
Kestrel Gold Inc. ("Kestrel" or the "Corporation")(TSX-V:KGC) is pleased to announce the appointment Greg Lynch, P. Geo as a Director of the Corporation and that Jean Sharp has been appointed Chief Financial Officer as Debbie Fern has resigned effective July 31, 2024.
Mr. Lynch is a Professional Geologist, APEGA, with a PhD from the University of Alberta in Economic Geology. He has over 35 years experience in resource exploration and research split between Shell Canada, the Geological Survey of Canada, and junior mining companies focused on the Cordillera. He is a Past President of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, and remains engaged in mineral exploration and fieldwork in Yukon Territory.
Ms. Sharp has 35 years of experience as a controller and financial accountant with various public and private companies. She studied financial accounting at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and business administration at the University of New Brunswick.
The Corporation would like to thank Debbie Fern for her contribution and service to the Corporation.
Kestrel also announces that Mr. Lynch and Ms. Sharp have each been granted 500,000 stock options to purchase in the aggregate 1,000,000 common shares. All stock options have an exercise price of $0.07 per share and will expire on July 30, 2029.
The Corporation has elected to terminate the Fireweed option agreement and will be returning the property to the vendor.
About Kestrel Gold
Kestrel Gold Inc. is an exploration company headquartered in western Canada and focused on the Canadian Cordillera. Kestrel has earned a 100% interest in the QCM Property which is an orogenic gold target located in the Manson-Germanson placer district. Kestrel also owns a 100% interest in the KSD Property which is an orogenic gold target located in the Yukon portion of the Tintina Gold Belt. Kestrel is listed on the TSX Venture exchange under the symbol KGC. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Corporation's website "www.kestrelgold.com" for further information.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information and statements in this news release contain certain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information relates to future events or the Corporation's future performance including exploration activity that could take place on the Corporation's properties or projects. This forward-looking information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking information. The Corporation's forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
For further information contact:
Rob Solinger, President, and CEO
Office: (403) 816-2141
Email: rob@kestrelgold.com
SOURCE: Kestrel Gold Inc.
View the original press release on accesswire.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Denarius Metals Corp. (Cboe CA: DMET) (OTCQX: DNRSF) ("Denarius Metals" or the "Company") announced today that it has taken steps to strengthen its operational leadership as it advances its Zancudo Project in Colombia and its Aguablanca Project in Spain toward the commencement of production. Effective immediately, Mr. Federico Restrepo-Solano, a director of the Board since October 2022, has been appointed as the Company's Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and Mr. Mateo Restrepo Villegas, a director of the Board since January 2024, has been appointed as President, Zancudo Metals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Denarius Metals operating in Colombia.
Messrs. Restrepo-Solano and Restrepo Villegas will both maintain their positions on the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Francisco Sole has been appointed to the Audit Committee to replace Mr. Restrepo Villegas. The Company's Audit Committee comprises Mr. Paul Sparkes (Chair), Ms. Patricia Herrera Paba and Mr. Sole, all independent directors of the Company.
Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman and CEO of Denarius Metals, commented, "In anticipation of receiving our pending permits, we believe that the level of activity to prepare the Zancudo and Aguablanca Projects to commence production within the next 6 to 12 months will require an increased level of operational leadership. We are very fortunate to have two well qualified individuals on our Board who are familiar with our projects and committed to taking on enhanced roles to ensure we deliver on our strategy. Mr. Federico Restrepo-Solano has a proven track record bringing projects into operation and will focus primarily on the Company's projects in Spain, notably the restart of the Aguablanca Project. Mr. Mateo Restrepo Villegas, in his previous capacity as President of Continental Gold Inc., guided the large-scale underground Buritica gold mining project into operation, leading the environmental licensing process and developing its ESG strategy. Mr. Restrepo Villegas will focus his efforts to do the same with the Company's Zancudo Project."
Non-Brokered Private Placement
Denarius Metals also announced today that plans to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 22,222,222 common shares of the Company at a price of CA$0.45 per common share for gross proceeds of up to CA$10,000,000 (the "Offering"). It is anticipated that the closing of the Offering will occur in one or more tranches on or prior to September 5, 2024. Completion of the Offering is subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals, including Cboe Canada. The common shares issuable in connection with this Offering will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day after the date of issuance.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering, together with the net proceeds from its recent convertible debenture units offering, to fund its Aguablanca Project in Spain, its Zancudo Project in Colombia and for general corporate purposes.
Certain insiders of the Company have indicated their interest to participate in the Offering. As the number of securities issuable to Related Persons (as defined under Cboe Canada's policies) of the Company in the Offering, when added to the number of securities issued to Related Persons of the Company in the private placements of convertible debentures completed in October 2023 and June 2024, is more than 10% of the current total number of issued and outstanding common shares (the "Outstanding Shares"), calculated on a non-diluted basis, the Company requires approval from shareholders representing a majority of the Outstanding Shares held by disinterested shareholders to proceed with the Offering. The Company intends to satisfy Cboe Canada's shareholder approval requirement by obtaining a written resolution signed by holders of at least 50% of the holders entitled to vote thereon.
No U.S. Offering or Registration
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction, including the United States, other than the provinces and territories of Canada. The securities being offered pursuant to the Offering have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States. Such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, any U.S. Person (as defined in Regulation S of the US Securities Act) or person in the United States except in a transaction exempt from or not subject to the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.
About Denarius Metals
Denarius Metals is a Canadian junior company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and eventual operation of polymetallic mining projects in high-grade districts.
In Spain, the Company owns a 100% interest in the Lomero Project, a polymetallic deposit located on the Spanish side of the prolific copper rich Iberian Pyrite Belt, and a 50% interest in Rio Narcea Recursos, S.L., which has the rights to exploit the historic producing Aguablanca nickel-copper mine, including a 5,000 tpd processing plant, located in Monesterio, Extremadura, Spain, approximately 88 km northwest from the Lomero Project. The Company is also carrying out an exploration campaign on the Toral Project located in the Leon Province, Northern Spain pursuant to an option and joint-venture arrangement with Europa Metals Ltd. pursuant to which it can acquire up to an 80% ownership interest in Europa Metals Iberia S.L., a wholly-owned Spanish subsidiary of Europa which holds the Toral Project.
In Colombia, Denarius Metals is carrying out construction activities at its 100%-owned Zancudo Project, which includes the historic producing Independencia mine, to develop production and cash flow commencing later this year through local contract mining. The Company is also carrying out a drilling program on the Zancudo deposit which remains open in all directions.
Additional information on Denarius Metals can be found on its website at www.denariusmetals.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information", which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to anticipated business plans or strategies, including the Offering, shareholders, regulatory and Cboe Canada approvals, and the use of proceeds of the Offering. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Denarius Metals to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated April 25, 2024 which is available for view on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and Denarius Metals disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218600
SOURCE: Denarius Metals Corp.
Miami, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - Award-winning marketing agency Dario Markovic has announced the launch of a new content resource center specifically designed for marketing executives in the e-commerce industry. The comprehensive hub, accessible on Dario Markovic's website, offers a wealth of information on the latest news, best practices, and industry standards to help marketing executives maximize their marketing spend.
Founder Dario Markovic
With over 20 years of experience in marketing, the Dario Markovic team has compiled their extensive knowledge and expertise into this centralized hub. The resource center is intended to serve as a one-stop shop for fashion e-commerce entrepreneurs and executives seeking to stay informed about the latest trends and strategies in the industry.
The new content resource center includes a blog, webinars, case studies, and whitepapers. The blog will feature articles on topics such as social media marketing, email marketing, and search engine optimization. Webinars will offer in-depth training on specific marketing topics, while case studies and whitepapers will provide real-world examples and research-backed insights.
According to CEO, Dario Markovic, "Our goal with this release is to create a valuable resource for fashion e-commerce entrepreneurs and executives. By sharing our expertise and providing practical tools, we hope to help business owners navigate the complexities of the industry and achieve their goals."
The content resource center is now live and can be accessed on the Dario Markovic website (https://dariomarkovic.com/). Marketing executives are encouraged to explore the various sections and sign up for updates to stay informed about the latest developments in the e-commerce marketing industry.
Dario Markovic's new content hub provides useful tools for fashion e-commerce executives
For more information, please contact:
Dario Markovic
CEO
https://dariomarkovic.com
info@dariomarkovic.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218594
SOURCE: Dario Markovic
Clix Capital, a New Delhi, India-based nonbank financial company (NBFC,) secured INR 220 Cr in equity capital.
The round was led by existing investors Apollo Global Management, Pramod Bhasin and Anil Chawla.
The company intends to use the funds to strengthen its lending capabilities across the MSME, Education, and Healthcare Equipment sectors, enhance its credit profile & significantly invest in new age AI & ML technologies.
Co-founded by industry veterans, Pramod Bhasin and Anil Chawla in 2016 through the acquisition of the lending and leasing business of GE Capital, and led by Rakesh Kaul, CEO, Clix Capital is a NBFC with a focus on leveraging technology and analytics to offer innovative lending solutions to Indias MSME sector. The company offers lending solutions in the form of Secured and Unsecured Business Loans, Healthcare Equipment Finance, Mortgage Finance, and Educational Infrastructure Lending.
The company has achieved AUM CAGR over 30%, having supported thousands of MSMEs in their growth ambitions and job creation efforts. The companys current AUM stands over INR 6,000 Cr with GNPA of less than 2% and has surpassed INR 26,000 Cr in total lifetime disbursements. With a workforce of more than 1,000 employees and phygital presence, Clix Capital has expanded its operations in over 2,100 pin codes pan India.
FinSMEs
01/08/2024
Mindera Health, Inc., a San Diego, CA-based company developing and commercializing next-generation medical technology to enable a new era of skin analytics at the molecular level, closed a $14M convertible note financing.
The round was led by Mountain Group Partners and other existing investors in anticipation of a Series B financing in 2025.
Proceeds will support the continued commercialization of Minderas lead product, Mind.Px.
Led by Ron Rocca, CEO, Mindera Health is a company developing and commercializing next-generation medical technology to enable a new era of skin analytics at the molecular level. Using a proprietary dermal biomarker patch, next-generation sequencing, and machine learning, Mindera Health technology generates clinically validated data to reduce healthcare system costs and improve patient outcomes.
Mind.Px is the flagship test of Mindera Health, designed to prospectively predict a patients response to biologic drug classes prior to therapeutic selection and treatment. It uses a scalable, minimally invasive dermal biomarker patch that captures over 7,000 biomarkers per sample along with data analytics,
Mindera Health is a CLIA- and CAP-certified laboratory and has received ISO 13485:2016 certification.
FinSMEs
01/08/2024
Outpace Bio, a Seattle, WA-based cell therapy company using AI-powered protein design to program immune cells for improved function inside patients battling solid tumors, raised $144m in Series B financing.
The Series B financing, which brought the total capital raised to approximately $200m, was led by RA Capital Management, with participation from new investors Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and other undisclosed investors, and existing investors ARTIS Ventures, Playground Global, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Breton Capital Ventures, WRF Capital, and Sahsen Ventures. Jake Simson, PhD, Partner at RA Capital Management has been appointed to the companys Board of Directors.
Led by Marc Lajoie, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Outpace is advancing an internal pipeline of engineered T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance multiple programmed T cell product candidates to early clinical proof-of-concept for the treatment of solid tumors. The companys lead program OPB-101 is a mesothelin-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell enhanced by Outpaces proprietary OUTSMART, OUTLAST, OUTSPACER, and OUTSAFE technologies, which is on track for IND clearance and first dosing in 2025 for patients with advanced platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Additionally, the funds will support the expansion of Outpaces future pipeline leveraging the companys plug-and-play technology platform.
FinSMEs
01/08/2024
TS Conductor, a Huntington Beach, CA-based manufacturer of advanced electric power lines, closed a $60m growth funding round.
The round was led by Wellington Management, joined by Quanta Services, Gates Frontier, Energy & Environment Investment, Inc., Blue Earth Capital, and Edison International, and repeat investors National Grid Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.
The funds will be used to open a second US production facility, which is part of the companys plan to increase production of its high-performance conductors in response to strong customer demand.
Led by Jason Huang, PhD, CEO, TS Conductor leverages Aluminum Encapsulated Carbon Core (AECC) technology suitable for both reconductoring and new build projects. The TS Conductor can be deployed to expand grid capacity and enhance reliability, with the option to leverage existing infrastructure.
The companys existing ISO-certified facility in Southern California is operating at near-full capacity, and plans are under consideration to increase this facilitys output in the near term. The majority of this funding round, however, will support an expansion east of the Mississippi River.
Utilities across North America have already deployed TS technology, including Montana-Dakota Utilities Company (MDU), Arizona Public Service (APS), and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
FinSMEs
01/07/2024
The Madhya Pradesh government is set to incinerate 337 metric tonnes (MT) of toxic waste stored in the closed Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, nearly 40 years after the tragedy struck. The decision to destroy the waste has led to concerns about the impact on human health and environment read more
The victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have been demanding fair compensation for their sufferings. File Photo/AFP
About forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Madhya Pradesh government has started the process to dispose of the 337 metric tonnes (MT) of toxic waste stored in the abandoned Union Carbide facility. This comes after the Central government allocated Rs 126 crore for incinerating the waste.
However, the decision to burn the waste in Indores Pithampur has sparked concerns about the health and environmental risks.
Lets take a closer look.
1984 Bhopal gas tragedy
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Bhopal witnessed one of the biggest industrial disasters on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
Highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from American company Union Carbides pesticide factory in the Madhya Pradesh capital. Over 5,000 died, while another 5,68,292 suffered injuries in Bhopal.
The victims were exposed to the poisonous gas, with most complaining of breathing issues, coughing, and irritation in the eyes and skin.
Victims of Bhopal gas tragedy hold posters during a demonstration outside a court in Bhopal, June 7, 2010. File Photo/Reuters
It is one of the worst humanitarian and environmental disasters in the world. Thousands of survivors of the industrial disaster have said they and their families are still suffering from chronic health problems due to the leak and the leftover toxic waste.
The Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a subsidiary of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), is now part of Dow Chemicals. The survivors want just compensation from the company. However, last year, the Supreme Court rejected the Centres curative petition seeking UCCs successor firms to pay additional compensation to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
Toxic waste at Union Carbide factory
Union Carbide regularly dumped highly toxic chemical waste inside and outside their factory premises in Bhopal for 15 years before the disaster.
According to a government-commissioned study in 2010, there are 11 lakh tonnes of contaminated soil, one tonne of mercury, and nearly 150 tonnes of underground dumps in the factory premises, reported The Hindu.
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However, the Central government is funding the disposal of just 337 tonnes of waste collected 18 years ago and stored in a shed in the UCILs facility.
Why is the hazardous waste still there?
In 2004, the convener of Bhopal Zahreeli Gas Sangharsh Samiti, Alok Pratap Singh, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madhya Pradesh High Court to hold Dow Chemicals responsible for the pollution at the disaster site and seek immediate clean-up, as per an Indian Express report.
A task force headed by the Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India was set up by the court.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) experts selected a world-class incinerator owned by Bharuch Enviro-Infrastructure Limited (BEIL) in Gujarats Ankleshwar in 2005 for safely destroying the waste. However, this led to protests in the state in 2007 and the plan was eventually ditched.
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The task force identified other Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility (TSDF) sites including Dungigal in Hyderabad and Taloja in Mumbai.
In 2010, the Supreme Court allowed the incineration of 346MT of toxic waste at the TSDF in Madhya Pradeshs Pithampur, after a successful trial run.
Trees frame a rusting building at the abandoned former Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal November 11, 2014. File Photo/Reuters
Two years later, the Madhya Pradesh government filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court arguing that the facility is not technically sound for incineration of the Bhopal gas toxic waste which is more hazardous in comparison to industrial waste.
The same year, German company GIZ which had submitted a proposal to transport and incinerate 346 metric tonnes of this waste in Hamburg for Rs 25 crore withdrew its offer after protests in its country.
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In 2015, the Centre carried out a trial run at the Pithampur TSDF but had to shelve further plans after residents opposed. Amid a lack of consensus between the Centre and the state, there was no progress for seven years in the matter, reported Indian Express.
As per an NDTV report, six out of seven test runs at the Pithampur facility were unsuccessful, leading to the release of toxic chemicals.
In March this year, the Centre disbursed Rs 126 crore to the Madhya Pradesh government for the disposal of 337 tonnes of hazardous waste.
Pithampur Industrial Waste Management Private Limited has been finalised for the task through an auction process, reported Deccan Chronicle. The Madhya Pradesh Department of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation (BGTRR) will supervise the transportation of the waste from the Union Carbide facility to the Pithampur facility, where it will be incinerated.
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The process will take an estimated 180 days, as per Indian Express. Pithampur Industrial Society president Gautam Kothari told Deccan Chronicle that the capacity of the Pithampur incineration is two MT per hour. He said it would take at least 165 days for the destruction of 337 MT of toxic waste.
ALSO READ: 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy: Four decades on, no closure in sight for victims
Risks of disposing of the waste
There are concerns about the emissions released from the incineration of toxic waste posing health risks.
A 2022 CPCB report had found that residents had been exposed to a high level of dioxins and furans, chemical pollutants formed as a by-product of burning the waste, during six out of seven trial runs.
As per the NDTV report, the incineration could lead to the release of organochlorines in large quantities and carcinogenic chemicals such as dioxins and furans, which might affect the health of local residents and the environment.
Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
With input from agencies
Following the heavy downpour in Delhi, videos showed water leaking into the lobby and waterlogging in front of the newly constructed Parliament building. The new building costs Rs 971 crore and now the opposition is slamming the government over the leakage read more
Videos doing rounds on social media show water leaking from the ceiling of the new Parliament building only a year after its completion. PTI
Heavy rains poured on parts of Delhi and its neighbouring National Capital Region (NCR) on Wednesday evening, causing severe waterlogging and traffic disruptions in the city.
Not spared also was the newly constructed Parliament building.
Following the incessant downpour, videos showed water leaking into the lobby and waterlogging in front of the structure.
The new building, which cost Rs 971 crore to construct, has come under scrutiny for its ability to withstand extreme weather.
The water leak
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Just one year after it was constructed, videos of the new Parliament building with water leaking from the ceiling are making the rounds on social media.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore posted a video of the water leak while referring to the controversy surrounding the NEET-UG medical entrance exam paper leak.
He said, Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion. Moving adjournment motion on this issue in Lok Sabha.
Firstpost couldnt independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Paper leakage outside,
water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion.
Moving Adjournment motion on this issue in Loksabha. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/kNFJ9Ld21d Manickam Tagore .B . (@manickamtagore) August 1, 2024
Furthermore, waterlogging was found across the building, especially close to Mukar Dwar, the New Parliament.
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BIG BREAKING
Massive waterlogging in the new Parliament building made by Modi Govt for over 1,250 CRORES
What an absolute fraud on taxpayers money pic.twitter.com/y6qX4kqBTd Ankit Mayank (@mr_mayank) July 31, 2024
Tagore proposed setting up a special committee to conduct a thorough inspection of the structure, with MPs from all parties participating.
He stated that the committee would look into the origins of the leaks, assess the materials and design, suggest any necessary repairs, set up a maintenance schedule, and guarantee transparency by disclosing its findings to the public.
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When our new parliament building is water-logged, what chance do we the citizens have? Frankly, the haste with which the new building was constructed, singularly unaesthetic and with no character , while the wonderfully distinctive and charming old parliament building and pic.twitter.com/vlmQ6W6BoW Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) August 1, 2024
The scheduled parliamentary sessions were not affected by the disruption created by the leak.
Thursdays agenda featured two things: Union Minister Amit Shah would introduce a bill to modify the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in both Houses of Parliament, and Nirmala Sitharaman would move the statutory resolution pertaining to Section 8A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, according to Business Standard.
Parliaments monsoon session began on July 22 and is expected to end on August 12.
Also read: Modi leads MPs to new Parliament building: How is it different from the old one?
Criticism
Soon after the video started making the rounds of the internet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the BJP on Thursday, saying the old Parliament was better than the new one.
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He said, The old parliament was better than this new parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the parliament built with billions of rupees.
People are asking whether water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their well thought out design, he added.
, , -- ,
, pic.twitter.com/PpJ36k6RJm Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 1, 2024
Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra mocked the BJP over the video, drawing a comparison between the leak and the partys shaky election performance.
For the uninitiated, the ruling party in the AprilJune general elections claimed a historic third term, albeit with the backing of its coalition partners, having failed to secure the 32 seats necessary for an absolute majority.
New parliament lobby is leaking water. Given the building is a monstrous edifice to @narendramodi s ego it is only fitting that it has got shaky post 2024 lok sabha results. Bharat Mandapam leaks another case in point. pic.twitter.com/3WUO0xokzr Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 1, 2024
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of the National Capital stated, Parliament built at cost of Rs 1,200 crore is now dependent on a bucket of Rs 120.
The AAP and the BJP have been at odds over Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals arrest in the excise policy case for a long time.
The government has not yet responded to the video or the barbs from the opposition.
A netizen tweeted, The new Parliament that took 971 crores to be ready started leaking after a days rain. Unfortunately, they cant even blame Nehru for this.
Another one quipped, New Parliament building made at the cost of Rs 1000 crores. Your taxes are being used well.
The new Parliament building even has a rainwater harvesting facility. Direct from clouds to bucket. Simply brilliant, fourth one shared.
Also read: Kerala, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal: How rain fury is wreaking havoc across India
The new Parliament building
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament building on December 10, 2020, and it was inaugurated on May 28, 2023.
With a projected lifespan of more than 150 years, the new Parliament building is meant to be earthquake-resistant, efficient, and modern while incorporating a variety of Indian styles of architecture.
The project, which had architect Bimal Patel and was overseen by Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd, is reported to have cost Rs 971 crore and covered 64,500 square metres.
The new Parliament building was built by Tata Projects Ltd. and features a large Constitution Hall to highlight Indias democratic history, a library, a lounge for MPs, numerous committee rooms, dining facilities and sufficient parking. The materials used for the building came from various parts of the country.
Part of the governments wider Central Vista redevelopment project, the four-storey building houses the two chambers of the legislature: the 384-seat Rajya Sabha and the 888-seat Lok Sabha, which can host a joint sitting of both Houses with 1,272 members.
In September 2023, the historic womens reservation law was approved in this very building.
Notably, the older building a 93-year-old construction with limited space and structural stability issues caused concerns about stability in the early 2010s, which led to proposals for a new building.
Other structural issues
Since its opening, the new Parliament building has encountered a number of problems.
Technical issues hampered the special session of Parliament held in the new structure.
These included issues with the earphones and microphones given to MPs and an acoustics system that caused echoes in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers, according to Business Standard.
The new Parliament building was severely restricted from admission during its first session due to the lack of activation of the biometric and barcode security system.
Leaks in other newly built structures
The new Parliament leak comes days after reports of water leaking from the roof of the inner chambers of the grand Ram Temple in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya, which was consecrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a major ceremony in January this year, just months before the general election.
Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest, also voiced concerns about inadequate drainage, according to NDTV.
Administrative staff at the temple, however, denied this allegation, stating that during second-floor construction, rainwater had trickled downpipes that were fixed to install electric wires.
In another incident, a video of a water leak from the roof of a Vande Bharat train moving from Delhi to Varanasi was recently posted by a passenger.
Northern Railway cited a temporary blockage of pipes for the leakage.
Delhi rains
A sudden and severe rainfall hit Delhi on Wednesday night, catching residents off guard. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reported a total of 147 millimetres in the eastern parts of Delhi and its suburbs.
On Thursday, there were still severe delays at places like Rajghat, Anuvrat Marg, and ITO.
At least nine people have died in rain-related incidents as heavy showers brought daily life to a standstill.
Two people suffered injuries when a house collapsed in Subzi Mandi, and cars sustained damage when a wall collapsed in Daryaganj.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert warning on Wednesday after at least 10 flights to the National Capital were forced to divert due to heavy rain.
Lieutenant Governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, urged officials to remain vigilant amid the heavy downpour.
According to the weather department, the rainy conditions are expected to continue till August 5. Besides Delhi, other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) have also experienced lightning, thunder, and light rain.
With inputs from agencies
Israel said it eliminated Mohammad Deif, the chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades the military wing of Hamas in an airstrike in Gaza last month. Deif, who survived so many assassination attempts that he was nicknamed the cat with nine lives, died in southern Gazas Khan Younis on July 13. But what happened? How did his luck finally run out? read more
Mohammad Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965. Image Courtesy: @OliLondonTV/X
Mohammad Deif is dead.
Israel said it killed the chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades the military wing of Hamas in an airstrike in Gaza last month.
Deif, believed to be the mastermind of the October 7 attack, had survived so many assassination attempts that he was nicknamed the cat with nine lives.
It seems Deifs luck finally ran out.
The announcement came a day after Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran.
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But how did the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) eliminate Deif?
Lets take a closer look:
According to CNN, the IDF said it had conducted a precise, targeted strike on a compound in southern Gaza on July 13.
Deif, and another Hamas commander, Rafe Salama, were at the compound in a designated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
The Times of Israel reported that Deif was forced to leave the underground tunnels where he was hiding because of Israels military pressure on Hamas.
Deif then linked up with Salameh, who had staying at the compound for several weeks.
Israels fighter jets hovered over the compound for half a day before the strike was carried out.
Once the military confirmed the intel that Deif was at the compound, the IDF planes were given the go-ahead.
The strike was launched in minutes.
The two leaders were in a building that was hit by several heavy munitions.
The IDF put up footage of the airstrike on X:
, -13 2024 ' , , , , .
pic.twitter.com/6dAgs8u5DE Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 1, 2024
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At least 90 people were killed in the airstrike on the Al-Mawasi camp.
Images and videos from the camp showed bodies everywhere and destroyed tents.
The IDF announced the death of Salama last month.
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However, it was unable to immediately confirm the death of Deif.
The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike, the statement read.
View of the damage following an Israeli strike at a tent camp in Al-Mawasi area, amid Israel-Hamas conflict in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 13, 2024. Reuters
Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 251 hostages abducted into the Gaza Strip, the IDF added.
Hamas is yet to confirm Deifs death.
The Washington Post quoted Hamas spokesperson Izzat al-Rishq as saying that confirming or denying the death of any of the groups leaders is a matter for the leadership of Hamass military wing.
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It is not possible to confirm any of the published news, he added.
The killing of the master murderer Muhammad Deif, the Bin Laden of Gaza, on July 13, 2024, is a big step on the way to eradicating Hamas as a military and governmental organization, and to achieving the goals of the war we set.
The high-quality and precise operation that was carried out was made possible by the best cooperation between the IDF and the Shin Bet, and those who head them, he said. The results of the operation make it clear that Hamas is an organization in disintegration, and that the terrorists must choose between surrender and death.
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The security establishment will pursue the Hamas terrorists from the planners of the [October 7] massacre to the perpetrators and will not rest until the mission is completed, Gallant added.
Experts say Deif and Haniyehs deaths will have at best limited impact on Hamas.
History has repeatedly demonstrated that while Israel is very effective in terms of assassinating senior Palestinian political figures, this has tended to have at best limited impact on [Hamass] abilities, on its development, Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and co-editor of Jadaliyya, told The Washington Post.
I would not equate killing leaders with eradicating a movement. Those are two very different things, and Israel has proven quite successful with respect to the former but not at all successful with respect to the latter.
Who was Deif?
Deif became head of Hamass armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in 2002.
He was among Israels most wanted man for nearly three decades and on a US list of international terrorists since 2015.
During the war, he commanded Hamass terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamass military wing, the military said.
Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965.
The word Deif means visitor or guest and some say he chose it because he was always on the move with Israeli hunters on his trail, never spending more than one night in the same place.
In videos, Deif has appeared masked or shown in a silhouette, while rare photographs have circulated of one of Israels most wanted men.
In January, Israel released a picture of Deif showing him with one eye missing, without specifying when it was taken.
In 2014, Israel launched an air strike on Gaza, killing Deifs wife and a seven-month-old son.
It was Deif who announced the start of the Hamas attack operation Al-Aqsa Flood in an audio message on October 7.
Deif became involved in Hamas in the 1980s when he was a student at the Gaza Islamic University.
He is said to have played a key role in the huge network of tunnels built beneath Gaza.
He was detained by Israel since the 1980s and spent about two years in a prison run by the Palestinian Authority. He was released or escaped, reports said.
In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested a warrant for his arrest alongside with Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza who is still being hunted by Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas political leader Haniyeh, who was killed Wednesday in the Iranian capital, was also on that list.
The prosecutor has also sought warrants for Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Gallant.
During the October 7 attack, Hamas operatives also seized 251 people, 111 are still captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israels military campaign since then has killed 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the territory, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.
With inputs from agencies
Cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have left at least 14 people dead and 50 people missing. But what are cloudbursts? How do they occur? read more
The partially washed-away Manali-Chandigarh highway is seen alongside a swollen Beas River at Manali, following a recent cloudburst in Kullu district. PTI
India has been lashed by heavy rains for the past few days.
Cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Monday (August 1) have left at least 14 people dead.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who convened an emergency meeting, said as many as 50 people were reported missing from these areas in the state.
Roads have been washed away and a hydro power project in the area has also been damaged, Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap told PTI.
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Rescue operations have been launched as incessant rains have triggered floods and caused significant damage to properties.
Landslides have also been triggered in hilly regions leading to road being blocked and movement of vehicles being halted.
But do you know why and how cloudbursts occur? Lets take a closer look:
The Palestinian militant group announced that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed early on Wednesday in Iran. Israel, which aims to demonstrate that it can reach everyone, anywhere, has killed or attempted to kill key operatives and leaders of Hamas since it was established in 1987 read more
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader who was killed in Iran, was the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war raged back in Gaza, where three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Reuters
The Palestinian militant group announced that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed early on Wednesday in Iran, raising concerns about a larger escalation in a region already unsettled by Israels war in Gaza and a growing conflict in Lebanon.
Israel aims to demonstrate that it can reach everyone, anywhere. Since Hamas was established in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it has killed or attempted to kill key operatives and leaders of the organisation.
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Two years later, Hamas executed its first strikes against military targets in Israel, resulting in the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers.
Here is a list of Palestinian leaders and operatives who were targeted by the most powerful and sophisticated military in West Asia.
Yahya Ayyash
Named The Engineer, this elusive Islamic militant mastermind was assassinated in Gaza under PLO administration, after leading a string of Palestinian suicide attacks.
On January 5, 1996, his cell phone detonated in his hands, resulting in his death.
Palestinians blamed Israel, which declined to take responsibility.
Hamas revenged in four suicide attacks that killed 59 people in three Israeli cities over nine days in February and March.
A person watches the news on multiple TV screens, most of them announcing the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters
Khaled Meshaal
Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal became known around the world in 1997 after Israeli agents injected him with poison in a botched assassination attempt on a street outside his office in the Jordanian capital Amman.
The hit had been ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Former Jordanian King Hussein was so enraged over the hit that he threatened to hang the would-be assassins and renounce Jordans peace accord with Israel unless the antidote was turned over.
Israel did so and also agreed to free Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, only to assassinate him seven years later in Gaza.
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Also read: How and why was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran?
Ahmed Yassin
On March 22, 2004, Israel struck a mosque in Gaza City with a helicopter missile strike, killing Sheikh Ahmed, the quadriplegic co-founder and spiritual head of Hamas.
Israel initially attempted to kill him in 2003 while he was at the house of a Hamas member in Gaza.
With shouts of retaliation and threats to send death to every home in Israel, thousands of Palestinians marched across Gaza.
His death sparked intense demonstrations and outrage from the Palestinian territories and the Muslim world at large, signalling a major turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and highlighting the longstanding tensions and challenges to bringing about peace in the area.
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Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantisi
On April 17, 2004, Hamas commander Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi was assassinated in an Israeli helicopter missile strike on a car in Gaza City. Two bodyguards were also killed. The name of the person who succeeded Rantissi was kept under wraps, and the Hamas leadership went into hiding.
His assassination came shortly after he had taken over as Hamas leader in Gaza following the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Also read: After Ismail Haniyehs assassination, which Hamas leaders remain?
Adnan Al-Ghoul
Hamas master bomber was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Oct. 21, 2004. Ghoul was number 2 in the military wing of Hamas and known as the Father of the Qassam rocket, a makeshift missile frequently fired into Israeli towns.
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Nizar Rayyan
A cleric widely regarded as one of Hamass most hardline political leaders, had called for renewed suicide bombings inside Israel.
The blast in the Jabalya refugee camp on January 1, 2009, also claimed the lives of two of his four wives and seven of his children.
Days later, on January 15, an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed Saeed Seyyam, the interior minister for Hamas.
Over 13,000 Hamas police and security personnel were under Seyyams command.
Saleh Al-Arouri
An Israeli drone strike on Beiruts southern suburbs of Dahiyeh killed Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri on January 2, 2024. Arouri was also the founder of Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
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Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Iran, the Palestinian militant group said.
Irans Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh, hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for the countrys new president, and said it was investigating.
Iranian media reported that he was staying at a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran Irans NourNews said Haniyehs residence was hit by an airborne projectile.
With inputs from Reuters
Hamas has lost two big leaders Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran and Mohammed Dief was killed in an Israel strike on Gaza. Who will be the next Hamas chief? Khaled Meshaals name keeps coming up. Heres the story of the man who Israel attempted to eliminate but whose life it was later forced to save read more
Khaled Mashaal speaks during a speech held in Doha, Qatar, on August 28, 2014. He is tipped to be the new Hamas leader. File photo/Reuters
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has left the Palestinian armed group shocked. In yet another blow, even Mohammed Dief, the groups military commander, has been eliminated. So who will be the next Hamas chief? Several names are doing the rounds but reports say that Khaled Meshaal, 68, is tipped to take on the role.
Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied its hand in the killing. Ironically, Meshaal gained fame after he survived an assassination attempt by Israeli agents in Amman, Jordans capital they tried to inject him with poison in 1997. He earned the moniker the living martyr.
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So who is Khaled Meshaal? What role does he play in Hamas? We explain.
Khaled Meshaal and his tryst with Hamas
Meshaal was born in the West Bank village of Silwad in 1956 and lived most of his life outside Palestinian territories. His family fled their home after the 1967 War between Israel and Arab states, in which Israel captured the West Bank. It moved to Kuwait, where his father served as an imam in a local mosque.
In the 1970s, Kuwait was gripped by Arab nationalism and pro-Palestine sentiment and as a young 15-year-old Meshaal was influenced. He joined the radical Muslim Brotherhood. He was studying at Kuwait University when he founded a student group called the List of the Islamic, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an American think tank.
Meshaal became an active member of Hamas soon after it was founded in 1987. He headed its Kuwait chapter. He moved to Jordan after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and went to head the countrys Hamas branch. He was expelled after Jordans King Abdullah closed the local offices of Hamas. He spent two years in Qatars Doha, where his family lives, says the CFR report, and then moved to Damascus in Syria.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2017, Meshaal said that he was one of the founders of Hamas. I was there since day one. I was part of the founding and launch even before Hamas was officially declared in 1987 Therefore, I was a member of its consultative council and leadership structures since day one.
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The infamous failed assassination that defines him
The world learned about Meshaal in 1997 after he survived an assassination attempt. Israeli agents injected him with poison on a street outside his office in the Jordanian capital Amman. The poison slowed down his respiratory system and he was in hospital battling for life.
The attack enraged Jordans King Hussein. The Mossad agents behind the attack were captured while fleeing and he vowed to put them on trial if Meshaal died. He spoke of hanging the would-be killers and scrapping Jordans peace treaty with Israel unless the antidote was handed over.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a tough choice as the failed assassination bid snowballed into a diplomatic crisis. Then US President Bill Clinton intervened. The Israeli leader gave in, albeit begrudgingly. He even travelled to Amman and apologised to the Jordanian king.
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Israel had saved an enemy. Meshaal rose in stature and became known as the living martyr.
The rise of Meshaal
Today, Israel and the United States consider Meshaal a terrorist. He is linked to several deadly suicide bombings and thousands of rocket attacks against Israel.
The militant headed Hamas politburo, its main decision-making body from 1996 to 2017. He reportedly helms the groups external politburo based in Qatar. He is said to have devised the groups policy towards Israel.
Since Meshaal lives and operates out of Damascus, he is not confined by travel restrictions that Israel has put on other Hamas leaders. As a political leader in exile, he represents the Palestinian Islamist group at meetings with foreign governments around the world.
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Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh during the formers visit to the Gaza Strip on December 10, 2012. It was reportedly Meshaals first and only visit to the enclave. File photo/Reuters
After Hamas electoral victory in January 2006, he served as a representative of Hamas in talks with Egyptian and Russian governments and the Arab League, according to CRF. He has also met US diplomats.
Meshaal is said to be charismatic and diplomatic. Edward Peck, a former US ambassador to Iraq, told The Times of London in 2006 that he seemed to be moderate in many senses and entirely rational.
The Hamas leader has spent most of his time outside Palestinian terrorists. He visited Gaza in December 2012, which is said to be his first and only visit to the conflict-hit enclave, reports TIME. Addressing a cheering crowd in Gaza City, he said, We will never recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take.
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Over the years, Mashaal has represented Hamas when dealing with other countries. He has political and diplomatic experience, but his relations with Iran, Syria and Hezbollah have soured over his support for Arab protests in 2011, reports AP.
When he was in Lebanon in 2021, Hezbollah leaders reportedly refused to meet with him. But Mashaal has good relations with Turkey and Qatar and is considered a more moderate figure as compared to other Hamas chiefs.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks during a news conference in Doha, Qatar on September 7, 2015. He is likely to take on Haniyehs role as the groups political leader. File photo/Reuters
Meshaal, the October 7 attacks and Kerala
After the October 7 attacks last year, Meshaal and other Hamas leaders were back in the spotlight. He spoke of unity against Israel. [We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday, Meshaal said in a recorded statement sent to Reuters that month. Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility, he added.
A man works to put out a fire engulfing a van, as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip following a deadly attack by Hamas, in Ashkelon, southern Israel on October 7, 2023. File photo/Reuters
In India, he grabbed headlines after he addressed a virtual pro-Palestine rally in Keralas Mallapuram on 27 October 2023 calling for unity of Gaza. Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of the organisation Jamaat-e-Islami, had organised the rally.
We should be making all efforts for the Palestine land. These activities are meant to regain the Al-Aqsa Mosque. We should make all possible efforts. Together we will defeat Zionists and we will stand united for Gaza, which is fighting for Al Aqsa, he told the crowd, reports The Indian Express.
Israel is taking revenge on our residents. Houses are being demolished. They have destroyed more than half of Gaza. They are destroying churches, temples, universities, and even UN institutions. What is meant by this attack is the evacuation of Gaza, and they are retaliating against it. Because the fighters in Gaza have defeated them militarily, he said justifying the massacre.
Now Meshaal, who angered India with his speech, is likely to become even more powerful. With Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif eliminated, Hamas finds itself in a leadership crisis. Meshaal has a task at hand. But will he negotiate a peace deal with Israel or harden his stance as Gazans continue to suffer?
_
With inputs from agencies_
US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce her running mate, with key contenders including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The campaign will kick off in Philadelphia, signalling a strategic focus on pivotal swing states. As the Democratic National Convention approaches, the choice of VP is going to be pivotal in shaping the elections outcome read more
United States Vice President Kamala Harris is on the brink of announcing her running mate for the upcoming presidential election. The decision is expected to be unveiled by Tuesday next week, with Harris and her chosen candidate scheduled to kick off their campaign tour in Philadelphia.
The tour will include visits to key swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, underscoring the campaigns belief in an expanded electoral map since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee after US President Joe Bidens sudden withdrawal from the race.
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Who are the final contenders?
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Governor
One of the leading contenders is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. With his roots in the Philadelphia suburbs, Shapiro is seen as a strategic choice, given Pennsylvanias 19 crucial electoral votes.
His recent activities, including campaigning alongside Harris in Pennsylvania and highlighting his support for Harris while criticising Trumps running mate, US Senator JD Vance of Ohio, suggest he is positioning himself as a strong vice-presidential candidate, reported Politico.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro arrives in Blue Bell, January 5, 2024. File Image/AP
Notably, Shapiro has praised Harris as a tough-as-nails prosecutor and refrained from commenting on his potential nomination, stating, The vice president has a very deeply personal decision to make right now I trust she will make that decision on her own terms when she is ready. If selected and victorious, Shapiro would be the first Jewish vice president of the United States.
Mark Kelly, Arizona Senator
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is another prominent name in the mix. A former Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut, Kellys impressive resume and moderate political stance could appeal to a wide range of voters.
Despite his relatively recent entry into the US Senate in December 2020, Kelly has gained national recognition. His marriage to Gabby Giffords, a former US congresswoman and prominent advocate for gun safety laws, adds a compelling personal narrative to his candidacy.
US Senator Mark Kelly, speaks about the southern border outside the West Wing of the White House, June 4, 2024, in Washington. File Image/AP
When asked about his potential vice-presidential candidacy by CBS News, Kelly responded, It aint about me. His strong stance on border security and occasional critiques of the Biden administration might attract independent and conservative voters.
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Andy Beshear, Kentucky Governor
Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky has been a longtime ally of Harris and is considered a potential pick. Beshear, 46, has carved out a successful career in a state that strongly supported Trump in the last election.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear speaks during an interview at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, July 22, 2024. File Image/AP
His outspoken criticism of JD Vance and his defence of the Appalachian region highlight his appeal to voters. Beshears commitment to public education and reproductive rights, along with his open discussion of his Christian faith, add to his profile. He has been vocal about his disdain for Vance, calling him a phony and fake for his portrayal of the regions people in his book Hillbilly Elegy.
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Tim Walz, Minnesota Governor
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former National Guard member and high school teacher, is known for his straightforward approach. Walz has gained attention for his comments on Trump and Vance, describing them as weird.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks during a news conference for the Biden-Harris campaign discussing the Project 2025 plan during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention near the Fiserv Forum, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. File Image/AP
His leadership during the 2020 protests over George Floyds death, including deploying the National Guard to maintain order, demonstrated his crisis management skills. While Minnesota is not considered a swing state, Walzs small-town Midwestern sensibility could appeal to independent and conservative voters.
Pete Buttigieg, US Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg, the current US Transportation Secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is another top contender. Buttigieg gained national prominence during his 2020 presidential campaign, appealing to liberal voters with his articulate communication skills.
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US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg delivers an address at the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility in Long Beach, California, on July 18, 2024. File Image/AP
He has been a visible figure in recent weeks, appearing on shows like Real Time with Bill Maher and criticising JD Vance for his opportunistic political stance. Buttigiegs experience handling public crises, such as the East Palestine train derailment and the Baltimore Bridge collapse, showcases his capabilities in crisis management.
What is behind Harris campaign tour strategy?
The Harris campaign is set to launch a significant tour across battleground states, starting in Philadelphia. The choice of Philadelphia as the first stop has led to speculation about the potential announcement of Shapiro as the running mate, though a campaign aide has advised against reading too much into the choice of the city, reported Politico.
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The tour will continue through other key states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. This will be the first major campaign swing since Harris assumed the role of presumptive nominee, following Bidens departure.
US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during a campaign rally, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. File Image/AP
Harriss decision-making process for selecting her vice-presidential candidate is ongoing, with interviews for potential candidates planned in the coming days.
As the campaign gears up for the Democratic National Convention on August 19 in Chicago, the announcement of the vice-presidential pick is anticipated to galvanise supporters and clarify the Democratic tickets strategy leading into the November election.
Also Read: Kamala Harris advent infuses energy and hope in Democrats, but is it too late?
With inputs from agencies
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, along with two co-defendants, is expected to plead guilty as part of a deal that may spare them from the death penalty. This marks a significant turn in a two-decade-long legal saga filled with delays and controversy, potentially bringing closure to one of the most complex terrorism cases in history read more
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged September 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan, March 1, 2003 in this photo. File Image/AP
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, often referred to as the chief architect of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is on the brink of pleading guilty along with two co-defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
This plea agreement, which could potentially spare them from the death penalty, represents a significant turn in the long-delayed legal proceedings. The US Defense Department announced this development, stating that a final deal has not yet been reached, but discussions are underway.
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The expected plea deal follows more than two decades of legal and procedural delays, during which the defendants have been held at Guantanamo Bay. The families of 9/11 victims have expressed mixed reactions to this news. While some seek closure and a conclusive end to the case, others, like Terry Strada of 9/11 Families United, expressed dissatisfaction, labelling the defendants as cowards, reported AP.
Who is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, often abbreviated as KSM, is widely recognised as the principal planner behind the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people and reshaped global security dynamics.
Born in Kuwait to a family from Pakistans Baluchistan region, Mohammed was influenced by extremist ideologies from a young age. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood at 16 and later pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, graduating in 1986.
This December 8, 2008 courtroom drawing by artist Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the US military, shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, center, and co-defendant Walid Bin Attash, left, attending a pre-trial session at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. File Image/AP
His militant activities began in the 1980s when he fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan as part of the mujahedeen. He later traveled to Bosnia during the Yugoslav wars, participating in combat against Serbian forces.
By the mid-1990s, Mohammed had become deeply involved in Al-Qaedas operations, planning and executing numerous terrorist plots.
Timeline of key events:
1996 : Mohammed was indicted for conspiracy to bomb US airliners over the Pacific as part of Operation Bojinka, a plan he devised with his nephew Ramzi Yousef.
September 11, 2001 : Mohammed orchestrated the hijacking of four commercial airplanes, two of which were flown into the World Trade Center towers, one into the Pentagon, and another that crashed in Pennsylvania.
March 1, 2003 : He was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, marking a critical victory in the US war on terror.
September 6, 2006 : The US government confirmed that Mohammed had been detained in a secret CIA prison before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
March 15, 2007 : A Pentagon transcript revealed Mohammeds confession to orchestrating the 9/11 attacks and numerous other terrorist activities.
February 11, 2008 : The US announced plans to seek the death penalty against Mohammed and other key figures in the 9/11 plot.
June 5, 2008 : During his arraignment, Mohammed expressed a desire to represent himself in court and affirmed his willingness to become a martyr.
April 16, 2009 : The release of a memo disclosed that Mohammed had been waterboarded 183 times, igniting a debate over the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
November 13, 2009 : US officials initially planned to transfer Mohammed and other detainees to New York for trial, but these plans were canceled due to public and political opposition.
May 31, 2011 : The US government refiled capital charges against Mohammed and four others.
March 2022: Discussions began concerning a potential plea deal to avoid a death penalty trial.
How wide was Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds involvement?
Khalid Sheikh Mohammeds involvement in global terrorism extends far beyond the 9/11 attacks. He admitted to planning and carrying out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people and injured over a thousand.
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The second tower of the World Trade Center explodes into flames after being hit by a airplane, New York September 11, 2001 with the Brooklyn bridge in the foreground. Both towers of the complex collapsed after being hit by hijacked planes. File Image/Reuters
He also took responsibility for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people, and the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, which he reportedly carried out personally.
Further, Mohammed confessed to plotting numerous attacks, including the planned bombings of the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles, Heathrow Airport, Big Ben, and Canary Wharf in London.
He also plotted the assassination of Pope John Paul II and considered targeting US nuclear power plants. Additionally, he claimed involvement in the failed shoe bomber attempt by Richard Reid to blow up a plane in December 2001.
Where has Khalid Sheikh Mohammed been?
Since his capture, he has been held in high-security conditions, initially in CIA black sites and later at Guantanamo Bays Camp Seven. His detention and interrogation have been subject to significant controversy, particularly concerning the use of torture.
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The United States flag flies inside of Joint Task Force Guantanamo Camp VI at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, March 22, 2016. File Image/Reuters
The CIAs use of waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques on Mohammed drew international condemnation and has been a point of contention in his legal proceedings.
The legal case against Mohammed and his co-defendants has been fraught with delays and complications. Factors contributing to the prolonged process include debates over the admissibility of evidence obtained under duress, the use of military commissions, and shifting US policies regarding the prosecution of terrorism suspects.
The potential plea deal marks a possible resolution to these delays, providing a legal closure that has been elusive for many years.
The lower Manhattan skyline is shown in the August 30, 2001 file photo, with the World Trade Center towers at center. Both towers were destroyed September 11 when two hijacked commercial airliners crashed into each tower. Both towers later collapsed, killing thousands. File Image/Reuters
With inputs from agencies
Former Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has been appointed as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson. She takes over from UPSC chairman Manoj Soni who resigned a year into his six-year tenure citing personal reasons read more
Sudans appointment, which is granted under Article 316A of the Indian Constitution, follows the resignation of her predecessor, Manoj Soni. ANI
Former Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has been appointed as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson.
She is currently serving as a member of the UPSC and will assume her new role on Thursday, August 1.
Sudans appointment, which is granted under Article 316A of the Indian Constitution, follows the resignation of her predecessor, Manoj Soni.
The President has approved the appointment of Preeti Sudan, Member, UPSC for performing the duties of Chairman, UPSC with effect from August 1, 2024, till further orders or till April 29, 2025, whichever is earlier, the order dated July 29 said.
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Heres all we know about her.
Who is Preeti Sudan?
Preeti Sudan is a 1983-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
She earned an M.Phil. in Economics and an MSc in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She received training in Washington on public finance management as well, according to the Indian Express.
As reported by News18, Sudan, who became a member of UPSC on November 29, 2022, has about 37 years of expertise in government administration.
Sudan has an extensive background in public service, having held several key positions, including as Union health secretary for three years till July 2020.
She was instrumental in battling the COVID-19 pandemic during her three years as Health Secretary, especially in the latter six months of her tenure.
She has also worked for the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Defence, and the Food and Public Distribution Department, according to the UPSC website.
Sudan has made numerous notable contributions to national initiatives like Ayushman Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the National Medical Commission Legislation, the Allied Health Professionals Commission, and the e-cigarette ban, as per The Times of India.
In her home cadre Andhra Pradesh, she handled finance, planning, disaster management, tourism, and agriculture.
Preeti Sudan has also previously served as a consultant for the World Bank.
In her current role, her tenure will continue until her retirement in April 2025, when she turns 65. The transition in leadership is now underway.
In her distinguished career, her appointment to the UPSCs top post represents a major achievement.
Also read: From faking separation to corruption: The controversial life of Puja Khedkars parents
Manoj Sonis resignation
The President has also accepted the resignation of Soni with effect from July 31, the order said.
Sudan will take over charge from Manoj Soni, who resigned from UPSC on July 4, citing personal reasons.
Soni, who started working with the UPSC as a member in 2017, took office as the chairperson of the Commission on May 16, 2023. His term was supposed to end in 2029.
His resignation comes at a time when the UPSC is under fire following allegations against trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly forged identity papers to gain entry into the civil service. Sources told TOI that Sonis resignation has nothing to do with the situation.
Meanwhile, in a major blow to Khedkar, the UPSC on Wednesday cancelled her provisional candidature and permanently debarred her from all future exams and selections.
The UPSC said the decision was taken after a careful examination of the available records and found Khedkar guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination (CSE)-2022 Rules.
Puja Khedkars provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC, the Commission said.
With inputs from agencies
This landmark judgment paves the way for a more nuanced approach to reservations acknowledging the diverse needs of Indias most marginalised communities read more
In a groundbreaking judgment, the Supreme Court of India has set a new legal precedent by allowing sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes (SCs) to ensure more equitable distribution of reservations. The 7-judge bench, by a 6-1 majority, has redefined the understanding of social justice within SC categories, emphasising the need to address historical inequalities that exist even within this group. This ruling opens new avenues for states to allocate quotas more effectively to benefit those in the most disadvantaged positions. Here is a broad 10-point briefing of the Supreme Courts decision on sub-classification of SCs:
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1. Overruling EV Chinniah judgment
The Supreme Court overturned the 2004 EV Chinniah judgment, which had previously held that sub-classification of SCs was impermissible. This reversal marks a significant shift in the apex courts approach allowing for a more nuanced understanding of social inequality within Scheduled Castes.
2. Constitutional alignment
The Supreme Court clarified that sub-classification within SCs does not violate Article 14 (Right to Equality) or Article 341 (which governs the identification of Scheduled Castes) of the Indian Constitution. The majority opinion emphasised that Article 341 merely identifies SCs but does not prevent further categorisation based on genuine need.
3. Empirical justification required
States must justify any sub-classification with concrete empirical data demonstrating the inadequacy of representation for specific sub-groups within SCs. This ensures that such measures are based on actual disparities rather than political expediency or arbitrary decisions.
4. Limitations on state actions
While allowing sub-classification, the Supreme Court has made it clear that states cannot earmark 100 per cent of reservations for any sub-class. This restriction is in place to maintain a balance and prevent the exclusion of other deserving groups within the SC category.
5. Judicial review and oversight
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The decision of states to sub-classify SCs is subject to judicial review. This oversight ensures that the process is transparent and that states act within their constitutional boundaries preventing misuse of power.
6. Preferential treatment for more disadvantaged groups
Justice BR Gavai, concurring with the majority, highlighted the need for states to provide preferential treatment to more backward communities within SCs. He pointed out that only a small segment of SCs currently benefits from reservations and more disadvantaged groups deserve additional support to address historical injustices.
7. Introduction of creamy layer concept
The apex court suggested applying the creamy layer principle to SCs similar to its application to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This means that more affluent members of SCs may be excluded from reservation benefits ensuring that affirmative action truly reaches the most deprived sections.
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8. Dissenting opinion by Justice Trivedi
Justice Bela Trivedi dissented arguing that any sub-classification would amount to altering the Presidential list of SCs, which can only be done by Parliament. She cautioned that such actions might lead to political manipulation and undermine the integrity of the SC list.
9. Legislative vs executive powers
Justice Trivedi emphasised that only legislative actions can modify the SC list and allowing states to sub-classify castes might be seen as an overreach of executive power. Her dissent pointed out the delicate balance between state and Central authority in matters of social justice.
10. Balancing equality and discrimination
The ruling aims to strike a balance between maintaining equality and addressing discrimination within SCs. By allowing sub-classification, the Supreme Court acknowledges the diverse challenges faced by different sub-groups and provides a legal framework for more targeted support.
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This landmark decision represents a significant evolution in Indias approach to affirmative action, potentially paving the way for more effective and equitable reservation policies that better address the complexities of social hierarchy and discrimination within the Scheduled Castes.
Denying anticipatory bail to Puja Khedkar, the Patiala House Court directed the probe agency to find out the candidates recommended in the past who have availed the benefits beyond permissible limits and those who obtained benefits under OBC category without being entitled of the same read more
In order to avail of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) non-creamy layer quota in the UPSC, Puja Khedkar had reportedly claimed that her parents were separated and she was living with her mother. Image courtesy: dr_pujamdk_ias/Instagram
A Delhi court on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to former IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar who has been accused of misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination 2022 application.
The denial of anticipatory bail comes with a day after the UPSC, which conducts the civil services examination, cancelled her provisional candidature of Khedkar and permanently debarred her from all the future exams/selections.
As per UPSC, Khedkar was found guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules.
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Investigate if anyone within UPSC helped Puja Khedkar
Denying the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar, Patiala House Court Judge Devender Kumar Jangala asked the Delhi Police to find out whether an insider from the complainant (UPSC) helped the applicant (Puja Khedkar).
The court also asked to widened the probe in the case and ordered the Delhi Police to investigate if other persons have availed benefits of quotas under OBC and PwD without entitlement.
The investigation agency needs to widen the scope of the investigation. The agency is directed to find out the candidates recommended [by the UPSC] in recent past who have availed benefits beyond permissible age limit under OBC quota and those who availed Persons with Benchmark Disabilities benefits despite not being entitled to it, the Court ordered.
Advocate Bina Madhavan represented Khedkar. SPP Atul Srivastava appeared for the State and the UPSC was represented by Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik.
During the hearing, Madhavan had prayed for anticipatory bail and stay on the arrest citing imminent threat of arrest due to criminal prosecution.
Madhavan alleged that as soon as the UPSC lodged the FIR, media has been going around and doing witch hunt against Khedkar.
She contended that Khedkar, in good faith, mentioned the number of attempts as five in place of 12 and thus, there can be no misrepresentation."
Madhavan also claimed that Khedkars disability certificate showed her to be a candidate with 47 per cent of benchmark disabilities which was issued by a medical board of AIIMS.
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Khedkars lawyer further alleged that the criminal prosecution against her client has been initiated because she lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against a Collector who called her in his office to which she refused.
Appearing for the Delhi Police, SPP Atul Srivastava said that the offence of cheating cannot take place unless someone is duped and that in this case, UPSC has been duped by Khedkar.
The prosecutor further said that the investigation is at a nascent stage and several documents, including Khedkars medical documents, have to be probed.
Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik, counsel for the UPSC, told the court that during admission Khedkar did not disclose about her earlier attempts which was an admission of guilt.
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Kaushik further told the court that integrity of examination system has been breached by Khedkar in complete defiance of the UPSC Rules.
In June this year, Khedkar joined the Pune Collectorate as part of her probationary training. Troubles began for her soon after Pune Collector Suhas Diwase wrote to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, pointing out the demand for perks including car, staff and an office she was not entitled to during her two-year probation, made by Khedkar, who was just a trainee IAS officer.
Soon after, Khedkar was transferred to Washim.
Problems grew after her selection for IAS came under the spotlight and it was found that she had availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities.
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It also came to fore that her father, Dilip Khedkar, a former officer in Maharashtra government, had property to the tune of 40 crores and she did not qualify for the OBC non-creamy layer tag.
It also emerged that Khedkar had not appeared for a mandatory health check-up at a government facility to confirm her exemption for disability.
With inputs from agencies
In our discussions today, we extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation and took several steps to prepare a roadmap for the future. We believe that due to Indias Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnams 2045 vision, development has gained momentum in both countries, said PM Modi read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that he and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation and took several steps to prepare a roadmap for the future.
He said that both the countries believe that due to Indias Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnams 2045 vision, development has gained momentum in both countries.
#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi says, "...In our discussions today, we extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation and took several steps to prepare a roadmap for the future. We believe that due to India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision and Vietnam's 2045 vision, development pic.twitter.com/s50U2URuJo ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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This is opening up many new areas of mutual cooperation and therefore, today we have made a new Plan of Action to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. New steps have been taken for cooperation in the field of defence and security The agreement reached on a credit line of 300 million dollars will strengthen Vietnams maritime security. We have also decided that cooperation will be emphasised on the subject of terrorism and cyber security. We agreed that the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement should be reviewed and concluded at an early date to realise the mutual trade potential, said PM Modi.
Welcoming Vietnam PM and his delegation to India, PM Modi said in the last decade, Indias relationship with Vietnam has grown manifold.
Our bilateral trade has increased by 85%. In the last decade, our connectivity has increased and now we have over 50 direct flights, he said.
He also expressed his deepest condolences on the demise of Vietnams General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
He was Indias good friend, said PM Modi.
Talking about Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific vision, PM Modi said that India sees Vietnam as an important partner when it comes to Modi governments these two policies.
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "Buddhism is our shared heritage, which has connected the people of both countries at a spiritual level. We invite people from Vietnam to the Buddhist circuit in India. We want that the youth of Vietnam should also take advantage of pic.twitter.com/bealD75Xmg ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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In our Act East Policy and our Indo-Pacific vision, Vietnam is our important partner. There is a good agreement between our views regarding Indo-Pacific. We support Vikaswaad, not Vistarwaad. We will continue our cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific, said the PM.
He said at spiritual level, people of both the countries are connected by Buddhism, which is a shared heritage.
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We invite people from Vietnam to the Buddhist circuit in India. We want that the youth of Vietnam should also take advantage of Nalanda University, PM Modi said.
On his part, Chinh said that he and PM Modi were pleased to witness the immense gains in bilateral relations, especially since the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
#WATCH | Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh says "India also played an important role in the fight against COVID-19 with four types of vaccines from which we also benefited. Even in the production of COVID-19 treatment medicines, we also imported quite a quantity from pic.twitter.com/i0eDA8ocNs ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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During his (PM Modis) visit 8 years ago, we reiterated the priority and the importance that our two countries give to each other in our respective foreign policies. We agree to continue to preserve and cherish the traditional ties between Vietnam and India as close, trusted and faithful friends, said Chinh.
He thanked India for rolling out four types of vaccines during COVID-19 which also benefited Vietnam.
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India also played an important role in the fight against COVID-19 with four types of vaccines from which we also benefited. Even in the production of COVID-19 treatment medicines, we also imported quite a quantity from India, said the Vietnamese PM.
He said Indo-Pacific is a locomotive for growth in the world and this is the time when there are intertwining opportunities and challenges.
The Indo-Pacific is a locomotive for growth in the worldWe are at a time when there are intertwining opportunities and challenges. There are opportunities intertwined with challenges, but there are more challenges than opportunities, he added.
Chinh also expressed gratitude to PM Modi, other Indian leaders and the people of India for extending condolences and sending National Security Advisor to the funeral of Comrade General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Earlier in the day, several MoUs were signed between the two countries in the presence of PM Modi and the Vietnam PM at Hyderabad House.
With inputs from agencies
The court dismissed the petition filed by Shahi Idgah Masjid that was filed under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC. With this, a single-judge bench said that all the 18 suits of the Hindu side are maintainable read more
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the plea filed by the Muslim side challenging the maintainability of lawsuits filed by Hindus in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah Mosque dispute in Mathura.
The court dismissed the petition filed by Shahi Idgah Masjid that was filed under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC. With this, a single-judge bench said that all the 18 suits of the Hindu side are maintainable.
Several suits were seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque located adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, with litigants claiming that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of the temple.
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The mosque management committee, in its petition, had challenged these suits.
The bench declared that the lawsuits filed by Hindu worshippers and the deity are not barred by the Limitation Act or the Places of Worship Act, among other laws.
The Hindu petitioners had defended their plea by saying that property under Shah Idgahs name is not mentioned in any government record and that the mosque is occupied illegally.
They also contended that if the property in question is a Waqf property, the board should provide information about the donor of the disputed property. Additionally, they argued that the Acts of Worship Act, Limitation Act, and Waqf Act do not apply to this case.
The suits filed by the Hindu side contain a common prayer seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque from the 13.37-acre complex it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev temple in Mathura. The additional prayers include seeking possession of the Shahi Idgah premises.
During the hearing, the Hindu plaintiff also claimed that it is Waqfs nature to encroach on properties and convert them into their own and argued that this kind of practice should not be allowed.
They also argued that the Waqf Acts provisions should not apply in this case because the disputed property is not classified as Waqf property.
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With inputs from agencies
Ajay Dubey, an activist, filed a Right to Information plea to the government seeking information on Project Cheetah, introduced a few years ago by the central government wherein the felines were reintroduced in India read more
An activist wanted to check up on the well-being of the cheetahs in Madhya Pradeshs Kuno National Park and so he filed an RTI. To his surprise, the state government replied that the information he sought could not be divulged as it could affect Indias national security.
What was the RTI about?
Ajay Dubey, an activist, filed a Right to Information plea to the government seeking information on Project Cheetah, introduced a few years ago by the central government wherein the felines were reintroduced in India.
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Dubey wanted details on how the animals were taken care of in the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary and the administrations plans for a second home for them at Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur district.
He also wanted to check the records on the management correspondence of both sites.
Dubey, back in February, had sought another RTI which was responded to with a photograph of an injured cheetah cub. The picture was widely shared on social media following which the activist filed a complaint with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
What did the govt say?
Much to Dubeys disappointment, the state government denied his request by citing Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. This provision permits public authorities to withhold information if its disclosure could affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, its security, strategic, scientific, or economic interests, or its relations with a foreign state.
This information is related to management branch, which has decided not to provide information under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, 2005, said Saurav Kumar Kabrapublic information officer at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), according to a report by Times of India.
This is the first instance where information regarding cheetah conservation has been linked to national security. My efforts to shed light on the project have met with significant resistance from the authorities, Dubey said.
Our focus is to rescue those who were isolated. I appreciate the efforts of the Army personnel. They have informed us that most of the trapped individuals have been rescued, said Vijayan while addressing a press conference on Thursday read more
Two days after massive landslides triggered by torrential rains hit Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha hamlets in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that the army has informed the government that most of the individuals trapped under the debris have been rescued.
Wayanad landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says "A high-level meeting was held today. After that political party leaders meeting was also held. The opposition leaders also attended the meeting. Our focus is to rescue those who were isolated. I appreciate the efforts of the pic.twitter.com/G40UffRpiT ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Vijayan said, Our focus is to rescue those who were isolated. I appreciate the efforts of the Army personnel. They have informed us that most of the trapped individuals have been rescued.
He said bringing down machinery to rescue those trapped under the soil was difficult and building the bridge eased the efforts.
The construction of Bailey Bridge has been mostly completed, he added.
He said a high-level meeting was held earlier in the day to take stock of the situation and a meeting of political parties, which was also attended by the Opposition, was also convened.
Our focus is to rescue those who were isolated, said the chief minister.
He said the rescue operation will continue in the river to search for missing people.
Wayanad landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says "Rescue operations will continue in the river to search for missing persons. Rescued people are temporarily shifted to camps. Rehabilitation works will be done at the earliest, as we have done in earlier situations too. I pic.twitter.com/US6an6b7vE ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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Rescued people have been temporarily shifted to camps. Rehabilitation works will be done at the earliest, as we have done in earlier situations too, Vijayan added.
He also requested the media to avoid meeting people and shooting inside the camps.
You may talk to them outside the camps, it is important to protect the privacy of the individuals, said the CM.
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Vijayan said that its very important to give psychological support to the survivors and also to avoid the spread of the epidemic.
Wayanad landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says "Most important is giving psychological support to the survivors. We have to avoid the spread of the epidemic. Not only human beings, but many animals also died in the calamity. Have to bury them all properly. A committee of pic.twitter.com/CKvNX0AdZX ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Not only human beings, but many animals also died in the calamity. Have to bury them all properly. A committee of four ministers will camp here and coordinate activities. For those who lost certificates, the government will re-issue them, said the CM.
The devastating landslides in Wayanad district has has killed 173 people and left about 200 injured, and authorities are struggling to trace the missing and continue the rescue efforts in challenging terrain without heavy machinery to uncover debris and buried victims.
As rescuers work tirelessly to clear the rubble, there are fears of a surge in fatalities.
As many as 173 people have died and over 200 injured in the massive landslides, the district administration said on Thursday.
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The dead include 23 children and 70 women.
Further, 221 people were admitted to hospitals from the disaster-hit areas and of them 91 are still under treatment.
According to the governments official estimate on Wednesday evening, 191 people were missing. Official sources indicate the actual number may be higher.
With inputs from agencies
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Thursday read more
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Thursday. ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Thursday, with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership high on agenda.
Chinh is on a state visit to India from July 30 to August 1.
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnam PM Pham Minh Chinh hold a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/y8gY7Op9wo ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
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The two leaders will hold discussions to further energise the India-Vietnam ties, including the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
In a post on X, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, Taking India-Vietnam partnership to new heights! PM @narendramodi extended a warm welcome to PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam at Hyderabad House. Substantive discussions to further energise the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the agenda.
Taking - partnership to new heights!
PM @narendramodi extended a warm welcome to PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam at Hyderabad House.
Substantive discussions to further energise the - Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the agenda. pic.twitter.com/K2yue2H3Oj Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) August 1, 2024
Before the bilateral meeting, Chinh visited Rajghat and paid tribute by laying floral wreaths at the memorial site where Mahatma Gandhi was laid to rest as Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, a prayer dear to the Mahatma, was being played in the background.
Earlier in the day, Chinh was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan where he was received by PM Modi with a warm hug. He then inspected a Guard of Honour by the combined defence services.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel, and Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal were also present on the occasion.
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On Wednesday, Jaishankar had called on Chinh. During the meeting, the Vietnamese PM expressed gratitude and thanked India for the warm reception.
I want to thank you for your time, seeing me this afternoon. I want to thank you for your efforts in arranging my visit to India with such short notice and a very tight schedule. I would like to thank the two foreign ministries for making the best preparations for this visit, Pham Minh Chinh said.
With inputs from agencies
The Army has set up a Command and Control Centre headed by Maj Gen VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, along with Brig Arjun Segan at Kozhikode for coordinating Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts, a senior official said read more
Rescuers and others inspect the spot after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, July 30, 2024. AP
Its day three of rescuing people from the devastating landslides that hit Wayanad earlier this week. The death toll has risen to 277 while 200 others are still missing.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Wayanad on Thursday. They were supposed to fly out on Wednesday but were advised against it due to inclement weather.
The Indian Army along with the NDRF teams are carrying out search and rescue operations in full swing.
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#Update:Day3#WayanadLandslides
Soldiers of 122 Infantry Battalion of #TerritorialArmy from West Hill Barracks, Calicut commenced Search & Rescue operations from Vellarimala towards Attamala through severely landslide affected areas.#WeCare#Jointness pic.twitter.com/c8xuuECqiI PRO Defence Kochi (@DefencePROkochi) August 1, 2024
Rescue ops
The Army has set up a Command and Control Centre headed by Maj Gen VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, along with Brig Arjun Segan at Kozhikode for coordinating Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts, a senior official said.
Brig Segan carried out a reconnaissance of the affected areas in the early hours of Wednesday and guided the Army columns for further conduct of the rescue operation.
The troops are conducting rescue operations along a six-kilometer stretch of landslide-affected areas.
Two columns each belonging to the Defence Security Corps (DSC) Centre, Kannur, and 122 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Madras, Kozhikode, having a total strength of 225 personnel, were the first responders and reached the location to commence rescue operations in conjunction with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies, the Army said late evening.
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The IAF has deployed a diverse fleet of helicopters to support the operation, including the Mi-17 and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Despite challenging weather conditions, IAF aircraft have continued to evacuate stranded individuals to nearby medical facilities and safe zones, as well as deliver essential supplies, well into the evening of July 31, 2024.
CM calls meeting
An all-party meeting, chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, will be held in the hill district on Thursday as search and rescue operations by various agencies and armed forces continue in the landslides-hit areas here.
State ministers camping in the district, MLAs from Wayanad and political party leaders will participate in the meeting, the district administration said.
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With inputs from PTI
Drones are transforming modern warfare by providing unprecedented levels of precision, surveillance, and operational flexibility. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been pivotal for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and kinetic operations, enabling real-time situational awareness and precision strikes. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan showcased the strategic impact of UAVs, with Azerbaijan leveraging Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones for precise, lethal engagements. In the Middle East, various actors have utilised drones for missions ranging from ISR to targeted eliminations.
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Drones offer significant cost savings compared to traditional manned aircraft. A RAND Corporation study found that the cost per flight hour of a Reaper drone is approximately $3,624, while an F-16 fighter jet costs about $22,514. This economic advantage allows for prolonged surveillance and strike missions without the financial burden associated with manned aircraft. In the Ukraine-Russia war, FPV (First-Person View) drones, which can be assembled for as little as $600-$1000, are significantly cheaper and accessible even to smaller military forces. They are valuable in asymmetric warfare, conducting high-risk missions without heavy financial or personnel costs, and can evade electronic warfare systems by adjusting control frequencies.
Advancements in solid-state inertial navigation systems, impervious to jamming and signal spoofing, along with the emergence of the Starlink communications system, enable secure control of drones from up to 1,000 kilometres away. These systems ensure reliable drone operation in contested environments, while high-resolution satellite imagery allows for precision target selection within several metres. This combination allows drones to conduct precise strikes and persistent surveillance, effectively challenging traditional adversaries relying on conventional strengths like large armies and fortified positions.
The use case for drones in warfare must be balanced. However, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in warfare, particularly through the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), marks a pivotal shift in military strategy and ethics. Unlike traditional drones operated by humans, LAWS can identify, select, and engage targets without human intervention. This raises profound moral and philosophical dilemmas, as autonomous machines, devoid of human empathy and ethical reasoning, could execute missions with lethal precision. This scenario echoes science fiction yet reflects the potential reality of advanced LAWS, emphasizing the serious ethical concerns and palpable risks involved in their deployment.
Efforts to regulate LAWS face significant challenges. The United States has proposed international norms for military AI at the United Nations, aiming for a treaty similar to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, achieving international consensus is difficult, especially given varying interpretations and interests among countries like the USA and China. The ambiguity in defining LAWS and the blend of autonomous and automated systems complicate legal regulation. Moreover, initiatives like the U.S. Department of States Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy offer frameworks emphasizing international law and human oversight but lack specificity in critical areas, hindering their efficacy and applicability.
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The move to regulate LAWS offers the first realistic opportunity for states to act on AI weapons, but this is easier said than done. Efforts to control and regulate weapons date back hundreds of years, and todays main international restrictions are through the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The CCW has been investigating AI-boosted weapons since 2013, but progress has been slow due to the need for international consensus and opposition from countries actively developing these technologies. The lack of a consensus on what exactly constitutes a LAW further complicates regulation efforts.
AI weapons, such as autonomous drones and loitering munitions, present substantial tactical and strategic advantages in modern military operations. These systems leverage sophisticated AI algorithms, including deep learning and neural networks, to perform complex tasks autonomously. For instance, autonomous drones can execute reconnaissance, surveillance, and strike missions without human intervention, relying on AI for navigation, target identification, and engagement. Loitering munitions, often referred to as suicide drones, can autonomously patrol designated areas, identify targets using onboard sensors, and execute precision strikes. These capabilities enable effective operation in electronically contested environments where traditional communication links may be disrupted by jamming or other electronic countermeasures. The AI systems onboard can make real-time decisions based on sensor inputs, maintaining mission efficacy even when communication with human operators is compromised.
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However, the reliability of these AI systems and their potential for errors, particularly in visual image recognition, raise significant ethical and technical concerns. AI weapons rely on sensor fusion, combining data from various sources such as cameras, infrared detectors, and radar to build a comprehensive situational awareness. The image recognition algorithms, often based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), classify objects and identify targets. Despite advancements, these systems can be susceptible to adversarial attacks where subtle changes to input data can lead to misclassification. For example, slight modifications to an image can cause an AI system to misidentify a civilian vehicle as a military target.
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The debate over the level of human involvement in the operation of these weapons centres on the concept of a human in the loop (HITL). In this model, human operators are integrated into decision-making, providing oversight and final approval before an AI system can execute a lethal action. This approach aims to combine the precision and efficiency of AI with human judgement and ethical considerations. Various configurations exist within this framework, ranging from direct control, where humans intervene in every decision, to supervisory control, where AI handles routine tasks, but humans retain the authority to override decisions.
Ensuring accountability in deploying and using fully autonomous weapons systems is a critical challenge. These systems operate based on complex algorithms and data inputs, making attributing responsibility for their actions difficult. In cases of unintended or unlawful harm, determining accountability can be problematic. Traditional accountability mechanisms, which rely on human judgement and decision-making, may not be directly applicable to autonomous agents. As such, the ongoing discussions at the United Nations and other international forums aim to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework that addresses these challenges. This is a welcome move.
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Aditya Sinha (X:@adityasinha004) is OSD, Research at Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The killing is a setback for Hamas, but its ideology will only get strengthened if violence continues read more
Haniyeh was born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City to Palestinian parents who, in 1948, had been displaced from their home in Ashkelon, now in Israel. REUTERS
Ismail Haniyeh, who was widely considered Hamas overall political leader, was assassinated in Tehran in the early hours of 31 July. The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, Head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, as per a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Sepah news website.
One of his bodyguards was also killed, and as per the report, The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon. Fars news agency posted on X that Haniyeh was stationed in the north of Tehran, and a projectile from the air killed him around 2:30 am.
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In a separate statement, Hamas said Haniyeh was killed after he attended the inauguration of the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian. According to Al Jazeera, Hamas has said that Haniyeh was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.
Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas will wage open war to liberate Jerusalem, and the group is ready to pay various prices to do so, as per Al Jazeera.
Israels Heritage Minister Amihai Elihayu, however, celebrated Haniyehs death on X by stating that the killing makes the world a little better, he wrote in Hebrew.
Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh was born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City to Palestinian parents who, in 1948, had been displaced from their home in Ashkelon, now in Israel. He studied at schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and went on to study Arabic literature at the Islamic University of Gaza.
A popular leader, he grew up in a refugee camp and represented the vast majority of the people who are the descendants of the refugee families who were displaced in 1948. A prominent member of the movement in the late 1980s, he was imprisoned by Israel for three years in 1989 during the first Palestinian uprising.
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In 1992, he was then exiled to a no-mans land between Israel and Lebanon, along with a number of Hamas leaders. After a year in exile, he returned to Gaza. His rise to power in Gaza was aided by his mentor, the spiritual leader and founder of Hamas, Sheik Yassin, for whom he served as personal secretary. The two were targets of an attempted Israeli assassination attempt in 2003; the next year, Yassin was killed by the Israeli military.
You dont have to cry, Haniyeh told a crowd gathered outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City at the time. You have to be steadfast, and you have to be ready for revenge.
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Haniyeh was appointed Palestinian Prime Minister in 2006 by President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas won the most seats in national elections, but was dismissed a year later after the group ousted Abbas Fatah party from the Gaza Strip in a week of deadly violence.
Haniyeh rejected his sacking as unconstitutional, stressing that his government would not abandon its national responsibilities towards the Palestinian people, and continued to rule in Gaza.
He was elected head of Hamass political bureau in 2017, succeeding Khaled Meshaal. In 2018, the US Department of State designated Haniyeh a terrorist.
He had recently spent much of his time in Qatar and Turkey and was the negotiator in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, to end the war in Gaza in exchange for hostages captured in the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
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Al Jazeeras Hani Mahmoud said the killing was significant for the people of Gaza because he was the leader of negotiations that they hoped would lead to a ceasefire. As per The New York Times he was central to the groups high-stakes negotiations and diplomacy.
Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank also viewed Ismail Haniyeh as a moderate leader who is much more pragmatic compared to other leaders who head the military side of the movement, he said.
In May this year, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said he would seek an arrest warrant for Haniyeh. This was as he was accused along with other Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the October 7 attack on Israel.
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In April, three of Haniyehs thirteen sons and four of his grandchildren were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. In June, the Hamas said that Haniyehs sister and her family were killed in a strike by the Israeli military on the Haniyeh family home in Gaza.
But Haniyeh, noting that hed already lost dozens of family members in the war, had said, We shall not give in, no matter the sacrifices.
Other Palestinian Leaders
The other important Hamas leaders include Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas movement within the Gaza Strip, who was born in 1962.
The founder of the Hamas security service known as Majd, which manages internal security matters, investigates suspected Israeli agents and tracks down Israeli intelligence and security services officers; he has been arrested three times. After his third arrest in 1988, he was sentenced to four life terms in prison.
However, he was among 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners released by Israel in exchange for an Israeli soldier held captive for over five years by Hamas.
Sinwar returned to his position as a prominent leader in Hamas and was appointed head of the groups political bureau in the Gaza Strip in 2017.
The other one is Mohammed Deif, who leads the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas movement. Israeli authorities imprisoned him in 1989, after which he formed the al-Qassam Brigades with the aim of capturing Israeli soldiers.
After his release, he helped engineer the construction of tunnels that have allowed Hamas fighters to get inside Israel from Gaza. Deif remains one of Israels most-wanted men, accused of planning and supervising bus bombings that killed tens of Israelis in 1996 and of involvement in the capture and killing of three Israeli soldiers in the mid-1990s.
Israel imprisoned him in 2000, but he escaped at the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada. Since then, he has left behind little trace.
He survived an assassination attempt in 2002 but lost one of his eyes. Israel says he also lost a foot and a hand and that he has difficulty speaking. Israeli security forces again failed to assassinate Deif during a 2014 assault on the Gaza Strip, but killed his wife and two of his children.
Next is Khaled Meshaal, who was born in the West Bank in 1956, is considered one of the founders of Hamas. The Mossad attempted to assassinate Meshaal in 1997 while he was living in Jordan. Mossad agents entered Jordan with forged Canadian passports, and Meshaal was injected with a toxic substance while walking along a street.
Jordanian authorities discovered the assassination attempt and arrested two Mossad members.
The late King Hussein of Jordan asked Israels PM for the antidote for the substance Meshaal was injected with. Facing pressure from then US President Bill Clinton, Netanyahu provided the antidote after initially rejecting the request.
Ismail Haniyeh had succeeded Meshaal as head of its political bureau in 2017, and Meshaal became head of the groups political bureau abroad.
They are all in the Israeli crosshairs, and there is a school of thought that advocates that their elimination may be one of the aims of the Israelis.
Implications
There are worries that Haniyehs killing could now lead to a setback in ceasefire negotiations and further escalation of the conflict.
Tensions were already high after Israel said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in a precision strike on Beirut on 30 July. As per Sami al-Arian, the Director of the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, This is a huge escalationwhat happened yesterday in Lebanon, whats happening today in Tehran. Its an escalation by [Israel] and thats going to have significant ramifications.
On the other hand, Lord Peter Ricketts, the UKs former National Security Adviser, has stated that Haniyehs assassination is a very powerful demonstration of Israels ability to reach out right across the region.
He said it gives Israel the political room to begin now to wind down the operation in Gaza because he can now say he has really delivered a major blow against Haniyehs leadership.
But Ricketts also says it remains a very dangerous time in the Middle East, as Hamas is now unlikely to want to settle in ceasefire talks.
While details of the attack are yet to fully emerge, its political consequences are also coming into focus. The most obvious being the likely damage to fragile efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, as Haniyeh was a critical interlocutor in negotiations brokered by Qatar, the US, and Egypt.
Progress on the talks now seems distant in view of the assassination of Haniyeh. This brings up a larger question regarding his targeting by Israel. Beyond the desire to exact revenge on the Hamas leadership, Israels aim seems unclear. Turkeys Foreign Ministry is now accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having no intention of achieving peace.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom Haniyeh had met before the swearing in of President Pezeshkians swearing, said, With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself, and we consider it our duty to take his revenge, Khamenei said.
Whereas, the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said that even with the events of the past 24 hours, Washington hoped that Israel would be able to come to a diplomatic solution and deescalate the situation.
I dont think that war is inevitable, he told reporters in Manila, Philippines. I maintain that. I think theres always room and opportunity for diplomacy, and Id like to see parties pursue those opportunities.
Conclusion
Though Haniyeh is a prominent figure and his elimination undoubtedly will be counted as a major success for Israel, there are others who remain, such as Sinwar and Dief, and it is still unclear whether Fuad Shukur was killed during the IDF strike in Beirut as there has been no confirmation from the Hezbollah.
The reactions of Hamas will now be awaited, as will the succession of Haniyeh; it is most likely that a more extremist leader may succeed him. The fact remains that while the killing of a senior leader is a setback for the organisation, Hamas is an ideology that will not change, and they are unlikely to surrender or make concessions.
Al Jazeeras correspondent, Hani Mahmoud, who wrote from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, said, This news is resonating very negatively here. What is important now for the international community is to prevent an escalation of the war, as a larger conflict can have cascading global implications.
The author is a retired Major General of the Indian Army. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
New Delhi should continue to reiterate its position firmly, remain vigilant of any Chinese misadventure in the days to come, and ensure that the new progress of Chinas continuing illegal occupation at the border does not become the new normal read more
The last week has seen significant exchanges regarding the India-China border dispute. During his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meetings, Indias External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, emphasised the exceptional significance of bilateral ties.
The EAM also expressed concerns about the disturbances to peace and tranquillity at the borders, which have cast a shadow on relations for the past four years. Jaishankar reiterated that the ties should be based on the approach of the three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity.
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This approach, along with the eight principles, was outlined by Jaishankar in 2021 during his virtual keynote address at the All-India Conference of China Studies. He stated, Respecting the three mutuals and observing those eight principles will surely help us make the right decisions. Jaishankars remarks come amid the ongoing border row in eastern Ladakh, now entering its fifth year.
Speaking at the 14th East Asia Summit, at the Foreign Ministers Meeting, in Vientiane, Jaishankar emphasised that the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) passing through the South China Sea are critical for the peace, stability, prosperity, and development of the Indo-Pacific region. He stated that the Code of Conduct should be substantive and effective, consistent with international law, and should not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of nations not party to the discussions.
Given that his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, was also in Vientiane for the summit, Jaishankars remarks were particularly significant. The resource-rich South China Sea has become a hotspot due to aggressive Chinese actions in recent times.
In Tokyo to attend a Quad foreign ministerial meeting, Jaishankar stated that Indias relationship with China is not good and is not doing well. He ruled out any role for a third party in Indias border dispute with China, emphasising that the two neighbours have an issue that they must resolve themselves.
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It was interesting to read between the lines of the statement released by the Chinese on the meeting between Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart. The statement noted, The two sides agreed to make concerted efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas, and work for new progress in consultations on border affairs. The phrase new progress is particularly noteworthy in the statement.
However, recent media reports reveal that China has completed the construction of a 400-metre bridge near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Recent satellite images also show that the bridge is now black-topped and being used by light motor vehicles. All of this raises questions about the Chinese counterparts enthusiasm to de-escalate tensions with India.
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First, a bit of history needs to be revisited to understand Chinese perceptions and its true inclination in resolving the current standoff with India. China has land borders with 14 countries, and it has settled disputes with all of them except India and Bhutan. Even with Bhutan, China has signed a three-step roadmap for expediting and settling boundary negotiations.
However, it is significant to note that historically, while settling those boundaries and territorial disputes, China has not compromised on its strategic and economic interests. In the new circumstances surrounding China, Beijing has tied its independent foreign policy of peace to sovereignty and territorial integrity, a stance highlighted as early as 2003.
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By expanding the definition of national security and integrating security into every domain, President Xi Jinping introduced the term Comprehensive National Security during his address at the founding session of the Central National Security Commission of the CPC in 2014. This concept now comprises 16 types of security, including Territorial Security. The concept of territorial security, which has been central since the times of Mao, is now given primacy by linking it to the centenary goal of achieving Chinas national rejuvenation. This also explains Beijings aggressive manoeuvring against Taiwan and its actions in the South China Sea against the Philippines in recent times.
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Second, having settled border disputes with 14 countries, Chinas attention has slowly shifted from its western and northern land borders to its eastern borders, which are predominantly maritime in character. China has always been concerned about a maritime conflict involving the US and Japan in the East and South China Seas, a concern that has been accentuated by the formalisation of Quad and AUKUS. The construction and opening of Camp Blaz, the first new US base since 1952, on the US Pacific Island of Guam, has increased fears in China of a US intervention in any conflict related to China.
In this context, China perceives that India might side with the US and take advantage of the situation to further its claims in the border dispute between New Delhi and Beijing. It should be noted that among the Quad countries, India is the only one with a physical border with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Hence, this presents a two-pronged scenario for Beijing to handle.
Third, the second scenario involves Chinese perceptions of a future war erupting on the maritime front in East Asia if China undertakes a misadventure to capture Taiwan by force or in a scenario involving the South China Sea. China fears an Indian blockade on its sea lines of communication and commerce raiding, which would again strengthen Indias position vis-a-vis China and enhance US operations in the Pacific.
The common denominator in both scenarios of Chinese strategic calculations is India. China has also been unequivocal in its statements, reflecting uneasiness with Indias increasing proximity to the US.
Mention must also be made of Beijings first dedicated Land Borders Law, which lays down provisions for border protection and integration of border areas. This law came into force on January 1, 2022. With 62 articles in 7 chapters, it justifies the use of military means and transgressions at the LAC by the Peoples Republic of China, effectively providing a legal cover for such actions.
Hence, Beijings strategy is not going to remain static in the new circumstances where security takes precedence over everything else under Xi Jinping, with economic growth being balanced with military modernisation and national rejuvenation. All these factors may explain Chinese overtures to India, providing a sense of hope in the form of urgency in resolving the ongoing standoff. This approach encapsulates the Chinese proverb [tao guang yang hui], famously loosely translated as hiding ones strength and biding ones time"the original idea, used by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s as part of a famous description of Chinas foreign policy, also meant maintaining a low profile and hiding ones true intentions and goals to gain an advantage over opponents.
The lesson for India may not require any crystal gazing but to continue to reiterate its position firmly, remain vigilant of any Chinese misadventure in the days to come, and ensure that the new progress of Chinas continuing illegal occupation at the border does not become the new normal.
The author is a Senior Research Officer at the Centre for National Security Studies (CNSS), Bengaluru. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Investments and cooperation in electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and digital economy may take prominence during Pham Minh Chinhs visit to India read more
Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh is currently on his three-day visit to Indiaon the agenda seems to be a deepening of ties in defence and economywith both countries committedly enhancing their ties, which were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the country in 2016.
Soon after assuming office in 2014, PM Modi had made it clear that India would walk the talk, or rather Act East, taking forward the Look East policy towards ASEAN and other East Asian countries by fast-tracking engagement with this extended neighbourhood. With a deep focus on political, economic, and security cooperation with East Asian countries, India advocates a safe, secure, prosperous, and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, providing a balance towards the expansionist ambitions of a few.
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Trade and Defence
With bilateral trade having gone up to $15 billion today, when it was barely a couple hundred million only about a decade ago, both sides have demonstrated remarkable commitment to seriously work on increasing engagement. Investments and cooperation in electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and the digital economy may also take prominence during the visit.
Of particular importance is the engagement in the defence sector, and this is possibly likely to be the highlight of PM Pham Minh Chinhs ongoing India visit as well. In 2023, India gifted a fully operational warship to a friendly country by handing over the in-service missile corvette INS Kirpan to the Vietnam Peoples Navy, thus emphasising its commitment to deepening defence ties.
Just a year before that, in 2022, Indias Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had visited Vietnam to hand over 12 high-speed guard boats built with Indian assistance. This visit may close talks on acquisitions of the Indian BrahMos missiles as well as explore the possibilities of acquiring Indias Akash surface-to-air missile system.
Culture and Civilisational History
While the two countries deepen their engagement across sectors of strategic importance to both countries, eventually the mutual trust will solidify through people-to-people relationships. A shared civilisational ethos has the potential to catalyse these.
With a changing world order, it becomes rather crucial for nations to reorganise themselves, prioritising multipolaritythus countering any averse, expansionist intentions. With the world on edge, it seems like innovation in strategic partnerships and groupings between like-minded powers may hold a solution to lasting peace and security.
Our ancient texts mention that Jambudvipa, or Bharatvarsha, which encompassed a large chunk of the subcontinent, also included East Asia, including Vietnam. Vietnam was then called Champadesh, with its residents referred to as Cham. Shiva and Shakt were worshipped in the region, which is why many temples of Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, and Saraswati are still found.
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A Temple in Ho Chi Minh
In the 1880s, a member of the Tamil community in Siagonnow Ho Chi Minh Citybuilt a small house where a small idol of Mariamman Goddess was kept and worshipped. Craftsmen were sent across from British India to construct a grand temple of the goddess. Due to the strong cultural linkages, when the Simha Vahana (lion vehicle of the Goddess) was brought, the city marked the procession with great enthusiasm and made it an annual affair; this also finds mention in historic Vietnamese records.
The Vietnamese consider Mariamman an equivalent of their goddess, Ba Den (literally translates to Black Lady), who is said to bless Her devotees with health and prosperitymuch like Bharats Maa Kali. Today, the temple sees worshippers from across ethnicitiesChinese, Khmer, Vietnamese, and Indian.
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Cambodian Khmer cultural and religious practices seem to connect Vietnamese and Indian forms of worship, once again establishing a historic linkage and exchange of people and culture in the Jambudvipa subcontinent.
Similar stories find their way in the overlapping lifestyle, cultural, and religious ethos of our two nations. As we come closer in our partnership, India and Vietnam may find great value in also deepening and commissioning studies to further explore the roots of some of these shared historical practices. Talking about these in mainstream channels may help enhance people-to-people connections between the two countries, deepening our already strong mutual trust.
While this visit of the Vietnamese PM is a significant milestone, it will be no surprise if Prime Minister Modi will reciprocate and visit Vietnam in the near future to further solidify the relationship between our two countries.
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Priyam Gandhi Mody is an author and political communications expert. She has written four best-selling books. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Although public debates around nuclearisation have sparked in South Korea and Japan keeping geopolitical dynamics vis-a-vis North Korea and China under consideration, yet all eyes will be on US policies after the new presidential administration takes over read more
South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik (left to right), Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara, and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin pose for a photo in a trilateral ministerial meeting on July 28, 2024. AFP
The US, Japan, and South Korea institutionalised trilateral cooperation by inking an historic memorandum. The US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru, and South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik held a trilateral ministerial meeting on July 28, 2024, for the first time in history.
Following the US-Japan-South Korea summits previously held in Phnom Penh and Camp David, the three defence ministers reiterated their commitment to strengthening trilateral security cooperation. In addition to discussing common concerns on regional security, there was a reaffirmation of promoting peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region and in particular the Korean Peninsula.
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Why Now?
The crisis in Ukraine has shifted power relations, calling into question US and NATO-led ideas of collective security. East Asia today has three problematic hotspots: North Korea, China, and Taiwan. North Koreas proliferation of nuclear and ballistic missiles is a concerning development for the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Although South Korea remains superior to the North in terms of weaponry, North Koreas constant testing and arsenal development pose a major threat.
The great power confrontation between the US and China is intensifying. China has often cited US hegemony in the region as a threat to its rise, proposing a multipolar world based on tianxia values. China defines multipolarity as leveraging policies to challenge US hegemony in East Asia and beyond.
Furthermore, US-South Korea-Japan relations have prompted a strategic triangular relationship between North Korea, China, and Russia, resulting in East Asian bloc politics. Russia has built deeper connections with North Korea as a result of the Ukraine war, and Moscow and Beijings ties have strengthened even more. As a result, the region is experiencing a security crisis that necessitates a comprehensive and collaborative strategy from stakeholders.
The US has maintained and balanced its bilateral relations individually with Japan and ROK through the aforementioned Hub and Spokes Model. However, the existing challenges require the US to have warm and cordial relations between two of its strong Asian partners, Japan and South Korea.
The contentious colonial antagonism between the two countries had served as a disconnect between US-Japan and US-South Korea relations. But the newfound detente between the US two closest ally in the region had to be forged into a more institutionalised framework. This framework will fulfil the dual purpose of protecting US interests in the region, and the closer bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea would maintain the US security umbrella.
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The historic Camp David summit between the countries leaders last year targeted at these pointers and was intended to improve a number of existing cooperation measures, including real-time exchange of missile warning data to better detect and analyse North Korean launches.
Key Aspects
A joint document for enhanced cooperation was proposed by South Korea earlier this year, both at trilateral meetings and the Shangri-La Dialogue in June. The Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework (TSCF) institutionalises trilateral security cooperation among defence authorities, such as senior-level policy talks, intelligence sharing, trilateral exercises, and defence exchange cooperation, to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region, and beyond. As a result, the secretary and two ministers reiterated the steadfast nature of the new age of trilateral cooperation.
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Over the last year, the three countries have conducted cooperative military exercises to counter missile launches and hunt for submarines. They conducted air, sea, and cyberspace manoeuvres last month, marking the partners first trilateral multidomain exercise. These three countries intend to knot their expanding trilateral relationships so firmly that they are difficult to unravel.
Further, the agreement binds the three countries to step up cooperation for effective operation of real-time sharing of North Korean missile data and carry out joint drills. It also reaffirms the success of the multidomain Freedom Edge exercise between the three countries, and it expresses their shared resolve to promote trilateral interoperability in the Indo-Pacific region and the Korean Peninsula.
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The meeting between the defence ministers also denounced the Norths diversification of nuclear delivery systems and test launches of multiple ballistic missiles, as well as other tension-escalating acts on the Korean Peninsula. As a result, the three countries have attained a new level of trilateral collaboration.
A priority would be to establish a system to more effectively, promptly, and coherently respond to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats among South Korea, the US, and Japan, and to make that irreversible, South Korean Defence Minister Shin Wonsik reiterated at the outset of the trilateral meeting.
Prospects post-US presidential elections 2024
There are concerns that ensue as the dates for US presidential elections draw close, especially now that President Joe Biden has stepped down from the election campaign. The Biden administration has prioritised alliances, particularly strengthening ties and bridging the gap between the USs two key allies in East Asia, Japan and South Korea.
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Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump, who is also a candidate for this years presidential election, holds the record of alarming US allies with unpredictable and unilateral foreign and security policies. There are also concerns that political changes in Seoul and Tokyo may jeopardise the hard-fought cooperative agreements that have already been negotiated.
However, Trump has mentioned strengthening US ties with Japan and South Korea, if elected. The concern for the US to counter belligerence posed by North Korea and China will prove substantial if it continues to deepen cooperation in both material and symbolic ways.
Although public debates have sparked in both South Korea and Japan regarding nuclearisation, US policies after the election of the next president will be determining and hence will remain anticipated. However, trilateral cooperation is here to stay.
The Geopolitics for Japan and South Korea
Japan and South Korea had overcome their colonial antagonism at Camp David last year. Previously, both the defence ministers of Japan and Korea resorted towards another significant step towards building resilient security ties by resumption of defence exchange, and this was considered the last remaining obstacle towards normalising and regularising cooperation between the two countries.
Lately, South Korea has been facing troubles from North Korea with respect to balloons filled with trash landing across the Demilitarised Zonean attempt seen by the South Koreans to disregard the Armistice Agreement of 1935. While there are debates of nuclearisation rather than denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, incumbent South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol faces low ratings due to numerous scandals against him.
Therefore, the times are crucial for South Korea to work towards an approach of proactive foreign policy safeguarding its interests. Japan has also expressed keen interest in partnering with more Southeast Asian countries, especially countries like the Philippines, to counter Chinas belligerence in the South and East China Seas. Furthermore, Japan has also been trying to level its defence forces by creating dual-use infrastructure.
Perhaps equally crucial, particularly for Japan and South Koreas mutual ally, the United States is the subject of Chinese belligerence, which has been highlighted in trilateral defence discussions. Although the three nations did not identify China in their joint statement, there is growing agreement on the subject. They also repeated their strong opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific areas, most likely referring to Beijings ambitions in the East and South China Seas.
It can be right to conclude that South Korea benefits from stronger deterrents against North Korean threats and increasing regional influence, and Japan may view it as an opportunity to reinforce its regional security posture, deepen its alliance with Washington, and heal historically difficult relations with South Korea.
The United States is also expected to overhaul its military forces in Japan as a step towards modernising the alliance against the backdrop of vexed geopolitics in East Asia. The new plan would allow US forces in Japan to be reconstituted as a Joint Force Headquarters reporting to the Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). This step has been undertaken to facilitate deeper interoperability operations both in peacetime and contingencies.
Given South Koreas and Japans geographical proximity to China, as well as the presence of US troops in both countries, Beijing sees the burgeoning trilateral partnership as one of the USs minilateral grouping. Debates of militarization of East Asia follow; the step of the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework has only strengthened trilateralism between the US, Japan, and South Korea.
The author is a Research Assistant at CENJOWS, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
by Steve Szilagyi
An air of the erotic hangs over Norman Rockwell: The Scouting Collection a show of 65 paintings by Americas master illustrator currently on display at the Medici Museum of Art in Warren, Ohio.
The pictures came to the Medici Museum after a Los Angeles Times article revealed that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had covered up decades of child sexual abuse by scout leaders and volunteers triggering epic lawsuits and eventually sending the BSA into bankruptcy.
The Medici Museum is a stark-white building in the middle of a large, empty parking lot. Pushing through its glass doors, the first thing you see on the wall is an icon of American illustration: Norman Rockwells 1959 painting of a cheerful scout, captured mid-stride, waving to the viewer. This was the cover of that years Boy Scout Handbook. The next thing you see is a naked woman, kneeling to the right of Rockwells scout and you immediately go over to check her out. She looks so real!
The nude is one of several figures by American artist Carole Feuerman owned by the Medici. Feuerman is a former illustrator who switched to erotic sculpture in 1978 and now specializes in hyper-realistic swimmers. The Medici displays Feuermans figures cheek by jowl with Rockwells scouts in one of the odder juxtapositions youll ever see in a small, regional museum places where odd juxtapositions are often the rule.
As we all know, Norman Rockwell is the preeminent illustrator of the 20th century. His paintings, once scorned by connoisseurs, are now eagerly sought after by the likes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Top-tier Rockwells have gone for up to $48 million at auction. Although the collection of paintings at the Medici includes some third and fourth-rate Rockwells, its still said to be valued at around $120 million.
How did these valuable pictures wind up in a modestly sized museum, in a suburb of a small city, just outside Youngstown, Ohio? A museum that was only established in its present form in 2020?
Before coming to the Medici, the Rockwells were housed in the National Museum of Scouting, a thousand and more miles away in Cimarron, New Mexico. The Scouting Museum, it seems, was finding the collection problematic for a number of reasons. For one thing, it didnt have the resources to fully display and maintain these valuable paintings. For another, there were some 82,000 victims of sexual abuse clamoring for damages from the BSA and some of them were expecting the Scouts to sell the Rockwells and distribute the proceeds.
A former boy scout on the board of trustees of the Butler Institute of American Art had an idea of what could be done with the BSAs Rockwells. Bring them to Ohio
The Butler Institute, located in Youngstown Ohio, is a well-respected museum with a vital collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts. Founded in 1919, it was the first museum dedicated primarily to American artists.
The former boy scout on the Butlers board was well-connected with the leadership of the BSA. He worked out an agreement whereby the Butler would take the Rockwells off the BSAs hands, pay for their transport, and display them all together in one place for the first time. (The Butler already had one Rockwell in its collection, Abraham Lincoln, Age 22, for which it is said to have paid $1.6 million.)
It seemed like a done deal, and in Youngstown, not only the board of the Butler, but merchants and hoteliers rubbed their hands in anticipation of the flood of visitors sure to come in the scout paintings wake.
Then the Butler got cold feet. Lou Zona, the executive director and chief curator of the museum, put a temporary kibosh on the deal tabling it for a year so they could think the whole thing over. His reasoning seemed to be two-fold:
The BSAs bankruptcy deal had not yet been finalized, and there was a chance that after the Butler spent the time and money to hang the Rockwells, they might very well disappear the next day as part of the settlement. Pedophilia. Ewwww!
Basically, Zona didnt want the BSAs association with child sexual abuse stinking up his nice museum. The Butler trustees who had done the work in putting together the deal were not at all happy.
Outsiders cant know what precisely went down in the Butlers board room after that, but it must have been quite a melee. Because once the smoke had settled, a portion of the board had split off and founded their own museum, taking over a former annex of the Butler, located 15 minutes away in Warren.
The annex was re-christened the Medici Museum of Art and it welcomed Rockwells boys with open arms.
Of course, you cant make a museum out of 65 paintings by a single artist. The Medici launched a busy calendar of group and solo shows. Among these was a display of 20 or so of Carole Feuermans super-realistic figures six or so of which remained in the museums collection after the show receded.
The Medici, with its high white walls and abundant natural light, is an ideal place to view art. It is made all the better by the fact that at most times, you are likely to be the only person there.
Like all Rockwells, the BSA paintings repay close attention. My practice with Rockwells is to move quickly past the central image and zoom in on the little paintings nested within the painting still life arrangements of cast-off shoes, bottles, or items on a table. These marginal masterpieces remind me of 18th-century painter Jean Chardin in their technique and tender regard for humble objects.
Unfortunately, there are not many of these marginal masterpieces in the pictures at the Medici. Here we see Rockwell lavishing his creative attention almost solely on the boys. Beautiful boys. Clear-eyed, clean-limbed, and noble.
Back in the mid-20th century, hot babes were among the bread and butter of American illustration. Even the openly gay illustrator Joseph Christian Leyendecker, a friend and contemporary of Rockwell, was capable of turning out a more-than-winsome Gibson girl.
Not Rockwell. Other illustrators teased him about it. He painted warmly wonderful grandmothers, aunts, and barely adolescent girls. But as he himself admitted, his every attempt to paint a sizzling dame flopped.
On the other hand, Rockwell got boys. He was peerless at depicting boyhood in all its rough, playful, scampish glory (check out his illustrations for Mark Twains Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn). And when it came time to painting a boy in a Boy Scout uniform, he pulled out all the stops
These are not mere boys. These are gods and angels. Rockwells scouts glow with hope, resolution, and courage. The gaze off into the distance with noble chins and perfect posture. Yet such is Rockwells skill, that even his most glorified scouts never dissolve into ideal types. Each is distinctly and almost strikingly individual a virtuous thread that runs through almost all of his work.
A comprehensive biography of Norman Rockwell was published in 2013. According to reviews, the author, Deborah Solomon, gently speculates on Rockwells sexuality. She notes his unhappy marriages and his close friendships with the illustrator Leyendecker and Leyendeckers gay brother, and a shared bed on a camping trip with an adult male assistant. Rockwell, Solomon says, demonstrated an intense need for emotional and physical closeness with men.
Jerry Portwood, in an essay on Solomons speculations in Out magazine, finds evidence in Rockwells work that the artist understood the tenderness between men (of any age). He concludes that though Rockwell is sometimes dismissed as a promoter of an ideal America, he was in fact constantly yearning for another ideal, of youthful male beauty, that always seemed to lie beyond reach.
There are many reasons to believe that the 82,000 complaints of sexual abuse against the Boy Scouts are the tip of an iceberg. Its astounding to think that there were thousands and thousands of scout leaders and volunteers across the country molesting boys through most of the 20th century. Would these men have been turned on by the images in Norman Rockwell: The Scouting Collection? Probably, although I dont believe that was the artists intention.
Carole Feuerman has toned down the eroticism of her artworks since the 1970s. There is nothing blatantly prurient in her fine, fit, bathing-suited women, such as those on display at the Medici. But speaking from a platform of normative sexuality, I can tell you that they carry a charge.
Feuerman came out of the so-called hyperrealist movement of the early 1970s, along with painters like Richard Estes and Audrey Flack. Up until then, artists like Rockwell and Edward Hopper might have been seen as epitomizing American realism. But Estes and Flack showed how real realism could get. Unlike Rockwell, they didnt paint pictures from photographs, they painted pictures of photographs.
But the term realist has always been a misnomer when applied to Rockwell. There is nothing real about his innovative use of flattened planes, and imaginative combinations of typography, iconography, and figuration. The waving, uniformed lad, frozen in mid-stride, from the cover of the Boy Scout Handbook is a graphic concoction: No one ever walked like that.
Norman Rockwell: The Scouting Collection raises uncomfortable questions. Like the great art commissioned by the Catholic Church, the pictures may be innocent in themselves, but they are adjacent to great crimes. Both the Catholic Church and the BSA have set up billion-dollar funds to compensate the victims of sexual abuse committed by their representatives. So far, neither organization has been compelled to sell off its art treasures.
While the Catholic Church continues today much as it has for the past 2,000 years, the BSA imploded under the pressure of its sex scandals. In 2024, it relaunched as something called Scouting America, incorporating most of the old organizations ethos and heritage except for the whole boy thing. Scouting America now welcomes girls as well as boys and gay, lesbian, and transgender scouts and scout leaders as well. It seems to me that this simply opens up a rainbow of new opportunities for abuse.
Back in the 1960s, the leader of my grade schools Boy Scout troop was a flat-out child molester. He didnt get his paws on me, but when I saw what he was doing to my tent mates, I headed for the hills. (Literally. It was a camping trip and I got myself home the next day.) So call me cynical.
How long will Rockwells Boy Scouts and Feuermans swimmers enjoy each others company in Warren? (I exchanged messages with the executive director of the Medici Museum to find out, but we failed to connect for an interview.) From what I gather on the internet, the BSAs art collection is still vulnerable from a legal standpoint. Its possible that a judge could clear the walls of the Medici with a stroke of a pen.
So if you want to see Norman Rockwell: The Scouting Collection, take yourself down to the Youngstown-Warren, Ohio area without delay. Go to the Medici Museum of Art. And by all means, also visit the Butler Institute of American Art a solid collection in a beautiful museum, without a Boy Scout in sight.
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Apple allegedly did not want the Tata Group to own a significant share in a competing company, Vivo in this instance. Had the Tata Group acquired a controlling stake in Vivo Indias business, it would have been a massive conflict of interest read more
Tata has been actively expanding its role within Apple's supply chain since acquiring the Wistron facility. Considering this, it is obvious why Tata probably gave up on the idea of acquiring Vivo India. Image Credit: Reuters, Reuters
The Tata Group has reportedly paused discussions to acquire a majority stake in Vivos Indian business, allegedly due to intervention by Apple.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo was looking to sell 51 per cent of its Indian subsidiary to Tata Group to comply with increasing Indian government pressures to make its operations more local. However, the deal now appears to be off the table, according to a Times of India report.
According to sources cited in the report, Apple did not want Tata Group to own a significant share in a competing company. The core issue lies in Tatas ownership of a factory that is part of Apples supply chain in India. Had the Tata Group acquired a controlling stake in Vivo Indias business, it would have been a massive conflict of interest.
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In 2023, Apples manufacturing partner Wistron sold its Karnataka factory to Tata Group for approximately $125 million, according to several media reports. Tata continued to use this facility to produce Apple products, including the iPhone. The factory still employs around 10,000 workers.
One source explained that Apples concern stemmed from the potential conflict of interest that would arise if Tata, a key manufacturing partner, entered into a substantial partnership with a competitor like Vivo.
For Apple, such a move by Tata would effectively mean aligning with a rival, which could compromise their strategic interests.
Although Apple Insider reports that Tata has denied any developments regarding the deal with Vivo, the incident highlights the intricate dynamics between major corporations and their strategic partnerships.
Apples alleged intervention suggests that the tech giant is keen on maintaining clear boundaries within its supply chain and avoiding any potential conflicts of interest that could arise from its partners business ventures.
Tata has been actively expanding its role within Apples supply chain since acquiring the Wistron facility. In April, the conglomerate was reportedly close to securing a controlling stake in a Pegatron facility in Tamil Nadu, India, further solidifying its position as a key player in Apples manufacturing ecosystem.
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Given the importance of its strategic partnership with Apple, it is obvious why Tata probably gave up on the idea of acquiring Vivo India. With Apple, Tata gets to export a major chunk of the iPhones that it produces to international markets, which directly ties in with the Tata Groups ambitions to become a major tech exporter and a global destination for electronics and precision manufacturing.
Situations like these represent the complexities faced by multinational companies in navigating their business interests and partnerships. As Tata Group continues to grow its presence in the tech manufacturing sector, it will have to strike a delicate balance between expanding its business and maintaining critical alliances like the one with Apple if it is seriously contemplating of competing on a global scale .
Google acknowledges that content removal isnt foolproof. Therefore, it has updated its ranking system to lower the visibility of explicit fake content and associated websites in search results read more
Google's system will automatically identify and remove duplicates of the image and related content, addressing the widespread nature of such images across the internet. Image Credit: Pexels
Google is amping up its efforts to remove explicit AI-generated deepfake images and videos from its search results. The tech giant aims to ensure that non-consensual deepfakes are kept out of its search engine. Because of the offensive nature of these images, Google is committed to pushing them far from the first page of search results, if complete removal isnt feasible.
Google has a history of allowing individuals to request the removal of explicit deepfakes. However, the rise in generative AI image creation has necessitated more robust measures. The request system has been streamlined for easier and quicker submission and processing.
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Once a request is validated, Googles algorithms will also filter out similar explicit results linked to the individual. This means victims dont need to manually search for every variation that might display the content.
Googles system will automatically identify and remove duplicates of the image and related content, addressing the widespread nature of such images across the internet.
On YouTube, Google has enhanced its measures to combat unauthorised deepfakes. Previously, YouTube merely labelled AI-created or misleading content. Now, individuals depicted in such videos can submit a privacy complaint, prompting YouTube to give the videos owner a few days to remove it before reviewing the complaint.
Despite these efforts, Google acknowledges that content removal isnt foolproof. Therefore, it has updated its ranking system to lower the visibility of explicit fake content and associated websites in search results.
For instance, when searching for news about a celebritys deepfakes and their testimony before lawmakers, Google will prioritize news stories and related articles over deepfakes.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have updated their policies to address AI-generated explicit content. Metas Oversight Board recently recommended changes to cover such content and improve the appeals process.
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Legislators are also responding. New York States legislature has passed a bill targeting AI-generated non-consensual pornography under its revenge porn laws. At the national level, the U.S. Senate introduced the NO FAKES Act of 2024 to address explicit content and non-consensual use of deepfake visuals and voices. Similarly, Australia is working on a bill to criminalize the creation and distribution of non-consensual explicit deepfakes.
Google reports some success in reducing explicit deepfakes, claiming that early tests with these changes have cut the appearance of such images by over 70 per cent. However, Google recognises that more work is needed.
Its important to remember that just because something doesnt appear in search results doesnt mean it doesnt exist. The nature of the internet means that once something is online, its virtually impossible to remove it entirely. This underlines the importance of proactive and ongoing efforts to manage and mitigate the spread of harmful content.
In the wake of the attack, regulatory bodies acted swiftly. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) took the precaution of temporarily severing C-Edge Technologies access to its retail payment network to halt the potential spread of the cyber threat read more
According to officials, although nearly 300 banks have been cut off from the network, these institutions represent a minor segment of about 0.5 per cent of the nation's total payment system volumes. Image Credit: Reuters
A major ransomware attack has disrupted the operations of nearly 300 small Indian banks, primarily affecting rural and cooperative institutions. This cyberattack, which occurred on Wednesday, targeted C-Edge Technologies, a key provider of banking solutions for these smaller entities, leading to significant payment system outages, as reported by Reuters.
In the wake of the attack, regulatory bodies acted swiftly. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) took the precaution of temporarily severing C-Edge Technologies access to its retail payment network to halt the potential spread of the cyber threat.
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As a result, customers of the impacted banks found themselves unable to use various payment services.
Indias banking sector includes around 1,500 cooperative and regional banks, most of which serve regions beyond the major cities.
The attack has significantly impacted a large portion of this sector, raising serious concerns about the cybersecurity measures in place for rural banking infrastructure.
Regulatory authorities are now conducting comprehensive audits to evaluate the damage and prevent further issues. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), however, has not yet issued any statements on the situation.
An advisory from the NPCI informed that the banks affected by the disconnection will experience interruptions in their payment services during this isolation period. This step is intended to safeguard the broader payment infrastructure of the country.
According to officials, although nearly 300 banks have been cut off from the network, these institutions represent a minor segment of about 0.5 per cent of the nations total payment system volumes.
To manage the situation and mitigate risks, the NPCI is currently performing an audit. In addition, both the RBI and Indian cyber authorities had previously alerted financial institutions to the possibility of cyber threats in recent weeks.
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This incident starkly emphasizes the need for stronger cybersecurity defences in the financial sector, particularly for smaller banks that might not have the necessary resources for advanced security measures.
It highlights the importance of routine security checks and comprehensive disaster recovery strategies. Experts suggest that resolving the issue quickly is crucial to minimizing economic disruption and maintaining public confidence in the banking system. This attack serves as a crucial reminder of the need for heightened cybersecurity across Indias varied banking landscape.
Boko Haram, with one branch allied to the Islamic State group, wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, West Africas oil giant of 170 million people divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north read more
The resurgence of suicide bombings in Borno raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region. File Photo- Reuters
A bomb exploded on Wednesday evening at a tea house in Kawuri village, located in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, resulting in the deaths of 19 people and injuring approximately two dozen others, security sources said on Thursday.
There was an explosion at a tea joint in Kawuri around 8:00 pm yesterday. We have recovered 19 dead bodies and 27 injured, Ibrahim Liman, a member of an anti-militia that works with the army, told AFP.
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This blast which termed one of the most lethal attacks in recent years in northeast Nigeria, the region where terrorist violence has been on the decline.
Earlier this month, female suicide bombers targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least 18 people. The insurgency, which has spilled across borders around Lake Chad, has killed more than 35,000 people, displaced 2.6 million others and created a humanitarian crisis.
Boko Haram, with one branch allied to the Islamic State group, wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, West Africas oil giant of 170 million people divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north.
The resurgence of suicide bombings in Borno raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the city. Gwoza is near Chibok, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014. Nearly 100 of the girls are still in captivity.
Since then, at least 1,500 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria as armed groups find the practice a lucrative way to fund their criminal activities and take control of villages.
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With inputs from agencies.
This deal moves US prosecutors long-stalled cases towards resolution, bypassing legal issues stemming from the CIA-induced torture of the three accused post-capture read more
US prosecutors have reached a deal with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Pentagon said Wednesday, reportedly involving a guilty plea in exchange for avoiding a death penalty trial.
The agreements with Mohammed and two other accused moves their long-running cases toward resolution. These have been bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings for years while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
A Pentagon statement said no details of the deal would be immediately made public at this time, but the New York Times reported that Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Walid bin Attash had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for a life sentence instead of a trial after they could get the death penalty.
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Such a proposal was detailed by prosecutors in a letter last year but divided the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, with some still wanting the defendants to face the ultimate penalty.
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the mens cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 a thorny question that the plea deals help avoid.
Mohammed was regarded as one of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Ladens most trusted and intelligent lieutenants before his March 2003 capture in Pakistan. He then spent three years in secret CIA prisons before arriving in Guantanamo in 2006.
The trained engineer who has said he masterminded the 9/11 attacks from A to Z was involved in a string of major plots against the United States, where he had attended university.
In addition to planning the operation to bring down the Twin Towers, Mohammed claims to have personally beheaded US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 with his blessed right hand, and to have helped in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people.
War on Terror prison
Bin Attash, a Saudi of Yemeni origin, allegedly trained two of the hijackers who carried out the September 11 attacks, and his US interrogators also said he confessed to buying the explosives and recruiting members of the team that killed 17 sailors in an attack on the USS Cole.
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He took refuge in neighboring Pakistan after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and was captured there in 2003, and was then held in a network of secret CIA prisons.
Hawsawi is suspected of managing the finance for the 9/11 attacks. He was arrested in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, was also held in secret prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.
The United States used Guantanamo, an isolated naval base, to hold militants captured during the War on Terror that followed the September 11 attacks in a bid to keep the defendants from claiming rights under US law.
The facility held 800 prisoners at its peak, but they have since slowly been repatriated to other countries. President Joe Biden pledged before his election to try and shut down Guantanamo, but it remains open.
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In another 9/11-related case, the Justice Department denied a request by Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, to serve the remainder of his life sentence in France.
In a hand-written letter to District Judge Leonie Brinkema obtained by the website Legal Insurrection, Moussaoui the only person convicted in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks expressed fears he would be executed if Donald Trump regains the presidency in November.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department does not discuss prisoner transfer requests but noted that Moussaoui is serving a life sentence following conviction for terrorism offenses.
The Department of Justice plans to enforce this life sentence in US custody, the spokeswoman added.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday proposed a reset to mend relations with the United States after Washington paused more than $95 million in aid over concerns about democratic backsliding, according to a report read more
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze attends the European Political Community meeting at the Blenheim Palace near Oxford, Britain July 18, 2024. Reuters File
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday proposed a reset to mend relations with the United States, Interpress news agency reported, after Washington paused more than $95 million in aid over concerns about democratic backsliding.
Georgia was plunged into crisis this spring over the passage of a law on foreign agents, which came into force on Thursday.
Opposition politicians and the West say the law, which requires organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, is authoritarian and will stifle dissent.
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As for Georgian-American relations - we are in a waiting mode. We are fully prepared to reset relationships, Interpress quoted Kobakhidze as saying.
You know that in the last three to four years, a lot has gone wrong in these relationships, so the relationship needs a reset. We are absolutely ready for it, the main thing is to see the next steps, he added.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says the foreign agents law is necessary to protect national sovereignty.
The pause on US assistance, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday, is the result of a review of bilateral cooperation that was unveiled in May, along with visa restrictions against some Georgian nationals.
The Georgian governments anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO, Blinken said, adding that Washington would continue to provide some assistance to Georgia, which has historically strong ties to the West.
Kobakhidze on Thursday reiterated government assertions that such restrictions amounted to blackmail and discussing additional sanctions against Georgia was counterproductive.
Instead of blackmailing and threatening, we should have a healthy conversation about improving relations, restarting them, Kobakhidze said.
While the focus in West Asia has been on Israels military campaign in Gaza against Hamas and Lebanon against Hezbollah, its rock-solid ally the US has also seen attacks resuming in the region read more
In a development that has largely flown under the radar, US forces in West Asia have once again found themselves under attack by Iran-aligned militias. This resurgence of hostilities follows a period of relative calm, with the latest incidents underscoring the persistent volatility of the region.
Late Tuesday, US forces carried out an airstrike south of Baghdad, aimed at thwarting an attempted militant assault on a US base in Babil Province. Media reports quoting US officials said that the American strike targeted combatants preparing to launch one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems (OWAUAS). A US Central Command spokesperson was quoted as saying that based on recent attacks in Iraq and Syria, it was assessed that the OWAUAS posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces.
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The spike in aggression
This spike in aggression comes on the heels of the Gaza war, which appears to have emboldened Iran-aligned militias. These groups have increased their attacks significantly, resulting in the deaths of three US soldiers on 28 January by a Kataib Hezbollah drone strike at Tower 22 in Jordan, near the Syrian border.
In response, the Biden administration launched retaliatory strikes, notably killing a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander on 7 February. This retaliatory action led to a temporary cessation of hostilities, but the recent uptick in attacks suggests a return to unrest.
Just last week, rockets were fired at bases hosting US troops in Iraq and Syria, including the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq and a coalition base in Syria.
On 16 July, two drones targeted the al-Assad base, marking the first attack since February. Fortunately, these attacks did not result in any injuries, and they received minimal media coverage.
This happens amid ongoing negotiations
The current negotiations between the US and Iraq regarding a drawdown of US troops, which would see only technical advisors remain, could be influencing these militant activities. The militias might be attempting to expedite the implementation of this decision or assert their strength.
As part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes Lebanese Hezbollah, these militias are likely to intensify their actions, especially if conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates. This would not only threaten US troops but also potentially target Israeli interests, such as the port of Eilat.
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Will attacks intensify?
It is critical to recognise that these attacks are unlikely to remain non-lethal. Operating outside the control of the Iraqi government, these militias consider targeting US troops as integral to their mission. As long as US forces remain in the region, these attacks are expected to continue. Efforts to restore deterrence through shows of force may delay but not eliminate the threat.
The ongoing violence highlights the complex and precarious situation in West Asia. As the US and its allies navigate this turbulent landscape, the necessity for vigilant and strategic responses becomes ever more apparent. The resumption of these attacks serves as a stark reminder of the enduring instability and the persistent threats faced by US and Coalition forces in the region.
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Given a sudden change in the West Asian security dynamics with Israel suspected to have eliminated key leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah over the past few days, the US forces may see a reduced attention of these outfits but reports of Islamic State regrouping may continue to challenge the American presence in the region.
In a recent interview, Donald Trump questioned Kamala Harriss racial identity, saying: She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black read more
In a rally in Texas on Wednesday, US Vice President Kamala Harris addressed former President Donald Trumps recent controversial comments questioning her racial identity, describing them as the same old show and asserting that America deserves better.
Trumps comments were made during an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) event. He questioned Harriss racial identity, saying, She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black.
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The interview, initially planned for an hour, was cut short after 34 minutes, according to Axios.
In Houston, Harris responded forcefully to Trumps remarks at the Sigma Gamma Rhos 60th International Biennial Boule, a gathering of the Black sororitys members.
Addressing the crowd, Harris said: This afternoon, pausing for boos, Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists.
This afternoon, Donald Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists.
It was the same old show.
Let me just say: The American people deserve better than Donald Trumps divisiveness and disrespect. Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 1, 2024
Harris continued, And it was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth. A leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us they are an essential source of our strength.
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Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage.
Because, as the saying goes, if youve got something to say, say it to my face. pic.twitter.com/fkL9ZYOY3X Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 30, 2024
Harriss campaign later issued a statement remarking, The Donald Trump America saw at NABJ is the one Black voters have known for years.
Also Read: Trump questions Kamala Harris presidential race at Black Journalists Convention
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On the same day, Trump appeared at a rally in Pennsylvania, his first in the state since the assassination attempt against him last month. There, Trump commented on Harris, stating,
Dont forget. Four weeks ago she was considered, like, the worst, and that she had undergone a personality makeover All of a sudden shes considered the new Margaret Thatcher.
Also Read: Is she Indian or black, says Trump on Harris; repulsive, insulting, responds White House
At the rally, giant screens displayed a 2016 Business Insider headline referring to Harris as the first Indian-American US senator.
In Maine that evening, Harriss husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, criticised Trumps remarks, calling them a worse version of an already horrible person.
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Emhoff added, He should never be near the White House again.
He condemned Trumps behavior, stating, The insults, the BS its horrible, its terrible, it shows a lack of character.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also weighed in on Trumps remarks. As Trump spoke, Jean-Pierre addressed journalists, initially intending to be super careful but then responding more directly. Wait. No, no, no, she said, referring to Trumps comments.
As a person of colour, as a Black woman who is in this position, what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive. Its insulting.
Jean-Pierre said that Harris was the only one qualified to define her own identity, adding, And I think its insulting for anybody it doesnt matter if its a former leader, a former president it is insulting.
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With inputs from agencies
Bangladesh on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other associate bodies, terming the party as a militant and terrorist" organisation as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violent protests that left more than 200 people dead and thousands injured read more
Activists clash with the police as they stage a song march to remember victims of the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday. AP
Bangladesh on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other associate bodies, terming the party as a militant and terrorist" organisation as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violent protests that left more than 200 people dead and thousands injured.
Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political partners blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other associate bodies for inciting violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
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In an official circular seen by The Associated Press, Bangladeshs Ministry of Home Affairs said Thursday the ban was imposed under an anti-terrorism law.
Since July 15, at least 211 people have died and more than 10,000 people were arrested across the country.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami was banned from taking part in the three national elections since 2014 after the Election Commission cancelled its registration.
In 2013, the High Court disqualified the party from elections, saying that its constitution violated the national constitution by opposing secularism. However, it was not barred from conducting political activities such as holding meetings, rallies and making statements.
Ten years later, the Supreme Court in 2023 upheld the High Court decision, sealing off the long legal battle and barring the party from participating in elections or using party symbols. But again, the Supreme Court did not ban it outright.
Jamaat-e Islami was founded during British colonial rule in 1941 by a controversial Islamist scholar and campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Most of the senior leaders of the party have been hanged or jailed since 2013 after courts convicted them of crimes against humanity including killings, abductions and rapes in 1971. The party had formed militia groups to help the Pakistani military during the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971. Bangladesh won independence on Dec. 16 in 1971 with the help of neighboring India.
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Bangladesh says 3 million people died, 200,000 women were raped and nearly 1 million people fled to neighboring India during the war.
The party was banned after Bangladeshs independence in 1971 for its role in the mass killings and atrocities under the administration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshs founding leader and Hasinas father. The ban was lifted in 1976, a year after Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup. Only Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived as they were touring Germany in 1975.
Jamaat had also been banned earlier twice, in 1959 and 1964 in Pakistan, for its communal role.
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There was no immediate response on Thursday from the party, but the partys chief Shafiqur Rahman said in a statement on Tuesday night that such any decision must be condemned after Law Minister Anisul Huq, from Hasinas Awami League party, said that a decision was imminent.
We strongly condemn and protest the illegal, unauthorized, and unconstitutional decision to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The 14-party alliance led by the Awami League is a political platform. One political party or alliance cannot make decisions about another political party, Rahman said.
The laws and constitution of Bangladesh do not grant such authority. If a trend of banning one party by another party or alliance begins, it will lead to chaos and the collapse of state order, he said.
Venezuela has plunged into political crisis since authorities announced Maduro the victor of Sundays election. The opposition has cried foul, claiming it had evidence its candidate had won by a comfortable margin. read more
Police hurdle a gas canister at protesters demonstrating against the official election results declaring President Nicolas Maduro's reelection, the day after the vote in Caracas Venezuela, Monday, July 29, 2024. File Photo- AP
Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday thanked Brazil for assuming custody of his countrys embassy in Venezuela after staff were ordered to leave when Buenos Aires questioned the reelection of Nicolas Maduro.
Argentina was among seven Latin American countries whose diplomatic staff were asked to leave Venezuela after their governments signed a joint statement asking for a complete review of Sundays election results.
Six Venezuelan opposition figures are currently under protection at the Argentine embassy.
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I am extremely grateful for Brazils willingness to take over the custody of the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela, Milei wrote on the X social network.
We are also grateful for the temporary representation of the interests of the Argentine Republic and its citizens there. Today the Argentine diplomatic staff had to leave Venezuela as a reprisal by dictator Maduro for our condemnation of the fraud they perpetrated last Sunday.
He did not mention the fate of the asylum seekers.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino on Wednesday called for countries to collaborate with diplomatic efforts and the protection of asylum seekers, during an emergency meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington.
While hailing diplomatic ties with Brazil, Milei said he had no doubt that we will soon reopen our Embassy in a free and democratic Venezuela.
Several nations, including Brazil and the United States, as well as the European Union, have demanded Venezuelan authorities release detailed voting data, with the White House warning Wednesday that the international communitys patience was running out.
by David Introcaso
Arguably the greatest global health policy failure has been the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) refusal to promulgate any regulations to first mitigate and then eliminate the healthcare industrys significant carbon footprint.
With US healthcare spending projected to equal $4.9 trillion this year, HHS is effectively responsible for regulating more than half of the $9 trillion global healthcare market. Because of its size as well as infamous fragmentation and waste, US healthcares estimated 553 million metric tons of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions account for approximately 25% of global healthcare GHGs. If it was its own state, US healthcare would easily rank within the top 10% of the highest GHG polluting countries.
The health harms associated with GHG emissions and an equal amount of air pollution constitute an immense public health crisis and pose the greatest threat to patient safety. These harms are innumerable and unrelenting and impact everyone, everywhere, always. Presently, they are largely defined as toxic air pollution resulting from fossil fuel combustion, climate-charged extreme weather events and vector borne diseases.
Per the World Health Organization (WHO), 99% of the worlds population is exposed to PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, 2.5 microns in diameter or less, substantially the result of fossil fuel combustion. As the worlds leading environmental health risk, the effect is over eight million global deaths annually. Children are disproportionally victimized because they breathe more air per kilogram of body weight, breathe more polluted air being closer to the ground and have undeveloped lungs, brains and immune systems. For seniors, a recent study published in British Medical Journal concluded that no safe threshold exists for the chronic effect of PM2.5 on their overall cardiovascular health.
Per the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for the five year period ending in 2022 the average cost of billion-dollar climate-charged disaster events, that include drought, flooding, extreme heat, hurricanes, tornados and wildfires, equaled $119 billion, triple the average annual cost since 1980.
Concerning vector borne diseases, a study published in Nature Climate Change in 2022 concluded that 58%, or 217 of 375 infectious diseases, are aggravated by more than one thousand climate hazards or pathways.
Those who pay the greatest climate penalty in the US are Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and minoritized populations more generally despite the fact that these populations on balance contribute the least to anthropocentric warming. Per a study published last year in PLOS Climate , in 2019 the highest earning 10% of US households were responsible for 40% of total GHG emissions while the bottom 70% of households were responsible for 30%. The study also found increasing GHG emission inequality across economic and racial lines. The US, with just 4% of the worlds population, is accountable for the greatest percent of excess global GHG emissions, or those in excess of the planetary boundary of 350 ppm atmospheric CO2 concentration, at 40%.
US healthcares current social cost of GHG emissions (SC-GHG), defined as an estimate of societal costs or benefits resulting from externalized or unpaid GHG emissions and calculated as the per metric ton dollar value of just three healthcare GHGs: CO2; methane (CH4); and, nitrous oxide (N2O), is estimated as high as $3 trillion annually. It is worth noting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not calculate a SC-GHG for anesthetic gases that comparatively have far greater global warming potential (GWP). For example, the anesthetic gas desfluranes GWP is 2,540 times greater than CO2.
Over the past three presidential administrations or since 2009, HHS has neither promulgated any regulatory rules to curb healthcares GHG emissions nor any to improve climate-related healthcare delivery. For example, HHS can at any time publish a rule requiring hospitals to publicly report their GHG emissions an easy lift since well over half of hospitals use the EPAs Energy Star program that performs this calculation. Last year, only 37 or substantially less than 1% of hospitals were Energy Star certified for energy efficiency.
Concerning care delivery, climate breakdown does not factor in patient risk adjustment, quality measurement or value-based payments and because the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), used by physicians to classify and code diagnoses, ignores climate breakdown, cause of death is never climate-related. To its credit the Obama administration did spend three years drafting a 400-page encyclopedic study titled, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: A Scientific Assessment, published in April 2016.
Shortly before President Trump was sworn in, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) canceled its first ever climate and public health summit scheduled for February 2017. Under a Trump administration that worked diligently to weaken environmental protections, HHS continued to ignore healthcares carbon addiction.
One week after the Biden administration took office in 2021, the White House issued an executive order (EO) to tackle the climate crisis that directed HHS to create an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE). When the OCCHE was launched that August, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra pledged to use everything, every tool at our disposal to address the climate crisis. Largely because Secretary Becerra has repeatedly failed to argue for OCCHE funding in Congressional budget hearing testimony or ever deliver a speech discussing significant health co-benefits associated with mitigating GHG emissions, the OCCHE remains unfunded and measurably ineffective.
Rather than tackling the problem by exercising its regulatory authority, HHS abandoned its responsibility to enhance our health and wellbeing by defaulting to industry self-regulation and building climate resilience.
One month after the office was stood up, OCCHE partnered with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to create an action collaborative to decarbonize healthcare. Industry funded and dominated, the collaborative, working behind closed doors, has generated no reports, no policy recommendations and consequently no expectations.
In 2022 HHS Secretary Becerra announced a voluntary climate pledge program. Essentially a grift, pledge details are irrelevant because pledgees are not required to use any accepted sustainability accounting practices, moreover the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. HHS also announced in 2022 an Environmental Justice Index (EJI) that assigns an environmental score by US census tract. Though likely well intended, since EJI scores will inevitably be exploited by financial institutions including insurance carriers, the index will in practice constitute climate redlining literally institutionalizing climate apartheid.
The stated purpose of HHSs 2021 Climate Action Plan is to enhance resilience and adaptation to climate change. As a cause not a solution, resilience wrongly assumes climate disaster is endemic, a fait accompli. Outside of our control climate breakdown is therefore acceptable. Think: TINA. Because resilience licenses a climate disaster-ridden world, there is no climate crisis. Resilience as policy rationalizes the CDCs Building Resilience Against Climate Events (BRACE) program that funds state health officials to prepare for climate disasters as well as the OCCHEs Climate and Health Outlook program that simply forecasts what climate disasters will harm us this month. The June report identified flooding, hurricanes, tick borne diseases, tornadoes and wildfires. Resilience in effect is a form of subjectification, a policy that negates human agency.
This past December HHS published a supplemental climate report, authored by Assistant Secretary Admiral Rachel Levine, recently elected to the NAM for her contributions to pediatric medicine. The report doubled down on the policy noting resilience over 70 times. As for exercising its regulatory authority, HHS again scrupulously avoided responsibility by vaguely stating the department planned to explore incentivizing . . . emissions reduction.
Last September the White House issued a fact sheet that identified new actions to reduce GHG emissions. Among others, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was directed to work with federal agencies to calculate the SC-GHG of federal programs that presumably includes Medicare and Medicaid. This past March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its highly-anticipated final climate disclosure rule that requires publicly-traded companies to disclose their GHG emissions and related financial risk exposure that for the highly financially leveraged healthcare industry is considerable. To date, HHS has not discussed much less publicly acknowledged either effort.
In May HHS proposed addressing the single biggest health threat facing humanity by allowing a small number of hospitals selected to participate in a five-year Medicare payment demonstration do what they can do at any time, i.e., voluntarily disclose their GHG emissions.
We are suffering greatest climate disruption in human history. Since 2000 atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and methane (CH4), a far more potent GHG, have significantly increased. Because GHG emissions and temperature increase are highly correlated, the past 12 consecutive months have not surprisingly been the warmest on record. The earth itself is becoming a sacrifice zone and we are becoming less consumers of healthcare and more consumed by it. Nevertheless, HHS, responsible for regulating the largest industry in the worlds largest economy, an industry that remains uncommitted to eliminating its GHG emissions, should be leading the way in decarbonizing the US. Instead, HHS continues to waste precious time.
***
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While the verbal spat between Maduro and Musk has been going on for a while, the later has been accused of chickening out of the fight he has proposed in the past read more
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduros challenge to fight after the two had a long and public war of words. The billionaire took to X, formally known as Twitter, to accept the challenge by Maduro. The acceptance came a day after Maduro laid out the challenge on Venezuelan national television.
Social media creates a virtual reality, and who controls the virtual reality? Our new archenemy, the famous Elon Musk," he began his speech. Do you want to fight? Lets do it. Elon Musk, Im ready. Im not afraid of you Elon Musk. Lets fight, wherever you want," he said.
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Who had a Maduro vs Elon Fight on their 2024 Bingo Card? https://t.co/QsfDxd6Un4 Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 31, 2024
The SpaceX CEO reacted to the news by simply writing I accept. In a separate, post, Musk was seen reacting to a video shared by a user who claimed that the Venezuelan president is directing security forces to Keep Musk out at all costs. Replying to the tweet Musk wrote: Im coming for you, Maduro! I will carry you to Gitmo on a donkey.
Im coming for you Maduro!
I will carry you to Gitmo on a donkey https://t.co/RB5qltxsYI Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024
While the verbal spat between the two has been going on for a while, Musk has been accused of chickening out of the fight he has proposed in the past.
Musk vs Zuck: The fight that never happened
In the past, Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had floated the idea of a fight last year, however, the showdown never came to fruition. It was Musk who initially challenged the Meta CEO in June 2023, as the social media giant was preparing to release Threads, its X rival.
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Im up for a cage match if he is, Musk wrote in a social media post at that time. Zuckerberg who trained in jiu-jitsu during the pandemic, was ready to take on the fight. However, after repeatedly going back and forth online, the two never met for a fight.
Last month, the Tesla CEO renewed the speculations yet again during his visit to Capitol Hill, where he was a guest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the divisive Israeli premiers address to Congress. Ill fight Zuckerberg any place, any time, any rules, Musk said in response to a question from a reporter.
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However, the Facebook founder looked unamused by the comments. Are we really doing this again, Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads.
The tussle between Maduro and Musk
Musk has been an ardent critic of the Venezuelan politician but the challenge to fight came after the latter was declared the winner of the countrys presidential election on Sunday. Maduro apparently secured more than 50 per cent of the vote in the polls that were marred by anti-government protests. However, the opposition leaders have claimed that the results were not accurate.
Major election fraud by Maduro," Musk wrote on X, publishing an image showing the percentages obtained by each of the candidates in an attempt to demonstrate clear fraud on the part of the Venezuelan government.
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Maduro, leave! Venezuelans chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. The data announce a crushing victory of the opposition, and the world is waiting for you to recognize the defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death, he wrote in another post citing a news piece quoting Argentine President Javier Milei who was alluding to electoral fraud as well. Hence, it will be interesting to see whether this fight will happen or not.
With inputs from agencies.
US President Joe Biden said, Today, three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia are finally coming home," Biden said in a statement read more
Feat of diplomacy: Biden celebrates prisoner swap that freed Evan Gershovich & Paul Whelan
US President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated the return of WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich, a veteran US marine Paul Whelan, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, another Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post Opinions contributor.
Today, three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were unjustly imprisoned in Russia are finally coming home, Biden said in a statement.
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Feat of diplomacy
The US President called the deal a feat of diplomacy and vowed that he will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.
On Thursday, 26 different people held in seven different countries - the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus - were freed.
A report by Reuters cited Turkish official saying that the prisoner deal, the largest swap in post-Soviet history between Russia and the US, took place in the Turkish capital Ankara.
According to Turkish officials, 10 prisoners, including two minors, were moved to Russia, 13 to Germany, and three to the US.
In a written statement ahead of his address in the White House, Biden said: The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy.
Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza are coming home. pic.twitter.com/wWGA83Ss8A President Biden (@POTUS) August 1, 2024
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Agony is over
Bident further said, Weve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russiaincluding five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over.
I am grateful to our Allies who stood with us throughout tough, complex negotiations to achieve this outcome including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey. This is a powerful example of why its vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer, the US President said.
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Will not stop working until
And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family. My Administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office. Still, too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones, and I have no higher priority as President than bringing those Americans home, he said.
Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong, Biden said.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will call on Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu when he visits the country next week for what will be the first high-level bilateral visit by the Indian side to the important Indian Ocean neighbour, according to a report read more
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will call on Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu when he visits the country next week for what will be the first high-level bilateral visit by the Indian side to the important Indian Ocean neighbour.
According to a Times of India report, as part of his visit, Jaishankar will also hold talks with his counterpart Moosa Zameer on the ongoing efforts to carry forward the development cooperation.
This will be the first ministerial visit from New Delhi to Male since the new Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzus government took charge in November of last year.
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According to a Wion report, Jaishankar is expected to be in the country from August 9 onwards for two to three days.
Zameer was in India before the Indian elections for the first bilateral visit by the Maldives and his visit was followed by Muizzus own first visit to India as president for Prime Minister Narendra Modis inauguration in June.
Jaishankars visit is significant as Delhi-Male relations gain momentum after an initial period of strain in ties.
After assuming office, President Muizzu continued the anti-India rhetoric from his campaign, which centered on the India Out movement and the removal of Indian troops from the Maldives. He also broke with tradition by visiting China instead of making his first official visit to India.
In December 2023, the Maldives announced it would not renew its Hydrographic Survey agreement with India.
Tensions between New Delhi and Male escalated when three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in response to his photos from a visit to Lakshadweep.
The ministers were later suspended. Their comments, however, sparked an uproar among Indians on social media. Many people declared that they were boycotting Maldives as a holiday destination, with some even claiming to have cancelled their scheduled trips to the archipelago nation.
However, a reconciliatory shift in Maldives-India relations is apparent following previous tensions.
In June, Muizzu attended Prime Minister Narendra Modis third consecutive inauguration, signaling improved diplomatic ties.
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The Maldives, in recent months, has found itself grappling with an economic crisis of alarming proportions and the situation has prompted significant discussion about the future direction of the countrys foreign policy, particularly in relation to India.
Seen as a pro-China leader, President Mohamed Muizzus administration has been facing immense economic challenges, as a result of which he seems to have changed his tactics in the past few months. In an interview to a local media outlet in March, he called India Maldives closest ally.
In an official Independence Day function in the Maldives last month, Muizzu made a special mention of India and thanked New Delhi for supporting the island nation in easing its debt repayment after India rolled over a $50 million loan to the island nation. He also revealed ongoing talks for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the UK and expressed hopes for a similar deal with India.
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He said, to address local US dollar shortages, the Maldives government is negotiating currency swap agreements with Beijing and also New Delhi.
With inputs from agencies
The targeted killings of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Beirut have heightened tensions in West Asia. According to analysts, these attacks may trigger retaliatory actions from Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, increasing the prospect of a broader regional conflict. read more
Israels alleged killing of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Fuad Shukr, the top military commander of Iran-backed Hezbollah, has heightened the risk of escalation in the Gaza conflict and a broader regional confrontation involving Israel, Iran, and its allies.
According to regional officials and analysts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears determined to expand the conflicts scope, targeting Hamas leaders and Iranian proxies beyond Gaza. This move is seen as a significant strike against Iran and its allies, with the timing and location chosen to humiliate Tehran during its presidential inauguration ceremony attended by Haniyeh and other regional figures.
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However, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel is not seeking to escalate war, but is preparing to handle all scenarios. The performance (last) night in Beirut was focused, high quality and contained, Gallant said, according to a statement from his office. We dont want war, but we are preparing for all possibilities, and that means you must be prepared as needed, and we will do our job at all the levels above you, he said.
Israels counter-terrorism approach involves targeting leaders of terror groups, experts said, adding that there is widespread agreement among Israelis that those responsible for a recent massacre should be brought to justice.
But, the development carries significant risks considering the gravity of the matter including potentially derailing ongoing talks with Hamas to secure a ceasefire and release hostages, as well as jeopardising diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon, they added.
Its part of Israels long-term counter-terrorism paradigm that you go after the leaders of terror organizations, Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank focused on political reform and critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by the Bloomberg as saying. Theres a broad consensus among Israelis that all those who perpetrated the Oct. 7 massacre should cease to exist.
Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, calling it Irans duty. He warned Israel that it had brought harsh punishment upon itself.
The incident poses a significant challenge for Irans new president, Masoud Pezeshkian as the country has been pursuing a strategy of indirect involvement through support for terrorist groups in various regions while avoiding direct conflict.
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A former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Alai, has accused the US of collaborating with Israel in the assassination, though he provided no evidence.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday and the order for Tehran to strike Israel directly read more
Irans envoy to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani told the United Nations Security Council that a decisive response from Iran over the death of Hamas top political leader Ismail Haniyeh, will be seen as the Middle Eastern nations right to self-defence. The proclamation from the Iranian envoy came amid reports that the countrys Supreme Leader has issued an order for direct retaliation against Israel.
According to The New York Times, the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given the order for Tehran to strike Israel directly. As per the report, the orders were given at an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning.
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Reacting to the report, the Iranian envoy made it clear that any sort of retaliation would be considered as the right to self-defence. The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right to self-defence in accordance with international law to respond decisively to these terrorist and criminal acts when it deems necessary and appropriate, Iravani averred, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Iran urges UNSC to sanction Israel
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, the Iranian envoy called the UNSC to issue sanctions against the Jewish nation. Haniyehs assassination in Tehran was an aggressive act of terrorism and a grave breach of Iranian sovereignty, he told the international body.
The meeting was called by two of the councils 15 members, China and Algeria. Chinas Ambassador Fu Cong condemned the killing of the Hamas chief. This act was a blatant attempt to sabotage peace efforts and wrongfully trampled on the fundamental UN Charter principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states," Fu averred.
China is deeply worried about an exacerbation of the upheaval in the region that this incident may trigger the Gaza conflict has been going on for nearly 300 days. The Middle East situation is hanging by a threat much to the concern of the international community," he added.
A delegation from Russia also condemned the attack, noting that it would derail ceasefire talks. Those who were behind this political assassination must have known how dangerous the consequences would have been for the entire region, the Russian envoy asserted.
These attempts to drag Iran into a regional confrontation destabilize an atmosphere in the region that is already at a boiling point, he said, explaining that assassinations were bringing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war.
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Iran gears up for retaliation
In a statement on Khameneis official website, the Iranian Supreme leader noted that revenge was our duty and that Israel had prepared a harsh punishment for itself by killing a dear guest in our home.
In response to such assertions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will exact a very heavy price from any aggression against us on any front" but did not mention the killing. There are challenging days ahead, he added.
The tensions between the two nations reached an all-time high after Israel struck an Iranian embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated the attack by unleashing a barrage of strikes on the Israeli territory. After strikes from both sides, international efforts managed to succeed in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
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With inputs from agencies.
A senior Iranian official said that after the meeting in Tehran, Iran and the members of Hamas, Houthi, Hezbollah will conduct a thorough assessment to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against Israel read more
Top Iranian officials will meet the representatives of Irans regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday to discuss potential retaliation against Israel after the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran, five sources told Reuters.
The region faces a risk of widened conflict between Israel, Iran and its proxies after Ismail Haniyehs assassination in Tehran on Wednesday and the killing of Hezbollahs senior commander on Tuesday in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
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Representatives of Irans Palestinian allies Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as Yemens Tehran-backed Houthi movement, Lebanons Hezbollah and Iraqi resistance groups will attend the meeting in Tehran, said the sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the meeting in Tehran to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against the Zionist regime (Israel), said a senior Iranian official, with direct knowledge of the meeting.
Another Iranian official said Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior members of Irans elite Revolutionary Guards will attend.
How Iran and the resistance front will respond is currently being reviewed This will certainly happen and the Zionist regime (Israel) will undoubtedly regret it, General Mohammad Baqeri, Irans armed forces chief of staff, told state TV on Thursday.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Irans new president in Tehran on Wednesday.
But Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility for the attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled further concern that the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza was turning into an all-out war in the Middle East.
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Israeli air force chief Tomer Bar, speaking at a military graduation ceremony in Israel late on Wednesday, warned Israel will act against anyone planning to harm its citizens.
We are also strongly prepared in defence. Hundreds of aerial defence soldiers, along with air control personnel, are stationed across the country with the best systems, ready to carry out their mission, said Bar.
Haniyeh and the leader of the Islamic Jihad, Ziad al-Nakhala, as well as senior representatives of Yemens Tehran-backed Houthi movement and Lebanons Hezbollah, attended the inauguration ceremony for Irans new president in Tehran on Tuesday.
Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassim and lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah were in Iran for the inauguration and have remained there for the funeral and meeting, sources familiar with Hezbollahs thinking said.
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Major repercussions
Hamas armed wing has said in a statement Haniyehs killing would take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions. Vowing to retaliate, Iran said the US bore responsibility because of its support for Israel.
Iran asked key commanders of the Iraqi resistance groups to travel to Tehran on Wednesday to attend an urgent meeting to discuss retaliation against recent Israeli strikes, including in Lebanon and Iran and the US strike in Iraq, said an Iraqi militia local commander.
Another militia source said the resistance group commanders left to attend Haniyehs funeral and also to attend a top urgent meeting to decide the following steps to retaliate against Israel and the United States.
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Iranians turned out to mourn Haniyeh on Thursday, a day after he was assassinated.
All fronts of the resistance will take revenge for Haniyehs blood, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, told Irans semi-official Mehr news agency.
The Iran-backed Axis of Resistance includes Hamas - the Palestinian group that ignited the war in Gaza by attacking Israel on Oct. 7- Lebanons Hezbollah, Yemens Houthis and various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.
On April 13, Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in what it said was retaliation for Israels suspected deadly strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, but almost all were shot down.
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Irans response to the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh will be stronger than before, former senior Revolutionary Guards Commander Esmail Kosari told state TV.
Is she Indian or is she black? Trump asked, garnering gasps from the audience at a convention hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago read more
As the race for the White House intensifies, former US President Donald Trump unleashed lethal attacks against his 2024 US presidential rival Kamala Harris. In one instance, the Republican presidential nominee, questioned Harris racial identity while he was sitting in front of a black journalists.
Is she Indian or is she black? Trump said which garnered gasps from the audience at a convention hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. Ive known her a long time, indirectly not directly and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage, he furthered.
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I didnt know she was black, until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black, so I dont know, is she Indian or is she black? he asked.
President Trump: I dont think Ive ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner are you with ABC because I think theyre a fake news network, a terrible network. I think its disgraceful that I came here in good spirit, I love the black population of this country. pic.twitter.com/OrNsHWVITi Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 31, 2024
Harris campaign responds
Meanwhile, an aide to the vice president described Trumps appearance at the Chicago event as an absolute disaster. It is pertinent to note that the 59-year-old presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. Both her parents immigrated to the United States.
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Another source close to her campaign went on to brand the comments as completely unhinged, insulting and repulsive, Sky News reported. The US White House also came to Kamalas defence and condemned the jabs. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, called Trumps remarks repulsive and insulting during a Wednesday White House briefing.
I think its insulting for anybody. It doesnt matter if its a former leader, a former president, it is insulting, she said. She is the vice president of the United States. Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name. Period," she added. Harris describes herself as African American and South Asian Indian American.
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Ever since she announced her candidature for the presidency she has been facing racist and sexist attacks from her opponents. Last month, some of the members from the GOP came out in Harris support warning fellow party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against the vice president.
At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, National Republican Congressional Committee, last week, chairman Richard Hudson urged lawmakers to stick to criticizing Harris for her role in Biden-Harris administration policies. This election will be about policies and not personalities, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the meeting.
This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris, he added, and her ethnicity or her gender has nothing to do with this whatsoever.
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With inputs from agencies.
British-American author and journalist Charles Glass was at the residence of Islamabad-based senior journalist Zahid Hussain when a large police contingent came visiting him around noon on Wednesday and asked him to leave by 5 pm, according to a report, citing sources read more
A British-American author and journalist Charles Glass, who had been trying to secure a meeting with incarcerated former PM Imran Khan, was on Wednesday told by law enforcement agencies in Pakistan that his visa had been cancelled and he had five hours to leave the country.
According to a Dawn report, citing sources, Glass was at the residence of Islamabad-based senior journalist Zahid Hussain when a large police contingent came visiting him around noon on Wednesday and asked him to leave by 5 pm.
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A team led by an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) initially said they wanted to meet the foreign journalist and they then informed Glass that his visa had been cancelled, and after arguing for nearly an hour, the ASP reportedly told the journalist he had to leave the country by 5 pm, added the report.
Mr Glass wondered how he would secure a flight and said his luggage is still at (his lodgings). The ASP offered to accompany him to the hotel to collect his luggage and informed him that there was a flight to Abu Dhabi available at 4 pm, which he should take to leave the country. The ASP said he had a clear order to deport the journalist, Dawn quoted sources as saying.
Sources said that Glass was initially taken to his lodgings to collect his luggage, and then deported to the Middle East.
Former aide of ex-PM Imran Khan Shahzad Akbar also mentioned on social media about the news.
There are reports of the deportation of British journalist Charles Glass who was visiting Pakistan to see @ImranKhanPTI at Adiala prison, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
There are reports of deportation of British journalist Charles Glass who was visiting Pakistan to see @ImranKhanPTI in Adiala prison.@JaneMarriottUK could you confirm deportation of a British citizen by Pakistani authorities? @FCDOGovUK @BBCBreaking Mirza Shahzad Akbar (@ShazadAkbar) July 31, 2024
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Sources said that Glass had been trying to secure an interview with the incarcerated PTI founder and it was possible that his tourist visa was cancelled because of this.
Glass, 73, is an author, journalist, broadcaster, and publisher who specialises in the Middle East and World War II. He has served prominent media organisations such as Newsweek, ABC TV, and The Telegraph, among others, and currently works as a freelance journalist.
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With inputs from agencies
In the statement, the Indian consulate in Lebanon asked nationals to avoid any sort of non-essential travel to Lebanon read more
Amid the brewing tensions in the Middle East, the Indian embassy in Lebanon issued a travel advisory urging Indian nationals to limit their movements. The advisory came days after the Israel Defence Force (IDF) confirmed that they conducted strikes against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The statement from the Indian consulate also came a day after Hamas political head Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran, raising concerns over wider conflict in the Middle East. In the statement, the Indian consulate asked nationals to avoid any sort of non-essential travel to Lebanon.
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Advisory for Indian Nationals. pic.twitter.com/baGPhNpKip India in Lebanon (@IndiaInLebanon) July 31, 2024
In view of the recent escalations in the region, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Lebanon, the Embassy said in a statement. All Indian nationals in Lebanon are advised to exercise caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their email id: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, the statement further reads.
Australia and Canada issue similar warning
Amid the chaos, Foreign Minister Penny Wong issued a video message urging people in Lebanon to get out as soon as possible. My message to Australian citizens and residents in Lebanon is: now is the time to leave. If you are in Australia and thinking of travelling to Lebanon do not, the foreign minister said.
My message to Australian citizens and residents in Lebanon is now is the time to leave. pic.twitter.com/74DNfh1UNz Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 31, 2024
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Some commercial flights are still operating. If you can leave, you should. The Australian government is expecting the Beirut airport to shut down if the ongoing tensions persist.
Meanwhile, Charlotte MacLeod, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, also stressed Canadians should leave the country now, while airports are still open.
Global Affairs Canada continues to advise Canadians to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to the deteriorating security situation, the continued risk of terrorist attacks, and the ongoing armed conflict with Israel, she said in an email to Canadians registered in Lebanon, Global News reported.
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Canadians in Lebanon should leave now by commercial means if they can do so safely. They should also ensure their travel documents, and those of their spouse and children, are up to date and secure," she furthered.
In the Lebanon attack, Israel claimed that it had killed 0one of Hezbollahs top commanders. Many news outlets claimed that the Israeli authorities killed Fuad Shukr in the strikes.
As per the Sudanese military, the drone attack took place on Wednesday, following a graduation ceremony in the base which was attended by Gen. Abdel read more
Sudans army said that the African nations de-facto leader Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, survived an assassination attempt after two drones struck an army base in the countrys east. As per the Sudanese military, the drone attack took place on Wednesday, following a graduation ceremony in the base which was attended by Gen. Abdel, BBC News reported.
The army stated that at least five people were killed and several others were injured in the attack which rocked the town of Gebeit. The Sudanese army spokesman, Nabil Abdallah, told the BBC that General al-Burhan had survived an assassination attempt and blamed the attack on the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that has been battling the army for power for the past 15 months.
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In a post on X, formally known as Twitter, the Sudanese military shared a video purportedly showing him attending a burial ceremony of those who were killed in the attack, in Port Sudan. However, the army did not mention whether the Sundanese general was injured in the attack or not.
--#___# pic.twitter.com/HiJhVLBlKV - (@TSC_SUDAN) July 31, 2024
No group claims responsibility
As of now, no group has claimed responsibility for the strikes, however, the countrys paramilitary is yet to deny that they were behind the attack. The war between, General al-Burhan and his rival, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, who led the Rapid Support Forces, has left the country in complete shambles.
The tussle between the two has led to the deaths of 18,000 people. Not only this, according to the latest report by the United Nations, at least 10 million people have been driven from their homes due to the increasing violence and the countrys 48 million people are facing hunger.
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In the past, both the army and the paramilitary group have both used drones in the war. Some of these drones have reportedly been supplied by the groups foreign allies such as Iran or the United Arab Emirates. The paramilitary group has been ramping up its attacks against the army as they dominate the capital, Khartoum.
The RSF has also clashed with the army in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and in the southeastern state of Sennar.
The two groups were allies in the past who jointly cracked down on Sudans pro-democracy forces after a popular revolt forced out the countrys longtime dictator, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. However, the leaders of the two groups had a fall out over who should hold supreme power in the country and how swiftly their forces should merge into a single army.
The war in Sudan and restrictions on aid deliveries have caused famine in at least one site in North Darfur, and have likely led to famine conditions in other parts of the conflict region. read more
Sudan is experiencing unprecedented levels of hunger and violence, with the nations conflict on the verge of becoming the worlds largest hunger crisis due to prolong civil war. File Photo-AFP
A global authority on food security warned on Thursday that Sudans North Darfur region is experiencing widespread famine, which is expected to persist until October due to the countrys ongoing conflict that has ravaged the nation for over 15 months.
The finding, linked to an internationally recognised standard known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), is just the third time a famine determination has been made since the system was set up 20 years ago.
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The situation in Sudan is dire, with the 15-month war between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resulting in the worlds largest internal displacement crisis, leaving 25 million people - half of the population - in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, and causing devastating consequences from starvation and disease.
Sudans war erupted in mid-April last year from a power struggle between Sudans army and the RSF ahead of an internationally backed political transition towards civilian rule.
The conflict has pushed people into starvation and created the worlds largest displacement crisis with more than 10 million people forced to flee their homes since April 2023, according to the U.N. migration agency. Over two million of whom fled to neighboring countries.
The factions had shared power uneasily after staging a coup in 2021 that derailed a previous transition following the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir two years earlier.
Since the war began, aid workers say international relief has been blocked by the army and looted by the RSF. Both sides deny impeding aid.
Even where markets have supplies, many Sudanese cannot buy food because of soaring prices and a lack of cash.
In February, the military-backed government prohibited aid deliveries from Chad to Darfur through the Adre border crossing, one of the shortest routes to the hunger-stricken region. Government officials have claimed that the crossing is used by the RSF to move weapons.
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With inputs from agencies.
South Korea offering help to North Korea comes as relations between the two countries, which remain technically at war, have been particularly strained amid a hardline stance towards the North by Yoons government read more
A view of a flooded area near the country's border with China, which has been hit by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea, July 28, 2024 in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Source: KCNA via REUTERS.
South Korea is ready to provide North Korea with relief supplies for damage caused by recent heavy rainfall, South Koreas Red Cross said on Thursday, marking a rare outreach under the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol to its neighbour.
Authorities in the South were ready to discuss the relief supplies needed, the scale of aid and how to transfer it and looked forward to a swift response from Pyongyang, the Red Cross said.
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The statement was issued by the Souths Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs. The Red Cross has taken the lead in carrying out projects between the rival Koreas in the past, including reunions of separated families and supply of aid.
Heavy rains have hit the Norths northwestern areas in recent days, flooding more than 4,000 homes in the regions of Sinuiju and Uiju, North Korean state media have reported.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally inspected the flooded areas and expressed grave concern over the damage, state media said on Monday.
The region has been affected by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi in recent days, which caused a landslide killing 12 people in southern China and flash floods elsewhere.
There is a possibility of significant human casualties in North Korea, a Unification Ministry official said on Thursday. South Koreas TV Chosun reported more than 1,100 people and as many as 1,500 people are dead or missing, citing an unnamed government official.
On Thursday, the Norths state media said there was work under way in the capital to prevent the flooding of the Taedong River that flows through Pyongyang.
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The offer of help comes as relations between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war, have been particularly strained amid a hardline stance towards the North by Yoons government.
Since late May, the two sides have been locked in tensions over North Koreas launch of balloons carrying trash to the South and Seoul responding with propaganda broadcasts at the border, which anger the North.
It was not clear if Pyongyang would respond at all to the offer or agree to hold discussions. North Korea has cut off all lines of official communication with the South.
Clear assessment of damage and casualties from disasters in the North is difficult, as there are no outside humanitarian monitors present in the reclusive state.
More rain was forecast for Sinuiju on Thursday and early Friday, according to South Koreas weather agency.
India has a rich history of religious pluralism, with vibrant Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and Jain communities, the resolution said, adding that 80 per cent of Indian immigrants in the US practice Hinduism read more
The resolution recognises and celebrates the countless contributions of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha and its volunteers over the last 50 years in the United States. File Photo- FP
A bipartisan resolution has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to commemorate the shared values of democracy, religious diversity, human rights, and the rule of law between the United States and India.
Led by Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, the resolution has garnered support from 36 lawmakers across both Democratic and Republican parties. The resolution acknowledges the robust and mutually beneficial people-to-people connections between India and the US, highlighting the achievements of the Indian diaspora in the US, which numbers over 4 million.
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Notably, 80% of Indian Americans hold college degrees, exemplifying their success in various aspects of American life. The resolution also recognizes Indias long history of religious coexistence, with thriving Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and Jain communities, and notes that 80% of Indian immigrants in the US identify as Hindu, contributing to the estimated 1% of the US population that practices Hinduism.
Noting that the partnership between India and the United States stands as one of the most important democratic partnerships in the world, the resolution says that this partnership is based on shared principles of democracy, religious pluralism, human rights, freedom, and the rule of law.
The resolution applauds BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) for its role in the US. Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921-2016), established the first BAPS Hindu mandir in the United States of America on August 4, 1974, in New York City.
Over the last 50 years, BAPS has grown to over 100 mandirs across the United States, it said adding that these mandirs offer a welcoming and spiritual space for thousands of families, as well as worship, fellowship, communal meals, education, and activities for young and old, creating a true home for the faithful.
The resolution recognises and celebrates the countless contributions of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha and its volunteers over the last 50 years in the United States.
On July 19, WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted unusually swiftly on espionage charges that he denies. He was handed 16 years in jail. read more
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, right, was convicted of espionage on July 19 and handed 16 years in jail. File Photo-Reuters
Russia has agreed to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The two men, who were imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges are currently traveling to locations outside of Russia. As part of the agreement, the US and its allies will release prisoners they hold back to Russia, Bloomberg sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information.
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West views detainees as political prisoners
In the West, dissidents are seen by governments and activists as wrongfully detained political prisoners. All have, for different reasons, been designated by Moscow as dangerous extremists.
On July 19, Gershkovich was convicted unusually swiftly on espionage charges that he denies. He was handed 16 years in jail.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was also convicted in a secret trial the same day and sentenced to 6-1/2 years, accused of spreading false information about the Russian army. She denies wrongdoing.
Other U.S. nationals behind bars in Russia include former schoolteacher Marc Fogel, convicted for possessing marijuana, which he said he used for medical reasons.
In Belarus, meanwhile, President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, on Tuesday pardoned Rico Krieger, a German sentenced to death on terrorism charges, again with unusual haste and state media coverage.
Among those Moscow has signalled it wants is Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving life in Germany for murdering an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident in a Berlin park.
A Slovenian court on Wednesday sentenced two Russians to time served for espionage and using fake identities, and said they would be deported, the state news agency STA reported, a move a Slovenian TV channel said was part of the wider exchange.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he had decided to pause the Georgian aid, which would directly benefit the government, as the result of a review of assistance that he ordered in May after the law passed read more
The Biden administration on Wednesday suspended $95 million in U.S. assistance to Georgia after its parliament adopted legislation related to foreign agents that critics say was inspired by a Russian law used to crack down on political dissent and that sparked weeks of mass protests.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he had decided to pause the Georgian aid, which would directly benefit the government, as the result of a review of assistance that he ordered in May after the law passed. He said he took the action in response to anti-democratic actions the government has taken.
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The U.S. has also already imposed visa bans on a number of Georgian politicians and law enforcement officials for suppressing free speech, particularly voices in favor of Georgias integration with the West.
The Georgian governments anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO, Blinken said in a statement released as he was flying from Singapore to Mongolia at the end of a six-nation tour of Asia.
Despite the suspension, Blinken said the U.S. would continue to fund programs in Georgia that promote democracy, the rule of law, independent media and economic development.
We will remain committed to the Georgian people and their Euro-Atlantic aspirations, he said, noting that the U.S. has provided more than $6.2 billion in assistance to Georgia over the past three decades since it won independence from the Soviet Union.
The Georgian parliament passed the legislation in May, overriding a veto by the president. The law requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Critics say that it closely resembles legislation the Kremlin used to silence opponents and that it will obstruct Georgias bid to join the EU.
Our opinion and point of view on the Iran regime is quite clear and we will not just stand with our allies and partners when it comes to defending threats from Iran but also taking appropriate action from the United States, said US State Departments Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel read more
The US on Thursday said that its opinion on the Iran regime is quite clear and it will not just stand with its allies and partners when it comes to defending threats from Iran but also take appropriate action from Washington.
US State Departments Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel made these remarks during a press briefing when he was asked whether Iran had the right to defend itself as a sovereign nation.
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#WATCH | On being asked whether Iran has the right to defend itself as a sovereign nation, US State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel says, "Iran is a regime that has time and again since 1979, been the largest and greatest exporter of terrorism not just in pic.twitter.com/AqVMEJUfag ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2024
Iran is a regime that has time and again since 1979, been the largest and greatest exporter of terrorism not just in the middle east but broadly. It has a track record of not just suppressing its own people but also funding, promoting, encouraging, and malign destabilising action across the region, said Patel.
He said US has a clear stand on Iran regime and US will stand with its allies and partners against threats from Tehran.
Our opinion and point of view on the Iran regime is quite clear and we will not just stand with our allies and partners when it comes to defending threats from Iran but also taking appropriate action from the United States, said the US spokesperson.
Tensions in the Middle East have heightened following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
According to a New York Times report, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike against Israel in retaliation for Haniyehs death. This order came after an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Haniyehs death was announced.
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Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel of the assassination, though Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for the inauguration of Irans new president when he was killed.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has delivered crushing blows to its adversaries in recent days, but did not confirm responsibility for Haniyehs killing, reported CNN
Three weeks ago, we attacked the military chief of Hamas, Mohammad Deif. Two weeks ago we attacked the Houthis, in one of the farthest attacks the Air Force has carried out. Yesterday we attacked the military chief of Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, CNN quoted Israeli PM as saying.
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With inputs from agencies
motorola just launched the edge 50, the companys latest smartphone in the edge series, as it had promised. It comes with MIL-810H standard, so it can withstand extremely high or low temperature, pressure, shock, vibration, pressure, dust and salt fog, according to motorola. The phone also comes with IP68 ratings for dust and water resistance.
The phone has a 6.67-inch curved pOLED display with up to 1600 nits peak brightness. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition 4nm SoC, vapour chamber cooling system, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage. It will run Android 14, and motorola promises 2 years of Android updates and 3 years of security updates.
The phone has a 50MP rear camera with Sony LYT-700C sensor, 13MP 120 ultra-wide camera with macro option and a 10MP telephoto camera for up to 30x digital zoom. It has a 32MP front camera.
The edge 50 packs a 5000mAh battery with 68W wired fast charging and the phone also supports 15W wireless charging.
motorola edge 50 specifications
6.67-inch (2712 x 1220 pixels) 1.5K 10-bit pOLED Endless Edge Display, HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, up to 1900 nits peak brightness
Up to 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (4nm) Accelerated Edition with Adreno 644 GPU
8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 256GB (UFS 2.2) storage
Android 14
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
50MP rear camera with Sony LYT-700C sensor with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, 13MP ultra-wide camera, macro option, f/2.2 aperture, 10MP 3x Telephoto
camera with f/2.0 aperture
camera with f/2.0 aperture 32MP front camera with f/2.45 aperture
USB Type-C Audio, Stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos
Dimensions: 160.8 x 72.4 x 7.79mm; Weight: 180g
In-display fingerprint sensor
MIL 810H Grade certification, Dust and Splash resistant (IP68)
5G SA/NSA (n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n66/n77/n78), Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, USB Type-C, NFC
5000mAh battery with 68W Turbo charging, 15W Wireless Charging
Pricing and availability
The motorola edge 50 comes in Jungle Green and Pantone Peach Fuzz with vegan leather finish, and the Koala Grey has a vegan suede finish.
It is priced at Rs. 27,999 for the single 8GB + 256GB model and will be available from motorola.in, Flipkart and offline stores starting from August 8th.
Launch offers
Rs. 2000 instant discount with Axis Bank and IDFC First Bank credit cards and credit card EMI or Rs. 2000 additional discount on exchange
No Cost EMI upto 9 Months starting at Rs. 2,889/ per month from leading banks
Total Benefits worth Rs.10,000 from Reliance Jio.
Commenting on the launch, T.M. Narasimhan, Managing Director, Motorola India said:
The motorola edge 50 addresses a significant need of smartphone consumers by being the perfect fusion of the bold durability focused design and a premium, ultra-sleek design. Being the worlds slimmest device with IP68 underwater protection and MIL-810H military grade certification for durability from the U.S Department of Defense, the phone does not compromise on any aspect by offering a stand-out camera, display and advanced moto AI experiences. Were confident that the motorola edge 50 will deliver a revolutionary smartphone experience to our customers.
We, the "RWANDA BRIDGE BUILDERS" (RBB), the authors of this petition, fully support the press release issued by Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza's international lawyers, reacting to recent public comments made about the Rwandan opposition leader by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
1. Today 25 July 2024, We, lawyers acting for Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, note with alarm comments made by the President of the Republic of Rwanda about our client during campaigning ahead of the elections that were held on 15 July 2024.
2. The Presidents comments are defamatory, recklessly inflammatory, and dangerous.
3. On 6 July 2024, the President spoke at a rally in Bugesera District. He spoke about the development of Rwanda and asserted that No one will come and destroy what we have built. He then stated that, There are a few among us who have agreed to be used by these people [ie. political opponents]. They present them as extraordinary people. These people are not going to achieve anything until they die.
4. On 9 July 2024, the President participated in a question-and-answer session with social media content creators in Mulindi village, Gicumbi District. During that session, he described Madame Ingabire as a small woman of a genocidaire. The President mocked Madame Ingabire for believing that she is a political opponent who wants to be the President of Rwanda.
5. On 13 July 2024, the President conducted a press conference. At the conclusion of that press conference, he referenced activities that he alleged Madame Ingabire was involved in, including spending [her] time shouting, fight[ing] with the evil insider her, work[ing] with people involved in the war in Eastern Congo, and wish[ing] or talk[ing] evil about Rwanda before stating, You know she will not end up well. The President added, They [people such as Madame Ingabire and Charles Onana] cannot be allowed to reach a level where their action can have negative consequences on the country or on Rwandans. When it comes to that level, we find an appropriate solutionWhen they tell lies, refute what they say. But if they cross the line the consequences are clear.
6. These comments were made in the context of, and are wholly consistent with, the Rwandan governments long history of stifling any meaningful political opposition. Human Rights Watch has recently reported that Commentators, journalists, opposition activists, and others speaking out on current affairs and criticizing public policies in Rwanda continued to face abusive prosecutions, enforced disappearances, and have at times died under unexplained circumstances. [] As Rwanda approaches its 2024 its general elections, space for political opposition remains closed. [] There are over a dozen political opposition members in prison.
7. Freedom House has recently assessed Rwanda as being Not Free and atributed a score of 8/40 to Rwanda for the ability of its citizens to exercise political rights, reporting that the current regime has also suppressed political dissent through pervasive surveillance, intimidation, arbitrary detention, torture, and renditions or suspected assassinations of exiled dissidents.
8. The International Federation for Human Rights recently found that, The government shows little hesitation in exterminating, literally and symbolically, dissident voices that endeavour to emerge and organise to express discontent, fears and demands.
Harassment, arbitrary arrests, illegal surveillance, attempted abductions and enforced disappearances are among the techniques favoured by the RPF to silence any opposition. What remains of civil society and political opposition is strangled by repression. []
Democratic space has become inexistent in Rwanda and only hollow political groups remain.
9. There are numerous well-documented and credible reports of colleagues and members of Madame Ingabires political party having been unlawfully targeted, arbitrarily arrested, tortured, disappeared or murdered over the years, including Illuminee Iragena in March 2016, Jean Damascene Habarugira in May 2017, Boniface Twagirimana in October 2018, Anselme Mutuyimana in March 2019, Eugene Ndereyimana in July 2019, Syldio Dusabumuremyi in September 2019, Theophile Ntirutwa in May 2020, and Venant Abayisenga in June 2020.
10. None of these instances of unlawful targeting, arbitrary arrest, torture, disappearance or murder have been investigated adequately or at all by the Rwandan authorities. No person has ever been held accountable for these serious crimes. The activities of the Human Rights Watch, Rwanda, Events of 2023, 2024
Rwandan State have fostered an environment of absolute impunity for human rights
abuses committed against political opponents.
11. It was false, knowingly defamatory and recklessly inflammatory of the President to describe Madame Ingabire as a small woman of a genocidaire. It was undemocratic of the President to seek to stifle Madame Ingabires right to voice her legitimate political dissent.
12. Given the well-established context of total intolerance of those who dare to criticise the current regime in Rwanda, it was dangerous of the President to state that, if she does not stop, we find an appropriate solution, and that the consequences are clear. The Presidents statement that, You know she will not end up well amounts to a threat to her life and security.
13. Such dangerous comments have the effect of emboldening prominent elements of the Rwandan community to make serious threats of violence against Madame Ingabire. For example, in a YouTube video posted on 16 July 2024 with nearly 34,000 views, a social media influencer named Apotre Mutabazi stated that Madame Ingabire should count herself lucky that I am not among those who take decisions on what to do with her. I would suggest that she deserves a bullet in the head. Past practice demonstrates that any harm that may befall Madame Ingabire would be met with impunity.
14. The Rwandan government will be held accountable if Madame Ingabire comes to any harm.
15. We call on the President (i) to acknowledge that Madame Ingabire has the right to continue with her political activities, (ii) to publicly discourage and deplore any attempts to threaten Madame Ingabires life and physical integrity, and (iii) to guarantee her future security.
Iain Edwards , 1MCB Chambers, London, telephone contact +31 633 502 207
Emily Osiemo, Lumumba & Ayieko Advocates, Nairobi
Elisha Ongoya, Ongoya & Wambola Advocates, Nairobi
Kate Gibson, Doughty Street Chambers, London
Philippe Larochelle, Larochelle Avocats, Montreal
______________________________
1 Perezida Kagame yasobanuye impamvu yagiye gutura mu Bugesera, 6 July 2024
2 President Kagame Interactive Session with Content Creators in Gicumbi District | Mulindi, 9 July 24
from 1:04:25
3 Press Conference with RPF Chairman and Presidential Candidate, H.E. Paul Kagame | 13 July 2024
from 1:19:23[1] 4 Human Rights Watch, Rwanda, Events of 2023, 2024
5 Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2024, 2024
6 International Federation for Human Rights, RWANDA: Democratic space held hostage by the
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), July 2022, No. 797a, pages 4 and 23
7 Amnesty International, Rwanda: Come clean about fate of missing activist Illuminee Iragena, 26
March 2017
8 Amnesty International, Rwanda: Decades of aYacks repression and killings set the scene for next
months election, 7 July 2017
9 Human Rights Watch, One Month Since Rwandan Opposition Leader Disappeared; 8 November 2018; Amnesty International, Rwanda: Opposition politician found dead, 18 March 2019
10 Amnesty International, Rwanda: Opposition politician found dead, 18 March 2019; CNN, Aide to leading Rwandan opposition politician found dead, 11 March 2019
11 Human Rights Watch, Rwanda: Disappearances Require Credible Investigations: Month Later,
Journalist and Opposition Member Still Missing, 15 August 2019
12 Amnesty International, Rwanda: Ensure justice for opposition politician stabbed to death, 24 September 2019
13 Human Rights Watch, Rwanda: Crackdown on Opposition, Media Intensifies Space for Dissent Closes, 19 October 2021
14 Imvugo za Ingabire Victoire kuri Perezida Kagame zirandya Mutabazi ariye karungu ninshake mfungwe, 16 July 2024, from 0:04:08
Offshore wind farms are playing a vital role in the energy transition, with at least 30 gigawatts (GW) worth of offshore wind energy set to be installed in German waters by 2030. Transporting the electricity generated by offshore wind farms from the North Sea and Baltic Sea to the land requires undersea cables that establish a connection to the onshore grid. Numerous countries including Germany have strict requirements for installing undersea cables, and operators have to factor these in during the planning stage. As an example, a post-burial survey (PBS) must be conducted to provide evidence that the actual position of a cable once it has been laid matches up with what had been planned. The aims of this kind of action include protecting existing infrastructures and preventing damage being caused by future construction activities. As offshore wind farms and other offshore infrastructure projects become more widespread, it is not unusual for cables to cross over one another and this is only set to become more common in the future. Additionally, bottom currents and the resulting movements in sediment can lead to the positions of cables installed a few meters under the seabed changing over time. For this reason, cables need to be mapped before new infrastructures can be installed or repair work can be carried out. Acoustic or magnetic methods have been the tools of choice in this until now, but they are costly and demonstrate reliability issues.
This means that existing systems cannot have their cables surveyed over extensive areas or need the electricity to be switched off while cables are being surveyed. In the joint SASACD project, abbreviated for Seismo-Acoustic Synthetic Aperture Cable Detection, Fraunhofer IWES is working with the University of Bremen and TenneT Offshore GmbH to develop a novel, reliable, extensive, and cost-effective measuring system. The seismo-acoustic imaging method locates offshore cables with precision in the top layers of seabed sediment, allowing maintenance work to be planned more effectively and making offshore wind farms more reliable and economical to run. Fraunhofer IWES in Bremen is coordinating the project and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
Monitoring system with state-of-the-art positioning ensures localization with decimeter accuracy
What makes this new cable surveying method special is that it can identify cables whith a diameter of 25 centimeters or more with an accuracy of just a few decimeters. This is useful not only when laying new undersea cables which cannot be installed directly next to existing ones due to the heat that is generated but also when it comes to protecting old cables and repairing faulty connections.
Searching for cables underwater is extremely difficult. Without the right tools, you may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack, says Dr. Jude Castelino, a geophysicist who is a researcher and project manager at Fraunhofer IWES. This is where our seismo-acoustic measuring system comes in, as it allows us to home in on the approximate point in the subsurface where we believe the cable to be. The measuring platform is able to investigate and scan large areas of the seabed and makes it possible to penetrate the sediment to a sufficient depth. To achieve this, the researchers are using tools including innovative methods of diffraction imaging and synthetic aperture, which have already proven themselves at Fraunhofer IWES in detecting boulders in marine sediments and are now being expanded as part of the SASACD project. The measuring system includes a towed system complete with an ROTV (remotely operated towed vehicle) that is equipped with special seismic sensors (hydrophones) and positioning systems. The equipment is towed by a surface vessel and can be located around ten meters or less above the seabed. During data acquisition, the hydrophones capture sound waves that are emitted by a signal source on the sea surface and reflected or scattered by the subsoil. This makes it possible to not only map out sediment layers but also locate cables, which may be installed at a depth of up to ten meters in the sediment. With this unique method of diffraction imaging, the acoustic energy scattered by the cables can be traced back to its point of origin. The data evaluation that then takes place is performed using specially developed software that displays high-resolution images of the cable positions in real time.
Theres no need to switch off the cable being surveyed during the process. Keeping electricity transmission uninterrupted during the survey reduces the cost of running wind farms. Until now, cables had to be switched off for periods extending up to several days, depending on the project, says Dr. Castelino. The method also allows the electricity that is generated to carry on being fed into the wider grid, in turn making it easier to plan the feed-in process. The next stage will involve test runs with a prototype, which can be used from even relatively small survey vessels.
Robots are playing an increasingly important role in industrial manufacturing in particular. In line with this trend, physical interactions between humans and robots have become a key technology helping to make production processes more efficient.
When developing human-machine interactions, worker safety is paramount. This is where the EUs FITNESS (Flexible IntelligenT NEarfield Sensing Skins) project comes in. The project aims to optimize communication and interaction between humans and machines through intelligent antenna solutions in the form of innovative electromagnetic metamaterial surfaces with integrated electronics. The flexible, stretchable metasurface antenna, which are suitable for emitting surface waves, are expected to scan their near-field surroundings much more effectively than conventional antennas, thereby improving both human safety and the robots own performance. Six other partners from industry and the research sector are working on the project with Fraunhofer FHR: the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), eV-Technologies, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Universite catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, and L-up. The project is being coordinated by UCLouvain, in Belgium, and is being funded by the European Union under GA No. 101098996.
Intelligent antenna skin with sensory and communicative functions
The metasurface antennas are flat antennas integrated into film-like substrates that adapt to the robots contours. Thanks to their flat structure, these antennas can bend and stretch, wrapping around the robot like a skin. Alternatively, and depending on the application, they can also be positioned only on the robot arm, for example. That is how they came to be called smart skins. What makes our future antenna solution special is that it can scan the near-field environment and detect movement while also being proficient at radio-based communication with the base station on the shop floor, says Andrej Konforta, 3D-Print HF Systems group manager at Fraunhofer FHR. No other solution like it exists on the market so far.
Small geometries, high degree of freedom
The researchers goal is for the novel, innovative antenna solution to enable beamforming, a process used to control the radiation properties of an antenna electronically. The result is that the adjustable electromagnetic beam always faces toward the base station, guaranteeing a stronger, more stable signal and increasing the robots range. So far, beamforming has been typically supported by what are known as phased arrays. In a phased array, many antennas are connected as a group. The phase of each individual antenna element is variable, which makes it possible to affect the direction the array is facing, Konforta explains. The technology has previously been used mainly in military contexts. In conventional antenna arrays, the antenna elements and their electronics are packed close together. This produces high costs, a lot of waste heat, and high susceptibility to errors. Metasurface antennas, on the other hand, could be designed with significantly streamlined electronics without losing the properties of the conventional configuration. The new concept can help to cut costs and realize smaller, more compact structures. With the metamaterial surfaces, were pursuing a new design concept that allows for very small geometries with a high degree of freedom in the design of the fields emitted but also for the best possible extraction of gesture signals, Konforta says.
Developing new antenna substrates
Antennas are typically integrated into rigid microwave substrates. There are also materials that can stretch, thus offering a high degree of flexibility. However, losses are too high with these flexible substrates: They do not perform optimally in the high-frequency range, as the measurement technology developed by the Fraunhofer FHR researchers showed. This means the conventional substrates available on the market are not an optimum fit for transmission of high-frequency signals. Based on Fraunhofer FHRs findings, TUHH is developing new substrates as part of the FITNESS project. The Institute of Applied Polymer Physics (IAPP) is using a polymer mix and polymers with integrated ceramic particles to synthesize stretchable materials that are potentially suitable for high frequencies. These materials will then be tested by Fraunhofer FHR as the project moves forward. An existing measurement setup is also being optimized based on initial results and expanded for other frequency bands while the software for the final setup is being developed as well. At the same time, the project partners are investigating how deformations in the stretchable surfaces affect their properties in the near and far fields. Long-term plans call for self-calibrating metasurface antennas that autonomously recognize their curvature and shape to ensure optimum signal reception and prevent communication issues.
A whole host of applications
In addition to robotics in production settings, the project partners also believe medical engineering and robotics are potential fields of application. Metasurface antennas in smart skin form could help devices such as assistance robots recognize gestures more accurately and interact more with humans. There are also potential uses for this technology in personal protective equipment for firefighting and in space suits.
Issue Date: 1st August 2024
Second phase of the Proof of Concept for Body Worn Cameras is launched in Henry Street Garda Station Limerick
Over 100 Gardai trained in the use of BWCs in Henry Street Garda Station, Limerick
An Garda Siochana has today commenced the second phase of its Proof of Concept for Body Worn Cameras as well as the supporting Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS).
The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris was joined at Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick City this morning August 1st, 2024 by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee T.D to launch the second phase of a proof of concept for body worn cameras.
Over 100 Gardai are fully trained for the second phase of the Proof of Concept in Limerick involving the use of body worn cameras in Henry Street Garda Station.
Reveal Body Worn Cameras, differ to those being used in the proof of concept stations in Dublin, in that they have a screen on the face of them which shows what is being captured when recording is activated.
These Reveal cameras have a 120-degree field of vision; have touch screen capabilities; and have 16 hours of battery life which provides the capability to record up to 12 hours of footage.
At todays launch, Commissioner Drew Harris said, "From today Gardai in Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick will begin using Body Worn Cameras, with a further station in Waterford city to come on stream next month.
"The ability of An Garda Siochana to securely acquire and process digital evidence is a key feature of modern policing. And the use of Body Worn Cameras, supported by the underlying legislation, technology and training acts as an important evidentiary tool.
"We know that other jurisdictions have experienced significant benefits in respect of member safety and public safety since the introduction of Body Worn Cameras. And, we are already seeing their effectiveness in the three proof of concept stations in Dublin North Central and Dublin South Central where they have been in use for the past eight weeks now. Personnel have noted situations which might ordinarily escalate, have actually de-escalated due to the presence of a Garda with a body worn camera.
"Throughout this proof of concept phase we will be learning all the time from the experience of those using these cameras on the ground. The feedback we receive will then give us the ability to refine our systems and processes to ensure we are making the best use of this piece of equipment, he said.
Background:
As recommended in the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report, "Modern policing organisations around the world have found that body cameras can help to improve front line capability with the accurate recording of incidents, expedite analysis, enhance situational awareness, and sometimes protect police from harm.
The Garda Siochana (Recording Devices) Act 2023 was signed into law in December 2023.
The Garda Siochana (Recording Devices) Act 2023 (Code of Practice) Order 2024 was signed by the Minister for Justice in May 2024. An Garda Siochana is working to introduce Body Worn Cameras for members in accordance with this Code of Practice.
An Garda Siochana is undertaking three phased introductions as part of its proof of concepts stage. Each phase involves the use of a range of Body Worn Cameras by frontline Gardai in specific locations nationwide. The three Proof of Concept phases will test the technical aspects of each camera, how they will be used operationally in addition to the training, Code of Practice and governance of their use.
Phase one of these three phased introductions commenced in Dublin on the 31st of May 2024. There are nearly 400 Garda members trained in the use of BWCs in the Dublin Proof of Concept stations. 200 BWCs are available for use at Pearse Street, Kevin Street and Store Street Garda Stations.
An Garda Siochana continues to engage with stakeholders and the communities it serves as it develops its Codes of Practice and in advance of the full deployment of Body Worn Cameras.
The pilot roll-out of Body Worn Cameras will continue with a further proof of concept phase in Waterford in early September.
When complete, the three-phased pilot will inform the introduction of body worn cameras in Garda Stations nationwide.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
Colorado voters in November will decide whether to prohibit hunting of lions, bobcats and lynx in the state.
The Secretary of States Office said proponents of the Cats Arent Trophies (CATs) measure have submitted enough signatures for the measure to qualify for the ballot.
It said those behind the proposed Initiative #91 submitted 187,147 petition signatures. The offices Elections Division reviewed a 5% random sample of the submitted signatures and projected the number of valid signatures to be greater than 110% of the total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot.
The ballot language prohibits what it calls trophy hunting of the three species, which it defines as intentionally killing, wounding, pursuing or entrapping them, or discharging or releasing any deadly weapon at them.
It makes exceptions in some circumstances, such as to defend human life and livestock.
Lynx already are protected from hunting under state and federal law. They are federally protected as a threatened species in the Lower 48 states. But backers of the ballot initiative say the state measure would keep protections for them in the future if other protections are lifted. They say lynx also are at risk of incidental trapping by hunters trying to kill bobcats.
Initiative backers say hunters, many of whom hire professional guides using packs of dogs, shoot between 500 to 600 mountain lions in Colorado during a four-month season. Last year, of the 501 lions killed for trophies and recreation, nearly half were female and not one was reportedly in conflict with humans, CATs said Wednesday in a news release. It says the hunts leave orphaned kittens.
The group says trophy hunters and commercial trappers kill about 1,000 to 2,000 bobcats in the state a year.
Colorado voters will have an opportunity to halt the inhumane and needless killing of mountain lions and bobcats for their heads and beautiful fur coats, Samantha Miller, Cats Arent Trophies campaign manager, said in the release.
The group says California hasnt allowed trophy hunting of lions for more than a half century and that state kills on average fewer than 10 a year due to social conflicts.
Brett Ochs, a deer and elk hunter, said in the release that lions shouldnt be shot for sport.
Using dogs to chase a mountain lion to exhaustion and then shooting the cornered animal as it cowers in a tree is a serious violation of fair chase principles. Trapping is likewise a dirty and underhanded method that involves bludgeoning the bobcat to death and selling its fur to foreign markets, which is a violation of fair chase and anti-commerce principles under the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, he said.
In June the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project, an alliance of 20 hunting, angling and wildlife conservation organizations, issued a statement opposing the ballot initiative.
Patt Dorsey with the National Wild Turkey Federation said in an accompanying news release, This ballot measure is not only unnecessary, it flies in the face of Colorados laws that utilize managed hunter harvest as a primary method of achieving sustainable wildlife populations. It will undeniably have serious unintended consequences.
The alliance said that according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the estimated statewide population size of mountain lions (not including kittens) is 3,800-4,400 and has grown in Colorado since lions were classified as big game in 1965.
It says data suggests the lion population is strong, and that bobcats are widespread across state, with Parks and Wildlife metrics suggesting bobcat numbers are stable and may be increasing in some areas.
Moldovan Intelligence Agents Raid Parliament In Spying Probe
By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service July 31, 2024
Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) agents and anti-corruption prosecutors on July 31 raided the premises of the country's parliament in Chisinau, RFE/RL has learned. "Procedural actions led by prosecutors from the Office for Combating Crime and Special Cases are under way at the moment," Daniela Manzat, a spokeswoman for SIS, told RFE/RL, adding, "We will get back to you with more details during the day." SIS sources told RFE/RL the search is linked to an espionage case targeting the parliament's legal department chief, Ion Creanga, who had allegedly been caught passing information to employees of the Russian Embassy to Moldova.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/espionage-parliament-chisinau- moldova/33057640.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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G7 foreign ministers' statement on Venezuela
Global Affairs Canada
Statement
July 31, 2024 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
"We, the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, express our solidarity with the people of Venezuela, who peacefully exercised their right to vote in large numbers on July 28 to shape the future of their country.
"Independent domestic and international observers' reports have raised serious concerns about the announced results of Venezuela's presidential elections and about the way the electoral process was conducted, especially regarding the irregularities and lack of transparency in the final tabulation of the votes. It is of paramount importance that the result reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.
"We call on relevant representatives to publish the detailed electoral results in full transparency, and we ask electoral representatives to immediately share all information with the opposition and independent observers.
"As the process unfolds, we call for maximum restraint in the country and for a peaceful, democratic and Venezuelan-led solution."
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July 31, 2024
Transcript
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III On-Camera, On-the-Record Remarks to Traveling Press in Subic Bay, Philippines
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Well, again, thanks for joining us everybody. It's been a great trip. It's great to be here at Subic Bay. And we had the opportunity while here to visit the Philippine the headquarters of the Philippine Naval Fleet. This is a really transformative time for our relationship, our alliance here. We've seen us announce a number of key initiatives. Yesterday, you heard us talk about the $500 million FMF (Foreign Military Financing) opportunity here that we're going to provide to the Philippines, and we're excited about that. That's going to help them modernize their military a bit further.
Today, we saw some of our industrial base companies out here working together to create additional capability, and that's also very, very exciting. So again, we've come a long way in three and a half years and our relationship with the Philippines, I think, it's been fascinating to be a part of this and we look to do a lot more going forward. And with that, I'll take your questions.
STAFF: Great. Liz, can you start us off?
Q: Secretary Austin, thank you so much for doing this and being here today. Can you confirm Israel is behind the strike that killed the senior Hamas leader in Tehran? And did you get any warning that this was going to happen?
MR. AUSTIN: I don't have anything for you on that. And we'll we certainly have heard the reporting, but I don't have any additional information for that.
STAFF: Ellie.
Q: Attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria have begun again. Do you see that connected to the rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel? And what risk is there to those troops if things escalate further?
MR. AUSTIN: Do I see the attack the recent attacks connected to well, I think it's all connected, but I think, quite frankly, I don't see a return to where we were several months ago, not yet. And certainly, we'll keep our eye on this. The safety and protection of our troops is really, really important to me. That's why, you know, you saw us take some measures to protect ourselves here most recently as we took out some UAVs, which are about to be launched. We have the right to do that, and we will continue to do that in order to protect our troops.
STAFF: Patrick.
Q: Thanks. Yesterday in Manila, you were asked about Israel and its part of military operations in the Middle East. You said we would like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion. Does the most recent events over the last 24 hours suggest to you that Israel is adhering to that? And what are you doing to de-escalate the situation now?
MR. AUSTIN: Yeah, you know, I said I don't think war is inevitable. I maintain that. I think there's always a room and opportunities for diplomacy, and I'd like to see the parties pursue those opportunities. And certainly, what we've seen along the border, over the border with Israel over time, that's you know, that's been a concern of ours. Again, we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we keep things from turning into a broader conflict throughout the region. So I remain in touch with Mr. Gallant, my counterpart, as well as with the key leaders throughout the region.
Q: Have you been in touch with them today?
MR. AUSTIN: I've not talked to them today. You've been with me all day, so I've not had the opportunity to talk to them today. But as you know, I talk to him every week, and so I look forward to talking to him again soon.
STAFF: Noah .
Q: How would you describe Russia's advances in Ukraine right now? Would you still call their progress incremental with the loss of two villages that occurred over the last 24 hours or so?
MR. AUSTIN: Yeah. So if you keep the big picture in mind, these are incremental gains. And what I see from the Ukrainians is an effort to continue to bolster their defenses. I think they've been pretty effective. We remain concerned about any advance on the part of Russia. But I applaud what the Ukrainians continue to do to make sure that they can hold their own.
I think you'll continue to see some give and take back and forth between the Russians and Ukrainians. It's been that way from the very beginning, but the Ukrainians are a very determined people. They've demonstrated that, you know, from the very, very start of this conflict and I expect that again they will get a bit stronger as time goes along. We'll continue to provide security assistance in the way that you've seen us do here recently, that tempo would will increase. So and we're also seeing the Ukrainians doing more things to recruit more people to fill their ranks. So I remain encouraged by that.
STAFF: Anton.
Q: You said the war in wider war in the Middle East is not inevitable. Nevertheless, it is becoming more the risk is becoming more acute. If it does break out, what assistance would the United States bring to Israel, if there was a wider war? And how much does that would detract from the work you're trying to do in the Indo-Pacific?
MR. AUSTIN: Yeah, so what you heard me say yesterday is that, if Israel is attacked, we certainly will help. And Israel, you see, you saw us do that in April. You can expect to see us do that again. But we don't want to see any of that happen. We're going to work hard to make sure that, you know, we're doing things to help take temperature down and address issues through diplomatic means.
STAFF: Great. And Ryo, last question.
Q: On the [inaudible] constitution of US and Japan [inaudible]Japan, they're concerned that the change might result in Japan falling under US command. So how would you address these concerns and why will it be commanded by [inaudible]?
MR. AUSTIN: Well, we're at the very beginning of this evolution, and we'll work with our Japanese counterparts to see to evolve things as things that we go forward. The three-star command that we're standing up is focused on the command and control of US forces. And the three-star command in the JJOC will be focused on Japanese forces. Now, the fact that we're working together is will give us a lot greater agility and a lot more capability, quite frankly.
So we continue to see Japan increased its spending on defense, seen them invest in some key capabilities. And I think I think all of that is very, very encouraging. I look forward to continuing to work with my counterparts to move this along.
STAFF: Thank you, everyone
Q: Secretary Austin, have you spoken to your Israeli counterpart
Q: In the last two days
Q: Israeli media is reporting that he requested a call.
MR. AUSTIN: I've not spoken to Minister Gallant either today or yesterday, but we request calls from each other on a routine basis, so and that's again, I talk to him every week.
STAFF: Thank you, everyone.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3856619/
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July 31, 2024
Release
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Concludes Eleventh Visit to the Indo-Pacific
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Ms. Sabrina Singh provided the following release:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III concluded his eleventh official visit to the Indo-Pacific region today after a historic series of engagements with counterparts and other senior officials in Japan and the Philippines.
During his trip, Secretary Austin met in Tokyo with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru, and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko for the 2024 U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee or "2+2" meeting. Following the 2+2 meeting, the four officials announced historic steps to modernize Alliance roles, missions, and capabilities; expand defense industry cooperation; and enhance alignment with allies and partners. The four ministers also convened a historic ministerial meeting on Extended Deterrence.
While in Tokyo, Secretary Austin, Minister Kihara, and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik held the first Trilateral Ministerial Meeting (TMM) to ever take place in either Japan or the ROK, where they signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework to further institutionalize their three countries' security partnership.
In addition to holding bilateral meetings with Minister Kihara and Minister Shin, Secretary Austin also joined Secretary Blinken for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, where the three officials highlighted the unprecedented momentum by the United States and Japan following Prime Minister Kishida's April 2024 State Visit.
After arriving in Manila, Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to underscore the historic strength of the U.S.-Philippines Alliance, reaffirm ironclad U.S. support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights, and discuss ways to continue working more closely with like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken then joined their Philippine counterparts, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, for the fourth U.S.-Philippines 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue - the first to ever take place in Manila. Together, the four officials discussed opportunities to strengthen regional peace, stability, and prosperity in the face of shared challenges. In a separate bilateral meeting with Secretary Teodoro, Secretary Austin welcomed the historic announcements from the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on Foreign Military Financing for the Philippines and the conclusion of a Security Sector Assistance Roadmap.
During his final day in the Philippines, Secretary Austin visited Subic Bay, where he visited a Philippine Navy facility and toured several defense industrial sites to underscore the area's historic opportunities for defense industrial cooperation by the United States, the Philippines, and other regional allies and partners.
Secretary Austin's eleventh trip to the Indo-Pacific came as the Department of Defense continues to achieve historic results with U.S. allies like Japan and the Philippines toward a shared regional vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
On August 6, Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken will host their Australian counterparts Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Penny Wong in Annapolis, Maryland, for the 2024 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), marking the conclusion of a historic ten-day series of engagements by Secretary Austin with Indo-Pacific allied counterparts.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3856333/
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July 31, 2024
By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News
Austin Concludes Indo-Pacific Trip With Subic Bay Visit
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III today concluded a multiday visit to the Indo-Pacific region with a final trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines.
During the visit, Austin toured a Philippine Navy facility and several defense industrial sites as a way to highlight opportunities there for defense industrial cooperation by the United States, the Philippines, and other regional allies and partners.
"This is a really transformative time for our relationship, our alliance here," Austin told reporters. "You've seen us announce a number of key initiatives. Yesterday you heard us talk about the $500 million in [foreign military financing] opportunity here that we're going to provide to the Philippines. We're excited about that, and that's going to help them modernize their military a bit further. [And] today we saw some of our industrial base companies out here working together to create additional capability, and that's also very, very exciting."
During a U.S.-Philippines 2+2 ministerial dialogue on Tuesday, Austin and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with their counterparts in Manila to discuss opportunities to strengthen regional peace, stability and prosperity.
As part of those discussions, the U.S. committed to $500 million in foreign military financing to help with modernization of the U.S.-Philippines alliance and, among other things, enhance the capabilities of the Philippine military and coast guard.
Also, part of Austin's visit to Indo-Pacom was a similar 2+2 dialogue in Tokyo, with Japanese counterparts, where the U.S. announced it would transition U.S. Forces Japan, or USFJ, to a joint force headquarters. The new joint force headquarters will be commanded by a three-star officer and will serve as a counterpart to Japan's own Japan Self-Defense Forces Joint Operations Command.
"We're at the very beginning of this evolution and we'll work with our Japanese counterparts to see how to evolve things as we go forward," Austin said. "The three-star command that we're standing up is focused on the command and control of U.S. forces. And the three-star command in the JJOC [JSDF Joint Operations Command] will be focused on Japanese forces. The fact that we're working together will give us a lot greater agility and get a lot more capability, quite frankly."
The conversion of USFJ to a joint force headquarters will provide greater control over planning combined missions with Japanese forces. With the conversion, it is expected the headquarters will retain its name, USFJ, and will also retain its three-star leadership.
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Former Green Beret and Venezuelan National Charged with Violating Export and Firearms Laws
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Jordan Guy MacDonald Goudreau, 48, of Melbourne, Florida, and Yacsy Alexandra Alvarez, 43, of Tampa, Florida, were arrested yesterday pursuant to a now-unsealed indictment charging them with conspiracy to violate export laws, smuggling goods from the United States, violating the Arms Export Control Act, and violating the Export Control Reform Act. The indictment also charges Goudreau with violating the National Firearms Act and unlawful possession of machineguns.
According to court documents, beginning in November 2019, Goudreau, Alvarez and others conspired to export AR-type firearms, night vision devices, laser sights and other equipment from the United States to Colombia, without obtaining the required export licenses. These unlicensed exports were undertaken to carry out activities in Venezuela. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Goudreau, Alvarez and their co-conspirators procured firearms and military-related equipment through Goudreau's Melbourne-based company, Silvercorp, and exported those items to Colombia, where some of the items were seized by the Colombia National Police. The indictment further alleges that Goudreau unlawfully possessed machineguns and unregistered silencers.
If convicted, Goudreau and Alvarez face the following maximum penalties: five years in prison for conspiracy, 10 years in prison for smuggling, 20 years in prison for violations of export control laws, and 10 years in prison for each violation of the National Firearms Act and unlawful possession of a machinegun. The indictment also notifies Goudreau and Alvarez that the United States intends to forfeit firearms and other military equipment, which are alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense.
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Risha Asokan and Daniel J. Marcet for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Menno Goedman and Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Indictment
Topic: Export Control
Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
National Security Division (NSD)
USAO - Florida, Middle
Press Release Number: 24-951
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U.S. bombers complete latest European Bomber Task Force deployment
Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft completed a first-ever deployment to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, by returning to their home-station at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, July 27, 2024.
By U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa , United States European Command RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany Jul 31, 2024
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft completed a first-ever deployment to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, by returning to their home-station at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, July 27, 2024.
During the deployment, Bomber Task Force Europe 24-4, the B-52s conducted operations in conjunction with aircraft from the air forces of Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Romania. The missions marked the first time that U.S. B-52s landed in Romania.
"Our historic deployment underscores the strength and resilience of the U.S.-Romania alliance and our shared commitment to regional security and NATO's collective defense," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jared Patterson, a B-52 pilot and 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron commander.
During this deployment, U.S. Airmen and aircraft integrated with NATO Allies to synchronize capabilities and assure security commitments across the U.S. European Command area of responsibility. The BTF highlighted the long-standing relationship between the U.S. and Romania, and their shared commitment to maintaining freedom of movement and freedom of navigation across the region.
"We are showing the proof of interoperability and that together, we are stronger," said Romanian Air Force Commander Cosmin Macsim, deputy commander of Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, which is known locally as "MK."
BTF 24-4 is a part of Large-Scale Global Exercise 2024, an umbrella term that incorporates dozens of separate exercises and military activities, under multiple combatant commands. This enables the U.S. joint force to train with Allies and partners and improve shared understanding, trust, and interoperability on security challenges across the globe.
"This latest BTF further demonstrates that the U.S. Air Force is ready, postured, and well prepared to integrate with our Romanian allies, as well as our Allies and partners across the NATO alliance, to deter threats and respond to any threat at any time," said U.S. Air Force Col. Keith Derbenwick, U.S. defense attache to Romania.
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China condemns assassination of Hamas political chief Haniyeh
Global Times
'Wave of conflicts likely to overshadow wave of reconciliation'
By GT staff reporters Published: Jul 31, 2024 08:32 PM
Hamas' political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was targeted and killed in an Israeli strike early Wednesday while visiting Iran, according to a statement released by Hamas on the same day.
China said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring the situation, and voiced its firm opposition to and condemnation of acts of assassination.
"We are closely following the incident. China firmly opposes and condemns the act of assassination and is deeply concerned that the incident may plunge the region into greater turmoil. China has been calling for settling regional disputes through negotiation and dialogue and an early, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and there should be no more escalation of the conflict and confrontation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.
Some Chinese experts said that the wave of conflicts in the Middle East is likely to overshadow the wave of reconciliation as the biggest issue now is the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University in Xi'an, believes the attack on Haniyeh could end political negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
"The ongoing dialogues are at a very critical stage, and this incident could negatively impact the direction of the Israeli-Palestinian situation," Wang said.
The death of Haniyeh is considered the "first most significant Israeli operation" since October 7, 2023, according to CNN, as the senior Hamas official was considered as a key interlocutor in hostage negotiations and a cease-fire deal in Gaza. His assassination will have a significant influence on negotiations.
The assassination of Haniyeh occurred one day after Israel claimed that a strike in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday had killed Hezbollah's most senior military commander, CNN said.
Israel is engaged in multi-front operations, striking Hezbollah in Lebanon on one side and launching attacks on Houthi forces in Yemen on the other. This latest strike within Iran's borders further highlights the escalating wave of conflicts in the Middle East, Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"As a result, reconciliation efforts between Israel and Palestine as well as peace talks between Hamas and Israel are likely to face significant setbacks," Sun said.
Further complications in relations
Some experts believe that Israel is currently adopting a two-pronged strategy.
"On one hand, it continues to carry out intermittent military strikes on Gaza. On the other, it is targeting Hamas' senior leaders through a policy of pinpoint elimination," Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Since October last year, a number of senior Hamas officials have been killed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas, according to media reports. Other members of Haniyeh's family were killed by an Israeli air strike in June.
"This could lead to further complications in the relationship between Israel and Iran," Liu told the Global Times. Since the start of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tensions have also escalated between Hezbollah and Israel. Whether it is Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthi rebels, they all receive a certain level of support from Iran, Liu noted.
"Although the military situation in southern Gaza has somewhat eased, the conflict between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel is escalating," Liu said. "The assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran has increased the risk of further conflict between Israel and Iran."
China's Special Envoy on Middle East Affairs Zhai Jun met with Iranian Ambassador to China Mohsen Bakhtiar on Tuesday.
The two sides agreed on the need to de-escalate tensions in southern Lebanon as quickly as possible to prevent the conflict from expanding or evolving into a regional war, according to a readout released by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Critical moment
With the death of Haniyeh, Hamas may face a leadership crisis, and there is bound to be significant internal struggles before new leaders emerge, some experts said, noting that the situation could put the entire organization at risk of division, further weakening its ability to act collectively.
"Hamas' power within the Palestinian factions has been weakened, raising new questions about who will govern the Gaza Strip in the future," Wen Shaobiao, an expert from the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"Based on the current situation in Gaza, the main armed forces of Hamas have been largely dismantled by the Israel Defense Forces, making it unlikely that Hamas can maintain control over the Gaza Strip. It is possible that new factions may emerge to fill the void," Wen told the Global Times.
The fate of Hamas has reached a very severe stage, as the organization's elite forces have suffered significant losses, Liu said.
"With the elimination of its top leader, Hamas faces the challenge of how to rebuild its organizational system," Liu said, noting that given the extent of damage to both its military and political structures and its leadership, Hamas is in a dire state.
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30th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs
India - Ministry of External Affairs
July 31, 2024
The 30th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on 31st July 2024 in New Delhi. Shri Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia), from the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Hong Liang, Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. Further to discussions between the two Foreign Ministers in their recent meetings at Astana and Vientiane, the two sides reviewed the current situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with a view to finding an early resolution of the outstanding issues. Restoration of peace and tranquility, and respect for the LAC are an essential basis for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations. They agreed on the need to jointly uphold peace and tranquility on the ground in the border areas in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols and understandings reached between the two Governments.
3. The discussion at the meeting was in-depth, constructive and forward-looking. Both sides agreed to maintain the momentum through the established diplomatic and military channels.
4. The leader of the Chinese delegation also called on Foreign Secretary.
New Delhi
July 31, 2024
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UN chief regrets actions that prevent ceasefire in Gaza
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
New York, IRNA -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has regretted actions that undermine peace efforts in Gaza and destabilize the West Asia region, including recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Iran that lead to the assassination two senior resistance leaders.
"The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Teheran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza," said Stephane Dujarric, who serves as Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters on Wednesday.
"Rather than that, what we are seeing are efforts to undermine these goals," Dujarric added.
He also said that UN Secretary-General urges all parties to vigorously work towards regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability.
The remarks came after Ismail Haniyeh, who served as the political bureau chief of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was assassinated along with one of his bodyguards in their accommodation in Tehran.
It also came a day after Israel carried out an airstrike on a compound of commanders of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah in the capital Beirut.
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Iran: Israel's targeted terrorist operation shows regime's rebellious nature
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- An Iranian envoy has stressed that the systematic terrorist operations by the Israeli regime show the rebellious nature of the regime.
Reza Ghaebi, who represented Iran in the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in Geneva on Wednesday, strongly condemned the Zionist assassination of Hamas top political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, saying that the international community's failure to make the Israeli regime abide by international regulations and put an end to its occupation and aggression against the Palestinian people is seen as a green light for this regime to continue with violating the sovereignty of other countries and assassinate top political figures of Palestine.
With its cruel and aggressive policies in more than seven decades, the Tel Aviv regime has been blatantly breaching the principles of international law, including the international humanitarian law and human rights regulations, he said.
He added that Iran reserves the right to take necessary measures to retaliate against the terrorist act of the Israeli regime.
Haniyeh was assassinated in a pre-dawn Zionist attack in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, a day after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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US an 'accomplice' in Israeli assassination of Haniyeh: Iran
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, labeling the United States as "an accomplice" to the Israeli regime in committing this "heinous act of terrorism."
In an official statement on Wednesday, the ministry emphasized the role of the US government -- as a supporter of Israel in occupation and genocide of Palestinians -- in the assassination of the Hamas leader.
Haniyeh was killed early on Wednesday in Tehran, a day after he attended the inauguration of Iran's newly-elected president.
The assassination of Haniyeh "serves as a testament to the terrorist nature of the Israeli regime and highlights the aggressive and lawless behavior of the criminal mafia ruling over the occupied Palestinian territories," the statement said.
The ministry further noted that the targeted strike against the Hamas leader on Iranian soil was a blatant violation of international law and a serious threat to regional and global peace and security.
While strongly condemning the assassination, the ministry said the Islamic Republic affirms its inherent right to respond appropriately to such violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Islamic Republic calls on countries and international organizations to hold Israel accountable for its actions and to support the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and their legitimate resistance against occupation, the statement concluded.
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Envoy: Iran to exercise right to self-defense after Israeli aggression
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
New York, IRNA -- Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saied Iravani has said that his country will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense following Israel's act of aggression and terrorist attack that led to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.
"This rouge and terrorist regime and its accomplices bear responsibility. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to respond decisively and promptly", the Iranian envoy said in a letter addressed to the UN Security Council.
The full text of the letter is as follow:
Excellency,
I write to you with a deep sense of urgency and concern regarding the recent terrorist attack and an act of aggression on the sovereignty and territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran committed by the Israeli regime. In the early hours of 31 July 2024, the Israeli regime carried out a cowardly terrorist attack targeting the residence of H.E. Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, a recognized Palestinian resistance group. This attack resulted in the martyrdom of Mr. Haniyeh and his bodyguard. The criminal act took place in Tehran, where Mr. Haniyeh was an official guest of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, invited to attend the inauguration of Iran's new President, H.E. Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian. Such a heinous crime, targeting a high-ranking official guest, is a serious infringement on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and constitutes a blatant violation of the basic norms and principles of international law, particularly the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, including Article 2(4), which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns in the strongest possible terms the aggressive action of the Zionist regime in the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh. This terrorist act is in continuation of the assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders in other countries over the past decades and occurred as part of a plan to commit genocide against Palestinians, especially in the past ten months.
Just hours before this heinous crime, this regime carried out cowardly terrorist attacks in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The warmongering leaders of this rough regime, and its notorious prime minister, for whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested an arrest warrant on charges of war crimes, have crossed all red lines and shown complete disregard for the basic norms and principles of international law upon which the United Nations system is founded. Their crimes reveal a lack of commitment to peace and stability in the region and suggest an intention to escalate conflict and expand the war through the entire region. The responsibility of the United States, as the strategic ally and main supporter of the Israeli regime in the region, cannot be overlooked in this horrific crime. This act could not have occurred without the authorization and intelligence support of the U.S. The continuation of Israel's aggressions threatens peace and stability in the region. The international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, cannot remain indifferent to such heinous crimes and must take decisive action to address these violations and hold the perpetrators accountable.
In light of these grave consequences of Israeli criminal acts on regional peace and security, the Islamic Republic of Iran calls upon the United Nations Security Council to condemn unequivocally and strongly the acts of aggression and terrorist attacks by the Israeli regime on Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as recent acts of aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, to convene an urgent meeting to address Israeli aggression and terrorist attacks conducted in Iran and the region, to take immediate action to ensure accountability for these violations of international law, including the potential imposition of sanctions and other measures aimed at preventing further aggression, and to demand that Israel immediately cease its aggressive actions and comply fully with its obligations under international law, including respect for the sovereignty of other nations and the protection of civilian lives.
We urge the United Nations Security Council to act promptly and decisively in response to these acts of aggression and malicious activities of the Israel regime in the region which poses a real threat to international peace and security. The credibility and moral authority of the Security Council depend on its ability to uphold international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
This rouge and terrorist regime and its accomplices bear responsibility. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to respond decisively and promptly.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its commitment to upholding international law and the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. We believe that peace and stability in the region can only be achieved through respect for these principles.
I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter as a document of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
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Israel will undoubtedly pay heavy price for Haniyeh assassination: Iranian diplomat
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Secretary of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Abbas Araghchi says the Israeli regime will pay a heavy price for the assassination on Iranian soil of senior Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Araghchi offered his condolences to the Palestinian nation and all fighters of the Resistance Front in the region on the martyrdom of Haniyeh.
The senior diplomat, who is regarded as a candidate to become foreign minister under Iran's incoming administration, said the Israeli regime will fail to reach its objective of blocking the works of the new government in Iran.
Haniyeh, who served as the political bureau chief of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was assassinated along with one of his bodyguards in their accommodation in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
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'Response to Haniyeh assassination to instill deep regret in perpetrator'
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
New York, IRNA -- Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations says the country's response to the assassination on its soil of senior Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh will be a special one and will cause the perpetrator to deeply regret its act.
"The response to an assassination will indeed be special operationsharder (than previous responses) and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator," said the mission in a post on the X platform on Wednesday.
Haniyeh, who served as the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was assassinated along with one of his bodyguards in their accommodation in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
He was in Iran to attend the inauguration ceremony of newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday afternoon.
Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination, with authorities saying the country will definitely respond to the move.
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Acting FM reiterates Iran's right to respond to Haniyeh assassination
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has reiterated that the country is entitled to the right to respond to the Israeli regime's assassination of senior Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil.
In a thread posted on the X platform on Wednesday, Bagheri said that Haniyeh had been in Iran as an official guest of the Islamic Republic to attend the country's presidential inauguration ceremony, where he was assassinated in an attack by the Israeli regime on his accommodation in Tehran.
"This terrorist act is a gross violation of principles and rules of international law, the United Nations Charter and a blatant disrespect to national security and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Bagheri.
"Iran condemns in the strongest possible term this abhorrent criminal act and emphasizes its right to respond to this aggressive provocative act as it deems it appropriate," he added.
The acting minister also called on the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its duties to address the Israeli regime's continued aggression and threats to international peace and security.
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Israel to soon see result of its cowardly action: Iran president
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a message on the martyrdom of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas' head of politburo Ismail Haniyeh, saying that the Zionist regime of Israel will soon see the result of its cowardly assassination of Haniyeh in Iran's capital Tehran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up on (efforts) to protect its territorial integrity, sovereignty, dignity and reputation and the Zionist regime will soon see the results of its cowardly terrorist act," said Pezeshkian in the message which was published on Wednesday afternoon.
The Iranian president offered his condolences to Resistance fighters, the Palestinian nation and the Muslim Ummah on the martyrdom of Haniyeh and his companion in the attack earlier in the day in northern Tehran.
He said Martyr Haniyeh was an official guest of the Iranian president and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and was in Tehran to attend a presidential inauguration ceremony before he was assassinated.
The president said the Israeli regime's assassination of Haniyeh was a desperate move to come out of an impasse in Gaza, where it has been waging a brutal war against the Palestinians for more than nine months, and an attempt to whitewash its dark history of committing "occupation, terrorism, discrimination and mass killing".
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Hamas military wing vows harsh response to Haniyeh assassination
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas has condoled the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement, and vowed strong response to the Israeli criminal act.
Al-Qassam Brigades made the remarks in a statement on Wednesday after Haniyeh's assassination in the Iranian capital early in the same day.
Haniyeh served the Palestinian cause a lot and played an important role in making the resistance strong and making the Palestinians united, the statement read, adding that he made efforts to turn the attention back to the issue of al-Quds.
Such a criminal operation carried out against the Hamas leader in the heart of the Iranian capital was a dangerous incident that will run the entire region into serious aftermath, according to the statement.
It added that the enemy made a mistake by expanding the war and assassination and ignoring the territories of regional countries.
Thirst for power has blinded the criminal Netanyahu while it accelerated the process of collapse of the Zionist regime of Israel.
Now, it is time to cease the Zionists' bullying.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, and one of his bodyguards were assassinated in their residence in the Iranian capital early on Wednesday.
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IRGC issues second statement on Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has issued a second statement on the martyrdom of Palestinian resistance group Hamas' head of politburo Ismail Haniyeh in an assassination in Tehran.
The statement issued at noon Iran local time on Wednesday blamed the "criminal and cowardly" Zionist regime of Israel for Haniyeh's assassination.
It said the assassination was an attempt by the Israeli regime to cover up its utter failures in more than nine months of war in Gaza which has left tens of thousands of women, men, and children dead.
The IRGC concluded the statement by condemning in strongest terms the assassination earlier in the day of Haniyeh and his brave bodyguard in the attack on his residence in northern Tehran.
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Iranian officials condemn Haniyeh's assassination
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian officials and entities have slammed the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran.
In reaction to the assassination of Haniyeh, Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran's Expediency Council, said the Zionist regime will pay a heavy price. "I extend my condolences over the martyrdom of a freedom-seeking figure who was the leader of the great nation of Palestine."
In a related reaction, the head of the Iranian Islamic seminaries Ayatollah Alireza Arafi voiced condolences over the incident. The days of the Zionist regime is numbered, the senior cleric said, speculating that the US is the possible accomplice to the assassination. He also said that the arrogant powers and the child-killing regime have had animosity towards Haniyeh.
Also, Islamic Society of Engineers in Iran issued a statement, denouncing the assassination. The resistance will not come to an end by the martyrdom of its leaders but will be continued until the Zionists disappear, the statement read, adding proponents and opponents of the fake regime should realize that a crushing response awaits the regime.
Iranian Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Aref said in a message that Haniyeh's martyrdom is another manifestation of state terrorism and underlined that the move is one of the consequences of the silence of the international community against the continued crimes of the Zionist regime and the clear violation of international regulations.
Senior Iranian source of emulation Ayatollah Hossein Noori Hamedani pointed out that the martyrdom of Haniyeh will prepare the ground for the annihilation of the brutal regime and that the move will not weaken the resistance but will make it stronger.
Iran's former ambassador to Azerbaijan Abbas Mousavi stated that Iranians will support the Palestinian cause differently in the wake of the martyrdom.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani in a message said that the Iranian nation condemned the assassination of their guest and that surely the infamous Zionist regime will pay a heavy price.
The Supreme Leader's representative at the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili expressed his condolences over the martyrdom of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, noting that Martyr Haniyeh's continuous efforts against the enemy and his sympathetic accompany with the friends of the Resistance Front turned him into a symbol of jihad and unity.
Also, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh. He underlined that the martyrdom of Haniyeh, who was one of the prominent figures of the Resistance, is another sign of the evil and hateful nature of terrorism.
In a message, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said that the assassination has once again exposed the terrorist nature of the Zionist regime.
In addition, the advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Larijani, in a message expressed condolences over the martyrdom of Haniyeh, noting that the recent actions of the Zionist regime show that this regime seeks to cover up its defeat in Gaza with confused but provocative actions.
Meanwhile, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his X account that the US and EU must have realized by now that Netanyahu's survival is contingent upon death and destruction.
He added, "As the world is silently watching Israel's genocide and repeated acts of international terrorism and aggression, Netanyahu is pushing the region and the world to the brink of catastrophe precisely as President Pezeshkianon his inauguration of all daysurged the people of Iran, the region and the world to seek peace, tranquility, and empathy."
Also, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi expressed condolences over the martyrdom of Haniyeh, noting that undoubtedly, the assassination of the Hamas political leader will not go unanswered by the followers of the path of resistance.
Iran's Expediency Council chairman Sadeq Amoli Larijani expressed his condolences over the assassination of Haniyeh, noting that he achieved his long-standing dream after years of fight and perseverance against the oppression of the occupying Zionists. Certainly, the Zionist regime will pay a very heavy price for such heinous crimes, the Iranian official added.
Also, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, expressed condolences over the martyrdom of Haniyeh, underlining that the Islamic Republic will not spare the blood of their martyred brother.
In a condolence message, Iranian Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi stated that the terrorist actions of the usurping Zionist regime will undoubtedly result in growing unity and the formation of further destructive waves against this malevolent regime.
Additionally, the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, offered his condolences over the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, stating that Haniyeh's assassination was a terrorist act, inhumane, and a violation of international law and norms, stemming from Israeli desperation and continuous failures against the valiant defense of the Islamic Resistance Front.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian also offered condolences on Haniyeh's assassination and promised that the Israeli regime will receive a proper response for the assassination of Palestinian leader on the Iranian soil.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday (July 30).
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Haniyeh assassination to cement bonds between Iran, Palestine: Pezeshkian
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, reacting to the Hamas chief's assassination in Tehran, has emphasized that Haniyeh's assassination will cement bonds between Iran and Palestine.
Today, dear Iran is mourning the martyrdom of the brave leader of the Palestinian Resistance Ismail Haniyeh, Pezeshkian wrote on his X social media platform on Wednesday morning.
Yesterday, I raised his victorious hand and today I have to carry his coffin on my shoulders, he added, as saying, "Haniyeh's assassination will make stronger than before, bonds between Iran and Palestine, and the path of resistance and defense of the oppressed will be followed stronger than ever."
The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity and honor and would make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly action, the Iranian president highlighted.
Pezeshkian also referred to the Holy Quran: "Indeed Allah is all-mighty, avenger." (Holy Quran, 14:47)
Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, and one of his bodyguards were assassinated in their residence in the Iranian capital early on Wednesday.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday (July 30).
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Iran sees as a duty to avenge Haniyeh's assassination: Supreme Leader
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that the Islamic Republic of Iran views it as a duty to take vengeance for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil.
Ayatollah Khamenei issued a message on Wednesday to offer condolences on the martyrdom of Haniyeh in an attack on his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran earlier in the day.
"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our beloved guest inside our house and made us mournful, but it paved the way for a harsh punishment to be imposed on it," said the Supreme Leader in his message.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Haniyeh was never fearful of martyrdom as he had sacrificed members of his family and loved ones for the Resistance.
He extended his condolences to the proud nation of Palestine and Haniyeh's family on the death of the resistance leader and his companion in the attack in Tehran.
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Hezbollah issues first statement on Israeli attack on Beirut
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has issued a first statement about an Israeli attack in southern Beirut that targeted a senior commander of the group.
Hezbollah confirmed in the statement issued on Wednesday that senior commander of the group Fuad Shoukr (Hajj Mohsen) had been present in the building that was hit by the Israeli airstrike late on Tuesday.
It said, however, that search teams were working on the site of the attack to determine the fate of Shoukr.
"We are still waiting for the results of the search efforts to know the fate of the senior and dear commander as well as other citizens," said the group.
The Israeli regime claimed on Tuesday that it had carried out "a targeted strike" against a Hezbollah commander that it accused of being behind a rocket explosion in Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, over the weekend.
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Iran says Haniyeh's blood will not go in vain
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The spokesman of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commented on the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, saying his blood will not go in vain.
Haniyeh was a tireless fighter who combated the Israeli regime throughout his life to free the holy Quds, Nasser Kanaani said on Wednesday.
Kanaani expressed condolences over Haniyeh's martyrdom to the great Palestinian nation, Hamas, all resistance groups, and the countries that support the Palestinian cause.
The spokesman went on to stress that the relevant organizations of the Islamic Republic are investigating the case.
The martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran "will strengthen the deep ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and dear Palestine and Resistance."
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in their residence in the Iranian capital early today.
He was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday (July 30).
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World reacts to Hamas leader's assassination
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Countries from across the world have condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran.
Yemen's Ansarullah Movement Political Office in a statement announced that this assassination is a terrorist crime.
Also, Chairman of Yemen's Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat in a statement announced three days of public mourning in Yemen and said that during this time, the Yemeni flag will be at half-mast, describing Haniyeh's martyrdom as a great loss for the Palestinian nation and the Islamic Ummah. He also said that the Zionist enemy and the US must take responsibility for the expansion of the battlefield, the confrontation, and the wave of assassinations of the resistance commanders.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Muhammad al-Hindi described the assassination of Haniyeh as a great loss for the Palestinian nation.
If the enemy assumes that it can defeat the Resistance by assassinating its leaders, it is completely wrong, he added.
The president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal-ur-Rehman also said that the blood of Martyr Ismail Haniyeh will strengthen the resistance and the fight against the Zionist enemy, stressing that the Palestinians' fight against the occupying Israel will continue.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the assassination of the Hamas chief and described his assassination as cowardly and dangerous.
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Movement, Mustafa Al-Barghouthi also emphasized that the assassination of Haniyeh is a crime that will strengthen the determination of the Palestinian people to achieve their rights.
One of the leaders of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a statement stressed that the cowardly assassination of Ismail Haniyeh will face a response and that all the Axis of the Resistance will follow the path of Haniyeh.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov said that this is a completely unacceptable political assassination and will lead to further escalation of tensions.
Konstantin Kasachev, Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, also stated that such actions would strengthen anti-Israeli resistance globally.
The leader of the Iraqi National Wisdom Movement, Ammar Hakim in a message of condolence to the patient and oppressed Palestinian nation and resistance movements said that these criminal actions cannot stop the Palestinian nation from continuing to advance. He strongly condemned this criminal operation and urged the international community to stop this usurping regime in its criminal actions.
Former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt in an X message reacted to Haniyeh's assassination, saying, "Forget about ceasefire. Retaliation and escalation takes center stage. I think we need to fasten our seat belts."
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces denounced the assassination of Haniyeh, asserting that his martyrdom only reinforces the resistance's resolve to persist in the path of struggle.
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned Haniyeh's martyrdom, labeling it an overt breach of international law and a menace to regional security and stability.
In addition, Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, the Secretary-General of the al-Nujaba Movement in Iraq, issued a statement offering condolences for Haniyeh's martyrdom in a cowardly assault by the Zionist regime, emphasizing that both the regime and its American ally bear the consequences of the action.
Meanwhile, in a phone call with his American counterpart, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi described the killing of the Hamas political bureau chief in Tehran as a "heinous crime."
The Syrian Foreign Ministry denounced Ismail Haniyeh's assassination, cautioning that regional tensions and conflicts will escalate with the ongoing violations of international law by the Zionist regime.
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed in their residence in the Iranian capital early on Wednesday.
They were martyred after their residence was targeted, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said in a statement. The attack is under investigation and details will be released later, the statement said.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday (July 30).
Brazil's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, calling the attack on the Hamas chief in Tehran a "clear violation of Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the principles of the United Nations Charter."
The ministry also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, stating that such violent actions "further reduce the possibility of a political solution to the Gaza conflict."
The Brazilian government also condemned the deadly Israeli attack on Lebanon in another statement on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Parrillo, condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, describing the attack on him in Tehran as a clear violation of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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Hamas expresses condolences over martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas expressed its condolences on the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement's Political Bureau, to the great Palestinian nation, the Islamic and Arab Ummah, and all the freedom-loving people of the world.
Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday morning that Haniyeh had been martyred by the Zionists in the Iranian capital Tehran.
The Hamas statement said: Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the movement, was martyred after attending the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Iran as a result of a treacherous raid by the Zionists on his residence in Tehran.
Earlier, the Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement: Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, and one of his bodyguards were martyred as a result of being hit at their residence in Tehran.
Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of Hamas' Political Bureau, said on Wednesday morning in response to the assassination of Martyr Ismail Haniyeh that the attack would not go unanswered.
According to the Palestinian Sama News Agency, Abu Marzouq said: The assassination of Commander Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered.
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Statement by PM Netanyahu
Israel - Prime Minister's Office
Events and Speeches
The 37th Government
31.07.2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv [translated from Hebrew]:
"Dear citizens of Israel, good evening.
Since the beginning of the war, I have made it clear that we are in a fight against Iran's axis of evil. This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck.
In my address to Congress several days ago, I noted that the three main arms of this axis of evil are Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah, the three H's. We have recently struck crushing blows on each one.
Three weeks ago, we attacked the Hamas chief-of-staff, Muhammad Deif. Two weeks ago we attacked the Houthis in one of the Air Force's most distant assaults, and yesterday, we attacked the Hezbollah chief-of-staff, Fuad Shukr, aka Mohsin.
On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I would like to express deep appreciation to the IDF, the ISA, IDF Intelligence, the Air Force, and all of the security services for the precision operations on three different fronts.
In the attack yesterday, we eliminated Nasrallah's deputy. Mohsin was directly responsible for the massacre of our dear boys and girls in Majdal Shams. He was responsible for the murder of many other Israeli citizens. He was responsible for the unceasing assault against our citizens in the northern communities over nine months of war.
He was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. The US put a $5 million bounty on his head, and for good reason. He was involved in the murder of 241 American soldiers and 58 French soldiers in Beirut in 1983. He was the main liaison between Iran and Hezbollah and he was responsible for the organization's missiles.
Several days ago, during my visit to the site of the terrible massacre in Majdal Shams, I saw the deep mourning of the families whose worlds had been destroyed around them. I told our Druze brothers and sisters: We are brothers. There is a covenant of life between us which has become even deeper in these days of bereavement and mourning.
The murder of innocent children has been added to the unending suffering of the residents of the north, our dear ones who have been exiled from their homes, and whose communities have suffered serious attacks - and for this we will not be silent.
We have settled accounts with Mohsin like we will with all those who attack us. Whoever butchers our children, whoever murders our citizens, whoever attacks our state - will pay the price.
Citizens of Israel, challenging days are before us. Since the attack in Beirut, we have heard threats from all sides. We are prepared for any scenario and we will stand united and determined against any threat. Israel will exact a very heavy price for aggression against us from whatever quarter.
Citizens of Israel, in the first days of the war I said that the war would take time and require us to show patience. I reiterate that today as well.
For months, there has been no week in which they have not told us - at home and abroad - to end the war. 'End the war' because we have exhausted what can be achieved and 'it is impossible to win' in any case.
If we gave in to this pressure - we would not have eliminated senior Hamas leaders and thousands of terrorists. We would not have destroyed terrorist infrastructure and extensive Hamas underground infrastructure. They simply would have kept it. We would not be in control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing - the lifeline of Hamas by which they arm and rebuild themselves, and we would not have created the conditions that are bringing us closer to an outline that will also return our hostages, and which will allow us to achieve all of our objectives for the war: Returning all of our hostages, eliminating Hamas's military and governing capabilities, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, and restoring our residents securely to their homes in both the south and the north.
All of the achievements that we have achieved in recent months, we achieved because we did not give in, because we made courageous decisions despite the great pressure at home and abroad. And I tell you: This was not easy. I needed to reject very great pressure. But above all, we achieved this because our fighters, both reservists and conscripts, in the IDF, the Police, the ISA and the Mossad - did not give in. They are fighting like lions, they are determined to win, and I, together with the people of Israel, back them with great love and with great faith in the justice of our cause.
We do not forget, even for a moment, the bereaved families who have lost what is dearest to them, the families of the hostages who are hoping for the return of their loved ones, and our wounded who are fighting heroically to rebuild their lives.
Thanks to them and thanks to you, citizens of Israel, together we will fight and with G-d's help, together we will win."
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Minster of National Defence L. Kasciunas visits Moldova
Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence
2024-07-31
International cooperation
On July 31-August 1 Minister of National Defence conducts a visit to Moldova. He will meet with Minister of Defence of Moldova Anatolie Nosatii, as well as Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Speaker of the Parliament Igor Grosu bilaterally.
"A Europe-oriented, free, democratic and independent Republic of Moldova with a strong military is our national security interest," said Minister of National Defence L. Kasciunas before departing.
Lithuania consistently supports Moldova's military reforms and aids in strengthening military capability with expertise and best practices sharing. Minister will discuss security issues and defence matters during the visit while also highlighting the importance of continuity of the started Moldovan reforms.
Eastern Partnership, particularly Moldova, is important to Lithuania and the rest of Europe alike. The EU and NATO intensified and increased financial and material assistance to Moldova in the wake of the Russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine. In June 2024 the European Commission officially opened negotiations on Moldova's EU accession.
Ministers of Defence of the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands have paid visit to Moldova over the course of July.
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A look at the Defence news 22 - 28 July
Netherlands Ministry of Defence
News item | 31-07-2024 | 12:59
The crew of HNLMS Tromp had an exceptional experience last week. The air defence and command frigate carried out a missile strike to sink a decommissioned US ship in Hawaiian waters. The strike was part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world's largest international maritime exercise.
Choice for Orka-class submarines final
The claims of German shipyard thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (tkMS) have been rejected. Last week, the Court of The Hague ruled to that effect in the case brought by tkMS against the preliminary decision of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence to award the contract for the construction of four submarines to France's Naval Group.
Germany and the Netherlands to improve support of troops
Germany and the Netherlands intend to strengthen their joint support of troops. This was reason enough for Lieutenant General Andre Bodemann, Commander of Bundeswehr Homeland Defence Command, to travel to Utrecht to discuss the more efficient movement of troops with Lieutenant General Jan-Willem Maas, Commander of Joint Support Command. Participation in a major joint exercise was also discussed.
Promised Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
According to Netherlands Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans, 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks that the Netherlands and Denmark purchased for Ukraine will be delivered to the war-torn country this summer. The main battle tanks were refurbished and tested over the past few months.
European F-16 training centre delivers first pilots
The European F-16 training centre (EFTC) in Romania has delivered its first graduates. The Romanian pilots in question are now combat-ready and can be deployed on operations. The Netherlands played a key role in setting up the EFTC and is also the supplier of F-16s to the training centre. A total of 18 will be made available.
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Assassination of the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pakistan condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas in Tehran today.
We extend our condolences to his family and the people of Palestine.
Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings irrespective of the motives.
We are deeply shocked by the timing of this reckless act, coinciding with the inauguration of the President of Iran, an event attended by several foreign dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Pakistan views with serious concern the growing adventurism in the region. This latest act constitutes a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermines efforts for peace
Islamabad
31 July 2024
***This Press Release has been updated at 1900hrs on 31 July 2024
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Chiz: More military aid from US will not provoke China
Philippine News Agency
By Wilnard Bacelonia
July 31, 2024, 1:20 pm Updated on July 31, 2024, 7:18 pm
MANILA -- Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Wednesday dismissed concerns about provoking tensions with China after the United States decided to allocate an additional USD500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines.
"I do not think this will provoke or agitate China because strengthening one's own military, like them and most countries, in order to keep the peace, is the right and obligation of every country," Escudero said in a statement.
The Senate President expressed his gratitude for the unprecedented assistance and emphasized the importance of the US-Philippines partnership in maintaining peace, and modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
"This shows that we (the US and the Philippines) are indeed friends and, more importantly, equal partners in maintaining peace, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based approach to differences and disagreements," Escudero said.
The funding announcement was made during the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Manila, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III on the US side, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on the Philippine side, highlighting the deep-rooted partnership between the two nations.
Thankful
The AFP welcomed the US' grant of USD500 million in foreign military financing.
"It highlights the steadfast support for enhancing the capabilities of the AFP and the Philippine Coast Guard, ensuring we can effectively fulfill our territorial defense mission and contribute to regional security and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific," AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said in a message to reporters Wednesday.
Padilla declined to give more details about the grant, saying these "will be deferred to the Department of National Defense."
PH-US ties comply with int'l law
Teodoro Jr., meanwhile, said US-Philippine relations have always been anchored on adherence to international law.
"I believe our relationship is based on two fundamental things. First is sustainability. Our engagements have always been on the principle of sustainability and not one-time things. Secondly, we share principles, fundamental principles of adherence to international law and rules-based international order," he said on the sidelines of the 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting.
Aside from the US, Teodoro said other like-minded partners of the Philippines have realized that building Manila's defense posture is vital in upholding international law in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a press conference at the House of Representatives media center, lawmakers welcomed the historic military financing commitment, acknowledging its significance for a strong alliance between the two countries and its importance to the nation's capability to protect and defend its sovereignty.
Deputy Speaker, Quezon Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez, noted the importance of the US commitment, given the upcoming US presidential elections.
"The unwavering support from the US for the Philippines, regardless of the election outcome, reinforces the long-standing, iron-clad relationship between the two nations," Suarez said.
The important thing, he added, is that whoever wins the presidential race in November, the position of the US and the Philippines should remain the same.
Suarez also highlighted President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s stance on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and national sovereignty, as emphasized during his recent State of the Nation Address.
He said the funding would bolster the capabilities of the AFP and the PCG amid tensions in the WPS.
To Assistant Majority Leader, Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr., any addition to the country's defense resources is a positive development.
"Well, ako (for me), any addition is positive. So, you know it is a welcoming thing na magdo-donate ang America ng (that America is donating) PHP29 billion that can really be used to upgrade our capabilities ng (of our) WPS team natin, ng (of the) Coast Guard, at ng (and of the) Armed Forces," he said.
Committee on Dangerous Drugs chair, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, said the US military aid would provide critical support to the PCG not only in monitoring and guarding the WPS but also the east coast of the country.
"Now that funds will be extended to the Philippine government, that will purposely upgrade the capability of our Coast Guard," Barbers said. (with Priam Nepomuceno/Zaldy De Layola/PNA)
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Marcos: PH on right path for more peaceful, stable BARMM
Philippine News Agency
By Darryl John Esguerra
July 31, 2024, 10:45 am
MANILA -- The Philippines is on the right track to building a more peaceful and prosperous Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Wednesday.
Speaking at the turnover of the 3rd Intergovernmental Relations Body (IGRB) Progress Report in Malacanang, Marcos expressed optimism that the country will overcome the remaining challenges to ensure the continued development of the five-year-old Bangsamoro region.
Marcos cited the transformative reforms that the government has undertaken to assist BARMM, including the commissioning of former Moro rebels to the police force, the granting of amnesties to qualified former Moro combatants, the turnover of various properties and assets of the national government within the BARMM, and the signing of the Intergovernmental Energy Board Circular on the joint award on petroleum service contracts and coal operating contracts in the region.
"These peace and development milestones are part of our collective efforts to lay the groundwork for effective governance and meaningful autonomy environment," Marcos said.
"I'm confident that we are on the right path to building a more peaceful, stable and prosperous Bangsamoro region as we find responsive solutions to the remaining issues and concerns that still need to be addressed," he added.
The President also urged Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, co-chair of the IGRB and the only Muslim in the Cabinet, to expedite the IGRB manual of operations and resolution of identified issues before the first BARMM parliamentary elections next year.
Marcos said the manual will "facilitate a proactive monitoring of issues and establish a system of continuity" for the Bangsamoro government.
The first parliamentary election in BARMM will be held simultaneously with the May 12, 2025 midterm elections.
Marcos also noted that the 3rd IGRB Progress Report is a testament to the stakeholders' "fruitful partnership and enduring commitment to peace and development."
Created through Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the IGRB facilitates the coordination and resolves issues between the national and Bangsamoro governments through regular consultations and negotiations.
'Shining example of peace'
For her part, Pangandaman said the success of BARMM is "not only a matter of concern for (the) BARMM but also a top priority of the Philippine government."
"In fact, beyond being a matter of national interest, the success of BARMM is also a world issue because the world is looking (at) BARMM to be the shining example of peace. Hence, I must emphasize that we cannot fail," Pangandaman said.
The BARMM was created in 2019 following the ratification of the BOL, which is a product of peace negotiations between the government and Moro rebels. (PNA)
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PH, US working to conclude military intel pact by end of 2024
Philippine News Agency
By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
July 31, 2024, 8:24 am
MANILA -- The Philippines and the United States are working to conclude and sign a key military intelligence sharing deal by the end of the year, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III said Tuesday.
Speaking after the 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Austin said both nations are committed to making the defense alliance "even more secure through technology and security and cyber cooperation".
"We reiterated our shared intent to conclude a general security of military information agreement (GSOMIA) by the end of the year. Now, that's crucial to our shared cybersecurity goals," he said.
According to a US-Philippine joint statement following the 2+2, this GSOMIA would lay the foundation for "enhanced, expanded, and timely sharing of information and defense technology".
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., meanwhile, said the deal would serve as a tool to help the Philippines develop its operational security.
"It is an attempt and a continuing exercise to develop our operational security, which is a required stepping stone for our development of an armed force and a defense establishment with increasing sophistication to deal with vulnerabilities and with unpredictabilities in the future defense situation and picture," he said.
At the dialogue, Austin, Teodoro, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and State Secretary Antony Blinken also agreed to advance cybersecurity cooperation by investing in the capabilities of the Philippines.
These include the US providing an integrated cyber range and training platform and on-demand training to develop and sustain a capable and skilled cyber workforce.
Enhancing economic ties
On top of fortifying what the four ministers called a "maturing and modern" defense alliance, the two states are also finding ways to foster economic resilience.
"Both sides reiterated the importance of ensuring that the alliance promotes security in its broadest sense building more resilient and sustainable communities and economies, increasing trade with more diverse and reliable partners, and deterring, countering, and mitigating harm from potential economic coercion," the joint statement read.
In the past year, the US deployed its first-ever Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the country and launched the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) during a historic trilateral leaders' summit with Japan and the Philippines in April, among others.
At the 2+2, the officials said they would help "drive progress" on the LEC, including identifying initial priority projects later this year for investment.
They also agreed to further cooperate on critical minerals processing and strengthen private sector partnerships, particularly shipbuilding and ship repair.
They also emphasized the need to "operationalize opportunities" under the bilateral 123 Agreement for civil nuclear energy by helping Manila "develop the workforce, regulatory environment, and strong commercial partnerships that will enable (the) development of a robust, safe civil nuclear sector".
Within the year alone, the two states would convene various high-level meetings, including the 2nd Energy Policy Dialogue in Manila to diversify critical minerals supply chains, promote renewable energy deployment, and foster reliable and resilient power grids in the country, among others.
Both governments are also scheduled to hold a Nuclear Supply Chain Forum in Manila this November, which will bring together leading US companies with government and private sector stakeholders to discuss partnership opportunities. (PNA)
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Manalo on Ayungin deal: No prior notification, only 'info exchange'
Philippine News Agency
By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
July 31, 2024, 8:00 am
MANILA -- The Philippine government on Tuesday clarified anew that there was no agreement to notify China before its conduct of resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal.
In a joint press conference in Quezon City, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the understanding reached was only to "exchange information," which Beijing too is obliged to do so under the ambit of the provisional arrangement it signed with Manila.
"On the issue of notification, I think the more accurate term is exchange of information, which is exactly what we did with China, and - both of us," he said.
"The fact that the (re)supply was a relative success I think indicates that it's something that we are committed to pursue in succeeding supply missions, provided, of course, China also adheres to the understanding," he added.
Manila and Beijing had been at odds with the interpretation of the arrangement, with the latter saying the deal was reached on the condition that the Philippines would "inform China in advance and after on-site verification" is conducted.
Reacting to it, the DFA said the Chinese side has "mischaracterized" and "misrepresented" the arrangement, repeating it was only reached without prejudice to both the Philippines and China's positions.
Asked to expound whether China is also empowered to thumb down a resupply operation after the two sides have exchanged information about an upcoming mission, Manalo said: "If they said no then that's not part of the understanding."
Manalo earlier confirmed that his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi has affirmed China's commitment to honor the provisional deal during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 57th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Laos.
Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., meanwhile, both assured the public that the government's West Philippine Sea strategy remains intact.
"To protect our rights, that is the strategy. (It) doesn't change," the Defense chief said.
Manalo added that the country would continue asserting its sovereign rights and sovereignty "in accordance with the rule of law, a rules-based order, and the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea".
Both officials also dismissed notions interpreting the deal as a Chinese "win" or Beijing getting an upper hand over Ayungin Shoal.
"It's not win or lose, let's just say we had a good RORE (rotation and reprovisioning)," the top diplomat said.
Ayungin Shoal is a feature situated within the country's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that is also being claimed by China as part of its territory.
Manalo and Teodoro were joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the presser after concluding the 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Blinken said the US welcomed the provisional understanding and was pleased to see that the first resupply mission since it was reached went forward without incident.
"It's very important that that be the standard, not the exception. And as I said to the Chinese foreign minister when we met in Laos a few days ago, China must uphold its commitments to not obstruct the Philippines in their resupply missions," he said.
He reiterated that the US stands by its "ironclad defense commitment" to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
"That extends to armed attacks on Filipino armed forces, public vessels or aircraft - including the coast guard - anywhere in the Pacific, including the South China Sea," he added.
In a joint statement, the four secretaries expressed "serious concerns about dangerous behavior in the South China Sea over the past year that resulted in injury and damage to property, as well as militarization of reclaimed features and unlawful maritime claims". (PNA)
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Iranian advisor among victims of Israeli assassination op. against Hezbollah cmdr.
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 9:18 PM
An Iranian military advisor has been named among the victims of a recent Israeli assassination operation against Lebanon's capital Beirut that claimed the life of a senior commander of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
The advisor, identified as Milad Bidi, was martyred on Tuesday, when the attack targeted the building accommodating the Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Bidi was located in the vicinity of the building at the time of the attack that struck the Haret Hreik neighborhood in Beirut's suburbs.
According to Lebanon's' health ministry, two children were also among the victims of the operation that wounded another 74 people.
The Israeli regime carried out the assassination after alleging that Shukr had been behind a rocket strike against the town of Majdal Shams in Syria's Tel Aviv-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 people on Saturday.
Hezbollah has strongly denied any role in the incident, denouncing the Israeli claims as "false allegations."
Some reports have, meanwhile, suggested that the explosion that hit the Syrian town was likely caused by a stray projectile fired by the Israeli regime's so-called Iron Dome missile system.
Also on Wednesday, another assassination operation claimed the lives of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas' Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards in Tehran. The Palestinian resistance leader was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The back-to-back assassinations came amid Hamas' all-out efforts to defend the Gaza Strip against an ongoing Israeli war of genocide, and the movement's participation in negotiations aimed at bringing about a truce in the brutal military onslaught.
They also coincided with repeated retaliatory operations that Hezbollah has been conducting against the occupied Palestinian territories in support of the war-hit Gazans.
Both resistance groups have vowed to avenge the blood of the victims, while Iran has warned Tel Aviv about a pending "harsh response" to violation of its sovereignty and assassination of an official guest of the country.
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WHO warns Gaza polio infections among children 'only a matter of time'
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 6:45 PM
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that children in the besieged Gaza Strip will soon be infected by polio if preventative measures are not quickly taken.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday expressed concern about the human cost of the barbaric Israeli campaign of death, destruction and genocide.
"The detection of polio in Gaza is another reminder of the dire conditions the population is facing," Tedros wrote on X. "The persistence of the conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable threats such as polio."
The UN helath agency earlier warned of a high risk of the polio virus spreading across the war-wracked Strip due to the poor sanitary conditions.
It added if the outbreak happens in the strip, it may spill over internationally at a very high point.
Gaza's Health Ministry declared a polio epidemic across the besieged territory late on Monday after samples of the virus were found in sewage.
Palestinian health officials have already warned thousands of Gazans are at risk of contracting the virus.
Poliovirus is not the only concern people in Gaza are contending with. UN agencies have frequently warned of the outbreaks of cholera and other communicable diseases in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Children bear brunt of Israeli war and humanitarian crisis
The Israeli genocidal campaign is taking a catastrophic toll on children.
Humanitarian organizations say Gaza's children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.
Around 1.9 million people - about 9 in 10 of Gaza's population - are estimated to have been internally displaced. Half of them are children.
They do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine. Their homes have been destroyed; their families torn apart.
Aid agencies say they need to be protected, along with the remaining services that they rely on, including medical facilities and shelter.
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Iran's UN ambassador urges Security Council action on Haniyeh assassination
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 6:36 PM
Iran has called upon the United Nations Security Council to take immediate and decisive action against recent Israeli attacks in Tehran and Beirut, saying the regime must be held accountable and face sanctions to prevent further violations.
In a letter to the Council, Amir-Saeed Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the UN, said the regime carried out a "cowardly terrorist attack" in Tehran targeting a high-ranking official guest- Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
It was, he said, a "serious infringement on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran" and a "blatant violation of the basic norms and principles of international law".
"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns in the strongest possible terms the aggressive action of the Zionist regime in the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh. This terrorist act is a continuation of the assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders in other countries over the past decades and occurred as part of a plan to commit genocide against Palestinians, especially in the past ten months," the letter stated.
The letter said the Zionist leaders have "crossed all red lines and shown complete disregard for the basic norms and principles of international law upon which the UN system is founded."
The letter also noted that the regime also carried out "cowardly terrorist attacks" in Beirut on Tuesday targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Iravani said these crimes reveal a lack of commitment to peace and stability in the region and suggest an intention to escalate conflict and expand the war throughout the entire region.
'US also responsible for attacks'
The Iranian ambassador said the responsibility of the US, as Israel's strategic ally and great benefactor, cannot be overlooked in this horrific crime.
"This act could not have occurred without the authorization and intelligence support of the US The continuation of Israel's aggressions threatens peace and stability in the region."
Iravani said the international community, particularly the Security Council, cannot remain indifferent to such heinous crimes.
"... Iran calls upon the UNSC to condemn unequivocally and strongly the acts of aggression and terrorist attacks by the Israeli regime on Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as recent acts of aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic," the letter said.
"We urge the UNSC to act promptly and decisively in response to these acts of aggression and malicious activities of the Israeli regime in the region which pose a real threat to international peace and security," he said.
"The credibility and moral authority of the Security Council depend on its ability to uphold international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
The letter emphasized Iran's right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
"This rogue and terrorist regime and its accomplices bear responsibility. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to respond decisively and promptly. "
Iran remains committed to upholding international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the letter concluded.
"We believe that peace and stability in the region can only be achieved through respect for these principles."
Security Council to hold emergency meeting
In the meantime, the Russian presidency of the Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday at 2000 GMT.
The meeting was requested by Iran and supported by Russia, China, and Algeria.
UN Chief Antonio Guterres has voiced concern over the attacks in Beirut and Tehran, viewing them as a "dangerous escalation" of the conflict in the region.
"It is increasingly clear ... that restraint alone is insufficient at this extremely sensitive time," Guterres's spokesperson said in a statement.
"The Secretary-General urges all to vigorously work toward regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability for all," Stephane Dujarric said.
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Hezbollah confirms martyrdom of Fuad Shukr in Israeli airstrike in Beirut
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 6:21 PM
Hezbollah has officially confirmed the martyrdom of one of its top commanders in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut neighborhood on July 30.
Fuad Shukr, a senior figure with the Lebanese resistance movement, was assassinated when an Israeli attack drone fired three missiles at the area around Hezbollah's Shoura Council in the Haret Hreik neighborhood.
Lebanon's media reported the official confirmation on Wednesday.
Hezbollah issued a statement following the confirmation.
Fuad Shukr's sacrifices, the statement said, "stand as a powerful symbol of our unwavering commitment and resolve to continue on our righteous path until the liberation of our land and holy sites."
The killing of Shukr was carried out hours before another assassination operation. Only this time, the target was Ismail Haniyeh and the location was Iran's capital, Tehran.
The chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas was assassinated during the early hours of Wednesday. He had come to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israelis may be talking - in vain - about a "crushing blow" to the Axis of Resistance. However, resistance leaders say severe punishment awaits the perpetrators.
In Tehran, and in response to the assassination of Haniyeh, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response."
It is the Islamic Republic's duty, the Leader stated, to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself."
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Top Hamas official: Israel will pay heavy price for assassinating Haniyeh
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 5:37 PM
Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, says the Zionist regime will pay a heavy price for the crime of assassinating Ismail Haniyeh.
He said on Wednesday the late Hamas chief devoted himself full-time to Islam and the Palestinian nation, and that Hamas will not give up resisting the Israeli occupation after Haniyeh's murder.
"Haniyeh was not hiding in a secret place and his assassination does not constitute a success for the Israeli enemy's spy service. Ever since the Gaza war broke out [in early October last year], the enemy had sought to isolate the resistance front. It was, nevertheless, astonished to see Haniyeh shuttling between world capitals. The enemy has not achieved any success. It only kills, destroys and seeks to ignite the entire region," Hayya said.
The high-profile Hamas official also stated that Israel is well aware of the fact that the Axis of Resistance will not allow the assassination of Haniyeh to go unanswered.
"The Zionist regime will pay a heavy price for the crime. Hamas and other resistance groups follow a clear strategy."
"The Zionist enemy is trying to set the entire region ablaze as an act of projection. The Zionist regime must pay a heavy price for this barbaric crime. Hamas and resistance will continue, and Haniyeh's successor will follow his path," Hayya said.
He underlined that Haniyeh's killing clearly showed that there is no option other than resistance in dealing with Israel.
"The al-Qassam Brigades will not allow the murder of Haniyeh to go unpunished. Palestinian factions must unite on the option of armed resistance. There is no other choice before us," Hayya stated.
'Haniyeh martyred while leading Palestinians toward liberation'
Meanwhile, Osama Hamdan, the senior Hamas representative in Lebanon, said Haniyeh was assassinated while leading the Palestinian nation towards Liberation, and directing the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the Zionist enemy.
"We mourn the loss of our national icon Ismail Haniyeh, who attained martyrdom while fighting on the path of struggle and striving for the liberation of the holy city of al-Quds and entire Palestinian territories," Hamdan said.
"Our blood as resistance figures is not more precious than that of other Palestinians. The resistance front has expanded its capabilities and prowess whenever our leaders have got killed."
The top Hamas official underscored that Haniyeh's killing will not stop Palestinians from following the path of resistance and struggle aimed at liberation of Palestinian lands.
"The crime of Haniyeh's assassination will not ensure the occupying regime's survival. The best policy in the wake of the late leader's targeted killing is to cement national unity and work towards its realization," Hamdan said.
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Iran's attorney general orders swift probe into Haniyeh's assassination
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 4:32 PM
Iran's attorney general has ordered a swift investigation into the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in cooperation with the military, law enforcement and security forces to "arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators."
In a statement, Mohammad Movahedi Azad instructed the appointment of a special investigation team to examine various aspects of the assassination.
"They should take appropriate legal action against any potential negligence or fault and use all domestic and international capacities with determination and resolve to arrest, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators of this terrorist act."
He condemned the "horrific crime", which, he said, was carried out in desperation and demonstrated the "vileness of its instigators and perpetrators".
'Perpetrators to face severe retribution'
Iran's Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also extended condolences on the martyrdom of Haniyeh, which, he said, was "a blessed end for him and a source of pride and honor for the resilient and oppressed Palestinian nation."
He warned that the perpetrators would face harsh punishment for the "cowardly terrorist move".
"The wicked, cowardly, and criminal elements involved in the martyrdom of Martyr Haniyeh should know that the pure blood of this martyr will double the zeal, wrath, and greatness of the resistance front against the usurping Zionists, and they will face severe retribution and revenge," he said.
The martyrdom would further ignite the wrath of the combative and epic-making Palestinian nation.
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July 30: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 3:50 PM
By Press TV Website Staff
Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 39,500 Palestinians so far, the majority of them children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.
The major operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Tuesday, July 30, are as follows:
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on July 30:
In a joint operation with Al-Quds Brigades, targeted a gathering of Israeli forces in the Sheikh Nasser area with heavy mortar shells.
Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles near Al-Baraa Mosque in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City with a barrage of regular 60-caliber mortar shells.
Targeted Israeli military gatherings and military vehicles on the "Netzarim" axis with standard and heavy mortar shells.
Targeted Israeli military gatherings stationed on Al-Hashashin Hill west of Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip, with regular and heavy mortar shells.
Engaged in armed clashes with Israeli forces invading Al-Ain Camp in Nablus, occupied West Bank, from several directions, using machine guns and explosive devices.
Al-Quds Brigades' operations on July 30:
Targeted an Israeli military vehicle by detonating a "piercing-barrel" explosive device during the enemy forces' incursion east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Targeted Israeli military gatherings in the vicinity of Baraa Mosque in Tal Al-Hawa in Gaza City with a barrage of mortar shells.
Mujahideen Brigades' operations on July 30:
Targeted a position of Israeli regime soldiers with Haseb 111 rockets.
Hezbollah's operations on July 30:
Israeli warplanes that broke the sound barrier over Lebanese airspace were targeted and forced to retreat behind the borders.
The Beit Hilal Barracks was targeted with Katyusha rockets.
The Jal al-Alam site was targeted with artillery shells.
The headquarters of the Sahel Battalion in the Beit Hillel barracks was targeted with drones.
Israeli soldiers in the Kfar Yuval settlement were targeted with appropriate weapons.
The headquarters of the Sahel Battalion in the Beit Hillel Barracks was targeted with Katyusha rockets.
Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Avivim barracks were targeted with appropriate weapons.
The Ramtha site in Lebanon's Kfar Shuba was targeted with a barrage of missiles.
The Zibdin site in Lebanon's Shebaa was targeted with a barrage of missiles.
The Bayad Blida site was targeted with appropriate weapons.
The air and missile defense headquarters in Keila was targeted with Katyusha rockets.
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Qatar, Egypt: Assassinations jeopardize efforts to secure ceasefire in Gaza
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 2:45 PM
Qatar and Egypt have warned that political assassinations like the one that killed Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, will jeopardize efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh was assassinated in an attack on his residence in the Iranian capital of Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday, just a day after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's newly-elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in a statement, said the horrendous crime was the result of a terrorist act perpetrated by the cowardly and criminal Zionist regime of Israel.
Later in the day, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani emphasized that such political assassinations could damage efforts to secure a ceasefire in the besieged Gaza Strip, nearly ten months the occupying regime unleashed an ongoing brutal war on the Palestinian enclave
"Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Al Thani wrote on X.
"Peace needs serious partners & a global stance against the disregard for human life," he stated.
Separately, Egypt's foreign ministry said that a "dangerous Israeli escalation policy" over the past two days had undermined efforts to put an end to the months-long Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the blockaded territory.
"The coincidence of this regional escalation with the lack of progress in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza increases the complexity of the situation and indicates the absence of Israeli political will to calm it down," the ministry said in a statement.
The assassination of Haniyeh "undercuts the strenuous efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and put an end to the human suffering of the Palestinian people," it added.
Qatar and Egypt have acted so far as mediators in ceasefire negotiations between the Israeli regime and Hamas.
Israel launched its barbaric campaign in Gaza on October 7, 2023 after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Since then, the regime has been committing war crimes in Gaza. It has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
After months of barbaric hostilities, the regime has failed to achieve its objectives of "destroying Hamas" and finding Israeli captives.
The assassination of Haniyeh now instills fear among Israelis, making a potential hostage deal with the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance group seem increasingly unlikely.
Haniyeh's killing "was a mistake as it threatens the possibility of having a hostage deal," an Israeli settler in the city of Haifa told AFP.
"We woke up today with a sense of fear in our hearts that this can escalate even more. There is no calm... we are afraid."
After months of US-backed negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt, efforts have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Tel Aviv.
"What stresses me now is the reaction of Hamas and Hezbollah," another Israeli in Tel Aviv told AFP.
Iran says it reserves the right to respond appropriately to this aggressive act against its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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Haniyeh's son vows Palestinians 'will fight until freedom is achieved'
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 12:56 PM
A son of Ismail Haniyeh, the late head of the political bureau of the Hamas resistance movement who was assassinated in a strike in the Iranian capital Tehran, has vowed the Palestinians "will fight until freedom is achieved."
Abdul Salam Haniyeh said his father had "strived for the unity of all Palestinian factions," and that the senior Hamas leader had survived four assassination attempts.
"Allah has granted him the martyrdom that he always wished for," he said.
The assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran came less than a day after Israel carried out a separate targeted strike against a senior Hezbollah commander in a suburb of Beirut, risking a major escalation with the Lebanese resistance movement.
The back-to-back attacks leave the Israeli regime open to retaliation from Hamas, Hezbollah and other resistance groups in the region, as well as from Iran, which has vowed a harsh response to the assassination of the leader of an ally on its soil.
In April, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at the Israeli occupied territories in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its diplomatic premises in Syria, which left several Iranian military advisors dead.
Senior Hamas officials have vowed that the cowardly act will not go unanswered.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Wednesday morning that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their residence in the Iranian capital was hit in an attack.
The statement said the attack is under investigation and the results will be announced later in the day.
Kata'ib Hezbollah: Haniyeh killing shows Israel's inability to confront resistance front
Iraq's anti-terror group Kata'ib Hezbollah condemned the assassination of Haniyeh, stating that the killing clearly points to the fact that the Tel Aviv regime is incapable to confront the methods of the Palestinian resistance on the battlefield.
"Haniyeh's blood was treacherously spilled by the Zionist enemy at his residence in Tehran, thus flouting all rules of engagement. The assassination was carried out under the illusion that it would undermine the resolve of Palestinian resistance fighters."
Iraq: Haniyeh killing flagrant violation of international laws
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry also condemned the assassination in the strongest terms.
In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said the "aggressive operation is a flagrant violation of international laws and a threat" to regional security and stability.
"It expresses its full solidarity with the Palestinian people and their leadership in these difficult moments, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to stop the repeated attacks and violations of the sovereignty of states."
Oman condemns assassination of Hamas leader
Oman also expressed its condemnation and strong denunciation of the assassination of Haniyeh, stating that the killing is a blatant violation of international law and clearly undermines efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.
In a statement, the Omani Foreign Ministry affirmed its firm position in rejecting all forms of terrorism, regardless of their motives and causes, as well as violations of state sovereignty and sanctities.
The Omani Foreign Ministry demanded strong action against the policy of killing, extremism, and abuse practiced against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the holy city of al-Quds.
Pakistan says concerned with 'growing Israeli adventurism'
Pakistan also strongly condemned the assassination and extended condolences to the bereaved family and the Palestinian nation.
"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including extrajudicial and extraterritorial killings irrespective of the motives," the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We are deeply shocked by the timing of this reckless act, coinciding with the inauguration of the President of Iran, an event attended by several foreign dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan."
The ministry said Islamabad views with serious concern the growing Israeli adventurism in the region and its latest acts that constitute a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and that undermine efforts for peace.
Hamas chief's killing aimed at derailing Gaza ceasefire talks: Malaysian PM
Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has strongly condemned the assassination, emphasizing that the "murder" was "designed to derail ongoing negotiations" to end the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.
"It is patently clear that this could only have been carried out in an environment of utter impunity," Anwar said on Wednesday as he spoke to the leadership of the Palestinian resistance group to convey condolences.
"Only the heedless and unconscionable will not see the need to intensify pressure on Israel to stop their murderous rampage," the Malaysian prime minister noted.
Anwar further stated that his "detractors ... fail to appreciate Haniyeh's profound desire for a peaceful West Asia and a Palestinian nation restored to its rightful dignity."
"I mourn the loss of a dear friend and a valiant advocate for his people," he said.
Separately, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry urged an immediate and thorough investigation into the assassination, and said "those responsible will be brought to justice."
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Iran, resistance front to avenge blood of Hamas leader: Parliament speaker
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 10:49 AM
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says the Islamic Republic and the resistance front will avenge the blood of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
Qalibaf made the remarks in a social media post on Wednesday, following the assassination of Haniyeh in the capital Tehran earlier in the day.
"May God have mercy upon the brave leader of the Palestinian resistance, the courageous fighter and wise mentor, protector of the dignity of the resilient Palestinian nation and guardian of Islamic values, martyr of al-Quds, Haj Ismail Haniyeh," Qalibaf said.
"The two nations of Iran and Palestine are grieving over this great tragedy together. Iran and the resistance front will avenge the blood of their martyred brother," he added.
Haniyeh was killed in a dawn attack on his residence in Tehran.
The Palestinian resistance leader was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Following the assassination, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response", saying it is the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself," the Leader said.
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IRGC warns Israel of 'harsh, painful' response over Haniyeh's killing
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 10:35 AM
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned Israel of a harsh and stinging response from the forces of the Axis of Resistance, particularly Iran, in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
"Undoubtedly, the heinous crime committed by the Zionist regime concerning the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, will be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful Resistance Front, especially the Islamic [Republic of] Iran," the elite force said in a statement released on Wednesday.
It added that the horrendous crime showed that the criminal, murderous and terrorist Zionists will spare no criminal acts, in defiance of the international law and principles, to cover up their humiliating failure following nine months of war on Gaza, which has resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children.
The statement further noted that Hanieyh and one of his bodyguards were assassinated in the early hours on Wednesday July 31, 2024 at their residence in Tehran as a result of a terrorist act perpetrated by the cowardly and criminal Zionist regime.
The IRGC stated that the late Hamas chief was among the distinguished personalities of about 110 foreign delegations, who had been invited by the Iranian Parliament to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The statement emphasized that Hanaiyeh had made several visits to Iran in recent years, especially after the large-scale and historic Operation Al-Aqsa Storm launched by Hamas and other Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups on October 7 last year against the usurping Israeli regime.
Earlier, the IRGC announced in a separate statement that the attack is under investigation and the results will be announced later in the day.
It also offered condolences to the heroic Palestinian nation, the Muslim Ummah (community), fighters of the resistance front and the noble Iranian nation over the martyrdom of the senior Palestinian resistance leader.
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Leader vows to avenge blood of 'dear guest' Haniyeh, warns Israel of 'harsh punishment'
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 8:55 AM
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response" for the the assassination of Hamas's Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, saying it is the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the blood of the Palestinian resistance leader.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on Wednesday, hours after Haniyeh, who had traveled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new president, was killed in a dawn attack in the capital.
"The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself," the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei commended Haniyeh's years-long sacrifices in his fight against the Israeli occupation and said he was ready for martyrdom and sacrificed his children and households on this path.
"He was not afraid of embracing martyrdom in the way of God and saving God's servants, but we consider it our duty to avenge his blood in this bitter and horrific incident that came to pass in the Islamic Republic's territory," the Leader asserted.
The Leader also extended his condolences to the Islamic Ummah, the resistance front, the proud nation of Palestine as well as Haniyeh's family and one of his companions, who was martyred with him.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
Iranian authorities announced that rigorous investigations have been launched into the targeted killing of Haniyeh in the capital and the results will subsequently be released.
The Islamic Republic has declared three days of national mourning for the loss of the Palestinian resistance leader.
Palestinian groups have already condemned his assassination in the strongest terms, vowing to make those behind the assassination pay the price of the heinous act.
Haniyeh, 62, was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada or uprising.
As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks and was appointed part of a "collective leadership" in 2004 and reached the Hamas top job in 2017.
Three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in April.
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President Pezeshkian: Path of resistance, support of oppressed will be followed stronger than ever
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 8:12 AM
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, will further consolidate the bond between the two nations, noting that the path of resistance will continue stronger than ever.
Pezeshkian made the remark in a post on his X social media account on Wednesday, hours after Haniyeh was assassinated in an attack on his residence in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Today, Iran is mourning "the all-time and proud follower of the path of resistance, the brave leader of the Palestinian resistance, the martyr of al-Quds, Haj Ismail Haniyeh," said part of the message.
"Yesterday, I raised his victorious hand and today I should carry him on my shoulders," Pezeshkian further wrote, adding, "The bond between the two proud nations of Iran and Palestine will be stronger than ever, and the path of resistance and protection of the oppressed will be followed stronger than ever."
The Iranian president underlined, "The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity, honor and dignity, and make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly act."
Iranian Foreign Ministry: Haniyeh's blood, sacrifices 'will not go in vain'
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also expressed its condolences on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, saying the blood and sacrifices of the late head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas will not be wasted.
Nasser Kan'ani, the foreign ministry spokesman, made the statement after Haniyeh, who had traveled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new chief executive, was killed in an attack in the capital in the early hours of Wednesday.
Kan'ani condoled with the "great and proud" nation of Palestine, Hamas and all Palestinian resistance groups, the entire resistance movements as well as nations and countries supporting the Palestinian cause.
Pointing to the Iranian authorities' ongoing investigations into the aspects of the targeted killing, the foreign ministry spokesman said, "Undoubtedly, the pure blood of this indefatigable combatant, who spent a lifetime in the fight and honorable struggle against the usurping Zionist regime and on the way to the liberation of al-Quds and the emancipation of the oppressed Palestinian nation from the clutches of the Zionist occupiers, will not be wasted."
Kan'ani also underlined that the martyrdom of Haniyeh in Tehran will further bolster the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Palestine and the resistance.
Palestinian groups have joined the chorus of condemnation and condolence, pledging to make those behind the targeted killing pay the price of the heinous act.
Parliamentary committee to hold emergency session
The spokesman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and said the panel is slated to hold an emergency meeting following the incident.
"This was a cowardly act and its perpetrators will definitely receive the necessary response, and any mischief against the commanders and leaders of the resistance will not go unanswered," Ebrahim Rezaei said.
The issue is under investigation and the Committee will inform the public about the aspects and perpetrators of the incident, he added.
Rezaei hailed Haniyeh's distinguished role in the Palestinian resistance, and his efforts for liberation of al-Quds and securing the Palestinian rights.
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Hezbollah: Killing of Haniyeh strengthens resistance front's resolve
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 7:11 AM
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says the assassination of the head of the political bureau of Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, will only strengthen the resistance front's resolve.
The group expressed its deepest condolences over the assassination of Hamas's leader, saying, "We commiserate with our brethren in Hamas over the loss of the great leader, voice our outrage over the Israeli enemy's crimes, and take great pride in leaders of resistance groups ... We are very assured that the divine promise of victory will come true."
Hezbollah praised Haniyeh as one of the greatest resistance leaders of time, who bravely stood up to the United States' hegemony projects and the Zionist regime's occupation plans.
"The martyrdom of Haniyeh will strengthen the determination and resolve of resistance fighters on all fronts, and will inspire them to continue the path of struggle and confront the Zionist enemy much more resolutely than ever," Hezbollah asserted.
Yemen: Haniyeh's assassination contravenes intl. law
The Yemeni Ansarullah resistance movement also condemned in the strongest terms Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran, saying that the killing contravenes principles and norms of the international law.
"The assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran constitutes a terrorist crime, and a flagrant violation of the international law," Ansarullah said in a statement broadcast by Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network.
It added that the heinous and cowardly assassination of the Hamas leader is a dramatic loss for the Muslim world, especially at this critical juncture of confrontation with the Israeli enemy.
"We are determined to stand by Hamas and all resistance factions in resisting the US-sponsored Zionist aggression," Ansarullah said.
The movement went on to state that the ongoing Israeli genocidal crimes and assassinations of leading resistance figures demonstrate the regime's abject failure and absolute incapability in the Gaza war.
Ansarullah also called upon the Arab regimes that have normalized ties with Israel to awaken and work diligently to uphold the dignity of Muslims and support Palestine.
"We reiterate our pledge and determination to support Palestine and its cause. We will continue to follow the path of resistance until final victory.
"The crime of Haniyeh's assassination will not deter the Palestinian nation and will not stop their resistance against the Zionist regime. Rather, it will increase their resilience and steadfastness," the Yemeni movement underscored.
"Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values." Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Supreme Revolutionary Committee also said.
Qatar warns of 'dangerous escalation'
Furthermore, Qatar condemned "in the strongest terms" the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran as a "heinous crime."
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the assassination was a "dangerous escalation," emphasizing it will "lead to the region slipping into chaos and undermine the chances of peace."
Doha said considers it a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law.
Syria: Haniyeh killing in breach of Iran's sovereignty, intl. law
The Syrian Foreign Ministry also denounced in the strongest terms Haniyeh's assassination, stressing that the targeted killing is in flagrant violation of Iran's sovereignty and international law.
"The Zionist entity committed a new crime in the early hours of Wednesday, when it carried out a terrorist attack in the Iranian capital Tehran that resulted in the martyrdom of the head of the political bureau of Hamas resistance movement," the ministry said in a statement.
"This despicable act came after a series of heinous Israeli attacks on several sites in the region, including the occupied Syrian Golan, Lebanon and Iraq, and amid the ongoing massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," it added.
The Syrian foreign ministry then warned against the outbreak of a full-blown regional conflict in light of Israel's continued disregard for international principles, and its failure to comply with UN Security Council and the General Assembly resolutions.
"Syria supports the Islamic Republic of Iran and offers its condolences to the Palestinian nation, which is resisting the criminal Israeli aggression. It reaffirms its constant solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle and legitimate right to establish an independent state with al-Quds as its capital," the statement also read.
Russia: Hamas leader killing 'unacceptable political murder'
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also censured the killing of Haniyeh as "an absolutely unacceptable political murder."
"This is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions," he told RIA state news agency on Wednesday.
Bogdanov said the killing will also have a negative impact on the course of Gaza ceasefire talks.
Russia has frequently condemned the relentless Israeli offensives against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and taken a swipe at the United States for ignoring the need for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Zionist barbarism will fail: Erdogan
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Haniyeh's assassination a "despicable act" intended to undermine the Palestinian cause, Gaza's glorious resistance and Palestinians' just struggle.
"I strongly condemn and denounce the treacherous assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran," Erdogan said.
"This assassination is a despicable act aimed at undermining the Palestinian cause, the glorious resistance of Gaza, and the just struggle of our Palestinian brothers, intending to demoralize and intimidate them," the Turkish leader added.
"The purpose of this assassination is the same as the previous heinous attacks on Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, and many other political figures from Gaza; however, Zionist barbarism will once again fail to achieve its goals as it has in the past," he pointed out.
Erdogan also called on the Muslim world and the international community to unite against "Israeli terrorism."
"With a stronger stance of the Muslim world and unity of the international community, the oppression and genocide in Gaza and the terror Israel is spreading in our region will surely come to an end, and our region and the world will find peace," said.
"For this purpose, Turkey will continue to explore all avenues, exert all efforts, and support our Palestinian brothers with all our means and strength. We will continue to work for the establishment of a free, sovereign, and independent State of Palestine, with East al-Quds as its capital, based on the 1967 borders," Erdogan said.
'Heinous' assassination
Separately, the Turkish Foreign ministry also condemned the killing as "heinous."
"We extend our condolences to the Palestinian people who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of martyrs like Haniyeh in order to live in peace in their homeland under the roof of their own state," the ministry said in a statement.
Haniyeh's assassination once again demonstrates that the Israeli regime led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no intention of achieving peace, the statement added.
The ministry also warned that the region will face much larger conflicts if the international community does not take action to stop Israel, adding that Haniyeh's assassination aims to expand the conflict beyond Gaza to a regional scale.
It also reaffirmed Turkey's support for "the just cause of the Palestinian people."
China condemns assassination of Hamas chief Haniyeh
China on Wednesday said it condemned the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, warning it could lead to further instability in the West Asia region.
"We are highly concerned about the incident and firmly oppose and condemn the assassination," Spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian said.
"We are deeply concerned that this incident may lead to further instability in the regional situation," he added, expressing his country's support for "resolving regional disputes through negotiation and dialogue."
"Gaza should achieve a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire as soon as possible to avoid further escalation of conflict and confrontation," he noted.
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of the so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Earlier this month, China hosted representatives from Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah and several others in Beijing, where they signed an agreement to form a "national unity government" in post-war Gaza.
Fatah military branch in Gaza condemns Haniyeh killing
The Abdul al-Qadir al-Husseini Brigades, the military branch of the Palestinian Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, also condemned the assassination of Haniyeh in "a treacherous and cowardly Zionist raid" in the Iranian capital Tehran.
It emphasized that the late Hamas leader followed the path of fallen resistance fighters in the battle to defend the Palestinian cause.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement on Wednesday morning that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their residence in the Iranian capital was hit in an attack.
The statement said the attack is under investigation and the results will be announced later in the day.
It also offered condolences to the heroic Palestinian nation, the Muslim Ummah (community) and fighters of the resistance front over the martyrdom of the senior Palestinian resistance leader.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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Profile: Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader who pushed Zionist entity to brink of extinction
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 31 July 2024 6:26 AM
By Press TV Website Staff
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was killed in a cowardly attack by the Israeli regime in Tehran in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in a statement announced the assassination of Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards in an attack that targeted their residence in the Iranian capital.
IRGC said the attack is being investigated and details would be announced later.
Hamas, in its statement, vowed to avenge the cowardly assassination of its leader, who it stated "passed as a result of a treacherous Zionist raid" in the Iranian capital.
"The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns the sons of our great Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic nation, and all the free people of the world," read the statement issued on Wednesday.
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's newly-elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who took the oath of office in the parliament on Tuesday.
He is the second high-profile Hamas leader to be assassinated by the Israeli regime since Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, 2023, after Salah al-Arouri's assassination in southern Beirut on January 2.
Haniyeh was born in the al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1962 and studied at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he graduated in Arabic literature in 1987.
After years of political activities against the Israeli occupation, he was appointed as one of the senior leaders of Hamas in 1997, after which he gradually rose through the ranks to become the top leader.
He also headed the office of Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, after the latter was released from an Israeli prison in 1997. The two of them shared a very close relationship.
Haniyeh played an active role in both the First and Second Intifada and served multiple prison terms as well. He also survived many assassination bids, including a suicide bombing in 2003.
Under his leadership, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and became the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, however, the Palestinian Authority President dismissed him in 2007.
Haniyeh also served as the Hamas leader in the besieged Gaza Strip between 2006 and 2017, after which he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar, a high-ranking Hamas military commander.
On May 6, 2017, Haniyeh was elected as the chairman of the resistance movement's political office, succeeding Khaled Mashal, after which he relocated to Qatar from Palestine.
After the events of October 7, 20023, Haniyeh used his political office to defend the Palestinian resistance operation against the illegal Israeli occupation and admirably led the popular movement.
"How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognize the rights of our people," he was quoted as saying after the Palestinian resistance launched the unprecedented military operation.
In one of his speeches, he asserted that the Palestinian people in Gaza had a "willingness to sacrifice all that is precious for the sake of their freedom and dignity: and warned that the regime "will pay a heavy price for their crimes and terrorism" against Palestinians.
On November 1, 2023, Haniyeh denounced the Israeli regime for committing "barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians" after a dastardly attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.
In December, an opinion poll showed that Haniyeh would defeat Mahmoud Abbas by a massive margin for the position of President of the State of Palestine - 78 percent for Haniyeh and 16 percent for Abbas - pointing to the growing popularity of the Hamas resistance leader.
Haniyeh also offered personal sacrifices as the leader of the most popular resistance group in Palestine, with at least 14 members of his immediate family killed in an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City in October.
In November 2023, his granddaughter and grandson were also killed. In April 2024, in a major tragedy, Haniyeh lost three of his sons and three grandchildren in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
In June 2024, ten more members of his close family, including his 80-year-old sister, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza.
On July 31, 2024, Haniyeh was also assassinated by the same enemy, marking the end of an era.
His life and legacy, however, will continue to act as a beacon of inspiration for resistance forces against the US-backed Israeli occupation, which is already on the brink of extinction.
In an interview with the Press TV in April last year, Haniyeh affirmed that Israel is "living in its worst situation" ever, enumerating the reasons for the decline and death of the Zionist entity.
Ten months after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, the regime is already staring at nothingness after failing to achieve any of its military objectives despite massacring nearly 40,000 Palestinians.
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Planned US missile defense tests divide Guam residents
A 10-year launch program is part of the U.S. military's Pacific build-up against China.
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan and Stefan Armbruster for BenarNews 2024.07.31 -- Planned missile tests in Guam are dividing residents as an unprecedented military build-up in the U.S. territory continues in response to geo-political tensions in the Pacific.
Residents have been given until Friday to voice their concerns about the environmental impacts of the launches due to begin by the end of the year.
A draft Department of Defense environmental assessment concludes missile flights from the Andersen Air Force Base, at the northernmost tip of the island, or at sea from Navy ships would have "no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative environmental impacts."
The tests come as the island is preparing for the relocation of 5,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa by 2028 and in response to long-range ballistic missiles developed by China and North Korea, dubbed "Guam Killers".
An "open house" was hosted last week by the Missile Defense Agency, part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at the request of local politicians and the community over lack of transparency and consultation. A small group of protestors picketed the event.
"I'm really concerned because we have a lot of people living here. What if one of the tests backfires on us," Melissa Savares, mayor of Dededo village next to the airbase, told RFA affiliate BenarNews at the information session on July 25.
The environmental assessment says debris is expected to fall within the air base and "there is no reasonable expectation the [rocket] booster may land outside this smaller impact area".
About 250 property owners around the airbase have nevertheless received letters offering compensation if they evacuate their homes for up to four days during the tests.
"Some residents talk about building shelters in their properties, just for them and their families to go into," Savares said. "But can we really afford to do that?"
Guam is already experiencing a housing crisis, building homes is beyond the means of most residents and the government has no plans to build bunkers.
More than 150,000 people live on the island 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) north of Papua New Guinea and 2,200 kilometers east of the Philippines, including 21,000 military members and their families.
"Right now, we're only planning to do one test in December as part of our environmental assessment," John Bier, program director of the Guam Defense System for the MDA, told BenarNews.
Up to two test flights a year are planned over the next decade as part of a US$1.2 billion missile defense system for Guam, which MDA identifies as a priority for its US$10.4 billion budget proposal for 2025.
"Think of it as a deterrent," Bier said. "If you don't have a defense and if something decides to threaten this island, [and reinforcements] can't get here fast enough, that's why we want to have it here on the island."
Brothers and veterans of U.S. deployments to Afghanistan, Thomas and John Pangelinan, welcome the missiles.
"We know what it is like to lose a strategic area so we have to defend it at all costs," Thomas Pangelinan told BenarNews, while his brother John added he would rather take his chances with the missiles on Guam.
December's test will be the first missile launched from the island to intercept another missile and be used to evaluate the MDA's interoperability with the Army and Navy.
Guam is no stranger to military experiments, receiving measurable fallout from the U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1962.
The missile intercept will occur more than 88 nautical miles from Guam and debris will fall into the ocean and sink to the ocean seafloor, in what the environmental assessment says would be a "less than significant impact on marine biological resources."
A protest was held outside the open house, by the group 'Prutehi Litekyan - Save Ritidian' representing Guam's indigenous CHamoru people, who oppose the militarization of their traditional lands and waters.
"It's really hard to pick a place to start - from disgust to horror - to talk about the many negative impacts of this plan," spokesperson Moneaka Flores told BenarNews.
"The ocean is not an endless resource for us to exploit and contaminate, nor is our island. Our island is constantly being set up to endure the burdens of militarization, building us up to be a site for war once again," Flores said.
Residents are still awaiting the release of a separate, independent environmental assessment commissioned by the U.S. Secretary of Defense from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content July not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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Vietnam's PM visits India to reaffirm strategic partnership
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is on a three-day visit to boost ties amid regional challenges.
By RFA Staff 2024.07.31 -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has arrived in India on an official visit with security and defense cooperation high on the agenda.
This is Chinh's first visit as head of the government and also the first visit by a Vietnamese prime minister to India in 10years.
Chinh is the second foreign leader, after Bangladesh prime minister Sheik Hasina, to visit Delhi since Narendra Modi began his third term as India's prime minister.
Security and defense are two core "pillars" in Vietnam-India relations, said the office of Vietnam's prime minister.
Delhi is one of Hanoi's seven comprehensive strategic partners - the top tier of bilateral relations - on par with China, Russia and the United States.
Prime Minister Modi once said that Vietnam is an important pillar of India's Act East Policy.
The two countries signed a Joint Vision Statement on a defense partnership, as well as a memorandum of understanding on mutual logistics support in June 2022 during a visit to Vietnam by India's defense minister Rajnath Singh.
"Vietnam-India defense cooperation went back a long time," said Yusuf Unjhawala, an Indian defense analyst.
India donated a domestically built missile corvette, INS Kirpan, to Vietnam in June 2023 and "also sold a number of smaller vessels to Hanoi," Unjhawala told RFA, referring to high-speed guard boats built in both India and in Vietnam under an Indian credit scheme.
India's naval vessels have been allowed to make port calls in Vietnam.
"Hopefully this can be elevated to another level with a mutual logistics agreement" to grant the Indian navy better access to Vietnam's strategic port of Cam Ranh, he said.
Maritime cooperation
Both Vietnam and India are wary of China's growing military might and assertiveness.
Maritime security is seen as one of the most important parts of Vietnam-India bilateral relations and they have held regular maritime security dialogues since 2019.Vietnam is embroiled in an intense territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea and is keen to upgrade its navy and boost its capabilities.
Vietnam is also looking to diversify its defense industry to end dependence on Soviet and Russian weaponry and India could provide a promising alternative, the Bangalore-based analyst Unjhawala said.
BrahMos Aerospace - a joint venture between India and Russia - is in talks to export its supersonic cruise missiles to Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The company has begun delivering shore-based anti-ship missile systems to the Philippines under a US$375-million contract and Vietnam has indicated its interest in acquiring similar missiles, according to the defense intelligence company Janes.
RFA's sources said Vietnam is also exploring possibilities to purchase India's indigenous medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) Akash systems.
India has also provided a multi-million-dollar grant to develop an Army Software Park in Vietnam.
While it is unclear whether any arms contract would be signed during the Vietnamese prime minister's visit to India, it is almost certain that discussions are underway on strengthening security cooperation, analysts said.
Edited by Mike Firn.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content July not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed In Tehran Air Strike; Khamenei Vows Revenge
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda July 31, 2024
Iran said Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas, was killed on July 31 in Tehran in a raid that it accused Israel of carrying out and which has sparked fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it was investigating the attack that killed the 62-year-old Haniyeh while he was in Tehran to attend the July 30 inauguration ceremony for Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian.
The Iran-backed Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Hamas confirmed the news in a post on its Telegram channel on July 31, saying Haniyeh was killed in an "air strike on his residence in Tehran."
The Israeli government has yet to comment officially, but a photo of Haniyeh with a stamp on his forehead saying "Eliminated" was posted on the Government Press Office's Facebook page. The post, which was later deleted without explanation, did not specifically claim the strike was carried out by Israel, though it noted the Hamas official "was killed in a precise strike in Tehran."
Haniyeh's death came the same day that the United States carried out a strike in Iraq, raising concerns about the possibility of an all-out war in the Middle East. Washington claimed as self-defense the strike inside a base south of Baghdad that is used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. It said the attack killed four members of the group, which contains several Iran-aligned armed militias, and wounded four others.
Although Haniyeh's death has sparked fears of an escalation in the region, Ali Mamouri, a research fellow with Australia's Deakin University and Middle East specialist, said the situation is "still far from a full-scale regional war."
"However, the existing rules where both sides exercise restraint to a very limited level of engagement will change, and new levels of conflict will arise," he told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
"We will witness more attacks by Iran's allies in the region on Israeli territory rather than directly from Iran," he added. "I think that the level of tension will escalate and might lead us toward relatively dangerous borders."
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Radio Farda that there was "a likelihood that the Iranians will look for a way to react to the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh."
"But I think that the fact that the Israeli government did not recognize publicly and officially any responsibility...will somehow influence the extent or the extremity of the Iranian reaction. I think it will be somewhat more moderate than under different circumstances," he said.
Meanwhile, Pezeshkian said in a statement, less than 24 hours after his inauguration, that Iran "will defend its territorial integrity" after the attack, though he did not say how.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also vowed revenge against Israel over the killing.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas immediately condemned Haniyeh's killing, calling it a "cowardly act and dangerous development," according to the Palestinian state news agency WAFA.
Several countries denounced the attack, with Russia calling it an "unacceptable political assassination," while Turkey warned it would extend the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The killing of Haniyeh comes as Washington is making a push to get Hamas and Israel to agree to a temporary cease-fire and a deal to release hostages being held in Gaza. Senior officials from the United States, Israel, Qatar, and Egypt are engaged in the latest round of talks to secure such a deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that Washington was "not aware of or involved in" Haniyeh's assassination and wouldn't speculate on the impact it might have on the region.
He did say, however, that the "best way to bring the temperature down" is to keep pushing for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
"We will continue to labor that for as long as it takes to get there," he told Channel News Asia while on a two-day official visit to Singapore. "It's vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It's vitally important to get the hostages home.... It's vitally important to hopefully put things on a better path for more enduring peace and more enduring security, so that focus remains."
Earlier on July 30, Israel claimed it had "eliminated" Fuad Shukr, the Hizballah militant commander Israel alleges was behind a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 Israeli youths in Beirut.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on the X social media network that Shukr has "directed" attacks by Hizballah.
There was no immediate response from Hizballah.
Shukr was wanted by U.S. authorities for his alleged involvement in a 1983 attack on U.S. troops in Beirut. Washington had offered up to $5 million for information on Shukr, who is also known as al-Hajj Mohsin and is on the U.S. terrorist list.
Hizballah, which rarely shies away from claiming attacks on Israeli targets, has denied it was responsible for the July 27 attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but Israel had vowed to retaliate against the Iran-backed group.
Israel has vowed to kill leaders of Hamas over the group's October 7 attack inside Israeli territory that killed 1,200 people. Around 250 others were taken hostage, some of whom have since been released.
Some of the hostages have died while in Gaza as Israel carries out a massive military operation it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas. Some of the hostages are believed to still be alive.
"Assassinating the Hamas leader will make negotiations and de-escalation more difficult. Things will become more violent and the situation will worsen, it will not improve," said Areepen Uttarasin, a Thai politician who has been one of the negotiators in talks to free the hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas.
Haniyeh had been part of Hamas for decades and became its political chief in 2017. He lived in the Gaza Strip until 2019, when he moved to live in exile in Qatar.
He had emerged as one of its most visible leaders during the war with Israel in Gaza as he shuttled between countries in the Middle East to attend international negotiations over the conflict, including the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas.
With additional reporting by Reuters
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-s-irgc-says-hamas-political- chief-haniyeh-killed-in-raid-/33057365.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Stunned by Hamas Leader's Killing In Tehran, Iran And Allies Weigh Response
By Kian Sharifi and Hannah Kaviani July 31, 2024
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Tehran has sent shock waves across the region, once against raising the specter of all-out war between Iran and its archfoe, Israel.
Haniyeh was killed early on July 31 in an affluent neighborhood of Tehran, soon after attending the inauguration of President Masud Pezeshkian in parliament.
His killing is the latest in a string of assassinations in and around the Iranian capital in recent years that the Islamic republic has blamed on Israel, which has not claimed any of the incidents.
Analysts say Haniyeh's assassination is a major hit to the already tarnished reputation of Iran's security apparatus and will prompt Tehran to retaliate, though that response is unlikely to come directly from the Islamic republic.
Just hours before the Palestinian leader's death, Israel claimed it killed a top commander of the Lebanese militant group Hizballah in an air strike in Beirut.
Yossi Melman, a Tel Aviv-based analyst and the intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Iran and Tehran-backed Hizballah "will have to respond" once they "recover from their traumas and shocks."
'Strong Message' To Iran And Allies
Just a week ago, Iran's outgoing intelligence minister, Esmai Khatib, told reporters that the ministry's biggest accomplishment under his tenure was "breaking up Mossad's infiltration network," referring to Israel's intelligence agency.
Haniyeh's assassination in Tehran, amid heightened security due to the presence of dozens of high-ranking Iranian and foreign officials for Pezeshkian's inauguration, has brought Khatib's claim under scrutiny.
"This is certainly a massive failure of Iranian security, one in a long string of failures going back decades that demonstrate Israel and the United States have access to some of the Islamic republic's most sensitive secrets and can put this information to spectacular use to inflict major defeats," said Farzan Sabet, senior research associate at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
He added that Haniyeh's killing "severely embarrasses the Islamic republic and sends it a strong message that none of its officials and allies are safe."
Potential Response
In April, Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel in retaliation for the bombing of its diplomatic compound in Damascus. Days later, suspected Israeli strikes hit a military base outside Iran's central city of Isfahan.
Tehran has largely avoided getting directly involved in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that broke out in October, instead using its network of militant groups and proxies to hit Israel.
But Sabet said the Islamic republic may feel pressure to respond directly to the killing of Haniyeh to compensate for the embarrassment of failing to prevent his assassination on Iranian soil.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said after the killing that it was "our duty" to avenge Haniyeh.
Iran's mission to the UN said in a tweet on X that Tehran's response will be "special operations -- harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator."
"Iran is facing a conundrum: If it delivers a direct response [to Israel], the military and political consequences may not be in its favor," Hamidreza Azizi, fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Radio Farda.
"Therefore, I think the response, which will be serious, will come through Hizballah and at least not from Iran's own territory like we saw in April."
Alireza Namvar Haghighi, a professor at the University of Toronto, warned that it would be "dangerous" for Iran to allow itself to be driven by emotions and fall into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "trap" to drag Iran into the wider conflict in the Middle East.
"Iran needs to manage tensions," he told Radio Farda.
Hooman Askary of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this story.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-israel-killing-haniyeh- hamas/33058095.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Who Was Slain Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh?
By Iliya Jazaeri July 31, 2024
Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of the designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas who was killed in Tehran on July 31, was a controversial figure whose death could escalate tensions in the Middle East and derail negotiations to end Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh was the political chief of Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Based in Qatar, he had played a key role in internationally brokered talks on reaching a cease-fire in Gaza.
A U.S.-designated terrorist, Haniyeh was considered a relative moderate within the organization.
Hamas's military wing is led by Yahya Sinwar, the leader based in Gaza who is considered the mastermind of the group's attack inside Israeli territory on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked Israel's retaliatory invasion of the Palestinian enclave later that month.
Haniyeh, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp, died at the age of 62. No state or organization has claimed responsibility for his killing, although Tehran has blamed Israel and vowed revenge. While Israel has not commented on the incident, Haniyeh had been high on Israel's hit list since the October attack.
More than 39,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials in the territory, as international calls for a cease-fire have gone unanswered.
Haniyeh, who would have been a top voice in any peace negotiations, was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in on July 30. The two leaders were pictured together during the visit in photographs released by Pezeshkian's office.
Haniyeh was born in the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. His family is originally from an area that is now the Israeli port of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip. The family fled the area during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and moved to Gaza.
Haniyeh joined Hamas as a university student shortly after it was founded in 1987 after the beginning of the First Intifada, which protested Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
That year, Haniyeh was arrested and briefly jailed for participating in anti-Israel protests. He also graduated in 1987 with a degree in Arabic literature from the Islamic University of Gaza.
In 1988, Haniyeh was arrested again and jailed for six months, and in 1989 he was sentenced to three years in prison due to his involvement with Hamas.
After his release in 1992, Haniyeh was among hundreds of Hamas members and supporters who were exiled to southern Lebanon. Haniyeh spent a year at the Marj al-Zahour camp before returning to Gaza to become a dean at his alma mater, the Islamic University of Gaza.
When Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin was released from an Israeli prison in 1997, Haniyeh was tapped to head his office and the two developed a close relationship. Haniyeh's prominence within Hamas rose quickly and he was selected to represent the group in the Palestinian Authority, which runs part of the West Bank.
Haniyeh and Yassin narrowly escaped an Israeli air strike in September 2003 that targeted their residence in Gaza City. Yassin was killed six months later by an Israeli air strike.
In the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Haniyeh headed the list of Hamas candidates.
Under the slogan "change and reform," 76 out of 132 parliamentary seats went to Hamas.
With a majority secured, newly nominated Prime Minister Haniyeh set about forming a government.
Several weeks of negotiations to form a coalition government between Hamas, its main rival Fatah, and other Palestinian groups failed -- largely due to Hamas's refusal to accept conditions set out by the United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union, which included recognition of the state of Israel.
Shortly after its landslide victory, Hamas said it would not back down from its goal of replacing Israel with an Islamic state and indicated that it would resist negotiations to resolve the long-standing conflict with Israel.
Haniyeh eventually formed a government made up mostly of Hamas members and technocrats.
In presenting his government's plan, Haniyeh also called on the United States and Europe to not carry out their threats to halt aid to the Hamas-led government unless it recognized Israel, renounced violence, and abided by agreements under previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements aimed at a two-state solution.
Haniyeh said that he considered the continuation of the Palestinians' struggle for independence to be a "legitimate right." He also expressed openness to engage in talks with international negotiators to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Our government will spare no effort to achieve a just peace in the region, end the occupation, and restore our rights," he said, although Hamas remained steadfast in its refusal to recognize the state of Israel.
In June 2007, open violence broke out between Hamas and Fatah, and Hamas took full control of the Gaza Strip. Shortly afterward, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government.
The internal conflicts among the Palestinian groups led to the de facto division of control of the Palestinian territories, with the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip.
Israel, which had pulled its forces out of the Gaza strip two years earlier, imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory that is still in effect.
In 2011, the United States requested that Qatar provide a headquarters for Hamas's political leadership to facilitate communications. Haniyeh moved to Doha in 2016 and the next year replaced Khaled Mashal as the head of Hamas's political office.
The U.S. State Department added Haniyeh to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, a classification Washington said targeted terrorist groups and leaders who threaten the stability of the Middle East.
The State Department noted that Hamas had been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 and added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists in 2001.
In extending the terrorist designation to Haniyeh himself, the State Department explained: "Haniyeh has close links with Hamas' military wing and has been a proponent of armed struggle, including against civilians. He has reportedly been involved in terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. Hamas has been responsible for an estimated 17 American lives killed in terrorist attacks."
Following the deadly surprise attack by Hamas on Israeli cities and towns on October 7, Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders appeared in a video in which they thanked God for the attack's success.
Three of Haniyeh's sons -- Hazem, Amir, and Haniyeh -- have reportedly been killed by Israeli air strikes against the Gaza Strip since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Haniyeh is survived by his wife and cousin, Amal Haniyeh, with whom he had 13 children, including eight sons and five daughters.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-israel- haniyeh-gaza-hamas-profile/33057957.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian Border Guards Leave Yerevan Airport
By RFE/RL's Armenian Service July 31, 2024
Russia on July 31 completed the withdrawal of its border guards from Yerevan's Zvartnots international airport, a move that was demanded by Armenia earlier this year amid mounting tensions between the two countries.
Russian border guards have for decades been stationed at Zvartnots as well as along Armenia's borders with Turkey and Iran in a show of the close military ties between Russia and Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced in March that his government had given Moscow until August 1 to remove them from the airport. Armenia has the capacity to carry out border controls there "without the help of the Russian side," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the move, saying that Yerevan risks inflicting "irreparable damage" to Russian-Armenian relations and jeopardizing Armenia's security and economic development. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pashinian agreed on the withdrawal when they met in Moscow in May.
The process was completed with a farewell ceremony held for the few dozen officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) at Zvartnots. The newly appointed commander of Armenian border troops, Edgar Hunanian, thanked them for their service in a speech at the ceremony. He said the Armenian side will use the "experience and skills of Russian border guards passed on during more than 32 years of joint service."
"Your not always noticeable but very necessary work has made a significant contribution to the security of both Armenia and Russia," the Russian charge d'affaires in Yerevan, Maksim Seleznyov, said.
At his May meeting with Pashinian, Putin also agreed to pull back Russia troops and border guards from Armenia's border with Azerbaijan. They had been deployed there at Yerevan's request during and after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The border guards will continue to protect Armenia's borders with Iran and Turkey.
Russia also has a military base in the South Caucasus country. In March, a senior Russian lawmaker said he "would not recommend that the Armenian authorities even think about" demanding an end to the Russian military presence.
Pashinian has signaled no such plans so far, but he has frozen his country's membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization and not ruled out a bid to join the European Union.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-russia- guards-airport-withdrawal/33058381.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Political Parties In Kosovo Seek Date For 2025 Election
By RFE/RL's Kosovo Service July 31, 2024
Consultations began in Kosovo on July 31 on selecting a date for parliamentary elections next year, but representatives of the of the ruling party and the leading Serbian political grouping did not take part.
President Vjosa Osmani initiated the talks between the country's political parties and said after the meeting that the parties that attended expressed interest in all the possible dates.
According to the deadlines set by law, Kosovo can hold regular elections on January 26 or on February 2, 9, or 16.
Osmani said she didn't know why no representatives of Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) Movement attended. Kurti's office said he was in invited to lunch by EU Ambassador to Kosovo Tomas Szunyog.
There was also no representative of the Serbian List party at the talks. Osmani gave no reason for the absence, and the party didn't respond to RFE/RL's inquiry on why they didn't attend the meeting.
If 2025 is a regular election year as expected, then Kurti's government will become the first since independence to complete the full mandate of four years.
Opposition parties in Kosovo have demanded early elections, but earlier this year they failed to reach an agreement on how to go about holding them.
Osmani said the possibility of early elections still exists, but this could only occur with a vote of two-thirds of the National Assembly.
"Whether the political parties in the assembly are willing to make such a majority is their matter. Today, such willingness did not appear," Osmani said.
Eugen Cakolli of the Democratic Institute of Kosovo told RFE/RL that the president has until mid-October to set a date for the elections, but considering the electoral reform, she may want to decide earlier so that the Central Election Commission has more time to prepare.
He added that it is not in the interest of any political entity to hold the elections in the winter months of January or February when the weather is cold and the days are shorter.
Therefore, a solution could be found to hold the elections earlier, but this mainly depends on reaching an agreement, said Cakolli.
Artan Muhaxhiri, sociologist and political analyst from Pristina, told RFE/RL that there are currently no indications of the potential for any radical change in the Kosovar political spectrum.
"The Kurti government is in the comfort zone. It is working with the inertia of the great victory in the last elections and does not feel seriously threatened by the opposition, which has not yet found the key to decoding the ubiquitous populism," he said.
According to Muhaxhiri, during the election campaign it is expected that Kurti's main topic will be the change of dynamics in the north of Kosovo, which he will present as "the first step in the long-term transformation of the country," even though the situation is far from being solved.
"This will be his only advantage, because during the government so far, apart from damaging relations with strategic allies, he has not demonstrated a realistic vision for improving socioeconomic problems, attracting foreign investments, and infrastructural advancements," he said.
In the last two years, Kurti's government has worked intensively to establish power in the north of Kosovo, which has been resisted by the local majority Serbian population and which sometimes has been criticized by the international community.
Among the changes are the reregistration of vehicles with Serbian license plates, the conversion of driver's licenses, limitations on the use of the Serbian currency, and the closure of some institutions that work in the Serbian system.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-kurti-serbia-osmani- election/33058341.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a media question on the recognition by certain countries' of the Venezuelan presidential election results
31 July 2024 14:02
1456-31-07-2024
Question: Venezuela has come under pressure after the presidential election. Several countries refused to recognise its results and Nicolas Maduro's victory. Many of the dissenters have previously recognised Juan Guaido as the head of Venezuela. How would you comment on this?
Maria Zakharova: Russia set out its reaction to the presidential election in Venezuela in a Foreign Ministry statement released on July 29, which, among other things, clearly indicated our categorical rejection of certain countries' attempts to appropriate the right to recognise or not recognise the results of the electoral process in Venezuela.
We would like to emphasise Russia's principled position, which has been repeatedly stated earlier: electing a country's leadership is the exclusive privilege of the people. We strongly believe that there should be no double standards in this regard. It is no secret that in recent years, serious and even gross violations of democratic processes and legal procedures for the transfer of power have occurred in a number of countries, including those that you tacitly mentioned in your question. At the same time, the same states that are now denying the obvious did not express their strong condemnation, or even elementary concern when that happened.
It is our view that the reaction of the international community, and primarily, Latin American countries to the elections in Venezuela should be to support efforts to maintain peace, find constructive solutions and maintain public order. As we can see, Nicolas Maduro's government is ready to do this.
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Press release on the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh
31 July 2024 11:25
1453-31-07-2024
Moscow strongly condemns the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, who headed the political bureau within Hamas, a Palestinian movement. He died after a missile strike hit his residence in Tehran. It is worth noting that this attack took place while the Hamas leader was visiting Iran. He travelled there at an official invitation to take part in the inauguration ceremony of President-elect of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian.
It is obvious that those who organised this political assassination understood that these actions were fraught with dangerous consequences for the entire region. There is no doubt that Ismail Haniyeh's killing will have an extremely negative impact on the indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel, which offered a framework for achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on mutually acceptable terms.
Russia reiterates its insistent calls on all the parties involved to exercise restraint and avoid any steps that could dramatically worsen the security situation in the region, leading to a large-scale military confrontation.
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Venezuela's Opposition Leaders Must Face Justice - Maduro
Sputnik News
20240731
CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuelan opposition leaders Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado must face justice, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told reporters.
"If you ask my opinion as a citizen, these people should be behind bars... As head of state, I would say there should be justice. They must stop hiding and must come to the prosecutor's office," Maduro said when asked what should happen to Machado and Gonzalez.
Presidential elections in Venezuela were held on July 28. The next day the National Electoral Council declared Maduro president-elect for 2025-2031. Maduro received, according to the Electoral Council, 51% of the vote. On July 29, protests started in Venezuela. Clashes between the police and protesters began in Caracas. Protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, 77 law enforcement officers were injured; 1,062 people were detained on charges of destruction of state infrastructure, incitement of hatred and terrorism.
The Venezuelan government said a number of countries interfered in the elections and the people's right to self-determination.
Moscow said the Venezuelan opposition must admit defeat in the elections. In addition, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned third countries against supporting attempts to destabilize the situation inside Venezuela.
Sputnik
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Venezuela's Maduro Asks Supreme Tribunal to Probe Alleged Election Meddling
Sputnik News
20240731
CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro filed a constitutional protection claim on Wednesday with the country's Supreme Justice Tribunal to investigate an alleged election interference he described as an attempted coup.
The presidential election of July 28 saw Maduro win a third term in office. The announcement of the results sparked protests in the capital of Caracas and beyond, with clashes reported between the police and opposition supporters.
The Venezuelan government has accused several countries of election meddling.
"For the sake of peace in Venezuela, I ... filed a claim for constitutional protection ... to have the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Justice Tribunal investigate this attack on the electoral process, this attempt at a coup made using the electoral process," Maduro told reporters.
The president added that he decided to appeal to the court after having faced "psychological warfare in social and mass media."
"Let them interrogate all registered presidential candidates and 38 parties, and find out in detail the nature of those attacks on polling stations, arson and damage to the branches of the electoral council, and cyber attacks," Maduro said.
"I am ready to be summoned and questioned as a presidential candidate and the winner of Sunday's presidential vote. I throw myself before justice and will obey it."
Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Andrey Nastasyin said on Wednesday that Maduro's victory had been confirmed and urged foreign countries to stop using "baseless accusations" to attempt to influence the political situation in Venezuela.
Sputnik
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Haniyeh Killing to Spoil Prospects of Peace Talks as Hardliners Push for 'Strong Response'
Sputnik News
20240731
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as Israel's strike on a senior Hezbollah official, will have a detrimental effect on the ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, experts told Sputnik.
Earlier Wednesday, Hamas confirmed Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack on his residence in Tehran after he took part in the inauguration of newly elected Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Late Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced it had carried out a strike in a southern suburb of Beirut, adding later that the "most senior military commander" of Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, had been killed in the attack. A local source told Sputnik on Wednesday that Shukr's body had been found under the rubble.
"I think that the Israeli assassinations in quick succession of leading figures in Hezbollah, which has been a strong supporter of Hamas, and Hamas itself are a major setback for efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages seized by Hamas in October," Gareth Jenkins, a non-resident senior research fellow with the Joint Center Silk Road Studies Program and Turkey Center at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, said.
Furthermore, the death of Haniyeh, which is "a major blow for Hamas and a huge embarrassment for Iran," will increase the risk of the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalating into a regional war, the expert added.
"There will be hardliners in both Hamas and Iran who will be pushing for a strong response," Jenkins said.
At the same time, Iran's options are limited as Tehran "knows that it cannot defeat Israel on the battlefield," the expert also said.
"In the past, Iran has reacted to such setbacks by carrying out covert rather than overt attacks, including through its allies and proxies. The fear is that it might do so again, although the response may or may not be immediate," he said.
Meanwhile, Kanishkan Sathasivam, a professor in the political science department at Salem State University, believes the ceasefire negotiations will continue, although the situation is "very fluid" at the moment.
"The peace talks will continue, if only because other actors such as Qatar and Egypt will insist to Hamas that they keep negotiating," Sathasivam said.
"Hamas may break off talks for a few days in a purely symbolic act of defiance, but they will face too much pressure to be able to completely break off talks."
The situation between Hezbollah and Israel is not quite as simple, he said.
"So the question really is whether Iran wants a war with Israel or not? Whether we are talking about Hamas, or Hezbollah, or the Houthis, or militias in Iraq, these actors are all extensions of the regime in Tehran. Yes, they all have some measure of autonomy, but if Tehran gives them a direct order, they are not in any position to refuse that order," the expert concluded.
Sputnik
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Venezuela Seeking to Involve Russia, China in Assessing Cyberattack on Election System
Sputnik News
20240731
CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuela will ask Russia and China for help to assess the cyberattack on the country's electoral system, President Nicolas Maduro said.
On Tuesday, Maduro held a meeting of the State Council to discuss domestic policy issues, including unrest in cities and the cyberattack.
"At the meeting, it was decided to create a special commission to assess the attack with the help of Russia and China, which damaged the communications system of the national electoral council," Maduro said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Maduro said that the Venezuelan National Electoral Council's system came under a massive cyberattack on the day of the presidential election.
The presidential election of July 28 saw Nicolas Maduro win a third term in office. The announcement of the results sparked protests in the capital of Caracas and beyond, with clashes reported between the police and opposition supporters. The Venezuelan government accused several countries of election meddling.
Sputnik
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the 123 Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and Third Country Training Program Signing Ceremony
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore
July 31, 2024
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you so much. To my friend and colleague, Vivian, thank you for not only the warm hospitality - literally as well as figuratively - but as always, for the I think very thoughtful and I believe fruitful conversations that we've had today. Thoughtful because for us, for me, the wisdom that resides here in Singapore - the insight that our friends have not just about the region, but about the world - has been something that's been meaningful to me for a long time; in fact, going back to my last tenure in government. And today was really no exception. We deeply value listening to and learning from our partners, and it's something that I personally deeply value. I was telling Vivian the first time I came to Singapore was actually 44 years ago, and it made a strong impression on me that many years ago, and it continues to in a very different way now given my professional responsibilities.
You heard the foreign minister talk about the very important dialogue that we continue today on critical and emerging technology. And simply put, I think there's a shared recognition on the part of the United States and Singapore that in so many ways, together, we're present at the creation - present at the creation of new technologies that are profoundly already and even more profoundly in the future shaping the way we live, the way we work, the way our economies function. And it's imperative, indeed incumbent upon us to do what's necessary to shape the way those technologies are used, to maximize their potential for good and progress, which is extraordinary, but also to minimize the potential for the less good. And our countries working together on this to me is something of great importance, and it's been an area of real focus for the United States. And I'm very glad we could pursue the dialogue today and look very concretely at what we're doing together in this new environment to try to shape the future in ways that benefit all of our citizens and beyond.
And of course, this is on the foundation of what is an extraordinary economic relationship. Vivian mentioned this. We are overwhelmingly the largest provider of foreign direct investment in Singapore, five times more than the next nearest country. And that speaks volumes because what it says is we have tremendous trust, confidence in Singapore. We see the future as being here, and when I say "we," I mean not just the United States Government, but the American people, our private sector. That's a very, very good indication, a leading indicator of confidence in the future and confidence in the future together. I'd note, by the way, that the United States is the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world, which I think speaks volumes about the confidence that other countries have in us in this moment in time.
The two MOUs that we signed, I just want to speak briefly to them. First, the third country training renewal - for President Biden, Vice President Harris, we have been working very closely and deliberately throughout this administration to weave together networks of interconnected Indo-Pacific partners to address some of our biggest shared opportunities as well as some of our biggest shared challenges. I mentioned the other day this is my 18th visit to the Indo-Pacific over the last three and a half years, and that's just one small piece of evidence of the focus - the sustained focus - that the United States has put on the region as a whole.
But what's powerful about what we did today is this partnership between the United States and Singapore is being used to build capacity throughout the ASEAN region and its member states, and that I think demonstrates our vision in action. When we were just in Laos for the ASEAN meetings, the EAS, I heard strong support across the board for United States engagement, for United States leadership. And one of the things that many of our partners are looking for is capacity-building, sharing of knowledge, and our two countries are uniquely placed, I think, to do just that.
Through this program, and you heard Vivian say, we have trained nearly 2,000 government officials to help make countries more resilient, more connected, and as a result more prosperous. We've been working on trainings in cyber security, public health, dealing with climate change, smart cities, trade facilitation, protection of intellectual property. And this benefits our extraordinary collection between us and the ASEAN countries of some 1 billion people. And we're extending the reach even further, as you heard Vivian say, to the Pacific Island countries - 16 of them that will benefit from this program. So we've now extended the program for another three years. I think it's proof in action that the work we're doing is not only benefiting out own people but benefiting so many others in the region.
And then the 123 Agreement, the peaceful nuclear power agreement. We are also together taking on global priorities like the clean energy transition. Both of our countries have put forward very ambitious net-zero climate targets, and we're also working together to help reach them. As Singapore decides whether to adopt civil nuclear energy, the 123 Agreement creates possibility, it creates a framework to develop safe, secure, modern civil nuclear power. And of course we're doing a lot of work, Vivian, as you know, in pioneering small modular reactors. I think that increasingly will be at the forefront of nuclear power in the years ahead. But we're now - we now have a foundation in which, depending on the decision Singapore makes, we can pursue things together. It also complements a broader clean energy partnership that we've developed. We have the U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership, which was launched during Vice President Harris's visit here. We have the Green Shipping Challenge, where Singapore and our ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach are reducing emissions together. And, of course, the ASEAN Power Grid, something we talked about just a couple of days ago, supporting renewable energy across the Southeast Asian countries.
So all of this taken together translates into two things. It translates into a partnership that's making a difference for people in both of our countries, in Singapore and the United States, but also a partnership that's making a difference in the lives of people throughout the region and even beyond, around the world. This signing, this visit makes the partnership even broader, even deeper, even more effective than it was yesterday, and I'm grateful to the prime minister, and grateful to my friend the foreign minister for all the collaboration we have. We get together like this on one day and it's important, but it's really the 364 days that follow that make all the difference, and we have remarkable teams that are working those 364 days to make all of what we're doing real and have an impact. So I thank you for that as well.
Thank you. (Applause.)
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Teresa Tang of Channel News Asia
US Department of State
Interview
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Asian Civilization Museum
Singapore
July 31, 2024
QUESTION: Secretary Blinken, thank you very much for sitting down with CNA.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good to be with you.
QUESTION: I want to start with a developing story that we're following. A few hours ago Hamas said that its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran by an Israeli strike, and they're calling it an assassination. Haniyeh was involved in ceasefire talks in Gaza. What impact is his death going to have?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, of course I've seen the - seen the reports. And what I can tell you is this. First, this is something we were not aware of or involved in. It's very hard to speculate, and I've learned over many years never to speculate on the impact one event may have on something else. So I can't tell you what this means. I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains. And we will continue to labor at that for as long as it takes to get there. It's vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It's vitally important to getting the hostages home - including a number of Americans. It's vitally important to hopefully putting things on a better path for more enduring peace, for more enduring security. So that focus remains, and again, speculating on the impact of any one event, I've learned, is not - is not a wise thing to do.
QUESTION: The Iranian president has responded. I just want to read you some of his comments. He has vowed to make Israel regret the killing, saying that it's Iran's duty to avenge his death. How do you prevent retaliation against Israel, and should there be a major counterattack, how far is the U.S. willing to go in support of Israel?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: From day one, since October 7th, the horrific attack on Israel and on its men, women, and children, one of the things that we've been focused on is trying to make sure that the conflict that emerged in Gaza doesn't spread, it doesn't go to other places, doesn't escalate. And we're going to continue to do that as well. Now, again, the best way to bring the temperature down everywhere, put us on a better path, is through a ceasefire in Gaza. That will have, I think, important effects on other areas where you could see conflict - whether it's in the north of Israel and Lebanon, whether it's Iran, whether it's in the Red Sea with the Houthis. So that's why that - the focus on the ceasefire needs to remain, and for us, it will very much remain.
QUESTION: I want to bring things back to this region now. You've been busy - six countries, 10 days. I believe this is your 18th trip to the Indo-Pacific region.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: That's right.
QUESTION: Yeah - since becoming Secretary. And I want to talk about one of the biggest announcements of this tour, which is the U.S. upgrading its military command structure in Japan. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin calls it one of the strongest improvements in U.S.-Japan military ties in 70 years. Why now?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: I think what we're seeing across the board is something that President Biden was determined that we do from day one, and that was to reinvigorate, to in some cases even reimagine - but to start by reinvigorating our core alliances and our core partnerships. And we've done that around the world, but particularly we've done that in the Indo-Pacific region. As you mentioned, yes, this is the 18th time I've been to the region. Even with everything else that's going on in other parts of the world, our focus is here because we see our future, as an Indo-Pacific country ourselves, as very much being with this region.
And when it comes to Japan or when it comes to Korea, where we have treaty alliances, we're going to make sure, and continue to make sure, that they have everything they need to be able to defend their sovereignty, defend themselves against any threats, and that they have the ability to work closely with us. And I think you see Japan that increasingly in recent years is stepping up to its responsibilities in historic ways. But what's so important about each of these alliances is that every single one of them is defensive in nature. There is no design on anyone else, on anyone else's territory. This is all about making sure that, as necessary, we can protect ourselves from threats and, most important, deter them from happening in the first place.
So what we're doing with Japan, what we're doing with Korea, is very much what we're doing in different ways with other partners in the region. That's the intent behind it.
QUESTION: Let's linger on that for a moment. So Japan, it really has emerged as a key ally for the United States. And prior to the Quad meeting, the State Department said there's nothing - almost nothing - in the Indo Pacific region that the U.S. is doing without Japan. Some may hear that and think, okay, there's the potential for overreliance on this one particular ally. How would you address that?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, I think if you look at our engagement throughout the region, you see us strengthening, building, and even creating new partnerships with countries and institutions throughout the region. We've engaged in a very sustained way with ASEAN, for example, and believe in ASEAN's centrality for the region. We've also created much stronger relationships with countries from the Philippines to Vietnam, as well as with some of our traditional partners, including Japan, including Korea, including Australia, including New Zealand - and India.
So what we're really doing is this. As we're looking at the world, we see that virtually none of the challenges that we have to address that actually impact the lives of Americans can we effectively, successfully do alone. It requires doing things in partnership of one kind or another with different countries, with different institutions, with different actors. And so even as we've reinvigorated some of our traditional alliances, re-energized them, we've also been creating new - new arrangements of countries to deal with specific challenges, specific problems. We have the Quad you mentioned with India, with Japan, with Australia, doing things like producing and distributing vaccines during COVID, helping countries build what we call their domain awareness in the maritime space so that they know what's going on in the seas around them; building up their capacity to deal with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
These are all things that have an affirmative vision, one of creating a region that is - and sustaining a region that's free, that's open, that's prosperous, that's connected; and also helping to deal with practical challenges in ways that countries coming together can do much more effectively than any one of us acting alone.
QUESTION: You mentioned ASEAN, and ASEAN's centrality is really all about the bloc deciding for itself its relationships in this region. And it's an incredibly varied group of nations. There's no one opinion of the Quad, but some members are fearful. Some members see the potential of the Quad being a regional order-making institution. What would you say to those members who have that fear?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: I'd say that what the Quad is, and the other arrangements that we have are, are complementary to, supportive of ASEAN and its central mission and core mission. What we're interested in doing is finding ways to make sure that we have the most effective vehicles for addressing particular problems, and in places that can be done very effectively, working with and through ASEAN. There are other places where having specific, fit-for-purpose arrangements of those countries makes the most sense. And with the Quad we bring a lot of resources to bear, we bring some unique capacities to bear, we bring some different relationships to bear - and we hope that that can make a difference - but in doing things that are in the interests of, for example, all of the ASEAN countries.
QUESTION: Your week-long visit has sent a clear message that America is committed, is invested in this region - America watching Asia, Asia also watching America, and we are seeing your country's incredibly politically polarized right now. And with Mr. Biden, President Biden not seeking another term, many are expecting Kamala Harris to face Donald Trump in November. Regardless of the party, regardless of the person, what would you tell the next American president? What should be the priority for them for Asia?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, I'd say two things. First, of course, we have elections every four years for president in our country, and it's absolutely normal that people around the world, countries around the world will be looking carefully at them, because we're so engaged in the world that it's just a normal and natural thing. And that's not a surprise to me at all.
At the same time, if you look at where I think the overwhelming majority of Americans are, they are for a United States that's engaged, that's leading, that's working in partnership with others, not doing things alone. I think they know both intuitively and in a very practical way that we're going to be much more effective if we can make common cause with other countries to actually get things done. And that's - I think reflects the overwhelming majority of Americans.
For the next president, well, far be it from me to give advice. But I think - I can tell you this because I think it's - I know this working for both of them. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris believe strongly that first, when the United States is not engaged, if we're not leading, then probably someone else is and maybe not in a way that's going to advance our interests and values - interests and values that we share with so many, including Singapore - or maybe just as bad, no one's engaged, and then you're going to have a vacuum that's probably filled by bad things before it's filled by good things.
But the flip side of that coin, again, what both President Biden and Vice President Harris believe strongly, is to actually effectively deal with these challenges that are having an impact on the lives of so many Americans, we have to find ways to cooperate, to collaborate, to work with others. For all our power at this point in history, even the United States can't effectively solve most of these problems alone. There's a premium, a greater premium than at any time that I've - since I've been doing this, more than 30 years - on finding ways to collaborate, to coordinate.
And when it comes to the Indo-Pacific, for us that's not only the present - it's clearly the future. This is the most dynamic region in the world. We're an Indo-Pacific country ourselves, and I know, for both the President and Vice President, that's where they see our future. That's reflected in what we're doing now with this intense and sustained engagement these last three and a half years, and I'm convinced that that will be the approach that's taken in the coming time as well.
QUESTION: One final question. You are in Singapore. You've met with the prime minister, the foreign minister, senior minister as well.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: That's right.
QUESTION: Very forward-looking in tone. Can you tell me what you're most excited about in terms of the future? And where will the two countries benefit the most?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, we have an extraordinary partnership and an extraordinary foundation that's been built up over many years. Right now by far, for example, the United States is the - overwhelmingly the largest provider of foreign direct investment in Singapore. And happily, at this point in time as well - and by the way, this is true across ASEAN; we're the largest single provider of foreign direct investment across the ASEAN countries. We're also the largest recipient of foreign direct investment of any country in the world.
Why is that important? Because that is maybe among the most important evidence of trust between countries, of confidence, of optimism about the future. Because people don't make investments if they don't believe that they have a strong partner to work with and that they're going to achieve something going forward. So I see that. I see with Singapore an extraordinary partnership beyond that, of course. We've long had a strong military partnership. But the economic foundation, foreign direct investment, the free trade agreement that was signed many years ago, the work that we're doing together in two ways to really shape the future that we focused on today.
First, we have an ongoing dialogue on critical and emerging technology, where we both know that so much of the technology that's emerging now is going to shape the lives of all of our people for decades to come. Working together, we're trying to find the best ways to make sure we're shaping that technology to maximize the good that it can bring and minimize the bad. And this has been really a terrific collaboration between our countries.
Second, we signed or renewed an agreement that we had where, coming together, the United States and Singapore are helping to build capacity in other countries throughout the ASEAN region, helping to train government officials and others on some of the most critical issues -whether it's - whether it's health, whether it's climate, whether it's technology, supply chains - all of the kinds of things that are so necessary for all of our countries to succeed. And I think that's a very powerful story of the United States and Singapore working together, not only to the benefit of our own people but to the benefit of people throughout the region that we share.
QUESTION: Secretary Blinken, thank you very much for your time. Thank you for speaking with CNA.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks. Great to be with you. Thank you.
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Secretary Blinken's Call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Safadi
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi to discuss ongoing tensions and developments in the Middle East. The Secretary discussed the urgency of efforts to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages, allow a surge of humanitarian assistance, and create the conditions for broader stability. He reiterated the importance of preventing further escalation of the conflict. Secretary Blinken also thanked Jordan for its leadership in providing life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
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United States to Pause Assistance to the Government of Georgia
US Department of State
Press Statement
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
July 31, 2024
On May 23, after anti-democratic actions by the Georgian government, I announced a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Georgia. As a result of that review, the United States is pausing more than $95 million in assistance that directly benefits the Government of Georgia.
The Georgian government's anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO. While we are pausing our assistance to the Government of Georgia due to those actions, the United States will continue assistance to programs and activities that benefit the people of Georgia by strengthening democracy, rule of law, independent media, and economic development.
Over the 32 years of friendship and partnership between our two countries and our citizens, the people of the United States have provided over $6.2 billion in assistance, contributing to the development and strengthening of Georgia's economy and democratic institutions. Our support has helped equip and train Georgia's Defense Forces and Coast Guard, built schools and hospitals, and trained teachers, civil servants, and medical professionals. We will remain committed to the Georgian people and their Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
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Secretary Blinken's Call with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The Secretary and the Prime Minister discussed ongoing tensions in the Middle East. The Secretary emphasized the importance of continuing to work to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, and unlock the possibility of broader stability. He reiterated that the United States would continue to work to ensure an agreement is reached. The Secretary thanked the Prime Minister for Qatar's critical role in working for lasting regional peace.
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Singapore Senior Minister Lee
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore today.
Secretary Blinken congratulated Senior Minister Lee for his successful tenure as the third Prime Minister of Singapore. They discussed the immense growth in the shared security, defense, and economic relationship over the past 20 years.
Secretary Blinken and Senior Minister Lee also discussed how the United States and Singapore can continue to work together to maintain the rules-based economic and security order in the Info-Pacific to support peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of both countries, the wider region, and the world.
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Wong
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Singapore today.
Secretary Blinken again congratulated Prime Minister Wong on becoming Singapore's fourth prime minister this past May. The Secretary and Prime Minister underscored the importance of the U.S.-Singapore strategic partnership and the role it plays in upholding international norms and standards in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. The two officials discussed the progress our nations have made in key areas, including critical and emerging technology, maritime security, and clean energy.
Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Wong reaffirmed a shared commitment to bolstering our strong economic, security, and people-to-people ties for the benefit of the American and Singaporean peoples.
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Joint Statement on the Signing of the United States-Singapore 123 Agreement
US Department of State
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Singapore on the occasion of the signing of the United States-Singapore 123 Agreement.
Begin text:
Today, on July 31, 2024, the United States and Singapore signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, commonly known as a "123 Agreement". The agreement was signed in Singapore by United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan. This agreement builds on the long-standing civil nuclear collaboration between the United States and Singapore and outlines a comprehensive framework to deepen peaceful nuclear cooperation based on a mutual commitment to nuclear nonproliferation. Upon entry into force, the agreement will enable deeper nuclear cooperation, consistent with the highest international standards of safety, security, and nonproliferation, and build on our strong bilateral partnership.
The United States and Singapore collaborate closely on matters involving nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, including in regional and multilateral fora. Over the past decade, the United States has supported Singapore's efforts to better understand the safety and reliability of advanced nuclear energy technologies and build capacity. Since 2017, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) have had arrangements to collaborate on nuclear safety matters, and most recently held a joint workshop in July 2024 under these arrangements.
Through this agreement, as well as other capacity building initiatives, such as the Foundational Infrastructure for the Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) program, the United States and Singapore intend to further strengthen civil nuclear cooperation to better understand how advanced nuclear energy technologies, including small modular reactors, can potentially support climate goals, while balancing critical energy needs. This will support Singapore's efforts to understand and evaluate advanced nuclear energy technologies, should viable options emerge.
End text.
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Singapore Foreign Minister Balakrishnan
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Singapore today.
Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Balakrishnan reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Singapore strategic partnership and its commitment to upholding international rules and standards in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. The Secretary and Foreign Minister further discussed shared regional and global challenges and opportunities, including cooperation in critical and emerging technology, maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and Russia's war against Ukraine. The Secretary and Foreign Minister also discussed the importance of reaching a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that secures the release of hostages. The officials reaffirmed the importance of bolstering the United States' and Singapore's strong economic, security, and people-to-people ties for the benefit of Americans, Singaporeans, and all others across the region.
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Treasury Targets Houthi Weapons Procurement Networks
U.S. Department of the Treasury
July 31, 2024
WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning two individuals and four companies that have facilitated weapons procurement for Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis. Since November 2023, the Houthis have deployed a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles to attack U.S. military forces, merchant vessels, their crews, and civilian populations in Israel. To undertake their reckless campaign targeting U.S. and allied interests, the Houthis rely on a global network of procurement operatives, shipment facilitators, and suppliers to procure and transport dual-use components and equipment needed to manufacture and deploy a range of advanced weapons systems. This action targets key actors located in the People's Republic of China (PRC), including Hong Kong, and Yemen who have directly supported Houthis' efforts to procure military-grade materials abroad and ship these items to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, enabling the group's ongoing attacks.
"The Houthis have sought to exploit key jurisdictions like the PRC and Hong Kong in order to source and transport the components necessary for their deadly weapons systems," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "Treasury will continue to target the facilitators that enable the Houthis' destabilizing activities."
Today's action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, and builds on OFAC's June 17, 2024 action targeting seven individuals and entities enabling Houthi weapons procurement. The U.S. Department of State designated Ansarallah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, effective February 16, 2024, for having committed or attempted to commit, posing a significant risk of committing, or having participated in training to commit acts of terrorism.
HOUTHI-LINKED TRANSSHIPMENT COMPANIES
Houthi-affiliated shipping firms have enabled the group to transfer military-grade components from PRC-based suppliers to Yemen. One such firm, Al-Shahari United Corporation Ltd. (Al-Shahari United), is a Sanaa, Yemen-based logistics company that has facilitated numerous shipments from PRC-based suppliers to the Houthis, including components for use in Houthi missile and UAV manufacturing. Al-Shahari United maintains close contact with Houthi operatives based in the PRC and Yemen, who have used the company to help facilitate some of their most important procurement efforts.
Al-Shahari United relies on its PRC-based branch, Guangzhou Alshahari United Corporation Limited (Guangzhou Alshahari), to help facilitate shipments from the PRC to Yemen. Guangzhou Alshahari is wholly owned by Hong Kong-based Hongkong Alshahari United Corporation Limited (Hongkong Alshahari). Ahmed Khaled Yahya Al-Shahare is the Director and General Manager of Guangzhou Alshahari.
Al-Shahari United is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Ansarallah. Guangzhou Alshahari is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Al-Shahari United. Hongkong Alshahari is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for owning or controlling Guangzhou Alshahari. Ahmed Khaled Yahya Al-Shahare is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being a leader or official of Guangzhou Alshahari.
HOUTHI PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS IN YEMEN
Maher Yahya Muhammad Mutahar al-Kinai (al-Kinai) is a Yemeni businessman who has supported Houthi military procurement and smuggling efforts. Al-Kinai has coordinated with other Houthi procurement operatives to facilitate shipments of dual-use equipment and components for likely use in Houthi weapons manufacturing. Al-Kinai is the General Manager of Yemen Telecommunication Asset Company for Information Technology (Y-TAC), a Sanaa, Yemen-based company that has supported Houthi weapons and component procurement efforts.
Al-Kinai and Y-TAC are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Ansarallah.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the individuals named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons. U.S. persons must comply with OFAC regulations, including all U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens regardless of where they are located, all persons within the United States, and all U.S.- incorporated entities and their foreign branches. Non-U.S. persons are also subject to certain OFAC prohibitions. For example, non-U.S. persons are prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. Violations of OFAC regulations may result in civil or criminal penalties. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations based on strict liability, meaning that a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction may be held civilly liable even if such person did not know or have reason to know that it was engaging in a transaction that was prohibited under sanctions laws and regulations administered by OFAC. OFAC's Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC's enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation. For additional information on complying with U.S. sanctions and export control laws, please see Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Justice Tri-Seal Compliance Note.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the individuals designated today entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction on behalf of a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.
Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated and vessel identified today.
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Regional de-escalation a priority as Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary travel to the Middle East
The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary have travelled to the Middle East to call for an end to conflict in Gaza and de-escalation in the wider region.
31 July 2024
Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary use their first official joint visit to the Gulf to progress efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and call for de-escalation in the wider region
they will meet UK personnel working in the region to showcase the strength of the UK-Qatar defence relationship
David Lammy and John Healey will commit to strengthening and expanding UK-Qatar cooperation on growth and security
The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary have arrived in Qatar to drive forward efforts to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and to press for de-escalation in the region.
In a joint visit, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy - in what will be his second trip to the Middle East since becoming Foreign Secretary - and the Defence Secretary John Healey will reiterate the UK's support to Qatar for the country's role in mediating and end to the war in Gaza - including efforts to deliver an immediate ceasefire agreed by both sides.
They will reiterate the UK's calls for de-escalation in the wider region, warning that rising tensions and destabilisation would be in no one's interests. This follows the Foreign Secretary's condemnation of the strikes in the occupied Golan Heights at the weekend which tragically claimed at least 12 lives.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
Escalation and destabilisation are in no one's interests. It is absolutely vital that we engage closely with partners like Qatar, who play a key role in mediating the conflict in Gaza, so that we can bring this devastating war to an end. The UK and Qatar have a long-standing and close partnership, and we will also look to build lasting stability and security in the region, and advance our shared priorities, like deepening economic ties, to drive UK growth and seize the opportunities of the clean energy transition.
Defence Secretary John Healey said:
De-escalation must be our primary focus as this region stands at a crossroads. The loss of innocent life in recent weeks and months is unbearable. This has to end. All sides must step back from conflict and step-up diplomacy. We will work with important partners like Qatar as our government leads a renewed push for peace.
During their time in Qatar, the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary will meet with UK Armed Forces personnel who are helping to protect UK security interests and support regional stability.
They are expected to meet with the Emir of Qatar, HH Sheikh Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, HE Dr Khalid Al Attiyah, where the ministers will recommit to building upon the strong UK-Qatar relationship, including growth and security.
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The UK is deeply concerned by the escalation of tensions in the Middle East: UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
31 July 2024
The UK is deeply concerned by the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and the impact this may have on regional security and stability. I will make three points.
First, escalation and a cycle of endless violence is in no-one's interests. We do not want to see further bloodshed. We urge calm and call for immediate restraint.
Our Foreign Secretary is in the region as we speak, reiterating this call and encouraging de-escalation.
The path to peace must be through diplomatic negotiations. Long-term peace will not be secured by bombs and bullets.
Second, in recent weeks we have seen reckless attacks launched by the Houthis against Tel Aviv killing one person and Hezbollah rockets fired on innocent children in Majdal Shams resulting in at least 12 deaths and many more injured.
We have repeatedly been clear in this Council of Iran's role in destabilising the region through its use of proxies including Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis. These attacks are enabled by the continued supply of advanced weaponry by Iran, especially missiles, to proxy groups. This must cease.
The UK is resolute in our commitment to Israel's security. We support Israel's right to defend itself in the face of such aggression, in line with international humanitarian law.
Third, since October 7 last year, we have seen the terrible toll on Israelis, Palestinians and many others in the region. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is truly appalling with nearly 40,000 Palestinians killed. The impact of this devastation is particularly acute for women and children.
The attempts by Iran and their proxies to use the suffering of those in Gaza as justification for further violence is perverse and we reject them entirely. We support all ongoing efforts to bring stability to the region and an end to the suffering. We reiterate our call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, to protect civilians, get all the hostages out, get more aid in and open a pathway towards long-term peace. This will require the parties to commit to a renewed peace process resulting in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian State.
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Security Council debates 'serious and dangerous escalation' in the Middle East
31 July 2024 - The UN's top political affairs official reiterated the urgent need for de-escalation in the Middle East, appealing in the Security Council on Wednesday for "swift and effective diplomatic action", as ambassadors met in an emergency meeting on the latest flare-up in hostilities.
"The international community must work together to prevent any actions that could make the conflict much bigger and wider very quickly," Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs said, warning of skyrocketing tensions in the wake of the killing of a top Hamas leader in Tehran earlier in the day.
The killing came against the backdrop of Israeli strikes against southern Beirut, following an apparent strike in a village in the Israeli-occupied Golan, and intense exchanges across the Blue Line, which separates Israeli and Lebanese armed forces.
The incidents claimed several lives, including those of children.
Serious and dangerous escalation
"The various attacks over the past few days represent a serious and dangerous escalation," she continued, highlighting the ongoing war in Gaza, which erupted following the brutal 7 October attack by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel.
Over 1,200 Israelis were killed and over 200 were taken hostage. Dozens among them still remain in captivity.
In the Gaza Strip, more than 38,000 Palestinians are reported to have been killed as a result of Israel's military operation, a further 88,000 injured and about 90 per cent of the population displaced - many several times.
Effective diplomatic action needed
Ms. DiCarlo reiterated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for "maximum restraint by all", stressing that "restraint alone is insufficient at this extremely sensitive time."
"Diplomatic efforts to change the trajectory and seek a path toward regional peace and stability are urgently needed," she underscored.
"Communication by means of missiles, armed drones and other deadly attacks must end."
She appealed to the international community to work together to prevent "any actions that could make the conflict much bigger and wider very quickly".
"We need swift and effective diplomatic action for regional de-escalation. This Council plays a crucial role in this regard. The time is now," she concluded.
Council members urge actors to act with restraint
Video feed of the Security Council meeting.
Following the briefing, Security Council members emphasized the urgent need for de-escalation, ceasefire and diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation of the conflict in the region. They also highlighted the impact on civilians, especially on women and children who are bearing the brunt of the fighting, as well as on humanitarians and journalists.
Algerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative Amar Bendjama condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh by Israel as "not merely an attack on one man" but "a vicious assault on the very foundations of diplomatic relations, the sanctity of State sovereignty and the principles that underpin our global order". He called for full accountability for Israel's "heinous war crimes" and "egregious human rights violations".
United States Ambassador Robert Wood and Deputy Permanent Representative, underscored Israel's right to self-defence, stating that his country was not involved in the strikes on Lebanon or in the apparent death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He urged Council members with direct influence over Iran to increase pressure on the country to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel and other actors.
Iran: The killing is an act of terror
Amir Saeid Iravani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the UN, said that his country called for the emergency Council meeting "to address a matter of grave importance of urgency."
He denounced the "cowardly assassination...by Israel" of Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas political official, who was on an official visit to Iran, upon invitation of the Government, to attend the inauguration of the new Iranian President.
"This act of terror is another manifestation of Israel's decades-long pattern of terrorism and sabotage targeting Palestinians and other supporters of the Palestinian cause across the region and beyond," he said.
In addition to its terrorist objective, Israel was also pursuing political goals, aiming to disrupt the first day of the new Government of Iran that has prioritized peace and stability in the region, he alleged.
He strongly condemned the "horrible act" as the most serious violation of international law and the UN Charter, urging "immediate and effective action" by the Security Council.
Palestine: Grave breaches of international law
Feda Abdelhady, Deputy Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, said that it had been nearly 300 days since the start of Israel's war in Gaza, which has "gravely breached all tenets of international law" and flagrantly violated the UN Charter.
"A war that threatens international peace and security. Yet, Israel is being permitted to wage this war in broad daylight, with no restraints and no consequences," she said, adding that "every day brings more horrors, losses and suffering for our people as Israeli occupying forces murder Palestinian children, women and men."
Ms. Abdelhady "unequivocally condemned" the breach of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iran as well as of Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, by Israel.
"We call once again with utmost urgency on the Security Council, the General Assembly and all law-abiding, peace-loving nations to act forthwith to bring a halt to these horrific, criminal Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people and on our region," she said.
Israel: 'Hypocrisy' on display today
Israeli Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative Brett Jonathan Miller began his remarks by stressing what he called "the rank hypocrisy on display here today" as the meeting was called by "the world's number one sponsor of terrorism".
He said Iran has used its proxies - Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah - to target Israel and its citizens from every direction.
Mr. Miller asked where were the condemnations of Hezbollah and their Iranian suppliers for the butchery of the 12 children in Majdal Shams.
"All that was heard were expressions of concern for escalation and calling for both sides -again equating a democratic Member State of the United Nations with a vicious terrorist organization - to show restraint," he said.
He told the Council that those who really seek stability in the region should welcome the removal of arch terrorists and not call on both sides to restrain themselves.
Syria: Serious crime committed in the Golan
Syrian Ambassador and Permanent Representative Koussay Aldahhak said the Israeli occupying entity "had committed a grave crime" in Majdal Shams that led to the death of 12 children in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which "is and always has been" Syrian territory.
Reiterating that fellow citizens in the occupied-Syrian Golan have always been part of Syria, he said they call for Israeli practices against them to end. An occupying power cannot claim that they are defending themselves under Article 51 of the UN Charter, he stressed.
Syria condemns Israeli aggression on States in the region, including the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh in Iran and the killing of citizens in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
"The war criminals in Israel would not be able to continue without support," he said, calling on the Council to immediately put an end to these crimes and ensure accountability.
Lebanon: We do not want war
Lebanese Ambassador and Permanent Representative Hadi Hachem said his country and its people "do not want war", adding that Beirut has presented a roadmap to ensure security and break the cycle of violence, but has not yet received a response.
At the same time, Israel's attack on the capital had resulted in deaths and injuries, he said, adding that such an act demonstrates its true intentions. In the same vein, Israel's killing today of two journalists show a pattern of targeting media.
Ending Israel's occupation of Arab lands is essential if the region is to return to calm and stability, he said.
That requires good faith, he continued, however, Israel's behaviour demonstrates otherwise and its claims of self-defence in occupied territories are not valid.
"History will spare no one; what starts in the Middle East will spread to the whole world," he warned, calling on the Council to take a stand "before it is too late".
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Israeli military in spotlight over 'incommunicado' detention of Palestinians
By Daniel Johnson
31 July 2024 - A new UN report published Wednesday into alleged abuses carried out against thousands of Palestinians detained by the Israeli authorities since war erupted in Gaza last October has documented a range of serious violations that may amount to torture.
"The staggering number of men, women, children, doctors, journalists and human rights defenders detained since 7 October, most of them without charge or trial and held in deplorable conditions, along with reports of ill-treatment and torture and violation of due process guarantees, raises serious concerns regarding the arbitrariness and the fundamentally punitive nature of such arrests and detention," said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk, whose Office released the report.
Waterboarding claim
"The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law," he said.
The report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) details the treatment of medical staff, patients and residents fleeing the conflict, as well as captured fighters taken from the enclave, the occupied West Bank and Israel, since Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel sparked the war.
At least 53 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli military facilities and prisons since 7 October.
"They do not know if those detained are alive or dead," said the report's authors, recounting the experience of family members whose mainly male relatives have been taken away "usually shackled and blindfolded" by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from various parts of Gaza. "They have not heard anything about their fate or wellbeing since then."
Unlikely targets
Of those arrested in Gaza - including staff from the UN agency providing assistance to Palestine refugees, UNRWA - "many were taken into custody while sheltering in schools, hospitals and residential buildings, or at checkpoints during the forced displacement of large numbers of Palestinians from north to south Gaza," the report notes. "In most cases, men and adolescent boys were detained, although women, including a woman over 80 years of age and with Alzheimer's disease and girls without any apparent link to armed groups, have also been detained."
The OHCHR dossier was compiled by means of interviews with released Palestinian detainees as well as monitoring and analysis conducted by the OHCHR office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In harm's way
It contains testimonies of men held in Gaza by the IDF, including UNRWA staff members who claim that they were "forced by IDF soldiers to enter tunnels and buildings in Gaza ahead of soldiers".
Other testimonies point to Palestinians being detained "en masse for screening" by the Israeli military, or for remaining in areas covered by IDF evacuation orders. "Many of the released detainees, who all claim and appear to be civilians, said they were interrogated without legal representation, about locations of tunnels and/or hostages," OHCHR said.
The development follows Monday's announcement by the Israeli authorities that they were investigating a number of soldiers for allegedly abusing a Palestinian prisoner earlier this month at the Sde Teiman detention centre in the Negev desert.
Whistleblower insight
According to information from Israeli medical personnel and whistleblowers cited in the report, injured detainees from Gaza "were held at a field hospital established in the Sde Teiman compound, where they were blindfolded at all times, their arms and legs shackled to their beds, and they were fed through a straw".
At another prison in the Negev desert, one former prisoner alleged that he had been "frequently beaten in front of his son" who was also detained. Ill-treatment was "widespread", particularly in military-run detention facilities, the OHCHR report maintained.
Stripped naked
In addition to those taken from Gaza, "thousands more" have been detained in the West Bank and Israel "and generally in secret", the report's authors note.
"Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers. Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes...Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence."
According to the report, Israel has also not provided information regarding the fate or whereabouts of many of those detained, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been denied access to facilities where they are held.
"International humanitarian law protects all those being held, requiring their humane treatment and protection against all acts of violence or threats thereof," said UN human rights chief Volker Turk, who insisted that "all Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel must be released".
Rights chief's call
He added that international law "strictly prohibits torture or other ill-treatment, including rape and other forms of sexual violence", while "secret, prolonged incommunicado detention may also amount to a form of torture".
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also reiterated his call for the immediate release of all hostages still held in Gaza who are believed to number 116, of whom 42 are believed to have died, according to the Israeli authorities, as of 25 June.
The OHCHR report follows last month's probe into the Israeli military's bombing campaign of the enclave in which hundreds of people died after strikes on civilian targets including a school, refugee camp and market.
The latest report's findings are based on monitoring and interviews conducted by the OHCHR office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The contributors in addition to Palestinian released detainees have included witnesses of violations, as well as information from human rights organizations and other civil society organizations, governmental entities - both Palestinian and Israeli - and other UN agencies, as well as information available through media and social media. Both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities received the report, OHCHR said.
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World News in Brief: Gaza update, Venezuela election violence, executions in South Sudan
31 July 2024 - Thousands of people have returned to parts of Khan Younis in Gaza following the announced completion of Israeli ground operations in these areas earlier in the week, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said on Wednesday
Returnees have headed for several locations in the city, including central and eastern neighbourhoods as well as the adjacent area of Bani Suhaila.
Medical evacuations
Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza were evacuated to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
The patients, 35 of them children, were accompanied by more than 60 caregivers and family members. They were transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
This marked the largest medical evacuation outside Gaza since October, WHO said, and it was done in partnership with the Emirati Government and other organizations.
Thousands still waiting
The UN health agency noted that more than 10,000 people still desperately need to be medically evacuated from Gaza.
"We hope this paves the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes, including the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings to Egypt and Jordan, and from there to other countries," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General.
"We also call for evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored. Thousands of sick people are suffering needlessly. Above all, and as always, we call for a ceasefire."
West Bank attacks
Meanwhile, OCHA also reported that attacks by Israeli forces and settlers continue to have a devastating impact on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Nearly 80 people, including almost two dozen children, were injured in just a single week (23-29 July), the agency said.
Venezuela: Independent rights probe alarmed over post-election violence
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela voiced deep concern on Wednesday over reports of human rights abuses following the weekend's presidential election.
The Mission said it has received credible accounts of detentions, injuries and fatalities linked to violence by security forces and armed civilian groups, known as colectivos, in the wake of President Nicolas Maduro's declared victory.
The National Electoral Council announced incumbent President Maduro as the winner early Monday, sparking nationwide protests.
The Fact-Finding Mission has documented at least six deaths and numerous injuries among protesters as of Wednesday morning. The Attorney General reported the death of a member of the armed forces and injuries of 46 military and police personnel.
Comply with human rights standards
Marta Valinas, Chair of the Mission, emphasised the need for public order operations to adhere to international human rights standards, insisting that the use of force must be proportional and aimed at safeguarding human life.
"For its part, the Mission will remain very attentive and will investigate serious human rights violations occurring in the post-election context, in accordance with its mandate...this includes analysing the forces and individuals responsible for such violations," she said.
The Fact-Finding Mission also noted that the Attorney General announced the detention of 749 people in the context of the protests, adding that while some have been released, others remain detained. Among them, some face serious charges, such as terrorism.
"We are concerned about this new wave of persecution against leaders of opposition political parties," said Patricia Tappata Valdez, an expert of the Mission.
"We are witnessing the accelerated reactivation of the repressive machinery that was never dismantled and is now being used to undermine the public freedoms of citizens and their right to political participation and free expression of ideas."
The Fact-Finding Mission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2019 for a period of one year to assess alleged human rights violations committed since 2014. Its mandate has been extended until September 2024.
UN rights office notes worrying rise in extrajudicial executions in South Sudan
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Wednesday that it is extremely concerned about the rise in extrajudicial executions in South Sudan.
People are being put to death by army and security force firing squads for a range of alleged offences, including murder, rape, cattle raiding, domestic disputes and intercommunal violence.
OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said that between January 2023 and June 2024, a total of 76 people, including two children, were executed by firing squad and with no trial.
"It is all the more distressing that 39 people, including a child, were executed this way in the first six months of 2024, nearly double the number of victims in the same period last year," he added.
OHCHR urged the government to immediately stop extrajudicial executions, conduct prompt and impartial investigations and hold perpetrators accountable.
As the UN rights office also remains concerned about the continued application of the death penalty in South Sudan, Mr. Al-Kheetan said it is vital that the authorities impose a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
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AFWERX, MTSI evaluate electric vertical takeoff, landing aircraft for military applications
Published July 31, 2024
By Matthew Clouse
Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AFNS) -- As the sun rose over Springfield-Beckley Airport, a quiet hum from an unusual aircraft signaled the start of another day of flight testing.
Since mid-June, experts from AFWERX, the Department of the Air Force's innovation arm within the Air Force Research Laboratory, have been working with Beavercreek, Ohio-based defense contractor Modern Technology Solutions Inc., or MTSI, to evaluate Pivotal's BlackFly electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft, along with other electric aircraft. This effort is part of the AFWERX Agility Prime program, which focuses on assessing the aircraft and their supporting ecosystem through an operational leasing initiative.
"We're not just interested in the aircraft's flying capabilities," said Josh Lane, AFWERX flight test engineer. "We're also looking at the infrastructure, including electric charging systems like the DANNAR battery energy storage system and the portable chargers provided by the original equipment manufacturers. We are assessing the overall flight operations in the context of Air Force and other stakeholder concepts of employment."
AFWERX's mission is to accelerate innovative and emerging technologies toward capabilities that can be transitioned to the warfighter. The Agility Prime program focuses on transformative vertical lift technologies, such as the BlackFly, which explores different electric and hybrid vehicles for various mission sets.
These sleek, single seat eVTOL aircraft, normally piloted by a person, are being tested in an unmanned configuration to better assess their capabilities and potential military applications.
"We're exploring a range of military-type use cases, from logistics and material transport to emergency response and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions," said Jacob Wilson, AFWERX Agility Prime acting branch chief. "Our goal is to accelerate the commercial adoption of these innovations, particularly in the U.S., to ensure a strong industrial base of these technologies and transition the most suitable among them to the warfighter."
The morning of testing began with preparing the equipment in a hangar at the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence, or NAAMCE. The NAAMCE opened Sept. 18, 2023, to advance the development and integration of advanced air mobility technologies and holds a certificate of authorization for unmanned flight operations, enabling extensive testing of airspace integration and potential policy development for both piloted and remotely piloted aircraft.
The team hooked up a BlackFly aircraft to the back of a pickup truck, grabbed the remote control for the DANNAR and then headed out to the flightline. DANNAR is also an AFWERX partner, and its remote-controlled Mobile Power Station can provide up to a half-megawatt of energy storage in its high-capacity lithium-ion battery packs. The four-wheel drive and multi-mode steering capabilities enhance its usability in austere environments.
"The DANNAR system is designed to provide modularity and flexibility," Lane said. "We use it for various power aspects, including ground control computers and aircraft recharging. Today, we have two 120-volt outlets supporting our flight operations and a 240-volt outlet for charging aircraft."
After setting up the ground control station on the flightline, the remote pilot in command is ready for takeoff. The BlackFly's eight propulsion motors, four on each wing, start to hum softly, gradually increasing in pitch as the rotors spin faster. Its unique V-shaped tail and streamlined fuselage looks like a futuristic craft straight out of a science fiction movie.
The vertical takeoff requires minimal space, demonstrating the BlackFly's capability to operate in confined areas, unlike traditional aircraft. The remote pilot then shifts the control input, and the BlackFly starts transitioning from vertical ascent to forward flight. The rotors gradually tilt, propelling the aircraft forward while still climbing.
Joshua Bohun, Sinclair College associate director for advanced air mobility training and the remote pilot in command, explained the flight profile which focused on an ISR use case. Sinclair is subcontracted by MTSI in support of the BlackFly evaluation.
"We fly out to a specific location, get eyes on a target, perform orbits around it and then return," he said.
While manually flying the aircraft, Bohun monitored the aircraft's systems, including battery levels and motor temperatures to ensure safe operations.
"It's really easy to fly," he added, noting that the aircraft's advanced control systems simplify many aspects of traditional piloting.
The ground control station operator sits next to Bohun and assists by recording detailed notes on every phase of the flight. This data is crucial for analyzing the performance across different configurations and mission profiles.
"We have a very structured approach to gather data for all vendors in the Agility Prime portfolio," Lane adds.
After completing its 20-minute test flight, the aircraft lands and is plugged into the DANNAR for charging. The team also collects the data on how long it takes to charge and then prepares for a second test flight.
The team operates daily, aiming to maximize flight tests. With six BlackFly's available, they can swap out aircraft if any issues arise, ensuring continuous testing and data collection. The MTSI team has also evaluated the BETA ALIA, Pyka Pelican Cargo and Pipistrel Velis Electro electric aircraft as a part of the operational leasing effort.
The flight operation is scheduled to continue until mid-September and will provide a comprehensive report on the various aircraft's performance and potential for government acquisition.
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US strengthens Indo-Pacific alliances
By Henry Ridgwell July 31, 2024
The United States this week moved to significantly strengthen its alliances in the Indo-Pacific amid a perceived security threat from China, including a major upgrade of the U.S. military command in Japan.
Washington and Tokyo insist the changes are purely defensive, but questions remain about the military readiness of the United States and its allies if conflict erupts.
The United States has around 55,000 troops stationed in Japan, with most of them deployed in the southern Okinawan islands. The Kadena Air Base outside the Okinawan capital, Naha, is America's largest in the Pacific region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held so-called "2+2" talks with their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday and announced a major shift in defense relations.
"The United States will upgrade the U.S. Forces Japan to a joint force headquarters with expanded missions and operational responsibilities. This will be the most significant change to U.S. Forces Japan since its creation and one of the strongest improvements in our military ties with Japan in 70 years," Austin told reporters.
"Our decision to move in this direction is not based upon any threat from China. It's based on our desire and our ability to work closer together and to be more effective," he said.
The upgraded military command is expected to be led by a three-star general, with the possibility of a four-star general in future leadership.
Analysts said it marked a profound change in the U.S. approach to its forces in Japan.
"That means the Americans are serious. The Americans are really serious about fighting a war [alongside] Japan. Against whom? I don't know. Whoever wants to change the status quo by force, we may have to fight," Kunihiko Miyake, president of the Tokyo-based Foreign Policy Institute, told VOA.
The move is designed to complement Japan's new Joint Operations Command, which is due to launch in March 2025.
Grant Newsham, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Security Policy, welcomed the change.
"It's a good first step ... toward getting the Americans and the Japanese in a position where they can actually fight together," he told VOA. "But what remains to be seen and this is important is how much authority will it have? What units will be assigned to it? What responsibility will it have in the event of a contingency?"
The U.S. and Japan also agreed to numerous other defense measures, including joint missile development and the possible deployment of American troops alongside Japanese forces in outlying islands.
Discussions also focused on so-called U.S. "extended deterrence" whether Washington would be willing to use its nuclear weapons to defend Japan.
Japanese capabilities
Tokyo last year announced plans to double its defense spending to 2% of its gross domestic product by 2027.
Newsham said the Japanese military needs huge investment in recruitment, weapons and logistics.
"So, there's a number of practical things that Japan needs to do to be ready to fight a war. And then you ask yourself, 'Well, how are you going to actually link up with the Americans to fight? Have you done the necessary planning and training so that you can just fall right in and deal with a real-world contingency?'" he said.
There are fears that such a contingency is dangerously close. The U.S. and Japan on Sunday labeled China the "greatest strategic challenge" facing the region, amid Beijing's rapid military buildup in the disputed South China Sea and ongoing military exercises around Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to reunify the island with China, and there is speculation he is planning to do so by force.
'Lattice' of alliances
In such a volatile region, U.S. officials say Washington is seeking to interconnect its regional alliances with the United States and each other, creating a "lattice" framework to protect Indo-Pacific security.
There are limits to such cooperation, Miyake said.
"Of course, we cannot have a NATO-type collective alliance system, because we have a different historical background. But what we needed to have is multilayered security arrangements."
The Philippines is emerging as a key U.S partner in the region. Visiting Manila Tuesday alongside Austin, Blinken announced a $500 million military aid package for Manila, describing it as a "once-in-a-generation investment to help modernize the Filipino armed forces and coast guard."
The "Quad" grouping of the United States, Japan, India and Australia provides another layer of regional security. Foreign ministers of those nations met in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the U.S.-Japan bilateral meetings, and issued a joint statement calling for a "free and open" Pacific.
The AUKUS alliance between the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom offers further scope for security coordination in the Indo-Pacific.
But effective military alliances require more than agreements on paper, Newsham said.
"For this so-called latticework of a range of alliances and agreements that the Americans have tried to put together well, with whom can they do a real-world short notice operation? That means if you had to go out and really do something for real, like fight, who could they do it with? And that is a very, very short list. It's pretty much got nobody on it, except for the United States Navy and the Japanese navy," he said.
China checkmated?
Speaking to ABC News on July 6, U.S. President Joe Biden said the network of alliances Washington had built in the Indo-Pacific region were "checkmating" China. Newsham questioned that assertion.
"Look at Chinese operations around Taiwan. These are nonstop, almost every day, and they're getting closer and closer to Taiwan. They're surrounding Taiwan. And you might ask the Taiwanese if they think the Chinese are checkmated," Newsham said.
"Additionally, the Chinese and the Russians are doing more together militarily than they ever have, circumnavigating Japan, getting close to Alaska with nuclear-capable bombers. Well, the Chinese aren't showing any sign of having been checkmated. Their military buildup continues unabated," he said.
But the value of U.S. regional alliances especially that with Japan shouldn't be underestimated, said Miyake.
"Allies are the people or the countries who fight for you and bleed for you. Who wants to fight against the Americans for the Chinese? I don't know. Even the Russians don't want to do that," Miyake said.
Beijing denies that it poses a threat to Indo-Pacific security. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged the U.S. and Japan to abandon what it called a "Cold War mentality," adding that the $500 million of U.S. military aid for the Philippines would increase insecurity.
Russia on Wednesday said the U.S. and Japan appeared to be preparing "for a large-scale armed conflict in the Asia-Pacific region." Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Andrei Nastasin told reporters that Moscow was consulting with China and North Korea on how best to respond.
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Israel sends message with Hamas chief killing, analysts say; Iran vows revenge
By Dale Gavlak July 31, 2024
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed "harsh punishment" and revenge against Israel over the assassination Wednesday of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of the Islamic Republic's new president.
Although Israel has not commented on the killing, the fact that the assassination took place in the "heart of Tehran" during "a high-profile visit" sends a clear signal from Israel to Iran to "de-escalate," analyst Nicholas Heras of Washington's New Lines Institute told VOA.
"The Israelis have yet to claim credit, but it's likely the Israelis," he said. "The Israelis can strike Iran or its allies anywhere, at any time."
Haniyeh's assassination, paired with Tuesday's killing of Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah leader, in Beirut, Lebanon, shows that "the Israelis are sending a signal that Israel has superior intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and operational capabilities" and that "the Israelis have an upper hand," Heras said.
Ahron Bregman, Middle East security professor at King's College London, told VOA that although it's hard to tell what Iran might do, the Islamic Republic "would prefer not to attack Israel directly."
"Iran's number one priority is to have an atomic bomb under its belt. It's not the best time for it. Therefore, it would prefer to work through proxies," Bregman said. "But it was challenged by Israel and humiliated by Israel when Israel assassinated someone on its soil."
Effects on cease-fire negotiations
Meanwhile, Qatar, which has been active in cease-fire and hostage negotiations over the Gaza war, "condemned in the strongest terms" Haniyeh's assassination.
The tiny Middle East nation also called the killing "a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation" of international and humanitarian law.
"This assassination and the reckless Israeli behavior in continuing to target civilians in Gaza would lead to the region sliding into chaos and undermine chances for peace," the Qatar Foreign Ministry said.
Bregman said the negotiations "are not going to go anywhere now." Neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, want to discuss a truce, he said.
"Netanyahu is not interested in a hostage deal for political reasons because his coalition partners are not interested," Bregman said. "Sinwar might get want what he always wanted: a regional war."
Analyst Heras said Haniyeh's assassination is "a blow to U.S. Arab partners Qatar and Egypt's" negotiation efforts to win a cease-fire and hostage release.
"Egypt and Qatar have been in the trenches with the United States to try to get this hostage deal between Israel and Hamas moving," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeated said that a cease-fire deal in Gaza is key to avoiding wider regional escalation.
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Hamas, Hezbollah face dilemmas in hitting back at Israel after assassinations of key leaders
By Michael Lipin July 31, 2024
A former Israeli national security adviser tells VOA that Iranian proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah face dilemmas in considering retaliations against Israel for the assassinations of two of their senior members in strikes on Beirut and Tehran over several hours beginning Tuesday.
Israeli reserves Brig. Gen. Jacob Nagel, a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed those dilemmas in a Wednesday phone interview with VOA. Nagel is an Israel-based senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a U.S. foreign policy and security research group in Washington.
Israel asserted that it killed Fuad Shukr, the top military commander of Lebanon's U.S.-designated terror group Hezbollah, in a Tuesday strike on a building in the group's stronghold of southern Beirut. Hezbollah has not said whether Shukr was killed in the attack.
The Israeli government and military have not commented on the attack that Iran and the Hamas terror group said killed the group's political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran hours later. Hamas and Iranian state media blamed Israel for Wednesday's pre-drawn strike on a residence in the Iranian capital, without citing evidence.
The following transcript of Nagel's interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
VOA: What is your reaction to the killing of Hamas political chief Haniyeh in Tehran?
Jacob Nagel, Foundation for Defense of Democracies: There were three Hamas political chiefs responsible for the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel: Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and Saleh al-Arouri (whom Hamas accused Israel of killing in an earlier strike on southern Beirut on January 2). Two have been taken out. There is one more to go.
VOA: How do you think Iran will respond?
Nagel: Iran will retaliate. They usually do so by using Hamas or Hezbollah.
Hamas would like to retaliate. They do not have so many capabilities left (after nine months of fighting Israel). If they want to fire missiles at Tel Aviv, they can.
Hezbollah is totally different. They have a lot of capabilities. They have to decide if they are going to take their (nine-month, low-level) conflict with Israel to the next level of retaliation. Do they want a full-scale war or not? If they will retaliate the way that I think they will, Israel will have to retaliate against them in kind. There are enough targets in Lebanon that we can attack. And we will see who is the last one to retaliate. It is not so important to be the last one, but what are the results.
VOA: What steps do you expect Israeli authorities to take in case there is a retaliation?
Nagel: Israel's Home Front command is not changing anything in terms of preparedness. If we have a specific precaution that we need to take, we will take it. Right now, Israelis have to listen for any instructions and if there is a siren, go to a shelter. We are taking care of the security of Israel from the north to the south and from any other place.
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Russia's Wagner implicates West, Ukraine in Mali clashes
By William Echols July 31, 2024
Separatist fighters and al-Qaida affiliates in Mali reportedly dealt the Russian military regiment Wagner its greatest battlefield defeat in Africa on July 26 and 27.
The junta in Mali has a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry and embeds what it calls "Russian military instructors" or the Wagner troops with its forces in a struggle against the separatist and jihadi groups.
News and social media have offered conflicting accounts on the fighting, and the number of Wagner mercenaries killed.
Information compiled by VOA sister organization Radio Liberty indicates Tuareg separatist rebels and al-Qaida affiliated groups ambushed Wagner fighters and Mali government forces near the town of Tinzaouaten, which borders Algeria.
The Russian military propaganda sustained a significant loss with the death of the popular Telegram channel the Gray Zone, whose administrator was among the Wagner troops killed in Mali, analyst Ivan Filippov told VOA's Russian Service.
The Russian government, the Kremlin, and the Defense Ministry did not comment on the clashes in Mali.
Wagner said the "radicals" employed heavy weapons, drones and "suicide vehicles" to inflict losses on Wagner mercenaries.
Telegram channels linked to the Russian security service and Wagner say the Malian fighters killed anywhere from 20 to 80 Russian troops and captured 15.
Russian state media have reported on the events, and sought to implicate the West, or Ukraine, in the attacks.
Aleksandr Ivanov, director of Wagner Front company Officer's Union for International Security (OUIS), told Russia's state-run TASS news agency the West was directing the separatists.
"The ambush, they found themselves in, turned out to be much better prepared than what the [Malian government forces] had faced before. They had reconnaissance, special units that drew the column out, the necessary equipment and weapons. In addition, the weather played against us," Ivanov said.
"Apparently, this is confirmation that Western forces have taken over coordination over the militants."
That is unsubstantiated.
Neither Ivanov nor TASS provided evidence to support the allegations.
The U.S. has sanctioned both Ivanov and the OUIS for their Wagner-linked activities, including destabilizing countries in Africa.
Olayinka Ajala, an expert on West Africa, told Newsweek there are "unconfirmed reports" that the French military are supporting the Tuaregs, which "are building alliances with al-Qaida related forces."
France had waged a 9-year operation to fight Islamist forces in Mali's north, before pulling out in August 2022 after a pro-Kremlin military officer Assimi Goita took power in a 2021 coup.
France had shown success in neutralizing jihadi leaders, but was not able to compel successive governments to introduce governance improvements that "might have eroded the jihadists' ability to recruit," a June 2022 report by West Point's Combating Terrorism Center said.
As France's operations were winding down, Goita invited the Wagner group in late 2021. At the time, Wagner was operating as a private military company. In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to take command over the Wagner troops.
Wagner has also accused Ukraine of supporting Tuareg rebels. Russia's state-run broadcaster RT said it had received photos allegedly showing Ukrainian instructors working in Mali. RT also alleged Kyiv had brought Mali separatists to Ukraine to teach them how to use First Person View drones.
Ukraine does not deny assisting Mali rebels.
Andriy Yusov, representative for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, claimed the Mali rebel forces "received necessary information, which enabled a successful military operation against Russian war criminals," the Kyiv Post wrote in a July 29 post on X, formally Twitter.
The Kyiv Post published a photograph "from sources in Ukraine's defense and security sector" showing the Tuareg rebels posing with a Ukrainian flag.
However, the Russian independent news site Istories reported that the photo's forensic analysis showed evidence of digital manipulation and some people along with the Ukrainian flag may have been photo-shopped into an existing image.
During a global food crisis in 2022, Russia methodically targeted Ukraine with missile strikes and disrupted Ukraine's ability to produce and export grain. Moscow also spread propaganda falsely blaming Kyiv and the West for fueling global food insecurity in Africa and elsewhere.
In August 2023, Ukraine vowed to "free Africa from Russia's grip."
The Kyiv Post published several videos allegedly showing Ukrainian special forces engaged in operations against Wagner forces in Sudan and Syria.
Wagner long operated in the shadows, denying its presence in many African states, and links to the Russian government. Putin once claimed that Wagner PMC did not exist.
That changed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, where tens of thousands of Wagner troops participated in the fighting.
After Wagner PMC engaged in a short-lived rebellion against the Russian government in June 2023, Putin admitted that "the maintenance of the entire Wagner Group was fully provided for by the State."
After the sudden death of Wagner leader and founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023, Russia's defense ministry assumed control of Wagner, adding them to its newly created Africa Corps.
As in other African countries, Wagner props up Mali's undemocratic regime in exchange for a share of lucrative mineral resources.
A February report from the U.S. State Department said that while Wagner portrays itself as a stabilizing force, "terrorist violence against civilians since 2021 has surged by 278 percent" in Mali.
Wagner forces have allegedly committed numerous atrocities in the country.
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India-China Military Tensions Persist Even as Their Trade Surges
By Anjana Pasricha July 31, 2024
As tensions between India and China persist with tens of thousands of soldiers confronting each other along their disputed Himalayan borders for a fifth year, analysts say they see few signs of a reduction in military tensions between the Asian rivals despite calls from both sides to stabilize ties. But trade between the two countries has surged.
"The ground reality is that the Chinese are focusing on building infrastructure in the Himalayas to enhance their conventional deterrence capabilities. They are building roads, bridges and other military-related construction. That is a huge concern for India," Srikanth Kondapalli, dean of the School of International Studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University told VOA.
Ties between the Asian rivals nosedived sharply following a clash in June 2020 between their soldiers. Backed by heavy artillery and fighter jets, an estimated 50,000 troops from each side still remain amassed at hotspots in the Himalayas, where they share a long, poorly demarcated border.
"I have to be honest, our relations with China are not doing very well," Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday where he was attending a Quad meeting. "They are not good; they are not normal right now."
Jaishankar's remarks came days after he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a summit meeting of the ASEAN bloc in Laos last week where both sides emphasized the need to normalize ties.
In a statement after the meeting, Wang said that "it is in the interests of both sides to get China-India relations back on track." Jaishankar spoke of the need to address their bilateral issues "with a sense of purpose and urgency."
But analysts point out there are no signs of de-escalation along the borders. Although soldiers withdrew from several conflict areas between 2020 and 2022, there has been little progress in resolving their disputes at other friction points that are claimed by both sides.
"We have had 21 meetings between military commanders from the two countries since the clash four years ago to resolve the issue, but progress has been marginal," Kondapalli pointed out.
Even as the Indian and Chinese Himalayan border continues to be volatile, India's imports from China have grown steadily despite strict curbs that New Delhi imposed on economic ties with China following the 2020 clash.
India had stepped up scrutiny of Chinese investments, blocked virtually all Chinese visitors, halted major Chinese projects in the country and blocked Chinese apps like TikTok.
Despite those restrictions, Beijing emerged as New Delhi's top trading partner last year. India's imports from China stood at more than $100 billion last year. India's exports to China on the other hand were only $16 billion.
"When India put these curbs in 2020, the government strategy was that we should reduce our import dependence on China," said Biswajit Dhar, trade analyst and Distinguished Professor at the Council for Social Development in New Delhi. "But that has not happened, so that strategy has come to grief and now there is a realization that there is no running away from the fact that it is difficult to decouple from China, which remains the world's largest manufacturer."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led a push to make India an alternative manufacturing hub to China and companies like Apple have set up production facilities in the country in recent years. But several industries, including new factories coming up in the country remain reliant on imports from China, including machinery needed in manufacturing.
Industry groups have called on the government to relax strict visa curbs on Chinese nationals as they say they need Chinese engineers and technicians to install equipment and train Indian workers. New Delhi is considering speeding up visas for Chinese workers, according to media reports.
However, the government said it will not relax its curbs on Chinese investments after its Economic Survey, which highlights policy initiatives, argued in favor of attracting Chinese funds to address India's growing trade deficit.
"To boost Indian manufacturing and plug India into the global supply chain, it is inevitable that India plugs itself into China's supply chain. Whether we do so by relying solely on imports or partially through Chinese investments is a choice that India has to make," the Economic Survey, released last week, stated.
India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal however told reporters that there will be no rethink on Chinese investments.
While China says the two countries should resume normal exchanges even as they continue discussions on their territorial disputes, India maintains that putting ties back on track will be contingent on resolving the border standoff.
Analysts say New Delhi faces a dilemma. "The question is will India stick to its stand of not normalizing ties until the border issues are settled or whether they will modify their strict economic policy toward China," according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research foundation in New Delhi told VOA. "But there is a growing feeling that we are boxed into a situation which is not comfortable for us."
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Russo-Ukraine War - 31 July 2024 - Day 889
Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that in total, since the beginning of this day, there have been 117 combat clashes. Ukrainian defenders continue to decisively thwart the Russian enemy's attempts to advance deep into Ukrainian territory, giving him an effective fire effect, exhaustion across the entire frontline. The enemy is most actively coming in the Intercession direction.
Russian zagarbniki struck the territory of Ukraine with two rockets and 62 air strikes, dropping 80 kabs. In addition, 511 kamikaze drones were recruited for impact and carried out more than 3,200 shelling at the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements.
In the Kharkiv direction, Russian forces eight times attacked the defensive borders of Ukrainian warriors near the Pacific and vovcans ka, where are currently two combat.
In the Kupyansky direction, Russian forces carried out seven offensive actions near Stepova Novoselivka, Kolesnikivka, Berestovy and Andriyivka. Four attacks - stopped, three - continue.
In the Lyman direction during the day Russian zagarbniki eight times attacked the positions of Ukrainians near Novosergiivka, Nevsky and Makiivka. Seven fights are completed, one is ongoing near Nevsky.
In the Siver komu direction during combat clashes defenders of Ukrainian land stopped two Russian attacks in the areas of Ivano-Daryivka and Verkhnyokamiansky.
In the Kramators komu direction, Russian forces carried out eight offensive actions near the Temporary Yar, Ivanivsky and Andriyivka. Defense forces repelled six attacks, two more continue in the area of Chasovoye Yar.
In the Toretsky direction Russians 20 times attacked Ukrainian troops near Zaliznogo, Toretsk, New York and Northern. Seventeen battles completed, three more to go.
In the Pokrovsky direction, since the beginning of this day, 43 battles have been sharpened near the settlements of Panteleimonivka, Vozdvizhenko, Arkhangelske, Novooleksandrivka, Ivanivka, Timofiyivka, Lisychne, Ivanivskie, Zhelanne, Sergiyivka and Karlivka. Defense forces repelled 25 attacks, 18 - still continuing. Russia is concentrating his efforts near Novooleksandrivka and Zelannny.
According to detailed information, today in this direction 259 Russian occupants were defecated, 75 of them - irrevocably. Also destroyed the D-30 howitzer, three blinds, five UAVs, a car transport and five units of special equipment. In addition, two tanks, BM-21 "Hail", three D-30 howlers, seven vehicles and three special equipment units were damaged.
In the kurakhivs komu direction, Russian forces 12 times attacked Ukrainian positions near krasnogorivka, zelannogo, konstantinivka, karlivka and paraskoviivka. Eight attacks have been knocked off, four are ongoing.
In the Vremivs komu direction, Russian forces took offensive actions towards Konstantinivka. Units of Ukrainian troops repelled all four attacks of Russians near Velika Novosilka.
In the Pridnipro direction, five Russian assaults at the position of Ukrainian units on the left bank of the Dnieper were also unsuccessful.
In other directions, the situation has not changed much.
Today it is worth celebrating the soldiers of the 57th separate infantry brigade named after the Koszovogo Otaman Kostya Gordienko, who effectively destroy the Russian enemy, causing him heavy losses in live force and equipment.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Sever Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 42nd Mechanised Brigade, 82nd Assault, 92nd Air Assault, 57th Motorised Infantry brigades, and 36th Marine Brigade near Tikhoye, Staritsa, Liptsy, and Volchansk (Kharkov region).
Two counter-attacks launched by enemy assault groups have been repelled in the past 24 hours.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine suffered losses of up to 350 troops, one U.S.-made HMMWV armoured fighting vehicle, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, and one 100-mm Rapira gun. One ammunition depot was wiped out.
The Zapad Group of Forces continue to take more advantageous lines and positions. The Group inflicted fire damage on the 30th and 67th mechanised, 3rd Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade, and 1st Territorial Defence Brigade near Sinkovka (Kharkov region), Novosadovoye, Krasny Liman (Donetsk People's Republic), Nevskoye, and Makeyevka (Lugansk People's Republic). Two counter-attacks launched by AFU assault groups were repelled.
The enemy lost up to 470 troops, nine motor vehicles, one UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, one UK-made 105-mm L119 gun, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and two 122-mm D-30 howitzers. In addition, three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces improved its tactical position, inflicted fire damage on manpower and military hardware of the 24th, 32nd, and 54th mechanised, 79th Air Assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Chasov yar, Verkhnekamenskoye, Seversk, and Katerinovka (Donetsk People's Republic). One enemy counter-attack was successfully repelled.
The AFU units lose up to 710 troops, one German-made Leopard tank, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, three U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzers, two motor vehicles, one UK-made 155-mm FH-70 howitzer, two UK-made 105-mm L119 guns, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, two 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and two Anklav-N EW stations.
Three ammunition depots of the enemy were eliminated.
The Tsentr Group of Forces continue advancing to the west. The Group has engaged the 31st, 32nd, 47th, and 53rd mechanised, 151st motorised infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and 111th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Dzerzhnisk, Zhelannoye, Novogorodskoye, Grodovka, and Vozdvizhenka (Donetsk People's Republic).
In addition, three counter-attacks launched by the enemy's assault detachments have been repelled.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 350 troops, one tank, one armoured personnel carrier, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, five 122-mm D-30 howitzers, one U.S.-made 105-mm M119 gun, and one 100-mm Rapira gun.
The Vostok Group of Forces improved its positions on the front line and caused fire damage to manpower and military hardware of the 116th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 108th, 120th, and 129th territorial defence brigades close to Rovnopol, Velikaya Novosyolka, Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic), and Zaliznichnoye (Zaporozhye region).
The enemy losses amounted to 150 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, two 155-mm self-propelled artillery systems (Polish-made Krab and U.S.-made Paladin) as well as one 152-mm D-20 howitzer.
The Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 35th Marine Brigade, and 121st Territorial Defence Brigade close to Lugovoye, Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region), and Tyaginka (Kherson region).
The enemy lost up to 100 troops, seven motor vehicles, one U.S.-made 155-mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, one U.S.-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-36 electronic warfare radar, and one 152-mm D-20 howitzer.
Moreover, one AFU ammunition depot was wiped out.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 143 areas during the day.
Air defence units shot down two U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles, one Neptune long-range guided missile, and 42 unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, 631 airplanes and 278 helicopters, 28,734 unmanned aerial vehicles, 556 air defence missile systems, 16,732 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,393 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 12,597 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 24,225 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
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Fact Sheet: Justice Department Actions to Counter the Scourge of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Over the past several years, the Justice Department has focused on breaking apart every link in the global fentanyl supply chain - from China to Mexico to the United States.
Since the beginning of 2021, the Justice Department has:
Extradited over 50 cartel members from Mexico to the United States ; and
; and Charged a dozen Chinese chemical companies and two dozen of their executives for shipping fentanyl precursor chemicals into Mexico and the United States.
This effort has been spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States' lead counter-narcotic law enforcement agency.
In 2024 alone, the DEA has:
Seized over 30 million fentanyl pills and over 4,100 pounds of fentanyl powder, which represents over 208 million deadly doses ; and
and pounds of fentanyl powder, which represents over ; and Arrested over 2,100 individuals for fentanyl related charges working with its law enforcement partners.
As Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has said, "Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable."
Arresting and prosecuting cartel leaders, members, and their associates:
In April 2023, the Justice Department announced charges against several leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, a transnational drug trafficking organization based in Sinaloa, Mexico, and its facilitators across the globe.
In October 2023, the Justice Department announced the extradition of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo, from Mexico to the United States.
In April 2024, the Justice Department charged 41 individuals in a 50-count indictment alleging cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and meth trafficking and related crimes, all operating under the control of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (the Jalisco Cartel or CJNG).
In May 2024, the Justice Department announced the extradition of NAstor Isidro PArez Salas, also known as El Nini, who the Department alleges was one of the Sinaloa Cartel's lead sicarios, or assassins.
In May 2024, the Justice Department announced the extradition of Francisco Pulido after he allegedly supplied the Jalisco Cartel with precursor chemicals used to manufacture controlled substances.
In July 2024, the Attorney General announced the arrests of alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada Garcia (El Mayo) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another son of El Chapo. Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel's criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks. El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States.
In the course of the investigation into the Chapitos network, the FBI and the DEA have arrested several high-profile targets, and the DEA has conducted operations in 10 countries and seized staggering amounts of illicit materials, including over 2.5 million fentanyl-laced pills, 105 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 37 kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals, amounting to 22,747,441 potentially lethal doses.
Disrupting the chemical precursor supply chain:
The Justice Department, DEA, and FBI have and will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute every link in the fentanyl supply chain, including the chemical companies and executives in the People's Republic of China supplying the ingredients used to make this deadly drug.
On Oct. 3, 2023, the Justice Department announced the unsealing of eight indictments charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes relating to fentanyl and methamphetamine production, distribution of synthetic opioids, and sales resulting from precursor chemicals.
In February 2024, the Department obtained a nearly 19-year sentence of a defendant responsible for importing tons of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China into Mexico as part of the Jalisco Cartel's fentanyl trafficking operations.
In May 2024, the Department extradited another of CJNG's alleged key chemical suppliers.
In June 2024, the Justice Department announced a 10-count superseding indictment following a multi-year investigation, named "Operation Fortune Runner," charging associates of the Sinaloa Cartel with conspiring with money laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder drug trafficking proceeds. Following the Department's announcement, China and Mexico took law enforcement actions to arrest fugitives named in the indictment who fled the United States after they were initially charged last year.
Additional actions to counter fentanyl's fatal impact:
Targeting criminal enterprises on the Darknet:
The Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team is a Justice Department initiative led by the FBI with a mission to target and disrupt criminal enterprises utilizing the Darknet or online platforms to facilitate drug trafficking, specifically opioids. JCODE led Operation SpecTor, a coordinated international law enforcement effort that resulted in 288 arrests and the seizure of 117 firearms, 850 kilograms of drugs, and $53.4 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
JCODE's successes include the arrest of an individual operating under the name "Redlightlabs," who sold approximately 3,800 drug transactions between May-Nov 2022, totaling over 123,000 potentially lethal fentanyl pills, approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine, and other illicit narcotics. After the FBI arrested the subject, a review of buyer data identified 15 drug overdose victims who purchased fentanyl-laced pills from "Redlightlabs."
Building partnerships to combat transnational organized crime:
The DEA is combating the availability of illegal pill presses by working with online retailers to educate them about the sale of pill presses and components used in the production of deadly fake pills. In February 2024, DEA issued a letter to e-commerce companies regarding their responsibility as regulated entities to comply with the recordkeeping, identification, and reporting requirements of the Controlled Substances Act as it relates to the distribution, importation, and exportation of pill press equipment.
The FBI has dedicated additional resources to combat transnational organized crime on the front lines throughout Mexico and South and Central America, where the threat is emanating. Assistant Legal Attaches work with international partners to further investigations with U.S interests. The FBI also expands its presence in Mexico through Border Liaison Officers, a dedicated team of agents positioned in FBI Offices along the southwest border with unique authority to routinely work matters of U.S interests in Mexico. The FBI also works with nearly 3,000 task force officers across almost 300 task forces engaged in combating gangs and criminal enterprises that drive the fentanyl crisis.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) continues to work to choke off cartels' access to weapons through Operation Southbound, the Department's signature initiative to disrupt the trafficking of firearms from the United States to Mexico.
Topic: Drug Trafficking
Components: Office of the Attorney General
Department of Justice
Press Release Number: 24-952
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Germany summons Chinese ambassador over 2021 cyberattack
By VOA News July 31, 2024
German officials say an investigation into a 2021 cyberattack on the country's national office for cartography has found that "Chinese state actors" were responsible for the attack. In response, Germany's Foreign Ministry has summoned China's ambassador for the first time since 1989, after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said the German government has "reliable information from our intelligence services" on the source of the attack.
"State-controlled Chinese cyber actors had infiltrated the network of the agency for espionage purposes," Fischer said.
"We resolutely oppose such cyber activities directed against Germany and advocate responsible and rules-based behavior in cyberspace," he said.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement that Germany has "significantly increased our protection" against similar types of threats.
"We call on China to refrain from and prevent such cyberattacks. These cyberattacks threaten the digital sovereignty of Germany and Europe," she said.
Germany's Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy is an important resource for multiple state and private organizations, according to a government ministry statement.
Ties between Germany and China have long been seen as strong, but tensions between Berlin and Beijing have grown in recent years over worries about China's authoritarian tendencies, business practices and potential security risks.
Tensions have ticked up even more recently following the arrest in April of four people, including an aide to a German lawmaker, on suspicion of spying for China.
In early 2024, several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, called out China for its state-sponsored hacking record.
Last year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz came up with a strategic plan regarding relations with China, referring to a "systemic rivalry" and the need to reduce economic dependence on Beijing while still maintaining trade ties and working with China on climate change challenges.
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Statement of support for Germany's Attribution of malicious cyber activity
Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
1 August 2024
Category: International relations
Australia shares Germany's deep concern about the increased scale and severity of malicious cyber activity by state actors. Australia stands with Germany in calling out malicious cyber activity against critical infrastructure. It is important we continue to work together to advocate for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace.
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Australia's first MQ-4C Triton
The Hon Richard Marles MP
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister for Defence
31 July 2024
The Albanese Government has unveiled Australia's first MQ-4C Triton Remotely Piloted Aircraft System - 'AUS 1' - to be operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
Revealed at RAAF Base Tindal by the Deputy Prime Minister, the MQ-4C Triton is a high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft that will provide persistent surveillance across Australia's maritime approaches. The aircraft will complement the ADF's crewed P-8A Poseidon fleet as a 'family of systems' to undertake enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of Defence operations.
The four MQ-4C Triton aircraft will be based at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory and operated by the Air Force's reformed No. 9 Squadron, located at RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia.
The MQ-4C Triton project represents a $900 million investment in Australian industry for facilities construction, network integration, engineering, logistics, component manufacture and sustainment services.
As part of this investment, Defence has signed an interim sustainment support contract valued at approximately $220 million with Northrop Grumman Australia, creating 110 technical jobs for highly skilled workers in South Australia and in the Northern Territory as a result of the project.
Quotes attributable to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, the Hon Richard Marles MP:
"This is another example of the Albanese Government demonstrating its commitment to national security with our ongoing investment in cutting-edge capabilities.
"This is about ensuring our Australian Defence Force is fit for purpose and equipped with suitable capabilities to meet the challenges it will face.
"We must continue to enhance our operations from Australia's northern bases, and the MQ-4C Triton is a tangible example of a capability that will assist us in achieving this task.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, the Hon Pat Conroy MP:
"With the investment in the MQ-4C Triton fleet and the increased commitment to Defence more broadly, the Australian Government is delivering a generational uplift in the long-range capabilities the ADF needs to make Australians safer and to protect our national interests.
"The MQ-4C Triton will significantly enhance the security of Australia's maritime borders - a key priority supported by the Integrated Investment Program, and as outlined in the National Defence Strategy.
"The arrival of the Triton represents a significant milestone for Air Force and clearly demonstrates the success of the cooperative program with the United States Navy. Our partnership strengthens our ability in joint operations and is underpinned by the strong cooperation with defence industry to develop advanced capability."
Quotes attributable to the Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell DSC, CSC, OAM:
"As a complement to our existing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, the MQ-4C Triton will significantly enhance our ability to persistently patrol Australia's north and broader maritime approaches.
"The MQ-4C Triton will deliver unprecedented persistence and awareness over the maritime domain in support of the integrated, focused force.
"Uncrewed aerial systems offer enormous potential to capitalise on the opportunities provided by modern payloads and increased endurance."
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Regular Press Conference on July 30, 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China
CCTV: China announced that the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing from September 4 to 6, could you share with us the detailed program of the Summit?
Lin Jian: The upcoming summit will be the fourth time that the FOCAC meeting is held in the form of a summit. It will be an event to celebrate China-Africa friendship, explore cooperation and chart the course for the future under the theme of "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future." The FOCAC Senior Officials Meeting and Ministerial Conference will be held on September 2 and 3 respectively in preparation for the Summit. From September 4 to 6, the forum will hold a series of activities including the opening ceremony, a welcoming banquet and gala performance, high-level meetings, Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, and bilateral meetings. This will be yet another friendly gathering of the big China-Africa family in Beijing after the 2018 FOCAC Summit.
Mutual respect, treating each other as equals and joint consultation are important features of FOCAC. The two sides are having intensive communication and consultation on the preparation of the Summit and other activities with the aim of carrying forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and making this Summit yet another symbol of China-Africa friendship and solidarity. With the joint effort of China and Africa, the 2024 FOCAC Summit will be a great success, open up new vistas for China-Africa relationship and write a new chapter of building a China-Africa community with a shared future.a
Reuters: The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China said several international lawmakers attending their summit in Taipei had received phone calls and emails from Chinese officials and that it was an attempt to affect the summit. Do you have a comment on that matter?
Lin Jian: The so-called "alliance" you mentioned is hellbent on attacking China on various issues and spreading lies and rumors about China and has no credibility to speak of. There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair that brooks no external interference. China firmly opposes official interaction of any form between the Taiwan authorities and countries that have diplomatic relations with China. We urge relevant lawmakers to abandon ideological bias, stop using the Taiwan question to interfere in China's internal affairs, and act in the interest of bilateral ties, not otherwise.
AFP: My question follows on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. The Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te has addressed that summit. And he said that "a threat from China to any country is a threat to the world." And he also has urged global democracies to unite against what he calls "authoritarian expansion." What's China's response to these remarks?
Lin Jian: There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair that brooks no external interference. As I've just said, the so-called "alliance" you mentioned is hellbent on attacking China on various issues and spreading lies and rumors about China and has no credibility to speak of.
Let me stress once again that "Taiwan independence" is as incompatible with cross-Strait peace as fire with water. Separatism for "Taiwan independence" is the most serious challenge facing the international order, the most dangerous attempt to alter the status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, and the biggest detriment to cross-Strait peace. The Lai Ching-te authorities' attempts to seek "Taiwan independence" by force will prove to be futile. They are not making Taiwan any safer by squandering money on weapons, but are turning Taiwan into a cash machine for the countries selling the weapons. No matter how they try to beef up "national defense" and pedal the "democracy versus authoritarianism" narrative, they will not stop the trend towards China's reunification.a
The one-China principle is a basic norm governing international relations and prevailing international consensus. It is where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends. The Lai Ching-te authorities' attempt to seek independence, make provocations and resist reunification by force will lead nowhere.
Bloomberg: Just now you said that Lai Ching-te has used force to seek independence. I'm just wondering, can you give us one example of a time that he's used force?
Lin Jian: Just now I mentioned how the Lai Ching-te authorities have been trying to seek "Taiwan independence" by force. They are not making Taiwan any safer by squandering money on weapons. No matter how they try to beef up so-called "national defense," they will not stop the trend towards China's reunification.a
Global Times: It's reported that the Japan-US 2+2 meeting was held in Tokyo on July 28 and a joint statement was issued with concerns regarding China's ongoing and rapid expansion of its nuclear weapons arsenal. In the meanwhile, the two sides convened the first ministerial meeting on extended deterrence, and demonstrated to the world the importance of the two sides sharing the US nuclear umbrella. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed that extended deterrence is at the core of the US-Japan Alliance. What's China's response?
Lin Jian: China noted the report and expresses grave concern over the statement and comments. China follows a policy of "no first use" of nuclear weapons and a nuclear strategy that focuses on self-defense. China always keeps its nuclear strength at the minimum level required by national security, and never engages in arms race with anyone. For any country, as long as they do not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China, they will not find China's nuclear weapons to be a threat.
Extended deterrence is a Cold War relic. Strengthening US-Japan collaboration on nuclear deterrence will stimulate regional tensions, and heighten risks for nuclear proliferation and conflict. Japan has long characterized itself as a victim of nuclear explosion and an advocate of a nuclear-weapons-free world, but all the while, it has been sitting comfortably under the US's nuclear umbrella, pursuing extended deterrence, and seeking "nuclear deterrence." Japan owes the world an explanation for saying one thing and doing another.
China calls on the US and Japan to abandon the Cold War mentality, reduce the role of nuclear weapons in national and collective security policies, and take concrete actions to uphold strategic stability and regional peace and security. We call on Japan to take a hard look at its strategic security policy, earnestly fulfill its obligations as a non-nuclear-weapon state pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, abide by its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, and refrain from seeking nuclear weapons in any form.
AFP: The Venezuelan electoral council has announced that President Maduro has been reelected. China has already congratulated President Maduro on his reelection. But the US, the EU, the UK, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Chile, as well as the United Nations have all cast doubt on the accuracy of that election result. So I'd like to ask, does China believe that the Venezuelan election was free, fair and transparent? What is China's comments on the violent protests going on at the moment in Venezuela?
Lin Jian: On Venezuela's election, I made clear China's position yesterday. The Venezuelan people's choice should be respected. We believe the Venezuelan government and people are capable of handling their internal affairs.
Dragon TV: Today marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the MOU between the governments of the People's Republic of China and Japan on the destruction of the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China. Can you update us on how the work is progressing and whether China has any concerns?
Lin Jian: Japan's abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs) in China mark one of the gravest crimes that Japanese militarists committed during the war of aggression against China. Even today, they still pose a serious threat to the safety of the life and property of the Chinese people and the ecological environment. China takes the issue of Japan's ACWs very seriously, and has been urging Japan to destroy them safely, completely and thoroughly at an early date in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and the MOU between the two countries' governments.
With the active assistance from the Chinese side, Japan has excavated and retrieved about 130,000 ACWs and destroyed nearly 100,000. However, due to inadequate and unevenly distributed inputs from the Japanese side, the destruction process is generally seriously lagging behind schedule, the implementation of the destruction plan has missed the deadlines four times, and some key and thorny issues remain unsettled, which has severely held back and stood in the way of the destruction process.
To remove the hazardous ACWs is Japan's unshirkable historical, political and legal responsibility. China calls on Japan to take seriously China's concerns, earnestly fulfill its responsibility under relevant convention, increase inputs in all respects, do everything possible to speed up the disposal process, and fully and faithfully implement the destruction plan in its entirety, so that the day will come sooner when the Chinese people no longer have to live on soil tainted by ACWs.
CRI: It's reported that the situation in Bangladesh has gradually calmed down, and life and work there have come back to normal. In the meanwhile, some countries have expressed concerns on Bangladesh's situation. What's China's comments?
Lin Jian: China noted that the situation in Bangladesh has come under control and social order has resumed. The Chinese side is heartened by that as Bangladesh's friend and close neighbor.
China and Bangladesh are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners. China stands ready to work with Bangladesh to deliver on the important common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to China, deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, and deliver more benefits to the two peoples.
Hubei Media Group: Today marks the 32nd anniversary of China joining the Universal Copyright Convention. What are China's efforts and achievements in intellectual property right (IPR) protection? What kind of opportunity does that bring for the world?aa
Lin Jian: China attaches great importance to the development of copyright industries and the protection of copyright. Since joining the Universal Copyright Convention in 1992, China has amended its Copyright Law and joined the Marrakesh Treaty to stay up-to-date with the latest progress and standards. The legal framework for copyright protection has been significantly improved and the number of registered copyright has gone over 8.92 million.a
China's work on copyright protection is a reflection of China's larger effort on IPR protection. In recent years, China has been strengthening protection of all sorts of IPR including patent, trademark, copyright, geographical indication and so on, to support China's high-quality development. China is fully involved in global IPR governance under the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has deepened institutionalized exchanges with the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and BRICS countries. China is committed to providing equal IPR protection and a fair, open and transparent business environment for domestic and foreign enterprises alike. AstraZeneca increased its investment in China after winning a drug patent dispute, Ford holds some 9,000 patents and 1,500 trademarks in China. Over 5,000 foreign and joint venture enterprises have registered with the national IPR protection centers and fast IPR service centers. These are evidence of an increasingly friendly IPR ecosphere in China and greater confidence it has received from foreign businesses.a
High-quality development needs innovation. To protect IPR is to protect innovation. Not long ago, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was successfully held. The session calls for better systems underpinning the market economy, a more effective system for the comprehensive management of intellectual property rights, and stronger law enforcement and judicial protection for property rights. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, enhance capacity for IPR protection, deepen international exchanges and cooperation, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, provide foreign enterprises with a better business environment, and steer the international IPR governance towards greater justice and equity, so that humanity will always benefit from the kindling power of intellectual property and share the fruits of innovation.
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Bloomberg: US intelligence officials say China is among the nations recruiting Americans to spread propaganda advancing their interests before the US presidential election. Would the Foreign Ministry like to comment on that?
Lin Jian: China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US. The US side should not spread disinformation to vilify China and should not make China an issue in US elections.
Beijing Daily: It was reported that Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote on a social media platform a few days ago that he appreciates the Chinese government's effort to facilitate discussions between Fatah, Hamas and other factions of Palestine, and hopes that the Beijing Declaration will translate into tangible results. He once again called for governments around the world to recognize the State of Palestine and encourage such unity efforts. What is China's comment?
Lin Jian: China appreciates the comment of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, which reflects the common expectation and aspiration of the international community, including the vast Arab and Islamic states, for an early settlement of the Palestinian question and the realization of peace and stability in the Middle East.
On promoting the internal reconciliation of Palestine, China's hope and direction of effort are highly identical with those of the vast Arab and Islamic states. China stands ready to step up communication and coordination with Malaysia and other parties, work for the implementation of the Beijing Declaration, and play a constructive role for peace and stability in the Middle East.
Beijing Youth Daily: My colleague asked a question about the Japan-US 2+2 meeting and the Japan-US ministerial meeting on extended deterrence. In addition to these two events, the Japan-Australia-India-US Foreign Ministers' Meeting was also held in Tokyo on Sunday and Monday. The joint statement issued by the Japan-US 2+2 meeting criticized China's foreign policy. What's China's comments?
Lin Jian: Despite China's grave concerns, Japan and the US grossly interfered in China's internal affairs on Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Xizang, and falsely accused China on maritime issues. Under the Cold War mentality, those two countries have been practicing bloc politics, inciting bloc confrontation, damaging regional peace and stability, and harming other countries' security interest. China firmly opposes this and has lodged serious protests with the Japanese side through diplomatic channel. We call on Japan to view China in an objective and rational light, stop its political manipulation on China's domestic affairs, stop making provocations on maritime issues, stop ganging up with countries outside the region to create division and confrontation in the region, follow a path of peaceful development, and earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the wider international community through concrete actions.
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US containment policy cannot stop China's technology advance: Foreign Ministry
Global Times
By Global Times Published: Jul 31, 2024 07:46 PM
China's economic development won't be upended by external containment, while the nation's technology self-reliance will be strengthened, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Lin Jian, a ministry spokesperson, made the remarks during a regular press conference in response to a media question about reported US plans to impose new restrictions on exports of semiconductor equipment to China from the US, Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea.
Chinese industry observers said it indicated that semiconductor equipment makers in those countries would have to bear the losses of their escalating chip restriction measures.
Lin said that China firmly opposed Washington's moves to politicize and weaponize economic, trade and technological issues, and abuse the concept of national security.
"The continuous escalation of US semiconductor export controls to China and Washington's pressure on other countries to suppress China's semiconductor industry, have seriously undermined international trade rules, damaged the stability of the global supply chain and harmed all parties involved," Lin said.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Biden administration is planning to unveil a new rule next month tightening key chip-making equipment exports to China by its allied countries, including Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea.
The rules showed a contradictory relationship between the US and its allies in terms of containing China's semiconductor industry development, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Beijing-based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"The long-term US strategy on stymieing China's technology advancement means that it needs its allies' assistance, but semiconductor enterprises in those countries have to bear heavy operational losses," said Xiang.
International semiconductor enterprises have taken measures to tap into the great potential of the world's largest electronics consumer market. For instance, US semiconductor giant Nvidia is reportedly working on a new version of its flagship artificial intelligence chip designed for the China market.
Sales of Dutch chipmaking supplier ASML's lithography systems to Chinese customers hit about 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, accounting for a record of 49 percent of its quarterly total, Reuters reported in April.
"Containment and suppression won't stop China's development. Such moves will only enhance China's determination and ability to achieve technological self-reliance and self-improvement," Lin emphasized.
Lin noted that China will closely monitor the following developments and resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. He called on relevant countries to firmly resist coercion and jointly uphold a fair and open international economic and trade order, in order to defend their long-term interests.
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New rare-earth oxides in Yunnan Province to support development of China's strategic industries
Global Times
By Global Times Published: Jul 31, 2024 03:06 PM
A Chinese research team told the Global Times on Wednesday that they have discovered rich rare-earth oxides, estimated at one million tons, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, the first super-large ion-adsorption rare earth mine discovered in the country.
This discovery is significant for China's development, experts say.
The newly discovered rare earth deposit is substantial, with shallow depth and good quality, making it cost-effective to develop, the representative told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"The deposit's location near the borders of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, provides the potential for further exploration to build a larger, connected rare earth resource base, while cooperating with the BRI partners," Zhang Zuoheng, the director of Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences told to the media.
The team led by Wang Xueqiu from the Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, not only found the exceptionally rich heavy rare earth deposit in Honghe, Yunnan, but also two large and one medium-sized deposits in other three areas of Yunnan, totaling an estimated one million tons of rare earth oxides.
"We have taken national demands as our responsibility. From 2008 to 2024, our team conducted 260 drill tests, with 165 confirming valuable rare earth resources that meet industrial mining standards," a representative from Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
They has also innovated in the application of geochemical exploration methods for key rare earth elements, filling a gap in the evaluation techniques for ion-adsorption rare earth deposits, making each search more efficient and precise.
In recent years, the rapid growth of new materials and new-energy products has significantly increased market demand for rare earths.
In June, China has issued a set of regulations on rare earth administration. The regulations, which will take effect on Oct 1, state that rare earth resources are owned by the state and will be subject to protective mining practices.
China will promote the high-quality development of the rare-earth industry, and encourage the research, development and application of new technologies, new materials and new equipment, according to the regulations.
Rare earth elements are scarce, described as the "vitamins of industry" and the "mother of new materials". They are crucial material in glass, electric vehicles, industrial robots, and aerospace. The newly found rare earths could further contribute to China's development of manufacturing sector, high-tech and defense industries, experts said.
China is a leading producer of rare earths, supplying over 70 percent of the world's rare earths with about 40 percent of global reserves. Its exports primarily go to the US, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and over 70 other countries and regions.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Regular Press Conference on July 31, 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China
At the invitation of Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, President of The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, President Xi Jinping's Special Envoy and Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Guangqian will attend President Ghazouani's inauguration in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, on August 1.
Al Jazeera: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said in a statement that its leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli air raid on his residence in Tehran. What is the Foreign Ministry's comment on this?a
Lin Jian: We are closely following the incident. China firmly opposes and condemns the act of assassination and is deeply concerned that the incident may plunge the region into greater turmoil. China has been calling for settling regional disputes through negotiation and dialogue and an early, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and there should be no more escalation of the conflict and confrontation.
CCTV: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni just concluded her visit to China. We noted that she said at a press briefing yesterday that it's possible to rebuild closer cooperation with China, and that this visit which coincides with the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death defines the depth of China-Italy relations. She was "very satisfied" with the trip. Could you share more details with us?
Lin Jian: At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid an official visit to China from July 27 to 31. In Beijing, President Xi Jinping met with her. Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress had talks and met with her. This visit took place as the two countries mark the 20th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership. During the visit, the two sides issued an action plan (2024-2027) to strengthen comprehensive strategic partnership. They stressed that the two countries stand ready to carry forward the Silk Road spirit that dates back centuries, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, promote mutual learning among civilizations, elevate bilateral relations, and make greater contribution to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous world. During the visit, the two prime ministers attended the opening ceremony of the seventh meeting of the China-Italy Entrepreneurs Committee, and witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on industry, education, environmental protection, geographical indications and food safety. Prime Minister Meloni also visited Shanghai.
During the meetings and talks, the leaders of the two countries had an in-depth exchange of views on China-Italy relations, China-EU relations and the international landscape. The two sides were of the view that the friendly exchanges between the two countries date back centuries, and contribute to the exchanges and mutual learning between eastern and western civilizations. These exchanges will carry forward the tradition of friendship between the two countries, maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, and make the bilateral relations more resilient, mature and stable. Italy reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China policy. The two sides agreed to make full use of the China-Italy Government Committee and dialogues and platforms in various fields, and to step up practical cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, industrial manufacturing, technological innovation, green energy and artificial intelligence. This year marks the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death. The two countries will use this opportunity to deepen exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, tourism, sports, and other fields, and further strengthen the bond between the two countries. The two sides support China and the EU in deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership, settling differences properly through dialogue and consultation, and avoiding escalation of trade frictions. Both the Chinese and Italian sides expressed readiness to strengthen multilateral coordination, oppose division, confrontation, decoupling and severing supply chains, and jointly address global challenges.
Reuters: Ukraine has invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit and Ukrainian Foreign Minister said work towards a possible meeting between the Ukrainian and Chinese presidents was constant. Will Minister Wang Yi accept the invitation to visit Kyiv? And when could the visit take place? A second question about this is, are the plans for a meeting between both presidents in the works?
Lin Jian: China is ready to maintain communication with Ukraine on bilateral interactions. On the specific questions you asked, I have no information to share.
Beijing Daily: It was reported that on July 30, massive landslides struck Wayanad district in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, killing over 100 people. On the same day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the lives lost and "assured all possible help from the Centre" on a social media platform. Has the Chinese side expressed sympathies to the Indian side? Are any Chinese nationals killed or injured in the landslides?
Lin Jian: We saw the news about the massive landslides in the Indian state of Kerala. We express deep condolences over the lives lost, and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured, and we wish those who are injured speedy recovery. Based on the information gathered by the Chinese Embassy in India, no Chinese deaths or injuries have so far been reported.
Global Times: On July 30, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, when answering a question at a joint press availability after the Philippines-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, said that the Mid-Range Capability missile system the US deployed in the Philippines is meant for the Philippines' own defensive capabilities, not meant for any offensive purposes, so it would not lead to an arms race. Does China have any comment on that?
Lin Jian: On the US deployment of Mid-Range Capability missile system in the Philippines, China has made clear its just position more than once. Let me stress once again that by letting the US deploy the missile system on Philippine soil, the Philippines is enabling a country outside the region to fuel tensions and antagonism in this region, and incite geopolitical confrontation and arms race. This region cherishes peace and prosperity, and does not need those missiles and confrontation. We urge relevant countries to heed the call of countries in the region, stop doing the wrong thing sooner rather than later, quickly pull out the missile system as publicly pledged, and stop prolonging the wrongful act.
AFP: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced yesterday that the US will provide US$ 500 million in funding for the Philippines to boost its defense capability. What is China's comment on this?
Lin Jian: China made clear its position on the military cooperation between the US and the Philippines more than once. The US is not a party to the issue of the South China Sea and has no right to interfere in the maritime issues between China and the Philippines. The Philippines needs to see that ganging up with countries outside the region to engage in confrontation in the South China Sea will only destabilize the region and create more tensions. To seek security assurance from external forces will only lead to greater insecurity and turn oneself into someone else's chess piece. Any moves to resort to bloc politics and military confrontation will not be popular among the people and will not succeed. Our message for relevant country is that the only proven way to protect one's own security and keep the region peaceful and stable is to commit oneself to good-neighborliness, return to dialogue and consultation and maintain strategic independence.aa
Kyodo News: Yesterday, Director General of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs met with the chief minister of the Japanese Embassy in China to lodge protests and express serious concern and dissatisfaction regarding the Japan-US 2+2 meeting, the Japan-US ministerial meeting on extended deterrence, among others. Could you share more details with us?
Lin Jian: A readout was issued on the meeting and protest that you mentioned, which you may refer to. Yesterday, I fully elaborated on China's position on the negative statement and remarks made during the Japan-US 2+2 meeting, the Japan-US ministerial meeting on extended deterrence, and other meetings.
Reuters: The Biden administration plans to unveil a new rule next month that will expand US powers to stop exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from some foreign countries to Chinese chip makers. This is a Reuters report citing sources. This new rule will exclude shipments from Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea. What is China's take on this development?
Lin Jian: China made clear its position multiple times on the US's malicious attempts to block and suppress China's semiconductor industry. The US continues to politicize trade and tech issues, tie them to national security and uses them as a weapon to tighten control over chip export to China and coerce other countries to go after China's semiconductor industry, which severely undermines international trade rules, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and serves no one's interests. China firmly opposes it.
Let me stress that containing and going after China will not stop China's development, but will only make China even more determined and capable in boosting our own strength in tech and innovation. China will keep a close eye on relevant developments, and firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. We hope relevant countries will firmly resist the coercion, and jointly uphold a fair and open international trade order to protect their own long-term interests.
China Review News: It's reported the leader of the Taiwan region Lai Ching-te said on July 30 at the summit of the "Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China" that the Chinese mainland misinterprets the UNGA Resolution 2758 to impede Taiwan's efforts to take part in international organizations and to construct a basis for China's military "aggression against Taiwan." What's your response?
Lin Jian: There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. This is an undeniable fact.
The UNGA Resolution 2758 settled once and for all the question of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the United Nations. The Resolution made it clear that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, not a country. It also made clear that there is only one seat of China in the United Nations, and the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations, precluding "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan." The one-China principle is observed by the UN and its specialized agencies on the Taiwan question. Taiwan is referred to as "Taiwan, province of China" in all UN's official documents. It was clearly stated in the official legal opinions of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status," and the "'authorities' in 'Taipei' are not considered to ... enjoy any form of government status."
UNGA Resolution 2758 contains unequivocal recognition of the one-China principleaa basic norm and prevailing consensus for the global community, there is no way to "misinterpret" that. Taiwan, being part of China, simply does not qualify for "sovereign status". The Taiwan region's participation in the activities of international organizations should and can only be handled in line with the one-China principle. Taiwan is definitely not inherently entitled to "participation in international organizations".
I would like to stress again that the one-China principle is unshakable and the trend of China realizing reunification is unstoppable. "Taiwan independence" separatism is a dead end. Whatever the Lai Ching-te authorities say or do, it does not change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China or the legal status of the UNGA Resolution 2758, and still less the historic trend that China will and must achieve reunification.
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The following question was raised after the press conference: It's reported that torrential rain recently hit the border areas between China and the DPRK with the Yalv River far exceeding the warning level. North Pyongan Province and Chagang Province suffered from severe flooding. What's China's comment?
Lin Jian: Due to heavy rainfall, the Yalv River has exceeded its warninga level and relevant China-DPRK border areas face severe flooding. We noted the flooding in the DPRK's North Pyongan Province and Chagang Province, and the fatalities and property loss it has caused. As the DPRK's traditional friend and neighbor, China is paying close attention to the flooding and expresses heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and those who are affected. We believe that the people of the DPRK are capable of overcoming the impact of the disaster and rebuilding their homes soon. In the meanwhile, areas on the Chinese side near the border have also been hit by severe flooding. We hope the two sides will share flood information in a timely way to better prevent the flooding and ensure the safety of people's life and property in relevant areas of the two countries.
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China sanctions US lawmaker for criticizing Beijing's human rights record
Rep. Jim McGovern says he is unfazed by the measure and will wear it as a 'badge of honor.'
By Tashi Wangchuk and Lhuboom for RFA Tibetan 2024.07.31 -- China on Wednesday sanctioned U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, accusing him of "interfering in China's internal affairs," though the congressman said it would not deter him from continuing to speak out against the Chinese government's poor human rights record in Tibet.
The sanctions against McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, prohibit him from engaging in any transactions or other activities with organizations and individuals in China. They also bar him and his family from entering the country, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The sanctions took effect on Wednesday as a "countermeasure" against McGovern's actions and statements that "interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's sovereignty, security and development interests," the ministry said.
McGovern told Radio Free Asia that the sanctions' timing suggests they are a reaction to a U.S. bill on Tibet that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this month and to McGovern's meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at his home in Dharamsala, India, in June.
"If PRC [People's Republic of China] leaders don't like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record," he said. "They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong."
McGovern introduced and was among the key sponsors of the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, that supports Tibetan self-determination and urges China to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to reach a peaceful resolution to the dispute between Tibet and China.
It also empowers the U.S. State Department to counter China's disinformation about Tibet and encourages the Chinese government to "address the aspirations of the Tibetan people regarding their distinct historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity."
A vocal critic
McGovern has been a vocal critic of China's human rights record and a firm Tibet supporter, having spoken out openly in the past on several humanitarian issues, particularly on China's human rights violations in Tibet and Xinjiang and the impact of Beijing's assimilation policies on Tibetan cultural, religious and linguistic identity.
Asked whether Beijing's latest move will result in any change in his stance on Tibet, McGovern responded, "Absolutely not."
McGovern was also the author of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act which former U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law in December 2018. The law denies Chinese government officials access to the United States if they are responsible for creating or implementing restrictions on American government officials, journalists, independent observers and tourists seeking access to Tibet.
China has also imposed sanctions and other restrictions on prominent U.S. citizens.
In 2022, Beijing sanctioned U.S. historian Miles Yu and Todd Stein, a deputy staff director of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China who previously worked as a lobbyist for the International Campaign for Tibet. They were banned from traveling to China or contacting anyone there.
Last year, China also imposed sanctions against Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, one of the key sponsors of the Resolve Tibet Act who led a U.S. bipartisan congressional delegation to Dharamasala to meet with the Dalai Lama in June.
Prior to the visit, China warned the delegation against making the trip. Later, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the trip and said the U.S. must not sign the bill into law.
At the time, Lin said China would take steps to "firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests."
Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan and by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content July not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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China's new 'wolf-warrior' envoy to Cambodia portends superpower rivalry
By Sim Chansamnang, Han Noy July 31, 2024
China's new ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wenbin, arrived in early July with a reputation as a highly experienced and combative diplomat in what is seen as the first move in a coming battle for influence between superpowers in the Southeast Asian nation.
The United States and Australia are expected to follow soon with their own new envoys who are seasoned in China relations. The personnel moves come less than a year into the first term of Prime Minister Hun Manet, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Cambodia's first new prime minister in decades.
Hun Manet is the son of Cambodia's longtime leader Hun Sen and part of a new generation of politicians from the ruling Cambodian People's Party, which has been in power for more than 40 years. Diplomats are waiting to see whether he will adjust his country's "ironclad friendship" established with China by his father.
At present, China is Cambodia's largest trading partner and a significant source of foreign investment and development assistance. China wants to deepen those ties through its Belt and Road Initiative and other cooperative frameworks.
Potentially standing in the way of that goal are concerns in Cambodia about an over-reliance on China, an effort by Phnom Penh to balance relations with the West, and public concerns about corruption and Chinese investments primarily benefiting the elite.
Wang is a former Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson and former ambassador to Tunisia, with more than 30 years of diplomatic experience, according to China Daily. He is one of what China describes as a new breed of combative "wolf warrior" diplomats.
With his extensive experience, analysts believe Wang will be able to sustain the close ties between China and Cambodia or even increase Beijing's influence with the Phnom Penh government and the region.
Seng Vanly, a doctoral candidate in international relations at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, said Wang's wealth of experience could make him more influential than his predecessors.
"Because of his reputation as a spokesperson and his articulation talent, as well as his responses, he is well-recognized among Chinese diplomats and around the world who see him as strongly responding to the enemy countries or the West, such as the United States, on issues relating to China's rise, China's aggressions, whether in the South China Sea or its conflict with Taiwan," he told VOA Khmer via Telegram.
Seng emphasized that Western countries such as Australia and the United States are expected to send their own new ambassadors with China expertise to Cambodia.
However, he said he believes that Wang can offer substantial benefits to Cambodia while holding his own in any diplomatic battles with rival countries.
The U.S, meanwhile, is awaiting the final confirmation by the U.S. Senate of its next ambassador to Cambodia, according to a U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Phnom Penh. He is Robert Forden, a career diplomat who has held the second-ranking position at the U.S. missions in both Beijing and Taipei and was charge d'affaires at the Beijing embassy from 2020 to 2021.
Australia, for its part, this month named its next ambassador to Phnom Penh as Derek Yip, who has held two postings to Beijing and served most recently as assistant secretary of the Foreign Ministry's East Asia political branch.
According to Em Sovannara, a political science professor at the University of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, the appointment of capable, senior diplomats from both superpowers could make Cambodia a diplomatic battleground on issues such as the South China Sea, where China has competing territorial claims with several of Phnom Penh's fellow ASEAN members.
The U.S. is also concerned about Chinese involvement in Cambodia's controversial Ream naval base.
Wang's arrival also coincided with a visit to Cambodia in early July by Yoko Kamikawa, the foreign affairs minister of Japan. Analysts told VOA Khmer that strengthening relations with Japan could reduce Chinese influence in Cambodia and lead to a more balanced approach to foreign relations.
"By diversifying Cambodia's partners, it could, to some extent, relieve the pressure and expectation that Phnom Penh has on Beijing to live up to its name as an economic partner," said Ek Bunly, a research fellow at the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies.
At the same time, he said, "Cambodia would be in total vulnerability should China decide to weaponize its economic domination in Cambodia for Beijing's political goal in the future."
According to Bunly, Cambodia has become a significant player in the U.S.-China rivalry in the region. Other elements of that rivalry include the rise of U.S.-led groups such as AUKUS, the Quad, and NATO's forthcoming IP4 initiative in the Indo-Pacific, all of which are seen as countering China's agenda.
"Thus, having and maintaining a strong partner like Cambodia in the Indo-Pacific region provides Beijing with critical geopolitical leverage," he said.
In its latest move to demonstrate its ironclad ties with China, the Cambodian government named a 50-kilometer section of Phnom Penh's newly constructed third ring road as Xi Jinping Boulevard. Construction of the road cost about $270 million and was partly paid for with concessional Chinese lending.
"The naming of Xi Jinping Boulevard is symbolic of the Cambodia-China friendship that has reached the top," government spokesperson Bona told VOA via WhatsApp. "And both countries strive well for the good relationship as Cambodia gets much benefits."
Bunly said that the many China-funded infrastructure projects in Cambodia are fruits of Beijing's continued commitment to Phnom Penh. However, he added, it remains to be seen if Wang's high-profile background can bring back much-needed Chinese tourism and investment in Cambodia's struggling post-COVID-19 economy.
Even if Wang is very capable, Bunly said, bringing back Chinese investment is not necessarily within his control and partly depends on China's own economic conditions. So far China's slow post-COVID recovery has prevented the return of significant Chinese investment and tourists to Cambodia after COVID.
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China sanctions US lawmaker
By Katherine Michaelson July 31, 2024
China issued sanctions on U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, the sponsor of a bill advocating for a peaceful resolution of the China-Tibet dispute China views Tibet as an "inseparable part of China since ancient times," despite supporters of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the Dalai Lama saying that Tibet has historically been independent.
Framed as a response to McGovern's efforts to undermine Chinese territorial sovereignty, the sanctions freeze the representative's Chinese assets, prohibit organizations or individuals in China from engaging with him, and ban him and his family from entering Chinese territory, according to a publication from Chinese state-media agency Xinhua.
McGovern has no assets or business dealings in China, according to The Associated Press.
McGovern's Tibet-China Dispute Act, which passed through the House in mid-June, gives the State Department increased authority to counter Chinese disinformation about Tibet and promotes the resumption of talks between Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama. No such talks have occurred since 2010.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on July 12.
China stands accused of large-scale human rights abuses in Tibet, which the congressman hoped to alleviate with this legislation.
McGovern's office did not respond to a VOA request for comment.
In a statement released on June 12 when the bill passed the House, McGovern said, "The People's Republic of China has systematically denied Tibetans the right to self-determination and continues to deliberately erase Tibetan religion, culture, and language."
"The ongoing oppression of the Tibetan people is a grave tragedy, and our bill provides further tools that empower both America and the international community to stand up for justice and peace," he said.
Among the signees of the statement were House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Senator Todd Young, McGovern and Senator Jeff Merkley.
In a response, Chinese state-sponsored media Xinhua said the Tibet-China Dispute Act "grossly interferes in China's internal affairs," violates international law and distorts historical facts to suppress China and encourage Tibetan separatist movements.
This is not the first time China has sanctioned a U.S. representative for their involvement in an issue that threatens Chinese territorial homogeneity. Over the last year, China has sanctioned both Representative McCaul and former Representative Mike Gallagher over their support for Taiwan.
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KPA Air Force Helicopters Conclude Rescue Operation in Kim Jong Suk County of Ryanggang Province
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK
Pyongyang, July 31 (KCNA) -- The Jangjin River flooded by a downpour on July 28, creating a crisis in which more than 150 people were isolated in Janghang-ri area of Kim Jong Suk County, Ryanggang Province.
The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea gave the Air Force of the Korean People's Army a special order on mobilizing helicopters in an emergency rescue operation.
Helicopters of the Air Force ensured the safe rescue of all persons by making seven rounds of flights in a responsible way.
The result of the rescue operation was immediately reported to the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un .
Kim Jong Un repeatedly and highly appreciated the extraordinary fighting efficiency, matchless self-sacrificing spirit and bravery of the helicopter flying regiment and its commander that performed another heroic feat in carrying out their successive difficult mission after perfectly completing the huge rescue operation in the area of North Phyongan Province. -0-
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North Korea appoints new ambassadors to Vietnam, Singapore
The post for Vietnam had remained vacant since 2019.
By Taejun Kang for RFA 2024.07.31 -- North Korea has appointed new ambassadors to Vietnam and Singapore after years of delay in filling such posts led to speculation that it was closing down diplomatic missions around the world because of financial constraints.
Ri Sung Guk has been appointed North Korea's top envoy to Vietnam, the North's foreign ministry announced on Tuesday. It is the first time Ri has been mentioned in North Korean state media.
The post had remained vacant since his predecessor, Kim Myong Gil, returned to the North in April 2019.
Amid a rift with its traditional ally Cuba, North Korea has shifted its focus towards expanding diplomatic engagement with other communist states.
In March, a senior North Korean official led a delegation to Vietnam for meetings with counterparts on strengthening relations. Separately, the delegation met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visited Laos at that time.
North Korea also announced on Tuesday it had appointed Ri Kil Song as ambassador to Singapore. He appears to be a former vice foreign minister who handled Asian affairs until 2020.
In May last year, speculation emerged online that North Korea was shutting down diplomatic missions worldwide amid a financial crisis.
Since then, media reports have confirmed the closure of North Korean embassies and consulates in as many as a dozen locations, including countries Pyongyang views as longtime allies, such as Uganda, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
North Korea also reportedly closed its consulates in Hong Kong and Spain.
In November, an official from South Korea's Ministry of Unification, which oversees inter-Korean relations, said tighter international sanctions on North Korea had hampered its ability to earn foreign currency, making it difficult to maintain its diplomatic missions.
"This is a glimpse of North Korea's dire economic situation, where it is difficult to maintain even minimal diplomatic relations with traditional allies," the official added.
Amid the speculation over its finances, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said on Nov. 3 that it was in the process of "closing and opening" diplomatic missions in other countries, and this was a normal part of the business of sovereign nations.
"We will continue to take the necessary diplomatic steps in the context of the prospective development of our external relations in line with the evolving international environment," the spokesperson said at that time.
As of May 2023, North Korea operated a total of 53 foreign missions, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Edited by Mike Firn.
Copyright 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content July not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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FAO head's rare visit to North Korea raises questions
By Christy Lee July 31, 2024
A rare visit by the head of the Food and Agricultural Organization to North Korea has drawn criticism from former U.S. officials and humanitarian experts, with some raising the possibility of the U.N. official, a former Chinese official, using his position to serve China's political interests.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, currently in his second term and who formerly served as China's vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, took a rare trip to Pyongyang, July 13-16, and praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for making "great achievement" in food security and agricultural development, according to a FAO statement.
Qu's trip was the first by an aid organization since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
For several decades, North Korea has suffered chronic food shortages exacerbated by recurring famine and floods damaging harvests. A FAO report released in July described North Korea's food situation as "fragile."
Hit again by heavy rains that flooded vast farmlands in Sinuiju and Uiju near the Chinese border, Kim "expressed deep concern" at an emergency meeting held to restore the damage after inspecting flood-hit areas, said state-run KCNA on Wednesday.
"The fact that North Korea has suffered periodic famines and for the head of the FAO to praise" the country's food situation "is beyond ironic," said Kevin Moley, former U.S. ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva from 2001 to 2006.
"It's nothing more or less than a political agenda between China and North Korea," he added.
Other former U.S. officials and analysts said the visit seems to have been made to benefit bilateral interests of Beijing and Pyongyang.
"Qu's comments were probably an attempt by the DPRK leadership to use the U.N. to tell the world everything is fine" at a time when "we have evidence there was a second famine from 2018 to 2023 that killed tens of thousands or more," said Andrew Natsios, who served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2001 to 2006.
"The Chinese government is worried of an increase in Russian influence in the DPRK and a decline in [its own] influence. The Russians are providing food to North Korea beginning last year in exchange for the DPRK providing them artillery shells, which the Russians are running out of in the Ukraine war," added Natsios, the director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University.
North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
China has long been the primary food aid provider to North Korea, and deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang since Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June is believed to make Beijing nervous about its own influence on North Korea.
VOA contacted the FAO for its comments on the criticism of Qu's Pyongyang visit but did not receive a reply.
Max-Otto Baumann, a senior researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, said China might be interested in promoting agricultural productivity in North Korea through the FAO.
He said that could be done "with little transparency and accountability" such as through Qu's signature Hand-in-Hand Initiative "seen by some FAO insiders and diplomats as a continuation of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative."
The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is aimed at eradicating poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition through data-driven agricultural transformation.
Courtney Fung, a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute, said the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang "sends an implicit message" that China's leadership role at the FAO can gain access to North Korea "when other leaders cannot or have not, while advancing ostensibly apolitical technical solutions for global governance problems."
The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang was the first to release a statement about Qu's trip there ahead of the FAO.
Qu has been accused of using the FAO as a vehicle to spread China's influence in countries the agency serves and to fulfill Beijing's goals in the several occasions in the past.
On the other hand, Jerome Sauvage, the U.N. resident coordinator in North Korea from 2009 to 2013, said, "No FAO director-general has ever been completely protected from the influence of their country of origin."
Qu's "connection with China actually facilitates the reentry of one U.N. agency into DPRK," he added.
Bradley Babson, a former World Bank adviser and a current advisory council member of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said Qu's trip does not seem to be motivated by China's political interest but rather by "trying to help North Korea find a better way to feed its people with U.N. support."
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Iran president stresses expansion of ties with Russia
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Jul 31, 2024
Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that his administration is determined to improve the level of relations with Russia.
Pezeshkian said in a meeting with Vyacheslav Valodin, the head of the Russian State Duma, in Tehran on Tuesday.
The president said, "If we strengthen our relations based on mutual capacities, the US and Western countries will no longer be able to resort to the tactic of sanctions."
Pezeshkian also stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not forgotten that Russia has been a friend and supporter of the Iranian nation in difficult times and will continue and develop its relations with strength and power.
The president stated that strengthening relations with neighbors and countries in the region is the priority of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic and the 14th administration.
Referring to his telephone conversation with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and discussing important issues, including accelerating the implementation of joint projects, Pezeshkian said that the implementation of these plans will benefit the countries of the region and the whole world, in addition to securing the interests of Iran and Russia.
Valodin, for his part, said that the Russian president asked him to convey the message to President Pezeshkian that Russia is ready to cooperate with the Islamic Republic on the way to achieving the great goals.
Saying that President Putin attached great importance to the development of relations with Iran, he added that the Russian Parliament is also ready to cooperate and facilitate the path of achieving mutual interests of the two countries.
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Iran holds funeral for assassinated Hamas leader
By VOA News August 01, 2024
Iran held a funeral Thursday for Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose killing in Tehran has added to fears of a regional conflict.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended the funeral proceedings along with Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for Pezeshkian's swearing-in, and Hamas said Haniyeh will be buried Friday in Qatar where he was based.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not comment directly on the attack Thursday as he visited Mongolia, but he called for calm in the Middle East.
"Right now, the path that the region is on is toward more conflict, more violence, more suffering, more insecurity and it is crucial that we break the cycle and that starts with the cease-fire that we've been working on, which I believe is not only achievable, it has to be achieved," Blinken said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that Haniyeh's assassination and Israel's killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut "represent a dangerous escalation" of tensions in the region.
Guterres said in a statement that at a time when "all efforts" should be focused on reaching a cease-fire in the nearly 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid to famished Palestinians, instead "what we are seeing are efforts to undermine these goals."
Israel on Tuesday evening killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, in an airstrike in Beirut. Israel said Shukur was responsible for a July 27 attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel on Thursday also said it confirmed that a July 13 Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis killed the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday the Jewish state "will exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front" but did not mention the assassination of Haniyeh.
Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, told VOA that it is clear Israel was responsible for Haniyeh's killing, and that it is part of an Israeli strategy to respond to its own failures in the October 7 attack, including a lack of deterrence against Hamas.
"It was very clear that if that was left unaddressed, other actors like Hezbollah could get similar ideas," Berman said. "So, everything that Israel has done since, both in terms of the Gaza war, but also long-range strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, attacks in Syria, attacks in Lebanon, and now the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is intended as part of a long-term strategy to rebuild Israeli deterrence."
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to avoid travel to the entirety of Lebanon, not just the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon for which it had previously issued do-not-travel guidance. Britain and Australia similarly warned their citizens.
Khamenei vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh's killing, saying Israel "prepared a harsh punishment for itself."
"We consider his revenge as our duty," Khamenei said in a statement on his official website, noting Haniyeh was "a dear guest in our home."
Hamas' armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also vowed to retaliate and warned of "major repercussions" for the Middle East.
Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told VOA that because Haniyeh was killed on Iranian soil, there is a question about whether Iran will leave it to its proxies such as Hezbollah, the Yemen-based Houthis or militias in Iraq and Syria to respond, or whether Iran will act like it did in April in response to an Israeli airstrike on Iran's consulate in Syria and launch its own attacks on Israel.
"I think we should assume at a basic level that the proxies will respond," Goldberg said. "The question is whether Iran enters the battlefield again directly."
Norman Roule, a former U.S. intelligence manager for Iran, told VOA there is a "high likelihood" Iran will respond, but that it will need to consider a type of action that shows it can hit Israel without starting a regional conflict.
"The supreme leader has stated that Iran must respond to this," Roule said. "The Revolutionary Guard, which would have been responsible along with other Iranian authorities for Ismail Haniyeh's protection will have been humiliated and will need to restore their sense of face, and last of all, Iran's proxies will look to Iran to demonstrate that it has a deterrent capacity."
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told VOA that in addition to a direct attack on Israel, other options for Iran would be maritime provocations and ramping up its nuclear program.
"It can also attempt terror plots throughout the region and also elsewhere abroad, targeting Israeli diplomatic facilities and installations in those countries," Brodsky said. "There are a variety of options that the Islamic Republic will try to employ. But at the same time, the Islamic Republic does not want to get involved likely in a direct war between with Israel and the United States, because in that contest, the Islamic Republic stands to lose mightily."
Haniyeh's death comes nearly 10 months after Iran-backed Hamas launched a terror attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 39,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters it has killed.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been trying for months to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but that process faced serious questions after Haniyeh's killing.
Israeli forces continued their Gaza campaign Thursday with airstrikes in Khan Younis and ground operations in Rafah and central Gaza, the military said.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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The Chief of the General Staff at an Exercise in the North
Israel Defense Forces
July 31, 2024
31.07.24
IDF
The Chief of the General Staff at an Exercise in the North: We Have Confidence in Our Moves Going Forward, Our Intention with Hezbollah is Not to Return to October 6th
Today (Wednesday), the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, visited the brigade-level exercise of the Kfir Brigade on the northern border, with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin, the Commanding Officer of the Central Command, MG Avi Bluth, the Commanding Officer of the Training Command, MG David Zini, the Commanding Officer of the 99th Division, BG Barak Hiram, the Commander of the Ground Forces Training Center ("Mali"), BG Kobi Heller and other commanders.
The exercise took place in cooperation with different units, during which the soldiers of the Kfir Brigade practiced a variety of extreme scenarios, combat in thicketed and mountainous terrain, the activation of fire, and combat in a built-up area, as part of increasing the readiness for combat in the northern arena.
In addition, the Chief of the General Staff met with the head of the Yarka Council, Salman Moula.
Attached are the full remarks of the Chief of the General Staff: "Yesterday afternoon, we had an opportunity to eliminate Muhsan. Muhsan is the most senior military figure in Hezbollah, and he is also a person very close to Nasrallah; he essentially arranges all military matters for himaarranged for him in the past tense. This man is responsible for giving all the orders, for the 12 children who were killed on Saturday afternoon in Majdal Shams, for the person killed yesterday in HaGoshrim during the afternoon hours. We have confidence in our planned moves going forward, because our intention with Hezbollah is not to return to October 6th. Muhsan will not be there, but we will also not let the situation return to having [Hezbollah] present on the border, 200 meters from Metula, or from Shtula, or from Rosh HaNikra. The IDF knows how to operate and reach a certain window in a neighborhood in Beirut, it knows as well how to target a certain point underground, and we also know how to operate inside on the ground very strongly, and this week you are training for this, and this is a very important capability."
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Myanmar rebel group vows to protect China's interests
The force said it would speak with allied insurgent groups to ensure protection of Chinese citizens and businesses.
By RFA Burmese 2024.07.31 -- A member of a Myanmar rebel alliance fighting military rule has promised to protect Chinese interests in northern Myanmar.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, pledged to protect Chinese nationals and investments as the battle for a major Shan state town intensified, the group announced on Tuesday.
Several ceasefires brokered with China's help between Myanmar's Three Brotherhood Alliance and junta forces have failed to maintain a lasting peace since January. Since July 22, when the latest ceasefire collapsed, fighting over Lashio, the main city in northern Shan state, has surged.
The MNDAA has since claimed it captured most of the town, including a regional military headquarters, which junta officials have denied.
The group said it would consult allied organizations and "prevent actions that may harm Chinese investment and Chinese employees."
Political analyst Than Soe Naing told Radio Free Asia that groups involved in fighting the junta, which include the allied Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army, are already obligated to protect Chinese interests under an earlier agreement.
The renewed declaration may be the result of a warning from China to be more cautious during battles, he said.
"China's interests in northern Shan state are to keep its trade routes convenient and smooth and to maintain stability on the border region. Its interests are also to clean up online scamming," he said. "Therefore, China has put its trust in the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee to ensure that its interests are not affected."
The committee is an alliance of seven ethnic minority forces established in 2017. In 2023, it called on China to help solve the crisis triggered by a military coup two years earlier.
China's investments in Myanmar include oil and natural gas pipelines running through both Shan and Rakhine states. Fighting in the latter has threatened the safety of Chinese employees.
The MNDAA said it would urge its allies to assist injured Chinese citizens trapped by fighting as well as those who have businesses affected by the war. RFA telephoned MNDAA spokesman Li Kyar Win to ask about the details of the statement, but he did not answer calls.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a recent briefing China's borders and the security of people living there, as well as its projects and businesses in Myanmar, should not be compromised.
China has called on Myanmar's rivals to end their fighting and resolve differences peacefully and said it would push for ceasefires and talks.
Wa army claims neutrality
Conflict in Lashio continued early on Wednesday morning, after another ethnic minority militia group, the United Wa State Army, which controls an autonomous region of Shan state and is known to be closely affiliated with China, evacuated trapped Lashio prison employees and their family members, residents told RFA on Wednesday.
The Wa army led more than 120 junta-affiliated prison staff and their relatives, who had been trapped by clashes, to a nearby town on Tuesday, said one witness, declining to be named for security reasons.
"I saw three military vehicles carrying prison employees. They were sent to Mongyai town," he said, referencing a town 93 km (58 miles) from Lashio.
The evacuees said they were trapped when MNDAA fighters captured an infantry battalion's position near the prison.
RFA attempted to contact Nyi Ran, an official of the Wa Liaison Office in Lashio, regarding the evacuation but he did not answer.
One resident close to the Wa army, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told RFA that troops arrived in Lashio on Saturday in order to protect properties at the request of "various ethnic groups" in the town. However, the resident declined to reveal which parties had asked the Wa force to come although the resident said the Wa army would not take sides in any battles.
Two Lashio neighborhoods have been damaged by junta airstrikes and heavy weapons fire, residents said, but they could not verify if there were any casualties The Wa Liaison Office and nearby houses were also damaged in air strikes, they added.
RFA called Shan state's junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung for more information on the battle in Lashio but he did not answer.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content July not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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Thailand's offer of aid to Myanmar gets mixed reaction
Coordinating with the junta alone means aid will not reach those most in need, says government in exile.
By Kiana Duncan for RFA 2024.07.31 -- A Thai pledge to donate millions of baht to help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Myanmar has met with a mixture of gratitude and skepticism from Myanmar's pro-democracy government in exile.
The kingdom will give nine million baht (US$250,000) to the humanitarian center of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa told a regional meeting in Laos on the weekend.
But Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the president's office of the National Unity Government, or NUG, said that while they greatly appreciated Thailand's gesture, coordinating with the junta alone was not enough to ensure the aid would reach those most in need.
"Since most of the desperately in need internal [displaced people] are living in resistance-controlled areas, not the junta," he told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. "The coordination with the junta will just give them the photo opportunities and not effectively reach out to the desperately in-need people on the ground."
ASEAN has been struggling to help fellow member Myanmar resolve a bloody crisis triggered by a 2021 military coup, pressing all sides to accept a plan aimed at ending the violence and initiating talks.
But Myanmar's military has largely ignored the plan and fighting between junta forces and various allied insurgent groups has intensified this year, with the number of internally displaced rising to more than 3 million civilians, according to the United Nations.
Since forming its humanitarian corridor into eastern Myanmar in March, ASEAN's Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, or AHA Centre, has overseen a Thai shipment of 4,000 aid packages into Kayin state to assist civilians affected by fighting.
The AHA Centre has also distributed nearly US$2 million worth of food and hygiene supplies to communities in Myanmar's Sagaing and Magway regions, as well as southern Shan state and Mon states, ASEAN said in a statement on Saturday.
The earlier Thai aid was initially sent over the border into a part of Myanmar under the control of junta forces and was then transported deeper into the interior.
Thai officials at the time declined to be drawn into a debate on whose territory the aid ended up in but the NUG believes such donations have failed to target populations that are the most seriously affected by conflict.
Political analyst Panitan Wattanayagorn shared that view.
He told RFA that Thailand's initiatives regarding Myanmar were not as clear as they were in the past, including the potential use of the humanitarian corridor, because the delivery of aid had become more complicated as the control of territories changed as the course of the war unfolded.
"More and more areas are under control of groups that can deliver the support, like the Karen and others," Panitain said. "Thailand's participatory role is changing. It's adopting a more maybe wait-and-see approach, unlike the previous administration."
Parts of western Myanmar have seen critical food and healthcare shortages as junta blockades as part of its effort to battle the Arakan Army insurgent force, which has captured at least nine townships in Rakhine state and one in neighboring Chin state.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
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The Burma Military Regime's Extension of State of Emergency
US Department of State
Press Statement
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
July 31, 2024
The Burma military regime's extension of the state of emergency is at odds with the aspirations of the people of Burma, including their continued strong opposition to military rule. We call on the regime to engage with all stakeholders to pursue a path toward a peaceful, representative, and democratic future for Burma. The regime must end its violence against the people of Burma, release those unjustly detained, and allow in unhindered humanitarian access. The military's actions have only prolonged the crisis, which has internally displaced over three million people, with thousands more seeking protection in neighboring countries, and plunged millions into poverty. The United States and our partners and allies will continue to support the aspirations of the people of Burma to realize an inclusive, democratic government.
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Amnesty, Malala Slam Crackdown In Pakistan's Balochistan Province
By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal July 31, 2024
With tensions still high in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province following days of deadly protests, Amnesty International has called on authorities to end what it called a "brutal crackdown" in the restive region.
Violence erupted in the port city of Gwadar over the weekend after local activists had attempted to organize a protest against alleged human rights violations, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of ethnic Baluchis.
As people made their way to Gwadar to join the protest, security forces began blocking major highways into the city, resulting in violent clashes, including an incident that left at least one person dead and several others injured on July 28.
With the tumult showing no signs of abating amid reports of further fatalities, Amnesty International issued a statement late on July 30 urging Islamabad "to uphold the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, movement, and peaceful assembly."
Nobel Prize-winning rights advocate Malala Yousafzai also voiced her support for the demonstrators, saying on X that "I strongly condemn the violent response against peaceful protesters."
The Pakistani military claims its soldiers have been attacked by violent mobs and that its troops are exercising restraint to avoid civilian casualties.
Many Baluchis blame Islamabad for exploiting Balochistan's vast natural resources and committing grave human rights abuses in the impoverished region, which has been the scene of a low-level insurgency and harsh government clampdowns for decades.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistani-balochistan- crackdown-violence-amnesty-malala/33058207.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian-Indonesian talks
Vladimir Putin held talks at the Kremlin with President-elect and Defence Minister of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, who has come to Russia on a working visit.
July 31, 2024
16:05
The Kremlin, Moscow
The talks began in a restricted format. On the Russian side, the talks were attended by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, First Deputy Prime Minister and co-chair of the Russian-Indonesian Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation Denis Manturov, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
International consultations continued over a working breakfast with the participation of the two countries' delegations.
* * *
Beginning of Russia-Indonesia talks in restricted format
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. I am delighted to see you.
Welcome to Russia.
We know you as a good friend of our country. You are not only respected in Indonesia as a prominent military leader but also as a political figure. You have held the post of defence minister for many years. I know that you have developed very good relations with your Russian colleagues.
Russia and Indonesia share a long-standing friendship that began decades ago. Next year, we will mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between our countries.
I would like to note that our trade and economic ties have been developing very well recently. Despite the pandemic and the current developments around Russia, including associated restrictions, our trade has been growing. It has doubled over the past years. This is a very positive trend, which makes us happy. I hope that it will persist.
We also hope that the draft agreement on the EAEU-Indonesia free trade zone, which is ready for signing, will play a positive and substantial role in the development of our trade and economic ties. The EAEU market is very big. The market of Indonesia, with a population of nearly 300 million, is of substantial interest to Russia as well.
We are ready to further increase agricultural deliveries and implement investment projects in energy, transport and infrastructure. It is the responsibility of our intergovernmental commission whose Russian co-chair, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, is attending this meeting. I hope that the situation will further improve thanks to cooperation between our colleagues. The main thing is that both sides have an interest in this.
We also continue to cooperate in the humanitarian sphere. As per tradition, Indonesian students receive education in Russia, including on scholarships funded by the Russian budget, and we are ready to continue doing this. The Russian Centre for Science and Culture is operating in Jakarta. We would like to express our gratitude for supporting its work.
Last but not least, we also coordinate our positions on the international stage, including and primarily within ASEAN.
We are delighted to see you. I would like to once again congratulate you, personally this time, on your election as President of Indonesia. I wish you all the best in serving your country and your people.
Welcome.
President-elect of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto: Thank you very much, Your Excellency.
I would like to thank you for the great honour: you have received me at very short notice.
I have been to Moscow four times in the last four years. This is my fourth time. But it is the first time that I am received by Your Excellency. I bring the best regards from my President, President Joko Widodo. I reported to him that I will visit you and you are going to receive me.
I would like to also congratulate you on being elected once again as President of the Russian Federation.
As you know, we consider Russia as a great friend. And I would like to continue to maintain and enhance this relationship. In our history, we remember that Russia has always helped us in many aspects. When we were in difficulties, Russia helped us. Although at that time it was, of course, the Soviet Union. If you come to Jakarta today, many of the big infrastructure [facilities] were built by Russians, by the Soviet Union. Our parliament house, our national congress, our national stadium, our national monument, our first highway, many bridges in many parts of Indonesia were built by, at that time, the Soviet Union. You also helped us build up our military forces when we were under threat. This is something that we inherit from our parents that we must never forget those who help us.
I have experienced great cooperation as the Minister of Defence with your ministers and your team. I come here to emphasise that I would like to enhance this relationship when I officially take over the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia on the 20th of October, this coming October.
I have had intensive discussions with your team. I met your First Deputy Prime Minister today. I also met senior officials in your industry, in your defence industry. Actually, in the past few months, we have been discussing, quite intensively the roadmap ahead that we would like to increase our cooperation with Russia.
Of course, I have already discussed that my main emphasis, apart from food security, [is on] energy security but also on education. I plan to initiate a massive scholarship programme to send our students outside Indonesia, especially for medical training because we have a shortage of 160,000 medical doctors. So, we would like, if possible, to send some of our young boys and girls to study in Russian universities and technical colleges. I plan to allocate a special budget for these scholarships. We look to Russia as one of the main countries where we would like to send our young boys and girls to study. In fact, in the 1960s, we sent many of our young people to study here. That is about education.
I have been talking to some of your industrialists, and we are open to more Russian participation in our economy in the field of nuclear energy. We have discussed with your institutions, with Rosatom the possibility of cooperating in this field. We are discussing small modular reactors and also main reactors that we are discussing.
In the field of tourism, we have just approved that Aeroflot can fly directly to Bali. We also welcome Russia opening a consulate general in Bali. I think there is a plan for Russia to open a consulate general in Bali. We fully support that and we will support direct flights not only by Aeroflot but also by other Russian airlines.
In other fields, we look forward to close cooperation in tactical fields. Also, I would like to invite a Russian delegation to our defence conference and defence exhibition in November 2024. And also, to invite Russian participation in our naval parade, which we would like to carry out in the early 2025. I have promised your Minister of Defence that we will send a navy contingent to your next Navy Day parade if we are invited. We would like to participate.
Your Excellency, we have good cooperation and we would like to enhance this cooperation. I have been discussing and I will continue to discuss in more details the way forward on major programmes.
Thank you very much.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Please convey my best wishes to the current President [of Indonesia], Mr Widodo; we have always had a good relationship. I hope that all of Indonesia's plans, projects, and policies towards Russia will not only be preserved, but will also receive a boost under your leadership.
Thank you very much.
<... >
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Moscow Court Extends Pretrial Detention Of French National Accused Of Spying
By RFE/RL July 31, 2024
Russian state news media reported on July 31 that the Zamoskvorechye district court in Moscow extended the pretrial detention of French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who Russian investigators have said pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining information about the Russian military.
The 48-year-old French national was arrested in Moscow in early June over the alleged spying and for purportedly failing to register as a "foreign agent."
He said at a hearing on July 31 where the court extended his detention until September 5 that his Russian visa had expired. Vinatier's lawyers asked the court to transfer their client to house arrest or release him on bail.
Vinatier is an adviser who works for the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a nonprofit conflict-resolution organization, and "travels regularly for his work," according to the group.
HD said it was "doing everything possible to assist" and get legal representation for Vinatier, and was "reaching out to relevant governmental authorities."
Radio France International reported earlier that HD acknowledged Vinatier had not registered as a foreign agent because he was unaware of such an obligation.
Russia has long used its foreign agent laws to jail perceived domestic and international enemies and critics.
But it has stepped up detentions of Westerners under those and other charges since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
A foreign agent conviction can result in a five-year prison sentence.
In some cases -- including one against jailed RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva that Washington has said is to punish journalism -- allegations concerning Russia's military amid what Moscow calls a "special military operation" against Ukraine have accompanied the foreign agent charge.
The Russian Investigative Committee alleged publicly that the information Vinatier gathered "could be used against state security." It has not given details on the information.
With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and Radio France International
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/laurent-vinatier-french- national-pretrial-detention-extended-moscow-court/33058193.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian Lawmakers OK Bill Obliging Naturalized Citizens To Register For Military
By RFE/RL's Russian Service July 31, 2024
The Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, on July 31 approved in all three readings a bill that obliges naturalized Russian citizens to go through military registration. According to the bill, naturalized citizens who fail to register will be deprived of their Russian passports. Since January, police raids on labor migrants from Central Asia have increased across Russia. In some cases, detained labor migrants have been forcibly brought to military enlistment centers where they were forced to sign contracts for deployment in Ukraine. The bill now must be approved by the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, and signed by the president.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-naturalization- military-registration-ukraine-war/33057937.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Location Of Russian Prisoners Whelan, Kara-Murza Unknown; Other Inmates Also Incommunicado
By RFE/RL July 31, 2024
Lawyers for several high-profile prisoners being held in Russian correctional facilities have added their clients' names to a growing list of inmates whose whereabouts are unknown.
Olga Karlova, a lawyer for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison term on espionage charges that he and Washington reject, said on July 31 that she does not know her client's location and authorities at the prison in Russia's Mordovia where Whelan is incarcerated have ignored requests to confirm whether he is at the penitentiary.
Karlova added that she lost contact with her client several days ago and has asked the Public Monitoring Commission rights group to help locate him.
Just hours after Whalen's disappearance was made public, the lawyer of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza said he was not allowed to enter correctional colony No. 6 in the Siberian city of Omsk to see his client, who last year was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison on treason and other charges he calls trumped up.
Vadim Prokhorov said he has no idea about Kara-Murza's exact whereabouts, while lawyers for journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who is serving a six-year prison term in Siberia over her public condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said they too lost contact with their client.
In all, at least seven high-profile prisoners in Russia have reportedly disappeared and are thought to be being moved from the facilities where they were serving sentences. Though officials have not commented, the situation has sparked speculation that preparations may be under way for a prisoner swap with the West.
A day earlier, it became known that another opposition politician, Ilya Yashin, who is serving an 8 1/2-year prison term for his criticism of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, had been unexpectedly transferred to an unknown location from correctional colony No. 3 in the western Smolensk region.
Yashin's lawyer, Tatyana Solomina, was cited by his supporters on Telegram as saying on July 30 that her client's current location was not known.
Others to have gone missing include Kevin Lik, a 19-year-old man from Russia's North Caucasus region of Adygea who was sentenced to four years in prison on a treason charge in December and unexpectedly transferred from a penitentiary in the northwestern region of Arkhangelsk.
Earlier this week, relatives, supporters, and lawyers of four other imprisoned activists -- former chiefs of late opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's teams in Bashkortostan and Novosibirsk, Lilia Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeyeva, veteran human rights defender Oleg Orlov, and anti-war artist Sasha Skochilenko -- said they had been also unexpectedly transferred from prisons or detention centers to other unspecified penitentiaries and kept incommunicado since then.
Only Skolichenko's supporters were informed that she was transferred to an unidentified penitentiary in Moscow. The destinations of the other three remain unknown.
Human rights groups have criticized Russian regulations with regard to the treatment of convicts, whose whereabouts can be kept under wraps during the period they are transferred from one penitentiary to another, a process known as "etap."
Etap involves trains with caged compartments specifically designed for prisoners, who are provided with little fresh air, no showers, and only limited access to food or a toilet.
The transfers can take days, weeks, or even months as the trains stop and convicts spend time in transit prisons. Convicts almost always face humiliation, beatings, and sometimes even death at the hands of their guards.
Whelan, 54, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 on espionage charges and given a 16-year prison sentence in May 2020 following a trial that was condemned by the United States as a "mockery of justice."
He is one of more than 10 U.S. citizens who are currently being controversially held in Russian jails and prisons, accused or convicted on charges ranging from drug possession and theft to treason and espionage.
In many cases, the charges against these Americans, including The Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich and RFE/RL's Alsu Kurmasheva, are widely seen as trumped up or transparently political. Some of the sentences far exceed what legal experts say would be normal.
With reporting by RFE/RL's North.Realities
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/paul-whelan-former-marine- espionage-whereabouts-unknown/33057827.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov holds talks with President-elect and Minister of Defence of Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto
31.07.2024
Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov held talks with President-elect and Minister of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto
They discussed current status and prospects for developing Russia-Indonesia bilateral cooperation in the field of defence.
'We consider Indonesia as one of the most important partners of Russia in Asia-Pacific,' the Russian Defence Minister stated.
Andrei Belousov recalled that amicable relations between Russia and Indonesia have marked the 74th anniversary this year. This fact provides a solid foundation for developing cooperation between the armies of the two countries.'The priority is given to the joint operational and combat training. In particular, to naval manoeuvres. We are expecting Indonesian observers and military to join exercises on the territory of the Russia Federation'.
'We highly assess the effective work we are doing in a multilateral format at the ADMM-Plus level and we are interested in continuing this work in the future,' the Defence Minister said.
The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation expressed confidence that the meeting would strengthen inter-departmental ties, add impetus for new initiatives and further work on developing mutually beneficial cooperation.
The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation also congratulated his Indonesian counterpart on victory in the presidential election.
'This event is an evidence of high trust towards you from the people of Indonesia,' Andrei Belousov noted.
In response, Prabowo Subianto thanked the Russian Defence Minister for the opportunity to meet and thanked the Russian Federation for its cooperation.
'Russia has always helped Indonesia, and we will never forget it,' Prabowo Subianto noted.
Department for Media Affairs and Information
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Vietnamese warship Tran Hung Dao leaves Vladivostok port
31.07.2024
The frigate Tran Hung Dao of the Vietnam Socialist Republic Navy left the Pacific Fleet main base after completing the business call.
Supervised by Commander of the Primorsky Flotilla of Mixed Forces Rear Admiral Aleksey Sysuyev of the Pacific fleet, the farewell ceremony for the sailors was held on the shore.
The Russian and Vietnamese servicemen celebrated the Russian Navy Day during the stay of the frigate Tran Hung Dao. Moreover, an excursion and a visit of the Pacific Fleet museum were organised.
The business call took place from 24 to 31 July.
For reference:
The frigate Tran Hung Dao was built at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard Aleksey Gorky under the project 11661E 'Gepard-3.9'. Launched on 27 April 2016 and delivered by the transport vessel Rolldock Star to the Vietnamese naval base of Cam Ranh on 27 October 2017. This is the third of four frigates built for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
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Pacific Fleet flagship guards missile cruiser Varyag and frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov arrive at Oman Salalah port
31.07.2024
The Pacific Fleet surface action group comprising the missile cruiser Varyag of the Nakhimov order and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov arrived at the Sultanate of Oman Salalah port in the Arabian sea.
The ships will replenish food and water supplies and the crews are planned to have a tour around the city during the stay.
The business call at the port of Salalah will continue till the tasks are performed by the crews during the long-range voyage. The surface action group recently crossed the Gulf of Aden.
The long-range voyage of the Pacific Fleet's ships began on 22 January 2024. The ships had business calls at the ports of India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Qatar, and Eritrea.
Press Service of the Eastern Military District
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Russian troops launch third stage of non-strategic nuclear forces exercises
31.07.2024
The? third stage of non-strategic nuclear forces exercise commences in accordance with the decision of Russian President.
During the exercise, a set of measures will be taken to prepare the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
During this stage, personnel of the Southern and Central military districts are planned to train acquiring special training warheads for the Iskander operational-tactical missile systems, equipping launchers with it, and covertly advancing to the designated position areas for electronic missile launches.
Military personnel of the Russian Aerospace Forces' units involved will train loading aircraft with special warheads to make sorties to the designated patrol areas.
This stage is intended to maintain Russian military personnel and hardware of non-strategic nuclear units ready to perform the missions assigned.
The first and second stages of the non-strategic nuclear forces involved drills of Southern and Leningrad military districts, Aerospace Forces and Navy to test their readiness to use non-strategic nuclear weapons.
Department for Media Affairs and Information
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Baltic Fleet ships complete unofficial visit to Cuba
31.07.2024
The Baltic Fleet ship detachment of the frigate Neustrashimy, training ship Smolniy, and tanker Yelnya completed an unofficial visit to Havana port of the Republic of Cuba.
The ship detachment of the Baltic Fleet completed the programme of the unofficial visit to the Havana. At the moment, the Baltic Fleet ships went to sea and set a course for the designated area of the Atlantic Ocean, where the detachment will continue to perform tasks according to its purpose.
The ships of the Baltic Fleet stayed in the Cuban port from 27 July. During the visit to Havana, the Baltic Fleet sailors had an opportunity to rest from the voyage and performed maintenance of the ships. Moreover, the servicemen met with Cuban sailor, went on several tours around the city and got acquainted with the sightseeings of the Cuban capital. In addition, the sailors visited each others' mess decks. The training ship Smolniy and frigate Neustrashimy were open for residents and guests of Havana.
After going to sea, the Baltic Fleet ships are to continue to perform tasks according to the plan of the long-distance voyage.
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Russia Expects to Continue Military Cooperation With CAR - Ambassador
Sputnik News
20240731
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia expects to continue fruitful cooperation with the Central African Republic (CAR) in the military and military-technical spheres following the UN Security Council's decision to lift the arms embargo on the country, Russian Ambassador to Bangui Alexander Bikantov told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"We count on the continuation of fruitful [military] cooperation in the interests of our states," Bikantov said.
The Russian side considers the lifting of the arms embargo against the CAR a significant event for the African country, the ambassador said, adding that it will have a positive impact on strengthening the security and sovereignty of the CAR in the long term.
Moscow is Bangui's main partner in the military and military-technical fields. However, there is no talk of new Russian deliveries of military products to the CAR at the moment, Bikantov said, adding that in case of the nation's requests, all of them will be considered promptly.
A Sputnik
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Russia Launches Third Stage of Non-Strategic Nuclear Forces Drills
Sputnik News
20240731
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has launched the third stage of the non-strategic nuclear forces drills, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
"In accordance with the decision of the President of the Russian Federation, the third stage of the strategic nuclear forces exercise has begun. During the exercise, the issues of training units of the Russian armed forces for the combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons will be worked out," the statement read.
The troops of the southern and central military districts during the third stage of the exercise of non-strategic nuclear forces will train obtaining special munitions and equipping them with Iskander-M missiles, advancing and preparing for launches, the ministry added.
The drills are aimed at maintaining the readiness of the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons for combat missions, the ministry said.
"The current stage of the exercise is aimed at maintaining the readiness of personnel and equipment of units of combat use of non-strategic nuclear weapons of Russia to perform combat missions," the stateemnt read.
A Sputnik
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Analysts question if Russian political prisoner movements signal imminent swap
By Liam Scott July 31, 2024
The movement inside Russia of several high-profile political prisoners in recent days is fueling speculation that a prisoner swap with Western countries may be close.
Lawyers and relatives of at least eight individuals say they seem to have been moved from detention facilities across Russia. Those detained had been jailed for criticizing the Kremlin or spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian military.
At the same time, legal action by Belarus and Slovenia on foreign nationals has added to speculation in Western media that a multicountry swap, potentially involving Russia, the United States and Germany, may be in the works.
Among those detained in Russia whose location is currently unknown are former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan; British Russian activist and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who contributes to The Washington Post; and Liliya Chanysheva, who worked closely with late opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Whelan is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges that he denies. His lawyer told the Interfax news agency she cannot contact him, adding, "There are rumors of a possible exchange."
The Post reported late Wednesday that prison officials had confirmed Kara-Murza had been moved from a prison colony but would not say where he was taken. The columnist is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being accused of treason because he criticized Russia's war in Ukraine.
While some analysts believe the disappearances may be a sign of an imminent prisoner swap, others, like Russia expert Keir Giles, are more skeptical.
"We need to bear in mind that the people that we see reported are only the tip of the iceberg, and there are so many others that don't get that worldwide media attention," Giles, who works at the British think tank Chatham House, told VOA.
"To be disappeared within the system for a period of days or weeks or even longer is not that unusual," Giles added. "It's hard to tell what within the Russian prison system is deliberate cruelty and what is simply the result of inefficiency and incompetence, but the net effect, of course, on the victims is exactly the same."
Navalny, for instance, was abruptly moved in secret from a prison in central Russia to one above the Arctic Circle in December 2023. The move took 20 days, Giles said. The opposition leader died at the prison in February.
Russia's Foreign Ministry and Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA's emails requesting comment for this story.
Other political prisoners missing this past week include German Russian citizen Kevin Lik; opposition activist Ksenia Fadeeva; anti-war artist Sasha Skochilenko; and critical politician Ilya Yashin.
The online Russian media outlet Agenstvo reported that at least six special Russian government planes had flown to and from the regions where some of these prisoners were located. VOA could not immediately verify that.
Their disappearances come on the heels of other developments.
In Belarus on Tuesday, President Alexander Lukashenko unexpectedly pardoned Rico Krieger, a German who had been sentenced to death on terrorism charges. Belarus and Russia are close allies.
And on Wednesday, a Slovenian court sentenced two Russians to time served for espionage and said they would be deported to Russia.
Sergei Davidis doesn't think the timing can be a coincidence. He is the head of the Political Prisoners Support Program and a member of the board at the Russian human rights group Memorial.
Memorial's co-chair, Oleg Orlov, is among the political prisoners to recently vanish.
"It seems that there is no other reasonable explanation than expectations of some swap," Davidis told VOA from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin would need to pardon those involved in any potential swap as a formality.
The Daily Beast reported that the swap would take place in Ankara, Turkey, and that a "second part" would potentially occur in Doha.
Putin has previously signaled he would be willing to trade Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for a Russian man named Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident in Berlin.
Gershkovich is one of two American journalists imprisoned in Russia. The other is Alsu Kurmasheva. Both were convicted in secret trials on July 19 on charges that are widely viewed as bogus.
Russia state media, meanwhile, reported that four Russians jailed in the United States had disappeared from a database of prisoners that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons operates. It named them as Alexander Vinnik, Maxim Marchenko, Vadim Konoshchenko and Vladislav Klyushin.
Commenting on remarks made by Putin earlier this year about a possible swap for Gershkovich, Giles said, "It is not a process that is pretending particularly hard to be legitimate. It's just a straightforward extortion."
The United States and Russia have been engaging in prisoner swap negotiations for months.
"The United States continues to be focused on working around the clock to work to get our wrongfully detained American citizens home," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA at a Wednesday press briefing.
When asked about any updates on a potential prisoner swap, Patel said he had no updates.
Prisoner swaps are typically cloaked in secrecy.
Although the U.S. government has previously faced criticism for exchanging legitimate Russian criminals for innocent Americans, hostage advocate Diane Foley maintained that it is Washington's duty to do everything it can to protect its citizens.
"They need to have the moral clarity to recognize that their citizen's life is their responsibility. It's their responsibility to do all they can to prioritize that life," Foley told VOA.
Foley founded the Foley Foundation after the abduction and killing in Syria of her son, American journalist James Foley, in 2014. She says the U.S. has made some improvements in assisting families, but the burden still largely falls on relatives whose loved ones are unjustly held abroad.
Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has cracked down hard on anything perceived as criticism of the Kremlin, leading to the arrests of scores of activists and journalists. In late 2023, rights group Memorial estimated there were nearly 1,000 political prisoners jailed in Russia.
The biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War occurred in 2010 and included 14 people in total.
Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Taiwan, China 'smoothly' wind up talks on fishermen killed off Kinmen
Taipei says apology made to families of the dead, it will to exert its authority in waters it claims.
By Shen Ke for RFA 2024.07.31 -- China and Taiwan "smoothly" concluded talks on the death of two Chinese fishermen near the Taiwanese-controlled island of Kinmen.
Taiwan officials apologized to the bereaved families, a spokesperson for Taiwan said, while vowing that the island would exert its jurisdiction in waters it claims.
The two fishermen were killed on Feb. 14 when their boat capsized after its crew refused an inspection by Taiwanese authorities who had spotted it in its "prohibited waters" around Kinmen, Taipei said. Two other crew members aboard the vessel from the Chinese province of Fujian survived and were eventually returned to China, but Taiwan retained the two bodies and the boat.
China, which says Taiwan is its territory and does not recognize Taipei's claims of sovereignty, condemned the incident, saying it had stirred widespread outrage and later stepped up its patrols and military exercises near the island, while occasionally detaining Taiwanese fishing boats.
Taiwan has maintained its policy of driving out Chinese fishing boats from what it sees as its prohibited waters around the island.
"Concluded smoothly," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in a release after the Tuesday talks with officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Li Zhaohui - deputy director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in the Chinese city of Quanzhou and China's representative at the talks - confirmed that an agreement had been reached, Taiwan's Focus Taiwan media outlet quoted him as saying.
Li said he hoped the "relevant parties in Taiwan" would honor the agreement and provide a resolution for the families.
'Regrets'
Taiwan media has reported that Taiwan had agreed to pay out 1.5 million yuan (US$207,266) each in compensation for the two dead fishermen.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng said details of the agreement would not be released but entrepreneurs concerned about cross-strait relations had privately raised "humanitarian aid" for the families. He declined to identify who raised the funds or say how much.
Chiu said the incident was an accident and had been "resolved through persistent communication and efforts" by both sides, adding that Taiwanese representatives had "repeatedly expressed our regrets, apologized and comforted the bereaved families for their suffering and loss of loved ones."
The bodies of the dead fishermen had been returned to their families and the boat had also been sent back, he added.
Taiwan would continue "to assert its jurisdiction and law enforcement authority in our waters," Chiu said, noting that the boat that capsized was unregistered. He called on both sides to strictly enforce prohibitions against such vessels to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
The most effective way to prevent such incidents from developing into bigger conflict was by maintaining clear and open lines of communication, he said.
Representatives of the families of the fishermen who died attended the talks.
Kinmen is an outlying archipelago less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from China's Fujian province but more than 180 km (112 miles) from Taiwan's mainland.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
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PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
ROC Ministry of National Defense
2024/07/31
PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
1. Dateis
6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Tuesday to Wednesday, Jul. 30-31
2. PLA activitiesis
25 PLA aircraft, and 10 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 20 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern, central, southwestern, and eastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.
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U.S. Outlines Plan For Ukraine's Economic Recovery And Increased Investment
By Erin Osborne July 31, 2024
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker on July 31 outlined a five-step plan to make Ukraine's economy more attractive to private sector investment.
"Ukraine is undertaking Europe's largest, most complex reconstruction and economic recovery ever since World War II," Pritzker said, speaking at a think tank in Washington following a visit to Kyiv on July 29.
Pritzker cited a World Bank estimate from spring of this year that Ukraine's recovery will cost at least $486 billion, but she said this came out prior to the increased fighting in March and the summer.
Pritzker said Ukraine's economy has shown resilience and growth in the midst of Russia's full-scale invasion and expressed confidence that Ukraine "has economic greatness in its bones." She noted that in 2023, Ukrainian GDP grew 5 percent and tax revenue was up 25 percent.
"We have helped the Ukrainians keep their economy going, tackle corruption, and increase private sector engagement," Pritzker said. "Through it all, we have worked with the Ukrainians to develop a long-term recovery framework -- a blueprint that I call Ukraine's Path to Prosperity."
In the long-term, Pritzker said Ukraine needs to focus on attracting foreign investment. She said the international community should be encouraged by the fact that investments have increased 17 percent in Ukraine and there were over 37,000 new businesses registered in 2023.
Pritzker said Ukraine's expansion is "proof of concept" that Ukraine's economy will succeed through the mining of critical minerals such as lithium and titanium and the development of the agricultural and defense industrial sectors.
The defense industrial sector, which Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova described as "an inseparable part of Ukraine's success," has experienced record growth.
Markarova, speaking at the same event, said Ukraine has increased metalworks production 27 percent, cable and fiber-optics production 101 percent, and dozens of new companies that develop drones and unmanned aerial vehicles have been founded since the war began.
"The innovation-to-battlefield time is two weeks," Pritzker said, adding that U.S. innovators should try to learn from Ukrainian ingenuity.
Pritzker said her plan is "ambitious but achievable" and modeled after the Marshall Plan, the U.S.-sponsored program to rebuild Europe after World War II. She described the Path to Prosperity plan as a "new economic model and social contract" that will strengthen Ukraine in the war while easing its economic future.
The first step of the plan is to develop a body that plans and prioritizes reconstruction programs into a "single-project pipeline" which Pritzker said must integrate city, municipal, and regional priorities. Pritzker called this integration the "missing link in Ukraine's reconstruction."
Next, Pritzker said Ukraine should "rapidly increase the number of shovel-ready projects" to prepare for investment and implementation.
This is followed by the continuation of reform efforts. Pritzker said Ukraine must "keep up the momentum" on new asset declaration and anti-monopoly laws. She also said Ukraine should codify the Digital Restoration Ecosystem for Accountable Management (DREAM) database platform to monitor corruption and maintain transparency.
Pritzker also said the world must marshal more funds for Ukraine.
Ukraine needs a "runway to prevail in the war" supported by the international community, but that "justice requires that the reconstruction be largely underwritten by Russia," Pritzker said.
Pritzker said the fifth and final step of her plan is that Ukrainians should return to their country to work when it is safe to do so.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-pritzker- reconstruction-economy-recovery/33058333.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Zelenskiy Calls For 'Bold' Decisions By Allies As Kyiv Repels 'Massive' Russian Drone Attack
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service July 31, 2024
Air-defense systems successfully repelled what officials called "the most massive attack of 2024" on the Ukrainian capital as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Kyiv's Western partners to make "bold decisions" and deliver enough resources that will allow Ukraine to fully protect its skies from Russian attacks.
Ukraine's Air Force said on July 31 that its air defenses destroyed all 89 drones launched at the capital, as well as an X-59 guided missile, during an air-raid alert that lasted for more than seven hours.
Russian drones attacked Kyiv in two waves coming from all directions.
"This is one of the most massive drone attacks," the commander of Ukraine's Air Force, General Mykola Oleschuk, wrote on Telegram.
The attack was the seventh launched on Kyiv this month, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said, adding that there were no casualties or damage in Kyiv.
Zelenskiy, in a message on X, called the repelling of the attack "an important result" and proof that "Ukrainians can fully protect their skies from Russian strikes when they have sufficient resources."
Zelenskiy reiterated his appeal to Ukraine's allies to keep sending the badly needed armaments to defend its cities and missiles that will allow it to strike deeper into Russia.
"Sufficiently bold decisions by partners are needed -- enough anti-aircraft systems, enough long-range. And Ukrainians will do everything correctly and accurately," Zelenskiy wrote.
Hours later there were reports that Ukraine has received the first F-16 fighter jets after pushing for them for more than a year. U.S. officials confirmed the deliver to the Associated Press and Bloomberg.
The United States and some of its NATO allies have been training Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the jets, and there have been indications that their arrival was imminent.
During the NATO summit in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 10 that the transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine was under way. He said the jets were arriving from Denmark and the Netherlands.
Ukraine has said F-16s are needed to fight back against Russian missiles. Its Western allies have gone ahead with delivery despite concern that arming Ukraine with advanced weaponry would further escalate the war.
Russian shelling on July 31 also killed at least four people in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson regions, local officials said.
One resident was killed in the town of Toretsk, Donetsk regional Governor Vadym Filashkin reported on July 31, while in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov reported that two civilians were killed by Russian artillery over the past 24 hours.
In the southern city of Kherson, one person was killed and one was wounded by Russian shelling from across the Dnieper River, the head of the city's military administration, Roman Mrochko, reported.
Kherson was liberated by Ukrainian troops in November 2022, but Russian forces that withdrew across the Dnieper continue to pound the city on a daily basis, causing victims among civilians and damaging infrastructure.
Since the beginning of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's forces have systematically targeted Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure facilities, causing casualties and huge damage.
In turn, Ukraine has started targeting oil-refining facilities and other energy infrastructure inside Russia that mainly work for the military.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on July 31 that its air defenses had destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones that attacked five of its regions as well as the Moscow-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea.
"Air-defense systems intercepted and destroyed 11 drones over Belgorod, 4 over Bryansk, one each over the Kursk, Kaluga, and Rostov regions," and one in Crimea," the ministrysaid in a message on Telegram.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyiv-russia-massive-drone- attack-war-shelling/33057401.html
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a question from Rossiya Segodnya about comments made by US Assistant Secretary of State Mallory Stewart
31 July 2024 09:35
1452-31-07-2024
Question: In her recent remarks at the Carnegie Endowment, Deputy Assistant Secretary Mallory Stewart criticised Russia for linking the resumption of arms control dialogue with the United States stopping its support for the Kiev regime. She said that Washington would not accept this condition. How would you comment on this?
Maria Zakharova: This interpretation of the Russian position seems to be overly simplified and biased, to say the least. Ukraine is not the only point of contention.
To begin with, Ms Stewart attempted to shift the blame for the collapse of the arms control system onto Russia, but changed her tune when reminded that it was the United States which withdrew from the ABM Treaty and the INF Treaty. She claimed that such accusations would not lead us anywhere and should be set aside.
It should be noted that the United States is also responsible for withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty and refusing to ratify the CTBT, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Furthermore, Washington and its NATO allies have sought to penetrate the post-Soviet space by expanding their military and political footprint there at the expense Russia's core security interests. When their attempts were rebuffed, they unleashed a hybrid war with the aim of inflicting a "strategic defeat" on our country on the battlefield. These actions could potentially lead to a direct clash between nuclear powers. Yet, Ms Stewart is still lamenting that Russia is not prepared to decouple the arms control dialogue from the overall negative military and political context (and Ukraine, I repeat, is not the only issue) and the poor state of relations between Russia and the collective West. We see this stance as either hypocritical or absurd.
To reiterate: a Russian-US dialogue on strategic stability and arms control can only happen after Washington abandons (not in word, but in deed) its insane plan to undermine Russia's national security, provoke confrontation, and seek a "strategic defeat" on Russia. The US should also stop showing a demonstrative disrespect for Russia's interests. It is telling, by the way, that one of Ms Stewart's listeners emphasised the importance of mutual respect in her comments. Any hypothetical discussions on these topics must be comprehensive, with an emphasis on addressing key security issues, such as NATO's aggressive eastward expansion.
At this stage, we do not see Washington's genuine commitment to dialogue, nor do we see any prerequisites for starting it.
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Russia Open to Peace Initiatives in Ukraine, But No Reciprocity on Kiev's Part
Sputnik News
20240731
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow is open to any initiative to end the Ukraine conflict through diplomatic means, but there is no reciprocity on the part of Kiev at the moment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"Russia is open to all initiatives, and Russia is open to a diplomatic path to a settlement, but we see that, unfortunately, there is no such reciprocity on the part of Ukraine at the moment," Peskov said in a televised appearance on the Russia Channel One broadcaster.
Earlier in the day, Volodymyr Zelensky has been compelled to acknowledge that the entire worldaand now even he himselfawants Russia to participate in the next conference on resolving the situation in Ukraine; otherwise, no meaningful results will be achieved.
"The majority of the world today says that Russia must be represented at the second summit [on Ukraine], otherwise we will not achieve meaningful results. Since the whole world wants them to be at the table, we cannot be against it," he told AFP and other French media during an interview Tuesday in western Ukraine.
In early July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Sputnik, commenting on the new summit on Ukraine, that the Russian side does not accept ultimatums and does not intend to participate in such events.
The conference on Ukraine took place in BArgenstock, Switzerland, on June 15-16. The Kremlin stated that seeking solutions to the situation in the Ukrainian conflict without Russia's involvement is completely illogical and unproductive. The joint communiquA at the end of the conference calls for returning control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant to Kiev and includes calls for free navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, as well as for the exchange and release of all prisoners of war.
The document also emphasizes the need for dialogue among all parties to end the conflict. Out of 91 participants, only 76 supported the communiquA. Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates did not sign the final communiquA. Later, Iraq, Jordan, and Rwanda withdrew their signatures from the communiquA.
Moscow has repeatedly indicated its readiness for negotiations, but Kiev has legally banned them. The West calls on Russia for negotiations, which Moscow is willing to engage in, yet the West ignores Kiev's constant refusals for dialogue. Earlier, the Kremlin stated that the absolute priority for Russia is achieving the objectives of the special operation; the situation in Ukraine could move toward a peaceful resolution if the new realities are considered, and all of Moscow's demands are well known.
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward initiatives for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine: Moscow would immediately cease fire and declare readiness for negotiations once Ukrainian troops are withdrawn from the territories of the new Russian regions. Additionally, he stated that Kiev must renounce its intentions to join NATO, carry out demilitarization and denazification, and adopt a neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear status. The Russian leader also mentioned the need to lift sanctions against Russia.
A Sputnik
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NATO-Provided F-16 Jets Reach Ukraine Amid Uncertainty Over Pilot Readiness
Sputnik News
20240731
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The first batch of NATO-supplied F-16 fighter jets has arrived in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The agency cited sources as saying that the deadline for the delivery of the unspecified number of the US-made jets was the end of July, and it has been respected. The sources did not say how many jets have arrived, adding that it is small, the agency reported.
Bloomberg also cited sources as saying that it was unclear whether Ukrainian pilots who received training in the West to fly F-16s would be immediately able to use the jets or the process would take longer.
On July 10, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the first batch of F-16 fighter jets would be handed over to Ukraine in summer. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the United States and its NATO allies that Moscow saw the presence of nuclear capable F-16s in Ukraine as a nuclear threat.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia emphasized that even if Western countries supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, they will not have the power to alter the situation on the battlefield. He warned that if these fighter jets are deployed from third-country territories, they will be considered legitimate targets for Russian forces. The president further stated that the F-16s, just like other Western equipment delivered to Kiev, would be destroyed.
A Sputnik
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It Is Crucial to Increase Ukraine's Skies Defense Capabilities, We Are Doing Everything for That a the Address by the President
President of Ukraine
31 July 2024 - 19:56
I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
Briefly about this day.
First a the defenders of our skies. Last night alone, almost ninety "Shahed" drones were shot down. This is a serious result. I thank everyone for their precision: our mobile fire groups, fighter aircraft crews, anti-aircraft gunners, electronic warfare specialists a everyone. You have done an excellent job in the skies across many of our regions. And it is also crucial to increase Ukraine's skies defense capabilities. We are doing everything for that. And now, if such a significant result can be achieved in the defense against the "Shahed" drones, it is an obvious proof that we can be stronger both in the defense against missiles and in the defense against Russian military aircraft. Everything depends on the weapons in the hands of our warriors. We need reliable air defense systems; we need sufficient range of our weapons. Russian terror must lose every time the occupier tries to destroy life in Ukraine. And it is not just our security. It is the security of everyone neighboring Russia. We will continue to work with our partners a to persuade them, to search for what is needed for our defense in the world and supply it to Ukraine, to cooperate in the production of necessary weapons. All this is our shared defense of everyone in Europe, of everyone in the world who values life.
Second. I held a meeting with our international experts a the Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a on the preparation of new arrangements with partners. Security arrangements. And also, on the reconstruction of Ukraine. We are also preparing new bilateral security agreements and new arrangements at the multilateral level. Something that will strengthen Ukraine for sure. August is the time for preparations. Autumn is the time for results. I am grateful to everyone in the team who is involved. And now I would like to thank the United States for the assistance package that was announced earlier. Among other things, the package includes missiles for the NASAMS air defense systems, which are crucial since they are always in short supply. It also includes ammunition for HIMARS and Javelins. Thank you! We are working on ensuring the fastest possible logistics.
And the third thing, there was a report by Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi. The frontline situation. First of all, the Pokrovsk direction. Our positions, our defensive actions and our potential reinforcements. I am grateful to all those who are destroying the occupier and defending our country a defending it effectively.
Glory to Ukraine!
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Ukraine receives first shipment of F-16 fighter jets
By VOA News July 31, 2024
Ukraine has received its first shipment of F-16 fighter jets from the West, something Ukraine has been seeking for months to help it beat back the Russian invasion of its territory.
Ukraine says the F-16s are crucial because of their ability to suppress enemy air defenses, an ability Ukraine urgently needs to repel Russian missile strikes into Ukraine.
Western allies have been slow in agreeing to supply the jets because they were fearful of escalating the conflict with Russia.
It was not immediately clear how many of the jets were included in the shipment and whether Ukrainian pilots, who have received training in the West, including in the United States, would be able to use the F-16s immediately, according to Bloomberg, the first media outlet to announce the arrival of the jets.
Denmark promised to donate 19 jets, and the Netherlands said it would send 24 jets to Ukraine, while Belgium and Norway, which has sent six, have promised to send more, Bloomberg reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to allow allies to send the U.S.-built jets to Ukraine a year ago, after repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO allies.
Ukraine says it foils aerial attack
Earlier Wednesday, Ukraine's military said it thwarted one of Russia's most extensive drone attacks, shooting down all 89 aerial drones Russia launched overnight.
The Ukrainian air force said the country's air defenses also shot down a Russian-guided missile that targeted the Mykolaiv region.
Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, was the biggest target of the drone attack.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration, said on Telegram that more than four dozen drones were shot down above Kyiv and in areas approaching the city.
Popko said there were no reported injuries or damage from the attack, which came in two waves.
In the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, officials said a drone killed one person and injured another.
Officials in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, and the southern region of Dnipropetrovsk reported multiple drones were shot down in their areas.
Russia says it downs 19 drones
Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday it shot down 19 Ukrainian drones, including 11 over the Belgorod region along the Russia-Ukraine border.
The governor of the Bryansk region reported no casualties or damage after Russian air defenses shot down four aerial drones.
Other drone intercepts took place over Russia's Kaluga and Rostov regions, as well as Russia-occupied Crimea.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Newark, July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the USD 350 million in 2023 global hospitality robot market will reach USD 3259.62 million in 2033. In essence, robots are extremely sophisticated devices that have been programmed to carry out certain tasks in response to user requests and needs. Robots for hospitality are made especially for the hospitality industry. They improve or automate the effectiveness of jobs, deeds, procedures, and systems in the hospitality sector, including those in lodging facilities, eateries, tourism destinations, and other hospitality-related locations. They are autonomous, automated devices that can navigate thanks to sensors, cameras, and pertinent software.
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This allows them to carry out their duties in a safe manner without the need for human assistance. Using an interactive user interface that incorporates voice recognition or touchscreens is another option. They are modified to perform certain services that are necessary for hotels and restaurants, such as communication capabilities to transfer data around the establishment seamlessly and storage sections for room deliveries and cleaning duties for housekeeping. They consistently deliver high-quality services with exceptional efficiency. They are also employed in managing and organising the operations and logistics of hotels and other buildings, as well as improving security. They maintain the same level of service consistency around-the-clock. Additionally, they have software that collects data and analyses it to enhance services and raise client happiness.
Key Insight of the Global Hospitality robot Market
Asia Pacific will dominate the market during the forecast period.
Despite having superior technology, nations like South Korea and Japan struggle with a manpower shortage. In order to address their labour scarcity issues, they have adopted technology such as hospitality robots. Because people in technologically advanced economies are accustomed to seeing these automated devices in other industries, they are also more receptive to robots in the hospitality industry. The region's increasing dominance in the worldwide industry is a result of ongoing research and development efforts aimed at improving the hospitality robot. In order to fulfil the growing demand in the face of a labour crisis, the burgeoning tourist and travel business, which includes a strong chain of hotels, restaurants, and pubs among other establishments, provides incentives for using robots. The market's expansion is further aided by supporting government policies and a favourable regulatory environment.
In 2023, the front desk robots segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 40% and revenue of 140 million.
The type segment is divided into front desk robots, mobile guidance robots, delivery robots, cleaning robots, and others. In 2023, the front desk robots segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 40% and revenue of 140 million.
In 2023, the hotels segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 58% and revenue of 203 million.
The end user segment is divided into hotels, bars and restaurants, travel and tourism, and others. In 2023, the hotels segment dominated the market with the largest market share of 58% and revenue of 203 million.
For more information in the analysis of this report, visit: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/hospitality-robot-market-14444
Advancement in market
Brick Hospitality included guest service robots into the everyday operations of all of its hotels in response to the increasing demand for streamlined and effective guest services. The only hotel management firm in San Diego employing guest service robots at every site they own and operate is this well-known company. This innovative project demonstrates Brick Hospitality's dedication to creativity and first-rate customer care.
Market Dynamics
Driver: shortages of workers in the hospitality sector.
In addition to an ageing population, most nations, particularly wealthy ones with thriving travel and tourist sectors, are seeing a decline in the birth rate. These countries are experiencing a workforce shortage as a result of these demographic changes. Two of these nations' best examples are South Korea and Japan. Another change in the demographics has been observed in the labour market, where there is a growing desire for well-paying white-collar positions due to increased literacy rates. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of people applying for hospitality occupations, which are often associated with long hours, low income, and often unsightly labour. The covid-19 pandemic made conditions worse for the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors, which resulted in job losses. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bulk of the former workers obtained employment in other industries and did not return to the hospitality business, which resulted in shortages when travel to the industry increased. The far-right parties' ascent and the accompanying rhetoric against immigration in Europe have led to a serious manpower shortage in these nations, particularly in the hotel industry. Thus, the need for hospitality robots is rising as a result of the workforce shortages in the hospitality sector.
Restraints: The expensive price of purchasing a hospitality robot.
Robots are extremely intelligent, automated machines that include cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence. Labour hours, hardware, software, and programming all contributed to the creation of this extremely complex piece of A significant amount of capital was required for the manufacturing of this complex piece of equipment, including the hardware, software, programming, and labour hours. There are substantial expenses associated with integrating these robots into the hospitality sector. These expenses are increased by upkeep and other operational factors. Sufficient funding was also needed for personnel training and the hiring of technically certified and skilled experts to operate and manage these robots. Due to their capital-intensive nature, most small and medium-sized hotels in the hospitality sector cannot afford robots; only upscale hotel chains with substantial budgets can afford them. This results in a severely constrained or limited market, which impedes the expansion of the global hospitality robot business.
Opportunities: developments in technology.
The emergence and development of contemporary technologies, including IoT, artificial intelligence, navigation systems, and communication technologies, will be advantageous for the hotel robot market's expansion. These developments have produced more advanced robots that can now recognise and comprehend the requirements and desires of their visitors. For example, robots can gather, analyse, and interpret data using an interactive user interface, artificial intelligence, and data analytics to better understand the preferences and tastes of visitors and possibly provide recommendations that increase customer happiness. Technological advancements have also enhanced the dependability, accuracy, and dependability of hospitality robots, making them more valuable employees of the organisation they work for. Robots can now navigate safer and with greater autonomy thanks to the improved navigation. Additional developments Additional innovations include enhanced battery life, safety, usability, and interfaces. As a result, during the course of the projection period, technical developments will result in better devices that are more likely to be accepted by both staff and visitors.
Challenges: The replacement of human labour leading to rising global unemployment rate.
Hospitality robot is efficient, faster and offer quality results. They automate tasks. They are reliable and do not need to be checked. They are able to replace human labour while offering better and more efficient results. The adoption of hospitality robot will lead to labour displacement leading to significant resistance from employees and trade unions against them. the displaced employees might find it difficult to adapt to this change and find new jobs as they will have to acquire new skill sets or education. Additionally, robots lack human touch and this might discourage customers from booking such hotels. The governments are also concerned with these problems as unemployment rates are already at all-time highs due to the covid-19 pandemic, energy-crisis, cost of living crisis and ongoing global conflicts. Therefore, the resistance from human labour due to the fear of losing jobs will challenge the markets growth.
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Some of the major players operating in the global hospitality robot market are:
Aethon Inc.
BotsAndUs
Connected Robotics Inc.
Hyundai Robotics Co. Ltd.
Knightscope, Inc.
Maidbot Inc.
Savioke
SoftBank Robotics Group Corporation
Travelmate Robotics
UBTECH Robotics Inc.
Key Segments covered in the market:
By Type
Front Desk Robots
Mobile Guidance Robots
Delivery Robots
Cleaning Robots
Others
By End User
Hotels
Bars and Restaurants
Travel and Tourism
Others
By Region
North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)
Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)
Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC)
South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)
The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)
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About the report:
The market is analysed based on value (USD Million). All the segments have been analysed on a worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyses driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges to gain critical market insight. The study includes Porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, Product analysis, supply and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.
About The Brainy Insights:
The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.
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LONDON, UK, July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business consulting and marketing company Pixelated Crumpet ( https://www.pixelatedcrumpet.com ) unveils its business consulting and marketing solutions for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. The company is positioned to revitalise the industry by focusing on younger demographics. Sparkeey Socials, a custom networking event for professionals and founders, makes its inaugural debut in a format designed to capture the attention of upwardly mobile Gen Z.
Business branding and marketing are highly volatile. Despite the industry's stressors, a new formidable player is on the frontlines. Pixelated Crumpet , a firm specialising in Gen Z and Gen Alpha business consultancy and marketing, recently received attention from young consumers and senior executives alike.
Asha Nico Venkataramani founded the company and carved out a niche by focusing on the unique preferences and behaviours of Generation Z. Its creation is necessitated by a gap in professional consulting services of which is greatly needed for marketing and launching new age consumer products in global markets.
Pixelated Crumpet's offerings include a range of services combining traditional business strategies and the digital-first mindset of consumers. The company is also launching Sparkeey Socials, a series of premium, golden-ticketed business summits in London that cater quality content in a format specifically to both success oriented individuals and Gen Z itself.
A Novel Perspective on Marketing: Pixelated Crumpet's Vision
Pixelated Crumpet is not just another business and marketing consultancy. The company prides itself on its outlook on branding and marketing, which is anchored on the behaviours of Gen Z. "We are a creative business marketing consulting team that talks Gen Z through A," says Venkataramani. We bridge business with generations, focusing on Gen Z and Alpha. We are building the brands, franchises, business leaders, products, and workplaces of the future."
The company's services include brand strategy development, business plan design, go-to global market positioning, product strategy, and impact design in product and business. Pixelated Crumpet's specialisation in Gen Z marketing is a significant differentiator in the crowded branding and marketing consultancies field.
Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, values authenticity, inclusivity, and digital engagement. They are digital natives who have grown up with technology and social media, making traditional marketing procedures less effective.
Current market trends support Pixelated Crumpet's strategy. According to an eMarketer report, by 2027, 97% of Gen Zers will be mobile banking users, the highest proportion of all generations.
Both paid and organic social media prove more impactful than traditional advertising in raising product awareness among Gen Z. Approximately 22% of Gen Zers regard influencer content as their most trusted source of information on social platforms, matching the proportion who trust traditional ads the most.
Sparkeey Socials: A New Platform for Gen Z Engagement
Among Pixelated Crumpet's standout initiatives is Sparkeey Socials, a series of premium, golden-ticketed business summits explicitly designed for Gen Z. These events extend beyond typical business conferences. Instead, they are structured as inclusive fireside sessions featuring speakers who are experts in their fields and who understand the future relevance of their content.
"Sparkeey Innovation & Tech Summits are not start-up pitches or tech demos," explains Asha Nico Venkataramani. "They are in-person masterclasses with a Gen Z focus from speakers who really know what they are talking about. The content is tailored to be future-relevant."
These events blend content relevant to the future with networking opportunities for C-suite leaders, start-up founders, and influencers. The format allows for approximately 150 attendees per event, creating an intimate setting where meaningful connections can be made. The organisers carefully select keynote speakers for their competence and relevance to the future, aiming to adopt a more social air to the experience.
The Sparkeey Socials events recognise and ride on the contribution of the creator economy, the reality of hybrid workplaces, nomadic lifestyles, and the intertwining of business with positive societal impact.
Plans for Expansion
Analysts project that Pixelated Crumpet will experience significant growth as it capitalises on the increasing demand for specialised Gen Z marketing. The company's comprehensive strategies specifically gear itself toward the digital market space. The expanding SocialFi market itself, which combines social media and finance, presents new opportunities for Pixelated Crumpet as it seeks to expand further.
"We want to be the foremost authority on business imprinting what Gen Z and Gen Alpha want. Sparkeey Socials are just the start," concludes Asha Venkataramani.
About Pixelated Crumpet
Pixelated Crumpet is a business branding and marketing consultancy focusing on strategy, branding, and business services. The company strives to bridge businesses with Gen Z and Alpha generations, offering marketing solutions that integrate design thinking into real-world strategy.
Media Contact
Brand: Pixelated Crumpet Limited
Contact: Pixelated Crumpet Team
Email: mihai@pixelatedcrumpet.com
Website: https://www.pixelatedcrumpet.com
SOURCE: Pixelated Crumpet Limited
NEW ORLEANS, July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until August 5, 2024 to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG), if they purchased the Companys shares between June 2, 2021 and August 1, 2023, inclusive (the Class Period). These actions are pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Get Help
Scotts investors should visit us at https://claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-smg/ or call toll-free (844) 367-9658. Lawyers at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC are available to discuss your legal options.
About the Lawsuits
Scotts and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.
On August 2, 2023, the Company disclosed disappointing financial results including a decline in quarterly sales for fiscal third quarter of 6%, a decline in gross margin by 420 basis points, as well as a cut to fiscal year EBITDA guidance by a staggering 25% and a $20 million write down of pandemic driven excess inventories.
On this news, the price of Scotts shares fell by $13.58 per share, or 19%, from a closing price of $71.44 per share on August 1, 2023, to a closing price of $57.86 per share on August 2, 2023.
The case is City of Hialeah Employees Retirement System v. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, No. 24-cv-03132. A subsequent case, City Of Inkster Policemen And Firemen Retirement System v. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, No. 24-cv-03766 expanded the class period.
About ClaimsFiler
ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations.
To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com.
VICTORIA, Seychelles, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovation Hub, an ecosystem encompassing a range of aligned products such as the WOOFi protocol and WOO X , a leading global crypto centralized exchange, is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Bubbly Finance . This collaboration aims to bring groundbreaking solutions to the pre-market, a $10 billion daily volume market that currently lacks adequate infrastructure.
Bubbly Finance, aspiring to become the Uniswap of the pre-market, is set to introduce innovative trading solutions starting with points and pre-launch tokens. Their vision includes expanding to encompass Simple Agreements for Future Tokens (SAFTs) and vesting tokens. Despite the popularity of points issued by existing projects, their lack of extra yields and liquidity has limited user adoption. Bubbly Finance intends to address these challenges by enhancing the overall crypto industry experience with new opportunities for points farming and liquidity.
Pre-market assets, essentially a form of deliverable futures, will be transformed by Bubbly Finances innovative Market Liquidity Margin Maker (MLMM). This system combines the Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker (CLMM) with the concept of margin from traditional futures markets to create a pre-market Automated Market Maker (AMM). This hybrid approach aims to provide a simple and timely trading experience, improved liquidity and volume, and clear price discovery through physical delivery.
The WOO Innovation Hub will support Bubbly Finance in their development by leveraging its extensive ecosystem and technical expertise to provide critical infrastructure, resources, and guidance needed for Bubbly's growth. By fostering a collaborative environment, the WOO Innovation Hub aims to ensure that Bubbly Finance can effectively navigate the challenges of scaling their innovative pre-market solutions, ultimately enhancing the liquidity and accessibility of pre-market assets.
Luke Guo, Bubbly Finance Co-founders, commented: Were thrilled to have the support of the WOO Innovation Hub! With their strong partnerships, vast connections, and hands-on assistance, were confident in our collaboration. Plus, with WOOs spot and derivative CEX and DEX, Bubblys pre-market AMM DEX will perfectly complement and synergize with WOO, bringing even more value to both our users and businesses."
Abby Huang, Woo Innovation Hub Lead, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Bubbly Finance to our ecosystem. Their innovative approach to pre-market trading aligns perfectly with our mission to provide cutting-edge solutions in the blockchain space. This partnership will pave the way for more efficient and user-friendly decentralized solutions, benefiting both WOO and Bubbly Finance users."
Contact Us: ecosystem@woo.network
About WOOFi
WOOFi is a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) with over $42B in cumulative trading volume and more than 250k monthly active users. It supports 11 blockchains and offers a diverse range of products, including earn vaults, simple swaps, cross-chain swaps, and perpetual futures. The native token of WOOFi, WOO, can be staked to share 80% of all protocol fees.
About Bubbly Finance
Bubbly Finance is an innovative AMM-based pre-market DEX, pioneering a new era in trading pre-market assets such as points, pre-launch tokens, vesting tokens, and SAFTs. By leveraging a cutting-edge AMM model, Bubbly Finance provides a seamless trading experience akin to Uniswap but tailored for assets with physical deliveries, setting a new standard in futures trading protocols.
Disclaimer
The content above is for informational sharing purposes only and does not constitute an investment offer, solicitation, or recommendation. Any investment decisions made based on this content are undertaken at the individual's own risk. The partnership between WOO Innovation Hub and Bubbly does not imply financial advice, token listing or endorsement of any products or services. All business risks related to the cooperation are borne by the respective parties involved.
Dublin, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Content Analytics - Global Strategic Business Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global market for Content Analytics is estimated at US$5.5 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$22.5 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 22.4% from 2023 to 2030. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of market trends, drivers, and forecasts, helping you make informed business decisions.
The growth in the content analytics market is driven by several factors, including the exponential increase in unstructured data, the need for enhanced data insights for strategic decision-making, and the advancements in AI and machine learning technologies. As digital content continues to expand at an unprecedented rate, businesses are seeking more effective ways to harness this information for competitive advantage. The desire to understand customer preferences and behaviors in greater depth is another critical driver, pushing companies to invest in technologies that can analyze customer interactions across multiple platforms and touchpoints.
Additionally, the integration of content analytics with other business intelligence tools is becoming more seamless, encouraging adoption even among less tech-savvy industries. These factors, coupled with the growing demand for predictive analytics and personalized marketing strategies, ensure that the content analytics market continues to expand, offering new opportunities for businesses to innovate and thrive in the digital age.
Key Insights:
Market Growth: Understand the significant growth trajectory of the On-Premise Deployment segment, which is expected to reach US$14.8 Billion by 2030 with a CAGR of a 20.2%. The Cloud Deployment segment is also set to grow at 27.9% CAGR over the analysis period.
Regional Analysis: Gain insights into the U.S. market, estimated at $1.5 Billion in 2023, and China, forecasted to grow at an impressive 21.4% CAGR to reach $3.4 Billion by 2030. Discover growth trends in other key regions, including Japan, Canada, Germany, and the Asia-Pacific.
Why You Should Buy This Report:
Detailed Market Analysis: Access a thorough analysis of the Global Content Analytics Market, covering all major geographic regions and market segments.
Competitive Insights: Get an overview of the competitive landscape, including the market presence of major players across different geographies.
Future Trends and Drivers: Understand the key trends and drivers shaping the future of the Global Content Analytics Market.
Actionable Insights: Benefit from actionable insights that can help you identify new revenue opportunities and make strategic business decisions.
Key Questions Answered:
How is the Global Content Analytics Market expected to evolve by 2030?
What are the main drivers and restraints affecting the market?
Which market segments will grow the most over the forecast period?
How will market shares for different regions and segments change by 2030?
Who are the leading players in the market, and what are their prospects?
Report Features:
Comprehensive Market Data: Independent analysis of annual sales and market forecasts in US$ Million from 2023 to 2030.
In-Depth Regional Analysis: Detailed insights into key markets, including the U.S., China, Japan, Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa.
Company Profiles: Coverage of major players such as Adobe Systems, Inc., Clarabridge, Inc., IBM Corporation, and more.
Complimentary Updates: Receive free report updates for one year to keep you informed of the latest market developments.
Select Competitors (Total 12 Featured):
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Clarabridge, Inc.
IBM Corporation
NICE Systems Ltd.
OpenText Corporation
Oracle Corporation
SAP SE
SAS Institute, Inc.
Verint Systems, Inc.
Key Attributes
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 179 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $5.5 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $22.5 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 22.4% Regions Covered Global
Key Topics Covered
I. METHODOLOGY
II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. MARKET OVERVIEW
Influencer Market Insights
Global Economic Update
Content Analytics - Global Key Competitors Percentage Market Share in 2024 (E)
Competitive Market Presence - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial for Players Worldwide in 2024 (E)
2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS
3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS
Exponential Rise in Volumes of Business Content and Demand for Business Intelligence Drives Market Growth
Content Analytics: A Vital Tool for Gaining Actionable Insights from Unstructured Data
Text Analytics to Leverage Growth of Big Data and AI Software Platforms for Expanding Use Cases
Integration of AI Throws the Spotlight On Enhanced Content Analytics Solutions
Growing Demand for Data-Driven Decisions Drives Adoption of Content Analytics in Enterprises
Rise of Big Data in Digital Marketing Spurs Growth in Content Analytics
Expansion of Real-Time Content Analysis Strengthens Business Case for Advanced Analytics Tools
Emergence of Predictive Analytics Sets the Stage for Proactive Content Management
Increased Emphasis on Customer Experience Analytics Bodes Well for Market Growth
Advent of Natural Language Processing in Content Analytics Sustains Market Expansion
Growing Popularity of Visual Content Accelerates Need for Image and Video Analytics
Cloud-Based Content Analytics Solutions Drive Market Penetration in Small and Medium Businesses
Increased Use of Social Media Content for Analytics Generates New Market Opportunities
4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE
III. MARKET ANALYSIS
IV. COMPETITION
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/zi5njt
About ResearchAndMarkets.com
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
Attachment
Dublin, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Digital Remittance Market Overview, 2024-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
According to the report, the market is anticipated to cross USD 45 billion by 2029, increasing from USD 21 billion in 2023. The market is expected to grow with a 13% CAGR from 2024 to 2029.
Market Drivers:
Financial Inclusion Initiatives : Governments and international organizations are increasingly promoting financial inclusion as a key driver for economic development. Digital remittance services play a crucial role in this initiative by providing affordable and accessible financial services to unbanked and underbanked populations. Mobile money solutions and digital wallets enable individuals in remote areas to receive and manage funds securely, fostering economic empowerment and reducing poverty levels.
: Governments and international organizations are increasingly promoting financial inclusion as a key driver for economic development. Digital remittance services play a crucial role in this initiative by providing affordable and accessible financial services to unbanked and underbanked populations. Mobile money solutions and digital wallets enable individuals in remote areas to receive and manage funds securely, fostering economic empowerment and reducing poverty levels. Global Migration Trends: The rise in global migration patterns, driven by economic opportunities and geopolitical factors, fuels the demand for cross-border remittance services. Migrant workers often send a significant portion of their earnings back to their families in their home countries, making remittances a vital source of income for many households. The convenience and speed of digital remittance platforms meet the needs of migrant populations, contributing to the growth of the global remittance market.
Market Challenges:
Cost and Transparency Issues : The cost of digital remittances remains a concern, particularly for smaller transactions. Service fees, foreign exchange rates, and hidden charges can reduce the amount received by recipients, impacting the affordability and accessibility of remittance services. Enhancing price transparency and reducing transaction costs through competitive pricing strategies and innovative fintech solutions are critical to addressing this challenge.
: The cost of digital remittances remains a concern, particularly for smaller transactions. Service fees, foreign exchange rates, and hidden charges can reduce the amount received by recipients, impacting the affordability and accessibility of remittance services. Enhancing price transparency and reducing transaction costs through competitive pricing strategies and innovative fintech solutions are critical to addressing this challenge. Infrastructure and Connectivity Barriers: Access to reliable internet connectivity and digital infrastructure poses challenges in some regions, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Limited access to smartphones, electricity, and banking services can hinder the adoption of digital remittance solutions among marginalized populations. Addressing infrastructure gaps and promoting digital literacy initiatives are essential to ensure equitable access to remittance services globally.
Market Trends:
Emergence of Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) : The development of stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies and CBDCs by central banks is reshaping the landscape of digital remittances. Stablecoins offer stability and reduced volatility compared to cryptocurrencies, making them attractive for cross-border transactions. CBDCs, on the other hand, provide governments with greater control over monetary policy and financial stability while potentially lowering transaction costs and enhancing financial inclusion.
: The development of stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies and CBDCs by central banks is reshaping the landscape of digital remittances. Stablecoins offer stability and reduced volatility compared to cryptocurrencies, making them attractive for cross-border transactions. CBDCs, on the other hand, provide governments with greater control over monetary policy and financial stability while potentially lowering transaction costs and enhancing financial inclusion. Focus on User Experience and Innovation: User-centric design and innovation are driving the evolution of digital remittance services towards seamless and intuitive customer experiences. Mobile-first interfaces, biometric authentication, and AI-driven personalization enhance usability and security, increasing consumer confidence in digital payment solutions.
Other Market Insights:
Outward digital remittance is gaining huge growth in global marketing, mainly due to accelerating migration trends around the world and economic opportunities that compel people to look for work or educational prospects abroad.
Online platforms are developing in the Digital Remittance Market across the world primarily because they provide a convenient, cost-effective, fast money transfer solution that caters to the ever-growing need for cross-border transactions in today's interdependent world.
The growth of small firms within the global digital remittance market is an increasing demand for efficient, most cost-effective, and convenient solutions applied to international trade and commerce.
APAC is witnessing strong growth in the global digital remittance market due to their economic growth and rapidly rising cross-border trade.
Years considered in this report:
Historic year : 2018
: 2018 Base year : 2023
: 2023 Estimated year : 2024
: 2024 Forecast year: 2029
Aspects covered in the report:
Digital Remittance market outlook with its value and forecast, along with its segments
Various drivers and challenges
On-going trends and developments
Top profiled companies
Strategic recommendations
By Type:
Inward
Outward
By Channel:
Bank
Money Transfer Operation
Online platform
Others
By End User:
Migrant Labour
Personal
Small Business
Others
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
PayPal Holdings, Inc
The Western Union Company
MoneyGram International, Inc.
WorldRemit Limited
Wise PLC
Remitly
OFX
Nium
Euronet Worldwide, Inc.
Ripple Labs, Inc.
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wvnb1w
About ResearchAndMarkets.com
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
TORONTO, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- White Gold Corp. (TSX.V: WGO, OTCQX: WHGOF, FRA: 29W) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that infill and extension soil sampling has refined and extended the newly discovered gold-in-soil anomaly on its QV property to 2.2 km along strike (Figure 1). The soil anomaly is located approximately 9 km northwest of the VG deposit and appears to be similar in character to the VG and Golden Saddle deposits which form part of the Companys flagship White Gold Project. The White Gold Project is located in west-central Yukon, Canada, and comprises 16 million tonnes averaging 2.23 g/t Au for 1,152,900 ounces of gold in the Indicated Resource category and 19 million tonnes averaging 1.54 g/t Au for 942,400 ounces of gold in the Inferred Resource category (1). These new results form part of the Companys 2024 exploration program on its extensive and underexplored land package in the emerging White Gold District, Yukon, supported by strategic partners including Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (TSX: AEM, NYSE: AEM) and Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC).
We are quite encouraged by these latest results from this newly discovered target. Our early-season soil sampling program has considerably extended the strike length of the target by over 1 km to 2.2 km and provided even greater continuity of high gold values. Furthermore, the size, tenor, geochemical and geomagnetic characteristics of this target are also similar to our flagship Golden Saddle and VG deposits and represents exciting expansion potential with a maiden diamond drill program set to commence in the coming weeks stated David DOnofrio, Chief Executive Officer.
Shawn Ryan, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Advisor stated, This newly discovered soil anomaly on the QV property is an interesting grass roots discovery for the Company as it reminds me of the anomaly that led to the discovery of the Golden Saddle and QV deposits which are close by and share a lot of similarities. Soil sampling followed by our systematic evaluation has proven very effective in our district and we are looking forward to drilling this new target.
Maps and images accompanying this news release can be found at http://whitegoldcorp.ca/investors/exploration-highlights/.
Highlights
2024 soil survey consisted of 787 samples (Figure 2).
The surface expression of the gold-in-soil anomaly strikes east-northeast, measures 350 m wide x 2.2 km long, and is open along strike to the west and east.
Gold values range from < 0.5 ppb Au to a maximum of 600 ppb Au, with 29 samples returning greater than 80 ppb Au (approximately 99 th percentile) in the range of 82.3 to 600 ppb Au.
percentile) in the range of 82.3 to 600 ppb Au. The gold anomaly is associated with anomalous tellurium and low arsenic in soils, which represents a geochemical signature similar to the VG and Golden Saddle deposits which both form part of the Companys flagship White Gold Project.
Magnetic and LiDAR data reveals that the newly identified soil anomaly is hosted within a similar structural environment as the VG and Golden Saddle deposits.
2D inversions of recently completed VLF-EM survey lines indicate the gold-in-soil anomaly is associated with a moderately north-dipping hanging wall footwall contact zone.
A maiden diamond drill program is currently being planned and expected to commence in the coming days.
2024 Soil Sampling Program
The 2024 soil survey consisted of 787 samples which included both infill and extension samples. The purpose of this years sampling was to provide better resolution over the main portion of the anomaly which was identified in 2023, and to extend the anomaly along strike to the west and east. Infill soil samples are spaced at 25 m on 50 spaced survey lines, and extension samples are spaced at 50 m on 100 spaced survey lines. The company has collected approximately 1,000 soil samples over the past two field seasons in defining this new target. Gold values range from < 0.5 ppb Au to a maximum of 600 ppb Au, with 29 samples returning greater than 80 ppb Au (approximately 99th percentile) in the range of 82.3 to 600 ppb Au. The anomaly also has associated anomalous tellurium. Arsenic in soil values is low, and overall, the signature appears to be similar to the VG and Golden Saddle deposits suggesting a similar style of mineralization. The surface expression of the gold-in-soil anomaly strikes east-northeast, measures 350 m wide x 2.2 km long, and is open along strike to the west and east towards the previously known Korat Diego anomaly.
Magnetic data reveals that the newly identified soil anomaly is situated near a mafic belt with a NNW-SSE orientation, similar to the structural context of the VG, Golden Saddle, and Ryans Surprise deposits located along strike approximately 9 to 19 km to the SE and SSE. The highly magnetic mafic belts are observed to occupy the hanging wall of E- to ENE-dipping, district-scale thrust faults, with gold mineralization at the VG, Golden Saddle, and Ryan's Surprise deposits occurring where intersected by significant NE- or NW-trending faults. At the newly identified soil anomaly, anomalous gold is localized at a fault intersection of a similar structural and magnetic pattern to those of the mentioned deposits and is associated with a semi-circular magnetic high approximately 1 km in diameter.
2D inversions of recently completed VLF-EM survey lines over the target indicate the gold-in-soil anomaly is associated with a moderately north-dipping hanging wall footwall contact zone.
The Company is currently planning a maiden diamond drill program on the target which will consist of a minimum of 1200 m of drilling that will test up to 800 m of strike length.
About the QV Property
The QV property comprises 1003 quartz claims which over an area of 19,671 hectares and hosts the VG deposit, which hosts an open pittable Inferred resource of 287,100 oz gold at 1.53 g/t(1) and forms part of the Companys flagship White Gold Project. The mineralization is hosted along a N-E trending, gently south dipping structural zone that has been traced for over 700 m at surface and consists of disseminated to vein-controlled pyrite with brecciation, stockwork quartz-carbonate veining, and sericite alteration. The VG shares strong similarities to the Golden Saddle deposit located 11 km south of the VG deposit on the White Gold property both in structural setting as well as mineralization style and is open along strike and at depth. The property also hosts several other prospective targets which have received limited exploration work and offer potential for additional discoveries.
Soil Sampling Methods and Analysis
The 2024 QV property soil geochemistry survey was contracted to GroundTruth Exploration Inc. of Dawson City, Yukon. Field technicians navigated to pre-planned sample sites using handheld GPS units and collected C-Horizon soil samples using an Eijklcamp brand hand auger at a depth of between 20 cm and 110 cm. Typically, 400 to 500 g of soil is placed in a pre-labeled bag, and a field duplicate sample is taken once every 25 samples. The GPS location of the sample site is recorded with the GPS unit, and the waypoint location is labeled with the project name and the sample identification number. A weather-proof handheld device equipped with a barcode scanner is used in the field to record the descriptive attributes of the sample collected, including sample identification number, soil colour, soil horizon, slope, sample depth, ground and tree vegetation, sample quality, and any other relevant information.
Analytical work for the 2024 soil geochemistry surveys was carried out at Bureau Veritas (BV) Canada, with preparation completed at their Whitehorse, YT facility and analysis at their hub laboratory located in Vancouver, BC. All soil samples were assayed for gold and a 37 multi-element suite using 0.25g aqua-regia digestion and ICP-MS analysis (Code AQ201). BV is an ISO 9001:2008 accredited facility, certificate number FM63007.
About White Gold Corp.
The Company owns a portfolio of 15,876 quartz claims across 26 properties covering approximately 315,000 hectares (3,150 km2) representing approximately 40% of the Yukons emerging White Gold District. The Companys flagship White Gold project hosts four near-surface gold deposits which collectively contain an estimated 1,152,900 ounces of gold in Indicated Resources and 942,400 ounces of gold in Inferred Resources(1). Regional exploration work has also produced several other new discoveries and prospective targets on the Companys claim packages which border sizable gold discoveries including the Coffee project owned by Newmont Corporation with Measured and Indicated Resources of 2.1 Moz at 1.28 g/t gold and Inferred Resources of 0.2 Moz at 1.04 g/t gold(2), and Western Copper and Gold Corporations Casino project which has Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.6 Blb copper and 14.5 Moz gold and Inferred Resources of 3.3 Blb copper and 6.6 Moz gold(3). For more information visit www.whitegoldcorp.ca.
(1) See White Gold Corp. technical report titled 2023 Technical Report for the White Gold Project, Dawson Range, Yukon, Canada , Effective Date April 15, 2023, Report Date May 30, 2023, NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report prepared by Dr. Gilles Arseneau, P.Geo., available on SEDAR+.
(2) See Newmont Corporation Form 10-K: Annual report for the year ending December 31, 2023, in the Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources section, dated February 29, 2024, available on EDGAR. Reserves and resources disclosed in this Form 10-K have been prepared in accordance with the Regulation S-K 1300, and do not indicate NI43-101 compliance.
(3) See Western Copper and Gold Corporation technical report titled Casino project, Form 43-101F1 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Yukon Canada, Effective Date June 13, 2022, Issue Date August 8, 2022, NI 43-101 Compliant Technical Report prepared by Daniel Roth, PE, P.Eng., Mike Hester, F Aus IMM, John M. Marek, P.E., Laurie M. Tahija, MMSA-QP, Carl Schulze, P.Geo., Daniel Friedman, P.Eng., Scott Weston, P.Geo., available on SEDAR+.
Qualified Person
Terry Brace, P.Geo. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, proposed, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, the Companys objectives, goals and exploration activities conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Companys properties; future growth potential of the Company, including whether any proposed exploration programs at any of the Companys properties will be successful; exploration results; and future exploration plans and costs and financing availability.
These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include:
The expected benefits to the Company relating to the exploration conducted and proposed to be conducted at the White Gold properties; the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals for the Offering; failure to identify any additional mineral resources or significant mineralization; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, including to fund any exploration programs on the Companys properties; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining and mineral exploration; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); the unlikelihood that properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated; soil sampling results being preliminary in nature and are not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of a mineral deposit; title to properties; ongoing uncertainties relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; and those factors described under the heading Risks Factors in the Companys annual information form dated July 29, 2020 available on SEDAR+. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Contact Information:
David DOnofrio
Chief Executive Officer
White Gold Corp.
(647) 930-1880
ir@whitegoldcorp.ca
Request Meeting: https://calendly.com/meet-with-wgo/15min
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TORONTO, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company") developer of the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana ("K.Hill" or the "Project") is pleased to announce that it has completed the field work for the infill drilling programme at the Project. The information gathered from this programme is expected to provide the basis for an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) to be included in the 2025 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).
Highlights:
Giyani has completed a 3,185m (61 hole) infill drilling programme at K.Hill. The aim of the programme was to define sufficient Measured Mineral Resource for the initial five years of mining operations covering the typical tenure of project finance debt facilities. This drill programme will supplement the 10,710m of previous drill results used in the 2023 MRE.
The results of the infill drilling programme will also be integrated with the Demonstration Plant ( Demo Plant ) processing and operating output data to optimize the mine schedule and plant feed grades within the DFS.
) processing and operating output data to optimize the mine schedule and plant feed grades within the DFS. Giyani has now commenced the mining geotechnical field investigations to inform the mine design parameters for the DFS. Groundwater monitoring holes will also be drilled to allow on-going water sampling to confirm baseline water quality data and future monitoring during the construction and operating phases.
Concurrent with these drilling programs, Giyani will launch the civil geotechnical field investigations. These investigations will comprise both drilling and pitting programmes, and inform the geotechnical design criteria of all plant, support infrastructure, access roads, waste rock dumps and the tailings storage facility, all important steps in the DFS process.
Danny Keating, President and CEO of the Company, commented:
We have initiated a comprehensive fieldwork programme aimed at upgrading significant portions of the Indicated Mineral Resource into the Measured Mineral Resource category, providing geotechnical data for detailed designs of the plant and related infrastructure, and installing a water monitoring system to ensure our compliance with the highest international environmental standards.
This continues our approach of systematically de-risking the Project in advance of securing construction financing. Meeting lender requirements that the debt repayment period is covered by Measured Mineral Resource, that the project execution plan is supported by detailed designs and underpinned by sound geotechnical data are all part of a comprehensive de-risking approach with the aim of further increasing the Projects attractiveness to lenders and investors.
2024 Drilling Programme
Giyani has completed a resource drilling programme which commenced in Q1 2024 (see Figure 1 below) and included 3,185m of drilling over 61 holes. A combination of reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) was used to optimise core recoveries as well as minimise costs. RC is more cost effective than DD for collaring the holes and initial casing, while DD provided superior core sample recovery for analysis and density testwork.
The programme builds on the 2023 MRE (see Table 1 below), which was prepared using data from 187 RC and DD holes from all drilling campaigns conducted over the Project since 2018, totalling 10,710m.
The goal of the current programme is to upgrade and reclassify a portion of the current 8.6Mt Indicated Mineral Resource into Measured Mineral Resources, to ensure the Project has sufficient Measured Mineral Resources for the initial five years of mine production that typically covers the project finance debt repayment period.
The addition of this data will increase Giyanis knowledge of its K.Hill deposit, enabling more accurate modelling of the ore grade and the elemental profile of the ore going to the plant, in turn allowing more accurate forecasting of the production profile.
Some 100t of mineralised material from K.Hill was shipped to Johannesburg in 2023 and is expected to be processed into HPMSM at the Demo Plant in H2 2024. The same ore from K.Hill will be used as feedstock in the Commercial Plant which is planned to be built in Botswana and start ramping up to full commercial scale production from 2027.
Figure 1: 2024 K.Hill Drill Programme
Mineral Resource Estimate1
The Mineral Resource Estimate completed by CSA Global in July 2023 is presented for ease of reference.
Mineral Resource
Classification Tonnage
(Mt) Grade
(% MnO) Contained MnO
(Mt) HPMSM Equivalent
(Mt)2 Indicated 8.6 15.2 1.3 3.1 Inferred 6.1 14.1 0.9 2.1
Table 1: K.Hill Project CSA Global MRE Statement as of July 2023 (at a cut-off grade of 7.3% MnO)
Source: K.Hill Battery-Grade Manganese Project Preliminary Economic Assessment, National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, with an effective date of 31st July 2023, was prepared on behalf of Giyani Corp. by CSA Global South Africa (Pty) Ltd, an ERM Group company, Tetra Tech Europe, Knight Piesold Ltd. and Axe Valley Mining Consultants Ltd. and was filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ on August 25, 2023. Before processing recoveries are applied.
MRE Notes:
a) The Mineral Resource has been classified and reported under the guidelines defined by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum in their document CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves of May 2014.
b) Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability.
c) Mineral Resources are stated as in situ dry tonnes; figures are reported in metric tonnes.
d) Figures have been rounded to the appropriate level of precision for the reporting of Mineral Resources.
e) Estimation has been completed within 6 different mineralization domains.
f) Mineral Resources are reported assuming open pit mining methods.
g) The Mineral Resource is reported within a conceptual pit shell determined using a price of US$3,800/t HPMSM (equivalent to US$9,054/t MnO), conceptual parameters and costs to support assumptions relating to reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.
h) The Mineral Resource is reported at a cut-off grade of 7.3% MnO.
i) The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. CSA Global is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, political, or other any other relevant factors affecting the MRE.
j) HPMSM price quoted is based on 2022 market data, which was available at the time of reporting the Mineral Resource. Additional pricing information will be available for input into subsequent technical studies, and this may impact on the Mineral Resource reported.
Qualified Person and Data Verification
Mr. Luhann Theron, MSc., Pr.Sci.Nat. 400184/15, of Lambda Tau is registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, membership number 400184/15, and last visited the K.Hill Project site in July 2024 and is a QP, as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Theron is the Chief Geologist for the Company and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content contained in this announcement but is not independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About Giyani
Giyani is focussed on becoming the dominant western-world producer of sustainable, low carbon high purity battery grade manganese for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The Company has developed a proprietary hydrometallurgical process to produce High Purity Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate (HPMSM), a lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode precursor material critical for EVs.
The Company has secured US$26m in financing from two strategic partners, ARCH Sustainable Resources Fund LP and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, as it aims to progress the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana to construction by building and operating the Demo Plant and completing a Definitive Feasibility Study by H1 2025.
Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedarplus.ca and on Giyani Metals Corp. website at https://giyanimetals.com/ .
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.
Danny Keating, President and CEO
Contact:
Danny Keating
President & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +1 289 291 7632
dkeating@giyanimetals.com
Charles FitzRoy
Head of Corporate Development & Strategy
cfitzroy@giyanimetals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons.
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur.
All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of Inferred Mineral Resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements.
Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's Annual Information Form, all of which are filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/025b2733-45d8-486a-8972-ec49be0719b6
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NorthWest Copper (NorthWest or the Company) (TSX-V: NWST) is pleased to report the 2024 drill program at the Lorraine-Top Cat project in north-central British Columbia has been successfully completed and crews will be de-mobilizing from the field once the diamond drill core is processed.
Approximately 800+ metres of drilling was completed at the regional Nova and Road IP Targets (see news release dated July 4, 2024, for descriptions of the targets). Three holes were drilled, one at Nova (356 metres) and two at Road IP (456 metres total). The drill holes are currently being logged and sampled. Approximately 470+ half-core diamond drill samples with QAQC samples inserted will be sent to Activation Laboratories in Kamloops.
Assay results are expected in the coming weeks, and a full discussion of results and observations will be released when assays are received. The results of this program will be leveraged to assist in developing future targets at Lorraine-Top Cat, in support of the Companys strategy to grow our mineral resource base via exploration.
Figure 1. Location of the Nova and Road IP Targets relative to NorthWests mineral tenure at Lorraine-Top Cat.
The Lorraine-Top Cat Project
The Project covers 65,000+ ha and is located in north-central British Columbia, 280 km northwest of Prince George, BC and approximately 45 km from NorthWests Kwanika-Stardust Project. The Lorraine deposit is a silica-undersaturated alkalic copper-gold porphyry deposit, which is the same classification as the Galore Creek and Mount Polley deposits.1 Mineralization at the Lorraine - Top Cat Project is hosted mostly by Early Jurassic syenite and pyroxenite intrusions that are part of the Duckling Creek Syenite Complex (DCSC), but additional targets such as Road IP are associated with other phases of the Jurassic Hogem batholith or with older Takla Group volcanic rocks. A modern mineral resource estimate (MRE) was completed for portions of the Lorraine deposit in 20222 that includes indicated resources of 12.952 Mt grading 0.55% Cu and 0.16 g/t Au, and inferred resources of 45.252 Mt grading 0.43% Cu and 0.10 g/t Au at 0.20% copper cut-off grade.3 As described in previous disclosures, however, gold concentration is likely understated and silver was not included in the estimation because many historical drill holes were inconsistently analyzed for the two metals. The MRE extends to surface and includes the Lower Main, Upper Main, and Bishop Zones and intervening rock. Copper sulphides manifest various combinations of chalcopyrite, bornite and hypogene chalcocite, and the concentration of pyrite is generally low. Gold and silver, where analyzed, are spatially related to the copper mineralization, and elevated concentrations of platinum and palladium have been reported in several published papers.
Disclosure Statement
Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed, verified, and approved by Tyler Caswell, P.Geo., VP Exploration of NorthWest, who is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects.
About NorthWest Copper:
NorthWest Copper is a copper-gold explorer with a portfolio of projects in British Columbia. With a robust portfolio in a tier one jurisdiction, NorthWest Copper is well positioned to participate in a strengthening global copper market. We are committed to responsible mineral exploration which includes working collaboratively with First Nations to ensure future development incorporates stewardship best practices and traditional land use. Additional information can be found on the Companys website at www.northwestcopper.ca.
On Behalf of NorthWest Copper Corp.
Tyler Caswell
Vice President, Exploration
For further information, please contact:
Tel: 604-683-7790
Email: info@northwestcopper.ca
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussion with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always using phrases such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to statements with respect to; plans and intentions of the Company; proposed exploration and development of NorthWests exploration property interests including potential size of budget and type of exploration being conducted; the Companys ability to finance future operations; the potential size of a mineralized zone or potential expansion of mineralization; geological interpretations; the estimation of Mineral Resources; future operations; mine plans, and magnitude or quality of mineral deposits.
All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, constitutes forward-looking information. Although NorthWest believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information since NorthWest can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in NorthWests periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking information are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NorthWests expectations include risks associated with the business of NorthWest; risks related to reliance on technical information provided by NorthWest; risks related to exploration and potential development of the Companys mineral properties; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and First Nation groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in NorthWests filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR+ in Canada (available at www.sedarplus.com).
Forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the information are made. NorthWest does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
_____________________________
1 Lang et al. (1995) Triassic-Jurassic silica-undersaturated and silica-saturated alkalic intrusions in the Cordillera of British Columbia: Implications for arc magmatism. Geology, v. 23, p. 451-454.
2 See news release dated July 27, 2022 available at www.northwestcopper.ca and www.sedarplus.com.
3 See NI 43-101 technical report titled Lorraine Copper-Gold Project NI 43-101 Report & Mineral Resource Estimate Omineca Mining Division, B.C, dated September 12, 2022 with an effective date of June 30, 2022, filed under the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ff9e0d16-817e-42d0-9b05-f1497351a680
Rockville, MD, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global automotive turbocharger market is projected to touch a value of US$ 14.31 billion in 2024. The market has been forecasted to climb to US$ 29.77 billion by the end of 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 7.6% over the next decade.
Automotive turbochargers are turbine-driven induction devices, which amplify the engine efficiency and output of IC engines. These devices are deployed to direct more fuel into the combustion chamber in case the atmospheric pressure of the vehicle fails to keep up with the desired output. Turbochargers are weighed as a viable commodity by car manufacturers which is relied upon for keeping fossil fuel engines clean.
The most profitable part of the automotive industry is engine downsizing. Small engines are becoming increasingly common in automobiles since they help efficiently reduce fuel emissions. Turbochargers assist automobile manufacturers in meeting regulatory rules and regulations for the emission of dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide and other pollutants from automobiles.
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Key Market Growth Drivers
Demand for automotive turbochargers is rising at a significant pace due to their cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits. This growth is fueled by increasing vehicle sales and manufacturing globally, driven by urbanization, industrialization, road infrastructure development, and improved standards of living.
Enhancing valves in automotive turbochargers involves optimizing their design and functionality to improve overall vehicle performance across different speed ranges. These enhancements are ensuring efficient airflow management, which is crucial for achieving optimal engine power and responsiveness.
Adoption of automotive turbochargers improves fuel efficiency. They enhance engine performance by increasing air intake into powertrain combustion engines.
Automotive turbochargers are highly efficient and environment-friendly because they boost engine power without increasing piston displacement. Furthermore, optimal resource utilization, reduced waste production, and increased efficiency are the primary factors responsible for increasing the automotive turbocharger market size.
In recent years, the automotive industry has seen an increase in engine downsizing. Automotive turbocharger systems are increasing engine output power while maintaining piston displacement. This factor is leading to engine downsizing improving fuel efficiency and performance.
How are Manufacturers of Automotive Turbochargers Progressing?
Automotive Turbocharger Manufacturers Proactively Adopting Wastegate Technologies
Constant increase in automobile production is set to be one of the predominant factors linked with environmental deterioration. By drawing advantages from the aforementioned scenario, automotive turbochargers are finding extensive use cases. Prosperity of the automotive turbochargers market is favoring the production of cars and vehicles with TGDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engines. With a succession of innovations coming into the picture in the automotive turbochargers market, a new range of advanced turbochargers with exclusive valve designs is being introduced.
Primary objective behind the enhancement of valves in the automotive turbochargers market is to boost vehicle performance, both, in low- as well as high-speed conditions. Manufacturers are proactively adopting wastegate technologies that enable transforming engines to curtail emissions, thus contributing to automotive turbocharger market growth.
What are the Key Challenges Faced by Market Players?
High Cost of Turbocharger Replacement and Growing Preference for Zero-Emission Vehicles
Electric vehicles are replacing traditional gasoline vehicles in the worldwide automobile sector. Rising emissions from automobile fuels are contributing to air pollution and the global warming crisis. People's growing preference for zero-emission vehicles is hurting the market. Turbocharger replacement is also costly. Turbochargers with poor maintenance might fail prematurely, increasing the load on the engine cooling oil. As a result of the cooling oil required, TGDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engines have high maintenance costs.
Country-wise Insights
North America is expected to hold 18.5% of the global market share in 2024 due to the high deployment of automotive turbochargers across the region. In Europe, developments such as automobile performance tuning and engine remapping, as well as additive manufacturing, are gaining pace, prompting manufacturers to consider these automotive turbocharger market trends during the development of superior cars.
Leading Players Driving Innovation in the Automotive Turbocharger Market
Key players in the automotive turbocharger market are BorgWarner Inc., Continental AG, Garrett Motion Inc., Eaton Corporation PLC, Honeywell International Inc., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Precision Turbo & Engine Inc., Rotomaster International, THE TURBO ENGINEERS GmbH, Fuyuan Turbocharger Co., Ltd., Marelli Corporation, Turbo Dynamics.
What are the Opportunities for the Manufacturers of Automotive Turbochargers in the United States?
Rising Demand for Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Driving Production of Smart Turbochargers
The United States is estimated to account for an automotive turbocharger market share of 85.4% in North America in 2024. The automotive turbocharger market in the United States is expected to witness steady growth over the forecast period due to the implementation of smart technology in turbochargers. Also due to the rising demand for fuel-efficient vehicles in the country, the automotive turbochargers market is expected to rise steadily over the forecast period.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States is implementing stringent fuel emission regulations. The government is moving towards mandating manufacturers to develop cleaner and more fuel-efficient engines.
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Automotive Turbocharger Industry News
In 2021, MAN Energy Solutions and Rolls-Royce collaborated to have MAN's PBST brand distribute state-of-the-art MTU turbochargers. This agreement combined Rolls-Royce's latest high-efficiency MTU turbocharger technology for high-speed diesel and gas engines with PBST's global turbocharger sales structure.
In April 2021, BorgWarner Inc. expanded its offering by introducing three new BorgWarner turbochargers for passenger car applications. The newly launched turbochargers are for Opel, BMW, and Peugeot.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MAX Power Mining Corp. (CSE: MAXX; OTC: MAXXF; FRANKFURT: 89N) (MAX Power or the Company), utilizing proprietary methods and data modelling, has identified a prospective naturally occurring hydrogen resource play in southeast Saskatchewan featuring dozens of historical hydrogen showings, including grades up to 96.4%, within a compelling geological context.
As a result, through a series of permit applications, MAX Power has assembled a 1,244 sq. km land package, which shall now be referred to as the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project, situated within the ~200-km-long NE-SW striking Torquay-Rocanville Corridor (see attached map).
Multiple high-priority target areas exist across five separate large claim blocks and include evidence of potential upward migration of hydrogen to surface, possibly through serpentinization or fracture zones, making the Rider Project the largest known area in Canada for the potential discovery of naturally occurring accumulations of hydrogen gas. MAX Powers staking covers almost all of the available Crown land as well as the premier Natural Hydrogen targets within the Torquay-Rocanville Corridor.
Highlights
Two blocks at the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project include very high concentrations of hydrogen ( 96.4 % at Weyburn and 87.4 % at Stoughton) from the wellhead, supported by historical drill stem tests from old wells, indicating that Natural Hydrogen may have migrated to surface;
% at Weyburn and % at Stoughton) from the wellhead, supported by historical drill stem tests from old wells, indicating that Natural Hydrogen may have migrated to surface; Two additional high-grade showings ( 88.3 % and 75.6 %) from the wellhead also occur within 800 meters and 200 meters, respectively, of MAX Power land claims;
% and %) from the wellhead also occur within 800 meters and 200 meters, respectively, of MAX Power land claims; Given the limited number of wells (45) in the data set covering the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project, vs. the number of total wells believed to have been drilled in the region for which data is not available, the fact that seven of these wells showed hydrogen grades >10% at varying depths takes on added significance (the other 38 showed hydrogen grades between 1% and 10%).
MAX Power Special Advisor Mr. Denis Briere, VP-Engineering for Chapman Hydrogen and Petroleum Engineering Ltd., and regarded as one of the worlds leading petrophysicists, commented: My involvement in the worlds first discovery of a naturally occurring hydrogen gas accumulation in Mali, West Africa, over a decade ago was tremendously gratifying, especially since it quickly powered an entire village with low-cost, emissions-free electricity. This news from Saskatchewan - the scale of the opportunity and the very high historical grades - represents a watershed development for the world in the rapidly emerging Natural Hydrogen sector. Chapman is looking forward to working with MAX Power to take the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project to the next level.
Moving Forward
Geologists are designing a near-term program to verify and validate the existence of a naturally occurring hydrogen trend at Rider ;
; MAX Power continues to review an extensive array of datasets in Saskatchewan and elsewhere with an aggressive plan to further build on its first mover advantage in the Natural Hydrogen sector in Canada and the United States;
Pro-energy and pro-business Saskatchewan is exceptionally positioned to become the first jurisdiction in North America to produce Natural Hydrogen given a combination of highly favorable geology and a clearly defined policy framework for exploration and development of this important new alternate energy source.
MAX Power CEO Rav Mlait added: The acquisition of key permits to form the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project in SE Saskatchewan is a major development for MAX Power as we hit the ground running with the largest target area in the country for Natural Hydrogen in one of the best jurisdictions globally for exploration and resource development. The efforts of the MAX Power team are to be commended as we have used proprietary methods and state-of-the-art data modelling to uncover best-in-class targets. I recently met with top government officials in Saskatchewan and we are very enthused to be working in this forward-looking province. Natural Hydrogen is the cleanest form of hydrogen and can be developed at the lowest cost relative to other hydrogen (manufactured) variations. MAX Power has the potential to ignite a whole new energy boom in Canada and North America.
Figure 1 : Map showing the location of Max Powers Natural Hydrogen Permit Applications
Proposed Model for the Source of Natural Hydrogen and its Concentration in Saskatchewan
Southern Saskatchewan is entirely covered by the pervasive and thick Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB);
The WCSB directly overlies the crystalline Pre-Cambrian basement;
This basement is the perceived source rock for naturally occurring hydrogen, especially where the basement rock has an ultramafic composition;
There are a series of deep structures, including faults, allowing movement of gasses from the basement upwards into the WCSB. In addition to structures, a series of domes and arches add to the structural complexity of the WCSB;
Natural Hydrogen migrates upward into certain geological formations where it can accumulate.
Natural Hydrogen Video
Learn more about Natural Hydrogen by clicking on the following link:
https://vimeo.com/953002092/d6f8574ba4
MAX Power Natural Hydrogen Deck
Learn more about MAX Powers first mover advantage in North Americas Natural Hydrogen sector by clicking on the following link:
https://www.maxpowermining.com/Presentations/MAXPower-NaturalHydrogen.pdf
MAX Power Corporate Presentation
Click on the following link to view MAX Powers Corporate Deck:
https://maxpowermining.com/Presentations/MAXPower-Corporate.pdf
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Thomas Clarke, P.Geo., Pr.Sci.Nat., and Director for MAX Power Mining Corp. Mr. Clarke is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.
About MAX Power Mining
MAX Power is an innovative mineral exploration company focused on North Americas shift to decarbonization. MAX Power is a first mover in the rapidly growing Natural Hydrogen sector, through strategic alliances with Calgary-based Chapman Hydrogen & Petroleum Engineering Ltd., and European- based Larin Engineering HHC. MAX Power also holds a portfolio of properties in the United States and Canada focused on critical minerals. These properties are highlighted by a recent diamond drilling discovery at the Willcox Playa Lithium Project in southeast Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Rav Mlait- CEO
MAX Power Mining Corp.
MarketSmart Communications
Tel: 877-261-4466.
info@maxpowermining.com
Tel: 778-655-9266
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, and any legislation specifically relating to natural hydrogen, exploration and acquisition of natural hydrogen properties; ability to locate, discover and/or extract natural hydrogen from the subsurface; commentary as it relates to the opportune timing to carry out natural hydrogen exploration; and any anticipated increasing demand for natural hydrogen; any results and updates thereto as it relates to any future drill program, and the funding of that program; and upcoming press releases by the Company. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. They are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects, "plans, "anticipates, "believes, interpreted, "intends, "estimates, "projects, "aims, suggests, often, target, future, likely, pending, "potential, "goal, "objective, "prospective, possibly, preliminary, and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will, "would, "may, "can, "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and they involve number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the CSE, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of drill program results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out its exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Managements Discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
MONTREAL, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autonomous non-profit hospitals tend to perform better than government-run hospitals, shows a study published this morning by the Montreal Economic Institute.
Interminable waits in Canadian hospitals show that our healthcare systems are struggling to deliver basic services to the population, says Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at MEI and author of the study. By allowing independent non-profit hospitals to open, our governments would help increase treatment capacity, to the benefit of patients.
In 2023, the median wait time in Quebec ERs was 5 hours and 13 minutes, up 42 minutes from five years earlier.
It is estimated that as a result of chronic overcrowding in Canadian ERs, there are between 8,000 and 15,000 avoidable deaths each year.
The Canadian health care system ranks 10th out of 11 comparable industrialized countries, just ahead of the United States, in the Commonwealth Funds ranking of healthcare systems. The French, German, and Dutch systems are 8th, 5th, and 2nd respectively in the same ranking.
While the Canadian system has no independent non-profit hospitals according to the OECDs definition, such facilities account for 14 per cent of French hospital beds, 28 per cent of German hospital beds, and 100 per cent of Dutch hospital beds.
The researcher attributes a portion of the success of these facilities to their greater managerial autonomy and to a funding method that encourages the treatment of more patients.
One of the strengths of these hospitals is how quickly they can adapt, contrary to facilities micromanaged by government ministries, as is the case in Canada, explains Ms. Faubert. Since their financing depends on the type and the quantity of ailments treated, administrators see the sustainability of their facilities as being directly linked to their capacity to treat patients.
Although Canadian hospitals generally have their own boards of directors, the management of their daily activities and their funding are subject to strict government control.
Aside from certain limited experiments, notably in Quebec, Canadian hospitals still depend largely on a global budgeting model, in which funding depends entirely on the level of activity in the previous year.
Since the annual budgetary envelope is fixed, each additional patient is seen as a cost, says the researcher.
In Europe, in contrast, hospitals are largely financed according to an activity-based funding model, whereby a hospital receives a set amount of money for each treatment carried out within its walls. With this system, each additional patient treated represents an immediate source of revenue for the facility, says the researcher.
Its clear that our healthcare system can and must do better, and that means changing the incentives of those who manage it, says Ms. Faubert. By introducing non-profit hospitals, with a better funding model, and by granting health professionals more flexibility, we will be able to provide better care to more patients, as they do in Europe.
The MEI study is available here: https://www.iedm.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/note082024_en.pdf
The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
Interview requests
Natalia Alcocer
Intern, Communications
Cell: 514 974-7835
nalcocer@iedm.org
---
To follow the MEIs work, subscribe to our Twitter account @iedm_montreal.
HOUSTON, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI) (Crown Castle) announced today that it is commencing a public offering of one or more series of senior notes, subject to market and other conditions. The notes will be issued by Crown Castle. Crown Castle intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under its commercial paper program and pay related fees and expenses.
BofA Securities, Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., MUFG Securities Americas Inc., PNC Capital Markets LLC, RBC Capital Markets, LLC and Truist Securities, Inc. are the joint book-running managers of the offering.
The offering is being made pursuant to Crown Castles existing effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus, copies of which may be obtained by contacting any joint book-running manager using the information provided below. An electronic copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement, together with the accompanying prospectus, is also available on the SECs website, www.sec.gov.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on Crown Castle managements current expectations. Such statements include plans, projections and estimates regarding the proposed offering, including the use of proceeds therefrom. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including prevailing market conditions and other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. More information about potential risk factors that could affect Crown Castle and its results is included in Crown Castles filings with the SEC. The term including, and any variation thereof, means including, without limitation.
ABOUT CROWN CASTLE
Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.
JOINT BOOK-RUNNING MANAGERS CONTACT INFORMATION
MONETT, Mo., Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Little Tikes Commercial , which designs and manufactures innovative, commercial-grade playground equipment for children of all ages and abilities, today announced a partnership with the World of Eric Carle, a design-driven licensing and merchandising program based on the renowned author and illustrators beloved picture books. The agreement empowers Little Tikes Commercial to design and manufacture playground equipment based on all of Carles books, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has sold more than 55 million copies since its 1969 publication.
We are honored to collaborate with the World of Eric Carle as we create imaginative playground equipment inspired by his classic tales of growth, transformation, and discovery that have delighted readers for more than five decades, said Todd Brinker, senior vice president of commercial growth for outdoor play, PlayPower, the parent company of Little Tikes Commercial . This partnership aligns perfectly with our mission to inspire wonder and develop life skills through imaginative play. We look forward to bringing his unique vision to life.
Through the collaboration, young children will be able to explore their physical abilities while experiencing the joy of Carles characters in a whole new way.
"We are delighted to unite with Little Tikes Commercial, a premier partner that shares Eric Carle's dedication to learning through play, said Jackie DeMaio, licensing director at the Joester Loria Group, the worldwide licensing agent for the World of Eric Carle. A prolific author and artist, Erics work was always about encouraging children to explore the world around them through the joy of play. The playground equipment developed as a result of this partnership will help ensure that his messages of hope, adventure, and learning continue to inspire the next generation both in and out of the classroom."
The first products in the collaborative line are freestanding climbers in the shapes of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and butterfly. The climbers, which use Carles characters to embrace fun and exploration, are available to order starting today.
The addition of the World of Eric Carle-themed equipment to Little Tikes Commercials product offerings will not only create a magical experience on any playground where it is installed, but also help support learning and development, particularly in schoolyard settings.
Our versatile designs ensure that these new play elements can seamlessly integrate with any playground equipment, allowing for easy installation at both existing and new play spaces, said Brett Kidd, vice president of global sales for Little Tikes Commercial . Eric Carles timeless characters will be a perfect fit for any space that celebrates the magic of play and learning.
The World of Eric Carle nurtures a childs love of literature and learning, encouraging imaginative play and exploration. Trusted by parents, teachers, and librarians, and beloved by children worldwide for generations, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Carles other timeless storybooks come to life in colorfully creative products, designed to inspire very hungry young minds.
For more information about Little Tikes Commercial and The World of Eric Carle partnership, please visit L ittleTikesCommercial.com/Eric-Carle .
About Little Tikes Commercial
Little Tikes Commercial designs and manufactures commercial-grade playgrounds for parks, schools, childcare centers, and other places where children gather. A division of PlayPower, Inc., Little Tikes Commercial empowers kids to flourish by inspiring wonder and developing life skills through imaginative play. Our mission is to create fun, exciting, and inclusive play spaces that instantly engage imaginations. For more information, visit LittleTikesCommercial.com .
About The World of Eric Carle
The World of Eric Carle is a design-driven licensing and merchandising program based on the beloved picture books by Eric Carle. A prolific author and artist, Eric Carle has written and illustrated more than seventy books which have sold over 175 million copies worldwide. Like his books, The World of Eric Carle brand draws upon Eric Carles approach to creativity, discovery, play and development. Licensing and merchandising programs are ongoing in the US, Japan, China, UK, Australia, and Europe. For more information, please visit: www.Facebook.com/theworldofEricCarle .
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5297278f-816a-44ef-b0da-3d6a49e08cfa
Dublin, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Ammonia Crackers Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2019-2029F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Global Ammonia Crackers Market was valued at USD 1.14 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to project robust growth in the forecast period with a CAGR of 4.39% through 2029
The market ecosystem surrounding ammonia crackers comprises manufacturers, green hydrogen and ammonia producers, technology providers, and end users, each playing a crucial role in supporting the market's expansion. Manufacturers are not only focused on producing efficient and cost-effective ammonia crackers but also constantly exploring ways to improve their performance and reliability. Technology providers, on the other hand, are actively engaged in developing innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of these systems.
End users of ammonia crackers encompass a diverse range of industries, from industrial entities to energy providers, all of whom are increasingly recognizing the numerous benefits offered by these systems. Beyond the production of green hydrogen, ammonia crackers have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly future. This realization has sparked interest and adoption among end users, further driving the demand for ammonia crackers.
While the market for ammonia crackers holds great promise, it is not without its challenges. One such challenge is the significant initial investment required to establish these systems. However, with advancements in technology and economies of scale, the costs associated with ammonia crackers are expected to decrease over time. Additionally, there are concerns surrounding the safe storage and transportation of hydrogen, which necessitate the development of robust safety protocols and infrastructure. Nonetheless, ongoing research and development efforts are addressing these challenges and are poised to unlock even greater potential for ammonia crackers, fostering continued market growth.
Ammonia crackers are poised to play a pivotal role in the transition towards a greener and more sustainable future. With their ability to produce green hydrogen, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support various industries, these systems are at the forefront of the evolving energy landscape. As advancements continue and challenges are overcome, the market for ammonia crackers is expected to thrive, contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally-conscious world.
Key Market Trends
Ammonia crackers, also referred to as ammonia decomposers, are instrumental in the production of hydrogen and hydrogen compounds, offering a significant contribution to sustainable energy solutions. Their efficacy in generating green hydrogen, recognized as a clean and renewable energy source, has spurred their adoption across diverse industries, reflecting a broader global shift towards cleaner energy alternatives.
Driving the uptake of ammonia crackers is the escalating global demand for hydrogen, fueled by mounting concerns over climate change and the imperative to transition to cleaner energy sources. Hydrogen, with its potential to supplant fossil fuels in various applications such as power generation and transportation, has emerged as a pivotal component of the transition towards a sustainable energy future.
A notable illustration of the growing importance of hydrogen production through ammonia cracking is exemplified by the French industrial gases company, Air Liquide. In a strategic maneuver underscoring the evolving dynamics of the global energy landscape, Air Liquide has unveiled plans to construct a large-scale ammonia cracker at the port of Antwerp in Belgium by 2024. This forward-looking initiative epitomizes the company's dedication to advancing hydrogen production through cutting-edge ammonia cracking technology, aligning with broader sustainability objectives.
As technological advancements in ammonia cracking continue and the spotlight on sustainable energy solutions intensifies, the role of ammonia crackers in the global energy sector is poised to become increasingly prominent. In the quest for a greener and more sustainable future, ammonia crackers are poised to emerge as indispensable enablers of the widespread adoption of green hydrogen, serving as a cornerstone of our collective efforts towards a clean energy transition. With their ability to produce clean hydrogen efficiently and effectively, ammonia crackers are positioned to drive transformative changes in the energy landscape, paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 185 Forecast Period 2023 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1.14 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $1.47 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.3% Regions Covered Global
Key Market Players
Haldor Topsoe A/S
KBR Inc.
Siemens Energy AG
Air Liquide SA
thyssenkrupp AG
Duiker Combustion Engineers BV
Lindberg/MPH
Gasbarre Products, Inc.
Suzhou Since Gas Technology Co., Ltd.
Nuberg GPD
Ammonia Crackers Market, By Type:
Centralized
Decentralized
Ammonia Crackers Market, By Application:
Heat Treatment
Metal Industry
Oil and Gas
Mobility
Power Generation
Others
Ammonia Crackers Market, By Region:
North America
United States
Canada
Mexico
Europe
France
United Kingdom
Italy
Germany
Spain
Asia Pacific
China
India
Japan
Australia
South Korea
South America
Brazil
Argentina
Colombia
Middle East & Africa
South Africa
Saudi Arabia
UAE
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bisz5o
About ResearchAndMarkets.com
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
Attachment
Press Release
Paris, August 1st, 2024, 5:30 PM
Quarterly sales column
HOPS
HOPSCOTCH GROUPE
Consolidated Sales for first semester 2024
Growth maintained at
+17.4% gross margin
HOPSCOTCH Groupe (Euronext Growth FR0000065278), A communications consultancy group and major player in digital and social spheres, public relations and events, presents its consolidated turnover and gross margin as of June 30, 2024.
M (*) Q1 Q2 1st Semester Consolidated turnover 2024
Consolidated gross margin 2024 55.2
21.8 74.4
27.5 129.6
49.3 Consolidated turnover 2023
Consolidated gross margin 2023 51.0
18.3 71.9
23.7 122.9
42.0 Change in turnover
Change in gross margin +8.3%
+19.1% +3.5%
+16.0% +5.5%
+17.4%
(*) Unaudited data
Turnover and gross margin for the first semester of 2024 totaled 129.6 million euros and 49.3 million euros, up 5.5% (sales) and 17.4% (gross margin) respectively on the same period of 2023. The second quarter thus confirms the trend seen in the first.
Since the second semester of 2023, the Group has included in its calculations the companies composing Hopscotch Interface Tourism, acquired in the second semester of 2023. These companies, which were not yet consolidated in 2023, contributed 4.4 million euros to the Group's gross margin in the first half of 2024. As a result, the Group's organic growth remains strong, at +7% gross margin, over this period. While all the Group's activities are showing positive growth, the Events agency has had a particularly strong start to the year.
The group intends to accelerate its development, particularly internationally, and is therefore strengthening the HOPSCOTCH brand platform worldwide. In particular, Sopexa is changing its name to Hopscotch Season in order to extend its consulting activities to promote the Art de Vivre around the world, alongside Hopscotch Tourism, Hopscotch Luxe and Hopscotch.mov (expertise in mobility and automobiles), among others. In the 35 countries where the Group is present, the 100%-owned subsidiaries will take the name of Hopscotch country, for example Hopscotch USA, wherever possible.
HOPSCOTCH Groupe will publish its consolidated half-year earnings for 2024 on September 25, after market close.
Shareholder contact
Pierre-Franck MOLEY Managing Directeur Tel. 01 41 34 20 56 - pfmoley@hopscotchgroupe.com
Press Contact
Jodie KNOEPFLER CONSCIENCE Executive Board Assistant Tel. 01 41 34 20 51 jodiekc@hopscotchgroupe.com
________
About Hopscotch
HOPSCOTCH is an international communications group founded in France, directed by its founders and its managers, all guided by a business vision carried forward by the complementarity of expertise. HOPSCOTCHs founding belief? Global PR, created around a unique mix of digital, marketing, event management, influence and public relations, for both art de vivre and corporate challenges.
HOPSCOTCH brings together in France (Paris, Lyon, Lille, Marseille) and internationally (40 offices in 5 continents) more than 1,000 expert collaborators in all communication skills: influence, events, activation, digitalization, internal communications, public affairs, marketing services
Convinced that the value of an enterprise or organization resides in the care given to its capital of human relations,
HOPSCOTCH structures its agencies around its trade expertise:
Event (Hopscotch Event, Hopscotch Congres, Hopscotch Moments, Sagarmatha), Public Relations (Hopscotch PR, Le Public Systeme PR, Human to Human, Hopscotch Decideurs), Digital and Marketing (heaven, AD Crew, Hopscotch Digital Studio)) and sectorial expetise (Le Public Systeme Cinema, Hopscotch Luxe, Hopscotch Season, Hopscotch Sport, Interface
Tourism).
Listed on Euronext Growth Paris (ISIN code: ALHOP FR 00000 6527 8), the group represents a turnover of 271 million and a gross margin of 93 million in 2023.
Follow us: www.hopscotchgroupe.com and on LinkedIn / X / Instagram @HOPSCOTCHgroupe
Attachment
York, Pa., Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WellSpan Health and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine (Katz) at Temple University have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a new regional campus in York County.
The proposed arrangement will add the second regional campus to Temples medical school, which currently enrolls 880 medical students at the main Health Sciences Center campus in North Philadelphia and St. Lukes University Health Network campus in Bethlehem, Pa.
The high-quality care WellSpan is known for across the Mid-Atlantic will only be enhanced by welcoming these medical students who will soon train and hone their skills among our own expert physicians and team members, said Dr. Anthony Aquilina, executive vice president and chief physician executive, WellSpan Health. Temple University has a strong national reputation for its educational programs, and were excited to work with such a prestigious institution knowing how it will benefit our patients.
We are thrilled to work with WellSpan Health, renowned for its commitment to exceptional patient care. This collaboration will provide our medical students with unparalleled opportunities to learn and grow. Together, we will advance medical education and improve health outcomes for communities across the region. We look forward to an incredible collaboration that will not only benefit our institutions, students, faculty, and staff, but also the patients and communities we serve, said Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, The Marjorie Joy Katz Dean, Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
The arrangement will serve as a significant step in enhancing the supply of future WellSpan physicians across the health system and throughout central Pennsylvania communities. The first class of approximately 40 students would begin in August 2027 and graduate in May 2031. The proposed location of the campus will be in East York at 3350 Whiteford Road, which is a current WellSpan administrative building. WellSpan York Hospital will be home to the initial clinical site for the school, with the ability to utilize all WellSpan Health hospitals and ambulatory sites throughout the learning experience. The campus will employ more than 100 Katz faculty and have a staff of 30.
The increased number of students and professionals who will live in the region because of this school will infuse and strengthen the local economy. Analysis shows that medical schools bring a highly diverse student and faculty network that will, in turn, advance existing WellSpan residency and fellowship programs, and likely lead to increased innovations, research and clinical trial opportunities for patients.
WellSpan also recently announced it would affiliate with Jersey College to establish a school of nursing in the region that will offer an associate degree in nursing to help address the national nursing shortage.
Attachment
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bird Construction Inc. (TSX: BDT) is pleased to communicate that the previously announced transaction to acquire Jacob Bros Construction (Jacob Bros) has been successfully completed.
We are very excited to welcome Jacob Bros into the Bird family, bringing a highly complementary team with shared values and strong leadership that will support our long-term growth strategy, said Teri McKibbon, President and CEO of Bird. Not only does our combined company immediately add scale and diversification in BCs high-demand infrastructure market, but will also enable us to offer more comprehensive solutions as we pursue projects of various size, complexity, and scope. We look forward to continuing our strong track record of operational excellence and pursuing the robust opportunities in Western Canada together.
In connection with the closing of the transaction, the Company issued 1,490,922 Bird common shares, and borrowed $125 million under an available term loan facility in its recently amended Syndicated Credit Facility. The new term loan was used to repay existing term loans and to fund a portion of the acquisition consideration. The new term loan is repaid quarterly at a rate of 10% of the original principal per year.
This press release contains forward-looking information (as defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to materially differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information.
The Toronto Stock Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, contact:
T.L. McKibbon, President & CEO or
W.R. Gingrich, CFO
Bird Construction Inc.
5700 Explorer Drive, Suite 400
Mississauga, ON L4W 0C6
Phone: (905) 602-4122
ABOUT BIRD CONSTRUCTION
Bird (TSX: BDT) is a leading Canadian construction and maintenance company operating from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Servicing all of Canada's major markets through a collaborative, safety-first approach, Bird provides a comprehensive range of construction services, self-perform capabilities, and innovative solutions to the industrial, buildings, and infrastructure markets. For over 100 years, Bird has been a people-focused company with an unwavering commitment to safety and a high level of service that provides long-term value for all stakeholders. www.bird.ca
FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release contains forward-looking statements and information ("forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on the expectations, estimates and projections of management of Bird as of the date of this news release unless otherwise stated. The use of any of the words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "intend", "continue", "may", "will", "should", potential, projected, estimated, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning: the completion and timing of the acquisition of Jacob Bros; financing of the acquisition; future opportunities; expectations regarding the impact to Birds business, anticipated financial performance of Jacob Bros and its impact to the Companys operations and financial performance, including the anticipated accretive value to Bird; the future performance of acquired entities; the extent of operational efficiencies and expanded capacity; the Companys ability to capitalize on opportunities; and Birds ability to convert pending backlog to backlog, and the timing of conversions; the potential for synergies.
The estimates and assumptions of the Company contained in this news release, which may prove to be incorrect, include, but are not limited to: that the parties will complete the acquisition in accordance with, and on the timeline contemplated by, the terms and conditions of the relevant agreements, on a basis consistent with Birds expectations; the accuracy of managements assessment of the effects of the successful completion of the proposed transaction; the ability of Jacob Bros to carry on its business consistent with past practice and convert existing backlog to revenue generating projects, consistent with managements expectations; the effect of the acquisition of Jacob Bros and Birds ability to capitalize on opportunities; the successful integration of Jacob Bros operations; the availability of financing under the Companys amended credit facilities; market conditions for civil infrastructure projects; and the ability of the Company and Jacob Bros to maintain their operating margins. Although Bird believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.
Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to the ability of Bird and Jacob Bros to obtain all necessary regulatory and third party approvals and satisfy all other necessary conditions to closing of the Transaction on a timely basis or at all; the failure to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the Transaction following completion thereof due to integration or other issues; an inability to complete and draw on the amended credit facilities in accordance with managements current expectations and the risks associated with the industries in which the Company operates in general such as: the ability to hire and retain qualified and capable personnel, maintaining safe work sites, economy and cyclicality, ability to secure work, global pandemics, performance of subcontractors, accuracy of cost to complete estimates, estimating costs and schedules/assessing contract risks, adjustments and cancellations of Backlog, work stoppages, strikes and lockouts, acquisition and integration risk, potential for non-payment, litigation/potential litigation, design risks, information systems and cyber-security risk, competitive factors, completion and performance guarantees, access to capital, quality assurance and quality control, access to surety support and other contract security, insurance risk, climate change risk, joint venture risk, ethics and reputational risk, compliance with environmental laws, internal and disclosure controls, and payment of dividends.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on other factors that could affect the operations or financial results of the parties, and the combined company are included in reports on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities, including but not limited to; Bird's Annual Information Form and Managements Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, each of which may be accessed on Birds SEDAR+ profile, at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Companys website at www.bird.ca.
The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as, and to the extent required by applicable securities laws.
LARKSPUR, Calif., July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virtu Investments (Virtu), a multifamily real estate investment firm primarily engaged in the acquisition and management of apartments in the western United States, today announced it has acquired Skyglass Tower, a brand-new Class A, 338-unit, 31-story multifamily tower located in downtown Seattle, WA.
Completed in 2024, the LEED Gold, glass-paneled high-rise in the South Lake Union neighborhood is comprised of luxury studio and 1-3 bedroom units, three floors of underground parking, as well as retail space at ground level. Additional features include a rooftop green space, gym, a lobby with high-end finishes, and views of the Space Needle.
Virtu sees the Pacific Northwest, and Seattle in particular, as an attractive target for multifamily investment driven by the areas rising employment figures and high demand for luxury apartments, coupled with property values currently well below their peak.
Limited high-end multifamily supply and bottoming prices in the Seattle market makes this a great time for Virtu to invest opportunistically in this key area of the Pacific Northwest, said Michael Green, CEO of Virtu Investments. We have decades of experience investing in multifamily buildings across market cycles, and are eager to continue identifying investment opportunities like these for the benefit of our stakeholders.
Virtu acquired Skyglass Tower as a joint venture with the Real Estate Business at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and the Virtu Evergreen Fund, an open-end fund launched in 2015 for generational ownership, long-term compounding, extreme tax efficiency and flexible liquidity. The Evergreen Fund is designed to take advantage of 1031 Exchanges within the Fund to perpetually defer taxes on gains and cashflow.
Cushman & Wakefields Capital Markets team led by Marc Renard, Sam Wayne, and Dave Karson represented the seller, Gemdale USA, in the transaction.
Cushman & Wakefields Equity, Debt & Structured Finance team of Dave Karson, Chris Moyer, Paul Roeter and Jason Blankfein served as the exclusive advisor to the joint venture in the procurement of acquisition financing. The loan was provided by Corebridge.
Skyglass attracted global investor interest including pension funds, private equity, family offices and multifamily funds who recognized the merits of this compelling opportunity, said Renard. The depth of capital reflects investor conviction for the future of Seattle and best-in-class developments.
For more information about the Virtu Evergreen Fund, L.P. please click here.
To contact Virtus Regional Acquisitions Director, Erik Reif, please call (760) 929-4711.
About Virtu Investments
Virtu Investments is a multifamily real estate investment firm primarily engaged in the acquisition and management of apartment properties in the western United States. Since its founding in 1997, Virtu has acquired and operated 130+ properties, totaling over $3.7B in real estate. Virtu is focused on serving its investors with innovative tax-efficient solutions within the multifamily investment space. Virtu maintains a highly selective acquisitions practice and a fully integrated, in-house property management firm. For more information please visit https://www.virtuinvestments.com/
About Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Alternatives
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the leading investors in alternatives globally, with over $450 billion in assets and more than 30 years of experience. The business invests in the full spectrum of alternatives including private equity, growth equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds and sustainability. Clients access these solutions through direct strategies, customized partnerships, and open-architecture programs. The business is driven by a focus on partnership and shared success with its clients, seeking to deliver long-term investment performance drawing on its global network and deep expertise across industries and markets. The alternative investments platform is part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which delivers investment and advisory services across public and private markets for the worlds leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals. Goldman Sachs has over $2.8 trillion in assets under supervision globally as of December 31, 2023. Established in 1991, Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Alternatives is one of the leading investors in real estate with over $60 billion in capital invested since 2012 across the spectrum of investment strategies from core to opportunistic and credit. The global team invests across all sectors with deep expertise across the capital structure, in assets ranging from single properties to large portfolios, through senior mortgages, mezzanine debt and equity. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Tisdale Clean Energy Corp. ("Tisdale" or the "Company") (CSE: TCEC, OTCQB: TCEFF, FSE: T1KC), announces it has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") and has issued 5,654,666 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.075 per Unit for gross proceeds of $424,100 Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") exercisable at a price of $0.15 until July 31, 2027. The proceeds from the Offering will be used for general working capital purposes.
In connection with completion of the Offering, the Company paid $17,625 and issued 175,000 Warrants to certain arms-length brokerage firms that assisted in introducing subscribers to the Offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to restrictions on resale until December 1, 2024, in accordance with applicable securities laws.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TISDALE CLEAN ENERGY CORP.
"Alex Klenman"
Alex Klenman, CEO
For further information please contact:
Alex Klenman, CEO
Tel: 604-970-4330
info@tisdalecleanenergy.com
Tisdale Clean Energy Corp
Suite 2200, RBC Place, 885 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC V6C 3E8 Canada
www.tisdalecleanenergy.com
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.
Vancouver, August 1, 2024 - Cruz Battery Metals Corp. (CSE: CRUZ) (OTC Pink: BKTPF) (FSE: A3CWU7) ("Cruz" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its intention to undertake a strategic reorganization of certain of the Company's mineral exploration assets pursuant to which the Company proposes to spin-out (the "Spin-Out") its Hector Silver-Cobalt Project located near Cobalt, Ontario (the "Hector Property") into a recently incorporated, wholly-owned subsidiary, Makenita Resources Inc. ("SpinCo").
James Nelson, President of Cruz states, "This spinout makes sense for our shareholders. To unlock the value of the Silver-Cobalt asset as a standalone project will enable the shareholders of record of Cruz to benefit from ownership in two companies. Cruz is focused on its lithium projects in Nevada and expects to have a work program this summer. Cruz shareholders will achieve a win-win scenario as they will be shareholders of each company at no cost to them. Management is optimistic about the future of each company and hopes the Cruz shareholders of record will share the excitement."
The Hector Property consists of 126 contiguous unpatented mining claims totalling 2,243 hectares (5,542-acres) and is located within the Coleman and Gillies Limit Townships, Larder Lake Mining Division, Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. The Property is approximately 500 kilometres (km) north of Toronto, 150 km north of North Bay, and 10 km southwest of the town of Cobalt, Ontario. Cruz holds 100% ownership of the 126 mining claims, which are active and in good standing.
The principal deposit type of interest within the Hector Property is arsenide silver-cobalt vein deposits, which are epigenetic vein deposits. Metallic minerals occur in fracture filling lenses or veinlets, or as disseminations within wall rocks in association with carbonate and/or quartz gangue. Wall rocks adjacent to the veins are commonly hydrothermally altered. The majority of mineral occurrences with the Hector Property consist of narrow fracture controlled northwest-southeast, or northeast-southwest striking, sub-vertical to steeply dipping, quartz-carbonate-potassium feldspar veins containing variable percentages of disseminated to clotty pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and erythrite (hydrous cobalt arsenate) mineralization. Veins range in width from less than 5 cm up to 25 cm in width. The majority of historically reported mineral occurrences are represented by one or more shallow prospect pits and trenches, or water-filled shafts.
From 1904 and until 1989, the Cobalt mining camp produced 458,830,085 ounces silver, 19,392,037 pounds cobalt, 3,407,495 pounds nickel and 1,964,728 pounds copper (Guindon et al., 2016). Mineralization was later discovered in additional areas with similar geology within the Cobalt Embayment of Southern Ontario, from Gowganda in the west to southeast of Cobalt. In the early 1920s, a decrease in the price of silver and exhaustion of the high grade veins caused most of the mines to close. Between 1929 and 1950, small operations were undertaken in a number of mines. In the mid-1950s, the demand for cobalt increased and many mines reopened for a short time. An increase in the price of silver in 1960 brought new interest to the camp and 10 mines continued operation (Goodwin, 1988) Cruz management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Cruz may not necessarily be indicative to the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties.
Based on the presence of silver-cobalt arsenide vein intersects in drill core and numerous historic occurrences, airborne and ground magnetic geophysical anomalies, cobalt and silver in rock and soil geochemical anomalies, and favourable geology, management believes the Hector Property is of a high priority for follow-up exploration.
The Spin-Out, if completed as presently proposed, would be effected by way of a share capital reorganization effected through a statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") pursuant to the arrangement provisions of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The proposed reorganization would involve, among other things, Cruz transferring all of its right, title and interest in and to the Hector Property to SpinCo in exchange for common shares of SpinCo, in an amount to be agreed upon by the parties (the "Consideration Shares"). Under the Arrangement, Cruz's shareholders will receive the Consideration Shares and new common shares of Cruz, on a pro rata basis, in exchange for existing common shares of Cruz. It is not anticipated that Cruz will retain any of the Consideration Shares. In addition, it is anticipated that the holders of common share purchase warrants, RSU's and stock options of Cruz will receive a number of replacement common share purchase warrants, RSU's and stock options of SpinCo based on the exchange ratio of the Arrangement. Upon completion of the Spin-Out, SpinCo will become a "reporting issuer" in the same jurisdictions in Canada that Cruz is a reporting issuer. In connection with the Spin-Out, SpinCo intends to undertake one or more private placement offerings of securities to raise proceeds to develop the Hector Property and for general working capital purposes. Following completion of the Arrangement, SpinCo intends to seek a listing of its common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"), but no assurance can be provided that such a listing will be obtained. Any such listing will be subject to SpinCo satisfying all of the requirements of the CSE. As of the date hereof, no agreements between Cruz and SpinCo have been entered into respecting the proposed Spin-Out, but the board of directors of Cruz has authorized and approved proceeding with the Spin-Out and commencement of drafting the definitive agreements related thereto.
It is expected that completion of the Spin-Out will be subject to a number of conditions which are customary for similar transactions including, but not limited to, shareholder approval and approval of the Court, as well as other standard closing conditions. There can be no assurance that the Spin-Out will be completed as proposed, or at all. Cruz will have no obligation to proceed with the Spin-Out, and may elect, at its sole discretion, not to proceed with the Spin-Out for any reason whatsoever. Final terms of the Spin-Out and determination to proceed remain subject to, among other things, further tax and securities considerations, and Cruz expects to provide a further update to shareholders in due course.
The intention to undertake the Spin-Out was prompted, in part, by Cruz's desire to separate its Hector Property from its other mineral properties primarily located in the United States, and to enable the capital markets to value the Hector Property separately from its other properties, with a view to increasing shareholder value for each entity. In addition, management of Cruz believes that separating the Hector Property is expected to accelerate the development of the property. It is the view of both management and the Board that the Spin-Out is the most effective way to unlock the value of the Hector Property.
In connection with the Spin-Out, Cruz expects to enter into a definite agreement with SpinCo to set out the terms of the Spin-Out within the next 30 days concurrent with the receipt of a fairness opinion to be provided by an arm's length valuation firm. In connection therewith, Cruz intends to file its initial submissions with the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court") to obtain an interim order to call a shareholder's meeting to, among other things, approve the Spin-Out. Cruz plans to complete the Spin-Out by the end of the third quarter of 2024. Additional details regarding timing of the Spin-Out will be provided in future news releases.
Further details will be provided in a management information circular (the "Circular") to be prepared and filed in connection therewith. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Circular to be prepared in connection with the Spin-Out, any information released or received with respect to the foregoing matters may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Cruz should be considered highly speculative.
The scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release was reviewed and approved by Frank Bain, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, and a director of the Company.
About Cruz Battery Metals Corp.
Cruz currently has several projects located throughout North America. Cruz's Nevada lithium projects consist of the 8,135-acre 'Solar Lithium Project' and the 240-acre 'Clayton Valley Lithium Project'. Cruz's 5,542-acre Hector Property is located in the vicinity of the town of Cobalt, Ontario, which is prospective for cobalt, silver, and diamonds. Cruz's Idaho projects include the 2,211-acre 'Idaho Cobalt Belt Project' and the 80-acre 'Idaho Star Cobalt Project'. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Cruz may not necessarily be indicative of the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties.
If you would like to be added to Cruz's news distribution list, please send your email address to info@cruzbatterymetals.com.
Cruz Battery Metals Corp.
"James Nelson"
James Nelson
President, Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Director
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including whether or not the Company will proceed with the Spin-Out as currently proposed or at all, the anticipated timeline of the Spin-Out, the expected terms and structure of the Spin-Out and the parties' ability to satisfy closing conditions and receive necessary approvals, the belief that the Spin-Out will provide value as a stand-alone asset, the expectation that Cruz will procced with a work program this summer, as well as the prospective nature of the mineral interests associated with the Company's mineral exploration properties, including the Hector Property. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements such as the inability to obtain regulatory, Court or shareholder approval, the inability of Cruz or SpinCo to finance growth and transactions expenses, and other risks as set out in the Company's periodic disclosure documents available on SEDAR+. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the Spin-Out will occur or that, if the Spin-Out does occur, it will be completed on the terms described above. The Company does not assume any responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218493
/Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States./
SASKATOON, Aug. 1, 2024 - Karnalyte Resources Inc. ("Karnalyte" or the "Company") (TSX: KRN) today announced it is pursuing the sale of certain non-essential assets from its Wynyard Project as part of its ongoing efforts to optimize its business operations and advance the project.
"The asset sale allows us to advance the focus on our strategic objectives," said Danielle Favreau, Interim Chief Executive Officer. "Cleaning up underused assets from the project site helps the company remain cost efficient and allows us to reallocate resources to where they are most needed as we work toward the successful development of our Wynyard Project."
Assets for sale include a loader, skid steer, rig mats, miscellaneous office supplies and equipment. The proceeds from the asset sale will be reinvested into Karnalyte's Wynyard Project development activities.
The sale is being held by Saskatchewan based McDougall Auctioneers Ltd. And more details can be found here.
ABOUT KARNALYTE RESOURCES INC.
Karnalyte Resources Inc. is a development stage company focused on two fertilizer products, potash and nitrogen, to be produced and manufactured in Saskatchewan. Karnalyte owns the construction ready Wynyard Potash Project, with planned phase 1 production of 625,000 tonnes per year ("TPY") of high grade granular potash, and two subsequent phases of 750,000 TPY each, taking total production up to 2.125 million TPY. Karnalyte is also exploring the development of the Proteos Nitrogen Project, which is a proposed small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant with a nameplate production capacity of approximately 700 metric tonnes per day ("MTPD") of ammonia and approximately 1,200 MTPD of urea, and a target customer market of independent fertilizer wholesalers in Central Saskatchewan.
ABOUT THE WYNYARD POTASH PROJECT
The Wynyard Potash Project is a construction ready solution mining potash project located in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, with planned phase 1 production of 625,000 TPY of high grade granular potash, and two subsequent phases of 750,000 TPY each, taking total production up to 2.125 million TPY. All environmental permits remain valid, preliminary detailed engineering is complete, and the existing offtake agreement with Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited remains in effect. Further development is dependent on the continued strength of potash prices and obtaining financing.
ABOUT THE PROTEOS NITROGEN PROJECT
The Proteos Nitrogen Project is an advanced stage development project consisting of a proposed small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant to be located in Central Saskatchewan, having a nameplate production capacity of approximately 700 MTPD of ammonia and approximately 1,200 MTPD of urea, and designed to produce two products - anhydrous ammonia (82-0-0) and granular urea (46-0-0). Karnalyte's primary target market is independent local Saskatchewan fertilizer wholesalers within a 400-kilometer radius of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A secondary target market is the US Midwest fertilizer wholesalers near to the Canadian - United States border. The proposed plant would be the first greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant built in Canada in the last 26 years.
ABOUT GUJARAT STATE FERTILIZERS & CHEMICALS LIMITED
Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited ("GSFC") is a leading Indian Fortune 500 chemicals and fertilizer company that has been in business for more than 50 years. GSFC currently operates one ammonia plant that was commissioned in the year 2000, and two urea plants that were established in 1969, at its fertilizer production complex in Vadodara, Gujarat State, India.
As the Company's strategic partner and single largest shareholder, GSFC remains committed to the Company and the Wynyard Potash Project, and is fully supportive of the Company pursuing the development of the Proteos Nitrogen Project. GSFC has also confirmed to the Company that it will continue to support the structuring of the most cost-effective financing package for the development of the Wynyard Potash Project, as GSFC has consistently offered to the Company since becoming a shareholder in 2013.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking, within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "plan", "intend", "forecast", "future", "guidance", "may", "predict", "project", "should", "strategy", "target", "will" or similar words or phrases suggesting future outcomes or language suggesting an outlook.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Karnalyte, including, without limitation, assumptions as to: projected economics for the Company's planned potash production facility, the confirmation in an independent feasibility study of Karnalyte's assumptions regarding the technical and economic viability of the Proteos Nitrogen project, the ability of Karnalyte to obtain financing on terms favourable to the Company, and the ability of Karnalyte to receive, in a timely manner, the necessary approvals from the Company's board of directors, shareholders, regulatory authorities, and other third parties.
Karnalyte believes the expectations and assumptions upon which the forward-looking information is based are reasonable. However, no assurance can be given that these assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, readers are cautioned that the Company has not received a feasibility study prepared by a third party with respect to the Proteos Nitrogen project.
Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information presented in this press release, and such variations could be material. Risk factors and uncertainties could cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking information in this press release. Additional information on forward-looking statements and other factors that could affect Karnalyte's operations and financial results are included in documents on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the Company's profile on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com).
These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.
SOURCE Karnalyte Resources Inc.
VANCOUVER, Aug. 1, 2024 - Nevada King Gold Corp. (TSXV: NKG) (OTCQX: NKGFF) ("Nevada King") and NV King Goldlands Inc. ("NV Goldlands") are pleased to announce that they have completed the previously announced strategic reorganization of their business pursuant to which all of Nevada King's concessions and properties with the exception of the Atlanta Gold Mine Project ("Atlanta") have been spun out to Nevada King shareholders (the "Spin-Out") through NV Goldlands.The Spin-Out was completed by way of a statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). Pursuant to the Arrangement, the holders of Nevada King common shares will receive: (i) one new Nevada King common share for each Nevada King common share they held immediately prior to the effective time of the Arrangement; and (ii) one-thirtieth of one NV Goldlands common share (each one a "NV Goldlands Share") for each Nevada King common share held immediately prior to the effective time of the Arrangement.The Spin-Out was completed as part of a strategic reorganization to unlock value in Nevada King's large portfolio of mineral claims in the State of Nevada. The target areas along the Battle Mountain trend now held by NV Goldlands include the Lewis, Horse Mountain-Mill Creek, and Iron Point projects. In connection with the Spin-Out, Nevada King also granted NV Goldlands a 3.0% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty on all gold and silver production from Atlanta including the Atlanta resource area and non-core claims surrounding the Atlanta Gold Mine Project. The 3.0% NSR royalty on the Bobcat claims will take effect upon fulfilling the existing royalty on the Bobcat claims which is a 3.0% royalty capped at the first 4,000 ounces of gold equivalent production.NV Goldlands will not be listed on a public stock exchange on closing of the Arrangement but will operate as a reporting issuer.Further information regarding the Spin-Out is set out in Nevada King's information circular dated June 14, 2024 (the "Nevada King Information Circular"), which is filed under Nevada King's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.As a shareholder of Nevada King, Collin Kettell received, pursuant to the Arrangement, an aggregate of 2,066,034 NV Goldlands Shares and 271,833 options to purchase NV Goldlands Shares ("Options") on the Effective Date. Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Mr. Kettell did not own any securities of NV Goldlands. As at the date hereof, the 2,066,034 NV Goldlands Shares held by Mr. Kettell represent approximately 18.05% of the total issued and outstanding NV Goldlands Shares and the 2,066,034 NV Goldlands Shares and the 271,833 Options collectively represent approximately 19.95% of the issued and outstanding NV Goldland Shares, assuming exercise of the Options. Mr. Kettell acquired the NV Goldlands Shares as a result of the Arrangement and intends to hold them for investment purposes only. Depending on market and other conditions, or as future circumstances may dictate, Mr. Kettell may, from time to time, increase or decrease their holdings of NV Goldlands Shares or other securities of NV Goldlands. Mr. Kettell's address is 102 Calle Sol, Apt 1, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901.For further information and to obtain a copy of the early warning report filed under applicable Canadian securities laws in connection with the acquisition of NV Goldlands Shares by Mr. Kettell, please see NV Goldlands' SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or" should" occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, the benefits of the proposed Spin-Out are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Nevada King, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Nevada King does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities lawsSOURCE Nevada King Gold Corp.For more information, contact Collin Kettell at collin@nevadaking.ca or (845) 535-1486.
Vancouver, August 1, 2024 - Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd. (CSE: SXTY) (FSE: 2F40) (OTC Pink: SXNTF) (the "Company" or "Sixty North Gold")
Sixty North Gold is pleased to announce that the exercise of 678,000 - $0.18 warrants brought $122,040 into the Company in July.
Operationally, the newly reported DD-Zone is exposed for 12 m in the 3m x 4m Main Ramp where it averages 1.2 m in width within intense pink altered metasedimentary rocks of the Burwash Formation. Historic diamond drilling extends this vein 40 m up to surface and along strike for 100m where it remains open to the south. An estimated 13,000 tonnes of this gold-bearing vein is located above the ramp elevation to surface. Samples from the West Limb of the A-Zone and the DD-Zone have been submitted for assay at independent certified laboratories in late July and the results will help guide development plans. Advances along the crosscut 970 XCE are expected to intersect the east limb of the A-Zone within two weeks (see Plan View of Mon Underground Development below).
Plan View of Mon Underground Development - August 1, 2024
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5873/218537_planviewimage.jpg
The Company has completed a geotechnical drill program and has installed thermistors in compliance with its operational licenses.
Dr. Dave Webb, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.Geol., President & CEO, Director stated, "We are pleased existing shareholders have exercised their warrants. These funds will help the Company advance development of the Mon Gold Mine. We have exposed one of the two principal gold-bearing structures in the A-Zone and expect to hit the second exposure shortly. We also exposed an additional gold-bearing vein in the DD-Zone that was not expected. Bulk sample material can be extracted from the DD-Zone and West Limb and have pending assay results. The two limbs of the A-Zone can each be developed to the north and south providing us with four faces for development."
Dr. D.R. Webb Ph.D., P.Geol., P.Eng. is the Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and is responsible for the technical details of this release.
About the Company
The Company is developing mining operations for gold on its 100%-owned Mon Gold Property, 40 km north of Yellowknife, NWT. Past production of the A Zone extracted 15,000 tonnes at 30 gpt gold from this vein (Company Technical Report, August 3, 2023, author Dr. D. R. Webb, Ph.D., P.Geol., P.Eng., available on SEDAR or https://sixtynorthgold.com/projects/technical-report/). The Yellowknife gold camp hosts two mines that averaged 30 gpt gold or better (Discovery and Sixty North Gold's Mon Mine), and two that averaged 15 gpt or better for a total production of over 14 million ounces of gold (Con Min and Giant Mine) (ref. Sixty North Gold NI 43-101, August, 2023).
For more information, please refer to the Company's public filings available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), under the Company's profile.
Statements about the Company's future expectations and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Further details about the risks applicable to the Company are contained in the Company's public filings available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), under the Company's profile.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/218537
During the 2024 Paris Olympics, a short-term mission worship team from Taiwan's Bunun Tribe participated in the Paris Praise Festival, sharing Taiwanese indigenous music and culture. They invited people from around the world to worship God together, showcasing the power of faith and the beauty of their culture.
As the 2024 Paris Olympics began, an international event combining music, culture, and faith kicked off in the French capital. Organized by the Paris La Defense Evangelical Church (eglise Protestante evangelique Paris La Defense), the Paris Praise Festival was held during the Olympics, aiming to spread God's love to people from all over the world through music and worship.
According to reports from the Bunun Tribe, the worship team, composed of members from the Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation's Tribal Theater and the "Minang to the Ends of the Earth" team from the National Taiwan University of Arts, was invited to participate. The Bunun Minang Taiwan West Europe short-term mission team traveled to Western Europe to share Taiwanese indigenous music and culture with people from around the world and lead them in worshiping God.
The worship team, "Minang Bunun Taiwan West Europe Mission Team," was led by Kiwa, the daughter of Pastor Pai Kuang-Sheng, the founder of the Bunun Tribe. The team included three members from the Minang group at Taipei National University of the Arts and three members from the Bunun Tribe worship team. In addition to participating in the Paris Praise Festival in France, they also planned to visit Denmark, Germany, and Belgium for short-term mission activities.
The Paris Praise Festival is an international event that has been held during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, allowing Christian tourists and musicians from around the world to worship and praise God in their native languages. This year, the organizers focused particularly on evangelizing to non-believers, planning to perform in outdoor plazas or subway stations in Paris to attract crowds and engage in one-on-one evangelistic conversations.
To prepare for this international short-term mission trip, the worship team held a special concert on July 1 at the "Tribal Theater." The event, named "Paris Olympics Worship Short-term Mission Send-off Concert," was a grand occasion of cross-national and cross-cultural evangelism and worship.
The concert aimed to convey God's love through music and worship and to express the spirit of Taiwanese indigenous people through cultural and musical dance creations. The organizers sincerely invited churches from the Hualien and Taitung areas to join the event. Pastors from the Taitung Joint Prayer Meeting blessed and prayed for the Western Europe short-term mission journey.
Participating in the Paris Praise Festival is believed to be not only a musical feast but also an opportunity for the exchange of faith and culture, showcasing the beautiful culture and profound faith of Taiwanese indigenous people to the world. As the Paris Olympics combine music, culture, and faith, this international event is set to be a highlight during the Olympics.
Nobody knows how many young people are homeless in the United States. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last year pegged the number of unaccompanied homeless youth at 45,000, but thats widely acknowledged to be an undercount. The Department of Education says its more like 90,000, based on the number of students who self-identified as homeless during the 2013-2014 school year. Because theres no universal definition for youth or homelessness, the actual number is anybodys guess.This isnt a new issue. Seven years ago, Congress called for periodic national estimates of runaway and homeless youth between the ages of 13 and 26. The first count should have occurred in 2010. In fact, the Obama administration requested funding for a national count, but Congress never appropriated the money.The lack of data is a huge problem, says Bryan Samuels, who served as the commissioner of Children, Youth and Families under President Obama. We werent in a position to judge whether the federal government programs [on youth homelessness] were working.Information on homeless veterans and adults has helped the federal government and its local partners establish realistic reduction goals. Several cities have reduced homelessness among those populations, and some localities, including Houston and Salt Lake City, have claimed victory in eliminating chronic veteran homelessness . But the problem among youths remains a big question mark. We need a baseline, says Mary Cunningham, who researches homelessness at the Urban Institute. We still need a lot more information before we can really progress.To set that baseline, Samuels, now the director of Chapin Hall, an applied research center at the University of Chicago, is raising private funds -- more than $2.6 million so far -- to conduct a two-year count of youth homelessness in 25 communities. The effort launched in July; final results wont be available until 2017.Why is it so hard to get a good count of youth homelessness? For one thing, HUDs estimate depends heavily on the number of people using emergency shelters during winter months. That makes sense for adults, but younger people are more likely to steer clear of shelters. Many youths become homeless because theyre trying to avoid the police or the foster care system. They may not want to raise a red flag by self-identifying as homeless.So researchers at Chapin Hall are rethinking the methodology. Their counts will take place in warmer months. Theyll consider new locations, such as malls and transit stations, and they may include counts during the day and night. Theyll cross-reference data from child welfare agencies, human services departments and school districts. Theyll also conduct in-depth interviews to understand why young people become homeless and what services they need.The goal is to get much more than an accurate census of the nations homeless youth. If we just ended up with a count, then everybody funding this initiative would be disappointed, Samuels says. The final report will also include promising and proven interventions that can help policymakers reduce youth homelessness.
Ricciardo keeping post-summer RB seat
Daniel Ricciardo can join Sergio Perez in breathing a sigh of relief this week, with Red Bull deciding against changing its Formula 1 driver lineups after the summer break.
Daniel Ricciardo, Belgian GP 2024
Red Bull
Ralf Bach, writing for Auto Bild, says Max Verstappen and his management team were stunned to discover that Perez will not be dropped immediately for poor performance.
Perez is staying, confirmed the energy drink brand's F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko, after his meeting with Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner in Milton-Keynes.
We want to get him back to his old form. Ricciardo is staying too. Nothing will change, said Marko.
2025, however, could be a different matter.
Bach reports that Red Bull may have intended to shuffle Perez aside and promote Ricciardo from the junior team RB for the remainder of 2024. But the brand was convinced by F1 owner Liberty Media to make another decision so as not to decimate attendance for the Mexican GP.
Sport Bild claims Perez's major Mexican backer and billionaire Carlos Slim also seems to have intervened.
But Marko suggested: The cards will be reshuffled for 2025.
Indeed, it is believed Liam Lawson has basically been promised a RB cockpit for 2025, even though Ricciardo disagrees with Marko about whether the Faenza based outfit is still a 'junior team'.
I'm honest with myself that if it still felt like a junior team, I wouldn't feel comfortable here, said the Australian. "I'm 35 now.
I think I would feel a bit out of place. And I certainly don't.
Ricciardo will be head-to-head with Lawson, 22, during a RB 'filming day' test at Imola on Wednesday.
Ricciardo told f1-insider.com: There's a lot at stake for me, but I'm in good spirits.
(GMM)
Din Tai Fung 1633 Broadway, nr. W. 50th St. Preparing dumplings at Manhattans new Din Tai Fung. Photo: Janice Chung
Should I begin with the confession that I had never, until the long-delayed, finally arrived opening of the New York mothership, been to Din Tai Fung? The Taiwanese chain has locations all over the world, including a number in California, the Pacific Northwest, and Vegas, and is renowned worldwide for its xiao long bao (XLB for short), the pog-size, 18-fold Shanghainese soup dumplings. Is this a disqualifying admission? I can plead only that the chain never touched New York; the XLB of my childhood came from Joes Shanghai, where lines formed then and now. But even Joes has never developed a cult like the one that currently consumes Din Tai Fung, where Bill Gates apparently sometimes stands on line. So hotly anticipated was the opening of the New York location that locals, angry at being made to wait, started giving it tetchy, one-star Yelp reviews before it even opened.
Now it has opened to those who can get in. Unlike most of the other locations, this Din Tai Fung is reservation-only, and those reservations are predictably scarce, even for a restaurant that seats 450 dumpling lovers. I couldnt get in; a wily, Los Angelesraised colleague had, and when a last-minute conflict prevented her from using her spot, she offered it to me. I happily accepted, though I did ask my California Virgil if it was really worth all the fuss. I mean, its great at the mall in Glendale, she explained. But there, she cautioned, it serves a useful regional purpose: A trip to Din Tai Fung is a more accessible experience than a trip to the San Gabriel Valley, where the areas best Asian restaurants are. Instead of driving to God knows where on some Jonathan Gold list, you can be efficiently incorporated into this giant factory, she said, where you get the approximate version without having to spend two hours in the car from the west side.
It was the 1 train that dumped me at our new Din Tai Fung, which occupies the subterranean grotto of Paramount Plaza once home to Mars 2112, the Y2K-era outer-space-themed restaurant. Devotees may remember being welcomed to the year 2112 by Martian Empress Glorianna with the traditional, made-up salutation: Vabemu! The empress has been replaced by a name-tagged DTF staffer, who politely and firmly forms the first of two bulwarks against the unreserved, but a descent into Din Tai Fung at street level, the entrance of the restaurant is a glass cube, like the Apple Store on 59th Street still has the tang of theme restaurant. As designed by the Rockwell Group, Din Tai Fung suggests an Epcot version of Chinese dining, a labyrinth separated by screens and hanging lamps leading toward a dumpling laboratory in back, where white-coated cooks pleat away behind glass, like actors in a natural-history diorama.
XLB arrives at the table. Photo: Janice Chung
The results are delicious. I can report that Din Tai Fungs xiao long bao are very good, even at scale, with chewy wrappers and a well-seasoned pork mix that is finely chopped, not gummy or gooey. You can bathe one in a spoon filled with soy sauce and vinegar DTF recommends a 1:3 mix and free a little of the dumplings meaty soup before slurping it down. (The real purists take em straight.) The XLB come out hot, hot, hot in their bamboo steamers on a beeline from the kitchen.
I cant say as much for the rest of the menu. An appetizer of sweet-and-sour ribs was more sweet than sour, and it arrived tepid. A stir-fry of black-pepper beef wasnt appreciably different from what youd get at P.F. Changs. Shrimp with Shanghai rice cakes were tasty enough, but not to justify weeks of waiting for a table. Service is friendly but still choppy: Drinks had to be chased down and inquired after; a side of rice came long after the mains it was meant to accompany had appeared.
The restaurant is in its first weeks; kinks remain. Din Tai Fung knows its strengths and plays to them: Besides the XLB, there are potstickers, wontons, shao mai, and steamed buns. Play to them yourself. Doesnt an all-dumpling dinner sound nice? They can even stretch into dessert, like the puddingy chocolate XLB. Order it with a side of salted cream from the boba-tea menu, our waiter confided, and youll imagine youre eating a smore. Close your eyes, and youll swear you were in Glendale.
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Tecno launched the Phantom V Fold back in February of last year, and it now finally seems like its successor is on its way. The Phantom V Fold2 was spotted in Geekbench in January, and now it's surfaced in the Google Play Console.
The listing reveals the name to be Phantom V Fold2, and not Phantom V2 Fold as we thought a few months ago when we covered the aforementioned Geekbench run. The upcoming device will be powered by a MediaTek chipset, which could be a variant of the Dimensity 9000+, the same SoC that powered its predecessor.
This will be paired with 12GB of RAM (again, just like in the original Phantom V Fold). The inner screen's resolution will be identical too: 2000x2296.
If you're wondering what the upgrades will be, the battery capacity will be one of them: 5,610 mAh according to a TUV certification, up from 5,000 mAh in the original. The Phantom V Fold2 has also been certified for sale in Europe, so it will be offered at least in some parts of that continent.
Via
Shopping alongside mom, dad, siblings and extended family, 6-year-old Ava Cruz was treated to a shopping spree on Thursday sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Guam Program.
The $2,400 spree started off at Ross Dress for Less at GPO in Tamuning, before Cruz and family were shuttled by a stretch limousine to Don Don Donki, and then their regular spot at the Dededo Pasak Chicken for lunch.
She loaded up her cart with toys, clothes, shoes, everything, mom Jericha Cruz said. Im happy she enjoyed it.
It was the familys first time to Don Don Donki, and Ava Cruz even got to meet the stores giant penguin mascot, Donpen, in person. Scared at first, she eventually gave the big blue penguin a hug.
It was interesting, just to see that smile on her face. Shes like smiling so much, said grandma Edine Torres.
Ava Cruz has a lung condition that requires her to wear an oxygen tube, according to mom.
That didnt stop her from running around in style, wearing a blue Make-A-Wish t-shirt, I-heart-Ross button, and a pink unicorn tutu on Thursday.
Her total spending amounted to about $1,000 at Ross, and $600 at Don Don Donki, according to Eric Tydingco, president of Make-A-Wish Guam and CNMI. The balance of her $2,400 wish will go to gift cards, which she will get to keep, Tydingco said.
Although Ava Cruz wanted to go to Disneyland, her doctor said she couldnt travel, Tydingco said. But she did get to pick out the stores and lunch for her Thursday shopping spree.
According to Tydingco, research has shown that the Make-A-Wish experience can help a childs quality of life and health outcomes. Despite having critical illnesses, about 70% of all Make-A-Wish children go on to lead productive lives, he said.
The Guam Power Authority on Thursday issued a rotating power outage schedule for August and September as a precautionary measure, saying it continues to make substantial progress in addressing the islands energy capacity shortfall.
GPA said there was no load shedding in July.
As a precautionary measure, the August/September 2024 Rotating Outage Schedule will remain consistent with the previous schedule and will be issued for potential outages only, GPA said in a press release.
The schedule is meant to help residents prepare for possible outages should energy demand exceed capacity.
The rotating outage schedule is a last resort measure to ensure stability in power supply, GPA said.
It said through collaborative efforts with partners such as Aggreko and Guam Ukudu Power, as well as the patience and support of residents and businesses, GPA is well on its way to ensuring a more stable and reliable power supply.
The Aggreko generators achieved full operational status and integration into the island wide power system in July.
This 20-megawatt power package, part of a 24-month temporary power agreement, features high-efficiency, ultra-low emission generators.
GPA added a total of 76MW of energy capacity as part of its mid-term plans.
The rainy season has further helped lower peak demands, allowing for critical power plant maintenance without impacting necessary reserves, it said.
Ongoing measures include upgrades to the Manenggon Power Plant and further maintenance on the recently repaired Yigo Combustion Turbine, which is expected to return to service this month with increased output from 16MW to 20MW, GPA said.
With the successful implementation of our mid-term capacity solutions, we are confident that we are much closer to resolving Guams energy challenges. Our collaborative efforts and proactive measures are paving the way to reducing disruptions and ensuring that our community has access to stable power as we continue working towards long-term solutions, GPA General Manager John M. Benavente said.
GPA said the Ukudu Power Plant has also made significant strides in recovery from Typhoon Mawar damages. As of June 30, it reached the 88.35% completion mark, which includes the accumulated progress of engineering, procurement, and construction of the plant and supporting infrastructure.
Guam Department of Education maintenance employees repair the wiring of overhead lighting fixtures at Harry S. Truman Elementary School in Santa Rita-Sumai on July 26, 2024. GDOE announced Thursday that the school had passed inspection.
Tampa, Fla. -- Tristan Wirfs is here to stay in Tampa Bay. As of Thursday morning, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their leading offensive tackle have agreed to terms on a five-year, $140.63 million contract extension. Per Adam Schefter, its the largest deal in franchise history.
Along with breaking franchise records, Wirfs makes history by becoming the highest-paid offensive lineman of all time, earning an average annual salary of $28.126 million. The contract edges out Penei Sewells, who held the crown as the highest-paid tackle earlier in the offseason due to a four-year, $112 million extension with the Detroit Lions.
Wirfs is the second member of the Buccaneers 2020 draft class to earn a record-breaking extension. Months ago, Antoine Winfield Jr. escaped the franchise tag and earned a four-year, $84.1 million contract extension.
For general manager Jason Licht, Wirfs contract is the final item on a bulky offseason to-do list. Licht has had his hands full over the past few months, solely responsible for extending key playmakers like Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Lavonte David, Winfield, and Chase McLaughlin.
Sunday, Tampa Bay Times Rick Stroud reported that Wirfs and the Buccaneers were nearing a deal. 24 hours later, Wirfs confirmed that negotiations were heading in a positive direction.
Its all been good. Were just trying to work out some little things. But no, but I think were moving [well]. These past couple days have been really good. Weve just got to bring it home, Wirfs told reporters.
In the meantime, the offensive tackle has been participating during individual drills and holding out of 11-on-11s.
Less than three months after 23-year-old Roger Fortson, a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force, was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriffs deputy, authorities say his 16-year-old brother died in an Atlanta area shooting.
Andre Fortson was found shot to death in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Tuesday in DeKalb County, Georgia, according to the Associated Press.
On Wednesday, police reportedly confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that one of the shooters had been identified as Quintavious Zellner, 20, who was arrested for aggravated assault.
In an interview in June with Fox 5, DeKalb County police Chief Mirtha Ramos said her department has a shortage of officers and addressed a swath of recent shootings, including six people, who were shot and injured in a neighborhood on Greenway and eight others injured in a separate shooting at a Pinups strip club.
We are short, but we have never used that as an excuse not to do our jobs, she told the news outlet.
Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family of Roger Fortson, released a statement in response to the death of Fortsons younger brother.
The Fortson family is battling the loss of yet another young member of their family. This has been an incredibly challenging time for them with the loss of Roger, Crump said. Losing the life of yet another young family member a mere child has been an absolute devastation. We are asking the media and the public for privacy and space during this impossible time.
Airman Roger Fortson: Killed for the crime of being Black in America.
On the afternoon of May 3, Roger Fortson died after being shot six times by a Florida sheriffs deputy just seconds after opening the front door of his off-base, Fort Walton Beach apartment.
Fortson was reportedly on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend when an Okaloosa County sheriffs deputy responded to a disturbance call at his apartment complex.
Following an administrative investigation into Roger Fortsons death, the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office terminated Deputy Eddie Duran on May 31, after determining his use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.
During the news conference following the incident, Crump, referred to Roger Fortson as an American patriot, and Pastor Jamal Bryant, who appeared onstage with Crump, called his death, a dark moment in history.
It is a heavy moment, not just for this family, its a heavy moment not just for the community, this is a heavy moment for the nation, Bryant said. It is a dark moment in our history, that one of our patriots was slain, not on foreign field, but slain right here domestically just for the crime of being Black in America.
GulfLive.com reached out to the DeKalb County Police Department for comment but did not immediately get a response.
The story will be updated as new details emerge.
Haiti - FLASH : Traveler Security Alert
We are monitoring localized outbreaks of gang-led violence in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Gang-led violence, including occasionally intense gunfire, can occur in any area of Haiti and can involve risks of being struck by stray bullets. In the coming days, we advise particular caution when traveling through the areas of Pierre 6 and Carrefour Drouillard around Toussaint Louverture International Airport and around Port-au-Prince's seaports.
The Embassy reminds all citizens that Haiti, including Port-au-Prince, remains under a Level 4 Do Not Travel Travel Advisory. The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous. Travel within Haiti is conducted at your own risk. The U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety traveling to airports, borders, or during any onward travel. You should consider your personal security situation before traveling anywhere in Haiti.
Actions to take :
Do not travel to Haiti.
If you are in Haiti :
Avoid crowds.
Monitor local media for updates and avoid areas where violence, demonstrations, or disruptions are reported to be happening.
Keep a low profile.
Be aware of your surroundings.
Be prepared to shelter in place for an extended time period.
Avoid being outside after dark.
Stay alert and aware of your surroundings.
Review your personal security plans.
Have travel documents up-to-date and easily accessible.
Carry proper identification.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Culture : 70 scholarships for cultural specialization courses in Cuba, call for applications
The Caribbean Pole for Cultural Training is launching its 6th call for applications for creative specialization courses in Havana (Cuba). This initiative is carried out within the framework of the UNESCO Transcultura program. The program will offer 70 scholarships to young people from the Caribbean for their participation in these courses.
The call is open to cultural professionals aged 18 to 35 and from one of the following Caribbean countries : Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
This program will offer participants the opportunity to gain direct experience in renowned cultural training institutions and will provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary to fully develop their potential as cultural professionals.
Choice of Courses :
- Conservation and Restoration of Stone (from October 7 to October 18, 2024), Havana Workshop School "Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos";
- Marble, Terrazzo and Marble Mosaic (from October 7 to November 1, 2024), Havana Workshop School "Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos";
- Brick Vaults (from October 7 to November 1st, 2024), Havana Workshop School "Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos";
- Walls that Talk: Conservation and Restoration of Mural Painting (October 7 to October 18, 2024), Santa Clara College for Training in the Arts and Crafts of Restoration of Cuba and the Caribbean;
- Preservation of Digital Archives (October 14 to October 25, 2024), Santa Clara College for Training in the Arts and Crafts of Restoration of Cuba and the Caribbean;
- Design of Small Businesses in Heritage Tourism Destinations (October 14 to October 25, 2024), University College of San Geronimo de La Habana;
- Introduction to the Management of Integrated Development of Historic Centers (October 14 to October 25, 2024), San Geronimo de La Habana University College
Deadline for submission :Friday, August 30, 2024 until 23:59, Havana time (GMT-5)
Other information and online form. https://forms.office.com/e/awbpEP3Y3S
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - News : Zapping...
PNH : changes in the chain of command
On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Pierre Rene Francois was installed as the new Director of the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ), succeeding Frederic Lecompte who held this position for 4 years.
Noailles : Training for artists and artisans
A training session was held at the UNESCO Office aimed at strengthening the administrative capacities of artists and artisans in the Noailles artistic village. The objectives of this training were to strengthen their skills, structure the community and broaden their field of expertise to promote their autonomy.
CEP : Conille requests an inventory
Prime Minister Garry Conille met with the Technical Directors of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to discuss the situation of the electoral administration. Conille took the opportunity to ask the Technical Directors to take stock of the operational and functional capacities of the Institution, while waiting for the appointment of the members of the CEP.
Urgent need to renew the HOPE/HELP law
On Monday, the management of the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) through a public-private delegation, which included James Monazard, the Minister of Commerce and Industry and Leonne F. Prophete, the Director General of the Investment Facilitation Center (CFI) met with the Special Assistant to the American President at the White House, Dan Erickson and the assistant Ms. Lauren Michaels to discuss the urgent need to renew the HOPE HELP law for Haiti as well as economic growth and stabilization policies.
Justice : The President of the BNC summoned to withdraw his remarks
Following the accusation of Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, the President of the National Credit Bank (BNC) who claims to have been approached by the Presidential Advisors Louis Gerald Gilles, Smith Augustin and Emmanuel Vertilaire asking him to pay the sum of 100 million Gourdes to keep his position. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-42866-haiti-flash-3-presidential-advisers-in-turmoil-scandal-or-conspiracy.html , Smith Augustin has taken legal action for defamation and attack on honor and dignity. The summons gives Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis a clear day to retract his remarks. Failure to act or refuse to comply with this request could result in criminal prosecution for defamation, as well as harm to the reputation and integrity of a high-ranking State official.
Barbados military trained in French and Creole
Barbados military forces that will be deployed to Haiti as part of the international security mission have received training in French and Haitian Creole by the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) in Barbados.
HL/ HaitiLibre
(CNBC) Bill Ackmans Pershing Square USA withdrew plans for an initial public offering after investor demand appeared to wane from original expectations. But the hedge fund titan said he would be back with a revised plan for the offering for his fund, which he had wanted to model after Berkshire Hathaway.
To read this article:
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Nader Al-Naji with perpetrating a multi-million-dollar fraudulent crypto asset scheme involving a social media platform called BitClout and its native token of the same name (herein, BTCLT).
According to the SECs complaint, starting in November 2020, Al-Naji raised more than $257 million from unregistered offers and sales of BTCLT, while falsely telling investors that proceeds would not be used to compensate him or other BitClout employees. In reality, the complaint alleges, Al-Naji spent more than $7 million of investor funds on personal expenditures like rental payments for a Beverly Hills mansion and extravagant cash gifts to family members. The SECs complaint further alleges that, to avoid regulatory scrutiny, Al-Naji portrayed BitClout as a decentralized project with no company behind it just coins and code, and launched the project using the pseudonym Diamondhands to further create the illusion that the project was autonomous when he was actually behind the project. In addition, Al-Naji allegedly secured a letter from a prominent law firm opining, based on his mischaracterizations of the nature of his project, that BTCLT were not likely to be deemed securities under federal law. At the same time, Al-Naji allegedly secretly told certain investors that he was engaged in this subterfuge to avoid compliance with the law.
As alleged in our complaint, Al-Naji attempted to evade the federal securities laws and defraud the investing public, mistakenly believing that being fake decentralized generally confuses regulators and deters them from going after you, said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement. He is obviously wrong: as we have shown time and again, and as reflected in the SECs detailed allegations here, we are guided by economic realities, not cosmetic labels. The dedicated staff of the SEC uncovered Al-Najis lies and will now hold him accountable for misleading investors.
The SECs complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Al-Naji with violating the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint also names Al-Najis wife, mother, and wholly owned entities as relief defendants for the investor funds that Al-Naji transferred to them. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York today announced charges against Al-Naji.
Hungary must be excluded from the free movement in the Schengen Area, she emphasised on Wednesday on X.
TYTTI TUPPURAINEN , the chairperson of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Group, urges the EU to respond to Hungarys decision to effectively open a route into the 27-country bloc with no security controls for Russians, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
Border controls must be introduced. Hungary mustnt be driven out of the EU, but we have to protect ourselves.
Hungary in July expanded its fast-track visa scheme to encompass eight additional countries, including Belarus and Russia. Previously available only to citizens of Serbia and Ukraine, the visas enable people to enter any of the 29 countries making up the Schengen Area via Hungary.
Tuppurainen on Wednesday reminded Helsingin Sanomat that border controls have been reinstated on lesser grounds, during the coronavirus pandemic, for example.
Now itd be fitting to reinstate border controls on the borders of Hungary because Hungarys different stance on Russians is a potential security threat for the entire union. Im of the opinion that the council should convene to discuss this issue without delay, she stated.
Hungary assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban wasted little in delivering a hardly necessary reminder to other member states of his cosy ties with Russia by embarking on a self-styled peace mission that included a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The European Commission has indicated that it intends to determine whether the fast-track visa scheme aligns with rules of the Schengen Area.
Helsingin Sanomat also contacted Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen (NCP) on Wednesday, but her aides declined to comment on the issue on grounds that details of the visa scheme had yet been confirmed.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
Cybersecurity must be taken seriously for many reasons: it protects companies from financial losses, reputational damage, and legal consequences.
Cybersecurity is one of the most critical themes in today's business world. Finnish companies are no exception the increasing prevalence of digital solutions has made ensuring cybersecurity a central part of every company's operations.
For instance, if a company's database is breached and customer information is leaked, the impact on the business can be irreversible.
On the other hand, while the number of various scams and cyberattacks is constantly increasing, the security of online services is at an all-time high. Safety on casinos, online shops, and banking services is at an unprecedented level.
What are the most common cybersecurity threats in Finland?
There are various types of cybersecurity threats, but the three most common are phishing, ransomware, and DDoS attacks. Large Finnish companies are currently struggling continuously especially with DDoS attacks.
In phishing attacks, criminals try to trick users into revealing sensitive and personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, and bank credentials. This often happens by sending emails that appear to come from a trusted source.
Ransomware, on the other hand, involves locking the user's files or even the entire device and demanding a ransom to restore access. This threat can, at worst, paralyze the entire company's operations if important files cannot be accessed.
In DDoS attacks, criminals aim to overload a web service with traffic, causing the service to be unable to handle normal traffic and crash. Finnish banks and online stores are particularly often affected by DDoS attacks.
Common cybersecurity measures
A firewall is nowadays a standard practice in managing the cybersecurity of every larger Finnish company. Firewalls monitor and regulate network traffic, blocking certain activities based on pre-established rules.
Also nowadays, antivirus software is also essential for protection against malware and viruses. They continuously scan the system and check the security of files and programs. In Finland, the domestic company F-Secure is particularly popular in antivirus protection.
What comes to implementing strong password policies, it is one of the most effective ways to enhance cybersecurity. This involves using long, complex passwords and changing them regularly.
Additionally, multi-factor authentication (MFA) increases security in most Finnish companies by requiring users to provide a second form of identification, such as a code received via text message or an application, before access to the system is allowed.
Multi-factor authentication is the most common method used by Finnish companies to ensure that systems cannot be accessed even if a password is leaked.
What does the future of cybersecurity in Finland look like?
The importance of cybersecurity in Finland will only increase in the future as digitalization progresses and more operations move online. This means that the number and diversity of cybersecurity threats will also grow.
However, the situation in Finland is excellent in this regard, as technology is advanced and there are high-quality systems in place to ensure cybersecurity at both the corporate and national levels. Continuous development in cybersecurity is essential, as criminals constantly find new ways to attempt to deceive companies.
HT
Ask Matt ... what presidents, governors and stars have visited
President Trump touted the Farmers to Families Food Box program when he visited the Flavor 1st packing house in Mills River in August 2020. [LIGHTNING FILE PHOTO]
Q. Gov. Roy Cooper was on the short list for VP. I saw where he visited Asheville earlier this year. When was the last time a governor visited Henderson County? What other governors and presidents have visited?
Gov. Cooper made a stop at an elementary school in Asheville to highlight his Year of Public Schools initiative. He returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway a month later to celebrate Earth Day.
The most recent trip to Hendersonville we could find was Coopers visit in January 2020 to the Henderson County Career Academy on the Blue Ridge Community College campus to promote the states Jobs for North Carolinas Graduates program.
It has done so well that Ive come to this school to announce that were going to provide $825,000 to continue this program (statewide), Cooper told the Career Academy students that day.
We did some quick checking on other visits by sitting governors and learned that Pat McCrory, a Republican, rode in the King Apple Parade during the 2013 Apple Festival and that Democrat Bev Perdue checked out the Sierra Nevada construction site in 2012. (Along with Henderson County, the state Commerce Development had been part of an aggressive recruiting effort to land the brewery.) Democratic Gov. Mike Easley appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton on a sunny day in May 2008 during her presidential primary campaign and Republican Gov. James Martin rode in the 1992 King Apple Parade. In August 2020 President Trump visited the Johnson familys Flavor First packing house in Mills River to promote the Farmers to Families Food Box program. Election-year appearances in the City of Four Seasons might be regarded as a jinx. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Martin and Trump all lost their elections in the years they visited, and Gov. McCrory lost his re-election bid the next time he was on the ballot, in 2016.
Jim Hunt, a Democrat who served as governor from 1977 to 1985 and from 1993 to 2001, almost surely would have visited the county during his 16 years as the states leader. But he has a lasting contribution to our region. In October of 2000, Hunt and the Council of State voted to acquire 2,200 acres of DuPont property through eminent domain to save it from development. Years later, Chuck McGrady, a leader of the Friends of DuPont Forest who had become a state representative, got a call from Hunt asking if he would show Hunt and his wife Carolyn the property for the first time. McGrady was happy to oblige. With help from the Forest Service, we met the Hunts at the visitors center and drove to see Bridal Veil Falls and Triple Falls, said McGrady, who firmly believes that Jim Hunt, more than any public official, was why we have DuPont State Forest today. Hunt is 87 and lives in tobacco-rich Wilson County some 300 miles east of Hendersonville. His daughter, Rachel, is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in the Nov. 5 election.
Other visits from luminaries
Many will recall the visit of President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush to the 1992 Apple Festival, Hillary Clintons 2008 campaign rally and Trumps Mills River appearance. Heres what we know about some other well-known figures:
Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey trained in Laurel Park for a title fight with Gene Tunney in 1926. Dempsey lost.
Ronald Reagan, then an actor, visited the General Electric plant in East Flat Rock in 1960 to promote the GE Theatre television show.
Bob Dylan and some friends drove into Flat Rock unannounced in 1964 and looked up fellow poet Carl Sandburg. It was a brief encounter because Sandburg had never heard of the folk troubadour. Dylan gifted Sandburg his latest album, The Times They Are a-Changing.
In the early 1990s, actor Burt Reynolds, who once performed at the Flat Rock Playhouse, bought two lots in Kenmure with then-wife Lonnie Anderson. The couple soon divorced.
Oprah Winfrey visited Hendersonville, stayed at a B&B on Fifth Avenue West, and was spotted walking to town. OK, that one was all a hoax but it got local media ink in the mid-1990s.
Ben Stiller came to town to star in Heavyweights, a 1995 movie about a fat camp. Kenan Thompson, later an SNL star, was in the film. Lou Rawls of Lady Love fame got stranded on the interstate here in 1997 when his limo broke down en route to Asheville. They got him a taxi. And most recently Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Eugene Levy and other Hollywood stars were spotted around town during the filming of Summer Camp, which was set at Camp Pinnacle in Flat Rock.
Morrow, Manley win planning promotions
Tyler Morrow and Michael Manley won promotions to manage current and long-range planning for the city of Hendersonville.
In an ongoing effort to enhance the efficiency of service delivery and recognize the diligent efforts of planning staff, the City of Hendersonville is pleased to announce the promotions of Tyler Morrow to current planning manager and Mathew Manley to long-range planning manager, the city announced.
The work of our department involves a regular push and pull between the needs of developers and community members working on current projects and the desire of the community to envision and plan for the future, said Lew Holloway, director of the Community Development Department. While intimately related, these two areas require unique and focused attention from the department to meet our community and customer expectations.
In his new role as current planning manager, Morrow will administer and coordinate the Citys Development Review Committee, manage the implementation of online permitting and document review software, oversee the Certificate of Occupancy process, and handle various other aspects related to current development review and compliance.
In his new role as long-range planning manager, Mr. Manley will oversee the Comprehensive Plan and its associated implementation projects, including zoning text amendments and rezonings, while also engaging with partners involved in long-range infrastructure planning, including transportation and utilities.
Mr. Morrow and Mr. Manley bring a wealth of knowledge and skill to our organization and display a daily commitment to the vibrancy and overall health of our community, Holloway said. As we strive to live up to our departmental values of cooperation, communication, innovation, curiosity, and respect, we believe these changes position our staff to better reflect these values in our community.
A certified zoning official through the North Carolina School of Government, Morrow began his career as a planner with the City of Hendersonville in 2019 after earning his undergraduate (B.S.) and graduate (M.P.A.) degrees from Western Carolina University. A native of Waynesville, Morrow has a great passion for the region and takes pride in his southern Appalachian roots. Beyond his professional life, Tyler values spending time with his family, rooting for his Georgia Dawgs and playing on the citys softball team (Go Aces!).
An accredited city planner through the American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners, Manley has been with the city of Hendersonville since December 2020. He most recently served as the project manager for the Citys GEN H Comprehensive Plan. Originally from Greenville, S.C., Manley attended Presbyterian College (B.S.) and Clemson University (MCRP). He came to Hendersonville after working in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Lyons, Colorado. He lives in town with his wife, Molly, and two toddlers, Quinn and Townes. They are all avid hikers and lovers of nature. Outside of work, if he is not on the trail or working in the yard, you will find him rooting for his Gamecocks and Atlanta Braves.
The Supreme Courts (SC) refusal to grant an interim stay on the Patna High Court Order, which set aside Bihar reservation laws that increased reservation for Backward Classes, STs, SCs and Extremely Backward Classes from 50% to 65% in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions, has come as a second setback for the Bihar government in just a few weeks.
On June 20, the Patna High Court bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar had set aside the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Act, 2023 and The Bihar (In Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 as ultra vires and violative of equality clause under Articles 14, 15 and 16.
Later, the Bihar government moved the SC challenging the Patna HC order. The matter was raised in the Bihar legislative assembly by the Opposition, which questioned why the Bihar government was not trying to get the two laws included in the 9th Schedule despite being a double engine at both the Centre and the state to prevent court scrutiny.
Chief Minister Nitish Kunar, however, categorically said in the Assembly that it was at his initiative that the caste survey was done and reservations increased, and that the Bihar government was doing everything required to ensure that the benefits reached the targeted population. The government has immediately gone to the SC and talks with the Centre are also underway, he said.
Govt keeping fingers crossed
Though the Patna HC set aside the new quota laws, which means the old reservation formula will continue to be applicable in the state, it may delay the ongoing recruitment process for filling thousands of vacancies in different fields as the government wants to wait for the outcome in the Apex court to proceed with the hiked quota.
Bihars parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the HC order would mean continuing with the old reservation formula. The SC has not given (an) interim stay that we expected, but the government keeps its fingers crossed that ultimately the Apex Court would appreciate Bihars endeavour to do social justice for the deprived sections, he added.
Choudhary, a senior JD-U leader, said that the reservation in Bihar was increased after conducting a caste survey on a large scale for the first time to have authentic data on different castes; the reservation was increased accordingly. There is a firm basis for increasing reservation in keeping with the provisions laid down in the Constitution, he added.
The survey the first in independent India to successfully enumerate all castes had found that EBC, which comprises 112 castes, and OBC formed by 30 communities together comprised 63.13% of the state population. Scheduled Castes form 19.65% and Scheduled Tribes 1.68%. Upper castes were found to be 15.52% of the population.
All the parties in the House were unanimous on this politically sensitive issue and eager to take credit for making it happen due to its enormous potential in Bihars caste-driven electoral politics and the overriding importance of numbers. With the HC setting it aside, it has triggered another wave of politics on reservation and the Nitish-led NDA government would certainly not like to let it become a weapon in the hands of the Opposition.
DM Diwakar, former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, said the SCs final verdict would determine a lot about the way Bihar politics would swing due to the overriding influence of caste and the critical issue of joblessness.
If the SC upholds the HC order, the demand for a sociology-economic survey with the Census will pick up momentum and echo in Bihar as well as elsewhere during the state polls. It will also affect the social engineering of Nitish Kumar, as the opposition will certainly play it up to derive an advantage. If the verdict upholds the new quota laws, it will give a certain edge to the Nitish government, Diwakar added.
Recruitment drives
With unemployment emerging as a major issue during the Lok Sabha elections and the Opposition RJD consistently playing it up, the Bihar government has launched a recruitment exercise in different departments to achieve the target of 10-lakh jobs by the time of the 2025 Assembly elections as part of Nitish governments 7-Resolves programme.
The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has concluded the third phase of the teachers recruitment test (TRE) which was cancelled in March after the
Economic Offence Unit (EOU) established that questions were leaked ahead of the examination this month for 87,774 vacancies. Following this, the fourth phase is scheduled to fill over one lakh vacancies.
However, due to uncertainty over the new reservation formula, a senior official, who asked not to be named, said the government would wait and watch before announcing the results. The delay in the publication of Phase-3 results would mean further delay in conducting the Phase-4 exams, as the issue would invariably take political overtones.
Besides, there are various other recruitment exams lined up. The government wants to complete the process to appoint 40247 head teachers and over 6000 headmasters. There are also over 1000 vacancies in the agriculture department. The preliminary tests for vice principals in industrial training institutes (ITIs) and horticulture officers are scheduled in the first half of August.
In addition, there are thousands of vacancies in the health department, Panchayats Raj departments, police, Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad, urban development department, public health and engineering department and various others.
The government has to take a call whether it wants to go ahead with the old reservation formula or wait for the new one to be decided by the Apex court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also underlined the urgency before the Apex Court in view of the scheduled exams and interview, said the government official quoted above.
What the HC observed
The SC will now hear about the Bihar quota issues in September. The HC had set aside the two laws as ultra vires the Constitution while accepting the contention of the petitioners that merely based on the lack of proportionate representation in government employment and educational institutions, the percentage of reservation was enhanced without any scientific analysis of the caste survey data.
What worries us is no such exercise or analysis having been done by the Government or the Legislature in bringing about the Amendment Acts. After the collection of data, there was a frogleap into the amendment enhancing the reservations beyond 50%, which we found was again on proportionate representation in the services of the State and educational institutions, clearly not permissible under Articles 15(4) & 16(4), the HC bench had observed.
The bench further observed that it is to break the stranglehold hold of a few at the expense and to the detriment of the many, that reservation to backward classes was envisaged. But merit cannot be completely effaced and sacrificed at the altar of reparations. This was the principle on which the 50% limit was laid down for reservations.
Boeing named aerospace veteran Robert "Kelly" Ortberg its next CEO who earlier lead aviation communications and electronics supplier Rockwell Collins's integration into United Technologies, which then merged with Raytheon to become RTX. His appointment comes at a time when Boeing has reported a hefty loss on continued operational problems. Boeing's new CEO Robert "Kelly" Ortberg. Boeing named the former Rockwell Collins chief its next CEO.(AFP)
Here are 10 points on Robert "Kelly" Ortberg:
1. The 64-year-old retired from RTX in 2021.
2. Robert "Kelly" Ortberg is an engineer seasoned in aerospace and an outsider to Boeing.
3. His appointment will take effect on August 8 and comes as Boeing attempts to rebound from a series of safety and quality control problems which has increased scrutiny of the company.
4. Boeing's second-quarter results showed a loss of $1.4 billion, compared with a loss of $149 million in the year-ago period.
5. Boeing has also experienced deep losses on several defense contracts due to supply chain problems as well as higher engineering costs and technical issues.
6. The company has been in the hot seat since a January incident in which a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines made an emergency landing after a fuselage panel blew out mid-flight.
7. Outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun unexpectedly ascended to CEO in January 2020 after the ouster of Dennis Muilenburg amid fallout from the MAX crashes.
8. Dave Calhoun appeared poised to stay on as CEO to 2028 until the Alaska Airlines incident sparked outrage. David Calhoun announced on March 25 that he would step down by the end of this year.
9. Boeing chairman Steve Mollenkopf described Robert "Kelly" Ortberg as an experienced leader who is deeply respected in the aerospace industry.
10. Robert "Kelly" Ortberg said he was extremely honored and humbled to join this iconic company. He said, "There is much work to be done, and I'm looking forward to getting started."
Elon Musk accepted a challenge from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for a televised fight. This came after Nicolas Maduro accused Tesla CEO of orchestrating cyber-attacks on Venezuelas National Electoral Council (CNE) after his recent election victory which has been called into question. X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk leaving a US Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insight Forum at the US Capitol in Washington, DC and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gesturing during a press conference.(AFP)
Elon Musk said, "I accept" on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after Nicolas Maduro challenged him over the tech boss' dictator jibe.
Nicolas Maduro said, "Social media creates a virtual reality, and who controls the virtual reality? Our new archenemy, the famous Elon Musk. Do you want to fight? Let's do it. Elon Musk, I'm ready. I'm not afraid of you Elon Musk. Let's fight, wherever you want."
In response, Elon Musk posted a series of tweets, taking jabs at both Nicolas Maduro and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Elon Musk wrote, Maduro is a big guy himself and probably knows how to fight, so this would be a real fight. Zuck is a little fella, so that would be a short fight lol.
He said in another tweet, If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.
Elon Musk has repeatedly called Nicolas Maduro a "dictator" and criticised the Venezuelan elections as a "travesty."
Nicolas Maduro hit back saying, He wants to come here with his guns and an army to invade Venezuela. Elon Musk, good thing you showed your face because we knew you were behind it all! With your money and your satellites.
A total of three rape cases were reported in the city on Wednesday. Two minors were sexually assaulted by the neighbours and a 24-year-old woman was raped on the pretext of marriage. A total of three rape cases were reported in the city on Wednesday. (HT File)
In the first case, the Division Number 2 police arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl from his neighbourhood. The first-information report (FIR) was registered following a statement by the minors father. The accused was identified as Ranjit Kumar of Uttar Pradesh.
The complainant told police said that on Wednesday, his daughter complained of severe stomachache and they took her to a doctor, who informed them that she had been sexually assaulted. On being asked, the minor said the accused befriended her a few months ago and they would talk to each other over the phone. The girl added that the accused called her to his rented accommodation and raped her repeatedly.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Kulwant Singh, who is investigating the case, said the police have registered an FIR under Section 65 (1) (rape on woman under sixteen years of age) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In the second case, Meharban police booked a man for raping and impregnating a 13-year-old girl. The accused, identified as Altaf Shaiekh, 25, is the minors neighbour. The girl used to stay alone at home as her parents and elder sister worked.
The police registered an FIR against the accused under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Police said the accused is married.
In her complaint, the minors mother said her daughter had been unwell for the past few days and on Wednesday, she took her to a doctor. The doctor said the minor was four-month pregnant. On being asked, the girl said the accused, who lives in their labour quarter, raped her several times.
ASI Radhey Sham, who is investigating the case, said that the accused is married and assaulted the minor when she was alone at home. A hunt is on to arrest the accused, he added.
In the third case, the Shimlapuri police registered a zero FIR under section 376 (rape) of the IPC following a complaint by a 24-year-old woman. The FIR was registered against Sukhveer Singh of Bathinda.
Sub-inspector Rajinder Kaur, who is investigating the case, said the woman recorded her statement with the police on July 31.
She alleged that on June 17, 2023, the accused picked her up from a furniture store near Gill Bridge of Sidhwan Canal and took her to a hotel in Mohali. The complainant said the accused raped her on the pretext of marriage and later, the accused refused to marry her.
The SI added that as the incident occurred in Mohali, the police registered a zero FIR and sent the matter to Mohali police.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, spearheading the farmers stir in support of their demands, including a legal guarantee of the minimum support price for crops, on Thursday held protests against the BJP at several places in Punjab and Haryana. Farmers raising slogans during a protest against the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Haryana, in Amritsar on Thursday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)
Protesting farmers burnt effigies of the BJP at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana. They also burnt effigies at places, including Amritsar, Moga, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Sonipat and Panchkula.
Farmers said they will continue with their agitation till their demands are met.
The protesters criticised the Haryana governments recent decision of recommending gallantry medals for six police officials for their role in preventing farmers from heading to Delhi as part of their Delhi Chalo programme.
The Haryana government, in its recommendations sent to the Centre recently, had recommended the names of six police officers, three of them from the IPS and three others from Haryana Police Service, for the police medal for gallantry.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said, Police officers are being rewarded for stopping farmers from going to Delhi by using force. Pandher said the Haryana Police used teargas shells and rubber bullets against farmers when they were trying to head towards Delhi in February.
The six officers were deployed during the farmers protests at Shambhu and Khanauri borders where security personnel prevented the protesting farmers from marching towards the national capital.
During the Thursday protest, farmers raised slogans against the Centre and the Haryana government. The agitation will continue till the demands of farmers and labourers are not met, Pandher said.
The protesting farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 when their Delhi Chalo march was stopped by the security forces.
A young farmer, Bathinda native Shubhkaran Singh, was killed and many police personnel injured in clashes at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of 1 lakh on the Ludhiana municipal commissioner for creating obstructions in the functioning of the tribunal and joint committee. The MC chief has been directed to pay the fine within 15 days. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of 1 lakh on the Ludhiana municipal commissioner for creating obstructions in the functioning of the tribunal and joint committee. (HT File)
During a hearing held on July 31 in a matter pertaining to encroachments over green belts on the Lodhi Club Road and old GT Road (from Jagraon Bridge to Sherpur Chowk), the tribunal stressed the delay in providing the development plan (master plan) by MC commissioner and imposed the sanction, observing that the official was creating obstruction in the functioning of tribunal and bodies constituted by it, leading to delays in proceedings.
MC commissioner Sandeep Rishi said, There was some confusion regarding the master plan. The committee asked for a development plan but we dont have such terminology in our office. We submitted the master plan through email, WhatsApp and sent it via post as well. We respect the tribunals order and will submit a fine amount positively.
Council of Engineers president Kapil Arora, who had moved NGT over the encroachments on green belts, said that the tribunal, after rejecting the report of the previous joint committee on August 7, 2023, had constituted a new committee consisting of members from the Union environment ministry, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to submit a report on the encroachments on green belts by Lodhi Club and Convent School, BRS Nagar on Lodhi the Club Road and by the MC which he said built a library and parking areas in green belts on old GT Road.
The committee had sent a letter to the MC seeking the master plan but the civic body failed in doing so, according to a joint committee partial report submitted on January 9 this year.
Taking cognisance of the matter on July 18, the bench directed the MC commissioner to appear on July 31. After receiving the master plan on July 24, the joint committee filed a reply and sought three months to submit the final report.
Vikas Arora, a member of the Council of Engineers, said that the MC commissioner appeared before the NGT and submitted that the development plan was provided to the joint committee on April 30, 2024. He, however, failed to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding the delay of over five months.
The bench found the MC commissioners conduct to be highly objectionable.
The bench further observed that despite receiving the development plan on April 30, the joint committee is guilty of delaying proceedings and its demand of three months for submitting the report is unreasonable. The bench directed the joint committee to submit a report within a month.
The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Kisan Club hosted its monthly training camp for members here on Thursday. The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Kisan Club hosted its monthly training camp for members here on Thursday. (HT Photo)
Organised by communication additional director Dr TS Riar and extension education department head Dr Kuldeep Singh the event featured a series of informative lectures and interactive sessions.
The camp began with a welcome address and review of the clubs activities by Lavleesh Garg from extension education department. This was followed by a lecture on seed production of cereal crops by seed department director TP Singh. Animal science DEE Madhu Shally from discussed cattle feed formulation, while Shivani Sharma from microbiology department presented on medicinal mushrooms production. Navjot Singh Brar from the Vegetable Research Farm, Hoshiarpur, shared insights on the successful cultivation of potatoes, and RRS Kapurthala director Gulzar Singh Sanghera spoke on planning and cultivating sugarcane.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by PAU Kisan Club president Manpreet Singh Grewal. The training camp attracted 105 participants, providing valuable knowledge and strategies to improve their agricultural practices.
Drownings, electrocutions and house collapses. These three issues, which caused the deaths of at least five people on Wednesday night as a heavy downpour pounded the city, underscore an infrastructural malaise that becomes evident in the Capital during the monsoon every year. The wall of Happy School in Daryaganj collapsed amid heavy rainfall on Wednesday night. There were no casualties. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)
This collapse of urban infrastructure also points to the lack of accountability by authorities at various levels who are supposed to ensure the safety of a teeming city that home to tens of millions.
Read more: Pinarayi Vijayan on Wayanad landslides: 'Nobody left to be saved'
Drownings, and blame game
The first reported fatalities on Wednesday night were perhaps the most heartbreaking. A 22-year-old woman and a her three-year-old son were killed after they fell into the Ghazipur drain near Khoda colony. When officials fished out their bodies, they said the mother was still clutching on to the arm of her son.
The story that followed their deaths was all too familiar authorities traded blame on who caused the tragedy.
The Ghazipur drain is maintained by Delhi authorities on one side, and by Ghaziabad on the other. The victims were residents of Khoda Colony in Ghaziabad. Officials from the Ghaziabad fire department conducted the initial rescue operation, but later handed over the case and the bodies to Delhi Police.
The spot where the incident took place has a partially covered drain that was submerged in knee-deep water after Wednesdays rains. The waterlogging made it impossible to decipher where the footpath ended and where the drain started. Debris from unfinished construction work also lies right next to it.
The incident raised several fundamental questions: Why was the drain left open and work unfinished? Why were people allowed to walk near an open drain in the first place? Why was there no signage or barricade warning people against walking near an open drain? How was there no clarity over the jurisdiction of the responsible civic body? And, most importantly, who was responsible?
Even among Delhi officials, the accountability was not clear.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) issued a statement on Thursday alleging that the part of the drain where the incident occurred was under maintenance by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which responded with identical allegations. An incident occurred... in which a lady and her child... fell in an under-construction DDA drain near Ambedkar Gate of Khora Colony The road and drain where incident took place is under construction by DDA (DDA jurisdiction), MCD said.
Read more: MCD admits fault for Rajendra Nagar waterlogging
In response, DDA stated that the total length of the drain is 1.35km, out of which, 1km of the drain, along with the adjoining road, was handed over to MCD a considerable time ago. The remaining 350m of the drain, DDA said, is under its jurisdiction.
Electrocutions and negligence
At around 7pm, a 12-year-old boy was electrocuted to death when he went to play in a waterlogged street in a DDA colony in Dwarkas Bindapur. In another incident, also on Wednesday night, a 28-year-old man was electrocuted at his home in Jaitpur. Police said the victim stepped out on his terrace to enjoy the rain when he touched a live wire and died on the spot.
These are not isolated incidents. They were the seventh and eighth deaths from electrocution in the city so far this monsoon, according to a tally by HTs reporters.
On July 24, a 26-year-old IAS aspirant was electrocuted to death here after he tripped while crossing a puddle and grabbed the gate, which was charged after coming in contact with a live power line. On July 25, another man, a 30-year-old labourer, was killed after he was electrocuted in Karawal Nagar.
On June 28, when over 200mm of rain lashed Delhi, a 39-year-old man was electrocuted in Rohini after brushing past a live wire on a waterlogged road. On July 13, a 34-year-old woman was electrocuted on a waterlogged road in Bhajanpura. Other electrocution deaths this monsoon included that of a BSES employee in Dwarka on June 14, while he was trying to fix an electricity pole. On July 13, a constable died after coming in contact with a high-tension wire on a roof in Najafgarh.
A walk in a residential street nearly anywhere in Delhi will yield sights that are quite dangerous, especially during monsoon a potentially lethal combination of waterlogging with loose, exposed wires that millions of residents cross daily.
BSES had said that it was cooperating with the authorities during their investigation in the electrocution cases. A spokesperson for Tata Power, while extending condolences to the deceased, had said it had intensified efforts to educate consumers about electrical safety.
Collapses, but no dangerous buildings
At 9pm on Wednesday, a 62-year-old man died was after the roof of his shop collapsed amid heavy rainfall in Subzi Mandi. The fire brigade, National Disaster Response Force, and earthmovers were deployed to remove the debris and pull the victim out after a six-hour operation. In Daryaganj, a wall-collapse crushed a large number of parked vehicles.
Injuries were also reported due to collapses in Defence Colony and Shastri Park.
Eight people, including six minors, were injured when a wall collapsed in Malviya Nagar on April 23 allegedly due to sudden rainfall and storm.
The city has witnessed numerous such collapses since the onset of monsoon most of which had not been captured in the pre-monsoon dangerous building survey. Experts and stakeholders say the city lacks an efficient mechanism to detect and prevent collapse of dangerous buildings.
In fact, the civic body is yet to officially release the findings of this years survey which was expected to cover 2.9 million properties. However, a senior MCD official said that only five properties were found to be dangerous all located in East Delhis Kalyanpuri and Pandav Nagar. Notices were issued to another 57 buildings for carrying out repairs, the official added, asking not to be named. The civic body found no dangerous buildings in the Walled City, which has seen many collapses in recent months.
This was the same story last year, when 3.1 million buildings were inspected, but only eight were found dangerous seven of them in Rohini zone.
These surveys are carried out by the building and maintenance departments of civic bodies as a pre-monsoon exercise. A visual survey is carried out by junior engineer of the area and if engineers notice structures which are bent or show cracks, then they inspect the structure from the inside. A notice to get the building repaired is issued to the owner, a second civic official said, asking not to be named.
Amid all the red tape, the Capitals woes continue unheard and unresolved.
Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar has told the Supreme Court that lieutenant governor VK Saxena was not told about the need to obtain the permission of the top court for the felling of trees in the southern Ridge during his visit to the site on February 2. Kumar submitted a fresh affidavit before the court, which was hearing a contempt petition against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), headed by Saxena, for the illegal felling of trees in Satbari. LG VK Saxena (PTI)
Kumars response came after the courts July 12 order directing him to detail what transpired during the LGs visit to the site. The court, in its last order, said that it was not interested in examining how the LG expedited the project to proceed in the absence of the courts permission but wished to know if the same was brought to his knowledge by any officers accompanying him on the occasion.
Kumar said that to the best of his knowledge, none of the officers present at the site brought to the notice of the LG the orders passed by this court and/or the requirement of obtaining permission of the Tree Officer (under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA), 1994). The affidavit was filed on July 30.
Read more: Creamy layer among SCs, STs must be excluded from quota benefits: Supreme Court
Earlier in July, the top court lamented that a relentless cover-up and blame game was going on over the illegal removal of trees.
The contempt plea filed by a Delhi resident, Bindu Kapurea, alleged that nearly 1,100 trees were felled in the Ridge without permission from the Supreme Court, as required under directions in the MC Mehta case of May 1996, that protects the Ridge against encroachments. The massive felling of trees was done for the construction of a 10km road from Chattarpur to SAARC University and other establishments in Maidan Garhi and Satbari areas.
The chief secretary told the court that the LG issued directions to all officers to expedite the completion of the project. However, he said, directions by higher authorities during such visits to expedite completion of projects cannot be considered as direction to overlook/bypass the statutory provisions for expediting such works.
Affidavits were also filed by the additional principal chief conservator of forests, the Delhi government, and an engineer-member of DDA, who were also present with the Saxena during his visit. Giving their versions of the visit, additional PCCF Suneesh Buxy said that the LG was told about the mandatory permissions required by the forest department under the DPTA and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, that were pending as of that date. The forest department was advised (by LG) to expedite the process in this regard, the affidavit said.
Read more: States empowered to make sub-classifications in SC, ST for quota: Supreme Court
The DDA affidavit confirmed that no official present at the spot briefed Saxena about the requirement to take the top courts nod. The engineer member Ashok Kumar Gupta told the court that LG informed him (Gupta) that the forest department had already taken approval from him for felling the trees under the DPTA and directed the officers of the department to convey the approval to DDA at the earliest.
The tree felling took place between February 16 to 26. The court had directed the Forest Survey of India (FSI) to ascertain the number of trees felled by employing advanced technology. The DDA affidavit said that the trees were felled on a mistaken notion as the permission under DPTA and an order of Tree Authority passed on February 15 was already in place. However, the top court in March had refused to allow DDAs application, by when the trees had already been cut.
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar on Wednesday blamed the Centre for unnatural flooding in the national capital, caused by heavy rainfall since Wednesday till early Thursday morning, with multiple weather stations recording over 100 mm of rainfall. Severe water logging and massive traffic congestion were witnessed in several areas of the national capital. Waterlogging, traffic snarls in several parts of Delhi after heavy showers (HT Photo)
Speaking as part of the House discussions on the housing and urban development ministry, Sircar said, This has happened due to their (Centre) intervention, as he blamed the construction projects, under the Central Vista scheme taken up by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.
The Central Vista scheme, including the new Parliament building, is a prestige project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to create a legacy free from colonial influence.
Sircar said one such example is the Pragati Maidan tunnel, which made headlines multiple times for getting dangerously flooded since its opening in recent years. The tunnel was shut for days last years monsoon.
We need to go for hydrographic studies before we enforce our will through before we put our egotistical schemes through. The flooding of the Pragati Maidan tunnel will continue, he said. Sircar mentioned that in all, Delhi has 308 waterlogging hotspots.
Further, he slammed the Centres revamp of the erstwhile Rajpath to Kartavya Path as part of the scheme. Rs.670 crore spent on Rajpath for a few bulbs and lights, and all you get is perennial flooding because you have tampered with the water system, he said.
Reiterating that while the entire project has to tackle the hydrological programme, Sircar also mentioned that the two member gates of the new Parliament building do not have any protection from rain or heat, while three gates for VIPs have porticos.
We have to redesign this as even their members are also exposed to the heat, rain, and the sun. The galleries of the current Parliament building have to be better utilised, said the TMC Rajya Sabha MP.
Also Read: 4 dead in separate incidents as heavy rainfall lashes Delhi-NCR: Police
Sircar further criticised the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and Smart Cities Mission over its slow implementation and complexities owing to the top-down approach.
Most houses are in peripheral areas of the town, so before we impose a top-down scheme on the poor, he said.
Slamming the ministrys Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme, he cited that till date, 31% of the urban population do not have piped water and 67% of the urban population have no access to sewage facilities.
The TMC leader said that he is not holding the present minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, responsible, who recently took charge of the ministry in the third Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government.
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukhs recent allegations that Devendra Fadnavis had conspired against Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar and their sons during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime continued to heat up the political temperature ahead of the assembly polls, with the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief launching a scathing attack on the deputy chief minister on Wednesday, saying that either you will remain or I will. Mumbai, India. June 19, 2024: Shiv Sena (UBT) party chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed the party workers on the occasion of Shiv Sena's 58th foundation day at Shanmukhanand Hall in Matunga, Mumbai on Wednesday. June 19, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo)
Thackeray also challenged the BJP, saying that the MVA had cut down Prime Minister Narendra Modis arrogance in the Lok Sabha elections. Now, we will complete the unfinished job in the assembly elections, he said.
ALSO READ- Fadnavis tried to target sons of Uddhav, Ajit Pawar with dirty politics: Anil Deshmukh
Addressing party workers and office bearers at Mumbais Rangasharda auditorium, Thackeray referred to Deshmukhs allegations and declared a political war against Fadnavis. He conspired against me and my son to send us to jail by levelling fake charges. Anil Deshmukh told me about this. He attacked my family. For all these days, I suffered a lot but still stood with courage. Now, either he will remain or I will, Thackeray said. He also ordered party workers to be aggressive in the coming days and hit back if anyone attacked the party.
ALSO READ- Shankaracharya says Uddhav Thackeray victim of betrayal: till he becomes CM again
The former chief minister invoked his partys connection with Mumbai, saying that chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis have no love for the city and are allowing it to be looted. Once they lose power, they will go to Thane, Baramati and Nagpur. We need to fight for Mumbai, he said. In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah, he added, Those two traders in the Centre want to loot Mumbai. We will not tolerate it. We need to uproot them from here.
Trying to boost the morale of party workers, Thackeray said that the upcoming assembly elections would be the last challenge before the party as there would be no one left to trouble them after winning.
ALSO READ- Only Centre can raise reservation limit by removing the 50% cap: Uddhav
Responding to Thackeray, several BJP leaders slammed him for using provocative language and said that the party has accepted his challenge. Use of such provocative language doesnt suit Thackeray. He is daring the BJP and its leader on the back of getting Muslim and Christian votes, said state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
In a post on X, Bawankule also claimed that Thackeray, when he was chief minister, had tried to put Fadnavis in jail but did not succeed.
Uddhav Thackeray will have to take a hundred births to end [Fadnavis] political career, he wrote.
Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar accused Thackeray of speaking the language of anti-nationals. Thackeray talks about finishing pro-Hindutva BJP in politics. He is speaking the language of organisations like SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India). BJP has accepted Thackerays challenge and, now, he should not turn back.
The death toll due to viral encephalitis has risen to 58 in Gujarat, the state government said on Wednesday. Out of these, a majority of which, the exact number of which is yet to ascertained, are suspected to be due to Chandipura virus. (Representative file photo)
According to the government report, out of 140 reported cases of viral encephalitis, 58 have resulted in fatalities. The most severely affected area is Panchmahal with seven deaths, followed by Ahmedabad Corporation with six deaths.
These deaths in the last one month are due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).
Out of these, a majority of which, the exact number of which is yet to ascertained, are suspected to be due to the outbreak of Chandipura virus (CHPV), a rare deadly pathogen, according to Gujarat health department officials.
Also Read: Nipah, Chandipura are just tip of the iceberg
Gujarat health commissioner Harshad Patel told HT that at least one fourth of the total deaths due to AES could be attributed to Chandipura virus.
Sandflies are known to be the main vectors for Chandipura virus. Initial symptoms often include sudden onset of high fever, severe headache, and muscle pain. As the infection advances, it can lead to altered consciousness, seizures, and in severe cases, coma and death. The viruss ability to cause rapid neurological deterioration makes early detection and treatment crucial for patient survival.
Of the total 140 suspected cases, 52 have been confirmed positive for Chandipura virus across various districts and municipal corporations, according to a state government release.
As many as 25 patients are presently hospitalised and 57 have been discharged after treatment.
New Delhi, Thursday, , was going to be Priyansh's first day at school. All necessities and formalities were completed, and only thing remaining was a uniform. HT Image
His mother went to the market Wednesday evening to purchase him one. But that uniform would never be worn, that school path would never be walked!
They drowned in a half-open under construction drain in a waterlogged street as heavy rains pelted down on Delhi-NCR Wednesday evening.
The mother was still holding her son in her arms when rescuers recovered them metres away from where they slipped into the drain in the Khoda Colony in the Ghazipur area of east Delhi.
"Tanuja is my sister-in-law. Priyansh was recently enrolled into a nearby school and she had gone to a market to buy a dress for him since his classes were about to start from Thursday. However, they drowned into an open drain which was waterlogged," said Karan Bisht.
"When the authorities took out them from the drain, they declared the mother dead then and there. While they said Priyansh had one per cent chance to survive. He also lost his life soon," Karan said.
Another relative said Tanuja was with her sister-in-law Pinky and her two kids when the incident took place.
"I was at the hospital with my daughter-in-law. They had first gone to Mayur Vihar Phase-3 to visit their relatives. It was raining and they kept waiting for the rains to stop. However, when it did not stop for a while, Tanuja left for her residence. Pinky first asked her to wait, but when Tanuja insisted, Pinky also followed her.
"Tanuja was holding Priyansh and a bag in her hands. When they fell in the drain, Pinky also jumped in to save them. Locals pulled Pinky out as she had her hands abovr the water, but they could not find Tanuja's hands since she was holding her son," the relative said.
Finally, when the authorities found her three hours later and pulled her out of the drain, she was holding her kid, said the relative.
Tanuja and Govind got married in 2018 in Almora district of Uttarakhand and they have been living at Khoda along with Tanuja's father. Govind has a private job in Noida, while Tanuja was a homemaker.
Karan also alleged, "When the incident happened, my relatives told me that there was initially a fight between Delhi Police and UP Police related to the jurisdiction. However, it was later decided that the drain falls under the jurisdiction of Delhi."
Manish Katariya , an eyewitness, said the victims were recovered from several metres away from the spot where they drowned.
"I was present when the incident took place. The whole area was waterlogged and the slab over the drain also submerged. A portion of the drain was not covered. This is around 10-feet-deep drain and the covering work is underway for the last one week.
"Another woman was also with the victim. They fell into the drain here. They were found away from the manhole as the drain was flowing. The drain falls under Delhi and where the family lives comes under Uttar Pradesh," Katariya stated.
The incident took place around 8 pm near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under-construction.
Hemant Suri, a Khoda Colony resident , said, "I received a call from my uncle that such incident took place in the area. I rushed to the spot and found that a woman and her son drowned in the drain. The officials of Ghazibad Police, fire and civic agency reached the spot. The incident took place around 8 pm and the bodies were recovered around 11 pm."
Govind has four brothers and his parents live in Almora. After the post-mortem, they will take the bodies to Almora for cremation, Karan said.
Mahesh Kumar, a local, said the waterlogging in the area is very common during the rainy season.
"This incident is very tragic. We have been living here in such state where we all are vulnerable to become the victim of such incidents. I hope that the authorities learn something from this and take appropriate steps in order to prevent such incidents," Kumar said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
CAT 2024 Registration: The online registration cum application process for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024 has started. Candidates who want to apply for CAT 2024 can submit their forms on iimcat.ac.in. The application deadline is September 13 (5 pm). The direct link, eligibility criteria, important dates, exam fee and the selection process of IIMs are mentioned below. CAT 2024 registration begins; check eligibility, direct link to apply and other details (iimcat.ac.in, screenshot of the registration page)
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta will administer the 2024 session of the B-school admission test.
IIM CAT 2024 important dates
The registration window for CAT 2024 opened today, August 1, at 10 am and the application deadline is 5 pm on September 13.
CAT 2024 admit cards will be released on November 5.
The entrance test is scheduled for November 24 and results for the second week of January.
After the registration window closes, a short window will be provided during which the candidates will be allowed to change their photo and signature and edit their test city preferences.
Direct link to apply for CAT 2024
CAT 2024 eligibility criteria
Candidates with Bachelor's degrees with at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent in the case of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe candidates and Persons with Disability) can apply for CAT 2024.
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Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelors degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply for the test.
However, such candidates, if selected after the test, will be allowed to join a programme provisionally only if they submit a document from the register/principal of the previous institution stating they have completed all the requirements of obtaining a Bachelor's degree.
Check the detailed eligibility criteria for CAT 2024 here.
CAT 2024 application fee
Along with the application forms of CAT 2024, SC, ST and PwD candidates must pay a fee of 1,250. For all other applicants, the fee is 2,500.
This year, the CAT exam will be held in 170 cities, and the candidates will be allowed to choose five cities according to their preference in the application form.
CAT 2024 exam pattern
The duration of CAT 2024 will be 120 minutes. The test will have three sections-
Section 1: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Section 2: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
Section 3: Quantitative Ability (QA/Quants)
Candidates will be allotted 40 minutes for answering each section and switching between sections will not be permitted.
IIM Calcutta said a mock test will be uploaded to the exam website eventually, which may help students understand the format of the test.
About CAT 2024 and selection process of IIMS
CAT is a national-level examination for admission to postgraduate and fellow/doctorate level Business courses offered by IIMs.
Several non-IIM institutions also use the CAT scores in their admission processes.
CAT only acts as a screening test, and qualifying for the test does not guarantee admission at IIMs as the candidates will be required to participate in further selection rounds such as group discussion and personal interview as per the admission criteria of the respective institutes.
Each IIM will send interview letters to the shortlisted candidates directly. The selection process of some institutes may also include a writing ability test (WAT).
The IIMs may additionally use other factors such as previous academic performances of the candidates, relevant work experience, gender and academic diversity and other similar inputs in shortlisting and ranking of candidates at various stages of the admission process.
For more information, candidates should refer to the admissions policies of individual IIMs on their respective websites.
Check the selection process of IIMs here.
The airport outing
The actor was spotted at Mumbai airport during early morning hours on Thursday. The video of the actor landing in the city with her daughter was shared on Instagram by a Mumbai-based photographer.
In the video, both of them are seen wearing comfortable and casual outfits for the airport outing. Aishwarya was seen in an all-black outfit, pairing it with a long black coat over matching pants. She completed her look with a dash of red lipstick, keeping her hair loose and flowing.
Meanwhile, Aaradhya was seen in a comfortable purple sweatshirt which she paired with black pants and white sneakers. She carried a black sling back too. Aishwarya was seen holding her daughter close protectively. Greeted by the paparazzi in Mumbai, the mother-daughter duo smiled for the cameras as they made their way to their vehicle. They seemed unbothered by all the rumours around marital discord. Aishwarya also thanked the paparazzi before getting into her car.
Aishwarya in New York
The actor was in New York for a vacation with her daughter. Recently, a US-based actor named Jeree Reyna took to Instagram to post two pictures with Aishwarya. One picture was from her recent meeting in New York, and another was a throwback.
In her caption, Jeree wrote, Meeting your idol twice in one lifetime deserves a spot on the grid... swipe to see me at my most unhinged... Aish (Aishwarya), thank you for always being so kind to me. You listened so intently as I told you about the impact youve had in my life. it was always my dream to thank you for it. I wish you all the happiness and joy in this world.
The buzz
Her outing drew attention because it followed her separate appearance at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding on July 12. Abhishek attended the event with his parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and his sister Shweta Bachchans family, while Aishwarya arrived separately with Aaradhya.
Aishwarya had also made a solo appearance at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants Shubh Aashirwad ceremony on July 13. However, neither Aishwarya nor Abhishek has made any public comments regarding the speculations.
On the work front, Aishwarya was last seen in Ponniyin Selvan 2.
New Delhi, British actor Daniel Caltagirone, who plays the antagonist Lord Clement in Pa Ranjith's much-anticipated "Thangalaan", says his character wasn't a one note villain who just has a "token" like presence in an Indian film production. It's not a token bad guy role in 'Thangalaan', says British actor Daniel Caltagirone
The Tamil movie, starring Vikram in the lead, promises to be an intriguing drama set in the 19th century in the Kolar gold mines which also serve as a backdrop for the superhit Kannada franchise "KGF".
Caltagirone, whose Hollywood film credits include the Oscar winning title "The Pianist", "Legionnaire", "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life", and "The Fall", is currently in Chennai to promote "Thangalaan".
The London-born actor, who makes his Indian cinema debut with the movie, said he had a long conversation with Ranjith about his character arc before boarding the cast.
"When I first got hired by Ranjith, we had a long conversation. I didn't audition for him, he just called my agent saying 'This guy is interesting, I want to work with him'. When we had the chat, I wanted to know about Tamil filmmaking. I had some knowledge about Bollywood, but not Tollywood.
"I said, 'Listen, I know how you guys portray English people, it's ok. But I'm not sure I'm interested in .' Ranjith said 'Let me stop you right there. You don't know me as a filmmaker. You and Vikram are like the different sides of the same coin. You are not to be that cliched British actor that comes in'," Caltagirone told PTI in an interview.
Praising Ranjith, known for films such as "Madras", "Kabali", "Kaala" and "Sarpatta Parambarai", the actor said the director wanted him to be "one of the first British actors to do something different" in Indian cinema.
"If that works, that would be amazing for me as one of the first in the lead in a film that's just not going to be a token," Caltagirone said, adding that he was not interested in portraying the cliched bad guy roles like the British characters in "RRR".
The 52-year-old said his character of Lord Clement and Vikram's Thangalaan are two sides of the same coin.
"In the film, you'll see flashes of the character trying to fight because he's had this rough existence. Life has dealt these bad hands to him. What you see is the product of that but what you also see is the man being turned bad. Then, you've got the same with Vikram's character but obviously I'm not going to spoil the ending. Our characters become possessed by the desire, need and greed to obtain gold. I hope I've done my job well."
According to the makers, the story of "Thangalaan" captures the actual history of the Kolar Gold Fields . Over two centuries ago, the Kolar Gold Mine Field was discovered by the British, who exploited and looted it for their own purposes, they added.
He said Ranjith, whose films are an extension of his ideology as someone who is bringing the perspective of the Dalits to the silver screen, works on the "psychology" of the people.
"He was a bit nervous about hiring a British actor... He comes from a hard place; he understands local communities, the streets and the people... He said to me 'You strike me as someone who is strong and different'. He was looking for someone who is a bit more ," he added.
Caltagirone said he got lucky with his co-stars.
"I was nervous about how the big Indian stars would treat me. Everyone sort of got down really well... I have this huge amount of respect for Indian actors because they do things above and beyond a lot of time than their western counterparts, who have their stunt guys step in straightaway or they can't get their hair messed up and stuff. I was told I was going to be doing a lot during stunts and I was like 'Yeah, let's do it!'"
The shooting of "Thangalaan" has been a time-consuming process, said the actor who worked on the movie for a year and two months.
"About 100 years ago! That's how long it took to shoot the film," he quipped.
"I arrived in India in the beginning of October 2022 and I finished in November 2023. There was a little at the end when I came home. We really pushed ourselves beyond. We all split off for three months because Chiyaan and I had sustained a lot of injuries in this film," he added.
This was not the first time Caltagirone came to India.
The actor shot for India-born American director Tarsem Singh's film "The Fall" back in 2001 in Rajasthan. He has also worked with Shekhar Kapur, whom he counts as a "big influence" in his life, in 2002's "The Four Feathers". Both were international productions.
"Every time I've come to India, it's never been a short span. There's this weird connection with India, I don't know what it is, but India or Indian filmmakers have formed a major part of my life... You either come to India and embrace it or you don't. There's nothing in between. This for me just feels like home."
"Thangalaan" will release worldwide on August 15 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. It also stars Malavika Mohanan and Parvathy Thiruvothu.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Comedian Pete Davidson, known for his roles on projects such as Saturday Night Live and King of Staten Island, is reportedly taking some time out of the spotlight to focus on his mental health. It is being stated that he has checked into a facility to address her mental wellbeing. Also read: Pete Davidson axes on his semi-autobiographical series 'Bupkis' In 2018, Pete shared that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Time out
According to People, Pete, 30, has opted for some time off to focus on his health. The step comes after doing more than 200 live stand-up comedy shows across US, release of his second Netflix comedy special, Turbo Fonzarelli, and work on several of his film projects.
As per a source, mental health has "always been a priority" for the comedian, which has been the first and foremost reason behind his step. The comedian has always been vocal about his sobriety journey as well as his struggle with borderline personality disorder and severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Following his busy work schedule this year, according to the source, Pete has been focusing on his sobriety. The insider shares that his friends and family are very proud that he has chosen to continue to take care of himself.
Pete most recently underwent treatment in the summer of 2023 to address issues related to PTSD and borderline personality disorder.
Petes wellness journey
Back in 2023, Pete addressed issues related to PTSD and borderline personality disorder. He had checked into a rehab to work on the issues, and found support from his family members and friends.
He spoke about the stint during a comedy show with John Mulaney and Jon Stewart in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2023 .
I am fresh out of rehab, everyone, he told the crowd at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos Ettes Arena, adding I got that post-rehab glow. Seventh times the charm.
Pete revealed he took ketamine, a drug used medically as an anaesthetic, daily for four years.
In 2018, Pete shared that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder after years of battling depression and anxiety. At that time, he checked into a rehabilitation program in December 2016.
Though depression lurks around the edges of The Instigators, Doug Limans heist movie is a loosely amiable return to South Boston for Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who also co-wrote the film. Review: In 'The Instigators,' a heist goes terrifically wrong
In the films opening moments, Rory , a former Marine, tells his therapist, Dr. Rivera , that after a lifetime of screw ups and disappointments, hes not so much forlorn as simply ready to cash in his ticket. His phrase is a telling one for a film where midlife disappointments and a ramshackle heist-gone-wrong plot collide in farcical ways. As a last-ditch effort and to raise $32,480 for his child support payments, Rory signs up with a criminal band of misfits to steal election-night payouts to a corrupt Boston mayor running for reelection.
Therapists have made their ways into crime dramas like The Sopranos, but The Instigators adds a novel wrinkle by bringing Dr. Rivera along for the ride. When Rory and Cobby go on the run, she tags along as a hostage by choice.
But it takes a little time for the buddy comedy to develop. First, The Instigators works in a large percentage of todays top character actors among them Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Toby Jones and Paul Walter Hauser all of whom raise the bar in this rudderless but winningly shaggy action comedy.
Liman, the director of Go, The Bourne Identity and the recent Road House, has always had a knack for freewheeling ensembles and for getting the most out of his stars charisma. The Instigators may be a modern streaming movie but its a decidedly old-school kind of caper, stock full of local color and peopled with faces youre happy to see. Its a product of Damon and Ben Afflecks Artists Equity, which produced the film from the script by Casey Affleck and City on the Hill creator Chuck MacLean.
For them, the blue-collar Boston terrain of The Instigators is about as a cozy as bleacher seat in Fenway Park. The Instigators doesnt live up to other Damon-Afflecks Beantown-set movies , and some of their Dunkin Donuts-adjacent schtick is at least approaching stale. You could call it a homecoming but its more like they never left.
So, yes, this is them very much in their element, but that goes especially true for Affleck, the main reason to see The Instigators. His Cobby is a drunk and convict who enlists in the heist out of a lack of other options. Its an ill-considered scheme by a pair of small-time gangsters , one of whom runs a bakery as a front. They dispatch a trigger-happy small-time crook to lead the mission, a debacle from the get go. Nothing goes right, not even the expected election result, and out of the melee clatter Cobby and Rory, with a special police investigator in steadfast pursuit.
On the run, their double act Damons earnest deadpan, Afflecks smart-aleck flippancy works as well as it ever has, even if the script could use a touch more wit. Affleck makes up for it with his melancholic motormouth routine, one that gets an even better foil once Chau, the talented co-star of The Whale and Showing Up, is roped into their escape. Though Liman knows how to mix action and comedy as well as anyone, The Instigators is better whenever there's less going on.
The Instigators, an Apple release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for pervasive language and some violence. Running time: 101 minutes. In Finnish with English subtitles. Three stars out of four.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Numerous celebrities have come forward to aid the victims of landslides in Wayanad, Kerala. Tamil actors Suriya and Vikram, Malayalam actors Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, Nazriya and others have donated lakhs to the Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund. (Also Read: Karthi's birthday wish for his brother Suriya wins hearts: To the man who taught me) Suriya, Jyotika, Mammootty donate to the Kerala CM relief fund.
Celebrities make donations
Tamil actor Vikram donated 20 lakh to the victims of the landslide. His manager, Yuvraaj, shared the news on his behalf on X (formerly Twitter), writing, Pained by the sad news of the devastation caused by the recent landslide in Keralas #Wayanad district that left over 150 people dead, 197 injured and several others missing, Actor @chiyaan today donated a sum of 20 lakhs to the Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund.
Malayalam actors Mammootty and his son Dulquer Salmaan collectively donated 35 lakh to the relief fund. Mammootty spoke to the press and said, At the moment, I have only contributed a small amount for the relief measures. I will contribute further if the need arises. They are all people like us whose lives have changed in two days. They need our help, and its up to all of us to assist them.
Malayalam actor couple Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim also donated 25 lakh to aid the victims. They released a press note confirming the contribution, writing, We are making a donation of 25 lakh to the CMDRF. We hope this modest contribution will help provide necessary assistance to those in dire need. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people as they navigate this difficult period. Together, we may endure and overcome.
Tamil actor couple Suriya and Jyotika, along with Karthi, also reportedly made a collective donation of 50 lakh to the victims, while Rashmika Mandanna donated 10 lakh.
Landslides in Kerala
Three landslides hit Wayanad district in Kerala following heavy rains in the hill areas. Hundreds of people have died while others have been injured. Rescue operations are on to save people while some are still reporting missing.
BLACKPINK's Jisoo is all set to dive into the world of zombies. The K-pop sensation is set to star in a thrilling zombie series titled Newtopia (Previously Influenza). The news, confirmed by Coupang Play, has the Blinks going crazy with plot speculation, as it is written by none other than the Oscar-winning writer of Parasite. Jisoo will share the screen with Park Jung Min, acclaimed for his roles in Hellbound and Smugglers. LACKPINK's Jisoo and Park Jung Min Lead New Zombie Series Newtopia(Coupang Play)
Jisoo and Park Jung Min to play lovers in new zombie series
On August 1, Coupang Play officially confirmed the star-studded cast of its 2025 series titled Newtopia in a press release. The platform also unveiled new stills featuring Jisoo and Jung Min in fresh looks. The drama centres around a viral outbreak that transforms infected individuals into zombies. The lead actors will portray lovers desperately searching for each other amidst the chaos of downtown Seoul.
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The drama centres around a viral outbreak that transforms infected individuals into zombies. The lead actors will portray lovers desperately searching for each other amidst the chaos of downtown Seoul.
About Jisoo and Jung Mins role in Newtopia
Going by the details, Jung Min will portray Lee Jae Joon, an older soldier who enlisted later than his peers and is anxious about the future.
Jisoo will take on the role of Kang Young Ju, Jae Joon's girlfriend who is eagerly awaiting his military discharge. Her character is particularly intriguing as she is also depicted as the former belle of her engineering college who has recently landed a job.
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About Newtopia plot
While specific plot details remain under wrap, the series will follow the journey of a young couple, portrayed by Jisoo and Jung Min, as they navigate a sudden zombie outbreak to reunite. The drama will depict the terrifying chaos of Seoul as people succumb to the virus and transform into zombies. Lee Jae Yoon and Kang Young Ju will find themselves in a desperate race against time to reach each other amidst the city's zombie-infested streets.
The story is written by the famous writer Han Jin-won, who won an Academy Award for Parasite, and the skilled Ji Ho-jin from Shopping Mall. Helmed by directorYoon Sung Hyun, the series has reportedly wrapped up its shooting schedule and is set to debut in 2025.
India- China relations are not normal and cannot be unless China moves back to its pre-2020 position on the border. This has been stated multiple times by Indias external affairs minister S Jaishankar. However, what China has also told India multiple times is that it should not bother about the boundary dispute and must focus on trade. This has been a clear display of what China thinks of Indias concerns, including the most pertinent one--sovereignty. However, China also needs Indias huge market. External affairs minister S Jaishankar (PTI)
Given that India has performed brilliantly economically with a growth rate of 8% in the last quarter, China wants to leverage the positives of the Indian economy to its advantage. Thus, China in the last two months has engaged in a series of charm offensives to woo India, while disregarding Indias sovereignty at the borders. China wants the bilateral relationship to weigh only and always in its favour. The best way to keep Indias economic rise in check would be to keep it tied to trying to resolve border tensions, since managing a conflict and a troublesome border takes attention, resources, time and personnel which India could otherwise use to focus on its economic rise.
Another way to keep Indias economic rise in check is to keep it tied to its problematic neighbourhood. China ensures this by stoking problems in Indias neighbourhood and by increasing its influence in South Asian countries minus one. An example of this was the 5th CSACF meeting in Kunming. A similar initiative was proposed by Beijing in 2021, focusing on Covid-19 vaccines and poverty alleviation, which included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, but excluded India, the Maldives, and Bhutan. So, the 5th CSACF meeting minus India is not a one-off instance where India got excluded accidentally. It is a clear-cut Chinese strategy to assert its influence in South Asia independently of Indias regional leadership.
The 5th CSACF meeting coincided with the eighth China-South Asia Expo, in which Indian traders participated. The difference between the 5th CSACF meeting and the China South Asia Expo is that in the former heads of States take part whereas in the latter, civilians and traders take part. The question that arises here is about the duality of the approach taken by China. In these two separate events, Chinas attitude towards India becomes clear. CSACF minus India is a clear message to India that it does not want India as an equal partner, and does not see it as a leader. In the second case, it wants to keep up appearances in the Indian business circuit and civil society that it wants a healthy relationship with India, so that the civil society at large pressure the ruling government for taking more pro-China policies. Economically, India has been suffering immense trade deficits with China for at least two decades, owing to the existence of tariff and non-tariff barriers against Indian products in China and the lack of equal market access for Indian goods.
However, through the Expo, China has tried to maintain an appearance that it wants more Indian traders. The reality is quite the opposite. For the last two years, the United States (US) had emerged as Indias largest trading partner, replacing China. This year by a minuscule margin, China has re-emerged as Indias largest trading partner. The difference between India-US trade and India-China trade is a mere $ 0.1 billion. But China has rejoiced in this. China, with its faltering economy and backlashes from across the globe needs India to loosen some of the blocks it had put in place on Chinese investment and traders and apps in India. The best way to do this would be to put up a show that China welcomes Indian traders. In short, China wants India tied down to its tumultuous neighbourhood, prevent its economic rise, while violating its sovereignty and exploiting its huge market to its own advantage.
China has been largely successful in keeping India tied down to the neighbourhood. Pakistan, a state sponsor of terror is backed by China, and the threat of Pakistan-originated terrorism remains high in India. To ensure security, India has to invest immensely in its security apparatus, taking away from the amount it could have spent on strengthening its own infrastructural deficits which would then go a long way in ensuring Indias economic rise. The current Maldives government is a pro-China one and has come to power on an India Out campaign. Nepal and Bangladesh so far have been balancing relatively well between India and China, while Sri Lanka is indebted to China. India, nevertheless has been growing at the fastest rates in the world, and its investments in South Asian countries have actually been more people-centric. However, India has not advertised this enough or used its charm offensive adequately. At the moment, given that India continues to grow and prosper, China will stoke more problems in South Asia, and the 5th CSACF meeting is just the tip of the iceberg.
This article is authored by Sriparna Pathak, associate professor, Chinese Studies and International Relations, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat.
Hailing from Delhi and working in Mumbai, actor Sanya Malhotra admits that the two cities have had a huge influence on her fashion sense. I have a very bipolar sense of fashion. I am a Delhi girl, so there, I like to dress up, do make up and be proper even if I am stepping out for five minutes. In Mumbai, I become much more relaxed and easy going with my fashion sense, she shares, adding that her friends from Delhi got a huge shock seeing her clothes in Mumbai. Theyd be like oh, you look very simple, and that too with a negative connotation. I did the biggest sin when I wore chappals to Khan Market in Delhi. Now, I am much more aware, I know what I like to wear, but I am still trying to find my personal style, she says. Sanya Malhotra dazzles in a coral-hued lehenga inspired by the forests of Vrindavan, designed by Sunita Rathi. This stunning piece blends art deco with elegant peacock motifs, featuring intricate hand embroidery and applique work for modern brides. The ensemble is complemented by jewellery from Gems and Jewels Palace, Jodhpur(Vidhi Godha)
Actor Sanya Malhotra shines in a co-ord set from Moledro that features a hand-embroidered cowl-neck blouse. Paired with fluid pants adorned with floral motifs, the ensemble is sure to make a statement at after-parties. The look has been accessorised with a diamond necklace set in gold from CaratLane for timeless allure (Vidhi Godha)
The actor insists that fashion gives you the opportunity to express yourself in a different way, and she had been missing that for a long time. Malhotra asserts that her off-screen persona differs from her real personality and even her audience acknowledges that: People dont recognise me if I go out with straight hair. There are so many actors in Bollywood who look almost the same in all their characters, and I think they are doing the right thing as there is a recall value to it. But I cant do that.
The actor cuts an elegant figure in a black dress crafted in silk from Anita Dongre, paired with a jacket featuring tropical motifs in zardozi and French knots. She is sporting rings and bangles from Tvisha Jewlz by Himanshu Khunteta. Anita Dongre is participating in the FDCI Manifest Wedding Weekend on August 3 and 4 at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi(Vidhi Godha)
While for many actors their characters might influence their style in real life, for the 32-year-old, its the reverse. I used to get my own clothes on set for Badhaai Ho (2018), and that I keep doing whenever I want to add a personal touch to my characters. In the start of my career, I was invited to an event and I didnt have money to afford a stylist. So, I wore something out of my closet, and I got good ratings for it. I wear my own clothes for events, and I dont mind repeating clothes. I look the best when I style myself, she says.
The actor looks radiant in a long, yellow anarkali dress from W. It features intricate chikankari embroidery with chanderi and georgette drape, which makes it a perfect occasion piece. Her look has been styled with enchanting chandelier Lucknow earrings with basra pearls and Burmese spinals from Gems & Jewels Palace, Jodhpur. The jeweller is participating in the FDCI Manifest Wedding Weekend on August 3 and 4 at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi(Vidhi Godha)
Ask her how her roles have established her as an actor first and Malhotra says, I always wanted to become an actor. My intention was never to become a star, so I am not running behind a title. Early on in her journey, the actor has led films from the front, be it Pagglait (2021) or Kathal (2023), and Malhotra insists that it gave her a lot of confidence. I didnt believe in myself when I signed Pagglait and I actually didnt want to do it as I didnt have the confidence to pull it off. I told my team that we should meet Guneet (Monga, producer) and say no. But the kind of confidence Guneet and Umesh (Shukla, director) sir had in me, I thought of giving it a try. I am glad I did it as that success gave me a lot of confidence to pick up films like Kathal and Mrs.
Sanya looks resplendent in a coral-hued Sunita Rathi lehenga, inspired by the forests of Vrindavan. A fusion of art deco and peacock motifs, along hand kadhai and applique work beautifully come together to create a sophisticated piece for modern brides. The look has been paired with a jadau necklace with rubies, diamonds and white and gold enamel from Gems & Jewels Palace, Jodhpur. The jeweller will be part of the FDCI Manifest Wedding Weekend on August 3 and 4 at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi(Vidhi Godha)
Creative Director and Producer: Shara Ashraf Prayag
Stylist: Anshika Verma
Styling Assistant: Tanisha Bhatia
Talent Coordination: Monika Rawal Kukreja
Photos: Vidhi Godha
Hair and Makeup: Natasha Mathias Dsouza
Hair and Makeup Assistant: Janvi Shau
Production: Akash Bhatnagar, Zahera Kayanat, resham pasan and Yashasvi Pandey
Location: Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai
Artist Reputation Management Company: Raindrop Media
Soon after she began her journey in the film industry as an actor, the charming and supremely talented Taapsee Pannu shifted base to Mumbai. But in her heart, she will always be a Delhi girl. Born and brought up in the national capital, Taapsee not only has beautiful memories of the city but also a special connection to dilwalon ki Dilli. So as the actor turns 37 today, lets celebrate the Sardarnis Delhi connect. Birthday girl Taapsee Pannu
Born and brought up
On August 1, 1987, Delhi residents Dilmohan Singh Pannu and Nirmaljeet Kaur Pannu welcomed their first child into the world. Proud father Dilmohan named his beautiful daughter T-A-P-A-S-E-E, which was not easy for many of her school teachers to pronounce. Well, Tapasee is still the spelling of the actor's name on all legal documents, but for the screen she shifted two As and made it Taapsee
Growing up as a Delhi Sardarni
School and college days are considered as the most memorable times for young individuals. Well, before realizing her dream to be an actor, Taapsee was a student at Ashok Vihars Mata Jai Kaur Public School. She went on to pursue an engineering degree in Computer Science from Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology, Delhi. Even after all these years the actor, who proudly calls herself a Delhi Sardarni, feels like she is in her own territory, her own area when she returns to the national capital
Delhi vs Mumbai
The never-ending Delhi vs Mumbai debate often brings out the true feelings of individuals who have roots in both cities. While Taapsee moved to Mumbai a decade ago and is very much at home, she has self-admittedly been a jhandewali fighting for Delhi each time the topic came up. Also, while enjoying Delhis golgappe during HT City Unwind 2022, Taapsee had shared that Mumbanis panipuri is not worth eating. So there you have it
Dilli ki chaat
Not just golgappe, but Taapsee enjoys all kinds of chaat when she is back home in Delhi. The actor loves gorging on chole bhature and makes sure to eat the delicacy for breakfast when in Delhi. Aaloo tikki is another delicious street food that Taapsee indulges in during her Dilli trips. Despite being one of the fittest celebs of our country, Taapsee has often shared that she lives to eat. That fact in itself makes her a Dilliwala by heart
Delhi girl for life
In several interviews, Taapsee has shared that the city brings a laidback attitude in her because this is her home and she gets a sense of belonging here. She grew up travelling in the Delhi metro as a student and has fond memories of the same. Back in 2015, Taapsee revealed that even after becoming an actor, she continued to travel in the metro. If someone ever asked if she was Taapsee Pannu the Bollywood actor, she would just deny
In the end, it doesnt matter if Taapsee lives in Delhi or Mumbai. What is important is that she permanently resides in her fans hearts. We wish the versatile and gorgeous actor a very happy birthday!
Two persons have died and more than 50 are missing after cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh, prompting a major search and rescue operation. Shimla: Rescue operation underway following a cloudburst in Jhakhari area of Rampur subdivision, in Shimla district, Thursday, August 1, 2024.(PTI)
A cloudburst occurred late last night in the Samej Khad area of Rampur in Shimla district, causing sudden and severe flooding.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, police and home guards started rescue operations, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap said.
Drones are also being used to locate the missing people, he added.
Chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu held a meeting to take stock of the situation.
The cloudburst incident took place around 4:40 am... Around 50 people are missing. 2 bodies have been recovered. Heavy rain is expected in the next 36 hours. DC, SDRF NDRF teams have reached the spot. I have also spoken to the Union Home Minister, said told ANI.
Also Read: Delhi rains: Several weather stations record over 100mm rainfall overnight; yellow alert in place
Another cloudburst was reported in Thaltukhod of the Padhar subdivision in the Mandi district. One body has been recovered from the area and nine people are reported missing, Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan said.
Several houses have been damaged due to the severe flooding.
District administration and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been dispatched to the affected area.
Union home minister Amit Shah spoke with Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to assess the situation following the cloudburst incidents. He assured the chief minister of providing central assistance and the support of the National Disaster Response Force.
Also Read: More rain likely; Delhi Police ask people to avoid Rohtak Road due to waterlogging
Union health minister and BJP national president JP Nadda has asked all BJP cadres to work toward the rescue and relief of people hit by the cloudburst in his home state.
On the sad news of huge losses and disruption of life due to cloudburst in various areas of Himachal Pradesh, Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda spoke to Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu and assured all possible help from the central government. The BJP President JP Nadda also spoke to former CM and LoP in the Himachal assembly Jairam Thakur and the BJP State President and directed all BJP workers to engage in relief work, a statement from the health minister's office said.
Jairam Thakur said: It is bad news for Himachal that in the last rains there were huge losses and again reports of damages are coming this year too. I just had a talk with the CM, and he shared everything in detail. There are reports that 50 people are missing.
There are also reports of damage to the Malana (First) (hydro power project) in Kullu district. There are large scale damages in Mandi district as well. I told the CM that currently we should focus on the rescue operations, he added.
Meanwhile, scary visuals from various parts of Himachal Pradesh have surfaced, showing the swollen Beas River as it surges through valleys and towns.
Agartala: As many as 108 people, including 77 foreign nationals, 23 Indians, and eight touts, were apprehended in July for infiltration, transborder smuggling, and facilitating illegal migration, Border Security Force (BSF) officials said on Thursday. (Representative Photo)
Among the 77 foreign nationals, 71 were Bangladeshi nationals, and the rest were Rohingyas, said officials.
The BSF said that apart from the infiltration bit, 56 incidents of firing from non-lethal weapons took place at the border in July this year, where over 70 rounds were fired to prevent infiltration and the trans-border criminals, in which six were injured. In the same duration, contraband items worth over Rs.4 crore, including 12,692 pieces of Yaba tablets, 360 kilograms of cannabis, 84.6 kilograms of sugar, 5,669 bottles of codeine-based syrup, and 180 cattle, were seized by BSF either alone or in joint operation. Besides, the BSF destroyed 76,000 ganja plants during their joint operation with the Forest Department last month.
The officials said that in order to prevent trans-border crimes and infiltration, the BSF beefed up troops on borders, especially in the smuggling and infiltration-prone areas, and inducted drones and state-of-the-art hand-held thermal imaging and surveillance.
Inspector-general of police, BSF, Tripura, Patel Piyush Purushottam Das, asked all field commanders to coordinate with Tripura Police, Tipura State Rifles, Government Railway Police, Railway Protection Force, Customs, Reserve Inspectors, Forest Department, and other sister agencies for carrying out operations against illegal infiltrators and trans-border smugglers.
Amidst the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, the BSF is monitoring developments and maintaining coordination with the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB), said officials. Four commandant-level flag meetings and 150 company commander/BOP level meetings with BGB were held last month in addition to the IG BSF-region commander-level conference.
The vulnerable areas are being dominated by BSF and BGB jointly by carrying out special coordinated patrols, and more than 100 such patrols have been carried out in the month of July 2024. This has reinforced the mutual trust between the two border guarding forces and has greatly enhanced the synergy, read a press statement from the BSF.
It mentioned that the BSF also facilitated the safe return of over 900 Indian students who were studying in Bangladesh till date due to turmoil there.
Dehradun, Twelve people, including three of a family, were killed and six injured in heavy overnight rains that triggered flooding and house collapse as several rivers swelled in Uttarakhand, officials said on Thursday. 12 dead after torrential overnight rain in U'khand
Most parts of the state did not receive fresh rains till Thursday afternoon.
Six deaths were reported in Haridwar, three in Tehri, two in Dehradun and one in Chamoli.
A seven-year-old child, who was swept away in a swollen stream in Haldwani in Nainital district is still missing, the Disaster Control Room here said.
Two people Sundar Singh and Arjun Singh Rana were swept away by the waters of an overflowing seasonal canal near the Ordnance Factory in Dehradun's Raipur area, Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh said, adding that their bodies have been recovered.
Water gushed into many homes in Dehradun besides leaving the roads heavily waterlogged at various places in the city.
The MeT office here said over the past 24 hours, 172 mm of rainfall was recorded in Dehradun alone.
Haridwar's Roshanabad recorded the highest rainfall of 210 mm, Raiwala recorded 163 mm of rain while it was 140 mm in Haldwani, 112 mm in Roorkee, 107 mm in Narendra Nagar, 98 mm in Dhanolti, 92 mm in Chakrata and 89 mm in Nainital, it said.
In Chamoli's in Devchauli, the body of a woman, who was missing since Wednesday evening after a house collapse, has been found.
In Bharpur village in Bahadarabad area of Haridwar district, four people were killed and six injured after a house collapsed due to heavy rain on Wednesday night, police said.
In another incident reported from Haridwar, two people got electrocuted at Roorkee bus stand.
Three members of a family Bhanu Prasad , his wife Neelam Devi and son Vipin were killed in a landslide that damaged their roadside restaurant following a cloudburst in Jakhanyali village of Tehri district's Ghansali area, the officials said.
Vipin was rescued but died while being taken to the AIIMS in Rishikesh, Tehri District Disaster Management Officer Brijesh Bhatt said.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the disaster-hit Jakhanyali village and met the kin of those killed and consoled them.
Dhami said the government stands with the affected people. All possible assistance will be provided to them.
He directed Tehri District Magistrate to streamline road connectivity, electricity and drinking water supply in the affected areas to restore normalcy.
More than 1,500 pilgrims stranded on the Kedarnath trek route, which is blocked at several places by boulders, have been shifted to safe places.
Pilgrims are being rescued with the help of both helicopters and rescue teams consisting of the SDRF, NDRF, police and district administration.
According to officials, 425 pilgrims have been brought to safety by helicopter from Lincholi and Bhimbali while 1100 pilgrims have reached Sonprayag on foot from various places with the help of rescue teams.
The pilgrims had got stranded beyond Bhimbali along Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route when 20-25 metres of the stretch were washed out by heavy rain on Wednesday night, Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said.
The trek route to the Himalayan temple is blocked by boulders at Ghoraparav, Lincholi, Badi Lincholi and Bhimbali.
An advisory has been issued for Kedarnath-bound pilgrims asking them to wait in a safe place until the weather improves and the roads blocked here and there are restored.
Both Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers in Rudraprayag district are flowing close to the danger mark.
With this, fresh registrations for the Chardham Yatra have been put on hold for the time being.
Rudraprayag District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police are in Shersi to supervise the rescue operations.
Nearly a dozen four-wheelers parked along the riverbed of the Sukhi in Haridwar's Kharkhari area were washed away following torrential rain on Wednesday evening.
In Kharkhari, a truck carrying rations and essentials for a group of kanwariyas was among the vehicles washed away. No one was there in the truck when the incident took place on Wednesday.
Roads were submerged in many areas of Haridwar and the rainwater also entered the Kankhal police station.
Many colonies and markets of Bhupatwala, Haridwar, Naya Haridwar, Kankhal and Jwalapur also got flooded.
Schools up to class 12 and Anganwadi centres remained closed on Thursday in various districts, including Dehradun.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday went on an offensive against the opposition's concerns regarding the increasing number of rail accidents and the current state of railway services in India. New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (PTI)
Those who are shouting here must be asked in their 58 years of being in power why they were not able to install Automatic Train Protection (ATP), even 1 km. Today, they dare to raise the questions, Vaishnaw said in Lok Sabha.
When Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister, she used to give the accident numbers that decreased from 0.24 to 0.19 these people used to clap in the House and today when it has decreased from 0.19 to 0.03, they put such blame, the bureaucrat-turned-politician said.
Union budget: Indian Railways gets 1.08 lakh for safety measures, to install Kavach 4.0
The minister accused the Congress party of spreading false information through social media, instilling unnecessary fear among the millions of daily railway passengers.
Will this country run in this way? Congress, with the help of its troll army on social media, raises false things. Are they trying to infuse fear in the hearts of those 2 crore people who travel every day by railway? he said.
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi hit back at Vaishnaw for evading responsibility for the failures and instead blaming everything on the past.
Today we are seeing a new tradition, that the BJP Ministers do not take the moral responsibility of their failure and instead accuse the history, Gogoi told reporters after walking off from the House.
2 killed, 7 injured as Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derails in UPs Gonda
Pointed to the recent rail accidents, including the deadly Balasore mishap in which around 300 passengers lost their lives, Goigoi called Vaishnaw a derailment minister.
In the last two months, around 4 goods trains have been derailed, around 4 persons died. In June when the Kanchenjunga Express crash happened, 10 people died. In last two months, these incidents happened. Despite this, the Railway Minister has not taken the moral responsibility and resigned. In last year, around 300 passengers died in Balasore, Gogoi said.
"He is not railway minister, he is derailment minister. He should resign. But it is the tradition of BJP that they don't take the moral responsibility, be it Railway Minister or Education Minister. In protest to their response, all INDIA alliance parties leaders walked out," he added.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday reached Pakur and accused 'Bangladeshi infiltrators' of grabbing tribals' land. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (File Photo)
Sarma also highlighted that despite court orders of Tribal family that should be given their land back, the administration is not taking any necessary steps about the same.
Sarma was interacting with reporters Sarma said, "Today, I visited Gaibathan village of Pakur. There is SPT law, so the land of the Adivasis cannot be transferred. Two Bangladeshi infiltrators grabbed their land, the Court gave an order that both of them should be removed and the Adivasi family should be given their land back, but the administration did not do anything."
"When the Adivasi family tried constructing a house on their land, they were attacked by Bangladeshi infiltrators. Even today, they have not got their land back. An Adivasi CM of Jharkhand should help them. Infiltration is not an issue, it is the reality in places like Pakur, Sahibganj..." he added.
"The demography of Pakur and the entire Santhal Pargana has been changing. Our party will provide 1 lakh each to the families of both the Adivasi victims. If Jharkhand CM would have come to my state, I would not have stopped him from visiting anywhere but I have been asked not to visit Gopinathpur, said Sarma.
If the Chief Minister of a state is not allowed to visit a certain place because of the fear of infiltrators, you can understand the situation of Jharkhand. I would not want to visit Gopinathpur forcefully but I will come back again after some time and then I will visit Gopinathpur...," said Assam CM. Earlier, Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the Indo-Bangladesh border is being used by Rohingyas, stating that "Rohingya penetration into India has increased manifold." Addressing a press conference at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati on Wednesday, Sarma said, "I have always believed that Rohingyas are still exploiting the border situation between India and Bangladesh. In Assam, we are guarding only a part of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Recently, we saw Tripura Police arrest a large number of Rohingyas. Rohingya penetration into India has increased manifold." "Last year, Assam Police also uncovered a network, and ultimately, the NIA investigated. The Government of India must strengthen its border with Bangladesh, particularly in West Bengal, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal has stated she will give shelter to Bangladeshi nationals," Sarma added.
Sarma also pointed out the 'demographic shift' in states like Assam, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. "I have observed the demographic invasion in Assam, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Whenever the 2021 census is conducted, I am sure it will reveal shocking news about the demography of Eastern India. The demographic invasion is real, and due to appeasement policies, we are unable to control it," Sarma said."In Assam, the people are very much aware of the demographic invasion, but other Indian states are now suffering. This issue is serious. Demographic invasion is real. In Eastern India, the situation is grim," the Assam Chief Minister added.
India on Thursday urged its citizens not to travel to Lebanon, while calling on those in the West Asian country to exercise caution because of the escalation of tensions due to the killing of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. A man inspects a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP photo)
This was the second advisory issued by the Indian embassy of Beirut since July 29. There are nearly 4,000 Indian nationals in Lebanon.
In view of the recent escalations in the region, Indian nationals are advised to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon, the advisory said without any reference of the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in Israeli air strikes.
All Indian nationals in Lebanon are advised to exercise caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their email id: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, the advisory said.
Also Read: Israel claims Hezbollah military commander, accused of 1983 US marine bombing, killed in Beirut strike
Most of the Indian nationals living in Lebanon are employed as workers in companies, the construction sector and agricultural farms.
The Indian Army also has had a battalion deployed with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since November 1998. The peacekeeping contingent currently consists of 900 personnel. For the first time, Kazakh troops are also serving under the command of the Indian battalion.
Haniyeh was killed along with a bodyguard when an aerial projectile hit the building where he was staying in Tehran early on Wednesday. He was in Iran to attend the inauguration of new
President Masoud Pezeshkian. Both Hamas and Iranian leaders blamed Israel for the air strike that killed him.
Shukr died in an Israeli air strike in Beirut on Tuesday. Israels actions have triggered concerns about the possible escalation of the conflict in Gaza, which could drag in more countries in the region.
Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad's car was attacked on Thursday by some people allegedly over his remarks against former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati. The attack, by three to four persons, who hit the rear part of the MLA's SUV with sticks and also pelted a stone, took place early evening on P D'Mello Road in south Mumbai when he was about to take the Eastern Freeway from CSMT area to proceed to Thane, police said. The attackers also raised slogans in support of Sambhaji Chhatrapati and then fled. A case was registered against six persons on charges of attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint in connection with the attack on the complaint of an NCP spokesperson, the Dongri police station official said. As per the FIR, Swaraj Sanghatana functionary Ankush Kadam and five to six supporters attacked Awhad's SUV in an attempt to kill him, the official said. As Swaraj Sanghatana secretary Dhananjay Jadhav took responsibility for the attack, the complainant said action should be taken against him and four others as well, the official added. "We have booked Kadam, Jadhav and four others. Further probe into the incident is underway," he said. In the evening, some NCP activists were detained for blocking the Eastern Express Highway in Thane in protest against the attack on Awhad. Among those detained were NCP city unit chief Suhas Desai. The road block was lifted soon after, the Thane police official said. Earlier, Awhad attacked former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati over the violence at Vishalgad fort in Kolhapur last month during demolition of encroachments there. Talking to reporters, Awhad also said Kolhapur MP Shahu Chhatrapati, father of Sambhaji Chhatrapati, was not happy with the violence. "If Sambhaji Chhatrapati is a descendant by birth, I am the descendant by ideology," Awhad said. The violence broke out on July 14 after members of right wing outfits, led by Sambhaji Chhatrapati, were stopped at the base of the fort for violating prohibitory orders. The opposition has claimed the anti-encroachment drive at Vishalgad fort was aimed at one community. Speaking about Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's claim that he went to meet the BJP's central leadership in Delhi in disguise, Awhad said," You are after power to such an extent that you feel the need to change your appearance and name. This is mockery of national security." Attacking the BJP over recent statements against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the NCP said the country and its soil was the caste of the Lok Sabha leader of opposition.
Awhad's SUV attacked over his remarks against Sambhaji Chhatrapati; 6 booked
Visuals from Himachal Pradesh showed the Beas river flowing to the brim as heavy rains continued to lash the Himalayan state on Thursday, news agency ANI reported. The monsoon activity is likely to intensify over the hill state as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert till August 2. A view shows the overflowing river Beas following heavy rains in Kullu district in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India. (ANI)
One person died and over 30 were reportedly missing after a cloudburst in Shimla district's Rampur division, PTI reported. Roads and a hydro power project in the area have also been damaged. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and state police have been deployed to start rescue operations.
The weather agency had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning in all districts of Himachal Pradesh except Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti districts for Thursday.
A yellow alert has been issued predicting heavy rain over isolated places from Friday. The current spell of rains is expected to last till August 6 in the state.
Also read | Himachal CMs advisor Ram Subagh Singh gets one year extension
The IMD had warned of possible landslides and flashfloods along vulnerable areas in Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla and Kinnaur districts. Kutcha houses and plantations along low-lying areas were also warned of possible damages due to strong winds and waterlogging. A building collapsed and was washed away in the raging Parvati River in Kullu, PTI reported.
Many roads in the state were closed for vehicular traffic as continuous rainfall increased the possibility of landslides. A total of 45 roads, including 29 in Mandi, eight in Kullu, four in Shimla and two each in Kangra and Kinnaur were closed, said the emergency operation centre. The power supply also remains affected as almost 215 transformers were disrupted.
The state has suffered losses to the tune of 425 crore in the current monsoon season. During the last active spell of rain in the first week of July, 76 roads were closed, 34 electricity supply schemes and 69 water supply schemes were disrupted.
The Madras high court on Wednesday set aside an earlier order which had quashed a show cause notice issued to chief minister MK Stalin and 17 other MLAs from the DMK, when they were Tamil Nadus opposition in 2017 for bringing banned gutka (chewing tobacco) sachets inside the assembly as part of their protest. The HC bench said that proceedings like privilege notices do not expire and referred it back to the House. (HT)
The court referred the breach of privilege proceedings initiated against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders back to the present Privilege Committee, secretary and speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly directing them to take final decision as expeditiously as possible.
The Tamil Nadu assembly secretary had moved the court against an order of a single judge in 2020 quashing the privilege notices issued to the DMK legislators when they brought in banned gutka sachets to protest over the gutka scam under the then AIADMK regime. The DMK formed the government in 2021.
Advocate general P S Raman argued for the current DMK government that the privilege notices were issued to them to safeguard the then AIADMK government from collapsing under Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and added that it would expire once the term of the assembly was over.
A division bench of justices SN Subramaniam and C Kumarappan, who are hearing the case, said that proceedings like privilege notices do not expire and referred it back to the House. The proceedings have not reached finality, the court added.
Undoubtedly, setting aside the SCN (show cause notice) issued by the Privilege Committee of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly would set a bad precedent and result in opening of an avenue to many similarly placed persons to challenge SCN relating to breach of privileges of the House by way of writ petition before the High Courts, the bench said on Wednesday.
The high court cited various judgements of the Supreme Court to reiterate judicial restraint in matters of show cause notices. More specifically, in issues pertaining to the conduct of Members inside the Assembly, where the scope of Judicial review is to be applied sparingly by virtue of the wordings in Articles 212 and 194(3) of the Constitution of India, the interference of the Courts at the very initial stage of issuance of SCN is unwarranted, the court said. The judges said they are not convinced with the single judge setting aside the show cause notices and that the proceedings must reach its logical conclusion as per the rules of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.
Privileges and the powers of the Honble speaker of the House would not lapse merely on account of change of Government. The notice issued by the Privilege Committee is relating to disciplinary affairs of the House. Therefore, the proceedings will not lapse merely for the reason that the opposition party turned to be the ruling party..., the court added.
Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while addressing the Lok Sabha on Thursday, lost his cool with opposition members. Chup baitho (be quiet). We are not just people who make reels, we are people who work hard, he said. Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. (PTI)
Vaishnaw's reaction came after the opposition INDIA bloc criticised him for arriving at the accident site on a motorcycle, questioning whether he was a rail minister or a reel minister.
He said that safety measures were neglected during the Congress regime and that the Opposition consistently seeks to politicise the issue.
Those who are shouting here should be asked why they failed to install Automatic Train Protection (ATP) even for 1 km during their 58 years in power. Today, they have the audacity to raise questions, said the railway minister.
In a veiled attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Union railway minister said that those busy making reels with locomotive drivers accomplished nothing during their tenure. He was referring to Rahul Gandhi's visit to loco pilots in Delhi on July 7.
During his speech, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) member Hanuman Beniwal called him a reel minister and a derail minister.
However, in his response, Vaishnaw turned and sharply told Beniwal to please sit down (chup baitho). He then addressed the Opposition MPs, saying, Chup baitho (be quiet). We are not just people who make reels, we are people who work hard, he said.
Taking a jibe at the previous Congress-led UPA regime, Vaishnaw said that the annual average number of accidents was 171, which has decreased by 68 per cent during the 10 years of the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When Mamata Banerjee was railway minister, she used to report a decrease in accident numbers from 0.24 to 0.19 and members in to House applauded her. Today, with the figure dropping from 0.19 to 0.03, we are being blamed. Will this country run in this way? questioned Vaishnaw.
He also alleged that the Congress party with the help of its troll army on social media has been raising false claims and trying to instil fear in the hearts of the two crore people who travel by railways every day.
Clashes broke out between Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) residing in a relief camp and security forces in Imphal East district of Manipur on Thursday after security personnel used tear gas to disperse a protest rally by the camp residents demanding their rehabilitation, people familiar with the matter said. Clashes in Manipur after security forces use tear gas on protesters (Representative Photo)(HT_PRINT)
IDPs from Akampat relief camp attempted to stage a protest rally till chief minister N Biren Singhs bungalow at Babupara in Imphal, but were stopped by security forces soon after they exited the camp gate, leading to an altercation.
After repeated warnings through loudspeakers asking the protesters to not move forward, security forces, including the state police, fired tear gas shells at the rally to disperse the crowd. The protesters, joined by locals, retaliated by pelting stones at the security personnel.
They managed to continue their rally for about 1 km but were stopped at Singjamei in Imphal West after additional security reinforcements, including CRPF personnel, arrived, an official said, requesting anonymity
Around 10 protesters were rushed to a hospital after they complained of suffocation due to tear gas. They were discharged after first aid, the official added.
Read more: We want to go home: Manipurs displaced people hold rally, face police action
The relief camp residents holding placards and banners march were demanding their rehabilitation and a resolution to the ethnic violence in Manipur so they could return to their homes at Moreh in Tengnoupal district, and other areas.
The IDPs have been suffering for the last over 15 months. We are demonstrating to demand that the Manipur government make necessary arrangements so that we can return to our homes, Thangjam Budha Meitei, a resident of Moreh, residing in the relief camp, said.
After being dispersed from the spot, the protesters staged a sit-in protest on the Indo-Myanmar Highway-2 (Imphal-Moreh) road, blocking it for around 2 hours.
Since May 3 last year, Manipur has witnessed clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities, which has claimed at least 226 lives to date and uprooted around 60,000 people, many of whom are still residing in relief centres.
After the issue of the clashes was raised in the state assembly, which was in session, by Congress legislator Ranjit Singh, leader of the House and chief minister Biren Singh said the state government is working towards peace talks and has held several meetings in Assams Silchar.
Read more: PM Modi meets Manipur CM in first meeting since clashes
We are making immense efforts towards peace talks with the assistance of MLAs and other members. Meetings have been held in Silchar, and we will soon make an announcement, Singh said, without elaborating on the meetings.
Calling the ongoing violence as an unexpected and unwanted turn of events, Singh alleged that some issues are being politicised, which is complicating the situation.
There are elements which are politicising certain issues that cannot be immediately handled now. I appeal to all not to engage in such activities, Singh said. Given the grim law and order situation, taking extreme measures, including arrests, might have negative repercussions.
The chief minister also informed the assembly that 226 people have died due to the ethnic violence in the state and 11,133 houses have been burned while over 59,000 displaced people are sheltered in relief camps.
Delhi's Patiala House court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer accused of using fraudulent means to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. UPSC on Wednesday cancelled the provisional candidature of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar (File Photo)
She had moved the court seeking pre-arrest bail in a case registered against her for allegedly faking her identity to get more attempts in the UPSC examination.
The court said that the investigating agency, the Delhi Police, needs to widen the scope of its investigation.
It also directed the police to find out whether some insider of the UPSC had helped her attain her goal.
On Wednesday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled the provisional candidature of the controversial trainee IAS officer. The body also debarred her from appearing for any exam conducted by the UPSC.
"The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC," the body had said.
Puja Khedkar had secured an all-India rank of 821 in the UPSC exams.
"In the backdrop of the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the UPSC has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates of the CSEs from the year 2009 to 2023 i.e. for 15 years concerning the number of attempts availed by them. After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules. In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents name. The UPSC is in the process of further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future, UPSC added.
The Delhi police had registered an FIR against her over a complaint filed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The UPSC's action came two weeks after Puja Khedkar was relieved from the District Training Programme of the government of Maharashtra.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
Karnataka traffic police's decision to register FIR against drivers who exceed the speed limit of 130 km per hour came into effect on Thursday. The drivers, if found over-speeding will booked under the offence of rash and dangerous driving under Section 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Additional Director General of Police (Traffic and Road Safety) Alok Kumar SAID 155 persons sped at more than 130 kmph on Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway on July 25. (PIC FOR REPRESENTATION). (Sunl Ghosh/HT Photo)
This decision, announced on Monday, was taken because over-speeding caused about 90 per cent of fatal accidents in the state in 2022, reported PTI quoting a senior police official.
Additional Director General of Police (Traffic and Road Safety) Alok Kumar said, "From August 1, FIR will be registered against those driving vehicles above 130 km per hour anywhere in Karnataka for rash and dangerous driving."
Kumar added that 155 persons sped at more than 130 kmph on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway on July 25.
The drivers will be booked under section 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rash and negligent driving and once the speed limit is beyond 120 km per hour, it becomes rash or dangerous driving.
Earlier, the Supreme Court monitoring committee took note of the rampant rise in over-speeding and loss of lives due to it in Karnataka, thus demanding the state government to take action regarding this issue.
ALSO READ | Most of the victims who die due to road accidents in Bengaluru are men: Report
ADGP Alok Kumar said the new rule will be applicable to all roads and not just limited to highways. The police aim to bring this rule into effect with the help of speed laser guns and Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras which would record vehicle speeds and their images. Laser guns have been currently installed all along the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway. The police also distributed 155 speed laser guns, reported PTI. Kumar added that it is slightly more challenging during night time to record vehicle speeds.
Currently, the speed limit on national highways across the country is 100 km per hour while the state and other highways have lower speed limits. The speed limit is 120 km per hour on Expressways, which is the maximum speed limit with which a vehicle is allowed to ply in the country.
(with inputs from PTI)
Lok Sabha MP and former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday moved a notice to bring a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha for sharing the speech of BJP MP Anurag Thakur on his social media platform X even as some parts of it were expunged.
Heres an explainer on how breach of privilege works.
What accounts for a lawmakers privileges?
A lawmakerbe it MP or MLAenjoys certain privileges such as no misinformation can be spread about him or her in the legislative House. A lawmakers speech in the House cannot be challenged before any court or he has a right to reply if his or her name is mentioned by another lawmaker. When the legislative session is going on, lawmakers should be informed first about any change in government policy or law before others. Thats the reason why the government doesnt publicise decisions of Union Cabinet when a Parliament session is on.
What is a breach of privilege?
If a member or a minister makes an unsubstantiated comment or if any person maligns the reputation of an MP or prohibits the lawmaker from his work, a Parliamentarian or an MLA can file a complaint to the Speaker (or the Chairman in case of Rajya Sabha) that his privileges has been breached.
Did any Prime Minister or former PM face any privileges notice before?
Yes. On November 22, 1978, a year after the Emergency was lifted, the Lok Sabhas privileges panel concluded that former PM Indira Gandhi was guilty of contempt of the House. The panel, led by Janata Party MP Samar Guha, had looked into the breach of privileges complaint filed by CPIM MP Jyotirmoy Bosu that Gandhis government create hurdles for government officials to collect information on Maruti for a question he put in 1975. She was also expelled from the House in 1978.
How did the PMs post on X (formerly Twitter) allegedly breach Charanjit Singh Channis privileges?
According to Channi, PM posted the link of the entire speech of Anurag Thakur, but some words of that speech had been expunged. Tweeting or publicising expunged words amounts to breach of privileges, according to Channi. In general, expunged words or remarks cant be publicised.
Does Parliament of India have proper rules on privileges?
There is a set of rules on moving privilege notices. Under Rule 222 of the House, A member may, with the consent of the Speaker, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a Committee thereof.
Rule 223 stipulates that A member wishing to raise a question of privilege shall give notice in writing to the Secretary General by 10.00 AM on the day the question is proposed to be raised.
What happens now after Channis breach of privileges notice?
According to rule 222 says, the Speaker must give his consent before it can be processed. In this case, the Speaker will examine the feasibility of the notice and then decide.
If the Speaker gives his consent to any such notice, it is usually sent to the privileges committee for examination. The panel calls both the accused and the complainant before submitting its report to the House.
New Delhi, The special focus on skilling, entrepreneurship, innovation and employment in the Union budget will help India become a developed nation and a solution provider to the world, BJP leader Sambit Patra said on Thursday. Focus on skilling, innovation in budget to help India become developed nation: Patra
Participating in a debate on the demands for grants for the Union education ministry in the Lok Sabha, the Puri MP said there was a significant increase in the budget allocation for the sector.
The Union Budget for 2024-25 provided 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment and skilling.
The main reason for giving importance to skilling, entrepreneurship and innovation is that "India wants to go towards Viksit Bharat, we want to create the talent basket, we want to be a skill hub, we want to be a solution provider to the globe", he said.
Patra cited data to state that allocations for school and higher education had been increased by 52.4 per cent in the past 10 years.
He also accused the opposition parties of shedding crocodile tears in the name of reservation and claimed quotas for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were ended in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University during the Congress regime.
"The Congress will have to answer ," Patra said.
On the paper leak issue, he said a number of such incidents occurred during the United Progressive Alliance regime.
"How many paper leaks do you have in your pocket?" the Puri MP asked, adding that the Modi government was bringing a bill on the matter.
He added that significant improvements had been registered in all key indicators of the education sector, such as gross enrolment ratio and pupil-teacher ratio, since the Modi government assumed power in 2014.
Participating in the discussions, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh claimed that there had been a decline in the budgetary allocation for the education sector.
He alleged that the funds for academic institutions, including the University Grants Commission, had been declining since 2014.
The government is not focusing on increasing investments in the higher education sector, he said. "It will weaken the institutions."
Abdussamad Samadani, the Indian Union Muslim League MP from Kerala's Ponnani, accused the government of following a polarisation policy in education.
He claimed the government had scrapped certain parts in some history books and said such actions were condemnable.
Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj said paper leak incidents had serious implications on students and the government should strictly punish people involved in such activities.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Delhi, High courts often do not adhere to the timeline of initiating proposals to fill up vacancies six months before they arise, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, noting that recommendations against 154 vacancies are yet to be received from the various HC collegiums. HCs often do not follow timeline to initiate proposals to fill up vacancies of judges: Govt
It also said that as many as 359 posts of judges are vacant in the various high courts and 205 proposals have been received to fill up these vacancies.
In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said as per the memorandum of procedure , the initiation of proposal for appointment of judges in the high courts vests with the chief justice of the concerned high court.
MoP is a set of documents that guide the appointment, transfer and resignation of high court and Supreme Court judges.
"Chief justice of the HC is required to initiate the proposal to fill up of vacancy of a high court judge six months prior to the occurrence of vacancy. However, this timeline is often not adhered to by the high courts," the minister pointed out.
Meghwal said as on July 25, the Supreme Court is functioning at its full strength of 34 judges including the Chief Justice of India.
He said as regards the high courts, against the sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, 755 judges are working and 359 posts are vacant in the various high courts.
As many as 205 proposals for appointment of HC judges are at various stages of processing between the government and the Supreme Court Collegium.
"The recommendations against 154 vacancies are yet to be received from high court collegiums," Meghwal noted.
Responding to a separate question, the law minister said as on July 25, 24 proposals recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment of high court judges are under various stages of processing.
As per the established procedure, the high court collegiums send their recommendations for appointment of HC judges to the Department of Justice in the Union law ministry. The department then attaches its inputs and Intelligence Bureau reports on the candidates and forwards it to the Supreme Court Collegium.
The Supreme Court Collegium then takes a call on candidates it deems fit for appointment as high court judges and recommends accordingly to the government.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Delhi, How could someone be appointed to a government job without proper checking and verification of documents, the Supreme Court asked on Thursday while expressing surprise over the appointment of some employees in the Railways on the basis of forged documents. How can someone be appointed to govt job without proper verification of documents? asks SC
The apex court said such instances in the Railways, one of India's largest employers, ought to be checked.
A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol was dealing with a matter concerning termination of services of some employees who were appointed on compassionate grounds in the Eastern Railway.
The top court noted they were sacked as their appointments were found to be based on forged and bogus documents.
"Before parting with the matter, however, in the facts of this case, we express our surprise towards the actions of the appellant-employer who appointed the respondent-employees on the basis of questionable documentation, which was later found to be forged, fabricated and bogus," the bench said in its verdict.
"How could someone be appointed to a government job without proper checking and verification of documents? The Railways are regarded to be one of the largest employers in the country and yet such incidents falling through the cracks ought to be checked," it said.
The bench was dealing with the Centre's appeals challenging the Calcutta High Court's August 2012 verdict which had reversed the order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Calcutta bench.
These employees had approached the tribunal against the termination order.
The tribunal had dismissed their applications after which they moved the high court.
The apex court noted that the Railways had issued show cause notices to these employees asking why their appointment on compassionate grounds should not be terminated as they were secured using forged and fabricated documents with respect to the employment of their respective fathers.
It noted that after receiving their responses, the authority terminated their services on finding that their appointments were based on forged, fabricated and bogus documents.
The bench said the principle of compassionate appointment has been put in place to ameliorate the suffering that is cast upon members of a family following the sudden death of the earning member.
"An equally well-recognised principle is that compassionate appointment cannot be claimed as a matter of right. It is therefore clear that a person, claiming an appointment on such ground, has to demonstrate his relationship to the deceased person and eligibility for appointment," it said.
The bench said the tribunal as also the authority had recorded a categorical finding that the employees had not submitted any document to establish their claim and submitted forged and bogus documents.
It noted that these employees had, at every stage, actively participated in the adjudication process of their alleged improper and illegal appointments.
The bench said after it was discovered that they had secured appointments on the basis of forged and fabricated documents, an FIR was also registered against them in December 2005.
"Compassionate appointment is granted to those persons whose families are left deeply troubled or destitute by the primary breadwinner either having been incapacitated or having passed away. So when persons seeking appointment on such ground attempt to falsely establish their eligibility, as has been done in this case, such positions cannot be allowed to be retained," it said.
The apex court said these employees, having obtained their position by fraud, "would not be considered to be holding a post for the purpose of the protections under the Constitution".
While allowing the appeals, the bench set aside the high court verdict and restored the order passed by the tribunal.
"The respondent-employees were rightly dismissed from service by the appellant-employer," it said, while clarifying that its observations were only with respect to dismissal from service and shall have no bearing on the criminal proceedings pending against them in the court concerned.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Delhi: More than 100 nations, including India and China, face serious obstacles in their transition to high-income developed economies amid increasing chances of getting stuck in the so-called middle-income trap, the World Bank said in its flagship World Development Report 2024 released on Thursday. (Representative Photo)
The bank said since 1990, only 34 middle-income nations were able to leap to the high-income category. Middle-income countries will have to work miracles. They cant rely on the old playbook. Thats like driving a car in first gear and trying to go fast, it said.
The main challenge for a total of 108 middling countries is that traditional growth environments of connected trade and open economies no longer exist or are fast crumbling. Climate change is an additional hurdle because adaptation mechanisms will cost poor countries more than the rich, it said.
Drawing on lessons of the past 50 years, our report finds that as countries grow wealthier, they usually hit a trap at about 10% of annual US GDP per persontthe equivalent of $8,000 today, said Indermit Gill, the World Banks chief economist, in a statement. Thats in the middle of the range of what the World Bank classifies as middle-income countries.
The global economic order is increasingly being marked by rising geopolitical tensions, de-globalisation, offshoring, and protectionism, changing trade in complex ways, the bank said.
If middle-income countries dont change their economic models, then it will take China more than 10 years just to reach one-quarter of US income per capita, Indonesia 70 years, and India 75 years, the report said. It noted Indias aim to become a developed nation by 2047 as a laudable goal.
The report unveiled its first-ever three-stage roadmap to avoid a stall in progress: invest, infuse, and innovate. Each phase will require a different mix of policies, the report added.
While least developed economies need to keep focusing on asset creation, capital investments for too long alone arent sufficient for mid-level countries to raise per capita incomes, the report said.
Countries, such as India, now need infusion, or the import of an array of foreign technologies, which must be then widely diffused, along with a highly skilled workforce.
Old, especially inefficient, state-run and private-sector companies must be replaced by numerous new firms in the economy, which should not be dominated by a few large enterprises, the report said.
In the final phase, these economies must get into the innovation mode, the report said, citing Korea as an exceptional case, with a current per capita income of $33000.
Chile escaped the middle-income trap by importing Norwegian salmon farming technologies, while socialist Poland made the jump by integrating into Europe and benefiting from the continents technologies, the report said.
Mid-sized countries are also getting old before getting rich, as the elderly population is increasing due to falling death rates, the report said.
India could be already facing a demographic transition. Addressing reporters at a recent council meeting of state-run think tank Niti Aayog, CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said: Some states have requested addressing demographic management. India will need a demographic-management policy to manage the elderly population.
Gills report highlighted Indias Aadhaar-enabled public digital infrastructure and also the path taken by the Tata group, which imported computers for its offices in an era when imports were conditional on exports, as notable innovations.
To meet state-mandated export obligations, the Tata group computerised its office and started exporting software services for the first time to the US by setting up the Tata Consultancy Services.
Once at the upper-middle-income level, countries should shift gears again to add innovation to investment and infusion. In the innovation phase, countries no longer merely borrow ideas from the global frontiers of technologythey push the frontier.
The Indian Embassy in Beirut has issued an advisory urging Indian nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon amid the escalating tensions in the region. Indian nationals residing in Lebanon were advised to restrict their movements and maintain regular contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their designated email or emergency phone number. Masked boys hold machine gun toys during a protest in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, to condemn the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.(AP)
In view of the recent escalations in the region, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Lebanon, the Embassy said.
All Indian nationals in Lebanon are advised to exercise caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with Embassy of India in Beirut through their email id: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, it added.
Who is Khaled Meshaal, set to be Hamas chief after Ismail Haniyeh assassinated?
This advisory follows a series of similar warnings from other countries, including Australia, the US and Britain.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged Australian citizens in Lebanon to leave the West Asian nation immediately.
"Now is the time to leave, the security situation could deteriorate quickly with little or no notice," Wong said in a video message on social media platform X.
Wong pointed to the risk of Beirut airport shutting down, potentially stranding people for an extended period, and advised Australians to use commercial flights while they are still operational.
The Middle East has been on edge for months due to Israel's war in Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and a severe humanitarian crisis. The situation further deteriorated following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, for which Iran blamed Israel.
Iran has historically balanced its actions to avoid an all-out war while pressuring Israel through its allies and proxy forces. However, with the assassination of Haniyeh, Irans response remains uncertain.
Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation, reported The New York Times.
Military commanders are considering a combination attack involving drones and missiles targeting military sites near Tel Aviv and Haifa, avoiding civilian areas to prevent further escalation.
The Israeli military announced on Thursday that a strike last month in the southern Gaza area of Khan Yunis had killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. The announcement came a day after the militant group's political leader Isamil Haniyeh was assassinated in Teheran. Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, had been one of Israel's most wanted men for almost 30 years. (X)
"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) announces that on July 13th, 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Yunis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike," the military said.
Deif is believed to have been one of the planners of Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, which started the Gaza war, now ongoing for 300 days.
Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre, the military statement added.
The announcement coincided with crowds gathering in Tehran for the funeral of Haniyeh.
One of the most influential figures in Hamas, Deif has advanced through the group's ranks over 30 years, building its tunnel network and improving its bomb-making skills, AFP reported. He has been at the top of Israel's most wanted list for many years, held responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings.
The suspected 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bomb around the house where Deif was believed to be hiding with one of his deputies created a large crater, AFP stated.
Deif, the leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, had been one of Israel's most wanted men for almost 30 years and was placed on a US list of "international terrorists" in 2015.
The military stated that Deif had conducted several attacks against Israel over the years and operated alongside Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, as per AFP.
During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing, the military said.
During the Hamas attack, militants captured 251 people, and 111 are still held in Gaza, including 39 who the military says are dead. Since then, Israel's military response has killed 39,480 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza, which does not specify how many of those were civilians or militants.
Bengaluru, The Karnataka government on Thursday "strongly advised" Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the show cause notice he issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority site allotment 'scam', and alleged that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime. The Council of Ministers discussed the show cause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the Constitutional Office'' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations. Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted. "...Hence, the request of the petitioner needs to be processed as per provisions of section 17 and 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023...", the governor had said in his notice to the chief minister. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers which lasted five hours, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, flanked by seven cabinet colleagues, said the governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham has criminal antecedents, including cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him. The council strongly urged the governor to withdraw the notice and to proceed forthwith to reject the application for sanction filed by Abraham, he said. "I am hopeful that the governor will withdraw the notice and uphold the dignity of his office in spite of any pressure." Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the governor, in issuing the show cause notice, has acted in undue haste, circumventing all procedural requirements. He described the governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution''. "There is no case for prosecution here," he asserted. " a chief minister who has been elected with a huge majority in a democratic set up is a murder of democracy and detrimental to the Constitution by the Centre... the central government is using the governor..." he said. Shivakumar said that Abraham had submitted a letter to the governor on July 26. On the same day, the chief secretary had personally given a detailed reply to the governor on the issue through a report, as sought by him earlier. "Without looking into the aspects and issues, the genuinity of the report of the chief secretary, the governor has issued a show cause notice on July 26... This is a political, malafide show cause notice. We never expected this from the governor. He could have studied and looked into the report submitted by the chief secretary," he said. The chief minister skipped today's meeting of the Council of Ministers and authorised Shivakumar to chair it. Home Minister G Parameshwara said since the Cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to the CM the governor, ministers requested the chief minister to skip it. Earlier today at a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah held discussions with his cabinet colleagues regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high commands directions on the issue. The chief minister's Legal Advisor A S Ponnanna, a MLA, who was also present at the press meet, said as per Article 163 of the Constitution, the governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers and at his discretion when provided under the Constitution. He further said: "Prior approval under section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act can be sought only by the investigation officer after due verification, not by T J Abraham." In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA. MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout. Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts. BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of 4,000 crore to 5,000 crore. On July 14, the Congress government constituted a single-member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'. Siddaramaiah, along with Shivakumar, on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
Karnataka govt 'strongly urges' governor to withdraw show cause notice issued to CM
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed the Muslim side's plea challenging the maintainability of suits in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah dispute in Mathura. A view of the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex and Shahi Eidgah Mosque, in Mathura.(ANi file photo)
The judgement had been reserved by Justice Mayank Kumar Jain.
Reacting to the development, the lawyer of the Hindu side, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, said that they will be ready if the Muslim side approaches the Supreme Court.
Also read: Krishna Janmabhoomi case: Allahabad HC seeks ASI reply on Agra mosque survey
"Today Allahabad High Court has rejected the application of order 7 rule 11 filed by Shahi Eidgah Masjid and held that all these 18 suits are not barred by the Places of Worship Act...The next date of hearing is 12th August. The result is that the trials will proceed and the intention and the effort to nib in the trial on the issue of maintainability has been rejected. We will file the caveat before the Supreme Court and if the Shahi Eidgah Masjid approaches the SC, we will be present there," he said.
Several suits have been filed seeking the "removal" of the Shahi Idgah mosque located adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, with litigants claiming that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of a Krishna temple.The mosque management committee, in its petition, had challenged these suits.
The Muslim side mosque management committee and UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had argued that the suits were barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
According to the Muslim side, the suits itself admit the fact that the mosque in question was built in 1669-70.
The suits filed by the Hindu side contain a common prayer seeking the "removal" of the Shahi Idgah mosque from the 13.37-acre complex it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev temple in Mathura. The additional prayers include seeking possession of the Shahi Idgah premises.
The court will resume hearing on August 12.
With inputs from ANI
Bangladesh on Thursday banned theJamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing, and other related groups. The government labelled the party as a "militant and terrorist" organisation. This move is part of a nationwide crackdown after weeks of violent protests that resulted in more than 200 deaths and thousands of injuries. Jamaat-e Islami has been banned from participating in national elections since 2014 after the Election Commission cancelled its registration. (AFP)
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political allies accused Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, and other related groups of provoking violence during recent student protests about the government job quota system.
In an official notice, seen by The Associated Press, Bangladeshs Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Thursday that the ban was enacted under an anti-terrorism law.
Since July 15, at least 211 people have died, and over 10,000 have been arrested across the country.
Jamaat-e Islami has been banned from participating in national elections since 2014 after the Election Commission cancelled its registration, AP reported.
In 2013, the High Court banned the party from elections, stating that its constitution conflicted with the national constitution by opposing secularism. However, it was still allowed to carry out political activities like holding meetings, rallies, and making statements. Ten years later, in 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed the High Court's decision, ending the long legal battle and preventing the party from taking part in elections or using its symbols. Yet, the Supreme Court did not completely ban the party.
Jamaat-e Islami was established in 1941 during British colonial rule by a controversial Islamic scholar. During the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, the party opposed the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation.
Since 2013, many top leaders of the party have been executed or imprisoned after being found guilty of crimes against humanity, such as killings, abductions, and rapes in 1971. During the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971, the party had created militia groups to assist the Pakistani military. Bangladesh gained independence on December 16, 1971, with the support of India. According to Bangladesh, 3 million people died, 200,000 women were raped, and almost 1 million people fled to India during the war.
The party was banned after Bangladesh gained independence in 1971 due to its involvement in the mass killings under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshs founding leader and Hasinas father. The ban was lifted in 1976, a year after Rahman and most of his family were killed in a military coup. Only Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived because they were in Germany at the time.
Jamaat was banned twice before, in 1959 and 1964 in Pakistan, for its communal actions.
On Thursday, the party did not respond right away, but on Tuesday night, the party's chief, Shafiqur Rahman, said in a statement that any decision like this should be condemned after Law Minister Anisul Huq from Hasina's Awami League party mentioned that a decision was coming soon.
We strongly condemn and protest the illegal, unauthorized, and unconstitutional decision to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The 14-party alliance led by the Awami League is a political platform. One political party or alliance cannot make decisions about another political party. The laws and constitution of Bangladesh do not grant such authority. If a trend of banning one party by another party or alliance begins, it will lead to chaos and the collapse of state order, he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
New Delhi, More than 20 people were killed, homes washed away and hundreds left stranded as torrential rains triggered landslides and caused rivers to swell in parts of north India. With many missing, rescuers raced against time as they scrambled through uprooted trees and collapsed buildings to look for survivors. Monsoon mayhem: Over 20 killed as rains trigger landslides, flooding in parts of north India
Down south, the death toll in the devastating landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district climbed to 177 on Thursday, with authorities saying that it could increase further as rescue operations are still underway.
Heavy overnight rain in Uttarakhand claimed 12 lives, flattened homes and left several areas submerged.
Haridwar district reported six deaths, Tehri three, Dehradun two and Chamoli one. Two persons, one each in Haldwani and Chamoli, are missing, the Disaster Control Room said.
Water entered many homes in Dehradun and roads at various places in the city were waterlogged. Many colonies and markets in Bhupatwala, Haridwar, Naya Haridwar, Kankhal and Jwalapur were also flooded.
Three members of a family Bhanu Prasad , his wife Neelam Devi and their son Vipin were killed in a landslide triggered by a cloudburst in Jakhanyali village in Tehri, the officials said.
They said 450 pilgrims bound for Kedarnath were stranded beyond Bhimbali along the Gaurikund-Kedarnath trek route after 20-25 metres of the stretch was washed out by heavy rain.
The pilgrims stranded on the trek route to Kedarnath are being brought to an emergency helipad, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a post on Facebook.
Dhami visited the disaster management centre in Dehradun on Thursday morning to review the situation across the state and asked officials to remain alert.
In Rudraprayag district, Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers were flowing close to the danger mark.
Teams of National Disaster Response Force , State Disaster Response Force and local administration have been deployed in the affected areas of the state, the officials said.
Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh also reeled under monsoon fury as multiple cloudburst incidents killed five people and left about 50 missing. Homes, roads and bridges were swept away by torrents of mud and water.
The state emergency operation centre said the cloudbursts occurred in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu district, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur district in Shimla district.
The Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been damaged at several places due to landslides, an official said.
According to officials, teams of NDRF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police , police and home guards had launched rescue operations and drones were being used to locate missing persons.
A breach was also reported in Malana Dam in Kullu but the situation is under control, the officials said.
Some people are stuck in the Malana I hydropower project. They are in underground buildings and safe and NDRF and home guard teams are trying to rescue them, Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S Raveesh told PTI.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and took stock of the situation. Shah assured him of all help from the Centre.
Heavy rains have lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh since Wednesday evening. Palampur received the highest rainfall in the state at 212 mm, according to the meteorological department. Chauri received 203 mm of rainfall, Dharamshala 183.2 mm Jogindernagar 161 mm, Kangra 150 mm, Sujanpur Tira 142 mm, Baijnath 135 mm, Shimla 64.6 mm, Sainj 61 mm and Bilaspur 56 mm.
The Shimla meteorological centre has issued a 'red alert' for heavy to extremely heavy rain along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in the states Kangra, Kullu and Mandi districts on Thursday. It also warned of landslides, mudslides and land sinking.
Rains claimed three lives in Delhi.
While a man died when a building collapsed in north Delhis Sabzi Mandi area on Wednesday night, a woman and her three-year-old son drowned in a drain on a waterlogged road near the Khoda Colony area, officials said.
Three people were also injured in wall collapse incidents in Defence Colony and Shastri Nagar areas, they said.
Heavy rainfall unleashed chaos in Delhi on Wednesday evening, inundating large parts of the city, while key stretches were choked with unending traffic.
Till 7 am, Delhi Police had received 2,945 calls of traffic jams, 127 calls of waterlogging, 27 calls about building collapses and 50 calls about fallen trees, the officials said.
In Rajasthan's Jaipur, three members of a family drowned as rainwater entered the basement of their house in the Vishwakarma area on Thursday morning, officials said.
The bodies of Kamal Shah , Pooja Saini and her niece Purvi Saini were recovered by the SDRF during an hours-long rescue operation, they said.
According to the Jaipur Meteorological Department, Karauli, Sawaimadhopur, Alwar, Churu, Bharatpur, Tonk, Sikar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur, Nagaur and Jhunjhunu received heavy to very heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Thursday.
Jaipur received the highest rainfall of 173 mm during this period, the weather office said.
In Karnataka, a 56-year-old woman died after her house partially collapsed in Nellikaru village in Udupi district due to heavy to very heavy rainfall, officials said.
Phalguni river in Dakshina Kannada and Shambhavi river in Udupi district are in spate following torrential rains over the past two days, they said.
Two days after landslides triggered by torrential rains upended lives in Keralas Wayanad district, rescuers continued to dig through mud and debris in search of survivors.
The death toll climbed to 177 on Thursday with the district administration saying it may increase further.
More than 200 people were injured in the landslides that hit the hilly district in the early hours of Tuesday while many were fast asleep.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Delhi Police issued an advisory for early morning commuters asking them to avoid key arterial Rohtak Road due to heavy waterlogging and potholes after multiple weather stations recorded over 100mm rainfall until Thursday morning following light to moderate rain overnight that left large parts of the city waterlogged, disrupting traffic. Waterlogged Pragati Maidan Tunnel late on Wednesday. (HT PHOTO)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said parts of Delhi were expected to get scattered drizzle to light rain on Thursday morning. A yellow alert, which relates to the bad weather that can potentially get worse, has sounded for the rest of Thursday with light to moderate rainfall likely in parts of Delhi.
A convergence of thunderclouds on Wednesday evening led to rain in Delhi and the National Capital Region with initial extremely intense rainfall of over 50mm per hour. Weather officials said there was a drop in the rain intensity after 8:30 pm on Wednesday but it continued in most parts of Delhi until 2:30am before clouds began to clear up.
On Thursday morning, police said water was drained out of stretches such as Chaudhary Fateh Singh Marg near Majnu Ka Tilla and Okhla underpass, which impacted traffic late on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday evening, warnings were issued to avoid stretches such as Anuvrat Marg, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, the carriageway from Moolchand towards Chirag Dilli, Outer Ring Road.
IMD said weather stations, including Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhis weather, received heavy rainfall or over 64.4mm in a 24-hour period from 8:30 am on Wednesday until 5:30 am on Thursday. Safdarjung recorded 107.6mm of rainfall until 5:30 am, Palam 68.3mm, Delhi University 104.5mm, Najafgarh 112.5mm, and Mayur Vihar 147.5mm. Moderate rainfall was recorded at Narela (39.5mm) and Pitampura (45.5mm) during this period.
No rainfall was recorded at any weather station between 2:30 am and 5:30 am, allowing agencies to clear waterlogged roads.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed its first charge sheet in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate or NEET-UG exam paper leak probe, naming 13 accused persons, adding that its investigations are continuing in the case. Students stage protest rally against recent scam in NEET and UGC-NET exam (HT Photo)
The federal agency said in a statement that it used advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence, CCTV footage, (mobile) tower location analysis, etc. to gather evidence against the accused.
It has so far arrested 40 people, including an alleged mastermind of the paper leak from a Hazaribagh school, several MBBS students who acted as solvers, and facilitators.
Among those named in the first charge sheet are Nitish Kumar, Amit Anand, Sikander Yadvendu, Ashutosh Kumar-1, Roshan Kumar, Manish Prakash, Ashutosh Kumar-2, Akhilesh Kumar, Avdesh Kumar, Anurag Yadav, Abhishek Kumar, Shivnandan Kumar, and Ayush Raj.
The anti-corruption probe agency initiated a larger conspiracy probe in the leak on June 23, acting on a reference from the Union ministry of education, which said the exam was marred by irregularities, cheating, impersonation, and other malpractices. It formed special teams to investigate the leaks in different states and carried out raids at 58 locations in the last 39 days.
A CBI spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday, CBI has utilized advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence technology, CCTV footage, tower location analysis, etc. to gather evidence against the accused.
The agency, he said, is continuing further investigation against other accused/suspects and on other aspects of the case.
As and when further investigation against these accused/suspects is complete, supplementary charge sheet(s) will be filed, the spokesperson added.
The Supreme Court last month instructed the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central government to submit affidavits detailing their actions and asked for a status report from the CBI. Acknowledging compromise in the NEET-UG exam due to a question paper leak, the Supreme Court also directed the NTA to outline measures taken to identify beneficiaries of the leak.
In its affidavit, the Union government said there were no large-scale breach of confidentiality in the pan-India examination and opposed the re-conduct of the exam, arguing that such a move would disrupt the academic calendar and is unnecessary due to the lack of widespread evidence of malpractice.
The 2024 NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, and other related undergraduate courses across India, has been beset with a series of allegations ranging from question paper leaks, inflated marking, and arbitrary allowance of grace marksissues that have become a nationwide flashpoint for political parties, leading to thousands of students protesting for weeks.
This years examination was conducted on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 abroad, with 2.3 million candidates appearing for it. The results, declared on June 4, raised further suspicions when 67 candidates achieved perfect scores of 720, with several of them belonging to the same examination centre. The Union government has already replaced the head of NTA after the controversy erupted.
Opposition MP and Congress whip in the Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, moved an adjournment motion in the lower house today, raising the issue of waterlogging in the new Parliament building premises. Water dripping from the ceiling of the new Parliament building being collected in a bucket. (Photo from X)
Backed by Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the opposition took to social media to slam the government over the flooding, pointing out cracks and leaks in the relatively new structure in just one day of heavy monsoon showers on Wednesday.
Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion, Tagore posted on X along with a video of the premises.
Yadav too took to X and said, People are asking if the water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their thought-out design.
The new Parliament was inaugurated in May last year as part of the Union governments Central Vista project. Built at a cost of 971 crore, the building has time and again been at the centre of controversies, with Opposition leaders reiterating that it was an unnecessary expenditure, wherein the old Parliament house could have been restored instead of constructing a new one.
MPs also debated this in the Rajya Sabha. The rain last night, which led to leaks and standing water within the Parliament that was inaugurated just a year ago, shows how well the ministry of housing and urban affairs is doing, Chaturvedi said in the upper house.
Meanwhile, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, It is a huge building, there may be some issues that will be rectified by the concerned authorities.
The Central Public Works Department, under the urban development ministry, clarified and said, The heat of unprecedented summer followed by very intense rain eroded silicon from a glass joint on Lok Sabha lobby skylight creating a small issue. It was addressed immediately. Structural integrity, waterproofing, etc., are in good condition.
Keeping in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the building, including in the lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilised in day-to-day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the lobby of the building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the lobby. The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately, the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a statement on Thursday.
Parliament Session Live Updates: The proceedings of the Lok Sabha are underway during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, in New Delhi.
Parliament Session Highlights: The Union Budget 2024 discussions commences in both Houses of Parliament, with opposition parties labeling it as "discriminatory," while the government described it as "visionary." The budget session, which began on July 22, is set to end on August 12. In the Rajya Sabha, AAP MP Raghav Chadha called for lowering the minimum age for contesting elections in India from 25 to 21 years. He argued that India, with a young population, should have younger politicians....Read More
Todays agenda in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha was:
Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present a statutory resolution regarding Section 8A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju and Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi will support the second report of the Business Advisory Committee.
Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu will propose the election of two members to the National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management (NIFTEM) council.
Union minister Manohar Lal will propose the election of two members to the Advisory Council of the Delhi Development Authority.
Voting on demands for grants for the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be held.
Several Union ministers, including Jual Oram and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, will lay papers on the table in both Houses.
The Rajya Sabha will discuss the workings of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare.
New Delhi, Political parties on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict allowing the states to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes for granting quota to uplift socially and economically more backward castes inside the group, and termed it "historic". Parties term Supreme Court verdict on allowing states to sub-classify SCs as 'historic'
A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud held by a 6:1 majority that the further sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the states can be permitted to ensure grant of quota to more backward castes inside these groups.
In a majority verdict, the top court said the states are empowered to make sub-classifications of SCs and STs for granting quotas inside the reserved category to uplift the more underprivileged castes.
Welcoming the verdict, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu noted that the Telugu Desam Party had taken the first step in this direction by constituting the Justice Ramachandra Raju Commission in 1996 on SC sub-categorisation.
"Justice should be done to all sections and social justice should win. This is the philosophy of the TDP. Sub-classification will be useful to reach out to the poorest sections," said Naidu during a public address in Srisailam.
Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict, BJP leader and Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav termed the decision as historic. He noted that justice has been served to the downtrodden sections.
YSRCP leader A Suresh said the Supreme Court judgment should be used for the upliftment of the SCs but not "opportunistic politics".
"The YSRCP sincerely wishes that the judgment by the Supreme Court be used not for opportunistic politics but to strengthen the Scheduled Castes in a manner that ensures justice for all, adhering to the spirit of the verdict in thought, word, and deed," Suresh said at a press conference at the party office in Tadepalli.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the Supreme Court's ruling "historic", and said a major obstacle in the implementation of internal reservation has been removed thanks to the verdict.
Posting on X, Siddaramaiah said, "I wholeheartedly welcome this judgment... With the Supreme Court's verdict, a major obstacle in the implementation of internal reservations has been removed.
"We will consult with Scheduled Caste leaders and legal experts regarding the contentious aspects of the verdict, including the issue of the creamy layer, and take appropriate action," he added.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the Supreme Court's ruling is a recognition of the DMK's Dravidian model and its efforts to ensure social justice for oppressed sections of society.
Hailing the apex court verdict, he said it was heartening that the bench upheld the internal reservation granted to the Arunthathiyar community, as laid down in an Act passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
"Today's Supreme Court judgment is another recognition of our #DravidianModel journey to establish #SocialJustice for the social liberation of the oppressed people," Stalin said in a post on X.
A formal committee was established and, based on the data collected through it, late chief minister and DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi had set apart three per cent internal reservation for the Arunthathiyar community, he said.
"I introduced a bill in the state assembly and it was passed," the CM, who is also the president of the DMK, said in the post.
"It is heartening that the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the Act," he further said, referring to today's ruling.
Welcoming the Supreme Court judgment, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said it was the Telangana government that strongly argued in the apex court for the sub-classifications.
"I sincerely thank the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India. Six out of seven judges said that state governments can take up the sub-classification. On behalf of the state government, I am making a statement that Telangana would be the first state to implement the sub-classification," the CM said.
If necessary, the Telangana government will bring an ordinance to implement the sub-classification in the ongoing job notifications also, he added.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao in a statement said his party welcomed the Supreme Court verdict. Right from the beginning, the BRS party worked sincerely for the sub-categorisation while other political parties indulged in vote bank politics on the issue, he said.
"We demand that the state government implement the sub categorisation immediately. The party will extend support to the government," Rao said.
According to him, the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government passed a resolution after it came to power and personally submitted it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Reacting to the verdict, the CPI said the Supreme Court has settled an issue of "longstanding contention".
In a post on X, CPI general Secretary Sitaram Yechury said, "Settling an issue of longstanding contention, a 7-judge Supreme Court bench held that sub-classification of the Scheduled Castes is permissible. The SC also permitted separate quotas for more backward SC categories," Yechury said.
"Governments, both Union and states, as directed by the SC, must now take all measures to bring backward sections of the SCs into the fold of socially affirmative action," he said.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI also issued a statement calling upon governments to work out appropriate steps.
"A 7-Judge bench of the Supreme Court held that sub classification of Scheduled Castes is permissible. The Supreme Court also permitted separate quotas for more backwards within the SC categories. The Supreme Court directed that the State has to justify the sub-classification on the basis of empirical data regarding the inadequacy of representation of the sub-class," it said.
"The governments, as per the direction of the Supreme Court, must now take all necessary measures to ensure that the backward sections of the SCs are provided with facilities for improving their conditions," the party said.
"The Polit Bureau of the CPI calls upon the governments to work out appropriate steps to ensure that the backward sections within the SCs are brought into the fold of affirmative action," it said.
A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed that the Supreme Court judgment vindicates the state government's old stand.
State minister and JD leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said the Bihar government has already created sub-categories like 'Mahadalits' and 'Ati-pichhda' .
"These sub-quotas ensure that reservation benefits reach the most needy people. It is for the same reason that there is another category called 'creamy layer', which covers the relatively better-off people among SCs, STs and OBCs, who no longer require the facility. The Supreme Court's judgement vindicates the Bihar government's old stand," the state parliamentary affairs minister told PTI.
From welcoming the decision as a step towards greater social justice to raising concerns about its implementation without conducting caste census, members of Parliament expressed varied reactions to the Supreme Court's verdict.
Lok Sabha MP Chandrashekhar Azad expressed concerns about the implementation of the verdict.
"If sub-classification starts, the SC should first work towards bringing democracy. When they support EWS and then become Rajya Sabha members or commission members, many questions arise.
"What monitoring has been done on the atrocities committed against SCs and STs? SC/ST people are now aware, and discussions will happen. This cannot be done without caste census. I cannot say anything more without studying the verdict," Azad told PTI Videos.
Echoing these sentiments on conducting caste census, Congress MP Pappu Yadav underscored the necessity of a caste-based census for effective implementation.
"The SC has said the right thing but the question is who will implement it. The RSS? How much of the SC's verdict has been respected? The talk about a caste census to see who has what and who should get opportunities is very clear.
"Once the caste census is done, it will become clear who received what and when. This verdict is absolutely correct, and the communities that have not received opportunities should come forward," Yadav said, highlighting the critical role of data in addressing historical injustices.
Shambhavi Chaudhary of the Lok Janshakti Party highlighted the fundamental basis of reservation.
"The basis of reservation was untouchability. It was meant to uplift those castes that were left behind by giving them reservation. Therefore, the creamy and non-creamy layer cannot apply to SC/ST as the basis is untouchability and social representation," she said.
BJP MP Brij Lal welcomed the verdict, asserting it addresses the economic disparities within the SC/ST communities.
"I welcome the Supreme Court's decision because it ensures that those SC/ST families who have generations in government jobs and have become wealthy should not get reservation. Instead, poor labourers and farmers living in villages who are doing manual labour should receive reservation.
"This is a social issue as well, because if someone is deprived of reservation today, their next generation might become poor again. Therefore, I welcome the SC's judgment," he stated.
Lal also criticised the Congress and Samajwadi Party , accusing them of historically failing Dalit communities.
Congress MP Sukhdev Bhagat emphasised the importance of representation in reservations, aligning with the apex court's interpretation.
"The SC is the highest interpreter of the Constitution and reservation is about representation. These things should come to light," he remarked, supporting the verdict's alignment with constitutional principles.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The death toll in the Wayanad landslides tragedy is expected to rise as Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared on Thursday that those alive had been saved over the past three days. Army personnel and volunteers lift a portion of a bridge during its re-construction, after landslides hit Chooralmala in Wayanad district.(Reuters)
Officially 177 people have died, including 25 children and 70 women, and around 200 are missing. However, PTI, citing unconfirmed reports, reported that the real number of deaths was 276. Around 92 body parts have also been fished out of the Chaliyar River.
Around 350 buildings had been damaged in the landslides.
The rescue work had been hampered by several challenges, including treacherous terrain and a shortage of heavy equipment.
Also read: 'Saw sister's house being washed away': Wayanad victims share tragic stories of loss
It is assumed that nobody is left to be saved in the villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala. Rescue workers are looking into whether anyone got stranded individually. What is left is to retrieve bodies from the area, he said, per The Indian Express.
1600 rescue workers, including those from the Army, Navy and NDRF, were pressed into the rescue operations.
Political leaders, including Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others visited the displaced people, expressing their solidarity with them.
Meanwhile, on Thursday evening, the Army completed the Bailey Bridge between Chooralmala and Mundakkai. Now, the required equipment can be transported to disaster-affected areas.
Also read: 'Felt the same when my father died': Rahul Gandhi on Wayanad tragedy
After visiting Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi expressed his anguish.
"It is a terrible tragedy for Wayanad, for Kerala and the nation. We have come here to see the situation. It is painful to see how many people have lost family members and their houses. We will try to help and make sure that the survivors get what is their due, Gandhi said while addressing reporters.
A lot of them want to be relocated. There is a lot that needs to be done here. I would like to thank all those, including doctors, nurses, administration and volunteers," he added.
Also read: The man who lost 26 family members in Wayanad landslides
The authorities have conducted 256 autopsies so far.
"Until 7 am today, we have completed 256 autopsies, which include body parts as well. So, it is not 256 full bodies, but also includes body parts. We have handed over 154 bodies to the district administration," health minister Veena George said.
With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi and former minister Ajay Maken on Wednesday said the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAYU) scheme of the Union government is failing to help the urban poor, who are the intended beneficiaries. Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi and former minister Ajay Maken (File Photo)
The PMAY(U), a pet scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has four sub-schemes or verticals, namely Beneficiary Led Construction/Enhancement (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR), and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).
Maken was speaking in House as part of a discussion on the housing and urban development ministry.
Maken said that the ISSR sub-scheme is the most important part of the four verticals. However, he said, Among the approximately 8.4 million houses delivered in the scheme, only more than 100,000at the most, only 2%have been built for slum dwellers.
The ISSR scheme aims houses to the eligible slum dwellers bringing them into the formal urban settlement.
Maken also quoted a Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs report on the issue, which noted that the slum decadal growth was 34%. In line with this, it is wrong that only 1.63% of the houses under the scheme have been built under ISSR, he said.
Maken said the central grant of Rs.1 lakh is too low, stating how it is impossible to even cover the cost of flooring for a house in that amount.
He added that 60% of the houses in the scheme are built in BLC, but out of that, the sub-scheme is meant for people who already own land and questioned if any person who owns land in the city can be considered poor.
He further stated another 30% of the scheme was availed under the CLSS scheme, which is again for the middle-income group, and the remaining 7-8% were given to private companies to provide assisted housing projects.
Elaborating on the CLSS sub-scheme, Maken said the beneficiaries are dependent on bank loans, which means they either own land or are buying home from a private builder, and questioned how state and Union government schemes are failing in cities to check the growth of slums and are only helping builders.
HT had reported in December 2023 how the standing committee had flagged the issue of the ministry counting housing units as completed when basic amenities such as accessible roads, sewerage, water, and electricity connections were not provided.
The report also flagged how the actual poor did not benefit from the scheme, as 60% of the housing cost had to be borne by the beneficiaries themselves.
Maken praised the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments Rajiv Awas Yojna, where a minimum of Rs.2.5 lakh of central government assistance was provided in 2013.
However, unfortunately, rather than the central government component increasing, the assistance has reduced, he said.
The Centre has, however, maintained that the number of houses built has been multifold under PMAY(U) compared to the previous scheme.
A 39-year-old priest from the Puradamma temple in Hassan district, has been arrested by the Bagalgunte police for allegedly raping a 28-year-old devotee and then extorting money from her, a police officer said. The accused threatened to release morphed photographs of her on social media if she reported the assault. (File photo)
The officer said the incident took place on May 24 when the accused, identified as Dayanand, allegedly invited the woman to participate in a ceremony at an acquaintances house in HSR Layout. However, he allegedly drove her to Mysore Road, where he allegedly raped her inside his car.
Quoting the woman, the officer said that Dayanand later threatened to release morphed photographs of her on social media if she reported the assault. He also allegedly extorted 40,000 from her and continued to harass her by visiting her workplace and taking her to a hotel, where he assaulted her again, the officer added.
Bagalagunte police inspector Hanumantha Raju said: We registered a case against the accused on Monday and arrested him on Tuesday. He is booked under BNS section 64 (punishment for rape), 308(2)(punishment for extortion), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 66E(Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017. We have produced him in court and secured a five-day police custody for further interrogation. We are also investigating whether the accused has sexually harassed and extorted other devotees.
A question mark hangs over state-run plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limiteds (HAL) ability to meet the delivery timeline of the new Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A) for the current financial year, and even beyond, as it becomes clear that the Indian Air Force will have to wait longer for the first aircraft that was supposed to be delivered by March 31, 2024, senior IAF officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday. After missing the March 31 deadline, HAL hoped to deliver the first aircraft in July but again revised it to a later date in August. (PTI)
The first LCA Mk-1A is likely to be delivered to the air force in November 2024, said one of the officers who asked not to be named.
After missing the March 31 deadline, HAL hoped to deliver the first aircraft in July but again revised it to a later date in August.
IAF is unhappy with the current pace of the Tejas LCA Mk-1A programme because of the possible risks the delay in the induction of new fighter planes could pose to the air forces combat effectiveness, and has flagged the hot-button issue to HAL, calling for timely execution of the 48,000-crore contract for 83 jets, as first reported by Hindustan Times on July 12.
Read more: 7 facts about the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas used by Indian military
HAL had then said it would deliver 16 of these fighters to IAF in FY 2024-25 as per schedule. It also said it hoped to deliver all the 83 aircraft on order by 2028-29. The LCA Mk-1A made its maiden sortie from an HAL facility in Bengaluru on March 28.
Going by the current pace of the programme, theres a fat chance of IAF getting the 16 fighters in FY 2024-25. We will be happy if we can get even half the number, said a second officer.
Many in the air force are sceptical about the LCA Mk-1A deadlines being met, and one of the main reasons for that is the lingering delay in the supply of the F404 engines to HAL by US firm GE Aerospace. The delivery of the engines is delayed by around 10 months.
The certification of new systems in the aircraft is still pending.
The single-engine Mk-1A will be a replacement for the IAFs Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter. LCA Mk-1A is an advanced variant of the LCA Mk-1, which has already been inducted by IAF.
Read more: Indian Air Force likely to get its first Tejas Mk-1A aircraft in July
US engine maker GE Aerospace had earlier told HT that it is working with HAL to fix issues related to the delay in the supply of its F4O4 engines for the LCA Mk-1A programme, attributing it to supply chain bottlenecks in the aerospace industry.
The aerospace industry continues to experience unprecedented supply chain pressures, a GE Aerospace spokesperson said on July 12. GE Aerospace is working with our partner HAL and suppliers to resolve constraints and deliver F404-IN20 engines for the LCA Mk1 (A) program. The statement was in response to HT queries on the reasons for the delay and steps being taken to fix the problem, as the programme is crucial for IAF, which is grappling with a shortage of fighter squadrons.
Even as doubts shroud the delivery schedule of the LCA Mk-1A jets, more are likely to be ordered soon. In April, the defence ministry issued a tender to HAL for the proposed acquisition of 97 more LCA Mk-1As to strengthen the air forces capabilities. The new fighter planes are expected to cost around 67,000 crore.
HAL has set up a new production line in Nashik for LCA Mk-1As to meet IAFs growing needs. HAL says it can build 16 LCA Mk-1As every year in Bengaluru, and the Nashik line will help it ramp up production to 24 jets.
IAF should have started phasing out the last of its MiG-21s and raising the first LCA Mk-1A squadron by now. The conversion to new aircraft for pilots, and the training of technicians and maintenance crews will take time. If we dont get the new aircraft on time, the capability drawdown will be drastic. IAF doesnt have a Plan B for the MiG-21 replacement, an IAF officer earlier said.
LCA is set to emerge as the cornerstone of IAFs combat power in the coming decade and beyond as it is expected to operate around 350 LCAs (a mix of Mk-1s, Mk-1As and the future Mk-2). The LCA project was sanctioned in 1983 as a replacement for MiG-21s.
To be sure, IAFs leadership has firmly backed the LCA programme. In a review last year, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari described the fighter aircraft as the flag-bearer of the air forces efforts towards the indigenisation of its combat fleet.
IAF recently relocated its last MiG-21 fighters from their home base at Suratgarh in Rajasthan to the sprawling Nal desert fighter base near Bikaner, where the only other remaining Indian MiG-21s are based, as the worlds fourth largest air force prepares the ground to pull these iconic planes out of service and begins raising its new LCA-Mk-1A fleet.
New Delhi, The Railway Board has constituted a committee to examine the working conditions of its running staff in accordance with its instructions issued in 2016. Railway Board constitutes panel to examine 2016 report on work conditions of running staff
The Railway Board constituted the committee, comprising three senior officials, on July 26 and asked all the zones to share their comments by August 5.
In 2013, the Railway Board had for the first time formed a High Power Committee to examine the various aspects of working conditions such as working hours and rest hours of the running staff including loco pilots and guards.
Out of the 89 recommendations that the HPC had made, the Railway Ministry accepted 70 in its Full Board meeting in 2016 and asked the concerned officials to "issue suitable instructions to the zonal railways".
One of the HPC's recommendations accepted by the Board said the total duty at a stretch from sign on to sign off for the running staff should not exceed 11 hours.
"Running duty at a stretch should not ordinarily exceed nine hours. Such duty may extend further provided the railway administration gives at least two hours notice before the expiry of nine hours to the crew that they would be required to perform running duty beyond nine hours, with the stipulation that the total duty from 'sign on' to 'sign off' shall not exceed 11 hours," the HPC said.
According to the Board, the Committee will deliberate upon the implementation and compliance of accepted recommendations of the HPC with special focus on outstation rest, headquarter rest, periodical rest working hours and compliance of HOER and submit its report within one month.
"Zonal Railways are advised to communicate the implementation and compliance of the accepted recommendations of the High Power Committee," the Board's letter dated August 1 marked to all zones, said.
Setting a deadline of August 5 to comply with its instructions, the Board added, "As the report is to be submitted within one month, the Railways are again advised to send the desired information in the given time-limit without fail."
Before August 1, the Board had issued an order on July 26 to all the zones informing them about the constitution of a Committee for deliberation and recommendation on the hours of work and rest of the running staff.
According to the order, the three senior officials of the Railway Board in the Committee comprise Principal Executive Director , Traffic; Additional Member and Additional Member .
This is the second committee that the Railway Board has constituted in July to look into the work related issues of loco pilots, guards and other running staff.
A fortnight ago on July 11, it had issued an order for the constitution of a five-member multi-disciplinary committee to consider nine issues including "duty hours, periodical rest, deployment of manpower and their utilization: analysis of cases of breach of Railway Board's orders on the subject".
Various unions of loco pilots have also demanded a clarity on the terms of references of the two committees. According to them, the working hours and rest rules are overlapping topics in both the committees.
However, a Railway Board official differentiated the terms of references of the two committees and said, "The Committee on July 26 has been set up to examine the status of compliance and implementation of all the 70 accepted recommendations of the HPC by the Zonal railways."
"On the other hand, the multi-disciplinary committee will look into several issues that impact the working conditions of the running staff," he added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
With heavy rains battering parts of northern India, at least 14 people were killed and hundreds are stranded in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Part of a three storey building is washed away in flash floods in the Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. (AP/FILE)
Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police and paramilitary forces have been deployed to rescue people, as many are feared missing in the hill states.
A total of 32 people have reportedly died in rain-related incidents across seven northern states over the past 24 hours. This includes 12 in Uttarakhand, two in Himachal Pradesh, five in Delhi, two in Greater Noida of Uttar Pradesh, three in Haryana's Gurugram, three in Rajasthan's Jaipur and five in Bihar.
Here's how rain has wreaked havoc in the hills and plains
New Delhi, An accurate early warning system that correlates rainfall and the potential for landslides. That is the imperative, say experts as rains create havoc in hills across India and the toll mounts in Keralas Wayanad slopes where landslides buried entire homesteads and possibly hundreds of people. Rain scripted landslides: Experts flag need for early warning system, evacuation protocol
On Thursday, cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh led to houses, bridges and roads being washed away with five people dying and 50 missing. In Uttarakhand, heavy rain triggered floods and house collapses with at least 12 people killed. The rain scripted tragedies in the hill states came just two days after extremely heavy rain more than 570 mm over 48 hours triggered the disaster in Wayanad, leaving at least 177 people dead.
Given the scenario of erratic rain, extreme weather events, changing climatic conditions and the fragile hills both in the north and in the south an accurate early warning system based on empirical rainfall thresholds followed by a systematic evacuation protocol is essential.
EWS is important to understand what are the vulnerable areas and which are the vulnerable communities. EWS will use the areas and the potentialities of the threat, the extent and timing of the threat so it can establish the mitigation measures, including evacuation, Nilmadhab Prusty from the Centre for Development and Disaster Management Support Services told PTI.
As of now, there are no granular studies or EWS for landslide forecasts in the country.
In Kerala, for instance, the Geological Survey of India did give a forecast on July 29 for two days but not a sense of what was in store the landslides hit early morning on July 30.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority gets forecasts for landslides in four categories very high possibility, high possibility, moderate and low possibility.
The Experimental Rainfall Induced Landslide Forecast Bulletin for Wayanad district forecast only this A low possibility of occurrences of landslides: A few small landslides may occur. There was no information from the central agency that there would be widespread or even moderate landslides, P M Manoj, press secretary of the KSDMA, told PTI.
Kerala had approved three pilot projects for state-specific landslide early warning systems in 2020. But none is complete yet.
According to the GSI website, about 0.42 million square km is prone to landslides. This includes all the Himalayan states, sub-Himalayan terrain of the northeast and the Eastern and Western Ghats states.
There is also the question of evacuation.
The KSDMA, for instance, does have a wide network of locally trained DM personnel and adequate mechanisms to disseminate the early warning messages. But that is only part of the picture.
On July 29, the KSDMA asked people from hilly areas to go to relief camps but people did not leave as they had not expected the intensity of the disaster to be this massive, Manoj said.
In December 2017, the National Disaster Management Authority launched a pilot project for a Low-Cost Landslide Monitoring Solutions. But that was restricted only to Himalayan states and nothing much has been done after that, an official said.
A community-run effort at EWS in Maharashtra is hoping to make a difference with Satark, a project that issues landslide alerts.
Started by the Pune-based non-profit Centre for Citizen Science in August 2015, it ensures awareness about and issues alerts for landslides in the Sahyadri ranges .
The groups work started a year after the Malin village landslide in Pune district that left 151 dead. The group members poured over data from over the past few decades, from government agencies, local information sources and newspaper reports.
That gave us an idea about the correlation between the rainfall quantum and what is the time that a possible landslide can happen in any given location, Mayuresh Prabhune, one of the founding members of CCS, told PTI.
The CCS has mapped all landslide incidents over the last 20-25 years in the Sahyadri ranges and monitors rains every day during monsoon. At places where there was no government data, either through manual rain gauges or automatic rain gauges , the CCS gave manual rain gauges to local citizens.
Each region along the Western Ghats has a different saturation level. When we monitor continuous rains, get data from all the stations, that at least gives an idea what the soil saturation level is and also what the minimum threshold level is, Prabhune said.
For example, the CCS data shows that in the case of Mahabaleshwar, landslides happen after 600 mm rains. So, in case of continuous rainfall there, the group keeps a tab on daily accumulated rainfall and takes steps accordingly.
The landslide may happen on day four or day five, depending on how much rain has fallen before, he added.
The group issues notifications at three levels: Watch, Alert and Warning. Third is a specific village level alert. After the second step, we start monitoring it 24X7 and use radar images for the third step, Prabhune said.
A March 2022 study published in the journal Land, an international and cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal, said the Satark model showed 76.5 per cent success in landslide prediction one day in advance.
Although local administration takes help from CCS at times, the Maharashtra government has not yet agreed to a formal tie up.
The minimum threshold level that CCS talks of was exactly what was pointed by a 2020 study by four researchers from Indore, Italy and Australia for Wayanad after conducting a detailed study of the recurring landslides in Wayanad between 2018 and 2019.
The study, published in the journal Water concluded that 24 mm of rainfall a day is enough to trigger landslides in Wayanad.
Way back in June 2009, the NDMA released the Guidelines on Management of Landslides and Snow Avalanches which laid down the national policy for the management of landslides and related activities in the country.
A Landslide Risk Mitigation Scheme followed in 2014 and was highlighted in the National Disaster Management Plan of 2016, updated in 2019.
According to an official from the NDMA, the existing landslide monitoring and early warning technologies cost crores of rupees and the need for a low-cost landslide early warning system has been long recognised.
However, in the absence of any guideline or protocol for landslide mitigation at the national level, it is incumbent on the states to manage the disaster at their end.
The official in charge of mitigation at the NDMA did not respond to PTIs queries on the matter.
Early warning system has two parts. One is an accurate generation of the alert, which our scientific agencies are doing in a fairly good way and then, taking it effectively to the relevant people, explained Sanjay Srivastava, a member of the Experts Group of the NDMA.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Delhi Rain Live Updates: The operation concluded after a team from the SDRF retrieved the bodies of Kamal, his niece Purvi and Pooja
Delhi Rain Highlights: Parts of Delhi-NCR have been reported to be waterlogged and earlier a woman and her child drowned after falling into a waterlogged drain in the Ghazipur area of East Delhi following heavy rainfall. Delhi Education Minister Atishi announced late night that schools in the capital shall remain closed on Thursday following heavy rain on Wednesday. IMD has issued a yellow alert for Delhi till Friday predicting generally cloudy sky with light to moderate rain and thunderstorm....Read More
The total number of deaths due to related events rose to three in Delhi after a 62-year-old man died in a building collapse in North Delhi's Sabzi Mandi area.
Meanwhile, three people in Jaipur drowned after rainwater rushed into their house basement in Vishwakarma area of Jaipur city. The victims include a man, a woman and his niece who was a minor, reported news agency PTI. The bodies of the victims were recovered after hours of rescue operations. The victims were identified as Kamal, his niece Purvi and Pooja.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert predicting heavy to very heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in isolated places for all Himachal Pradesh districts for Thursday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured of providing central assistance and the support of the National Disaster Response Force to Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after the state was affected by cloud burst incidents claiming the lives of three people and 40 people reported missing, according to PTI.
Beas river in spate as Himachal Pradesh hit by cloudburst, heavy rain | Watch
More than 10 people lost their lives in Uttarakhand due to landslides said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressing the reporters on Thursday. He added, Roads have been damaged, and bridges have collapsed. Restoration work is going on. Char Dham Yatra is also underway so we are trying to make urgent arrangements for the safety of pilgrims.
In Uttarakhand, red alert has been issued in Dehradun, Teri Garhwal, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat districts by the Regional Met office with heavy to very heavy rainfall likely in the region accompanied by thunderstorm. A yellow alert has been issued in the rest of the districts by the IMD. The state is set to receive heavy rain till August 3.
Parts of North India to receive very heavy rainfall on Thursday, predicted the Indian Meteorological Department with Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to receive heavy rainfall on Thursday. An orange alert has been issued in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Rajasthans Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is considering enacting a law to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), or a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens, on the lines of Uttarakhand. Parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel told the state assembly that the government will bring a bill at an appropriate time. (X)
The matter [UCC] is under consideration of the government. After reviewing all the aspects of this issue, the government will bring the bill at the appropriate time, parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel told the state assembly on Thursday in response to lawmaker Kalicharan Sarafs question.
In February, Uttarakhand became the first state to pass a law for UCC. Other BJP-ruled states such as Assam have promised to implement UCC, one of the three ideological promises of the BJP. Constitutions Article 44, one of the directive principles of state policy, advocates UCC. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since independence.
Opposition Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi called UCC an attack on Indias diverse culture. Different laws were made considering the suitability of different traditions of groups such as tribal and minority communities. UCC aims to finish all this diversity which is not acceptable.
The toll from the Kerala landslides surged to 193 as rescue teams scoured through layers of slush, battered homes and wrecked cars in Wayanad district on Wednesday, while officials warned that the number would spiral further, with 190 people missing and little possibility of any of them surviving. A drone view shows members of rescue teams crossing a temporary bridge to reach to a landslide site after multiple landslides in the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas (REUTERS)
A day after the states worst monsoon tragedy since 2018, teams from the army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) struggled against the treacherous terrain, as boulders, mud and strong currents of floodwater hampered rescue efforts, forcing them to use improvised ziplines and jerry-rigged bridges to extricate dead bodies or trapped people.
Kerala chief minister Pinayari Vijayan, addressing a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram, said that 158 bodies were recovered, over 200 people were being treated in hospitals and 5,592 people were rescued from the ravaged areas.
Officials said the army and construction agencies were working to rebuild roads and a key bridge that the landslide had destroyed to accelerate rescue and rehabilitation efforts, even as Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala and Noolpuzha remained cut-off from the rest of the district.
Read more: Kerala CM counters Amit Shah's 'early warnings' claim on Wayanad landslides: Red alert issued only after
Days of ceaseless rain precipitated two landslides within three hours in the northern Kerala district early on Tuesday, wiping out most of Mundakkai and Chooralmala, decimating public infrastructure in the remote villages nestled in the Western Ghats that survived largely on tourism and tea plantations, and leaving thousands marooned. The swelling waters of the Iruvazhinji river that courses through the two villages compounded the disaster and consumed settlements along its banks.
Experts said the disaster, one of several that has ravaged Kerala in recent years, may have been down to the imminent impacts of the climate crisis, and worsened by soil erosion. They also pointed out that recommendations to include the region in the top tier of eco-sensitive zones were ignored and that several parts of the fragile Western Ghats were also excluded.
The issue also resonated in Parliament again, with a string of leaders from the government and opposition parties addressing the disaster.
Meanwhile, even more rain lashed the hill district on Wednesday, with over 56mm of showers in the 24 hours till 10.30pm impeding relief teams, which struggled to negotiate the downpour and the unstable earth.
Read more: Opposition urge Centre to declare Wayanad landslides a national disaster
Most of the people found missing or the bodies recovered were either from Chooralmala or Mundakkai, said NDRF officials, adding that the landslide washed away nearly 200 houses and killed entire families.
As a result, rescue teams focussed their efforts on these two hamlets, which together housed just about 1,200 people.
At least 121 houses from Chooramala village were washed away. Around 600 families lived in the village and at least 70 people who died are from there, Akhilesh Kumar, commandant of the NDRFs 4th battalion said.
Rescuers pulled bodies out from beneath trees and debris of collapsed houses, he said.
Chooralmala was a popular tourist destination, especially for people from neighbouring areas, with the Soochippara waterfalls, Vellolippara and Seetha lake drawing crowds.
We have lost everything... everyone... Nothing is left for us here, said an elderly man looking for his family through the ruins of his house in Chooralmala.
In Mundakkai, rescuers erected tiny bridges using ropes and ladders to access patches of land cut-off by floodwater and rescue trapped people. In some places, rescuers formed human chains using ropes tied around their waists.
Rescuers smashed through the roofs of flattened homes to hunt for survivors. Continuing rains, thick mud, slippery grounds, and swollen rivers pose challenges to the rescue mission, a local resident said.
The army said it has intensified search operations. Four columns of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) Centre, Kannur, and 122 TA Battalion are conducting combined rescue operations, said a senior army official.
Two humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) columns, including two medical teams, were airlifted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode by AN32 and C-130 aircraft late Tuesday night, said the army.
Chief minister Vijayan called the landslides painful and unprecedented.
Rescue operations in Wayanad are continuing at full scale So far, 144 bodies have been recovered, of 79 men and 64 women. There are still 191 people missing. Efforts are being made to evacuate as many people as possible from the disaster area, and necessary medical treatment is being provided to those who have been rescued, he said.
Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said they will visit Wayanad on Thursday, a day after their initially scheduled visit, which was cancelled due to the inclement weather.
New Delhi, The reservation policy requires a fresh relook and new methods are needed for the uplift of people belonging to Scheduled Castes , Schedule Tribes and Other Backward Classes , Supreme Court judge Justice Pankaj Mithal said on Thursday. Reservation policy requires relook: Justice Pankaj Mithal
While concurring with the majority verdict on the right of states to sub-categorise SCs for granting quotas, Justice Mithal said notwithstanding the success or failure of the reservation policy, one thing is for sure that it has burdened the judiciary at all levels, especially the high courts and the Supreme Court with enormous litigation.
"The policy of reservation as enshrined under the Constitution and by its various amendments requires a fresh re-look and evolvement of other methods for helping and uplifting the depressed class or the downtrodden or the persons belonging to SC/ST/OBC communities.
"So long no new method is evolved or adopted, the system of reservation as prevailing may continue to occupy the field with power to permit subclassification of a class particularly scheduled caste as I would not be suggesting dismantling of an existing building without erecting a new one in its place which may prove to be more useful," Justice Mithal wrote in a separate 51-page judgement.
Justice Mithal said in the constitutional regime, there is no caste system and the country has moved into a casteless society except for the limited purposes of affording reservation to the depressed class of persons, downtrodden or belonging to SC/ST/OBC.
"Therefore, any facility or privilege for the promotion of the above categories of persons has to be on a totally different criteria other than the caste maybe on economic or financial factors, status of living, vocation and the facilities available to each one of them based upon their place of living .
"The reservation, if any, has to be limited only for the first generation or one generation and if any generation in the family has taken advantage of the reservation and have achieved higher status, the benefit of reservation would not be logically available to the second generation," he said.
Justice Mithal said a periodic exercise has to be undertaken to exclude the class of persons, who after taking advantage of reservation has come to march shoulder to shoulder with the general category.
The top court had reserved the verdict on February 8 on pleas seeking review of the E V Chinnaiah judgement, which in 2004 had ruled that all schedule caste communities which suffered ostracisation, discrimination and humiliation for centuries represented a homogeneous class incapable of being sub-categorised.
The verdict came on references to revisit the five-judge constitution bench judgement of 2004 in the case of EV Chinnaiah vs. State of Andhra Pradesh in which it was held that SCs and STs are homogeneous groups and states cannot further sub-classify them to grant quota inside quota for more deprived and weaker castes in these groups.
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Senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lawmaker and former Telangana home minister Sabitha Indra Reddy on Wednesday broke down in the assembly, following an alleged inappropriate remark made by chief minister A Revanth Reddy against her. It all began when BRS member KT Rama Rao was accusing the Congress of engineering defections from the BRS (CMO Telangana X)
The assembly witnessed heated arguments between the Congress and the BRS members during the discussion on the Appropriation Bill in the afternoon. The bill was passed amid protests from the BRS members, who demanded an apology from Revanth Reddy and deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka against women members of the BRS.
It all began when BRS member KT Rama Rao was accusing the Congress of engineering defections from the BRS. Reacting to the comments, the chief minister pointed out the defection of Sabitha from the Congress into the BRS before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
If KTR trusts these sisters sitting behind him and listens to their words, he will end up at Jubilee Bus Stand in Secunderabad, Revanth Reddy said, and pointed out not a single woman was given the cabinet berth in the first term of the BRS government. His comment led to a furore in the assembly, as Sabitha and another BRS MLA Sunitha Laxma Reddy, raised strong exceptions to it.
Turning emotional in the House, Sabitha wondered why she was being targeted for changing the party when several other MLAs did the same, including the present Congress MLAs. Which party did Revanth Reddy come from? There should be a discussion on defections, she said.
Stating that it was she who had invited Revanth Reddy into the Congress, Sabitha said she predicted that he had the scope of becoming the chief minister, if he joined the Congress. I blessed Revanth Reddy heartfully. But why is the Congress targeting me now? she asked, with a choked voice.
Reddy said he had not used any bad words against Sabitha and he always treated her as a sister. She advised me to contest from Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency in 2019 but then left the Congress for the BRS, even before I was declared the candidate. She gained a ministerial position by joining BRS, he said.
Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka also alleged that it was because of Sabitha that he had lost the Leader of Opposition status in the assembly. I was made Leader of Opposition, the first Dalit to occupy that position, by the Congress. I asked her to stay back in the Congress so that I will not lose that post. But Sabitha deserted the Congress for the sake of ministerial berth, he said.
The BRS MLAs stormed the podium and continued to raise the slogans, but Speaker Gaddam Prasada Rao reprimanded them for creating ruckus. The House passed the appropriation bill, amid protest from the BRS MLAs.
Aizawl, Mizoram Home Minister K Sapdanga on Thursday said that the construction of a road, allegedly by the Assam administration, in the disputed border area between the two states has been halted. Road construction by Assam in disputed border area halted: Mizoram home minister
It was found during an inspection that the Assam government "undertook new construction of a road while clearing several border roads affected by recent landslides", he said.
Border roads to link police outposts set up by the Assam government were affected by rain-triggered landslides in June, Sapdanga said.
"As soon as we received a report about the new construction, Kolasib deputy commissioner contacted his Cachar counterpart and requested him to stop the construction. The matter has been resolved," Sapdanga told reporters.
His comment comes days after the opposition Mizo National Front and a students' organisation alleged road construction by the neighbouring state in the disputed area along the Mizoram-Assam border.
MNF's Serlui North block unit alleged that the Assam government was constructing roads in Aitlang area near Vairengte town and asked the Mizoram dispensation to resolve the matter before the border talks to be held on August 9.
Mizo Zirlai Pawl , a body of students in Mizoram, urged the state government to take steps to ensure that the construction was halted.
Spadanga said that the "matter required discussion at the district administration level and it has been resolved now".
He said the governments of Mizoram and Assam will hold the next round of border talks in Aizawl on August 9.
The Mizoram delegation will be headed by Sapdanga, while the Assam team will be led by its Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora.
The two states have held several rounds of talks, including three ministerial-level meetings since August 2021, and agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.
Three Mizoram districts Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit share a 164.6-km-long border with Assams Cachar, Karmganj and Hailankandi.
The border dispute between the two northeastern states persisted for decades and is yet to be resolved.
The dispute took an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire, leading to the death of seven people, including six policemen from Assam.
More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizorams Vairengte village.
The dispute mainly stemmed from two colonial demarcations in 1875 and 1933.
Mizoram claims that a 509 square mile area of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873, falls within its territory.
Assam, on the other hand, regarded the map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary.
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The Supreme Court has underscored the crucial role that both the executive government and constitutional courts play in ensuring the effective functioning of laws, holding that reviewing and assessing the implementation of a statute is an integral part of the rule of law. The bench said the judiciary can help nudge the system towards necessary reforms. (HT Archive)
A bench comprising justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar emphasised that the responsibility to assess whether a statute is achieving its intended purpose lies primarily with the executive government while a constitutional courts scrutiny is not just a reflection of judicial oversight but also a reminder of the executives fundamental duty to continuously review and assess the implementation of statutes.
Reviewing and assessing the implementation of a statute is an integral part of the rule of law. It is in recognition of this obligation of the executive government that the constitutional courts have directed governments to carry performance audits of statutes, said the bench in its judgment on Tuesday.
Adapting to change is important for achieving justice, said the court, adding that failure to adapt produces injustice, which is an abuse of power. According to the court, the executive branch has a constitutional obligation not only to implement laws but also to monitor their effectiveness continuously.
Legal reform through legislative correction improves the legal system and it would require assessment of the working of the law, its accessibility, utility, and abuse as well. The executive branch has a constitutional duty to ensure that the purpose and object of a statute is accomplished while implementing it, stated the judgment authored by justice Narasimha.
The Supreme Courts call for a judicial review in such cases assumes significance. While the judiciary traditionally reviews executive and legislative actions, the judgment envisaged a vital role for it in nudging the system toward necessary reforms.
There is yet another role which the judiciary can and ought to performthat of facilitator of access to justice and effective functioning of constitutional bodies. In this role, the judiciary does not review executive and legislative actions but only nudges and provides impetus to systemic reforms, the bench held.
This judicial facilitation is more critical in contexts where the legislative process is dominated by government initiatives, with few private members bills being introduced or debated, noted the bench.
It pointed out that a performance audit of the legislation should be prompted by demonstrable data or cogent material that indicates statutory schemes are being impeded or delayed by bureaucratic or judicial hurdles. However, the bench clarified that while the judiciary can compel such audits and promote debate, it cannot directly enforce legislative reforms: This facilitative role of the judiciary compels audit of the legislation, promotes debate and discussion but does not and cannot compel legislative reforms, it maintained.
The case that triggered this judicial intervention, a long-standing dispute over the redevelopment of a slum area in Borivali, Mumbai, had been marred by delays due to litigation, environmental clearances and non-cooperation from certain slum dwellers.
Ordering a performance audit of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act, 1971, the top court expressed concern over the inefficacies in the implementation of the Act and directed the chief justice of the Bombay high court to constitute a bench for a suo motu review of the statutes functioning.
This directive comes in response to several systemic issues identified by the bench, including the problematic processes of land identification as slum areas, the selection of developers and the provision of transit accommodation for displaced slum dwellers.
The court also raised concerns about the lack of independence and objectivity in the functioning of statutory authorities, suggesting a possible regulatory capture. These issues, the bench suggested, have contributed to a situation where statutory remedies are ineffective and, at the same time, lacking in accountability.
The Supreme Courts intervention in this matter not only seeks to address the specific shortcomings in the implementation of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act but also reinforces the broader principle that it is the duty of the executive government to continually assess and adapt laws to meet their objectives. The judiciarys role in this context is to ascertain that these assessments are carried out effectively, promoting a legal system that is both responsive and accountable.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the conduct of Bibhav Kumar, Arvind Kejriwals aide, in the case of the alleged assault of Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, saying it was shocked by how the incident took place at the Delhi chief ministers residence. The observation came even as the court issued a notice on Kumars bail plea and listed it for hearing on August 7. Bibhav Kumar. (PTI File Photo)
A bench of justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan said the question is not whether the injuries Maliwal sustained are major or minor. We are shocked at the manner in which it is done to somebody visiting the CM [chief minister] residence, it said while agreeing to consider the bail plea. Kumar moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi high court denied him bail on July 12.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Kumar, said Maliwal came to the chief ministers residence and nobody had gone to her house, prompting the bench to ask if the CMs office was a private residence. Does it need these kinds of rules? We have released on bail people who are charged with heinous offences. But see the way and manner the offence is done. What kind of power has gone into his head that she tells him to stop as she is having a particular physical condition, but he continues...It is inhuman. What kind of moral policing does he do.
The court will hear the matter on August 7 and consider the charge sheet filed in this case. It sought a response from the Delhi Police on Kumars bail plea while permitting the petitioners lawyers to place the charge sheet on record.
Singhvi said the allegation against Kumar at the highest is that of causing injury and grounds for granting bail are made out as there is no way he can tamper with evidence with the chargesheet already filed.
The bench replied if this kind of person cannot influence, who else can? If he can mislead people by calling the staff from outside, can anybody dare to speak against him? The bench wondered if Kumar was a former aide of the CM or a government servant.
Singhvi said Kumar, a former government servant, was a political assistant who fixes appointments of the CM. The FIR [first information report] says you [Kumar] are ex-private secretary. What authority did you have at the office of the CM that the victim did not have? You want to put out a case as if some goon has gone into the house. And he is not even ashamed of what he has done.
Singhvi said Kumar was only seeking bail as he had been incarcerated for 75 days. He said that the incident occurred on May 13 and that Maliwal chose to file her complaint only after three days.
The bench said if Maliwal called the police helpline 112 immediately after the incident, what does that show? This belies your story that subsequently she concocted allegations.
Singhvi said the FIR was possible due to friendly police under a friendly Lieutenant Governor, prompting the bench to say that these were internal political affairs.
Kumar was on May 16 booked under the Indian Penal Codes sections related to criminal intimidation, assault with intent to disrobe a woman, and attempted culpable homicide. Kumar insisted the allegations were false and that his custody was unnecessary since the investigation was complete. He argued that his arrest was made in a hurry violating his rights as the police did not issue him a notice before arresting him without a warrant.
Six people have been arrested and a minor has been detained for allegedly hurling beer bottles into the Firdosi Masjid in Sirawara town, Raichur district, a police officer said. Upon receiving reports of the incident, the law enforcement officials engaged in discussions with local Muslim leaders to address the communitys grievances and to prevent the escalation of the protest. (File photo)
The officer said that the incident took place on Tuesday night behind the towns bus stand. Following the incident, the police arrested six people and detained a minor. The arrested people are NB Sagar (23), R Basava (24), KN Vijay (25), BR Ranganath (25), NS Suresh (22), BK Sabaiah (22). All are reported to be residents of Sirawara.
Sirawara police inspector B Guruchandra said: The incident occurred at around 8:30 pm. A group of seven-eight people consumed alcohol near the mosque and threw the bottles inside without any reason. We received a phone call from the mosque immediately after the incident and rushed to the spot. Though the perpetrators fled the scene, we were able to apprehend them soon after.
We have arrested the six accused and booked them under BNS section 193 (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race) 351(2) (punishment for criminal intimidation). They were produced before the JMFC court on Wednesday, which remanded all the accused to 14 days of judicial custody, he added.
The breaking of beer bottles inside the mosque and the damage to the mosques Darpa, a raised platform used for prayer and sermons, incensed the local Muslim community.
In response, hundreds of community members gathered at the mosque, demanding immediate action against the culprits.
Upon receiving reports of the incident, the law enforcement officials engaged in discussions with local Muslim leaders to address the communitys grievances and to prevent the escalation of the protest.
During the discussions, police officers assured the community leaders that those responsible would be brought to justice without delay.
Mohammed Siraj, a mosque committee member, expressed relief at the polices quick response and said: The timely intervention and arrest of the accused defused the tension in the area.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled by a majority that sub-classification within the scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) is permissible. It declared that SCs cannot be considered homogenous classes and that it would be permissible for the Centre and states to earmark most backward classes within the reserved category of SC/STs to enable them frame appropriate policies on sub-classification and rationalisation of reserved seats. The Supreme Court. (PTI)
The majority judgment was delivered by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, and justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma. Justice Bela M Trivedi dissented.
The majority ruling overruled the 2004 judgment by a five-judge bench in EV Chinnaiah Vs State of Andhra Pradesh, which had held that sub-classification was not permissible because SC/STs form homogenous classes. It held that the principles of social equality would entitle the state to provide preferential treatment to the most backward classes among the SCs.
According to the majority, decisions on sub-classification would be subject to judicial review, and the states will have to justify their decision based on empirical evidence regarding the extent of backwardness. The matter was referred to the larger bench by a five-judge bench in 2020, observing that the 2004 judgment in the Chinnaiah case may require reconsideration.
The 2004 judgment by the apex court became the basis for the Punjab & Haryana high court to quash a 1975 notification of the Punjab government, dividing its existing 25% reservation for SCs into two categories. Half of these seats were to be offered to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs while the rest for the remaining groups within the SC category. This notification was nixed by the high court in 2006.
Later, the Punjab government passed the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006. It introduced first preference reservation for the Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs, laying down that 50% of reserved seats would be offered first to these two communities before all other SC groups. But in 2010, the high court struck down this provision of the act based on the decision in the Chinnaiah case, leading to an appeal by the state government in the top court.
Finally, in 2020, a five-judge bench referred the matter to a larger bench, noting that the 2004 judgment by the coordinate bench requires to be revisited. While doing so, this bench said: Reservation was not contemplated for all the time by the framers of the Constitution. On the one hand, there is no exclusion of those who have come up, on the other hand, if subclassification is denied, it would defeat the right to equality by treating unequal as equal.
Tarang Shakti 24, the biggest air combat exercise to be hosted by India, will be held in August-September, and involve 10 foreign air forces and 18 countries as observers. The event will allow the country to showcase its indigenous military capabilities to the world, Indian Air Force (IAF) vice chief Air Marshal AP Singh said on Wednesday. The Tejas LCA Mk-1 is among the IAF fighter planes taking part in Tarang Shakti 24.
The exercise will be conducted in two phases: from August 6-14 at the Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu, and August 29-September 14 in Jodhpur. Each phase will involve the participation of 70-80 aircraft, including fighter planes, helicopters, special operations planes, mid-air refuellers and airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, IAF officers aware of the matter said.
One of the goals is to showcase the booming indigenous defence ecosystem and highlight the self-reliance drive. The Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1), Prachand light combat helicopter, Dhruv advanced light helicopter and its armed version Rudra are among the locally produced assets taking part in the drills, Singh said at the curtain-raiser event.
Some commercial flights may have to be rescheduled or rerouted because of the exercise, HT has learnt.
Tarang Shakti 24 will involve the practicing of a variety of combat missions in a realistic environment, boost mutual trust and help explore avenues for interoperability and imbibe best practices from one another, Singh said. To be sure, while Tarang Shakti will be the biggest multilateral exercise to be conducted in India, IAF has taken part in several such drills on foreign soil.
The 10 air forces that are bringing their assets for the exercise are the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Bangladesh. Russia and Israel, two of Indias main defence partners, are not taking part in the drills because of their preoccupation with ongoing developments back home, HT has learnt.
The IAF fighters taking part in the drills include the Rafales, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, Mirage 2000s, Jaguars and MiG-29s, said Group Captain Ashish Dogra, the exercise coordinator. The fighter jets to be deployed by the foreign air forces include F-18s, F-16s, Rafales and Typhoons, he added.
The UK, France, Germany and Spain will take part in the first phase, while the remaining six foreign air forces will participate in the second and final leg.
The exercise will involve within and beyond visual range combat missions, large force engagements, air mobility operations, dynamic targeting, low light operations, high value aerial asset protection and busting, air-to-air refuelling missions, and combat search and rescue, Dogra said.
IAF Agniveers posted at the Sulur and Jodhpur bases will also participate in some ground roles during the exercise at a time when a political firestorm rages over the controversial Agnipath defence recruitment model that cuts tenure and offers fewer service benefits to Agniveers recruited under it.
Tarang Shakti 24 comes close on the heels of the IAF showcasing its capability to carry out high-tempo operations during Exercise Gagan Shakti 24 earlier this year from April 1-10, which involved all air force bases and assets scattered across the country. The last of IAFs MiG-21 fighter planes took part in the pan-India drills, their final participation in a major exercise.
The MiG-21, Indias first supersonic fighter whose induction began in 1963, will be pulled out of service by 2025, and replaced by the new Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A), a programme which is currently running behind schedule.
This has been a busy year for IAF.
In February, it showcased its offensive capabilities by day and night at the Pokhran air-to-ground range near Jaisalmer during Vayu Shakti 24, with fighter jets carrying out precision strikes against simulated enemy aircraft and targets on the ground, including runways, bridges, ammunition dumps, radar sites and terror camps.
The exercise, based on the theme Lightning Strike from the Sky, saw IAFs combat platforms drop around 50 tonne of ordnance in a span of two hours over an area measuring 2 sq km.
Even growing up in insular Chennai in the 80s, I had heard of Marathi street theatre that went on all night. Tamil Nadu too had its theru-koothu which means street-play, but my mother did not allow me to go out and watch them all night like my male cousins dida sore spot for a spirited girl. Karnataka, like every other Indian state also has a robust night life beyond the pubs nightclubs which includes theatre, music performances, and processions, all of which are linked to religious institutions. For example, the chariot processions or ther linked to St. Marys Feast brings Shivaji Nagar to a halt. This includes live music and dancing but not necessarily theatre. Live theatre (either on the street or on stage) is hard to access, at least for me in Central Bengaluru. Imagine my delight when I came upon a Kannada play called Shivadoota Guliga thanks to a popular app-cum-Whatsapp group called Putting Scene which compiles cultural and culinary activities that happen in Bangalore every week. If you want to know whats happening beyond the usual stand-up stuff, get on the Putting Scene Whatsapp group. Shivadoota Guliga staged at Ravindra Kalakshetra is a surreal and phantasmagorical kannada musical-play which talks about the spirit-gods that roam around Tulu Nadu. Kantara the film made this famous (File photo)
Shivadoota Guliga staged at Ravindra Kalakshetra is a surreal and phantasmagorical kannada musical-play which talks about the spirit-gods that roam around Tulu Nadu. Kantara the film made this famous but there are a host of bhoothas or spirits that punish and protect the people here. The play is about how Guliga the Bhootha came down to earth. It had all the elements of the rich mythology that India is famous for. He came from the sweat of Shiva, was taken into the stomach of Vishnu and was born to fulfil the curse of Brahma. A special scene is when the Goddess Chamundi comes on stage, complete with ten hands and fireworks all around was a hit with the school children who packed the auditorium. With actor Swaraj Shetty-- who played Guruva in Kantarain the lead role of the play written by Vijaykumar Kodialbail.
There are many eminent theatre personalities of the Kannada stage including Prasanna, BV Karanth and B. Jayashree. They were all products of the National School of Drama (NSD). Prasanna and Karanth went on to become directors of NSD. Jayashree (with Ananda Raju) started the group called Spandana, devoted to rediscovering the roots of Kannada theatre. Other stalwarts like B Chandrasekhara (BC), CR Simha, B Narayana (called Nani who is current thespian, Prakash Belawadis father), S Ramaswamy, Vimala Rangachar, SG Ramachandra, Suresh Heblikar, KC Shekar, and Upasane Seetharam were legendary contributors to both Kannada and English language theatre. I got all this information from Vijay Padaki who founded Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT). He has been on my mind because he won a Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by Assitej International (an organisation of theatre professionals spread over 75 countries) in Havana, Cuba. I asked Padaki what differentiated theatre in Karnataka as opposed to other Indian states. Karnataka stood out in one respect. We produced writers! he replied. Kannada theatre had its golden period in the seventies when Kannada stage writing was creative and robust. English language plays followed and have continued to this day. Several organisations including BLT worked on adaptations and translations to original scripts. In 2020 BLT launched a publications project. Ten volumes of plays are coming out of BLT. Plays are generally published by individuals. It is good for the CV. No theatre group has published plays under its name, said Padaki.
Theatre is a great way to understand Bangalore. Both Ranga Shankara and Jagriti have a robust program of Kannada plays as does the Bangalore International Centre and Ravindra Kalakshetra. They also have summer theatre for young people which is essential to cultivate a taste for theatre. My daughter learned theatre with Kirtana Kumar, who, besides acting, has taught a generation of young people. Institutions like the Alliance Francaise and the Goethe Institute also support and champion theatre performances. Of course, there are stalwarts like the late great Girish Karnad who have become synonymous with acting and theatre.
That said, Kannada theatre is plagued by the same problems of theatre companies all over India, and perhaps the world. There is an ongoing struggle to survive, poor financial viability; a floating population of theatre artists who seek livelihoods elsewhere; poor public appreciation with the reliance on a loyalist constituency; founder-centric theatre companies and personality-dependent management; opportunistic programming, rather than strategic orientation and so it goes. It is quite understandable, and to be looked at sympathetically, said Padaki. This state of the theatre is because of pitiably low social investment in the theatre. It makes us terribly preoccupied with the success of the single theatre organization, neglecting the development of the theatre as an institution.
After watching the spate of plays that have been coming out in Bengaluru, I can only fervently hope that this state of affairs will change.
(Shoba Narayan is Bengaluru-based award-winning author. She is also a freelance contributor who writes about art, food, fashion and travel for a number of publications.)
By Yoshita Singh UNGA President cites India's efforts to lift millions out of poverty through digitalisation
United Nations, Citing the example of India, President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis told a global audience in Rome that the country has lifted millions of people out of poverty through digitalisation.
Referring to the need to provide a basis to support rapid development, such as through digitalisation, Francis cited and lauded Indias example and said: Take for example the case of India. India has been able to lift 800 million people out of poverty over the last five or six years simply by the use of smartphones.
Francis was delivering a lecture at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations headquartered in Rome on Accelerating progress towards Zero Hunger for the current and future generations.
Francis was responding to questions from the UN diplomats, officials and policy experts gathered at the event after his lecture when he added that rural farmers in India, who never had a relationship with the banking system, are now able to transact all their businesses on their smartphones, including paying their bills and receiving payment for orders.
Underlining that 800 million people in India were lifted out of poverty, Francis added that there's a high level of internet penetration in India and almost everyone has a cell phone.
Francis noted that this is not the case in many parts of the Global South. Equity demands that there has to be some effort, some initiative to address this inequality as an initial step in negotiating the Global Framework for Digitalisation.
In 2009, only 17 per cent of adults in India had bank accounts, 15 per cent used digital payments, one in 25 had a unique ID document and about 37 per cent had mobile phones.
These numbers have increased exponentially and today, teledensity has reached up to 93 per cent, over a billion people have a digital ID document, and more than 80 per cent have bank accounts. As of 2022, over 600 crore digital payment transactions were completed per month.
The series of financial inclusion measures launched by the Indian government include Aadhaar, a biometric database that provides a unique identity to each Indian citizen; no-frills savings bank accounts called Jan Dhan; the direct transfer of social benefit payments into these Jan Dhan accounts; and a digital payment infrastructure called BHIM based on the Unified Payments Interface .
In response to another question, Francis stressed the importance of having the international financial architecture revisited because let's face it, those systems were created 80 years ago when the world was radically different. The dynamics of development were quite different.
The UN has said that following the political declaration adopted at the occasion of the United Nations 75th anniversary in September 2020, the Secretary-General in September 2021 released his report Our Common Agenda.
The Common Agenda proposes a Global Digital Compact to be agreed at the high-level Summit of the Future in September 2024.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Ram Chet, a cobbler in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur, said on Thursday that he rejected an offer of 10 lakh for a slipper stitched by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during an interaction with him on July 26. Rahul Gandhi tries his hands at shoe repairing during a short conversation with Ram Chait, a cobbler in Kurebhar near Sultanpur. He met Chait while on his way back to Lucknow from Sultanpur on Friday (ANI)
After meeting Rahul Gandhi, my life has changed. I am receiving a lot of love and affection. People stop their cars in front of my kiosk and click selfies with me, he said.
Ram Chet claimed that the Congress leader contacted him three days after their meeting to ask about his well-being and assured him of all possible help.
A person from Pratapgarh called and offered me 5 lakh for the slipper. When I refused, he raised the offer to 10 lakh. Ram Chet said.
He claimed this was not the first time he was contacted about the slipper stitched by Rahul Gandhi. Previously, another person had offered him a bag full of money for it, he added.
Rahul Gandhi had also sent a shoe-stitching machine to the cobbler. The Congress shared a picture of the stitching machine and called Gandhi a people's leader.
I refused to give the slippers. I have no intention of selling them. Rahul Gandhi is our messiah. He sat with me and stitched the slipper, which I will frame and keep inside the shop. I will take care of it as if it were my life, Ram Chet said.
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who was in Sultanpur in connection with a defamation case was seen interacting with him on July 26.
The video of their interaction was shared by netizens who praised the Congress leader's gesture. Ram Chait has been mending footwear for the last 40 years in a makeshift shop.
The cobbler also said officials from various government departments also reached out to him to enquire about his problems ever since the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha made a surprise visit to his humble shop in the Vidhayak Nagar area on the outskirts of Sultanpur, turning Chet into a local celebrity.
Chet said he has been getting increased attention from government officials since Gandhi's visit.
After Rahul Gandhi visited my shop, officials from various government departments have started coming to inquire about my problems, he added.
With agencies inputs
India and Vietnam adopted a new action plan on Thursday, to expand their strategic ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hold hands as they meet at Hyderabad House in New Delhi August 1.(ANI)
After holding wide-ranging talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and Vietnam will continue their cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific. He also added that New Delhi supports development and not "expansionism".
"Vietnam is our important partner in our Act East Policy and our Indo-Pacific vision. There is good coordination between our views regarding the Indo-Pacific. We support evolution, not expansionism. We will continue our cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Modi said.
After holding talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, PM Modi said that they held discussions on all areas of cooperation and took several measures to prepare a roadmap for the future.
Modi said that the development in the two nations has gained momentum due to India's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnam's 2045 vision.
In our discussions today, we extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation and took several steps to prepare a roadmap for the future. We believe that due to India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnam's 2045 vision, development has gained momentum in both countries, Modi said.
This is opening up many new areas of mutual cooperation and therefore, today we have made a new Plan of Action to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. New steps have been taken for cooperation in the field of defence and security.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India has entered a new era. He also invited PM Modi to visit Vietnam.
"...We've decided to be part of India's CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure). We also agreed to establish a deputy foreign ministerial level for the economic diplomacy dialogue. The two sides redoubled the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation... in the South China Sea. And a peaceful settlement of disputes based on respecting international law, especially UNCLOS 1982. We agreed to share information and work together to make the South China Sea- waters of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation..." the Vietnamese prime minister said.
Chinh arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night on a three-day visit. This is the first visit by a Vietnamese premier to India in a decade, and also the first prime ministerial visit since the two sides upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016.
Press Release
August 1, 2024 OPENING STATEMENT OF SEN. CYNTHIA. VILLAR DURING THE JOINT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES MODERNIZATION (COCAFM)
01 August 2024, Thursday, 10:00 A.M.
Sen. A.B. Padilla Room The Agenda for today's Joint Organizational Meeting and Public Hearing is the Convening of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the mandatory review and evaluation on the effectiveness of the R.A. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) which was passed in 2019, and is due for extension and amendments. Under Section 13 of R.A. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, the COCAFM shall be organized to conduct the review on the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to determine whether the RCEF should be continued, amended, or terminated. Given the urgency of the issue and the strong demand from the stakeholders for the extension and amendment of the RTL, the Senate Panel invited the House of Representatives Panel for the COCAFM members to convene. However, due to the unavailability of the House members, the COCAFM was unable to meet. Consequently, the Senate and the House of Representatives conducted their reviews independently. Now that Congress is back in session, both panels of the Senate and House of Representatives COCAFM can convene. So this meeting is being called. For the Senate: 1. Firstly, the Senate Panel of the COCAFM reviewed the RCEF on May 14, 2024, with Senators Imee R. Marcos, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, Francis "Tol" N. Tolentino, Mark A.Villar, and myself in attendance. A total of 36 stakeholders, including farmer representatives, participated. 2. A public hearing was conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform on its own on June 13, 2024, wherein a total of 19 stakeholders, including farmer cooperatives and their associations were in attendance. 3. Another public hearing was conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform on July 4, 2024, wherein a total of 17 stakeholders, including farmer cooperatives and their associations were in attendance. 4. To further gather inputs from beneficiaries and other stakeholders, the members of the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform of the Senate, along with the COCAFM Secretariat, visited Isabela and Nueva Ecija provinces to conduct Focus Group Discussions from June 26, 2024, to June 30, 2024, where they were able to meet 113 stakeholders. In total, the Senate COCAFM Panel engaged with 181 stakeholders to review and enhance the current law. May we hear from the House counterpart the results of the hearings and findings regarding the extension of and the amendment to the RTL. (Rep. Enverga to deliver the results of the hearings and findings of the House) Thank you, Rep. Enverga, for your report. I move that the records from all these hearings, along with the position papers and reports from the implementing agencies, and the public consultations conducted by the Senate COCAFM Panel, be included in the COCAFM records. This is to avoid the need for repeating the hearings and consultations, re-inviting the same stakeholders, and re-hearing the reports of the implementing agencies. We are also circulating these documents for the perusal of the Members of the Panel. The Senate COCAFM Panel has received a copy of two (2) letters from the Department of Agriculture, attaching the Resolutions of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples dated May 3, 2024 and May 27, 2024, respectively. First, we are acknowledging the May 3, 2024 Letter containing the PCAF Resolution, Resolution No. 03, series of 2024, signed by Mr. Raul Q. Montemayor, in his capacity as the presiding officer of the National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples to reactivate the COCAFM for continuous oversight and assessment of the RCEF. For the kind indulgence of Mr. Montemayor, the Senate and the House of Representatives, as extensively discussed by Representative Enverga and myself, have conducted their separate hearings and consultations, which are included in the COCAFM records. Second, we also acknowledge the letter that the Committee received from the Department of Agriculture dated May 27, 2024 containing the PCAF Resolution, Resolution No. 04, series of 2024, signed by Ms. Hazel A. Tanchuling, in her capacity as the Chairperson of the National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples. In the aforementioned Resolution, Ms. Tanchuling identified recommendations to be considered for the amendment of the Rice Tariffication Law. She suggested several measures: 1. Adopt clear general safeguard provisions in the law and the enhancement of the RCEF credit: The Senate and the House have respective enrolled bills to improve the existing Rice Tariffication Law, ensuring the protection and competitiveness of our local farmers. Both bills include provisions to enhance the RCEF credit, making it more accessible to our farmers. 2. Develop a comprehensive rice roadmap: While this is a valid suggestion, it is important to note that a rice roadmap already exists. As a product of research and nationwide consultation, The Philippine Rice Industry Roadmap 2030 was approved in September 2018, signed by Emmanuel F. Pinol, the former Secretary of Agriculture. 3. Conduct a study on the long-term effects of the RTL and RCEF: Under the RTL, COCAFM is mandated to review the law. Both the Senate and House COCAFM Panels have conducted reviews and hearings. Additionally, the implementing agencies of the RTL - the DA, the PhilRice, the PhilMech, and the ATI are periodically conducting their own evaluation of the RTL and RCEF through workshops, where representatives of the COCAFM are invited to attend and participate. The Issue that the RTL wishes to address is the competitiveness of the Philippine agriculture landscape and our farmers. Based on the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), we are not yet competitive in comparison the rice production of Vietnam due to - mechanization and the increase in yield brought about by the low quality of seeds. 4. Improve implementation of the law, including training and mechanization: The RTL provides for various implementing agencies, each with specific budgets, to ensure proper implementation. These agencies include PhilMech, PhilRice, ATI, TESDA, and the DA. These mentioned agencies conduct their own trainings to train our farmers to improve their yields. These trainings include: rice production training, farm mechanization training, seed production and certification training, postharvest technology training, training of trainers, among others. We shall distribute the accomplishment reports of the RCEF-Implementing Agencies as presented during the May 14, 2024 COCAFM Senate Panel hearing in the form of handouts. 5. Establish a grains warehouse registration and inspection system: This recommendation is covered by one of my bills, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, as it falls outside the scope of the RTL. 6. Restore the regulatory powers of the NFA and enable the government to import rice or procure it from local traders at the declared import price: I have expressed concerns about the NFA's history and its import powers. I firmly believe that restoring these powers will not lower rice prices. The main objective of the RTL is to encourage and empower our local farmers to increase their yield, reducing the need for the Philippines to import rice from other countries.
Kerala, often referred to as God's own country, suffered another tragedy this year as massive, consecutive landslides in the Wayanad district resulted in nearly 300 deaths and left hundreds injured and homeless. Many people are still missing. The scenic villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha have been devastated by the landslides triggered by torrential rains. CPI Rajya Sabha MP Sandosh Kumar during this year's Monsoon session in Rajya Sabha.(Sansad TV)
Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar called for national solidarity in the face of this unprecedented natural disaster, urging the Centre to include Kerala in the list of states receiving flood assistance through the Union Budget. Currently, the list includes Bihar, Assam, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
Read: The man who lost 26 family members in Wayanad landslides
Kerala is not included in the list of states for which the disaster relief fund was announced during the 2024 Budget. The list includes Bihar, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh. Unfortunately, Kerala is not on it, the CPI MP said.
Without Kerala's inclusion, this list is incomplete. Kerala is highly susceptible to natural disasters, and destruction occurs, unfortunately, every year, he added.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated financial support for irrigation and flood mitigation projects in Bihar, estimated to cost 11,500 crore in the Budget 2024. Additionally, the government will assist Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim with flood management, landslide prevention and related projects.
A student from the Chooralmala school predicted the mishap
In a phone interview with Hindustan Times, Sandosh Kumar discussed the village of Chooralmala, where many houses were washed away. He mentioned the government higher secondary school, which was highly valued by the local community and students, was destroyed.
Chooralmala higher secondary school before the landslide.
However, it's important to note that this school played a crucial role in saving lives. It prevented most of the landslide from reaching the village, which would have resulted in a higher death toll. The main block of the building remained intact and acted as a protective barrier, saving many lives.
Also read: Wayanad landslide: Suriya, Vikram, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil donate to Kerala
A student from this school had recently written an online article predicting a disaster due to the misuse of the area. While she highlighted the beauty of the place, she also warned about the dangers. Fortunately, the girl who wrote the article is safe.
Visuals from the Chooralmala school after the landslide.(Pic received from CPI RS MP Sandosh Kumar)
What about migrant workers?
The areas in Wayanad affected by the landslides are well-known for tourism and numerous tea plantations. Many migrant workers are employed in these tea plantations and the tourism sector.
Following the disaster, many migrant workers are missing, and their relatives are still waiting for their return. Their records are disorganised, as they are primarily held by their employers. These workers come from Bihar, Odisha, and other states. Search efforts are currently underway to locate them.
Kerala is together in this: No blame game
Sandosh Kumar said this is not the time for a blame game. He said, There are no political complaints for now. A coordinated effort between the Centre and the state is ongoing. The primary task is to save as many lives as possible.
He noted that while there are many severely injured individuals, Kerala's hospitals and doctors are well-equipped, eliminating the need for temporary hospitals.
Regarding funds, Kumar highlighted Kerala's strong response and the collective effort in raising funds. There is a splendid display of unity despite our differing political opinions. We are all united in this effort, he said.
He also acknowledged the significant financial support from neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu.
What about relocating people?
When questioned about relocating residents from eco-sensitive zones to safer areas, Sandosh Kumar stated, We cannot build houses or carry out any activities that involve drilling here in these eco-sensitive zones. Many people have lost their loved ones, so returning is not an option. Sustainable relocation is now gaining traction. It requires the latest technologies and will be achieved with support from both the Centre and the state.
What did Madhav Gadgil report say back in 2011?
The landslides have put the focus on the warnings of the "Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel," led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil. The panel, which submitted its report to the Centre in 2011, recommended designating the entire hill range as an ecologically sensitive area.
It advised banning activities such as mining, quarrying, new thermal power plants, hydropower projects, and large-scale wind energy projects in the most ecologically sensitive zones.
A second committee, chaired by rocket scientist K Kasturirangan in 2013, reduced the ecologically sensitive area to 50 per cent. However, its recommendations have also not been followed. Although four draft notifications have been issued since then, no formal action has been taken.
On Wednesday afternoon, PK Ravindran surveyed the sight before him, a mixture of grief and disbelief. The Chooralmala he grew up in was green and pristine with undulating tea estates, the Iruvazhinju river gurgling past. Now, all that was before him was a brown postcard, most of the houses gone, swept away by a river in fury; a village that has ceased to exist. We lost 90% of the people we knew in this village. Its like our world has been blanked out. People who were like family, people we met every day for tea, are all gone. I have lost my best friend, he said. Rescue operations underway in Wayanad district of Kerala. (AFP)
He watched somberly as army personnel battled the elements to set up a temporary bridge over the river, in a desperate attempt to create a sustainable path to the other side. As he did, he pointed to one section in the distance, now inundated with water.
Read more: Kerala CM counters Amit Shah's 'early warnings' claim on Wayanad landslides: Red alert issued only after
There used to be a Shiva temple there. It was quite big. Now, the temple and its priest are both missing. Towards the right, on the banks, there used to be a row of houses, both old and new. All those houses have been washed away. The government school we all studied in has been wrecked, half of its buildings gone. Chooralmala will never be the same again, the 52-year-old handicrafts businessman said.
A day after twin landslides within a span of three hours rocked Chooralmala and the adjoining settlements of Mundakkai and Attamala, these villages were unrecognisable. The Iruvazhinji river, a tributary of the Chaliyar, once a gentle stream, is now swollen and angry, split into two separate streams. Across its bed, making the trajectory of the water ever more unstable, were strewn large boulders, rocks and tree trunks. Most houses in Chooralmala, a village of around 1,000 people, have simply ceased to exist. Those that remain have sunk into the slushy earth.
Read more: Wayanad landslides: 160 bodies recovered, rescue operations underway | 10 points
On Wednesday, even as the incessant rain continued, earthmovers were at work around the houses that remained, trying to dig up bodies of those that may be buried within. On Tuesday, relief and rescue had focussed on the injured, officials said. On Wednesday, it was about finding the bodies of the dead. Bijeesh MP, a civil defence volunteer, said, The possibility of finding people alive now is quite low. We are using earthmovers to break the rubble inside the houses and find bodies.
Even for those who survived, their lives are now full of haunting memories. Suresh S, who escaped because his house was a little distance away from the river, said, My phone is filled with voice messages and cries of my friends who sent pleas of help. Their cries haunt me. We helped some people to safety that night. But the river made anything else difficult, he said.
Twenty kilometres away from the landslide site, at Aster Speciality Hospital Wayanad, 35-year-old Jaseela and her youngest daughter (3) also survived. But among those missing are her husband, two other children and her in-laws. Only the body of one daughter has been recovered. On Wednesday, when the child was buried, Jaseela was asked if she wanted to attend the funeral. She didnt. I didnt want to see her scarred face.
Imphal: At least 10 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and five students staying in Akampat relief camp in Manipur were following police action who allegedly fired tear gas shells, rubber bullets, and lathi-charged hundreds protesting in Imphal valley, people aware of the matter said. A protest was held on Thursday by people displaced by the ethnic violence in the state, demanding their resettlement (HT Photo/Sourced)
A protest was held on Thursday by people displaced by the ethnic violence in the state, demanding their resettlement. The IDPs are staying in the relief camps after they were displaced after the incident on May 3 last year. The rally was abruptly halted by state forces soon after the protestors exited the camps gate in Imphal East, said the people.
The rally, initially intended to head towards the chief ministers bungalow at Babupara in Imphal, prompted a significant deployment of state police personnel in the area to prevent the march.
As the protestors began their procession, they were met with loudspeaker warnings from the state forces, followed by a barrage of tear gas shells aimed at dispersing the crowd.
According to the people, Manipur Police fired several rounds of tear gas shells, mock bombs, and live rounds in the air to control the agitators who tried to overpower the police while the protestors retaliated by pelting stones, in which at least 10 IDPs fainted due to suffocation and were evacuated to a nearby hospital for first aid. Meanwhile, five students of S Chaoba Memorial English School, residing near the Akampat relief camp, also fainted due to suffocation from the tear gas shells, said the people mentioned above.
The school is located around 200 meters from the relief camp along Singjamei Kongba Road, Imphal East district. The students were also evacuated to a nearby hospital for first aid.
One scribe of a local cable TV channel, who was trying to cover the incident, was allegedly assaulted by a Manipur Police sub-inspector. After the scribe identified himself as media, the police personnel tried to snatch his phone, a video of which was captured by the scribe.
Another group of IDPs, under a banner reading Mass rally on rehabilitation of IDPs, chanted slogans such as send us back to our home, We do not want free food from government, and implement NRC immediately, heading towards CMs residence.
The protest was organised by the Committee on Protection of Meitei Victims, Moreh.
The protestors demonstrated a rally heading towards the CMs residence by banging utensils, but were blocked by the police at Singjamei Chingamathak, about four kilometers from the CMs residence. The protestors continued their protest by blocking the Indo-Myanmar Highway-2 (Imphal-Moreh) road.
One of the protestors, Thangjam Budha Meitei of Moreh, residing in a relief camp, said the IDPs have been suffering for the last over 15 months. IDPs are demonstrating the protest and demanding that the Manipur government make necessary arrangements so they can return to their homes.
Later, the protestors dispersed from Singjamei Chingamathak, Imphal West, after staging around two hours of sit-in protest by blocking the highway to their relief camps.
The incident was raised in the state assembly by opposition MLA K Ranjit Singh. Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, the leader of the House, said the Manipur government is also taking necessary measures to restore peace in the northeastern state. He mentioned that there is a suspicion that some groups are trying to instigate the IDPs by politicising the issue for their own benefit.
At present, the government cannot send the IDPs back to their homes as it does not want to take any risks, Satyabrata Singh said, adding that peace talks are still continuing in Silchar and that the outcome might be known within a few hours.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday issued a clarification over videos of a water leak inside the new Parliament building, saying the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the lobby had been slightly displaced and it was later fixed. Water dripping from the ceiling of the new Parliament building being collected in a bucket. (Photo from X)
"There are media reports that heavy rains in Delhi on Wednesday caused water leakage into the Lobby of the newly inaugurated Parliament Building, raising concerns about the weather resilience of the structure. It has also been reported that waterlogging was noticed around the premises, particularly near the New Parliaments Makar Dwar, with several videos of the waterlogging going viral on social media platforms," it said in a statement.
It said the green domes were installed to ensure natural light in the Parliament building.
"In this regard, it is worth mentioning that keeping in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the Building, including in the Lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilized in day-to-day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby," it said.
The secretariat said the problem was timely detected and fixed.
"The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately. Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed. Similarly, accumulated water opposite Makar Dwar also got drained out quickly," it added.
Also read: Old was better: Opposition attacks Centre over water leak video in new Parliament
The Opposition questioned the durability of the new Parliament building after Congress MP Manickam Tagore posted a video on X that showed water leaking from the roof of the lobby of the new Parliament building.
Also read: Rainwater leakage in Parliament building, Congress MP shares video
"Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion," he wrote on X.
Also read: India gets new Parliament building: 10 things you should know about the complex
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also took a swipe at the government, saying the old building was better than the new.
About 7 km from Maharashtras Phaltan tehsil in the biodiverse Satara district is a village named Vinchurni. It has lush forest cover over a green expanse of 120 acres. Its rich biodiversity includes a variety of insects, trees, animals such as hyenas and peacocks, medicinal plants such as gugul , ponds, water streams, and regular crops and fruits in seasonal cycles.
This is a man-made forest. Babulal Gandhi, 96, and his younger brother Maganlal Gandhi, who is no more, created this green zone in one of Maharashtras well-documented rain shadow zones A rain shadow is a patch of land that has become a desert because mountain ranges have blocked all plant-friendly rainy weather. On one side of the mountain, wet weather systems drop rain and snow. On the other side of the mountain the rain shadow side all that precipitation is blocked.
Gandhi was born and raised in this area before he joined Vinoba Bhaves Bhoodan Movement or the land donation movement of the 1950s. The movement began in 1951 in the village of Gandhian Bhave in his village in Pochampally, Tamil Nadu. It soon became a nationwide movement. The Bhoodan movement made an effort to convince rich landowners to voluntarily donate a portion of their property to others who were without land. As a young man, Gandhi travelled to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and witnessed work and livelihood on donated land.
The land of his childhood wasnt very fertile. It was in a rain shadow. But he and his brother made a resolve and in over a decade, transformed Vinchurni into a green, fertile, water-rich oasis. One of the methods they employed was zero contours farming or terracing wherein at each level of graded land, water would flow with halts, allowing dirt to settle at the bottom and water to absorb well in every level of the land.
When Pune-based sustainable food entrepreneur Seema Agarwal interacted with Vinchurnis residents and farmers most of the cultivation in this farm is done by the daughters of the extended Gandhi family, who Gandhi trained and equipped for natural, toxin-free farming to source produce for her business, she was surprised by the nonagenarians infectious advocacy and practice of farming that supports the precedence of jal, jameen and jungle in any kind of life or livelihood.
The thing that struck me again and again about Babukaka is that he is always willing to give away what he has. He truly believes that the land and the forest and what it gives us cant be monopolised. It is a radical thought, one that resonates more with todays children than with us from another generation, Agarwal said.
Watch the trailer here:
Agarwal approached Harish Tarun who runs Aproop Films, a filmmaker who has been interested in socially-engaged subjects for a long time before that, having written and directed two Marathi short films before Vinchurniche Gandhi. Both were set in rural Maharashtra; one was about a woman who doesnt have a toilet inside her home and another on the effects of chemical fertilisers on the human body.
Over five days we shot this film, with just a 10-15 members crew. We depended a lot on serendipity and improvisation. Schools in Pune undertake regular trips to Babukakas farm to learn about sustainable living and farming, and Tarun and his team decided to do the shoot during one of those trips when a bus full of city schoolchildren was visiting the farm.
The story unfolds through the viewpoints of a boy of about 10. He marvels at what he sees and hears from trees that are so big it takes him and his friends some effort to hug them, water bodies always in motion, birdsong and delicious food made with produce from the farm. The documentary has a voiceover narration by a child from Pune who cherishes his trip to this green oasis and the narrator sounds almost like someone who is following in the footsteps of a climate warrior.
The star of the film is Babulal Kaka himself: At 96, he is sharp, wrestling long-term and short-term memory with ease and a sense of humour, always up for a walk in the forest, always full of stories and practical tips to implement. It is a man completely attuned with the ways of nature and that makes this biopic of him and the forest he built, not only inspirational but extremely relevant to the generation becoming adults in a few years.
Just as air, water and light belong to everyone, so does land. Our focus should be on water, land and forest, Gandhi said, taking his audience through his years of devotion to nature. His ikigai is aspirational today in this wellness-obsessed world, and his longevity, effortless to him and those who have witnessed him live and work, is a potential subject of biological research.
Short Stream is a monthly curated section, in which we present an Indian film that hasnt been seen before or not widely seen before but is making the right buzz in the film industry and film festival circles. We stream the film for a month on HT Premium, the subscription-only section on hindustantimes.com.
Sanjukta Sharma is a Mumbai-based writer and film critic. Write to her at Sanjukta.sharma@gmail.com
A tourism boom has helped cut Japan's rice stockpile to the lowest this century as foreign visitors gobble up sushi, onigiri and other dishes with the staple, officials told AFP Wednesday. Bigger factors, however, were lower harvests caused by hot weather and water shortages, as well as prices rising at a slower pace than alternatives, the farm ministry stressed. Rice held in the private sector was 1.56 million tons last month, the lowest since comparable data began being collected in 1999 and a drop of 20.8 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed Tuesday. Japans rice reserves hit new low as foreign tourists dig into sushi and onigiri.(File photo)
"The chief reasons behind the record-low inventory is a decline in production last year due to high temperatures combined with water shortages, and the relative cheapness of rice prices compared to prices of other crops such as wheat," farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told AFP. "The increase in demand by foreign tourists has also contributed," he said, but added that "we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice."
Japan welcomed 17.78 million tourists in the first half of 2024, a million more than pre-pandemic levels, figures showed earlier this month. Besides the cherry blossom of Tokyo, the geishas of Kyoto and the majesty of Mount Fuji, a cheaper yen also has helped foreign visitors feel flush and boosted spending on everything from kimonos to meals. The effect was also noticeable in data for rice demand, which rose for the first time in a decade in the 12 months to June 30, hitting 7.02 million tons, the farm ministry data showed.
Demand for rice has been falling for some time because of a falling population and changing eating habits by many Japanese as they opt for other carbohydrates such as pasta and potatoes. Rice demand by foreign tourists soared 31,000 tons to 51,000 tons, the ministry said. Japan last year recorded its hottest September since records began 125 years ago, and since April this year heat has killed 36 people, according to the disaster management agency.
Hyderabad, India 1st August 2024 Spacenet Enterprises India Ltd, a listed company on NSE (Symbol-SPCNET) and Modern Fuel Technologies, a leading Russian company, are pleased to announce a joint venture aimed at executing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects across India. Spacenet `Enterprises India Ltd and Modern Fuel Technologies to Enter Joint Venture for Nationwide LNG Project Execution.
As India emerges as one of the fastest-growing economy in the world and is poised to be one of the top three economic powers in the next 10-15 years, the demand for energy is set to rise exponentially. This growth is coupled with a significant shift towards clean energy, driven by high-polluting sectors moving towards natural gas. This joint venture as proposed is positioned to capitalize on this trend by developing LNG infrastructure across the country.
Project Phases:
Phase 1 (FY 2025-27): Establishment of 20 LNG gas stations and fuel retail outlets.
Phase 2: Expansion to 180 LNG gas stations and fuel retail outlets nationwide.
Prakash Dasigi, Executive Director of Spacenet Enterprises, and Aleksander Sorokin, General Director of Modern Gas Technologies, expressed the optimism about this venture. "This partnership will be a significant step towards enhancing India's LNG infrastructure and promoting cleaner energy solutions," said Dasigi. Sorokin added, "Our combined expertise will drive the development of modern LNG solutions across various sectors in India."
The shift towards natural gas as an alternative fuel for automobiles is accelerating due to its higher efficiency and cleaner emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels. Natural gas is 30-40% more efficient and produces 40% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal and 30% less than oil. In the race to net zero, LNG serves as a crucial 'feedstock' for low-carbon hydrogen, supporting the emerging hydrogen economy.
The project will also promote RETROFITTING heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) to use LNG, contributing to energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. According to the Shell LNG Outlook 2024, global demand for LNG is expected to rise by over 50% by 2040, driven by industrial coal-to-gas switching in China and increased usage in South and Southeast Asia.
In 2022, the total LNG traded worldwide was 402.8 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA). India imported 20.79 MMTPA, accounting for 5% of the global LNG trade.
This joint venture highlights the shared commitment of both companies in developing energy, transport, and other economic sectors through the use of modern LNG technologies and solutions. The project is financed by a major Russian bank, will see Spacenet holding a 15-25% stake, adding significant value to the company. The collaboration aims to foster the growth of clean energy infrastructure and support India's transition towards a more sustainable energy future.
Disclaimer:This article is sponsored content curated by HT Syndication. The inputs and details accounted for in the article do not necessarily reflect those of HT, and HT does not endorse or assume any responsibility for the information provided.
iPhone 16 launch, which is expected in September, is just a month away now. This means that many have stopped buying new iPhones, as it doesnt make sense to purchase older models at full price, nearly a year after their release. Furthermore, the anticipation for new models with flashy features always excites consumers. However, Apple brought major updates last year with the launch of the iPhone 15 series, and both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models are considered mature products that are expected to serve users well for years to come. So, should you wait for the iPhone 16 models? Here are five reasons why you might want to skip it, and stick to a iPhone 15 series model. iPhone 16 could bring many surprises, but buying the iPhone 15 Pro is still a good idea, especially during sales.(AP)
Reason 1: iPhone 15 Pro Will Get Apple Intelligence And Apple Has Discounted It
If you are waiting for the iPhone 16 series just for the Apple Intelligence features, you should reconsider. The current flagship, the iPhone 15 Pro, will also receive Apple Intelligence features with the official stable release of iOS 18.1. So, if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or are considering getting one, you can rest assured that you will be getting the latest Apple features, just like the upcoming models.
Plus, if you haven't followed the news, Apple has officially discounted the iPhone 15 Pro to 1,29,800, down from the original MSRP of 1,34,900. Also, in the offline markets, you can find even better deals, which you won't with the iPhone 16 Pro at launch.
Also Read: iPhone users in this country can finally get Apples 'life-saving' feature: Details here
Reason 2: iPhone 16 Pro Models Are Expected to Be Larger Than Current Models
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are expected to feature 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, making them considerably larger than the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Maxs 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screens. This is not ideal for those who already find the current models already too big and bulky. If you prefer a smaller phone, the iPhone 15 Pro is still an excellent choice and will likely be the last small Pro iPhone. Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, with its 6.9-inch screen and boxy frame, may be even more difficult to handle compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Reason 3: No Major Changes in Camera Expected
Apple tends to introduce incremental changes to the iPhone camera each year. Last year, it added a 5X telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and introduced ProRes LOG video. This year, the smaller iPhone 16 Pro is also expected to feature the 5X tetraprism lens, with other iterative features potentially being added. If you are satisfied with the current performance of your iPhone camera and have a recent model, such as the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 series, you likely wont see major camera improvements.
Also Read: iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max likely to get this major upgrade for faster WiFi speed, check details here
Reason 4: Titanium Frame Is Already Here
If you own the iPhone 15 Pro, you are familiar with its titanium frame, which makes it lighter and more durable than previous iPhone Pro models, such as the iPhone 14 Pro, which had a stainless steel frame. Apple is likely to continue offering the same titanium construction with the iPhone 16 Pro models. Therefore, if you bought the iPhone 15 Pro for its durability and lightweight, purchasing the iPhone 16 Pro might not be necessary, especially since it is expected to be heavier due to the purported size increase.
Reason 5: iPhone 15 Has USB-C, Dynamic Island, And iPhone 16 May Not Be All That Different
As appealing as Apple Intelligence might be, it may not be essential for everyone. Most people just need a functional phone that looks like the latest models and works smoothly. The standard iPhone 15 is already an ideal device, featuring USB-C charging and Dynamic Island, similar to the Pro models. As for the iPhone 16 models, the differences may be minimal, aside from spec bumps and Apple Intelligenceupgrades that the average user might not find particularly compelling. Additionally, there are leaks suggesting that Apple might continue to offer a 60Hz refresh rate with the iPhone 16 vanilla models, so there may not be much to gain here either.
Also Read: Motorola Edge 50 launched in India at Rs. 27999: Check out specs, features, and more
Following cloud burst incidents in various parts of Himachal Pradesh, teams from the National Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, police, and home guards have started rescue operations. A cloudburst occurred late last night in the Samej Khad area of Rampur in Shimla district, and another was reported in Thaltukhod of the Padhar subdivision in the Mandi district. In Tosh Nallah, Kullu district, a footbridge and three makeshift sheds, including a liquor shop, were washed away following a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst. A view shows the overflowing river Beas following heavy rains in Kullu district in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India. (ANI)
As the search and rescue operations have begin, people are posting scary visuals from the cloudburst hit regions on X. These posts highlight the devastating situation in the state and the struggles that people are currently facing. (Also Read: 2 killed, over 50 missing after cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh)
Take a look at a few of the videos and pictures here:
More on Himachal Pradesh cloudbursts:
The local meteorological office has issued an orange alert for severe to very heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning in seven districts of the state on Wednesday and Thursday. The MeT has also issued a yellow notice for heavy rain in isolated areas on August 2 and 3. Monsoon activity is expected to accelerate with widespread precipitation over the next four to five days.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall are likely to occur at one or two places in the districts of Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur on Wednesday and Thursday. (Also Read: Himachal: Footbridge, makeshift sheds washed away in flash flood after cloudburst in Kullu)
The department has also highlighted the possibility of landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas of Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla, and Kinnaur districts and damage to plantations and standing crops, vulnerable structures and kutcha houses due to strong winds and waterlogging in low-lying areas.
Amid the heavy rains and devastating landslides in parts of Kerala, the local police have issued a warning for citizens. The police department took to social media to share their worries against dark tourism. For the unversed, dark tourism is a form of travelling where people visit places that are associated with tragedies or deaths. The Kerala police issued a notice regarding dark tourism,
The Kerala Police Department posted a warning and wrote, "Please don't go to disaster areas for sightseeing. It will affect rescue operations." (Also Read: Kerala's Athirapally Falls turns deadly amid torrential rains and landslides. Watch)
Take a look at the post here:
More on Kerala landslides:
Several landslides struck two villages in Kerala's Wayanad district, leading to the deaths of 167 people as of Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted "heavy to very heavy rainfall" at isolated places. As of August 1, the "heavy to very heavy rainfall" warning has also been issued.
In the Mundakkai and Chooramala areas under the Vellarimala village of the Meppadi Panchayat, two massive landslides struck at 2am and 4:10am, respectively. (Also Read: Terrifying moment Kerala bus crosses bridge surrounded by raging waters on all sides in Kozhikode)
The Indian Army was called in when a makeshift bridge that connected the affected area to a nearby town was damaged. The Army has mobilised four columns, two from the 122 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) and two from Kannur's DSC Centre.
Soon after the landslide struck, Anand Mahindra, chairperson of Mahindra and Mahindra, offered support to those affected. He said that he would step forward and give relief support. Anand Mahindra also expressed his sadness over the devastation and said, "Wayanad is a paradise on earth. To see it devasted by landslides with many lives lost is a tragedy. Our hearts are with the people of Wayanad, and we will do whatever we can in the relief effort."
The incidents regarding wild animals coming inside homes have increased in the recent past. These situations can often turn out to be dangerous for the animal, as well as the humans and stray dogs living in the area. Now, another such incident has reportedly occurred in Uttarakhand's Nainital, where a leopard entered a house and was attacked by three dogs. Snapshot of the leopard fighting with three dogs.
The video opens to show a dog standing in what seems to be a balcony-like area of a house. As a few seconds pass by, a leopard can be seen entering inside. Immediately, three dogs run towards the wild animal and attack it. The video also shows a brief altercation between the dogs and the leopard. (Also Read: Leopard enters hotel room in Jaipur, rescued by forest department)
The video was shared on X by user Nishant. While sharing the video, in the caption of the post, he wrote, "The king of the jungle ran away to save his life from the dogs."
Watch the video here:
The post was shared on July 31. Since being posted, it has gained numerous views and likes.
Earlier, a leopard was seen entering a house in Gurugram. News agency ANI shared the video and wrote, "A leopard entered a house in Gurugram's Narsinghpur village. The Forest department team has arrived to catch the leopard. Gurugram Police team also reached the spot." (Also Read: Leopard enters Uttarakhand home, takes away pet dog. Watch)
The video starts with a house located at the mouth of an alley. Shortly after, the creature is spotted dashing toward the residence. The large feline is observed scaling a set of steps in order to gain entry into the house. Subsequently, the footage depicts forestry officials positioned outside the dwelling, prepared with their gear and awaiting the commencement of the rescue mission.
Life in Delhi came to a standstill Wednesday after a spell of heavy rainfall paralysed the national capital. The downpour last evening, accompanied by strong winds and lightning, led to waterlogged roads, flooded homes and traffic woes. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) late in the day issued a red alert and schools in Delhi will remain closed today, August 1. Visuals of waterlogged Delhi after a spell of record rainfall.(X/ANI)
Even as Delhi residents braved waterlogged roads, high cab fares and water entering their homes, social media was flooded with reactions. Hundreds of people slammed the infrastructure in the national capital as they shared visuals of waterlogging after a short spell of rainfall.
South Delhi - ring road all traffic blocked within two mins of rain -there is NO Drainage in Delhi, wrote X user Yasmin Kidwai.
Just 20 mins of rain in Delhi today and look how Karol Bagh is already screwed, another person wrote while sharing footage of a staircase turned into a waterfall.
A photograph of the flooded Press Club, just steps away from the Parliament, has also gone viral online.
In New Friends Colony, people were seen wading through ankle-deep water. One hour of medium rain and A-Grade Colony paying the highest slab of property tax gets flooded due to neglect, bad management, choked rainwater drains, a resident noted.
Many compared the condition of Delhi to a swimming pool.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi's post saying any waterlogging will be addressed drew many sarcastic responses. One person replied: Any water-logging you just said?? What a joke madam!! Whole Delhi is a pool right now.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that clouds had converged over Delhi from all directions, prompting an advisory for residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Meanwhile, amid heavy downpours, a house collapsed in Delhi's Sabzi Mandi area. A total of five fire tenders were rushed to the site.
Pakistani engineers have reportedly developed and tested a government messaging app, Beep, designed for secure communication among officials. This development comes at a time when Islamabad frequently restricts social media use and imposes internet and mobile phone network shutdowns to curb dissent. Beep has already successfully undergone trial runs since 2023 and is now ready for launch, an official said. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The new messaging platform, named "Beep," has been exclusively developed in Pakistan and has already undergone successful trial runs since 2023. Baber Majid, CEO of the National Information Technology Board, said the app is now ready for launch. He also mentioned that, upon government approval, Beep could eventually be available to millions of Pakistani citizens.
"Beep is safer than other messaging apps," Majid claimed.
'240 million people, 7 athletes': How Pakistan is performing in Paris Olympics after 'shameful' welcome
The development of Beep coincides with struggles faced by ordinary Pakistanis in accessing the social networking platform X, which was blocked ahead of the parliamentary elections on February 8 earlier this year.
The elections were marred by violence, a nationwide shutdown of mobile phone services, and allegations of vote rigging. While authorities justified the phone service suspension as a security measure, critics and the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed it aimed to disable communication to facilitate vote rigging, a charge the government denies.
Frequent internet restrictions have also been reported in southwestern Baluchistan and during the annual Ashoura commemorations, affecting communication between officials and security forces. Beep aims to ensure uninterrupted communication among officials amidst these challenges.
Divorce Mubarak: Pakistani woman celebrates end of marriage with dance party. Viral video
The app requires an internet connection, but details on restricting internet availability to officials or other approved users were not disclosed.
Despite the government denying plans to ban WhatsApp, the promotion of Beep Pakistan suggests a preference for a homegrown solution.
Shaza Fatima Khwaja, state minister for IT and telecommunication highlighted the app's robust security features and data privacy, presenting it as a secure alternative to foreign platforms, reported The Times of India.
"The design of the application is robust enough to offer it to the general citizens of Pakistan at later stages, if desired," Khwaja said. She also revealed that the government plans to roll out the application to all its employees within the next 45 days.
Critics, however, argue that the app is part of a government strategy to control online discourse and limit access to information.
LONDON British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the tiny mindless minority behind unrest that has plagued several cities after a horrific stabbing at a childrens dance class and vowed to put a stop to it as the 17-year-old suspect was publicly named Thursday in part to counter misinformation blamed as one cause of the fiery clashes. British prime minister announces policing plan to deal with violence after fatal stabbings of girls
Starmer said the violence was clearly driven by far-right hatred as he announced a plan to enable police to move between communities just as the gang of thugs does. Officers will more easily be able to share intelligence and use facial recognition technology and other tools to prevent the kind of outbursts that have sent scores of police to the hospital the past two nights.
This is coordinated; this is deliberate," he said. "This is not a protest that has got out of hand. It is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence.
The announcement came after police in several cities were pelted with bottles by crowds apparently reacting to the stabbing Monday that killed three and wounded 10.
The announcement came as the teen charged with murdering three girls and stabbing 10 other people made his first appearance and was named in court partly to counter misinformation about his identity that has been blamed for triggering violent protests across England.
Judge Andrew Menary said his decision to allow Axel Rudakubana to be named was exceptional given the boy's age. But he said the teen will lose his right to anonymity when he turns 18 next week and continuing to shield his identity could allow false information about his name and immigration status to metastasize.
Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum, Menary said in Liverpool Crown Court.
The attack Monday on children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class shocked a country where knife crime is a long-standing and vexing problem, though mass stabbings are rare. The deaths have been used by far-right activists to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims though the suspect is not an immigrant, and his religion has not been disclosed.
Rudakubana, who police said was born in Wales, has not been charged with terrorism offenses but faces three counts of murder over the deaths of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.
He also has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight children and two adults who were injured.
Rudakubana did not enter a plea and was ordered held without bail and returned to youth detention, though Menary said that might change after his birthday. His next court date is Oct. 25.
The adults, who were listed in critical condition, were named for the first time as Leanne Lucas, who led the dance and yoga class, and John Hayes, who worked nearby and intervened in the attack to protect children. The injured children cannot be named because of their ages.
Two of the children were discharged Thursday, Alder Hey Childrens hospital said. Five others were in stable condition at the hospital.
Prosecutors did not disclose a motive for the crime, but they revealed that the weapon used was a kitchen knife with a curved blade, according to an additional charge he faces.
The suspect, wearing a gray tracksuit, smiled briefly at reporters during an initial appearance in Liverpool Magistrates' Court. At his subsequent appearance in the Crown Court, he pulled his sweatshirt up to his hair to cover his face. He did not speak.
Neither the teen's parents nor family members of victims were in court.
Far-right demonstrators fueled, in part, by online misinformation have held several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and causing a melee near the prime minister's office in London the next day.
Hundreds of protesters chanting we want our country back hurled beer cans and bottles near the prime ministers Downing Street residence in London on Wednesday evening, and launched flares at a nearby statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill. More than 100 people were arrested for offenses including violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker, Londons Metropolitan Police force said.
Police officers were pelted with bottles and eggs in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, where a police car was set ablaze. A smaller disturbance was reported in Manchester.
On Tuesday night, a crowd of several hundred people hurled bricks and bottles at riot police in Southport, set trash cans and vehicles on fire and looted a store, hours after a peaceful vigil for the stabbing victims.
Police said a name circulating on social media purported to be the suspect's spread by far-right activists and accounts of murky origin purporting to be news organizations was incorrect and that the suspect was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum-seeker.
Jonathan Brash, a member of Parliament from Hartlepool, said there needs to be a conversation on how misinformation is being spread by the far-right on social media to incite violence.
I see it almost every single day straight-up lies about these situations designed to cause violence, to incite racial hatred, Brash, a Labour politician, told BBC Radio 4. "We have to deal with that situation because there is so much misinformation and its being spread quite deliberately to stoke tension in communities and ultimately its the communities that are suffering as a result.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
BERLIN, - Germany's government said on Thursday it was not an easy decision to release from jail Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the murder in 2019 of a former Chechen militant in Berlin, in a prisoner swap between Moscow and the West. Germany says 'not easy decision' to release Russian murderer
Krasikov was among the Russians released by the West in exchange for 15 people imprisoned "unjustly" in Russia and a German who had been sentenced to death in Belarus, the German government said in a statement.
Those released from Russia included U.S. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had in February hinted he would release Gershkovich in exchange for Krasikov, referring in an interview to a person who "due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals".
Such a swap however was complicated for Germany given the brazenness of the murder, committed in broad light a few minutes' walk from parliament and the office of then-chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Our obligation to protect German nationals and our solidarity with the USA were important motivations," the government said.
U.S. President Joe Biden acknowledged on Thursday that Germany had had to make significant concessions to achieve the prisoner swap.
Turkey, which coordinated the exchange, said 10 prisoners, including two minors, had been moved to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States.
The German government did not confirm how many of its nationals had been released in the swap.
In a sign of the impending swap, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, had on Tuesday pardoned Rico Krieger, a German sentenced to death in Belarus on terrorism charges.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Meghan Markle wishes Prince Harry should let go of these lawsuits for security protection for their family and can be free. The Duchess wants the Duke to live in the moment, per People. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a polo fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria, May 12, 2024. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye/File Photo(REUTERS)
According to a former employee of their Archewell Foundation, the Duchess of Sussex supports Harry 100 per cent but wishes he could let go of these lawsuits, be happy and live in the moment.
Meghan wants Prince Harry to be free
She wants him to be free of all of this, but she also knows that because of everything hes been through and his love for [her and their children], he cant, the insider told People.
She wants him to live in a world where he is not burdened by this.
ALSO READ| Prince Harry's friends have severed ties with the Sussexes over
Prince Harry has been facing legal problems trying to reinstate his familys taxpayer-funded police protection. This protection was removed when he and Meghan stepped down from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to the US.
In February 2022, Harry expressed that he did not feel safe in the UK due to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats against his wife, Meghan, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Earlier this year, Londons High Court ruled that Harry and his immediate family would not be eligible for tax-funded security during their visits to the UK.
Prince Harry reportedly plans to appeal against London High Court decision
The security issue has also affected Prince Harry's relationship with his father, King Charles III. The Duke believes that his father has the authority to restore their security clearance. King Charles can give Harry the security clearance he wants so desperately. As the monarch, he is the ultimate decision-maker. That would be how father and son can reconcile, a royal source told Page Six.
Another insider told People, Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father.
Harry is determined to protect his own family at all costs.
ALSO READ| Is Prince Harry really blackmailing King Charles III using his children?
The Duke of Sussex feels its still dangerous to bring Meghan and their children to the UK. He told the ITV documentary Tabloids on Trial, that All it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read. And whether its a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me. Its one of the reasons why I wont bring my wife back to this country.
Washington: Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for President, has said that his likely rival, Vice-President and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris was always Indian, promoted only Indian heritage, then made a turn and became a Black person. Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump speaks on a panel of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)
Trump made the clearly false and some critics allege even racist assertion while speaking at a gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday.
Harris, who is biracial, dismissed Trumps remarks as a part of the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect. The White House termed Trumps statement as repulsive. A leader of the Congressional Black Caucus termed it as extremely offensive to Black communities. Trump, however, stuck to his claim, with his campaign selectively tweeting videos of Harris cooking Indian food and identifying herself as Indian, an indication that Republicans may continue using the line of attack.
Trumps attack
In response to a question on whether he thought Harris was a DEI candidate, Trump first asked the journalist questioning him, Rachel Scott of ABC News, what DEI meant. When she clarified it was diversity, equity and inclusion, Trump again pushed her for a definition while Scott repeated the question. I really dont know, could be, Trump said. In the Indian context, the closest analogy to Trumps response would be referring to someone as a quota candidate, a label that many would interpret as a casteist slur.
It was then that Trump, unprovoked, questioned Harriss identity. I have known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. Now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know is she Indian or is she Black? When Scott, the journalist, told Trump that Harris was Black, the former president reiterated his claim, I respect either one but she obviously doesnt because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.
Trumps remark led to gasps in the audience of Black journalists. Harris was born to a Jamaican Black father and Indian mother, both immigrants, in California. She was raised Black. She went to a historically Black university and has been a part of Black sororities for decades. She has publicly written about and owned both her identities, as a Black and Indian woman. And she is universally recognised as the first Black woman vice-president, only the second Black woman senator in American history, and now possibly the first Black woman to be a nominee of a major party to be president.
Trumps statement fit in with a pattern. He had questioned Americas first Black president, Barack Obamas eligibility for the presidency and demanded that Obama show his birth certificate. Trumps comments also come at a time when Harriss favourability ratings have spiked, there is clear consolidation of the Black and liberal base behind Harris, and the election has suddenly become a lot closer than what it appeared in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Trump and the Republican National Convention two weeks ago.
Harriss Black roots
Speaking, ironically enough at a pre-scheduled Black sorority event on Wednesday night, Harris dismissed Trumps statement as a part of the same old show. It was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth. A leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us they are an essential source of our strength.
While Harris didnt offer autobiographical details, she has, in her memoir, The Truths We Hold, written of her and her sister, Mayas, childhood. Harris was born to two immigrants, a Jamaican economics student, Donald Harris, and an Indian science student, Shyamala Gopalan, who met in the early 1960s in Berkley while participating in African American study circles and the civil rights movement devoted to Black rights. Harris grew up in an environment where she both conscious of her Black identity and was surrounded by friends of her parents who became pioneers of an entirely new academic discipline focused on Black history and oppression.
While her parents separated when she was seven, Harris wrote about her mother, From almost the moment she arrived from India, she chose and was welcomed to and enveloped in the black community. It was the foundation of her new American life.My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women.
Harris has also written of Regina Shelton, a Black woman from Louisiana who helped take care of her, as a second mother.
Harris also went to Howard University, a historically Black institution in Washington DC, where she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Black sorority. Subsequently, in law school back in California in the mid 1980s, Harris was elected the President of the Black Law Students Association.
In a 2019 New Yorker profile published in the run-up to her presidential bid, Harris was asked about her Black identity. Trumps son, Donald Trump junior, had then retweeted and deleted a post that denied Harris was a Black American. The magazine quoted Harris telling a radio show, Look, this is the same thing they did to Barack. They dont understand what black people are. Because if you do, if you walked down Hamptons campus, or Howards campus, or Morehouse, or Spelman, or Fisk, you would have a much better appreciation for the diaspora, for the diversity, for the beauty in the diversity of who we are as black people. So Im not going to spend my time trying to educate people about who black people are.
Repulsive: White House slams Trump
Trumps statement caused widespread outrage.
In a rare comment on a statement by a candidate, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who is the first Black person from the LGBTQ+ community to hold the position, said, As a person of colour, as a Black woman who is in this position, that is standing before you at this podium, what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive. Its insulting. And, you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no ones right. It is someones own decisions. Jean-Pierre added that only Harris could speak to her experience. And she is the vice-president of the United States, Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name, period.
Gregory Meeks, a Democrat leader of the Congressional Black caucus who is also the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, hit out at Trump and claimed his statement was a part of a pattern of lifelong bigotry. Donald Trump using the largest convening of Black journalists to publicly question Vice-President Harris identity as a Black woman and insult her intelligence is extremely offensive to Black voters across our country.
Derrick Johnson, the president of NAACP, one of the oldest and most prestigious Black civil rights organisations, said on X, To walk into a room full of Black journalists and attack someones Blackness is another level of disrespect. To anyone who needs a reminder: we cant change the colour of our skin, and we dont want to.
But Trump and his campaign stuck to their line of attack, which appeared to be aimed at driving a wedge between Harris and the Black community and sow confusion.
Posting a four-year old video of Harris with Mindy Kailing, an Indian-American producer and writer in Hollywood, where both celebrate their Indian, particularly South Indian roots, and prepare to cook Indian food, Trump wrote on Truth Social, Crazy Kamala is saying shes Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!
Trumps post was a misrepresentation, for Harris did not say she is not Black, but only celebrated what she, even in the video, termed as the heritage of one half of her family.
Neil Makhija, a former director of Impact, a group dedicated to promoting Indian-Americans in politics, and now the commissioner of Pennsylvanias Montgomery County said, I have seen for years, right wing politicians speaking to Indian-American audiences say VP Harris identifies as Black and hides her Indian heritage. Now when speaking to a Black audience, Trump and his weirdos say she is Indian, and only recently turned Black. Turns out shes always been both and they have no integrity.
ST. LOUIS A deep-pocketed pro-Israel super PAC that helped defeat one member of the congressional group known as the Squad is now pushing to oust another Missouri Democrat Cori Bush. A pro-Israel super PAC helped defeat one Squad member. Now it's going after another, Cori Bush
Bush, of St. Louis, has been a vocal critic of how Israel responded when attacked by Hamas in October, calling the Israeli retaliation an ethnic cleansing campaign, and she was among the few House members who opposed a resolution supporting Israel. She boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before Congress last week, calling him a war criminal.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committees super political action committee, United Democracy Project, has spent more than $8.4 million to unseat Bush in her Aug. 6 Democratic primary against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, according to federal campaign finance records.
AIPACs grassroots members are proud to support strong pro-Israel progressive Democrats like Wesley Bell, an AIPAC statement to The Associated Press read. "Cori Bush has been one of the most hostile critics of Israel since she came to Congress in 2021 and has actively worked to undermine mainstream Democratic support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
The race points yet again to the complications the war in Gaza has caused for Democrats in this years elections, with core constituencies at odds over how President Joe Biden's administration has responded. The disagreement has implications up and down the ballot and has already cost one incumbent his seat. United Democracy Project spent nearly $15 million against progressive U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in the House, in a June primary election he lost to George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist in New York.
Afterward, AIPAC said the outcome in this race once again shows that the pro-Israel position is both good policy and good politics for both parties.
Bush, in an interview, said the donors behind AIPAC support former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
This is only the beginning, Bush said. Because if they can unseat me, then theyre going to continue to come after more Democrats.
Despite the onslaught of money, Bush said she is confident she has the support of St. Louis voters.
They know that Ive had this same belief, this pro-peace, pro-democracy, pro-diplomacy, anti-war, pro-humanity Ive been this person all along," Bush said.
Soon after the Hamas attack of Israel, Bush wrote on social media that Israels collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamass actions is a war crime."
I strongly condemn Hamas & their appalling violations of human rights, she wrote, "but violations of human rights dont justify more human rights violations in retaliation.
Her comments prompted backlash, even among some supporters in her district. Not long after that, Bell announced he was dropping his plans to run for the Senate against incumbent Republican Josh Hawley to instead challenge Bush in the congressional primary.
Bell, like Bush, is Black and was active in Ferguson, Missouri, after Black 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in 2014, a shooting that helped launch the national Black Lives Matter movement. After being elected prosecutor in 2018, Bell reopened an examination of Browns death but found no grounds to charge the officer, Darren Wilson.
Bell, in an interview, said Bushs comments about Israel were wrong and offensive.
She has accused the people who have been the target of genocide and ethnic cleansing of doing that, which was just wrong, Bell said. Israel was attacked on Oct. 7 by a terror state. They didnt attack military targets. They attacked at a concert. They attacked women, seniors, children, killed babies.
Bell said the goal should be to work toward a peaceful resolution in the Middle East.
We dont want to see any innocent Palestinians, any innocent Israelis, harmed. We want to keep the door open to a two-state solution, he said.
AIPAC isnt alone in seeking Bush's ouster. DMFI PAC, which supports pro-Israeli Democrats, is funding TV ads supporting Bell and Yassamin Ansa, an Arizona Democrat opposing Rep. Ruben Gallego.
Conversely, nearly two dozen progressive groups have come together to support Bush and other Squad members. The coalition, called Reject AIPAC, includes Jewish peace organizations and Arab American and Muslim groups that have been organizing since the Israel-Hamas war began.
One group that is part of Reject AIPAC, Justice Democrats, has spent around $1.5 million on behalf of Bush in the primary cycle. Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi called AIPAC's record spending in the New York race an all-out assault on our Democracy that was being repeated in Missouri.
Are we willing to let super PACs and lobbies, no matter what interests they represent, purchase elections and congressional seats just because they have more money? Andrabi asked. Or are we going to build a Democratic Party that actually reflects the needs and interests of everyday people?
Bush also is getting moral support from several key Democratic congressional leaders. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar are among those who have endorsed Bush.
But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has stayed out of the Missouri race, with no contributions listed for either Bush or Bell.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Alina Habba, a former attorney of Donald Trump and current campaign supporter, came forward to defend the former ex-President following his racial hoax about Kamala Harris. Alina Habba, gestures as she is introduced at a campaign event for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)(AP)
Trump made the erroneous assertion at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday. He claimed that Harris, his likely Democratic opponent and the US Vice President, had hardly promoted her Indian heritage and later turned Black when it was politically beneficial. The GOP presidential candidate has drew immense backlash over his offensive remarks against Harris.
Responding to Trump's comment, Harris said that The American people deserve better.
Calling it a same old show of divisiveness and disrespect, Harris said, The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts.
We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength, she told the members of Sigma Gamma Sorority, a historically Black sorority, during the 60th Biennial Boule on Wednesday night.
Habba targets Kamala Harris over her roots
Speaking at a Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Habba targetted the US VP, saying, Im going to speak to you, Miss Harris.
Im a strong woman, a mom, a lawyer and an American. And unlike you Kamala, I know who my roots are, I know where I come from and I dont play around with the Constitution, she continued.
She claimed Trump, who was found guilty on all 34 counts in his New York hush money trial, is innocent of any crime other than loving this country.
Also Read: Donald Trump declares he doesn't need concerts or entertainers as Kamala Harris dares him to say it to my face
Social media fumes over Habba's comments: 'What's she even talking about?'
Social media critics were quick to point out Habba's who my roots are blunder to attention, claiming that she was only intensifying his MAGA racism against Harris.
What's she even talking about? Kamala is quite clear about her heritage, one X user wrote.
Alina Habba comes from a parking garage, right? another quipped.
Who my roots are? Shes painfully stupid a third user reacted, while the fourth one remarked, Never go full racist.
Trump never misses an opportunity to publicly bully a woman of color and pretend hes the victim. Thats his thing. Thats the campaign strategy for 2024, another chimed in.
Shocking footage shows anti-Israel protesters in Times Square holding up a portrait of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was recently assassinated. During the same protest on Wednesday, July 31, demonstrators were also seen waving a pro-terror flag. Anti-Israel protesters hold up portrait of Ismail Haniyeh, wave pro-terror flag in Times Square (@SpyderMonkey0_0/X)
The crowd yelled Free Palestine, while one demonstrator held up a flag representing Hamas, and another displayed a photograph of Haniyeh. The protester with Haniyehs photo wore a mask and sunglasses, and donned a hat with a yellow headband around it, representing Hezbollah.
Another protester was also seen holding up a portrait of Haniyeh, and other demonstrators were seen displaying Palestinian flags at the Crossroads of the World. The demonstration, which saw about 300 attendees, was held in response to a speech by former Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus, which was given in midtown. The event was also attended by Israel supporters.
A few pro-Palestinian protesters were seen surrounding a pair of Israel supporters and seemingly throwing some kind of liquid at them. In response, a woman wearing a pro-Israel shirt sprayed the group with some substance. A man accompanying the woman said she was only protecting herself. Police later separated the group.
An Israel supporter said that he believes the pro-Palestinian demonstrators chose violence. He is a war monger, the Israel supporter said of Haniyeh.
The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh, Hamas top political leader, was killed by a predawn airstrike in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran and the militant group have blamed Hamas, with Irans supreme leader saying he vows revenge against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not address the killing but said that Israel will exact a very heavy price from any aggression against us on any front. There are challenging days ahead, he said.
Haniyeh was killed just after he had attended the inauguration of Irans new president in Tehran. The strike also came hours after a top commander in Irans ally Hezbollah was targeted by Israel in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
H-1B visa lottery scheme- America's biggest foreign worker employment policy is being manipulated and exploited by staffing and outsourcing companies, according to an explosive report by Bloomberg. H-1B lottery rigging expose: Bloomberg investigation reveals how staffing and outsourcing companies leverage loopholes to bluff the system.
The report highlights how in 2023, 446,000 people sought H-1B visas and only about 85,000 were available. It further adds, over 11,600 visas went to multinational outsourcing companies, with vast overseas workforces that flood the lottery with entries. Another 22,600 went to IT staffing firms.
In all, nearly half the H-1Bs in Bloombergs analysis went to outsourcing or staffing companies and as its investigation reveals many of them cheated on a massive scale by submitting multiple entries for the same worker.
How the rigging of the H-1B Lottery System works
The data from 2020 - 2023 obtained by Bloomberg as a result of a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security reveals how certain staffing firms have ingeniously exploited the H-1B lottery system through a practice known as "multiple registration." This tactic involves submitting multiple entries for a single individual to enhance their chances of securing a visaa manipulation the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) characterizes as fraud. The findings indicate that about 15,500 visas, or roughly one in six awarded last year, were obtained through such fraudulent means.
In a particularly egregious case, one operator of a staffing firm utilized up to a dozen companies to submit the same applicants as many as 15 times, acquiring hundreds of H-1B visas while many others were left empty-handed.
The USCIS appears hamstrung in its ability to enforce regulations effectively, raising critical questions regarding the agencys enforcement capacity.
H-1B rigging racket: Curious case of Kandi Srinivasa Reddy
Bloomberg investigation led to Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, an Indian American man who came to US in early 200s and earned a masters degree. In 2013, he started his own outfit called Cloud Big Data Technologies LLC.
Reddy's operation involved submitting multiple applications for the same individuals under different company names, thereby increasing their chances of being selected in the lottery. According to Bloomberg's investigation, Reddy controlled several entities, including Cloud Big Data Technologies LLC, Machine Learning Technologies LLC, and others with similar names and overlapping addresses. These companies submitted numerous entries for the same workers, resulting in over 3,000 entries in total and securing hundreds of H-1B visas since 2020.
In one year alone, Reddy's firms accounted for more than 300 successful H-1B applications, significantly more than any previous year.
Report further asserts, after winning an H-1B, Reddys company rented the workers on contract to corporations such as Meta Platforms Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc., visa applications show. The company's advertisements claimed that it collected 20% or 30% of the workers pay, an amount that could reach $15,000 or more each year for a typical worker.
Lucas Garritson, a Texas lawyer representing Reddy, told Bloomberg a number of the companies visas had been challenged by the USCIS for abusing the lottery system. However, the agency hadnt followed the proper procedures for prohibiting the activity, nor did it have proof that Reddys companies broke the rules.
How the H-1B Lottery System Works
Originally designed to allocate H-1B visas on a first-come, first-served basis, the USCIS switched to a lottery system due to overwhelming demand with a cap of 85,000. Each year, the lottery draws names randomly from the pool of applicants, which has nearly doubled in recent years, making the chances of securing a visa increasingly slim.
Donald Trump has stirred up controversy with a racially charged comment about Kamala Harris, stating she happened to turn Black a few years ago. The comments were made during a gathering of Black journalists in Chicago and soon went viral on social media with people criticising the former president for his racially insensitive attack on his opponent. During the event, an interviewer asked if he agreed with some Republicans who have called Kamala Harris a DEI hire. In response, Trump questioned her racial background, asking, Black or Indian? Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate former President Donald Trumps vice presidential pick this summer. (AP )
Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial identity
"I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black," the Republican presidential nominee said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday as reported by CNN.
Also read: Donald Trump declares himself the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln'
Trump kept saying that the vice-president turned presumptive democratic nominee only talked about her Asian-American background till now. She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage, he remarked. So I don't know - Is she Indian? Or is she black?
Kamala Harris became black all of sudden
After President Biden endorsed his Vice President to succeed him in the upcoming elections, Trump's bid for the White House has seemingly lost pace. Major polls now show a tight race, a stark contrast to the situation when Biden was running, which allowed Trump to take the lead.
Also read: Donald Trump launches brutal attack against Kamala Harris & her Jewish husband: You can see the disdain
Kamala Harris, the first Black and Asian-American Vice President with Indian and Jamaican heritage, faced false attacks from Trump. At the recent panel discussion held in Chicago, Trump remarked, I respect either one, referring to Harris racial identity, but added, she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she became a Black person. He suggested that this shift should be investigated, further fueling controversy.
Trump's remarks sparked a heated discussion with ABC News' Rachel Scott, who served as one of the event's panellists. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also responded to the attack labeling his remarks as "repugnant" and insulting.
As a person of color as a Black woman, who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern what he just said, what you just read out to me, is repulsive. Its insulting, and, you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify, Pierre told the reporters as per CNN.
About Kamala Harris background
Kamala Harris comes from a mix of Indian and Jamaican backgroundsher mom's from India and her dad's from Jamaica, a fact not hidden from public records. Kamala Harris pursued her education at Howard University, a distinguished institution with a rich history of serving historically Black students, and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's oldest African American sorority.
Additionally, she held the position of president for the Black Law Students Association at the University of California, San Francisco, and engaged in various activities with the Congressional Black Caucus throughout her tenure in the Senate.
Reacting to Trumps remarks Harris said, his comments are the "the same old show" of "divisiveness... and disrespect". "The American people deserve better," she mentioned at a gathering of the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho.
"We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us - they are an essential source of our strength."
Former US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he was not familiar with the details surrounding the case of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who died after being shot by an Illinois sheriff's deputy earlier this month. Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz(REUTERS)
I don't know the exact case but I saw something, and it didn't look, it didn't look good to me, Trump said during a Q&A panel with reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention in Chicago. You're talking with the water right? Trump added.
Massey was fatally shot in her home on July 6 while holding a pot of water, leading to national outrage and calls for justice. Vigils were held across the country in honor of the 36-year-old woman.
ALSO READ| Black or Indian? Donald Trump launches racially insensitive attack on Kamala Harris
Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean P. Grayson, who responded to Massey's call about a possible intruder, has been charged with her murder and pleaded not guilty.
Court documents released earlier this month detail that Massey raised her hands and said Im sorry before ducking for cover after Grayson drew his weapon and threatened to shoot her in the face.
When pressed again about immunity, Trump said he would support a person who made an innocent mistake.
Trump sidesteps question on police immunity in Sonya Massey case
Massey had initially called authorities about a possible intruder in her home. She was given permission to remove a pot of boiling water from her stove, but Grayson began "aggressively yelling" at her to put the pot down.
Grayson is heard saying I swear to God. Ill f****ing shoot you right in your f****ing face in agraphic bodycam footage before firing three shots, one of which struck Massey in the face.
The bullet that claimed her life entered beneath her left eye, an autopsy confirmed.
ALSO READ| Donald Trump declares himself the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln'
When NABJ panelist Kadia Goba from Semafor asked whether the officer in Masseys case would have immunity under Trump's presidency, Trump sidestepped the question and instead complained about gun violence in Chicago.
Donald Trump recently alleged that vice president Kamala Harris happened to turn Black some years ago, and that all of a sudden, she made a turn in her identity. However the former presidents claim is not true. Harris never switched from identifying as Indian-American to Black. Is Kamala Harris Indian or Black? Fact check on Donald Trump's claim that VP changed her identity (Photo by BILL PUGLIANO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP, photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
What did Donald Trump say?
At a gathering of Black journalists in Chicago, an interviewer asked Trump if he agreed with Republicans on Capitol Hill who refer to Harris as DEI hire. In response, Trump questioned Harris heritage.
She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? the former president said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention.
I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went she became a Black person, he said, adding, I think somebody should look into that too.
Harris later spoke at a gathering of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority in Houston, where she described Trump's comments as the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. Let me just say, the American people deserve better, she added.
Fact-checking Donald Trumps claim
Harris has long identified as both Black and Indian in an attempt to recognise both her parents heritage as part of her identity. In fact, her senate bio said that she is the second African-American woman and first South Asian-American senator in history.
In her 2019 memoir titled The Truths We Hold, Harris opened up about her mixed-race identity and upbringing. She described how she and her younger sister Maya were raised with a strong awareness of and appreciation for Indian culture. She said that her mom also understood very well that she was raising two black daughters and was determined to make sure (they) would grow into confident, proud black women.
In light of Trumps comments, the Reuters Fact Check team reported that Harris has always described her racial identity as Black, South Asian, Indian-American, African-American, and Jamaican-American all of which stem from her parents identities.
Harris, the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major presidential ticket in the United States, is the daughter of late Shyamala Gopalan, who was Indian-American, and Donald Harris, who is Jamaican-American. Donald emigrated to the US from Jamaica in 1964. Most of Jamaicas population comprise people who descended from enslaved Africans who were brought to work the islands sugar estates by the British mostly during the 18th century. 90% of Jamaicans were of African origin as of 2012.
Shyamala was Tamil Indian-American. She died in 2009.
As Simone Biles basks in the glory of her recent gold win at the Paris Olympics, an old clip of JD Vance criticising her Tokyo exit has resurfaced, stirring controversy. Trumps VP pick, who remains in the headlines due to his multiple past comments, harshly rebuked Biles at the time for stepping back from the 2021 Gamesa decision widely praised for its emphasis on mental health. Simone Biles' 'twisties' struggle resurfaces as JD Vance faces backlash for past comments
On July 31st, the 27-year-old won her 8th Olympic gold medal. The gymnast broke the record for the most awards in American gymnastics history after the womens US gymnastics team won gold in the all-around finals, but back in 2021, it was a totally different story.
JD Vances weird remark on Simone Biles resurfaces
Yet another round of ill-timed comments from the Ohio senator has surfaced, this time aimed at the decorated star of U.S. gymnastics who is soaking in a deluge of praise and congratulatory messages from around the world. The 2024 win marks her triumphant return to the Olympics after her dramatic withdrawal from the Tokyo 2021 Games due to mental health challenges.
Also read: Black or Indian? Donald Trump launches racially insensitive attack on Kamala Harris
In 2021, after Simone Biles announced her withdrawal, Vance expressed his bewilderment at how the media and public were portraying her decision to leave the Olympic team as an act of heroism rather than a tragic moment. Its understandable that she was going through an incredible amount of pressure, the Ohio senator at the time told Fox News in an interview. What I find so weird about this and it reflects on the media more than it does on Simone Biles is that weve tried to turn a very tragic moment, Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team, into this act of heroism, he added.
What Vance said about Simone Biles weakest moments
After leaving the 2021 Olympics due to mental health issues, Biles later explained that she was actually dealing with "the twisties." This serious condition left her disoriented and unable to sense her position in the air, which can be very challenging for gymnasts.
Also read: Prince William adds two close friends related to George and Louis to Royal payroll after dropping Camillas sister
However, the senator turned Trumps vice-presidential pick at the time, argued that it reflects poorly on their therapeutic culture. He suggested that instead of praising people for their strength and heroic moments, we are instead celebrating their weakest moments.
Being an athlete at that level is incredibly tough, he accepted. A normal response at this moment would be to say, Its just a shame that shes going through this. Its a shame that she quit, but instead, what our press has done, I think, is turn this into this weird therapeutic moment. Lets praise her for doing this. And I think thats really where the problem herein lies, the Hillbilly Elegy author added.
This isnt the first time Vance has faced backlash for his past remarks. Previously, the 39-year-old Republican sparked outrage after a 2021 resurfaced clip showed him referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as a "childless cat lady."
Kamala Harris' family is undoubtedly standing behind her like a rock amidst all the criticism that the US Vice President has been facing since declaring her presidential run following Joe Biden's exit. Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff, previously backed the Democratic candidate after JD Vance mocked her for being childless. Now, she has targeted Usha Vance, the wife of Ohio Senator, after he dragged her two children, Cole and Ella, into the childless cat ladies row. Kamala Harris' husband's ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, has again targetted JD Vance after his "childless cat ladies" remark stoked controversy.(Getty/AP)
Ella has already defended her stepmother, whom she and her brother refer to as Momala, from the accusation of being a childless woman.
However, Kerstin hasn't forgiven Vance for his baseless remark against Harris, as she shared the video of the Donald Trump's running mate and captioned it as, Ushas going to be in the ex-wives club in 2025. Mark my words.
Usha Vance, whose parents are immigrants from India, was born and raised in California. Usha and JD first met at Yale Law School and later tied knot in 2014. The couple share three kids.
Earlier, Kerstin bashed journalist Megyn Kelly after she said Harris supports sterilization and mutilation of perfectly healthy minor children.
For all of you still bitching about JD Vances childless cat lady remarks: KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS THE STERILIZATION & MUTILATION OF PERFECTLY HEALTHY MINOR CHILDREN, Megyn Kelly stated on X, asking Vance's critics to get a grip.
Sharing her post, film producer Kerstin wrote: WTF is this? So many lies. First they want to control our bodies and what our families look like. Then they want to complain about population decline but refuse to support child tax credit, paid family leave, any help for families. Keep lying Megyn- the facts are there!
Also Read: JD Vance's controversial criticism of Simone Biles' 2021 Tokyo exit resurfaces after Paris win
JD Vance to wage war against ant-child ideology?
Vance discussed his pro-family stance in the video that Kerstin has shared on X, stating that the greatest way to invest now is to make sure the next generation survives.
He declared that he and Trump ought to wage war on the nation's anti-child mindset. He stated that millennial feminist writers have been discussing the negative aspects of having children.
According to Vance, his sister occasionally expressed the opinion that she should postpone the plan of having children. I tell her you have been a great mom. People like my sister should not feel like the cultural messaging is that your life is inadequate. People who are sending this message should feel their life is inadequate, he said.
He further expressed his love and respect for wife and slammed the critics for targeting Usha for her Indian origin. Obviously, shes not a white person, and weve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha, Vance noted.
Kamala Harris has been trolled for suddenly speaking in a Southern accent at her Atlanta rally on Tuesday, July 30. Netizens mocked the vice president after a video of her speaking in the accent surfaced, where she tells the crowd, You all helped us win in 2020, and were gonna do it again in 2024! Kamala Harris trolled for speaking in Southern accent at Atlanta rally (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP)(AFP)
Many X users poked fun at Harris in the comment section of the above video. she's so cringe, stomaching this for four years will be difficult, one user wrote. Its never good when someone does a fake Southern accent. Oh its so bad, one user said, while another wrote, She's taking a page out of Hilary's Southern twang attempt. It sounds bad. The most cringe ever, one user said.
Shes delusional at best, and so are the people cheering for her, one user wrote, while another said, She is disgusting please stop the steal. Idk whats more gross that fact she had to practice that accent or the fact the background drones ate it up, one user wrote. Another said, Oh Geez. Make it stop already. This is the best they got? This is their # 1 candidate? This is what they hope to win with this November? This? Right here????? one user wrote.
Say it to my face
At the star-studded campaign, Harris directly addressed Donald Trump, challenging him to debate her on the stage. "Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because, as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face, she said.
Taking the stage, Harris also said that the momentum in the race was shifting. She said her "people-powered" campaign was the underdog, but also spoke about how Joe Biden carried the state back in 2020. "I am very clear the path to the White House runs right through this state," she said.
In Kansas, a gay waiter revealed that a bigot customer scrawled a homophobic slur on a receipt instead of a tip, causing him to burst into tears. According to Noah Bierig, a 19-year-old waiter at Bubba's 33 in Wichita, the incident occurred two weeks ago on Sunday while he was serving to a group of young men.(Kake News)
According to Noah Bierig, a 19-year-old waiter at Bubba's 33 in Wichita, the incident occurred two weeks ago on Sunday while he was serving to a group of young men. He said that one of the customers was giving him strange looks by staring at his painted nails and pride bracelet.
The cruel customers denied to give Bierig a tip and instead opted to write f-g on the receipt line.
Bierig, who was devastated by the act of cruelty, told KAKE: "That hurt me a lot. Im not the type to cry at work, but I gotta say, that was definitely the first time that had happened to me. He further informed the pride bracelet, which he was wearing, was gifted to him by his mother when he came out as gay around six years ago.
The first time I went up to the table, they were just shooting me a couple dirty looks. And every time I would walk away, they would kind of just start laughing a little bit, he told the outlet.
Stating that he chose to ignore the group's taunts and served the table like any other, he mentioned, I looked at one of their receipts and I noticed that it had a certain three-letter derogatory term written on it.
Also Read: Kansas City Chiefs' Rashee Rice suspect in alleged assault at nightclub amid ongoing legal troubles
Bierig's friends share receipt online, garnering immense support
Following the incident, one of Bierig's friends shared the receipt online, featuring the customer's name and the slur. As soon as the bill was posted online, customer's accounts received intense backlash, with netizens denouncing his shameful act and seeking his apology.
Kansas customer issues apology, Bierig reacts
Later, James Blick realised his mistake and posted an apology on Facebook, saying, I know it was wrong of me to write what I did. He claimed his overall dining experience wasnt that great, but added that I shouldnt have dealt with it by saying what I did.
Calling the incident a valuable lesson for him, he said he tried calling the restaurant to apologise to the guy but failed to connect with him. I am very sorry to anyone who was affected or hurt by my words.
Meanwhile, Bierig's friends created an online fund via Proud of Wichita, the LGBTQ+ chamber of business in the town, to support the server. However, Bierig graciously declined to take any of the funds, declaring that whatever comes out comes from that, its going to be donated.
Reacting to the support and love he has received, he said: It's absolutely insane. I never thought anything like this would happen based on just a couple Facebook posts from my friends and family.
A soon-to-be-released biography by royal correspondent Robert Jobson, titled Catherine: The Princess of Wales, unveils King Charles' deep concerns regarding Prince Harry's future once his financial assets are exhausted. The book discusses the monarch's unease about what will happen when Harry runs out of his substantial earnings from his various business deals with companies like Netflix and Spotify, which he and Meghan Markle have been involved with. The worry grows further as William is adamant about not helping the Sussexes in the future. A new book has claimed that Prince Harry asked his father, King Charles, a heartbreaking question after he was asked to leave Frogmore cottage (AP/PTI, James Manning/Pool via REUTERS)
King Charles concerned about Harrys future
According to a recent report by PEOPLE, Charles and Harry are not on speaking terms ever since Dukes last trip to the UK to see his ailing father. Now, Jobson alleges in an excerpt of his book that the Harry problem is still messing things up for the king even though he's trying to keep his distance from his estranged son.
Also read: Prince William adds two close friends related to George and Louis to Royal payroll after dropping Camillas sister
"'What worries His Majesty and his top team,' a palace official said, 'is what is going to happen when all the money runs out.'" As per Jobson, the couple is trying to find an income stream (jam, anyone?) that doesn't involve dishing the dirt on the Royal Family
Also read: Meghan Markle has become 'Britain-phobic,' royal expert claims; She is scared of
As per the NY Post Jobson thinks Harry and Meghan, are looking for ways to make money that don't involve launching scathing remarks against the Royal Family. He thinks people are getting fed up with their never-ending complaints He also thinks there's a "Sussex-shaped void in the Royal Family," which has never been so noticeable referencing to the Royal Family's diminishing appeal and workforce following the departure of Harry and Meghan from their senior royal employment positions.
Prince William adamant to not help Sussexes
Despite signing new Netflix deals and launching podcasts, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex face scepticism about their projects' success. Many believe their initial documentary exhausted the potential for royal-related controversy, leaving them to explore other income streams. During his 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry reportedly said that these media deals were a financial safety net necessitated by his father's withdrawal of financial support.
However, despite the void, that the Sussexes left behind, Jobson suggests that William is adamant about refusing to help the Sussexes in the future.
King Charles will never shut the door for Harry
Recent claims suggest that the monarch is giving his youngest son the silent treatment. His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the King's health, but those calls go unanswered too, according to an insider. However, the Royal book author thinks that the King is still concerned about Harry and that hell never shut the door on his second child, though there seems little chance of a meaningful reconciliation for now.
The Lower East Side in Manhattan became the sight of a harrowing scene on Thursday afternoon as two police officers were shot, according to police sources. Two NYPD officers were shot during a foot chase in Lower East Side, Manhattan, on Thursday afternoon. One suspect taken into custody.(X / Steven Bognar)
The mishap unfolded at Delancey Street and Eldridge Street as an armed robbery broke out at a store on Canal Street. The two officers got injured while while responding to the gunpoint robbery, which soon led to a foot pursuit. According to Steven Bognar of NBC New York, one officer was hit in the leg while the other was shot in the groin.
They reportedly did not respond with fire during the street action after the perp shot at them during their chase towards Delancey Street. NYPD confirmed the officers responded to a 911 call for robbery at about 4:15 pm local time. No further details were released at the time.
Per the New York Post's report, sources revealed they were taken to Bellevue Hospital. Although their conditions were not immediately clear, neither injury was reported to be fatal and the officers are expected to survive.
Also read | Obama lauds Biden for US-Russia prisoner swap that secured freedom for 3 American citizens
As police investigation proceeds, Canal Street between Chrystie Street and Allen Street has been closed off. NYPD urged citizens to avoid the area in a social media alert.
A suspect was taken into custody at the scene and the police also recovered the gun used. According to CBS News, the suspect also suffered an unknown injury, for which treatment was offered.
Per information obtained by the NY Post, Joshua Dorsett was the one who allegedly shot the NYPD officers after a foot pursuit.
Check out the site of the active investigation in Manhattan:
This is a developing story.
Meghan Markle reportedly surprised and believed Prince Harry deserved more materially after her first visit to Prince William and Kate Middleton's apartment at Kensington Palace, a royal biographer has claimed. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Prince William and Kate Middleton waved at the well-wishers on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 11, 2022 (IST)(AFP)
At the time, the Duke of Sussex was living in Nottingham Cottage, one of the smallest properties on the estate, with two bedrooms and one bathroom. Whereas, Prince William and Kate resided in the expansive 20-room Apartment 1A, their London home since their 2011 marriage.
After relocating to the charming five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, the couple eventually bid farewell to the residence in the summer of 2023, marking a permanent departure following their decision to step down as working members of the royal family in 2020.
Royal biographer Rob Jobson writes in his new book on Kate: It is understood that when Meghan and Harry had gone round to have drinks at William and Catherines apartment, while they were still living at Nottingham Cottage opposite, Meghan had been taken aback at the disparity between the brothers."
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I am not saying Meghan was jealous, but she was really surprised how lavishly Harrys brother was living compared to where they were living,a close source revealed it to the biographer.
It was perhaps the beginning of all the tensions between the two couples.
Prince William bans Meghan from wearing Princess Diana's treasure
The relationship between the two brothers and their spouses appears to have completely broken down after Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020.
Jobson claimed Prince William banned Meghan from wearing Princess Diana's jewellery at her 2018 wedding, despite Kate doing so in 2011.
Meghan understood that William was above her husband in the royal pecking order as the heir to the throne, but she thought Harry was also a royal prince, so he deserved more materially, Jobson claimed. She was piqued by the disparity.
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Prince Harry also reflected on his feelings when he first brought Meghan to Nottingham Cottage. He wrote in his 2023 memoir Spare: I was excited to welcome Meg to my home, but also embarrassed. Nott Cott was no palace.
Biden administration's months-long negotiations has reeled out a tremendous diplomatic achievement, as the White House announced on Thursday that they've secured the release of three American citizens and one American green-card holder from Russia. President Joe Biden holds hands with Elizabeth Whelan while delivering remarks on a prisoner swap with Russia from the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Washington, as other hostage family members look on. Whelan's brother, Paul Whelan, was part of the prisoner swap. (AP /Alex Brandon)
The diplomatic feat achieved as part of a 24-person prisoner swap will grant freedom to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and British-Russian citizen and green card-holder Vladimir Kara-Murza, who are expected to arrive in US by nightfall.
All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over, President Joe Biden said in an official statement announcing that Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families.
Former president Barack Obama, who even visibly supported Biden during his initial re-election bid before he dropped out of the race recently, applauded his skill and persistence alongside that of vice president Kamala Harris and US' allies.
Its a tremendous diplomatic achievement, and were grateful that theyll be back home with their families where they belong, he wrote on X/Twitter.
Also read | Kamala Harris' husband's ex-wife takes scathing swipe at JD Vance's spouse: Usha is going to be
About the American citizens released in the US-Russia prison swap
Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich was taken into Russian custody while he was on assignment in Yekaterinburg in March 2023. He was charged with espionage. The US condemned the claims. In early July 2024, a Russian court sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The US labelled his hasty trial a sham.
Marine veteran Whelan was the longest held American detainee in Russia. He was arrested in December 2018 when he visited the country to attend a friend's wedding. Like Gershkovich, he was also charged with espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Paul was held hostage for 2,043 days. His case was that of an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as part of their blighted initiative to use humans as pawns to extract concessions, the Whelan family said in a statement on Thursday. Paul Whelan is free.
Kurmasheva, who is a journalist based in Prague for the US-funded Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, holds dual Russian and American citizenship. She was detained in June 2023 following his visit to his mother in May. Kurmasheva was charged with disseminating false information about Russia's military. After being tried in secret this July, she was sentenced to six and half years in prison.
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Her husband, Pavel Butorin, said on Thursday, After over a year of separation and more than nine months of brutal detention, Alsu will finally be free. Thanks to the unwavering efforts of the U.S. government and our tireless advocacy work, she will soon reunite with her family.
Karza-Murza, whose family lives in the US, is a Kremlin critic and a Washington Post contributor.
These three are only a few of the Americans who were imprisoned in Russia. The swap couldn't help bring back other detainees, including American teacher Marc Fogel, US Army staff sergeant Gordon Black, musician Michael Travis Leake and Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina among others.
WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was held in Russian prison for month on drug charges, was previously released in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022.
The latest prisoner swap stands as one of the largest since the end of Cold War. In return, eight Russian nationals have been released, including three being held in US prisons: Vadim Konoshchenok, Vladislav Klyushin and Roman Seleznyov. Additionally, two Russians held in Slovenia, one in Poland and one in Norway have also found their way back home.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have pinned down the next destination for their overseas tour after flying to Nigeria earlier this year. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the Duke being honoured with the Pat Tillman Award at the 2024 ESPYs. FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a polo fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria, May 12, 2024.(REUTERS / Akintunde Akinleye)
Following their successful trip to Nigeria in May, which was ultimately dubbed a faux royal tour, the Sussex couple has been invited to Colombia. The final tour schedule is yet to be revealed.
Francia Marquez, vice president of the South American country, confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have accepted the invitation to visit Bogota, Cartagena and Cali. Just as the couple previously arrived in Nigeria to champion their Archewell Foundation's mental health initiative for young people afflicted by conflicts, they will again attend a conference on curbing violence against children. The couple also promoted the Invictus Games, as Nigeria joined in the charitable competition for the first time.
Marquez, who is also a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist, relayed in a statement, As the Vice President of Colombia and Minister of Equality and Equity, I am pleased to announce that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have kindly accepted my invitation to visit our beautiful country.
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During their trip, The Duke and Duchess will join me in visiting Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali. In these vibrant locations, they will have the exceptional opportunity to engage with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress. In addition to these meaningful interactions, The Duke and Duchess will experience the rich heritage of Colombia.
Why are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visiting Colombia?
Ms Marquez also noted how the Sussexes' trip to Colombia comes at a particularly significant time since the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children will be held in the country this November.
The Archewell Foundation, founded by The Duke and Duchess, is renowned for its global leadership in fostering a safer online environment. The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats.
Also read | Why Prince Harry and King Charles are no longer speaking: An impenetrable wall of complete silence between them
The news also arrives amid Prince Harry's long-extended legal battle for police protection during his family's visits to Britain. Correspondingly, he has already broken his silence about how he feels it unsafe to bring his wife Meghan and two childrenPrince Archie and Princess Lilibetto his homeland.
Although their Nigeria trip had the spotlight all to itself in May, for their Colombia adventure, the working royals' calendar is expected to clash with Prince William. While it remains unclear if the Prince of Wales will attend the event like he did last year, the Earthshot Prize award ceremony will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in November, possibly around the same time as the Sussexes' Colombia trip.
Prince William is making key changes to his royal household staff. In a recent restructuring, the Prince of Wales has appointed two close friends for new roles within the royal team. Both men are godparents to Prince George and Prince Louis. These appointments coincide with the departure of Annabel Elliot, Queen Camillas sister, from the royal payroll who had served the family for over two decades. Britain's Prince William looks on during a visit to Lambeth to mark the first year of the homelessness initiative Homewards, in London, Britain, July 11, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/Pool(REUTERS)
Prince William is reshaping Duchy Staff
Since inheriting the 1300-acre Duchy of Cornwall upon his father's ascension to the throne, Prince William has been making changes to the estate's management. Lately, he has brought in two of his closest friends, Harry Aubrey-Fletcher and William van Cutsem, to join the Duchy's staff. These individuals are also the godparents to Williams kids Prince George and Prince Louis. Their new roles mark a shift in the estate's personnel and highlight the Prince's dependence on a reliable inner circle.
Also read: Prince William and Harry's uncle Lord Robert Fellowes dies at 82
What are the new roles?
As per GB news, the next in line to the throne served as an usher at the weddings of both Aubrey-Fletcher and van Cutsem. At present, these near companions are set to take on roles as counsel to the estate's boarda piece of land William acquired the previous year, which generates him a yearly earnings of 23 million. The Duchy of Cornwall, founded in 1337 by King Edward III, manages 135,000 acres of land owned by the royal family throughout England.
As per the news outlet, Van Cutsem, Prince George's godfather, is a chartered surveyor with expertise in commercial property development. Meanwhile, Prince Louises godfather Fletcher, oversees a collection of rural businesses in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and West Sussex.
Also read: Prince William cuts Queen Camilla's sister from Royal payroll; he would no longer employ'
The changes follow a Telegraph report stating that the 42-year-old decided to drop his interior designer from the Royal payroll, Annabel Elliot. Elliot, the 75-year-old sister of Queen Camilla, was originally appointed to the role by King Charles during his time as Prince of Wales. While sources close to the Prince have confirmed the change, they have emphasised that the decision is not a reflection of Elliot's professional capabilities or the work she has completed.
Donald Trump falsely suggested Vice President Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race as he appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. The Latest: Trump on defense after race comments and Vance's rough launch
The Republican former president wrongly claimed Wednesday at the group's annual convention that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past promoted only her Indian heritage.
Trumps interview, a source of controversy even before it even took place, was remarkably contentious, primarily because of his reaction to sharp questioning by ABC News Rachel Scott. The appearance split the group's membership.
Harris said Trumps comments on her race were the same old show and stressed the need for Black women to organize for his defeat this November.
Trump did not repeat his claims at a rally later Wednesday in Pennsylvania. He also repeatedly mispronounced Harris' first name. Before he took the stage, Trumps team displayed on a big screen what appeared to be years-old news headlines describing her as the first Indian-American senator."
Harris and her Democratic allies are increasingly branding Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, as weird. As Vances rocky rollout continues, Trump is also in the position this week of having to defend someone elses controversial comments.
About 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, according to a survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Follow the s Election-2024 coverage at: /hub/election-2024.
Here's the Latest: Court leaves Trumps hush-money gag order in place
A New York appeals court denied Donald Trumps bid to end a gag order in his hush money criminal case, rejecting the Republican former presidents argument that his May conviction constitutes a change in circumstances that warrants lifting the restrictions.
A five-judge panel in the states midlevel appellate court ruled Thursday that the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced.
The ruling came a day after Trumps lawyers tried to file papers asking the court to immediately lift the gag order. With its ruling imminent, the court rejected the filing, which called the restrictions an unconstitutional, election-interfering muzzle on Trumps free speech.
In a copy of the prospective filing provided to the Associated Press, Trumps lawyers wrote that Vice President Kamala Harris entry into the presidential race gives the matter new urgency as she pits herself as an ex-prosecutor taking on a convicted felon.
It is unconscionable that Harris can speak freely about this case, but President Trump cannot, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche wrote. Blanche declined to comment on Thursdays ruling.
Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 11, but Merchan postponed it until Sept. 18, if necessary, while he weighs a defense request to throw out his conviction in the wake of the Supreme Courts presidential immunity ruling. Washington state congressional races draw attention
Congressional primary races in Washington state are attracting outsize attention, including one that pits one of the few remaining U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump against two conservative candidates whose platforms are in lockstep with the GOP presidential nominee.
Another race in the states moderate 8th Congressional District, held by centrist Democrat Rep. Kim Schrier, has been shaken up by an upstart campaign by the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, who has made the Israel-Hamas war the centerpiece of his platform.
And in the 3rd District, Trump-endorsed Joe Kent is trying to unseat Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who defeated him two years ago. That race is expected to see one of the tightest general elections in the country. Recount to settle narrow Virginia GOP primary
A Republican primary recount is being held Thursday in Virginia to settle whether John McGuire, a state senator backed by former President Donald Trump, narrowly defeated U.S. Rep. Bob Good, a conservative who leads the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
The recount of the election for the seat representing Virginias 5th Congressional District comes after officials certified that McGuire won by 374 votes out of nearly 63,000 ballots cast, or six-tenths of a percentage point.
Election officials have said they are confident in the result, but Good filed a recount petition, citing apparent voting irregularities in Lynchburg.
Good was able to seek a recount because McGuires victory margin was less than 1 percent. But his campaign must pay for it because the margin is greater than half a percentage point. What polling shows about the top VP contenders for Harris
As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to announce her running mate, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that several of the top potential contenders for the role are largely unknown to voters.
The survey, which was conducted after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race and Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nominee, highlights the strengths and weaknesses that different politicians could bring to the ticket.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly stands out as a prospect who has more name recognition and higher favorability, particularly among Democrats. And others, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, while less known nationally, could draw on a deeper well of support in their home states and regions. Member of Tennessee 3 hopes to survive Democratic primary for US Senate
Tennessees primary election Thursday will decide whether state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who rose to national fame after surviving a Republican-led expulsion effort for her participation in a gun control protest, will become the Democratic nominee in a fall matchup for the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who must first clear her own primary contest.
Last year, days after a school shooting that killed three children and three adults, Johnson, who is white, followed two Black Democratic representatives, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, to the front of the state House floor with a bullhorn. The trio joined the chants and cries for gun control legislation by protesters in the public galleries and outside the chamber.
They were dubbed the Tennessee Three." Pearson and Jones were expelled and later returned to office. Johnson was spared expulsion by one vote and noted it was likely because she was white. Republicans denied race was a factor.
Whoever advances out of the Democratic primary will run in a state that for nearly two decades has elected only GOP candidates on a statewide level. GOP primary voters in key Arizona county oust election official
A Republican election official lost his primary race this week in Arizonas Maricopa County, an outcome that could significantly influence the way voting is run in one of the nations top battlegrounds.
County Recorder Stephen Richer lost to state lawmaker Justin Heap, who will face Democrat Tim Stringham in November. Richer had fought back against death threats, almost constant harassment and streams of misinformation during his nearly four years overseeing elections in Arizona's most populous county.
Richer will remain in office through the November election, but his exit early next year will end a term racked by controversy. His office splits election duties with the county board of supervisors and has had to fend off attacks over the results of the 2020 presidential election, as former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claimed that widespread fraud cost him the race.
The outcry from a group of Republican lawmakers, local officials and grassroots activists spiraled into protests and threats that energized the campaign for his ouster.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
WASHINGTON Don't expect a balloon drop, at least not yet. The virtual roll call to nominate Kamala Harris is underway. This is how it will work.
Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began officially selecting their nominee for president in a process that kicked off Thursday. But unlike in past years, they are not doing so in the raucous party atmosphere of the convention floor or even during the convention itself. Instead, they are filling out electronic ballots at their homes, offices or vacation spots more than two weeks before the first delegate steps foot inside Chicagos United Center.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the only candidate eligible to receive votes after no other candidate qualified by a Tuesday night deadline.
The virtual roll call, the term used by Democratic National Committee officials, will allow Harris to claim the nomination by Monday evening. That's just 15 days after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek a second term following widespread concerns within the party over his ability to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump in November. How will the virtual process work?
Nearly 4,700 delegates are using an electronic voting method the party says is similar to one used to tally virtual roll call votes in the 2020 convention, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the party to conduct much of its official business remotely.
Under new procedures adopted by the conventions rules committee in late July, candidates had until Tuesday to declare their intent to seek the nomination and until that night to submit the 300 delegate signatures required to qualify for the roll call vote. According to a DNC statement, Harris submitted signatures from 3,923 delegates, about 84% of the full delegation and 99% of delegates who signed a petition.
Any vote cast for someone other than Harris in the roll call will be counted as present.
The voting concludes at 6 p.m. EDT Monday. Who gets to vote?
Among those voting are pledged delegates selected through state primaries and caucuses as well as more than 700 others who have automatic delegate slots by virtue of the elected office or party positions they hold. These include Democratic governors, U.S. senators and representatives, former presidents and DNC members.
These automatic delegates, known informally as superdelegates, were the subject of much debate within the party for years because of their potential to influence the outcome of a close nomination fight despite not having been selected for their posts through a public process. Historically, however, superdelegates have never backed a candidate for the nomination other than the one who also earned the majority of pledged delegates.
After the 2016 election, the party passed changes that allowed superdelegates to vote only on the second and subsequent ballots. Party rules do allow superdelegates to vote on the first ballot if a candidate has either won a majority of pledged delegates through the primary and caucus process, like Biden did, or submitted the signatures of a majority of total delegates, as Harris did. What will the results look like?
The DNC has not provided details on how or when the results of the roll call vote will be released.
It's also unclear whether the party will provide a rolling tally of the votes as they are cast, similar to how the roll call is conducted in person on the convention floor, or if it will release only the final tally. The DNC also has not said if it will provide a state-by-state breakdown. What about the nominee for vice president?
Once Harris officially wins the nomination, the new convention rules allow her to place the name of her pick for vice president into nomination, at which point the convention chair can declare that candidate as the vice presidential nominee.
Harris said Tuesday she had not yet decided on her No. 2. But she, and whomever she selects, will head out on a seven-state swing of key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina, next week. Why is this happening before the convention?
DNC officials first indicated in May that they would conduct a virtual roll call to clear a potential hurdle in getting the Democratic nominee on the ballot in Ohio. Ohios deadline to file for the general election ballot is Aug. 7, two weeks before Democratic delegates would have crowned the nominee at the convention.
Although the deadline had been modified in previous presidential election years to accommodate late-summer conventions of both parties, this year state Republicans initially planned to enforce the existing deadline, with one GOP lawmaker calling the scheduling bind a Democratic problem.
The Republican-controlled Legislature did eventually make the change at the behest of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, but the law does not go into effect until Aug. 31. Citing concerns that Ohio Republicans could still try to block their candidate from getting on the ballot despite the legislative fix, DNC officials decided to move forward with their virtual roll call as originally planned. What about the speeches and balloons?
The roll call at the 2020 convention was also held virtually, although that process featured remote video presentations from every state and territory.
This years official voting will not feature similar real-time presentations. Instead, party officials say that they will hold a ceremonial roll call vote during the convention, mimicking the traditional ritual of state delegations announcing their votes from the convention floor with much fanfare.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Donald Trump appeared at a panel discussion with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago and chose to stir up controversy. After making questionable remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris's racial background, he clashed with ABCs Rachel Scott, shrugged off the questions as horrible, accused her of very rude introduction and ended up calling Scott nasty. Donald Trump delayed from taking Nashville stage due to another security lapse (Photo by Stephen Maturen / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)
He later discussed his late appearance on the show on Truth Social, but the viral interview clip has already left the public feeling that this may cost him big time.
Trump quarrels with ABC reporter Rachel Scott
The panel discussion opened up with reporter Rachel Scott directly quizzing the Republican nominee after he kept everyone waiting for almost an hour. Scott asked the former president why he was speaking to a crowd of Black journalists, women, and Chicago residents, considering his past criticisms of them. The ABC host then inquired why he believed Black voters would support him and pointed out his controversial dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Also read: Black or Indian? Donald Trump launches racially insensitive attack on Kamala Harris
You have told four congresswomen of color who are American citizens to go back where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabid to describe Black district attorneys, Scott asked. Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?
"I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible mannerfirst question," Trump responded to the query seemingly picking up the fight. "You don't even say, 'Hello, how are you?'" he added.
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The Republican candidate then went on to attack her network and said, Are you with ABC? Because I think theyre a fake news network, a terrible network, and I think its disgraceful that I came here in good spirit.
Trump called Scott's question "a really rude way to start" and was taken aback by how it was handled. He claimed he was misled about his opponent's presence and blamed technical issues for his lateness, calling the question "very nasty."
Donald Trumps take on Black Job
Trump blamed the event organisers for his tardy arrival, citing equipment hiccups as the cause. However, the real glitch happened when journalists were stunned by his claim that he was the best president for Black people since Abraham Lincoln. But, Scott didnt look in the mode to mince her words. She turned up the heat after Trumps dubious remark that illegal border crossings were taking Black jobs, leaving everyone questioning his logic.
"I will tell you that, coming from the border, are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs, Trump remarked after expressing how much he loves the black population of the country and how much he has done for them in past.
"What exactly is a Black job, sir?" Scott asked leaving audience as well as fellow panelists gasp.
Also read: JD Vance's controversial criticism of Simone Biles' 2021 Tokyo exit resurfaces after Paris win
"A Black job is anybody that has a job," the former president responded with unease. They're taking the employment away from Black people.
Netizens react
Reacting to the clip, one social media user wrote, I honestly cannot believe we are dealing with this nightmare (him) again. Another said, Wow, this man talks to Black women this way but claims to respect them. No way, no how. How can any Hispanic, Black, or Brown person ever vote for this clown? Yet another added, Hes disgraceful and a national embarrassment, with several others suggesting he might lose his election bid if this continues.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan have been released by Russia in a multi-country prisoner swap between US and Russia, according to a Bloomberg report. FILE PHOTO: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who faces charges of espionage, stands inside an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin/File Photo(REUTERS)
Both individuals were imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, which they and the U.S. have consistently denied. According to reports the men are being transported to destinations outside of Russia. In exchange, the U.S. and its allies are set to return prisoners held by them to Russia.
The details of the swap remain largely confidential, as officials requested anonymity to discuss the matter. The U.S. has long been in negotiations to secure the release of Gershkovich and Whelan, both of whom the State Department has designated as wrongly detained.
According to AFP, The Kremlin declined to comment when asked about Russia and the West's biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Several prisoners in Russian and Western countries have reportedly been moved from their cells in recent days, fuelling speculation of an imminent exchange.
"I still have no comment on this topic," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
This development comes amid heightened tensions following the recent conviction of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Tuesday had called on Russia to free Alsu Kurmasheva, who was jailed last week in what RFE/RL said was a mockery of justice.
Kurmasheva was convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military in a closed trial in Kazan. Her detention, which began in June while she attempted to leave Russia after visiting her mother, escalated from a minor accusation to serious charges. Kurmasheva, who has been in custody in Tatarstan since October 18, denies the allegations.
The U.S. Embassy had called for Kurmasheva's release, alongside other journalists and prisoners of conscience, urging Russian authorities to uphold fundamental freedoms as per international human rights standards. While the Kremlin has not commented on the case, it has previously dismissed accusations of targeting American citizens. The U.S. Embassy expressed disappointment over the lack of consular access to Kurmasheva and reiterated its efforts to obtain such access.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, along with Barry Butch Wilmore, remains on the International Space Station (ISS) due to a helium leak in their spacecraft's service module. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams walk at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, ahead of Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 5, 2024. (REUTERS / Joe Skipper)
Originally set to return on June 14, their mission has been extended to June 26, with the potential for further delays. The affected spacecraft, a Starliner, encountered the leak shortly after docking at the ISS on June 6, highlighting the complexities and unforeseen challenges of space travel.
Microgravity takes a toll on Sunita Williams' health
Williams faces significant health challenges due to prolonged exposure to microgravity, notably rapid bone density loss. In microgravity, bones do not bear weight, leading to a loss of density similar to osteoporosis.
ALSO READ| Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore's return date not fixed as Boeing's Starliner still stuck in space, NASA says
Despite rigorous exercise regimes designed to counteract these effects, "bone loss remains an inevitable consequence of prolonged space missions." The extended stay exacerbates these issues, increasing her risk of fractures.
Microgravity presents multiple health challenges, including fluid redistribution, which causes facial puffiness and decreased fluid volume in the legs, disrupting cardiovascular function and complicating blood pressure regulation upon returning to Earth.
NASA employs specialized exercise regimens and nutritional interventions to address bone loss. Astronauts perform resistance and aerobic exercises to maintain bone density.
Microgravity also impacts the urinary system, increasing the risk of kidney stones due to elevated calcium levels in urine. Hormonal changes and shifts in gut microbiota further complicate nutrient absorption and overall health, necessitating continuous medical monitoring and preventive measures.
ALSO READ| NASA reveals Sunita Williams' new research as Boeing Starliner still stuck in space
1 month delayed return risks for Sunita Williams:
- Fluid imbalance: Chronic dehydration or overload
- Muscle & bone loss: Weakened skeletal system & muscles
- Fluid redistribution: Puffy faces, increased intracranial pressure, vision & cognitive issues
- Radiation sickness & cancer: Increased risk from cosmic radiation
- Mental health concerns: Isolation, confinement, high-risk environment
- Weakened immune system: Increased susceptibility to infections, as Dr Rakesh Gupta, Internal Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, told Indian Express.
As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to announce her running mate, a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that several of the top contenders for the role are largely unknown to Americans. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly stands out as one with more name recognition and higher favorability, particularly among Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)(AP)
The survey, which was conducted after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race and Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nominee, highlights the strengths and weaknesses that different politicians could bring to the ticket and the challenges they could face if selected.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly top voice as Kamala's running mate: Survey
Kelly, while better known and liked than some of the alternatives, is still unfamiliar to about half of Americans. And others, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, while less known nationally, could draw on a deeper well of support in their home states and regions. Kelly and Shapiro are viewed among the front-runners, according to people familiar with the process, after the Harris campaign began its vetting with about a dozen names.
Harris said Tuesday she had not yet decided on her No. 2. But she, and whomever she selects, will head out on a seven-state swing of key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina, next week.
Who is Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly?
Of the four potential Democratic vice-presidential candidates included in the poll Kelly, Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who publicly removed himself from consideration after the poll was fielded Kelly has the highest name recognition and favorability, according to the AP-NORC poll.
Americans are more likely to have a positive view of Kelly than a negative view. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults have a very or somewhat favorable view of Kelly, while about 2 in 10 have a negative view. Drawing more good feelings than bad is a relative rarity in presidential politics these days: Biden and former President Donald Trump have been viewed more negatively than positively for several years now.
Like many of the other contenders, though, Kelly is nowhere near a household name. About half of Americans dont know enough to have an opinion about him.
But Democrats are especially likely to have warm feelings about Kelly. Forty-five percent have a favourable view of Kelly. Only about 1 in 10 have an unfavorable view of him, and around 4 in 10 dont know enough to say. Older Democrats those 45 and older are especially likely to have a positive view of Kelly, while younger Democrats are more likely to be unfamiliar with him.
Hes proven to be a battle-tested campaigner, winning a special election in 2020 to flip the Arizona Senate seat from Republican control and then retaining it two years later for a full, six-year term. The Navy veteran is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has been an influential voice among Democrats on immigration and border security, long a political vulnerability for Harris that Republicans are seeking to exploit.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
Shapiro is broadly unknown to Americans and Democrats, except in the Northeast, where he has more name recognition and higher favorability. The poll found that 6 in 10 U.S. adults including 57% of Democrats don't know enough to have an opinion about Shapiro. About 2 in 10 Americans view him favorably, and a similar share view him unfavorably.
The picture isn't very different among Democrats. About one-quarter of Democrats have a positive view of Shapiro, while 16% have a negative view. Older Democrats are more likely than younger ones to have a favorable opinion of Shapiro, but overall, most have yet to develop a view.
Shapiro was elected governor in 2022, defeating Republican Doug Mastriano a controversial figure who drew opposition and criticism from members of his own party, including then-GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.
Unlike the other contenders asked about in the AP-NORC poll, though, hes significantly better known and liked in his home region. In the Northeast, 4 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of him. Another 4 in 10, roughly, dont know enough to have an opinion of him, while about 2 in 10 Northeasterners view him negatively.
Democrat Gary Hines, a 68-year-old in Philadelphia, had high praise for his home-state governor and added: Id hate to see him leave, because hes just getting started in Pennsylvania.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
If chosen, Beshear would need to introduce himself to most of the country. Around 7 in 10 Americans dont know enough to have an opinion about him. Those with a view are about evenly split: 17% of U.S. adults have a positive view, and 15% have a negative one.
However, Democrats have a more positive than negative opinion of Beshear. About one-quarter have a very or somewhat favorable view, while around 1 in 10 have a negative view. Nearly two-thirds dont know enough about Beshear to give an opinion.
The scion of a well-known Democratic family in the state, Beshear defeated then-Gov. Matt Bevin a deeply unpopular figure, even in conservative Kentucky then won reelection in 2023 against Republican Daniel Cameron, a longtime protege of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Beshear's victory last year was credited in part to his advocacy of abortion rights, including a campaign ad that featured a sexual assault survivor attacking Cameron for his stances.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
Like the other governors who are being discussed, Gov. Tim Walz doesnt have much of a national profile and that also means hes a relatively blank slate. He wasnt included in the AP-NORC poll, but a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, which asked about favorability slightly differently, found that about 9 in 10 U.S. adults dont know enough to have an opinion on him. Among Americans with a view, opinions are split between positive and negative.
Walz, who also served for 12 years in the House, moved up on Harris' shortlist in recent days after he coined weird as a new talking point to describe the Republican ticket. It's a line now used widely by the vice president and other Democrats.
He currently leads the Democratic Governors Association.
The poll of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
A former ballerina who was dubbed the 'Black Swan' has been convicted of manslaughter for shooting her husband dead in Florida. 32-year-old Ashley Benefield was convicted hours after a jury started considering her claim that she shot her husband in September 2020 in self-defence. Ashley Benefield found guilty of husband's 2020 murder in Florida (Manatee County Sheriff's Office)
Ashley killed her then-58-year-old estranged husband, Doug Benefield, during an argument. The murder was committed at her mothers home, where she had moved from South Carolina after leaving Doug.
The jury announced the verdict in a Manatee County courtroom on Tuesday, July 30. A sentencing hearing is set to be scheduled.
Originally, Ashley was charged with second-degree murder. However, the panel went on to convict her of the lesser crime. According to NBC News, the judge revoked her $100,000 bond. Ashley was remanded to the custody of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
According to authorities, Ashley shot Doug twice. She faces up to 30 years behind bars for using a firearm in the murder.
The case came to be known as the Black Swan Murder Trial based on the film Black Swan, which was released in 2010. In the film, Natalie Portman starred as a ballerina with a psychological unravelling in the backdrop.
Who is the 'Black Swan' killer Ashley Benefield?
Ashley is a graduate of the Maryland Youth Ballet. She was placed in handcuffs after the guilty verdict, following which the victims cousin said "the sound was as good as the sight, USA Today reported.
Ashley and Doug met in 2016 when she was 24 and Doug was 54. They tied the knot 13 days later. The following year, Ashley became pregnant. The two of them eventually opened the American National Ballet.
The court was told that Ashley and Doug had a volatile relationship. Ashley claimed that her husband had been violent towards her.
On September 27, 2020, Doug Benefield arrived at Ashley's Manatee County home with a truck. He had planned to help her pack and move to Maryland with their daughter, where Doug had also decided to relocate.
Police received a 911 call shortly after, and found Doug on a bedroom floor, having been shot dead. Ashley claimed that she shot Doug after he tried to attack her.
Prosecutors challenged Ashleys account and claimed evidence did not match her description of the events of the day the shooting took place. She did not have to shoot him, Suzanne ODonnell, assistant state attorney for Floridas 12th Judicial District, said in her closing argument. She had an agenda. She got what she wanted.
However, Ashleys lawyer, Neil Taylor, claimed that Doug did not let his wife leave her house, hit her in the face and went on to lunge at her when she had drawn out her gun and was begging him to stop. Taylor said in his closing argument that Ashely filed "complaint after complaint after complaint calling Doug Benefields behavior to the attention of authorities with no results. Over and over again with no relief."
The president of the Vatican tribunal, a former anti-mafia prosecutor, is suspected of obstructing a probe into public tenders awarded to Sicily's mafia decades ago in Palermo. Vatican top judge investigated over decades-old mafia case
Nicknamed "the Pope's judge", Giuseppe Pignatone, 75, will remain in his position at the Holy See until further notice, a Vatican source told AFP.
Pignatone, who says he is innocent, was questioned Wednesday by a prosecutor in Caltanissetta, Sicily, as part of an investigation into his involvement in the rigged calls for tenders in 1992.
Interference into those public contracts by Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia had been the focus of Paolo Borsellino, one of Italy's most famous anti-mafia judges, before his assassination the same year.
"I have declared myself innocent," Pignatone told the Ansa news agency after the questioning.
"I have committed to cooperating, to the extent of my means," he said.
The investigation involving the prominent and respected anti-mafia figure was widely reported by Italian media.
Prosecutors in Sicily are also interested in another former anti-mafia prosecutor, Gioacchino Natoli. Natoli was a member of the anti-mafia team led by Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, assassinated six months earlier than his friend and colleague.
To varying degrees, Pignatone and Natoli are suspected of requesting, under their boss Pietro Giammanco, that cases be dropped as a favour to the Cosa Nostra.
Natoli is also suspected of having pretended to investigate the infiltration of the mafia in the famed marble quarries of Carrara, helped by a captain within the financial police, Stefano Screpanti, who went on to become a general. Screpanti is also under investigation.
Natoli is also suspected of having blocked wiretaps and of ordering that other intercepted materials be destroyed in order to hide evidence of mafia interference. In fact, they were saved.
Questioned last month, Natoli invoked his right not to respond. - Capture of the godfather -
A "business committee" involving mafia bosses, politicians and businessmen is said to have controlled public works contracts in Sicily for astronomical amounts between 1988 and 1992.
Among the companies believed to have colluded with the mafia was the agri-food group Ferruzzi, the second-largest private Italian group at the time.
Cosa Nostra was interested in the company due to its close ties with the powerful Socialists, whom the mafia hoped could arrange more lenient sentences during the major mafia trials of the time.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, Pignatone had been investigated in the past over his father's purchase of real estate from a Palermo mafia boss, Antonino Buscemi, but the probe was closed.
At the beginning of his career, Pignatone served as deputy prosecutor of Palermo, participating in a various mafia trials, including the 1980 assassination of the president of the region of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, brother of the current president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.
In 1982, Pignatone also participated in the trial over the murder of the secretary general of the Italian Communist Party, Pio La Torre, according to biographical information published on the Carabinieri police website.
As an anti-mafia prosecutor, he helped put hundreds of Cosa Nostra bosses and operatives behind bars and led investigations that led to the capture of one of the last big godfathers of Cosa Nostra, Bernardo Provenzano, in 2006.
Two years later, he was appointed public prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, Calabria, the tip of the Italian boot home to the powerful and wealthy 'Ndrangheta, which controls the flow of cocaine into Europe.
In 2012, he took over the Rome prosecutor's office where he led the "Mafia Capitale" investigation, a vast criminal network that had infiltrated the Italy's capital.
Having reached an age limit in 2019, he left the Italian judiciary to become president of the Vatican tribunal, appointed by Pope Francis.
gab/ams/cw
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Russia and the West have released a total of 24 prisoners in the biggest exchange since the end of the Cold War, officials said on Thursday. Who has been freed in Russia-West prisoner deal?
Here's a snapshot of who has been released:
Russia has freed 16 people US and German citizens, journalists and domestic dissidents: Evan Gershkovich:
The 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter became the first Western journalist to be jailed in Russia for espionage since the Soviet era. He was sentenced to 16 years in a strict penal colony by a Russian court on July 19, after a fast-track trial.
Russia says that he spied on a tank factory in the Urals region and was working for the US Central Intelligence Agency , but presented no evidence to support its claims, which were dismissed as bogus by the White House and his employer.
Born in the US state of New Jersey to Soviet Jewish emigres he carried on visiting Russia even after dozens of other Western journalists left following Moscow's Ukraine offensive.
The former US Marine Whelan, 54, who also has British, Irish and Canadian nationalities, has been jailed in Russia since December 2018.
In June 2020 he was sentenced to 16 years in a remote Russian penal colony for espionage.
He was detained in a Moscow hotel in 2018 allegedly with a cache of classified documents, when he was the security director of a US automotive parts manufacturer.
US-Russian journalist Kurmasheva, 47, was sentenced to six years and six months on the same day as Gershkovich in an ultra-secret trial, details of which did not emerge until days later.
An editor with the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty outlet, she was accused of violating Russia's strict military censorship laws and arrested while travelling to Russia from her home in Prague to see her sick mother.
Fierce Kremlin critic and journalist Kara-Murza, 42, was in April 2023 handed a 25-year term for condemning Moscow's campaign in Ukraine, one of the longest prison terms ever handed down to a Putin critic.
A dual British-Russian national, he was arrested in April 2022 after a speech in the United States where he accused Russia of "war crimes" against Ukraine.
Several investigative media outlets, including Bellingcat, The Insider and Der Spiegel, have backed his claim that he was poisoned by security services under orders from the Kremlin attacks which left him with nerve damage.
In May he won a Pulitzer Prize "for passionate columns written at great person risk from his prison cell."
Veteran rights advocate Orlov, 71, was handed a two-and-a-half-year term in February after calling Russia a "fascist" state and criticising its Ukraine campaign.
A biologist by training Orlov was an instrumental figure in Memorial, the Nobel Prize winning human rights organisation disbanded by Russia in late 2021. Under his guidance, Memorial preserved the memory of victims of communist repression and campaigned against rights abuses in modern Russia.
Chanysheva, 42, who once headed late opposition leader Alexei Navalny's offices in the central Bashkortostan republic, was sentenced to seven and a half years' prison in June 2023 for having created an "extremist organisation", a sentence that was later toughened to nine and a half years in April.
An accountant, she had worked for major companies including Deloitte before joining Navalny's team in 2017, openly protesting corruption in the region.
In December 2023 Fadeyeva, 32, who led Navalny's now-banned organisation in the Siberian city of Tomsk, was sentenced to nine years in prison for "extremism".
Fadeyeva headed Navalny's political office in Tomsk, where the opposition leader was poisoned in August 2020 on a visit ahead of elections.
Fadeyeva was elected to the Tomsk city legislature in 2020, a move hailed as a victory for the Russian opposition against President Vladimir Putin's rule.
Russian liberal opposition politician Yashin, 41, was handed eight and a half years in late 2022 for denouncing Moscow's Ukraine offensive.
A former ally of Navalny and assassinated opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, he was imprisoned for having denounced "murders of civilians" in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Artist Skochilenko, 33, from Saint Petersburg, was arrested in April 2022 and then jailed in November 2023 for seven years for replacing supermarket price tags with messages opposing the Ukraine offensive.
She in particular focused on the bloody battle for the Black Sea port city of Mariupol.
Russian opposition activist Pivovarov, 42, headed the Open Russia foundation, bankrolled by former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who himself spent a decade in prison for campaigning against Putin.
He was arrested in 2021, hauled off a plane by FSB agents before he could leave the country, and sentenced to four years for collaborating with an "undesirable" organisation.
German citizen Rico Krieger, a 30-year-old medic, was pardoned by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on July 30 after being sentenced to the death penalty on June 24.
Convicted under six articles of Belarus's criminal code in a secretive trial, he was suspected of photographing military sites in Belarus in October 2023 and placing an explosive device on a railway line near Minsk under Ukrainian orders.
According to a LinkedIn profile Krieger, worked as a medic for the German Red Cross and had previously been employed as an armed security officer for the US embassy in Berlin.
Joint Russian-German citizen Voronin was sentenced to 13 years in prison on "treason" charges after Moscow alleged he received classified military information from another journalist, Ivan Safronov, who remains behind bars.
Lick, who was arrested aged 17 and is another joint Russian-German citizen, became the youngest person ever convicted of treason in Russia when he was sentenced in 2023 to four years for allegedly sending photos of a Russian military facility visible from his apartment window to German security services.
German citizen Schoebel, in his late 30s, was arrested earlier this year at Saint Petersburg airport after customs officials found cannabis gummy bears in his luggage.
Moyzhes, a Russian-German migration lawyer, was facing treason charges after he was arrested in Saint Petersburg in May, according to Russian state media.
Almost no details of the case against him had been made public. Moyzhes was well known in Saint Petersburg as an urban activist and pro-cycle campaigner.
The former head of another of Navalny's regional branches, Ostanin was sentenced in 2023 to nine years in prison for participating in an "extremist" organisation.
The United States, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway freed a total of eight people as part of the deal, including alleged spies, hitmen and hackers.
Krasikov, an alleged FSB hitman, was sentenced to life in prison in Germany for gunning down a former Chechen separatist in a Berlin Park in 2019.
German judges said the murder was ordered by the Russian state, and the Bellingcat investigative media outlet has linked Krasikov to a secret elite unit of Russia's FSB state security services.
Through his lawyer, Krasikov claimed he had been misidentified and was a Russian construction engineer. Earlier this year Putin, without naming him specifically, said he wanted a Russian "patriot" who had "eliminated a bandit" in a "European capital" freed from prison.
Slovenia sentenced Dultsev and Dultseva, both 40, to more than a year and half in prison for "spying and falsifying documents."
The pair, alleged Russian secret agents, were living undercover on Argentine passports in the capital Ljubljana, where authorities said they ran an art gallery as part of their cover.
Mikushin, born in 1978, was arrested in Norway in 2022 and accused of posing as a Brazilian researcher at a university in Tromso.
The Bellingcat investigative outlet said he was a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence services and Norwegian media reported that he did not speak Portuguese, Brazil's national language.
Polish intelligence alleged Rubtsov, a Russian-born Spanish freelance journalist in Spain, was an agent for Russia's GRU military intelligence service.
Living as Pablo Gonzalez, he was arrested near the Polish border with Ukraine just four days after Russia launched its offensive in February 2022.
He was born in Moscow but moved to Spain at the age of nine and obtained Spanish nationality.
Seleznev, the son of a Russian lawmaker, was convicted of a string of cybercrimes in the United States, including a 27-year prison sentence for hacking into card payment terminals to steal millions of credit card details.
US officials called his "criminal enterprise ... both sophisticated and expansive, with transnational implications." Dubbed a master hacker, he was arrested in 2014 in the Maldives.
Another Russian convicted of hacking crimes, Klyushin, was sentenced in 2023 to nine years in prison for netting almost $100 million by hacking into corporate systems and then illegally trading shares using the information he had gathered.
The US Justice Department says Konoshchenok, who it alleges has "ties to Russia's FSB", was a key figure in a scheme to provide US-made ammunition and electronics to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine.
lam-jmy-jc/giv
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Israeli military on Thursday announced that they had killed Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in the southern Gaza area of Khan Younis through a strike on July 13. Deif, 58, was considered the mastermind of the October 7 attack by Hamas, which triggered the killing of 39,445 people in Palestine including more than 15,000 children and the injuring `of more than 91,073 people by Israel as of July 31, according to Al Jazeera. In 2002, Deif took charge of the Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated his predecessor and founding leader Salah Shehadeh. (IDF)
While Israel claims that it has evidence of Deifs death, an official told news agency AFP that Deif is well and overseeing the operations of Hamas, reported Al Jazeera.
Who is Mohammed Deif?
Born in 1965, in one of the refugee camps in Khan Younis, Deif was originally named Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri. Despite being born into a poor family in one of the few refugee camps built by Israel after 1948, Deif was able to attain a degree in science from the Islamic University in Gaza, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. Deif also headed the university and performed comedies on stage.
In 1987, Deif joined Hamas when it was founded and fought in the first intifada or the Palestinian uprising which began in 1987 and ended in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords. In 1989, during the peak of the intifada, Deif was detained by Israel for 16 months.
In 2002, Deif took charge of the Qassam Brigades after Israel assassinated his predecessor and founding leader Salah Shehadeh. It is Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing which carried out attacks inside Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking up about 200 people captive, according to Al Jazeera.
According to the Guardian, Deif had survived at least seven Israeli assassination attempts and if Israel's claims are true he surrendered to death in the eighth attempt. However, Hamas sources said Deif lost an eye and sustained serious injuries in one leg in one of Israel's attempts to kill him, reported news agency Reuters.
ALSO READ | What to know about the escalating conflict and Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks after 2 assassinations
Experienced, capable and utterly committed to the militant Islamist organisation, Deif in the recent years was overseeing Hamas' efforts to build more effective rockets in Gaza and the immense tunnel complex across the territory and is also rumoured to have been tasked with training militants, especially the Nukhba forces which attacked Israel in 2023.
His wife, 7-month-old son, and 3-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2014, reported Reuters.
Attack on October 7
Hamas's attack on October 7 was a result of planning by the three-man military council which planned the attack as revenge for the Israeli raid of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Deif with Hamas' leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and his deputy Marwan Issa, who was killed in March 2024, planned the attack on Israel after it raided Islam's third holiest site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
There are only three available images of Deif. One of them is of his shadow which was broadcast on the Hamas TV channel during which he said, Today the rage of Al-Aqsa, the rage of our people and nation is exploding. Our mujahedeen (fighters), today is your day to make this criminal understand that his time has ended, reported Reuters.
A source close to Hamas, told Reuters that the decision to prepare the October 7 attack was jointly taken by Deif, the leader of Qassam Brigades, and Sinwar, however, it was clear that Deif was the architect.
In 2024, the International Criminal Courts prosecutor requested warrants for Deif, Sinwar and another Hamas figure over the October 7 attack. However, warrants were also issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel's response which has resulted in the ongoing genocide, reported Al Jazeera.
(With inputs from news agencies)
The San Angelo Police Department in Texas has arrested two Walmart employees involved in a large-scale $1 million theft operation.
Carmelo D. Amigleo, 18 years old, and Ryan Munoz, 18 years old, were taken into custody on July 29 following a week-long investigation.
Authorities were notified on July 23 of an alleged large-scale and ongoing theft at 1852 Sherwood Way, San Angelo.
On Sunday, July 28, 2024, detectives executed two search warrants at local residences, resulting in the discovery of several pieces of evidence and proceeds related to the crime.
Primary findings indicate that approximately one million dollars have been stolen from the Walmart on Sherwood Way over the course of the past year.
The SAPD announced the arrest of the two suspects in a press conference on Monday.
Arizona voters who take their cues from former President Donald Trump may have trouble choosing a candidate in Tuesday's Republican primary for an open congressional seat because Trump is backing two of them.
But the highly unusual move could backfire on both men and help one of their rivals in the closely watched, five-way race, the Arizona Republic reported Tuesday.
In December, Trump endorsed failed state attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh to replace outgoing Republican U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko.
But on Sunday, Trump announced he was also endorsing Blake Masters, who he'd previously backed during Masters' losing 2022 bid for U.S. Senate against Democrat Mark Kelly, now reportedly under consideration to be Vice President Kamala Harris' White House running mate.
"They will both be spectacular, and I'm pleased to announce that both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh have my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Congressman of Arizona's 8th Congressional District - THEY WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
The 11th-hour move came after Trump earlier this month named freshman Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate in the presidential race.
Both Vance and Masters have deep ties to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who provided the bulk of the funding for their Senate campaigns two years ago.
Trump's dual endorsement "is a July surprise that changes the election" and could help state House Speaker Ben Toma and former U.S Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona GOP political strategist Barrett Marson told the Arizona Republic.
"It's late but not TOO late," Marson said. "Splitting the Trump-centric vote opens the door for both Ben Toma and even Trent Franks."
Fewer than half of the district's Republicans who requested early ballots had voted as of Monday and those most likely to go the polls Tuesday will be ardent Trump supporters, according to the Republic.
Cops in Southern California are driving the nation's first all-electric fleet of police cars after officials were jolted into giving up their old gas guzzlers.
The South Pasadena Police Department unveiled a specially outfitted Tesla Model Y SUV with low-profile emergency lights, push bars and a black-and-white paint job with blue flourishes during a ceremony outside City Hall on Monday.
Councilmember Michael Caccioitti, a regional air quality official, said the new, 20-vehicle fleet would eliminate emissions ordinarily caused when officers leave their cars idling during traffic stops or responding to calls, the Associated Press reported.
"This is important, particularly in the Los Angeles area, which still has the most unhealthful air in the nation," said Cacciotti, who pushed for the switch. "We hope other police departments in the region and state will make the switch, too."
The move came after satellite photos shot earlier this year showed parking lots full of Tesla EVs as the company struggled to sell off its inventory and laid off 10% of its global workforce in April.
But after U.S. EV sales stalled during the first quarter of 2024, Kelley Blue Book said earlier this month that they grew by 11.3% during the second quarter, compared to the same period last year, buoyed in large part by new offerings from General Motors.
The new police cars will cost city taxpayers $1.85 billion, with more than half the total cost paid for by local electricity companies and the state-funded Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, AP said.
But it's expected to save South Pasadena about $4,000 on gas for each vehicle annually, and also reduce maintenance costs.
In May, South Pasadena Police Chief Brian Solinksy said his department had been "investigating this transition for five to six years and determined that these electric vehicles will be the best operationally for us" and called the Teslas the "safest and fastest vehicles" available.
In a video posted Monday on Facebook, police Sgt. Tony Abdalla said the department's existing fleet of gas-powered cars was "probably end of life about three to four years ago."
Patrol officers who've tested out the Teslas gave them high marks for better handling and braking, including after a high-speed freeway chase in the rain, Abdalla said.
"The officers said that they never would have continued with that pursuit in the cars that we were operating versus the Teslas," he said.
Abdallah also said the driving range was "almost identical to the cars that were previously in service," adding, "We're able to get about another 200 miles of range in 15 minutes."
Green Day is trending on social media after a fan threw a Trump mask with the word "idiot" written across the forehead while Billie Joe Armstrong held it up to the crowd and roared.
The iconic band kicked off the North American leg of their "Saviors Tour" on Monday at Nationals Park, according to Ticket News.
Armstrong took it one step further when he changed the lyrics in the song "American Idiot" from "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" to "I'm not a part of a MAGA agenda," in an obvious reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
On Tuesday, some right-wing commentators raged against the display
Conservatives expressed distaste for Armstrong's actions, deeming them insensitive in light of the assassination attempt on the former president just two weeks prior.
Former state legislator and congressman Tim Burchett posted, "Green Day used to be anti-establishment; now they are the establishment."
Green Day used to be anti-establishment now they are the establishment. https://t.co/smBjkaNyXW Tim Burchett (@timburchett) July 30, 2024
Another said, "Time to Boycott Green Day. Utter Trash."
Time to Boycott Green Day
Utter trash https://t.co/okalOBSAz9 DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 30, 2024
Others rallied around the band, showing support for the group, which has a long history of protesting against right-wing politics.
Their song "American Idiot" was actually written in reaction to American politics in the early 2000s during George W. Bush's presidency.
One user laughed at the brewing chaos online, writing, "MAGA chuds realizing that Green Day is liberal and anti-Trump in 2024 will never not be hilarious to me."
MAGA chuds realizing that Green Day is liberal and anti-Trump in 2024 will never not be hilarious to me.
You dudes realize that #Dookie came out 30 years ago, right? Billie Joe and the rest of the eye-liner crew have been this way for for decades https://t.co/8erZSD38KW Jonathan Paula (@JonPaula) July 30, 2024
While another Green Day fan gave his support to Vice President Kamala Harris while expressing: "Green Day will forever be one of my favorite bands of all time. Billy Joe Calls out MAGA No, we are NOT a part of a MAGA agenda, and we're NOT going back!"
Authorities arrested three people accused of binding a man with duct tape and forcing him to jump off a bridge into traffic.
Jaysen Lawson, 21; Brianna Nohmer, 18; and Sean Lunney, 31, have each been charged with kidnapping in connection with the incident in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, jail records indicate.
Separately, Lawson has also been charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, and assault and battery with a deadly weapon, while Nohmer was hit with an attempt to kill charge. Lunney was accused of pointing a firearm and aggravated assault, jail records show.
Officers responding to the Deep Fork River bridge Thursday located a male victim who was "badly injured and required immediate medical attention," according to the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office.
The investigation revealed the victim was bound with duct tape, abducted and forced off the bridge at gunpoint, authorities alleged.
Interviews with witnesses led to the arrests of the suspected trio.
Nohmer and Lunney are being held on $250,000 bond, while a judge set Lawson's bond at $300,000.
A Nevada prison is on lockdown following an altercation that led to the deaths of three inmates who had previously been on a hunger strike over unsafe conditions at the maximum-security prison.
The Nevada Department of Corrections confirmed to FOX 5 that the three inmates were killed in the fight and nine others were injured at Ely State Prison.
The strike was initiated by at least two dozen inmates at the Ely State Prison in December 2022 from frustrations over what they said were inadequate food portions and shortages in the prison commissary, among other grievances, Jodi Hocking, executive director of the prisoners' rights group Return Strong, told The Associated Press at the time.
Responding in a statement, the corrections department reiterated that the strike was "mostly in protest of the food portions being served but also included conditions of confinement, property issues, and disciplinary sanctions."
The hunger strike aimed at "continued and extended" use of solitary confinement, as well as halting the use of group punishment, making sure prison staff doesn't retaliate against prisoners who file grievances, and addressing health and safety concerns in all Nevada correctional facilities accordingly.
This included mold, heating and air conditioning problems, and rodent infestations, according to the AP.
Officials are not releasing the names of the inmates killed as the investigation is ongoing, reported KOLO TV.
A recall of Boar's Head products connected to a listeria outbreak was expanded Tuesday to include an additional 7 million pounds of meat products, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service announced.
As of Tuesday, 34 people in 13 states have been sickened in the outbreak, including 33 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to FSIS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Boar's Head last week initiated a recall of its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst due to potential contamination with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, along with other deli meat products produced at the same Jarratt, Va., facility that day, totaling approximately 207,000 pounds of meat products.
The USDA said whole genome sequencing of a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes, and the company was notified Monday, prompting the expanded recall.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to immediately and voluntarily expand our recall to include all items produced at the Jarratt facility," Boar's Head said in a statement Tuesday. "We have also decided to pause ready-to-eat operations at this facility until further notice. As a company that prioritizes safety and quality, we believe it is the right thing to do."
The expanded recall includes 71 products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boars Head and Old Country brand names. Recalled products include meat intended for slicing at delis, as well as packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations, and have "Sell By" dates ranging from July 29 through Oct. 17.
The recalled products were distributed nationwide and exported to the Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama.
A complete list of the recalled products is available on the Boar's Head website.
Consumers should not consume the recalled products, and should dispose of them or return them to the place of purchase. Consumers who discard the recalled products are urged to thoroughly clean and sanitize their refrigerators, freezers, or other surfaces in contact with the recalled products.
Listeria symptoms
Consuming food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that can be deadly, particularly for people who are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Sometimes, the infection can spread beyond the gastrointestinal tract, leading to more serious issues.
With TMX
Eva Benefield has a lot on her mind after her ex-ballerina stepmom was convicted of killing her dad.
Following seven hours of deliberation Tuesday, a jury found Ashley Benefield, 32, guilty of manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of her 58-year-old husband Doug Benefield, at her mother's Florida home in September 2020.
She was initially accused of second-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.
The case gained national attention and was soon dubbed the "Black Swan" murder trial in a call back to the 2010 Natalie Portman-led thriller about a perfectionist ballet dancer's psychological struggles.
Following the jury's decision Tuesday night, the victim's 23-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, appeared seemingly satisfied in a video posted to social media.
Eva Benefield on #AshleyBenefield verdict. After 4 years of waiting, my dad got the justice he deserves. #DougBenefield pic.twitter.com/iVd5Sv8yIW TrueCrimeSushi (@CrimeSushi) July 31, 2024
"She was convicted of manslaughter," Eva said, smiling. "After four years of waiting, my dad got the justice that he deserves."
"I will be talking more about the trial once I have my thoughts collected. I have a lot of things I want to say," she confessed.
During the week-long trial, Ashley's lawyers argued she shot Doug in self-defense, painting him as a dangerous and manipulative husband.
"Thirty years older than Ashley, he was obsessed with her and he successfully portrayed himself as he was not in an effort to win her hand in marriage," defense attorney Neil Taylor said, according to WFLA-TV. "Despite promoting himself as a religious, honorable, and decent human being, Benefield was a manipulative, cunning, and abusive man who insisted, absolutely insisted on control."
Ashley took the stand and told the court she was "scared to death" of her husband. "I thought he would kill me. I had nowhere to go. I was trapped in my own house. He wouldn't let me leave," she said, WTSP-TV reported.
On the other hand, Eva testified for the prosecution that the couple "were just with each other all the time. It was very lovey-dovey. They were very touchy-feely PDAs. Any event with school or extracurriculars that I was in, they were together," she recalled, the outlet reported. "They never left each other's side."
Prosecutors argued Doug's slaying was motivated by Benefield's desire to be a single mom to the couple's young daughter, Emerson, after their whirlwind romance deteriorated amid their failure to successfully launch a ballet company.
"This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother," prosecutor Suzanne O'Donnell said, according to ABC News. "Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense."
After learning her fate, Ashley was remanded to jail. She will be sentenced at a later date in which she faces up to 30 years in prison.
The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest after a litter of puppies were "intentionally burned" in Kentucky.
Someone in Lexington found a litter of 13 puppies at an intersection near Todds Road and North Cleveland Road on May 29.
Seven of the puppies, estimated to be just eight days old, had died from the "horrendouse torture." The remaining puppies were rushed to a veterinarian, but they were too badly burned to survive.
According to law enforcement, the puppies died as a result of "intentional burning," the Humane Society said.
Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control cruelty investigator Lt. Jai Hamilton "plans to file 13 counts of animal cruelty in the first degree, all felonies, against the individual(s) responsible for this shocking act of torture," the Humane Society said.
The organization is asking anyone with information about the case to contact Hamilton at jhamilton@lfacc.org.
It is heartbreaking to even imagine what horrendous torture these puppies went through at only 8 days old, Todd Blevins, Kentucky state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement. There is no excuse for this kind of cruelty. We hope our reward helps find the perpetrator of this despicable act.
-With TMX
Jaylen Griffin, the missing Buffalo boy whose decomposed body was found stuffed in a random attic earlier this year, was stabbed to death, his family confirmed.
The 12-year-old died from forced entry of a sharp object, his father, Brian Griffin confirmed with HNGN, citing Jaylen's death certificate. It's unclear how many times he was stabbed or when he was killed.
Jaylen vanished while on a walk to a corner store in his Buffalo, New York, neighborhood on Aug. 4, 2020, and investigators quickly classified him as a runaway, much to the Griffin family's dismay. But, the April 12 discovery of his body at a home just six blocks from where he disappeared forced police to transition his case into a homicide investigation.
Sunday marks the 4-year anniversary of Jaylen's disappearance and still no arrests have been made despite the discovery of his remains.
"There should be no person or perpetrators out there who have done something like this to a kid, walking around feeling like there's no clues and no evidence and no way that they can ever be caught," close family friend and spokesperson Pastor Tim Newkirk told HNGN in an interview Wednesday.
"There's so many questions that are unanswered," Newkirk who accused Buffalo police of a lack of transparency and communication on the case said. "There's no update. There's no revelation, there's no news, and there's no apprehension of action to bring the person or perpetrator into custody that we know of."
The BPD did not immediately respond to HNGN's request for comment.
"It's very trying because the clock is ticking," Newkirk expressed of his frustration over the investigation. "It's still fresh, but it's solidifying every day that goes on. Every day that passes, every week, every month, it's almost close to being a cold case."
Maria Coto, a 56-year-old case worker for the Westchester County Department of Social Services, was beaten to death while conducting a site visit in Peekskill, New York, when she was allegedly attacked.
Hasseem Jenkins, 31, was indicted Tuesday on two counts of murder in the second degree, two counts of burglary in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, robbery in the first degree, and resisting arrest.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced the indictment in a press statement and said,
"Maria Coto was performing her job when she became the victim of a ruthless and brutal attack that led to her tragic death. We are committed to securing justice for Ms. Coto."
It was a little after 3 p.m. on May 14 and Coto was coordinating home visits on South Street when she accidentally knocked on the wrong door.
Coming face-to-face with Jenkins, he allegedly punched her in the face, chased her into a neighbor's apartment, and repeatedly kicked her in the head while wearing heavy boots.
The Peekskill Police Department responded to the scene, where Jenkins attempted to resist arrest.
When officers searched the suspect, they found Coto's phone in his pocket.
Coto suffered severe brain bleeds, brain swelling and multiple facial fractures.
She was treated for critical injuries at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla and placed on a ventilator until she was pronounced dead on June 19.
Jenkins was arraigned before New York State Supreme Court Judge Anne E. Minihan in Westchester County Court and was sent to the Westchester County Jail.
His next court date is August 6.
Protests spread throughout Britain in the wake of the stabbing deaths of three young girls attending a Taylor Swift dance class, with many demonstrators clashing with police and shouting "save our kids" and "we want our country back," according to reports.
The Metropolitan Police reported 111 people were arrested on Wednesday and five officers were injured.
Some of the arrests took place near the Downing Street office of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the BBC reported.
More than 50 police officers were injured the night before in clashes with protesters in the resort town of Southport where the girls were killed, the Merseyside Police reported.
Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, were killed in the stabbing attack Monday at a "Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop" designed for children between 6 and 11.
Eight other children were wounded and two adults were also badly injured.
Police said they had a 17-year-old male in custody on charges of suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Police have said that the killings were not terrorism related and the suspect in custody was born in Britain, Reuters reported.
Dal Babu, the former chief superintendent and firearms commander in the Metropolitan police department, said the "reckless" spread of misinformation about the suspects was fueling the outrage.
He told the BBC that the police have taken the "unprecedented" step to confirm the suspect "was born in this country" in an effort to tamp down the unrest.
Marriott Executive Apartments, Penang joins Penang Marriott Hotel and Marriott Residences Penang at iconic sea-front gurney drive location
Marriott Executive Apartments, part of Marriott Bonvoy's global portfolio of over 30 extraordinary hotel brands, today announced its debut in Penang with the launch of the Marriott Executive Apartments Penang, a new beacon of premium comfort located in the prestigious Gurney Drive area. Nestled under the same roof as the Penang Marriott Hotel and Marriott Residences Penang, this new establishment offers Marriott Executive Apartments' signature apartments with premiere hotel services for long stays and all the comforts of home. The elevated serviced apartment experience features all the comfort guests would expect from Marriott, with separate sleeping and living areas, gourmet kitchens, and features such as fitness and business centres, dedicated staff and security 24 hours a day.
"We are thrilled to expand our footprint in Malaysia with the opening of Marriott Executive Apartments Penang, a brand entry in the country," said Ramesh Jackson, Area Vice President, Indonesia & Malaysia, Marriott International. "Our goal is to provide guests with a home away from home, offering the perfect balance of privacy, comfort, and hospitality. It is designed to meet the diverse needs of today's discerning travelers, whether they are here for business, leisure, or a bit of both."
A Strategic Hub in the Heart of the City
Situated amidst prominent attractions, Marriott Executive Apartments Penang offers scenic views of Gurney Bay, with easy access to a picturesque seafront park, ensuring a diverse and delightful stay along the Gurney coastline. Close by are upscale shopping havens of Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon Mall, and for foodies, local delights beckon at the renowned Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, just a stone's throw away.
It is also near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town, inviting guests to immerse themselves in historical sites, vibrant street art, and cultural landmarks. Nature attractions such as the Penang National Park, Penang Butterfly Farm and Penang Hill are a short drive away.
Enriching Extended Accommodations
Marriott Executive Apartments Penang boasts 90 elegantly designed suites, featuring a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom options. Whether traveling alone or with family, guests have varius options to choose from to suit their needs. Each suite is thoughtfully furnished and equipped with a fully functional kitchen, complete with a clothes washer and dryer, alongside a spacious living room. Catering to the needs of business travelers, vacationers, and those seeking rejuvenation alike, guests will appreciate the blend of comfort and sophistication that defines the brand experience. Whether staying for a night or an extended period, the apartments provide a homely atmosphere with the perks of a hotel.
As guests venture beyond their elegant abodes, they enter a realm of unparalleled comfort. From the fully-equipped 24-hour fitness center to the tranquil outdoor infinity pool and a rejuvenating steam room, each amenity beckons relaxation and rejuvenation.
Vibrant Dining Destination
With direct access to a variety of dining experiences offered at Penang Marriott Hotel, guests are invited to indulge in culinary delights at on-site dining venues, complemented by round-the-clock room service for ultimate convenience. Kucina highlights the art of Italian gastronomy, Sago, serves a symphony of local and international flavors all day, Lava Java is the swift go-to destination for quick energy boosts and snacks, the Greatroom bar and lounge provides a stylish ambiance for memorable evenings with expertly crafted cocktails, and La Siena, a versatile multi-function space showcases an enticing selection of food and beverage offerings.
A Place for Occasions
Guests are also connected to various event spaces at Penang Marriott Hotel, including a stunning pillarless grand ballroom, and five flexible function rooms, all equipped with the latest technology and customizable setups to accommodate a variety of events.
"We are excited to introduce the first Marriott Executive Apartments in Malaysia, and bring this new and unique offering to Penang, providing travelers with a convenient and welcoming accommodation option in the heart of Gurney Drive", said Subash Basrur, the Complex General Manager of Penang Marriott Hotel, Marriott Executive Apartments Penang and Marriott Residences Penang. "Whether for business or leisure, Marriott Executive Apartments Penang's curated offerings ensure a harmonious blend of indulgence, relaxation, and invigoration for a promising stay and we look forward to welcoming guests with heartfelt service, culinary delights, and wellness amenities that create lasting memories."
With long-term rates and Marriott Bonvoy affiliation, the Marriott Executive Apartments Penang offers an unmatched hospitality experience, where every moment is curated to perfection and every stay is unforgettable.
Find out more about Marriott Executive Apartments Penang:
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Hotel website
Guillaume Gallas has taken the reins of the collective of creatives, disruptors, mavericks, and provocateurs who constitute the Mondrian Singapore Duxton family, with a mission to take the art-forward, community-focused lifestyle hotel to the next level. Since its launch over a year ago, Mondrian Singapore Duxton has shaken up the Lion City's perception of what a hotel should be, winning fans and breaking rules with a creative approach to hospitality, cuisine, design, nightlife, and art. All of which presents exciting building blocks for the new General Manager.
Gallas has established himself as a multi-skilled and commercially savvy General Manager with over twenty years of experience across numerous destinations, including London, Tokyo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Macao, Beijing, and Sultanate of Oman. Since arriving in Singapore, he has been captivated by the thriving, eclectic, and vibrant community of Duxton Hill. "This is my first time in Singapore as a General Manager, but I have visited the Lion City many times," Gallas said. "I was familiar with the usual spots like Orchard Road and Marina Bay Sands. However, after immersing myself in the Duxton Hill neighbourhood, I can say it's been a revelation. There's a genuine sense of community here, with beautiful heritage shophouses, eclectic shops, speakeasy bars, creative restaurants, tattoo parlours, and art galleries.
The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas and Amadeus, together with the Culinary Union are pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas and Amadeus to support the continued post-pandemic recovery of the hotel industry and to connect hospitality workers with good union jobs and on-the-job training. The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas will add Amadeus HotSOS Housekeeping software solution to its training curriculum to provide job training to youth, adults, and displaced workers. This new partnership is the result of work by researchers from five universities who study the implementation of technology in the hospitality field and will assist in evaluating and modifying the training over the next year to improve its effectiveness.
Culinary Academy of Las Vegas students will receive hands-on training with Amadeus HotSOS Housekeeping solution. The HotSOS software, widely used in Las Vegas hotel properties, allows guest room attendants to log and manage housekeeping assignments, complete maintenance tasks, and respond to service orders and guest requests, ensuring a positive guest experience while tens of thousands of unionized workers, under collectively bargained contract language, maintain independent self-sequencing and a safe workload.
Culinary Union contract language protects workers and ensures technology works for Culinary Union members, while achieving premiere customer service quality with daily room cleaning. This partnership is an opportunity to provide housekeeping trainees with better understanding and skills and gives workers an opportunity to be better prepared in job training and job placement, and to support in worker retention efforts. We recognize Amadeus for its expert trainers, the academic researchers for bringing us all together, and the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas for ensuring the next generation of hospitality workers are set up for success in Nevadas #1 industry. Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union
We pride ourselves on providing students with the best tools possible to succeed in an evolving hospitality industry. Having Amadeus as a partner is a significant boost for our programming, preparing students for long-term career success through early exposure and thorough training using industry-leading software and technology. Ryan Brux, Curriculum and Continuing Education Program Manager at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas
This partnership demonstrates our commitment to the social and economic recovery of the travel and hotel industry. We are excited to provide training for HotSOS Housekeeping as an opportunity for people to find their next role or career in hospitality. After completing the course, students will be ready to enter the job market with the skills and confidence they need to become an asset to any hotel. Terri Lynn Beasley, Global Head of Training and Hospitality at Amadeus
In collaboration with UNITE HERE, researchers from Carnegie Mellon, New Mexico State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan State University, spearheaded this partnership as part of a study on preparing hospitality workers and workplaces for a more technologically rich environment. The team is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundations Future of Work initiative.
Too often workers, like housekeepers, are given minimal on the job training about how to use technology. We are proud to be able to contribute to this effort to provide new technology skills to the women and men who are being trained to do one of the hardest jobs in hospitality. Jodi Forlizzi, the Herbert A. Simon Professor in Computer Science and Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University
About Amadeus
Amadeus powers more personalized and authentic travel experiences. Our solutions are designed to enrich every stage of the traveller journey and help hospitality providers acquire, service, and retain guests by profitably driving demand and converting them into loyal fans.
Backed by over 30 years of experience, we design open, cutting-edge software to provide the most efficient, trusted, and reliable systems for our customers. With experts in 175+ countries, we have a deep understanding of the hospitality industry and a desire to enable our hotel partners to create memorable guest experiences.
To find out more about Amadeus, visit www.amadeus-hospitality.com.
Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
WASHINGTON American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation approved the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, which would create a nationwide standard for lodging cost transparency. The bill now awaits a full Senate vote.
Todays committee vote in the Senate is an important step toward a more transparent booking process for guests and a level playing field across the lodging industry including short-term rentals, online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels, said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. We thank Sens. Klobuchar and Moran for their leadership on this issue, and we urge the Senate to quickly bring this bill to the floor for a vote. The House has already passed similar commonsense legislation and we look forward to working with both chambers to advance this bill to the presidents desk.
Background
On July 31, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation approved in a bipartisan vote the Hotel Fees Transparency Act (S. 2498), which was introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan. The bill, which would establish a comprehensive single standard for transparent and mandatory fee displays across the lodging industry, now awaits a full Senate vote.
The U.S. House of Representatives on June 11 passed the No Hidden FEES Act (H.R. 6543), similar legislation from Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla., that is also strongly supported by AHLA.
AHLA has long supported the creation of a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging industry from short-term rental platforms, to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels. Both the House and Senate legislation would create that standard.
AHLAs most recent data shows only 6% of hotels nationwide charge a mandatory resort/destination/amenity fee, at an average of $26 per night.
A new learning experience from The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, Leading Employee Excellence, identifies the behaviors of example-setting leadership that powerfully and passionately inspire a culture of excellence, announced Amanda Joiner, Global Vice President of the consulting and advisory firm. The global organization leverages the legendary Gold Standards of The Ritz-Carlton to help companies create exceptional customer and employee experiences and drive competitive advantage.
The Gold Standards inform our proprietary methodology, are the foundation of our learning experiences and the heart of our Mystique, said Ms. Joiner. Leading Employee Excellence was developed by the top one percent of Ritz-Carlton leaders around the world. We believe so strongly in its value that we are launching inaugural presentations at a world-class onsite experience at The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas in October.
Leading Employee Excellence is an immersive course guided by Ritz-Carlton facilitators to bring the leadership philosophies of The Ritz-Carlton Brand to life amplified with lively firsthand experiences, powerful videos, and engaging discussions with like-minded attendees from diverse industries. Among the 10 distinctive behaviors explored, participants will learn best practices to model brand guardianship, demonstrate accountability and entrust employees to make empowered decisions.
This learning experience transcends theory by offering actionable takeaways, including a tangible six-month roadmap designed to meet the participants personalized objectives, said Ms. Joiner. The rich content is intended for leaders responsible for shaping strategies and managing the career development of others and is relevant to all industries.
Leading Employee Excellence is offered as a full-day onsite experience with the option to attend either October 22 or 23, 2024, at The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas. Breakfast, lunch, morning and afternoon breaks, and a networking reception complete the agenda. Attendance is limited to preserve an intimate environment for elevated learning. The cost is $2495 per person. Visit Leading Employee Excellence for course details, registration and optional hotel accommodations.
About The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center
The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center (TRCLC) is a global consulting and advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations create exceptional employee and customer experiences that drive competitive advantage. An extension of The Ritz-Carlton Brand, TRCLC leverages methodologies and best practices to unlock a sustainable business transformation founded on a culture of excellence. With onsite and virtual solutions ranging from immersive courses and interactive workshops to strategic advisory offerings, thousands of clients have engaged TRCLC as a trusted source to refine service excellence and deliver some of the biggest launches, innovations, and transformations across industries worldwide. Visit www.ritzcarltonleadershipcenter.com for information and join the conversation on LinkedIn.
Hospitality Net today
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Read the latest edition of the HVS ANAROCK monthly industry update, Hotels & Hospitality Overview (H2O), for the key trends in the Indian hospitality industry.
Key highlights include:
In June 2024, domestic air passenger traffic grew by nearly 6% year-on-year.
The nation-wide occupancy remained flat for both the previous month and year-on-year basis.
Kochi registered the highest increase in occupancy rate, growing by 7 pp year-on-year, a notable rise compared to other cities.
Meanwhile, both Hyderabad and Mumbai experienced declines in year-on-year occupancy rates, ranging from 1-3 pp. Both cities, however, saw substantial increases in average rates, with Hyderabad leading with over a 9% year-on-year increase and Mumbai up by 7%.
During the month Goa and Kolkata were the only markets to experience declines in average rates when compared to June 2023, with Kolkatas rates dropping by nearly 6% from May 2024 as well.
Ali Mohammed - Image Credit Four Seasons Hotels
Ali Mohammed has been appointed as Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort, effective immediately. Mohammed has spent the past 24 years with Four Seasons, gaining invaluable experience in each role, spanning the globe in a variety of instrumental positions.
Mohammed joins Four Seasons Resort Orlando after serving as General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Miami since 2022. While in this role, he led the USD 22 million renovation of the hotel guest rooms, lobby space and corridors. Prior to Miami, Mohammed was General Manager of Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler in Canada and previously served as Resort Manager, a position he held for a year and a half before his promotion.
Im thrilled to join Four Seasons Resort Orlando as Regional Vice President and General Manager. This Resort is truly world-class, and Im extremely honoured to lead the #1 rated resort in Walt Disney World and the #4 rated resort in the nation, by US News & World Report, says Mohammed. Its an exciting time for me to embark on this new chapter, as Four Seasons Orlando is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with many new offerings and enhancements.
Prior to Whistler, Mohammed worked at Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria from 2015 to 2017 and had a short stint at Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai in Thailand. His experience also includes serving as Director of Rooms at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa, and as Resort Manager at Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Thailand.
Mohammed began his Four Seasons career as a Security Officer at Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Residence in Egypt. During his time in Cairo, he also gained experience as a Housekeeping Supervisor. He then went on to hold various housekeeping and rooms positions, with stops in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Great Exuma, Bahamas; Cairo Nile Plaza, Egypt; Toronto, Canada; and Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru. His global experience will undoubtedly serve him well in Orlando, the #1 most visited destination in the United States, welcoming travellers from around the world.
An Egyptian and Canadian national, Mohammed holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from Cairo University. In his spare time, Mohammed is a fitness enthusiast who loves the outdoors and has a strong passion for running and road biking. Mohammed is excited to call the Orlando area home, alongside his wife and their three children.
Dual-Branded Marriott Hotel Opens in Annapolis, Maryland - Image Credit Marriott International
Colwen Hotels and Marriott International announce the opening of the first Marriott Bonvoy dual-branded Annapolis hotel; Residence Inn & Fairfield Inn & Suites. The hotel is set in the historic heart of the city where Annapolis served as the first capital of the United States. Positioned downtown, the property is the closest walkable hotel to the iconic Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
The four-story Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott property offers two accommodation types and features an integrated reception desk, lobby, 24/7 market, business center, fitness facility, guest laundry, complimentary breakfast, bar and lounge, outdoor patio, dog park, and free enhanced Wi-Fi.
The Residence Inn features 78 spacious extended stay suites including fully equipped kitchens with a full-size refrigerator, microwave oven, cook-top stove and a dishwasher. The Fairfield Inn offers 75 guestrooms including multi-functional seating, microwave, plush bedding and smart bedside charging outlets.
Groups enjoy access to a 576 sq. ft. stylish meeting room perfect for meetings of up to 40 attendees. The Boardroom seats 8 guests conference style. Both come equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual capabilities and professional service.
Jason Schwemer, General Manager of the dual-branded hotel, stated, Our team is very excited to open this new property in historic Annapolis. We are particularly proud to be the first dual-branded hotel in the market.
The hotel is located just 15 miles to Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) and is within walking distance to access the Annapolis Shuttle to the Downtown Waterfront area full of shopping and dining.
AHLA Statement on Senate Committee Passage of Hotel Fees Transparency Act - Image Credit AHLA
American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey released the following statement today after the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation approved the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, which would create a nationwide standard for lodging cost transparency. The bill now awaits a full Senate vote.
Todays committee vote in the Senate is an important step toward a more transparent booking process for guests and a level playing field across the lodging industry including short-term rentals, online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels, said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. We thank Sens. Klobuchar and Moran for their leadership on this issue, and we urge the Senate to quickly bring this bill to the floor for a vote. The House has already passed similar commonsense legislation and we look forward to working with both chambers to advance this bill to the presidents desk.
Background
On July 31, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation approved in a bipartisan vote the Hotel Fees Transparency Act (S. 2498), which was introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan. The bill, which would establish a comprehensive single standard for transparent and mandatory fee displays across the lodging industry, now awaits a full Senate vote.
The U.S. House of Representatives on June 11 passed the No Hidden FEES Act (H.R. 6543), similar legislation from Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla., that is also strongly supported by AHLA.
AHLA has long supported the creation of a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging industry from short-term rental platforms, to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels. Both the House and Senate legislation would create that standard.
AHLAs most recent data shows only 6% of hotels nationwide charge a mandatory resort/destination/amenity fee, at an average of $26 per night.
Greylock Thunder to Hold 18U Softball Tryout
ADAMS, Mass. -- The Greylock Thunder travel softball program will hold tryouts for next year's 18-and-under tournament/showcase team on Saturday, Aug. 17.
The tryout will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at Russell Field, 500 Harmony St.
The team is looking for varsity-level players. Pitchers and catchers are needed.
For information, contact Gary Puppolo at gpuppolo92757@gmail.com
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Jamie Lee Curtis has apologized to Marvel after her dismissive joke about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The 65-year-old Oscar-winner was being interviewed at San Diego Comic-Con when she was asked what phase the MCU is currently in. She replied: Bad.
After her withering response went viral, Curtis took to Instagram to issue an apology.
If Im a leader, then a leader shouldnt talk s*** about other collaborative art form creators, she wrote. My comments about Marvel were stupid and I will do better.
She went on to say that she had also apologized to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige directly.
Ive reached out to Kevin Feige and will no longer play in that mud slinging sandbox of competition nor will I engage in the toilet paper promotion or game play that is designed for clicks not content, she added.
Jamie Lee Curtis attends the IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 ( Mat Hayward/Getty Images for IMDb )
Curtis was at Comic-Con to promote her appearance in the upcoming action-adventure Borderlands.
She wasnt the only star unable to identify the current status of the MCU.
Rings of Power actor Ema Horvath guessed: A transitional phase.
While Speak No Evil star Mackenzie Davis responded: Death.
Hey Marvel, she just terminated you, joked her co-star James McAvoy.
Both McAvoy and Dexter: Original Sins Christian Slater were able to correctly answer that Marvel is currently in phase 5. Next years The Fantastic Four: First Steps is set to mark the start of Phase 6.
Curtis has some history with Marvel. In 2022, she made a series of social media posts comparing her film Everything Everywhere All At Once to Marvels Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Both films deal with the concept of the multiverse.
In one post, Curtis accused Doctor Strange of mimicking artwork, writing: Is it JUST me? Does it seem STRANGE that our tiny movie that could and did and continues to do ##1movieinamerica and is TRULY MARVELOUS, out marvels any Marvel movie they put out there @everythingeverywheremovie has a Marvel movie coming out with a copycat poster? Is this one of those Internet feuds?
In another, she wrote of Everything Everywhere All At Once: MARVELOUS! It has a deep BEATING heart and BRILLIANT visual treats, EXTRAORDINARY performances and FANTASTIC BEASTLY FIGHT SCENES...... AND it COST LESS than the ENTIRE craft service budget on Doctor Strange and/or any other Marvel movie.
She continued: COMPETITIVE? F*** YES. I wasnt head cheerleader in high school for nothing. And P.S. our movie has a dynamite dildo fight scene as well as a very erotic hotdog hand mating dance and rocks.
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Curtis went on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, by directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
In a five-star review for The Independent, film critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote that the film presents an ingenious, nuanced multiverse that leaves Marvel in the dust.
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Fontaines DC have canceled their scheduled Istanbul, Turkey gig in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The five-piece Irish post-punk band made up of Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos OConnell (guitar), Tom Coll (drums), Conor Deegan III (bass) and Conor Curley (guitar) made the announcement on their Instagram Story on Thursday (August 1).
To all our wonderful fans in Turkey, the statement began. Further to conversations with Palestinian artists and human rights activists, we have now decided to cancel our show at Sorlu PSM, Istanbul on Tuesday 20th August. The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, led by the largest Palestinian coalition, has called on artists to refuse to play Zorlu PSM until Zorlu fully divests from the supply of energy to Israel while it carries out what the International Court of Justice now agrees is plausibly a genocide.
It continued: We were really looking forward to visiting and playing beautiful Istanbul, however in this instance, we must be clear in our convictions and put solidarity with the people of Palestine first. We promise to play in Turkey as soon as we can make it possible.
They noted that full ticket refunds would be available from the point of purchase.
In May, Latitude Festival was similarly boycotted by several artists over its Barclays sponsorship. The British bank has been accused of trying to art wash its reputation by sponsoring music events while allegedly increasing its investment in arms companies that trade with Israel.
Fontaines DC cancel Turkey gig in solidarity with Palestine ( Fontaines DC on Instagram )
Fontaines DC are currently touring around Europe and playing at various festivals, including the UKs Reading Festival and Leeds Festival on August 24 and 25, respectively.
The I Love You band are gearing up to release their new 11-track album, Romance, on August 23, which they will support with a worldwide tour.
Beginning on September 20 in Seattle, Washington, they will embark on a 20-date US and Canadian tour, making stops in major cities including San Francisco, California; Englewood, Colorado; Omaha, Nebraska; Toronto, Ontario; Boston, Massachusetts; and Washington, DC before wrapping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 10.
Following a month-long pause, they will then return to the UK and Ireland on November 20 to continue their tour, making stops in Wolverhampton, London, Cardiff, Plymouth, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Dublin.
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In a 2023 interview with The Independent, music producer Dan Carey, who has become inextricably linked to Fontaines DC having produced their first three albums, spoke about recording the bands easy and buzzy debut 2019 record, Dogrel.
It was so immediate and raw, he said, adding: At the beginning, there was this kind of fearlessness that came from there not really being any expectations.
Fontaines DC have since released A Heros Death (2020) and Skinty Fia (2022).
Romance will be released on August 23.
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Netflix has admitted that Baby Reindeers real-life Martha Scott was never convicted of stalking the shows writer and star, Richard Gadd, an admission that could have an impact on the outcome of the $170m defamation lawsuit against the streamer.
Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey, who claims to be the inspiration behind the shows antagonist Martha (Jessica Gunning), is suing Netflix for defamation.
In the show, Martha is shown pleading guilty to stalking and being sentenced to prison. The series is billed as a true story, which Harvey argues in her lawsuit is the biggest lie in television history.
When Netflixs senior UK director of public policy, Benjamin King, appeared in UK Parliament before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in May, he argued that Baby Reindeer was a true story of the horrific abuse suffered by Gadd at the hands of a convicted stalker.
However, committee member John Nicolson then wrote to Netflix asking for evidence to back up this claim.
In his response, King wrote: I wanted to clarify our understanding that the person on whom the show is based who we have at no point sought to identify was subject to a court order rather than a conviction.
open image in gallery Jessica Gunning as Martha in the hit Netflix drama Baby Reindeer' ( Netflix )
King added: The writer of Baby Reindeer endured serious harassment over many months (as it now seems has been the case for many others), which had a significant impact on his wellbeing.
Earlier this week, Gadd backed Netflix in their effort to dismiss Harveys lawsuit.
While Gadd isnt named as a defendant in the $50m (39m) lawsuit, he filed a response in federal court defending a motion to dismiss Harveys claim in a declaration dated 28 July.
In the 21-page document, Gadd describes the alleged ordeal he underwent while he knew Harvey.
Overall, it was an incredibly stressful and worrying time, with a sustained period of relentless behaviour taking place over several years, he writes.
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It is impossible to be exhaustive in setting out all of Harveys conduct, as there were so many instances of unwelcome personal interaction and attempts to engage, as well as deeply troubling communication.
However, he also argues that Martha is a fictional character.
I never intended the Series to identify any real person as Martha Scott, including Harvey, writes Gadd. Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey. Like all characters in the Series, Martha is a fictional character with fictional personality traits that are very different than Harveys.
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Maya Rudolph will reportedly bring back her popular impression of Vice President Kamala Harris to the new season of Saturday Night Live.
Rudolph, 51, who was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch series from 2000 to 2007, made one of several returns to the show in 2019 where she debuted her portrayal of the VP. During the episode, she sparred with Woody Harrelsons Joe Biden and riffed on Harriss most memorable lines from the first round of Democratic primary debates.
She then famously brought back her impersonation of Harris for the shows 46th season in 2021.
Since President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris to replace him in the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump, SNL fans have been begging for Rudolphs return.
Now, according to Deadline, it appears fans wishes have been answered as Rudolph is set to reprise her Harris character for the shows 50th season, which returns on September 28 and runs through the November 2024 presidential election.
Earlier this month, it was reported that there were no discussions about Rudolph returning to the show, as her schedule was filled with other obligations, including pre-production on season three of her Apple TV+ comedy series Loot.
However, pre-production for the show, which was scheduled to begin filming on August 26, has been halted, Deadline reports.
open image in gallery Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live ( NBC )
Members of the cast and crew told the outlet that production on the show produced by Universal Television, a division of NBC had been pushed back to January 3, 2025, due to scheduling reasons.
The Independent has contacted NBC for comment.
Rudolphs representative did not immediately respond to The Independents request for comment.
Back in 2019, during an appearance on MSNBC, Harris joked that she intended to keep Maya Rudolph in work for the next eight years.
Rudolph earned her first Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her 2019 performance as Harris.
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The Bridesmaids actor most recently landed four Emmy nods: two for her hosting stint on SNLs Mothers Day episode, one for her voice-over work in Netflixs Big Mouth and another for her leading performance in Apple TV+s comedy series Loot.
Harris, meanwhile, has surpassed the necessary threshold of support from delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. An official vote to ratify Harris as the nominee will begin on Thursday before concluding on Monday (August 5).
On Tuesday (August 6), she will hold a rally in Philadelphia, where she will appear with her official running mate. At the moment, there are three names who have risen to the top of Harris shortlist after North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper took himself out of contention to be Harris VP.
The United States is halting more than $95 million in aid to the Georgian government due to worries about anti-democratic actions and false statements by Georgian leaders. This decision was announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.Blinken said the Georgian government's actions do not meet the democratic standards expected for countries seeking to join the European Union and NATO. The aid being suspended was intended to support the Georgian government directly.Even though this aid is being stopped, the US will still support programs that help the people of Georgia. The focus will be on improving democracy, the rule of law, and economic development in the country.Over the last 32 years, the US has given more than $6.2 billion in aid to Georgia. This money has helped build schools, hospitals, and strengthen Georgia's military and coast guard.Blinken assured that despite the aid suspension, the US remains committed to helping the Georgian people and supporting their goals for a stronger democracy and closer ties with Europe. "We will continue to stand by the Georgian people," he said.The Helsinki Commission has called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgian Dream party.In a letter signed by Congressmen Joe Wilson, Steve Cohen, Richard Hudson, and Mark Wiese, the commission supports Blinken's recent policy of visa restrictions on those undermining Georgia's democracy. However, they argue that more immediate action is needed to protect Georgian citizens and reinforce democratic norms.The commission specifically targets Ivanishvili and his associates, urging the US to impose financial sanctions on them. They claim that Ivanishvili and his circle are central figures in corruption and anti-Western influence in Georgia. "It is essential that those who perpetuate corruption and undermine democracy face consequences," the letter reads.
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Between the coconut trees, bungalows and rice paddies of this remote village in southern India there is a bizarre sight: a collection of giant blue posters adorned with the face of US vice president Kamala Harris, each wishing her in the local Tamil language luck for Novembers presidential election.
It is more than a century since Harriss grandfather was born here in Thulasendrapuram, a tiny hamlet some 300km away from the state capital Chennai. Yet remarkably the Democrat and her family still maintain good ties to their ancestral home, a fact that has won her a village full of adoring fans a world away from Washington DC.
Outside the villages 300-year-old temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Sastha there is a black stone tablet, proclaiming the names of major donors. There, written alongside an amount of Rs 5000 (46.50), is Kamala Harris a record of an offering made in her name in 2014, at at time when she was still serving as Californias attorney general.
open image in gallery Road leading to Thulasendrapuram village ( Vishwam Sankaran )
The Sri Dharma Sastha Temple is abuzz at 6.30am with shops opening ahead of morning prayers. Siva Kumar, the priest in charge of the morning schedule, recalls a relative making the donation to the temples consecration on Harriss behalf.
Even after her family has moved from the village, they still sponsor prayers at the temple, not giving up on their roots. That is a source of pride for us, says N Maheshwari, who runs a grocery shop close to the temple.
Harriss grandfather PV Gopalan was born in Thulasendrapuram in the early 1900s and moved away from the village, first to Chennai and later to Delhi, to become a civil servant in British-ruled India. His success paved the way for Harriss mother, Shyamala Gopalan, to move to the US when she was 19 to study biomedical science at UC Berkeley. It was there that she met her future husband Donald Harris, an immigrant from Jamaica.
open image in gallery A banner wishing victory for Kamala Harris at Indian village Thulasendrapuram ( Vishwam Sankaran )
Almost everyone in the village seems to be aware of Harriss family history, even though the home where that story began no longer stands. People here appreciate that the family remembers where they came from, and that members of Harriss family living in India still stop by regularly.
Her uncle Balachandran from Delhi and aunt Sarala from Chennai visit the local temple about once a year. The family is still connected to the village, Ramalingam, who lives near the temple, tells The Independent.
open image in gallery Sri Darma Sastha Temple in Thulasendrapuram ( Vishwam Sankaran )
Further down the villages main road, a couple of hundred metres from the temple, is a neighbourhood of Brahmins caste segregation remains a phenomenon in many rural parts of India where residents say Harriss grandparents most likely lived.
The homes here have large thinnais or raised platforms on their verandahs, characteristic of homes for better-off families in villages in the area, along with other features like concrete floors and a large tank to store water in one corner of the house.
Round the corner lives retired banker N Krishnamurthy, who has become something of a local authority on all matters relating to Harris and her ancestors.
Some 80 years back one Gopal Iyer (Mr Gopalan) was living here with his wife Rajam. They were staying here at a house in this corner at the end of the agraharam. Now the house is not there. The place is nothing but a barren land now, he says.
Polls show tight race: Trump vs. Harris
While talking to The Independent he repeatedly fields phone calls from people enquiring about Harriss latest election prospects now that Biden has stepped down from the race, leaving her the presumptive Democratic candidate.
Ms Harris was not so well known in the village until it was announced she was the vice presidential candidate [in August 2020]. This was when we started gathering information, says Krishnamurthy, who has lived in the village for the last 15 years.
Harris is said to have visited Thulasendrapuram herself when she was five years old, and in interviews has recalled memories of walking with her grandfather on the beach in Chennai. She hasnt been back to Tamil Nadu, or indeed visited India as a whole, since becoming vice president.
open image in gallery Banner wishing for Kamala Harris success placed against a house in Thulasendrapuram village in Tamil Nadu ( Vishwam Sankaran )
Nonetheless, residents here say there will be big celebrations if she can go one step further and enters the White House. Maheshwari, the shopkeeper, points to a calendar with photos of president Biden and Harris that occupies pride of place on the counter.
Even people who migrate from the village to some place further north within India forget their ancestral deities, she says, contrasting this to Harris and her family.
We have been following her journey since she was nominated vice president in 2020. Back then we conducted special prayers at the temple when she won and distributed sweets to celebrate her victory. We will do it again if she becomes president this time.
open image in gallery Stone engraving of donation made to temple in the name of Kamala Harris by her Indian relatives highlighted ( Vishwam Sankaran )
Some villagers suggest a win for Harris could strengthen ties between the US and India, although they are realistic about whether any benefits would extend to this tiny village 8,000 miles away from Washington DC.
There was a lot of news coverage about our village when she became vice president, and afterwards officials, including some from the US consulate, came to inspect schools and water bodies here. Nothing happened after that, a resident says as she prepares fodder for her cows.
Even now we understand theres not much in her power to help the village, but we still hope she wins, she says.
open image in gallery Local resident and grocery shopkeeper Maheshwari with Biden-Harris calendar ( Vishwam Sankaran )
Assuming she is named the Democratic nominee at the partys convention next month, Harris will face Donald Trump in Novembers election, and there are plenty of fans in India for the Republican who, during his time in office, found a kindred spirit in prime minister Narendra Modi.
There are no Trump supporters to be found in Thulasendrapuram, however, with many residents saying they are only interested in following the US elections because Harris is involved.
One villager, Maniyan S, puts it like this: Trump is an American. But Harris is a woman with Indian roots, and her ancestry is from our land. It would be a source of great pride if a woman from our land wins the American election.
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At least 10 people died in Indias national capital region after heavy rainfall led to water logging and closure of schools and offices.
The Meteorological Department issued an alert as Delhi recorded over 100mm rain in a span of an hour yesterday while the government announced the closure of schools.
Residents were advised to stay indoors after waterlogging in several areas choked traffic.
A woman and her son drowned on Wednesday in a drain in East Delhis Mayur Vihar, as the city received its highest rain in 14 years.According to the police, the boy, Priyansh, slipped into an open drain which was not visible due to heavy flooding. The mother, identified as Tanuja, also fell inside while trying to rescue her son.
Two more people died on Wednesday, including one in a house collapse, reported India Today. A 12-year-old boy died from electrocution while he was returning home from tuition. Police have registered a case and are investigating the matter.
In the neighbouring satellite township of Gurugram, at least three people were electrocuted to death by a live wire submerged in a waterlogged area.
In Greater Noida, two people died due to a wall collapse.
Flight operations have also been hit, with diversion of at least 10 flights heading to the national capital, reported CNN-IBN. The national capital region encompasses Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
open image in gallery A man pulls a cart packed with goods as he wades through the rain on a street in Kolkata, India, 31 July 2024 ( Reuters )
Visuals from ANI news agency showed flooding in the northern part of the city where three students drowned in a flooded basement last week.
Prime minister Narendra Modis governing Bharatiya Janata Party found itself in the line of fire, after opposition parliamentarians raised concerns about a section of a leaking roof in the newly inaugurated parliament building.
The building, constructed as part of the governments larger Central Vista redevelopment project, was inaugurated by Mr Modi on 28 May last year with both the Houses shifted to the new premises on 19 September.
Congress parliamentarian Manickam Tagore submitted an adjournment motion of the ongoing parliamentary session, seeking formation of special committee to inspect the causes of the leaks, evaluate the design and materials, and recommend necessary repairs.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people died after heavy rain lashed various parts of northern India and more than 250 people were missing after downpours in the Himalayas, including people stranded on a famous pilgrimage route.
open image in gallery Indian men walk through a road during heavy rain in Prayagraj, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, 31 July 2024 ( AP )
IMD recorded 183mm (seven inches) of rain in the past 24 hours in the famous tourist destination of Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
More than 50 people were missing after heavy rain over state capital Shimla and surrounding regions, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a post on X, adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Two people died after a barrage in a power project was breached, obstructing connectivity in the region, state revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi told news agency ANI.
Indian Express newspaper reported that four people were killed after a cloudburst in the state of Uttarakhand and 200 pilgrims were stranded after rain washed away a part of their walking path.
Torrential rains, which, along with unabated construction have frequently triggered deadly flash floods and landslides in the mountains of India and neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal over the past few years, have been attributed to climate change.
open image in gallery People wait to check the identity of the victims at a morgue following Tuesday's landslides in Wayanad, Kerala state, India ( AP )
In the south, hopes of finding survivors began to fade as hundreds of rescuers worked through slush and rocks and pulled out bodies from debris in the hills of Kerala state, a day after 167 people were killed in monsoon landslides.
Steady rain that intensified as the day progressed and the rising water level in a local river hampered the rescue, with a temporary bridge built to connect the worst affected area of Mundakkai being washed away.
The weather department has forecast more heavy rain over the next 24 hours, Keralas chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said and urged people to be on high alert.
Heavy rain in Kerala, one of Indias most popular tourist destinations, led to the landslides in its Wayanad district early on Tuesday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept. Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the last two weeks that softened the soil.
Extremely heavy rainfall on Monday then triggered the landslides. Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from the hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates, authorities said.
Additional reporting from agencies
General practitioners in England have voted overwhelmingly to take a form of industrial action in protest at a 1.9 per cent increase in public funding for surgeries. The GPs will be working to their contracts for the foreseeable future, and have thus created a major problem for the NHS in patient care, and for the new government in trying to fulfil its manifesto promises to reform, fund and fix the health service.
Its the first such national action (albeit Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own devolved arrangements) and a substantial challenge to the authority of Wes Streeting, the health secretary.
Didnt the doctors just get a 22 per cent pay rise?
The junior doctors in hospitals and clinics, employed as staff by the NHS, have indeed had their long-held claim settled (though not without the threat of further strikes). However, GPs are self-employed and their practices are effectively small (or not-so-small) businesses, with all the pressures that entails. It is an odd arrangement because their sole customer is the NHS, which agrees services with them but negotiates collectively on a national basis with the British Medical Association.
The anomalous arrangement goes back to the genesis of the NHS in 1948, when Nye Bevan, father of the service, said he had to stuff their mouths with gold and allow doctors their autonomy and freedom to take on private patients.
Will it make it harder to see the doctor?
Inevitably. Although surgeries are still required to be open from 9am to 6pm, the number of patients that GPs will see in a day will decline, so the scramble for an appointment will be even more frenetic, and success entirely unrelated to clinical need. Some sick people will instead head to A&E, walk-in clinics and other facilities, adding to already intense pressures there. Others, a minority, may opt to go private, which further fractures the national system; a few will resort to pharmacies, as the previous government suggested. It will harm some peoples chances of an early diagnosis and worsen outcomes. How far this will happen remains to be seen.
Arent some GPs actually unemployed, though?
Yes, because the practices cannot afford to take them on at the expected salary levels. Some extra funding is being made available for the temporary use of GPs to get waiting lists down over the next six months. But it is not a permanent answer. The advent of a new health professional, the physician associate, is supposed to offer a more cost-effective method of delivering primary care, and the General Medical Council is in favour of it, but the GPs as a whole are bitterly opposed and complain that it will compromise diagnosis and degrade patient care. GPs have also been concerned in the past about the limit of 1m for a tax-free pension pot. Some GP practices are closing because they are not viable, which is also making matters worse. Its all about money, in the end.
What are the politics of this?
It proves that merely electing a Labour government with a landslide majority doesnt, in itself, solve anything. Precisely the same money troubles, backlogs and structural challenges are there as they were when the last Conservative health secretary, Victoria Atkins, left office almost a month ago. Certainly, despite the goodwill and Streetings often repeated keenness to get around the table and negotiate, it suggests that there may be as many, if not more, strikes during this administration than the last. The fact that the junior doctors dispute was rapidly ended with them securing a bumper pay rise after a series of quite disruptive and relatively long strikes may encourage other groups as well as the GPs to follow their (arguably) militant approach.
What will Streeting do?
Talk and try to offer a better future but probably without much in the way of hard cash. The manifesto states: We will train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one and deliver a modern appointment booking system to end the 8am scramble. We will bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively. Labour will also take the pressure off GP surgeries, by improving access to services and treatment through new routes. We will create a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service, granting more pharmacists independent prescribing rights where clinically appropriate. Behind the often violent partisan rhetoric, Labours approach is not so radically different from the last governments, with the important exception of that junior doctors pay settlement.
Whats the answer?
Streeting wants to move the GPs out of their traditional partnerships and into the NHS salary structure, perhaps via the new Neighbourhood Health Centres. Labour says they will work by bringing together existing services such as family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, palliative care and mental health specialists under one roof. But the starting point is that GP partnerships are in decline and perhaps not sustainable. As Streeting mused last year: Im minded to phase out the whole system of GP partners altogether and look at salaried GPs working in modern practices alongside a range of other professionals.
What are the dangers?
If Labour and Streeting fail to improve satisfaction with NHS care, critics on the right will claim that the NHS is no longer fit for purpose. Part of the improvement during the Blair-Brown years was down to a new and fairly generous GP contract, it is worth noting.
Reform UK is already advocating shrinking the service to one for the poor. At the moment, such ideas are unpopular but constant strikes and ever-lengthening waits will erode faith in the system. That, the BMA should realise, will not necessarily be of benefit to GPs.
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Hannah Neeleman, also known as Ballerina Farm, has issued a response to a viral article about her lifestyle, which further ignited debates about trad wife influencers.
The 34-year-old mother of eight recently became the subject of significant online discourse surrounding trad wives a label applied to women who adopt traditional roles of motherhood and homemaking after The Times published an in-depth profile on Neeleman, titled: Meet the queen of the trad wives (and her eight children).
Neeleman, who has 17 million followers across her Instagram and TikTok accounts, has risen to social media stardom for her idyllic content and daily vlogs depicting life with her husband, Daniel Neeleman, and their children on their 328-acre farm in Utah. The Juilliard-trained ballerina is often seen online wearing frilly smocks and aprons, as she makes recipes from scratch, tends to their livestock, and sells raw milk and sourdough starter on their Ballerina Farm website.
However, the viral Times article also pointed out the physical and emotional labor that Neeleman performs for her family on a daily basis, so much so that she sometimes gets so ill from exhaustion that she cant get out of bed for a week.
Now, in a video posted to her Instagram and TikTok on July 31, Neeleman has spoken out about the article, calling writer Megan Agnews piece an attack on her family and marriage.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a reporter come into our home to learn more about our family and business, Neeleman narrated in the get ready with me style clip, which showed her doing her morning skincare routine, working out, and cooking breakfast for her family.
We thought the interview went really well, very similar to the dozens of interviews we had done in recent memory. We were taken back, however, when we saw the printed article, which shocked us and shocked the world by being an attack on our family and my marriage, portraying me as oppressed with my husband being the culprit, Neeleman continued.
This couldnt be further from the truth, she said. Nothing we said in the interview implied this conclusion, which leads me to believe the angle taken was predetermined.
The influencer explained that God and family are her and her husbands main priorities, emphasizing that the greatest day of my life was when she and Daniel were married 13 years ago.
Together we have built a business from scratch, weve brought eight children into this world, and have prioritized our marriage all along the way. We are co-parents, co-CEOs, co-diaper changers, kitchen cleaners and decision makers. We are one, and I love him more today than I did 13 years ago, Neeleman said.
She maintained that the couple still have many dreams to accomplish and that they arent done growing their family. While Neeleman said shes excited to see what the future holds for them, she added: For now, Im doing what I love most: being a mother, wife, a businesswoman, a farmer, a lover of Jesus, and making meals from scratch.
On both Instagram and TikTok, she captioned the minute-and-30-second-long video: What Ive been thinking lately
The viral Times article, published on July 20, had detailed certain aspects of Neelemans traditional lifestyle much of which she hadnt disclosed to her millions of social media followers. For one, some fans were outraged that Neeleman has no childcare to help her with the daily duties of raising her eight children: sons Henry, 12; Charles, 10; and George, nine, as well as daughters Frances, seven; Lois, five; Martha, three; Mabel, two; and Flora, one.
Neeleman had also opted out of taking pain-relievers when giving birth to nearly all of her children except for her daughter Martha who was born in a hospital instead of their usual home birth. Speaking to The Times, Neeleman admitted that she got an epidural during Marthas birth because she was two weeks overdue and already 10 pounds. She reportedly lowered her voice when her husband wasnt in the room, describing giving birth with an epidural as an amazing experience.
It was kinda great, she added.
Neeleman, who was raised a devout Mormon in Utah, left home at age 17 to attend the Juilliard School in New York City for ballet. However, shortly after marrying Daniel and welcoming their third child, she quit dancing professionally once the family eventually settled in Utah. According to The Times, Neeleman had initially planned on converting the small barn on their farm into a ballet studio, but the space was instead turned into a schoolroom for her children.
When asked about the trad wife label in her interview, the influencer maintained that she doesnt identify with the internet trend.
I dont necessarily identify with it because we are traditional in the sense that its a man and a woman, we have children, but I do feel like were paving a lot of paths that havent been paved before, Neeleman said. So for me to have the label of a traditional woman, Im kinda like, I dont know if I identify with that.
In a follow-up post shared to the Ballerina Farm social media accounts, Neeleman encouraged fans to learn about our story in my own words and directed them to the Ballerina Farm websites About Us page.
Everyday I share a glimpse into our rural farm and family life here in the mountains of northern Utah. I wear many hats mom, wife, cook, business owner, content creator, lover of God and all things butter, she captioned the post. For long time followers and those just joining the journey, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you our story in my own words.
Neeleman has been at the center of online trad wife debates, most notably alongside fellow influencer Nara Smith whos also gained a massive internet following for her DIY recipes from scratch. The trad wife phenomenon has grown on platforms like TikTok within the past year, as young women share videos of themselves raising children and performing household duties, which some critics claim are packaged in a way to glamorize traditional gender roles.
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Simone Biles has revealed that therapy played a major role in her preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 27-year-old athlete made history on Tuesday when she became the most decorated American gymnast, after the womens US gymnastics team scored gold during the all-around finals. The victory marked a comeback for Biles, who had withdrawn from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to her mental health.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after Team USAs stunning performance, Biles detailed the positive impact that going to therapy right before the competition had on her gold medal-winning performance. At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy this morning so that was super exciting. And then I told her I was feeling calm and ready, Biles told reporters in Paris, according to CNN. And thats kind of exactly what happened.
After I finished vault, I was relieved. I was like: Wooo, because please, no flashbacks or anything, Biles recalled. But I did feel a lot of relief. And as soon as I landed vault, I was like: Oh, yeah, Im definitely [okay], were gonna do this.
Before she arrived in France for this years summer Olympics, Biles also spoke with Today co-anchor Hoda Kotb about the importance of incorporating therapy into her daily routine.
You dont bury things anymore. You speak them out loud. You talk about therapy, where you are, where youre going. Tell me about this part of you, Kotb said during an episode of her podcast, Making Space with Hoda Kotb, released on July 31.
Ive always tried to stay authentic to myself, so I feel like the new me, Im a little bit older, more mature, so just being unapologetically me, the gymnast said. Kotb then explained how many people tend to bury their feelings in order to appear stronger, which is ultimately the worst idea.
open image in gallery Simone Biles becomes most decorated American gymnast after scoring gold during womens all-around finals ( Getty Images )
As she asked if Biles felt different now that shes been open with her mental health journey, the Olympian replied: I feel a lot more free, especially going to therapy and doing those sessions so that physically and mentally I feel better, and I know thats an important part of my routine. So just staying on top of that, it lightens the load a lot.
The professional athlete went on to credit therapy as helping her overcome her trauma, most notably after publicly revealing she was sexually abused by Team USAs former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. In 2018, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography.
I think, before, I was pushing down my trauma, and now Ive learned to speak on it and kind of release that, Biles said during the podcast, before adding: I think we used to think of therapy as a weakness, and now I think of it as a strength. And if theres somebody that can help me deal with what Im going through, then thats what I need to do. And now its a daily part of my routine.
In 2021, Biles pulled out of the womens all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health, after suffering from a condition known as the twisties. The phenomenon, typically experienced by gymnasts, involves losing control mid-air and feeling unable to land the move, creating a high-risk and dangerous situation. Biles has previously described the twisties as being lost in the air, likening the uncomfortable experience to being unable to drive while at the wheel in a car.
In addition to Biles, Team USA gymnasts Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera, and Jade Carey posed for cameras at the Bercy Arena with their gold medals. The US womens gymnastics team finished with a score of 171.296, nearly six points ahead of runner-up Italy who took home the silver medal. Meanwhile, Brazil finished in third place with the bronze medal.
Biles is set to return to Bercy Arena on Thursday, August 1, for the womens all-around individual finals, alongside Lee.
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Tom Daley has finished knitting his 2024 Paris Olympics sweater days after winning a silver medal for diving.
In an Instagram Video shared on July 31, the 30-year-old athlete revealed the final product after finally finishing the knitting project he was working on while watching the competition. A shirtless Daley started the video holding up the red, white, and blue colored sweater, explaining: We got Paris 24 on the front with the French and the British flag on the bottom, and Daley on the back.
Daley pointed out little details that made the sweater extra personal, including his initials TD on the left sleeve as well as the number five referencing his fifth Olympics entry on the other sleeve. He noted that he liked the sweaters boxy fit, adding: Its always so fun to have this as a little bit of a memory from my time here in Paris. But I think its cute. What do you think?
In the comment section, people were awestruck at what the diver created, with the Adidas Instagram account even calling him a bonafide fashion designer. The company wrote, Adding fashion designer to the cv.
World class Tom, just like your diving! the Eurosport account added.
I love it. Wow you are a fast knitter, one person commented. I dont even crochet my sweaters that fast. Awesome work. Especially how you combined so many features throughout! [Youre] amazing!
You are too talented for words!! someone else gushed.
Daley also showed off his latest creation on the Instagram account of his knitwear clothing company, Made with Love by Tom Daley. He teased the new creation on a 17 July Instagram post, hinting that he would be working on a new garment as he joined the crowd as a spectator, watching other athletes compete. Besides sketches of his creation, the athlete wrote: My fifth Olympics is underway! I just wanted to jump in here and say a big thank you for all the support, and to let you know that we have so many exciting things coming up for #madewithlove.
The Olympic diver last went viral for his penchant for knitting after being spotted knitting during the Tokyo Olympics.
For Team Great Britain, Daley came out of retirement to win silver alongside Noah Williams in the mens synchronized 10-meter platform on July 29 at the Paris Aquatics Center. As for whether or not the 2024 Paris Olympics will be his last, Daley told Olympics.com that it remains to be seen.
Who knows you know? Ill definitely be there, he referenced the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. I dont know in what capacity - anything can happen in four years. Im an old man already. Ill be 34 then so yeah, well see.
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China sanctioned a United States lawmaker Wednesday for frequently interfering in China's domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with U.S. politicians who have criticized China's policy and practice.
The sanction against Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, is symbolic, since the congressman has no assets in China or business dealings there. The sanction includes freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organization or individual in China from conducting transactions or working with him, and denying him and his family a visa to enter the country, according to a statement from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the social media platform X, McGovern called the sanctions absurd and said he would wear his as a badge of honor.
If (Chinese) leaders don't like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record, McGovern wrote on X. They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.
McGovern is the ranking member of the House Committee on Rules, and he co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He also is a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China's human rights record.
Beijing has previously sanctioned a number of U.S. lawmakers, former Trump administration officials, and companies.
It sanctioned Rep. Michael McCaul, also chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former Rep. Michael Gallagher over their support for Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own. In 2020 it sanctioned Rep. Chris Smith and several U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
McGovern and McCaul, along with two senators, last year introduced bicameral legislation calling for stronger U.S. support for Tibet, a region in China where human rights groups have criticized authorities for the treatment of ethnic Tibetans. Congress approved the bill in June, and President Joe Biden signed it into law in July.
___
Tang contributed from Washington D.C.
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China will ban the export of all unregulated civilian drones that can be used for military purposes or in terrorist activities and restrict certain drone features as Beijing faces repeated Western criticism for its stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Commerce Ministry said in a statement Wednesday the decision was made also to prevent the use of drones in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, adding that aspects such as infrared imaging equipment lasers for target indication and high-precision inertial measurement equipment will be placed on an export control list.
The ministry also said it was removing temporary restrictions placed on civilian drones. It didnt specify which type, but last year Beijing restricted the exports of long-range drones while citing Russias war in Ukraine.
The regulations take effect Sept. 1.
Media reports and U.S. government intelligence have frequently said Russia has bought drones from China for military use. In April, U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings said Chinas sales to Russia have surged to be used against Ukraine, and that both have been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia.
Drones have become integral in the Russia-Ukraine war.
China is the fourth-largest exporter of weapons in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, after the U.S., France and Russia. The bulk of its exports went to Pakistan, SIPRI data shows, while it also sold arms to states in Asia and Africa.
U.S. security officials have increasingly become concerned about the use of Chinese drones by U.S. government departments.
DJI Technology Co., a Chinese company, is one of the global industrys top producers of drones, used widely across the world.
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Millennials and Gen X individuals have a higher risk of 17 different types of cancer, including breast and gastric cancers, according to a new study.
The large study published in The Lancet Public Health also found that the incidence rates increased with each successive generation born since about 1920 for eight out of 34 cancers.
For instance, researchers found that the incidence rate was two-to-three times higher in the millennial 1990 birth cohort than in the 1955 baby boomer birth cohort for pancreatic, kidney, and small intestinal cancers in both men and women.
Each birth cohort or group of people classified by their birth year such as millennials born in the 90s and Gen X born in the mid-60s to mid-70s share unique social, economic, political, and climate environments.
Researchers suspect this affects their exposure to cancer risk factors during their crucial developmental years.
Lifestyle program helps cancer patients heal
In the study, scientists assessed health data from 23,654,000 patients diagnosed with 34 types of cancer for the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2019 from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.
They also analysed data on 7,348,137 deaths for 25 types of cancer for individuals aged 2584 years for the same period from the US National Center for Health Statistics.
Researchers then estimated the generation-specific cancer incidence rate and death rate adjusted for age and period effects.
They found that across cancer types, the incidence rate among millennials ranged from 12 per cent for ovarian cancer to 169 per cent for uterine cancer, higher than the rate in the generation with the lowest incidence rate.
The increase in cancer rates among this younger group of people indicates generational shifts in cancer risk and often serve as an early indicator of future cancer burden in the country, Ahmedin Jemal, a senior author of the study, said.
Without effective interventions, scientists warn that a higher cancer risk in younger generations may lead to greater burden on the healthcare system in the future, reversing decades of progress against the disease.
They say the findings call for ensuring people of all ages have access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance a key factor in cancer outcomes.
While the study could find cancer trends linked to each generations birth year, there is still no clear explanation for why these rates are rising.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to visit Colombia at the invitation of the countrys vice president Francia Marquez.
Meghan and Harry will tour the South American nation later in the year, travelling to the capital Bogota and the coastal areas of the country.
Ms Marquez, a lawyer and human rights and environmental activist said in a statement: During their trip, the duke and duchess will join me in visiting Bogota, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific regions of Cartagena and Cali.
In these vibrant locations, they will have the exceptional opportunity to engage with leaders, youth and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress.
In addition to these meaningful interactions, the duke and duchess will experience the rich heritage of Colombia.
The Sussexes trip to Colombia will be their second official tour of the year after they visited Nigeria in May taking part in a range of activities over three days.
Harry met injured service personnel and Meghan co-hosted a Women in Leadership event with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.
Details of the couples Colombian itinerary have not been released by the Archewell Foundation, their charitable body, but the vice president said they would engage in several activities related to safeguarding young people online and in physical spaces.
The topics are expected to be discussed at the Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, which Colombia will be hosting in November after the visit.
Ms Marquez, who is also minister of equality and equity, said: The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats.
It will offer actionable solutions and commitments for countries around the world. During their visit, The Duke and Duchess, as well as The Archewell Foundation, will engage in several activities related to this important topic.
We are confident that their visit will further illuminate Colombias role as a beacon of culture and innovation.
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A judge has ruled that the identity of the suspect in the Southport knife attack that left three young girls dead can be revealed.
Despite suspects accused of crimes allegedly committed under the age of 18 rarely being identified, Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC ruled on Thursday that the suspect in Mondays attack can be named as Axel Rudakubana.
Merseyside Police had previously disclosed that the suspect was a 17-year-old who was living in the Lancashire village of Banks and had been born in Cardiff.
Floral tributes have been left outside Atkinson Art Centre in Southport to those killed and injured in the attack ( PA Wire )
That disclosure on Tuesday was an attempt to counter misinformation about the suspects identity which were circulating online, falsely claiming he had arrived in the UK on a small boat in 2023 in claims which fuelled a far-right riot in Southport later that evening.
UK laws restrict the reporting of a minors identity at least until court proceedings against them have begun.
But with the suspect due to turn 18 next week, the judge chose on Thursday to lift reporting restrictions, telling the court: Continuing to prevent the full reporting has the disadvantage of allowing others to spread misinformation, in a vacuum.
Born to Rwandan parents, the Liverpool Echo reported neighbours as saying that the family are heavily involved with the local church, and that they would often hear singing from their house.
The family reportedly moved to the Southport area around 2013 and lived in a semi-detached property in a quiet cul-de-sac. There were no problems while they were living here, one neighbour who described Rudakubanas parents friendly told the Daily Telegraph.
The Times also reported that Rudakubana has a background in musical theatre, with a friend from his musical theatre group saying he turned up one day in class, and they said make him welcome, because hes just moved from quite far away.
I think it was more him trying to branch out and meet kids in the community ... he was enjoying it but you know, with musical theatre kids ... theyre very extroverted, he wasnt, he was very quiet, the friend said. He didnt really talk about himself that much.
The 17-year-old was further remanded in youth detention accommodation after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, following the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday.
Earlier on Thursday, the defendant had appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and black slippers during a brief hearing at Liverpool Magistrates Court.
Police officers stand outside Liverpool Magistrates' Court ( Getty Images )
He looked at the row of reporters sat behind the glass dock before he was asked to sit down. He then used his left hand to pull his sweatshirt over his face and kept his head low during the five-minute hearing, in which he did not speak.
A provisional trial date, lasting six weeks, was scheduled for January 20, next year.
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The downfall of former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards represents one of the starkest falls from grace for any figure in modern British history.
Once the corporations most recognisable figure who led its flagship News at Ten programme through countless major news events, his conviction for having images of the sexual abuse of children has prompted a re-examination of his career and coverage.
Having pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, leaving a four-decade career in tatters and the prospect of a 10-year sentence in front of him, here The Independent charts the rise and astonishing fall of Britains most notorious journalist.
2003: Edwards given News at Ten gig
After a stellar career as an on-screen journalist beginning in 1984 as a trainee, Edwards is made News at Ten anchor the BBCs flagship news programme. During this period he will lead coverage of several elections, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the deaths of major public figures, the London 2012 Olympics and a number of terror attacks on British shores. A constant figure through times of joy and turmoil, Edwards is taken to the nations heart.
2020: Edwards exchange with the 17-year-old takes place
Sleazy messages are alleged to have begun between Edwards and a 17-year-old boy, first reported in The Sun.
December 2020 to August 2021: Deluge of indecent images
During an eight-month period, Edwards is secretly sent a total of 377 sexual images, of which 41 are indecent images of children.
December 2020 - February 2021: A mystery two-month period
The bulk of explicit category A, B, and C images are alleged to have been sent to Edwards phone by a convicted paedophile Alex Williams, 25, via WhatsApp, according to a court hearing in July 2024.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire )
February 2021: Edwards questioned whether pictures were too young
In February 2021, convicted paedophile Williams asks Edwards whether the pictures he is sending on WhatsApp are too young, which prompts the BBC broadcaster to ask him not to forward anything illegal.
In another set of allegations, Edwards is accused of breaking lockdown rules to meet a 23-year-old while in lockdown, according to The Sun. The report alleges the presenter travelled from London to another county to meet up at the 23-year-olds flat after claims they met on a dating website Edwards is accused of giving that person over 600 across three payments.
17 April 2021: Edwards fronts BBC coverage of Prince Philips funeral
The news anchor fronts coverage of Prince Philips funeral, while he continues his communication with the man behind closed doors.
August 2021: Video sent of young boy
Edward is sent a video featuring a boy who was "of younger age than virtually all of the other indecent images".
The man tells Edwards the boy was quite young-looking, and that he had more images, which were illegal. A court is later told Edwards asked him not to send any illegal images.
On Tuesday, Edwards admitted three charges of making indecent photographs after receiving the images from Williams (Elizabeth Cook/PA) ( PA Wire )
April 2022: Porn images continue but illegal explicit images cease
No more of these pictures or videos are sent but the pair continue to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
8 September 2022: Edwards announces the news of Queen Elizabeth IIs death
Edwards is the one to announce the news of Queen Elizabeth IIs death on BBC broadcast.
April 2023: Parents of 17-year-old contact South Wales Police
The 17-year-olds parents make contact with South Wales Police. The force discloses that the information related to "the welfare of an adult", and that "no criminality was identified".
18 May 2023: Family member of 17-year-old makes direct contact with BBC
A family member goes directly to a BBC building to make a complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter, according to the corporation.
19 May 2023: Family member begs Edwards to stop sending the cash
More family complaints to the BBC about Edwards behaviour and with one figure begging the corporation to make the man stop sending the cash, as reported in The Sun.
The family member phones for half an hour before being referred to the BBC's corporate investigations team. At this stage, the BBC feels the allegations are not criminal but warrant further investigation.
Tim Davie claims the allegation "was very serious", thus the investigations unit report to have emailed the complainant for further information to verify the claims to confirm the identity of the complainant.
( Getty Images )
6 June 2023: A lack of response leads to a lull in the investigation
The corporate investigations department claims no response was received. However, The Sun later reports that "the family say no-one from the corporation rang them for a proper interview after the initial complaint".
No further contact attempts are made, but the case remains open according to BBC.
6 July 2023: The Sun presents fresh allegations to BBC and Edwards goes off air
The Sun tells the BBC via the corporate press office about allegations concerning Edwards, some of which the BBC say are new and unlike the ones received by the family through the investigations team. This is the first time Mr Davie or any executives are made aware of the case, say the BBC.
On this day, a BBC incident management group is created as Edwards first learns of the allegations.
The BBC pulls him off air while the allegations are investigated.
7 July 2023:The Sun breaks the story
The Sun breaks the story on Edwards, stating: The well-known presenter is accused of giving the teen more than 35,000 since they were 17 in return for sordid images.
8 July 2023: More material from family and BBC celebrities deny involvement
The BBC receives further material regarding the 17-year-old and speculation erupts online.
BBC presenters including Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine, Rylan Clark, and Nicky Campbell deny involvement in an attempt to publicly clear their names.
Huw Edwards on the set of the BBCs Six Oclock News (Richard Kendal/PA) ( PA Media )
9 July 2023: BBC suspends male staff member
The BBC suspends a male staff member and works as quickly as possible to work through the facts and figure out a plan.
Edwards is alleged to have made calls to the 17-year-old asking what have you done, and appeals to the mother to halt the investigation, says The Sun.
10 July 2023: Delays, more delays...
BBC met detectives representatives and Mets Specialist Crime Command meet but agree no investigation at this time.
The young persons lawyer claims "the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are rubbish and their letter includes the young persons denial. They claim The Sun disregarded this.
The Sun responded by saying it had "reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child". The parents stick by their accounts, the newspaper reaffirms.
11 July 2023: Davie gives press conference and the Instagram chat surfaces
Davie accepts there were "lessons to be learned following this exercise" and an assessment of protocol is needed.
Fresh allegations emerged that afternoon of another young person who had felt threatened by a message from the presenter.
The Sun first alleges that the presenter broke lockdown to meet the 23-year-old, who he had met on a dating site.
It also publishes an alleged Instagram chat between the presenter and the 17-year-old, in which Edwards sent messages including heart emojis.
( BBC )
12 July 2023: Detectives write off the case and Edwards wife names him at the centre
Detectives conclude no criminal offence has been committed and Edwards' wife Vicky Flind names him as the star at the centre of the scandal.
She claims it was "primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children".
This is the first the public hear of Edwards "suffering from serious mental health issues" after previously suffering from depression which had resulted in him needing in-patient hospital care.
The BBC reports fresh allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Edwards towards junior staff. One former member of staff and two current workers claim to have received uncomfortable messages.
November 2023: Huw Edwards is arrested
He is hit with three charges, covering the period from December 2020 to April 2022, over Whatsapp images shared by Williams.
Six of the indecent images Edwards is accused of making are Category A the worst type 12 are Category B and 19 Category C.
March 15 2024: Police identify Alex Williams for the first time
The man responsible for sharing the indecent images of children with Edwards is unmasked as 25-year-old convicted paedophile Alex Williams, the Met police said.
The force say Williams pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of the images and he was sentenced to a suspended 12-month jail sentence at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on 15 March.
Police reveal the investigation into Edwards began after a phone seized by officers as part of an unrelated probe revealed the broadcasters participation in a WhatsApp conversation.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire )
22 Apr 2024 - TV news presenter Huw Edwards resigns from BBC
The presenter resigns from the BBC shortly after Williams arrest on "medical advice.
26 June 2024: Edwards charged
Following his arrest in November, Edwards is eventually charged some eight months later.
29 July 2024: BBC informed of the allegations
Though charged on 26 June, this information is not published by the Met or the Crown Prosecution. The charges are only revealed after The Sun contacts the Met and CPS. BBC bosses claim to have been "blindsided" by the news of the charges.
31 July 2024: The disgraced presenter delivers his guilty plea
The 62-year-old admits the offences at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The court reveals his communication with a man online who sent him 377 sexual images, 41 being of an indecent nature involving children.
Edwards held an indecent image of a child as young as seven on his phone, the court is told.
1 August 2024: Police told BBC not to share details of Huw Edwards' 2023 arrest
A BBC source confirms that police said information about Edwards arrest was strictly confidential and not to be shared.
September 16 2024: Edwards faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison
Edwards was granted bail but will be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 16 September.
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Presenter Huw Edwards arrest over indecent images of children was known to the BBC for five months before his resignation in April, the corporation has revealed.
Despite being told in confidence that he faced serious charges in November, he remained in their employment and was their third highest-paid presenter, earning between 475,000 - 479,999 over the last financial year.
The veteran broadcaster has been off-air and suspended since allegations were first made against him last July, and entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to three charges of making indecent photographs.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court (Jonathan Brady/PA) ( PA Wire )
Following his plea at Westminster magistrates court, a BBC spokesperson said: There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.
They continued: In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation.
At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates Court, London, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire )
They stressed that had Edwards been charged while still in employment, he would have been immediately dismissed.
An internal note to colleagues sent by BBC director-general Tim Davie thanked staff working on the story for your professionalism in carrying on with your jobs in difficult circumstances.
During todays hearing, the court heard that the broadcaster had engaged in a Whatsapp chat involving illegal photographs with an adult man, now known to be convicted paedophile Alex Williams, between December 2020 and August 2021,
Over this period, he sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
In February 2021, Williams asked whether what he was sending was too young, to which Edwards told him not to send any underage images, the court heard.
Edwards pleaded guilty to accessing indecent images of children (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire )
The indecent images that were sent included seven category A, the worst, 12 category B, and 22 category C.
Of the category A images, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between seven and nine.
The identity of Williams, 25, of Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, was identified by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing category A, B and C images as well as possessing prohibited images of children. Williams was convicted of seven offences - receiving a 12-month suspended sentence on March 15.
Speaking in Edwards defence, his barrister Philip Evans KC said: Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.
Mr Evans said the defendant had both mental and physical health issues.
He told the court: It is obvious to the court, Im sure, that Mr Edwards was not just of good character, but of exceptional character.
Huw Edwards was one of the BBCs highest paid stars (Chris Jackson/PA) ( PA Archive )
Edwards resigned from the BBC earlier this year on the basis of medical advice from his doctors following unrelated allegations made in The Sun newspaper that he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos.
He was suspended by the corporation after the allegations came to light, but the Metropolitan Police later said that no criminal offence had taken place.
The family of the unnamed young person originally complained to the BBC about Edwards in May 2023, and he was publicly named by his wife as the TV presenter at the centre of the allegations in following July.
Over the course of his 40-year career at the BBC, he fronted BBCs News At Ten for two decades and anchored coverage of major national events including announcing Queen Elizabeth IIs death on the BBC and presenting coverage of her funeral.
Edwards will appear at the same court again on September 16.
Nearly 39 years ago, in the early hours of 7 August 1985, five members of the same family died by gunshot wounds at White House Farm in Tolleshunt DArcy, Essex. The victims were Nevill Bamber, aged 61, his wife June, also 61, their adopted daughter Sheila Caffell, 28, and her twin boys, aged six, Nicholas and Daniel.
The police recovered 25 bullets, which had been fired from a German-made Anschutz .22 rifle, owned by Nevill. The weapon was found on Sheilas body, giving the appearance that she had killed the others first, and then herself in a case of murder-suicide.
The surviving family member, who lived nearby, was Nevill and Junes adopted son, Jeremy Bamber, then aged 24. Just over a year later, on a majority verdict of 10-2, he was convicted of all five murders.
He remains in prison serving a whole life order, from where he continues to protest his innocence, aided by a team of activists organised as the Jeremy Bamber Campaign group.
The case of Jeremy Bamber is in many ways a quite simple conundrum. Either he is, as his many supporters see him, an icon of the miscarriage of justice movement in the UK an innocent man, repeatedly failed by the system, wrongly imprisoned for most of the last four decades after being fitted up for five murders, which he will never stop protesting; or perhaps equally unconscionable he has been gaslighting all those people who believe in him and his cause, tying up the criminal justice system in knots of agonised review and decision-making, taking up thousands of hours of judicial and legal resources that could have been better spent elsewhere, persisting in his claims which he well knows to be false, having callously sought to stage the scene and frame his sister Sheila after he had murdered her.
One of those propositions is true. Jeremy Bamber is the only person alive who knows which one it is.
No wonder the case continues to fascinate. When I went to interview Bamber in prison some years ago, I agreed to give him an objective hearing, to put his case in a balanced exercise of reporting. He was pleased with the result, though told me in a letter that his fellow prisoners had ribbed him over my descriptions of his lumpy physique.
I was on his Christmas card list for a year or two and then we dropped out of contact, though I have continued to follow his case and speak about it occasionally in documentaries.
I left journalism and became a commissioner at the Criminal Cases Review Commission. I would see his supporters regularly at miscarriage of justice events team Bamber in matching T-shirts bearing photos of Jeremy.
In their world, you were either for Jeremy or against him. I knew they were unhappy with the book The Murders At White House Farm by Carol Ann Lee, and the six-part television drama White House Farm. The series, especially, took Bambers guilt for granted, and depicted him, in its portrayal by the actor Freddie Fox as greedy, arrogant and ruthless.
White House Farm, where the Bamber family murders took place ( PA )
It may or may not be significant that the epic New Yorker article published this week, over 16,000 words, does not find room to name the campaign, and does not reference the book or the drama.
The article recognises that Bambers only hope of a route back to the Court of Appeal lies through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and quite rightly reflects on the state of the CCRC in the aftermath of its failings in the case of Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in prison for a rape he had not committed.
One contributor to the article is quoted as saying that the CCRC must know this is an unsafe conviction, to put it mildly. But they do not want to refer it. This is just one more conspiracy theory to add to the many that already beset Bambers case.
It has been Jeremys position from the beginning that the police, his girlfriend Julie Mugford and his wider family who stood to gain financially from his conviction, have all lied and conspired against him. His challenge, as he would see it, is to raise sufficient doubt for the CCRC to refer the case, again, back to the Court of Appeal. As some lawyers might tell you, it is not necessary to prove his guilt or innocence, only that the case against him was profoundly flawed, either, say, through police malpractice or legal error.
June Bamber, Sheila Caffell and her sons Nicholas and Daniel were all murdered ( Alamy )
In fact, he might be walking free now, if he had conducted himself differently in the aftermath. His haughty, indifferent demeanour attracted the suspicion of some of his wider family, while apparently going unnoticed by the original senior investigating officer, DCI Taff Jones, who believed Sheila had killed everyone, including herself, and threw Jeremys relatives out of his office when they came to tell him of their concerns.
DCI Jones did not bother much with the niceties of forensic investigation or preserving the scene and handed the house back to the family. June Bambers sister Pamela was married to Robert Boutflour, and it was he and their two adult children, David Boutflour and Ann Eaton who were clearing up at the house when they discovered a silencer in the back of a gun cupboard.
The silencer revealed some blood that matched Sheilas and flecks of paint that matched the shelf over the Aga in the kitchen, where it appeared that Nevill Bamber had fought a life-and-death struggle before being overpowered by his killer.
The silencer was Bambers undoing. If the silencer was on the gun it made the weapon too long for Sheila to have put the barrel under her chin and still reached the trigger to shoot herself. In the prosecution case, Bamber realised this at the last minute, while staging the scene, and hurriedly hid the silencer in the back of the cupboard.
When I met Bamber all those years ago, I formed a picture of him in his cell with a tower of papers in file boxes, scouring documents for any anomalies that might boost his chances of a new appeal
This was the 1980s and they did things differently then. The silencer was not immediately protected and preserved. It was wrapped in some tissue and taken home by Ann Eaton and later transported to the police station by an officer, who carried it in a piece of cardboard tube.
The finding has been contested by Bamber ever since. Meanwhile, Julie Mugford discovered that he had slept with one of her best friends and went to the police to say he hated his parents and had been discussing killing them for some time. That evening he had called to say it was tonight or never.
Mugford testified against Bamber at trial, sold her story afterwards to the News Of The World and then left to start a new life in Canada, rarely speaking about the case since. There were questions at the time about precisely when she had signed up to the newspaper if it was before her court appearance it might have tainted her account because she had a financial stake in getting a conviction but nothing has ever come to light.
( Getty )
Bamber has been through many teams of lawyers over the years, including at one stage the colourful Giovanni di Stefano who went to prison himself for acting as a lawyer when he was not qualified.
After Bambers two-stage appeal failed, following conviction, he was already applying to the Home Office for a review in 1997 when the CCRC was launched. And it did eventually refer his case back to the Court of Appeal for a lengthy hearing that considered 16 separate grounds in 2002.
The main plank of the appeal was DNA evidence that questioned the authenticity of the silencer, but the court rejected that and all the other grounds, setting out its reasons over 101 pages.
Bamber applied to the CCRC unsuccessfully in 2004 and 2009. He challenged the CCRCs 109-page decision of 2012 at Judicial Review but that was rejected. He currently has a new lawyer, a skilled appeals specialist, Mark Newby. And he has a new application at the Commission which I believe may be focused, among other things, on new ways to challenge the evidence of the silencer.
The New Yorker article raises questions about the night of the killings and re-examines longstanding suggestions that someone was alive in the house while Jeremy was outside with the police, who waited several hours to go in, because they believed his sister might be alive and armed inside.
This was what Jeremy had told the police in a phone call at around 3.30am, when he claimed his father had called him from the house to say that Sheila had gone berserk with a gun before the line went dead.
Bamber, pictured in 2002, remains in prison serving a whole life order ( PA )
There was no evidence, other than Jeremys account, of the call, but the phone at the farm was off the hook and BT were able to listen in. All they could hear was a dog barking but a police officer later took over listening and, says The New Yorker, he heard other sounds of movement and even a 999 call being made.
The officer told the magazine he had never seen an unsigned statement in his name, in which he appeared to deny hearing any sounds until the police went in. The statement contradicted his recollection, he said.
If Bamber was the killer, everyone in the house was long dead by then, so any suggestion of activity could undermine the prosecution, although Julie Mugfords testimony and the evidence of the silencer would still remain.
When I met Bamber all those years ago, I formed a picture of him in his cell with a tower of papers in file boxes, scouring documents for any anomalies that might boost his chances of a new appeal.
He told me about a photo of the kitchen floor where there were no flecks of paint and how that was inconsistent with the prosecutions account of the silencer scraping the underside of the shelf as he struggled to overcome his father. He had recreated the scratches in the prison workshop with a fellow inmate. He was sure it would help, but it never led anywhere.
I remember the interview mainly for the surreal moment, after a couple of hours, when we stopped for lunch, and two or three prison officers, my minder from the Ministry of Justice, Bamber and I sat together and ate from a tray of rolls and sandwiches provided by the prison, making small talk for a few minutes before the interview resumed. He was easy to chat with, charming, present and with no trace of the psychopath one might imagine to be lurking just beneath the surface.
I just couldnt make him out. Or his case. Perhaps one day, the question of his guilt will be tested again in court, but not I think quite yet.
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A rioter who went viral after looting a number of shops including a Lush cosmetics store in Hull has received one of the longest sentences after weeks of violent disorder.
John Honey, 25, was pictured wearing a distinctive St Georges Cross T-shirt and carrying boxes of bathbombs when the store was ransacked on 3 August, before also stealing goods from O2 and Shoezone.
As well as participating in the ransacking of the high street, he was part of a baying mob that forced three Romanian men from their BMW, leaving them terrified.
Honey has been jailed for over four years for taking part in the violent disorder (Humberside Police/PA) ( PA Media )
A court heard the driver of a BMW was left in fear for his life when more than 100 angry men descended on him and his two cousins and attempted to drag them from their vehicle during 12 hours of racist, hate-fuelled mob violence in the city on August 3.
The man said he was punched in the head, and one person tried to hit him with a metal bar.
In footage of the incident, the three terrified occupants of the car could be seen getting out with their hands raised in a gesture of surrender before fleeing to a nearby hotel, the court heard.
Honey had pulled open the passenger door while David Wilkinson, 48, was seen damaging the windscreen of the vehicle.
He has now been jailed for 56 months after previously pleading guilty to violent disorder and three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 and Shoezone.
A manager at Lush said the incident had massively impacted staff ( X/Twitter )
Video footage played to the court showed him carrying on of the Lush branded bags and filling it with products, with the manager saying the incident had massively impacted the staff.
A previous sentencing hearing that had been due to take place earlier this week was adjourned after it emerged Honey had asked a prison probation officer if he wanted his autograph because he was famous.
During Fridays hearing, the judge was informed that Honey had developmental issues due to a difficult start to life.
Judge John Thackray KC told Honey: Im not going to hear any evidence about comments which you may or may not have made in the prison setting. Im not going to give them any relevance. If your defence say that there is now genuine remorse, Ill accept that submission.
He also admitted racially aggravated criminal damage over the BMW incident, and to damaging nine other cars during an attack on a garage.
David Wilkinson, 48, has been jailed for six years for his role in the Sunderland riots (Humberside Police) ( PA Media )
Also jailed on Friday was Wilkinson, who received a six year sentence after playing a prominent role in the riots, which saw him spitting, throwing missiles and pushing wheelie bins towards police officers.
In the same garage attack, he was seen trying to set fire to a bin on top of a pile of tyres which were already alight, sending plumes of black smoke into a workshop where a group of people were sheltering.
Four men who took part in a barrage of verbal and physical abuse towards police during the riots were also locked up at the same court.
Also jailed today for two years and two months was Paul Williams, a 45-year-old man who was at the forefront of an orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder in Sunderland.
During the rioting, he was seen throwing metal fencing and a can of beer at police before taking his shirt off and shouting put your shields down and lets go, lets f****** go.
Lisa Bishop was jailed for 26 months after admitting violent disorder ( Avon and Somerset Police )
A mother-of-five who was part of a terrifying mob outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Bristol has also been jailed for 26 months after throwing a can and shouting verbal abuse.
Lisa Bishop, 38, was in a prominent position outside the Mercure hotel, which left police officers overwhelmed as they struggled to maintain order.
A second riot charge has been brought by police as violent disorder suspects across the country await news on whether they will be accused of the more serious offence.
Northumbria Police said on Friday that Kieran Usher had become their second suspect to be charged with riot, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The 32-year-old appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on Friday, where prosecutors said he had acted in an aggressive manner towards police officers and threw missiles at them during the unrest.
It followed the forces announcement that a 15-year-old boy had been charged with the more serious offence after having previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder and burglary on Saturday.
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More than 5,000 Afghans have been quietly moved into military bases around the UK since October as part of an ongoing mission to bring Britains allies to safety.
The Afghans have been relocated as part of a Ministry of Defence mission, Operation Lazurite, which was first revealed by The Independent last November.
The refugees have the right to live and work in the UK under the MoDs Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap). The policy is designed to help those Afghans who worked for or closely with British troops during the war - many of whom face persecution and death under the Taliban regime.
It has now emerged that more than 5,000 Afghans have been relocated under the operation since October and they are being housed in seven military bases around the country. The MoD is flying Afghan allies to the UK from Pakistan.
Military bases being used include sites in Leicestershire, Wiltshire, South Wales, Inverness and Dorset. The Afghan families are sent to some of these bases on a transitional basis before they are moved to temporary homes on other barracks or more permanent homes ringfenced for those in the forces.
Former armed forces minister James Heappey at one of the MoD bases being used to house Afghan allies ( UK MOD Crown Copyright )
Around 700 homes have been made available to the families and the MoD is also working with local councils to find housing for the Afghans in local communities.
Operation Lazurite was set up last October after Afghan allies based in Pakistan and Iran took the government to court about delays to their relocation.
A Whitehall source told The National, an English-language newspaper based in Abu Dhabi, that the Conservative government had not made the 5,000 figure public because of the politics around immigration.
They told the paper, who first reported the number: The main problem was over the whole issue of migration, so it was difficult, particularly with the previous administrations sensitivities on the issue. But what we have got to make clear is that these Afghans arent illegal immigrants or asylum seekers, they are what we call eligible persons here with indefinite leave to remain.
The Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
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The BBC is unlikely to remove major news broadcasts presented by the disgraced news anchor, Huw Edwards, along with other media appearances from its archives, say corporation insiders.
Pivotal segments such as Queen Elizabeth IIs death, numerous elections, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games, and the royal weddings of Prince William and Prince Harry, will remain online despite his child porn guilty plea.
The former presenter pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three charges of making indecent photographs of children, after being sent 41 illegal images by the convicted paedophile Alex Williams, with seven being of the most serious type.
In an article in The Times, staffers at the broadcasting house said the historical significance of Britains seminal moments outweighed their need for removal.
One BBC executive was quoted saying: News is a matter of public record [...] What a nightmare.
Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court (Aaron Chown/PA) ( PA Wire )
Nonetheless, the BBC now faces the prospect of its archives being trawled for any hints or indications of Edwards malign behaviour.
In a Newscast clip that now sits uncomfortably, broadcast before the allegations emerged, Edwards is broached by Adam Fleming for his tips to children entering a young reporter competition.
Aimed at 11-15 year-olds, the clip, re-branded as Huwscast online includes a segment where Fleming asks Edwards: What are we actually going to be looking for?
In response Edwards says: For me, its probably one of the best bits of the process because what you get from young people is the things that concern them and it can be things which are very personal.
The charges brought against the presenter include extremely explicit and personal photographs from children seven Category A which includes serious abuse.
He exits Huwscast rounding off the segment to listeners encouraging them to reach out and Send us a Whatsapp.
His announcement of the late Queens death has been viewed several million times on YouTube across various news channels and clips of his anchorage for the Olympics and other stately events would have attracted thousands of viewers.
While it is thought that Edwards 40-year tenure may now be submerged online, deep below the news archive surface, it is unlikely to be completely omitted.
A BBC staffer in The Times said: They were busy taking down any content that he is in or voicing over on iPlayer on Monday night and Tuesday [...] and blocking everything in the archive so it cant be downloaded without high-level permission.
They can take down documentaries and other content that doesnt relate to news but they cant take that down because it is considered social history.
His sentencing is due to be held on 16 September as he faces up to ten years in prison for his offences.
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Prince William was furious at Donald Trump for claiming that Kate only [had] herself to blame when she was photographed topless, a new biography has revealed.
The incident took place when the newlyweds were holidaying in Provence, France in 2011 and a member of the paparazzi took long-lens photographs of the princess topless as she sunbathed on the balcony of their chateau.
Royal biographer Rob Jobson wrote that it was the couples first major altercation with the press and their representatives had to spring into action to prevent the publication of the photographs.
While it was eventually ruled a breach of the couples privacy and those involved were fined, it did not stop the widespread circulation of the photographs and commentary on their content.
Jobson added: William was reportedly furious when Donald Trump tweeted, Kate Middleton is great but she shouldnt be sunbathing in the nude only herself to blame. Who wouldnt take Kates picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing? Come on Kate!
The entire affair had left the duchess feeling violated, the biographer explained of the incident that saw the French edition of Closer magazine fined 100,000 in damages.
This, however, was far from the only time that the heir to the throne was allegedly enraged by comments about his wife.
Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2012
He described Meghan Markle as rude when she was surprised that Kate was unhappy that she had blamed her baby brain for forgetting a detail of her wedding while expecting Prince Louis.
Jobson wrote: Catherine, according to Harrys memoir Spare, confronted Meghan about the baby brain comment and said, You talked about my hormones. We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones.
Meghan was surprised, according to Harry, and said it was the way she spoke to her girlfriends.
Kate was photographed topless without her consent shortly after her wedding to Prince William. ( AP )
William stepped in and apparently pointed at Meghan and called her rude. Meghan stood up to him and said, Take your finger out of my face.
Things had definitely cooled between them, if not soured.
The relationship between the two couples has continued to deteriorate since Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020.
Prince Harrys bombshell 2023 memoir Spare further strained relations alongside several tell-all interviews from the Sussexes.
Jobson claims in his new biography that the so-called Fab Four never existed. ( AP )
While the couple have reportedly reached out to the Princess of Wales as she continues to receive treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, they have not been photographed in public together since the late Queens death in September 2022.
The Independent has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.
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Shopkeeper Chanaka Balasuryla looks to the sky above Southport at a police helicopter whirring overhead, and says ominously: They are coming. In his mind, he is racing against time to barricade his corner store in the next hour.
He has just read a message spreading across social media that claims groups of far-right demonstrators - just a day after rioters broke in and looted his family-run shop - had surrounded the police station and were marching in the stores direction after proclaiming, We will be back.
The father-of-two of Sri Lankan background has lived in this Merseyside community for 28 years after moving from London.
He has been inundated with offers of help and fundraisers to help rebuild Windsor Mini Mart after watching his shop nearly get destroyed while fires spread nearby which could have trapped his partner and child upstairs.
Shopkeeper Chanaka Balasuryla said locals had pledged to support him after the looting of his shop ( Dave Higgens/PA Wire )
The Windsor Mini Mart on Windsor Road in Southport which was looted during violent protests ( PA Wire )
Have you ever done this before? he asks the local handyman working for free in the blazing sun, drilling solid metal plates onto his green front door.
Nah, we just make it up as we go along, the carpenter replies, half-jokingly. But well make it safe.
The social media post turned out to be fake. In reality, the far right was not starting another riot, but the post had already served its purpose of spreading fear yet again through a traumatised community. Right-wing accounts with large followings such as Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson were accused of whipping up hatred towards migrants after lies were spread about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
Far-right riots spread across Southport, London and Hartlepool believed to be carried out by supporters of the English Defence League with more planned across the country this weekend.
It was decided during a court hearing on Thursday that Axel Rudakubana could be named after the Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC said he was turning 18 next week and wanted to prevent the further spread of misinformation.
Left to right, six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar killed in the stabbings ( PA Media )
Police working back-to-back 14-hour shifts grateful for some sugar ( The Independent )
Now the grief-stricken neighbourhood of St Lukes Road in Southport is left picking up the pieces after the carnage of Tuesday night which saw cars destroyed, shops looted, a mosque vandalised and 22 police officers injured - eight of them suffering fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and concussion.
Tony Hill, 44, volunteered to rebuild the wall of the vandalised Southport Islamic Society Mosque after thugs ripped it down and smashed cars, police shields and members with bricks.
He told The Independent: You see it on the news and it just doesnt make any sense. Youve got a vigil down the road and then youve got this going on. These people here have done nothing wrong.
We just try and get it done before someone makes a mess again. If we have to rebuild it again afterwards, we will rebuild it again afterwards.
Fire spreads in the Southport riots ( Getty Images )
Tony Hill working in the blazing sun to fix the mosque wall in under three hours ( The Independent )
An angry mob threw items at police vans and officers outside a mosque ( Richard McCarthy/PA Wire )
On a thankfully calm night for Southport, an ever-growing sea of flowers, childrens toys and candles were left outside pensioner Mike Ainscoughs home - as close as you can get to the police cordon surrounding The Hart Space, where a Taylor Swift-themed dance class turned into the worst atrocity in living memory, according to new Southport MP Patrick Hurley.
The former mountain rescue volunteers routine now sees him get up at 2am to pick out all the childrens toys and bring them inside, before placing them delicately in the same position again the next morning.
The 82-year-old said: People just stand here and cry. One gran said, How do I explain this to my grandchildren? They saw it on TV? We ease the grief of people who are feeling it.
Little ones have donated their own teddies but then get sad and miss them so I let them come and visit them before they go to bed.
My dining room is a disaster. It is clogged with teddy bears but I cant bear to leave them out at night in case they get ruined.
Southport has a strong message for the far right ( James Speakman/PA Wire )
Mike Ainscough constantly tends to the tributes left for Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice ( The Independent )
Others are also chipping in to help with the tributes, by topping up water and plant food and removing dangerous candles. Supermarkets have donated buckets to keep flowers alive for as long as possible and police officers - some working back-to-back 14-hour shifts - guard the scene while being offered chocolates by visitors.
Rob Shnak, a worshipper at the mosque, had a message for the rioters: The far right will hate this seeing us all working together to fix everything. The English Defence League are not protecting anyone. They should call them the English Destruction League; they are destroying their own country. They cant spread their hate here - it doesnt work.
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The EU has warned Sir Keir Starmer his attempt to repair relations with the bloc may fail if he does not meet a list of eight demands, it has emerged.
The prime minister has made rebuilding ties with Brussels a top priority since the general election, after years of mistrust between the two sides over Brexit.
And the European Commission has welcomed Sir Keirs positive approach, but issued a list of tests through which the UK can demonstrate real government commitment to its withdrawal agreement with the EU.
Brussels has issued a list of eight demands to the UK ( PA Archive )
The list, revealed by the Financial Times, said Britain must fully implement existing post-Brexit agreements on Northern Ireland and the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
EU diplomats told the paper the two measures would be seen as a test of good faith in the new relationship.
It also listed the need for a High Court ruling, that EU citizens in Britain should not have to make separate applications for settled status after living in the UK for five years, to be implemented in full.
The list also raised concerns about UK authorities failing to accurately certify animal and plant products, called for non-compliant consignments to be rejected by vets at the border and called for a scheme to check pets to be deployed urgently. It also called for a new system to provide data on the content of parcels to be implemented as soon as possible.
This needs to be fixed before we talk about cooperation in new areas, one diplomat told the FT.
Sir Keir has repeatedly talked up his drive to reset relations with Europe after years of deterioration under the Conservatives.
Keir Starmer has made a reset in relations with Europe a key focus of his government ( PA Wire )
There was a slight improvement under Rishi Sunak, who last year signed the Windsor Framework to end the row over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.
But further meetings with European leaders have been a key focus of Sir Keirs first weeks in office.
In July he hosted leaders from across the continent at a major summit in Blenheim Palace, declaring that the UK would be a friend and a partner ready to work with you and not part of the European Union, but very much part of Europe.
The prime minister wants to strike a security pact with the EU and address some of the trading problems under the current Brexit deal.
Rishi Sunak struck the Windsor Framework in a sign of a thawing in relations with the EU ( PA Wire )
He has so far refused to entertain the prospect of a youth mobility deal with the bloc, which would allow young people to live, study and work across the EU, in exchange for EU citizens being able to do the same in the UK. But sources told the FT such a deal was a priority for the bloc, alongside access to British fishing waters and the UK rejoining the Erasmus student exchange programme.
The Cabinet Office declined to comment on the specifics of the leaked document. But a government spokesperson said: "Since taking office this government has been working to reset the relationship with our European friends, to strengthen ties, secure a broad-based security pact and tackle barriers to trade.
Weve had very positive engagement in our early conversations and are committed to implementing the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework in good faith protecting the UK internal market."
A European Commission spokesperson said: The EU is committed to a positive agenda with the UK, based on the full respect, and the faithful and timely implementation of the withdrawal agreement, including the Windsor framework, and the trade and cooperation agreement, which are the cornerstone for the EU-UK relationship.
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Kemi Badenoch asked officials to pay for a flight to go on holiday to the US using taxpayers money, sources have claimed.
Department for Business and Trade (DBT) sources told The Guardian the request was rejected by the top civil servant at the time.
Officials reportedly ended up booking her travel to Texas for a family holiday in February 2023 but the then Cabinet minister paid for the trip herself.
Mrs Badenoch, who is standing to be the next leader of the Tory party, had travelled to Mexico on a taxpayer funded business class flight for an official visit to discuss the UKs bid to join the CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade bloc, as well as wider discussions about bilateral trade with the nation.
Before travelling, sources claimed she asked Gareth Davies, the permanent secretary in DBT, if the department could cover the cost of a flight to Dallas, where she had planned to go on holiday with her family. The request was said to be made because the overall cost was lower than a business class return from Mexico.
The department refused her request as a result of concerns the detour would be hard to explain, given it was not for official business.
Sources close to the former business secretary said Mrs Badenoch was due to fly from Mexico to Texas on official government business to meet Governor Greg Abbott and discuss a state-level trade agreement but when the proposed meeting couldnt take place as a result of diary clashes she paid for the flights herself, in accordance with the rules.
But evidence seen by the Guardian is said to suggest the former minister asked the department to fund the flight, despite there being no official business taking place in Texas.
Sources in DBT also told the newspaper that a request to book and pay for flights was in keeping with the way she generally engaged with civil servants.
She allegedly admitted in meetings to having asked political advisers, funded by the taxpayer, to go to her London home to pack her suitcases for work trips.
One source told the Guardian: The stuff she asked them to do was well out of their remit. Im amazed they put up with it but Im not sure they felt they had much choice. Kemi treated them like a PA. It felt like such an abuse of taxpayer funded time.
On Tuesday, the former business secretary denied accusations that she bullied civil service staff.
The now shadow communities secretary is alleged to have created an intimidating atmosphere at DBT, a report from The Guardian claimed.
Posting on social media, Mrs Badenoch said: Lets be clear: these allegations are smears from former staff who I sacked after they were accused of bullying behaviour, lying about other colleagues to cover up their own failures and general gross incompetence.
Intolerable behaviour I would not stand for.
Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson suggested Mrs Badenoch is the Conservative leadership contender Sir Keir Starmer would fear the most.
Writing in The Spectator, he said her willingness to call out the sort of wokery many voters dislike would set her apart from the other candidates.
A spokesperson for Kemi Badenoch said: Yesterday the Business Department said there were no complaints or investigations into Kemi. Given that today theyve confirmed that the proper process was followed on the ministerial code, we look forward to having to deny tomorrow that Kemi faked the moon landings.
A DBT spokesperson said: The department takes both the ministerial code, and civil service code, seriously and ensure they are followed at all times. We cannot comment on specific claims from unnamed sources. There was no breach of the ministerial code by the previous secretary of state.
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The prime minister has put police forces in Britain on a national footing to prepare for what many fear could be a summer of riots and violence by the far right.
Sir Keir Starmer today announced that police forces would be sharing resources and intelligence with national teams following known far-right activists around the country.
He also issued a veiled threat to social media giants that continuing to platform misinformation and criminality is against the law and would have consequences.
Keir Starmer answers questions on the scenes in Southport during a press conference in Downing Street on Thursday ( PA Wire )
The prime minister held an emergency summit with home secretary Yvette Cooper, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood and police chiefs in the wake of the appalling scenes in Southport following the brutal murder of three young girls and attempted killing of seven others.
Far-right rioters, who the prime minister claimed came into the Merseyside town from outside to cause violent disturbances, targeted a local mosque and police officers after misinformation on social media which some believe may have originated in Russia to fan the flames of anger.
Asked whether the government and police were preparing for a summer of riots, Sir Keir made it clear he fears organised gangs are preparing for disruption over the coming weeks.
The prime minister said: In relation to the next few weeks, it is obvious to me, I think obvious to anybody looking at this, is [its] coordinated. This is deliberate. This is not a protest. This is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence, and thats why its important, I think, to pull together the senior police officers today to ensure that this is met with the most robust response, not just in the coming days but all the time.
The prime minister holds a summit with police chiefs ( Pool/AP )
Speaking about his summit, Sir Keir said: Ive just held a meeting with senior police and law enforcement leaders where weve resolved to show who we are. A country that will not allow understandable fear to curdle into division and hate in our communities and that will not permit, under any circumstances, a breakdown in law and order on our streets.
Because lets be very clear about this. Its not protest. Its not legitimate. Its crime and violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice.
And so, on behalf of the British people who expect their values and their security to be upheld, we will put a stop to it.
While only four have been arrested for the violence in Southport, more than 100 were arrested for disturbances in London and Hartlepool has also been targeted by far-right activists. Other events are being planned by far-right groups, including protests in London this weekend.
The prime minister described the participants as thugs but avoided criticising Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, whose video raising questions about the murders in Southport was accused of deliberately fanning the flames of discontent by referring to alleged conspiracy theories.
The prime minister was twice asked to comment on Mr Farage but refused to even name the MP in what appears to be a strategy to avoid giving Reform further publicity.
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Watch as Sir Keir Starmer holds an emergency press conference at No 10 after vowing action will be taken following violent disorder in parts of England in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
The prime minister summoned police chiefs to Downing Street on Thursday afternoon (1 August) following scenes of unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight, while a demonstration in Aldershot saw a tense stand-off with riot police.
At the meeting, he told the senior officers: I wanted to send a message to each of you and, through you, your officers to say that this government supports the police, supports what you are doing, and to be absolutely clear: This is not protest, this is violent disorder and action will be taken.
This Government will make sure you have got the powers you need and will back you in using those powers.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood also attended the meeting with at least a dozen police bosses.
Merseyside Police chief constable Serena Kennedy told the meeting by videolink that the force is determined to get justice for the deadly attack on Monday, and to identify all those who took part in rioting on Tuesday in the seaside town.
In London, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
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More than 100 people have been arrested in London as further protests took place across the country in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
Violent incidents linked to the deaths of three young girls have been seen in Hartlepool, Manchester, and Aldershot.
Police in Hartlepool were attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs, Cleveland Police said.
A police car was set alight during the violence after a large group of people gathered in the Murray Street area of the North East town on Wednesday evening.
In Manchester, demonstrators turned out in large numbers outside the Holiday Inn hotel on Oldham Road at around 6pm, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Around 40 people, which the paper reports included children and men wearing balaclavas, gathered outside the Oldham Road premises in what the paper said appeared to be a stand against asylum seekers currently being housed in the hotel.
In Aldershot, local MP Alex Baker took to social media to rebuke violence in her community, stating that there is no justification for disorderly behaviour and the scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough.
I have been liaising with Hampshire Police this evening regarding a significant incident at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot, where a peaceful protest descended into intimidating behaviour, she said in a statement shared on X.
I have visited the scene myself this evening and have been in touch with the Chief Inspector. This incident was exacerbated by people from outside our community who came here determined to cause unrest. I would like to pay tribute to the brave police officers who worked hard to restore order.
There is no justification for disorderly behaviour and the scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough. We all support our shared right to peacefully protest, but we will not stand for people coming into our towns determined to stir up trouble and divide our community.
In London, a large protest was staged under the title of Enough is Enough, with arrests made after demonstrators clashed with officers in Whitehall on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police arrested 111 people after officers were attacked and subjected to assault during the protest, the force said.
Demonstrators were seen launching beer cans and glass bottles at a line of police in riot gear in front of Downing Street and throwing flares onto the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
The angry scenes also included loud chants of we want our country back and Oh Tommy Robinson, referring to the right-wing activist.
Last night our officers faced unacceptable scenes of disorder and violence, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
All our thoughts should be with the victims and families of those impacted by the most dreadful attack in Southport. It is shameful that some have sought to exploit this tragedy as justification for their own violence and criminality.
A dedicated team of officers is working to bring charges, the force said.
Cleveland Police also said it had made eight arrests for various offences including public order and affray after violence broke out in Hartlepool on Wednesday, with more arrests expected.
Road closures have been lifted, but a visible police presence remains in the area, the force said.
Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said: At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.
In Manchester, local councillor John Flanagan took to social media to respond to the violence, labelling those involved in the sickening incident as mindless idiots.
Id like to condemn these mindless thugs, attacking innocent men who are asylum seekers. They have been there for months and we have not had any issues or problems. They have been in a place of safety, the councillor for Newton Heath said.
Its sickening to think they are being targeted because of their race or their religion, and I hope this isnt tied with the disgraceful scenes in Southport where a mosque was attacked last night.
These idiots are attacking innocent people. My initial reaction is to contact GMP and support them. The whole of the city and reasonable thinking people will be horrified and sickened by these actions. Idiots is too soft of a word I hope the police use the full force of the law.
We cannot allow our country and our city to descend into anarchy, which seems to be being driven by madness on social media.
It comes after violence erupted in Southport on Tuesday following a vigil for three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
Police officers in Southport suffered serious injuries when bricks, stones and bottles were thrown and cars were set alight during violent protests.
The disorder near the towns mosque came after false rumours were circulated online about the suspect.
In an effort to avoid a second night of rioting, Merseyside Police were given extra powers, under S60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, on Wednesday to stop and search people suspected of carrying weapons.
Community Inspector Doug Chadwick said the public was shocked and disappointed by the disgraceful scenes of rioting and called on the public to come forward with information about what they had seen.
Five people have been arrested over the unrest so far, which saw 53 officers and three police dogs injured.
The unrest comes as a 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of the three girls.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children suffered knife wounds with five of them in critical condition while two adults were also critically hurt.
The 17-year-old has been remanded in custody to appear on Thursday, August 1, at Liverpool Magistrates Court, Derby Square.
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A woman is suing a Kansas hospital for refusing to provide her an abortion, claiming officials said it was too risky to perform the procedure due to the heated political environment in the state.
Mylissa Farmer filed her lawsuit in Kansas City on Tuesday against the University of Kansas Health System. The lawsuit comes after Farmer went to the hospital on August 2, 2022, 18 weeks along with a pregnancy that was no longer viable because her water broke too early.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade, ending nationwide access to abortion.
On August 2 of that year, Kansas lawmakers were considering a referendum to eliminate the right to an abortion, which is listed in their state constitution. The referendum failed, and the right to an abortion remained in effect.
Farmers providers said an abortion would be too risky given the heated political environment in the state that day, she claims in the lawsuit.
Two opposing signs ask residents to vote yes and no to remove the right to an abortion from the Kansas constitution. A Kansas woman is suing a local hospital because she claims they refused to provide her an abortion on the day of the vote due to concerns about the heated political environment ( Getty Images )
As a result, Farmer traveled to Illinois to obtain an abortion two days later, but the delay had already caused extensive damage to her health, according to the lawsuit.
Farmer is arguing her providers violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The act is a federal law that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment for emergency medical conditions. If the hospital cannot stabilize the patient, they must transfer the patient to a hospital that can, the law states.
Farmer is also arguing the hospital violated the states anti-discrimination law.
The University of Kansas Health System has denied Farmers claims. Jill Chadwick, media relations director for the hospital system, told The Independent that Farmer received appropriate, non-discriminatory care that complied with all applicable law.
The specific care and treatment decisions made in a particular situation are guided by our exceptional practitioners and specialists and involve a number of factors, including the specifics of that patients condition, the appropriate treatments available at the time treatment decisions are being made, applicable law and sound medical judgment, Chadwick said.
Abortion access has become more difficult across the nation since the end of Roe.
Abortion is banned outright, with few exceptions, in 14 states, all of which are Republican-controlled. Many people have since been forced to carry unwanted or dangerous pregnancies, while others are forced to travel hundreds of miles to obtain reproductive healthcare.
A new study released this week revealed more women have resorted to unsafe measures to end pregnancies since the Supreme Court decision.
The methods that women reported included eating herbs, drinking alcohol, hitting themselves in the stomach, inserting an object into their body and lifting heavy items, according to a peer-reviewed medical study.
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Authorities in Illinois have released bodycam footage captured during a horrifying domestic incident this spring which began with a brutal knifing and ended with a police officer firing a fatal shot that killed both the 57-year-old suspect and a 4-year-old boy he was using as a human shield.
The heavily-edited video, which features narration throughout and came with a content warning from the Macomb Police Department, was made public on Monday.
The release followed the conclusion of an investigation by the Illinois State Police and a review by the McDonough County States Attorney, which announced last week it would not be filing criminal charges against either of the cops involved.
At a protest on Monday, the childs grieving mother who was stabbed more than 20 times by her ex-boyfriend, Anthony George, in the attack said she didnt think the police should have pulled their guns to stop the violence.
They couldve done anything besides use their weapon, 36-year-old Keianna Miller said, according to WGEM radio . They had Tasers, they had pepper spray, they had all these non-lethal ways to get Anthony George and they decided not to do it.
The deadly encounter took place inside an Illinois apartment, where a woman could be heard screaming, Hes stabbing me! ( Macomb Police Department )
The deadly encounter took place March 16 at about 10:15 p.m, when Macomb Lt. Nick Goc, a onetime Officer of the Year, and Officer Korri Cameron responded to a domestic disturbance call at an apartment building in town. The bodycam video, released on Monday, shows blood smeared on the walls of a stairwell, as a woman screamed from inside one of the residences, Hes stabbing me!
Goc and Cameron force their way inside and find George, armed with a knife, along with a bloodied, frantic Miller. She then runs into the apartments living room as her young son, Terrell, can be heard yelling in the background.
The officer orders the female with injuries out of the home to safety, the narrator says over the bodycam footage. What happens next transpires in a matter of seconds.
George briefly disappears from view, then reemerges with Terrell and a second knife.
Terrell Miller, 4, was shot dead by police as his mothers ex-boyfriend used him as a human shield. ( GoFundMe )
As Miller pleads for help, the officers order George, who had picked up Terrell and was holding one of the knives to his neck, to drop the weapons, the footage shows. When George refused, Goc fired once, killing Terrell as well as George.
Miller would later tell WGEM that George had become enraged over their breakup, telling her that if he couldnt have her, nobody can.
Millers attorney, Marleen Suarez, said she plans to file a civil lawsuit against the police department by the end of next week.
The Macomb PD said its decision to release the bodycam footage was supported by our commitment to transparency, while its hearts and thoughts remain with the families affected by this tragedy.
The departments internal investigation is ongoing.
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A three-month-old baby has been shot in what community leaders believe to be a targeted and gang-related shooting while his family was on a store run to buy baby formula.
Baby Jeremiah Carlos is currently in the ICU undergoing intensive medical treatment after he was shot in the chest over the weekend in Little Village, Chicago, while in a Walgreens parking lot, police said.
The baby has been connected to many tubes and IVs and is due to have multiple surgeries, continuous medical care, and therapy after the tragic incident, a fundraising page set up for the young boy and his family stated.
The family has since told local news outlets on Sunday that Jeremiahs condition is improving and is stable. However, remains in the ICU at Stroger Hospital.
While simply out for a store run to get baby formula, this unfortunate and senseless act of violence occurred and turned our familys worlds upside down. We are now facing a devastating crisis, the fundraising page stated.
Police said that the baby was in the car with his father in the 3100 block of West 26th Street on Saturday afternoon, around 4.30pm, when two armed men opened fire on the Chevrolet Camaro, leaving the vehicle peppered with bullet holes.
The Chevrolet Camaro that the family drove to Walgreens on Saturday was left with multiple bullet holes after a shooting attack. The baby was shot in the chest and remains in hospital, while his father sustained multiple shots to his body ( ABC7 )
A police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times said that the two men exited a brown, older-looking SUV and were armed with a green rifle and a handgun.
The Little Village Community Council, who spoke at a conference on behalf of the victims family, said the shooting was targeted and gang-related, CBS reported.
The babys father, a 21-year-old who has not been named, was shot multiple times but has been released from hospital, the outlet said. However, fear still prevails in the family.
There has been pictures of the father put on Facebook pages that are gang-related, showing that he was not killed, and if you guys want to finish the job, you know, this is what he looks like, said Chela Garcia, of the Little Village Community Council.
The family also added on the fundraising page that after this, they dont want to go back to our neighborhood where this tragedy happened.
Your kindness and generosity will help us give Jeremiah the best chance at not only a safe and healthy recovery but a safer environment and neighborhood to be in moving forward for him and his big brother, Christian, they added.
Police surveying the area where the shooting took place. No arrests have been made at this time ( CBS Chicago )
The GoFundMe page, which is just over halfway into its $10,000 goal as of Thursday, is raising money for Jeremiahs mounting medical bills and daily necessities for the family while both parents are out of work during this difficult time.
Area Four detectives from the Chicago Police Department are investigating. There appears to be no arrests at this time.
This is a young couple, just started building a family, and theyre in need of our support, said Enrique Baltazar, with the Little Village Community Council. Its gonna be a long road for him to recover. The family is just praying he gets out of the hospital.
The Independent has contacted the Chicago Police Department for further information.
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An inmate who was involved in the fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger in a West Virginia prison has been sentenced to more than four years behind bars.
Massachusetts gangster Paul J DeCologero was sentenced in federal court on Thursday after pleading guilty to an assault charge. He could have faced up to 10 years in prison.
DeCologero was already serving a 25-year sentence handed down in 2006 after he was convicted of buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.
Prosecutors originally alleged that, along with fellow inmate Fotios Freddy Geas, DeCologero used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly beat 89-year-old Bulger on the head, hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida in 2018.
However, on Thursday both sides agreed that DeCologero had only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger himself.
Notorious Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger was fatally beaten at a West Virginia prison in October 2018 ( AP )
According to court records, inmates had found out ahead of time that Bulger would be arriving at Hazelton. An inmate previously told a grand jury that DeCologero said to him that Bulger was a snitch and they planned to kill him as soon as he came into their unit.
Prosecutors said that DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulgers cell. During that time, DeCologero served as a lookout and helped cover Bulgers body after he had been beaten to death by Geas.
DeCologeros DNA was found on two blankets, assistant US Attorney Brandon Flower said.
Geas has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries up to a life sentence. His hearing is scheduled for September 6. Last year, the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.
During the trial, DeCologeros attorney, Patrick Nash, described him as the victim of an abusive and neglectful upbringing, which meant he was easily led and had been subsequently recruited into a life of crime.
When it came to Bulgers killing, Paul was involved," Nash said. "He is guilty. But his role was limited.
Flower declined to comment after the sentencing.
In this June 2011 photo, James "Whitey" Bulger is escorted from a Coast Guard helicopter to a waiting vehicle at an airport in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Bulger was beaten to death in prison in October 2018 ( AP )
Prior to Bulgers death, employees at USP Hazelton had voiced concerns about violence and understaffing. After Bulger was killed, prison officials were criticized for placing him in the general population instead of protective housing.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation found in 2022 that the killing was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the federal Bureau of Prisons.
The inspector general found no evidence of malicious intent by any bureau employees but said a series of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and 80s, was also an FBI informant who provided the agency with information on the main rival to his gang.
He became one of the nations most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, thanks to a tip from his FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run.
Bulger was convicted in 2013 in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
DeCologero, who was in a gang led by his uncle, was convicted of buying heroin that was used to try to kill a teenage girl because his uncle feared she would betray the crew to police.
After the heroin did not kill her, another man broke her neck, dismembered her body and buried her remains in the woods, court records said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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The owner of a North Portland newspaper has been arrested and charged after he allegedly told an elderly church receptionist in another state that he was going to kidnap her, keep her in a cage, and rape her.
And she allegedly is not the only church worker who he's harassed.
An FBI affidavit accuses Richard Colvin, 60, the owner of the St John's Review newspaper, of making harassing calls to law enforcement offices and religious groups in Oregon well before he made the call to the church in Mobile, Alabama, according to the Willamette Week.
Colvin was booked at the Baldwin County Jail on June 10 after he was charged for making threats to the worker.
In the calls, Colvin allegedly told a 77-year-old receptionist at Christ United Church that he was going to "repeatedly rape her" after he locked her in a cage, according to the FBI affidavit. He also allegedly said he would cut his genitals off and use it to violate the woman.
Richard Colvin, 60, the owner of the St Johns Review newspaper in North Portland, has been arrested and charged after he allegedly called a church receptionist in Mobile, Alabama, and threatened to kidnap, imprison, and rape her ( Portland Police Bureau )
Anytime the woman tried to interrupt the rant, Colvin allegedly called her a "motherf****** b****."
He allegedly called the church's prayer lines multiple times to share his thoughts over a recent split in the Methodist Church for its stance on gay people in the faith.
I cant wait to come to church there and let you folks know just what I think about you busting up a 8 million member United Methodist Church over whos sucking a f****** d***, he allegedly said on a call, according to the affidavit.
He also allegedly called and harassed the FBI's field office in Portland and the Portland Police Bureau. They reportedly blocked his number, according to the FBI.
On June 11, Colvin was granted permission to undergo a psychiatric exam at his attorneys' request. Colvin's attorney, Jan Jones, wrote in a filing that Colvin had a "long-standing history of documented mental illness," according to the Willamette Week.
It's unclear if the St Johns Review will continue to publish with its owner behind bars and awaiting a court date.
Colvin and the paper's director, Anisha Scanlon, are reportedly working to transfer the paper's ownership to her so she can continue to run the publication. If she takes over, she'll be saddled with a $10,000 debt for outstanding bills before the next edition can go to print.
Scanlon said the issues she's facing trying to keep the small paper alive were "not issues I have created" or knew about prior to Colvin's jailing.
I need these problems to not be associated with me or the papers future. These need to go away," she told the Wilamette Week.
A prior owner of the paper, Gayla Patton, told the publication that she wanted "nothing to do" with Colvin, his employees or the "mess" that the paper had become, in her opinion. She sold the paper in 2022 to Colvin.
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A Minnesota engineer sobbed as he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for stabbing a high school student to death while tubing on a river, just days after the second anniversary of the attack.
Nicolae Miu, 54, was handed two decades behind bars at his sentencing on Wednesday, as well as six years of extended supervision after his release for the stabbings along Apple River in St Croix County in Wisconsin in July 2022.
He was convicted by a jury in April of first-degree reckless homicide, four counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and one count of battery.
The attack killed 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and injured four other people, all of who have been left with permanent disfigurements. Miu and the victims were not in the same tubing group before the attack.
Investigators say Miu claimed he came upon the victims while he was using a snorkel and goggles to look for a lost phone, thinking they had located something, CNN reports.
Nicolae Miu apologizes to the family of Isaac Schuman as he reads his statement during his sentencing hearing on Wednesday at the St. Croix County Circuit Court. He was given 20 years for the attack ( 2024 Star Tribune )
However, the convicted man alleged he was being taunted, saying he felt threatened and was acting in self-defense when he pulled out a knife and began stabbing people, according to a criminal complaint from 2022.
Miu told investigators that he was feeling fearful while being confronted by the victims, who he said threw his snorkeling gear in the water, attempted to pull down his bathing suit, and called him a child molester, the criminal complaint said, according to CNN.
One of the victims told authorities she was punched in the face by Miu, which triggered a physical altercation as a man punched Miu back and the group pushed him, making him fall into the water.
Defense attorney Aaron Nelson, however, argued that someone other than Miu had escalated the fight and that while resorting to using a knife was a reckless act, Miu didnt act with malice and forethought. He acted out of fear, CBS Newsreports.
St Croix County District Judge R. Michael Waterman said that Miu had made a series of very poor decisions when he was confronted with these words and boorish taunts and insults.
He fled the scene, leaving his victims to die while casually floating by them and emergency workers as if nothing had happened, the judge said, adding that he was arrested once he tried to leave the scene in his car.
Waterman told the court that other than his conduct on July 30, Mr Miu appears to be a non-violent, peaceful man, CBS News said.
The teenager who died in the attack was a senior in high school preparing to apply for college. He hoped to pursue an electrical engineering degree and had recently started a car and boat detailing business. His family described him as "mature for his age" with a "forward-looking mentality that was uncommon for a high school senior."
Nicolae Miu is escorted in the courtroom during his sentencing hearing, where he would be hearing impact statements from the victims and their families before he was sentenced to 20 years in prison ( 2024 Star Tribune )
"Isaac entered every room with a big smile, infectiously positive aura, and lifted everyone around him up. He had an incredibly bright future ahead of him and we are all heartbroken and devastated beyond words that his future has been tragically and senselessly cut short. We very much appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of love and support from our friends, Isaacs friends and the Stillwater Community," his family said in a statement to KARE in 2022.
In an impact statement at the sentencing, Schumans mother, Alina Hernandez, said, according to CBS News, that Miu "stole Isaacs life and he stole my life."
"I hope that monster suffers as much as I do every day until he gets to hell," she said.
At his sentencing, Miu only looked up to read a statement to the victims families.
I never meant for this tragedy to occur. My soul is broken, Miu said. My heart is very heavy, and I will never be the same carrying such a heavy burden inside.
Im very sorry, Miu added through tears, turning toward the families.
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A former Texas detective who helped put a man behind bars for the death of his daughter is now fighting to get him off death row.
Reverend Brian Wharton played a vital role in the prosecution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, in 2003.
He was given the death penalty and has remained on death row ever since.
He has never been far from my mind. Why? Because I helped put him here, and he didnt deserve it, Wharton told The New York Times.
The execution date for Roberson, 57, is scheduled for October 17 after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted his previous execution in 2016.
This is despite new evidence reportedly debunking the original theory that Nikki died of shaken baby syndrome (SBS), with The Texas Tribune reporting that Robersons attorneys said they plan to file a new request to overturn his conviction, supposedly underpinned by new evidence.
Robert Roberson has spent over twenty years behind bars after being sentenced to death for murdering his two-year-old daughter ( KLTV )
Speaking to Roberson for the first time they have seen each other since his conviction, Wharton reflected on the investigation process: Im convinced we did the wrong thing.
I think if it would have been properly investigated more, Roberson responded, we wouldnt be sitting here now probably.
Later in the video, Wharton explained that no other possibilities for the young girls injuries, which she would tragically die from the following day, were considered: I regret deeply that we followed the easiest path.
One element of the investigation was that police found Roberson to be unemotional and unresponsive when he took his young daughter, who he said had been sick with a fever, to the hospital after she suffered a fall from bed.
Since leaving the police force and joining the ministry, Wharton has learned that Roberson is autistic, explaining what is now understood to be a neurodivergent response to his daughters illness and death.
Its absolutely insane that this never came up in this trial, Wharton said.
So far this year, ten people have been executed in the US, including Kenneth Eugene Smith who was controversially executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama in January.
This made him the first person in US history to be put to death via lethal gas, with witnesses saying they saw someone struggling for their life for several minutes.
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A former pastor in Texas has been indicted for attempting to pay for sex after being arrested in a sting operation, according to the Plano Police Department.
Terrence Terren Dames, 51, was charged in May with soliciting prostitution, according to a probable cause affidavit. The department reportedly regularly undertakes the stings to catch individuals soliciting sexual services, according to WFAA.
He is accused of allegedly calling an undercover officer on May 2 to hire them for sex. He reportedly offered the officer $150.
Police gave Dames an address to a motel. When he arrived, he was allegedly recorded knocking on the hotel door he'd been instructed to visit, and then allegedly confirmed in a text with the undercover officer that he had arrived and was at the door.
After he left the motel, Dames was pulled over by police who proceeded to read him his Miranda Rights. Dames told police he had only visited the motel to meet a friend, and afterward began suffering from a medical incident.
Terrence Dames, 51, a former pastor at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship in Plano, Texas, was indicted in June 2024 for allegedly soliciting prostitution ( Collin County Jail )
Police called the Plano Fire Department to assist. They found that Dames' vital signs were low, but Dames refused to be taken to a hospital. He was then released from the scene, according to the affidavit.
In June, Dames was indicted on soliciting prostitution charges.
Before he was knocking on motel doors, Dames was the senior pastor of the North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship in Plano.
The church responded to the incident on Tuesday, saying that Dames had been removed from his position in May due to a "moral failure," but it did not mention his charges.
"NDCBF leadership remains devoted to the church's mission of making disciples and vision to empower each member to impact the world by doing the work of Jesus Christ," the statement said. "Sound, biblical doctrine remains a priority."
It's been a tough year for churches in North Texas.
Robert Morris, the pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, recently stepped down from his duties over allegations that he sexually assaulted a young girl decades ago.
In Arlington, Ronnie Goines, the pastor of Koinonia Christian Church, turned himself in to city police after a pair of warrants for his arrest were issued. He has been accused of indecent assault and sexual assault, CBS News reports.
The lead pastor of Cross Timber Church in Argyle, Josiah Anthony, has also stepped down. He left his position citing mental health issues and alleged inappropriate interactions he had with members of his church.
The church released a statement saying Anthony had been in "a prolonged, and sustained, season of struggle with his emotional, and mental health, which has been very painful for him, and those around him."
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A housekeeper at a resort on the Las Vegas Strip stole more than $100,000 worth of cash and valuables from guests rooms and was arrested while wearing a missing bracelet, according to police.
Maria Menendez Betancourt was an employee of the Palazzo Tower at the Venetian Resort at the time of the alleged thefts, say authorities in Nevada.
Police say they were first alerted to the alleged thefts in June when a guest reported more than $8,000 missing from their room.
A review of the lock on the room showed Menendez Betancourt entered the room while the guest was away, according to police documents obtained by 8 News Now, a local news station.
Later that month, hotel security called police after detaining the housekeeper, believing she had stolen more than $110,000 in cash and checks from a guests room. Security video showed she entered the hotel on a day when she didnt show up for work and used a key fob to get into multiple rooms on multiple floors.
Police accuse a housekeeper at the Palazzo Tower in Las Vegas of stealing cash, checks, and jewelry from hotel guests ( Getty Images )
Menendez Betancourt discovered these items and concealed them in white bath towels [she] found in the room, the police documents said.
The Independent has contacted the Venetian for comment.
Menendez Betancourt was arrested in June and again on new charges in July.
All told, she faces three felony theft charges, according to court records, and has not entered a plea.
Court records show she registered herself as indigent and in need of a Spanish interpreter. The records do not list a lawyer on her behalf.
A social media account appearing to belong to Menendez Betancourt did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
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Don Lemon has sued X owner Elon Musk over the former CNN anchors failed talk show that was supposed to air on the social media platform.
Attorneys representing Lemon filed the lawsuit on August 1 in the Superior Court of California and accused Musk of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of Lemons name and likeness and a breach of express contract.
The Independent has reached out to X for comment.
Lemon was slated to host a show on X in January 2024. At the time, Lemon and X had a content partnership deal, but Musk canceled the deal in March, Variety reports.
The tech mogul reportedly alerted Lemon of the cancellation by texting the reporter's agent the message "contract is canceled," according to the filing.
The lawsuit claims that Musk and X agreed to pay Lemon $1.5 million $200,000 of which was flagged for up-front payment under the content deal.
Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk, the CEO of X, after the tech mogul canceled a proposed show the former CNN anchor was set to host on the platform ( 2021 Invision )
The X show was supposed to be Lemons return to media after his high-profile exit from CNN. Lemon once had his own primetime show on the network but later was moved to a new morning show. However, reports of his clashes with coworkers and allegations of misogyny led to his April 2024 firing.
The deal also reportedly included an option for Lemon to renew the one-year deal twice under the same terms, 60 percent of the gross ad revenue that X received from ads generated from the show and views-based performance bonuses.
It also allowed Lemon to retain the ownership of any content he created on the platform.
Lemon never obtained a signed agreement from Musk. The lawsuit says the deal was negotiated over a phone call between Musk and Lemon on June 16, 2023.
Lemon expressed reservations about entering into a partnership with X due to the ongoing controversies surrounding the X platform," the lawsuit says. "In response, and to induce Lemon to enter into an exclusive partnership deal with X, Musk represented to Lemon that he would have full authority and control over the work he produced even if disliked by Defendants, and that there would be no need for a formal written agreement or to fill out paperwork.
An attorney representing Lemon accused Musk and X of using the news of Lemon's new show as a way to drive advertisers before dropping him.
This case is straightforward. X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Dons name through the mud," attorney Carney Shegerian said. "You dont have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here. Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist whos committed to defending his good name and holding Xs executives accountable. We look forward to our day in court.
he lawsuit says the deal was negotiated over a phone call between Musk and Lemon on June 16, 2023 ( Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
In March, X issued its own statement regarding the situation.
The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities," the statement said. "However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.
Musk gave his own statement, describing Lemon who he referred to with a Lemon emoji as "demanding" and wanting to "rehash the dying CNN business model."
Lemons lawsuit asks for an unpsecified amount of money.
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The first photo released after Russian authorities on Thursday freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich , former Marine Paul Whelan , and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva shows the three aboard a US government jet, doing something they likely hadnt done much of in a while: smiling.
Whelan, who served in the US Marine Corps from 2003 to 2008 and worked as a cop before taking an office job, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years behind bars. Kurmasheva, who was working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, was arrested last fall by Russian security services and convicted less than two weeks ago for spreading false information about the Russian military. She was sentenced to 6.5 years behind bars. Gershkovich had been reporting critically, from Russia, on the countrys invasion of Ukraine, when he was arrested by the FSB on March 29, 2023, at a Yekaterinburg steakhouse.
They were finally freed thanks to intense negotiations over the past two years, before Gershkovich and Kurmasheva had even been arrested. It was a herculean effort negotiated by the White House, with crucial assists by the detainees colleagues, loved ones, tech moguls, a former secretary of state, at least one TV personality, the governments of Germany, Slovenia, Poland, Belarus, Norway, Turkey, and one particularly relentless figure: the 32-year-old Gershkovichs mom.
On Thursday, after 490 days, Gershkovich walked out of a maximum-security Russian prison as part of the biggest and most consequential such exchange since the end of the Cold War. The Journal had been intimately engaged all along with the Biden administration to free its Moscow correspondent, along with Gershkovichs mom, who had been pushing hard to make sure her sons name stayed in the press.
In all, 24 people from both sides were released, including British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who received a 25-year sentence in April 2023 on charges including treason, over his public criticisms of Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine; and anti-war artist Aleksandra Skochilenko, convicted last fall of disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces.
For their part, US authorities gave up, among others, imprisoned hacker Vladislav Klyushin, alleged money launderer Vadim Konoshchenok, credit card fraudster Roman Seleznev, a pair of accused Russian intelligence agents jailed in Slovenia, and reportedly most important of all to Putin himself, hitman Vadim Krasikov, an FSB colonel incarcerated in Germany for the 2019 murder of Chechen military commander Zelimkhan Sultanovich Khangoshvili in a Berlin park.
A view of the tarmac in Ankara, where Thursdays prison swap took place ( AP )
The swap took place on an airport tarmac in Ankara, which untold numbers watched live on TV. However, all along, there was ongoing activity being secretly carried out behind closed doors, which the Journal documented contemporaneously but was unable to reveal until now.
For 16 months, Ella Milman had studied [Krasikovs] case, daunted that such a man could be the key to unlocking her sons freedom, according to an article the Journal published Thursday morning .
Titled Putin Wanted His Hit Man Back. A Mother Wanted Her Journalist Son to Come Home, the piece described Millman, Gershkovichs mother, as one of an extraordinary cast of characters who worked in the shadows to advance the swap.
Her sons fate rested not just on messages ferried by diplomats and spies, but years of secret interventions drawn from the ranks of prime-time TV hosts, Silicon Valley billionaires and Russian oligarchs, it said.
Gershkovich had been moldering in solitary confinement outside Moscow at Lefortovo prison, where he was prevented from meeting with officials from the US Embassy, according to the Journal.
When Gershkovich was grabbed last year by the Russians, higher-ups at the Journal immediately contacted its best sources in Washington, D.C., to sound the alarm.
We will get him back, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told them, according to the paper.
Reporter Evan Gershkovich, seen here in a Moscow court, was imprisoned on false espionage charges. The Kremlin, however, insisted on trading him for a Russian hitman imprisoned on very real murder charges ( AP )
Jailing Gershkovich was Putins best hope of forcing the Americans to hand back Krasikov, who had been close with the Russian leader for years. Putin had, in 2022, already unsuccessfully offered to trade Whelan for Krasikov, hoping the US could convince the Germans to let him go. So, last year, Putin and his top national security apparatchiks decided to up the ante and use Gershkovich as Russias next bid for Krasikov, the Journal reported on Thursday, citing dozens of interviews with people knowledgeable of the details.
Meanwhile, Millman had been contacted by Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, a former Green Beret appointed by Trump and kept on the payroll by Biden. And as Carstens worked his sources, such as a Bulgarian investigative journalist who persuaded Hillary Clinton to lobby the German government about the Krasikov-Gershkovich issue, and ultimately helped devise a list of names the Russians might swap for Gershkovich, Millman found a way to get in front of Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser and the one she believed actually had the juice to make something happen, according to the Journal.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was also in the mix, playing intermediary between Biden and the German government, who Schmidt said could potentially free Krasikov for an exchange that included since-deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Journal article explains. Still, it goes on, the notion of releasing a convicted killer for anyone met with staunch opposition among German officialdom and government lawyers. In the spring of 2023, however, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz relayed a message to the Journal, through his chief of staff, that releasing Krasikov may not be easy for us, but its possible.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was instrumental in negotiating the swap ( EPA )
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was also in the mix, playing intermediary between Biden and the German government, who Schmidt said could potentially free Krasikov for an exchange that included since-deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Journal article explains. Still, it goes on, the notion of releasing a convicted killer for anyone met with staunch opposition among German officialdom and government lawyers. In the spring of 2023, however, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz relayed a message to the Journal, through his chief of staff, that releasing Krasikov may not be easy for us, but its possible.
Following multiple backchannel meetings and interactions, and right-wing TV host Tucker Carlsons plea for Gershkovichs release while interviewing Putin for a recent special, Scholz in February finally told Biden, according to the Journal, For you, I will do this. Navalny remained central to the deal, and Putin, via Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, signaled his willingness to Carstens that he would play ball, the Journal article said, noting that FBI Director Chris Wray and Vice President Kamala Harris were now involved. And then, in February, Navalny mysteriously died at the labor camp where he was imprisoned.
The Biden administration was spooked, but in May, after several months of indecision, the president promised Millman hed formalize the Krasikov release deal with Scholz, who needed an official request from the US to give himself political cover, the Journal article said. On July 21, while Biden was at home recovering from Covid, he called the prime minister of Slovenia, which still needed to finish making final legal arrangements for the release of the two Russian spies in its custody. An hour later, according to the Journal, Biden announced he was dropping his re-election bid.
As of today, Evan Gershkovich is free. But before the Kremlin would put him on a government plane to Ankara for the prisoner swap, they made him write a personal clemency request to Putin himself. At the bottom, according to the Journal, its intrepid reporter, who soon would be back on the job, asked Putin to grant him an interview.
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Explosions in secretive underground nuclear facilities. Cyber attacks. Top scientists poisoned. Natural gas pipelines sabotaged. All these and more have been blamed on Israel in its shadow war with Iran.
And the latest accusation, that Israel is behind the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, only expands that list.
Israel has allegedly carried out highly secretive and deadly attacks on Iranian soil repeatedly over the years, though the country rarely takes responsibility. Most have been aimed at the countrys nuclear program.
Here is a look at that history of alleged attacks:
Years of alleged covert operations
Prior to this week, the most prominent assassination blamed on Israeli was in November 2020, when a top Iranian military nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside Tehran.
Not all of Israel's suspected attacks have targeted people. One of the first attacks against Iran attributed to Israel was the Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation. The virus disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Iran also accused Israel of sabotaging major natural gas pipelines earlier this year.
In 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had obtained tens of thousands of pages of data showing that Iran had covered up its nuclear program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015. He didnt say how Israel obtained the information, but an ex-Mossad chief confirmed that it was obtained by more than a dozen non-Israeli agents from safes in Tehran in 2018. Iran says the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Alleged Israeli attacks against Iran's nuclear program stepped up significantly in 2020, after the disintegration of the 2015 nuclear deal meant to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, explained Meir Litvak, the director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.
In the past four years, Iran said Israel attacked multiple nuclear sites deep in central Iran. Some of the attacks Iran directly or indirectly accused Israel of carrying out include destroying nuclear facilities with explosive drones in Isfahan and setting off at least two explosions at an underground nuclear facility in Natanz. Iran accused Israel of poisoning two nuclear scientists in different cities within three days of each other in 2022, though circumstances remain unclear.
The shadow war between the two countries burst into the open earlier this year, when Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israeli territory after an airstrike blamed on Israel killed two Iranian generals in Syria.
An exquisite intelligence capability
Haniyeh's brazen assassination in Tehran this week, just hours after Irans President Masoud Pezeshkians swearing-in ceremony, had little to do with Iran's nuclear program. And if Israel was behind it, it would represent an opportunity to target two major enemies at the same time: Iran and Hamas.
Litvak said that Israel may have made the decision to target Haniyeh in Iran because it did not want to carry out an assassination in Qatar or Egypt, two of Israels major partners hosting the Gaza cease-fire negotiations. The assassination carried the double meaning of eliminating the most senior Hamas leader while also sending an important message to Iran.
They knew which specific apartment and where he was, and it shows that something is really rotten in the Iranian security system, Litvak said.
Norman T. Roule, who served as the United States National Intelligence Manager for Iran at the office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2008 to 2017, added that killings like Haniyehs show an exquisite intelligence capability that allows pinpoint strikes on security-conscious targets to be carried out without civilian casualties.
Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed by a missile, but Roule said it wasnt publicly known if the weapon was launched from inside or outside Iran. However the operation was carried out, it's likely it required significant cooperation with people on the ground in Iran.
People inside Iran who are disaffected with the government provides Israel with a pool of potential cooperators in operations against the Islamic Republic, said Meir Javedanfar, who teaches Iranian politics at Israels Reichman University.
Iran weighs retaliation
Details of such operations are highly guarded secrets, and are regarded by the Israeli security establishment as essential for the country's survival.
Israelis see Iran and its allies as the most serious strategic threat against the state of Israel and the Jewish people since the fall of the Nazi regime, said Javedanfar, who was born in Iran and emigrated to Israel as a teenager in 1987.
The strike Wednesday highlighted significant failings in Iran's air defense network, said Roule, now a senior adviser with the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
Given the severe humiliation of Irans defenses, Roule said, Iran now is likely trapped between the need to retaliate and the desire to maintain internal stability during a time of economic and political transition. It's a delicate period that is only compounded by fights between Iranian proxies on one side and Israel and its allies such as the U.S. on the other.
If youre Iran you have a real challenge in front of you, he continued. This is a package issue. You dont have one problem.
___
Weissenstein reported from New York.
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Alina Habba, Donald Trumps former lawyer and current campaign adviser, accused Vice President Kamala Harris of not knowing her roots shortly after the GOP nominee questioned whether Harris was Indian or Black.
Habba opened for Trump at his campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday evening. She mispronounced Kamala before stating: Im so excited because when I spoke at the RNC, I didnt know she was the one we were going after. But now I do.
Im going to speak to you, Miss Harris! I am a strong woman, a mom, a lawyer, and an American! Habba told the crowd.
And unlike you, Kamala, I know who my roots are! I know where I come from! And I dont play around with the Constitution, said Habba, whose parents are Iraqi immigrants.
Alina Habba introduced former president Donald Trump at a campaign event in Harrisburg, where she questioned Kamala Harris roots. ( AP )
Habba served as Trumps lawyer during his civil fraud trial earlier this year, in which a judge ordered him to pay $454 million. She announced during his criminal hush-money trial that she had taken a new role as his legal adviser. Now, she works as an adviser on his campaign.
Mere hours before the rally, Trump participated in a heated question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists.
I didnt know she was Black, he said about Harris. She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.
The interview has been decried by strategists and political commentators as a dumpster fire.
Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston hours after Trump questioned her background. ( AP )
Trumps running mate JD Vance, the father of three biracial children, on Wednesday told The Hill that he thought Trumps comments were hysterical and accused the media of overreacting to it. The Ohio Senator added: I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris,
Harris herself responded to the former presidents comments while speaking to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority sisters at a Houston gathering, calling Trumps remarks the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect.
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Joe Biden will headline the opening night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, after giving up his spot on the top of the partys ticket.
The president is expected to deliver a prime-time address on Monday, August 19, and will then hand over the keys to Kamala Harris the now-presumptive Democratic nominee.
Monday is going to be Joes night, then hes going to hand over the keys, a source told CNN.
According to the outlet, the speech will discuss the countrys transition from the Covid-19 pandemic era and bring the focus onto the vice president.
Harris faces an imminent virtual roll call, during which party delegates will pledge themselves and likely nominate her as the official Democratic candidate before the convention even begins.
The president is expected to deliver a prime-time address on Monday August 19 at the convention in Chicago, Illinois ( Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
An in-person roll call and her subsequent nomination at the DNC will be largely ceremonial. She will then give a speech on Thursday, the final day of the convention.
Bidens address will not be the first time an outgoing president has opened the DNC.
During the 2000 convention, outgoing president Bill Clinton, who was not up for reelection, delivered the opening remarks before passing the torch to his then-VP Al Gore, who went on to face George W Bush.
Barack Obama also did not deliver the opening remarks to the 2016 convention, instead speaking on the last day to promote Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate.
It comes as the Harris campaign seems to be gathering strength and momentum. Fresh polls show that she has made gains on Bidens top performance in all swing states except Pennsylvania, the presidents home state.
Ahead of the DNC, fresh national polls indicate that Kamala Harris is securing a lead over Donald Trump at this stage in the race. ( AP )
The latest slew of national polls also indicate that Harris is securing a lead over Donald Trump at this stage in the race.
Harris has led over Trump in four major polls taken over the past five days, though the race remains tight, with an average of 45.3 percent to Trumps 43.8 percent.
Donations towards the vice presidents operation have also continued to flow, after pulling in a whopping $81m on the first official day of campaigning.
According to the Harris for President campaign, that sum reflected money raised across the campaign, Democratic National Committee, and joint fundraising committees, and includes 888,000 grassroots donors, a full 60 percent of whom gave for the first time this cycle.
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Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed Donald Trump is unaware of race and gender in defense of the former president after he questioned Vice President Kamala Harriss race.
I didnt know she was Black, the former president said Wednesday during a tense question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists conference.
Trump continued: She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person. Harriss father is from Jamaica and her mother is Indian.
On Thursday morning, Kilmeade admitted that bringing up Kamala Harris race was not a winning issue before saying whether shes Black or Indian, it doesnt matter.
Brian Kilmeade defends Donald Trump as being unaware of race and gender after the former president questioned Kamala Harris race during a Wednesday discussion. ( Fox News )
Hes just running against a Democrat. I think the thing is, President Trump is so unaware of race and gender, Kilmeade continued.
A lot of people say: Wow you dont talk to women like that. You dont talk to minorities like that. He said Im running against that person. Thats all he sees, the Fox anchor added.
The co-hosts also discussed the series of questions that Trump faced, which the former president described as nasty and said the questions were asked in a horrible manner.
Kilmeade advised: In that situation, you should really be briefed ahead of time that youre probably going to be walking into a hostile environment.
In contrast to Kilmeades defense of Trump, Jessica Tarlov, co-host of Fox News The Five, called his NABJ interview a complete dumpster fire for the former president.
Many others have criticized Trumps remarks. Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Trump White House Director of Strategic Communications, similarly wrote on X: An absolute dumpster fire of a performance by Trump from start to finish.
Trump speaks on a panel of the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, where he questioned Harris background ( REUTERS )
Republican strategist Sarah Longwell also slammed Trumps showing, telling CNN: He looked old, he looked unable to parry in the conversation, unable to grab a thread and talk about it effectively, drive a message. That was one of the worst performances Ive seen.
Political commentator Jon Favreau tweeted: I cannot believe this Trump interview with Black journalists is real. This may be one of the worst interviews hes ever done, and thats saying something.
Later on Wednesday, Harris herself responded to his comments. The presumptive Democratic nominee told Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority sisters at a Houston event that Trumps remarks were just the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect.
In the short time that she has run for the White House, Harris has faced a barrage of racist attacks, with a number of Republicans calling her a DEI hire.
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Nancy Pelosi detailed how medical professionals expressed concern to her regarding then-President Donald Trumps mental health during her time as Speaker of the House, according to her new memoir.
A copy of The Art of Power: My Story as Americas First Woman Speaker of the House, to be published next week, was obtained by The Guardian.
At a 2019 memorial service for psychiatrist Dr David Hamburg, doctors and other mental health professionals shared their deep concern that there was something seriously wrong with Trump and that his mental and psychological health was in decline, Pelosi detailed in the book.
Pelosi said she found Trumps behavior difficult to understand. The former speaker frequently clashed with Trump during her second stint in the top job in the lower chamber. She was speaker between 2007 and 2011 and between 2019 and 2023, which coincided with the latter half of Trumps presidency and the beginning of President Joe Bidens time in the White House.
Trump is now the Republican presidential nominee yet again, for the third straight election cycle. The 78-year-old former president is the oldest-ever candidate for the office.
His often bizarre behavior has come under increasing scrutiny following his two impeachments, including for the Capitol riot, his 34 felony convictions, the orders for him to pay hundreds of millions in damages in several civil cases, including one in which he was found liable for sexual abuse, his comments that he would spend day one of his next term as a dictator, and his questioning of Vice President Kamala Harriss racial identity during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday.
House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rips up pages of the State of the Union speech after then-President Donald Trump finishes his State of the Union speech in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 Pelosi writes in a new memoir that medical professional shared their concern with her in 2019 that Trumps mental health was in decline ( Getty Images )
By the time January 6, 2021, the day of the insurrection, came, Pelosi wrote that she knew Donald Trumps mental imbalance. I had seen it up close.
His denial and then delays when the Covid pandemic struck, his penchant for repeatedly stomping out of meetings, his foul mouth, his pounding on tables, his temper tantrums, his disrespect for our nations patriots and his total separation from reality and actual events. His repeated, ridiculous insistence that he was the greatest of all time.
She notes how staffers, such as Trumps last Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, indulged his odd behavior, and allowed him to listen into meetings on Capitol Hill, leading to the speaker banning phones in her meeting rooms.
People still ask me how I remained so calm, she writes about the Capitol attack. Pelosi and other Capitol leaders were evacuated to Fort McNair in southern Washington, DC.
My answer is that I was already deeply aware of how dangerous Donald Trump was, she writes.
He continues to be dangerous. If his family and staff truly understood his disregard for both the fundamentals of the law and for basic rules, and if they had reckoned with his personal instability over not winning the [2020] election, they should have staged an intervention, she adds. Whether because of willful blindness, money, prestige or greed, they didnt and America has paid a steep price.
Pelosi added that it was clear to me from the start that he was an imposter and that on some level, he knew it.
After the insurrection, Pelosi and the Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer placed a call to then-Vice President Mike Pence about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump.
Pelosi writes elsewhere that she admired Pence for his actions on January 6, when he presided over the certification of the 2020 election results after refusing to leave the Capitol even as the mob of Trump supporters chanted that he should be hanged.
But after being on hold for 20 minutes, Pence never got on the phone with Pelosi and Schumer and didnt return their call, the former speaker wrote.
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Kamala Harris potential vice presidential pick Mark Kelly has blasted Donald Trump for questioning her heritage, denouncing him as a desperate and scared old man.
Speaking to CNNs Kaitlan Collins on The Source, Kelly was asked for his reaction to Trumps racially-charged comments at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago on Wednesday where he claimed that Harris had happened to turn Black recently.
It was very obvious to me watching him, and just what Ive seen over the last week while shes been across the country just kicking his butt, that hes afraid, said the Arizona senator.
Hes afraid to debate her. Hes certainly afraid to lose an election to her in November, and hes afraid about his own future.
Kelly told reporters outside the US Capitol that the overtly racist comments are those of a desperate, scared old man, who, over the last week especially, has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor, and I think hes worried.
Trump sparked gasps from the audience at the NABJ convention when he falsely claimed that Harris chooses her heritage when it suits her and questioned how she is both Indian and Black.
She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black, the former president said.
So, I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black?
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said that Trump is afraid to debate Kamala Harris ( Getty Images )
His questionable comments have earned him a wave of backlash from across the political spectrum.
The Republican former governor of Maryland Larry Hogan said in an X post: Its unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyones racial identity. The American people deserve better.
Trump and his vice presidential nominee JD Vance were already facing backlash this week after a 2021 video resurfaced showing Vance calling Harris and other Democrats a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks on a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago, Illinois, on July 31, 2024 ( Reuters )
Suspense is mounting as to who Harris will select to be her running mate on the Democratic party ticket, with Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro believed to be on her shortlist.
Harris and her as of yet unconfirmed running mate are set to hold a campaign rally together in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
The location of the rally has fueled speculation that she plans to tap Shapiro for the role.
While Trump named Vance as his vice presidential pick back on July 15, he bizarrely downplayed the significance of the VP candidate on the election during his appearance at the NABJ.
Virtually never has it mattered, the 78-year-old-said. Youre voting for the president. Youre voting for me.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made their debut as the Democratic presidential ticket on Tuesday night, kicking off a campaign against Donald Trump and JD Vance in front of an electrified crowd in Philadelphia.
The governor strode on stage at Temple Universitys Licouras Center on Tuesday with Harris just hours after she announced him as her running mate, with 91 days to go until the November election.
Walzs appearance ended the closely-watched contest for the next potential vice president, landing on a seasoned Midwestern politician, military veteran and former school teacher with a progressive track record.
Harris told the estimated 12,000 people in attendance that she set out to find a partner who can build this brighter future during her weeks-old campaign for the presidency.
Her search for a running mate led her to a leader who can unite this nation and move us forward, someone who was a fighter for the middle class and a patriot who believes as I do the extraordinary promise of America, a promise of freedom, opportunity and justice not just for some but for all, she said.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz greet supporters at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on August 6. ( Getty Images )
She told the crowd that she found such a leader in Walz, a 60-year-old former high school teacher who enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and served for 24 years, then spent more than two decades teaching and coaching football before entering politics.
The vice president recounted how during the 1990s, a time when the federal government enacted a law banning any recognition of same-sex relationships, Walz served as a faculty adviser for a high school gay-straight alliance group because he knew the signal it would send to have a football coach get involved.
Walz makes people feel they belong and inspires them to dream big, and thats the kind of vice president he will be, she added, and thats the kind of vice president America deserves.
He represented Minnesota in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017 and is now in the middle of his second term as the states governor. He has had a recent meteoric rise on to the national stage with his no-nonsense assessment of the GOPs platform and the weird agenda behind it.
Kamala Harris stifled a laugh as her running mate Tim Walz cracked a joke about his Republican counterpart JD Vance and his couch controversy ( Getty Images )
In the governors office, Walz ushered through a series of popular progressive policies, including protections for abortion rights and LGBT+ Minnesotans and a free breakfast and lunch program for public school children.
Minnesotas strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always be willing to lend a helping hand, Walz told the crowd.
Trump, however, doesnt know the first thing about service, because hes too busy serving himself, according to Walz.
The former president weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand, mocks our laws, and sows chaos and division, and thats to say nothing of his record as president, said Walz, who said Trump froze during the Covid-19 crisis, drove the economy into the ground, and make no mistake: violent crime was up under Donald Trump.
Thats not counting the crimes he committed, he added.
Walz said he cant wait to debate his GOP counterpart JD Vance.
Like most people who grew up in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a best seller trashing that community, he said, his voice carrying more than a hint of sarcasm.
Tim Walz told a crowd in Philadelphia on August 6 that rival Donald Trump doesnt know a thing about service ( AP )
He added that what Vance represents is not what Middle America is, and drew some of the loudest cheers of the night when he told rallygoers: I cant wait to debate the guy ... if hes willing to get off the couch and show up.
See what I did there? said Walz, making an apparent reference to an online joke that Vance wrote about having sex with a couch in his best-selling memor.
Harriss announcement arrived roughly three months before Election Day and two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, where the Harris-Walz ticket will formally receive the partys nomination.
After President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and backed Harris as the partys nominee, she quickly collected endorsements and delegate pledges to clinch the nomination, with record-breaking fundraising numbers that have eclipsed Republicans multi-million dollar war chest.
A campaign spokesperson said the newly-christened Harris-Walz effort pulled in yet another $20m in the hours after the announcement.
Walz quipped I see those old white guys when he spotted a member of Old White Men for Harris on the front row at the Philadelphia rally on August 6 ( AP )
The electic atmosphere recalled the boisterous rallies of the Obama-Biden campaigns in 2008 and 2012. It attracted a racially diverse crowd that included a pair of gray-haired white men sporting shirts declaring themselves Old White Men for Harris and Freedom.
Its as clear as the T-shirt says, Bernie Strain told The Independent. Its about two old white men liking our Social Security, liking our Medicare, liking our freedom, liking our democracy well lose it if Trump gets elected.
Strain said that his son, a Marine, had served a pair of tours at the base that was struck by Iran-backed militants in Iraq on Monday.
Hes no loser and hes no sucker for serving in the United Statess service, and Trumps not going to call my son a loser or a sucker, he said. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
Harris even drew a pair of former Republican members of Congress, including former Pennsylvania congressman James Greenwood, who told The Independent that he understood Biden had to stand down after his June 27 debate against Trump.
Greenwood described the vibe after Biden stood down as like an electric charge.
The excitement, the volunteers, the fundraising, everyones pretty excited, he said.
Another ex-Republican House member from Illinois, Joe Walsh, said Walz was a great bet for Harris because the Minnesotan is like an everyman.
I disagree with him on a lot of policy, but he's like a regular guy, and that's what Democrats have to have, he said.
Andrew Feinberg reported from Philadelphia
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Vice President Kamala Harris has faced a barrage of attacks about her race including one from Donald Trump, who claimed Harris happened to turn Black only recently.
During a question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday, the former president questioned: Is she Indian or is she Black?
In short, shes both. The presumptive Democratic nominee is both the first Black and Asian-American vice president.
The vice president was born in California while her father, Donald Harris, was born in Jamaica and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. Harris has spoken openly about how she grew up appreciating both cultures.
Trumps remark is particularly strange, seeing as during her 2020 presidential run, Harris made headlines after calling out Joe Bidens past record on race and and school busing: There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me.
Harris attended Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, DC, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, one of the first Black sororities in the nation. She has spoken fondly of her Jamaican heritage.
Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston ( AP )
In 2021, she recalled her father taking her and her sister to see Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1978 her first concert ever. We sat up top in the back of the theater and, as I watched the performance, I was in complete awe, Harris told the Washington Post at the time. To this day, I know the lyrics to nearly every Bob Marley song.
My father, like so many Jamaicans, has immense pride in our Jamaican heritage and instilled that same pride in my sister and me, Harris told the outlet. We love Jamaica. He taught us the history of where were from, the struggles and beauty of the Jamaican people, and the richness of the culture.
The twice-over Fulbright Scholar is now a professor emeritus at Stanford, where he served as faculty from 1972 until his retirement in 1998, according to his bio. He was the first Black scholar to receive tenure in Stanfords economics department. The 85-year-old has dedicated much of his work to his native country. He served as an economic consultant to the Jamaican government and as an economic adviser to several of the countrys prime ministers, his bio states.
In 2019, when she was running in the Democratic presidental primary, Harris was asked in a radio interview about her stance on the legalization of weed. She responded: Look, I joke about it, I have joked about it. Half my family is from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?
Throughout her career, Harris has also emphasized the influence of her mother in her life. Gopalan, a cancer researcher, passed away in 2009.
Harris also wrote in her memoir, The Truths We Hold, about how her mother cooked her daughters Indian food, gave them Indian jewelry and took them on visits to India, where she spent time with her grandfather. Harris described her grandfather in a 2009 interview as one of the most influential people in my life as well as was one of the original Independence fighters in India.
In her memoir, Harris begins by explaining the meaning behind her first name. It means lotus flower, which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flower rising above the surface while its roots are planted firmly in the river bottom.
Still, Harris noted that while her mother taught her daughters to be proud of her Indian roots, she understood that in America, onlookers would first and foremost see her children as Black.
My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women, she wrote.
Despite Trumps suggestion that Harris only recently started presenting herself as a Black woman, in 2010 when Harris was San Franciscos district attorney, some in the political sphere admitted they didnt know she was also Indian.
Around half of the 70 guests at a fundraiser hosted by an Indian-American couple didnt know she was Indian, Shareen Punian, a political activist and host of the event, told the Washington Post in 2019.
Harris told the outlet that while others have wrestled to categorize her in one group or another, she hasnt stressed over it: When I first ran for office that was one of the things that I struggled with, which is that you are forced through that process to define yourself in a way that you fit neatly into the compartment that other people have created.
My point was: I am who I am. Im good with it. You might need to figure it out, but Im fine with it, she continued.
In addition to Trump, a host of Republicans have recently made Harris the target of racist comments with some calling her a DEI hire short for diversity, equity and inclusion and others have even referred to her as colored.
But throughout her time in the public eye, the vice president has chosen to focus on the positives, touting America as a place of opportunity.
The American people deserve better, she told Sigma Gamma Rho sisters in Houston hours after Trumps remarks. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength.
After Harris and Joe Biden cemented their 2020 election victory, Harris mentioned her mother in her victory speech: When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didnt quite imagine this moment, but she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.
At the DNC in 2020, Harris spoke about how her parents fell in love in that most American way while marching together for justice in the Civil Rights Movement.
My parents marched and shouted in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Its because of them and the folks who also took to the streets to fight for justice that I am where I am, Kamala wrote in a 2020 Instagram post. They laid the path for me, as only the second Black woman ever elected to the United States Senate. Years later, we are still fighting for justice and to confront the systemic racism that has plagued our country since its earliest days.
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Watch as Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy at the Celebration of Life Service for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston on Thursday 1 August.
Ms Jackson Lee, a prominent voice on African American and womens rights within the Democratic Party, passed away on 19 July aged 74.
She announced in June that she had pancreatic cancer.
Ms Harris will be the highest ranking US official at the funeral, acting as consoler in chief for the 15-term representative who promoted legislation addressing social justice, economic inequality and public health.
The pair worked together on a bill to recognise Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of the legal enslavement of Black Americans and they were also both members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically African American sorority for female students at US universities and colleges.
The service at Fallbrook Church in Houston is also expected to include comments by Rev. Al Sharpton, Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries, former US president Bill Clinton and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
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JD Vance, who has three biracial children with his wife of Indian heritage, has tried to brush off Donald Trumps stunning attack on Kamala Harris racial heritage by calling the backlash hysterical.
The Republican vice presidential nominee who is also facing backlash over his misogynistic comments branding Harris and other women childless cat ladies was asked about the former presidents comments on his campaign plane on the way to a rally in Arizona on Wednesday.
I frankly just think its hysterical how much the media is overreacting to it, he said, before leaping to defend Trump.
How nice it is to have an American leader who's not afraid to go into hostile places and actually answer some tough questions, he said.
I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris, Vance continued.
Shes flip flopped on every issue. Shes fake. Shes phony. And I think our whole campaign is going to have a very fun time pointing that out. And it sounds like the president kicked us off in stride.
The former president sparked outrage on Wednesday when he wildly questioned Harris heritage and claimed she happened to turn Black during an interview on stage at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
Vance shares three children with his wife of Indian heritage ( Getty Images )
She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black, the 78-year-old claimed to gasps from the crowd.
So, I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black?
He added: I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.
Harris is the first African-American and Asian-American vice president. Her father is Jamaican economist and Stanford University professor Donald J. Harris, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a biomedical scientist from India.
Vances defense of his running mate comes despite his own wife being of Indian heritage, meaning that his children are, like Harris, biracial.
Vance married Usha Chilukuri in an interfaith Christian and Hindu marriage ceremony in 2014 after the couple met while attending Yale Law School.
Kamala Harris is of both Jamaican and Indian heritage ( AP )
Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton a major MAGA loyalist also jumped to defend Trump, telling CNNs Kaitlin Collins that of course Trumps comments are defensible.
But, when pushed to answer if questioning a fellow politicians race is right and if it will even win any votes for the Republican Party, the senator avoided the question and instead labeled Harris as a dangerous San Fransisco liberal.
Vance and Collins are in something of a minority in defending Trump for his racially-charged comments.
Fellow Republican party member and former governor of Maryland Larry Hogan condemned Trump in a post on X.
It's unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone's racial identity. The American People deserve better, he wrote.
Harris responded to Trump later on Wednesday when she appeared at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Texas.
The Democratic presidential candidate dismissed Trumps comments as the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect and said: America deserves better.
Her potential vice presidential pick Arizona Senator Mark Kelly also blasted Trump by denouncing him as a scared old man.
It was very obvious to me watching him, and just what I've seen over the last week while she's been across the country just his kicking butt, that he's afraid, the senator added.
He's afraid to debate her. He's certainly afraid to lose an election to her in November, and he's afraid about his own future.
Trumps stunning comments are far from the first shocking remarks to come from his campaign.
Over the last week, Vance and Trump have been in damage control after a 2021 clip of the vice presidential candidate resurfaced showing him calling Harris and other Democrats a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.
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Watch as Joe Biden speaks after the United States and four allies reached a deal with Russia for their largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, in a swap that includes the release US journalist Evan Gershkovich.
Mr Gershkovich, the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter, and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan were among 26 prisoners from the US, Russia and a number of their allies being freed in a major exchange on Thursday 1 August.
The Biden administration negotiated the complex trade with Moscow and several other countries, agreeing to send eight prisoners held in the West back to Russia, including Vadim Krasikov, who had been serving a life sentence for killing a Chechen-Georgian dissident in Berlin.
Negotiated in secret for more than a year, the deal represents a major accomplishment for the parties and will be presented by the Biden administration as a marquee foreign policy success as the US presidential race enters its final months.
The exchange is the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
In the last major exchange in 2010, 14 prisoners were exchanged.
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As Donald Trump continues to flounder around his response to a sustained assault from Democrats over policy prescriptions in the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, his rivals are sticking the knife in further.
The DNC is out with a new memo on Thursday detailing how conservatives hope to use a second Trump presidency to expand state-led efforts to monitor women who get abortions even if they do so in states where the practice is legal.
Those efforts directly conflict with Trumps stated desire to leave the issue up to state governments. A shift in federal policy could end up being a clear thumb on the scale in favor of conservative states who wish to police the practice of abortion outside their borders.
The ex-president has trodden a winding path on the issue of abortion rights. He routinely insists that he does not support a national ban on abortion and wants the issue left up to the states, even as he simultaneously and repeatedly has claimed credit for the end of federal protections on abortion.
He has also endorsed any conservative state government push to monitor womens pregnancies in past interviews. In two separate instances this year, Trump implied that he would not oppose any Republican push to level such surveillance against pregnant women.
Donald Trump campaigns in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as his campaign has now publicly turned its fire on Project 2025. ( Getty Images )
Democrats have seen an angle of opportunity here, and are now tying the former president to language in the Project 2025s section on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.) The project details how it would direct a conservative HHS chief to get rid of guidance around the agencys rules regarding patient information disclosures, including a portion which explicitly states that a health care provider would be prohibited from reporting a patients intent to seek abortion care in a state where the practice is legal to government officials in the patients home state.
A pregnant individual in a state that bans abortion informs their health care provider that they intend to seek an abortion in another state where abortion is legal. The provider wants to report the statement to law enforcement to attempt to prevent the abortion from taking place. However, the Privacy Rule would not permit this disclosure of PHI to law enforcement under this permission for several reasons, reads the HHS rule guidance Project 2025 wants to delete. The conservative-led effort describes the rule guidance as unnecessary and ideologically motivated fearmongering about abortion.
Trump has made efforts within the past few weeks to burn his bridges with Project 2025. The project is a collaboration of dozens of groups that support his campaign and is spearheaded by officials with direct experience in Trumps first administration. Its policy lead announced that he would step down this week, an announcement which was quickly celebrated as a successful targeted hit by the Trump campaign.
Mike Johnson admits he would be unhappy with Democratic states keeping abortion rights
Notably, the deletion of any rule guidance on confidentiality in health care would not change the rules themselves. The agency would have to go through the formal rule review process to amend or throw out a HIPAA rule finalized by the agency earlier this year which HHS officials said was meant to better protect patient confidentiality and prevent medical records from being used against people for providing or obtaining lawful reproductive health care.
But Project 2025 and Donald Trumps running mate, JD Vance, both have stated clear opposition to this rule.
Abortion is not health care it is a brutal act that destroys the life of an unborn child and hurts women. Congress did not authorize HHS to extend special provisions for abortion such as these under the guise of health care. The Proposed Rule unlawfully thwarts the enforcement of compassionate laws protecting unborn children and their mothers, and directs health care providers to defy lawful court orders and search warrants, read a letter to the agency Vance signed on to in 2023 when the rule was first proposed.
Vance has sought to aid Trumps efforts to find a more politically palatable abortion position ahead of the general election. Explaining how his own statements in support of a national ban gelled with his running mates, Vance said this month: Im the vice presidential nominee and not the presidential nominee, and if I want my views on abortion to dominate the Republican party then I run for president. And I didnt and I havent. Donald Trump ran for president.
JD Vance shakes hands with Donald Trump, his running mate for the 2024 election, at the RNC. Vances far-right views have become a drag for Trump in polling since his selection as vice presidential nominee. ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
Obviously as a member of the campaign Im going to support... states making the decision, having a respect for the will of the voters to decide what local abortion policy will be, he added.
But Democrats are seeking to remind voters that much of Trumps policymaking in a second term would likely mirror his first i.e. carried out by political appointees across government and not necessarily through the stroke of a pen at the White House.
"Because of Trump, prosecutors looking to enforce draconian anti-abortion laws in the states are now free to go after reproductive health data in mobile apps, said DNC national press secretary Emilia Rowland in a statement to The Independent. But Trump and Vances Project 2025 agenda would go even further calling for every abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, and incidental pregnancy loss from medical treatments like chemo to be reported to the federal government under a Trump administration, tearing away health data privacy protections under HIPAA, and allowing states to surveil patients and doctors, monitor pregnancies, restrict womens freedom to travel for abortion care, and ultimately use health data against patients and providers in court. This isnt about policy, its about control.
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Leaders in the Republican Party harshly criticized the Pentagons decision to agree to plea deals for the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, believing the death penalty should have remained on the table.
On Wednesday evening, news of the plea deals erupted after the Department of Defense informed the families of victims in a letter that they had come to an agreement with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. For 27 months, U.S. prosecutors negotiated with the three men, attempting to conclude the decades-long proceedings in the trial holding them responsible for aiding in the terrorist attack. Now, the three have agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senator Lindsey Graham and other members of the GOP blamed the Biden administration, calling it a cowardice move.
The Biden-Harris Administrations weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds, McConnell said in a press release.
The plea deal with terrorists including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans is a revolting abdication of the governments responsibility to defend America and provide justice, McConnell added.
The three men, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who plotted the 9/11 attacks are expected to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences next week ( HO/AFP via Getty Images )
U.S. officials say Mohammed was the mastermind behind the attack that saw members of al-Qaida hijack four commercial planes, flying two into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. The fourth was intended to go to Washington D.C. but passengers and crew stormed the cockpit, crashing the plane into a field in Pennsylvania.
Mohammed was first captured in 2003. He was subjected to torture while in CIA custody that ultimately jeopardized prosecutorss chance to try the case.
Johnson called the plea deal a slap in the face to the families of victims, similarly placing blame on the Biden-Harris administration.
New York Representative Nicole Malliotakis similarly called the plea deal unacceptable believing the families of victims and survivors were owed a trial with the death penalty.
Under Biden-Harris, we have become a doormat for thugs and terrorists. This plea deal is an insult to the victims of 9/11, Graham said on X. It sends precisely the wrong message at one of the most critical times in history.
This decision is an outrage, shortsighted, and will only cause more problems for our country, Graham added.
Negotiations over the potential plea reportedly began in 2022.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of setting the stage to let them go free and said he would introduce legislation to stop the travesty.
The White House learned of the plea deal agreement on Wednesday. The president did not play a role in the negotiations.
Last year, Biden rejected part of a potential plea deal for the defendants after they requested to be spared solitary confinement and receive trauma care, the National Security Council said at the time.
It is unclear what the exact terms of the plea deal are but the three men could enter their guilty pleas as early as next week.
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Donald Trump has lost yet another attempt to throw out a gag order in his hush money case in New York.
A panel of appeals court judges on Thursday rejected the former presidents argument that the gag order should be entirely lifted after his conviction. The five judges on the midlevel state appeals court sided with New York Justice Juan Merchan, who extended protections for prosecutors and court staff through Trumps sentencing.
A gag order intended to stop Trumps public attacks which have fueled threats and harassment aimed at trial witnesses, judges and prosecutors should partially remain in place to allow Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and court staff to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm until sentencing, the judges wrote.
The district attorneys office successfully argued that harassing messages have continued to pose a significant and imminent threat even after the jurys 34-count guilty verdict in May, according to the appeals court judges.
We have considered petitioners remaining arguments and find them unavailing, they wrote.
The former president is scheduled to be sentencing on September 18, after his attorneys pressed for delays to make their case that the verdict should be thrown out under the terms of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that grants the president immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions performed in office.
Manhattan prosecutors have urged Judge Merchan to reject that argument.
Donald Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche appear in a criminal courthouse in Manhattan on May 30. He has repeatedly failed to completely overturn a gag order restricting his public attacks against prosecutors, court staff, witnesses and jurors. ( AP )
Trump has repeatedly used his Truth Social account to rage against witnesses, judges and prosecutors, which have fueled harassing and threatening messages aimed at attorneys, court staff and their families, according to law enforcement filings in several cases against him.
New York City Police Department investigators logged dozens of actionable threats against the district attorney, his family and staff since Trump was indicted, including 56 that were made in April, May and June of this year, according to court filings.
On May 30, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected with an election interference scheme that involved buying the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Last month, with the verdict rendered and the jury discharged, and without opposition from Manhattan prosecutors, Judge Merchan agreed to lift a portion of the gag order intended to protect trial witnesses like Daniels and Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen.
The judge also agreed to lift protections for jurors, though he said it is his strong preference to keep them in place.
During the hush money trial, Trump was fined $10,000 for 10 statements violating the gag order, and Judge Merchan threatened him with jail if he continued to violate the terms of the order.
The magnitude of such a decision is not lost on me, Merchan told Trump from inside the courtroom in May.
But at the end of the day I have a job to do, and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the justice system, he said. Your continued violations threaten to interfere with the administration of justice, and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.
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Donald Trump was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for his first campaign rally in the swing state since he came within inches of being killed by a would-be assassins bullet earlier this month.
As you know, this is my first rally since Butler, Trump told the indoor rally. Were going back to Butler, by the way.
The former president spoke just hours after a confrontational interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
During the interview, Trump insulted his likely 2024 opponent, Kamala Harris, and falsely accused her of lying about her race stating that she recently became Black. Harris, who is biracial, is Black and Indian-American.
At the evening rally, Trump remained largely tied to his prepared remarks and attacked Harris for supposedly wanting to destroy Pennsylvanias economy.
Donald Trump arrives to hold a rally at New Holland Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on 31 July. This is the first Trump rally in Pennsylvania since the assassination attempt on the former president ( EPA )
He lamented that he had spent so much time attacking Biden, quipping that he did not know who Harris was before she became the presumptive Democratic nominee with the withdrawal of the president from the race.
Kamala, the former president remarked onstage, pronouncing the vice presidents name correctly after previously failing to do so. He them commented, mockingly: Beautiful.
Before he took the rally stage on Wednesday, a projector flashed images of news articles noting that Harris was the first Indian-American senator from California, a fact that does not change her biracial identity.
But Trump did not dive back into the topic of race following his outrageous remarks earlier in the day. On Wednesday afternoon in Chicago, Trump falsely claimed that Harriss Indian-American heritage meant that she was lying about being Black. His remarks were met with jeers from the audience.
I didnt know she was Black, he told the journalists event. She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.
Trump kisses campaign aide genius behind life-saving chart in first rally in Pennsylvania since shooting on July 31 ( YouTube )
Polls indicate that Harris is quickly making up ground against Trump, despite having only been in the race just over a week. In Pennsylvania, however, she continues to trail the ex-president by four per centage points, according to a Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday.
In Harrisburg, Trump recalled the shooting in Butler on July 13 to the crowd. His event in Harrisburg was held indoors, following a recommendation from the Secret Service that he hold such rallies at indoor venues. But he pledged onstage to continue holding outdoor events in the future.
Trump was wounded in the ear during the attack before he raised a fist to the crowd and yelled, fight! and was led off the stage by Secret Service agents.
Gunman Matthew Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper. One rallygoer, retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, was killed, two others were wounded.
Corey is a hero to all of us, Trump said on Wednesday, provoking a chant of Corey! from the crowd. He asked for a moment of silence, remarking afterwards: That is the most quiet I have ever heard an arena.
In a bizarre moment, Trump invited the campaign aide who created a chart for his Butler rally to the stage. The chart, which illustrated rates of illegal immigration in the US, has been credited by Trump as having saved his life after he turned his head to look at it miliseconds before the bullet whizzed past his head. The young woman joined Trump momentarily onstage, where he kissed the side of her head.
Trump publicly thanks the woman who put the chart up on the screen which saved his life on J13
She saved my life! pic.twitter.com/bSQB4ZAtZ3 TONY (@TONYxTWO) July 31, 2024
I love that chart. Im gonna sleep with that chart for the rest of my life, he said.
Secret Service agents were in charge of the former presidents security on Wednesday as the agency faces bipartisan condemnation for the assassination attempt.
The director of the agency resigned after a heated congressional hearing last week, and her acting successor has said that he is ashamed of the security lapses which led to a roof of a building being unsecured, allowing suspect Crooks to scale the building and fire several shots with a rifle.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the city of Harrisburg told a news station that Secret Service agents were overseeing everything at Wednesdays rally, adding: after that, it becomes a Pennsylvania State Police detail and because the farm show is a state-owned building, [Pennsylvania] Capitol Police are involved as well.
Close Trump kisses female genius behind life-saving chart in first rally in Pennsylvania since shooting
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Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail having returned to Pennsylvania for his first campaign rally in the swing state since he came within inches of being killed by a would-be assassins bullet on July 13.
The former president and Republican nominee spoke in Harrisburg, just hours after a confrontational interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
During the interview, Trump insulted his presumptive 2024 Democratic Party opponent, Kamala Harris, and falsely accused her of lying about her race stating that she recently became Black. Harris, who is biracial, is Black and Indian-American.
At the evening rally, Trump remained largely tied to his prepared remarks and attacked Harris for supposedly wanting to destroy Pennsylvanias economy.
His next big campaign event will be a joint appearance with his vice presidential pick, JD Vance. That will take place in Atlanta on Saturday, at the same venue Harris held a barnstorming first rally of her campaign earlier in the week.
We are temporarily pausing our Trump campaign blog.
Please join us in our main US election 2024 blog for full coverage of both campaigns as the race to the White House gathers pace.
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Warning: This livestream has not been independently fact-checked and may contain misinformation.
Watch as Donald Trump holds a rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday 31 July.
The Republican presidential nominee is holding the rally hours after a contentious interview at the countrys largest annual gathering of Black journalists in Chicago.
During the appearance, Mr Trump questioned whether his Democratic rival Kamala Harris is Indian or Black.
She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black, until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black, he said, drawing a smattering of jeers from an audience of about 1,000 people.
Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as both Black and Asian. She is the first Black person and Asian American person to serve as US vice president.
Since launching her White House campaign earlier this month, Harris has faced a barrage of sexist and racist attacks online, with some far-right accounts questioning her racial identity. Republican Party leaders have urged lawmakers to refrain from personal attacks and focus on her policy positions.
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The hashtag #WhenIturnedBlack is now trending on X as social media users troll Donald Trump over his unhinged comments claiming Kamala Harris happened to turn Black.
Former Comedy Central star Roy Wood Jr kicked off the viral trend on Wednesday, clapping back at the former presidents racially-charged remarks with a sarcastic social media post.
We now know Kamalas brave story. When did the rest of you turn black? How old were you? Where were you when the blackness finally took over your body? Share your stories. This is a safe space. #WhenITurnedBlack, he posted, along with a video of Trumps comments.
X users quickly joined Wood in poking fun at Trump, offering up fictional stories about when they turned Black.
Several recalled food-related scenarios, with one social media user writing: I was 12. I learned how to make greens with smoked turkey and fried my first piece of catfish while I hummed spirituals. It was then I knew... #WhenITurnedBlack.
I was 10 years old and my mother picked me up from school as she always did. We were driving home when I spotted a McDonalds and queried my mother if we could stop in for a meal. She responded, do you have McDonalds money? and in fact, I did not. Thats #WhenITurnedBlack, another person chimed in.
Another X user joked that she was a late bloomer, writing: For me it happened when I learned how to play spades finally in my 32nd season of life. Truly unlocked my full potential in that moment #wheniturnedblack.
It was a warm spring day when I was 10. I looked down at the back of my palm and realized I was no longer a Pennsylvanian. Instead, I had turned Black. I became an openly Black DEI. Thank you for this safe space, another person joked.
One social media user joked that one thing Black people gonna do is take nonsense and turn into a creative comeback.
The trend came after the former president appeared on stage for heated question-and-answer session at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference in Chicago on Wednesday, where he widly claimed that Harris happened to turn Black only recently.
I didnt know she was Black, he said. She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.
Trump is now facing backlash over the comments, including from Harris, who described his appearance at the convention as the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect.
Wood elaborated on his thoughts on Trumps comments further in a statement to The Daily Beast.
All in all, I still believe that this is an election that is about Kamalas ability to win voters (undecided and apatheic) than it is about Trump losing voters, Wood said.
Biden handed her a baton, and Kamala must now run like the wind because it doesnt seem like anything will trip up Trumpnot even honest questions from great NABJ journalists who gave push back when they could.
Trump was also trolled for the comments onThe Daily Show on Wednesday night, with host Ronny Chieng playing a clip from the start of the interview where ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott confronted him about his prior false claims and inflammatory remarks.
Why would Black voters trust you when you have used language like that? she asked.
I dont think Ive been asked a question in such a horrible manner, Trump replied. You dont even say hello, how are you?
For most politicians, or anyone else on Earth, that would have been a low point of the interview, said Chieng. But because its Donald Trump, it somehow got worse.
Chieng also pointed to Trumps comment that someone should look into Harris heritage.
I dont know whats worse, that he thinks she turned from Indian to Black, or that he thinks someone should look into that, Chieng said.
Who should look into that? Does he think the FBI is the Federal Black Investigators?
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Two Belarusian journalists working for news outlets that the government of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has declared extremist have been sentenced to prison, the country's leading human rights group said Thursday.
The convictions in a closed-door trial are the latest in a persistent crackdown on dissent and independent journalism. The severe repression began when huge protests arose after the disputed 2020 presidential election that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office.
More than 35,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown. Many prominent opposition figures have fled the country and others have been sentenced to long prison terms.
The rights group Viasna says there are nearly 1,400 political prisoners currently in Belarus.
Reporter Ales Sabaleuski was sentenced on Wednesday to four years and cameraman Yauhen Hlushkou to three by the court in the city of Mogilev, Viasna said. They were convicted of participating in foreign military actions, but further details were not available.
They worked with two Belarusian media operations that have been banned as extremist but that continue to work from abroad.
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Bangladesh on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other associate bodies, terming the party as a militant and terrorist" organization as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violent protests that left more than 200 people dead and thousands injured.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political partners blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other associate bodies for inciting violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
In an official circular seen by The Associated Press, Bangladeshs Ministry of Home Affairs said Thursday the ban was imposed under an anti-terrorism law.
Since July 15, at least 211 people have died and more than 10,000 people were arrested across the country.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e Islami was banned from taking part in the three national elections since 2014 after the Election Commission cancelled its registration.
In 2013, the High Court disqualified the party from elections, saying that its constitution violated the national constitution by opposing secularism. However, it was not barred from conducting political activities such as holding meetings, rallies and making statements.
Ten years later, the Supreme Court in 2023 upheld the High Court decision, sealing off the long legal battle and barring the party from participating in elections or using party symbols. But again, the Supreme Court did not ban it outright.
Jamaat-e Islami was founded during British colonial rule in 1941 by a controversial Islamist scholar and campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Most of the senior leaders of the party have been hanged or jailed since 2013 after courts convicted them of crimes against humanity including killings, abductions and rapes in 1971. The party had formed militia groups to help the Pakistani military during the nine-month war against Pakistan in 1971. Bangladesh won independence on Dec. 16 in 1971 with the help of neighboring India.
Bangladesh says 3 million people died, 200,000 women were raped and nearly 1 million people fled to neighboring India during the war.
The party was banned after Bangladeshs independence in 1971 for its role in the mass killings and atrocities under the administration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshs founding leader and Hasinas father. The ban was lifted in 1976, a year after Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup. Only Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived as they were touring Germany in 1975.
Jamaat had also been banned earlier twice, in 1959 and 1964 in Pakistan, for its communal role.
There was no immediate response on Thursday from the party, but the partys chief Shafiqur Rahman said in a statement on Tuesday night that such any decision must be condemned after Law Minister Anisul Huq, from Hasina's Awami League party, said that a decision was imminent.
We strongly condemn and protest the illegal, unauthorized, and unconstitutional decision to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The 14-party alliance led by the Awami League is a political platform. One political party or alliance cannot make decisions about another political party, Rahman said.
The laws and constitution of Bangladesh do not grant such authority. If a trend of banning one party by another party or alliance begins, it will lead to chaos and the collapse of state order, he said.
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Jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich is set to be released in a high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the US.
The exchange would mark the largest prison exchange between the two countries since the Cold War.
First detained in March 2023, Mr Gershkovich has been unable to return home for over a year. He was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prision last month on charges of spying and espionage.
The allegations have been routinely denied by US authorities alongside the American journalist and the Wall Street Journal, which employs him.
He was detained while working on a report of Russias economy, and accused of attempting to collect classified information about a Russian battle tank manufacturer.
Mr Gershkovich has now been in Russian custody for nearly 500 days, with the latest news being the first glimpse of hope for his release.
Heres a timeline of Mr Gerskovichs arrest and time in Russian prison:
March 29, 2023
Mr Gerskovich is detained in Yekaterinburg by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) and then taken to Moscow. This was despite being accredited by the countrys Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist.
He was reporting on the financial cost on the Russian economy from Putins invasion of Ukraine at the time.
April 7, 2023
The FSB formally charges Mr Gerskovich with espionage and orders he be held in custody until May 29. The journalist denies the allegations, alongside the WSJ and the Biden administration.
April 10, 2023
The US State Department declares Mr Gerskovich to be wrongfully detained. The rare intervention was seen as an attempt by the Biden administration to put pressure on Russian officials to drop the charges.
Four days later, the journalists family receive their first direct contact from him: a handwritten letter dated April 5.
April 18, 2023
Mr Gerskovichs detention is upheld by a Moscow Court. He is denied bail and ordered to be held in Lefortovo prison before his trial. The location has be known to be used to house political prisoners in the past.
US ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, was allowed to meet with the journalist the day before, saying that he was in good health and remains strong.
May 23, 2023
A Russian court extends Mr Gerskovichs pre-trial detenton. His parents travel to Moscow for the hearing, telling press: Any parent who loves their kid would travel to the end of the world to be with them for five minutes.
This would mark only the first extension. His pre-trial detention was extended again in August 2023 for three months, and for two more in November 2023. It would not be until June 2024 that the trial takes place.
March 29, 2024
Joe Biden releases a statement to mark the on year anniversay of Mr Gerskovichs detention. He says his administration will continue working every day to secure his release.
We will continue to denounce and impose costs for Russias appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips, he adds. And we will continue to stand strong against all those who seek to attack the press or target journaliststhe pillars of free society.
October 26, 2023
Mr Gerskovich turns 32 in prison. Friends send him around 300 pages worth of letters from well-wishers, the WSJ reports.
June 26 and July 18, 2024
The WSJ journalist appears in a Russian court for his trial on two dates. On July 19, he is found guilty of spying and espionage, and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
August 1, 2024
Reports indicate that Mr Gershkovich could be included in a high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the US.
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The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that's been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces across the world for 50 years.
Western countries have pledged F-16s to Kyiv, and some have arrived in Ukraine, officials in Washington confirmed. The fighter jets are expected to start flying sorties in Ukrainian skies soon and will be a much-needed boost to the countrys current fleet of Soviet-era jets to counter Russias invasion.
United States President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for used F-16s to be deployed to Ukraine, though the U.S. wont be providing any of its own planes. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of them over coming months in what could be a slow trickle of deliveries.
Though Russias recent battlefield gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is adding up as Ukraine gradually yields ground.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sit in a F-16 fighter jet at Skrydstrup Airbase, in Vojens, Denmark, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023
The F-16s will enhance Ukraines military strength, especially by upgrading its air defenses. But analysts say they wont turn the tide of the war on their own.
What can F-16s bring to the Ukrainian war effort?
The F-16s will likely have three core missions, says Federico Borsari of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine; suppress enemy air defense systems; and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles.
They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war), Borsari says.
A lot of information about the F-16 deployment is classified, including what Western governments allow them to hit and what weapons they will send with the aircraft.
The F-16s could carry United Kingdom-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia. They might also get long-range air-to-air missiles that would threaten Russian bombers and fighter jets. The planes advanced radars will allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.
U.S. combat fighter F-16s are seen on the training ground at the Malacky-Kuchyna Air Base in southwestern Slovakia
Commanding the skies is an essential part of a wars ground campaign, as planes offer air cover to troops. But supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russias sophisticated air defense systems.
At the very least, the fighter jets could have a psychological effect on Russian pilots, and offer a morale boost for Ukrainians toiling against the Kremlins forces.
What are the challenges for Ukraine?
Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at Kings College London ticks off a long list of challenges the F-16s will bring for Ukraine.
The roughly nine-month training in the U.S. and Europe for Ukrainian pilots amounted to a crash course compared with the usual three-year course for Western pilots in what Miron calls a very complex piece of machinery. That will mean limitations on their performance.
The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews.
Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems. Quality airfields are also a must as the F-16 air intake is close to the tarmac and runs the danger of sucking debris and dirt into the engine.
So many associated issues need to be sorted out, Miron says.
Ukrainian pilots with no combat experience in F-16s may shy away from engaging in dogfights.
How will Russia react?
Russian President Vladimir Putin would savor the image that destroying F-16s from NATO countries would bring.
The Kremlins forces will likely try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already been targeting Ukraines limited number of suitable airfields.
The Ukrainians will need to park the F-16s in hardened hangars, disperse them between various locations, station decoy model aircraft and be ready to take off quickly in the event of an air raid warning, analysts say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, attend the main naval parade marking Russian Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday ( AP )
Ukraine has said it might keep some of the fighter jets at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes. That prompted a harsh response from Putin, who warned that any Western air base hosting the Ukrainian fighter jets would be a legitimate target for the Kremlins forces.
U.S. officials said the F-16s would be based in Ukraine.
In the air, the Ukrainian F-16s will be up against Russias formidable S-300 and S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile systems that can target multiple aircraft at a time. Russia's military also has what are estimated to be several hundred operational fighter jets, as well as sophisticated air surveillance radars.
Russias Su-35 fighter jet will be one of the biggest threats to the F-16, Borsari of CEPA says. It has a long-range radar that allows it to track and engage up to eight targets at a time across a wide area.
Even so, the Russians are aware that theyll be up against a more formidable aircraft than they have met so far in the war and will likely adopt a more careful approach.
How will Ukraine protect the F-16s?
Although Russian forces will try to strike the F-16s at the airbases where they are kept, Ukraine has robust defenses to protect the fighter jets against such attacks, says Ukrainian aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi.
Ukraine has robust capabilities to protect its airfields with anti-aircraft defenses to deflect (Russian) attacks," Khrapchynskyi told The Associated Press. "During the entire time since Russia has invaded Ukraine, it has been actively trying to hit Ukrainian airfields, but they have been somewhat unsuccessful.
Khrapchynskyi said the F-16s will significantly increase the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to protect the countrys air space from Russian attacks and increase the range that Ukraine can strike strategic targets in Russia.
With the acquisition of F-16 aircraft, we will be able to solve a number of problems that are currently hurting Ukraine. These include: Russia's massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv," says Khrapchynskyi. "We are talking about receiving F-16 aircraft, in my opinion, this will significantly help Ukraine to cope with the Russian aggression that is taking place now.
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Goat plague is the last thing Ioanna Karra needs.
The Greek farmer lost nearly all her livestock and equipment in devastating flooding last year and now, as the deadly virus spreads across Greek farms, she must buy expensive disinfectant to keep her remaining animals safe.
We cannot bear the slightest damage for a second year in a row, Karra told Reuters from her dairy farm in the village of Zilefti in the Thessaly region of central Greece.
Goat plague, also known as Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), was detected last month for the first time in Greece. The virus does not infect humans, but is highly contagious among goats and sheep and can kill up to 70% of those infected.
Once a case is detected, the entire flock is culled, the affected farm is disinfected and authorities test animals in nearby areas for the disease, in line with protocols set by the European Union.
Goats and sheep graze freely near the beach in Kipos village, on Samothraki island, northeastern Greece ( Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )
The government this week imposed a temporary ban on the movement or slaughter of sheep and goats. Twenty-two farms have been infected, mostly in the centre of the country, 12,000 animals have been culled and more than 300,000 tested.
While the numbers are not yet devastating, they worry farmers across Greece who are already battling the effects of climate change including blistering heat and erratic rainfall.
Karra and her husband Thanasis Zouzoulas have no recorded cases of the disease. But they have to disinfect trucks that come to load milk on their farm. The ban on movements means they cannot buy more animals to bulk up their flock, although they are allowed to sell the milk.
Karra said they have become much stricter with hygiene security measures.
The virus comes as the couple still struggles with the consequences of record September storms that flooded about 35,000 acres in Thessaly plain, which accounts for 25% of Greeces agricultural produce and 5% of Greeces GDP. Some 30,000 farmers were impacted across the province.
Goats are seen at a burn area near Krioneritis village on Evia island, about 181 kilometers (113 miles) north of Athens ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
Karra and Zouzoulas lost 750 of their 800 animals and have only begun to restock. They say the virus came in to Greece because veterinary clinics are understaffed and do not make the necessary checks on imported animals.
We were talking about a possible crisis before the crisis, Karra said.
PPR was first described in Ivory Coast in 1942 and has since spread across Africa, Europe and Asia. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the disease results in losses of up to $2.1 billion globally each year.
Georgios Stratakos, a senior agriculture ministry official, said that the virus was imported but does not know where from yet. He said the ban will last until Sunday and be re-evaluated.
The government is looking into compensation for those that lost livestock in the culling or were affected by the ban, he said.
It is definitely a big blow, but the government...will stand by these people.
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Authorities in the Netherlands have issued an urgent warning after a wolf exhibited disturbing behaviour, reportedly approaching children twice in a hiking area near Utrecht.
They called on "all visitors to be extremely cautious when visiting the Utrecht Hill Ridge area". "It is strongly advised not to visit these woods with young children," authorities in the Utrecht province said in a statement.
The warning came after a large animal knocked over a child in the village of Austerlitz east of Utrecht, The Guardian reported. A DNA test confirmed the animal to be a wolf.
Utrecht Hill Ridge, a heavily forested region, is popular with hikers, cyclists and runners. The area saw wolves reappear in 2015, after an absence of about 150 years.
A wolf at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2022 ( Getty )
The population of wolves in Europe has grown markedly due to conservation efforts, leading to an increase in human-animal encounters.
A nature park in central Netherlands was partly shut down last month after a girl was bitten by a wolf, reported AFP.
A survey by Dutch voting advice website Kieskompas and ANP news agency in July found that one in three Dutch people dont want a wolf in the country, a marked decline in the share of wolf supporters from 41 per cent last year to 36 per cent this year.
The country has seen increasing wolf attacks on livestock and pets of late. There were as many as 267 reports of wolf attacks on domestic animals in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 77 over the same period last year, an analysis by ANP showed.
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The first photo of three Americans marine Paul Whelan and journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva has emerged after the historic prison swap.
The photo showed the three Americans smiling while holding the American flag. The trio were released in Turkey on Thursday in the massive prison swap between Russia and western nations.
Wall Street Journal assistant editor Paul Beckett shared the photo on Thursday afternoon.
Two dozen prisoners were freed in the exchange 16 of them from Russian captivity marking it as the largest swap since the Cold War.
President Joe Biden celebrated the historic exchange, speaking from the White House hours after the swap: Their brutal ordeal is over, and now theyre free. He added: Its an incredible relief.
Biden later shared another photo, showing the group on a plane, writing on X: After enduring unimaginable suffering and uncertainty, the Americans detained in Russia are safe, free, and have begun their journeys back into the arms of their families.
The president is gathering the families of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza at the White House to share with them the news that an exchange is underway to secure the release of their loved ones from Russia, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday morning.
The release ends the one-year detainment of Gershkovich, 32, who was detained in Yekaterinburg in March by the Federal Security Service on charges of espionage while he was on a reporting trip for the Journal. In July, the reporter was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges by a Russian court.
Whelan, the former Marine, was arrested in 2018. At the time, he had been working as a director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner and occasionally traveled to Russia on business. The arrest came as he was attending a friends wedding. Two years later, he was convicted to 16 years in prison.
Paul was held hostage for 2,043 days. His case was that of an American in peril, held by the Russian Federation as part of their blighted initiative to use humans as pawns to extract concessions, the Whelan family wrote in a statement Thursday. Paul Whelan is free.
L-R: Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Paul Whelan in first pic released after their release in a prisoner swap between Russia and several countries including the US ( Courtesy of US Government )
Kurmasheva, a journalist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was given a six-and-a-half-year sentence in June 2024 after a Russian court convicted her of spreading false information about the Russian army.
Kara-Murza, a journalist and permanent resident of the US, was also released on Thursday. He was detained in April 2022. The following year, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison over his criticism of the war in Ukraine. Kara-Murza won a Pulitzer Prize for the columns he wrote at a Moscow detention center.
Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva are going to touch down on American soil later on Thursday when they arrive at Joint Base Andrews, where President Biden and Vice President Harris will welcome them, Sullivan said. Kara-Murza is heading to Germany to meet his family there before returning to the US, Sullivan.
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A large fire broke out in Rome on Wednesday on a hill near the Italian capitals court of justice and a public TV broadcasting centre, forcing the evacuation of several buildings and offices, firefighters said.
The fire in the Monte Mario area was under control, with 10 crews on the case, the national fire department said on X, posting a video showing helicopters and fire engines, and a few burnt out parked cars.
As things stand, I think we still have a lot of work to do, to put out the fire, the head of Romes firefighters, Adriano De Acutis, told RAI public television.
RAIs broadcasting centre was evacuated, as well as a space observatory and six residential buildings, officials said. There were no reported injuries. RAI was also forced to cancel an afternoon live show.
We are evacuating the studio, one of the shows presenters, Nunzia De Girolamo, said in an Instagram video. The fire in Monte Mario is serious, we will see you tomorrow, she added.
A fire brigade helicopter drops water over a large fire that broke out in the Monte Mario area in Rome ( EPA )
In a daily bulletin published earlier on Wednesday, the regional office of the civil protection had warned of high risk of fires in Rome due to extreme temperatures, which in the afternoon were higher than 35 degrees Celsius.
Climate change is making wildfires more frequent, a European Commission report said in April, adding that the 2023 wildfire season in the Europe was among the worst this century.
A volunteer walks past a burned area in the village of Kokosinjac, near Sveti Nikole, North Macedonia ( EPA )
As summer progresses, wildfires are becoming more frequent across the Mediterranean region, including in Spain, Greece and the Balkans. It comes as tourists look to fly out on their summer holidays to these countries.
Hundreds of firefighters backed up by waterbomber aircraft sought to contain two wildfires that raged since Tuesday in eastern Spain.
European Unions European Forest Fire Information System currently has a high risk of fire across much of Southern Europe.
Last week UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for countries to address the urgency of the extreme heat epidemic, fueled by climate change - days after the world registered its hottest day on record.
Extreme heat is the new abnormal, Guterres said. The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures, he said.
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Watch from Ankara airport in Turkey as a high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the West that may include jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich is expected to take place on Thursday, 1 August.
The Wall Street Journal reporter, 32, was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges by a Russian court last month.
Allegations against Mr Gershkovich were routinely denied by US authorities alongside the American journalist and his employer.
The reporter was first detained in Yekaterinburg by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) and then taken to Moscow, despite being accredited by the countrys Foreign Ministry to work as a journalist.
The exchange could also see Kremlin assassins sent back to Russia in what would be the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the US in over a decade.
Jailed Briton Vladimir Kara-Murza could also be released as part of the deal, as well as former US Marine Paul Whelan who has been detained since 2018.
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Ukraine has received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets nearly a year after President Zelensky pleaded for them to help counter Russias invasion.
Six jets, which will be fitted with modern US weaponry, were delivered to Ukraine from the Netherlands, with more to follow shortly from Denmark.
The two countries, as well as Belgium and Norway, have promised to provide Kyiv with more than 60 of the American-made planes over the next few months.
Follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia war
The fighter jets are expected to start flying sorties in Ukrainian skies soon and will be a much-needed boost to the countrys current fleet of Soviet-era jets.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Denmarks prime minister Mette Frederiksen sit in a F-16 in August last year
But with analysts warning the F-16s wont turn the tide of the war on their own, how will they help Kyiv fight Putins forces? The Independent takes a look below.
How will F-16s help the fight against Putins forces?
They will be able to affect some of the dynamics of the war, Federico Borsari, an analyst at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said.
Ukraine would use the jets to intercept Russian missiles and drones, suppress enemy air defence systems, and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles, Mr Borsari said. Russia has stepped up drone and missile attacks across Ukraine in recent months.
The planes advanced radars fitted by Lockheed Martin would allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their current Soviet-era MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.
They could also carry British-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250km (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia but information on the planes capability is unclear.
A F-16 fighter aircraft is pictured ahead of the arrival of Zelensky in Brussels in June ( EPA )
What are the challenges for Ukraine?
Supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russias sophisticated air defense systems.
Dr Marina Miron, analyst at the Defense Studies Department at Kings College London, also warned Kyivs nine-month training on using the F-16s was a crash course compared to the usual three-year course Western pilots receive.
The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews, Ms Miron added.
Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems, with quality airfields needed to store the jets, she added.
Belgian PM Alexander De Croo, right, and his defence minister Ludivine Dedonder pose with Zelensky in front of an F-16 ( AP )
How could Putin react?
Russian president Vladimir Putin would savor the image that destroying F-16s from Nato countries would bring, Mr Borsari said.
The Kremlins forces will likely try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already been targeting Ukraines limited number of suitable airfields.
Russias military also has what are estimated to be several hundred operational fighter jets, as well as sophisticated air surveillance radars. Russias Su-35 fighter jet will be one of the biggest threats to the F-16.
Even so, the Russians are aware that theyll be up against a more formidable aircraft than they have met so far in the war and will likely adopt a more careful approach.
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The British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the faces of the anti-Kremlin resistance. Following the death of Alexei Navalny in February, he became the best-known Putin critic imprisoned in Russia.
The 42-year-old University of Cambridge graduate was arrested in April 2022 hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a regime of murderers.
A year later, he was sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian penal colony in the Omsk region, where he was consigned to a punishment cell only three metres long and one and a half metres wide, nearly 6,000 miles from his wife and children living in the US. His fate was decried by governments across the West.
His sentence remains the longest handed down to a Kremlin critic since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Even from prison, he published opinion columns in The Washington Post that were rewarded in May with the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Grigory Vaypan, a senior lawyer at Memorial, Russias oldest human rights group, and laureate of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for his defence of political prisoners, said the risk of death facing Mr Kara-Murza was high.
Prominent government critics now face increased risks to their lives in Russian prisons. The more prominent the critic, the higher the risk, he told The Independent.
Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza?
The opposition politician, who is also a historian and a journalist, comes from a long line of Russian critics.
His father, journalist and television host Vladimir Alexeyevich Kara-Murza, was an outspoken critic of Leonid Brezhnev, the former Soviet Union leader, and a prominent supporter of reforms under Boris Yeltsin in the post-Soviet 1990s.
Vladimir Kara-Murza arrives with his wife Yevgenia for a hearing of the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs on Capitol Hill in 2017 ( AFP/Getty )
He attended school in Moscow before his mother remarried a British man and Mr Kara-Murza moved to England as a teenager. He worked in London as a journalist for independent Russian outlets before attending Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge, where he studied history.
He entered Russian politics in the late 1990s as Vladimir Putin was quietly ascending the ranks of the Kremlin to the presidency at the turn of the millennium. He voted against Mr Putin in the 2000 election.
Mr Kara-Murza later became an advisor to government opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in Moscow outside the Kremlin in 2015.
By this point, Mr Kara-Murza had become heavily involved in Russian opposition politics, working alongside key dissident figures such as oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov, and Mr Nemstov.
The Kremlin crackdown
French ambassador to Russia Pierre Lvy lays flowers at the place where Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in 2015 ( AP )
In 2015, the same year that his political mentor Mr Nemstov was killed, Mr Kara-Murza was poisoned in what his wife says was a Kremlin assassination attempt. He survived that attempt on his life, only to be poisoned a second time two years later.
Evgenia Kara-Murza remembers the moment he came out of his second coma. They were in a Moscow hospital in the intensive care unit. It was their 13th wedding anniversary.
He was lying there, looking just like what someone who had been through multiple organ failure would look like, she said.
He said that he was so sorry about what had happened because he was hoping to travel to Quebec for a few days with me. Just the two of us.
I just looked at him and said: What are you talking about? You are alive. That is the best gift I could hope for.
In February 2021, a Bellingcat joint investigation alleged that Mr Kara-Murza had been followed by the same FSB unit that allegedly poisoned Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020.
He has since developed polyneuropathy, a nerve condition that affects his ability to feel his feet and hands. His wife says it was brought on by the poisoning attempts.
The invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers defending their position near Avdiivka in the Donetsk region ( EPA )
Mr Kara-Murza was one of a small number of opposition politicians who remained active in Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and publicly condemned the war in defiance of new censorship laws.
After three speeches made in Lisbon, Helsinki and Washington, during which he condemned the invasion, Mr Kara-Murza was arrested outside his house in Moscow on 22 April 2022.
He was declared a foreign agent and accused of spreading false information about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine in connection with a speech he had given the previous month in the Arizona House of Representatives, where he said Mr Putin was dropping cluster bombs on residential areas, mothers homes, hospitals, and schools.
In July of that year, he was additionally charged over his involvement with two foreign-based opposition forums that were labelled by the Russian state as undesirable. Finally, on 6 October, he was charged with treason. Prosecutors requested a 25-year jail term, which he would later receive in April 2023.
He was one of a number of Russian dissidents moved from prison in recent days, without a destination being given. It then transpired he had been put on a plane to Turkey along with 15 others released.
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An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed two Al Jazeera journalists on Wednesday as Benjamin Netanyahus military continued its war in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israeli forces targeted a car carrying reporter Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraperson Rami al-Rifi, both 27, killing them instantly, along with a child who was travelling with them.
At least 113 media workers, most of them Palestinians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched an air and ground offensive in the territory following a Hamas attack last October that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took more than 250 hostages.
Israel has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza so far, according to the territorys Hamas-run health ministry. The fighting has displaced nearly 90 per cent of its 2.2 million population, according to the UN, and left around half a million facing starvation.
We will miss your voice
We will miss your reporting
May your souls rest in peace pic.twitter.com/JKpt5aFVf0 Hind Khoudary (@Hind_Gaza) July 31, 2024
The Al Jazeera journalists were travelling to report from near the destroyed home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh following his assassination in Iran when they were killed, their colleague Anas Al-Sharif said.
Haniyeh was assassinated by a suspected Israeli missile strike in Tehran during the early hours of Wednesday in an attack that has further escalated tensions in the Middle East and raised fears about the prospect of a wider regional war. Israel hasnt directly claimed responsibility.
Here is Ismails tribute to himself and the dying humanity.
Let me tell you, my friend, that I no longer know the taste of sleep. The bodies of children and the screams of the injured and their blood-soaked images never leave my sight. The cries of mothers and the wailing of pic.twitter.com/o91d4fTLho Mohamed Moawad (@moawady) July 31, 2024
The bodies of the slain Al Jazeera journalists were taken to nearby al-Ahli hospital from where al-Sharif spoke over the phone with the Qatari news channel. Information about the child killed in the attack wasnt available.
Al Jazeera denounced the targeted assassination of its journalists and pledged to pursue all legal actions to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. This latest attack on Al Jazeera journalists is part of a systematic targeting campaign against the networks journalists and their families since October 2023, the network said.
Mohamed Moawad, managing director of Al Jazeera Arabic, said without al-Ghoul the world would not have seen "the devastating images of these massacres". He is survived by his wife who has been living in a camp for internally displaced people and a young daughter.
Shame on those who have failed the civilians, journalists, and humanity," Moawad said.
Aljazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif breaks down in tears as he reports the killing of his colleagues and friends Al-Ghoul & El-Rifi. pic.twitter.com/3PYiYMESUs Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) July 31, 2024
Hamas accused Israel of deliberately targeting the journalists, calling it a "heinous crime" aimed at "terrorising and silencing" Palestinian mediapersons who report on "the ongoing genocide" in Gaza.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called for an investigation and accountability for the killing of the two journalists.
Israel has denied targeting journalists and blamed the high death toll on Hamas fighting in densely populated urban areas. The Israel military said in December it "has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists".
The Israeli government closed Al Jazeeras offices in the country in May under a new law that allows it to shut down media outlets deemed a security threat.
The network has seen several journalists or their family members in Gaza killed in Israeli attacks since the war began.
Samer Abudaqa, a cameraperson, was killed in a strike in December. Wael Dahdouh, the networks bureau chief in Gaza, was reporting in October when he received word on air that his wife, daughter, son and grandchild had been killed in an Israeli attack. Another of his sons, who also worked for Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli strike in January.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has counted 106 Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza over the past 10 months. Hamas has put the number at 165.
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Hezbollahs leader has warned that its conflict with Israel has entered a new phase, as he addressed mourners at the funeral of a commander from the group who was killed by an Israeli airstrike this week in Beirut.
The groups leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he was exploring a real response to the death of Hezbollah chief Fuad Shukr. It came just hours after Iran also said it would take revenge for the suspected Israeli killing of Hamass chief Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday, in a move that has heightened fears over possible all-out war across the Middle East.
Gazas Hamas and Hezbollah (which controls southern Lebanon) form part of Irans so-called axis of resistance.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for 62-year-old Haniyehs death, but officials have previously warned they would target all Hamas leaders responsible for the 7 October attack on southern Israel that triggered Israels war in Gaza. The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, while another 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run strip says more than 39,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the subsequent Israeli offensive.
On Thursday, Israels military confirmed that the head of Hamass military wing, Mohammed Deif, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in what Hamas claimed was an Israeli airstrike on his Iranian residence on Wednesday ( AP )
In a speech via video link to mourners gathered with Shukurs coffin at an auditorium in a Beirut suburb, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, We have entered a new phase that is different from the previous period.
Do they expect that Hajj Ismail Haniyeh will be killed in Iran and Iran will remain silent? he said of the Israelis. Addressing Israelis who celebrated the two killings, he said, Laugh a bit and you will cry a lot.
But as he often does, Nasrallah kept his comments vague, vowing a very well studied retaliation without saying what form it would take. He said only that Israel will have to wait for the anger of the regions honorable people.
The enemy and the one who is behind the enemy [an apparent reference to Israels chief ally, the United States] will have to wait for our coming response.
Mourners draped in black chanted death to Israel and death to America at Haniyehs funeral on Thursday, which was led by Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
International officials have been scrambling to avert a cycle of retaliation before it spirals into a greater war. Since the Gaza war began in October, Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire almost daily across the border in exchanges that have caused deaths and the evacuation of tens of thousands from their homes. But they have also stayed within limits.
Several times, strikes that appeared to cross red lines raised fears of an acceleration into full-fledged war, but outside diplomacy reined in the two sides. Hezbollah faces strong pressure not to draw Lebanon into a repeat of the militant groups 2006 war with Israel, which wreaked heavy death and destruction in the country.
Israel and Iran risked plunging into war earlier this year when Israel hit Irans embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each others soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
We want revenge because Israel killed Haniyeh, who was our guest, an Iranian woman, who attended a rally after the ceremony at Tehran University, told state TV.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said all parties in the Middle East must avoid escalatory actions that could plunge the region into further conflict.
Speaking in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, Mr Blinken appealed for countries to make the right choices in the days ahead and said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was the only way to begin to break the current cycle of violence and suffering. Mr Blinken did not mention Israel, Iran or Hamas by name in his comments.
Associated Press contributed to this report
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In war-torn Ukraine, he is Alya Shabaanovich Gali, a popular doctor with a line of patients waiting to see him. To his family thousands of kilometers away in the Gaza Strip, he is Alaa Shabaan Abu Ghali, the one who left.
For the past 30 years, these identities rarely had cause to merge: Gali moved away amid instability in Gaza, settled into his new home in Kyiv, adopted a different name to better suit the local tongue, and married a Ukranian woman. Through calls, he kept up with his mother and siblings in Gazas southernmost city, Rafah. But mostly, their lives played out in parallel.
In February 2022, Russias invasion of Ukraine threw Galis life into chaos, with air raids and missile attacks. Nearly 20 months later, the war between Israel and Hamas turned his hometown into a hellscape, uprooting his family.
Both are violent conflicts, but they can seem worlds apart as they rage on. Ukraine has lambasted allies for coming to Israels defense while its own troops languished on the frontlines. Palestinians have decried double standards in international support. In each place, rampant bombardment and heavy fighting have killed tens of thousands and wiped out entire towns.
In Gali's life, the wars converge. A month ago, his nephew was killed in an Israeli strike while foraging for food. Weeks later, a Russian missile tore through the private clinic where he's worked for most of his professional life. Colleagues and patients died at his feet.
Alya Gali, a Gaza Strip-born doctor, looks at damaged equipment standing amid debris two weeks after a missile killed nine when it hit a private clinic where he has worked for most of his professional life in Kyiv, Ukraine ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
I was in a war there, and now I am in a war here, said Gali, 48, standing inside the hollowed-out wing of the medical center as workers swept away glass and debris. Half of my heart and mind are here, and the other half is there.
You witness the war and destruction with your family in Palestine, and see the war and destruction with your own eyes, here in Ukraine.
Gaza to Kyiv
There's an Arabic saying to describe a familys youngest child the last grape in the bunch. Galis mother would say the last is the sweetest; the youngest of 10, he was her favorite.
When Gali was 9, his father died. Money was tight, but Gali excelled in school and dreamed of becoming a doctor specializing in fertility, after seeing relatives struggle to conceive.
In 1987, the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, erupted in Gaza and the West Bank. Gali joined the youth arm of the Fatah Movement, a party espousing a nationalist ideology, long before the Islamist Hamas group would take root. One by one, friends were arrested and interrogated; some went to prison, others took up arms.
Gali had a choice: Stay and risk the same fate, or leave.
There was good news: an opportunity to study medicine in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Gali bade tearful goodbyes to his family, not knowing if he'd see them again.
He traveled to Moscow, expecting to catch a train. Instead, he learned Almaty was no longer an option. But there was a spot in Kyiv.
And so a young Gali arrived in Ukraine in 1992, just after the Soviet Union's collapse.
A worker cleans up the debris two weeks after a missile hit a private medical clinic, killing nine in Kyiv, Ukraine ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
It was like leaving one bedlam for another, he said: The country was in a state of chaos, with no law and very difficult living conditions."
Many peers left. Gali stayed, enrolling in medical school.
In the Ukrainian language, there's no equivalent for Arabic's notoriously difficult glottal consonants. So in Kyiv, Alaa became Alya. He assumed a patronymic middle name, adding the usual suffix to his fathers name Shabaanovich.
While learning Russian spoken by most Ukrainians who'd lived under the Soviet Union Gali struggled with errands. Neighbors helped. Through them, he met his wife. They would have three children.
He finished medical school, becoming a gynecologist specializing in fertility. His career's early days were long, seeing dozens of patients. Eventually, he landed at a practice at the Adonis medical center, where he thrived.
When Gali drives to work, listening to songs in Arabic, he passes Kyivs Maidan, a square where anti-government protests set the stage for Russias seizure of Crimea in 2014. There was a war in Gaza that year, too, he remembers.
Gali mouths the lyrics as Ukrainian street signs whiz by: "You keep crushing us, oh world.
On July 8, Gali was at work, but his mind was on Gaza.
Alya Gali, a Gaza Strip-born doctor, stands inside a damaged private clinic ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
A week earlier, a relative reached out Gali's 12-year old niece had been killed as Israeli tanks advanced to the edge of the Mawasi camp for displaced Palestinians, northwest of Rafah. Like tens of thousands of Gazans, his family had fled there on foot after Israel designated it a humanitarian zone.
Gali had already been mourning. A nephew, Fathi, was killed the previous month. Gali saw it himself, he said, on television his nephews lifeless body on the screen, headlines flashing in Arabic. He described the image and Fathi's clothes to a relative, who confirmed it was him.
Their deaths weighed heavily on Gali. For nine months, he'd lived in fear for his family, of a text message saying they'd all been killed.
In the medical center that day, air raids rang out all morning. Before greeting his next patient, he shared a few words with the center director. She'd just driven by Okhmadyt Childrens Hospital, struck hours earlier by a missile a terrible sight, Ukraines largest pediatric facility in ruins, she told him. He told her about the deaths of his niece and nephew, the darkness of his grief.
Not long after, Galis world went even darker.
Alya Gali, a Gaza Strip-born doctor, looks at debris two weeks after a missile killed nine as it hit a private clinic ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
A Russian missile came hurtling toward the center, triggering an explosion that obliterated the third and fourth floors.
Gali worked on the fourth. In the dense cloud of debris, he sought out shadowy figures covered in blood. He saw a patient and, using his phone for light, pulled her out from under the collapsed roof, as colleagues and others died around him nine killed in all.
He led the woman to his office to wait for rescuers. Amid bodies on the floor, he found a colleague, Viktor Bragutsa, bleeding profusely. Gali couldnt resuscitate him.
A room holding patients documents had been reduced to debris, their records spanning decades up in smoke.
He felt pangs of deja vu.
For months, he'd seen images of Gaza's war. It was as if they'd somehow bled into his life in Ukraine.
Nothing is sacred," he said. "Killing doctors, killing children, killing civilians this is the picture we are faced with.
Two weeks later, Gali stood in the same spot, gazing at bombed-out walls as workers sifted through rubble. What can I feel?" he said "Pain. Nothing else.
The center director's office is destroyed. So is the reception area. Ultrasound machines and operating tables lay haphazardly.
Palestinians evacuate a body from a site hit by an Israeli bombardment on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip ( Copyright 2023, The Associated Press. All rights reserved )
He had stayed in Ukraine, didn't evacuate his family he took comfort in his office, in helping patients. And still, he said, he'll stay.
In Gaza, he knows, there's no safe place for his family to evacuate.
Communicating isn't easy, with telecommunications blackouts. Weeks go by without word, until a nephew or niece finds enough signal to tell him they're alive.
No matter how difficult and impossible the situation is," he said, "their words are always filled with laughter, patience and gratitude to God.
I am here, feeling the weight.
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Nasa may have found evidence of past alien life on Mars.
The space agency says that its rover, Perseverance, has found a rock that might once have been host to microbial life, billions of years ago.
A host of notable traits found on the rock suggest that it is possible that it is evidence that there is life on the red planet. Researchers say that it is filled with organic compounds, shows that water once flowed through it, and is marked with specks of the kind that on Earth usually signal life.
The Perseverance rover has used onboard instruments to examine the rock, nicknamed Cheyava Falls and shaped like an arrowhead. That analysis showed that it had chemical signatures and structures that might have been formed by ancient life forms.
That life was probably microbial, and lived billions of years ago when parts of Mars had flowing water. But it would be the first ever firm indication that Mars was once inhabited and of any kind of life on another planet.
open image in gallery NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of a rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls" on July 18, 2024 ( NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS )
Nasa cautioned that other explanations for the fascinating traits of the rock are still being examined. Further research will also be required before scientists feel confident to say that ancient life would serve as an explanation for those traits.
We have designed the route for Perseverance to ensure that it goes to areas with the potential for interesting scientific samples, said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. This trip through the Neretva Vallis riverbed paid off as we found something weve never seen before, which will give our scientists so much to study.
The piece of rock was the 22nd chunk of rock core picked up by the rover. It was gathered on 21 July, in an area of the Jezero Crater than Perseverance has been examining.
Since then, it has been examined by the SHERLOC, or Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals, instrument. It showed that it contained organic compounds which are the building blocks of life, but can come about through non-biological processes.
Another particularly notable part of the rock was off-white spots, ringed with black, that can be seen on the rock itself. Researchers say that those types of features, when found on Earth, usually indicate that there are fossilised microbes living inside.
Cheyava Falls is the most puzzling, complex, and potentially important rock yet investigated by Perseverance, said Ken Farley, Perseverance project scientist of Caltech in Pasadena.
On the one hand, we have our first compelling detection of organic material, distinctive colorful spots indicative of chemical reactions that microbial life could use as an energy source, and clear evidence that water necessary for life once passed through the rock. On the other hand, we have been unable to determine exactly how the rock formed and to what extent nearby rocks may have heated Cheyava Falls and contributed to these features.
Though further research and work is required to better understand the chance of alien life, researchers note that the rock has been scanned as much as possible using the Perseverance rover. To get a full explanation of the rock, scientists might have to bring it back down to Earth, where it can be more fully scanned with the powerful instruments in laboratories down here.
The European Space Agency had hoped to send a Sample Retrieval Lander mission to the Martian surface to pick up samples and bring them back down to Earth. But it has been delayed, with the cost and complexity of the mission leading to some fears that it might be cancelled entirely.
Joe Biden sang happy birthday to the young daughter of a US prisoner released in a swap between the West and Russia on Thursday 1 July.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been named as one of 26 prisoners exchanged in what is the largest swap since the Cold War.
Another detainee, Aslu Kurmasheva, was also freed in the deal and his daughter, who turns 13 tomorrow, was in attendance at the White House as Mr Biden announced the news.
The president took a moment to sing happy birthday to Miriam Butorin, and also shared some advice with her.
No serious guys until youre 30, he joked.
The ringleader of an organised crime group which attempted to smuggle 139 kilos of cocaine into the UK hidden in a consignment of bananas has been convicted.
Sajid Ali, 56, from Birmingham, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers at Heathrow airport in January this year, minutes before boarding a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.
His criminal associates had previously been apprehended while unloading a shipping container they believed contained the 11m million worth of drugs at a storage company in Coventry in April 2022.
Footage shared by the NCA shows the moment officers swarmed the gang.
The criminals are now serving a total of 62 years in prison.
Donald Trump falsely questioned Kamala Harris racial identity as he addressed the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on Wednesday, 31 July.
The former president claimed that the vice president, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve in her role, had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage.
I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? Mr Trump said as gasps were heard from the audience.
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Hell, Donald Trump is weird, isnt he? Its funny to say it now, after weve spent the past eight years taking him seriously, treating him like a legitimate politician, and in many cases being quite afraid of what he might do next. Simply calling him weird feels like the understatement of the century so why is it getting to him and his supporters so much?
If you havent heard, the big attack line against Republicans at the moment is as clever as it is basic simply pointing out the fact that Trump, and Trumpism as a concept, are at their core extremely weird.
What does that mean? Well, its exactly what it sounds like: pointing out that he says weird stuff. That his most ardent defenders are a bunch of weirdos. That he looks, acts, and sounds weird. Prominent Democrats are selling the line in interviews, and the Harris campaign even put out a press release calling Trump quite old and weird.
The angle is getting a lot of traction because its so undeniably true Trump Republicans are so much weirder than your regular, bread-and-butter conservatives. That might have been an asset at some point people rebelled against Hillary Clinton precisely because they wanted to shake up the system by appointing an outsider but now the appetite for normal, boring politics seems to have returned, and weirdness is no longer the virtue it once was.
You wouldnt think that a political movement built on insults, lies and obfuscation would be so taken aback by such a straightforward bit of name-calling, but it really seems to be working. Republican-presidential-hopeful-turned-Trump-cheerleader Vivek Ramaswamy went on the defence last week, calling the argument dumb & juvenile as if his boss didnt once mock a disabled reporter by doing an impression of him during a campaign speech.
Senator Marco Rubio tried turning it around, allegedly saying: They called us weird so Ill call them weirder, but that doesnt really work when the leader of your opponents party is an accomplished attorney, and the leader of your party wont stop bringing up Hannibal Lecter at his rallies for some reason.
The tactic was pioneered by Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who summed up his position in an interview with MSNBC: "They want to take books away. They want to be in your exam room. Thats what it comes down to. Dont sugarcoat this. These are weird ideas. Listen to them speak."
As a former schoolteacher, Walz is presumably familiar with the devastating impact of being called weird its just about the worst thing that one kid can say to another. As a former weird kid, I can attest that theres nothing worse than being ostracised for your quirks it is, at its core, an attack on all the little idiosyncrasies that make up your unique identity.
Of course, while many of us grow out of that mindset at some point, and learn to embrace our weirdness, the entire Republican project is built on the assumption of normalcy. We are the in-group anything that doesnt look, act or worship like us is weird. They say they want to bring back a nostalgia-tinted, white picket fence version of America where you can leave your door unlocked and kids are respectful. Of course, thats a difficult position to take when your last president just nominated a running mate who cant stop insulting single women as childless cat ladies.
Seriously, how do you defend against name-calling when thats all youve done for the past eight years? Donald Trump has used so many nicknames to describe his political and ideological opponents that they have their own Wikipedia page.
They range from the baffling (calling the 5ft 7in Michael Bloomberg Mini Mike), to the offensive (calling Elizabath Warren Pocahontas after she claimed to have Native American ancestry), to the Im not too big to admit it genuinely quite funny (Ron DeSanctimonious comes to mind). Hes a high school bully who doesnt know what to do when his victims finally stand up to him.
Some people have rightly pointed out that the word weird doesnt fully encapsulate the horrors that Trump has foisted upon the world over the past decade. Surely better descriptors might be racist; sexist; even evil?
But the thing is, people have been calling him and his supporters all of those things, and more, since he entered the political sphere. Those terms are all so charged with emotion, and so subjective, that theyve become meaningless fascist is just a synonym for person I dont like at this point, even when its an accurate descriptor. Weird, by contrast, isnt emotive at all its just a dismissive statement of fact.
You simply cannot dispute the fact that these guys and their supporters are weird. Even if you broadly agree with their positions, you cant deny that they approach them in a weird way. Pedalling conspiracy theories, never shutting up about the LGBT+ agenda, spewing out a neverending stream of bizarre insults only a complete weirdo would fall in with a crowd like that. You dont want to be a weirdo, do you?
If you have any doubts as to the efficacy of this strategy, consider that something similar happened right here in the UK. While Labour didnt go on the attack, outright highlighting just how weird the Tories had become by the end of their 14 years in power, that was certainly a huge undercurrent of their campaign. Keir Starmer did a great job of positioning Labour as the boring, back to basics party, while Sunak was busy dealing with people like Suella Braverman saying strange, offputting things that just didnt resonate with voters.
Republicans have clearly banked on the old Michelle Obama when they go low, we go high attitude from their opponents, and its clear they dont have a strategy for when Democrats inevitably decide to go low as well. They have absolutely no defence against a charge of weirdness, and any attempt to rebuke it just results in even more weirdness.
Im glad Democrats have found an effective way to fight back. Its just weird that it took them this long to do it.
The largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War did not seem likely even a few days ago, at least to the outside world. The willingness of the Biden White House and Putins Kremlin to engage in such a trade could not easily have been foreseen from the condition of the two powers relations.
Complicated, to say the least, by the war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East and uncertainties about the outcome of this years US elections, stalemate and stasis would have been the more likely outlook. Instead, presumably with the active engagement of the ever-ambiguous President Erdogan of Turkey, two substantial job lots of assorted journalists, spies, double agents and others have been released.
Poland, Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Belarus were also among the countries involved in the project. It is, ironically, a remarkably successful exercise in international cooperation; if only such a spirit could spread beyond the murky environs of espionage and state hostage-taking.
It has to be stressed, notwithstanding the release of innocent Western civilians, that this is not an entirely symmetrical exercise. The high-profile case of Evan Gershkovich makes the case eloquently. A reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Mr Gershkovich was sentenced by Russia to 16 years in prison last month, on charges of spying and espionage. He has spent nearly 500 days in what must have been dreadful conditions, simply because he was a useful bargaining chip for Mr Putin.
The Russians claim he was attempting to gather intelligence on their battle tank programme. This is an especially asinine notion, as it is perfectly apparent from the battlefields of Ukraine that the Russian tank industry is one of the weaker points in that nations armoury. You do not need to be a spy to see what is going wrong there.
US Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva are others now reportedly ready to restart their lives and tell their stories. The Kremlin is also expected to release dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza who has been a vocal detractor of Russian president and former KGB officer Vladimir Putin. Kara-Murza was given a 25-year sentence in April of last year on charges including treason, after he came out against Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
It shows that all the reportage and campaigning by Western media organisations, including The Independent, to secure their release and for real justice to prevail has been vindicated and triumphantly.
By contrast, the FSB agent and the other Russian captives were found guilty in Western courts through due process and engaged in sometimes deadly activity. Vadim Krasikov, for example, spent what turned out to be a comparatively brief sojourn in a German jail for the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen rebel leader, executed in a Berlin park in 2019. As the UK witnessed in the case of the Skripals (subject of a prior prisoner release) and the Salisbury poisonings, the Kremlin and its informal penumbra of freelance agents have a long reach.
It is thus also right, even at a moment of jubilation at the return to freedom of innocent journalists, to acknowledge that such prisoner exchanges are a tawdry, mercenary business. There is a legitimate argument for not engaging in such trades at all, because they merely encourage the likes of Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian puppet Aleksandr Lukashenko, to take more journalists, diplomats and civilians hostage, and subject them to the privations of their grim prison systems in the hope of getting one of their own spies or terrorists back.
Yet, such is the Cold War-style realpolitik now prevailing that only such a process of negotiation can save the lives of Westerners working in Russia, especially in the media, for as long as the Putin era lasts. It is notable, and predictable, that Donald Trump, graceless as ever, has scorned the prisoner swap, and claimed that he rejected such a deal in the past.
Whatever the truth about that, it is the case that when Mr Trump was in the White House, he did not get the Western prisoners back. Now President Biden has achieved that elusive goal in the least propitious of circumstances. If we are to have a cold war with Russia, we can at least try to revive some of the more useful of the old Cold War procedures. Its for the greater good.
Yet again, shots have been fired at Donald Trump this time, over his comments about Kamala Harriss racial heritage.
On Wednesday, Trump bewildered an audience of Black journalists in Chicago by telling them that the Kamala Harris he claims to have known for several years was Indian all the way before, all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went she became a Black person.
It wont come as a massive surprise to anyone that race is one of those topics that, every time Trump brings it up, he inserts his great big clodhoppers into his mouth. And, once again, by suggesting that Harris only recently changed her identity and became a Black woman, he has got this all so, so wrong.
But, in fairness to the Orange Peril, he is not the only one.
There has been much debate in the US about the Democrats presumptive presidential candidate and her heritage precisely because it is not African-American. (One might hope that, post-Barack Obama, the world would be able to cope with a White House candidate of dual heritage, but here we are.)
Unlike former president Obama who at least had a white American mother and grandparents who raised him Harris has no direct American heritage whatsoever. Her mother hails from Chennai (formerly Madras) in India, while her father immigrated to the United States from Jamaica.
Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she was raised mainly by her sari-wearing mother in what many describe as a traditionally Indian upbringing. But the fact is, it doesnt only matter what was going on at home, it also matters how society views her which is why her mother raised her to identify as Black. And this is where it gets complicated. Especially for her Republican opponents.
Now, people like me have been known to get upset when strangers ask the loaded question: Where are you from? Because I know if I say London, they will only become frustrated and follow up with: No, where are you really from?
But we need to spare a thought for people of mixed heritage, such as my oldest nephew, who simply get asked: What are you?
I have three mixed-race nephews. The younger two have unmistakeable afro hair, and there is no doubt that they have at least one Black parent but my eldest nephew is what we fondly refer to these days as racially ambiguous. Depending on the length of his hair, and how much sun he happens to have caught, he can be mistaken for anything from Italian to South Asian.
There is no mistaking what the former president was up to when he weaponised Harriss racial heritage to gasps and incredulous laughter from the invited Black audience. But Trump is not the only person pointing out that, early on in Harriss career, she identified as Indian. Candace Owens, the Black conservative podcaster, has dedicated hours of time to the subject, accusing Harris of only claiming to be Black now because wants to secure the Black vote.
Despite Owens being almost universally hated by the African-American community, there are more than a few who agree with her. Many have taken to social media to declare they wont be voting for Harris because she is not Black. Prominent Black commentators like Tariq Nasheed and Harvard graduate Kimberly Foster, whose For Harriet blog celebrates the fullness of Black womanhood, have been busy dissecting Harriss heritage online.
Owens seems mortally offended that Harris invited Megan Thee Stallion to her star-studded Atlanta rally, complaining that it is this kind of pandering that reeks of inauthenticity. She accuses Harris of trying to connect with Black people using stereotypes, saying: Have you seen her husband? Have you seen her family? There is no one in that household that is listening to Megan Thee Stallion, least of all her.
Harriss husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish. He has two white children from a previous relationship that she has helped raise. Apart from the fact that the main consumers of hip-hop are middle class white kids, its a little unfair to criticise Harris for not listening to Megan. At the age of 59, she shoudnt be. Katy Perry performed for Hillary Clinton, and I doubt that means Hillary plays her tired, feminism-lite pop music when shes getting ready in the morning. Actually, that was probably a bad example. I could totally see Hillary listening to Roar before she goes down to face Bill at the breakfast table.
But if you think the Indian and Black Jamaican thing was complicated, Harris was recently outed by the Daily Mail as being the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of a notorious Irish slave owner. This isnt the gotcha they think it is.
The reason that so many Caribbean people, including myself, have white heritage is for the simple reason that slave owners would rape their slaves. The poisonous legacy of chattel slavery has had long-lasting ramifications and, as descendants, our heritage is complicated. African-Americans also often have white heritage because of this reason.
Precisely because this kind of sexual abuse in slavery times was so far reaching, in the early 20th century many US states introduced the one-drop rule. It codified into law the idea that any person with one ancestor of Black ancestry is considered Black (and then became the accepted national definition). This was done in part to prohibit interracial relationships and thus keep whites pure hence the "one-drop" injunction but also to prevent mixed slaves from inheriting their fathers property, ensuring it remained in white hands.
If Harris wanted to call herself Indian one day and Black the next, she is entitled to do so its her heritage, and hers to enjoy. But it would be storing up trouble because, socially, it doesnt make any sense to do so.
Fun fact: if her parents had chosen to raise her in the Caribbean, as a person with mixed Indian heritage, she would have likely been referred to by the offensive terms coolie or doula. For, after slavery ended, South Asian people were brought in as indentured servants; mixed-race people like Harris were often ostracised and killed by their South Asian relatives, who believed their Black side made them demons. The fact is Black people occupy a unique space because anti-Blackness is found in every single society in the world.
Harris read law at Howard, a historically Black university. These only exist because, in a society that often rejected them, they had to build their own and educate themselves. There are no historically Indian colleges but after seeing the white supremacist attacks on Usha Vance, the Yale-educated, Indian-American wife of Trumps running mate JD Vance, they may well establish some soon.
Id be interested to see how Trump refers to Vances children, who are ethnically every bit as much Indian as Harris. Their grandad hails from the same corner of southeast India as Harriss mother.
On second thoughts, knowing how hard Trump finds it to bite his tongue on racial matters and just let live, its probably better we dont know.
Harland & Wolff has secured an additional $25m of loans from existing lenders
The former chief executive of Harland & Wolff has left the company.
It had been announced that John Wood was taking a leave of absence following the failure to secure a government loan guarantee.
However, Mr Wood is now no longer a member of the board, it was confirmed today.
The company also announced a new $25m (19m) loan with existing creditors, which takes its overall debt to $140m (109m).
It has also ceased operations on Scilly Ferries to focus on core business functions.
The famous shipbuilder has been facing financial uncertainty in recent weeks, after it failed to secure a 200m loan guarantee from the Government.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that after reviewing the loan application, the government believed there was a very substantial risk that taxpayer money would be lost.
Harland & Wolff is part of a consortium with a 1.6bn contract to build new fleet solid support ships for the Royal Navy.
The firm, whose UK shipyards include the famous east Belfast location, has employed the financial services company Rothschild & Co to assess strategic options for the group.
After announcing Mr Woods departure, it was confirmed Russell Downs and Alan Fort are due to become board members.
Malcolm Groat, chairman of Harland & Wolff, said: "We are grateful to our lenders in continuing their funding commitment to support Harland & Wolff Group's ongoing stabilisation and long-term strategy objectives.
"We also look forward to working with the very experienced team from Rothschild & Co to help us achieve that objective.
The board look forward to Russell Downs and Alan Fort joining us once their appointment formalities are completed and, in the meantime, I wish to place our thanks to John for his invaluable contribution to the company's business and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.
The company has also closed its Scilly Ferries service between Penzance and St Marys on the Isles of Scilly, which are located off the coast of Cornwall.
Harland & Wolff said the planned service was overly ambitious given the current circumstances.
They said that everyone with reservations for the Atlantic Wolff fast ferry will be directly contacted, and that all impacted staff have been advised.
The vessel itself is to be returned to its Dutch manufacturer Damen.
Speaking about the decision to terminate Scilly Ferries, Mr Downs, the interim executive chair, said: We understand that this will be difficult news for those affected immediately and for the community it was intended to support.
It is important to note that this is an isolated and unique situation within the group which continues to deliver its business as usual, serving its ship repair fabrication and ship building customers.
Mr Groat said: It is regrettable that we have taken the tough decision to terminate the fast ferry, but we need to focus our energies and resources in continuing to grow the core business across our four delivery centres.
"This decision aligns with and brings us back to our fundamental five markets and six services strategy.
"Our ferry service team will be working closely with passengers and other counterparties to ensure a smooth transition out of this business."
Denis O'Brien's business interests are now mainly focused on Digicel in the Caribbean. Photo: Artur Widak/Getty
The High Court approved the publication of an 868-page report by inspectors it appointed in 2018 to investigate the affairs of Independent News and Media (INM) following an application by the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA, formerly the ODCE).
What happened yesterday?
The CEA began investigating INM after two senior executives, Robert Pitt and Ryan Preston, made allegations that Leslie Buckley, INMs then chairman, had made efforts to promote Denis OBriens interests to the detriment of other shareholders, in breach of company law.
Were allegations of breaches of company law upheld?
No. Sean Gillane and Robert Fleck, the two lawyers appointed as inspectors, did not make any findings that Mr Buckley breached company law or that Mr OBrien or his companies behaved wrongly in any way.
Mr Buckley was found to have passed inside information to Mr OBrien and the inspectors did not find the various excuses he offered to be justified. However, the information was not disclosed for improper purpose and it was not misused by Mr OBrien.
In relation to allegations that Mr Buckley improperly tried to secure a 4m payment from INM for an OBrien company and related parties over a share sale, Mr Buckley was found to have failed to report the agreement he made with Mr OBrien to INMs management and board. This was inconsistent with his responsibility as a director to disclose material facts and matters to the INM board.
Ex-gratia payments Mr Buckley agreed INM would pay to two businessmen were inappropriate and would not have been proper use of INMs funds. The report found Mr Buckley should not have involved himself in INMs negotiations to buy the OBrien-owned Newstalk to the extent he did.
What about the data search involving 19 persons of interest?
The inspectors did not believe the evidence of Derek Mizak, the IT expert hired by Mr Buckley to interrogate INMs data in order to find an email about a solicitors contract, but who ended up looking for information about 19 persons of interest. The inspectors declined to speculate about how those 19 names, some of whom could be considered adversaries of Mr OBriens, came to be added to that list.
What has been the reaction of Denis OBrien and Leslie Buckley to the inspectors report?
Mr OBrien said all the allegations made against him had been proved wrong and unfounded. He was critical of what he said was collusion between Robert Pitt and Ryan Preston, the two INM executives who made the complaints against Mr Buckley.
Mr OBrien was critical of the ODCE (now CEA) for launching the High Court inspection process based on what he said was a failure to do due diligence on the accusations.
Mr Buckley said he accepted certain criticism of him on governance issues but rejected the findings in relation to him not being justified in passing inside information to Mr OBrien.
What about the whistleblowers?
Mr Pitt and Mr Preston received some criticism for misleading the inspectors about the extent to which they collaborated in making their complaints. However, their bona fides in expressing their concerns were upheld. Allegations of fabrication or invention against them were not upheld.
Did INM get a clean bill of health?
There was no finding that INM or its directors breached company law. However, the inspectors found the way the boards sub-committee handled the protected disclosure that Robert Pitt, then CEO, made against Mr Buckley was fundamentally defective.
What is the cost of all this?
The CEA has put its costs at 5.67m, with the inspectors getting 4.7m for their work. Mr OBrien put his costs at 2.6m and said total legal costs for all parties would exceed 40m.
Does any of this matter any more?
A lot of the steam has gone out of this one. Six years ago, Mr OBrien was the most powerful media mogul in Ireland. He owned 29.9pc of INM, and Mr Buckley, his business partner, chaired the company. Mr OBrien also owned Communicorp, Irelands largest independent radio group.
Politicians raised concern about how Mr OBriens media influence could clash with his other interests. His litigation record against Irish media raised questions about his commitment to journalism.
In 2019, INM was bought by Mediahuis. Communicorp was subsequently bought by Bauer Media in early 2021.
Given the sales of other Irish businesses, such as Topaz and the Beacon Hospital, Mr OBriens influence on the Irish business and media world has waned. He is still an influential businessman but most of his focus in recent years has been trying to maintain a level of control over his indebted Digicel phone and broadband business in the Caribbean.
Windows were designed by Harry Clarke in 1927 and completed the following year
Former Bewley's owner Patrick Campbell in front of one of the famous Harry Clarke stained-glass windows
Developer Johnny Ronans RGRE Grafton is the owner of all six Harry Clarke stained-glass windows in Bewleys Cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Last year, the High Court decided that only four of the windows were the property of RGRE Grafton Ltd, landlord of the premises. It ruled that the other two belonged to the tenant Bewleys Cafe Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd, and its subsidiary Bewleys Ltd.
The six windows are reckoned to be worth something in the region of 1m.
However RGRE appealed that High Court decision and now Ms Justice Caroline Costello, on behalf of the three-judge court, has found that all six belong to RGRE Grafton.
She said the High Court was correct to conclude that four of the windows known as the Four Orders, as they depicted four orders of classical architecture were part and parcel of the premises. In law, she said they were and remained the property of the original landlord and his successors in title.
However, Ms Justice Costello ruled that the High Court judge erred in concluding that RGRE had failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the two other windows known as the Swan Yard windows, as they overlooked this yard were also part and parcel of the building.
Today's News in 90 Seconds - August 1st
The High Court erred in concluding that, instead, they were tenants fixtures and therefore the property of Bewleys Ltd on foot of an assignment from Bewleys Cafe Grafton Street.
In her judgment, Ms Justice Costello said RGRE Grafton had proved on the balance of probabilities, having regard to the totality of the evidence, that the Swan Yard works were part and parcel of the premises and thus were the landlords property.
She said the High Court judges conclusion was based upon impermissible speculation which must be rejected in light of the entirety of the evidence and the inferences which it is reasonable to draw from such evidence.
She allowed the appeal and rejected a cross appeal from the defendants in relation to the other four windows.
The judge had noted that a major difficulty in this case was the incomplete nature of the evidence and the resulting difficulty in resolving the legal issues presented.
Of necessity, the High Court and Court of Appeal were required to draw inferences from this incomplete picture.
It need not be emphasised that great care must be taken in such a task, she said.
Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington agreed with Ms Justice Costello, while Ms Justice Maire Whelan disagreed in a dissenting judgment.
Ms Justice Whelan said she would not only affirm the High Court order that the Swan Yard windows are owned by Bewleys Ltd but grant the cross appeal and declare that the Four Orders windows are also "tenant's fixtures".
Dominos Pizzas largest Irish franchise business recorded a 35pc fall in pre-tax profits despite selling and delivering 2.5m worth more pizzas, sides, drinks and snacks in 2023 than in the previous year.
Shorecal, a franchise business built by Charles and Adrian Caldwell, reported revenue of over 64.4m in 2023, up 4pc on the previous year, according to recently published results.
Pre-tax profits at the pizza business fell to 5.6m, down from 8.6m. The cost of sales at Shorecal drove the decline in pre-tax profits, rising to over 45.9m in 2023, up almost 4.5m.
Dividends paid at Shorecal fell from over 20.2m in 2022 to 3.8m last year.
In March, UK-listed Dominos Pizza Group acquired the remaining 85pc shareholding in Shorecal in a deal worth up to 72m.
The move was part of a growth plan that Dominos Pizza Group (DPG) outlined last December.
It will allow DPG to accelerate growth and materially increase the store count in Ireland, with Shorecals existing management team, including CEO George Bertram, remaining in place to help oversee growth.
The acquisition was based on what DPG said was an attractive multiple of eight times Shorecals earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. It expects the deal to be earnings accretive in the first year and significantly accretive in the long term.
Charles and Adrian Caldwell, who led the Shorecal business, did well out of the deal. The Irish Independent has previously reported that the Caldwell family benefitted to the tune of 44m.
In 2019, DPG bought its 15pc stake in Shorecal for 12.5m. That transaction valued Shorecal at just over 83m.
Some of the Shorecal pizza outlets in Ireland have been among the busiest Dominos outlets in the world.
As of March, Shorecal operated about 34 of the 99 Dominos stores across the Republic and Northern Ireland.
When announcing the acquisition, DPG chief executive Andrew Rennie said the group believes there is a significant opportunity to grow in Ireland.
Our asset-light and highly cash-generative operating model enables us to invest to drive growth, both in our core UK and Ireland business and also in additional growth opportunities, he said. We are committed to an asset-light business model and our strategy will centre on acquiring, strengthening and then ultimately redistributing stores in the estate.
For 2023, DPG posted a 3.6pc rise in underlying core profit to 138.1m.
Aoife Harrington (10) at the launch of the Barnardos Back to School Survey.
Childrens charity Barnardos has called for the free schoolbooks scheme to be extended to pupils studying for their Leaving Cert.
Parents continue to feel cost pressures because of high prices for uniforms and the expense of funding voluntary contributions and extra-curricular activities.
Barnardos annual survey of back-to-school costs has found that half of parents of primary-school children and 70pc of secondary-school parents are worried about meeting costs this year.
Only 30pc of secondary-school parents said costs were manageable. This is despite the fact that parents of Junior Cycle students can expect to save more than 300 a year thanks to a new free schoolbooks initiative that comes into effect from September.
Primary-school children already get free books under the state scheme.
Now Barnardos has called on the Government to extend the scheme to those in the two years leading up to the Leaving Cert.
Barnardos chief executive Suzanne Connolly said: The Government has implemented positive reforms over the past two years around school costs, in particular in relation to schoolbooks, and they should be commended for that.
However, too many parents are still struggling every summer to cover back-to-school costs, experiencing considerable financial difficulties as a result.
Now is the time for the Government to continue introducing more measures to alleviate financial stress on parents, and to compel schools to do more to keep back-to-school costs at an affordable level.
One-quarter of parents of secondary-school pupils said they had to use savings to meet back-to-school costs.
Almost one in five parents of primary-school students, meanwhile, said they had to use savings to cover school costs.
A fifth of parents of secondary-school pupils have had to take a loan out or borrow from friends, with one in 10 parents of primary pupils borrowing to meet school costs.
On average, parents of primary students spent 119 on uniforms and secondary-school parents spent 211 this year, the survey of 900 parents found.
Two in five secondary-school parents who have to buy digital devices for their children stated they had to pay more than 300 for those digital costs.
Close to 80pc of primary and secondary parents said their schools requested a voluntary contribution at the start of the school year.
Most parents said it did not feel voluntary.
One-quarter of secondary-school parents said they had to spend more than 300 on school tours and trips.
Adrian Weckler: Intel cuts could put pressure on pay and perks in the tech sector
Ireland has enjoyed a bull run in building up tech employment. But it seems to be cooling
Intel's advanced chip manufacturing facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare. Photo: Collins
Adrian Weckler Thu 1 Aug 2024 at 03:30
Are tech jobs still under pressure in Ireland? A number of recent developments are giving cause for concern.
The chip giant has confirmed that it will let over 15pc of its headcount go after another set of disappointing financial results
Intel is to cut 15pc of its global workforce of over 100,000 people, the company said.
The process will begin next week, when the chip giant will offer enhanced retirement options, as well as voluntary redundancy packages.
The move looks likely to affect some of the 5,000 employees at the companys Leixlip site, although the company has not yet clarified the position in relation to Kildare-based staff.
Intel will focus the cuts mostly in marketing and spending on research and development, saying that it will stop non-essential work, and review all active projects and equipment.
We plan to deliver $10 billion in cost savings in 2025, and this includes reducing our head count by roughly 15,000 roles, or 15 of our workforce, said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.
"The majority of these actions will be completed by the end of this year. Our revenues have not grown as expected and weve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low.
Our annual revenue in 2020 was about $24 billion higher than it was last year, yet our current workforce is actually 10pc larger now than it was then. There are a lot of reasons for this, but its not a sustainable path forward.
Intel announced the news after worse-than-expected quarterly financial results, which saw sales revenue fall 1pc compared to the same three month period last year. It made a loss of $1.6bn for the quarter, substantially higher than the same period last year.
This comes as rivals such as Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm continue to gain market share with more advanced chips for multiple devices, including servers, computers and smartphones.
Earlier this year, Intel completed a deal to sell 49pc of its Fab 34 plant at the Kildare facility for $11bn to a US private equity fund, Apollo Global Management.
Selected cinemas; Cert PG
Michael (voiced by Aaron MacGregor), his sister (Raffey Cassidy) and parents (Sally Hawkins and one Cillian Murphy) are on a round-the-world voyage aboard the family yacht. What the others dont know is that Michael has brought a stowaway the loyal family collie, Stella.
When a storm tosses Michael and Stella into the Pacific one night, they crawl to the shore of a tropical island. Initially struggling in the empty cove, they begin to receive small food parcels.
This turns out to be the work of Kensuke (Ken Watanabe), a lost Japanese soldier marooned there during the Pacific War who has fashioned a comfortable hermitic existence amid the islands rich natural splendour.
Besides vivid and beautiful hand-drawn animation, this fable from Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry (based on Michael Morpurgos bestseller) is an exercise in the power of simplicity. A deep quake of salience begins to erupt as two very different figures form a special bond in a wondrous but always grounded setting.
Its been a patchy summer weather-wise but here lies respite from the cloud cover and something to be treasured for years by young and old alike.
Five stars
A historic post office in Dublins Fairview will be transformed into a unique dancehall as part of this years Dublin Fringe Festival.
A Dublin Fringe Festival director believes that the show must go on as his production will take place at a historic post office due to dance floors being in decline.
The Irish Coast Guard are among the agencies making a public water safety appeal ahead of the August Bank Holiday weekend following an increase in the number of incidents in the water this summer.
The RNLI and Water Safety Ireland are also urging those entering the water this weekend to have a plan, check the weather and remain aware of the tides.
It comes as the RNLI has seen an increase in the number of lifeboats going to the aid of people involved in increasingly popular activities like paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing.
"We are seeing an increase in the number of incidents this summer involving paddleboarders, persons becoming stranded due to incoming tides, recreational boater groundings and several diving incidents, said Kevin Whitney, operations manager with the Irish Coast Guard.
"Remember to have the right equipment for the activity you are about to undertake such as a correctly fitting Personal Flotation Device (PFD), and to let someone ashore know where you are going and when you will return, and most importantly, to have a means to call for help such as a marine VHF Radio, fully charged mobile phone, or Personal Locator Beacon.
Mr Whitney has urged those planning activities to ensure they are familiar with all their safety equipment beforehand.
If participating in any diving activities, then it is highly recommended that you file a float plan with someone ashore or the Coast Guard so that emergency services are aware of your location and can assist if need be, he said.
Meanwhile, Water Safety Ireland CEO Joanne Walsh said rip currents can be a danger at Irish beaches and swimmers must know what to do should they encounter one.
"Rip currents are not always easy to spot and the best way to remain safe is to swim between the red and yellow flags at lifeguarded waterways. Lifeguards are trained to identify when and where it is safe to swim, she said.
"If you do get caught in a rip current, remain calm and dont try to swim against the current. Instead, swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline and then back towards shore. If still in difficulty, call for help and float on your back like a starfish.
RNLI Water Safety Lead Linda-Gene Byrne said it is important to be aware of simple safety advice that could save lives.
"If you are heading out on the water, we would always advise you to wear a suitable personal flotation device for your activity. If you are on a paddleboard, choose the right releasable leash for the location you are paddling, said Ms Byrne.
"Always check the weather forecast and tide times as this can affect your paddling and always tell someone where youre going and when youll be back. Keep a means of calling for help attached to you in a waterproof pouch or close to hand so that in an emergency you can call 999 / 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.
A London-based rabbi accused of travelling to Ireland to perform an illegal circumcision on a young child has been refused bail.
Jonathan Abraham, 47, was arrested in Dublin on Tuesday and is charged with carrying out a surgical procedure, male circumcision on a child, without being a registered medical practitioner at an address in Dublin 15.
Dean O'Brien of Blakestown Cottages in Clonsilla is charged with drug offences
A Dublin man charged with drug offences after gardai seized an estimated 200,000 of cannabis and zopiclone tablets from an abandoned car has been sent for trial.
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Murdered Mary Ward reported she was the victim of a violent crime in the weeks before her death
Emergency services have made substantial progress while battling a large fire at an industrial premises in north Dublin on Thursday evening.
A large plume of smoke could be seen from across the city and by passengers flying in and out of Dublin Airport.
Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade attended the fire at Clonshaugh Industrial Estate in the Clonshaugh/Coolock area of Dublin 17.
Flights at the airport were not affected, although local people were advised to remain indoors.
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An image of the scene in the Clonshaugh area. Source: Dublin Fire Brigade
The fire took hold in Camfil, a Swedish company that makes air filtration systems, which is located in Clonshaugh Industrial Estate. The business premises neighbours a data centre owned by US tech giant Amazon.
Dublin Fire Brigade, who were battling the blaze late into the evening, said that some structures had collapsed at the premises.
It is believed the building suffered extensive damage, but it is not thought to have been malicious.
In an update on Thursday evening, Dublin Fire Brigade said it was beginning to scale back its response at the fire ground.
Firefighting operations are continuing at the industrial fire in Coolock this evening. Substantial progress has been made with the fire now under control, it said.
"Three fire engines will remain on scene and firefighters will continue to fight the fire overnight. Although smoke is still visible at the site it has reduced considerably. No injuries have been reported.
Earlier on Thursday, it said: At 16.59 hrs Dublin Fire Brigade received multiple 999 calls reporting a fire in an industrial unit off the Oscar Traynor Road.
Dublin Fire Brigade are advising as a precaution for local residents to close all windows and doors if affected by smoke.
"This is an ongoing operation and we expect to be at scene for the foreseeable.
If you can smell smoke we're advising local residents to close all windows and doors as a precaution
Smoke is drifting across the locality.
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A garda spokesperson added that Dublin Fire Brigade currently have primacy at the scene.
"Gardai are assisting with traffic management at this time, they said.
The industrial premises is around 3km from the disused former Crown Paints factory earmarked for asylum accommodation that has been the focus of protests and arson attacks in recent weeks, leading to initial online speculation that that premises was again on fire. However, it is not believed that Thursdays fire at the Camfil premises was anything other than accidental.
Dublin Airport said the fire, close to the airport, was not impacting any flights.
A fire in the Santry area is resulting in smoke blowing towards the airport this evening. This is not impacting on operations at the airport and flights continue to operate as normal.
"The airport team, in collaboration with AirNav Ireland, continue to monitor the situation, a spokesperson for airport operator DAA said.
Social media users from across the city posted pictures and videos of the large blaze.
Emergency services are at the scene of a massive fire in Coolock in north dublin @rtenews pic.twitter.com/o4EIpuw75X Samantha Libreri (@SamanthaLibreri) August 1, 2024
The fire was visible from Dublin Airport also.
A fire in North Dublin, seen from Dublin Airport pic.twitter.com/XVE7vvL3NO Diari Liffey (@DiariLiffey) August 1, 2024
Here is the fire from a closer angle posted by one social media user
Huge fire has broken out in Dublin.
It wouldn't surprise me if it's something to do with batteries (smoke looks very much like other battery fires I've posted)pic.twitter.com/fQgxfl85xQ Volcaholic (@volcaholic1) August 1, 2024
Camfil have been contacted for comment by the Irish Independent. .
The violence flared at an apart-hotel in the popular tourist resort of Albufeira
A group of young Irish tourists are believed to have been involved in a stabbing incident in the Algarve in which several Dutch holidaymakers were injured at apartments in Albufeiras Praia da Oura area in the early hours of July 29.
A 19-year-old Irish man has since been arrested.
Police say the shocking incident involved three Irish and four Dutch nationals who became involved in a mass brawl over loud music coming from one of the apartments at approximately 4:30am last Monday morning.
It has since been confirmed that four men all of whom are Dutch suffered life-threatening injuries in the incident. The injured men are aged between 17 and 21.
According to Dutch sources, the injured youths said they had been stabbed in the stomach and in the leg. Its not known if any injuries were reported among the Irish group.
Police in the Algarve arrested a 19-year-old Irish national on Wednesday having assessed footage of the incident on CCTV and spoken with witnesses.
Its thought the three Irish tourists, who are believed to be from Co Kerry, were staying on the top floor of the block and complained about music coming from the Dutch tourists apartment on the bottom floor.
Portuguese police have not confirmed whether or not they plan to make further arrests.
A man is due before the courts today in relation to an investigation into alleged child cruelty and unlawful medical practices.
A male was arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 on Tuesday as part of the investigation carried out by gardai in Blanchardstown.
He has been charged with an offence contrary to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and will appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice today.
As this matter is now before the courts An Garda Siochana cannot make any further comment, a garda spokesperson said.
Restaurant review: Buzzy London celebrity haunt The Park lacks culinary thrills but is a real crowd-pleaser
Our food critic soaks up the atmosphere at the new opening from the restaurateur behind The Ivy
Jeremy King's The Park in London
Katy McGuinness Thu 1 Aug 2024 at 03:30
I nearly dont make it to dinner at Jeremy Kings newest restaurant, The Park. I set off on foot from Notting Hill in plenty of time and follow the directions on Google Maps as I listen to a podcast. I know more or less where Im heading or so I think so I pay no heed to the advisory note on the website: located opposite Queensway Station.
Do not fear the aromatic queen of grapes, advises our wine expert
I picked up a bottle of young Riesling recently for a dinner with some friends. I love how food-friendly the grape variety is with a broad range of foods, thanks to its lip-smacking acidity. Among a sea of perfectly palatable if humdrum supermarket options, the Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling offered the hope of something a little more lively and interesting if still relatively simple and affordable as Riesling goes.
An aromatic variety, Riesling offers big personality, with fruit notes running from tart apple and zesty citrus to zingy tropical fruits. Depending on its conditions of growth (terroir), Rieslings aromatic profile can vary hugely, expressing mineral character, floral notes or spicy nuance. It can also have a whiff of petrol or lanolin that develops in bottle-aged wines, but can show in younger expressions from warmer climes.
Happily, my choice went down well with my friends and with the creamy pasta and pork meatballs that they had prepared. They were surprised, however, that it was a Riesling, saying theyd never buy the varietal style for fear of it being sweet. This common concern is a pity, but understandable, as levels of residual sugar (which is the grapes natural sugar left in a wine after fermentation) can vary hugely in Riesling.
That consumer nervousness is a challenge faced by Riesling producers around the world, from its German homeland and neighbouring surrounds to the Antipodes and Americas, where it also thrives in cooler-climate regions. Its why youll often see the word dry or its German equivalent of trocken on the label. (The German Kabinett classification also indicates a dry style, while the Spatlese and Auslese classifications indicate later harvests and therefore riper grapes with higher sugar levels.)
However, the conundrum is this: Riesling wines can handle considerably more sweetness than most other varieties and still taste extremely well-balanced, thanks to the grapes naturally high acidity levels. Think of the little spoonful of sugar that a chef might add to a tart tomato sauce to soften its edges: it doesnt produce a sweet sauce but a better-balanced one. In the case of the Villa Maria Riesling, an online tech sheet (producer and importer websites often have them easily available) confirmed that, at just under 11g per litre of residual sugar, the wine is at the upper limits of a dry style, approaching off-dry, but with 8.5g per litre of acidity, it was well-balanced.
Todays selection includes some affordable introductions, and a few more special drops if you feel like exploring what this queen of grapes can do.
Wines of the week
Immich-Batterieberg CAI Riesling 2022
Immich-Batterieberg CAI Riesling 2022, Mosel, Germany,11.5pc, 24.50 A fully dry Kabinett Riesling from a winery dating back to a 10th-century monastery. CAI is Carl August Immich, who created the Batterieberg (aka Battered Mountain) vineyard terraces in the 1840s by blasting the hills with dynamite. Featuring fruit sourced from sustainably managed vines across the Mosel, this is crisp, elegant and mineral with some petrol-like development and zingy acidity. Their next wine up is the crystalline Detonator (27, 64wine.ie). MacCurtain Wine Cellar; Pinto Wines, Fine Wine & Food, Strandfield
Melanie Pfister Berg Riesling 2022
Melanie Pfister Berg Riesling 2022, Alsace, France, 12.5pc, 27 Pretty kumquat and lemon scented by wild rosemary and thyme and a touch of waxy lanolin, with soft texture and lively structure, delicacy, power and purity. This skilled eighth-generation winemaker has her eye firmly on a sustainable future, producing Riesling in a cooler corner of Alsace. winespark.com
Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling 2022
Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling 2022, Marlborough, New Zealand, 11.5pc, 10.40-15 From the Kiwi homeland of Sauvignon Blanc comes this vibrant introduction to Riesling, with lemon leaf character, hints of mandarin and ginger, and some signature, petrol-like aromas already showing. (10.40 in Dunnes until August 5) SuperValu, selected independents, Dunnes Stores; dunnesstoresgrocery.com
Bird In Hand Riesling 2021
Bird In Hand Riesling 2021, Australia, 12pc, 27.95 From an Adelaide Hills winery, this blends Riesling from two distinct cool-climate regions: Clare Valley and Tasmania. Nuanced and smoky with juicy apple, kaffir lime and floral notes, super clean acidity and a steely minerality making for a great pairing with seafood or Asian flavours. Dalys Off-Licence, Ely Wine Store, 52 For You, Searsons; searsons.com
Alkoomi Riesling Grazing Collection 2022
Alkoomi Riesling Grazing Collection 2022, Frankland River, Western Australia, 12.5pc, 14.50 (from 16.25) Lifted aromas of key lime, pink grapefruit and exotic white fruit lead to jasmine flavours on the mouthwatering palate in this easy-drinking Riesling that can be enjoyed with or without food perfect for a gathering with nibbles to graze on. Wines Direct, Athlone & Mullingar; winesdirect.ie
THE great electric car turn-off continues apace as new figures show a 25pc plunge in buyer numbers for the year to date.
Registrations fell again last month (by 24.7pc) to just 3,147 - down from the 4,117 registered in July 2023.
So far this year only 13,885 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have been registered a 25pc reduction of nearly 5,000 on the 18,484 registered in the first seven months of last year. BEV registrations are now back to 2022 levels at a time when they should be rising steadily to meet government targets.
And the portents are not good for the remainder of this year. If BEV sales didnt recover in July, the second largest sales month of the year - when the 242 reg takes over it is hard to see a tangible rise from here on in.
The latest SIMI figures paint a gloomy picture with overall new-car registrations for July falling 5.9pc (to 25,726 from 27,336) and remain virtually static for the year so far: 104,652 v 104,938.
Understandably the new SIMI figures sparked calls for government action, especially on BEVs from the motor industry.
SIMI director general Brian Cooke said: We are at a critical juncture on the journey to zero emission vehicles, but we need decisive actions in the Budget to arrest this slide and to reignite Ireland's EV momentum.
He said that can be done by extending the BIK incentive at current levels, and increasing the SEAI grants back to 2022 levels until the market recovers.
Budget 2025 is a real chance for Government to signal their commitment to fleet electrification and is an opportunity they should grasp.
Several incentives were reduced last year, including the SEAI purchase and home charger grants, while Benefit-In-Kind (BIK) for company EVs is schedule to increase significantly in 2025.
Elsewhere the SIMI data show used imports are on a steady rise up 32.2pc last month to 5,828 - while year-to-date they are up 26.4pc (37,199) on 2023 (29,433).
Petrol cars top the new car market at 31.95pc, followed by diesel at 22.90pc, hybrid (20.72pc), electric at 13.27pc and plug-in electric hybrids at 9.62pc.
Six years ago, she put a Repeal badge on her profile picture, adding the small red icon to a picture taken of her on a night out. She seemed like a young woman who, like the majority of her generation, wanted the country to change. On her social media profile, she would share links to fundraisers for women in need or for mental health causes. And some years after the Eighth Amendment was finally scrapped, she was supporting repeal the seal a grassroots campaign to keep key documents relating to the States mother and baby homes out of a state archive. She was disturbed by police violence against black people in the United States after the death of George Floyd, sharing links to videos that articulated the deep anxiety of black American parents about the safety of their children.
An island of culture, of art and ideas thats the way we pitch ourselves to the world. We do it so well. But are we really fostering those clever taglines when it comes to the next generation? Recently, Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD, mused that exam formats, like the ones we have at state level in Ireland, celebrate what we consider to be an average student.
Thomas Dooley, who was killed in a graveyard in Tralee, Co Kerry
Youre a big man now was jeered at Thomas Dooley as he lay bleeding to death in a Kerry graveyard in October 2022. Savagely attacked by his own relatives, one of Dooleys last words to his wife were Run, just run before he succumbed to his injuries.
The 42-year-old father of seven and his wife Siobhan were at the New Rath graveyard to pay their respects to a close friend Bridget O'Brien. They had no idea this would be the darkest day of their lives.
Siobhan Dooley desperately tried to protect her husband as he was attacked by six men armed with machetes and sword-like weapons, suffering a serious injury herself in the process.
This week there were emotional scenes before the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork as five men were jailed for life for the murder Mr Dooley (43) including his younger brother, brother-in-law, cousins and nephew. A sixth person, a male teenager, is be sentenced next October.
Today on The Indo Daily Ellen Coyne is joined by Ralph Riegel, southern correspondent for the Irish Independent, to discuss the disturbing details of the Kerry graveyard trial and what led to this murder.
Fine Gael councillor John Paul OShea (FG) recently received confirmation from Cork County Council that 31 projects in Cork County have been provisionally approved by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) for total funding of 1,000,265.28. The Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP) is a new programme developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
It aims to address climate change at a local level and aims to support and empower communities to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities to contribute to national climate and energy targets. Some of the groups in North Cork and Mid Cork who will receive funding are as follows: Banteer Community Sportsfield Ltd - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on sports building to reduce energy costs: 54,718.35 Charleville Community Sports Complex Limited (CCSC) - Deep retrofit of an existing sports building and the installation of solar PV panels to reduce energy costs: 97,924.88 Coachford AFC - Installation of solar PV panels on sports building to reduce energy costs: 29,226.25 Friends of Firmount - Deep retrofit of an existing community building to reduce energy costs: 98,455.00 Kanturk & District Community Council - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on two community buildings to reduce energy costs: 32,300.00 Kilbrin Community Council - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on a community building to reduce energy costs: 28,975.00 Kilshannig GAA - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on sports building to reduce energy costs and LED lighting for existing walkway: 88,842.13 Macroom Tidy Towns - Upgrade of existing path to develop an active travel cycleway/pathway: 97,246.80 Mallow Tidy Towns - Installation of bike racks/public seating from repurposed retired wind turbine blade in the town to enhance active travel facilities and improve uptake: 12,300.00 Milford Area Community Council - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on community building to reduce energy costs and upgrade of internal lighting to LED: 12,025.00 Mourneabbey Community Council - Installation of solar PV panels and battery storage on a community building to reduce energy costs, as well as the installation of an EV charging point: 36,326.00 The Schoolyard Theatre and Arts Centre - Energy retrofit of inefficient historic community building to improve energy efficiency and reduce heat loss and associated costs: 57,788.52 Cllr OShea congratulated the groups on their successful funding applications: Well done to all these groups in putting forward some very good applications. I hope to see these works completed over the coming weeks and months.
Mallow Town Hall has secured 7m in funding under THRIVE, the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme.
The money was secured by Cork County Council and it will help fund the transformation of Mallow Town Hall with ambitious plans to convert it into a vibrant arts centre.
THRIVE aims to allow local authorities and citizens to reimagine and revitalise town centres though the renovation and reuse of publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings.
Following a recent application submitted by the Kanturk/Mallow Municipal District, Mallow Town Hall has been selected for revitalisation, with plans to convert it into a vibrant arts centre for Mallow.
As a community that cherishes its heritage, this project promises to reinvigorate the heart of Mallow and provide a cultural hub for residents and visitors alike.
This significant level of funding, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union, signifies a major milestone for the Mallow community.
Fianna Fail councillor Pat Hayes welcomed the allocation of funds for Mallow Town Hall. I am overjoyed to share the news of this funding approval, which will bring new life to the cherished Mallow Town Hall. After years of dedicated effort I am delighted to see our vision for the town hall's transformation becoming a reality. This building holds a special place in the hearts of the people of Mallow with memories of the library and the pipe band resonating within its walls, he said.
The successful securing of the funding is a testament to the perseverance of Cllr Pat Hayes and his political colleagues who have strongly advocated for the project.
Their tireless efforts in lobbying the central government have culminated in this crucial investment that will benefit the entire community.
I am excited for the positive impact this project will have on Mallow, said Cllr Hayes. I am immensely grateful for the support we have received. The reopening of the town hall will not only preserve our heritage but also create a dynamic space for cultural activities and community engagement.
The transformation of Mallow Town Hall into an arts centre represents a bright future for the town, fostering creativity, heritage preservation, and community cohesion.
Cllr Pat Hayes is looking forward to witnessing the town hall's doors open once again which will usher in a new era of cultural vibrancy and community pride.
Trade group expands network in US capital
09:58, August 01, 2024 By Minlu Zhang ( China Daily
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng (second from left) attends the opening ceremony of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's new office in Washington, DC, on July 30, 2024. (MINLU ZHANG/CHINA DAILY)
A Chinese organization dedicated to promoting international trade and investment between China and foreign businesses expanded what it called its "circle of friends" in Washington on Tuesday, a move that a United States trade group sees as a positive sign for bilateral trade.
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, founded in 1952, works to strengthen the bonds between Chinese and foreign businesses and advances international economic and trade exchanges.
The organization, which opened an office in Maryland in 1988, moved to a new location in the US capital on Tuesday, sharing the same building with the US Chamber of Commerce. Around 130 business representatives from about 60 US companies and 40 Chinese companies attended a reception held to mark the opening of the office.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng noted that the CCPIT hosted delegations from the US Chamber of Commerce in February, and from the US-China Business Council in July.
"The representative office of CCPIT has served as an important bridge and bond (for) Chinese and American business activities. It has played an important role in strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations," Xie said.
Tuesday's event followed the conclusion on July 18 of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which highlighted expanding market access in various sectors and promoting an open economic system to benefit global cooperation.
"The session has made the arrangements for opening-up, including steadily expanding institutional opening-up, broadening market access, and effectively protecting the legitimate rights of foreign investment companies," Xie said.
He emphasized that the plenum represented "a clear signal of China's commitment to expanding a high-level opening-up".
China "will continue to forge a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and international, offering even greater opportunities for businesses from all countries," he said.
Xie told the business representatives that "We welcome you to continue the investment and business ties with China, to share in the dividends of this high-quality development".
"This will bring benefits to both our two peoples and help the two countries to embark on the right way to get along in the new era under the principle of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation," he said.
A delegation from the board of directors of the US-China Business Council visited China last week.
Ren Hongbin, chairman of the CCPIT, along with a delegation of about 50 Chinese business representatives, made a reciprocal visit this week.
In the first half of 2024, bilateral trade between China and the US grew 2.9 percent year-on-year, and the number of US companies investing in China increased by more than 20 percent in that same period, with the amount of actual investment doubling, according to Ren.
He said that the two countries' industrial and supply chains are deeply integrated. In November, companies from the US sent the most exhibitors of any foreign country to the China International Supply Chain Expo, the world's first national exhibition focusing on supply chains.
Cliff Seagroves, principal deputy director of the Office of Foreign Missions of the US State Department, said he was pleased to see the CCPIT's new location finally opening in the heart of Washington.
"We're confident that this space will help bridge the gap between US and China and strengthen our economic cooperation for both US businesses and Chinese businesses," he said.
Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council, said the opening of the new office is a positive sign for returning to a growth track, increasing trade and investment and benefiting the people of both countries.
Charles Freeman, senior vice-president for Asia of the US Chamber of Commerce, said: "We're living in the age of small yards and high fences. It's up to the business communities to move past all the frictions and the challenges and really implement what is at the heart and soul of the US-China relationship, which is the people-to-people relationship.
"There is no question in my mind, whenever someone asks, are the United States and China, are we actually going to enter into some real conflict? I say no. Because the relationship between people is so strong and so permanent that I think it can overcome," he said.
The Chinese delegation visited New York on Monday, continued to Washington, DC, and Maryland on Tuesday, and will go to Seattle, Washington, next.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, stated that Russia is ready for dialogue with Georgia, even at the level of parliaments, if the Georgians remain "friendly" towards the Russians."If there is a desire for dialogue on the part of Georgia, then we are ready even now, despite the fact that we do not have diplomatic relations. This is the mission of parliamentarians, they are elected for this," Matviyenko said.She added, "There are no contacts yet, of course, not because of us. Difficult political processes are going on in Georgia, a lot of things are being reconsidered. Parliamentary elections will be held in Georgia in October and, of course, they will determine the course of economic, social, and political development."Matviyenko said that, despite the current situation in Georgia, Russia maintains respect for the Georgian people. "Georgian people are close to us, friendly to us. We will see how the election campaign will end," she noted.According to her, the West is trying to interfere in the pre-election process of Georgia "using familiar scenarios and tools."Giga Bokeria has announced his resignation as the chairman of European Georgia. During a recent briefing, Bokeria cited significant disagreements within the party, primarily regarding the rules for conducting primaries, as the reason for his decision.Bokeria explained that the conflict emerged over who should be eligible to participate in the primaries. He argued that only those who openly support European Georgia should be allowed to participate. However, other party leaders, including the Chairman of the Political Council Gigi Tsereteli and General Secretary Akaki Bobokhidze, decided that undecided voters who did not want to publicly endorse the party could also participate. This decision led to a serious internal conflict.Bokeria praised the primaries as a positive and competitive process, but noted that the results and his stance on supporting certain teams were unacceptable to some party members. He emphasized that this internal discord, amid external accusations of "wasting votes and giving gifts to the regime," undermined the party's ability to run a successful election campaign.Due to these disagreements and the unexpected value conflict with Bobokhidze and his supporters, Bokeria decided to step down from his position and withdraw from the parliamentary list and political team. He stated that he could no longer be responsible for the party's election strategy and would not seek re-election at the upcoming party congress scheduled for August 11.
Cmere til I tell ye, a Crumlin woman who loves Irish slang and hopes its passed down through generations is thriving with her very unique enterprise.
28-year-old Sarah Madden has an online shop where she sells items with distinctly Irish sayings like: stop the lights, away with the fairies, scarlet for ye, deadly and gerrup owda.
The one-woman business anotherpoxysarah, was meant to be a lockdown hobby, but four years later, its so much more.
I love listening to our slang and thinking, how did we end up here, knowing theres a real logic and history behind it all is so cool, Madden told the Irish Independent.
I hope it never dies and is passed down for generations to come.
Theres something quite special about the wit and character of the Irish people. Its such an important and long-standing part of our culture.
We have a way of making light of even the most serious of situations and can poke fun at ourselves along the way. Theres a real sense of community, inclusivity, and comfort in it too. Nothing beats the craic.
Initially, anotherpoxysarah was never intended to be a business. During those first two weeks of lockdown in 2020, I decided to set up an Instagram page for my art in a bid to keep my designs and selfies separate for those who didnt want to see both.
It was just a space for me to keep my art and see my progress, but after just a couple weeks I began to have complete strangers reach out asking me if they could purchase prints.
So, I bought a printer and set up an online shop in October of that year. I guess it kind of happened by accident, I was incredibly lucky with the support I received in the beginning from both people I knew and complete strangers.
If youre feeling like an absolute chancer and are willing to act the maggot with your online shopping, Madden has a variety of keyrings, prints, stickers and greeting cards available on her website.
The most popular pieces right now are Bollix Bread, Give Over Pint and Cant Be Arsed Orange, she added.
People love a good pun and seeing something familiar but with a twist to it. Were a real nostalgic bunch.
My customers are predominantly Irish people or people who have come to live in Ireland and understand the humour. I would say there is no particular age group or gender specific, it is quite varied.
I would get the odd order heading across Europe or further to America or Oz [Australia] too. Its always to expats who want something to remind them of home.
Blackrock Health, Blackrock Clinic, and St. Vincents Private Hospital in Dublin will receive Irelands first ongoing medical device delivery service by drone.
Blackrock Health, Blackrock Clinic, and St. Vincents Private Hospital in Dublin will receive Irelands first ongoing medical device delivery service by drone.
Wing and Apian have partnered with healthcare technology company Medtronic to try and demonstrate the benefits drones could offer in healthcare logistics.
Over the next few months, Wing and Apian will deliver medical supplies and devices to hospitals by drone.
Wings drones are lightweight and electric, and can make quicker, more reliable deliveries than traditional modes of transport. They will fly more direct routes and at speeds up to approximately 100 km per hour, avoiding the traffic congestion on Dublins roads.
Currently, hospitals depend on road vehicles to transport medical supplies to hospitals or healthcare centres, but urban locations experience frequent delays due to congestion, as well as associated higher carbon emissions.
The delivery service will commence with items including ingestible cameras, sutures, surgical tools and heart valve repair products, with plans to expand to pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) in the future.
Dr Caroline Whelan, CEO of Blackrock Health said: At Blackrock Health, innovation is at the core of what we do, and this partnership is a prime example of the opportunities that exist when integrating technology into the healthcare industry, with an added benefit of supporting our commitment to sustainability.
We are excited by the possibilities that come with this drone delivery service, and hope to expand this beyond receiving medical supplies, by extending use to other services in time between our hospitals.
Brian Fitzgerald, CEO, St Vincents Private Hospital added: St Vincents Healthcare Group is continuously harnessing advances in science and research to provide innovative treatment and care to our patients.
Participating in this trial continues this tradition and allows St Vincents Private Hospital to explore how integrating drone technology into our hospital can improve patient care, enhance supply chain management and enable us to operate more efficiently and sustainably.
The partnership has been designed to support patients as they receive the care they need, sooner. Medical drone deliveries have the potential to create more efficient healthcare systems, with less wastage of medical supplies, and more space for patient-facing care facilities as providers receive what they need, when they need it.
The initiative will have up to 100 flights weekly. The partners are working closely with the Irish Aviation Authority to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Kristian Howells, Group Commercial Director at Medtronic said: The use of drones in medical logistics presents an exciting opportunity to get our life-saving technologies to the people who need them quicker than ever before.
Traditional supply chains have limitations that the inclusion of drones may help to overcome. What we learn from this pilot programme will help us to create more resilient supply chains that are patient focused.
Sophie Coyle is playing the fundraising gig in aid of Medical Aid for Palestine in The Spirit Store
Elephant plays the outdoor stage in the fund-raising gig for Medical Aid for Palestine on Saturday in The Spirit Store
Jinx Lennon is playing the gig for Medical Aid for Palestine on Saturday in The Spirit Store
David Keenan is one of the acts performing for Medical Aid for Palestine on Saturday in The Spirit Store
Some of Dundalks top bands and musicians have come together to organise a special gig for Medical Aid Palestine on Saturday August 3.
With no end in sight to the ongoing horrors of war and genocide being inflicted on civilians in the region, they hope to raise much needed funds for Medical Aid for Palesine, one of the few international organisations working to provide humanitarian and medical aid
Its a collective effort featuring multi-generational acts, says Dundalk singer-songwriter David Keenan.
"There have been a number of gigs held in Dublin in recent months to raise money and awareness about what is happening in Palestine so we are trying to do something similar here.
He said that the majority of Irish people seemed to be aligned with Palestine and they wanted to raise funds for Medical Aid for Palestine at a time when genocide is occurring and to keep the conversation going about what is happening there.
Its a real community effort. Everybody is giving their time voluntarily and The Spirit Store have given us the venue for free.
He is delighted that musicians across the different generations have supported the gig.
"Theres people like Jinx Lennon and myself, then you have the likes of Negro Impacto and finally theres the young bands who are just starting out.
"I cant remember the last time that artists from the different generations came together to do something like this, he continued.
He hopes that local music lovers will come out and give the gig the support it deserves.
"Theres a really great line-up so that for the price of one ticket you get to see all these great acts playing the same gig.
The concert opens with Elephant, who recently played a very special gig in The Spirit Store with the Glas Quartet to mark the launch of their album Keeping Well, playing on the outdoor stage from 5.30pm.
Next up are two of the towns most promising young musicians, T J Murphy at 6.15pm, follow by Rowan at 7pm. The honour of wrapping up procedures on the outdoor stages at 7.45pm goes to the up and coming band KOI.
Traditional musician Roisin Ward Morrow, who released her EP, Whereon She
Stands in March, will be playing in the Backroom at 8.45pm, followed by Geansai at 9.30pm.
Upstairs in the main venue, Sophie Coyle, who released her second album Cuentista in April, will take to the stage at 8.30pm.
She will be followed by Negro Impacto at 9.15pm ,giving local fans the opportunity to catch this talented duo live on stage.
Local hero Jinx Lennon takes to the stage at 10pm, followed by David Keenan at 10.45pm.
The night will draw to a close with the young band imBau at 11.30pm.
The Wolfe Tones will play two sold-out shows at the Breakwater Festival ahead of Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann 2024
The huge marquee being erected at Ferrybank at the far side of Wexford Bridge for The Breakwater Festival.
Back in 1967, The Wolfe Tones packed up the van and headed for Enniscorthy, Co Wexford to perform at their very first Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.
With plenty of ups and downs in the intervening 57 years, and a recent resurgence in popularity, the legendary Dublin act will return to the model county in the coming days for what will be their final Fleadh, as part of their farewell tour.
The Wolfe Tones are set to kick off the Breakwater Festival, which takes place in a huge 2,500 capacity tent erected at the far side of Wexford Bridge in Ferrybank in recent days. On Thursday and Friday, the rebel group have their sold out shows; on Saturday Dec Pierces Block Rockin Beats is approaching a sell-out and next weekend on Friday and Saturday, therell be performances by local act Green Road and The Whistlin Donkeys.
The Wolfe Tones ( Photo by Kevin Scott )
"Its a lovely site, said Brian Byrne of Lantern Events, who are behind the new festival. We are so grateful to Wexford County Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service for helping to make this happen and were very excited to activate what is a beautiful site in Wexford town.
An impressive structure, the huge yellow and blue tent is visible the length of Wexford Quay.
"We can take 2,500 people per night, Brian explains. Weve also 100 staff employed each night, which were very happy to be able to do.
One other element which Brian is proud of is that Breakwater Festival will be near zero-waste festival.
"We wont be using single use plastics," he said. Well be using the heavier plastic, reusable cups for drinks on the night. The aim is to drastically reduce the refuse from the festival and its something we'll be rolling out at all our festivals going forward.
With Breakwater Festival adding to the excitement of the Fleadh, Brian says that excitement is definitely transferring to the acts.
"They cant wait, he said. I think Dec Pierce was getting hourly updates from his Wexford followers as the tent was going up! For The Wolfe Tones, its a wonderful opportunity to say goodbye to their fans in the south east.
"I think town looks great and people are starting to get really excited for the Fleadh and were thrilled to play a part and put a bit of colour on it from our side.
For more details and to purchase the final tickets, visit breakwaterfestival.ie
Conor McGregor has reacted to his two-year road ban for his appalling dangerous driving conviction, saying hes been fighting my whole life.
The UFC star narrowly avoided a jail sentence when he appeared in court yesterday where Judge David McHugh described McGregor's dangerous driving as "persistent, prolonged and deliberate".
Posting a picture of himself on Instagram as he arrived at Blanchardstown District Court he wrote: Ive been fighting my whole life..its worked out but, alongside a laughing emoji and a snippet of a song by Future featuring Drake.
The photo shows McGregor looking serious as he makes his way into court with a snippet from the rap song Life is good playing in the background.
McGregor admitted to the "appalling" episode of dangerous driving where he drove in a bus lane, jumped a red light and nearly collided with another vehicle.
McGregor's Instagram post
McGregor (36) told a garda "are you taking the piss" after he was asked to step out of his car on Dublin's M50.
He also told the garda he was waiting to get out of his car because he "needed his security to catch up".
A garda witness said he was driving at speeds of more than 160kph trying to catch McGregor's vehicle.
Judge David McHugh said this incident was an appalling series of breaches of road traffic rules, and described McGregor's dangerous driving as "persistent, prolonged and deliberate".
Judge McHugh convicted and fined McGregor 5,000 and banned him from driving for two years.
The judge also imposed a five month jail sentence suspended for two years.
The defendant, of The Paddocks, Castledillon, Straffan, Co Kildare, admitted careless driving at the M50 southbound and dangerous driving at the N4/M50 interchange.
Garda Denis Lordan told Blanchardstown District Court he was stopped at traffic lights at the junction of Lucan Road/R136 at 5.34pm on March 22, 2022, when he looked in his left wing mirror and saw a vehicle travelling along the bus lane at speed.
The vehicle, a convertible, drove through the red light, failed to stop and merged from the bus lane onto the Lucan Road, all in one movement.
The car merged from the bus lane at high speed, and a second vehicle was forced to stop to avoid a collision.
Gda Lordan said McGregor drove at high speed and out onto the roundabout outside Woodies without stopping. The car drove on the bus lane eastbound on the N4, before crossing the bus lane out onto the fast lane.
Gda Lordan said McGregor drove at high speed on the N4, and the garda said he was doing more than 160kph trying to catch the vehicle.
McGregor tried to undertake a car on the last lane, moving into the middle lane, before moving back out onto the fast lane, the court heard.
The court heard McGregor had 20 previous convictions, mostly for minor road traffic matters.
Defence lawyer David Staunton said that McGregor offered his apology to the court, and he regretted the incident.
Mr Staunton said McGregor was acutely aware of the impact his behaviour had on others.
The defendant was also very, very aware and acknowledged the difficulties driving like that can cause to others.
Mr Staunton said the defendant had given back to his community, had a number of businesses and employed a lot of people.
McGregor's father, who had been ill, was in court to support him, Mr Staunton said.
Judge McHugh said McGregor put his life and the lives of other road users at risk, and he was considering an outright prison sentence due to the nature and degree of dangerous driving.
Mr Staunton urged the judge to consider all other options, as prison should be a last resort.
In all the circumstances, Judge McHugh said he would impose a five month suspended sentence.
McGregor, wearing a three piece blue check suit, sat in the dock with his hands clasped for the duration of the hearing. He did not address the court.
01/08/2024 Siobhan Delaney, Cashel, Katie OMahoney, Oughterard and Catherine Gorton, Oughterard enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Carlha Callinan, Spiddeal enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Davinia Knight, Portarlington enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Genevieve Ryan, Roscommon enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 PAnna Miko, Rebecca Bleahen and Sinead Cassidy all from Galway enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Aisling Mulroe, Tourmakeady enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Niamh ODonovan, Gort, Jennifer Wrynne, Leitrim, Mary Lee, Gort and Hayley Coleman, Westport enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Therese Conway , Oranmore uses her sisters Carita Conway glasses to put on some lipbalm at Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Jean Browne, Tuam, Gillian Duggan, GAlway, Pamela Richardson, Galway, Carloine Downey, Tuam and Marianne Walsh, Galway enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Davinia Knight, Portarlington enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
01/08/2024 Genevieve Ryan, Roscommon enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
The four-legged fillies will barely get a look in at the Galway Races today as thousands of stylish ladies compete to be crowned the Best Dressed.
It is the honour of a lifetime for the fashion focused to be crowned the victor at Ladies Day at the Galway Races.
The contest will be judged by Mandy Maher, Kieran OMalley and Michelle Regazzoli-Stone.
The Best Dressed prize winner will walk away with an eye-watering 10,000 cash prize.
While winner of the Best Hat will win 3,000.
Judge Kieran OMalley, digital marketing manager for the Connacht Hospitality Group, said choosing one winner would be difficult because everywhere I look the style is incredible.
01/08/2024 Davinia Knight, Portarlington enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
We are looking for a classic look, but it has to be race-appropriate.
The Galway races is sophisticated and mature and we are looking for something that its on brand with that.
As a group, the Connacht Hospitality Group, were a really stylish brand and we are looking for something that aligns with that.
So its difficult, everyones fashion choice is really different, but Im hoping that I look around and I go Wow, thats it, thats our winner.
That happened last year, it was really exciting and I think we chose a fabulous winner. Hopefully this year it can be sort of similar again.
01/08/2024 Niamh ODonovan, Gort, Jennifer Wrynne, Leitrim, Mary Lee, Gort and Hayley Coleman, Westport enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
OMalley said the fashion community in Galway is supportive and inclusive and Ladies Day is a great time for friends to come together.
Theres great honesty in it and energy in it.
And Im with some of the most stylish people in the west, so its brilliant to be able to bounce ideas off each other.
Weve been going through the pictures already and there is some outstanding candidates
I know as people come in the gates, the standard is going to rise and rise.
01/08/2024 Siobhan Delaney, Cashel, Katie OMahoney, Oughterard and Catherine Gorton, Oughterard enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
In terms of what he is looking for in a winning outfit OMalley said: I want to see a lot of thought has gone into it, that it all works together and ties in.
We have incredible head pieces everywhere we look, but it has to work with the outfit, and then you have to have thought into the accessories.
I love a story, you know I wore this to my sisters wedding or my friend made it or something like that.
01/08/2024 Jean Browne, Tuam, Gillian Duggan, GAlway, Pamela Richardson, Galway, Carloine Downey, Tuam and Marianne Walsh, Galway enjoying Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
Theres a lot of sustainable dressing this year.
I have met people throughout the week that have been wearing pre-loved clothes and thats brilliant to see as well.
Its not all about spending a fortune.
01/08/2024 Therese Conway , Oranmore uses her sisters Carita Conway glasses to put on some lipbalm at Ladies Day of the Galway Races Summer Festival in Ballybrit. Photo: Ray Ryan
But if theres something emotional about your outfit, if theres a story with it, thats lovely as well.
Stylist Marietta Doran, the official style MC of Ladies Day, said she loves nothing more than given women a platform to talk about their fashion choices.
And Marietta set the tone with a showstopping ensemble of orange silk.
My headpiece is Edel Ramberg from Galway, I always support our local Galway milliners.
My dress is Roisin Linnane, Roisin is incredible and she featured recently in Vogue.
Im really looking forward to a great day. There is nothing like the excitement at the Galway Races.
Tacky, distracting and made for social media please let runway stunts go out of fashion this season
With New York Fashion Week coming up next month, one Irish stylist is issuing a plea: let the clothes do the talking, not the shenanigans
Crazy runway moments
Orla Dempsey Thu 1 Aug 2024 at 03:30
Supermodel Linda Evangelista famously said that she wouldnt get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, and when it came to Paris Fashion Week last summer, Tommy Cash didnt get out of bed, well, at all. The Estonian rapper and visual artist arrived to the Y/Project menswear show wearing pyjamas and shrouded in a duvet and pillow. Sitting next to musical artists Avril Lavigne and Tyga on the front row, Cash applied a facemask and cucumber slices to his face as the models walked past.
A 17-year-old boy charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder for the stabbings at a dance class in northwest England was named in court on Thursday as Axel Rudakubana, as he made his first court appearance.
Ukraines air force said yesterday it repelled one of Russias largest long-range drone attacks of the war overnight, shooting down all 89 drones launched at Kyiv and other areas.
The attack, which came more than 29 months after Russias full-scale invasion, primarily targeted Kyiv and the surrounding region where authorities said more than 40 drones were shot down. An air raid alert remained in place most of the night.
Irish citizen released from jail as part of largest prisoner swap between US and Russia since Cold War
Paul Whelan was found guilty by a Russian court of spying for the United States.
Irish citizen Paul Whelan
Eric Tucker, Dasha Litvinova and Matthew Lee Thu 1 Aug 2024 at 17:41
AN Irish passport holder imprisoned in a Russian penal colony on espionage charges has been released in the biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history.
Palestinian people step through the rubble of Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out from the area following a raid. Photo: Reuters
Hours after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, anxious residents in Israeli-besieged Gaza voiced fear that his death would only prolong the war ravaging the Palestinian enclave.
A framed photo of Haniyeh amid the ruins of his Gaza home reminded Palestinians of the death and destruction brought on by a war now in its 10th month, with little hope for a truce as Hamas and Iran vow revenge against Israel for his killing.
Kamala Harris tells Donald Trump say it to my face as she dares him to debate her
Former US president has continued his personal attacks on the Democrats likely nominee
Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: Reuters
Oliver O'Connell UK Independent Thu 1 Aug 2024 at 03:30
Kamala Harris delivered a fierce address in her first rally since becoming the Democrats likely presidential nominee as she dared Donald Trump to take the debate stage.
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Toyota Proposes Greenfield Investment in Maharashtra, Part of Diversification Strategy in India
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has announced a significant expansion with plans to set up a new manufacturing plant in Maharashtra, marking a pivotal move in the companys strategy to enhance its presence in India. This ambitious project, set to involve an investment of around INR 200 billion (approx. US$2.38 billion), reflects TKMs commitment to expanding its footprint in the country and driving the future of sustainable mobility.
A strategic investment in Maharashtra
On July 31, TKM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to explore the establishment of a greenfield manufacturing facility at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The development signaled TKMs intention to deepen its investment in India, building on its already substantial presence in Karnataka, where it operates two manufacturing units in Bidadi near Bengaluru.
The new plant in Maharashtra represents a strategic expansion for TKM, which has been steadily increasing its production capacity and export contributions from India. TKMs Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Masakazu Yoshimura, emphasized that the new investment would mark a crucial step in the companys growth, enabling it to provide qualitative mobility solutions locally and globally.
Diversifying presence across multiple states
While TKMs expansion into Maharashtra is a significant development, it has not come at the expense of its commitments in Karnataka. Karnataka Industries Minister MB Patil reassured that this move should not be seen as a setback for the state. He highlighted TKMs continued investment in Karnataka, including plans for a third car manufacturing unit in Bidadi with an investment of INR 33 billion (approx. US$394.07 million), slated to be operational by 2026.
Patils comments underscore the broader strategy of multinational companies like TKM, which seek to diversify their manufacturing bases across different regions. This approach allows for logistical efficiencies and aligns with the broader goal of positioning India as a global manufacturing hub for greener and more sustainable mobility solutions.
Reinforcing Indias role in global manufacturing
TKMs decision to invest heavily in Maharashtra is part of Toyota Motor Corporations larger vision of transforming India into a central hub for cleaner and greener automotive technologies. This vision is aligned with the companys global restructuring, which has elevated Indias role within the new India, Middle East, East Asia & Oceania Region.
The investment in Maharashtra, once finalized, is expected to create substantial job opportunities and contribute to the regions economic growth. The new plant is anticipated to manufacture around 400,000 electric and hybrid vehicles annually, generating 8,000 direct jobs and an equal number of indirect employment opportunities, according to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Sustained commitment to Karnataka
Despite the expansion into Maharashtra, TKM remains firmly committed to its operations in Karnataka. The company has invested over INR 160 billion (approx. US$1.91 billion) in the state and created nearly 86,000 jobs across its value chain. TKMs cumulative export contributions from India stand at around INR 320 billion (approx. US$3.82 billion), underscoring its focus on making in India for the world.
In 2022, TKM and its group companies announced an additional investment of INR 41 billion (approx. US$489.60 million) in Karnataka, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and accelerating the shift towards electrification and greener technologies. This expansion is set to increase TKMs production capacity in Karnataka to 442,000 vehicles annually by 2026, further cementing its role in the local economy.
The road ahead
TKMs investment in Maharashtra marks a new chapter in its journey in India. As the company navigates its expansion across multiple states, it continues to contribute to the countrys manufacturing prowess and its global aspirations in the automotive sector. With a focus on sustainable and innovative mobility solutions, TKM is poised to play a key role in shaping the future of the automotive industry in India and beyond.
(US$1=INR 83.74).
Image: Facebook/Infosys
Bengaluru/IBNS: Shares of Indian multinational information technology company Infosys dropped 1 percent to the day's low of Rs 1,845.40 on BSE on Thursday (Aug 1) after the IT major was slapped with a RS 32,403 crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence over overseas expenses, reports said.
However, the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm has provided clarification on the matter via a filing to the exchanges, calling the GTS notice a 'pre-show cause' notice and saying it believes the GST is not applicable on these expenses.
Infosys said Karnataka State GST authorities have issued a pre-show cause notice to the company for payment of GST of Rs 32,403 crore for the period July 2017 to March 2022 towards the expenses incurred by overseas branch offices of Infosys Limited.
The IT major added that it has responded to the pre-show cause notice.
"...the Company has also received a pre-show cause notice from Director General of GST Intelligence on the same matter and the Company is in the process of responding to the same," the filing by Infosys read.
"Additionally, as per a recent Circular...issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on the recommendations of the GST Council, services provided by the overseas branches to Indian entity are not subject to GST," Infosys said in its filing.
Arguing that GST payments are eligible for credit or refund against export of IT services, the firm said, "Infosys has paid all its GST dues and is fully in compliance with the Central and State regulations on this matter."
The document sent to Infosys by the Karnataka GST authorities says: "In lieu of receipt of supplies from overseas branch offices, the Company has paid consideration to the branch offices in the form of overseas branch expense."
"Hence, M/s Infosys Ltd, Bengaluru is liable to pay IGST under reverse charge mechanism on supplies received from branches located outside India to the tune of Rs 32,403.46 crores for the period 2017-18 (July 2017 onwards) to 2021-22," the GST notice read.
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence in Bengaluru believes that the IT major did not pay the Integrated-GST (IGST) on the import of services as a recipient of services, and it also alleges that Infosys set up branch offices outside India and included the expenses it incurred towards these as part of its export invoice, according to reports.
However, the GST authority's demand of Rs 32,403 crore is more than a year's profit for Infosys as the company's June quarter net profit rose 7.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,368 crore, and revenue from operations stood at Rs 39,315 crore, a rise of 3.6 percent from a year ago.
Photo courtesy: UNI
Prayagraj (UP): The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition by the Muslim side challenging the admissibility of 18 lawsuits filed by Hindus seeking the removal of a mosque from a 13.37-acre complex it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev temple, media reports said.
Justice Mayank Kumar Jain delivered the verdict, nearly two months after reserving judgment on June 6.
The court ruled that the lawsuits filed by Hindu worshippers and the deity are not barred by the Limitation Act or the Places of Worship Act, among other laws, according to an India Today report.
This decision counters the main argument of the Committee of Management Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah (Mathura), which claimed that the pending lawsuits were prohibited by the Places of Worship Act 1991, the Limitation Act 1963, and the Specific Relief Act 1963.
Taslima Aziz Ahmadi, representing the Muslim side, argued that the matter should fall under the jurisdiction of the Waqf tribunal, as it involves Waqf property.
In response, the Hindu plaintiffs argued that no property under the name Shah Idgah is listed in government records and accused the mosque of illegal occupation.
They also asserted that if the property is claimed to be Waqf, the Waqf Board must disclose the donor of the disputed property.
The hearing of petitions will resume on August 12.
The recent Khalistan Referendum has predictably fallen flat, failing to garner the traction its extremist proponents had hoped for.
Only a few hundred people showed up for this grand event that was about honouring a Canadian terrorist who was responsible for blowing up an Air India aircraft, that resulted in the loss of 300+ Canadian lives.
Thus the result is not surprising. The Khalistan movements leaders have consistently revealed their true intentionsusing the Sikh faith as a vehicle to advance personal agendas, such as gaining political clout in countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Their actions are transparent to everyone, including the global Sikh community, which largely disavows any association with the Khalistan cause.
In India and abroad, Sikhs have made it clear that the notion of Khalistan is neither practical nor desirable.
The so-called leaders of this movement have resorted to violence and extremism as tools to further their cause, alienating the very community they claim to represent.
The Khalistan movements reliance on extremism and violence has only served to underscore its lack of legitimacy and support.
Furthermore, political figures like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who have provided space and tacit encouragement to such extremist groups, bear a share of the responsibility for emboldening these elements.
Trudeaus actions have not only strained diplomatic relations but also provided a false sense of validation to a movement that thrives on discord and division.
The failure of the Khalistan Referendum to gain significant media coverage, especially in cities like Calgary, is a testament to its dwindling influence.
The only propaganda pushing this failed cause has been limited to social media platforms managed by pro-Khalistani elements and the Dashmesh Culture Society of Calgary.
This lack of mainstream media attention has clearly frustrated the proponents of the referendum.
In a desperate attempt to garner coverage, Shminder Singh, the media head of the Dashmesh Culture Society, sent letters to media agencies in Calgary and urged supporters through WhatsApp to pressure these agencies into giving the referendum attention.
This attempt to manufacture support and pressure the media underscores the movements inherent weakness. It is not a reflection of widespread support but rather a desperate bid for relevance. The Khalistan Referendums lack of success is a clear indicator that the global Sikh community and the broader public do not support the divisive and violent tactics employed by its proponents.
The failure of the Khalistan movement is a reaffirmation of the Sikh communitys commitment to peace, unity, and progress within the countries they reside. Sikhs around the world have integrated successfully into their societies, contributing significantly to their adopted homelands while maintaining their rich cultural heritage. They do not need a separate state to assert their identity or achieve their aspirations.
The message from the global Sikh community is unequivocal: Khalistan is a relic of the past, a misguided endeavor that has no place in the present or future. It is time for the proponents of this failed cause to acknowledge reality and cease their efforts to sow division. The world is moving towards greater unity and understanding, and there is no room for movements that thrive on hatred and discord.
The Khalistan Referendums failure is a victory for peace and a testament to the Sikh communitys resilience and wisdom. The global Sikh community has spokenthey want no part of Khalistan, and it is time for the handful few to listen.
(Text and Image courtesy: Khalsavox.com)
Photo Courtesy: X/SteliosFot75
London/IBNS: More than 100 anti-immigration protesters were arrested in central London on Wednesday (July 31) evening as protests following the Southport knife attack spread to different parts of the country, reports said.
According to reports, law-enforcement officials clashed with protesters last evening on Whitehall, close to Downing Street, during a demonstration, following which police had to arrest dozens of agitators to bring the situation under control.
Protests also broke out in the port town of Hartlepool where at least eight people were arrested, several police officers were injured and a police vehicle was set on fire.
The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet senior police leaders on Thursday (Aug 1) to offer them his "full backing" in the face of ongoing unrest, reports BBC.
According to reports, the meeting serves to "offer them the governments full backing following multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets".
"[The prime minister] will say that the shocking events in Southport this week serve as a reminder of the bravery of our emergency service workers and the vitally important work they do to keep the public safe," the Prime Minister's office said.
"While the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs, he will be clear that criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law," it added.
As per reports, protesters were seen launching flares towards the gates of Starmer's Downing Street office and at a statue of Winston Churchill in London, while demonstrators could be heard chanting phrases like "stop the boats" and "save our kids" as they threw cans and bottles at cops.
Photo Courtesy: X/SeanyBoyy89
The London Metropolitan Police earlier said conditions placed on the protest had been breached, adding that it made arrests for a range of offences, including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker and breach of protest conditions, on Wednesday evening.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that officers were deployed to "ensure disorder was contained" but added that some "suffered minor injuries".
Meanwhile, Cleveland Police stated that several of its officers were also hurt in Hartlepool after violence broke out in the town, adding that eight protesters were taken to custody in relation to public order offences after agitators threw glass bottles and eggs at police officers, and torched a police car.
Commenting on the Cleveland arrests, Chief Superintendent of Cleveland Police, David Sutherland said, "At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week."
Cleveland Police said the force "expects further arrests to be made in the coming days" if protests continue to spread.
Meanwhile, disorder and intimidating behaviour was also reported in Aldershot and Manchester, where two men were arrested for violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker, reports BBC.
BBC reported, quoting Greater Manchester Police, that protesters were dispersed in the Newton Heath area after "objects were thrown, towards the police and public".
Photo Courtesy: X/Wh_So_Serious
In Aldershot, local MP Alex Baker said a peaceful protest "descended into intimidating behaviour" at a hotel in the Hampshire town, adding that "the incident was exacerbated by people from outside the local community who came there determined to cause unrest."
"We all support our shared right to peacefully protest, but we will not stand for people coming to our towns determined to stir up trouble and divide our community," she said.
According to reports, Wednesday's disorder followed unrest near a mosque in Southport on Tuesday (July 30) night, during which the building was attacked.
Meanwhile, Merseyside Police officers were also pelted with bricks and a police van was set on fire.
The protests broke out after three children Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9), Bebe King (6) and Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) were fatally stabbed on Monday (July 29) while attending a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, reports said.
As per media reports, eight other children suffered knife injuries with five of them in a critical condition while two adults were also critically hurt.
Earlier this morning, a 17-year-old boy was charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder by Merseyside Police.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Liverpool City Magistrates' Court later today, reports BBC.
Image Credit: Video grab
Jerusalem: Israel's army confirmed on Thursday that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an airstrike last month in the southern Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
The announcement followed reports from Hamas and Iran that the Palestinian movement's chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran, though Israel has not commented on that claim.
"Mohammed Deif, the Osama bin Laden of Gaza, was eliminated on July 13," said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated. Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 1, 2024
The army stated that fighter jets had struck Khan Yunis on July 13 and, based on intelligence, confirmed that Deif was killed in the strike.
Deif was killed along with one of his top commanders, Rafa Salama, the report said, citing the military.
Health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza reported that more than 90 people were killed in the strike, but Hamas has denied that Deif was among them.
"Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre," the military was quoted as saying by AFP.
On that day the Hamas group attacked southern Israel, resulting in the death of 1,197 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
"During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing," the military said.
Mohammed Deif became the head of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in 2002.
He had been one of Israel's most wanted individuals for nearly 30 years and was listed as an "international terrorist" by the United States since 2015.
Born Mohammed Diab al-Masri in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965, he adopted the name "Deif," meaning "visitor" or "guest," because he was constantly moving to evade Israeli forces, never staying in one place for long, according to the AFP report.
Deif was known for his elusive nature, often appearing masked or in silhouette in videos, and rare photographs of him circulated, including one released by Israel showing him with one eye missing.
His enemies referred to him as the "cat with nine lives" due to his numerous narrow escapes from death, according to the report.
In 2014, Deif's wife and seven-month-old son were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. He announced the start of the Hamas operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" in an audio message on October 7.
Deif became involved with Hamas in the 1980s while studying at Gaza Islamic University and played a significant role in developing the network of tunnels beneath Gaza.
He was detained by Israel in the 1980s and later held by the Palestinian Authority for about two years before being released or escaping, according to reports.
In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for Deif, along with Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, was also on that list.
The prosecutor has also sought warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
During the October 7 attack, Hamas operatives captured 251 people, with 111 still being held in Gaza, including 39 whom the military says are deceased.
Since then, Israel's military campaign has resulted in the deaths of 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.
Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor recently travelled with his wife and kids for a magical New Eras tur show to Munich. Mira captioned her Instagram post as, Core memory with my sunshine swiftie (heart-shaped-love and four hearts emoji) We couldnt believe it! Mother daughter trip of dreams (sun and rainbow emojis) #taylorswift #swiftie.
Not just her, many Bollywood celebs like Raveena Tandon, Sonam Kapoor have attended the concert of this International artist. Taylor Swift is yet to come to India for a performance which is not part of the calendar.
The concert started in March and will go on till December 2023. The madness, the music, phenomena, the fashion that Taylow Swift exuberates is something to experience and watch out for.
Taylor Swift's fashion is looked up to globally. Here's taking a look at her 7 hot outfits from the New Eras concert that will inspire you. Take a look.
1. Taylor Swift performed at the crowds of 74,000 people a night in the Munich stadium
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
2. Taylor didn't know there was a huge park behind the stadium, where 50,000 people came out and listened to the show from the hillside on two nights
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
3. From Hamsberg, Milan, Munich, Amsterdam, Dublin, Taylor Swift has been killing it with her performances and outfits
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
4. Wembely stadium was a surreal experience with 90,000 crowds
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
5. Taylor Swift performance in Cardiff and Wales was a first one with this New Eras concert
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
6. Taylor Swift played her 100th show at Liverpool on the Eras tour concert
Credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram
7. Taylor fans were breaking the all-time attendance record for a stadium show in Scotland 3 times in a row
Taylor Swift New Eras concert consists of 152 shows spanning five continents. It has become the highest-grossing tour in history as the first tour ever to surpass $1 billion in revenue, and has had a documented cultural impact across the globe.
Is there such a thing as too much education? Conventional wisdom suggests that more degrees should lead to better job prospects and higher pay. Well, it turns out that's not always the case, as a 32-year-old discovered the hard way.
Roland Hesmondhalgh from Virginia holds a bachelor's degree in multiplatform journalism from Florida Institute of Technology, a master's degree in journalism from Georgetown, and is even enrolled in Harvard's online creative-writing program.
Yet, despite his impressive credentials, he has been job-hunting for over four years with no success.
In 2019, Roland Hesmondhalgh was a part-time photojournalist and was working toward a bachelor's degree in multiplatform journalism at the Florida Institute of Technology, hoping it would lead to a full-time job.
Instead, he was laid off and has struggled to find work ever since, according to Business Insider.
Despite his degrees, Hesmondhalgh finds himself with few options beyond low-paying freelance gigs.
Roland Hesmondhalgh
In fact, it is in part because of his degrees, Hesmondhalgh feels he isn't getting a job. He applies for jobs weekly, but his credentials seem to be more of a hindrance than a help.
His degrees have "opened no doors," he says, leaving him overqualified for many entry-level positions and struggling to secure roles in his field due to a lack of formal newsroom experience.
For non-journalism jobs, his extensive education appears to work against him.
"I can't get anything even at minimum wage," he laments. "Never mind what I spent years of college and tens of thousands of dollars being trained for."
According to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas earlier this year, over 500 journalists were laid off from news outlets in January this year itself.
For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
An American woman was unaware that winning the lottery would result in a payout of $207,199 (roughly Rs. 1.73 crore). The Macomb County player informed Michigan Lottery authorities that she was first sceptical of the email, which she discovered in her spam folder.
Who is the woman who won the lottery from a spam email?
54-year-old woman, who preferred to remain nameless, was unaware | Image: Canva
It turns out that the 54-year-old woman, who preferred to remain nameless, was unaware that the lotteries she played were winning her drawing entries for the Second Chance games.
Also read: Woman almost lost Rs 1.6 crore after throwing lottery ticket into trash, thinking she would never win
"I didn't know that by playing certain games online I was earning entries into a Second Chance drawing, so I was confused when I came across an email from the Michigan Lottery in my spam folder saying I'd won a $207,199 BIG CA$H Second Chance jackpot prize," she explained.
How did the woman discover that the email was authentic?
The player stated that she researched more into how the incentives work and discovered that the message was indeed authentic | Image: Canva
The player stated that she researched more into how the incentives work and discovered that the message was indeed authentic.
"After looking into it, I figured out how I had earned the entries, and then I checked three different times to make sure the email was real," she recalled.
"This win is so exciting and couldn't have come at a better time," the player added. The quinquagenarian plans to invest her winnings and use part of it to pay bills.
Also read: Man earns lottery worth Rs 8.3 crores, all thanks to his dream of buying diamonds
When have people won the lottery in unusual ways?
Earlier, a dream about playing the Massachusetts Lottery led a man to win a $1 million in jackpot in the USA. Howard Kendall Jr. said he dreamt of buying a $10 4,000,000 Diamonds scratch-off ticket, so he decided to go a 7-Eleven Store in his hometown, Plymouth, to make it come true.
Many people have won lottery in unusual ways | Image: Canva
The numbers on his ticket matched those of the first prize, leading to the massive win. Not long before that, a woman said the itchy palm superstition convinced her to buy a ticket on a day she had no plans of playing, and ended up getting her a $50,000 Maryland Lottery prize.
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Life in Delhi came to a halt Wednesday after torrential rains crippled the national capital. The downpour last evening, combined with high gusts and lightning, resulted in swamped roads, flooded homes, and traffic congestion.
What happened in Delhi last night?
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a "red alert" late in the day, and all schools in Delhi will be closed today, August 1.
Also read: Delhi police turns Microsoft outage into a hilarious safety reminder: 'Nobody can restart you!'
Even as Delhi residents battled soggy roads, expensive taxi charges, and water seeping into their houses, social media was inundated with replies.
Hundreds of individuals lambasted the national capital's infrastructure after sharing images of waterlogging caused by a brief period of rainfall.
People on the internet shared visuals from various parts of the city
South Delhi - ring road all traffic blocked within two mins of rain -there is NO Drainage in Delhi, wrote X user Yasmin Kidwai.
South delhi -ring road all traffic blocked within two mins of rain -there is NO Drainage in Delhi -No work has been done in this season by the Govt ! #Rains #Delhi https://t.co/6bIHbWxPe4 Yasmin Kidwai (@YasminKidwai) July 31, 2024
Just 20 mins of rain in Delhi today and look how Karol Bagh is already screwed, another person wrote while sharing footage of a staircase turned into a waterfall.
Just 20 mins of rain in delhi today and look how Karol bagh is already screwed. pic.twitter.com/0tzGDuIYNu kavyaa (@Kavya_sp22) July 31, 2024
A user shared, "Breaking: Data just released on how much its rained in #Delhi Over 10 cms across some places from east to south-west of the capital."
Also read: Delhi Skill University just removed lunch breaks because students are 'grown-ups'
Breaking:
Data just released on how much its rained in #Delhi
Over 10 cms across some places from east to south-west of the capital.
Via @Indiametdept #Delhiuge pic.twitter.com/XiffPy42DD Chetan Bhattacharji (@CBhattacharji) July 31, 2024
An angry user shared, "Ye hai delhi desh ki rajdhani.. bs kuch der ki barish roads pe pani hi pani cars khrab , bikes band , auto me pani auto khrab, bus me jagah nahi, cabs auto ke double se bhi jada charges."
Ye hai delhi desh ki rajdhani.. bs kuch der ki barish roads pe pani hi pani cars khrab , bikes band , auto me pani auto khrab, bus me jagah nahi, cabs auto ke double se bhi jada charges #Rain #DelhiFloods #delhi @narendramodi @LtGovDelhi @ArvindKejriwal @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/RUtD15nLHS
A hilarious visual from Press Club Delhi is making rounds. The user sharing the image wrote, "Press Club of India -!"
Press Club of India -! pic.twitter.com/X6WBGVn32R Bijendra Singh (@bijendrasingh) July 31, 2024
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While the platform reportedly gets most of its traffic from search engines, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is clear in its message to tech giants like Microsoft: no more free lunches, pay up if you want Reddit's data. But why the sudden shift? Read on to find out.
What did Reddit CEO Steve Huffman say?
"Any crawler that we dont have a formal agreement with, were now blocking," Huffman said.
Also read: Woman's list of things she won't do for husband goes viral: 'Not his mom'
This latest move is Reddit CEO Steve Huffman's attempt at ending free data scraping on the popular platform in a bid to control how its data is used. And two successful deals with Google and OpenAI later, Huffman seems doubly sure about his decision. The company has reportedly blocked Microsoft's Bing from accessing any data--comments and posts included--unless there's a deal on the table.
According to CNBCTV18, this move comes hot on the heels of a policy rolled out last month.
"We can no longer be completely open because we have to be very considerate of where our data ends up and what its used for. Any crawler that we dont have a formal agreement with, were now blocking," the report quotes Huffman as saying.
Reports confirm that Google is the only search engine at the moment that has any access to content on Reddit. The two signed a $60 million deal earlier this year in February. Reddits partnership with Google isnt exclusive. This means Reddit content can appear in rival search engines, as per what the company shared. Huffman told media that "Over the past two years Google has accounted for as much as 40% to 50% of Reddits traffic in a single day."
What policy came into effect recently?
This move comes hot on the heels of a policy rolled out last month | Image: The National
Also read: 'What day of the week are you?' Woman's video on 'weekday theory' goes viral; here's what it reveals about you
Only last month, Reddit decided to block people and companies from crawling its platform without authorisation. Those who want in, need to sign agreements with the popular social media platform for content of any kind, including its use in web searches.
The change is only recent because earlier Reddit had a somewhat symbiotic relationship with search engines: they crawled the platform for content and sent people to the platform in return. "When it was used for simple search, to create simple links that would send us traffic from search engines, that was fine, Huffman said. But now folks are using Reddit data for training, theyre reselling it, theyre doing search summaries instead of linking to us."
The companies left behind right now, including Microsoft and AI companies like Perplexity and Anthropic, couldn't or wouldn't adhere to the content policies and are lagging behind in the race.
Interestingly, Microsoft and OpenAI were already partnered up when OpenAI signed a whopping $203 million deal with Reddit in May. In a sense, Microsoft may already have its foot in the door, but how they play their next move changes everything.
Also read: Employee on month-long vacation fools boss into thinking he's working
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While the deadline for filing income tax returns was July 31, many Indians flocked to the govt website at the last minute to file the taxes. Those who couldnt meet the deadline will end up paying penalties up to Rs 5,000. However, did you know there is one state in India that is exempted from this process? Residents of this state dont have to pay any tax to the government. It is none other than Sikkim.
Sikkim offers complete income tax exemption, regardless of earnings.
esikkim tourism
Why is Sikkim exempted from Income Tax?
Residents of Sikkim enjoy a special exemption from paying income tax under Section 10(26AAA) of the Income Tax Act. This tax-free status is granted by a unique provision under Article 371F of the Indian Constitution, established during the state's merger in 1975. Although the state is small in size, its favorable tax policy has the potential to attract high-net-worth individuals and businesses, particularly those looking to optimize their tax liabilities.
Who all can avail the benefits of this unique provision?
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Experts advise that meeting residency and other legal requirements is essential to fully benefit from this tax advantage. However, there are specific situations where Sikkimese individuals are not exempt from paying taxes. For instance, if a resident earns rental income from properties outside the state or receives monetary benefits from external sources, they must pay taxes on that income. Additionally, Sikkimese women who married a non-Sikkimese after April 1, 2008, are not eligible for the tax exemption.
Also Read: ITR alert: Will the Income Tax Return filing FY 2023-24 deadline get extended?
History of Sikkim and the events that led to the Income Tax exemption
GoSikkimIn
Sikkim has a rich history, with the Namgyal dynasty ruling the region for over three centuries. It remained an independent kingdom until 1975, when it officially joined India. This transition from a princely state to an Indian state is a significant part of Sikkim's history. But how did Sikkim come to have its special tax status, and why do its residents enjoy a tax-free status?
During Sikkims merger with India in 1975, various terms were set to safeguard the interests of its residents. A major condition was that Sikkim should retain its existing tax laws, which had been in place since 1948. The Indian government agreed, creating a special tax provision for the state.
This provision was designed to protect the socio-economic interests of the Sikkimese people. However, the law concerning income tax exemption for Sikkimese residents underwent some changes in 2008 when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister. The govt introduced a new rule called Section 10(26AAA). Under the new rule, all income earned by Sikkim residents remains tax-free. Despite the removal of the old tax laws, Sikkimese people continue to benefit from income tax exemptions under the updated regulations.
In a surprising turn of events, an Athens mixed jury court acquitted two brothers on Wednesday in the high-profile trial concerning the murder of journalist Giorgos Karaivaz.
Mr. Karaivaz, an acclaimed crime reporter known for his in-depth investigative journalism, was gunned down outside his home in April 2021.
The court's decision, reached
with significant majorities of 5-2 and 6-1, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to convict the 49-year-old and 41-year-old defendants.
The acquittal debunks the prosecutor's recommendation for a guilty verdict, based on allegations of premeditated homicide and illegal possession of firearms.
The prosecutor had argued that the murder was likely linked to organized crime and suggested that Karaivaz's investigative work and his plans to expose sensitive information might have been motives for the killing.
Karaivaz was known for his fearless reporting on criminal activities and corruption, which often placed him at odds with powerful criminal networks.
He had extensive connections within the Greek underworld and with corrupt police officers, making his murder a subject of intense scrutiny and speculation. A
dditionally, he was a key witness in a significant National Intelligence Service (EYP) investigation into police corruption and illegal sex and gambling rackets between 2015 and 2017. This investigation had uncovered widespread corruption among law enforcement officials and implicated various figures in organized crime.
Despite the gravity of the accusations, the court found the evidence presented insufficient to link the defendants to the crime.
The acquittal has sparked a range of reactions, with some questioning the effectiveness of the prosecution's case and others expressing concern about the broader implications for press freedom and justice in Greece.
The outcome of the trial raises important questions about the protection of journalists and the challenges of prosecuting crimes linked to organized crime.
As the case concludes, the debate over Karaivaz's murder and the broader issues of crime and corruption in Greece are likely to continue, highlighting the ongoing struggles faced by those who dare to expose the truth.
iefimerida.gr
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took to Facebook this week to celebrate a major dip in the countrys unemployment rate.
According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (EL.STAT), the unemployment rate fell to 9.6% in June 2024, down from 10.3% in May 2024.
This marks the lowest unemployment rate since June 2009.
Mr. Mitsotakis highlighted the progress, noting, The unemployment rate
in our country has dropped to 9.6 percent the lowest since June 2009. This represents a significant improvement from 10.3 percent in May 2024.
He emphasized the broader impact of this decline, stating that compared to June 2019, the jobless rate has decreased by 8 percentage points, from 17.5 percent to 9.6 percent.
Additionally, there has been an increase of 400,000 in the number of employed individuals.
The Prime Minister also pointed to specific improvements, including a 2.2 percentage point reduction in female unemployment and a 2 percentage point drop in youth unemployment compared to June 2023.
These figures demonstrate that our targeted policies are delivering positive results, Mitsotakis said.
Despite the progress, Mr. Mitsotakis acknowledged ongoing challenges and emphasized that there is still much work to be done.
We are not complacent, he stated. We recognize the challenges our citizens face and remain committed to aligning Greece with European standards in wages, employment, and quality of life. We will continue to strive toward this goal.
iefimerida.gr
Opposition parties initially united to respond to the Supreme Court's decision to close investigations into surveillance cases but ended up divided.
They aimed to submit a joint request to convene the Institutions and Transparency Committee. However, each party eventually filed separate requests.
Negotiations for a common proposal began on Tuesday, but
by Wednesday afternoon, no agreement was reached. The main issue was the order of MPs signatures, so each party submitted its request independently.
Despite the separate submissions, the shared content of the requests could still achieve the required support. To convene the Institutions and Transparency Committee, 11 out of 27 MPs must request it. This means at least one right-wing party (Greek Solution, Victory, Spartans) must agree.
Reports highlighted discussions among parties (Syriza, Pasok, Plefsi) and a meeting between Androulakis and Famellos.
Zoe Konstantopoulou was also active, stating, After my proposal to convene the committee and transmit the report, there was unanimous support. Following public statements, I contacted opposition leaders, and all agreed on the importance of investigating the scandal. Requests from five parliamentary groups are being submitted to convene the committee and transmit the report.
Convening the Institutions and Transparency Committee was problematic from the start.
For starters, there were procedural issues. Parliament will recess for summer holidays, delaying any discussion until late next month.
Parliament's Rules also allow the Institutions Committee to request a judicial officials attendance by a 2/5 majority, but only for matters of judicial functioning or transparency.
In this case, the criteria for summoning Mrs. Adeilini does not appear to be met, official say. As a result, the Institutions and Transparency Committee cannot request the report through the 2/5 process unless initiated by the majority.
iefimerida.gr
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Central Macedonia Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas at Maximos Mansion on Thursday afternoon, who has been proposed for the position of Greek Commissioner in the European Commission.
Tzitzikostas expressed his gratitude to
Mitsotakis for the nomination. "With my experience in European institutions, I am well aware of the challenges currently facing the EU, and I am determined to work hard to create a Europe that meets the expectations of our citizens,"said. He also highlighted that Mitsotakis's decision underscores the recognition of the role and potential of northern Greece and Macedonia
Tzitzikostas committed to continuing his efforts for the development and improvement of our citizens' daily lives, serving Greece and the European Union with a sense of duty and responsibility.
In his remarks, Mitsotakis praised Tzitzikostas for his distinguished decade-long career in local government, noting his high approval ratings and broader political acceptance in the second largest region of the country. "You are also someone who knows European institutions well, having served as President of the Committee of the Regions," Mitsotakis added.
Mitsotakis emphasized that Tzitzikostas's ability to align local and regional priorities with major European imperatives makes him well-suited for the challenging role of Greek Commissioner in Brussels. He wished Tzitzikostas success in the European Parliament's hearing process and thanked European Commission Vice President and current Greek Commissioner Margaritis Schinas for his outstanding collaboration on critical issues, including migrationa significant and ongoing challenge for Greece.
iefimerida.gr
A ferocious wildfire continues to tear through the Dirfyon Messapion area of Evia, as hundreds of firefighters struggle to contain the blaze amidst strong winds and rugged terrain.
The fire, parked late Wednesday, has rapidly spread, fueled by dry conditions and gusts reaching up to 8 Beaufort.
Local authorities have evacuated several villages as a precaution,
but the fire's relentless advance has left a trail of destruction in its wake. Thick smoke billows across the region, reducing visibility and creating hazardous air quality conditions.
Firefighting efforts have been intensified, with ground crews working alongside aerial units to douse the flames.
Reinforcements have arrived from across Greece, and even from Moldova, as the country grapples with one of its most challenging fire seasons in recent years.
The cause of the Evia wildfire remains under investigation, but experts point to the combination of extreme heat and drought as key contributing factors.
As the battle against the flames rages on, residents are being urged to remain vigilant and follow evacuation orders. The coming days will be critical in determining the full extent of the damage and the success of containment efforts.
Meantime, a devastating wildfire on Mount Orvilos, spanning the Greek-Bulgarian border, has been raging for 14 days, consuming approximately 1,500 hectares of land.
The blaze came dangerously close to the Greek village of Achladohori, triggering evacuation alerts for residents.
Sixty Greek firefighters, supported by aerial and ground resources, are tirelessly battling the flames.
The fire has also spread into Bulgaria, prompting the deployment of additional resources, including EU-provided firefighting planes. Bulgarian military personnel are also actively engaged in the firefighting efforts.
Efforts are hampered by the presence of a World War II-era minefield in the area, which has caused explosions during the firefighting operations.
Despite the challenges, close coordination between Greek and Bulgarian authorities continues, with most firefighting efforts focused on aerial operations due to dangerous ground conditions.
iefimerida.gr
No fewer than 19 people have been killed after an Improvised Explosive Device planted at a local joint in Kawuri village, Konduga Local government area of Borno State, bursted on Wednesday.
The explosive device was suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram insurgents causing chaos in the North-East.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that similar incidents have been happening in the last few days, with several persons, including seven Nigerian soldiers killed.
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Meanwhile, a government official from the village, on Thursday, told DAILY TRUST that the bomb went off around 8:05pm at a local tea joint where the villagers gathered for a night chat, adding that dozens of people also got injured.
READ MORE: Two Policemen Feared Killed As Suspected Boko Haram Storm Borno Police Station, Loot Armoury
He said: Nobody can say exactly how it happened, but we suspected that the bomb was planted, not a suicide attack.
We saw corpses of 19 people with unspecified number of civilians injured. The injured were evacuated to an undisclosed hospital in Maiduguri for treatment.
Wife of Nigerias President, Oluremi Tinubu has appealed to those planning a nationwide protest to reconsider their actions.
According to the First Lady, nobody can predict the outcome of the demonstration.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday at the Aso Villa, Abuja, after a meeting with wives of State Governors and Renewed Hope Initiative Coordinators, Oluremi said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working hard to get the country back to its former glory.
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While emphasising the governments efforts to revitalize the economy and restore Nigerias international reputation, she called on Nigerian youths to engage themselves creatively and seize the numerous opportunities available in the country.
Her words: Lagos has not recovered from #EndSARS and it saddens our hearts and what people dont realize is that when were drumming for things like that, we dont know the backlash and what will happen after.
All those things are very distracting and I will appeal to them to be patient, we didnt come here playing, we came here to work because, one, I know well leave this place one day and I want to go into a Nigeria that will not be a burden to me. Ill be much older and I want to make sure that I take my rest in a very conducive and nice atmosphere and thats what were doing.
READ ALSO: Ill Work With Wike Only If He Apologises, Im Older Than Him Ireti Kingibe
If theyre trying to be destructive, its left between them and the law, but I pray that they would reconsider and then dont make life difficult for those who are still having quite a challenging life. Thats why were putting money into the hands of petty traders, giving them a grant of N50,000, its not a loan, just to help small businesses.
Weve done that in the past and I saw how well it went. They shouldnt deprive all those people that depend on their daily living and then trying to obstruct that. So I appeal to them and I hope they see reasons.
This government has been working day and night to make sure that this country is put back on its feet. The respect we have now as Nigerians in international community is higher than what weve had in the past.
People want to do business with Nigeria legitimately now because they know all cards are on the table. They want to do business with Nigerians legitimately and that will create jobs. So our youth should try to engage themselves, be creative, and do more.
So everybody has to be creative, our youth have to be seen doing something, nobodys going to even encourage and put money into the pocket of somebody whos not doing anything.
There are so many opportunities in Nigeria. People made money during COVID, lots of money, just by making sanitizers, creating different things that people can use at that time.
The respect we have when I went to Belarus, I didnt book an appointment to see the President, we were invited for a festival and I said Ill use that to rest a bit, but immediately I hit the ground everybody wanted Nigeria is like the new bride in the international community and the youth have to see that, she added.
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, on Wednesday, restricted protesters of the nationwide protest slated for August 1 to the Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola stadium, Abuja.
The Presiding Judge, Sylvanus Oriji, gave the order on Wednesday while ruling on an ex parte motion brought by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the FCT.
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Wike sued Omoyele Sowore, Damilare Adenola, Adama Ukpabi, Tosin Harsogba, and persons unknown as 1st to 5th defendants.
Named as 1st to 12th respondents are the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Commissioner of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS), Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Naval Staff
In the ex parte application argued by his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, the FCT minister asked the court for an order of interim injunction restraining the first five defendants and other protesters from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, streets, offices, and public premises within the FCT between August 1 to August 10, or any other day thereafter, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
READ ALSO: Vandalism: Lagos Secures Court Order, Restricts Protesters To Freedom, Peace Parks
He also applied for another order of interim injunction mandating the security agencies to prevent the protesting leaders from gathering or parading themselves along any roadway, offices, or public premises within the FCT between August 1 and 10, pending the hearing of his motion on notice.
Wike stated that while the Federal Government was not against the protest, intelligence and security reports that he received suggested that some protestor leadership members intended to take advantage of the planned demonstration to wreak havoc, irreversibly damage public infrastructure, obstruct traffic, disturb public order, and prevent people from moving about.
The FCT minister said upon reaching out to the security services to make sure the planned protest did not turn into criminal activity or disrupt public order; he was informed that they lacked the necessary resources to handle any potential problem that might develop from the demonstration at short notice.
Consequently, the judge granted all the reliefs sought, noting that Abuja residents should enjoy their constitutional right to freedom of movement and safety of their lives and properties.
As Nigerians converge across major cities in the country amid nationwide protest against bad government, some leaders of the agitation have said that they will continue to demonstrate until President Bola Tinubu address hardship facing the nation.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the hunger protest which started today, 1st of August, 2024, is said to kick against economic challenges and insecurity affecting livelihood in Nigeria.
It was gathered that one of protesters in Abuja said that the movement will stop if President Tinubu accede to their demands.
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READ MORE: We Want Peace In FCT Wike Bows To Pressure, Begs Protesters To Suspend Nationwide Protest
Addressing journalists in the nations capital, the Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, decried oppression under Tinubus government, adding that it has lasted too long.
He said: The various court orders restricting protesters to particular locations are an aberration.
Our presence here today is an announcement that we have been oppressed for too long.
Today, we have risen. We saying to the president that unless President Bola Tinubu accede to our demands we will remain on the streets. We want to see the president on the street. During the protest, he was on the street.
Ireti Kingibe, Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) says she will work with Nyesom Wike, Minister of the nations capital, if he apologises to her.
Recall that Kingibe and Wike have not had a good working relationship since they assumed their respective offices.
The member of the Labour Party (LP), had defeated Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election.
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Aduda, an ally of Wike, was a senator from 2011 to 2023.
Earlier in July, speaking at the flag-off of the Mabushi bus terminal in Abuja, the Minister threatened that Kingibe would lose the support of FCT residents in the 2027 elections.
Wike also told the senator to hang herself on a transformer if she was unhappy with his performance in the FCT.
Reacting to Wikes comments in an interview on Channels TVs Political Paradigm on Wednesday! Kingibe said Wike does not understand the concept of leadership of the FCT.
READ ALSO: Ill Ensure You Dont Return To Senate In 2027 FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike Replies Ireti Kingibe
He doesnt obviously understand the concept of the FCT. If he did, it is nothing personal.
He says, I dont want to be her friend. How does governance translate into friendship?
I dont know how friendship enters into the discussion.
Well, Im actually willing to do everything to work with the minister of the Federal Capital Territory as long as he apologises first for saying, I should go and hang on a transformer.
Once he does that, its all over. We can start afresh. But until then, everybody stays in your lane.
With all due respect, Im so much older than him. Even just courtesy demands that he shouldnt speak to me like that. And I am also elected by the people. I did not get up from my sitting room and said, here I am.
So I will look for another medium to communicate with the minister. That does not necessarily mean directly since, obviously, he has expressed his disregard for the office of the senator.
He doesnt know me. I had never met him before he became minister; hed never seen me in his life. So obviously theres nothing personal. Its just the office, he objects to.
The Lagos State Police Command anti-bomb squad says it foiled an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in the Ikeja area of the State.
Benjamin Hundeyin, the State Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed this on Wednesday.
According to him, a vigilant police officer reported that a young man had alighted from the car, carefully dropped a bag by the side of the Nigeria Customs Service Federal Operations Unit fence, returned to the vehicle, and sped off.
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Hundeyin said the area was immediately cordoned off while the IED experts were deployed to the spot.
READ ALSO: Protest: Were Not Interested In Anything Thatll Disrupt Academic Calendar NANS President
He further disclosed that the IED was taken to a safe distance where it was detonated around 4 pm.
A vigilant police officer reported a suspicious white Corolla car parked near the gate of PMF 23 Barracks, with a young man dropping a bag by the Nigeria Customs Service Federal Operations Unit fence before he zoomed off.
Based on the report, a team of EOD-CBRN personnel was quickly mobilised to the scene to identify the object and render it safe if confirmed to be an IED. Upon arrival, the object was discovered to be an IED, and the area was subsequently cordoned off. Standard operating procedures were adopted, and the IED was rendered safe and taken to a safe distance for detonation, Hundeyin disclosed.
He further assured the public that the area was calm afterwards.
As panic continue to grow in Nigeria over planned nationwide protest, which is set to commence today, 1st of August, 2024, the United States of Americas Embassy has warned workers to stay home.
The decision of the embassy is coming, following possible mayhem that might come out of angry Nigerians during rally against hardship facing the country.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that protesters and security agencies have been in loggerhead over the nationwide movement.
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Despite all warnings made by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over possible security threats, the agitators have insisted that their rally must hold.
Reacting to the development in a statement issued to the public on Wednesday, U.S. Embassy Abuja and U.S. Consulate General Lagos, asked essential staff to operate only on Thursday August 1, 2024, and on Friday August 2, 2024.
Non-essential staff were advised to remain at home to avoid any disruptions that may result from the protests.
READ MORE: Protest Isnt Enough, We Must Be Ready With Replacement Seun Kuti
The statement reads: Media reports indicate that protesters are expected to begin gathering at Eagles Square in Abuja mid to late morning. In Lagos, protests may start as early as 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. and primary locations have been identified as Alausa Park, Freedom Park, and Peace Park.
Additional possible protest sites in Lagos include Nahco Bus Stop (Airport Road), Marwa Bus Stop (Lekki-Epe Expressway), and Ikeja Under the Bridge (Intersection of Obafemi Awolowo and Allen Avenue).
However, protests may occur at other times and locations in Abuja and Lagos, as well as in other cities and population centers in Nigeria over the coming days. Based on past occurrences, protests may involve roadblocks, checkpoints, traffic congestion, and physical confrontations.
There is a risk of terror attacks in Nigeria and terrorist groups may take advantage of opportunities created during the potential nation-wide protests to conduct attacks.
Actions to take: Avoid the areas of the protest; Avoid crowds; Exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests; Monitor local media for updates; Be aware of your surroundings; Keep a low profile;Verify flight schedules with your airline, if you have travel plans; Review your personal security plans and keep your cell phone charged in case of emergency; and Carry proper identification.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, has urged residents of the state to reflect on damages caused by the 2020 EndSARS protest before joining the August nationwide demonstration.
A nationwide protest with the theme #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria is expected to start on Thursday and last for 10 days.
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Speaking during a broadcast on Wednesday, Sanwo-Olu said some of the narratives trailing the protest suggest that the planned demonstration is an opportunity for a change of government.
According to the Lagos Governor, the Federal Government is already addressing the challenges facing the country.
It is pertinent to ask, is protest the practical catalyst for progress the nation requires at this time? Will such a protest suddenly ensure that all of our challenges disappear in ten days?
Will the protest suddenly ensure the prices of foodstuff drop by the 11th day? Will shutting down the economy for 10 days inspire the economic growth we earnestly desire?
I hold the strong view that a protest at this time will do none of these things for us as a nation. Rather, it would roll back the modest gains that we have made in various facets of our socio-economic life as a people.
He further appealed to Nigerians to be patient for the benefits of the economic policies initiated by Tinubu.
Why then should there be a protest? All that we require now is to be patient for the benefits of the economic recovery policies to blossom.
Protests can never achieve in 10 days what carefully crafted economic reforms can achieve in a matter of weeks and months. More than ever before, our nation is blessed with a courageous leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR).
READ ALSO: Bandits May Hijack Hunger Protest, Tinubu Performing Tremendously Well SGF Akume
Let me assure you that Nigeria is headed in the right direction, and the benefits of these hard reforms will percolate to all, Sanwo-Olu added.
Sanwo-Olu maintained that the state is yet to recover from the destruction of properties that trailed the EndSARS protest.
I appeal to you all that we reflect on our past experiences during the tragic events of the EndSARS protest in 2020. What began as a peaceful demonstration was, unfortunately, hijacked by elements with devilish intentions.
They unleashed an unprecedented war on our state. We saw the destruction of valuable properties, the disruption of businesses, and sadly, the loss of lives in several parts of our dear state.
These events left deep scars on our state and hurt our psyche. We are yet to fully recover from the mindless destruction of some symbols of our rich and enviable heritage: the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, the oldest and most recognisable court building in Nigeria built in the early 1860s, and 15 other court buildings. Over 45 police stations were set ablaze, 12 local government offices burnt, 7 fire stations burnt, the forensic centre that was the best in West Africa, the iconic City Hall, the secretariat of the oldest local government in Nigeria, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) headquarters, and traditional rulers palaces. They were all destroyed.
So were several bank facilities, malls, shops, offices, hundreds of brand-new BRT buses, and several other public assets. No true Lagosian or friend of Lagos will encourage us to go this route again.
That is not who we are; that is not our way, and that is not our style.
Fellow Lagosians, we must remember that our shared goal is a peaceful and prosperous Lagos.
The consequences of unrest are not just measured in the damage to property or disruptions to daily life; they are also felt in the loss of confidence, the fear instilled in our communities, tourists, and foreign investors, and the setback to our economic and social progress.
Nigerian students are not prepared to jeopardise school calendars for scheduled rallies, according to the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS.
Lucky Emonefe, the associations national president, said this on Wednesday in Abuja during a town hall gathering for youths, students, and civil society members to discuss the planned demonstration on August 1.
NANS organised the town hall meeting in partnership with Mr. Osahon Okunbo, chairman of the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments.
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Emonefe advised students and youths in the country to follow the law and oppose any calls to protest.
We are not interested in anything that will obstruct our current academic calendar; we want to continue with our studies because our academic pursuit is very important to us.
Coming out to demonstrate is not the way to go because it can be hijacked, public peace will be disrupted and properties destroyed.
In spite of the fact that we did not agree with those calling for demonstrations, we are very hungry, times are hard and there are harsh economic policies.
We believe that we can engage government positively through dialogue; we are calling on government to look at some of the policies and address them, he said.
READ MORE: Sit-At-Home: Gunmen Kill One, Set Imo Govt Vehicle Ablaze
The NANS president praised the organiser of the town hall gathering for the effort, stating that it provided a forum for young people in the country to vent their concerns.
Sunday Ashefon, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Matters, urged youths and students across the country to avoid the planned protest on August 1.
He stated that the attendance of students and youths at the conference demonstrated that adolescents were engaged in the federal governments efforts to alleviate poverty in the country.
Amidst the ongoing nationwide protests, actress Tonto Dikeh has taken a divergent stance by praising President Tinubus efforts and progress in developing the country.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, she commended the Presidents achievements, citing improved statistics in areas such as foreign reserves, minimum wage, forex backlog, oil production, and debt to revenue ratio.
However, this praise contrasts with the protesters grievances, which focus on the rising costs of fuel, food, and essential amenities.
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She wrote,
Statistics dont lie: everyone is working to get this country to where we want it to be.
One thing about Nigerians is that if they dont like you, nothing you do will ever be good enough for them. Lets not deny this glaring truth. Stay safe and make wise decisions always.
READ MORE: I Dont Have Any Opinion Anymore, Last I Did Was During Election RudeBoy On National Issues
Tonto Dikehs post suggests that despite the Presidents efforts, some Nigerians will always find fault, implying that criticism can be unfair and biased.
Her message encourages people to make informed decisions and stay safe, amidst the differing opinions on the countrys state.
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In a recent Cox Business survey of small business owners and employees, a third said they invested in AI in 2023, and more than half plan to invest even more this year.
Most of these investments are in Generative AI tools, with the most popular being ChatGPT (other popular tools include Google Gemini, Claude, and Microsoft Bing/Copilot). These tools, which are becoming smarter and faster, use large language models trained to understand information from many different sources to assist workers in daily tasks, enabling them to be more productive.
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Here are five ways local professionals are using Generative AI tools:
1. Selling your product
Michelle Wirtz sells vintage crafts and other artwork from her marketplace booth in Quakertown, Red Brick Cottage Co., and online.
I use ChatGPT to better describe the items that I sell on eBay and Etsy and on social media, she said. I feel ChatGPT also knows a little about the item by my title, so it will add a few things that I may not have known about my vintage items.
Wirtz is careful to validate what ChatGPT suggests to make sure its accurate and, according to her, it usually is.
2. Shaping and reshaping your business
Downingtown-based author, speaker, and business strategist Aaron Proietti has written extensively on Generative AI and admits to having long and meandering conversations with ChatGPT.
Hes been able to use the tool for business advice, asking it for strategies and doing SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. He says that Generative AI can act as a team of collaborative partners with the expertise of any human he would work with as long as he asks the right questions.
Asking ChatGPT for an idea to improve my business is not likely to yield anything particularly insightful, but if I experiment in providing new contexts, then insight can be found, he said. For instance, if I ask ChatGPT how Starbucks or Disney might improve my business, the creativity is unlocked.
3. Increasing your productivity
For Dan Hughes, the cofounder of Doylestown technology consulting firm Claritee.AI, Generative AI tools are an important part of the consulting and technology services his company provides to their clients. His team uses generative AI daily to help create and build proposals, write blogs, design training material, prepare legal documents, and even write code.
It has significantly increased our productivity, he said.
4. Honing your message
Kim Porter, the executive director of Be a Part of the Conversation, an Ardmore-based nonprofit that helps families with substance use, addiction, and related health issues, has used ChatGPT to create language about their nonprofit organization that will be relatable to the general public.
We are sometimes so entrenched in our subject matter that it can be challenging to objectively relay information that might be overwhelming to a layperson, she said. When prompting ChatGPT, I include a request to avoid jargon.
Proietti agrees.
I find its most useful in helping me develop high-level structure for my writing, as well as giving me alternative phrasing and new ideas to sprinkle in, he said. It can edit my writing. It can make suggestions for improving clarity. And it can help me adjust the tone of my writing.
5. Researching new topics
Generative AI also has plenty of uses for professionals and students in higher education.
For example, Matthew Brook ODonnell, a lecturer and research fellow at Penns Annenberg School for Communication, uses the technology as often as possible to draft e-mails, or expand on a set of bullet points or concepts to be included in a presentation. He believes that generative AI tools like ChatGPT can be an essential tool for his students.
If you are trying to learn about new developments or a specific topic, point the LLM to an overview article or Wikipedia page and ask for a structured summary of the fundamentals, and so on, he said. I encourage my students to do exactly the same thing and to commit time to trying out different tools and different ways to prompt them.
Hannah Joseph, who works as a research assistant at Temple Universitys Integrative Ecology Lab, has used ChatGPT to help her undergraduate research.
I had the opportunity to create a ChatGPT for Spotted Lanternfly Research called Spotted Lanternfly GPT (SLF-GPT), where we included peer-reviewed articles, management protocols, and other educational resources about this invasive species that was first detected in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014, she said. We are training the model on knowledge about spotted lanternflies so that communities can use it to learn more about this invasive species and help reduce its spread.
Personally, I like to use ChatGPT and Google Gemini to help me research topics for the articles I write and create documents for my company, like an ethics or paid time off policy. I also like to tinker with prompts provided by GoDaddy and OpenAI to help me come up with business ideas, analyze my websites search engine optimization, and suggest ways to improve my cash flow.
Its important to remember that Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are far from perfect. They can perform lots of tasks in a much quicker time than humans, but that doesnt mean that the results are completely accurate. Be careful not to entirely rely on its results and to have experts review its output before putting it into practice. That aside, dont ignore this technology. Its only going to get better and will ultimately play a significant role in the operations of both your business and personal life.
Overall, my experience with ChatGPT has benefited both my academic and professional endeavors, Joseph said. It is a great resource to use.
The new complaints mean that nearly 150 people have now said in civil suits in the past three months that they were sexually or physically abused by staff while they were housed at Pennsylvania placement facilities. Read more
Dozens more people have come forward to say in lawsuits that they were sexually abused by staff at juvenile placement facilities across Pennsylvania, the latest development in a string of cases filed by scores of others in recent months against institutions across the state.
The new suits, filed Wednesday in a mix of county and federal courts, include allegations of abuse from nearly 70 people saying they were groped, molested, raped, or beaten by staffers. The accusations span 10 different facilities across Pennsylvania, three of them operated by the state Department of Human Services.
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The new complaints mean that nearly 150 people have now said in civil suits in the past three months that they were sexually abused as children or teens by staff at juvenile detention facilities or treatment centers for young people with behavioral problems.
Jerome Block, a New York-based attorney who has helped coordinate the suits in Pennsylvania as well as similar suits targeting facilities in other states said: These institutions and the adult staff who perpetrated this widespread sexual abuse must be held accountable.
The new suits were filed against 10 facilities in Pennsylvania, eight of which have already been sued by Block and his firm for similar allegations. Three of the facilities Loysville Youth Development Center and the North Central and South Mountain Secure Treatment Units are state-run, and one, the now-closed Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, had been locally operated. It was was shut down by a judge in 2021 over allegations of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse.
The others are or were privately operated: VisionQuest and Devereux, which both had multiple locations in the state; Northwestern Academy, in Northumberland County; Carson Valley Childrens Aid, in Flourtown; Presbyterian Childrens Village, in Rosemont and Southwest Philadelphia; and St. Gabriels Hall, in Audubon.
The suits represent the latest troubling development for juvenile justice in Pennsylvania. Advocates for years have alleged physical and sexual abuse at placement facilities, and in recent months, there have been a variety of problems reported at the citys Juvenile Justice Services Center, including significant overcrowding and complaints that some children are being denied access to education in violation of federal law.
The new complaints contain accounts from men and women who reported abuse that ranged from groping to repeated and violent rapes when they were children.
One accuser said he was raped twice by a female staff member when he was 16 and living at the state-run Loysville facility in 2015. When he reported the abuse to a male staff member, the suit says, the staffer said the behavior was normal, then exposed himself and masturbated in front of the teen on several occasions.
Another accuser, a woman, said she was raped as a 16-year-old virgin at Presbyterian Childrens Village in 2011 or 2012. The abuse has caused severe emotional distress and trauma, including but not limited to having traumatizing flashbacks, she said in her lawsuit.
(The Inquirer does not identify without permission people who say they were sexually assaulted.)
Officials at many of the facilities that were sued said Wednesday they could not comment on the allegations, either because they couldnt discuss pending litigation or hadnt seen the new complaints.
Brandon Cwalina, spokesperson for the Department of Human Services, added that the agency has zero-tolerance towards abuse and harassment, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the health and safety of children at licensed facilities.
Ryan Herlinger, spokesperson for Delaware County, said officials there were committed to implementing reforms to the juvenile justice system, including by expanding services for young people, exploring the development of a new county-owned facility, and considering alternatives to detention.
Joan Plump, chief of staff at Gemma Services a parent company for the former Presbyterian Childrens Village said our first priority has always been and always will be protecting those in the organizations care.
Kevin Feeley, spokesperson for Merakey, a parent company of the former Northwestern Academy, said Merakey closed Northwestern Academy in 2016 as part of our organizations strong belief that children do better in family and community-based settings than in institutional settings.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which ran St. Gabriels Hall, declined to comment Wednesday.
Representatives for the other facilities either could not be reached or did not provide immediate comment.
The urgent issues facing the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania have occurred even as Philadelphia, the states largest county, has significantly reduced the number of young people it sends to placement each year. Staffing shortages and facility closures across the state some in the wake of scandal have also limited the number of places where young people can be sent to receive treatment.
The parking lot of Al-Aqsa Islamic Society in North Philadelphia on Wednesday. Raheem Jefferson, 43, was shot and killed in the parking lot on Tuesday evening. Police are searching for the gunman they say came up behind Jefferson and shot him multiple times. Read more
Police are searching for the gunman who they say killed a 43-year-old man in a targeted, execution-type shooting in the parking lot of a North Philadelphia mosque on Tuesday, as Islamic leaders decried the violence outside a place of worship.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Raheem Jefferson had just parked in the lot of Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, on the 1500 block of Germantown Avenue, and was walking toward the mosque for a prayer service when a man ran up behind him and fired at least 17 times from a large-caliber semiautomatic handgun, police said.
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Jefferson was taken to Temple University Hospital with gunshot wounds to his head and upper body and pronounced dead minutes later, at 5:13 p.m.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video, and police said the footage shows that the gunman fired at Jefferson from behind, then stood over him after he collapsed and kept firing.
The shooter then got into a dark-colored sedan and fled the scene. A person who was with Jefferson at the time of the shooting was not hurt, police said.
The motive for the slaying was unclear, police said, and they were not certain whether the crime had any connection to religious bigotry, hatred or intolerance.
A neighbor who lives nearby and asked not to be identified for safety reasons said she had walked outside just moments before the shots rang out Tuesday afternoon. Although she thought the neighborhood was generally safe, she said, the gunfire left her feeling rattled.
The large parking lot of the mosque was empty Wednesday morning, save for a red Toyota Camry that had been struck by gunfire. A bullet hole could be seen in the front bumper of the car and a puddle of radiator fluid trailed from the front right passenger side of the vehicle.
Chalk circles marking where shell casings fell were visible in front of the parked car.
The shooting comes at a time of heightened concern in the Muslim community, as bias incidents have soared nationwide since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. But the shooting does not appear to be a hate crime, said Marwan Kreidie, founder of the Arab American Development Corp., which has an office at the Al-Aqsa facility, which also includes a K-12 school.
Al-Aqsas congregation is predominantly made up of Arabic-speaking immigrants, he said.
It was not immediately clear whether the victim was known to members of the mosque, he said, adding that the shooting appeared to have been a targeted hit.
Whatever it is, a house of worship should be immune to this kind of violence, Kreidie said.
Another shooting rattled the Muslim community in April when three people were shot during an Eid al-Fitr celebration outside a West Philadelphia mosque.
The area around Al-Aqsa, just south of Kensington, used to see frequent shootings, Kreidie said. But in recent years, he said, gun violence has been rare around the brightly colored building on Germantown Avenue.
Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of Philadelphias chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the Muslim community was shocked by the shooting, but said there was no evidence that it was motivated by religious bias.
Whether this tragic shooting is related to the gun violence epidemic in our city or another reason, we call on our local leaders and interfaith groups to stand together to offer their support to the Al-Aqsa community, he said.
Saddiq Washington, seek here after his arrest in July 2022, apologized to King Hua's family after pleading guilty to killing the 54-year-old. Read more
Victoria Hua confronted her fathers killer in a Delaware County courtroom, demanding to know why he executed the 54-year-old with two shots to the head as he sat in morning rush-hour traffic two years ago.
How can you wrap your mind around the brutality, cruelty, and lack of humanity it takes to kill someone like that. For what? Hua asked. To imagine that my fathers life was worth less than the five minutes Saddiq [Washington] and his mother couldve saved getting to work that day sickens me.
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Washington, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder and aggravated assault for killing King Hua in a shooting that prosecutors described as road rage. The plea, negotiated with prosecutors, spared Washington from first-degree murder.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors withdrew aggravated assault and conspiracy charges against Washington for his role in the beating of an inmate at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility while he was incarcerated there in October.
Delaware County Judge George Pagano sentenced Washington to 15 to 40 years in state prison for a shooting that shocked the quiet stretch of Springfield Township where it took place.
In handing down the sentence, Pagano said he hoped the resolution of the case could bring some solace to Huas family.
What I hope for you is eventually that the pain you feel on a daily basis will be replaced slowly by the many wonderful memories you have of your dad, Pagano said.
Hua, who owned several businesses in the township, was driving home with his wife on State Road about 9 a.m. on June 29, 2022, when a Chevrolet Equinox driven by Washingtons mother, Amanda, pulled slightly ahead of them and stopped, according to the the affidavit of probable cause for Washingtons arrest.
Washington leaned out of the window of the SUV and shot twice into Huas car through its windshield, hitting him in his eye and ear. A witness told police she saw the Equinox swerving aggressively in traffic shortly before it stopped and the shooting unfolded, the affidavit said.
Police traced the Equinox to Washingtons home and took him into custody. He later confessed to the shooting. His mother was charged with hindering apprehension, pleaded guilty last July, and was sentenced to seven years of probation.
After entering his guilty plea, Washington apologized to the Hua family, saying he was truly disturbed that he had killed their loved one.
I know my apology will not bring back your loved one, but I promise the Hua family and everyone in this courtroom that I will make it my life mission to prevent any future tragedies like this one.
But for Victoria Hua, those were empty words.
She showed Pagano a collection of photographs that chronicled her fathers life, from his youth in Vietnam, to his arrival in America and his years as a father. The last photo he ever took with her, she said, was on the day of her college graduation.
He was happy, and I would give anything to hear his laugh again, to see him smile again, she said.
A 39-year-old man being treated for a possible drug overdose Wednesday afternoon at a hospital in the citys Kensington section stabbed a staff member in the arm with a hypodermic needle and caused several other workers to be injured before he was restrained and arrested, police said.
Shortly before 4:20 p.m., police were called to Temple University Hospitals Episcopal Campus in the 100 block of East Lehigh Avenue for a report of a person stabbing workers with a syringe.
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By the time police arrived, the suspect was already restrained. Police were told the man was brought to the hospital by medics and was displaying violent behavior.
When a member of the nursing staff attempted to administer medication with a needle, the man knocked it away, causing it to poke the arm of a security guard, police said.
A worker identified as a recovery specialist tried to intervene, but he was stabbed by the suspect twice in the left forearm with the needle, police said. The suspect then tried to stab the specialist in the face, causing the specialist to jump back and accidentally hit a nurse in the head with an elbow.
The nurse was injured and could not recall the assault because of her injury, police said.
Police arrested the man, and the case is being investigated by the East Detective Division.
After moving to Philadelphia, Niki Mailata, who is Tongan, was overjoyed to find a Hawaiian restaurant in the city, Poi Dog. She and her now-husband, Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata, are Pacific Islanders, and its hard to find authentic Pacific Islander cuisine on the East Coast.
Enter Kiki Aranita, founder and owner of Poi Dog. Aranita is from Hawaii and opened Poi Dog in Philadelphia, serving her spin on Hawaiian cuisine. The Mailatas quickly fell in love with the restaurant, which began in 2013 as a food truck on Temples campus and became a brick-and-mortar space about five years later, and were frequent guests until Poi Dog closed in 2020 during the pandemic.
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But they continued to follow Aranita. Niki frequently attended her pop-up events, and when Aranita launched her Poi Dog sauces, the Mailatas were some of her early supporters. They enjoyed the sauce so much that Jordan, an ambassador for Australian food truck GDay Gourmet, brought her Huli Huli sauce to GDay Gourmet owner Mike Peacock, and a collaboration was born.
I didnt realize my flavors would reach as large an audience as they have, especially after closing the restaurant, Aranita, who also has contributed to the Food section at The Inquirer, said. I would have thought I would have served more people out of the walls of the restaurant, but with the sauces, its a much wider audience, and its so exciting to see other chefs work with it.
READ MORE: Team USA beat Australia for the bronze medal in womens rugby, and Aussie Jordan Mailata was cheering them on
GDay Gourmets new collaboration with Poi Dog combines Aranitas Huli Huli sauce with barbecue pork and pineapple juice to make a Maui BBQ meat pie. Starting at Thursday nights open practice, the pie will be available at GDay Gourmet, located behind Section 111 of Lincoln Financial Field, and a portion of proceeds from the pie will go toward families impacted by the Maui wildfires in August 2023.
Its a mix of what we both love, Niki said. The Polynesian flavor is amazing, and Australian street pies are just delicious. This might be a weird comparison, but I grew up loving Hot Pockets, barbecue Hot Pockets were the best, and this is like the most luxurious Hot Pocket.
Growing up in Australia, Jordan has a longtime love for meat pies, an Australian comfort food, and as soon as he connected with Peacock and GDay Gourmet and tried their pies, he was hooked.
Jordan became a brand ambassador for GDay Gourmet and even pitched Peacock a custom meat pie based on one of his favorite foods butter chicken, which is now GDay Gourmets best-seller, named after Mailata.
I was like, Thats impossible. Theres no way. Ive never had or seen that before in my life, Jordan said. Long story short, Mike reached out to my cousin, whos a chef in Australia, and they created a recipe together. They went back and forth, and its top tier.
If you order from GDay Gourmet at the Linc this season, make sure to eat the pie with your hands. Jordan said when many Americans first try the meat pies, they ask for a fork and knife, but Peacock doesnt provide one automatically. Theyre trying to teach everyone how to eat them like an Australian.
I can still smell the skewers of meat sizzling over the glowing hot coconut coals at the original Sate Kampar. There are few foods lost to the pandemic that I miss quite as much. So Ill admit to an initial pang of disappointment when I first sat down at the long-awaited reboot at its new location in Bella Vista, nearly four years after the first one closed on East Passyunk. I quickly realized there would be no sate at Kampar 2.0.
The Sate has even been removed from its name because, unfortunately, theres simply no exhaust hood suitable for such a smoke show in the bi-level corner building where Angelina Ange Branca and her husband, John Branca, opened the latest edition of their restaurant in March. The good news is that Kampar was always about so much more than sate.
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The skewers were delicious, but they were also a teaser to grab our attention. The deeper story here is about the Malaysian foods of Brancas youth, from the array of fresh sambals, tangy with tamarind and a flicker of chile heat, to the milky streams of spiced coffee and tea she relishes pouring back and forth between blended pitchers into frothy cups of cham to finish the meal.
The spirit of those classic elements and many of her other previous hits has remained very much intact in the second floor a la carte dining room and bar of her new space, which she calls a kongsi, or Kampar-style social club. (The ground floor and the wood-fired pizza oven of the old Nomad Pizzeria is being used for Indian tasting menus by one of Kampars chefs in residence, Reuben Reuby Asaram.) The airy, raftered room upstairs is now hung with miners lanterns and bare light bulbs that illuminate a mural depicting the market in Kuala Lumpur where Brancas aunt once operated a noodle cart. It was salvaged from Kampars former spot on East Passyunk and restored with more color and stitched batik fabric patches by local artists Rashidah Salam and Jared Bader.
Longtime Kampar fans can once again savor spice-encrusted strips of fried chicken thighs, ayam goreng berempah, whose curry leaf and lemongrass notes mingle with the spicy zing of tomato sambal. There is also nasi lemak, the Malaysian national dish, whose tidy banana leaf-wrapped packages unfurl with a gentle tug to reveal fragrant treasure inside: a steamy mound of sweet coconut rice layered with the crunch of crispy anchovies and roasted peanuts, and a hard-boiled egg face down in a jammy red smear of sambal bawang. This was the flavor-packed wake-up bundle Branca ate for breakfast as a kid in Kampar, bought from a singing street vendor before even the roosters crowed.
The nasi lemak is best served alongside Kampars fabulous beef rendang daging, braised to silkiness in coconut cream spiced with galangal, cinnamon, and coconut flakes. A dish of Kampars spicy nyonya pickles on the side, her aunties recipe, cuts through the richness. The achat veggies are twice pickled, first in the Chinese manner (a nod to Brancas Hakka roots) then re-pickled with the Indian-influenced swagger of chiles, cumin, lemongrass, and candlenut oil.
The brine from the achat is also used by Kampars distinctive new bar program for its take on a pickletini (along with some vodka, sherry, and Maggi). Its one of several Malaysian culinary references used by general manager Sam Pritchard to extend Kampars signature flavors to the drinks a major addition (and revenue boost) to the experience at a restaurant whose first incarnation was a BYOB. Pandan infuses the rummy Hornbill; Malaysian coffee, roasted with butter and sugar, gives a dark caramel jolt to the coffee martini. The refreshing Karbonat spritz is sparked with black pepper and a charred banana leaf shrub.
Theres an appealing list of international wines, too, from Portugal to South Africa, Slovenia, and Lebanon to complement a well-rounded list of beers, local ciders, and nonalcoholic options to complete the bar programs mission of lending this street food menu its own thirst intrigue.
There are also a series of new dishes that work in tandem with a Malaysian tavern theme. I loved the Dragon Meat, the sweet pork jerky squares that are cured in soy and fish sauce before theyre grilled into thirst-stoking, chewy morsels best paired with a Ploughmans cider, Tonewood Freshies, or a draft of Guinness, which has its own history as a British colonial import to Malaysia. The crisped tofu triangles stuffed with shredded veggies and drizzled in a peanut sauce (an echo of Brancas sate) are one of the lighter bites.
But the dish I cant stop thinking about most is the Ramly, which has fast become one of Phillys most special burgers. Its a reference to the Malaysian food cart favorite (inspired by the halal burger manufacturer of the same name) that wraps two patties with shaved cabbage and sambal mayo inside a sheer omelette that contains all that sauce. Snug in a sweet potato bun, its a meaty juice bomb that takes burger comfort for an international ride. Add a side of thick-cut chips drizzled in Chinese curry a throwback to Brancas university days in Edinburgh, where her first job was at a Chinese takeout and you may agree: The burger and fries is reason alone to come to Kampar.
A desire to share her familys Hakka roots, a Chinese clan that migrated to her corner of Malaysia to work the tin mines, is reflected in the chili pan mee, the broad wheat flour noodles her mother taught her to make with a pork and mushroom gravy tinged with faintly smoky dark soy and the funky spice of dried shrimp pounded into red chiles. There are crispy anchovies for texture, and once you break the soft Smith Poultry egg and mix it in, the bowl takes on a luxuriously savory gloss.
The chewy, coin-sized taro dumplings called suen poon chee are another rarely seen Hakka dish, fermented vegetables and house oyster sauce tossed with morsels of certified Japanese Wagyu (trendy here now, but long accessible in Malaysia) and its rendered, buttery fat. . A notable improvement in the execution of this dish between visits a better balance of ingredients, a crisper singe of wok hei from a searing hot wok showed a kitchen getting up to speed.
By that follow-up visit, more new dishes had appeared to supplement what initially seemed like a limited selection. A late-night menu offered snack-size $10 rice bowls after 9 p.m. topped with flavorful minced pork, chicken, tofu, or sardines in a tomato sauce punched up with shallots and chiles. My favorite late treat, though, is the roti canai, the flaky, multilayered flatbread laced with ghee served with a fragrant bowl of lentil dal scented with cumin and turmeric.
Branca has also found another fantastic use for the wood-fired oven left by Nomad, at least when Asaram isnt using it as a tandoor for his Indian tasting menu. On Sunday and Monday nights, Branca brings a market selection of sustainable whole fish to cook ikan bakar style, lightly seasoned with salt and turmeric, slathered in the sambal of your choice (go for the belacan with fermented shrimp paste) and roasted over a banana leaf at 700 degrees. My blue fish emerged crisp and juicy from the heat, with a lingering whiff of smoke from the singed banana leaf.
Brancas renewed embrace of live fire cooking, and its echoes of Malaysia, adds another chapter to the globe-hopping story of this fascinating chef, whos used her time in Philadelphia over the past decade after leaving corporate consultant life (at Deloitte and IBM) to become one of this citys most eager culinary collaborators, business mentors, and organizers.
When Brancas restaurant closed during the pandemic, she provided a platform at a commissary called Kampar Kitchen for chefs from diverse backgrounds to produce meal boxes, which continued until early this year. She has carried that collaborative spirit forward into the new space, reserving the ground floor for chef Asarams tasting experience, served four nights a week under the name Sunnys Table. Pastry chef Cote Tapia-Marmugi (a.k.a. Mole Street Baker), also a chef in residency and a Kampar Kitchen alum, has been producing desserts for the kongsi, where, aside from sago pearls in coconut cream, her offerings are largely traditional Chilean sweets, like the excellent Brazo de Reina cake, a Swiss roll laced with the caramelized condensed milk jam called manjar.
The combined culinary forces, despite their seemingly disparate themes, are a small step toward the kopitiam-style concept popular in Malaysia an open space filled with diverse specialized food stalls curated by the owner that Branca has always aspired to recreate. But her vision of Malaysian cuisine, expansive and ever-evolving, is already enough to fill this stage.
Kampar
611 S. Seventh St, Philadelphia, 19147, 215-989-2202; kamparphilly.com
Kongsi upstairs: dinner served Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, until 11 p.m. Closed Tuesday. Sunnys Table tasting menu downstairs: Wednesday through Saturday, one seating at 7 p.m.
Kongsi plates, $12-$32. Chef Reubys Sunnys Table, $90.
There are several gluten-free options.
Menu highlights: nasi lemak; rendang daging; Ramly burger; chips and curry; chili pan mee; ayam goreng berempah; ikan bakar whole fish; roti canai with dal.
Adare Pharma Solutions is moving its corporate headquarters from Lawrenceville, N.J., to this building at 7722 Dungan Rd. in Northeast Philadelphia. Read more
Adare Pharma Solutions, which provides drug development and manufacturing services, will move its corporate headquarters to Northeast Philadelphia as part of an expansion of facilities Adare already has in the city, Gov. Josh Shapiros economic development team said Thursday.
The $16.8 million move and expansion, supported by a $2.4 million state loan and $560,000 in state grants, is expected to add 115 jobs within three years to the 200 Adare already has at two city facilities. Adares current corporate office is in Lawrenceville, N.J. The move involves about 20 headquarters positions.
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Im competitive as hell and I believe Pennsylvania is the best state in the nation for companies who want to innovate, grow, and succeed so Im thrilled that Adare has chosen Pennsylvania over other states for its headquarters and continued growth, Shapiro said in a news release.
The CEO of Adare, which is owned by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Frazier Healthcare Partners, said the city is an attractive place to be.
It is crucial for us to have access to a highly skilled talent pool and key markets, and the Philadelphia area provides exactly what we need, said CEO Tom Sellig.
Adare is expanding its two Philadelphia manufacturing and packaging facilities a 175,000-square-foot facility at 7722 Dungan Rd. and a 128,000-square-foot facility at 1100 Orthodox St. The companys headquarters is being relocated from New Jersey to the Dungan Road location.
Northeast Philadelphia also has at least two other companies that provide development, manufacturing, and other services to the pharmaceutical industry. They are PCI Pharma Services, which is headquartered at 3001 Red Lion Rd., and Catalant, which has a packaging plant at 10381 Decatur Rd.
American Airline baggage handler at Philadelphia International Airport on the morning of July 19 when an international technology outage caused massive delays throughout the world. Read more
A new complaint form for flyers in Pennsylvania experiencing such difficulties with airline travel as delays or cancellations aims to empower travelers to voice their frustrations, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Wednesday.
Heres what you need to know about the new complaint form:
What is the complaint form?
Available on the Attorney Generals Offices website, the form is a response to increased consumer complaints regarding air travel nationwide and an ongoing initiative to hold airlines and agents accountable when they mistreat consumers, Henry said in a news release. It comes after Henry and the U.S. Department of Transportation signed a memorandum of understanding that pledged to work together to identify violations of federal aviation consumer protection requirements, according to a separate news release.
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The state Attorney Generals Office will work with companies to offer solutions and refer necessary complaints to the Transportation Departments Office of Aviation Consumer Protection that will prioritize their review. Both offices will meet regularly to discuss submitted complaints. The memorandum will last for two years, with an option to extend it, they said.
The new Pennsylvania complaint form also comes after 90 flights were canceled and 155 were delayed in July at Philadelphia International Airport due to the international technology outage.
Separately, the Transportation Department is expected to launch a modernized system for handling air travel service complaints later this year, the news release said. No additional details were provided about that program.
When can travelers file a complaint?
Pennsylvania residents or anyone who experiences airline problems in Pennsylvania can file complaints whether they purchased tickets directly, through an agent, or through a third party.
Airline issues range from, but are not limited to, flight delays, boarding issues, or baggage fees.
What information is needed to fill out the form?
The form requires airline and ticket information such as ticket number, flight itinerary, flight date, ticket date purchase, ticket price, and form of payment. It also requires a detailed description of the issue the traveler dealt with, in addition to the travelers home address and contact information.
What we dont know
It is unclear how long it will take for complaints to be reviewed and resolved or if a complaint is actively being processed.
It is also not clear how the complaint form will differ from the modernized system planned by the Transportation Department later this year.
Alice Smith, who has been on a multi-decade quest to find a rumored sunken Civil War submarine prototype, named Alligator Jr., at the river in Delanco, New Jersey, on July 31, 2024. Read more
Twenty years and one new hip later, Alice Smith is still at it, tackling thickets of records and slogging through swamps in search of an elusive alligator.
Shes not just looking for any gator, though. Shes on the hunt for Alligator Jr., a possibly 30-foot-long, 30-ton waterlogged iron prototype of a Union Civil War submarine believed to be sunk in the area of the Rancocas Creek watershed near Riverside, Burlington County.
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For 20 years her search has been strewed with tantalizing clues that ultimately have turned out to be red herrings. An impressive, all-volunteer team shes assembled has used various devices over the years including magnetometers, sonar, compasses, drones even duct tape and a boogie board.
Now, she thinks the team has a promising lead.
I was 56 when I started this, said Smith, a retired president of the Riverside Historical Society who lives in Delran. Right now Im 76. So I decided this is our last-ditch effort, my last-ditch effort. If I dont find it, I guess Ill give up the quest.
Smiths team includes a researcher from Stockton University, a past president of the Massachusetts-based Navy and Marine Living History Association, and the founder of a Maine-based sonar technology company, among other volunteers. At times, shes spent her own money, convinced the submarine is out there.
For the first time, shes raising funds from the public, reinvigorated in the quest after a World War II-era compass started spinning during an April 2023 foray. The compass indicated there was a large metal object buried in the muck. Shes raised $7,119 of $9,100 needed to hire a specially equipped drone. Shes keeping the exact location secret for now.
Whats Alligator Jr.?
The iron-hulled Alligator Jr., a submarine prototype, was originally built in 1859 for salvage work by French-born inventor Brutus de Villeroi of France. He offered her to the Navy not long after Fort Sumter was fired on, according to the nonprofit Navy and Marine Living History Association. It was bound for testing at the Philadelphia Navy Base when harbor police in the Delaware seized it in 1861.
But the vessel marked the first step toward creation of a modern submarine fleet and had been stored at the Philadelphia Navy Base and Marcus Hook, according to government records and newspapers. It was last traced to Delanco and Riverside, where it was believed sunk by its creator.
De Villerois full-scale, much larger 40-foot-long Alligator was built at what is now Penn Treaty Park in Philadelphia as the Navys first submarine. President Abraham Lincoln watched a demonstration of Alligator for its war potential. But it sank in 1863 off Hatteras, N.C., and has never been found. And most expect it never will be.
Smiths research led her to believe De Villeroi had returned to France with the inner workings of its predecessor, dubbed Alligator Jr. by Smiths searchers. Archives indicate De Villeroi, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1857 and settled in Philadelphia, sunk its shell somewhere along the Rancocas near Riverside and Delanco, just off the Delaware River. She believes the submarine would be a historic find, and answer questions about technology De Villeroi used at the time.
An Inquirer story from 2005 about Smiths search prompted locals to tell stories of a rusted hull hidden amid phragmite and spatterdock along the creek, including one tale that men were buried inside. Some claimed a large metal object rested under a rope swing on a tree branch.
READ MORE: From 2005: A Civil War mystery remains murky
However, a number of leads have failed to pan out, including a promising magnetic anomaly detected in 2005. But $30,000 worth of equipment including a magnetometer duct taped to a boogie board, showed it to be a false lead.
Clues began popping up more recently. An April 2023 trek into a marshy tributary of the Rancocas with volunteer Allen Rowles bearing a World War II-era compass made at the Watch Case building in Riverside detected a large metal object buried in the mud. A compass can be impacted by the magnetic field given off by iron.
The compass started spinning, Smith said.
Then, came another clue at the location.
Drones and magnetometers
Smith has been working for years with Steve Nagiewicz, an adjunct faculty member of Marine Science at Stockton University. Nagiewicz is a divemaster and specializes in remote sensing technology and marine archaeology.
About eight years ago, Nagiewicz borrowed a boat from Stockton equipped with a magnetometer, which measures magnetic fields, and really didnt find evidence of a buried submarine. The problem, for researchers, is that high-tension wires, pipelines, buried metal drums, and other objects can throw things off.
Nagiewicz returned during the springwith another Stockton faculty member, Mark Sullivan. They flew a drone over the secret location.
We took some images, put together a video, and examined all of it, Nagiewicz said. We found a couple of areas in the marsh with depressions, which indicate that theres something buried underneath.
But whats really needed, Nagiewicz said, is a drone equipped with a magnetometer that can pass over the area multiple times and stitch together a mosaic, giving an idea of the size and shape of what might be underneath, effectively eliminating whether its a bunch of old sewer pipes or some 55-gallon drums someone buried years ago.
A sizable enough magnetic hit would indicate an object large enough to be the sub.
But, if it is found, excavating 30 tons of iron from the mud would be a big project, Nagiewicz said, and its not clear who would pay for that.
Theres something down there
Chuck Veit, president emeritus of the Navy and Marine Living History Association, said he believes the search area is promising. He worked with Smith to set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to hire the specially equipped drone. He said, however, that the team is under pressure because the price for the drone is good only until fall.
This is the very best shot we have and the fact that we turned up those two anomalies just cinches it for me, Veit said. Theres something down there.
Vince Capone, founder of Black Laser Learning, a sonar technology company, has helped Smith for years. He has experience finding shipwrecks and other underwater objects. When he actively volunteered on the search, he lived in Delaware. Now, he lives in Maine and still acts as a technical adviser.
Sonar wont work in the deep muck, he said. The drone and magnetometer combination will give a good idea whether something large is buried or not. A big enough signature would rule out a pipe or boiler. Hes not jumping to conclusions, but said finding Alligator Jr. would be a significant achievement.
Regardless of the outcome, Capone has clear admiration for Smith and her quest.
Alice has done an amazing amount of research, Capone said. Its not like shes just dreamed this up. She has gone through all the archives. She has produced credible data that the submarine could be in this location. You put those two things together and you have a very exciting possibility that it could be right here in the Philadelphia area.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, seen here at a Sept. 2023 news conference, said her staff is working to correct new issues that have emerged in the office. Read more
With problems continuing to pile up at the Philadelphia Sheriffs Office, a state lawmaker from Northeast Philadelphia is asking the citys head judge to investigate the office and take corrective action and to consider holding Sheriff Rochelle Bilal in contempt if she doesnt comply.
In a letter sent Wednesday evening to President Judge Nina Wright Padilla, State Rep. Jared Solomon, a Democrat, said he is deeply concerned by the substantial, publicly documented deficiencies and unacceptable backlogs at the Sheriffs Office that have been reported by The Inquirer and other news media and the City Controller.
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The cited problems include misappropriated money; lengthy deed delays; no-bid contracting; a three-year backlog of property auctions; allegations of missing guns and mishandled domestic-abuse cases; questionable raises; millions of dollars in tax revenue uncollected.
To restore the safe and efficient administration of the courts in Philadelphia and to bolster public confidence in access to justice, I am respectfully requesting, as a friend of the court, that you consider taking any actions you deem appropriate and necessary to bring consistency and stability to the Sheriffs office, Solomon wrote.
Solomon suggested that the court hold an evidentiary hearing to document the offices current deficiencies and issue an administrative order to provide for the safety of court personnel, court users, and the public; the security of financial and cash operations; and the timely administration of records.
If Bilal, a Democrat who took office in 2020, does not address the deficiencies, Solomon wrote to Wright Padilla, the president judge might then consider initiating contempt proceedings against the sheriff of Philadelphia.
A spokesperson for Wright Padilla, a Common Pleas Court judge, declined to comment on Solomons letter. Bilals spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
City officials have said their hands are tied
Solomon has been calling for reform in the Sheriffs Office following an Inquirer report last month about winning bidders at sheriff sales being unable to obtain the deeds to their properties.
Bilals staff had maintained for the last month that reports of wait times exceeding seven months were incorrect. Last week, however, they conceded that there is a problem and said they are trying to fix it. Those delays may have also been a violation of Pennsylvanias Rules of Civil Procedure. The rules require sheriffs to deliver deeds for recording forthwith after they are sent to the courts.
City officials have done little to address deficiencies in the Sheriffs Office, saying their hands are largely tied because the sheriff is an independently elected official.
Solomons decision to go to Philadelphias president judge appears to be modeled after corrective action taken in Dauphin Countys court system this year amid widespread dysfunction.
The president judge there had ordered the elected clerk of courts to address performance issues or be held in contempt. When the clerk instead resigned, the state Supreme Court this month declared a judicial emergency and ordered the president judge there to appoint a temporary acting clerk.
Solomon said Philadelphia courts might be able to do something similar.
The president judge is responsible for the fair and efficient administration of the court system and therefore tasked with oversight powers, Solomon said in an interview Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, Aizaz Gill, the Republican nominee in the 172nd state House District, also located in Northeast Philadelphia, issued a statement supporting Solomons effort.
Fixing problems like those in the Sheriffs Office will require leaders from both parties to put aside partisanship and stand together, Gill said. On this issue, I stand with Rep. Solomon in his call for action.
The Philadelphia Sheriffs Office has long been a source of scandal and controversy: Former Sheriff John Green in 2019 was sentenced to five years in prison for taking bribes worth $675,000, and his successor Jewell Williams was hit with half a dozen lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and intimidation.
But under Bilal who threw a going-to-jail party for Green after she won the 2019 primary several of the offices core functions have broken down.
Solomon cited those problems in his letter to Padilla, including:
Sales of tax-delinquent properties had been on hold since April 2021 after Bilals staff signed a no-bid, six-year deal with online auction firm Bid4Assets without approval from city lawyers. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker estimated that the extended pause on sales had left $35 million in taxes uncollected and has hampered blight remediation. The sales resumed last month.
The Sheriffs Office continues to withhold millions of dollars in service fee revenue that is supposed to be turned over to city coffers. Instead, Bilals staff spends the money directly, on everything from Tasers to promotional items, such as Rochelle Bilal trading cards and a $9,250 foam mascot named Deputy Sheriff Justice. A 2022 City Controller audit said the Sheriffs Office is operating outside of the checks and balances established in the Home Rule Charter meant to protect taxpayer funds from mismanagement or misuse.
Solomon noted that there have also been questions about whether Bilals staff is properly confiscating weapons in domestic-abuse cases, and accounting for other guns in their possession.
And the Sheriffs Office could see more work coming its way soon: The citys Landlord-Tenant Office, run by a private attorney, announced this week that it is on the brink of losing its insurance and could shut down by the end of next month.
If that happens, the Sheriffs Office would likely be responsible for handling evictions. Landlords say they are worried about whether the sheriff can handle the workload, given the existing problems.
In a statement Thursday morning, Bilal addressed that issue: We understand the significance of this responsibility and are determined to uphold the highest standards of justice and accountability.
News researcher Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.
When Republicans call Vice President Kamala Harris a DEI hire, what they really want to say is a whole lot worse.
But they dare not. So instead, they go DEI on the VP.
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In their minds, DEI which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion equals not qualified. It is the new woke, which replaced CRT (critical race theory), which took over for affirmative action.
Immediately after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore, guess what got blamed? DEI. And when a panel blew out midflight during an Alaskan Airlines flight last winter, right-wing activists and trolls blamed DEI for that as well.
Now theyre saying Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency only because of her race and sex not despite it.
On Wednesday, Trump was asked if he thought that calling Harris a DEI hire was acceptable and if he believed that shes only on the ticket because shes a Black woman. Instead of condemning the trolling, he added fuel to it by implying that she identifies as Black for political purposes.
Ive known her a long time indirectly she was always of Indian heritage, he said during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black.
He added, So I dont know. Is she Indian or is she Black?
Youd think hed pull back after that but he didnt. Trump kept digging.
After Rachel Scott of ABC News pointed out that Harris has always identified as African American and had attended a historically Black college, he responded that he respects both racial groups but then claimed Harris does not. She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn, Trump said in a mocking manner. She became a Black person.
Its infuriating to watch.
As an African American woman, all of this hits home.
Ive been called a DEI hire. An affirmative action hire. You name it. It used to really bug me when someone would assume that I got a particular job because of my skin color as opposed to my skills, work history, and education.
When I see it happening with Harris, it gets me mad all over again.
They do it because shes not white.
They do it because shes a woman.
According to a 2023 Pew study, most Americans recognize that female politicians have it harder than male politicians such as JD Vance, former President Donald Trumps running mate.
Hes white.
Hes male.
He fits the demographic of almost every other vice presidential candidate in the history of the country besides Harris.
So, that works for the GOP. They save their nitpicking for Harris and claim ad nauseam that shes not qualified, despite her spending the last four years serving as vice president under Joe Biden.
They ignore her four years in the U.S. Senate.
They ignore the fact that she successfully served two terms as state attorney general of California.
They ignore the fact that she served two terms as district attorney of San Francisco.
What they wont ignore, however, is the fact that shes a woman and the fact that no other woman has successfully vied for our nations top job.
Harris late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was born in India. Her father Donald Jasper Harris, professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jamaica.
For conservatives, these two things alone are enough to disqualify her from becoming Americas 47th president.
Neanderthals remain convinced that the presidency is a mans job not that theyll openly admit it. Instead, they try to cloak their bigotry. They point to Bidens statements about choosing a female running mate to bolster their argument that Harris is a DEI hire.
But I dont recall the same outrage when the late Sen. John McCain picked former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin back in 2008. The GOPs hypocrisy is selective and glaring.
Meanwhile, Trump is also going after Harris the way chauvinistic bigots always demean women by implying we are somehow crazy or nuts.
I recently listened to an MSNBC interview of five female voters in Green Bay, Wis., who talked about why they wouldnt support Harris. One of the women even went so far as to brand Harris as an idiot. When the interviewer asked why she would say that, she responded, Because she hasnt done anything in the time that shes had.
Then the woman added, Shes not real smart. Thats my opinion.
I guess thats easier than recognizing that for a woman to have achieved what Harris has, particularly a woman of color, she has to be at least twice as good as a male candidate. Thats a message I learned while attending Howard University. I know that Harris, who also graduated from this historically Black institution, got that message, too. Harris wouldnt have gotten as far as she has without it.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.) who also recently called Harris a DEI hire, knows thats what it takes, too. Seeing Harris excel, despite all of the roadblocks intentionally set in the way of ambitious career women and people of color like her, enrages people like him. So they try to knock her down. The easiest way is to go after two things she cant change. Her race and ethnicity.
Because thats basically all theyve got.
She brought to light that sex and race have to be addressed in politics, pointed out Sheila Armstrong, a Philly-based Black Republican who intends to vote for Trump in November. This goes with the territory.
That may well be, but although I continue to find it maddening, I hope Republicans dont listen to Speaker of the House Mike Johnsons admonitions to tone down the attacks on Harris sex and race.
Its a losing tactic thats going to cost them big time.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, speaks during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in 2020. With NASA's budget in flux, realizing the goal of going to Mars has fallen on billionaires like Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson. Read more
Elon Musks decision to move SpaceX headquarters to Texas because he disagrees with a new California law that prohibits schools from informing parents when an LGBTQ child changes their name or pronouns is an embarrassing consequence to letting private companies take the lead in Americas space exploration efforts.
Musks transgender daughter applied for a new birth certificate when she turned 18 in 2022, saying, I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form. Musk blames his daughters disapproval of him on the California schools she had attended. So, he plans to not only move SpaceX to Texas but also X (formerly Twitter) to protest the new LGBTQ law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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Musk isnt the only space entrepreneur making controversial moves.
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos said he is changing his residence from Washington state to Florida to be closer to his Blue Origin space company. But he didnt mention the estimated $600 million in capital gains taxes he will avoid paying by moving from Seattle to Miami before a planned sale of 50 million shares of his Amazon stock.
It should be mentioned that long before billionaires started building rocket ships, some aerospace decisions were similarly stained by the political moves of vote-seeking members of Congress trying to keep jobs in their states. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) threw a fit last year when President Joe Biden rescinded former President Donald Trumps decision to move the new Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama.
The mercurial whims of the superrich have made the course of space exploration even harder to predict. But so much has been invested in Americas new entrepreneurship approach to boldly go where weve never been that its unlikely NASA will ever again be our sole pilot.
Congress barely blinked an eye this year when it cut the space agencys budget by 2% to $24.8 billion. Biden had asked for a 7% increase but taxpayers barely paid attention. Not even TV fans of popular space dramas like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and For All Mankind have been keeping up with the tediously tiny steps toward a galactic mission being made by NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin.
Polls show Americans are more concerned about space debris falling to the earth than going to Mars. They do notice when the space flight companies experience another launch failure. But thats likely because each botched test is a reminder of the doomed feelings Americans experienced when the Apollo 1, Columbia, and Challenger disasters left 17 astronauts dead.
Enthusiasm for space flight also took a blow after the shuttle program was shut down in 2011 and our astronauts started hitching rides aboard Russian spacecrafts. Tepid support for space exploration wont get better until the private companies that one day may supplant NASA achieve a measure of success that rivals this nations first manned flights beyond the Earths atmosphere.
It doesnt help boost public support when Musk suggests his moving SpaceX out of California has as much to do with that states new LGBTQ law than the Lone Star States business-friendlier tax system. Musk is building an entire town 23 miles from Brownsville, Texas, including a $100 million, five-story office building. But will he move again if one day he similarly objects to how Texas politicians run their state? Costs seem to mean nothing to him.
NASAs contract with SpaceX is mostly boilerplate text defining a relationship in which the company wont be hampered by rules that might impede its ability to operate as a completely independent entity and not a government contractor. In return, space entrepreneurs such as Musk, Bezos, and Richard Branson, who owns Virgin Galactic, are supposed to do what NASA is perceived as being incapable of doing without them: land a human-occupied spacecraft on Mars.
Confidence in the entrepreneurs ability to do that is lost when they seem more concerned with prospecting for tax breaks or using their space exploration companies as props to make personal political statements about social issues that have nothing to do with building a rocket ship that can safely take a person 140 million miles away to the Red Planet.
Former President Donald Trump took a jab at local Democratic district attorneys from across the country, including those in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, during his rally in Harrisburg Wednesday night.
He also took a swipe at Vice President Kamala Harris history as a prosecutor and district attorney in San Francisco.
She was a bad DA long before you had your DA ... as you know in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but in Los Angeles, all over the place, Trump told the crowd at the New Holland Arena at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, referring to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. All over the place, you have bad DAs.
He further invoked Harris law enforcement background and said that were not going to let her do to Pennsylvania what she did to California, she destroyed San Francisco, one of the best cities in the world, and its in tatters.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trumps campaign schedules are sparse Friday, as both candidates prepare for larger events over the weekend and next week.
Harris has no campaign event appearances scheduled Friday, bringing a break in a week that has brought the presumed Democratic presidential nominee to Atlanta and Houston. Harris was most recently slated to be in Houston Thursday to give a eulogy for former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas), who died from cancer July 19.
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Harris husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, meanwhile, will campaign on her behalf Friday in Sayville, N.Y., where he is scheduled to speak at a campaign event, the White House said. Emhoff spoke at a number of Harris campaign events in New England earlier this week.
The lull in Harris schedule precedes what stands to be a busy next week, with the vice president slated to appear in Philadelphia at a rally Tuesday alongside her as-yet-unannounced running mate. A registration page for the event indicates it will run from 5 to 9 p.m., but no other details had yet been announced early Thursday afternoon.
That event, Harris campaign told The Inquirer, will kick off a tour through swing states with her vice presidential pick, who is likely to be introduced in Pennsylvania. Among the front-runners is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has so far demurred when asked about his interest in the position. But on Wednesday, he met with the Harris campaign as the vetting process for vice presidential candidates continues, two sources familiar with the process told The Inquirer.
Shapiro had also been scheduled to hold a series of fundraisers in the Hamptons over the weekend, but canceled those events Thursday, a spokesperson told The Inquirer.
Likewise, neither Trump nor his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, has campaign events on the calendar for Friday. The pair are next scheduled to appear at a rally Saturday in Atlanta, where Harris held her own event earlier this week.
Trump and Vance held a number of rallies and appearances around the country throughout the week, including one in Harrisburg on Wednesday that marked the former presidents first appearance in Pennsylvania since he survived an assassination attempt in Butler July 13. Trump has said that he plans to hold another rally in Butler, but has not yet provided details on when that event might occur.
Trumps Pennsylvania rally Wednesday came hours after a roundly criticized appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Chicago. At that event, Trump questioned Harris Black identity because of her South Asian heritage. Harris mother emigrated from India and her father emigrated from Jamaica, and she has publicly embraced both identities.
In response to Trumps false claims in Chicago, Harris called his remarks the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect in an appearance at an event held by the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., one of the Divine Nine historically Black sororities and fraternities.
Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks with press along with Vice President Kamala Harris during their to Reading Terminal Market in July. Shapiro is a potential candidate to serve as Harris' running mate. Read more
This week, Vice President Kamala Harris campaign has been doing damage control for statements she made in 2019 in support of a ban on hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
Politicians seeking votes in Pennsylvania have to stake middle ground on fracking, a method of drilling horizontally through shale to tap pockets of natural gas. Harris flip-flop is emblematic of the treacherous path Democrats tread in Pennsylvania where the fossil fuel industry flexes economic and political muscle. At the same time, the state has forceful environmentalists pushing for renewable energy.
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Harris original call for a ban came during a CNN town hall in 2019 when she said there is no question Im in favor of banning fracking and starting with what we can do on Day 1 around public lands.
Fracking in Pennsylvania takes place on private properties. It would require Congress to restrict fracking on private property.
Harris backed away from the position in 2020 after she became President Joe Bidens running mate. An official with the vice presidents campaign told The Inquirer on Thursday that she no longer supports a ban on fracking.
Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential Harris running mate, has managed to keep the natural gas industry from getting too uneasy, although bruising some people in the process. Observers say he could help Harris navigate a tricky landscape.
Significant impact
Its no small task: Any talk of a messing with natural gas production triggers angst from fossil fuel companies, legislators, and trade unions who say bans or pullbacks would threaten energy independence and much-needed jobs.
I have serious thoughts about someone who would make those comments without realizing how particularly important the [fracking] process is to the state and U.S., State Sen. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming), a frequent and politically powerful proponent of the industry said of Harris.
Yaw said fracking accounts for 90% of oil and gas extracted across the country.
Thats a pretty significant impact for somebody to make an off-the-cuff comment without understanding how serious a ban would be, Yaw said of Harris.
Yaw, a Republican, is chair of the Pennsylvania Senates Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, in a divided purple state where Democrats narrowly control the House and Republicans control the upper chamber. Shapiro has to thread the needle.
Dave Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade association focused on unconventional shale development, said banning unconventional well drilling would be would be nothing short of disastrous. He said his group is bipartisan and advocates for policies for the industry, which he said directly or indirectly supports 100,000 workers.
It would certainly be detrimental to consumers in terms of energy costs and could have an impact on our energy security and national security, he said of a ban.
Trump attacks on Harris past fracking stance
On Wednesday, Trump campaigned in Harrisburg and vowed to end what he called the war on fracking that would demolish jobs in Pennsylvania.
Look, if they get in, your state is screwed you guys are screwed but I will never let that happen, Trump said.
However, the Biden administration, while it has pushed for renewable energy, never aligned with calls for fracking bans, issuing almost 50% more permits to drill for oil and natural gas on federal land than that of when Trump was president, and oil and gas production in the U.S. has grown each year, according to E & E News. Harris has not pushed back on that position as Bidens vice president.
Further, the administration also created seven hubs around the nation to produce hydrogen fuel. The MACH2 hub would be in the Philly region and produce hydrogen through renewable energy sources. But the ARCH2 hub spanning West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, would produce hydrogen through a process using natural gas, angering environmentalists who claim its just a hidden gift to the fossil fuel industry.
Shapiro could help
Shapiro has learned to navigate the tricky politics surrounding fracking, even as environmentalists lament methane emissions, continued drilling, polluted well water, pipeline leaks, abandoned wells and climate change all associated with fossil fuels.
David Hess, a former secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, who runs an influential environmental blog, credits Shapiro with two climate and energy proposals known as PRESS and PACER, environmental justice initiatives, and finding more resources for the DEP. As a result, hes helped give environmentalists some wins, while not raising too much ire in the energy industry.
PRESS would raise targets for renewable energy but includes nuclear power, fusion, and cleaner forms of natural gas. PACER would calculate a Pennsylvania-specific cap on carbon emissions.
I think generally hes given high marks for that, Hess said. He walked a very narrow path because he also wanted to attract union support for those proposals. Unions havent come out vehemently opposed to them.
David Masur, executive director of the nonprofit PennEnvironment, an advocacy group, doesnt always agree with Shapiro but says the governor has learned to walk a tight path.
Masur cites a scathing 2020 grand jury report led by Shapiro, state attorney general at the time, on the fracking industry. Grand jurors issued eight recommendations to address health and safety issues caused by hydraulic fracturing.
While supportive of the report, Masur notes that none of the recommendations has been carried out. Some are not under Shapiros control as governor, Masur notes, and some could be.
Thats left Shapiro open to criticism from groups such as the Philly-based Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, which released a statement last week saying Shapiro failed to enact any of the recommendations put forth by the grand jury that he had previously promoted. He no longer publicly discusses the public health danger of the fossil fuel industry in the state.
The group accused Shapiro of making dangerous side deals with fossil fuel companies.
In 2022, Houston-based Coterra Energy Inc. pleaded no contest to allowing methane to leak into Dimocks aquifer in Susquehanna County.
The state Department of Environmental Protection had long kept a moratorium on gas production in Dimock, where fracking had split the town since at least 2008. Then, in 2022, the DEP lifted the moratorium, allowing more drilling and angering some residents.
Drilling continues under Shapiro, who took office in 2023 and campaigned on more industry oversight.
I know hes claiming to be for a clean, green Pennsylvania, but from my personal experience, I dont see it, said Victoria Switzer, a resident of Dimock who wants Harris to pick a different running mate. I dont see the truth in that. I have a different story to tell.
Inquirer staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.
Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris at Wissahickon High School Monday, July 29, 2024, in Shapiro's home county of Montgomery. Read more
Its no secret that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a serious contender as the vice presidential nominee for Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. But what are the considerations guiding the decision?
Harris campaign is seeking a candidate who would offer the best complement to expand the Democratic coalition. A handful of factors could work for or against Shapiro and some could go either way.
Reasons Shapiro may be the pick
Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state
Pennsylvania plays a critical role in the path to the White House, and Shapiro has proof he can win the swing state. He garnered more votes than the presidential candidates in Pennsylvania in both his 2016 attorney general race and 2020 gubernatorial race.
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Hes demonstrated fundraising prowess, maintained strong approval ratings in the state, and has been able to appeal to independents and Republicans. Still, its unclear how much impact a running mate has at the polls in their home state.
READ MORE: Josh Shapiro is getting VP hype for a commanding win in Pa. against a weak opponent
Taking on Donald Trump isnt new to Josh Shapiro
Shapiro and Harris could double up on their backgrounds as attorneys general to contrast themselves with former President Donald Trump, who became the first former president convicted of felony crimes in May.
While attorney general, Shapiro was a consistent foil to Trump. He joined several state attorneys general to oppose Trumps travel ban and defended Pennsylvanias 2020 election results against attacks and lawsuits. Just this week in Philly, Shapiro slammed Trump and his vice presidential nominee JD Vance while speaking to reporters.
READ MORE: Why the thought of Josh Shapiro as Kamala Harris VP nominee is making the Pa. GOP nervous
Reasons Shapiro may not be the pick
Shapiro is open to school vouchers
Shapiro has worked across the aisle with Republicans to compromise over school vouchers, also known as school choice, which the Democratic Party opposes. Vouchers provide parents with state funding to send children to private schools, and Shapiro has said he supports them as long as theyre approved alongside increases to public education funding. But still, two of the states largest teacher unions support Shapiro as a vice president pick even though they oppose vouchers.
READ MORE: Some public education advocates are pushing against Josh Shapiro as Harris VP pick because he supports school vouchers
His handling of sexual assault allegations about his former aide has been criticized
The political scandal clouding Shapiros tenure surrounds Mike Vereb, one of his top aides and closest allies who stepped down from his administration abruptly in September. Verebs resignation came three weeks after Shapiros administration quietly agreed to pay $295,000 to settle claims from a governors office employee who said Vereb made repeated sexual advances toward her and often spoken openly and lewdly about her, other staff members, and a female state senator.
Shapiro was criticized by female lawmakers as being silent on the issue. His administration described it as a private personnel matter and said it takes allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously.
Harris, who would be the nations first female president, has already signaled shell run against Trump as an accused abuser of women. The Vereb baggage might not be something the campaign wants to bring along with them.
READ MORE: How a sexual harassment scandal involving a Josh Shapiro aide could affect the Pa. governors VP chances
Reasons that could go either way
Shapiro is unapologetically pro-Israel
Shapiro, the states third Jewish governor, has been a strong supporter of Israel, though hes also openly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a failed leader.
Shapiro has faced backlash from progressives over stances hes taken against pro-Palestine protests, so adding him to the ticket could dissuade voters on the left who are passionate about the issue. On the other hand, adding Shapiro to the ticket could diminish Republican efforts to frame Harris as weak in her support for Israel and ease pro-Israel voters who are frustrated by backlash from progressives within the party.
Being pro-Israel isnt particularly unique among the contenders for the nomination, but Shapiro has been in the spotlight on the issue. Some say hes been unfairly singled out over the issue because he is Jewish.
READ MORE: Would Josh Shapiros stances on Israel help or hurt Kamala Harris ticket?
Ambition
Shapiro is well known to have presidential aspirations, which could work against him as Harris looks for someone to share the spotlight with. Shapiro has never lost an election, but hes also burned some allies along the way. Like many politicians of his stature, he likes the spotlight and has gravitated toward executive leadership positions.
READ MORE: Josh Shapiros rise wasnt accidental. Just ask those who helped him get here or felt betrayed along the way
The No. 1 concern with him he is not gonna be fine off to the side, a Democratic insider said.
But Shapiro hasnt turned down the calls to be second in command.
A day after former President Donald Trumps inflammatory remarks on Vice President Kamala Harris racial identity, Philadelphia Democrats and labor leaders on Thursday criticized Trump for saying that Harris, at some point, happened to turn Black.
Harris, whose mother is Indian and her father Jamaican, has publicly embraced both identities. She attended Howard University, a historically Black university, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Black sorority.
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Trump, however, is attempting to use her Indian heritage to undermine her popularity among Black voters, who will be critical in such swing states as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia. Harris would be both the first Black woman to serve as president and the first Asian American if she defeated Trump in November.
READ MORE: Donald Trump questioned Kamala Harris racial identity and returned to Pa. for the first time since his assassination attempt
What he did is consistent with his entire record, State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) said at a news conference at an office of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ. He hates Black people. He hates women and especially hates accomplished Black people and accomplished women. He cant stand that because they threaten him and his existence.
Hughes was joined in condemning Trump by State Reps. Danilo Burgos, Joe Hohenstein, and Ben Waxman, and City Council members Kendra Brooks, Rue Landau and Anthony Phillips.
We know she is a champion of all communities of color, Landau said. We know that she is wonderful and beautiful and gets to identify in whatever way she is. And shes a proud, proud member of the Black community.
Trump has a long history of making offensive comments related to race. Before entering politics he called for the execution of the so-called Central Park Five, a group of four young Black men and one Latino who were falsely accused of assault and rape. He burst into the national political conversation by falsely suggesting that former President Barack Obama was born outside the United States. And as president, Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and some African nations as shole countries.
Are you surprised at this? Im not, said Barbara Cherry, a 32BJ member who works as a cleaner in a Center City building and spoke at Thursdays news conference. Racism and sexism are exactly what Donald Trump is all about, and Im happy that he showed us exactly who he is in front of a crowd of Black journalists and the country.
Trumps comments disparaging Harris mixed-race identity came during a Wednesday interview at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn, Trump said at the event. ... I think somebody should look into that.
Later that day, Trumps campaign projected an image of an article about Harris Indian American background inside the venue in Harrisburg ahead of the former presidents rally.
Trump has doubled down on his comments. On Wednesday he posted an image of Harris wearing a sari on his social media platform Truth Social, writing, Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated.
The line of attack is strange because Harris has long been vocal about being mixed race.
For instance, she wrote in her 2019 memoir that my mother, grandparents, aunts and uncle instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots and also that her mother knew that her adopted homeland would see [Harris sister] Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women.
During a campaign event in July in Nevada, Harris discussed how her mother emigrated from India at 19 and met her father while they were both active in the Civil Rights movement. She said her parents took her to marches while she was in a stroller.
We stand for the beauty and diversity and the promise of America, Harris told a crowd of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, according to a White House transcript.
Trumps attempt to turn Harris Indian heritage into a campaign issue comes as his running mates wife, Usha Vance, an Indian American and practicing Hindu, has faced a barrage of racist abuse online.
Sen. JD Vance, the Ohio Republican running to be Trumps vice president, spoke about the online attacks against his wife on the Megyn Kelly Show just four days before Trumps NABJ appearance.
I love her because shes who she is. Obviously, shes not a white person, and weve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha, Vance said.
Pennsylvania Republicans have been largely silent about Trumps remarks, while some GOP officials from elsewhere have criticized their partys leader.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, said Trumps comments were unacceptable and abhorrent.
U.S. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and a top-ranking member of the GOP caucus, urged the president to focus on policy issues.
The campaign is, needs to be, must be about the issues, and theres plenty to talk about, Thune told reporters in Washington. I just think thats where the focus needs to be. Thats how were going to win in November.
A federal judge struck down New Jerseys ban on the AR-15 rifle, the style of gun that was used in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa.
New Jerseys cap on magazines over 10 rounds is constitutional, however, the judge determined.
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U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridans 69-page opinion says he was compelled to rule as he did because of the Supreme Courts rulings in firearms cases, particularly the 2022 Bruen decision that expanded gun rights.
Second Amendment advocates and New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin plan to appeal the decision.
Sheridan seemed to blame his ruling on the Supreme Court, and suggested that Congress and the president can do more to address gun violence.
It is hard to accept the Supreme Courts pronouncements that certain firearms policy choices are off the table when frequently, radical individuals possess and use these same firearms for evil purposes, he wrote.
READ MORE: Donald Trumps shooter used the most popular rifle in America. The AR-15 and Pennsylvania, explained
Where the Supreme Court has set for the law of our Nation, as a lower court, I am bound to follow it. Sheridan added. ... This principle combined with the reckless inaction of our governmental leaders to address the mass shooting tragedy afflicting our Nation necessitates the Courts decision.
New Jersey has among the strictest gun laws in the country, but nine other states and the District of Columbia have bans on guns that are classified as assault weapons, such as the AR-15.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) classifies the Colt AR-15 as a semiautomatic assault weapon. Gun advocates push back against the assault descriptor for semiautomatic guns available to civilians; the term has been used by gun control advocates and in Democrat-backed efforts to ban guns such as the AR-15 in recent decades.
Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, one of the plaintiffs, said bans on so-called assault weapons are immoral and unconstitutional and said the group will fight all of the similar bans across the country.
Platkin said the ruling endangers public safety.
The AR-15 is an instrument designed for warfare that inflicts catastrophic mass injuries, and is the weapon of choice for the epidemic of mass shootings that have ravaged so many communities across this nation, the attorney general said.
The AR-15 is a popular style of gun that has been used by mass shooters across the country, including several in Pennsylvania.
The United States had a federal assault weapon ban that lasted from 1994 to 2004, and efforts to revitalize it have been unsuccessful.
And that ban was poorly worded, so companies modified their guns to fit the law, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Cameron McWhirter, who cowrote a book on the history of the gun called American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 with his colleague Zusha Elinson.
The sale of AR-15-style guns//spiked before the ban, continued to increase during the ban, and spiked again after the ban, which was also influenced by changing views on guns and a post-9/11 sentiment, McWhirter said.
This article contains information from the Associated Press.
Former President Donald Trump arrives onstage at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Read more
CHICAGO Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday questioned Vice President Kamala Harris racial identity at an event for Black journalists that was part of a whirlwind day of campaigning that also saw him return to Pennsylvania for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt in the state two weeks ago.
She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went she became a Black person, Trump said of Harris, whose mother emigrated from India and whose father emigrated from Jamaica. I think somebody should look into that.
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The comments were part of a combative exchange between Trump and the moderators at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists. They were the latest in a long line of offensive and racist remarks that have defined his political career, including when he made his first foray into national politics nearly 15 years ago by falsely suggesting then-President Barack Obama wasnt born in the United States.
READ MORE: Donald Trump questions Kamala Harris race, attacks ABC News Rachel Scott during NABJ interview
The man is just a complete moron, racist, white supremacist, said City Councilmember Nina Ahmad, a Bangladeshi immigrant who is the first South Asian city lawmaker in Philadelphia history. Its just ludicrous what hes saying. Clearly weve known her heritage for a long time, that she has an Indian mother who came here and met her Jamaican father, who obviously has African heritage.
Ahmad said she thought Trump was cynically questioning Harris race because her popularity with Black voters threatens his chances.
He wants to destroy her Black support, Ahmad said. Im sure thats probably why. The amount of excitement that her candidacy has generated reminds me of 2008, and its very powerful.
Harris, who attended Howard University, would be the first Black woman to serve as president if she prevails against Trump in November. She would also be the first Asian American, in addition to being the first woman of any race.
She has embraced all of these identities as a candidate, speaking at events targeting both Black and Asian American voters in Philadelphia in recent weeks.
Harris spokesperson Michael Taylor said Trumps tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trumps MAGA rallies.
Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in, Taylor said in a statement.
After leaving the Chicago event, Trump flew to Harrisburg for a rally. Inside the venue an image of a Business Insider article about Harris Indian American background was projected onto the stadiums big screen before his arrival.
Attendees waited in scorching temperatures for hours before his arrival. Michael Baker, who traveled to the rally from the Gettysburg area, said he thought Trump raised a valid point about Harris after hearing about the former presidents comments in Chicago.
I dont think shes lied about it, but she uses it to her advantage, said Baker, 68, of Harris mixed-race heritage when told of the former presidents remarks. Shes not African American, shes Indian.
Trumps first Pa. rally after assassination attempt
The Harrisburg speech was the former presidents first event in Pennsylvania since being shot in the ear during a failed assassination attempt July 13 in Butler, Pa.
Trump began his remarks by discussing the shooting and recognizing Corey Comperatore, a former Buffalo Township fire chief who died after being struck by a stray bullet.
In his last act on this earth, Corey threw himself over his wife and daughters and died shielding them from the bullets of a very disturbed guy, Trump said.
The crowd chanted Corey! Corey! Corey! before Trump called for a moment of silence in honor of Comperatore.
Trump has promised to return to Butler in the future.
We had a rough day. I will tell you, by all accounts, I should not be with you today, Trump said. I shouldnt be with you, but I am.
Later in the speech, Trump recalled how pundits predicted he would turn into a nice man after the shooting.
And I really agreed with that for about eight hours or so, and then I realized they were trying to put me in prison for doing absolutely nothing wrong, said Trump, the first former president convicted of a felony.
These are bad people. We have to win this battle and you know theyre going to become nicer when we win.
Attacks on Harris
Trump held his Harrisburg rally at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburgs Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, an 8,000-seat arena usually used for rodeos and wrangling events. The Harrisburg crowd did the wave more than a dozen times in excitement for Trumps appearance and sang Oliver Anthonys Rich Men North of Richmond, a MAGA anthem.
A few thousand more attendees were also on the floor of the venue, the dirt floor covered by a concrete slab.
In a rambling speech, Trump described Harris as a phony and a far-left extremist who supports open borders and is weak on crime.
On the one hand, you have a radical left puppet candidate who is fake, fake, fake, and then on the other hand you have a president who will fight, fight, fight for America, Trump said. She is an extreme radical left lunatic.
Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, has been running on her background as a prosecutor since becoming the Democratic nominee and debuted an ad this week seeking to hit back on Republican criticism on the border.
Roughly an hour into his speech, Trump claimed that President Joe Bidens withdrawal from the race in favor of Harris amounted to a coup.
It was a coup. This was a coup of a president. He will be famous. He will be more famous for the coup than the bad job hes done, said Trump, who was impeached for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and faces ongoing prosecutions related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump did not directly address the controversy over his NABJ remarks during the speech.
Phyllis Vance a Black Trump voter who laughed while mentioning she had no relation to Trumps running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance said she agreed with Trumps false assessment of Harris racial identity.
I dont think hes racist. Hes done so many things for Black people, said Vance, a 64-year-old pharmacy technician who added Trump was for the people, no matter what color you are.
Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, whose parents are Indian immigrants, said Wednesday that Trump and other conservatives have shown they have no integrity when discussing Harris race.
Ive seen for years, right wing politicians speaking to Indian American audiences say VP Harris identifies as Black and hides her Indian heritage. Now when speaking to a Black audience, Trump and his weirdos say she is Indian, and only recently turned Black, Makhija posted on X.
Inquirer staff writers Fallon Roth and Sarah Nicell contributed to this article.
Does anyone else wish they were in Paris partying it up with Snoop Dogg and Jason Kelce this week? Reporting from the city of lights, my colleague Mike Sielski has been all over the Olympics coverage, from the shockingly good womens rugby team (featuring Upper Merion High grad Ariana Ramsey) to the rise of Philly womens foil fencing star Maia Weintraub to the ongoing struggles of Joel Embiid. (He even found a cheesesteak in Paris.)
Thanks to those of you who wrote in and shared which athletes youve been watching! Connie shouted out the hilariously named diving duo Cook n Bacon Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon who won silver in the womens synchronized 3-meter springboard this week. Joel said hes looked forward to seeing Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dominate in the 400 meter hurdle and I totally agree. Let me know who else youre rooting for!
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This weekend find a bar where you can cheer on your Olympics faves, see incredible new films at the BlackStar Film Festival, explore West Phillys very weird yam-tastic Yamatorium, and get ready for the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)
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The BlackStar Film Festival returns this weekend with a slate of fresh, innovative documentaries, shorts, and features from Black, Indigenous, and brown filmmakers locally and internationally. Catch the portrait of famous poet Audre Lorde in her own words, see legendary hip-hop critic dream hamptons memoir documentary (with footage of Biggie, Method Man, and more), and explore dozens of other universe-expanding and community-building films including works by filmmakers who live in and have been inspired by Philadelphia. We picked out 11 great films that were most excited to see.
The best things to do this week
Catch the action: Whether its 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., the Olympics coverage is kicking and these athletes have been nonstop. (Rack up those gold medals, Simone Biles!) If youre looking to cheer on your faves at a local spot, heres where you can tune in.
Yam it up: What is the Yamatorium? Its something you have to see to believe, a showcase of absurdity from yamophones to a sculpture named Turdalina in a West Philly bunker. Take a look at the totally tubular, immersive experience.
History uncovered: The storied halls of Christ Church Neighborhood House, which opened its doors in 1695, have seen hundreds of thousands of people come through. Staffers have discovered new documents revealing Black worshippers, both free and enslaved. Their stories are the center of the new exhibit Groundings.
Go barefoot: A new art installation from local artist Rachel Hsu invites you to walk on small stones for a meditative massage at the Benjamin Franklin Parkways Maja Park. The Weight of Our Living was inspired by reflexology footpaths in parks in Taiwan and kicks off a series of public art installations coming to the parkway in coming weeks.
Its so back: After a rocky few years, the Philadelphia Folk Festival is back this year with headliners John Oates and Gangstagrass on Aug. 16-18 at the Old Pool Farm in Montgomery County. Heres everything you need to know.
My calendar picks this week: Philly Taco Fest, ACANA African Festival, First Friday at The Barnes
The thing of the week
Though the Phillies current downturn is no laughing matter, you can head to Citizens Bank Park on Saturday for some laughs with Dont Tell Comedy. The secret pop-up comedy show travels to unexpected locations around the country and this special edition from the Philly chapter takes place in the Media Room at the ballpark, with a chance for attendees to explore the Hall of Fame Club. Organizers keep the comic lineup under wraps but theyve teased a Phanatic appearance.
Summer fun this week and beyond
A different show every night: Phillys Fringe Festival returns next month with 306 performances from dozens of experimental, provocative, wacky, and irreverent artists across the city. From circus acts to immersive dance to epic literary adaptations, heres what you can expect.
Put in motion: A new sitcom with Bryn Mawr-raised Kat Dennings just got picked up at ABC. The 2 Broke Girls actress stars in the comedy with Home Improvements Tim Allen. Heres what we know so far.
Treasures from afar: A gooey, green chocolate from Dubai has gone viral as the internets latest food craze. Chocolatiers in the Philly region have stocked the crunchy, pistachio-filled treat.
Get your fix: If youre heading down the shore, you might be missing your neighborhood coffee shop. Find the perfect cold brew at one of these 10 great coffee shops along the Shore.
Avoid the ick: One of the biggest enemies to outdoors lovers no matter what season are ticks. Weve got a handy guide on how to protect yourself from the little buggers.
Champions in the city: Some of the biggest stars from the Olympics Simone Biles, pommel horse meme king Stephen Nedoroscik, and other gymnasts are coming to Philly in October.
Our critics picks
Pop music critic Dan DeLuca breaks down the best shows in and around Philly this week (featuring an especially busy Friday):
Friday: Bronx-born rapper Ice Spice born Isis Gaston broke out in 2022 with her viral TikTok hit called Munch (Feelin U). Her career took off from there, a Barbie World duet, Taylor Swift collab on Karma, and the inevitable Ice Spice Munchkins drink that combines frozen coffee with Pumpkin Munchkins. She released her debut album Y2K! earlier this year, and the tour named after it arrives at Met Philly.
Also Friday: Metal-meets-mariachi band Metalachi play City Winery. It might sound like a goofy mash-up, and they are essentially a high concept cover band, but I happened to see them one night a couple of years back in Tucson, Ariz. and it was a hoot.
More Friday fun: Ollabelle, the New York band fronted by Amy Helm, and featuring musicians who play with Bonnie Raitt and the Lumineers, celebrates the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut album at Arden Gild Hall. Plus, Chicago based father-daughter duo Tatsu Aoki and Kioto Aoki, who play experimental jazz on traditional Japanese instruments, do a Sound Type series show at the Asian Arts initiative.
Another one: Its going to be a Brat summer night at Underground Arts on Friday. No, Charli XCX is not playing, but Brat, the New Orleans heavy rock band, is as part of a This Is Hardcore tour which features 10 bands, including E-Town Concrete. The fest then moves to the larger Franklin Music Hall for the rest of the weekend, with dozens of bands playing, including Cold As Life on Saturday, and Black Flag on Sunday.
Monday: Missy Elliott brings her Out Of The World: The Experience tour to the Wells Fargo Center with Busta Rhymes, Ciara, and Timbaland. Elliotts impact on hip-hop both as a rapper and a producer on albums like 1997s Supa Dupa Fly, 1999s The Real World and 2002s Under Construction was enormous. All of those and iconic singles like Get Ur Freak On and Work It were collaborations with producer Tim Mosely, also known as Timbaland, and shes teamed up with Ciara and Busta on songs like Control and Get It. She hasnt played live frequently, but went in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, so nows the time to finally see her.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Zach Bryans South Philly shows on his Quittin Time Tour at Lincoln Financial Field is the only two-night run at the biggest venue in town this summer. The shows are a homecoming of sorts for Bryan, the Okinawa-born, Oklahoma-raised Navy veteran who lived in Fishtown in 2022-23. There are references to Point Breeze, the Rivers Casino, Delco, and some dirty old bookie way up in Philly in Bar Scene lyrics.
The take: Hoagie or hot dog?
Hoagies reign supreme in Philadelphia, but this week my colleague Jenn Ladd took a deep dive into the citys blossoming hot dog scene where local chefs are making a big distinction between a cheap frank and a quality dog. Truthfully I havent had a single hot dog in Philly but I know many folks were upset when the Phillies got rid of Dollar Dog Night earlier this year and Im guessing that these new dogs are worth the hype. What do you think? Is Philly primed to become a hot dog town? Is a good hot dog worth $7? Let me know!
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This week Ive been bumpin that 360 from Charli XCX even though brat summer is basically almost over. What songs are keeping you energized these days? Drop me a rec!
However, what if we could anticipate these risks more scientifically? Enter the concept of agricultural systems science and the development of specialised financial products such as agricultural insurance. This kind of tailored insurance could help farmers manage costs and enhance their income by ensuring better input management and safeguarding against unexpected downturns, according to a report by CSIRO.
With their support, we will continue to provide the re/insurance industry with our unique proposition of cutting-edge solutions, situated at the intersection of the banking and insurance sectors as well as our solutions to support M&A transactions in the sector. We believe that being part of Miller will foster our development and enable our clients to benefit from its long-term stability and sterling reputation as a leading specialist advisor of choice, Hannebert said.
Jimenez will be in charge of leading this next phase, bringing two decades of industry experience to her wider remit. The soon-to-be group chief innovation officer has held significant roles in the UK, France, and Asia and has been CEO of MAWDY since 2019. She is succeeding Jose Antonio Arias, who will continue in his position as group chief operational transformation officer.
"Our Gen AI initiatives include a human element as we know that the value of this technology is unlocked through our people. The responsible use of AI considerations include, for example, considering issues such as whether the use of Gen AI delivers a benefit for customers and partners and whether the use could result in unfair bias, Mansour said.
Submitting a nomination gives you an opportunity to recognize someone who has made a notable impact on the industry this year. Self-nominations are encouraged.
Court documents and statements reveal that Keating previously held the positions of assistant vice president and surety bond claims handler at Allied World. He later continued in a similar role at US Fire Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Crum and Forster, where he also processed claims on behalf of Allied World. The claims were managed through Allied Worlds Farmington premises.
In one of the nations largest wage recovery judgments, a Pennsylvania federal court has awarded $35.8 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 6,000 current and former workers in nursing, rehabilitation and assisted living facilities.
The workers were employed by the operators of 15 residential facilities in western Pennsylvania that willfully denied them overtime pay, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigators.
DOL said it filed suit in 2018 after the employers refused to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) administratively. The 13-day bench trial featured 50 testifying witnesses and more than 600 exhibits.
The July 22 judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania is the departments latest step to recoup wages and damages from the 15 nursing facilities, their owner and CEO Samuel Sam Halper and CHMS Group, the payroll office that the facilities used to implement their illegal compensation practices.
Department investigators discovered that the employers violated the FSLA for years by willfully failing to pay employees for all hours worked, including work done during meal breaks; failing to incorporate all promised compensation, including non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, when calculating overtime pay; avoiding paying overtime by incorrectly treating employees as exempt from the acts overtime requirements; and not keeping accurate records of hours employees worked and compensation due for those hours.
US District Judge William S. Stickman IV awarded $17.9 million in back wages and $17.9 million in damages. The judge noted that the Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that each covered employee receive a fair days pay for a fair days work. He found that the evidence at trial credibly and conclusively established that all defendants created and oversaw a system whereby employees who had worked a fair day, and often more, did not receive their fair days pay.
Make no mistake, these were not occasional, innocent payroll errors, the judge wrote. Instead, employees were consistently, systematically, and willfully subjected to payroll practices that did not remotely comply with the provisions of the FSLA.
DOL Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said investigations often reveal that workers who provide essential care services to those who need them the most are not receiving their full wages from employers.
The U.S. District Courts decisive and historic ruling that Sam Halper and his nursing facilities willfully violated labor laws affirmed the Department of Labors position that the employers committed wage theft intentionally, said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda.
The complete list of the facility defendants:
Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services, LLC d/b/a Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center; Maybrook-C Briarcliff Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at Irwin or The Grove at North Huntingdon; Maybrook-C Evergreen Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at Harmony; Maybrook-C Kade Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at Washington; Maybrook-C Latrobe Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at Latrobe; Maybrook-C Overlook Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at New Wilmington; Maybrook-C Silver Oaks Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at New Castle; Maybrook-C Whitecliff Opco, LLC, d/b/a The Grove at Greenville; Momoeville Operations LLC, d/b/a Momoeville Rehabilitation & Wellness Center; Cheswick Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, LLC; Mt. Lebanon Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, LLC; Murrysville Operation, d/b/a Murrysville Rehabilitation & Wellness Center; North Strabane Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, LLC; North Strabane Retirement Village, LLC; South Hills Operations LLC, d/b/a South Hills Rehabilitation and Wellness.
Miller, the London-based independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced the acquisition of reinsurance capital advisory business 4809 Brokers AG.
Financial details were not disclosed.
As its third Continental European acquisition since 2022, Miller said, the transaction forms part of its continued international expansion, while also bolstering its growing reinsurance capabilities.
Established in 2020 by Marc Hannebert and Benjamin Bourseau, 4809 Brokers offers advisory services on insurance transactions intended to achieve capital relief, including alternative risk transfer and liability side investment transactions, as well as portfolio transfer solutions such as reinsurance to close (RITC) transactions.
Its client base includes reinsurers, banks, funds and private equity firms, and it is currently based in Zug, Switzerland, with the intention to build out a Zurich hub for placement across direct, wholesale and facultative lines.
The transaction follows Millers acquisition of Madrid-based commercial insurance broker Bruzon Correduria de Seguros y Reaseguros, which was announced in May.
As Miller continues to grow in both scale and international footprint, we see an opportunity to meaningfully expand our reinsurance capabilities and establish a franchise that enables clients to benefit from our leading direct specialist footprint, our commitment to stability, and our partnership approach, Miller CEO James Hands commented in a statement.
The business that Marc and Benjamin have built at 4809 Brokers is highly complementary to those ambitions, and were delighted to be bringing their expertise on board as we continue to expand our presence across the UK, Europe and Asia, Hands added.
4809 Brokers is a highly specialised business built upon strong relationships with key market participants and a deep understanding of their needs and challenges, said Shaun Sinniah, head of Reinsurance and Capital at Miller.
Their approach is aligned to our desire to focus on solution areas underserved by the large incumbents; its a pleasure to be working with Marc and Benjamin, whose expertise will prove invaluable as we continue to craft solutions that not only meet, but also anticipate, the evolving demands and ambitions of clients, Sinniah continued.
After four highly profitable years at 4809 Brokers, we are delighted to join Miller. With their support, we will continue to provide the re/insurance industry with our unique proposition of cutting-edge solutions, situated at the intersection of the banking and insurance sectors as well as our solutions to support M&A transactions in the sector, according to Marc Hannebert, managing partner at 4809 Brokers. We believe that being part of Miller will foster our development and enable our clients to benefit from its long-term stability and sterling reputation as a leading specialist adviser of choice.
Source: Miller
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies Reinsurance
The formal split of its life and retirement business Corebridge Financial resulted in a second quarter net loss of nearly $4 billion for American International Group (AIG).
The deconsolidation and divestitures from last year affected AIGs general insurance underwriting income, which declined 28% from $594 million for the second quarter 2023 to $430 million this year. However, on a comparable basisadjusting for the sale of Crop Risk Services and the sale of Validus Re in 2023AIG said underwriting income was up 2%.
AIGs general insurance combined ratio for the quarter was 92.5, up from 90.9 in Q2 2023. Net premiums written (NPW) in the second quarter declined 8% to $6.9 billion but were up 7% on a comparable basis. Commercial lines NPW increased 8%. North America commercial lines NPW grew 10% on a comparable basis, driven by 16% growth in excess & surplus unit Lexington.
We are very pleased with the ongoing improvement in our underwriting income, record commercial lines new business of $1.3 billion, and very strong retention, said AIG CEO Peter Zaffino. Against the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain global risk environment, AIG delivered sustainable earnings growth driven by our focus on underwriting excellence and continued expense discipline.
North America personal insurance saw NPW grow 8% year-over-year thanks to AIGs high-net-worth business. The segment took a Q2 2024 underwriting loss of $28 million compared to a loss of $51 million a year ago. The combined ratio for personal lines in North America improved to 105.3 from nearly 113 in Q2 2023.
NPW for international commercial and personal lines grew 6% and 3%, respectively, on a comparable basis.
Catastrophe losses overall were $325 million. Convective storms in the U.S. accounted for most of $156 million in catastrophe losses in North America. About $169 million in cat losses were booked internationally.
Favorable prior-year development for Q2 in General Insurance was $79 million compared to $115 million the prior year.
Topics Profit Loss Underwriting AIG
NEW ORLEANS (AP) A storage tank spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil in a southern Louisiana parish, threatening drinking water and wildlife as officials work to clean it up.
The storage tank spilled Saturday morning southwest of New Orleans at a crude oil facility owned by the company Crescent Midstream. About 34,000 gallons (136,000 quarts) of oil leaked from the facility.
The spill of around 820 barrels of crude oil is about two residential swimming pools of product, Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson told WWL.
The oil reached Bayou Lafourche, which provides drinking water across four parishes, but public water continues to be safe to drink, said a Tuesday statement from federal, state and local authorities working with the oil company.
Residents are under a cautionary water conservation advisory to ensure adequate water quality and quantity are preserved, according to a notice from Lafourche Parish water district.
While the Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the spills cause, Crescent Midstream spokesman Michael Smith said a thunderstorm may have contributed to the leak reaching the bayou. The oil was moving along a ditch and the rainfall exacerbated the flow toward the bayou, Smith said.
Salamanders, turtles and a crawfish have been reported deceased. A duck and an alligator were captured and cleaned while officials look for wildlife to help in the area.
There has also been a group of fish killed near the leak. Officials said it remains under investigation.
Its horrible. I never would have dreamed this, Janet Crappel, a lifelong Lafourche Parish resident, told WWL on Monday.
There are 127 workers, 28 vessels, seven vacuum trucks and 6,800 feet (2,073 meters) of floating barriers employed in the clean-up as of Tuesday. One worker was treated for a minor first aid incident and has returned to work, according to a Tuesday statement from the coalition.
Crescent Midstreams website says that it provides safe, reliable crude oil services.
Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Energy Oil Gas Louisiana
International treaties preempt state-based legal actions, giving an air transport company an escape from claims on what a hemp producer said was botched paperwork for an overseas hemp shipment, a federal appeals court said.
The ruling by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last week highlights the trickiness of running and insuring cannabis- and hemp-related businesses, even as the industry continues to grow around the world.
This is why people are nervous about hemp: because theres a lot of variability and a fair amount of risk, said Erich Schutz, cannabis national practice leader at Jencap, considered one of the top wholesale intermediaries. There are a lack of controls, lack of regulations, lack of consistency. And with that comes all the nastiness that comes with businesses that dont have a lot of controls.
The appellate judges upheld a lower federal courts ruling that the Montreal Convention of 1999 precludes a lawsuit by a Portland hemp company, which claimed that the air carriers actions resulted in the seizure and destruction of the hemp product by federal authorities in 2020.
Our rulings must be guided by the Montreal Convention which, under the Constitution, is part of the supreme Law of the Land,' Judge Robert King wrote for the three-judge appeals court panel.
The court documents do not indicate if the producer or the air transport company were covered by insurance policies, and lawyers for both sides could not be reached for comment. But Schutz and other insurance experts said its likely that any policies would have contained exclusions that barred coverage for federally illegal or hot higher-THC products. And coverage for international shipments of hemp, even if its fully legal, is hard to come by, anyway.
Theres not a robust international coverage for hemp, when there should be because there are a number of operations that are multinational, Schutz said.
The legal action began four years ago when Portland-based We CBD, a producer and distributor of legal hemp products, contracted with Planet Nine, a charter flight and cargo carrier, to transport 3,300 pounds of hemp to Switzerland. The transport cost topped $147,000. The value of the product could be as much as $1.3 million, according to a news report by The Charlotte Observer.
When the plane made a refueling stop in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. Customs authorities seized the 93 bags and later destroyed the contents. Testing showed that much of the hemp was above the 0.3% THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, content allowed by federal law, the court opinion explained. While many U.S. states have legalized some form of higher-THC marijuana, federal law still prohibits it and other countries have differing regulations on THC levels in hemp.
We CBD argued that Planet Nine had failed to file the proper paperwork with aviation authorities, paperwork that would have indicated that cargo was on board the business-class jet. Planet Nines website shows it flies a number of aircraft, none larger than the 15-passenger Gulfstream G650.
When local law enforcement officers in Portland saw the bags being loaded onto the plane, after some seats had been removed, they became suspicious and alerted federal Customs agents in Charlotte. At that airport, Customs officials could see the cargo, which was in duffle bags and trash bags, through the windows of the airplane.
This seemed odd because the flights paperwork did not mention any cargo being transported, the court explained. Agents moved in and removed the bags from the plane.
We CBD filed suit in North Carolina against Planet Nine, seeking compensation for the lost cargo. Planet Nine, a Van Nuys, California-based company, asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the Montreal Convention takes precedence.
That convention, the appellate judges explained, essentially replaced the Warsaw Convention of 1929. It holds that air carriers flying international routes are liable for damage to cargo and baggage that is sustained during carriage by air. Claims must be made pursuant to the treaty.
But the convention also gives air carriers an escape clause, the court noted, if the air company can show that the destruction, or loss of, or damage to, the cargo resulted from an act of public authority carried out in connection with the entry, exit or transit of the cargo.
The destroying of the hemp by Customs agents is considered an act by a public authority, the courts said.
We CBD, represented by attorney William Terpening, of Charlotte, had also argued that the convention did not apply because the paperwork was left out before the flight was underway, and the destruction of the hemp came later meaning those actions fell outside the scope of carriage by air.
But the appeals court said that argument was splitting hairs. Court rulings have long eschewed segmenting the precise event as long as it is part of the shipping or transport process.
To rule otherwise would greatly diminish the ambit of the Montreal Convention and would concomitantly encourage artful pleading by plaintiffs seeking to opt out of the Conventions liability scheme a result that the Supreme Court has counseled us to avoid, Judge King wrote in the 4th Circuit opinion.
Further, the court said: Even assuming Planet Nine had an obligation to submit the U.S. Customs documentation and improperly did so, the Cargo could not have been destroyed unless it was in international carriage by air.
The types of issues raised by this case will likely continue for years to come, thanks to the variation between federal, state and international laws. Even when the hemp is found to be below the United States .03% THC threshold, international shipments can be tricky, Schutz said. Some insurance carriers will provide coverage that allows up to .04%, but most dont.
And the European Union requires a THC level of less than .02%, but other countries may be different. Switzerland, where the hemp in the We CBD case was headed, allows up to 1% THC for hemp to be considered legal, according to news reports and cannabis attorneys.
This is where a good agent-broker comes in, Schutz added. You need to be able to overlay the regulations, the insurance contracts and what the heck your insured is actually doing. Make sure everything is inside the box.
Top photo: A Gulfstream jet landing in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Adobe stock images)
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The recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Washington D.C. was a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Washington Treaty that created the alliance. NATO is the oldest and most successful alliance in history never perfect but always successful in achieving its purpose of collective defense of all of its members.
However, the summit was also a missed opportunity for NATO to improve the strategic security environment of the transatlantic region for generations. Rather than ensuring Ukraine defeats Russia by restoring full sovereignty back to its internationally recognized 1991 borders, the priority of the West is avoiding escalation, giving Ukraine just enough to stay in the war. This, in effect, is actually prolonging the war and the killing of innocent people and will lead eventually to some sort of negotiated settlement that will give Russia the time it needs to rebuild its forces and defense industry while waiting for the West to repeat the historical pattern of losing interest.
Russian victory over Ukraine would result in millions more Ukrainian refugees pouring into Poland and Germany, an enlargement of Russian armed forces as thousands of Ukrainian troops are pressed into the Russian Army, and a continued disruption of food and energy supplies from Ukraine, affecting much of the world. It would also increase the likelihood of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO, the opposite of what the West wants.
Yet, despite these very obvious and predictable threats, the alliance, led by the United States and Germany, is so fearful that Russia might use a tactical nuclear weapon that it self-deters, stopping short of clearly defining a strategic objective for this war and instead implementing an incremental approach to delivering the minimum necessary support to Ukraine. Leaders have good reason to be concerned about the Kremlins nuclear threats. Russia has thousands of nuclear warheads, and it clearly does not care about how many innocent people are killed, including its own. But the question is why and under what circumstances would it actually use a nuclear weapon. I believe it is extremely unlikely and we should stop giving in to Russian nuclear blackmail.
There are no positive outcomes for Russia if it uses a nuclear weapon. President Biden has warned of catastrophic consequences for Russia if it does so. Even China and India have warned Russia not to go down this road because they fear the disruption of the delivery of their cheap oil and gas. There is no place on the battlefield where Russian employment of a tactical nuclear weapon would actually achieve something more significant than what it is already doing with conventional explosive weapons. In short, Russia does not actually need to use a nuclear weapon to exploit the fear of the West. So the question is: Do we have the political will, industrial capacity, economic leverage and military capability to organize for victory? Or will we just kick the can down the road?
The Kremlins war against Ukraine continues, ten years since Russia first invaded Ukraine, and now more than two years since the start of its large-scale invasion. And Russia has assistance. Iran, its close ally, delivers Shahed drones to Russia and helpfully distracts Western resources and attention away from Ukraine through the attacks across the Middle East of its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. North Korea has established a new security agreement with Russia and provides ammunition to Moscow, including large ballistic missiles that have been used against Ukrainian cities.
China continues to cross President Bidens red lines regarding material support for Russias war effort, openly providing critical components needed for the production of missiles and drones used to kill innocent Ukrainian civilians. Beijing is waiting to see whether the West has the political will to stop Russia, while determining its own next moves.
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea share a disdain for the international rules-based order created after the Second World War from which so many have benefitted and which seems to be taken for granted. They use multiple means to exploit the lack of trust and coherence. They consider the disastrous conclusion to the 20 years of war in Afghanistan as evidence that no nation can really trust the West as a reliable partner.
These challenges are linked and should be seen as parts of a strategic whole. Doing so will help develop clearly defined strategic objectives and priorities and raise industrial capacity and military capabilities to the necessary levels for effective deterrence and defense.
So how does the West muster the combined political will, unlock the enormous industrial capacity, use all of the economic tools at their disposal and deploy their unmatched military capabilities to meet these threats to strategic interests? The Second World War offers an example.
In January 1942, after nearly three years of disaster for Great Britain at the hands of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, and in the immediate aftermath of Japans destruction of most of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in Washington D.C. to discuss a strategy for winning the war. Without much reason for optimism, and knowing that most Americans opposed a land war in Europe, Roosevelt and Churchill nonetheless agreed on the strategic priority of defeating Nazi Germany first. One year later, in January 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, the leaders met again to agree on the strategic objective: unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. Having thus established the wars strategic objective and priority, the allied leaders organized their defense industries and built the enormous armies, navies and air forces needed to win the war.
There needs to be a return to the clarity of Churchill and Roosevelt. The West must defeat Russia first. This is how an expanded war in Europe and the Middle East is prevented, and China is deterred. The current situation in Ukraine is obviously very difficult but not lost. In fact, I remain confident that Ukraine can eventually defeat Russia and reestablish the 1991 borders.
After ten years of war, with the Kremlin holding every advantage, Russia still only controls one-fifth of Ukraine. The Russian navy and air force have failed their principal tasks and are suffering huge losses. Ukraine has changed the character of naval warfare, winning the battle of the Black Sea without a traditional navy of their own. Over 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded. The Russians have not demonstrated the operational capability to achieve significant exploitation of their local tactical successes in the furthest eastern part of Ukraine, nor are they able to knock Ukraine out of the war. Ukraine can still win but the West must do more.
History has shown that war is a test of will and a test of logistics. We have the industrial potential to deliver the necessary logistics to defeat Russia first, isolate Iran and North Korea, and deter China. Does the West have the political will to organize itself to win? Churchill and Roosevelt communicated clear strategic priorities to the public, industry and the military. Our elected leaders must speak to the people as adults, explain the threats, costs and sacrifices that must be made to protect strategic interests. We do not need to be scared; we need to be prepared.
August 1, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East usually have a limited temporal impact on the oil market. Elevated levels generally last for about 20-30 days and the future of the raw material depends on the fundamental situation, which is currently quite mixed in the oil market. Today, on August 1, OPEC+ is expected to decide on production limits for the enlarged cartel. Earlier this year, a decision was made to slowly increase production from October, which limited price increases this year and reduced the chances of increases to USD 100 per barrel. However, recently slightly lower oil prices and weak demand from China may push OPEC+ to keep production unchanged in the third quarter of this year.
So far, retaliatory actions by both sides have not led to full-scale conflicts between Israel and Hamas or Israel and Iran. Israel has not admitted to the recent attacks, so it is difficult to indicate that the situation could escalate significantly. If Iran joined an open conflict, it could cause significant market movements. First of all, Iran is responsible for oil production of approximately 3.2 million brk per day. Iran also officially exports approximately 1.5 million BRK per day, despite ongoing sanctions from the US and Europe. However, this oil mainly goes to countries that are not necessarily in alliance with the United States. The key player in this respect is, of course, China. On the other hand, Iran has a more important bargaining chip than its exports. Iran controls one of the most important bottlenecks in the oil market, the Strait of Hormuz. A possible blockage could result in a sudden loss of supply of 20 million brk per day, which would lead to an increase in oil prices not only to record highs but also to levels of USD 200-300 per barrel. This scenario is, of course, unlikely, because the American fleet is active in this region and it would lead to a violation of the interests of the most important player in OPEC, i.e. Saudi Arabia. However, the threats themselves may lead to increased volatility in the oil market.
Arab countries doubt that peace can be achieved in the Middle East at this point, but at the same time, a significant escalation of the situation in the form of an open war between several parties is not expected. According to Iranian media, possible peace talks may be delayed for many months at this point. On the other hand, the White House does not indicate that there will be a suspension of talks that are intended to lead to a ceasefire.
In the longer term, production and demand data are the cards in the oil market. If OPEC+ continues to focus on increasing production and data from China do not show recovery, oil prices may permanently fall to around USD 70-80 per barrel. However, in the coming weeks, we can expect increased volatility and prices to remain around USD 80 per barrel.
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August 1, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Unilever PLC (UL), a consumer packaged goods company, has been one of the standout performers in 2024, raking up gains as high as 26.62% year-to-date. Despite the bullish 2024, Stockoptionscalculator.com analyst Rahul Nambiampurath believes that UL might still have the legs to gain another 15% at least by the time 2024 concludes.
Rahul mentions, "Unilever's consistent performance across all business groups and geographical regions highlights its ability to navigate economic uncertainties."
He has adequate insights to validate this statement.
The Road Ahead for Unilever PLC: Fundamentals and Financials
Rahul took a deep dive into Unilever plc's fundamentals and came up with the following factors that underpin his positive outlook:
Unilever's extensive collection of popular brands, such as Dove, Hellmann's, and Vaseline, provides a stable revenue stream and indicates strong brand loyalty.
The company's presence in nearly 200 countries eliminates regional risks, even across emerging markets.
Unilever's heavy investment in R&D ensures that it stays ahead of market trends. This hints at innovation like no other.
The Q2 2024 financial report, released on July 25, 2024, has the following bullish pointers:
Revenue: 16 billion Euros, translating to a 5.4% surge year-on-year.
Geographical Performance: Asia Pacific Africa (6.9 billion Euros in sales), The Americas (5.8 billion Euros), and Europe (3.3 billion Euros).
Rahul believes that looking ahead, Unilever is expected to continue its strong performance in Q3 2024, driven by productivity savings and increased marketing investment. But then, the price action has to agree, right?
What Is the Price Action Saying?
Rahul took the UL analysis one step further with a detailed price analysis. The analysis validates the bullish momentum UL gained once the prices breached the $56.60 point. At present, UL is trading at $61.49, with a gap-up price move surfacing. However, most stocks tend to correct post-gap-up formations, and for UL, a correction could push the prices back to the $57 level - a strong support zone - allowing entry to new buyers.
Post-correction, if the bullish momentum continues, you can expect UL to move as high as $64.5 and even $70, which would translate to almost 15% gains.
Robert Moskow, an analyst at Cowen, shares Rahul's thoughts, giving UL a "Buy" rating and a price target of $67.
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Vancouver, British Columbia - August 1, 2024 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSXV: ZNG) (OTCBB: GRLVF) (FSE: 3GE) ("Group Eleven" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the two most recent step-out holes of the 2024 drill program at the Company's 100%-owned Ballywire zinc-lead-silver discovery ("Ballywire"), PG West Project ("PG West"), Republic of Ireland.
Highlights
50m step-out (hole G11-3552-13) up-dip from best intersection to date at Ballywire (29.6m of 10.6% Zn+Pb, 78 g/t Ag and 0.15% Cu in G11-3552-12, see news released dated 11-Jun-24), intersected a robust zone of 25.6m of 5.4% Zn+Pb (2.8% Zn and 2.6% Pb), 72 g/t Ag and 0.12% Cu, from 271.9m down-hole, including:
6.1m of 11.4% Zn+Pb (4.1% Zn and 7.3% Pb) and 85 g/t Ag and
12.1m of 5.3% Zn+Pb (3.7% Zn and 1.7% Pb), 104 g/t Ag and 0.21% Cu, including
6.8m of 6.9% Zn+Pb (5.3% Zn and 1.7% Pb), 174 g/t Ag and 0.37% Cu, including
3.1m of 11.2% (8.6% Zn and 2.7% Pb), 353 g/t Ag and 0.78% Cu
Above intercept represents one of the longest extensions along dip of high-grade mineralization at Ballywire to date
Mineralization consists predominantly of massive and semi-massive sulphide, as well as disseminated and vein hosted sulphide mineralization
Further drilling is in-progress, with G11-3552-14 testing 50m to the north and up dip from G11-3552-13, and at gravity anomalies 'B' and 'C2' (results expected in the coming weeks)
"We are excited that the high-grade footprint of the Ballywire discovery continues to grow at a rapid pace," stated Bart Jaworski, CEO. "Today's results expand high-grade zinc-lead-silver mineralization along dip by 50m north from G11-3552-12, our best hole drilled to date at Ballwire. It is also encouraging to see high-grade silver and elevated copper. To date, we have intersected robust mineralization at Ballywire over a strike length of 2.6km, along a prospective trend of over 6km. Together with continued robust intervals of massive sulphide, Ballywire is continuing to show signs of a major zinc-lead-silver discovery. We look forward to providing further drill results over the coming few weeks."
Most Recent Two Holes from 2024 Drill Campaign at Ballywire Discovery
The Ballywire prospect at the Company's 100%-owned PG West Project in Republic of Ireland, is a new zinc-lead-silver discovery (first announced Sept-2022). In addition to 29 holes drilled and reported by Group Eleven to date, the most recent two step-out holes (G11-3552-13 and G11-468-16) of the 2024 program are reported today (see Exhibits 1 to 6).
Exhibit 1. Cross-Section A-A' of G11-3552-13 (50m Step-Out Hole) at Ballywire
Note: G11-3552-14 is in progress and is testing the continuation of mineralization 50m up dip of G11-3552-13
Exhibit 2. Summary of Assays from G11-3552-13 at Ballywire
Note: True width of the overall mineralized package above is estimated at approx. 90-100%, albeit, on a centimetre scale, mineralization varies from bedding parallel massive sulphides to variably dipping veins, as well as, disseminated sulphides; sub-Waulsortian mineralization is dominated by fracture-controlled veins; Waulsortian-hosted mineralization is dominated by bedding parallel massive sulphides.
Exhibit 3. New Drilling, Previous Key Intercepts and Gravity Anomalies at Ballywire Discovery Area
Note: Step-out distance of G11-3552-13 from G11-3552-12 is approx. 50m
Exhibit 4. New Drilling at Ballywire Discovery and Surrounding Area (2.6km Strike Length)
Note: Step-out distance of G11-3552-13 from G11-3552-12 is approx. 50m; step-out distance of G11-468-16 from G11-468-01 is approx. 200m
High-grade mineralization in G11-3552-13 consists predominantly of massive and semi-massive sulphide (sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite and suspected tennantite-tetrahedrite), as well as, disseminated and vein hosted sulphide mineralization. Mineralization occurs along and/or close to the base of the Waulsortian limestone (see Exhibit 1).
Today's drill results extend known high-grade massive sulphide mineralization by 50m up-dip from G11-3552-12 (see Exhibits 1 and 2), which intersected 29.6m of 10.6% Zn+Pb, 78 g/t Ag and 0.15% Cu. G11-3552-12 represents the strongest mineralization to date at Ballywire, adding to an already strong set of previous intercepts (e.g. 11.2m of 8.9% Zn+Pb and 83 g/t Ag in G11-3552-03; and 10.8m of 10.0% Zn+Pb and 109 g/t Ag in G11-468-03, etc; see Exhibit 3).
In addition to the above, Group Eleven drilled G11-468-16, extending known mineralization approximately 200m to the southwest from the western edge of the discovery area (see Exhibit 4). G11-468-16 returned anomalous mineralization along or near the base of the Waulsortian Limestone (see Exhibit 4).
Group Eleven is currently in the process of drilling and/or has assays pending on four holes: (i) one hole (G11-3552-14) testing 50m to the north and up dip from G11-3552-13 announced today; (ii) two holes, approximately 90m and 360m ENE of G11-3552-13, near the 'C2' gravity high anomaly; and (iii) a hole at the 'B' gravity anomaly (see Exhibit 3 and 4).
Exhibit 5. Regional Gravity Map of Ballywire Area Showing 6km Long Prospective Trend
Notes to Exhibit 6: (a) Pallas Green MRE is owned by Glencore (see Glencore's Resources and Reserves Report dated December 31, 2023); (b) Stonepark MRE: see the 'NI 43-101 Independent Report on the Zinc-Lead Exploration Project at Stonepark, County Limerick, Ireland', by Gordon, Kelly and van Lente, with an effective date of April 26, 2018, as found on SEDAR; and (c) the historic estimate at Denison was reported by Westland Exploration Limited in 'Report on Prospecting Licence 464' by Dermot Hughes dated May, 1988; the historic estimate at Gortdrum was reported in 'The Geology and Genesis of the Gortdrum Cu-Ag-Hg Orebody' by G.M. Steed dated 1986; and the historic estimate at Tullacondra was first reported by Munster Base Metals Ltd in 'Report on Mallow Property' by David Wilbur, dated December 1973; and later summarized in 'Cu-Ag Mineralization at Tullacondra, Mallow, Co. Cork' by Wilbur and Carter in 1986; the above three historic estimates have not been verified as current mineral resources; none of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the historic estimates were reported and no resource categories were used; significant data compilation, re-drilling and data verification may be required by a Qualified Person before the historic estimates can be verified and upgraded to be compliant with current NI 43-101 standards; a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify them as a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the historic estimates as current mineral resources. 'Rathdowney Trend' is the south-westerly projection of the Rathdowney Trend, hosting the historic Lisheen and Galmoy mines.
Exhibit 6. Regional Map of PG West (100% Interest) and Stonepark (76.56% Interest) Projects
Qualified Person
Technical information in this news release has been approved by Professor Garth Earls, Eur Geol, P.Geo, FSEG, geological consultant at IGS (International Geoscience Services) Limited, and independent 'Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Information
Group Eleven inserts certified reference materials ("CRMs" or "Standards") as well as blank material, to its sample stream as part of its industry-standard QA/QC programme. The QC results have been reviewed by the Qualified Person, who is satisfied that all the results are within acceptable parameters. The Qualified Person has validated the sampling and chain of custody protocols used by Group Eleven.
About Group Eleven Resources
Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSXV: ZNG) (OTCBB: GRLVF) and (FRA: 3GE) is a mineral exploration company focused on advanced stage zinc exploration in the Republic of Ireland. Group Eleven announced the Ballywire discovery in September 2022. Key intercepts to date include:
3.3m of 12.5% Zn+Pb and 48 g/t Ag (G11-468-01)
10.8m of 10.0% Zn+Pb and 109 g/t Ag (G11-468-03)
10.1m of 8.6% Zn+Pb and 46 g/t Ag (G11-468-06)
10.5m of 14.7% Zn+Pb, 399 g/t Ag and 0.31% Cu (G11-468-12)
11.2m of 8.9% Zn+Pb and 83 g/t Ag (G11-3552-03)
29.6m of 10.6% Zn+Pb, 78 g/t Ag and 0.15% Cu (G11-3552-12) and
6.1m of 11.4% Zn+Pb, 85 g/t Ag (G11-3552-13)
The Company's two largest shareholders are Glencore Canada Corp. (18.1% interest) and Michael Gentile (15.0%). Additional information about the Company is available at www.groupelevenresources.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bart Jaworski, P.Geo.
Chief Executive Officer
E: b.jaworski@groupelevenresources.com | T: +353-85-833-2463
E: j.webb@groupelevenresources.com | T: 604-644-9514
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company, including the timing, content, cost and results of proposed work programs, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/ reserves and geological interpretations. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
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Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.
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Ive tested numerous robot vacuums over the last few years, and the SwitchBot S10 is the first I used with a dual-station setup. The S10 is one of the first robots to use this unique design, which means no more manual refilling or emptying of water tanks.
Dual stations
The SwitchBot S10 comes with dual stations. Picture: SwitchBot.
Unlike traditional robot vacuums requiring frequent manual intervention for water refills and dustbin emptying, the S10 automates these tasks. The primary station handles dust collection and charging. It boasts a four-litre dust bag capable of holding up to 70 days' debris. The circular robot features a mop drying function, which uses hot air at 50C to prevent mould and bacteria growth.
The secondary station connects to your home's water and drainage system. It autonomously manages the clean and dirty water, whether you hook it up to your sink, dishwasher, or even a toilet. The box includes various plumbing hardware to ensure compatibility with various setups. The station includes small water tanks for those who prefer a non-plumbed setup, but these are smaller than standard tanks and will require frequent manual refills.
Water station setup
Setting up the water station might initially seem daunting, but I managed it with limited plumbing skills and knowledge. The process is straightforward, and SwitchBot provides comprehensive, manageable installation videos for a competent DIYer. If youre uncomfortable doing it yourself, It would be a small job for a professional.
When I first read the press release on the S10, I was concerned about having a water station plumbed to a water outlet while also being connected to power. However, the water station operates primarily through the robot and an internal battery.
On first use, you have to tell the robot where the water station is on the virtual map in the app. The flexibility of placing the two stations in different rooms is highly convenient, accommodating various household layouts. Without the optional tanks, the water station has a low profile (10cm) which makes it easier to find a location to hide it away.
Efficient cleaning performance
The S10 is the first robot vacuum Ive tested with a roller mop, a departure from the traditional spinning or vibrating mop heads. This design ensures the mop head is continuously cleaned during operation, significantly enhancing hygiene. In my tests, I found it could effectively clear dirt and stains.
During cleaning, the robot transitions seamlessly between its tasks. It vacuums, mops, and returns to the water station to exchange dirty water for clean water, all without manual intervention. This process takes about 1-2 minutes, after which the robot resumes cleaning. The dust station's drying feature ensures the mop head remains fresh and ready for the next cycle.
The S10's roller mop is more effective than standard robot mops. Picture: SwitchBot.
A slight drawback of the roller mop design is its edge-cleaning capability. The mop does not extend to the robots edges, missing areas close to walls and furniture. The robot is 35.5cm wide, while the roller is 19cm long, offset to the side and 3cm shy of the edge. Despite this, I found the S10 one of the most effective mopping robots Ive tested. It also does a great job cleaning and drying the mop resulting in less maintenance.
The S10 offers 6,000 Pa of suction power, sufficient for most household cleaning needs. The robot adjusts suction automatically when transitioning from hard floors to carpets.
The robot lifts the mop head when encountering carpets and rugs, preventing them from getting wet. This feature works flawlessly, maintaining the integrity of the vacuuming and mopping functions.
Smart home integration and app support
The SwitchBot S10 supports Matter for integration with popular smart home platforms like Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. However, current functionalities are limited to basic controls like starting, stopping, and returning the robot to its base. Enhanced features, such as room-specific cleaning commands, are not yet supported but could be future firmware upgrades.
Mapping your home with the SwitchBot app is intuitive. The robot will scan the floor area using Lidar, and you can then edit the map by adding no-go zones and door sills, as well as splitting or merging rooms. The app allows for easy setup of the dual stations, marking their locations accurately.
You can also create schedules and do-not-disturb times and control the robot remotely via a virtual joystick.
Additional features
SwitchBot S10 lifts the roller when it detects a carpet. Picture: SwitchBot.
The S10 features AI obstacle avoidance, which, once enabled, turns on the camera while cleaning to recognise and avoid obstacles such as cables, pet waste, etc. While not perfect, it works well, but even SwitchBot reminds you in the app to clear the floors before cleaning.
SwitchBot plans to introduce a humidifier and dehumidifier to integrate with the S10. The robot will transport clean water to the humidifier and dispose of dirty water from the dehumidifier. While this feature is not yet available, it promises to add significant value to an already impressive system.
The water station includes a detergent dispenser, and SwitchBot even includes two cleaning solution satchels.
Verdict
The SwitchBot S10's dual station design, efficient cleaning performance, and smart home integration make it a top contender for those seeking a hassle-free, high-tech cleaning solution.
The SwitchBot S10 is great for anyone looking to upgrade their home cleaning experience. With the potential for future enhancements, this robot vacuum is not just a purchase for today but an investment in smart home convenience.
SwitchBoth S10 RRP 1,305 (currently 936 from amazon.co.uk)
The August Bank Holiday is this weekend, which can only mean one thing All Together Now is back.
Whos performing?
The festival has a whole host of international and Irish acts, both in terms of music and comedy.
Declan McKenna will take to the main stage at 7.15pm on Friday, followed by James Vincent McMorrow at 9pm and Jorja Smith at 10.45pm.
Natasha Bedingfield plays the main stage at 5pm on Saturday, with The Mary Wallopers at 7.15pm, The National at 9:30pm and Roisin Murphy at midnight.
The Prodigy play All Together Now late on Sunday.
On Sunday at 3pm, the RTE Concert Orchestra will perform the music of Sinead O'Connor, Shane MacGowan and Christy Dignam. The Wailers play at 5.15pm, followed by Barry Cant Swim at 9pm and The Prodigy will close off the show at 10.45pm.
Other highlights across the weekend include Kojaque, Kolsch, Negro Impacto, Gorgon City, Soda Blonde, Gemma Dunleavy, Aby Coulibaly, Marcus OLaoire and much more.
Everyones favourite Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew will be also be performing, which were sure will go down well with festival-goers.
Tommy Tiernan, Emma Doran, Ardal OHanlon, Bernard OShea, Michael Fry, Julie Jay and Fiona Frawley are just some of the comedians taking to the stage over the three days.
Are tickets still available?
At the time of writing, weekend camping tickets were still available for 249.
Getting there
Bus Eireann are running services to and from the festival site, leaving from Custom House Quay in Dublin, Parnell Place Bus Station in Cork and Waterford Bus Station.
There is also the option of the train for any routes that stop in Waterford Plunkett.
The festival is in a rural area serviced by country roads and has had issues in the past with major traffic jams so, not surprisingly, organisers are urging those driving to follow recommended routes. They urge attendees not to follow Sat Nav or Google Maps directions. Instead, they recommend following signs for All Together Now once they are visible.
No matter where youre coming from, these directions should sort you out:
From Cork and Southwest Drivers from Cork & Southwest via N25 east:
Motorists coming from the southwest will be directed left off the N25 at Lemybrien.
Motorists will use the R676 road, traveling north, then joining the event traffic at Crehana Junction of R676 - R677, then entering to event via Gate 5.
From Dublin and North and East Drivers from Dublin & North & East via M9 and N25 West:
Travel the M9 to its end at Grannagh Proceed towards the N25 (west towards Cork) via the N25 Interchange.
At the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange (Carrick Road Roundabout) motorists will be directed right at the roundabout towards the R680 through the town of Portlaw.
In Portlaw, you will be directed out the Clonegam Road and enter via Gate 6 for access to the car park.
From Waterford City Drivers from Waterford City via N25 West:
Travel the M9 to its end at Grannagh Proceed towards the N25 (west towards Cork) via the N25 Interchange.
At the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange (Carrick Road Roundabout) motorists will be directed right at the roundabout towards the R680 through the town of Portlaw.
In Portlaw, you will be directed out the Clonegam Road and enter via Gate 6 for access to the car park.
From West and Midlands Drivers from the West & Midlands via M7/M8/N24:
Travel East along the N24 You will then turn Right at Kilsheelan to the R680. At the end of the R680, south of Carrick-on-Suir, turn Right at the T-Junction with the R676.
You will then continue along this regional road and be directed left to the R677 towards Gate 5 (General).
The National play All Together Now on Saturday. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP)
There are also designated drop off points, though these are prohibited on Friday and Monday. Organisers have said: Ticket holders arriving to the festival on Friday by taxi or getting dropped off by private vehicles will be directed to the designated drop-off zone in Highfield Business Park, Portlaw; accessed from the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange.
Ticket holders will then get the free shuttle bus to the festival operating Friday (9am-9.30pm) and returning Monday (8am - 1pm only). To avoid festival traffic, we advise the best drop at the Waterford City Bus Terminus, where Bus Eireann festival shuttle will operate a regular service to the festival site.
A bike rack will be available for anyone who choses to cycle to the festival, located next to Car Park 4.
What can I bring?
What most people will probably concerned about is how much alcohol they bring with them. All Together Now has a limit of either 24 cans, one litre of spirits or 1.5 litre of wine for personal consumption.
The festival organisers strongly recommend bringing necessities for any weather event waterproofs, wellies, hats, scarves, sun cream and sun glasses. Most importantly, you will need to bring your ticket, as well as photo ID, a sleeping bag, tent, toilet roll, bank card and toiletries.
What can I not bring?
No glass bottles are permitted, with the All Together Now team also asking festival-goers to leave any single use plastic bottles behind and to decant their alcohol into reusable containers.
Gazebos are banned, and will be removed by staff. Professional photography equipment is not permitted.
The festival is a fully cashless event, so dont bring coins or notes with you as they will not be accepted.
For the full list of what you can and cant bring, go to the All Together Now website.
All Together Now is a cashless event. Picture: Patrick Browne
What facilities are available?
There will be phone charging facilities available on site throughout the weekend, as well as showers.
Whats the weather looking like?
Overall, it's looking decent for the weekend, Friday is looking to be a mild day with temperatures reaching as high as 18 degrees. There is a chance of rain from 10am to 1pm, but the rest of the evening appears to be dry.
Temperatures will drop to about 12 degrees overnight but appear to increase as the day goes on.
It will be slightly colder on Sunday and charts from Met Eireann show there could be rain from about 4pm onwards.
Sting is a very handsome man. I met him in 2002 for a TV show. There was an audible intake of breath when he entered the room. He seemed cast from different materials to the rest of us. The light shimmered upon him.
He was not modest, however. I was interviewing him about song writing. Most song writers are incredibly modest. They generally exude an air of gratitude and a joking dont ask me to do it again because it can be an elusive gift.
One minute everything you write says hit and the next it doesnt. The coin that has served you well suddenly starts coming up miss. And then it wont stop. People become aware the good stuff can show up randomly. But not Sting.
He had won an Ivor Novello award, and I was asking him about it in a did it build confidence kind of way. Sting wasnt having it. Sting didnt need an award to confirm what he already knew. Sting could write a tune.
Must be interesting to be in a band with somebody like that, I mused quietly. Must be interesting to try and get one of your songs progressed or a few of your ideas incorporated into something he has started. Interesting? Frustrating? Maddening?
The full extent of how maddening it was is laid bare on the new Synchronicity re-issue. It was The Polices fifth and last album. It would yield ten million sales and three Grammys, but it would end them.
On the subsequent world tour, onstage at Shea Stadium, Sting concluded it was over.
The drummer, Stuart Copeland, nursing a fractured rib from a pre-gig fight, probably agreed. It was now not so much quit while youre ahead as quit while you could still walk.
When Sting joined The Police, he was, musically, a novice by comparison to the others. Copeland had been in the prog rock group Curved Air. They were the type of band punks hated for their show off levels of musicianship. Why play one note where 20 would do?
Guitarist Andy Summers CV was even more impressive. Jazz influenced, like all the best session players, he had been playing at virtuoso level for years. He had belatedly studied classical guitar in California and had toured with Soft Machine, Joan Armatrading and Neil Sedaka.
Copeland and Summers were seasoned professionals at the top of their game. Sting was a schoolteacher. And before that had been a builders labourer, bus conductor and tax officer. He played jazz, but only in the evening and at weekends.
But what Sting could do, that Andy and Stuart could not, was write hit singles. The Police were a singles band and songs like Roxanne and Message in a Bottle were soon lifting them into the upper reaches of charts the world over.
At first this wasnt a major issue. Stings early ideas benefitted from his band mates input. But by Synchronicity he was less and less inclined to listen. He wanted full creative control. As they headed into Air studios in Monserrat in December 1982, trouble was brewing.
You can hear the extent of that trouble on Every Breath You Take. The new box set includes Stings early home demo of the track. It is wonderfully complete. But you cant help but imagine that Copeland and Summers must have wondered what can I bring to this?
Copeland, in particular, tried to introduce something a bit more virtuosic on the drumming but time and time again it was pulled back to something closer to the metronomic demo tape. Tensions reached boiling point.
It became so bad that Sir George Martin, who also lived on the island, was asked to mediate. Wisely, he refused, telling them, whilst possibly quoting a Beatles lyric, that he was confident that they could work it out. Amazingly, they did.
The Police put their differences aside long enough to do a nine-month tour, win three Grammys and sell ten million records. But by Shea Stadium the fact that one of them had a cracked rib on stage tells you all you needed to know.
Stings first solo outing in 1985, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, picked up where The Police had left off. It contained numerous hit singles, went triple platinum and was Grammy nominated for Album of the Year. He had utterly outgrown his mentors.
The re-issue of Synchronicity captures the last days of a great band. The songs are monumental. But the egos are, fittingly, visible from space.
Theyre the Cork kids behind summers biggest banger, the creators in a youth project that has gone global. Now, several members of Kabin Crew are on their way to the movies - starring on screen and behind the scenes in a major new Irish feature film.
Currently in post-production after filming on location in Knocknaheeny and Cork city centre, Christy will come to our screens next year, with the stars of summers viral smash central to the film.
Christy tells the story of a teenager in foster care as he sets out to find his place in the world. The feature film follows the successful short film of the same name, at a time when director Brendan Canty and writer Alan OGorman first came upon the potential of the young stars of the creative hub.
The feature film basically came from a short film, which I made in 2019 also called Christy, through Screen Ireland Focus shorts, and I needed to cast a bunch of kids for that, said Canty. My friend Garry [McCarthy] runs this music hip hop project, out of a cabin.
I thought if these kids are able to rap, then theyd probably be able to act. If these kids can rap, theyre definitely characters. Theyre used to performing. That was totally the case and the short film they were amazing in and was a real hit.
Moved by the positive energy he experienced, Canty returned to work with the young people and organisers of the Kabin Studio when the time came to make his debut feature.
You walk in the door and its like another world. Its the energy and the positivity and the amount of kids who have got such good vibes. They are the most creative, lovely, talented people you'll ever meet, and they just have no fear.
One of the key things I wanted to do with the feature was bottle the energy of the place, bottle the tone of this place, and the atmosphere. All of the crew who came up to be on Christy, one of the first things we did was bring them into the Kabin to watch the kids perform.
Some of the young stars of the forthcoming film - due for release next year - will be familiar to the many who saw Kabin Crews track 'The Spark' go viral.
Director Brendan Canty with actor Daniel Power on the set of Christy in Cork.
They include Sophie McNamara - who plays a character named Joey and raps in the film, in what is her first film role. Also making her film debut is Cara Cullen, who plays Leona. Jamie Forde and Darren Stewart - who both featured in Cantys short film - returned to star in the movie. The films lead actor is Danny Power, who plays the title character and also played Christy in the short. Garry McCarthy also has a role in the film.
Director Brendan Canty and producer Rory Gilmartin were so impressed by the wealth of young talent available that members of the group also worked behind the scenes in the film. They include Caoimhe DeBarra (extras co-ordinator), Sean Downey, who worked as shadow director and directed the promo for Sound of the Northside - a song which features in the film - and Alex Brady (sound trainee and recordist).
Working from the film units official base at Terence MacSwiney Community College, most of the film was shot on location in Knocknaheeny, with some scenes also filmed in the city centre and Ballincollig, where Canty is from.
The directors path to making his first feature film came through his background in making music videos, including the video for Hoziers global hit, 'Take Me To Church'. It put me on the map a little bit, he says. That was basically a short film in a music video. After that, we made a short film, For You, which we self-funded and had Barry Keoghan in it.
This was followed by the Screen Ireland-backed short of Christy and the Irish film body is also supporting the full-length feature. Its a drama about a foster kid whos 17, says Canty of the movies premise. Christy, who gets kicked out of his foster home at the start of the film, goes back to live with his brother temporarily until they find a new place for him. And while hes back, he begins to find himself in the world and rediscover his past and his relationship with his brother.
The movie will also feature a number of established and well-known actors in supporting roles. Cork stars Chris Walley (The Young Offenders) and Alison Oliver (Conversations with Friends) both star, as does Irish actress Helen Behan (The Virtues).
They play second fiddle in the film to a lot of these first-time actors, and definitely the reason they did it was because of the spirit of the film, says Canty. They were both fans of the short film and Chris had worked with Danny Power on The Young Offenders. Alison had seen it, was a fan and they were just both very excited to be involved, because of that energy and what it is doing to these kids and just to be a part of it.
Daniel Power in a scene from Christy.
Music is central to the film and Sophia McNamara performs Sombrero at a birthday party in a scene from the film. Another single, The Sound of the Northside, also features in the film.
The music is a key heartbeat of the movie, says producer Rory Gilmartin, who added that the film is due for release next year, following a festival run. Gilmartin, whose other movies as producer include Rosie and Calm with Horses, was also involved in the short and is excited to bring Christy to audiences. It has that American indie feel in terms of a different tonality, hope, music, a wider tapestry.
Its very much a Cork film, and follows on the success of The Young Offenders and Netflix series Bodkin. Do such successes help encourage more filmmaking in Cork?
I think everything can, said Gilmartin. We made a big effort, as most productions do, to make sure that we could bring along local trainees. The more activity there is, the more experience they get, the more expanded the crew base is locally, and all of that helps, he said, adding that the recent opening of West Cork Film Studios in Skibbereen is another plus.
What was very helpful, in the end, was the Screen Ireland regional funding, says Gilmartin. That was super helpful because its a spend-based scenario, so it encourages you to spend in the particular region. It really made a huge difference for us in terms of those basic costs of travelling and crew being put up.
CCTV: Its reported that Indian Navy and Coast Guard recently rescued an accidentally injured Chinese mariner off Mumbai coast and took him to hospital. What is Chinas comment?
Lin Jian: Most recently, a Chinese mariner was accidentally injured when operating on a ship off Mumbai coast. The Indian side swiftly came to his rescue and provided him with timely medical treatment. He is now in stable condition and recovering back in China.
The Chinese side expresses its heartfelt appreciation to all the departments and personnel of the Indian side who overcame the challenging conditions on the scene and successfully carried out this humanitarian rescue operation.
Dragon TV: Its reported that the DPRK recently commemorated the 71st anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. Ambassadors of Russia, Viet Nam, Cuba and so on attended the event but the ambassador of China was not spotted there. Some say this is yet another sign that the relationship between China and the DPRK is experiencing issues and that China and Russia are in a contest over relations with the DPRK. What is Chinas comment?
Lin Jian: This year marks the 71st anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. Seventy-one years ago, the Chinese Peoples Volunteers fought alongside the Korean people and troops and together achieved a resounding victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the Fatherland Liberation War. In that process, China and the DPRK forged with blood an unbreakable friendship. Despite the transformation in the international and regional landscape, the CPC and the Chinese government have never changed the importance they attach and their commitment to the traditional friendship and cooperative relationship between China and the DPRK.
Lately, certain countries and media outlets have been speculating and asserting that there have been issues with China-DPRK relations or there is a China-Russia contest over relations with the DPRK. These are unsubstantiated, ill-motivated claims. Let me stress that both the DPRK and Russia are Chinas friendly neighbors. China is happy to see the DPRK and Russia grow their ties and play a constructive role for the peace and stability of this region.
Rudaw Media Network: How will the killing of Ismail Haniyeh impact the Chinese peace effort in the Middle East? Will it affect the recently signed Beijing agreement mediated by China? The problems in the Middle East are increasingly getting complicated. Does this distract or diminish your efforts regarding achieving security and stability and peace in the region?
Lin Jian: China has stated its position on the incident. We firmly oppose and condemn the act of assassination and are deeply concerned that the incident may plunge the region into greater turmoil. Gaza needs a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire as soon as possible and there should be no more escalation of the conflict and confrontation.
China supports Palestines internal reconciliation and believes this is an important step towards solving the Palestinian question and realizing peace and stability in the Middle East. China commends Palestinian factions for their effort on the Beijing Declaration, and looks forward to the day when Palestinian factions achieve reconciliation and, on that basis, realize independent statehood as early as possible. We will continue to work with relevant parties towards this goal.
On your second question, the more daunting the situation is in the Middle East, the more critical it is for the international community to try to cool down the situation and enable deescalation. China remains committed to keeping the Middle East peaceful and stable, and opposes external interference. We stand ready to work with relevant parties to work hard for lasting peace and security in the region.
Kyodo News: Its reported that after China-Japan foreign ministers meeting on July 26, China altered and published the Japanese Foreign Ministers remarks. Chinas readout stated that Japans commitment to the one-China position remains unchanged and that Japans control on semiconductor export is not targeted at any particular country, and Japan is willing to maintain constructive communication with the Chinese side to handle it properly. Did Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa make the above-mentioned remarks? Its reported that Japans Foreign Ministry privately pointed out to the Chinese side that the readout was inaccurate. Is that true?
Lin Jian: The one-China principle is a basic norm in international relations and prevailing international consensus. Its also the political premise on which China establishes and develops diplomatic relations with any country in the world. Japan made a clear commitment on this in the 1972 China-Japan Joint Statement, which says The Government of Japan recognizes the Government of the Peoples Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. The Government of the Peoples Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the Peoples Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this position of the Government of the Peoples Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its position under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation. According to my knowledge, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa reaffirmed Japans position during the meeting, which has not changed.
When it comes to semiconductors, certain country, to perpetuate its supremacy, has been turning normal economic cooperation and trade into political and security issues, either enticing or coercing other countries to join its tech blockade against China, and deliberately disrupting global supply and industrial chains. We have noted that Japanese officials have repeatedly stated publicly that their export control measures on semiconductors are not directed at any particular country. China will work with countries around the world to stay open and pursue cooperation, and keep the global semiconductor industrial and supply chains stable.
AFP: The government of Germany accused China of conducting cyberattack on the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG). It also summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a protest. What is Chinas comment?
Lin Jian: China noted Germanys statement and remarks. During the past few months, some Western politicians and media have been spreading unverified and even deliberately fabricated disinformation to spread the fear for so-called Chinese cyber threat. Their motive is clearly not about cybersecurity. China firmly opposes such political manipulation that clearly was preorchestrated and played up to attack China. We oppose any move to politicize and weaponize cybersecurity issues. Chinas Embassy in Germany has voiced strong opposition and lodged a protest to the German side.
Ensuring cybersecurity is a global challenge. China is a major victim of cyberattacks. We oppose and have fought various types of cyberattacks in accordance with the law. China and Germany have open lines of communication on cybersecurity. The two sides need to jointly address threats and challenges through dialogue and cooperation, rather than resort to megaphone diplomacy, smear and attack one another and spread disinformation about so-called Chinese hacking operations. We call on Germany to maintain strategic independence, take a constructive and responsible attitude, abandon bloc confrontation and the Cold War mentality, and work with countries through dialogue and cooperation to keep the cyberspace peaceful and secure.
A terminally ill mother-of-two had to return to her home country of Latvia to receive treatment for cervical cancer, after doctors here misdiagnosed her, the High Court has heard.
Evija RudZone, aged 46, from Co Cavan, sued the HSE and Quest laboratories in January, after doctors here failed to detect cancer in her womb over a three-year period.
The chef who has between two and twelve months to live, received an apology and a significant financial settlement from the Health Service Executive (HSE) at the High Court on Wednesday.
She told the Irish Examiner she hopes to inspire other people, after her case was settled.
Maybe that was my purpose, maybe thats why I am here, to inspire others, she said.
Ms Rudzones barrister, Dr John OMahony SC, instructed by Catherine McGuigan Partner and Richard Crowley Senior Associate of McGuigan solicitors, read out the apology in court during an emotional 15-minute hearing in Court 9.
It said: On behalf of Louth County Hospital I would like to express our sincere apologies for the delay in the diagnosis of our cervical cancer.
We recognise that our failure has had a significant impact on your life and has caused enormous distress to you and your family.
I do not underestimate how traumatic this has been for you and your family, but I can assure you that reviews of our hospital practices are continually carried out with the ultimate aim of ensuring the safety of patients at all times.
Once again, I wish to offer my heartfelt apologies to you and your family.
The HSE admitted it breached its duty of care to Ms Rudzone in failing to diagnose and treat her cervical cancer at an earlier point in time, it further admitted that it is likely, absent any breach of duty, that the plaintiff would have been afforded curative treatment.
There are no admissions made on behalf of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.
Dr OMahony SC said an undisclosed significant settlement had also been reached following mediation in the deeply tragic case and said his client wished to take the stand to speak about her case.
'It is very hard for me. I lost so many years'
Wearing a headscarf and a denim jacket and a long black dress with white spots, the softly spoken chef sat in the witness box to address Justice Leonie Reynolds.
Ms Rudzone described how doctors here, failed to detect cancer in her womb in 2019, 2020, and 2021. She then used her life savings to fly home to Riga in Latvia in 2022 to undergo tests where she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.
I really dont want to get too emotional, Ms Rudzone said. It is very hard for me. I lost so many years.
I trusted the doctors, and they are doctors I have to trust.
She explained that due to feeling continually unwell, despite the reassurances she received from doctors here, she returned home to Lativa for a second opinion.
Evija Rudzone who has cancer poses with her solicitor Catherine McGuigan.
I always feel sorry for people who dont have a chance like that, she said. But I lost years. She said she had to leave her children behind because the treatment she received took a year.
It put pressure on my marriage, she continued. I came back after my first year of treatment and he moved out.
Justice Reynolds said she appreciated how tragic the case was and that she had seen all of the papers and did not want to make the proceedings any more difficult for Ms Rudzone.
Im really sorry I didnt trust myself, said Ms Rudzone. I didnt look for help earlier and I had a chance.
Justice Reynolds said the case had moved quickly and that it is little comfort that you can put your affairs in order".
Yes, I still have a little time left replied Ms Rudzone.
'Sad beyond description'
Dr OMahony outlined his clients case and said his client had shown great bravery throughout her ordeal.
It is extremely traumatic and sad beyond description, he said. Evija Rudzone is a wonderful, beautiful soul who came to Ireland in 2010.
She had lovely experiences here in Ireland, he continued. She worked as a chef in a hotel in Co Cavan and that is what she did.
He said Ms Rudzone is facing the inevitable, the weight of stress and distress has caused her marriage to somber.
The husband has not stayed around anymore with the plaintiff.
The life expectancy is probably anywhere between two months and twelve months. So, at any time in that period. I should say she enjoys every day of her life.
Evija Rudzon outside the Four Courts.
She has shown remarkable composure, dignity, and grace when I said to her, how do you feel about dying and going to the next world. She said, it is ok, I accept it. She said 'one great regret in my life is that my daughter who is now 10 that is the big, big chasm that she wont be around to see her daughter grow up.
It is a very tight knit mother and daughter relationship. Her other daughter is 24 and is working in a restaurant."
He also described her nephew as a huge help to her family. He said her oldest daughter is accepting the challenge of her mother dying.
She has thought about dying, about death, about the hereafter, and she is ready and willing to go and meet her maker whenever the bell rings for her.
It is so humbling for all of us to meet a woman facing such a challenge, he continued.
'There was no urgency'
He said there were many failures in Ms Rudzones case: She is afflicted with the worst excesses of ill health and now the victim of cancer.
He told the court: In 2018, there was opportunity to identify that things were not good in the cellular profile that came with the smear.
He said her results were under reported, it was misreported in reality. He said it was high density cells and unfortunately no detection of cancer was made.
So, failures began in 2018 and continued in 2019, in 2020, and 2021 and at all times there were ample opportunities to identify that this was malignancy that was about to declare itself on Evija, said Dr OMahony SC.
All these opportunities were not confronted, not appreciated and as a consequence of that, there was no urgency.
Had she been treated from an early stage; her life would not have been lost.
There were several examples of where the signs were not read which were glaringly obvious, red lights were flashing and the state crashed through all of those red lights and she was the victim and remained the victim throughout 2019, 2020 and 2021.
He said the diagnosis for Ms Rudzone was arrived in Riga in Lativa and it was a profound letdown to Evija in this land of saints and scholars.
She was let down by a bombshell repeatedly, to the point that matters had proceeded too far.
In May 2022 she had a hysterectomy associated with cancer, she became menopausal and multiple treatments followed.
After the HSEs apology was read out in court, Dr OMahony said a substantial financial settlement had been reached and it would support Ms Rudzones two daughters.
Justice Reyolds became emotional and wished Ms Rudzone well. She said: It is what it is Dr OMahony Im afraid. Some little comfort Im sure at this stage. She unfortunately as a result of these matters is now looking at a very much shortened life."
A High Court judge has refused to grant an emergency injunction to the residents of Dundrum village, Co Tipperary, who want to stop asylum seekers being accommodated in a local hotel.
Mr Justice David Holland said no case had been made to grant an ex partie injunction where only one side is represented. He said the application simply did not have the necessary urgency.
Dundrum residents had lodged 230 affidavits with the High Court complaining that International Protection Applicants will be offered rooms at the Dundrum House Hotel resort from Thursday.
Mr Justice Holland, who read the affidavits and gave his judgment on Wednesday night, said communities may not as a legal right vet or veto those who seek to live among them.
He said there was a notable peculiarity that the person who brought the case lived in Co Westmeath and he did not understand why Dundrum residents were not named as applicants in the proceedings.
He said concern was raised about the potential intrusion into private dwellings.
It is saying that International Protection Applicants are more likely to be burglars than those staying as guests at the hotel or Ukrainian refugees staying there. I lend no weight to that assertion, the judge said.
In an application to the court, led by Patrick McGreal from Westmeath, the village residents sought an interim injunction to stop the former mansion and estate, Dundrum House Hotel, being used to house International Protection Applicants.
In separate proceedings against the Minister for Housing, Local Government, and Heritage they also want to stop the use of the Planning and Development (exempted Development) regulations of 2023 which allows buildings to be used to house International Protection Applicants.
Dundrum House Hotel, for the last two years, has accommodated Ukrainian refugees and locals are objecting to any continued use of the hotel to house asylum seekers, as the Ukrainians leave.
A round-the-clock demonstration which began outside the hotel in late May is continuing.
Mr McGreal submitted that locals believed the turning of the hotel into an IPA centre would cause irreparable damage to the village and the local economy and destroy tourism.
He maintained that International Protection Applicants will be at the hotel from Thursday and they sought an injunction to stop this.
Mr Justice Holland asked what was the difference between Ukrainians and International Protection Applicants staying at the hotel.
Mr McGreal said the Ukrainians were refugees and they had integrated into the community and could work.
In one affidavit, referred to in court from a local resident, it was stated there were fears "the influx of people not of Irish origin into an Irish village will cause a lot of unrest.
A power-washing and pavement sealing process is being trialled on one of Corks most expensive public realm projects left badly stained just months after its official opening.
The VQ Group, which promotes the recently revamped MacCurtain Street as one of the citys coolest neighbourhoods, said it hoped the test on a section of paving demonstrates to City Hall the need for pavement sealing to be built into the contract of large-scale public realm projects, and for regular cleaning once the works are complete.
The multi-million MacCurtain Street revamp, part of a major public transport scheme funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA), included more than 12,530sq m of new and upgraded public realm, with new public lighting, seating, street furniture, tree and shrub planting, and was officially unveiled last November.
There has been sustained criticism since about widespread and blatant illegal parking on areas of its new paving. Nine months on, areas of the porous surface have become stained by grease and oil.
Cars parked on MacCurtain Street's new paving. File picture
VQ decided to tackle the problem itself, and secured permission from City Hall to organise the cleaning and sealing of a section of paving in an effort to prove the concept to city officials.
They brought in experts, Protect It, which worked on the recent cleaning of St Patricks Bridge, removing layers of dirt, smog and graffiti from the limestone structure, to clean and seal a 7m x 7m section of paving outside Isaacs restaurant just after dawn on Wednesday.
However, some of the oil stains could not be removed. The treated area will be reexamined in two months and compared to untreated areas.
VQs director of operations Shane Clarke said businesses felt it would have been better to spend a little more on sealing as part of the original construction contract, rather than trying to clean and seal a stained surface now.
Spending a bit extra at the start, saves money in the long-term, he said.
This cleansing company has done this in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Kerry. Its proven stuff.
And we would also like a cleaning and maintenance schedule in this area that befits the premier hospitality street in the city. It would be a win-win for everybody.
The council needs to start thinking about the life-cycle management of these new public realm projects.
A council spokesman said the local authority has never sealed its paving, and awaits the outcome of this trial with interest. He also said street cleansing teams are deployed where and when they are needed, to maximise the impact of their resources.
It comes as Cork City Council embarks on major public realm works around South Main Street, and just days after it published tenders seeking a multi-disciplinary project management and design team for the delivery of the massive Cork Docklands/South Quays public realm project, with a construction value of more than 125m.
The project includes the rejuvenation of the South Docks quayside, the development of the public realm, flood defences and the repair and upgrade to the quay walls and wharfs, over an area of some 65,000sq m.
The grandnephew of a soldier whose body was never found after he was killed in a battle in the Congo and a man who is the fifth generation of his family to join the army were among 41 personnel who marched at a passing-out parade at Collins Barracks in Cork.
Trooper Eamonn Dwane, from Togher, was one of those who passed the 24th Potential NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) course. His granduncle, Trooper Patrick Mullins from Kilbeheny, Co Limerick, was killed during an ambush by mercenaries in the Congo on September 15, 1961. His body has never been recovered.
Trooper Patrick Mullins was killed during an ambush by mercenaries in the Congo in 1961.
Eamonn said it is unlikely that Patricks remains will ever be discovered, but he was proud to be getting promoted at the event, held in the same barracks where his late ancestor was recruited and trained.
Another on the way up the ranks is Trooper Brandon Griffin from Fermoy, who is the fifth generation of his family to serve in the Defence Forces.
Fermoy was once a large garrison town and Brandon maintains that he is not unique in this regard.
There must be 20 or 30 families from that area who can probably claim the same, he said.
Pte Ryan Duggan, Trooper Brandon Griffin, and Trooper Eamonn Dwane at Collins Barracks, Cork. Picture: David Creedon
Private Ryan Duggan from Dungarvan, Co Waterford, was also proud to point out his familys military heritage.
My grandfather Mossie OConnor served on the guard of honour when President John F Kennedy came to Ireland in 1963. Theres a picture of him at the time hanging in this very barracks, Ryan said.
There was just one woman in the promotions batch, and she had a double reason to be smiling broadly.
Signalwoman Daisy Byrne beamed for the cameras with her partner Frankie Touhy, who is a sergeant in the barracks. The couple have just bought a house in Killeagh, Co Cork.
Pte Daisy Byrne with her parents Sandra and Billy Byrne and Sgt Frankie Touhy at the passing-out ceremony. Picture: David Creedon
Among the cohort was also a soldier who had left the army and then rejoined.
Nicky Lawless from Galway first served between 2001 and 2004. He rejoined when the upper age limit for entry was increased and the now 43-year-old donned the uniform again in 2020.
Pte Nicky Lawless from Galway with Brigadier General Brian Cleary at Collins Barracks. Picture: David Creedon
"I always regretted leaving and I wanted to rejoin. I missed the camaraderie. There's no job like this," he said.
The parade was addressed by Officer Commanding 1 Brigade Brigadier General Brian Cleary, who congratulated the personnel for passing the training course, which started on February 19.
Pte Sean Whelan with his mother Lorraine at the passing-out ceremony. Picture: David Creedon
He told them they could be proud of completing the "intensive and demanding" training and could stand proud of what they had achieved.
The senior officer said it was a "landmark day" for all 41 personnel and it was their "first step to becoming leaders in the army".
Brig Gen Cleary also thanked their families for the support they had given the troops.
Pte Dan Kinneen, Pte Nicky Lawless, Pte Larry Nee, Pte Jordan Connolly, Pte Paddy Briggs, and Pte Lar Walsh. Picture: David Creedon
There were around 150 family members who turned up to see the passing-out parade.
The objectives of the course are to develop and enhance leadership ability and provide the personnel with essential instructor skills and techniques to prepare them mentally, morally, and physically to transition from being a private soldier to becoming a non-commissioned officer.
South Korea has offered to send aid supplies to North Korea to help the country recover from heavy rains and floods that submerged thousands of homes and huge swathes of farmland.
It is unclear whether North Korea would accept South Koreas proposal for help.
Animosity between the war-divided rivals is at its highest in years over the Norths growing nuclear ambitions and the Souths expansion of combined military exercises with the US and Japan to counter the Norths threats.
South Koreas Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the South was willing to swiftly provide supplies to address the humanitarian difficulties facing North Korean residents following the recent storms.
A flood-hit area in Sinuiju city, North Phyongan province, North Korea (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
The ministry in a statement urged North Koreas Red Cross to respond promptly to its calls for discussions to determine the types and amounts of South Korean supplies and how to deliver them.
North Korea did not immediately respond to the Souths offer.
North Korean state media said on Wednesday that recent heavy rains left 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of agricultural fields and numerous other public buildings, structures, roads and railways flooded in the northwestern city of Sinuiju and the neighbouring town of Uiju.
The North has not reported details about casualties.
In an emergency Politburo meeting on Wednesday in Sinuiju, leader Kim Jong Un asked authorities to strictly punish those who he said neglected their responsibilities for disaster prevention and caused even the casualty that can not be allowed, according to the Norths Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea has suspended virtually all co-operation and diplomacy with the South after its larger nuclear negotiations with the US derailed in 2019 over disagreements on lifting crippling US-led sanctions and the Norths steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programme.
The North had also rejected South Koreas offers for help while battling a Covid-19 outbreak in 2022.
Tensions between the rivals have worsened since 2022 as Mr Kim used Russias war on Ukraine as a distraction to further accelerate the expansion of his nuclear arsenal and issued belligerent threats toward Washington and Seoul.
The Polish and German presidents bowed their heads to the sound of a military drum as they paid tribute on Thursday to Poles killed by Nazi Germany during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the ill-fated revolt.
As Poland marked the day, news broke that the oldest surviving insurgent in the uprising, Barbara Sowa, 106, died in the morning.
With few survivors left to take part in the ceremonies, it was a poignant reminder of the passing away of the generation shaped by the sacrifice of Second World War.
The Warsaw Uprising monument in Warsaw, Poland (Alamy/PA)
US singer Taylor Swift, who is giving the first of three concerts Thursday evening in Warsaw, warned her fans on social media not to panic when they hear the sirens. Many are travelling from far away for the performance.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stood together, heads bowed, in remembrance. They paid tribute to the Wola Massacre, the mass murder of civilians of Warsaws Wola district carried out by the Nazis from August 5 to August 12, 1944.
They were led out of their homes, tenement houses, their homes were set on fire, and they themselves were shot in the streets, and their bodies were burned. Several tons of ashes were collected from the streets and squares of Wola, in order to place them in a common grave, Mr Duda said.
That Mr Steinmeier lays a wreath, bows his head, kneels before the commemorative cross, calls for respect, said Mr Duda, speaking for the nation under brutal occupation from 1939-1945, which suffered the extermination of millions of its citizens, Christian and Jewish, and the near-total destruction of its capital city.
Many Poles feel the gestures of remorse are not enough, and the previous nationalist government in power from 2015-23 allied with Mr Duda demanded 1.02 trillion from Germany in war reparations.
Germany says it will not pay and the matter was settled with compensation paid to East Bloc nations in the years after the war and with territory given up to Poland.
The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which took power last December, has toned down the demands but says it would still like Berlin to consider possibilities for compensation.
Warsaws revolt began August 1, 1944, by the clandestine Home Army, which acted on orders from Polands government-in-exile in London.
The aim was to free the capital from Nazi occupiers and take control of the country ahead of the advancing Soviet army. Moscow, intending to rule postwar Poland, withheld help and kept its Red Army positioned on the other side of the Vistula River as the capital burned.
The Nazis, with their professional army and superior weaponry, killed 200,000 Polish fighters and civilians and razed the city in revenge.
Today the uprising is remembered by Poles as one of the most important moments in a long history of independence struggles, often against Russia.
Zimbabwe police have arrested 18 political activists, taking some of them off a plane in the latest clampdown by the government after warning it would crush opposition protests ahead of its hosting of a meeting of the southern African heads of state this month.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights group said it was representing the activists, who were detained on Wednesday.
Among the activists arrested is Namatai Kwekweza, a 25-year-old pro-democracy campaigner and the inaugural winner of the Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize in 2023. The prize is awarded by the late United Nations secretary-generals foundation to young people committed to the principles of democracy.
Amnesty International has condemned the arrests, while Mr Annans foundation said it was deeply concerned by the incident.
Ms Kwekweza and three other activists were removed from a plane on the tarmac of the Robert Mugabe International Airport in the capital, Harare. Another 14 activists were arrested the same day for holding a protest in another town.
The four taken off the plane are being charged with disorderly conduct for being part of a court protest in late June demanding the release of 77 opposition party members who have been in pre-trial detention for more than six weeks.
The 77 activists were arrested at a barbecue at the house of one of their leaders. Police said they gathered with the intent to promote violence, breaches of peace or bigotry. A mother and her one-year-old baby were among those detained.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from autocrat Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017, has been accused of cracking down on political opposition in a similar way to Mr Mugabe, who had led the country for 37 years since independence.
Numerous opposition members, university students and labor unionists have been arrested since Mr Mnangagwa, 81, became president.
He denies being oppressive but has warned the opposition against what he has called inciting violence. Authorities have moved to subdue any new protests ahead of the meeting of southern African leaders in Harare on August 17.
Mr Mnangagwa, Zimbabwes first lady and others were sanctioned by the US earlier this year for alleged involvement in gold and diamond smuggling and human rights abuses.
Diplomatic efforts are under way to persuade Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to release vote tallies from the countrys presidential election, according to officials from Brazil and Mexico.
Opposition leaders have disputed his claim of victory and calls for an independent review of the results are mounting.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Mr Maduros administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sundays election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press.
The officials have told Venezuelas government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubt in the results, a Brazilian official said.
Demonstrators in Bogota, Colombia, protesting against the contested presidential election results in Venezuela (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A Mexican official confirmed that the three governments have been discussing the issue with Venezuela but did not provide details. Earlier, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he planned to speak with Brazil President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and that his government believes it is important that the electoral tallies be made public.
On Wednesday, Mr Maduro asked Venezuelas highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
It was not clear if Mr Maduros first concession to demands for more transparency was the result of the discussions with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Venezuelas president confirmed during a news conference on Wednesday that he had spoken with Mr Petro about it.
Venezuelas Supreme Tribunal of Justice is closely aligned with Mr Maduros government. The courts justices are proposed by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Mr Maduros sympathisers.
Mr Maduros main challenger, Edmundo Gonzalez, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say they obtained more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed. They said the release of the data on those tallies would prove Mr Maduro lost.
Asked why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Mr Maduro said only that the National Electoral Council has come under attack, including cyber attacks.
The presidents of Colombia and Brazil both close allies of the Venezuelan government have urged Mr Maduro to release detailed vote counts.
Police leaving the Boleita National Police detention centre where some people arrested during recent opposition protests against the official results of the election are held in Caracas, Venezuela (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
The Brazilian official said the diplomatic efforts are only intended to promote dialogue among Venezuelan stakeholders to negotiate a solution to the disputed election. The official said this would include the release of voting data and allowing independent verification.
Mr Lopez Obrador said Mexico hopes the will of Venezuelas people will be respected and that there is no violence. He added that Mexico expects that the evidence, the electoral results records, be presented.
Pressure has been building on the president since the election.
The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Mr Maduros United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, as it did in past elections.
The electoral council reported that Mr Maduro received 5.1 million votes, versus more than 4.4 million for Mr Gonzalez. But Ms Machado, the opposition leader, has said vote tallies show Mr Gonzalez received roughly 6.2 million votes compared with 2.7 million for Mr Maduro.
Venezuela has the worlds largest proven crude oil reserves and once boasted Latin Americas most advanced economy, but it entered into freefall after Mr Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin Americas recent history.
Hezbollahs leader has warned that the conflict with Israel has entered a new phase.
Hassan Nasrallah addressed mourners at the funeral of a commander from the group who was killed by an Israeli air strike this week in Beirut.
Meanwhile in Tehran, Irans supreme leader prayed over the body of Hamass political leader, who was killed in a presumed Israeli assassination.
The back-to-back killings have increased fears of an escalation into a wider war, leaving the region waiting to see how Iran and ally Hezbollah will respond. Iran has vowed retaliation against Israel for the strike that killed Hamass Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for Mr Haniyehs assassination, but comments by Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stopped short of an outright denial.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, right, with Fouad Shukur, who was killed by an Israeli air strike (Hezbollah Military Media via AP)
There was no additional air strike, not a missile and not an Israeli drone, in the entire Middle East that night, he said on Thursday, fuelling speculation that Israel could have used other means to kill Mr Haniyeh.
Israel did confirm it carried out the strike on Tuesday in Beirut that killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, along with an Iranian military adviser and at least five civilians. Israel said Mr Shukur was behind a rocket attack days earlier that hit a football field in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, killing 12 children. Hezbollah denied being behind that strike, a denial that Mr Nasrallah reiterated.
In a speech via video link to mourners gathered with Mr Shukurs coffin at an auditorium in a Beirut suburb, Mr Nasrallah said: We have entered a new phase that is different from the previous period.
Do they expect that Hajj Ismail Haniyeh will be killed in Iran and Iran will remain silent? he said of the Israelis. Addressing Israelis who celebrated the two killings, he said: Laugh a bit and you will cry a lot.
But as he often does, Mr Nasrallah kept his comments vague, vowing a very well-studied retaliation without saying what form it would take. He said only that Israel will have to wait for the anger of the regions honourable people.
The enemy and the one who is behind the enemy an apparent reference to Israels chief ally, the United States will have to wait for our coming response, he said.
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of Fouad Shukur (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
International officials have been scrambling to avert a cycle of retaliation before it spirals into a greater war. Since the Gaza war began in October, Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire almost daily across the border in exchanges that have caused deaths and the evacuation of tens of thousands from their homes. But they have also stayed within limits.
Several times, strikes that appeared to cross red lines raised fears of an acceleration into full-fledged war, but outside diplomacy reined in the two sides. Hezbollah faces strong pressure not to draw Lebanon into a repeat of the militant groups 2006 war with Israel, which wreaked heavy death and destruction in the country.
Israel and Iran risked plunging into war earlier this year when Israel hit Irans embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each others soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
In Beiruts southern suburbs, the biggest Shiite district in the capital, hundreds of black-clad mourners packed the auditorium, many of them holding Hezbollah flags or photos of Mr Shukur. An escort of red-capped fighters carried Mr Shukurs coffin, also draped in a Hezbollah flag, down the aisle to the backing of a military band.
In his speech, Mr Nasrallah praised Mr Shukur as a veteran commander and denied that Hezbollah carried out the deadly strike on the football field in the mainly Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan.
We have the courage to take responsibility for where we strike, even if its a mistake. If we made a mistake, we would admit and apologise, he said, adding: The enemy made itself the judge, jury, and executioner without any evidence.
An unusual relative calm prevailed on Thursday on the Lebanon-Israel border. Hezbollah claimed no rocket launches into Israel during the day. The Lebanese state news agency said a strike hit the house of a Syrian family in a southern Lebanese town, killing at least four people and wounding several others. Afterwards, Hezbollah announced it had launched a barrage of rockets into Israel in retaliation.
Mr Nasrallah said Hezbollahs fighters would return to regular military operations on Friday, ending the period of mourning for Mr Shukur, but that the renewed strikes would be unrelated to the retaliation for his killing.
Iranians follow a lorry carrying the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP)
Earlier on Thursday in Tehran, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over Mr Haniyehs coffin in a ceremony at Tehran University, with the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, next to him. State television later showed the coffin placed in a lorry and moved on the street towards Azadi Square in Tehran and people throwing flowers at it.
Mr Haniyehs remains are to be transferred to Qatar for burial on Friday.
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A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Accra, Ghana 31 July 2024 The Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) held the third meeting of its Governing Council on the margins of the African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, held in Accra, Ghana, during which it welcomed the endorsement of the Alliance by the African Union (AU) Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors at their 7th Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning, and Integration, in Tunis, Tunisia.
The STC Ministerial declaration and decisions reflected the pivotal role of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AMFIs) in the continents financial architecture.
AAMFI received strong support from the meeting and was recognized by the Specialized Technical Committee as crucial for strengthening the continental financial framework and advancing the African Unions Agenda 2063.
The Ministers and Central Bank Governors reaffirmed the vital role of African Multilateral Financial Institutions in continental development and committed to enhancing the capital and credit ratings of AMFIs to mobilize essential funding for Africas growth.
The Ministers and Central Bank Governors expressed concerns over recent reports questioning the Preferred Creditor Status (PCS) of AMFIs, emphasizing its importance in engaging with Credit Rating Agencies and securing development financing.
The Ministerial declaration affirms the importance of the rights conferred on AMFIs by African Governments, including Preferred Creditor Status (PCS), crucial for reducing borrowing costs and deepening capital markets.
The Ministers and Central Bank Governors urged AU Member States to uphold their commitments to AMFIs and respect their treaty obligations, and further recommended that the AU Assembly mandate the African Union Commission (AUC) to work with AAMFI in engaging key stakeholders, including the G20.
The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to swiftly establish the African Union Financial Institutions, including the African Monetary Institute (AMI) and the African Financial Stability Mechanism (AFSM).
The AAMFI Governing Council noted that the Alliance exemplifies Africas innovative approach to address financing gaps and ensure sustainable development. The AMFIs, established by African States under treaty, have proven to be responsive to Member States in times of crisis, are commercially sustainable, generating profits and investment returns for shareholders while fulfilling their important development mandates.
The African Unions rejection of recent attempts to weaken the preferred creditor status of African-owned and controlled multilateral financial institutions, and the AUs commitment to strengthen AMFIs underscores these institutions pivotal role in Africas financial architecture. This ensures that AMFIs can continue supporting African sovereigns development and drive economic growth.
AAMFI remains dedicated to collaborating closely with AU Member States, the AU and other stakeholders to implement these critical decisions, advancing the objectives of Agenda 2063.
The AAMFI members will remain engaged and proactive in supporting these decisions, ensuring their collective efforts align with the AUs vision for a robust and sustainable financial architecture in Africa.
AAFMI was co-founded by the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), African Export Import Bank, Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), Trade and Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, African Reinsurance Corporation, and ZEP-RE PTA Reinsurance Co.
It is envisaged to become a powerful negotiating body that will improve Africas position in the global financial system. In addition to the six co-founders, its membership is also open to all other institutions established under treaty agreements by African states.
Kind regards,
Mike Omuodo | Media Fast PR| Tel: +254 736 014 596| Email: mike.omuodo@mediafast.co.ke |
Hezbollah said that Fuad Shukr was killed in an airstrike in Beirut
July 31 (Jowhar.com) The Hezbollah group in Lebanon confirmed in a statement that an official of the group, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an attack by Israel south of Beirut.
The Israeli military said that they carried out an attack in Beirut that killed Shukr, but Hizbollah previously said that Shukr survived.
Lebanons health ministry said three people, including two children, were killed and 74 wounded in what the Israeli military described as an assassination attempt on Shukr, also known as Mohsen Shukr and al-Hajj. Mohsen.
The attack, which took place in a crowded area on the outskirts of Beirut, was carried out in the Haret Hreik neighborhood near the headquarters of Hezbollahs Shura Council, its central decision-making body.
He is believed to have been a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to the US.
Israel accused Shukr of being responsible for a rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-held Golan Heights on Saturday.
The attack, which Hezbollah denied responsibility for, caused the death of 12 people, mostly children.
By Michael Brenner, American University |
(The Conversation) In late July 2024, the Israeli military sent out the first 1,000 conscription notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the government must stop exempting them.
But will these Haredim, as the ultra-Orthodox are called in Israel, actually join the Israel Defense Forces and be followed by thousands more in the near future? It depends on whom they obey: the state authorities or their religious authorities.
Yitzhak Yosef, whose term as one of the governments two chief rabbis recently ended, told religious students that anyone who receives a draft notice should tear it up and not go, the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported. He is a soldier in the army of God.
Yosef is not the only Haredi rabbi to oppose army service, and many Haredi men have taken to the streets to protest since the Supreme Courts decision, which followed years of political wrangling over the issue.
Ever since the state of Israels founding in 1948, ultra-Orthodox Jews those who take the strictest approach toward following Jewish law, and are now around 14% of the population have been exempt from military service. Among all other Jewish citizens, from the secular to the modern Orthodox, men are required to serve 32 months, and women 24, plus reserve duty. Amid the war in the Gaza Strip, other Israelis resentment toward the ultra-Orthodox exemption is at a high.
As a historian, I see the conscription debate as more than a political crisis for Israels government. The question is so sensitive because it opens up fundamental questions about the cohesion of Israeli society in general, and of the Haredi populations attitude toward the Jewish state in particular.
It also illustrates the complexity of a country that is not as easily explained as many of its supporters and critics alike believe.
Initial compromise
Historically, Orthodox Jews struggled to justify the idea of a Jewish state. They prayed for centuries to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, but had a specific return in mind: a Jewish state established by the Messiah. Any other kind of Jewish sovereignty, they believed, would be blasphemy.
Theodor Herzl, who founded modern political Zionism in the late 1800s, had a long beard like a Biblical prophet. Yet he was thoroughly secular and assimilated he even lit a Christmas tree with his family. Herzls movement to encourage more European Jews to migrate to the Holy Land had little appeal for the Orthodox.
There was, however, always a minority among the Orthodox who identified with Zionism, the belief that Jewish people should have a sovereign political state in the land of Israel. According to the Talmud, the central source of Jewish law, saving lives is more important than other commandments and Zionism saved Jews from pogroms and other anti-Jewish violence in Europe.
During the Holocaust, the vast majority of observant Jews in Eastern Europe were murdered. Afterward, many survivors who had previously opposed Zionism sought refuge in the new state of Israel.
On the eve of Israels independence, David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister of the state-to-be, entered an agreement with the leaders of the two camps of Orthodox Jews.
The Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox, still refused to recognize the legitimacy of a secular Jewish state. The so-called national religious camp, on the other hand, embraced it.
Among other concessions, the new state granted exemption to young Haredi Jews who wanted to study religious texts full time instead of joining the army. That hardly seemed consequential, as the young men in question numbered only a few hundred.
Shifting views
During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel captured the Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem as well as the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Since then, the national religious camp, once a moderate force, has developed into the spearhead of the right-wing settler movement.
Unlike the first generations of Orthodox Zionists, national religious Israelis today are Zionists not despite but because of messianism. Israel, they believe, will help bring about the messianic age. Therefore, right-wing religious Zionists like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are enthusiastic proponents of army service.
Not so the Haredim, the ultra-Orthodox.
To be clear, Haredi Jews are very diverse. This demographic includes families with roots everywhere from Poland and Romania to Morocco and Iraq. It includes people who support Israels existence, and opponents who burn the flag on the countrys Independence Day. It includes men who join the workforce and men who dedicate their life to religious study.
The majority of Haredim living in Israel are not Zionists, yet live there because it is the Holy Land and the state subsidizes their study. Anything else secular education, army service and, often, paid work is seen as a distraction.
A minority of Haredi Jews serve in the armed forces voluntarily, and more have enlisted since the beginning of the latest Israel-Hamas war. But they have no legal obligation to do so; nor do Israels Arab citizens.
Growing Haredi sector
Israels governments have continued to tolerate this situation as ultra-Orthodox political parties became much-needed partners.
Yet legal and popular opposition has increased.
In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that the defense minister has no right to exempt Haredi Jews from military service and asked the government to find ways to draft them. In 2014, a center-right government under Netanyahu passed a law aiming to have 60% of Haredi men serving within three years. But the 2015 elections brought Haredi parties back in power, and implementation was effectively abandoned.
Since then, Haredi parties have become more powerful as their population grows. Yet the Supreme Court has made clear that the government either needs to draft Haredim, or the legislature has to come up with a new law to excuse them.
Seven in 10 Israeli Jews oppose the blanket exemption, meaning another exemption might jeopardize Netanyahus government. Frustration is also rising over plans to raise the military service of men to three years and to double the duty of reservists to 42 days a year during emergencies.
None of this would matter if the Haredim were still the same tiny segment of society they were in 1948. Today, however, ultra-Orthodox women have 6.5 children on average, compared with 2.5 among other Jewish Israeli women, and around 1.3 million of the countrys 9.5 million people are Haredim.
The resulting transformation of Israeli society is easy to see. If the trend continues, Israel will become a very different, very religious society one that can hardly survive economically.
On average, a non-Haredi household pays nine times more income tax than a Haredi one, while the latter receives over 50% more state support. Even if they were ready to work, most Haredim would have a hard time finding well-paid jobs, as their state-subsidized private schools teach hardly any secular topics.
For Israeli society, this portends further fragmentation and a weakening of the economy to say nothing of the army. In Haredims eyes, however, Israel succeeds because of religious Jews study and prayer.
In total, the state plans to issue draft orders to 3,000 Haredi men over the next few weeks, and they are not chosen randomly. Most work, or study in higher education institutions, rather than traditional religious schools. This small group might indeed follow the secular state authorities, rather than the appeals of their rabbis.
Without even a minimal secular education, the majority of Haredi youth, however, would not be easily integrated into the army. Thus, the draft of this segment of Israels population may remain more symbolic telling them that they too have to share more than the spiritual burden of a war-plagued society.
This is an updated version of an article originally published on March 15, 2024.
Michael Brenner, Professor of Jewish History and Culture at Ludwig Maximilian University and Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies, American University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Bonus video added by Informed Comment:
NBC News Video: Jewish ultra-Orthodox men protest Supreme Court ruling on military draft
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) Israels assassination of Hamas civilian Politburo head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a crime, and we all know from police procedurals that the investigator has to look for means, motive and opportunity.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu certainly had the means and the opportunity. It has assassinated people in Tehran before, likely in coordination with the Iranian anti-regime terrorist group, the Islamic-Marxist Mojahedin-e Khalq (the MEK or MKO), the Peoples Jihadis. These targets were nuclear scientists or regime officials, however, not foreign visiting dignitaries. Iranian reporter Saeed Azimi wrote that it was not clear whether the strike was carried out by a rocket or a quadcopter drone.
Geolocation of the building in northern Tehran where Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly assassinated: 35.81931, 51.41559. An Iranian official shared the image with @farnazfassihi, and it is circulating on Telegram. Green cloth and rubble is visible on the east side of the building. pic.twitter.com/gDi1vMfDbr Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) July 31, 2024
So then we come to motive. For motive we have to consider the position of Netanyahu. He is afraid of his corruption trials resuming if his government falls and he goes out of office. He is also afraid that once he is no longer prime minister and/or the war on Gaza ends, the Israeli public and its Establishment will begin looking more closely into his culpability for the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by the al-Qassam Brigades (the Hamas paramilitary wing) and its allies such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Netanyahu had after all for a decade been a conduit of Egyptian and Gulf money to Gaza, which was deposited in Israeli bank accounts and then transfered at the prime ministers behest. Netanyahu thought he had a deal with Hamas that they could run Gaza as their fief and receive these outside monies, as long as they kept the Palestinians divided and posed only a minor annoyance to Israeli security. It was like making a pact with a Bengal tiger that he should henceforth be a vegetarian, and then poking him repeatedly with a stick.
So Netanyahus major motivation is to keep Gaza as a forever war. It is not, of course, actually a war. There are still some al-Qassam Brigades irregulars and occasional minor firefights. But most of the action is Netanyahu arbitrarily moving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza around, from one place to another, giving them no respite or opportunity to reconstitute a normal life. He has destroyed most of the places that could be used as homes. He has destroyed the schools, the universities, the hospitals, the refugee centers, the mosques, the churches. He has destroyed the water infrastructure, so that whole families have less than a gallon of water a day for drinking, washing, and cooking, whereas scientists say every individual needs at least 4 gallons of water a day for these purposes. He has destroyed waste treatment facilities, so that most of the 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza are sick. Some even now have polio, and there is no Israeli plan to vaccinate them, though Israeli soldiers are being vaccinated.
But the problem with this military campaign against women and children is that it is hard to hide the lack of a credible enemy or that it is mostly blowing up minors and mothers. Hard to keep that going.
Netanyahu appears to want to go on behaving in this genocidal way in Gaza for months to come, until he feels his popularity in Israel has returned and he could survive an electoral challenge. He does not have to face elections until 2026, two years from now, by which time there will be hundreds of thousands of fewer Palestinians in Gaza if he continues his current tactics.
In order to stay out of jail and to continue to enjoy wealth and power, Netanyahu needs to keep his political coalition together. He has a 64-seat majority in a Knesset or parliament of 120, so even losing 5 parliamentarians could provoke new elections. Keeping the coalition together is not easy. He brought the fascist Kahanaists into the government, the Israeli equivalent of neo-Nazis. On Monday they rampaged through a military base attempting to protect suspected Israeli war criminals from the military police. The Netanyahu government, to the extent it assuages them, now stands for the legitimacy of torture and abuse of POWs as a matter of policy. This lawless position does not sit right with a lot of Israelis, many of whom fear the plans of the Kahanaists for an Iran-style Jewish theocracy in Israel. To make things worse, the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jewish fundamentalists, some 14 percent of the population, who are the ultimate Israeli welfare queens and had been exempted from military service. These Haredim are furious at the prospect, and they are key to Netanyahus coalition. They are now a wild card.
Not only is Israeli society fissiparous, but the other need Netanyahu has in keeping the Gaza forever war going is knee-jerk support from the United States and complete impunity.
Joe Biden is willing to grant Netanyahu that impunity. The United States resupplies the Israeli military with weaponry and ammunition for leveling Gaza in real time the Israelis ran out of their own supplies months ago. Netanyahu also needs to be sure that Washington will run interference for him with countries and institutions not willing to go along with the genocide, that it will slap down Spain and Ireland and Norway and the International Criminal Court severe critics of Netanyahus government and dissuade the UK and France from joining them.
But like Israeli society, Washington is also fissiparous. Biden has ended his presidential run. Kamala Harris has suddenly emerged as powerful in the administration. She publicly told Netanyahu off about his total war on Gaza civilians, which clearly startled and rattled him. She needs the youth vote, and she cant afford to be yoked to Netanyahu, who evokes sheer disgust in most Americans under 35. Harris not only needs the youths, but she needs to bring along both the blue dog democrats and the Progressive Caucus, and the latter are not following her into any fond bear hug of Netanyahu, of the sort Biden has advocated.
What if Harris persuaded Biden that in order for her to defeat Trump, she needs him to end the policy of impunity? Biden himself had made a half-hearted effort to pressure Netanyahu into negotiations with Hamas for a release of Israeli hostages and a pause in the fighting that might turn into a ceasefire.
With whom did Biden insist Netanyahu negotiate? Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas civilian political bureau. What if Harris managed to turn the screws and threaten Netanyahu with a cut-off of ammunition or other aid if he didnt make a deal? Netanyahu kept pretending to negotiate, but every time Haniyeh made a concession, Netanyahu would make a new demand and scupper the talks.
If Netanyahu rubbed out Haniyeh, and it is very likely he did, then it was a perfect strategy for him. Harris and her allies in the White House cant make him negotiate with Haniyeh if Haniyeh is dead. Moreover, it is predictable that Hamas would pull out of the negotiations entirely after the murder of their leader.
Even better, by blowing away Haniyeh in Tehran, Netanyahu has pulled the beard of Iranian clerical Leader Ali Khamenei. If Iran retaliates, then Biden has to step up to protect Israel, and even Harris would have to be circumspect lest she look weak. Netanyahu also took out a high Hezbollah official in Beirut the same day, in hopes that Hezbollah will retaliate.
In other words, the nothing burger of the Gaza war is no longer a sufficient vehicle to keep Netanyahu in power and out of jail. He needs a wider, more credible and more intense set of conflicts than beheading children with quadcopters. These geopolitical counter-strikes have the potential for making Israelis rally around him and put away their internal squabbles, and for making Harris back off her criticism of him for his Gaza war crimes. Now it is all about whether you stand with Israel against Iran, and Americans and Israelis have widely hated Iran for over forty years.
It is perfect. For Benjamin Netanyahu.
Not for the rest of us.
Bonus video added by Informed Comment:
Al Jazeera English: What is the fallout from the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran? | Inside Story .
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 1, 2024) - First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) (TSX: AG) (FSE: FMV) (the "Company" or "First Majestic") is pleased to announce the Company's unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024. The full version of the financial statements and the accompanying management's discussion and analysis can be viewed on the Company's website at www.firstmajestic.com or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless stated otherwise.
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Production of 5.3 million silver equivalent ("AgEq") ounces, consisting of 2,104,181 silver ("Ag") ounces and 39,339 gold ("Au") ounces, a 7% and 9% increase, respectively, when compared to Q1 2024. Management anticipates further improvements in the second half ( " H2 " ) of the year due to planned higher ore grades and throughput rates.
Quarterly revenues of $136.2 million, compared to $146.7 million in Q2 2023. The 7% decrease in revenue was driven by a 15% decrease in the total number of payable AgEq ounces sold due to higher silver inventory levels held at quarter end, lower production levels at San Dimas and La Encantada, and the temporary suspension of mining activities at Jerritt Canyon in March 2023, partially offset by increased production at Santa Elena and an increase in the average realized silver price.
The Company held 712,539 silver ounces in finished goods inventory as of June 30, 2024, inclusive of coins and bullion. The fair value of this inventory, which is not included in Q2 revenues, as of June 30, 2024 was $20.9 million.
Improved mine operating earnings of $15.5 million compared to $1.1 million in Q2 2023. The year over year increase in mine operating earnings was primarily attributed to an increase in operating earnings from Santa Elena and a decrease in operating losses from Jerritt Canyon, partially offset by higher operating costs at San Dimas and La Encantada.
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital and taxes amounted to $23.8 million.
Consolidated cash costs of $15.29 per AgEq ounce and all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of $21.64 per AgEq ounce represented an improvement of 2% and a slight increase of 1%, respectively, compared to Q2 2023. Management continues to undertake a series of cost reduction initiatives across the organization aimed at improving efficiencies, and lowering production costs and other expenses while also increasing production.
At the end of the quarter, the Company had a cash and restricted cash balance of $269.7 million consisting of $152.2 million cash and cash equivalents and $117.5 million of restricted cash. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, there was a transfer of $11.0 million from restricted cash to unrestricted cash (see Note 19 in the financial statements for further details).
Declared a cash dividend of $0.0046 per common share for the second quarter of 2024 for shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 16, 2024, to be paid out on or about August 30, 2024.
During the quarter, ramp-up activities continued at First Mint, with new coin presses and laser-engraving equipment received at the facility. Subsequent to the quarter, installation of the equipment has commenced, and the Company expects to launch several new products including coins in the second half of 2024. These added capabilities will increase minting throughput by over 50% and provide new sales channels with an expected increase in retail sales.
OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Key Performance Metrics 2024-Q2
2024-Q1
Change
Q2 vs Q1
2023-Q2
Change
Q2 vs Q2 Operational
Ore Processed / Tonnes Milled 674,570 588,651 15% 733,170 (8%) Silver Ounces Produced 2,104,181 1,975,176 7% 2,633,411 (20%) Gold Ounces Produced 39,339 35,936 9% 45,022 (13%) Silver Equivalent Ounces Produced 5,289,439 5,162,283 2% 6,320,971 (16%) Cash Costs per Silver Equivalent Ounce(1) $ 15.29 $ 15.00 2% $ 15.58 (2%) All-in Sustaining Cost per Silver Equivalent Ounce(1) $ 21.64 $ 21.53 1% $ 21.52 1% Total Production Cost per Tonne(1) $ 113.16 $ 128.23 (12%) $ 128.21 (12%) Average Realized Silver Price per Silver Equivalent Ounce(1) $ 27.81 $ 23.72 17% $ 24.95 11% Financial (in $millions) Revenues $ 136.2 $ 106.0 28% $ 146.7 (7%) Mine Operating Earnings (Loss) $ 15.5 ($0.3 ) NM $ 1.1 NM Net Loss ($48.3 ) ($13.6 ) NM ($17.5 ) 175% Operating Cash Flows before Non-Cash Working Capital and Taxes $ 23.8 $ 12.6 88% $ 26.9 (12%) Capital Expenditures $ 28.3 $ 28.2 0% $ 30.6 (8%) Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 152.2 $ 102.1 49% $ 160.2 (5%) Restricted Cash $ 117.5 $ 127.2 (8%) $ 146.1 (20%) Working Capital(1) $ 229.9 $ 159.6 44% $ 237.2 (3%) Free Cash Flow(1) $ 6.4 $ 0.9 NM $ 7.4 (13%) Shareholders Loss per Share ("EPS") - Basic ($0.17 ) ($0.05 ) NM ($0.06 ) (183%) Adjusted EPS(1) ($0.07 ) ($0.06 ) (17%) ($0.02 ) NM
(1) The Company reports non-GAAP measures which include cash costs per AgEq ounce produced, cash costs per Au ounce produced, all-in sustaining cost per AgEq ounce produced, all-in sustaining cost per Au ounce produced, total production cost per tonne, average realized silver price per AgEq ounce sold, average realized Au price per ounce sold, working capital, adjusted EPS and free cash flow. These measures are widely used in the mining industry as a benchmark for performance, but do not have a standardized meaning under the Company's financial reporting framework and the methods used by the Company to calculate such measures may differ from methods used by other companies with similar descriptions. See "Non-GAAP Measures" below for further details of these measures.
SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS
Revenues generated during the quarter totaled $136.2 million compared to $146.7 million in the second quarter of 2023. The decrease in revenue was primarily attributable to a 15% decrease in the total number of payable AgEq ounces sold due to higher inventory levels held at quarter end, lower production levels at San Dimas and La Encantada, and the temporary suspension of mining activities at Jerritt Canyon in March 2023, partially offset by increased production at Santa Elena and an increase in the average realized silver price.
The Company realized an average selling price of $27.81 per AgEq ounce during the second quarter, representing an 11% increase compared to the second quarter of 2023 and a 17% increase compared to the prior quarter.
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital and taxes in the quarter was $23.8 million compared to $26.9 million in the second quarter of 2023.
The Company reported mine operating earnings of $15.5 million during the quarter compared to $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2023. The improvement in mine operating earnings was primarily attributed to a decrease in operating loss of $46.7 million at Jerritt Canyon compared to the first quarter of 2023 following management's decision to temporarily suspend mining activities at Jerritt Canyon in March 2023.
Net loss for the quarter amounted to $48.3 million (EPS of $(0.17)) compared to $17.5 million (EPS of $(0.06)) in the second quarter of 2023. Adjusted net loss, normalized for non-cash or non-recurring items such as share-based payments, deferred tax expense, unrealized losses on marketable securities and non-recurring write-downs on mineral inventory for the quarter was $20.4 million (adjusted EPS of $(0.07)) compared to $5.5 million (adjusted EPS of $(0.02)) in the second quarter of 2023, mainly driven by a non-cash foreign exchange loss of $11.1 million in the quarter.
As at June 30, 2024, the Company had a cash and restricted cash balance of $269.7 million consisting of $152.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $117.5 million of restricted cash. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, there was a transfer of $11.0 million from restricted cash to unrestricted cash (see Note 19 in the financial statements for further details).
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
The table below represents the quarterly operating and cost performance at each of the Company's three producing mines during the quarter.
Second Quarter Production Summary Santa Elena San Dimas La Encantada Jerritt Canyon(1) Consolidated Ore Processed / Tonnes Milled 256,427 183,188 234,955 - 674,570 Silver Ounces Produced 376,947 1,141,906 585,329 - 2,104,181 Gold Ounces Produced 27,176 12,043 46 74 39,339 Silver Equivalent Ounces Produced 2,580,497 2,114,072 589,060 5,811 5,289,439 Cash Costs per Silver Equivalent Ounce(2) $12.25 $16.66 $23.69 $15.71 $15.29 All-in Sustaining Cost per Silver Equivalent Ounce(2) $15.07 $21.78 $27.87 $15.71 $21.64 Cash Cost per Gold Ounce(2) N/A N/A N/A $1,186 N/A All-In Sustaining Costs per Gold Ounce(2) N/A N/A N/A $1,186 N/A Total Production Cost per Tonne(2) $107.47 $193.02 $57.11 $- $113.16
(1) Jerritt Canyon was placed on temporary suspension in March 2023. In-circuit recovery efforts performed in Q2 2024 resulted in the production of 74 gold ounces.
(2) See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for further details regarding these measures.
Total production in the second quarter was 5.3 million AgEq ounces consisting of 2.1 million Ag ounces and 39,339 Au ounces, a 7% and 9% increase, respectively, when compared to Q1 2024.
Cash costs for the quarter were $15.29 per AgEq ounce, an improvement of 2% compared to $15.58 per AgEq ounce in the same period last year and $15.00 per AgEq ounce in the previous quarter. The increase in cash costs per ounce was primarily attributable to a 2% decrease in AgEq production mainly at San Dimas. Production at San Dimas was impacted as the mine sequencing transitioned from the Jessica and Victoria veins into the Roberta, Robertita and Elias vein systems which are slightly narrower in nature. In addition, ore flow and processing rates were impacted by union worker slowdowns while negotiations with the National Union continued throughout the second quarter and remain ongoing. Management anticipates improved production and efficiencies in the second half of 2024 once an agreement with the National Union is reached, which is reflected in the Company's updated 2024 guidance plan.
AISC in the second quarter was $21.64 per AgEq ounce compared to $21.52 in the same period last year and $21.53 per AgEq ounce in the previous quarter. The 1% increase in AISC was primarily attributable to higher cash costs.
Capital expenditure in the second quarter totaled $28.3 million, consisting of $13.5 million for underground development, $9.4 million in exploration, and $5.4 million in property, plant and equipment.
Q2 2024 DIVIDEND ANNOUNCEMENT
The Company is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend in the amount of $0.0046 per common share for the second quarter of 2024. The dividend will be paid to holders of record of First Majestic's common shares as of the close of business on August 16, 2024, and will be paid out on or about August 30, 2024.
Under the Company's dividend policy, the quarterly dividend per common share is targeted to equal approximately 1% of the Company's net quarterly revenues divided by the number of the Company's common shares outstanding on the record date.
The amount and distribution dates of future dividends remain at the discretion of the Board of Directors. This dividend qualifies as an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. Dividends paid to shareholders outside Canada (non-resident investors) may be subject to Canadian non-resident withholding taxes.
ABOUT FIRST MAJESTIC
First Majestic is a publicly traded mining company focused on silver and gold production in Mexico and the United States. The Company presently owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine, and the La Encantada Silver Mine as well as a portfolio of development and exploration assets, including the Jerritt Canyon Gold project located in northeastern Nevada, U.S.A.
First Majestic is proud to own and operate its own minting facility, First Mint, LLC, and to offer a portion of its silver production for sale to the public. Bars, ingots, coins and medallions are available for purchase online at www.firstmint.com, at some of the lowest premiums available.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This news release includes reference to certain financial measures which are not standardized measures under the Company's financial reporting framework. These measures include cash costs per silver equivalent ounce produced, all-in sustaining cost (or "AISC") per silver equivalent ounce produced, cash costs per gold ounce produced, AISC per gold ounce produced, total production cost per tonne, average realized silver price per ounce sold, average realized gold price per ounce sold, working capital, adjusted net earnings and EPS and free cash flow. The Company believes that these measures, together with measures determined in accordance with IFRS, provide investors with an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company. These measures are widely used in the mining industry as a benchmark for performance but do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore they may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies. The data is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. For a complete description of how the Company calculates such measures and a reconciliation of certain measures to GAAP terms please see "Non-GAAP Measures" in the Company's most recent management discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forwardlooking information" and "forwardlooking statements" under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws (collectively, "forwardlooking statements"). These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management made in light of management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Forwardlooking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: improvements in production and efficiencies anticipated in H2 2024 due to planned higher ore grades and throughput rates in H2; and timing for the payment of the Company's cash dividend for the second quarter of 2024. Assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Consequently, guidance cannot be guaranteed. As such, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon guidance and forwardlooking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, assumptions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements. Statements concerning proven and probable mineral reserves and mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forwardlooking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered as and if the property is developed, and in the case of measured and indicated mineral resources or proven and probable mineral reserves, such statements reflect the conclusion based on certain assumptions that the mineral deposit can be economically exploited. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "forecast", "potential", "target", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forwardlooking statements".
Actual results may vary from forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements, including but not limited to: the duration and effects of the COVID19, and any other pandemics on our operations and workforce, and the effects on global economies and society; general economic conditions including inflation risks; actual results of exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; commodity prices; variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; availability of sufficient water for operating purposes; actual performance of plant, equipment or processes relative to specifications and expectations; accidents; labour relations; relations with local communities; changes in national or local governments; changes in applicable legislation or application thereof; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; exchange rate fluctuations; requirements for additional capital; government regulation; environmental risks; reclamation expenses; outcomes of pending litigation; limitations on insurance coverage as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business Risk Factors" in the Company's most recently filed AIF, available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, and as an exhibit to the Company's most recently filed Form 40F available on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar. Although First Majestic has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forwardlooking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.
August 1st, 2024 TheNewswire - Rockport, Ontario - New Age Metals Inc. (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J.F) (NAM or the Company) in conjunction with its Farm-in/Joint Venture agreement with Mineral Resources Ltd. (MinRes) is pleased to announce that summer field work has commenced on the Companys Winnipeg River-Cat Lake Lithium Projects of Southeast Manitoba. This work is in conjunction with a research project being carried out across the properties in partnership with the University of New Brunswick, University of British Columbia, and supported by the Manitoba Geological Survey. A budget from June 2024 to April 2025 of ~$450,000 has been approved by Mineral Resources Ltd.
The field work will be a collaboration between New Age Metals geologists and the academic researchers to further define targeting within the project areas. Much of the companys expansive properties remain underexplored. The summer programs objective is to follow-up on high priority target areas identified from detailed analysis, interpretation, and targeting of the companys large geophysical dataset in-conjunction with geological and geochemical data. This work will strive to narrow down prospective zones for lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) type pegmatites which require further evaluation.
New Age Metals has been supporting this research Mitacs grant awarded in 2023 that involves a partnership with Dr. Chris McFarlane (University of New Brunswick) and Dr. Lee Groat (University of British Columbia). The grants overarching objectives are to shed light on the origin of the dense concentration of rare-element pegmatites found in the Cat Lake-Winnipeg River pegmatite field. In addition, the research also intends to determine how emplacement mechanisms and type of host rock influence the mineralization style in rare-element pegmatites in this area. This grant supports the ongoing research of a MSc. student and a post doctoral fellow based at the University of New Brunswick.
An additional grant was announced on June 17th, 2024 in conjunction with University of Manitoba. Researchers objectives are to unlock more sustainable ways to extract mineral resources, thanks to a $1.5 million dollar grant from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). New Age Metals, and Grid Metals Corp., will use the funding to address key issues related to critical metals exploration and extraction. Through cutting-edge research and collaboration industry and academic partners also want to prioritize engaging Indigenous communities in innovative technologies and sustainable practice research.
Field Work Update
New Age Metals Geologists mobilized on July 7th, 2024 to the project site. Traverses were planned and have been carried out in priority sequence focusing on main LCT pegmatite showings in the area, major pegmatite related bodies (pegmatitic granites, leucogranites, Maskwa and Birse Lake plutons), geophysical trends and demagnetized zones, and historic mineral occurrences. Field work has included detailed mineralogy, textural and structural observations, and sampling of numerous pegmatites, host rocks, and pegmatite related intrusions within the study area.
Figure 1: Dr. Claude Nambaje examining a pegmatite outcrop on the Lithium One Property
About the Research Project
The field work for the M.Sc. thesis was initiated in the summer of 2023 during which the focus was on describing and sampling three pegmatite sites in the Cat LakeWinnipeg River pegmatite field: Tappy, Eagle and F.D. No. 5 pegmatites. The summary of field activities can be found here: Click Here. These results were presented during the CCMEC conference in Winnipeg in November 2023, the Atlantic Geoscience Forum in Moncton in February 2024 and the GAC-MAC-PEG2024 conference in Brandon in May 2024. The analytical work on samples collected from each locality focused on the geochemistry of micas and feldspars, and geochronology and is currently ongoing.
The Post Doctoral Fellow initiated the summer field work in June 2024. The main objectives are to target the various units of the Bird River domain with an emphasis of collecting outcrop information and samples on the different groups of pegmatite occurrences in the area.
The Manitoba Geological Survey (MGS) has been providing field logistical support to both the MSc. student and post doctoral fellow as part of an ongoing project in the area initiated in 2023. The MGS project is in part a response to the exploration interest in the Brid River domain, which has a well-established potential for critical minerals. The focus of the MGS project is on updating the 1:50 000 scale regional geology map, regional structural trends related with pegmatite emplacement and the mineral occurrences in the multi commodity Bird River domain. The results of the 2023 MGS field season can be found here: Click Here.
Figure 2: New Age Metal's Project Overview
About NAM
New Age Metals is a junior mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery, exploration, and development of green metal projects in North America. The Company has two divisions: a Platinum Group Element division and a Lithium/Rare Element division.
The Platinum Group Metals (PGEs) Division includes the 100% owned, multi-million-ounce, district-scale River Valley Project, one of North Americas largest undeveloped Platinum Group Element Projects, situated 100 km by road east of Sudbury, Ontario. In addition to River Valley, NAM owns 100% of the Genesis PGE-Cu-Ni Project in Alaska and plans to complete a surface mapping and sampling program in 2023.
The Companys Lithium Division is one of the largest mineral claim holders in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, where the Company is exploring for hard rock lithium and various rare elements such as tantalum, rubidium, and caesium. Further exploration plans for 2024 include continued mapping/sampling field programs following up on the anomalous results from the soil and rock samples collected previously during summer 2023. The Company has a partnership with Mineral Resource Limited (MRL, ASX: MIN), a top global lithium producer to explore and develop the Companys lithium project portfolio in Southern Manitoba. Our philosophy is to be a project generator with the objective of optioning our projects with major and junior mining companies through to production.
The Company is actively seeking an option/joint venture partner for our newly acquired Northman and South Bay Lithium Projects in northern Manitoba, and its road-accessible Genesis PGE-Cu-Ni Project in Alaska.
Investors are invited to visit the New Age Metals website at www.newagemetals.com where they can review the company and its corporate activities. Any questions or comments can be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Harry Barr at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Farid Mammadov at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 613 659 2773.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Lynde Guillaume (Senior Geologist, Axiom Exploration Ltd.), a Qualified Person, and a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo) who is a registered member of the Engineer and Geosciences of Manitoba (no. 47952).
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On behalf of the Board of Directors
Harry Barr
Harry G. Barr
Chairman and CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as continue, efforts, expect, believe, anticipate, confident, intend, strategy, plan, will, estimate, project, goal, target, prospects, optimistic or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Companys ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Soil geochemistry and gravity surveys at the high-priority Bravo gravity target proceeding ahead of schedule
Bravo target immediately east of the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery at Escacena Project
A continuous 1 kilometer-plus east-west lead-zinc soil anomaly coincides with the gravity anomaly
Soil geochemistry suggests good potential for mineralization concealed beneath shallow post-mineral cover
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQX: PGZFF) (FRA: 2EU) is pleased to announce soil geochemistry survey results for the maiden exploration program over the Bravo target ("Bravo") within the Company's 100%-owned Escacena Project ("Escacena") in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain.
"The initial soil geochemistry results are very encouraging, highlighting a more-than 1km continuous lead ("Pb") plus zinc ("Zn") surface anomaly coincident with a gravity anomaly at the high-priority Bravo target. Importantly, lead and zinc commonly occur laterally or above copper-rich mineralization in zoned volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. Based on these results, the soil geochemistry survey will now be expanded to connect with the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery to the west," said Tim Moody, Pan Global's President & CEO.
"The results support our view that the large Bravo gravity anomaly could represent massive sulphide mineralization concealed beneath shallow cover sediments. A more detailed ground gravity survey at Bravo is also making good progress (30% completed) and coupled with the encouraging geochemistry results, could bring forward the timing for drilling at the Bravo target," said Mr. Moody.
The soil geochemistry results reported today are for 326 soil samples, representing 57% of the planned Bravo survey. The soil samples are collected on a 40m-spacing along lines 100m apart. Each soil sample was analyzed using a hand-held x-ray fluorescence ("pXRF") device. Spatial interpretation of the pXRF results confirms a Pb plus Zn anomaly extending over 1km east-west and up to 700m north-south. Samples are ranging from 300ppm to 1,252ppm combined Pb+Zn, and individual samples reporting up to 1,115ppm Pb and 288ppm Zn. The soil anomaly is an indicator of potential deeper underlying sulphide mineralization concealed beneath post-mineral cover sediments.
Bravo is a prominent 2km x 1.2km gravity anomaly located 1.5km east of Pan Global's La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and 4.5km southwest of the Aznalcollar and Los Frailes volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. The Bravo anomaly was originally identified from early-1980's gravity survey data and interpreted as potential concealed massive sulphide mineralization. The target is mostly covered by post-mineral rocks and sediments and has never been drill tested.
Results from planned soil geochemistry, gravity and IP surveys at Bravo will guide future drilling. Pan Global looks forward to updating shareholders as the Bravo exploration program progresses in the coming weeks.
Further to the July 3, 2024 media release announcing the engagement of Soar Financial to support public relations activities at the Company, the agreement specifies a monthly fee of 5,500.
QA/QC
The soil geochemistry survey includes samples collected from the top 20cm from surface (un-sieved, weighing approx. 1kg) on a 100m x 40m grid over the gravity target area. The samples are collected in plastic bags, and a multi-element analysis obtained using an Olympus Vanta hand-held x-ray fluorescence ("pXRF") device. Analyses are repeated on 1 per 20 samples, and standards analyzed to check for deviation. Additional sample duplicates will be sent to the ALS laboratory in Seville as a further check and comparison with the pXRF results.
About the Escacena Project
The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near the operating mine at Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage to allow new mine construction to commence. The Escacena Project hosts Pan Global's La Romana copper-tin-silver and Canada Honda copper-gold discoveries, and a number of other prospective targets, including, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, Romana Norte, San Pablo, Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, and Cortijo.
About Pan Global Resources
Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where a favourable permitting track record, excellent infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one low-risk jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, discovery, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities. The Company is a member, and operates under the principles, of the United Nations Global Compact.
Qualified Persons
Alvaro Merino. Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical information for this media release. Mr. Merino is not independent of the Company.
Forward-looking statements
Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this media release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental, and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products, and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.
The forward-looking information contained in this media release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this media release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Lithium Ltd. (Standard Lithium or the Company) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium development company, today announced a leadership transition that aligns with the Company's growth strategy and next steps in value creation.
Effective September 1, 2024, Robert Mintak will retire as Chief Executive Officer and remain engaged as an advisor through August 2025. David Park will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer effective September 1, 2024.
Over the past year, David Park has been actively engaged with Standard Lithium as a strategic advisor, working closely with the senior management team. His deep understanding of the Company's vision and strategic goals, coupled with his respected position within the organization, has made him a key contributor to the Companys recent successes. Mr. Park has been involved extensively across corporate, project, and strategic developments, ensuring alignment and effective execution of initiatives, including helping to secure Equinor ASA (Equinor) as a strategic partner.
Prior to his advisory role, Mr. Park served as President of Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), the division of Koch Industries which invested in Standard Lithium in 2021. Before that, Mr. Park served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development of Georgia-Pacific, LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, and held other significant roles at Koch, including President of TrueNorth Energy and Koch Exploration, and CFO of Kochs Canadian exploration and production, pipeline, and energy trading business.
Mr. Park began his career at Koch in its business development group, after serving as an International Business Development Specialist at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Throughout his career, he has successfully completed more senior and complex roles, focussed on delivering outstanding corporate growth, underscoring his ability to drive success and generate significant value for Standard Lithium.
The appointment of Mr. Park as the next CEO is the culmination of a thorough succession planning process by the Companys Board of Directors, which looked to bring in a candidate who could lead Standard Lithium in its next phase of growth and value creation for shareholders. This transition comes at a pivotal time, coinciding with the recent partnership with Equinor, which has significantly strengthened the Companys position and set the stage for accelerated progress and innovation.
During his more than seven years as CEO, Robert Mintak has been instrumental in establishing Standard Lithium as a leader in the lithium sector. During his tenure, the Company developed key strategic partnerships and secured significant investments, including those with LANXESS, Tetra Technologies, Koch Industries and Equinor. These collaborations have advanced the Companys projects and positioned Standard Lithium for success.
Robert Cross, Chairman of the Board said, "Robert was a co-founder of the Company and his leadership and commitment has been critical in our evolution from a startup to where we are today. In addition to the strategic relationships the Company garnered during his tenure, Robert was very focussed on fostering strong relationships with community and state leaders, generating substantial support for our projects in Arkansas and Texas. This collaborative approach has distinguished Standard Lithium within the resource sector. The Board is grateful for Roberts accomplishments and unwavering commitment to building a foundation for our next phase of growth.
Reflecting on his tenure, Robert Mintak commented, "It has been an incredible journey leading Standard Lithium and working with our talented team. I'm proud of what we've accomplished, particularly our strong partnerships and meaningful community engagement. As an active advisor, I will continue working with David, Andy and the team to advance our projects and maintain our efforts in generating shareholder value. I am confident that David is well-equipped to take the Company forward into its next chapter of growth and value creation."
Dr. Andy Robinson, President & COO, stated, "Robert and I started this Company together seven years ago with a shared vision for Standard Lithium. His focus on strong partnerships, deep industry relationships and community engagement has been a cornerstone of our success. We are entering the next phase of the Companys growth plans as we move towards commercial development, and the entire team looks forward to accelerating this momentum with David's leadership and we are all excited for the future opportunities that lie ahead."
David Park added, Im excited to have the opportunity to help build on the solid foundations Robert and Andy have laid, and work in close partnership with Equinor, Koch, Andy and the rest of the Standard Lithium team to drive the strategic direction and execution of our low cost, environmentally friendly, domestic lithium projects in support of the growing American energy storage and electric vehicle industries.
About Standard Lithium Ltd.
Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) and purification process. The Companys flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focussed in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas Project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Additionally, the Company is advancing the Phase 1A Project in partnership with LANXESS, a brownfield development project located in southern Arkansas. Standard Lithium operates the only commercial-scale, continuously operating DLE Demonstration facility in North America. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.
Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV) and the NYSE American under the symbol SLI; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol S5L. Please visit the Companys website at www.standardlithium.com.
Investor and Media Inquiries
Chris Lang
Director of Finance
+1 604 409 8154
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Twitter: @standardlithium
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain certain Forward-Looking Statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timeline, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
VANCOUVER, BC AND HONG KONG, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Reyna Silver Corp. (TSXV:RSLV) (OTCQX:RSNVF) (FRA:4ZC) ("Reyna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Option Agreement (the "Agreement") with Minquest Ltd. ("Minquest") on the Mineral Hill Project (the "Project") located in Eureka County, Nevada. This historic district was an inlier including 8 patented claims and 20 unpatented claims within the overall Gryphon Project (Figure 1.)
"Mineral Hill was producing some of the highest-grade silver-rich CRD mineralization ever found in this part of Nevada well before its neighbors Eureka, Cortez and Railroad were even discovered, so acquiring these patented claims fills an important missing piece in the Gryphon property puzzle," said Jorge Ramiro Monroy, CEO of Reyna Silver. "All these districts show overlapping Carlin Gold and CRD mineralization, but previous exploration at Gryphon just focused on the gold, so filling this hole lets us apply our broader integrated vision to unlock the full Gold, Silver and Critical Metals potential of the overall Gryphon system."
Figure 1. Map of Gryphon claims with the Mineral Hill 8 patented claims and surrounding 20 claims noted in red on the western side of the property. The blue outline delineates the 10,300 ha existing claims package encompassing the Gryphon Project.
Mineral Hill was a significant historic Ag-Pb-Zn CRD producer with an average grade of 140 oz/ton Ag (3,968 g/t Age) production during its prime in the 1870s with average grades lowering to 24 oz/ton Ag (680 g/t Age) towards the end of mine life. Studying this portion of the Gryphon system allows the technical team to understand the geometry of the mineralization and begin following it towards source and potentially more mineralization.
The major deposits of the Lander and Eureka county area, including the Battle Mountain - Eureka trend and the Carlin trend, were noted as CRD deposits prior to discovery of the massive Carlin gold systems in the 1960s. Ralph Roberts, famous Carlin trailblazer, cited CRDs as the significant deposits in his papers in 1960 and 1966 including Eureka, Railroad and Cortez which are now collectively known for producing over 60 Moz of Gold. The association of CRDs and Carlin deposits has been recognized for years though the relationship is not fully understood, yet (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2. Map of the major Carlin deposits noted in gold (scaled relative to production) and Ag-Pb-Zn CRDs noted red as identified by R. Roberts in his famous 1960 "Alignment of Mining Districts in North-Central Nevada" (USGS Professional Paper 400-B) and 1966, Metallogenic provinces and mineral belts in Nevada (Nevada Bureau of Mines Report 13, pt. A, p. 47-72).
The Agreement
The Agreement gives Reyna Silver the ability to earn a 100% ownership interest in the Mineral Hill Project (the "Option"). The Option is subject to Reyna Silver performing the following by July 31, 2030: (i) incurring aggregate exploration expenditures of US$1,550,000 on the Project; and (ii) making cash payments to Minquest in the aggregate amount of US$1,810,000. On exercise of the Option by Reyna Silver, Reyna Silver will grant Minquest a 2.5% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty. Reyna Silver will have the option to repurchase 1.25% of the 2.5% NSR royalty at any time by paying Minquest US$2,500,000.
The Reyna Silver technical team's depth of experience exploring and discovering major CRDs provides the opportunity to take a serious look at Gryphon from a new angle. Leveraging the CRD system to reveal all the ore-systems contained within Gryphon.
Gryphon Project Update
Additionally, Reyna Silver is looking forward to starting the 2024 drill program imminently building upon the concatenation of historic work, extensive mapping and reinterpretation of geology resulting in exciting new targets. The camp is ready to go, Earthworks on the east side are almost finished and the drill rig will arrive soon.
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Bethany Terracina, VP Investor Relations
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www.reynasilver.com
About Reyna Silver Corp.
Reyna Silver is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company. The Company focuses on exploring for high-grade, district-scale silver deposits in Mexico and the United States. In Nevada USA, the Company has recently entered into an option to acquire 70% of the 10,300-hectare "Gryphon Summit Project" in a 50/50 partnership with Reyna Gold Corp. (TSXV:REYG). The Gryphon Project shows features indicating uniquely superimposed/overprinted Silver-Lead-Zinc-Copper Carbonate Replacement (CRD), Carlin Gold and Critical Metals mineralization. Also in Nevada, the Company is advancing its option to acquire 100% of the "Medicine Springs Project" where the Company is exploring a potentially significant Silver-Lead-Zinc-Copper CRD-skarn-Porphyry system. The Company's Mexican assets are 100% owned and include the "Guigui Project" and "Batopilas Project", both located in Chihuahua State. The Guigui Project covers the interpreted source area for the Santa Eulalia Carbonate Replacement Deposit District and Batopilas covers most of Mexico's historically highest-grade silver system.
Forward Looking Information
This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements relating to the Offering and the use of proceeds therefrom. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's public securities filings with the Canadian securities commissions. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
TORONTO and PERTH, Australia, Aug. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Westgold Resources Limited (ASX: WGX; OTCQX: WGXRF Westgold or the Company) and Karora Resources Inc. (TSX: KRR; OTCQX: KRRGF Karora) are pleased to announce the completion of the merger of Westgold and Karora to create a leading mid-tier gold producer and international gold company expected to be dual listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
Westgold has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Karora (Karora Shares) by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the Arrangement). The merger creates a larger, more diversified and, subject to the final approval of the TSX, dual listed gold company, which:
is globally investable a mid-tier gold producer operating exclusively in Western Australia with a highly complementary combination of mining and processing assets, people, and a robust balance sheet;
a mid-tier gold producer operating exclusively in with a highly complementary combination of mining and processing assets, people, and a robust balance sheet; establishes a top five Australian gold producer (+400,000 ozpa) with a pro forma market capitalisation of A$2.5 billion ( C$2.3 billion 1 );
with a pro forma market capitalisation of ( ); becomes one of the largest unhedged Australian gold producers providing investors with full exposure to the gold price;
providing investors with full exposure to the gold price; starts day one with an enviable pipeline of organic opportunities including advanced greenfield, brownfield targets and exploration prospects across two of Australia's most prolific gold fields;
including advanced greenfield, brownfield targets and exploration prospects across two of most prolific gold fields; provides enhanced capital markets profile with increased scale, trading liquidity, and potential index inclusion for gold and generalist investors across ASX, TSX and OTCQX; and
with increased scale, trading liquidity, and potential index inclusion for gold and generalist investors across ASX, TSX and OTCQX; and is led by a highly experienced management team supported by a combined board of accomplished mining professionals with a proven track record of maximising value for shareholders.
Westgold Managing Director and CEO Wayne Bramwell said: "Today marks the next phase of Westgold's evolution into a larger, unhedged and well-funded Australian gold producer. Our value proposition is significantly enhanced with an expanded team, quality operating assets and an enviable pipeline of exploration prospects across two of Australia's most productive gold fields.
The merger with Karora upsizes our Western Australian operating platform - an extensive and established asset base that can be increasingly leveraged for free cash generation and growth.
Westgold commences this new growth phase with a robust balance sheet and a plan focussed on realising a potential A$281 million (C$254 million2) in corporate cost savings and A$209 million (C$189 million2) in operating synergies.
I am proud to officially welcome our new shareholders and the Karora team to Westgold. Together, as a combined entity, we are positioned to become a leading global mid-tier gold producer focused on building a long term and sustainable business that consistently delivers value to our shareholders."
Karora Chairman and CEO Paul Huet said: "I am excited for the next chapter in what has been a terrific journey for our shareholders and the Karora team. The growth of the company from a single mine with no mill to a multi-mine producer with two processing facilities has led us along an upward trajectory for nearly six years. The combination of Karora and Westgold to create a new Westgold is a transformative step that will ensure growth continues as an unhedged gold producer in a historically robust gold market.
The timing couldn't be better in my opinion.
I wish to thank all our shareholders and the entire Karora team for their support and efforts along the way. I look forward to the continued success as we join Westgold to create a stronger future for all our stakeholders."
Overview
Under the terms of the Arrangement, each former shareholder of Karora (a Karora Shareholder) is entitled to receive 2.524 Westgold fully paid ordinary shares (Westgold Shares), C$0.608 (A$0.6732) in cash and 0.30 of a share of Culico Metals Inc. (Culico), a new company "spun out" from Karora, for each Karora Share held immediately prior to the effective time of the Arrangement (the Consideration).
Culico's assets comprise a 1% lithium royalty on certain mining interests held by Kali Metals Limited, the right to receive a deferred consideration payment due to Karora relating to the on-sale of the Dumont asset and A$10.9 million (C$9.8 million3) in cash. On closing of the Arrangement, Culico is 100% owned by former Karora Shareholders.
The cash amount received by Culico from Karora includes A$5.360 million (C$4.840 million3), representing the negotiated economically equivalent value of Karora's existing 22.1% interest in Kali Metals Limited. Due to regulatory restrictions on transfer, Westgold has retained Karora's original 22.1% interest in Kali Metals Limited on completion of the Arrangement and paid the cash equivalent value to Culico in lieu of such interest.
The Westgold Shares are listed for trading on the ASX and, subject to final approval of the TSX, will commence trading on the TSX under the ticker symbol WGX at market open on 6 August 2024. Karora has applied to de-list the Karora Shares from the TSX, and delisting is expected to be effective at market close on 2 August 2024. Following the delisting of Karora, Westgold intends to apply for Karora to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian securities laws.
Culico has applied to list its common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) through the TSXV Sandbox, an initiative intended to facilitate listing applications that may not satisfy all requirements and guidelines of the TSXV, but due to facts or situations unique to a particular issuer otherwise warrant a listing on the TSXV. Listing will be subject to Culico receiving conditional and final approval of the TSXV and satisfying all of the listing requirements imposed by the TSXV. Culico intends to provide further updates in due course; however, no assurances can be provided that the Culico common shares will be listed on the TSXV or any other stock exchange or, if listed on the TSXV, that Culico will satisfy the specific listing conditions that the TSXV will impose on Culico pursuant to the TSXV Sandbox.
All registered Karora Shareholders are encouraged to complete, sign and return the letter of transmittal, which has been previously mailed and is available under Karora's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca, with accompanying Karora Share certificate and/or DRS advice-statement(s) (if applicable) to Computershare Investor Services Inc. as soon as possible, if they have not already done so. Non-registered Karora Shareholders are encouraged to contact their broker or other intermediary for instructions and assistance in receiving the Consideration.
For more information on the Arrangement, see Karora's management information circular dated 17 June 2024, filed under Karora's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca on 21 June 2024.
Westgold Board
Westgold Chair the Hon. Cheryl Edwardes AM will continue in her role, as will the other members of the incumbent Westgold Board, including Westgold Managing Director and CEO, Wayne Bramwell. In connection with the Arrangement, Karora Managing Director, Australia, Leigh Junk, and Karora Director Shirley In't Veld have been appointed to Westgold's Board. Karora's Chair and CEO, Paul Huet, will continue with Westgold in a special advisory role to the Westgold Board for six months, subject to contract finalisation.
Leigh Junk brings over 30 years of mining industry experience, including executive management and operations roles, and joined Karora in March 2023. Before this, he was Managing Director of Dacian Gold prior to its takeover by Genesis Minerals in 2022 and, prior to that, was Managing Director of Doray Minerals until its merger with Silver Lake Resources in 2019. Leigh was a co-founder of Donegal Resources, a private company that successfully acquired and recommissioned several Nickel operations in the Kambalda, Western Australia area, until it was sold to Canadian miner Brilliant Mining Corp. In 2006, Leigh has been a Director of several public companies in the mining and financial sectors in both Australia and Canada.
Shirley In't Veld has over 30 years of career experience in mining, renewables and energy sectors. She is currently a Director of Alumina Limited and Develop Global Ltd. She was formerly Deputy Chair of CSIRO (Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation), Director of NBN Co. Limited (National Broadband Network Co.), Northern Star Resources Limited, Perth Airport, DUET Group, Asciano Limited and Alcoa of Australia Limited and a Council Member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia. She was also the Managing Director of Verve Energy (2007 - 2012) and, previously, served in senior roles at Alcoa of Australia Limited, WMC Resources Ltd., Bond Corporation and BankWest Perth. Shirley is also a past Chair of the Queensland Government Expert Electricity Panel and a member of the Renewable Energy Target Review Panel for the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She also served as a member of the COAG Energy Council Selection Panel, a Council member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (Western Australia) and the SMART Infrastructure Facility (University of Wollongong).
Reporting Issuer Status and Filing of Technical Reports
On completion of the Arrangement, Westgold became a reporting issuer in Canada in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Accordingly, Westgold intends to file the following technical reports, each prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), on SEDAR+ under its new issuer profile, accessible at www.sedarplus.ca:
the technical report entitled " NI 43-101 Technical Report, Fortnum Gold Operations, Bryah Goldfield, Western Australia " dated as of 31 May 2024 (with an effective date of 30 June 2023 ) prepared, reviewed and approved by Jake Russell and Leigh Devlin , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold;
" dated as of (with an effective date of ) prepared, reviewed and approved by and , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold; the technical report entitled " NI 43-101 Technical Report, Meekatharra Gold Operations, Murchison Goldfields , Western Australia " dated as of 31May 2024 (with an effective date of 30 June 2023 ) prepared, reviewed and approved by Jake Russell and Leigh Devlin , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold;
" dated as of 31May 2024 (with an effective date of ) prepared, reviewed and approved by and , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold; the technical report entitled " NI 43-101 Technical Report, Cue Gold Operations, Murchison Goldfields , Western Australia " dated as of 31 May 2024 (with an effective date of 30 June 2023 ) prepared, reviewed and approved by Jake Russell and Leigh Devlin , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold;
" dated as of (with an effective date of ) prepared, reviewed and approved by and , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Westgold; the technical report entitled " NI 43-101 Technical Report, Lakewood Operation, Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia " dated as of 4 January 2024 (with an effective date of 30 September 2023 ) prepared, reviewed and approved by Stephen Devlin , Peter Ganza and Ian Glacken , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Karora; and
" dated as of (with an effective date of ) prepared, reviewed and approved by , Peter Ganza and , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Karora; and the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Beta Hunt Operation, Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia " dated as of 2 January 2024 (with an effective date of 30 September 2023 ) prepared, reviewed and approved by Stephen Devlin , Peter Ganza and Graham de la Mare , each of whom is a "qualified person" for purposes of NI 43-101, for Karora.
Advisors
In connection with the Arrangement, Westgold engaged Argonaut PCF as financial advisor, Thomson Geer as Australian legal advisor and Stikeman Elliott LLP as Canadian legal advisor.
Karora engaged Cormark Securities Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Desjardins Capital Markets and Haywood Securities Inc. as advisors, HopgoodGanim as Australian legal advisor and Bennett Jones LLP as Canadian legal advisor to the Transaction.
Forward looking statements
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2 Based on AUD:CAD of 0.9030 as at close 31 July 2024. Data sourced from IRESS.
3 Based on AUD:CAD of 0.9030 as at close 31 July 2024. Data sourced from IRESS.
Sudan's foreign affairs ministry which is loyal to the regular army fighting paramilitaries said on Tuesday that it "wants more discussions" before accepting a US invitation for ceasefire talks.
"Any negotiation before... the complete withdrawal" of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) headed by general Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, and a "halt" to their expansion, are "unacceptable", the ministry said in a statement.
American secretary of state Antony Blinken last week invited the Sudanese army and the RSF for negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, set to begin on August 14.
The same day, Daglo welcomed the invitation and announced the RSF's intent to participate. The army, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, did not react.
A war has raged in Sudan since April 2023 between the army and the RSF that has left tens of thousands dead and sparked a major humanitarian crisis.
On Sunday, the foreign affairs ministry asked for "consultations with the Sudanese government on the form and agenda" and for a "meeting with the United States" before any future negotiations.
The talks, co-sponsored by Saudi Arabia, must include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the UN as observers, Blinken said.
They are aimed at "achieving a country-wide cessation of violence and allowing access for humanitarian aid", said the top US diplomat.
Previous rounds of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ended in failure.
The war has forced the displacement of more than 11 million people both inside and outside Sudan's borders, according to the United Nations, obliterating infrastructure and pushing the country to the edge of famine.
Some 25.6 million people -- more than half the population -- are facing high levels of "acute food insecurity", the world body said in a report published in late June.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians.
Since the beginning of the war, the army and RSF have also been accused of looting and obstructing humanitarian aid, as well as almost entirely destroying an already-fragile health system.
A Guinean court will rule on Wednesday in the trial of ex-dictator Moussa Dadis Camara over a 2009 massacre in which more than 150 people were killed and scores of women raped.
On September 28, 2009, and in the following days, members of Camara's presidential guard, soldiers, police and militia brutally suppressed an opposition rally at a stadium in the suburbs of the capital Conakry.
In one of the darkest chapters in the West African nation's history, the forces of order killed at least 156 people, wounded hundreds more and raped 109 women, according to an UN-mandated commission of inquiry.
Victims have been waiting 15 years for justice, fearing a trial would never take place. It was finally brought before a court under the military rulers who seized power in 2021.
"This trial is of the utmost importance to me. I want these soldiers to pay a heavy price with sentences befitting their crimes," said Kadiatou Sow, who told AFP she was raped during the massacre and its aftermath.
Sow also lost her husband, whose body was never found.
- Crimes against humanity -
Along with 11 other government and military officials, Dadis Camara is accused of murder, sexual violence, torture, abduction and kidnapping.
Dadis Camara always denied any responsibility, blaming his subordinates.
The ex-dictator's landmark trial -- which began on September 28, 2022 -- has gripped the West African nation, with the courtroom's drama beamed to the nation's televisions and radios.
Judges heard from 11 defendants -- who blamed each other for the massacre during the trial -- as well as a dozen witnesses. Around 100 victims provided chilling testimonies.
Asmaou Diallo, president of an association of the massacre's victims and their relatives, told AFP their eyes would all be fixed on the judge come Wednesday.
"We really expect the truth and for light to be shed with this verdict," Diallo said.
The chief prosecutor called for Dadis Camara and the six other defendants to be sentenced to life in prison.
He also requested the charges against them be classified as crimes against humanity -- which the judges said they would not rule on until the verdict.
- 'Moment of truth' -
Pleading for the defendants' acquittal, the defence lawyers argue that reclassifying the charges on the day of the ruling would rob them of an opportunity to defend themselves and infringe their right to a fair trial.
Both the accused and the plaintiffs will have 15 days to appeal the verdict. The prosecutor's office will have two months.
Tamara Aburamadan, an international justice legal counsel for Human Rights Watch, called the upcoming verdict "a long-awaited moment of truth for the victims and their families".
But the trial has taken place against a background of repression of both the opposition to Guinea's military rulers and the media.
The day before the verdict, protests against the "forced disappearance" of pro-democracy activists Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah paralysed parts of Conakry, with several injured in clashes between demonstrators and the police.
Though the authorities deny holding the pair, civil society organisations say they are being held incommunicado and have called for further demonstrations on the day of the verdict and the day after.
International organisations and human rights activists have highlighted the trial's unprecedented nature in Guinea.
It is the first of its kind to challenge the impunity of the country's security forces, which are seldom held to account, according to the UN probe.
Palestinians detained by Israel during the Gaza war have largely been held in secret and in some cases subjected to treatment that may amount to torture, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, thousands of Palestinians -- including medics, patients, residents and captured fighters -- have been taken from Gaza to Israel, "usually shackled and blindfolded", the OHCHR UN human rights office said in a report
Thousands more have been detained in the West Bank and Israel, it added.
"They have generally been held in secret, without being given a reason for their detention, access to a lawyer or effective judicial review," OHCHR said.
Israel did not immediately comment but has rejected previous critical reports saying its prisons are run according to international law. The report was released the day after Israel's military police questioned soldiers arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee
At least 53 detainees from Gaza and the West Bank have died in Israeli detention since the Gaza war began on October 7, the report found.
Testimonies for the report suggested that Israel had subjected prisoners to "a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees", UN rights chief Volker Turk said.
The report covers October 7 to June 30. It relies primarily on information gathered through interviews with released Palestinian detainees and other victims and witnesses of violations, OHCHR said.
The report said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that since October 7, Israel and Palestinian armed groups had "committed gross violations and abuses... of the rights to life, liberty and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment."
These included the use of "rape and other forms of sexual violence," warning the abuses may amount to war crimes.
Besides calling for the abuses to cease, the OHCHR urged all parties to "immediately end all forms of arbitrary detention, including the holding of hostages".
- 'Incommunicado detention' -
The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,400 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
Turk called for the immediate release of all hostages in Gaza, and said all Palestinians arbitrarily detained by Israel must also be set free.
"Secret, prolonged incommunicado detention may also amount to a form of torture," Turk said.
- 'Burnt with cigarettes' -
The report said most Palestinians held since October 7 have been detained "without charges or trial".
Many released Palestinians reported treatment "including severe beatings, electrocution, being forced to remain in stress positions for prolonged periods, or waterboarding".
The report said detainees had been subjected to blackmail, "being burnt with cigarettes, and given hallucinogenic pills".
The report also said the Palestinian Authority "continued to carry out arbitrary detention and torture or other ill treatment in the West Bank, reportedly principally to suppress criticism and political opposition".
A host of studies by rights groups and UN agencies have condemned conditions in Israeli prisons as well as Hamas's treatment of detainees.
Amnesty International said this month it had documented 27 cases of Palestinians, including five women and a 14-year-old boy, who were detained by Israel "for up to four and a half months" without being able to contact their families.
According to the Prisoners Club, a Palestinian rights watchdog, about 9,600 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails, including hundreds under administrative detention where they can be held for long periods without charge.
Sudan's de facto ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ruled out negotiation with paramilitaries after he survived a drone attack on Wednesday in the war-torn country's east.
The army said five people were killed in a drone attack on a ceremony at the Gibet base, where Burhan was overseeing a graduation ceremony.
"We will not retreat, we will not surrender, and we will not negotiate," Burhan, who appeared unharmed, told troops at the Gibet base after the attack.
"We are not scared of drones," he said at the Gibet base, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Port Sudan, where the army-aligned government fled after war broke out with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April last year.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The United States has invited both sides to negotiations next month in Geneva, which Sudan's foreign ministry on Tuesday said must be preceded by "more discussions".
On Wednesday, Burhan ruled out talks with the RSF.
Any peace initiative "must recognise, invite and consult the Sudanese state", he said, referring to his government.
"We will not lay down our guns until we clean this country of every conspirator and every rebel," he vowed.
Already, the war -- which Burhan says the army intends to win "with our head high" -- has killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates of up to 150,000, according to US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello.
It has also caused mass human rights violations and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis, according to the United Nations.
Over 10 million people are currently displaced across Sudan, most in areas facing looming famine and worsening humanitarian conditions as fighting spreads.
Wednesday's attack was the first on a military base in Sudan's eastern Red Sea state, where the army, government and the United Nations have all relocated their headquarters.
The RSF controls most of the capital Khartoum, the central Al-Jazira state, nearly the entire vast western Darfur region, as well as large parts of Kordofan in the south.
It launched an offensive last month on Sennar state in the country's southeast, claiming the state capital and displacing more than 130,000 people, according to the UN.
Paramilitaries are also besieging El-Fasher -- the capital of North Darfur state and the largest city in the region not yet under the control of the RSF -- cutting off food and water to hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Sixty-five people, mostly children, have been killed there between Saturday and Monday during RSF bombardment, according to a statement from local activist committees.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.
This month of August marks 16 years since Russian ground forces breached Georgias sovereignty on August 8, 2008, crossing through Abkhazia and South Ossetia with aid from the Russian air force and Black Sea fleet. The invasion, accompanied by actions that amounted to war crimes, led to the displacement of 26,888 individuals (9,081 families) and the death of 228 Georgian civilians. The International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded its investigation into the war on December 16, 2022, issuing arrest warrants against officials related to the de facto South Ossetian administration, an ally effectively controlled by Russia.
On April 28, 2023, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Russian Federation must pay 130 million euros to Georgia for the August War, based on its January 21, 2021 judgment in an interstate case. However, the crucial question remains: when will this judgment be enforced, ensuring compensation for the victims?
As of now, no payments have been made, and the total owed, including accrued interest, stands at approximately 133.4 million euros. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has repeatedly urged Russia to fulfill its obligations and facilitate the safe return of Georgian nationals to their homes. Nevertheless, Russias failure to adhere to the principle of Pacta Sunt Servanda a fundamental principle of law which holds that treaties are binding upon its parties suggests that all conventional obligations will remain unfulfilled until there is a political will to comply.
Russian-style law: a step backward for Georgia
This unresolved issue is exacerbated by Georgias recent Russian-style bill on transparency of foreign influence introduced on April 3, 2024. This legislative move, aimed at shifting Georgias alignment away from the European Union (EU) and NATO, has triggered widespread dissent in the country. For victims who have suffered severe human rights violations, including threats to life and property destruction, this legislative shift represents a significant setback. It undermines their pursuit of justice and compensation by complicating legal processes and restricting avenues for redress, adding to their emotional and economic burdens. The adoption of this law contradicts the countrys foreign policy, regarding in particular Tbilisis application to the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights. It threatens the functionality of NGOs like GYLA (Georgian Young Lawyers Association), which has been pivotal in taking cases to the ECHR and advocating for the rights of war victims.
It is widely acknowledged that the perceptions of victims vary significantly, influenced by factors such as age, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, and political context. Different victims exhibit distinct needs and desires, which may evolve over time. For example, prioritizing reparations become challenging amidst ongoing violations of human rights.
In April 2024, the Strasbourg court noted that Russia continues to breach the European Convention on Human Rights, exacerbating living conditions in Georgian territories occupied by Russia and along the occupation line. Specifically, the Court addressed an inter-state application concerning Russias administrative practices of harassment, illegal detention, assault, torture, murder, and intimidation targeting the ethnically Georgian population. These actions are designed to intimidate, isolate, and ethnically cleanse Georgian communities in and near occupied territories. Meanwhile, urgent material needs persist, particularly among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia. More than 90,000 IDPs, over half of whom lack adequate housing, continue to reside in communal residential buildings that fail to meet basic living standards and pose serious health and safety risks.
Demonstration against the law on foreign influence outside the Parliament in Tbilisi on 15 May, 2024. Georgians took to the streets for weeks to protest against this law, whose adoption has prompted a blizzard of international condemnation. Photo : Giorgi Arjevanidze / AFP
Unconventional compensation more likely
The likelihood of Georgian victims receiving monetary compensation through the conventional enforcement of ECHR judgments appears slim. First, the victims awaited this judgment for 15 years, with some passing away during this prolonged waiting. Second, although the judgment relates to earlier, the Russian Federation ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022, as a consequence of its aggression against Ukraine. Furthermore, it has openly declared a policy of non-compliance with ECHR obligations. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assemblys 2022 opinion highlighted Russias failure to execute numerous ECHR judgments and interim measures as grounds for questioning its continued membership in the organization.
So what other routes are available for the judgment execution?
Despite this, the Federation of Russia remains a member of the United Nations and subject to UN monitoring. In December 2023, the Council of Europe announced it was cooperating with UN bodies to remind Russia of its obligation to implement ECHR judgments. Discussions on this matter took place at the quarterly meeting of the Council of Europes Committee of Ministers. Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric again urged Russia to comply with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The same month, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe underlined that the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation endorsed a recommendation regarding the enforcement of judgments involving Russia, recommending to the state to ensure without any further delay the enforcement of opinions and judgments in individual cases emanating from United Nations human rights mechanisms and the European Court of Human Rights. It should also be noted that, on November 13, 2023, the UN Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review conducted a review of the situation in the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation participated in the session, and several States emphasized to Russia its unequivocal obligation to uphold judgments and decisions of the European Court.
In response, Russian delegates asserted their non-recognition of judgments rendered after March 15, 2022, citing the adoption of a specific domestic legislation to this effect. They also noted that they continued to honor, until January 2023, judgments finalized before March 2022. However, starting January 1, 2023, Russia ceased making payments as, according to delegates, legal authority to do so expired under domestic law.
The Russian Federation has therefore openly declared that it is not going to pay compensation for Georgian victims as ordered on April 2023.
Georgian government reluctant to get involved
And so, the question persists: if the current action is not sufficient, is more intervention necessary?
Historically, some of the most extensive compensation schemes were established by Germany for victims of Nazi crimes. Similar efforts were initiated during the late 20th century after periods of dictatorship such as in Haiti, El Salvador, and South Africa -- with varying degrees of ambition and success. Several programs addressing property claims from conflicts in the Balkans or the Gulf War have also been set up with international involvement. However, most such measures were taken following an agreement achieved or imposed on the paying State, and none directly mirror the current situation concerning the fulfillment of obligations that stem from ECHR judgments. Recently, Ukraines proposed models for a compensation commission and a fund to finance it, with the support of the Council of Europe, also establishes a new precedent.
Amidst the complex landscape, GYLA, a 30-year old watchdog NGO operating in Georgia, suggests establishing an international compensation fund for the victims of the August war and subsequent developments, under the auspices of the Council of Europe. In this regard, GYLA believes that the Georgian authorities, particularly the Foreign Ministry in collaboration with other state bodies including the Justice Ministry, should be pro-active at international level.
Our organization brought this proposal to the Strasbourg Court during the litigation of individual applications against Russia in March 2023. It was officially requested before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in January 2024, but the Ministry had given no feedback as of July 2024. GYLA believes the Georgian government must first outline potential strategies for creating a compensation fund and subsequently advocate for its establishment. Without a proactive engagement from the Georgian government, it would be unrealistic to expect other countries to act on its behalf. But today, after the adoption of the Russian-style law on transparency of foreign influence despite significant international criticism, the likelihood of the aforementioned actions being pursued appears diminished.
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Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Party of National Unity leader Peter Munya has firmly declared his stand on President William Rutos job offers.
Munya stated that he would decline any offers from Rutos administration since he is not as desperate as others.
He emphasized his commitment to working directly with Kenyans to bring about necessary changes.
Munya explained that it would be more prudent to chart a different political path rather than accepting a position that would involve supporting Rutos government which many citizens have issues with.
"I've not been offered any position and even if I'm offered, I will decline," Munya asserted.
"I think I am better off working with Kenyans to bring the changes that we require than going in there to strengthen a government a lot of people have issues with."
This comes even as Munya has hinted at his plans to ditch Raila Odinga's Azimio after the Opposition joined Rutos government at their expense.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 As the succession battle in ODM gathers momentum following the appointment of Party Chairman John Mbadi, Deputy Party Leaders Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, and Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi to President William Rutos Cabinet, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga convened a high-stakes meeting with the likely successors.
Raila's strategic meeting with the governors of Kisii and Mombasa Counties, Simba Arati and Abduswamad Shariff Nassir respectively, is his political move to avert a scramble that could topple the party.
Besides, Raila has already submitted his application for the prestigious African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship. If successful, Raila will have to step down as ODM Party leader; something that has intensified lobbying on who will take over from Baba as the ODM Party leader.
Among the names being floated for the two deputy party leader slots are governors Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Simba Arati (Kisii), Abdullswamad Nassir (Mombasa), and Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi.
Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, aiming for the party chairman role, emphasised the need for fresh leadership to engage the younger generation.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has also declared his ambition for the party leader position, contingent on Odinga securing the AUC role.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - President William Ruto has cautioned the Gen Zs against misusing the 'leaderless' and 'fearless' stance to propagate violence and anarchy in the country.
Speaking during the launch of the Linzi Sukuk bond at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Ruto told the Gen Zs not to be reckless and stupid in their action going forward.
However, he admired the Gen Zs for being leaderless and fearless in their pursuit of good governance and accountability.
According to the Head of State, Kenya was a proud democratic country governed by the rule of law, and that there was no constitutional provision for violence.
We are a country that believes in freedom, and democracy but we are also a government by the rule of law, it is good to be fearless, it is good to be leaderless but it is not good to be reckless, Ruto clarified.
We must know the country is governed by the rule of law. I am very proud that our country is soaring high globally because of what we have done as the people of Kenya and we must safeguard, he added.
He also assured both local and foreign investors of the country's stability, vowing to deal with those instigating anarchy in the country.
At the same time, Ruto warned the youth against misusing cyberspace by insulting their leaders through what they termed as ' sending greetings' to the said politicians.
According to him, cyberbullying was against the law.
He instead called on the youths to utilize their access to the internet by making a living out of it.
The Gen Zs have organized anti-government protests on 8/8/2024 dubbed Nane Nane.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Renowned Nairobi lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has reacted after the Court of Appeal declared the Finance Bill 2023 unconstitutional on Wednesday.
Justices Kathurima M'inoti, Agnes Murgor, and John Mativo declared the Finance Act 2023 unconstitutional, saying the process leading to its enactment was flawed.
The Judges said the various sections introduced post-public participation to amend the Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Excise Duty Act, Retirement Benefits Act, and Export Processing Zones Act were unconstitutional as they were not subjected to fresh public participation.
They subsequently declared some sections of the Act, including the housing levy, as unconstitutional.
Reacting to the ruling, Ahmednasir, a close ally of President William Ruto, sympathized with the government and urged Kenyans to pray for the Kenya Kwanza Alliance government, attributing the situation to incompetence and corruption.
It's CRUEL & CALLOUS to criticise President Ruto's government.
"It's INHUMANE to condemn it for its palpable INCOMPETENCE and runaway CORRUPTION.
"This government needs Kenyans' collective PITY and PRAYERS.
"I mean, how can your finance bill of 2023/24 be declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL?, Ahmednasir wrote on X.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Azimio One Kenya Alliance principal, Kalonzo Musyoka, has said the coalition will not support the looming impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Some Kenya Kwanza Alliance Members of Parliament close to President William Ruto are reportedly drafting a motion that will see Gachagua impeached for gross misconduct, undermining the presidency, and sponsoring and financing Gen Z protests.
Speaking at the African Inland Church Milimani during a requiem mass for Mbaitu FM journalist Mercy Mawia Mwangi on Wednesday, Kalonzo said Azimio MPs, especially from the Wiper Democratic Movement, will not support Gachaguas impeachment.
Kalonzo further condemned the government's nomination of opposition MPs and emphasized that the Azimio coalition remains united in fighting for the rights of Kenyans.
He stated, "The poaching of ODM members does not amount to a government of national unity."
Kalonzo is among Azimio leaders who have consistently insisted that Ruto resign over bad governance and massive corruption in his government.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has written to the National Assembly asking the House not to approve the nomination of Wycliffe Oparanya as Cabinet Secretary over integrity issues.
In a letter dated July 29 and addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly, the EACC highlighted that Wycliffe Oparanya, the Co-operatives and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development CS nominee, is facing a graft case.
The EACC noted that it has filed for preservation orders against Oparanyas assets, as he is alleged to possess proceeds from corruption due to a conflict of interest, and the matter is still pending in court.
On July 26, Oparanya suffered a major setback after the High Court declined to unfreeze his assets in the ongoing graft probe concerning the alleged embezzlement of Sh1.3 billion during his two-term tenure as the Kakamega governor.
In this case, EACC is seeking to recover the billions from Oparanya and several companies associated with officials of the Kakamega County government amounting to Sh1,387,310,025.
Oparanya has been scheduled to appear before MPs for vetting on Sunday.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Saboti Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi has thanked former Prime Minister and ODM party leader Raila Odinga for his appointment as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The youthful lawmaker said his appointment was a testament to the former prime minister's confidence in him.
Amisi pledged to uphold the values of transparency and accountability if will be elected to the position by the committee members.
"This appointment is a testament to the confidence you have placed in me, and I assure you that I will carry out my duties with utmost dedication and integrity.
"I am committed to upholding the values of transparency and accountability as we work together to strengthen our nation's governance.
"Thank you for this incredible opportunity," Amisi said.
He also thanked all Kenyans congratulating him on his new appointment, saying their messages inspired him.
"To the people of Saboti Constituency, the ODM fraternity, and Kenyans at large, I am deeply touched and inspired by your generous words of congratulations.
"With boundless gratitude for the confidence placed in me, and with an unswerving resolve to honor that trust, I humbly accept the appointment," he added.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - A chef who strangled his wife to death in front of their young children and her TikTok lover before stuffing her body inside a suitcase has been jailed for 22 years.
Aminan Rahman, 47, strangled his 24-year-old wife, Suma Begum with her scarf at a flat in Docklands, east London, on the night of April 29, 2023.
While attacking her, he video called Begums boyfriend, Shahin Miah, 24, and said; Because of you this happened.
Rahman forced Ms Begum into a suitcase before throwing her into the River Lea as their young son watched on.
Miah cried in court as he described the video call.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: She wanted to run away and he then grabbed her throat.
There were three screaming sounds before the video froze and nothing more could be seen after Rahmans initial lunge.
In a second video call from Rahman that night, the defendant told Mr Miah: Look, I have killed (Ms Begum) and now you get ready.
Her body was found 10 days later after being found washed up by the side of the Thames River.
The couple had married in an arranged Islamic ceremony over the phone in 2019 while Ms Begum lived in Bangladesh.
Begum later met Miah, who lived in the United Arab Emirates, on social media in 2021 and began an intimate, sexual relationship online.
Miah told Rahman about their relationship after he found out Ms Begum was married, but they continued to stay together.
Begums half brother Abdul Amin said: When Suman first came to the UK she was beautiful woman who enjoyed spending time with us, but this changed and she lost a lot of weight and became very withdrawn.
We later learned through Sumans sister, Lubna Begum, who lives in Bangladesh, that Suman wanted to tell us about how Aminan was abusing her, but he threatened to kill her if she did.
She added: We have had to listen to Aminan telling the court how much he loved his children, but how can that be true when he attacked and killed their mum in front of them?
He had deprived them of the childhood they should have had. They are going to have to grow up and learn if how he killed and dumped their mums body in a river and we cannot begin to imagine the pain they are going to have to endure.
Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC had told jurors: It is clear this young woman was no longer happy in her marriage, she was fairly openly in a relationship with another man, and she had expressed the desire to leave the defendant, something about which neither he nor her family were happy.
But whether he was motivated by rage, shame, or pure jealousy, or a more complex mix of cultural expectations and emotions, may not matter.
The prosecution case is that on the night of April 29-30, shortly before midnight, Shahin Miah witnessed the murder of Suma Begum by the defendant on a video call which he recorded.
What he observed part of was the deliberate strangulation of Suma Begum days before her body was found."
The judge, Mr Justice Bennathan jailed Rahman for life with a minimum sentence of 22 years.
The judge called the victim was a lively, attractive young woman and a devoted mother.
She had dreamed of a new, different life with a man her own age which dreams you stopped on April 29 last year when you very deliberately killed her.
Within moments of strangling Ms Begum, you folded her body into a suitcase and threw it into the Thames basin, hoping it would never be found.
All this was done in the sight of her two year old son.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - A couple on vacation celebrating a birthday was mysteriously found dead in their hotel room in a resort town in Mexico.
Lindsay and Nick Jordan had travelled from Reno, Nevada, to Cabo San Lucas to meet up with friends for Lindsay's 46th birthday.
Their friends went to their room to check on them when they did not appear one morning to discuss plans. However, on getting to the room, the friends were turned away by hotel workers and cops, according to their son, Deven Simms, 21.
The married couple, who have three children, was discovered dead on July 14, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported this week.
Deven has translated medical records and police reports and said that local authorities suspect his parents deaths were drug-related.
"But everything Ive seen, the amounts of what was found and tests are different in every document," he told the newspaper.
Deven added that his dad did not drink and he does not believe they overdosed on drugs. But it is not possible to have independent autopsies done in the US because authorities did not rule the deaths suspicious, he said.
"I know now we will never know," he said.
The couple leaves behind Deven and their daughters Haley Jordan, 19, and Sammy, 12.
Haley said her parents were travelling with friends from work. They had shared pictures from the resort in a family group chat on the first two days of the trip.
"Not too bad from our room for our long weekend!" the mother had written.
The last photo shared by the couple showed them smiling and having lunch at the resort.
"They were so happy to be going on this trip," Haley told the newspaper. "Its all my mom talked about."
Deven received the devastating news in a phone call from their work friends and informed his siblings.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - A high court in Ghana has barred groups from holding protests against economic hardship in the country.
High Court Justice Abena Afia Serwaa upheld a request by Ghanas police to ban civil society groups from carrying out protests between July 31 and August 6 after the police told the court that they would not be able to provide security to protesters.
Court documents seen by ModernGhana News said the police have warned that the planned demonstration could compromise public order.
The police said some of their personnel have been posted for political rallies and election campaigns, and they would not guarantee the protection of protesters.
Protest organizer Mensah Thompson said citizens have a right to protest and elections should not be excuses for blocking it.
Young people are poised to demonstrate with or without the approval of the authorities. A time comes when they will spontaneously jump on the streets and we will have a Kenya on our hands.
Young people are poised to demonstrate with or without the approval of the authorities. A time comes when they will spontaneously jump on the streets and we will have a Kenya on our hands.
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - A cybercrime DCI officer is in trouble after the High Court in Eldoret ordered his arrest for withholding crucial evidence in a murder case where a lawyer is charged with killing his friend.
The DCI officer, identified as Daniel Kieni, was expected to present in court CCTV footage as key evidence in the murder case but he has failed to appear in court several times despite being summoned.
Lawyer Abel Mogaka is accused of killing his friend Calvin Ngaira during a house party hosted at Eldoret town.
Its alleged that there was a commotion at the party during which the accused used a broken beer bottle to stab the deceased.
Justice Robert Wananda who is handling the case described the character of the detective as strange behaviour which had delayed the conclusion of the case.
Despite being summoned and promising to appear, the officer has neither appeared physically nor virtually and no sufficient explanation has been given, said Justice Wananda.
He issued a warrant of arrest against the detective to the officer in charge of cybercrime at DCI headquarters in Nairobi to implement the arrest.
While issuing the warrant, Justice Wananda regretted that the character of such officers has continued to contribute to the delay of many court cases.
A warrant of arrest is hereby issued against the cybercrime officer namely Inspector Daniel Kieni of the cybercrime unit DCI Nairobi.
"The warrants are to be effected by officers in charge of cybercrime unit DCI Nairobi," ordered Justice Wananda.
The deceased was the only son of Hesbon Ngaira who is chief principal at Hill School in Eldoret.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, August 1, 2024 It appears Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua desperately needs former President Uhuru Kenyatta now more than ever.
This is in light of the planned impeachment and ongoing investigations, where his allies have been accused of funding the Gen Zs to destabilize President William Rutos government.
Now, Gachagua wants Uhuru to give him stability and legitimacy as the Mt. Kenya kingpin.
Speaking at a burial in Nyeri County yesterday, Kieni MP Anthony Wainaina begged Uhuru to formally pass the mantle of Mt Kenya region's kingpin to Gachagua.
This would give Gachagua legitimate control of the region and enhance his bargaining power.
Wainaina emphasized the need for a smooth transition of leadership within the region to maintain unity and strength.
"We would like for Uhuru Kenyatta to bless Rigathi Gachagua as the Mt Kenya Region kingpin," stated Wainaina.
The lawmaker opined that they could take gifts to the former head of state to appreciate him for leading the country and the Mount Kenya region for 10 years.
"If we get an opportunity, we will take gifts to Uhuru and thank him for leading us for 10 years, then ask him to bless Gachagua," he stated.
Wainaina also highlighted the symbolic importance of presenting gifts to Kenyatta as a gesture of appreciation for his decade-long leadership.
"It's not just about politics; it's about respect and gratitude. We want to honour him and ensure that the region remains united under strong leadership," the MP stated.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has ordered Nyeri County police commanders not to allow Gen Z demonstrations during the planned Nane Nane March scheduled for August 8, 2024.
Speaking on Wednesday in Nyeri County, the deputy president said what is happening in the county, particularly in Karatina town, is unacceptable and the government cannot allow it to continue.
DP Gachagua said the people behind the weekly protests are known and should be arrested and arraigned in court.
What is happening in Karatina is not acceptable.
"We cannot accept that every week there are thugs harassing business people.
"The police come and they chase them away.
"These characters are known, they should be arrested and taken to court, said Gachagua.
The second in command asked the Nyeri County Commissioner to ensure that the people behind the anti-government protests are dealt with, saying they are disrupting businesses in Karatina town.
"We cannot accept a situation where criminals are disturbing people in Karatina and the people who are organizing these things are known.
"So the county Commissioner and your team, put your best foot forward and bring an end to that nonsense in Karatina, Gachagua remarked.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Friday, August 1, 2024 Two UDA MPs allied to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have broken silence after two days of grilling by the DCI.
The two, Embakasi North MP James Gakuya and his Embakasi Central counterpart, Benjamin Gathiru, were released after being grilled over their involvement in sponsoring the recent anti-government demonstrations witnessed across the country.
Speaking to the press after their release, the two attributed their arrest to a political witch-hunt.
Anybody with any evidence or fact of whatever misdeed we did should come out and tell us how we finance the protests. This is a witch hunt, Gakuya commented.
Gakuya and Gathiru were part of the five Gachagua allies grilled over their alleged participation in fuelling anarchy and violence during the anti-government demonstrations.
"They also questioned us on whether we were buying T-shirts and water which I believe is just political," noted Benjamin Gathiru.
The arrest and release of the two UDA MPs come days after DCI detectives summoned Embakasi East MP Babu Owino over similar allegations, though the summons were later withdrawn.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - The young generation in Kenya, commonly known as Gen Z, is organizing nationwide protests next week, dubbed 'Nane Nane March,' to demand the resignation of President William Ruto and his government.
Using the hashtag #NaneNaneMarch, the young Kenyans have urged everyone to stay home on August 8, 2024, as it will be a public holiday.
The Gen Zs said they would gather at Nairobis Central Business District on that day, waving placards demanding Ruto's resignation. If he refuses to resign, they plan to march to State House to force him to do so.
The youth, using various social media platforms, have also warned Boda Boda riders and matatu operators against being used by politicians to hijack the protests.
The young people have also requested Nairobi residents to provide accommodation for those coming from rural areas, so they can prepare well for the 1 Million March to State House next Thursday.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh has been killed during a raid at his residence in Tehran, according to the Palestinian military group Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Haniyeh was killed on Wednesday, July 31, after attending the swearing-in inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, Hamas said in a statement.
The Revolutionary Guards confirmed Haniyeh's death in a separate statement.
"Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his bodyguards' martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon," the Revolutionary Guards said.
Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Ismail Haniyeh a martyr, the terse statement said.
In another statement, the group quoted Haniyeh as saying that the Palestinian cause has costs and we are ready for these costs: martyrdom for the sake of Palestine, and for the sake of God Almighty, and for the sake of the dignity of this nation.
Haniyeh was the exiled political chief of the militant group and had spent much of his time in recent years in Qatar and Turkey. Considered a pragmatist, he had acted as a negotiator in the ceasefire talks during the Israel-Gaza war, liaised with Hamass main ally, Iran, and met with the Turkish president.
Haniyeh was also said to maintain good relations with the heads of the various Palestinian factions, including rivals to Hamas.
He was elected head of the Hamas political bureau in 2017 to succeed Khaled Meshaal, but was already a well-known figure having become Palestinian prime minister in 2006 following an upset victory by Hamas in that years parliamentary election.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - Pavel Durov, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Telegram Messenger app, has narrated how he had 100 biological children around the world despite being unmarried.
The 39-year-old entrepreneur made this known through his popular channel on Monday evening, July 29.
He said his preference is to remain single and alone.
However, he disclosed that 15 years ago, his friend approached him to donate his sperm in a clinic, which he agreed to. This resulted in him helping over 12 families all over the world have kids. He described his sperm as "high-quality donor material".
He said, "I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids. How is this possible for a guy who has never been married and prefers to live alone?
"Fifteen years ago, a friend approached me with a weird request. He said that he and his wife couldnt have kids due to a fertility issue and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby. I laughed my ass off before realising he was dead serious.
"The boss of the clinic told me that 'high-quality donor material' was in short supply and that it was my civic duty to donate more sperm to anonymously help more couples. This sounded crazy enough to get me to sign up for sperm donation.
"Fast forward to 2024, my past donating activity has helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids. Moreover, many years after I stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic still has my frozen sperm available for anonymous use by families who want to have kids."
He hinted that he would plan to open-source his DNA so that his biological children could easily find him, stressing, Of course, there are risks, but I dont regret having been a donor. The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious issue worldwide, and Im proud that I did my part to help alleviate it.
Durov further advised healthy men to donate sperm to families struggling to have kids around the world.
The Telegram founder is a Russian-born Emirati entrepreneur. In 2022, he was recognized as the richest expat in the United Arab Emirates, according to Forbes. In February 2023, Arabian Business named him the most powerful entrepreneur in Dubai.
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka does not need former Prime Minister Raila Odingas help to survive politically.
Speaking at a burial in Machakos yesterday, Kalonzo dismissed the notion that he depends on Railas influence for political survival.
According to the Wiper Leader, his influence in Kenyas political arena was dominant way before partnering with the former Prime Minister.
Some are saying Kalonzo cannot stand without Raila, please spare us, we have stood before, we have been misunderstood before, Kalonzo stated.
While affirming his decision as the Opposition leader, Kalonzo revealed that such criticism would not compel him to join President William Ruto's administration.
Kalonzo went ahead to fault Odinga's ODM party for allowing some of its members to join Ruto's cabinet despite being in the opposition.
"ODM has taken their time to explain, but they will have a lot of explaining to do. But the rest of us are very clear about our intentions," Kalonzo stated.
"We have absolutely no intention of joining President Ruto's government but we wish them well," he added.
Kalonzos sentiments followed hours after meeting Raila Odinga alongside other Azimio leaders, including Jubilee's Jeremiah Kioni and KANU's Gideon Moi.
The Azimio leaders reportedly met to deliberate on several matters that were hampering the coalition's political progress.
Kalonzo while disclosing the details of the meeting revealed Odinga met the coalition leaders to explain the intrigues that led to the nomination of the 4 ODM leaders to Cabinet.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - The U.S. Embassy has caused a massive uproar after it appeared to be meddling in Kenyan affairs.
This is after it issued a controlling statement about the vetting of President William Rutos Cabinet Secretary nominees by Parliament, sparking serious debate.
In the statement, the Meg Whitman-led Embassy emphasized the importance of integrity in public service and claimed that Parliament has a key role to play in upholding Chapter Six of the Kenyan Constitution, which provides for leadership and integrity.
"As Kenyans look ahead to the vetting of Cabinet nominees beginning today, we recognize the importance of integrity in public service and the National Assemblys vital role in upholding Chapter Six of Kenyas Constitution," read the statement by the U.S. Embassy.
However, the statement did not go down well with a section of netizens who were quick to call out the American embassy.
A section of netizens called out the embassy to stop meddling in the country's internal affairs, while others questioned its interest in the matter.
Another section of online users claimed that the U.S. Embassy should not comment on integrity, alleging that it was not upholding it.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - Interior Cabinet nominee, Prof Kithure Kindiki has revealed that he never thought of resigning following the Gen Z protests that almost brought down the Kenya Kwanza Alliance government.
Kindiki was responding to a question from Kathiani MP Robert Mbui during his appearance before the National Assembly vetting committee, chaired by Speaker Moses Wetangula.
Mbui questioned Kindiki about why he did not resign during his tenure despite the many murders suspected to have been caused by the police.
However, in response, Kindiki said he could only resign if his policy instructions were unconstitutional or illegal.
The honorable member said the Director of Secret Service resigned but also drew a parallel saying our Inspector General resigned.
"The minister did not resign in the US, I dont know why the Kenya minister must resign, he said.
Kindiki is among the 10 CS who served in President William Rutos dissolved Cabinet.
President William Ruto nominated Kindiki back to the Interior Ministry after dismissing his entire Cabinet.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - A 29-year-old man is in critical condition after his co-worker "hunted him down" and hit him with a car.
Trae Black, 29, fled a construction site in Perth, Australia, after an alleged argument on the site.
Matthew William Lawson, 25, came to confront Trae, who ran away. Matthew then chased him in his Mazda Ute and hit him.
The two mens manager, "Horse" Elliott, told The West Australian he believed the axle of the vehicle severed Traes leg.
Trae reportedly stumbled around, with half of his leg missing, asking for help when good Samaritans stopped to help him.
One of them, an orthopaedic doctor, used her handbag strap as a tourniquet while they waited for help to arrive. They found his severed leg on a nearby bank.
The highway in Perth was closed for a period of time while officers investigated and took Trae to seek medical treatment.
After hitting Trae, its alleged Matthew assaulted him with a "demolition hammer".
Western Australia police said: "It is believed the victim was struck by the vehicle before being assaulted with a hammer."
Matthew appeared at Perth Magistrates Court on July 31, charged with one count of attempted murder.
When asked how he wished to plead, he told Magistrate Janelle Scutt: "Yup, guilty."
Deputy Police Commissioner Allan Adams said: "What will be alleged by the police is that the accused hit the victim with his vehicle to start with, which caused some serious significant injury to his leg, which essentially, his lower leg was separated from his body.
"He then went up to him and hit him twice with a hammer. So violence to the absolute extreme."
Large blood stains were seen splattered across the black tarmac of the road where Trae was hit.
Trae and Matthews boss, Horse, said: Everyone is a bit distraught, weve got a bit of employees that arent on site but weve got to make sure we get the job done that we tried to start yesterday.
I suggest that what happened yesterday, I dont wish that on anyone and when you turn up to work you dont expect anything like that to happen but thats the world we live in nowadays.
Thursday, August 1, 2024 - This lady, Rae Wambui, is trending after plotting revenge against her ex-husband by informing his employer that he steals between Ksh 20,000 to Ksh 30,000 from the company each month.
She has vowed to bring her ex-husband down after parting ways.
Wambui is very beautiful but she has no brains.
See her photos below.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, August 1, 2024 Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has directed security forces in Nyeri to clamp down on anti-government protests in Karatina, citing disruptions to businesses and public order.
Speaking at a burial ceremony, Gachagua condemned the ongoing protests by the Gen Zs in Mt. Kenya and called for immediate action against those responsible.
"What is happening in Karatina is not acceptable," Gachagua declared.
"Every week there are some criminals disrupting businesses. They are engaging the police in hide-and-seek games every week. These characters are known, they should be arrested and taken to court."
Gachagua emphasized the negative impact these protests are having on local businesses and the overall peace in the region.
"We cannot accept a situation where criminals are crippling services in Karatina and the people who are organising these things are known," he stated.
"So, the county Commissioner and your team, put your best foot forward and bring an end to that nonsense in Karatina."
Gachagua underscored the need to maintain peace and order in Karatina, which he described as a vital part of a peaceful region and country.
"This is a very peaceful county in a very peaceful region and in a peaceful country, we cannot have anarchy," he said.
"We cannot have a chaotic situation where thugs are making it impossible for business people and ordinary Kenyans to carry out their daily business."
This comes as the Deputy President and his allies are under police scrutiny for allegedly funding the Gen Zs to destabilize Rutos government through weekly protests.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - Two Venezuelan army captains have called on the army to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro from power as protests over the election results continue to ravage the South American nation.
Thousands of people descended on central Caracas on Monday evening, some walking for miles from slums on the mountains surrounding the city, towards the presidential palace after President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory despite results online showing that Maduro only got 30 percent of the vote with Edmundo Gonzalez winning convincingly.
Opinion polls ahead of the election suggested a clear victory for the challenger after opposition parties had united behind Mr Gonzalez in an attempt to unseat President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent over the country's economic crisis.
Crowds of people chanted freedom, freedom! and called for the government to fall were evident on social media as.
Armed police, military and left-wing paramilitaries who are sympathetic to the government clashed with protesters and blocked off many roads around the city centre.
The two Army captains, Javier and Juan Carlos Nieto Quintero in a video asked the army to fight for the soul of the nation and support the people who voted against a Maduro government.
In a speech on Venezuelan state television, Maduro said it is his "obligation to tell you the truth".
"We are all under the obligation to listen the truth, to gear up with patience, calmness and strength because we are familiar with this movie and we know how to face these situations and how to defeat the violent.
Maduro accused the opposition of calling for a coup by disputing the results.
"This is not the first time we are facing what we are facing today, he said.
They are trying to impose in Venezuela a coup d'etat again of fascist and counter-revolutionary character."
Practicing physicians have been extremely lucky over the last century to have survived financially in the health care system to the degree that they have today. Judging from my 25 years of medical practice research and 40 years of clinical medical practice experience, I have been watching the self-disintegration of most physicians value to the profession.
Your personal values become hostage to the Medical-Industrial Complex or Medical Deep State. Just the fact that all physicians over the last century have never been offered access to business education nor been alerted to the benefits of real business knowledge by any U.S. medical schools should enrage every physicianbut it doesnt.
Our governments covert efforts to take command of our health care have almost succeeded. Did you notice that? What you may not have thought about is it also includes medical school education and the profession. Do you recognize that someone else will decide your medical school for you, the city or area where you will practice, your salary/income, and even the specialty you will be trained to do?
What you and I missed
The many actions that could have been implemented by our medical schools in the past to eliminate the present-day problems that all private medical practice physicians continue to struggle with now have been intentionally avoided by medical school administrators.
For some financial reasons, medical school scholars are determined to create small-business physicians and business-ignorant medical doctors. Recently, the requirements for medical school entrance applications have been reduced, which reduces the quality and value of physicians.
All of us in pre-med should have had a business education thenand didnt. Pre-meds should have been stimulated to also begin doing due diligence about going to the right medical school for the right reasons. About 100% of pre-meds never do that. I didnt because I expected that to happen sometime in med schooland I didnt.
Most medical students never think about what happens after medical school. Whos paying for you to start your private practice? You have no credit, no job, and cant get loans easily. Thoughts of increasing educational debt wiped out all those considerations.
Your medical school does not care about you or your future medical practice outcomes. If they did, we all would have been offered or provided with a business education during medical school.
Later, most physicians discover that all their mental expectations for their future medical career outcomes are rarely fruitful. And its often too late to do much about losing your private practice for financial reasons.
Dealing with the business of medical practice
The conviction of about 50% of medical school students today seems to solve the big problem of money/income by securing employment positions right out of residency training. That kind of superficial thinking, however, disregards all the consequences that result from employment status for physicianscomplete domination of every physicians medical career and lifestyle.
Employment relieves worry about paying off educational debts and adds stability and security to lifestyles. In exchange for that, every highly trained and skilled physician soon discovers far more career restrictions that commonly handicap top physicians who desire to expand their skills and control their career destiny.
Such controlled restrictions on physicians often lead to dumping employment, which throws them back into the startup position all private practice physicians face right out of residency.
Employment escapes the need for physician business education and knowledge. Self-employment requires itit is now all on you unless failing in private medical practice is acceptable.
The other 50% (about 500,000 physicians in practice today) of graduating medical students face the problems of starting practice without business education, knowledge, and money. It places every private practice physician at the same level as 5% of small commercial businesses that survive after five years (90% fail).
Those results all stem from the same causea lack of the business tools and knowledge that keep you out of financial quicksand.
Most medical students are brainwashed into believing that business education is not a requirement for the practice of medicine. But elite medical school scholars forget to tell you that all businesses are created to make money, which means the success of a business is totally dependent on enough income to maintain and support a medical practice, grow the business, and support family member obligations. So how does that work out for you?
Dont you hate being told the facts that your arrogance despises?
Everyone is aware that a person or physician cant do much in life or practice without money. Some physicians who have a good degree of intelligence and diligence see the value and benefits of business education. About 98% of physicians dont. Why is there such a difference?
With all the financial problems that happen to most private practice physicians, it seems logical that most of them likely recognize, I would probably be much better off in practice financially with a business education backup. So, why dont they storm the doors of those who teach business education to make their profession far more successful?
The fact is that no medical schools in the USA have ever provided a business education for medical students in the last century. So, physicians are pushed out of the education door of medical school and told to start small business practices without any knowledge of how to do it. At least we know that about 50% of medical doctors have creative skills enough to nudge a small practice into a business.
But, to stay in practice, grow the practice, maintain the practice, manage the business, and reach your highest potential in practice, retain the joy and satisfaction of your practice, increase your knowledge and skills on a regular basis, and eliminate 90% of the disabling problems we see today that are the result of business-ignorant physicians, it requires an academic business educationnot an MBA or its equivalent.
The secret is that a physician does not have to learn everything about business education, management, and marketing, to reach the top level of income. Learn one page of management and one or two marketing strategies, and you will have opened the door to your success in private medical practice. You are far more intelligent and competent than you think. Business is easier to learn and integrate into practice than you are led to believe.
Curtis G. Graham is a physician.
The Ministry of Local Government Permanent Secretary Ben Kumumanya, has cautioned districts planners against any political influence while executing their duties.
The ministry officials are currently traversing the country engaging district planners on embedding Parish Development Model in their respective strategic district plans.
However, some district planners have often cried out over what they call escalating political influence from political leaders at the different levels, which they say has negatively impacted their performance.
In a statement read for him by the Ministrys under Secretary Kalifani Ssewante during the ongoing training of over 90 district planners in Masaka City, Kumumanya urged them to stand firm on the implementation of approved activities within their strategic plans.
It is time they wake up because when you see when you look at some Local government, they dont follow guideline yet it is the role of the planners to emphasize that those guidelines are followed, Kalifani said.
By Paul Adude
With only a day to go to this years highly anticipated Imbalu Festival slated for Saturday at Mutoto Grounds in Mbale City, King Fiti Torgbui Adzonugaga Amenya V, the paramount chief of the Aflao Traditional Area and his Nigerian counterpart His Royal Majesty Dr. Suanu Timothy Yormaadam Baridam of Ogoni Traditional area have arrived in the country to grace the festivities.
Addressing journalists upon arrival at Entebbe International Airport early this morning, His Highness Adzonugaga said there is need to respect and preserve traditions which are the root of African culture.
We are here to celebrate a traditional event for the Bamasaba people, tradition is something we have to honor and celebrate, you cant ignore your traditions, ignore your roots, its just like a crop that has to be planted, cultivated and when it grows everybody has to take part in it, so tradition has to be respected and am so happy that the Government of Uganda acknowledged chieftaincy and kingship according them such a respect that we are seeing today he said.
His Highness Fiti, the current president of the forum of Kings and traditional leaders of Africa was escorted by his wife Fiti Queen Enyonam arrived aboard Ethiopian Airlines at 1:30am urged youth to embrace African tradition which flows within their blood as Africans.
The Bamasaba Prime Minister Charles Walimbwa Peke said the arrival of the kings is a beginning of a partnership in tradition and investment which presents a great opportunity for the Bamasaba and people from Western Africa.
Peter Christopher Werikhe the MP Bubulo West and representative to the Umkuka House said the Kings presence at the festival is of significance to understand how culture is carried out in Africa by exchanging visits of strengths between Uganda and Africa as a cultural group.
Health researchers have rolled out a campaign in teacher training institutions to provide early interventions that will help curb mental health-related illnesses in primary schools.
A group of researchers from Makerere University College of Health Sciences led by Dr. Janet Nakigudde says the intervention will be carried out in three core primary teacher teaching institutions using a mobile smartphone-based application code-Named M health M Well.
She notes that although the government banned corporal punishments in schools, they still exist due to mild mental health-related and stress among the teachers.
She explains that the mobile app will allow the users to track and monitor mental health symptoms while gaining access to education on how the pandemic affects strategies for coping with high anxiety levels.
We wanted to find out if our intervention can work both in rural setting as it would work in an urban setting, Nakigudde said.
Another three Kildare national schools are to receive hot meals from this September, adding to the 19 in the county that already qualify.
The latest three schools to avail are Clogharinka NS, Scoil na Naomh Uilig in Rickardstown, and Tir Mochan NS in Donadea.
Minister Martin Heydon, TD for Kildare South, has welcomed this and said: the news from Minister Heather Humphreys department was a great boost to pupils and their parents ahead of the next school term.
Across the country, over 345,000 primary school children are now eligible to receive hot school meals under the scheme which was set up in 2019.
The programme forms part of Ireland's commitment under the European Child Guarantee to give all children access to a range of key services, including healthcare and nutrition. It is a great scheme and is very beneficial for primary school children here in Kildare, said Deputy Heydon.
It was initially introduced by Fine Gael Minister Regina Doherty in 2019 as a pilot measure to 30 schools and now under Minister Heather Humphreys the scheme stretches to 2,200 primary schools across the country. This shows the commitment from my party to ensure every child has the best start in life.
And we wont stop. Todays announcement brings to 22 the number of schools availing of the scheme in Kildare, but I want more schools across Kildare to have the programme extended to them as soon as possible," Minister Heydon said.
Minister Humphreys said: My ambition now is to finish the job as part of this years Budget and ensure that every primary school in Ireland is providing hot school meals in 2025.
A Kildare musician is set to make his debut at Electric Picnic with a little help from Imelda May.
Tadhg Nolan will take to the Three Music stage at Electric Picnic as part of Three City Stages Collective.
Threes City Stages Collective made its debut at last years festival when a collection of Irish buskers came together to create a showstopping performance.
The Leixlip man will join several other performers to play at Irelands biggest festival, Electric Picnic, as the City Stages Collective where they will be joined by a full house band of experienced session musicians.
One of Irelands most loved and revered performers Imelda May, alongside Camden Recording Studios MD Cian Boylan, will be working with the acts to create the one-off showcase which will take place on Saturday 17 August at 2pm on the Three Music Stage. May will lend her experience of performing on some of the worlds biggest stages to guide and mentor the group of young musicians ahead of their Electric Picnic performance. The five were introduced to Imelda May at a recent live session in Windmill Lane Recording Studios where they worked on preparing the setlist for the festival.
L-R: Ava McKenchie, Jamie McIntyre, Imelda May, Tadhg Nolan, Brinda Irani, Dave Lofts. Three City Stages artists who will perform together on the Three Music Stage at Electric Picnic. The buskers, from all across Ireland, will work with Irish star Imelda May to prepare for the big festival show, taking from the city streets to the big stage at Ireland's biggest festival, Electric Picnic. Credit: Evan Doherty
Ahead of Electric Picnic, Imelda May: said Im excited to work with this group of talented young musicians to help prepare them for one of the biggest shows of their life. Threes City Stages has been an important platform to support and help the next generation of Irish talent progress to the next level of their careers. I have been lucky to have performed all over the world on different stages and nothing compares to the buzz of stepping onto a festival stage so I am delighted to be able to share my own experiences and knowledge and be a part of their journey. Threes City Stages initiative has been touring Ireland for over 18 months, providing a platform for Irelands busking talent who can be found performing daily across city streets around the country. Over 1,000 musicians have applied to City Stages with a select number having received opportunities to perform on stage at 3Olympia, Electric Picnic and on a European tour with Gavin James.
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Stuff reports:
ACT MP Karen Chhour has spoken to Stuffs ThreeNews about how she feels bullied at work.
The childrens minister broke down in an interview with Stuff on Wednesday, saying Parliament doesnt feel like a safe work environment for her.
Yes, Im in a position of being a minister but Im still a person, Im still a person. And I feel like Im getting that stripped away from me day by day in this place and Ive had enough, she said through tears.
Whilst I cant control what the public is saying about my personal traits about being Maori enough or not being the right kind of traumatised person hearing it from other MPs that shouldnt be allowed.
Media have reported that one of the people being vetted as a possible VP candidate for Kamala Harris is retired Admiral William McRaven.
Candidates not widely known to the public need to be able to have who they are summed up in a pithy sentence such as John Key being Raised in state house by solo mum and became rich.
For McRaven it is Organised and oversaw the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden.
He would add serious credibility and gravitas to the ticket in terms of foreign affairs and security. He also would be an excellent contrast to the isolationist politics for Trump and Vance.
His service includes:
Naval Special Warfare Unit One
assault team leader for Seal Team Six
platoon commander at Underwater Demolition Team 21/SEAL Team Four
squadron commander at Naval Special Warfare Development Group
executive officer of SEAL Team ONE
task unit commander for Gulf War
commanding officer Seal Team Three
commanding officer of Naval Special Force Group ONE
deputy commander of Task Force 714 in Iraq against Al Qaeda
Commander of United States Special Operations Command
Organised and oversaw Operation Neptune Spear
He is no armchair warrior!
However more likely she will go with a Governor.
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I made a short presentation yesterday and said the things you would expect from someone who researches the NZ system intently and has successful designed and provided models/curriculum to counter the mode of the schools that are failing.
Peter Boshier (Ombudsman) made a fair point that, as the Charter Schools will receive most of their funding from the taxpayer then they should be subject to OIA. I have always held the view that even when not legally required the Charter Schools should be fully transparent.
The rest of the anti-presentations were pretty much all appalling parroting of the NZEI and PPTA talking points.
1. The Charter Schools can have unqualified teachers. This was stated with bland illustrations like I would not like to fly in plane with an untrained pilot, I would not like butt implants from a dodgy surgeon, I would not like a beer poured by someone who hasnt done a block course, etc.
Charter Schools are allowed to employ people with skill sets and experiences not readily available and dont tell the unions but so are State schools and there are at last count 1,832 of these interlopers on a Limited Authority to Teach in State schools around the nation.
2. Charter Schools are not accountable. State schools are visited by the Education review Office approx. every three years. They hate incisive data about them being researched and published (I know as I do the researching and publishing). They are not required to set achievement goals. They refuse to have their attendance data published by school name.
Charter Schools will publish attendance by school, have academic and other goals set and report quarterly to the Minister and publicly.
3. Charter Schools are not needed as we already have a range of choices in New Zealand and/or these schools could always begin as Designated Character Schools. That the unions expose this is not only and attempt to delude the public but it anathema to their stated aim of standing with the poor and down trodden or with Maori and Pasifika.
Choice in New Zealand schooling is, currently, the realm of the wealthy. The top 30 schools in NZ for leavers qualifications are made up of: 22 Private Schools, 1 Designated Character School, 6 Integrated Schools, 1 State School. 22 of these schools are in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin. In the bottom 30 schools: Ten of these are geographically isolated and are schools that struggle to fully resource with well qualified staff. Others are schools in small provincial towns or schools in the poorer parts of cities. In many of these areas there is simply no other choice for those that stay and try and make their way there. Wealthy families in rural areas often send their children to boarding school or drive incredible distances twice a day.
4. That $153m (over 4 years) being spent on Charters would solve all problems in State Schools by providing 0.3 of a teacher aid per school.
Not much I can even say here as this assertion is so very stupid and also the worst kind of false dichotomy. Why has no one tried to say that the $70 million spent on maintenance in two years on the PMs plane could get schools closer to having a whole teacher aid each?
5. Apparently profit is appalling.
This of course ignores architects, builders, product providers, micro-soft, etc ad nauseum who make oodles of money from education. It should also be noted the funding for Charter Schooling is equal to comparable State schools and any providers who think that can make substantial profits can also squeeze blood from a stone.
6. There is no evidence of success.
This is actually humorous. Especially as in NZ we have MASSIVE evidence of State School failure.
There are many thousand examples of successful Charter Schools worldwide and the hordes of people trying to get their children into them in many cities get ignored by the unions as parents simply do not know best according to any unionist. To a unionist the State always knows best except during pay negotiations.
In terms of two schools established last time based on my model here is what an independent review stated:
[B]oth schools, the management and staff are actively involved in continuous development, and the delivery, of a unique programme of teaching and learning which is based on a comprehensive local curriculum that is aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum, and which provides for the personalised needs of priority learners many of whom have been failed by the current education system.
The one aspect the unions have stopped lying about is one they spouted in the last rounds that NZ has a world class education system.
Time for change for the students who are stuck in failing schools or not even enrolled (10,000) let alone attending. The charter schools will show how to do it.
Update: Paul Steven Rangitoto College Art Teacher and PPTA Exec just went full retard (see Tropic Thunder) and called Charter Schools apocalyptic. He clearly thinks that NZ having Charter Schools will cause the end of the world and Jesus to return.
Alwyn Poole
alwyn.poole@gmail.com
Innovative Education Consultants Ltd
Education 710+ Ltd
alwynpoole.substack.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/
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CNNs Sarah Dean and Jon Passantino contributed reporting. Khader Al-Zaanoun of WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, also contributed reporting.
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By Kim Hyun-bin
The ASEAN-Korea Centre has been hosting the 2024 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop from last Wednesday to Aug. 7 in Seoul and Vientiane, Laos. As the ASEAN chair for 2024, Laos is co-hosting the event, which has gathered 50 youths from 11 nations to explore solutions related to digitalization and climate change.
The workshop's theme is "Building an Inclusive and Resilient ASEAN-Korea Partnership: Listening to Youth Leadership on the Digitalization and Climate Change Cooperation."
It aims to cultivate understanding, stimulate dialogue, generate solutions and form connections among youth leaders from ASEAN and Korea. This initiative, ongoing since 2012, aligns its focus with pivotal global agendas, fostering a cooperative spirit between ASEAN countries and Korea.
Participants, comprising undergraduate and graduate students selected by ASEAN embassies in Korea and through an open application process, will engage in a diverse array of activities. From Wednesday to Saturday, the program hosted in partnership with Seoul National University Asia Center (SNUAC), transitioning to Laos with the Lao Youth Union (LYU) from Saturday to Aug. 7.
The workshop's agenda features lectures on sustainability, climate change, digitalization and the evolution of the ASEAN-Korea partnership. Attendees will explore innovative solutions through field visits to various institutions and collaborative team assignments. Cultural exchanges are also integral, fostering friendships and enhancing mutual understanding among participants.
Prominent figures, including ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Jae-shin were joined by high-ranking officials such as Laos Ambassador to Korea Songkane Luangmuninthone, Korean Ambassador to Laos Jung Yung-soo, Director General Chatoulong Bouasisavath of the ASEAN Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Laos and representatives from the LYU.
"This workshop is a pivotal platform for empowering young leaders to be abreast of regional and global challenges, voicing their concerns and proposing solutions to shape the policy decision-making process," Kim said. "Through collaboration and mutual understanding, we can build a stronger, more resilient, and more visionary future for the ASEAN-Korea partnership, especially with this year's emphasis on digitalization and climate change."
By Lee Yeon-woo
Woori Investment & Securities officially launched on Thursday. This comes 10 years after Woori Financial Group sold its securities firm to NongHyup Financial Group in 2014.
On Thursday, Woori Investment & Securities, formed through the merger of Woori Investment Bank and Korea Foss Securities, held an inauguration ceremony at its headquarters in Seoul. The mid-sized securities firm ranks 18th in the industry, with a capital base of around 1.1 trillion won ($806 million).
At the ceremony, the firm declared its goal to become a comprehensive securities firm strong in digital and investment banking (IB). It also showed its ambition to enter the top 10 in the industry within five years and become a mega IB within ten years.
"If all employees have a sense of ownership and fulfill their respective roles, Woori Investment & Securities, along with its staff, will achieve rapid growth together," Woori Investment & Securities CEO Nam Ki-cheon said. "Let's build one team founded on communication and harmony."
Nam also expressed his intention to drive Woori's strategy of "rebuilding the prestige of corporate finance" by providing comprehensive financial services tailored to the corporate life cycle.
Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong pledged full group-level support. He promised to accelerate infrastructure expansion, including capital enhancement, human resources deployment systems and securing an independent office building.
"With the launch of this firm, we have made significant progress in diversifying the group's portfolio and can now truly emerge as a comprehensive financial group," Yim said. "I hope all employees will fully dedicate themselves to making this a premier securities firm."
On May 3, Woori Financial Group announced its re-entry into the securities by signing a merger agreement between Woori Investment Bank and Korea Foss Securities. In July, the merger was approved by the respective companies' boards and the Financial Services Commission.
Woori Investment & Securities plans to leverage the platform competitiveness of Korea Foss Securities and corporate lending business of Woori Investment Bank as its initial foundation. It aims to expand its business areas into comprehensive finance, sales and trading, retail and risk management.
North Korea's ambassador to Tehran has attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian and delivered a "warm greeting" from leader Kim Jong-un, state media reported Thursday.
Ambassador Han Song-u attended the ceremony in Iran's capital Tuesday at the invitation of the Iranian government, according to the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper.
Pezeshkian expressed his gratitude and asked Han to relay his "greetings from the heart" to the North's leader, it added.
In 2013 and 2017, North Korea sent Kim Yong-nam, then president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, to the inauguration ceremony of then Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
After establishing diplomatic ties in 1973, Pyongyang and Tehran have maintained close ties while under international sanctions for their weapons programs. The two countries have been suspected of exchanging ballistic missile parts and technology, especially during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.
North Korea sent an economic delegation, led by its external economic relations minister, to Iran in April to attend a trade exhibition. It marked the first time in about five years that Pyongyang has sent a ranking official to Iran.
The North and Iran are known to be key providers of weapons to Russia for use in Moscow's war in Ukraine. (Yonhap)
North Korea wants to reopen nuclear talks with the United States if Donald Trump is re-elected as president and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy, a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea told Reuters.
The escape of Ri Il-gyu from Cuba made headlines globally last month. He was the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to the South since 2016.
In his first interview with international media, Ri said North Korea has set Russia, the U.S. and Japan as its top foreign policy priorities for this year and beyond.
While bolstering relations with Russia, Pyongyang was keen to reopen nuclear negotiations if Trump who engaged in both fiery brinkmanship and unprecedented diplomacy with North Korea during his previous term won re-election in November, Ri said.
Pyongyang's diplomats were mapping out a strategy for that scenario, with the goal of lifting of sanctions on its weapons programmes, removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and eliciting economic aid, said Ri.
His comments signal a potential about-face from the North's current stance after recent statements ditching the possibility of dialogue with the U.S. and warning of armed confrontation.
A summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Trump in Vietnam in 2019 collapsed over sanctions, for which Ri partly blamed Kim's decision to entrust "inexperienced, clueless" military commanders with nuclear diplomacy.
"Kim Jong-un doesn't know much about international relations and diplomacy, or how to make strategic judgment," he said.
"This time, the foreign ministry would definitely gain power and take charge, and it won't be so easy for Trump to tie North Korea's hands and feet again for four years without giving anything."
Russian ties, Japan aid
By forging closer ties with Russia, North Korea received help with its missile technology and economy. But a bigger benefit could be to block additional sanctions and undercut existing ones, Ri said, adding it would raise Pyongyang's bargaining power against Washington.
"The Russians got their own hands dirty by engaging in illicit transactions and, thanks to that, North Korea no longer needs to rely on the U.S. to lift sanctions, which essentially means they stripped the U.S. of one key bargaining chip," he said.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he wants to meet Kim, but the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s has long been a stumbling block.
According to Ri, Kim would seek to hold a summit with Japan, aiming to get economic assistance in return for concessions on the abductee issue.
Tokyo believes 17 of its citizens were abducted, five of whom returned to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang sees the issue as settled, having admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese nationals and saying those unaccounted for had either died or their whereabouts were unknown.
Ri said Kim would be willing to change that position, established under his father Kim Jong-il, in order to obtain economic support.
"They're saying that the issue was resolved, but that's just to boost negotiating power until he makes concessions at a summit," he said.
Resentment and defection
Having studied at a French school in Algeria and lived in Cuba alongside his late father, who was a state media reporter, Ri says he had imagined a life in South Korea since his childhood, but never acted to flee until he was bullied by a diplomatic colleague for refusing his demand for bribes.
Then the defining moment came when Pyongyang instantly refused his request to get medical treatment in Mexico, at his own expense, for a ruptured disc in his neck.
"That exploded all the resentment I had been harboring towards the regime," he said.
The COVID-19 lockdown deepened hardships at home and for those stationed overseas, with most telephone lines to Pyongyang cut to prevent any information from spreading in the outside world, Ri said.
Financial troubles have also forced North Korea to shut down a dozen of its 54 diplomatic missions.
"When they began reopening and summoning those working abroad in early 2023, they asked to bring everything from used toothbrushes to spoons back home, saying there's nothing there," he said.
Ri had also witnessed - and in his job tried to impede the launch of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba, a Cold War-era ally of North Korea.
"I had done everything to block that from happening, but establishing relations with Cuba was the best thing South Korea had done since last year," he said. "It was a model example of how the tides of history have turned, and where a normal civilization of the international community is headed." (Reuters)
North Korea may have sustained huge casualties from the latest downpour in border areas along the Amnok River, the unification ministry said Thursday, amid a news report that the number of those who died or went missing could reach as high as around 1,500.
North Korea's border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Phyongan were pummeled by heavy rains, with more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmlands left submerged, according to state media. But it did not disclose details about casualties.
The unification ministry said the North may have suffered "considerable" casualties though its material damage from the latest downpours appears to be smaller than those in 2010, 2016 and 2020.
Citing satellite imagery, the ministry said the recent torrential rain inundated Wihwa Island of Sinuiju, an island in the Amnok River, and Uiju County, as well as the city of Manpo in Jagang Province.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the flood-hit areas of Sinuiju and Uiju County on Sunday and guided an operation to rescue around 5,000 isolated residents. The North's state media said the military successfully saved some 4,200 people by mobilizing the Air Force's helicopters.
Kim called for "strictly punishing" those who neglected their duties at an emergency politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held in Sinuiju earlier this week. The North replaced the public security minister and chiefs of the WPK's provincial committees.
It marked the first time that North Korea has convened such an emergency politburo meeting solely on flood damage, according to the unification ministry.
A ministry official said the government is not considering providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea at the current stage. (Yonhap)
South Korea's Red Cross on Thursday proposed providing humanitarian aid to North Korea over damage from the recent downpours in its northern border areas along the Amnok River, as the North is believed to have sustained huge casualties.
The Korean Red Cross said it is willing to urgently support the North Korean flood victims with the necessary supplies from a humanitarian and fraternal perspective.
"We are ready to discuss the items, scale and method of support with our North Korean counterpart. We expect North Korea's swift response," it said.
North Korea's border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Pyongan were pummeled by heavy rains, with more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland left submerged, according to the North's state media.
The North did not disclose details about casualties, but the unification ministry said North Korea may have sustained "considerable" casualties amid a news report that the number of those who died or went missing probably exceeded around 1,000.
The latest aid proposal came despite heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's continued provocative acts and its increased animosity toward South Korea.
The government has said it is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea regardless of the political and security situation on the peninsula.
But it remains uncertain whether North Korea would accept the aid proposal. (Yonhap)
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa in Seoul on Thursday and discussed bilateral relations and future cooperation, Han's office said.
The meeting took place as the top Thai diplomat paid a courtesy call on Han while on his visit to South Korea this week.
In Thursday's meeting, Han expressed hope that South Korea and Thailand will further deepen their economic cooperation in areas like clean energy and smart infrastructure, the prime minister's office said.
Calling Thailand one of South Korea's longtime friendly nations that sent its troops to fight in the 1950-53 Korean War even before forging formal diplomatic relations, Han asked for its support in sending a clear and united message to North Korea against its nuclear threats and military provocations.
In response, Sangiampongsa said his country considers relations with South Korea "very important," adding that "robust people-to-people exchanges have been the foundation for the two countries' friendly partnership."
Sangiampongsa is expected to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, on Friday. (Yonhap)
South Korea expresses "deep concern" over the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East and urges all parties to exercise restraint and seek diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
"Our government expresses deep concern over the recent sharp escalation of tensions in the Middle East," ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a commentary.
"We strongly urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint and hope that diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions, including ceasefire and negotiations on the release of hostages, will continue without interruption," he said.
Tensions have heightened in the already devastated region in the wake of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of the Hamas militant group who had been leading the negotiations on pausing the conflict with Israel.
His death has dampened the prospects for the negotiations on ending the war, as Iran has claimed Israel's responsibility for the killing and threatened to retaliate.
Fears of a wider regional clash have also gripped the Middle East following Saturday's rocket attack on a town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children. Israel has accused Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of being behind the attack. (Yonhap)
KCTU officials call for abolition of govt permit system for non-Korean laborers
By Jung Min-ho
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the countrys two major umbrella labor unions with more than 1 million members, is moving to embrace undocumented foreigners here in an attempt to broaden its coalition, labor officials said.
During an event hosted by the KCTU at its headquarters in Seoul on July 25, senior officials discussed ways to strengthen the rights of all migrant workers. They said there should be a fundamental reform of the government system of handling the migrant laborers who work here without valid visas. Abolishing the deportation policy targeting such people and giving them the right to stay were among the ideas suggested and advocated at the event.
When asked later whether the ideas represent the KCTUs official stance, a spokesman told The Korea Times that they do.
KCTU members basically share the thought that no one should be discriminated against on any ground such as nationality and race, the spokesman said.
Their position is in stark contrast to that of the government, which has reinforced efforts to clamp down on foreigners working here illegally during President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration.
As Korea seeks to attract foreign workers to address its declining workforce, it faces potential side effects, such as an increase in undocumented laborers. This issue may soon become a source of political and social contention.
The spokesmans comment comes after Udaya Rai, head of a migrant workers union under the KCTU, said at the KCTU event that the government should abandon its policy of cracking down on undocumented migrant workers.
The policy of cracking down on and deporting undocumented immigrants begets countless of human rights violations and stirs up anxiety and fear, he said. Exploitation and violence are justified just because they are undocumented. There should be a policy to give them the right to stay in order to end this vicious circle.
Song Min-young, an executive director at the organizing and planning division of the Korean Metal Workers Union under the KCTU, also echoed the sentiment, stating that there is an obvious necessity to fight the governments policy focused chiefly on finding and deporting undocumented migrant workers.
According to data from the Ministry of Justice, more than 421,000 foreign residents, or 16.9 percent of the total, were confirmed in 2023 to have been staying in Korea unlawfully.
This is all part of the KCTUs broader efforts to expand partnerships with all foreign workers, who have become an essential component of many industrial sectors in Korea.
The KCTU spokesman said one of its long-term goals is to replace the Employment Permit System (EPS) through which the government recruits workers from 17 partner countries with a more worker-friendly alternative. The current system is considered to be significantly more favorable to employers.
Whether the KCTUs fresh partnership with migrant workers would turn into a stable coalition, however, is an open question. Some officials admitted that Korean members have been divided over how to and even whether to cooperate with migrant workers, particularly the undocumented ones. In recent years, there have been protests urging companies to hire Korean laborers instead of migrant workers in construction and some other industries where the interests of the two groups clash.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Employment and Labor refused to comment on the KCTUs move to embrace undocumented migrant workers, saying the Ministry of Justice is responsible for such matters. But on the issue regarding the EPS, he said, despite its flaws, the system has greatly benefited both Korean employers and migrant workers.
The system may not be perfect. But over the 20 years, it has received favorable evaluations from international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), he said.
Meanwhile, the justice ministry vowed to maintain its crackdown on undocumented foreign residents in its continued effort to maintain order.
"The immigration policy is about inviting foreign workers for necessary fields and preventing illegal stays effectively, so we'll maintain order by keeping our stance to reduce undocumented stays," its representative said in a statement sent to The Korea Times.
"However, as to the possibility of giving the right to stay to foreigners who are staying here illegally, the ministry agrees that there is a necessity to review it amid a decline in the working-age population and worker shortages. Yet this issue requires a careful approach, considering factors such as job competition with Korean workers, fairness with foreigners who are staying lawfully and public sentiment in regard to such legislation."
South Korea and the United States staged their first-ever table-top exercise on integrating Seoul's advanced conventional forces with Washington's nuclear capabilities this week to better respond to North Korea's nuclear threats, officials said Thursday.
The three-day discussion-based exercise, named "Iron Mace 24," concluded earlier in the day at the U.S. Forces Korea's (USFK) Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, after the allies signed a joint guidelines document on nuclear deterrence last month.
In line with the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) guidelines on the allies' nuclear deterrence posture, the two sides have pushed to integrate their capabilities to better implement extended deterrence, according to South Korean officials.
Extended deterrence refers to the U.S. commitment to defending an ally with the full-range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons. South Korea has relied on the U.S. security commitment as it does not have nuclear weapons.
During the exercise, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) officials and their U.S. counterparts discussed ways to strengthen extended deterrence, such as joint planning procedures for South Korean conventional capabilities to support U.S. strategic operations in a contingency, the JCS said.
The participants, which also included South Korean officials involved in the creation of a new "strategic command" and USFK personnel, agreed to continue conducting the table-top exercise to achieve the alliance's deterrence goals, it said.
The table-top exercise took place as Pyongyang has been doubling down on its ballistic missile programs in what has been seen as a move to bolster its nuclear delivery capabilities.
In response to such threats, the allies launched the NCG last year in line with the Washington Declaration that President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden issued during their summit in April 2023 to strengthen the credibility of America's extended deterrence. (Yonhap)
A man attended a court hearing on Thursday regarding an arrest warrant sought for him on charges of slashing a random neighbor to death with a Japanese longsword, saying he doesn't feel sorry for the victim.
The 37-year-old assailant, surnamed Baek, brandished a 75-centimeter Japanese blade at the entrance of his apartment complex in Seoul's northern Eunpyeong district shortly before midnight Monday and killed a 43-year-old male neighbor, who was smoking outdoors at the time.
The victim was slashed on the back and shoulder and was taken to a hospital but died from his wounds shortly afterward.
On Thursday, Baek attended a hearing at the Seoul Western District Court regarding an arrest warrant requested for him. He said he is not sorry for the victim and spoke incoherently about the reasons for his attack.
"No," Baek responded when a reporter asked if he feels any remorse for the victim.
After the court hearing ended, Baek told reporters again: "The motive for my crime was to punish (first lady) Kim Keon Hee and Chinese spies who sold out the country." He also claimed that they had plotted to wage war on the Korean Peninsula with China.
He incoherently claimed that the reason he took the sword with him on the night of the crime was to punish what he described as Chinese spies.
Baek said he had nothing to say to the victim and his bereaved family and claimed that he was in his "right mind" and was not in a state of mental vulnerability at the time.
During the initial police investigation, he claimed that he believed the victim was a spy shadowing him.
Police found that the two did not know each other personally, except for having come across one another while walking in the neighborhood.
Police officers had reportedly been dispatched to address Baek in the past due to abnormal behavior, such as yelling or swearing to himself in his apartment complex.
Police are looking into whether he had a history of mental illness and the exact circumstances of the crime. (Yonhap)
Single-gender schools make shift for recruitment, but resistance remains over academic concerns, tradition
By Jung Da-hyun
As Korea grapples with a declining population due to a low birthrate, a growing number of single-gender schools are transitioning to co-education.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), seven gender-segregated schools in the city have applied to switch to co-education as of July. The number has more than doubled compared to last year when only three schools sought conversion.
On average, SMOE received about two conversion inquiries annually, but this year the number has surged to approximately 10 inquiries.
In Seoul, 90 out of 390 middle schools, or 23 percent, and 151 out of 318 high schools, or 47.5 percent, are gender-segregated, admitting only boys or girls.
A significant number of applications to switch to co-education come from girls' schools. Last year, all three schools that applied for the change Hwagok Nursing and Business High School, Yumkwang Meditech High School and Mirim Girls' Information Science High School were girls' schools.
This trend continues this year, with a higher proportion of girls' schools seeking to welcome male students, according to an official at the SMOE.
In areas with a high concentration of single-gender schools, nearby coeducational institutions are experiencing severe gender imbalances. Additionally, students may face significant inconvenience if their gender-specific school is located far from home.
"With a noticeable drop in the school-age population, schools are increasingly focused on attracting more students by addressing convenience and accessibility issues," an SMOE official told The Korea Times.
The primary driver behind the shift to mixed-gender education is the challenge of student recruitment.
According to an annual report by the education agency, the number of elementary, middle and high school students in Seoul has declined to 768,948 in 2024, a 2 percent decrease from 784,871 the previous year and an 8.5 percent drop from 849,933 in 2020.
Furthermore, Statistics Korea also projects a decline in the school-age population, which is expected to fall from 7.5 million in 2022 to 4.12 million by 2040.
The education agency has also noted a growing trend of not only single-gender schools but also specialized schools applying to transition to mixed-gender general schools.
These specialized institutions are adapting by creating new departments that appeal to a broader range of students, aiming to attract both boys and girls.
Aligned with this, SMOE announced plans in April this year to increase financial support for schools making the switch.
Previously, financial support for schools transitioning to co-education was limited to facility improvements. However, schools undergoing the transition will now receive 600 million won in funding over three years. Additionally, 90 million won will be allocated over the same period to cover labor costs for hiring school counselors.
Lingering resistance
Despite the trend toward mixed-gender education, some parents and students still prefer single-sex schools due to perceived advantages in academic performance and life management.
A mother of a high school student in Mok-dong, a highly competitive educational area in Seoul, reflected, "We chose a girls' high school for my child to provide a focused and comfortable environment for studying without boys."
Opposition to mixed-gender classes is relatively strong at boys' schools, where parents often argue that integrating girls could negatively impact their academic performance.
Additionally, many of these institutions, with their long histories and strong alumni networks, face significant resistance from former students who are wary of changing established traditions.
Dorim High School in Incheon was met with significant opposition when it attempted to transition recently, with 90 percent of teachers, 76 percent of parents and 64 percent of students opposing the change.
Concerns centered around potential declines in academic performance and disruptions to the existing support systems for students.
Park Nam-gi, a professor at Gwangju National University of Education, pointed out that while neo-Confucian values once dictated separate education for boys and girls, the current emphasis on social and communication skills necessitates more integrated learning environments.
"Schools are also struggling with declining student numbers," Park said.
He explained that while private schools with a deep-rooted founding philosophy may resist change, many girls' schools are now shifting toward gender inclusion as those original purposes become less relevant.
"Many girls' schools were originally founded to address specific educational needs for female students. However, as gender-based discrimination in education has diminished, these institutions are increasingly opting to transition to co-education."
The unification ministry on Thursday unveiled a monument near the inter-Korean border to commemorate North Korean defectors who lost their lives during escapes from the repressive regime.
The monument was set up at the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, a border city just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, the ministry said in a release.
The move came as the government has designated July 14 as the official day for North Korean defectors. The date marks the enactment of the law on protecting North Korean defectors and supporting their settlement, which came into effect on this date in 1997.
The ministry held a ceremony to unveil the monument, bringing together Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho; Tae Yong-ho, the Secretary-General for the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council; and around 60 North Korean defectors.
The monument has the inscription, "To commemorate the 'yearning' and 'courage' of North Korean defectors for freedom, and to honor those who sacrificed their lives during their defection journey."
In a speech, Minister Kim emphasized the significance of the establishment of North Korean defectors' day and the monument, expressing his commitment to spreading their noble courage.
"The government will offer comprehensive protection and set up a systemic support program for the stable settlement of North Korean defectors in a bid to respond to the courage shown by those who risked their lives to flee North Korea," Kim said.
The ministry said it will spur efforts to make similar monuments be established around the world. To this end, the government has registered the design of the monument with copyrighted public records so that people can easily use it.
South Korea has a longstanding policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who wish to live in the South. Currently, South Korea is home to more than 34,000 North Korean defectors. The flow of defectors continues amid chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression in North Korea.
In the first half of the year, the number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea reached 105, slightly up from 99 the previous year. (Yonhap)
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the House of Sharing, a shelter for the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, to return donations back to donors, citing the disparity in the purpose of the donations and their actual use.
The Supreme Court handed down the ruling in a lawsuit filed by a donor to seek the return of money donated to the organization, saying the plaintiff would not have agreed to donate the money had he known how donations were used.
The top court said the plaintiff could have perceived that the donations were used in activities related to helping the comfort women, and that it would continue to do so in the present and future.
"The fact that most of the donations were reserved in the corporate (account) to put up a particular building does not correspond to the purpose of the donation declared by the defendant," the court said, ordering the donation contract be nullified.
The plaintiff, surnamed Lee, donated 50,000 won ($36.58) monthly to the House of Sharing bank account designed to accept donations for the wartime sexual slavery victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," on 31 occasions from Aug. 2017 to April 2020.
Lee, along with other donors, filed a suit seeking the return of some 90 million won following revelations that the donations were not used for the victims in May 2020.
It was later found that the massive donations were reserved in the corporate accounts for use in a senior sanatorium business later, and that the comfort women were left to pay for their medical expenses on their own.
The ruling came after both the district court and appellate court dismissed the suit, leaving just one donor to file an appeal to the top court. (Yonhap)
Kim Moon-soo rebukes criticism from opposition lawmakers about his anti-labor stance
By Lee Hyo-jin
Labor Minister nominee Kim Moon-soo is expected to face a tough National Assembly confirmation hearing as opposition lawmakers vow to grill him over his perceived far-right stance and past remarks aimed at undermining the labor movement here, according to political analysts, Thursday.
Kim, 72, currently chairs the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council and is the former governor of Gyeonggi Province. The presidential office announced his nomination for the minister post on Wednesday.
The nomination quickly drew heavy criticism from opposition lawmakers and labor groups, who viewed it as a significant misstep in President Yoon Suk Yeol's Cabinet appointments. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) argued that a confirmation hearing for Kim would be "a waste of time."
"At this point, discussing President Yoon's talent pool is pointless because it seems non-existent," said DPK member Rep. Yun Kun-young in a radio interview, Thursday.
"Kim isnt really the chair of the Economic, Social and Labor Council. Hes more like a conservative YouTuber. Im genuinely curious how anyone could consider appointing him as the minister of employment and labor," the lawmaker said.
The date for Kim's confirmation hearing has not yet been set, but according to related laws, the Assembly must complete the confirmation process for a minister nominee within 20 days of the government's submission of a nomination proposal.
Before entering politics in his mid-40s, Kim was a prominent figure in the labor movement during the 1970s and 1980s. He then served two full terms and one partial term as a conservative lawmaker from 1996 until 2006, followed by two terms as the governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2006 to 2014.
Kim, who has been a vocal critic of the previous liberal Moon Jae-in administration, has caused controversies for his blunt and often harsh rhetoric.
In 2019, during a debate hosted by the conservative party, he stated that Moon "deserves to be executed by a firing squad" for his perceived mishandling of state affairs. In a 2022 parliamentary session, the former governor accused Moon of adhering to "Kim Il-sung's ideology," alleging that the former president had praised the late scholar and activist Shin Young-bok. Shin was imprisoned by the previous dictatorship for his support of left-wing ideologies.
Kim is also known to be a loyalist of former President Park Geun-hye who was impeached in 2017 over corruption scandals. The former governor participated in the so-called Taegeukgi protests, or flag-waving rallies held by ultra-right-wing groups, calling for the nullification of Park's impeachment, several times in 2017.
Labor groups have also expressed strong opposition to Kim's nomination, condemning what they view as his "anti-labor stance."
During a months-long strike by HiteJinro truck drivers in the summer of 2022, Kim stated on his YouTube channel that "bombarding the laborers with damage claims is the most effective remedy for illegal strikes."
As chair of the presidential Economic, Social, and Labor Council in March 2023, Kim posted a photo on Facebook from his visit to Gwangju Global Motors a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and the Gwangju Metropolitan Government along with a comment that read: "I was touched. There is no labor union here."
In response to mounting criticism, Kim dismissed concerns about his suitability for the ministerial role.
"My wife, my brother-in-law, and I all come from labor union backgrounds. But it is right that laborers take responsibility for damages caused by illegal strikes," the nominee told reporters, Thursday.
He also defended his controversial remarks about Moon, stating, "Former President Moon said he respects late Shin Young-bok as a scholar, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for violating the National Security Law. The historical records are all there."
Kim emphasized that if appointed, he would offer candid advice to the president on labor policies.
Political analyst Park Sang-byeong suggested that Kim might have been the "best available candidate" within the Yoon administration's limited talent pool.
"Kim may be seen as an outdated politician, but from the presidents perspective, he is a suitable candidate to spearhead labor reforms," Park told The Korea Times.
The president has promised major overhauls in the medical, education and labor sectors. In the labor sector, Yoon vowed to dismantle the "cartels" within unions that have vested interests and to create a more flexible employment market.
"Given Kims background and his previous remarks about liberal lawmakers, there is a high likelihood that he will be rejected in the confirmation hearing. However, the president is expected to proceed with Kims appointment without parliamentary approval, as he has done in the past," Park said.
Since taking office in May 2022, Yoon has failed to secure the Assembly's endorsement 25 times for his ministerial-level appointments, with the most recent one being Lee Jin-sook, who became head of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) on Wednesday.
Ruling party launches filibuster in response to opposition's cash handout bill
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Opposition parties proposed an impeachment motion against Lee Jin-sook, the new chief of the state broadcasting watchdog, Thursday, accusing her of abusing her power in the appointment of board members at major public broadcasters.
The motion was introduced the day after Lee was appointed as the head of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). On that day, she held a meeting to appoint six new board members at the Foundation for Broadcast Culture, which is a shareholder of broadcaster MBC, and to recommend seven board members at the broadcaster KBS.
This is the fourth time the opposition bloc introduced an impeachment motion against the head or acting head of the KCC since late November. The previous three officials resigned before the National Assembly could vote on their respective impeachment motions.
The opposition claims that the appointments of Lee and her three predecessors, whom they view as pro-Yoon Suk Yeol figures, were intended to increase government influence over public broadcasters. However, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) argues that the impeachment attempts lack merit and blames the opposition for the dysfunction at the KCC due to the repeated appointments and resignations of its heads.
Six opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), filed the motion, citing the KCC's unfair two-person decision-making structure. On Wednesday, only two out of the five required standing commissioners Lee and KCC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae-gyu attended the meeting to appoint the board members for the broadcasters.
They also alleged that Lee, a former reporter and executive at MBC, suppressed the companys labor union and misused a corporate credit card when she served as the president of the broadcaster's Daejeon station.
President Yoon, who once preached fairness, common sense, freedom and democracy, is threatening press freedom and democracy. Just two years after taking office, Yoon is pursuing a path to dictatorship. The end of an attempt to take over public broadcasters and deceive the public will be the beginning of Yoons downfall, DPK floor leader Park Chan-dae said during the partys general meeting.
Under the National Assembly Act, an impeachment motion must be put to a secret vote between 24 and 72 hours after the motion is reported to a plenary session.
Speaking to reporters on her way to work, Thursday, Lee said, Lets take time and see what happens. Later in the day, Yoon conferred a letter of appointment to her at the presidential office.
Contrary to the opposition's claim that Lee's right-wing views could harm public broadcasters, the PPP argues that the KCC chief is responsible for normalizing the public broadcasting and media industry.
PPP Chairman Han Dong-hoon said the DPK should halt frequent calls for impeachment.
Impeachment is a heavy word that is considered too taboo to say out loud, Han said during a party meeting. The DPK has turned an important constitutional system into a political tool.
PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho criticized the DPKs impeachment proposals as being habitual.
The Assembly is expected to vote on Lee's impeachment as early as Friday. If the motion is passed, Lee will be suspended from duty until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling. The procedure is forecast to take at least four months, resulting in a long-term halt in the KCC's functions.
Along with filing the impeachment motion, the DPK reintroduced a cash handout bill aimed at providing between 250,000 won ($181) and 350,000 won to the entire population to stimulate spending. In response, the PPP has begun staging a filibuster to block the bill's passage.
A filibuster involves lawmakers holding the floor for extended periods as a way to prevent a vote or delay the passage of a bill. Under the National Assembly Act, a filibuster can be stopped after 24 hours if at least three-fifths or 180 lawmakers consent to it.
The DPK also plans to table a controversial pro-labor bill, better known as the yellow envelope bill, again as early as Friday. The yellow envelope bill seeks to restrict companies from pursuing damage claims related to legitimate labor union disputes.
Environment ministry to talk with affected residents as dam construction faces opposition
By Jung Da-hyun
The government's recent announcement of constructing 14 new dams across the country, in the name of better managing water resources amid ongoing climate change, has attracted mix reactions from residents, environmental groups and other stakeholders, according to analysts, Thursday.
In regions frequently affected by torrential rains, the plan was welcomed, while significant concerns arose in areas that have previously experienced negative impacts from dam construction.
Some local governments have criticized the lack of prior consultation with the higher levels of government regarding the dam projects. Environment groups nationwide are also voicing strong opposition.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Environment unveiled plans for 14 new or renovated dam candidate sites aimed at addressing flood and drought control, as well as ensuring stable water supply. The initiative includes the construction of nine new dams and the renovation of five existing ones.
According to the ministry, the urgency of these projects is heightened by the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, attributed to climate change. This marks the first nation-led construction of new dams since 2010.
Read More Gov't to construct flood control dams in 14 regions nationwide
In response to the opposition from environmental groups and some local governments, the environment ministry said Thursday that it will soon hold briefing sessions with local officials and residents to discuss the proposed climate response dams. The ministry aims to gather residents' opinions and address their concerns.
The 14 candidate sites for the dams include nine locations proposed by local governments and five selected by the ministry.
The ministry acknowledged that the candidate sites selected at the government level were disclosed on short notice due to security concerns.
An environment ministry official said, "We plan to hold a briefing session for residents as soon as possible to explain the government's position thoroughly and to carefully listen to their concerns before seeking solutions."
In addition, addressing environmental groups' claims that better levee management could be a sufficient method for flood control, the ministry pointed out that existing levee systems were designed based on a 100-year flood frequency model using historical data. It noted that recent flood patterns have surpassed these projections, underscoring the need for the proposed dam projects.
Mixed reactions to dam plans
Areas that frequently suffer from flooding during torrential rains welcomed the government's dam initiative.
Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province, which experienced flooding of 14 houses and 27 hectares of agricultural land during this summer's torrential rains, has expressed optimism that a new dam would help mitigate future damage.
Similarly, local governments in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, which have long advocated for dam construction, are supportive of the new plans.
Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang Province, which suffered significant flooding from Typhoon Rusa in 2002 and Typhoon Maemi in 2003, emphasized the necessity of constructing a dam to prevent future disasters.
In addition, Geoje and Uiryeong County in South Gyeongsang Province, along with Ulsan, share the view that dam redevelopment is essential for protecting against severe flooding.
Samcheok in Gangwon Province is even requesting the government to increase the size of the dam. The government said it would build a 1 million cubic meter water-only dam in the region, but it insists that a large-scale multipurpose dam is needed to prevent flood damage.
However, the proposed dam construction is facing backlash in some areas, primarily due to concerns about the displacement of residents in the affected districts.
In Danyang County, North Chungcheong Province, there is apprehension that the community may face a repeat of the displacement experienced during the construction of the Chungju Dam some 40 years ago, which forced 12,000 residents to relocate in 1985.
Yanggu County in Gangwon Province, slated to host the largest of the 14 proposed dams, is also experiencing strong opposition.
Residents recall the significant hardships they endured following the construction of the Soyang River Dam in 1973, which led to the submergence of their land. They say they cannot endure another round of sacrifice, as approximately 100,000 square meters of farmland and homes are expected to be submerged if the new dam is built.
Environmental groups are voicing strong opposition to the government's dam construction plan, questioning its effectiveness and warning of potential ecological damage.
The groups nationwide held a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Thursday, criticizing the government and arguing that dams are not a viable solution to the climate crisis. They contend that such projects could actually exacerbate climate and ecological issues.
K-Ricebelt educational clips uploaded to YouTube
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has released a series of educational videos to promote rice harvesting in Africa using high-yielding seeds developed jointly by the governments of Korea and African nations, according to the ministry Thursday.
The five videos promote the K-Ricebelt Project, an official development assistance (ODA) project by the ministry supporting African countries struggling with food insecurity. The animation-style videos in Korean, English and French feature a fictional three-member agrarian household in Africa following steps proposed by the project to safely farm rice crops.
The videos comprise different episodes, including an introduction to the K-Ricebelt Project and a backdrop of the project's use of ISRIZ-7, a rice seed crossbred between African seeds and Korea's Tongil rice seeds. The first of the five episodes also shows how Tongil rice was behind Korea's Saemaul Undong, a political initiative launched by former Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1970 to modernize rural economies.
The other clips focus on technical information on rice farming. The second episode shows how to prepare a seedbed and a seeding box. The next episode demonstrates transplanting the seeds and how to water and fertilize them. The fourth episode shows how to get rid of weeds, pests and malformed seedlings and control diseases. The last one is about when and how to reap the crops and manage them afterward.
The ministry posted the videos on its website and YouTube channel on Thursday. The Korea Rural Community Corp. also posted the same videos on its website and YouTube channel.
Chong Hai-ryon, director general of the ministry's international cooperation bureau, said that agricultural experts with rich experience and knowledge in rice cultivation in Africa participated in making the videos.
"I hope that these educational videos will make a great contribution to the development of a rice value chain for the countries participating in the K-Ricebelt Project," Chong said.
"I also hope the videos will help the countries overcome the food crises they face."
The videos came as the ODA initiative's trial version last year led to the production of some 2,300 tons of high-yielding rice seeds in six African nations.
This year, the project has seen its full-fledged launch with a goal to produce 3,000 tons of rice seeds across Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Cameroon, Uganda and Kenya. The ministry earlier this year also introduced a new supply chain to share jointly developed rice seeds with the countries.
The K-Ricebelt Project aims to establish seed cultivation complexes in each of the seven African countries by 2027. The ministry anticipates that the project's expansion will produce 10,000 tons of high-yielding rice seeds annually and secure a stable food supply for around 30 million people in the continent.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok vowed Thursday to seek measures to extend additional financial support for vendors and customers hit by payment delays on e-commerce platforms of TMON and WeMakePrice, if needed.
Choi made the remarks during a macroeconomic meeting, also pledging to swiftly devise policy measures and regulations to prevent such incidents from recurring.
The two online marketplaces owned by the Singapore-based Qoo10 filed for corporate rehabilitation in the Seoul Bankruptcy Court earlier this week after failing to make payments to sellers using their platforms since early July.
The government estimates the overdue payments to come to 210 billion won ($153.4 million), and the amount is feared to grow further.
In an effort to support small merchants and customers, the financial authorities said they will provide low-interest loans and extend repayments of existing loans and on tax payments worth at least 560 billion won combined.
"The government will swiftly implement supportive measures and seek ways of extending additional liquidity support if necessary to minimize damage to customers and sellers," Choi said.
It will also review the electronic transaction act and other relevant regulations, and present supplementary rules to prevent a recurrence of such cases.
The financial authorities have faced criticism for their failure to properly oversee the platforms and the industry as Qoo10's aggressive merger deals have reportedly caused the liquidity crisis.
Qoo10 founder and chief Ku Young-bae has said that Qoo10 had "temporarily" used TMON and WeMakePrice's capital in its acquisition of Wish, a global e-commerce platform, in February, but that the money has since been returned.
On Thursday, prosecutors raided the headquarters of TMON and WeMakePrice, Ku's residence and other relevant locations to secure evidence for a probe into the incident. (Yonhap)
Steelmakers divided over anti-dumping complaints
By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO and Dongkuk Steel have remained cautious about joining Hyundai Steel in filing anti-dumping complaints with the government against the import of low-priced thick steel plates from China, according to industry officials, Thursday.
The only three Korean producers of thick steel plates are divided over curbing the sale of products from China, due to their different stances on Beijings possible economic retaliation against their trading with Chinese partners.
Amid the deteriorating profitability caused mainly by the oversupply of Chinese products, Hyundai Steel recently filed an anti-dumping complaint with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, claiming that the import of low-priced thick steel plates from China has hurt its business.
Thick steel plates, which refer to steel plates over 6 millimeters in thicknesses, are used mainly in shipbuilding and construction. Chinese steelmakers have been dumping thick steel plates and other products in the wake of a construction industry slowdown there.
According to the Korea International Trade Association, Chinas export of steel products during the first four months of this year rose 15.1 percent year-on-year, while the export price fell 19.4 percent.
In particular, data compiled by the Korea Iron & Steel Association showed that the volume of Koreas imports of thick steel plates from China reached 1.12 million tons last year, up 73 percent year-on-year. The import volume also amounted to 688,000 tons during the first half of this year, a 12 percent increase from a year earlier.
POSCO, however, distanced itself from Hyundai Steel, saying that the Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary acted alone in filing the anti-dumping complaint.
If the government asks us to give an opinion about this issue, we will answer in accordance with our strategies and situations, a POSCO Holdings official said during a conference call on second-quarter earnings.
POSCO has more operations and sales volume in China than Hyundai Steel, which has focused more on exports to the U.S. and other countries.
If China retaliates, POSCO will suffer more than Hyundai Steel, a steelmaking industry insider said.
Dongkuk Steel said it remains neutral about the anti-dumping complaint. The companys business is also closely related to China, as it produces cold-rolled steel by processing both Korean and Chinese hot-rolled steel to cut costs.
Under the current law, the government cannot launch an investigation into an alleged case of dumping, if POSCO and Dongkuk Steel disagree with the complaint filed by Hyundai Steel.
Shops and public transport across Venezuela shut down on Wednesday as tensions over a fiercely disputed presidential election and rumors of more opposition arrests and sporadic violence kept many people home.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has ruled since 2013, was proclaimed the winner of the Sunday vote by the electoral council. But the opposition says its tally of about 90 percent of votes shows that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, received more than double the support attracted by Maduro.
As the dispute entered its third day amid growing calls for more transparency, the government insisted it had not produced comprehensive vote totals at the polling station level because of a system hack originating in North Macedonia for the extended delay, without providing any evidence to back that up.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, one of the few independent monitors allowed to observe the election, announced in a statement late Tuesday that the election "cannot be considered democratic." It said the process was slanted in favor of Maduro and flawed throughout, describing the electoral authority's failure to publish disaggregated results a "serious breach."
In remarks broadcast on state television on Wednesday, Maduro said he rejected all threats, including the possibility of new U.S. sanctions.
Maduro pledged that his socialist party is ready to release all of its vote tallies, and said he has asked the top court to force opposition parties to do the same.
Early Monday morning, Venezuela's electoral authority which the opposition accuses of being in Maduro's pocket announced that he won another term in office, attracting 51 percent of the vote, with a seven-point margin over Gonzalez.
But shortly afterward, Venezuela's main opposition alliance launched a website with detailed ballot box-level vote counts covering tallies from the vast majority of the country's 30,000 voting machines, including scans of vote tally print-outs from the machines.
As of late afternoon on Wednesday, the website showed opposition hopeful Gonzalez with 67 percent of the vote versus 30 percent for Maduro, representing nearly 82 percent of polling station data.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of each individual tally. Independent exit polls, however, showed a similar margin of victory for Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, international pressure on the government has mounted to release full results, including from regional heavyweights the United States and Brazil.
"Our patience and that of the international community is running out," said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.
The dispute has led to deadly, widespread protests that Maduro and his allies in the military have denounced as an attempted coup. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it had received reports of 20 deaths in post-election demonstrations.
Some Maduro allies, like Congress head Jorge Rodriguez, have said that Gonzalez and high-profile opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should be arrested for their role in the anti-government protests, including in longtime ruling party strongholds.
'They killed my son'
The arrests of Gonzalez or Machado would mark a major escalation, following the detentions of two other opposition leaders this week, including the head of the Voluntad Popular party Freddy Superlano. His arrest was captured on video that showed him being shoved into the back of an unmarked car surrounded by armed security agents.
Reuters witnesses in several cities have seen clashes between security forces and opposition protesters, as well as attacks on protesters by ruling party-allied motorcycle riders.
"I alert the world about a cruel and repressive escalation by the regime," Machado wrote on X on Wednesday.
The popular former lawmaker was barred by a government-allied court from running for president, but still managed to galvanize support behind Gonzalez, a retired diplomat, at mass rallies in the lead-up to the vote.
Two opposition sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters that the opposition is focused on pressuring the government to release all vote tallies.
Though previous waves of anti-government protests over the past decade led to international condemnations and hundreds of deaths, they all failed to dislodge Maduro.
Many anxious residents retreated to their homes as many shops on eerily quiet streets were closed. But new violent flashpoints emerged.
Late on Tuesday, Luis Eduardo Roberto, 19, died in the city of Upata, capital of Bolivar state, following an opposition protest.
The cause of death was a bullet to the head, according to the death certificate. Witnesses including the teen's father, Ricardo Roberto, said motorcycle vigilantes shot at him.
"I'm outraged," he said. "They killed my son."
Bolivar Governor Angel Marcano, a Maduro ally, confirmed the death, but blamed rock-throwing protesters for it.
In the capital Caracas some stores were open, though lines were long, and there was increased military presence around the presidential palace.
Bus drivers in Maracay, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Caracas, were not working out of fear of more violence. (Reuters)
Iran held funeral processions on Thursday for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh after he was killed in a strike in Tehran blamed on Israel.
The Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead the prayers for Haniyeh ahead of his burial in Doha, having earlier threatened a "harsh punishment" for his killing.
In the capital's city center, mourning crowds carrying posters of Haniyeh and Palestinian flags gathered at Tehran University on Thursday morning, according to an AFP correspondent.
Haniyeh's death was announced the day before by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who said he and his bodyguard were killed in a strike on their accommodation in the Iranian capital at 2:00 am on Wednesday.
It came just hours after Israel targeted and killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a retaliatory strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut, sending fears of a wider regional war soaring.
Israel has declined to comment on the Tehran strike.
Khamenei, who has the final say in Iran's political affairs, said after Haniyeh's death that it was "our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The Hamas leader was in Tehran for the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
The Iranian president said Wednesday that "the Zionists (Israel) will soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act."
Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuk also vowed retaliation, saying: "The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered."
The international community, however, called for de-escalation and a focus on securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the strikes in Tehran and Beirut represented a "dangerous escalation."
All efforts, he said, should be "leading to a ceasefire" in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said Wednesday that a ceasefire in Gaza was still the "imperative," with White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later adding that the twin killings "don't help" regional tensions.
Truce talks threatened
From the early hours of Wednesday, crowds took to the streets in cities across Iran and the Middle East to condemn Haniyeh's killing, with hundreds gathering in Tehran's Palestine Square to chant "Death to Israel, Death to America."
The Islamic republic has not yet published any information on the exact location of the strike.
While Iran has blamed the attack on its arch-foe, Israel has declined to comment on Haniyeh's death. It did, however, claim the killing of Shukr, whom it blamed for a deadly weekend rocket strike on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The killings come with regional tensions already inflamed by the war in Gaza, a conflict that has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
One of those groups, Yemen's Huthi rebels, "declared three days of mourning" for Haniyeh, with political leader Mahdi al-Mashat expressing "condolences to the Palestinian people and Hamas" over his killing, according to the group's Saba news agency.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, meanwhile, spoke by phone after the attack with his acting Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri to discuss "the latest developments in the region."
The U.N. Security Council also convened an emergency meeting Wednesday at Iran's request to discuss the strike, with Tehran's envoy Amir Saeid Iravani urging members to take "immediate action to ensure accountability for these violations of international law."
Hamas has for months been indirectly negotiating a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange deal with Israel, with Egypt, Qatar and the United States facilitating the talks.
Analysts told AFP that Haniyeh was a moderating influence within the Islamist group, and that while he would be replaced, the dynamics within Hamas could change.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack that ignited war in Gaza.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,445 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The prime minister of key ceasefire broker Qatar said Haniyeh's killing had thrown the whole mediation process into doubt.
"How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a post on social media site X. (AFP)
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Fatima Latifova
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan (MFA) congratulated Switzerland on the occasion of its national holiday, Azernews reports, citing the post shared by ministry on its official "X" account.
"Heartfelt congratulations to Switzerland and its people on their National Day!" the post reads.
China is making efforts to step up its fiscal policy support and ensure the implementation of established policies, aiming to consolidate its economic recovery as rising external headwinds weigh on growth.
The country will strengthen its fiscal policy to ensure the economy sustains its recovery momentum, Lin Zechang, an official of the Ministry of Finance, said Wednesday.
The remarks came in the wake of Chinese policymakers stressing the need for efforts to achieve the country's annual growth target of around 5 percent for this year, while also acknowledging the challenges facing the economy. These challenges include more adverse impacts from changes in the external environment, a lack of domestic demand, risks in major sectors, and difficulties in the transition from old growth drivers to new ones.
"The task of promoting reform, development and stability in the second half of the year is arduous," according to an official statement released Tuesday after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. It called for efforts to respond proactively to challenges.
The Chinese economy expanded 5 percent year on year in the first half of 2024. In the second quarter, its economic growth moderated to 4.7 percent.
"This year, we have appropriately enhanced the intensity of our proactive fiscal policy, and improved its quality and effectiveness," Lin said, noting that this work has provided solid support for the economy.
To add steam to economic recovery on the fiscal front, Lin said the country will leverage the multiplier effect of government spending.
He said the country will issue ultra-long special treasury bonds in a timely manner and make good use of the funds raised from the sales of those bonds. It will also accelerate the issuance of special-purpose local government bonds and expedite the use of funds raised from their sales.
The issuance of local government bonds totaled 1.9 trillion yuan (about 266 billion U.S. dollars) by July 26. China will expand the range of areas to which the funds can be channeled to include sectors such as new infrastructure types and new industries, Lin said.
The country will also strengthen its efforts to promote equipment upgrades and trade-ins of consumer goods, he added.
China will allocate 300 billion yuan raised from ultra-long special treasury bonds to support equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in programs.
Lin said that the country will enhance fiscal support for sectors related to the people's well-being, and ensure the implementation of fiscal and tax policies in areas such as employment, education, elderly care and health care.
China has also pledged greater support for the integrated advancement of technological and industrial innovation, breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, and the development of strategic emerging industries and industries of the future.
Zarazeno ct 01.08.2024 04:08:27 Vydano Zdroj scio.gov.cn Original english.scio.gov.cn/pressroom/2024-08/01/content_117343426.htm lang en
A Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday that the authority of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758, which fully reflects and confirms the one-China principle, is "unchallengeable."
Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a media question regarding the resolution.
Chen said UNGA Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, restored the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations. It made clear that there is only one seat for China in the United Nations, precluding "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan."
The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations, Chen added.
Zarazeno ct 01.08.2024 05:08:00 Vydano Zdroj scio.gov.cn Original english.scio.gov.cn/pressroom/2024-08/01/content_117343595.htm lang en
TIMES ARCHITECTURE CRITIC
It is a well-honed cage. Twin Towers Correctional Facility is designed to be a surreal hybrid of modern technology and enlightenment ideals. After sitting empty for more than a year because of budget problems, the jail will finally open Jan. 25, it was announced Friday. When it does, the squat, medieval stone form--speckled with slot windows--will hum inside with state-of-the-art electronics and surveillance. The facility will accommodate 4,100 inmates who are either awaiting trial or serving up to one-year sentences.
But the gleaming new jail is also a cool refinement of a 200-year-old utopian scheme by British philosopher Jeremy Bentham for a model prison that could recast criminals as productive social beings. Built at a cost of $373 million, the facility at 450 Bauchet St.--at the eastern edge of Chinatown--owes a debt to Benthams notorious experiment in social engineering.
In Benthams 18th century scheme, the prisoner was controlled by the knowledge that he could never escape the scrutiny of an ever-present gaze. Benthams proposed Panopticon, which was never built, was a hollow drum with a single watchtower at its center, its cells set along its outer shell so that each inmate could be constantly watched. The premise of his plan was that architecture could affect human behavior; his design was meant to bring about complete moral reform.
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The design for Twin Towers, however, follows the form, but without the utopian hopefulness. Designed by the architectural firm Helmuth Obata Kassabaum, Twin Towers aims for maximum control at minimum cost. As such, it is not only an eerie symbol of our increased desire to control social boundaries, it is also a testament to our diminished moral expectations.
It is a seemingly insurmountable, if narrow, task: According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in 167 U.S. residents was incarcerated at the end of 1995, nearly double the 1985 figure. The pressure to find space for these hidden populations has led to new needs--as density within the jail system spirals upward, officials have asked architects to devise ever-more efficient designs to achieve greater security and still accommodate tighter operating budgets.
Benthams plan marked the birth of the modern prison system. Although the original plan was discarded in favor of a notorious system of penal colonies, several variants were built in England during the 19th century. An alternate version was built in 1829 in the United States, at Pennsylvanias Eastern State Penitentiary, where cells were arranged like spokes emanating from a central guard post, sacrificing total observation to segregate prisoners from one another.
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Twin Towers is a radical refinement of those aged structures. Its hygienically dubbed inmate reception center is a passage to a world carefully removed from our own. Inmates enter through a quarter-mile-long twisting corridor, where they are unchained, numbered, bathed, tested and categorized. Tiny isolation cells are set along the corridor to contain panicked prisoners until they passively accept their fate. Architecture reinforces the idea that here authority is everything.
Inside, there is an almost dumb primitive order. Both towers--each a squat seven stories--are shaped like two interlocking hexagons, with an elevated central observation booth at the core of each. Cells are arranged in two neat stories along the hexagons outer walls, creating six distinct modules, and each of those, in turn, is divided into six pods with 36 inmates--the jails principal unit. Cells are the legal minimum--72 square feet for two inmates.
The new Panopticon is broken down into identical segments, each pod and module repeated over and over again like an image endlessly reflected in two opposed mirrors: They are color-coded because even guards familiar with the jail could get lost. Thus, the inmate will be locked within a maze-like trap that denies the existence of an outside world even as it also denies individuality. As is true of any typical jail system, there is perhaps no greater punishment than the denial of a mans existence.
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But technology here takes that vision to a new extreme. As in Benthams plan, a single guard has enormous control; here, at each level, one guard perched behind a glass screen can lock and unlock cells, listen to conversations and videotape disturbances. Chained inmates are transported unaccompanied in stainless-steel elevators from floor to floor observed and overheard from above. In case of danger, the jails computerized central control center can seal shut access doors on any floor.
To ensure maximum efficiency, movement of inmates is reduced to a minimum; meals are wheeled in to the inmates on stainless steel carts; there is no large centralized cafeteria. Church services are broadcast by video over an internal channel, so there is no need to take inmates to a chapel. Visitors--unguarded--are brought up to the appropriate module. An inmate, in fact, leaves his floor for only three reasons: court, sickness or release.
The evolution of the internment system has reduced the system of control to its purest form, cunningly tightening the grip of authority. Control is now supremely economical. That rigid order also means less demand on staff--a key goal of todays overburdened penal system.
But Benthams design was part of a broader moral plan. His enlightened cage was set against the shadowy medieval dungeon and its multiple torture instruments. In the Panopticon, the sense of being watched would, in theory, be so total that the jailer would be unnecessary: Prisoners would reform themselves under an Orwellian gaze. At Philadelphias Eastern State Penitentiary, each inmate was left in contemplative solitude--a perversion of the monastic ideal. In each, the professed goal was naively utopian. As Bentham put it: Morals reformed, health preserved, industry invigorated . . . all by a simple idea in architecture.
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Now, the penal system seems to have given up hope of reform and is myopically focused on order. At Twin Towers there are, however, rewards for inmates who behave. In a perverse play on Dantes rising rings of hell, inmates who follow the rules closely will be moved to better pods on the floors above, earning select privileges: increased outdoor and TV time and other recreational activities. It is a blunt game where good prisoners are segregated in stages from bad.
So far, Puritan visions of reform have failed--our jails have remained inhuman spaces of violence and rat cage-like overcrowding. With pointed irony, the long-abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania was recently transformed into a screaming dark dungeon oozing uncontrolled madness in the film Twelve Monkeys--an image that played on middle-class fears of a lurking violent chaos.
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Of course, the underlying mission of Twin Towers is not to eradicate evil, but rather to make it invisible--to shut out what we fear and hate. And that desire may be a rejection of our own civilization. As Orwell put it: I never went into a jail without feeling (most visitors to jails feel the same) that my place was on the other side of the bars. The barriers between the guilty and the innocent are not as rigidly drawn as we would like them to be.
But even the limited ideals of Twin Towers are already mired in frustration and futility: It can accommodate only a minuscule percentage of the overflow prison population. Once opened, it will be asked to do the impossible--to function as part of a system that wants to remove violence not only from our neighborhoods, but from our consciousness. In its small way, Twin Towers is no more realistically utopian than Benthams Panopticon, but its design is born of frustration, with little room for humanity.
On 31 July the Organization of American States (OAS) failed to pass a resolution demanding the publication of detailed voting data from Venezuelas 28 July presidential election , which has been widely slammed as fraudulent.
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Patients and some 65,000 employees of Jefferson and Lehigh Valley Health Network will benefit from their merger completed Thursday, officials from the two nonprofits said.
Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township hosted a celebration complete with retro pop music blasting from speakers, a mascot and assurances of improved health-care and education opportunities resulting from the transaction.
Creating one of the nations top-15 largest nonprofit health systems, the merger makes the legacy company of Jefferson the parent of Lehigh Valley Health Network, its Lehigh Valley Hospital locations and other holdings.
Patricia D. Wellenbach, chairwoman of the Jefferson Board of Trustees, called the merger transformative.
We are coming together so we can bring more specialists, locations, expertise, research and education to our patients and communities, said Dr. Brian Nester, who was the Lehigh Valley CEO and now serves as executive vice president/chief operating officer of the Jefferson enterprise with oversight of the legacy Lehigh Valley Health Network. We are coming together to give our colleagues more opportunity for growth, professional development and a fulfilling career in health care. Today marks the start of what is the most exciting period I believe in the history of health care in this region.
Jefferson mascot Phil the Ram helps mark the merger with Lehigh Valley Health Network Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com
Phil the Ram closed out Thursdays announcement with fist pumps from the stage and photos with the health network officials whod gathered together with lawmakers, other guests employees. Thomas Jefferson University, which with Jefferson Health makes up Jefferson, unveiled the mascot in March as part of the Philadelphia-based organizations bicentennial. Paired with Lehigh Valley Healths 125-year history, the two entities bring a combined 325 years of experience to broadening care and education opportunities to a region spanning the Lehigh Valley, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.
Its no secret why were here, said Dr. Joseph G. Cacchione, the Jefferson CEO.
Today we have the great honor of announcing that our transaction is complete and that we officially are a combined organization this afternoon, he said to applause, continuing later: We are now collectively in the top-15-sized health systems in the country and one of only a handful that has a national doctoral research university, a health plan that will help us to continue to support our communities and in particular the most vulnerable parts of our communities. Together we will offer the communities that we serve the highest quality of care through over 700 sites of care, 32 hospital campuses and countless associates.
Cacchione said there is no dollar figure to share associated with the transaction.
Really its our commitment to the capital, and that the money raised here from a philanthropic standpoint stays in the Lehigh Valley and stays in the communities that theyre raised in, he told lehighvalleylive.com in an interview after Thursdays announcement.
Dr. Joseph G. Cacchione, Jefferson CEO, shakes hands with Dr. Brian Nester, executive vice president/chief operating officer of the Jefferson enterprise with oversight of the legacy Lehigh Valley Health Network, during a celebration of the nonprofits merger Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com
Rebranding is in the works and expected to take six months to a year, but Cacchione said to expect Lehigh Valley Health to remain attached to the legacy network.
Were working through the branding right now, but right now itll be Lehigh Valley Health Proudly Part of Jefferson Health, he said.
Lehigh Valley Health Network had been looking for a partner for some 15 years, officials said Thursday, and its culture aligned with that of Jefferson. The two entities signed a letter of intent to combine last December, and leadership from both systems announced in May the deal would come to fruition this summer.
Through our combined organizations those we are privileged to serve will have access to a broader network of nationally ranked specialists who will collaborate and continue to bring groundbreaking technology and treatments close to home, more expansive clinical trials resulting in better treatments for all the communities we serve, more insurance options providing greater choice for our communities and more education options, Cacchione said.
Patients can expect to continue using their health insurance plans and doctors, Cacchione clarified.
Whatever you have today, if you have insurance today with Highmark or Capital Blue, Aetna, its all the same he said. You call your doctor the same, your appointments are the same. You will see no difference. And so your doctor will stay the same.
So you will not feel as a patient much different. You may see some signs that might change over time, but what youre going to have access to is now a combined entity, you will have access to the most advanced care anywhere in the Lehigh Valley.
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland has appealed Laois County Councils planning decision allowing two security gates on land near the N80 in Laois.
Joe and Will Carmody had been granted conditional retention planning permission for the two security gates at existing entrances to land at Clonreher, Portlaoise on June 24 last.
The planning approval was granted subject to three conditions.
In the plans lodged with Laois County Council, the planner noted applicants said gates were installed to restrict traffic and access onto the land.
Before the gates were erected the entrances were open to public access. There were historic issues with trespass and anti-social behaviour. The local authority also requested the owners on a number of occasions to secure and close the entrances to ensure that illegal dumping could not take place on the property.
As a result of this action, the security gates have prevented unauthorised public access and the volume of traffic entering and leaving the site has been significantly reduced. The risk of dumping has been prevented, the planner noted in a report.
The applicants informed the council that the entrances will only be used occasionally and predominately by a security company to access the site once a week at most which has significantly reduced the traffic using the entrances to enter the land.
Both gates are located along the N80 with one being just over five metres from the road.
TII had raised concerns over the gates with the council. It said they are at variance with official policy in relation to control of development on/affecting national roads, as outlined in the DoECLG Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2012).
They said the gates could adversely affect the operation and safety of the national road network.
TII has now appealed Laois County Councils decision to An Bord Pleanala. The planning authority is expected to make a decision on the case in November.
A Laois water safety expert has issued a warning to water activity enthusiasts ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.
The Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland are among the organisations appealing for people to take care when they are on or near the water.
The public are encouraged to Always Think Water Safety by planning and preparing before venturing on or near the water.
Water Safety Lead for the RNLI, Linda-Gene Byrne, who is from Killenard, said, "Paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing are increasingly popular, especially during the summer months and the RNLI has seen an increase in our lifeboats going to the aid of people involved in these activities over the past few years.
"Its important to be aware of some simple safety advice which could save your life. If you are heading out on the water, we would always advise you to wear a suitable personal flotation device for your activity. If you are on a paddleboard, choose the right releasable leash for the location you are paddling.
"Always check the weather forecast and tide times as this can affect your paddling and always tell someone where youre going and when youll be back. Keep a means of calling for help attached to you in a waterproof pouch or close to hand so that in an emergency you can call 999 / 112 and ask for the Coast Guard."
Her comments come following "an increase in the number of incidents this summer involving paddleboarders, persons becoming stranded due to incoming tides, recreational boater groundings and several diving incidents".
That's according to the Operations Manager with the Irish Coast Guard, Kevin Whitney.
He said, "Remember to have the right equipment for the activity you are about to undertake such as a correctly fitting Personal Flotation Device (PFD), and to let someone ashore know where you are going and when you will return, and most importantly, to have a means to call for help such as a marine VHF Radio, fully charged mobile phone, or Personal Locator Beacon.
"Ensure you plan for the event you are about to undertake and are familiar with all your safety equipment before venturing out. This will allow you to use this equipment in a hurry should the need arise.
"If participating in any diving activities, then it is highly recommended that you file a float plan with someone ashore or the Coast Guard so that emergency services are aware of your location and can assist if need be."
Water Safety Irelands CEO, Joanne Walsh, said, "Rip currents can be a danger at Irelands beaches and swimmers are advised to know what to do if they encounter one. Rip currents are not always easy to spot and the best way to remain safe is to swim between the red and yellow flags at lifeguarded waterways.
"Lifeguards are trained to identify when and where it is safe to swim. If you do get caught in a rip current, remain calm and dont try to swim against the current. Instead, swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline and then back towards shore. If still in difficulty, call for help and float on your back like a starfish."
If you see somebody in trouble on the water or along the coast or think that they are in trouble, use Marine VHF Ch 16 or dial 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.
People First Credit Union paid a touching heartfelt tribute to the late Phil Coughlan on social media.
The former director and chairperson of the People First Credit Union passed away on Tuesday.
Mrs Coughlan(Nee Dundon) of Curragha, Mountrath Road, Portlaoise died peacefully at home in the company of her family.
Her friends and former colleagues at the Credit Union posted tribute.
It is with heavy hearts that we learnt of the news of the passing of Phil Coughlan, a remarkable woman and an exemplary volunteer who dedicated so much of her life to Portlaoise Credit Union and People First Credit Union.
Phil's contributions and unwavering commitment have left an indelible mark on our community, and we want to take a moment to honour her memory. For many years, Phil served as a dedicated director and Chairperson of our credit union, leading with compassion, integrity, and unwavering commitment. Her role was not just a position she held, but a calling she embraced wholeheartedly.
Through her voluntary service, she demonstrated the true essence of giving back, always striving to make a difference in the lives of others. In a time when the world around us was rapidly changing, Phil was a steady beacon of stability and kindness. She witnessed and guided our credit union through significant transformations, always with a vision of bettering our community. Her gentle soul and absolute grace were evident in every interaction, and she had a unique ability to make everyone feel valued and heard. Phil was a lady in every sense of the word. She approached each day with a kind word and a warm smile, touching the hearts of everyone she met. Her generosity of spirit and her dedication to service are legacies that will continue to inspire us all.
Phil was a true family woman, always getting her loved ones involved with the credit union by helping them open accounts and teaching them the importance of being part of the community. In this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with her family. We share in your sorrow and extend our deepest sympathies. Phil's memory will forever be a cherished part of our credit union family, and her impact will be felt for generations to come.
Rest in peace, Phil. Your legacy of kindness, dedication, and community spirit will live on in our hearts and in the work we do each day. Thank you for everything you have given us. You will be remembered always. Your colleagues, friends and community at People First Credit Union Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam, they wrote.
Mrs Coughlan is predeceased by her husband John. Dearly loved mother to David, Stephanie (Lewis), Pauline (Mahony) , and Bernadette (Rigney). Cherished grandmother to Lianne, Meghan, Daniel, Aron, Luke, and Harry. Great-grandmother to Cormac, Billy, Faye and Carl. Deeply regretted by her loving family. Sister Gemma McCrohan, brothers Tone Dundon, and Ben Dundon, sisters in law Betty and Geraldine, daughter in law Sharon, sons in law Liam, Des and Shawn, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
Reposing at Keegans Funeral Home on Thursday evening from 6 pm until 8 pm. With rosary at 8pm. Removal from her residence on Friday morning at 11.30am to arrive at SS Peter and Paul's Church for 12 noon mass. Interment will follow in SS Peter and Paul's Cemetery, Portlaoise.
A 19 year-old Irish man has been arrested in Portugal in connection with the stabbing of four Dutch tourists in the resort of Albufeira, police on the Algarve have confirmed.
The incident took place in the early hours of Monday morning after the Irish youngsters apparently became annoyed at the noise the Dutch group, said to number nine, were making. All those involved were aged between 17 and 21.
A friend of the Dutch youths told Dutch media that three had been stabbed in the stomach and one in the leg.
READ MORE - Who are Ireland's medal contenders? A look ahead as Team Ireland battles on at the Paris Olympics
In a statement, Portuguese police said four male victims "were assaulted with a bladed weapon, suffering life-threatening injuries which led to them being hospitalised".
The violence flared around 4.30am on Monday in Albufeiras Praia da Oura area.
The Dutch embassy in Portugal is reportedly offering help to the holidaymakers and their families, but has said nothing about the injuries.
Portuguese police say the young Irish man who has been arrested faces charges of attempted murder. The statement did not mention any injuries among the Irish group, although initial reports had speculated that there were casualties on both sides.
The police have not said if they expect to make further arrests.
According to local website Portugal News, the authorities in Albufeira have just launched a campaign to try and improve the behaviour of tourists in the towns public spaces and have beefed up policing.
An IT consultant killed in a helicopter crash in Co Westmeath will be deeply missed, his family said.
Father-of-two Niall Crosby, of Glenageary, Dublin, and one other man, who is understood to be from eastern Europe, died in the crash close to the village of Killucan at about 3.30pm on Tuesday.
In a statement, Mr Crosbys family said the 46-year-old will be deeply missed by his wife Jillian, two sons and wider family circle, friends and work colleagues.
Describing an extraordinarily difficult 24 hours, they said they wanted to particularly thank the first responders at the crash site as well as all those who had reached out with condolences and the local communities of Killucan and Raharney for their thoughts and prayers.
Mr Crosby was originally from Straffan, Co. Kildare.
He worked for much of his life in London in the IT sector but had recently returned with his family to Ireland to raise their children in Dublin.
We also have a special thought for Nialls co-pilot and his family at this tragic time, they added.
The AAIU would be grateful for the assistance of members of the public who may have photos or video of the helicopter flying in the vicinity of Killucan on the afternoon of Tuesday 30th June. They can either email info@aaiu.ie or contact the AAIU at 01-6041292. AAIU IRELAND (@aaiu_ireland) July 31, 2024
The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) is investigating the crash.
In a post on the social media platform X, they issued an appeal for any footage from the incident.
The AAIU would be grateful for the assistance of members of the public who may have photos or video of the helicopter flying in the vicinity of Killucan on the afternoon of Tuesday 30th June. They can either email info@aaiu.ie or contact the AAIU at 01-6041292, they said.
Medal success for rowers from across the island of Ireland will inspire the next generation of Olympians, supporters have said.
The medal rush for rowers at the Paris Olympics continued on Thursday as Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch won bronze for Ireland in the final of the mens double sculls at the Stade Nautique at Vaires sur Marnes.
Barely half an hour later Rebecca Shorten from Belfast was part of Team GBs womens four which won silver, narrowly missing out on gold to the Netherlands.
It followed the gold medal success on Wednesday of Hannah Scott from Coleraine in the quadruple sculls.
Supporters gathered at Queens University Belfasts Boat Club to cheer on the Irish and GB boats in the latest finals.
Doyle, originally from Banbridge in Co Down, started rowing while studying at Queens.
Clara McClements, the Ladies Captain at the club, said the success of Doyle and Lynch had inspired all those in the club.
She said: I started rowing when I joined uni in 2021. I had never rowed before. It was a completely new sport for me and I love it.
Phil came through the same programme I did. Phil started to row at Queens.
It is great to see you can start this sport later in life and become very good at it very quickly if you approach it with the right attitude.
Hopefully it will bring new people into the sport which is what we want to do.
Reacting to the medal success of the Irish boat, she said: I would say Phil is ecstatic at the minute, hes been really working hard for years, it is not an easy thing while you are doing a degree but Phil has shown it is definitely worth it in the end.
Amazing things can be achieved with hard work.
She added: The Olympics is such an amazing thing and to see that someone who has gone through the same programme, the same university that I went to can go on and achieve amazing things gives you something to work towards. It is inspiring for everyone.
Several rowers from Methodist College in Belfast, where Shorten learnt the sport, were at the boat club to cheer on the womens fours.
Felix OGorman, 15, said nobody was disappointed that the team had been narrowly pipped to the gold medal.
He said: We are all so proud.
In here it was crazy, everyone was screaming and shouting for Rebecca. The Dutch had it, the British had it, it was just so close.
Even when they crossed the line no-one knew what the result was.
Rebecca has come to the boat house a few times, we talk about her quite often, we all know her name. Everyone looks up to her. She is a really lovely person.
It comes down to skill and determination, she has stuck to the sport and she is so talented.
He added: I think she inspires all of us. We all want to be Olympians.
Seeing results like this, knowing you can be there someday, is motivation to get up in the morning (to train).
A huge crowd gathered in Lynchs home town of Clonmel in Co Tipperary to watch the rowers claim the bronze medals.
Hundreds of people huddled under a huge screen in Kickham Plaza and erupted into cheers when the local rower came in third place.
Political leaders on both sides of the border hailed the latest medal successes.
Another medal for Ireland! Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle bring home a hard fought Bronze! A tough race but really proud of the lads who rowed their hearts out and were still gaining with more in the tank at the finish. Thank you Philip and Daire, youve made Ireland proud. pic.twitter.com/BI1KjA0DIm Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) August 1, 2024
Taoiseach Simon Harris said on social media: Another medal for Ireland! Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle bring home a hard fought Bronze!
A tough race but really proud of the lads who rowed their hearts out and were still gaining with more in the tank at the finish.
Thank you Philip and Daire, youve made Ireland proud.
Writing on X, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: Battling and brilliant bronze medal for Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch. Historic and superb achievement.
A great tribute to the strength and depth of Irish rowing.
More medals for our amazing NI athletes in Paris!! It is a Silver for Rebecca and a Bronze for Philip! Fantastic! pic.twitter.com/v1MZEgZKAJ Emma Little-Pengelly BL (@little_pengelly) August 1, 2024
Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill said the medals keep on coming for our athletes at the Olympics.
She added: Huge congratulations to Rebecca Shortern on winning silver, and Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch on winning bronze!
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: More medals for our amazing NI athletes in Paris!!
It is a silver for Rebecca and a Bronze for Philip! Fantastic!
A unique celebration of a century of weddings in a Laois church takes place this September.
St Paul's Church of Ireland in Mountmellick has been the beautiful and meaningful venue for 57 weddings over the past 100 years, and a group of its parishoners are about to hold a special social fundraiser to honour that romantic history.
The whole town is getting involved, with a special showing of a wedding movie, and the reenactment of a wedding complete with lunch and fun speeches.
At least 16 wedding dresses have been carefully packed and shipped to the organising committee for display, from as far away as Australia, with more welcomed.
The exhibition will include the register of marriages for all the weddings in St Paul's for the last 100 years, as well as photographs, invites and all the memorabilia carefully kept by couples since their special day.
It will be a celebration of changing fashions, of love, of the church and of ecumenical community spirit.
A photo of a wedding at St Paul's Church.
Philip and Janet Stewart from The Rock are part of the committee, with Philip's own mother Hilda Stewart's (nee Whitford) dress among the exhibits.
"So far my mum's dress is the oldest, they got married on August 6, 1952. She kept it in a box and dyed it green to wear it again," he said.
Mrytle Gloster (nee Stewart) modelling her late mother Hilda's wedding dress.
"One dress came from Australia, including the wedding menu and the bridesmaid's dress, from a 1997 wedding.
"It has struck a chord with people. We are delighted with the response. Some couples have split up but even they were willing and said it was a happy time for them," Philip told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
The first wedding of the past century was in 1819, between Margaret Thompson and John Haggard.
Mountmellick Drama group is going to act out a reenacted ecumenical wedding service, including a vintage car and a reception in The Hare's Corner, where the speeches promise to be comedic. The restaurant only seats 60 so the 'invitation' tickets will be like gold dust.
The committee also invite the public to vote for their favorite wedding hymn and why, and the six winning songs will be sung at the closing service. Entries may be emailed by August 23 to chooseyourhymn@gmail.com
Weddings have become rarer in St Paul's as the size of the congregation falls. The last one was in 2017.
"Hopefully there will be more weddings there in the future," Philip Stewart said.
The exhibition will take place from September 5 to 8 in St Paul's Church, Mountmellick.
On Wednesday, September 4 there will be a wedding themed classic movie in The Balcony Cinema in Mountmellick Community Arts Centre at 7.30pm with tea/coffee and wine reception.
The Brides of St Paul's exhibition will be launched on Thursday, September 5 at 7pm in the church with special guest Bishop Pat Storey, followed by a cheese and wine reception in the old school hall. The exhibition then opens to the public on Friday in the church, from 11am to 8pm, and again on Saturday, 11am to 4pm.
The wedding reenactment takes place on Saturday evening at 6pm in St Paul's Church. The bride will travel from O'Connell Square in a 1912 Vauxhall car, followed by a fun filled reception in The Hare's Corner restaurant at the MDA, Irishtown.
On Sunday the exhibition open for a final day from 10am to 4pm. There will be an exhibition of vintage cars and old wedding cars in O'Connell Square from 11am to 4pm.
It will close with a service of praise and thanksgiving, led by organist Antoinette Dickinson and her choir and the choir of Mountmellick Group of Parishes. A final reception will follow of tea, coffee and refreshments in the old school hall.
Any donations and ticket money raised will go towards maintenance of the 18th century church.
"We want it to unite all religions, all religious leaders will be invited. It will just be a lovely occasion to get together. Janet came up with the idea after we were at a school reunion and people met who hadn't seen each other since they left school. It is in aid of St Paul's so if it makes money, it makes money, but it's a social community thing," he said.
The committee are still in need of some traditional style mannequins to model the gowns, email rector@mountmellickgroupofparishes.ie or phone Janet Stewart on 086 2737146
As the old Irish saying goes: "What is for you won't pass you!"
Awareness of alternative pathways to education and the world of work has grown significantly in recent years, as has its popularity.
While third-level degrees are certainly highly regarded, there is a shifting focus of employers toward traits such as adaptability, passion, critical thinking, and a willingness to learn in their talent acquisition.
EirGrid, the operator and developer of Irelands electricity grid, began the Earn and Learn programme in 2023, and one person who availed of it is Lorena Dalewska.
Lorena completed her Leaving Certificate at Luttrellstown Community College in Blanchardstown in 2021.
Originally from Poland, Lorena gained a place in Maynooth University following her exams, but found that the course was not for her.
She explained: "As a Sixth Year, I hadnt yet figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I thought about taking a gap year, but there was a huge push from my teachers and family to go to college and so I picked the first course that sounded manageable.
"I felt very unmotivated by the content of my degree; I knew it wasnt for me and I knew I wasnt going to finish it, so I dropped out."
Lorena added: "I always found that the traditional college route was not really for me, but I felt I wasnt given many other options."
Upon dropping out of Maynooth University, Lorena worked in a pharmacy as a healthcare advisor, but wanted to find something that would allow her to build a career and learn at the same time.
Lorena continued: "A friend of mine told me about the EirGrid Earn and Learn Programme soon after I had dropped out.
"While I had just recently left college, I hadnt entirely given up on third level education, and so the programme really appealed to me."
Now, nine months into the two-year Earn and Learn programme, Lorena is a Market Associate with the Operations team at EirGrid.
She is currently undertaking a Diploma with Griffith College and will begin a Part-Time Level 8 in Business Management in September.
According to EirGrid: "Lorena works to move Ireland towards a more renewable future. By 2030 the national electricity system must be developed to allow for 80 per cent of our electricity to come from renewable sources, as per Government climate targets."
Lorena also expressed how she wishes there were 'more programmes like this for people whose way of learning does not fit traditional university pathways.'
She elaborated: "I had very little knowledge of renewable energy and sustainability before joining EirGrid.
"The Earn and Learn Programme has allowed me to learn on the job, while also giving me financial independence and work life balance."
Lorena concluded: "I hope more programmes like this will come on stream and Id encourage students to investigate alternative programmes rather than only considering long term study."
Bord Bia has announced the details of the National Organic Awards 2024.
The Awards, held in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, celebrate the achievements of the increasing number of organic growers, producers, and manufacturers in the country.
Kildare-based organic producers are invited to submit entries into one of seven categories before the closing date of August 12.
Judging will take place at the National Organic Food Fair in Merrion Square, Dublin on August 31.
Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, said: "The organic sector in Ireland is going from strength to strength, and the standard of what we are producing here really is world-class."
The Green Party representative added: "Im looking forward to seeing the quality of entries when they are judged at the National Organic Food Fair in Merrion Square at the end of August, and indeed to the main event itself when the award winners and the very best of our sector will be announced on October 17."
Emmet Doyle, Organic Sector Manager in Bord Bia, also said: The National Organic Awards offer a platform to highlight the best organic food and drink produced in Ireland.
"As the momentum for Irish organics continues to grow, we are excited to celebrate the achievements and innovations of the sectors pioneers.
"This year, in recognition of the dedicated efforts of many individuals in advancing the sector, we are proud to introduce the Irish Organic Sector Champion Award."
"Unlike other awards, all nominees for this category will be nominated by their peers."
He concluded: "We look forward to receiving entries from businesses across the country in the coming weeks."
CATEGORIES
The National Organic Awards aim to recognise developments within the organic sector across seven key categories, judged by a panel of Irish food, drink, and horticulture experts:
The Irish Organic Sector Champion 2024 This new award recognises the achievements of an individual who is a true pioneer, a positive influence for the Irish organic sector, encompassing the qualities and philosophy of what the Irish organic sector stands for, and helping to progress the sector.
Best Irish Organic Product Award Open to Irish organic branded food and beverage products available for sale in Ireland either through retail, speciality, food service, or direct-to-consumer channels.
Best Irish Organic Private Label Product Award Open to Irish organic products currently available through Irish retail/food service channels, including seasonal products that were available over the past 12 months.
Best Irish Organic Product Export Award Open to products currently being sold in the export market.
Best New and Innovative Irish Organic Product Open to new products or packaging innovations launched since October 2022.
Direct to Consumer Excellence Award Open to products being sold directly to consumers via e-commerce, e.g., company website, third-party shop, social media shop, etc. (Online sales via Irish retailer websites are not eligible).
Business in the Community Award This category will acknowledge the achievements of businesses in their local communities.
HOW TO APPLY
For more information on the individual categories and how to apply, you can visit Bord Bias website.
Applications close on August 12, with the shortlist being announced the week commencing August 27.
Winners of the National Organic Awards 2024 will get a one-to-one session with Bord Bias Client Capability team, who will help develop a bespoke package of supports to meet individual company needs up to the value of 5,000.
There is a separate prize for the Irish Organic Sector Champion Award 2024.
FURTHER INFORMATION
According to Bord Bia: "Ireland has a target of 10 per cent (450,000 hectares) of agricultural land to be farmed organically by 2030, up from approximately 1.6 per cent in 2020."
"There are currently 5,000 farmers in the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), with 3,000 joining the scheme since January 2023."
Last year, Bord Bia consumer research found 67 per cent of Irish shoppers purchase organic food and drink on a monthly basis.
The 2024 Kildare Choral and Organ Festival, which takes place in St Brigids Cathedral from August 14 to 28, will mark the 1500th anniversary of the death of St Brigid with a range of performances from acclaimed women musicians in Ireland.
The annual Festival, will this year explore the theme, Women in music honouring Brigid 1500.
It begins on Wednesday August 14, 7.30pm, with an organ recital from Dr Carole OConnor, organist and choir director of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street, Dublin.
The second night of the Festival, Friday August 23, 7.30pm, will feature a choral performance from the celebrated Irish female vocal ensemble, Dulciana.
Since its very inception, part of Dulcianas mission has been the promotion of music by female composers, both those neglected by history, and those currently making history.
They are particularly firm supporters of contemporary female Irish composers.
The closing night of the Festival, Wednesday August 28, 7.30pm will feature Tatiana Konina on organ and Aoise ODwyer on viola.
Tatiana is the Director of Music and Organist of Christ Church, Bray and Aoise is a violist, music educator and orchestral musician from Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Commenting on the Festival, the Dean of St Brigids Cathedral, Kildare, Very Rev Isobel Jackson said,
Last years Festival marked the 800th anniversary of the construction of St Brigids Cathedral, so this year we wanted to celebrate the founder of our ancient hilltop site, St Brigid herself.
She is strongly associated with the arts, so it is wonderful to think that 1500 years after her death, glorious sacred music continues to reverberate on the site she founded.
Tickets are 15 per concert or 40 for the whole festival. They can be purchased online on Eventbrite (see links below) or at the door on the night of the concerts.
Ticket links:
Carole OConnor - August 14
The Government will still use the former paint factory in Dublin as accommodation for people who have applied for asylum, Integration Minister Roderic OGorman has said.
Mr OGorman said engagement with the community had raised a range of issues, including a lack of services, but said the government could not accept that some people did not want asylum seekers living in their area.
A protest was held at the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock which is to be renovated to accommodate more than 500 asylum applicants.
On Monday July 15, tensions escalated at the location after a digger and mattresses were burned and a member of the security staff at the building was injured.
Riot police attended the scene and more than 30 people were arrested.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said that the Department of Justice and IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services), as well as gardai can learn lessons from Coolock, adding that gardai bore the brunt of the tensions.
Mr OGorman acknowledged that there are very real disadvantage issues in Coolock that the government would take meaningful steps to respond to.
It remains our intention to use this facility to accommodate international protection families, Mr OGorman said.
Our community engagement team continues to engage with reps and I know the Northside Community Forum has put forward a proposal in terms of trying to bring in a wider range of voices in terms of this particular centre.
Were very happy to engage with that particular process and we appreciate the work thats been done in terms of trying to bring that together. And that will be taking place over the coming weeks.
He added: Were hearing a range of issues. We have to recognise, there are some people who just dont want international protection applicants living in their community and thats not a position that the government can accept.
But there are people who raise the very real issues of disadvantage that Coolock faces as a community and are looking to, I suppose, point out where the state could take meaningful steps to respond to that, in the context of an ask of international protection accommodation.
Thats why we set up a community engagement team. And its why it would be important that were able to demonstrate the additional supports that we are putting in place to support accommodation in this location.
Mr OGorman said that progress was being made on welcome centres for asylum seekers as part of a long-term accommodation strategy launched earlier this year.
The strategy aims to house international protection applicants and also ease Irelands reliance on commercial properties to house refugees and asylum seekers.
He said that 1,300 asylum seekers, some of whom had been homeless for a considerable amount of time, had been housed since the launch of the new approach.
Mr OGorman said he expected buildings for new welcome centres to be bought in the coming months, but where construction needs to take place on newly bought sites, this would not take place before the next general election.
Obviously, it depends on that decision by An Taoiseach in terms of the date, but yes, I would hope to see (purchased buildings) occupied before the general election, he said.
He said once the State-owned centres are set up, it will have a very significant impact on the cost of housing migrants as they will not be as reliant on the commercial sector.
Asked about where the locations of these centres would be, Mr OGorman said there was no sense of things being hidden.
We have to bring difficult openings to communities around the country every day of the week.
When we are certain about locations for purchases, were obviously not going to name a place we might bid for because that will obviously impact on the price.
In terms of building on state land, I think its important to give certainty, because theres no point in telling a community on the basis of a maybe. When we have clear plans for State land, we will inform communities.
The key point is I believe both in the terms of building on state land and purchases, locations will be known prior to the general election.
The Irish Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland are appealing for people to take care when they are on or near the water ahead of a busy Bank Holiday weekend.
Thousands are expected to flock to Ireland's beaches, lakes and rivers for the sunny August Bank Holiday weekend, and are encouraged by the Coast Guard to Always Think Water Safety.
The Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland encourage those planning on hitting the water this weekend to plan and prepare before venturing on or near the water.
This includes checking the weather and tide forecast and ensuring you have the right equipment to allow for a safe and enjoyable time in the water.
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The warning comes as the RNLI has seen an increase in the number of lifeboats going to the aid of people involved in increasingly popular activities like paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing.
"We are seeing an increase in the number of incidents this summer involving paddleboarders, persons becoming stranded due to incoming tides, recreational boater groundings and several diving incidents, said Kevin Whitney, operations manager with the Irish Coast Guard.
"Remember to have the right equipment for the activity you are about to undertake such as a correctly fitting Personal Flotation Device (PFD), and to let someone ashore know where you are going and when you will return, and most importantly, to have a means to call for help such as a marine VHF Radio, fully charged mobile phone, or Personal Locator Beacon.
The public is also advised to have a means of calling for help at all times, and keep a marine radio or a fully charged mobile phone in a waterproof pouch near them.
If participating in any diving activities, then it is highly recommended that you file a float plan with someone ashore or the Coast Guard so that emergency services are aware of your location and can assist if need be, Whitney added.
Water Safety Irelands CEO Joanne Walsh called on the public to respect the advice of lifeguards at beaches around the country, saying lifeguards are trained to identify when and where it is safe to swim.
Rip currents are not always easy to spot and the best way to remain safe is to swim between the red and yellow flags at lifeguarded waterways, she added.
The RNLI say they have seen an increase in lifeboats being called to the aid of people involved with water activities such as paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing in recent years.
Three additional schools in County Kildare will receive hot school meals from September, it has been announced.
The schools will join the governments Hot School Meals Programme, in addition to 19 schools across Kildare who are currently availing of this Programme.
Across the country, over 345,000 primary school children are now eligible to receive hot school meals under the Programme.
The three schools to be added to the Programme are: Scoil na Naomh Uilig in Newbridge, Scoil na Cloch Rinnce and Scoil na Tir Mochain, the latter two of which are located in North Kildare.
One public representative who welcomed the news was Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O'Loughlin, who said: "Im heartened to see the extension of this hugely important initiative which is designed to ensure that every child has access to regular, nutritious meals, enabling them to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them.
"The expansion of the Hot School Meals programme has been a priority for Fianna Fail in Government and its expansion has been supported by the Department of Education under my Fianna Fail colleague, Minister for Education Norma Foley."
Senator O'Loughlin, who is also a former schoolteacher, continued: "No child should have to learn on an empty stomach; the expansion of this programme to these additional schools is a vital step in making sure that all our children have access to a hot meal.
"The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the School Meals Programme, and it is the responsibility of schools to choose their supplier in an open, fair and transparent manner."
"I understand that the Department will now write to each of the three schools to advise them on the next steps in this regard to allow schools time to prepare so that their pupils will be able to avail of Hot School Meals from September 2024," Senator O'Loughlin concluded.
Another public representative who welcomed the announcement was Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon, who said: "The Programme forms part of Ireland's commitment under the European Child Guarantee to give all children access to a range of key services, including healthcare and nutrition.
"It is a great scheme and is very beneficial for primary school children here in Kildare."
He continued: "It was initially introduced by Fine Gael Minister Regina Doherty in 2019 as a pilot measure to 30 schools and now under Minister Heather Humphreys the scheme stretches to 2,200 primary schools across the country.
"This shows the commitment from my party, Fine Gael, to ensure every child has the best start in life."
Mr Heydon TD further said: "And we wont stop; the latest announcement brings to 22 the number of schools availing of the scheme in Kildare, but I want more schools across Kildare to have the programme extended to them as soon as possible and working with Minister Humphreys, we will make that happen."
"It is a great success and will be welcomed by pupils, parents and teachers," he concluded.
The 19 Kildare schools currently in the Programme can be viewed below.
Scoil Na Rath Mor
Churchtown National School
St Laurences National School
Scoil Na Cianog Naofa
Mercy Convent Primary School
St Brigids National School
Scoil Na Brighde
Scoil Chorbain
Scoil Na Mhuire
Scoil Na Bride
Scoil Na Naomh Ioseph
Scoil Na Baile Roibeaird
Prosperous National School
Castledermot Mixed National School
Killashee Multi-denominational National School
Maynooth Educate Together National School
Kildare Town Educate Together National School
Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha
Scoil Mhuire Allenwood National School
Two public representatives based in County Kildare who welcomed the news: Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O'Loughlin and Fine Gael TD Martin Heydon.
Businesses along the border are set to be hit hard by the re-imposition of higher excise duties on motor fuels, according to Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin.
On average, petrol is at least 10 cent per litre cheaper in Northern Ireland than the Republic, with diesel an average of 7 cent cheaper per litre.
When the price hikes of 4 cent per litre on petrol and 3 cent per litre on diesel come into force on August 1st, we are looking at a price differential of at least 14 cent per litre on petrol and 10 cent per litre on diesel, Deputy Harkin said
This means that motorists will cross the border in even greater numbers to buy their fuel and when there, many will also do their weekly shop in Northern Ireland.
This is an absolutely untenable situation and has been brought about by the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer decided not to increase fuel prices in Northern Ireland in 2024, while our Government decided to go ahead with three increases, in May, August and October.
This will mean business closures and job losses along the border as forecourts in the Republic will be unable to compete on prices, and the loss of business to supermarkets and smaller shops in the border region will be hugely significant, Ms Harkin warned.
This is a zero-sum game for the Revenue Commissioners in the long run, as they will lose significant revenue on fuel sales as well as revenue from businesses in the border region.
I am asking the Minister for Finance to do an analysis on the possible loss of revenue to the State, both in terms of overall lost revenue and likely job losses, because the worst possible outcome would be for the State to lose revenue while businesses along the border close, Deputy Harkin concluded.
A man who raped his stepdaughter on her 15th birthday has been jailed for nine-and-a-half years at the Central Criminal Court.
Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in May of two counts of raping his stepdaughter Kim Jordan (now 36) in 2002. Ms Jordan waived her anonymity to allow Byrne to be named.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring, who previously noted Byrne had said he was having an affair with his teenage stepdaughter, sentenced him to 11 years with the final 18 months suspended and backdated it to May 15 last for time spent in custody.
Byrne, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, came into Ms Jordan's life when she was three years old and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
The court heard the offending occurred when Ms Jordan was in Spain on the day of her 15th birthday in 2002 and several months later in her family home.
Ms Jordan made a complaint to gardai in 2018 and outlined what had happened.
When she was on a family holiday in Spain, she decided to go back to the apartment to have a shower before dinner. Byrne was drinking a beer and while they were playing cards, he asked her if they could play strip poker until she was down to her underwear.
When she was having a shower, he asked if he could enter the bathroom to use the toilet. He then dropped his shorts and insisted on washing her. She said she was so embarrassed and was bawling crying. She had clothes laid out on the bed to get dressed quickly and then he said he was going to dry her.
While he was raping her, she said she zoned out and became completely numb wishing she was dead. She still has the memory of the woodchip wallpaper as she faced away while he was raping her. She was also worried she would become pregnant.
On the second count of rape of which he was convicted some months after they had come back from Majorca, Byrne came into her bedroom and took off her trousers and underwear. He tried to penetrate her but was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.
Ms Justice Ring said the aggravating factors were that it was a rape of a child and his stepdaughter. She said Byrne took advantage of the victim when there was no trustworthy adult present.
On one of the occasions he had raped her in her bedroom where she should have felt safe but Byrne had breached that safety, the judge said.
Ms Justice Ring noted Byrne admitted throughout that he had sexual intercourse with her but it was his view that it was consensual.
The judge said it was difficult to understand how any sexual encounter with a child was considered consensual. She said there was a lack of remorse and understanding of what consent is.
The judge noted that he had no previous convictions and has worked his whole life.
In a victim impact statement Ms Jordan read to the court, she said Byrne had blamed her during the trial for his actions.
I felt humiliated and shamed, as you portrayed me to be some kind of teenage sexual temptress, she said.
Byrne had come into Ms Jordan's life when she was quite young and the court heard the relationship was significant for her as they were close when she was a child.
After spending my very early years wondering why my biological father wasnt around and why my family was broken, I felt as though my prayers had been answered and I finally had the family I longed for when Tony came into my life and that I finally had a dad. Little did I know his plan was to use me for his sick sexual pleasures and would go on to ruin my life.
The court heard she and her sister have continued a relationship despite Byrne trying to keep them apart.
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Questor Announces Sale of Clean Combustion Unit in Nigeria
CALGARY, Alberta, July 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questor Technology Inc. ("Questor" or the "Company") (TSX-V: QST) is pleased to announce that it has received a purchase order valued at $1 million dollars, to supply a clean combustion solution to an energy company in Nigeria. Questor's clean combustion unit will be a critical component in a Nigerian government-approved pilot project aimed at eliminating flaring in upstream oil production processes.
Oil continues to play a crucial role in Nigeria's economy, funding the nation's day-to-day activities. This investment in Questor's technology will ensure that oil is produced cleanly and in a more sustainable way. Questor's ISO 14034 certified clean combustion technology safely handles associated gas from oil production and eliminates methane and other harmful pollutants at 99.99 percent efficiency, surpassing stringent emission regulations globally. The innovative design of Questor's unit also significantly reduces capital, fuel, and operating costs for our customers at oil and gas processing facilities and refineries.
"We are proud to support Nigeria's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060," said Audrey Mascarenhas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Questor. "Our technology not only meets but exceeds the latest emission regulations, offering an effective solution for sustainable energy production."
Questor continues to advance its clean combustion technology to meet and exceed stringent emission standards in North America and other key markets. With over 25 years of experience providing emission reduction solutions to customers operating globally, Questor is well-positioned to expand its market presence in Canada, the US, and internationally.
ABOUT QUESTOR TECHNOLOGY INC.
Questor Technology Inc., incorporated in Canada under the Business Companies Act (Alberta) is an environmental emissions reduction technology company founded in 1994, with global operations. The Company is focused on clean air technologies that safely and cost effectively improve air quality, support energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reductions. The Company designs, manufactures and services high efficiency clean combustion systems that destroy harmful pollutants, including Methane, Hydrogen Sulfide gas, Volatile Organic Hydrocarbons, Hazardous Air Pollutants and BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene) gases within waste gas streams at 99.99 percent efficiency per its ISO 14034 Certification. This enables its clients to meet emission regulations, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, address community concerns and improve safety at industrial sites.
The Company also has proprietary heat to power generation technology and is currently targeting new markets including landfill biogas, syngas, waste engine exhaust, geothermal and solar, cement plant waste heat in addition to a wide variety of oil and gas projects. The combination of Questor's clean combustion and power generation technologies can help clients achieve net zero emission targets for minimal cost. The Company is also doing research and development on data solutions to deliver an integrated system that amalgamates all of the emission detection data available to demonstrate a clear picture of the site's emission profile.
The Company's common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "QST". The address of the Company's corporate and registered office is 2240, 140 ? 4 Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3N3.
QUESTOR TRADES ON THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE UNDER THE SYMBOL ?QST'
Investor Relations Contact
Aly Sumar ? Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This document is not intended for dissemination or distribution in the United States.
31 july 2024 at 19:00
News published onand distributed by:
Standard Lithium Announces Leadership Transition for Strategic Growth and Next Steps in Value Creation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Lithium Ltd. ("Standard Lithium" or the "Company") (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium development company, today announced a leadership transition that aligns with the Company's growth strategy and next steps in value creation.
Effective September 1, 2024, Robert Mintak will retire as Chief Executive Officer and remain engaged as an advisor through August 2025. David Park will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer effective September 1, 2024.
Over the past year, David Park has been actively engaged with Standard Lithium as a strategic advisor, working closely with the senior management team. His deep understanding of the Company's vision and strategic goals, coupled with his respected position within the organization, has made him a key contributor to the Company's recent successes. Mr. Park has been involved extensively across corporate, project, and strategic developments, ensuring alignment and effective execution of initiatives, including helping to secure Equinor ASA ("Equinor") as a strategic partner.
Prior to his advisory role, Mr. Park served as President of Koch Strategic Platforms ("KSP"), the division of Koch Industries which invested in Standard Lithium in 2021. Before that, Mr. Park served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development of Georgia-Pacific, LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, and held other significant roles at Koch, including President of TrueNorth Energy and Koch Exploration, and CFO of Koch's Canadian exploration and production, pipeline, and energy trading business.
Mr. Park began his career at Koch in its business development group, after serving as an International Business Development Specialist at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Throughout his career, he has successfully completed more senior and complex roles, focussed on delivering outstanding corporate growth, underscoring his ability to drive success and generate significant value for Standard Lithium.
The appointment of Mr. Park as the next CEO is the culmination of a thorough succession planning process by the Company's Board of Directors, which looked to bring in a candidate who could lead Standard Lithium in its next phase of growth and value creation for shareholders. This transition comes at a pivotal time, coinciding with the recent partnership with Equinor, which has significantly strengthened the Company's position and set the stage for accelerated progress and innovation.
During his more than seven years as CEO, Robert Mintak has been instrumental in establishing Standard Lithium as a leader in the lithium sector. During his tenure, the Company developed key strategic partnerships and secured significant investments, including those with LANXESS, Tetra Technologies, Koch Industries and Equinor. These collaborations have advanced the Company's projects and positioned Standard Lithium for success.
Robert Cross, Chairman of the Board said, "Robert was a co-founder of the Company and his leadership and commitment has been critical in our evolution from a startup to where we are today. In addition to the strategic relationships the Company garnered during his tenure, Robert was very focussed on fostering strong relationships with community and state leaders, generating substantial support for our projects in Arkansas and Texas. This collaborative approach has distinguished Standard Lithium within the resource sector. The Board is grateful for Robert's accomplishments and unwavering commitment to building a foundation for our next phase of growth."
Reflecting on his tenure, Robert Mintak commented, "It has been an incredible journey leading Standard Lithium and working with our talented team. I'm proud of what we've accomplished, particularly our strong partnerships and meaningful community engagement. As an active advisor, I will continue working with David, Andy and the team to advance our projects and maintain our efforts in generating shareholder value. I am confident that David is well-equipped to take the Company forward into its next chapter of growth and value creation."
Dr. Andy Robinson, President & COO, stated, "Robert and I started this Company together seven years ago with a shared vision for Standard Lithium. His focus on strong partnerships, deep industry relationships and community engagement has been a cornerstone of our success. We are entering the next phase of the Company's growth plans as we move towards commercial development, and the entire team looks forward to accelerating this momentum with David's leadership and we are all excited for the future opportunities that lie ahead."
David Park added, "I'm excited to have the opportunity to help build on the solid foundations Robert and Andy have laid, and work in close partnership with Equinor, Koch, Andy and the rest of the Standard Lithium team to drive the strategic direction and execution of our low cost, environmentally friendly, domestic lithium projects in support of the growing American energy storage and electric vehicle industries."
About Standard Lithium Ltd.
Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE") and purification process. The Company's flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focussed in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas Project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Additionally, the Company is advancing the Phase 1A Project in partnership with LANXESS, a brownfield development project located in southern Arkansas. Standard Lithium operates the only commercial-scale, continuously operating DLE Demonstration facility in North America. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.
Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and the NYSE American under the symbol "SLI"; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "S5L". Please visit the Company's website at www.standardlithium.com.
Investor and Media Inquiries
Chris Lang
Director of Finance
+1 604 409 8154
[email protected]
Twitter: @standardlithium
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium/
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timeline, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
1 august 2024 at 08:00
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MAX Power Uncovers Canada's Largest Natural Hydrogen Target Area, Stakes 1,244 Sq. Km Historical Hydrogen Grades Up To 96.4%
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MAX Power Mining Corp. (CSE: MAXX; OTC: MAXXF; FRANKFURT: 89N) ("MAX Power" or the "Company"), utilizing proprietary methods and data modelling, has identified a prospective naturally occurring hydrogen resource play in southeast Saskatchewan featuring dozens of historical hydrogen showings, including grades up to 96.4%, within a compelling geological context.
As a result, through a series of permit applications, MAX Power has assembled a 1,244 sq. km land package, which shall now be referred to as the "Rider Natural Hydrogen Project", situated within the ~200-km-long NE-SW striking Torquay-Rocanville Corridor (see attached map).
Multiple high-priority target areas exist across five separate large claim blocks and include evidence of potential upward migration of hydrogen to surface, possibly through serpentinization or fracture zones, making the Rider Project the largest known area in Canada for the potential discovery of naturally occurring accumulations of hydrogen gas. MAX Power's staking covers almost all of the available Crown land as well as the premier Natural Hydrogen targets within the Torquay-Rocanville Corridor.
Highlights
Two blocks at the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project include very high concentrations of hydrogen ( 96.4 % at Weyburn and 87.4 % at Stoughton) from the wellhead, supported by historical drill stem tests from old wells, indicating that Natural Hydrogen may have migrated to surface;
% at Weyburn and % at Stoughton) from the wellhead, supported by historical drill stem tests from old wells, indicating that Natural Hydrogen may have migrated to surface; Two additional high-grade showings ( 88.3 % and 75.6 %) from the wellhead also occur within 800 meters and 200 meters, respectively, of MAX Power land claims;
% and %) from the wellhead also occur within 800 meters and 200 meters, respectively, of MAX Power land claims; Given the limited number of wells (45) in the data set covering the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project, vs. the number of total wells believed to have been drilled in the region for which data is not available, the fact that seven of these wells showed hydrogen grades >10% at varying depths takes on added significance (the other 38 showed hydrogen grades between 1% and 10%).
MAX Power Special Advisor Mr. Denis Briere, VP-Engineering for Chapman Hydrogen and Petroleum Engineering Ltd., and regarded as one of the world's leading petrophysicists, commented: "My involvement in the world's first discovery of a naturally occurring hydrogen gas accumulation in Mali, West Africa, over a decade ago was tremendously gratifying, especially since it quickly powered an entire village with low-cost, emissions-free electricity. This news from Saskatchewan - the scale of the opportunity and the very high historical grades - represents a watershed development for the world in the rapidly emerging Natural Hydrogen sector. Chapman is looking forward to working with MAX Power to take the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project to the next level."
Moving Forward
Geologists are designing a near-term program to verify and validate the existence of a naturally occurring hydrogen trend at Rider ;
; MAX Power continues to review an extensive array of datasets in Saskatchewan and elsewhere with an aggressive plan to further build on its first mover advantage in the Natural Hydrogen sector in Canada and the United States;
Pro-energy and pro-business Saskatchewan is exceptionally positioned to become the first jurisdiction in North America to produce Natural Hydrogen given a combination of highly favorable geology and a clearly defined policy framework for exploration and development of this important new alternate energy source.
MAX Power CEO Rav Mlait added: "The acquisition of key permits to form the Rider Natural Hydrogen Project in SE Saskatchewan is a major development for MAX Power as we hit the ground running with the largest target area in the country for Natural Hydrogen in one of the best jurisdictions globally for exploration and resource development. The efforts of the MAX Power team are to be commended as we have used proprietary methods and state-of-the-art data modelling to uncover best-in-class targets. I recently met with top government officials in Saskatchewan and we are very enthused to be working in this forward-looking province. Natural Hydrogen is the cleanest form of hydrogen and can be developed at the lowest cost relative to other hydrogen (manufactured) variations. MAX Power has the potential to ignite a whole new energy boom in Canada and North America."
Figure 1 : Map showing the location of Max Power's Natural Hydrogen Permit Applications
Proposed Model for the Source of Natural Hydrogen and its Concentration in Saskatchewan
Southern Saskatchewan is entirely covered by the pervasive and thick Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin ("WCSB");
The WCSB directly overlies the crystalline Pre-Cambrian basement;
This basement is the perceived source rock for naturally occurring hydrogen, especially where the basement rock has an ultramafic composition;
There are a series of deep structures, including faults, allowing movement of gasses from the basement upwards into the WCSB. In addition to structures, a series of domes and arches add to the structural complexity of the WCSB;
Natural Hydrogen migrates upward into certain geological formations where it can accumulate.
Natural Hydrogen Video
Learn more about Natural Hydrogen by clicking on the following link:
https://vimeo.com/953002092/d6f8574ba4
MAX Power Natural Hydrogen Deck
Learn more about MAX Power's first mover advantage in North America's Natural Hydrogen sector by clicking on the following link:
https://www.maxpowermining.com/Presentations/MAXPower-NaturalHydrogen.pdf
MAX Power Corporate Presentation
Click on the following link to view MAX Power's Corporate Deck:
https://maxpowermining.com/Presentations/MAXPower-Corporate.pdf
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Thomas Clarke, P.Geo., Pr.Sci.Nat., and Director for MAX Power Mining Corp. Mr. Clarke is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.
About MAX Power Mining
MAX Power is an innovative mineral exploration company focused on North America's shift to decarbonization. MAX Power is a first mover in the rapidly growing Natural Hydrogen sector, through strategic alliances with Calgary-based Chapman Hydrogen & Petroleum Engineering Ltd., and European- based Larin Engineering HHC. MAX Power also holds a portfolio of properties in the United States and Canada focused on critical minerals. These properties are highlighted by a recent diamond drilling discovery at the Willcox Playa Lithium Project in southeast Arizona.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Rav Mlait"- CEO
MAX Power Mining Corp.
MarketSmart Communications
Tel: 877-261-4466.
[email protected]
Tel: 778-655-9266
Forward-Looking Statement Cautions
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, and any legislation specifically relating to natural hydrogen, exploration and acquisition of natural hydrogen properties; ability to locate, discover and/or extract natural hydrogen from the subsurface; commentary as it relates to the opportune timing to carry out natural hydrogen exploration; and any anticipated increasing demand for natural hydrogen; any results and updates thereto as it relates to any future drill program, and the funding of that program; and upcoming press releases by the Company. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. They are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "interpreted", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "suggests", "often", "target", "future", "likely", "pending", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", "possibly", "preliminary", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and they involve number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the CSE, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of drill program results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out its exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
1 august 2024 at 08:00
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SUBARU SUPPORTS MILESTONE 750,000 STUDENTS IN HIGH-NEEDS SCHOOLS THROUGH SUBARU LOVES LEARNING INITIATIVE
Subaru and its retailers providing critical supplies to schools nationwide as the largest corporate partner of AdoptAClassroom.org
CAMDEN, N.J., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) today announced that a milestone of 750,000 students nationwide will be helped following its Subaru Loves Learning program this year. In its fourth year partnering with AdoptAClassroom.org, Subaru and more than 630 of its retailers will continue to provide access to the critical supplies and resources that teachers need to help their students succeed in the classroom.
Subaru and its retailers are helping students in high-needs schools by providing funding for supplies and resources.
According to AdoptAClassroom.org, 92% of teachers nationwide have students whose families cannot afford to purchase school supplies for their children. This has led to teachers spending an average of $860 per year to help provide for their classrooms.
Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc.: "At Subaru, we believe that every student deserves a fair opportunity at a quality education. We are incredibly proud of the progress achieved in supporting over 750,000 students, and we know the importance of continuing to support students and teachers around the country to have the best learning environment possible."
Together, Subaru and its retailers are working to help students in high-needs* schools by providing teachers across the country with funding to purchase these supplies and resources. Many participating retailers will also be donating school supply kits with materials that are highly requested by teachers.
Ann Pifer, Executive Director of AdoptAClassroom.org: "This record number of students being supported would not be possible without the help of the Subaru community. We are grateful to extend our partnership with Subaru for a fourth year in a row and sincerely thank Subaru and its retailers for the difference they make in the lives and educational opportunities of students and teachers around the country."
To kick off the 2024 program, Subaru will continue to support students in the Camden City School District (CCSD) by once again adopting all kindergarten to fifth grade (K-5) classrooms near the automaker's headquarters in Camden, NJ. This latest hometown effort will impact over 2,090 students and 122 classrooms across eight different schools. Adopting every elementary school in the CCSD is just one of the many ways Subaru continues to do its part to be More Than a Car Company for its community.
To learn more about the Subaru Loves Learning initiative and the partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, visit subaru.com/learning or follow #SubaruLovesLearning on social media.
*High-need is defined as a school that has a Title I Schoolwide Program and/or a school where 40% or more of the student population qualifies for the Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Program.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $320 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 100,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
About AdoptAClassroom.org
AdoptAClassroom.org believes every child deserves the tools and materials they need to learn and thrive in school. To achieve this, teachers are spending an average of $860 of their own money each year on their classrooms. AdoptAClassroom.org is a national nonprofit that funds PreK-12 teachers and schools across the U.S. to help equip more classrooms and students for success and offset the financial burden on teachers. Since 1998, AdoptAClassroom.org has raised $73 million and equipped more than seven million students across the U.S. 90% of all funded classrooms are considered high needs. The 501(c)(3) holds the highest 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and the highest transparency rating offered by Candid/GuideStar. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.adoptaclassroom.org .
Diane Anton
Subaru of America, Inc.
856-488-5093
[email protected]
Adam Leiter
Subaru of America, Inc.
(856) 488-8668
[email protected]
SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.
1 august 2024 at 08:55
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Federal government invests in 57 affordable homes in Estrie
COWANSVILLE, QC, Aug. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, the federal government announced more than $3.2 million in contributions and low-cost loans through the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) to help build and repair 57 affordable homes in Estrie.
The announcement was made by the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Member of Parliament (Brome-Missisquoi), on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, alongside the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant, and Elisabeth Briere, Member of Parliament (Sherbrooke).
This announced federal funding is contributing to the construction of four housing projects, including 52 new housing units. A detailed list of all the projects receiving funding is provided in an appendix to this release.
Quotes:
"Everyone deserves a place to call their own and the Affordable Housing Fund is one way we're helping make that a reality for Canadians. We will keep investing in affordable housing projects like the ones announced today, and working with partners across the country, to end the housing crisis." ? The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
"In the Eastern Townships, as elsewhere in Canada, access to affordable housing is crucial to the stability and well-being of our communities. Today's announcement is a concrete example of our commitment to helping our region's citizens. This investment in 57 housing units is the result of an essential collaboration and demonstrates our commitment to making our society more inclusive and accessible for all."? The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Member of Parliament (Brome-Missisquoi)
"Investing in affordable housing isn't about pouring money into concrete. It's about investing in the well-being of Canadians. The future residents of these units will have access to a safe and comfortable place to call home, where they can rest, recharge and welcome their loved ones. We continue to deliver for Quebecers by taking concrete action that makes a real difference."? The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant
"We are committed to supporting projects that meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community. By investing in infrastructure like Han-Logement, we offer not only a roof over our heads, but also hope and a chance to rebuild shattered lives."? Elisabeth Briere, Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke
Quick facts:
The announcement took place at 116 Leopold Street in Cowansville . The project received $358,800 in funding from the Government of Canada through the Rapid Housing Initiative.
. The project received in funding from the Government of through the Rapid Housing Initiative. The federal funding announced today is helping create a total of 52 new homes and is leading to the repairs of five homes.
The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) provides funding through low-interest and/or forgivable loans or contributions to help build new affordable homes and renovate and repair existing, affordable and community housing.
provides funding through low-interest and/or forgivable loans or contributions to help build new affordable homes and renovate and repair existing, affordable and community housing. Through the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, the Government announced an additional $1 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund, bringing the total funding to more than $14 billion . To further support non-profit, co-operative and public housing providers and respond to the needs of those most affected by the housing crisis, Budget 2024 committed an additional $1 billion to the fund.
for the Affordable Housing Fund, bringing the total funding to more than . To further support non-profit, co-operative and public housing providers and respond to the needs of those most affected by the housing crisis, Budget 2024 committed an additional to the fund. This program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people living with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans and young adults.
As of March 2024 , the federal government has committed $50.97 billion through the NHS to support the creation of more than 146,000 units and the repair of more than 286,000 units.
, the federal government has committed through the NHS to support the creation of more than 146,000 units and the repair of more than 286,000 units. To support the Government's work to grow housing supply and address the need for more affordable and rental homes, CMHC is implementing the Frequent Builder framework.
framework. The Frequent Builder framework will help expedite applications for the Affordable Housing Fund and the Apartment Construction Loan Program. The Frequent Builder status is given to existing housing providers with a proven track record of building multi-residential units. Different criteria apply to governments, non-profit and for-profit organizations to qualify for Frequent Builder status.
status is given to existing housing providers with a proven track record of building multi-residential units. Different criteria apply to governments, non-profit and for-profit organizations to qualify for status. Frequent Builders may receive benefits such as priority treatment, a streamlined process through intake, underwriting and approval stages, underwriting and advancing flexibilities as well as the possibility of funding commitments for future years, which will allow funding predictability and better planning for their projects pipeline.
Additional Information:
Visit Canada.ca/housing for the most requested Government of Canada housing information.
housing information. CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.
has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, please visit www.placetocallhome.ca.
Appendix: Projects receiving funding under AHF
Project Name Region/City Funding Units
Le Chevalier Lac-Megantic $2,374,599 21
Val-des-Sources (rue St-Roch) Val-des-Sources $400,000 16
Shelter Cowansville $345,018 15
Shelter Lac-Megantic $100,000 5
TOTAL $3,219,617 57
SOURCE Canadian Heritage
1 august 2024 at 13:15
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TIFF'S TREATS EXPANDS IN CHARLOTTE'S BELGATE NEIGHBORHOOD, MARKING THE BRAND'S NEWEST NORTH CAROLINA DELIVERY LOCATION
Charlotte residents will have expanded access to baked-to-order treats delivered straight to their door.
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiff's Treats, the original warm cookie delivery company, has officially launched a new delivery-only outpost in Charlotte's Belgate neighborhood today, August 1st, marking the newest delivery location in North Carolina for the beloved baked goods and gifting brand, complementing retail locations in Waverly, Uptown, and NorthPark. Charlotte-area residents can continue to spread cookie kindness and celebrate occasions of all kinds with their loved ones, enjoying gifts of hot and fresh treats that are baked-to-order and delivered on-demand.
"We are excited to expand Tiff's Treats in Charlotte," said Tiffany Chen, co-founder and chief creative officer of Tiff's Treats. "We look forward to continuing to provide our signature treats to this community and being a resource for reliable, personal, and affordable gifting through sweet treats, whether it's a major milestone or a treat yourself occasion."
Founded by Tiffany and Leon Chen when they were sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin, the brand has earned millions of loyal fans with its unique straight-from-the-oven delivery model and has grown to over 130 locations and counting. This opening is one of the many recent growth milestones for Tiff's Treats this summer, which will continue to expand in other cities and states throughout the year.
Charlotte residents will be able to have treats baked-to-order and delivered warm to their doorstep Monday ? Sunday from 10 a.m. ? 9:15 p.m. Cookie flavors include all of Tiff's Treats' classic favorites, as well as a rotating Flavor of the Month. Flavors include Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Sugar Cookie with M&Ms, Double Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Pecan Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, White Chip Almond, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Catering trays, milk and select specialty packaging will be available for special occasions like birthdays and thank you's. The new locations will also boast a new flavor in honor of Tiff's Treats' 25th anniversary, Birthday Confetti with white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
Residents in Charlotte can also receive 50% off their first order of warm cookies from Tiff's Treats when they sign up at this link HERE.
Tiff's Treats warm cookie delivery is available now in the Charlotte Belgate area. Orders can be placed through cookiedelivery.com, the Tiff's Treats mobile app, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
ABOUT TIFF'S TREATS
In 1999, Tiffany Taylor accidentally stood up Leon Chen for a date. As an apology, she baked and delivered a batch of warm cookies, and the concept of warm cookie delivery was born. Tiff and Leon, just 19-year-old sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin at the time, opened Tiff's Treats with $20, a cell phone and a dream. Since then, the business has grown to over 130 retail distribution locations and counting in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, California, Kentucky, and New Mexico, with more than 1,700 employees. The founders are now married and the business continues to grow, but Tiff's Treats has the same core mission: creating memorable moments with treats baked to order and delivered warm. Customers can order online at cookiedelivery.com, with the Tiff's Treats app or by phone, all supported by industry-leading technology and customer service.
SOURCE Tiff's Treats
1 august 2024 at 15:30
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Canfor closes Arkansas acquisition, welcomes new Iron Mountain employees.
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Canfor Corporation (TSX: CFP) is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition from Arkansas Resolute El Dorado Inc., of its lumber manufacturing facility in Union County, Arkansas. The transaction, previously announced on May 1, 2024, is a strategic complement to the Company's existing regional operations, including its adjacent El Dorado Laminating Plant and its nearby Urbana sawmill.
Renamed as the Iron Mountain sawmill, this acquisition will create operational synergies with Canfor's existing facilities, provide vertical integration opportunities with its two glulam plants and build further capacity near customers and markets in the US South.
"The acquisition, together with the intended investment and expansion in the mill, is a strategic opportunity for us," said Lee Goodloe, President, Canfor Southern Pine. "As a growth-oriented forest products company, we see this as an opportunity to expand the depth and breadth of our manufacturing capabilities in Arkansas' rich, high-quality wood basket and to provide our customers with a more comprehensive product offering."
"We warmly welcome our new Iron Mountain employees to Canfor," Goodloe remarked, adding that "we also look forward to growing on our local engagement and to strengthening our relationships with the El Dorado community and all of Iron Mountain's valued partners, suppliers and customers."
Forward-looking statements.
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "projects", "intends", "plans", "will", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "should", "may", "could", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and actual events or results may differ materially. There are many factors that could cause such actual events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and Canfor assumes no obligation to update such information to reflect later events or developments, except as required by law.
About Canfor Corporation.
Canfor is a global leader in the manufacturing of high-value low-carbon forest products including dimension and specialty lumber, engineered wood products, pulp and paper, wood pellets and green energy. Proudly headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canfor produces renewable products from sustainably managed forests, at more than 50 facilities across its diversified operating platform in Canada, the United States and Europe. The Company has a 70% stake in Vida AB, Sweden's largest privately owned sawmill company and also owns a 54.8% interest in Canfor Pulp Products Inc. Canfor shares are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CFP. For more information visit canfor.com.
SOURCE Canfor Corporation
1 august 2024 at 17:00
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Iranians hold up a portrait of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at his funeral. In Tehran on August 1, 2024. - / AFP
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced early on Wednesday, in a statement, that the leader of Hamas had been killed in Tehran. Hamas confirmed moments later the death of its head, adding that he had been killed in a "Zionist" raid. Ismail Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. On Tuesday, he met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Elected head of the Palestinian movement in 2017, Haniyeh was reappointed in August 2021. He succeeded Khaled Mashaal, who had held the post since 1996. Since 2019, he had been living in exile in Qatar.
What are the consequences of the assassination of this Hamas leader for his organization and for the Middle East? Xavier Guignard, a researcher at the independent research center Noria, answered Le Monde readers' questions in a chat.
Matthieu: Before we talk about the consequences, how certain are we that Israel is indeed behind this attack?
Xavier Guignard: Israel is not in the habit of confirming the attacks it carries out outside its territory, be they bombings in Syria or targeted assassinations in Iran. The July 30 explosion was no exception. Given the likely consequences for Israel, with Iran and its allies threatening to retaliate on its own territory, we can imagine that if Israel wasn't behind this strike, it would make that known.
Read more Subscribers only Who really runs Hamas?
Thierry S: Beyond the usual rhetoric from the Iranians and/or Hezbollah, what is the likelihood of the conflict spreading and what are the interests of the parties involved?
The regionalization of the conflict has been a reality since October 7. Israel has targeted Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Iran. In return, armed groups in Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) and Iran have bombed or threatened to bomb Israel.
What is at stake is the risk of escalation, in this dynamic of widening the conflict. Hezbollah and Iran have no interest in this, primarily because they are militarily weak compared to Israel. But the re-establishment of lines of deterrence, the preservation of the territorial sovereignty of these states and miscalculations bring us closer every day to the precipice of a full-scale, open confrontation.
Some in Israel's political and security establishment believe that the existential threat they face is not posed by Hamas, but by the presence of Hezbollah on the northern border. A major Israeli operation in Lebanon cannot be ruled out, even if it is likely to drag the whole region into the conflict something Israel's allies, starting with the United States, are trying to avoid.
Read more Subscribers only Gaza: Dozens of civilians killed in Israeli strikes targeting Hamas officials
Peace: In the event of open war between Iran and Israel, could the interplay of alliances extend the conflict beyond the Middle East?
In a recent speech, Hassan Nasrallah (the leader of Hezbollah) threatened the territory of Cyprus. Military agreements between Cyprus and Israel allow for joint training, including on land Cyprus has a topography similar to that of southern Lebanon. Although this threat now seems to have been averted, the intersection of theaters of war poses a major risk, beginning with Europe.
Iran, for example, could give in to Russian demands for the supply of certain types of weaponry, notably drones, as part of the invasion of Ukraine. The rhetoric employed by both camps (Israel on one side, Iran and Hezbollah on the other) is that this conflict is being played out for or with the support of the West. Beyond that, I don't see any alliances (Russia, China, India) capable of changing the course of the war, even if the resulting political landscape would be profoundly altered.
Someone: Who will Israel now have to negotiate with for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza? Can we still hope for successful negotiations?
The families of Israeli hostages were the first to worry, and rightly so, about the repercussions. Negotiations were progressing very slowly, but with the assassination of one of Hamas's main negotiators, they are likely to come to a standstill. Qatar has made its position quite clear through the voice of its foreign minister: What's the point of organizing mediation if one side murders the other?
The clear priority of the Israeli government is not the release of the hostages, which we saw last November could be achieved through negotiation. The fact remains that Hamas is the only competent interlocutor if Israel wants to obtain their release, and it is with its new representatives that a compromise will have to be found sooner or later.
Impunity: What about international law? Is it possible to freely assassinate, in a sovereign country, a political figure with whom you are supposed to be negotiating a truce, while asserting that you want to continue negotiations?
There are two facets to this question. Our colleague Amelie Ferey has worked extensively on the doctrines of targeted assassination in Israel, and her research shows the effort made to offer a veneer of legality. On the other hand, this assassination has a triple political cost.
Iran's territory is effectively violated in its sovereignty, and such a violation may result in an Iranian military response (legal or otherwise). Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages are undermined, and Israel is showing that Hamas's political, not just military, leaders are targets. From this point of view, it's hard to imagine that Israel's war cabinet really wants the successful conclusion of negotiations, to which it has just dealt yet another blow.
Read more Subscribers only Israel-Hamas war: Lebanon's Hezbollah faces difficult equation
Alix A: Why isn't the execution of a recognized terrorist leader (like with Bin Laden) welcomed by all Westerners, including the UN?
Hamas is included on certain lists of terrorist groups, notably by the European Union and the United States, but neighboring states continue to maintain links with the movement (Norway and Switzerland, for example). The lack of consensus as to the classification of Hamas as a whole stems from the fact that it is both an armed group that has committed war crimes (and potentially crimes against humanity), a political movement represented in the Palestinian parliament and the administration of an occupied territory, the Gaza Strip.
Ismail Haniyeh was a direct or indirect interlocutor with many governments and not the mastermind of the October 7 attacks. Statements from the various diplomatic bodies are still awaited, but the risk of a regional conflagration probably explains the low level of enthusiasm for this operation attributed to Israel.
Dierx: Does the Israeli public really believe that the elimination of senior Hamas leaders is capable of stemming any form of political or terrorist resistance to the occupation sanctioned by the ICJ (judgment from July 19, 2024)?
Israeli public opinion is divided. Part of the population considers it a victory, in a war that sorely lacks success and clarity. This assassination is part of a long tradition of targeting Palestinian leaders (Islamist, nationalist or left wing), without their death having the slightest effect on public denunciation of the occupation. On the contrary, security leaders, some sectors of the societal protests of recent years and more recently the families of the hostages see an immediate danger to the possibility of negotiating a way out of the conflict.
Paulette Dupont: Could there be Iranian reprisals abroad against Israeli interests, Israeli citizens or even dual nationals no longer residing in Israel?
Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have already carried out external operations to target interests considered to be Israeli. Within the range of possibilities, targeting key figures (ambassadors, leaders) abroad is a credible option. The targeting of civilians (nationals or dual nationals) less so, if we are to believe Iranian declarations, which rule out at this stage any reaction that is not directed at military or political targets. We don't have to believe them, though.
But the logic of a response designed to underpin Iran's deterrence suggests that civilian targets should be ruled out, since they would have no effect other than unequivocal condemnation and a demonstration of relative operational weakness.
Historian & Lost Geographer...: Are there any moderate figures left in Hamas? Doesn't this assassination risk strengthening the camp of those who favor violence?
Hamas elects leadership bodies at its councils. For the time being, Ismail Haniyeh is likely to be temporarily replaced by a member of the political bureau, with the names of Khaled Meshaal, Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya circulating. In the coming months, a vote is expected to confirm this provisional appointment or replace the leadership. If there are obvious fault lines within the party (on political and military strategy, alliances, normalization of the party, etc.), it would be very bold to imagine that they will lead to a schism following Haniyeh's assassination.
Hamas leaders know they are under threat: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated [in 2004]. Haniyeh and Meshaal had been targeted in the past. The question of the balance of power between supporters of a political solution and those committed to a military confrontation with Israel will not be upset by Haniyeh's death.
The absence of a political outlook, Israel's explicit determination to oppose any Palestinian state and the authoritarian hardening of Mahmoud Abbas's government are much more important factors in understanding the current "radicalization" within Hamas and beyond.
PauloDeCharvo: Could you briefly shed some light on Jordan's position in this context of regional tensions?
The mirages of gradual normalization with Israel have given way to the reality of violent polarization and increased conflict in the region.
In this context, Jordan has to contend with a number of major weaknesses: Its tourism economy has been reduced to nothing since October; criticism is mounting among its population (partly of Palestinian origin, but also from Islamist parties and certain tribes in the south of the country); and Iran is denouncing Jordan's role in supporting Israel's defense. On this last point, although Jordan has refused to communicate anything other than the protection of its airspace, it seems certain that Israeli and American aircraft have used Jordanian skies.
The kingdom's short-term safeguard is linked to its alliance and alignment with the United States. But in the medium term, domestic and regional pressures, as well as the cooling of its relations with Israel, could prompt the Hashemite monarchy to secure its regional foothold rather than position itself as an American auxiliary.
Read more Subscribers only Haniyeh killing highlights Iranian regime's security failings
A giant billboard with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, that was vandalized during strong protests against the results of Venezuela's presidential election in Valencia, Carabobo State, Venezuela, on July 31, 2024. YURI CORTEZ / AFP
The top US diplomat for Latin America said Wednesday, July 31, that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had overwhelmingly lost to opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, endorsing vote tallies released by the opposition as Venezuela's electoral authority fails to release detailed results.
"Why haven't they?" asked US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols in remarks at an Organization of American States (OAS) meeting. "The answer appears to be clear, either they know the real results prove that Edmundo Gonzalez clearly won the election, so they don't want to share the results or they know that the real results prove that Edmundo Gonzalez clearly won the election and Maduro's Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) needs time to prepare falsified results to back their false assertion."
The opposition meanwhile has published online tens of thousands of polling result papers, known as "actas." "These are real Venezuelan votes," Nichols said. "The tabulation of these detailed results clearly show an irrefutable result: Edmundo Gonzalez won with 67 percent of these votes compared to 30 percent for Maduro."
Read more Subscribers only Venezuela authorities crack down after Maduro's disputed re-election
While recognizing there are still outstanding results, Nichols said "there are not enough votes in remaining tally sheets... to overcome such a deficit." "With the irrefutable evidence based on the actas everyone can see, it is clear that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia defeated Nicolas Maduro by millions of votes."
Maduro, 61, has been at the helm of the once-wealthy oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than 7 million of Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate, many to the United States.
Facing mounting pressure to offer evidence his election victory was valid, Maduro said Wednesday, July 31, that opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia should be imprisoned following deadly protests across the country. "They should be behind bars," the leader told reporters. The opposition, which claims its candidate Gonzalez Urrutia was the rightful victor, said 16 people were killed in protests that erupted after Sunday's election in the Latin American country.
Read more Subscribers only Nicolas Maduro claims victory in Venezuela's presidential election
GARDAI arrested a man in his 50s this Wednesday evening after he graffitied a wall on Roches Row, Limerick city.
The man was arrested at approximately 5:30pm by Community Policing gardai on patrol, following a foot pursuit.
An Instagram post by @gardainsta_limerick said, A reminder that while we appreciate art in all its forms, the act of putting graffiti on property not belonging to you is an offence under the Criminal Damage Act. #KeepingPeopleSafe
A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said that the man was released from Henry Street Garda Station without charge, but confirmed that Investigations are ongoing.
READ MORE: Body worn cameras rolled out for gardai in Limerick city
This incident occurred the day before Body Worn Cameras were implemented for gardai in Henry Street Garda Station.
Speaking at the launch of the second phase of this pilot scheme, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she was very pleased that the technology was now available for frontline gardai in Limerick city.
RESIDENTS of Limerick city are invited to pre-register for a free science project which tests levels of toxic gas in the air.
The project, led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will see local people taking the reins and test how much nitrous oxide (NO2) is in the air in their area.
Air pollution is a common issue nowadays with congestion in built-up city areas, with Limerick being no exception.
It is a free project, with the EPA teaming up with Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) to get definitive answers on how much toxic gas is lingering in the air and get clarity on how much residents may be consuming.
Clean Air Together Limerick City will launch on Wednesday, August 21.
NO2, otherwise known as laughing gas, is dangerous and if too much is consumed, fatal. It is predominantly a traffic-related air pollutant.
READ MORE: Green Limerick: The Hunt Museums new exhibition
While extreme levels would need to be inhaled for serious side effects to be seen, it may still have an impact on ones health over time, particularly in children, people with pre-existing heart and lung conditions, outdoor workers and the elderly.
Air quality in Ireland is generally good and compares favourably with many of our European neighbours, however, there are concerning localised issues which lead to poor air quality, the EPA says.
The first Clean Air Together campaign took place in October-November 2021 where approximately 1,000 citizens across Dublin successfully measured NO2 near their home, business, or school.
The second Clean Air Together campaign took place in October 2022 in Cork, with over 700 participants measuring NO2 at their chosen locations and the third phase took place in October-November 2023 with over 300 participants in Galway.
Now, it is coming to Limerick and aims to create a better understanding of NO2 air pollution.
In total, over 3,500 residents have applied to participate in the Clean Air Together projects to date.
This huge level of public interest and the volume of results points to a public willingness to participate in citizen science and illustrates the success of the initiative.
The hope is that Limerick residents will embrace this opportunity to better understand and acknowledge air quality with this citizen science project.
LCCC currently has installed three air quality monitors in the metropolitan area of Limerick to provide live indicative air quality data to the public.
These monitors are located in Limerick City, at Mungret and Castletroy. They measure particulate matter (PM) which is commonly used as an indicator of dust particles in air.
Chronic exposure to harmful air particles contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as lung cancer, LCCC says.
Despite our monitored air quality being within EU limit values, in our larger urban areas we face potential exceedances of NO2 limit values unless we reduce our dependence on cars.
The EU CAFE (Clean Air for Europe) directive sets air quality standards for Europe and has been transposed into Irish legislation by the Air Quality Standards Regulations.
In May 2024, the NO2 levels in Limerick, according to all three monitor locations, read that there was 20 g/m3 in OConnell St, 12 g/m3 in Castletroy and in Mungret, the monitor read 10 g/m3.
Notably the highest figure was OConnell St due to active levels of combustion in the city, primarily from traffic.
The EU CAFE directive annual mean guideline is 40 g/m3, while the WHO annual limit is only 10g/m3.
WITH the summer sales soon coming to an end, I browsed shops on the streets of Limerick to snatch a few final bargains.
Now is a prime time to take a trip around some of the sensational stores that we have located on our doorstep in the city.
A firm favourite of mine is, of course, Brown Thomas.
The luxury retailer is the perfect one-stop-shop for all your raceday needs, as I get set to go to the Galway Races!
READ MORE: My week with Celia Holman Lee: Enchanting day and an 'ace' brunch!
A rare ray of sunshine shone through the grey clouds which seem stubbornly settled over Ireland this summer, so I enjoyed strolling the Limerick city streets for a short while.
I am so looking forward to the Galway Races this August bank holiday.
I am a guest for Ladies Day this Thursday, August 1 which is special for me as I remember my first time at the Galway Races many moons ago.
I hope that lots of Limerick ladies will dress up and put their best foot forward and come join us on the day. Wouldnt it be a dream come true for a Limerick woman to be crowned best dressed on the day?
Celebrating beautiful fashion and individuality is what I strive to do always, and with the Galway Races, womens unique creativity shines so brightly through - which makes the experience all the more enjoyable.
I will be wearing a magnificent hat once again by the extremely talented milliner Carol Kennelly, who showcased in Royal Ascot this year, and was a guest in the corporate box area, which was lovely recognition to receive.
An eventful few weeks on the horizon, which I am ever grateful for.
XxCelia
UISCE EIREANN has again failed to give a date as to when a boil water notice impacting 7,000 people locally will be lifted.
For more than a year now, people living across the Adare-Rathkeale district have been subject to the notice which advises against the drinking of water straight from the tap.
It comes after the supply was identified as potentially unsafe over the detection of cryptosporidium.
READ MORE: Mediaeval magic awaits as Limerick castle gates open to all for one day only
The matter came to a head at a council meeting, where members were told that due to Uisce Eireann staff being on holiday, they are unable to meet to advance the lifting of the notice.
Final commissioning works are progressing, with data collation to be presented to the HSE thereafter. Uisce Eireann will then consult with the HSE to discuss the possible lifting of the boil water notice, the utility firm added in a statement to the Leader.
Fianna Fail councillor Bridie Collins challenged Mayor John Moran on a commitment he had made in his manifesto that, if elected, he would provide weekly updates to those impacted by undrinkable water.
As it stands, she says she is not being given much information by the utility formerly known as Irish Water.
Mayor Moran has written to the company to reflect the concerns of Cllr Collins and other members of the Adare-Rathkeale district.
We were told back in January that they were expecting the boil notice to be lifted at the end of January. We are now heading towards the end of July and the notice still exists, she said.
She criticised Uisce Eireann, saying the utility firm needs to be doing more to communicate with its customers.
She feels she is being used as a conduit.
This is a national body. They have a list of their customers and they should be making direct contact with them. There is a lot of confusion as to what a boil notice is, Cllr Collins said.
The Adare businesswoman said that many people are spending their money buying bottled water when they do not really need to.
She pointed out that under a boil notice, once its heated to boiling, its drinkable.
A BEAUTIFUL mural of Istabraq on Clancy's Bar in Bruff has stood the test of time just like the horse it was painted in honour of.
The JP McManus-owned three-time Champion Hurdle winner passed away last year at the great age of 32.
An article some years ago in a national newspaper about the famous horse said, You know you're entering Istabraq country after seeing a mural on Clancys pub in Bruff.
When contacted by the Limerick Leader, Jack Clancy, proprietor, said it was sad news of Istabraq's passing but what a long and happy life he had.
The beautiful mural, which adorns the side of the pub, was painted by Niall ODwyer shortly after the horse retired.
It is based on a picture from the Cork Examiner. It won an award for the photographer, said Jack.
READ MORE: Istabraq was the 'horse of a lifetime' - AP McCoy
Renowned British horse racing journalist Brough Scott and the team from Channel 4 racing have visited Bruff due to the mural.
Were very proud of the association, said Jack, who also renamed his restaurant the Istabraq restaurant.
He remembers fondly when the pub was full of happy punters who had backed Istabraq to win three Champion Hurdles.
We had as much excitement as they had in Cheltenham, said Jack.
Thousands of families across the country can now avail of and extra payment of 548 as the Parent's Benefit Payment has been extended from 7 to 9 weeks.
From August 1 2024, Parents Benefit is extended from 7 weeks to 9 weeks, if you are the parent of:
A child born or adopted on or after 1 August 2024
A child under 2 years of age on 1 August 2024 or an adopted child placed with your family less than 2 years on 1 August 2024 - you must complete the extra parent's leave on or before your childs second birthday or within 2 years of the adoption placement
What is Parent's Benefit?
Parents Benefit and parents leave are for parents in the first 2 years after their childs birth or adoption.
Parents Benefit is paid while you are on parents leave from work if you have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions.
Each parent can get parents leave and Parents Benefit.
You must be on parents leave to get Parents Benefit. However, it is possible to qualify for parents leave and not get Parents Benefit if you dont meet the PRSI contribution conditions.
You can take your leave in separate weeks or all at once.
Parents Benefit is only paid once for both single and multiple births. For example, if you have twins or adopt 2 children at the same time, you get one payment.
If you are already getting a social welfare payment, then you may get half-rate Parents Benefit.
What are the rules?
Parents Benefit is paid in the first 2 years of the childs birth or adoption.
You must notify your employer that you intend to take parents leave and of your intended dates no later than 6 weeks before your leave. You then apply for Parents Benefit at least 4 weeks before the date you start your parents leave.
If you are self-employed you should apply for Parent's Benefit 6 weeks before you intend to take parents leave.
You need your childs PPS number to apply for Parents Benefit.
How much is Parent's Benefit?
Parent's Benefit is paid at a standard weekly rate of 274.
How is it paid?
Parent's Benefit is paid directly into your bank or building society account (a current or deposit account, not a mortgage account) or you can choose to have it paid directly into your employer's bank account.
If your employer pays you in full while you are on parents leave, they may require Parents Benefit to be paid directly into their bank account. You should check your contract of employment to see what applies to you
How to apply?
If you are an employee you must be approved for parents leave before you can apply for Parents Benefit. You must apply to your employer for parents leave at least 6 weeks before you intend to start your parents leave. You then apply for Parents Benefit at least 4 weeks before you take the leave.
If you are self-employed you apply for Parent's Benefit 6 weeks before your planned leave.
You can apply online or by post by requesting a Parents Benefit application form by emailing or phoning the Parent's Benefit Section. Just fill in the form and send it to the Parents Benefit Section of the Department of Social Protection.
For more information you can visit citizensinformation.ie
Sinn Fein has pledged to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over five years if elected to government.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the target was achievable as she unveiled a new policy document on Thursday.
Sinn Fein said it would also deliver 75,000 social homes in the same period.
It says the plan will see the State fund the delivery of 50,000 affordable homes through local authorities, approved housing bodies (AHBs) and community housing trusts at a cost of 13.2 billion euro.
That figure comes from 6.9 billion euro in voted Exchequer funding as well as 6.3 billion euro in borrowing by local authorities and AHBs from the Housing Finance Agency and other sources.
Sinn Fein said the homes will be available to buy for prices between 250,000 euro and 300,000 euro, or to rent at or below 1,000 euro per month.
Along with price, Sinn Fein said the difference in its plan and the Governments is the scale of ambition.
For comparison, the Government delivered more than 4,000 affordable housing options last year.
Ms McDonald said the coalition was delivering unaffordable homes at a cost of up to 500,000 euro or 1,800 euro per month in rent.
The 50,000 figure breaks down to 25,000 one-to-three bedroom homes to buy for households with mortgage approval, a gross household income of up to 90,000 euro, do not own a home at time of purchase and whose savings are insufficient to purchase a home on the open market.
It said that affordable cost rental should be no more than 33% of net income and that mortgages in affordable purchase should also be less than a third of net disposable income.
Sinn Fein said it can achieve a lower price by separating the cost of land and site servicing from the cost of building the home.
In essence, the State would for all land related costs and retain ownership of the land while the purchaser pays the price of construction.
It would mean the householder would own the home but not the land, but would be able to sell the property on at an affordable rate.
Sinn Fein also plans to deliver 25,000 similar size homes for households with a net income of up to 66,000 euro in Dublin and 59,000 euro outside of the capital.
Speaking to reporters for the launch of the document on Thursday, Ms McDonald said: We have the finance, the land and the builders to solve this crisis, what is needed is the right plan and Sinn Fein has that plan.
She added: People that dont have time out to wait any longer. Were in a situation of real stress and crisis in peoples lives and that needs to be addressed.
A core component of that is those people who earn too much to qualify for social or council housing if there was council housing and those who are completely priced out currently of having any prospect of purchasing their home.
And indeed those people who will struggle and are struggling hard to afford rent, who have been promised affordable rental and close rental homes and it hasnt materialised.
Sinn Fein housing spokesman Eoin O Broin took aim at current Housing Minister Darragh OBriens response to the opposition partys policy platform.
He said: Given that homelessness is at the highest levels in the modern history of the State, that house prices and rents are higher than theyve ever been before and that he misses every single target of his own, he would spend his time doing his job and not wasting his officials time emailing me for political stunts.
This is too serious for the kind of nonsense that we get from Darragh. Darragh should do his job. Hes had four years and hes showed he cant, hes failed.
Thats why were setting out a clear and radical alternative so people can make up their minds.
Mr O Broin also said that increased delivery of affordable homes would have a moderating effect on house prices in the open market, but said that impact would be over a long term and unpredictable.
Mr OBrien said the Sinn Fein document is really very weak.
In a statement, he said: There was absolutely no detail in it and a complete failure to answer even basic questions. What we do know from it is that the affordable leasehold purchase scheme is not home ownership, and worse still, they have not confirmed with commercial lenders that its actually possible.
As well as that, its an exclusionary scheme. A Garda and a teacher on point five of their respective salary scales would not be eligible for apply for these homes. Unlike the Government schemes which contain no arbitrary salary caps.
Its clear from this document that the Sinn Fein alternative homes plan is built on foundations of sand, he concluded.
Sinn Fein said it would publish its full five-year housing plan in September.
Mumbai, India, July 31, 2024 VTEX (NYSE: VTEX), the composable and complete commerce platform for premier brands and retailers, has been recognized with medals in all 24 categories by industry analyst firm Paradigm B2B in its annual Combine Reports (Enterprise and Midmarket Editions). Informed by leading B2B ecommerce practitioners, VTEX received a total of eleven gold medals in both analyses three more than in 2023. These include medals for Ability to Execute and two gold medals for Total Cost of Ownership in both Enterprise and Midmarket editions, making VTEX one of only two commerce platforms to achieve this distinction.
The 24 medals awarded to VTEX across all categories in the 2024 Paradigm B2B Combine Report solidify several major B2B milestones in recent years:
Within its platform, VTEX allows enterprise brands to unlock the ability to lower the technical maintenance burdens while keeping the flexibility necessary for any digital commerce experience all of this with incredibly fast times-to-value.
According to Paradigm B2B Combine, VTEX is particularly well-suited for enterprise B2B companies looking for a modularized eCommerce, OMS, and Marketplace solution with strong promotions capability in a flexible, multi-tenant SaaS environment.
"After migrating from our legacy ecommerce platform to VTEX, we saw a 40% revenue growth the first year, followed by additional 20% growth over the next two years," said Krizia Labayen, Ecommerce and Marketing Director at bisco Industries. The switch to VTEX allowed bisco industries to create a B2B marketplace, which reduced lead times, expanded product offerings, and enhanced pricing and inventory transparency with suppliers. Today, bisco industries has grown its customer base and elevated its brand recognition, driving international growth and delivering personalized service globally.
"Enterprise companies are recognizing the value proposition of VTEX with our seamless integration of B2B, B2C, and marketplace capabilities on one platform. Serving 2,600 global brands across 43 countries at an unparalleled cost of ownership, VTEXs composable and complete architecture has been proven to enhance efficiency and deliver superior experiences, resulting in a notable return on investment," said Santiago Naranjo, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at VTEX. "The Paradigm B2B Combine report underscores VTEX's commitment to advancing innovation in the unified commerce landscape."
The analyst firm, Paradigm B2B, highlighted VTEXs strengths in customer service, OMS, out-of-the-box marketplace, promotions, and its impressive release and upgrade cycle, contributing significantly to the medal breakdown for the 2024 Paradigm Combine Report:
Enterprise 5 Gold:Customer Service & Support; Integrations, Operations & Infrastructure; Marketplaces; Promotions Management; and Total Cost of Ownership.
3 Silver: Ability to Execute, Transaction Management, and Vision & Strategy.
4 Bronze: Content & Data Management, Sales & Channel Enablement, Partner Ecosystem, and Site Search.
Midmarket 6 Gold: Ability to Execute; Customer Service & Support; Total Cost of Ownership; Integrations, Operations & Infrastructure; Marketplaces; and Promotions Management.
2 Silver: Transaction Management, and Vision & Strategy.
4 Bronze: Partner Ecosystem, Content & Data Management, Sales & Channel Enablement, and Site Search.
For more information and to read a free copy of the Paradigm B2B Combine report, click here.
About VTEX
VTEX (NYSE: VTEX) is the composable and complete commerce platform that delivers more efficiency and less maintenance to organizations seeking to make smarter IT investments and modernize their tech stack. Through our pragmatic composability approach, we empower brands, distributors, and retailers with unparalleled flexibility and comprehensive solutions, enabling them to invest solely in what provides a clear business advantage and boosts profitability. VTEX is trusted by 2,600 global B2C and B2B clients, including Carrefour, Colgate, Motorola, Sony, Stanley Black & Decker, and Whirlpool, having 3,500 active online stores across 43 countries (as of FY ended on December 31, 2023). For more information, visit www.vtex.com.
An interesting trend is playing out as India's 77th Independence Day approaches. With 15 August falling on a Thursday, and Raksha Bandhan on Monday, 19 August, a potential five-day long weekend beckons for those willing (and able) to take the Friday off. This has resulted in tariffs of holiday resorts shooting up across the country even as business hotels roll out discounts to retain business.
Luxury resort properties are likely to see a rate increase of 15-60% during this period depending on the location. For instance, the Oberoi Sukhvilas in Chandigarh is sold out for 14-19 August, while its Agra property will sell upwards of 37,500 a night for a regular room, about 15-25% higher than its usual rates, Mint found in its research.
Similarly, pool view suites at the plush ITC Grand Bharat in a remote corner of Gurugram in Delhi-NCR will start from 32,000 a night excluding tax, which is 8,000 higher than its usual rate.
Then, Suryagarh Jaisalmer and Narendra Bhawan Bikaner are being prepared for a thronging crowd to come in to stay as the mega long weekend approaches. Sameer Mehra, chief commercial officer of MRS Group, the company behind these luxe properties, is expecting a 15-27% increase in occupancies on this long weekend over last year.
By adding one day on either side of this weekend, it becomes a five-day long holiday," said Mehra. "A lot of travellers still have hybrid work systems and so at least at our properties, we have not seen any decline in travellers even though international travel has resumed in full swing."
According to Mehra, the Suraygarh property will see a 27% increase in travellers this long weekend but a relatively modest increase in prices of about 10%. Narendra Bhawan Bikaner, on the other hand, will have a similar increase in the number of travellers because of good connectivity to bigger cities, including direct flights, and will take a 50-60% increase in its room rates for this period.
We are witnessing nearly a 20% surge in demand for resorts and hotels versus last year and anticipate this trend to further accelerate mid-August," said Nikhil Sharma, MD and area senior VP for South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, adding that newer destinations like Kumbhalgarh, Saputara, Pondicherry, and Mahabalipuram along with Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra are seeing the most traction from travellers.
Our guests are also willing to spend 20% higher than previous years on hotels that offer exceptional experiences and good value," Sharma said. "This uptick in bookings throughout our portfolio is promising and we are positive that momentum will continue."
While domestic hotel tariffs for last-minute bookings have increased as compared to last year, low-season offers from hotels and luxury stays (deals like free extension stays, complimentary meals) are driving strong interest for companies like Thomas Cook India.
Indiver Rastogi, president and group head for global business travel, Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel, said, "The extended weekend of 15-19 August is propelling strong travel to domestic locales like Shimla, Leh-Ladakh, Goa, Andamans, Coorg, Jaipur and short-haul destinations like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Baku, Almaty and Bali despite an increase in airfares. An increase in airfares for the top routes versus the previous year are between 11% and 17% higher across some of these domestic routes," he said.
"All our hotels at leisure destinations have reported confirmed bookings at an occupancy rate of 90-95%, accompanied by a 30% increase in the average daily rate (ADR). Destinations such as Bhimtal, Jaipur, Goa, and Agra have emerged as our top-selling getaway locations," said Ajay K. Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar Hotels, and director of Louvre Hotels India.
Deals galore from business hotels
To be sure, people looking to just laze around for a staycation at a hotel in their city can get a great bargain on hotels since they will be doling out offers and rates better than usual.
For instance, Lemon Tree Hotels' properties across different cities will offer up to 40% off on stay during this period and a payment of 77% on food and beverage packages or a discount of 23% to celebrate the 77th year of Independence. Rates are at least 50-70% cheaper, starting at 11,500 a night for a standard room.
Similarly, at luxury property, The Imperial New Delhi, travellers can get a room at 14,000 a night without taxes as opposed to the standard 16,000-25,000 range. A room in Taj Chennai will cost just 9,000 excluding taxes but a Radisson resort in Mahabalipuram will be over 40,000 a night.
Short-haul international travel to rise, too
Two friends from Delhi in their mid-30s are travelling to Baku, Azerbaijan from 14-20 August. Within just a week from when they checked the airfares and when they finalised their plan, the return tickets had shot up from 35,000 per person to 50,000.
The duo will stay at a plush Marriott hotel in Azerbaijan's capital city, a new hot favourite for Indian travellers. Even if we travelled to a city like Goa, it would have worked out to a similar amount of money. This is because a similar luxury property for five nights in Goa would have been four to five times the cost. So why not this?" said one of the travellers.
Despite the increased airfares, Thomas Cook is also witnessing strong demand for travel in this traditional non-peak season. From an international perspective, airfares from Mumbai and Delhi have seen a similar increase of 4-21% to short-haul destinations like Azerbaijan, Georgia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Interestingly, a few sectors have seen a slight dip of 8%. These are to Singapore and Malaysia, said Rastogi of Thomas Cook India.
A spokesperson for online travel agency Cleartrip told Mint that internationally, it was Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Bali and Malaysia that were also emerging as the usual favourites. Overall, compared to the same period last year, this year's hotel prices are higher by about 12% with locations like Goa, Udaipur, Pondicherry, Munnar and Lonavala emerging as top booked in terms of hotels, the spokesperson added.
Domestically, travel companies are also waiting to get closer to the travel week as Indians generally book a lot of last-minute travel. MakeMyTrip, for instance, said almost 50% of its flight bookings and 55% of hotel bookings are done within a week ahead of travel. Competitor EaseMyTrip has also announced an independence day sale for travellers to induce some additional demand.
The country's domestic air travel increased to an all-time high in May 2024, but hotel occupancy rates in India remained flat from a year ago, according to a recent report from hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock. This may have contributed to domestic hotel companies offering some discounts.
One segment of travellers has also started to travel abroad unlike during and after the pandemic when there was a huge focus on domestic holidays. One reason for this could be easy- and no-visa countries facilitating travel. Short-haul or nearby destinations have helped induce international holiday demand as well. As a result, critical travel regions like Goa, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have shown some slowdown in business.
Tax authorities may issue notices to some other IT companies for alleged tax evasion related to work done by their overseas offices, a report by news agency Reuters said on Thursday, a day after Infosys was slapped with a 32,403 crore GST notice.
IT industry body Nasscom on Thursday said the latest tax demand reflects a lack of understanding of the sectors operating model.
It also said multiple companies are facing avoidable litigation and uncertainty.
The Bengaluru-headquartered Infosys on Wednesday said Karnataka State GST authorities have issued a pre-show cause notice for the payment of GST of 32,403 crore for the period July 2017 to March 2022 towards the expenses incurred by overseas branch offices of Infosys Limited.
Infosys argued that GST payments are eligible for credit or refund against the export of IT services.
In a statement, Nasscom said that government circulars issued based on recommendations of the GST Council must be honoured in enforcement mechanisms so that notices do not create uncertainty and negatively impact perceptions on India's ease of doing business.
Recent media reports of a GST demand of over 320 billion ( 32,403 crore) reflects a lack of understanding of the industry's operating model. This is an industry-wide issue, and multiple companies are facing avoidable litigation, uncertainty, and concerns from investors and customers, Nasscom said.
Nasscom argued that the GST enforcement authorities have been issuing notices for remittance by the Indian head office to its foreign branches for cases where there is no service between the head office and foreign branch for this RCM (reverse charge mechanism), ignoring that this is not a case of 'import of service' by the head office from the branch.
This is not a new problem, and courts have been ruling in favour of the industry in these cases. This issue was even addressed during the erstwhile service tax law, where favourable judgments were delivered by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Nasscom said.
Meta Platforms is hardly the only big tech company with no plans to put the brakes on its blowout artificial-intelligence spending. It might be the only one where that news was already priced in.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram used its second-quarter report on Wednesday to announce plans to make between $37 billion and $40 billion in capital expenditures this year. That is up from the prior range of $35 billion to $40 billion that the company gave three months agoessentially a 3% raise at the midpoint.
Either one is a tidy sum given Metas sizeat least relative to its other megacap tech peers. An outlay of $37 billion would represent 23% of what Wall Street projects for Metas total revenue this year. Amazon.com, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet are projected to devote between 10% and 20% of their revenue to capex over the same period, according to consensus estimates from FactSet. And for good measure, Meta also said Wednesday that it expects significant capital expenditures growth" in 2025. Three months ago the company simply said capex will continue to increase" in the next year.
It was basically the same message on that front that Microsoft and Google broadcast in their recent reports. But Metas stock jumped more than 7% in after-hours trading following its Wednesday afternoon release, compared with respective drops of 1% and 5% for Microsoft and Alphabet following their results. Metas revenue beat Wall Streets consensus estimate by a slightly wider margin than those other two. It also helps that the stock had already experienced sticker shock from AI spending plans broadcast in the last earnings season. Meta is the only one of the six trillion-dollar tech megacaps to have seen its shares lose ground between its March quarter report and the latest one.
Metas turbulent record over the past few years shows that its investors are willing to roll with expensive ambitions as long as the core business holds up and other costs are held down. That is proving to be the case now. Advertising revenue grew 22% year over year to $38.3 billion, which was $3 billion higher than what Wall Street expected. Operating income of $14.8 billion also beat analysts estimates, despite a loss of nearly $4.5 billion in the Reality Labs division that houses the companys VR and metaverse efforts.
The company is also keeping to the lessons of its year of efficiency." Head count grew by 1,470 in the June period, but remains 19% below the companys peak in late 2022. Revenue per employee is up 51% from that time.
Still, investors are getting antsier about the expensive race to build generative-AI services. It is a boon for Nvidia: The AI chip stars stock jumped more than 3% in after-hours trading Wednesday following Metas results after surging nearly 13% in the regular session following Microsofts report. Capex questions from analysts dominated both earnings calls, and Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg maintained his previously stated view that Metas direct payoff from GenAI services isnt close at hand. I dont think that anyone should be surprised that I would expect that that will be years," he said on Wednesdays call.
Years are something the 40-year-old centibillionaire has. And years it might take, given the still tight supply of Nvidias most powerful chips. Zuckerberg showed up on stage with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a conference on Monday, with the two joking about the 600,000 GPU chips Meta has already bought from the company.
Huang is laughing all the way to the bank now. Zuckerberg eventually needs to ensure that his companys AI spending doesnt become a punchline.
Write to Dan Gallagher at dan.gallagher@wsj.com
Mumbai/New Delhi:The Reserve Bank of India has completed its review of potential buyers for a majority stake in IDBI Bank, approving Fairfax Financial Holdings, Emirates NBD and Kotak Mahindra Bank as bidders, three sources aware of the development said on Thursday.
The Indian government, which owns 45.48% in IDBI Bank, and state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India which holds 49.24%, together plan to sell 60.7% of the lender. The sale process was first announced in 2022.
The sources did not wish to be identified as the discussions are not public. The finance ministry, RBI, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Emirates NBD and Kotak Mahindra Bank did not immediately reply to Reuters emails seeking comments.
The bidders are talking to the Indian government and will get access to IDBI Bank's private data after evaluation, one of the sources said.
Reuters had earlier reported interested buyers include Emirates NBD and Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa.
Toronto-based Fairfax India Holdings is backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa and invests in public as well as private equity securities and debt instruments in India.
Also Read | Ajay Piramal may look to buy a state-run bank
Emirates NBD Group offers financial services with operations in UAE, India and Saudi Arabia, among others.
(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.s profit climbed in the latest quarter after a weak yen and robust demand in North America boosted sales.
Operating profit was 1.31 trillion ($8.7 billion) for the April-June period, up 17% from a year earlier, the worlds biggest carmaker said Thursday. That was mostly in line with the 1.32 trillion projected, on average, by analysts. The operating profit forecast for the fiscal year was kept the same, at 4.3 trillion.
Hybrids are selling well in North America, making up for sluggish demand for Toyotas vehicles in Japan and China. At the same time, a weaker yen is helping to boost income in the carmakers home currency. Despite ongoing turmoil from a government probe that found seven of its cars werent properly certified for mass production, analysts are still projecting the carmaker to post a record profit this year, of 5.3 trillion.
This week, Toyota was dealt its first ever corrective order by Japans transport ministry, after a government investigation found that seen of its car models werent properly tested for mass production. The order is the latest development in a series of fraudulent behaviors that began with a pair of Toyota subsidiaries half a year ago, then last month at the carmaker itself.
Though the damage to sales could be recovered in the short term, the long-run reputational hit may be a bigger concern, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Also Read | Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda apologizes, suspends 3 models amid test scandal
Revenue for the latest quarter rose 12% to 11.8 trillion. For the fiscal year, Toyota kept its revenue outlook the same, at 46 trillion.
New Delhi: Middle-income countries, including India, must navigate a complex set of challenges to ascend to high-income status, the World Bank asserted in its latest report. The World Development Report 2024: Economic Growth in Middle-Income Countries outlines the critical steps needed, such as engineering a steady energy transition, maintaining competitive markets, and promoting economic equality.
India, currently classified as a lower-middle-income country, is striving to achieve developed economy status by 2047 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. The report emphasizes the need for large middle-income nations like China, India, and Indonesia to grow while transitioning their energy systems away from coal. This shift is essential for supporting new job creation, fostering innovation, and enhancing production and trade.
The report highlighted the disruptive nature of decarbonization for carbon-intensive industries and regions.
"Just as coal, oil, and natural gas have shaped economic geography, the low-carbon transition is altering patterns of comparative advantage and the drivers of growth and structural transformation in middle-income countries. This implies that the path to high-income status in the 2020s will most likely differ from that of the past, with the potential need for updating policies," the World Bank said in the report.
Balancing growth and sustainability India has set ambitious targets, including achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030 and reaching net-zero emission target by 2070. However, the country remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with government data indicating a 2.44% increase in fossil fuel-based power generation capacity to 243.22 GW in FY24. In contrast, non-fossil fuel capacity, mainly from renewable sources, rose by 10.79% to 190.57 GW during the same period.
The World Bank report has urged countries like Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines to prioritize regulatory adjustments that enable a transition from imitation to innovation. It said that introducing market contestability and exploring policy complementarities are vital for sectors where economies of scale and co-location of economic activities drive innovation, such as urban agglomerations and special economic zones.
The report compared micro-enterprises in the US, India, and Mexico, noting that establishments with over 100 employees in America account for about three-fourths of employment. In contrast, the prevalence of small-scale entrepreneurship in India and Mexico signals low-productivity entrepreneurs focusing on subsistence.
Beyond Jugaad: The need for capital deepening The World Bank cautioned against the "jugaad" mindsetimprovisation with limited resourcesthat has characterized India's development.
The report calls for capital deepening, or increasing the capital-labour ratio, as crucial for advancing beyond low levels of development.
"Consider India in the 1980s, where capital deepening was key to improving growthin the absence of capital, enterprises and families made use of technologies that were neither new to the country nor new to the world. The Indian term jugaad became synonymous for tinkering with limited capital, often in ways that were illegal," the report said.
"But jugaad with scarce capital can only take a country so farcapital deepening is urgently needed at low levels of development," it added.
Also read | Time for private sector to take baton of investment: Economic Survey
Indermit Gill, chief economist, World Bank Group, underscored the importance of a fresh approach that balances investment, technological infusion, and innovation.
"The battle for global economic prosperity will largely be won or lost in middle-income countries," he noted. Gill emphasized the need for these countries to avoid over-reliance on outdated strategies and to adapt to current demographic, ecological, and geopolitical pressures.
Over 13 lakh Indian students are pursuing higher studies abroad in 2024, the Ministry of External Affairs informed Parliament on Thursday. In a written response in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh shared the data showing that as on date, 13,35,878 Indian students are pursuing higher studies abroad in 2024.
Singh shared country-wise details of Indian students studying abroad, spanning 108 countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, Russia, Israel and Ukraine.
The data showed that in 2024, of the 1,33,5878 Indian students, as many as 4,27000 were studying in Canada and 3,37,630 students in the US, 8,580 in China, eight in Greece, 900 in Israel, 14 in Pakistan and 2,510 in Ukraine.
For 2023, the figure was 13,18,955, while it was 9,07,404 for 2022. It was 9,07,404 in 2022, 11,58,702 in 2021, 6,85,097 in 2020 and 6,75,541 in 2019.
Also Read | Govt to launch e-CARe portal for seamless transfer of bodies of Indians abroad
"Indian Missions/Posts abroad constantly engage with Indian students studying overseas and encourage them to either register with them or on the Global Rishta Portal. They organise 'Welcome Ceremonies' for Indian students who travel abroad for the first time and brief them on security issues in the host countries.
In a statement on Thursday, the minister said, "Bureau of Immigration of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India also collects data of Indian students travelling abroad either through their voluntary disclosures or through the type of Visas issued to them by their destination countries."
"Indian Missions/Posts abroad constantly engage with Indian students studying overseas and encourage them to either register with them or on the Global Rishta Portal. They organise 'Welcome Ceremonies' for Indian students who travel abroad for the first time and brief them on security issues in the host countries.
"They also advise them to register with the Indian Missions/Posts and to regularly stay connected. Indian Missions/Posts use the aforesaid method to collect data of Indian students abroad through voluntary registrations. Indian Missions/Posts abroad also coordinate with the concerned authorities in the host Governments to secure data on the number of Indian students studying overseas," the minister said in his response.
"They also advise them to register with the Indian Missions/Posts and to regularly stay connected. Indian Missions/Posts use the aforesaid method to collect data of Indian students abroad through voluntary registrations. Indian Missions/Posts abroad also coordinate with the concerned authorities in the host Governments to secure data on the number of Indian students studying overseas," the minister said in his response.
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The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Thursday, August 1, granted central universities permission to conduct their own entrance exams or admit students on the basis of marks in the qualifying exam if seats remain vacant in undergraduate and postgraduate courses after admissions through Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
However, the CUET scores will remain the primary criteria for the admission process, the UGC said. The commission emphasised that students who appeared in CUET may be considered irrespective of the domain subject papers in which they appeared.
Also Read | CUET UG 2024 result out at exams.nta.ac.in
The higher education standard maintaining commission gave two reasons highlighting the need to fill vacant seats.
Seats remain vacant in some central universities even after three or four rounds of counselling. It alleged that keeping vacant seats for an entire academic year is a waste of resources.
Vacant seats in higher education institutions lead to the denial of quality higher education for many students aspiring to pursue advanced studies in central universities.
Also Read | Delhi University opens UG admission correction window today
Keeping the seats vacant for an entire academic year is not only a waste of resources but also results in denial of quality higher education to many students who aspire to pursue higher studies in central universities, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar told PTI.
"Hence, in order to facilitate the central universities to fill up their vacant seats, the SOPs have been formulated. Students who appeared in CUET but may or may not have applied to the respective university for the courses or programmes earlier may also be considered," Kumar was quoted as saying in the report.
Also Read | DU UG Admission 2024: Delhi University introduces single girl child quota
The university may also admit students on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, the UGC chairman said. The higher education authority further pointed out that the entire admission process has to be based on merit and transparency. Meanwhile, the reservation roster should apply for admission to courses/programmes in all cases.
WASHINGTONThe Biden administration is scrambling to salvage prospects for a Gaza cease fire after the political leader of Hamas was killed in a strike in Tehran, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the talks and leaving officials worried that Israel may now face major retaliatory attacks on two fronts.
On Tuesday, Israel said it was responsible for an airstrike in southern Beirut that killed a senior leader of Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Hours later, Ismail Haniyeh, one of the key negotiators in the long-stalled cease-fire talks, was dead in a mysterious strike in Irans capital.
Israel hasnt claimed responsibility for the strike on Haniyeh, but Hamas and Iran blamed the attack on Israel.
While U.S. officials said they expected the Beirut attack, the Tehran strike caught Washington off guard and almost immediately darkened the already remote prospects for a U.S.-brokered Gaza cease-fire. Even more alarming to the U.S., the killings threatened to unleash new and more severe reprisals against Israel and potentially American forces in the region by Iran and its proxies.
Securing a cease fire was always complicated. It remains complicated," said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
We dont believe escalation is inevitable," he added.
U.S. officials acknowledge that Haniyehs killing makes securing a cease fire more difficult but insist the talks arent dead. Following the strike in Tehran on Wednesday, senior administration officials were already engaged in negotiations with Israeli, Qatari, Iraqi, and Saudi officials, among others, to try to salvage a deal, a U.S. official said.
Biden hasnt personally made any calls to his regional counterparts, as he did in April after Iran launched drones and missiles against Israel in retaliation for an airstrike in Syria that killed an Iranian general, the U.S. official said, but the president has been very engaged with his team on it."
In the wake of the Tehran attack, Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Qatari officials to send messages to Iran, Hezbollah and others in the region to de-escalate the tensions, and the Qataris agreed, according to another official familiar with the discussions. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Blinken that his country remains committed to a deal, but expressed frustration that the Israeli strikes could jeopardize the hostage talks.
How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" the Qatari prime minister, a party to the negotiations, wrote in a post Wednesday on X.
It has been seven months since the last formal pause in Gaza fighting, which has killed more than 39,000 people in the enclave, according to Palestinian health authorities, who dont say how many were combatants. U.S. and Arab mediators have worked for months to negotiate a cease-fire agreement that would help end the war, which began after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 left 1,200 dead in Israel and 250 taken hostage, according to Israel authorities.
But Haniyehs death is potentially the most damaging blow yet to U.S. hopes of bringing a halt to the fighting and easing the tensions inflaming the region. It comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, vowing to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed. Netanyahu left the White House without committing to a cease fire.
Months ahead of a U.S. election, an all-out war in the tumultuous region could complicate Democrats efforts to hold on to the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has become the Democratic Partys expected nominee, has spoken forcefully for a cease fire.
The U.S. has faced repeated spasms of violence that have threatened to escalate hostilities since the beginning of the Gaza war. Iranian-backed militants attacked U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, Houthi militants have targeted international shipping in the Red Sea, and in April, Tehran launched more than 300 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel, almost all of which were shot down.
Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, has repeatedly pulled back from an all-out confrontation with Israel and the U.S., and it is possible that, despite vowing to retaliate for the latest strikes, it will again keep its response limited.
The strike in Tehran is embarrassing to Irans leadership and highlights Israeli intelligences penetration in the country, said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit based in Brussels. But it doesnt harm Irans strategic interests, and so it wont let its regional allies go all-out," he said.
Still, the killings in Beirut and Tehran push the wider Middle East conflict into uncharted territory. U.S. officials are particularly concerned about the prospect of Israel facing retaliatory attacks from Iran and Hezbollah.
On Wednesday, Iranian officials vowed to respond, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Tehran would seek revenge" for the strike in the capital. The Qassam Brigades, Hamass military wing, said in a statement that Haniyehs killing will have major repercussions across the entire region," according to an Iranian state news agency.
Mick Mulroy, who was deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East during the Trump administration, said Hezbollah and Iran would be looking for ways to retaliate, unless efforts are made to de-escalate tensions.
This is the closest the region has been to an all-out conflict in the last 10 months," he said.
Jared Malsin, Gordon Lubold, Dustin Volz, and Brett Forest contributed to this article.
The government has increased jet fuel (ATF) Price by 3,006.71/kl In Delhi to 97,975.72/kl.
The new prices will take effect from August 1, 2024.
The revised prices can be checked from IndianOil website.
Also Read | Oil Rises After US Holiday Boosts Demand for Gasoline, Jet Fuel
After the latest revision jet fuel prices for domestic airlines will cost 97,975.72/kl in Delhi, 1,00,520.88/kl in Kolkata, 91,650.34/kl in Mumbai and 1,01,632.08/kl in Chennai.
The aviation fuel prices for domestics airlines on international run will now cost $ 891.80/kl in Delhi, $ 930.50/kl in Kolkata, $ 891.06/kl in Mumbai and $ 886.64/kl in Chennai.
Also Read | Commercial LPG, jet fuel prices cut ahead of polls
Ceigall India IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of Ceigall India Limited has hit the Indian primary market today. The public issue will remain open until 5th August 2024, i.e., Monday next week. The infrastructure construction company has fixed the Ceigall India IPO price band at 380 to 401 per equity share. The book build issue is proposed for listing on BSE and NSE, aiming to raise 1,252.66 crore. Out of these 1,252.66 crore, the company aims to raise 684.25 crore by issuing fresh shares while the remaining 568.41 crore is reserved for the offer for Sale (OFS) route. Meanwhile, shares of Ceigall India Limited have become available in the grey market ahead of its subscription opening. According to stock market observers, Ceigall India shares are trading at a premium of 70 in today's grey market.
Ceigall India IPO subscription status By 3:21 PM on day one of bidding, the public issue had been subscribed 0.43 times, the retail portion of the mainboard IPO had been filled 0.63 times, and the NII portion of the book build issue had been subscribed 0.50 times.
Important Ceigall India IPO details 1] Ceigall India IPO GMP: According to stock market observers, Ceigall India shares are trading at a premium of 70 in the grey market today.
2] Ceigall India IPO price: The company has a fixed price band of the public issue at 380 to 401 per equity share.
3] Ceigall India IPO subscription date: The issue opened today and will remain open until 5 August 2024.
4] Ceigall India IPO size: The company aims to raise 1,252.66 crore. Of this, it aims to raise 684.25 crore by issuing fresh shares, while the rest, 568.41 crore, is reserved for the OFS route.
5] Ceigall India IPO lot size: A bidder can apply in lots, and one loot of the public offer comprises 37 company shares.
6] Ceigall India IPO allotment date: The tentative date for share allocation is 6th August 2024, i.e. Tuesday next week.
7] Ceigall India IPO registrar: Link Intime India Private Limited has been appointed as the official registrar of the book build issue.
8] Ceigall India IPO listing: The book build issue is proposed for listing on BSE and NSE.
9] Ceigall India IPO listing date: In the wake of the 'T+3' listing rule, the tentative Ceigall India IPO listing date is 8th August 2024.
Ceigall India IPO: Apply or not? 10] Ceigall India IPO review: Giving a 'subscribe' tag to the book build issue, Amit Goel, Co-Founder & Chief Global Strategist at Pace 360, said, Ceigall India Ltd is in the business of infrastructure and construction, specializing in structural projects such as elevated roads, flyovers, bridges, railway overpasses, tunnels, highways, expressways, and runways. It has become a preferred partner for NHAI projects and has recently partnered with Delhi Metro for rail infrastructure developments. Over the periods, it has shown impressive CAGR growth in its top and bottom lines. The issue appears to be aggressively priced based on FY24 earnings. Moreover, it is a pure long-term play given the influx of orders and the order book in hand.
"Considering a fairly valued P/E of 20.7x on the upper price band based on FY24 earnings, we advise investors to subscribe to the issue from a medium to long-term perspective. At the next-week listing, we anticipate listing gains of about 25% to the upper band issue price of Rs. 401 per share," said Parth Shah, Research Analyst at StoxBox.
"This IPO may seem like an attractive opportunity for investors. The company's long-standing history, financial stability, and prominent position in the infrastructure construction sector make it appear promising for those seeking returns. However, potential investors must exercise caution and thoroughly evaluate all aspects before committing. While Ceigall's prospects are encouraging, scrutiny and monitoring of the IPO are essential as the company continues to strengthen its foothold in the industry," said Tarun Singh, MD at Highbrow Securities.
Reliance Securities and SBI Capital Securities have also given a 'subscribe' tag to the public offer.
Rubicon Research Ltd, a pharmaceutical formulation company, has submitted draft papers to the capital markets regulator SEBI to raise 1,085 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).
According to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed on Wednesday, the IPO will include a fresh issue of equity shares worth 500 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of shares valued at 585 crore by the promoter, General Atlantic Singapore RR Pte Limited.
Currently, General Atlantic holds over a 57% stake in Rubicon Research.
Also Read | Warburg Pincus-backed Avanse Financial files fresh DRHP for IPO with SEBI
The company plans to use 310 crore of the proceeds from the fresh issue to repay debt. Additionally, funds will be allocated for inorganic growth through unspecified acquisitions, other strategic initiatives, and general corporate purposes.
Rubicon Research specializes in pharmaceutical formulations and emphasizes innovation through dedicated research and development. The company boasts a growing portfolio of specialty products and drug-device combination products aimed at regulated markets, particularly the United States.
The firm operates two USFDA-inspected research and development (R&D) facilitiesone in India and one in Canadaand two manufacturing facilities in India, accredited by several regulatory agencies including the USFDA, the Food and Drugs Administration of Maharashtra (WHO-GMP accreditation), and Health Canada.
Rubicon is one of the fastest-growing Indian pharmaceutical companies in the US market. As of March 31, 2024, the company's revenue was 832 crore, with the US contributing 97.40% of this total. Rubicon has an EBITDA margin of 20%.
Also Read | Hero FinCorp files DRHP for IPO with SEBI
According to F&S, in Fiscal 2024, Rubicon ranked among the top 10 Indian companies for total Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals. The company received 14 ANDA approvals from the US FDA in FY24, 12 approvals in FY23, and nine approvals in FY22.
As of March 31, 2024, Rubicon Research had a portfolio of 69 products approved by the USFDA, 19 new drugs awaiting USFDA approval, and 46 products in various stages of development.
JM Financial, Axis Capital, IIFL Securities, and SBI Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers for the issue.
Avanse Financial Services Ltd has filed fresh draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for an initial public offering (IPO). Due to technical reasons, SEBI recently, returned the IPO documents, as per news reports. Refiling their prospectus was at the firms' discretion.
With a focus on education, Avanse Financial Services Limited is an Indian non-banking financial organisation (NBFC). As to the Crisil study, the organisation provides a comprehensive education stack, encompassing loans for student education as well as education infrastructure loans, which act as growth capital for educational institutions.
Also Read | Hero FinCorp files DRHP for IPO with SEBI
The company's promoter, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), is Olive Vine Investment Ltd., a Warburg Pincus subsidiary. Among the institutional shareholders are affiliates of International Finance Corporation, Mubadala Investment Company, Avendus Future, and Kedaara Capital.
With a total value of 3,500 crore, the public offer consists of a new issue of equity shares up to 1,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 2,500 crore by the "Selling Shareholder" with a face value of 5 per equity share.
Equity shares from International Finance Corporation (an investor selling shareholder) up to 342 crore, equity shares from Kedaara Capital Growth Fund III LLP (an investor selling shareholder) up to 400 crore, and equity shares from Olive Vine Investment Ltd (a promoter selling shareholder) up to 1,758 crore are all on offer for sale.
As of the date of the DRHP (July,31), the promoter holds 149,394,074 Equity Shares of face value of 5 each, comprising 58.38% of the pre-Offer issued, subscribed and paid-up equity share capital of the company on a fully diluted basis.
In order to meet the company's future capital requirements resulting from the expansion of its business and asset base, Avanse Financial Services Limited plans to use the Net Proceeds to increase its capital base.
The book running lead managers for the issue are Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Avendus Capital Private Limited, J.P. Morgan India Private Limited, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Private Limited, Nuvama Wealth Management Limited (previously known as Edelweiss Securities Limited), and SBI Capital Markets Limited.
Ola Electric Mobility Ltds proposed public issue opens on Friday at a scaled-down valuation. The initial public offering (IPO) pricing values Indias largest electric scooter maker at $4 billion, about 25% discount to the valuation based on the last private funding round in September. In fact, the valuation is also sharply lower from as much as $7 billion that news reports had said the companys founder was initially aiming at, but had received investor pushback.
Cut in IPO valuation to $4 billion eases valuation risk at 6.8 times FY24 sales versus global EV peers at 3-8 times CY23," according to Incred Research Services. This makes Olas valuation closer to the higher end of global peer range.
That said, investors need to evaluate the drop in valuation in the context of continuing policy uncertainties in the sector and the relative valuation gap with Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
For Ola, policy uncertainty is a key worry. Currently, there is a subsidy of up to Rs10,000 for electric two-wheeler scooter as per EMPS 2024 till September. If the subsidy is not extended, we might again see a sudden drop in sales as was witnessed twice in the past, once in June 2023 and then April onwards.
Also Read: Ola Electrics IPO: For Bhavish Aggarwal and top employees more riches in store
Recall that in May 2023, adjustments were made to the incentives provided under the FAME II programme, reducing them to 10,000 per kilowatt-hour (kwh) and capping them at 15% of an electric two-wheeler's ex-factory price (earlier it was: 15,000 per kwh with the cap at 40% of ex-showroom price).
Olas retail sales volume, as per Vahan, in May 2023 were 28,742 vehicles and it took six months to regain this level after sales dropped sharply in June 2023. Olas sales peaked in March at 53,320 units as FAME II expired and was replaced by EMPS in April. Even after four months, sales are still at 38,887 units for July, much lower than March 2024.
Valuation gap
Olas post-issue valuation works out to a market capitalization (mcap) of 33,500 crore at the upper end of the price band of 72-76. The company is the undisputed leader in electric two-wheeler sales in India with market share of 49% based on the retail sales data of Q1FY25. Ather Energy, the next pure-play EV competitor is far behind at 7%.
Hero MotoCorp can be viewed as a proxy play on Ather, given its 40% stake in the latter. Agreed, Hero is the traditional motorcycle company, but still, the valuation premium is wide. Olas mcap works out to 7x FY24 sales from scooters, excluding trading sales, service revenue, and government incentives. The same figure for Hero, excluding spare part, is 3.5x.
Olas average selling price for FY24 was 1.4 lakh, but gross margin per vehicle was only 10,000 even after adjusting the material cost for the sale of traded goods. The corresponding numbers for Hero are 56,000 and 20,000, respectively. Ola is making net losses as it is still a new company.
Sure, some of the huge gaps in valuation can be owing to Olas own battery cell manufacturing capacity. Indeed, a part of Teslas success is attributed to it having its own battery cell manufacturing. Olas prospectus reveals that almost one-third of the production cost of EV is in the form of battery. Ola is the first company to commence operations of cell manufacturing in India on a large scale with 1.4 GWH already completed and expected to reach 5 GWH capacity by February.
Notwithstanding this benefit of lower battery cost, investors have to consider that any reduction in policy support could further delay the path to profitability. That would be a tough choice to make.
Also read | Firstcry, Ola Electric IPOs to build a club of super-rich
Mumbai: The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) plans to launch a 10-gram gold futures contract considered the benchmark for investors and traders after testing its new integrated commodity market platform.
The gold denomination contract launch will be announced "very soon," along with other new products, a senior official of the exchange said.
"We are looking forward to launch some of our approved contracts, i.e. gold 10 gm contract, which will be a monthly cycle, and two agri contracts crude sunflower oil and cottonseed wash oil," Manoj Jain, chief operating officer of the MCX, said on an analyst call after its quarterly results on Monday.
Jain attributed the delay in the launch of the 10-gm gold futures contract, despite getting approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) months ago, to the testing of its new technology platform system developed by software giant Tata Consultancy Services.
"System testing was the reason we were slightly delayed. We are hopeful you will get to know of the launch very soon," he added.
Gold traders and individual investors consider the 10-gm price the standard for the yellow metal and expect the contract to be more popular among retail traders than the existing guinea futures contract (8 gm) and the petal contract (1 gm).
"Individual investors and small jewellers aren't kicked about either guinea or the petal contracts, but they could take to the proposed 10 gm in a more meaningful way as it's the standard price quote," said Amit Modak, CEO of PNG Gadgil & Sons, which hedges its gold price risk on the exchange.
Small jewellers typically trade gold of 100-150 gm daily. Individual investors can punt or take delivery of the 10-gm contract through brokers who offer stocks and commodities under a single roof.
Standard measure
"This will be more popular among smaller traders and individuals than the other two small-sized contracts," said Kumar Jain, owner of UT Zaveri, a retail jeweller in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar gold market. Jain explained that everybody considers 10 gm to be the measure for gold prices rather than the 1 gm or 8 gm.
MCX runs the country's largest commodity derivatives segment with an almost 98% market share in commodity futures in the June quarter. It was trailed by NCDEX, a National Stock Exchange-led agri-derivatives exchange.
The exchange posted a 26% sequential jump in operating profit to 151.38 crore in Q1 and a similar rise in profit after tax to 110.92 crore. A year earlier, the MCX was saddled with heavy software costs after severing ties with technology vendor 63 moons. The contract with 63 moons ended in 2022 and the MCX migrated to the tech platform developed by TCS in October last year.
The exchange plans to launch electricity futures after a joint committee set up by Sebi and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission arrive at an agreement on the proposal. The futures will be based on spot electricity contracts regulated by CERC.
Mumbai: The surge in mutual fund inflows into sectoral and thematic funds continues to gain momentum, driven by strong domestic flows and a series of sector-specific offerings.
These sectoral and thematic funds have attracted about 42% of active mutual fund flows so far this year. In June alone, inflows into these funds reached 22,350 crore, accounting for 55% of total active flows, an 18 July research report by Elara Securities said.
Since the beginning of this year, thematic and sectoral funds have attracted 70,000 crore in inflows. Manufacturing funds have captured a significant 28% of these inflows, and infrastructure funds 8%. In absolute terms, around 19,500 crore has flowed into manufacturing funds and 5,900 crore into infrastructure funds.
The overall skew has shifted towards sectoral and thematic funds with greater urgency in Q1FY25, said Mahesh Patil, Chief Investment Officer, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. In Q1FY25 alone themes like manufacturing and infrastructure saw flows that were seen in entire FY24."
Why are thematic and sectoral funds gaining popularity?
Typically, thematic funds perform well when the economy is strong, benefitting from favourable market conditions and investor optimism. During economic expansion, specific sectors and themes that these funds focus on see heightened growth.
Investors are willing to take risks and invest in targeted strategies that capitalize on emerging trends and opportunities, leading to higher returns for thematic funds.
India's thriving economy has sparked investor interest in thematic and sectoral funds, driving their popularity, said Rahul Singh, chief investment officer - equities at Tata Asset Management.
For example, growing interest in theme-centric manufacturing funds can be attributed to several factors, including China-plus-one strategy and production-linked incentive schemes, which highlight India's long-term growth potential. Similarly, the energy sector, both traditional and renewable, is gaining momentum due to increased demand driven by factors like data centres.
So, theme or sector-specific funds have come into focus now because of the fundamental tailwinds for some sectors that were earlier not there 2-3 years back," Singh explained. Tata Asset Management has launched seven thematic funds in the past four months, and they are already seeing strong traction, he added.
A word of caution
We believe that in some of the narrow sector themes there has been some euphoric built-up based on past returns. Investors need to be careful with the risks that they are taking to generate additional returns," Patil of Aditya Birla AMC said.
Ashwini Shami, executive vice president & portfolio manager at OmniScience Capital also believes that there is euphoria in pockets like railways, defence, infrastructure, and power. However, there is also no doubt about the growth opportunities these areas offer, he added.
Certainly, there has been a noticeable uptick in thematic and sectoral funds, with fresh capital shifting away from largecap funds to these funds with more focused investment areas, Shami said.
The only tricky part is the hefty valuations," he said. Two-three years ago valuations in these high-growth sectors were subdued, but they have now moved considerably higher, he added.
Abhilash Pagaria, head of Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research, said Sebi and Amfi had brought regulations restricting mutual funds to a single scheme per category, be it midcap, smallcap or largecap.
This restriction has prompted mutual funds to capitalize on the robust economy by launching thematic and sector-specific funds. Unlike category-based funds, these thematic and sector-focused funds allow mutual funds to concentrate on specific themes or sectors regardless of their category.
With fresh capital being deployed at all-time high levels, investors should be discerning and focus on sustainable themes or sectors to avoid potential pitfalls," he cautioned.
Related Read: Why the mutual fund industry is betting on duration funds
Atul Auto, a leading player in the Indian three-wheeler market, saw its shares surge by 16% in July, continuing its bull run for the second consecutive month. This rally has propelled the stock to gain 41% in 2 months and 318% over the past two years.
In July, the stock also reached a new milestone by crossing the 800 mark for the first time, recording a fresh all-time high of 844 per share.
Atul Auto has emerged as the only player in the three-wheeler market, offering a complete range of products across all fuel types, including diesel, petrol, CNG, LPG, and electric. It is one of the youngest and fastest-growing companies in the sector. Over the past five years, its production turnover has tripled. In FY 202223, the company achieved a turnover of Rs. 467.06 crore.
The company has been strategically investing in research and development activities, with a primary focus on electric vehicles that offer the same comfort as alternate-fuel three-wheelers. Additionally, the company is in the process of launching more models and variants of alternate fuel three-wheelers with a capacity of 0.50 tonnes, supported by strong R&D efforts.
Its subsidiary, Atul Greentech Private Limited (AGPL), entered the electric vehicle market in FY23 with two electric three-wheelers, Atul Mobili and Atul Energie. During the year, AGPL collaborated with Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt. Ltd. and Valeo to develop prototype cargo and passenger three-wheelers featuring the reliable Honda Mobile Power Pack e: Swap and Valeo powertrain systems.
These prototypes were showcased at the Auto Expo 2023 in New Delhi. Atul Mobili is a passenger vehicle, while Atul Energie is a cargo variant. Both are known for their distinct looks, robust build quality, and powerful performance.
The vehicles equipped with swappable batteries will feature Valeo's integrated compact electric powertrain system. This swappable solution from AGPL will enable fleet and individual customers to lower the total cost of ownership and reduce upfront capital expenditure. according to the company's latest annual report.
In terms of recent sales performance, the company sold 2,628 vehicles in July, a remarkable 107.42% increase compared to the 1,101 units sold in the same period last year. Year-to-date, the company has sold 6,651 units, representing 116% growth compared to the 3,083 units sold during the same period last year.
Vijay Kedia's investment holding Renowned investor Vijay Kedia, through his brokerage firm, Kedia Securities Private, held a 2.71% stake in the company at the end of the June quarter. Additionally, Kedia has Atul Auto in his personal portfolio, with an 18.20% stake, according to Trendlyne shareholding data.
Retail investors closely follow Kedia's investment decisions, often seeing them as indicators of potential market opportunities. Trendlyne data revealed that Kedia had investments in 12 stocks, with a total net worth exceeding 1,687 crore.
Atul Auto is Kedia's top holding in terms of value, worth over 414 crore. This is followed by Tejas Networks, Vaibhav Global, and Neuland Laboratories, valued at 394 crore, 106.8 crore, and 125 crore, respectively.
Buy or sell stocks for today: Despite weak global market sentiments, the Indian stock market ended higher for the third day in a row on Wednesday. The Nifty 50 index finished 121 points higher at 24,978. The BSE Sensex scaled 285 points north and closed at 81,741, whereas the Bank Nifty index was 121 points higher at 51,620. Cash market volumes on the NSE were down about 8% compared to the previous day. The broad market indices rose more than the Nifty even as the advance-decline ratio rose to 1.44:1.
Vaishali Parekh's stocks to buy today Vaishali Parekh, Vice PresidentTechnical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes that the overall Indian stock market bias is positive as the Nifty 50 index is slowly and steadily inching towards the 25,000 mark. The Prabhudas Lilladher expert said that the 50-stock index has sustained above the 24,750 zone in the last two sessions, indicating strength, and will continue to move positive for the next initial target of 25,500.
Regarding stocks to buy today, Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher recommended three buy or sell stocks: Bombay Dyeing, Graphite India, and Tata Power.
Stock market today On the outlook for Nifty today, Vaishali Parekh said, "The Nifty index, after the consolidation witnessed, has shown signs of improvement, inching towards the psychological level of the 25,000 zone with bias maintained strong. We can anticipate a further rise in the coming days. The index has sustained above the 24,750 zone in the last two sessions, indicating strength, and shall carry on with the positive move for the next initial target of the 25,500 level."
"The Bank Nifty index has been sluggish for quite some time, and as mentioned earlier, a decisive breach above 52,800 would trigger a fresh upward move and scale targets of 53,500 and 55,100 in the coming days," said Parekh.
Parekh added that Nifty's immediate support today is at 24,800, while resistance is at 25,100. The Bank Nifty would have a daily range of 51,000 to 52,000.
Buy or sell stocks by Vaishali Parekh 1] Bombay Dyeing: Buy at 232.85, target 245, stop loss 227;
2] Graphite India: Buy at 532, target 565, stop loss 520; and
3] Tata Power: Buy at 453.60, target 477, stop loss 444.
Meta Platforms stock climbed nearly 9 per cent on Thursday after the Facebook and Instagram parent company reported better than expected revenue for second quarter and upbeat sales forecast for the current quarter.
At 12:04 pm EDT, Meta Platforms stock was at $505.97, higher $31.16 or 6.56 per cent.
The company reported sales of $39.1 billion for the quarter ended June 30.
For the third quarter, it expects sales of $38.5 billion to $41 billion.
Metas strong revenue growth drove a 9-point rise in its operating margin to 38 per cent.
Chief financial officer Susan Li said on Wednesday that Meta was reaping the fruits of a multi-year project to use AI to improve targeting, ranking and delivery systems for digital ads on its platforms.
Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday expounded on Metas push into the type of large language models that power AI chatbots and praised the companys AI smart glasses and virtual reality headsets.
There are all the jokes about how all the tech CEOs get on these earnings calls and just talk about AI the whole time, he said. Its because its actually super exciting and its going to change all these different things over multiple time horizons.
In April, Zuckerberg had said that smart investors would see the long-term promises of artificial intelligence and metaverse technology, even if the financial returns are years away.
Meta has been using AI to improve the way its advertisers can find interested users, adding efficiency to its most lucrative business.
Metas costs jumped 7 per cent in the second quarter.
In 2024, the company expects capital expenditure between $37 billion and $40 billion.
Meta had 3.27 billion users across all of its apps as of June 30, up 7 per cent from a year earlier.
Paras Healthcare Limited, the fifth-largest healthcare provider in terms of bed capacity in North India, Bihar, and Jharkhand, has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
As of March 31, 2024, the company operates with a total of 2,135 beds, having expanded its bed capacity by 885 over the past two fiscal years. Paras Healthcare manages eight hospitals under the Paras Health brand, located in five states and one union territory in North India.
These locations include Gurugram and Panchkula in Haryana, Patna and Darbhanga in Bihar, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Ranchi in Jharkhand, and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the company's DRHP report.
Also Read | Warburg Pincus-backed Avanse Financial files fresh DRHP for IPO with SEBI
The Kanpur hospital has the highest bed capacity, with 435 beds. The company's average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) has risen to 44,345.37 million in FY24.
Paras Healthcare focuses on providing specialized tertiary medical care in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, aiming to balance quality healthcare services with affordability. The company offers a range of clinical specialties across its hospitals, including cardiac sciences, oncology, neurosciences, gastrosciences, orthopaedics, and joint replacement.
IPO details The public offering consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to 400 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 14,974,010 equity shares by the selling shareholder." Each equity share has a face value of 1.
The offer for sale includes 2,928,320 equity shares from Dr. Dharminder Kumar Nagar (the Promoter Selling Shareholder) and up to 12,045,690 equity shares from Commelina Ltd. (the Investor Selling Shareholder). Together, these entities constitute the selling shareholders.
The company plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for the prepayment or scheduled repayment of a portion of its outstanding borrowings; investment in its subsidiaries, Paras Healthcare (Ranchi) Private Limited and Plus Medicare Hospitals Private Limited, either as debt or equity, to support the repayment or prepayment of borrowings by these subsidiaries and general corporate purposes.
Also Read | Bulkcorp International IPO oversubscribed on day 3 amid strong retail interest
ICICI Securities Limited, IIFL Securities Limited, and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Limited are serving as the book-running lead managers for this issue.
Expansion Plans in Gurugram and Ludhiana In Gurugram, the company is expanding its presence by establishing a new hospital through a long-term lease arrangement. This facility, scheduled to open in fiscal 2027, will feature 300 beds. Additionally, the company is planning its first hospital in Ludhiana, also through a long-term lease, with an expected launch in Fiscal 2028 and a capacity of up to 500 beds.
These expansions are projected to increase the companys bed capacity from 2,135 as of March 31, 2024, to 2,935 by March 31, 2029.
Furthermore, the company has acquired land adjacent to its current hospital in Panchkula for the construction of a new facility. This new hospital will have 250 beds and is expected to benefit from synergies with the existing hospital, including a shared pool of doctors and staff.
In addition to these expansion efforts, the company is exploring inorganic growth opportunities. The DRHP report indicates that the company may pursue mergers and acquisitions to enhance operational efficiency, consolidate its market position, and expand its expertise and capabilities.
Also Read | Unicommerce eSolutions IPO announces price band at 102-108 per share
Indian stock market indices opened at record high on Thursday with the benchmark Nifty 50 crossing above 25,000 level and the Sensex breaching 82,000 for the first time.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened 208 points, or 0.25%, higher at 81,949.68 and extended gains to hit a record high of 82,129.49. Nifty 50 opened at 80 points, or 0.32%, higher at 25,030.95 level on Thursday. The index hit a life-time high of 25,078.30 in early deals.
It took 24 sessions for Nifty 50 to gain 1,000 points. Bank Nifty index also gained over 119 points to open at 51,672.60.
Also Read | Nifty crosses 25000 mark: Takes 24 sessions to gain 1000 points
Broader markets supported the upmove as the Nifty Smallcap 100 and the Nifty Midcap 100 indices gained over 0.2% each.
Gains were seen in Nifty Metals, Nifty IT, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty PSU Bank indices, while Nifty Realty and Nifty Media suffered losses.
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Coal India, JSW Steel and PowerGrid Corporation were the top gainers, while Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), BPCL, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Eicher Motors were the top losers.
Indian stock market rallied following upbeat trend in global markets after the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell hinted an interest rate cut in September.
The US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left the benchmark interest rates unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50% on Wednesday for the eighth straight meeting and noted further progress towards its 2% inflation target.
Powell signalled that the Fed could cut interest rates as soon as September, saying if US inflation continues to fall, a reduction in our policy rate could be on the table" when the Fed next meets in September."
Dovish comments from the Fed Chair fueled a rally on Wall Street overnight with the three benchmark indices, including Nasdaq and S&P 500, witnessing decent gains.
Largely dovish tone from the Fed, seems like they almost cut without cutting! Jerome Powell has set the bar on a September (next FOMC) cut quite low. Good for risk-on trades - equities in general. US tech rallied last night, and investor sentiment is likely to remain buoyed in India too, said Somnath Mukherjee, CIO & Senior Managing Partner, ASK Private Wealth.
He sees good portends for equities till the end of this year.
While pockets of over-valuation remain, a supportive beta backdrop is giving opportunities to investors to systematically rotate out of heated themes/sectors (defence, railways, some of the smaller companies) into those with greater margins of safety (financials especially), Mukherjee said.
Also Read | Osho Krishan of Angel One recommends buying these two stocks today
Nifty has rallied around 11% in the last three months.
This rally is driven by healthy GDP growth, control inflation, strong domestic liquidity both from Retail as well as Institutional participants, and a progressive monsoon. Global cues have been supportive after the US Fed indicated a possible rate cut in September. We expect this positive momentum to continue going forward driven by healthy macros, Indias strong position globally, and steady corporate earnings, said Ajay Menon, MD & CEO, Broking & Distribution, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
The Nifty crossing the 25,000 mark is a significant milestone that reflects robust economic growth, political stability, and strong corporate earnings, said Anirudh Garg, Partner and Fund Manager at Invasset adding that the surge boosts investor confidence and indicates the market's positive outlook.
In the short term, we are bullish on the market and see potential for the Nifty to rise further to 26,000, driven by continued domestic consumption, infrastructure spending, and strong participation from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) alongside Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs). Retail investors have also been pouring money into the market through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), Garg said.
However, over the longer term, he expects a minor correction to stabilize the broader index, providing a healthier market environment.
Technical View Nifty can find support at 24,950 followed by 24,900 and 24,850. On the higher side, 25,100 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 25,200 and 25,250, said Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking.
According to him, the charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 51,500, followed by 51,300 and 51,200. He believes iIf the index advances further, 51,800 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 52,000 and 52,100.
Indian markets are also ready to give a strong breakout above the resistance level of 25,000. Traders holding long positions can hold and trail stop loss at 24,850 on a closing basis. Also fresh long positions can be made on dips near 24,900 with a mentioned stop loss, Mehata said.
The general public perception about the revolutionaries was a negative one at the time of the Delhi Assembly bombing (in 1929). They were being seen as misguided youth whose heinous offence could endanger Indias march towards freedom. Annie Besant described the Assembly bombing as a criminal attempt, a mad act to derail the granting of dominion status to India. Even the Delhi Assembly Bomb Cases defence lawyer, Asaf Ali, opined that although the bombing was not malicious it was an act of idealists, you may call them impatient or misguided. Gandhi, in a speech in Bezwada on 11 April, condemned the Assembly bombing because in his view: each act of violence renders the vision of swaraj more and more distant. The mad act of the two youngsters in the Assembly has made the accomplishment of Swaraj more difficult and we have distinctly gone a step backward in our striving for it.
The Tribune was also in agreement that the use of the bomb was being done by those who do not want India to make progress towards responsible government as such outrages can have no other effect except of strengthening forces of reaction and making the task of constitutional independence more difficult. However, once the trial started, the public began to see a different side of the young men. The Tribune praised the duos (Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt) exemplary attitude and the fact they observed the trial arguments with intelligent interest.
The tide of public opinion suddenly shifted when the defence lawyer, Asaf Ali read out a statement on behalf of Bhagat and Batukeshwar on 6 June 1929. The statement gave the duos reasons for bombing the Delhi Assembly. They argued that the bombs were not directed at individuals present there but the Assembly as a colonial institution. It stated that they were next to none in their love for humanity, and that they held all human life sacred beyond words. In their view, British rule was worthless, irresponsible, and autocratic, and it demonstrated nothing but Indias humiliation and helplessness. Despite claiming to be representative, institutions such as the Legislative Assembly overrode the Indian aspirations and demands with impunity. Instead of coming to the aid of the labouring poor, the legislature was contemptuous of them and passed repressive and arbitrary measures in the form of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill. The bomb aimed to make the deaf hear and it reflected the heart-rending agony of the starving and struggling millions. Their bomb, the statement claimed, heralded a new era that ended one of utopian non-violence.
This sensational statement electrified the public opinion and evinced a wave of collective emotion. It was the first of its kind public declaration in support of militant political action and one that challenged Gandhian non-violence as the bedrock of Indian civilization. Militant nationalists such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Sachindranath Sanyal had exchanged letters and participated in debates with Gandhi but no one so far had characterized his philosophy of non-violence as utopian. The statements open endorsement of radical political action proved propitious for the mill workers strike raging in Bombay that was threatening to dislocate the commercial and industrial life of the city and the undertrials of the ongoing Meerut Conspiracy Case who, following the statement, appealed to Ramsay MacDonald, the British prime minister, to repeal the anti-working class legislation, i.e., the Public Safety Bill.
The impact of their statement was also visible in the response of the Indian newspapers. Masavat believed whether Sardar Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt are offenders or not, their statement is worthy of being written in letters of gold in the history of India. These were examples amongst several local newspapers in Lahore such as The People, Bande Mataram, Pratap and Milap that lauded the duo for their courage.
'Revolutionaries On Trial: Sedition, Betrayal and Martyrdom', by Aparna Vaidik, Aleph Book Company, 442 pages, 999
After the issuing of the statement in the Delhi Assembly Bombing, the judgement of the case (announced on 12 June 1929) sentencing the duo to transportation served as the next significant moment in the turning of the tide of public opinion in favour of Bhagat and Batukeshwar. While the British press joyously hailed the verdict as a victory against communist conspiracy and one that had prevented India from playing into Moscows hands and saved India from relapsing into hideous revolutionary violence, The Tribune adopted the position that the sentence was disproportionately heavy and The People called it grotesque and vindictive. Even the Congress leaders who had initially condemned the bombing came out in support of the young men. The very next day in a massive public rally in Meerut, Jawaharlal Nehru openly declared that Bhagat and Batukeshwar could not be called cowards. His speech was rounded off with cries of Bharat Mata ki Jai. Hereafter, Naujawan Bharat Sabha began organizing public meetings in Lahore to garner support for them.
At the first meeting, Bhagat Singhs father, Sardar Kishan Singh, was invited to speak. He spoke about his conversation with Bhagat right after his sentencing where the latter had told him that even if he was hanged, he (his father) should not be sorry or shed tears. At the end of his speech, Sardar Kishan Singh received an ovation from the audience. Amidst loud shouts of Bande Mataram the meeting passed a resolution in support of Bhagat and Batukeshwar (who was now being addressed publicly as Dutt) and before the people dispersed several hundred copies of the statement made by Bhagat Singh and Dutt were distributed to the audience.
On 30 June, about 10,000 residents of Lahore gathered to celebrate the Bhagat Singh-Dutt Day several of whom were fasting in solidarity with the young men. The meeting called out the Delhi Assembly Bomb verdict for being erroneous and too severe. The volunteers distributed pictures of Bhagat and Batukeshwar as keepsakes and collected money from the audience. The pictures carried quotes from the duos statement: From under the seeming stillness of the sea of Indian humanity a veritable story is about to break out. We have given out loud enough warning and By crushing two insignificant units the nation cannot be crushed.
Across India, a period of public meetings, demonstrations and processions in support of the revolutionaries followed the successful celebration of the Bhagat Singh-Dutt day. This was especially evident in Lahore. The public gatherings had the flavour of political rallies and brought together people of all ideological shades. Even the meetings held for canvassing Gandhian principles began to invite the family members of the revolutionaries or raising slogans in their favour. Inquilab Zindabad was now being shouted out in the same breath as Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram.
Hereafter public demonstrations in support of the hunger strikers became a daily affair in Lahore. The disapproval that people had expressed at the bombing of the Assembly had become a cursory memory by this time. No longer were the HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) men thought of as hare-brained youth but as committed patriots willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Indias independence.
A new launch in Amritsar
Amritsars street food is legendary, and now the contemporary dining space has a handful of new openings. One such restaurant is the modern pan-Asian place, Shiso. It has an expansive menu with dishes from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and more. There are kimchi baos, Thai roast chicken and a range of sushi. The cocktail menu celebrates the Asian theme with drinks like Japanese-style high ball. The drinks selection has an interesting addition with house-made fruit wines such as pineapple and apple cinnamon that are shaken and stirred with cocktails.
Also read: Why Ras Al Khaimah is your culinary passport to the Middle East A pop-up at one8 Commune Bangalore in Bengaluru
This weekend, Bengalurus one8 Commune is launching a pop-up series, Commune Collective. In the first edition, it will showcase Mexican dishes with city-based chef Varun Pereira who was with the Olive hospitality group. The menu is inspired by Pereiras recent visit to Mexico, and he will be manning a live taco station for an interactive experience. Also, theres a DIY Nacho bar to engage guests. Make the most of the food by pairing it with picantes and palomas. The dessert was created in collaboration with Bengalurus famous Ulo Ice Cream. To match the Mexican theme, have a new sweet corn ice cream served in a crispy waffle taco, garnished with a choice of spicy chilli caramel popcorn or rich chocolate crumble.
A wine and cheese festival at Smoke House Deli
The all-day restaurant and cafe has a month-long festival celebrating wine and cheese across its outlets in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Dehradun and Bengaluru. Sangria is on the menu too with options like watermelon, orange and classic, among others. There is a fetching offer with a complementary cheese platter for four with a Sangria pitcher or wine bottle, and complementary cheese platter for two diners with two glasses of wine, Sangria or sparkling cocktail.
Real estate has traditionally been considered one of the safest forms of investment, with recent research pegging 10-year returns on real estate investments at 10 per cent. However, savvy investors are now diversifying their portfolios with considered luxury real estate purchases that bear the allure of even higher returns and more market stability.
Factors such as better build quality, prime locations and the world-class amenities that are synonymous with luxury real estate prove to be significant advantages for buyers, in the long term.
Better capital appreciation Luxury real estate has an enhanced potential for long-term capital growth, as these properties are often situated in prime neighbourhoods where the demand for quality housing is constantly on the uptick. The value of these luxury homes, therefore, increases steadily over time, culminating in significant gains for investors.
The plush, state-of-the-art amenities, as well as the exclusive features that are designed into modern-day luxury homes enable their value to appreciate more rapidly as compared to other real estate assets. Many buyers are also willing to pay a premium for the superior craftsmanship, amenities and location, further driving up the market value of these assets.
Also Read | Govt has no plan to reconsider real estate LTCG tax changes, says report
Stable and secure Even within the real estate sector, luxury real estate is considered especially secure. The demand for luxury homes has been observed to be the most resilient to economic uncertainties and market volatility. This can be attributed to a couple of reasons since luxury real estate is typically owned and sought by HNIs who are better shielded from economic instabilities, the value of these luxury homes remains relatively unscathed even though the broader market is experiencing a downturn.
The prime location and high quality of construction that are typical to the luxury segment ensure that these properties are deemed desirable over an extended period. Thus, luxury homes emerge as a stable and reliable asset.
Enhanced rental income The higher rentals commanded by luxury properties can be a significant source of income for investors. The value of these homes is measured not just in terms of the location and the square footage, but also in terms of how premium the build quality is and how exclusive and well-appointed the overall property is.
Luxury home tenants are extremely discerning and are willing to extend their budget in lieu of an upgraded lifestyle. Consequently, for homeowners, these properties can enhance cash flow and offer greater returns on their investment.
Also Read | Balancing your next egg: Strategic asset reallocation tips
A healthier supply-to-demand ratio The luxury real estate segment in India is being propelled upwards by several favourable factors. The countrys burgeoning millennial population, which accounts for 36 per cent of the total population of the country, contributed 54 per cent of homebuyers in 2023. This segment boasts of unprecedented amounts of disposable income, which inspires them to seek bigger homes and high-end residences.
NRI buyers are increasingly looking to India for big ticket residential purchases, inspired by the relative stability, the prestige of owning a luxury residence, and the potential for rapid appreciation in the value of these assets. As the demand for luxury housing surges, so do the relative returns that homeowners can receive from their investment.
As the luxury real estate market continues to grow and evolve, we foresee many HNIs actively investing in luxury residences. This trend is anticipated to continue an upward trajectory, making luxury real estate purchases an indispensable part of contemporary investment portfolios.
Delhi schools are closed today after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall in the national capital. Heavy precipitation yesterday evening, which continued until late at night, led to severe waterlogging in many places across the city.
A 22-year-old woman identified as Tanuja and her 3-tear-old child, Priyansh, reportedly drowned after falling into a waterlogged drain in the Ghazipur area of East Delhi.
The police said they received a call on Wednesday evening at about 8:12 pm regarding a woman and a child drowning in a drain. The drain was about 15 feet in depth and 6 feet in width, police said.
The duo were going to the weekly Budh Bazaar held in the Ghazipur Police Station area, East Delhi, and fell into the waterlogged semi-constructed drain and drowned, ANI quoted Delhi police as saying.
Adding to the woes of Delhi residents, a house in Sabzi Mandi collapsed following a cloudburst, and traffic congestion was also reported in many places across the national capital.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi, in a post on X last night, said, In light of very heavy rainfall today evening and forecast of heavy rainfall tomorrow, all schools - government and private - will remain closed tomorrow, 1st August.
Directorate of Education issued a notice dated July 31 that said, In light of the very heavy rainfall in the evening of 31st July, 2024 & subsequent waterlogging in many parts of Delhi and forecast of heavy rainfall for 1st August, 2024, all Govt., Govt. Aided and Recognised Unaided Private Schools of Delhi will remain closed on 1st August, 2024 (Thursday).
The Delhi government further urged all the Heads of Schools of Delhi to disseminate this information to teaching and non-teaching staff, students and parents.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, in a post on X, said that all schools under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will remain closed on August 1 in view of the forecast of adverse weather conditions.
The post stated, All MCD schools will remain closed tomorrow, August 1, 2024, in view of incessant rainfall in the National Capital and the forecast of adverse weather conditions.
Elon Musk, Tesla chief and Space X founder, on Wednesday accepted a challenge to fight Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on national television.
The tech billionaire took to social media platform X to respond to the Venezuelan President's challenge. He tweeted, "I accept," after a user posted a screengrab from a news daily which said the Venezuelan President was challenging Elon Musk to fight on national television.
The post's caption read, Maduro has now challenged Elon Musk to a nationally televised fight.
Also Read | X CEO Linda Yaccarino faces the pitfalls of sharing power with Elon Musk
In another comment, Elon Musk said, If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.
The war of words between Elon Musk and Nicolas Maduro has escalated amid the political unrest in Caracas.
On Monday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared that Nicolas Maduro secured 51% of the vote while the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia secured 44% in the election held on July 28. After the incumbent President Nicolas Maduro was declared re-elected by CNE without disclosure of detailed data, violent protests escalated in Venezuela, contesting the poll turnout.
Also Read | Melinda Gates criticises Elon Musk, other billionaires for lack of philanthropy
Their ideological conflicts set them apart. Nicolas Maduro is a socialist leader who emerged from his modest origins as a bus driver to govern a nation rich in oil but struggling economically.
The Venezuelan President accused the tech mogul of orchestrating attacks against his country. He alleged that the Tesla chief was involved in computer hacking at the National Electoral Council.
Also Read | Is Google meddling with US President Elections 2024?
Following Maduro's win, Elon Musk posted on X, calling the election a travesty and referring to Nicolas Maduro as a dictator. The tech billionaire also shared a 2020 announcement from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) about criminal charges against Maduro for drug trafficking.
Delhi's Patiala House Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar. The former trainee IAS officer is accused of using fraudulent means to pass the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. Khedkar's provisional candidature was cancelled by the UPSC on Wednesday.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala reserved the order after hearing arguments on Khedkar's application, which claimed that she has an imminent threat of arrest.
The UPSC filed a case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing the benefits of quota by faking her identity to take the civil services examination beyond the permissible number of attempts.
Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik, appearing for the UPSC, said, "She secured a public employment unlawfully. It would not only be an offence against the UPSC but the entire society."
What Puja Khedkar said in court? During the proceedings, Khedkar said she wanted the anticipatory bail "to establish her innocence", news agency PTI reported. She also told the court that she was being targeted for filing a sexual harassment complaint against an officer.
"I [Khedkar] filed a complaint for sexual harassment and that is why all this is being done against me. This is all happening on behest of the collector against whom I have levelled sexual harassment complaint. The person asked me to come and sit in a private room. I said I am a qualified IAS and I will not do that. I am pressing for anticipatory bail to establish my innocence," advocate Bina Mahadevan, appearing for Khedkar, said.
Mahadevan said Khedkar didn't suppress any information, and that she had wrongly mentioned the number of attempts. "I wrote five but I should have said 12. It is because I availed those attempts under a different quota. Whether it was done in good faith or not is to be inquired," she said.
"IAS Academy Mussoorie has called me (Khedkar), Pune Commissioner has called me. DoPT has given me a notice as well. I need anticipatory bail to defend myself before all these forums," Khedkar's counsel said.
Why did police seek Khedkar's custodial interrogation? Meanwhile, the prosecution opposed the bail application, claiming that Khedkar took advantage of the loopholes and changed her name. "We are at a very nascent stage. We need her custodial interrogation," public prosecutor Atul Srivastava said.
He argued that if she gets anticipatory bail, "she will not cooperate."
"She changed her father's name and her mother's name. How? The conspiracy to cheat the examination system and public at large is there. She has done immense harm to people who would have otherwise qualified," Srivastava reportedly said.
"These kinds of persons who cheat the system must be dealt with very seriously. This person has abused the process of law," he submitted, adding that the chances of her abusing the law were still there.
The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday has issued a warning for the public to stay away from riverbanks as dams release water in response to rising levels in the Beas River.
Here are the top ten updates:
1. In an official release, HP Traffic, Tourist & Railways Police said, During the monsoon season, due to unexpected heavy rains, the water level of the Beas River is rising. As a result, the Pandoh Dam, and Larji Dam will release water through their gates to manage the increased flow and silt. The Himachal Pradesh government has issued an advisory urging people to stay away from the riverbanks during this time and to ensure that children and animals are kept away as well.
2. The water level in the Beas River has increased due to heavy rains in the region.
3. Meanwhile, the regional Meteorological office has issued an 'orange' alert for Thursday, forecasting heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorms, and lightning in isolated areas across all Himachal Pradesh districts except Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti.
4. A yellow alert for heavy rain at isolated locations has also been issued for Friday, with the wet weather expected to continue until August 6. The Met office uses a color-coded warning system: green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared), and red (take action).
6. Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi told PTI that the recent rains have led to the closure of 48 roads and affected around 60 power schemes.
7. The weather office has issued warnings for potential landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas of Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla, and Kinnaur districts. Strong winds and waterlogging could damage plantations, standing crops, vulnerable structures, and kutcha houses.
8. Intermittent rain continued across parts of Himachal Pradesh, with Dharamshala receiving 127.6 mm, Una 60.2 mm, Manali 45 mm, and other areas recording varying amounts of rainfall.
9. Since the monsoon began on June 27, rain-related incidents have claimed 65 lives and caused losses of 433 crore, according to the state's Emergency Operation Centre. Kukumseri in Lahaul & Spiti was the coldest at 12.8C, while Bhuntar in Kullu district was the hottest at 36.2C.
10. Earlier on Wednesday, a footbridge and three temporary shops, including a liquor store, were swept away by a flash flood caused by a cloudburst in Tosh Nallah in Kullu district. According to Deputy Commissioner Torul S. Raveesh, there were no reported fatalities, and a team has been dispatched to assess the damage.
Clashes broke out between Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and security forces in Imphal East district, Manipur, on Thursday after tear gas was deployed to disperse a protest rally.
As reported by PTI, around 100 IDPs from the Akampat relief camp had attempted to stage a protest but were halted by security forces, leading to a confrontation.
The residents of the relief camp, carrying placards and banners, were demanding their rehabilitation and a resolution to the ongoing ethnic violence in the state. They sought to return to their homes in Moreh, Tengnoupal district, and other affected areas.
Ethnic violence in the state which started in May 2023 has so far claimed 226 lives and left over 59,000 people displaced, officials said.
Locals joined the protesters, throwing stones at security forces. The demonstration continued for about 1 kilometer before being halted at Singjamei in Imphal West district by additional security reinforcements, including CRPF personnel.
There have been reports of assaults and injuries, but the exact numbers are still unconfirmed.
On Wednesday, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh informed the assembly that the ethnic violence in the state has resulted in 226 deaths. He also reported that over 59,000 displaced individuals are currently in relief camps and 11,133 houses have been destroyed in the unrest.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When Indias finance minister presents the annual budget to Parliament, her speech is watched not just for what it includes but what it leaves out. Given the general opacity of Indian policy processes, thats often the best way to discern what the governments real priorities are.
Unusually, this years speech never mentioned military spending. Thats only one indication of how little Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who casts himself as a muscular nationalist, appears to value national defense.
During Modis first term in office, he marginally increased the proportion of federal spending devoted to the military. Yet, safely re-elected in 2019 after a confrontation with Pakistan, he has since presided over a decline.
From over 17% at the beginning of Modis first term, the share is now under 13%. In fact, defense spending has fallen below 2% of GDP for the first time in decades. Some analysts argue the budget hasnt plumbed such depths since before Indias traumatic loss to China in a 1962 border war.
And the numbers are even bleaker than they seem. Over half of Indias defense budget goes to personnel costs. The amount left for equipment purchases and overall modernization is usually too small to improve readiness significantly.
That helps explain why Modis promise issued more than six years ago to spend $20 billion on 114 new fighter jets has yet to be fulfilled. Indias air force has only three-quarters the number of planes it needs and will likely have even fewer by the end of the decade.
Worse, the government is mismanaging the dwindling cash it does spend on defense equipment. It tries to juggle multiple priorities speed, quality, local production and often winds up paralyzed.
Modis big push in recent years has been to increase indigenous defense production. That makes some sense: Recent conflicts have shown how important it is to have domestic supply chains that you can scale up swiftly.
An India that cares deeply about what it calls strategic autonomy or, more prosaically, the ability to irritate anyone you want at any time is especially wise not to rely too heavily on arms imports. Local defense production grew nearly 17% in the past financial year and is up 60% since 2019-20.
Yet within those rosy numbers a murkier picture emerges. Much of the new production is focused on things like ammunition, rather than high-tech weaponry. More importantly, state-owned giants continue to dominate the local defense industry. After five years of attempted indigenization, the private sectors share of total production value still barely tops 20%.
That does not bode well. The military thinks the public sectors systems are obsolete. Official auditors have pointed out its history of failures, delays and cost overruns. Even a hand-picked government committee suggested that state-owned defense companies shift from production to basic research.
Given limited budgets, India can ill afford to waste money on defense. The government had hoped that foreign companies might pick up some of the slack. A few years ago, it decreed that they could henceforth own 74% of an Indian subsidiary, which could be increased to 100% with special permission.
Very few foreign investors have taken up the invitation, mainly because the technology transfer requirements are far too onerous. The only company brave enough to own an Indian subsidiary completely is Swedens Saab AB, which began work earlier this year on a factory to produce its Carl-Gustaf portable rocket launcher.
The Indian army already depends on the Carl-Gustaf, so Saab was reasonably certain of its market. Others can read the budget numbers and see that the government will struggle to commit to big acquisitions.
Meanwhile, private Indian companies must incorporate the cost of creating new factories and product lines into their bids. That puts them at a disadvantage against public enterprises that rely on the state for support and basic infrastructure.
Far from levelling the playing field, the government seems to be outright suspicious of the private sector. The CFO of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., a professionally managed company and one of Indias best-known engineering firms, told the Financial Times this week that New Delhis mindset was that greater private sector involvement would mean profiteering at government expense.
Its hard to imagine exactly which enterprising profiteer would be attracted by the peanuts that passes these days for a defense budget. Modi will have to spend more, and trust more, if he is to make strategic autonomy more than a catchphrase.
More From Bloomberg Opinion:
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Mihir Sharma is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, he is author of Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion
The Central Bureau of Investigation filed its first chargesheet in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case on Thursday. The document named 13 individuals with the probe agency indicating that it was likely to file supplementary chargesheets as the investigation continued. Around 40 people have been arrested in connection with the case so far including 15 that were arrested by Bihar Police.
The chargesheet was filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and claims that the accused were involved in the paper leak and other irregularities.
CBI has utilized advanced forensic techniques, artificial intelligence technology, CCTV footage, tower location analysis and more to gather evidence against the accused. CBI is continuing further investigation against other accused or suspects and on other aspects of the case. Several other accused are already in police or judicial custody, read an excerpt from the chargesheet.
The CBI had lodged six FIRs after taking over the paper leak case in late June. The FIR from Bihar pertains to paper leak while the remaining ones from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are regarding impersonation of candidates and cheating. Meanwhile the agency's own FIR on a reference from the Union education ministry pertains to a comprehensive investigation into the alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024.
The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. The exam was held across India on May 5 and spurred an outcry following allegations of paper leaks, irregularities, and time losses. More than 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the test.
A re-examination was conducted on June 23 for 1,563 candidates who faced a time loss during the original test. More recently the Supreme Court had declined calls for a mass re-test of the controversy-ridden exam. The apex court noted that there was no evidence to conclude that the entire result of NEET-UG 2024 was vitiated.
Today marks an important event as Congress top brass Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are scheduled to visit the disaster-stricken region of Wayanad on Thursday, August 1. Take a look:
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to visit disaster-stricken Wayanad on August 1 Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Wayanad today to meet with families affected by the devastating landslide in Kerala's Meppadi, Wayanad. The landslide has tragically claimed 158 lives so far. During their visit, they will also tour the relief camps established in local schools and medical institutes.
Prior to their visit, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan conducted a meeting to assess and oversee the ongoing rescue operations in the affected areas of Wayanad.
Amid the rising death toll, the Indian Army has intensified its efforts to rescue people stranded after the landslides.
According to the Ministry of Defence, "The Army has set up a "Command and Control Centre" headed by Major General VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, along with Brigadier Arjun Segan, at Kozhikode for coordinating HADR efforts."
Delhi court to pass on Aug 1 order on Puja Khedkar's anticipatory bail In the case involving IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, a Delhi court is expected to deliver its decision on August 1 regarding her anticipatory bail plea. Khedkar faces allegations of cheating and forgery, and during the court proceedings, she asserted that she was being singled out due to her previous complaint of sexual harassment against a senior officer.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala reserved the order after hearing arguments from both sides. Khedkar argued that she faces a significant risk of arrest, while the prosecution countered by accusing her of manipulating the system.
The court's forthcoming decision will determine whether Khedkar is granted anticipatory bail in light of the charges against her.
All schools are closed in Delhi amid heavy rainfall Delhi Education Minister Atishi announced that all schools will remain closed on Thursday in the city after it was lashed by heavy rain.
The minister, in a post on X, said, In light of the very heavy rainfall this evening and the forecast of heavy rainfall tomorrow, all schools both government and private will remain closed on August 1st.
The rain led to massive waterlogging and traffic disruption, unleashing chaos on roads on Wednesday evening. The downpour has severely affected the city's infrastructure, with vehicles stranded on flooded roads.
Paris Olympics 2024: Day 6 schedule for India On the sixth day of the Paris Olympics 2024, India has multiple athletes poised for medal contention across different events. Shooter Swapnil Kusale aims to secure India's third medal at the Games in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final.
Meanwhile, in track and field, Paramjeet Singh Bisht, Akashdeep Singh, Vikash Singh, and Priyanka will kickstart Indias campaign in their respective race walk events, looking to bring home medals for their country.
India's contingent at the Olympics has an exciting schedule lined up:
Swapnil Kusale: He will be competing in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final, aiming to secure a medal for India in shooting.
Nikhat Zareen: She will be in action, representing India in her respective event. Details about the specific event she is participating in were not provided in your query, but Nikhat Zareen is known for her achievements in boxing.
Q1 results on August 1 Several companies listed will be reporting their quarterly earnings on Thursday, August 1. Here is the list:
Fatima Latifova
During a working visit to USA, Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special assignments Elchin Amirbayov met with Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director for Europe at NSC Michael Carpenter, Azernews reports, citing the post shared by Azerbaijan's Embassy to US on its official "X" account.
"Constructive and useful discussions were held covering bilateral Azerbaijan and USA agenda, current state of affairs in the Azerbaijan and Armenia peace process and recent developments in the region" post reads.
A Congress leader was linked to an immigration scam on Wednesday accused of being part of a group manipulating the US H-1B visa lottery system through multiple registrations. An explosive Bloomberg report tagged Kandi Srinivasa Reddy a Congress candidate for the Telangana Assembly elections as the man behind the scheme.
Numerous companies linked to Reddy had worked to exploit a loophole in the streamlined lottery process (introduced in 2020) generating multiple tickets for the same worker. Companies owned or controlled by the Congress leader entered the lottery more than 3,000 times and managed to win over 300 H-1B visas in the past four years.
Reddy however told Bloomberg during a brief telephonic interaction that he was merely a registered agent for the companies and has little involvement in them. The assertion however contradicts previous comments made by the businessman including his claim before Texas authorities that he was the CEO of Cloud Big Data. An affidavit filed with election officials in India and business registry documents in the US also show that he or his wife own or control all the companies in question.
While Reddy may have led the scam reports suggest that thousands of other staffing firms have now caught on to the trick. According to Bloomberg estimates, companies that used the multiple registration tactic pulled in about 40,000 H-1Bs over four years.
To put that number into perspective, around 446,000 people sought H-1B visas in 2023 with only 85,000 being available. Reportedly, more than 11,600 visas went to multinational outsourcing companies, with vast overseas workforces that flood the lottery with entries. Another 22,600 went to IT staffing firms.
The lottery maneuvers changed not only the kind of companies winning H-1B visas but also the kind of workers being admitted to the US. The median salary at a staffing firm last year was about $90,000, the data show, compared with $125,000 for regular employers. Reddys recruits made about $87,000, the Bloomberg report added.
More than 200 people were killed on Tuesday as rain-induced landslides struck Wayanad in Kerala. Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi visited the disaster-affected areas in Chooralmala with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, urged Home Minister Amit Shah to tag the incident as a 'calamity of severe nature' under MPLADS guidelines.
According to our information, more than 200 deaths have taken place. Bodies are being recovered, and over 200 people are injured. On the first day, 150 people were rescued, and we are still conducting the search and rescue operation. As of now, there are sufficient teams of the Indian Army, NDRF, Fire Services, IAF, ICG, and others on the spot, and a review meeting was held by the Kerala CM and other officials, DIG Shahidi told ANI.
Rescue operations led by the Indian Army continued at three locationsAttamala, Mundakkai, and Chooralmalaon Thursday afternoon.
Former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress party's likely candidate for the upcoming bypolls, Priyanka Gandhi, landed at Kannur airport at 9.30 am before heading to Wayanad by road. Visuals shared online showed the two Congress politicians making their way through the waterlogged terrain in Chooralmala alongside Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.
We are focusing on the hope of rescuing some people still because the truth is 200 lives have been lost, but still another 200 people are missing. Two villages have disappeared from the map in this severe crisis. The Union Home Minister said that the early warning was issued, but the CM said that the warning was not sufficiently serious; it was a green or orange alert and not a red alert. All of these things can be disputed later. Eventually, preventive measures are required. I don't want to get into a political debate, Shashi Tharoor told reporters.
India has issued an advisory for its nationals in Lebanon over potential threats.
Indians have also been advised not to travel to Lebanon until further notice.
The advisory was issued in the wake of growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
In view of recent developments and potential threats in the region, Indian nationals are strongly advised against travelling to Lebanon till further notice. All Indian nationals are also strongly advised to leave Lebanon, the advisory read.
Those who remain for any reason are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their email ID cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, it further said.
Also Read | Hezbollah fighters shoot down an Israeli drone in Lebanon and fire rockets at an Israeli base
Since October 8 last year, violence has flared across the border between Israeli troops and Hezbollah.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah's top military commander Fouad Shukur was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut.
Israel killed Shukur, 61, in retaliation for a July 27 rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.
The Israeli military said Shukr was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precision-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets and drones.
On Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinates in Iran.
Shukur was a founding member of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group who helped oversee its expansion from a shadowy Lebanese civil war militia to a major force in the Middle East.
His killing is the heaviest blow to Hezbollah's command since the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, underlining the gravity of this week's escalation in the conflict, which has been rumbling across region since the Gaza war erupted.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Delhi Police on Thursday, August 1, regarding a bail plea filed by Bibhav Kumar, an aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Bibhav Kumar was arrested in May following assault allegations made by AAP MP Swati Maliwal, NDTV reported. The AAP MP accused Bibhav Kumar of thrashing her in Kejriwal's residence.
The next hearing on the matter has been set for August 7. Earlier, the Delhi High Court and a trial court denied bail to Bibhav Kumar, who is in judicial custody until July 16.
Also Read | Delhi HC seeks police stance on Bibhav Kumars bail in Maliwal assault case
Bibhav Kumar is charged with criminal intimidation, assault or use of criminal force with the intent to disrobe a woman and attempt to commit culpable homicide in addition to disappearing evidence and giving false information.
The apex court, during the brief hearing this morning, said, "We normally grant bail... we grant bail to murderers and killers". It further noted, Look at the FIR. She (Ms Maliwal) was crying (during the assault). The court seemed unconvinced by arguments that Bibhav Kumar gave and called him a goon while considering the possibility that he would influence witnesses if granted bail.
The Supreme Court said Swati Maliwal assault case: He (Bibhav Kumar) assaulted her even after she told about her physical conditions, reported PTI. It added, "He (Bibhav Kumar) acted like some goon has entered the official residence of CM."
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Bhibhav Kumar, said, The Incident was on May 13. The FIR was lodged on May 16... the story in the FIR is strange. She went to the police station on the first day but came back (Ms Maliwal did not file a police complaint or make a statement on that day). She did not lodge the FIR. A FIR was lodged with injuries three days later, reported NDTV.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat has explained why the roof of a lobby in the new Parliament building leaked during heavy rains in Delhi on Wednesday, July 31. The secretariat said that the adhesive that was used to fix the glass domes over the lobby got displaced during the rains, causing leakage.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat released a statement after a video surfaced on social media, showing a bucket placed on the floor of Parliament to collect water dripping from the lobby's ceiling. The footage led to reactions and jibes from the Opposition over the significant expense involved in building the new Parliament.
.In this regard, it is worth mentioning that keeping in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the Building, including in the Lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilized in day to day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said. Delhi rains LIVE updates
It further stated that the problem was detected and fixed, adding that no leakage has happened since. The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately. Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed. Similarly, accumulated water opposite Makar Dwar also got drained out quickly, the secretariat said.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh took a swipe at the saffron party, saying people are thinking if this was a well thought out plan of the ruling government, while hailing the sturdy old Parliament building.
In a post in Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav said, The old Parliament was better than this new Parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old Parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the Parliament built with billions of rupees.
August 1 was a whirlwind of events and developments across the political, sports, and business worlds. Some major companies released their Q1 earnings, while political parties exchanged sharp jibes at each other. In short, the day was anything but uneventful. We have listed some major news events that happened today, check them out.
ZOMATO Q1 NET PROFIT JUMPS Food delivery company Zomatos net profit surged to 253 crore in the quarter ended June from 2 crore a year ago on the back of higher gross order value across its food delivery, quick commerce, and going-out verticals. The company reported a consolidated quarterly revenue of 4,442 crore against 2,597 crore a year earlier. Click here to read more on Zomato Q1
TATA MOTORS Q1 NET PROFIT RISES Tata Motors announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2024-25 (Q1FY25) on Thursday, August 1, reporting a rise of 74 per cent in consolidated net profit at 5,566 crore, compared to 3,203 crore in the corresponding period last year. India's leading auto major's revenue from operations rose six per cent to 1.08 lakh crore in the first quarter of current fiscal. Read here for more
HAMAS MILITARY CHIEF ELIMINATED, SAYS ISRAEL Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Thursday, August 1, that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif has been eliminated. Mohammed Deif was also considered to be one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack on southern Israel when the Hamas militants stormed into the neighbouring territory, killing and abducting hundreds. According to the reports, 58-year-old Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 13. It was an audio tape broadcast where Mohammed Deif named the October 7 raid Al-Aqsa Flood.
NIFTY SHINES AT 25,000 The Indian stock market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, achieved fresh closing highs on Thursday, August 1, marking their fifth consecutive session of gains. The upward momentum was primarily driven by strong performances from index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. The Sensex hit its fresh all-time high of 82,129.49, and the Nifty 50 made a fresh peak of 25,078.30 during the session.
HIMACHAL PRADESH CLOUD BURST, 5 DEAD A cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh killed at least five people and left approximately 50 others missing. According to the state emergency operation centre, the affected areas included Nirmand, Sainj, and Malana in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi, and Rampur in Shimla districts. Want to read more? Click here for the full story
Google Doodle Today: Google dedicated the 1 August edition of the search engine logo to the spectacular surfers participating in the Paris Olympics 2024.
Continuing with its key theme of birds being represented as athletes in previous doodles, today's Google Doodle GIF showed a bird surfing on water inside a man-made structure. However, the surfing board was replaced with a tree leave.
Google Doodle Today: The search engine logo celebrated the art of surfing during the ongoing
Today's edition of Google Doodle is visible in more than 100 countries as the surfing event continues in Paris. The surfing events set to take place on Thursday were postponed due to unfavourable weather and stormy weather conditions at the Olympic surfing venue of Teahupo'o in Tahiti on Wednesday.
The surfing events were cancelled at the Olympic surfing venue on Wednesday after an initial call to run, with conditions still super challenging after a storm swept though the region, forcing organisers to put the event on hold.
The stormy weather followed Tahiti coast after delivering some of the best conditions ever seen for a competition for the men's round three surfing competition on Monday. However, strong winds ripped through the lineup and continued into Tuesday.
However, due to unfavourable conditions, one-and-a-half days of competition remain now, which means a finish is more likely at the weekend. Running for a half day on Wednesday would have allowed organisers to complete the competition and crown medallists on Thursday.
The surfing events will restart with women's round three action, in which Australian world champion Tyler Wright will compete against Israel's Anat Lelior before local favourite Vahine Fierro takes on countrywoman Johanne Defay in heat two.
Uttarakhand news: Uttarakhand State Disaster Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman on Thursday informed that over 10 people were dead after heavy rains damaged concrete bridge and footbridge on the Kedarnath route, reported ANI.
"All the routes of Chardham are open, only the footpath in Kedarnath has been obstructed. 100 other routes are obstructed; efforts are being made continuously to open them" ANI quoted the State Disaster Secretary as saying.
A cloudburst damaged roads to and from Kedarnath, following which pilgrims were stranded. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) informed that 571 Kedarnath pilgrims trapped between Sonprayag and Gaurikund have been rescued. However, around 1500 continue to be trapped because of the landslides which is about 2 km from Sonprayag. Choppers are being used to evacuate pilgrims stuck between Gaurikund and Kedarnath.
The India Metrological Department issued an orange alert in the state, predicting the possibility of heavy showers. On Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhamiinspected the disaster-affected areas and held a review meeting with officials at the State Emergency Operation Centre to take a stock of the situation. Day-to-day activities of residents were disrupted in areas affected by heavy rainfall. Ongoing rescue and relief operations in Rambada, Bhimbali, and Jakhaniyali were also hampered by continuous downpours.
"We received information about the disruption of life in many areas across the state. Consequently, rescue teams worked through the night to move people to safer locations," ANI quoted the Chief Minister as saying.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have also been brought in for assistance, and rescue teams are on high alert.
Pushkar Singh Dhami said, I have directed officials to assist those affected by the heavy rainfall and to relocate individuals endangered by rising rivers and drains to safer places. Everyone has been instructed to stay vigilant, after the meeting.
DGP Abhinav Kumar said that IMD has issued an alert for heavy rain in most districts of Uttarakhand and urged pilgrims to be cautious. He appealed to devotees to start their journey only after breaks, stay in safe places and follow local authorities' instructions.
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is in hiding and fearing for her life, she wrote in an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal.
I could be captured as I write these words, Machado wrote in the article, published Thursday. Her words come a day after President Nicolas Maduro said she and her stand-in candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, should be behind bars.
She again emphasized that Gonzalez was the rightful winner of Sundays presidential election, and called on the international community to help Venezuela.
We Venezuelans have done our duty. We have voted out Mr. Maduro, she wrote. Now it is up to the international community to decide whether to tolerate a demonstrably illegitimate government.
She said that repression by the government must stop immediately, so that an urgent agreement can take place to facilitate the transition to democracy.
The international community has long applied sanctions on Venezuela to weaken and potentially unseat Maduro with no success. So far after Sundays election, the US and other Latin American nations have said Maduro needs to provide proof of his self-declared win by showing ballot tabulations.
Instead of hiding, Machado and Gonzalez should appear before the prosecutors office, Maduro said Wednesday, building on top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguezs call for her arrest after Venezuelans took to the streets to protest this week.
Machado said most of her team is also currently in hiding, and six of her top aides who had taken refuge in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas fear an imminent raid, she said. Maduro has promised to respect the sovereignty of the embassy, which Brazil took custody of Thursday morning. Argentinas embassy staff had been expelled by Maduro, who also gave diplomats from Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic until Friday to leave.
Amid speculation of a potential arrest, Costa Rica on Tuesday offered political asylum to Machado, Gonzalez and all those facing persecution, including her aides at the Argentinian embassy.
At the time, Machado said she was grateful but said her duty was to continue fighting along Venezuelan people. It remains unclear if she accepted or will accept the proposal. Her press team didnt immediately reply to a request for comment.
(Updates throughout with details of Maduros comments against Machado.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
The Opposition parties are taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after some videos showed water 'leaking' from the roof of the new Parliament building as heavy rains lashed Delhi on Wednesday, July 31. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh took a swipe at the saffron party, saying people are thinking if this was a well thought out plan of the ruling government, while hailing the sturdy old Parliament building.
Akhilesh Yadav also shared a video of a lobby of the new Parliament building where a bucket was kept on the floor to collect the water dripping from its roof. The lobby is reportedly built at the cost of 1,000 crore.
In a post in Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav said, The old Parliament was better than this new Parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old Parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the Parliament built with billions of rupees.
In another jibe at the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said people are asking whether water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their well thought out design or
NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING ROOF WATER LEAK: VIDEO
Congress' Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore also posted on X a video of water leaking from the roof and said, Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said, New parliament lobby is leaking water. Given the building is a monstrous edifice to Narendra Modi's ego it is only fitting that it has got shaky post 2024 lok sabha results. Bharat Mandapam leaks another case in point.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two alleged co-conspirators have entered into plea agreements, which will spare them from the death penalty. As a result, there will be no trial seeking capital punishment for Mohammed and his associates.
The man accused of being the main plotter in al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said on Wednesday.
According to news agency PTI, the US announced that it has entered into a pre-trial deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti-Pakistani engineer, and two other co-accused Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al Hawsaw in the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
They have spent almost two decades in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The agreement was reached after 27 months of negotiations.
It takes the death sentence off the table for the three accused, prosecutors said in a letter sent to the families of 9/11 victims and survivors shortly before the Department of Defense announced the news in a press release on Wednesday.
According to the letter obtained by CNN, Mohammed and his co-defendants will enter guilty pleas at a plea hearing that could come as early as next week.
The settlement agreements with the Pentagon bring partial closure to a case that has dragged on for years and become mired in legal delays over whether the evidence extracted through torture during their interrogations was admissible in court.
On September 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane struck the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth plane, heading to Washington, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back with the hijackers.
Many family members of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks want the 9/11 defendants put to death. Since a trial became increasingly unlikely, plea bargains were widely viewed as the only way to resolve the case, the US media reported.
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case, the US Department of Defence said in a press release.
The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time, it said.
The three accused, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, and then were again charged jointly and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, the release said.
The letter says that the families now have 45 days to submit questions to be answered by the alleged co-conspirators by the end of the year.
Before his birth, Mohammed's parents immigrated to Kuwait from Pakistan's Balochistan province. Mohammed, a US-educated engineer, was captured on March 1, 2003, in Pakistan and held with other Al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Prosecutors argued that he came up with the idea of hijacking and flying planes into US buildings to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and later helped recruit and train some of the hijackers.
Meanwhile, an official with Amnesty International USA called the pre-trial agreement "welcome news" that will prompt some accountability for the 9/11 attacks and justice for its victims and survivors.
We are also pleased that there is finally an outcome for at least some of the accused, who were tortured and then languished in detention without trial for more than two decades, Daphne Eviatar, director of the group's Security with Human Rights programme, said on Wednesday.
Eviatar said the announcement should mark the beginning of the end for the military prison.
The Biden administration has sought to close the Guantanamo prison facility quietly. By last year, the number of people held at the facility was 30, down from the nearly 800 who were there at its peak, NBC News reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will hold a phone call on Thursday. The two leaders are likely to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East, Axios reported on Thursday, citing an official in Netanyahu's office.
Netanyahu and Biden may hold a conversation amid escalating tension between Iran and Israel. Iran and Palestinian militant group Hamas vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has been blamed for the assassination. Israel, however, has not yet taken responsibility for the killing.
A day later on Thursday, Israel confirmed the death of the head of Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month.
As Israel remains on a high state of alert, Israeli PM Netanyahu said on Thursday, "Israel is very prepared for any scenario - both defensively and offensively."
"We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena," the prime minister was quoted by Reuters as saying.
It is expected that Iran or its allies will retaliate for the killing of senior leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas this week.
Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah vowed on Thursday a "definite" response to Israel's killing of its top military commander, saying the strike had crossed red lines and the decades-old rivalry between foes had entered a new phase.
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"The resistance cannot but respond. This is definite," said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in a televised address to mark the funeral of the slain commander, attended by mourners clad in black waving the group's yellow-and-green flag.
Just hours after Shukr's killing, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran in an attack widely blamed on Israel but that Israel has not officially taken responsibility for.
Japans carmakers are putting the finishing touches on a combine-and-compete strategy for an automotive age defined by batteries and software, with three manufacturers joining forces to complement a separate Toyota Motor Corp.-led coalition.
Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. agreed this week to build upon a preliminary deal first reached in March, offering more details of how they plan to work together and also adding Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to the mix. While the companies havent yet discussed a capital alliance, forming one is a possibility, Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said.
The partnership will span joint work on software development, batteries and other electric-vehicle components, as well as EV charging and energy services, the three companies said. Their cozying up to one another follows Toyota acquiring stakes in Subaru Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., and helping them navigate a fraught era for legacy car companies.
Whereas Toyota has tied up with its domestic peers from a position of strength its been the worlds best-selling automaker for four years running Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi each are much smaller players on the global stage. Their coming together is seen as a move by Japans government to fortify its auto industry in the wake of China having emerged as the worlds new No. 1 car exporter.
This is coordinated by the government to build a competitive automaking industry, said James Hong, analyst at Macquarie Securities Korea Ltd., adding that most automakers in Japan are too small to be able to invest in EVs individually. It feels like a politically driven alliance.
While the US has had the Big Three General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, now owned by Stellantis NV and Germany similarly has a trio in Volkswagen Group, BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz, Japan has a much bigger crop of carmakers manufacturing vehicles across the globe.
Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi combined sold about 4 million vehicles globally in the first six months of the year, well shy of the 5.2 million that Toyota sold on its own. While the three touted the potential for generating synergies from working together, executives also acknowledged theyll have to overcome contrasts with their compatriots.
Although we have different cultures, we share the same challenges, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida said at a news conference with Mibe.
Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi have been behind the curve in moving to what automakers increasingly refer to as software-defined vehicles, which run on code as much or more than cars of the past were powered by combustion engines. The Japanese government set a target last month for its companies to account for 30% of the software-defined vehicle market in 2030.
In addition to working together in software fields including automated driving, connectivity and artificial intelligence, the automakers may share battery specifications and supply. Honda and Nissan also are looking at re-badging one others cars, which both combustion-engine and battery-powered vehicles under consideration. The two didnt offer specifics on particular models or outline how they may complement one another by region.
Honda has announced plans to invest 10 trillion on electrification this decade, while Nissan brings to the table the knowhow of having introduced the first fully electric car of the modern age the Leaf in 2010. Mitsubishi Motors excels in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and has a strong position in Southeast Asia.
China is also a key factor behind the Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors partnership. All of Japans automakers have been losing share in the worlds largest auto market, largely due to the rising popularity of EVs.
In June, Honda and Nissan sales fell about 40% and 27%, respectively, in China following the shutdown of some of their local plants. Last week, Honda decided to cut production of gasoline cars there by 19%. Mitsubishi Motors exited last year.
Honda and Nissan have been struggling in China, and they will have to make more EVs to be able to stay there, said Tatsuo Yoshida, senior auto analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. The alliance therefore makes sense.
For Nissan, the deal with Honda signals further deemphasis of the companys alliance with Renault SA. While the French manufacturer saved Nissan more than two decades ago with a cash injection and by bringing in former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, theyre now in the process of equalizing their cross-shareholdings and unwinding aspects of their decades-long cooperation.
Mitsubishi joined the alliance in 2016, when Nissan made an investment in the smaller carmaker. Nissan currently owns about a third of the company.
The Honda-Nissan partnership will be on a more equal footing than what Nissan experienced with Renault, according to Seiji Sugiura, analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory Co.
Nissan couldnt resist whatever Renault said, Sugiura said, adding that they will now be able to leverage each others strengths. They werent really equal partners, he said.
Honda had been working with General Motors Co. on electric powertrains and software, but called off its plans last year to develop small EVs. Nissans relationship with Renault, which was always tense, deteriorated further after Ghosn was arrested in 2018 on charges of overstating his compensation, which hes denied.
Leader Kim Jong Un plants his feet in mud, rides a cramped rubber rescue boat on a swollen river and directs military helicopters unloading evacuees on a rain-soaked runway.
North Koreas propaganda apparatus is breaking new ground in the way it has portrayed him battling alongside ordinary citizens as he tackles a flood emergency that has devastated a northwestern area of the country and is estimated to have caused a considerable human toll, according to the South Korean ministry that manages relations with the neighbor.
That discrepancy could mean his governments trying to shift the blame for a disaster that may be bigger than reported. The state media photos convey the message that Kim cares deeply for his people and their unusual hands-on settings may also be intended to enhance the cult of personality around the leader.
Kims recent activities are unimaginable for North Korea, said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at South Koreas state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.
The city of Sinuiju, a trade hub connected to China by bridge, and the nearby county of Uiju were hit by torrential rains and floods in the last week of July. The downpours have damaged about 4,100 homes, swept over roads and rail links, and wiped out about 3,000 hectares of farmland, according to North Korean state media reports.
About 5,000 people have been rescued, according to the official Korean Central News Agency, which has not reported any deaths. KCNA has gone to great lengths to showcase Kims involvement, saying he has been at an airstrip to direct military helicopter flights to shuttle people to safety.
The rescued people saw him waiting for them at the violent rainy airport so unexpectedly and broke into cheers, shedding tears of boundless gratitude and emotion, KCNA said.
The flooding started at around the time Kim was celebrating the July 27 anniversary marking the end of fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War at a Pyongyang event that included a musical gala.
The exact number of casualties was not immediately known, but South Korean media outlet TV Chosun reported at least hundreds were estimated to have been killed, citing a government source it did not identify. North Korean media hasnt mentioned any deaths.
The area is a major producer of grain and any loss of cropland adds to food insecurity in a country where the United Nations World Food Program has said about 40% of the population is undernourished.
Nonetheless, the disaster comes as Kim rides high, with the countrys sanctions-hit economy on the mend. The US and South Korea have said materials and food are flowing in from Russia in exchange for munitions Pyongyang is supplying to Moscow to supports its assault on Ukraine.
The flooding will not negatively affect Kims leadership. In fact, although it will have a negative impact on the economy, it will be a good leadership propaganda opportunity, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center.
The images in state media show Kim looking through a rolled-down window from a vehicle driving through floodwaters to survey the damage. Hes also shown aboard a crowded boat without a life jacket.
There is no better way to underscore Kim as being in complete control of the situation and caring for the people, even at the expense of his own comfort, by showing photos and videos of the leader being in command on the ground, wading through water, or riding a rubber boat across flooded areas, said Lee, who has worked as an analyst for the CIAs Open Source Enterprise.
Kim has already sought to redirect blame by sacking the countrys public security minister and is proposing to punish others, KCNA reported.
The North Korean leader has previously been shown as directing disaster rescue operations. But it is rare for the countrys tightly controlled media to show images of him enduring such uncomfortable and even dangerous conditions.
Kim Jong Un gets the same as any politician does in any country when they turn up at a disaster site: The image that they are in control, taking a personal interest in the lives of the people and caring for those affected by the disaster, said Martyn Williams, a senior fellow for the Stimson Centers Korea Program. State media doesnt seem afraid to also show him getting a little dirty.
Turkey announced a major prisoner swap on Thursday, involving Russia, Belarus, and five Western countries. Among the 26 prisoners released in Ankara were US reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan. Evan Gershkovich was released just a few days after he was sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in prison for espionage.
Turkey also said that it was the most extensive prisoner exchange between the United States, Russia, and Germany in recent years.
In return for the prisoner swap, 10 Russians that included two minors were handed over to Moscow, said a statement released by the Turkish presidency. Among the prisoners was Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin who was jailed for criticising Russia war on Ukraine.
Thirteen of the detainees freed by Russia went to Germany and three to the United States. All prisoners were transported to Ankara from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Belarus and Russia.
The prisoners were transported to Turkey by a total of seven aircraft, including two from the United States and one each from Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Russia, as part of the prisoner exchange operation, the statement read, adding, All the prisoners have been disembarked and put in a safe place under the supervision of the MIT.
Evan Gershkovich was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US. The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, he moved to the country in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022.
For the final six months of his term, President Joe Biden has prioritized securing the release of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, making it a central focus of his foreign policy agenda.
In his Oval Office address to the American people discussing his recent decision to drop his bid for a second term, he had said, We're also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
After the major prisoner swap, President Joe Biden said it was a feat of democracy.
Russia freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as well as jailed Kremlin critics in the largest prisoner exchange with the West in decades, in return for a prized assassin sought by President Vladimir Putin.
Now, their brutal ordeal is over and theyre free, US President Joe Biden said at a White House appearance with family members of some of the released prisoners. The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship.
The swap, which took place on the airport tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, included two dozen people, 16 going to the West and eight being returned to Russia. Among them were other American citizens as well as Russians convicted of crimes and imprisoned in the US, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia.
One of those was Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a Chechen separatist in a Berlin park. German authorities had long resisted including him in any exchange because of the brazen nature of his crime, but Putin had made his release a top priority.
In addition to Gershkovich, who was arrested in March of last year while on a reporting assignment in Russia and later convicted of espionage charges he and the Journal reject Russia also let go former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was jailed in 2018 and later convicted on spying charges he denies. The US had categorized both men as unlawfully detained and had been seeking their release.
Russia also freed Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual Russian and US citizenship, who was convicted last month under the Kremlins strict wartime censorship laws.
Such prisoner swaps are one of the few remaining areas of diplomatic cooperation between the US and Russia after Moscows 2022 invasion of Ukraine poisoned relations. US officials accuse the Kremlin of taking Americans hostage to win the release of Russian agents and others held in US prisons. Moscow denies that.
Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way, and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. Its the culmination of many rounds of complex, painstaking negotiations.
US officials described the swap as a success of their long-running efforts to win the release of Americans unjustly held abroad. Moscow insisted on the release of Krasikov in exchange for Gershkovich and Kurmasheva, the US said.
The German government did not take this decision lightly, Steffen Hebestreit, Chancellor Olaf Scholzs chief spokesman, said in a statement Thursday. The states interest in enforcing the prison sentence of a convicted criminal was balanced against the freedom, physical well-being and - in some cases - ultimately the lives of innocent people imprisoned in Russia.
The exchange represents a major victory for Putin, whod repeatedly pressed for Krasikovs release in the face of opposition from Germany. By freeing the killer, Putin, a former KGB officer, showed his security service agents and others working for the Kremlin abroad that he wont abandon them and will do whatever is necessary to secure their return, even amid the greatest confrontation since the Cold War between Russia and the West over his invasion of Ukraine.
Putin wanted a deal before the elections because after that, all the meticulous preparatory work involving several governments could have been buried, said Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the political consultancy R.Politik, referring to the November US presidential vote. For Putin this will be confirmation that the Americans can be flexible and pragmatic when they need something.
Putin demonstrated his commitment to get his agents out with the December 2022 release of the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the merchant of death, whod been sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in US prison. The Biden administration freed him in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner who was given nine years by a Russian court after customs officials at a Moscow airport found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage in February that year.
Putin said in June that Russian and US intelligence services were in contact and that the Biden administration was taking energetic steps to secure Gershkovichs release.
Former President Donald Trump, who once predicted Gershkovich would not be released unless he won the November election, criticized the deal as too favorable to Russia.
Our negotiators are always an embarrassment to us! Trump posted on his social media site.
Asked about Trumps claim that he could have freed the wrongfully detained Americans without giving up anything in exchange, Biden replied, why didnt he do it when he was president?
The latest exchange, which Turkish officials said saw two minors sent back to Russia along with the adults, included the release to the West of a number of Russian opposition figures, whove faced an intensifying Kremlin crackdown in recent years. Earlier this year, the two sides were close to an agreement that would have seen the release of Alexey Navalny, Russias most prominent opposition leader, but he died suddenly in prison before it could take place.
The swap included Kremlin critics Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, as well as Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Memorial human rights group that jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Russian authorities also released three other jailed dissidents, pro-democracy activists Liliya Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeyeva and artist Alexandra Skochilenko.
One American who wasnt freed is Marc Fogel, a 63-year-old history teacher in Moscow who was sentenced to 14 years in 2022 after a Russian court convicted him of smuggling cannabis. He said he was carrying marijuana for medical purposes. US officials said efforts were continuing to secure his release.
In Thursdays swap, Russia also released Kevin Lik, a dual German and Russian national, who was serving a four-year prison sentence for treason for an act he allegedly committed when he was 16. As part of the deal, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Putins closest ally, on Tuesday pardoned a German citizen, Rico Krieger, whod been convicted and sentenced to death in June for mercenary activity on behalf of Ukraine.
Read More :US Catches Kremlin Insider Who May Have Secrets of 2016 Hack
The US released several Russians convicted on a variety of criminal charges. Among them was Vladislav Klyushin, a Kremlin-linked technology consultant serving a 9-year sentence for insider trading, Roman Seleznev, the son of a prominent Russian politician who was serving a 27-year sentence for cybercrime, and Vadim Konoshchenok, jailed on suspicion of violating US sanctions against sending military technologies to Russia. The US alleged Konoshchenok had ties to Russias Federal Security Service.
Polish authorities released Pavel Rubtsov, jailed on espionage charges, as part of the deal, while Norway let go Mikhail Mikushin, an academic who was accused of spying.
In Slovenia, meanwhile, two Russians detained as spies in 2022 pleaded guilty at a closed trial in Ljubljana and were released as part of the deal.
With assistance from Alexey Anishchuk.
Israel's recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, following the killing of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, threatens to further escalate a conflict that has already lasted ten months. The repercussions on India could be significant, impacting its international relations and economic stability. The situation demands skilled diplomatic manoeuvring and vigilant macroeconomic management, as pressures on India's trade balance and currency could intensify
The conflict, which erupted following a Hamas raid on October 7, 2023allegedly masterminded by Mohammed Deifhas seen Israel devastate Gaza, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children. Israel has also targeted Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, executing several high-profile assassinations.
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With the death of Haniyeh, a crucial negotiator for a ceasefire, any de-escalation seems unlikely. Geopolitical analysts warn that the situation could escalate into a global conflict if allies on both sides become involved. While Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear capabilities, Iran has long been suspected of developing a nuclear arsenal.
Washington has materially supported Israel with munitions supplies. When Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on 13 April 2024, the US, the UK, France, and Jordan had responded by deploying their air forces to intercept the missiles. Any Iranian retaliation for the assassination could potentially draw more nations into the conflict.
Meanwhile, protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have erupted within Israel and globally. The International Court of Justice has issued an arrest warrant for him on alleged war crimes charges. The upcoming US elections could also be affected, given America's substantial Jewish population and the dual citizenship many hold with Israel.
Implications for India
Amid this turmoil, India finds itself in a delicate position. While it has long supported the concept of a Palestinian state, the assault on Gaza casts doubt on the viability of such a state. India also maintains good relations with Iran and other Muslim-majority nations in West Asia, home to over 9 million Indian expatriates whose safety could be jeopardized by further conflict.
At the same time, India and Israel have a close military alliance and trade partnership, collaborating on various military R&D projects. Israel has been a crucial partner for India, providing munitions and intelligence during its conflicts with Pakistan. Therefore, it becomes imperative for the Indian government to tread carefully in its diplomatic engagements.
The potential for supply disruptions in global energy markets is another significant concern for India. A major chunk of the world's crude oil and natural gas is produced in West Asia, with key shipping routes passing through the Suez Canal and the Persian Gulf. India relies on imports for over 85% of its crude oil and more than 50% of its gas requirements, with the majority coming from the region. Additionally, Russia supplies approximately 35% of India's crude oil demand.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have been attacking maritime traffic in the Red Sea, complicating the use of the Suez Canal for trade with Europe. The alternative route around Africa adds considerable distance and cost. The Straits of Hormuz, another critical passage for gas and crude oil, could be blockaded by Iran, affecting around 15% of global crude and 20% of global gas supplies. This includes LNG exports from Qatar and the UAE and crude oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. A blockade or conflict in the Straits would make sourcing alternative supplies and routes for LNG and crude challenging.
The assassination on Wednesday has already led to a $3 increase in Brent crude prices, which may be a temporary spike. However, sustained higher energy prices would negatively impact Indian refiners, marketers like Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, as raw material costs would rise. Each 1 per litre change in gross marketing margin affects the Ebitda per litre of oil marketing per companies by over 20%.
Higher LNG prices or supply shortages would also hurt suppliers like GAIL, Petronet LNG, and city gas distribution companies like Gujarat Gas, Indrapratha Gas, and Mahanagar Gas.
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Additionally, rising energy prices could stoke inflation, putting further pressure on the rupee due to the strain on India's trade balance. The Indian crude basket averaged around $85 per barrel from April to June 2024, with the Budget projecting an average price of $83-88 per barrel for FY25. If crude prices surge beyond this range, the fiscal estimates could become inaccurate. Managing these complexities and mitigating their economic impact will be a significant challenge for the Indian government, even if the situation does not escalate into a broader conflict.
Arguably the best business model ever invented, other than the illegal one of peddling drugs, is search. This is a $200 billion plus market today, with gross margins estimated at 60%, growing at 10% every year and projected at $371 billion by 2031.
As we all know, one player dominates this lucrative market: Google, with a highly enviable 90%-plus market share. No one has been able to get anywhere close, with even mighty Microsofts Bing a light year behind at No. 2 with a 3.7% share.
Besides the acclaimed superiority of Googles search algorithms and its effective use of AI, another big reason is network effects and the fact that Google has now become a verb. What you need, you google.
No wonder that every tech company on Earth is trying to get a piece of the action, but has so far only managed to gather crumbs left behind by Google. Despite onslaughts by Microsoft and Yahoo, and pretenders like DuckDuckGo and Wolfram Alpha, Google has never really been under any threat.
Until now, that is, with a new technology which threatens to upset its cosy world. The technology is Generative AI, and it is perhaps the first credible threat to Googles throne.
This was apparent when ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI. Suddenly, we had another way of finding information and content out there, but a way that seemed more intuitive, warm and human than the cold ten blue links of Googles search results.
GenAI is built on language, much like we humans are, and its powerful Transformer algorithms (the T in GPT) parse the vast troves of language on the internet to give us answers by probabilistically providing the next set of words to any word or prompt we give it.
This is how we humans learn and think with language, but it is this very human quality of making up stuff as it goes alongand being optimized for believability and not factsthat make Large Language Models (LLMs) of GenAI not very conducive to the factual precision we expect of search. Thus, while GenAI has been out there for a couple of years, it has not been a credible danger to Googles search engine so far.
This hasnt stopped people trying. Bing immediately incorporated OpenAIs GPT4 into its search results and renamed it Copilot, a startup called Perplexity has made waves with its robust competition (see: bit.ly/3Sr9fKy), and even Google incorporated its own LLM Gemini into its search results.
However, the hallucinatory and probabilistic nature of GenAI often led to disastrous results, with Googles GenAI-based search confidently making Barack Obama African, for example.
Last week saw the biggest onslaught on Googles monopoly yet, the launch of SearchGPT by OpenAI. OpenAI seems to have learnt from the mistakes of others. It is being careful, releasing a prototype for 10,000 users so as to learn and improve results before a wider launch.
It has struck deals with content producers like Wall Street Journal, Vox Media and Associated Press, both to get quality content and send traffic back to publishers by prominently citing and linking to them in searches."
Publishers also have a way to manage how they appear in OpenAI search features," as per OpenAI. This partnership-led approach by the worlds hottest GenAI company is perhaps the most credible threat that Google has seen so far.
My view is slightly different, though: the biggest threat to Google Search is Google itself. The first reason is what Clayton Christensen called the innovators dilemma." The Transformer was invented at Googles lab, but it was OpenAI that took it forward.
Google saw GenAI and LLMs as being too reputationally dangerous, and a direct threat to its lucrative advertising-led search business model. The risk of launching something that would cannibalize its own business was too great, and so it demurredthe classic innovators dilemma. Secondly, Googles dominant position has made it complacent.
The Google interface is a bad user experience, with advertiser links disguised as actual results dominating its first page, although users want the best possible result rather than advertised results. Google is optimized for the advertiser, not the consumer.
The third reason is what usually happens to a wildly successful company with a monopoly grip: bloated structures slow down decision making, its leadership grows tentative and global regulators begin circling around and slowing down innovation.
Thus, while SearchGPT and Perplexity will launch frontal attacks on its search empire, the biggest threat to Google is Google itself.
THEY MOVE stiffly on weak legs as they leave the bus and enter the fenced-off temporary centre on El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands. Spanish police register each one, reading the number off a wristband they were given at the port, calling out U8, adult female! U3, minor male!" Then come the men, who make up the vast majority: of the 145 arrivals on that days boat, eight are women and three children. Nearly all are sub-Saharan Africans.
They are lucky. No one is seriously ill; no one has given birth at sea, as someone the week before had; and they all survived. This year more than 5,000 migrants have died trying to reach Spain, mostly en route from western Africa to the Canaries, according to Caminando Fronteras, an NGO. Meanwhile, around 20,000 people made it alive in the first half of 2024. That makes the western African route a growing share of the total; EU-wide arrivals were around 94,000, down about a third from last year.
View Full Image (The Economist)
The boats sail directly west from Africa (usually from Mauritania, these days) to evade capture by African coastal forces. That lengthens their journey. When they point back towards Europe, the nearest island is the smallest and westernmost of the Canaries, with only 7,000 residents.
View Full Image (The Economist)
El Hierro has responded admirably. After a couple of days, the migrants moved to a disused convent which they could leave freely. Many unaccompanied minors are housed with families, and join local schools. The head of the islands government, Alpidio Armas, says the situation creates little controversy. The Canaries have long experience of immigration, especially from Latin America. The islands are ageing, and agriculture, tourism and construction need labour; Mr Armas would like more of the migrants to stay.
But most of the adults are swiftly sent to much bigger Tenerife. From there, many will move to the Spanish mainland, where they are far less welcome. Vox, a hard-right party, quit several regional coalition governments in July over plans to distribute asylum-seekers around the country.
The boats arriving in places like the Canaries and Lampedusa, in Italy, are only the most striking form of illegal migration to the European Union. In fact most arrivals come by air (entering legally and overstaying visas) or over land. Ever since the crisis years of 2015-16, when over a million irregular migrants arrived, the EU has struggled to find a collective response.
Now it finally has one. In May the bloc approved a migration pact" of ten laws. Margaritis Schinas, a vice-president of the European Commission who helped craft the pact, says it proves that Europe can lead from the centre". He jokes that he was encouraged" that both right-wingers (Matteo Salvini of Italy) and leftists (Jean-Luc Melenchon of France) opposed it.
The deal takes effect in June 2026. It will massively beef up the data system for fingerprinting and registering migrants, known as Eurodac. The idea is to track repeat arrivals and stop people from going elsewhere in the EU (already prohibited in theory, but often ignored by arrival states).
Another innovation is a legal fiction that those arriving have not yet entered the EU. This allows for the border procedure", a keystone of the deal. Migrants judged to pose a security risk, or who come from a relatively safe country (one from which less than 20% of previous migrants received asylum), can be sent home in an expedited procedure. Countries like Senegal and Mauritania, poor but not at war, fall into this group. Critics say the border procedure will not be a legal proceeding worth the name. Since the right to seek asylum is part of international law, this provision will probably face legal challenges.
In 2022 around half of irregular arrivals were granted some form of protection in Europe. Those from countries whose nationals typically succeed, such as Mali (68%) or Sudan (70%), will still have access to the full, lengthy asylum procedure, including appeals. So will unaccompanied children and the mentally ill. Harmonising asylum criteria across the EUs 27 members is meant to even out success rates. (Currently, in the EU as a whole 62% of Afghans get asylum; in Romania only 28% do.)
Finally, a solidarity mechanism" will allow border countries to relocate an EU-wide total of 30,000 or more asylum-seekers per year to other countries, according to quotas. Countries that refuse to take their share may instead pay 20,000 ($21,700) per heada grubby bargain to appease countries that ignored an earlier quota. But states can declare a migration crisis" and suspend some of their burden-sharing responsibilities (though the EU institutions must subsequently agree). This may be abused by countries such as Hungary that oppose the migration pact.
The pact will not work without diplomacy. Europeans have already made deals to restrain migration with transit states such as Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. These sometimes lead to outrages: in May a group of newspapers and Lighthouse Reports, a journalism collective, reported that black migrants in Mauritania, Tunisia and Morocco were being rounded up and dumped in the desert, using vehicles donated by the EU. But such externalisation" of border enforcement seems likely to continue. This year Italy struck a deal with Albania to use Albania as a kind of offshore processing centre for asylum claims.
The hardest part may be making deals with the countries migrants originally hail from. EU countries want them to stop migrants from leaving, and have struck deals with some of them. But the new border procedure" assumes they will take back their nationals. They often refuse, and there is no way to force them.
A previous boat crisis" from west Africa to the Canaries in 2006 shows what might be possible. Spain struck deals with a number of countries of origin, working with local security forces, boosting development aid and allowing more legal migration. Bernardino Leon, Spains deputy foreign minister at the time, says that countries do not want to do Europeans work for them: You need to help them sell something to their people."
The new migration pact will require an extraordinary number of institutions to work together. National governments need co-ordinated approaches to migration involving interior, foreign, labour, social-security, overseas-development and other ministries. The EUs 27 governments must get along as best they can. And countries of origin and transit need to be brought on board. Europe finally has something resembling a collective migration system. Now it has to make it work.
2024, The Economist Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.
From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Whatever happened to polar bears? They used to be all climate campaigners could talk about, but now theyre essentially absent from headlines. Over the past 20 years, climate activists have elevated various stories of climate catastrophe, then quietly dropped them without apology when the opposing evidence becomes overwhelming. The only constant is the scare tactics.
Protesters used to dress up as polar bears. Al Gores 2006 film, An Inconvenient Truth," depicted a sad cartoon polar bear floating away to its death. The Washington Post warned in 2004 that the species could face extinction, and the World Wildlife Funds chief scientist claimed some polar bear populations would be unable to reproduce by 2012.
Then in the 2010s, campaigners stopped talking about them. After years of misrepresentation, it finally became impossible to ignore the mountain of evidence showing that the global polar-bear population has increased substantially. Whatever negative effect climate change had was swamped by the reduction in hunting of polar bears. The population has risen from around 12,000 in the 1960s to about 26,000.
The same thing has happened with activists outcry about Australias Great Barrier Reef. For years, they shouted that the reef was being killed off by rising sea temperatures. After a hurricane extensively damaged the reef in 2009, official Australian estimates of the percent of reef covered in coral reached a record low in 2012. The media overflowed with stories about the great reef catastrophe, and scientists predicted the coral cover would be reduced by another half by 2022. The Guardian even published an obituary in 2014.
The latest official statistics show a completely different picture. For the past three years the Great Barrier Reef has had more coral cover than at any point since records began in 1986, with 2024 setting a new record. This good news gets a fraction of the coverage that the panicked predictions did.
More recently, green campaigners were warning that small Pacific islands would drown as sea levels rose. In 2019 United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew all the way to Tuvalu, in the South Pacific, for a Time magazine cover shot. Wearing a suit, he stood up to his thighs in the water behind the headline Our Sinking Planet." The accompanying article warned the islandand others like itwould be struck off the map entirely" by rising sea levels.
About a month ago, the New York Times finally shared what it called surprising" climate news: Almost all atoll islands are stable or increasing in size. In fact, scientific literature has documented this for more than a decade. While rising sea levels do erode land, additional sand from old coral is washed up on low-lying shores. Extensive studies have long shown this accretion is stronger than climate-caused erosion, meaning the land area of Tuvalu and many other small islands is increasing.
Today, killer heat waves are the new climate horror story. In July President Biden claimed extreme heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer in the United States."
He is wrong by a factor of 25. While extreme heat kills nearly 6,000 Americans each year, cold kills 152,000, of which 12,000 die from extreme cold. Even including deaths from moderate heat, the toll comes to less than 10,000. Despite rising temperatures, age-standardized extreme-heat deaths have actually declined in the U.S. by almost 10% a decade and globally by even more, largely because the world is growing more prosperous. That allows more people to afford air-conditioners and other technology that protects them from the heat.
The petrified tone of heat-wave coverage twists policy illogically. Whether from heat or cold, the most sensible way to save people from temperature-related deaths would be to ensure access to cheap, reliable electricity. That way, it wouldnt be only the rich who could afford to keep safe from blistering or frigid weather. Unfortunately, much of climate policy makes affordable energy all the harder to obtain.
Activists do the world a massive disservice by refusing to acknowledge facts that challenge their intensely doom-ridden worldview. There is ample evidence that man-made emissions cause changes in climate, and climate economics generally finds that the costs of these effects outweigh the benefits. But the net result is nowhere near catastrophic. The costs of all the extreme policies campaigners push for are much worse. All told, politicians across the world are now spending more than $2 trillion annuallyfar more than the estimated cost from climate change that these policies prevent each year.
Scare tactics leave everyoneespecially young peopledistressed and despondent. Fear leads to poor policy choices that further frustrate the public. And the ever-changing narrative of disasters erodes public trust.
Telling half-truths while piously pretending to follow the science" benefits activists with their fundraising, generates clicks for media outlets, and helps climate-concerned politicians rally their bases. But it leaves all of us poorly informed and worse off.
Mr. Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus, a visiting fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and author of Best Things First: The 12 Most Efficient Solutions for the Worlds Poorest and our Global SDG Promises."
Delhi Rains: Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Manickam Tagore has given an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha suggesting to form a specialised committee, comprising all party lawmakers, to inspect the Parliament building thoroughly following water leaks inside the lobby on July 31 due to heavy rains.
The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, which was just a year after completion, said Tagore, sharing a video of water inside the Parliament lobby in the new building. Tagore, who represents Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, is also Congress party's whip in Lok Sabha.
The committee will focus on the causes of the leaks, evaluate the design and materials, and recommend necessary repairs. Additionally, it should establish a maintenance protocol and ensure transparency by publically sharing their findings, Tagore said in the adjournment notice moved in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated the new Parliament building on May 28, 2023. The four-storey building, built at an estimated cost of 970 crore, held its first special sitting on September 19, 2023. It faces the British-era old Parliament building, which is being conserved as a heritage asset.
Also Read | Manickam Tagore gives adjournment notice to discuss NEET-UG 2024 row in LS
Heavy rainfall in the national capital on Wednesday evening leading to waterlogging across many parts of the Delhi-NCR area, including the area around Parliament. This disrupted traffic on several roads. Overflowing stormwater drains were observed in various locations, with water spilling onto the streets.
Schools Shut in Delhi The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted more showers in Delhi and Kerala for Thursday, August 1 and issued an orange alert warning in the national capital.
Aam Aadmi Party Member of Parliament (MP) Raghav Chadha has demanded that the minimum age for contesting elections in India be reduced from the current 25 to 21 years. This, Chadha said, will help increase youth participation in Indian politics.
India is one of the youngest countries in the world. 65 per cent of our population is less than 35 years old and 50 per cent of our population is less than 25 years old, Chadha said, speaking in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament on August 1.
When the first Lok Sabha was elected after Independence, Chadha said, 26 per cent of members were less than 40 years old. In the 17th Lok Sabha (the last Lok Sabha), only 12 per cent of members were less than 40 years old. We are a young country with old politicians, we must aspire to become a young country with young politicians, Chadha said.
At present, the minimum age for a person to contest Lok Sabha and Assembly polls is 25 years, while one can become a member of the Rajya Sabha or the State Legislative Council only at 30 years of age.
This is happening, Chadha said, because politics is still considered a bad profession in India. When a kid grows up, parents say to be a doctor, engineer, scientist, sportsperson, and chartered accountant. Nobody wants his kids to become leaders and join politics. I think we need to incentivise youth to attract them to join mainstream politics in India, Chadha said.
"I have a suggestion for the government of India: the minimum age for contesting elections should be reduced from 25 to 21 years," he said.
Chadha is not the first to raise the demand of reducing the minimum age of contesting elections in India. Last year, a Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended reducing the age for contesting Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to 18 years the minimum age for voting in India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is slated to appoint the party's new national president as JP Nadda's term came to an end. JP Nada has been appointed as the Health and Family Welfare Minister as well as the Chemical and Fertilizer Minister in the Modi 3.0 cabinet. Reports now indicate that the party is close to finalising the name of its new president. Highly placed sources within the party have informed the Free Press Journal that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to be appointed as the national party president.
As per the FPJ report, the deputy CM may resign as deputy CM in the coming weeks and move to Delhi to take over his new role. There are also questions about who will lead the BJP in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections that will be held this year. Although it was initially thought that Fadnavis would stay in Maharashtra until after the elections before relocating, recent developments suggest he might move to Delhi sooner, the FPJ report stated.
The report also added that if Fadnavis moves to Delhi before the assembly polls then Vinod Tawde, the General Secretary, could be a potential candidate to lead the BJP in the polls, however, this has not been officially confirmed by BJP sources.
Earlier on 28 July, Devendra Fadnavis along with his wife and daughter met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. After their meeting, the deputy CM also took to X and wrote, Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi's blessings have always been and will always be with Maharashtra. Every time I meet him, I get a new energy and his guidance. Today I got the opportunity to meet Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi with my family. My wife Amrita and daughter Divya were with me. I am very grateful to Hon'ble Prime Minister for giving me his valuable time!
Coming back to BJP President news, on July 14, PTI reported that the party is planning to appoint a new national president by December 2024 for which the election process would begin on August 1. Before the election, PTI stated that the party were to conduct an extensive membership drive and work on strengthening its district and state units. It had said, the election process for state presidents will commence on December 1. Once the elections in 50 per cent of the states are completed, the official process to elect the national president will begin.
Meanwhile, the tenure of BJP National President, JP Nadda, came to an end. His term was earlier extended until June 2024.
New Delhi: The ministry of consumer affairs has decided to extend the last date for submission of comments on the proposed new draft rules for breath analyzers, commonly known as breathalyzers.
Originally set for 26 July, the new deadline is now 16 August, as stated in a government order. The consumer affairs ministry had notified new draft rules on 27 June.
As per the new draft rules, these analyzers must follow standardized testing procedures, ensuring consistent and reliable results across different devices. The standardization is aimed at enhancing public confidence in the fairness and accuracy of enforcement actions.
Breath analyzers are used in various fields, including law enforcement, where they measure blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in drivers to enforce drunk driving laws and detect drugs and other substances," the government notification said.
Also Read: DGCA revises breath analyser test norms for pilots, crew members; bans using mouthwash Breathalyzers measure breath alcohol content with the driver having to breathe into it.
This is significant given that cases of drunken driving are on the rise, leading to an increase in road fatalities.
According to data from the ministry of road transport and highways, cases of drunken driving increased from 9,150 in 2021 to 10,080 in 2022. This rise contributed to an increase in road fatalities from 3,314 in 2021 to 4,201 in 2022.
Breathalyzers need to be verified and stamped according to the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, to ensure their accuracy, it said.
Also Read: Air India terminates pilot for flying under alcohol influence, says report This verification will protect individuals from wrongful penalties due to faulty equipment and help maintain the integrity of legal and workplace policies.
Breathalyzers are also used for air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, and in railways.
Recently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) increased the mandatory breathalyzer test coverage for its staff from 10% to 25%. This expanded coverage will apply to air traffic controllers, ground staff, aircraft maintenance engineers, and ground handling services personnel.
Medical diagnostics In medical diagnostics, breathalyzers can help diagnose conditions like diabetes by detecting acetone, as well as Helicobacter pylori infections.
"Providing the public with stamped and verified Evidential Breath Analyzers can increase awareness of alcohol's effects on impairment and the legal limits for safely operating vehicles and machinery. This initiative promotes responsible behaviour and informed decision-making," the notification said.
Consumer advocacy groups have welcomed this move, emphasizing the importance of public participation in the rule-making process. They argue that the standardized procedures and increased accuracy of breath analyzers will not only enhance public safety but also build trust in enforcement mechanisms.
The extension of the deadline for comments is seen as a positive step, allowing more stakeholders to provide input on the proposed rules," said Ashim Sanyal, CEO of Consumer Voice.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, August 1, urged the Central government to roll-back Goods and Services Tax (GST) from life insurance and medical insurance premiums. Mamata Banerjee said GST on insurance premiums affects people's ability to take care of their basic needs.
In a post on X, Mamata Banerjee said, Our demand to Government of India is to roll back GST from life insurance and medical insurance premium on grounds of people's health imperatives. This GST is bad because it adversely affects the people's ability to take care of their basic vital needs.
The West Bengal chief minister also threatened to protest if the government does not withdraw the anti-people GST. If Government of India does not roll back the anti-people GST, we will be bound to hit the road, CM Mamata Banerjee said.
Earlier, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, in his letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, raised concerns of the Nagpur Division Life Insurance Corporation Employees Union, which had submitted to him a memorandum regarding the issues of the insurance industry. Nitin Gadkari's move was lauded by the Opposition parties.
Referring to it, Nitin Gadkari said, Levying GST on life insurance premiums amounts to levying tax on the uncertainties of life. The Union feels that the person who covers the risk of life's uncertainties to give protection to the family should not be levied tax on the premiums to purchase cover against this risk.
Lauding the move, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, I am very happy that Cabinet Minister Mr Gadkari has endorsed my demand that I made yesterday on the floor of the House to remove the 18 per cent GST levied on Health and Life Insurance premium.
Samajwadi Party MP Rajeev Kumar Rai, while backing the demand, said the minister, despite being a senior minister in the government, had to write to the finance minister over the issue, which is an indication of the "autocratic" attitude of the government. "GST on insurance premium should be abolished. This has been our demand since long. We support Nitin Gadkari ji's demand," he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said, It is a good suggestion. When I spoke on the budget, I had also raised the issue that life insurance and medi-claims are an important requirement for the middle class and especially for the retired people.
It is not about comfort or luxury. It is a necessity. Healthcare is anyhow outside the reach of the middle class. Even when Nirmala ji replied, I had asked her about this, but she did not comment on it. I am hoping she will pay attention to the issue, he said.
On coming to power Jim Hacker, the protagonist of Yes, Prime Minister", a British comedy series, asks about the hotline to the Kremlin. It works only theoretically", he is told; once they reached a switchboard operator who didnt seem to speak much English". Whats more, using it tends to create unnecessary panic at the other end".
The farce springs to mind for those who, these days, urgently try to speak to China about security frictions in Asia, from its grey-zone" bullying of neighbours over disputed islands and shoals to its wargames around Taiwan. The Philippines has a hotline to Chinas foreign ministry. But when it calls to discuss Chinas water-blasting of its coastguard ships, the Chinese either do not answer, or say the hotline is not for complaints", or accuse the Filipinos of causing trouble. Japans defence-ministry hotline has not stopped intensified Chinese probing of contested waters.
America, especially, wants military-to-military (mil-mil") communications with China, akin to those of the cold war with the Soviet Union. At a time of deep geopolitical rivalry, with the air and seas in Asia abuzz with military forces, America says open lines of communication would help prevent incidents from sliding into war. China, though, regards military contacts not as prudence but as a favour: granted in times of goodwill and withheld in periods of displeasure.
Mil-mil contacts were halted after a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of Americas House of Representatives, in 2022. Chinese jets and warships harassed American ones with risky moves. Now tensions have eased a bit following a summit in San Francisco last November between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, the American and Chinese presidents. Unsafe encounters are much reduced. Mil-mil meetings are resuming.
That will be a relief for Asias defence bigwigs at this weeks Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual talkfest in Singapore. They dont want to be caught in a war between China, their main economic partner, and America, the security guarantor for many. Last year Lloyd Austin, Americas defence secretary, could merely shake hands with his Chinese counterpart, General Li Shangfu, over dinner. Little matter; General Li was soon purged.
This time Mr Austin is set for a full bilateral with the new man, Admiral Dong Jun. They spoke over video in April. Similarly, Americas chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has had a video call with his opposite number. The Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, a forum on safety at sea, has also resumed.
Nevertheless, any military contact will be halting. For one thing, notes Rush Doshi, until recently a White House official, worsening relations between the mainland and Taiwan could strain mil-mil contacts when they matter most. China recently held two days of punishment" military exercises, encircling the island, after the inauguration of Taiwans new president, Lai Ching-te.
Moreover, the main warfightersthe heads of Americas Indo-Pacific Command and of Chinas eastern and southern theatreshave yet to talk. And in Chinas hierarchical system, notes Mr Doshi, many of Chinas brass will shrink from contact with Americans, fearing it can only bring trouble". Pentagon officials assume that the Chinese will go dark" in the early phase of any crisis. Nevertheless, Americans still think talking is better than not talking; nuances in formulaic Chinese remarks can still yield insights.
For a sense of the dangers, consider the back and forth between American forces and the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) as Robin Hsu, a military enthusiast, does from a hilltop in southern Taiwan. Overlooking the vital Bashi Channel, his radio comes alive with a stentorian warning from the PLA to an American jetprobably a Rivet Joint" surveillance plane nearby: You have entered airspace over Chinas contiguous zone." Back comes a drawl: Relaaaaaax! Im in international airspace." Minutes later, another warning: This is Chinese naval warship. You are approaching me. What is your intention?" Plainly, relations are far from relaxed.
Indeed, China uses such risk to warn America: if you dont want a mishap, pull back. America, by contrast, learned during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 that risk must be mitigated because superpower confrontations can escalate to nuclear war. All of which prompts some at the Pentagon to ask: does another Cuban missile crisis have to happen before China comes to its senses?
2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Avenix Fzco, a leading fintech company based in Dubai, UAE, has unveiled its latest innovation in the forex trading world - Fexobot. This advanced forex robot is designed to revolutionize gold trading on the MetaTrader 4 platform, specifically tailored for the H4 timeframe. Developed and fine-tuned over an extensive period from 2016 to the present day, Fexobot aims to deliver exceptional results across various market conditions.
Technical Specifications of Fexobot 1. Intelligent Trend Identification When it comes to predicting where the gold market is headed, Fexobot uses a complex suite of indicators. Among these indicators are Fractals, Moving Averages, and Momentum. Traders have the ability to fine-tune their trading strategy by customizing parameters such as MA Period, Shift, Distance, Mode, and Price. They can also customize Momentum Period, Price, and Level, and Fractal Candles.
2. Dynamic Support and Resistance Levels In real time, the forex robot pinpoints key market support and resistance levels. Traders can rest assured that their BUY STOP or SELL STOP orders will be strategically placed and executed promptly whenever market conditions are favorable.
3. Smart Position Management Fexobot shows off its smart position management skills. The forex robot will automatically add more deals in the direction of the trend when a trade is triggered and the market shows signs of potentially moving in the trader's favor. Maximizing profit potential while minimizing risk is the goal of this approach.
4. Advanced Risk Management To protect the trader's account from harmful market movements, Fexobot includes Stop Loss and Take Profit levels in every trade it executes. Among the risk management features offered by the forex robot are the following: the ability to close opposite positions upon the occurrence of a new signal, the utilization of BreakEven and Trailing Stop functions, and Stop Loss that is based on indicators.
5. A Way to Trade Securely Fexobot does not use the risky Martingale or Grid strategies. As an alternative, it is based on tried-and-true trading principles that have a track record of success in the H4 timeframe.
6. Flexible Financial Management Depending on the user's trading style and comfort level with risk, Fexobot's Expert Advisor (EA) can be fine-tuned. Lot sizes and types are just two of the many settings that traders can tweak to suit their own trading needs.
Comprehensive Trading Interface Fexobot provides users with a user-friendly interface featuring multiple tabs to enhance the trading experience:
1. Optimization Results and Graph: Allows traders to analyze and visualize optimization outcomes.
2. Standard Graph: Provides a clear view of market movements and trade positions.
3. Results and Report: Offers detailed trade statistics and performance metrics.
4. Settings: Enables customization of various trading parameters.
5. Journal: Keeps a log of trading activities for review and analysis.
High-Quality Data and Support Fexobot uses tick data from Thinkberry SRL's Tick Data Suite, which is 100% accurate and reliable. The EA is able to make well-informed trading decisions in response to accurate market fluctuations due to this extensive dataset.
Anyone, from seasoned pros to complete novices, may take advantage of Fexobot's round-the-clock help and enjoy a positive trading experience in the forex market.
Fexobot Trading Community Avenix Fzco has created a vibrant trading community around Fexobot, offering users the opportunity to connect with like-minded traders. Members can share insights, strategies, and market analysis, collaborating to maximize their trading potential. The community hub provides access to exclusive resources, educational materials, and market insights tailored specifically for Fexobot users.
About Avenix Fzco Avenix Fzco is a prominent fintech company headquartered in Dubai, UAE, specializing in developing advanced trading software for forex traders. The company has established itself as an innovator in the field, producing forex robots aimed at transforming trading practices. With the release of Fexobot, Avenix Fzco continues its mission to empower traders with cutting-edge tools designed to enhance accuracy and confidence in navigating the forex market. To learn more about Fexobot and explore its capabilities, interested traders are encouraged to visit the official Fexobot website.
The manufacturing sector in India is emerging as a cornerstone of economic growth, bolstered by the government's Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. These efforts promise substantial benefits for investors, highlighting the sector's growing importance and potential. This sector's growth potential is closely tied to its ability to inspire confidence among consumers and investors alike, with a strong customer-first approach driving its success.
Recent developments highlight a strong trend in the manufacturing sector, marked by significant investor confidence. A newly launched manufacturing fund by a Mutual Funds company has seen remarkable success, attracting substantial investments. This success reflects the robust potential of the sector and the trust it garners from investors, making it an appealing option for long-term wealth creation.
In response to growing confidence and rising demand among customers, PNB MetLife has introduced its new fund the PNB MetLife Bharat Manufacturing Fund. This fund provides an opportunity for customers to participate in the growth of the manufacturing sector and create long-term wealth. It is an actively managed equity fund that allows the fund manager to leverage their experience and analyse macro-level trends to outperform a benchmark or index returns.
The fund is available through PNB MetLife Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) that offers triple benefits:
Life cover to secure your family's future and big dreams
Long-term wealth creation opportunity
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Indias manufacturing sector holds strong potential which can be seen from the impressive growth of the NIFTY India Manufacturing Index, delivering returns of 25.31% compared to the NIFTY 50's 15.29% over the past five years (as of 30th June). Even the recent budget allocations have further supported growth, with investments in infrastructure, ease of doing business, and policy reforms driving expansion.
Manufacturing Sector is an enabler for Indias $30 trillion economy (H2) Economic Growth Driver: As per a conservative estimate, the Finance Minister stated that India will be at least a $30 trillion economy by 2047. India's manufacturing sector holds significant potential for growth, with projections indicating an 18-fold increase over the next 24 years. Despite the sector's current contribution of approximately 13% to India's GDP in 2022, it remains underdeveloped compared to other Asian economies. For instance, manufacturing accounts for 18.67% of Indonesia's GDP and 23.88% of Vietnam's GDP. This disparity underscores the opportunity for substantial expansion in India's manufacturing sector, which could significantly enhance its contribution to the country's GDP and overall economic growth.
Sector-Specific Growth: McKinsey projects that eleven key sectors could contribute to an incremental ~80% increase in gross value added, including chemicals, basic materials, capital goods, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. These sectors make up about 90% of the Nifty Manufacturing Index, underscoring their importance in driving industrial growth. Additionally, a report from another leading global management consulting firm -Bain estimates that India's exports could reach a trillion dollars by 2028, reflecting the sector's high growth potential.
Economic Stability and Labor Advantage: India's macroeconomic stability, coupled with a large pool of skilled and semi-skilled labour, positions it uniquely among developing economies. The country's significant domestic consumption base offers a captive market for producers.
Infrastructure Development: The government is committed to maintaining strong fiscal support for infrastructure development over the next five years, with an allocation of approximately 11 lakh crore. This investment aims to enhance infrastructure, including roads, railways, and airways, which are crucial for supporting the manufacturing sector. Notable achievements such as the expansion of the National Highway network, extensive electrification of railways, and the increase in operational airports are key drivers of this growth.
Import Substitution and Global Realignments: Government Initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes aim to increase domestic value addition and reduce dependence on imports. The shift in global supply chains, including the notable example of Apple's increased production in India, highlights India's growing role in global manufacturing.
Budget Boost to Manufacturing: The recent budget has further invigorated the manufacturing sector through initiatives such as the Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs, which improves access to finance, and mandatory onboarding in TReDS. The establishment of twelve new industrial parks, rental housing for industrial workers, and the Critical Minerals Mission will also drive growth. Strengthening tribunals to expedite insolvency resolution will enhance the business environment and competitiveness.
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OLA Electric is one of the prominent players in the electric vehicle (EV) market. With its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO), the company aims to expand its operations, enhance its product line, and solidify its position in the competitive EV landscape. This article explains the details of OLA Electric, its financials, the specifics of its IPO, and how as a potential investor you can participate through HDFC Sky.
About OLA Electric OLA Electric, founded in 2017, is the EV arm of ANI Technologies, the parent company of OLA Cabs. The company's mission is to ensure that clean mobility solutions are accessible and affordable to the masses. OLA Electric has seen significant growth over the past few years. In the fiscal year 2023-2024, the company reported revenue of 5243.27 crore, marking a substantial increase from the previous year's 2,782.70 crore. This growth is attributed to the robust sales of its electric scooters and the expansion of its charging infrastructure across India.
Financial Information on OLA Electric Heres the restated consolidated data on the companys assets, net worth and profits in Crores:
Period Ending 31 Mar 2024 31 Mar 2023 31 Mar 2022 31 Mar 2021 Assets (Total Equity & Liability) 7,735.41 5,573.17 5,395.86 2,112.64 Total Income (Revenue from Operations & Other Income) 5,243.27 2,782.70 456.26 106.08 Net Worth (Total Equity) 2,019.34 2,356.44 3,661.45 1,970.62 Profit After Tax -1,584.40 -1,472.08 -784.15 -199.23 Market Position and Products OLA Electric's flagship product, the OLA S1 scooter, has been a significant contributor to its revenue. The company has also been focusing on developing a robust network of charging stations to support its growing customer base. By the end of 2023, OLA Electric aims to have over 10,000 charging points across India, ensuring convenient access for EV users.
Details of the OLA Electric IPO The OLA Electric IPO aims to raise approximately 6,000 Crore, which will be utilised for various purposes, including expanding manufacturing capabilities, enhancing research and development, and strengthening the company's charging infrastructure.
Key Highlights of the IPO IPO Size: Aggregating up to 6,145.56 Crore IPO Date: 2nd August 2024 to 6th August 2024. Face Value: 10 per share. Offer for Sale (OFS): 84,941,997 shares of 10 (aggregating up to 645.56 Crore.) Fresh Issue: Aggregating up to 5,500.00 Crore Price Band: The price band for the IPO is expected to be in the range of 72- 76 per share. Lot Size: Investors can bid for a minimum of 195 shares and in multiples thereof. Listing: The shares will be listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). How to Invest in the OLA Electric IPO Through HDFC Sky At HDFC Sky, your convenience and security are our top priorities. Our One-Click IPO feature makes investing in IPOs simple and hassle-free. Here is how you can invest:
Open an HDFC Sky Account: Sign up quickly and easily online and log in to HDFC Sky. Apply for the IPO: Find the OLA Electric IPO, and select it. Place Your Bid: Enter the desired shares and price, or choose the cut-off price. Invest with One Click: Use your UPI ID to block the funds. Confirm and Submit: Review and submit your application; funds will be blocked. If allotted, shares will be credited to your Demat account and listed on BSE and NSE for trading.
Book Your OLA Electric IPO Through HDFC Sky The OLA Electric IPO presents an investment opportunity in the growing EV sector. With its innovative products, strong market presence, and ambitious expansion plans, OLA Electric is well-positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable transportation solutions. By investing through HDFC Sky, you can seamlessly participate in this exciting IPO and potentially benefit from the future growth of OLA Electric.
WASHINGTON, D.C. The killing Wednesday of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will likely derail urgent U.S.-led talks to stop the fighting in Gaza and open the door to a potentially ferocious response from Iran.
In a strike widely blamed on Israel, Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike while in Tehran for the inauguration of the Iranian president. Israel has not claimed responsibility, but few entities have the military capability to pull off what was apparently a precisely targeted lethal attack.
The timing of the assassination frustrated the Biden administration, which has invested enormous capital in cease-fire talks to bring at least a temporary end to the nearly 10-month-old Gaza war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington just last week. Both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris separately hammered him on the vital importance of agreeing to a cease-fire.
For months, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been engaged in tense and arduous negotiations with Israel and Hamas on a deal that would stop fighting and release Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas.
The hostages were captured in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and triggered the current conflict. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels brutal subsequent invasion of Gaza, spurring a massive humanitarian crisis as well.
Haniyeh, who was based in exile in Qatar and headed the political wing of the militant group, was key in the cease-fire negotiations.
He was the Hamas figure who would sit with Qatari negotiators to receive the latest proposals and counter-proposals from Israel, then relay them to the ultimate decision-maker Yahya Sinwar, head of the Hamas military wing and believed to be in hiding in deep tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip. Then Haniyeh would relay Sinwars response back to negotiators.
Both the Israeli side and Hamas have repeatedly put obstacles to impede a final agreement, negotiators say.
U.S. officials Wednesday were urgently trying to prevent talks from breaking down altogether now. Though a short-term suspension seems all but certain, U.S. officials said they believe talks will eventually resume, especially because there are other lower-level leaders in Hamas who want a cease-fire despite Sinwars resistance.
A company who intends to develop a waste plastics to hydrogen plant on the site of the old Atlantic Mills factory have received 300,000 under the EU Just Transition Fund programme.
Alister Future Technologies, a subsidiary of Hydrogen Utopia International, received the allocation to develop a waste plastic disposal facility.
In 2022 Hydrogen Utopia International PLC announced an intention to entered into an agreement with Fisherstown Property Holdings Limited in relation to the proposed lease of a 2.5 acre greenfield site in the 78-acre Logeco Logistics & Energy Park at Fisherstown, Clondra, Longford.
A statement to the Leader at that time by Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) about their plans said: The Longford site has its own electrical grid connection and an electrical substation and the potential for HUI to utilise the existing wastewater treatment facilities on site, which previously serviced a very large denim manufacturing business.
Fisherstown Property Holdings (FPH) also has planning permission to build a solar farm, which could potentially provide power for an HUI facility.
In March of this year the company, in conjunction with another London listed firm, announced they reached an agreement to develop a planned multi-million euro waste-to-hydrogen facility in Clondra.
The firms said they will take advantage of the EU-backed Just Transition Fund. The fund is intended to help initiatives in the midlands following the closure of peat-fired electricity generating stations and the ending of commercial peat extraction.
The hydrogen project will be developed by a company called Eranova Longford, which is owned by Alister Future Technologies, and Powerhouse Energy Group.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, today has announced that 15 sustainability-focused projects in the Midlands will receive grants under the EU Just Transition Fund (EU JTF) programme, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
The projects, put forward by voluntary and not-for-profit organisations, as well as micro and small to medium sized enterprises, have been awarded grant funding of between 50,000 and 300,000 to invest in ideas from the community that create employment and diversify the local economy of the Midlands region. The grants will enable projects to develop initiatives such as innovation and community hubs, green energy projects and heritage initiatives.
The total amount committed to selected projects from the EU Just Transition Fund is now nearly 54 million, following the recent announcement of projects selected through the EU JTF Regenerative Tourism and Placemaking scheme run by Failte Ireland and the EU JTF Local and Regional Economic Strategy Support Scheme run by Pobal.
Commenting on the projects approved for funding under the scheme, Minister Ryan stated: Small-to-medium enterprises and local community organisations are the life blood of a region, creating jobs, helping to diversify the economy and generating ideas and innovation.
This funding will empower local organisations to respond to Irelands shift to a low-carbon economy, while providing economic and social benefit at a local level for the individuals most impacted by this transition.
Clare Bannon, Acting Director of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA), said: EMRA welcomes the announcement of selected projects that have been envisioned and created by the local community in the wider Midlands area. Bringing direct financial support to bottom-up ideas not only drives the innovative capacity of the entire region but also fosters vibrant placemaking that enriches the quality of life for its residents. This is crucial for enabling sustainable and inclusive regional development that leaves no one behind.
Pobal CEO, Anna Shakespeare commented: We in Pobal look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Eastern & Midland Regional Assembly on this EU Just Transition Fund scheme to support small organisations to support the decarbonsiation of the Midlands. By investing in these organisations, communities and enterprises will be supported to build skills, generate jobs, enhance livelihoods and diversify the economy. We look forward also to engaging with these Midland communities as they work to contribute to the transition to a low carbon economy.
Barbara Nolan, Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said: Local projects are key to ensuring that the EU Green Deal has a real impact on the ground. The Just Transition Fund will support Irelands Midlands to progress towards a more sustainable economy with local communities in the driving seat.
The approved projects will deliver significant benefits to the region, including: An innovative series of initiatives to develop the bioeconomy sector; Training and upskilling in sustainable sectors for communities previously reliant on peat production; The preservation, repurposing and refurbishment of local infrastructure and heritage assets for use as enterprise space; Innovation in green technology, including renewable energy and sustainable energy practices; Circular economy initiatives to support sustainable production and consumption of goods and services.
Projects have been selected through a competitive process under the EU Just Transition Funds Community and Enterprise Grants Scheme, which is the second call within the broader Local and Regional Economic Strategies Support Scheme.
This current announcement of projects builds upon the previous selection of projects announced on 26 April 2024, in which 15 other projects from the midlands received grants totalling 18 million.
The scheme was developed through close collaboration between the Department and the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA), the Managing Authority for the EU Just Transition Fund, and is being administered through Pobal.
It seeks to support the implementation of bottom-up local and regional strategies. Successful projects were required to demonstrate close alignment with locally-led Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) and Local Economic and Community Plans.
Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Press Releases
By Long Island Published: August 01 2024
New York Attorney General Letitia James has initiated the rulemaking process for new laws aimed at protecting minors on social media platforms and websites, inviting public comments and suggestions over the next 60 days.
New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued two advanced notices of proposed rulemaking for the recently signed childrens online safety laws to protect minors on social media platforms and websites. These notices will provide parents, children, advocates, stakeholders, social media companies, and tech industry professionals with the opportunity to submit comments, suggestions, information, and data about the rules that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is charged with creating to protect New York children online. The two laws, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic, and advanced by Attorney General James in October 2023, both direct OAG to generate rules to ensure that children are protected against the addictive features of social media platforms, and that websites and mobile apps cannot collect and share childrens personal data. Stakeholders will have 60 days to submit comments and information to OAG, and can also e-mail ProtectNYKidsOnline@ag.ny.gov regarding the SAFE for Kids Act, and ChildDataProtection@ag.ny.gov regarding the Child Data Protection Act.
New Yorkers are looking to this office to protect children on social media apps and online, and the rules we are drafting will do precisely that, said Attorney General James. By offering everyone, supporters and opponents of the recently signed legislation, the opportunity to submit comments and information, my office will ensure that we can better address concerns and priorities. I helped draft and advance the SAFE for Kids Act and Child Data Protection Act because our children are enduring a mental health crisis and the government needs to step up and take action. I encourage all New Yorkers to offer comments, information, and priorities over the next 60 days as we kick off the rulemaking process.
Major social media companies rely on algorithmic feeds, which are designed to harness personal data to serve users content to keep them on the platform for as long as possible. These algorithmic feeds have increased the addictive nature of social media platforms and heightened the risk to young users wellbeing. Children are also vulnerable to having their location and other personal data tracked, shared, and sold online. This data, which is used without consent and often without knowledge, fuels a multi-billion dollar advertising industry targeted at minors.
The mental health crisis impacting children, the tracking and selling of private information, and poor sleep quality concerns due to excessive social media usage all spurred Attorney General James and New York government leaders to take action. To address these concerns, Attorney General James helped draft and advance historic legislation that was introduced in October 2023. The two bills, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Rozic, and signed into law by Governor Hochul, both direct OAG to draft rules that will help ensure social media companies have to secure parental consent to use addictive algorithms on social media feeds for children under 18. Additionally, the new laws direct OAG to issue rules so that children will not have their personal data tracked, collected, and sold by websites or mobile apps.
I was proud to sponsor and pass legislation that will serve as a national model for how to protect our children from Big Tech. For these laws to succeed, we need strong rules that safeguard young people's private information and ensure social media companies cant keep forcing toxic content into childrens feeds, said bill sponsor Senator Andrew Gounardes. I applaud Attorney General James for moving quickly and ensuring an open, transparent rulemaking process. I encourage all New Yorkers to take advantage of this process to share comments and ideas. We need robust public participation for these rules to achieve their vital goals and keep New Yorkers safe.
The passage of child online safety legislation earlier this year was a momentous occasion and a clear signal that in New York, we will always put the needs of our children ahead of corporate profits, said bill sponsor Assemblymember Nily Rozic. I was proud to sponsor this legislation and work with my colleagues to have both bills secure resounding support and be signed into law. Now that Attorney General James has started the rulemaking process, we are in position to ensure the lofty goals of these new laws to protect our children on social media and ensure their private information is secure will truly be realized. I commend Attorney General James for her leadership on this issue and thank her for moving swiftly to ensure New York not only has the best legislation to protect kids, but also the strongest and most workable rules to hold tech companies accountable.
To truly protect the well-being of New York kids and families, we need to set strong rules and guidelines that limit Big Tech companies' ability to keep kids glued to their devices, said Danny Weiss of Common Sense Media, the lead advocacy organization that helped pass the SAFE for Kids Act and the NY Child Data Protection Act. That's why we are pleased to see Attorney General James move quickly to get the rulemaking process underway, and take extra steps to foster broad participation in this effort. We look forward to submitting our views and priorities, and encourage all New York families, as well as the big tech companies themselves, to take advantage of this open process and contribute their own insights. Thank you, Attorney General James, and everyone who helped ensure these great pieces of legislation were passed into law and can now take effect.
The advanced notices of proposed rulemaking announced by Attorney General James, while not required, are an opportunity for all involved stakeholders to provide comments, information, and useful data that will help guide the rulemaking process and results. Over the next 60 days, anyone will be able to visit the OAG website, and e-mail ProtectNYKidsOnline@ag.ny.gov regarding the SAFE for Kids Act, and ChildDataProtection@ag.ny.gov regarding the Child Data Protection Act, to review questions, provide answers, and offer input on how to generate rules that will safeguard children while also standing up to judicial scrutiny. When the 60-day advanced notice of proposed rulemaking process concludes, OAG will begin the formal process that every state agency must follow before rules can become effective, including submitting the proposed rules for publication in the State Register. The public will then have at least 60 days from the date of publication to provide comments. Before the rules can become final, OAG must provide an assessment of the public comments received about the rules.
Attorney General James would like to thank the brave children, young adults, and parents who shared their personal experiences and helped demonstrate the need for the SAFE for Kids Act and the Child Data Protection Act. Attorney General James also thanks the advocacy groups who worked tirelessly to support the passage of these bills, including Common Sense Media, Mothers Against Media Addiction, and the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
This action is part of Attorney General James ongoing efforts to protect New Yorkers online and address concerns with social media companies. In March 2024, Attorney General James led a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general in urging Meta to address the rise of Facebook and Instagram account takeovers by scammers and frauds. In October 2023, Attorney General James and a bipartisan coalition of 32 attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit against Meta for harming young peoples mental health and contributing to the youth mental health crisis. In July 2023, she led a multistate coalition of attorneys general to defend the federal governments ability to communicate with social media companies about dangerous online content. In April 2023, Attorney General James released a comprehensive guide to help businesses adopt effective data security measures to better protect New Yorkers personal information. Attorney General James also joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general urging Facebook to abandon plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13. In October 2022, Attorney General James investigated and released a report on the role online platforms played in the Buffalo mass shooting.
Stolen Honda Accord Recovered in Queens Village: Suffolk Police Seek Publics Help to Nab Suspect
Local News, Crime
By Long Island Published: August 01 2024
Suffolk County Police are seeking public assistance to identify a suspect involved in the theft of a black Honda Accord from Melville, which was recovered in Queens Village on July 26.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are
seeking the publics help to identify and locate the man who was in possession of a stolen
vehicle from a Melville home in July.
A black Honda Accord was stolen from a Court North Drive home during the overnight hours of July 8 into July 9. The vehicle was located in Queens Village on July 26 at approximately 4:00 a.m.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest.
Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers
to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: August 01 2024
East Hampton, NY - August 10, 2024.
On Saturday, August 10, 2024, the East Hampton Library will present its 20th Annual Authors Night fundraiser. One of the most popular and celebrity-studded events of the Hamptons summer calendar, Authors Night features 100 authors across all genres.
The Premier Literary Event of the Hamptons has grown over its history to become one of the most successful celebrations of books and authors in America, and one of the largest library-author events of its kind in the country.
As we mark the 20th anniversary of Authors Night, were thrilled to present the event once again in the heart of East Hampton Village, said Dennis Fabiszak, East Hampton Library Director. The funds raised at Authors Night enable the East Hampton Library to provide our diverse community with essential programming and services throughout the year all free of charge.
EVENT LOCATION: Authors Night will be held under a grand tent on the Herrick Park field at 67 Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village, NY. Please note: The event is NOT held at the Library.
EVENT ITINERARY: The evening begins at 5 pm with the Authors Reception under a grand tent, where guests enjoy delicious hors doeuvres and wine, meet and mingle with the authors, buy their books, and have them personally inscribed. At 8 pm, directly following the Authors Reception, guests dine at dinner parties at private area homes in honor of one or more of the guest authors.
TICKETS: Tickets are $150 for the Authors Reception only, and begin at $500 for the dinners (includes entry to book signing reception). Tickets will go on sale in late spring, online at authorsnight.org, at the Library (159 Main St., East Hampton, NY), and by phone at (631) 324-0222.
BENEFICIARY: Proceeds from this special event benefit the East Hampton Library, a not-for-profit organization providing outstanding free library services to the East Hampton community since 1897. MORE INFO: For complete event details, visit the Authors Night website: authorsnight.org.
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: August 01 2024
Trio Announces Release of Public Safety Announcements Concerning Drunk & Drugged Driving, Leaving the Scene of a Crash, and the Consequences of Arrests for those Crimes.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney, New York State Senator Dean Murray, and Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. released public safety announcements to remind the public of the dangers of drunk and drugged driving, the importance of staying at the scene of a crash, and the legal and financial ramifications of a criminal arrest.
We are more than half-way through this years 100 Deadliest Days of Driving. In Suffolk County alone, there have been at least twenty fatalities since Memorial Day weekend, many of which were caused by drunk or drugged drivers. That is almost three lives lost per week, many of which were completely preventable, and despite the prevalence and convenience of ride-shares. These are not crimes that are confined to Long Island. Drunk and drugged drivers threaten the lives of random and innocent roadway users of every age, gender, ethnicity and economic status every single day throughout New York State, said District Attorney Tierney. Senator Murray, Sheriff Toulon, and I continue to fight for the safety of all New Yorkers. We urge everyone to remember that any amount of alcohol or drugs in your system is too much when it comes to driving. The legislators up in Albany must pass the Deadly Driving Bill to save countless lives and make our roadways safer across New York State.
When New York State rushed through legislation to legalize marijuana, it was done so in a way that left many questions unanswered. Who can legally sell it? Who can legally buy it, use it or consume it, said Senator Murray. Some of the biggest questions surround the use of marijuana while operating a motor vehicle. There is definitely a need to educate the public and Im thrilled to team with Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney and Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol Toulon, Jr., to put these PSAs out to the public to help with that education process. I also want to thank JVC Broadcasting, Inc.s President & CEO, John Caracciolo, for his willingness to immediately get these PSAs up and running on his multiple Long Island radio stations. Everyone working together can truly make a difference.
Drunk and drugged driving continues to claim innocent lives on our roads, said Sheriff Toulon. Partnering with District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney and New York State Senator Dean Murray, we are committed to raising awareness and pushing for legislative changes to make our roadways safer. Remember, one decision to use a ride-share can prevent a tragedy and save lives.
All of us at JVC Broadcasting are committed to work with our elected officials to get this important message out, said JVC Broadcasting, Inc. President and CEO, John Caracciolo. We were happy to donate the airtime to make it possible.
In January 2024, District Attorney Tierney rallied with a bipartisan group of local and state officials, district attorneys, traffic safety advocates, and families and friends of those affected by drunk and drugged driving, and called on lawmakers to pass a bill that would close the loopholes in the drugged driving law. Senate Bill S.3135 and Assembly Bill A.174, also known as the Deadly Driving Bill, closes the loopholes. Current New York State law does not allow an individual to be arrested and prosecuted for operating a vehicle while drugged, unless the officer can pinpoint the drug that driver is impaired by, and that drug must be listed Section 3306 of the Public Health Law.
Town of Huntington Prepares for Heat Wave - Spray Parks Now Free to Residents
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: July 31 2024
Cooling Centers Opening, Beach/Pool/Spray Park Hours Extended.
As a community service and in light of the warmer than average summer, the Town of Huntington will now be allowing Huntington residents to use the Manor Field Park and Elwood Spray Parks free of charge throughout the remainder of the summer. Proof of residency is required. Elwood and Manor Field Spray Parks will be open from 11 AM - 8PM during the heat wave. (Spray Parks are open at 10:00 AM for Children with Special Needs).
For some of our residents, staying cool during these frequent summer heat waves can be a challenge, said Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth. Offering the spray parks to our residents with children is the best kind of community service - convenient, safe, fun and now, free.
Spray Park hours will return to 11:00 am to 6:00 pm on Monday, August 5th.
In anticipation of the forecasted heat wave, the Town of Huntington will also put the following services and schedules in place:
Cooling centers:
The Dix Hills Ice Rink will be open from 12 PM- 8 PM
The Town of Huntington Flanagan Senior Center will be open until 4 PM - Thursday and Friday Only!
Beaches: Crab Meadow, West Neck, Hobart, and Centerport Beaches will be open with stationed lifeguards until 8 PM. Beach Permits required. Residents can visit www.tohbeachpermit.com to obtain a virtual beach permit.
Dix Hills Pool: The Dix Hills Pool will also be free to residents during the heat wave - (Thursday, August 1 Sunday, August 4).
The following community hours will apply:
Thursday (8/1): 2:00 PM 8:00 PM
Friday (8/2): 12:30 PM 8:00 PM
Saturday (8/3) and Sunday (8/4): 11:00 AM 8:00 PM
Press/media questions or requests for additional information should contact the Town of Huntington Communications Office at any of the options listed above.
One-offs with Town officials or access to Cooling Centers will be available by appointment only.
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: August 01 2024
Governor Hochul Announces State Police Now Accepting Entrance Exam Applications.
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York State Police are now accepting applications for the Trooper Entrance Examination, and testing for candidates will start on August 15, 2024. This recruitment period stems from a $66 million investment by Governor Hochul to fund additional State Police academy classes to increase the number of New York State Troopers dedicated to addressing the States most pressing crime issues, including the trafficking of illegal firearms.
Public safety is my top priority, and we will continue to make record investments in law enforcement so that New York State is best prepared to protect New Yorkers, Governor Hochul said. By investing $66 million in additional academy classes, we hope to increase the number of potential New York State Troopers serving our great state. I encourage those interested in a rewarding career to apply now.
Candidates can learn about the qualifications to become a New York State Trooper and sign up to take the exam at www.joinstatepolice.ny.gov. Once candidates apply, they can sign up to take the computerized exam at a Pearson VUE testing center at a location and time that is convenient for them.
New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James said, The New York State Police has a reputation and tradition of excellence. A career as a State Trooper is both challenging and rewarding, providing a unique opportunity to positively impact communities across the State. It is more important than ever that we better represent the communities we serve, build better relationships, and increase our diversity to enhance the service we provide New Yorkers. We encourage anyone who is looking for a fulfilling and exciting career to sign up for the exam.
The State Police is continuing efforts to increase the diversity of its ranks, which includes outreach to leaders of communities underrepresented in law enforcement. The State Police is proud to participate in the national 30x30 pledge, making a commitment to increase the representation of women in police recruit classes to 30 percent by 2030.
Since 2021, the State Police has increased the number of female Troopers by 21.8 percent (680 from 558), Black Troopers by 45.8 percent (296 from 203), and Hispanic Troopers by 54.6 percent (450 from 291).
A career with the New York State Police offers significant opportunities for advancement and professional development, with specialized units such as Aviation, Canine, Underwater Recovery Team, Special Operations Response Team and Bureau of Criminal Investigation, just to name a few.
Minimum qualifications needed to sign up for the examination:
Citizenship: Must be a U.S. citizen.
Age: Candidates must be at least 20 years old and a maximum of 34 years old at the time of application.
The maximum age may be extended one year for each year of full-time active military duty up to a maximum of 7 years.
Education: A high school diploma or equivalent is required to apply (60 college credits are required at time of appointment, 30 for those who have qualifying military service or police training).
For complete information, including details of the revised tattoo policy, go to: https://joinstatepolice.ny.gov/qualifications.
Applicants must pay a $20 fee at the time of application, and a $44 fee payable to Pearson VUE when scheduling the exam.
Salary & Benefits:
Google Lens
Google Lens is one of the best features of mobile Chrome on iPhone, and now its coming to Chrome for Mac this week. On Chrome for Android or iPhone, you can tap the camera icon, take a picture of an item, and Google will perform a search based on the photos content.
Google Lens on Chrome for Mac has a new camera icon that will appear in the address bar. When a user selects it, the user can click or drag over anything in the current browser tab, and then Google will do a search based on the contents selected. The search can be refined or users can ask follow-up questions, which could result in an AI Overview response.
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The courageous movement of the Bangladeshi students continues despite murderous repression by the Sheikh Hasina regime. Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested. The curfew continues (though in a milder form) and while communications are being restored, messaging services and social media platforms remain blocked. The government arrested six of the coordinators of the movement and forced them, under duress, to make a press statement saying all further protest actions had been called off. Even under these conditions, however, there were student protests across the country on Monday 29 July, including in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Barisal, etc. These were met with further repression and arrests.
Read this statement in Bengali here.
As the students have said, the movement is no longer about the quota system, the scrapping of which was its original demand, but rather is now about bringing down the Sheikh Hasina regime, winning justice for those killed, and the release of all those arrested. The students have issued a 9-point charter of demands. Many are saying, when the movement ends, then the revolution begins and are drawing comparisons with the revolutionary liberation struggle in the 1960s and 70s. The student movement is right in identifying the whole regime as the problem and in raising the need to overthrow it. How can this be achieved?
The student movement needs to be strengthened and to equip itself with democratic structures. The importance of democratically accountable leadership has been shown in the past week. The Hasina regime has tried to strike the movement at its head, arresting and coercing coordinators. To ensure that the arrest or coercion of coordinators cannot behead the movement, coordinators should be elected, and replaceable and subject to recall at any time by mass meetings of students in struggle at each university, faculty and school.
The students can play an important role in sparking a wider movement, but on their own cannot bring down the regime. The movement needs to spread to the working class. This should start by approaching university lecturers and staff to join the movement. Committees of Action should be organised in workplaces and working-class and poor neighbourhoods. These should be coordinated at a local, regional and national level.
Self-defence needs to be organised to protect the student movement and its right to protest. An appeal should be issued to the ranks of the army not to attack their brothers and sisters, to break ranks if ordered to do so, and to defend the students. Attempts must be made to break the army along class lines by raising social demands that would resonate with those drawn from humble backgrounds, and to encourage the organisation of committees in solidarity with the students in the army to the extent that this is possible.
For the movement to have an impact on the working class, it needs to adopt a wider programme of social and economic demands, in addition to its current democratic ones. Garment workers last year went on strike for a $200 monthly wage. Such demands should be combined with full trade union rights, housing and jobs for all.
Such a programme should show how it is not only the Hasina regime, but the capitalist system that her regime serves that is to blame. In order to rouse workers to struggle in greater numbers, bold measures to achieve these social demands should be included, including the expropriation of the banks and finance institutions, and the nationalisation under workers control of the largest capitalist firms, both national and multinational.
The only reliable allies that Bangladeshi workers and students can trust are their class brothers and sisters / Image: Nafis24, Wikimedia Commons
Some of the demands of the students pose the question of the role of the UN (whose vehicles have been used in the repression), appealing for the intervention of the international community and calling for Hasina to be tried at the ICC. We say, the only reliable allies that Bangladeshi workers and students can trust are their class brothers and sisters the international movement of the workers and revolutionary youth.
The international community has shown its true character by either supporting or remaining passive in the face of the Israeli massacre in Gaza. The ICC has been discussing Netanyahu for months, while Palestinians continue to be murdered. An appeal must be made to the workers and revolutionary youth of the world to redouble their efforts in solidarity with the movement in Bangladesh. Such an appeal must be directed first and foremost to the workers and students of Pakistan and India, starting with those in West Bengal.
Another demand coming from the student movement is for the banning of all party political organisations on campuses. This is an understandable reaction to the gangster-like role of the Awami League student wing and expresses the students distrust of all opposition parties, including the right-wing, pro-capitalist BNP and the Islamists. Rejection of all bourgeois parties is correct. The Bangladeshi students and workers should trust only their own forces. However, the question is not one of banning all party politics, but rather of creating an organisation based on working-class revolutionary politics. Rejection of all capitalist politics must be accompanied by a serious discussion among the most advanced elements on the need to build a revolutionary communist party based on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky and reclaiming the revolutionary traditions of the oppressed in Bangladesh.
Talha Mahmud Chowdhury, a student of East Delta University (CSE Department, Spring Intake 2020), was forcibly abducted by 20-30 members of the Bangladesh Students League (the student wing of the ruling party Awami League) at 8:48pm on 17 July. This abduction took place at the intersection of Road No. 5 in the Agrabad CDA residential area. They checked his mobile phone and, upon finding posts on his Facebook supporting the ongoing quota reform movement, handed him and three others over to the patrolling team of the Chittagong Double Mooring Police Station.
Subsequently, they were detained overnight at the Double Mooring Police Station without any arrest warrant and taken to the Khulshi Police Station at 11am the next day, 18 July. There, Talha was charged with seven false cases, including attempted murder and vandalism (criminal codes: 143, 307, 323, 324, 326, 359, 506).
Since the police could not present him to the court in time, Talha was sent to jail without a hearing. Due to public holidays and curfews, court sessions were delayed.
Finally, on 24 July, the court session took place, and during the hearing, Talha's bail application was rejected. On the other hand, the police's application for a five-day remand was also rejected by the court, which then scheduled the next hearing for 28 July. At the second hearing, the court again denied both the bail and remand applications and set the next hearing date for 1 August, four days later. However, today's court hearing was cancelled and two more false charges were brought against him.
Talha Mahmud is a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist International.
We demand the unconditional release of Talha Mahmud Chowdhury, along with all other students who are being detained by Sheikh Hasina's regime.
Talhas next hearing is on 7 August. In the run up to this date, we call on all our comrades, readers and supporters to contact their Bangladesh embassies, high commissions and diplomatic missions to demand Talhas immediate release, along with all other student detainees.
Before summer ends, foodies in Boston can once again try everything from Asian and Latin fare to French, Italian, seafood and sushi at dozens of restaurants in the city.
Dine Out Boston is back for its summer edition from Aug. 4-17, featuring more than 175 restaurants, including several fresh finds.
Summer is the perfect time to enjoy Dine Out Boston, our signature culinary program, featuring specially priced menus all across greater Boston, Martha J. Sheridan, president & CEO of Meet Boston, said in a press release. Our city has the best culinary talent, plenty of outdoor patios and rooftops, and a creative culinary flare across our 23 neighborhoods.
So far, there are eight restaurants that have never participated in Dine Out Boston that are doing so in August.
They are:
Restaurants will offer prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner. Many will offer takeout and delivery options, as well.
Lunch prices are set at $22, $27, $32 or $36 and dinner at $36, $41, $46, or $55. Restaurants can offer as many courses as they desire at their selected price.
Dine Out Boston is made possible by Meet Boston and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.
Click here to browse participating restaurants.
DJ Polo, best known as half of the prominent 1980s rap duo Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, died on Saturday, July 27. He was 63.
It is with a heavy heart we mourn the loss of my father, the incredible DJ Polo, one of the rappers children wrote on Polos official Instagram Sunday, July 28.
He was not only a legend to the hip hop community but also to his family and we celebrate his life and legacy now and forever, the post reads. We would like to thank you all for your beautiful words and tributes - seeing the impact he made has been overwhelming and we are so grateful.
Kool G Rap eulogized his friend on Instagram, writing, R.I.P. to a dear friend and a Brother from another Household. He is a Legend to Hip Hop and Juice Crew history. DJ Polo! May Light from the Highest be upon him.
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo are one of the more influential duos in hip-hop, according to Billboard. Pough started working with Kool G Rap in 1986 with their song, Its a Demo.
The duos three albums Road to the Riches (1989), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1990) and Live and Let Die (1992) are the blueprints when it comes to mafioso rap and storytelling, Billboard wrote.
The duo also released their compilation album Rated XXX in 1996 and Polo dropped his solo album Polos Playhouse in 1998.
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo were also part of the famed Juice Crew, whose members included MC Shan, Marley Marl, Mr. Magic, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante and Big Daddy Kane, among others.
Many of Poughs fellow hip-hop stars offered their own condolences on social media including Ice-T and Eric B, who wrote, My brother DJ POLO we had some great times you will never be forgotten GODS speed.
A cause of death was not revealed.
A fast food chain that specializes in the most craveable chicken finger meals is spreading its wings in Central Massachusetts with a new location expected to open at the end of the year.
Raising Canes is planning to open its new Framingham store in December, the company told MassLive.
The exact location of the new store is still being decided. But the Worcester Business Journal reported that the store could open near the Shoppers World plaza in Framingham.
We are unable to provide an exact date at this time, due to possible changes in construction schedules, and other factors that could affect the opening date, Raising Canes said. We look forward to serving you in the future!
Raising Canes has also posted an opening for a general manager at the Framingham store on July 9.
Raising Canes has five locations in Massachusetts, including its Marlborough location.
Several more Raising Canes are expected to open in Massachusetts this year.
According to Raising Canes website, a second store in Downtown Boston is coming soon.
The store will be located at 101 Arch St. and will join Raising Canes other Boston locations on Boylston Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
Raising Canes will also open its first location in Medford in September, the company previously told MassLive.
While MassLive can confirm that the Medford store will be located at Wellington Circle Plaza, the company could not provide an exact date as to when the restaurant will open due to possible changes in construction schedules.
It was also reported last year that the chain was planning to open a new location in Saugus in late 2024.
Raising Canes also has a location in Enfield, Connecticut and another in Johnston, Rhode Island.
Student loan borrowers, check your email inbox in the upcoming days.
Starting on Aug. 1, the U.S. Department of Education said it will email all student loan borrowers with at least one federal loan to provide updates on potential debt relief. The department will also let them know they have until Aug. 30 to call their servicer and opt out if they dont want the potential relief.
The rules around the relief arent finalized, the DOE said. Once they are this fall, borrowers will be given additional information on the relief. The email doesnt guarantee borrowers will be eligible.
If these rules are finalized, they would bring the number of borrowers eligible for student debt relief to 30 million, the Department said.
Today, the Biden-Harris administration takes another step forward in our drive to deliver student debt relief to borrowers whove been failed by a broken system, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. These latest steps will mark the next milestone in our efforts to help millions of borrowers whove been buried under a mountain of student loan interest, or who took on debt to pay for college programs that left them worse off financially, those who have been paying their loans for twenty or more years, and many others.
The Biden-Harris Administration made a commitment to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible, and today, as we near the end of a lengthy rulemaking process, were one step closer to keeping that promise, he added.
In April, the Biden-Harris Administration released its first set of draft rules that would give the Secretary of Education the ability to wipe away student debt for tens of millions of borrowers, the Department said.
The Department added that the proposed rules would also grant Cardona the ability to offer partial or full debt relief to the following people:
Borrowers who owe more now than they did at the start of repayment.
Borrowers who have been in repayment for decades.
Borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness but have not yet applied.
Borrowers who enrolled in low-financial value programs.
The Department expects that all four of these proposed forms of relief would be provided to eligible borrowers without requiring any action from borrowers; no application would be needed, it stated.
But, student loan borrowers who opt out of the debt relief cant opt back in. They will also be temporarily opted out of forgiveness due to an income-driven repayment plan until the Department of Education can asses their eligibility in a few months, the Department said.
Also, borrowers will only be eligible for the proposed relief if they are in a repayment program at the time that the Department is determining eligibility, the proposed rules are finalized, the Department said.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder and attempted murder after three young girls were killed in a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the U.K. on Monday.
The teenager has been charged with the murders of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Merseyside police said in a press release Thursday.
He is also facing 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, according to police.
The 17-year-old was named in court Thursday as Axel Rudakubana, The Associated Press reported.
Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary said that despite not being an adult, the boy can be named because he will turn 18 next week, according to the AP.
Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said in the release.
I would like to thank all of the forces who have offered and supplied support to Merseyside Police during the last three days and I can confirm that we are being supported with investigative resources from across the North West, Kennedy added.
The stabbing happened in the town of Southport, which is located on the Irish Sea coast in Northwest England about 17 miles north of Liverpool. Rudakubana is from the nearby coastal village of Banks, according to police.
Eight other children were injured in the attack, two of which were discharged from the hospital Thursday, according to the AP. Five others were in stable condition at the hospital.
Two adults were also said to be in critical condition after being injured during the incident, Merseyside police said in an earlier press release.
The adults were publicly named Thursday as Leanne Lucas, who led the dance class, and John Hayes, who worked nearby and intervened in the attack to protect children, according to the AP. The injured children cannot be named because of their ages.
Merseyside police previously said they were not treating the incident as terror-related. While police have not disclosed a motive for the crime, it was determined that the alleged murder weapon was a kitchen knife with a curved blade, the AP reported.
The stabbing prompted Swift to post a statement to her Instagram story on Tuesday.
The horror of yesterdays attack is washing over me continuously and Im just completely in shock, Swift wrote.
The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there the families, and first responders, she continued. These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.
Francine Pascal, author of beloved childrens book series Sweet Valley High died at age 92, Sunday, July 28.
Pascals daughter, Laurie Wenk-Pascal told The New York Times that she died of lymphoma at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Pascal first created the Sweet Valley High series in 1983. While the series started with only 12 books written by Pascal, it eventually grew to a total of 181 books written by multiple authors overseen by Pascal, according to the Times.
The Sweet Valley series sold over 200 million copies and proved there was a market for books about teenage girls.
The series followed the lives of identical twins, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. The girls attended high school in the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Sweet Valley.
Pascal once described Sweet Valleys as the essence of high school in an interview with People back in 1988.
Its that moment before reality hits, when you really do believe in romantic values sacrifice, love, loyalty, friendship Pascal told People. ... before you get jaded and slip into adulthood.
She said the books uncovered a whole population of young girls who were never reading, and created readers out of non-readers.
In addition to Sweet Valley, Pascal has also written for a number of publications, including Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, True Confessions, and Modern Screen.
She also wrote a non-fiction book, The Strange Case of Patty Hearst, in 1974, and in the 1960s wrote for the soap opera The Young Marrieds.
Pascal is survived by her two daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, according to People.
Several fundraisers are collecting money to help the family of a 13-year-old girl who was seriously injured while crossing the street in Worcester on Monday.
Officers responded to the crash near 164 Shrewsbury St. around 3:50 p.m., Worcester police said previously. She was treated at the scene and then taken to a hospital.
The crash comes just over a month after 13-year-old Gianna Rose Simoncini was hit and killed by a car while crossing Belmont Street in Worcester. Just days before the teen was killed, a toddler was struck by a car on Lincoln Street and was seriously injured. The crashes prompted calls from leaders in the Central Massachusetts city to improve pedestrian safety.
Shrewsbury Neighborhood Support Team a local social services organization said in a Tuesday Facebook post that the 13-year-old who was injured Monday attended Sherwood Middle School in Shrewsbury last year. The family recently moved to Worcester but is originally from South Sudan.
The teen is currently in a pediatric ICU at UMass Memorial, and her family is waiting to see if she will recover from head trauma, according to the post. As of Wednesday, she was still in a coma, but her conditioned hadnt worsened.
The teens family has taken time off work to support their daughter and now must pay for her medical expenses, according to the post. You can support them financially by donating to a GoFundMe campaign or sending money to them directly via PayPal. As of Thursday morning, the two campaigns had raised a little more than half of their $20,000 goal.
The family could also use donations of fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the post. You can sign up to donate food at this link.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison.
Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an assault charge. He could have faced up to 10 years in prison. DeCologero was already serving a 25-year sentence handed down in 2006 after he was convicted of buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.
Prosecutors initially had said DeCologero and inmate Fotios Freddy Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida. But on Thursday, they said that he had only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger.
Read more: WMass mobster will plea in prison killing of Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger
An inmate told a grand jury that DeCologero said to him that Bulger was a snitch and they planned to kill him as soon as he came into their unit at United States Penitentiary, Hazelton.
Geas faces a hearing on Sept. 6. He has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries up to a life sentence. Last year the Justice Department said it would not seek the death sentence for the pair.
Another inmate who acted as a lookout, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI special agents about his role. McKinnon got credit for spending 22 months in custody after his 2022 indictment, was given no additional prison time and was returned to Florida to finish his supervised release. McKinnon had served out a sentence for stealing guns from a firearms dealer.
Plea deals for the three men were disclosed May 13. Geas and DeCologero were identified as suspects shortly after Bulgers death, but they remained uncharged for years as the investigation dragged on.
According to court records, inmates found out ahead of time that Bulger would be arriving. DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulgers cell during the attack.
After the killing, experts criticized Bulgers transfer to Hazelton, where workers had already been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing, and his placement in the general population instead of more protective housing.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation found in 2022 that the killing was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the federal Bureau of Prisons. The inspector general found no evidence of malicious intent by any bureau employees but said a series of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters.
In July, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the Bureau of Prisons following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and 80s, was also an FBI informant who provided the agency with information on the main rival to his gang.
He became one of the nations most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, thanks to a tip from his FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run.
Bulger was convicted in 2013 in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
DeCologero, who was in a gang led by his uncle, was convicted of buying heroin that was used to try to kill a teenage girl because his uncle feared she would betray the crew to police. After the heroin did not kill her, another man broke her neck, dismembered her body and buried her remains in the woods, court records say.
Geas was a close associate of the Mafia and acted as an enforcer but was not an official made member because he is Greek, not Italian. He and his brother were sentenced to life in 2011 for their roles in several violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Adolfo Big Al Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. Another mobster ordered Brunos killing because he was upset that he had talked to the FBI, prosecutors said.
This story was updated at 3:05 p.m. on Aug. 1 with additional reporting.
A 26-year-old man is facing a murder charge in connection with the stabbing death of a pregnant woman who dated his brother, which prosecutors say took place just days after the woman accused the mans brother of domestic violence.
Zachary Vozzella, of Lynn, was arraigned in Lynn District Court on Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tuckers office said in a statement. Vozzella is charged with killing Brianna Welsh, 25, of Lynn, who was pregnant at the time of her death.
A massive search effort for a woman in her 40s initially believed to have gone missing near Revere Beach Thursday morning was called off, according to Massachusetts State Police.
The search effort was suspended after new information suggested the woman had left the beach area, State Police said.
State Police troopers, the marine unit and the departments Air Wing are working with Revere police and fire, the U.S. Coast Guard and environmental police were conducting grid searches for the woman earlier Thursday, according to the agency.
No further information was immediately available Thursday morning.
A 45-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman were arrested in Mattapan on Wednesday morning and now face charges in connection with a double shooting in Bostons Downtown Crossing neighborhood last week, police said.
Robert Mallard, of Dorchester, was wanted on a warrant charging him with two counts of assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of carrying a loaded firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building. He was arrested near 1000 Harvard St, Boston Police said in a statement.
A second suspect, Emily Mackey, also a resident of Dorchester, was found inside an apartment at 1000 Harvard St. and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, police said.
Massachusetts state lawmakers went into Wednesday evening in much the same way they started the day: Waiting for agreements on key bills tackling the states housing crisis, economic development challenges, and climate change.
Formal voting sessions for the Legislatures current, two-year session are supposed to end by midnight on Wednesday.
But there was every expectation that state House and Senate lawmakers would work through the night to get bills to Gov. Maura Healeys desk.
The housing and economic development bills are top legislative priorities for Healey, who earlier had taken victory laps as she signed this years state budget and legislation expanding the states gun laws.
As of around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, those key bills were still in the hands of legislative negotiators.
I can tell you the senators are working really hard. I know that theyve been preparing and sending proposals and giving responses and trying to talk with their House counterparts, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, told The Boston Herald. So I think that as long as we can continue working together collaboratively, we should, Im hopeful that we get it done.
An intraparty spat between Democrats, who control all the levers of power on Beacon Hill, may have slowed the pace some.
Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, spent part of the day on Tuesday complaining about each other and the 11th-hour pushes to get their respective priorities over the goal line, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, the Senates top Republican said it was disappointing lawmakers were once again racing to beat the clock and pass a brace of complex legislation.
Its extremely unfortunate that were in the situation that were in. And I think thats the most important point. And we have a lot of things that are priorities for both parties and both branches, Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, told reporters in a brief interview outside the Senate chamber on Wednesday afternoon.
During an appearance on WGBH-FM in Boston earlier in the day, Healey seemed optimistic that lawmakers would hit their deadline.
Well, its going to be a really busy 24 hours, and there is a lot, theres a lot in conference committee, Healey told the station, referring to the joint House-Senate committees working to iron out the two chambers differences on about a half-dozen proposals.
Im really focused on housing, economic development in particular, Healey continued. But theres a theres a lot of important pieces of legislation that are there. Theyre now in ... conference committee. Some of them have come out of [the] conference committee. But theyre the product of a lot of work over the course of the year, a lot of hearings, a lot of stakeholders.
(*This story was updated at 7:01 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, with additional reporting.)
The sun rose over the State House in Boston on Thursday morning in much the same way that it set on Wednesday: With state lawmakers still awaiting deals and votes on key bills dealing with the commonwealths housing crisis, spurring economic development, and fighting climate change.
Lawmakers worked through the night and into the early hours of Thursday morning, shoveling through bills as they ignored the midnight deadline signaling the end of formal sessions for the year.
Shortly before 7 a.m., lawmakers appeared to have reached an agreement on a highly anticipated housing bond bill totaling about $5.16 billion, according to The Boston Globe.
Details of the legislation were not immediately available. But the bill, which is intended to create tens of thousands of new homes in the coming years, did not include a Senate-backed plan to have landlords cover brokers fees, the newspaper reported.
By dawn, one bill had emerged and won passage: Legislation expanding how family is defined in Massachusetts, a move intended to protect parents and children who use paths such as surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization, State House News Service reported.
Lawmakers tasked with finalizing the legislation gathered just before midnight to file the deal with the House clerks office.
Both chambers accepted the compromise bill around 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning, and took the final votes to send it to Gov. Maura Healey about half an hour later.
This has been a bipartisan legislative effort. Massachusetts is the only state in New England that has not updated our parentage laws, Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Cape and Islands, one of the lead negotiators, said, according to the wire service. For so many families, for LGBTQ families like mine and so many people, this is really essential, particularly given, unfortunately, what were seeing in too many states across the country that are attacking LGBTQ people and their families.
Lawmakers also stalled on a vote on a compromise bill that includes policy changes and tax incentives for veterans, the wire service further reported.
Around midnight, talks also broke down on a clean energy bill, according to The Boston Herald.
State Sen. Michael Barrett, D-3rd Middlesex, whod been leading the talks for the upper chamber, told reporters that hed been hoping to celebrate the bills approval.
But Im not sure were going to have quite the celebration that I had been planning, the Lexington lawmaker told reporters, according to the Herald. Im not sure the House subscribes to the idea that we should give people relief, even as we expand the grid and make people pay a significant amount to do so.
The protracted debate that started Wednesday and dragged into Thursday appeared to be a record-setter, according to State House News Service.
The housing and economic development bills are top legislative priorities for Healey, who had taken victory laps earlier this week as she signed this years state budget and legislation expanding the states gun laws.
I can tell you the senators are working really hard. I know that theyve been preparing and sending proposals and giving responses and trying to talk with their House counterparts, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, told the Herald. So I think that as long as we can continue working together collaboratively, we should, Im hopeful that we get it done.
An intraparty spat between Democrats, who control all the levers of power on Beacon Hill, may have slowed the pace some.
Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, spent part of the day on Tuesday complaining about each other and the 11th-hour pushes to get their respective priorities over the goal line, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, the Senates top Republican said it was disappointing lawmakers were once again racing to beat the clock and pass a brace of complex legislation.
Its extremely unfortunate that were in the situation that were in. And I think thats the most important point. And we have a lot of things that are priorities for both parties and both branches, Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, told reporters in a brief interview outside the Senate chamber on Wednesday afternoon.
During an appearance on WGBH-FM in Boston earlier in the day on Wednesday, Healey seemed optimistic that lawmakers would hit their deadline.
Well, its going to be a really busy 24 hours, and there is a lot, theres a lot in conference committee, Healey told the station, referring to the joint House-Senate committees working to iron out the two chambers differences on about a half-dozen proposals.
Talks on a healthcare oversight bill intended to avert a future catastrophic meltdown of the kind now afflicting bankrupt Steward Health Care, have collapsed on Beacon Hill, leaving its future uncertain.
With lawmakers at loggerheads at key pieces of legislation, and with the Legislature pressing to get key bills done as the clock ticks down on formal sessions, House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, pulled the plug.
"We were frustrated by the progress we were making trying to do the two bills at once. It was very difficult and there were other health care items scattered in other conference committees, Mariano said, according to State House News Service.
The other bill the Quincy Democrat referred to is legislation that would cap or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for certain popular medications and rein in pharmaceutical industry middlemen.
It was very difficult to compare trades and to effectively match up the bills. And we were getting frustrated, they were getting frustrated, Mariano continued. And those two bills that we sent over -- I think one was unanimous and one I forget, two negative votes -- are too important to get lost in the shuffle and get watered down. So I wanted to get away from the frustration that my staff was going through, and the Senate staff was going through. And we did that.
The bills collapse came even as a federal bankruptcy judge in Texas approved Stewards request, to shutter two of its Massachusetts hospitals by months end, a move critics say will punch a critical hole in the states health care landscape.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston called the decision painful, WBUR-FM reported.
Lopez said Steward met the legal standard for shutting down Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, the station reported.
Speaking to reporters Thursday outside the MBTAs Park Street Station at the foot of Beacon Hill, Gov. Maura Healey said there was little she could to do stop the shutdowns.
Steward made the call to close the two hospitals, Healey said. And I feel terrible for the community, and for [the] health workers, and for patients in those areas.
Healey, who has repeatedly pressed for Steward to offload its remaining Massachusetts facilities, and to leave the state, said her office has been hard at work, looking to secure a deal that will ensure a smooth transition ownership away from Steward to a responsible operator. Were still very focused on that.
(*This story was updated at 1:58 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, with additional reporting.)
State lawmakers have sent Democratic Gov. Maura Healey a $5.16 billion compromise bond bill aimed at taming the states housing affordability and access crisis.
The midmorning vote came as state lawmakers rushed to finish up their business for the year, handing Healey a win on one of her key policy initiatives.
The bill, which aims to foster the construction of thousands of new housing units in the coming years is crammed with policy initiatives.
One thing it does not contain, however, is Senate-backed language that would have forced landlords to cover so-called brokers fees that can drive the up-front cost of renting an apartment past $10,000 in the Greater Boston area.
The skyrocketing cost of housing statewide remains a top issue for both policymakers and business leaders, who fear its eating into Massachusetts economic competitiveness, and driving people to leave for more affordable locales.
Healey got the ball rolling last fall with a $4.1 billion proposal last year. The House passed a $6.5 billion version, while the Senate signed off on a $5.4 billion proposal.
The compromise bill, the product of a House and Senate conference committee, cleared the House on a 128-24 vote. The Senate approved it 37-2, with GOP Sens. Ryan Fattman and Peter Durant casting the no votes, according to State House News Service.
The final bill features a high bottom line, but not all of that borrowing capacity will actually get used. The states plan for actual capital spending released last month dedicates $2 billion for housing over the next five years, and $400 million in fiscal 2025, a 30 percent increase over fiscal 2024, State House News Service reported.
At the end of the day, we took an approach that was focused on the financial elements that were in common between the two bills, Sen. William Brownsberger, D-Suffolk/Middlesex, and one of the bills lead negotiators, said, according to the wire service.
One advocacy group praised the bills authorization of a new foreclosure mediation program that would require mortgage servicers in five, at-risk communities to o participate in pre-foreclosure mediation with homeowners to explore alternatives to foreclosures.
"While the overall bond bill fails to meet the urgent needs of Massachusetts renters, were glad that legislators took this first step towards supporting the thousands of Massachusetts homeowners who face foreclosure each year, Rose Webster-Smith, the executive director of Springfield No One Leaves and co-anchor of Homes for All Massachusetts, said in a statement.
Foreclosure mediation will ensure that the big banks come to the table before they can foreclose on a home, and negotiate reasonable solutions to get mortgage payments back on track, Webster-Smith said.
Both the House and Senate currently are recessed until Monday at 11 a.m., the wire service reported.
Lawmakers in the state House and Senate have failed to get a stoppage time deal on clean energy permitting and other climate-related policies.
The House and Senate gaveled out of formal sessions on Thursday amid sniping and finger-pointing.
I was looking forward to a glorious morning. Im not sure were going to have quite the celebration that I had been planning. Technically, the bill is still alive, Sen. Michael Barrett, D-3rd Middlesex, said.
The upper chamber was fully committed to producing a balanced package that raises your electric bills but constrains your gas bills, providing some balance. But the balance is proving elusive. Not sure the House subscribes to the idea that we should give people relief, even as we expand the grid and make people pay a significant amount to do so.
Barrett suggested that the issues tied up in the six-person conference committee -- reforms to the siting and permitting process for clean energy projects, EV charging policies, clean energy procurement and more -- might have to wait until 2025 for a revival.
We cant bring the House along with us quite yet. Were even having some difficulty convincing the governor of the challenges that are involved here and in making sure that people are not overburdened, the Lexington Democrat said outside the Senate Chamber. So we havent quite had the coming together that that we looked forward to having, but were going to have a shot at creating that kind of broad consensus next year, I suspect.
A short time later, the Houses lead House negotiator, Rep. Jeff Roy, D-10th Norfolk, parried, saying Barretts apparent willingness to punt to next session was a sign that the Senate is going back on its word.
I will say that we pre-conferenced the language on the siting and permitting. Thats a priority for us. Thats been a priority for us all session, the Franklin Democrat said.
I understood it to be a priority of the Senate. All three branches the governor, the House, and the Senate worked on this language. We have that as a compromise package, and the Senate is going back on its word to do that as part of this agreement, Roy continued.
Roy emphasized that the Senate had agreed on the siting and permitting language they wrote with the Healey administration.
I will state, the governor was on WGBH [on Wednesday] morning listing this as a priority. I know shes talked to folks over in the Senate that this is her priority. This is so important for the future of clean energy. We need siting and permitting reform immediately, this is not an issue that can wait until 2025, he conculded.
Climate activists prowled the halls of the State House on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, chanting and bearing signs that called on lawmakers to do their job.
In a statement, Conservation Law Foundation President Brad Campbell slammed lawmakers for the breakdown.
"Closed-door brinkmanship by the Senate and House, combined with a lack of bold leadership by Governor Healey, have once again sullied the Commonwealths claim to climate leadership, he said.
Among the casualties were modest but widely-supported and much-needed reforms to speed the siting of infrastructure essential to a clean energy transition and a series of Senate-backed measures to rein in the expanded use of natural gas, Campbell continued.
With a looming climate clock, the gas industrys stubbornness has once again won out over the ongoing policy gridlock among the Legislature and administration, despite a landmark decision by [Healeys] own utility regulators underscoring the importance of measures to curb expansion of gas infrastructure, he said.
The House and Senate each passed legislation in recent months taking aim at the complicated process to approve clean energy projects and incorporating a package of reforms designed to modernize the electric grid to accommodate more energy from cleaner generation sources. But in addition to the recommendations made by the governors Commission on Clean Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting, both branches also loaded their bills with their own priorities and now the whole package appears to be sinking.
The House included a push to have the state procure greater amounts of clean energy generation, and the Senate included a focus on ramping down natural gas programs as a way to shield Bay Staters from utility bill increases expected to come along with the permitting and siting changes. Barrett has repeatedly said it is critical to him that the higher costs of electrification be offset so ratepayers dont start rebelling against the clean energy transition.
We can provide people some financial relief, even as we increase the burden on the electric bill. Or were going to see that Massachusetts becomes part of a worldwide rebellion against the clean energy enterprise. The expense of it is daunting, so if you dont anticipate in advance how to soften the blow on peoples monthly budgets, you are courting a right-wing reaction against climate policy, Barrett said early Thursday morning. And thats really whats at stake here. Were at risk of exposing ourselves to a backlash, because cleaning up the planet does impose a lot of financial burden.
Barrett said negotiators were still working very hard to get a deal, but he also said that when we do a bill it will be one that is sensitive to the cost of living for ratepayers.
I hope it happens tonight. But it wont be a disappointment to the Senate if the entire debate -- the electric side and the natural gas side both -- carries over to a new two-year session. Thats a plan B. Plan A is to do it tonight, he said. But ... the second-best alternative is to carry everything over to 2025, see whos president of the United States because that makes a huge difference, right? If, perchance, Mr. Trump is reelected president, were not going to have an offshore wind industry generating electrons in need of a robust grid in quite the timeframe we anticipated.
Roy said he hoped that the House and Senate could reach an agreement that could pass during informal sessions between now and the January end of the term.
Massachusetts is going to be better off if we defer everything. If we cant do it all and give people some financial protection from increases in electric rates, we should do nothing, Barrett said. Because it doesnt have to be two years, it could be six months from now, it could be the beginning of 2025.
Sen. Marc Pacheco, one of the leading climate and energy voices in the Legislature, listened intently as Barrett spoke to reporters and then offered his own thought. The Taunton Democrat said the permitting piece is essential and said that even if its not the best in the world to get it done, OK, well, lets get what we can get done and get going right away.
Its absolutely critical that we get a climate bill enacted into law. I think not doing so is a tremendous failure for the Massachusetts Legislature, he said. We have been a national leader up until the last few years. States like New York are going ahead of us.
Barrett and Roy were locked in a spat over rules related to the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, which they co-chair, for much of this session. Barrett said early Thursday that that dispute had no bearing on their inability to reach an agreement this week.
Not at all, Barrett said. He added, I think personal relations are very good. Institutionally, though, something happened with this negotiation midway through. I dont know what it was. But the mood did change. We got off to a great start though. And it faded by the end of the week. Not sure why.
He added, There seems to be a larger game afoot. There are all kinds of problems with all kinds of conference committees.
Asked to respond to those comments, Roy said he wasnt privy to other conference talks and suggested the only shift was the Senate forging ahead with a broader bill even after House Speaker Ronald Mariano said he preferred a narrow siting and permitting bill.
The shift was it got too far afield from siting and permitting, he said. The Senate just wanted too much beyond that.
Roy added, And I can recall, when the governor appointed the commission to study siting and permitting and come up with language, I remember when she was handing me her pen, I said to her, Governor, this is the most important thing we will do this session. And we were all committed to doing it this session. And Im disappointed.
A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas has approved Steward Health Cares request to shutter two of its Massachusetts hospitals by months end, a move that critics say will punch a critical hole in the states health care landscape.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston called the decision painful, WBUR-FM reported.
Lopez said Steward met the legal standard for shutting down Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, the station reported.
Its affecting the lives of people who are in there right now, Lopez said, according to WBUR-FM. The importance of every individual whos in there weighs on me.
State officials, meanwhile, say they will continue pushing for Steward to offload its five, remaining hospitals in the Bay State, finally ushering the company out of the commonwealth.
In an interview with WGBH-FM on Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey kept up her drumbeat of criticism of the company, saying that were here in this situation, all of us, you in the neighborhood, the community, justice, state, because of the greed of Steward.
The company drove these hospitals into the ground with greed, with mismanagement, and were all left, right, trying to pick up the pieces.
On Wednesday, more than 100 people rallied at the State House, appealing to policymakers to take whatever they steps they could including declaring a public health emergency to keep the two hospitals open.
Sens. Jamie Eldridge and Nick Collins whose district includes Carney joined by Boston City Councilors John FitzGerald and Ed Flynn, stood at the front of the crowd as they met with representatives from Healeys office, State House News Service reported.
Theres a $9 billion rainy day fund. It doesnt get rainier than today for us, Audra Sprague, a registered nurse at Nashoba, said, according to the wire service.
For the governor to say she has no power, she has no control, it absolutely cant be true. Why would you have made the promises that you made in the beginning that you were going to maintain access to care, make sure all the hospitals stayed open, and do all this stuff if you had no control? Sprague said.
Nurses led chants of its a rainy day, while holding up signs that read, This IS a Rainy Day Governor!
Patients seeking care at Nashoba in Ayer typically travel five to 15 minutes to get there, Sprague said. She warned that if the hospital closes, that travel distance could triple or quadruple.
People will die -- 1,000 percent, Sprague said. They will either die or the delay of care to get to a hospital for emergency care will impact their function.
On Monday, many of those same elected officials, joined by advocates and labor leaders, rallied at Carney, which sits in the heart of Bostons Dorchster neighborhood, where they issued a similar plea.
The hospital first opened its doors in South Boston in 1863, and has spent nearly three-quarters of a century in Dorchester.
I know how essential this hospital is, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, once a Carney patient, like generations of city residents before her, told the crowd.
Closing Carney would deal a catastrophic blow to the citys largest and most diverse neighborhood, Pressley said.
News of Carneys closing was a real shock. A real kick in the gut to the Dorchester neighborhood, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, who represents Dorchester on Capitol Hill said. And to the nurses, the doctors. Theres 750 workers who are employed here ... whose sole purpose is to care for our families, those in need.
BOSTON Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly hasnt pitched well during the second half.
He entered the All-Star Break with a 1.45 ERA (18 innings, three earned runs) in his previous 14 outings. Manager Alex Cora even described him as one of our best the Saturday before the break.
But the 29-year-old allowed five earned runs on six hits (three homers) and four walks in his first five outings of the second half. That included recording just one out while giving up a run, hit and two walks in Tuesdays loss to Seattle.
But manager Alex Cora sent Kelly back out there Wednesday and he did the job. The Red Sox won 3-2 over Seattle here at Fenway Park.
Kelly hurled a scoreless 10th inning, preventing the automatic runner at second base from scoring. He pitched around a hit by pitch and walk to earn the victory. He said it felt so good.
Its probably one of my favorite outings of the year, Kelly said. Last few outings, last seven to 10 days have been pretty tough mentally. Just trying to get over the hump, over the hump. Today was good. I needed that one.
Kellys wild pitch allowed automatic runner Cal Raleigh to reach third base with no outs. But he then got Justin Turner to strike out swinging and Leo Rivas to ground out to first base.
After a hit by pitch and walk, Kelly retired Mitch Garver on a groundout to shortstop to end the inning. Rafael Devers then hit a walkoff RBI double in the 10th inning to win it.
Sometimes I think I maybe need to flip the switch a little sooner than I do, Kelly said about how long he lets a bad outing bother him. Theres definitely times where its pretty easy. But I try to make sure no matter what that once I get to the field the next day, its gone. So I showed up today ready to work. Obviously yesterday was pretty tough. But today I showed up, same routine, went through everything, got ready to go. And fortunately I got another opportunity to go back out there.
National Weather Service forecasters set down a heat advisory for much of Massachusetts on Thursday as the Bay State prepares for a stretch of very warm and humid weather that will push temperatures up to or even over 90 degrees.
There is little chance the state will see any rain on Thursday, with forecasters putting the odds at 10% to 15%. Heat indexes, or the feels like temperature, are expected to hit the mid-90s on Thursday afternoon, prompting forecasters to issue a heat advisory for much of the eastern part of the state. The advisory stretches west along the Mass. Pike, with communities generally situated below the highway set to experience higher temperatures than those above it in the central and western parts of the state.
The heat advisory is in place until 7 p.m. on Friday, warning residents of those areas to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.
Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, forecasters wrote. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening.
In Boston, the forecasted high temperature on Thursday is 93 degrees. In Central Massachusetts, Worcester is projected to reach 92 degrees on Thursday. And in the western part of the state, Springfields forecast calls for a high of 93 degrees.
It will be slightly cooler in The Berkshires on Thursday, with the forecast calling for a high of 87 degrees for Pittsfield. On the opposite end of the state, Barnstable, on Cape Cod, is also projected to reach 87 degrees on Thursday.
Fridays forecast is much the same hot, humid and dry, according to forecasters. But there is a chance scattered showers roll into Western Massachusetts later Friday afternoon.
Unsettled weather drifts into the state this weekend, with more heat and humidity mixed with scattered showers and thunderstorms.
Absa Mauritius shatters boundaries and redefines convenience with the launch of Absa Pay the island nations first-ever Tap & Pay solution. This groundbreaking program, currently available on Android devices, empowers Mauritians to experience a completely digital and secure way to pay.
Absa Pay marks a significant milestone for Mauritius, positioning us at the forefront of the digital payments experience and strengthen the banks ambition to be a leading digital financial institution. Absa, the first mover within the Absa Group, proudly introduces this innovative technology that eliminates the need for physical cards. It emphasises the banks objective to provide its clients a service of excellence.
Commenting on this new milestone, Jean Noel Samy, Head of Cards at Absa Mauritius says: We operate in a dynamic context where we constantly need to rethink how we serve our customers and offer solutions that meet their expectations. With Absa Pay, our initiative is driven by the overarching goal of maintaining our leadership in innovation and meeting the diverse needs of our customers, both locally and across the African continent. We are aware that this marks a major turning point for our current and future customers as well as for merchants. Its a first in Mauritius, and we are proud to be the first bank to introduce this technology and new payment experience.
How does Absa Pay work?
The Absa Pay solution enables you to register any of your debit or credit cards available on your Absa Mobile Banking App for a Tap to Pay feature. This transforms your mobile phone into a secure purchasing tool, offering hassle free transactions with a simple touch, tap, and pay. Just tap your phone on any Near Field Communication terminal (NFC) to complete your transaction. In addition, customers will be able to view the full list of all tokens related to their card on the Absa Mobile Banking App with the ability to suspend or cancel the tokens.
Why choose Absa Pay?
Leave your wallet at home: Generate a secure digital version of your Absa card directly from your Absa Mobile Banking app. No need to carry your physical card!
Tap. Pay. Go: Simply tap your Android phone on any Near Field Communication (NFC) terminal to complete your purchase in seconds. This mean swifter payment and a smoother shopping experience.
Enhanced security: The use of a unique identifier protects your card data against the risk of fraud.
Full control: Manage your Absa Pay digital cards directly in the application. View the list of all your digital cards, suspend, or cancel them at any time.
Benefits that go beyond convenience
Absa Pay not only makes life easier but it also benefits businesses:
Faster transactions: Faster checkouts lead to greater customer satisfaction and higher turnover rates.
Reduced cash handling: Minimise the risks associated with cash handling and streamline business operations.
Reduce fraud: Absa Pays security features minimise the risk of fraudulent transactions.
Embrace the future of payments with Absa Pay
Absa invites all Mauritians to join us in shaping the future of payments. Download the Absa Mobile Banking app (Android) and activate Absa Pay today. Discover the unmatched convenience and security of this innovative payment system.
Note: Absa Pay is currently available on Android devices with NFC capability. Compatibility with Huawei devices will be available soon.
With the proliferation of smartphones and the availability of high-speed data, the world is rapidly moving towards smartphone-based contactless payment solutions.
At Absa Mauritius, we are committed to simplifying our customers lives by delivering innovative and contactless digital services through our mobile app. A few years ago, we became the first bank in Mauritius to introduce the ATM QR Cash feature on the Absa Mauritius App, allowing our customers to make cardless withdrawals at Absa ATMs using QR codes. Following this, we launched the QR Scan & Pay feature on our app, enabling our customers to conveniently scan any MauCAS QR code and make instant payments to any store in Mauritius directly from the app. Now, with Absa Pay, we are at the forefront of contactless card payments. This feature enables our customers to use their NFC-enabled Android smartphones to make instant payments by simply tapping their smartphones at payment terminals. This innovation revolutionizes in-store payments, offering unparalleled convenience and security. It allows for faster and more efficient transactions without the need for physical cards, significantly enhancing the shopping experience says Sandeep Mohapatra, Head of Digital Transformation and Technology.
pex Group, a leading supplier of global financial services, today announces further in-roads in the growing private equity sector in Japan. Apex Group is working with Japan Growth Investments Alliance (JGIA) to provide fund administration services to JGIA III Series Fund.
The appointment of Apex Group as fund administrator represents further success for Apex Groups team in Singapore, which has been building the businesses presence in Japan.
Apex Groups appointment as fund administrator comes after the team successfully supported a previous JGIA Series Fund. The teams attention to detail, expertise and Japanese language skills have secured a near perfect client retention rate. In addition, Apex Group will soon be offering payment services in Japan.
Interest in Japans private equity landscape has grown rapidly over the past 12 months with local and international fund managers alike hoping to reap the rewards of Japans geopolitical stability and a business culture that is becoming more comfortable with the asset class. The team at Apex Group can offer payment services in Japan for offshore funds as well as onshore funds, leaving it particularly well placed to capitalise on this trend.
Yuko Shimizu, Business Development Director, APAC at Apex Group, said:
JGIA is at the forefront of Japans private equity sector, which is quickly becoming one of the most exciting markets for investors in Asia. Having worked with JGIA for several years, we are proud that our work is being recognised and our relationship with JGIA deepened as we take on the administration of this new fund. The Apex Group team in this market has done some incredible work, and its great to see this being recognised by JGIA.
Une seance avant les vacances dhiver et la campagne de la partielle au No 10 et avant la dissolution du Parlement vers le 20 novembre 2024.
1. Announcements
2. Papers
3. Question
4.4. Private Members Motion
(No. 1) Honourable Third Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue (Ms Tour)
This Assembly resolves that Government should continue its efforts to encourage the use of electric vehicles in Mauritius.
( Resumption of debate)
(No. 2) The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Bodha)
This Assembly resolves that, a National Crisis Committee be set up with the participation of experts to design a new roadmap for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of the emergence of new variants and in the light of the experience gathered since the outbreak of the pandemic in Mauritius in March 2020.
(No. 3) The Honourable Third Member for Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien (Mr Doolub)
This Assembly welcomes the reopening of our borders to international travelers and supports measures taken by Government to relaunch tourism and resolves that it will continue to protect employment and safeguard livelihood in the travel and hospitality sector.
(No. 4) The Honourable Second Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Abbas Mamode)
This Assembly resolves that, in the prevailing context, opinion leaders should refrain from making statements such as to undermine trust in the democratic institutions of the Republic of Mauritius and tarnish the countrys image and reputation abroad.
(No. 5) The Honourable First Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Shakeel Mohamed) (Under suspension pursuant to Standing Orders 48 and 49 of the Standing Orders and Rules of the National Assembly (1995))
This Assembly resolves that, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, headed by the Minister, has completely mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic since last year and, as such, the Minister should take full responsibility for same and step down as Minister.
(No. 6) The Honourable First Member for La Caverne and Phoenix (Mr Lobine)
This Assembly resolves that, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation, a Select Committee be set up to be chaired by the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, to be known as the Cross-Party COVID-19 Pandemic Response Committee, consisting of eleven members, six of whom shall be members from the Opposition, to consider, inquire and report to the House on matters relating to Governments management and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters related thereto.
(No. 7) The Honourable Third Member for Port Louis South and Port Louis Central (Dr Aumeer)
This Assembly resolves that, in view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation since its outbreak in Mauritius in March 2020 and the high COVID-19 death toll among Mauritian Citizens, a Fact-Finding Committee be set up to look into the whole preparedness, response and management of the said pandemic in Mauritius.
(No. 8) The Honourable Fourth Member for Port Louis Maritime and Port Louis East (Mr Juman)
This Assembly resolves that, in view of the alleged mismanagement of public funds under Emergency Procurement since the first confinement in March 2020 to date which necessitate emergency supply of medical equipment and drugs to cater for the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic, a Commission of Inquiry be set up to inquire therein and on matters related thereto.
(No. 9) The Honourable Third Member for Flacq and Bon Accueil (Mr Nuckcheddy)
This Assembly resolves that, in the light of the implementation of the Road Master Plan announced by Government and of the Light Rail Project connecting Port Louis to Curepipe, which is being extended to other parts of the country, the Road Decongestion Programme should be implemented through one single blueprint using a holistic approach.
(No. 10) The Honourable Third Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Ittoo)
This Assembly is of opinion that, digitalisation and innovation being key for Mauritius to step up to the next level of development, a Task Force comprising of stakeholders in the Information and Communications Technology industry from the public and private sectors should be set up to come up with recommendations and a roadmap to allow Mauritius position itself as a regional Information and Communications Technology hub.
(No. 11) The Honourable Third Member for Curepipe and Midlands (Mr Dhunoo)
This Assembly resolves that, in the light of the recent trade agreements signed by the Republic of Mauritius, including, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA), the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with the Republic of India and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Peoples Republic of China, Government should create the appropriate environment and synergies with a view to providing enhanced opportunities for the business community in Mauritius to be able to take maximum advantage thereof, together with their counterparts in the relevant countries.
(No. 12) The Honourable Second Member for Savanne and Black River (Mrs Mayotte)
This House is of opinion that, following the removal of Mauritius by the Financial Action Task Force from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, the Assembly resolves that the Government of Mauritius should pursue its sustained effort to strengthen its position as an international financial center of repute by further implementing Anti-money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing measures.
(No. 13) The Honourable Second Member for Grand Baie and Poudre dOr (Dr Gungapersad)
This Assembly resolves that, in view of the mayhem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in the COVID-19 death toll and casualties among the population, a Commission of Inquiry be set up to inquire into the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues since its outbreak in Mauritius.
(No. 164) The Honourable Second Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue (Mrs Luchmun Roy)
This Assembly resolves that Government should carry out an assessment of the demand for social housing in Mauritius and embark upon an accelerated programme of construction thereof to meet same.
(No. 15) The Honourable Third Member for Grand River North West and Port Louis West (Mr Armance)
That this Assembly resolves that, in view of the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic and the clear and present damage facing our citizens, a Select Committee be appointed to consider all matters relating thereto, including the quality of the information provided to the public, the state of our health services, latest medicines and medical treatment available, social distancing measures and border control.
(No. 16) The Honorable First Member for Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes ( Dr Boolell)
This Assembly is deeply concerned with the humanitarian crisis of dire consequences in the ongoing Isreal-Hamas conflit and call for an immediate total and unconditional ceasefire.
Souece: Maurice Info Archives
West on Track has warmly welcomed the news that the next stage of the Western Rail Corridor, linking Mayo and Galway, is recommended for re-opening in the All-Island Strategic Rail Review.
Plans to reopen the disused railway line between Claremorris and Athenry have been formally outlined as part of a 35 billion overhaul of Irelands rail network. If delivered, the plans outlined in the report would connect Ballina with Rosslare via the reopened Western Rail Corridor and a new railway line between Waterford and Wexford.
West on Track, a community-based campaign group which has been lobbying for the re-opening of the Western Rail Corridor (WRC) welcomed the news and the commitment made by the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan towards the reopening of the Tuam to Claremorris line.
A spokesman for West on Track said the re-opening for both freight and passengers will represent a major delivery of key infrastructure as part of the Atlantic Economic Corridor and provide a huge boost for the western region.
This is an existing railway, fully in public ownership, and is a shovel-ready project. It is listed as a short-term project in todays report.
Last December the Government succeeded in having the Athenry-Claremorris link included in the EUs Comprehensive Ten-T network and people in the west will expect to see appropriate initial funding being made available to initiate the work of restoring the line without delay. An implementation strategy, currently being developed in association with the EIB, is due to be published shortly.
Congestion in the regional capital of Galway has already reached crisis proportions so re-opening the Galway-Mayo rail link for passengers and freight will have a major positive impact. This is strongly supported by Galway City and County Councils and by Mayo County Council. It will make an enormous difference to places like Tuam and Claremorris, allowing people to commute easily into their local city for work, business and medical appointments etc. and even allowing many students to travel in and out to college while living at home, representing a massive saving in accommodation fees.
This next phase of the Western Rail Corridor can be made operational within three to four years, linking Tuam, Westport, Ballina, Castlebar and Claremorris to Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford and is the only shovel-ready infrastructure project for the west that can be initiated without delay.
Once work is under way on bringing the railway to Mayo we expect the next phase to Sligo to then become the focus for subsequent development, the spokesperson stated.
West on Track pointed to the success of Phase one of the WRC which was the reopening of the Athenry to Ennis line as an example of why the re-opening of the line is important.
Meanwhile, the board of Ireland West Airport Knock have called for the development of the railway line from Claremorris to Sligo in order to serve the airport.
Responding to the publishing of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, the board called for the upgrading of critically important rail and road infrastructure in the region.
The upgrading of the N17 to Motorway status and the restoration of the currently disused Sligo-Galway railway in order to provide modern and efficient connectivity to the airport is of critical importance to support the airports future growth plans which include achieving the major milestone of one million passengers in the next number of years.
The Airport Board also believes that the further development of this rail corridor onwards from Claremorris for both passenger and freight to Sligo with sustainable connectivity from Charlestown into the Airport would significantly contribute to the future sustainable development of ground transportation to and from Ireland West Airport.
A strategic connection to the rail network would contribute significantly to a more integrated and sustainable form of travel for the many international visitors and travelling public using the airport from across the region, the airport's board stated.
A FUNDRAISING concert conducted by renowned Mayo orchestra conductor, Kathy Fahey will take place in an Achill church as a fundraiser for the Camille Souter Cottage Residency.
The Achill Heinrich Boll Association will host 'Illumination' , a concert by Kathy Fahey, performed by Choral Symphony West with soloist Patrick Quinn in St Josephs Church, Bunnacurry, Achill on Saturday, August 17 at 8pm.
The concert is part of a fundraising campaign by the Achill Heinrich Boll Association who propose to purchase and refurbish the cottage and studio of renowned artist Camille Souter on Achill Island and establish a funded artists residency in her memory.
A native of Belcarra, Castlebar, Kathy Fahey is a freelance choral director and orchestra conductor who from a very young age, has been immersed in music, both teaching and performing.
Kathy was just 18 years old when she performed Handels Messiah for the first time as part of the Maynooth College Choral Society, where she was studying, and went on to conduct a full performance of the famous work in The Church of The Holy Rosary, Castlebar.
It was the first time to be performed in Mayo, with a 100 strong choir and 18-piece orchestra. Subsequently, sacred works are now performed biannually in the county town under her baton collaborating Vocalessence Ladies Choir with the Mayo Concert Orchestra, which is collectively known as Choral Symphony West.
She works with several choirs across Mayo, as well as Mayo Concert Orchestra with her most recent appointment being director of Gardiner Street Gospel Choir in Dublin. Commenting on her 'Illumination' concert, Kathy said it was inspired by the Northern Lights.
I started composing 'Illumination' during the summer of 2023 having been hugely inspired by the sightings of the Northern Lights, and of course I am passionate about sacred music. Each of the 12 pieces in the work is loosely based around the imagery therein, each piece titled appropriately, and in addition, the seven choral pieces are all of a sacred nature, but themed around light.
Along with those pieces, there are two symphonies, Aurora's Prelude and Enchanting Skies. The full work is completed by powerful solos for tenor, mezzo-soprano and baritone, she said.
Kathy also has a great love for gospel music, having trained the multi-awarded Chapel Street Gospel Choir, with a particular appreciation for traditional African American gospel and its historic significance as well as the more modern gospel spirituals.
Her career in most recent years has had considerable focus on composition, one of her finest achievements being her brainchild, Fainne Oir, a dance show created and composed in 2019, with a storyline set during the Famine years in Ireland. This show has been performed across Ireland and on Broadway in New York.
Camille Souter's cottage
Camille Souter's cottage is located in Dooagh on Achill Island where she lived from 1958 into the early 1960s and permanently from the mid 1980s until her death on March 3, 2023.
Achill Heinrich Boll Association recently launched a campaign to purchase the cottage to establish a funded artist's residence where professional artists will live and work at her studio for a given period with financial support.
Tickets for Illumination cost 20 each and are available at www.heinrichboellcottage.com.
ACHILL Island Sea Salt was one of only 26 Irish food and food producers and the only one in Mayo to be awarded three stars in the prestigious annual Great Taste Awards 2024.
Achill Island Sea Salt were awarded a Great Taste 3-star award, which is the highest accolade to be achieved for 'extraordinarily tasty food and drink'.
Run by the Guild of Fine Food in the UK, the annual Great Taste awards see a highly-qualified panel of judges - made up of food buyers, chefs, restaurateurs, producers, critics, writers and journalists - invited to test a variety of products, each of which have been stripped of their packaging and branding.
The family-owned business picked up the award for its Achill Island Smoked Sea Salt and was the only Connacht-based food or drink producer to pick up the award.
The judges described the flavour of the product as a 'natural and wild product' which has a 'highly smoky aroma 'as if you can smell the embers of a dying fire'.
On the plate, the smoke delivers the salt and the sea for tasting, stepping aside to allow them to shine. An unforgettable experience and a truly beautiful product
The smoke on the nose opens well and this follows through with some power onto the palate. We found much to enjoy natural and sympathetic and well-produced, the judges wrote.
In a post on their social media platforms, Achill Island Sea Salt said they were absolutely thrilled to achieve three stars for their Smoked Sea Salt which is produced at their factory in Bunnacurry on Achill Island.
Last year we decided to start smoking our sea salt in-house as we wanted to have more control over the smoking process. After many, many, trials by the team we finally got it right! So we are over the moon to receive recognition for the quality and great taste of our smoked sea salt, they wrote.
Nearly 3,500 companies from around the world entered Great Taste this year, between them offering 13,672 products for review. Each entry was meticulously blind-tasted by the Guilds expert judging panel of over 500 food critics, chefs, recipe creators, buyers, retailers, and other specialists in the field of food and drink. Entries were analysed across 92 judging days, each receiving detailed feedback, whether or not they obtained an award.
Only 1.9 percent of all entries (266 in total globally) received a 3-star award, given to extraordinarily tasty food and drink, while 10.1 percent or 1,386 in total, were awarded 2-stars, for being above and beyond delicious and 28.8 percent, 3,938 in total, were awarded 1-star, for food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour. Products made in Ireland won a total of 499 awards, with 353 obtaining 1-star and 125 obtaining 2-stars.
Achill Island Sea Salt was founded by Marjorie and Kieran O'Malley in their home in Keel on Achill Island in 2013. The product quickly became a favourite for chefs for its 'soft flaky texture' and has won numerous culinary awards. In recent years the O'Malley's moved the production of Achill Island Sea Salt from their home to a new factory in Bunnacurry on Achill Island which also offers guided tours in the summer season.
Last November, the Department of Agriculture announced that Achill Island Sea Salt's application for a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) had been successful which means that 'Achill Island Sea Salt' is the name given to a hand harvested sea salt from the waters around Achill Island.
Luzveminda OSullivan, a Castlebar native, has been announced as Chair of the judging panel for this year's Rose of Tralee festival.
The former winner of the festival is a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry with more than 20 years experience and returns to the Festival as often as possible since her triumph in 1998.
The fate of who will become the 64th Rose of Tralee lies in the hands of the four distinguished judges from August 16-20.
Speaking at the launch of this years judging panel, Ms OSullivan called it a special honour to be a part of the international judging panel for 2024.
The Rose of Tralee is an important, positive and significant part of my life and has been for many years now. I am very much looking forward to meeting all of this years Roses and choosing our 2024 International Rose of Tralee, who will embark on what will undoubtedly be a life-changing experience.
I am 100 percent confident that together with the other judges, we will choose the next worthy ambassador for this wonderful Festival and all that it encompasses, she continued.
Last year's Mayo Rose, Kate Heneghan, also from Castlebar was highly tipped to win the festival.
Returning to the panel this year is Nuala Carey of RTE Weather and National Lottery, as well as Galway broadcaster who is head of Sport with Galway Bay FM and was recently elected as a local councillor, Ollie Turner.
The final member of the 2024 Judging Panel is international fashion designer to the stars and proud Kerryman, Don ONeill.
The National Rose Tour begins on Sunday, August 11, with the festival itself taking place from Friday 16 to Tuesday the 20 of August.
Audience tickets for RTEs two live televised Selection Nights on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 August are available via the Rose of Tralee website.
Fatima Latifova
The Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, met with the First Deputy Director of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mirzatillo Tillabayev, and the Director of the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Murodjon Turqunov, Azernews reports.
During the meeting, the Commissioner noted the close friendship and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, highlighting the effective cooperation in various fields, including the protection of human rights and freedoms. She expressed gratitude for the construction of a school in the liberated Fuzuli region by Uzbekistan.
The Ombudsman provided detailed information to the guests about her activities in the field of human rights and freedoms, emphasizing the importance of cooperation with international organizations and mentioning the existing relationships with foreign ombudsmen and national human rights institutions.
The Commissioner discussed the amendments to the Constitutional Law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan," stating that her mandate has been expanded in areas such as the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and children, and the prevention of discrimination.
Aliyeva also talked about the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism, noting that visits are conducted to places where individuals cannot leave of their own free will, and the conditions of treatment and detention are investigated.
She highlighted that Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change this year, and mentioned that preparations for the event are underway at a high level.
The Ombudsman also announced the upcoming Baku Forum of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest and future cooperation prospects.
Google and Microsoft, two huge tech companies that support massive search engines and advertising platforms, have updated the way they deal with deepfakes.
Support behind protecting users of Google Search against deepfakes was provided by updating its ranking system to ensure content does not rank high in Google Search, and by making it easier to remove deepfakes from serving up in the results.
When there is a higher risk of fake content appearing in the Google Search results, the company will use ranking updates" to lower the chances of seeing explicit fake content. When searching for someone's name, Google Search will surface high-quality, non-explicit content" such as news articles, when available.
"The updates weve made this year have reduced exposure to explicit image results on these types of queries by over 70%," Emma Higham, product manager at Google, wrote in a post that outlines the changes.
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The need to distinguish explicit content thats real and consensual from explicit fake content will become more important.
"While differentiating between this content is a technical challenge for search engines, we're making ongoing improvements to better surface legitimate content and downrank explicit fake content," Higham wrote. "If a site has a lot of pages that we've removed from Search under our policies, that's a pretty strong signal that it's not a high-quality site, and we should factor that into how we rank other pages from that site."
Google will demote those sites that have received a high volume of removals for fake explicit imagery. Tests shows this type of monitoring works well for Google.
Announcements from Google also focused on several image-related search features by expanding About this image, Circle to Search, and Google Lens.
by Ray Schultz , July 31, 2024
Financial publishers and affiliates are worried about the economy, and consumers apparently are too, judging by the 2024 Financial Industry Affiliate Marketing Report, a study by Fintel Connect.
In the U.S., 25% of affiliates and publishers see a shift to investment products and 21% for savings, reflecting a growing interest in financial stability and long-term wealth building. In contrast, Canadian consumers are prioritizing credit cards and mortgages, publishers say.
Overall, 35% see loans as having the greatest potential going forward, and 19% cite payment solutions.
The study groups publishers and affiliates together. It is not clear whether these publishers are mainstream journalistic organizations or influencersthe study says these respondents partner with financial brands.
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But they face similar challenges as other publishers.
In the U.S., these include:
Economic uncertainty33%
Search engine algorithm changes29%
Budgets13%
Regulatory changes12%
Competition6%
Compliance team pushback6%
Of the Tier 1 publishers in the US, 44% will opt for video as a primary tactics for reaching and engaging audiences in 2024. In Canada, 63% are see email as their chief marketing tool.
The report is based on a survey of 121 publishers and affiliates in North America.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, August 1, 2024
Sure, people may still think of Nicole Richie as a red-carpet regular with the kind of Hollywood cachet thats kept her on VIP lists for decades.
But as the entrepreneur and A-lister moves into her 40s, shes also the perfect pitchwoman for Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair portfolio.
In the new Night Night Club campaign, the brand acknowledges that for many millennials, getting to bed early means more than access to a coveted nightclub.
Were a science-led brand, and we understand that we are known for stressing that when trying to get consumers' attention, says Cyndi Pierre, executive director of consumer engagement, North America. But with so much new competition in the nighttime skincare category, we needed to think outside the box.
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Thanks to social listening, the company recognized that for the millennial women it considers its primary target, your night-times ideas are different than your clubbing days. The most exclusive spot in town is your bed.
As the brand switched from speaking about the efficacy of the product into a more emotive approach, Richie emerged as the perfect pitchwoman, Pierre tells Marketing Daily. The typical Estee Lauder customer is multidimensional. Shes a businesswoman, and yes, shes about family, but shes also punchy, very spirited, with a lot of personality.
Richie is all of these things. And at 42, she is familiar, especially with millennials going through a nostalgic phase. They know her, and they love her, Pierre says.
In its more recent sales results, Estee Lauder reported a 5% gain in sales, with skincare products increasing the most. Pierre says innovation in nighttime skincare is one reason for that. And while sales of Lauders nighttime products are up, so are sales at many competing brands.
Thats led to increased conversations on social media. So, while were continuing to stress efficacy in stores, were taking a more unexpected social-first approach, connecting them to in-store moments. Its a way to widen and modernize the perception of Estee Lauder.
Shadow created the ads where Richie reinvents the definition of bottle service, waking up with(V)ery (I)ncredibly (P)lump skin. Look at me, she says to the camera. Is it 2007 again?
Dash Couriers Wiltshire has taken a firm stance against the lack of reported reliability that has plagued the freight delivery sector.
Headed by husband and wife team Darren and Shani Moore, with Shani recently honoured as Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 by Great British Expos, Dash Couriers is marking its fourth successful year in the industry.
With over 25 years of business experience, the company has carved out a niche specialising in same day and time-critical freight movements throughout the UK. The collective teams dedication to sector has most recently been recognised at the National Courier and Despatch Association Award, picking up bronze for The NCDA Independent Courier of the Year of 2024.
Darren Moore, co-founder of Dash Couriers said: In an industry where service levels frequently fall short, we prioritise driver welfare and accountability as core values, distinguishing ourselves from competitors.
This dedication has allowed us to fill a gap in the market by delivering exceptional customer service. Our success is largely attributed to our fantastic team of dedicated drivers, who are committed to our mission.
Recent statistics highlight the industry's shortcomings, with a survey by Citizens Advice showing that 57% of people had issues with late deliveries. Additionally, 31% of customers rated their delivery experience as poor due to bad service (Citizens Advice, 2023). In contrast, Dash Couriers has consistently received positive feedback for their reliability and efficiency with a 4.8* Google Reviews rating, showcasing their commitment to excellence.
One customer states: Dash is growing on me more so because they have not just delivered, theyve serviced a solution for us as a business and our customers. Being cheapest isnt the best, being a brand isnt the best - doing what you say you are going to do is best! If you need to get a parcel from A-B, try them.
Dash Couriers offers a versatile range of delivery options, capable of moving anything from a single envelope to a truckload of pallets, with collections available in as little as 30 minutes. This flexibility, combined with meticulous attention to detail and a future sustainability plan, has made Dash Couriers the first choice for numerous organisations. Their clientele ranges from small independents and worldwide brands to the NHS and local councils.
Evidence of debris stemming from return trips of SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has prompted the company to shift future landing operations from Florida to California.
The move was announced Friday during NASAs press conference previewing the upcoming Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station, and it wont take effect until 2025 after Crew-9 has returned.
After five years of splashing down off the coast of Florida, weve decided to ship Dragon recovery operations back to the West coast, said Sarah Walker, SpaceXs director of Dragon mission management.
This includes both cargo and crew versions of its spacecraft.
At issue is the trunk portion of the Dragon capsule that is discarded before reentry and splashdown. Initially, the cargo version of Dragon made returns in the Pacific 21 times from 2011-2020, but when crew capability came online, SpaceX made the shift to allow for capsule landings off the coast of Florida either in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.
Feeding that decision were models that predicted how the trunk portion would break up in Earths atmosphere.
SpaceX and NASA engineering teams used these industry-standard models to understand the trunks breakup characteristics, and they predicted the trunk would fully burn up due to the high temperatures that are created by air resistance during that high speed reentry into Earths atmosphere, Walker said. They should leave no debris, and that was a determining factor in our decision to passively deorbit the trunk and enable Dragon splashdowns off the coast of Florida.
SpaceX first landed a Dragon capsule in the Atlantic with the uncrewed flight of Demo-1 followed by the first crewed launch of Dragon on Demo-2 in 2020. It also switched cargo Dragon missions beginning with CRS-21 in December 2020 so that all Dragon landings have been off Floridas coast since.
So today Dragons trunk is jettisoned prior to the vehicle deorbit burn while still in orbit, Walker said. That leaves it in space while the capsule comes down and does a pinpoint splashdown and then it passively reenters and breaks up in the Earths atmosphere in the days to months that follow.
But that leaves the trunk with imprecise timing and location for landing.
To date, the majority of that trunk debris has reentered over unpopulated ocean areas. But the fact that any debris has reentered indicates to us that we need to draw a different conclusion from that initial analysis, Walker said. So I just want to say that we are committed to safe spaceflight operations and to public safety. Its at the core of what we do.
Walker said it evidence of trunk debris was first discovered in 2022 in Australia. More debris has since been found in North Carolina and Saskatchewan, Canada. Walker said SpaceX implemented some changes after the 2022 discovery to improve probability.
But then we also launched into a big effort to work with NASA and the FAA to pursue a longer term solution, and thats where we are today, she said.
The move back to West coast landings means software on Dragon launches will shift so the trunk remains attached until after the deorbit burn, and that will mean the trunk will land safely in an unpopulated area of the ocean west of the landing spot in the Pacific.
SpaceX will shift one of its recovery vessels to the Pacific in 2025 basing operations out of the Port of Long Beach for initial postflight processing. After that, Dragon will be transported back to Florida to prepare for its next launch.
This isnt just going back to the old way of doing things, especially considering our human spaceflight recoveries have never before been executed from the West coast, Walker said. Instead, I see it more as taking a familiar operations concept and applying it to the Dragon we fly today, finding a way to combine the public safety benefits of West coast recovery with all the benefits of crew transportation services and enhanced cargo return capabilities that we provided the last five years out of Florida.
Dragon flights have become more common with the pace of crewed launches ramping up on top of regular resupply missions to the ISS with cargo Dragon.
Crew-9 is the third human spaceflight in 2024 out of what could be a record five flights this year. SpaceXs Crew Dragon fleet already supported the Axiom-3 mission in January and Crew-8 flight in March. After Crew-9, which could fly as early as Aug. 18, it has the Polaris Dawn mission that could also fly in August set to send up billionaire Jared Issacman on a return trip to space, and then the Axiom 4 mission to the ISS as early as November. In 2025, it has Crew-10 slated for February.
It also has the next Dragon resupply mission CRS-31 slated for September and another in early 2025, which could end up being the first West coast landing for the spacecraft.
This is critical to ensure Dragon continues to safely fly to and from Earth orbit. This new path I believe will make it possible while also keeping the public safe as we work toward becoming a spacefaring civilization, Walker said.
Similar to SpaceX Crew Dragon is Boeings CST-100 Starliner, currently awaiting its return home to the U.S. form the International Space Station.
Unlike Dragon, it targets landings not in the ocean, but on land.
Starliners target landing spots are among five locations in the southwestern United States, with two on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, one on the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, one on the Willcox Playa in Arizona and one on Edwards Air Force Base in California.
It too has a trunk portion called a service module, that will be separated, but after the deorbit burn on reentry as it travels over the Pacific, so that debris would fall into the ocean as well.
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2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The deadly crash of an CV-22B Osprey off the coast of Japan that claimed the lives of eight airmen in November was caused by a catastrophic failure in the gearbox of its left proprotor and how it was handled by crew members, according to the Air Force investigation into the crash.
A copy of the investigation obtained by Military.com says investigators found that components inside the gearbox began cracking and releasing debris, which then wedged between other components and eventually caused the left proprotor to stop turning, putting the aircraft into an unrecoverable spin.
The incident was the last of three deadly crashes that struck the Osprey community in recent years and triggered a monthslong grounding of the aircraft. While Ospreys resumed flight in March, they were cleared to fly without a full understanding of what brought down the Air Force flight in Japan and adhered to a restriction that bars flying more than 30 minutes from an airfield.
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The investigation reveals that throughout the flight of Gundam 22 -- the call sign of the aircraft that crashed -- the pilots received warnings that there were tiny metal chips in their gearbox but that they were being addressed by an internal system of sensors and magnets.
However, after a third warning, Air Force policies say that the crew needed to "land as soon as practical" -- a formal condition that means "extended flight is not recommended" but leaves the landing site and length of flight up to the pilot in command.
The crew decided to continue with the mission before two more warnings and a more serious alert of a persistent chip in the gearbox meant the crew had to land "as soon as possible." They diverted to Yakushima Island in Japan, which has a small airport.
The chips were actually part of a gear that was slowly disintegrating inside the gearbox. Eventually, a large enough piece of the gear sheared off and severely damaged other parts of the gearbox, stopping the left proprotor from spinning.
"That resulted in a complete roll. The aircraft did two full rolls and ended up impacting the water," Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command, told reporters at a briefing Wednesday.
Gundam 22 crashed into the water off the coast of Yakushima as the crew was waiting to land.
Given this series of decisions, the report said that the pilots "inadequately prioritized continuing the mission over considerations related to the risk of extended flight without redundancy."
However, the phenomenon of chipping in the aircraft gearboxes is not new and, while the report faults the crew, Conley also told reporters that the airmen didn't actually violate any policy and broadly acted in accordance with their training.
In February 2024, NBC reported that "since July 2022, there have been at least seven instances of metal chips found in the [Osprey] gearboxes, though no fatalities have resulted."
The crash report also notes that the chipping problem was known to the military office that oversees the Osprey and that there was "inadequate action" on its part in dealing with the issue, which "prevented comprehensive awareness of [proprotor gearbox] risks, and substantially contributed to the mishap."
Despite that, the report also found fault with the crew -- whom the Air Force previously called "the best of us" and "naturally talented" pilots -- saying that they had "an insufficient sense of urgency throughout the entire mishap sequence" and, once a fifth warning cropped up and the pilots finally decided to land, they did not choose the closest airfield.
It's not immediately clear from the report that the crew had any other indications that something was seriously wrong with their aircraft, and Conley said that "this is the first time that this specific part has failed on a V-22 of any any type in almost 800,000 flight hours."
The three-star general and V-22 pilot also described the warnings the crew was seeing as "kind of like a check engine light in your car -- you could drive your car for 10 years and not get any or you could drive next week and get three different ones for multiple reasons."
Conley told reporters that "the chips are a byproduct of just the gearboxes themselves. It's not unique to a V22" and that the first five alarms meant "that the detector had detected the chip and successfully burned it off."
He also confirmed that the pilots "followed their training to read the checklists and to look for secondary indications," undercutting the report's conclusion that the pilots took unnecessary risks with "a potentially serious mechanical problem."
Although he said the crew's actions contributed to the mishap, Conley told reporters that
"there's nothing to indicate that they did anything deliberately to violate any policy."
Since the crash, AFSOC protocol has changed, and crews are advised to land as soon as practical after a single chip burn and "as soon as possible" after a second chip burn, he said.
The crash off the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan, on Nov. 29 marked the deadliest CV-22 incident in the Air Force's history.
Killed in the crash were Maj. Jeffrey T. Hoernemann; Maj. Eric V. Spendlove; Maj. Luke A. Unrath; Capt. Terrell K. Brayman; Tech. Sgt. Zachary E. Lavoy; Staff Sgt. Jake M. Turnage; Senior Airman Brian K. Johnson; and Staff Sgt. Jake Galliher.
Following more than 40 days of a massive search effort, the remains of the airmen -- with the exception of Spendlove -- were recovered.
The Air Force, alongside the other military services that fly the Osprey, grounded their V-22s shortly after the crash. Within roughly four months, the Pentagon cleared the services to fly again.
While the other branches quickly resumed flight, the Air Force was more cautious. The service said last month that only a handful of its aircraft were flying at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. The Air Force also said it planned to examine the number of pilots and aircrews for the Osprey as part of a reevaluation.
Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, head of Naval Air Systems Command, which oversees the V-22 program, said during a House hearing testimony last month that he does not expect V-22s to return to full unrestricted flight operations until "mid-2025."
However, Conley, the AFSOC commander, told reporters Wednesday that, while the service is not using the CV-22 in combat operations, the timeline explained by Chebi may now be bumped up.
"We're not providing any combat capability, but I'll tell you we're getting close," Conley said. "I don't want to discuss the specifics of operational deployments, but we're getting back in the ballpark where I think we will be supporting combatant commanders this year, this calendar year."
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The parents of a toddler who was physically and mentally abused by federal employees at a Navy day care in Hawaii two years ago announced a claim Wednesday accusing the service of negligence, poor oversight and mishandling their case, according to legal documents shared with Military.com.
Jeremy and Kaitlin Kuykendall, represented by Just Well Law PLLC out of Austin, Texas, said that child care workers at the Ford Island Child Development Center, or CDC, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam pinched, slapped, squeezed, shoved, shook, threw and smothered their child, according to the claim, which was announced in a press release from the law firm this week.
Video shared with Military.com by the family appears to show separate instances in which CDC workers pinched Bella, the Kuykendalls' daughter who turned three years old in May; grabbed her by the arm; dragged her in the day care; hit her on the head; shook her; and squeezed her in a headlock before she collapsed in pain or shock on a small couch meant for children in the facility.
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The video from August 2022 also showed images of Bella's body with injuries, including bruises, scrapes and red marks on her face, which were confirmed by medical evaluations at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Hawaii, according to the claim.
In an interview with the family, Bella's mother, Kaitlin, said that her daughter is traumatized by the incidents and is afraid of community situations or new environments -- and that Navy and federal officials were negligent in their handling of the case.
"It just feels like betrayal," Kaitlin Kuykendall told Military.com in a phone interview Wednesday. "Because we were lied to by the people we thought cared about us and our family and would be there to protect children."
Military.com reached out to the Navy for comment regarding Wednesday's claim. The director of public affairs for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Chuck Anthony, replied Wednesday and said "we do not comment on pending litigation."
Kaitlin's husband Jeremy, an Army officer, spent hundreds of hours reviewing the footage, which "ultimately confirmed" the family's worst fears, the claim said. In April, Military.com published an investigation that featured the Kuykendalls, along with other families whose children experienced abuse and systematic mishandling of their cases at military CDCs around the country.
Hours after the article was published, the Department of Defense launched an inspector general review of the issues raised by the Military.com investigation. But that has proven inadequate to the family, which is still seeking justice, according to their attorney.
This week, in a report accompanying its fiscal 2025 defense spending bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee directed the secretary of defense to initiate an independent review of the abuse at the CDCs within two months, according to an excerpt of the report provided to Military.com by the office of committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Thursday. Bill reports do not carry the weight of law, but the Pentagon typically follows directions included in them.
The committee tasked the Pentagon to review how it approaches transparency, victim support and communication with families, and manages its investigations -- issues that were woefully lacking, according to Military.com's investigation. The subcommittee also charged the Defense Department to produce a report roughly seven months from when the review begins.
"In addition, the committee directs the Department of Defense Inspector General to conduct an investigation into referred reports of child abuse at the Ford Island Child Development Center near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and brief the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate of its findings," the report said.
In the claim, which was also shared with Military.com, the family alleges that the government -- specifically the Navy -- failed to properly hire, train and supervise its CDC workers, resulting in the abuse. Two center employees, Analyn DeGuzman and Marilyn Kanekoa, were charged over the abuse last summer.
The claim said that, because federal employees charged with the safety and management of the CDC did not act urgently, those employees were allowed to continue their employment at the CDC for months. In January, DeGuzman and Kanekoa were sentenced to 30 days and eight days in jail, respectively, for misdemeanor assault for their involvement in the abuse.
The family notified the director of the CDC about their concerns in late August 2022, around the time they had Bella medically evaluated, according to the claim. The claim said that the director assured the Kuykendalls that she would investigate the concerns, but eventually stonewalled them from reviewing the footage that the director had apparently seen herself, causing the family to languish for months.
That alleged stonewalling was rife with miscommunication from officials, which fueled concern from the parents, according to the claim. In one instance, an investigator approached the parents and asked "where the baby garment with semen on it" was, the claim said.
"It might have been an honest miscommunication, but it set the tone for our paranoia," according to the claim, which quoted Kaitlin. "We constantly went back and forth between wondering if we were crazy or if it was even worse than we thought."
Federal officers failed to adhere to monitoring policy, which, according to the claim, mandates that CCTV footage be displayed in the lobby during working hours. When Bella was abused, fewer than five TVs were operational, with none showing footage from Bella's classroom, the claim states, hindering visibility and "effective monitoring."
"There is a cover-up here," Kristina Baehr, the attorney representing the family, told Military.com in an interview Thursday. "This family needs relief for the harm to them."
The claim was filed under what is considered "pre-litigation," Baehr explained in the interview. Essentially, the claim, which is called an SF-95, puts the Navy on notice.
The service now has six months to respond to the claim and make a settlement offer, the details of which were redacted from the claim. Once the six months have passed, the family can file a federal tort claim, which allows those who have been harmed by the federal officials to bring a claim against the government, Baehr said.
Baehr, who also represents claimants against the Navy's disastrous Red Hill water contamination incident in Hawaii, where thousands of gallons of jet fuel spilled into the military community's tap water in 2021, said that both cases indicate deeper issues in the service's handling of "bad conduct."
Kaitlin Kuykendall told Military.com that her family was also affected by the Red Hill spill while they were stationed in Hawaii, adding to their hardship.
No one on the government side has expressed sympathy or acknowledgment "of what they've put us through," she told Military.com regarding the abuse case. "All we wanted was accountability."
"Families have the right to expect that when they drop their little [one] off at day care, that little [one] will be safe," Baehr said in the interview. "That little [one] will be cared for. There will be food provided, there will be water provided, they will have their diapers changed, they will play.
"And they have the right to expect that the government will follow its own policies to ensure the safety of those in their care," she said. "And that's what didn't happen here."
-- Rebecca Kheel contributed to this report.
Related: Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight
KYIV, Ukraine The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that's been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years.
Western countries have pledged F-16s to Kyiv, and some have arrived in Ukraine, officials in Washington and Ukraine confirmed to The Associated Press. The fighter jets are expected to start flying sorties in Ukrainian skies soon and will be a much-needed boost to the countrys current fleet of Soviet-era jets that are laboring to counter Russias invasion.
United States President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for used F-16s to be deployed to Ukraine, though the U.S. wont be providing any of its own planes. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of them over coming months in what could be a slow trickle of deliveries.
Though Russias recent battlefield gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is adding up as Ukraine gradually yields ground.
The F-16s will enhance Ukraines military strength, especially by upgrading its air defenses. But analysts say they wont turn the tide of the war on their own.
Here's what to know:
What can F-16s bring to the Ukrainian war effort?
The F-16s will likely have three core missions, says Federico Borsari of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine; suppress enemy air defense systems; and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles.
They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war), Borsari says.
A lot of information about the F-16 deployment is classified, including what Western governments allow them to hit and what weapons they will send with the aircraft.
The F-16s could carry United Kingdom-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia. They might also get long-range air-to-air missiles that would threaten Russian bombers and fighter jets. The planes advanced radars will allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.
Commanding the skies is an essential part of a wars ground campaign, as planes offer air cover to troops. But supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russias sophisticated air defense systems.
At the very least, the fighter jets could have a psychological effect on Russian pilots, and offer a morale boost for Ukrainians toiling against the Kremlins forces.
What are the challenges for Ukraine?
Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at Kings College London ticks off a long list of challenges the F-16s will bring for Ukraine.
The roughly nine-month training in the U.S. and Europe for Ukrainian pilots amounted to a crash course compared with the usual three-year course for Western pilots in what Miron calls a very complex piece of machinery. That will mean limitations on their performance.
The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews.
Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems. Quality airfields are also a must as the F-16 air intake is close to the tarmac and runs the danger of sucking debris and dirt into the engine.
So many associated issues need to be sorted out, Miron says.
Ukrainian pilots with no combat experience in F-16s may shy away from engaging in dogfights.
How will Russia react?
Russian President Vladimir Putin would savor the image that destroying F-16s from NATO countries would bring.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the F-16s will not be a magic pill that changes the course of the conflict. He added that Russian authorities have already offered rewards to servicemen who destroy F-16s.
The Kremlins forces will likely try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already been targeting Ukraines limited number of suitable airfields.
The Ukrainians will need to park the F-16s in hardened hangars, disperse them between various locations, station decoy model aircraft and be ready to take off quickly in the event of an air raid warning, analysts say.
Ukraine has said it might keep some of the fighter jets at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes. That prompted a harsh response from Putin, who warned that any Western air base hosting the Ukrainian fighter jets would be a legitimate target for the Kremlins forces.
U.S. officials said the F-16s would be based in Ukraine.
In the air, the Ukrainian F-16s will be up against Russias formidable S-300 and S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile systems that can target multiple aircraft at a time. Russia's military also has what are estimated to be several hundred operational fighter jets, as well as sophisticated air surveillance radars.
Russias Su-35 fighter jet will be one of the biggest threats to the F-16, Borsari of CEPA says. It has a long-range radar that allows it to track and engage up to eight targets at a time across a wide area.
Even so, the Russians are aware that theyll be up against a more formidable aircraft than they have met so far in the war and will likely adopt a more careful approach.
How will Ukraine protect the F-16s?
Although Russian forces will try to strike the F-16s at the airbases where they are kept, Ukraine has robust defenses to protect the fighter jets against such attacks, says Ukrainian aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi.
Ukraine has robust capabilities to protect its airfields with anti-aircraft defenses to deflect (Russian) attacks," Khrapchynskyi told The Associated Press. "During the entire time since Russia has invaded Ukraine, it has been actively trying to hit Ukrainian airfields, but they have been somewhat unsuccessful.
Khrapchynskyi said the F-16s will significantly increase the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to protect the countrys air space from Russian attacks and increase the range that Ukraine can strike strategic targets in Russia.
With the acquisition of F-16 aircraft, we will be able to solve a number of problems that are currently hurting Ukraine. These include: Russia's massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S-300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv," says Khrapchynskyi. "We are talking about receiving F-16 aircraft, in my opinion, this will significantly help Ukraine to cope with the Russian aggression that is taking place now.
___
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.
JERUSALEM The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement came a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas top political leader.
The rapid events this week have left U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators scrambling to salvage talks for a cease-fire deal in Gaza. At the same time, international diplomats tried to avert an escalation into all-out regional war after the assassination in Tehran of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh, Israels killing of a top Hezbollah commander in a Beirut strike and now Israels announcement of Deifs death.
There was no immediate comment on the Israeli claim by Hamas, which had previously said Deif survived the July strike in Gaza. A member of Hamas political bureau, Izzat al-Risheq, said in a statement Thursday that confirming or denying his death is the responsibility of the group's military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, which so far has been silent.
The apparent elimination of Haniyeh and Deif two of Hamas most senior figures brings a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as Israeli forces continue to operate in Gaza.
After meeting with military officials Thursday, Netanyahu declared that Deifs death enforces a simple principle that we have established, that whoever hurts us, we hurt them.
We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena, Netanyahu said.
The assassinations also put him at a crossroads.
They present him with a potential political off-ramp to end the war, allowing him to retreat from his lofty promises of total victory while showing Israelis that Hamas military capabilities suffered a debilitating blow.
The killings could also lead him to harden Israels position in cease-fire talks, with Israeli officials insisting the blows to Hamas will force it to compromise. Hamas could dig in as well in the talks or quit them entirely.
Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military said at the time that another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, was killed. More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said that following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.
Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza City district of Shujaiya killed at least 15 people Thursday and wounded more than 40 others, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense, which sent teams to recover bodies. The army alleged that Hamas fighters used the compound to plot attacks against Israel.
In its 10-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others, according to Gazas Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 80% of the population of 2.3 million has been driven from their homes, the vast majority crammed into tent camps in the southwest corner of the territory, with limited food and water.
So far, Netanyahu has said he is determined to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed. Far-right nationalist coalition partners, on whom he relies to stay in power, have threatened to bolt the government if he halts the war.
After the announcement about Deif, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the defeat of Hamas is closer than ever. He said the military would continue to eliminate thousands of other terrorists until our security is restored and we bring the hostages home.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike that killed Deif was a significant milestone toward achieving the goals of the war. The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organization in disintegration, he wrote on X.
Deif was one of the founders of Hamas military wing in the 1990s. He led the Qassam Brigades for decades through campaigns of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, volleys of rocket fire into Israel and repeated past Israeli assaults on Gaza since Hamas took power there in 2007.
He remained a mysterious, underground figure in Gaza. He never appeared in public, was hardly ever photographed and only rarely was his voice heard in audio statements. He survived a string of Israeli assassination attempts.
Haniyehs killing in particular threw into disarray months of efforts at reaching a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage release. Haniyeh had been a main negotiator in those talks.
Qatari and Egyptian officials had tense exchanges with U.S counterparts over the assassination, said an Egyptian official with direct knowledge of the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal discussions.
While the U.S. has been pressing Egyptian and Qatari mediators to get Hamas to compromise, the Americans cant pressure the other party, Israel to refrain from provocative acts, the Egyptian official said, calling the assassination reckless.
Qatars prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, expressed frustration in a post on social media, saying: Can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the U.S. had no prior knowledge of the strike in Tehran that killed Haniyeh.
The Egyptian official said no deal was likely in the near future since Hamas must now name Haniyehs replacement. Mediators had been waiting for Hamas response on the latest version of the deal. Instead, after Haniyehs funeral, expected Friday, he said they will reach out to Hamas officials to explore the next steps.
After Haniyehs assassination, Iran vowed revenge against Israel, and the killing of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut could also bring reprisals and fuel fears of a wider spiral of escalation.
The Egyptian official now said the priority was preventing full-scale war.
Meanwhile in Beiruts southern suburbs, hundreds of black-clad mourners packed an auditorium Thursday for Shukur's funeral procession. Many of them held Hezbollah flags or photos of Shukur. An escort of red-capped fighters carried Shukurs coffin, also draped in a Hezbollah flag, down the aisle to the backing of a military band.
Magdy reported from Cairo.
WASHINGTON (AP) The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free, the White House said.
Astonishing in scope, the trade followed years of secretive back-channel negotiations despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putins February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The deal was the latest in a series of prisoner swaps negotiated between Russia and the U.S. in the past two years but the first to require significant concessions from other countries, with seven nations agreeing to give up 24 prisoners. It was trumpeted as a diplomatic feat by President Joe Biden, who called the news an incredible relief and said the detainees' brutal ordeal was over.
Today is a powerful example of why its vital to have friends in this world, he said in an address from the White House while joined by families of four three Americans and one green card holder who were released.
But the welcome news was still sure to spark concerns over the imbalance of the deal with Russia freeing journalists, dissidents and others convicted in a highly politicized court system in exchange for people the West regards as rightfully charged and whether it gives foreign actors seeking leverage over the U.S. an incentive to take prisoners.
Under the deal, Russia released Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was jailed in 2023 and convicted in July of espionage charges that he and the U.S. vehemently denied and called baseless; Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed since 2018, also on espionage charges he and Washington have denied; and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military, accusations her family and employer have rejected.
Emma Tucker, the Journal's top editor, called it a day of great joy and said: I cannot even begin to describe the happiness and relief that this news brings and I know all of you wil feel the same.
Biden placed securing the release of Americans held wrongfully overseas at the top of his foreign policy agenda for the six months before he leaves office. In his Oval Office address to the American people discussing his recent decision to drop his bid for a second term, the Democrat said, Were also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
In addition to Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated, the Russians released included Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, and associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Five German citizens also were released, including a German national held in Belarus.
The Russian side got Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscows security services.
Russia also received two alleged sleeper agents who were jailed in Slovenia, as well as three men charged by federal authorities in the U.S., including Roman Seleznev, a convicted computer hacker and the son of a Russian lawmaker, and Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence operative accused of providing American-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military. Norway returned an academic arrested on suspicions of being a Russian spy, and Poland also sent back a man it detained.
Thursdays swap of 24 prisoners surpassed a deal involving 14 people that was struck in 2010. In that exchange, Washington freed 10 Russians living in the U.S. as sleepers, while Moscow deported four Russians, including Sergei Skripal, a double agent working with British intelligence. He and his daughter in 2018 were nearly killed in Britain by nerve agent poisoning blamed on Russian agents.
Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of a confluence of unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich, which Washington regarded as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison.
In a trial that concluded in two days in secrecy in the same week as Gershkovichs, Kurmasheva was convicted on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military that her family, employer and U.S. officials rejected.
Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations.
Gershkovich was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the U.S. The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, he moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022.
He had more than a dozen closed hearings over the extension of his pretrial detention or appeals for his release. He was taken to the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared in the defendants cage, often smiling for the many cameras.
U.S. officials last year made an offer to swap Gershkovich that was rejected by Russia, and Bidens Democratic administration had not made public any possible deals since then.
Gershkovich was designated as wrongfully detained, as was Whelan, who was detained in December 2018 after traveling to Russia for a wedding. Whelan was convicted of espionage charges, which he and the U.S. have also said were false and trumped up, and he was serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Whelan had been excluded from prior high-profile deals involving Russia, including the April 2022 swap by Moscow of imprisoned Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy. That December, the U.S. released notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for getting back WNBA star Brittney Griner, whod been jailed on drug charges.
Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia.
GOOCHLAND, Va. -- Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, on Thursday defeated conservative U.S. Rep. Bob Good in a recount of the Republican primary results in Virginia's 5th Congressional District.
McGuire narrowly defeated Good, one of the most conservative members of Congress and chair of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
Election officials previously certified a narrow McGuire win in the June 18 primary, by 374 votes out of nearly 63,000 cast. But with the margin of victory at just six-tenths of a percentage point, Good was entitled to a recount.
McGuire's margin of victory narrowed by four votes to 370 following Thursday's recount.
"Mr. McGuire received more votes than Mr. Good and is the winner of this election," Chief Judge Claude Worrell II said from the bench, concluding the recount.
The last votes arrived at the courthouse at about 9 p.m. Thursday -- nearly 14 hours after officials began the recount process.
Around the same time, McGuire arrived at the courthouse.
"I don't mean to be disrespectful, but we won on June 18," he told reporters before the recount result was announced.
In a statement on Facebook, Good thanked those who voted for him and supported his reelection campaign.
"While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia's 5th District over the past 3.5 years," he wrote.
Good, who has served in Congress since 2021, was one of eight Republicans who voted to oust fellow GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker in October.
After Good endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential contest, former President Trump called him a backstabber and threw his support to McGuire, a former Navy SEAL.
A three-judge panel oversaw the recount. Judge Worrell estimated last month that it would cost $96,500, though he said that amount could change.
Good was able to seek a recount because McGuire's victory margin was less than 1 percent. But his campaign must pay for it since the margin is greater than half a percentage point.
McGuire will face Democrat Gloria Witt in the November general election. The 5th District tilts conservative.
Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has overhauled its registry for veterans exposed to burn pits and other airborne hazards overseas, working with the Defense Department to include 4.7 million veterans who served in locations with potentially dangerous air quality.
The VA announced Thursday that the new Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, which includes basic information on veterans as well as deployment history, will advance scientific research on the health effects of exposure overseas to smoke, sand, chemical fires and fine particulate matter.
VA officials called the new database an "important research tool that enables VA to identify and study health challenges" of the veteran and service member population.
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"What we're talking about is an update to ... our burn pit registry, which is a way for veterans to contribute to research that will help us determine what new conditions we should be considering as connected to burn pits in the future," Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal said during an interview Tuesday with Military.com.
"Veterans have traditionally participated in VA research for many, many years because they know that participation will help other veterans into the future," he said.
To create the new database, the VA and DoD pulled deployment data for millions of veterans who served in certain locations during specific time periods when they may have been exposed to toxic conditions, such as oil well fires, chemical plumes, burn pits, nerve agents and other hazardous materials.
The registry will include military personnel information; demographics such as gender, race and ethnicity; and deployment locations. It will not include medical information or any data related to VA benefits, according to Elnahal.
The new registry is vastly different from the one created by the VA in 2014 after Congress required the department to establish a registry to monitor the health of veterans with potential exposure.
That initiative was troubled from the start, with the VA opposing its creation, saying it had little value because the connection between burn pits and illnesses was unproven.
And advocacy groups that had lobbied for a VA registry -- like Burn Pits 360, which had created its own account of sick veterans -- despised its final form: a lengthy application that explored veterans' personal habits, such as smoking, that could be cited as a source for illness; a voluntary physical exam; and no pathway for adding deceased veterans.
"Our idea of an effective registry should include tracking mortality data and the option to update information if there is a decline in health," Rosie Torres, co-founder of the Texas-based Burn Pits 360, wrote in an email to Military.com. "A registry isn't just about policy reform but about understanding the health impacts of deployment exposures."
In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded that the registry was "not helpful" and suggested the resources spent on the database should be used for an improved patient surveillance system and research platform.
The panel also noted that the registry didn't allow for updating by the veterans, making it useless from a health surveillance standpoint for tracking individuals' health issues across their lifetime. And it was never used to guide policy decisions.
Following that report, the VA decided to revamp the registry, resulting in the new database that is now live, according to Elnahal.
Researchers who want to use the database to understand health consequences and need the information to be linked to clinical data will have to submit their studies for review. If the research extends beyond population-level analysis and requires disclosure of veterans' identities, they will be asked for consent, Elnahal said.
The database will include all veterans, living and deceased, who were determined by the DoD to have deployed to eligible locations.
"Understand that the moves we're making here will assist in our efforts to identify more presumptive conditions into the future, and that obviously would lead to more benefits to more veterans," Elnahal said.
"This redesign massively expands the registry and reduces the participation requirements for veterans, paving the way for critical research in the coming years," he said in a statement.
According to the VA, roughly 500,000 veterans were enrolled in the previous registry. That database will remain intact but will be completely separate from the new version.
The new registry will include veterans who served in the following campaigns or combat theaters, according to the VA and DoD:
Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Iraqi Freedom; Enduring Freedom; and New Dawn.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Djibouti, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, waters of the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Syria, Uzbekistan and Egypt between Aug. 2, 1990, and Aug. 31, 2021.
Somalia since Aug. 2, 1990.
The Southwest Asia theater of military operations and Egypt any time after Aug. 2, 1990.
Afghanistan, Djibouti, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan or Yemen any time after Sept. 11, 2001.
Associated airspaces with the countries listed above, as well as the waters of the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, and the Red Sea.
Veterans also can opt out of the registry by completing an online form.
Elnahal emphasized that the registry will have no impact on veterans' care or benefits. He added that the department worked with veterans service organizations and affected veterans to create the new database. VA and DoD officials hope veterans will not opt out, given the potential for breakthrough research in the coming years.
"Being part of the registry is a way for individuals to help and improve our understanding of the challenges faced by service members and veterans affected by these exposures," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez said in a statement.
Torres added that tracking mortality data and health issues in this group of veterans should be a top priority for the VA.
"Failing to collect and track this data [would be] continued gaslighting from the VA and DoD," Torres said.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include additional information from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Theres a birds nest on the downspout next to my front porch. Its been there for years and it gets used multiple times each spring and summer sometimes by robins, sometimes by sparrows, sometimes by doves.
Perhaps the same mating couples come back the following year. Or it could be some chick that was hatched there returned for their own brood in a subsequent season.
PONTIAC, MI -- A Pontiac man convicted last month of second-degree murder was sentenced Monday to up to 80 years in prison for his role in the death of 20-year-old Jose Valdez. Oakland County Judge Daniel OBrien handed down the sentence to Angel Alvarez who was ordered to serve a minimum of 36 1/2 years in prison.
Public safety and holding criminals accountable are my top priorities as Oakland County Prosecutor and we will continue to work to keep our community safe from violent crime, said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. The jury verdict and Judge OBriens sentence ensure that the public will be protected from this violent defendant. While these three convictions will not bring back the victims life, I do hope that the victims family and loved ones takes some solace in the fact that those responsible for this murder were caught, convicted, and punished for their crimes.
After being imprisoned for nearly six years Paul Whelan, the Michigan man who has been detained in Russia since 2018 is expected to be returning home Thursday as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia. According to the Associated Press, a source speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed a swap is underway, but did not name who is involved.
However, multiple news outlets report Whelan and another American, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be released from Russian custody as part of the swap. The AP reports Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva will also be part of the swap.
MADISON HEIGHTS, MI Police are investigating the death of a 6-year-old boy who was found badly injured and unresponsive at a mobile home park in southeast Michigan, The Detroit News reports.
First responders were called around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to a residence in a mobile home park in the 25000 block of Dequindre Road in Madison Heights, the report said. A boy had been found unresponsive.
Police and firefighters arrived on scene and found the boy was badly injured and not breathing, the report said. He was transported to a nearby hospital and then airlifted to the Childrens Hospital of Michigan. He died of his injuries.
Two people have been arrested, the report said. No further details have been released.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Eighty-eight layoffs are affecting position reductions and increased class sizes in Ann Arbor Public Schools, hitting some of the districts most in-need schools, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report, released at the July 31 Ann Arbor School Board meeting, outlines how the layoffs have especially affected AAPS Title I schools, which the National Center for Education Statistics defines as those receiving federal assistance to help children from low-income families.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Police arrested a person for allegedly robbing a downtown Grand Rapids bank on Wednesday, July 31.
It wasnt immediately clear how police identified the 42-year-old man, who police said was awaiting arraignment.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Texas Township received $130,000 from Kalamazoo County to spend on cleanup from the May 7 tornado.
But residents of the Colony Woods neighborhood arent happy with the townships plans for the funds.
The township cant spend it on private property as originally planned a township attorney said. The bulk of impacted property in Colony Woods is private and residents are struggling to afford costly cleanup bills.
Because of legal concerns on how American Rescue Plan Act funding can be used, the township is using the $130,000 to remove debris from the neighborhoods right-of-ways the area of grass along the street instead.
But Colony Woods Neighborhood Association President JoAnne ORourke said that isnt far enough. Theres not much left to do in right-of-ways, she said.
Roughly $94,000 of the $130,000 has been spent to clear trees in the right-of-way and bring in dumpsters for residents to put debris in, like jungle gym parts and battered grills.
ORourke wants the township to help residents with strategic replanting, removal of root balls, removal of compromised trees, leveling of land and reseeding grass but the board has declined.
Residents have been patient, ORourke said. But with dwindling bank accounts and a landscape marred by the twister, residents are struggling to see a path forward.
We have no solutions coming from the people who are elected to help in this type of situation, ORourke said.
Erik Wilson, the townships superintendent, said theyre doing their best, considering the circumstances.
A tornado in a tree sanctuary
Before Colony Woods was a neighborhood, it was a tree sanctuary. Yards were filled with dozens of old growth trees, many over 60 feet tall.
Wind speeds of up to 135 mph in the May 7 EF2 tornado sent many trees toppling.
There were stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of wood at the curb going back from the road, like 20 feet or more, ORourke said.
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Reyes Building and Exteriors continues tree cleanup, following the aftermath of multiple tornadoes, on Friday, May 17, 2024 in the Colony Woods neighborhood of Texas Township, Michigan.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Each tree costs upwards of $2,000 to remove, ORourke said. And multiple companies in the aftermath were bumping up removal costs even higher.
On the low end, residents paid $10,000 to $20,000 some Colony Woods homeowners told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. Other homeowners had bills between $40,000 and $50,000.
(Residents are) emotionally tapped out. Theyre financially tapped out, ORourke said.
Insurance companies would only pay for trees to be removed if they were touching personal property, everything else residents had to pay for.
Some tree removal companies couldnt grind the large root balls and stumps attached to trees, so they left them behind. Now yards are littered with root systems, stumps and craters where trees were ripped out of the ground, ORourke said.
The root balls and uneven land pose a safety hazard to families, ORourke said.
Public money for private property
Kevin Catlin, Kalamazoo County administrator, said the township can use the funds for private property at their risk, at the July 22 Texas Township board meeting.
That prompted Wilson to ask attorneys about the legality of how the township can spend the money.
Tree cleanup, following the aftermath of multiple tornadoes, continues on Friday, May 17, 2024, in the Colony Woods neighborhood of Texas Township, Michigan.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com
Attorneys said the township can only make public expenditures if they receive something in return for the expenditure, if the expenditure is for a public purpose or if the expenditure is supported by their duties as a government body.
Restoring property at Colony Woods would provide no direct township benefit and the public would not have not have the right to receive and enjoy the benefit of the use of Colony Woods owners property, attorneys said.
Wilson said if residents can move the tree limbs, stumps and root balls into the right-of-way, the township can pay for them to be removed.
Were doing the best we can given the guidance we have from our attorney and auditor, Wilson said.
But thats not where the work needs to be done, ORourke said. Theres still compromised trees leaning over houses.
It is heartbreaking that were basically not using this money in a way that could really help people, ORourke said.
ORourke said the township just isnt willing to bypass the legal red tape.
Residents were dealt another blow when FEMA denied a federal disaster request be declared in Kalamazoo County on July 23. FEMA assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and programs to help people and businesses recover.
The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a rapid disaster declaration in Kalamazoo County which will allow businesses, renters and homeowners to request low-interest loans to repair or replace real estate, personal property and business assets damaged or destroyed in the May 7 storms.
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KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI -- Its almost time to cast votes in the Tuesday, Aug. 6, primary election.
National, state and local leaders are on the ballot, as well as local tax proposals.
Voters will select candidates to represent their party in the Nov. 5 election.
Voters will receive a ballot with three columns: one for Republican candidates, one for Democratic candidates and one for nonpartisan candidates and proposals.
While all voters can cast votes on nonpartisan candidates and proposals, they must vote for candidates in the same party on the entire ballot. Failure to do so will invalidate the ballot.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Citizens can register to vote up until 8 p.m. on election day, Aug. 6.
Voters can check their voter registration status and find other information about voting online at www.mi.gov/vote.
Below is a look at every contested race and proposal that will show up on ballots in Kalamazoo County, depending on where voters live. (Click the links in each race for more details.)
National/state races
U.S. Senate:
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, is not seeking a fifth term, leaving an open seat in the U.S. Senate. The winner in November earns a six-year term. But first, the field must narrow to one candidate per party.
Democrats:
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing
Harper Hill
Republicans:
Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell
Dr. Sherry ODonnell
The top vote-getting Republican in this race will face Democrat Jessica Swartz in the Nov. 5 election, as shes running unopposed on the Democratic side.
The winner will earn a two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Allegan and Van Buren counties, as well as the cities of Battle Creek, Holland, Kalamazoo, Portage, South Haven, St. Joseph, among other areas, as shown on the map above.
Republicans:
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland (incumbent)
Brendan Muir
A pair of Democratic candidates will face off including one candidate who previously ran for office as a Republican. The winner will go against Republican Kelly Sackett in November for the state legislature seat. Sackett is running unopposed on the Republican ticket.
District 40 includes the city of Portage and parts of Texas Township and Oshtemo Township.
Democrats:
Lisa Brayton
Matt Longjohn
Two Republicans are vying for a chance to win a two-year term in the state legislature. The top vote-getter will face incumbent Julie Rogers, who is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket, as well as Libertarian Rafael Wolf.
District 41 includes a portion of the city of Kalamazoo, as well as parts of Kalamazoo Township and the city of Portage.
Terry Haines
Nicole Sabel
A newcomer is challenging the Republican incumbent for a two-year term representing Michigans 42nd House District. The winner will face Democrat Austin Marsman in the Nov. 5 general election.
Rich Cutshaw
Matt Hall (incumbent)
Local races
Two Republicans are seeking nomination to serve as Kalamazoo County Sheriff. The top vote-getter will face incumbent Democrat Richard Fuller in the November general election.
James J. Charon
Sabrina Pritchett-Evans
A pair of Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to unseat incumbent Democrat Meredith Place in the Nov. 5 election.
Emily Crawford
Kathleen Olmsted
Two Republicans are vying to become Kalamazoo Countys next treasurer. The winner of the Aug. 6 primary will run against Democrat and current Treasurer Thomas Whitener in November.
Pamela Herbert
Dale Shugars
Two Republicans are competing to represent Kalamazoo County District 2 on the Board of Commissioners. The winner will face incumbent Democratic Commissioner Jen Strebs in the November general election.
District 2 includes portions of the city of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Township and Oshtemo Township.
Gary Mitchell
Andrew Smith
A newcomer is challenging the incumbent District 4 commissioner for the Democratic nomination. The winner will face Republican candidate Jason Mikkelborg for a four-year term on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners.
District 4 includes the western half of the city of Portage.
Sarah Joshi
Abby Wheeler (incumbent)
A pair of Republicans are going head to head in the race for Climax Township Clerk. The winner of the Aug. 6 primary is set to run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Murat Bates
Sarah DeBoer
Two Republican and two Democratic candidates are running for the role of Comstock Township supervisor. On Aug. 6, voters will choose one Democrat and one Republican to face off for the open seat on Nov. 5.
Republican:
Christopher Daniels
Benjamin Martin
Democrat:
Mark Mort
Randy Thompson (incumbent)
Voters will select one of two Republican candidates for the role of treasurer in the primary. The top vote-getter will then go on to face Democratic candidate Roger Poe in November.
Sandra Bloomfield
Clyde Bub Sherwood (incumbent)
Three Republicans in Cooper Township are vying for the chance to represent the Republican Party in the race against Democrat Jim Frederick this November.
Diane Bushouse
Jeff Sorensen (incumbent)
Daniel Michael Wierckz
Six Republican candidates are running for four spots on the Cooper Township Board of Trustees. The top four vote-getters in the Republican primary will run against Democratic candidate Cristine Wiles.
Holden Deaton
Marc Rowlson
Adam Tuinstra (incumbent)
Fred Vlietstra (incumbent)
Dan Williams (incumbent)
Raymond Wilson
Two Democrats seek the partys nomination in the race for Kalamazoo Township supervisor on Aug. 6. The top vote-getter is set to run unopposed in November for a four-year term.
David Combs
Don Martin (incumbent)
Two Democrats are running for Kalamazoo Township treasurer in the Aug. 6 primary. The top vote-getter will run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Dylan Grosser
Sherine Miller (incumbent)
Six Democratic candidates are running for four seats on the Kalamazoo Township Board of Trustees. The top four vote-getters will run against four Republican candidates in the November general election.
Ashley Glass (incumbent)
Steven Leuty (incumbent)
Colleen Leonard
Clara Robinson (incumbent)
Michael Seals
Craig Sherwood
A newcomer to the Democratic Party is challenging four incumbent Democrats for one of four seats on the Oshtemo Township Board of Trustees. Republican candidates Andrea Lundgren and Rob Viland will run unopposed on Aug. 6 and will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Michael Chapman (incumbent)
Kristin Cole (incumbent)
Zak Ford (incumbent)
Neil Sikora (incumbent)
Tom Graham
Three write-in candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for Richland Township Clerk. Nobody filed in time to be on the ballot, so voters will have to write in their names.
The top vote-getter will run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Paul Foust
Natalie Ramer
Arthur White Jr.
A new Republican candidate is challenging incumbent Ross Township supervisor for the partys nomination in the Aug. 6 primary election. The winner of the primary will run unopposed in November, barring a write-in candidacy.
Kerry Lynn Elieff
Christina Hutchings (incumbent)
Nine Republicans hope to fill four seats on the Ross Township Board of Trustees. On Aug. 6, voters will select who will run unopposed in the November election, as no Democrats filed to run.
Michael Bekes (incumbent)
Frank Guarisco
Lynn M. Harmon (incumbent)
Helen Lang
Diana Langshaw (incumbent)
Gary E. Moore
Jerry Pawlowicz
Mike Sulka (incumbent)
Todd White
Schoolcraft Township Supervisor
Two Republicans are squaring off for a four-year term as Schoolcraft Township supervisor. Since no Democrats are running for the role, the top-vote getter is set to run unopposed in November.
Toni Elgersma-Rafferty
Donald Ulsh
Two Republican candidates are going head to head for the role of Schoolcraft Township clerk in the Tuesday, Aug. 6. primary. If there arent any write-in candidates in August or November, the winner of the August primary will win the race for clerk.
Eska Brown
Joanne Wiley
Voters will select four Republicans out of six candidates vying for Texas Township trustee to run against Democrats Barb Hammon and Dennis Smith in November.
Donald Boven (incumbent)
Lisa Koop
Fred Krymis
Brian Kovacik
Tamara Mitchell
Michelle ONeill (incumbent)
Three candidates are running for a new judgeship in Kalamazoo Countys 9th Circuit Court. This nonpartisan race will be on ballots for everybody, regardless of if theyre voting in the Democratic or Republican primary.
The top two vote-getters will earn a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot. The winner in November earns an eight-year term.
Angelique Camfield
Christine Morse
Mariko Willis
Local proposals
Kalamazoo County voters will decide whether to keep paying a tax to support seniors during the Tuesday, Aug. 6 election.
The millage passed with 66% support in 2018, and costs taxpayers about $34.62 annually.
Voters in Climax Township will be asked to renew a tax to support the local fire department, which was previously approved by voters in 2014.
Ross Township voters will decide whether to continue to fund firefighting services in the township.
The current millage was approved at 1 mill and the proposed millage is for 1 mill for the next five years.
Voters who live in the Van Buren Intermediate Schools territory will vote on a special education millage renewal proposal. The 0.8955-mill proposal would raise $4.5 million in its first year.
Portage Public Schools is asking voters to renew a millage on the Aug. 6 ballot that enables the district to make necessary repairs to buildings without having to borrow money.
The building and site sinking fund millage has been renewed every five years for the past 60 years.
The Charles A. Ransom District Library in Plainwell is asking select voters in parts of Allegan and Kalamazoo counties to renew an expiring operating millage this August.
If approved, the millage would continue at its current rate of 0.58 mills in perpetuity.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been a large part of the national conversation around the Democratic presidential ticket this fall.
And while she has declined to pursue the presidency and vice presidency this year, MLive asked readers what they thought the second-term governor and rising star in the Democratic Party shouldve done.
A majority of the nearly 180 readers who responded to the MLives unscientific survey said Whitmer was right not to pursue a spot on the ticket.
The reasons, though, varied greatly from disliking Whitmers leadership to wanting her to finish the job in Michigan. Her term as governor ends in 2026.
Here are some of the common themes among the reader responses.
For the first question, MLive asked: Do you think Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should have pursued the Democratic presidential nomination after Joe Biden dropped out of the race?
While Vice President Kamala Harris has become the uncontested, likely bearer of the Democratic presidential nomination, Whitmers name was among several other prominent Democrats floated as possible replacements for President Joe Biden prior to him dropping out of the race.
Even before he dropped out, Whitmer had dispelled speculation that shed seek the presidential nomination this fall. She has endorsed Harris for the role.
A number of readers supported Whitmer not seeking the higher office just yet, saying she has to finish her work in Michigan first.
No, only because I think she should finish her term as (governor), one reader said. I would absolutely vote for her in a future presidential election!
Others took aim at her leadership of the state in their reasoning for why she shouldnt run for the presidency. Some others questioned her experience in national politics and foreign relations.
No. Shes done enough harm to Michigans economy via her Covid edicts, a reader said. And she believes whats good for thee is not good for me.
Still more said Harris was, and is, the clear choice to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket and expressed hope Whitmer would run for president in the future.
No, I do not think she shouldve pursued presidential nomination, one reader said. Kamala Harris was the clear choice and has already gained lots of excitement and momentum within the party. I would love to see a Whitmer presidency but today is not that day.
For the second question, MLive asked: Should Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have kept her name in the ring as a potential vice-presidential candidate under Kamala Harris?
Harris still has yet to choose a running mate. Although her name was floated, again, for the role, Whitmer has said repeatedly she wouldnt be seeking a spot on the ticket.
As with the presidency question, many readers want Whitmer to stay in the state either because they want her to finish the job or because they think she has done a poor job and isnt fit for higher office.
No, not her time to shine yet, one reader said. Shes already done so much good in Michigan and more to do.
I guess if it got her out of Michigan, but I would rather she left politics after her term, another reader said. I do not care for her or her politics. She kept Michigan locked down far too long as she played dictator.
A number of readers said a Harris-Whitmer ticket would raise problems with electability due to factors of race and gender and voter sentiment.
Harris is the first woman, the first Black American and the first Asian American to hold the vice presidency. Her election to the presidency would also be historic firsts.
No. Whitmer is smart. She knows that two women on the ticket is not a winning strategy in this country right now, one reader said. She will have other opportunities in the future, should she decide to pursue them.
Unfortunately the political reality requires balancing the ticket with a white male, another reader said. So nope.
Harris is set to visit Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 7, with her yet-unannounced running mate.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- Two years ago, in solidly red Ottawa County, a group upset with pandemic-era mask requirements and school vaccine requirements pulled off a political feat considered remarkable by many.
Eight people linked to the ultra-conservative platform Ottawa Impact pushed out their more-moderate Republican counterparts on the Ottawa County Board in the August primary and sailed to victory over Democrats in November.
From there, controversial board decisions brought significant public ire and national media attention.
The question now is whether the Ottawa Impact stronghold can survive another election and again defeat a slate of more moderate Republicans now theyve got a voting record tied to their names. But this time, the script is flipped with the moderates on the outside looking in.
Related: Lawsuits, childhood innocence, $4M settlement talks: How far-right board shook up Ottawa County
As the Aug. 6 election approaches, the division among county Republicans is palpable and often intense. Rhetoric is high.
Both sides have staged press conferences or issued press releases to outline pre-election tactics they deem questionable or damaging to the Republican party. Among them is the claim that Republicans not endorsed by the Ottawa GOP - generally the non-Ottawa Impact candidates -- are asking Democrats to vote as Republicans in the primary.
Doug Koopman, a professor emeritus in the Calvin University politics and economics department, believes the upcoming election will be different from two years ago.
Voter turnout is likely to be larger. Koopman thinks more people are paying attention to Ottawa County government issues.
Two years ago, Ottawa Impact sort of had a stealth primary campaign, he said.
Since then, because of controversial board decisions, national and local media have focused attention on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners.
Commissioners dissolved the countys diversity office, fired two administrators over 14 months, and tried to fire the county health officer. They also delved into issues not typically traditional to government, including passing a resolution to protect childhood innocence, the anti-abortion-related resolution to protect life and a resolution to become a Constitutional county.
The county commission has made a lot of high-profile decisions, Koopman said. So I do expect turnout to be higher.
In 2022, the August primary had a 34% turnout, with 76,838 of the countys registered 224,301 voters casting ballots.
Related: Does Ottawa Impact have a mandate to make sweeping changes?
Koopman said a higher turnout is likely to be less favorable for Ottawa Impact candidates. More voters often shift the outcome toward more moderate voices.
He concedes its possible Democratic voters could have an impact on the Republican primary, if they choose to vote on the Republican ticket. Michigans voting rules allow for residents to cast primary ballots on the Republican or Democratic ticket, but not to co-mingle the parties in candidate selections.
There is not a lot of action on the Democratic side of the ballot, Koopman said. So Democrats are not losing a lot of influence by voting in the Republican ticket.
It may make a difference in close races.
It doesnt have to be a lot to change the outcome, Koopman said.
Whitt Kilburn, a political science professor at Grand Valley State University, said the showdown in Ottawa County, to some degree, boils down to Donald Trump-aligned Republicans pushing a social and religious agenda versus the more traditional Republican tenants of smaller government and lower taxes.
The outcome of the Aug. 6 primary will come down to how many base voters for the Trump and Ottawa Impact ideology cast ballots, he said.
I do think thats the big X factor, Kilburn said. The OI people have to be at least a little nervous about it.
Kilburn also said that more people seem to be aware of the Ottawa Impact platform.
It seems like when politics come up (in conversations), Ottawa Impact is a topic. It just seems like that is what is front and center on peoples minds, he said.
The leadup to the Aug. 6 primary clearly has generated more prolific and expensive campaigns for Ottawa County commission candidates.
In the Hudsonville and Georgetown Township areas, the names and messages of Republican challengers Mark Northrup and John Teeples can be seen on at least one digital billboard.
Northrup, the mayor of Hudsonville, is running against Ottawa County Board Chair Joe Moss. Moss is the co-founder of Ottawa Impact.
Campaign finance records show Northrup raised more than $22,000 since January. Moss raised more than $15,000.
Moss has large campaign signs on major roads throughout the county, claiming For Freedom and Family and uses a banner Protect the Kids on his web page.
Related: God, freedom and guns: Joe Moss blew up the political order, and no, he doesnt have a comment for the press
Northrup, in both yard signs and the billboard, asks voters to Toss Moss and stop wasting taxpayer dollars.
Teeples is running against Rachel Atwood for a seat being vacated by current Commissioner Rebekah Curran. Atwood is aligned with Ottawa Impact.
Records show Teeples raised more than $37,000 and Atwood more than $20,000.
The Ottawa County Republican Party, for the first time in its history, endorsed candidates prior to the August primary. The endorsements included all current Ottawa Impact county commissioners and others who align with the OI ideology.
This election will determine the outcome of our community for years to come, making it the most important election of our time, a statement from the party reads. It is imperative that we elect conservative leaders who will champion traditional values and protection our Constitutional freedoms.
Koopman said hes not sure endorsements will resonate with voters.
I dont think it matters a whole lot, he said, noting that endorsements seem to carry less weight with voters as years pass.
Related: A far-right faction took over Ottawa County. Its job approval is poor, MLive polling reveals
An MLive poll of 600 likely Ottawa County voters in March showed that for voters tracking the actions of their county government, they disapproved of the county boards OI majority by nearly a 2-1 margin, but many voters were unaware of Ottawa Impact and its governing decisions. The poll also showed stronger support for Ottawa Impact in the Jenison and Hudsonville region, with weaker support along lakeshore communities like Holland and Grand Haven.
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VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI -- The Van Buren Intermediate School District will ask voters to renew the districts special education millage in the Aug. 6 election.
The district has an ongoing special education millage rate at 3.2921. In 2020, voters passed a five-year, roughly 0.9-mill increase to the rate. Now the district is asking voters to renew that increase.
The current proposal is to renew a millage rate of 0.8955 mills. The millage equates to $0.8955 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation and will be applied to all taxable property in the school district.
In other words, a $200,000 home with a $100,000 taxable value would be taxed $89.55 annually for this, if approved.
Passing the millage renewal wont result in any increase to what residents are paying. But if the millage doesnt pass, the millage rate will return to 3.2921 mills so property owners would see a small reduction in taxes.
The millage provides additional funds to Van Buren County ISDs special education programs. The millage, if passed, will allow for more funding to be distributed to school districts.
Over five years, the millage increase would generate $22.5 million for districts in Van Buren County ISD, according to the ISD.
There are 11 school districts in the ISD: Bangor, Bloomingdale, Covert, Decatur, Gobles, Hartford, Lawrence, Lawton, Mattawan, Paw Paw and South Haven. Those districts cover Van Buren County, but also parts of St. Joseph County and Kalamazoo County.
If voters pass the request, the millage rate will be in place until 2029.
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DETROIT, MI United Auto Workers leaders announced the organizations endorsement of Kamala Harris for president on the eve of the Democrats planned rally in a city synonymous with auto manufacturing.
Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
Along with the endorsement, the UAW statement revealed Harris would host a rally in Detroit on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
While the Harris campaign earlier had announced plans for a rally next week, the specific date of the event was not revealed until the UAW statement. Campaign officials later confirmed the rally was scheduled for Wednesday evening.
The venue has yet to be announced.
UAW officials said union members plan to attend the rally to support Harris.
Why? Fain, in his statement, said the U.S. stands at a crossroads.
We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed, Fain said. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our 1 million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next president this November.
The Harris campaign revealed a packed schedule next week for the vice president. Its a calendar that sends her across battleground states which, like Michigan, could determine the outcome of this falls election.
Harris will travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 6; to Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Wednesday, hours before her stop in Detroit; to Research Triangle, North Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 8; to both Savannah and Phoenix on Friday, Aug. 9; and to Las Vegas on Saturday, Aug. 10.
The Harris campaign said the rallies will include the Democrats running mate, who has yet to be named.
Since President Joe Biden exited the 2024 race for the White House last week and endorsed his vice president, Harris has been on the campaign trail in key battleground states. This week, Harris campaigned in Atlanta and Houston.
She has yet to visit Michigan as a presidential candidate. She did campaign as a vice presidential incumbent in Kalamazoo on July 17, five days before Biden bowed out in her favor.
Detroit has served as a frequent stop for presidential candidates this year.
The week before Biden dropped out, he hosted a rally inside Detroits Renaissance High School gymnasium. It was the presidents third trip to Detroit in 2024.
Trump, the Republican nominee seeking to return to the White House, campaigned in the city in June.
FLINT, MI -- Beverly Walker-Griffea left the presidency of Mott Community College last month with an agreement in hand that guarantees her $300,000 from the college over the next two years, according to documents obtained by MLive.
Severance wasnt part of her original employment contract, beyond payments for unused leave time.
Officially, the split was amicable. The press release announcing her retirement, which was signed by Board of Trustees Chairman Andy Everman, said she had led the college for 10 years with grace, competence, and determination.
But current and former trustees and one union leader say consistent disrespect from Everman played a significant role in Walker-Griffeas departure.
We never should have been in the position that we were in, said Trustee Art Reyes, but we got a chairman who was openly disrespectful to the president and a majority of the board who did not support her nor stand up to the chair.
He noted that a nondisclosure provision in Walker-Griffeas retirement agreement limited what he could say.
Everman said the money was simply payouts for unused vacation and sick days and a bonus allowed under her employment contract for hitting certain strategic goals.
This is what was required, he said, adding later that the board never, ever asked her or ever had on the agenda asking her to leave.
In exchange for the money, Walker-Griffea agreed to not sue or otherwise file complaints against the college or its leaders. She and the colleges Board of Trustees agreed not to disparage one another publicly. They agreed to negotiate that press release about her departure and a letter of recommendation.
Mott Community College Education Association President Kim Owens said it was really unfortunate that this chair chose such an expensive strategy in essentially driving away a very effective leader.
If Walker-Griffea negotiated a generous exit package, I dont blame her for that, she said. I blame the board chair for that.
Walker-Griffea is now the head of the state Department Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential. Asked about the retirement agreement, she released a statement through a department spokesperson noting some of the accomplishments from her tenure as Motts president and her excitement for her new role.
She is also bound by the nondisclosure clause. She did not address the retirement agreement.
Chair of the board Andy Everman listens to other board members speak during the special meeting, Mott Community College, Flint, Michigan, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2023.Brice Tucker | btucker@mlive.com
He never apologized
At a Mott Board of Trustees meeting last summer, during a discussion of the role of the assistant secretary to the board, Walker-Griffea put up her hand and said, I have a comment.
But I wont let you speak, Everman replied.
He relented a moment later, but it was one of the small interactions that have contributed to a perception among some board members and some members of the community that Everman treated Walker-Griffea with disrespect.
Members of the public have said as much during the public comment portion of the Boards meetings.
Freeman, Reyes and former Mott Trustee Anne Figueroa all described an incident that occurred in a meeting of the Boards Finance Committee in 2019, shortly after voters had returned Everman to the Board.
Walker-Griffea had been responding to a question, Figueroa said, and Everman took exception to the way she responded.
He goes, You need to call me sir, said Figueroa, who said she was seated next to Walker-Griffea at the meeting. He led with that. And the rest of us kind of gasped.
At a Board retreat that December, other trustees basically told him, This was wrong. You need to apologize to her. He never apologized, Freeman said.
Everman doesnt recall asking Walker-Griffea to call him sir.
Is there a video recording so I can hear myself saying this,? he said. Because I dont remember this.
There is not video. While Mott typically livestreams its Board meetings, it does not do so for meetings of Board committees.
He admits that there were times when he kept Walker-Griffea from speaking in meetings, including during a discussion last year of an error that put Board members in the position of either agreeing on short notice to a $750,000 contract with the software company Oracle or losing software used for vital college functions.
Every one of the trustees had a lot to say, and she wanted to interrupt them, but as board chair its the trustees that have the first right to speak, he said.
Video of the meeting shows that, after Walker-Griffea pointed out that shed been trying to get into the discussion for a while, he gave her the floor.
Those sorts of interactions probably didnt make her life terribly easy, Freeman said. What was expressed to me from her was that she needed to find something elsewhere, that 10 years was a good run for a college president, and, at this time, she just needed to find other opportunities.
Vacation and sick leave
Its not impossible that Walker-Griffea accumulated close to $300,000 worth of vacation and sick leave, as Everman has said, but it would have required her to take fewer than half of the days available to her over the past decade.
Walker-Griffeas 2023 salary was just shy of $293,000, according to tax forms filed by the Foundation for Mott Community College. Its not clear whether that amount included a bonus of up to $25,000 that she is eligible for each year at the sole discretion of the Board.
The multi-year employment contract she signed in 2021 gives her 30 days of vacation and 15 sick days a year and allows her to carry over unused days from one year to the next.
To make $300,000, Walker-Griffea would have had to accumulate close to a year of vacation and sick time.
She used 20 vacation days for a leave of absence prior to her departure. She would have had to leave more than five weeks worth of leave time unused every year to account for the rest.
Mott Community College Trustee Michael Freeman speaks during a press conference on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Jake May | MLive.com)
Severance
Its not unusual for the presidents of four-year colleges to get severance roughly equal to a years pay, said Brandon Cotton, president of Cotton Law in Washington D.C. and a specialist in college presidents compensation.
Its not so common for community college presidents, he said, but community college presidents dont often serve a full 10 years like Walker-Griffea did.
It can make strategic sense for a college to give a departing executive extra compensation in exchange for a bit of goodwill or contractual limits on what they can say publicly.
As general counsel or as a trustee, you have to protect the school, and you cant assume that someones going to act ethically, he said. And so maybe youre getting them to sign a non-disparagement agreement - especially if youre just paying them out for paid time off and maybe a little bonus - thats the responsible thing to do.
A new president
Everman became chair of the Board in 2023, following the election of two new trustees, Jeffrey Swanson and Wendy Wolcott.
It was widely perceived as shift in power on the Board, and rumors began swirling almost immediately that Everman and his allies wanted to get rid of Walker-Griffea, rumors he has consistently denied.
Recent events have done little to quell that sort of speculation.
Earlier this month, the Board hired Shaunda Richardson-Snell as Motts interim president, drawing concern from some faculty and community members because she has no previous experience working in higher education, much less running an institution.
In the weeks since, the decision has led to recall efforts against three trustees who supported her and one who didnt and a threat from the colleges supervisors and management union to notify the Higher Learning Commission of what they believe were irregularities in the hiring process.
Its like the board was willing to get rid of a nationally recognized president of a community college and replace her with someone who had zero experience, Reyes said, and it seems like this was an intentional direction.
Everman says it wasnt. The four other trustees did not return messages from MLive.
Shes the one that wanted to retire, Everman said. Shes had the opportunity. Shes retired. Shes moved on with her life.
The college has turned the page, he said. Were moving on.
The United States is sending its top two competitors to the womens gymnastics all-around final, and theyre both gold medal defenders. Sunisa Lee, 2020 Tokyo gold medal winner, and Simone Biles, 2016 Rio gold medal winner, will compete on Thursday, Aug. 1, at 12:15 p.m. ET in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
You can watch the meet for free with trials from Fubo or DIRECTV Stream, and it will also be available on Sling and Peacock.
The first of these three can be set to record the meet ahead of time if you dont plan to watch live. Peacock will automatically upload events as they are completed to watch later. NBC will also air clips from the meet as part of their Primetime coverage Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.
About the meet:
Each country sends their top two athletes from the qualification meet to the all-round meet. For the United States, it was a close competition on who the second representative would be as Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles both put up a good fight. In the end, Sunisa Lees bar performance put her at a score of 56.132, and Chiles finished with 56.065.
Team USA is coming into the competition with their heads held high after having won team gold for the first time in eight years.
Fans are still awaiting to see if Biles will perform a new original skill on bars during competition. If she does, it would be at the beginning of her routine, and it would be the sixth move named after her. It would also mean she is the first gymnast in the world to have an original skill named after her on each apparatus.
Watch the 2024 Olympic womens all-around gymnastics final today, Aug. 1, at 12:15/11:15c.
Where to watch:
By Alimat Aliyeva
The tourism departments of Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation plan to continue developing cooperation, including the implementation of joint investment projects, Azernews reports.
According to the press service, a working meeting of representatives of the trade mission, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the first deputy chairman of the Committee on Tourism under the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan Jamshid Abdusalamov took place in Tashkent the day before, during which prospects for cooperation in the field of tourism were considered.
It is noted that the parties discussed the further development of bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism, including the coordination of mutual visits of tour operators of the two countries and the implementation of joint investment projects. During the meeting, it was also reported that in the coming days an Uzbek delegation will visit the regions of Russia to present the tourism potential of the republic.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, over the past four years, the number of trips of Russian tourists to Uzbekistan has increased more than 10 times from 37 thousand to 403 thousand people. At the same time, in 2023, Uzbeks made more than 800 thousand trips to Russia, which is twice as much as in 2022.
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Exploring a Neolithic monuments lunar links
Stonehenge is famous for its association with the sun, and particularly with the summer and winter solstices but did the movement of the moon also influence its design? Carly Hilts spoke to Dr Amanda Chadburn and Dr Heather Sebire about an ongoing project exploring the impact of a once-in-a generation lunar event.
Moonrise at Stonehenge during the Major Lunar Standstill in June 2024.
Once in a blue moon is a phrase used to express something that happens very rarely. In fact, the phenomenon is not as uncommon as the idiom implies, appearing roughly every 33 months. Rather less frequent, and much less well known, though, is another moon-related event known as a Major Lunar Standstill, which takes place every 18.6 years. While such subjects might sound more astronomical than archaeological, there is an intriguing link with one of Britains most famous ancient monuments. Stonehenge is best-known for its solar alignments, attracting huge crowds to witness the interaction of sun and sarsens during the summer and winter solstices. It has also been suggested, however, that some elements of its design were deliberately sited to align with the moon, specifically during a Major Lunar Standstill and, with one such event taking place in 2024 and 2025, a team of archaeologists are hoping to shed more (moon)light on the matter.
If you got up to watch the sunrise every morning, you might notice that the point on the eastern horizon where the sun appears gradually shifts over the course of the year. This movement reaches its northern limit at the summer solstice, before heading back in the other direction and reaching its southern limit six months later at the winter solstice, before the cycle begins again. The position of the moonrise changes too, but on a much shorter cycle, moving from northern to southern extreme in around 27 days. (It is also more difficult to chart, as its timing varies dramatically and is invisible to the naked eye when it takes place in daylight.) At the same time, these northern and southern limits are themselves moving, albeit much more gradually, and the point when they are furthest apart, achieved every 18.6 years, is known as a Major Lunar Standstill.
When this occurs, the moon can be seen rising and setting much further north and south than usual, and the effect lasts for around 1-2 years at a time. Might Neolithic communities on Salisbury Plain have recognised that, once in every generation, the moon was strikingly out of place in the sky and might they have chosen to commemorate such observations when constructing Stonehenge?
The main solar and lunar alignments associated with Stonehenge.
OF MOONS AND MONUMENTS
As mentioned above, Stonehenge is most commonly associated with the sun. The main axis of its final design (the stage that saw the erection of its sarsen monoliths and trilithons, taking the form we are familiar with today) is oriented on the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset. But, like the moon, Stonehenge has passed through multiple phases, changing its appearance each time and the monuments earliest incarnation hints at an initial interest in lunar alignments.
Centuries before enormous uprights rose above Salisbury Plain, Stonehenges original design comprised a simple, circular bank and ditch. Just inside this line a ring of 56 pits today known as the Aubrey Holes, after the antiquarian who first documented them were dug; it has been suggested that they may have once held timber posts or small stones, possibly even representing an original setting for the bluestones that were brought to the site from west Wales and now stand at the heart of the monument. A key aspect of this early version of Stonehenge appears to have been as a cemetery, though, as cremated human remains were placed in some of the Aubrey Holes.
Analysis of these remains has indicated that they were already old at the point of their burial suggesting that they may have been carefully curated ancestral remains and that they had been brought from somewhere far to the west of Salisbury Plain (see CA 237 and CA 344). Given the evident importance of these burials to the builders of Stonehenge, it seems telling that the cremated remains were not placed in all of the Aubrey Holes, and there is a strong concentration in the south-east of the circle. This cluster is aligned with the most southerly rising position of the moon during a Major Lunar Standstill, and the same direction was marked with three timber posts set into the surrounding bank.
When Stonehenge took its final form, there are hints that this lunar link continued to be significant, even as the newly installed sarsens placed a new emphasis on the movement of the sun. Just outside the main circle of the monument, four smaller stones were set in a nearly perfect rectangle. Known as the Station Stones, they are made from the same sarsen as their larger neighbours, sourced from West Woods about 30 miles to the north (CA 367), and are thought to belong to the same construction phase. Despite their modest scale, the Station Stones appear to have had an important role to play. The rectangle that they form (today, only two stones remain in their original position: the missing pair are represented by modern markers) brackets the curved arrangements of sarsens at a right angle to the monuments main solar axis. The short side of the rectangle runs parallel to this line, pointing towards the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, while the long side cuts across this orientation, pointing instead to the southernmost moonrise and the northernmost moonset during a Major Lunar Standstill.
Because the short axis of the Station Stones ties in with the solstice alignment, it is thought that they were purposefully positioned as part of the monuments architecture. But, given this solar link, was their rectangle intended as another piece of apparatus for sighting the sun, with their lunar long axis merely a coincidental consequence of this orientation, or were they truly deliberately designed for the Major Lunar Standstill? Playing devils advocate, one might wonder if such infrequent events would actually have been noticed by Neolithic observers, and if they would have been able to record this information and pass it down the generations in a pre-literate society. Even so, the apparent importance of this orientation to Stonehenges earliest use does suggest that it was seen as somehow special and perhaps the Station Stones represent this significance being later literally set in stone.
The two extant Station Stones can be seen just inside the bank and ditch.
Archaeologists are making repeated observations at Stonehenge during this years Major Lunar Standstill.
MOONRISE, MOONSET
To investigate these questions more closely, Dr Amanda Chadburn, Professor Clive Ruggles, and Dr Fabio Silva are working with English Heritage (in whose care Stonehenge lies) and the Royal Astronomical Society to explore the effects of the present Major Lunar Standstill at Stonehenge. Until the phenomenon ends in mid-2025, they will be regularly visiting the site to observe and document various moonrises and -sets at their northern and southern extremes, when the moon is in alignment with the Station Stones.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CA 414. Read on in the magazine, or click here to read it online at The Past, where you can read all of the Current Archaeology articles in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current World Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
I concluded last months column just east of Avebury at the Sanctuary, a Neolithic and Bronze Age site that is also the start and end point of the Ridgeway, an 87-mile route rich in archaeology that runs between there and Ivinghoe Beacon across Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire (see www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/ trails/the-ridgeway). During Easter 2024, I walked it south to north, and below I share some of the highlights from the sites I visited along the way which have also featured in the pages of Current Archaeology over the years.
ROLLING STONES AND WHITE HORSES
I begin by heading north from the Sanctuary across Fyfield Down, where CA 16 (September 1969) reported on fieldwork begun there in 1959 by Peter Fowler, revealing a wealth of sites ranging from the Neolithic to the medieval. A few miles further on is the Hackpen White Horse, visited as part of a wider survey of chalk-cut hill figures in CA 234 (September 2009); and slightly further still is the first in a series of fine hillforts along this section of the route: Barbury Castle. Much to my surprise, this edifice has only had one proper mention in the magazine, when Nicola Turto shared a magnificent cake baked in its shape in CA 336 (March 2018). From Barbury, you can look out across a virtually 360 view, and historically the route continues due east to Chiseldon, where CA 214 (January 2008) reported on a find of 12 Iron Age cauldrons; CA 230 (May 2009) had more on this site in the context of the Roman occupation of Britain.
However, the modern-day Ridgeway turns south-east to pivot below the village of Ogbourne St George, through an area rich in history but within which Current Archaeology has never stopped. The path curves south and east in a great arc (crossing the A346, which follows the line of the Roman road from Cirencester to Marlborough) and climbs back up onto the chalk downs towards Aldbourne, visited in my column in CA 411 (June 2024) for its associations with the Second World War. The Ridgeway then rejoins its historic line at Liddington Castle, another fine Iron Age hillfort that Current Archaeology has not yet visited surprisingly so, since it was partially excavated in 1976 by a team from the University of Birmingham.
The cover of CA 142 featured the view from the White Horse over the Vale, and discussed sites such as Waylands Smithy and Uffington Castle.
Heading north-east, the path then crosses an example of what future archaeologists will surely ponder: the great 20th-century linear earthworks of our motorway system in this case, the M4. CA 25 (March 1971) reported on fieldwork led at this time by RESCUE along the M4 and M5, with hundreds of sites identified in this proto-planning landscape. However, in terms of the Ridgeway, it is best to cross quickly back up into the chalk downs of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape. There are archaeological heavy-hitters ahead: Waylands Smithy and Uffington Castle lie a few miles further north-east, both in the care of the National Trust. CA 142 (March 1995) first visited these sites with David Miles, a name that has become synonymous with them thanks to his book The Land of the White Horse (2019). David returned in CA 359 (February 2020) to tell that full story, and included the work of one my favourite local artists, the supremely talented Anna Dillon, whose paintings feature many archaeological sites and monuments, as on the cover of Davids book (see http://annadillon.com). Waylands Smithy, meanwhile, was visited in depth in CA 209 (May 2007) and CA 347 (February 2019), the former in relation to its dating and the latter as part of a wider exploration of the Neolithic.
In CA 359, David Miles wrote a feature about the interpretation of the White Horse, and what archaeological science revealed about its creation.
DEVILS AND DITCHES
Just south-east of Uffington and the Ridgeway lies Rams Hill, a Bronze Age and Iron Age site investigated by Stuart and Peggy Piggott (later Guido) in 1938 1939, and again by Richard Bradley and Ann Ellison in the 1970s: CA 36 (January 1973) and CA 42 (January 1974) reported on their fieldwork here. The site sits at the north-western end on their fieldwork there. The site sits at the north-western end of the Lambourn Valley, which CA 333 (December 2017) and CA 356 (November 2019) show to have been a fertile and well connected Roman farming landscape thanks to the study of the villas there, especially at Boxford, near Newbury.
The discovery of the Boxford mosaic made the news in CA 356, and illustrated the high-status Roman occupation in the Lambourn Valley.
Continuing eastwards, the Ridgeway soon comes to Segsbury Camp, due south of Wantage. CA 388 (July 2022) visited this Iron Age encampment in the context of a wider survey of hillforts at this time, and CA 352 (July 2019) reported on an unusual find from the same era at nearby Childrey: a deviant burial of a woman placed with her arms draped over her head, her hands together, her legs bent up with the knees apart, and her feet detached, placed still articulated by her right arm. The Ridgeway there gradually curves south-east through open chalk grassland, the placenames making clear its ancient farming uses.
Just to the north is Harwell, which for many years was synonymous with radiocarbon dating from archaeological sites across the country thanks to it being the home of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) laboratories; for context on that scientific history, see CA 209 (May 2007). The Ridgeway then dips beneath the A34 near Ilsley before heading on to cross the Thames at Streatley and Goring, before following the east bank of the river north. The pickings there are thin there are no significant mentions of any sites in this part of Berkshire or Oxfordshire in Current Archaeology. Only where the Ridgeway turns sharp right, east out of the valley at Wallingford, do references re-emerge: for example, at the medieval castle there in CA 35 (November 1972), CA 50(May 1975), and CA 310 (January 2016), and on prehistoric sites around the town in CA 121 (September 1990). There, the Ridgeway picks up the line of the prehistoric linear earthwork known as Grims Ditch, along which it meanders for much of the rest of the route into Buckinghamshire. Part of this story is told in CA 163 (June 1999).
Chris Catling reported on the archaeological and historical research being used to bring Wallingford Castle back to life in CA 310.
WILD WOODS AND WINDING PATHS
At Nuffield, the Ridgeway turns north-east up into the Chilterns chalk for the final third of the route. The topography of the walk changes markedly, and so too does its archaeology. The settlements of this area have been well studied, for example in CA 381 (December 2021) as regards its medieval peasant communities. There have been some interesting single discoveries, too, notably that of the Watlington Viking Age hoard (a cache of coins, arm-rings, and silver ingots) in 2015; see CA 311 (February 2016). The trail picks up the route of the Icknield Way there, part of the longer ancient Ridgeway, and at Lewknor crosses the last but one of the great modern markers along its way: the M40; see CA 35 (November 1972) for reports of fieldwork along its route at this time.
The route continues just to the south of Chinnor as the next major settlement along the way, known for its late Bronze Age pottery sequences; see CA 67 (June 1979). It then edges along the fringes of Princes Risborough, a town that Current Archaeology has never stopped to examine. The wooded hill slopes around there in the Chilterns National Landscape are spectacular, especially in autumn, but, less pleasingly, it is through this area that a final modern milestone must be reached and crossed that of HS2, scything through the landscape just outside Wendover. CA 389 (August 2022) reported on an Anglo- Saxon cemetery discovered along its route near there, and CA 136 (October 1993) reported on an earlier infrastructure impact in this area when the A41 was dualled between the M25 and Tring, revealing a previously unknown Neolithic village.
CA 381 turned to the Chilterns in a discussion of the ways in which medieval people viewed the landscape around them.
The Ridgeway then heads into the final glorious section through the National Trusts Ashridge Estate, with its expansive views north-west, including towards Pitstone Windmill, which was examined in CA 71 (April 1980). A final sharp ascent leads up to Ivinghoe Beacon, which has a rich history dating back to at least the Bronze Age and Iron Age; see CA 20 (May 1970).
As I hope you have experienced through this column, the Ridgeway is an archaeological tour de force: I highly recommend a visit. I walked it in sections across eight days; others do so much faster, but it is equally suited to day-trips for stand-alone circular walks, with easy access and excellent signage. I look forward to seeing you out and about along it.
About the author
Joe Flatman completed a PhD in medieval archaeology at the University of Southampton in 2003, and since then has held positions in universities, and local and most recently central government. Since March 2019, he has been a Consultancy Manager in the National Trusts London and South-East Region, leading a team working on Trust sites across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. You can follow him on X: @joeflatman.
By Alimat Aliyeva
Rice stocks in Japan have fallen to a minimum in recent decades due to the tourist boom and heat wave, which caused low yields, and against the background of shortages, the price of cereals reached a 30-year high, Azernews reports.
The article indicates that, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, in June, rice stocks in the private sector fell to 1.56 million tons, which is 20 percent less compared to the same period last year. This is the lowest figure since 1999, when the authorities first began collecting comparable data
The agency explains such a sharp decrease in rice stocks by the heat in 2023, which negatively affected the harvest: last year's September in Japan turned out to be the hottest in the last 125 years. In addition, among the reasons that caused the shortage, the ministry calls the lack of water, as well as the demand for the product from tourists coming to the country.
Over the past year, rice consumption in Japan has increased to seven million tons, which is 100,000 tons more than a year earlier. During the same period, the number of tourists has increased significantly: in the first half of 2024, 17.78 million guests have already visited Japan, which is 1 million more than in pre-pandemic times.
The ministry estimated that tourists who ate rice twice a day contributed to an increase in demand by 51 thousand tons, which is 2.7 times more than the previous year.
Amid the shortage, the trading price of rice has reached a 30-year high, wholesalers are running out of stocks, and some supermarkets have decided to raise prices even more and limit purchases, the newspaper notes. It is expected that the situation will continue until September, when this year's harvest rice will become available.
Despite the price pressure, there are no plans to use government reserves of 910,000 tons, writes the national Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. These stocks were created when a poor harvest due to the unseasonably cool summer of 1993 caused a critical shortage of rice in the country.
As the sun has proven somewhat unreliable this summer, lets talk about the moon instead. Stonehenge is best known for its solar alignments, but was its design also influenced by a once-in-a-generation lunar phenomenon? This months cover feature discusses an ongoing project that is documenting the effects of a Major Lunar Standstill in real time.
Three articles then spotlight a trio of very different site visits from June and July (we also have a News Focus drawing on a recent trip to Sutton Hoo; if you would like CA to come to your dig, do get in touch have notebook, will travel!). We begin near Boden in Cornwall, where a long-running community excavation is uncovering the remains of an Iron Age fogou an enigmatic form of underground passage as well as unusual Romano-British remains nearby. Our next destination is Hadrians Wall, where we report on the final season of a four-year project that has been investigating the civilian settlement outside Birdoswald Roman fort. How has the story changed since our visit last year? Finally, we travel to Wessex Archaeologys excavation on the site of Sheffield Castle, where they have uncovered impressive medieval fortifications, as well as traces of the Steel Citys influential industrial heritage.
From the urban setting of the Sheffield finds, our next article discusses something more bucolic: orchards. A long-standing feature of historic landscapes, how have they evolved in England from the medieval period to the present day? Finally, we head to Anglesey in north Wales, to learn about the excavation of a Neolithic dolmen and the identification of a previously undocumented ceremonial landscape surrounding it.
In This Issue:
FEATURES
UNDERGROUND, OVERGROUND
Excavating an Iron Age fogou and Romano-British remains at Boden
A long-running community excavation in south Cornwall has been exploring a network of Iron Age tunnels, Bronze Age roundhouses, and unusual Romano-British activity in the area.
BIRDOSWALD AND BEYOND
Investigating an extramural settlement on Hadrians Wall
For the last four years, archaeologists have been exploring the civilian settlement surrounding Birdoswald Roman fort. With the final digging season now at an end, how has the story developed?
FROM STRONGHOLD TO STEEL CITY
Uncovering the birthplace of Sheffield
Recenet archaeological work in central Sheffield has revealed long-buried traces of the citys medieval castle, as well as remains relating to its influential industrial past.
ORCHARDS IN ENGLAND: A LANDSCAPE HISTORY
A fruitful wander through the agriculture of the past
A new book explored the development of orchards from across England, investigating their evolution from the Middle Ages to the present day.
ILLUMINATING ANGLESEY
Echoes of a later prehistoric ritualised landscape at Bedd y Foel
A survey of Pen y Foel, an unassuming hillock on Anglesey, has documented evidence of a previously unrecorded ceremonial landscape surrounding the remains of a Neolithic dolmen at Bedd y Foel.
STONEHENGE AND THE MOON
Exploring a Neolithic monuments lunar links
An ongoing project at Stonehenge is investigating whether a once-in-a-generation lunar event may have influenced some aspects of the monuments design.
NEWS
Geophysical survey identifies two Roman villas near Wroxeter; Roman horse-changing station uncovered in Gloucestershire; Exploring Fifes spiritual home of whisky at Lindores Abbey; Inside the minds of 18th-century guards at Dover Castle; Medieval grave slabs lifted from Englands oldest shipwreck; Science Notes; Cardiffs oldest house stood over an even earlier structure; Finds Tray
NEWS FOCUS
Excavations have returned to Sutton Hoo, where an Anglo-Saxon cemetery that pre-dates the National Trust sites famous royal burial ground is giving up its secrets.
REGULARS
COMMENT
Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive
CONTEXT
Commanding the coast: Pendinas hillfort, Cardigan Bay
REVIEWS
Rushen Abbey, Isle of Man: a hundred years of research and excavation; Picts, Gaels and Scots: early historic Scotland; Wicked Problems for Archaeologists; The Lost Paths; Contemplating Calanais: A Guide to the Standing Stones; 50 Finds from Childhood: objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme
EXHIBITION
Six Lives at the National Portrait Gallery, London
MUSEUM
Museum of Cornish Life: a new archaeology display
MUSEUM NEWS
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions and key decisions
LISTINGS
Our selection of exhibitions and events, as well as historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from around the world that are available online
SHERDS
Chris Catlings irreverent take on heritage issues
ODD SOCS
The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Have all this delivered directly to your door every month click here to find out more about subscribing to Current Archaeology, the UKs favourite archaeology magazine.
Japan appears determined to hunt fin whales which are listed as vulnerable to extinction. But Australia is has officially condemned the move.
Despite whale meat (pictured) being increasingly unpopular in Japan, the government has announced plans to expand the number of species it kills. Source: AAP
Japans decision to hunt a species of whale that is facing extinction has been condemned by Australia. Fin whales were officially added to the countrys commercial harvesting list on Wednesday, with the decision published in a government gazette.
A statement released by Environment Minister Tanya Pliberseks office on Thursday said Australia was disappointed by Japans decision to expand its commercial whaling program.
Fin whales are the second largest of all whales and are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, it continued.
There has been plummeting interest in consuming whale meat in Japan. It dropped from a peak of 230,000 tonnes in 1962 to just 2,000 tonnes in recent years. Today the meat is generally only eaten by older generations and the odd tourist wanting to try it as an oddity or delicacy.
Related: Surprising theory emerges as Japan considers butchering massive new whale species
The office of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (right) issued a statement, calling Japan's decision to hunt fin whales "disappointing".
Trying to counter the decline, the country is working to expand commercial harvesting. In 2023, it began stocking whale meat inside vending machines around Tokyo to create interest among younger Japanese.
Australia 'opposed to all commercial whaling'
Successive Australian governments have appeared reluctant to directly criticise Japan's whaling since it withdrew from international waters, to focus instead on hunting within its own territory five years ago. Although at the time, the federal government said the move was "regrettable".
On Thursday, Pliberseks office confirmed it is opposed to all commercial whaling and it urged all countries to end this practice. The Japanese have previously countered condemnation of its whale and dolphin hunting by noting that Australias kangaroo and wallaby harvest constitutes the largest land-based slaughter of wildlife in the world.
Minister Plibersek has been contacted for further comment.
More whale stories you need to read
Local television in Japan excitedly reported on the new 9,300-tonne Kangei Maru ship which has been designed to haul in fin whales the worlds second-largest whale species.
But it has worked to block international efforts to counter its activities by anti-whaling groups including Neptunes Pirates and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
Captain Paul Watson was arrested on Sunday (local time) after his ship docked in Greenland. Source: Neptune's Pirates
Their founder, anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, was planning to take on the Japanese whale harvesters at sea. But he was taken into custody on a secret international arrest warrant issued by Japan in July.
The arrest occurred after his ship docked in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Watson is perhaps the worlds best known anti-whaling activist, and he was the founder of Sea Shepherd, and co-founder of Greenpeace.
Denmark is a supporter of dolphin and whale hunting and it controversially permits its self-government archipelago the Faroe Islands to hunt hundreds every year.
On Thursday, Australian conservationist Bob Brown appealed to Tasmanian-born Queen Mary of Denmark to intervene on Watsons behalf. He warned the arrest will shame Copenhagen in the eyes of the world.
I am well aware of the constitutional restraints on the monarchy in Denmark but there is enormous respect for Her Majesty Queen Mary here in her native Tasmania and, at the same time, huge support for Watson who was pivotal to getting the illegal Japanese whale-killers out of our oceans, he said.
The campaign to free Watson from his Danish-Japanese captors will be full-on, global and relentless.
Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
The incident has left Australians shocked at the treatment the cafe worker suffered at the hands of a customer.
Little Latte drive-thru coffee shop owner Ebony Spiteri has blasted two customers after a shocking act with their coffees. Source: Tiktok
A cafe owner has blasted two customers for an "entitled" act that left a staff member on edge and dripping in hot coffee. In shocking CCTV footage shared online, a woman is seen throwing a cup of hot coffee at the worker at Little Latte Drive Thru in the Melbourne suburb of Hoppers Crossing.
Cafe owner Ebony Spiteri told Yahoo News Australia the reason behind the shocking move on Sunday afternoon was the customer couldnt wait more than two minutes to be served. Spiteri is now appealing to the public to track down the woman saying staff wont feel safe until the woman has been held accountable.
Its disappointing, said Ebony, describing the act as entitled. These are grown women behaving this way, she said. There is no excuse for this behaviour."
CCTV captured two angles of the incident, on the right, the barista is being splashed with hot coffee, and on the left a woman is seen moments after the act. Source: Tiktok
Melbourne coffee attack caught on CCTV
In shocking CCTV footage, the cafe worker is seen handing the coffees to the two women standing outside.
One of the women is then seen forcing herself into the cafes serving window before throwing the steaming coffee at the worker who reacts in shock, shaking hot coffee off her top.
A second angle shows the woman being handed her coffee before she throws the coffee through the window before stepping back.
Watch the footage below.
After the incident, the two women ran off according to Spiteri and two other kind-hearted drive-thru customers got out of their cars to come to the aid of the barista.
The cafe was forced to shut following the incident and both police and ambulance were called to the scene.
Aussies react in shock to 'messed up' moment
Aussies across the country who witnessed the footage have been left in shock, describing the moment as "messed up".
"The staff member was so calm. I'd lose it," said another.
"You can see the steam coming off of it," said a third. "I hope youre able to press charges or get some form of justice."
Ebony said she has been "overwhelmed" by the positive response from the community since sharing footage of the incident online.
"We are so grateful and overwhelmed by the positive response from the community. Without all their help, we wouldnt be any closer to finding who it is," she said. "She threw it and she knew what she had done and ran off. We want to see that person held accountable and make sure she doesnt do this to anyone else."
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
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Locals continue to express their frustration towards outsiders, at a favourite spot among Aussie travellers.
Concerning graffiti has emerged in Mallorca in Spain, taking on a much more serious tone than other anti-tourist messaging seen in previous weeks. Source: People's Party Spain
Authorities in one of Europe's most popular holiday destinations have condemned concerning graffiti that appeared on a wall this week urging locals to "kill a tourist". The troubling message is the latest to be spotted in Spain amid growing unrest among residents, who say travellers are to blame for the country's worsening cost of living and housing crises.
After similar sets of graffiti were spotted in Barcelona in recent weeks, it appears the mood has yet to improve, with the latest message in Mallorca one of Spain's Balearic Islands much more aggressive than those previously photographed.
The governing conservative Peoples Party (PP) urged people living in the area to denounce such "acts of vandalism", which it described as "totally unjustified".
Travellers urged to 'go home' in graffiti seen painted on walls across the city. Source: Supplied
Authorities insist tourists are welcome despite locals' sentiment
The party said it had noted a "worrying proliferation of graffiti with tourism-phobic messages" in the region, The Sun reported. PP spokesperson Maria Antonia Sanso Jaume urged people considering taking similar action to reconsider. "This graffiti do not represent, in any case, the majority feeling of the residents of Manacor [a town on Mallorca]," she wrote on social.
"Tourists are welcome to visit our island. Such behaviour is totally unjustified."
The incident comes amid widespread unrest in Spain as tens of thousands of locals gather in protest against mass tourism. One Australian expat living in Barcelona told Yahoo News locals "are at breaking point".
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Barcelona in July a city which sees some 26 million travellers pass through each year to denounce the country's skyrocketing rates of tourism.
The protests follow similar actions in the Canary Islands and Mallorca, with locals telling foreigners via graffiti and in person to "go home", citing overcrowding as the main reason for residents' dwindling quality of life.
Freya Noble, a former resident of Sydney who moved to Barcelona last year, told Yahoo News Australia tourists who come into the city and spend time around the centre, where all the chain stores and restaurants are, "often are not really contributing much to the local economy" while taking up a lot of the apartments "that locals are struggling to afford".
She said Spaniards are quite rightly fed up, but the situation is "complex".
Diners shudder as protesters march past a restaurant in Barcelona. Source: Getty
A 13-point proposal to decrease tourism levels
According to official figures, almost 26 million visitors made an overnight stay in Barcelona in 2023, spending 12.75 billion (A$20.4b).
The Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turistic (the Neighbourhood Assembly for Tourist Degrowth) said visitors increase prices and put pressure on public services, while profits from the tourism industry are unfairly distributed and increase social inequality.
In response it has published 13 proposals to reduce the number of visitors and to transition the city into a new model of tourism. They include closing cruise ship terminals, tighter regulation of tourist accommodation and an end to public spending on tourism promotion.
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By Dani Ray | Aug 1, 2024
Murray State University and Madisonville Community College (MCC) signed a 2+2 articulation agreement on Wednesday, July 31 at the MCC Brown Badgett Building.
MURRAY, Ky. Murray State University and Madisonville Community College (MCC) signed a 2+2 articulation agreement on Wednesday, July 31 at the MCC Brown Badgett Building.
This agreement will provide students who have earned an Associate of Applied Science in Advanced Integrated Technology (AIT) degree at MCC a seamless transfer process into Murray State's Bachelor of Science in Electromechanical Engineering Technology (EMT) degree program. The program will be offered at Murray State Universitys Madisonville Regional Campus beginning with the upcoming fall 2024 semester.
We are extremely excited to partner with Madisonville Community College on new programs and initiatives as we support our students and advance our local, regional and state workforce and economic development initiatives, said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. Our School of Engineering is doing great things and this new partnership is another example of how we are preparing our students for successful careers and a bright future.
Jake Hildebrant, Murray State EMT program coordinator, explained how the agreement will work.
The agreement will allow graduates of the Associate of Applied Science in AIT to complete years three and four of the Murray State EMT degree in Madisonvilles flexible laboratory using the same flexible delivery that has made the AIT program so successful, said Hildebrant. The EMT program prepares graduates to be automation and control engineers in industry. The degree is in very high demand, and students receive high wage positions. The AIT degree is a perfect partner for the EMT program, and the partnership has been in the works for many years. This should open the doors for new opportunities in the Hopkins County region.
Dr. Claire Fuller, dean of the Murray State University Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology, said the agreement will set students up for high wage careers.
The new transfer agreement will help students complete their Bachelor's degree in EMT efficiently, saving them time and money, said Fuller. This degree leads to exciting, well-paid career opportunities above and beyond those available to students with an Associates degree alone.
MCC President Dr. Cynthia Kelley said the program is good for not only students, but also regional economic development.
Our partnership with Murray State and their Electromechanical Engineering Technology program not only enhances pathways for our students but also strengthens our region's economic development, said Kelley. Our graduates will be well-equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to excel in high-demand engineering roles, benefiting both the students and the local industry.
For more information about the program, contact Heather Roy at the Murray State University Madisonville Regional Campus at hroy@murraystate.edu.
Trae Black, 29, remains in hospital in a critical condition after his lower right leg was severed in an alleged attack on Monday.
Police allege Trae Black was run over and bashed with a hammer by Matthew William Lawson, at City Beach in Perth on Monday. Source: Facebook/7News
The father of an Aussie man who was allegedly beaten over the head with a hammer after having his leg severed has thanked first responders for saving his son's life.
Police say Trae Black, 29, was run over and bashed with a hammer by Matthew William Lawson, 25, at City Beach in Perth on Monday, after a workplace altercation soured.
It's not yet been made public what caused the spat between the two colleagues, but the horrific, alleged attack left Black clinging to life at Royal Perth Hospital, where he has remained since Monday.
Black is believed to have run from the construction site where the pair were working following a disagreement, before Lawson allegedly chased after him in his ute, running him down and severing his leg. Lawson was charged with an 'attempt to unlawfully kill' on Tuesday. He refused legal advice before pleading guilty during his first appearance in court and did not apply for bail.
Trae Black remains at the Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition as of Thursday. Source: Facebook
Heartbroken father thanks first responders for saving son's life
Black's father Troy said he believes his son would've almost certainly died had it not been for the efforts of first responders, including an off-duty doctor who happened to be in the area at the time.
"Trae is being supported by friends and family, for which we are very grateful, he told 7News. "Although Trae has a long way to go, we know he will fight hard to overcome his injuries.
"We would like to thank those people at the scene who went to his aid and the first responders. Its our understanding that if it had not been for their intervention, Trae would have died before reaching the hospital."
Blacks lower right leg was severed when he was allegedly hit by Lawson's silver Mazda BT-50 ute, police say, adding that officers were at the scene "within minutes".
Black's lower right leg was severed during the incident after he was allegedly run down by Lawson's ute. Source: 7News
Police say Black was very lucky a doctor was nearby
Superintendent Manus Walsh described the scenes as "harrowing" in a media conference on Monday.
"This would be a harrowing incident for anyone to observe whether they be trained police officers, or whether they be members of the public," he said.
"It was very lucky, very lucky that an off-duty doctor was there and a member of the public and they stayed with them until St John's [ambulance] arrived and then they were taken to the hospital."
Troy Black says his son now faces a "difficult journey ahead".
"We would also like to thank the staff at RPH for the outstanding care that they are giving Trae, and for supporting our family," he said.
"The past few days have been extremely difficult on those of us who are close to Trae, and we now ask for space and privacy so we can concentrate on Trae and the difficult journey he has ahead of him."
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A company owned by the state government has faced court for destroying trees that were supposed to help protect endangered species.
The Yambulla State Forest is a short drive from the popular tourist town of Eden (pictured), on the NSW South Coast. Source: Michael Dahlstrom
Councils around Australia are continually battling residents who chop down and poison large trees to create better ocean views. But now a state government has been caught felling important trees it was supposed to protect.
NSW Forestry Corporation has been fined a massive $360,000 for destroying 53 trees inside a state forest that has been set aside as habitat for endangered animals. And because the company is owned by the state government, it will be NSW residents who are ultimately on the hook for the illegal act.
The trees were felled inside the Yambulla State Forest, a popular camping spot 30km south-west of the Eden. The wider NSW South Coast was significantly impacted by the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires. Tens of millions of dollars were donated from around the world to help Australias native species recover, and local authorities mapped segments of bushland that survived the blazes for protection.
Logging company blames tree destruction on 'human error'
This week the Corporation pleaded guilty in the Land and Environment Court.
It was fined $360,000 for offences relating to the logging of trees in environmentally significant forest in 2020. Its failure to properly map these areas breached conditions imposed by the Environment Protection Authority that were supposed to help bushland recover after the fires.
The EPA became aware of the problem in Yambulla State Forest in February 2021. Source: EPA
After the judgement, the Corporation claimed in a statement the logging was caused by human error, adding we deeply regret the mistake and the environmental damage it has caused.
We take our environmental responsibility very seriously, and have made significant investments in resources and technology the past four years. We are committed to continually improving our compliance and environmental outcomes, its CEO Anshul Chaudhary said.
But the court accepted a submission from the EPA that the Corporation had shown a a pattern of environmental offending. It also found the Corporation had not sufficiently demonstrated genuine contrition and remorse for its commission of the offences.
Minns government urged to end native forest logging
Responding to the judgement, conservationists labelled the Corporation a rogue agency.
This is a reoccurring behaviour by Forestry Corporation and the time has come to end native forest logging for the sake of our precious endangered species, and the cost to the public purse. Enough is enough South East Forest Rescue spokesperson Scott Daines said.
North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Dailan Pugh labelled the Corporation a "serial offender" and called for faster responses to fine it for illegal acts.
Jacqui Mumford, the CEO of Nature Conservation Council NSW called on the Minns Government to reign in the Corporation.
Fines clearly aren't enough to stop Forestry Corporation's destruction of endangered species habitat, she said.
FCNSW cannot be trusted with our precious native forests. Its time for the NSW Government to protect these forests once and for all by ending native forest logging.
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Sydney woman Jessica Mudditt was left with her home in a 'dangerous, muddy' state for weeks, despite paying her full $830 a week.
Sydney tenant Jessica Mudditt claims she was given 'no warning' before her rental property was turned into a construction site while living there. Source: Supplied
A single mum living in a Sydney rental property has revealed the "stress" and "panic" caused by unexpectedly "living in a construction site" for $830 a week, as the nation's housing crisis continues to put a strain on everyday Aussies.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Jessica Mudditt claims she was given "no notice" about the major works, arranged by the landlord, that would take place in her Condell Park front yard. For three weeks straight she's had to contend with "massive noise", no hot water and a "dangerous, muddy" state outside her property.
In late June, Mudditt was sent a text message by the real estate agent ahead of time informing her "a plumber was booked" for the following week and "will be working at the front [for] 2 days". But she claims there was no further explanation, including details about the scope of work, and only found out when she was woken at 7am by the sound of diggers in her front yard.
"There were all these work guys with massive trucks, I thought 'what's happening?' Then they just carved up the whole front yard," she told Yahoo. "No one told me there'd be two bulldozers and metre-deep trenches. Or that I'd be unable to access my driveway or garage."
Tenant without water, internet and access to driveway
At one point Mudditt, who has two daughters aged 3 and 5, was left without hot water for six days and was forced to work from home without internet after workers allegedly damaged the line. She was also without access to her driveway or garage.
She lost access to her front yard, including her driveway and garage. She also lost hot water and her internet during ongoing works. Source: Supplied.
Additionally, she claims the landlord has appeared on site unannounced "without notice" which in most cases is illegal in NSW. According to NSW legislation, "tenants have the right to reasonable peace, comfort and privacy when renting" therefore "correct notice" should be given.
What's more, the mum of two, who has her own publishing business and works from home, has had to compete with "massive noise". Rubbish and working equipment have also been left strewn across the property, posing a safety risk, Mudditt claims.
Daughter 'injured in unsafe front yard'
With no apparent construction barriers or bunting zoning off the working area, Mudditt said it has been left in an unsafe state during the course of construction. As a result, her young daughter was allegedly injured while attempting to reach the front door of their home.
"When we arrived home on the weekend, I was carrying shopping bags across the yard. My young daughter fell and cut her knee and her hand. It's just distressing. In our own front yard," she said.
"It's a total mess and I still can't access my garage because they tried to force it open, and they've damaged the lock. It's quite scary and I feel really stressed."
The site was left in a dangerous and muddy state for weeks, according to Mudditt. Source: Supplied
'No communication' from agent or landlord
Mudditt claims SafeWork NSW also attended the property and noted several breaches. Yahoo contacted SafeWork for comment.
While the machines have since left with work now "wrapping up", she claims she was never advised of the planned work other than receiving a text message from the Ray White estate agent saying, "a plumber is coming".
"We never knew when it would finish, which just adds to the alarm. I got told yesterday that they'd finished ahead of schedule, but I didn't even know there was a schedule," she said.
If she'd known about planned works ahead of time the single mum said she "never would have moved in". "There's an obligation to tell an incoming tenant [of major works at the property]".
The only information she's received is second-hand from neighbours, she claims. One allegedly filled her in on her landlord's plans to put duplexes on the property, implying the house she lives in could soon be demolished.
But she says "we have never been told of a subdivision" or any plans to sell the property, and now fears she'll soon enough be made to leave without warning. She alleged the real estate has "downplayed everything" when she questioned the landlord's intentions. They've simply asked her to "bear with it" for the time being.
Mudditt claims there was no tape or fences until SafeWork NSW arrived at the property. Pictured now upon completion of works. Source: Supplied
Frustrated mum offered 'one week free rent' after complaining
To avoid being kicked to the curb without anywhere to go, she's found another place and will be moving shortly. "I can't have an unsafe home, I've got young kids and I have no confidence in them that trucks won't turn up next week and they'll start something else," she said.
The Sydney mum said that after sharing her frustration on social media, and after receiving media attention, the agent has now offered her a week's worth of free rent.
In an email seen by Yahoo, Ray White's director Tony Roumanous said, "In relation to compensation, we have had discussions with the owner and they are happy to provide you with 1 weeks free rent prior to vacating."
But Mudditt says "one week's rent is not proportionate to the breaches" and she will be pursuing the case with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
Real estate agent responds to tenant's claims
When contacted by Yahoo, Ray White Bankstown Principal Tony Roumanous said Mudditt was "clearly informed in advance about the subdivision work scheduled to take place". She was also told "she would not have access to her garage or driveway for a week" as early as July 16.
"We regret any inconvenience caused. The tenant has now given notice that she will vacate the house and the owner has offered the tenant a weeks free rent as compensation," Roumanous said.
"The tenant was fully informed in advance of these works, and the owner was also onsite to only check on the progress of the works, which is within his right and not a breach of privacy at all.
We are deeply sorry that the tenant has not enjoyed her home this week but she was told about the work in advance. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
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Latest email leaks show Big Tech and Biden colluded on COVID narratives, including with CDC and Twitter (now X)
The conservative nonprofit America Legal First (AFL) disclosed new documents this week showing that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) colluded with Twitter (now X), Joe Biden and a number of other Big Tech entities to control the online narrative about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic."
Retrieved through ongoing litigation, the documents highlight May 2021 communications covering the Biden regime's plans to collude with Big Tech about setting the tone and "managing" the conversation on the internet about COVID, and specifically about the "vaccines" brought into existence through Operation Warp Speed.
Facebook conversed back and forth with CDC spokesperson Carol Crawford, who just "happened" to also be involved with Twitter's Partner Support Portal. Both Facebook and Twitter were colluding with the White House at the time to censor the online conversation about COVID and COVID "vaccines."
Described as Twitter's "secret superpower," the Partner Support Portal allowed government-affiliated people like Crawford to participate in the flagging of "misinformation" for censorship purposes.
(Related: According to censorship expert Mike Benz, the 2020 election was rigged to produce a Biden "win" at least seven months in advance of Election Day.)
Biden and the CDC lied, and more people died
The email chain in question was led by Crawford and someone named Genelle Adrien who worked on Facebook's Politics and Government Outreach Team. AFL discovered in the chain that the CDC approved of Facebook's official "COVID-19 Information Center FAQ," likely because the CDC wrote it.
"Our content specialist, [sic] recently made copyedits to two CDC questions for our new FAQ modules appearing in the COVID-19 Information Center," Adrien wrote to Crawford in one of the emails, dated May 4, 2021.
"These are fairly minor edits to what you've already provided, but if you have additional edits, could you please let us know by COB if possible?"
Adrien continued in the same email to notify Crawford that Facebook's official launch date for the COVID-19 Information Center FAQ portal was May 17, 2021, just a few weeks after this communication took place.
Adrien expressed concern that some Facebook users might try to warn others about the side effects of COVID jabs, which is why she wanted Crawford and the CDC to create an FAQ section on Facebook that "debunks" this "misinformation."
At first, Facebook was telling the truth to its users about how COVID jabs can cause certain side effects. Then, the list of possible side effects changed to eliminate "joint pain" as one of the possibilities and replaced it with "nausea."
Facebook's softball approach to revealing just the minor side effects of COVID jabs was apparently too much for the CDC which gutted the FAQ of anything that might make the jabs appear dangerous.
"I would suggest deleting everything after the list of side effects," Crawford responded in an email to Adrien about the changes the CDC wanted to be made.
"For that bottom text, the first sentence is duplicative of the bulleted list (fever / chills). We don't have any cleared language, as far as I know, to support the second and third sentences."
In other words, the CDC was proofreading and editing all COVID jab information on Facebook to ensure it complied with the CDC's official narrative of "safe and effective" for all COVID injections.
As all of this was happening, the Biden regime continued to push Americans to get jabbed over and over again, including with the latest "booster" shots. Biden personally started fearmongering that unvaccinated people would "soon overwhelm hospitals" with "a winter (2021 / 22) of severe illness and death" unless more Americans agreed to get jabbed.
"The CDC appears to have admitted that in May of 2021, months after the vaccine had already been rolled out, they could not confirm that the vaccine was safer than contracting COVID-19 itself and developing natural immunity," AFL says.
"Nonetheless, the CDC continued to push the American people to take the vaccine."
Will the powers that be (TPTB) successfully steal another election for their preferred candidate? Find out more at Rigged.news.
Sources for this article include:
ReclaimTheNet.org
NaturalNews.com
Only a failing US empire would be so blind as to cheer Netanyahu and his genocide
There is only one country in the world right now, in the midst of Israel s slaughter in Gaza , where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is guaranteed dozens of standing ovations from the vast majority of its elected representatives.
(Article by Jonathan Cook republished from MiddleEastEye.net)
That country is not Israel, where he has been a hugely divisive figure for many years. It is the United States.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu was back-slapped, glad-handed, whooped and cheered as he slowly made his way - hailed at every step as a conquering hero - to the podium of the US Congress.
This was the same Netanyahu who has overseen during the past 10 months the slaughter - so far - of some 40,000 Palestinians, around half of them women and children. More than 21,000 other children are reported missing, most of them likely dead under rubble.
It was the same Netanyahu who levelled a strip of territory - originally home to 2.3 million Palestinians - that is expected to take 80 years to rebuild, at a cost of at least $50bn.
It was the same Netanyahu who has destroyed every hospital and university in Gaza, and bombed almost all of its schools that were serving as shelters for families made homeless by other Israeli bombs.
It was the same Netanyahu whose arrest is being sought by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, accused of using starvation as a weapon of war by imposing an aid blockade that has engineered a famine across Gaza.
It was the same Netanyahu whose government was found last week by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to have been intensifying Israels apartheid rule over the Palestinian people in an act of long-term aggression.
It was the same Netanyahu whose government is standing trial for committing what the ICJ, the worlds highest judicial body, has termed a plausible genocide.
And yet, there was just one visible protester in the congressional chamber. Rashida Tlaib, the only US legislator of Palestinian heritage, sat silently grasping a small black sign. On one side it said: War criminal. On the other: Guilty of genocide.
One person among hundreds mutely trying to point out that the emperor was naked.
Cocooned from horror
Indeed, the optics were stark.
This looked less like a visit by a foreign leader than a decorated elder general being welcomed back to the Senate in ancient Rome, or a grey-haired British viceroy from India embraced in the motherlands parliament, after brutally subduing the barbarians on the fringes of empire.
This was a scene familiar from history books: of imperial brutality and colonial savagery, recast by the seat of the imperium as valour, honour, civilisation. And it looked every bit as absurd, and abhorrent, as it does when we look back on what happened 200 or 2,000 years ago.
Netanyahu has become the most feted foreign leader in US history ... He is fully Washington's creature. His savagery, his monstrousness is entirely made in America
It was a reminder that, despite our self-serving claims of progress and humanitarianism, our world is not very different from the way it has been for thousands of years.
It was a reminder that power elites like to celebrate the demonstration of their power, cocooned both from the horrors faced by those crushed by their might, and from the clamour of protest of those horrified by the infliction of so much suffering.
It was a reminder that this is not a war between Israel and Hamas - let alone, as Netanyahu would have us believe, a battle for civilisation between the Judeo-Christian world and the Islamic world.
This is a US imperial war - part of its military campaign for global, full-spectrum dominance - carried out by Washingtons most favoured client state.
The genocide is fully a US genocide, armed by Washington, paid for by Washington, given diplomatic cover by Washington, and - as the scenes in Congress underlined - cheered on by Washington.
Or as Netanyahu stated in a moment of unintentional candour to Congress: Our enemies are your enemy, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.
Israel is Washingtons largest military outpost in the oil-rich Middle East. The Israeli army is the Pentagons main battalion in that strategically important region. And Netanyahu is the outposts commander in chief.
What is vital to Washington elites is that the outpost is supported at all costs; that it doesnt fall to the barbarians.
Outpouring of lies
There was another small moment of inadvertent truth amid Netanyahus outpouring of lies. The Israeli prime minister stated that what was happening in Gaza was a clash between barbarism and civilisation. He was not wrong.
On the one side, there is the barbarism of the current joint Israeli-US genocide against the people of Gaza, a dramatic escalation of the 17-year Israeli siege of the enclave that preceded it, and the decades of belligerent rule under an Israeli system of apartheid before that.
And on the other side, there are the embattled few desperately trying to safeguard the Wests professed values of civilisation, of international humanitarian law, of the protection of the weak and vulnerable, of the rights of children.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="569"] Netanyahu speaks to the US Congress in Washington on 24 July 2024 (Drew Angerer/AFP)[/caption]
The US Congress decisively showed where it stood: with barbarism.
Netanyahu has become the most feted foreign leader in US history, invited to speak to Congress four times, surpassing even Britains wartime leader, Winston Churchill.
He is fully Washingtons creature. His savagery, his monstrousness is entirely made in America. As he implored his US handlers: Give us the tools faster and well finish the job faster.
Finish the job of genocide.
Performative dissent
Some Democrats preferred to stay away, including party power broker Nancy Pelosi. Instead, she met families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza - not, of course, Palestinian families whose loved ones in Gaza had been slaughtered by Israel.
Vice President Kamala Harris explained her own absence as a scheduling conflict. She met the Israeli prime minister, as did President Joe Biden, on Thursday.
Afterwards, she claimed to have pressed Netanyahu on the "dire" humanitarian situation in Gaza but stressed too that Israel "had a right to defend itself" a right that Israel specifically does not have, as the ICJ pointed out last week, because Israel is the one permanently violating the rights of the Palestinians through its prolonged occupation, apartheid rule and ethnic cleansing.
US policy towards Israel has not changed in any meaningful sense for decades, whether the president has been red or blue
But the dissent of Pelosi - and of Harris, if that is what it was - was purely performative. True, they have no personal love for Netanyahu, who has so closely allied himself and his government with the US Republican right and former president Donald Trump.
But Netanyahu simply serves as an alibi. Both Pelosi and Harris are stalwart supporters of Israel - a state that, according to the ICJs judgment last week, decades ago instituted apartheid rule in the Palestinian territories, using an illegal occupation as cover to ethnically cleanse the population there.
Their political agenda is not about ending the annihilation of the people of Gaza. It is acting as a safety valve for popular dissatisfaction among traditional Democratic voters shocked by the scenes from Gaza.
It is to deceive them into imagining that behind closed doors, there is some sort of policy fight over Israels handling of the Palestinian issue. That voting Democrat will one day - one very distant day - lead to an undefined peace, a fabled two-state solution where Palestinian children wont keep dying in the interests of preserving the security of Israels illegal settler-militias.
US policy towards Israel has not changed in any meaningful sense for decades, whether the president has been red or blue, whether Trump has been in the White House or Barack Obama.
And if Harris becomes president - admittedly, a big if - US arms and money will continue flowing to Israel, while Israel will get to decide if US aid to Gaza is ever allowed in.
Why? Because Israel is the lynchpin in a US imperial project for global full-spectrum dominance. Because for Washington to change course on Israel, it would also have to do other unthinkable things.
It would have to begin dismantling its 800 military bases around the planet, just as Israel was told by the ICJ last week to dismantle its dozens of illegal settlements on Palestinian territory.
The US would need to agree a shared global security architecture with China and Russia, rather than seek to bully and batter these great powers into submission with bloody proxy wars, such as the one in Ukraine.
The coming fall
Pelosi, remember, smeared students on US campuses protesting Israels plausible genocide in Gaza as being linked to Russia. She urged the FBI to investigate them for pressuring the Biden administration to support a ceasefire.
Netanyahu, in his address to Congress, similarly demonised the demonstrators - in his case, by accusing them of being useful idiots of Israels main foe, Iran.
Neither can afford to recognise that millions of ordinary people across the US think it is wrong to bomb and starve children - and to use a war with an unachievable aim as the cover story.
Hamas cannot be eliminated through Israels current bout of horrifying violence for a very obvious reason: the group is a product, a symptom, of earlier bouts of horrifying Israeli violence.
As even western counter-terrorism experts have had to concede, Israels genocidal policies in Gaza are strengthening Hamas, not weakening it. Men and boys who lose their family to Israeli bombs are Hamass most fervent new recruits.
Thats why Netanyahu insisted Israels military offensive - the genocide - in Gaza could not end soon. He demanded weapons and money to keep his soldiers in the enclave indefinitely, in an operation he termed as demilitarisation and deradicalisation.
The rulers of the Roman empire no more saw the coming fall than their modern counterparts in Washington can
Decoded, that means a continuing horror show for the Palestinians there, as they are forced to continue living and dying with an Israeli aid blockade, starvation, bombs and unmarked kill zones.
It means, too, an indefinite risk of Israels war on Gaza spilling over into a regional war, and potentially a global one, as tripwires towards escalation continue to grow in number.
The US Congress, however, is too blinded by championing its small fortressed state in the Middle East to think about such complexities. Its members roared USA! to their satrap from Israel, just as Roman senators once roared Glory! to generals whose victories they assumed would continue forever.
The rulers of the Roman empire no more saw the coming fall than their modern counterparts in Washington can. But every empire falls. And its collapse becomes inevitable once its rulers lose all sense of how absurd and abhorrent they have become.
Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net
Iran accused of supplying Hezbollah with EMP WEAPONS that can disable Israeli military tech almost instantly
Iran is being accused of delivering electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons to Hezbollah
The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recently delivered a shipment of so-called "qualitative weapons" to Hezbollah in Lebanon as the militant group prepares for a possible invasion by Israel.
"We might see the first active use [of an EMP weapon]," warned Raymond Burkhart, co-host of the "TruNews" podcast. "I believe that they have been used before, but the first active use of weapons in a theater of war."
JNS accused Hezbollah of preparing to use the EMP weapons not in defense of southern Lebanon in case of a possible Israeli attack, but as weapons to be used offensively in a Hezbollah invasion of Israel's northern Galilee region and the Golan Heights.
The JNS report claimed its source is a high-ranking official within the IRGC's special forces unit, the Quds Force, which claimed that Tehran successfully delivered EMP weaponry capable of severely devastating Israel's radar and communications infrastructure.
"What [the JNS report] is saying is the moment Israel launches the attack against Hezbollah and Lebanon. Hezbollah is going to unleash the EMP weapons against Israel, inside Israeli territory and also occupied Israeli territory," said Rick Wiles, main host of the "TruNews" podcast.
JNS's IRGC source claimed that Hezbollah is seeking to employ the support of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the Houthi movement in Yemen to open a multi-front war against Israel which will see Israel attacked from the north, west, southeast and southwest.
EMP weapon could provide Hezbollah with significant advantage over Israeli military tech
If the presence of EMP weapons in Hezbollah's hands is confirmed it would radically alter the balance of power in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which the latter claims is all Israel's fault due to its invasion of Gaza.
The report warned that, within minutes of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the militant group could launch EMP bombs from stationary launchers or drones to target sites deep within Israel to "destroy all communications systems, including electricity infrastructure."
EMP weapons could also deny Israel access to its more sophisticated military equipment that rely heavily on electronic systems, including much of the Israeli Air Force, denying Israel aerial superiority and giving the advantage to Hezbollah's massive fleet of drones.
If the Western world, notably the United Kingdom and the United States, attempts to come to Israel's aid, the JNS report warned that EMP weapons could also be used against them. (Related: U.S. Embassy in Beirut tells Americans: DON'T TRAVEL to Lebanon.)
The power of an EMP attack is equal to that of a nuclear attack and would disable all electricity infrastructure and electronic devices in its area of effect. While EMP explosions themselves will cause no immediate deaths, the loss of electronic infrastructure can bring destructive consequences.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant had been authorized by the country's war cabinet to decide the timing and scope of any such attack on Lebanon. The possible invasion of southern Lebanon could happen any day now.
Follow WWIII.news for more stories about the continuing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Watch the video below to know more about the commentary of "TruNews" hosts Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart regarding Iran transferring futuristic EMP weapons to Hezbollah.
This video is from the TruNews channel on Brighteon.com.
More related articles:
Iran pledges ALL-OUT SUPPORT to Hezbollah if Israel invades Lebanon.
Hezbollah launches 200 rockets, drones toward Israel following killing of senior commander.
Israel has bombed Lebanon over 6,000 times since October.
Expert warns Hezbollah attack on power infrastructure could make Israel uninhabitable within 3 days.
Israel OKs plans for ALL-OUT WAR in Lebanon to wipe out Hezbollah.
Sources include:
Brighteon.com
JNS.org
Michigan auto workers warn that America is done for if Kamala Harris wins the presidency
A Michigan auto worker has warned that " America is done for " if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency in November.
In a candid interview with a CNN reporter on July 28, two Michigan auto workers and supporters of former President Donald Trump did not hold back when asked if Harris' entry into the 2024 presidential election would change anything for them.
"America is done for if Kamala Harris wins the presidency," he stated bluntly.
The sentiment was shared by another Trump supporter standing nearby, reflecting a deep-seated apprehension about Harris' policies and leadership.
"Change it? It ruins it. She gets in we're done," said the other.
Michigan, with its significant auto industry workforce, has been a battleground state where issues like job security, economic policies and manufacturing have been front and center. So, the comments underscore voters' concerns about the direction Harris might take the country.
The video of these candid opinions, which highlight the polarized nature of American politics, has since circulated widely on social media.
Trump warns of "bloodbath" in auto industry if Democrats prevail in November
In March, even Trump himself warned the public during a rally in Dayton, Ohio that a "bloodbath" would happen in the automobile industry if the Democrats prevail in November.
"Now if I don't get elected, its going to be a bloodbath for the whole that's gonna be the least of it," Trump said during the rally. "Its going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars. They're building massive factories. If this election isn't won, I'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country." (Related: Trump campaign files FEC complaint over ILLEGAL transfer of $91.5M Biden campaign fund to Harris campaign.)
The comment was part of an extended discussion on the auto industry, unions, the transition to electric vehicles and auto plants in Mexico.
Trump sought to attract autoworkers and appeal to voters in Rust Belt states by focusing on trade, tariffs and EV manufacturing. Trump also stated that he would implement a 50 percent tariff on cars produced in Chinese plants in Mexico. Trump wants more tariffs. His previous trade wars have cost Americans $230 billion to date.
So, Trump pledged a "100 percent tariff" on cars manufactured outside the United States, claiming that domestic auto manufacturing would be safeguarded only if he is elected.
"If you're listening, President Xi and you and I are friends but he understands the way I deal. Those big monster car manufacturing plants that youre building in Mexico right now you're going to not hire Americans and you're going to sell the cars to us, no. We're going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected," Trump said during the same event.
Follow KamalaHarris.news for more stories about the vice president.
Watch this Fox News report about Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling Kamala Harris a dangerously liberal and radical leftist.
This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com.
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Corrupt Kamala Harris campaign caught using ActBlue cash for money laundering scheme.
Congress already trying to IMPEACH Kamala Harris for mismanaging southern border, hiding Bidens cognitive decline.
MEET OBAMALA HARRIS: Get ready for Kamala Harris to announce her Vice President pick from the swamp while Obama attempts to serve his 4th term.
Tennessee Rep. Burchett: Kamala Harris is a DEI VICE PRESIDENT.
Obama refrains from endorsing Kamala Harris in his statement about Bidens withdrawal.
Sources include:
YourNews.com
NBCNews.com
CNN.com
Brighteon.com
Paris Olympics opening marred by DRAG QUEENS making a mockery of The Last Supper
Drag queens took center stage at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the same homosexual performers making a mockery of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper."
The opening ceremony dubbed Tour de Farce included a drag queen version of "The Last Supper," a strongly suggested bisexual threesome and a scantily-clad, bearded drag queen doing a provocative dance.
During the early part of the ceremony, viewers were shown a sequence where "three dancers in gender-ambiguous costumes ran through the streets of Paris and into a building. Their segment ended with the three two males and one female nearing each other in dramatic kisses, then entering a room to further their amorous acts, Breitbart News reported.
"The segment ended with one of the dancers looking back at the camera and slamming a door in the viewers' faces, making it clear that the three were planning on engaging in more intimate contact."
But perhaps the boldest performance during the opening ceremony was a tableau that mirrored da Vinci's painting. The drag queens took the role of the Apostles, while a fat lesbian took the role of Jesus Christ a clear blasphemy of the Lord's Passion. (Related: RIVERS OF BLOOD: Alleged Hamas supporter threatens MASS VIOLENCE at Paris Olympics (but it could be a false flag operation.))
Drag queen Le Filip (born Filip Mrzljak), the recent winner of "Drag Race France," expressed his positive "surprise" and "pride" at the ceremony's scale and representation.
"The [French] government knows what it's doing. They want to show themselves in the best way possible. They showed no restraints in expression," Le Filip told the Associated Press.
James Leperlier, president of the French LGBT federation Inter-LGBT, was more circumspect in his comments. He argued that France still has significant strides to make in inclusivity.
"We know in the LGBTQ community in France we are far from what the ceremony showed. There's much progress to do in society regarding transgender people. It's terrible that to legally change their identity, they are forced to be on trial," he explained.
World treated to degeneracy at Paris Olympics
France had promised its opening ceremony would be the biggest open-air show on Earth. More than 300,000 people watched from the riverside and bridges and hundreds more stood at windows and balconies as a show of dance, live music and acrobatics unfolded along the stretch of the Seine River from the Pont d'Austerlitz to the Eiffel Tower.
But the outdoor ceremony, once described by Emmanuel Macron as "a crazy idea that must be made real," had to overcome obstacles. While it did become a reality, it also drew the ire of Christians who did not take too kindly to the drag queens mocking the Last Supper.
Marion Marechal, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for France, denounced the performance on social media.
"To all the Christians of the world who are watching the Paris 2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation," she posted on X.
Head over to Evil.news for similar stories.
Watch this video explaining why the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics is a "woke fest."
This video is from the CONSERVATIVE POLITICS & NWO channel on Brighteon.com.
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Another gender confused teenage mass shooter kills 1 child, injures 5: Pushing gender madness on our nation's children is creating murderers and suicidal teens.
Elon Musk blames "woke virus" for his son's gender confusion.
Womens competitive cycling DESTROYED by transgenders after three male transwomen take top spots at Washingtons Marymoor Grand Prix bike race.
Thousands of applicants for Olympics-related jobs rejected due to terror links and security threats.
Sources include:
Breitbart.com
Brighteon.com
Ukraines credit rating downgraded again by Fitch over $20 billion debt restructuring
The credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded Ukraines credit rating as the conflict with Russia continues, cautioning that a default is imminent. Fitch moved the country from a CC rating to C after they reached an agreement, at least in principle, with foreign investors for restructuring their $20 billion debt on Monday.
Last week, Ukraines parliament approved legislation that will allow the government to suspend debt payments for a period of three months and go into debt default during the negotiations for the restructuring agreement.
The deal will see some of the top global investment funds, such as Amundi and BlackRock, writing off a significant portion of the nearly $24 billion in claims by exchanging current bonds for newer ones that will last for up to 12 years. They will be structured to defer much of the payments that Ukraine would have had to pay in the coming years, reducing what they must repay by 2033 by 75%.
In a statement, Ukraines finance ministry noted: The deal will result in net savings on debt servicing of $11.4 billion over the next 3 years and $22.75 billion until 2033. This will free up vital financial resources, which can be redirected towards defense and social spending.
The agreement came shortly before Ukraine's payment freeze on foreign debt payments, which was announced after Russias invasion, was set to expire in early August. Defaulting would have created tensions between Ukraine and Western governments, as well as the International Monetary Fund.
Fitch stated: The reported agreement with external commercial creditors constitutes a distressed debt exchange (DDE) under its sovereign rating criteria.
They also noted that Kievs defense spending made up more than 31% of the countrys GDP last year. They predict government debt will skyrocket to 92.5% of Ukraines GDP this year.
Ukraines economy has been devastated by its war with Russia, which is now dragging into its 28th month, and it depends heavily on military aid and funding from other countries. It has been spending most of its domestic revenue on its military while using money received from Western countries for expenses such as pensions and public sector salaries.
The loss of people, infrastructure and territory is all taking a toll on the war-ravaged country. Its tax base has been dwindling; its registered civilian labor force in 2021 numbered 11.5 million people and now sits at just 9 million.
G7 countries working out details of $50 billion loan for Ukraine
The G7 nations and the EU reached an agreement in June to use the interest earned on frozen Russian assets to finance a $50 billion loan for Ukraine so it can stay afloat amid the ongoing conflict. Some details still need to be ironed out, however, with the U.S. seeking reassurances from the European Union that the Russian assets it seized will stay frozen until the entire loan has been paid back. Most of the assets are currently being held in the securities depository Euroclear in Belgium.
The money is expected to reach Ukraine by the end of the year. They will be able to spend it on areas such as military, reconstruction, economic needs and humanitarian efforts.
Sources for this article include:
RT.com
FitchRatings.com
U.S. would prevail over China in a war over Taiwan, high-ranking U.S. military official claims
Highly confident of America's military power, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that the United States would easily defeat China if the communist nation began a war with Taiwan.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the nation's highest-ranking military officer and the principal military advisor to the president, secretary of defense and National Security Council, said that the military is now stockpiling weapons, ammunition and other supplies in the Asia Pacific to prepare for war. He said a conflict with China is neither imminent nor inevitable, but that the U.S. military must be ready if war breaks out.
"The more we can show that we can get there fast, [the] greater [the] deterrence," he said.
When asked at the Aspen Security Forum about the possibility of taking down China in a war, Brown said: "Yes, I am fully confident in our force. We are the most lethal, most respected combat force in the world."
He also agreed that the current state of warfare has changed with advanced technology. A war with China, he said, will not be similar to any conflicts of the past 30 years or more. "These will be major conflicts akin to what we saw in World War II and so we've got to come to grips with that," he said. "Two, the PRC knows where our advantages are and the combat capability we can bring to bear. My sense is they'll want to go quick so they can do it before we can bring capability there."
President Joe Biden's administration publicly expressed that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to use its military to attempt to take over Taiwan. Meanwhile, Beijing has vowed to take control of the island that it claims as its territory.
The top brass official warned that Taiwan is restructuring its military defenses which will "make them a much tougher target and much more challenging" for the Chinese military in attempting an assault. U.S. and allied military forces are working to improve their skills so that American adversaries "never want to mess with us," the general said. "I mean, I play to win, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure it's an unfair fight. That's my focus and so we've got to stay nimble on this kind of look long."
Meanwhile, a recent think tank simulation studying the conflict between U.S. and China forces over Taiwan found the U.S. defeated China in combat but at a heftier price tag. The Center for Strategic and International Studies exercise projected that U.S. and allied forces lost tens of thousands of troops, dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft in the war.
Blinken, Chinese counterpart discuss Beijing's provocative drills near Taiwan
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently met with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on July 27 to talk about China's "provocative" military drills around the self-ruled island of Taiwan as well as China's support for Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, while both were in Laos attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Summit.
Blinken and Wang agreed to keep making progress on their countries' military-to-military ties, but did not discuss nuclear arms control talks, which China has halted in protest over Washington providing arms to Taiwan, the official said. (Related: Taiwanese president warns military cadets about Chinas relentless threat to Taiwans national sovereignty.)
"In every discussion, Taiwan is the issue that they care most about. They see it as an internal China issue," said the official, who briefed reporters traveling with Blinken.
Blinken, who earlier called out China for escalating maritime tensions with the Philippines, talked about its actions toward the democratically governed island, which include a simulated blockade during the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, the official added.
As per the reports, the two dignitaries talked for one hour and 20 minutes during their sixth meeting since June 2023, when Blinken visited Beijing in a sign of improvement in strained relations between the world's two biggest economies. The two did not set a date for their next meeting, the official said.
Blinken is touring East Asia in a bid to reassure countries close to China of U.S. commitment, despite political uncertainty at home. He then went to Vietnam later on Saturday and held security talks alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Japan and the Philippines.
Watch the video below that talks about China's military blockade of Taiwan as it launched an air raid of fighter jets loaded with bombs a few months ago.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
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China hires Western military aviators to prepare for Taiwan invasion.
Taiwan admits U.S. troops are stationed on islands close to the Chinese mainland.
China is two years away from deploying KILLER ROBOTS on the battlefield.
US forming anti-China squad with Japan, Philippines, and Australia.
White House official: China maintained PERSISTENT ACCESS to U.S. networks for years.
Sources include:
News.AntiWar.com
WashingtonTimes.com
France24.com
Brighteon.com
Big Pharma admits mRNA vaccine causes CANCER
Pharmaceutical giants have finally admitted that the experimental mRNA vaccine can cause cancer
The revelation that DNA contamination can lead to birth defects or cancer surfaced when Dr. Robert Malone, the biochemist who helped invent the mRNA vaccine, made an appearance at House of Representatives hearing led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
According to Malone, Moderna has a patent that acknowledges RNA is preferable to DNA in vaccines due to risks of insertional mutagenesis, which might activate oncogenes or inhibit tumor suppressor genes.
"Moderna has a patent on the use of RNA for vaccines," Malone stated. "And in that, Moderna explicitly acknowledges that RNA is superior to DNA for vaccine purposes because problems, including the possibility of insertional mutagenesis that could lead to the activation of oncogenes or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes."
"FDA [Food and Drug Administration] says they're not aware of any concerns, but Moderna, in its patent, lays out the same concerns about DNA in insertional mutagenesis and genotoxicity," Malone continued. He added that Moderna knew DNA was a contaminant but was left in because of how they make it.
"They use DNA to make RNA, and then they degrade the DNA and then they have to purify the degraded DNA away from the RNA and the process they are using is not that good," he said.
Another Big Pharma company also eventually acknowledged that its jabs, which were meant to "cure" COVID-19, are also contaminated with cancer-causing DNA fragments. In the documentation to regulatory bodies, Pfizer omitted information about the presence of Simian Virus 40 sequences in its vaccine.
The documentation suggests that there are certain DNA sequences present in the vials that are normally not allowed in anything that is going to go into humans, "not the least of which is an antibiotic resistance gene," Malone explained.
They include these sequences from SV 40 not the whole virus, but highly active promoter sequences which is exactly the thing that the FDA in their older regulations said must be avoided because it confers even more risk for insertional mutagenesis.
He added that the FDA did not take the raw DNA sequences, reconstruct those plasmid maps and look at them themselves. Instead, they took for granted what Pfizer had given them.
And now this is all coming out because of what these researchers found, he further said.
Malone warned that the potential consequences for jab recipients are "anything that is associated with DNA damage, i.e., birth defects and cancer being the most notable ones." (Related: Modernas mRNA COVID jab 30% more deadly than Pfizers, VAERS data shows.)
Get ready for the "updated COVID-19 vaccines"
Despite the recent admission, Pfizer-BioNTech and Modernas updated vaccine is expected to be available in either August or September.
According to public health officials, they preferred the term "updated vaccines" in line with the need to formulate a new vaccine every year to match circulating variants like what they did for the flu shot.
"Historically, when we're talking about COVID vaccines, we're talking about boosters that would happen at some time post your previous vaccine," said Dr. John Brownstein, the chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital. "Now we're targeting annual vaccines for COVID-19 that are similar to flu. It's a reformulation based on what's circulating, and this is why we're talking about an annual campaign rather than a booster."
The updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines will target the JN.1 lineage of the virus, which is claimed to be an offshoot of the omicron variant. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available for six-month-old babies and adults while the Novavax vaccine will be available for those aged 12 and older.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Americans receive the updated 2024-25 vaccine when it becomes available.
"CDC recommends everyone ages six months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 this fall and winter whether or not they have ever previously been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine," the CDC website indicated.
The updated jab is not considered a booster.
"We have to remember that this virus is constantly changing and that your protection from previous infection or previous vaccines declines over time," Brownstein said. "Making sure that you receive the most updated formulations of vaccine will ensure that you have the most recent protection and we of course assumed that like previous years."
Read more about the dangerous side effects of mRNA vaccines on VaccineInjuryNews.com.
Watch the video below that says the Japanese government launched a task force to investigate the COVID-19 vaccines' crimes against humanity.
This video is from the Follower of Christ777 channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Pfizer, Moderna rolling out new catch-all mRNA injections for "pandemic influenza."
SCARE TACTICS: U.S. government gives Moderna $176 million to develop mRNA bird flu vaccine for next fake scamdemic.
mRNA vaccines are extremely toxic, Moderna scientists now warn.
Sources include:
SHTFPlan.com
ABCNews.go.com
CDC.gov
Brighteon.com
Bondi Rescue lifeguard Luke Faddy said its common for beachgoers to be smashed by unexpected waves if they face away from the water.
Tourists were caught out when turning their backs on the large waves at Bondi Beach on Wednesday. Source: Harrison Reid
Tourists were almost washed away by large swells this week at an iconic Aussie beach, prompting lifeguards to remind people of one simple thing that will help minimise the risk of being wiped out on the shoreline.
More than a dozen beachgoers admiring the chilly water at Bondi Beach on Wednesday were forced to flee up the beach as large waves rolled in towards them, seemingly from nowhere, with children scurrying to safety while some were even carried off their feet.
Bondi lifeguards kept a close eye on the situation from the watchtower as the group were caught off guard. Thankfully all escaped relatively unscathed aside from some soggy shoes and clothes. However, the footage of the incident has highlighted what can happen if people face away from the water.
"On the east coast of Australia we face east towards the water, we [the lifeguards] have a joke down at the beach that rings true, 'Never face west'. You never want to turn your back on the ocean because it's so unpredictable, it changes so quickly," Bondi Rescue lifeguard Luke Faddy told Yahoo News.
Sydney's 'powerful' swells have twisted metal railings this week
Over the last few days, large swells from a low pressure system over the Tasman sea have pounded the NSW shoreline. Although lifeguards see this at least "once a year", it's been particularly dangerous this week as it's "coincided with high tide", with ocean pool railings at Bronte, a few kilometres south of Bondi, twisting from the "power of the ocean".
"During big swells, it's quite common for people to be wiped off their feet on the beach because there's so much energy in the ocean," Faddy said. "The waves can push right up to the break wall or at the back of the beach. It can come on quite unexpectedly. There's tides, swell, waves, wind, all these different factors that are completely out of our control. So it's definitely something that you want to keep your eye on."
Hazardous surf warnings remain in place right along the NSW coast up to Byron Bay. NSW Police advise people to consider staying out of the water and avoid walking near surf-exposed areas and rock platforms. The large swell has however lured some to the ocean, with big wave surfers flocking to breaks like Fairy Bower at Manly, shown in the video below.
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CDC, Facebook colluded to CENSOR COVID-19 vaccine safety FAQs, emails reveal
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with Facebook to censor questions about the safety of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) injections , according to emails recently made public.
The emails were part of the latest set of documents obtained by America First Legal (AFL) via litigation against the public health agency. These documents reveal further evidence of collusion between the CDC and social media companies to stiffen free speech under the governments label of "misinformation" and twist and shape the public narratives.
The documents released by AFL shows how the CDC worked with the social media platform, referencing in particular an email chain between the agency and Facebook. The platform owned by Mark Zuckerberg sent draft content to the CDC for approval. (Related: The censorship boomerang.)
In the exchange, Facebook's Genelle Adrien emailed CDC Digital Media Director Carol Crawford asking for approval of an "FAQ Content" section on Facebook's "COVID-19 Information Center. The information centered on the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Of concern to Adrien was particularly what the platform's users should be allowed to say about the vaccine's side effects. And CDC provided that guidance some words were replaced, and other sentences were removed," LifeSiteNews wrote.
Crawford responded by making a few changes to the content. The "joint pain" originally listed as a side effect was gone, replaced with "nausea."
She also asked to remove a line that stated, "More serious side effects are extremely rare. A person is far more likely to be seriously harmed by a disease than by its vaccine." According to the CDC official, the public health agency didn't have "any cleared language to support" the statements.
Biden admin still encouraging people to get injected
According to the pro-life news outlet, "trying to refute collusive practices involving major social media companies is probably not high on the agenda of the U.S. government right this moment. Nevertheless, the evidence of the highly controversial practice keeps rolling in."
The CDC thereby appears to have admitted that in May 2021, months after the vaccine had already been rolled out, they could not confirm that the vaccine was safer than contracting COVID-19 itself and developing natural immunity. Nonetheless, the CDC continued to push the American people to take the vaccine.
There are various ways to interpret this decision, but one is that the CDC by proxy, as Facebooks guidance adviser, may have wished to avoid the risk of getting sued. Alas, it did get sued by AFL but for colluding with Facebook.
Even though the original language was fairly "soft" if anything, the social platform looked keen to minimize any serious side effects, and promote the vaccines it was too much for CDC to stand behind.
Despite this admission, the Biden administration continued to urge people to get injected with the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the year. Even President Joe Biden himself joined in the calls, warning that unvaccinated people would "soon overwhelm hospitals with a winter of severe illness and death" up ahead.
"For [the] unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death if youre unvaccinated for themselves, their families, and the hospitals theyll soon overwhelm," the chief executive said at the time.
Check out Censorship.news for more similar stories.
Watch Dr. David Martin explaining why the COVID-19 lab leak at China's Wuhan province was a cover for an intentional release of the pathogen.
This video is from The Resistance 1776 channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Call it censorship: A court rules against former "disinformation czar" Nina Jankowicz.
Former CDC chief admits that vaccine mandates were "one of the greatest mistakes."
Pandemic 2.0 ready to go: FDA to grant emergency use authorization (EUA) to mRNA bird flu shots, just like what happened with COVID.
Charges withdrawn against 4 Canadians who refused to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandate..Celeste Solum: FEMA camps part of DEPOPULATION agenda in America.
Charges withdrawn against 4 Canadians who refused to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Sources include:
LifeSiteNews.com
Brighteon.com
Delta hires powerful attorney David Boies to pursue damages against CrowdStrike, Microsoft after unprecedented IT outage
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is bringing in the big dog to try to recoup the upwards of $500 million the company lost as a result of the CrowdStrike and Microsoft outage that occurred on July 19.
David Boies, a high-profile attorney and chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, will help Delta pursue damages from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft for their failure to keep the company's computers functioning as needed, which resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and lots of chaos.
CrowdStrike's share price plunged by five percent in extended trading after Delta's hiring of Boies went public. Microsoft's share price remained roughly the same as it was prior.
In the immediate aftermath of the outage, which is being blamed on a faulty Windows kernel level software update, CrowdStrike lost nearly 25 percent of its value over the course of two trading days.
Numerous industries were impacted by the outage, most notably airlines like Delta. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has since launched an investigation into Delta, which was hit especially hard by the outage.
In a seven-part X thread aimed at angry customers who were not able to fly, Delta explained the available options for recouping losses caused by the outage:
"We know many incurred unplanned travel expenses from the outage, including purchasing tickets on other airlines, rental cars, train tickets & more," the company said. "We will reimburse reasonable costs for some additional categories of expenses incurred during 7/19-28."
"We've extended the travel waiver for customers with travel booked 7/19-28. This offers the ability to make a one-time change to their itinerary. The fare difference will be waived when travel occurs on or before Aug 4."
Teams across our network have worked to return our reliability to normal. We're committed to caring for our customers during this time & have taken a number of steps to make things right for those affected. 1/7 Delta (@Delta) July 26, 2024
(Related: Grocery stores and other retailers across the UK could only accept cash during the CrowdStrike blackout.)
Fortune 500 companies lost $5.4 billion from CrowdStrike outage
While not technically a lawsuit at least not yet Delta's pursuit of compensation aims to recoup the funds needed to deal with the more than 176,000 refunds and reimbursements requests that were made after nearly 7,000 flights had to be canceled.
Boies, who is well known for representing the U.S. government in its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft Boies also helped overturn California's ban on homosexual "marriage" also worked with imprisoned former Hollywood mogul and pervert Harvey Weinstein, as well as for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is right now serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors.
All in all, the CrowdStrike outage resulted in a total loss of around $5.4 billion among Fortune 500 companies, according to insurance startup Parametrix and this does not include Microsoft's losses.
Some X users expressed upset about the way Delta treated its customers in the aftermath of the outage.
"If you're so committed to 'caring for your customers' then why the heck did you abandon them for up to SIX DAYS?!?" one asked.
"You are all talk, no action," wrote another. "You did not approve reimbursement of the expenses that I had to incur 7/19-21. Case 10563477."
Someone else whose family, including her 87-year-old grandmother, was separated because of the incident wrote that all she was offered by Delta was $12 meal vouchers, which is insulting.
"I purchased a fully refundable ticket and was just issued an e-credit upon cancelling my flight," wrote another about how Delta is offering e-credits rather than actual refunds. "How do I get my actual money back?"
What happens when the entire global grid implodes? Find out more at Panic.news.
Sources for this article include:
CNBC.com
NaturalNews.com
Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Kamala Harris will forge pathway to citizenship for MILLIONS of illegal immigrants
Progressive stalwart Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has boasted that Vice President Kamala Harris will secure a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.
In an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" with host Jake Tapper on July 28, Tapper addressed the concerns regarding the way the administration of President Joe Biden is handling the southern border crisis. Tapper questioned Warren about Harris' record on managing the border crisis given that President Joe Biden appointed her to address the "root causes" of the border crisis in March 2021.
"I don't need to tell you voters overwhelmingly disapprove of how the Biden-Harris administration has handled the border. By giving the nomination to one of the leaders of the border effort, aren't Democrats doubling down on one of your party's biggest vulnerabilities?" Tapper asked.
As a response, Warren claimed that there is a need for more resources for cities overwhelmed by the influx of illegal immigrants while advocating for a pathway to citizenship.
"Border crossings now are lower than they were in the last year of the Trump administration. But recognize and I know that Kamala Harris knows this is a problem that ultimately has to be solved by Congress," Warren said. (Related: Kamala Harris hired an illegal immigrant WHO ATTACKED A WOMAN to be part of jobs program while serving as San Franciscos DA.)
"We need the tools in order to have more resources at the border, to have more resources in the states and cities that are supporting migrants," continued Warren. "And I believe we need to create a pathway to citizenship. All of that is part of what we need to do for comprehensive immigration reform. Kamala Harris will work with Congress and get that done."
Warren's call for mass amnesty stirs controversy among Conservatives
This open call has sparked outrage and discontent among conservative lawmakers and commentators.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio took to social media to voice his strong disapproval.
"Elizabeth Warren is so excited to elect Border Czar Kamala Harris because she knows Kamala wants to give mass amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Kamala's extreme border policies are fundamentally anti-American," Vance wrote on X.
Former Trump advisor Stephen Miller echoed Vance's sentiments and warned of the implications of Warren's proposal.
"If you listen to this clip, you can hear Team Harris explicitly making two campaign promises: 1. Uncapped taxpayer support for newly-imported illegal migrants 2. U.S. Citizenship for illegals arriving from 150+ nationswhich means voting rights, welfare, and chain migration," Miller stated.
Florida GOP chairman Evan Power commented succinctly, "Translation: they need voters."
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accused the administration of enabling illegal immigration. "The truth is coming out. Democrats confirm that Kamala Harris will work with Congress to grant citizenship to the 11 million illegal immigrants that she and Biden have let in. This is just PART of the lawless regime Kamala would impose. Only LEGAL immigrants get citizenship," Abbott wrote.
Fox News contributor Leo Terrell joined the chorus and labeled the situation "outright admission," while podcast host Mike Sperrazza warned the public of a broader agenda. "They are telling us their plan. They want to destroy America," Sperrazza stated.
Visit KamalaWatch.com for more stories about the incumbent vice president.
Watch the video below discussing how Kamala Harris is personally benefiting from campaign donations directed to ActBlue.
This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Kamala Harris solution to climate change is to alter the food pyramid and force Americans to eat less meat.
Kamala Harris secures endorsements from top Democrats except Barack Obama.
Obamas endorse Kamala Harris presidential bid.
Doc Burkhart: Dems trying to REWRITE HISTORY on VP Kamala Harris.
ActBlue accused of conducting massive money laundering operation for Kamala Harris.
Sources include:
TheNationalPulse.com
MSN.com
Yahoo,com
Brighteon.com
Erdogan says Turkey could ENTER ISRAEL to defend Palestinians against IDF aggression
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested the possibility of his country entering Israel in support of Palestinians.
"We should be very strong so that Israel cannot do this stuff to Palestine. Just like we entered Nagorno-Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we can do [something] similar to them," he said during a July 28 gathering of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the Turkish city of Rize. "There is no reason not to do it. We must be strong to take these steps."
Erdogan pertained to Ankara's support for Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia last year and its military intervention in Libya during his remarks at the AKP event. (Related: Turkey halts ALL trade with Israel over Gaza genocide.)
While the comments appear to be a significant step up in his harsh words toward the Jewish state over its genocide of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, it remains unclear whether his comment reflected any concrete plans by the country or was just intended to appeal to his political base.
Nevertheless, Erdogan's words did not sit well with Tel Aviv. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz took to X to admonish the Turkish leader. Katz warned that Erdogan could end up like the late Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, who was executed in 2006.
"Erdogan follows in the footsteps of Saddam and threatens to attack Israel. Just let him remember what happened there and how it ended," the foreign minister wrote. In response, AK Party spokesman Omer Celik blasted Katz as a "Nazi."
Fahrettin Altun, head of media and communications for Erdogan's office, said on July 29 that Turkey was a "serious and responsible state committed to peace and stability in the region." He also warned that "anyone who is crazy enough to test our limits will get a swift and resolute response," though Altun did not refer to any specific plan by Ankara to act against Tel Aviv.
Erdogan heavily critical of Israel
"Erdogan has stood up for Hamas, referring to it as an "organization of liberation" while harshly criticizing Israel," DNYUZ pointed out. "He has compared [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and called him a 'psychopath' and a 'vampire.'"
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel broke down in the early months of Israel's military campaign against Hamas, with Ankara announcing in May that it was halting all trade in Israel. Turkey has played no military role in the Gaza conflict despite Erdogan's remarks and the country's policy of allowing Hamas political figures to stay there. However, support for the Palestinian people and outrage at Israel's atrocities are common in Turkish society.
Erdogan's recent remarks appear to be the culmination of earlier statements he made, threatening war against Israel over Tel Aviv's military campaign against the Palestinian people. During an Oct. 28 pro-Palestine rally in the Turkish city of Istanbul, Erdogan accused Israel of "openly committing war crimes" and lauded Hamas as "freedom fighters."
"In the past, [the Nazis] were massacring the Jewish people in the gas chambers and they were indeed wiping out regions with bombs. A similar mentality is being shown in Gaza today," the Turkish president told the audience.
"From now on, we will continue on our path with the motto that we may suddenly knock on your door one night."
Erdogan's insinuation that members of the Turkish Armed Forces could come to Israel unannounced triggered an ecstatic reception from the crowd, which chanted "Turkish military to Gaza." He concluded his speech by telling the crowd that Ankara was preparing to "tell the world that Israel is a war criminal."
Head over to IsraelCollapse.com for more stories about the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Watch this report from Turkish public broadcaster TRT regarding Erdogan's comments about Turkey entering Israel to support Palestinians.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Turkish President Erdogan labels Israel a "terror state."
Turkish president calls for Muslim world to UNITE against Israel.
Turkey's Erdogan warns of "spiral of violence" in phone call with Israel's Herzog.
Turkish leader pushes to end conflict in Gaza Strip, calls Israel a WAR CRIMINAL.
Sources include:
DNYUZ.com
Express.co.uk
Brighteon.com
Israel used dogs, waterboarding to torture Palestinian prisoners UN
Palestinians in Israeli captivity have been subjected to torture, including electrocution, waterboarding and being attacked by dogs, with at least 53 detainees dying in custody since October 7, the UN human rights watchdog said in a report out Wednesday.
(Article republished from SputnikGlobe.com)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)'s report on the "Detention in the context of the escalation of hostilities in Gaza" looked into testimonies of torture and other ill-treatment committed by Israelis and Palestinian armed groups from October 2023 to June 2024.
"Many of those detained and subsequently released have reported being subject to forms of torture or other ill-treatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, being forced to remain in stress positions for prolonged periods, or waterboarding," the report read.
Palestinians who spoke with the OHCHR said they had been subjected to violence and humiliation in a systematic manner, "including through repeated serious physical assaults, setting dogs on the detainees, in some cases resulting in attacks and bites, and widespread threats and insults."
Israel detained large numbers of Palestinians men, women, children, doctors, journalists, human rights defenders, and patients in the days after Hamas' October 7 attack. Of more than 10,000 workers and patients from Gaza who were taken into custody in October, around 1,000 remain unaccounted for. Dozens others have died.
"At least 53 detainees from Gaza and the West Bank have died in Israeli detention since 7 October," the report said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the testimonies gathered by his office and other entities indicated "a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees," which he described as a "flagrant violation" of international humanitarian law.
On Monday, Israel said it detained nine soldiers on suspicion of torturing captured Palestinian movement Hamas' fighters.
Read more at: SputnikGlobe.com
ESG BACKLASH: House GOP lawmakers press companies to explain their involvement in investor-led climate action initiative
A group of lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee has demanded that 130 companies provide them with information about their ties to the climate action initiative known as Climate Action 100+.
The lawmakers sent the companies in question a letter and an interim report with evidence that financial institutions and climate activists are colluding to adopt left-wing environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related goals, potentially in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
The companies are being asked to explain their ESG goals and disclose the requests they will be making of the businesses in their portfolio. They are also being instructed to save "all documents and communications referring or relating to the company's efforts to advance ESG-related goals."
A representative for Climate Action 100+ co-founder Ceres, a climate-focused group of investors, said that they had already provided the committee with tens of thousands of documents and that the letters were not likely to yield anything new. They accused the letters of being part of an effort to deter other investors from taking part in the initiative.
The Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform and Antitrust, Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), described the group as a woke cartel and said they are examining "whether existing civil and criminal penalties and current antitrust law enforcement efforts are sufficient to deter anticompetitive collusion to promote ESG-related goals in the investment industry.
They also said that the members of the Climate Action 100+ will have to answer for prioritizing woke investments over their own fiduciary duties.
Companies are leaving Climate Action 100+ initiative in droves
Climate Action 100+ has been hit by a number of high-profile departures recently, including Invesco, State Street Global Advisors, Pimco and JPMorgan Asset Management. BlackRock has also withdrawn its U.S. business, and Swiss Re pulled out of its role as a supporter of the group.
State Street Global Advisors and BlackRock identified the groups entry into phase 2 as the reason for their exit as the initiative shifted the focus from requiring participants to disclose their emissions to putting climate transition plans into place. BlackRock said that doing so could represent a violation of U.S. requirements to act only in the long-term financial interests of their clients, while State Street Global Advisors said that the new phases requirements went against their independent attitude toward portfolio company engagement.
At the time, Jordan applauded the move on X, writing: Todays decisions by JPMorgan and State Street are big wins for freedom and the American economy, and we hope more financial institutions follow suit in abandoning collusive ESG actions.
However, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander accused the companies that defected of ignoring the climate and caving to climate deniers.
In addition, the $516.5bn asset manager Parametric and sustainability company Calvert Research dropped out of the initiative, noting in a joint statement that they were committed to fulfilling their fiduciary obligations to their clients.
Climate Action 100+, who claims to have more than 700 investors and 170 companies on board at the moment, says on its website that it is aimed at ensuring the worlds largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take appropriate action on climate change in order to mitigate financial risk and to maximize the long-term value of assets.
Sources for this article include:
X.com
WashingtonTimes.com
Reuters.com
FT.com
Mainstream media memory holes border czar moniker of Kamala Harris amid worsening migrant crisis
A few months before the elections and amid the burgeoning border crisis, mainstream media has memory holed its popular use of the moniker "border czar" to refer to Democratic presidential nominee and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris.
These media outlets are doing their best to make sure the American public does not remember that President Joe Biden had put Harris in charge of the southern border. However, savvy users on X were quick to spot news outlets using the label "border czar" on Harris. In fact, Axios used the label to describe Harris on at least three occasions in 2021, when Biden first gave her special responsibility for illegal immigration.
In one April 2021 article, the news agency wrote: "The number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border has reached crisis levels. Harris, appointed by Biden as border czar, said she would be looking at the root causes that drive migration." Other media outlets, including the BBC, have also used the moniker in their articles.
Now Axios is denying Harris's role in immigration and border security policy as the publication posted an editor's note stating: "This article has been updated and clarified to note that Axios was among the news outlets that incorrectly labeled Harris a 'border czar' back in 2021."
What could have been a medal on her chest if it was resolved properly, the migration issue has turned into one of Harris's first campaign headaches. In the past few days, former President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans have been calling her out for being a failure when it comes to resolving the burgeoning migrant crisis.
"Harris was appointed 'border czar' in March of 2021, and since that time, millions and millions of illegal aliens have invaded our country and countless Americans have been killed by migrant crime because of her willful demolition of American borders and laws," Trump told reporters on a call last week.
"With Harris at the helm, the Biden-Harris administration made good on their promise to systematically dismantle President Donald Trump's secure border policies," Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) said during the House Rules Committee hearing, which focused on an emergency resolution addressing the "failures of the border czar position and its negative impact on our fellow citizens across the country."
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) also introduced a resolution condemning the administration and Harris for failing to secure the United States' border.
Despite Harris' efforts, some seven million migrants have been arrested illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under Biden, according to government data. Her supporters were quick to defend her "failed efforts."
"She was given a very hard, difficult, convoluted portfolio," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and an architect of a bipartisan border security bill introduced earlier this year.
"She assumed the role that Vice President Biden had during the Obama administration, which is diplomacy with Central America," former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday. "She is not the border czar." (Related: TRUTH about Kamala Harris: She was, in fact, appointed by Biden to be Americas open borders czar.)
Harris reacts to failed "border czar" label
Harris reportedly rebuked Biden for saying she was in charge of immigration at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting, according to a book by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, insisting she was only responsible for the "Northern Triangle" of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. But she still failed to control immigration from these three countries.
The book says she frequently clashed with Biden and his "white inner circle," which found her "fixation on real and perceived snubs tedious." The two now claim they love each other.
Meanwhile, she hit back at Trump and the Republicans during a campaign rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 30. She boasted about her background as California state attorney general to contrast herself against Trump, highlighting the pressure the former president put on his GOP Senate allies earlier this year to kill any border legislation that wasn't "perfect."
"He tanked the bipartisan deal because he thought it would help him win an election, which goes to show Donald Trump does not care about border security. He only cares about himself," Harris said, promising to bring the bipartisan border bill back and sign it into law if elected president.
The vice president's comments follow the release of a new ad from Trump's campaign running across several key battleground states focused on Harris' record on immigration.
"This is America's border czar and she's failed us," one of the new ads indicated.
The Harris campaign countered by releasing a 50-second campaign video. "Kamala Harris supports increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. Donald Trump blocked a bill to increase the number of Border Patrol agents," the video stated.
Head over to KamalaWatch.com for updates on Kamala Harris' presidential bid.
Watch the video below that talks about the mainstream media covering up Harris' failure as the "border czar."
This video is from Justin Barclay's channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Congress already trying to IMPEACH Kamala Harris for mismanaging southern border, hiding Biden's cognitive decline.
Newly uncovered damning video footage of Kamala Harris could be the end of her 2024 campaign.
If you thought Biden was bad, wait for President Kamala.
In her own words: Kamala Harriss radical vision for America.
Former staffers describe Kamala Harris as a workplace bully prone to angry tirades.
Sources include:
TheNationalPulse.com
Axios.com
VOANews.com
Politico.com
Brighteon.com
Top 5 PLANNED EVENTS that have nearly devastated the world as we know it
There will always be tyrants who want to rule the world Orwellian style. They fund upheaval, extremism, violence, hate, satanism, bioterrorism, disease creation, adulterated food and of course, bad medicine. These days, dirty vaccines are more than just a cause of cancer and autism, now the mRNA clot shots cause entire human systems to break down, shut down and terminate life. This is by design. This is no accident, or byproduct of some other industry or side effect of a medicine that should have been further investigated and tested. This was planned, and it was planned out very well, as it was funded by millions of dollars through NIH, CCP and the insidious Vaccine Industrial Complex.
Gain of function was also planned and designed. It was no accident that coronavirus jumped from bats to humans, and from humans to humans. It would be a conspiracy theory to say that the China Flu developed in the wild, and this has been proven by scientists in laboratories that can dissect genetic coding. This is vaccine violence, as the Covid clot shots literally cause clotting in the vascular system, which spreads to vital organs and the brain and strains the heart to the point of death. Its called bioterrorism, and the United States, unfortunately, spearheads the living nightmare, along with the Chinese Communist Party. Follow the bouncing science money ball.
Believe it or not, there are a handful of billionaires who fund most of the mayhem across the globe, and especially for the United States. These business tycoons function like Adolf Hitler, but they hide behind fronts like philanthropy and technology. Bill Gates wants to inject everyone with deadly vaccines to bring the worlds population down a few billion humans. Hes even said the quiet part out loud at TED conferences.
George Soros funds the overthrow of governments around the world, and profits from the battles and wars, no matter who wins, loses or just suffers.
Top politicians in the U.S. government propagate unnecessary wars around the world to launder billions of dollars, through arms dealing, embezzlement schemes and other common tactics of the military industrial complex. This is nothing new; however, by funding Ukraine and supplying them with long range missiles to shoot deep into Russian territory, this is instigating World War III. What most Americans do not realize is that NATO is a cover for communist aggression, bio-warfare technology and chemical weapons that can easily exterminate billions of human lives in the blink of an eye.
Top 5 designed and implemented events that have nearly destroyed the United States and the rest of the world along with it
#1. Coronavirus (and other gain-of-function viruses to be released)
#2. Covid mRNA clot shots
#3. Mass illegal immigration of criminals and terrorists at the U.S. southern border
#4. U.S./NATO aid fueling Ukraines War against Russia, instigating World War III
#5. Trump assassination attempt
Twenty some years ago, Americans were all worried about terrorists from the Middle East, who somehow entered our country, learned how to fly commercial jets, took over a few of them and flew them directly into the nations most popular buildings. Now, thousands of terrorists just like those guys enter the US in droves, through our open southern border and are given visas, ID, travel money and voting rights by the Obamala Harris, OBiden Regime.
As of late, the one man who may actually be able to close the southern U.S. border, end the insane wars overseas and restore the power of the U.S. constitution, well, he was nearly assassinated by the Deep State. This was well planned by several people and several organizations colluding to further empower evil forces that want to depopulate the planet and enslave us all. Tune your apocalypse dial to Preparedness.news for updates on real news about surviving and thriving beyond what comes this way.
Sources for this article include:
Censored.news
NaturalNews.com
Ukraine carrying out major operation targeting journalists and government critics
The Ukrainian government has been carrying out a major operation to control the narrative about the conflict with Russia, according to a new report. Although they originally claimed the aim was to fight what they consider Russian disinformation, they are now targeting journalists, along with politicians and other critics who are speaking against the Wests approach to the situation there.
They have set up a pair of centers to carry out their operations, including the Center for Countering Disinformation in the National Security and Defense Council and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture. Under the leadership of Andriy Kovalenko, they have been taking an aggressive approach to controlling the conversation across social media.
Molfar OSINT, a Ukraine intelligence agency that is based in London, is behind the effort. The group recently placed Senator J.D. Vance on its list of enemies of Ukraine on the day that Donald Trump announced him as his running mate. They singled him out for what they classified as Pro-Russian statements, such as opining that Ukraine should not join NATO and saying he really doesnt care what happens to Ukraine.
Kovalenko recently said in an interview that he believes the biggest international danger right now is the flow of information from the Middle East and the Global South.
A translation of his comments states: "Now it is very important to deepen the direction of OSINT so that we can do more research, such as we did about Africa, in particular about the spread of fakes. How Russian disinformation works there, how they buy publications in the media, what kind of journalists they invent, how they frame people who are in Russia, calling them African journalists.
He added that they believe similar operations are being carried out elsewhere, noting: Russia is doing the same thing in the Middle East, in China, and we need to investigate more how this system works. And we analyze a lot about international affairs, the work of Russians on different continents, predict their campaigns and our actions in response.
He explained that he has been working with international broadcasting platforms to help Ukraine's messages reach foreign audiences. They are also enlisting the help of influencers to counter what they deem disinformation.
Not surprisingly, the U.S. appears to have a hand in this. He asserted: We are working with American partners to counter disinformation, with German and French partners, and we have begun to exchange information with European partners and NATO member states. This allows you to receive more support from them than you had before.
He added that his group has access to state secrets and works alongside intelligence agencies behind closed doors. They are providing guidance on how to respond to fake news made by Russia.
Journalists in Ukraine are being intimidated and pressured
In May, Politico reported that investigative journalists in Ukraine are being subjected to political pressures and threats.
One Ukrainian reporter, Yuri Nikolov, told the publication: I ran investigations for 15 years before the war, and it was always hard and risky. But I think its worse for journalists now. They use different intimidation tactics to try to deter reporters and then, of course, they can always threaten to ship you off to the front lines.
He explained how he became the victim of a harassment campaign and suffered reputational damage after publishing a story about defense procurement and the inflated prices of food for Ukrainian troops. He said people visited his home in person to intimidate him as well.
Nikolov also complained that reporters who dare to write something unflattering about the government are often labeled Russian agents, enemies of the state and draft dodgers, which has prompted many to be cautious when criticizing Ukraine in their work.
Sources for this article include:
GreatGameIndia.com
Politico.eu
Auburn Junior High School students were dismissed early two days in June due to extreme heat, but that shouldn't be a problem next school year.
Work is currently underway to install split system air conditioners in classrooms along the school's main hall, from the entrance to the gym, and on the second floor.
Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo told The Citizen the Auburn Enlarged City School District hopes to complete the work, part of a capital project, before the start of the new school year in September.
In the wake of June's heat wave, The Citizen reached out to all nine Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES school districts to take stock of the air conditioning situation in their buildings. While all districts have at least some AC at the moment, the responding superintendents noted that public concern about it has risen as average daily temperatures have done the same.
That's why some districts, like Auburn, are working to add air conditioning through capital projects. Others expressed interest in doing so in the future as long as district funds allow.
'Safer in our buildings'
Every Auburn school building is receiving some air conditioning during this summer's capital project, with the junior high school being the last.
At Auburn High, 27 rooftop HVAC units are being replaced. But the chillers in the building's vents aren't always responsive to the district's air conditioning controls, Pirozzolo said.
Each building library has window AC except for the junior high school's, and one classroom wing of each elementary school is fully air-conditioned.
The superintendent said AC in schools has become a bigger focus over the last 15 years, noting there was none in his buildings when he was a student. But while there has been extreme heat at times like the first week of school last September and in June, Pirozzolo continued, air conditioning is still a "very costly" expense for something that only happens a few weeks of the school year.
During June's heat wave, the district rented portable air conditioning units and placed them in classrooms and hallways. Parents were also reminded that children should dress for the weather and bring water, which the district provided as well. Some parents asked why school wasn't canceled, and Pirozzolo said they can always keep children home if they think they won't be safe.
For many parents, though, he believes the opposite is true.
"When you have over 62% poverty (in the Auburn district), we know the majority of our kids do not have air conditioning at home," he said. "(They're) better off, being safer in our buildings."
'Not ideal for learning'
Many Cayuga County-area school district superintendents noted to The Citizen that their buildings are several decades old, and retrofitting them for air conditioning can be difficult and expensive.
Weedsport Central School District Superintendent Gregory Stone said its elementary school is over 115 years old and the original portion of its junior-senior high school is 69 years old.
As each building has been renovated over the years, the district has balanced other needs with air conditioning in select spaces, Stone said. Some classrooms and the libraries in both schools have AC, in addition to the cafeteria and main office in the elementary school and offices and the auditorium in the junior-senior high school.
"As we look for future building projects, those are things that we're going to be looking at," Stone said, "especially as we see an increase in our summer temperatures."
Most Weedsport classrooms aren't air-conditioned, the superintendent said, but the district made efforts to keep students safe during the June heat wave. HVAC systems were used to maintain constant air flow, classes were rotated in and out of air-conditioned spaces, and staff made sure students were hydrated. Stone praised everyone for making the most out of the situation.
"It was hot, no doubt, and it's certainty not ideal for learning," he said.
Dr. Jarett Powers, superintendent of the Union Springs Central School District, told The Citizen it plans to install air conditioning at the junior-senior high school this summer as a part of a capital project. He hopes the work, which he called a priority for the district, will be done by the start of the school year.
Some areas of Union Springs school buildings already have AC, such as the junior-senior high school auditorium and district offices where staff works year-round. Some classrooms are air-conditioned based on student medical needs, Powers added. But the junior-senior high school was built in 1936 and A.J. Smith Elementary School in 1967, so retrofitting them is not always easy.
"There are roof weight loads to consider when adding chillers, fire walls when you have to cut penetrations, building codes to consider, space in the ceiling to run ductwork," Powers said, "and the cost."
Port Byron Central School District Superintendent Mike Jorgensen said less than 40% of its buildings have AC, including the libraries and the junior-senior high school auditorium and main gymnasium.
A capital project, approved by voters in December 2022, is adding air conditioning to spaces being renovated into STEAM classrooms. Renovations to the districts art rooms and a multipurpose room in the elementary school will include air conditioning as well. Overall, Jorgensen said, AC is being added to 15 to 20 of the district's classrooms, and about 60% of them will have it.
Cato-Meridian Central School District Superintendent Dr. Terry Ward said the junior-senior high school cafeteria and gymnasium currently have air conditioning, but the building's science, technology and agriculture classrooms are poised to get it via the district's current $33.1 million capital project. It will also be added to the elementary school's gymnasium, library media center and auditorium.
Southern Cayuga Central School District Superintendent Patrick Jensen said its air-conditioned spaces include school libraries and auditoriums, which were used during the June heat wave.
Moravia Central School District Superintendent John Birmingham and Skaneateles Central School District Superintendent Eric Knuth did not respond to requests for comment by The Citizen.
'Weather patterns are changing'
Most of Jordan-Elbridge High School has been air-conditioned since 2011 as a result of a capital project.
But the elementary school, middle school and Jordan-Elbridge Dynamic Intermediate School mostly have AC through window units, which district Superintendent Jim Froio said is not practical for providing air to an entire building. He told The Citizen only the middle school library, auditorium, administrative offices and conference rooms, and the elementary school's main office, are fully air-conditioned.
However, the district is considering different ways to add AC to those buildings.
Earlier this year, Froio said, the district submitted an energy performance grant application to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Jordan-Elbridge is also developing a capital project with air conditioning plans for a vote this fall. If the district receives the grant it will use that to support the AC work, Froio said, and the plans would be removed from the capital project.
Meanwhile, younger students were given half-days to keep them safe during the June heat wave. The district is looking into scheduling more next June, Froio said, until it has "an AC solution."
"I just feel like (with) the way our weather patterns are changing in central New York, that that's going to become common in June," he continued.
The superintendent agreed that there has been more public support for air conditioning in school buildings over the years.
"Twenty years ago, I don't think anybody would support it, but I think now there's a lot of support for that out there," he said.
Having just secured $50 million in new funding round, Dazz is one of Network Worlds 7 network security startups to watch for 2024. Its AI-driven platform combines security and vulnerability management with threat and exposure-management capabilities.
Dazz at a glance
Founded: 2021
2021 What they do: Provide unified security remediation solutions
Provide unified security remediation solutions Funding: $110 million
$110 million Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California CEO: Merav Bahat
Merav Bahat Competitors include: ArmorCode, Cycode, Konducto, OX Security, and Vulcan Cyber
ArmorCode, Cycode, Konducto, OX Security, and Vulcan Cyber Customers include: Abnormal Security and BHG Financial
Why Dazz is a startup to watch
Dazz is targeting a market security and vulnerability management that research firm MarketandMarkets forecasts will top $18 billion by 2026. Dazzs Unified Remediation Platform gives CISOs holistic visibility across all their on-premises and cloud environments while also providing application security posture management (ASPM) and continuous threat and exposure management (CTEM) capabilities. Powered by AI and automation, Dazzs platform helps security teams prioritize and fix vulnerabilities across their code, clouds, applications, containers, and infrastructure.
The startup is backed by $110 million in VC funding from Insight Partners, Greylock, Index Ventures, and Cyberstarts. That includes $50 million that was just announced in July 2024. The founding team has a strong security background. CEO and co-founder Merav Bahat previously served as GM of Microsofts Cloud Security line of business. CTO and co-founder Tomer Schwartz previously founded the Microsoft Security Response Center in Israel and co-founded Armis, an IoT security company. Yuval Ofir, co-founder and VP of R&D, previously headed R&D for Claroty, an IoT security company.
Valvoline settled a multi-state lawsuit by ending non-compete agreements for hourly employees, including nearly 150 current and former workers in New York.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was among the seven state attorneys general who sued Valvoline, which has locations in Auburn and the Syracuse area, over its "unfair labor practices" at the company's oil change businesses.
According to the lawsuit, Valvoline required hourly employees to sign non-compete agreements that prevented them from working for another oil change business within 100 miles of their Valvoline location for one year. The clauses were in effect for one year after the employees left Valvoline.
The company also forced its employees to sign non-solicitation agreements, which prohibited them from taking customers and recruiting employees from Valvoline.
The lawsuit was brought after an investigation that began in 2018. The inquiry found Valvoline used the non-compete agreements until 2021.
"When major companies threaten employees, they hurt all hardworking New Yorkers and their families," James said. "For years, Valvoline took advantage of hourly workers who did not have the negotiating power to challenge these unjust labor agreements. We will not let companies prevent everyday people from earning a fair wage and putting food on the table."
Valvoline has 15 days to notify current employees and those who stopped working at the company within the past year that the non-compete and non-solicitation agreements have ended. The settlement affects 440 current employees and 500 former employees in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.
If Valvoline violates the settlement in any of the seven states, the company could face a $500,000 fine.
Matt Damon often gets into 'creative arguments' with Affleck brothers
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ollywood stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck attended the New York premiere of 'The Instigators', where Matt Damon opened up about his friendship with Casey Affleck and his brother Ben Affleck.
The Affleck brothers and Matt Damon have been friends for more than 25 years since the latter and Ben co-wrote 'Good Will Hunting'.
Matt Damon said that after all these years, there are no surprises with the two siblings.
He told People: "They're consistently great. They're consistently incredible partners to work with. And no, there aren't really, usually, any surprises."
While the three collaborators will "get in creative arguments", Damon noted: "Those are healthy, and we know each other well enough that our feelings don't really get involved and our egos don't get involved. So it's a pretty healthy working relationship with both of them."
As per People, Damon and Casey, returned to their hometown of Boston to shoot the film in 2023. However, the project almost didn't come to fruition until Casey enlisted help from Damon's wife, Luciana Barroso, Damon confirmed. Casey asked Barroso, 48, to get Damon to read 'The Instigators' script.
Damon noted that Barroso also served as a producer on the film, adding that "like Casey and like Ben" he "just trusts her taste."
"So when they say something, when they dig their heels in on something -- any of them do -- I pay attention," he admitted. "We all have blind spots creatively or otherwise. And, when I see somebody that I agree with so much feeling strongly about something, I look really carefully at it."
As per the movie's official synopsis, 'The Instigators' follows Damon and Casey as Rory and Cobby: a father and an ex-con who team up to steal from a corrupt politician. When things go awry, the reluctant duo enlist the help of Rory's therapist to evade capture. The movie is directed by Doug Liman, and written by Casey and Chuck Maclean.
Casey also told ExtraTV in an interview alongside Damon earlier this week that Barroso was instrumental in getting Damon to join him in the movie.
"I went through Lucy," Casey said, referring to Barroso, "Who's way more agreeable and has got better taste than Matt does."
Matt Damon often gets into 'creative arguments' with Affleck brothers
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Vietnamese PM accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan
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ietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
During this, PM Modi received his counterpart, and both leaders shared a warm hug as they greeted each other. After this, the Vietnamese PM inspected a Guard of Honour by the Indian defence forces.
PM Modi and Pham Minh Chinh then met the ministers and delegations of the two countries.
Later, Pham Minh paid his tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat.
He will engage in bilateral discussions with PM Modi, who will also host a luncheon in honour of the visiting delegation.
Chinh reached New Delhi late on Tuesday evening for a three-day state visit, aiming to further strengthen the age-old ties between the two countries.
The Vietnam PM is also scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the visit.
On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishanakar called on the visiting Prime Minister and appreciated his guidance in bolstering the India-Vietnam bilateral relations.
"Honoured to call on PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam during his State visit to India. Appreciate his guidance on our bilateral relationship and on regional and global issues of mutual interest," the EAM said in a post on 'X'.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister also addressed a business event organised in the national capital on Wednesday. He stated that India's interest in exploring investments in Vietnam will extend cooperation into new areas such as transportation, economy, digitalisation and energy.
He also appreciated the economic and trade cooperation as a "beacon of cooperation" between the two nations and called on to raise the bilateral trade to $20 billion.
He also hailed the development of India under the leadership of PM Modi.
India-Vietnam relations have been on the upswing since the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during PM Modi's visit to Hanoi in 2016.
PM Modi has maintained Vietnam's importance as an important pillar of India's 'Act East' policy and the Indo-Pacific vision while seeking to enhance the scope of the bilateral relationship, including defence partnership, besides working for expeditious progress on the existing initiatives.
Vietnamese PM accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan
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Shashi Tharoor urges Amit Shah to declare Kerala landslides as 'Calamity of Severe Nature'
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ongress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district as a 'Calamity of Serious Nature'.
Declaring it a calamity of a severe nature will allow MPs to recommend works up to Rs 1 crore from their MPLAD funds for the affected areas, Tharoor, who is also Chairman of Chemicals and Fertisliser Committee of Parliament, said in a letter to the Home Minister on Wednesday.
He said that the said move will surely be invaluable in supporting the painstaking efforts for rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
A series of devastating landslides struck the Wayanad district of Kerala, claiming over hundred lives and leaving many more severely injured in hospitals, his letter read.
He said, "This disaster of unimaginable proportions has left behind a harrowing tale of death and destruction. The rescue operations involving the armed forces, the Coast Guard, the National Disaster Response Force and other agencies continue their pitched battle against the vagaries of nature.
"The landslides have wreaked havoc upon countless lives and as such, it is of grave importance to extend all possible support to the people of Wayanad. Such is the scale of the disaster that it necessitates a coordinated and generous response from all sections of the society," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
The death toll in the Wayanad landslide tragedy has reached 264 while around 200 people are still missing, officials said.
Shashi Tharoor urges Amit Shah to declare Kerala landslides as 'Calamity of Severe Nature'
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India is young country with old politicians, must aspire for younger ones: Raghav Chadha
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ajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, while addressing the Upper House on Thursday advocated for a reduction in the minimum age to contest elections, stressing the need for younger representation in Indian politics.
He highlighted that India, with an average age of 29 years, is one of the youngest countries globally, yet the age of its politicians does not reflect this youthful demographic.
The Rajya Sabha MP noted, "India's population includes 38 per cent who are under 35 years and more than half who are under 25. However, are our elected leaders as young?"
Drawing a historical comparison, he said, "In the first Lok Sabha after Independence, 26 per cent of the members were under 40, but in the current 17th Lok Sabha, only around 12 per cent are under 40."
"We are a young country with old politicians. We must aspire to become a young country with young politicians," Chadha said, emphasising the need to encourage young people to enter mainstream politics.
Pointing out that politics is often not seen as a desirable career, the AAP leader said, "Parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, sportspersons, scientists, but no one encourages them to become politicians. I believe it is necessary to introduce incentives for young people to encourage their participation in mainstream politics."
Chadha also proposed that the government reduce the minimum age to contest elections from 25 to 21 years.
"In India, the age to contest an election is 25 years. I would like to urge that the government reduce the minimum age to contest polls and make it 21 years. And then 21-year-old youths can join mainstream politics by contesting the polls."
He reasoned that if 18-year-olds can vote, they should also be allowed to contest elections at 21, thus enabling them to engage directly in the political process of the country.
India is young country with old politicians, must aspire for younger ones: Raghav Chadha
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The first floating natural gas production platform to be included in the energy fleet, FPSO, has set off from Singapore. The platform, which will be active in the Sakarya Gas Field, will meet the needs of 5 million households. The giant ship, which is a floating industrial facility, is expected to arrive at Filyos Port within 2 months.
The new addition to Turkey's energy fleet, the floating production, storage, and discharge platform (FPSO), departed from Singapore yesterday. After a journey of approximately 2 months, the platform will enter Turkey through the Dardanelles Strait and will undergo maintenance at a shipyard in Marmara before proceeding to Filyos Port.
The floating industrial facility will produce enough natural gas to meet the needs of 5 million households daily. The platform is reported to be 298.45 meters long and 56 metres wide. With a maximum gas processing capacity of 10.5 million cubic metres, it is set to commence production in the Black Sea in 2026 and will continue to operate for 20 years.
As part of the first phase of its operations in the Black Sea, the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) aims to increase production to 10 million cubic meters per day. Currently, TPAO produces more than 5.5 million cubic metres of gas per day from the Sakarya Gas Field. During the first phase, production will be ramped up to 40 million cubic metres per day in Phase 2. TPAO is preparing for Phase 2, which will involve processing raw gas from the depths of the Black Sea on the platform and delivering it to land via pipelines. The platform's production capacity will be increased to 20 million cubic metres, which is the target for Phase 2.
With the FPSO, Turkey will become the 6th country to operate such a platform, following the USA, Russia, Brazil, Norway, and Malaysia. There are also suggestions for naming the platform. It is rumoured that the platform may be named 'Republic' in honour of the Republic's centennial. Other name suggestions include 'Gazi' and 'Ertu?rul.'
Turkey's energy fleet currently includes 4 drilling ships and 2 seismic research ships. Drilling operations are ongoing in Turkey's sea areas with the Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni, and Abdulhamid Han ships, while seismic data collection is being carried out with the Barbaros Hayreddin Pa?a and Oruc Reis ships. There are 40,000 data collection points in the Sakarya Gas Field Development Project. Turkey aims to first bring Black Sea and Mediterranean gas into production and then shift focus to the Aegean.
Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu-starrer 'Citadel Honey Bunny' to drop on November 7
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he upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel Honey Bunny' is set to drop on OTT on November 7, this year.
The release date of the show was revealed after the noise metre (breahing decibel threshold) hit the score of 100 at the Mehboob Studios in the Bandra West area of Mumbai on Thursday.
The special event was attended by Bollywood star Varun Dhawan and his co-star from the show, Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Varun, who spoke to media on the sidelines of the event shared that the creators of the show issued strict directions to him about this show being his single point focus and that he could not take up any other project, a film or even a brand film.
'Citadel Honey Bunny' is the Indian counterpart of the larger global series 'Citadel' which starred Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in the lead.
Varun also revealed that he was a little surprised as he thought that there would be very elaborate sets since it's a Prime Video show. However, the actor soon went on field and took to the streets in 'Thane' and 'Bhandup' areas of Mumbai. He shared that he was told this was being done to bring authenticity to the show's narrative.
The actor also shared that this is the second time in his career after 'Badlapur' where he is part of a dark narrative.
'Citadel Honey Bunny' also stars Kay Kay Menon.
The show drops on Prime Video on November 7.
Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu-starrer 'Citadel Honey Bunny' to drop on November 7
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India and Vietnam adopt 'new plan of action' to solidify strategic partnership
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mphasising that India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' and Vietnam's 'Vision 2045' continue to accelerate development and have opened up many new areas of mutual cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Thursday that both countries have decided to further strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by adopting a "new plan of action".
"New steps have been taken for cooperation in the field of defence and security. The Army Software Park built in Nha Trang was inaugurated today. The agreed US$300 million credit line will strengthen Vietnam's maritime security. We have also decided that cooperation will be strengthened on the issues of terrorism and cyber security," PM Modi announced while addressing the media along with Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
Both leaders held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi who also hosted a luncheon in the honour of the visiting high-level delegation from Hanoi, which included several ministers, deputy ministers and business leaders.
In his remarks, PM Modi highlighted how the dimensions of relations between New Delhi and Hanoi have expanded and deepened over the last 10 years with the relationship transforming into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
"Our bilateral trade has increased by more than 85 per cent. Mutual cooperation has expanded in energy, technology, and development partnership. Mutual cooperation in defence and security areas has gained new momentum. Over the past decade, connectivity has increased. And today we have more than 50 direct flights between the two countries. Along with this, tourism is continuously increasing, and people have also been given the facility of e-visa," said PM Modi.
He also mentioned the extensive conservation and restoration work done by the Archaeological Survey of India at the UNESCO heritage site of My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam province of Vietnam.
"As we all know, Buddhism is our shared heritage, which has connected the people of both the countries at a spiritual level. We invite people from Vietnam to the Buddhist circuit in India. And we want the youth of Vietnam to also take benefit of the Nalanda University," stated PM Modi.
India-Vietnam relations have been on the upswing since the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Hanoi in 2016.
PM Modi has maintained Vietnam's importance as an important pillar of India's 'Act East' policy and the Indo-Pacific vision, while seeking to enhance the scope of the bilateral relationship - including defence partnership - besides working for expeditious progress on existing initiatives.
"In our Act East policy and our Indo-Pacific vision, Vietnam is our important partner. There is a good agreement between our views about the Indo-Pacific. We support evolution, not expansionism. We will continue our cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific. We welcome Vietnam's decision to join CDRI," he said on Thursday.
Taking several steps to strengthen the relationship, both countries, revealed PM Modi, have reached an agreement between the central banks for digital payment connectivity.
"We have decided to focus on the areas of green economy and new emerging technologies. We agree that, to realise the mutual trade potential, the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement should be concluded as early as possible. Each other's capabilities in energy and port development will be harnessed for mutual benefit.
Work will also be done towards connecting the Private Sector, Small and Medium Enterprises and Start-ups of both the countries," commented PM Modi.
Earlier in the day, Pham Minh Chinh received a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan and also visited Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
India and Vietnam adopt 'new plan of action' to solidify strategic partnership
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Varun's father David Dhawan didn't like what his son became during 'Badlapur'
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ollywood star Varun Dhawan has revealed that his father and director David Dhawan didn't like what the actor became after doing 'Badlapur'.
On Thursday, Varun attended the special teaser launch event of his upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' at the Mehboob Studios in the Bandra west area of Mumbai, along with his co-star Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the show creators Raj & DK and the music director duo Sachin-Jigar.
Varun interacted with the media stationed at the venue, and shared that his character in the revenge drama 'Badlapur', in which he was pitted against Nawazuddin Siddiqui, took a toll on him and bled into his personal life.
The actor revealed that he started behaving differently during the making of 'Badlapur' and the character triggered a change in his personality.
Varun then shared that his role in 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' is also in a dark space but is not as disturbing as it was in 'Badlapur'.
What's interesting is that David was all praise for Varun and how he handled his character during the making of the show.
'Badlapur' is a neo-noir action thriller film directed by Sriram Raghavan of 'Andhadhun' fame. The film was based on the novel 'Death's Dark Abyss' by Italian writer Massimo Carlotto. It also stars Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak, Kumud Mishra, Divya Dutta and Radhika Apte.
Elsewhere during the event, Varun also revealed that his upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' has a one take action sequence which lasts for 12 minutes.
'Citadel: Honey Bunny', which is the Indian counterpart of the global streaming series 'Citadel', features many exhilarating moments and action sequences, of which the one with a runtime of 12 minutes, stands out.
Varun also lauded Samantha for her dedication towards the series and pulling off action sequences despite battling her medical condition.
He said Samantha's physical training for the show outdid his preparations.
The actor told the media, "She has inspired me, the creators, and put up a terrific show."
Varun's father David Dhawan didn't like what his son became during 'Badlapur'
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Tata Motors Q1 net profit shoots up 74 per cent as JLR sales zoom
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ata Motors on Thursday reported a 74 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 5,566 crore for the April-June quarter of the current financial year (2024-25), compared to the same period of the previous year, on the back of higher sales of its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 3,203 crore in the April-June quarter last year.
Tata Motors' revenue from operations rose 5.7 per cent to Rs 1,07,316 crore during the first quarter from Rs 1,01,528 crore a year ago. Revenue of the company's UK subsidiary JLR increased by 5.4 per cent during the quarter to 7.3 billion pounds driven by favourable volume, mix and material cost improvements, according to a company statement.
The share of JLR models increased to 68 per cent of the total revenue.
In the Indian market, Tata Motors commercial vehicle revenues grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 17,800 crore, while EBIT margins improved 2.4 per cent to 8.9 per cent on the back of better realisations and material cost savings, the company said.
Passenger vehicle revenues fell 7.7 per cent, reflecting "challenging market conditions", but EBITDA at 5.8 per cent expanded 0.5 per cent, driven by material cost reductions, according to the company statement.
Tata Motors also said that the proposed demerger of the company into two separate listed entities is expected to conclude in 12 to 15 months.
"In furtherance to the announcement made on March 4, 2024, the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Limited (TML), today, has approved a Composite Scheme of Arrangement amongst TML, TML Commercial Vehicles Limited (TMLCV), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited (TMPV) and their respective shareholders," the company said.
Pursuant to the scheme, shareholders of TML will receive one share of TMLCV of face value Rs 2 fully paid up for every one fully paid-up share of Rs 2 held in TML of the same class, the company added.
Further, the merger of Tata Motors Finance with Tata Capital is also underway and expected to conclude over the course of the next 9 to 12 months, it said. Tata Motors shares are hovering at Rs 1,142.65 on the NSE.
Tata Motors Q1 net profit shoots up 74 per cent as JLR sales zoom
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Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, has officially entered the Philippine market in partnership with Terrafirma Motors Corporation (TMC). This strategic move marks a another milestone in the company's global expansion strategy.
Hero MotoCorp has started retail operations in Philippines, offering the Xpulse 200 4V at PHP 140,000, the Hunk 160R 4V at PHP 99,900, and the Xoom 11
TMC, an automotive group in the Philippines, will serve as the exclusive assembler and distributor of Hero MotoCorp's products and its services. The collaboration, announced in October 2022, has now materialised with the commencement of operations.
Manufacturing and retail operations
A state-of-the-art assembly unit and parts warehouse has been established at TMC in Laguna, Philippines, covering over 6,000 square meters with an annual capacity of over 150,000 units. This facility will produce Hero MotoCorps popular motorcycles, including the Hero Xpulse 200 4V, Hunk 160R 4V, and the Xoom 110 scooter.
Also Read : Hero Xtreme 160R 4V launched: Four key rivals
Hero MotoCorp has also started retail operations, offering the Xpulse 200 4V at PHP 140,000, the Hunk 160R 4V at PHP 99,900, and the Xoom 110 at PHP 69,900. Each product comes with a two-year or 24,000-kilometer warranty.
The partnership has established a comprehensive retail network with over 350 customer touchpoints and plans to expand this network rapidly by year-end.
Niranjan Gupta, CEO of Hero MotoCorp, expressed optimism about the expansion, stating, Our operations in the Philippines will enhance our global footprint. Partnering with TMC, a distinguished member of the Columbian Group, we are set to quickly establish and grow our market presence."
Also Read : Hero MotoCorp plans to launch affordable Vida electric scooters in FY25
Bienvenido Sanvictores Santos, Chairman of TMC, echoed this sentiment, saying, We are thrilled to partner with Hero MotoCorp, a world leader in the automotive industry. By combining Hero MotoCorps global expertise with our local knowledge, we aim to make a significant market impact."
Hero MotoCorp is currently present in 48 countries, with tech centres in India and Germany, and manufacturing facilities in India, Colombia, and Bangladesh.
Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape.
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We got to do something different, what we're doing is not working," the Rev. Herbert Burnett said after two people were killed and six injured by gunfire over the course of two weekends in Champaign.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On July 30, 2024, BAIC Groups commercial vehicle arm Foton Motor's Global Multipurpose Vehicle Center Factory celebrated the production of its 700,000th vehicle.
Photo credit: Foton Motor
Foton Motor has consistently emphasized technological innovation and increased its R&D investment, centering its efforts in Beijing. The company has established 18 R&D centers worldwide, focusing on new energy vehicle technology, intelligent connected vehicle technology, energy-saving technology, and lightweight technology. Foton Motor
has also accelerated its smart manufacturing initiatives, building a comprehensive intelligent manufacturing system that spans the entire commercial vehicle and component industry chain. The company's annual production capacity stands at 800,000 vehicles, with 21 domestic and 22 overseas KD factories, achieving a global industrial layout.
Located in Weifang, Shandong province, the Foton Motor Global Multipurpose Vehicle Center integrates R&D, production, testing, logistics, and customer interaction. Built to German Industry 4.0 standards, the factory extensively uses intelligent robots and boasts advanced production processes. Its production lines are highly automated, flexible, and environmentally friendly, enabling large-scale mixed-model manufacturing. Since commencing operations in August 2012, the center has produced 700,000 vehicles, generating over 70 billion yuan in sales revenue. In 2023, the factory's output value reached 9.35 billion yuan, with products exported to 35 countries and regions.
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Glioblastomas are highly aggressive, usually incurable brain tumors. If all therapeutic options are exhausted, patients have an average life expectancy of less than two years. Now researchers from the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) at the West German Tumor Center Essen have made a surprising discovery: in the vicinity of glioblastomas, they found islands of highly potent immune cells in the neighboring bone marrow of the skull, which play a central role in defending against cancer. The new data may open up prospects for innovative therapies. On the other hand, they cast a shadow over conventional strategies.
In the DKTK, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, as a core center, is joining forces with university partner sites in Germany with special oncological expertise on a long-term basis.
What we have found is surprising and fundamentally new." Bjorn Scheffler, DKTK researcher at the Essen site
Until now, the body's own defenses have always been thought of as a holistic system that sends its troops to different parts of the body as required. "However," says Scheffler, "our data show that highly potent immune cells gather in regional bone marrow niches close to the tumor and organize the defence from there. At least this is the case with glioblastomas."
Immune system on site
Based on new findings from animal experiments, the Essen team took tissue samples from the bone marrow near the tumor in the skull from untreated patients with glioblastoma. "However, the methods for this first had to be established," reports first author Celia Dobersalske, emphasizing the fact that the new research results were obtained from human tissue samples.
The researchers hit the bull's eye in their search: Bone marrow niches in close proximity to the glioblastoma appear to be the reservoir from which the anti-tumor defense is recruited. Apart from active lymphoid stem cells that develop into immune cells, the researchers also found mature cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD8 cells) in the bone marrow close to the tumor. "These are highly effective immune cells that play a central role in the defense against cancer," adds Celia Dobersalske. They can recognize and destroy malignant cells.
The CD8 cells in the bone marrow near the tumor had an increased number of receptors on their surface, which control the proliferation of mature T lymphocytes. In line with this, descendants of the same cell clones - one clone originates from one and the same cell - were detected both in the bone marrow and in the tumor tissue. This is clear evidence that the immune cells gathered on site are fighting the glioblastoma. "And they are successful - at least for a while," says Bjorn Scheffler. "We were able to show that the course of the disease correlates with the activity of the local CD8 cells."
Valuable immune cells destroyed?
This finding not only turns conventional ideas about how the immune system works on their head. The treatment concepts for glioblastoma must also be reconsidered in light of the new data. "Until now, we hadn't even considered the skullcap in our considerations. How could we, since there was no evidence that highly potent immune cells could be hiding there," says senior author Scheffler.
"When we opened the skull, we may have destroyed important immune cells in the process," confirms Ulrich Sure, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery and member of the Essen research team. "In view of the new findings, we find ourselves in a dilemma: we have to gain access to the tumor in order to remove it and also to be able to confirm the diagnosis. There is currently no other way than through the skull. But we are thinking about how we can minimize damage to the local bone marrow in the future."
On the other hand, the discovery of the local immune system opens up opportunities for innovative therapies. In particular, so-called checkpoint inhibitors are coming back into play. These are immunotherapeutic agents that aim to boost the body's own cancer defenses. However, checkpoint inhibitors tested to date have shown little effect on glioblastomas.
"Various explanations have been suggested as an explanation, but perhaps we also need to rethink things in this respect," says Bjorn Scheffler. "We now know that highly potent immune cells are indeed present on site. We were able to prove that they are fit to fight tumors, but they are not capable of destroying the tumor on their own. This is where we can start. One challenge will be to deliver drugs in sufficient concentration to the regional bone marrow niches at the right time. If we succeed, we may have a chance of controlling the growth of glioblastomas and improving our patients' chances of survival."
This work was funded by the Wilhelm Sander Foundation and the DKTK Joint Funding Program 'HematoTrac'.
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.
BYDs passenger vehicle sales in July leap 30.5% YoY
On the first day of August, BYD Company Limited announced that its automobile sales reached 342,383 units in July 2024. Of those, 340,799 units were contributed by the passenger vehicle sector, representing a year-on-year jump of 30.5%.
Photo credit: BYD
ZEEKR, Mobileye accelerate technology collaboration in China
On August 1, Zeekr Intelligent Technology (hereinafter referred to as "ZEEKR") and Mobileye jointly announced plans to accelerate their technological localization process in China, building on the successful foundation of their collaboration over the past few years. The companies aim to further integrate Mobileye's technology into the next generation of ZEEKR vehicles, promoting the adoption of advanced driving safety and autonomous driving technologies in both the Chinese and global markets.
NETA Auto delivers 11,015 vehicles in July 2024
Chinese new energy vehicle NETA Auto announced a delivery volume of 11,015 vehicles for the month of July 2024. The company also disclosed that the new NETA X is about to hit the market in the near future, and the NETA S models shooting-braking edition is set for debut later this month.
NIOs monthly deliveries surpass 20,000 vehicles for 3 months in a row
NIO Inc. reported robust performance in July 2024, where it delivered 20,498 new vehicles, marking the third consecutive month with monthly deliveries exceeding 20,000 units.
XPENG sees Jan.-Jul. car deliveries jump 20% YoY
In July 2024, Chinese smart electric vehicle maker XPENG delivered a total of 11,145 new vehicles, marking a year-over-year increase of 1% and a month-over-month growth of 4%. Among these, the XPENG X9 MPV model saw 1,459 units delivered, bringing the cumulative deliveries to 14,602 units since its market launch seven months ago.
Li Autos monthly deliveries hit new high of 51,000 vehicles
Li Auto Inc. ("Li Auto"), a prominent player in China's new energy vehicle market, announced a delivery volume of 51,000 vehicles for July 2024. This marks a record monthly delivery and a significant 49.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
Tesla rolls off 10 millionth electric drive system at Gigafactory Shanghai
On August 1, Tesla announced via its Weibo account that it has reached a significant milestone with its global 10 millionth electric drive system produced at the Gigafactory Shanghai on July 31.
Foton Motors Global Multipurpose Vehicle Center Factory rolls off 700,000th vehicle
On July 30, 2024, BAIC Groups commercial vehicle arm Foton Motor's Global Multipurpose Vehicle Center Factory celebrated the production of its 700,000th vehicle.
HBIS XuanSteel allies with SinoHytec to boost hydrogen energy applications
On July 30, 2024, HBIS Group XuanSteel Company (HBIS XuanSteel) and SinoHytec successfully signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province. According to the agreement, both parties will accelerate the demonstration application of fuel cell vehicles, improve the green hydrogen supply system, and expedite the large-scale application of hydrogen energy.
GAC Energy, Hongfei Energy launch first co-built large supercharging station
On the morning of July 31, 2024, GAC Energy and Shenzhen Hongfei Energy Co., Ltd. ("Hongfei Energy") signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, and celebrated the launch of their first co-built large supercharging station, according to a post on GAC Energy's WeChat account.
BYD, Uber join hands to boost electric vehicle adoption
On July 31, BYD announced a multi-year strategic partnership with global mobility service and delivery technology giant Uber, aiming to deploy 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles (EVs) in key markets worldwide. This collaboration is set to significantly expand BYD's EV presence on the Uber platform.
The connections between the nervous system and muscles develop differently across the kingdom of life. It takes newborn humans roughly a year to develop the proper muscular systems that support the ability to walk, while cows can walk mere minutes after birth and run not long after.
University of California San Diego researchers, using powerful new visualization technologies, now have a clear picture of why these two scenarios develop so differently. The results offer new insight into understanding muscle contraction in humans that may help in developing future treatments for muscular diseases.
"In this study we set out to understand the molecular details involved in muscle contraction at the point of contact between motor neurons and skeletal muscles, which are the muscles we consciously control," said School of Biological Sciences Professor Ryan Hibbs, of the new study published in Nature. "We have discovered how the muscle protein changes in its composition during development, which is important in the context of diseases that cause progressive muscle weakness."
The ability of skeletal muscles to contract allows for our bodies to move -; from walking and jumping to breathing and blinking our eyes. All skeletal muscle contractions originate at the junction between motor neurons, which originate in the spinal cord and brainstem, and muscle fibers. It's here that neurons release a transmitter chemical called acetylcholine. These molecules bind to a protein receptor on the cells of muscles, triggering an opening in the cell membrane. Electrical currents flow into the cell, which causes muscles to contract.
The way neurons release chemicals that communicate with muscles has been a model system studied for more than a century. But a missing piece of this system has been visual depictions of how the process works. What does the structure of the muscle receptor protein that opens up look like?
To find out, Hibbs, study first author Huanhuan Li, a postdoctoral scholar, and Jinfeng Teng, a research data analyst, tapped cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) technology based at UC San Diego's new Goeddel Family Technology Sandbox, a hub for cutting-edge research instruments. Cryo-EM leverages ultra-powerful microscopes to capture images of molecules that are "frozen" in place.
The results featured the first visualizations of the 3-D structure of the muscle acetylcholine receptor. Since human tissue is difficult to obtain for such muscle contraction studies, the researchers accessed fetal tissue samples from cow skeletal muscles. In order to isolate the receptor in the samples, the researchers turned to an unlikely source: snake venom. A poisonous snake neurotoxin that paralyzes prey was used to latch onto the muscle receptors in the cow samples, allowing the researchers to isolate the receptors to study them. The cryo-EM visualizations then allowed the researchers to witness how the receptor development process unfolds.
Along with the new data came a serendipitous finding. The researchers discovered that they could see the structures of both fetal and adult receptors from the same fetal cow tissue samples.
We hoped to see the structure of the receptor and we did see that, but we also saw that there were two different versions of it. That was a surprise." Professor Ryan Hibbs
In retrospect, the discovery of two receptor types makes sense, according to Hibbs. Since calves are developing in utero, the fetal receptors were expected. To walk like an adult shortly after birth, they start building adult nerve-muscle connections much earlier in development.
"This discovery explains how animals like cows that need to walk on the day they are born form mature neuromuscular junctions before birth, unlike humans, who have poor muscle coordination for months after birth," said Hibbs. "Being able to see the receptor details allows us to connect their differences to how one allows for nerve-muscle connection and the other allows for muscle contraction."
The findings of the study are already being applied to investigations of muscle-based disorders, such as congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) that result in muscle weakness. A common autoimmune disease known as myasthenia gravis involves antibodies that mistakenly attack the muscle acetylcholine receptor, causing weak skeletal muscles.
"This new level of insight into the muscle receptor will help researchers understand how mutations in its gene cause disease, and may facilitate personalized treatment for individual patients with different pathologies in the future," said lead author Li.
The Salk Institute was awarded $3.6 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), one of the world's largest institutions dedicated to regenerative medicine. Salk Professor Rusty Gage will lead the new CIRM-funded Shared Resources Laboratory focused on stem cell-based models of aging and neurodegeneration.
The award is part of CIRM's latest round of funding to address challenges in the regenerative medicine field. The state agency dedicated $27 million to help establish six new Shared Resources Laboratories, each designed to foster collaboration among California researchers.
Stem cell-based models of human tissues and organs have become an important tool for studying health and disease. However, the techniques have yet to be standardized across labs and are not widely accessible to all researchers. The CIRM funding will enable Salk experts to share their tools and expertise with labs across the state. The resulting collaborations could help accelerate the discovery of new therapies, biomarkers, and drug candidates for age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Over the past five years, we have banked cells from a unique aging cohort, and with CIRM's generous support, we will be able to distribute these quality-controlled resources to California's stem cell and aging research communities. Our goal is to enable research into a range of age-associated pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases." Rusty Gage, Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease at Salk
Gage is a pioneer of stem cell-based techniques for modeling the human brain in health and disease. In 2015, Gage's lab pioneered a method to convert older people's skin cells into brain cells, all while retaining the cells' molecular signatures of aging. Previous methods essentially wiped away all evidence of the person's age, so this new technique finally made it possible to study brain aging using stem cell-based models.
His lab has also advanced the use of brain organoids-;three-dimensional collections of cells that mimic features of human brain tissue. While most brain organoids are made solely of neurons, Gage's state-of-the-art models also include non-neuronal cells like microglia and astrocytes. This enables scientists to study the role of these important cell types in aging, inflammation, and neurodegeneration.
The new Shared Resources Laboratory at Salk will provide greater access to these top-notch resources and help train other scientists and clinicians in the latest stem cell-based techniques. It will also encourage the standardization of cell resources and protocols to foster reproducible research and strengthen future clinical trials.
"By investing in Shared Resources Laboratories, we are not only providing essential infrastructure for stem cell research but also positioning California at the forefront of this transformative research," says Rosa Canet-Aviles, vice president of Scientific Programs and Education at CIRM. "Through these awards, CIRM will continue to drive progress, now focusing on cutting-edge disease modeling using human stem cells."
A lesser-known cannabinoid that is gaining in popularity Cannabigerol (CBG) effectively reduced anxiety in a clinical trial without the intoxication typically associated with whole plant cannabis. It may even have some memory enhancing effects, according to a new study in Scientific Reports.
For the study, Carrie Cuttler, an associate professor of psychology at Washington State University, and colleagues conducted the first human clinical trial investigating the acute effects of CBG on anxiety, stress and mood.
The research revealed that 20 mg of hemp-derived CBG significantly reduced feelings of anxiety at 20, 45 and 60 minutes after ingestion compared to a placebo. Stress ratings also decreased at the first time point compared to the placebo. The findings align with survey data from a previous study led by Cuttler that indicated 51% of CBG users consume it to decrease anxiety, with 78% asserting its superiority over conventional anxiety medications.
CBG is becoming increasingly popular, with more producers making bold, unsubstantiated claims about its effects. Our study is one of the first to provide evidence supporting some of these claims, helping to inform both consumers and the scientific community." Carrie Cuttler, associate professor of psychology, Washington State University
For the study, Cuttler's team at WSU and colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, experimental trial with 34 healthy cannabis users. The participants completed two sessions over Zoom during which they provided baseline ratings of their anxiety, stress and mood.
They then ingested either 20 mg of hemp-derived CBG or a placebo tincture mailed to them ahead of time. The participants then rerated their mood, stress, anxiety and other variables such as feelings of intoxication and whether they liked how the drug made them feel at three different time points post-ingestion. Additionally, they reported on potential side effects like dry eyes and mouth, increased appetite, heart palpitations and sleepiness.
The sessions were repeated a week later with the participants taking the alternate product prior to completing the same assessments. The design ensured that neither the participants nor the research assistants knew which product was administered.
One of the most surprising outcomes was CBG's effect on memory. Contrary to expectations based on THC's known effects on memory, CBG significantly enhanced the ability to recall lists of words. Participants were able to recall more words after taking 20 mg of CBG than after taking a placebo.
"We triple-checked to ensure accuracy, and the enhancement was statistically significant," Cuttler said.
Furthermore, the study found that CBG did not produce cognitive or motor impairments, or other adverse effects commonly associated with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Participants in the experimental group reported low intoxication ratings and minimal changes in symptoms like dry mouth, sleepiness and appetite. Contrary to previous self-report surveys where users touted CBG's antidepressant effects, the participants in the current study did not report significant mood enhancement after taking CBG.
While the research is promising, Cuttler cautions the results should be interpreted carefully due to the study's limitations. The use of experienced cannabis users, the modest dose of CBG and the timing of assessments might have influenced the findings. Additionally, the study's remote nature, conducted via Zoom, and lack of physiological measurements further constrain the conclusions.
"We need to avoid claims that CBG is a miracle drug. It's new and exciting, but replication and further research are crucial," Cuttler said. "Ongoing and future studies will help build a comprehensive understanding of CBG's benefits and safety, potentially offering a new avenue for reducing feelings of anxiety and stress without the intoxicating effects of THC."
Moving forward, Cuttler and her team are designing a new clinical trial to replicate their findings and include physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels. They also plan to extend the research to non-cannabis users. Additionally, Cuttler is planning a study on CBG's effects on menopause symptoms in women.
Public health interventions that tackle dementia risk factors could yield as much as 4bn in savings in England by reducing dementia rates and helping people to live longer and healthier, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The study, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, shows that interventions such as reformulating food products to reduce sugar and salt intake, introducing low emission zones to improve air quality in cities, and minimum alcohol unit pricing to reduce drinking could have extensive benefits beyond just the health outcomes they are directly targeting.
There is a growing body of research demonstrating that dementia rates could be reduced by targeting risk factors throughout the lifespan. Smoking, drinking, and high blood pressure are among numerous risk factors that increase the likelihood of a person developing dementia later in life, which could be targeted by public health interventions. While most of the initiatives we studied are not designed with dementia reduction as an aim, in many cases their impact on dementia risk is so great that they pay for themselves by impact on dementia costs alone, which should be routinely considered as part of cost-benefit evaluations." Dr. Naaheed Mukadam, Lead Author, UCL Psychiatry
The economic modelling study estimated the impact of population-level interventions on subsequent dementia rates and related costs, including the expected gains to Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY; equivalent to an additional year of life in perfect health, expressed as a total across the population). The interventions studied, targeting six risk factors (smoking, alcohol use, obesity, hypertension, head injuries, and air pollution) could yield over 70,000 QALY gains in total.
A separate study co-authored by Dr Mukadam in 2022 found that a wide range of interventions targeting such risk factors are cost-effective without even considering impact on dementia risk, by reducing the costs of other health outcomes such as hypertension (high blood pressure) or diabetes.* Now in their latest study, the researchers have found such interventions appear to be far more cost-effective when dementia costs are taken into account.
For this paper, the researchers reviewed studies into a range of public health interventions to estimate the impact they would have on reducing dementia rates. They found that reformulation of food products to reduce salt and sugar intake and therefore reduce dementia risk from obesity and hypertension, respectively, could yield cost savings of 2.4 billion and 1.1 billion, respectively, and QALY gains of 39,433 and 17,985, respectively. A 10% increase in cigarette prices could save 157 million in dementia costs, while making bicycle helmets compulsory for children could save 91 million by reducing dementia risk many years later.
A previous study led by Dr Mukadam in 2020 found that individual interventions, such as hearing aids, nicotine gum to quit smoking, or medication to treat high blood pressure, could save 1.9bn annually in England.**
The latest study is being published in conjunction with the third Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care, led by Professor Gill Livingston (UCL Psychiatry), which reports that nearly half of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by targeting 14 risk factors throughout the lifespan.
Professor Livingston, also the senior author on The Lancet Healthy Longevity economic modelling paper, said: "Finding effective treatments for dementia is now a massive challenge for scientists, clinicians and governments, and there are signs of hope, but we also know that we could save many people from ever developing dementia in the first place by targeting risk factors. As our population ages and the societal costs of dementia rise, there is a growing need for public health measures to prevent dementia."
Dr Mukadam added: "People can make changes to their lifestyles to reduce their own risk of developing dementia, but we particularly need policy-based approaches that do not place the burden on individuals. While these interventions cost money, they more than pay for themselves over time by reducing later health and social care costs.
"Numerous studies have shown that these interventions may be most impactful in low- and middle-income countries, or in lower-income groups, so we expect they could reduce health inequalities and improve the health of everyone."
Samantha Benham-Hermetz, Executive Director of Alzheimer's Research UK, commented: "Dementia causes a devastating toll on people, their families and wider society. In the UK the economic costs are staggering dementia is estimated to cost 42 billion a year. And the cost of dementia on hospitals across England has doubled over the past decade, with 90% of these costs coming from emergency admissions. With an ageing population, these costs will only continue to spiral.
"We now know that up to 45% of dementia cases are preventable, and there are cost-effective public health measures available such as blood pressure checks and bans on smoking that could reduce the risk of people developing dementia. This would alleviate an enormous economic burden on families and wider society. The new government must seize this win-win opportunity extending healthy life expectancy, while putting public funds to better use."
The study involved researchers at UCL, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Cambridge, and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Three Schools dementia research funding.
Thought Leaders Tim Simpson General Manager, UK & Ireland Hologic
During Cervical Cancer Awareness Week, NewsMedical spoke with Tim Simpson, General Manager for the UK and Ireland at Hologic, a leader in women's health technology. Hologic is renowned for pioneering early detection and treatment solutions, including 3D mammography and cervical cancer screening.
Here Tim explores how Hologic is driving crucial discussions on effective testing methods and developing technology to support healthcare systems in obtaining accurate results.
Could you please introduce yourself and provide details of your professional background?
I am Tim Simpson, General Manager for the UK and Ireland at Hologic, a global medical technology innovator primarily focused on improving womens health and well-being through early detection and treatment.
Its advancements include developing a commercial 3D mammography system to find breast cancer earlier; leadership in testing for cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections and respiratory illnesses; and minimally invasive surgical technologies for uterine fibroids and abnormal uterine bleeding.
The company also champions women through the Hologic Global Womens Health Index, which provides a science-backed data framework for improving womens well-being.
Can you start by introducing Hologic and its mission, particularly in the context of Cervical Screening Awareness Week?
As a global champion for women's health, we develop cutting-edge solutions to enhance the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of various health conditions.
With regards to cervical screening, we are actively driving important conversations on the most effective methods for testing, as well as developing technology that supports healthcare systems to obtain accurate results quickly and efficiently.
How would you evaluate the current effectiveness of cervical cancer screening programs in the UK and Ireland, and what do you see as the most significant obstacles these programs are encountering?
The cervical screening programme in the UK is well-established, yet we are seeing a worrying trend of declining attendance. Recent statistics revealed that only 68.7% of eligible women in England were adequately screened, a long way short of the target of 80%.1
A key priority must be to make screening as accessible as possible and to keep educating and, developing targeted awareness campaigns tailored for different groups of women on the importance of screening, even after receiving the all-clear in the past.
While there are potential options on the table that could help with accessibility, like self-sampling for example, research found that it had a significant lower hrHPV positivity compared with clinician-collected samples, so driving attendance to appointments is key.2
Image Credit: MMD Creative/Shutterstock.com
Hologic is known for its innovations in womens health. Could you highlight some of the latest technological advancements your company has developed to improve cervical cancer screening programs?
Over the past couple of years, we have been working hard on GeniusTM Digital Diagnostics System, a deep learning-based AI algorithm with advanced volumetric imaging technology to identify pre-cancerous lesions and cervical cancer cells.3
Using AI to review diagnostic material enables cytotechnologists and pathologists to increase their efficiency without compromising accuracy. It also allows cyto-screeners to review images remotely.
This means images can be distributed to screeners remotely across a network, making best use of any spare capacity, skill and speeding up the time from initial test to diagnosis. Therefore, GeniusTM Digital Diagnostics System could be used across trusts, facilitating collaboration across the country.
We are excited about its potential to drive positive change across the NHS and cervical screening programmes in the future.
What are some of the main barriers women face when it comes to actually attending cervical screenings, and how is Hologic addressing these issues to make the process easier and accessible?
Fear of embarrassment, pain and lack of understanding are just some of the common reasons why young women are put off attending cervical screenings.4 Along with these barriers, it is also crucial to tackle inequalities which prevent women from attending their appointments.
A qualitative study published in the British Medical Journal carried out interviews with both women from ethnically diverse backgrounds and White British women; this found ethnic minority women felt there was a lack of awareness in their community, with some not recognising the terms cervical screening or smear test.5
Tackling these inequalities through education, national screening programmes, and new approaches is key to ensuring better health outcomes for more women. Partnering with different organisations, such as charities that hold vital insights into womens experiences, is also vital to better understanding how we make cervical cancer screening accessible for all.
We developed a Cervical Screening guide that supports and prepares women for what to expect at their screening from start to finish. We hope that addressing the common misconceptions will help women feel empowered to attend their cervical screening appointments.
How significant are awareness campaigns like Cervical Screening Awareness Week in driving public health outcomes, and what role does Hologic play in these initiatives?
Awareness weeks like Cervical Screening Awareness Week have an important role to play in driving public health outcomes by increasing knowledge about cervical screening, encouraging participation, and enabling early detection of cervical cancer.
Campaigns can help to address misconceptions, reach underserved populations, and advocate for better healthcare policies and funding. As a women's healthcare company, we play a crucial role in these initiatives, providing resources and expertise, developing advanced screening technologies, forming partnerships and advocating for improved healthcare policies. Together, we hope these efforts help to enhance screening rates, early detection, and overall health equity.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of cervical cancer screening in the UK and Ireland, and how does Hologic plan to contribute to this vision?
As we look to the future, we are responsible for ensuring that the conversation about cervical health and screening continues beyond awareness days. Only together can we achieve the NHS ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
As I have mentioned before, it is vital for women to attend their regular cervical screening appointments and receive the HPV vaccination for prevention. However, the responsibility should not lie solely with women; the healthcare industry must also drive innovation, boost access, and tackle inequalities within the cervical cancer screening program.
At Hologic, we share the NHS's vision and will continue to invest in developing our solutions and services to enable healthcare professionals to provide better healthcare to women.
Where can readers find more information?
Year 3 results, Hologic Global Womens Health Index: https://hologic.womenshealthindex.com/en?atr=false
Hologic: Cervical Screening: Prepare for your appointment: https://www.hologic.co.uk/en-gb/cervical-screening
About Tim Simpson
Tim Simpson is the general manager at Hologic, UK and Ireland. Tim joined Hologic in 2019 as UK Country Business Manager, before becoming Hologic UK and Irelands General Manager in February 2022.
Cleveland Clinic-led research has identified geographic areas in the United States where strategic efforts to promote colorectal cancer screening could help reduce healthcare gaps affecting Hispanic/Latino communities.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, marks a first step toward conducting larger neighborhood-level studies addressing disparities in colorectal cancer screening.
The Hispanic /Latino population has the lowest colorectal cancer screening rate among U.S. racial and ethnic groups as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Lower screening rates often lead to later diagnoses, advanced cancer stages and poorer treatment outcomes.
The researchers identified "hot spots" across the country where larger percentages of Hispanic/Latino populations are associated with lower colorectal cancer screening rates. Based on this information, they developed an interactive web map illustrating their findings. This is the first study to conduct a nationwide geographic analysis to identify local priority zones with the goal to increase colorectal cancer screening in those Hispanic/Latino communities.
This approach advances our ability to pinpoint neighborhoods that may benefit from targeted education or intervention programs, taking into account unique characteristics, such as cultural values and language. The primary objective of this research is to identify key areas where targeted efforts could have the maximum impact on improving colorectal cancer screening among Hispanic and Latino individuals, based on their region or country of origin." Blake Buchalter, Ph.D., study first author, post-doctoral fellow in Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute
To better understand community-level colorectal cancer screening disparities, Dr. Buchalter engaged a team of researchers in analyzing publicly available cancer screening and census databases to gauge colorectal cancer screening rates in neighborhoods across the country.
The interactive map the team built provides a tool for public health authorities, policymakers, clinicians and other stakeholders to target investments and interventions to increase screening uptake in the areas where it is needed most.
The results are classified by Hispanic/Latino region or country of origin (e.g., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central/South America, Dominican Republic and Cuba) as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"It's important to remember that Hispanic/Latino communities are incredibly diverse with respect to many factors, such as ancestry, culture and health behaviors," said principal investigator and senior study author Stephanie Schmit, Ph.D., M.P.H, vice chair of Genomic Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and acting associate director for Cancer Population Sciences in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Informed action is impossible without recognizing the diversity and heterogeneity of these communities."
"The factors that contribute to screening disparities are not universal," Dr. Schmit said. "Some people are impacted by financial constraints or access to healthcare facilities, while others may be impacted by language barriers or a lack of trust in medical institutions. To better understand such barriers and how to help address them, we need to identify who is being impacted and where."
"In the long term, we hope our work will be an impetus for the scientific and biomedical communities to dig deeper into these colorectal cancer screening priority areas to understand what disparities look like on the ground," said Dr. Buchalter. "The goal of this research is to help increase colorectal cancer screening rates in these priority neighborhoods, which will not only benefit the populations living there but also contribute to increasing the national screening rates."
Looking forward, Drs. Buchalter and Schmit hope their work will spur further discussion of public policy and community initiatives to assist in prevention in affected neighborhoods and improve access to care.
The research was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01CA238087 and T32CA091486.
Attacking Vice President Kamala Harris on immigration, Republicans and allies of former Donald President Trumps are saying the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate supported using taxpayer dollars to provide free health coverage to immigrants who are in the country without legal permission.
Senate and House candidates, an American political action committee supporting Trump, and the Republican National Committee have made similar assertions in recent days.
We contacted the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment about Trump's statement, but neither responded.
The claims are misleading. It's true that Harris supported allowing immigrants residing in the U.S. to obtain public health insurance regardless of legal status. During the first 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate in Miami, Kamala Harris raised her hand when a moderator asked candidates to raise their hands if their administration's health plan would cover immigrants who are in the country illegally.
But that doesn't mean Harris specifically said she supported taxpayer funding for the benefits or that the health coverage would be free.
PolitiFact has checked similar claims Republicans and Trump made in 2019 and found them Mostly False. The moderator didn't ask Harris and the other candidates directly whether their plans would provide the coverage free of charge or with taxpayer money, so the claim is unsubstantiated.
Recently, Republicans have pointed to statements Harris made in 2019 while running for president to portray her as supporting giving public benefits to immigrants living in the country illegally. Specifically, CNN's Jake Tapper asked Harris whether her "Medicare for All" plan would cover such immigrants.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee on July 23 posted on the social platform X a clip of the interview with the message: "FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris tells Jake Tapper she endorses universal healthcare and Medicare-for-all for illegal immigrants."
But that clip doesn't show her saying that. Instead, in response to a question about whether Medicare for All should apply to people in the country illegally, she said, "I am opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education, or public health, period." Tapper didn't ask anything else about this.
Medicare for All is a system, promoted by some Democrats, in which all Americans would get their health insurance from a government program modeled after the one that currently covers people 65 and older and people with disabilities.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which became law in 1986, all patients regardless of citizenship or immigration status are already entitled to treatment in hospital emergency rooms.
Some anti-immigration groups say they still believe Harris supports taxpayer-paid health benefits for immigrants lacking legal residency.
"Instead of pushing back, she at the very least implicitly endorses Medicare for illegal aliens," said Joey Chester, a spokesperson for Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that seeks to reduce overall immigration. That she raised her hand during the 2019 debate means her position is to give taxpayer-funded health care benefits to people who are in the country illegally, he added.
Harris' proposal would have provided comprehensive health insurance to all Americans. But it was not all free. She would have allowed Americans to immediately buy into the program while expanding it over 10 years. The plan she produced was similar to current Medicare, in which people can buy plans that the federal government or private insurers administer.
A 10-year phase-in would automatically enroll newborns and uninsured people. But her proposal didn't break down how it would pay for coverage of recipients living in the U.S. without authorization.
Harris wrote in a 2019 article on Medium that "good options" to pay for Medicare for All plans include an income-based premium by employers, higher taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans, taxing Wall Street trades, and savings from accelerating health care-delivery system reforms and changes in the way providers are paid.
California, where Harris served as attorney general from 2011 to 2017, was the first state this year to expand Medicaid eligibility to all qualified immigrants regardless of legal status, phasing it in over several years. Medicaid is a federal-state health program that provides health coverage to low-income and disabled adults.
The California program for immigrants is funded almost entirely by state dollars, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit research institution. Federal law generally bans states from using federal money to pay for health coverage for immigrants living in the country without legal permission.
However, taxpayers can bear the brunt of uncompensated care, when people without insurance including immigrants lacking legal residency seek care at hospitals or from other providers. The costs are passed on to other consumers in the form of higher prices and are considered a drain on state and local government budgets.
"Government payments are the main source for helping to defray providers' costs for care to the uninsured, and those government payments are ultimately funded by taxpayers," said Laurel Lucia, health care program director at the University of California-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education Center, which provides research and policy information.
Immigrants who are in the country illegally also pay billions of dollars in taxes.
"If she does support subsidized coverage for noncitizens, Id see that as a good thing, not a bad thing," said Sabrina Corlette, co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy. "Many recent immigrants are taking care of our children, our elderly, working in hospitality, food service, and food production. Isnt it in our best interests for these folks to have access to good health care?"
Our ruling
Republicans have sought to portray Harris as extreme on immigration and assert that she supports free, taxpayer-funded health benefits for immigrants who are in the country illegally.
Harris signaled in 2019 that her Medicare for All proposal would cover all immigrants regardless of status. She has also said that she would oppose any policy that would deny anyone in the country access to "public health." However, health policy and immigration experts say there's no evidence she would provide the coverage free, paid for by other taxpayers. Immigrants lacking legal residency also pay taxes.
Harris has not expressly said she supports free, taxpayer-supported health coverage for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump's statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this claim Mostly False.
Sources
YouTube, former President Donald Trump rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 24, 2024.
YouTube, Democratic presidential primary debate in Miami, June 27, 2019.
X, Republican National Committee post of Jake Tapper's State of the Union interview with Kamala Harris, remarking on immigrant health care, July 23, 2024.
Email interview with Edwin Park, research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, July 24 and July 25, 2024.
Email interview with Sabrina Corlette, research professor, founder, and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy, July 25, 2024.
Email interview with Laurel Lucia, health care program director at the University of California-Berkeley Labor Center, July 24 and 25, 2024.
Email interview with Joey Chester, spokesperson, Federation for American Immigration Reform, July 25, 2024.
PolitiFact, "Fact-Checking Trump Ad on Democrats, Health Care for Immigrants Illegally in the Country," Aug. 1, 2019.
PolitiFact, "Florida GOP Chair Twists' Response by Democrats at Debate on Health Care for Undocumented Immigrants," Nov. 8, 2019.
Medium, "Kamala Harris: My Plan for Medicare for All," July 29, 2019.
American Immigration Council, "Adding Up the Billions in Tax Dollars Paid by Undocumented Immigrants," April 4, 2016.
The latest trial of a new antibody drug that delivers potent chemotherapy directly to cancer cells for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer moves ahead to be studied further in a phase III trial.
Results of the phase II study led by Yale Cancer Center (YCC) researchers at Yale School of Medicine looked at the antibody drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan (SG) also known as Trodelvy.
The study's results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on July 31. The trial was sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Inc.
The findings are hopeful for patients with endometrial cancer (a type of uterine cancer), which is the most common gynecological cancer and the sixth most common cancer in women globally, with over 417,000 new cases and 97,000 deaths reported in 2020. When the combination first-line treatment for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer fails, there are currently few options.
"This is the first publication demonstrating the clinical activity of Trodelvy in uterine cancer," said the study's first author Dr. Alessandro Santin, professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine and clinical research team leader for Gynecological Oncology at Yale Cancer Center.
In collaboration with Immunomedics and more recently Gilead investigators, I have been working with this antibody drug conjugate in my lab since the beginning of its development. This is a major 'bench-to-bedside' accomplishment for uterine cancer patients." Dr. Alessandro Santin, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine
SG is also being explored for its usefulness in delivering chemotherapy into the cancer cells of multiple types of metastatic solid tumors.
In the TROPiCS-03 phase II basket study (a study that looks at drug effectiveness in patients who have different cancers, but share the same biomarker), patients received 10 milligrams per kilogram of SG on day one and day eight of a 21-day cycle. In a heavily pretreated population (that is, patients had already received multiple rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy) with advanced, recurrent endometrial cancer, 22% responded to the treatment. Researchers reported that 61% of patients had a reduction in target lesions (22% of the patients fulfilled the criteria of partial response which was a 30% or more decrease in the size of the tumor). In patients that responded to the treatment, cancers remained stable for an average of 8.8 months without progressing.
As the trial continues, 29% of patients are still on treatment. No safety concerns were identified in the trial, and patients experienced manageable side effects such as fatigue and nausea.
Santin said the results of this trial, TROPiCS-03, mean researchers will be able to move forward to a phase III trial.
The trial was conducted with researchers from various institutions, including Ecaterina Dumbrava from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who was the study's senior author. Other authors include Bradley R. Corr, Alexander Spira, Lyndsay Willmott, James Butrynski, Ka Yu Tse, Jilpa Patel, Sabeen Mekan, Tia Wu, Kai-Wen Lin, and Peiwen Kuo.
Petrol, Diesel Prices Today On August 1, 2024: Oil marketing companies (OMCs) announce fuel prices at 6 am on a daily basis. The OMCs adjust prices in response to global crude oil prices and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, ensuring consumers are always informed about the latest fuel costs.
Government oil marketing companies release the latest petrol and diesel prices daily at 6 am in the country.
The prices have remained unchanged in most parts of the country since March 2024 when the central government cut petrol prices by Rs 2. Before that, the fuel prices remained steady since May 2022, following a reduction in fuel taxes by the central government and several states.
Check Petrol Diesel Price Today On August 2 In India
Check city-wise petrol and diesel prices on August 1:
City Petrol Price (Rs/litre) Diesel Price (Rs/litre) Delhi 94.72 87.62 Mumbai 103.44 89.97 Chennai 100.85 92.44 Kolkata 103.94 90.76 Noida 94.66 87.76 Lucknow 94.65 87.76 Bengaluru 102.86 88.94 Hyderabad 107.41 95.65 Jaipur 104.88 90.36 Trivandrum 107.62 96.43 Bhubaneswar 101.06 92.91
Factors Affecting Petrol And Diesel Prices In India
Crude oil price: The primary raw material for the production of petrol and diesel is crude oil; as such, its price directly influences the ultimate cost of these fuels.
The exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the US dollar: As a major importer of crude oil, Indias petrol and diesel prices are also influenced by the exchange rate between the Indian and US dollar.
Tax: Various taxes on petrol and diesel are imposed by both the central and state governments. These taxes may differ across states, exerting a notable influence on the ultimate prices of petrol and diesel.
The cost of refining:
The final price of petrol and diesel is additionally influenced by the expenses incurred in refining crude oil into these fuels. The refining process can be costly, and the refining expenses may fluctuate based on factors like the type of crude oil utilised and the refinerys efficiency.
The demand for petrol and diesel: The demand for petrol and diesel can also affect their prices. If demand for these fuels increases, it can lead to higher prices.
Know the price of petrol and diesel through SMS
You can also find out the latest petrol and diesel prices in your city through SMS. If you are a customer of Indian Oil, then you will have to write RSP along with the city code and send it to 9224992249. If you are a customer of BPCL, then you can get information about the new price of petrol and diesel by writing RSP and sending it to 9223112222. Whereas, if you are a customer of HPCL, then you can find out the price of petrol and diesel by writing HP Price and sending it to 9222201122.
Office space leasing in Bengaluru rose 15 per cent in the April-June period to 4.25 million square feet, driven by the IT-ITeS sector that accounted for 69 per cent of the total demand in the city, according to workplace solutions firm Vestian.
In its office market report, The Connect Q2 2024, Vestian highlighted that AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics companies accounted for 21 per cent of Bengalurus absorption in the second quarter of this calendar year.
Rapid global advancement of artificial intelligence, combined with a supportive ecosystem, has significantly driven the demand for office space in the city, it said.
Bengaluru saw the leasing of 4.25 million square feet of office space during April-June this year, as against 3.70 million square feet in the year-ago period.
According to another report by Knight Frank, Bengaluru ranks 18th and is among the most affordable prime office markets in the APAC region. The prime office rent in the city was recorded at Rs 137/sqft/month, with a marginal YoY increase of approximately 1.3%.
Key Findings of The Vestian Report
Overall, the IT-ITeS sector, including AI & Robotics, accounted for 69 per cent of the total leasing in April-June this year.
Across seven major cities, the total leasing or absorption of office space stood at 17.04 million square feet during the April-June period from 13.90 million square feet a year ago.
Despite global geopolitical challenges, Indias office markets reported robust real estate activities during Q2 2024. Real estate activities are anticipated to increase further on the back of strengthened demand from IT-ITeS and BFSI sectors. Flex Spaces are also likely to play a pivotal role in the growth of office markets in India, said Shrinivas Rao, CEO, Vestian.
As per the data, office leasing in Chennai declined 20 per cent to 1.75 million square feet during April-June 2024 from 2.20 million square feet in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Hyderabad saw a 48 per cent increase in office demand to 3.4 million square feet, from 2.30 million square feet.
The office demand in Mumbai rose sharply by 88 per cent to 3.39 million square feet, from 1.8 million square feet.
Pune witnessed a 60 per cent increase in office leasing to 2.88 million square feet, from 1.8 million square feet.
In Delhi-NCR, the demand declined 43 per cent to 1.14 million square feet, from 2 million square feet.
Office leasing in Kolkata more than doubled to 0.23 million square feet in April-June this year, from 0.1 million square feet in the year-ago period.
Vestian said that the office demand in the January-June period has crossed 30 million square feet, registering an uptick of 18 per cent compared to H1 2023.
As the demand for grade-A office spaces is robust across the top seven cities of India, the entire year (2024) is expected to cross the 60-million-square-feet mark again after peaking in 2023, the consultant said.
Vestian is an occupier-focused workplace solutions firm specialising in commercial, residential, industrial, retail and hospitality sectors. Headquartered at Chicago, Vestian has offices across US, India, China, UK, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On July 31, BYD announced a multi-year strategic partnership with global mobility service and delivery technology giant Uber, aiming to deploy 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles (EVs) in key markets worldwide. This collaboration is set to significantly expand BYD's EV presence on the Uber platform.
Photo credit: BYD
BYD, a leading global EV manufacturer, and Uber, which boasts the most widely available on-demand EV network in the world, will work together to promote the adoption of EVs. The partnership will begin in Europe and Latin America, gradually extending to regions including the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. This will enable more passengers worldwide to experience environmentally friendly travel options.
To encourage more drivers to switch to EVs, both companies are considering offering incentives such as charging discounts, vehicle maintenance, and insurance benefits. Additionally, financing and leasing options tailored to specific markets are set to be provided. BYD said its diverse range of EVs, known for their exceptional range and superior craftsmanship, are positioned as ideal choices for shared mobility services.
BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, "BYD and Uber are both committed to innovation and building a cleaner, greener world. I am delighted that BYD can join forces with Uber to advance towards this future."
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi shared similar sentiments, highlighting the environmental impact, "We are thrilled to allow more people globally to experience the benefits of driving electric vehicles. When an Uber driver switches to an EV, the emissions reduction is four times greater than that of an average driver due to the longer hours he drives. This deep collaboration with BYD is exciting as it aims to enhance user experience and create social value."
Apex IT association Nasscom on Thursday came out in support of Infosys which is facing a Rs 32,403 crore GST notice, saying that the move reflected a lack of understanding of the industrys operating model.
Flagging the issue of the applicability of GST through the reverse charge mechanism (RCM), Nasscom rued that multiple companies are facing avoidable litigation, uncertainty, and concerns from investors and customers.
GST authorities have slapped a Rs 32,403 crore notice on Infosys for services availed by the company from its overseas branches for five years starting in 2017.
Recent media reports of a GST demand of over Rs 320 billion (Rs 32,403 crore) reflects a lack of understanding of the industrys operating model, Nasscom said in a statement, without naming Infosys.
The leading industry body asserted that it is crucial that compliance obligations are not subject to multiple interpretations.
Accelerating services exports is key to Indias ambition of Viksit Bharat and for attracting global tech investment to India, it added.
This requires a supportive policy environment and ease of doing business. The government circulars issued based on recommendations of the GST Council must be honoured in enforcement mechanisms so that notices do not create uncertainty and negatively impact perceptions on Indias ease of doing business, it said.
What Infosys Said?
Infosys has called the notice a pre-show cause notice and said that it believes the GST is not applicable to these expenses.
The Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm on Wednesday said Karnataka State GST authorities have issued a pre-show cause notice for payment of GST of Rs 32,403 crore for the period July 2017 to March 2022 towards the expenses incurred by overseas branch offices of Infosys Limited and added that the company has responded to the pre-show cause notice.
the Company has also received a pre-show cause notice from the Director General of GST Intelligence on the same matter and the Company is in the process of responding to the same, the filing had said.
The company contended that as per regulations, GST is not applicable to such expenses.
Additionally, as per a recent Circularissued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs on the recommendations of the GST Council, services provided by the overseas branches to Indian entity are not subject to GST, Infosys said.
Infosys argued that GST payments are eligible for credit or refund against the export of IT services.
Infosys has paid all its GST dues and is fully in compliance with the central and state regulations on this matter, the company said.
The demand at a staggering Rs 32,403 crore is more than a years profit for Infosys.
For the June quarter, Infosys net profit rose 7.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 6,368 crore, and revenue from operations stood at Rs 39,315 crore, an increase of 3.6 per cent from a year ago.
(With PTI inputs)
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta will commence the application process for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024. The application process will end on September 13. Interested and eligible candidates can register for the exam on the official website at iimcat.ac.in.
As per the official notification, the CAT 2024 is scheduled to take place on November 24 in three sessions in the computer-based exam mode. Test centres located across 170 cities will host the exam. IIM Calcutta will release the admit cards on November 5 and the results will be made public around the second week of January 2025.
CAT 2024: Educational Qualification
Applicants must possess a bachelors degree with a minimum of 50 per cent of the possible points, or a comparable CGPA. Candidates from Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC), and Persons with Disability (PwD) groups must meet a minimum of 45 per cent of the requirements.
CAT 2024: How to Apply?
Step 1. Visit the official webpage of IIM CAT at iimcat.ac.in.
Step 2. Click on the New Candidate Registration.
Step 3. Enter the necessary details to register.
Step 4. Fill out the form.
Step 5. Upload the required copies and pay the application fee.
Step 6. Download the application confirmation page for future use.
CAT 2024: Application Fee
To finish the registration process, candidates must pay the CAT 2024 application cost. For candidates in the general category who fall under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), the application fee is Rs 2,500. On the other hand, candidates who fall under the categories of Person with Disabilities (PwD), Scheduled Caste, or Scheduled Tribe must pay the Rs 1,250 registration fee for CAT 2024.
CAT 2024: Exam Pattern
According to previous patterns, the CAT 2024 exam will be administered in three shifts, the first from 8:30 am to 10:30 am, the second from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm, and the third from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. The CAT 2024 exam will consist of three parts including, quantitative aptitude (QA), data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR), and verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC). The CAT 2024 paper will consist of 66 questions in total. Candidates will receive three marks for each right response and one mark will be subtracted for each incorrect response under the CAT 2024 grading methodology. Negative points wont be deducted for wrong responses.
A cumulative credit system that will account for students performance in classes 9, 10, and 11 in class 12, the final stage of secondary school, a question paper design to serve as a blueprint for exams, and setting up a question bank for the senior classes these are some of the major recommendations made by PARAKH, a constituent body under the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in a report submitted to the union ministry of education (MoE) on establishing equivalence across school boards in the country.
The recommendations are part of school reforms proposed under the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the National Curriculum Framework- for School Education (NCF-SE).
The report recommends an assessment framework for students in the secondary stage (classes 9 to 12) that allows both formative and summative methods to give a holistic view of their progress. Formative assessment will consist of activities such as project work, presentations, group discussions, etc. Summative assessment means term-end assessment consisting of long answers, MCQs, short, and very short answers.
This means that the performance of students in each of the senior classes in different weightages for each will account for the class 12 result, which is the final stage of school education class 9 (15%), class 10 (20%), class 11 (25%), and class 12 (40%).
What is the cumulative credit system?
The weightage of formative and summative marks will be adjusted progressively from classes 9 to 12, increasing the emphasis on summative assessment as the classes advance. Class 9 features a weightage of 70% formative and 30% summative, class 10 there is an equal weightage of 50% for both aspects, in class 11 the distribution is 40% formative and 60% summative while in class 12, there will be a ratio of 30% formative and 70% summative. Consequently, the cumulative marks at the end of secondary stage (class 12) will comprise of 15% for class 9, 20% for class 10, 25% for class 11, and 40% for class 12, the report stated.
Currently, the ratio for external and internal assessment is 80:20, which will change once the new assessment scheme is brought in.
This assessment framework will ensure a balanced mix of formative (ongoing) and summative (end-term) assessments, providing a holistic assessment of students capabilities and readiness for higher education or professional paths, the analysis said.
The report was submitted to the MoE last month in a meeting chaired by Sanjay Kumar, secretary, School Education and Literacy department, and has been accepted in principle by the government.
News18 had on July 18 reported that PARAKH has proposed a Cumulative Credit System to assess the performance of students from classes 9 to 12, including their board exams, for holistic progress monitoring. Last month, the standard-setting body met state education boards for deliberations on the same, upon which each board is to prepare their own roadmap to implement the system of assessment for these senior classes.
The Centre has been focused on standardising all the school education boards in line with the NEP. One of the crucial mandates of PARAKH is to ensure an equivalence of academic standards among learners across all school boards. In India, which has a population of approximately 1.42 billion, around 30% are below the age of 15 (Statista 2024), as per the study.
The report also suggested that the school boards emphasise digital literacy and incorporate comprehensive ICT training within the curriculum in affiliated schools. Besides, boards are required to make career counselling mandatory for the schools affiliated with them or promote a teacher-as-a-counselor model.
They should ensure that the schools have a career counselor to provide support in respect of future career guidance, job placement assistance, academic and personal counselling and the mental and social well-being of the learner, it said.
State boards to prepare question banks for classes 9, 11
Under the cumulative system, state boards are being told to prepare a question bank, which will have rubrics for assessment for transparency. The boards will also devise a blueprint, using which the teachers of classes 9 and 11 will prepare question papers for the year-end examinations from the question bank provided, while in classes 10 and 12 there will be board exams.
At the end of class 12, students will have credits for various projects and activities, done throughout the secondary stage in their holistic progress card. This will also be linked to their APAAR ID (a unique identification number being allotted to students in the school system to store their credentials in a digital format) and Digi locker, which they can use at any time in the future.
Currently, there are 69 different school boards in India, including state, central, and international ones with approximately 14.8 lakh schools affiliated to these boards catering to around 26.5 crore learners. The study excludes Sanskrit boards, madrasas, and technical boards.
The research analyses the current state of school boards in India across various categories and is aligned with the NCF-SE.
The assessment body conducted multiple regional workshops with the school boards to address the challenges of quality and standardisation. In these workshops, question paper templates (QPT) and an equivalence questionnaire (EQQ) were used to data on academic and administrative standings.
The report assesses equivalence across school boards on three parameters board establishment, functioning, and membership; provision of facilities, opportunities and resources to learners; and learner assessment and evaluation.
It puts together insights on the current level of equivalence in assessment, curriculum, administration, infrastructure, and inclusiveness, which is based on data voluntarily reported by different boards of school education through equivalence questionnaires (EEQ) and question paper templates (QPTs) developed by PARAKH.
18,000 question papers analysed across 10 school boards as pilot
The insights are based on a pilot study conducted by the standard-setting body on question paper analysis across 10 school education boards last year. The outcomes of the pilot study were shared among the stakeholders upon which a series of regional meetings with the school boards were held between June and August 2023. The pilot study involved the selection of question papers from any three years between 2018 and 2022, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pilot study comprises of analysis of around 18,000 class 10 question papers across four subject areas language, mathematics, science, and social studies. Based on the feedback received and its analysis, significant modifications to the template were made. Some of the improvements based on these changes include the inclusion of map and diagram-based questions to add to the reading comprehension-based questions.
The final analysis included an assessment of 10,305 questions across 32 school boards that participated in the study. The extensive analysis of a large number of questions from diverse school boards provided insights into the variability of key question paper characteristics across boards, it said.
Variations in subjects offered by different school boards
Data given in the report shows that in class 10, 38.89% of the school boards have Art/Craft as a compulsory subject in their curriculum while 61.11% of the boards provide Physical Education/Sports/ Yoga as a compulsory subject. 90% per cent of the boards offer skill education as an optional subject in class 10, whereas 9.52% of the boards have made the curricular area compulsory.
Given the figures, the report highlights that the NCF-SE 2023 states that in classes 9 and 10 learners will be given exposure to six vocations (two from each form of work) spread over two years. Thus, making different curricular areas interdependent.
Also, it observed that 40.74% of the boards allow one supplementary/compartment board exam to class 10 students while 29.63% allow two supplementary/compartment board exams. Nearly 22% of the boards allow more than two supplementary/compartment board exams for their learners. However, there are 7.41% of boards do not allow any such option to its students.
These discrepancies between the boards amount to inequality amongst the learners of the same country and needs to be addressed, the report stated.
Only 39% of the boards reviewed teacher performance in their affiliated schools. Notably, only 21% of boards indicated that they were involved in development of teaching aids.
Meanwhile, very few boards taught coding, application development and audio-video production. Given the growth in technology, it is imperative that skill courses like cloud computing, AI, machine learning, data science and block technology, among others are inculcated for better future employability of the learners, it said.
The report highlighted that even as the NCF-SE envisages on-demand examinations, data shows that 93% of the boards do not have any provision for the same, which is why high stakes are attributed to year-end board exams by learners. On-demand exams mean students can appear for board exams in subjects they have completed or feel ready for.
In terms of infrastructure, about 39% of the boards indicated that their affiliated schools do not have any books in their libraries which is a matter of concern, the report said. Only 18% of the boards have 200 or fewer books in their affiliated schools.
It was also observed that most school boards lack inclusivity. Only 36% of the boards implemented the 25% reservation policy for learners from the EWS category in their private schools. This statistic was considered significantly below the expected norm, it said.
What QPT analysis found
The study found that some of the boards place a significant emphasis on remember/recall-based questions in different subject domains. A high percentage of recall-based questions highlight the shortcomings in assessment procedures as outlined by the NEP 2020 and the NCF-SE 2023, especially the prevalence of rote or memory-based learning and assessment. It was observed that a few boards lacked creative questions for languages, which underscores the said point, the report stated.
The findings reveal a significant variation among boards in their approach to question types. About 25% of the boards place more than 50% emphasis on Long Answer questions. One of the boards places more than 60% of their marks on MCQs. Around 12% of the boards emphasise Short Answer questions by more than 50%. Only about 6% of the boards place more than 50% emphasis on Very Short questions.
According to the report, for a couple of school boards, the subject matter experts deemed more than 85% of the questions in languages to be of medium difficulty level, while a few school boards had close to 67% difficult items paired with about 33% easy difficulty level items. This highlights the stark disparity in the level of difficulty of the question papers resulting in a glaring dissonance in the marks received by learners across boards, it said.
Prayagraj, renowned for its cultural and historical significance, is also a hub for aspiring civil servants. In the bustling areas of Colonelganj, Katra, Manfordganj, Daraganj, Chhota Baghada, Bada Baghada, Salori, Govindpur, and Daraganj Allahpur, the streets are teeming with students dedicated to preparing for the UPSC exams. These aspirants, many of whom are determined to join the ranks of IAS, IPS, or IFS officers, are often seen studying in small, confined spaces. In some cases, these rooms measure just 10 square feet, illustrating the intense focus and sacrifice involved in their preparation.
The streets are alive with young men and women, their eyes reflecting dreams of passing the UPSC exams and securing a prestigious government position. While some students aim for top positions in the civil services, others are prepared to settle for roles such as government clerks through SSC exams if necessary, motivated by a desire to alleviate their families concerns. The perseverance and ambition of these individuals underscore Prayagrajs role as a significant training ground for future leaders of the country.
You might wonder why Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, is highlighted in discussions about exam preparations when many students head to larger cities like Delhi for their studies. The answer lies in the unique advantages that Prayagraj offers to aspirants.
Each month, students from villages across Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar flock to Prayagraj with aspirations of securing government jobs. When asked why they choose Prayagraj over cities like Delhi, Patna, or Lucknow, they often cite financial constraints. The cost of living and studying in major cities can be prohibitive, making Prayagraj an attractive alternative due to its lower expenses.
Abhishek Yadav, a student preparing for the UPSC exams, explains that Prayagraj is more affordable for students like him. Here, room rents and travel costs are considerably lower, allowing students to manage their finances better while focusing on their studies. In contrast, the high costs of living and transportation in larger cities can be a significant barrier to success.
Other students like Arun Yadav, Abhishek Yadav, Abhinav, and Manoj Tiwari share small rooms, managing with each others textbooks and often sleeping in the same space. When questioned about the cramped conditions, they respond that their primary focus is on their studies, not on comfort. We are here to study, not to sleep, says Arun Yadav, adding that sleeping less will give them a better chance at achieving their goals.
Dinesh, who has been preparing for competitive exams for several years, echoes the same sentiment. We sleep, eat, and study in this small room this is our world, he explained. For these students, the limited space is a small price to pay for the chance to realise their dreams.
The fight for the Bigg Boss OTT 3 trophy continues to intensify, with only a few days left for the grand finale. The latest episode saw Armaan Malik and Lovekesh Kataria being eliminated from the controversial reality show, following an emotional eviction process. Post his exit from the show, Lovekesh reunited with his buddies from the show Munisha Khatwani and Vishal Pandey. Fans were treated to a glimpse of their reunion as Munisha dropped a picture on Instagram.
The image shared by Munisha Khatwani screamed friendship from miles away as the trio looked all excited to see each other. Wearing their best smiles, they posed for an endearing click with Lovekesh Kataria at the center. Accompanying the picture, Munisha wrote, The real bond I made in the house, followed by tagging both Lovekesh and Vishal Pandey.
Reacting to the post, Vishal Pandey commented, Munni ji, whereas Lovekesh Kataria also poured in some hearts for the picture.
Meanwhile, Lovekesh Kataria also posted a few pictures with Vishal Pandey on Instagram, highlighting the friendship. In the photos, we can see both the content creators striking some stylish poses for the lens. Reflecting on the impact the duo created on the audience during their Bigg Boss stint, Lovekesh captioned the images, Dil To Jeet Ke Aaye.
Notably, Lovekesh Katarias elimination came as a huge shocker to viewers as Elvish Yadav had been campaigning aggressively for him to win the coveted trophy. Elvish previously talked about Lovekesh in his YouTube vlogs to garner votes for his friend. However, on Tuesday night, he seemingly confirmed Lovekeshs shocking eviction. Taking a dig at the makers of the show, he said, Votes Se Nahi Nikal Paye?
Post his eviction, Lovekesh Kataria also hosted a live session on Instagram wherein he got emotional. Thanking his fans for the tremendous support, he noted, Ive never experienced so much love in my life as I am now. When I was getting evicted, I felt overwhelmed and broken. I could see the trophy in front of me, but I couldnt touch it.
As for Bigg Boss OTT 3, the Anil Kapoor-hosted show is gearing up for its finale on August 2. With Lovekesh Kataria and Armaan Maliks eviction, the contestants left to compete for the Bigg Boss OTT 3 trophy are Sana Makbul, Sai Ketan Rao, Kritika Malik, Ranvir Shorey and Naezy.
Israels airstrike on top commander of Hezbollah in Beirut about two days ago in retaliation to a rocket attack that killed 12 children in Golan Heights over the weekend has caused concerns that Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese military group could be sucked into a full-blown war.
Israel said on Sunday it would strike hard at Hezbollah after the Golan Heights strike, the military group has denied any responsibility of the attack on Majdal Shams.
Tuesdays attack in the Lebanese capital has stoked fears of a wider regional war. Let us look at the history of Hezbollah, its political and military might, the tension with Israel and whats next.
How Hezbollah Became A Dominant Force in Lebanon
Lebanon distributes power along sectarian lines proportional to its percentage of the population the largest being Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims.
Tensions among the sects began in 1975 after the influx of Sunni Palestinian refugees, plunging the country into a 15-year-old civil war.
With the support of Iran (the regions preeminent Shiite power), Hezbollah, which began as a small Shiite militia group during the war, emerged as the dominant force fighting against the Israeli occupation. In their efforts to expel the Israelis, the group became known for its use of extreme tactics, such as the infamous 1983 suicide bombing attack targeting U.S. and French housing barracks in Beirut, which killed some 300.
Hezbollah which means the Party of God in Arabic released a manifesto in 1985 in which it pledged allegiance to Irans supreme leader, and called for the destruction of Israel.
After Israels withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and the end of the civil war in 1990, Hezbollah continued to grow in power. In the years since the civil war, Hezbollah has only increased in sophistication and regional power. Today, the group is structured along two primary divisions: a military wing and a political wing.
Power of Hezbollah
Hezbollah has been the backbone of Lebanese politics for the past 30 years. The group has kept a steady presence of elected representatives in parliament, at times becoming the dominant party. Members of Hezbollah have continually held executive cabinet positions. Though Hezbollah is a Shiite Islamist group, the party maintains alliances with individuals and groups affiliated with other sects.
Militarily, Hezbollah is said to be the most well-armed and powerful non-state actor in the region, with a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of missiles as well as 100,000 fighters. Iran, its benefactor, supplies Hezbollah with weapons and funding.
Hezbollahs Top Leadership
Hezbollahs leader is the groups secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. The Lebanese-born, Shia Muslim cleric first ascended to the top leadership position in 1992, when he was just 32.
During the 1990s, Nasrallah successfully led the groups campaign against Israels occupation of southern Lebanon, resulting in the eventual withdrawal in 2000. Today, many continue to view him as a dominant figure in resistance to Israel and anti-Western influence in the region, as per NPR. Though Nasrallah has never held a formal office in Lebanon, he is still one of the most powerful figures in Lebanese politics.
How Does Iran Fit In?
Hezbollah has stated allegiance to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.
On the issues of regional politics, Hezbollah largely consults with Iran, especially on the matters relating to Israel, the US or other Western powers. However, when it comes to domestic issues within Lebanon, Hezbollah is generally able to act autonomously.
Irans support has helped Hezbollah consolidate its position as Lebanons most powerful political actor as well as the most-equipped military actor supported by Iran in the whole of the Middle East, Associated Press quoted Lina Khatib, the director of the SOAS Middle East Institute in London, as saying.
Hezbollah is bound to Iran by doctrine. However, its relationship with Hamas, an offshoot of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood movement, is based on pragmatism.
Tensions with Israel
Hezbollah has been targeting Israel since the Palestinian military group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 8. Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, says its attacks aim to support Palestinians who are under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.
Hezbollah has said repeatedly it will not halt its attacks on Israel unless a ceasefire in Gaza comes into force. Meanwhile, Israel has long viewed Hezbollah as the biggest threat at its borders and has been deeply alarmed by its growing arsenal, and the foothold it has established in Syria.
Israel and Hezbollah have fought numerous wars, the last one being in 2006. That year, Israeli strikes levelled large areas of Beiruts Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, knocked out Beirut airport, and hit roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Nearly 1 million people in Lebanon fled their homes. In Israel, 300,000 people fled their homes to escape Hezbollah rockets and some 2,000 homes destroyed.
Hezbollah deems Israel an illegitimate state established on occupied Palestinian lands and wants to see it gone.
Whats Next?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in December that Beirut would be turned into Gaza if Hezbollah started an all-out war.
Any move by Israel to expand the conflict would be met by devastation, destruction and displacement in Israel, Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said in an interview with Al Jazeera in June.
Thus, ceasefire in Gaza would play a very important role as it could help bring about de-escalation of tensions in southern Lebanon. The US has been at the heart of the diplomatic efforts aimed at easing the tensions between the two countries.
(with inputs from Reuters)
The Supreme Court on Thursday in a 6:1 majority verdict overruled a 2004 judgment in the EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh case, which said there cannot be sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the purpose of reservation.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, heading the seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, said Scheduled Castes are not an integrated or homogenous group.
What is Subclassification of SCs/ STs?
It is the process of creating sub-groups within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to ensure a more equitable distribution of reservation benefits, targeting the most backward or marginalised within these communities.
Over the years, states have argued that some castes are underrepresented despite reservation in comparison to the so-called dominant Scheduled Castes. They believe that a separate quota for some castes within the SC quota of 15% should be created to ensure that the benefits are equitably distributed among all castes.
How Did It Become An Issue?
The Punjab government in 1975 issued a notification dividing its existing 25% reservation for the SCs into two categories. 50% of the seats reserved for the SCs were to be offered to Balmikis (Valmikis) and Mazhabi Sikhs, while the other half was for the remaining groups within the category.
This remained in effect till 31 years until the Supreme Courts five-judge bench in the EV Chinnaiah vs Andhra Pradesh case set aside a similar law in Andhra Pradesh.
What was EV Chinnaiah Verdict?
The Supreme Court struck down the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act, 2000 for being violative of the right to equality. The law contained an expansive list of SC communities identified in the state and the quota of reservation benefits provided to each of them.
The court held that the SC list must be treated as a single, homogenous group, and the sub-classification would violate the right to equality by treating different communities within the category differently.
According to Article 341 of the Constitution, the power to create a list of SC communities for the purpose of reservation rests with the President. So, the states dont have the power to disturb or interfere this list, including through sub-classification as it would violate Article 341.
Two years after the apex court ruling, the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Dr. Kishan Pal v. State of Punjab struck down the 1975 notification.
The Punjab government argued that Chinnaiah was not in accordance with the top courts nine-judge bench decision in Indra Sawhney v Union of India (1992). In Indra Sawhney, the court had recognised that some classes within the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category may be more or less backward than others.
On August 20, 2014, the three-judge bench hearing the appeal referred the matter to a five-judge Constitution Bench to assess the correctness of EV Chinnaiah.
In the landmark 2018 ruling in Jarnail Singh v Lachhmi Narain Gupta, the Supreme Court upheld the concept of creamy layer within SCs too, and permitted sub-classification within the SC category. Since sub-classification was permitted within the SEBC category (per Indra Sawhney), it cannot be disallowed for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes categories.
In 2020, the constitution bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra held that the courts 2004 decision in EV Chinnaiah required reconsideration.
On October 12, 2023, the SC listed the appeal for hearings by a seven-judge bench from January 17, 2024.
Apart from Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs in Punjab and Madiga in Andhra Pradesh, Paswans in Bihar, the Jatavs in UP, and Arundhatiyars in Tamil Nadu will also be impacted by the sub-classification strategy.
Sub-Categorisation of OBCs and Rohini Commission
Based on the Mandal Commission, the OBCs get 27% reservation in jobs and educational institutions. However, there were concerns that there is inequal distribution of benefits among various OBC communities. Therefore, the BJP-led NDA government proposed sub-categorisation in 2017.
The Rohini Commission was set up on October 2, 2017 led by Justice G Rohini (former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court) for the purpose. The commission submitted its report on the sub-categorisation of OBCs in July 2023. The four-member commission was formed to ensure a more equitable distribution of reservation benefits among the OBCs.
The commission was assigned to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and propose steps for their improvement. It was also tasked to recommend any corrections in regard to the central list of OBCs. This included correcting any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.
What were Commissions Findings?
The commission found that 97% of the reserved jobs and seats have gone to 25% of OBC sub-castes, and only 10 OBC communities have taken the 25% of reserved central jobs and institutional seats.
As many as 983, or 37%, of the 2,600 communities under the OBC category had zero representation in jobs and institutes, and only 2.68% reservation has been used by 994 castes.
The commissions first consultation paper in December 2019 recommended breaking the sub-categories into three bands: communities receiving no benefits (10 per cent), those with partial benefits (10 per cent), and those receiving maximum benefits (7 per cent), according to a report by Hindustan Times. This would help create a fairer distribution structure.
The committee received 13 extensions to complete its report before it was finally submitted it to President Droupadi Murmu on July 21, 2023.
The sub-categorisation of OBC has already been implemented on the state level in 11 states, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, the Jammu and Kashmir region, Haryana, and Puducherry UT, as per a report by the India Today.
Bihar has categories OBC 1 and OBC 2 (or economically backward classes) categories. While OBC 1 has 33 sub-caste groups, OBC 2 has 113. Moreover, 18% of state-level government jobs and seats in educational institutes are reserved for EBCs. OBC 1 has 12% reservations, with 3% for OBC women.
The Turkish government has approved a law to remove millions of stray dogs from the streets, raising concerns among animal rights activists and opposition lawmakers.
Humane Society International said it had written to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the law will cause unnecessary suffering and death to countless animals in a short-term fix that wont deliver a long-term solution.
According to the Turkish government, there are around 4 million stray dogs that roam Turkeys streets and rural areas. The countrys large stray cat population, however, is not a focus of the bill.
What is Turkeys New Stray Dog Law?
The bill was approved with 275 votes in favour and 225 against. The full assembly will have a final vote in the coming days.
The new legislation requires municipalities to collect stray dogs and house them in shelters to be vaccinated, neutered and spayed before making them available for adoption. Dogs, which are in pain or are terminally ill, will be euthanized.
The law requires all municipalities to spend at least 0.3% of their annual budget on animal rehabilitation services and building or upgrading shelters, though they will be given until 2028 to do so, as per Reuters.
Mayors who fail to meet their responsibilities in controlling stray dogs would face imprisonment of six months to two years. Fines on people who abandon pets would be raised from 2,000 lira (~Rs 5,023) to 60,000 lira (~Rs 1,50,696).
Veterinarians and opposition leaders have questioned how the government would find money for the cash-strapped municipalities to build necessary extra shelters.
The country currently has 322 animal shelters with a capacity for 105,000 dogs, according to the bill, far short of what would be needed to round up the number of strays.
How Is Turkey Reacting?
Several leaders hailed the decision amid the criticism from opposition and animal advocates.
Ali Ozkaya, of Erdogans Justice and Development Party, or AKP, described the bill as a demand of the nation. This is not a massacre law. This is an adoption law, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told HaberTurk television in an interview.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past few weeks to protest against the law. In Istanbuls Sishane Square, hundreds gathered and issued a defiant message to the government.
Animal lovers in Ankara protested outside municipal offices. They stated in a statement, We are warning the government again and again, stop the law. Do not commit this crime against this country.
Opposition and animal rights group say that a mass neutering campaign would be a better solution but Erdogans AKP insists that it is too late for that.
Veterinarian Turkan Ceylan maintained that the dogs are at risk of contracting diseases in shelters and in vehicles used to round up strays. No animal that enters the shelter comes out healthy, she said.
The opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) said it would appeal against the legislation in the Constitutional Court. The bill is clearly unconstitutional and does not defend the right to live, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said after it passed, adding that municipalities had limited resources to deal with the task of taking so many dogs off the streets.
Whats the Dog Problem in Turkey?
President Erdogan noted that stray dogs attack children, adults, elderly people and other animals. They attack flocks of sheep and goats, they cause traffic accidents.
According to the bill, there are currently 322 animal shelters in the country that can house 105,000 canines, which is significantly fewer than what would be required to house all of the strays.
According to Murat Pinar, the leader of an organisation that advocates for laws protecting the public from stray dogs, since 2022 at least 75 people 44 of them children have died as a result of dog attacks or dog-related traffic accidents.
Reuters reported that residents of Turkish towns and cities often take care of street animals, putting out makeshift shelters, food and water for them. The report cited one survey that showed less than 3% of people supported putting them down, while nearly 80% were in favour of dogs being put in shelters.
The Uttar Pradesh government has passed the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2024 while amending the existing anti-conversion bill, which proposes stricter rules, life imprisonment from the existing sentence of 10 years and hefty fines of up to Rs 10 lakh.
The bill was tabled in the assembly by parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna on behalf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Khanna maintained that there was no controversy in the amended bill, which was aimed to bring justice to the victims who get subjected to unlawful religious conversions.
Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey said the law may lead to the lodging of false cases against people. He said a clause of taking strict action on a person filing a false complaint should be added to the bill.
Why Govt Brought In Amendment
The Uttar Pradesh government has introduced the Amendment with the aim to protect certain groups of people, including minors, people with disabilities, women and persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
It also said the penal provisions under the 2021 Act were not sufficient to prevent religious or mass conversions.
The Amendment also aims to resolve certain difficulties that have arisen in the past pertaining to Section 4 of the 2021 Act which allowed any aggrieved person, his/her parents, brother, sister, or any other person who is related to him/her by blood, marriage or adoption to file an FIR for unlawful conversion with the police.
What are the Changes to the Anti-Conversion Bill?
Unlike the existing law in which only an aggrieved person or his/ her parents, brother/ sister or any other person related to him/ her by blood, marriage or adoption may lodge an FIR against an act of conversion, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 allows anyone to file a complaint with the police over the violation.
The Bill says, Anyone who violates the provisions of the Act in connection with a juvenile, disabled or mentally weak person, a female or a person belonging to the SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) communities, will be liable for punishment not less than five years of imprisonment, but can extend up to 14 years, and will also be liable for a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh.
Currently, for such violations where the victim happens to be a female, a minor or someone from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the jail term from 2 to 10 years and the fine is of Rs 25,000.
For mass conversions, stringent punishment includes imprisonment of not less than seven years, which can extend up to 14 years, along with a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh. Currently, such violations result in a minimum jail term of 3 years and a maximum of 10 years with a fine of up to Rs 50,000.
Anyone who receives money from foreign or illegal organisations in relation with religious conversions, he or she will be liable for an imprisonment not less than seven years that can extend up to 14 years and will be also liable to a fine of not less than Rs 10 lakh.
A person who threatens to harm property, uses force or marries or promises marriage with the motive of conversion, the offender will be liable to prison of not less than 20 years, as per the proposed bill.
Stricter Bail Conditions
For those accused under Section 3, the Amendment introduces stringent bail conditions that are akin to the bail conditions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Under the new Section 7, an accused cannot be released on bail unless two conditions have been met. First, the public prosecutor (the advocate representing the state government prosecuting the crime) must be given the opportunity to oppose the bail application. Second, the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such an offence and that no offence can be committed by him while on bail.
With other BJP-ruled states such as Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh having enacted similar anti-conversion laws, Uttar Pradeshs Amendment could see them follow suit.
Upholding the Hindu sides case, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the Muslim sides plea on the maintainability of the suit in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. Dismissing the mosque committees petition, the court said all the 18 suits are maintainable and the trial can continue.
On June 6, Justice Mayank Kumar Jain had reserved his judgment on the plea moved by the Muslim side regarding maintainability of the suits. The court has now fixed August 12 as the date for framing of issues.
The ruling means that the high court is of the view that the suit is not barred by the section of the Places of Worship Act. It rejected the Muslim sides plea under Section 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), raising grounds of maintainability of the suit.
Several cases have been filed seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque, which stands adjacent to the Krishna temple, with litigants claiming that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of the temple.
The Muslim side, however, argued that the suits are barred under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, and some other laws. The Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and aims to maintain the religious character of such places as it existed on August 15, 1947.
The Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura was built on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, adjacent to the temple believed by the Hindus to be the birthplace of Krishna.
The Hindu side, in their suit, has claimed that the 17th-century Mughal-era mosque was built after demolishing a temple. The demand for a survey was admitted by a local court in December 2022, but the Muslim side had filed an objection in the HC.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On July 30, 2024, HBIS Group XuanSteel Company (HBIS XuanSteel) and SinoHytec successfully signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province. According to the agreement, both parties will accelerate the demonstration application of fuel cell vehicles, improve the green hydrogen supply system, and expedite the large-scale application of hydrogen energy.
Signing ceremony; photo credit: SinoHytec
This collaboration aims to help XuanSteel achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals while promoting the development of the Zhangjiakou renewable energy demonstration zone and the national carbon peak pilot city.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBIS Group, XuanSteel is fully committed to a green and low-carbon transformation, aiming to create Chinas first green transformation demonstration zone in the steel industry. In 2022, XuanSteel completed Phase One of the world's first 1.2-million-tonne hydrogen metallurgy demonstration project and is advancing comprehensive projects in hydrogen metallurgy, new energy, new materials, digital technology, intelligent manufacturing, and scientific innovation.
The partnership will leverage both companies' strengths in hydrogen energy applications, green hydrogen production, and hydrogen energy equipment. Starting with green hydrogen supply, the collaboration will expand the diversified application demonstrations of green hydrogen. The partnership will also demonstrate fuel cell vehicle applications in XuanSteels "diesel-to-hydrogen" green logistics chain, boosting the hydrogen energy industry in Zhangjiakou.
Additionally, addressing XuanSteel's green hydrogen needs in hydrogen metallurgy and the future green hydrogen market demand, SinoHytec and XuanSteel have established a long-term strategic cooperation relationship. They will explore cooperation in renewable energy hydrogen production and promote the coordinated development of the entire industrial chain.
The Union Public Service Commission has terminated the services of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar. The decision was taken after UPSC found the charges against her, of violating the examination rules and guidelines, correct.
The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC," the central governments department of personnel and training (DoPT) said in a statement.
Way ahead
The legal options for Puja after the UPSC decision could be limited since she failed to defend herself when the commission gave her a chance to do so.
The UPSC sent a show cause notice to Puja on July 18 for fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity".
Puja Khedkar, as per experts, has queered the pitch for herself by refusing to put her side of the story before the commission.
As per the UPSC, she first sought an extension from July 25 to August 4. The commission considered her request and granted time until 3.30 pm on July 30, making it clear that this was her final opportunity.
Despite extension in time allowed to her, she failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time," the DoPT statement said.
Puja had in 2023 challenged UPSCs decision on her candidature before the Central Administrative Tribunal. If she were to challenge the 2024 UPSC ruling again before CAT, the commission can argue that she was given enough opportunities to present her case but she chose not to appear.
Police case bigger challenge
The police case against Puja is a bigger challenge for her currently than the termination of her job. Delhi police lodged an FIR against Puja after the UPSCs preliminary inquiry found her faking her name, names of her mother and father, address, phone number, and email address. The UPSC said that Puja could escape scrutiny and take multiple attempts because of these alleged forgeries. Puja while seeking anticipatory bail from Delhis Patiala House Court has expressed apprehensions that police could now insist on her custodial interrogation. The court has reserved its order on her plea.
Police investigations against her parents are also open.
UPSC says due process followed
The Union Public Service Commission has said that it has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates from 2009 to 2023 and only Puja Khedkar was found guilty of sabotaging the UPSC Exam Rules.
No other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules. In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents name," it said.
The commission said that Puja misused the action that the UPSC took in good faith" while scrutinising the certificates of candidates. UPSC does only a preliminary scrutiny of the certificates viz. whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the year to which the certificate pertains, issuing date of the certificate, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, format of the certificate etc. Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year," it said.
With the UPSC lodging an FIR now, not just Puja but even those who provided her with caste and medical certificates could face legal action if a conspiracy can be proved.
In a rare move, close to 1,500 troops of Assam Rifles will be moving out of the forces core area and deployed in Jammu, which is witnessing terror attacks. According to an official, this will be the first time when the force, known as a friend of the Northeast, will be deployed in Jammu and may have a small base in J&K soon.
The Assam Rifles comes under the ministry of home affairs but operates under the operational control of the Indian Army. The force is staffed by Indian Army officials and is headed by a lieutenant general as the director general.
This will be the first time that two forces, Rashtriya Rifles and Assam Rifles, under the control of the Indian Army will be deployed in Jammu. Troops will be drawn from Manipur, where the Central Reserve Police Force will take over the operational area of the Assam Rifles. Two battalions will be deployed in Churachandpur, replacing the Assam Rifles.
While Kuki groups are opposing this development, the government has decided to proceed with the changes in deployment. On the other hand, Meitei groups have alleged that the Assam Rifles favours the Kukis and should be withdrawn from parts of Manipur.
Lieutenant General Vikas Lakhera on Wednesday took over as the 22nd director general of the Assam Rifles, known by the sobriquet Sentinels of the Northeast. He has varied and rich professional experience of Assam Rifles and the Northeast region, having served extensively there, including being inspector general in Assam Rifles in Nagaland.
Assam Rifles remains deployed in some of the most remote and underdeveloped areas, providing security to locals. The Assam Rifles has grown substantially over the years, from 17 battalions in 1960 to 46 battalions at present. The force also has a training centre and several logistics units. Through its long deployment in the tribal belt, the Assam Rifles has earned the complete confidence of the locals and has helped significantly in bringing the people of this region into the national mainstream, the force states.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a swipe at opposition leaders on Thursday who were mocking the Centre over water leakage in the new Parliament building following the incessant rainfall in the national capital.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya shared a post on X where he mentioned about when the old Parliaments building was submerged in water during the Zero hour in 2010, then not only, no one accused the British of building the old parliament in a haste manner, but also these Brown Sahibs found it aesthetic.
While sharing a news piece about the roof leakage on X, Malviya said, 2010: Parliament roof leaked during Zero Hour and the premise was submerged (water logged is not the right expression) in water. But no one accused the Britishers of building the old Parliament in haste. The Brown Sahibs they have left behind, still find it aesthetic.
2010: Parliament roof leaked during Zero Hour and the premise was submerged (water logged is not the right expression) in water. But no one accused the Britishers of building the old Parliament in haste. The Brown Sahibs they have left behind, still find it aesthetic.However, pic.twitter.com/31c4khHVa1 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 1, 2024
He further accused the opposition of doing politics and claimed that they reminisce the good old days of power and pelf, and scream at their rising irrelevance.
However, the iconic Central Hall of the wonderfully distinctive and charming old Parliament building now stinks of piss and is not usable anymore. But some people, who have never accessed the new building (wife getting to go in doesnt count), and cant get over the idea sniffing up backsides of their political masters, are upset. They reminisce the good old days of power and pelf, and scream at their rising irrelevance, he added.
His remarks came after several opposition leaders including, Congress Manickam Tagore, TMCs Mahua Moitra and SPs Akhilesh Yadav mocked the centre over the water leaking in the lobby of the new Parliament building by posting the video of water leaks in the premises.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, New parliament lobby is leaking water. Given the building is a monstrous edifice to @narendramodis ego it is only fitting that it has got shaky post 2024 lok sabha results. Bharat Mandapam leaks another case in point.
New parliament lobby is leaking water. Given the building is a monstrous edifice to @narendramodi s ego it is only fitting that it has got shaky post 2024 lok sabha results. Bharat Mandapam leaks another case in point. pic.twitter.com/3WUO0xokzr Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 1, 2024
Congress MP Manickam Tagore also shared the video on his X platform and swiped at the centre saying that outside the parliament, paper leak is going on (referring to recent NEET-UG paper leak) and inside the parliament, water leak is going on.
Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion, he said.
He also moved an Adjournment motion on this issue in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Paper leakage outside,water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion.Moving Adjournment motion on this issue in Loksabha. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/kNFJ9Ld21d Manickam Tagore .B . (@manickamtagore) August 1, 2024
SP Leader Akhilesh Yadav also slammed the BJP and said, The old parliament was better than this new parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the parliament built with billions of rupees. People are asking whether water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their well thought out design or
, , -- , , pic.twitter.com/PpJ36k6RJm Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 1, 2024
The new Parliament building, part of the governments ambitious Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista Redevelopment Project, was inaugurated on May 28, 2023, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The national capital has been witnessing incessant rains since last evening. On Thursday, the meteorological department forecast more rains are expected. On Wednesday large parts of the city were inundated, choking key stretches with unending traffic and leaving people stranded as roads resembled rivers.
Torrential rains on Wednesday wreaked havoc in several parts of North India leaving more than 15 people dead and several missing. While Delhi NCR witnessed incidents of drowning due to massive waterlogging, building collapses and electrocutions, Himachal Pradesh saw devastation due to cloudbursts and flash floods swept away highways in Uttarakhand. Waterlogging was also reported from some parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its forecast said more rains were predicted in the northern parts of the country. The IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on August 1.
7 Dead in Delhi NCR
At least seven people were killed in Delhi while three people suffered injuries in separate incidents as the national capital witnessed heavy rains on Wednesday.
A woman along with her son drowned in a waterlogged drain near Khoda Colony in Delhis Ghazipur area, while, a 12-year-old boy died due to electrocution at Bindapur area of Dwarka district. One person was killed in the Subzi Mandi area and three more were injured two in Shastri Park and one in Defence Colony due to building collapse incidents following the torrential rain.
In Gurugram, three people died due to electrocution near IFFCO Chowk metro station around 10 pm on Wednesday after a high-tension wire broke and fell on them due to heavy rains.
The Delhi Police received 2,945 calls in the last 24 hours regarding traffic jams, 127 calls for water logging and 27 complaints regarding building collapse and 50 of tree uprooting.
Cloudbursts Devastate Himachal Pradesh, 2 Dead
The rain fury lead to devastation in Shimla and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh as cloudbursts hit the region on Wednesday. While two people died, over 50 were missing after the two separate cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh. The cloudburst incidents were reported in Rampur tehsil of Shimla, Padhar tehsil of Mandi district, and the villages of Jaon and Nirmand in Kullu.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said teams of NDRF, SDRF, Police, Home Guard and Fire Services were engaged in relief, search and rescue operations.
Himachal Pradesh Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that the barrage of the Malana power project in Kullu had collapsed, leaving people stranded and road connectivity currently cut off.
The minister said that several bridges were damaged following the incessant rainfall in the state and CM Sukhu had called an emergency meeting.
A video went viral on social media showing a multistorey building in Himachal Pradesh collapsing and getting swept away by the swollen currents of the Parvati River. The Beas River was also flowing above the danger mark.
10 Killed in Uttarakhand
Heavy rains and flash floods threw life out of gear in parts of Uttarakhand, with Tehri and Rudraprayag districts being the worst-affected. At least 10 people have been killed due to landslides and rain-related accidents since Wednesday evening.
The SDRF has evacuated nearly 1,000 pilgrims who were stranded in different parts of the Kedarnath trek owing to rains and landslides. Authorities said the foot road to Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag district that starts from Gaurikund had been severely damaged in at least nine places.
Around 20-25 metres of the national highway connecting Rudraprayag and Rishikesh had been washed away, making vehicular movement difficult. About 30 metres of the highway between Sonprayag and Gaurikund had been either washed away or affected due to debris that came with the landslide.
Waterlogging In Parts of UP and Punjab, 3 Dead in Jaipur
In Jaipur, three people lost their lives after they were trapped in a flooded basement amid heavy rains.
Heavy rains also disrupted life in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab on Wednesday.
In Lucknow, intense rainfall led to extensive waterlogging around the UP Vidhan Sabha and affected several areas of the state capital. In Varanasi, water entered parts of the cremation site of Manikarnika Ghat, with people having to wait for carrying out cremations.
In Bhatinda, rains lead to waterlogging in several parts.
Two people died and several are missing after two separate cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The cloudbursts occurred in Shimla and Mandi districts, causing significant disruptions and damage in the districts.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu stated that more than 50 people are missing following cloudburst incidents in Rampur tehsil of Shimla, Padhar tehsil of Mandi district, and the villages of Jaon and Nirmand in Kullu.
Sukhu is in contact with officials and closely monitoring the relief and rescue operations.
Expressing grief over the situation, CM Sukhu took X and said, Very sad news has been received about more than 50 people missing due to cloudburst in Rampur tehsil of Shimla, Padhar tehsil of Mandi district and Jaon, Nirmand villages of Kullu.
Teams of NDRF, SDRF, Police, Home Guard and Fire Services are engaged in relief, search and rescue operations. The local administration has been instructed to carry out relief and rescue operations smoothly. I am in touch with the officials and monitoring the relief and rescue operations, he added.
, , 50 NDRF, SDRF, , , pic.twitter.com/t3iUiFuIqn Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (@SukhuSukhvinder) August 1, 2024
In Shimla, 36 people are missing following a cloudburst in the Samej Khad area of Rampur, while 8 people are reported missing in Mandi. The rescue teams have recovered two bodies.
Himachal Pradesh Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that 36 people are reported missing in the Samej area of Shimla district. In addition, 8 people are missing in the Tikan area of Mandi, where 2 bodies have been recovered and 1 person is injured.
PM Modi Assures All Possible Assistance
Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been closely monitoring the situation in Himachal Pradeshs Mandi in the wake of heavy rains and a cloudburst.
He also asked top officials to ensure all possible assistance is provided to the affected. Relief operations are underway in full swing as 14 teams of NDRF have been deployed in the affected region.
Rahul Gandhi Speaks To Himachal CM
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday condoled the loss of lives in the cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh, and said that he had spoken with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to take stock of the difficult situation.
The news of the death and disappearance of many people due to cloudburst and heavy rainfall in Shimla, Mandi and Kullu is extremely saddening, Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families in this difficult time, the former Congress chief said in a post in Hindi on X. He hoped that all the missing people would be found as soon as possible.
Malana Dam Damaged In Kullu
Negi also informed that the barrage of the Malana power project in Kullu has also collapsed, leaving people stranded and road connectivity currently cut off.
Minister said that several bridges have been damaged following the incessant rainfall in the state and CM Sukhu has called an emergency meeting.
Himachal Pradesh: The cloudburst in Malana has caused damage to the Malana Dam pic.twitter.com/VtxqhoPPSl IANS (@ians_india) August 1, 2024
Earlier, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap informed that 19 people are missing following a cloudburst in the Samej Khad area of Rampur. He added that the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team had been dispatched to the site.
#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | 19 people are missing after a cloudburst in the Samej Khad of Rampur area in Shimla district. The SDRF team at the spot for the search and rescue operation(Visual source DPRO Shimla) pic.twitter.com/afz23ylf4P ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
In Mandi district, a cloudburst in Thaltukhod of the Padhar subdivision has led to the recovery of one body, with 9 people still unaccounted for. The incident has also caused damage to several houses.
Mandi Deputy Commissioner Apoorv Devgan said that the District Administration and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are on their way to the affected area.
JP Nadda Speaks To Himachal CM Sukhu
Union Minister and BJP chief JP Nadda spoke with Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to gather information and assure support from the central government following the significant losses and disruptions caused by the cloudburst in Himachal.
Nadda also contacted former CM and Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, as well as the BJP State President, directing all BJP workers to actively participate in relief efforts.
Meanwhile, former Himachal CM and Leader of Opposition, Jairam Thakur, expressed his sadness over the tragic loss of life in Mandi due to the recent cloudburst. On X, Thakur urged the State Government to prioritize relief and rescue operations at the sites affected by the heavy rains across the state last night.
, pic.twitter.com/OjZbKDvzy9 Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp) August 1, 2024
IMD Issues Orange Alert For Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is witnessing heavy rainfall, causing the water level in the Beas River in Manali to rise significantly.
VIDEO | Himachal Pradesh weather: Water level rises in Beas River due to incessant rain in Manali.(Source: Third party) (Full video available on PTI Videos https://t.co/dv5TRARJn4) pic.twitter.com/8hmfpRAr1q Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 1, 2024
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Himachal Pradesh, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday. Heavy downpours are expected to continue for the next 2-3 days in the state.
A veterinary hospital located in Koppal, a district in Karnataka, is currently in the headlines after a blood transfusion was performed here from a 3-year-old Labrador Retriever to a 10-year-old Labrador dog. According to Local 18 Karnataka, the 10-year-old Labradors haemoglobin levels had dropped to 3 grams per deciliter. Due to this low haemoglobin level, this dog required blood. When the veterinary hospitals doctors got to know about this incident, they contacted the owners of 3 dogs through their addresses in the city. The medical professionals asked the owners to come up with their pets in the clinic and get their blood samples tested.
Amongst the 3 dogs, the blood of the Koppal resident Basavaraja Poojars 3-year-old Labrador Retriever Bhairav was a match for the required blood sample. 300 ml of its blood was tested and taken from the neck within 12 minutes and given to a 10-year-old Labrador dog as per medical regulations.
Dogs generally have 7 blood types and have blood volumes of only 10 per cent of their body weight. This is the sixth time a blood transfusion between dogs has taken place in Koppal. Koppal Veterinary Clinic is popular for its excellent track record in animal care.
Blood Transfusion between dogs
History
In 1665, a physician named Richard Lower successfully performed a blood transfusion between two dogs. This is some 150 years before the first successful human-to-human exchange was managed. It may have been an experiment, but 350 years later, doggy donors are still helping to save lives. An organisation named Pet Blood Bank has been running canine blood exchanges since 2007 and provides veterinary surgeries with blood needed for pets with poor health. Similar to humans, dogs also have different blood types and will either be DEA 1 positive or negative.
The donor dogs are brought in by their owners to the Pet Blood Bank. A local anaesthetic cream is applied to these animals to help keep them comfortable while blood is taken. Over 10,000 lifesaving dogs are registered with Pet Blood Bank to date.
The blood types of both dogs must be matched before the transfusion.
In a remarkable act of humanity, a private bus turned into an ambulance when a student onboard showcased the signs of a heart attack in Mangaluru on July 30. They reportedly covered six kilometres in six minutes to reach the hospital. The private bus was travelling on route no 13 from Kunjathbail to Mangaladevi temple. A man named Gajendra Kundar was driving, while another named Mahesh Poojary was the conductor. They were joined by Suresh, another driver who was supposed to take over the responsibility of driving from Kundar was also on the bus. Around 3 pm, approx 10-15 students from Yenepoya University boarded the bus at Kuloor. When the bus reached Kottara Chowki, one student a girl seated near the front door complained of chest pain. Even as her college mates were attending to her, Mr Kundar, Mr Poojary and Mr Suresh decided to take the bus to a nearby hospital.
Ganjendra Kumar didnt lose his wits and put on the siren sign on the bus to reach the hospital. Mr Kundar took the bus to Father Muller Medical College Hospital at Kankanady within six minutes disbarring any stoppages. The bus stopped outside the Casualty block crossing the safety guidelines. The staff shifted the student inside the hospital. Due to the swift action of the bus driver, the student was able to get timely treatment. The video of the incident is now circulating on the internet. Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators Association President Azia Parthapady lauded the three crew members of the private bus for their quick response to the emergency, and for ensuring timely treatment for the student.
Driving at high speed can be considered dangerous, but this time the swift response of the driver saved the life of a college student. The wit to ensure that traffic decimates with the siren sign showcases the responsible nature of the bus driver.
Two sectors of Jammu and north Kashmir are virtually teeming with foreign terrorists with a fresh wave of infiltration, top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 on Thursday.
There are several launchpads at the border with about 500 terrorists poised for infiltration, they added.
CNN-News18 has exclusive details about the locations. On the Kashmir side, the launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are in Leepa, Jura, Chhejua, Athmuqam, Dudhnial, Tejian, Rattapani, Kel, Dhakki, Sonar, and Domel.
The Jammu side launchpads in PoK are located in Satwal Top, Bala Wali, Forward Kahuta, Bata Hallan, Nikial Kaman (Kotli), Tattapani, Khuiretta, Kot-Kotera, and Kotli.
A terror hideout was busted in the Kalakote area of Rajouri district by Army and police in a joint operation.
In photographs exclusively accessed by CNN-News18, the hideout and weapons used by the terrorists can be seen.
In the images, five highly trained and heavily armed terrorists can also be seen, waiting to infiltrate from the forward post of the Pakistan army in the Tattapani sector of PoK.
These terrorists were taken from Hajira to the launchpad last week in a Pakistan army vehicle, said sources.
Till last year, the Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a shadow organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was operating in Jammu and carried out 6-7 attacks on security forces and civilians, they said.
In April 2024, said the sources, large-scale infiltration happened in Jammu with operatives from Jaish-e-Mohammed who are highly trained. They entered Doda, Riasi, and Udhampur directly.
According to the intelligence sources, 30-35 Jaish men in 5-6 groups are on the eastern side of Jammu, in areas like Doda, Riasi, and Udhampur.
Also, 10-15 Lashkar men operating in 3-4 groups are in areas like Poonch and Rajouri, they said.
These groups that have entered the higher reaches of the mountains come down, attack, and go back, the sources said.
They added that with the increased dominance of the Army, CRPF, and police, terror incidents are low right now but the numbers are likely to go up with any relaxation.
Unless they are neutralised or arrested, it will be difficult to control this, said a source. The total number of foreign terrorists in Jammu alone is 50 with operatives from both Lashkar and Jaish. In Kashmir valley too, infiltration has happened in the last three months and this new group has been spotted as well. Around 10
launchpads across the borders in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are also fully equipped and poised for infiltration.
According to intelligence inputs, about 250 fully-trained terrorists on each side of Jammu and Kashmir are ready to enter.
About 10-15 terrorists in Kashmir are hiding and have not attacked so far, but they are ready for a major strike very soon, said the sources.
Machhal , Keran, and Uri in Kashmir and Hira Nagar in Jammu are active areas for infiltration, they added.
They are entering with new names to make it organic and allow local fighters to maintain deniability, said a source. The weapon marks are mainly of AK 47 and M4. This M4 is the same, which was left by Americans in Kabul.
CNN-News18 has already reported that the recent increase in hostilities in Jammu could be the early beginnings of a Kargil II-like conflict after a soldier was killed and four others, including a captain, were injured as the Indian Army foiled an attack on Saturday by Pakistans Border Action Team (BAT) in the Kamakari sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district.
Intelligence sources said that the recent attacks signal that the special forces of Pakistan are backing the operation and the non-state actors involved.
They drew a similarity to the Kargil War of 1999 because at that time also Pakistani armed forces trained and deployed troops and terrorists who launched an attack to seize fortified positions overlooking NH 1A in the Drass and Batalik sectors of Kargil in Ladakh. India understood that the attack was a well-organised military operation and defeated Pakistan in Operation Vijay, a war that was fought over the summer of 1999.
The sources also said that Kargil II could be fueled with the aim of creating an international diversion and deflecting attention from the Ukraine War.
According to sources, the United States and the West might be fueling this conflict to divert attention from the Ukraine war.
In a significant recognition of grass-roots leadership, the Narendra Modi government has invited 150 women panchayat heads (Sarpanch) who have excelled in achieving saturation in three priority government programmes to attend the Independence Day celebrations in Delhi, News18 has learnt.
The panchayat leaders were selected from the list of achievers recognised in the Prime Ministers Awards for Public Administration. The sarpanches and members from five states Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Meghalaya, and Uttar Pradesh have demonstrated outstanding performance and innovation in implementing government schemes.
The decision to call 150 women sarpanches is a two-way outreach initiative by the government that underscores its commitment to fostering and recognising political leadership at the panchayat level, said a senior officer involved in the process.
It aims to actively encourage women to participate in politics and administration in rural areas, whether as sarpanch or panchayat members. This decision aligns with the Modi governments broader campaign to promote Nari Shakti, he added.
In the wake of the recent electoral losses in over 50 rural Lok Sabha constituencies, the initiative also looks like Modi governments efforts to launch a focused panchayat outreach initiative. By inviting the women, the administration is reaffirming its commitment to grass-roots leadership and its Nari Shakti campaign. This effort not only recognises and acknowledges these leaders but also seeks to rebuild and strengthen connections with rural areas, underscoring a renewed focus on empowering women and enhancing rural governance.
Modis Push
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has invited the women panchayat leaders from five states to Delhi. To promote innovation and efficient implementation of government schemes, the Modi government launched the Prime Ministers Award programme. From these states, 1,288 panchayat heads were selected for achieving saturation in Priority Sector Schemes under the Prime Ministers Awards for Excellence in Public Administration.
Of these achievers, 150 women panchayat leaders have been invited to Delhi to attend the programme at the Red Fort from where the prime minister addresses the nation. This event is part of the ministrys outreach initiative, emphasising the delivery of services to remote villages across states. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), which comes directly under the Prime Ministers Office, supervises and monitors the schemes and their progress.
A senior officer involved in the schemes said: The initiative highlights the governments dedication to empowering local governance and ensuring essential services reach every corner of the country. But, it is also seen as an outreach programme at the panchayat level. The government wants to groom and empower women leaders who join politics at the grass-roots level and take part in rural administration.
In todays digest, News18 brings you the latest updates on What SC Judges Said In Ruling Allowing SC/ST Sub-Quotas, Niharika Konidela Clears the Air on Rumors of Family Tiff with Allu Arjun and other top stories.
Wayanad Landslide: Death Toll Rises To 256; Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi Reach Kerala
The Rescue operations in Keralas Wayanad were resumed on Thursday as the construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, constituted one of the largest rescue efforts in the hill district, devastated by a deadly calamity. READ MORE
Himachal Cloudbursts: 2 Dead, Over 50 Missing In Shimla, Mandi; PM Modi Assures Prompt Aid
Two people died and several are missing after two separate cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The cloudbursts occurred in Shimla and Mandi districts, causing significant disruptions and damage in the districts. READ MORE
Reservation Should Be Meant For First Generation: What SC Judges Said In Ruling Allowing SC/ST Sub-Quotas
Reservation should be meant for only the first generation among a category, said Justice Pankaj Mithal as the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is permissible. Justice Mithal called for a periodic review of reservations to check if the second generation has come shoulder to shoulder with the general category. READ MORE
Irans Khamenei Orders Direct Attack On Israel After Hamas Leaders Assassination As Netanyahu Vows Payback
A day after Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a strike in Iran, tensions have flared up between Iran and Israel. While Israel has not issued any statement taking responsibility for killing Haniyeh, as it did for killing the Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, Iran has ordered a direct strike on Israel. READ MORE
Anand Mahindra Reacts After Lakshya Sens Behind-The-Back Shot Goes Viral WATCH
Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen was on fire on Wednesday (July 31) during his last Group L match against Indonesias Jonathan Christie. The 22-year-old Indian got the better of the world No. 4 badminton player by a margin of 21-18, 21-12 to book a place in the pre-quarterfinal against Indias HS Prannoy. READ MORE
Niharika Konidela Says Family First Amid Rumoured Family Tiff with Allu Arjun: We Didnt Speak On
Niharika Konidela opened up about rumours that all is not well with her family and Allu Arjun. The rumours began during the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections. During the elections, which took place earlier this year, Allu Arjun supported YSRCP candidate Silpa Ravi Reddy instead of his uncle, Andhra Pradeshs Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan who was also contesting in the elections. READ MORE
Gif: Manila Bulletin Online / YouTube
We learned in Baltimore earlier this year that bridges arent as resilient as assumed. A bridge in the Philippines withstood the impact of multiple barges last week as Typhoon Gaemi, a Category 4 storm, swept across East Asia. The dramatic video of the crash shows a rivers rushing muddy current slam three bargesinto a low bridges road deck.
The footage was recorded by Alex Rellosa from her apartment balcony by the F. Manalo Bridge in Pasig, a city roughly 8 miles east of Manila. She told AFP, I already heard screaming, thats why I went out to the balcony. I saw there were people stranded on the barges. The typhoon left a wake of destruction in its path, killing 21 people and displacing over a half-million others. The storm featured wind speeds up to 145 miles per hour and dumped a foot of rain on Manila.
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While the barges didnt destroy the bridge, the Philippines didnt escape maritime disaster. The oil tanker MT Terra Nova capsized in Manila Bay while carrying almost 400,000 gallons of industrial oil, Reuters reports. The vessel began spilling oil as it sank. Its not entirely clear how large the oil spill is, but it will be the largest in the countrys history.
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Reservation should be meant for only the first generation among a category, said Justice Pankaj Mithal as the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is permissible. Justice Mithal called for a periodic review of reservation to check if the second generation has come shoulder to shoulder with the general category.
The 7-judge constitution bench, by a 6:1 majority, held that sub-classifying reserved category groups the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was legal. While six judges were in favour, Justice Bela Trivedi dissented.
The ruling also overruled the EV Chinnaiah case ruling. In EV Chinnaiah case, the bench of Justices N Santosh Hegde, SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema, SB Sinha had held that all the castes in the Presidential Order under Article 341(1) of the Constitution formed one class of homogeneous group and the same could not be further subdivided.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that it was established through historical evidence that Scheduled Caste notified by the President are a heterogenous class and not homogeneous.
Top Quotes From Justice Pankaj Mithal
Reservation should be meant for only the first generation among a category and if the second generation has come up then benefits of reservation shall not be given and state should see if after reservation the second generation has come shoulder to shoulder with the general category.
Top Quotes From CJI DY Chadrachud
The members of SC ST are not often able to climb up the ladder due to the systemic discrimination faced. Article 14 permits sub classification of caste, court must check if class is homogeneous and a class not integrated for a purpose can be further classified.
Historical evidence shows that depressed class were not homogenous class and social conditions show that all classes under that is not uniform. In the state of MP, out of 25 castes only 9 are scheduled castes. We have also established through historical evidence that scheduled caste notified by the president are a heterogenous class. there is nothing in article 15, 16 and 341 which prevents sub classification for SC if there is a rational for distinction and there is a rational nexus for the object sought to be achieved.
The struggles that a class faces does not disappear with the representation it receives in the lower grades. Chinnaiah is overruled.
Top Quotes From Justice Gavai
I have referred to speech of Dr Ambedkar in 1949 where he said unless we have social democracy there is no use of political democracy.
Hardships and backwardness suffered by some of the scheduled castes is different by each caste. EV Chinnaiah is wrongly decided. It was argued that a party can give reservation to a sub caste to gain political mileage, but I do not agree with this. The ultimate objective would be to realise real equality. As has been held by judicial pronouncements, it has to be supported by empirical data.
When a person gets into a compartment, they try all means to stop others from getting into that compartment. Only on account of social justice they have got the benefit but when state decides to give that benefit to the ones who are not adequately represented then the same cannot be denied.
State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the SC ST category and take them out of the fold of affirmative action (reservation). This is the only way to gain true equality.
Top Quotes From Justice Bela Trivedi
I respectfully disagree with the majority judgment. I have not approved the manner in which 3 judge bench referred it to larger bench without assigning any reasons.
The three judge bench passed a cryptic and perfunctory order without assigning any reasons. Doctrine of precedents is the core value of our legal system. In the instant case, the reference was made to reconsider EV Chinnaiah without any reasons and that too after 15 years of the judgment. The very reference was itself wrong.
In absence of executive of legislative power, the states do not have any competence to sub classify the castes and sub classify the benefits which are reserved for the all of SC.
Under the guise of providing reservation states cannot tinker with presidential list and it will be nothing but colorable exercise of power which is impermissible under law. The whole doctrine of the colorable exercise of power is that what is not permitted directly cannot be done indirectly.
Top Quotes From Justice SC Sharma
Identification of creamy layer among SC ST must become a constitutional imperative.
Key Takeaways From The Supreme Court Ruling
Sub-classification amongst reserved categories permissible: SC majority verdict holds
Supreme court overrules the EV Chinnaiah judgement
Supreme Court says SC/STs cannot be considered to be homogenous
Supreme Court says sub-classification is only possible if supported by quantifiable data.
Permissible for Centre and States to earmark most backward classes within the reserved category of SC/ST: Supreme Court
What is The EV Chinnaiah Judgement?
In 2005 in the EV Chinnaiah vs The State of Andhra Pradesh and Others case, the bench of Justices N Santosh Hegde, SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema, SB Sinha had held that all the castes in the Presidential Order under Article 341(1) of the Constitution formed one class of homogeneous group and the same could not be further subdivided.
A Delhi court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused in a case of cheating and forgery. The development came a day after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled the IAS Candidature of Khedkar and permanently debarred her from all future exams and selections.
The investigation agency needs to widen the scope of the investigation. The agency is directed to find out the candidates recommended [by the UPSC] in the recent past who have availed benefits beyond the permissible age limit under OBC quota and those who availed Persons with Benchmark Disabilities benefits despite not being entitled to it, the Court ordered.
During the hearing, Khedkar told the court that she was being targeted for filing a sexual harassment complaint against an officer.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala on Wednesday reserved the order after hearing arguments on the application filed by Khedkar, who claimed that she has an imminent threat of arrest.
The prosecution opposed the application, saying she had cheated the system.
What Did the Court Say In Its Order Today
Rejecting the anticipatory bail plea in the case, the Delhi court said that the allegations against Puja Khedkar are grave and serious and require thorough investigation.
Custodial interrogation of the applicant/accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish the involvement of the other persons involved in the conspiracy. In the present facts and circumstances, the court is of the considered opinion that it is not a fit case to exercise discretionary powers of anticipatory bail in favour of the applicant/accused, the court order stated.
The court further noted that Khedkar breached the wall of the complainant not only once but repeatedly with deceitful means.
Puja Khedkar Snatched Rights Of Eligible Aspirants: Court
The court in its order further stated that accused Puja Khedkar, who is a trainee IAS officer, has not only cheated and defrauded the UPSC but also snatched the lawful rights of eligible UPSC aspirants with benchmark disability.
Puja Khedkars UPSC Candidature Cancelled
Earlier, the UPSC announced the cancellation of the provisional candidature of controversial IAS trainee Puja Khedkar and debarred her from taking future exams.
A Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued by the UPSC to Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022 (CSE-2022) on July 18 for fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch allegedly booked Khedkar on July 19 for misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) filed a police case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing the civil services examination by faking her identity to take the exam beyond the permissible number of attempts.
A dedicated team led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) level of the Crime Branch was tasked to collect the documents from various government departments.
One fisherman was killed and another went missing after their boat capsized mid-sea following collision with the Sri Lankan navy ship near Katchatheevu Island in Tamil Nadus Rameswaram on Thursday.
The mechanised fishing boat capsized when the Sri Lankan navy attempted to arrest them on a charge of illegal fishing about 5 nautical miles north of Katchatheevu Island on Thursday morning, a senior fisheries official said.
Out of the four Indian fishermen who were on board the vessel, one was killed, one went missing and remaining two were rescued and brought ashore to Kankesanthurai. A search is underway for the missing Indian fisherman.
Meanwhile, Rameshwaram fishermen and their families have staged a protest over the incident.
The External Affairs ministry also called in Sri Lankas acting high commissioner, Priyanga Wickremesinghe, on Thursday and lodged a strong protest over the incident.
The Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi was called in today morning to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was registered over the incident. We expressed our shock and anguish at the unfortunate loss of life, the MEA statement said.
Our High Commissioner in Colombo will also be raising the matter with the Sri Lankan government later today, it added.
Indian Consulate officials in Jaffna have been asked to urgently go to Kankesanthurai to support the fishermen and their families, it added.
A collision was reported early this morning between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat 5 nautical miles north of Katchatheevu Island. Indian Consulate Officials in Jaffna have been instructed to immediately rush to Kankesanthurai and extend all possible assistance to the fishermen and their families, it added.
Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister DR S Jaishankar urging to take cognisance of the matter.
On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, we bring to the kind attention of our Hon EAM Thiru @DrSJaishankar on a terrible incident that led to the death of our Tamil Fisherman in the High Seas. We also request the kind intervention of our Hon EAM for finding one missing fisherman & the early release of the detainees, he said in a letter addressed to Jaishankar.
On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, we bring to the kind attention of our Hon EAM Thiru @DrSJaishankar avl on a terrible incident that led to the death of our Tamil Fisherman in the High Seas. We also request the kind intervention of our Hon EAM for finding one missing fisherman & the pic.twitter.com/PxeNrVVVg5 K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) August 1, 2024
Dozens of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen are arrested by the two countries each year on charges of violating the maritime boundary or illegal fishing.
The Rescue operations in Keralas Wayanad were resumed on Thursday as the construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, constituted one of the largest rescue efforts in the hill district, devastated by a deadly calamity.
The massive landslides which struck Wayanad on Tuesday claimed the lives of at least 291 people and left 206 missing. Indian Army, NDRF along with local emergency response departments continued their massive search and rescue operation to trace people feared to be trapped in the tragedy.
Following Are The Latest Updates:
LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi along with sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, visited relief camp at St. Joseph School in Meppadi.
VIDEO | Wayanad Landslides: LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi), along with sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi), visits relief camp at St. Joseph School in Meppadi. #WayanadLandslide pic.twitter.com/gizwGrxKnX Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 1, 2024
Both the leaders reached the Choorlamala landslide site and expressed their condolences by sharing the grief of the victims and assuring all possible support for their rehabilitation.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday held a high-level meeting to discuss the rescue situation in Wayanad. Rescue operations will continue in the river to search for missing persons. Rescued people are temporarily shifted to camps. Rehabilitation works will be done at the earliest, as we have done in earlier situations too. I request the media to avoid meeting people and shooting inside the camps. You may talk to them outside the camps, it is important to protect the privacy of the individuals he said.
Vijayan emphasised on giving psychological support to the survivors. He further announced to camp a committee of four state ministers who will coordinate the recue activities. Most important is giving psychological support to the survivors. We have to avoid the spread of the epidemic. Not only human beings, but many animals also died in the calamity. Have to bury them all properly. A committee of four ministers will camp here and coordinate activities. For those who lost certificates, the government will re-issue them, he said.
Wayanad landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says Most important is giving psychological support to the survivors. We have to avoid the spread of the epidemic. Not only human beings, but many animals also died in the calamity. Have to bury them all properly. A committee of pic.twitter.com/CKvNX0AdZX ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal reached Wayanad on Thursday to take stock of the situation of the rescue operation. Both the leaders also visited a relief camp at Meppadi Govt Higher Secondary School in Wayanad to meet the survivors of the landslide.
VIDEO | Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) , and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) visit the ground zero at landslide-hit Wayanad, Kerala.(Full video available on PTI Videos https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/WbbFvfSqAX Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 1, 2024
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday also took an aerial inspection of the landslide-hit district. He was travelling to Wayanad from Kozhikode. The chief secretary Dr V Venu and DGP, Shaik Darvesh Sahib also accompanied him.
#WATCH | Wayanad Landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan travelling to Wayanad from Kozhikode. The chief secretary Dr V Venu and DGP, Shaik Darvesh Sahib are accompanying him(Source CMO) pic.twitter.com/WKsuzK6eYc ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
The Rescue teams resumed the rescue efforts on Thursday at several places in Wayanad which were hit by a series of massive landslides on Tuesday claiming the lives of at least 256 people and leaving hundreds injured. According to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 206 are still missing.
#WATCH | Search and rescue operations continue in landslide-affected areas in Keralas Wayanad. Drone visuals from the Chooralmala areaThe death toll stands at 167. pic.twitter.com/CyQEg1yz7E ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
The Indian Army, in coordination with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG), to carry out search operations at three locations Attamala, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala. Each team is to be accompanied by a dog squad. Five JCBs have been shifted to the west side of the stream to clear debris and facilitate search operations. The launching of a 190-foot bridge is expected to be completed by today afternoon. Simultaneously, the construction of an improvised footbridge has been completed, said Indian Army official.
Kerala | Wayanad Landslide | The Indian Army, in coordination with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG), to carry out search operations at three locations Attamala, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala. Each team is to be accompanied by a dog squad. Five JCBs have been shifted to pic.twitter.com/N3LqYDKOZ6 ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
The IAFs C-17 has transported 53 metric tons of essential supplies such as a Bailey bridge, Dog squads, medical aid, and other essential equipment for rescue support operations. Additionally, an-32 and C-130 are being utilised for ferrying relief materials and personnel. Collectively, these aircraft of IAF have facilitated the transportation of over 200 people including rescue teams and displaced residents to and from the disaster stricken zone. While the challenging weather is restricting flying, IAF is finding opportune time to undertake HADR operations.
IAF has also deployed a diverse fleet helicopters towards the effort. The Mi-17 and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) have been inducted to undertake HADR operations. Despite prevailing wide spread bad weather conditions, IAF aircraft continue to facilitate evacuation of stranded individuals to the nearest medical facilities and safe zones and delivery of essential supplies till late evening of 31 July.
Four additional assistant collectors deployed to aid the Wayanad landslide response. Assistant collectors from Idukki, Palakkad, and Kozhikode districts have been deployed to support the Wayanad district administration in the aftermath of the landslide.
Congress Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the Wayanad landslides as a calamity of severe nature under the MPLADS guidelines in order to facilitate urgent assistance from MPs to the affected areas. In his letter to Shah, Tharoor said that on July 30, in the dead of night, a series of devastating landslides struck the Wayanad district of Kerala, claiming over hundred lives and leaving many more severely injured in hospitals, while countless others remain missing, trapped beneath the debris.
Tharoor said, We are focusing on the hope of rescuing some people still because the truth is 200 lives have been lost but still another 200 people are missing. 2 villages have disappeared from the map in this severe crisis The Union Home Minister said that the early warning was issued, but the CM said that the warning was not sufficiently serious it was a green or orange alert and not a red alert. All of these things can be disputed later. Eventually, preventive measures are requiredI have asked for it to be declared a severe calamity because, under the MPLADS fund, any MP in Indian can donate up to Rs 1 cr for a natural calamity, once the govt declares so
#WATCH | Wayanad Landslide | Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, We are focusing on the hope of rescuing some people still because the truth is 200 lives have been lost but still another 200 people are missing. 2 villages have disappeared from the map in this severe crisis The pic.twitter.com/SnX4L2gYBO ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Several world leaders, including Russia President Vladimir Putin expressed condolence and sorrow over the devastating landslides in the Kerala district. Kindly accept the most sincere condolences over the tragic consequences of the landslides in Kerala. Please convey words of sympathy and support to the near and dear ones of the deceased as well as wishes for a speedy recovery of all injured, said the Russian President in the letter addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.
Kerala Minister K Rajan said that over 1600 forces are involved in rescue operation. says, This day is very important, more than 1600 forces are involved in the rescue operations. Social workers are also involvedCM arrived at Kalpetta around 9:30 am and at 10:30 am there will be a meeting with officialshe will visit this spot after that, he said.
#WATCH | Wayanad landslide | K Rajan, Kerala Minister says, This day is very important, more than 1600 forces are involved in the rescue operations. Social workers are also involvedCM arrived at Kalpetta around 9:30 am and at 10:30 am there will be a meeting with pic.twitter.com/VSgtStRG14 ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Union Minister George Kurien reached Kerala on Thursday on the dircetion on PM Modi to tkae stock of the situation. He said, I am being sent by the prime minister here Several columns of the army and NDRF are here and two columns of DSE are here already. The Army and Air Force have had their six helicopters here since yesterday including one Navy helicopter. They are dropping food because some people are without connection. They are that way. They arent getting any food or anything because only one road is there to reach the villages and it is damaged Yesterday morning, the PM declared the compensation of Rs 2 lakhs from the centre for the relatives of the persons who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 for the injured. In the early morning itself, the prime ministers office contacted me and I was directed to reach here
#WATCH | Kerala | Wayanad Landslide | Union Minister George Kurien says, I am being sent by the prime minister here Several columns of the army and NDRF are here and two columns of DSE are here already. The Army and Air Force have had their six helicopters here since pic.twitter.com/tJVgyrs6mX ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Brigadier Arjun Segan, Commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre said, Today is the 3rd day of rescue and search operation. We built a metallic footbridge overnightwe hope that we will be able to complete the work of bailey bridge which is for 24 tonnes weight category, by this afternoonour engineers were on the job throughout the nightwe sent 5 earth moving equipment yesterday and today also we have sent many earth moving equipment. This is making our search operation much easier.
#WATCH | Wayanad landslide | Brigadier Arjun Segan, Commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre says, Today is the 3rd day of rescue and search operation. We built a metallic footbridge overnightwe hope that we will be able to complete the work of bailey bridge which pic.twitter.com/RWP27Ylyzf ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
Indian Army, NDRF along with local emergency response departments continued their massive search and rescue operation to trace people feared to be trapped in the tragedy.
Climate activist and environmentalist G Sundarrajan blamed man-made climate disaster for the enviromental tragdies. Climate change is causing this extreme rainfall in a short duration of time. This has become the character of climate change. Kerala, a state that used to receive about 3,000 mm of rainfall over six months. But, today, that 3,000 mm of rainfall falls within a few weeks of time. The number of heavy rainfall days are increasing and the number of minimum rainfall days are decreasing. Because Wayanad has indiscriminate felling of trees, damps, tunnels and roads and place is unmindful of what will happen to soil and rocks. This makes land ready for disates. When heavy rain falls, theres a huge landslide Wayanad is a man-made disaster, he said.
Vijayan on Wednesday said that the coordinated and extensive rescue operations by the NDRF, Army, and other agencies ensured that over 1,500 people were saved from the landslide-hit areas of the hill district.
In Mundakkai, which was cut off from the rest of the district, makeshift bridges and pulleys were erected over gushing rivers to transport people stranded there to safety and shift bodies recovered from destroyed homes to ambulances. As the majority of houses were flattened, rescuers broke open the roofs using hammers and pickaxes, as heavy machinery could not be brought there due to lack of proper roads or bridges, to enter the collapsed structures and search for any people trapped inside.
Seven districts in Kerala have announced a holiday for Thursday in wake of the devastation due the massive landslides triggered by torrential rains in Meppadi in the Wayanad district.
The Kerala police have launched an investigation into an alleged social media campaign against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district. The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) on Thursday said that the Wayanad Cybercrime police has registered a case under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Disaster Management Act and launched a probe into the alleged spreading of a campaign with the intention of obstructing relief efforts.
Meanwhile, Vijayan refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shahs assertion that the state was warned as early as July 23 about a potential natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains. Vijayan clarified that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had only issued an orange alert for the district prior to the landslides. However, Wayanad experienced over 500 millimeters of rainfall, far exceeding the IMDs predictions.
Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains struck the picturesque hamlets of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha in the early hours of Tuesday, killing over 250 people, including women and children.
(With inputs from agencies)
Two days after the massive landslides that hit the hilly town of Wayanad in Kerala which claimed over 250 lives, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released satellite images of the extensive damage caused in the region.
The massive landslides which struck Wayanad on Tuesday claimed the lives of at least 256 people and left 206 missing. Indian Army, NDRF along with local emergency response departments have undertaken a massive search and rescue operation to trace people feared to be trapped in the tragedy.
The National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) in Hyderabad flew ISROs advanced Cartosat-3 optical satellite and the RISAT satellite to capture the extent of the devastation brought by the landslides in Wayanad.
Triggered by heavy rainfall, the landslide originated at an altitude of 1,550 meters. According to the NRSC report, the landslide was exacerbated by a major debris flow initiated by torrential rains in and around Chooralmala town. The area extent of the landslide is 86,000 square meters.
The satellite images depict the before and aftermath of the landslide where the debris flow widened the rivers course, resulting in significant damage to houses and infrastructure along the banks.
A 3D rendition of the landslide crown illustrates that a large section of the hill slope has been affected.
The satellite data also indicates the presence of an old landslide at the same location, highlighting the areas vulnerability to such disasters.
The Rescue teams resumed the rescue efforts on Thursday at several places in Wayanad. Kerala Minister K Rajan said that over 1600 forces are involved in the rescue operations. says, This day is very important, more than 1600 forces are involved in the rescue operations. Social workers are also involvedCM arrived at Kalpetta around 9:30 am and at 10:30 am there will be a meeting with officialshe will visit this spot after that, he said.
With his innovative approach and unparalleled experience, Pankaj Balachandran, the dynamic spirit behind Countertop India and the visionary brand director of Short Story Spirits, is still revolutionising the beverage industry. Pankaj, who is well-known for his roles as a sommelier, hotelier, restaurateur, and businessman, has travelled far to fulfil his dream of changing the hospitality industry by providing guests with extraordinary service and inventive cocktail creations. The Savor Series by Marriott Bonvoy, which highlights top bars and mixologists, was recently introduced by Marriott Internationals Marriott Bonvoy programme. Pankaj was the featured artist for the event, which took place at Koishii, The St. Regis Mumbai. His creative recipes for the Savor Series, which he presents with great enthusiasm, have raised the bar for high-end drinking experiences.
Pankaj discusses his collaboration with Marriott Bonvoy, the special cocktails created for the Savor Series, and the shift in consumer drinking habits towards mindful consumption in this exclusive conversation with News18.com. Along with his thoughts about the future of cocktails, he also offers his take on the latest advancements in the alcohol and beverage sector and bar trends. Pankajs tale goes beyond simple cocktail mixing to include crafting unique experiences that raise the bar for Indias cocktail culture.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pankaj Balachandran (@isaynegroni)
Excerpts from the interview:
What inspired you to collaborate with Marriott Bonvoy for their Savor Series, and how do you envision this partnership enhancing the drinking culture in India?
When Marriott Bonvoy presented the Savor Series, we recognized a shift away from volume drinking trends towards a focus on quality and the craftsmanship behind cocktails. People are now more interested in the ingredients, the presentation, and the story behind each drink. This growing appreciation for quality drinking made this collaboration particularly appealing to me. Being part of the first event they rolled out was a phenomenal experience.
Can you share some of the unique cocktails you crafted for the Savor Series at Koishii at The St. Regis Mumbai? What was the inspiration behind these concoctions?
There are two distinctive menus curated for this specific evening at Koishii, a Japanese-Peruvian style restaurant at The St. Regis Mumbai. To stay true to the concept, the first four serves were inspired by Japan and Peru. We had drinks paying tribute to these regions, including a Pisco Sour with Japanese ingredients, a Miso Old Fashioned, and a Melon Highball, all specific to Japan.
The second part of the Savor Series by Marriott Bonvoy experience involved transforming popular dishes into cocktails. For example, we created a peanut butter jelly sandwich cocktail called the Midnight Brekkie, a cucumber salad snack, a tomato and mushroom pasta, and a fig and cheese dish, all converted into unique cocktails. The idea was for people to choose drinks based on these dishes, essentially drinking the dishes instead of traditional cocktails. We managed to extract and distil the flavours into the cocktails, leading to interactive conversations with attendees about the tasting experience.
How have you observed consumer drinking patterns evolving in recent years, particularly with the shift towards mindful consumption and a preference for quality over quantity?
In the last five years, consumer drinking patterns have changed significantly, driven by the new audience that once spent money on coming to a bar and ordering a bottle. Today, they prefer going out and visiting other countries. Increased travel to places like Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Dubai, and London has impacted the consumer psyche. They return with experiences of uniquely crafted cocktails and expect the same back home. Indias bar community has been resilient in meeting these evolving consumer expectations. Over my 15 years in the industry, Ive seen a shift from consumers ordering LIT and vodka bottles to preferring crafted cocktails, sipping cocktails, and savoury-style drinks. Indias market is growing, and consumers now prioritise quality over quantity, willing to spend more on fewer, iconic, and crafted drinks.
Your career spans various roles, from sommelier to entrepreneur. How have these diverse experiences shaped your approach to mixology and the beverage industry as a whole?
Ive been very fortunate to have had diverse experiences, spending enough time in each field to understand the business thoroughly. From working with wines as a sommelier to collaborating with brands like Monkey Shoulder and Diplomatico during their India launch, and now leading a consulting company, my roles have been varied and enriching.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Countertop India (@countertopindia)
These experiences have given me a deep understanding of both internal systems and consumer perspectives, enabling me to navigate and achieve goals effectively. My background helps in creating innovative drinking spaces, brands, and bars, impacting where and how people enjoy their drinks.
In my consulting company, weve worked on projects like Bombay Canteen, Papa Pedros and Bandra Born in Mumbai. Were also revamping the Taj beverage programmes across the country. Our aim is to build new baselines for India, closing the gap between Indian and global drinking cultures. With Countertop, weve significantly minimised this gap through our curated spaces, brands, and events.
How important is sustainability in your work, and what steps do you take to ensure your cocktails are environmentally friendly?
Absolutely. Sustainability is one of our core beliefs. With every batch we make and every programme we roll out, we prioritise it. However, I dont believe any bar can be 100% sustainable. Very few places globally achieve complete sustainability, and in India, its even rarer. For instance, if youre using plastic, your sustainability efforts are compromised. We practice mindfulness towards sustainability, but were not entirely there yet. I dont think anyone truly is, even if they claim so. The term is often used casually. We focus on reducing waste, and, despite our efforts, we consider ourselves about 80% sustainable.
What exciting projects or initiatives are you currently working on, and what can we look forward to from Pankaj Balachandran in the near future?
I hope to do more of the Saver series because its fun and involves interacting with many people, watching them have their minds blown, which is a beautiful sight. It really messes with peoples psyches regarding drinking and savouring cocktails in a different format. Other than that, the Countertop Lab will be a big project this year. Additionally, were slowly opening our own space after Tesouro by Firefly.
Independence Day in India is observed annually on August 15. This day marks the historic event in 1947 when India gained freedom from British colonial rule after nearly two centuries of subjugation. The struggle for independence was characterised by a long and arduous campaign involving numerous freedom fighters and leaders who employed a variety of methods, from non-violent protests and civil disobedience, led by figures like Mahatma Gandhi, to revolutionary activities orchestrated by groups like the Indian National Army.
READ ALSO: Happy Independence Day 2024: Heartfelt Wishes, Quotes, Images, and Greetings to Celebrate Indias 78th Year of Freedom!
Independence Day 2024 Theme
India celebrates its 78th Independence Day with a focus on Viksit Bharat.
Aligned with the governments vision, this years theme emphasizes Indias journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, marking the centenary of independence.
Independence Day History
The British East India Company initially arrived in India in the early 1600s for trade purposes but gradually expanded its influence and control over the Indian subcontinent.
Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Company began to establish its rule, leading to widespread exploitation and oppression.
By the mid-19th century, the British Crown had taken direct control, formally instituting the British Raj in 1858 after the Revolt of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence.
On July 4, 1947, the Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British House of Colonials. British dominance came to an end after 200 years on August 15, 1947.
The British enacted the Indian Independence Act on July 18, 1947 and the entire act was the reason for the Indian Independence Movement, which had been active for a long period.
Negotiations between the British government and Indian leaders, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, led to the decision to partition the country into two separate nations: India and Pakistan. This was aimed at addressing the demands of the Muslim League, led by Jinnah, for a separate state for Muslims.
On August 15, 1947, India officially gained independence. The transfer of power was marked by the raising of the Indian national flag and a speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, famously known as the Tryst with Destiny speech. This day also saw the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, leading to significant demographic shifts and communal violence.
Independence Day Significance
Independence Day commemorates the end of a long and arduous struggle for freedom, which was characterised by widespread mobilisation of the Indian populace, non-violent resistance led by figures like Mahatma Gandhi and numerous sacrifices by freedom fighters.
It also marked the establishment of India as a democratic republic. It laid the foundation for a government of the people, by the people, for the people, emphasising the principles of democracy, justice and liberty.
Independence Day is a multifaceted celebration that honours Indias past struggles, celebrates its present achievements and looks forward to future aspirations. It is a day of national pride, unity and reflection, embodying the spirit of freedom and the ongoing quest to build a better nation for all its citizens.
How India Celebrates Independence Day
Although August 15 is a national holiday, there is a range of patriotic and cultural activities done across the country. The celebrations are both official and public, involving various ceremonies, events and displays of national pride.
The primary event is held at the Red Fort in Delhi. The Prime Minister hoists the national flag, followed by the singing of the national anthem. He addresses the nation, highlighting achievements over the past year, laying out the governments plans and paying tribute to the freedom fighters.
A parade showcasing Indias military capabilities and cultural diversity follows the speech. It includes performances by school children, tableaux representing different states and displays by the armed forces.
People all over the world hoist the national flag, have cultural programs and conduct special seminars about Indias struggle for Independence. It is a day of national pride and a time for Indians to remember their history honour the sacrifices of freedom fighters and celebrate the nations achievements and cultural heritage.
August starts the beginning of the World Breastfeeding Week, which is held every year from 1 to 7 August. It was first started in 1992 by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and is now observed in 120 countries. The week aims to raise awareness and sensitivity towards breastfeeding and advocate for better policies that support breastfeeding in private, public, and professional spaces.
ALSO READ: World Breastfeeding Week 2024: Dates, Theme, History, Benefits and Quotes
It goes without saying that mothers who return to work after their maternity leave are required to find ways to either breastfeed their kids while they are at work or pump and store their breast milk so that they can feed it to the baby later.
Breast milk is the most effective source of nutrition for toddlers and should not be replaced. Most workplaces do not have the infrastructure or policies to aid young mothers with breastfeeding or expressing milk. This ultimately makes work difficult for breastfeeding women. Here are some ways in which companies can support breastfeeding employees:
WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2024: HOW EMPLOYERS CAN SUPPORT
Infrastructure Support
Workplaces should provide breastfeeding employees with facilities like a clean and lockable room that gives them privacy to express and store milk or directly breastfeed their baby if they bring the baby to office. The office should also have a fridge where one can safely store the pumped milk. Toilets are not regarded as a suitable place to breastfeed or express milk due to the possibility of contamination.
Clear Policies
Businesses and organisations should clearly mention and advertise norms about things such as nursing breaks, extra leaves, policy of bringing kids to work, or allowing remote work to breastfeeding mothers. By openly stating these policies, employees would know their rights and their seniors can not withhold them.
In India, as per the Maternity Benefits Act, breastfeeding employees are entitled to two nursing breaks of prescribed duration for expressing breast milk. These nursing breaks are paid and are available till the child is 15 months old.
Encourage flexible working
Offices should allow breastfeeding mothers to work from home and have flexible working hours. Contrary to popular opinion, breastfeeding is not easy. It is estimated that breastfeeding can burn up to 1,000 calories daily and mothers can use up to 25 percent of their energy to produce milk. This can lead to fatigue. Therefore breastfeeding mothers need for remote work should be accommodated.
Educate staff
All staff members should be educated about the governments policies on maternity rights at the workplace. People should also be sensitised about breastfeeding, so that expressing milk is not sexualised or seen as slacking.
Bollywood icon Aamir Khans son, Junaid Khan, has made his mark with his Bollywood debut, Maharaj, now streaming on Netflix. The film has received acclaim for its compelling narrative and strong performances. At the recent launch event for the new song Kooriye, performed by debutant Raj Pandit, Aamir Khan expressed his pride in Junaids achievement. He admitted feeling stressed before the release about the audiences reaction but praised Junaid for forging his own path without relying on his fathers influence.
The Laal Singh Chadha star said, When Junaids film Maharaj was released, I was very stressed whether people would like his work or not. Junaid has worked really hard for himself and he never accepted any help from me in any way ever. So Im very proud and happy that he made it on his own terms in his own way and you know and I can see that.
During the event, Aamir Khan also spoke about his connection with producer Ashoke Pandit, Raj Pandits father. He shared that he empathises with Ashoke, having recently experienced the emotions of a parent with a debuting child. Aamir mentioned that he and Ashoke have known each other since college, which has created a strong bond between them. When Ashoke invited him to attend the event for his son, Aamir agreed without hesitation, given his own recent experience as a father.
At the launch event, Aamir Khan surprised everyone, including Salim Merchant, by revealing that he has been learning to sing. Although hes primarily known for his acting skills, the actor shared that he has been taking singing lessons for the past year. Aamir mentioned that he enjoys singing and finds it to be a form of meditation.
In his debut film, Junaid Khan encountered challenges when the movie faced legal issues. A petition was filed against Maharaj by members of a certain religious group in the Gujarat High Court, which caused a delay in the films release on Netflix. However, after a brief postponement, the court ruled that the film did not target any specific religion and allowed its release.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her first public appearance after a recent social media hullabaloo involving her actor-husband, Abhishek Bachchan. The Bollywood diva was spotted at Mumbai airport, apparently returning from New York with her daughter Aaradhya. This appearance comes in the wake of Abhishek Bachchan liking a social media post discussing Silver Splitters, a term referring to couples who seek divorce later in life. The online activity led to widespread speculation about the state of the couples marriage.
In a video shared by paparazzo Viral Bhayani, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was seen elegantly dressed in an all-black outfit. She wore a long black coat over matching pants and completed her look with red lipstick and her signature loose, flowing hair. By her side, Aaradhya was dressed in a cozy lavender sweatshirt paired with black pants and white sneakers. The young Bachchan smiled at the cameras as they made their way through the airport, with Aishwarya holding her daughters arm protectively.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)
The mother-daughter duo seemed at ease despite the swirling rumours, and Aishwarya even paused to thank the paparazzi before getting into their car.
This outing also drew attention because it followed the couples separate appearances at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding on July 12. Abhishek attended the event with his parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and his sister Shweta Bachchans family, while Aishwarya arrived separately with Aaradhya.
Aishwarya had also made a solo appearance at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants Shubh Aashirwad ceremony on July 13. She wore a stunning black suit adorned with colorful embroidery and completed her look with a statement necklace and a traditional maang teeka, radiating elegance and poise.
The separate appearances and Abhisheks social media activity have led fans and media to question whether all is well between the two. However, neither Aishwarya nor Abhishek has made any public comments regarding the speculations.
WASHINGTONThe Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act (KOSPA) in its current form reportedly won't be brought up for action or a vote in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, reports Punchbowl News. At least, that is what a source in the House GOP leadership told the political news outlet.
Weve heard concerns across our conference and the senate bill cannot be brought up in its current form, an unnamed House GOP leadership "aide" told Punchbowl's morning newsletter staff. If this is the case, the legislative vehicle passed by the Senate, 91-3, on Tuesday is dead on arrival in the House.
KOSPA is a combined proposal that merges the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). AVN reported on the broad bipartisan support for KOSPA, despite concerns from civil society organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted to oppose the bill on similar grounds that KOSPA could potentially violate the First Amendment rights of both minors and adults who use the internet. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, voted against KOSPA because he doesn't think the measure goes far enough. Instead, he pushed his own online safety measure, the SCREEN Act.
"Its good that this unconstitutional censorship bill is dead for now, but I am not breathing a sigh of relief," said Evan Greer, the director of the advocacy group Fight for the Future. Greer and her group have been vocal opponents of the Kids Online Safety Act, arguing it censors LGBTQ+ voices on the web.
Greer added, "By insisting on pushing KOSA over the objections of human rights groups and [LGBTQ+] youth, Senate leadership actively helped big tech avoid real regulation. We cannot allow this to happen again." Greer refers to the fact that civil liberties organizations have maintained throughout the lifespan of the KOSA proposal that it would add unwarranted scrutiny and censorship on online platforms that would lead to potential free speech harms.
KOSA reportedly being dead on arrival in the House runs counter to what House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., promised leadership in the Senate and the sponsors of the original proposal, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., among others. It is worth noting that this is due to the fact that a variation of the Kids Online Safety Act was simultaneously introduced in the House. Being that the House is controlled by Republicans and has fallen to far-right lawmakers such as Johnson, it wouldn't be surprising to see a version of KOSA that would heavily crack down on LGBTQ+ speech.
The KOSPA variation of the Kids Online Safety Act would place a duty of care on all web platforms to design their sites to protect minors. It would also order the executive branch to investigate the feasibility of adopting national age verification requirements enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
After facing scrutiny and backlash, BLACKPINKs Jennie has resumed posting on Instagram. Last month, she made headlines following an indoor smoking incident that occurred on July 2. Jennie had shared a vlog from her trip to Italy on her YouTube channel, where fans admired her fashion sense. However, a particular moment caught additional attention: viewers noticed Jennie holding what appeared to be an electronic cigarette or vape while getting her hair and makeup done. In a subsequent shot, she was allegedly seen smoking.
While fans acknowledged Jennies legal right to smoke as an adult, the issue was that she did so indoors, which is banned in many countries, including South Korea and Italy, where she was at the time. Nearly a month after the incident, on July 30, Jennie made a social media return by sharing an Instagram Story to wish a happy birthday to a staff member from her agency, according to Koreaboo.
To Mini Mini Park Mini unni who I love, Happy Birthday! Be happy today too, Mini princess, wrote Jennie. Along with it, she also included a short video clip of the person, celebrating her special day.
This was Jennies first social media activity since the incident, so it garnered significant attention from fans and the public.
Earlier last month the smoking controversy erupted, Jennie reportedly edited her vlog to remove the scenes where she was seen vaping. Soon after, her agency also released her statement and acknowledged her actions, saying, Jennie acknowledges and deeply regrets her mistake of vaping indoors and causing inconvenience to the staff. Jennie has personally apologised to all the staff on-site who may have been affected.
.OA. 2 . , pic.twitter.com/pAQnXOBg19 OA (@oddatelier) July 9, 2024
On her work front, the idol has recently launched her own music label, Odd Atelier in order to explore her solo career while still being an active member of BLACKPINK. Additionally, Jennie has also collaborated with BLACK Bs Zico on the song Spot, which topped local charts in South Korea, and she achieved her first entry into the Billboard 100 chart with her feature on One of the Girls.
Colin Jost, known for his work as one of the writers of the popular Saturday Night Live, has been asked to host a new show Pop Culture Jeopardy! Despite being busy in Tahiti for the Paris Olympics at present, Jost has taken on this additional role. Jeopardy! spinoff is part of Prime Videos latest season. Sony Pictures Television has reportedly said that they are thrilled to have Jost, the Weekend Update anchor, leading this new venture. Pop Culture Jeopardy! will feature some unexpected guests and focus on categories like TV, film, music and sports. It will also be more relatable than the traditional Jeopardy! format. The show will feature team-based competitions, with three contestants forming a team to compete in a tournament bracket.
According to the official website, Pop Culture Jeopardy! is a new twist given the classic quiz shows answer-and-question format that combines the academic rigor of Jeopardy! with the excitement and unpredictability of pop culture. Show contestants, who will be required to play, will have to be experts in categories from Alternative Rock to The Avengers, Broadway to MMA and Gen Z to Zendaya. They will have to compete in a tournament-style event for the ultimate grand prize and ultimate bragging rights.
Colins sharp wit and intelligence epitomize Pop Culture Jeopardy! said Suzanne Prete, the president of game shows at Sony Pictures Television. She further elaborated saying that Jost is smart and quick, just like their contestants and they believe that he will be able to keep up with them while making this new series his own. We could not be happier that he is joining us for this new journey, as per Comicbook.
Lauren Anderson, head of brand and content innovation at Amazon MGM Studios also expressed excitement saying that the team is thrilled to have the SNL writer on board.
Talking about the upcoming show, Suzanne Prete, President of Game Shows at Sony Pictures Television, said that Pop Culture Jeopardy! will be a treat for game show lovers. They can expect to see the teams competing at the highest level of Jeopardy! Combined with a fresh twist of pop culture Olympics for the mindits going to be a must-watch for long-time viewers and new fans alike, she added as reported by Comicbook.
In a big development in the Salman Khan house firing case, it has now been revealed that Lawrence Bishnoi had paid Rs 20 lakh to six men, asking them to kill the Bollywood superstar. As per the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai crime branch, Lawrence Bishnoi had ordered the contract killing of Khan and had paid Rs 20 lakh to the six accused.
This comes days after it was reported that a special court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnois brother, Anmol Bishnoi. Another warrant was also issued against a person named Rohit Godera, who is an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Anmol and Rohit have been absconding ever since the Mumbai police named them in the charge sheet related to the case. Considering the same, special judge for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cases, B D Shelke issued a standing non-bailable warrant against Anmol and Godera on July 27, 2024.
Previously, it was also reported that Lawrence Bishnois brother Anmol Bishnoi had given a nine-minute long motivational speech to shooters before they opened fire at the Bollywood superstars residence.
Reportedly, the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai polices crime branch mentioned that Anmol Bishnoi had told the two shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal that they should do the work well because it will script history. Do this work well. After the work is completed, you guys will script history, he told the shooters, according to the 1,735-page chargesheet, accessed by NDTV.
Do not be afraid at all while doing this work. Doing this work means bringing a change in the society, Anmol Bishnoi added. While the speech was given by an audio message, the shooters were asked to fire shots in such a manner that it scares Salman Khan. They were also asked not to wear helmets and smoke cigarettes to appear fearless.
In April this year, gunshots were fired outside Khans Galaxy Apartments in Mumbais Bandra area. Later, it was reported that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang is alleged to be behind the attack as the gangsters brother, Anmol Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the shooting incident via a Facebook post.
After the shocking incident, Salman Khans security was upgraded.
Mouni Roy is turning heads with her impeccable fashion sense. Known for her bold sartorial choices, the actress recently dazzled in a sleek black saree during a photoshoot. Her stunning look is setting major fashion goals and leaving fans in awe.
Taking to her Instagram handle recently, Mouni Roy dropped a bunch of pictures, in which she is draped in a sleek black saree. The saree drapes elegantly, showcasing her figure. The posts caption read, Sarees, stories and new books.. Mouni left her fans gasping for breath with her new photos.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by mon (@imouniroy)
Mouni Roy, a household name in the Hindi television industry, has soared to the top as one of the highest-paid actresses after her mesmerizing performances in Naagin and its sequel. Besides her acting prowess, she is celebrated as a fashion trailblazer, continuously wowing her fans with her unique and bold style choices. Her social media is a treasure trove of candid shots and memorable moments, always giving her followers something to look forward to.
Mouni Roy has come a long way ever since she made her television debut with Ekta Kapoors Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. She became a popular name after she starred in Naagin. Mouni made her Bollywood debut with Akshay Kumars Gold in 2018. Last year, Mouni was seen in Ayan Mukerjis magnum opus, Brahmastra. Recently, she was also seen in a music video titled Dotara along with Jubin Nautiyal. Mouni Roy was also seen in the web-series Sultan of Delhi. She was last seen in Emraan Hashmi-starrer Showtime.
In a recent interview, Mouni shared that it is projects like Sultan of Delhi and Brahmastra which changed peoples perception of her as an actor. Brahmastra was absolutely different. When you see Gold, RAW and Made In China, I had played very Indianised characters. Maybe after Naagin and Sati, people could only see me as a saree-clad Indian character. So, for Milan sir to think of me as this cabaret dancer Nayantara, at a time when Brahmastra had not even released. I think it is an exciting time to be an actor where makers can visualise you in different roles. Such great parts are being written. I really feel fortunate to be offered these parts and be able to play them on screen, she told Indian Express.
Niharika Konidela opened up about rumours that all is not well with her family and Allu Arjun. The rumours began during the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Elections. During the elections, which took place earlier this year, Allu Arjun supported YSRCP candidate Silpa Ravi Reddy instead of his uncle, Andhra Pradeshs Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan who was also contesting in the elections.
The rumours about their tiff amplified after Allu Arjun gave Pawan Kalyans victory celebrations a miss. In a recent interview, Niharika Konidela addressed the tiff and said that the family hasnt spoke about Allu Arjuns support to a different candidate. She added that despite his different choice, the family understands that the family members have different choices and thats okay.
We didnt actually talk too much about it. We didnt speak about it at home because everyone has their own reasons. Politically, religiously, spiritually, everyone has a choice to do what they want, she told M9. She also clarified that her fathers cryptic post shared a few weeks was about Bunny. For me, its always family first and I can only speak for myself, she said before concluding the conversation on the subject.
Although Allu Arjun supported a different candidate, he had congratulated Pawan Kalyan on his win. My heartfelt wishes to @PawanKalyan garu on your election journey. I have always been immensely proud of the path youve chosen, dedicating your life to service. As a family member, my love and support will always be with you. My best wishes for achieving all that you aspire for, he shared on X after his win.
My heartfelt wishes to @PawanKalyan garu on your election journey. I have always been immensely proud of the path you've chosen, dedicating your life to service. As a family member, my love and support will always be with you. My best wishes for achieving all that you aspire for. Allu Arjun (@alluarjun) May 9, 2024
Meanwhile, on the work front, Niharika and Allu Arjun are busy with their respective projects. While Niharika will be seen in What The Fish, Allu Arjun is busy with Pushpa 2.
Priyanka Chopra is stepping away from her familiar Desi Girl image as she explores the uncharted territories in Hollywood. Known for being a multi-talented artist, Chopra will be showing her more adventurous side in the Russo Brothers upcoming project, The Bluff. The upcoming action-packed movie promises to feature her bold and unique side, which has been never seen before. Since Chopra started the shoot, she has been dropping behind-the-scenes glimpses from the set and the latest leaked photos offer a sneak peek of her preparation for a thrilling sequence. Directed by Frank E Flowers, the leaked set photos show the actress in full costume, getting ready for a dramatic scene while surrounded by the film crew.
For those not aware, the upcoming film is set in the 19th century Caribbean and follows the life of a former female pirate, portrayed by Chopra, who must face her past to defend her family. Alongside Chopra, The Boys star Karl Urban also plays a key role in the film. In recently leaked photos from the set, Chopra is seen standing in rugged terrain, ready for action with two swords strapped to her back. The image was captured between takes, as shes seen wearing sunglasses and holding the script.
Earlier, leaked photos from the set of The Bluff featured Priyanka Chopra in a completely new look, as she was photographed in a Mohawk hairstyle. The images seem to have been taken while she was filming on a ship and her dramatic transformation makes her almost unrecognisable. Its unclear whether Chopra is wearing a wig or if she actually changed her hairstyle for the role.
Meanwhile, PeeCee has been sharing various pictures and videos from the set in Australia. Her posts feature the actress getting ready for scenes, flaunting real injuries and working with fake blood. Earlier, sharing a clip of her covered in blood, Chopra wrote, PS: for those who cant tell. We use fake blood for movies. Its make-up. Thank you.
Amid her busy shooting scheduled for The Bluff, Priyanka Chopra with husband Nick Jonas visited India, for Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding in Mumbai. Meanwhile, other than the Russo brothers movie, the actress will be seen in Heads of State, alongside Idris Elba and John Cena. She will also appear in the second season of Citadel and start shooting for Jee Le Zaraa with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif soon.
Amid shooting for The Bluff, Priyanka Chopra is making the most of her stay in Australia. She has been visiting places, sharing her experiences, and dropping happy glimpses of her whereabouts, keeping fans on her toes. The actress is also making sure to send quality time with Malti. Having said that, the little one was recently spotted making Rotis.
Priyanka shared her photo and dropped a crying emoji, as Malti tried making her first roti. Her little daughter Malti, is growing up and stealing her heart in the process! Earlier, in a heartwarming moment captured on camera, Malti is seen tightly holding Priyankas hand, filling the doting mom with joy and pride. Priyanka calls it an exceptional moment, and its clear why the sweet gesture is a reminder of the unbreakable bond between mother and child.
Priyanka Chopra is currently busy shooting for her upcoming Hollywood film, The Bluff. Since filming began, the actress has been regularly updating her fans with behind-the-scenes glimpses from the set. After sharing photos of her injuries, clips of her daughter Malti Marie Jonas humming on set, and showcasing her makeup and prosthetics for the film, the star has now posted a photo of one of the props being used in the movie. She took to her Instagram stories to share a close-up of a special GRICE 1762 musket rifle.
Priyanka Chopra stars alongside Karl Urban in the highly anticipated upcoming film The Bluff, which will be available on Prime Video. Recently, her new look from the film caused quite a stir online, as a fan page leaked exclusive images showcasing her appearance for this Hollywood project. Directed by Frank E Flowers, the action-packed period drama features Priyanka as a bold pirate. The leaked pictures show her in the midst of an intense scene on a pirate ship, dressed in a black vest and looking battle-ready. However, its her striking mohawk hairstyle that really captured everyones attention, creating a buzz on the internet.
Set in the 19th-century Caribbean, the film follows the story of a former female pirate, portrayed by Chopra. Her character in the film is reportedly striving to protect her family as her troubled past comes back to haunt her. The film is being produced by AGBOs Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot and Michael Disco, along with Cisely Saldana and Mariel Saldana from Cinestar Pictures.
Besides The Bluff, Priyanka has several other Hollywood projects lined up, including Heads of State with John Cena and Citadel 2.
On August 1, the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) is set to have an emergency executive committee meeting. Reportedly, the council has issued a red card to Raayan actor Dhanush, citing that he received an advance payment for a film from Sri Thenandal Films, but never turned up for the shoot last year. Now the association has strictly instructed the filmmakers to first take it up with the council before signing up Dhanush for a film. In fact, Tamil actor Vishal too has been reportedly issued a red card for misusing councils funds, while he was the TFPC President. Following the Producers Councils statement regarding Dhanushs uncooperativeness with his films, this emergency executive committee meeting will be held. The meeting will discuss various issues which include reducing actors salaries and keeping the production costs of the films low. Apart from this, the council will also discuss the next steps of their plan of action.
Reportedly, no new film shoots will commence from August 16 and all the ongoing projects need to be concluded by the end of October. The decision has been taken to ensure the backlog of pending films that are stuck in various stages of production. The Actors Association has condemned the move.
On Tuesday, several South Indian Artistes Association members including actor Karthi and Poochi S Murugan reacted against the decision. As per report, Karthi said, We have been taking measures to solve the issues that the Producers Council had previously stated, and hence, its shocking that they have released the same without consulting us with a complaint about the concerns. Stakeholders have also raised concerns about the regulations implementation.
Actor Shanthnu Bhagyaraj said in an interview that high-end technicians and top actors can manage if the shoots get cancelled or deferred; but, he is concerned about the daily wagers and character artists. Actor-producer J Sathish Kumar is in favour of these measures laid down by the TFPC. He believes that there are a few films that rely just on theatrical revenues because OTT and satellite rights might not always be profitable even with A and B-listers. He pointed out that the fees of the actors have soared high. He also is in favour of halting the commencement of new films till August 16 since more than 250 films are yet unreleased.
For now, the conclusion of the meeting is awaited.
Dimple Kapadias early romance with superstar Rajesh Khanna was a story straight out of a Bollywood film. As a teenager, Dimple was captivated by Rajesh and their whirlwind marriage led her to step away from the limelight for a period. Reflecting on her youthful naivety in an interview, Dimple confessed that she had an almost cinematic vision of their romance. She imagined Rajesh serenading her with Mere Sapno Ki Raani amidst picturesque mountains.
During a talk at the FICCI FLO Jaipur Chapter, Dimple humorously recounted this fantasy. She said, I was such a filmy kid. I actually thought Rajesh Khanna ji would sing Mere Sapno Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu to me in the mountains. He will take me there and sing.
Laughing at her own innocence, Dimple admitted she was quite young and heavily influenced by movies. I swear I am not lying, because I was so young. And there was such an impact of the movies. So when we reached the mountains and there was no song, no gust of wind, I was devastated. My dream was shattered. I seriously believed it. How dumb can you get? But well, that was me, she said, chuckling at the memory.
During the same conversation, Dimple Kapadia was asked about her best role in life. She responded with heartfelt sincerity, The best role of my life has been Mrs. Rajesh Khanna. Thats been my best role. Dimple and Rajesh shared nearly eight years together before they separated, though they never divorced. The couple had two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke Khanna.
Reflecting on her love story with Rajesh, Dimple revealed that their romance began shortly after she signed the film Bobby. At the time, Dimple was only 13 years old and Rajesh was 15 years her senior. She recalled that after signing Raj Kapoors film, she, along with other film celebrities, was invited to a function in Ahmedabad. Rajesh was on the same flight, and fate placed them next to each other.
So he sat next to me, and I was looking at him. Very cleverly, I told him, Vahan toh bohot crowd hoga, bheed hogi, aap mera haath pakdoge na? He said, Haan bilkul. I said, Hamesha ke liye? (There will be so much crowd there, will you hold my hand? He said yes, of course. I asked forever?) I was very filmy and yeah, the rest is history. It happened.
Having secured a momentous third term with a clearly outlined vision, Prime Minister Narendra Modis overarching legacy, according to a new book, will be that of transforming his party into an electoral machine, a party that can win elections.
Indian Renaissance The Modi Decade (Westland Books), edited by Aishwarya Pandit, argues that Modis biggest contribution lies in dismantling a perception that the BJP, being a purely ideological party, had no mass base. Modi is responsible for making the party and the RSSs ideology palatable to a larger audience, both within and outside the country. The partys ideology, which was seen as unsuited for the push and pulls of national and regional politics, had been a limiting factor to its growth so far. However, Modi has achieved the unthinkable by making the BJP hegemonic, commanding the narrative of elections and development, and ushering in a dynamism into the office of the prime minister that has few parallels across the world, writes Pandit.
Indian Renaissance: The Modi Decade features essays by prominent figures including Tony Abbott, Samir Saran, Penny Street, Don Ritter, Rajiv Kumar, Avatans Kumar, Grant Newsham, Cleo Paskal, Kartikeye Sharma, Priya Sahgal, M D Nalapat, and others.
In her essay, Pandit, who teaches legal history at Jindal Global Law School, OP Jindal Global University, makes an interesting observation. She notes that each time election results have been announced since 2014, the prime minister has visited the central party headquarters to congratulate and interact with his karyakartas. His messaging is clear; he is speaking directly to his cadres who form the backbone of the party. Modi has communicated that the party comes first, Pandit argues. She emphasises this point by describing his visits to the party office: He reinforces it every time reminding workers that no matter how complete and stupendous a victory you may achieve, no individualnot even him, despite being the prime ministeris higher than the party. This is the enduring legacy he will leave behind: strengthening not only the party but the belief that the party is supreme.
To substantiate her argument, Pandit cites Modis 2019 victory speech to party cadres: We the workers of BJP, our friends in NDA, we dedicate the victory at the feet of the people Just like what our president said, the crores of BJP workers, their efforts and the purposeI feel so proud that my party, which I am a part of, is full of generous people We have to accept the election results with humility. A government is formed with the peoples mandate, and we have to work with the spirit of inclusion.
Pandit reminds readers that Modi inherited a BJP with no clear vision, a party unable to recover from the debacle of 2009. The loss had demoralised the cadresand more so the RSS, which many believe decided to fully back the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, in 2002.
Fighting the battle of perception had been a monumental task for Modi, as the BJP was seen as an ideological party with little to offer beyond expanding its base to urban voters in small towns and capital cities in India. This was a daunting challenge, as previous leaders were constrained by a limited support base and had to contend with coalition partners, which nearly brought down governments. Modis expansion of the BJPs base beyond caste, community, and religion will be his enduring legacy, as the pressures of national politics have been very different from those of being the chief minister of Gujarat.
Pandit succinctly argues that Modi, in certain respects, has captured the imagination of Indians much like Kennedy did for Americans. Modis entry onto the political scene coincided with the explosion of social media. The period between 2014 and 2024 was marked by heightened international tensions. The rise of ISIS in 2014, the Iranian nuclear programme and climate change crisis, the 2020 global pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are just some of the events that have contributed to this climate. It became clear early on that the social media revolution ushered in by the digital revolution presented unprecedented challenges.
During Manmohan Singhs term, social media was at best peripheral to mainstream media, but Modi used it extensively for citizen outreach in Gujarat, as noted by Andy Marino in his unofficial biography of Modi. As prime minister and BJP icon, Modi has successfully used social media to communicate with voters of every age and region. This also encouraged his party to use social media extensively, resulting in many debates on the platform being led by the BJP.
However, there is a flip side. The primacy and focus on social media have altered the mode and manner of communication. In fact, Modi has allowed social media to operate freely, fully aware of the potential long-term dangers it poses for him. The proliferation of YouTube channels has enabled a variety of opinions to coexist in what was previously a domain largely controlled by a fewprimarily legacy media channels.
The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including 24 Akbar Road and Sonia: A Biography. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
RALEIGH, N.C.A new law banning the use of porn and sexually explicit content on government-owned internet networks and devices will enter force on October 1, 2024.
This requirement was adopted alongside overhauls to the states human trafficking prevention laws as part of House Bill (HB) 971, which was signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper, a moderate Democrat.
HB 971 mandates that a public agency shall not permit the viewing of pornography by its employees on a network of that public agency.
This applies to all employees and public officials of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the North Carolina government.
A similar regulation applies to any device owned by the government or a public agency, per the new statute.
The new law states, Each public agency shall adopt a policy governing the use of its network and devices owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by that public agency. The judicial and legislative branches shall adopt a policy governing the use of that branch's networks and devices owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by those branches.
There are no clear penalties for violators of these new rules. Expectations for penalties would likely include termination of employment.
Nationwide, governments have banned public officials and employees from accessing sexually explicit content on government-owned internet and devices.
Agencies at the federal level and congressional offices have been enforcing fair use policies that block porn access for years.
North Carolina is also one of 19 states with age verification requirements to access pornographic content on private internet networks. Besides the age verification law, there are no other restrictions on government employees in North Carolina from accessing adult content on their own devices.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Ukraine on August 23, though not officially announced, seems to be in the offing. It is not clear why information about this planned visit has been prematurely leaked to the media. One can also speculate about why this visit is taking place and what it seeks to achieve.
It is known that the Ukrainians have been very keen on a visit from India which could be projected by them as signifying more understanding for the Ukrainian cause and a more even-handed Indian approach. Many world leaders, especially from the West, have visited Ukraine as a show of support to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian President has travelled extensively, primarily to Western countries, and has been invited to attend multilateral forums such as the G7 meetings. There was pressure on India to invite him to the G20 summit presided by India, but India did not oblige.
For Ukraine, a visit from India, as a major non-Western country and a leader of the global south, would imply broadened international sympathy and understanding of its position as a victim of Russian aggression. It would also help to dilute the view that the Ukrainian conflict was essentially a mismanaged European conflict, which the Europeans had to resolve, and the rest of the world had to be spared from its unwanted consequences.
PM Modi has, of course, spoken on the telephone to Zelenskyy; they have also met at the G7 summit in Italy when Modi also embraced him. India has also sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine. All this, of course, does not have the same impact as a physical visit by Modi to war-torn Ukraine.
There has been much commentary in foreign policy circles in the West and even at home that India, given its close ties with Russia and advocacy of dialogue and diplomacy to end the ongoing conflict, could play a mediatory role of some sorts. Indias credentials for playing such a role got bolstered by its success in forging a consensus at the G20 meeting on the Ukraine issue. Much has also been made of Modis message to Putin at the SCO summit in Samarkand in 2022 that today is not an era of war, which was interpreted in the West as a rebuke.
Ukraine was very keen on Indias participation at Modis level at the peace summit on Ukraine organised by Switzerland, and failing that at Foreign Ministers level, but India chose to be represented by a senior official. India also did not subscribe to the final communique issued by the summit.
What could then be the considerations that would underlie the projected visit of Modi to Ukraine? These could be multifold.
Modis visit to Moscow for the resumed India-Russia summits coinciding with the NATO summit in Washington D.C. has irked the Americans and they have made no bones about it. It appears that they advised India to consider a change of dates for the visit. The US National Security Adviser has publicly stated that the US has been in touch with India on its concerns about Modis visit, with the State Department telling the US Congress that they had had a tough conversation with India on the subject. That the visit also coincided with the bombing of a childrens hospital in Kiev and Modi greeted Putin with an embrace provoked a fiery response from Zelenskyy himself. He accused India of administering a devastating blow to peace in Ukraine and he deplored Modis embrace of a war criminal. This outburst prompted the Ministry of External Affairs to summon the Ukrainian ambassador in Delhi to register Indias protest.
It could well be that to manage the negative fall-out of Modis Russia visit and prevent it from festering and being exploited by anti-Indian elements in the US establishment in months to come, it may have been decided to scotch this by making a gesture to Ukraine. It could have been reasoned that India had amply demonstrated that its Russia policy would be dictated by its national interest and not US preferences. A strong signal to this effect had again been sent to the US and the West by Modi making his first bilateral visit abroad after re-election to Russia. In view of this, India had to prove nothing to the US about the core of its position and therefore could afford to make a gesture to Ukraine.
The justification would be that Modis advocacy of diplomacy and dialogue to end the conflict would appear more convincing if a message of peace and dialogue was also conveyed directly to Zelenskyy on Ukrainian soil. Such a message would have resonance as it would be entirely different from the message of increasing armed support and continued proxy war that the West is still conveying to Ukraine.
Even if the facts are unclear and there has been no impartial international investigation to ascertain the truth, the fact is that the bombing of the childrens hospital in Kiev while Modi was in Moscow prompted him to reinforce his peace message earlier relayed at Samarkand by expressing his strong anguish publicly during his meeting with Putin about the killing of civilians, and especially children, in war. Modi laboured the point, with an eye on its international resonance.
Modi had hours long one-on-one conversations with Putin in Moscow. He undoubtedly got a clear idea of how Putin assesses the Ukraine conflict. Putin has repeatedly made clear that he is ready for a negotiated solution, but on the basis of accepting the changed territorial realities on the ground. His vision of how the conflict can end and that of Zelenskyy and his government are wide apart. Whether Ukraine can cling to its present position in the face of lack of military success on the ground, heavy losses in men and material, resistance to mobilisation, population exodus, dependence on external support, etc., is considered doubtful, whatever the rhetoric of the government and its Western supporters. The greatest uncertainty for Ukraine is the likely change of government in the US in November with the ascendance of Donald Trump and JD Vance to power, as both want to end the conflict. Europe cannot supplant American support.
In this background, Russia may not be averse to Modi carrying a peace message to Zelenskyy to bring him down to earth. The US would welcome Modis visit for different reasons, as some kind of a diplomatic win in seeing India making a nod to Zelenskyy.
India may also have reasoned that China has been promoting peace moves in Ukraine without causing any misapprehensions in Moscow. China had, in fact, appointed a special envoy for peace in Ukraine and made some specific proposals for peace which have been broadly approved by Putin. China and Brazil have announced plans to make a joint peace proposal. India, it can be reasoned, should not allow the peace platform to be monopolised by a country like China that is actually disrupting peace on the India border and the western Pacific. India too could activate its diplomacy without cost, knowing well that the answer to peace in Ukraine essentially lies in Washington D.C.
Interestingly, para 74 of the Joint Statement issued on the occasion of the Modi-Putin summit says that both sides highlighted the imperative of peaceful resolution of the conflict around Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy including engagement between both parties. They noted with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law and on the basis of the UN Charter.
India is endorsing mediatory and good offices initiatives by others, including that of China implicitly, aimed at a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict. Maybe this curious formulation also explains the room created for PM Modis peace-oriented visit to Ukraine.
Kanwal Sibal is a former Indian Foreign Secretary. He was Indias Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The setting isnt prepossessing. A small dusty, mostly grassless, strip that falls within the perimeter of an out-of-the-way temple in the Chinhat locality of Lucknow plays host to a group of portly elders and weedy young men. They assemble here every day as dawn breaks. The assemblage is a shakha (branch) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The shakha has been a fixture on this ground for the better part of fifteen years.
In the words of the third Sarsanghchalak (chief) of RSS, the late Balasaheb Deoras, the shakha is a place where Bharatiyas pledge to be good citizens inspired by the values of Sanatana Dharma, so that they can be made available to the service of the nation. The doctrine has been neatly summed up in one word: Hindutva.
Why would a group, redoubtably committed to such an elevated dharmic value system, evoke hate and fear in others? Especially when its work is in plain sight.
But it does. Hate and fear were triggered against the RSS in Chinhat just a few days ago. A violent mob of Muslims descended upon the shakha at Chinhat and pelted stones at its hapless members. The mobs leader was categorical: Disband and never return.
The attack on the RSS shakha is just the latest in an alarmingly growing list of targeted strikes (verbal and physical) upon the organisation and its swayamsewaks. Most, even the dastardliest, attacks dont make it into the news cycle. Its as if vast preserves of the Indian intelligentsia are happy to normalise hate against a vital pillar of Bharats cultural and democratic tapestry.
How did it come to this?
The answer lies in analysing the so-called secular left intellectual reaction to any organisation or individual committed to the reclamation of the civilisational ethos of Bharat.
Bequeathed Western progressivism, a view patronised by their British intellectual mentors, some Indians on the Left have considered it their bounden duty to militantly impose this credo. Thus, the rootless anglicized Leftism privilegentsia has viewed those involved in the legitimate appreciation of the grandeur of Hindu civilisation as anti-secular.
Left zealotry has bred conflict with those committed to Bharats civilisational ethos: Sanatana Dharma.
As RSS ideologue, Rakesh Sinha, writes, Hindutva forces the RSS to believe that Indias civilisational deficit cannot be resolved by a compartmental approach to secularism, liberalism, nationalism and multi-culturalism and Hindu civilisation.
As the sutradhar of Hindutva, the RSS obviously argues against the Leftist tradition. It is hardly surprising therefore that the Left has come to depict the RSS as the boogeyman.
In fact, the typecasting began under the British itself. Colonial-era bans on bureaucrats from mixing with the RSS were revived, and the RSS was falsely linked to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and banned. And soon, even avowedly Constitutional pursuits of the RSS, like rooting for a Uniform Civil Code or the abrogation of Article 370 were linked to anti-minority Hindu revivalism. The movement for the construction of a Ram Mandir was a particular trigger for the Left.
The Left immediately got just cause to brand the RSS a divisive Hindu upper caste interloper, committed to stripping Indian democracy of its secular veneer. Muslims were mobilised to fear the RSS. All of this labelling defies the facts.
The RSS today not only has a vibrant and growing Muslim wing but works in Muslim-dominated areas too. Moreover, its rank and file is populated by Dalits, tribals, and OBCs and its reach has increased among other marginalised Indians. While an avowedly social-cultural organisation, the RSS has used its growing appeal to nourish and influence its many affiliates. One of them being Indias largest political party the BJP.
With the BJP ascending the ladder to political power at break-neck speed, the Indian Left is feeling particularly vulnerable. More so as its own umbilical cord to relevance the Congress party has dramatically lost heft. So much so that the Congress party has been forced to declare, on behalf of its Leftist ecosystem, a fight to finish the BJP and its guiding force, the RSS.
This culture war is playing out as a no-holds-barred contest. Even violence against the RSS is now a justifiable means to an end. Consequently, in the Left-liberal ecosphere, hate (a patently undemocratic impulse) against the RSS is now normalised, and viewed as but a small price to pay.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
The Election Commission of India (EC), in a letter to Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand electoral officers said polls to the legislative assembly of UT of J&K are due in the near future and asked them to transfer officers by August 20 in case they are directly connected with elections and posted in their own district
In the letter to the Chief Secretaries and Chief Electoral Officers, the poll body said officers directly connected with conduct of elections in a state/UT should not be posted in places where they have served for a considerably long period.
The poll body has directed that no officer connected directly with elections will be allowed to continue in the present district or revenue district of posting if they are posted in their home district or if they completed three years in that district during the last four years.
In addition, the poll body also said any official who will complete three years in the state/UT in the coming month should be transferred.
For Jammu and Kashmir, the cut-off time for three years is on or before September 30; for Haryana it is October 31; November 30 is for Maharashtra; and December 31 for Jharkhand.
The terms of existing state legislative assemblies of Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra are ending on November 3, January 5 and November 26, respectively, and elections are due in the year 2024.
Further, the election to Legislative Assembly of UT of Jammu and Kashmir is also due in near future, the letter said.
The letter also said that if any small state/UT with a few districts face any difficulty in compliance of the above instruction, then it may refer the specific case with reasons to the Commission through CEO for exemption and the Commission would issue directions, if considered necessary.
The EC has directed that these instructions will cover not only officers appointed for specific election duties or officers appointed as nodal officers of any specific election works but also district officers or any other officer of equal rank directly deployed for election works.
These instructions shall also cover the divisional commissioners, municipal commissioners, and the other officers deputed in municipal corporations and development authorities, it said.
The letter also made it clear that these instructions are applicable to the police department officers who are responsible for security arrangement or deployment of police forces in the district at election time.
The police officials who are posted in functional departments like computerisation, special branch, training, etc. are not covered under these instructions, it added.
The order for transfer and posting is also applicable for the officers of the prohibition and excise department of the state of the rank of Sub-lnspector and above.
The Commission has further directed that transfer/posting of all officers covered under the above instructions shall be done and compliance reports by Chief Secretary and DGP with details of action obtained from the concerned departments/offices of state government shall be furnished to the Commission by August 20, the ECI added.
It is important to note that the Supreme Court has set September 30, 2024, as the deadline for the EC to complete the election process in J&K.
As Delhi was hit by heavy rains on Wednesday evening, reports of water dripping from the lobby of Parliament took over social media as Opposition MPs took on the government over the issue. The government has issued a clarification saying the minor leakage was detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately.
A statement from the Lok Sabha Secretariat said, There are media reports that heavy rains in Delhi on Wednesday caused water leakage into the Lobby of the newly inaugurated Parliament Building, raising concerns about the weather resilience of the structure. It has also been reported that water logging was noticed around the premises, particularly near the New Parliaments Makar Dwar, with several videos of the water logging going viral on social media platforms. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that keeping in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the Building, including in the Lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilised in day to day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby. The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately.
Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed. Similarly, accumulated water opposite Makar Dwar also got drained out quickly, the statement said.
On Wednesday evening, rains hit the national capital from 7 pm till about 11 pm. When the House was adjourned for the day, many members were left stranded because of the incessant spell of rains.
Opposition Takes a Dig at Govt
From Samajwadi Party chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav to Congress MP Manickam Tagore, several Parliamentarians attacked the government for the construction of the new Parliament building.
Akhilesh Yadav questioned the government over spending crores of rupees on the construction of the new Parliament. The old parliament was better than this new parliament, where even the old MPs could come and meet. Why not go back to the old parliament, at least till the time the water dripping program is going on in the parliament built with billions of rupees. People are asking whether water dripping from every new roof constructed under the BJP government is a part of their well thought out design or Yadav said on X.
, , -- , , pic.twitter.com/PpJ36k6RJm Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 1, 2024
Similarly, Congress MP Tagore also trained guns at the Modi government over its spending of crores of rupees on the new parliament. Paper leakage outside, water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion. Moving Adjournment motion on this issue in Loksabha, Tagore posted on X.
Paper leakage outside,water leakage inside. The recent water leakage in the Parliament lobby used by the President highlights urgent weather resilience issues in the new building, just a year after completion.Moving Adjournment motion on this issue in Loksabha. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/kNFJ9Ld21d Manickam Tagore .B . (@manickamtagore) August 1, 2024
Opposition vs Govt on New Parliament Building
The war of words between the treasury benches and the Opposition has been all along as far as the new Parliament building is concerned. The Opposition was miffed when they were not invited for the establishment of the Ashoka emblem on top of the new building. In fact, the united opposition had boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament building, calling it a BJP sponsored event.
Apart from this, there have been multiple run-ins between both the sides, even on construction and eventually a boycott by the opposition parties of the Ram Temple inauguration in January this year.
Ladakh has become a dream destination for travellers around the world, attracting millions with its stunning natural beauty and rich culture. However, beneath its rugged beauty lies a hidden danger that can be risky for the unprepared. Chennai resident Kirubakaran Rajendran recently shared his harrowing experience in Ladakh, which was meant to be a relaxing holiday with his family. They had planned to enjoy stargazing, claiming that due to less pollution in the region, the Milky Way is clearly visible with the naked eye. However, their excitement was short-lived. Upon arrival at the Leh airport, Mr Rajendran and his family struggled to cope with the Chennai Man Shares How His Family Trip To Ladakh Turned Into A Nightmarehigh altitude, leading to a desperate struggle for oxygen.
In a series of threads on X, Mr Rajendran shared the most daunting parts of his journey. Please note that oxygen availability goes down once you move to higher altitude regions, he wrote. As the altitude increases, the atmospheric pressure drops and the number of oxygen molecules per breath is reduced. Compared to sea level, places like Leh/Ladakh have less oxygen in the air.
He said that they found it hard to breathe as soon as they landed in Leh airport, located more than 10,000 feet above sea level. Even simple activities became exhausting ordeals for them.
He added, It takes a minimum of 5 hours of travel from Leh city if you have to reach places like Nubra Valley or Hanle. To reach those places, you have to cross high passes like Khardung La Pass, which is located at 18k feet. And the oxygen at these places is so thin, which makes it very difficult to breathe, even cab drivers ask you not to stand outside at these peaks for more than 10 minutes.
Despite allowing two days for acclimatisation, Mr Rajendran and his family found it difficult to breathe and cope with the high altitude in Ladakh. So, they cancelled their bookings and took a flight back home.
The vacation was supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable, but not this adventurous, putting the health at risk. Ladakh is so beautiful, no doubt about it, but it might not suit everyone, he concluded.
He also informed that all three of them were absolutely fine as soon as they landed in Chennai.
I went on a ten days family trip to Ladakh, what was suppose to be an adventure trip turned into a nightmare. If you are planning a Ladakh travel, this thread might help you in what you should expect once you land in Leh. pic.twitter.com/2sIjXab90G Kirubakaran Rajendran (@kirubaakaran) July 30, 2024
The post has been viewed by over 6 million people since it was shared two days ago. Many users thanked the poster for sharing his informative thread, while others offered tips and advice for his next journey. However, some users took a more critical tone, scolding the poster for not doing basic research before travelling to a high-altitude region with a child.
A user said, Bro high altitude places are not to be hurried. Acclimatisation, step-by-step altitude increase, and a lot of rest are necessary. One of my friends works there as a tour guide and has many horror stories of how people fail to cope. Good that you guys are safe and sound.
Bro high altitude places are not to be hurried. Acclimatization, Step by step altitude increase, Lot of rest is necessary. One of my friends works there as tour guide & has many horror stories of how people fail to cope. Good that you guys are safe & sound Zafar Shaikh (@InvesysCapital) July 30, 2024
You shouldnt land directly in Leh ever. Srinagar to Leh is the best and safest way to get acclimatised to the basics of research, especially when you are travelling with a kid, suggested a user.
You shouldn't land directly in Leh ever. Srinagar to leh is the best and safest way to get acclimatized, basics of research especially when you are traveling with a kid Dr. Aarathi Bellary (@Coffeehudigi) July 30, 2024
Another user wrote, Terribly sad that the kids will carry this memory from Ladakh. If you ever plan to go again, fly to Srinagar. Stay for a day and then drive to Leh. Its a beautiful drive, and the acclimatisation happens along the way. I still need 2 days in Leh to get used to the oxygen levels.
Terribly sad that the kids will carry this memory from Ladakh. If you ever plan to go again , fly to Srinagar. Stay for a day and then drive to Leh. It's a beautiful drive and the acclimatization happens along the way. I still need 2 days in Leh to get used to the oxygen levels. Shreya Dhoundial (@shreyadhoundial) July 31, 2024
You did nothing wrong, you took all precautions, yet it happened, and thats bad luck. BTW, by any chance your child was having nose block (mucus) before coming to Leh? When I visited, my oxygen level dropped to 80 in Leh, and it was around 70-72 at Changla Pass. I felt dizzy!! shared a user.
You did nothing wrong, you took all precautions, yet it happened and thats bad luck.BTW, by any chance your child was having nose-block (mucus) before coming to Leh? When I visited, my oxygen level dropped to 80 in Leh and it was around 70-72 at Changla Pass, felt dizzy !! Tech Star Shahrukh (@techstarsrk) July 30, 2024
Someone else added, Informative thread. We just completed our ten-day bike ride expedition in Leh, Ladakh. We are 50+ in age. Everything youve informed is so correct. Would add one more here. Since Leh is a cold, dry desert with almost no vegetation, the oxygen levels drop even further during nights.
Informative thread. We just completed our ten days bike ride expedition in Leh Ladakh. We are 50+ in age. Everything youve informed is so correct. Would add one more here. Since Leh is a cold dry desert with almost no vegetation the oxygen levels drop even further during nights (@SHWETAT65558712) July 31, 2024
While Ladakh is well-known for its breathtaking scenery and rich culture, the region poses serious risks to unacclimatised visitors. Hence, it is advised to follow the health advisory issued by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).
Giorgia Villa scripted history in Paris winning Italys first Olympic medal (silver) in the womens gymnastics team event for 96 years. Winning an Olympic medal is undoubtedly one of Villas greatest achievements in her career. But the 21-year-old Italian artistic gymnast has now gone viral because of some hitherto unknown reasons. As per multiple media reports, Villa has had one of the strangest brand deals in the history of sports. It has been learnt that Villa was once a brand ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, a famous Italian cheese brand. It is not known whether shes still being sponsored by the brand. The Italian Olympian triggered a massive chatter on social media yesterday when one X (formerly Twitter) user shared pictures of Villa posing with a couple of large cheese wheels back in 2021. Though she has not shared any content or advertisement for the company since 2022.
Olympic silver medalist and Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and takes many of her photos while posing with large wheels of cheese, read the now-viral post on X.
Olympic silver medalist and Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and takes many of her photos while posing with large wheels of cheese pic.twitter.com/klx8PEuFPN Women Posting W's (@womenpostingws) July 31, 2024
Reacting to the post, one social media user wrote, This Olympics belongs to the girlies they are slaying it.
This olympics belongs to the girlies they are slaying it Taeler Made (@i_amtaelermade) July 31, 2024
Another person cheekily commented, If this isnt life goals, I dont know what is.
If this isnt life goals, I dont know what is Sulman Aziz Mirza, MD? | TheKicksShrink (@sulmoney) July 31, 2024
Impressive to see someone go from cartwheels to cheesewheels, read another comment.
Impressive to see someone go from cartwheels to cheesewheels. Nathie Gamescom (@NathieVR) July 31, 2024
One X user hilariously wrote, I hope the photographer used every opportunity possible to say say cheese.
I hope the photographer used every opportunity possible to say "say cheese" Adam Whitcroft (@AdamWhitcroft) July 31, 2024
I need the people to know that olympic silver medalist giorgia villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and regularly posts pics of herself with giant wheels of cheese, read another post.
I need the people to know that olympic silver medalist giorgia villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and regularly posts pics of herself with giant wheels of cheese pic.twitter.com/7gVyuGMoy5 furiosarah (@slothanova) July 31, 2024
This person referred to this collaboration as one of the perfect unexpected combos.
Giorgia Villa, Olympic silver medalist and now sponsored by Parmesan cheese sharing pics with giant wheels of them is just one of those perfect unexpected combos that makes me so happy. You do not see an elite athlete paired with something so deliciously iconic every day, read the comment.
Giorgia Villa, Olympic silver medalist and now sponsored by Parmesan cheese sharing pics with giant wheels of them is just one of those perfect unexpected combos that makes me so happy. You do not see an elite athlete paired with something so deliciously iconic every day.I positivity moon (@arrtnem) July 31, 2024
Giorgia Villa had suffered an ankle injury right before the Tokyo Olympics 2021. The sprained ankle had forced Villa to miss her maiden Olympics appearance. Villa made her Olympics debut this year in Paris and came up with a spirited show to guide Italy to a historic medal. The Italian team accumulated a total of 165.494 across four apparatus at the Paris Olympics to win a silver medal. The US team won the gold medal while, Brazil claimed its first-ever team medal in gymnastics, having ensured a bronze.
A Harvard Business School professor has outlined three signs that your boss might be a narcissist. Amy Edmondson, a professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School in conversation with CNBC Make It, pointed out that the traits which help narcissistic individuals attain managerial positions are the same ones that also make them ineffectual leaders.
The essence of being a narcissist is that youre about yourself, youre for yourself, and youre less others-oriented. People who are in a position with a desire to lead others, need to be others-oriented. That starts with self-awareness, Edmondson told the news outlet.
The professor further outlined the key signs to help people identify a narcissistic boss. According to Edmondson, one major indicator is that a narcissistic boss tends to claim all the credit for successful outcomes and avoids taking responsibility for failures.
Narcissistic bosses are likely to take credit for things that go well and to dodge blame for things that dont or, more specifically, overtly blame others or external circumstances for things that dont go well, she said.
Edmondson further noted that these bosses might mask their inability to acknowledge their teams contributions with vague or generic praise. You notice they might be thanking the team but not in a specific way and it doesnt take long to realise that they are all about themselves, she added.
Another sign of a narcissistic boss, according to Edmondson, is their lack of listening skills. She explained that the managers role comes with a lot of explaining and teaching and clarifying goals, but it becomes a sign of narcissism if they do all the talking at the expense of listening.
They do not appear to be listening and learning. Their thinking isnt visibly being altered by what others are saying, she added.
For her final tip, Edmondson pointed out that narcissistic bosses view praise from others as a threat. They often get envious of their colleagues recognition or successes.
She noted that ideally praising a team member, who is doing great work, should reflect positively on the boss and enhance their reputation. If someone on your team is doing great work, it seems natural to me to be appreciative, she said.
However, narcissistic leaders dont see it that way. Instead, they view it as a lost opportunity and feel uncomfortable with the admiration for others, even if that person could potentially make them look like a better manager.
The Bangladesh government on Thursday banned radical Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami and its youth wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, for creating unrest and participating in violence during the recent student protests against government job quotas.
Students Against Discrimination staged nationwide rallies last month that ended in a police crackdown and the deaths of at least 206 people. The Sheikh Hasina-led government alleges that the radical Islamist group, which is also Bangladeshs largest Islamist group, hijacked the protest and spearheaded looting, violence and damage of public property.
Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political partners blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other associate bodies for inciting violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
The group and its youth wing were banned under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of Bangladesh after an executive order was issued by the government.
Both entities have now been labelled as militant and terrorist organisations under the new notification.
These outfits cannot function as political parties after this order has been passed, Bangladesh law minister Anisul Haque told Prothom Alo.
Jamaat-e Islami was founded during British colonial rule in 1941 by a controversial Islamist scholar and campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The group is also known for colluding with the Pakistan Army during the 1971 Liberation War and helped the Pakistan Army hunt down freedom fighters seeking liberation from Pakistan, murder and torture intellectuals and train people to fight against the muktijoddhas (freedom fighters under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) and the Indian Army that helped Bangladesh win the 1971 war.
Several leaders of the radical outfit also fled to Pakistan following the defeat of the Pakistan Army at the hands of the muktijoddhas and the Indian Army. Its several leaders like Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ghulam Azam and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed were given the death penalty for war crimes following the 2013 Shahbag Protests.
The party formed the Razakar and Al-Badr brigades that committed war crimes and acts of genocide which included rape of Hindu and Muslim women and their murder, mass killings, murder and torture.
The party was banned after Bangladeshs independence in 1971 for its role in the mass killings and atrocities under the administration of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshs founding leader and Hasinas father. The ban was lifted in 1976, a year after Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup. Only Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived as they were touring Germany in 1975.
The outfit in recent years has been accused of religious persecution as well.
In 2013, after the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced the outfits leader Delwar Hossain Sayidee to death, the group burnt over 50 temples across Bangladesh and attacked Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh.
It also has been accused of being linked to Al Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) that carried out some brutal attacks and murders of atheists, freethinkers and LGBTQIA+ activists from 2013 to 2015.
The group is currently being led by Shafiqur Rehman, who is emir of the group.
He rejected the decision in a statement, calling it anti-constitutional, and denied it was behind the recent violence.
The government carried out massacres by party cadres and state law and order forces in the country to suppress the non-political movement of students. The countrys teachers, cultural personalities, journalists and people of different professions are protesting against this genocide of the government, said Shafiqur Rahman, the party chief.
The group was declared illegal by the Bangladesh Supreme Court in 2013 which also rendered it unfit for fighting elections.
Jamaat had also been banned earlier twice, in 1959 and 1964 in Pakistan, for its communal role.
The party held two Cabinet portfolios under a power-sharing agreement with former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, an arch-rival of Hasina and head of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, in 2001-2006.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of Zias party, on Tuesday said that the decision to ban Jamaat-e-Islami is a tactic of Hasinas administration to divert attention from the current political situation following recent violence.
Lebanons Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that senior commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, making him the most senior figure from the group to be killed in nearly 10 months of conflict with Israel.
The strike hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, at dusk on Tuesday. It was the second time that the area had been struck since October, when Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire in parallel with the Gaza War.
Israels military announced late on Tuesday it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollahs most senior commander and whom it blamed for an attack on July 27 that left a dozen youngsters dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Iran-backed Hezbollah denied any involvement in the Golan attack.
The strike on Beirut happened hours before the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran, in a development that has further fanned fears of wider regional escalation. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas.
Hezbollah said that its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah would speak on Thursday on the occasion of Shukrs funeral.
Shukr was an adviser to Nasrallah, according to Hezbollah sources and the Israeli militarys announcement of his killing.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Shukr has the blood of many Israelis on his hands. Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end.
Shukrs body was found under the rubble on Wednesday evening, two Lebanese security sources said, nearly 24 hours after the strike.
At least two women and two children were also killed, medical and security sources said.
WE ARE UP FOR IT
The attack appeared to have shorn off the top corner of a multi-storey building and scattered bits of charred debris onto the surrounding buildings and streets.
Lebanese ministers and lawmakers visited the scene on Wednesday. Speaking from the ruins, Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar condemned the strike on Dahiyeh as well as the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has made no comment on Haniyehs assassination.
This enemy (Israel) demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it, Ammar said.
Lebanons cabinet held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the strike on Beirut and issued a statement read to reporters by Information Minister Ziad Makary.
Makary condemned the strike and said retaliation by Hezbollah was anticipated but that the government was worried the situation could spiral.
Lebanon does not want war, he said, adding that the government would engage in diplomatic efforts to calm tensions.
Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, an Indian American businessman, is facing allegations of manipulating the H-1B visa lottery system in the US. An investigation by news agency Bloomberg found that Reddy was orchestrating the scam using a complex network of companies while finding and exploiting loopholes in the visa process.
Reddy, who has connections in both US and India, manipulated the H-1B visa lottery system through multiple registration where he submitted several applications for the same person under different company names. This increased their odds of being selected in the lottery.
Cloud Big Data Technologies LLC, Machine Learning Technologies LLC and several other entities were owned by Reddy, the news agency said. These companies altogether submitted thousands of entries which helped them secure hundreds of H-1B visas.
Reddy claims he was merely an agent for the companies but the news agency citing documents it accessed said he and his wife owned and controlled those entities.
The tactics deployed by Reddy not only put at disadvantage the companies that followed the rules but it was also gaming the lottery system using its loopholes.
Bloomberg data showed that Reddys candidates were virtually assured lottery wins. They have accrued more than 300 visas since 2020 and secured 54 visas in 2023, far more than any other year.
Recent changes to the H-1B visa lottery system, designed to prevent fraud and prioritize genuine talent, have been manipulated by staffing companies. One such modification, which gave better weightage to applicants endorsed by multiple companies, was particularly exploited.
According to data accessed by Bloomberg, the median salary at staffing firms in 2023 was approximately $90,000, while regular employers offered around $125,000. Reddys recruits, however, were making about $87,000.
Reddy is being represented by Lucas Garritson, a lawyer from Texas. He told the news agency that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not implement proper procedures for prohibiting the manipulation of the loophole and said that there is no proof that Reddys company broke rules.
Reddy is involved with electoral politics as well and had contested as a candidate for the Indian National Congress (INC) party from Telanganas Adilabad constituency and currently is the partys in-charge for the constituency.
The news agency said that he owns a media outlet and a firm that supports farmers. The Bloomberg report said that even though it appears that his role in the H-1B visa lottery scam was minimal, their investigation suggests he played a substantial role.
WASHINGTONU.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas,introduced a resolution last week in the Democratic-controlled Senate to cut the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) order that reinstated net neutrality. Blackburn filed the resolution amid the media storm surrounding the success she saw with her controversial Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act advancing out of the Senate.
While this resolution has little chance of advancing due to broad support for net neutrality among Senate Democrats, the proposal speaks to the GOP-backed efforts to fight the broadband order. The joint resolution was filed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in a bid to nullify the net neutrality rules officially adopted in April and slated to enter force in the coming days.
Under the CRA, the Senate and House of Representatives are given stronger oversight to review the rules and regulations adopted by federal regulatory agencies, like the FCC.
Adopted in 1996, the act also requires federal regulatory agencies to submit reports on each new rule and regulation to both houses of Congress and to the office of the U.S. Comptroller General, who leads the federal Government Accountability Office. This has to be done before new rules take effect. The joint resolution reads, "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the ... [Federal Communications Commission] ... and such rule shall have no force or effect."
The resolution has to be adopted to have any impact on net neutrality regulation. However, as noted, Blackburn's measure lacks the necessary support in the Senate to have an impact on the policy.
AVN previously reported that a federal appeals court has temporarily halted the enforcement of the net neutrality rules through the context of an administrative stay. An administrative stay on the FCC's rules was implemented by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, because of lawsuits filed by stakeholder organizations and broadband companies to block the rule.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, an independent panel in the U.S. court system that manages similar lawsuits filed in several courts, declared the Sixth Circuit to be the appropriate legal venue for consolidating several cases brought by broadband industry groups.
Per the consolidation of the case, the panel consolidated eight cases into a single proceeding with extremely broad implications for these cases. AVN also reported that a recent action by the U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of federal regulatory agencies like the FCC and established that regulation should be considered in courts. The decision was reached by the conservative-leaning high court in the landmark case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. Now, the private sector and large business interests have greater standing in challenging whether the FCC overstepped.
A day after Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a strike in Iran, tensions have flared up between Iran and Israel. While Israel has not issued any statement taking responsibility for killing Haniyeh, like it did for killing Hezbollah leader in Lebanon, Iran has order a direct strike on Israel.
Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials.
Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, after Iran announced that Haniyeh had been killed.
Meanwhile, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will exert a cost from anybody who attacks it from any arena.
UNSC Meets on Tensions
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on Wednesday to discussing the escalating tensions in the Middle East. The council called for calm in the region amid fears of a wider war.
Both Iran and Israel appealed to the UN Security Council on Wednesday to strongly condemn the other for recent deadly attacks.
The Security Council should take immediate steps to hold Israel accountable for this act of aggression, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said during the meeting.
This includes considering the imposition of sanctions and other measures that are necessary to prevent further violations and to signal that Israeli malevolent activities will not be tolerated by the international community, he added.
Meanwhile, Israel did not issue any statement on Haniyehs killing but took responsibility for an airstrike in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. This operation sends a clear message: We will defend ourselves and respond with great force against those who harm us, Israeli Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Miller told the council.
He urged the council to hold Iran accountable with new sanctions saying Iran funds and arms both Hamas and Hezbollah.
Several countries have asked their citizens to avoid travelling to Lebanon a day after a Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike. India, Australia and Canada are among countries who have asked citizens to not travel to Lebanon amid escalating tensions.
The Indian Embassy in Beirut released an announcement where it strongly advised Indian nationals against travelling to Lebanon till further notice.
All Indian nationals are also strongly advised to leave Lebanon. Those who remain for any reason are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with Embassy of India in Beirut, the statement said.
It asked Indian nationals to remain in touch via email by mailing to cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or reach out on the emergency phone number +96176860128.
Advisory for Indian Nationals. pic.twitter.com/baGPhNpKip India in Lebanon (@IndiaInLebanon) July 31, 2024
Australia Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong warned all Australians in Beirut to leave immediately. In a statement, Wong said tensions in the region may escalate quickly leading to Beirut airport to shut down, in which case, the government wont be able to help citizens leave.
My message to Australian citizens and residents in Lebanon is now is the time to leave. pic.twitter.com/74DNfh1UNz Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) July 31, 2024
Canada, too, urged its citizens to come back home if they were in Lebanon, and to not think about visiting Beirut.
To Canadian citizens and permanent residents,If youre in and thinking about visiting Lebanon dont. If you are in Lebanon, come back home. If tensions escalate, the situation on the ground may not allow us to help you and you wont be able to leave. Plan accordingly. Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) July 31, 2024
Israel-Hezbollah Tensions
Israels military announced late on Tuesday it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollahs most senior commander and whom it blamed for an attack on July 27 that left a dozen youngsters dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Hezbollah said that its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah would speak on Thursday on the occasion of Shukrs funeral.
Lebanese ministers and lawmakers visited the scene on Wednesday. Speaking from the ruins, Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar condemned the strike on Dahiyeh as well as the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has made no comment on Haniyehs assassination.
This enemy (Israel) demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it, Ammar said.
Lebanons cabinet held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the strike on Beirut and issued a statement read to reporters by Information Minister Ziad Makary.
Makary condemned the strike and said retaliation by Hezbollah was anticipated but that the government was worried the situation could spiral.
Lebanon does not want war, he said, adding that the government would engage in diplomatic efforts to calm tensions.
(With inputs from agencies)
Russia freed American citizens Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in what could possibly be the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War, news outlet Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
A total of 26 people, including two minors, from the United States, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Belarus and Russia were involved in the swap carried out by Turkeys MIT intelligence service, Turkeys presidency said. The swap took place in Turkey.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich have been imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, which both of them and the US deny.
Russia had alleged that the 32-year-old journalist, who was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison earlier this month, was gathering secret information at the CIAs behest about a facility that produces and repairs military equipment and detained him in March 2023 in the city of Yekaterinburg. It provided no evidence to support the accusations.
Whelan, the 54-year-old corporate security executive from Michigan, was arrested in 2018 in Moscow, where he was attending a friends wedding, convicted two years later of espionage, and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Whelan worked in security for a US vehicle parts company when he was arrested in Moscow and has always asserted that the evidence against him was falsified.
When the Kremlin was asked about reports that Russia and the West could be gearing up for a major prisoner swap since the Cold War, they remained tight-lipped.
Several prisoners in Russian and Western countries have reportedly been moved from their cells in recent days, fuelling speculation of an imminent exchange.
Earlier today, a report by AFP named US reporter Evan Gershkovich to be part of the deal.
Several others held in Russias penal system including opposition figures Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin have also reportedly been moved, possibly in advance of a deal.
Prison transfers are notoriously murky in Russia, where family are not warned in advance and prisoners often lose contact with their lawyers and the outside world for weeks.
As a rule, swaps can happen only after a conviction, and the disappearance of several high-profile political prisoners at once is extremely rare.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose claim to victory at the polls has been widely contested, challenged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a fight on national television, which the business tycoon accepted. This was the result of an escalation of a war of words online between the two amid the political crisis in Caracas.
Elon Musk. Whoever messes with me, dries up. Whoever messes with Venezuela dries up, Elon Musk. You want to fight? Lets have it, Elon Musk. Im ready I am not afraid of you. Lets go at it, wherever you want Just say where, Maduro said on Wednesday (July 31).
Musk posted on X: I accept He will chicken out.
Earlier, the top US diplomat for Latin America said Maduro overwhelmingly lost to opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, endorsing vote tallies released by the opposition as Venezuelas electoral authority failed to release detailed results.
The countrys National Electoral Council (CNE) is yet to release a detailed vote breakdown to back its awarding of the July 28 election to Maduro, despite calls to do so from the opposition and many nations in the region and elsewhere.
Shame on Dictator Maduro
Musk, who has regularly slammed Maduros policies on X, called Maduro a dictator and travesty after the election results. Before the Venezuelan election, Musk posted: It is time for the people of Venezuela to have the chance for a better future. Support Maria Corina! He was referring to the wildly popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running against Maduro.
After the vote, and the announcement of the results, Musk said: Shame on Dictator Maduro and What a travesty.
Adios Dictatora Maduro https://t.co/79saJ8OSp4 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024
The people of Venezuela have had enough of this clown https://t.co/uolxvGFdwU Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024
He also posted a 2020 announcement from the US Drug Enforcement Administration of criminal charges against Maduro for drug trafficking and a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The posts sparked outrage from Maduro.
This is real pic.twitter.com/3KjTZiVJG0 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2024
He wants to come here with his guns and an army to invade Venezuela. Elon Musk, good thing you showed your face because we knew you were behind it all! With your money and your satellites, the president said.
He wants to control the world, he already controls Argentina You want to fight? Elon Musk, I am ready. I am the son of Bolivar and Chavez, Im not afraid of you, Elon Musk The people defeated Elon Musks bots, we defeated Elon Musks bots!
Musks retort came in Spanish: An ass knows more than Maduro. Later, the billionaire added: Sorry to have compared the poor ass to Maduro. That was an insult to the animal kingdom.
El burro sabe mas que Maduro https://t.co/9fe6JWOatM Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024
Attacks directed by Elon Musk
Maduro is no friend of Musk and the feeling is clearly mutual. Musk who leads SpaceX and Tesla, and owns the social network X is an ultra-capitalist who backs former US president Donald Trump, meaning he is everything that the socialist president despises.
But Maduro has recently had Musk in his sights, accusing him of being behind attacks against Venezuela and possibly the mastermind of an alleged computer hacking at the CNE.
On Tuesday (July 31), following a meeting of top political and military advisors, the president announced the creation of a special committee, aided by Russian and Chinese experts, to evaluate the nations biosecurity and an attack on the CNEs communications systems.
The attacks, I am sure, were directed by the power of Elon Musk, he said.
Opposition figures and observers, however, do not believe there was actually a hack but that authorities self-sabotaged the system so they would not have to provide the real election results. Before voters cast their ballots, Maduro was running well behind Urrutia in independent opinion polls.
Later in the day, Maduro addressed hundreds of supporters from his balcony and once again attacked Musk. Venezuela, as I said yesterday and today, is facing domestic and international aggression from world powers, and now it is evident that Elon Musk is obsessed with the idea of taking over Venezuela and ruling it from abroad, Maduro said.
He is largely responsible for these attacks and acts of aggression, he said, suggesting the existence of a global alliance of the far right, the fascist far right, drug traffickers, Elon Musk and the imperialist US government.
All those who come after Venezuela, we will eliminate them, he added.
(With agency inputs)
The TBMM General Assembly will start the new legislative year with intensive work. The TBMM General Assembly, which went on recess until October 1, will discuss the Teaching Profession Law Proposal and the 9th Judiciary Package.
The TBMM General Assembly will start the new legislative year on October 1 with discussions on the Teaching Profession Law Proposal and the 9th Judiciary Package.
The TBMM General Assembly went on recess until October 1 by the decision taken after the Law Proposal on Amending the Animal Protection Law regarding stray animals was accepted and enacted into law.
During the recess, some specialised committees will continue their work, and the Assembly will be open. However, the General Assembly will not be working.
The TBMM General Assembly will resume its work on October 1 with the opening of the 28th Term 3rd Legislative Year. The new legislative year will be opened with a ceremony.
The General Assembly will begin the new legislative year on October 1st with discussions on the Teaching Profession Law Proposal and the 9th Judicial Package.
In addition, the Law on the Protection of Consumers and the Law Proposal on Amending Certain Laws, which were accepted by the TBMM Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information, and Technology Committee before the Assembly went into recess, will also be put on the agenda of the General Assembly.
In the new legislative year, the General Assembly will consider new law proposals that include various regulations in different areas to be submitted to the Presidency of the Assembly and will discuss law proposals regarding international agreements.
The regulations in the proposals that the General Assembly is expected to consider first are as follows.
According to the Law Proposal on Amending Certain Laws, known to the public as the 9th Judicial Package, the crime of insult by voice, written, or visual message will be removed from the scope of conciliation and included in the scope of advance payment. In terms of the crime of insult, the investigation and prosecution of which depend on the complaint, the complaint period cannot exceed two years from the date of the act, in any way.
Those who have completed mediation training and have 20 years of experience in the profession will be able to register in the mediation registry without taking a written exam. A law degree will be required to become a mediator.
The sales procedure for vehicles in trustee parking lots that are detained due to being found or banned from traffic by the provisions of the law and not returned or searched by their owners within 6 months will be redetermined.
A National Education Academy will also be established according to the Proposal for the Law on the Teaching Profession. Preparatory training consisting of theoretical and practical courses determined within the framework of the qualifications for the teaching profession will be provided by the National Education Academy.
Teacher candidates will be paid every month in the amount found by multiplying the indicator figure determined during the preparatory training process with the civil servant monthly coefficient.
Contract teachers who have completed their three-year working period will be assigned to teacher positions in the places where they work upon their request. Those assigned to teacher positions will not be able to change places for 1 year, except for relocations due to excuses.
Those convicted of manufacturing and trading narcotics or stimulants, facilitating their use, accepting, possessing, using them, and indecent acts, obscenity, prostitution crimes, and crimes against sexual inviolability, will have their teaching careers terminated.
In cases where the crimes of "intentional injury", "threat", "insult", and "resisting to prevent the performance of duty" are committed against teachers in official and private educational institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education due to their duties, the penalties will be increased by half and the provisions for postponing the prison sentence will not be applied.
Among the teachers and specialist teachers who have completed 20 years of work and who meet the conditions other than having at least 10 years of service as a specialist teacher, they will be able to apply for the title of head teacher.
According to the Law Proposal on the Amendment of the Law on the Protection of Consumers and Certain Laws, the formal requirements of contracts between creditors and consumers will be established through an information or electronic communication device and will be made possible through methods that include the verification of the consumer's identity.
The issues regarding the direct sales system will be regulated, and the rights and obligations of the parties will be clarified. The institution of reconciliation will also be allowed to be applied to provisions regarding commercial advertising and unfair commercial practices.
Supportive measures will be taken to increase the competitiveness of domestically established marketplaces and protect them against marketplaces originating from abroad, increase employment levels, accelerate export growth, and ensure that more businesses turn to exports.
LOS ANGELESFort Troff, a leading male sex toy brand, on Thursday announced Rob Reimer has been named Director of Marketing.
Reimer has over 20 years of working for several of the top mens toy brands in the world including C1R, Perfect Fit Brand, and Boneyard.
Fort Troff is an established destination for leather, BDSM and fetish gear known for their cutting-edge designs, product quality and influence in the LGBT community.
Louis Ceruzzi, Fort Troffs owner and CEO, remarked, I have known and worked with Rob for decades. To now have the chance for us to come together and grow Fort Troff is very exciting.
Ceruzzi continued, We have already started working on some really innovative projects and are trying out several different strategies that we have never tried before.
Reimer said, I am incredibly excited to be working for the brand I have always respected and admired. Bringing my experience and ideas and putting my mark on this brand is going to be incredibly satisfying.
Plans include creating and launching new content for several incentives by working with established content creators and artists in the LGBTQ+ field while driving more traffic to the site, redesigning their social media channels, and creating a new Vlog.
Contact [email protected] or call 954-999-6111 for any inquiries.
MONTREALDeAngelo Jackson and Dominic Pacifico headline Secret Pleasures 2, a new compilation release from Mile High Medias gay studio Noir Male. The movie is now available in all formats.
The cast includes Max Konnor, Jason Vario, Pierce Paris, Nick Fitt, Jacen Zhu, and Titus McMasters.
For box art and release information, click here.
DeAngelo and Dominic are at their finest in a wild scene where the chemistry and energy are truly on another level, said Jon Blitt, vice president of Mile High Media. The action continues with memorable performances by Max Konnor, Jason Vario, and our other amazing performers as they play out these captivating scenarios that both engage and arouse in true Noir Male fashion.
The movie opens with Im Waiting, with Jackson and Pacifico, followed by Business Trip Bang, with Konnor and MacMasters. Next is The Rubdown, with Vario and Fitt, then The Once Over, with Zhu and Paris.
For Noir Male sales and distribution, contact [email protected] or call (800) 363-0133.
For more information, visit NoirMale.com or follow the brand on Instagram @OfficialNoirMale, and X @NoirMaleXXX, for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes previews.
Authorities in Washington state have determined that a Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April was operating on the company's "Full Self-Driving" system at the time of the crash. Investigators from the Washington State Patrol made the discovery after downloading information from the event-data recorder on the 2022 Tesla Model S, agency spokesman Capt. Deion Glover said. "The investigation is still ongoing in this case," Glover told the AP . The Snohomish County prosecutor will determine if any charges are filed in the case, he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that "Full Self-Driving" should be able to run without human supervision by the end of this year. He has been promising a fleet of robotaxis for several years. During the company's earnings conference call, he acknowledged that his predictions on the issue "have been overly optimistic in the past." After the crash in a suburban area about 15 miles northeast of Seattle, the driver told a trooper that he was using Tesla's Autopilot system and looked at his cellphone while the Tesla was moving.
"The next thing he knew there was a bang and the vehicle lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him," the trooper wrote in a probable-cause document. The 56-year-old driver was arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide "based on the admitted inattention to driving, while on Autopilot mode, and the distraction of the cell phone while moving forward, putting trust in the machine to drive for him," the affidavit said. The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Jeffrey Nissen, was pronounced dead at the scene.
story continues below
Nissen's death is at least the second in the US involving Tesla's "Full Self Driving" system. In investigative documents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said earlier it had found one fatality and 75 crashes while the system was being used. It wasn't clear whether the system was at fault in the fatality.
Tesla has two partially automated driving systems, "Full Self-Driving," which can take on many driving tasks even on city streets, and Autopilot, which can keep a car in its lane and away from objects in front of it. Sometimes the names are confused by Tesla owners and the public. Tesla says at present neither system can drive itself and that human drivers must be ready to take control at any time.
(More Tesla stories.)
The organizers of a music festival in Malaysia are suing the 1975 for $2.4 million, accusing the UK pop band of breaching its contract after lead singer Matty Healy went on the attack against the Southeast Asian nation's anti-LGBTQ+ rules. Variety reports that the incident took place during last summer's Good Vibes Festival, during which Healy kissed a bandmate onstage, cursed while talking to the audience, downed alcohol, and smoked cigarettesall in violation of the fest's guidelines, which organizer Future Sound Asia says the band had agreed to in order to perform. Those agreed-to prohibitions included drinking, smoking, and using profanity onstage, as well as stripping one's clothes off and bringing up either politics or religion.
There was also a ban against "kissing, kissing a member of the audience, or carrying out such actions among themselves." FSA says in its suit that the 1975 had been warned repeatedly about the guidelines, and had also performed at the same festival in 2016, so therefore couldn't plead ignorant about the restrictions. Per the complaint, the band decided the night before its turn onstage not to perform, though members subsequently changed their minds and carried on with the show. During that performance, Healy engaged in a "long pretend passionate embrace" with bassist Ross MacDonald "with the intention of causing offense and breaching the regulations and the terms of the agreement," according to the suit.
The band also smuggled a bottle of wine onstage so Healy "could have easy access," per the complaint. "Their actions have had repercussions on local Malaysian artists and small businesses, who relied on the festival for creative opportunities and their livelihoods," the organizer said in a statement last year when it filed for damages, per Pitchfork. The BBC notes that a separate class-action suit has been filed against the band by multiple musicians and vendors who say their pocketbooks took a hit when the second and third days of the festival were nixed as a result of the band's antics. Healy also took some flak from Malaysia's LGBTQ+ community, some of whom were angry and worried that Healy's "performative activism" would ultimately make things harder for them. (More the 1975 stories.)
UPDATE
Aug 3, 2024 7:00 AM CDT
The death penalty may be back on the table for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday revoked their deals to plead guilty made earlier this week, following backlash from some families of 9/11 victims, GOP lawmakers, and the New York City firefighters union, per the Washington Post. Austin also removed retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier from overseeing the case and put himself in charge. "I have determined that ... responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009," Austin wrote in a memo. J. Wells Dixon, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who has repped defendants at Guantanamo Bay, accused Austin on Friday of "bowing to political pressure" in revoking the plea deals, per the AP.
Jul 31, 2024 7:25 PM CDT
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused as the main plotter in al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US, has agreed to plead guilty, the Defense Department said Wednesday, pointing to a long-delayed resolution in an attack that altered the course of the US and much of the Middle East. He and two accomplices, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter the pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week, the AP reports. Pentagon officials declined to immediately release the terms of the plea bargain. The New York Times, citing unidentified Pentagon officials, said the terms included the men's longstanding condition that they be spared risk of the death penalty.
Addressing Donald Trump's remarks casting doubt on her racial identity earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday night said his comments showed "divisiveness and disrespect." Speaking to the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority's gathering in Houston, per the New York Times, Harris said, "The American people deserve better." Trump did not wait until his rally Wednesday night in Pennsylvania to talk about the confrontational interview in Chicago. While opponents issued statements condemning his remarks, Trump posted on Truth Social that his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference was a triumph, writing, "The questions were rude and nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!" He posted praise from supporters as it arrived, per the Times.
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One of the most influential unions in the country endorsed Kamala Harris for president Wednesday. The United Automobile Workers says the vice president will attend a Detroit rally next week at which UAW members will be present. "We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed," UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement. As the New York Times explains, the union is one of Biden's closest allies, butunlike many other unions that quickly backed Harrisit held off on its endorsement while assessing her approach on issues including US investments in manufacturing jobs.
The UAW also looked at her stance on the war in Gaza, an issue on which it had split somewhat from Biden. It recently joined with other unions in sending a letter urging him to "immediately halt all military aid to Israel as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza." The UAW "had been one of the few large unions to withhold an endorsement," per Axios, but, as NBC News puts it, given Fain's outspoken criticism of Trump, "the union's endorsement should not be surprising." Fain might be anti-Trump, but he acknowledged about a third of UAW members voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. Fox Business has more on the back-and-forth between the union and Trump here. (More United Auto Workers stories.)
Since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on Oct 7 last year, most of Hamas military forces have been decimated, causing its strength and political influence to shrink sharply. While the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is significant, its impact on Palestinian internal politics is likely to be limited.
So far, no force has claimed responsibility for the assassination. Since Israel has always insisted on destroying or physically eliminating the main leaders of the hostile forces and their followers, the country is widely suspected to be a behind-the-scenes supporter of a series of actions. Of course, based on past experience, Israel is unlikely to announce that it was responsible. It is also possible that some other organizations may claim responsibility for the attack.
Palestinian resistance organizations have been so severely crushed in recent months that they do not have the ability or willingness to retaliate against Israel on a large scale.
It is widely known that Fatah has no military power in the West Bank. After more than half a year of military operations, Israel has destroyed most of Hamas military capabilities in Gaza. Overall, Palestines ability to retaliate against foreign forces is negligible.
A day before the attack on Haniyeh, Israel had claimed to have successfully killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon. Some reports say he was the second-in-command of Hezbollah, its most senior military commander and an adviser to its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Fuad Shukr was responsible for planning and commanding wartime operations.
As such, it can be said that Israel has shifted its strategic focus from Gaza to southern Lebanon. It has even notified various diplomatic missions in Beirut to be careful and evacuate. Israel seems to have well planned its attack on the Hezbollah, and according to Israeli media this plan has the backing of the US government. Israels strategy of strengthening its attack on Lebanon, especially Hezbollah, will not change much in the near future.
Iran has long struggled with a challenging domestic security environment, and the assassination of Haniyeh is expected to prompt heightened security measures, particularly in Tehran. This is not the first time that an assassination has occurred in Iran. It is generally believed that there are a large number of spies in Iran, especially Israeli spies which Iran is unable to contain. This is a reason why so many important figures in Iran have been systematically eliminated one after another.
The assassination of Haniyeh will not have a major impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, because the two parts cannot communicate directly anyway.
Palestine has very deep-rooted internal conflicts that cannot be resolved in a short time. There are many people and factions with varying opinions on Hamas. In fact, not just Israel, many factions in Palestine, too, are happy to see a weakened Hamas.
So far, there is a huge gap between the opinions of Hamas and Fatah. If Hamas cannot play a bigger role now, it will obviously benefit factions, including Fatah, and their peace talks with Israel.
China needs to strongly condemn Haniyehs assassination because it is a terrorist action.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, notably the Palestinian predicament, is an exceedingly intricate issue. It is difficult to achieve results if it is simplified too much. The essence and connotation of the Palestinian issue have undergone a series of changes compared to decades ago. Even the land of Palestine has changed a lot. Hence, the Palestinian issue necessitates examination from both a historical and a contemporary standpoint. Any plan that disregards the present circumstances is destined to falter.
The former contestant is becoming the judge. Carrie Underwood, who rose to country music fame as the winner of American Idol's fourth season in 2005, will become a judge on the show's upcoming 23rd season, Deadline reports. Underwood will reportedly replace Katy Perry, who announced her exit at the end of last season. She'd been in the judge's chair since ABC's 2018 reboot of the show for its 16th season. Fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, who joined alongside Perry, will return again this fall, while Perry is said to be focusing on her own music career.
President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday asked Venezuela's high court to conduct an audit of the presidential election after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory , drawing criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review, the AP reports. Maduro told reporters that the ruling party is also ready to show all the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election. "I throw myself before justice," he said outside the Supreme Tribunal of Justice headquarters in the capital, Caracas, adding that he is "willing to be summoned, questioned, investigated."
This is Maduro's first concession to demands for more transparency about the election. However, the court is closely aligned with his government; the court's justices are proposed by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers. The Carter Center, which sent a delegation to Venezuela to monitor the election and says it has been unable to verify the results, criticized Maduro's audit request, saying the court would not provide an independent review. Maduro's main challenger, Edmundo Gonzalez, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say they obtained more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed. They said the release of the data on those tallies would prove Maduro lost.
(More Venezuela stories.)
Former President Trump reiterated a promise on Wednesday to pardon Jan. 6 rioters if he returns to the White House. "Oh, absolutely I would," Trump told ABC News' Rachel Scott during the National Association of Black Journalists' conference in Chicago. "If they are innocent, I would pardon them." Scott, who was questioning Trump, drew laughs from the crowd as she quickly noted, "They've been convicted," per NBC News . More than 1,000 people have been found guilty of crimes connected to the Jan. 6 attack during Trump's final days in office. Trump himself is charged with plotting to overthrow the 2020 election.
Trump has previously called the rioters "patriots" and "hostages." In response to Scott, he claimed "they were convicted by a very tough system." When Scott noted 140 officers had been assaulted, Trump shifted focus, claiming there had been a "horrible attack on the Capitol" just last week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. There was no attack on the Capitol that day, though pro-Palestinian demonstrators allegedly assaulted police during a protest at Columbus Circle. "They viciously attacked our government, they fought with police, they fought with them much more openly than I saw on Jan. 6," Trump said. Four of those protesters were charged with assaulting police, per HuffPost.
An ABC News investigation over the course of months found "rewriting the history" of Jan. 6 is "one of the touchstones" of Trump's campaign. "Some are seeking to echo his message on far-right media and even the campaign trail, trying to paint January 6 not as a violent attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, but as a peaceful demonstration," the outlet notes. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Trump claimed "those who broke the law" would "pay," per the New Republic. But within a year, he said he was looking at "full pardons with an apology." (More Donald Trump stories.)
Taylor Swift is telling fans traveling to her concert in Warsaw on Thursday to not panic, and to expect to hear loud sirens in the afternoon honoring a key World War II anniversary. The Polish capital is holding observances to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, a 63-day revolt by Polish insurgents after five years of brutal Nazi occupation, the AP reports. The entire city stops and alarm sirens sound every year on Aug. 1 at the exact time in the afternoon when the revolt was launched. Swift is performing for three consecutive nights in Warsaw starting Thursday.
"To the people who are coming to the concert on August 1st don't panic if you heard sirens alarm about 5p.m. It will be 80th anniversary & planes!" Swift's "The Eras Tour" posted on social media. Thousands of ticket-holders, many who are traveling to Warsaw from afar, will be in or near the stadium at that time already for the evening performance. A Polish news site, Onet, also published an "important message for all Swifties who are going to the concert" explaining the significance of the day. "We ask you to remain calm and not to panic. In this way every year residents pay tribute to the heroes of 1944. Those who will be at that moment already outside the stadium, please remain quiet and get up."
On Aug. 1, 1944, poorly armed young city residents rose up against German forces, battling them in the streets of the capital for over two months. The Soviets were approaching in their march westward against the German forces, and the Poles held out hope for help. That help didn't come, and Germans killed 200,000 Polish fighters and civilians and razed the city in revenge. Germany in past decades has made many gestures of remorse, helping to bring about reconciliation. Poles, however, remain bitter toward the Soviets for allowing the slaughter when they could have intervened. Today the uprising is remembered by Poles as one of the most important moments in a long history of independence struggles against Russia and Germany.
(More Taylor Swift stories.)
Russia has freed Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan as part of a large prisoner swap with the West, reports the AP. Turkish officials confirmed the swap on Thursday after reports emerged at Bloomberg and the Daily Beast, among other outlets. Details were still emerging.
Two big names: Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, had been detained more than a year, and Whelan, a former US Marine, had been held since 2018. Both were convicted of espionage charges that the US says are bogus.
Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, had been detained more than a year, and Whelan, a former US Marine, had been held since 2018. Both were convicted of espionage charges that the US says are bogus. Prison movement: Reuters reports that Whelan and Russian-British dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza had disappeared from view in recent days, and at least seven Russian dissidents had been moved from their prisons. The outlet says the swap involved prisoners held by Russia and Belarus on one side, and prisoners held by the US and Germany, and perhaps other nations, on the other. The AP estimates about two dozen people were involved.
A near-total abortion ban will remain on hold in Utah after the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the law should remain blocked until a lower court can assess its constitutionality. With the decision, the AP reports that abortion remains legal up to 18 weeks under another state law that has served as a fallback as abortion rights have been thrown into limbo. The panel wrote in its opinion that the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah had legal standing to challenge the state's abortion trigger law, and that a lower court acted within its purview when it initially blocked the ban.
Their ruling only affects whether the restrictions remain on pause amid further legal proceedings and does not decide the final outcome of abortion policy in the state. The case will now be sent back to a lower court to determine whether the law is constitutional. The trigger law that remains on hold would prohibit abortions except in cases when the mother's life is at risk or there is a fatal fetal abnormality. A separate state law passed this year also would allow abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest.
Utah lawmakers passed the trigger lawone of the most restrictive in the nationin 2020 to automatically ban most abortions should the US Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. When Roe fell in June 2022, abortion rights advocates in Utah immediately challenged the law, and a district court judge put it on hold a few days later. Kathryn Boyd, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said she hopes the lower court will ultimately strike down the trigger law. "Today's decision means that our patients can continue to come to us ... to access abortion and other essential reproductive services," Boyd said. "While we celebrate this win, we know the fight is not over." (More Utah stories.)
The deal that resulted in the biggest and most complex prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War took more than a year of secret negotiations, reports Reuters. The most well-known names involved are Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, but 22 other prisoners also were in the mix, and at least six nations were involved in the swap. Coverage:
3 US citizens: Russia released 16 people from custody, while US-led Western nations freed eight prisoners. A total of three American citizens were released: Gershkovich, 32, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who was held more than a year; Whelan, 54, a former US Marine held since 2018; and Alsu Kurmasheva, 47, a Russian-American editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who was arrested last year, per the New York Times. All three were expected to arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland later Thursday.
UPDATE
Aug 2, 2024 1:00 AM CDT
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for "the vast majority" of the state's counties ahead of a storm system that has a 70% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next week, per the National Hurricane Center. "Based on meteorological reports, there is significant threat of heavy rainfall over most of the State of Florida, with the possibility of at least 12 inches of rainfall over the next seven days," reads a statement cited by USA Today. "The water tables in the affected areas are already nearing peak capacity and incoming heavy rainfall will cause significant river flooding that may last for several weeks."
Aug 1, 2024 4:21 PM CDT
It's not even a named storm at the moment, but forecasters are warning residents of Florida and Louisiana to be aware of a developing ocean system. As of Thursday, the system is called merely Invest 97Linvest referring to a weather pattern that the National Hurricane Center is investigating, reports WESH. "A tropical depression could form this weekend or early next week over the eastern Gulf of Mexico or far southwestern Atlantic Ocean, including in the vicinity of Florida," said the NHC in a Thursday afternoon advisory, per USA Today.
In April 1796, more than 500 Maroons from Trelawny Town in the mountains of northwestern Jamaica were forcibly transported to the British colony of Nova Scotia. Their experiences exemplified the insecure rights and freedoms of African-descended British subjects in the late-18th-century Atlantic world. The Maroons of Trelawny Town were formerly enslaved peoples of African ancestry and their descendants who had lived in the Cockpit Country region of Jamaica until their exile following the second and final Maroon War (17951796). Almost everyone from the townapproximately 150 families or more than 500 adults and childrenwere forcibly transported to Nova Scotia. Many people became sick and several died during the voyage.
The Maroons moved a few months after they arrived to lands in Preston township purchased with funds from the Jamaican government. There, they faced considerable pressures to convert to Christianity, adopt settler agriculture, and undertake hard manual labour for low wages. They contributed to the building of roads, highways, canals, bridges, buildings, and fortifications in Nova Scotia, including the third fortification on Citadel Hill in Halifax, which was later replaced by the fourth and final Halifax Citadel (designated a national historic site in 1935). To reflect this direct connection, the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site was chosen as the location for the commemorative plaque.
For years, the Maroons tirelessly petitioned for the freedom to leave Nova Scotia. In the end, the British arranged for their migration to Sierra Leone, and 177 women, 151 men, and 222 children were aboard the transport ship HMS Asia when it anchored off the coast of Freetown on 30 September 1800.
A small number of Jamaican Maroons remained in Nova Scotia. The pride, resistance, self-determination, and unique cultural identity of the Maroons gained new significance in the second half of the 20th century within the contexts of social movements for greater civil rights and recognition of the diverse histories, cultures, and achievements of African-descended peoples. Today, the historical presence of the Jamaican Maroons still holds a prominent place within the collective memory of African Nova Scotians.
The Government of Canada, through the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, recognizes significant people, places, and events that shaped our country as one way of helping Canadians and youth connect with their past. The designation process under Parks Canada's National Program of Historical Commemoration is largely driven by public nominations. To date, more than 2,240 designations have been made nationwide.
National historic designations illustrate the defining moments in the story of Canada. Together, they tell the stories of who we are and connect us to our past, enriching our understanding of ourselves, each other, and our country. Heritage places provide a wide range of cultural, social, economic, and environmental benefits to their communities.
Today's ceremony coincides with Emancipation Day, the day the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect in the British Empire and ended the practice of slavery for millions of African People and their descendants around the world (August 1, 1834). The unveiling is one part of a larger event to honour and commemorate this important day alongside the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, and the Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia.
Quotes
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I am honoured to join Parks Canada in commemorating the national historic significance of the Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia. Their experiences, dignity, strength, resiliency, and resistance to oppression live on as a lasting legacy in this province. Historic designations reflect Canada's rich and varied history, and I encourage all Canadians to learn more about the Jamaican Maroons and their important contributions to Canada's heritage."
Lena Metlege Diab
Member of Parliament for Halifax West
Quick Facts
In 2022, the Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia were officially designated as an event of national historic significance under Parks Canada's National Program of Historical Commemoration.
were officially designated as an event of national historic significance under Parks Canada's National Program of Historical Commemoration. The Jamaican Maroons were formerly enslaved peoples of African ancestry and their descendants who had lived in relative independence and isolation in Trelawny Town, Jamaica .
. The experiences of the more than 500 Jamaican Maroons forcibly transported to Nova Scotia in 1796 exemplified the insecure rights and freedoms of African-descended British subjects in the late 18th century.
in 1796 exemplified the insecure rights and freedoms of African-descended British subjects in the late 18th century. While most of the Maroons left for Sierra Leone , some individuals remained in Nova Scotia . Their continued presence is reflected in the surnames, accents, idioms, customs, oral histories, and traditions of African Nova Scotians, for whom Maroon dignity, strength, resiliency, perseverance, and resistance to oppression are a continued source of pride.
, some individuals remained in . Their continued presence is reflected in the surnames, accents, idioms, customs, oral histories, and traditions of African Nova Scotians, for whom Maroon dignity, strength, resiliency, perseverance, and resistance to oppression are a continued source of pride. Created in 1919, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada advises the Minister of Environment and Climate Change regarding the national historic significance of persons, places, and events that have marked history in Canada . Together with Parks Canada, the Board ensures that subjects of national historic significance are recognized, and these important stories are shared with Canadians.
advises the Minister of Environment and Climate Change regarding the national historic significance of persons, places, and events that have marked history in . Together with Parks Canada, the Board ensures that subjects of national historic significance are recognized, and these important stories are shared with Canadians. The vast majority of nominations brought forward for the consideration of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada originate from members of the public. To nominate a person, place or historical event in your community, please visit the Parks Canada website for more information: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/ncp-pcn/application.
Related Document
Backgrounder The Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia
Related Links
Parks Canada
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada
Framework for History and Commemoration
SOURCE Parks Canada (HQ)
Contacts: Jodi Hawkins, Partnering, Engagement and Communications Officer, Mainland Nova Scotia Field Unit, Parks Canada, 782-409-0146, [email protected]; Kaitlin Power, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change819-230-1557, [email protected]; Media Relations, Parks Canada, 855-862-1812, [email protected]
Elon Musk will meet Samsung CEO Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai CEO Chung Eui-sun in Paris in early August. It is reported they will dine in Paris this weekend. They will also discuss the development of next-generation technologies and explore ways to cooperate.
The meeting was reportedly made at the suggestion of Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
Elon says Tesla has a clear path to doubling average miles between interventions in August. I, Brian Wang, believe the path to doubling miles between interventions is eliminate the obstacle interventions and merge the highway and city driving software stacks. Tesla would reach 2000 miles between intervention and this would be 10x better than 12.3.6 and 20 times better than v11. The chinese and other car makers have self driving systems at the level of FSD version 11 or worse. Other companies can only advance to Tesla FSD 12.5.X level with 2 billion miles of data.
Elon said Tesla is working with regulatory authorities in other countries to roll out supervised FSD worldwide.
A Detailed Usage Report for FSD 12.5.1
Honest Tesla FSD 12.5 & 12.5.1 on AI4/HW4 model 3 review after ~400 miles.
After about 400 miles using FSD 12.5.1 on assertive mode Ive been mind blown. Previous versions were great but this one is different. Different in an incredible way. It drives with confidence, accuracy, and safety. I have only had to intervene a total of 1 time (not including parking lots).
Pros/improvements Ive felt from previous versions:
Always turns onto the correct lane in intersections.
Switches lanes with accuracy and precision in a timely manner. (Lane dancing is gone) . Makes decisions quickly but safely at the same time. (previous versions would sometimes switch lanes late leading to missed turns)
Keeps flow with traffic, doesnt go too fast or too slow.
Proceeding through Stop signs/unprotected left turns have drastically improved; no more hesitation. When clear it takes off. (Previous versions would stop creep stop creep stop creep and it would be very tedious and unhuman like).
No more Wheel Nag. This makes the driving experience so much more convenient not having to touch the wheel every 20-30 seconds.
Cons:
I have only ran into 3 issues so far
One; the car not stopping for small geese in a parking lot I was at. The visuals showed a dark shadow like object but the car slowed and started proceeding through anyway (I had to intervene).
Two; It hugs the curbs a little too close to my liking at times.
Three; flashing red lights are still a problem. (My only city/highway disengagement).
Overall in my 400 or so miles of using FSD 12.5.1 I would give it a 9.8/10 driver rating in city and highway.
I dont think we are far away from having unsupervised (no cabin camera nag).
Now one might ask why should I use FSD when I can drive myself ?
Well there are many reasons.
1. Safety: Many cameras (more than the two eyes humans have) constantly watching every direction of the car protecting not only you but others around you. Its easy for humans to become distracted resulting in accidents but a computer is programmed to be functional and alert at all times.
2. Battery usage/range: I get much better range and performance when using FSD vs manual driving. I tend to gun it sometimes and not utilize the regenerative breaking to its optimal capability, however FSD does resulting in better range and mileage use.
3. Convenience: FSD can automate driving tasks such as highway cruising, lane changes, and navigating through traffic, which can make driving more relaxed and less stressful. (Especially for people that have anxiety pertaining to driving in general)
4. Reduced Driver Fatigue: By handling routine driving tasks, FSD helps reduce driver fatigue, especially on long trips.
5. Navigation: I dont know how many times Ive missed exits or turns due to error but FSD has been tremendous when it comes to this making real time adjustments to avoid traffic and reduce travel time.
With that being said, once this thing becomes unsupervised, it will truly change the way of traveling in so many ways. This is the greatest invention since the internet.
NASA and Boeing continue to analyze the Boeing Starliner at the International Space Station. The Boeing Starliner has been delayed about six weeks before a planned return flight of two astronauts.
Michael Tzukran is a satellite photographer who captured a picture of the Boeing Starliner being inspected by the Canadarm.
NASA said SpaceXs Crew Dragon is the backup plan to return astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck on the ISS for nearly two months due to Boeings Starliner issues.
Not lost in space, just stuck! On June 5th, #NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore took Boeings Starliner into orbit, but their ISS stay got extended. @Clayton_Sandell reports on whats causing the delay and when theyre expected to return. #BoeingStarliner pic.twitter.com/XkzKDkcdA3 Scripps News (@scrippsnews) June 25, 2024
At a July 26 briefing, NASA officials said they were targeting no earlier than Aug. 18 for the launch of the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. That date had been in question after an upper stage anomaly on a Falcon 9 Starlink launch that grounded the rocket for 15 days. At a separate briefing July 26, the four-person crew of Crew-9 NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague and Stephanie Wilson and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov said they had no reservations on launching on a Falcon 9 weeks after the upper stage anomaly.
The timing for Crew 9 and Polaris dawn missions will also depend on Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft docked to the station on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. Starliner will have to depart to free up a docking port.
The first operational Starliner mission, called Starliner-1, is no longer scheduled to launch in February 2025 as previously planned. The Crew-10 mission will instead launch then to allow NASA and Boeing more time to review data from the CFT mission and make any changes to the spacecraft. He said Starliner-1 has been rescheduled for August 2025.
Boeings quarterly earnings report for Q2 2024 registered another $125 million loss on the Starliner program. The delays on the Starliner still-ongoing Crew Flight Test, the programs first mission to carry astronauts into orbit. There have been various leaks of helium, thruster and other issues. Boeing has now suffered an overall loss on the program of nearly $1.6 billion since 2016.
NASA awarded Boeing a fixed price $4.2 billion contract to complete development of the Starliner spacecraft a decade ago. The original plan was to use the Starliner ready to fly astronauts by the end of 2017.
SpaceX has completed all six of its original crew flights for NASA and was paid $3.1 billion. Boeing is at least a year away from starting operational service with Starliner. NASA extended SpaceXs commercial crew contract to cover eight additional round-trip flights to the space station through the end of the 2020s.
Boeing has fixed-price contracts with the Pentagon to develop new two new Air Force One presidential transport aircraft, Air Force refueling tankers, refueling drones, and trainer airplanes. Boeing has reported losses on all of those programs.
A young child fell at a South Jersey daycare center in back-to-back days last year, causing him to fracture his skull and potentially face lifelong injuries, according to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey Superior Court last week.
Personal injury lawyer Mary LeMieux-Fillery filed a lawsuit in Cumberland County on July 24 against the Millville Day Care, alleging the facility acted negligently while caring for the son of her client, Jasmine Williams. He was 11-months-old at the time her was injured, LeMieux-Fillery told NJ Advance Media.
The Millville woman alleges the fracture was discovered two days after the second fall while consulting a pediatrician, prompting doctors to perform X-rays and a CAT scan, according to the complaint.
Just when you thought Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Theodore Ted Logan were history, theyre back on Broadway.
New Jerseys own Alex Winter and his onscreen partner Keanu Reeves are starring in an upcoming production of Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot.
The Bill & Ted duo are hitting Broadway in the fall of 2025.
Winter is Vladimir and Reeves is Estragon in the play, directed by Tony nominee Jamie Lloyd (A Dolls House). The show will be Reeves Broadway debut.
Were incredibly excited to be on stage together and work with the great Jamie Lloyd in one of our favorite plays, the actors said in a joint statement.
Irish playwright Becketts play premiered in French in 1953 and English in 1955. Estragon and Vladimir talk while waiting for the character Godot, who never shows up.
Been working on this one for a while now, Winter said in a post on Threads. Excited beyond words. And theres a *lot* of words.
Winter and Reeves, who first teamed up in the 1989 movie Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure" Winter as Bill, Reeves as Ted were back for the 1991 sequel Bill & Teds Bogus Journey and reunited nearly 30 years later for the 2020 movie Bill & Ted Face the Music.
MORE: Bill & Ted Face the Music: Alex Winters excellent adventure from N.J. to movie history
Winter, 59, was living in Montclair during his last run on Broadway the 1979 production of Peter Pan.
Winter, then a teen, played John Darling in the show, which starred Sandy Duncan and had him flying over the stage on wires.
I was literally taking the 66 DeCamp bus into the city every day after school, the former Montclair High student told NJ Advance Media in 2020. And they let me out early for the Wednesday matinee, so I was doing eight shows a week.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves at the premiere of "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" in 1991. They've been friends since their auditions for the first "Bill & Ted." Ron Galella | Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Before that, Winter, who is also known for playing Marko in The Lost Boys (1987), starred in the Broadway revival of The King and I as Louis Leonowens opposite Yul Brynner.
Winter and Reeves, also 59, have been friends ever since their 1986 auditions for the first Bill & Ted movie.
It was very uncommon to make friends with the people that youre auditioning against every day, Winter told NJ Advance Media in the 2020 interview. I think we just kind of gravitated towards each other. He remained for years one of the only actors thats one of my very closest friends.
These days, Winter works as a director as well as an actor. Winter, who starred in and directed the 1993 dark comedy Freaked and helmed the 1999 thriller Fever, directed the upcoming movie Adulthood, starring Josh Gad and Kaya Scodelario, and appears in the horror comedy Destroy All Neighbors.
He is also a documentary filmmaker whose credits include Showbiz Kids, The Panama Papers, Downloaded, Deep Web, Zappa and The YouTube Effect.
Of course, after Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure, Reeves became a huge action star in Speed" and the Matrix and John Wick films, also starring in Point Break, Constantine, My Own Private Idaho, Bram Stokers Dracula, The Devils Advocate and many more movies.
For pending theater information and ticket sign-up for Waiting for Godot, visit godotbroadway.com.
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A man accused of a carjacking and an assault in Essex County from 2022 was convicted by a jury, Essex County officials announced Wednesday.
Jose Mercado, 22, of Jersey City was found guilty of conspiracy, carjacking, armed robbery, aggravated assault and weapons charges stemming from a July 2022 incident.
Prosecutors said Mercado and a juvenile co-conspirator carjacked and assaulted the victim at gunpoint in the 300 block of Lake Street in Newark on July 31.
Mercado was identified in the stolen vehicle by Jersey City police later that day and after a brief foot-chase, Mercado and the juvenile were arrested, police said.
Authorities recovered money taken from the victim as well as two loaded guns in a car used during the crime, officials said.
The status of the case against the juvenile, who was not named due to age, was not immediately clear.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26. An attorney for Mercado did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Residents of a Jersey City high-rise building near the Hoboken border went without running water for most of the day after a water main break was early Thursday.
The water for 700 Grove, at Grove and 18th streets, was finally restored at approximately 4 p.m., said a spokesman for Veolia, the company that operates the water system for the city.
A New Jersey man was sentenced to five years of probation after admitting to sexually assaulting another passenger on a flight from New Jersey to Montana, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana Jesse Laslovich announced Thursday.
Piyush Mathew, 31, of Robbinsville plead guilty to abusive sexual contact in March after another passenger alleged he groped and touched her during a flight to Bozeman, Montana.
Mathew was sentenced to five years of probation including six months of home confinement and must register a sex offender. He must also pay a $5,100 special assessment.
According to documents in the case, the woman, identified as Jane Doe, was seated in a middle seat of a United Airlines flights while Mathew had an aisle seat during a flight between New Jersey and Montana on Sept. 7, 2023.
Federal officials did not identify the specific airport the flight left from in New Jersey in a press release issued Thursday.
The woman alleged Mathew raised the armrest between them prior to takeoff and then assaulted her for the duration of the four-hour flight.
She told authorities Mathew touched her multiple times on several areas of her body, including her thighs, fingers, arms, stomach and breasts while pretending to be asleep.
While deboarding the plane, the woman said she intended to report the incident to the flight crew but Mathew stood directly behind her and she felt unable to alert the crew.
Instead, she pretended to know another male in front of her to safeguard her from Mathew, she told authorities.
The man reported the womans condition to authorities, telling officials that she looked upset and ready to cry, documents in the case alleged.
Mathews federal public defender, John Rhodes, told NJ Advance Media that he believed his clients sentence was fair and just in accordance with the law.
Rhodes said that Mathew still lives in New Jersey and must register as a sex offender with the state.
United Airlines declined to comment on the incident.
The FBI, Gallatin Airport Authority and Bozeman Airport Police investigated the case.
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Amtrak officials have applied for $299.7 million in federal grants to replace trouble-prone overhead wiring that powers trains, and has been blamed for delays and service suspensions this summer.
Amtrak applied for four Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Federal Railroad Administration grants, including $13.4 million to replace overhead electric catenary wires between North Brunswick to Newark, with an award announcement expected in the fall, said Jason Abrams, an Amtrak spokesman.
It was an obscure job with huge financial perks.
In December 2022, longtime Camden County Commissioner Jeffrey Nash was named CEO of the board of governors of Rowan University and Rutgers-Camden, a little-noticed body packed with allies of South Jersey Democratic boss George Norcross.
Donald Trump all but said Joe Biden wouldnt be able to get the job done, so naturally, after Biden accomplished the task, he took a jab at the former president.
Why didnt he do it when he was president? Biden responded to a reporter before walking out at the room.
The reporter asked about the massive prisoner swap that freed reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan from Russian prisons and Trumps comments that he could have gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange.
Reporter: Trump said he could have gotten the hostages out without giving anything in exchange. What do you say to that?
Biden: Why didn't he do it when he was president? pic.twitter.com/VUchStDKJ5 Acyn (@Acyn) August 1, 2024
Trump posted on Truth Social in July: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was just sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian Court. Biden will NEVER GET HIM OUT, unless he pays a kings ransom. I will get him out FOR NO COMPENSATION immediately following our victory on November 5th, and it will be my great honor to do so. Vote for TRUMP, and The Wall Street Journal should STOP BEING STUPID!!!
Gershkovich was jailed in 2023 under Bidens administration. But Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested in Russia two years into Trumps term.
As of today, my administration has brought home over 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad, many since before I took office, Biden said at a White House ceremony with family members of the people held hostage in Russia.
Deals like this one come with tough calls, never any guarantees. Theres nothing that matters more to me than protecting Americans at home and abroad, and so well continue to work for the release of all wrongfully detained Americans around the world, he said.
The prisoners were exchanged for other prisoners and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan no money or sanctions relief was part of the exchange, which Trump questioned Thursday afternoon.
Moments after @JakeSullivan46 says unequivocally, from the podium, the prisoner exchange involved no money or sanctions relief, Trump weighs in for the first time: pic.twitter.com/LmqmjybTXW Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) August 1, 2024
The exchange also freed Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist, and Vladimir Kara-Muza, a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
The three prisoners handed over from the U.S. are Roman Seleznev, Vladislav Klyushin and Vadim Konoshchenok.
Seleznev, the son of a member of the Russian Parliament, was convicted of hacking into more than 500 U.S. businesses and stealing millions of credit card numbers, which he then sold on special websites. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Krasikov was convicted for the Aug. 23, 2019, killing of Zelimkhan Tornike Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen who had fought Russian troops in Chechnya and later claimed asylum in Germany. He was released from a German prison after being given a life sentence.
Konoshchenok was extradited to the U.S. from Estonia earlier this month and faced charges in a global procurement and money laundering network on behalf of the Russian government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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JD Vance caught Donald Trumps attention, but swing voters who could decide the election this November arent on board with the former presidents pick for running mate.
Sarah Longwell, a former Republican campaign strategist who is the founder of Republicans Voters Against Trump and publisher of The Bulwark, conducts countless focus groups and explained on John Heilemanns podcast Impolitic with John Heilemann how badly Vance polls among swing voters.
Im not sure Ive seen swing voters hate a candidate as much since Republican voters, we would ask them about Mike Pence, so when you would ask a Trump voter how they felt about Mike Pence, they would go just ape on this guy. They hated him, Longwell said on the latest episode.
And that is how these swing voters talk about JD Vance. They think hes just a creep, she said. They dont think he has a core because he flip-flopped so much on Trump. They think his views on abortion is insane.
Longwell added: So he is creating a real problem for Trump.
When Vance was first introduced at the Republican National Convention last month, many GOP officials said they didnt know much about him. Since then, the void has been filled with multiple reports of controversial statements especially Vances previous suggestion that Kamala Harris and other so-called childless cat ladies want to make the country miserable that have made his rollout among the most turbulent in recent history.
Conservative commentators, Republican strategists and GOP elected officials on Capitol Hill publicly and privately agree that Vances introduction to America has not gone well, with Democrats highlighting his past statements on abortion rights and a suggestion that parents should have more of a vote than adults without children. Harris and her allies have started calling both Vance and Trump weird, messaging that has taken off online.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Donald Trump is doubling down.
After a heated interview that his team cut short with Black journalists on Wednesday who pressed the former president on Kamala Harris race and how he falsely claimed she had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage, Trump took to his social media site to troll Harris further.
Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated. Trump posted along with a photo of Harris and her mothers side of her family.
Trump posted to Truth Social after he clashed with Black journalists over Kamala Harris' race.Truth Social
So Ive known her a long time, indirectly, not directly, very much, Trump said during the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta. And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black.
So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became a Black, just to be clear, somebody should look into that too.
Trump has repeatedly attacked his opponents and critics on the basis of race. He rose to prominence in Republican politics by propagating false theories that President Barack Obama, the nations first Black president, was not born in the United States. During this years Republican primary, he once referred to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as Nimbra.
Gotta say I am extremely impressed with the strategic discipline that @LaCivitaC has brought to this campaign. I doubted the punditry that indicated Trump could be tamed and the pros could run a focused campaign this time, but the proof is in the pudding, former Republican turned never-Trumper Tim Miller posted to X, referring to senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita.
Gotta say I am extremely impressed with the strategic discipline that @LaCivitaC has brought to this campaign. I doubted the punditry that indicated Trump could be tamed and the pros could run a focused campaign this time, but the proof is in the pudding. https://t.co/OgxkdA9rup Tim Miller (@Timodc) August 1, 2024
Trumps appearance at the organizations annual gathering immediately became heated, with the former president sparring with interviewer Rachel Scott of ABC News and accusing her of giving him a very rude introduction with a tough first question about his past criticism of Black people and Black journalists.
I think its disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country, Ive done so much for the Black population of this country, Trump said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Well, that didnt go as planned.
GOP Congresswoman Nancy Maces attempt to start a conspiracy theory about Joe Bidens health by suggesting hes in hiding fell flat on its face.
Biden is MIA. Why is no one talking about it? Mace posted to X hours before Biden appeared with family members of Americans held in Russian prisons after he and other world leaders completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history with Russia.
Biden is MIA. Why is no one talking about it? Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) August 1, 2024
Moscow released journalist Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza in a multinational deal that set some two dozen people free, according to officials in Turkey, where the exchange took place.
Now their brutal ordeal is over and theyre free, Biden said. Moments ago, their families and I were able to speak to them on the telephone from the Oval Office.
Maybe because hes busy being President. Freeing American Prisoners, wiping out student debt, lowering prescription drug cost, etc one person on X replied to Mace.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A North Jersey man jailed on charges he sexually assaulted three girls between the early and mid-2000s has been accused by authorities of abusing a fourth girl who was under 13 years old.
The Union County Prosecutors Office on Thursday announced additional charges against 62-year-old Ivan Calderon, of Elizabeth, who was arrested in 2022 on charges of multiple of sexual assaults between 2003 and 2015.
Calderon was additionally charged with second-degree sexual assault on Thursday, prosecutors said. In the three original cases, he is charged with both first and second-degree sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated criminal sexual contact and criminal sexual contact.
Calderon was represented by North Jersey attorney Daniel F. Gonzalez, who couldnt be reached for comment by NJ Advance Media.
The new charges accuse Calderon of sexually assaulting the girl in 2004 when she was younger than 13.
The first report of abuse was made to police in January 2022 involving assaults between 2005 and 2015, authorities said.
The investigation led to two other minors being identified as victims, having both been assaulted between 2003 and 2009, said Assistant Union Prosecutor Kathleen Dillon, who represents the state in the case.
Calderon was arrested in January 2022.
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The Dig the Castle community excavation in Great Torrington, undertaken by a dedicated team of local volunteers and supported by professionals last autumn, has won the Community Archaeology Project of the Year 2024.
The award, presented by the Council of British Archaeology (CBA) and the Marsh Charitable Trust, is a recognition of the projects impact and excellence in community archaeology.
The project, led by Emily Wapshott from Archaeologists Engage and John Eeles from the Great Torrington Futures Group, also received the towns 2024 Howe Plate award for voluntary service.
The national award is chosen from numerous applicant excavations across the country.
The winners announcement from the CBA praised the project.
They said: The Dig the Castle Project, conducted in September and October 2023, aimed to explore Torringtons little-understood motte and bailey castle. This project exemplified community involvement, with over 100 adults participating in the excavation and an open day attracting over 200 visitors. Additionally, more than 150 children engaged through school visits and activities.
The project provided volunteers with the opportunity to develop a range of archaeological skills, including excavation and finds processing. Beyond the technical skills, the project fostered a strong sense of community, allowing participants to form new friendships, improve their wellbeing, and develop a greater sense of purpose.
The success of the Dig the Castle Project highlights the importance of community archaeology in bringing people together and connecting them with their heritage. The project not only advanced our understanding of Torringtons historical site but also enriched the lives of those involved.
Emily Wapshott was also shortlisted as Community Archaeologist of the Year, placing in the final five.
She, John Eeles, and the entire team expressed their amazement, pride, and humility at receiving these honours.
A celebration event for the team, sponsors, community groups, and local officials is set for Friday, August 2nd, at Great Torringtons Town Hall.
During the event, the Mayor and Chair of the CBA trustees will present the awards.
The archaeologists will also report on the evaluation of the excavation results.
Over the following two days, the Town Hall will host an open house for the public to meet the team, see some of the finds, and explore the story of Torrington Castle.
Italian experts voice great expectations from Meloni's China visit
Xinhua) 10:29, August 01, 2024
ROME, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's five-day visit to China is expected to open new chapters in the country's relations with Italy, Maria Rosa Azzolina, president of the Italy-China Institute said in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.
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"This trip will contribute to the joint efforts to solve global problems, including environmental issues and terrible regional conflicts," Azzolina said, adding that such an outcome would benefit the whole world.
"These global problems can only be solved through cooperation between the West and China," she said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his meeting with Meloni, told her that the time-honored friendly exchanges between the two countries have made significant contributions to the overall exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, and to the progress of humanity.
According to Fan Xianwei, secretary-general of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Italy, Meloni's visit to China will help boost the opportunities for Sino-Italian economic cooperation.
"Meloni is a pragmatic politician, and both China and Italy can tolerate each other's differences and respect their respective paths of development from a broad perspective of history and civilization," Fan told Xinhua.
"Chinese enterprises expect Meloni's visit to deepen the Sino-Italian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and to create a fair business and investment environment to attract more Chinese enterprises to invest in Italy," Fan said.
Meloni's visit also came as China and Italy celebrate the 20th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership this year. Italy signed multiple bilateral cooperative agreements with China during Meloni's first official visit to the country since taking office. The two sides also issued a 2024-2027 action plan to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Xi said China is willing to work with Italy to optimize and upgrade traditional cooperation in trade and investment, manufacturing, technological innovation and other fields, and to explore cooperation in emerging areas such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.
Meloni noted that Italy hopes to deepen bilateral cooperation in such fields as trade, investment, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and encourage more Italian products to enter the Chinese market.
CONSOLIDATE CULTURAL RELATIONSHIP
As the curator of the Asian Art Museum in Turin, Italy, Davide Quadrio focuses on fostering cultural exchanges between these two ancient civilizations, including in education.
"Recently, my museum has been seeking a partnership with the city of Chengdu and various Chinese public entities that are running higher education programs, and I am confident that Meloni's visit to China will tangibly enhance the level of cultural exchange and cooperation between the two countries," Quadrio said.
Meloni's visit coincides with the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death. During her stay in Beijing, Meloni attended the inauguration of an exhibition featuring the Venetian merchant's journeys between the East and the West. In her speech, the Italian leader highlighted Marco Polo as a symbol of courage and ability to dare something extraordinary.
Alessandra Lavagnino, director from the Italian side of the Confucius Institute at the University of Milan, expects Meloni's trip to help raise interest in learning Chinese and getting to know the Chinese culture in Italy.
"I am convinced that this visit will consolidate the cultural relationship between the two sides because the way is now open for the bilateral exchange of more talents -- young translators, scholars, and writers from both countries, who will build a stronger basis for a constructive dialogue and more effective cooperation."
Jean Paul de Jorio, chief legal officer of the Italian National Biodiversity Future Center, praised the cooperative path the two countries have taken.
"Italian-Chinese relations will surely improve as a result of this trip. What unites our two countries is much more than what divides them," he said.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Fatima Latifova
A meeting was held at the Ministry of Health with Yuri Husev, the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.
Health Minister Teymur Musayev emphasised that bilateral relations between the two countries are successfully continuing in many areas. The Minister noted that after the restoration of independence, friendly relations were established between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, and effective bilateral relations were developed. T. Musayev stated that the organisation of a rehabilitation course for Ukrainian children aged 7-17 deprived of parental care at the Sanatorium-Resort Rehabilitation Centre with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan is a clear confirmation of this.
The minister also mentioned the significant potential for the development of bilateral relations in the healthcare sector. He highlighted that President Ilham Aliyev pays great attention to and prioritises the development of national healthcare, modernization of the sector, digitalization, development of human capital, and strengthening the healthcare economy.
Additionally, the Minister informed that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change would be held in Azerbaijan in November this year.
In conclusion, the Azerbaijani Minister of Health expressed confidence that cooperation would further develop in the future.
Yuri Husev expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani state for its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The Ambassador emphasized the high level of inter-state relations and noted the existence of historical and traditional friendly relations between the two countries. He acknowledged the importance of COP29 and highlighted that Azerbaijan has always organised important international events at the highest level.
The diplomat noted the great potential for expanding cooperation with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health and its subordinate institutions. Yuri Husev also thanked for organising the rehabilitation course for Ukrainian children in Baku.
The meeting emphasised the importance of medical education, the training of professional personnel in this field, and the exchange of experience between medical universities.
During the 2018 Senate race in Montana, then President Donald Trump visited the state four times to campaign for Matt Rosendale in the race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.
The former president is set to hold a rally in support of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Montana State University's campus on Aug. 9.
NorthWestern Energy has reached a deal to acquire a 370-megawatt share of the coal-fired Colstrip power plant.
The acquisition makes the Montana-based utility the largest shareholder of the plant with a 55% majority stake.
NorthWestern will take over Puget Sound Energys share of Colstrip at no cost, effective Jan. 1, 2026, according to a news release from the states largest public utility.
It is NorthWesterns second major acquisition in Colstrip in recent years after the utility announced it would acquire 222 megawatts from co-owner Avista Corp, also effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Talen Energy, the current majority stakeholder, had originally made a deal to buy Puget Sound Energy's stake in 2022. But that agreement fell apart after Talen declared bankruptcy.
Colstrip's co-owners in the Pacific Northwest are getting out of the coal business after voters in Washington and Oregon approved measures requiring utilities to move away from fossil fuels and instead focus on renewable energy sources.
NorthWestern has said Montana needs the dependable baseload power Colstrip provides to meet growing demands, supplemented by growing wind, solar and hydro energy on the grid.
Gov. Greg Gianforte praised the acquisition, calling it another step in securing a strong future for Montana-made energy.
Working with our partners, we've defended our all-of-the-above energy strategy to increase access to affordable, reliable energy for all Montana consumers, he said in a news release. I thank NorthWestern for their continued investment in our state and in the community of Colstrip.
Others were concerned about the utility taking on the financial liability.
Given NorthWestern Energys repeated abuse of its monopoly utility status and the historic rate increases the corporation continues to levy on Montana ratepayers, we are highly skeptical of this acquisition proposal, Northern Plains Resource Council Chairman Edward Barta said in a news release on Wednesday. NorthWestern continues to shake down captive customers for more and more money, building and acquiring the most expensive energy plants, including an aging, costly facility like we see in Colstrip.
The coziness between this corporation and the state officials who enable these consumer abuses continues to harm working Montanans, Barta continued. We deserve affordable energy sources that set our communities up for prosperity in the 21st century. Instead, NorthWestern wants to recreate the robber-baron era where corporate monopolies grow bigger and richer no matter the costs to the rest of us.
HAMMOND Indiana State Police now say the driver killed early Thursday in a crash along a local stretch of the Indiana Toll Road was standing outside his vehicle when struck by an SUV.
A preliminary investigation indicates a grey 2004 Honda passenger car was westbound along the toll road around 2:30 a.m. when it crashed into the center concrete barrier wall just west of Cline Avenue and was left disabled in the westbound passing lane facing north.
Police release photos of woman sought in check scam The person in question attempted to pass a bogus check this past weekend, according to Chesterton police.
"The driver of the Honda passenger car was allegedly standing outside his vehicle when it was struck in the right rear by a silver 2020 Honda SUV," police said.
The passenger outside his vehicle suffered fatal injuries and the Illinois man driving the SUV was taken to a local hospital and later released, according to police.
First of 2 men charged in brutal Portage area slaying to face jurors Monday The pair are accused of murdering 35-year-old Hobart resident Derek Hartz on June 13, 2023 at the Chustak Public Fishing Area located at 331 W. County Road 600 North in Portage Township.
The identity of the deceased man had not yet been released as of late Thursday morning.
Police say the results of toxicology tests are pending. The westbound lanes of the toll road were closed for much of the early morning and reportedly reopened shortly after 9 a.m.
Come back to nwi.com for updates as they become available.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the superstar soprano Anna Netrebko has been persona non grata at cultural institutions in the United States, shunned for her past support of Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin.
But in February, Ms. Netrebko will make her first appearance in the United States since 2019: She will perform in Florida at a gala concert at the Breakers Palm Beach hotel to benefit Palm Beach Opera, the company announced on Wednesday.
Ms. Netrebko, one of the biggest stars in classical music, has in recent months returned to many top concert halls and opera houses in Paris, Milan, Berlin and elsewhere in Europe, prompting some protests but also winning ovations and strong reviews.
But most American institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera, where she reigned as a prima donna for two decades, have continued to refuse to engage her because of her past support for Mr. Putin and her unwillingness to criticize him now. Her last performance in the United States was before the pandemic, when she headlined a gala New Years Eve performance at the Met Opera.
An arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday for an actor who appeared for years as the Green Ranger in Power Rangers films and television shows, after a video showed him pushing a man in his 60s who used a walker, the police in Idaho said.
The actor, Hector David Rivera, 35, was charged with misdemeanor battery in Idaho after video surfaced on Friday showing him in a dispute with the older man, said Carmen Boeger, a spokeswoman for the Nampa Police Department. Nampa is a city west of Boise with over 100,000 people.
The video, captured on Friday on a bystanders dashboard camera, begins with a dispute over a parking spot between a man wearing a New England Patriots jersey and another who is using a walker. It ends with the first man shoving the other one to the ground before climbing into a black truck. He later drove away, the department said.
The economy is growing. Unemployment is low. But the job market is not as hot as it used to be, and younger applicants, with or without college degrees, are feeling the pinch. Hiring projections for this years college graduating class are below last years, and the downturn is particularly notable in fields like finance, insurance, marketing and real estate.
I cover economics at The New York Times, and I would like to hear from recent college graduates and other young job seekers, as well as hiring managers, about what the job market has looked like to them this year.
Your responses will help us gain a fuller, more nuanced understanding of how the broader trends are being felt or, in some cases, overcome.
Well read every response, and well reach out to some people to learn more. We wont publish your name or any part of your submission without hearing back from you and verifying your story. And we wont share your contact information outside the Times newsroom. If you prefer to share tips or thoughts confidentially, you can do so here.
For months, Meta and other big technology companies have spent heavily to build artificial intelligence technologies, which show no immediate signs of yielding profits. For months, the companies have also delivered a consistent message about the investments: Trust us.
On Wednesday, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, showed it was not changing course. The company said it had spent $8.5 billion in the second quarter on computing infrastructure for A.I., building the immersive world of the metaverse and other expenses, up 33.4 percent from a year earlier.
Meta also raised part of its spending forecast, saying its expenditures for the year would total $37 billion to $40 billion, up from a prior estimate of $35 billion to $40 billion.
Were in the business of building the best consumer and advertising experiences, Mark Zuckerberg, Metas chief executive, said on a call with investors on Wednesday. To do that, we need access to the leading technology and not be constrained by what competitors allow us to do.
Most new Iranian presidents have months to settle into the decades-old cadence of gradual nuclear escalation, attacks against adversaries and, episodically, secret talks with the West to relieve sanctions.
President Masoud Pezeshkian had 10 hours.
That was the elapsed time between his swearing-in and the explosion inside an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse, at 2 a.m. in Tehran, that killed Ismail Haniyeh, the longtime political leader of Hamas. Mr. Haniyeh had not only attended the swearing-in, but had also been embraced by the new president and met that day with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, making the assassination a particularly brazen act.
Now Mr. Pezeshkian along with Ayatollah Khamenei and top military generals will be immersed in critical choices that may determine whether war breaks out between two of the Mideasts most potent militaries. He spent his first day in office in national security meetings. The final decision on how to retaliate rests with Mr. Khamenei and on Wednesday he where ordered Iranian forces to strike Israel directly for what appeared to be its role in killing Mr. Haniyeh.
Even as Donald J. Trump is trying to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025, his running mates contribution to a new book by the projects principal architect is complicating his efforts.
Dawns Early Light, a forthcoming book by the Heritage Foundations president, Kevin D. Roberts, calling for a second American Revolution, features a foreword by Senator JD Vance, the Ohio Republican whom Mr. Trump tapped as his running mate in July.
In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon, Mr. Vance writes in his introduction, which was obtained and published online by The New Republic on Tuesday. The book is set for publication in September.
Mr. Vance announced in June that he had written the foreword for Mr. Roberts, whose think tank became an influential bastion of conservative policymaking during Ronald Reagans presidency and enjoyed exceptional influence during Mr. Trumps time in office, providing a staffing pipeline for his administration.
The audience of Black journalists was prepared for a combative exchange well before Donald J. Trump took the stage on Wednesday for an interview at their annual gathering in Chicago.
Yet when Mr. Trump, just minutes in, began questioning Vice President Kamala Harriss racial identity, there was an instant ripple of reaction a low rumble that grew into a roar of disapproval.
I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black? Mr. Trump said of Ms. Harris, whose mother was Indian American and whose father is Black.
The moment was shocking, but for those who have followed Mr. Trumps divisive language, it was hardly surprising. The former president has a history of using race to pit groups of Americans against one another, amplifying a strain of racial politics that has risen as a generation of Black politicians has ascended.
Former President Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that he would pardon rioters who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, further embracing those who stormed the building as he sought to stay in power despite his election loss.
Mr. Trump was speaking at an event held at the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, where he went after Vice President Kamala Harris in an attack that recalled his stoking of the false birther conspiracy theory about former President Barack Obama.
In a combative exchange with the ABC News anchor Rachel Scott, one of several interviewers on the panel with the former president, Mr. Trump discussed how he would handle legal cases against the rioters.
My question is on those rioters who assaulted officers, Ms. Scott said. Would you pardon those people?
The predawn killing of a top Hamas leader in Tehran on Wednesday left the entire Middle East on edge, bringing vows of revenge from Irans leaders and threatening to derail fragile negotiations for a Gaza cease-fire.
The Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, 62, a top negotiator in the cease-fire talks who had led the militant groups political office in Qatar, was killed after he and other leaders of Iranian-backed militant groups had attended the inauguration of Irans new president.
Israeli leaders would not confirm or deny whether their country was behind the brazen breach of Irans defenses. But Iranian leaders and Hamas officials immediately blamed Israel and vowed to avenge the death of Mr. Haniyeh, heightening fears of a broader regional war.
Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, according to three Iranian officials briefed on the order.
Two months after the University of the Arts in Philadelphia closed, the schools dance program will be revived at Bennington College in Vermont, which will absorb the dance school, three staff members and nearly 50 students, the college announced on Thursday.
What they are doing is the future of dance, said Laura Walker, the president of Bennington College, who helped raise nearly $1.3 million from philanthropists to make it happen. The money included a donation of $1 million from Barbara and Sebastian Scripps, who run a nonprofit focused on arts education.
Its a tough time, and we hope this will be a model for others, Walker said.
Nearly 1,150 students and 700 employees were left adrift after the University of the Arts president, Kerry Walk, abruptly closed the school in June, citing financial woes, and then resigned. Soon after, Pennsylvania officials opened an inquiry into the unexpected collapse. Some faculty and students have joined class-action lawsuits accusing the school of fraud and breach of contract; a union representing workers also filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the university in July.
Several universities have offered spots to incoming freshmen who had committed to the University of the Arts. Temple University in Philadelphia has also welcomed returning fine arts and drama students, some of whom were near graduation.
A sweeping prisoner swap yesterday involving seven countries freed the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans who were being held in Russia, along with several Russian opposition figures.
It was the most far-reaching exchange between Russia and the West in decades. Heres the latest.
Western governments released eight people, including Vadim Krasikov, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Germany for assassinating a Chechen former fighter in Berlin.
Russia released 16 prisoners, including Oleg Orlov, a co-chairman of the human rights group Memorial; Vladimir Kara-Murza, who won the Pulitzer Prize this year for columns he had written for The Washington Post from his prison cell; and Ilya Yashin, a well-known opposition leader who was also behind bars. These are the 24 prisoners from the U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia who were released in the swap.
The linchpin of the deal for Russia was Krasikovs release, which President Vladimir Putin had long sought. I asked my colleague Neil MacFarquhar, who has covered the Kremlin for years, why Putin wanted him back so much.
Iran and Hamas vow to strike back
The assassination yesterday of Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader, in Tehran has left the entire Middle East on edge, bringing vows of revenge from Irans leaders and threatening to derail fragile negotiations about a Gaza cease-fire.
Both Iran and Hamas accused Israel of killing Haniyeh, which Israel has neither confirmed nor denied. Now, the focus is on whether a response from Iran and its proxies could lead to a regional war. Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Haniyehs assassination would prompt a harsh punishment, and officials said he had issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly.
In recent years, Israel has carried out several high-profile assassinations in Iran, rattling the countrys leaders. In November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told reporters that he had ordered the Mossad, Israels foreign intelligence service, to act against the heads of Hamas, wherever they are.
White House reaction: For President Biden, the back-to-back assassinations of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and the political leader of Hamas in Iran have once again scrambled the geopolitical equation and revised the risk assessment of a wider war in the Middle East.
A prisoner swap involving seven countries freed the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, two other Americans and several Russian opposition figures. It was the most far-reaching exchange between Russia and the West in decades.
In return, Western governments released eight people, including Vadim Krasikov, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Germany for assassinating a Chechen former fighter in Berlin. The exchange took place today at the international airport in Ankara, Turkeys capital, and it involved seven planes ferrying 24 prisoners who were from the U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Russia.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are planning to greet the released Americans tonight at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Their brutal ordeal is over, and theyre free, said Biden, who celebrated the deal.
The exchange was also a triumph of sorts for Russias president, Vladimir Putin, who had long sought Krasikovs release. Russia legally permits people they accuse of extremism to be killed abroad, my colleague Neil MacFarquhar said. So, in the eyes of the Kremlin, Krasikovs assassination in Berlin of a Chechen separatist leader whom Russia labeled a terrorist was legitimate, he said.
This week was supposed to bring a rare moment of amity in the Middle East. Iran inaugurated a new president, and its regional rival, Saudi Arabia, dispatched a royal to Tehran with a jovial letter from its king, sending his best wishes. The United Arab Emirates, attacked by the Iranian-backed Houthis just two years ago, published photos of its smiling foreign minister shaking hands with Iranian officials. And a White House spokesman had said that a cease-fire deal in Gaza was close.
Instead, the region now seems to be even further away from peace. Yesterday, Iran and Hamas accused Israel of killing Ismail Haniyeh, one of the most senior leaders of Hamas, while he was in Tehran. (Haniyeh was Hamass lead negotiator in cease-fire talks to end the Gaza war, which began with the Oct. 7 attacks.) The day before, Israel killed a leader of Hezbollah in Beirut after a rocket launched from Lebanon had killed 12 children in Israeli-occupied territory.
Diplomats around the world are telling these parties to keep a lid on it. And the groups themselves say they do not want a wider regional war. Israels defense minister repeated the message on Wednesday. Iran has said the same thing, and so has Hezbollah. (Hamas has said it wants a wider war, but it is depleted from nearly 10 months of conflict in Gaza.)
Yet the violence persists, as each party claims its attacks are reactions to previous ones. Thats why, in the span of a few months, Israeli bombs have hit Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen. Its why Hezbollah and Houthi fighters have repeatedly targeted Israel (and also ships passing through the Red Sea, disrupting global trade). Its why American airstrikes have pummeled Yemen for nearly seven months.
Before assuming power, Bolsonaro was an anti-democratic ideologue and former military man with a decades-long career in politics; Trump was a real estate developer and a media personality. But over the six years that Bolsonaro drove the news cycles in Latin Americas largest nation, he gave journalists a long list of reasons to equate the two men. Both made a show of praising authoritarian leaders, past and present, and liked to style themselves as defenders of law and order while acting as if the rules didnt apply to them. Both formed an alliance with the religious right late in their careers and enlisted their sons to help push their respective agendas. Both frequently took to Twitter to attack their enemies, troll traditional media and rile up their supporters. And both retreated to Florida when things got tough.
For decades, the Brazilian right had looked to the United States, and when Donald Trump began to transform the rules of political discourse, it took note. We learned to have the courage to speak up, says Damares Alves, an evangelical pastor who served as Bolsonaros minister of human rights, families and women. We began to be more incisive on the question of abortion. We learned we could be more direct about the question of arming the population. We realized we could take a tougher stand against the left-wing transformation taking place across our continent.
One day after federal prosecutors announced that they had struck a plea deal with three men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, New Yorkers and family members of victims had mixed reactions to the sudden news. Under the agreement, the three men including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind will serve life in prison but avoid a death-penalty trial.
If Khalid Shaikh Mohammed doesnt deserve the death penalty, who does? said Don Arias, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, whose brother Adam was killed in the World Trade Center. From his home in Florida, Mr. Arias, 67, remembered days of searching for his brother before his remains were identified.
Mr. Arias was upset about the plea deal, and especially about the sense that people seemed to have lost interest in an act of terrorism that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and shattered Americans sense of security.
Most people I talk to figure this was done years ago, he said, referring to the trial. My brother was 37 years old. It hurts to know that someone I know and love is now all but forgotten.
Former President Donald J. Trump is urging the judge who oversaw his Manhattan criminal trial to step aside, claiming in a legal filing that the judge has indirect ties to Vice President Kamala Harris and therefore an actual conflict and appearances of impropriety.
In a letter to the judge released on Thursday two months after Mr. Trump was convicted of falsifying documents to hide a sex scandal Mr. Trumps lawyers said that the judges daughter has a longstanding relationship with Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Mr. Trumps election opponent. Mr. Trumps legal team cited the daughters work for political campaigns as a Democratic consultant, an argument that many ethics experts had previously rejected.
The letter is the former presidents latest long-shot bid to oust the judge, Juan M. Merchan, from the case. The judge, a former Republican now known as a moderate Democrat, refused Mr. Trumps request last year to step aside. He cited a state advisory committee on judicial ethics that determined that his impartiality could not reasonably be questioned based on his daughters interests.
Before the trial, Mr. Trump also tried unsuccessfully to remove the judge, who declared on the first day of jury selection in April, There is no agenda here and We want justice to be done.
One of my ironclad rules of reporting in the Middle East is that sometimes you need to rereport a story to see things even more clearly than you did earlier. Im having that experience with the Iran-Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah war, which could soon draw in the United States. It could not be more clear now that, while Hamass surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was triggered in part by reckless Israeli settlement expansions, brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners and encroachments on Muslim religious sites in Jerusalem, the terrorist assault was also part of a broader Iranian campaign to drive America out of the Middle East and Americas Arab and Israeli allies into a corner before they could corner Iran.
Which is why if the current tit-for-tat conflict between Israel and Iran and Irans proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis) escalates into a full-scale war one that Israel could not fight for very long alone President Biden could face the most fateful decision of his presidency: whether to go to war with Iran, alongside Israel, and take out Tehrans nuclear program, which is the keystone of Irans strategic network in the region. Iran has been building that network to supplant America as the most powerful force in the Middle East and to bleed Israel to death by a thousand cuts inflicted by its proxies.
But America must always be wary about what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is up to. As a former Israeli diplomat, Alon Pinkas, observed in Haaretz on Thursday, one has to wonder why Netanyahu chose now to assassinate the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in the middle of delicate hostage talks.
Was it just because it could (lord knows Haniyeh had a lot of Israeli blood on his hands), or was Israel deliberately provoking escalation in the hope that a conflagration with Iran will drag the United States into the conflict, further distancing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the debacle of Oct. 7 a calamity that to this day he has not been held accountable for.
Since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Donald Trump has been invoking her name a lot. Well, something close to her name. Harris pronounces it KA-ma-la. Trump, however, has often been pronouncing it Ka-MA-la or even KUH-ma-la. He did it again yesterday at the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists. He insists he doesnt care one way or another (though after audience members voiced their disapproval, he shifted his emphasis to the first syllable). Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, he has said, but actually, Ive heard it said about seven different ways.
The name is originally Sanskrit. To many who dont speak that language, it can at first seem counterintuitive to pronounce it KA-ma-la. It certainly took me a bit of practice to get into the habit. American English speakers might expect it to be Ka-MA-la because in so many other words ending in -ala, the accent is on the penultimate syllable: koala, impala, veal Marsala, even Guatemala.
But while so many of us have learned from our mistakes, Trump has defiantly not, and his acolytes have joined right in. The fact that the name is pronounced in different ways though Id challenge Trump to come up with seven hardly means that none is correct. Claiming otherwise, or insisting that the vice presidents name can be pronounced in any which way, is a form of ridicule, a way to attribute to the candidate a dismissible and even peculiar blurriness. Its a way of subjecting his opponent to the insult comedy we have come to expect.
Yet Ka-MA-la is doing something more specific. Trumps pronunciation is reanimating an approach to foreign-sounding words that predominated in the first half of the 20th century, when America was a less multicultural nation and American English was a less multicultural language. Its an antique from a more normative time.
Over the last four days, Elon Musk has spoken out more than 50 times about President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and the comments have been far from flattering.
Shame on Dictator Maduro, Mr. Musk wrote on X on Sunday, as results came in from Venezuelas presidential election, which has been criticized as deeply flawed. The next morning, Mr. Musk posted that there had been major election fraud by Maduro. Since then, the worlds richest man has also compared Mr. Maduro to a donkey and suggested that he would be open to fighting the autocratic leader in hand-to-hand combat.
Mr. Musk, the 53-year-old chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, has often criticized heads of state, including President Biden, on X. But the attacks against Mr. Maduro, who is one of the prominent symbols of the left in Latin America, stood out for their sudden volume and aggression.
They were part of a pattern by Mr. Musk of denouncing leftist ideals and socialism. In Venezuela, he has said, he sees a failed state with a collapsed economy that he blames on the corruption of leftist politicians. In some of his posts, Mr. Musk, who has endorsed former President Donald J. Trump in the U.S. presidential race, suggested that the United States could become like Venezuela if voters backed the Democratic Party in November.
For more than a year, the top of The Wall Street Journals website has featured prominent coverage of the imprisonment of Evan Gershkovich, one of the news organizations reporters. His image and the words #IStandWithEvan appear on a large screen in The Journals New York newsroom. Colleagues wear I Stand With Evan T-shirts and Free Evan pins.
The maneuvering behind the international prisoner swap on Thursday, involving Mr. Gershkovich and around two dozen others, was far outside the bounds of what The Wall Street Journal could do to help him. But since Russia imprisoned Mr. Gershkovich in March 2023, The Journal has pushed to keep his detainment top of mind.
The organization has operated letter-writing campaigns, launched social media blitzes and staged a 24-hour read-a-thon of Mr. Gershkovichs reporting. Colleagues across the world took part in runs on the first anniversary of his arrest, while employees in New York plunged into the cold waters at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn for a swim event.
Call it Bill and Teds Existentialist Adventure.
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, the actors who incarnated a pair of slacker musicians for three Bill & Ted films, are planning to reunite for a Broadway revival of Waiting for Godot.
The production, planned for the fall of 2025, will be directed by Jamie Lloyd, one of the hottest directors of the moment, whose work is characterized by a spare aesthetic and an emphasis on psychological intensity.
Lloyd said that the project was Reevess idea, but that as soon as the actor approached him, it was a no-brainer that this needed to be done.
Their instant chemistry and their shorthand and their friendship is going to be so valuable, Lloyd said of Reeves and Winter in an interview. This is a very deeply complex play, as we all know, but its also a very funny play, and theyre very witty people and their shared sense of humor in those movies and in real life is going to be very beneficial to the production.
Ismael Zambada Garcia, one of the founders of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, appeared in court in Texas on Thursday, one week after he was kidnapped by his former business partners son and flown across the U.S. border into the hands of American agents.
The appearance in Federal District Court in El Paso for an initial hearing was routine as a legal matter, but it also represented a consequential moment in the history of the drug war. It was the first time that Mr. Zambada Garcia, a wily drug lord who had managed to evade capture for decades, was brought before a judge to be held accountable for what prosecutors have described as a nearly 50-year career of drug dealing, murder and corruption.
Last week, that career was cut short when Mr. Zambada Garcia, who is 76 and known as El Mayo, was lured from one of his mountain hide-outs to the Mexican city of Culiacan, which has long served as a stronghold for the Sinaloa cartel.
He believed he was going to help one of the sons of his former partner in crime, the jailed kingpin known as El Chapo, mediate a dispute between two local politicians, according to three people familiar with the matter. Instead, he was ambushed, muscled onto a plane and flown across the border to a small regional airport near El Paso.
Early in his political career, when he represented a largely rural district in Congress, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was a darling of the National Rifle Association.
The powerful group endorsed him, donated to his campaigns and once gave him an A rating. In 2016, Guns & Ammo magazine included him on its list of top 20 politicians for gun owners. Mr. Walz, after all, was an Army veteran and the rare gun-owning Democrat who spoke of his love for hunting.
But during his first campaign for governor in 2018, Mr. Walz began supporting tighter firearm restrictions. Shortly after a teenage gunman opened fire at a Florida high school in February 2018, Mr. Walz spoke out in favor of an assault weapons ban.
At the time, Mr. Walz who is among a handful of politicians that Vice President Kamala Harris is said to be vetting as a possible running mate said he was uniquely suited to sell gun rights supporters on more restrictive measures.
Even in the world of presidential multitasking, July 21 turns out to have been an extraordinary, whipsaw Sunday for President Biden.
At 12:09 p.m., he picked up the phone at his vacation house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., to talk with the prime minister of Slovenia as part of a high-stakes diplomatic gamble to seal a complicated, multinational prisoner swap.
Just 97 minutes later, he posted a world-stunning letter online abandoning his bid for re-election after a bruising pressure campaign by his own Democratic allies, climaxing the biggest crisis of his political career and signaling the end of his presidency after a half-century in public life.
By any measure, it was one of the darkest moments of his time in elective office as the inescapable reality of time, age and polls finally caught up with him. And yet it would lead to one of the most joyous days of his presidency barely a week and a half later as he orchestrated the release of imprisoned Americans from the dungeons of Russia.
The Senate rejected a bill on Thursday that would have restored lapsed tax breaks for businesses and expanded the child tax credit, as many Republicans in the chamber lined up against the bipartisan deal in hopes of gaining an advantage in bigger tax legislation expected next year.
The roughly $80 billion bill had seemed to have everything. It soared through the House earlier this year with broad bipartisan support, a rare feat. Business groups loved it and hoped Congress would again allow companies to immediately deduct the full cost of capital investments and research expenses from their tax bills. And anti-poverty activists cheered its expansion of federal support for parents with children.
But the effort spearheaded by Representative Jason Smith, Republican of Missouri and the Ways and Means Committee chairman, and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the Finance Committee chairman still ran aground in the Senate. Republican senators worried that the bills expansion of the child tax credit veered into creating a new welfare program, stalling the legislation.
Though Republican opposition doomed the bills fate months ago, Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader, brought it up for a procedural vote on Thursday. The vote failed 48 to 44, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Three Republicans joined Democrats in favor of the bill, while two independents who caucus with Democrats Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont opposed it. Mr. Schumer also ultimately voted against the bill, a decision that allows him to potentially bring it back up for another vote.
The man accused of plotting the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, appeared in court on Thursday, watching silently as the prosecutor who had pursued his capital case since the beginning formally announced that a plea agreement had been reached that would remove the possibility of the death penalty.
The prosecutor, Clayton G. Trivett Jr., also gave the court the sealed and signed agreements between the prisoner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and the Pentagons overseer of the war court cases.
Disclosure of the agreement in the court at Guantanamo Bay is the first step toward a sentencing hearing before a military panel, which could begin next summer.
Prosecutors who had negotiated the agreements with Mr. Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, disclosed the deal on Wednesday to family members of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the attacks.
Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania took the stage at Wissahickon High School in the Philadelphia suburbs on Monday to the roars of his fellow Democrats, a campaign appearance and an audition all in one.
As he enthusiastically shouted out his support for Vice President Kamala Harriss presidential campaign, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had dogged Democratic politicians last spring were nowhere in evidence. There was only the adoration of an audience from his native Montgomery County, which the Democratic ticket must carry by sizable margins in November to win Pennsylvania.
But as Ms. Harris prepares to name her running mate ahead of a rally on Tuesday in Philadelphia, those protests are very much part of the calculus surrounding Mr. Shapiro, who is believed to be on her shortlist of potential running mates.
Efforts by a motley collection of left-wing and pro-Palestinian activists to derail his nomination have presented the Harris campaign with a decision as the vice president prepares to make one of most significant choices of her career: Should she take the opportunity to stand up to her far-left flank in an appeal to the center of the party and to independents, or should she shy away from inflaming an issue that has divided and bedeviled the party Israels war in Gaza?
The day before the fatal police shooting of Sonya Massey in Springfield, Ill., her mother called 911 and asked for help, saying that her daughter was having a mental breakdown and asking the police to recognize her vulnerable condition, according to call recordings released by county officials in Illinois on Wednesday.
In a phone call made around 9 a.m. on July 5, Donna Massey told the dispatcher: I dont want you guys to hurt her, please.
Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, called the police for help the next day, on July 6, and was fatally shot inside her home by a Sangamon County sheriffs deputy, Sean Grayson, who is white. Ms. Massey had called emergency services because she believed an intruder had entered her home, prosecutors said. Mr. Grayson, 30, was charged with murder and was fired last month.
Body camera footage from the shooting shows that Mr. Grayson and his partner searched outside of Ms. Masseys home before they followed her inside. After she provided the officers with her identification, she went to the kitchen to remove a pot of water from the stove. As she was handling the pot, several feet away from the deputies, Ms. Massey said twice to the deputies, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.
Former President Donald J. Trump turned the imprisonment of Evan Gershkovich into a campaign issue about three months ago, after facing criticism in March when The Wall Street Journal correspondent marked one year in prison for not demanding his release.
Mr. Trump has boasted repeatedly that he could get Mr. Gershkovich, 32, freed right away, saying that his relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would ensure the release as soon as he won the U.S. presidential election in November. He also claimed, without evidence, that Russia was probably demanding billions of dollars in ransom.
Mr. Trumps most high-profile statements on the issue came during the debate with President Biden in June. I will have him out very quickly, as soon as I take office, before I take office, Mr. Trump said, without mentioning Mr. Gershkovich by name. As soon as I win the election, I will have that reporter out.
Aside from his statements made during the debate, Mr. Trump had repeated similar thoughts about freeing Mr. Gershkovich on Truth Social, his social media platform, as well as in interviews.
The Utah Supreme Court upheld on Thursday a suspension of the states near-total ban on abortion, meaning the procedure remains legal while a court challenge to the law proceeds.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, it cleared the way for two Utah laws to come into force: a ban on most abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy, which was passed in 2019 and is currently in effect, and a near-total abortion ban passed in 2020 that would prohibit the procedure at any time during pregnancy, with very limited exceptions, including for cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.
The near-total abortion ban took effect in 2022, but the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah almost immediately filed a lawsuit in the state seeking to block the ban. The organization argued that the ban violated several provisions in the State Constitution, including those that guarantee a right to determine family composition and a right to gender equality.
A trial court issued a preliminary injunction in July 2022 blocking the state from enforcing the near-total ban while the case proceeded. Utah state officials appealed, but the State Supreme Court ruled against them on Thursday and left the injunction in place.
One of the inmates charged in the fatal prison cell beating of James (Whitey) Bulger, the shrewd and savage organized crime boss who lorded over Bostons underworld for decades, received an additional sentence of more than four years on Thursday for his role in the attack.
Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster who is serving 25 years behind bars for his activities in the violent DeCologero Crew crime gang, pleaded guilty to an assault charge after prosecutors dropped the more serious counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder which would have carried a potential sentence of life in prison.
Before the new conviction, Mr. DeCologero, 50, had been eligible for release in December of 2026. Now, that release date has been pushed back to 2031.
Mr. Bulger, who had been suffering from a life-threatening cardiac condition and was dependent on a wheelchair, was found pummeled to death in his cell on the morning of Oct. 30, 2018. It was only hours after he had been transferred from a Florida prison, where he had been serving two consecutive life sentences for his role in 11 murders. He was 89.
Famine has officially been declared in the Darfur region of Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people under siege have fled their homes during the countrys 15-month civil war, two organizations that monitor world hunger announced on Thursday.
People who fled to a camp called Zamzam near the city of El Fasher, in North Darfur, have been facing famine since June, and no food aid is reaching them, prompting the official declaration, the agencies said. The Zamzam camp has grown recently and now holds about half a million people.
An official declaration of famine is rare, but it serves to draw global attention and push donor governments to increase funding for aid agencies. With two other major wars and various emergencies around the globe, assistance for Sudan has fallen far short of the need, aid agencies have said.
This famine is tragic, catastrophic, and unfortunately was predictable, Will Carter, the Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a phone interview. This is a milestone moment where we really need to step up all the resources required.
In almost every corner of Pakistan, anger at the ruling elite is nearing a boiling point.
Thousands have protested soaring electricity bills just outside the capital, Islamabad. In a major port city in the southwest, dozens have clashed with security officers over what they described as forced disappearances of activists. In the northwest, protesters have admonished the countrys generals for a recent surge in terrorist attacks.
The demonstrations over the past few weeks reflect frustration with Pakistans shaky, five-month-old government and with its military, the countrys ultimate authority. The unrest threatens to plunge Pakistan back into the depths of political turmoil that has flared in recent years and that many had hoped would subside after the February general election.
Pakistans leaders are confronted with a monsoon of problems. The economy is suffering its worst crisis in decades. Anger at an election widely viewed as manipulated by the military remains palpable. Militant violence has roared back after the Talibans return to power in neighboring Afghanistan. And Pakistani politics are more polarized than ever, with the countrys most popular political figure sitting in jail after a bitter rift with the military.
He was raised by emigre Soviet parents in New Jersey but returned to work in their native land, only to be trapped in the repressive machinery that they had sought to escape.
The parents of Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter released on Thursday in a far-reaching prisoner exchange with Russia, left the Soviet Union separately in 1979, fleeing antisemitism and a lack of opportunity. Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman met and married in the United States, where they raised Evan and his older sister, Danielle, with a foot in both cultures, teaching them fluent Russian.
In 2017, the younger Mr. Gershkovich moved to Moscow to work for The Moscow Times, a local English-language daily, and worked his way through various news agencies until he joined The Journal as a reporter in January 2022.
He was fulfilling his dream of becoming a foreign correspondent, but he ended up spending his 32nd birthday in Lefortovo, a notorious Moscow prison.
The assassination took place in broad daylight in a downtown Berlin park. The Russian gunman pedalled up on a bicycle before shooting a former Chechen separatist fighter in the head as children and their parents looked on.
Vadim Krasikov, the man sentenced to life in prison in Germany for that brazen 2019 killing, was later described as a patriot by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
On Thursday, he was freed as part of the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War. In total, three Americans Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter; Alsu Kurmasheva, another journalist, and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and corporate security executive were among the 16 people who were freed in the deal. The deal also included numerous Russian political dissidents that the Kremlin released from jail, while Western nations traded eight Russian prisoners.
Mr. Krasikov, in his late 50s, appeared to be the linchpin of the multifaceted deal, since Mr. Putin himself indicated that was whom he wanted.
Twenty-four prisoners were freed on Thursday in a multicountry exchange in Turkey, marking one of the broadest exchanges between Russia and the West in years.
Heres what to know about all of the prisoners who were exchanged in the swap.
Released by Russia:
Three American citizens: Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan
Six other Western prisoners
Four political prisoners and human rights advocates
Three Russians with ties to Aleksei Navalny
Released by the West:
Eight prisoners, including Vadim Krasikov, who assassinated a Chechen separatist in Berlin
The Released American Citizens
The prisoner swap carried out on Thursday is the most far-reaching exchange between Russia and the West in decades. Heres a closer look at some of the people who were released.
Released by Russia
Evan Gershkovich
A reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, 32, was detained by security service agents in March 2023 during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, a major Russian industrial hub about 850 miles east of Moscow. Shortly after, he was charged with espionage, the first such case against a Western reporter since 1986.
Seeking to quell a surge of misinformation-fueled unrest, a British judge on Thursday took the unusual step of naming the 17-year-old suspect in a stabbing rampage that left three children dead and eight injured in northwestern England early this week.
The suspect, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, appeared in a Liverpool court to face three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
The stabbing spree, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the town of Southport on Monday, stunned Britain and ignited two days of racially fueled riots, in multiple cities, that were incited by far-right provocateurs.
Although the police announced that the suspect had been born in Cardiff, Wales, erroneous posts on social media claimed he was an undocumented immigrant, which triggered protests that reached almost to the gates of Downing Street.
Dogs have been a prominent part of Turkish culture for centuries. The Kangal Shepherd breed is a national treasure featured on postage stamps, and some strays have become local celebrities, like Boji, who earned fame for riding Istanbuls public transportation.
But this year, Turkeys stray dogs have become a contentious political issue.
The countrys Parliament passed a law this week requiring municipalities to round up stray dogs and put them into shelters, and permitting aggressive or ill animals to be euthanized. The law mandates shelter improvements by 2028 and threatens mayors with prison time if they dont enforce the law.
But critics have expressed fears that the law may be used to target political opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose ruling party pushed through the legislation. Some are also concerned about inadequate, overcrowded shelters for the countrys stray dog population estimated to be around four million.
The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Thursday that its conflict with Israel had entered a new phase after an Israeli strike in Lebanons capital, Beirut, this week. But his vow to respond fell far short of the fiery pledge to escalate that some residents and officials had feared.
Mr. Nasrallahs speech had been nervously awaited since the Israeli strike on Tuesday, which killed Fuad Shukr, one of his close confidantes and a top-ranking Hezbollah commander. A top Hamas leader was killed in Iran hours later, fueling worries around the Middle East that Israels hostilities with Iran and its allies could erupt into all-out regional war.
But although Mr. Nasrallah promised that Hezbollah would respond, he equivocated on the scope and nature of that retaliation.
We have entered a new phase, he said, speaking in a televised address during the funeral for Mr. Shukr. You do not realize the red lines you have crossed, warned Mr. Nasrallah, addressing Israel directly.
The response will come, whether spread out or simultaneously, he added.
Officials and diplomats across the Middle East had been looking to the speech for any indication of whether Hezbollah would alter course in its long-running conflict with Israel, either by escalating its military response or seeking to lower the pressure and avoid all-out war. The speech by Mr. Nasrallah on Thursday appeared to straddle that line.
Although he said the group and its allies were working on a true response, not a show response as some are trying to suggest, he added that Israels reaction would determine whether the war escalates.
Follow our latest updates on the Middle East crisis here.
Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.
The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.
Mr. Haniyeh was in Irans capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard.
The explosion shook the building, shattered some windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, according to the two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards briefed on the incident. Such damage was also evident in a photograph of the building shared with The New York Times.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had killed Muhammad Deif, the Hamas commander who is believed to have been a planner of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in an airstrike last month, which would make him the third Iranian-backed militant leader slain in recent weeks.
The Israeli announcement confirming the death of Mr. Deif, the leader of Hamass military wing, came as thousands of mourners attended the funerals of another Hamas leader and a Hezbollah commander whose assassinations this week have amplified fears of a wider regional war.
Mr. Deif was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a compound in southern Gaza on July 13, according to the Israeli military. It said his death had been confirmed by an intelligence assessment, but did not provide further details. At least 90 other people were killed in the strike, according to Gazas health officials.
Hamas has not confirmed or denied Mr. Deifs death. The No. 2 Hamas leader in Gaza, he would be the groups most senior military leader slain by Israeli forces during the offensive in Gaza that has also killed more than 38,000 people, according to the territorys health officials. Israel began its campaign in the enclave after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 abducted to Gaza.
For months, diplomats and analysts in foreign capitals have worried that prolonged political upheaval in the United States could invite aggression abroad, whether in Russias waging of war in Ukraine, North Koreas rogue nuclear ambitions or Chinas expansionist designs in the South China Sea.
Now, less than 100 days before Americans elect a new president, that broader geopolitical crisis has erupted in the familiar theater of the Middle East. The targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut and Tehran have deepened fears of a regionwide conflict one that the United States, caught up in its own political drama at home, may have little capacity to avert or even contain.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States had not been involved in, or even informed of, the operation in Tehran, which the Iranian government swiftly blamed on Israel. To some, Mr. Blinkens statement confirmed a dangerous power vacuum in the region.
Doctors at Hanois Viet Duc Hospital recently saved a young mans life by performing emergency surgery to remove a live eel that had bitten through his intestines and entered his abdominal cavity.
On July 27, a 31-year-old Indian national was brought to the emergency room of Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi with severe abdominal pain. Through moans and screams of agony, the unnamed man told hospital staff that he had inserted a live eel into his body through his backside shortly before he began experiencing excruciating abdominal pain. The Vietnamese doctors on duty had seen a lot of things in peoples bodies, but a live eel was new, even for them, so they didnt believe the patient at first. However, X-ray imaging and ultrasound exams showed a horizontal radiopaque skeleton in the mans abdominal cavity which turned out to be an actual live eel.
The hospital quickly put together a team of endoscopy experts and anaesthesiologists to perform a colonoscopy and remove the foreign body through the mans rear, but they were unable to reach the slippery marine creature, and with the mans pain intensifying by the minute, doctors had no choice but to perform surgery on the mans abdomen. They were shocked to discover a live eel approximately 65cm long and 10cm in circumference.
The eel had bitten through the patients rectum and colon to escape into the abdominal cavity, Le Nhat Huy, Deputy Director of the Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Surgery Centre at Viet Duc Hospital, told reporters. Eels can survive in anaerobic conditions for a long time and have the ability to bite through the gastrointestinal tract.
After removing the eel and a lemon that was blocking the Indian mans rectum and checking for other foreign bodies, doctors sutured the perforation in his colon and also performed a colostomy to prevent feces from passing through the newly sutured perforation.
As for the reason why the man inserted a live eel into his body, it remains a mystery, but doctors suspect it was to experience intense sensations. One thing is for sure, though, he is definitely not the first man to do it. Only a few months ago, we wrote a similar story about a man who had been admitted to the Hai Ha District Medical Center in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, with severe abdominal cramps. Doctors there found a live eel that had bitten through his abdomen.
Las Cruces Plans to Hire Travel PR Partner Wed., Oct. 9, 2024 Visit Las Cruces, which is the convention and visitors bureau of New Mexicos second largest city, wants a PR firm to help position it as a premiere tourism destination.
THE death has occurred of Kevin Cowley late of Arden Vale, Tullamore.
Originally from Derry, Kevin taught music in Wilson's Hospital School, Westmeath, for many years.
He was a gifted musician and played in many bands over the years. He was a quiet and gentle man who was devoted to his family.
Wilson's Hospital School posted this tribute. ''The school is sad to hear about the passing of Kevin Cowley. Mr. Cowley taught music in Wilson's for 30 years. He will be missed by staff and past pupils alike. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. ''
This tribute came from a past pupil. ''Very sorry to hear of Mr Cowleys passing and sincere condolences to his family. A genuinely lovely, calm and very talented man. I have nothing but fond memories of music class with him. My favourite is badly playing the recorder for my Junior Cert music practical and Mr Cowley beautifully accompanying it with some effortless piano playing, as well as the weekly Wonderwall singalongs. May he rest in peace. ''
Another past pupils said, '' I will always cherish my memories of Mr Cowley's music classes in WHS, Kevin always welcomed us with a smile and his guitar in hand and these were some of my favourite times in secondary school.''
''I have very fond memories of Kevin as a school boy in Wilsons . I left in 1988. Kevin gave me a great love for classical music. I always think of Bach, Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Ravel when I think of him. He very kindly brought parcels from my parents in Mountmellick on occasion. A gentle and funny man who instilled a passion for his subject.''
One friend said, ''I have great memories of time spent with Kevin from childhood in Derry. I can never forget the month in 1967 he and I spent hitchhiking from Derry with only a small green tent (called:Fingal's Cave!) and Kevin's guitar and case with "IRELAND" written on it. It took us through England and France down to Barcelona and back. Priceless memories of a very good friend.''
He is survived by his wife Patricia, children Emmet, Gavin and Caroline, his much loved grandchildren Jessica, Moya, Caoimhe, Oisin, Daisy and Eve, brothers Vincent, Eugene and Martin, sister Rosemary, daughters-in-law Marie and Mairead, son-in-law Jerry, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
His Requim Mass took place on Wednesday morning at The Church of The Assumption, Tullamore with burial afterwards in Durrow cemetery.
One of the two men killed in yesterday's helicopter crash in Co Westmeath has been named as Niall Crosby from Glenageary in Dublin.
Mr Crosby, a married father of two, was a founder of AG Grid, a software company based in London. In a statement his family said he deeply missed by his loving wife Jillian, his adored children Thomas and Robin, and his wide circle of family and friends.
Niall, who was originally from Straffan, Co Kildare, had recently returned to Dublin in recent years to raise his family with his wife Jillian.
"Niall's family would like to thank everyone who has been in touch with their condolences over the past extraordinarily difficult 24 hours.
"They would like to particularly thank the first responders and the various authorities who have been so understanding and professional.
"And they would like to especially thank the local communities of Killucan and Raharney for their thoughts and prayers.
"We also have a special thought for Nialls co-pilot and his family at this tragic time," the spokesperson said.
Mr Crosby previously posted on social media that he was learning to fly helicopters and was aiming to get his pilots licence.
The second man killed has also been identified as Antonin Kabelka (40s), from the Czech Republic, who worked as a helicopter flight trainer in Prague.
The two men were killed when their helicopter came down on the roof of a piggery in the Joristown townland. Gardai are liaising with Mr Crosbys family.
The two men were the only occupants of the helicopter, and were pronounced dead at the scene. Both bodies were removed from the scene to Regional Hospital Mullingar for postmortems.
The flight originated at Dublins Weston Airport, according to flight data, and the helicopter had been in the air for some 25 minutes when the crash occurred.
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THE 56th Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival will get underway this weekend and final preparations are now being put to what promises to be another great festival.
There is a packed programme of events planned for the nine day festival, which includes many of the old favourites plus a number of new events as well.
The parade on Vintage Sunday, (August 4) is always a major highlight and attracts large crowds to the town to enjoy the parade of vintage vehicles, floats and colourful entries.
This year the parade has a new route with a slight change of direction when the parade reaches the top of Main Street at Emmet Square, turning left and proceeding across Green Street and finishing as normal at the Marian Hall. It won't be going up Emmet Street this year.
John Carroll, who has contributed so much to the community of Birr, will give the Opening Address. John served as an elected public representative from 1985 until his retirement in June this year and has been a committed community activist for many years.
Emma Nee Haslam returns as Parade MC.
Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival will have Accessible Viewing Areas at the parade for people with additional needs. Space is limited. Access will be by pre-registration only. All of these areas have limited space. If you would like access to any of these areas, please register in advance. To register, email birrvintageweekparade@gmail.com, or contact the Festival Info Line on (089) 242 4379. They will do their best to find space for everyone who contacts them in advance.
The 56th edition of one of Irelands longest-running community arts festivals will include over 100 events taking place in over 40 locations across nine days featuring visual arts, theatre, music, street theatre, workshops, exhibitions, together with a whole host of community events.
This years festival theme is Going with the Flow, which will celebrate the beautiful waterways of Offaly. The multi-site Visual Arts Trail is enriched with additional river-themed events, including Plein-Air Painting on the Camcor, a lecture by John Feehan, the River Witnessed by Mark Lyndon, a river float in the Vintage Sunday Parade and not forgetting the Great Ruckin Duck Race, organised by Birr Rugby Club.
Other much-loved traditional events are also back including the Food & Craft Market on Saturday August 3rd and Fireworks Night on Thursday August 8
In Birr Castle, Mobius, by ROGU Fire Arts Production, will take the audience on a hypnotic visual journey of fire, light and movement while the beautiful aerial circus show, Doris & Mabels Book Club, is perfect for children and families. The Big Beautiful Vintage Picnic is another enchanting family-friendly event.
At Birr Theatre & Arts Centre highlights include Paddy Casey, The Ennio Morricone Experience, The Classic Beatles, Paris Bubbles, The Wonderful Story of the Camcor with John Feehan and The River Witnessed by Birr native Mark Lyndon plus lots more.
As always, the Visual Arts programme is full to the brim with over twenty exhibitions including the transformation of the Masonic Hall into a playful multi-sensory installation taking inspiration from the Camcor River. The Courthouse Yard will once again be a creative hub for the Festival with visual arts workshops, music and Moonlit Movies presented by OFFline Film Festival.
Speaking at the recent festival launch Caroline Conway, Chairperson of the festival said that The festival is about celebrating our town's heritage but it's also about surprising people. Every year new events are added to the old which keeps things fresh and invigorated.
Vintage Week is an incredibly important event for the people of Birr, continued the Chair. More people come home for Vintage than they do at Christmas.
We would like to thank all our sponsors and funders who make this event possible and demonstrate their commitment to the Festival through their generous donations.
We have a fantastic team this year, but we need additional volunteers during the week for a smooth running event. If you can give a few hours, please register on our website. We have a dedicated volunteer manager this year, Rachel Alexander, to make sure all our volunteers are well looked after.
The programme is online now and booking is open: www.birrvintageweek.com .
See this week's Midlands and Tullamore Tribunes for a special supplement on Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival.
LORRHA & Dorrha Historical Society held its third Medieval Conference on Saturday July 20th at the Friars Tavern, Lorrha.
This sold-out event was attended by a great variety of people, from those with local interest, various historical societies, and academics from around the country. James Heenan (Hon. Secretary) was host for the day and introduced Dr Christy Cunniffe, who officially opened the conference. Christy referred to the success of the Lorrha conference which filled the void of the former successful Roscrea Conference which had a great reputation.
The first speaker was historian and chairman of the society, David Broderick M.A. His talk focused on the discovery of important graffiti found at Lackeen Castle in 2017. These finds have previously been printed in the Archaeology Ireland magazine and the Tipperary Historical Journal. Older inscriptions discovered at Lackeen by David include protection marks such as Virgo Virginum and a concentric compass circle. The graffiti discovered is a later date of 1657 and inscribed by Donogh OKennedy, the last chieftain of Lackeen. Importantly, this graffiti highlights the anguish of Donogh which was felt by Gaelic society in the later Commonwealth period of Ireland.
Manuscripts was the topic for the next two speakers. Dr Donncha MacGabhann presented his paper Scribal Hands in Midland Manuscripts: The Curious Case of the MacRegol Gospels. The MacRegol Gospels were written in Birr in AD 800 by MacRegol and an unnamed scribe. Donncha through his meticulous study of the manuscripts letters and form concluded that MacRegol, who was thought to be the main scribe, was in fact a student of the unnamed scribe.
Dr Joseph J. Flahive followed up with his paper The St Gall Gospels: The Case for a Lorrha Origin. The St Gall Gospels are housed in the Abbey Library of St Gallen in Switzerland. This manuscript is of an Irish origin and Joseph using various historic references and identical styles of the Lorrha (Stowe) Missal and the Faddan More Psalter concluded that the monastery of Lorrha presented itself as having a great scriptorium and the most likely producer of St Galls Gospels.
After Lunch, Dr Christy Cunniffe presented his paper A doorway fit for a Bishop: The West door at Clontuskert. Christy looked at the iconography of this 15th century doorway. This doorway features carvings of Archangel Michael weighing the souls, Augustine of Hippo, Catherine of Alexandria and John the Baptist. Other carvings include a pelican feeding her young, a mermaid and a pair of griffins.
The last lecture The Dominican Priory of St Peter Martyr, Lorrha Thoughts on the Seen and Unseen Structures was presented by Christiaan Corlett of the National Monuments Service. Chris has a vast experience of ecclesiastical buildings across Ireland and presented some thought-provoking suggestions on the 13th century priory in Lorrha. He suggested that that this priory may have been built in two phases looking at evidence from the walls and windows. Referring to the mill at Lorrha, he suggested that this building was too elaborate for a mill but may have had other functions such as a scriptorium or a study for novices.
The Conference was officially closed by David Broderick who thanked speakers, attendees and all who helped to make the conference a success. Afterwards, James Heenan led the group to the Dominican Priory. He gave an insight of its history and brought the group into the adjoining Catholic Church and spoke about its tabernacle which replicated panels of the 11th shrine of the Lorrha missal. The tour concluded with an analysis of The mill.
Lorrha & Dorrha Historical Society would like to thank their speakers: David Broderick M.A., Dr Donncha MacGabhann, Dr Joseph J. Flahive, Dr Christy Cunniffe and Christiaan Corlett. Once again, they are grateful to Denis & Lil Maher and staff of The Friars Tavern for hosting the event. Thanks to the following: Mike Quirke & Paul Houlihan for traffic control; Olivia Horan and Aglish Hall for use of chairs; Lorrha Hall for extra chairs and lectern; Padraig O Flannabhra for photography; The Nenagh Guardian, Midland Tribune, Connaught Tribune and Archaeology Ireland for promoting this event; and to all that travelled near and far for the conference. The success of this conference is attributed to the hard work of the societys organising committee of James Heenan, David Broderick, Nelius OMeara, Fionnula OCrowley, Frank Semple, Eamonn OMeara, Trish Broderick, Mike Quirke and Paul Houlihan.
The society are grateful to Tipperary County Council for part-funding this Medieval Conference.
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The Common Council this week approved about $24 million in federal pandemic relief funding for affordable housing projects, cultural institutions, homeowners and health equity initiatives.
About $2.38 million of that will be used for affordable housing initiatives in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services will receive a $1 million American Rescue Plan grant for property remediation at 591 and 595 Fillmore Ave., to develop 18 apartment units and more than 8,000-square-feet of commercial rental space in the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor.
Rehabilitation projects by 2201-2209 Fillmore Avenue LLC in the Fillmore-Leroy neighborhood will get help from $886,416 to create six new affordable rental apartments and four commercial spaces.
And the African American Cultural Center of Buffalo will receive $501,000 for property remediation and development activities in the Heritage Corridor.
Buffalo considers launching city ambulance service due to concerns about slow AMR responses The Buffalo Common Council is considering creating the citys own ambulance service because lawmakers are worried about the response times of
We are proud to support and approve these initiatives that will directly benefit our most vulnerable populations, Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope said. As the Ellicott District representative, I am especially excited for the allocation of funds for the historic Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor in the district.
The Council on Tuesday also approved ARP money for cultural institutions, homeowners and health equity initiatives.
Allocations include:
Cultural institution support: An additional $8.15 million, up from $8 million, was allocated to the African American Cultural Center, Colored Musicians Club, Torn Space Theater, King Urban Life Center, Italian Cultural Center, 5/14 Memorial, Sahlen Field, Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, Buffalo Urban League, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Explore and More Childrens Museum, Buffalo Zoo, Sheas Performing Arts Center, Augstin Pucho Olivencia Community Center and Buffalo History Museum.
Arrears forgiveness: To support homeowners who faced financial hardship due to Covid-19, $10.8 million was allocated to forgive their arrears in property taxes, garbage user fees and sewer costs.
Buffalo seeks to padlock unlicensed cannabis shops At Tuesday's Buffalo Common Council meeting, Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope called for a new local law that would fine businesses in Buffalo involved in unlicensed cannabis sales and permit the padlocking of the buildings where unlicensed sales take place.
The initiative benefits low-income residents. Homeowners will not have to apply to this program. Credits will automatically be applied to their balances, and they will be notified of any forgiveness of their arrears.
The initiative is a new program allocation that comprises $5.5 million in existing arrears funds from the Garbage User Fee Assistance program, $2 million from the Water and Sewer Debt Forgiveness program, plus an additional $3.3 million.
Community center renovation: An additional $2 million was added to the $10 million already allocated for community center renovations in the city, including the creation of a financial empowerment center at 725 Humboldt Parkway and roof construction at Peter Crotty Casino in Cazenovia Park.
Health equity initiatives: An additional $250,000, up from about $1.7 million, was made available to Erie County Medical Center for a new mammography center, specifically targeting maternal health for women of color on the East Side.
Restorative justice and public safety fund: To address gun violence, an additional $100,000 was allocated to community based anti-violence programming provided by Stop the Violence Coalition. The money aims to improve neighborhood safety and encourage a resident-driven crime prevention program. The city had already allocated about $2.6 million for the program.
Community food security: An additional $100,000, up from $750,000, will support the African American Heritage Food Co-op to address food insecurity on the East Side exacerbated by the pandemic.
Frontline Arts Organization Sustainability Fund: An additional $100,000 will go to the Uncrowned Queens in their mission to preserve the history of African Americans in Western New York. The fund originally received $550,000.
The remaining $14 million in reallocations will come from the Smart Sewer program.
Buffalo was awarded $331 million in American Rescue Plan funding in 2021. As of July 16, the city had earmarked about $253 million so far. Of that, about $202 million has been spent, leaving about $78 million available.
All ARP funds must be obligated by Dec. 31 and spent by the end of 2026.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.
Recently, as TomDispatch regular John Feffer reminds us today, Vladimir Putin met with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, North Korea. And though no one mentioned it, there was, in fact, a missing participant in that meeting. I'm sure you know just whom I'm thinking of -- the American president who pursued Kim back in 2019 and, while he never visited Pyongyang, at one point took 20 steps into North Korea. While president, he also praised that country's leader for "having a great and beautiful vision for his country." Only recently, in his address at the Republican convention, he said of Kim, "I get along with him. He'd like to see me back, too. I think he misses me, if you wanna to know the truth."
As for Putin, Trump had any number of complimentary things to say about him while in office and, in 2022, praised his invasion of Ukraine as "genius" and "savvy." Only this year, he insisted that he had told "one of the presidents of a big [NATO] country," not (in his opinion) putting enough money into its defense budget that, when it came to Putin's Russia, "I would encourage [the Russians] to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills."
Now, imagine that the same man is once again in a race for the presidency, that he's already made mincemeat out of Joe Biden, who only recently bowed out, and, if the polls are to be believed, still stands a reasonable chance of returning to power in Washington (or if not, of causing untold crises verging on a possible civil war). He is, in short, the ultimate all-American nationalist (but only, of course, if that nation is run by a leader by the name of Donald Trump). Either way, he could be the ultimate destroyer of nations, including this one.
And with that in mind, consider Feffer's look at a planet on the brink of what could indeed be a new nationalism of an unnervingly Trumpian sort. Tom
Revenge of the Sovereignistas
Reports of the Death of Nationalism Are Greatly Exaggerated
By John Feffer
They were all buddy-buddy for the cameras, going for a joy ride in a deluxe limo and toasting each other at a gala dinner. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was determined to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in grand style on his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. A red carpet, flowers, and champagne: it was a veritable romance of rogues.
In reality, the two autocrats make a very odd couple. Kim is still a youngish man with a few extra pounds on his frame, while Putin is in his seventies and loves to appear shirtless on horses, the better to showcase his judo-trained body. Kim is the dynastic ruler of a small, isolated, homogeneous country that remains formally communist. By contrast, Putin presides over a multiethnic empire that stretches across 11 time zones and has formally turned its back on its communist past. Kim disparages religion but maintains a suffocating cult of personality, while Putin, who embraced religion to boost his own popularity, has yet to force Russian officials to wear pins with his face on them.
Sure, Putin and Kim have some friends in common (China's Xi Jinping and America's Donald Trump), some shared enemies (the West, most democracies), and a fondness for making threats (bombastic, sometimes nuclear). But what really binds them together is a seemingly antiquated belief system whose origins stretch back two centuries.
Kim and Putin are both ardent nationalists.
The two of them believe fervently in the supremacy of the nation-state, specifically their own. They also assert the superiority of their particular ethnic groups, with Putin increasingly using russky (ethnic Russians) instead of rosissky (citizens of Russia) in his speeches and Kim following the official North Korean tradition of purging the language and culture of all outside influences.
Above all, those two leaders are united in their opposition to outsiders -- other countries, international organizations, non-governmental do-goodniks -- having any say over what takes place within their borders. Putin and Kim are, in other words, spokesmen for what I call the sovereignistas, a class of world leaders who insist on their sovereign right to be exceptions to the rules that govern the rest of the planet.
In reality, ultra-nationalists like Putin and Kim hold sway over much of our world and come in all too many shapes and sizes. China's Xi, for instance, resurrected nationalism to revive the fortunes of a communist system whose ideology no longer seemed to motivate the Chinese masses. In Germany, Sahra Wagenknecht has started a new party that officially identifies as left-wing but has right-wing nationalist takes on border controls, globalization, and green politics. Meanwhile, at the other end of the political spectrum, India's Narendra Modi has adapted nationalism to the needs of his right-wing party's religious chauvinism devoted to making Hindu India great again.
Far from just patrolling the edges of their societies, such nationalists are increasingly prospering at their political centers. Just ask Joe Biden, who tried to counter Trump's populism by beefing up his own nationalist credentials through new restrictions at his country's southern border and onerous new tariffs on China. Indeed, such nationalism has been part of the mainstream since revolutionaries took over the kingdom of France in the late eighteenth century and German romantics began championing das Volk (the people) around the same time. Some political scientists have even argued that nationalism was the essential ingredient in the establishment of modern democracies -- that, without its ideological glue, a state couldn't have mustered enough of a consensus to govern.
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Portland General Electric is asking state regulators to approve a 10.9% rate increase for residential customers and businesses starting next year, according to a July filing with the state utility commission.
Thats up from the investor-owned utilitys initial 7.4% increase request for next year, which was met with resistance from consumer groups. In April, the Oregon Public Utility Commission rejected efforts by a citizen watchdog group to dismiss the rate hike that would go into effect in January 2025.
It would follow an 18% jump that took effect in January and a 12% hike a year earlier.
PGE previously said it needed the 7.4% rate increase to pay for clean energy needs and investments in battery storage, transmission infrastructure upgrades and overall grid improvements.
Sarah Hamaker, a spokesperson for PGE, said the adjustment to PGEs rate review request is driven by power costs.
At this time, no final rate case determination has been made and no number is final, she said. PGE continues to be actively engaged in this process with all stakeholders.
The Oregon Citizens Utility Board, a state nonprofit group that advocates for utility customers, said in a statement that PGEs latest double-digit proposal comes on the heels of a record number of households disconnected in April and May.
The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported that Oregon utilities cut off more customers for nonpayment this past April than in any month since the state began tracking shutoffs in 2018.
The watchdog group said these disconnections were driven by households inability to keep up with the cost of electricity.
Customers are already reeling from record-high bills that resulted from this years rate increase and the ice storm in January, said Bob Jenks, the Citizens Utility Boards executive director, and another double-digit increase could make it harder for customers to afford their electric bills.
We need our utilities to control their spending, Jenks said in a statement. No one should have to choose between electricity and food, medicine, or other necessities.
The watchdog group is asking the Public Utilities Commission to delay or reject most of PGEs rate increase case.
If the Oregon Public Utility Commission approves PGEs new proposal, it would go into effect starting Jan. 1.
-- Kristine de Leon covers the retail industry, small business and data enterprise stories. Reach her at kdeleon@oregonian.com .
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Two Oregon lumber mills on opposite ends of the state are shutting down, the latest in a long line of closures.
Western Cascade Industries mill which employs 54 people at its 25-year-old site in Toledo, down from a peak of 100, the company said is slated to fully shut down Thursday, according to the Lincoln County Leader.
Employees were informed last week that the mill would be closing at the end of July, General Manager Walt Adams told the Leader. He told the paper the closure resulted from a timber market that has just kind of been down across the board.
The closure is a blow to Toledo, a town of about 3,500 on the Yaquina River just east of Newport. Ross Stock, who runs the mill, did not respond to an interview request.
Toledo City Manager Doug Wiggins said the mill was the towns second-largest employer. Western Cascades mill was the last lumber mill remaining of the many that once operated in the town. One paper mill still operates just across the river from Western Cascades facility.
Other entities, Wiggins said, have been in conversation with the city and the mill to purchase it, but no deal emerged. He said he is hopeful that a buyer will get the mill up and running again soon.
On the opposite end of the state, the last mill in Grant County announced it would close last week, the Blue Mountain Eagle reported. Malheur Lumber which employs more than 70 will shut down after it processes and ships its remaining logs.
The mill is located in John Day, a town of about 1,700. It had almost shut down before back in 2012, but intervention from government officials kept it afloat. Grant Countys other sawmill shut down in March.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who helped work out a deal to save the mill more than a decade ago, again pledged support this month for finding solutions.
A representative of Malheur Mill directed inquiries to Ochoco Lumber, the mills parent company, which did not respond to an interview request.
The mill cited a litany of reasons for the shutdown to the Blue Mountain Eagle, including a lack of a willing and drug-free workforce, rising production costs, government regulation and an unfavorable timber market.
Andrew Miller covers business news. Reach him at amiller@oregonian.com or 971-803-2954.
Are you looking for one of the best bars in the country? You dont have to look far.
USA Today food writers have come out with a list of the 27 best bars in the U.S. and Portlands own Hey Love is among the cream of the crop.
USA Today says the establishments on their 2024 Bars of the Year list are places with stories to tell, places that should be on your bucket list when you travel and your favorites list where you live.
Hey Love, which opened in 2018, is the only bar in the Pacific Northwest that appears on the unranked list.
Em Chan from the Salem Statesman Journal wrote the section on Hey Love and calls it a sunny escape in a city of perpetual rain. Fenced in by tropical plants creating a cabana-like ambiance, the bar inside the Jupiter Hotel encapsulates the citys eclectic spirit, she says. Chan also calls out the bars frequent participation in fundraisers and causes, making it the communitys bar.
The food menu features several gluten-free and vegan choices and the drink menu offers plenty of alcoholic and nonalcoholic sips, with clever names like The Secret Life of Plants (a mango oolong mai tai), the Sharon is Karen (a Skyy cucumber vodka soda on draft), the Key Party (a strawberry tequila negroni) and the Super Science Toki Highball Machine (a whiskey and soda water blend made in a fancy Suntory highball machine).
This isnt Hey Loves first recognition. Last year it was named the best hotel bar in the United States in the prestigious Spirited Awards presented by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.
Hey Love is a lush, tropically inspired cocktail bar on East Burnside Street.Teresa Mahoney/The Oregonian
If you go: Hey Love, located inside the Jupiter NEXT hotel at 920 E. Burnside St.; 3 p.m.-12 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-12 a.m. Sunday; Happy hour is 3-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Mims Copeland is a social media producer and covers trending topics for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at mcopeland@oregonian.com
Artist Mentorship Program, a Portland-based nonprofit, has been selected to receive a $50,000 grant from Lady Gagas Born This Way Foundation and Australian fashion brand Cotton On. The grant was part of a $3 million investment in youth-focused mental health organizations worldwide; Artist Mentorship Program was one of 65 organizations selected for a grant.
Artist Mentorship Program provides support to unhoused youths in Portland through community building, music mentorship and educational resources. By fostering creative expression, the program aims to help participants navigate trauma and build trust, eventually helping them gain access to shelter.
The organization initially started to supplement job training programs for youths experiencing homelessness in 1994.
We quickly realized that young people needed a lot of opportunities to express themselves creatively and to have an outlet, said William Kendall, executive director of Artist Mentorship Program.
The organization is made up of just 2-3 staff members but receives support from over 100 volunteers, to provide a studio space, art supplies, food and other resources for young people. Most of the people they support are 15-25 years old, Kendall said.
When we asked artists and musicians to step up and support young people and to help them find access to creative expressions, the art community always showed up, Kendall said. And this is like the perfect analogy for what Lady Gaga and the Born This Way Foundation have done. Theyve showed up for these kids in a way that not a lot of people do.
With the $50,000 grant, Artist Mentorship Program will be able to improve services and provide more opportunities for youth to engage in arts, while building an advocacy group within the greater Portland community, Kendall said.
If we invest in mental health support for young people experiencing homelessness, we dont have to build chronic homelessness, Kendall said. What we want to do is build support services and help them meet their needs so that they dont have to be in services past 25.
When the organization received the news, they were thrilled, Kendall said.
What an artist, what a creative force and what an advocate for these kids, said Kendall. And just for us to have that validation, thats like, OK, someone is seeing what were doing.
Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiara_profenna
The Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content.
Theres a new pair of apex predators in Puget Sound.
Two species of shark, one of which is critically endangered in some places, have been found in South Puget Sound, sparking a bit of mystery surrounding the regions marine habitat, scientists with Oregon State University said.
What brought them to these waters? Have some of them been here all along? Could climate change be a factor?
Everything started with a single social media post.
Sharks already live in Puget Sound (and shark attacks are exceptionally rare), said Jessica Schulte and Ethan Personius, scientists with Oregon State. Spiny dogfish and sixgill sharks are well documented throughout the waters. The latter are heavily protected by state officials and cannot be harvested.
So, several years ago, when one man in South Puget Sound posted a photograph of himself holding a shark appearing to be a sixgill, officials investigated, Schulte said. As it so happened, though, the man was not holding a sixgill, but actually a broadnose sevengill shark.
Scientists discover two shark species new to Puget Sound
For decades only one broadnose sevengill shark had been found in the Salish Sea, but Oregon State University scientists found nine of them in South Puget Sound in recent years. They also found a soupfin shark, which is considered critically endangered in parts of the world due to overfishing.
That was crazy, Schulte said. Because theyre not supposed to be here.
Schulte, Personius and officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife banded together for a fact-finding mission.
Sevengill sharks earned their moniker because they have more gill slits seven instead of five than most other species and they can grow to nearly 10 feet. Only one of the species had been confirmed in the area, Schulte said, and that capture took place decades ago, nearly 200 miles away near Point Roberts, off the Canadian border.
These species can be found off the Washington coast, Schulte said, but finding them in Puget Sound, particularly in the southern region, is remarkable.
The fisherman behind the social media post told scientists he had been catching sevengills for a couple of years, Schulte said. Lo and behold, on their first outing to confirm his claims, they found several of them as well.
Last year and in 2022, the scientists caught nine sevengills in South Puget Sound, near Olympia, Schulte said. Eight of them were male, measuring under 7 feet and the female was about 4 1/2 feet long.
The fisherman also showed them photos of another species of shark he had caught, one that Personius identified as a soupfin shark.
Soupfin sharks were once quite numerous on coastal waters, Personius said. They were highly prized for their fins used in the eponymous shark fin soup and for their livers.
Because they were so valuable, the soupfins sparked a type of gold rush, Personius said. And they were fished to near extinction in the coastal waters.
Not only have the waters of Puget Sound been heavily fished over the generations but theyve also been heavily studied, Personius said. And never before had a soupfin shark been documented within the Sound.
One day, as the scientists searched the South Sound for a sevengill shark, the conversation turned to the elusive soupfin, Personius said. As luck would have it, that day they happened to pull one out of the water.
It was a male, measuring just over 5 feet.
Not only is finding a new species in the Sound notable, Personius said but its also a reason to figure out why they might be in the area.
One reason could be rising marine temperatures, he said.
Soupfin sharks often feed on anchovies, Personius said. And anchovies are becoming more common in the Salish Sea, with their populations particularly spiking after the 2014 and 2015 marine heat wave colloquially known as The Blob.
But there could be other reasons why these sharks moved into the area or why they hadnt been documented before, he said.
As the scientists pulled the sharks out of the Sound, they tagged them with locators to try totrack their movements, Schulte said. They can recapture them at different times and flush their stomachs to see what theyre eating to learn more.
Its quite smelly but its quite rewarding, Schulte said.
Marine heat waves are predicted to become more common and severe as climate change worsens. The Blob caused massive die-offs of coastal birds and crabs, among other species. The warming ocean temperatures also pose a threat to salmon.
Other species, however, flourish in the warmer aquatic temperatures.
Additional research into the appearance of the sevengill and soupfin sharks is needed to find out whether new suitable habitat is being created in which they might live and thrive, Personius said. And if the species are becoming more common here, fisheries should take precautions.
___
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The owner of a community newspaper in Oregon is in federal custody in Alabama, accused of making multiple threats of violence in Mobile, including threatening to kidnap, cage and rape a 77-year-old church secretary, according to court records.
Richard David Colvin, a 60-year-old originally from Mobile, is charged with violating interstate communications.
Earlier this summer, Portlanders Erika Abdelatif and Kristen Myers went to Europe to see Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour.
After the show, Abdelatif and Myers shared on social media how much they saved by going to see the tour in Europe versus in the United States. Its a classic type of TikTok or Instagram reel: I Can Do It with a Broken Heart plays in the background as we see clips of the women flying to Europe, eating fish and chips and dancing to Taylor Swift, with the cost of each item superimposed on the video.
But then, a twist: When the hypothetical total cost of seeing the tour in Seattle versus the real cost of seeing her in Scotland pops up at the end, it turns out they spent nearly $3,000 more on their European trip.
So no, we didnt save jack s** by going to Europe to see Taylor, Myers says in voice-over at the end of the video. But we dont have kids so we can do whatever the hell we want and it was the best way we could have possibly spent our time and money.
This video is a near-perfect encapsulation of the Myers and Abdelatif brand. They are irreverent millennial women both 37 who dont hold back on the swearing and who are openly and hilariously talking to each other and a growing audience about what it means to be child-free.
Their podcast is called Dinky, a take on the double (or dual)-income-no-kids acronym popularized in the 1980s around the time people couldnt stop talking about young urban professionals or yuppies. (While Myers and Abdelatif are both married, they welcome single people into the conversation, too. The focus is much more on the no kids than the double income.)
And Dinky is finding a large audience. Across Instagram, TikTok and Threads, the brand has almost 80,000 followers. The podcast itself has over 250,000 downloads.
Myers and Abdelatif have tapped into a growing sector of Americans: People who arent having children and are sick of explaining themselves.
According to the top line of Pew research study released in late July about Americans who dont have children: 57% of adults under 50 who say theyre unlikely to ever have kids say a major reason is they just dont want to.
While hand-wringing about declining fertility rates provides content for many a thinkpiece and political talking point (see vice presidential candidate JD Vance and his infamous cat ladies comment), the number of people in this country choosing not to have children continues to grow. That means the audience for Dinky is ever-expanding.
Katherine Good, a 39-year-old from Colorado, is a member of that audience. She found Dinky through social media.
It was so refreshing to listen in and suddenly feel so validated by these hilarious strangers who seemed to share so many of my experiences and feelings, Good said. I immediately felt like I was hanging out with close friends, and they have a unique talent for balancing heavy or complex topics with relatable, unapologetic humor that makes it so fun to listen to.
For Good, finding the podcast meant finding kindred spirits.
I think most childfree people can relate to the feeling of being othered or looked down on for choosing a life that looks different from societys norms, Good said. Platforms like Dinky give a voice to the things that uniquely connect us and shine a spotlight on the things in our lives that deserve to be celebrated.
Abdelatif and Myers met in 2005 when they were both theater majors at Chapman University in California. Abdelatif moved to Portland about three and a half years ago and Myers followed her in 2022.
Abdelatif came to the decision that she didnt want to have children in her 20s, due in part to the inequality she saw in heterosexual relationships while working with children.
As time has gone on, I feel like Ive just developed more and more reasons, and found more solidification in why I made this choice, Abdelatif said. But thats really where it started, was just seeing women were really struggling to manage everything.
Myers got married in her mid-30s and began wrestling with the question of whether she wanted to have kids. She had always imagined her future with children, but when she started to look closely into what that meant the cost of child care, for example she found herself less convinced.
Erika was my only close friend at the time who was child-free by choice, Myers said. And so whenever I voiced concerns to my other friends, they were like, Oh, we figured it out. You just do it!
With Abdelatif, though, she found a safe place to really talk about the impact kids would have on her life.
Erika and I were having a lot of conversations, she said. Hours and hours.
At the same time, she noticed there was a gap in the podcast market.
There was like no podcast I identified with that was asking these kinds of questions and doing it in a way that was like fun and approachable, Myers said.
Shed never started a podcast, but Abdelatif was on board.
Lets just have fun with this and see how it goes, Abdelatif said. And so they did, launching in July of 2022.
As with most podcasts, it wasnt an overnight success. The first few months the audience was small. But then, something struck on social media.
We thought it was a jinx at first, Abdelatif said. Like, Oh, this is just like a one-off.
I work in social media and so I was like, This isnt going to happen again, she added. But then it just kept happening.
Even though the podcast is popular, both women are still working their day jobs, Abdelatif as a director of social media and Myers as a senior product manager in the tech industry. While they have generated some revenue across their platforms, it is all going back into the business at this point.
Dinky episodes go deep into the kinds of questions Myers and Abdelatif talked about on those long calls, bringing in all kinds of guests to explore different topics. What is the financial cost of having children? What is the social cost of not having children? How can you explain your choice to your family?
Some of their most popular podcast episodes deal with the question of regret, from both sides. Will you regret not having a child? Do parents ever regret having children?
While most audience engagement is positive, sometimes people respond with anger or cruelty.
Its very common for us to see criticism from both men and women in our social media accounts in particular, Myers said, but it skews towards the men instilling fear in us mostly that were going to regret it. Were going to die alone.
One of the main ideas Abdelatif and Myers hear from negative commenters is that they will regret not having children when they hit their 50s.
Then we interview people who are in different age demographics, Abdelatif said, and theyre like, You know, theyre always moving the goalposts. At some point, its going to be, Youll regret it in your 70s.
They recently interviewed Marcia Drut-Davis, a child-free woman in her 80s.
Drut-Davis told the hosts that when she was young, people were always telling her she would regret not having kids when she was older.
And she specifically said to us on our podcast, I could not wait to be the age I am so I could tell them they were wrong. Myers said.
The audience they have found is roughly 90% women. And they, like Myers, were thirsting for connection with people who have also chosen to not have children.
Theyre in our DMs like crazy, Abdelatif said.
And we encourage it, added Myers, especially on our podcast.
In fact, they are working with a tour company to take a group of 16 or more child-free women to Switzerland in the fall, including Good. She and another child-free friend signed up as soon as tickets were available.
Id say its one of the best decisions Ive made this year, Good said, and the excitement of it has already made us closer friends.
There will be cheese, wine and plenty of time to talk about what it means to make the choice not to have kids.
Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com or @lizzzyacker
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As firefighters are working on putting out a pair of wildfires in the Columbia River Gorge, theyre contending with another seasonal scourge in the woods: hikers, backpackers and trail runners who are flouting trail closures around the burns.
The Whisky Creek and Microwave Tower fires may be relatively small 891 acres and 1,311 acres, respectively but the closure areas around them are much bigger, allowing firefighters to set containment lines and roping off a number of popular trails in the process.
David Spangler, Oregon State Parks manager for the Columbia Gorge, said people have been ignoring closure signs posted to trails this week as they set off into the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness, a rugged area between Bonneville and Hood River thats known for its challenging trails with spectacular views.
Its a concern for peoples safety because there are significant hazards right now in these closed areas, Spangler said. A fire can spread rapidly and spread quickly. As we saw in the Eagle Creek fire in 2017, we dont want people trapped.
The Eagle Creek fire, which spread quickly through the gorge, forced around 140 hikers to spend the night on the Eagle Creek Trail before being rescued the following day.
This week, Oregon State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service and Hood River County have closed a large portion of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in an effort to keep people safe. Just about everything from the Pacific Crest Trail east to Starvation Ridge is currently closed.
The neighboring Eagle Creek and Wahclella Falls trails remain open, as does the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, except for a closed portion between Hood River and Mosier.
Those are just a small part of the sweeping trail closures this week across Oregons forests and recreation areas, as dozens of fires burn around the state:
Firefighters made progress creating firelines on Tuesday to contain the Microwave Tower fire near Mosier, the Oregon Department of Forestry said.Courtesy of Oregon Department of Forestry
With so many fires burning across a huge swath of public and private lands, and fire closures sometimes coming quickly, it can be confusing to know which recreation areas will be opened or closed.
People should look for closures and current fire conditions at wildfire.oregon.gov, and road closures on TripCheck.com, according to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management and Oregon Department of Transportation, which issued a joint news release last week. Additional closures may be found online from individual public land agencies, such as Oregon State Parks at stateparks.oregon.gov.
Officials also encouraged people to enable Wireless Emergency Alerts on their cell phones, which will deliver warnings in case of emergency, and pack basic emergency car kits, with items like a cell phone charger, blankets, a dust mask, toilet paper, a first aid kit, and extra water and snacks.
Officials also are encouraging people to respect any fire closures in place, no matter how excited you may be to hike a favorite trail.
Spangler said hes been encouraging hikers to shift their gaze to the open trails on the western side of the Columbia Gorge, or to the south side of Mount Hood, where there is plenty of good hiking and no current fire closures.
Wherever you go, officials just want to make sure it isnt into an active fire closure, which they cautioned could last many more weeks, months or even years, depending on the severity of the burns.
Were seeing a lot of disregard because right now the closure is large and the fire is relatively small. Spangler said of the Whisky Creek fire closure. We really want to ensure that people do not get into dangerous areas.
--Jamie Hale covers travel and the outdoors and co-hosts the Peak Northwest podcast. Reach him at 503-294-4077, jhale@oregonian.com or @HaleJamesB.
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I want to call this new article to your attention: Neal Rappleye and Stephen O. Smoot, Stephen Burnett versus the Eight Witnesses: An Exercise in Mature Historical Thinking, Religious Educator 25/2 (2024). Stephen Burnett has long been a favorite weapon among critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often deployed (especially by the secularist variety of critics) against the credibility of not only the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon but even that of the Three Witnesses. Does Burnetts testimony merit such trust?
Abstract: This article critically examines the credibility of the claims made by Stephen Burnett about the experience of the Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. A disaffected Latter-day Saint who lost his faith in Joseph Smith after the failure of the Kirtland Safety Society in 1837, Burnett wrote a scathing letter in early 1838 in which he claimed he heard Martin Harris admit that the Eight Witnesses did not physically see and handle the gold plates as claimed in their printed testimony. This article argues that Burnett is not a credible source for accurately understanding the experience of the Eight Witnesses. It uses Burnetts letter and the controversy surrounding it as an example of how students can develop mature historical thinking skills when they are confronted with potentially faith-damaging information.
An article recently appeared in the Deseret News by the invaluable Latter-day Saint social scientist Stephen Cranney: Liberal-leaning churches are shrinking compared with many conservative churches: Membership data across faiths challenges those who argue that alignment with progressive ideals is the pathway to vibrancy for religious communities today
What Brother Cranney has to say in his article reminds me of a still rather famous 1972 book still famous in certain circles, anyway by the late Dean M. Kelley, Why Conservative Churches Are Growing: A Study in Sociology of Religion. Here is a good one-paragraph review of Why Conservative Churches Are Growing that was posted on Amazon.com by one David Franz back in 2006:
In 1969 Peter Berger told the New York Times that religious people would soon be huddled together in little enclaves, surrounded by a sea of secularity. In doing so, he was simply making explicit the philosophy of history implicit in social theory since its founding. According to this philosophy, Christianity became Protestant, then liberal Protestant, then vaguely and privately spiritual, moving inevitably towards secularism. In the 60s and into the 70s the data on American religion seemed to support this story at least in mainline churches. First published in 1972, this book directed attention to the surprising and theoretically problematic fact of growing conservative churches, precisely those churches that were most demanding and seemingly ill-equipped for the modern world. As secularization and modernization theory crumbled with the resurgence of conservative religion in public life in the US and around the world (see Jose Casanovas Public Religions in the Modern World), it became clear that conservative religion was not going away quietly and that social science had been dead wrong. Kelley was among the first to recognize that there was something mistaken with social sciences predictions of a secular future. His book was part of a dramatic, if belated, recognition among scholars that lots of Americans find conservative, strict Churches profoundly attractive.
I close with a passage that I marked while reading Alejandro Agudo, Eduardo Jorge Fulco, and Titus Rivas, Comments on the Results of the AWARE II Study, Journal of Near-Death Studies 41/1 (2023): 9-22. The authors, based respectively in Spain, Argentina, and The Netherlands, are responding in it to the same reports of unexpected electrical activity in two dying brains to which, as I previously mentioned here, Pim van Lommel and Bruce Greyson have also responded. (See the latter portion of my recent blog entry Bread of Life, Living Water.) They describe the work to which they are responding as certainly a well-executed study (19), but, like Drs. van Lommel and Greyson, they caution against an overhasty physicalist or reductionist misreading of its results:
Parnia et al. are correct to ask themselves, in the paragraph just analyzed, not only whether the electric activity found is sufficient to generate lucid consciousness and flawless memory but also whether there is a causal relationship between such activity and NDEs. Again, without data on the EEGs of people who have had an NDE, it is impossible to know. But even if such data existed, a temporal coincidence would not imply a causal relationship, either in the sense that NDEs could be caused by the neural activity or in the sense that neurological activity would be caused by NDEs. In fact, alternative interpretations have already been presented, such as the one formulated by Hameroff and Chopra (2010) or the theory proposed by Mays and Mays (2011) that the electric activity in question could indeed mirror the liberation of a non-physical consciousness from its link to the brain. Finally, aside from the results of the AWARE II study, which related to consciousness during CPR, it is clear that the well-documented cases of NDEs that occurred before resuscitation began or that included veridical perception of events occurring outside the patients physical environment and were confirmed by third parties, such as those collected extensively in the book The Self Does Not Die (Rivas et al, 2023), would remain unexplained. (18-19)
Posted from Depoe Bay, Oregon
I stopped writing about Tower Time a few years ago because people were tuning me out. But Tower Time didnt go away its going to be with us for a very long time. Still, that doesnt mean our focus should be on surviving a lightning strike day after day, year after year. Thats not sustainable.
And its not necessary.
There are signs that a shift is in the works, and I think its time to change our emphasis.
But before I talk about that, I need to tell three very short stories.
Story 1: The falling Tower is only the first segment of a longer arc
After my last post on Tower Time, Byron Ballard who coined the term said The Tower has fallen.
My first reaction was that its too soon to say that. Climate change is just getting started. Christian Nationalists are getting more daring in their attempts to encode their religion into law. The Anglo-American empire has been in decline for many years, but its a long way from disappearing. And the spiritual and magical aspects of Tower Time are getting stronger, not weaker.
Tower Time is a high-level metaphor for what is and will be a long, complex process. There are many towers some of them will fall in a day, some will fall in a year, and some will crumble but never truly go away. Rome took centuries to fall, and the city never disappeared even though its population didnt reach Empire levels again until the 1930s.
Our conversations around Tower Time are not intended to be a schedule of future events thats not possible. Theyre intended to provide context for what were experiencing and inspiration for how we can best respond.
I think its time to shift how we think about where we are in this long process.
Story 2: We have someone to vote for
I strongly supported Joe Bidens re-election campaign. Ive been generally pleased with his performance in office, but mainly I saw him as a proven way to make sure Donald Trump never sees the Oval Office again. I was deeply concerned when he decided to withdraw from the Presidential race. The Democratic Party is known for shooting itself in the foot, and word was that a lot of people wanted to replace the entire ticket.
Instead, within 24 hours all the potential candidates endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Within a week virtually all Democratic leaders had endorsed her. Shes been breaking fundraising records and much of the money is coming from first-time donors.
People are excited about Kamala Harris in a way Ive never seen before. Some are comparing it to the excitement around Obama in 2008, but that was tempered by the disappointment of those who really wanted Hillary Clinton instead. This is stronger and more focused.
This isnt an election post not entirely, anyway. Whats important here is that theres a huge difference between supporting a candidate because the alternative is unthinkable and supporting a candidate because you like them and their policies.
Now its not just a case of who we have to vote against. Now we have someone to vote for.
Story 3: The Magical Battle of Britain
I read The Magical Battle of Britain on the trip to Mystic South. Ive written about the historical event before its a foundational story of the modern Pagan movement. Some years ago I heard Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki talk about it. Dolores was too young to participate, but her mother and aunt did and shared their stories. But somehow I never knew about this book until very recently.
This is a collection of letters from Dion Fortune to the members of her order The Fraternity of the Inner Light, who were working magic to protect Britain from invasion during World War II. The letters gave instructions for group meditations and workings. Some gathered in person, while many more participated remotely due to wartime travel restrictions.
Its an interesting primary source for a historical event thats already become part of myth.
The actual Battle of Britain was an air campaign that ran from July through October of 1940. Nazi forces had taken over France and the Low Countries Britain was next. The bombardment campaign was designed to force Britain to negotiate a peace favorable to the Nazis, or failing that, to diminish their defenses in advance of a land invasion. The Nazis failed, in large part due to the heroism of the pilots and support staff of the Royal Air Force. But also because the people of Britain refused to surrender.
The war continued after this battle was over, as did bombing raids over London and other sites in Britain. World War II would not end until 1945.
In 1941 Dion Fortune instructed her group to stop focusing on defense and start concentrating on what they wanted to build after the war was over.
The rising of The Star
These three stories were floating around in my head when I got to Mystic South last week.
Even though I felt like Byrons proclamation was too soon, I understood there was something to it. I read what Dion Fortune had done with four years of hard fighting left to go. I saw the tangible changes when people had someone to vote for instead of just someone to vote against.
I turned in a little early on Friday night, but before I did, I got out my Tarot cards and asked where are we in Tower Time?
The first card that came up was The Star.
In the Major Arcana of the Tarot (at least in the commonly used Waite-Smith system) The Tower is 16. The Star is 17. The Star follows The Tower.
Ive always felt like The Tower would be followed by the 8 of Cups or as I sometimes call it, the I like it here, why do I have to leave? card. When I asked Ashley Bryner to create artwork for my Navigating Tower Time course, I described what I was looking for by saying The Tower, and then the 8 of Cups. Ashley did a great job of illustrating that progression.
The 8 of Cups may well be a future stage in this very long process Tower Time is not the Fools Journey. But Ive already seen people making the 16 is followed by 17 connection and saying The Star comes next.
And it appears that it does.
The Star
The Tower is a card that screams in your face. The Star is much more subtle.
A naked woman kneels with one foot in the water representing the unconscious mind and one foot on the land representing the conscious mind. Her nudity represents both her vulnerability and her confidence she feels safe enough to be naked outdoors. She pours the water of unconsciousness from two pitchers, one back into the water back into her unconscious mind and one on the land. The water poured on the land divides into five streams, representing the five senses.
There are seven small stars and one large star in the night sky all eight stars have eight points. Theres a tree nearby and mountains in the background.
And theres more what do you see? What details call to you? There is no one right meaning of this or any Tarot card. There are the consensus meanings, but there is also what speaks to you when you draw a particular card in the context of a particular question.
The Star is not a card of bold action. Its a card of meditation and contemplation.
And that makes it the perfect guide for this point in the arc of Tower Time.
What shall we build from the rubble of The Tower?
We cant go back to some golden age, whatever your idea of a golden age happens to be. In any case, golden ages were never as great as our memories and our myths say they were. We cant instantly undo the damage done by the courts and pick up where we left off in 2016. We can only move forward from where we are, here and now.
Where do you want to go?
What do you want to build?
And perhaps most importantly, what are you willing to build, and to help build?
Put one foot in the water and one foot on the ground skyclad is optional. Let the waters flow from your unconscious to your conscious mind and back again. Meditate. Contemplate. Evaluate.
Its good to think big.
Its better to think local.
Im a socialist and not a libertarian, but if we count on government to solve our problems we will always be disappointed. Lets elect good people to do the things government does best, but lets focus most of our attention on building the kind of communities and families we want.
And the kind of lives we want for ourselves. Never underestimate the power of simply being who and what you are, and what youre called to be.
We need to work together, so we need to have conversations about what to build next.
But first we need to pay attention to The Star and meditate.
Tower Time goes on
Dion Fortune told the members of her order to begin visualizing the future they wanted after the war was over. But the war wouldnt be over for another four years.
There are more towers that will fall. Im optimistic about the election, but lots can happen between now and November 5 and in any case, Kamala Harris is not a savior. No matter who wins the election, the American empire will continue to decline. Im convinced the spiritual and magical side of Tower Time is about to get a lot more intense, although Im not sure exactly what that means (yes, I will write more about this in the near future).
But Dion Fortune was right. And what was right in 1941 is right in 2024.
Maintain your spiritual practice. Keep forming and maintaining relationships in this world and between the worlds. Work magic. And for the love of all the Gods, vote!
But its not time for the 3 of Pentacles yet. Or the 8 of Pentacles.
Its time to start contemplating and visualizing what we want to build next.
Its time for the rising of The Star.
Complete coverage: The case of ex-DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni Former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, 60, faces 11 charges as his retrial gets underway, many related to his dealings with Peter Gerace Jr., th
Twelve jurors and six alternates were sworn into service Wednesday for the federal corruption trial of ex-DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni.
Jury selection started Monday with 160 prospective jurors and concluded early Wednesday afternoon with a judge's firm warning to those who were selected not to talk to others about the high-profile case.
Judge cites US Attorney's Office for 'willful violation of my order' in Pharaoh's witness retaliation case The indictments of six people who federal prosecutors accuse of playing a role in the drug overdose death of government witness Crystal Quinn could be in jeopardy after a judge found that the U.S. Attorney's Office acted in "bad faith" in missing a deadline to turn over information about their cases to defense lawyers.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo told them not to even reveal the name of the case.
"People are going to be pestering you over the dinner table Sunday," Vilardo told them. "Don't talk about it."
Opening statements and the first day of trial testimony will begin Monday.
Unlike at the first trial, defense attorneys retained a jury consulting firm to help review questionnaires from the prospective jurors and offer advice on which ones to reject through peremptory challenges.
"It gave us a little more insight," said defense attorney Parker MacKay.
Bongiovanni's lawyers retained the jury consultant who was on the defense team for Harvey Weinsteins sexual assault trial in 2020 in New York.
Bongiovanni, 60, faces 11 charges, including a bribery count alleging that he accepted at least $250,000 from a drug-trafficking organization whom he thought was associated with Italian organized crime and shielded its members from arrest and provided them with information about investigations and cooperating sources.
Not long ago, Google pushed AI tools into ChromeOS in hopes that it would entice users away from Microsofts automation systems and toward Googles more affordable and accessible machines. This time, everyone is getting extra AI tools as Google brings updates to the Chrome browser, which is probably the most-used desktop application in the world.
New Gemini AI integrations include more flexible searches within images (under the Google Lens label) and easier-to-use tools for finding information in both your tabs and history.
Today is Amazon Prime Big Deal Days! Our editorial team lists the best tech deals here. ]
Image search features
Up until now, its been fairly simple to perform a reverse image search (i.e., submitting an image and getting back identical or extremely similar images found on the web) with just a right-click in Chrome.
In todays update, a more universal image search feature is rolling out. This one is activated by clicking a dedicated Lens camera button in the toolbar, which lets you make a rectangular selection within an image (or click directly on an object) to see relevant results in a sidebar.
You can further modify those results with more queries and/or refinements. Google gives an example of clicking on a green suitcase with Lens and then searching for the same model in pink.
This feature is similar to how Lens scans images for relevant content on Android, but it isnt limited to just images. The Lens tool can read text on a page even if its awkwardly formatted, such as a math equation. And since its scanning visually instead of looking at electronic script, it works with videos, too.
The new Lens search tool should be rolling out to Chrome users all over the world starting later today. Cool as this is, it seems to be focused heavily on products, a trend Google Search has indulged in a lot more over the last few years.
Tab and history features
Were also going to see a new tab comparison feature that adds product overviews across multiple tabs. This tool auto-generates tables for comparing specifications, prices, and other details across multiple tabs. Its going live in the next few weeks for Chrome users in the US.
Google Google Google
A less bombastic but potentially even more useful tool is also coming: Chrome is adding an AI-powered search for your history of visited sites.
Chromes history tool is already pretty comprehensive, but searching is limited to the text of each visited pages title and URL, which isnt always the most effective way to find a previously visited page. For example, a basic search for ice cream might not surface Coldstone Creamery.
Google Google Google
The upgraded history search will use Gemini to unlock conversational queries, such as What was that ice cream shop I looked at last week?
Google exercises caution with AI rollout
Perhaps taking a lesson from Microsofts PR blunder of its Recall announcement, Google is being a little more cautious with this AI-powered history search feature.
Google representatives told PCWorld that the feature will be entirely opt-in at launch, requiring the users permission to be enabled. In addition, the AI model will only be trained using synthetic data as opposed to real user data, and Google promises that the search tool wont have access to the sites you visited in Incognito Mode.
Google reps told us that this advanced history search will be rolling out over the coming weeks and/or months, and unlike the image search tools, itll begin with Chrome users in the US before expanding.
I dont think these new capabilities will be enough to tempt me away from my new browser bestie Vivaldi, but Ill certainly keep Chrome installed for the occasions I might need them.
pcl. in collaboration with its partner, LRMG Africa, has successfully hosted the annual Ghana Business Conference for this year, themed "AI as a Driver for Business Growth: Key Imperative for Decision Makers." Held at the prestigious Accra City Hotel, Ghana, the event brought together thought leaders, industry experts, and business executives to explore the transformative potential of AI in driving business growth and development.
The conference highlighted the pivotal role of AI-driven learning and its profound impact on business growth and development. The event provided a platform for attendees to gain actionable insights and engage in thought-provoking discussions on leveraging AI for competitive advantage.
The Guest Speaker, Abel Lomotey Daitey, Chief Information Officer at GCB Bank, emphasised the importance of embracing AI to drive business innovation and sustainability. He said, ''AI is a game changer, and its integration into business processes will determine the success of businesses, making it the survival of the smartest.'' Other distinguished speakers also participated in interactive panel discussions and spoke about the changing force of AI.
Kojo Amissah - Lead Executive and Principal Consultant at CITAM, spoke about the realities businesses will face with AI. He said, ''AI will take a considerable number of jobs away; Organisations will have to reduce their workforce size due to automation.'' He indicated that 'AI will generate new employment opportunities, requiring human input to succeed in these roles. Therefore, individuals must embrace a culture of continuous learning and enhance their skills to stay relevant."
On her part, Anita Arthur - Director, Human Resources, CFAO Ghana Plc., said, ''People should stop resisting AI and start embracing it. AI is a tool that complements the workforce. While AI analyses large amounts of data to help humans make informed decisions, employees can focus more on complex problem-solving tasks and critical thinking.'
On the engaging panel discussion, Kwadwo Ntim - GM of Technology & Operations/CIO, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), said, ''The value of AI to businesses is significant and encouraged organisations to consider AI in terms of its value to the business, aligning its business processes, goals, and objectives to increase productivity and work efficiency.'
Another panelist, Esi Mmirba Wilson - Director People and Transformation Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG), said, ''AI helps empower business growth by generating and analysising more data, providing detailed insights into developing customer journeys and personas. This makes it easier for organisations to partner with other businesses, leading to business growth.'
The event facilitated meaningful connections and collaborations through dedicated networking sessions, allowing participants to engage with peers and industry leaders, fostering an environment of learning and partnership.
pcl. 's commitment to pioneering innovative solutions was evident throughout the conference, underscoring the dedication to empowering businesses to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape by harnessing the power of AI.
"We are thrilled with the success of this year's Business Conference. The insights shared and connections made here will undoubtedly drive business growth and innovation," said Paul Ayim, Partner for Digital Learning. "We look forward to continuing our mission to supporting businesses in leveraging AI for sustained growth and development."
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The police have arrested five persons in connection with a shooting incident that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, [July 30, 2024] leading to the death of one person and an injury to a Police officer at Okanta, near Nsawam in the Eastern Region.
The incident occurred when some Police officers from the Eastern South Regional Police Headquarters, in the company of the complainant, Daniel Dosu, were ambushed by an unknown assailant while on their way to effect an arrest at Okanta.
Daniel Dosu sustained a gunshot wound to the forehead and was sent together with the injured Police officer to the hospital for medical attention. However, Daniel Dosu was pronounced dead on arrival.
An intelligence-led operation following the attack led to the arrest of the prime suspect, Daniel Quaye, who was later identified as one of the suspects the deceased complainant was leading the Police to arrest.
Further Police investigation led to the arrest of the four other suspects: Anum Joseph, Joshua Aboagye, Kwesi Acquaye and Acquaye Samuel, and also the retrieval of the weapon used by suspect Daniel Quaye.
The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy, while the injured Police officer has been treated and discharged from the hospital.
Suspect Daniel Quaye, together with the four accomplices, are currently in Police custody assisting the investigation, a police statement on Tuesday, July 30, indicated.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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A Twenty-two-year-old man, Sulley Bashiru, has been arrested by the police at Awaso, in the Sefwi Wiawso District of the Western Region for stealing meters belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
According to some residents of Awaso, the suspect is a scrap dealer from Niger who is sometimes seen collecting pieces of metals as scrap.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that on Sunday, July 28, 2024, the suspect was seen removing electrical meters of some residents in the community.
Further investigation revealed that the suspect, after removing the meters, vandalizes them and takes out the copper components in them.
The suspect had stolen and vandalised two Single Phase meters from some houses and had targeted other ones, when he was arrested.
According to the investigator in the case, Corporal Jonas Ofori of the Awaso Police, the suspect will be arraigned today, August 1, 2024.
The District Manager of ECG in the Sefwi Wiawso District, Ing. Albert Quansah, disclosed that electrical meters have unique numbers and geographical codes, which indicate their exact location and help in monitoring.
Therefore, stealing these meters rather compounds the companys efforts towards improving revenue collection and reducing losses, he pointed out.
He added that the district had received reports of meter theft in recent times and, therefore, set up a monitoring team to help avert the situation.
The Acting General Manager of ECG in the Western Region, Ing. Yaw Sarfo, cautioned the public that the company is clamping down on such unscrupulous activities and will apprehend persons who engage in meter theft.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The National Security Task Force, in a Rambo style, on Tuesday arrested 13 persons engaging in illegal foreign exchange trading.
The Team comprised personnel from the Ghana Police Service, the National Intelligence Bureau, and the National Fusion Center of the Ministry of National Security, conducted the swoop around Osu and Tudu, both suburbs of Accra and other notorious areas noted for black market trading.
The move was in a bid to curb further depreciation of foreign currencies and regulate forex trading,
They managed to retrieve various sums of money from the suspects including- USD17,840- CUSD1,450- Naira 515,000 CFA1,167,000, GH419,685, 230, and 50 Egyptian pounds.
The suspects and all exhibits have since been handed over to the police for investigation and prosecution.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), led by its CEO Dr Aboagye Dacosta, has launched the "Free Annual Health Checkup" initiative to enhance healthcare in Ghana.
The programme is aimed at addressing non-communicable and chronic diseases, underscoring the NHIA's commitment to preventive healthcare and ensuring widespread access to essential health services in the country.
At the launch event, held at the Kempinski Hotel on Monday, July 29, 2024, Dr. Aboagye emphasized the growing recognition worldwide of the importance of preventive healthcare measures.
He noted that early detection and intervention were critical in preventing severe health conditions, which could significantly reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of life.
"Our Free Annual Health Checkup" programme is designed with these objectives in mind, offering free comprehensive health screenings to identify potential health issues at an early stage for timely treatment and management, he noted.
The first phase of this initiative, Dr Aboagye said, would provide a range of health services such as blood pressure testing, blood sugar testing, Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements, counselling, and referrals when necessary.
He added, These services will be accessible nationwide at designated public and private health facilities, ensuring that everyone can benefit from the programme regardless of location or socio-economic status.
The initiative is open to all citizens covered under the NHIS and anyone with a Ghana Card, highlighting NHIA's dedication to equitable health access, he stressed.
Dr Aboagye acknowledged the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), private health facilities, teaching hospitals, community leaders, and the Society of Mental Health Practitioners for making the launch a reality.
He also thanked development partners like USAID for their support and dedication to improving public health in the country.
"The NHIA will work with its partners to ensure that they are well-equipped to deliver this high-quality screening. This programme is not just about testing, but it is about educating our population on healthy lifestyles and preventive measures," he noted.
He urged all citizens to take advantage of the "Free Annual Health Checkup" to safeguard their health and contribute to a healthier and more productive nation.
The initiative, he said, was part of the NHIA's broader strategy to enhance the healthcare system, expand health services, improve health infrastructure, and ensure that every citizen has access to the care they need.
He added, The success of this programme is expected to pave the way for more innovative healthcare initiatives in the future.
Dr Aboagye highlighted the significant benefits of the initiative, including increasing life expectancy and reducing the cost burden of hypertension and diabetes, which are major drivers of healthcare costs.
The NHIA aims to use this initiative to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage and achieve Sustainable Development Goal Three, which focuses on health and wellness.
Additionally, the programme is expected to boost NHIS membership and encourage predictive prevention, he emphasised.
He mentioned that the initiative would also include nationwide orientation through the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders to ensure that Ghanaians understood and took advantage of the programme.
He added that research, health education, and community engagement through the community and traditional leaders would be key components of the initiative.
Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, Mr Joseph Cudjoe, Minister of Public Enterprises, highlighted the significance of this initiative alongside the Free SHS policy in improving the lives of Ghanaians.
He emphasized that investing in education and health was the best the government could offer its citizens.
He noted that the Free Annual Health Checkup would provide an opportunity for all Ghanaians aged 18 and above, whether enrolled in the NHIS or not, to access healthcare at any credentialed healthcare provider nationwide.
The Special Guest of Honour, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, represented by Nii Kwao Donkor, urged Ghanaians to embrace this initiative and promised support for the NHIA in sensitising the public about the programme.
Solidarity messages from the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners, and development partners pledged their unwavering support for the initiative, recognising the severe impact of non-communicable diseases in the country.
The Free Annual Health Checkup is set to transform healthcare in Ghana, promoting preventive care and ensuring that every citizen has the opportunity to lead a healthier life, they stated.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Miss Malaika Ghana 2023, the National HIV youth Ambassador, Lady Nana Yaa Nsarko, has urged the youth to join the fight against HIV, emphasizing the devastating impact on young lives and communities.
During an interaction with over 800 students of Wesley Grammar School on July 31, 2024, as part of her "Live On Campaign" Project which forms part of the ART@20 celebrations sponsored by UNFPA and ABBOTT, she stressed the need for collective action to combat HIV's spread particularly among the youth.
"HIV is still prevalent and wrecking lives. It attacks the immune system and breaks a person down," Lady Nana Yaa Nsarko emphasized. "To salvage your future, join the fight against its spread. We must work together to prevent new infections and support those living with the virus. Abstaining from sex and prevention are key."
The Campaign aims to mentor and empower young people to prevent the spread of HIV, reduce stigma and make informed choices as they take control of their health. Lady Nana Yaa shared personal stories, highlighting the importance of abstinence, prevention, and support. "HIV is no discriminator; it affects anyone, regardless of your age or career. If you don't follow a healthy life, you're at risk."
She added, "If you want to be on bigger platforms like me, please abstain from sex. But if you've decided not to abstain, please dont condemn yourself rather, protect yourself."
The students engaged actively, sharing their knowledge and asking questions. According to the National AIDS/ STI control Programme (NACP), the 2023 national adult HIV prevalence is 1.5%, translating to approximately 334,095 people living with HIV in Ghana.
Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, Programme Manager for the National AIDS/STI Control Programme, urged students to acquire knowledge, stay healthy, and keep faith.
Rev. Aku of PAYDP, who represented the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) encouraged students to seek information on their sexuality and empower themselves through education.
The school enacted a drama to showcase their understanding of the topic and share some of their experiences.
The Head mistress of the school was full of praises for the entire team for visiting their school.
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Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Edudzi Tameklo, the legal counsel to the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has asserted that the Attorney General (AG) is unfit to address lawyers at this year's Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Conference.
He expressed firm confidence in Dr. Forson's innocence and criticized the AG's credibility in speaking at the event.
Tameklo accused the AG, Godfred Yeboah Dame, of persecuting Dr. Forson, who serves as the Minority Leader in Parliament.
He recounted how the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had initially instructed them to take the police statement home and return with it completed, indicating that there was no wrongdoing from the beginning.
The lawyer emphasized that Dr Forson's opposition to the government's Electronic Levy Bill in 2019 made him a target for persecution.
He pointed out that this stance has led to the current legal challenges faced by the Minority Leader.
In an interview with JoyNews on Tuesday, Tameklo stated that due to his conduct, the AG is not fit to address the 2024 Ghana Bar Conference.
He believes that the actions of the AG have compromised his integrity and suitability for such a role.
"When the Attorney-General goes to the point of meeting an accused person and first of all, anybody that has criminal charges against him, he is deemed vulnerable and especially with the counts that can get you 10 years in imprisonment, you are dealing with a vulnerable person and per the professional etiquette rules you are not permitted to deal with an accused person when that accused person is represented by a lawyer directly, you deal with him through his lawyer because of the vulnerable position he finds himself in."
"On April 9, 2024, the AG placed a call to Jakpa at 7am telling him to go and secure a medical excuse report and present it to a trial judge as though he was sick when you are not. I want to submit that at this year's Ghana Bar Conference, the Attorney-General is not worthy to speak to lawyers," he said.
Background
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal, in a 2:1 decision, acquitted and discharged Dr Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa in the ambulance case.
The ruling overturned a trial court order requiring them to present their defence for allegedly causing a financial loss of 2.37 million to the state in procuring ambulances for the government.
While Justice Alex Poku Acheampong dissented, Justices Kweku Tawiah Ackah-Boafo and Philip Bright Mensah ruled in favour of the accused.
Following the ruling, AG Godfred Dame issued a statement criticising the decision as perverse and contrary to the substantial evidence presented by the prosecution.
He argued that the decision undermines public accountability and the rule of law.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/peacefmonline.com
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Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has slammed the government over what he describes as another form of financial loss to the state.
According to the political science lecturer, the just ambulance case was pursued by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred dame, as a way of victimising a political opponent.
On his official Facebook page on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, Professor Gyampo maintains that country is being ruled by persons he describes as ignorant.
Professor Ransford Gyampo wrote, When I argued last week that we are being governed by very ignorant people and described the current regime as the worst in the history of the Fourth Republic, I had many calls to the effect that I was too harsh and blunt. But I didnt say these out of malice.
He noted that all the statistics and indices for measuring good governance, fighting corruption, managing the economy, dealing with the media, etc are there for everyone to go read and compare.
He further added, Today too, I am saying that when a bad mind enters into a mouse head, it falls into red oil, as in, s3 adwen bone ba ekura trim a, )t) ngo mu.
His comments come on the heels of the just ended ambulance case in which the Appeals court acquitted and dsicahrged Dr. Ato Forson and Mr. Ricahrd Japka, who both stood accused in the case after several months of proceedings.
Professor Gyampo opined that, when Deep Sea decided to offer 2.3 million Euros to the government of Ghana, that money should have been collected instead of pursuing the case which the government has eventually lost.
Deep Sea wanted to pay us 2.3 million Euros to settle the so-called charge of Ato Forson causing financial loss to the state in the Ambulance procurement saga. But we chose to go the path of witch-hunting."
"We refused to collect the money that was being offered to help defray whatever losses we may have incurred, because of the politics of vendetta and inordinate desire to punish the minority leader for being a torn in the flesh of this regime, by merely demanding accountability.
He added, Now that Ato Forson and Jakpa have been acquitted and discharged, the state gets nothing. We have lost the 2.3 million Euros that was being offered to us and the two have also been set free."
Now, who has caused financial loss to the state for making the nation play two-six and loss? Isnt it right for one to insist we are being governed by very ignorant people? I repeat my adage when a bad mind enters into a mouse head, it falls into red oil, as in, s3 adwen bone ba ekura trim a,)t) ngo mu.
Read Full Facebook Post below:
When I argued last week that we are being governed by very ignorant people and described the current regime as the worst in the history of the Fourth Republic, I had many calls to the effect that I was too harsh and blunt. But I didnt say these out of malice. All the statistics and indices for measuring good governance, fighting corruption, managing the economy, dealing with the media, etc are there for everyone to go read and compare.
Today too, I am saying that when a bad mind enters into a mouse head, it falls into red oil, as in, s3 adwen bone ba ekura trim a, )t) ngo mu.
Just look at us:
Deep Sea wanted to pay us 2.3 million Euros to settle the so-called charge of Ato Forson causing financial loss to the state in the Ambulance procurement saga. But we chose to go the path of witch-hunting. We refused to collect the money that was being offered to help defray whatever losses we may have incurred, because of the politics of vendetta and inordinate desire to punish the minority leader for being a torn in the flesh of this regime, by merely demanding accountability.
Now that Ato Forson and Jakpa have been acquitted and discharged, the state gets nothing. We have lost the 2.3 million Euros that was being offered to us and the two have also been set free.
Now, who has caused financial loss to the state for making the nation play two-six and loss? Isnt it right for one to insist we are being governed by very ignorant people? I repeat my adage when a bad mind enters into a mouse head, it falls into red oil, as in, s3 adwen bone ba ekura trim a, )t) ngo mu.
To the judges, God bless you for showing fidelity to the laws of Ghana, and for giving us a glimpse of hope that, some judges can still be described as the conscience of the nation.
Yaw Gyampo
A31, Prabiw
P.A.V Ansah Street
Saltpond
&
Suro Nipa House
Behind the Old Post Office
Larteh-Akuapim
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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Private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai has dragged the Attorney-Generals Department and the Ghana Police Service to court over the appointment of Commissioner of Police, COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno by the President upon the advice of the Police Council, as Deputy Inspector General of police in charge of Operations.
Justice Abdulai, in a writ dated July 30, 2024, argues that the appointment of COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno is not contained in the tenets of the constitution.
President Akufo-Addo, on the 17th of July, 2024, issued a press release announcing the appointment of the experienced police officer to the rank of deputy IGP in charge of operations.
A portion of the writ reads, A further order restraining the Inspector General of Police or any command under him from accepting, relating to and/or issuing instructions or commands to COP Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno in his assumed capacity as Deputy Inspector-General of Police in Charge of Operation.
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Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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An Angola man has been named in a six-count felony indictment charging him in connection with a two-vehicle crash in June that claimed the life of an 8-year-old Hamburg boy.
Markus R. Genovese, 53, was charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter, two counts of first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday before Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi.
If convicted on the second-degree vehicular manslaughter charges, Genovese faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane said counts of first-degree vehicular manslaughter in the indictment are based on the allegation that Genovese was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and with a revoked drivers license.
Thomas Ross, a second grader at Blasdell Elementary School who was a passenger inside his familys vehicle as it was stopped on Route 5 in Hamburg, died in the crash. The vehicle was about to make a left-hand turn onto Eckhardt Road when it was struck from behind by a pickup truck driven by Genovese, according to the Town of Hamburg Police Department.
Inside the vehicle with Thomas were his parents Heather Van Elk and Steve Ross, and Thomas 4-year-old younger brother, A.J., who along with their mother were transported to Erie County Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and released.
Police said Genovese abandoned the pickup truck and fled the scene before he was found a short time later in a nearby woods and transported to Erie County Medical Center for treatment of injuries he suffered in the crash.
Keane said Genoveses license was revoked in 2001 following a traffic incident in Suffolk County.
Attorney James Maloney, who represented Genovese at his arraignment, said his client did not possess a valid license at the time of the fatal crash but denied that Genovese has a lengthy history of drunken driving arrests.
He does have a prior ... from 20 years ago, and the only reason that has come back as an issue is that he never re-licensed. So he never took the final steps to reinstate his license, and that has triggered some additional legal ramifications, but no involvement with drugs or alcohol for 20 years, Maloney said.
While Keane declined to comment on toxicology tests, Maloney said his clients blood alcohol content was not high. He added that his client is, nonetheless, extremely remorseful.
My conversations with him, he does indicate that he was suffering from a mental health crisis, had not slept for approximately three days. Quite frankly, that probably contributed to the accident, Maloney said.
Meanwhile, members of Thomas Ross family also attended Genoveses arraignment Thursday, several wearing orange T-shirts, Thomas Ross favorite color, with white lettering that read #Family.
This family is devastated by this, Keane said.
Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin has emphasized the need to see plastic waste as a problem facing the West African sub regions which need to be addressed.
According to him, "we should not be oblivious of the challenges that undermine the capacity to effectively deal with the menace of plastic waste in the sub-region".
Speaker Bagbin, whose speech was read on his behalf by the MP for Yilo Krobo constituency, Mr Magnus Kofi Amotey observed the limited infrastructure for waste management, poor public awareness on sustainable waste management practices, weak policy implementation coupled with weak legal regimes enforcement together with general economics constraints are some of the challenges that need to overcome.
Addressing the delocalized joint committee meeting of the ECOWAS parliament at Winneba, Speaker Bagbin stressed that the country has the opportunity to constantly engage with the local communities and educate them on the threats that plastic waste pose not only the environment but also the livelihood and particularly the blue economy.
It was held with the theme: Plastic waste management, challenges and prospects in the implementation of community activities.
Speaker Bagbin disclosed that government cannot address the issue of plastic waste alone, hence it is necessary for our respective governments to leverage on public private partnership initiatives to build the infrastructure required to effectively deal with the plastic waste menace and possibly turn plastic waste into useful economic resources that can create employment opportunities for the many unemployed youth in the sub region.
Majority leader and head of Ghana's delegation to the ECOWAS parliament who also doubles as the MP for Efuffu constituency, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin on his part proposed that school curriculum should be adapt to include compulsory subjects in the fight against climate change especially plastic waste.
He, therefore, tipped to push for harmonized legislation across ECOWAS member states to phase out single use plastic within the next three years, saying, "Rwanda has shown us the way, and thought us it is possible, we must learn from their success and adapt it to our context. With about 80% of our plastic waste currently mismanaged, we need rigorous and enforceable policies that span our entire region".
Samson Ahi, MP for Bodi constituency and a member of ECOWAS parliament emphasized the need for ECOWAS to implement a strategic plan to enforce by law to end plastic waste in the sub region.
Source: Nana Kwadwo Asante Agyemang, Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Telecel Ghana is continuing its streak of rewarding customers as three more lucky customers were awarded the GH30,000 weekly cash prize each at vibrant events held concurrently at Takoradis Market Circle, Bolgatangas Main Lorry Station, and Kumasis Adum Market Square.
The weekly winners Christopher Gorkeh, a 19-year-old high school graduate, Fred Tamakloe, a training college teacher and Richard Ofori, a trader received their cash prizes amid lots of excitement and celebration in their cities.
Overwhelmed with joy and shock, Christopher shared his disbelief at winning the Telecel More Money Promo weekly prize and what he plans to do with his winning money, which he received instantly via Telecel Cash.
"I was so surprised, and I couldnt control my feelings. I plan to use the GH30,000 to further my education to the university level and own a business in the future, " Christopher said, as his parents looked on with excitement and pride.
Christopher helps his mother to sell Attieke in Esiama, a town in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region since he graduated from high school. He was constantly praying for a miracle to get financial aid to pursue his goal of pursuing university education. This is a dream come true for me. Thank you to Telecel and I will encourage everyone to join the More Money Promo and they could be lucky like me.
The three winners join hundreds of Ghanaians who have walked away with daily and weekly cash prizes since the launch of the promo on 10th July. The grand prize of GH1 million awaits the luckiest customer at the end of the promo period in September.
Aneth Muga, Head of Customer Value Management & Products and Services said, We are thrilled to see the positive impact this promo is having on the lives of our customers. Telecel will continue to create meaningful value and drive positive change. We encourage everyone to keep participating in the More Money Promo for a chance to win."
The More Money Promo offers Telecel customers the opportunity to win daily cash prizes, weekly cash prizes, and a grand prize of GH1 million. To participate, customers simply need to activate the promo by sending 'WIN' to 500, dialling *500# or visiting the promo section of the Telecel Play App. Participants can then increase their chances of winning by recharging their airtime or purchasing data bundles to build more points in the draw.
All Telecel users, including mobile, prepaid, fixed and business customers are eligible to participate in the Telecel More Money Promo for a chance to win daily and weekly cash rewards and the grand prize of GH1 million.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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Pressure group Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has questioned the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) quest to be president again.
Mr John Dramani Mahama who is keen on winning the December 7, presidential election had earlier questioned the constitutional four four-year term of the sitting president.
According to the former president, the four-year team is not enough for any president' to perhaps accomplish his policies.
However, AFAG in a statement wonders if the former president's quest to be president again is born out of ego.
One may wonder why, knowing very well that he has only one 4-year term left. Is his quest for re-election an issue of ego or ambition? A portion of the statement asked.
Adding that: President John Mahama has not changed. It is the same dead goat. No new vision, a new message to the people, and no clearly explained policies for the future of this country. It seems to be the same old magniloquence and rhetoric. Nothing new. Nothing to look forward to. This situation gives AFAG the impression that John Mahama is living in the past.
Read the statement below
John Mahama Must Admit His Failure and Apologize to Ghanaians - AFAG
Former President Mahamas comeback is beset by opportunism and incoherent policies. In 2016, former President John Mahama told the people of Ghana that 4 years is not enough for any president, adding that the framers of the constitution were well aware of that and therefore gave an option for a second term for sitting presidents. One may wonder why, knowing very well that he has only one 4-year term left. Is his quest for re-election an issue of ego or ambition?
We are still beset by the economic havoc that the erstwhile John Mahama administration plunged Ghana into during their days is still lingering in the minds of many well-meaning Ghanaians.
Fortunately, not all of us have short memories. It is only fair and proper that John Mahama admits that he failed the citizens of this country and apologizes to Ghanaians for his failure.
President John Mahama has not changed. It is the same dead goat. No new vision, new message to the people, and no clearly explained policies for the future of this country. It seems to be the same old magniloquence and rhetoric. Nothing new. Nothing to look forward to. This situation gives AFAG the impression that John Mahama is living in the past.
As the leader of the main opposition party, we expect that you would acknowledge that things are not as they used to be both locally and internationally. COVID-19 happened, and the ensuing global pandemic forced nearly 90 percent of the world economy to go under some form of lockdown, disrupting supply chains, depressing consumer demand, and putting millions out of work. The whole world is still reeling from the impact of that situation.
As the opposition leader, we expect that youll profess tangible and achievable solutions to deal with the new order. This politics of constantly repeating the same old narratives over and again has become stale and tasteless. It is as if he hasn't learned from the obvious patterns that occasioned and eventually resulted in the defeats he suffered in the last 2 elections.
AFAG believes that the endless repetition of the same stories by John Mahama is not healthy for the continuous growth of our democracy. What is his way forward for the nation?
AFAG would like to implore John Mahama to raise the political conversation beyond the out-of-date politics and focus on more essential issues that will likely affect us locally if we do not plug into the ever-growing global happenings. The era of "tso boi" politics in Ghana should end. The rest of the world is leaving us behind. We must catch up.
AFAG will ensure that you're held accountable for your deeds in the past and at the same time, keep an eye on the quality of your goals for the future, given that you have only one 4-year term to serve, if Ghanaians accept your unqualified apology for your misdeeds.
God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
SIGNED -
AFAG LEADERSHIP
[054 475 9734]
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/Peacefmonline.com
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Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's campaign momentum in the Northern part of Ghana is on the rise following highly successful engagements in the Upper East Region in the past few days.
In the past weeks, Dr. Bawumia has pitched camp in the North, engaging with diverse stakeholders including traditional leaders, religious leaders and the youth in the North East, Northern, Savannah and Upper West Regions with huge crowds welcoming him.
On the last lap of his Northern tour in the Upper East Region which began last Friday, Dr. Bawumia was given a warm reception from mammoth crowds in Bawku, Garu Tempane, Pusiga, Talensi, Nabdam, Chiana Paga, Bolga and Navrongo.
In each of these constituencies and holding a community connect with the youth, the gathering has shown massive love and support to the Vice President and NPP presidential candidate by defying rains to stay with him.
Dr. Bawumia has also tailored his messages to meet the expectations of his different audiences, telling them of the massive development projects in the five Northern Regions under the NPP regime.
In each constituency, he lists a number of projects the government has undertaken in the area since 2017 to demonstrate how the NPP has kept faith with the people.
Dr. Bawumia further highlights the NDC and their flagbearer, John Mahama's neglect of the North in terms of development to remind the people of the bad treatment they experienced while Mahama was President.
Some of the failures of the Mahama administration he outlines are their SADA project which was a complete fiasco and the blatant corruption that characterized the previous government.
Dr. Bawumia is the first Northerner to be elected leader of the New Patriotic Party in a major election and for the first time, both the leading candidates for the two main political parties are from the North.
This makes the 2024 election historic as Dr. Bawumia has made significant inroads in what the NDC considered their safe grounds.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini, has criticised the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
His remarks came in response to the Court of Appeal's decision on Tuesday, July 30, which acquitted and discharged the accused persons in a high-profile case.
The ruling overturned a previous trial court's order that required Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa to present their defence.
The two had been accused of causing the state a financial loss of 2.37 million in a deal to procure ambulances for the Government of Ghana.
While Justice Alex Poku Acheampong dissented, Justices Kweku Tawiah Ackah-Boafo and Philip Bright Mensah ruled in favour of the accused.
Following the ruling, Attorney-General Godfred Dame issued a statement condemning the decision.
He described it as perverse and contrary to the substantial evidence presented by the prosecution, arguing that it undermines public accountability and the rule of law.
In an interview with TV3 on Wednesday, July 31, Mr. Suhuyini advised the A-G to remain silent to avoid further embarrassment.
He suggested that Dame has compromised both himself and the office he occupies with his response to the court's decision.
"This case has not just been lost but his integrity has also been lost and if I were in his shoes, I would be speaking very little at this moment because he has not only disgraced him, but he has disgraced the office of the Attorney-General."
"It was a case that shouldnt have happened. It is a classical example of political persecution. Even before we heard what was contained in the leaked tape, most Ghanaians knew this was a witch hunt and a classical case of political persecution," he said.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman/Peacefmonline.com
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National Security Minister, Mr. Alban Kan-Dapaah, has cautioned political parties to be prepared to accept defeat in order to avoid any form of post electoral violence.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah underscored the need to maintain peace and stability during the upcoming December 7 elections, adding that, post-election violence have the tendency of tearing a nation apart, hence, the need to protect the peace and tranquility that already exist in Ghana by accepting the results that will be declared by the Electoral Commission.
Speaking as a guest at the Catholic Bishops Conferences programme in Accra, dubbed, National forum on social cohesion, security and peaceful elections, Mr. Kan-Dapaah said, internally and coming home to Ghana, we continue to be confronted with the threat of electoral violence which has in the past threatened to destroy our country.
According to him, deliberately underestimating the threat of electoral violence, could compromise the integrity of Ghanas democracy, even though Ghana as a democratic nation has traditionally been proud of its peaceful transfers of power between the two main political parties, that is, the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party.
He noted, Yes, we have succeeded as a country in ensuring a transition of power from one political party to another on modernisation.
Referring to commentaries from the two biggest political parties, the National Security Minister posited that such ambitious comments from the parties have the potential to incite their party sympathisers and followers to engage in violence on Election Day if one party loses.
He said, The 2024 general elections will certainly test the strength of our democracy. Given the high stakes involved, where the two major political parties appear convinced about their prospects of emerging victorious. That obviously creates a security challenge for me where I sit.
In the same vein, the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, Ghana, in an interview with the media reiterated the need to pursue the lasting gift of peace over any electoral violence that will run the peace of the nation downwards.
Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, further admonished all politicians on the need for political parties to accept the outcome of the election and not take advantage of the peace Ghana enjoys by inciting people for destruction.
Definitely during the election, someone will lose, someone will win. So, for you to lose the election and use the pain to incite people to cause havoc to destroy the peace, usually, it is the political leaders who have lost that lead to such destruction. So our advice is to the political leaders that if you lose, please accept it peacefully, he added.
Ghanaians must also be aware of their responsibilities. They must not allow themselves to be used by politicians who lose elections. Peace is very expensive and sometimes we have to make sacrifices one time or the other to maintain it. So may nobody participate in violence. So those who lose, accept it peacefully.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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A detailed analysis of former President Mahama's 2012 Manifesto makes a startling revelation of a significant percentage of unfulfilled promises at the end of his term as President in January 2017.
Mahama, narrowly won the 2012 elections, which was later challenged at the Supreme Court by the New Patriotic Party.
He became the National Democratic Congress flagbearer for the 2012 election after completing the full term of the late Ex-President Evans Atta Mills.
As flagbearer, Mahama run a lavish campaign full of juicy promises under the theme Advancing the Better Ghana Agenda which went with the tagline e dey beee kk to wit it is too sweet.
After winning the elections, expectations of Ghanaians were unsurprisingly high following the promises made.
However, Mahama's administration was plaqued by myriad of problems including serious economic downturn, youth unemployment and an unprecedented 4-year energy crisis which brought about the infamous word dumsor, a situation which crippled the growth of businesses.
Mahama and the NDC, as a result, lost the 2016 elections to the New Patriotic Party led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo beat Mahama by the biggest margin under the 4th Republic with many Ghanaians describing Mahama as incompetent and full of deceptive promises.
However, former President Mahama has made a comeback into the presidential race, bringing heat upon himself and his party.
Mahama has come under intense scrutiny regarding his integrity to fulfill his promises since he and the NDC failed abysmally between 2012 and 2017, especially as he comes up with new promises following the launch of his 2024 Campaign on Saturday, July 27, at Tamale Jubilee Park.
With many people doubting Mahamas integrity, data available and shared with the public strikingly reveals how the economy cannot be entrusted into his hands again.
According to the verifiable data, Mahama fulfilled only 28% of his major promises in the 2012 NDC Manifesto.
The data shows Mahama made as many as 280 promises, out of which, only 77 were delivered and the rest not fulfilled, representing a paltry 28%.
What this means is that Mahama, after being elected into office in 2012, did not fulfill a whopping 203 promises he made to Ghanaians, representing 68% of the unfulfilled promises.
Out of the 203, 46 of those promises were major promises which dominated the 2012 elections in areas such as management of the economy, infrastructure, education, social intervention, industrialization, northern development, taxation, youth employment, among others.
Interestingly, many of these promises were also repeated at the 2012 IEA presidential debate.
Below is the entire list of the 280 (both unfulfilled and fulfilled) campaign promises by Mahama:
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Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Member of Parliament for Effutu constituency and the Majority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin has expressed his displeasure over the manner in which the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, unilaterally adjourned Parliamentary sitting sine die.
In addressing the press in Parliament on July 30, 2024, the majority leader was disappointed at the turn of events during parliamentary proceedings.
Alexander Afenyo-Markin while speaking to the press said, well, we all know that in this Chamber of Parliament, we proceed on matters, reach consensus and take decisions. I do not think that the issue about adjournment and the reopening of Parliament is purely administrative.
He further stated that, It is always as a result of a decision of both sides of the House, in consultation with Mr. Speaker. And it is upon when weve agreed on such a date that, by an administrative legal process will trigger the necessary procedure to recall, to reopen, and all.
According to the Effutu lawmaker, he was well aware of the adjournment sine die few days ago but added that, And I must say in all sincerity that I engaged those that I have to engage and I was getting certain understanding that we could reach some consensus considering the number of business that we had as a House.
Of course I can also understand the constraints of Mr. Speaker, given the fact that the First Deputy Speaker is out of the jurisdiction, the Second Deputy Speaker is also out of the jurisdiction; however, our rules permit or allow us to have a member presiding.
He opined that, although Mr. Speaker had scheduled his travelling to the United States for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), it was of importance that Mr. Speaker prioritises government business over the trip to the US.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the ECOWAS Parliament was having a delocalized meeting in Ghana, in the Effutu constituency, but immediately after they opened the session, he rushed to Accra without any delay, to join his colleagues in Parliament.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said he was in the chamber of Parliament, and he called for motion 23, which had to do with the $250 million facility from the World Bank.
He said after this, he signalled his colleague, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson to meet with him to discuss the Supreme Court nominees.
He said, It was when my good self and my Deputy, Mrs Patricia Appiagyei, the Minority Leader and some Committee Members were holding a discussion on the issue of the Supreme Court Nominees on the Sixth Floor in the office of the Deputy Majority Chief Whip when monitoring proceedings on the television, we sadly realised Mr. Speaker was adjourning the House sine die.
Surprisingly, he did not give his closing remarks, neither did he allow leaders to make remarks, which has become the practice of Parliament.
And these are worrying, very worrying, Mr Afenyo-Markin said, adding, That notwithstanding, Mr. Speaker is the father of Parliament, he presides, we dont want to go into any banter with him. We will not act in a manner disrespectful of the Chair, except to say that we vehemently disagree with the unilateral decision to adjourn the house sine die.
So, expect to see a recall of request from us, he reiterated.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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There are 73 Big Lots stores in Pennsylvania.
That ranks the Keystone State fifth with the most Big Lots stores in the United States behind only Texas, California, Florida and Ohio.
Last month, discount chain Big Lots said it would close 35 to 40 locations after its revenue numbers saw a steep decline impacted by what it called a challenging consumer environment.
But, now a month later, Big Lots isnt just closing 35 to 40 stores, it will actually be closing more than 140 stores.
Big Lots has 1,389 stores as of Wednesday, according to the companys website. And as of Wednesday, 143 store closings were listed on its website. Thats about 10.2% of all of its stores.
So how many stores is Big Lots closing in Pennsylvania?
Two.
Those stores are located at:
713 E. Baltimore Ave., Clifton Heights, Delaware County
201 W. Lincoln Highway, West Whiteland Township, Chester County, near Exton
The retailer is offering up to 20% off at those stores that are closing.
Three western states: California, Arizona and Washington will account for more than half of the pending closings.
After the 143 stores close, Pennsylvania will move into fourth with the most Big Lots stores as more than 50 of the 109 Big Lots stores in California will close.
In a June SEC filing, the company painted a bleak picture about its future.
Based on our current cash and liquidity projections, and uncertainties with respect to the mitigating effect of managements plans, the Company has concluded there is a significant likelihood that it will be unable to comply with the Excess Availability Covenant under the 2022 Credit Agreement and the Term Loan Facility within the next 12 months, which raises substantial doubt about the Companys ability to continue as a going concern, the company said.
The companys stock tells the story of just how far Big Lots has fallen in just three years. Its stock was more than $70 in 2021 and at the end of trading on Wednesday the stock was down to $1.02.
Pennsylvania State Police are asking the public to avoid the area of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex due to full parking lots and expected traffic delays for the rally being held by Donald Trump Wednesday.
Parking at the Farm Show Complex opened at 9 a.m., according to the Trump campaign. By 10 a.m., the parking lot was half-full, city spokesman Matt Maisel said.
LIVE COVERAGE: Donald Trump visits Harrisburg
The announcement from state police came shortly before 3:45 p.m.
If you are planning on going, get there very early because roads will be impacted starting in the early afternoon hours, Maisel said. There will be major traffic delays.
Starting at 12 p.m., the highlighted roads will be closed. The roads will reopen when former President Trump arrives at the Farm Show Complex. The roads will close again when he departs.Matt Maisel
The following roads in the area will be closed before and after the event, hosted at the New Holland Arena, as Trump arrives and leaves the area:
Maclay Street at Seventh Street
Arsenal Boulevard. at Cameron Street
Cameron Sreet from Maclay to I-81
Industrial Road at HACC Drive
The Secret Service is prohibiting bags and backpacks inside the event, Trumps campaign advised in its email.
No umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, balloons, balls, banners and signs, e-cigarettes, glass, thermal and metal containers, laser lights, mace/pepper spray, noisemakers such as air horns, sticks and selfie sticks and tripods.
By Jennifer Jacobs, Josh Eidelson and Josh Wingrove Bloomberg News (TNS)
WASHINGTON Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro met with Kamala Harris representatives while some labor groups expressed opposition to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, as the Democratic candidates search for a running mate nears its end.
Shapiros meeting Wednesday is part of Harris selection process and took place without the vice president, said people familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity. Its unclear whether the session was held virtually, or who else has held discussions with the vice presidents team.
VP contenders
Shapiro, Kelly, Kentucky Andy Beshear and Gov. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are among the top contenders for the job.
As Harris prepares to announce her running mate, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that several of the top potential contenders for the role are largely unknown to voters: Kelly stands out as a prospect who has more name recognition and higher favorability, particularly among Democrats.
And others, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, while less known nationally, could draw on a deeper well of support in their home states and regions.
This composite left to right, shows Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. (AP Photo)AP
If chosen, Beshear would need to introduce himself to most of the country. Around 7 in 10 Americans dont know enough to have an opinion about him. Those with a view are about evenly split: 17% of U.S. adults have a positive view, and 15% have a negative one.
Like the other governors who are being discussed, Walz doesnt have much of a national profile and that also means hes a relatively blank slate. He wasnt included in the AP-NORC poll, but a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, which asked about favorability slightly differently, found that about 9 in 10 U.S. adults dont know enough to have an opinion on him. Among Americans with a view, opinions are split between positive and negative.
Walz, who also served for 12 years in the House, moved up on Harris shortlist in recent days after he coined weird as a new talking point to describe the Republican ticket. Its a line now used widely by the vice president and other Democrats.
Shapiro meeting
One person familiar with the Shapiro meeting said it was a routine part of the deliberations and warned against using it to draw conclusions about Harris ultimate selection.
Labor groups, meanwhile, have expressed worries about Kelly joining the Democratic ticket, a potential warning sign as Harris looks to harness President Joe Bidens clout among major unions. Harris on Wednesday received the support of the United Auto Workers, an influential union in battleground Michigan whose endorsement Biden worked hard to secure.
Kelly cannot possibly be seriously considered for vice president, said John Samuelsen, head of the Transport Workers Union, who said he relayed his worries to the campaign. Hes not nearly pro-trade union enough for serious consideration.
Samuelsen cited Kellys prior refusal to endorse legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize, which is backed by almost all Senate Democrats. Kelly said last week that he would vote for the bill.
FILE - Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks about the southern border outside the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)AP
Multiple unions have made their concerns about Kelly known to the Harris campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. The Arizona senator has received backing from other corners of the labor movement.
I respect Senator Kelly and am encouraged by the consideration he is being given by @KamalaHarris campaign, Jim McLaughlin, president of the Arizona AFL-CIO, wrote on X.
Spokespeople for Harris, Kelly and Shapiro declined to comment.
Harris will make her pick within the next week, and the newly formed duo will kick off a tour of all seven major battleground states on Aug. 6 in Philadelphia. Harris said Tuesday she had not made a selection.Associated Press contributed to this article.
A diner serving a lengthy menu and all-day breakfast has arrived in Lower Allen Township.
The Cedar Cliff Diner started serving diners in mid-July at 1104 Carlisle Road at the Shoppes at Cedar Cliff.
Business partners Michael Armanious and Steve Kamel also own Silver Spring Diner in Silver Spring Township. Between the two of them, they have operated several restaurants in the past in Chambersburg and Shippensburg.
After learning about the vacancy at the former Gulliftys, Kamal said they decided the area near Cedar Cliff High School needed a diner. They transformed the space into a bright, airy dining room with a counter near the front entrance.
We made a 180-degree change, Kamel said. We remodeled everything.
The diner is 95% new including tables, booths and kitchen equipment, he said.
The Cedar Cliff Diner started serving diners in mid-July at 1104 Carlisle Road at the Shoppes at Cedar Cliff.Sue Gleiter
Every single customer who came in (for the opening) was happy about the food, the service and atmosphere, Kamel said.
In true diner style, the extensive menu stretches from all-day breakfast to sandwiches and entrees including steaks and seafood. Find standard breakfast fare such as omelets, eggs Benedict, wraps and pancakes along with sausage gravy over biscuits and chipped beef.
A lunch and dinner menu rolls out at 11 a.m. chock full of sandwiches, wraps, paninis, burgers and entrees ranging from stir fries to roast turkey, chicken and veal parmigiana.
Kamel said they offer several combinations including a signature Cedar Cliff Bomb French Fries topped with bacon, chili and cheddar cheese for $6.95. Other combo selections include a breakfast of sirloin steak, home fries, two eggs, toast, a pancake and French toast for $17.95.
The restaurant has a private dining room available for parties and events.
The diner is open 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday.
ATLANTA (AP) The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force airman who was shot and killed in his home by a Florida sheriffs deputy in May has been killed in a shooting in the Atlanta area, police said.
Andre Fortson, Senior Airman Roger Fortsons 16-year-old brother, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlantas east side, DeKalb County police said in an update on the slaying.
Chantemekki Fortson, mother of Roger Fortson, a U.S. Air Force senior airman killed by a deputy at his Florida home, holds a photo of her son during a news conference, June 3, 2024, in Atlanta. Roger's younger brother was recently shot to death in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, file)AP
The Fortson family is battling the loss of yet another young member of their family, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has been representing the family since Roger Fortson was killed.
This has been an incredibly challenging time for them with the loss of Roger, Crump said in a statement. Losing the life of yet another young family member a mere child has been an absolute devastation.
Andre Fortson was found shot to death in the breezeway of an apartment complex on Tuesday, police said. Two groups of people had been shooting at each other for unknown reasons, DeKalb County police said.
A 20-year-old man was identified as one of the shooters, and arrested on an aggravated assault charge, police said. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail. Jail records did not list an attorney who could be reached for comment on his behalf.
The killing comes about three months after Roger Fortson, 23, was killed May 3 by Okaloosa County sheriffs Deputy Eddie Duran at Fortsons apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The airman had answered the door while holding a handgun pointed toward the floor and was killed within seconds, body camera video shows.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran, saying the deputys life was never in danger and that he should not have fired his weapon.
A sheriffs office internal affairs investigation found that Fortson did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputys use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.
The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Fortson was killed. At a tearful news conference a couple of weeks after the Florida killing, Andre Fortson stood on the stage with his mother and sisters. They wore red shirts with the words WE ALL WE GOT on the front and a picture of Roger Fortson in his military uniform on the back.
Roger Fortson was stationed at the Air Forces Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle. At his funeral outside Atlanta, hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues filed past his coffin, draped with an American flag.
Attorney General Michelle Henry hs announced a new complaint form for Pennsylvanians encountering hardships with airline travel, ranging from flight delays and cancellations to boarding problems.
The new form is available on the Office of Attorney General website and is a response to an uptick, nationwide, in consumer complaints regarding air travel. The form is the product of Henrys partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation to better assist Pennsylvania travelers, a press release said.
Consumers may file complaints whether they purchased tickets directly, or through an agent or third party. Residents of Pennsylvania or those who faced airline issues in Pennsylvania are eligible to use the new complaint form.
Southwest passengers and airliners line up and move at Love Field in Dallas, Thursday, July 25, 2024. Southwest Airlines said Thursday that it plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines. (AP Photo/LM Otero)AP
It is no longer a secret that Pennsylvanians and consumers across the country are finding less and less convenience when traveling by air, Henry said. This form makes it easier for travelers who encounter problems to file a complaint, and is part of an ongoing initiative with federal partners to hold airlines and agents accountable when they mistreat consumers.
The forms requires information, such as ticket number, flight itinerary, flight date, ticket date purchase, ticket price, and form of payment. The forms also require specifics on what issues were encountered by the traveler. This information will be useful when reviewing, and resolving, complaints.
The creation of the new aviation consumer complaint form comes following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Office of Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The MOU outlines how the agencies will work together to review consumer complaints and identify violations of federal aviation consumer protection requirements. The MOU in its entirety can be accessed here.
The Department of Transportation expects to launch a modernized system for handling air travel service complaints later this year.
This system is intended to improve the customer experience for the tens of thousands of consumers who file air travel service complaints with the Department each year. The Office of the Attorney General will provide information on how to submit complaints directly to the Department of Transportation in the future.
By Maddie Aiken, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
As West Virginia University students begin packing their belongings for the start of the fall semester, pistols and revolvers could be boxed up alongside backpacks, bed sheets and winter coats.
Thats because of the states new Campus Self-Defense Act, which requires West Virginias higher education institutions to allow licensed concealed carry on their campuses, with some exceptions.
The law, which went into effect July 1, makes West Virginia the 13th state to require its colleges to allow concealed carry on campus.
Institutions such as WVU are now preparing for changes this fall semester as the bulk of their students return in just a few short weeks.
We know that as it relates to this law, there are those who were supportive of its passage and want the opportunity ... to take advantage of the concealed carry law, and we know that there are those who arent, said April Kaull, communications chair of WVUs Campus Safety Steering Group.
Our job at this point is to make sure that were complying with the law under the state code ... and that we provide information (and) resources (to) members of our campus community and those who visit our campuses.
Heres what to know about the Campus Self-Defense Act and how it will impact West Virginia colleges.
What the law mandates
Approved by West Virginias legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Justice in 2023, the law requires all of the states higher education institutions to generally allow students, professors and others to carry concealed pistols or revolvers on campus grounds.
Those who choose to carry must have a license to do so, and their weapons cannot be visible.
The law does carve out some exceptions that allow schools to choose to prohibit firearms in certain places. For example, WVU will continue to ban firearms in dorm rooms, at stadium events with more than 1,000 people, and in areas where patient care or mental health counseling is occurring.
A full list of areas where concealed carry is prohibited at WVU can be found on the universitys website.
Because weapons cant be stored in dorm rooms, students who live on campus must store their pistols and revolvers in designated lockers.
How WVU is adjusting
Before the Campus Self-Defense Act passed, West Virginia colleges determined their own concealed carry policies. WVU officials believed the university was in the best position to make this call, said Kaull.
West Virginia University advocated that local control and local decision-making by our Board of Governors was ... the most appropriate and the best, she said.
But, sensing that the legislature would enact a campus carry law, WVU began reaching out to universities in states such as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, all of which mandate concealed carry options on campuses.
Many of these institutions said they didnt see significant changes on their campuses after concealed carry laws went into effect, Kaull said.
WVU also doesnt anticipate big changes as of early July, only five students living on campus had requested usage of the designated lockers to store their firearms.
Still, the university had to make preparations to accommodate the Campus Self-Defense Act. It provided the storage lockers, established the Campus Safety Steering Committee, passed a Board of Governors policy regarding the new law, and shared information and resources online and around campus.
School officials will continue informing students, faculty and staff about the new law in the fall semester, Kaull said.
Were going to continue to educate our campus community about what the law is, and I think thats the most important thing for us to be doing, she said.
Campus carry by state
Campus carry is a very old issue, said Andrew Willinger, executive director of Duke Universitys Center for Firearms Law.
Even in the early 1800s, American colleges debated campus gun policies. Traditionally, these rules were left up to individual institutions discretion, as is the case in Pennsylvania. The University of Pittsburgh and Penn State both prohibit guns on their campuses.
But in the past 20 years, more legislators began formulating laws that broadly determined the policies at their states colleges.
In general, this has been something historically thats been left to the discretion of the specific college or university to determine what their policy will be, Willinger said. That has now changed in recent years.
As of 2024, eight states West Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Idaho have laws in place that require campus carry options. Another five, including Ohio, require campus carry options, though colleges can limit who can carry where.
Ten states, meanwhile, prohibit campus carry. Those states include New York, New Jersey and Michigan.
Self-defense or safety concern?
Proponents of campus carry argue that it bolsters self-defense options and allows students, professors and staff to practice their Second Amendment rights.
West Virginia State Sen. Rupie Phillips, the lead sponsor of the Campus Self-Defense Act, pointed to campus sexual assault statistics as a reason why he wanted his daughter to be able to carry on a West Virginia college campus, the Associated Press reported last year.
I dont want my daughter to have to face this. I dont want your daughter, your granddaughters to ever have to face that, Phillips said to fellow lawmakers. Thats another reason that we need to get this through.
Supporters also highlight the laws license requirement meaning those who carry will have gone through a background check and state training. Its not a Wild West situation, said Kevin Patrick Jr., vice president of the West Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Were talking about law-abiding citizens who are interested in protecting themselves and people who are close to them, Patrick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I think that makes everybody safer.
Opponents of campus carry, meanwhile, express concerns that allowing concealed weapons on campuses could exacerbate safety concerns. As the legislature considered the bill last year, several WVU students protested it.
We think this will bring further violence to our campus, Keeley Wildman, a WVU graduate student, told The Dominion Post, Morgantowns daily newspaper, in February 2023.
Andy Pelosi, executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus, believes that states can reduce risks by banning firearms on college campuses. He pointed to suicide, substance abuse and interpersonal violence concerns.
When it comes to college-aged students, suicide is the second leading cause of death ... We want to reduce risk, Pelosi told the Post-Gazette. Theres other things obviously happening on a college campus whether it be alcohol, drugs or academic pressures (and) we feel like introducing firearms into that equation is a deadly mix.
(c)2024 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick made his pitch to Pennsylvania voters on Wednesday during a 7-minute address at former President Donald Trumps rally in Harrisburg.
McCormick started by recalling the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler County on July 13.
We saw the president come up off the floor, put his fist in the air in defiance, leadership, strength thats the kind of strength we need to turn our country around, said McCormick, who was at the Butler County rally.
With the entrance of Vice President Kamala Harris into the race for the White House, McCormicks campaign has sought to tie her and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey together and Wednesday was no different.
McCormick was critical of the economy and border security, although Casey supported the bipartisan border deal earlier this year that was opposed by McCormick, Trump and other Republicans.
Harris is the most liberal nominee in the history of America, said McCormick, rattling off her stances, including opposition to fracking. Casey has opposed attempts to ban fracking.
McCormick talked about growing up in Pennsylvania and attending West Point but did not mention that he was the son of the Bloomsburg University president and later the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the worlds largest hedge funds.
Voters have a choice between strength and the sad weakness of the Biden administration, McCormick said, urging the audience to volunteer for GOP candidates.
We need you to knock on doors, he said. We need you to tell your friends.
By Stephanie Farr, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
PHILADELPHIA Pennsylvanias highest court will take on one of the citys most confounding death cases that of Philadelphia first-grade teacher Ellen Greenberg, whose death by 20 stab wounds in 2011 was ruled homicide before being switched to suicide.
In an order issued Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted the appeal filed by Greenbergs parents, Joshua and Sandra of Harrisburg, of a Commonwealth Court ruling last year that prevented their civil case against the city of Philadelphia from going to trial. In that case, the Greenbergs seek to have the manner of their daughters death changed from suicide back to homicide or undetermined.
The Greenbergs Center City attorney, Joseph Podraza, said his clients were elated and moved to tears when they learned their petition to appeal was granted.
Im extremely pleased too and a little surprised, given how hard it is to have a case accepted for review by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Podraza said. The court can only take a very small fraction (of cases) and then only those which impact Pennsylvanians across the state.
A spokesperson for the citys law department declined to comment, due to ongoing litigation.
According to the order granting the appeal, the Supreme Court will consider the issue of whether executors and administrators of an estate have standing to challenge an erroneous finding recorded on the decedents death certificate where that finding constitutes a bar or material impediment to recovery of victims compensation, restitution or for wrongful death, as well as private criminal complaints.
Greenberg, 27, was found by her fiance, Samuel Goldberg, in the kitchen of their Manayunk apartment with a 10-inch knife lodged in her chest on Jan. 26, 2011.
Investigators on the scene treated her death as a suicide because the apartment door which Goldberg said he broke down was locked from the inside, there were no signs of an intruder, and Greenberg had no defensive wounds, police have said.
But the next morning at the autopsy, then assistant Philadelphia Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne discovered a total of 20 stab wounds to Greenbergs body, including 10 to the back of her neck, and ruled her death a homicide.
Police publicly disputed the findings and Osbourne later changed his ruling to suicide, with no explanation to Greenbergs parents.
The Greenbergs retained numerous forensic experts who have questioned authorities findings, as first detailed in a March 2019 Inquirer report.
Podraza filed a civil suit on behalf of the Greenbergs in 2019 against the MEs Office and Osbourne, seeking to have the manner of Ellens death changed back to homicide or undetermined. As a result of that suit, additional details about the case came to light through discovery, including Goldbergs call to 911, new information about the unusual process around how Ellens death was classified, and new testimony about whether one of the wounds to her neck was possibly administered after she died.
In October 2021, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Glynnis D. Hill ruled that the familys suit could proceed to trial.
The city appealed that ruling to the Commonwealth Court, arguing that under the law, a medical examiners inherently discretionary professional opinion cant be challenged and that even if the findings were incorrect ... the law makes clear that a medical examiner can be wrong as to the manner of death yet cannot be compelled to change it.
In the Commonwealth Courts 2-1 decision in September, judges wrote they had no choice under the law but to grant the city of Philadelphias appeal because the Greenbergs didnt have standing to seek a revision in their daughters manner of death.
Even though the Commonwealth Court ruled in the citys favor, its opinion of how Philadelphia authorities handled the investigation into Greenbergs death was blistering. The judges wrote ... this court is acutely aware of the deeply flawed investigation of the victims death by the City of Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) detectives, the City of Philadelphia District Attorneys Office (DAO), and the MEO [Medical Examiners Office].
In writing their 39-page opinion, which included a review of the investigations, the Commonwealth Court said they did so in the interests of justice and with hopes that equity may one day prevail for the victim and her loved ones.
Podraza said he hoped the Supreme Court would take up the appeal because a medical examiner or coroners decision on a manner of death impacts people statewide on many things, like entitlement to insurance money and victims funds, and because giving a coroner or medical examiner absolute discretion that cant be challenged is a very foreign concept.
This is especially true in Pennsylvania, he said, where a coroner is typically an elected position, one that does not require a medical degree or medical training. While Philadelphia, Delaware, and Allegheny counties have appointed medical examiners who are certified forensic pathologists, and Northampton and Luzerne counties have appointed coroners, the remaining 62 counties have elected coroners who must meet only three requirements theyre over 18, have lived in the county for a year, and have taken a basic, 32-hour education course.
Its scary when you consider all the counties in Pennsylvania and a very small percentage actually have a coroner or a medical examiner who has medical training, Podraza said. That, to me, is the definition of an area of decision that needs to be closely watched.
An undated photo of Ellen Greenberg. Photo provided by Greenberg familyPhoto provided by Greenberg family
Both parties will be required to file briefs in the case and then oral arguments will be heard by the court at a date that is yet to be determined.
In rendering its order, the Supreme Court noted that Justice David N. Wecht did not participate in its decision. Wechts father, noted Pittsburgh forensic pathologist Cyril H. Wecht, is one of the experts the Greenbergs consulted with whove questioned Philadelphia authorities findings.
A second civil suit the Greenbergs have filed against members of the Medical Examiners Office, the Police Department, and the DAs Office seeking monetary damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress remains ongoing.
2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WILLIAMSPORT Only one individual currently is charged in connection with the March homicide outside the Fridays restaurant in a Williamsport suburb and it is not the suspected shooter.
PennLive has confirmed a Lycoming County judge following an April 15 juvenile detention hearing dismissed the charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault against Jabree Starks, 13.
He is the younger brother of Ja-hsir Legare, who Pennsylvania State Police have identified as the suspect in the March 2 fatal shooting of Ahmeen Palmer, 15, of Williamsport, in the parking lot of the Loyalsock Twp. restaurant.
The only person confirmed to be charged is the boys mother, Johniece Francine Legare, 37, who is awaiting trial on charges that Lycoming County District Attorney Thomas A. Marino has said includes murder as an accomplice.
The specific charges against Legare are not known because the documents are sealed.
Jahsir Legare, 17, has not been formally charged, Marino said Wednesday. He plans to refile charges against his younger brother, he said.
Ibn Hakiem Hunter, 19, of Williamsport, also was charged in the case. But the public did not know what the charges were until Wednesday when a sealing order expired.
He spent two months in jail himself not knowing his charges until they were dismissed July 24 at his preliminary hearing by District Judge Gary Whiteman due to lack of evidence.
Hunters most serious charge, which was added just before the preliminary hearing, wasthe accomplice to commit first-degree murder.
The affidavit contains much of what state Trooper Brian Siebert testified about at the hearing.
New is the allegation that Johniece Legare told another inmate in the county prison her son shot a guy at Fridays, that she took him out of town and she was charged with harboring a fugitive.
She did not identify to which son she was referring, the document states.
The Hunter affidavit states Legare was arrested on March 6 in Philadelphia on charges related to hindering apprehension.
Other charges Whiteman dismissed against Hunter were conspiracy to commit the following: aggravated assault that resulted in death, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon, endangering another person and criminal mischief.
He also had been charged with criminal use of a communication device and possession of an instrument of crime. That latter was a cell phone police say was used to coordinate the Palmer shooting.
Evidence presented at the Hunter preliminary hearing was he intended to have an Uber driver take him home after he finished work at an assisted living facility but after receiving a telephone call paid extra to be taken to Fridays.
When he arrived he went to Legares car to get money to tip the Uber driver and saw in the front passenger seat a Black male wearing a mask.
He claimed he did not know the male but police accused him of lying to protect Jahsir.
Sieberts testimony about the shooting included:
Two weeks earlier Palmer slapped Starks in public. Palmer was among one small group of juveniles and Starks was in another who by chance showed up at the restaurant to celebrate birthdays.
A challenge to go outside and fight was made inside the restaurant and both groups went outside into the parking lot.
The unsealed affidavit states Legare approached Palmer and told him to fight her son Jahsir one-on-one.
Moments later five shots were fired with Palmer hit in the back of the head and in each leg, Siebert testified. Two parked vehicles also were struck, he said.
Legare and her two sons went to their residence before quickly leaving for Philadelphia, he said, citing cell phone tacking data.
Marino claimed during his closing argument Hunter provided the 9mm gun but no evidence was presented during the preliminary hearing to support that theory.
The police affidavit makes no mention of Hunter having a weapon or taking one to the scene.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pa. Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll announced Wednesday that 73 municipalities will receive more than $30 million to support traffic signal upgrades, increasing safety and mobility across Pennsylvanias communities through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportations (PennDOTs) Green Light-Go program.
These upgrades will increase safety and mobility across Pennsylvanias communities by relieving congestion and improving traffic flow, a press release said.
Many Green Light-Go grants help municipalities improve congestion and traffic flow by upgrading to newer technologies in detection, which in turn allow traffic signals to respond to real-time traffic demand.
Green Light-Go grants are provided as reimbursement to municipalities for updates to improve the efficiency and operation of existing traffic signals, the release said.
These projects will be funded through the appropriation for fiscal year 2024-25.
Grant funding through the Green Light-Go program may be utilized for a range of operational improvements including, but not limited to: light-emitting diode (LED) technology installation, traffic signal retiming, developing special event plans and monitoring traffic signals, as well as upgrading traffic signals to the latest technologies.
The following is a list of approved projects:
Allegheny County
Findley Township - $117,422 to replace controller, signing, vehicular and pedestrian heads at Cliff Mine Road and Summit Park Drive.
Monroeville Borough - $247,025 for updated signal equipment Monroeville Boulevard at Ivanhoe Drive.
Monroeville Borough - $114,369 for Municipality-wide Controller Modernization Project.
Monroeville Borough - $522,743 for William Penn Highway (Route 0022/ Route 2048) Coordination Modernization Project.
North Fayette Township - $187,208 for updated traffic signal equipment at intersection of Summit Park Drive at Chauvet Drive East/Lafayette Plaza.
North Fayette Township - $201,720 for updated traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Summit Park Drive at Chauvet Drive West/Home Drive.
Ohio Township - $248,666 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Mount Nebo Road (Route 4022) and Arndt Road.
Pine Township - $302,700 for updated traffic signal equipment which spans five intersections along the Route 19 corridor in the township.
City of Pittsburgh - $2.32 million for the modernization of traffic signal equipment at five intersections throughout the city.
Ross Township - $241,448 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Babcock Blvd. & Rochester Road.
Ross Township - $312,134 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Babcock Blvd. & Thompson Run Road.
Scott Township - $305,700 for upgrade of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Bower Hill Road & Painters Run Road.
Scott Township - $340,712 for upgrade of traffic signal equipment at Bower Hill Road & Rockhill Road.
Swissvale Borough - $50,000 for traffic signal warrant study and possible signal removal at the intersection of Monongahela Ave & Schoyer Avenue.
Wilkinsburg Borough - $600,252 for traffic signal equipment modernization at East Swissvale Avenue & Ross Avenue/Rebecca Avenue.
Berks County
Exeter Township - $184,624 for new controllers, backplates and detection upgrades at six intersections throughout the Township:
Route 422/DeMoss Road & 47th Street intersection. Route 2039 & Circle Avenue. Route 2039 & Hearthstone Drive. Route 422 & EB/Route 2021. DeMoss Road & Private Driveways. Gibraltar Road & DeMoss Road.
West Reading Borough - $157,554 for traffic signal equipment upgrades along the 7th Avenue at Parkside Dr. North & Reading Avenue as well as along 8th Avenue at Hill Ave & Reading Avenue.
Blair County
City of Altoona - $397,831 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Logan Boulevard & Beale Avenue.
Antis Township - $303,047 for the modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Tipton Road & East Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
Antis Township - $80,887 for the modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Route 865 & East Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
Logan Township - $405,206 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at various locations throughout the township.
Bradford County
Towanda Borough - $14,800 for traffic signal retiming along Main Street in the borough
Bucks County
Doylestown Borough - $340,995 for modernization of signal equipment at W. State Street/W. Court Street & Clinton Street
Doylestown Township - $184,240 for modernization of signal equipment at Pebble Hill Road & Edison Furlong Road (Route 2049) as well as Limekiln Road & Ferry Road.
Doylestown Township - $242,700 to update traffic signal equipment at various locations throughout the Township.
Falls Township - $259,800 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Hood Blvd & Pennsbury High School.
Riegelsville Borough - $412,160 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Easton Road (Route 0611) & Delaware Road (Route 1016)
Upper Southampton Township - $445,214 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at County Line Road & Second Street Pike.
Butler County
Cranberry Township - $68,000 for update/replacement of two traffic signal cabinets on Route 228.
Cranberry Township - $131,000 to upgrade signal video detection at Route 19, Route 228 & Rochester Road.
Cranberry Township - $212,000 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Route 19 & Cranberry Fire Station Number Two.
Centre County
Benner Township - $168,220 for upgrade traffic signal equipment at intersections of Eagle Point, Amberleigh Lane, Stonecrest Drive & Benner Pike (Route 150).
College Township - $463,116 for updated traffic signal equipment at seven intersections including six intersections along Park Avenue (Route 3007) & one along University Drive (Route 3022) in the Township.
Ferguson Township - $258,590 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of North Atherton Street & Blue Course Dr./Clinton Avenue.
State College Borough - $1.46 million for upgrading the boroughs existing signal network communication system.
Chester County
West Whiteland Township - $262,930 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Lincoln Hwy & Ship Road.
Clearfield County
City of Dubois - $310,040 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Beaver Drive & Liberty Boulevard.
Sandy Township - $485,016 for traffic signal improvements at Brady Street (Route 0219) & Dixon Avenue.
Crawford County
Conneaut Lake Borough - $291,560 for modernization of traffic signals at Water Street (Route 6) & 1st Street intersection.
Cumberland County
Carlisle Borough - $410,400 for the updating & optimization of traffic signal control equipment at 22 intersections along the critical Hanover Street (Route 0011, Route 0034) and High Street (Route 0011, Route 0074, Route 0641) corridors which intersect in downtown Carlisle.
East Pennsboro Township - $240,440 for full modernization & replacement of the traffic signal at the intersection of US Route 11 (Route 011) & Market Street including traffic counts and timings.
North Middleton Township - $45,164 for upgrading traffic signal equipment at three intersections:
Harrisburg Pike (Route 11) & Calvary Road. Harrisburg Pike (Route TE 11) & Post Road. Allen Road (Route 465) & Newville Road (Route 641).
Delaware County
Aston Township - $546,218 for modernization of traffic signal equipment at Concord Road (Route 3007), Pennell Road (Route 0452), and West Knowlton Road (Route 3022) also referred to as Five Points.
Newtown Township - $283,946 for vehicle detection improvements at five existing intersections:
West Chester Pike (Route 3) & Newtown Street Road (Route 252). West Chester Pike (Route 3) & Radnor Drive. West Chester Pike (Route 3) & Valley View Lane. Darby-Paoli Road (Route 252) & Whitehorse Road. Newtown Street Road (Route 252) & Goshen Road.
Upper Chichester Township - $288,060 for the full modernization of traffic signal located at the intersection of Chichester Avenue (Route 3007) & Bethel Road (Route 3017)/Thornton Road
Yeadon Borough - $385,981 for modernizing the existing intersection of Church Lane (Route 0013) and Baily Road.
Erie County
Fairview Township - $128,420 for updated traffic signal equipment on Route 20/Manchester Road in Western Erie County.
Indiana County
White Township - $542,708 for updated traffic signal equipment at Wayne Avenue (Route 4005/ Route 4422) & Indian Springs Road (Route 4005/ Route 4422).
Lancaster County
Adamstown Borough- $315,382 for traffic signal modernization at the ntersection of Willow Street (Route 1061) & North Reading Road (Route 272).
East Hempfield Township - $246,420 for controller and detection upgrades along Harrisburg Pike at Hemlock Drive/LGH Drive & at Good Drive.
City of Lancaster $793,272 to update/modernize pedestrian equipment, signal head replacement and conflict monitors throughout the City.
Manheim Township - $40,000 for LED traffic signal replacement at various locations throughout the Township.
Manheim Township - $175,280 to integrate Oregon Pike & Fruitville Pike corridors requiring seven peek controllers along Oregon Pike intersections ranging from Butler Avenue to Valley Road and 11 intersections on Fruitville Pike, ranging from Buch Avenue to Keller Avenue.
Quarryville Borough - $77,447 for upgrading the controller and detection equipment at South Church Street (Route 0222) & 4th Street.
Lehigh County
Upper Macungie Township - $289,440 for updated traffic signal equipment along Hamilton Blvd. (Route 6222) between Continental Drive & Lower Macungie Road
Upper Macungie Township - $260,720 for updated traffic signal equipment along Tilghman Street (Route 1002) & Main Street (Route 1002)
Luzerne County
Butler Township - $26,400 left turn phase warrant study, design and left turn signal installation at Route 309 & Corporate Drive intersection.
Mercer County
Hermitage City - $429,919 for full traffic signal modernization & coordination at Broadway Avenue & Council Avenue, along with coordinated operation of the traffic signals at the intersection of Broadway Avenue & Mercer Avenue/Church Street/Emerson Avenue intersections.
Sharon City - $345,628 for traffic signals improvements at Service, Myers & Stambaugh Avenues as well as Smith Avenue/Pine Hollow Boulevard.
Montgomery County
Abington Township - $442,480 for full modernization of the existing traffic signal at the intersection of Fitzwatertown Road (Route 2038) & Old Welsh Road (Route 2029).
Collegeville Borough - $264,540 for updated detection and controller equipment at various locations within Collegeville Borough including:
Main Street (Route 4031) & 5th Avenue. Main Street (Route 4031) & 3rd Avenue. 2nd Avenue (Route 0029) & Freeland Drive. 2nd Avenue (Route 0029) & Park Avenue. 2nd Avenue (Route 0029) & Wawa Driveway.
Lower Gwynedd Township - $324,640 for the upgrade of two traffic signals along Welsh Road, locations: Welsh Road & Evans Road as well as Welsh Road & Darden Drive.
Lower Salford Township - $268,220 for modernization of the existing traffic signal at Main Street (Route 0063) & Hunsberger Lane.
Lower Salford Township - $442,464 for modernization of the existing traffic signal at Main Street (Route 0063) & Maple Avenue.
Towamencin Township - $310,520 for equipment upgrades 10 signals at intersections along Sumneytown Pike, Forty Foot Road & Bustard Road corridors.
Whitemarsh Township - $495,652 for modernization of existing traffic signal equipment at Stenton Avenue (Route 3003) & Butler Pike.
Northampton County
City of Easton - $79,158 for updating the controllers at three of the Citys busiest intersections located at Northampton Street & 2nd Street, Street Johns Street & W. Berwick Street, and Bushkill Street & N. 3rd Street.
Palmer Township - $109,381 for controller updates, timing improvements, pedestrian signals and the line striping at Park Avenue & State Route 248.
Northumberland County
Milton Borough - $392,963 for the modernization of traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Broadway Street (Route 254) and Turbot Avenue.
Philadelphia County
Philadelphia City - $4.7 million to modernize 16 traffic signals along the 15th Street Corridor from Cumberland Avenue to Ridge Avenue in North-Central Philadelphia.
Snyder County
Monroe Township - $1.02 million for upgrades to three existing signalized intersections. The three intersections include Route 11 (US11/15) and Lori Lane, RO Route UTE 11 (US11/15) and Park Road (Route 1017), and Route 15 (US15) and Sunbury Road (Route 1021)/Victor Lane.
Shamokin Dam Borough - $332,944 for traffic signal upgrade at 8th Avenue and Route 11 intersection.
Union County
Kelly Township - $592,600 for modernization of the signal equipment for the two intersections at US15 & Loan Road and US15 & Walter Drive.
Lewisburg Borough - $376,528 for Multiple upgrades for traffic signals located along Market Street, includes four intersections Market & 2nd St, Market & 3rd Street, Market & 4th Street, Market & 7th Street.
York County
Hanover Borough - $328,120 for comprehensive upgrades to signal equipment at the intersection of Eisenhower Drive and two heavily utilized shopping centers.
A list of recipients, project descriptions, and the amount of state investment is also available on the PennDOT website.
Information about state infrastructure in Pennsylvania, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/results. Find PennDOTs planned and active construction projects at https://www.projects.penndot.gov/.
Subscribe to local PennDOT news or statewide PennDOT news on the departments website.
An SUV crashed into a Philadelphia convenience store late Wednesday, injuring at least one person.
The incident happened shortly before midnight at a 7-Eleven along Bustleton Avenue in the citys Oxford Circle neighborhood, according to NBC10 and 6ABC.
Police said the driver of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee lost consciousness due to a medical emergency while traveling westbound on Harbison Avenue.
Surveillance video shows the SUV going through the parking lot and clipping a delivery truck before hitting a 34-year-old man who was standing in front of the store. The vehicle then smashed into the front of the building, shattering the glass.
Police told 6ABC the 34-year-old suffered some broken bones as a result of the crash. He was taken to a hospital where he is in stable condition.
No one inside the store appears to have been injured, officials said. The driver was able to walk away from the wreckage, but refused medical treatment and would not cooperate with investigators, NBC10 said. No charges have been filed yet.
As long as everyones OK, everyones safe, all this will get figured out, a store employee named Yousaf said to NBC10. Thats all that matters, everyone is safe and alive. Thats the biggest thing to take away from here.
In 2015, immediately after a child was killed when a car that had been traveling on Route 198 left the expressway and hit him on the ring road in Delaware Park, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a guardrail built between the road and the park. Park users and nearby residents, who had been pleading for that move for years, applauded.
Cuomo also ordered a change in the speed limit on the 3.25 mile expressway, from 50 to 30 mph. That move, too, was initially supported by many, including Mayor Byron Brown, who said: Id like to see it stay 30.
But in the nine years since, the lower speed limit has been both widely derided and ignored by motorists who say traffic flow makes it virtually impossible to drive close to the speed limit.
So when the state put speed zone cameras there recently, with the goal of fining those who speed, the reaction was anything but surprising.
Patrick Freeman, a retired police officer who spent 30 years on SUNY Buffalo State Universitys force, has filed a complaint with the State Attorney Generals Office, claiming that there is not enough signage warning drivers of the cameras. In his letter to the state, he also says that the cameras are ticketing people when there is no work being done and that the state has failed to reconfigure the expressway after reducing the speed nine years ago.
There should be signage out like you normally see, similar to rate speed being checked by radar, speed being checked by camera, Freeman said. Theres none of that.
A spokesperson for the State Department of Transportation, which administers the speed camera program in areas where its employees are doing road work, said the goal of the cameras, which ticket drivers exceeding the 30 mph speed limit and notifies them by mail, is to keep its workers safe.
The cameras have been in place alongside workers near where the Scajaquada and Kensington expressways meet since the spring, she added.
During this time, our cameras have recorded thousands of motorists speeding through our work zones, including incomprehensible speeds of more than 70 miles per hour 15 times and 80 miles per hour five times, the spokesperson said in a statement. This is completely unacceptable driver behavior that puts our workers at risk on the job. The Department of Transportation is not in the gotcha business we are in the safety business and we will continue to do everything in our power to keep our workers safe. Motorists need to slow down, pay attention and do their part to maintain a safe roadway system.
Buffalo's last school zone speed camera shut off The move followed what Mayor Byron Brown described as a passionate plea from University Council Member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt in a Facebook post Thursday.
The public backlash is reminiscent of the outcry after the City of Buffalo installed traffic cameras near school buildings throughout the city to enforce reduced speeds in school zones. The ticket-by-mail system, which city officials said was meant to improve student safety, was shut down a little more than a year after it was implemented.
Freeman, who has been bombarded with messages on Facebook since talking to local television news stations about his issues with the speed camera, said he understands that the state has to do what they can to keep employees safe. But that stretch of road includes three exits packed in quick succession right as two highways come together.
The crush of traffic sometimes makes it necessary to speed up in order to make your exit. And the state stands to make a great deal of money from the speed cameras in a section of the road where the speed limit drops from 50 mph on the Kensington to 30 on the Scajaquada, he added.
If safety is your modus operandi, wheres the signage? Wheres the warnings? Wheres the public notice that were going to be enforcing this? Freeman said. I am all for safety, but Im not for you using your office in government as a money grab against citizens, because government is supposed to be for the people and by the people, and not using the people to close budget gaps.
Justin Booth works to make roads safer for cyclists in his role as executive director of GObike Buffalo. He is also a member of the Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, an organization that advocated for the reduced speed on the state highway after Maksym Sugorovskiy, 3, was killed by a vehicle coming off the expressway while walking on the Delaware Park ring road with his family in 2015.
Hundreds of mourners gather in Delaware Park to remember young victim After a relative shared happy memories of the young victim, the mourners lit candles and began a solemn walk to the site of Saturdays tragedy. Many of the vigil participants were dressed in the boys favorite color,
But Booth, who also drives the stretch of highway where the speed cameras have been operating, said he understands the frustration of motorists.
The Scajaquada Corridor Coalition also helped develop a set of redesign plans for the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced that the Department of Transportation has stalled on implementing, he said. The current configuration was designed for higher speeds, he said.
Since the 30 mile per hour speed limit has been put in place, the Scajaquada has certainly been safer, he said. But its also difficult as a driver to maintain 30 miles per hour.
Coalition-supported design plans developed by the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council all include elements that would be more appropriate for the reduced speed limit, Booth said.
A big part of the conversation with the Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, the work that we do here at Go Bike, is we understand that design influences behavior, whatever mode youre traveling in, Booth said.
Cuomo hits reset on the 198, pushing planning in new direction A regional transportation organization is taking the reins to redesign the Scajaquada Expressway, raising the hopes of advocacy groups long frustrated by the failure to convert it into a slower and calmer parkway thats a better fit with Delaware Park and the community and reconnects nearby neighborhoods. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday turned to the Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council
He also pointed to the expedited work on the massive and controversial project to build a platform over a stretch of the Kensington Expressway, and to more than $100 million in the states Long Range Transportation Improvement Plan fund available to move the Scajaquada project forward.
I think the frustrating part from our side, and I think the general driving public side, is that these projects take so long to move forward, he said.
The DOT spokesperson said plans for both the Kensington and Scajaquada projects continue to progress.
The New York State Department of Transportation is progressing plans for the soon-to-be-commenced study for a phase two of potential future enhancements along the Kensington Expressway corridor in East Buffalo, which will also examine options for a reimagined Scajaquada Expressway in Buffalo, the spokesperson said in an email.
Can the world be saved? Thats the question many young people in our region are asking as they worry about climate change, growing global chaos and political divisions among Americans. And many are asking if their generation will be the one to save the world from extinction.
High school and college students who participated in a summer-long internship and enrichment program of the World Affairs Council and PennLive are so concerned about the state of todays world, they have organized a day-long conference to talk through some of the most important topics their generation will face in the years ahead.
Can the World Be Saved: Perspectives from the Next Generation is the theme of the 2024 International Young Leaders Conference & Career that will be 10 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7 at the Capital Blue Cross Theatre on the campus of Central Penn College in Summerdale, which is a sponsor the event.
The International Young Leaders Conference & Career Fair is free and open to the public with registration: https://wacharrisburg.ticketleap.com/2024-international-young-leaders-conference/
High School and college students participated in a summer-long internship and enrichment program organized by the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and PennLive. Students learned about local, national and international affairs.World Affairs Council of Harrisburg
Students leading the conference have spent the summer learning about local, national and world affairs. They have met with government officials, visited the state capitol, and spent a day with officials at Harrisburgs City Hall and with Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas. They even shared lunch with Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams in her cabinet chamber.
Commissioner Justin Douglas with interns of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and PennLive.Joyce M. Davis
Their summer excursions included a recent visit to the U.S. Army War Colleges new state-of-the-art facility in Carlisle. The students were treated like VIPS, meeting with Major Gen. David Hill, the colleges 53rd Commandant, who gave them an overview of the conflicts raging around the world.
Maj. Gen. Hill shared with them the armys pressing need to recruit more soldiers to ensure Americas shores and interests around the world are protected.
Maj. Gen. David Hill speaking to interns with the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and PennLive about the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa.Joyce M. Davis
In their summer meetings, students have spent hours each week speaking to global experts in climate change, immigration, global economic and health disparities, the Middle East, Ukraine, and Africa. Theyve written op-eds and letters to the editor that our readers have seen on PennLive and in The Patriot-News. And theyve even produced the Next Gen PA podcasts to debate political as well as world affairs.
They will take up these issues in depth during the International Young Leaders Conference & Career Fair with speakers who include:
Mary Speck, Senior adviser with the U.S. Institute of Peace, Latin America Program
Najiba Benabess, Dean, School of Business, Elizabethtown College
Jose de Arimateia da Cruz, Professor of International Relations and International Studies, Georgia Southern University
Sarah Niebler, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Dickinson College
Sanjay Paul, Professor of Economics at Elizabethtown College
John Dernbach, Emeritus Professor of Law and Founding Director, Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener University.
But thats just a sampling of the experts who will delve into some of the most pressing issues facing our world and the next generation of leaders who will have to deal with them.
Mayor Wanda Williams welcome high school and college students from schools throughout the region to lunch in her cabinet room. The students were participating in a summer internship and enrchment programs sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg and PennLive.Joyce M. Davis
Heres where to find a full list of speakers and more information about the conference: https://wacharrisburg.org/international-young-leaders-conference/
Students will moderate each of the panels, and they will lead the discussions with the experts as they seek deeper understanding of the problems facing our world. The International Young Leaders Conference also will include a career fair to allow colleges, companies, and organizations to engage and possibly recruit some of the brightest students in our region.
Each of the students will receive Global Scholar certificates in ceremonies closing the event and ending the summer program that has helped to prepare promising young leaders to meet the serious challenges threatening the worlds survival.
If our world can be saved from climate change, famine, and World War III, the next generation may have to do it. They know their very survival is at stake.
Joyce M. Davis is PennLives Outreach & Opinion Editor. She also is President/CEO of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @byjoycedavis.
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The United States is planning on putting intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Germany. The Typhan hypersonic missile (now under development), which NATO plans to deploy to Germany, can carry a 100-kiloton nuclear warhead.
Hypersonic missiles do not travel in a ballistic path, but instead fly at relatively low altitudes.
This makes hypersonic missiles much harder for ground-based Russian Early Warning Radar systems to detect.
The National Weather Service issued a report at 3:21 p.m. on Thursday for strong thunderstorms until 4:15 p.m. for Lebanon County.
Residents can look for wind gusts of up to 40 mph.
"At 3:20 p.m., Doppler radar tracked a strong thunderstorm near Lebanon, moving southeast at 10 mph," says the weather service. "Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects."
Locations impacted by the alert include Lebanon, Cornwall, Myerstown, Pleasant Hill, Sand Hill, Newmanstown, Lebanon South, Avon, Richland, Fredericksburg, Schaefferstown, Quentin, Kleinfeltersville, Jonestown and Avon Heights.
According to the weather service, "If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building."
When lightning looms: Expert safety tips for thunderstorms
Each year, lightning strikes the United States approximately 25 million times, with the majority of these electrifying events occurring during the summer months. Unfortunately, lightning is responsible for claiming the lives of approximately 20 people annually, as reported by the weather service. The threat of lightning becomes more pronounced as thunderstorms draw nearer, peaking when the storm is directly overhead and gradually waning as it moves away.
To protect yourself during a thunderstorm, take these recommendations into consideration:
Lightning safety plan:
When venturing outdoors, it's vital to establish a clear plan for seeking shelter in case of lightning.
Monitor the sky for threatening signs and listen for the sound of thunder. If thunder is audible, it's an indication that lightning is nearby.
Seek shelter promptly in a safe location, preferably indoors.
Indoors safety measures:
Once you've found shelter indoors, abstain from using corded phones, electrical appliances, or plumbing fixtures, and refrain from approaching windows and doors.
Lightning can follow conductive pathways, and these precautions reduce the risk of electrical surges.
Wait for the all-clear:
After the last lightning strike or thunderclap, wait at least 30 minutes before resuming outdoor activities.
Lightning can strike even when a storm has seemingly passed, so exercise caution.
When indoor shelter isn't available:
If you find yourself outdoors without access to indoor shelter during a thunderstorm, take these steps to maximize your safety:
Avoid open fields, hilltops, or ridge crests, as they expose you to greater lightning risk.
Steer clear of tall, isolated trees and other prominent objects. In forested areas, stay close to lower stands of trees.
If you're with a group, ensure individuals are spread out to prevent lightning current from transferring between people.
Camping in an open setting during a thunderstorm is strongly discouraged. If you have no alternative, set up camp in a valley, ravine, or other low-lying areas. It's crucial to note that a tent provides no protection against lightning.
Do not approach water bodies, wet objects, or metal items. Although water and metal do not attract lightning, they conduct electricity effectively and can pose significant risks.
In summary, when facing the threat of lightning, preparedness and vigilance are your best allies. By following these guidelines, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of lightning-related incidents and prioritize your safety.
Mastering wet roads: Safety tips for heavy rainfall
When heavy rain pours, the risk of flooding and treacherous roads rises. Here's your guide from the weather service to staying safe during downpours:
Beware of rapid water flow:
In heavy rain, refrain from parking or walking near culverts or drainage ditches, where swift-moving water can pose a grave danger.
Maintain safe driving distances:
Use the two-second rule to maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you and allow an extra two seconds in heavy rain.
Reduce speed and drive cautiously:
If it is raining and the roads are wet, slow down. Take your foot off the accelerator and let your speed drop gradually. Never use the brakes suddenly because this may cause the car to skid.
Choose your lane wisely:
Stick to the middle lanes on multi-lane roads to minimize the risk of hydroplaning, as water tends to accumulate in outer lanes.
Visibility matters:
Enhance your visibility in heavy rain by turning on your headlights. Watch out for vehicles in blind spots, as rain-smeared windows can obscure them.
Watch out for slippery roads:
The initial half-hour of rain is when roads are slickest due to a mixture of rain, grime, and oil. Exercise heightened caution during this period.
Keep a safe distance from large vehicles:
Don't follow large trucks or buses too closely. The spray created by their large tires reduces your vision. Take care when passing them as well; if you must pass, do so quickly and safely.
Mind your windshield wipers:
Overloaded wiper blades can hinder visibility. If rain severely limits your sight, pull over and wait for conditions to improve. Seek refuge at rest areas or protected spots.
If the roadside is your only option, pull off as far as possible, preferably past the end of a guard rail, and wait until the storm passes. Keep your headlights on and turn on emergency flashers to alert other drivers of your position.
By following these safety measures, you can significantly reduce risks and ensure your well-being when heavy rain pours down. Stay informed about weather conditions and heed advice from local authorities to make your journey safe and sound.
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Anti-mandate demonstrators gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway at the U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. A jury is set to begin deliberating today the fate of two men accused of conspiring to kill police at the Coutts, Alta., blockade in 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Supporters of Alaskas ranked choice election system are asking the Alaska Supreme Court to rule on one final attempt to keep a repeal measure from this Novembers election ballot.
Earlier this month, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin ruled that there was insufficient evidence to disqualify the measure from a statewide vote. While Rankin disqualified some signatures from a petition seeking to force a repeal vote, a recount by the Alaska Division of Elections confirmed that enough signatures remain for that vote to take place.
On Thursday, opponents of the repeal initiative asked the Alaska Supreme Court to review an element of Rankins decision.
In a document called a statement of points on appeal, they say Rankin was wrong when she allowed the Alaska Division of Elections to permit signature gatherers the ability to correct minor mistakes with the ballot measure petition after the submission deadline.
In June, Rankin wrote that the division has allowed petitioners the ability to correct minor mistakes as far back as 2015 and that it is allowed under a 2006 Alaska Supreme Court decision that said in part that the right to initiative is not to be defeated by technical rule violations.
If the high court rules against Rankins decision, it could leave petitioners with insufficient signatures for a 2024 vote.
Attorney Scott Kendall, representing opponents of the repeal initiative, said by text message that the Alaska Supreme Court has never been asked whether ballot measures should be held to the strict timelines that apply to candidate filings.
It is true that if the appeal does not succeed, then (the ballot measure) will most likely appear on the ballot, he wrote by text.
The Supreme Court has set an accelerated timeline to hear the case, with written arguments scheduled to finish by Aug. 19. The court has scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 22, two days after the statewide primary election.
The court must rule quickly: Ballot designs must be ready in time for ballots to be printed and mailed to overseas voters by Sept. 21.
Senior reporter Claire Stremple contributed to this article. The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
WATCH: The 888poker Team Headed to Las Vegas With a Dream
Matthew Pitt Senior Editor Copy link
The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) may be done and dusted but that doesn't mean the Las Vegas poker action has to stop. That's because 888poker sent a team of pros and ambassadors to "Sin City" to play in the $10,000 Main Event, and a camera crew to follow their progress in poker's most prestigious event.
The 888poker docuseries is divided into five parts, with new episodes published on YouTube every Saturday for the next few weeks. Part 1 recently landed on the internet superhighway, and this is what happened.
Episode 1: They Came to Vegas With a Dream starts with YouTube sensation Jack "JaackMaate" Dean loading up his car and setting off on the near three-hour drive from his home city of Norwich to Heathrow Airport in London.
We also get to see the final preparations of Team 888poker's Vivian Saliba, Lucia Navarro, Aaron Barone, and Nick Eastwood, while Dean meets up at the airport with friend and Happy Hour Podcast host Stevie White, who bizarrely doesn't know what hole cards are despite heading to the WSOP to play in the Main Event!
Thankfully, viewers are spared the 11-hour flight, and the video coverage resumes with brief interviews and vlogs of the five Team 888poker members once they land on terra firma.
Although Eastwood, Dean, and White landed in Las Vegas a day before the WSOP Main Event, some of the other 888poker players arrived earlier.
Lucia Navarro
Barone headed to Sin City a week before he planned to hit the tables so he could enjoy a vacation with his fiancee and parents, while Navarro immediately hit the tables to warm up for the Main Event.
One day before the Main Event shuffled up and deal, Navarro bought into the $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Moneymaker Main Event at MGM Grand. Several hours later, the popular Spaniard found herself at the final table, where she ultimately fell in fifth place for a career-best $91,855; a great start to the Vegas trip!
Saliba took a less traditional route in her Main Event preparations, opting to cook some meals so as not to have to rely on Vegas' fast-food establishments. Saliba was quite philosophical in her approach to playing in poker's most famous tournament, stating she'd do everything in her power to win but was aware she couldn't control the cards and that any of the entrants had the ability to become world champion.
Keep your browsers locked to PokerNews and the 888poker YouTube channel if you want to catch the other four episodes of Team 888poker in Las Vegas.
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Biden and Harris made a historic deal to free US hostages, and Donald Trumps response was a racist post about Kamala Harris.
Biden and Harris negotiated the biggest hostage swap since the end of the Cold War. Three detained Americans are among those released. It is a historic event:
Biden negotiates the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War involving Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. pic.twitter.com/o3xEOnDN69 Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 1, 2024
The Republican presidential nominee should have a lot to say about this news. He should be welcoming the Americans home, especially he couldnt get them released while he was president.
This is what Trump posted:
Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated. Donald Trump Truth Social 09:56 AM EST 08/01/24 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/13mKGX5AkZ Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 1, 2024
Instead of thinking about America, at the time of publication, Trump went all in on his racist campaign against Kamala Harris .
The release of hostages doesnt matter to Donald Trump. The ex-president doesnt care about the Americans who were held and are still being held by his pal Putin. The release of the hostages didnt help Trumps campaign to return to the White House, so he is ignoring it at the time of publication of this story.
There is not a single bone in Donald Trumps body that cares about the United States or the American people. Trump can sense that he is in danger of getting blown out in the presidential election, and winning the election is the only thing that will keep him from potentially becoming a federally convicted felon.
Trumps racist attacks didnt work on Wednesday, and they wont work today.
What Donald Trump is doing is reminding a majority of Americans why they rejected him in 2020 and are likely to do so again in 2024.
Ten years ago, in an opinion article for the Los Angeles Times, Rick Steves advised readers to swallow their fears of terrorism and disease, just get on the plane and go see the world. And who am I to disagree with a beloved travel writer and fellow Norwegian American?
But after returning from a three-week trip seeing family and sites in Norway and Italy, my advice is a little different: Maybe dont get on that plane, especially if you, like me, are concerned that tourists are ruining the world.
The consequences of overtourism are well known, especially in the hapless places that are its targets: Cities built in a long-ago era or natural wonders become victims of their own charm, drawing far more people than they can handle. Pristine wildlife areas degrade, the markets and butcher shops that sustained locals give way to souvenir stores, and residents get crowded out as their homes are converted to short-term rentals. Increasingly, there is no offseason: Since pandemic restrictions were lifted, October crowds in European hotspots are what July was like 10 or 20 years ago, and July today is apocalyptic.
Thankfully, tourism is now such a miserable, money-sucking experience that it stirs the resolve never to do it again.
Take Romes Spanish Steps, where I saw la dolce vita clash with the tourist police state. There, the gorgeous, operatic wailings of Italian street performers were intermittently pierced by the whistling from street cops scolding anyone who dared to sit down on a blisteringly hot day. The crowds in Rome have become so bad, so incompatible with preserving structures that have survived hundreds and even thousands of years of human use, that its now illegal to sit down in certain places.
Perhaps this newfound hostility to loitering accrues to visitors benefit. The crush of people streaming toward sites like the Spanish Steps, and the harsh vigilance of guards, will ensure that most anyone who ventures there will want to leave as quickly as possible.
Venice is arguably Europes Exhibit A against overtourism. If there was a sector of the economy devoted to something other than tourism, I didnt notice.
The resident population of Venices historic core has fallen below 50,000, a level not seen since the Middle Ages. Much of the housing that once served locals is now rented out to visitors like me. Nothing screams old-world authenticity like the brightly dressed hordes wheeling luggage down the street or holding the most unnatural Instagram poses so they can show off their amazing lives.
Venice is finally pushing back. Last April, day-trippers to the city started having to pay a 5-euro entry fee, and large cruise ships have been banned from entering the Venice lagoon. Similarly, in Norway, Bergen (which is really the worlds most perfect city) caps cruise ship disembarkments to 8,000 passengers a day and even under that limit, Bergens historic waterfront is easily overcrowded.
The good news is, for a taste of the post-pandemic travel experience, you dont have to fly to Europe. Just drive down the 5 to Disneyland on a summer day, spend $800 on tickets for your family and stand around in the sun with a few thousand impatient strangers.
There, in Tomorrowland, you will perform the mental gymnastics I did at the Vatican: Tell yourself that this is beautiful and fun, damn it, because we paid for it, no matter the truth laid bare by your whining children, your burning skin and the suffocating claustrophobia while standing outside.
Next time I muster another trip, Norway could be on the table, since most of my late mothers family is there. But as for sightseeing and serenity, nothing beats the spots known to locals here in Californias own mountains and deserts. New York State has equally beautiful places for locals to enjoy. Seek them out.
The Berkeley County Sheriffs Office received its fourth Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) on July 27. Accreditation is one of the top forms of recognition a law enforcement agency can receive. Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis, Chief Deputy Jeremy Baker, Inspector Dan Isgett and Accreditation Manager Darleen Maloney-Martin attended the CALEA conference.
Cane Bay High Schools cross country teams placed second in the First Baptist Hurricanes 5K meet Saturday, Oct. 5 in Charleston. Read moreCobras XC squads runner-ups in Charleston meet
Margie Levine stood in a field of peppers on a recent morning.
Most of them were dead.
The heat has weakened the summer crop, making it more susceptible to disease, bug infestation and pathogens. These weather-induced pressures are part of operating any South Carolina farm, but this year has been different, said Levine, who owns Clintons certified organic Crescent Farm with her daughter and son-in-law.
For the first time since relocating from Vermont in 2011, Levines plants were dropping in July rather than August, the typical height of the summer.
I feel guilty putting plants out here," Levine said. "I feel guilty putting people out here."
Farmers across the state are feeling the burn of this summers sultry temperatures. June 2024 was the second-hottest June in U.S. history and the 13th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
More recently, July 22, 2024 was the hottest day on Earth ever, according to NASA.
Levine who grows sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, winter squash and grit corn in the summer wants to pass on Crescent Farm to her grandkids. Every passing scorching day raises more questions about that plan.
Its petrifying, Levine said.
The weather data is just as striking at the local level. As of July 24, the South Carolina State Climate Office reports 34 out of 46 South Carolina counties are experiencing "Moderate" to "Severe" drought conditions.
According to Leonard Vaughan, a regional coordinator at Columbias National Weather Service outpost, 2024 was Columbias eighth average hottest June since 1887. Other regions of the state are not far behind, with this June being an average of 2.4 degrees above Charleston's normal temperatures and 3 degrees above Greenville's.
Investigators are asking for DNA evidence in the case against one of the drivers charged with hitting two 20-year-old women on Morrison Drive this spring.
A Charleston Police Department officer notified one of the defendant's attorneys on July 31 that they obtained a search warrant for Max Gentilin's buccal swab.
His attorney, Chris Adams, said DNA evidence is "not relevant" to the investigation and asked a court for an emergency hearing to quash the search warrant.
The motion, filed in Charleston County Circuit Court on Aug. 1, comes two weeks after a judge determined there was probable cause that both defendants contributed to the deaths of Arianna Gamber and Lizzy Zito.
An investigation determined Seth Carlson struck the two women who were walking in the bike lane near the pedestrian entrance to the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge around 1:12 a.m. on April 28. They were thrown off of the road and into the brush where they lay untouched until Gentilin's grey 2010 Acura TL sedan jumped onto the curb a half hour later, running over the top of the victims before reentering the roadway, according to court testimony.
Gentilin and Carlson are both charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. Carlson, who allegedly hit the women first, is also charged with two counts of reckless homicide.
"The issue in this case is whether the State can establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the victims were alive when Mr. Gentilin's car ran over the curb, whether Mr. Gentilin's car contacted the victims, and whether Mr. Gentilin was aware that his car came into contact with the victims," Adams wrote in the motion for an emergency hearing.
News / National
by Staff reporter
Former Minister of National Healing, Moses Mzila Ndlovu, has been detained by police following a confrontation involving livestock belonging to one of the invaders occupying his farm in Matobo district, Matabeleland South.Ndlovu stated that on Wednesday morning, he drove away livestock belonging to one of the people who had occupied his land.The incident escalated when one of the farm occupants allegedly brandished a gun at his 25-year-old son, Tjakalisa, in retaliation for driving away his cattle.The former minister has been struggling to remove the illegal settlers from his property at Mapungubge Farm since last year. Speaking from Hlekweni police base in Figtree, Ndlovu said he and his son saw one of the occupants bringing cattle to graze on his land around 10 a.m."When a worker drove the cattle onto my farm, I chased them off, and the worker tried to run away. I apprehended the worker and told him to drive the cattle out, which he did. I then left for town, only to be informed that my son had been picked up by the police and taken to Hlekweni police base," Ndlovu said.The former minister added that the worker claimed he was assaulted by a group of people at his farm, while the owner of the cattle allegedly pulled a gun on his son."When I arrived at the police base, the owner of the cows accused me of assaulting his worker. The police decided to arrest us on charges of assault. But the cow owner had pulled a gun on my son in the presence of the police, who did not act. My son had also been beaten up," he said, adding that his son was now detained.Ndlovu described the situation as continued harassment, with the occupants now threatening his family."They must not come for my children because I will fight until the bitter end. They can do whatever they want to me because of my opinions, but my children have never expressed an opinion, so why should they be punished for being my children? Where have you ever seen collective punishment?" Ndlovu said.He also lamented previous incidents where his children were arrested after encountering a poacher on the farm. Additionally, he mentioned that his workers' house had been vandalised, but police investigations had not made progress despite "useful leads we gave them.""My farm fence has been pulled down, as well as a government fence running along mine. No one has been prosecuted for it. Our field perimeter fence is continuously stolen and part of it used to snare both livestock and wildlife. Cutting down trees and theft of property go on," decried the former minister.Ndlovu's efforts to evict the occupants last year suffered a temporary setback this year after the High Court demanded that he add more settlers to his application for a spoliation order. In his application, Ndlovu stated that he has occupied the farm since 2004 and that in August last year, Johanes Zifudze and others invaded his property.Ndlovu cited Zifudze, the Agriculture Ministry Secretary, the Agriculture Minister, the ZRP Figtree commanding officer, the Surveyor-General, and the Sheriff of the High Court as respondents.According to the application, Zifudze and other settlers pegged stands on 200 hectares of his 3,603-hectare Hami Magazine Site Farm last year. Ndlovu said Zifudze intended to settle more people on the farm.
Opinion / Columnist
Recently, the High Court of Zimbabwe granted bail to Alessandro Marconati, the son of Francesco Marconati, a self-styled Italian Mafia boss. Alessandro, who was facing an outstanding warrant of arrest for failing to serve a community service sentence, was released on US$300 bail pending appeal by Justice Happious Zhou. This decision has ignited a storm of controversy, with many questioning the integrity of Zimbabwe's judiciary system.The controversy stems from the circumstances surrounding Alessandro Marconati's failure to comply with a community service order. According to Section 350C of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, if an offender is found to have failed to comply with the terms of a community service order, the court has several options. These include amending or extending the order to ensure compliance or revoking the order and imposing any alternative punishment such as a fine or imprisonment that was originally considered.The relevant section states:"If the court is satisfied that an offender who has been brought before it in terms of subsection (1) has failed to comply with any requirement of a community service order, the court may- (a) amend or extend the order in such manner as the court thinks will best ensure that the offender renders the service specified in the order; or (b) revoke the order and- (i) order the offender to pay any fine or undergo any imprisonment that was imposed on him as an alternative punishment in terms of subsection (3) of section three hundred and fifty A."In Alessandro Marconati's case, four members of the community - Musozi Miti, Mathias Moyo, Shingirai Moyo, and Nevson Nyakadza-testified in court, providing written statements that detailed Marconati's failure to perform the mandated community service. These testimonies, which should have influenced the court's decision, suggest that Marconati had blatantly disregarded the community service order.Despite this evidence, Justice Zhou's decision to grant bail has led to allegations of judicial bias and corruption. The decision to release Marconati on bail, rather than enforcing the terms of the community service order or imposing a stricter penalty, has raised eyebrows and led to widespread criticism.Legal experts have expressed concern over the potential implications of this case for the rule of law in Zimbabwe. Thembinkosi Moyo voiced his dismay, stating, "The release of Alessandro Marconati on bail is not just a legal anomaly; it is a direct affront to the principles of justice. The law is clear on the consequences of breaching a community service order, and this decision undermines public confidence in the judiciary."Tinashe Muronzi echoed these concerns, adding, "This case exemplifies how the justice system can be compromised by powerful interests. The involvement of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission officer Willem Adamu, who is alleged to have been personally involved in pressuring the court officials who issued the warrant of arrest, indicates a troubling level of interference and corruption within our legal institutions."The allegations against Adamu are particularly concerning, as they suggest that the case may not just involve judicial leniency but also active attempts to shield Marconati from accountability. Such interference not only undermines the authority of the judiciary but also erodes public trust in the ability of the legal system to operate impartially.As the case continues to unfold, it serves as a critical test for Zimbabwe's legal system. The public and the legal community are closely watching to see how the judiciary will address the apparent breach of legal protocols and whether it will take steps to restore confidence in its processes. The Marconati case has become a flashpoint for broader discussions about corruption, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary in Zimbabwe.In the face of these challenges, there is a growing call for transparency and accountability within the judiciary. The outcome of this case will likely have significant implications for how justice is perceived and administered in Zimbabwe, potentially influencing the country's legal landscape for years to come.
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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / In the age of ubiquitous smartphones, the realm of digital advertising is changing at a blistering pace. Taking the lead in this progressive journey is Adspin ( https://adspin.io) . This ad tech venture, founded by sibling duo Andreas Dimitropoulos and Maria Dimitropoulou, has established itself by building a comprehensive network that encompasses the whole spectrum of the mobile app process. The distinctive strategy of Adspin involves nurturing independent, yet connected companies that thrive on shared resources and expertise, thereby creating a synergistic environment.An Integrated Network of InnovationThe transition towards mobile-centric strategies is not just a trend but a fundamental shift in how businesses engage with their customers. With over 6.8 billion smartphone users globally, the potential to reach customers via mobile advertising tactics is enormous. However, this immense potential also brings unique challenges.Several businesses require assistance to navigate the intricate world of mobile advertising effectively. Multiple hurdles, such as understanding user behavior and creating compelling content suitable for small screens, are prominent. Here, Adspin steps in with inventive solutions, enabling businesses to prosper in the mobile landscape. Adspin.io : Not Your Average Marketing AgencyAdspin is a marketing agency at its heart, but it's much more than that. It's a group of companies bound by a unified vision: to develop ad-driven businesses for the smartphone-infatuated era. This unique strategy distinguishes Adspin from conventional marketing agencies.Adspin's ecosystem thrives on the synergy of its four dynamic brands: SpinX, Adspin Games, Kanzaroo, and MoRewards. Each brand operates independently, yet they continually capitalize on the shared knowledge and technologies of the Adspin network, forming a potent engine of innovation and efficiency.SpinX is a groundbreaking mobile marketing firm with an in-house Ad Exchange. This platform effortlessly links advertisers to top publisher placements worldwide, ensuring ideal reach and engagement. SpinX's sophisticated marketing solutions are designed to optimize ROI without compromising the user experience.Adspin Games focuses on creating engaging, user-friendly mobile games that appeal to a diverse audience. Committed to user-centric design, the Studio aims to craft captivating experiences that encourage lasting engagement. The studio's consistent pursuit of innovation shines through its wide range of popular game titles.Kanzaroo, a trailblazing payment provider, offers inventive billing solutions through its cutting-edge platform. Whether direct carrier billing, cash payments, or traditional PSP options like credit card payments and SEPA transfers, Kanzaroo ensures smooth transactions, enhancing the overall user experience.MoRewards is set to transform the way users accumulate and redeem rewards. Users can turn their actions into cash by completing surveys, performing tasks, and participating in various activities within the app. With immediate cash-out options available through over 100+ gift card providers via mobile phone, MoRewards offers an innovative and gratifying experience. Launching in Q4 2024, it promises to take the US market by storm with its user-friendly interface.Devotion to Superiority in Ad TechAt its essence, Adspin is an ad tech firm devoted to deploying top-notch advertising technologies without compromising user experience. The company's objective is straightforward: to bolster every mobile app technology chain element with premium products and services. This steadfast dedication to excellence has positioned Adspin as a trailblazer in the mobile app market, continually stretching the boundaries of achievable goals.In a sector where trust is critical, Adspin stands out for its dedication to compliance and certification. It is a TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) member, a leading global initiative combating criminal activity and augmenting trust and transparency in digital advertising.Adspin is also a certified TCF Vendor and a member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), adhering to their stringent standards and guidelines. These certifications indicate Adspin's commitment to building a secure and reliable ecosystem for businesses, advertisers, and consumers.Looking ForwardAs Adspin continues to grow and innovate, its synergistic network of brands will persist at the cutting edge of the mobile app industry's transformation. By harnessing the power of shared technologies and expertise, Adspin is not merely keeping up with the swift changes in the market-it's directing them.With its inventive solutions and devotion to quality, Adspin is poised to redefine the mobile app sector for years. It promises to make significant progress in bolstering user experience and boosting industry growth. The future of mobile apps is upon us, and Adspin.io is at the helm, navigating towards a horizon brimming with infinite potential.Media Details: Company Name: Adspin.ioPress Contact: Andreas Dimitropoulos Email:a.dimitropoulos@ adspin.io Company Website: http://Adspin.io SOURCE: Adspin.io
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Animal Surgical Center Earns Coveted AAHA Accreditation, Demonstrating Unwavering Commitment to Excellence in Veterinary CareOCEANSIDE, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 /Animal Surgical Center, a premier multi-disciplinary veterinary practice located in Oceanside, New York, is thrilled to announce that they have achieved accreditation from the prestigious American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). This accolade places them among only 15% of veterinary hospitals nationwide that have successfully met the rigorous standards set by AAHA.Animal Surgical Center Animal Surgical Center LobbyBecoming AAHA accredited is a testament to Animal Surgical Center's unwavering commitment to providing the highest quality care at fair prices. This notable achievement is a result of consistent effort and dedication from their entire team, who work tirelessly to ensure that both pets and their owners receive exceptional service. The process of accreditation involves an extensive evaluation, encompassing over 900 standards of veterinary care and hospital protocols, affirming that they stand at the forefront of veterinary excellence."This accreditation is not just an honor but a reflection of our team's hard work and dedication," said Dr. Tomas Infernuso. "We are constantly striving to elevate the standard of care for all our patients." At Animal Surgical Center, the mission is to save as many animals as possible by providing excellent care and service at a fair price. Additionally, ASC strives to be exceptional in every aspect of service, ensuring that each pet receives the best possible care. Their core values drive them to provide compassionate, innovative, and outstanding veterinary care every day. They are dedicated to making a significant impact on the lives of pets and their families by ensuring that every animal receives the best possible treatment. Their vision is anchored in leading the veterinary industry through continuous improvement and a relentless pursuit of excellence."We are committed to shaping the future of veterinary medicine," noted an inspiring Animal Surgical Center reel on Instagram, highlighting the team's mission and core values. "Our guiding principles ensure that we remain focused on what matters most-advancing pet health and supporting pet owners." Animal Surgical Center is also deeply invested in giving back to the community through initiatives such as the "NO RUFF DAYS" fund. In collaboration with the Veterinary Care Foundation, this program provides financial aid for life-saving medical treatments for disadvantaged pets. Over the years, they have donated over $250,000 to various rescue organizations across New York, proudly saving more than 500 animals.As they continue to grow and positively impact the world of veterinary care, Animal Surgical Center invites passionate professionals to join their dedicated team. Those driven by a commitment to animal welfare and wanting to be part of an exceptional practice making a difference are encouraged to explore career opportunities with them.For more information about Animal Surgical Center, please visit their website or follow them on Instagram.Contact Information Karla HojasMarketing Directorkhojas@ asc.vet (516) 776-7127Alyssa RodriguezSocial Media Managerarodriguez@ asc.vet (516) 749-7436SOURCE: Animal Surgical CenterView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 18:02:02
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Mixed-use project will bring grocer-anchored shopping center into the modern ageWHITE PLAINS, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 /Callahan Construction Managers (Callahan), a full-service construction management company headquartered in Bridgewater, Mass., announced today that its New York office was selected to oversee a comprehensive renovation of the New City Shopping Center in New City, NY. When complete, the planned enhancements will provide shoppers with a 21st-century shopping experience.Located in the heart of New City, the shopping center has been serving the Clarkstown community since 1989. It is home to a diverse range of stores, restaurants, and service providers, dedicated to meeting the needs of local residents and visitors alike. The grocery-anchored retail asset currently contains a complementary tenant mix with strong demographics, traffic counts, and access. The center looks to become the premier retail destination in the area when the project is complete.Construction is expected to be completed in phases over the next 6 months to minimize disruptions to shoppers and businesses. The center will stay open throughout the renovation, and all businesses will continue to operate at their regular hours. The planned renovations will address all facets of redeveloping the plaza, from structural upgrades to aesthetic improvements, including new landscaping, updated lighting, and modernized storefronts. The anchor, Inserra Supermarket's New City Shoprite, will also undergo interior renovations, all of which aim to create a more welcoming and accessible environment for visitors."As our New York office continues to grow, we are proud to have the opportunity to oversee the significant improvements coming to the New City Shopping Center," said David Morrow, vice president - New York, Callahan. "Callahan's deep experience in both mixed-use and retail environments suit us well for this project, and our team in White Plains will work closely with the property development team to create a shopping experience like none other for Rockland County residents." # # #About Callahan Construction Managers Callahan Construction Managers is a full-service construction management company based in Bridgewater, Mass., with a regional office in White Plains, NY. Callahan has served the New England and Northeast regions for over 70 years. As one of the region's largest open shop construction firms, Callahan provides a wide range of preconstruction and construction management services to local, regional, and national clients. Callahan's markets include multi- family residential, senior housing, affordable housing, hospitality, life sciences, corporate office, educational, retail and tenant fit-up. Callahan was voted a 2023 "Top Place to Work" by the Boston Globe and 2024 "Best Place to Work" by the Boston Business Journal. Visit www.callahan-inc.com for more information.Media ContactJeff LaveryPedigree Public Relations jefflavery@ pedigreepr.com508.361.7539 SOURCE: Callahan Construction Managers
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Levi & Korsinsky notifies investors that it has commenced an investigation of Dril-Quip, Inc. ("Dril-Quip") (NYSE:DRQ) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.On July 8, 2024, Dril-Quip disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had identified "an error in the classification of certain inventory write-downs from 2021." Specifically, the Company had "misclassified inventory write-downs from 2021 totaling approximately $67 million, including $19.3 million related to the 2018 global strategic plan and approximately $47.7 million due to the discontinuation of certain product categories under the 2021 global strategic plan. The Company classified these charges as Restructuring and other charges'; however, these charges should have been classified in Cost of sales' in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, in accordance with ASC 420-10-S99-3. As a result, Cost of sales' was understated and Restructuring and other charges' was overstated by $67 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the Affected Period')." Accordingly, Dril-Quip stated that its prior statements regarding the Affected Period "should no longer be relied upon" and will be restated. Dril-Quip further stated that "the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023 were not effective." On this news, Dril-Quip's stock price fell $1.76 per share, or 9.9%, to close at $16.01 per share on July 9, 2024. To obtain additional information, go to:or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212)363-7500.WHY LEVI & KORSINSKY: Over the past 20 years, Levi & Korsinsky LLP has established itself as a nationally-recognized securities litigation firm that has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. The firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212)363-7500 Fax: (212)363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
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NEW DELHI, INDIA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / In a landmark event, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Ministers Shri Devendra Fadnavis and Shri Ajit Dada Pawar laid the foundation stone for the Surjagad Ispat Pvt Ltd steel project in Gadchiroli. This ambitious project, with an investment of Rs.10,000 crore, is expected to generate employment for over 7,000 individuals, both directly and indirectly.During the ceremony, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence that Gadchiroli district will become the most progressive district in the state in the near future. He highlighted that in the future, Gadchiroli alone will account for thirty percent of the state's steel production. Fadnavis also emphasized that Gadchiroli will become Maharashtra's leading district and the largest steel hub in the country.He spoke about the positive impact of industry on the tribal community, mentioning the establishment of a medical college and the planned construction of an airport in the area. Fadnavis announced efforts to transform Gadchiroli into an education hub and initiate water transportation from Chamorshi to Kakinada port.Deputy Chief Minister Shri Ajit Dada Pawar remarked on the significance of inaugurating a major company with an investment of Rs.10,000 crore in Gadchiroli. He stressed that this project will provide significant employment opportunities for local residents and meet the country's steel requirements.Vedansh Joshi, MD of Surjagad Ispat Pvt Ltd, stated, "We are contributing to our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat by making significant investments and promoting industrial development in Maharashtra. We are establishing an integrated steel plant in the Naxal-affected region of Wadlapeth village, Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, covering an area of 340 acres. Our project includes a 1.6 MTPA Beneficiation Plant, a 1.2 MTPA Pellet Plant, a Sponge Iron Plant of 4 x 650 TPD, an Induction Furnace of 0.75 MTPA, a Rolling Mill of 0.75 MTPA, a Captive Power Plant with a capacity of 120 MW, and a Pellet Plant of 1.2 MTPA and we plan to extend up to 2 million tons integrated steel plant in phase 2. Upon completion, we plan to achieve 8 million tons of integrated steel production." The Bhoomi Pujan ceremony was graced by prominent dignitaries, Cabinet Ministers- Uday Samant, and Dr. Dharmaraobaba Atram. Several government officials were also present. The first phase of the project is slated to commence in 2026, with the entire project expected to be completed by 2030.The Surjagad Ispat Pvt Ltd project stands as a testament to Maharashtra's commitment to industrial growth and regional development. The initiative promises not only economic benefits but also aims to uplift local communities by providing essential services and employment, marking a new chapter in Gadchiroli's development.Media Contact:Company Name: Surjagad Ispat Pvt LtdContact person - HimanshuPhone -9920034501Website: https://surjagadispatpvtltd.com/ SOURCE: Surjagad Ispat Pvt Ltd
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 18:01:07
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ACTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Geocomp, Inc., a leader in providing innovative geostructural solutions, is proud to announce the addition of two exceptional women to its leadership team, Anna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, Testing, and Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & Monitoring. This strategic move reinforces Geocomp's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while enhancing the company's capacity for innovation and excellence. Geocomp's technology-forward approach is central to its mission, ensuring the integration of cutting-edge solutions that help clients achieve their goals. By leveraging the latest technological advancements and maintaining strong industry partnerships, Geocomp continues to set the standard for excellence in geotechnical engineering.Anna Kotas and Lucky Nagarajan, Geocomp, Inc. Anna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, Testing, GeoTesting Express; and Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & Monitoring, Geocomp, Inc.Sean P. O'Brien, PE, President of Geocomp, commented: "We are thrilled to welcome Anna and Lucky to our leadership team. Their extensive experience and dedication to advancing the field of geotechnical engineering align seamlessly with Geocomp's mission to leverage technology for innovative solutions. Their leadership will undoubtedly enhance our ability to deliver exceptional results for our clients and drive our commitment to diversity and inclusion within the industry." New Leaders of GeocompAnna Kotas, PE, Director of Business Development, TestingAnna is a professional Geotechnical Engineer with more than two decades of experience in the geotechnical field. In her career, Anna served as technical lead with a focus on solving client's geotechnical challenges with a personal and committed approach. Anna has been doing business development on behalf of GeoTesting Express (GTX) for 8 years. She feels that the most satisfying aspect of her work is connecting geotechnical engineers from all over the world with a lab of unmatched sophistication, attention to quality and fast turnaround. Anna is passionate about advocating for women's interests and is a dedicated mentor for women in STEM. She is committed to empowering women to become strong leaders while shedding light on the critical need to increase the representation of female leaders in civil engineering. Through her involvement with various organizations, she strives to create opportunities and support networks for women, championing diversity and inclusion in these vital sectors.Lucky Nagarajan, Director of Business Development, Consulting & MonitoringLucky has been in the industry for more than 20 years and brings a diverse range of experience, energy, and contagious enthusiasm to her work. Throughout her career, she has traveled around the world working in different market sectors with expertise in the design and construction of deep foundations. Lucky has developed a vast professional network around the world, leading to many conversations on challenges for women in the industry, leadership, industry advancement, and hiring and retaining talent. Her passion for culture, community, nurturing young engineers, and STEM has led her to being an active member of technical associations such as DFI, ASCE, G-I, USSD, and ISSMGE. She is the chair of Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) and Co-Founder of WiDF groups in Metro NYC, India, and Mexico, part of the Board of Trustees of DFI, serving as a member on the Women's Advisory Board- Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and one of the Board of Directors for the ASCE Met Section.About GeocompGeocomp, Inc. is a leader in geotechnical engineering, technology, and testing. With more than 40 years of experience, Geocomp has a strong track record of helping clients achieve their ambitions, providing cutting-edge solutions on a wide range of projects. Geocomp provides geostructural consulting, monitoring, and laboratory testing services worldwide, and manufactures fully automated laboratory testing systems to commercial, research, and academic labs, globally.Contact Information:Julia HogginsMarketing Managerjulia.hoggins@geocomp.com 978-635-0012SOURCE: Geocomp, Inc.View the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 09:05:13
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 /Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXV:CCE)(FSE:D7H0)(OTCQX:CMRZF) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to announce the appointment of highly experienced resources executive Mr. Ross Carroll as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2024. Mr. Carroll will also join Commerce's board of directors (the "Board") with immediate effect.With multiple decades of experience overseeing finance, M&A and strategy, operations and major projects across the natural resources sector, Mr. Carroll has a proven track record of leadership and strategic oversight. His international experience spans Australia, USA, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, having worked with leading companies such as BHP, Woodside Energy, Macmahon Holdings, and MMG Limited.Mr. Carroll has been appointed following an extensive global search to lead the Company's next phase of its growth as it advances the development of its world-class Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Project in Quebec, Canada, in conjunction with exploration of the adjacent and highly prospective Eldor Niobium Project.Most recently, during his time as Chief Financial Officer of MMG, he has overseen its growth into a significant international base metals producer, including the delivery of the Dugald River Project in Australia, the recent acquisition of the US1.875 billion Khoemacau Copper Mine in Botswana, and numerous debt refinancings and equity raises.Prior to MMG, Mr. Carroll was CEO of Macmahon, a major and well-regarded Australian mining contractor.Mr. Carroll holds a Bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a Certified Public Accountant with the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants. He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and previously served on the Executive Committee of the Western Australian Chamber of Mines.Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Carroll said: "I am excited about the significant potential the Ashram Project offers. It is very rare that you get the opportunity to work on a Tier-1 project in a Tier-1 jurisdiction like this, and I look forward to being involved in the delivery of the project at a time when the North America needs additional critical mineral projects." Concurrently with Mr. Carroll's appointment, the current President and CEO, Mr. Chris Grove, has resigned as President, CEO, and director and will become the Company's "Director of Corporate Development." Mr. Grove will assist Ross with his vast knowledge of the Ashram Project and critical minerals landscape in North America.The Board would like to thank Mr. Grove for his many years of service to the Company as President and CEO and his considerable efforts in advancing the Ashram Project.About Commerce Resources Corp.Commerce Resources Corp. is a junior mineral resource company focused on the development of the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit located in Quebec, Canada. The Company is positioning itself to be one of the lowest cost rare earth producers globally, with a specific focus on being a long-term supplier of mixed rare earth carbonate and/or NdPr oxide to the global market. The Ashram Deposit is characterized by simple rare earth (monazite, bastnaesite, xenotime) and gangue (carbonates) mineralogy, a large tonnage resource at favourable grade, and has demonstrated the production of high-grade (>45% REO) mineral concentrates at high recovery (>70%) in line with active global producers. In addition to being one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, Ashram is also one of the largest fluorspar deposits globally and has the potential to be a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets.For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.commerceresources.com or email info@ commerceresources.com On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsCOMMERCE RESOURCES CORP."Ian Graham" Ian GrahamChairman of the Board and DirectorTel: 604.484.2700Email:info@ commerceresources.comWeb:http://www.commerceresources.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, that the Ashram deposit has the potential to become one of the largest fluorspar deposits and a long-term supplier to the mixed rare earth carbonate, NdPr oxide, and met-spar and acid-spar markets; and that the Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth element producers globally. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including: that we may not be able to fully finance any additional exploration on the Ashram Project; that even if we are able raise capital, costs for exploration activities may increase such that we may not have sufficient funds to pay for such exploration or processing activities; the timing and content of any future work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumptions based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that, with further test work, may not be comparable; testing of our process may not prove successful and even if such tests are successful, the economic and other outcomes may not be as expected; the availability of labour and equipment to undertake future exploration work and testing activities; the required permits to build and operate the envisaged open-pit shell may not be obtained in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all; and despite the current expected viability of the Ashram Project, conditions changing such that even if metals or minerals are discovered on the Ashram Project, the project may not be commercially viable; and those additional risks set out in the Company's pub
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 12:02:28
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- 12 MoUs signed to enhance trade relations and cultural exchange- A delegation led by Mr John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, visited Laos as part of broader ASEAN mission- As superconnector, Hong Kong is well- positioned to support Laos's development, especially in finance, banking, renewable energy and green finance, agriculture and infrastructure developmentVientiane, August 01, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) A delegation led by Mr John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), visited Vientiane on 28-30 July to deepen economic and trade relations, enhance cultural exchange and explore collaboration opportunities between Laos and Hong Kong.Twelve memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed in the areas of trade and investment promotion, finance, fintech, transport and logistics and education, paving the way for mutual prosperity between Hong Kong, Laos and the wider ASEAN region.The delegation, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), included some 30 leaders of international, Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong enterprises and conglomerates operating in finance and insurance, innovation and technology, professional services, infrastructure, transport and logistics, energy and hospitality.The delegates visited Vientiane Saysettha Development Zone and Vientiane Railway Station to understand the business and investment opportunities in Laos, its potential for Hong Kong companies and the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).A visit to Vientiane Secondary School fostered greater people-to-people exchange between Laos and Hong Kong.The delegation also met with executives and key members of local business chambers, such as the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and Lao Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCCC), to introduce Hong Kongs latest economic developments, business opportunities and unique advantages as superconnector between China and other Belt and Road markets.Potential partnerships to support the growth of Lao SMEs were explored in areas, such as finance, banking, renewable energy, green finance, agriculture and forestry, leveraging Hong Kongs expertise and connections to help them build capacity, find partners and explore new markets.Dr Peter K N Lam, Chairman of the HKTDC, said: "The objective of our mission is to explore opportunities and forge connections that will enable Laos to achieve its economic ambitions, while fostering stronger cooperation with Hong Kong. Leveraging its superconnector role, Hong Kong is well-positioned to provide assistance, nurture talent and strengthen infrastructure across various sectors in Laos. We believe there are immense opportunities for mutual growth. The cooperation we have witnessed during this visit is just the beginning." 12 MoUs were signed by the following members of the delegation, Lao government bodies and Lao companies:1.Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong, China and the Customs Department of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic;2.Invest Hong Kong and Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry;3.Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Lao Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCCC);4.Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI);5.Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce;6.CCB International (Holdings) Limited and Phongsavanh Group Co., Ltd;7.CLP SEA Infrastructure Limited; CGN Energy Technology (Laos) Co., Ltd and Krittaphong Group Co., Ltd;8.Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) and the Vientiane Capital Chamber of Commerce and Industry;9.Goldford Group and Lao National Digital Technology Group Co., Ltd (LADT);10.Lao National Digital Technology and HashKey Capital;11.Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Vientiane Secondary School (VSS); and12.The Hong Kong Shippers Council (HKSC) and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and IndustryWith the BRI entering its second decade and amid greater regional cooperation facilitated by agreements, like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Hong Kong will continue to build on its role as superconnector, linking the wider China market with ASEAN and the world at large.The HKSAR Government and HKTDC will host the Belt and Road Summit on 11-12 September in Hong Kong, at which Lao companies can make new connections and find new partners.The Hong Kong delegation's visit to Laos is part of a broader ASEAN mission taking place from 28 July to 2 August. This mission aims to strengthen ties with Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, building on the success of previous ASEAN missions to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in 2023 and Thailand in 2022.Photo Download: https://bit.ly/3ymxliX Media enquiriesRDK Group Sole, Co.,Ltd Jonathan MeadleyTel.: (856) 205 950 6978Email: Jonathan.meadley@rdkgroup.la HKTDCs Communication & Public Affairs Department:Agnes WatTel.: (852) 2584 4554Email: agnes.ky.wat@hktdc.org Sam HoTel.: (852) 2584 4569Email: sam.sy.ho@hktdc.org About HKTDCThe Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus
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PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 13:50:29
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Kosta Kini introduces a line of versatile swimwear designed with sustainable materials and eco-friendly practices.LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 /Kosta Kini, a new swimwear brand, announces its commitment to sustainability and eco-friendly practices in the fashion industry. Founded by Emily Miller, the brand offers versatile swimwear made from sustainable materials, designed to be reversible and mix-and-match, promoting a more mindful and environmentally conscious approach to fashion.Kosta Kini emphasizes the importance of reducing environmental impact. The brand uses eco-friendly fabrics and manufacturing processes that prioritize the well-being of the planet. Each piece of swimwear is designed with longevity in mind, some featuring reversible and mix-and-match designs that promote versatility and minimize waste. These designs not only allow customers to express their personal style but also contribute to a more sustainable approach to fashion consumption.Emily Miller, a native of Los Angeles, created Kosta Kini with a vision to create swimwear that combines style with sustainability. Growing up in a city known for its dynamic fashion scene and entrepreneurial spirit, Miller was inspired to blend her passion for fashion with a commitment to environmental responsibility. The brand name, "Kosta," reflects a commitment to constant quality and reliability. The swimwear is not only designed to look good but also to be a positive choice for the planet and the people who wear it.Miller's journey to establish Kosta Kini reflects determination and innovation. Despite the challenges of launching a brand at a young age, Miller remained focused on her goal of creating swimwear that aligns with her values. Her dedication to sustainable fashion is evident in every aspect of Kosta Kini, from design to production.Kosta Kini aims to encourage a more mindful approach to fashion consumption. By offering versatile swimwear that is reversible and can be mixed and matched in design, the brand promotes reducing waste and maximizing the use of each piece, allowing customers to create multiple looks from a single purchase. "By creating swimwear that can be worn in different ways, we give our customers the freedom to explore their personal style and feel confident in their bodies. It's about loving yourself and loving the planet at the same time." About Kosta KiniKosta Kini is a Los Angeles-based swimwear brand dedicated to sustainability, quality, and style. The brand aims to provide reliable and eco-friendly swimwear that customers can feel good about wearing. For more information, visit www.kostakini.com For more information about Kosta Kini, please contact:Jordan HayesPublicist pr@ xyzmediaco.com Kosta Kini www.kostakini.com SOURCE: Kosta Kini
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 19:30:45
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G.J. Gardner Homes and the Gary Sinise Foundation team up to give a U.S. Marine a better quality of life and more independence.LAKELAND, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / G.J. Gardner Homes Lakeland has partnered with the Gary Sinise Foundation to design a specially adapted, mortgage-free smart home for U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal John "JT" Doody, a severely wounded Tampa veteran.Family, Builder and Foundation Family, Builder and Foundation gather for ground breakingThe foundation's R.I.S.E. (Restoring Independence, Supporting Empowerment) provides post-9/11 defenders with 100% mortgage-free homes designed better to support the needs of wounded, disabled veterans and first responders.Doody joined the Marines in 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in 2007. While bravely serving our country, he sustained severe injuries that later led to a debilitating bacterial infection that caused a severe brain injury, quadriplegia, and cognitive blindness.Doody has shown incredible resilience and strength in overcoming his medical challenges and adapting to his new reality. His mother, Christina, is his full-time caregiver, helping JT with everyday tasks he can't manage independently."A smart home would make our lives so much easier," said Christina. Although I am in good shape, I will only continue to age while John will still need to be cared for." Through custom designs and smart home technology, these veterans and their families can attain a better quality of life, independence, and autonomy. So far, over 90 homes have been completed or broken ground across the country."We are incredibly proud to be part of this initiative and to contribute to giving back to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom," said G.J. Gardner Homes Lakeland Franchise Owner Mitch Reiter. "Building homes is about building community, and this program is a great way to spread that mission." ABOUT G.J. GARDNER HOMESSince its founding in 1983, G.J. Gardner Homes has built over 40,000 quality, customized homes worldwide. The company has over 120 franchises across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Each franchise is locally owned and operated, with strong ties to the community and a dedication to service and quality. The Lakeland location specializes in custom homes, knockdown rebuilds, and accessory dwelling units in various styles.ABOUT THE GARY SINISE FOUNDATIONGary Sinise is an award-winning actor and humanitarian, best known for his roles in CSI:NY, Apollo 13, and Forrest Gump as Lt. Dan Taylor. An advocate for our nation's defenders since the 1980s, after 9/11, Sinise began supporting America's military and first responders with handshake tours and concerts with his Lt. Dan Band. In 2011, he established the Gary Sinise Foundation. Today, the Foundation builds custom homes for severely wounded heroes, supports the families of the fallen, provides essential equipment for first responders, and improves the mental wellness of our defenders. For more information and to support, visit www.garysinisefoundation.org Contact InformationSteve BairManagerlakeland@ gjgardner.com (863) 869-2526SOURCE: G.J. Gardner HomesView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 15:01:26
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Lucia Howell Vargas joins online gallery MIRAME Fine Art, showcasing Costa Rican art for sale.SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / MIRAME Fine Art, the premier online Costa Rican art gallery dedicated to promoting the nation's finest artists, proudly celebrates the work of artist Howell Vargas. Promoting the nation's rich cultural heritage, MIRAME Fine Art connects artists with art lovers worldwide.Lucia Howell Vargas, Untitled #1 Acrylic on Canvas Lucia Howell Vargas: A Journey of Dance and Visual ArtMIRAME Fine Art is thrilled to represent Howell Vargas, an artist whose dance background influences her work in Costa Rican contemporary art. Based in San Jose, Howell Vargas blends performance and visual arts, offering a fresh perspective in the art scene.With over a decade of dance experience, Howell Vargas has collaborated with renowned choreographers like Maria Amalia Pendones and Vanessa de la O. This deep connection between movement and music enriches her artistic practice, setting her apart as an exciting figure among Costa Rican painters.Dance as a Source of InspirationHowell Vargas' dance training has given her an understanding of the relationship between the body and space, which she translates into her visual art. The fluidity and energy of movement infuse her art, inviting viewers to explore motion captured in static forms.Performance Art as an Immersive ExperienceHer performance art goes beyond visual spectacle, creating immersive experiences that engage viewers in critical thought. For example, in her performance of "Fangal (Bog)" at Cero Uno in San Jose, she performed in a striking black costume with tendrils, blurring reality and fantasy. The costume's color palette of black, grey, and flesh tones, transformed her into surreal, alien-like forms.Transformation of Everyday ObjectsHowell Vargas' artworks - ranging from paintings to mirror installations and glass sculptures - infuse mundane materials with new life. Her acrylic mirrors, shaped into forms like butterflies and alien motifs, interact with viewers, blending reality and imagination.Groundbreaking Exhibition at Craig Krull GalleryHowell Vargas' participation in "Seguimos" at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica marked a milestone for Costa Rican contemporary art. This exhibition highlighted Costa Rican artists in the U.S. for the first time, and Howell Vargas' video loop earned acclaim for its innovative blend of performance and visual art, showcasing the growing recognition of Central American art.Visit MIRAME Fine ArtLucia Howell Vargas brings a unique edge to the contemporary art scene through her blend of music, movement, and visual expression, enriching the Costa Rican contemporary art landscape.MIRAME Fine Art invites you to explore her work and experience the exciting intersection of dance and visual art. Discover her collection and celebrate her contributions to Costa Rican contemporary art.For more information about Lucia Howell Vargas and to explore our curated collection, visit MIRAME Fine Art's online gallery.Contact InformationBelinda SeppingsCo-Founderbelinda@ miramefineart.com +447821591397SOURCE: MIRAME Fine ArtView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 17:45:50
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New initiative aims to increase access to human donor milk, building the milk donor community and educating the public about its life-saving benefits.SAN JOSE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Mothers' Milk Bank California(MMB California), the oldest continuously operating independent nonprofit milk bank in the United States, celebrates a significant milestone of half a century dedicated to serving infants and families in need across the country.MMB has updated the name of the organization to include 'California' to honor its roots in the state. Central to MMB California's legacy is a network of more than 30nonprofit mothers' milk banksacross the United States and in Mexico that have followed the model MMB California established 50 years ago.Since 1974, Mothers' Milk Bank California has distributed 16 million ounces of human donor milk to some of the country's most at-risk babies. That's equivalent to filling 7 swimming pools with liquid gold. Our community of milk donors at MMB California is nearly 25,000 strong, supporting thousands of families in their times of need. The organization collaborates with a growing number of hospitals nationwide to provide safe, lifesaving nourishment to their tiniest patients. MMB California advances the milk banking industry through partnerships, research support, and advocacy for stringent health and safety guidelines."As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we reflect on the incredible journey of saving lives and supporting families. Our newMMB California Cares Programis a testament to our commitment to quality, efficiency, equity, and education. We are excited to continue our mission and expand our reach to ensure that every baby in need has access to safe donor milk," said Jennifer Benito-Kowalski, Chief Executive Officer of Mothers' Milk Bank California.Today, MMB California announced the launch of their 50th anniversary, MMB California Cares Program, along with their vision for the next 50 years. This initiative aims to build and strengthen the Milk Donor Community, highlighting the ongoing dedication to:Quality Assurance and Compliance: Upholding rigorous standards for processing and distributing donor human milk to ensure safety and efficacy.Efficiency and Excellence: Streamlining operations to maximize the impact of milk donations across our expanding network.Equity and Access Initiatives: Increasing access to donor human milk for all families in California and beyond.Education and Outreach Campaigns: Launching comprehensive programs to raise awareness about the life-saving benefits of donor human milk and foster community among donors and recipients.Alongside these initiatives, Mothers' Milk Bank California has unveiled a newly redesignedwebsite.Featuring enhanced navigation and user-friendly interfaces, the site provides resources for donors, healthcare providers, and families seeking support.About Mothers' Milk Bank CaliforniaFounded 50 years ago, Mothers' Milk Bank California is a leading nonprofit dedicated to providing screened, donated human milk to babies in need. As a founding member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), it helped set standards for nonprofit milk banks across North America. The organization collects, pasteurizes, and distributes safe human milk to hospitals and families, ensuring essential nutrition for infants. Committed to improving lives, Mothers' Milk Bank California supports families and advances neonatal care.For more information about Mothers' Milk Bank California, our initiatives, and to explore our new website, please visitMothersMilk.org . For media inquiries, contact: Angelica Rojas at D: (877) 375-6645 ext. 4 | E: angelica.rojas@MothersMilk.org Founded 50 years ago, Mothers' Milk Bank California is a leading nonprofit dedicated to providing screened, donated human milk to babies in need. As a founding member of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), it helped set standards for nonprofit milk banks across North America. The organization collects, pasteurizes, and distributes safe human milk to hospitals and families, ensuring essential nutrition for infants. Committed to improving lives, Mothers' Milk Bank California supports families and advances neonatal care.Contact DetailsMothers' Milk Bank CaliforniaJennifer Benito-Kowalski+1 408-831-7276jbenito@ mothersmilk.org Company WebsiteSOURCE: THE MOTHERS' MILK BANK
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 23:30:39
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Adjusted EBITDA reached US$ 200 million, up by 64% quarter-over-quarter and 180% year-over-year, mainly due to higher sales volume, higher zinc prices, improved margins at Aripuana and higher by-products contribution.Net revenues increased to US$ 736 million from US$ 627 million in 2Q23 and US$ 580 million in 1Q24, driven by higher LME metal prices in both cases, increased mining sales volume year-over-year, and increased smelting sales volume quarter-over-quarter.LUXEMBOURG / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Nexa Resources, one of the world's leading zinc producers, achieved solid financial performance in 2Q24. Adjusted EBITDA reached US$ 200 million, an increase of 64% from the previous quarter and 180% from the same period last year. This growth was primarily driven by increased by-products contribution, improved margins at Aripuana, and higher zinc prices. In 1H24, Adjusted EBITDA amounted to US$323 million, up by 58% compared to the same period a year ago.Additionally, net revenues for the quarter increased to US$ 736 million, up from US$ 580 million in 1Q24 and US$ 627 million in 2Q23. This increase was driven by higher LME metal prices in both cases, increased mining sales volume year-over-year, and increased smelting sales volume quarter-over-quarter. Over the first six months of 2024, net revenues reached US$ 1,316 million, rising by 2% compared to the first half of the previous year.Moreover, Nexa reported free cash flow of US$ 149 million in 2Q24, primarily due to the issuance of an ESG-Linked debenture. The issuance amounted to R$ 650 million (approximately US$ 130 million) and was part of Nexa's strategy to extend its debt maturity profile and optimize its financial structure.In 2Q24, the net loss was US$ 69 million compared to US$ 103 million in 2Q23 and US$ 11 million in 1Q24. The quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly due to accounting adjustments associated with impairment losses, changes in the fair value of offtake agreements, adjustments to asset retirement obligations, and increased exploration and project evaluation expenses."We are pleased to report a favorable second quarter of 2024, highlighting our continued operational efficiency, increased production, improved margins at our Aripuana mine, and disciplined capital allocation supported by higher zinc prices. Our ability to adapt to market dynamics has led to enhanced execution across our operations," said Ignacio Rosado, CEO of Nexa Resources.During 2Q24, Nexa's investments in sustaining CAPEX totaled US$ 64 million. This includes US$ 10 million allocated to Aripuana and Health, Safety, and Environment initiatives. These investments reflect Nexa's ongoing commitment to enhancing productivity, efficiency, and performance across operations and corporate areas, while also prioritizing the safety of its employees.Operational PerformanceIn 2Q24, Nexa's zinc production totaled 83,000 tons, representing a 2% year-over-year increase, mainly due to higher average zinc grades, despite a 5% quarter-over-quarter decrease. The quarterly decrease was primarily attributed to lower volumes from the Peruvian mines and the absence of contributions from Morro Agudo in May and June, following the cessation of mining operations on April 30, 2024, due to the divestment of this mine. This divestment was part of Nexa's portfolio optimization strategy to improve cash flow generation and returns. As of today, the Company reiterates its 2024 consolidated production guidance for all metals.Furthermore, copper production reached 10,000 tons, up by 13% from 2Q23 and 30% from 1Q24, driven by higher average grades, particularly from Cerro Lindo. Lead production totaled 17,000 tons, up 5% year-over-year and down 8% quarter-over-quarter, mainly attributed to the absence of contributions from Morro Agudo in May and June 2024. Silver production was 2.8 million ounces, up 8% year-over-year and relatively flat compared to the previous quarter.In the smelting segment, zinc metal and oxide production totaled 152,000 tons in 2Q24, up by 3% year-over-year and 10% quarter-over-quarter. This increase was mainly driven by higher volumes at the Cajamarquilla and Juiz de Fora smelters, attributed to improved performance in the roasters, which enhanced production stability in the period."We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of our industry, and we are prepared to capitalize on new opportunities in our operations, always striving to create shared value for all our stakeholders and the communities in which we operate," added Mr. Rosado.Growth strategy and asset portfolioIn 2Q24, Nexa made significant progress on the main work fronts of the Cerro Pasco Integration Project. Support activities, including technical reviews and environmental studies and permits, are also advancing as expected. This project has the potential to unlock significant value for the Company and is anticipated to be submitted for final approval to our Board in the upcoming months.Additionally, in line with Nexa's review of its assets, portfolio optimization, and efficient capital allocation, the Company initiated a structured process to sell its non-operational Peruvian subsidiary, Minera Pampa de Cobre S.A.C (owner of the Chapi mine asset) and the greenfield project Pukaqaqa."We will maintain focus on our priorities, including the improvement of Aripuana's performance, the development of the Cerro Pasco Integration Project, delivering on guidance, extending the life of our mines, and consistently improving our cash generation," said Mr. Rosado.ESG UpdateIn early May, Nexa implemented key initiatives to boost safety practices, reinforce leadership oversight, and reduce risk exposure as part of a structured 30-day, 90-day, and 180-day safety plan. This plan aims to further improve the solid safety system already in place. "At Nexa, the safety of our people and operations remains our topmost priority. We are committed to ensuring safe operations in our facilities and continue to invest in strengthening the organization-wide safety framework," stated Mr. Rosado.In terms of Nexa's ESG strategy, the 2Q24 was also marked by several key initiatives:As part of Nexa's circular economy initiatives, the Company completed its first commercial sale transaction involving 26.4 tons of waste material (manganese dioxide - MnO2) from the Tres Marias smelter. This project aims to sell significant amounts of waste from its smelters by developing partnerships and evaluating viable technologies and trade routes for these materials.Nexa signed a three-year collaboration agreement with the National University
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 23:25:32
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CALGARY, AB AND SAN ANTONIO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Nexera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture:NGY)(OTC PINK:EMBYF) (the "Corporation", the "Company" or "Nexera") is providing a bi-weekly default status report (the "Default Status Report") in accordance with National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders ("NP 12-203").On July 16, 2024, the Company announced (the "Default Announcement") that, for the reasons disclosed in the Default Announcement, the filing of its annual financial statements, accompanying management discussion and analysis and related CEO and CFO certifications for the year-ended March 31, 2024 (the "Annual Filings") would not be completed by the prescribed filing deadline.Management of the Company is currently the subject of a management cease trade order ("MCTO") in regards to these Annual Filings, as granted by its principal regulator, the Alberta Securities Commission. The MCTO restricts all trading in securities of the Company, whether direct or indirect, by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company until such time as the Annual Filings have been filed by the Company. The MCTO does not affect the ability of shareholders who are not insiders of the Company to trade their securities.The Company's board of directors and its management confirms that they are working expeditiously to meet the Company's filing obligations and expect to file the Annual Filings on or before September 13, 2024.As required by the alternative information guidelines specified by NP 12-203, the Company reports that since the Default Announcement and any subsequent press release disclosure there have not been any changes to the information set out in the Default Announcement that would reasonably be expected to be material to an investor nor any failure by the Company to fulfill its intentions as stated therein with respect to satisfying the provisions of the alternative information guidelines, and there are no additional defaults or anticipated defaults subsequent to the disclosure therein, other than the delay in filing the Annual Filings. Further, there is no additional material information concerning the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed and there are no insolvency proceedings against the Company as of the date of this Default Status Report.Until the Annual Filings have been filed, the Company intends to continue to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines set out in NP 12-203 by issuing bi-weekly default status reports in the form of further press releases, which will also be filed on SEDAR. To the extent applicable, the Company is scheduled to file its next default status report in two weeks from the date hereof.For further information, please contact:Nexera Energy Inc. President, Shelby D. Beattie, by telephone at (403) 262-6000Email: info@ nexeraenergy.comwww.nexeraenergy.com About Nexera Energy Inc.Nexera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture:NGY) is an energy company with oil producing properties in Southwest Texas. Nexera is owner and operator of the Lavernia, Wooden Horse and Stockdale Horizon Projects. The Company also now owns 100% of Production Resources Inc., a South Texas oil company.Forward Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein relating to the timing of the filing of financial statements constitutes forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Nexera Energy, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 13:01:20
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Signal Gold Inc. ("Signal Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:SGNL)(OTCQB:SGNLF) is pleased to announce that it has received the Crown Land Lease and Licence Letter of Offer ("Letter of Offer") for the Goldboro Project, shortly after receiving its Mineral Lease, as announced by the Company on July 29 2024. The Letter of Offer covers the Crown Land surface area associated with the proposed site infrastructure for the Goldboro Project and includes a total of 2,165 hectares of Crown Lands. The Letter of Offer was issued by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables ("NSDNRR") and is subject to certain standard conditions, including a survey of the related land area and a formal Cabinet approval.The Company continues to progress in the regulatory approval process including with respect to the Industrial Approval ("IA"), which was submitted in August 2023 and for which the Company is actively addressing questions and feedback from the provincial regulators. Additionally, the Federal permitting process is also advancing. The Company entered the Duty to Consult phase for the Fisheries Act Authorization and Schedule 2 Amendment of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations in Spring 2024, and recently concluded the public comment period on July 27, 2024. Signal Gold previously received the Environmental Approval for the Goldboro Project on August 2, 2022."We are very pleased to have received the Letter of Offer from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. This marks the second material Provincial permit this week, having recently received the Mineral Lease for the Goldboro Project while we actively address questions and feedback on the IA application. Federally, the public consultation period has now concluded by the Federal authorities and we are pleased with feedback received during the latest comment period. Throughout both the Provincial and Federal permitting process, Signal Gold remains committed to ongoing engagement with our stakeholder and Rightsholder groups in an open, inclusive, and constructive manner, and their concerns and interests play a critical role in the way we have designed and will develop the Goldboro Project." ~Kevin Bullock, President and CEO, Signal Gold Inc.ABOUT SIGNAL GOLDSignal Gold is advancing the Goldboro Gold Project in Nova Scotia, a significant growth project subject to a positive Feasibility Study which demonstrates an approximately 11-year open pit life of mine with average gold production of 100,000 ounces per annum and an average diluted grade of 2.26 grams per tonne gold. (Please see the NI 43-101 Technical Report and Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold Project, Eastern Goldfields District, Nova Scotia' on January 11, 2022, for further details). On August 3, 2022, the Goldboro Project received its environmental assessment approval from the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change, a significant regulatory milestone, and the Company has now submitted all key permits including the Industrial Approval, Fisheries Act Authorization and Schedule 2 Amendment, and the Mining and Crown Land Leases. The Goldboro Project has significant potential for further Mineral Resource expansion, particularly towards the west along strike and at depth, and the Company has consolidated 28,525 hectares (~285 km2) of prospective exploration land in the Goldboro Gold District.This news release has been reviewed and approved by Kevin Bullock, P. Eng., President and CEO with Signal Gold Inc., a "Qualified Person", under National Instrument 43-101 Standard for Disclosure for Mineral Projects.FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:Signal Gold Inc.Kevin Bullock President and CEO(647) 388-1842 kbullock@ signalgold.com Reseau ProMarket Inc.Dany Cenac Robert Investor Relations(514) 722-2276 x456 Dany.Cenac-Robert@ReseauProMarket.com SOURCE: Signal Gold Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 13:56:54
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 31, 2024 /Tablas Ventures Corp. (TSXV: TAB.H) ("Tablas" or the "Company") announces that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement, in which it raised gross proceeds of $250,000.This placement consisted of 5,000,000 common shares of the Company at a price of five cents per common shares (the "Financing"). All common shares issued in connection with the Financing are subject to a hold period expiring December 01, 2024. No finder's fees were payable in connection with the Financing. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Financing for general working capital purposes.Subsequent to the Financing, the Company has 8,560,598 common shares issued and outstanding.Early Warning DisclosurePrior to closing of the Financing, The Emprise Special Opportunities Fund (2017) Limited Partnership ("LP2017"), of Vancouver, British Columbia, owned and controlled 75,846 Common Shares, representing approximately 2.13% of the outstanding Common Shares on a non-diluted basis. Pursuant to the Financing, LP2017 acquired 3,600,000 Common Shares at a price of $0.05 per Common Share, representing approximately 42.05% of the outstanding Common Shares on a non-diluted basis. Following closing of the Financing, LP2017 owns and controls 3,675,846 Common Shares, representing approximately 42.94% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis. Neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company after reasonable inquiry, LP2017, have knowledge of any material information concerning the Company or its securities which has not been generally disclosed.The Company has been advised that the securities noted above were acquired by LP2017 for investment purposes, and LP2017 does not have any present intention to acquire further securities of the Company, although it may, in the future, acquire or dispose of securities of the Company through the market or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions warrant.To obtain a copy of the early warning report filed under applicable Canadian provincial securities legislation, please go to the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or please reach out to Scott Ackerman at 778-331-8505.Sale of Sparx Technology Corp.Further to the Company's new release dated July 12, 2024, announcing the sale of its primary operating subsidiary, iPowow USA Inc., the Company also announces that it has completed the sale of its Canadian subsidiary, Sparx Technology Corp. ("Subco") to companies controlled by former directors Drew Craig and Brian Brady. Subco has no current operations. In consideration for the transaction the Company was forgiven all debt owed to the purchasers. The transaction was approved by the Company's non-interested shareholders at its shareholders meeting held on May 31, 2024.Management ChangesThe Company further announces that Scott Ackerman, Doug McFaul, and Peter Dickie have been appointed as directors of the Company, replacing Drew Craig, Brian Brady, and Andy Batkin, who have resigned as directors of the Company. In addition, Scott Ackerman has been appointed CEO, CFO and Corporate Secretary, replacing Al Thorgeirson and Spencer Trentini, who have resigned as officers of the Company. The Company wishes to thank the outgoing directors and officers for their service to the Company.Grant of OptionsThe Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 850,000 incentive stock options to directors and a consultant of the Company. The options have an exercise price of $0.05 per share and expire on July 31, 2029.The Company currently does not have an active business and will be seeking a new business opportunity, with a view to graduating back to the main board of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").Effective at the opening of trading on Friday, August 2, 2024, shares of the Company will resume trading on the NEX Board of the Exchange.On behalf of the BoardScott AckermanCEO and DirectorFor further information, please contact:Scott AckermanCEO and Director(778) 331-8508 sackerman@ emprisecapital.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsStatements included in this news release, including statements concerning the Company's plans, intentions, and expectations, which are not historical in nature, are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forwardlooking statements". Forwardlooking statements may be, but are not always, identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forwardlooking statements, and related matters, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forwardlooking statements. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement will prove to be accurate or that management's assumptions underlying such statements, including assumptions concerning the Company, or future developments, circumstances or results will materialize. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking information included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.SOURCE: Tablas Ventures Corp.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 22:55:21
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Tacora Resources Inc. ("Tacora") today announced that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a sale of the company in connection with Tacora's proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") on July 26, 2024. The transaction was made possible through the strategic efforts and financial backing of an investor group anchored by Cargill Incorporated, Millstreet Capital Management and O'Brien-Staley Partners. The target closing date of the transaction is August 30, 2024.Tacora Premium Concentrate: A Critical Mineral for the Green Steel Industry Tacora operates the Scully Mine located near Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and produces a premium quality high-grade iron ore concentrate, recently recognized and added to the critical minerals list in Canada and branded as Tacora Premium Concentrate or "TPC". The Scully Mine is capable of efficiently and sustainably producing and exporting over 6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of TPC. TPC is a critical mineral that is required by end-users to produce environmentally friendly steel and is an integral part of the decarbonization process for the green steel industry globally.Background and Transactions In 2022-2023, Tacora faced liquidity challenges due to capital constraints, excess leverage and legacy contracts necessitating the company to initiate CCAA proceedings. The investor group emerged as the successful bidder via a transaction that will provide an equity injection of US$250 million to allow Tacora to exit the CCAA with a well-capitalized balance sheet and a fully funded capital plan. Tacora has also entered into a new 10-year offtake agreement with Cargill at competitive market terms and restructured other contracts that will result in higher cash flow generation per tonne.Tacora will be led by an industry-leading executive management team aligned with a new board of directors consisting of two independent directors and representatives from each of Cargill, Millstreet and O'Brien-Staley Partners. Tacora and its investor group are committed to preserving the strong relationship that it has established with local and provincial governments, the Labrador West community, the United Steelworkers (USW) 6285 and all its suppliers and service providers.Heng Vuong, Tacora's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said "on behalf of all 460 Tacora Team Members, I would like to thank the investor group for their commitment to Tacora and for recognizing the tremendous value potential of the Scully Mine. We look forward to closely working together to execute on our business plan and achieve our stated goal of 6 Mtpa of high-grade iron ore concentrate." For more information on Tacora's reorganization and related investment opportunities, please visit our website at www.tacoraresources.com or contact Heng Vuong at heng.vuong@tacoraresources.com About Tacora Resources Inc. Tacora is a private company that is focused on the production and sale of high-grade and quality iron ore products that improve the efficiency and environmental performance of steel making and, subject to final process verification and economic assessment, the development of a high purity manganese product for advanced battery technology. The Company owns and operates the Scully Mine, an iron ore concentrate producer located near Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada with a production capacity of six million tonnes per year. Additional information about the Company is available at www.tacoraresources.com About Cargill Cargill is committed to providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions, and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Sitting at the heart of the supply chain, we partner with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver products that are vital for living.Our 160,000 team members innovate with purpose, providing customers with life's essentials so businesses can grow, communities, and consumers live well. With 159 years of experience as a family company, we look ahead while remaining true to our values. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing-today and for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.About Millstreet Capital Management LLC Millstreet Capital Management LLC is a Boston-based SEC-registered investment adviser with the goal to compound superior absolute returns that are uncorrelated to traditional asset classes. The objective of Millstreet is to exploit the inefficiencies within the small-to-mid cap segment of the High Yield and Leveraged Loan markets. The Firm focuses primarily on this segment of the market, investing in a range of opportunities anywhere from new issues, the secondary market, and distressed situations. For additional information please visit www.millstreet.com About O'Brien-Staley Partners O'Brien-Staley Partners is a world-class value-investing firm that specializes in US financial industry dislocation. E. Gerald O'Brien (former head of CarVal Investors global loan portfolios) and Warren Staley (retired chairman of Cargill, Inc.) are the firm's founders. Through them, O'Brien-Staley Partners is imbued with the core value investment discipline, risk management and governance DNA that has long been recognized as hallmarks of their personal and professional brands. With these roots, and based in the Twin Cities, the firm attracts key financial professionals with similar pedigrees and deep market awareness to specialize in commercial & industrial loans, commercial real estate credits, and other banking situations. Additional information at www.osp-group.com SOURCE: Tacora Resources Inc
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-01 13:01:00
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 /Torq Resources Inc. (TSX-V:TORQ)(OTCQB:TRBMF) ("Torq" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that as of July 31, 2024 it has entered into a non-binding term sheet (the "Term Sheet") with an affiliate of Gold Fields Limited ("Gold Fields") with respect to a proposed option and joint venture agreement to advance the exploration and development of Torq's Santa Cecilia copper-gold project in Chile (the "Option Agreement"). Under the Option Agreement, Gold Fields is to be granted a two-stage option to acquire up to a 75% interest in the Santa Cecilia Project in exchange for incurring an aggregate of US$48 million in spending at the project over a maximum of 6 years.The Santa Cecilia mineral exploration project ("Santa Cecilia Project") is a 3,250-hectare property located approximately 100km east of the city of Copiapo, Chile, in the southern region of the world-class Maricunga belt and immediately north of the El Indio belt. Under the Term Sheet, the parties intend to negotiate and execute a definitive Option Agreement within a timeframe to allow for consideration by Torq's shareholders for approval at Torq's 2024 annual general meeting anticipated to be held in mid-November 2024.Neither party will be bound to proceed with the transactions contemplated by the Term Sheet unless and until such time as the definitive Option Agreement is executed. Execution of the Option Agreement remains subject to completion by Gold Fields of its legal and technical due diligence which is presently in its advanced stage.Gold Fields is a "related party" to the Company, as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") due to its 15.5% ownership position in Torq. Accordingly, the transactions contemplated by the Option Agreement will constitute "related party transactions" under MI 61-101 and Torq will require the approval of its shareholders (which are not related to Gold Fields) to proceed with these transactions. Torq expects to convene a meeting of its shareholders to approve the Option Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein to be held in November 2024 if the Option Agreement is executed within the anticipated time frame. The proposed transaction will also be subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.A Message from Shawn Wallace, CEO & Chair:"We have been working with Gold Fields on Santa Cecilia since we acquired the asset. We are in agreement with what is needed to unlock the mineral potential of this very exciting asset.As a strategic investor in Torq, we believe this option with Gold Fields is the best way to advance the project for Torq in the current market conditions. The proposed option terms and intended exploration programme schedule will see significant new investment in the project in a timely manner.The Option Agreement best positions the Company and its shareholders to capitalize on both the Santa Cecilia Project with a major partner as well as focus on the highly prospective Margarita project where there is encouraging copper and gold grades from surface and excellent access to infrastructure. The Margarita project offers near term, expansive discovery potential that is both near surface and in a favorable location." Key TermsThe Term Sheet contemplates that Torq will grant to Gold Fields an initial option (the "Stage 1 Option") to acquire up to a 51% interest in the Santa Cecilia Project as follows:Gold Fields must fund an aggregate of US$18 million of exploration expenditures, property payments and any other direct or allocated expenses related to the project within the first 30 months from formal closing under the Option Agreement;Gold Fields must invest at least US$6 million in connection with the Stage 1 Option (the "Minimum Commitment");Gold Fields will receive a 10% interest in the Santa Cecilia Project (the "Initial Interest") upon completing the Minimum Commitment; andupon the completion of the Minimum Commitment, Gold Fields will have the option to earn an additional 41% interest in the Santa Cecilia Project upon completion the balance of US$12 million of exploration expenditures within the balance of the 30-month Stage 1 Option period.If Gold Fields acquires the Initial Interest but notifies Torq that it does not wish to complete the Stage 1 Option, Torq will have the right to purchase the Initial Interest back from Gold Fields for US$6 million at any time within 48 months of the date of notification.If Gold Fields satisfies the Stage 1 Option, it will have a further option (the "Stage 2 Option") to acquire an additional 24% interest in the Santa Cecilia Project by funding an additional aggregate of US$30 million and the option period will be extended by 42 months (for a cumulative option period of 6 years). If Gold Fields does not complete the Stage 2 Option by the expiry of the option period (as extended) or elects not to complete these expenditures, the Stage 2 Option will terminate and Gold Fields will retain its 51% interest. Gold Fields may choose to make a cash payment to Torq in lieu of any of its Stage 1 or 2 project spending commitments.Torq and Gold Fields will establish a joint venture for the exploration and development of the Santa Cecilia Project (the "Joint Venture") upon the earlier of:completion by Gold Fields of the Minimum Commitment to earn a 10% interest, followed by an election by Gold Fields not to complete the Stage 1 Option;having completed the Minimum Commitment and elected to proceed with the completion of the exercise of the Stage 1 Option, Gold Fields fails to complete the exercise of the Stage 1 Option;after completing the Stage 1 Option, Gold Fields determining not to proceed with the Stage 2 Option;having completed the exercise of the Stage 1 Option and elected to proceed with the exercise of the Stage 2 Option, Gold Fields fails to complete the exercise of the Stage 2 Option; andthe completion by Gold Fields of the exercise of the Stage 2 Option.The Joint Venture will be governed by a joint venture agreement to be incorporated within the definitive Option Agreement that will provide for the joint management of the Santa Cecilia Project (the "JVSA"). It is anticipated the JVSA will be governed by Chilean law and provide for customary provisions regarding management of the Santa Cecilia Project through a management committee with voting rights proportional to each party's interests, approval of annual programs and budgets, rights to participate on board-approved programs and budgets, dilution for non-participation, super-majority approval of extraordinary matters, restrictions on transfer and agreements relating to the project operator. Torq will rem
The construction of two Italian migrant reception centres in Albania that were initially set to open last May is still underway, with no clear opening date in sight and with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni now announcing another postponement, the controversial centres are now unlikely to open before the end of this year.
The centres are part of a five-year agreement under which Albania has agreed to host migrant reception facilities funded and managed by Italian authorities.
Forza Italia MEP Flavio Tosi told Euronews that the opening should take place by the end of the year, in line with certain construction and bureaucratic timelines. While acknowledging that the upfront costs of the centres are substantial, running to several million euros, the real cost of illegal migration includes prevention measures and the use of the Coast Guard.
"Migrants in Italy cost around 1,000 a month, so the price to pay to open these facilities is irrelevant compared to the overall cost to manage migration as a whole," he said.
The controversial Italian-Albanian plan has faced significant criticism, but the Italian government insists it is a necessary measure to curb illegal immigration and relieve pressure on existing Italian reception centres.
Under the agreement, Albania will host up to 36,000 asylum seekers annually on behalf of Italy while Italian authorities will examine their cases to determine eligibility for repatriation.
Some organisations and opposition parties argue that the plan violates basic human rights. Riccardo Noury, spokesperson for Amnesty International Italy, said his organisation has serious worries about the plan itself and the overall European trend towards shifting the responsibility for processing migrant people's claims.
People gather on the beach near a migrant centre in the port of Shengjin, northwest Albania. - Vlasov Sulaj/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved
We are very concerned about the externalisation of migration policies and how its being implemented," he told Euronews. "The plan seems to imply the automatic detention of migrants for long periods, which breaches international law.
"Most of these people will be classified as ineligible for international protection and will be sent back to their countries. This deal is cruel and aims to discourage migrants by violating their rights.
In response to these concerns, Tosi said that Albanias EU accession process ensures that human rights will be respected. He also highlighted the importance of strengthening relations with some of the countries of departure, particularly in Africa.
The outsourcing option
The externalisation of asylum procedures is gaining traction among EU member states. Francesco Cherubini, Professor of EU Law at Luiss University, explained that these policies first began gaining traction with the 2015 crisis in the Mediterranean.
The externalisation of migration policies is a model that has convinced several Member States due to its many advantages," he told Euronews. "It is very effective because it prevents migrants from being directly under the authority of the final European country of arrival, which entails respecting fundamental rights that might pose political consensus issues.
Cherubini also pointed out that this approach has at least two major problems.
"The first one is that we hand the migrant over to a country like Libya or Turkey with issues being raised when it comes to their human rights," he said. "The other is the cost involved in implementing these policies."
Despite the controversies, the Italian model has garnered interest in other countries. Cherubini notes that before Italy, Great Britain did something similar with Rwanda. There are differences between the two, but in both cases, the level of cooperation with the third country is significant.
However, the UK's Rwanda policy faced major hurdles in domestic courts, and only a handful of people were sent to the African country on a voluntary basis. The recent change of government in London has seen the plan scrapped altogether.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-08-02 01:00:25
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Undefeated Texas Personal Injury Law FirmHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2024 / Zehl & Associates is pleased to announce that our law office recently recovered a $37.5 million dollar jury verdict for the family of a truck driver killed in an accident. Our trial lawyers Ryan Zehl, Matt Greenberg, and Mike Streich represented the family of the truck driver, Shamsher Singh, during a nine-day trial in the 160th District Court of Texas.Houston personal injury lawyer Ryan Zehl, undefeated Houston personal injury lawyer The Facts of the CaseMr. Singh, a loving husband and father of three, was a videographer who relocated his family from Italy to the U.S. in 2016. He became a long-distance truck driver to support his family.On the date of the accident, Mr. Singh was driving on I-635 West when his truck began to malfunction. He moved to the right shoulder to park his truck and examine the source of the mechanical issues. Shortly thereafter, a truck driver employed by the defendant collided with Mr. Singh's truck, resulting in fatal injuries to Mr. Singh. Zehl & Associates presented video evidence showing how other vehicles were able to avoid the truck, including another truck driver.Zehl & Associates presented extensive evidence from video depositions and other sources to the jury. Our trial team also utilized an accident reconstructionist who explained the circumstances surrounding the crash based on the damage to the vehicles and their positions. We also brought in an emergency medical doctor who detailed the pain and suffering Mr. Singh experienced in the last 15 to 20 minutes before he died.The VerdictAfter deliberations, the jury found the defendant 84% liable for Mr. Singh's death. The final judgment for the family of Mr. Singh will be approximately $37.5 million. This verdict was over 7x higher than the defendant's $5 million pre-trial settlement offer.Zehl & Associates remains undefeated in personal injury and truck accident cases. We are extremely proud to recover yet another eight-figure monetary award for a deserving client. Our personal injury lawyers have recovered billions in verdicts and settlements, including record-breaking awards. Our team has proven that it is willing to take on the largest trucking corporations and insurance companies - and win.Media Contact:Company Name: Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers - HoustonAddress: 2700 Post Oak Blvd #1000City: HoustonState: TexasZip: 77056Country: Harris CountyPhone: (713) 491-6064Contact InformationRyan ZehlHouston Personal Injury Lawyerzehlpersonalinjury@ gmail.com 713-491-6064SOURCE: Zehl & AssociatesView the original press release on newswire.com
African Central Bank Governors have convened in Abuja on Thursday to push for deeper intra-African trade and advocate for reforms to the global financial system, which it believes is skewed against the continent.
According to a statement by the leaders, the meeting, being hosted by Nigerias Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, is part of the African Caucus, an annual gathering that prepares input for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Banks annual meetings.
It said the central aim of the meeting, which is taking place from at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, is to address the imbalance within the global financial architecture.
This structure, according to African economic leaders, favours developed economies at the expense of developing nations, many of which are grappling with significant debt challenges.
The primary goal of the meeting is to address intra-African trade as a crucial catalyst for sustainable economic growth and to prepare input for the IMF and World Banks annual meetings, the statement read.
Keynote speakers include Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, James Garang, who has led reforms to integrate South Sudans financial system with the global order.
Several issues top our regional and global agenda today, including the realisation that our planet faces unprecedented existential threats; poverty is on the rise; and geoeconomic fragmentation is increasing.
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The effects of climate changefloods and droughtsand geopolitical conflicts pose significant risks and challenges for monetary policy globally, Mr Garang was quoted as saying.
African leaders such as President William Ruto of Kenya, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, and Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) President Benedict Oramah, have been vocal advocates for financial reforms.
They argue that the current international financial system unjustly labels Africa as a risky borrower despite its vast potential.
We need to transform this architecture to give Africa a fair chance to turn its immense potential into opportunity, President Ruto was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, Mr Garang had in November 2023, spearheaded a modernisation effort at the Bank of South Sudan, prioritising transparency and accountability.
The bank has undergone a restructuring to improve its ability to fulfil its mandate and strengthen its oversight of the financial sector.
Global public debt reached $313 trillion in 2023, with developing economies bearing a significant burden. According to United Nations figures, over a fifth of tax revenue in 25 developing countries went towards servicing external debt, leaving approximately 3.3 billion peoplearound 40 per cent of the global populationspending more on interest payments than on health or education.
Mr Adesina highlighted the need for financial reforms, stating, Africa needs $1.3 trillion annually to meet its sustainable development goals by 2030, but this cannot happen without a more responsive, inclusive, and accountable international financial system.
The African Caucus, established in 1963, aims to strengthen the voice of African Governors in the Bretton Woods Institutions on development issues pertinent to Africa.
Representing all 54 African countries, the Caucus meets twice yearly to consolidate views and convey them to the heads of the IMF and World Bank through a Memorandum.
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The release date of controversial cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment, has been revealed.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in April that Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced Bobrisky for Naira abuse.
The judge, who sentenced the cross-dresser without an option of fine, said his sentence would serve as a lesson for others abusing the Naira.
His jail term began on 24 March, coinciding with the day of his arrest.
In its Wednesday report, Punch newspaper said an impeccable prison source and Bobriskys lawyer, Ayo Olumofin, confirmed his impending release from the Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
Punch quoted the prison source as saying Bobrisky will be released on Monday, 5 August .
Furthermore, the paper stated that Mr Olumofin, who appeared in court for Bobrisky said, Yes, its about that time for him to be released. There is nothing specific that would be done during his release. I might not go. Im engaged outside Lagos. Maybe other lawyers will go. As I told you, I am not his original lawyer. I just did allocution for him.
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Lagos NCS speaks
In a phone interview with this newspaper on Wednesday evening, Rotimi Oladokun, spokesperson for the Lagos Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), said he could not confirm the cross-dressers impending release.
Mr Oladokun stated that the Correctional Services policy prohibits disclosing an inmates release date.
He said: Due to privacy reasons I cant confirm what you see in reports. We have privacy regarding persons custody, so I cannot confirm or deny that. So you can call the National PRO to confirm that. Im giving you a response, but its your right to ask. If I have the National PRO contact Ill send it to you, but as the Lagos State spokesperson, I have told you, because of reasons, I cannot confirm or deny the date of release of an inmate.
They are privileged information to the inmate and to his family. Its not because its the particular inmate you mentioned, its just general policy. So, its left for him if he has invited his family or members that want to do a party for him, if and when hes released, thats a different thing. So, from the service, we cannot comment on that. That is just it.
Appeal
This newspaper reported on 22 April that Bobrisky filed a notice of appeal to challenge the six-month sentence imposed on him by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The crossdresser in the appeal filed by his counsel, Bimbo Kusanu, prayed the court to set aside the sentence and replace it with an option of a N50,000 fine for each count.
Bobriskys counsel stated in the notice of appeal that the trial court imposed the sentence on his client, who had no prior criminal convictions.
He added that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) provided for the imposition of a lesser sentence.
Background
On 5 April, the EFCC arraigned the crossdresser on six counts on money laundering and other related offences and he was convicted.
However, during the hearing, Justice Awogboro dismissed counts five and six, related to money laundering, leaving counts one to four.
Bobriskys case was similar to actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, who was convicted for spraying and trampling on new Naira notes at a Lagos wedding.
A video clip showing Ms Omoseyin spraying new Naira notes at a Lekki wedding on 28 January 2023, went viral, leading to her arrest on 1 February 2023.
Ms Omoseyin was sentenced to six months in prison or a N300,000 fine by Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke on 2 February.
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Thousands of Nigerians are expected to commence ten days of nationwide protests today.
The organisers, many of them young people, say they are frustrated by the countrys economic conditions and have vowed days of rage in demonstrations.
With momentum soaring on and offline, the Nigerian government fears a replay of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest which started peacefully but turned violent.
President Bola Tinubu has said he recognises the right to peaceful protests. Still, his administration is wary of the dangers associated with demonstrations that are vulnerable to being hijacked by criminals.
While the president has begged the youth to shelve the protest, some senior administration officials labelled the protests as unwarranted and politically motivated.
Organisers of the protests are calling for the reversal of the fuel price hike, the restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the reduction of import duties to their previous rates.
The groups also demand the reversal of many institutions hikes in tertiary education fees. They are also demanding full transparency and accountability in governance, including the public disclosure and reduction of public officials salaries and allowances and an emergency fund to support SMEs.
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The State Security Service (SSS) alleged that the protests were intended to undermine the government and plunge the country into chaos. Also, the Nigerian Army warned that the protests could lead to anarchy and has promised to take proactive measures to maintain control.
The stance of Nigerian government officials and security agencies regarding the planned nationwide protests has raised serious concerns.
Activists said the officials rhetorics suggest a troubling readiness to stifle dissent, heightening fears of a violent crackdown.
PREMIUM TIMES will bring you live updates of the protests from many states in Nigeria.
Follow the live updates here.
8:20 a.m: Abuja roads are deserted with only a few cars plying the always-busy Umaru Musa YarAdua Expressway, popularly known as Airport Road.
8:24 a.m: A police van is seen at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja. There are no protesters at the stadium.
8:31 a.m: Armoured Personnel Carrier with soldiers and police operatives seen protect the entry into the Three-Arms Zone. The zone is where the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the Aso Villa are located.
Some protesters are gathered at the entrance of the MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja singing anti-government songs.
Security operatives are present.
Dozens of protesters are gathered at the Ikeja underbridge in Lagos. They are singing and dancing and are expected to march from there to other parts of Ikeja.
8:31 am: There are no protesters at the Eagles Square, a public venue the government earlier said would not be made available to protesters. There was, however, a heavy presence of soldiers and police officers at the venue.
At 9 oclock, Abuja protesters at the entrance of the MKO Abiola stadium were told by the police to go inside. They refused, saying the road was a public road and they were going to stay there to continue their protest.
I didnt say you shouldnt protest but carry all yourselves inside there, the head of the police team said
The police chief said there is a court order that the Abuja protest be held inside the stadium, and the protesters are violating it.
Take It Back Movement led by lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju are carrying out the protest at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The FCT Police Commissioner, Ben Igwe, said the protesters are disobeying court orders that they should protest inside the stadium and not outside. The protesters disagree
Many offices in the Abuja city centre, like Wuse, Wuse 2, and Central Area, are shut, and the streets are empty. Residents appear to be uncertain of how the protests will proceed and have chosen to stay at home. The entrances to the city centre, like Berger and AYA, are also heavily militarized with armed police officers and soldiers.
9:35 a.m: No Protest protesters arrive in three long buses.
They carried No protest placards written on cardboards.
9:45 am: In Abuja, popular protest centres, like the Eagle Square and Unity Fountain, have been blocked by security operatives and heavily militarised. There are no protesters there. The main protest is at the MKO Abuja stadium where protesters have rejected the police directive to move into the stadium.
10.27 a.m: Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja
So far, the protest at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja has been peaceful. The police have focused on crowd control and preventing traffic congestion.
10:17 a.m: More protesters arrive the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja. They tried to block the road but the police guided them away from the road to allow for free flow of traffic, which is now increasing.
10:32 a.m., Protesters are now marching from Moshood Abiola Stadium to the Eagle Square, Abuja.
10:45 a.m. Protesters are still on thier way to the Eagle Square. They are close to the National Hospital, Abuja.
10:56 a.m.Members of a group opposed to the protest have joined the protesters as the latter march to Eagles Square from the Moshood Abiola Stadium.
10:48 Lagos protesters are marching from Ikeja to Ojota chanting slogans demanding an end to bad governance.
There is heavy presence of mobile police and anti-riot police officials.
Tension at Gombe Metropolitan Street protests
What started as a peaceful demonstration quickly escalated into a heated protest on Gombe Metropolitan Street, as hundreds of residents joined the protest.
The protesters had gathered in the early hours, carrying placards and chanting slogans demanding immediate action from the state and federal governments to end the economic hardship.
However, the demonstration has remained largely peaceful.
11:36 a.m. Protesters have arrived at the Federal Secretarait from the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
11:45 a.m. Police are firing teargas canisters at the protesters as they (protesters) arrived the Federal Secretariat near the Eagles Square.
11:56 am: Protest turns rowdy as police fire teargas at protesters at the three arms zone
In Taraba, the protesters, mostly children and young people, took to the streets of Jalingo, the state capital.
Armed with placards and banners, the protesters converged at the Ministry of Works roundabout and marched towards the flyover.
The demonstrators shouted in Hausa, Tinubu-Shettima bamuyi, meaning we dont want Tinubu and Shettima.
There was little human and vehicular movement as of 12 noon in the area.
Shop owners at the Jalingo market and Hammaruwa Road closed their shops.
The police have dispersed another set of protesters in Abuja. Dozens of protesters were gathered and marching at the NYSC junction in Kubwa when police fired tear gas at them at about 12:40 p.m.
Additional military reinforcements have been deployed along the road leading to the Presidential Villa, also known as Aso Rock.
On the bridge leading into the Three Arms Zone, the military have blocked the entire road with barbed wire.
In addition to the barricade, they have also deployed an Armoured Personnel Carrier with its gun aimed at the protesters.
12: 26 p.m. the protesters are chanting and marching towards the police that they are hungry.
12:21 p.m. The protesters are marching towards the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
1:14 p.m: An helicopter sighted hovering around the Central Business District, Abuja.
1:38 p.m.: The protesters, initially dispersed by the police with tear gas on Kubwa Express, have regrouped and are now marching towards NNPC Kubwa, Abuja.
Earlier, at about 1:19 p.m., the police cleared the bonfire set up by the protesters on the road.
Workers desert the Federal Secretariat on Shehu Shagari Way and the Federal Ministry of Finance as protest continues in Abuja.
1:39 p.m: Protesters throw stones at police as they fired tear gas. The protest had relatively gone calm before this sudden resurgence.
1:35 p.m., the police fired tear gas canisters, pushing protesters towards the office of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCDA).
1:59 pm: Again, security operatives fire tear gas to disperse protesters in Kubwa, Abuja.
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By Paul Ejime
Global PR firm, PRovoke Media, has listed Anthony Chiejina, group head of corporate communications, Dangote Industries Limited, as one of the 100 most influential communications and marketing executives in the world in 2024, and for the fourth consecutive year.
Mr Chiejina was among the 100 influencers for 2021, 2022, and 2023, and shares the 2024 illustrious list with global communications, brand and marketing executives such as Bea Perez, executive vice president (EVP), global chief communications, sustainability & strategic partnerships officer, Coca-Cola; Andreas Bartels; head of communications, Lufthansa; AJ Jones; EVP, chief corporate affairs officer, Starbucks, and Steve John, chief communications & brand officer, HSBC.
Unveiling the list for 2024, PRovoke Media said, that against the backdrop of major geopolitical, economic, societal, cultural and environmental upheaval around the world, corporations and brands continue to face intense consumer, media and stakeholder scrutiny, even as their senior communications and marketing executives are expected to deliver more than ever, faster than ever.
It noted: Meanwhile, smart CEOs recognise that trusted communications counsel is not only integral to reputation and transformation but is business-critical in such uncertain times and the 100 names on our 2024 list provide ample evidence of this recognition.
In terms of demography, 44% of the 100 Influencers are new entrants this year, although a handful are re-entries who are now in different high-profile roles, PRoke Media said, adding: Unsurprisingly, CMOs, CCOs and corporate affairs chiefs based in the Americas remain dominant, making up 50% of the list, the same as last year.
Asia Pacific representation is about the same as last year, at 12%, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa, make up 38% of this years cohort.
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Of these, European leaders constitute 28%, (including 11% from the dominant regional UK market), and Middle East and North Africa representation at 10%, the PR firm said, explaining that Overall, 20 countries are represented in the 2024 data, demonstrating the global reach and power of the communications industry.
The gender ratio of the 100 influencers for 2024 is 59% female and 41% male.
PRovoke Medias senior editorial team compiles the list every year based on research and external nominations, according to the following criteria:
The nominees status within their organisations, as well as the profile and topicality of those organisations. Only one person can be selected from each company.
The nominees influence over the PR agencies where they work, and the budget they control.
Their thought leadership within and occasionally beyond the communications industry, and their reputation for innovation, and gender balance and racial diversity, as well as geographical spread.
Also, on the list this year are Abhinav Kumar, global chief marketing officer, TCS; Alex Aiken, communications advisor, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Allyson Park, chief communications officer, Walmart; Amy Bonitatibus, chief corporate affairs & communications officer, PayPal.
Other include Zenia Mucha, chief brand & communications officer TikTok; Vanessa Broadhurst, EVP, global corporate affairs, Johnson & Johnson; Valerie Tan, SVP corporate communications, CSR & Media, Emirates; Sally Susman, EVP, chief corporate affairs officer, Pfizer; Sandy Rodriguez, global chief communications officer, McDonalds, and Karine Jean-Pierre, US White House Press Secretary.
Mr Chiejina was selected alongside 99 other communications and marketing executives of highly rated government agencies, global corporations and conglomerates.
A 1981 Mass Communications graduate of the University of Lagos, Mr Chiejina has acquired advanced degrees including an M.Sc. Industrial Relations & Personnel Management, University of Lagos (1984), an M.A. in Organisational Analysis & Behaviour, University of Lancaster, UK (1988) and an M.A. Development Studies, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands (1994).
He served in senior roles as a journalist including Associate Editor & Deputy Editor of African Economic Digest, London, Editorial Advisor for the Seven-Up Bottling Company, and African Concord, Lagos.
He has worked with Zenith Bank Plc and Oceanic Bank International Plc where he left indelible communications, brand and marketing stamps as Assistant, Deputy General Manager and Group Head of Corporate Communications.
Mr Chiejina has repositioned communications service delivery at Dangote Industries Limited. As group chief branding and communications officer, he oversees all communications strategies across business units and the groups pan-African operations. Mr Chiejina has been with the company for 14 years in senior communications roles overseeing the groups scooping of awards across the African continent.
The Dangote Group has been named the most admired/favourite indigenous brand on the continent for the last six years by Brand Africa.
This year it came second in a newly introduced sustainability category for brands doing good for people, society and the environment.
The (Dangote) brand portends the inevitability of Nigerias global ascendancy and a gateway to regional and continental development, Mr Chiejina says of his employer.
Mr Chiejina is a recipient of numerous academic distinctions and awards including Salzburg Fellow for Gifted Mid-Career Professional, Austria; British Government Scholarship for Graduate Studies, Netherlands Fellowship, University of Lagos Scholar 1982 and 1984, University of Oslo, Norway, Fellowship, and Fellow of the Oxford University Centre of Corporate Reputation.
He is also a member of the American Public Relations Association, the British Public Relations Association, an Associate Member, of the Institute of Directors, and a Fellow of the Association of Sustainability Professionals of Nigeria.
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The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has mocked Nigerians who plan to take part in the nationwide protest against economic hardship, saying he and other members of the National Assembly would be eating while they (Nigerians) protest.
Mr Akpabio stated this on Tuesday at the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Youths and Women Group Sensitisation Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The event, organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was broadcast live on Arise TV.
A video clip of Mr Akpabio making the remark has also gone viral on social media.
Akpabios remark
During the event, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, said the Niger Delta region was not interested in a change of government in Nigeria.
Speaking shortly after, Mr Akpabio said Nigerians should exercise patience over the current economic hardship in Nigeria which he said would end soon.
All of us feel the impact of what is happening now. But we are aware it will be for a short while, he said, apparently referring to the current economic hardship in the country.
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The senate president then corroborated Mr Ogbukus comments that the people of the Niger Delta were not interested in a change of government in Nigeria.
Managing Director, I want to thank you for what you said. You said we are not interested in regime change; let us own this government.
Those who want to protest can protest, but let us be here eating, Mr Akpabio remarked.
Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, is known for often making controversial remarks over serious national issues.
The Senate president lamented the impact of oil spillage in the Niger Delta region.
We acknowledge the fact that the impact of oil and gas activities in our region has done immeasurable damage to our people, he said.
Mr Akpabio assured that the National Assembly was ready to help with necessary legislation to fight oil spillage and environmental pollution in the region.
The specific issues faced by the Niger Delta must be contained in that communique because we are going to make it available to Mr President, he said.
The ones that need legislation will come to us (National Assembly members), the ones that need intervention will go to NDDC, the ones that need more money will go to the president and commander-in-chief and I assure you that those issues will be addressed.
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The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has ordered protesters to limit their demonstrations to the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja, less than 24 hours before the kick-off of a nationwide anti-government protest on Thursday.
For weeks, there has been an intense online mobilisation for the protest against President Bola Tinubus handling of the economy, which has been blamed for the deepening hardship many citizens are grappling with.
The organisers tagged the planned demonstration as the #EndBadGovernance protest.
For those participating in the protest, the FCT High Court ordered on Wednesday that they are restrained by an order of interim injunction from gathering in any other place in the federal capital pending a further hearing.
Judge Sylvanus Oriji, who gave the ruling at the instance of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, a vocal opponent of the planned demonstrations, also restrained the protesters from preventing residents in the FCT, Abuja, from exercising their constitutional right to freedom of movement and from destroying or vandalising properties or public facilities.
Mr Wike applied for the orders through an ex parte motion on Wednesday, less than a week after threatening that the federal capital was not available for protest.
The judge also granted the ministers prayer for an order directing the police and other security agencies to provide the protesters adequate protection within the Moshood Abiola Stadium Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, throughout the period of the planned protest from 1/8/2024 to 10/8/2024.
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Mr Oriji, who recognised the protesters right to protest peacefully, ordered Mr Wike to serve the filings on the defendants/respondents through a substituted means by publishing them in a newspaper and print media.
It could not be ascertained if the defendants would be served with the court before the protest begins on Thursday.
The judge fixed further hearing in the case for 13 August, three days before the protest was billed to have ended.
Ex parte order against Sowore and unknown persons
On Wednesday, Mr Wikes legal team, led by Onoja Ugwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, requested the orders through an ex parte application.
The judge heard the application in the absence of the respondents on Wednesday. Courts have the power to hear applications filed as ex-parte motions in the absence of adversarial parties. They can also use their discretion to direct the applicant to put the other parties on notice should they consider the issue to be contentious.
Chief among the respondents is a prominent activist, Omoyele Sowore, who leads a bloc of protesters styled as the Take It Back movement.
They also include a key figure of the Take It Back movement, Damilare Adenola.
The respondents also include Adama Ukpabi and Tosin Harsogba, both representing the Active Citizens Group.
The fifth respondent, named persons unknown, appears to be listed to capture as many people as possible who will join the protest in Abuja.
The rest of the respondents are the security agencies the court ordered to protect the protesters in the national stadium in Abuja.
They are the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in the FCT, the Director of the Security State Service (SSS), the Director General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Naval Staff.
Protest and countermoves
Organisers said they mobilised for the protest to pressure Mr Tinubus administration to address its policies, which are bringing hardship to many Nigerians.
Costs of living attributable to last years removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira by the government have skyrocketed since Mr Tinubus administration came on board last year.
The president and top aides, including Mr Wike, have discouraged the hardly known protest organisers to shelve the protest plan.
Many groups who are either afraid that the protest could turn violent or are convinced by the governments assurances of its commitment to addressing the protesters concerns have also joined Mr TinubusTinubus administrations call to cancel the demonstrations.
On Wednesday, the eve of the protest, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, appealed to the protest organisers to pull back.
Here are the orders given by the court in full.
In the light of the above, the court considers it appropriate and expedient to grant an order under the omnibus or general prayer to ensure that the rights of the protesters are guaranteed and that the protest does not negatively or adversely affect the rights of other citizens to move about and to ensure that properties and other public facilities are not destroyed.
The court hereby makes the following orders:
1). Leave is granted to the claimant/ applicant to serve the originating processes (Writ of Summons) and all subsequent processes in this suit on the defendants/respondents by substituted means to wit: through newspaper publications and print media.
2). The 1st to 5th defendants/respondents, while embarking on the planned protest from 1/8/2024 to 10/8/2024 in exercise of their constitutional rights are to use the Moshood Abiola Stadium in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja only and are restrained by an Order of Interim Injunction from gathering in any other place pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
3). The 1st to 5th defendants/respondents while embarking on the planned protest from 1/8/2024 to 10/8/2024 are restrained by an Order of Interim Injunction from preventing residents in the FCT, Abuja, from exercising their constitutional right to freedom of movement and from destroying or vandalizing properties or public facilities pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
4). The 1st to 5th defendants/Respondents are directed to give the 1st to 5th defendants/ Respondents adequate protection within the Moshood Abiola Stadium Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, throughout the period of the planned protest from 1/8/2024 to 10/8/2024 pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
5). The Motion on Notice for order of interlocutory injunction with motion No. M/1129/2024 is fixed for hearing on 13/8/2024.
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An angry Nigerian has expressed frustration over the unemployment rate in the country, lamenting that the POS business appears to be the only employment for the poor for now in the country.
The Nigerian, Emmanuel Edunam, stated this in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday at Ibom Plaza, a popular recreational hub in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
POS is our only employment now in Nigeria, he said at the sideline of the nationwide protest against bad governance in Nigeria.
Good jobs are reserved for children of the elites immediately after graduation, he added.
Speaking further, Mr Edunam called on governments to expand employment to the poor, reduce petrol and food price. He said Nigerians were tired of the economic hardship.
Youths in Nigeria have taken to the streets to protest bad governance and the cost of living crisis.
The youths who are using social media to mobilise other youths in the country are making several demands, including the reversal of the hike in the price of electricity.
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The youths have ignored the appeals by the federal and state governments to shelve protests.
In Uyo, some youths defied the rain to protest around the Ibom Plaza.
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The peaceful protest in Abuja is turning chaotic after police officers fired tear gas indiscriminately at protesters.
The police fired tear gas indiscriminately in an attempt to prevent the protesters from accessing the iconic Eagle Square ground in the Three Arms Zone.
As of 12:30 p.m., the scene around the Head of Service Complex resembles a war zone, with protesters throwing back the tear gas canisters at the police officers.
Despite the use of force to disperse the protesters, they remain undeterred and are regrouping.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the protesters had peacefully marched from the Moshood Abiola Stadium to Eagle Square without any incident.
As soon as the protesters approached the Eagle Square, chaos ensued. The police took up tactical positions around the protesters and sporadically fired tear gas at them.
Despite the polices actions, the crowd has not dispersed. Many protesters have regrouped around the Ministry of Finance, blocking Ahmadu Bello Way and pushing back towards the police.
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At the time of this report, the protesters have remained peaceful and have refused to resort to violence.
The protesters are demanding a reversal of government policies such as the removal of subsidies on petrol. They say the policies have worsened the economic situation in the country with Nigeria now witnessing its worst cost of living crisis in a generation.
Follow our live coverage of the protests here.
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The #EndBadGovernance protests organised across Nigeria have turned violent in major cities such as Kano, Gombe, and Abuja.
In some cases, the violence was caused by the actions of security officials while in others, the violence occurred due to the actions of some overzealous protesters or counter-protesters.
The protest started peacefully in all aforementioned states as well as others monitored by PREMIUM TIMES.
Background
Thousands of Nigerians began a 10-day nationwide protest on Thursday to express their frustration over lingering economic hardship.
President Bola Tinubu has said he recognises the right to peaceful protests. Still, his administration is wary of the dangers associated with demonstrations that are vulnerable to being hijacked by criminals.
The president, as well as other relevant officials of his cabinet, have urged the youth to shelve the protest, saying the protests are unwarranted and politically motivated.
On Thursday, the protest organisers in Abuja and other parts of the country called for the reversal of the fuel price hike, the restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the reduction of import duties to their previous rates.
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As displayed in some of the placards carried by the demonstrators, the protesters also called for the reversal of many institutions hikes in tertiary education fees, the security of farmlands for farmers, and a reduction in the prices of staple foods, among other things.
They are also demanding full transparency and accountability in governance, including the public disclosure and reduction of public officials salaries and allowances and an emergency fund to support SMEs.
Violent protests
In Abuja, protesters moving towards the three Arms Zones were tear-gassed in a bid to disperse them and prevent them from accessing the area.
The zone is where the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the Aso Villa are located.
Armoured Personnel Carriers conveying soldiers and police operatives were deployed to prevent the protesters from entering the Three-Arms Zone.
Earlier, Abuja protesters at the entrance of the MKO Abiola stadium were told by the police to go inside the stadium. They refused and instead commenced a march towards Eagle Square, close to the Three Arms Zone.
PREMIUM TIMES reporters on the ground observed that in an attempt to prevent the protesters from accessing the iconic Eagle Square around the Three Arms Zone, the police fired tear gas indiscriminately.
As soon as the protesters approached Eagle Square, chaos ensued. The police stationed at strategic points took up tactical positions around the protesters and fired tear gas at them.
However, instead of dispersing, the protesters are regrouping.
Many protesters have regrouped around the Ministry of Finance, blocking Ahmadu Bello Way and pushing back towards the police. Many people were injured, and police specifically targeted journalists and arrested at least two of them, including a PREMIUM TIMES journalist whose phone was seized after he was beaten despite identifying himself as a journalist.
The police also used tear gas to disperse another set of protesters at the NYSC junction in Kubwa.
In Kano state, the protest turned violent after some protesters took to the streets with dangerous weapons.
At about 10:15 a.m., Kano protesters invaded a popular Rufaidah Yoghurt store in Hadejia Road, Kano, and went on a looting spree.
The protesters also looted a yet to be commissioned industrial park belonging to the Nigeria Communications Commission.
Similarly, the peaceful protests in Gombe took a dramatic turn as clashes erupted, leading to a chaotic scene that required the intervention of security officials.
Local leaders and community organisations have called for calm and dialogue to address the underlying issues that sparked the protest.
Efforts are being made to engage with protest organisers and government officials to find a resolution and prevent further unrest.
Follow PREMIUM TIMES live updates of the protests here.
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Growth at the University of South Carolina could lead to the demolition of some Greek Village houses on the schools campus.
In favor of new ones, of course.
The Greek Village, a charming neighborhood of elaborate mansions off Blossom Street, is home to 20 fraternities and sororities. About 700 students are able to live there. While some Greek life chapters have as many as 200 or 300 members, many of the houses can only accommodate about 40 beds, USC architect Derek Gruner said at a USC board of trustees meeting on Tuesday. Usually even less.
All but two houses in the Greek Village Chi Psi and Alpha Chi Omega are two stories, due to Greek Village design guidelines and regulations set forth by USC in 2000. So when the Delta Zeta sorority asked the university about tearing down their house to build a new one with three stories, Gruner wanted to bring it to the board to open the discussion.
I am in support of this idea, Gruner said. I have felt like Greek Village is a victim of its own success.
Bigger fraternity and sorority houses would allow for more students to live in the village, and might take some of the pressure off of USCs growing need for student housing. In the fall of 2023, 35,590 students attended USC, more than 4,300 more than the 31,288 students in 2013.
As undergraduate enrollment increases, the universitys on-campus accommodations are stretched thin. At a USC board retreat in January, Gruner identified the need for more housing, and a bigger Greek Village as part of the solution.
While there are no immediate plans for construction, university officials said on Tuesday that if it happens, other fraternities and sororities will likely follow suit.
A more robust Greek Village has long been a part of USCs master plan, which noted an uptick in Greek life.
Last year, the university was aiming to buy three acres of property at the south end of campus, sandwiched between the village and the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. The parcels were owned by Norfolk Southern Railway at the time, and were already leased to USC for recreational fields or for parking. At the time, the owners and the university had yet to agree on the price of the properties. According to Richland County records, they are still owned by the railroad.
However, USCs campus master plan had designated the area for future Greek Village development, and it would be an optimal location if the Greek Village were to expand, documents show. The plan proposed three mansion-style houses and three to four townhouse-style residences on the property.
Greek Villages 20 housing facilities accommodate less than half of USCs 47 Greek life organizations. While these houses sit on university property, the buildings are owned and managed by USCs fraternities and sororities.
The police have imposed a 24-hour curfew in Borno State after 16 people were killed and 20 others injured in a suicide attack.
The attack was recorded in Kauri, a village in Konduga Local Government Area of the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Nahum Daso, in a statement in Maiduguri, said the curfew was imposed following the bomb attack that killed many innocent citizens.
Mr Nahum said the decision followed consultation between Governor Babagana Zulum and heads of security agencies in the state and was taken to forestall further security breaches in the state.
The curfew is a measure to prevent further loss of life and property, and to allow security agencies to maintain control and ensure public safety.
Residents are advised to stay indoors and avoid movements during the curfew period, he said.
He urged the people of the state to remain calm and law-abiding, assuring that further developments would be communicated accordingly.
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NAN reports that a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a marketplace in Kauri, a rural community in the Konduga area of Borno.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. on Wednesday at the market area, which operates at night every day.
(NAN)
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A bomb attack in Kawuri village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State on Wednesday night left 19 dead and 24 injured, state officials say.
The blast by suspected Boko Haram terrorists took place at a tea joint, a common evening gathering spot for the locals.
Muhammad Barkindo, the director-general of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), confirmed the sad incident.
Initially, we evacuated 20 injured persons to the State Specialist Hospital last night, and later this morning, four more were brought in with severe injuries.
The police have since imposed a 24-hour curfew to prevent further attacks.
In consultation with heads of security in the state, we find it expedient to declare a 24-hour curfew with immediate effect, Nahum Daso, the police spokesperson, said.
We will update this report as soon as we get more information
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Amnesty International Nigeria has criticised the President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, over his insensitive and reckless comment against Nigerians.
Mr Akpabio, on Tuesday, mocked Nigerians planning to participate in the nationwide protest against economic hardship in the country, saying that he and other members of the National Assembly would be eating while they (Nigerians) protest.
Mr Akpabio stated this at the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Youths and Women Group Sensitisation Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Those who want to protest can protest, but let us be here eating, Mr Akpabio remarked.
The event, organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was broadcast live on Arise TV.
A video clip of Mr Akpabio making the remark has gone viral on social media.
Taunting people seeking accountability is unacceptable
Amnesty International strongly condemns the insensitive and reckless comments attributed to the President of the Senate Godswill Obot Akpabio regarding plans of some Nigerians to peacefully protest current economic hardship, the rights group said in a statement posted on X, Thursday.
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Taunting people seeking accountability is unacceptable: Millions of Nigerians are currently on the brink of starvation because of corruption and mismanagement, and mocking them is a stain on the exalted office held by Mr Akpabio. Harmful and irresponsible rhetorics from government officials at this difficult time must end, it added.
Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, is known for often making controversial and embarrassing remarks over serious national issues.
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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on all parties in the planned nationwide protests to avoid actions that might undermine the democracy of Nigeria.
This was contained in an Advisory read and signed by the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Anthony Ojukwu (SAN) on Wednesday in Abuja at a media briefing.
According to Mr Ojukwu, the right to freedom of association and assembly enables individuals to express themselves which leads to shaping their societies.
This Advisory is issued pursuant to the legal and inherent powers of the National Human Rights Commission in section 5(l)(m)(o) of the National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Act, 2010 under the following principles:
This Advisory shall be applicable to the conduct and management of all protests in Nigeria and other actions leading to the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and other associated rights therefrom, he said.
This advisory, according to Mr Ojukwu, is issued to all persons and authorities exercising powers over law enforcement, security, intelligence and military affairs.
He added it also applies to all persons exercising executive, legislative and judicial powers in the federal, state or local government.
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All persons organising protests and assemblies in Nigeria whatever name called and who seek to enjoy or realise the aforesaid rights to freedom of association and assembly and all the associated rights and duties thereto.
All civil society, media and professional organisations and bodies who has mandate to promote the rule of law, accountability governance, peace and human rights in accordance with the Fundament Rights and the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria he said.
He explained that the right to freedom of association and assembly are enshrined in our laws in Nigeria, regional and international.
Mr Ojukwu noted that the decision of the Court of Appeal on this issue aligned with international human rights standards regarding freedom of expression and assembly, with the following principles.
Citizens do not require police permits to hold peaceful protests.
Notification to law enforcement about planned assemblies does not equate to seeking permission but serves as an avenue for ensuring safety and orderly conduct of protests and assemblies.
Law enforcement agencies must respect citizens rights while maintaining public order without infringing upon constitutional freedoms.
Citizens and protesters have the consequential obligations to ensure orderly conduct, respect for law and the security of other citizens and public and private properties, he said.
In its recommendation, the commission urged the government at all levels to uphold the Fundamental Human Rights and the Fundamental Objectives of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria.
To the law enforcement agencies, it called for adherence to the recommendations of the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
To the protesters; ensure that the protest is peaceful and avoid provocative actions such as carrying arms, hate speeches, attacks on law enforcement and security agencies or looting of public and private properties.
Ensure that the protest remains peaceful and law-abiding. Violence and destruction of property will undermine the legitimacy of the protest.
While the right to protest is guaranteed, the protection of critical infrastructure is also essential, he said.
Mr Ojukwu said that through dialogue, respect for human rights, and adherence to the rule of law, it is possible to address the grievances of the protesters while maintaining public order.
The NHRC, therefore, called on all parties to avoid actions that could endanger public safety or damage private and public properties as well as undermine Nigerias democracy.
The NHRC will deploy its protective and promotional mandates to monitor every protest in Nigeria and ensure that the aforementioned human rights principles are observed by state and non-state actors.
We will operete a -24- hour situation room to monitor the protest with a toll-free line 6472, he said.
(NAN)
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Twenty-five civil society organisations (CSOs) have cancelled their participation in the protest scheduled for 1-10 August after a town hall meeting hosted by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen.
Executive Director of the Centre for Change and Democracy Studies, Matthew Nabut, said this on behalf of the group in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
Mr Nabut did not, however, disclose the names of the organisations in the statement.
He said the meeting, which was held on Wednesday, provided a platform for open dialogue and led to a resolution after productive interactions with Mr Tajudeen.
We came here prepared to protest because we felt our voices were not being heard.
However, after engaging with Speaker Abass and seeing the sincerity in his approach, we believe that dialogue is the way forward.
We have decided to cancel the planned protest and give the government the opportunity to act on their promises, Mr Nabut said.
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He said the protest was initially scheduled in response to what the NGOs and CSOs perceived as government inaction on critical issues affecting the youth.
He said that the decision to organise the protest was made after several attempts to engage with policymakers yielded unsatisfactory results.
According to him, the town hall meeting was therefore seen as a last-ditch effort to avert the protest and find common ground.
NAN reports that the town hall meeting, which was convened to address the grievances and demands of various youth-led organisations, saw robust participation from diverse groups across the country.
Mr Tajudeen, while speaking, emphasised the governments commitment to addressing their concerns and highlighted on-going aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of youths
This government recognises the critical role that our youth play in shaping the future of our nation. We are dedicated to creating an environment where their voices are heard, and their contributions are valued, Mr Tajudeen said.
He said the purpose of this town hall meeting was to ensure that the government understood youths concerns and work together towards sustainable solutions.
Responding to the cancellation, the Deputy Spokesperson of House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, commended the speakers initiative, describing it as a masterstroke.
(NAN)
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Hoodlums blocked a highway to Abuja at the popular Mararaba junction in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Thursday.
The hoodlums blocked the road and burned tyres.
The News Agency of Nigeria ((NAN) reports that the protesters and hoodlums, who hindered motorists from accessing the road, were seen holding placards and leaves.
NAN also reports that fully armed police officers were seen trying to curtail them as residents fled in different directions.
All the plazas and shops, motor parks along the roads and the popular Mararaba market are under lock and key.
The organisers of the protests are calling for the reversal of the fuel price hike, the restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the reduction of import duties to their previous rates.
The groups also demand the reversal of many institutions hikes in tertiary education fees.
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They also demand full transparency and accountability in governance, including public disclosure and reduction of public officials salaries and allowances, as well as an emergency fund to support small and medium enterprises.
(NAN)
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The EndBadGovernance protest in Nigeria took a deadly turn in Katsina State, on Thursday, as two people lost their lives and some churches were vandalised.
The protest began peacefully but quickly escalated into violence.
It was observed from videos circulating that the situation spiralled out of control, with some individuals taking advantage of the chaos to loot and destroy properties.
#EndBadGovernance protest
Nigerians took to the streets on Thursday to commence a 10-day nationwide protest, expressing their frustration over the countrys lingering economic hardship.
The EndBadGovernance protest is a nationwide movement in Nigeria, sparked by growing frustration and discontent among citizens over the countrys deteriorating socio-economic conditions, insecurity, and perceived poor leadership.
Nigeria, Africas most populous nation, has been grappling with numerous challenges, including a rising unemployment and poverty rate.
The countrys infrastructure and public services have also been deteriorating, leading to perceived government insensitivity and lack of accountability.
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The protests, led by civil society organisations, youth groups, and opposition parties, aim to demand improved governance and leadership, accountability and transparency, economic reforms and job creation, enhanced security and protection of citizens, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
The movement gained momentum on social media, with the hashtag #EndBadGovernance trending across platforms.
Protesters demands
The protesters are seeking the reversal of the fuel price hike, restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and reduction of import duties to previous rates.
They are also demanding the reversal of hikes in tertiary education fees, the security of farmlands for farmers, and a reduction in the prices of staple foods.
Furthermore, they are calling for full transparency and accountability in governance, including public disclosure and reduction of public officials salaries and allowances, as well as an emergency fund to support SMEs.
The government called on the youths to shun protests.
Despite the Presidents acknowledgement of the right to peaceful protests, his administration has expressed concerns about the potential dangers associated with demonstrations, citing the risk of hijacking by criminals.
Mr Tinubu and his cabinet officials have urged the youth to abandon the protest, dismissing it as unwarranted and politically motivated.
However, protest organisers in Abuja and other parts of the country remain resolute, calling for a range of economic reforms.
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Residents of Kwara State, particularly in Ilorin, the state capital, shunned the #EndBadGovernance observed in many states in Nigeria on Thursday.
Most people stayed indoors for fear of the unknown, except the few individuals who gathered to discuss the situations in the country.
Even the Metropolitan Square, Ilorin, which the State High Court on Wednesday ruled for use for any protest, was empty.
There were no protesters in and around the venue except security operatives deployed there to maintain law and order.
Most shops along major streets in Ilorin, such as Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Unity Road, New Yidi Road, Asa Dam Road and Airport Road opened late, but there was vehicular movement.
Officers of NSCDS, the police, and the army took strategic positions at the ever-busy Post Office area and nearby Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office.
Some petty traders also went about their businesses as security officers checked vehicles plying the major streets.
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However, commercial banks did not open their gates to customers.
POS operators capitalised on the situation as people queued up to withdraw cash from them.
Many people in the state had been apprehensive of violence that usually trailed protests and stayed indoors for the early part of the day.
It would be recalled that traditional rulers, lawmakers and government officials had appealed to the youth not to join in the protest, urging them to embrace dialogue and constructive engagement.
Police CP reacts
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES in Kwara State, the state commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, commended the people of the state for not joining the action.
Mr Olaiya described Kwaran as a state of peace and harmony.
He said there was no incident, explaining that most people went about their businesses peacefully.
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Today is Day 1 of the #EndBadGovernance protest, which organisers aim to run nationwide for 10 days.
The protest begins Thursday amid concerns of many Nigerians who are still gripped by the memories of the violent outcomes of the 2020 anti-police brutality #EndSARS demonstrations. Many have taken precautionary measures to stay away from work, while others have opted for an early shutdown of their businesses.
On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES observed that some traders in Irepodun market, an open-air market in Ikotun, Lagos, shut their stalls almost 24 hours before the protest. A supermarket in the area announced that it would close earlier than usual.
The Nigerian government, scrambling to find a way to stop the protest, has repeatedly cited the horrific consequences of the 2020 demonstrations and recent events in Kenya to discourage the organisers from going ahead with the planned mass action.
The government has accused the protest organisers of being politically motivated and claimed that the protest is an attempt to discredit the nearly one-year-old administration of President Bola Tinubu.
On the other hand, many remain optimistic about the protest despite the governments relentless efforts to discourage it. Supporters of the nationwide protest view it as an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with President Tinubus economic policies, which they believe have caused widespread hardship. They also highlight corruption issues, general misgovernance, and the nations weak justice and accountability systems.
Nevertheless, the protest has been gaining momentum, heightening anxiety among both supporters and opponents of the protest.
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But who are the organisers, who likely have the ambitious goal of mobilising thousands of Nigerians to the streets nationwide today and in the next nine days? Are their intentions genuinely political?
There has yet to be a formal identification of the central leadership of the demonstration. Perhaps it doesnt exist. However, civil society organisations, human rights activists, and opposition figures have supported the nationwide protest.
Some of the well-known personalities include Deji Adeyanju, Aisha Yesufu, Inibehe Effiong, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former Labour Partys presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Two prominent Senior Advocates of Nigeria Femi Falana and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa have justified the protest and warned the government against instigating violence to discredit it.
Human rights activist and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has also organised members of the Take It Back movement to lead the protests in different parts of the country.
However, many lesser-known organisers are mobilising support for the protest through social media platforms, especially X (formerly Twitter).
Here are snippets of the contributions of some of these known personalities
Omoyele Sowore
Mr Sowore has accused the Nigerian government of sowing fear of violence during the protest to scare away potential supporters from joining the demonstration.
He said the hardship and hunger Nigerians grapple with every day reflect President Tinubus performance in office. He added that the governments move to label the protests as political is an act of disrespect to the sensibility of every Nigerian.
Pain and hunger have no political affiliation. Everyone is suffering. To suggest that there are political colourations to the underlying causes for the protest is to minimise and disrespect the real economic pain that Nigerians are dealing with, he told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Sowore has been a leading voice against social injustice and economic hardship in Nigeria. Mr Soworefounded the AAC in 2018 and ran for president on the partys platform during the 2019 and 2023 general elections. He lost in both elections.
In 2019, he was arrested by the State Security Services (SSS) and charged with treasonable felony over his #RevolutionNow protest. He was at the forefront of the #EndSARS protest, which turned violent after the government clampdown.
In 2020, the protest to end police brutality left in its wake mass destruction, looting, prison breaks, and extra-judicial killing after hoodlums hijacked the protest. Mr Sowore blames the Nigerian government for the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest.
Wherever you see protests turn violent, it is the high-handedness of the government and their security agencies that cause it. We are calling for peaceful protests, Mr Sowore said.
Peter Obi
Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, is perhaps the most criticised supporter of the planned nationwide protest.
On his X handle on Saturday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, accused the former governor of Anambra State of plotting to unseat President Tinubu after failing to win the general elections last year.
The malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. He should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.
They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election. As bad losers, they dont have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr Onanuga wrote.
In response to the allegations, Mr Obi demanded a retraction of the statement, an apology, and a compensation of N5 billion. But in a counter-response, the presidential aide called Mr Obis bluff, saying, Let me just tell Obi and his lawyer: I am not afraid of any legal action. We shall meet in court.
Aisha Yesufu
A social critic, Aisha Yesufu, on her X handle, said if elections could be held despite threats of electoral violence, peaceful protests to draw attention to economic hardship in the land must be welcomed.
If Nigeria did not stop the election because of the violence that happens during elections, it should not stop protest because of the violence it says happens during the protest which by the way is instigated by the government, she said.
Mrs Yesufu, who backed Mr Obi for president in 2023, co-founded the #BringBackOurGirls movement in the wake of the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State, North-east Nigeria, in 2014.
The Kano-born activist was at the forefront of the #EndSARS protest in 2020 and has since lent her voice to demands for good governance and electoral fairness.
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku, who is a former Nigerias Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Partys presidential candidate for 2019 and 2023, criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) government for attempting to suppress the citizens right to protest despite leading a similar protest against fuel subsidy removal in 2012.
It is deeply ironic that those who now seek to stifle these rights were themselves leading protests in 2012. A responsible government must ensure a SAFE and SECURE environment for citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights to PEACEFUL PROTEST. Any attempt to suppress these rights is not only unconstitutional but a direct affront to our democracy, he said.
Protests in Nigeria
Nigeria has seen major protests in its colonial and post-independence history. One such protest was the 2012 #OccupyNigeria protest against the removal of fuel subsidies and eventual pump price hikes by then-President Goodluck Jonathans administration.
Interestingly, President Tinubu, a key opposition party member, lent support to the 2012 protest against the Jonathan administration.
ALSO READ: Court orders Abuja protesters to restrict demonstrations to stadium
Analysts believe that the then-President Jonathans unpopular removal of fuel subsidies and rising insecurity paved the way for the APC to win the 2015 presidential election.
Could this be part of the reasons this protest has rattled the APC government?
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The Governing Council of the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET) has announced the appointment of Isaac Miller as the acting provost of the institution.
In an internal memo on Wednesday referencing FCE/T/AK/RO/IM/2/206 and signed by the Registrar of the College, Rasheed Dada, the council said Wahab Azeez should step down as the provost effective 31 July.
This is in reaction to the crisis in the college that has lingered for over three months and degenerated into violence on Monday when some workers and students reportedly attacked the Chairman of the Governing Council, Olatunde Adenuga, and other council members, vandalising cars and properties.
The Lagos State Police Command also confirmed the arrest of 32 persons in connection with the violence.
This is to inform the College Community that at the inaugural meeting of the 8th Governing Council of the College on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, the Council directed that Wahab Ademola Azeez should step aside from office as the Provost of the College with effect from 31 July 2024, the statement reads in part.
Sequel to the above, the Council at the same meeting unanimously resolved to appoint Dr. Isaac Oluwatoyin Miller as the Acting Provost with immediate effect.
Backstory
Some protesting unions on the campus since 27 May locked up the office of the Provost of the College, Wahab Azeez, and issued him a notice to quit his official residence over his tenure of office.
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The protest was organised by the leadership of the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education (SSUCOEN), FCET chapter, and other unions under the umbrella of concerned staff.
The protesters insisted that with the amendment of the Educational Colleges Act 2023, which introduced a five-year single term of office for provosts and other principal officers of the colleges, the tenure of Mr Azeez had ended on 26 May.
However, the provost said he was appointed for the first term of four years in 2019 and that having been duly reappointed by the institutions governing council in 2023, he already resumed his second term in office on 27 May 2023 before the amended act was signed into law on 12 June 2023.
Following letters by the unions seeking clarification on the tenure of office of the provost based on the amended act, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, wrote the unions, affirming the legality of Mr Azeezs second term of four years.
The protesters ignored the ministers verdict and continued to stage daily protests on the campus, denying management members access to their offices.
Mr Mamman, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, subsequently met with the warring parties in Abuja, and resolutions were made.
Resolutions
Despite signing resolutions reached at a reconciliatory meeting chaired by Mr Sununu, some workers of FCET continued to threaten a showdown should Mr Azeez return to the office.
The resolutions signed by the representatives of the ministry, the governing council, and the staff unions included the reopening of the office of the colleges provost and his return to the office.
The meeting ordered an end to the prolonged protest by the workers, and the governing council chaired by Olatunde Adenuga was asked to meet with them to address the issues.
The meeting also mandated the new council to investigate the concerns raised by the staff, including the alleged misappropriation of funds reportedly approved for the colleges fencing and the appointment of the colleges bursar.
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Businesses have been grounded in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with many retail shops in the city not opening as at 8 a.m., on Thursday, the first day of the nationwide protest against bad governance in Nigeria.
Worst affected areas along Ikot Ekpene Road, Oron Road, and Wellington Bassey Way which leads to the Government House, Uyo.
Ibom Plaza, a popular commercial centre in Uyo, is deserted this morning.
Meanwhile, the nationwide protest is yet to commence in the city at the time of filing this report but police operatives were seen at strategic positions in the city.
In a meeting earlier in the week, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State had appealed to youths in the state not to join the planned protest, assuring that his administration was taking measures to address hardship facing the people of the state.
President Bola Tinubu has also appealed to the youths to shelve the protest, with some officials of his administration saying the protest was politically motivated.
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The protest organisers who are deploying social media including X (formerly Twitter) to mobilise the people
are demanding reversal of petrol price hike, restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the reduction of import duties.
Although the protest is yet to commence in Uyo, some police operatives on duty are seen welding guns and tying red armbands.
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At least 11 buses filled with No protest protesters arrived at the premises of Moshood Abiola National Stadium at about 9:35 a.m. on Thursday, the first day of the planned 10-day protests.
Three of them told PREMIUM TIMES in separate interviews that they were promised N5,000 each to participate in the anti-protest.
Two also said they were picked up from Asokoro village, a large sprawling settlement behind the highbrow Asokoro District where some wealthy and influentiallive.
A man, believed to be their leader, who arrived at the venue in a black Toyota SUV with an Abuja plate number marked KWL 895 CH, was seen instructing them on what to do.
One of the participants, who identified himself as Sabiu, told this newspaper that they were promised N5,000 each.
He added that N2,000 had been paid to each of them and that the remaining N3,000 would be paid after the protests.
Two others, who gave their names as Muhammad and Abdulkareem, said they were picked up at the Asokoro village.
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However, it is unclear if government officials hired them as they claim not to know.
Several government officials have appealed to the protest organisers not to embark on the action as they were trying to address the economic hardship in the country.
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At least 28 journalists, including a PREMIUM TIMES reporter, were either arrested or attacked while covering the #EndBadGovernance protests across Nigeria.
On Thursday, police officers hit Yakubu Mohammed, a conflict reporter with PREMIUM TIMES, with the butt of their gun and their batons until he sustained injuries on his head.
He was then arrested and briefly detained in a police van placed near the Head of Service Building in the Secretariat area of Abuja.
Mr Mohammed was wearing a press vest that clearly identified him as a journalist and also presented his identity card to the police officers.
They told me they were not concerned about my ID card and that they had even arrested an NUJ chairman earlier, Mr Mohammed told his editors minutes after he was released.
Mr Mohammed and other PREMIUM TIMES journalists joined their colleagues from other newsrooms to cover the #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja.
This newspaper reported how the protest turned rowdy after the police fired tear gas at protesters.
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Targeted
Recounting his ordeal, Mr Mohammed said he believes he was targeted because I was filming the moment they turned violent against the protesters.
He said he was recording some protesters chanting slogans when the police officers turned on him.
A policeman wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet just raced towards me and grabbed my trousers, Mr Mohammed recalled. All my efforts to identify and explain myself to him were rebuffed.
The policeman, who was later joined by other officers, asked me to kneel down and submit my phone but I refused, he continued, adding that the officers resorted to brutalising him until they forcefully took his phone and threw him inside the police van. They later released him and gave him back his phone.
Mr Mohammed sustained a head injury and pain on his right shoulder.
28 journalists victimised by police and hoodlums
Apart from Mr Mohammed and Jide Oyekunle, the Abuja NUJ chairman, 12 other journalists were assaulted by police operatives in Abuja, Cross River and Borno states, according to the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
The failure of the police to provide adequate security also emboldened hoodlums to attack journalists.
In Delta State, journalists were attacked by pro-government protesters who assaulted protesters intending to disrupt their demonstration, CJID noted in a statement signed by Busola Ajibola, the organisations Deputy Director, Journalism Program.
Some of the journalists who fell victim to this attack are Guardian Newspaper reporter Monday Osayande and Punch Newspaper reporter Matthew Ochei. They were both attacked while interviewing protesters.
Weapon-bearing hoodlums also injured a reporter with African Independent Television (AIT), while covering the Thursday protest.
About eleven journalists were also attacked in a Channels TV vehicle, and in the process, TVC correspondent Ibrahim Isah was injured while trying to escape the scene, the organisation added.
The police are yet to issue a statement about the attacks on journalists covering the protests despite allegations by the Abuja NUJ chairman who said the FCT police commissioner, Beneth Igwe, ordered the assault on him and other journalists covering the Abuja protest.
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The Police in Zaria, Kaduna State have dispersed protesters who blocked the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway.
The protesters had earlier blocked the Gwargwaje junction, a section of the Kaduna -Zaria- Kano expressway, causing a gridlock of trucks travelling to Kano.
Police officers tried to convince the youth to allow free vehicular movement, but they were stoned by the youth, prompting the security officers to throw tear gas at them.
Meanwhile, the situation was brought under control after the protesters resisted the action and returned to the road, blocking vehicular movement.
The police, however, later allowed the youth to continue with the blockage of the road and the gridlock persisted.
(NAN)
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The anticipated #EndBadGovernance protest scheduled to take off nationwide on 1 August failed to take place on Thursday in Ekiti, as no protester was seen at the Fajuyi park, the usual venue for such events.
Most roads were also devoid of activity or any form of protest.
Recall that the Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, had on Wednesday vowed to ensure protection of lives and property of citizens of the state in the wake of the planned protests.
Mr Oyebanji said Nigeria and its people cannot afford another massive destruction of our economic base as witnessed during the #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of many private and government infrastructure.
Addressing the people of Ekiti State in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday morning, the governor expressed concern that the planned protest has the potential to degenerate into violence and reverse his administrations steady progress to shared prosperity.
In addition, the state government had met with various interest groups including monarchs, student leaders, market women, artisans, drivers unions and the security agencies with the goal of nipping the protest in the bud.
It was also learnt that the Local Government chairmen were directed to use all means possible to prevent the protest from taking place in their domains.
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However, when PREMIUM TIMES visited the usual convergent point at Fajuyi park in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, there were no protesters, except armed security forces that cordoned off the area.
At the State Secretariat and some other offices visited, workers stayed away from work as the doors were locked.
But when PREMIUM TIMES visited the bank road, the banks along the corridor were opened for business, while shops around the area were also opened for business.
A visit to some markets in the state capital, including Bisi market and Okeisa market, also showed that people were busy buying and selling.
Meanwhile, Yoruba elders under the auspices of the Yoruba Leaders of Thought lauded the youth for shunning the protest.
The leaders of thought, who declared their opposition when they addressed journalists in Ado Ekiti, urged youths in other states to think of those who depend on daily incomes to survive before embarking on long strikes with processions.
Briefing journalists, the National Leader of the group and ex-permanent secretary, Tajudeen Olusi, said that most of the complaints of the youths, especially hunger, are being addressed by the government.
Mr Olusi, who was represented by the National Secretary, Bayo Aina, said that the government has opened its door for people to bring food without paying any tariff, in addition to the free distribution of foods as palliatives.
We have total aversion for a strike that will last 10 days. It is abnormal. We are not opposed to a protest, but a protest that will last long will degenerate to an unanticipated and undesirable outcome, and we dont want it. We urge people to go about their lawful duties without fear of molestation, he said.
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Hoodlums, armed with various weapons, on Thursday, took to the streets in parts of Kano metropolis, attacking shops and offices, looting property, and engaging in mob actions.
The marauding hoodlums were seen carrying off items such as office furniture, air conditioners, and metal signboards.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a bus carrying journalists from various media outlets were also attacked along Sokoto Road.
The hoodlums used sticks and machetes to shatter the bus windows, injuring TVC and Leadership reporters with glass sprinkles.
Earlier in the day, protesters had gathered in front of the Government House, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for change.
The situation, however, turned violent as tyres were set ablaze, with security forces forced to disperse the crowd with teargas.
Several locations, including Rufaida Yoghurt at Kabuga, Kano Printing Press, and the NCC Office at Audu Bako Secretariat, were targeted by the looters.
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Also, some personal properties and houses near the Government House were attacked and looted by the hoodlums.
(NAN)
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The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy in Nigeria, Bosun Tijani, has lamented the destruction and looting of Digital Innovation Park in Kano by residents protesting against the economic hardship in the country.
The protesters attacked the yet-to-be-inaugurated park on Thursday, the first day of the nationwide protest.
Mr Tijani, who commented on a PREMIUM TIMES post on X about the attack on the federal government facility, disclosed that the destroyed park was to be inaugurated next week.
Sad to learn that our Digital Innovation Park in Kano, slated for launch next week to support our technical talent accelerator (3MTT), has been set ablaze and looted by protesters.
Alongside #3MTT, this building is set to host our buildathon holiday maker programme for secondary school kids starting next week. A slight setback for our journey to deepening our workforce for technology while creating job opportunities for the youth. Millions of Naira down the drain, the minister said in his post on X.
Nigerians in different parts of the country are protesting against economic hardship. Reports indicate that the protests had turned violent in some areas. There are also reports of police brutality against peaceful protesters and journalists.
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The police in Kano State said a section of the Digital Industrial Park (DIP) of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in Kano State was attacked by protesters on Thursday.
The Commissioner of Police, Salma Dogo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview on Thursday that the generator house was set ablaze and the office was vandalised.
He said that the police, along with other security agencies, had already taken measures to safeguard the lives and property of the residents.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the centre, which serves the northwestern region of Nigeria, was scheduled for commissioning on Wednesday, 7 August.
However, protesters invaded the centre, broke into offices, and looted state-of-the-art equipment worth billions of Naira. The generator room was also reportedly set ablaze.
The centre was established to promote the federal governments digital economy initiative by training young Nigerians in digital entrepreneurship.
The centre is one of six located in each of the countrys geo-political zones, with this particular one serving the northwest region.
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The attack on the centre has significant implications for the governments digital economy project, which aims to foster young digital entrepreneurs.
(NAN)
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The #EndBadGovernance protest near Eagle Square in Abuja turned chaotic on Thursday after police fired tear gas canisters at the crowd of demonstrators.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that what started as a peaceful demonstration erupted into chaos around 11:46 a.m. when the police resorted to the use of tear gas in a bid to disperse the protesters.
The protesters had defied the polices subtle threats to confine them to Moshood Abiola Stadium, which a court had designated as the only permitted venue for the protest.
Addressing the protesters at the stadium earlier on Thursday, the Commissioner of Police, the FCT Command, Benneth Igwe, said the police would enforce the court order by not allowing the protests to be held elsewhere in the federal capital.
However, the protesters said the constitution did not give the power to a court to decide where citizens should protest.
The protesters defiantly marched from the stadium and headed to the Eagles Square, where police operatives began to fire bursts of gunshots, releasing canisters of teargas to break their resistance.
The shells of the fired canisters injured many of the protesters.
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The protesters, asserting their right to protest freely, chanted songs and slogans highlighting their reasons for embarking on the strike.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense as the procession began to march from the stadium to Eagles Square.
At Eagles Square, police fired shots of teargas canisters to break their resistance.
The canister shells injured many protesters.
Some endured the burning sensation from inhaling the tear gas fumes to pick up and throw the canister shells back at the police line.
As this was going on, a police helicopter was observed hovering overhead.
Nearby, the usually bustling Federal Secretariat appeared deserted by workers and vendors on Thursday.
The #EndBadGovernance protest was held in many states to pressure President Bola Tinubus administration to address hunger and the generally high costs of living resulting from its economic policies.
Thursday is the first day of the protest billed to be held 10 days nationwide.
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The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed that an Executive Director with ARM Pensions, Abisola Onigbogi, is in its custody over an allegation of rape levelled against him by one of his colleagues, Ogochukwu Odogwu.
Ms Odogwu, 36, who also works at the company as the human resource partner, in a leaked letter personally addressed to an individual identified simply as Opeyemi, recounted how she found herself naked in a hotel with her pubic area sore.
She said on the night of 18 July, after an office party, she was tipsy. Her friend reportedly approached Mr Onigbogi to take her to her house since they live in the same neighbourhood around Chevron Drive in Lekki, Lagos.
Ms Odogwu said rather than take her to her home, Mr Onigbogi reportedly took her to the Limeridge Hotel located at Chevron Drive in Lekki.
But an official of the hotel had denied that Ms Odogwu was unconscious when she was brought to the hotel, saying the duo went in like boyfriend and girlfriend.
Police confirm arrest
The Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a telephone interview with our reporter on Wednesday, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Onigbogi was in police custody.
The outcome of our investigation will determine if he will go to court or not, the spokesperson said.
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But I can confirm he is in our custody.
How it happened
According to Ms Odogwu, a friend, Francisca Azie, had opened a hard drink- Jameson Whiskey, and that she took some and mixed it with coke. She said at a point she had to stand up at intervals to coordinate the serving of food as a member of the planning committee, leaving the drink, food and other personal effects in the care of Damilola Oluyori, who is a colleague and one I am very friendly with.
Ms Odogwu said her last memory of the party was about 7.30 p.m.
She said: However, Damilola claimed that I mentioned to her that I was tipsy and could not drive. So she offered to find a way for me to go home and then approached Abisola Onigbogi to drop me off since he lived around the same axis as me.
I live at Femi Okunnu Phase 4 Estate, Jakande, lekki. Along with the Jameson whiskey, which was like of a plastic cup, I had one cocktail from the bar, and that is the last thing I remembered. I lost total memory of every conversation and activity as my last memory of the night was from 7.30 p.m.
My entire memory was wiped out, which was very unusual even for someone who might have drunk excessively, which I didnt and have quite a good alcohol tolerance from precedent.
She said when she woke up around 3 a.m., she found out she was in a hotel with clothes and a wig in a pile, saying her private parts were sore and I felt like someone had invaded me.
Ms Odogwu further said: I walked out of the room, looked around for a clue of the name of the hotel to even have a sense of where I was, I saw the name Limeridge hotel, I googled it, and I found that its on Chevron drive.
I ask the receptionist and security man to help me get a taxi so I can go home. I further checked my WhatsApp messages and I saw that Abisola, the perpetrator, had sent me a message that he was with my laptop bag and ID Card. Damilola had sent me a couple of messages that sounded frantic wanting to know if I was okay and if Abisola dropped me at home. I sent her a message to tell her that I do not understand why my memory is wiped out and its unusual.
Odogwu confronts Onigbogi
Ms Odogwu said when she asked Mr Onigbogi what transpired she said she was told that she was incoherent and could not give her address, and that was why she was reportedly taken to the hotel.
He also denied knowledge of what ensued in the hotel room when she was unconscious, she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Odogwu said she returned to the hotel to see the CCTV footage the next day, saying the receptionist showed her evidence that Mr Onigbogi paid for the hotel room at 10:05 p.m.
She said in the footage played for her, she was seen leaning on Mr Onigbogi and he was holding my shoes and a hand on my back guiding me into the hotel at about 15.52 and was seen leaving at 17:36.
Ms Odogwu said the time on the CCTV at the hotel was not West African Time but that the time interval was about 1 hour 45 minutes Mr Onigbogi was with her in the hotel room.
She said she reported the situation to her family and had a rape kit test done at Island Maternity on Friday. I made a formal report at the Ikoyi Police Station on Saturday morning.
My private part was bruised and I have been in pain. I have also formally reported to the Head of HR, who is my boss with the MD and another executive director in copy. My life has been disrupted badly. I am a single mother with two kids and my mental and physical state has been impacted by this incident, and I need to take care and show up for my kids in all of this, she said.
Hotel reacts
However, the Operations Manager at Limeridge Hotel, Owowumi Ewarawon, told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms Odogwu was conscious when she walked into the hotel, and that if she was seen to be unconscious, the facility would not have accommodated her and the man that brought her.
She walked in by herself, she said, adding: Please come in person with your ID to extract the facts. This is not a hospital. We can never allow anyone to enter unconsciously.
She said Ms Udogwu and Mr Onigbogi went to the second floor, noting that if the front desk had suspected anything, it would have raised an alarm.
They came in like a boyfriend and girlfriend. Thats the way I saw it. Even while entering the room, from the CCTV footage, it was as if she entered first, the operations manager told this newspaper.
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At least one protester has been confirmed dead after police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Suleja, Niger State, on Thursday.
Neighbours and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) confirmed the death of Yahaya Isah, who was reportedly hit by a stray bullet during the protest against bad governance.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the protests, held in various Nigerian towns on Thursday. The police used force, including firing tear gas, to disperse protesters in some cities like Abuja and Suleja.
Mr Isah was reportedly hit by a stray bullet while riding his motorcycle near the Suleja Police Station where the Niger protesters gathered.
There were reports that many people were shot in the violence but a resident of the area, Ismaila Liman, told PREMIUM TIMES that he could only confirm two.
He named the two as Mr Isah and Mallam Abu, who he said also died on the spot.
The Chairman of the Suleja branch of NBA, Abdullahi Liman, confirmed only Mr Isahs death to the Daily Trust newspaper.
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I got information that a man was shot dead and I came to the house of the victim (Mr Isah) to confirm things for myself and I have seen the corpse, the lawyer said.
Many were shot
Some residents of the area said three others were shot at the same scene as Mr Isah, while two more were shot at the Suleja Junction. However, it is unclear if these victims survived and PREMIUM TIMES has not been able to confirm the actual number of victims involved.
The situation in Suleja is tense, with residents describing the scene as ugly.
When contacted, Wasiu Abiodun, the police spokesperson in Niger, said he had not received any report of such.
However, he shared a statement explaining how the police arrested 11 violent protesters in the state.
Mr Abiodun, a police superintendent, claimed that the suspects vandalised and set ablaze the secretariat of Tafa Local Government Area in Sabon Wuse, Niger State.
Two cars were also burnt and two others vandalised, he wrote. They further looted valuables there-in.
According to him, the suspects who wielded different dangerous weapons were dispersed from the scene.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the nationwide protest against government policies such as removal of petrol subsidies.
The policies have led to Nigerias worst cost of living crisis in a generation but the government says the policies are essential and the economy would soon improve.
The government appealed to Nigerians not to embark on the protests but the organisers remained defiant and held the protests in several states.
The protest turned violent in places like Abuja, Kano, Niger, Gombe and Jigawa states.
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The #EndBadGovernance protest turned violent in Kano, on Thursday, as hundreds of residents poured out on the streets calling for an end to economic hardship.
PREMIUM TIMES observed how some protesters around BUK Road ignored police advice and made bonfires with used tyres on a highway, causing obstruction and panic.
Residents in various locations in the metropolis joined the protest, chanting anti-government slogans.
However, the protests turned violent in some areas as the protesters destroyed billboards and attacked flashy vehicles, despite many motorists waving green leaves to indicate their solidarity with the protesters.
In fear of possible attacks on businesses, the major markets in the state Kantin Kwari textile market, Kofar Wambai market, Sabon Gari closed on Thursday.
Despite the precautions, some protesters broke into several shops in the metropolis and looted food items.
The protesters also vandalised and looted valuables at government establishments, including a court records office at the Audu Bako Secretariat Complex at the State Road.
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The protesters later converged at the Kano Government House where they delivered their charter of demands to the Governor, Abba Yusuf.
Earlier on Wednesday, Governor Yusuf, at a town hall meeting attended by the reinstated Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, backed the protests. But he advised the organisers to be civil and submit their demands to him for delivery to President Bola Tinubu.
At the meeting, also attended by the states council of Ulamas, traditional rulers, business community, Mr Yusuf said the exorbitant prices of petroleum and electricity have caused severe hardship.
Government should review electricity tariff. It is another burden on Nigerians. We call on the federal government to reduce the prices as it would ease the hardship on Nigerians, the governor stated.
Mr Yusuf stressed the constitutional rights of citizens to express displeasure over government policies but advised the protesters to be peaceful.
Nigerians have the right to conduct protests but it should be peaceful. The situation in the country is what prompted the protest.
But the protest should be peaceful. We will not condone lawlessness, a situation where people would be killed, government formations be attacked, schools attacked, Mr Yusuf said.
In his remarks, the reinstated emir, Mr Lamido, subtly endorsed the protesters, calling on them to identify themselves.
I am not against the protest but who are the organisers of the protest, and what are their agendas? We need to know all these before joining the protest, Mr Sanusi at the town hall meeting at the government house on Wednesday.
The protest organisers submitted their complaints to the governor for upward submission to President Bola Tinubu.
However, the governor, on Thursday, blamed the violence on the opposition in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the party of hiring thugs to turn the protest violent.
The governor, in a statement by his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature, claimed that APC thugs vandalised public properties during the protest and called on the police to arrest them.
Mr Bature said the governor expressed disappointment over reports that certain individuals he described as enemies of Kano State, allegedly hired thugs within and from neighboring states to disrupt the peaceful protest.
He said the protest caused chaos in Kano, which he described as one of the most peaceful states in the country.
We are aware that unpatriotic politicians from the opposition party have sponsored thugs, who are on a rampage, looting and destroying properties of innocent citizens, the governor was quoted in the statement.
Mr Yusuf ordered security agencies to immediately arrest the thugs and their sponsors, the statement said.
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Thousands of Nigerians commenced the ten-day nationwide protests today.
The organisers, many young people, say they are frustrated by the countrys economic conditions and have vowed days of rage in demonstrations.
With momentum soaring on and offline, the Nigerian government fears a replay of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest, which started peacefully but turned violent.
President Bola Tinubu has said he recognises the right to peaceful protests. Still, his administration is wary of the dangers associated with demonstrations that are vulnerable to being hijacked by criminals.
While the president has begged the youth to shelve the protest, some senior administration officials labelled the protests as unwarranted and politically motivated.
Organisers of the protests are calling for reversing the fuel price hike, restoring affordable electricity tariffs, and reducing import duties to their previous rates.
The groups also demand the reversal of many institutions hikes in tertiary education fees. They also demand full transparency and accountability in governance, including the public disclosure and reduction of public officials salaries and allowances and an emergency fund to support SMEs.
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PREMIUM TIMES brings you photos from the protest in Abuja.
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The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, has once again appealed to the protest conveners, their covert and overt benefactors, to sheathe their swords and seek dialogue.
The sultan, in a statement signed by the Secretary General, Jamaatu Nasril Islam, Khalid Aliyu, on Thursday, warned that an escalation of the violent protest may cause a catastrophe in the West African sub-region.
We genuinely feared escalation to an uncontrollable scenario and the reports are tilting towards that. Therefore, we, in the name of Allah, the Most High, call for an end to the snowballing rampaging, in the name of protest.
We should all understand that there must be a stable country called Nigeria, before we can proudly call ourselves Nigerians, the sultan said, urging for calm.
He called on Muslim clerics to explore tomorrows Friday Jummat prayer to calm nerves and pray for sustainable peace and restrain in the ongoing protest.
With tomorrow being Friday, Jumuah mosque Imams and Muslim leaders are implored to calm nerves and call on the Ummah to appreciate peace rather than chaotic state of affairs, which may even deny us congregational prayers.
The Quranic guidance in trying moments remains When the suffering reached them from us, why then did they not learn humility? Quran 6:43. Hence, sober reflection, sincere humility, and continued prayer to Allah, the Ever Merciful is the antidote to the quagmire.
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) said supplication is a weapon of the believer and the light of the heavens and the earth. Lets, therefore pray for Allahs apt intervention. All Imams are equally called upon to commence sustained supplications and/or prayers at this moment of grief, through Qunootun-Nawazil (special prayers at calamitous periods in the last Rakaah of each obligatory prayer and non-obligatory prayers), he said, in the statement.
The traditional ruler said the call has become imperative, bearing in mind that the protest is getting out of hand and the consequence may be too heavy on the West-African sub-region.
The Sultan further called on all Majaalis (knowledge-seeking gatherings), Halqas (study circles), Madaaris, and Makarantun Allo (Islamic schools), as well as the leadership of all Muslim organisations and/or societies in Nigeria to commence special prayers in calamitous situations and trying times (Qunootun-Nawazil), and seek Allahs compassion for Nigeria.
A clarion call is therefore made to all leaders and the Nigerian citizens to fear Allah, for it is through such a spiritual medium that Allahs intervention descends with full assurance from Him, the Ever Merciful.
Muslims are also urged to be introspective and should embrace more Dhikr (remembrance of Allah), through glorification of Allah, Istighfar (seeking Allahs forgiveness) and ceaseless Dua (prayers and invocations), for ease and relief in these trying moments, he added.
The sultan also called on the Nigerian government to do the needful in addressing the hardship in the country.
Nevertheless, the Sultan of Sokoto, implores the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria to address the nation, by assuring all Nigerians that peace, security, stability, relief to hardship and food security would be achieved under his stewardship, in-sha Allah.
Likewise, State Governors should also calm nerves, as silence is no longer golden at this moment of anxiety. In this time of challenge, we pray for guidance, protection, good health, and peace for all leaders, and for tranquility to prevail in Nigeria. May Allah, the Most High, also provide the quickest relief to all problems bedeviling the Nigerian state, the statement added.
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Local government elections in Nigeria have long been marred by rampant rigging and manipulation, favouring incumbents and ruling parties. Since the 1950s, political interference has plagued these elections, thwarting the goal of establishing truly representative local governments. The key factors contributing to these flawed elections include the absence of constitutionally guaranteed financial and operational independence for State Electoral Commissions (SIECs). This lack of autonomy enables state governors to interfere in SIEC operations and deprive them of necessary funds, thus undermining their ability to conduct credible elections. These constitutional weaknesses incapacitate the SIECs, depriving citizens of their right to elect leaders who represent their will.
The catalytic effect of the Supreme Court ruling strengthening the financial autonomy of local governments is evident in the current rush by state governments to conduct local government elections. Since the ruling, over 15 states have announced local government area (LGA) election dates. The Courts unequivocal declaration that a democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable has rendered caretaker committees appointed by governors illegal. Before this ruling, 462 local governments in 22 states were administered by caretaker committees. Following the verdict, these local governments will not receive funds from the Federation Account until elected officials are in place.
Calls to liberate State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs) from the stranglehold of state governors have also intensified. Three proposals have emerged for ensuring credible elections at the local government level. First, state electoral commissions should be reformed to strengthen their independence from governors. Second, abolishing SIECs and transferring the responsibility of conducting local government elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and lastly, establishing a new national body to conduct local government elections. Nigerias upper legislative house recently took action to advance the third proposal. The Senate passed for first reading a bill sponsored by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) to create the National Independent Local Government Electoral Commission (NILGEC) as a federal agency to organize, oversee, and conduct elections for the offices of local government chairman and councilors in all 36 states and the FCT.
State Electoral Commissions in Nigerias 1999 Constitution
Under Nigerias Constitution, State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) are established in Section 197 (1b) as State Executive bodies alongside the State Civil Service Commission and State Judicial Service Commission. As specified in Section 3, Part II of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, the SIECs shall comprise a Chairman and not less than five (5) but not more than seven (7) other persons. Section 4 empowers the SIECs with the power to organize, undertake, and supervise all elections to the local councils. SIECs also advise the INEC on the compilation of the voter register. The Chair and commissioners of the SIECs are appointed by the Governor of the State subject to confirmation by a resolution of the House of Assembly (Section 198). Members of the commission serve a tenure of five years, renewable once (Section 199 (1c). SIEC members shall only be removed from office by a Governor acting on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of a state House of Assembly praying that a member is removed for inability to discharge the functions due to infirmity of mind, body or any other cause and for misconduct (201(1)). The Constitution also states that the power of SIECs to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons shall not be subject to the direction and control of any other authority or person (Section 202).
Constitutional disempowerment of state electoral commissions
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While the Constitution places a premium on democratically elected local government under Section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, it fails to provide safeguards for institutional autonomy for the institution tasked with giving life to its aspiration of democratically elected local government councils. The following constitutional pitfalls significantly undermine the ability of SIECs to conduct credible local government elections:
Operational control of SIECs by governors: Section 204(1) subjects the power of SIECs to regulate its procedure and confer powers and duties on any officer or authority to the approval of the Governor. By this provision, the Constitution fails to insulate the SIECs from executive control. This constitutional mishap emboldens state executives to manipulate SIECs and influence electoral outcomes. Electoral commissions are required to be independent so they can enforce guidelines and rules of procedure without bias. Unfortunately, state electoral commissions cant operate independently because the Constitution does not guarantee administrative independence. In contrast, Section 160(1) of the Constitution protects the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by stating that INECs powers to make its own rules and guidelines shall not be subject to the approval or control of the President. Lack of financial autonomy: Electoral commissions thrive where access to election funding is guaranteed. Financial autonomy facilitates planning and insulates the commission from undue interference from external actors. SIECs are financially dependent on state governors, as Section 121(3) excludes them from institutions funded directly by the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state. The lack of financial autonomy makes SIECs susceptible to control and manipulation. SIECs face significant uncertainties regarding their funding as they rely heavily on the discretion or benevolence of the Governor to release funds for election management even in cases where the state legislature has appropriated the commissions budget. Typically, SIECs receive funding only to conduct local government elections, and in the period between elections, they lack resources for necessary pre- and post-election activities. In instances where funds are allocated, they are often released merely 90 days before the elections, making it challenging to deliver credible elections. In contrast, INECs financial autonomy is secured through Section 81(3), which places it on the first-line charge of the Federations Consolidated Revenue Fund. The 2022 Electoral Act mandates the release of election funding one year before elections. No constitutional timeframe for local government elections: The Constitution is silent on the tenure of local government councils and the timeframe for conducting elections. This loophole is exploited to dictate the tenure of local government chairmen and councillors, including justifying the arbitrary dissolution of local government councils. SIECs often release election timetables based on the Governors body language. A defined constitutional timeframe for local government elections is necessary to ensure consistency and fairness. Insufficient qualification criteria for SIEC members: The only constitutional requirement for appointment into SIEC is non-membership of a political party. While this is a necessary condition, it is grossly inadequate. Other conditions essential for election administration, such as unquestionable integrity and competence, are excluded in Section 200 of the Constitution. INEC appointments require non-partisanship and unquestionable integrity, a standard that should also apply to SIECs.
How To Strengthen State Electoral Commissions to Deliver Credible Elections
Introduce tenure for local government councils: The tenure of local government councils should be prescribed in the Constitution. This will guarantee the conduct of regular elections and put an end to the loophole exploited to justify the appointment of caretaker committees or dissolution of local government councils. Safeguard the operational autonomy of SIECs: The Constitution makes explicit provisions that state that the power of SIECs to regulate their own procedure and confer powers and duties on any officer or authority shall not be subject to the approval of the Governor or any person. This will strengthen SIECs independence and liberate them from the stranglehold of governors. Strengthen the financial autonomy of SIECs: To guarantee the financial autonomy of the SIECs, its funding should be on first-line charge. In other words, the financing of the SIECs should be charged to the states Consolidated Revenue. By incorporating this provision, the financial independence of SIECs will be safeguarded, ensuring that their functions are free from undue political influence. Alternatively, local government may, through legislation, contribute 5 per cent of their allocation to SIECs and local government elections in view of the direct allocation from the Federation Account. Review the mode of appointments into SIEC: The power to appoint the Chairman and members of SIECs should be divested from the Governors. The Constitution should introduce the procedure outlined below: Nomination: Where a vacancy arises in the SIEC, the state assembly should set up an independent committee to handle nominations. The committee issues a widely publicized call for nominations. Interview panel: Shortlisted candidates undergo an interview to assess competence, character, and suitability for appointment to the SIEC Confirmation by the State Assembly: The state assembly shall consider the interview panel report and public petitions. A two-thirds majority resolution by the state assembly is required to recommend a candidate to the Governor for appointment. Introduce timelines for appointment in SIECs: The Constitution should be amended to introduce specific timelines for appointing members to State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs). Appointments must be made within 30 days of a vacancy. This will prevent unwarranted delays in constituting the commissions board, ensuring that SIECs can function effectively and without interruption. Strengthen the criteria for membership of SIEC: In addition to non-membership of political parties, the Constitution should be amended to introduce age, integrity, and competence as criteria for appointment into SIECs. Members of the SIEC should not be less than 25 years of age. Redefine the power and functions of SIECs: The powers of the SIECs should be reviewed to strengthen their independence and effectiveness. Its powers should be expanded to include; monitoring party primaries, congresses, and conventions related to local government elections, promoting knowledge of sound democratic election processes at the local government level, conducting any referendum required to be conducted under the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and any Law of the State House of Assembly.
With the Supreme Court judgment, local government elections will be a cynosure for political actors and election stakeholders, significantly raising the stakes. As the stakes increase, so does the pressure to deliver credible elections. This could usher a new vista for local elections, which have previously been overlooked. The vision of a democratically elected local government can only be realized if the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) are reformed, repositioned, and strengthened to safeguard electoral democracy at the local level. By undergoing reforms similar to those implemented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), SIECs can significantly enhance the quality of local government elections. Proposals to create a new federal election body to conduct local government elections or to vest the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with this power are knee-jerk solutions. Such proposals risk centralizing power, which could undermine the principles of federalism. To deepen electoral democracy in Nigeria, focusing on strengthening SIECs with constitutional safeguards for conducting credible and inclusive elections at the local level is more advantageous.
Samson Itodo is an election, democracy, and public policy enthusiast. Itodo serves as the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa and Principal Partner of the Election Law Center. He is also a member of the Kofi Annan Foundation board and the Board of Advisers of International IDEA. Please send comments and feedback to sitodo@yiaga.org. He tweets @DSamsonItodo
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Despite residing in Opebi then, and I living in Akute, a border town between Lagos and Ogun, when we had our first child, Nmesomachukwu, she equally journeyed all the way most Sundays just to attend baptism classes preparatory to being my daughters godmother.
My first encounter with the no-nonsense and highly principled Elegant Stallion, Lady Onyeka Onwenu (MFR), is a great lesson on why we should never give up.
Back then, at the defunct FAME Weekly, where I started my journalism career as an intern, I had suggested an interview with Ms Onwenu during one of our editorial meetings, as my story idea for the week. Raising his face from what he was reading, the gentleman who offered me the first opportunity ever to write, Mr Femi Akintunde-Johnson, aka FAJ, adjusted his sitting position before telling me that Aunty Onyeka, like I called her, took us to court over a story that obviously didnt jell with her. But you can still try, he added, not wanting to discourage me.
After securing an interview appointment, in the course of which the interviewee equally reminded me of the court case, the unexpected happened! I found out on getting back to the office that the interview hadnt recorded. My tape recorder had malfunctioned.
Down and demoralised, and again without informing my boss, I wrote Ms Onwenu a moving letter, begging for another opportunity and also explaining what happened, as best as I could. I dropped the letter in her office with her PA and no sooner did I get to the end of Isaac John Street (in Ikeja GRA, Lagos), where I was waiting to catch a bus, than I heard someone calling my name.
I turned and behold it was the PA. Madam says you should come back! Trembling, I followed her to the office where the One Love superstar did not only empathise with me, but also consented to another interview. And so began a relationship that spanned over 25 years and, to be candid, benefitted me immeasurably.
Besides always being there for me and constantly showering me with love, Aunty Onyeka played for me (FOC) on 6 August, 2005 when I got married to my beautiful fiancee, Nkoli, at the Niteshift Coliseum, in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos.
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Despite residing in Opebi then, and I living in Akute, a border town between Lagos and Ogun, when we had our first child, Nmesomachukwu, she equally journeyed all the way most Sundays just to attend baptism classes preparatory to being my daughters godmother.
Years later, she asked me to see her in the office and on getting there, she handed me a cheque which she said must be used to open an account for her goddaughter. Surprisingly, about a month before this sad and shocking news, she asked for everybodys account numbers which she credited yet again.
I could go on and on enumerating all the beautiful ways she impacted my life and that of my family and business.
On Saturday, 27 July, at exactly 3.28 p.m., she called to give me a quick update concerning an issue. If only I knew that that would be our last encounter and conversation.
My whole family is in tears. Particularly her goddaughter, Nmesomachukwu. Shes remained frozen ever since I broke the news to the family.
Please, continue to remember us in your prayers, especially as we grapple with this heavily devastating news.
Rest in peace, Aunty Onyeka Onwenu!
Azuh Arinze is publisher/editor-in-chief of YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine and author of bestselling books like The CEOs Bible 1&2, Success Is Not Served A La Carte, A Taste of Success, Anything And Everything Journalism, etc.
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Upon receipt of all necessary approvals from the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Old Mutual Nigeria Life Assurance Company Limited and Old Mutual General Insurance Company Nigeria Limited are proud to announce their rebrand and name change to emPLELife Assurance Limited and emPLE General Insurance Limited respectively. This transformation follows the completion of the acquisition of 100% of Old Mutuals equity in both businesses by emPLE Group.
emPLE Group is dedicated to delivering superior financial solutions and fostering long-term growth and value creation across Africa. Central to emPLEs purpose is empowering people by providing innovative financial solutions that enhance their freedom, security, and prosperity.
Old Mutual has been a prominent player in Nigerias financial landscape, offering comprehensive life assurance, general insurance, savings, and investment solutions to over 1.5 million customers across the country. With the acquisition finalized, the companies will now operate under the emPLE brand, reflecting their integration into the emPLE Groups vision and strategy.
The acquisition of Old Mutuals insurance businesses in Nigeria and their transformation to emPLE mark a pivotal moment in emPLEs journey. emPLE is poised to enhance its service offerings and customer engagement, positioning itself as the premier insurer in Africa. This rebranding allows emPLE to consolidate its strengths, expand its capabilities, and build lifelong financial partnerships with its clients.
According to Olalekan Oyinlade, Managing Director of emPLE General Insurance Limited, The rebranding to emPLEsignifies a new chapter for us. We remain steadfast in our dedication to delivering innovative insurance solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. emPLE, meaning empowering people, reflects our mission to protect and empower individuals and families throughout Africa, ensuring their financial security and prosperity.
The acting Managing Director of emPLE Life Assurance Limited, Rantimi Ogunleye, added We are excited about this new phase. The acquisition will significantly bolster our commitment to expanding our market presence and strengthen our ability to achieve remarkable growth and enhance the value we provide to our customers.
As emPLE embarks on this transformative journey, the company reaffirms its commitment to enhancing its operational capabilities and customer offerings. With a renewed focus on empowerment and sustainability, emPLE aims to innovate within the insurance sector by introducing cutting-edge solutions that prioritize customer needs and environmental responsibility. This commitment reinforces emPLEs dedication to delivering unparalleled service and fostering long-term partnerships with its clients across Africa.
emPLE is a leading financial services company dedicated to providing insurance and investment solutions to retail and corporate clients across Africa. At emPLE, the purpose is to empower Africans by providing innovative financial solutions that enhance their freedom, security, and prosperity.
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 company believes that true empowerment comes from providing not just access to financial products but also the knowledge and tools necessary for our customers to make informed decisions and achieve financial independence.
For more information about emPLE, visit: www.emple.group
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Nigerias police authorities late Wednesday criticised the leadership of the advocacy group, Take It Back Movement, for refusing to fulfill the condition mandating it to provide details of the organisers of Thursdays #EndBadGovernance protest.
Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police, in a statement, said he has, therefore, directed all police formations across the country to protect innocent lives and properties from attack, harassment, molestation, or destruction while also descending on troublemakers.
Regrettably, the organizers of the proposed protest have not deemed it necessary to supply the simple and basic information required by the Police, under the Constitution, the Police Act and all other enabling Laws in this regard, Mr Egbetokun said in the statement.
To this extent, the Nigeria Police still demands from the organizers of the proposed protest that they furnish it with the said essential information/details mentioned above before the commencement of the protest.
Intelligence at the disposal of the Nigeria Police reveals that the protests are practically aimed at unleashing mayhem on the polity, innocent citizens markers, stores, private and public properties, as well as critical infrastructure of government across the country. The name given to the movement TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT has far reaching undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal connotations.
Mr Egbetokun also directed police officers to decisively deal with any act of arson, intimidation or harassment of any citizen, threat to lives and properties, breach of public peace by the protesters .
Perpetrators of any crime will be arrested and promptly prosecuted, he added.
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In the above circumstances, no responsible Law enforcement agency in any part of the civilized or democratic world would fold its arms and watch a degeneration of the situation into a state of anomy. Accordingly, therefore, all Police formations across the country are hereby put on alert and directed to protect innocent lives and properties from attack, harassment, molestation or destruction, the police boss said.
Furthermore, pursuant to the essential duties of the Nigeria Police under the Constitution, the Police Act and other enabling Laws, all officers and men of the Nigeria Police are hereby directed to act and deal decisively with any act of arson, intimidation or harassment of any citizen, threat to lives and properties, breach of public peace and any act of criminality that may arise or flow from the planned protest in any part of the country. Perpetrators of any crime will be arrested and promptly prosecuted.
The police boss threats came a day after he convened a virtual meeting with over a dozen key activists and youth mobilisers across Nigeria, proposing that they should confine the protests to specific locations.
The activists turned down his proposal.
The #EndBadGovernance protest is planned to hold from August 1 to August 10.
Read the full statement of the Police Inspector-General below:
PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE ON THE PROPOSED PROTEST PLANNED BY THE TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT
Further to the earlier statement made in respect of the proposed/planned country-wide protest by the TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT, particularly, to the effect that while the Nigeria Police Force recognizes that protest by any group of citizens in a democracy can be organized, subject to compliance with rules and regulations, decency, respect for rule of law, as well as respect for the right of other citizens to move freely and carry out their normal duties and business without any threat or inhibition. The Nigeria Police hereby wishes to bring the attention of the general public to the following:
2. The Nigeria Police Force has in the last few days engaged with the leadership of the TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT and also through their accredited solicitors, and made it clear that in line with what operates in any civilized climes, they should submit to the respective State Commissioners of Police where they intend to carry out their protests, including the FCT, the venue/ route of their assembly, congregation or procession; the commencement and closing time during the day, the modus operandi of the protests and all other information necessary to guide the Police, as well as other members of the public, who are equally entitled to their constitutional right of movement. This is a necessary measure in the interest of the organizers and those who may want to participate in the protest, as the Nigeria Police Force equally owes them a duty of protection.
3. While liaising with the Police Commissioners in the respect States, an undertaking has to be given or entered that the organisers shall be in a position to control, guide and manage any congregation or assembly that comes up for the protest, so that the protests are not hijacked by unscrupulous elements who may want to hide under the guise of the protest to unleash terror or perpetrate mayhem on the innocent public, we are also concerned particularly, that there shall be no loss of lives or destruction of property, private or public.
4. Regrettably, the organizers of the proposed protest have not deemed it necessary to supply the simple and basic information required by the Police, under the Constitution, the Police Act and all other enabling Laws in this regard. To this extent, the Nigeria Police still demands from the organizers of the proposed protest that they furnish it with the said essential information/details mentioned above before the commencement of the protest.
5. Intelligence at the disposal of the Nigeria Police reveals that the protests are practically aimed at unleashing mayhem on the polity, innocent citizens markers, stores, private and public properties, as well as critical infrastructure of government across the country. The name given to the movement TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT has far reaching undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal connotations.
6. In the above circumstances, no responsible Law enforcement agency in any part of the civilized or democratic world would fold its arms and watch a degeneration of the situation into a state of anomy. Accordingly, therefore, all Police formations across the country are hereby put on alert and directed to protect innocent lives and properties from attack, harassment, molestation or destruction. Furthermore, pursuant to the essential duties of the Nigeria Police under the Constitution, the Police Act and other enabling Laws, all officers and men of the Nigeria Police are hereby directed to act and deal decisively with any act of arson, intimidation or harassment of any citizen, threat to lives and properties, breach of public peace and any act of criminality that may arise or flow from the planned protest in any part of the country. Perpetrators of any crime will be arrested and promptly prosecuted.
7. The attention of the general public is also drawn important statement, order for every Nigerian guided, guarded and properly advised.
Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph. D, NPM
Inspector General of Police
31st July, 2024
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The police in Niger State have arrested 11 suspects over the looting of a local government secretariat in Niger State.
The police said the suspects invaded the secretariat of Tafa LGA of Niger State, located along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway in Sabon-Wuse.
In a press statement on Thursday, the police spokesperson in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, said hoodlums looted and vandalised the secretariat before setting the building and two cars within the premises on fire.
Mr Abiodun said the 11 suspects were arrested with different types of dangerous weapons, including firearms, and some looted items recovered from them.
The statement said the police and sister security agencies also dispersed hoodlums blocking the Kaduna-Abuja expressway towards the old toll gate.
He said the expressway has been reopened for motorists, adding that investigation continued to arrest other suspects.
The police said violent demonstrations, destruction of public assets and looting will not be tolerated, and any act of lawlessness will be strictly dealt with by the law.
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The police in Kaduna State, along with the army and other sister security agencies embarked on a Confidence Building Show of Force Operation in Kaduna on Wednesday.
The police spokesperson, Mansir Hassan, told journalists that the display was to ensure the states safety and security.
He said, This operation is designed to serve as a clear warning to those who may seek to use the upcoming protest to destabilise the state.
It also aims to showcase the capabilities and readiness of our security agencies to maintain peace and order.
The operation saw the active participation of several high-ranking officers, including the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command.
Others were the Garrison Commander 1 Division Kaduna, the Nigerian Air Force 453 Base Service Group Kaduna, the Commander of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps , the Commander of Kaduna State Vigilante Service among others.
Mr Hassan explained that the primary objective of the show of force was to deter individuals with malicious intent from engaging in any form of violence during the upcoming protest.
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He said, Effective deployment of 25,000 security agencies have been made in strategic flash points to ensure strict compliance to public order.
As formerly announced, the police will not deny citizens their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and protests.
The Kaduna State police command reiterates that the protest should be peaceful.
(NAN)
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The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, has declared a 24-hour curfew after protesters looted government buildings and individual businesses on Thursday.
The governors spokesperson, Sanusi Bature, in a statement, said the curfew is with immediate effect.
The governor said the decision to impose movement restrictions was reached at an emergency State Security Council meeting dedicated to addressing the escalating violence and disruptions that accompanied the #EndBadGovernance protest in the state.
The governor said the majority of demonstrators voiced their concerns responsibly, but that the protest was hijacked by thugs and hoodlums who engaged in rampant looting, destruction of property, and violence against innocent citizens.
The governor said the violent actions, allegedly fueled by antagonistic elements, threatened the safety and security of citizens and must be addressed vigorously.
To safeguard lives and preserve public and private property, the decision to implement a curfew was made unanimously during the emergency meeting.
The imposition of this curfew is a necessary measure to restore order and ensure the safety of our communities, said the governor.
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It is paramount that we protect our citizens from further harm and preserve the sanctity of our states institutions and businesses. The governor called on all citizens to remain vigilant and united during this challenging time.
Let us not allow the actions of a few selfish individuals to divide us. Together, we can navigate these challenges and fortify our resolve to build a stronger, more resilient Kano State.
All security agencies in the state have been directed to ensure full compliance with the curfew, and citizens are urged to heed this directive for their safety and the well-being of all, the governor said.
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Residents of Nigerias South-east, on Thursday, shunned the nationwide protest against economic hardship and insecurity.
The protest, which began on Thursday, is billed to last until 10 August.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that the protest failed to hold across Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states on Thursday.
Enugu
A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who moved around Enugu Metropolis observed minimal human and vehicular movements on Thursday.
Many street shops, banks and petrol stations did not open for business.
Although the popular Ogbete Main Market, the biggest market in the state, was open, many shops remained shut.
Most residents remained indoors.
A food vendor in Enugu, Chinyere Edeh, told PREMIUM TIMES residents from the region were not interested in the protest because there were fears Nigerian security agencies could target them.
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If we protest now, you will see some persons being killed, but others in other parts of the country will not be treated like that, Ms Edeh said in Igbo language.
So, everyone is afraid.
Imo
The situation appeared different in Imo. Ben Okolo, a resident of Owerri, the state capital, told this newspaper that everywhere was on lockdown in the capital city.
No protest here. Everyone is inside, Mr Okolo said.
The resident said the protest must have failed to hold in the state because of the shootings by gunmen suspected to be enforcing a controversial sit-at-home order in the area.
Since Monday, there have been shootings everywhere in Imo, he said.
Another resident, Chijioke Nwakamma, said there was no sign of protest in the Okigwe Area of the state.
The truth of the matter is that the people are scared because, if you notice, for the past three days, gunmen have been burning vehicles here, Mr Nwakamma said.
Anambra
Arinze Ajaezu, a resident of Onitsha in Anambra State, said people remained indoors in the state.
Mr Ajaezu, a shop owner at Onitsha Main Market, said he had to return home because he did not see anyone in the market.
There was no protest. But everywhere was deserted, he said.
Another resident, Dennis Emmanuel, said banks and other businesses did not open.
Everywhere has been scanty since morning. But some people are beginning to open their shops now, Mr Emmanuel, who resides in the Nkpor Area of the state, said at about 3 p.m.
Ebonyi
Like in other states in South-east, residents of Ebonyi State shunned the nationwide protest.
A resident of Abakaliki, Ifeanyi Nwigwe, said although there was no protest, businesses were shut down in the state.
I am in the market now, Mr Nwigwe, a shop owner at Abakaliki International Market, said.
Abia
In Abia State, the situation was the same.
One of the residents, Victor Akuma, said the protest did not take place in the Aba Area of the state.
Everywhere is calm. No protest, Mr Akuma stated.
Emmanuel Nwazue, a journalist based in Umuahia, the state capital, told PREMIUM TIMES that shops and banks did not open for business in the area.
But there was nothing like protest, Mr Nwazue stated.
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The Police Command in Lagos State has confirmed the detention of three domestic workers over the death of Justice Ofili Ajumogobias daughter.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.
Three domestic staff have been arrested and handed over to the State Criminal Investigation Department, which has since taken over the investigation, Mr Hundeyin said.
He said that the judges daughter, Chukwu, was found dead in Lagos on Wednesday.
Chukwu was found lifeless this morning (Wednesday) about 6:45 a.m. at the entrance of her parents house on Bembe Street, Parkview Estate, Lagos, Mr Hundeyin said.
The spokesperson that the detention of the three suspects was in line with a directive from the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, for a thorough investigation of the death.
Chukwus father, Soboma Ajumogobia, is younger brother of Odein Ajumogobia, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
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(NAN)
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The planned hunger protest, which began in some parts of the country on Thursday, 1 August, did not hold in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
However, witnesses say a lone protester who dared to march along the NEPA area of the city, was harassed by a group of young men in the area.
The protester, whose identity was not immediately known, ran away from the scene and never returned for fear of being mobbed.
However, the ever busy Arakale and the Oja Oba market were deserted early in the day for fear of the unknown.
The popular Oba Adesida, Ondo, and Oyemekun roads located in the heart of the ancient city of Akure were empty without the usual vehicular or human traffic.
Also, all the government offices located at Alagbaka, including the Governors Office, were all without any activities.
Organisers of the hunger and #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria protest under the group named, Concerned Revolutionary Youths, had on Wednesday announced they were pulling out of the planned protest in Ondo State.
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The Ondo State secretary of the group, Ogundipe Olaniyi, said they were pulling out following the interventions of prominent indigenes of the state.
Mr Ogundipe said the group was neither induced financially nor intimidated, but resolved to pull out of the planned protest due to the interventions and security reports that some groups were preparing to hijack the protest to settle ethnic scores.
However, vehicular and human traffic increased in the city at noon and some shops started opening for businesses in the suburbs as the day went by.
Security personnel were seen positioned at strategic locations and at identified flash points to maintain law and order, but they idled away as there were no protesters to curtail.
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On Thursday, hundreds of young people and residents marched across major roads in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to protest poor governance and hunger in Nigeria.
As early as 7:16 a.m., security operatives and other agencies consisting of Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Western Nigerian Security Network (Amotekun), and the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) converged at the Rosewale filling station on Iwo Road, the gathering point for the Ibadan protest, to monitor the event.
Two hours later, the demonstrators arrived with megaphones, large banners, and placards with various inscriptions expressing their demands to the Nigerian government.
They demanded a scrap of the 1999 Constitution; reasonable investment in education, reversion of the fuel price, and food price control, among others.
The protesters mobilised residents and shop owners from the point of convergence and at motor parks at Iwo Road and began a procession to Agodi Government House.
As they marched along, singing different protest songs, more people with bikes and cars joined them, while security operatives walked behind them with their trucks.
Addressing journalists at Mokola Roundabout, Solomon Emiola, the protest leader, stated that the hungry youths of the nation are the victims of poor governance and that a party did not sponsor the protest.
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Mr Emiola said the protest was not against tribe and religion, noting that problems of hunger, poverty, insecurity, terrorism, unemployment, bad electoral practices and local government autonomy brought them to the streets.
Our demands are very straightforward, we ultimately want an end to the 1999 constitution that causes underdevelopment, Mr Emiola said.
Shortly after his address, the protesters moved towards the University of Ibadan, where another group of protesters joined them.
The procession of protesters returned to the meeting place at Iwo Road, after which they dispersed.
There were no injuries or acts of violence. The protesters vowed to continue the protest tomorrow until their demands are met.
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On a warm July afternoon, the Vasquez family sat in the parish office of Zion Methodist Church in Chippewa Falls.
The Vasquez daughters, ages 8 and 3, colored and played with blocks while husband and wife Paolo and Romina talked quietly, laughing and smiling at their girls.
We waited a long time for this. This is all we want, Paolo Vasquez said.
Everyone wants that. They want to be safe. They want to feel safe in their home and on the streets. Now we have that.
In 2018, Paolo and Romina Vasquez left El Salvador with a young daughter to escape violence, organized crime and corruption. Now residing in Chippewa Falls, both Paolo and Romina serve as pastors in western Wisconsins United Methodist Church and are preparing to start seminary.
We used to see people being killed in the streets all day, every day, Paolo said. Now we get to work for God.
Church leaders
Paolo and Romina are working toward ordination in the United Methodist Church. But in the meantime, the couple serves three churches in the region as licensed pastors.
Paolo serves both the Zion United Methodist Church in Chippewa Falls and Hallie United Methodist Church. The Vasquez family lives in the parsonage next to Zion.
In Chippewa Falls, Paolo has about 60 congregants, and in Hallie he serves about 30.
Once Sunday morning services are over in Chippewa County, the family piles into their car and drives to Arcadia, where Romina serves as a Methodist pastor to a Spanish-speaking congregation at Arcadias Fuente de Vida Pepin Wisconsin. She holds that service at 3 p.m. each Sunday.
It is a full day of church for us every Sunday, Paolo said. We do it as a family going to all the services together. We even play together.
Paolo plays drums and guitar, and Romina plays drums. The whole family sings during services at each church, Paolo said. Romina said through her husband, who translated Spanish to English on Tuesday, that she fell in love with her husband when he taught her to play drums for church.
Romina said they have about 15 people who come to church in Arcadia.
The Vasquez family has dedicated their lives to spreading the word of God in western Wisconsin, a long way from their home country of El Salvador.
Fleeing violence
Romina and Paolo had to flee El Salvador in 2018 because of relentless violence in their home country, city and neighborhood.
I never thought I would leave, but it was not getting better. It was just so violent. There was so much death, he said. The country became one of the most unsafe countries, and we felt we had to leave.
Paolo was working for an insurance company a decade ago, while Romina was a nurse who assisted surgeons. Paolo said that in El Salvador it is impossible to make a living as clergy so they did not consider that as a viable career until they came to the U.S.
Prior to seeking refugee status in the U.S., Paolo said the family had a hard time in El Salvador.
We went through a very tough experience in my home country. So I had an experience of having a gun to my head, where it was, somebody was stealing from me, Paolo said. Then you know people ask for money in order to let me live. You pay just for living. And always they say they are going to kill my family, they name my family members and stuff like that when they threaten us.
According to the El Salvador 2018 Human Rights Report, published by the U.S. Department of State, human rights issues have greatly impacted the country for years, though it is considered a constitutional multiparty republic that has held generally free and fair elections since 2014.
In 2018, the state department reported that human rights violations in the country included allegations of unlawful killings of suspected gang members and others by security forces; forced disappearances by military personnel; torture by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.
The state department also cited arbitrary arrests and detentions, lack of government respect for judicial independence, widespread government corruption and violence against women and girls that was infrequently addressed by the authorities.
Paolo said violence and fear were a daily part of life.
Every time you leave your house, you do not know if you will return. Every day. You know when you go out, it may be the last time, Paola said.
Paolo said he worked with the police when a situation became too serious to handle himself.
There was a man coming every day just watching our house. Threatening us. Paolo said. Extortion is a huge problem there. I went to the police and said this is what happened and they said you need to make a claim. They said, We are going to go get them, but you actually need to be there when we are going to be doing this and making arrests. Otherwise they said we need to run away from where you are. That's why we live in America.
For Paolo and Romina, organized crime, gang violence and extortion became too big an obstacle to overcome.
The state department says that in 2018 organized crime members in El Salvador committed acts of murder, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, intimidation and other threats, and violence directed against police, judicial authorities, the business community, journalists, women and members of vulnerable populations.
Family in US
Throughout this ordeal, Paolo said he became certain that he and his wife were being asked to serve God.
One point when we were recently married I talked to my wife and I said, What about me one day working for the church? God calls us to the ministry after years of working in church leadership positions. And she agreed, he said.
Both Paolos parents and his sister lived in the U.S. when this was going on in El Salvador. Romina also had immediate family who are U.S. citizens. With those supports in place, Paolo and Romina decided to ask for refugee status in the U.S. because they feared for their lives.
In 2018 they relocated to the U.S., arriving in Florida and staying with some family in California before moving to Wisconsin in 2019 after Paolo started the clergy discernment process.
Serving the church
Paolo and Romina are both getting ready to start seminary in the fall so that they can each earn a Master of Divinity an advanced professional degree of theological study that many denominations require from those completing the ordination process.
Paolo and Romina are each licensed local pastors in the United Methodist Church.
We believe in the Methodist Church that lay people can serve (as pastors), but they cannot perform sacraments, Paola said.
Once they earn those degrees from Southern Methodist Universitys Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Paolo and Romina will be able to continue in their individual ordination processes and eventually serve congregations as ordained ministers.
We are clergy right now. We are not ordained, but we are serving as pastors Paolo said. Ordination means that you will become an elder.
Romina said through her husband that she feels like she is doing Gods work. She was able to start doing ministry from her home and now is leading a congregation and will one day be ordained.
It brings joy and satisfaction to our hearts, Romina said. I see how we can be a blessing for the people and we see that people we work with are blessing us as well.
Vasquez family photos Vasquez 3 Vasquez 17 Vasquez 6 Vasquez 7 Vasquez 9 Vasquez 1 Vasquez 10 Vasquez 11 Vasquez 12 Vasquez 5 Vasquez 13 Vasquez 14 Vasquez Vasquez 16 Vasquez 2 Vasquez 8
Info-Tech Research Group has unveiled its latest research blueprint, which provides valuable insights into achieving business autonomy through strategic data practices. This blueprint emphasizes the alignment of data strategies with business objectives, the use of advanced technologies, and the cultivation of a data-proficient culture. By following these guidelines, enterprises can drive unprecedented growth, innovation, and operational efficiency.
TORONTO, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - As organizations navigate a complex data landscape fraught with challenges like disparate data sources and siloed systems, the need for a well-defined data practice strategy has become more critical. To support their evolution into autonomous enterprises, global research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published its latest resource, Define a Data Practice Strategy to Power an Autonomous Enterprise. This comprehensive research highlights the obstacles that hinder effective data utilization and emphasizes the necessity of aligning data practices with organizational objectives. In the blueprint, Info-Tech advises IT leaders that by focusing on data literacy, collaborative operating models, and advanced technologies, organizations can leverage the transformative power of data to drive innovation, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth.
Info-Tech Research Group's "Define a Data Practice Strategy to Power an Autonomous Enterprise" blueprint outlines three focus areas for IT leaders to prioritize in their data management efforts. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)
The blueprint underscores how important it is for organizations to understand the full scope of data and IT challenges they face. As AI continues to evolve, it will demand an increasing volume and variety of high-quality data.
"Applied AI is a true paradigm shift offering opportunities for transformative value generation and potential for disruption. AI will continue to demand an increasing volume and variety of quality data, delivered increasingly in real time, produced and consumed from anywhere," says Irina Sedenko, research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "This exponentially growing demand for data increases the pressure on technology and data leaders to deliver the necessary processes, capabilities, and technologies to service that demand. However, with just one in ten data leaders viewed as true business value creators by executives, leaders must innovate their strategies to meet these expectations effectively or face the threat of falling behind in the competitive landscape."
The research insights support the firm's stance that in the Exponential IT future, the role of data will shift from a support tool for internal decisions to a driving force behind core business strategies. The rapid advancement of AI technologies allows organizations to address more complex problems and build systems that take advantage of real-time data from multiple sources. This shift demands that organizational leaders adopt innovative tactics to meet new expectations or risk being left behind.
"Data & analytics practices need to change. CIOs need to lead the change by partnering with the business and empowering business leaders to own and drive data & analytics initiatives," explains Vince Mirabelli, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "Organizations need to redefine the data & analytics practice and its capabilities, break down IT and business silos, and recognize they have a skills gap. Data teams need to learn how to communicate with the business in terms of business value, and business teams need to learn data product management."
The firm's resource details the process for identifying data best practices by incorporating AI, reimagining capabilities, evolving practices, and redefining the role and value of data within the organization.
In its latest resource, Info-Tech outlines three focus areas for IT leaders to prioritize in their data management efforts:
Redefine the Value of Data: Drive the proper utilization of data assets to differentiate unique products and services. This approach involves identifying and leveraging the most valuable data to generate significant business outcomes and competitive advantage.
Consider Business and Technology as a Single Team: Establish a true business and IT synergy environment that drives strategic data use. This includes enhancing collaboration and partnership with the business, empowering the business to take ownership of data and analytics initiatives, and ensuring that data-driven decisions are made closer to where the impact is felt.
Address the Skills Gap: Recognize the skills gap between IT and business teams and foster technical expertise and product management skills within business teams. Simultaneously, business awareness within the technology team should be developed to ensure they understand and align with business objectives and can effectively communicate the value of data initiatives.
Info-Tech's comprehensive blueprint provides practical guidance for organizations aiming to define a data practice strategy that propels them toward becoming autonomous enterprises.
The firm advises that by aligning data initiatives with business objectives, leveraging advanced technologies, and nurturing a data-driven culture, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth, innovation, and operational efficiency. Embracing this strategic approach not only empowers organizations to harness the full potential of their data assets but also enables them to adapt proactively to changing market dynamics and emerging trends. This proactive adaptation ensures sustained competitiveness and long-term success in an increasingly data-centric world.
For exclusive and timely commentary from Irina Sedenko or Vince Mirabelli, experts in data management, as well as access to the complete Define a Data Practice Strategy to Power an Autonomous Enterprise blueprint, please contact [email protected].
Info-Tech LIVE 2024
Registration is now open for Info-Tech Research Group's annual IT conference, Info-Tech LIVE 2024, taking place September 17 to 19, 2024, at the iconic Bellagio in Las Vegas. This premier event offers journalists, podcasters, and media influencers access to exclusive content, the latest IT research and trends, and the opportunity to interview industry experts, analysts, and speakers. To apply for media passes to attend the event or gain access to research and expert insights on trending topics, please contact [email protected].
About Info-Tech Research Group
Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT and HR professionals. The company produces unbiased, highly relevant research and provides advisory services to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
To learn more about Info-Tech's divisions, visit McLean & Company for HR research and advisory services and SoftwareReviews for software buying insights.
Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].
For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.
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PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global air separation unit market is propelled by rise in green hydrogen production. The increasing focus on renewable energy and sustainability is creating new opportunities for ASUs in green hydrogen production. ASUs play a crucial role in electrolysis processes for producing hydrogen from water, where oxygen is a byproduct. The demand for green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy sources, is expected to grow rapidly as countries strive to reduce carbon emissions and achieve energy transition goals.
Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Air Separation Unit Market by Process (Cryogenic Distillation and Non-Cryogenic Distillation), Gas Type (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon and Others), and End-Use industry (Iron and Steel, Petrochemical, Medical, Chemical Manufacturing and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the air separation unit market size was valued at $5.8 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $8.8 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2024 to 2033.
Download PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A07825
Prime determinants of growth
The global air separation unit market is driven by rapid technological advancements in air separation unit (ASU) systems. Manufacturers of ASUs are constantly engaged in R&D activities for improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing operational reliability. Modern ASUs incorporate advanced cryogenic distillation processes, sophisticated control systems, and innovative heat exchange technologies to optimize gas separation and liquefaction processes. For instance, the development of more efficient heat exchangers and distillation columns has significantly improved the energy efficiency of ASUs, reducing operational costs and environmental footprint. Additionally, digitalization and automation in ASU operations enable real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and remote control, enhancing overall system performance and reliability. However, high operational and maintenance costs of air separation units may restrain the growth of the air separation unit market during the forecast period.
Report coverage & details:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20242033 Base Year 2023 Market Size In 2023 $5.8 Billion Market Size In 2033 $8.8 Billion CAGR 4.3 % No. Of Pages In Report 350 Segments Covered Process, Gas Type, End-Use Industry, And Region. Drivers Industrial Growth And Demand For Industrial Gases
Energy Sector Expansion And Demand For Oxygen
Renewable Energy Integration And Green Hydrogen Production Opportunities Technological Advancements In ASU Systems Restraints High Operational Costs
The cryogenic segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period
The demand for cryogenic air separation units (ASUs) is increasing due to their critical role in supplying large volumes of high-purity gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon for diverse industrial applications. Cryogenic ASUs utilize cryogenic distillation technology to separate and liquefy air components at extremely low temperatures, ensuring efficient and cost-effective production of industrial gases. These gases are essential in industries such as steelmaking, chemicals, healthcare, electronics, and aerospace. As industries expand globally and seek reliable and sustainable sources of industrial gases, the scalability, efficiency, and reliability of cryogenic ASUs make them indispensable. Additionally, advancements in cryogenic technology and energy efficiency further drive the adoption of cryogenic ASUs to meet growing industrial and environmental demands.
Procure Complete Report (350 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://bit.ly/3Wuu9d3
The oxygen segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period
The demand for cryogenic air separation units (ASUs) specifically for oxygen is increasing due to several factors. Oxygen produced by cryogenic ASUs is crucial for various industries and applications, including healthcare, metal processing, chemicals, and combustion processes. The healthcare sector, in particular, relies on oxygen for respiratory therapies, anesthesia, and emergency medical treatments, with heightened demand during health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In industrial applications, oxygen from cryogenic ASUs enhances combustion efficiency, supports oxy-fuel processes in steelmaking, and enables cleaner and more efficient chemical reactions. As industries prioritize operational efficiency, reliability, and sustainability, the scalable and energy-efficient nature of cryogenic ASUs positions them as essential infrastructure for ensuring a reliable supply of high-purity oxygen to meet growing global demand.
North America to maintain its dominance by 2033
Countries in Asia-Pacific are experiencing rapid industrial growth and manufacturing expansion across sectors such as steel, chemicals, electronics, and healthcare. Cryogenic ASUs are essential for producing large volumes of high-purity oxygen, nitrogen, and argon required for industrial processes. Oxygen, in particular, is used in steelmaking for blast furnace operations and oxy-fuel combustion processes, enhancing process efficiency and reducing emissions. The expansion of manufacturing capabilities in APAC countries drives the demand for reliable and efficient industrial gas supply systems, positioning cryogenic ASUs as critical infrastructure for supporting industrial productivity and economic development.
For Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/air-separation-unit-market/purchase-options
Leading Market Players: -
Linde PLC
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Nikkiso
ING. L. & A. BOSCHI ITALY
Bhuruka Gases Limited
Hangzhou Nuzhuo Technology Group Co., Ltd.
TAIYO NIPPON SANSO CORPORATION
Brise Chemicals
Comi Polaris Systems
INOX-Air Products Inc.
Maddox Industrial Group.
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global air separation unit market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
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Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
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Asep was selected to be a part of a special series titled Empowered, Hosted by Meg Ryan, focusing on science, technology and medicine leaders.
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Asep Medical Holdings Inc. ("Asep Inc." or the "Company") (CSE: ASEP) (OTCQB: SEPSF) (FSE: JJ8) is pleased to announce that its innovative sepsis diagnostic test will be getting national exposure in the US through a documentary series called Empowered, Hosted by Meg Ryan, now being aired on Public Television. The documentary, written and produced by Summit Studios of Boca Raton, FL, features interviews with Asep's Founder and CEO, Dr. Robert E. W. Hancock and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Evan Haney. To view the documentary, click here.
In July of 2023, one of Asep's news releases announcing its groundbreaking AI-based technology for the rapid identification of sepsis caught the attention of the producers of the docuseries. Sepsis is a debilitating and severe disease that is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide1, and essentially all deaths from pandemic microbes like COVID-19. After a few meetings, the producers decided to bring the Asep story to its audience of over 60 million households in the US. The segment is distributed to over 170 Public Television stations in the US and will continue running for about a year.
"This is an exciting opportunity for us to help educate a large audience about the seriousness of sepsis and provide hope for a faster, more reliable diagnostic tool for emergency room teams worldwide," said Dr. Hancock. "Once our technology is FDA cleared, we expect to see our test kits widely distributed to hospitals across the US."
According to Dr. Evan Haney, Asep's CSO, "It is critical to identify sepsis as early as possible due to the 7.6% increased risk of death2 for every hour of delay in diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment. No conventional assay accurately predicts sepsis onset in the first hours after a patient enters the hospital. Our team has found that our test, called SepsetER, can help assess whether a patient will subsequently acquire sepsis in 9 out of 10 patients in the ICU, and 7 of 10 patients in the emergency department, based on analysis of company and published data."
The technology was developed using an innovative team approach, including microbiologists and computer scientists at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "We've harnessed the power of AI to identify a minimum number of genes involved in the immune dysfunction underlying sepsis and translated this discovery to an in vitro diagnostic assay that can accurately identify those patients at highest risk of progressing to sepsis and associated organ failure," said Dr. Hancock.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Murphy said, "We hope that current and prospective investors will take the time to tune in to PBS and learn a little more about our Company and the great work our scientific team is doing to tackle a global health crisis where every hour counts."
ABOUT ASEP MEDICAL HOLDINGS INC.
Asep Medical Holdings Inc. (asepmedical.com) is dedicated to addressing the global issue of antibiotic failure by developing novel solutions for significant unmet medical needs in human medicine. The Company is a consolidation of three existing private companies, all with technology in advanced development Sepset Biosciences Inc. (proprietary diagnostic tools to enable the early and timely identification of sepsis), ABT Innovations Inc. (broad-spectrum therapeutic agents to address multi-drug resistant biofilm infections), and SafeCoat Medical Inc. (an antimicrobial peptide, anti-fouling medical device coating technology).
Sepset Biosciences Inc. (sepset.ca) is developing a diagnostic technology that involves a patient gene expression signature that helps assess the development of severe sepsis, one of the significant diseases leading to antibiotic failure, since antibiotics are the primary treatment for sepsis. Sepsis was responsible for nearly 20% of all deaths on the planet in 2017 and essentially all deaths due to COVID-19 and other pandemics. The SepsetER test is a blood-based gene expression assay that is straightforward to implement, and results are obtained about an hour after taking a blood sample in the emergency room or intensive care unit. This proprietary diagnostic technology differs from current diagnostic tests, enabling the risk assessment for progression to severe sepsis within 60 minutes of initiating the test. Bacterial culture, the gold standard, provides a diagnosis after ~15 hours but can be as long as three days. Asep Inc. believes its test will enable physicians to make critical early decisions regarding appropriate therapies and thus reduce overall morbidity and mortality due to sepsis.
ABT Innovations Inc.'s (abtinnovations.ca) peptide technology covers a broad range of therapeutic applications, including bacterial biofilm infections (medical device infections, chronic infections, lung, bladder, wound, dental, skin, ear-nose and throat, sinusitis, orthopaedic, etc.), anti-inflammatories, anti-infective immune-modulators and vaccine adjuvants. The company is in the pre-clinical development phase with promising data.
SafeCoat Medical Inc.'s (safecoatmedical.com) technology incorporates self-assembling biocompatible polymers combined with conjugated antimicrobial peptides and applied to virtually any surface as stable antimicrobial and/or anti-fouling coatings. Of particular interest is the application of this versatile antimicrobial coating to various medical devices and implants that often become contaminated with biofilm infections. SafeCoat is optimizing methods to manufacture and apply these anti-bacterial coatings to a host of surfaces and can tailor the composition of the coating and associated peptide sequences for any desired application.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates," "plan," "continue," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "may," "will," "potential," "proposed," "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements include but are not limited to the successful clinical testing of our Sepsis in vitro diagnostic test and its intended filing for regulatory market authorization; the Company not receiving regulatory market authorization as planned or at all; the undertaking of pre-clinical studies on our lead therapeutic, with the expectation that this will lead to fast-track clinical trials; the timeframe for identification of sepsis with the company's products; the potential opportunities for the generation of revenue; the therapeutic benefits of the company's products; and other statements regarding the company's proposed business plans. Various assumptions were used in drawing conclusions or making the predictions contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks including the risk that the company's products may not perform as expected; that the company may not receive the requisite regulatory market authorization or results of testing; the Company's testing of the products may not be successful and market authorization may not be obtained in the estimated timelines or at all; the company may not be able to generate revenue from its products as expected or at all; the market for the company's products may not be as described in this news release; and various other risk factors identified in the Asep Medical Inc.'s prospectus dated November 9, 2021, and in the company's management discussion and analysis, available for review under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Asep Medical Inc. is under no obligation and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.
ENDNOTES
1 https://www.biophysics.org/2024meeting#/
2 Kumar, A. et al. Duration of hypotension before initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy is the critical determinant of survival in human septic shock. Crit Care Med 34, 15891596 (2006).
SOURCE ASEP Medical Holdings Inc.
SAO PAULO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartKargo, the technology company that brings airlines into the age of e-commerce, and Azul Cargo Express, a subsidiary of Azul Brazilian Airlines, celebrate their success and ongoing collaboration that has revolutionized the e-commerce package delivery industry in Brazil. The two companies have been long-term partners, working together to drive innovation and efficiency in the logistics sector.
Since its inception as the cargo division of Azul Brazilian Airlines, Azul Cargo Express has rapidly positioned itself as a leader in logistics solutions, especially within the burgeoning e-commerce sector. According to Abhi Shah, President of Azul Airlines, central to this success has been the "Strategic adoption of SmartKargo's advanced cloud-based technology, which has enabled Azul Cargo Express to streamline operations, optimize Booking, inventory and visibility, deliver superior customer service and drive revenue."
Olivier Houri, CRO of SmartKargo, stated, "Azul is a phenomenal partner that shares our innovation DNA and focuses on the customers." Azul Cargo Express has witnessed a remarkable growth trajectory, with a consistent annual increase in package delivery volume averaging between 30-35%. This growth has been fueled by the rapid expansion of e-commerce in Brazil and Azul Cargo Express's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to meet customer demands.
In November of last year, Azul Cargo Express set a record by handling over 2 million packages, reflecting the robustness of its strategic initiatives and the effectiveness of the SmartKargo platform. This achievement underscores the growing demand for e-commerce and customers' trust in Azul Cargo Express's logistics solutions. Azul Cargo Express delivers e-commerce packages for Amazon, and, with Prime Day last week, increased their volume by over 45% with great efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The extension of the SmartKargo contract for another 5 year is a testament to the successful partnership and shared vision of innovation and growth. Azul Cargo Express is poised to lead the way in efficient and reliable logistics solutions, driving customer satisfaction and market growth in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
About SmartKargo:
SmartKargo empowers airlines and small package shippers with the technology platform to leverage the speed only an airline can provide. Whether it's a cargo company shipping from Miami to Bogota, or a retailer looking to send a package from New York to Los Angeles SmartKargo is the innovative solution that enables shippers to battle the status quo. With deep expertise in air cargo, technology, and e-commerce, SmartKargo enables airlines to open new revenue streams through e-commerce package shipping and delivery. SmartKargo is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with key offices in India, the Philippines, Brazil, United Arab Emirates and Canada. For more information, visit www.smartkargo.com.
About Azul Airlines:
Azul Cargo Express, the logistics unit of Azul Linhas Aereas, has its business model in express parcels and cargo shipments, taking advantage of the capacity of Azul's airline network. Today, the Azul Cargo Express network has over 300 stores in Brazil and abroad, offering "door to door" service to over 4,200 Brazilian cities, besides the entire territory of the USA and Portugal.
The services offered include critical parcels, B2C distribution for e-commerce, parcels at economical rates, and palletized cargo in the global market. For more information, visit www.azulcargoexpress.com.br
CONTACT: Ed Burek, [email protected]
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FIU-led study reveals those most affected by fishing are most needed for healthy oceans
MIAMI, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shark conservation must go beyond simply protecting sharks it must prioritize protecting the ecological roles of sharks, according to new research published today in Science .
The largest sharks of many of the biggest species, such as tiger sharks and great whites, play an oversized role in healthy oceans, but they are often the most affected by fishing. They help maintain balance through their eating habits. Sometimes their size is enough to scare away prey that would over-consume much-needed plant life. Sharks also help from the bottom-up. A variety of sharks are needed for healthy oceans, yet they are under threat from overfishing, climate change, energy mining, shipping and more. The study, led by Florida International University (FIU), sheds light on what role sharks play in ocean health and why size should be a factor in conservation decisions.
"Some of these roles are really important," said Mike Heithaus, study co-author and executive dean of FIU's College of Arts, Sciences & Education. "We need to maintain a diversity of sharks in our oceans as well as a wide range of sizes of sharks. We need to rebuild heavily depleted populations and manage for how sharks will function amid climate change."
Heithaus' work in Shark Bay, Australia is the most detailed study in the world on the ecological roles of sharks. There, he documented the top-down roles like keeping prey in check.
"It's time to have a conversation about everything sharks are doing to maintain ocean health so we can better prioritize conservation efforts and have the biggest impact," said Simon Dedman, FIU marine scientist and co-lead author.
Sharks feed in offshore waters and bring nutrients back to the reef. Others move nutrients that are used at the base of the food chain. Sharks also serve as food themselves and even as scratching posts for fish to remove parasites. But shark abundance has plummeted by 71 percent for oceanic species in the past 50 years. Populations of the top five reef shark species have been depleted by 63 percent.
"This study verifies what we've long suspected sharks are critical to ocean health," said Lee Crockett, executive director of the Shark Conservation Fund which funded the study. "This landmark study serves as confirmation that marine conservationists, philanthropists, policymakers, and the public alike need to recognize that sharks are keystone species that have a now-proven significant effect on marine environments."
Shark conservation becomes all the more critical as global temperatures increase, leading some sharks to move away from the warming waters. As the blue economy expands, people's encounters with sharks will likely increase. Finding a balance that protects the sharks most needed for healthy oceans is hitting a critical point. The scientists recommend policy to increase spatial measures like Marine Protected Areas and fisheries management measures like catch/size limits and gear limitations.
Media Contact:
JoAnn Adkins
305-348-0398
[email protected]
SOURCE Florida International University
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueHalo, the company transforming the future of global defense with actively deployed and operationally proven Counter-Uncrewed Aerial System (C-UAS) solutions, announced today the successful completion of critical milestones in the development of its agile and disruptive new Next-Generation C-UAS Missile (NGCM): Freedom Eagle (FE-1).
FE-1 goes beyond current capabilities to increase lethality and range against Group 3 UAS and other larger air threats. Post this BlueHalo announced the successful completion of critical milestones in the development of its agile and disruptive new Next-Generation C-UAS Missile (NGCM): Freedom Eagle (FE-1).
In June, BlueHalo announced its selection as one of two vendors chosen to continue development of the Next-Generation C-UAS Missile (NGCM) by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (CCDC AvMC) Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium (AMTC). The company has since completed multiple rounds of testing for the FE-1, including the successful firing of its dual-thrust, solid rocket motor. Fueled by strategic early investments from the company, this milestone demonstrates the FE-1's technological maturity and readiness while significantly reducing the technical and scheduling risks typically associated with rapid development programs.
"On battlefields around the globe, drones are proving to be one of the most rapidly evolving threats to national security, demanding the accelerated development of innovative technologies for continued all-domain dominance," said Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo Chief Executive Officer. "Our forward-thinking investments and collaborative efforts have positioned BlueHalo as a trusted and viable alternative missile provider, ready to outpace these emerging threats with superior technology while expanding the solid rocket motor industrial base and creating a more robust national security supply chain."
FE-1 goes beyond current capabilities to increase lethality and range against Group 3 UAS and other larger air threats while seamlessly integrating with existing infrastructure and Command and Control (C2) systems. It offers a low-cost effector with superior maneuverability to defeat an array of Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) threats. FE-1 joins BlueHalo's suite of innovative, effective C-UAS solutions for national defense customers. This includes the company's LOCUST Directed Energy Laser Weapon System, which has been successfully delivered and operationally deployed to identify, track, and engage a wide variety of targets with its hard-kill High Energy Laser.
"FE-1 doesn't just meet today's challenges; it evolves with them," said Jimmy Jenkins, President, BlueHalo Armed Forces Portfolio, and former air defender in the U.S. Army. "We've already reached the point in FE-1's development where we are firing rocket motors because we identified the need early and have the capability, know-how, and agility to develop and deliver a technically superior solution to the frontlines quickly. We're proud to work with AMTC and PEO Missile and Space to rapidly bring this critical capability to the warfighter."
"With FE-1, we're providing warfighters with increased range, reduced time-to-target, and rapid launch capabilities," said James Batt, BlueHalo Chief Growth Officer. "With the addition of this kinetic offering to our proven C2, Directed Energy, and RF-based C-UAS solutions, BlueHalo is proud to deliver ironclad, industry-leading end-to-end layered air and missile defense."
About BlueHalo
BlueHalo is purpose-built to provide industry-leading capabilities in the areas of Space, C-UAS and Autonomous Systems, Electronic Warfare & Cyber, and AI/ML. The company develops and brings to market next-generation capabilities to support customers' critical missions and national security. Learn more at https://www.bluehalo.com and follow BlueHalo on LinkedIn.
SOURCE BlueHalo
Cerberus, EBRD and IFC announce acquisition of Poland's VeloBank
VeloBank 100 per cent of VeloBank's shares acquired from Poland's Bank Guarantee Fund
Bank Guarantee Fund PLN 687 million injected into VeloBank to meet its regulatory requirements
WARSAW, Poland, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management L.P. (Cerberus), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC member of the World Bank Group) announce today the successful completion of the acquisition of 100 per cent of shares in VeloBank from the Bank Guarantee Fund in Poland, after having obtained all the necessary approvals from all the relevant regulatory authorities.
The acquisition follows an open, transparent, non-discriminatory and competitive sale process launched by Bank Guarantee Fund in 2023.
The signing of the agreement opens up new growth opportunities for VeloBank across business lines, thanks to VeloBank's recapitalisation by the new owners with an amount of PLN 687 million and the removal of bridge bank status and related restrictions imposed by the European Commission.
The sale of the bank does not in any way affect the situation and service of customers. The funds accumulated in VeloBank S.A. are invariably covered by the protection of the Bank Guarantee Fund on the same principles as in other banks covered by the Polish deposit guarantee system.
"We are very excited to invest into VeloBank and support its participation in the dynamic Polish banking market," commented Charles Dunlap, Cerberus Senior Managing Director. "We are incredibly proud of the bank and its talented employees, especially their drive for digital innovation and customer-centric financial products. We believe that VeloBank is well positioned to build on its successes and become a leading bank for the Polish retail and business communities."
As part of taking control of the bank, a new Supervisory Board has been appointed on August 1, 2024. This board includes experts with many years of experience in the financial sector.
"I am privileged to be involved in the most interesting banking project on the Polish market. The unique competence of Cerberus as specialist in financial institutions, as well as commitment and strength of the EBRD and IFC, provide unprecedented sponsorship to VeloBank's future. I believe the new Supervisory Board will be a good partner for the Velo Team, providing inspiration and support in further growth and development of the bank," said Jakub Papierski, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at VeloBank.
The transaction strengthens the financial and operational foundations of VeloBank, enabling its dynamic development in the coming years based on the results achieved so far across all business lines. Over the past two years, many strategic initiatives have been launched to offer customers efficient and digital service processes, expand the product range, and change credit processes. Since VeloBank's inception, nearly 300,000 new customers have been acquired, and since the beginning of 2023, deposits balances have increased by PLN 16 billion. Since October 2022, the sale of personal loans has increased fourfold. During the same period, the sale of mortgage loans has successfully resumed, and the bancassurance offering has been dynamically expanded, resulting in a significant and steady increase in commission income. The bank has also rebuilt its offerings for businesses and private banking.
"The team of VeloBank has successfully completed one of the most challenging resolution processes in the history of European banking, conducted in accordance with the highest standards, in compliance with the letter of EU law. The sale of VeloBank was a necessary and indispensable condition for the completion of the resolution procedure, which ensures the stability of the entire banking sector and simultaneously serves as a positive signal of the safety of the Polish financial sector," noted Adam Marciniak, CEO of VeloBank.
"As VeloBank, we aim to systematically build an increasingly stronger position in the Polish market. With ambitious implementations, we will support the development of both individual and corporate clients. We will also strive to enhance innovation not only in the financial sector but in the entire Polish economy," he added.
Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director for Financial Institutions, said: "We are very happy to see the investment in VeloBank successfully closed. It marks a new beginning for and the end of a long and complex resolution process. We are looking forward to this new stage in VeloBank's journey, and to work with our co-investors and partners to support the bank's growth and the development of its lending to the real economy in Poland."
Ary Naim, the World Bank Group Country Manager for Poland and IFC Manager for Central and South Europe, said: "We are pleased to contribute IFC`s equity and global expertise to this important transaction, aligning with our strategic goal to diversify financing options for the Polish economy. We look forward to working with our partners and with VeloBank Management to achieve this objective, with a focus on digital and green finance."
About VeloBank
VeloBank is a universal bank offering modern financial solutions for individual clients, private banking, SMEs, large enterprises, and corporations, as well as public sector institutions. It is among the top ten largest banks in Poland. VeloBank's strategy is based on technology, including Gen AI solutions, aimed at enhancing the convenience of both clients and employees. Comprehensive services are provided across over 160 branches throughout Poland, as well as through advanced online and mobile banking platforms. The offerings include current accounts, loans, savings, investments, insurance, and numerous beyond banking services. The bank's capital group has also launched VeloMarket, a shopping platform featuring products beneficial for health and the planet, aligning with the bank's strategy to support ecology.
The bank's innovation and brand quality are evidenced by numerous awards, including the Golden Banker 2024 for personal loans, the Business Insider Award, and the Master of Innovation Leadership for VeloBank's leaders. The company also won international competitions such as the Internal Communications & Engagement Awards 2024 and the Banking Tech Awards 2023. HR activities have been recognized in contests such as Solidny Pracodawca 2023 and Friendly Workplace 2024, while the bank's communication and marketing efforts have been honored in the Marketing Director of the Year 2023, IN2SABRE Awards 2024, and CMO Awards 2024 in the Digital Champion category.
About Cerberus
Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with approximately USD 65 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies. The Firm invests across the capital structure, where its integrated investment platforms and proprietary operating capabilities create an edge to improve performance and drive long-term value. Cerberus's tenured teams have experience working collaboratively across asset classes, sectors, and geographies to seek strong risk-adjusted returns for its investors. Cerberus has an extensive track record of investing in financial institutions globally and in Europe, including CCF and My Money Bank in France, Hamburg Commercial Bank in Germany, and BAWAG in Austria.
Linklaters acted as a legal adviser to Cerberus.
About the EBRD
Set up to foster the private sector after the collapse of Communism in eastern Europe, the EBRD is active in 36 economies from central Europe to Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the southern and eastern Mediterranean and Lebanon. It is the largest single investor in many of these countries, and also mobilises significant foreign direct investment. It invests mainly in private enterprises. In Poland, to date the EBRD has invested more than 14.5 billion in 532 projects.
About IFC
IFC a member of the World Bank Group is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. IFC works in more than 100 countries, using its capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record $43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
Contact:
Cerberus
Jason Ghassemi
Chief Communications Officer
[email protected]
SOURCE Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
Investing KRW 1 trillion in Vietnam to establish a bio butanediol plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons.
Building the world's first integrated production system for bio spandex, from raw materials to finished fibers .
SEOUL, South Korea, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cho Hyun-joon, Chairman of Hyosung, has identified "Bio BDO" as the future growth driver for the company.
Butanediol (BDO) is a chemical used to manufacture PTMG, which is used in the production of spandex. BDO is also used to manufacture packaging materials, automotive interior components, and industrial compounds.
Bio BDO is produced by fermenting sugars derived from renewable sources such as sugarcane or corn. Compared to conventional products that are produced with fossil fuels, Hyosung's bio BDO is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 90%, making it a highly regarded material in the eco-friendly market.
Investing KRW 1 trillion in Vietnam to establish a bio butanediol plant with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons
After observing the rapid shift in the global textile market toward eco-friendly products, Chairman Cho swiftly decided to invest in bio BDO.
In April, Hyosung TNC announced its plan to invest KRW 1 trillion in southern Vietnam's Ba RiaVung Tau Province to build a new plant capable of producing 200,000 tons of bio BDO annually.
The company plans to start production and sales of bio BDO with an initial capacity of 50,000 tons per year beginning in the first half of 2026.
The world's first integrated production system for bio spandex, from raw materials to finished fibers
With Chairman Cho's investment in bio BDO, Hyosung TNC will establish the world's first vertically integrated production system for bio spandex in Vietnam. The plant in Ba RiaVung Tau Province will produce bio BDO, which will be converted into PTMG at the Dong Nai plant, and subsequently used to mass-produce bio spandex.
This integrated production system is optimized for customers in the global eco-friendly premium textile market, including Europe and the United States. It enhances production efficiency through stable raw material supply and allows for quick responses to market demands by speeding up the production system's operations. Additionally, it secures cost competitiveness by reducing transportation costs and minimizes environmental impact by lowering fuel consumption for transportation.
Chairman Cho Hyun-joon stressed, "The bio business, which focuses on transitioning from fossil fuel-based raw materials to plant-based ones, will be a key pillar of Hyosung's centennial vision. Strengthening our global market strategy by focusing on our bio BDO and bio spandex integrated production system is key to elevating Hyosung's premium brand status."
SOURCE Hyosung Corporation
-Fast casual concept celebrating grand opening on Aug. 13th with free chicken salad for a year-
ATLANTA, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicken Salad Chick, the nation's only fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, announced today it is once again expanding in Texas, opening in Lubbock in the Canyon West shopping center at 5015 Milwaukee Ave. The newest Chick in the Lone Star State is owned by business partners Laura Garrison and Meng Moua. Garrison opened her first Chicken Salad Chick restaurant just one year ago in Amarillo and is excited to invite the Lubbock community to celebrate this grand opening on Tuesday, Aug. 13th. The first 100 guests in line will win free chicken salad for a year.
During grand opening week, local guests can expect to experience the Southern hospitality that Chicken Salad Chick is known for with specials and giveaways that include:
Tuesday, Aug. 13 Free Chicken Salad for a Year to the first 100 Guests The first guest in line will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week for an entire year. The next 99 guests in line receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for a year.* Guests should arrive early to secure a place in line.
The first guest in line will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week for an entire year. The next 99 guests in line receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for a year.* Guests should arrive early to secure a place in line. Wednesday, Aug. 14 - The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Water Bottle.**
- The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Water Bottle.** Thursday, Aug. 15 The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Canvas Tote Bag.**
The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Canvas Tote Bag.** Friday, Aug. 16 The first 50 guests to purchase two Large Quick Chicks receive a FREE Chicken Salad Chick Cooler.**
An alumna of Texas Tech University, Laura Garrison is thrilled to return to the Lubbock area with Chicken Salad Chick. She is a restaurant industry veteran, owning several Taco Bell locations in addition to her first Chick in Amarillo. With her experience comes an appreciation for the communities she does business in and the relationships she develops with her guests.
"Chicken Salad Chick is a really unique brand, focused on spreading joy, enriching lives and serving others. Our Lubbock team looks forward to welcoming in our neighbors and getting involved with their special events. We love becoming part of their lives, whether it's enjoying a meal in our dining room or on our patio, picking up a few Quick Chicks to go or letting us cater their family and work gatherings. It's all an honor and a privilege for us to be part of," said Garrison.
With this new Lubbock location, Garrison has partnered with Meng Moua to oversee daily operations of the restaurant. Moua is originally from Alaska but married a Lubbock native last year, quickly settling into the area. "Lubbock is a fantastic community full of wonderful people and great colleges," said Moua. "Laura and I can't wait to throw open our doors and do what Chicken Salad Chick does best, which is serve fresh, flavorful varieties of chicken salad, made from scratch every day."
Chicken Salad Chick gives back to important causes throughout the year, with the CSC Foundation raising money for local food banks and CURE Childhood Cancer. With the Lubbock opening, the local team will be supporting the Texas Girls & Boys Ranch as part of their pre-opening Friends & Family events. The Ranch provides a safe haven for children of abuse and neglect, providing counseling, tutoring and other specialized services to heal hearts and transform lives.
Chicken Salad Chick in Lubbock will be open Monday Saturday from 10:30 a.m. 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.chickensaladchick.com. Follow Chicken Salad Chick on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and trends.
For more information on giveaways and specials, visit https://www.facebook.com/ChickenSaladChickLubbockTX.
*Guests should arrive early to secure a place in line. The first 100 guests must remain in line and download the Chicken Salad Chick app. Wi-Fi will not be available on site. Once the restaurant opens, guests will make a purchase of "The Chick" or anything of equal/greater value and enter a code in the Chicken Salad Chick app to officially secure their spot. If you leave the line for any reason, your spot will be awarded to the next guest in line. Guests will receive their first free Large Quick Chick electronically to their app the Monday following Grand Opening Day.
**Must download the CSC App and be 16 years or older to purchase. Not valid with any other offers. Limit 1 reward per guest present.
About Chicken Salad Chick
Chicken Salad Chick serves full-flavored, Southern-style chicken salad made from scratch and served from the heart. With more than a dozen original chicken salad flavors as well as fresh side salads, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches and delicious desserts, Chicken Salad Chick's robust menu is a perfect fit for any guest. Founded in Auburn, Alabama, by Stacy and Kevin Brown, in 2008, Chicken Salad Chick has grown to more than 260 restaurants in 19 states. Today, under the leadership of Scott Deviney and the Chicken Salad Chick team, the brand is continuing its rapid expansion with both franchise and company locations. Chicken Salad Chick has received numerous accolades including rankings in the 2023 Entrepreneur Franchise 500, Franchise Times' Fast & Serious for the third consecutive year, Fast Casual.com's top Movers and Shakers from 2018 to 2023, QSR's Best Franchise Deals in 2019, 2020 and 2022, and Franchise Business Review's Top Food Franchises in 2020. See www.chickensaladchick.com for additional information.
Contact:
Alexis Paul
Fish Consulting
954-893-9150
[email protected]
SOURCE Chicken Salad Chick
Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris will visit Eau Claire next week with her soon-to-be-announced running mate as part of a battleground state tour.
Harris campaign told the Wisconsin State Journal the vice president will make a trip to the western half of the state to roll out her new vice presidential running mate.
Harris potential running mates include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona.
Harris has planned a host of swing state campaign rallies as she kicks off her presidential bid in earnest.
From Tuesday through Saturday, Harris and her running mate will crisscross the country, traveling to battleground states to meet voters where they are and highlight the stakes of this election.
The vice president and her running mate will travel first to Philadelphia then on to Eau Claire, Detroit, The Research Triangle in North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Her schedule shows she will be in Eau Claire on Wednesday afternoon.
Western Wisconsin regional press secretary Olivia Oehmcke said in a press release that Harris will be in the area Wednesday afternoon.
The exact time and location of her stops will be shared early next week.
Energy Metals News Commentary
Issued on behalf of Usha Resources Ltd.
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy Metals News At the beginning of 2024, Forbes was reporting on a showdown between the United States and China over a dwindling copper supply, as prices soared. Now with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the tech sector is getting hungrier for more copper, with AI recently helping to find millions of tons of it in Zambia. Despite a small price slump over the last few months, there are still analysts confidently expressing bullish sentiment for copper over the long term, with Citigroup predicting further price increases. Looking ahead, the US copper supply is set to grow by 4% in 2024, while other developments from copper miners will look to ease shortage fears with new supplies as global demand is projected to skyrocket. Among the miners currently making progress are developers and producers, including Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV: USHA) (OTC: USHAF), Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE: SCCO), Metals Acquisition Limited (NYSE: MTAL), Taseko Mines Limited (NYSE-American: TGB) (TSX: TKO), and Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE: ERO) (TSX: ERO).
Critical energy transition metals developer Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV: USHA) (OTC: USHAF) recently entered the copper space after executing an option for the right to purchase an undivided 100% interest in the Southern Arm copper property from Abitibi Metals. The move comes after Usha entered an LOI to divest up to 90% interest in its Jackpot Lake lithium asset for US$26,025,000a transaction that would give Usha a return-on-investment of over 1,300% after only spent approximately US$1.835 million on acquiring and developing Jackpot Lake since 2022.
Wasting no time on its new copper asset, Usha began August by commencing fieldwork on the drill-ready Southern Arm Copper-Gold VMS Property. The program is part of the option agreement that Usha signed with Abitibi Metals to earn 100% of the asset over 2 years, beginning with a biogeochemical survey on the property.
Situated in the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt, the Southern Arm property features a ~7.3 km conductive copper-gold trend along the regional Bapst fault within the volcanic rocks of the Brouillan-Fenelon Group. This area includes the nearby Selbaie Mine (~15 km southwest), which produced 53 million tonnes at 0.96% Cu, 1.9% Zn, 0.58 g/t Au, and 40.7 g/t Ag. Additionally, Abitibi Metals' B26 Deposit (~16 km southwest) boasts an indicated resource of 6.97 million tonnes at 2.94% Cu equivalent (1.32% Cu, 1.80% Zn, 0.60 g/t Au, and 43 g/t Ag).
"We are excited to apply modern and novel exploration techniques to the Southern Arm Property to penetrate the thick overburden cover that has deterred previous explorers," said Deepak Varshney, CEO of Usha Resources. "The Southern Arm property is exceptionally well-positioned for the Abitibi's next major discovery, and we are working closely with the region's most successful exploration team at Abitibi Metals Corp. Our planned exploration program will apply techniques that have proven their applicability in the Abitibi mining district, but have not previously been applied to this ground. This work will help us finalize drill target within the Hollywood Trend, prior to our fully funded maiden drill program, for which planning has already begun."
Usha states that the biogeochemical survey aims to identify additional priority targets prospective for high-grade gold and copper mineralization. These targets will be included in the Usha's maiden drill program set to begin this coming fall.
"Our strategic vision at Usha has always been to acquire and monetize undervalued assets," said Varshney. "With working capital of approximately $1.2M, Usha is in a strong financial position to execute over the coming year and we look forward to our maiden drill program at Southern Arm, particularly at "Hollywood", which has a ~1.8 km footprint that is open along strike."
Recently in July, Southern Copper Corporation (SCC) (NYSE: SCCO) released its Q2 2024 and H1 2024 financial results, which included a 35.5% increase in net sales year-over-year to ~$3.12 billion. Among the products SCC sells, the company saw its sales volumes of copper increase by 5.5%, and copper production registering an increase of 6.6% in quarter-on-quarter terms to 242,474 tons. As of July 1, SCC restarted activities at its Tia Maria project in Arequipa, Peru, which is projected to produce 120,000 tons of copper cathodes per year.
"Based on current copper prices, we estimate the [Tia Maria] project will generate exports of $17.5 billion and contribute $3.4 billion in taxes and royalties over its 20 years of operation," said German Larrea, Chairman of the Board of Southern Copper. "A significant portion of the economic benefits derived from Tia Maria will be utilized to boost the Company's programs to improve the productivity of vital economic activities in Islay, and agriculture in particular. SCC is fully committed to driving improvements in health and educational services in the Arequipa region, which will mirror the success of the Company's efforts in the Moquegua and Tacna regions."
In Australia, Metals Acquisition Limited (NYSE: MTAL) recently reported favourable drill results to update the market on the continuing exploration and resource development at the CSA Copper Mine a world class mine that consists of a series of mineralized lenses that extend from surface to a depth of over 2.3km. These results included 22.1m at 9.8% Cu, 24.2m at 7.8% Cu, 22.1m at 7.8%, 17.5m at 8.0% Cu, 12.8m at 8.1% Cu, and 5.5m at 10.4%.
"Drilling at QTSN has confirmed the location of the Inferred resource and will be used to upgrade the Measured and Indicated material, said Mick McMullen, CEO of Metals Acquisition Limited. "We see the typical QTSN intervals of approximately 20m plus grading at 8% Cu or greater in this drilling, which would be seen as spectacular in any other mine but in the CSA Copper Mine are considered normal."
After a suspension at its Gibralter Mine at the beginning of June, Taseko Mines Limited (NYSE-American: TGB) (TSX: TKO) rebounded quickly within a few weeks to reach an agreement to get workers to restart mining operations. By mid-July, Taseko announced the mine's Q2 2024 production was 20 million pounds of copper (and 185,000 pounds of molybdenum).
"Production in the second half of 2024 is expected to be stronger with the major project and maintenance work in both concentrators completed," said Stuart McDonald, President & CEO of Taseko. "An updated mine plan and mill throughput opportunities are being evaluated to recover some of the production that was lost during the strike. Copper production for the year is expected to be in the range of 110 to 115 million pounds, compared to original guidance of 115 million pounds."
In Brazil, Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE: ERO) (TSX: ERO) recently achieved its first saleable copper concentrate production at its Tucuma Project, initiating a ramp-up right away. The milestone was achieved following the successful commissioning of the milling and flotation operations prior to the end of Q2 2024.
"Producing our first saleable copper concentrate at the Tucuma Project and successfully completing the first 24-hour shift of continuous mining and milling operations are important milestones as we begin our ramp-up towards commercial production," said David Strang, CEO of Ero Copper. "We are rapidly progressing towards an important inflection point for our consolidated copper production and cash flows. It is an exciting time for the Company and with copper prices performing well year-to-date, the timing of the completion and ramp-up of Tucuma could not be better."
In sad news, Ero Copper confirmed a report of a fatality in a non-operational area on surface at its other Brazil mine, the Caraiba Operationsthe company's primary asset which it holds a 99.6% interest. The tragedy resulted from a light-duty truck accident, which resulted in the death and a second team member in critical condition.
In response to the tragedy, Ero Copper immediately activated its emergency response and safety protocols which included suspending operations, notifying the relevant government authorities, and undertaking a full investigation.
Article Source: https://energymetalnews.com/2023/02/28/charging-along-the-highway-towards-domestic-lithium-dominance/
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Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. Energy Metals News is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. ("MIQ"). MIQ has been paid a fee for Usha Resources Ltd. advertising and digital media from Energy Metals News ("the Company"). There may be 3rd parties who may have shares of Usha Resources Ltd., and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ own shares of Usha Resources Ltd. MIQ and reserves the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Usha Resources Ltd. at any time thereafter without any further notice. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material disseminated by MIQ has been approved by the above mentioned company; this is a paid advertisement, and we own shares of the mentioned company that we will sell, and we also reserve the right to buy shares of the company in the open market, or through further private placements and/or investment vehicles.
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Made with 100% recycled fabrics, these packs support Cotopaxi's mission of sustainability
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified B Corporation and impact-driven adventure brand, Cotopaxi is excited to announce the release of their new Allpa Travel Packs . As a recommitment to Cotopaxi's mission to empower people to see the world and make it better, and their quest for pack perfectiondesigned with years of testing and consumer feedback, as well as new, innovative features and sustainable materials, the new Allpa Collection has arrived.
The new Allpa Travel Packs from Cotopaxi are now made with 100% recycled fabrics that boast an impressive level of durability, and include suitcase-style opening, carry-on convenience, and internal organization pockets. New details include air mesh shoulder straps for an ultra-comfortable carry, better weight distribution, a new exterior stretch water bottle pocket, and a luggage pass-through strap that easily slides over the handle of a roller bag.
The new Allpa Travel Packs are now made with 100% recycled fabrics that boast an impressive level of durability. While all the customer-favorite features of the bestselling packs remain, including suitcase-style opening, carry-on convenience, and internal organization pockets, Cotopaxi made a number of game-changing updates. New details include air mesh shoulder straps for an ultra-comfortable carry, better weight distribution, a new exterior stretch water bottle pocket, and a luggage pass-through strap that easily slides over the handle of a roller bag (such as the Cotopaxi Allpa Roller Bags ).
"Cotopaxi's continued commitment to elevating sustainability in the travel and outdoor space is highlighted with this expansion of our 100% recycled fabric offerings," explains Brad Hiranaga, Chief Brand Officer at Cotopaxi. "We're excited to reimagine our best selling Allpa Travel Packs with both a lower footprint and new design features that are designed to elevate our users' adventure experience anywhere they want to go."
The collection also includes a new size option, Allpa Mini 20L Travel Pack (MSRP $140). Similar to the original Allpa Travel Pack, this 20L version is perfectly sized for anyone who prefers a more compact packwhether that's for a sleek carry on, a day trip or for the junior wanderluster. In addition, the redesigned Del Dia version of Cotopaxi's Allpa Packs will continue to be made from 100% leftover deadstock fabric.
Allpa Mini 20L Travel Pack (MSRP Recycled TPU: $140, Del Dia: $130)
Allpa 28L Travel Pack (MSRP Recycled TPU: $200, Del Dia: $190)
Allpa 35L Travel Pack (MSRP Recycled TPU: $225, Del Dia: $215)
Allpa 42L Travel Pack (MSRP Recycled TPU: $250, Del Dia: $240)
The new Allpa Travel Pack Collection launches today, August 1, and is available in select retailers, Cotopaxi stores and online at Cotopaxi.com. As always, 1% of corporate revenue is routed to the Cotopaxi Foundation to support organizations that help communities facing extreme poverty.
Cotopaxi Allpa Travel Pack Press Kit Here .
Media Contact: [email protected]
About Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi is a B Corporation that makes adventure travel gear to empower people to see the world and make it better. Our Gear for Good promise is to make our products as ethically, sustainably, and durably as possible, while having a positive social, environmental, and economic impact. We dedicate 1% of revenue to the Cotopaxi Foundation, which supports nonprofit partners with proven track records of alleviating poverty. Through our Foundation to date, we have helped more than 4.25 million individuals experiencing extreme poverty. For more information, visit www.cotopaxi.com .
SOURCE Cotopaxi
Transaction expands firm's forensics and legal consulting and cybersecurity businesses, bringing world-class incident response capabilities.
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowe LLP , a public accounting, consulting and technology firm, has entered into an agreement with Sylint Group, Inc. (Sylint), a global incident response and cybersecurity advisory firm, to join Crowe. Sylint is an internationally recognized advisory firm with extensive experience in dealing with cyber incidents and precedent-setting court cases. The deal will enhance and expand Crowe offerings across its forensics and legal consulting and cybersecurity businesses and boost its incident response (IR) services. Upon completion of the transaction, Sylint's business will be folded into Crowe's consulting business as part of the forensics and legal consulting practice and the cyber practice of its integrated risk management group.
Crowe boosts cybersecurity capabilities with the addition of global advisory and incident response firm, Sylint.
"Sylint is a well-established and internationally respected firm, with an impressive track record of providing cybersecurity, IR, and forensics services to top ranking law firms, Fortune 500 companies, public sector organizations and government agencies, as well as international clients," said Tim Bryan, leader of Crowe's forensics and legal consulting practice. "This transaction enhances our cyber and forensic services and brings over 25 years of world-class incident response experience to Crowe."
In addition to IR and cyber offerings, Sylint also provides thought leadership in legal support and applied security consulting services. "Adding these capabilities to our robust portfolio of forensics and legal consulting services allows us to enhance the strategic value we bring to our clients. We're very excited to welcome the Sylint team to the Crowe family," added Bryan.
Crowe's forensics and legal consulting practice offers a wide array of services from IP protection and post-acquisition management to eDiscovery and digital forensics and incident response. The addition of Sylint's expertise will bolster the firm's ability to serve the increasingly complex data security and legal consulting needs of its clients.
"The Sylint team will join Crowe to build a global cybersecurity strategy and leverage Sylint's leading expertise in the critical world of responding to advanced threats and protecting digital data information for our combined clients across business and government," said John Jorgensen, founder and chairman of Sylint. "Our team comes to Crowe with decades of practical experience from the National Security Agency, Department of Defense, law enforcement, and corporate entities. We bring a unique understanding of protecting business and government entities to ensure our clients operate successfully in a secure data environment."
About Crowe
Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm that uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make smart decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax, advisory and consulting services, helping businesses uncover hidden opportunities in the market no matter what challenges the markets present. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S. As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world.
LinkedIn: Crowe
SOURCE Crowe LLP
CALGARY, AB, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - De Havilland Aircraft of Canada is pleased to provide a production update for the DHC-515 Firefighter that is now in production in our Canadian manufacturing facilities.
De Havilland Canada, through our partners at the Canadian Commercial Corporation have signed contracts with Greece, Croatia and Portugal for 11 aircraft as part of the European Union's consortium of countries that have announced their intention to initially purchase 22 aircraft and become the launch customers for this program.
View the video here.
About De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited
With more than 5,000 aircraft delivered, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (De Havilland Canada) is well established across the globe and our talented team of aviation professionals is dedicated to advancing our near-100-year reputation for excellence in innovation, production, and customer support. Our aircraft operate reliably in some of the world's harshest climates and provide vital connections between rural communities and urban centres transporting essential cargo and millions of passengers annually. Our aircraft also support a wide variety of special mission operations including aerial firefighting, search and rescue, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, and coastal surveillance. Visit: www.dehavilland.com
De Havilland Canada, Dash 8, Dash 8-100, Dash 8-100/200/300, Dash 8-300, Dash 8-400, ESP, ESP PLUS, Extended Service Program and Extended Service Program PLUS are trademarks of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.
For additional media assets, visit: https://dehavilland.com/en/media
SOURCE De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited
Energy efficiency improvement is a key driver for the district cooling market, due to its potential for substantial energy savings and environmental benefits. District cooling systems are designed to optimize the use of energy by centralizing cooling production, which reduces the overall energy consumption compared to individual cooling units. This centralization allows for the use of advanced, energy-efficient technologies that are not feasible on a smaller scale. As energy costs rise and environmental concerns grow, businesses and municipalities are increasingly seeking solutions that lower their energy usage and carbon footprint. Additionally, many governments offer incentives and support for adopting energy-efficient systems, further driving the demand for district cooling. This focus on energy efficiency helps organizations achieve sustainability goals while also improving their bottom line, making it a crucial factor in the market's growth.
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District Cooling Market Scope:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $1.1 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $1.3 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 3.6% Market Size Available for 20212029 Forecast Period 20242029 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Source, By Production Technique, By Application, By Region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, Middle East & Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Technological advancements in Smart Grid Integration and IoT Key Market Drivers Urbanization and population growth fueling demand for sustainable district cooling solutions
Electric chillers is expected to hold largest share of the District Cooling Market in production technique segment during the forecasted period.
Electric chillers segment by production technique hold the largest share of the District Cooling Market due to their high efficiency, reliability, and widespread availability. They can be easily integrated into existing infrastructure and are capable of producing large amounts of chilled water needed for district cooling systems. Additionally, electric chillers benefit from advancements in technology, which have significantly improved their energy efficiency and reduced operational costs. This makes them an attractive option for developers and operators seeking to minimize environmental impact and comply with increasingly stringent energy regulations. Their versatility in handling varying cooling loads across different applications further solidifies their dominant market position.
Commercial application segment accounted largest share of the global District Cooling Market during forecasted period.
The commercial segment holds the largest share of the District Cooling Market because commercial buildings have high and continuous cooling demands. District cooling systems provide an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution to meet these needs, reducing energy consumption and operational costs. Additionally, increasing energy efficiency regulations and sustainability goals in the commercial sector make district cooling an attractive and scalable option.
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Middle East & Africa region likely to account the largest share of the global District Cooling Market during forecasted period.
The District Cooling Market in Middle East & Africa has a huge growth potential. The increasing number of construction activities in the commercial, residential, hospitality, and retail sectors has also positively impacted the district cooling market. Thus, the demand for district cooling is expected to increase in the region. Countries worldwide are increasingly adapting non-fossil fuel sources for their energy needs. This factor can potentially impact the economy of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as crude oil and gas exports are the major revenue sources. This, in turn, may affect the spending on infrastructure projects, and subsequently, the District Cooling Market in these countries.
Key Players
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (UAE), Tabreed (UAE), Emicool (UAE), Shinryo Corporation (Japan), LOGSTOR Denmark Holding ApS (Denmark). The companies are majorly following product launches, investments, expansions, contracts, agreements, partnerships, funding, initial public offering, and acquisition as the strategy to grow and expand the market.
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The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.
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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In their newly published, fourth annual edition of C-Suite magazine, the Los Angeles Times has honored Emil Davtyan, Founder & Managing Attorney of employment law firm D.Law, as one of its CEO Visionaries for 2024.
As the publication notes, "No matter the industry, the buck always stops at the desk of the chief executive officer. Tasked with making vital decisions as they relate to every facet of running a business, the CEO must possess a multitude of qualities that define a captain of industry."
Emil Davtyan, Founder & Managing Attorney of employment law firm D.Law, has been honored as a CEO Visionary for 2024 by the Los Angeles Times in their fourth annual edition of C-Suite magazine.
These qualities, which include "intuition, resilience, and (the) ability to lead," were considered as qualifications for inclusion in this year's awards. Nominations were recommended by peers and colleagues based on the nominee's ability to "inspire their employees, connect with consumers, and push their companies to achieve ever loftier goals."
"I am deeply grateful for this recognition and honored to be in the company of many of our region's most esteemed business leaders," said Davtyan. "As a company, D.Law is committed to the vision of redefining what an employment law firm can be, and this acknowledgment of our success to date is a confirmation of our ongoing efforts."
The latest edition of C-Suite also reports on many of the unique issues that define the current business environment, along with the role today's top executives are taking in leading their companies to success in the face of these challenges. Articles exploring the role of AI and other new technologies, trends in outsourcing, sustainability, cybersecurity, attracting new talent, and maximizing ROI on tech investments are all part of the publication's coverage.
The magazine also includes insights into the backgrounds and careers of the business executives it profiles, including Davtyan's steadfast commitment to defending the rights of California workers. This essential aspect of Davtyan's focus is also the theme of a full-page ad for D.Law that serves as the magazine's final image and message.
Titled "Armored for Justice" and featuring a visual of a fully armored knight in a courtroom setting, the ad emphasizes that workers need more than just a law firm; they need a "knight in shining armor" who will defend their rights with not only strength and resolve, but unwavering commitment and admirable legal expertise.
"We truly do see ourselves as champions of justice and fairness for the hardworking California employees we serve,' noted Davtyan. "We strive to earn and uphold the trust of those who need a well-equipped defender who will fight diligently for their rights."
Media Contact:
Armen Petrosyan
[email protected]
SOURCE D.Law, Inc.
SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In June of 2024, an event called "Protopie World Tour" took place for the very first time. This event was organized by the global prototyping platform Protopie in Seoul. For this event, the presentation of global game project case studies, Cho Jung Eun, the Director of StudioX in DoubleMe, was invited as a key speaker to introduce Vivarium, a game currently under development.(https://www.linkedin.com/in/jude1203)
Cho Jung Eun, the Director of StudioX in DoubleMe Vivarium is a simulation XR game with an emphasis on social play that allows players to create ecosystems, manage plants and animals, and experience growth and evolution in a virtual space.
With director Cho Jung Eun's background and past experience of the successful launch of Battleground PS4 and running the global UX organization as UX Supervisor, Cho Jung Eun leads StudioX at DoubleMe with a core team that has won awards including Oculus Game of The Year 'Real VR Fishing'. She has assembled a team of professionals with extensive experience in large-scale project production and service platforms at Krafton, Nexon, NCsoft, Netmarble, and d'strict. The team's development mantra is relaxation, as many of their former colleagues have rejoined the team.
Vivarium is a simulation XR game with an emphasis on social play that allows players to create ecosystems, manage plants and animals, and experience growth and evolution in a virtual space. It is being recognized as more than just a game, rather an innovative tool that can help overcome real-world challenges. At the conference, Cho Jung Eun mentioned that the company is also exploring the possibility of alleviating issues such as sleep disorders, psychosis, and depression experienced by astronauts in confined spaces. The goal of the Vivarium is to provide comfort and solace to its users, and to allow them to experience true healing, especially for those suffering from psychological distress.
DoubleMe is a startup that is gaining attention for developing Twinworld, a spatial computing social platform that connects the real world and the virtual world. It has established itself as an all-in-one metaverse company that has internalized the entire process of planning, research, development, and marketing of realistic spatial computing platforms. "StudioX has provided global services for more than 18 game projects and has created more than KRW 5 trillion in cumulative value, and is a group of talented organizational members who have won various domestic and international awards," said Kim Hee-young, the representative director of DoubleMe "We will innovate XR games with StudioX in the near future and solidify our image as a realistic spatial computing company that connects reality and virtual reality."
StudioX's Vivarium is making its global debut on the Protopie World Tour. The story and possibilities of Vivarium are highly anticipated in the gaming industry and beyond. In addition, Vivarium is aiming to launch PICO and META stores in the second half of 2024.
Meanwhile, Protopie, whose clients include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, WarnerBros, HBO, RiotGames, Tencent, Roblox, and more, will kick off its World Tour in South Korea, followed by Tencent's Riot Games.
SOURCE DoubleMe
Over $500 million in grants to 20,000+ charitable organizations since 1984
Video on the Duke Energy Foundation's 40th anniversary available here
$240,000 in surprise grants awarded to long-standing nonprofit partners (photos available)
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This year marks a significant milestone for the Duke Energy Foundation as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. Born out of the company's historical commitment to citizenship and service, the Foundation has evolved over four decades into a philanthropic powerhouse focused on building vibrant economies, boosting climate resiliency, and fostering justice, equity and inclusion.
"The Foundation's legacy is not just measured in dollars but in relationships we've built with nonprofits leading meaningful work across the communities we've served," said Amy Strecker, Duke Energy Foundation president. "From funding critical home repairs for seniors and supporting emergency preparedness for first responders, to providing financial relief to families for food, housing and other essentials, the Duke Energy Foundation addresses the unique needs of its communities and empowers thousands of nonprofits to make a difference."
A legacy of giving
With more than $500 million in grants to 20,000-plus charitable organizations since its inception in 1984, the Duke Energy Foundation has created significant value for the regions it serves and forged lasting relationships with countless community partners.
To commemorate 40 years of giving, the Duke Energy Foundation surprised 24 long-standing partners with $240,000 in grants. Collectively, grant recipients represent the many types of partners the Foundation has worked with over the past four decades across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
"Being selected by Duke Energy as a special anniversary grant recipient in Florida is an honor, evidence of the trust developed during our long-standing partnership and another example of their generous support of small businesses and the Hispanic community," said Augusto Sanabria, Prospera president and CEO. "We congratulate the Duke Energy Foundation on its 40th anniversary and remain committed to being diligent stewards of their investments in our mission to help start, sustain and grow Hispanic-owned businesses to achieve community prosperity."
Looking ahead
The Duke Energy Foundation remains steadfast in its mission to power the vitality of its communities, driving toward a five-year commitment to invest $150 million in line with the net-zero business strategy and efforts toward a just transition. With a sharpened focus on meeting the evolving needs of its customers, the Foundation is poised to continue listening, partnering and responding with volunteerism and strategic investments to foster a brighter tomorrow.
"This milestone is a celebration of both our past and our future, and a testament to our community partners and Duke Energy employees who have been instrumental in our 40-year journey," said Strecker. "We look forward to harnessing our history to ensure many more years of creating positive, lasting impacts, together."
For more information on the Duke Energy Foundation and its initiatives, visit duke-energy.com/Foundation.
Duke Energy Foundation
The Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
SOURCE Duke Energy
The instant quote solution startup notes that Ripley PR's expertise in the home service, tech and startup markets will help the company boost its brand awareness
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EDEN, a pioneering startup in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry, has selected Ripley PR, a global firm specializing in the skilled trades industry, as its public relations agency of record and lists Ripley's experience with the skilled trades and tech industries and with startups as the deciding factor.
EDEN, the instant quote solution startup, has chosen Ripley PR as its agency of record because of the PR agency's expertise in the home service, tech and startup markets.
"Ripley PR's demonstrated success in helping tech companies build brand awareness and their knowledge of the home service industry is exactly the expertise a startup like EDEN needs when entering the market," said EDEN co-founder and CEO Ben Phillips. "Having a PR partner that understands how our Instant Quote solution can help both homeowners and contractors means that we will be targeting the right audiences for our application. We are excited to grow this partnership and trust that Ripley PR knows the business challenges home service companies face and how our solutions can help them grow."
EDEN's customizable digital sales enablement tool integrates into an HVAC contractor's website to provide a 24/7 interactive online experience for homeowners by providing them with accurate estimates based on the contractor's pricing. The tool also provides financing information and a detailed breakdown of federal, state, local, and utility incentives, including eligible tax credits and rebates, as well as expected utility savings.
"We see the potential in EDEN's Instant Quote application and its ability to help home service business owners provide more accurate estimates to their customers," said Heather Ripley, founder and CEO of Ripley PR. "Their ground-breaking technology saves customers time and frustration by instantly providing a more accurate estimate based on a predetermined set of options. This is a win-win for homeowners and for contractors who can now better understand the homeowner and their environment before making a house call. We are honored to represent EDEN and look forward to promoting their solutions."
Ripley founded Ripley PR in 2013 with a focus on providing public relations for the skilled trades, manufacturing , B2B tech startups and franchising industries. Her book, "NEXT LEVEL NOW: PR Secrets to Drive Explosive Growth for Your Home Service Business," is considered a PR toolkit of ideas for home service business owners. Ripley PR was recently recognized by Newsweek as one of America's Best PR Agencies for 2024 and Agency of the Year for the Southeast by the Prestige Awards.
Ripley PR's unique combination of expertise and creativity in public relations helps clients build brand awareness, establish positive reputations and stand out from their competition.
To learn more about Ripley PR, visit https://www.ripleypr.com or call (865) 977-1973.
About EDEN
EDEN's mission is to empower contractors with innovative technology, helping them to grow their businesses and provide exceptional customer experiences. Founded in 2021, the Seattle-based startup provides a digital sales enablement tool to help HVAC contractors provide quick and accurate instant quotes for HVAC systems. By leveraging technology to provide prices and detailed breakdowns of eligible incentives and expected utility savings online, EDEN helps promote high-efficiency systems that contribute to sustainability and benefits both homeowners and contractors. For more information, visit https://www.e-denhomes.com/.
About Ripley PR
Ripley PR is an elite, global B2B public relations agency specializing in home service and building trades, manufacturing, BRB and franchising. Ripley PR was recently recognized by Newsweek as one of America's Best PR Agencies for 2024 and has made Entrepreneur magazine's annual list of Best PR Agencies for Franchises for six consecutive years. Offering a full range of strategic communication services, including award recognition, crisis management, media relations and social media strategies, Ripley PR uses a blend of strategic business acumen and creative public relations branding to tell compelling stories and deliver measurable results. Ripley PR is a partner in IPREX, the $508 million network of more than 1,100 communication professionals in more than 100 markets globally. For more information, visit www.ripleypr.com or call 865-977-1973.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
865-977-1973
[email protected]
SOURCE Ripley PR
Largest Class in Firm's History Reflects Tremendous Growth in Advisory Services
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisner Advisory Group LLC, one of the world's largest business consulting firms, announced that it has admitted 23 new partners effective August 1, 2024.
"These outstanding professionals possess deep expertise, a client-centric mindset, and a dedication to continuous learning that is so critical for success in today's hyper-competitive marketplace," said Eisner Advisory Group CEO Charly Weinstein. "We warmly welcome these deserving new partners and look forward to them adding even more value for our ever-growing roster of clients."
Charly Weinstein
(Partner's name links to his/her full bio and headshot.)
Ryan Aldridge Ryan is a partner in the Consulting Services Group. With more than 10 years of experience, he is based in the Baton Rouge, LA, office. He leads class action, mass arbitration, and mass tort claims administration projects. He is proficient in settlement administration, including notice distribution, claims adjudication, data analysis, fund administration, and technology integration. He has led settlement programs involving consumer, antitrust, personal injury, mass torts, and labor and employment litigations.
Derek Chamberlain Derek is a partner in the Audit Services Group. With approximately 12 years of experience, he is based in the Minneapolis, MN, office. He provides clients with solutions in accounting, audit, and advisory services across a wide variety of industries. He also frequently conducts training sessions for the Audit Services Group.
Dana Daigle Dana is a partner in the Advisory Services Group. With nearly 15 years of experience, she is based in the Baton Rouge, LA, office. She is a leader of the Financial Management and Disbursements Service Line, providing services across numerous industries. Her expertise includes financial management, policy and process design, disbursements, disaster management, forensic accounting, compliance, and litigation support.
Michele Epstein Michele is a partner in the Audit Services Group. With more than 12 years of experience, she is based in the Iselin, NJ, office. She is responsible for audit engagements for public and private companies across several business sectors. Michele has experience with SEC compliance, including SOX internal controls, complex debt and equity transactions, revenue recognition, and mergers and acquisitions.
Ralph Estel Ralph is a partner in the Private Client Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the Philadelphia, PA, office. He provides accounting, consulting, and tax services to middle-market clients in the real estate, construction, and other sectors.
John Ferraro John is a partner in the Private Client Services Group. With nearly 20 years of experience, he is based in the Melville, NY, office. John specializes in tax compliance and consulting, with a particular focus on investment and closely held partnership structures. John's proficiency extends across multiple sectors, including real estate, manufacturing, distribution, and others.
Jennifer Fuselier Jennifer is a partner in the Audit Services Group. With 14 years of experience, she is based in the New Orleans, LA, office. She oversees fieldwork and performs financial statement audits, single audits, agreed-upon procedure engagements, and other services for nonprofits, governments, and charter schools.
Adam Gager Adam is a partner in the Audit Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the New York, NY, office. He is responsible for audit, review, and compilation engagements for a variety of business sectors. He specializes in accounting for royalties and the valuation of investments in music, film, and television copyrights and licenses.
Michael Grant Michael is a partner in the Tax Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the Iselin, NJ, office. He provides tax compliance and advisory services to clients in the manufacturing and distribution, retail, real estate, and life sciences sectors. He specializes in closely held businesses, individual taxation, and IRC 382.
Kira Heizer Kira is a partner in the Outsourced Services Group. With nearly 30 years of experience, she is based in the San Mateo, CA, office. She provides fractional CFO services to privately owned businesses and venture-backed startups. Kira specializes in using financial forecasting and analysis to optimize resource allocation, increase operational efficiency, and maximize cash flow to determine funding needs.
Zhi Man Huang Zhi is a partner at EA RESIG LLC. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the New York, NY, office. He leads several fund administration teams responsible for the day-to-day activities of real estate private equity funds. He has expertise with financial statements, waterfall schedules, preferred return calculations, and all areas of private equity. Zhi routinely works on funds that have master-feeder structures and structures that include real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and blocker entities.
Sarah Irvin Sarah is a partner in the Advisory Services Group. With approximately 15 years of experience, she is based in the New Orleans, LA, office. A leader of the Financial Management and Disbursements service line, Sarah specializes in accounting and finance, compliance, financial management and disbursements, quality assurance and control, disaster management and recovery, and settlement fund financial administration across a variety of industries.
Amy Jongerius Amy is a partner in the Outsourced Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, she is based in the Minneapolis, MN, office. She has a focus in healthcare, specializing in working with physician groups, medical practice clients, dental practices, and privately held clinics and their management teams to help improve their day-to-day accounting and monthly financial reporting.
Nicholas Landera Nicholas is a partner in the Financial Advisory Services Group. With 18 years of experience, he is based in the Miami, FL, office. He provides consulting, forensic accounting, litigation support, and expert witness services. His experience includes multinational investigations, class-action litigation consulting, shareholder disputes, and derivative actions. He also has extensive experience assisting on clients' business valuation and transaction advisory matters for mergers and acquisitions, tax compliance, and dispute resolution.
Anastasiya Lopatnikova Anastasiya is a partner in the Financial Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, she is based in the New York, NY, office. She serves hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, funds of funds, investment advisors, registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, and other financial services entities.
Samuel Medina Samuel is a partner in the Private Client Services Group. With more than 25 years of experience, he is based in the Chicago, IL, office. Specializing in tax planning, compliance, and gift and estate taxation, Samuel serves high-net-worth individuals and their closely held businesses across various industries, including family businesses, law firms, professional services, and real estate.
Michael Morse Michael is a partner in the Audit Services Group. With 13 years of experience, he is based in the New Orleans, LA, office. He provides audit and consultation services across many industries including employee benefit plans, construction, and marine vessel supply. Michael also has experience in planning and executing internal and compliance audits, including Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404.
Kevin Nardone Kevin is a partner in the Private Client Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the Iselin, NJ, office. He provides attest and advisory services for closely held companies in the food and beverage, manufacturing and distribution, software, and construction sectors. He also has extensive experience in employee benefit plan audits including 401(k)s, defined benefit plans, and multi-employer benefit plans.
Virginia Salazar-Miller Virginia is a partner in the Tax Services Group. With more than 25 years of experience, she is based in the New York, NY, office. She provides tax planning and compliance services to hedge funds, private equity, investment advisors, and other financial services companies, including family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Allen Shteynberg Allen is a partner in the Financial Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, he is based in the New York, NY, office. He performs audit services for private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, funds of funds, and commodity pools. He assists clients with fund documents, structuring investment vehicles, and various regulatory issues.
Cameron Trumble Cameron is a partner in the Private Client Services Group. With approximately 15 years of experience, he is based in the Chicago, IL, office. He provides tax, reviews, compilations, and bookkeeping services for private businesses and individuals in the technology, manufacturing, and real estate industries.
Christine Wu Christine is a partner at EA RESIG LLC. With 18 years of experience, she is based in the New York, NY, office. She leads several fund administration teams responsible for the day-to-day activities of various debt and equity funds. She has expertise in complex organizational fund structure with blocker entities, shareholder loans, investment-by-investment performance fee calculations, and REITs. Christine onboards new funds including initial accounting system set-ups and treasury functions.
Carolyn Zhang Carolyn is a partner in the Outsourced Services Group. With more than 15 years of experience, she is based in the San Mateo, CA, office. Carolyn supports the operational accounting functions for venture-backed early-stage tech startups. She manages the overall direction, coordination, development, and evaluation of accounting and financial operations for client companies, including producing financial reports, establishing financial performance metrics, and implementing accounting software strategies.
About EisnerAmper
EisnerAmper, one of the largest business consulting firms in the world, is comprised of EisnerAmper LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm that provides client attest services; and Eisner Advisory Group LLC, an alternative practice structure that provides advisory and non-attest services in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, standards and codes of conduct. Clients are in all sectors and leverage a complete menu of service offerings. Our combined entities include approximately 450 partners and 4,500 employees. For more information, please visit eisneramper.com, and follow us on (X) and LinkedIn.
SOURCE EisnerAmper
LANCASTER, Pa., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Electron Energy Corporation ("EEC") has joined Magnetic Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Dexter Magnetic Technologies ("Dexter") and Magnetic Component Engineering ("MCE"). Magnetic Holdings is a portfolio company of Tinicum.
The Walmer family, who founded EEC as the world's first manufacturer of samarium cobalt magnets in 1970, retained a significant minority interest in Magnetic Holdings, and Michael Walmer, its Chairman and CEO, joined the Magnetic Holdings board of directors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The transaction creates a group of leading permanent magnet firms, each with unique and complementary capabilities to solve customers' most demanding challenges. The businesses of Magnetic Holdings collectively have nearly 500 employees, and over 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space, serving critical applications for aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductor, energy, and industrial customers.
The companies of Magnetic Holdings will collaborate to provide integrated solutions, utilizing the most technically advanced raw materials, world-class magnet fabrication and assembly capabilities, and expertise in designing and developing customized high-performance motors and electromechanical components, all supported by one of the largest technical engineering and commercial teams in the industry. Moreover, Magnetic Holdings now has four highly capable facilities in three distinct locations and a vertically integrated manufacturing process, creating a robust and resilient supply chain.
Magnetic Holdings is backed by Tinicum, which has over $2.4 billion of committed capital, providing the financial, operational, and strategic resources to grow and the stability that comes from its long-term ownership philosophy.
Mr. Walmer stated, "In 54 years, EEC has grown from two people with a great vision and little resources to a team of 150 committed and talented individuals serving our specialized markets with strength. EEC will continue to find new opportunities to do what has never been done before in support of space exploration, aviation, defense, medical and energy initiatives. Our growth will be enhanced by this new, dynamic relationship with these strong partners. This growth enables EEC to keep pace with increasing vital customer demand, providing continual purposeful work for our employees."
He continued, "After exploring partnerships with firms that are also rooted in and appreciate the advantages of our family-run culture, we found one that stands out as extremely well aligned with our values: Tinicum. Both Tinicum and EEC are led by their founding families, ensuring a continuation of vision for the future and legacy for the long term. Moreover, Magnetic Holdings now features three of the strongest, most entrepreneurial magnet companies in the United States. Together, each company will benefit from collaboration within Magnetic Holdings, the strength and scale of the larger enterprise, and the capital resources of Tinicum, while also maintaining agility and vitality in each of our respective markets. Based on our talent and creative spark, we know that EEC will continue to engineer solutions for a healthy, secure nation and for the challenges of a dynamic world for generations to come."
Joe Stupfel, CEO of Magnetic Holdings, stated, "We are thrilled to join forces with EEC, a firm whose capabilities, employees, and leadership we hold in the highest regard. We are excited to now be able to offer our customers a comprehensive solutionunique in the magnetics industrywith the ability to design and produce custom samarium cobalt formulations, manufacture magnetics with world class speed, precision, and quality, and engineer, design and build assemblies and motors customized to customer applications."
Stupfel added, "Our employees are our most important asset. Investing in their careers and personal development not only benefits them but increases capabilities of our businesses. The larger size of our business creates opportunities for all the employees of Dexter, EEC, and MCE to grow. We strive to attract and retain the best talent in the magnetics industry and to be the employer of choice in each market in which we operate."
Rich Dosik, partner at Tinicum, stated, "We are thrilled to partner with the Walmer family and the team at EEC, and we are honored that they have entrusted us with their business. We have the utmost respect and admiration for EEC. As we have done at both Dexter and MCE, we are excited to continue to make significant investments into EEC to help them grow as we build Magnetic Holdings for the long term."
About EEC
EEC is an expert developer and leading American producer of rare earth magnets serving the global aerospace, defense, energy, medical and semiconductor markets. Founded in 1970 by Marlin Walmer, EEC is headquartered in Pennsylvania and is the only vertically integrated American manufacturer of DFARS- and ITAR-compliant samarium cobalt magnets. EEC's ability to control material compositions allows for customization and precise control of magnetic properties. Engineers at EEC collaborate with customers to devise solutions and enable applications that were previously not possible. For more information about EEC, visit www.electronenergy.com.
About Dexter
Dexter provides specialized magnetic components and assemblies for use in demanding applications in the medical, aerospace, defense, semiconductor manufacturing, oil and gas, and industrial end markets. Dexter has been solving complex customer challenges since 1951 and manufactures its products at its headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Dexter manufactures DFARS- and ITAR-compliant products and holds AS9100D, ISO13485, and ISO9001 certifications. For more information about Dexter, visit www.dextermag.com.
About MCE
MCE manufactures permanent magnets and magnet assemblies for the most demanding applications for aerospace, defense, medical, and industrial technology customers. MCE manufactures DFARS- and ITAR-compliant products and holds AS9100D and ISO9001 certifications. For more information about MCE, visit www.mceproducts.com.
About Tinicum
Tinicum, founded in 1974 as a family investment office, is a private partnership that manages a diversified group of industrial manufacturing, distribution, and technology companies. Based in New York, Tinicum also has offices in San Francisco, Houston, and Frankfurt. For more information about Tinicum, visit www.tinicum.com.
Media Contact:
Roger Mountford, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
[email protected]
SOURCE Magnetic Holdings, LLC
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM, formerly AACC), welcomed thousands of laboratory experts to ADLM 2024 (formerly the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo) from July 28-August 1. The meeting featured groundbreaking advances in diagnostic research and technology that exemplify the essential role that the field of laboratory medicine plays in patient care.
As of Thursday, August 1, 18,000 laboratory medicine professionals had registered for ADLM 2024, a 6% increase in attendance since the last time the ADLM Annual Meeting was in Chicago in 2022. More attendees are expected today, the last day of the meeting.
One highlight of the meeting was a special session where representatives from ADLM, the American Medical Association, and the Children's Hospital Association detailed how the FDA's final rule placing laboratory developed tests under FDA oversight will negatively impact patient care. The session featured a caregiver and patient advocate who shared her perspective on why laboratory developed tests are crucial to timely diagnoses and treatment.
Attendees also had the opportunity to see five plenary talks led by life sciences pioneers.
In the opening plenary, Dr. Patrick Bossuyt the 2024 Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship awardee drew on his experiences leading efforts to improve diagnostic tests to make a compelling case for why we need strong clinical trials of laboratory tests.
On Monday, Dr. Kojo S.J. Elenitoba-Johnson, chair of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, described how proteomic data can help healthcare professionals better understand how lymphomas form and drive development of precision oncology therapies.
Tuesday's plenary speaker, Dr. Ron H.N. van Schaik, discussed the successes and challenges of implementing pharmacogenetics as a diagnostic tool in routine healthcare. Van Schaik is head of the department of clinical chemistry at Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam.
On Wednesday, Dr. Sharon Hillier, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, explored the development of new products for HIV prevention, including those that can be used on demand and those that would minimize systemic exposure to antiretroviral drugs.
In today's closing keynote, Dr. Diana Greene Foster, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, discussed the mental health, physical health, and socioeconomic consequences affecting people who are unable to get an abortion.
As part of ADLM's Disruptive Technology Award competition, biotech innovators presented novel technologies that could help more patients get accurate diagnoses. Mercy BioAnalytics won the competition with its liquid biopsy platform that detects ovarian cancer in its earliest stages by measuring tumor-derived extracellular vesicles.
The ADLM 2024 Clinical Lab Expo boasted nearly 900 exhibitors and covered an astonishing 271,003 net square feet a 5% increase in exhibit space since the last time the meeting was held in Chicago. This dynamic exhibit featured cutting-edge tests from all laboratory medicine disciplines, including artificial intelligence, molecular diagnostics, automation, point-of-care testing, mass spectrometry, mobile health, and much more.
"We are thrilled to see attendance at ADLM 2024 continue to increase after the COVID-19 pandemic," said ADLM CEO Mark J. Golden. "With the FDA publishing its final rule on laboratory developed tests, this has been a challenging year for laboratory medicine professionals. The meeting provided a vital opportunity for attendees to learn more about what the rule means for their labs and patient care. Additionally, the meeting offered essential education on everything from lab basics to cutting-edge topics such as data science. I hope attendees return home inspired and eager to implement what they've learned this week in their work, and I am excited to see what next year's meeting will bring."
ADLM 2025 will be held in Chicago from July 27-31, 2025.
About ADLM 2024
ADLM 2024 (formerly the AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo) offered 5 days packed with opportunities to learn about exciting science from July 28-August 1 in Chicago. Plenary sessions explored the projected consequences of ending abortion protection, new HIV prevention options, lymphoma biomarkers and therapeutic targets, pharmacogenetic testing in precision health, and the need for clinical trials of laboratory tests.
At the ADLM 2024 Clinical Lab Expo, nearly 900 exhibitors filled the show floor of the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, with displays of the latest diagnostic technology, including but not limited to artificial intelligence, point-of-care testing, and automation.
About the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)
Dedicated to achieving better health through laboratory medicine, ADLM (formerly AACC) brings together more than 70,000 clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and business leaders from around the world focused on clinical chemistry, molecular diagnostics, mass spectrometry, translational medicine, lab management, and other areas of progressing laboratory science. Since 1948, ADLM has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing programs that advance scientific collaboration, knowledge, expertise, and innovation. For more information, visit www.myadlm.org.
Christine DeLong
ADLM
Associate Director, Communications & PR
(p) 202.835.8722
[email protected]
Molly Polen
ADLM
Senior Director, Communications & PR
(p) 202.420.7612
(c) 703.598.0472
[email protected]
SOURCE Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM)
Browse in-depth TOC on "Fintech as a Service (FaaS) Market"
375 - Tables
51 - Figures
331 - Pages
Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=9388805
Scope of the Report
Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 2018-2029 Base year considered 2023 Forecast period 20242029 Forecast units Value (USD Billion) Segments Covered By Type, Technology, Application, End User, Region. Geographies covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America Companies covered Major vendors in the FaaS market include PayPal (US), Mastercard (US), Fiserv (US), Block (US), Rapyd (UK), Envestnet (US), Upstart (US), Solid Financial (US), FIS (US), Synctera (US), Stripe (US), Adyen (Netherlands), Dwolla (US), Finastra (UK), Revolut (UK), Fispan (Canada), Nium (Singapore), Airwallex (Australia), Sofi Technologies Inc. (US), Marqeta (US), Finx (US), Synapse (US).
FaaS solutions enable organizations to access pre-built financial technology solutions that can be integrated into existing systems, enabling businesses to provide innovative financial services, reducing the cost of new in-house development technology and the investment needed for resources, which makes it cost-efficient financial services, making high-tech tools available without a high upfront cost. With FaaS, companies can focus on competition and innovation with their core operations, delivering cutting-edge financial services to their customers.
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Based on the type, Payments in the FaaS market accounts for the highest market size during the forecast period.
Payments are expected to maintain the highest market share in the FaaS market for various reasons. Their ubiquitous nature, being important to daily transactions and serving a vast customer base involving individuals, businesses, and governments, and rapid technological advancements like digital wallets, biometric authentication, upgraded security on real-time payments, convenience, and efficiency play a crucial role in financial inclusion by providing services through mobile payments in the emerging market. It acts as a boon by providing solutions and services to a major segment of the population through digital platforms. It is enhancing the customer experience by integrating payment methods to various platforms such as e-commerce, ride-sharing, and digital commerce, driving the popularity of subscription-based models, and its regulatory evolution, such as open banking payments and Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), creating strong authentication and open API's.
By application, KYC Verification segment will grow at the highest CAGR during the forecasted period.
The Know Your Customer (KYC) verification segment is growing faster than any other part of the fintech-as-a-service market. This growth comes from a few key factors. Companies need to follow stricter rules, like those against money laundering and funding terrorism, as well as laws about data privacy, such as GDPR and CCPA. More cases of identity theft and financial scams make it crucial to have accurate and reliable KYC to keep customers safe.
KYC also helps make signing up new customers online smoother and quicker, improving their first experience and letting companies assess risk better. As the fintech world grows and technology improves, like fingerprint scans and smart computer analysis, the need for solid KYC checks increases. This builds customer trust and protects the good name of financial companies.
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By region, Asia Pacific will grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
Asia Pacific is forecasted to grow at the highest CAGR due to the rapid adoption of digitization, rising internet penetration, and widespread use of smartphones in countries like India, China, and Indonesia, which have a large customer base. These regions are one of the largest populations, which provides an opportunity for fintech companies for financial inclusion. The government's support and praise for fintech solutions is being heavily backed up, showing a positive future aspect of growth in the FaaS market. The region also attracts a large number of investment interests from various sources due to its population and growing demand for digital financial services, mostly among middle-class earning entities. The market is also a rising hub of digital platforms, which further enhances the strong entrepreneurial ecosystem and the fintech landscape.
Top Companies in Fintech as a Service Market:
PayPal (US), Mastercard (US), Fiserv (US), Block (US), Rapyd (UK), Envestnet (US), Upstart (US), Solid Financial (US), FIS (US), Synctera (US), Stripe (US) , Adyen (Netherlands), Dwolla (US), Finastra (UK), Revolut (UK), Fispan (Canada), Nium (Singapore), Airwallex (Australia), Sofi Technologies Inc. (US), Margeta (US), Finx (US), Synapse (US).
Browse Adjacent Markets: Software and Services Market Research Reports & Consulting
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WESTFORD, Mass., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to SkyQuest, the global Fuel Cell Market size was valued at USD 2.90 Billion in 2022 and is poised to grow from USD 3.69 Billion in 2023 to USD 25.10 Billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 27.1% during the forecast period (2024-2031).
The global fuel cell market is set to boom remarkably in the coming years owing to multiple ongoing trends observed, including fuel cell vehicles, fuel cell stack integration, improved electrodes, nanotechnology, alternate fuel cells, and more. Earlier, the traditional battery-enabled power solutions were less efficient like stable energy in data centers, off-grid energy sources, heavy-duty vehicles, and more. Developing companies are currently leveraging cutting-edge solutions to manufacture highly efficient and durable solutions. With improvements in hydrogen production and storage, new fuel cell developments are allowing more feasible and sustainable power storage methods.
Global greenhouse gas emissions contain a significant amount of vehicle emissions. To curb this, governments of different nations are actively searching for alternative power solutions to be adopted in the transport industry. Hence, over the forecast period, the demand for fuel cell-based vehicles is projected to rise noticeably.
Download a detailed overview:
https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/fuel-cell-market
Fuel Cell Market Overview:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 USD 3.69 Billion Estimated Value by 2031 USD 25.10 Billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 27.1% Forecast Period 20242031 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Size, Fuel, Type, Component, Application, and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Increased Use of Fuel Cells in Data Centers in Backup Power Key Market Drivers Mounting Demand for Fuel Cell Vehicles
Segments covered in Fuel Cell Market are as follows:
Type
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell, Alkaline Fuel Cell, Microbial Fuel Cell, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, Others
Size
Large Scale, Small Scale
Fuel
Hydrogen, Ammonia, Methanol, Others
Component
Stack (Cells, Interconnects, End Plates, Sea Plants, Others), Balance of Plant (BOP)(Heat Transfer Components, Power Electronics & Control Systems, Instruments & Sensors, Fuel Reformers/Desulfurizers, Others)
Application
Automotive, Non-Automotive, Power, Others
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Hydrogen Segment to Lead to Increased Spending for Better Attributes of Hydrogen
The hydrogen segment held the majority share of the market supported by growing spending for the storage, infrastructure, and production of hydrogen. Besides, mounting demand in fuel cell vehicles, industrial uses, and stationary power generation is anticipated to aid the market growth.
However, the methanol segment is the fastest growing segment and will lead in the coming years. Methanol fuel cells are gaining popularity in numerous applications like backup energy systems. Electronic devices, and more. Also, methanol is readily available, can be transported easily, and holds optimal energy density. This makes it ideal for fuel cell applications, thereby driving the market.
Intensified Demand in the Stationary Applications Due to its Attractive Qualities to Help Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Segment Lead
By type, the solid oxide fuel cell is expected to be the dominating segment over the forecast period. The key reason behind the growth of the segment includes its compact design, which requires slow start time. This is essential mainly in stationary energy applications. It is prominently used owing to its simple design.
Conversely, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell is expected to be the fastest-growing segment owing to its expanding demand in vehicles. This type of fuel cell is heavily demanded by fuel cell vehicles, and the trend is expected to grow in the future. This mounting demand will greatly drive the fuel cell market.
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Growing Shift Towards Clean Transport to Propel the Transport Segment Remarkably
By application, the transport segment is the dominating segment and is expected to lead over the forecast period as well. The reason for the segment's larger growth is attributed to the growing shift towards cleaner transport worldwide. Many countries are heavily investing in zero-emission that will propel the transport segment in the future, thereby impacting the growth of the fuel cell market.
The stationary segment is projected to be the fastest-growing segment on the back of its wide use in applications including UPS, data center, and more. The use is expanding at a speedy pace among investment in green energy and zero-emission targets.
Consumer Demand and Government Guidelines to Amplify the Use of Fuel Cell-Based Vehicles
With strong inclination on zero-emissions transport supported by consumer demand as well as government regulations, the fuel cell market is anticipated to prosper in the coming years. The fuel cell-based vehicles are seeing early advances mainly for passenger cars by the leading players in the industry. Moreover, heavy-duty industry offers increasing opportunities with fuel-based buses and trucks that do not need refueling in short intervals. Apart from just the on-road cars, more potential will be seen in zero-emission trains and in marine applications.
Related Report:
Hydrogen Market
Hydrogen Energy Storage Market
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Market
Electric Vehicle Market
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Market
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DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration for the 2025 Global Insurance Symposium (GIS) in Greater Des Moines (DSM) is officially open. GIS offers an educational and networking opportunity that brings together over 500 insurance and financial services company executives, national and international regulators, state and federal government representatives, entrepreneurs, and startup tech firms. The theme of the symposium's 11th annual event is Insuring a World of Opportunity.
The symposium will occur next spring on Tuesday, April 15, and Wednesday, April 16, at the Iowa Events Center in Downtown Des Moines. Since launching over a decade ago, the Global Insurance Symposium has hosted thousands of attendees from more than 13 countries.
"The Global Insurance Symposium is a must-attend event for everyone in the finance and insurance sector looking to dive deeper into trends in the industry," said Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen. "It's an opportunity to expand your network on a global scale as the event provides attendees with insights from across the world right here in Iowa."
The insurance industry has a significant global presence, and this year's symposium will unite representatives from across the country and the world in Des Moines, at the heart of America. The program will center around what new opportunities are arising in the insurance industry on a local and global scale.
"Greater Des Moines is a renowned region in the insurance industry, making it the perfect place for this global conference," said Tiffany Tauscheck, President & CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. "It's our honor to host hundreds of regulators, insurance professionals and startups from all over the world in DSM. Here they have the opportunity to connect with thought leaders and learn about the future of the insurance industry."
Julie Pearce, Consultant at the Iowa Department of Insurance & Financial Services, joins Christian Walk, Senior Vice President and Associated General Counsel for Global Atlantic Financial Company, as co-chairs of the 2025 event.
To register for GIS, click here. Save $100 on registration with early bird pricing, available until Jan. 1, 2025.
Additional event details will be released in the months leading to the symposium.
Media Registration
Media is invited to attend the Global Insurance Symposium. To register, contact Andrea Rodriguez, [email protected].
About the Global Insurance Symposium
Established in 2014, the Global Insurance Symposium is the premier event for insurance professionals and regulatory authorities to hear from the world's most renowned insurance experts and to interact with fellow insurance industry colleagues from around the world. To learn more, visit www.globalinsurancesymposium.com .
Reporters may contact:
Andrea Rodriguez, for the Global Insurance Symposium
(515) 943-9055
[email protected]
SOURCE Global Insurance Symposium
DENVER, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gravity Haus, the innovative lifestyle platform revolutionizing the outdoor adventure experience, is thrilled to announce that its exceptional food and beverage program has garnered significant recognition, with several of its restaurants receiving prestigious OpenTable Diners' Choice Awards.
Award-Winning Dining Experiences
Diners' Choice 2024
The OpenTable Diners' Choice Awards recognize the very best in hospitality, and Gravity Haus is proud to see Stella, Cabin Juice, Slope Room, and Wild Pine earn top marks from discerning diners. These accolades highlight Gravity Haus's commitment to exceptional food and beverage experiences. With innovative menus and locally sourced ingredients, Gravity Haus offers warm and curated dining in some of the country's most unique and beautiful outdoor destinations, perfectly complementing guests' invigorating adventures.
At the heart of this success is Jason Brumm, Corporate Executive Chef. Local to Vail, CO, Brumm's creativity shines through every restaurant, blending culinary innovation with local roots and culture.
Stella (Truckee-Tahoe, CA): Known for its fresh California cuisine, Stella offers a dynamic menu that emphasizes locally sourced ingredients and innovative flavors.
cuisine, Stella offers a dynamic menu that emphasizes locally sourced ingredients and innovative flavors. Cabin Juice ( Breckenridge, CO ): This cozy eatery captures the essence of mountain dining with hearty, comfort-driven dishes perfect for adventurers seeking a warm, satisfying meal.
): This cozy eatery captures the essence of mountain dining with hearty, comfort-driven dishes perfect for adventurers seeking a warm, satisfying meal. Slope Room ( Vail, CO ): A favorite among both locals and visitors, Slope Room excels in delivering a sophisticated dining experience with a menu that showcases seasonal ingredients and bold flavors.
): A favorite among both locals and visitors, Slope Room excels in delivering a sophisticated dining experience with a menu that showcases seasonal ingredients and bold flavors. Wild Pine ( Jackson Hole, WY ): Located in the epicenter of outdoor recreation, Wild Pine combines rustic charm with refined culinary techniques, creating a unique dining destination that reflects the spirit of the region.
): Located in the epicenter of outdoor recreation, Wild Pine combines rustic charm with refined culinary techniques, creating a unique dining destination that reflects the spirit of the region. "Each of our restaurants has its own unique personality and culture, shaped by the diverse communities we serve," says Jason Brumm , Corporate Executive Chef. "It's the local talent on our culinary teams and their deep connection to these communities that make our restaurants truly special. Their dedication and hard work bring authenticity and heart to everything we do. I'm continually inspired by the incredible service they provide every day."
Expanding Culinary Horizons
Over the past 12 months, Gravity Haus has expanded its culinary footprint with the opening of four new restaurants, each bringing its own unique flair and flavor to the Gravity Haus family.
The Boat Tow ( Aspen, CO ): Bringing a contemporary twist to traditional ski-town culture and a unique apres-all-day offering, The Boat Tow is a must-visit for food enthusiasts seeking a memorable dining experience and a sense of community. Since opening its doors in December of 2023, The Boat Tow team has been awarded 'Best Aspen Bartender,' in the Ajax Awards, and its sister location, Unravel Aspen, has been named 'Best Coffee Shop' in Aspen Magazine, Modern Luxury.
): Bringing a contemporary twist to traditional ski-town culture and a unique apres-all-day offering, The Boat Tow is a must-visit for food enthusiasts seeking a memorable dining experience and a sense of community. Since opening its doors in December of 2023, The Boat Tow team has been awarded 'Best Aspen Bartender,' in the Ajax Awards, and its sister location, Unravel Aspen, has been named 'Best Coffee Shop' in Aspen Magazine, Modern Luxury. Terrain Taco ( Winter Park, CO ): Offering a fresh take on Mexican cuisine, Terrain Taco has quickly become a go-to spot for delicious tacos and vibrant, authentic dishes.
): Offering a fresh take on Mexican cuisine, Terrain Taco has quickly become a go-to spot for delicious tacos and vibrant, authentic dishes. Wild Pine ( Jackson Hole, WY ): Adding to its accolades, Wild Pine continues to impress with its dedication to quality and regional inspiration.
): Adding to its accolades, Wild Pine continues to impress with its dedication to quality and regional inspiration. White Rabbit Tavern ( Steamboat Springs, CO ): This charming tavern offers a relaxed atmosphere and a menu of hearty, classic dishes. Their Nashville hot chicken sandwich, recently featured in the Steamboat Pilot, showcases White Rabbit Tavern's commitment to exciting new slopeside offerings.
"We're honored by this recognition which reflects our dedication to crafting meaningful culinary experiences," says Jim Deters, CEO of Gravity Haus. "We believe that our relationship with foodhow it nourishes our bodies, enriches our lives, and fosters connections within our communityis a vital part of the human experience and a key element in living our best lives."
As Gravity Haus expands into new destinations, the company looks forward to offering more culinary offerings in local communities that emulate the essence of the Gravity Haus Food and Beverage program and the mission of enabling modern adventure for all.
About Gravity Haus
Gravity Haus is not just a place to stay; it's a vibrant community for the modern adventurer. By combining thoughtfully designed accommodations, shared workspaces, premium fitness facilities, and outstanding food and beverage options, Gravity Haus seamlessly blends work, play, and adventure. It inspires a life well-lived through unforgettable experiences and exceptional hospitality. Their inclusive membership program provides exceptional value, offering members access to unique experiences, exclusive perks, and a supportive community that shares a passion for adventure and well-being.
For more information on Gravity Haus and membership, please visit www.gravityhaus.com.
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SOURCE Gravity Haus
New campus in Florida will train up to 190 dental hygienists and dental assistants annually
KANSAS CITY, Mo. and EFFINGHAM, Ill., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Concorde Career Colleges, the healthcare education division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc., and Heartland Dental today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to develop a co-branded campus for dental hygiene and dental assistant programs. Heartland Dental is one of the largest dental support organizations in the nation, with more than 23,000 employees at more than 1,750 supported dental offices.
Heartland Dental (PRNewsfoto/Concorde Career Colleges)
The partnership is designed to help address Heartland Dental-supported practices' significant demand for dental hygienists and dental assistants in specific markets. The first campus, scheduled to open in fall 2025 in Fort Myers, Fla., will train up to 120 dental hygienists and 72 dental assistants annually using Concorde's curriculum, instructors and student support services. Heartland Dental is funding the total cost of the construction, including durable equipment and initial supplies. The company will also provide scholarships to students.
"In all my years in the dental field and at Heartland Dental, our investment in education and commitment to making opportunities available for individuals to grow their skills has been at the heart of who we are. Our partnership with Concorde has supported this commitment and our culture of education for many years. We know there is a strong need in the communities we serve for dental care, and the opportunity to establish a co-branded campus with Concorde to help meet this need with skilled dental hygienists and dental assistants is remarkable. We knew Concorde was the right partner for this venture given their deep expertise and strong curriculum in these areas," shared Pat Bauer, Heartland Dental President and CEO.
"This groundbreaking partnership builds upon the alliance of two organizations that are committed to increasing access to dental services across the United States," said Kevin Prehn, President of Concorde Career Colleges. "Through our existing partnership with Heartland, we have seen how they are invested in their employees and are continually innovating to ensure the success of their supported practices. And, as one of the leading educators of dental hygienists and dental assistants in the nation, Concorde is uniquely positioned to help meet workforce needs in Heartland-supported practices while creating pathways to employment for our graduates."
Nationwide, employment of dental hygienists and dental assistants is projected to grow 7% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.1 In states where Concorde has multiple campuses, the demand is significantly higher. In Florida, dental hygienists and dental assistants have a 15.8% and 15.7% projected job growth, respectively, between 2023 and 2031.2
Concorde currently has more than 1,900 students in its dental hygiene and dental assisting programs, which are offered at 14 and 16 of Concorde's 17 campus locations, respectively. The institution's dental hygiene curriculum blends online and on-ground coursework with in-person lab instruction and clinical experience to prepare students to enter the dental industry in as few as 17 months.3 The institution's dental assistant diploma curriculum combines foundational concepts of dental care and front office operations with an externship to prepare students for the profession in as few as eight months.4
Heartland Dental has collaborated with Concorde for several years to address its need for dental hygienists, including student scholarships, company-sponsored dental hygiene labs on campus and graduate pinning ceremonies. The company also supports Concorde's pediatric community events that offer free dental services. To date, Heartland has hired 325 Concorde dental hygiene graduates.
For more information about Heartland Dental, visit World-Class Dental Support Organization | Heartland Dental. To learn more about Concorde's dental programs, visit Dental Programs | Concorde Career Colleges.
1Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook for Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants nationally, 2022-2032, viewed July 30, 2024.
2Source: Florida Department of Commerce, Employment Projections for Dental Hygienists and Dental Assistants in Florida 2023-2031, viewed July 30, 2024.
3,4Program length may be subject to change dependent on transfer credits and course schedule. Please refer to current course catalog for more information. Concorde does not guarantee admittance, graduation, employment, or salary.
About Concorde Career Colleges
Concorde Career Colleges, the healthcare division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI), operates 17 healthcare focused campuses across eight states under the brands Concorde Career College and Concorde Career Institute, preparing America's next generation of health care and dental professionals for rewarding careers. The Concorde blended education model combines online coursework with in-person lab classes and clinical settings. Concorde's 25 student-focused academic programs and personalized support prepares graduates for in-demand careers in nursing, dental, respiratory, diagnostic, and other healthcare roles. Concorde schools are accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and the Council on Occupational Education (COE). For more information, visit concorde.edu or uti.edu or, or visit us on LinkedIn at @Concorde Career Colleges and @UniversalTechnicalInstitute or on X (formerly Twitter) at @ConcordeCareer or @news_UTI.
About Heartland Dental
Heartland Dental is the nation's largest dental support organization providing non-clinical, administrative support services. What started from the entrepreneurial spirit of Rick Workman, DMD, with his single dental practice, has evolved into affiliating with over 2,800 doctors in over 1,750 locations across 39 states and the District of Columbia. The company is majority owned by KKR, a leading global investment firm. For additional information, please visit heartland.com.
Media Contacts:
Sharon Rolenc
[email protected]
612-720-2083
Heartland Dental
Jessica Thompson
[email protected]
561-690-1465
SOURCE Concorde Career Colleges
Members of Hawaii Fire Fighters Association will be featured in the shelter's annual calendar contest fundraiser.
PU'UNENE, Hawaii, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Voting is now open for Maui Humane Society's highly-anticipated annual calendar contest fundraiser, in partnership with Maui's firefighters and lifeguards. The fundraiser intends to celebrate the bravery of Maui's first responders and resilience of pets, especially after the tragic Maui wildfires of August 8, 2023.
Maui's animal and rescuer supporters can place their votes for their favorite pet-hero photo at just $1 per vote, and the top 12 photos will be featured in the printed calendar. Calendars are available for pre-order now. All proceeds from this innovative, community-focused calendar will benefit Maui Humane Society (MHS).
Voting is open for Maui Humane Society's calendar fundraiser, in partnership with Maui's firefighters & lifeguards. Post this
View contest submissions and vote at mauihumanesociety.org/2025calendar .
Nearly one year after the fires, MHS continues to provide veterinary care and support to the pets of those affected. MHS took in more than 880 pets from the Lahaina burn zone and of those, 220 pets were reunited with their 'ohanas and 220 were adopted to new 'ohanas. More than 1,500 non-shelter animals were treated by MHS veterinarians outside of the shelter at emergency hubs and temporary housing sites for displaced residents.
All photoshoots were held in West Maui and shot by the award-winning and Oahu-based photographer, Dana Edmunds, who volunteered his time and talent. Furry contestants (include dogs, cats, one guinea pig, and one pet chicken) have loving homes, are available for adoption, or are being cared for in foster homes. Human contestants include Maui's firefighters and lifeguards who are members of the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association and Hawaii Government Employees Association.
"The collective rescue efforts of Maui Humane Society's staff and volunteers, along with the heroic actions of Maui's firefighters and lifeguards, serves as a tribute to the unbreakable bond between animals and humans," MHS Director of Development, Kathleen Hogarty, said. "Through this calendar fundraiser, we aim to highlight the bravery and resilience of our island, and showcase the importance of community solidarity during crises."
Thanks to the support of an anonymous donor, all donations will be matched up to $50,000, meaning the impact of calendar voting at just $1 a vote will go twice as far.
Media can contact MHS Director of Marketing & Communications, Victoria Ivankic, with further questions or to arrange interviews. Behind-the-scenes footage from the photoshoot and photos in the competition can be found HERE (credit Maui Humane Society).
Media Contact: Victoria Ivankic
808.447.5810
[email protected]
SOURCE Maui Humane Society
The comprehensive suite now backs up Microsoft Planner
The new and upgraded functionality forms part of 365 Total Backup and 365 Total Protection Plans 3 and 4
The robust new features are provided at no additional cost
LONDON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hornetsecurity, a global leader in cybersecurity, today announced the release of an enhanced version of its 365 Total Backup solution for Microsoft 365, now including comprehensive backup and recovery support for Microsoft Planner. This upgrade extends Hornetsecurity's robust data protection suite, ensuring critical business data is securely backed up and recoverable.
Hornetsecurity's enhanced 365 Total Backup for Microsoft 365
This enhancement follows the roll-out of Microsoft's Planner function to manage tasks and projects. The free update from Hornetsecurity is available for customers on both its 365 Total Backup products and 365 Total Protection (Plans 3 and 4). The broader scope of protection supports GDPR compliance and adds to the existing backup and recovery functionality across essential M365 applications, including Mailbox, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams.
Empowering administrators via flexible restore options
A key feature of this upgrade is the granular restore option, which empowers administrators to choose multiple restore points. It provides a visual representation of the plan and its evolution within selected timestamps, allowing users to restore specific tasks with ease. This mirrors that of Microsoft Planner for enhanced usability.
Additionally, the full restore function allows administrators to restore all plans associated with one or more Microsoft 365 Groups to the same group, a different group, or a zip archive. If an organisation undergoes restructuring, relevant plans can be restored to new groups seamlessly. Restoring to a zip archive allows for easy offline review and long-term archiving. Crucially, disaster recovery can also be performed in the event of a complete loss of plans and boards from Microsoft Planner, minimising downtime and data loss.
New Four-Eye Approval for greater security and accountability
The latest release also introduces a new 'Four-Eye Approval' feature. This tackles the risk posed by cybercriminals or rogue administrators who can delete all backup data or change important settings for M365 organisations, potentially causing significant damage to businesses. This enhancement also addresses concerns where administrators might accidentally delete backup data or alter critical settings related to data retention without proper oversight.
Four-Eye Approval enables a second approval step for any data deletion or changes to retention settings. This functionality is available both during the initial onboarding process and after a tenant has been established. Administrators will be able to specify whether all administrators can approve deletion requests or if only designated administrators are permitted to do so. This measure ensures an additional level of security and accountability in managing data retention policies.
Daniel Hofmann, CEO of Hornetsecurity, commented:
"Our commitment to providing unparalleled data protection solutions is demonstrated through our continuous enhancements to 365 Total Backup and our 365 Total Protection suite. By incorporating support for the increasingly popular Microsoft Planner and introducing the 'Four-Eye Approval' feature, we are reinforcing the security and reliability we offer our customers and anticipating their needs. These updates ensure that businesses can manage their data across Microsoft 365 with greater confidence and resilience, safeguarding against both accidental and malicious data loss."
For more information and to sign up for a no-cost trial of 365 Total Backup, please click here.
About Hornetsecurity
Hornetsecurity is a leading global provider of next-generation cloud-based security, compliance, backup, and security awareness solutions that help companies and organisations of all sizes around the world. Its flagship product, 365 Total Protection, is the most comprehensive cloud security solution for Microsoft 365 on the market. Driven by innovation and cybersecurity excellence, Hornetsecurity is building a safer digital future and sustainable security cultures with its award-winning portfolio. Hornetsecurity operates in more than 120 countries through its international distribution network of 12,000+ channel partners and MSPs. Its premium services are used by more than 75,000 customers.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2470802/MS_Planner_for_365_Total_Backup.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2033076/4833442/Hornetsecurity_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Hornetsecurity
CLEVELAND, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospice of the Western Reserve (HWR), a premier provider of hospice and palliative care services in Northern Ohio, has completed its acquisition of Hospice of North Central Ohio (HNCO) effective today. This strategic alliance aims to expand access to high-quality, comprehensive end-of-life care across a broader region.
The news follows a February 2024 announcement that the two community-based, nonprofit agencies had entered a management services agreement, allowing HWR to begin a due diligence process in preparation for the full transition. The acquisition comes because of increased competition within the HNCO service area, economic challenges, and a need to stabilize and ultimately grow the organization.
The acquisition brings together two organizations with a shared commitment to providing exceptional care and support to patients and families, enhancing service offerings, streamlining operations, and increasing community engagement. Hospice of the Western Reserve, with over 45 years of experience in end-of-life care, will expand its 15-county service area through Hospice of North Central Ohio to include Ashland, Knox, Richland and other nearby counties.
The acquisition will create the region's largest team of hospice and palliative care certified physicians and specialists, offering the most extensive range of services and support. Additionally, the acquisition will strengthen the organization's ability to support local communities through enhanced education, outreach and volunteer initiatives.
"We are excited to welcome Hospice of North Central Ohio to the Hospice of the Western Reserve family," said Bill Finn, president and CEO of Hospice of the Western Reserve. "This partnership marks an important milestone in our mission to deliver exceptional hospice and palliative care. By combining our resources and expertise, we can ensure that more individuals and their loved ones receive the compassionate support they need."
Joan Hanson, MSN, RN, CHPCA, director of palliative care at Hospice of the Western Reserve, has been serving as interim executive director of Hospice of North Central Ohio during the due diligence process. As of Aug. 1, she will serve as Hospice of the Western Reserve clinical director in Ashland, Knox and Richland counties through the end of 2024.
"I look forward to continuing to work with the dedicated staff in Ashland, Knox and Richland counties," Hanson said. "Over 90% of the HNCO staff has chosen to join the HWR team, showing their commitment to providing compassionate care and support in these communities."
As a nonprofit, Hospice of the Western Reserve is governed by a Board of Directors. To create and maintain local community engagement and support for Hospice of Western Reserve's programs and services at the highest levels in Ashland, Knox and Richland counties, Hospice of the Western Reserve is establishing two Advisory Councils: the Hospice of the Western Reserve Ashland/Richland Advisory Council and the Hospice of the Western Reserve Knox County Advisory Council. The Advisory Councils will help improve access and use of high-quality, community-based palliative and hospice services; provide feedback and evaluation of programs and services; be a source of creative ideas for development, special events and volunteer engagement; and represent Hospice of the Western and its mission in Ashland, Richland and Knox counties.
About Hospice of the Western Reserve
Hospice of the Western Reserve provides palliative and end-of-life care, caregiver support and bereavement services throughout Northern Ohio. In celebration of the individual worth of each life, we strive to relieve suffering, enhance comfort, promote quality of life, foster choice in end-of-life care and support effective grieving. For more information, visit www.hospicewr.org.
Contact: Elizabeth McIntyre
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Hospice of the Western Reserve
216.294.6518
[email protected]
SOURCE Hospice of the Western Reserve
CINCINNATI, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperquake, the independent creative strategy, branding and experience design agency, today announced the launch of a vital new component to its award-winning offerings. Building upon its world-class pillars uniting the company's expertise in Innovation, Brand, Experiences, and Growth Marketing, Hyperquake is now offering far-ranging Sustainability-focused development services to optimize its clients' present and future business operations.
To lead this area, Hyperquake has hired Thomas Federl as its Chief Sustainability Officer. Over the past several years, Federl engaged Hyperquake to help conceive and develop his foundational efforts for both Calavo Growers and Castellini Group. The success of those campaigns, which primarily focused on mission-essential activities including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, set the course for today's groundbreaking launch.
"In my roles as head of communications and marketing for several global companies, Hyperquake was one of many agencies I contracted to help orchestrate and maximize all the extremely complex business matters related to sustainability," Federl began. "Simply put, in every engagement, Hyperquake over-delivered on expectations.
"Given Hyperquake's sustained growth and its ever-expanding expertise and success building ambitious brands and experiences this new offering is our next logical chapter," Federl continued. "We are taking the term 'sustainability' quite literally, as in, 'How healthy is the business in all aspects of its operations to provide the best conditions for longevity?' In that context, defining a company's take on sustainability is a mission-critical first step in achieving profitability, and in building long-term success. We are ready to help our clients improve their business metrics, increase their relevance, and where it makes sense, secure vital new roles in a world that is changing faster than ever."
As confirmed by Hyperquake's CEO Colin Crotty, under Federl's vision and direction, the firm has forged a proprietary approach to helping companies holistically develop their "sustainability" strategy. By his account, even before taking on matters related to ESG, it focuses squarely on bottom lines .
"In partnership with our sibling management consultancy Several Thousand Alliance (STA), Hyperquake is uniquely positioned in its ability to support companies and brands in building bespoke sustainability strategies that address foundational business imperatives as well as ESG and climate impact," he said.
With its full slate of graduated service offerings that systematically move from assessments into strategy development and on into guided action, Hyperquake's expertise simplifies the process of intelligently addressing the complexities of this realm.
"Starting now," Crotty continued, "Thomas and our Sustainability team members are here to help future-proof our clients' businesses. Identifying and providing solutions to any and all people, product and process challenges, our goal is to get our clients' businesses running on all cylinders, so that together, we can make the world a better place."
To learn more about Hyperquake's Sustainability Practice, please visit https://www.hyperquake.com.
About Hyperquake
Hyperquake is an independent creative strategy, branding and experience design marketing agency founded in 1986. With locations in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City and Brooklyn, Hyperquake builds ambitious brands and experiences for those eager to activate a vision. Hyperquake specializes in strategic innovation, branded experiences and scaling organizations for growth, working with companies ranging from small startups to global enterprise. For more information, visit https://www.hyperquake.com.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Image to accompany this story here: https://darnellworks.com/hq/sustain.htm
Contact: Roger Darnell
DWA for Hyperquake
(+)1.828.773.4410
[email protected]
SOURCE Hyperquake
VALLETTA, Malta, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Malta, a sunny country with a Mediterranean climate, has become an attractive destination for foreign investors. Non-EU investors can obtain Malta citizenship or residency, which can be temporary or permanent. Each option involves a real estate investment, either through renting or purchasing property.
Benefits of Malta residency and citizenship
Maltese residents enjoy the following benefits:
living in Malta with families spouses, children, and parents;
with families spouses, children, and parents; visa-free travel to the Schengen countries;
opportunity to work and run business in Malta ;
; safe haven residents can come to Malta even when the borders are closed.
Citizens of Malta in addition get visa-free access to 169 countries, including the USA, the UK, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. They can reside, work, study and receive medical care in any EU country.
Requirements for applicants
Malta temporary residency is issued for 1 year with the possibility of extension. It is suitable for those who want to optimise taxes and are ready to either move to Malta or spend no more than 183 days in any other country.
The expenses are:
34,150+ if renting real estate;
if renting real estate; 270,200+ if purchasing.
Temporary residents benefit from a special tax regime. It offers no inheritance tax, a 15% tax on income earned abroad and remitted to Malta, and 0% tax on global income not transferred to Malta.
Malta permanent residency is granted for life. That's an appropriate option for individuals and families looking for obtaining termless residency in the EU without relocation.
The expenses are:
150,000+ if renting real estate;
if renting real estate; 370,000+ if purchasing.
The main applicant also must have 500,000 in available assets, including at least 150,000 of liquid financial assets, such as deposits, stocks or bonds.
Malta citizenship is a suitable choice for those seeking the full rights of EU citizens. To obtain this status, investors must make a contribution to the National Development and Social Fund. First, an investor receives a residence permit for 1 or 3 years, depending on the amount of their contribution 600,000 or 750,000. Afterward, they become eligible for citizenship.
The expenses are:
690,000+ if renting property;
if renting property; 1,310,000+ if purchasing.
Immigrant Invest holds the licence to represent the interests of investors wishing to apply for Maltese citizenship or residency. Its experts help choose the appropriate option and accompany investors throughout the entire process of obtaining the status.
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2333149/Immigrant_Invest_Logo.jpg
Contact:
Igor Buglo
8/2, Portomaso Business Tower, 1 Church Street
St Julian's, STJ 4011
Malta
+356 2033 0178
SOURCE Immigrant Invest
Key Infusion Pump Market Trends and Highlights
A surge in chronic diseases and an aging population are significant drivers of the infusion pumps market. These pumps are crucial in delivering precise and continuous medication, making them indispensable in managing chronic conditions.
With the increasing volume of surgical procedures performed worldwide, infusion pumps have become essential for controlled drug administration during surgeries. Their accuracy and safety features contribute to their market growth.
Rapid technological advancements in healthcare have led to increased health awareness, thus driving the adoption of infusion pumps. The development of technologically advanced pumps in various sizes and shapes continues to fuel market expansion.
The adoption of specialty infusion systems is rising. These systems cater to specific medical needs and offer customized solutions. The trend provides high-growth opportunities for market players.
NEWARK, Del., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Infusion Pump Market is expected to be valued at USD 104.7 million in 2024. The market is projected to progress at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2024 to 2034. By 2034, the market value is forecasted to hit USD 209.8 million. Surging Demand for Infusion Pumps is Attributed to their Ability to Cater to a Diverse Range of Medical Needs with Utmost Precision and Efficiency.
The aging population is expected to drive the demand for infusion pumps over the forecast period. As people age, they are more likely to require medical treatment, which can include the use of infusion pumps. In addition, the elderly population is more likely to suffer from chronic diseases, further driving the demand for these devices.
Advancements in technology are fueling the growth in the infusion pump market. Manufacturers are developing pumps that are more accurate, easier to use, and more reliable than ever before. Innovations such as smart pumps are making infusion pumps more accessible to healthcare providers and patients alike, further driving the demand for these devices.
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However, there are also some challenges that could impact the growth of the market. One of the key challenges is the high cost of these devices. Infusion pumps can be expensive, and this can limit their adoption in certain markets. In addition, there have been concerns about the safety of these devices, with reports of adverse events such as medication errors and device malfunctions.
Despite these challenges, the infusion pump market is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. With an aging population and increasing incidence of chronic diseases, the demand for these devices is likely to remain strong. Manufacturers will need to continue to invest in research and development to improve the safety and reliability of their products, while also working to bring down costs to make these devices more accessible to patients and healthcare providers.
Infusion Pump Market Restraining Factors
The infusion pump market faces challenges due to many product recalls, primarily related to design deficiencies. Issues such as alarm errors, software problems, and human factor errors have contributed to these recalls. Manufacturers are compelled to replace faulty devices, impacting the sustainability of the market.
A shortage of skilled professionals and standardized usage guidelines hinders the growth of the market. Insufficient training and adherence to guidelines can lead to errors in pump operation, increasing the risk of emergencies, which subsequently hampers market development.
"The market for infusion pumps is highly competitive, with several major players operating in the space. These manufacturers are investing heavily in research and development to improve their products, and are also expanding their distribution networks to reach new customers," says Sabyasachi Ghosh (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.).
Key Takeaways from the Infusion Pump Market
The infusion pump market is estimated to register a CAGR of 7.2% and reach a valuation of USD 209.8 million by 2034.
and reach a valuation of by 2034. The small-volume infusion pumps are anticipated to dominate the global market, accounting for a 45.32% market share in 2024.
market share in 2024. Stationary pumps account for a 65.96% market share, dominating the market by modality.
Diabetes, a Leading Application Driving the Infusion Pump Market
Diabetes is emerging as a dominant force, projected to hold a substantial share of 25% in 2023. The prominence indicates the crucial role infusion pumps play in managing diabetes and highlights the significance of this market segment in addressing the needs of a growing patient population.
The infusion pump market is witnessing notable advancements in diabetes care. Manufacturers are continuously innovating to create user-friendly and technologically advanced infusion systems that address the specific needs of diabetes patients.
The innovations include the integration of detailed drug libraries into pumps, multi-directional interoperability, and robust measures to ensure the safety of patient and device data, which align with the broader trend of electronic health record management.
Competitive Landscape from the Infusion Pump Market
The infusion pump market is highly competitive with a diverse range of players, including major healthcare companies, medical device manufacturers, and start-ups. To meet the growing demand for infusion pumps across the healthcare sector, companies are continuously innovating and introducing new products. Furthermore, smaller players and start-ups are committed to developing more affordable and user-friendly infusion pumps, which may potentially disrupt the market during the forecast period.
Recent Developments in the Infusion Pump Market
In 2023, Terumo Corporation revealed its plans to build a new manufacturing plant for its medical care solutions division. The facility will be located at the Kofu Factory premises situated in Yamanashi, Japan .
. In 2023, Virginia Oncology Associates (VOA) procured the Ivenix Infusion System to deliver medications to its patients. This purchase was made under an agreement signed with Fresenius Kabi.
In 2023, Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies collaborated with BioCentriq to showcase how automated cell and gene therapy platforms from Terumo can expedite the development of CAR-T cells.
Key Market Players
Terumo Corporation
Medtronic Plc
Smiths Medical
MOOG Inc.
B. Braun Melsungen AG
Fresenius Kabi AG
Terumo Corporation
CareFusion Corporation
ICU Medical, Inc.
Baxter International Inc.
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Infusion Pump Market Segmentation
By Product Type:
Syringe Pumps
Small Volume Pump
Ambulatory Pumps
Volumetric Pumps
Peristaltic
Cassette/Piston
Implantable Pumps
Insulin Pumps
Enteral Pumps
PCA Pumps
Pump Accessories
By Modality:
Stationary Pumps
Infusion Pumps
By Application:
Chemotherapy/Oncology
Pediatrics/Neonatology
Analgesia
Gastroenterology
Hematology
Diabetes
By End User:
Hospitals
Ambulatory Surgical Centers
Home Care
Clinics
Others
By Region:
North America
Latin America
East Asia
South Asia
Europe
Oceania
MEA
Author by
Sabyasachi Ghosh (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) holds over 12 years of experience in the Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceutical industries. His curious and analytical nature helped him shape his career as a researcher.
Identifying key challenges faced by clients and devising robust, hypothesis-based solutions to empower them with strategic decision-making capabilities come naturally to him. His primary expertise lies in areas such as Market Entry and Expansion Strategy, Feasibility Studies, Competitive Intelligence, and Strategic Transformation.
Holding a degree in Microbiology, Sabyasachi has authored numerous publications and has been cited in journals, including The Journal of mHealth, ITN Online, and Spinal Surgery News.
Have a Look at the Related Report from the Infusion Pump Market:
The global implantable infusion pump market is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 485.1 Million in 2022.
The intraosseous infusion devices market size is projected to be valued at US$ 4.4 billion in 2023 and is expected to rise to US$ 8.6 billion by 2033.
The healthcare IT outsourcing market trend is projected to record a robust CAGR of 7.2% between 2023 and 2033, totaling around US$ 105.753 billion by the end of 2033.
The global MRI-compatible IV infusion pump systems market is expected to enjoy a valuation of US$ 234.8 Million by the end of 2022.
The global next generation infusion pump market holds a forecasted share of US$ 5059.7 million in 2022 and is likely to surpass US$ 8509 million by 2032.
The medical device technology market is experiencing steady growth, with a projected market size of USD 549.2 billion in 2024.
The global multi-therapy infusion pumps market size is projected to reach US$ 370.4 million in 2023.
The pressure infusion cuffs market size is estimated to ascend at a valuation of approximately USD 350.8 million by 2024.
The growing demand for vascular access systems will elevate the size of the industry from USD 5.4 billion to USD 10.1 billion from 2024 to 2034.
The advanced infusion system market is projected to be valued at US$ 8,862.8 million in 2023 and is expected to rise to US$ 16,536.9 million by 2033.
About Future Market Insights (FMI)
Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 400 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries.
Contact Us:
Future Market Insights Inc.
Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,
Suite 401, Newark, Delaware 19713, USA
T: +1-845-579-5705
For Sales Enquiries: [email protected]
Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com
LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs | YouTube
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SOURCE Future Market Insights
Company Plans For National Expansion With New Locations Across North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Linden Creek , Raleigh-based interior design and home staging firm set the stage for its national expansion with the launch of its franchise program and opening of its first two franchise locations in Charlotte and Cary, North Carolina.
Alisa Sparks, Founder and CEO of Linden Creek
"We are incredibly excited to launch our franchise program and partner with entrepreneurs and industry professionals who share our passion for design," said Alisa Sparks, founder and CEO of Linden Creek. "We want to bring Linden Creek design services across the US and this expansion into Charlotte and the Cary/Apex area is a significant step towards that vision."
Founded in 2017 by Alisa Sparks, the Linden Creek franchise program ensures that each franchise location provides superior design quality and exceptional client services, while receiving extensive resources that will foster business growth and success, including:
Operational tools, including administrative, financial, and project management software.
Business training and support from a dedicated business consultant.
Design training and support, including access to Linden Creek in-house interior designers.
Exclusive and competitive pricing for inventory and project designs through Linden Creek design partners and e-commerce store, The Shoppe .
. Scalability solutions that allow franchise partners to expand their business at their own pace and terms.
Marketing resources and access to industry organizations.
"There is a growing trend of people wanting to own a scalable business, whether launching a new venture or turning a side gig into a real business. Every day I have home stagers and interior designers express to me their desire to be business-centric vs. just design-centric, and that's what I want to help people do," added Sparks.
In addition to its Raleigh office, Linden Creek has opened two new franchise locations, bringing its design services to homeowners and real estate professionals across North Carolina, with its new offices including:
Linden Creek Charlotte , Linden Creek's first franchise location in Charlotte, North Carolina , led by franchise partner, Mary Grace Hartman .
Linden Creek's first franchise location in , led by franchise partner, . Linden Creek Cary , the newest franchise location in Cary, North Carolina , serving the Cary and Apex area, led by franchise partner, Jessilyn James .
Linden Creek aims to establish a nationwide presence over the next five years, expanding across the Southeast in cities, such as Charleston, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, and Atlanta, while continuing to grow throughout North and South Carolina.
The total investment to open a Linden Creek franchise is $199,000 - $299,000, which includes a $50,000 franchise fee. For more information, view the franchise brochure or visit: https://linden-creek.com/franchise.
ABOUT LINDEN CREEK
Founded in 2017 by Alisa Sparks, Linden Creek is a luxury interior design and home staging firm headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2024 the company launched its franchise program, expanding its network of interior design firms, allowing them to serve prominent communities throughout the Southeast with innovative staging techniques and highly personalized design services. For more information please visit https://linden-creek.com .
Media Contact
Jaclyn Anderson
[email protected]
SOURCE Linden Creek
The Last Keeper - a film in the acclaimed Killing the Shepherd series by Tom Opre - available now for streaming through August 30 after a sold out film tour in the U.K.
WHITEFISH, Mont., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Shepherds of Wildlife Society is proud to announce the release of its latest documentary, The Last Keeper. This film is the second in the acclaimed Killing the Shepherd series by award-winning director Tom Opre. It delves into the heart of the Scottish Highlands, exploring contemporary wildlife management issues and the struggle of rural communities.
The film started its international premiere in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 24, 2024, kicking off a 12-stop tour across the U.K. welcoming more than 1,000 people to sold-out theaters.
"The reception in the U.K. has been incredible," commented Tom Opre, founder of the Shepherds of Wildlife Society. "We recognize this story's impact on the local political scene and appreciate the opportunity to highlight this story and inspire discussions across the countryside."
The Last Keeper illuminates the plight of gamekeepers, ghillies, and stalkers who see their traditional role as stewards of the land threatened. The film follows their fight to ensure healthy ecosystems while preserving their cultural heritage and right to a livelihood.
In June, Opre joined the Scottish Parliament for a preview of the film and to discuss the issues of the rural Scottish communities on which the film focuses. "We aim to highlight the rights of these rural communities in connecting with the local natural resources, and to screen the film with this prestigious audience was quite an honor," commented Opre.
Selected for Multiple Film Festivals
The Last Keeper is having an impact on the film festival scene as well as it has been selected and awarded by numerous international film festivals, including the following:
Wildlife Vaasa Festival-International Nature Film Festival ( Finland ); Finalist
( ); Finalist Freedom International Film Festival ( USA ); Semi-Finalist
( ); Semi-Finalist Dubai Film Festival (UAE); Semi-Finalist
(UAE); Semi-Finalist Nature Without Borders International Film Festival ( USA ); Outstanding Excellence - Environmental
( ); Outstanding Excellence - Environmental EuropeNow Film Festival (UK); Semi-Finalist
(UK); Semi-Finalist Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival ( Canada ); Official Selection
( ); Official Selection Depth of Field International Film Festival ( USA ); Outstanding Excellence for cinematography, original score, SFX: Visual
( ); Outstanding Excellence for cinematography, original score, SFX: Visual Indie Vegas Film Festival Feature Film ( USA ); Award Winner - Best Editing
( ); Award Winner - Best Editing WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival ( USA ); Golden Remi Award: Documentary Feature
( ); Award: Documentary Feature Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival ( USA ); Official Selection
( ); Official Selection Nyack International Film Festival ( USA ); Official Selection
( ); Official Selection Paris World Cinema Festival ( France ); Best Feature Documentary Award Winner
( ); Best Feature Documentary Award Winner The Impact DOCS Awards ( USA ); Award Winner of Merit and Special Mention
( ); Award Winner of Merit and Special Mention Cannes World Film Festival ( France ); Award Winner - Best Educational Film
( ); Award Winner - Best Educational Film Terres Travel Film Festival ( Spain ); Official Selection
( ); Official Selection Ferrara Film Festival ( Italy ); Official Selection
With the warm reception from film festivals and in the U.K., Shepherds of Wildlife Society is now hosting a digital cinema event in the United States. Tickets are now available for the digital cinema event. The digital film event will continue through August 30, 2024. Purchase your ticket today to explore the brutal truth of the land conflict in Scotland.
To learn more about The Last Keeper and the Shepherds of Wildlife Society, visit https://www.shepherdsofwildlife.org/the-last-keeper .
About Shepherds of Wildlife Society
The Shepherds of Wildlife Society is a 501(c)3 educational organization with a mission to reconnect modern society with nature through storytelling. We use media and educational materials designed to reconnect society with nature and to bring to life abstract concepts pertaining to wildlife and wildlife habitats for generations to come.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Tom Opre, Founder of The Shepherds of Wildlife Society (501.c.3)
Executive Producer - Firesteel Films, Inc.
[email protected]
SOURCE Shepherds of Wildlife Society
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- It's Boba Time, the beloved LA-based boba brand, is thrilled to announce the opening of three new stores in California. Known for its delicious variety of boba drinks and tasty treats, It's Boba Time is bringing its unique flavors to even more locations set to open in August. Get ready for fun, flavor, and fantastic freebies at our upcoming store openings!
New Store Locations:
Saugus (Seco Canyon Village): 22872 Copper Hill Drive, Santa Clarita, CA 91350 - Soft opened July 30, 2024
22872 Copper Hill Drive, 91350 - Soft opened Selma : 2874 McCall Avenue, Selma, CA 93662 - Soft opening August 2, 2024
2874 McCall Avenue, 93662 - Soft opening El Monte : 10458 Garvey Avenue, El Monte, CA 91733 - August soft opening
To celebrate the new locations, It's Boba Time is giving away 100 free drinks and 100 free sticker packs to the first 100 customers at each soft opening! Don't miss out on these fantastic offers and be part of the boba buzz!
"We are thrilled to bring It's Boba Time to more communities across California. Each new location represents our commitment to sharing the joy of boba and creating spaces where people can come together and enjoy our delicious offerings. We can't wait to welcome our new customers and continue growing our boba family," said Eunice Pak, President of Boba Time, Inc., franchisor of It's Boba Time brand.
Join It's Boba Time as they expand their boba family and bring more joy to your neighborhoods. Stay tuned for the exact opening date for El Monte by following them on Instagram at @itsbobatime.
Sip your way to happiness and treat yourself with It's Boba Time!
About It's Boba Time
Founded in 2003 with a passion for boba, It's Boba Time has expanded from 40 drinks to over 140 options, including smoothies, slushes, milk teas, and fresh juices, all made-to-order with fresh fruits and customizable toppings. It's Boba Time creates a welcoming environment where everyone can find their favorite drink, making them a beloved destination for boba enthusiasts across Los Angeles and beyond. Their commitment to quality and innovation ensures every visit is a delightful experience. For more information, please visit itsbobatime.com or follow us on Instagram at @itsbobatime.
SOURCE It's Boba Time
BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jobley , a hiring platform for US healthcare professionals operated by Medley (TSE: 4480), a Japan-based health technology group, begins a phased rollout to expand its service across the entire United States.
Jobley: a hiring platform for US healthcare professionals
Since launching in February 2023, Jobley has offered hiring services to healthcare providers and professionals, with an initial focus on the dental sector in Washington, Oregon, and California. Beginning with this region, Jobley has established a solid business foundation and gained promising prospects for geographic expansion. With strong momentum and growing interest from facilities and professionals in other states, Jobley has decided to expand its area coverage. Starting August 1, Jobley will provide service in 39 states* and the District of Columbia. In the months to come, Jobley will progressively expand access to all U.S. states. Throughout the process, Jobley will continue to reinforce its provider network and talent pool, gradually enhancing service as its coverage expands.
*Jobley plans to cover the following 11 states in soon-to-come roll-out phases:
Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The American healthcare industry faces significant challenges when it comes to recruiting and retaining experienced healthcare workers. This workforce shortage, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is further complicated by both an aging population and an aging healthcare workforce. The consequences are quicker burnout, heavier workloads, and compromised quality of care. The issue plagues not only large hospital systems, but also smaller private practices, direct-care providers, and dental offices. The entire healthcare industry's future relies on developing a strong talent pipeline.
Aiming to close this talent gap, Jobley provides an online career marketplace to efficiently and effectively connect healthcare employers with healthcare professionals, beginning with dental workers.
Jobley's Feature:
Jobley's dedicated professional team sources high-quality candidates for smaller providers, often without a dedicated HR team. Throughout the hiring process, Jobley alleviates administrative burdens with comprehensive human support.
Employers can post as many job listings as they want for any duration, free of charge. Only after a candidate has been successfully hired will employers be chargedand even these fees are lower than traditional hiring costs. In addition, to combat the risk of unexpected turnover, Jobley will refund between 50-90% of the fees for positions that become vacant within one month of hiring.
Advocating for permanent, long-term employment, Jobley also promotes employee loyalty through the Jobley Bonus. Candidates hired through Jobley are eligible for the Jobley Bonus after they have worked with their new employer for two months.
"Our goal is to create a widely-used service that addresses the long-term demand for job matching in the healthcare sector," said Sunny Tsang, Head of Product at Jobley. "Committed to continuously developing our platform, we will carefully consider user feedback and prioritize usability and overall user experience in our product offerings."
Kohei Takiguchi, Founder and CEO of Medley, who also leads Jobley, elaborated,"By providing high-quality, user-friendly service at affordable prices, we aim to become an essential resource to the US healthcare industry. Starting with the dental sector, we aim to expand Jobley to include all healthcare professions and to serve healthcare providers of all sizes, addressing the persistent need for talent in the healthcare industry."
Providers and job seekers are welcome to visit Jobley's website to register or learn more from our support team. Once registered, providers can post their job listings free of charge and will only be billed for successful hires.
"Jobley was a game changer for us. We never thought we'd find a good candidate this quickly, and easily," said Dr. Nakada at Bellevue Premier Dental. "It was risk-free, as we didn't pay any upfront fees. Jobley provided basic screening for us, and engaged with the candidate to save us precious time. I'd definitely recommend Jobley to other healthcare facilities."
As part of Medley, which aspires to create the future of healthcare through its SaaS solutions, Jobley continues to empower healthcare providers and professionals across the U.S. through its hiring solutions.
To learn more or start your hiring or job search process with us, visit Jobley's website.
About Jobley
Jobley is a new hiring system for US healthcare professionals, launched by Medley in February 2023 to address issues in the US healthcare industry. Medley (MEDLEY, INC. | Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4480), which initially started as a healthcare-focused recruitment service, now provides one of Japan's largest healthcare recruitment platforms as well as various SaaS solutions for the healthcare industry.
Since 2009, Medley has been committed to creating the future of healthcare through its products and services. Medley collaborates with engineers, physicians, and other healthcare professionals to develop and provide various SaaS solutions. The company focuses on building platforms that benefit patients, healthcare workers, healthcare providers, and society as a whole.
For more details, please visit Jobley's website .
SOURCE Medley US, Inc.
BOSTON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Investment Management, has announced the addition of two new independent trustees to the Board of Trustees of the John Hancock Group of Funds effective immediately. The new trustees, William K. Bacic and Thomas R. Wright, bring deep knowledge of financial services, with expertise in accounting and audit, and capital markets and trading, respectively.
William K. Bacic (CNW Group/John Hancock Investment Management) Thomas R. Wright (CNW Group/John Hancock Investment Management)
A retired Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Bacic served as New England Managing Partner of a major independent registered public accounting firm, as well as a member of its U.S. Executive Committee, and has deep financial and accounting expertise. He also served as the lead partner on the firm's largest financial services companies, primarily focused on the investment management industry and mutual funds. In addition, Mr. Bacic brings expertise on corporate governance and regulatory matters. He has also previously served as a board member and audit committee chair of a large global asset management company.
A retired Chief Operating Officer of a significant capital markets firm and a former Director of Equities and Executive Committee Member, Mr. Wright has deep executive, investment banking, portfolio management, securities brokerage, and equity research expertise. He has also served as the Global Head of Trading and Head of European Equity Trading and Sales Trading at an investment bank and asset manager and has substantial securities industry and international trading and markets expertise.
"We're excited to appoint William and Thomas as new trustees as we feel their backgrounds and experience will bring additional insights and perspectives to navigate the complexities of the current financial landscape," said Dr. Hassell McClellan, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the John Hancock Group of Funds. "I am confident that their contributions will further strengthen and guide the strategic direction of our funds and help to deliver long-term value to our shareholders."
About John Hancock Investment Management
A company of Manulife Investment Management, we serve investors through a unique multimanager approach, complementing our extensive in-house capabilities with an unrivaled network of specialized asset managers, backed by some of the most rigorous investment oversight in the industry. The result is a diverse lineup of time-tested investments from a premier asset manager with a heritage of financial stewardship.
About Manulife Investment Management
Manulife Investment Management is the brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. Our mission is to make decisions easier and lives better by empowering investors for a better tomorrow. Serving more than 17 million individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members, we believe our global reach, complementary businesses, and the strength of our parent company position us to help investors capitalize on today's emerging global trends. We provide our clients access to public and private investment solutions across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, alternative, and sustainability-linked strategies, such as natural capital, to help them make more informed financial decisions and achieve their investment objectives. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.
John Hancock Investment Management Distributors LLC Member FINRA, SIPC
200 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 800-225-6020 jhinvestments.com
SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management
LOS ANGELES and PLANO, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Truelink Capital today announced that it has closed the transaction to acquire Air Distribution Technologies, a market leader in the air management and filtration solutions space, from Johnson Controls. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Air Distribution Technologies, with its robust market presence, will now operate as an independent company. Doug Schuster, the current leader of the division, will continue to lead the company.
"This strategic move is a monumental step for our company," said Doug Schuster. "Operating independently under Truelink's ownership empowers us to innovate and excel in the air distribution, filtration and movement markets. We are deeply thankful for the support from Johnson Controls during the transition period, and we are enthusiastic about the journey ahead."
With over 4,500 employees across more than 25 global locations, Air Distribution Technologies is a key player in the HVAC ecosystem, boasting well-known brands such as Koch Filter, Titus, Ruskin, Krueger, PennBarry, and Tuttle & Bailey. The company was acquired by Johnson Controls in 2014.
"Truelink is committed to bolstering Air Distribution Technologies' position as an industry leader and continuing its heritage of success," said Todd Golditch, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Truelink. "We are excited to partner with Doug and his leadership team to make strategic investments that will drive growth and innovation. We strongly believe in the business, its employees and partners and are thrilled to collaborate to help the business reach its potential."
This transaction marks the fifth acquisition for Truelink Capital, launched in 2022 by Todd Golditch and Luke Myers.
Jefferies LLC and William Blair & Company served as financial advisors to Truelink for the transaction.
ABOUT TRUELINK CAPITAL
Truelink Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Los Angeles. Truelink pairs deep industry experience in the industrials and technology-enabled services sectors with a commitment to building partnerships that drive long-term value through an operationally focused strategy. Truelink partners with management, corporate sellers, and founders to accelerate growth through the execution of strategic initiatives and transformative add-on acquisitions.
ABOUT AIR DISTRIBUTION TECHNOLOGIES
Air Distribution Technologies is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of a comprehensive suite of top performing products supporting the HVAC ecosystem. Its portfolio contains many well-recognized brands in the space serving a diversified customer base. The company was acquired by Johnson Controls in 2014.
Media Contacts:
Truelink Capital
Peter Schultz
[email protected]
SOURCE Truelink Capital
Data-driven Generative AI reaches EdTech, seeks to accelerate applications and reform higher education
PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kollegio, the AI-driven platform for college applications, today announced its official launch to help students receive expert guidance for the college application process. Kollegio seeks to reinvent the college access infrastructure, creating more equitable opportunities while simultaneously dismantling the existing barriers that block out a majority of students from reaching top schools. Kollegio's advanced AI tools provide personalized guidance and expert advice to empower students to craft their best possible applications. Capabilities range from helping students prioritize colleges based on student career goals, GPA, and extracurricular activities, all the way to reviewing and suggesting edits to specific admission essays. The full launch comes on the heels of Kollegio's recently announced $750k pre-seed funding in June.
66% of students utilizing Kollegio's early access come from households that earn $100,000 or less in annual household income. The top 3 universities that these students are seeking to apply to include Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. A 2023 study conducted by economists based at Harvard found that students from the top 1% were 34% more likely to be accepted to an Ivy League school compared to their peers with the same or similar SAT or ACT scores. One advantage that students from more affluent backgrounds benefit from are highly personal recommendations provided by guidance counselors on their behalf. The average ratio for a public school counselor is 1:400 in California.
Kollegio works alongside students during the college discovery and application process. Personalized profiles help determine target schools based on professional goals and grades. Students have the option to freely write admission essays and receive AI-provided feedback or can brainstorm using common application prompts. Students can work on admission essays anytime and receive support to best fit their unique schedule and work style. Data on important deadlines, application fees, financial aid, and more is also available from 1,600 schools to help keep students informed.
"Kollegio was built with the guiding principle that all students, no matter their background or circumstance, should have the same shot at getting into their dream schools," says Kollegio CEO and Co-Founder Senan Khawaja.
Saeed Naeem, the CTO and Co-founder echoed the same sentiment "No student with dreams of pursuing higher education should be limited because their families cannot afford the leg up that the wealthy minority can."
To learn more about Kollegio, please visit www.kollegio.ai
About Kollegio
Kollegio leverages AI and data-driven solutions to make college counseling accessible and affordable to all students, so they may pursue their academic dreams. Led by a team of AI experts and college advisors, they have created a comprehensive platform that guides students through every step of the university application journey. Kollegio helps match students to the best schools based on personalized data and provides feedback on admission essays to help craft standout applications. Kollegio was designed to benefit not just students but also schools and colleges. Get started today by visiting: https://www.kollegio.ai/
Press Contact
Rick Medeiros
[email protected]
(510) 556-8517
SOURCE Kollegio
SOUTH FRESNO, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Latino Restaurant Association (LRA) is excited to announce a new grant opportunity, sponsored by SoCalGas, to support local restaurant owners. This initiative will provide financial assistance to 35 restaurants in South Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties, focusing on restaurant owners of Latino heritage and those who have made significant contributions to the Latino community.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with SoCalGas to support our local restaurants, especially those owned by members of the Latino community," said Lilly Rocha, CEO of the Latino Restaurant Association. "This grant program is designed to help these businesses thrive and continue contributing to our vibrant local economy. "By providing these grants to restaurants in South Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties, we aim to support the essential needs of these establishments. We believe in the power of our local restaurants and their significant contributions to the Latino community."
To qualify for the grant, restaurant owners must meet the following criteria:
Own up to three (3) restaurant locations
Generate less than $1 million in annual revenue per location
in annual revenue per location Have been in business for more than three (3) years
Must be a current SoCalGas business customer
Be a member of the Latino Restaurant Association (Free two-year memberships are available to restaurants in South Fresno , Kings , and Visalia Counties. Sign up by August 23, 2024 , using code VKF2024 to bypass the payment on the LRA Member Sign Up Page (HERE)
Grant applications open on Monday, July 30, 2024, and close on August 23, 2024. Restaurant owners can apply through the Latino Restaurant Association using the following link: LRA Grant Applications. Participants will be notified of their application status by September 2, 2024, and grant recipients will be officially announced on September 9, 2024.
"At SoCalGas we value diverse, local restaurants and recognize the contributions they make to our communities. We are glad to support the LRA in providing grants for small restaurants. These grants will provide some relief and can be used toward the purchase of interior equipment, technology upgrades, employee benefits or other changes that will support their small business," said Andy Carrasco, vice president of communications, local government and community affairs at SoCalGas and member of the Latino Restaurant Association Board of Directors.
For more information on the grant program or to apply, please visit the Latino Restaurant Association's website at https://latinorestaurantassociation.org/.
About the Latino Restaurant Association:
The Latino Restaurant Association (LRA) is dedicated to supporting Latino restaurant owners and promoting Latino cuisine'. The LRA provides resources, advocacy, and networking opportunities to help Latino-owned restaurants succeed and grow.
About SoCalGas:
SoCalGas is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States serving approximately 21 million consumers across approximately 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. SoCalGas' mission is to build the cleanest, safest, most innovative energy infrastructure company in America. SoCalGas aims to deliver affordable, reliable, and increasingly renewable gas service through its pipelines to help advance California's clean energy transition by supporting energy system reliability and resiliency and enabling the integration of renewable resources. SoCalGas is a recognized leader in its industry and community, as demonstrated by being named one of Reuters' Top 100 Innovators Leading the Global Energy Transition and Corporate Member of the Year by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE ), a leading North American energy infrastructure company. For more information, visit SoCalGas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on social media @SoCalGas .
Contact:
Robert Alaniz
Milagro Media Strategies
(626) 437-3354
[email protected]
SOURCE Latino Restaurant Association
PLANO, Texas, July 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 17 years ago, LivePURE's founder, Mr. Dae Geun Jung, embarked on a journey in the MLM or Network Marketing distribution channel. With firsthand experience as a successful independent distributor, Mr. Jung recognized that many companies' decisions were adversely impacting the lives and families of their distributors. Determined to make a difference, he established LivePUREa company dedicated to honoring its commitments to distributors and fostering success. In Mr. Jung's words, "Our vision is to lead the global wellness industry alongside our brand partners. Whether you're embracing a healthier lifestyle, starting a flexible business, or both, we're here to support your journey to success and holistic health."
Founder and chairman of LivePURE, Mr. Dae Geun Jung LivePURE superfruit juice products. From left to right: Goji, Acai, GoYin, Mangosteen, Noni, Fusion.
Today, LivePURE remains steadfast in its commitment. While other companies have opted to cease MLM marketing, LivePURE reaffirms its dedication to Mr. Jung's original vision and the MLM distribution channel.
Rick Redford, President of LivePURE, expresses, "We embrace the MLM channel wholeheartedly. It embodies the American Dream, offering opportunity regardless of background. Discontinuing MLM operations impacts millions of families globally, which we find deeply troubling. LivePURE is committed to the long-term prosperity of this vital industry."
In response to evolving consumer trends over the past decade, such as the rise of Affiliates and Influencers, LivePURE pioneered the Customer Retention Bonus (CRB) in 2019. This innovation has become a cornerstone of the LivePURE compensation plan, enabling Brand Partners to earn up to 50% on customer purchases without structural requirements. This approach not only promotes customer acquisition but also rewards it on par withor even more thanteam building efforts, attracting numerous Affiliates and Influencers to LivePURE.
Looking ahead, LivePURE remains optimistic about the future of MLM, anticipating significant growth by nurturing a community where customers, Brand Partners, and Influencers can thrive for generations to come.
SOURCE LivePURE
DUBLIN, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc ("Mallinckrodt" or the "Company"), a global specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that it will report second quarter 2024 earnings results for the period ended June 28, 2024, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.
A conference call for investors will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET. The call can be accessed as follows:
Live Call Participant Registration (including dial-in): https://register.vevent.com/register/BI91ab9f1056f04a59a2b623b63c39d8e7
Audio Only Webcast Link (live and replay): https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/7aqz6pyp
At the Mallinckrodt website: https://ir.mallinckrodt.com/
ABOUT MALLINCKRODT
Mallinckrodt is a global business consisting of multiple wholly owned subsidiaries that develop, manufacture, market and distribute specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. The Company's Specialty Brands reportable segment's areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, hepatology, nephrology, pulmonology, ophthalmology and oncology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics; and gastrointestinal products. Its Specialty Generics reportable segment includes specialty generic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com .
Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website.
CONTACTS
Investor Relations
Derek Belz
Vice President, Investor Relations
314-654-3950
[email protected]
Media
Michael Freitag / Aaron Palash / Aura Reinhard / Catherine Simon
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
Mallinckrodt, the "M" brand mark and the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks of a Mallinckrodt company. 2024.
SOURCE Mallinckrodt plc
IRVINE, Calif. , Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total July sales of 39,866 vehicles, an increase of 30.2 percent compared to July 2023. Year-to-date sales totaled 242,352 vehicles sold; an increase of 13 percent compared to the same time last year. With 25 selling days in July, compared to the same the year prior, the company posted an increase of 30.2 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis.
CPO sales totaled 6,657 vehicles in July, an increase of 20 percent compared to July 2023.
July 2024 sales highlights include:
Best-ever July sales ever with 39,866 vehicles sold.
Best-ever sales of CX-50 with 8,047 vehicles sold.
Best-ever sales of CX-90 with 5,330 vehicles sold.
Best-ever July sales of CX-30 with 8,679 vehicles sold.
Mazda Canada, Inc., (MCI) reported July sales of 6,960 vehicles, an increase of 51.4 percent compared to July last year. Year-to-date sales totaled 39,965 vehicles sold; an increase of 21.6 percent compared to the same time last year.
Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported July sales of 8,375 vehicles, an increase of 33 percent compared to last year. Year-to-date sales totaled 52,769 vehicles sold; an increase of 29 percent compared to the same time last year.
About Mazda North American Operations
Proudly founded in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation, and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves. By putting humans at the center of everything it does, Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and for people. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com.
Follow @MazdaUSA on social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Threads.
Month-To-Date
Year-To-Date
July July YOY % % MTD
July July YOY % % MTD
2024 2023 Change DSR
2024 2023 Change DSR
Mazda3 3,959 2,994 32.2 % 32.2 %
21,786 18,121 20.2 % 18.9 %
Mazda 3 Sdn 2,320 1,951 18.9 % 18.9 %
12509 9,633 29.9 % 28.4 %
Mazda 3 HB 1,639 1,043 57.1 % 57.1 %
9277 8,488 9.3 % 8.1 %
Mazda6 0 0 - -
0 0 - -
MX-5 Miata 504 720 (30.0) % (30.0) %
4,508 6,233 (27.7) % (28.5) %
MX-5 290 367 (21.0) % (21.0) %
2036 3,380 (39.8) % (40.4) %
MXR 214 353 (39.4) % (39.4) %
2472 2,853 (13.4) % (14.3) %
CX-3 - 0 - -
- 0 - -
CX-30 8,679 7,221 20.2 % 20.2 %
59901 45,748 30.9 % 29.5 %
CX-5 12,430 12,443 (0.1) % (0.1) %
82644 92,464 (10.6) % (11.6) %
CX-9 - 60 - -
4 17,419 (100.0) % (100.0) %
CX-50 8,047 4,234 90.1 % 90.1 %
43244 25,700 68.3 % 66.4 %
MX-30 0 28 (100.0) % (100.0) %
- 94 - -
Cx-70 917 0 - -
1976 0 - -
CX-90 5,330 2,929 82.0 % 82.0 %
28289 8633 227.7 % 224.0 %
CARS 4,463 3,714 20.2 % 20.2 %
26,294 24,354 8.0 % 6.8 %
TRUCKS 35,403 26,915 31.5 % 31.5 %
216,058 190,058 13.7 % 12.4 %
TOTAL 39,866 30,629 30.2 % 30.2 %
242,352 214,412 13.0 % 11.8 %
*Selling Days 25 25
179 177
SOURCE Mazda North American Operations
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mikami Sushi is thrilled to announce the "Mikami Takes You to Japan!" sweepstakes, offering patrons a chance to win an unforgettable trip for two to Japan. This exciting promotion runs from August 1, 2024, to September 8, 2024.
How to Enter: Spend $80 or more in a single transaction at Mikami Revolving Sushi or Take the Bait (our sister property next door) to receive an entry form. Visit mikamisushi.com to review other entry forms, including no purchase necessary, and official rules.
Grand Prize: One lucky winner will receive two round-trip flights to Japan, valued up to $3,000. The winner will be selected in a random drawing on September 9, 2024.
"We are excited to offer our customers the opportunity to win a trip to Japan," said Monserrat Mas, General Manager at Mikami Sushi. "This sweepstakes is a way to show our appreciation for our customers while also celebrating the delicious flavors of Japan that we bring to our restaurant every day."
About Mikami Revolving Sushi: Mikami offers a unique dining experience with its "Kaiten" (Conveyor Belt) style setup. As the largest revolving sushi restaurant in San Diego, Mikami provides a wide range of sushi, creative rolls, appetizers, and drinks. The restaurant features a robot wait staff and a bullet train, creating a fun and engaging environment for both kids and adults.
Highlights include:
All-You-Can-Eat Sushi
Happy Hour Specials
Monthly Specials
Vegan Sushi Options
To make your reservation or view the menu, please visit mikamisushi.com.
About this Sweepstakes: Enter Sweepstakes between 8/1/24 at 11:30 AM PST and 9/8/24 at 8:30 PM PST. Open to legal residents of the United States, who are 18+ at time of entry. Click here to view Official Rules including details on how to enter, eligibility requirements, prize descriptions, and limitations. Sponsor: Mikami Revolving Sushi, 7319 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111.
Contact:
Priscila Damasceno
Director of Marketing
[email protected]
SOURCE Oceanic Enterprises
What is body neutrality?
Body neutrality is an approach that focuses on the inherent dignity of the person and on the human rights we all deserve regardless of what kind of body we have. It removes the pressure to have any specific feelings about the body.
New York Times best-selling author Sonya Renee Taylor describes the practice of body neutrality in her book The Body Is Not an Apology:
"Saying I'm fat is (and should be) the same as saying my shoes are black, the clouds are fluffy, and Bob Saget is tall. It's not good, it's not bad, it just is. [...] We don't need to stop using the word fat; we need to stop the hatred that our world connects with the word fat."
Body neutrality emphasizes therapeutic concepts like radical acceptance and couples it with focusing on the functionality of our body. This approach is often an important part of therapy for those with body image issues or who have an eating disorder. It recognizes that bodies are different, that each person may have a different world experience based on their appearance, and that the body serves as a vessel through which we live our best life, not that our body's appearance determines our best life. Body neutrality focuses on working towards equity and equal rights for people in marginalized bodies and for managing various mental health conditions, especially in psychiatric treatment. Body neutrality aims to strip away anxiety caused by imposed beauty standards that society has imposed.
If you feel like the body positivity community has left you behind, you're not alone.
Tips for practicing body neutrality
1. Change your vocabulary. Use descriptive words like "fat" in a non-judgmental way. This can decrease the distress these words cause when used disparagingly. Try practicing non-judgmental language at home, with your pets, trusted friends, or a therapist to get used to how it feels and sounds.
2. Focus on functionality over appearance. Emphasize what your body can do over what it looks like. This can help you feel connected to yourself, capable, and energized. The thought of exercising can cause feelings of anxiety, especially for those with body image struggles, so it can be helpful to work with a therapist and psychiatric clinician on ways to get the support you need. Body-neutral functionality focuses don't require a sole focus on exercise.
3. Practice neutral affirmations. Positive affirmations (like "I am enough") are great tools for reducing feelings of depression and anxiety and can be used in your body neutrality journey. Body neutrality is about removing all judgment. Some examples of neutral affirmations are:
a. "My arms allow me to hug the people I love."
b. "I can walk with my dog because my legs carry me."
c. "Using my voice helps me advocate for myself."
If you are having trouble thinking of more ideas, a body-neutral therapist can help.
4. Curate your feed on social media. It's no secret that social media has a big effect on depression and anxiety. Here are some accounts of activists, writers, and influencers to start your search.
Jessamyn Stanley (@mynameisjessamyn on Instagram): Author, yoga teacher, and advocate. She co-founded The Underbelly, a web-based platform for inclusive yoga classes focusing on body liberation and fat acceptance.
(@mynameisjessamyn on Instagram): Author, yoga teacher, and advocate. She co-founded The Underbelly, a web-based platform for inclusive yoga classes focusing on body liberation and fat acceptance. Sonya Renee Taylor (@sonyareneetaylor on Instagram): New York Times best-selling author of The Body Is Not an Apology (quoted above), poet, activist, and leader.
(@sonyareneetaylor on Instagram): best-selling author of The Body Is Not an Apology (quoted above), poet, activist, and leader. Imani Barbarin (@crutches_and_spice on Instagram and TikTok): Disability blogger, public speaker, writer, and model.
5. Check in with your values. When you think negatively about your body, ask yourself, "Who is profiting off this feeling I am having?" Chances are, you can point to a system of oppression that is actively trying to keep you dissatisfied and judgmental about your body. Staying close to your values about these systems of oppression, which you can work through with your therapist, can help with body neutrality.
For those with eating disorders, body neutrality can be part of recovery. It shifts the focus from appearance, weight, size, and shape to overall health, well-being, and appreciation for the body's functionality.
Neutral body image fosters a healthier relationship with ourselves, our bodies, food, and others. It heals our relationship with the summertime staple that keeps us cool, allows us to move freely in the water, and is long overdue for some neutrality of its ownthe bikini.
Visit mindpath.com to learn more about your mental health treatment options and start your path to mental wellness.
This article was written by Lauren Freymuth, LPC, a licensed professional counselor with Mindpath Health in Fort Worth, TX.
Mindpath Health is an independent provider of high-quality outpatient behavioral health services, offering in-person and online visits. We coordinate care with primary care physicians and referring health care professionals to ensure a focus on total health. Visit mindpath.com to partner with us.
We have locations in Arizona, California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. Schedule an appointment here. We offer TMS in California, North Carolina, and Florida. Learn how TMS can help here. We offer Mindpath On Demand in North Carolina for new and current patients seeking urgent psychiatry services. Schedule an appointment.
SOURCE Mindpath Health
Metro Diner celebrates the seventh annual holiday dedicated to their signature dish, giving guests two ways to win free and discounted servings of the sweet-savory treat.
TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro Diner, where comfort food classics are reimagined for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is heating up the griddle for its seventh annual serving of National Fried Chicken & Waffle Day on Thursday, Aug. 8. This year, Metro Diner is sweetening the celebration with two special offers:
Fried Chicken & Waffles at Metro Diner
In-Diner Discount: Anyone who orders Fried Chicken & Waffles in-diner on August 8 will receive $5 off the dish. Plus, guests who order the celebrated meal will get a bracelet good for 10% off future dine-in Chicken & Waffle orders in August, while supplies last!
Anyone who orders Fried Chicken & Waffles in-diner on will receive off the dish. Plus, guests who order the celebrated meal will get a bracelet good for 10% off future dine-in Chicken & Waffle orders in August, while supplies last! Fried Chicken & Waffles for A Year: Enter Metro Diner's annual social media contest for a chance to win free Fried Chicken & Waffles for a year! Festive Chicken & Waffle plushies will be awarded to a select few as a second-place prize. The contest runs Thursday, Aug. 1 , through Friday, Aug. 9 , on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, with the winner announced Monday, August 12 .
Metro Diner's version of the classic dish features half a fried chicken (or substitute chicken tenders) on a Belgian waffle, topped with powdered sugar and sweet strawberry butter, and served with their signature sweet and spicy sauce.
"One of our favorite holidays is right around the corner, and we can't wait to fill everyone's plates with the ultimate diner treat," said Stanley Goodman, Metro Diner President and Chief Operating Officer. "Fried Chicken & Waffles has been one of our best-selling dishes for many years, and we want to thank our guests for making it such a success and give them opportunities to enjoy it even more."
Metro Diner created National Fried Chicken & Waffle Day in 2018 to honor its signature dish, part of a hearty menu of classic American comfort food. To find your closest location and see the full menu for dine-in, take-out, or delivery, visit www.metrodiner.com.
About Metro Diner
Established in 1992 by the Davoli family with a single eatery in Jacksonville, Florida, Metro Diner is among the nation's fastest-growing locally owned and operated family dining concepts, with 60 locations nationwide. Metro Diner is known for its warm, welcoming service, large portion sizes and serious diner food. Metro Diner has received many accolades, including features on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Cooking Channel's Cheap Eats. To learn more about Metro Diner, find a full list of locations or place a catering order, visit www.metrodiner.com. Be sure to "Like" Metro Diner on Facebook, follow @MetroDiner on Instagram and @metrodinerofficial on TikTok.
Media Contact
Brianna Pisacane
[email protected]
SOURCE Metro Diner
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement by Emily Wilkins, president of the National Press Club on the release of Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from detention in Russia.
"Our joy at Alsu's release today is tempered by our anger that she was taken in the first place. Alsu was guilty of no crime and was held in deplorable conditions and separated from her family in a cruel and heartless manner.
"We congratulate the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Team which worked hard for Alsu's release and for all those who supported her case.
"Alsu's family: Pavel, Bibi and Miriam, were her best champions and advocates. Through broken hearts they fought for her with skill and passion. We honor them and hope they are soon reunited with Alsu -- the heart of their family.
"We are grateful to the U.S. Government for their ability to broker this historic swap. President Biden has shown strong leadership here and deserves significant credit.
"Throughout the campaign, the Press Club coordinated with the family and the Radio Free Europe Team in Washington to lend support and experience when possible. We led a coalition of journalism organizations calling on the government to declare that her detention was wrongful. We look forward to honoring Alsu with The President's Award at our annual Awards Dinner on August 28. Today we celebrate her freedom!"
Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization, the Club is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide.
Contact: Bill McCarren, [email protected] for the National Press Club
SOURCE National Press Club
The Kryder Law Group, LLC Announces Publication of Comprehensive Report on Parental Responsibility and Anti-Bullying Laws Across the United States
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers is proud to announce the publication of a detailed report that examines the varying parental responsibility statutes and anti-bullying laws across the United States. As kids look forward to returning to school in the next few weeks, this crucial document aims to inform parents, educators, and policymakers on the legal frameworks governing minors' actions and the necessary steps for ensuring a safe school environment.
In light of recent incidents highlighting the need for clear accountability and protective measures, this report provides an extensive overview of the laws in states including Iowa, Georgia, Texas, and California. It outlines the financial responsibility imposed on parents regarding their child's misconduct, as well as the specific provisions schools must adopt to combat bullying and harassment.
31 states have laws that set a parental financial liability limit for personal injury caused by their child
for personal injury caused by their child 8 of these states set the cap between $7,500 and $25,000 , with the rest setting limits at $5,000 or less
"At The Kryder Law Group, we believe it is essential for communities to be aware of the legal implications of their children's actions and the protective measures in place against bullying," said Andrew Kryder, Esq., founding partner of The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers. "Our goal is to promote awareness, encourage dialogue, and ultimately foster a safer environment in our schools."
Publication: Navigating Parental Responsibility: Bullying Laws Across the United States
About The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers
The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers is a leading personal injury law firm based in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to the rights of accident victims and their families. With a strong focus on personal injury, bullying or hazing, car accidents, and wrongful death cases, the firm is committed to securing justice and compensation for those impacted by car, truck, and motorcycle accidents.
Contact:
Andrew A. Kryder, Esq
The Kryder Law Group, LLC Accident and Injury Lawyers
***@kryderlaw.com
Photos:
https://www.prlog.org/13031798
Press release distributed by PRLog
SOURCE The Kryder Law Group, LLC
Fills Post-Acute Treatment Gap in Dallas Health Care Landscape
DALLAS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nexus Health Systems is pleased to announce a partnership between Nexus Children's Hospital Dallas and Pediatric Acute Care Associates of North Texas which will give pediatric patients at Medical City Hospital Dallas access to coordinated step-down care. Led by Dr. Michele Papo, this partnership creates a more continuous experience for those moving from a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) to Nexus' transitional care unit.
"We are thrilled to partner with Dr. Papo and Pediatric Acute Care Associates of North Texas to provide a more seamless transition from intensive to transitional care," said Nexus Children's Hospital Dallas CEO Roger Caron. "Dr. Papo and her team have a proven track record of providing exceptional care for medically complex patients. Together, we can ensure they experience a smooth transition from critical care to lower acuity levels of treatment and rehabilitation."
Located 15 minutes east of the Dallas Medical Center, Nexus Children's Hospital provides complex post-acute care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults in a state-of-the-art facility. The hospital's interdisciplinary team creates specialized treatment plans to address debilitating conditions such as brain and spinal cord injuries, neurodevelopmental delays and co-occurring medical, behavioral and mental health needs.
Nexus specializes in providing transitional care for young patients who have stabilized in the PICU but are not yet ready to return home. The partnership with Pediatric Acute Care Associates of North Texas makes it easier for caregivers to identify Nexus as an option, while minimizing disruptions that can occur when patients transfer between health care facilities.
"Continuous care has been shown to improve outcomes, increase patient satisfaction, lower the risk of hospital readmission and decrease overall health care costs," Caron said. "We are dedicated to meeting the Dallas area's need for high-quality, coordinated care that extends beyond the acute phase of recovery."
Since 1999, Nexus has developed programs to meet the most pressing needs of pediatric patients across the country. Current transitional care programs at Nexus Children's Hospital Dallas include Harbor, which provides rehabilitation and ongoing medical care after complex injuries and illnesses, and Rise, which offers rehabilitation and ongoing medical care after brain and spinal cord injury, stroke, and other neurological illnesses and injuries.
"Nexus' mission has always been to help individuals return to lives of productivity and meaning, wherever they are in their post-acute journey," Caron said. "Our Dallas campus continues to provide the nationally recognized care Nexus Health Systems is known for, with a special emphasis on pediatric post-acute care."
FACILITY INFORMATION
Location
9525 Greenville Ave
Dallas, Texas 75243
Standards of Care
Continuous bedside monitoring and 24/7 monitor tech
Early intervention rehabilitation services start immediately
24-hour respiratory therapy, including ventilator weaning
Campus Highlights
87,000 square feet
60 private rooms
3 unique units, including a transitional care unit
ABOUT NEXUS HEALTH SYSTEMS
Nexus Health Systems is a safe and efficient discharge option for children, adolescents, and adults who need a bridge between hospital and home. Offering a unique combination of physical, behavioral, and mental health services and support, we care for patients across our network of facilities. With locations throughout Texas, Nexus offers a continuum of care that enables patients to transition from higher acuity to lower acuity environments as progress is made. Taking a holistic approach, our specialized programs guide individuals through behavioral or mental health challenges with co-occurring medical needs, brain and spinal cord injury, medically complex diagnoses and conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Nexus is committed to serving the needs of our community and helping individuals return to lives of productivity and meaning. Learn more at nexushealthsystems.com.
Media Contact: Madison Andrews
Senior Copywriter
Design At Work
832.726.5522
[email protected]
SOURCE Nexus Health Systems
Collaboration with Comcast Technology Solutions, DataBee and Comcast Ventures to accelerate access to new technology with a focus on data, security, AI, and critical infrastructure protection
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NightDragon, an investment and advisory firm focused on the cybersecurity, safety, security, and privacy industry, today announced a new strategic partnership with Comcast Technology Solutions to help advance innovative cybersecurity technologies through increased go-to-market support and opportunities and access to expanded combined networks of industry leaders. As part of the new partnership, NightDragon will work closely with the teams from Comcast Technology Solutions, Comcast Ventures and DataBee, the premier security, risk, and compliance data fabric platform in the Comcast Technology Solutions portfolio.
Comcast Technology Solutions is a technology and infrastructure leader that enables partners by delivering proven technologies for global video, media, communications, data applications, and cybersecurity and compliance. Under this partnership, Comcast Technology Solutions will expose NightDragon to innovative companies and technologies that may be relevant for investment, go-to-market or partnership opportunities. Additionally, the company will evaluate opportunities to purchase technology from NightDragon portfolio companies or make capital investments through its Comcast Ventures arm.
"This new partnership brings together a powerful combination of leaders at the forefront of cybersecurity protections for critical infrastructure and driving innovation in the marketplace. We look forward to working together with Comcast Technology Solutions, Comcast Ventures, and DataBee to advance cybersecurity innovation in the marketplace and make a difference together in securing our world for tomorrow," said Dave DeWalt, CEO and Founder, NightDragon.
Comcast Technology Solutions and Comcast Ventures will benefit from early access and exposure to the latest innovations within the NightDragon portfolio, including leading cybersecurity, safety, security, and privacy technologies. Synergies identified between Comcast Technology Solutions and NightDragon portfolio companies will allow each party a fresh look at protecting critical infrastructure and driving innovation in the marketplace.
"Innovation and investments in technology, infrastructure and cybersecurity are top priorities at Comcast Technology Solutions, as we've evidenced most recently with the creation of the DataBee business and security data fabric platform. Partnering with NightDragon and its portfolio companies offers us a valuable opportunity to get a first view into cutting-edge technologies that can best serve our customers and secure critical infrastructure," said Ken Klaer, President, Comcast Technology Solutions, and Executive Vice President, Comcast Cable.
Additionally, DataBee, from Comcast Technology Solutions, will benefit from access to NightDragon's NightScale platform, which helps accelerate growth for leading innovators through access to proprietary playbooks, people, partnerships and programs, and the firm's Advisory Council of 100+ top cybersecurity and technology leaders. DataBee is a security, risk, and compliance data fabric platform that helps drive smarter decisions with analysis-ready datasets and an evidence-centric approach to security data.
"Having spent time with NightDragon prior to this partnership, I believe in what this team and organization brings to the table. Comcast Technology Solutions provides a variety of innovative solutions developed and incubated by Comcast, like DataBee. We look forward to working with NightDragon to create synergies that will be mutually beneficial to enterprise customers and the security industry worldwide," said Nicole Bucala, Vice President and General Manager of the DataBee business.
Amy De Salvatore, Partner, NightDragon said, "Comcast is a strong innovator, and this is a unique partnership in that they are a telecom provider, which is different from other strategic partnerships that fall under our NightScale platform and provide value to our portfolio companies. This partnership will be a powerful way for both of our companies to place greater focus and energy on innovation, as well as advance critical technologies like DataBee, which is revolutionizing how we manage and secure data."
This partnership expands NightDragon's capabilities under its ND Go-to-Market business unit, a dedicated set of playbooks, programs, and partnerships in its proprietary NightScale platform to help accelerate its portfolio's go-to-market capabilities. Comcast Technology Solutions' leading services and advisory capabilities will complement existing go-to-market partnerships under the NightScale platform, including TD-SYNNEX, Arrow Electronics, World Wide Technologies, Jones Group International, SiteGround, Stratascale, and others.
To learn more about the NightDragon NightScale platform, visit our website.
About NightDragon
NightDragon is an investment and advisory firm focused on growth and late-stage investments within the cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy industries. Its platform and vast industry network provide unparalleled threat insights, deal ow, market leverage and operating expertise to drive portfolio company growth and increase shareholder value. Founded by Dave DeWalt, the NightDragon team has more than 25 years of operational and market expertise leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye. Read more about NightDragon at www.nightdragon.com.
About Comcast Technology Solutions
Comcast Technology Solutions, a division of one of the world's leading media and technology companies, brings Comcast Corporation's proven technologies to an evolving list of industries worldwide. We believe in continuous innovation, always looking for new and better ways to connect with our customers, as well as aggregate, distribute, and secure our own content, advertising, and data. We invest in and test these solutions, so you don't have to freeing you up to focus on accelerating your business, not your tech stack. Through our portfolio of solutions, we bring these innovations to the global marketplace, enabling our partners to think big, go beyond, and lead the way in media, technology, and cybersecurity. For more information, visit Comcast Technology Solutions and DataBee
NightDragon Media Contact:
Sarah Kuranda Vallone
[email protected]
Comcast Technology Solutions Contact:
Mary Cosmides
[email protected]
267.207.5279
SOURCE NightDragon
CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Guaranteed Rate Affinity announces that Nina Gonzalez has ranked number 60 on the 2024 NAHREP Top 250 Latino Mortgage Originators Awards. This accolade recognizes the top-producing Latino originators in the U.S., celebrating their commitment to excellence and service in the mortgage industry. The recognition further amplifies Rate Companies' ongoing commitment to working with underserved communities to transform the lending experience.
Nina Gonzalez, who closed 63 transactions with a volume of $17,795,033, is recognized as a dedicated professional who understands that every client has unique financial goals. She takes the time to understand her clients' visions, recommending smart mortgage solutions that align with their unique needs.
"We are incredibly proud of Nina's achievement," said David Dickey, President and Chief Production Officer of Guaranteed Rate Affinity. "Her tireless service to her clients and communities, as well as her outstanding performance exemplify the values we uphold at Guaranteed Rate Affinity. We all agree Nina's ability to connect with and support the Spanish-speaking community is second to none and incredibly aligned with our company's values. She truly deserves this industry recognition."
"I am honored to be recognized by NAHREP and to be among such esteemed professionals," said Gonzalez. "This achievement is a testament to the trust my clients place in me and the support from my amazing team at Guaranteed Rate Affinity. I look forward to continuing to help my clients achieve their homeownership dreams."
Guaranteed Rate Affinity values Nina's contribution and believes that her recognition will further enhance the company's ability to assist Spanish-speaking clients, solidifying its position as a leader in the industry and in the mission to transform the homebuying and lending experience for all Americans.
About Guaranteed Rate Affinity
Guaranteed Rate Affinity is a joint venture between Guaranteed Rate, Inc. and Anywhere Integrated Services (NYSE: HOUS), which owns some of the most recognized and respected real estate brands in the industry. The innovative JV has funded more than $100 billion in loans since its inception. Guaranteed Rate Affinity originates and markets its mortgage lending services to Anywhere's real estate, brokerage and relocation subsidiaries. Guaranteed Rate Affinity provides unmatched support to Anywhere brokers coast-to-coast, assuring their customers receive fast pre-approvals, appraisals and loan closings, creating the ability for buyers to move quickly and confidently when purchasing homes in today's competitive market. Guaranteed Rate Affinity also provides the same services to the public and other real estate brokerage and relocation companies across the countryhelping employers improve their employees' relocation experience by putting the customer first, providing the customer the ease and security of digital mortgages and offering low rates with loans personalized to each customer's needs. Guaranteed Rate owns a controlling 50.1% stake of Guaranteed Rate Affinity, and Anywhere owns 49.9%. Visit grarate.com for more information.
SOURCE Guaranteed Rate Affinity
Significant capacity improvements will enhance critical rail corridor, open additional opportunities for statewide business and economic growth
ATLANTA, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is investing to grow capacity on a key rail line in the state of Alabama, the 3B Corridor, which connects markets in northern and central Alabama to the Port of Mobile and destinations worldwide. The more-than $200 million investment positions the line to accommodate expected growth in several sectors as the Southeast progresses as an economic powerhouse for the US economy.
The 3B Corridor is strategically aligned with the Port of Mobile, which contributes $85 billion in annual economic value to Alabama. The corridor represents an important segment of Norfolk Southern's annual traffic, serving critical industries like agriculture, automotive, chemicals, forestry, and steel. The investments are expected to yield immediate returns when they begin to come online in 2025.
"Together with our customers, we are anticipating where markets are heading, and positioning to deliver on their supply chain needs now and into the future," said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw. "These investments will bring immediate returns as they make rail an even more competitive part of our nation's supply chain and expand our customers end-to-end solutions."
"We are grateful to Norfolk Southern for these investments in our state and for their support of our existing industries," said Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce Ellen McNair. "This is proof that our open for business approach is attracting growth in our state among world-class businesses looking to locate or expand their operation. We look forward to the positive impact these enhancements will have on Alabama's economic competitiveness and on the nation's supply chain more broadly."
The project involves a mix of terminal and track-based infrastructure improvements, including capacity projects in central and southwest Alabama, customer-specific projects in north Alabama and locations north of Mobile, yard upgrades in Wilton and a series of grade crossing improvements throughout the region.
Already, Norfolk Southern is collaborating on a project to allow a high-volume met coal customer to take advantage of the expanded 3B Corridor. This new premium met coal production facility, set to be developed in 2025, will help power global production of metals products, especially for essential infrastructure projects, for decades to come.
Another customer, Packaging Corporation of America, recently expanded its paper mill located along the corridor, partnering with Norfolk Southern on the project to enhance efficiencies for both companies.
"Without Norfolk Southern's investment in the region, we would not have been able to maximize the opportunity to ship more volume via rail," said PCA Vice President, Transportation Ross Corthell. "The projects Norfolk Southern is planning and doing in the region are great examples of how their long-term strategy to invest in infrastructure, operate safely and efficiently, and market their service, is designed to promote growth."
"Norfolk Southern is focused on delivering long-term value through collaboration and innovation with our customers and their markets," said Norfolk Southern EVP and Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins. "This means being deeply engaged from the beginning, working with customers to identify business needs and help develop solutions, staying engaged throughout the development process, and finally executing on the safe, reliable, efficient transport of their cargo. Our comprehensive approach is all about being there for our customers' needs today and being ready to handle the next phase of their business tomorrow."
An overview of Norfolk Southern's business and impact on the state of Alabama can also be found here.
About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid approximately 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and Norfolk Southern originates more automotive traffic than any other Class I Railroad. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S. It serves a majority of the country's population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as major ports in the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.
SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation
All Credit Union Branches Accepting Book Donations for San Diego Elementary School Students
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- North Island Credit Union has launched a book drive to help ensure children in low-income households have access to books outside the classroom. In the third year of the partnership, the book drive is being conducted with the Scripps Howard Fund and ABC 10News as part of its "If You Give a Child a Book . . ." childhood literacy campaign.
Through August 31st, North Island Credit Union encourages community members to drop off new books to any of its branch locations in San Diego County. A complete list of North Island Credit Union locations is available here. Donated books should be new and appropriate for kindergarten through elementary school students. All books will be given to students attending Title 1 schools in San Diego County.
"We invite everyone to join this effort to make books accessible and nurture a joy of reading for children in our underserved communities," said North Island Credit Union President/CEO Steve O'Connell. "This campaign gets books directly into the hands of children who need them most, helping address the literacy gap in our communities. Every book donation makes a difference in a child's life and together we can provide the resources to support reading outside the classroom."
Credit union branch drop off locations include:
7968 El Cajon Blvd, La Mesa
2550 Fifth Ave, San Diego
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego
9420 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego
Naval Air Base, Saufley St Bldg. 318, San Diego
10549 Scripps Poway Pkwy, San Diego
45 N. Broadway, Chula Vista
5898 Copley Dr, San Diego
1101 Palm Ave, Imperial Beach
884 Eastlake Pkwy, Chula Vista
301 N. Magnolia Ave , El Cajon
, 1230 Auto Park Way, Escondido
More information about the book drive for literacy is available here. Monetary donations are also accepted to purchase books for students in need here.
The "If You Give a Child a Book . . ." book drive is complemented by "Story Time," a partnership between North Island Credit Union and ABC 10News continuing to promote child literacy. With the help of the San Diego Council on Literacy, monthly "mini" book fairs are held in Title 1 schools across San Diego, providing free books to students in underserved communities to encourage reading outside the classroom.
The annual "If You Give a Child a Book " childhood literacy campaign is a partnership of the Scripps Howard Fund, members of the Scripps family, employees of The E.W. Scripps Company, and the communities it serves. The campaign has distributed more than 1,000,000 books since its launch in 2016.
About North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union
California Credit Union is a federally insured, state chartered credit union founded in 1933 with assets of nearly $5 billion, approximately 200,000 members and 25 retail branches. The credit union serves community members and businesses in the California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura as well as school employees throughout the state. The credit union operates in San Diego and Riverside Counties as North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union. The credit union offers a full suite of consumer, business and investment products and services, including comprehensive consumer checking and loan options, personalized financial planning, business banking, and leading-edge online and mobile banking. California Credit Union is certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a Low Income Designation, offering inclusive products and services to build financial stability in our underserved communities, including a checking account certified as meeting the Bank On National Account Standards. Visit northisland.ccu.com for more information or follow the credit union on Instagram or Facebook @northislandcu.
About the Scripps Howard Fund
The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports philanthropic causes important to The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the communities it serves, with a special emphasis on journalism education, excellence in journalism and childhood literacy. At the crossroads of the classroom and the newsroom, the Fund is a leader in supporting journalism through scholarships, internships, minority recruitment and development and First Amendment causes. The Scripps Howard Awards stand as one of the industry's top honors for outstanding journalism, and the Fund's annual "If You Give a Child a Book " childhood literacy campaign has distributed thousands of new books to children in need across the nation. In support of its mission to create a better-informed world, the Fund also partners with Scripps brands to create awareness of local issues and support organizations that help build thriving communities. The Scripps Howard Foundation, an affiliated organization with the Scripps Howard Fund, supports Scripps' charitable efforts through its endowment, key assets and major donations.
SOURCE North Island Credit Union
Rise in incidences of chronic diseases, favorable regulatory scenario, and increase in geriatric population are the major factors that drive the global market growth
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Pain Management Drugs Market by Drug Class (NSAIDs, Anesthetics, Anticonvulsants, Anti-migraine Agents, Antidepressants, Opioids and Nonnarcotic Analgesics), Indication (Arthritic Pain, Neuropathic Pain, Cancer Pain, Chronic Back Pain, Postoperative Pain, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, Muscle Sprain/Strain, Bone Fracture, Acute Appendicitis, and Others) and Pain Type (Chronic Pain and Acute Pain): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the pain management drugs market was valued at $72.6 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $109.6 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 4.2% from 2024 to 2033.
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Prime determinants of growth
Rise in incidences of chronic diseases, favorable regulatory scenario, and increase in geriatric population are the major factors that drive the growth of the pain management drugs market. However, availability of alternative therapies and patent expiration of prescription drugs restricts the market growth. Moreover, advancements in drug development and untapped markets in developing economies offer remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the global pain management drugs market.
Report coverage & details
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20242033 Base Year 2023 Market Size In 2023 $72.6 Billion Market Size In 2033 $109. Billion 6 CAGR 3.9 % No. Of Pages in Report 216 Segments Covered Drug Class, Indication, Pain Type, And Region. Drivers Rise In Incidences Of Chronic Diseases Favorable Regulatory Scenario Increase In Geriatric Population Opportunities Advancements In Drug Development Untapped Markets In Developing Economies Restraints Availability Of Alternative Therapies Patent Expiration Of Prescription Drugs
Segment Highlights
The opioids segment is expected to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period.
By drug class, the opioids segment is expected to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in prevalence of chronic pain conditions, rise in aging population, and expansion of awareness and access to pain management treatments. Opioids, known for their potent analgesic properties, have traditionally been important in managing moderate to severe pain. However, their widespread use has also been associated with significant challenges, including the risk of addiction, misuse, and overdose.
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The postoperative pain segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period
By indication, the postoperative pain segment dominated the market share in 2023. Aging population worldwide is experiencing a surge in surgical interventions, as older individuals often require medical interventions for age-related conditions such as joint replacements, cardiac surgeries, and cancer treatments. Postoperative pain management becomes crucial in these scenarios, as surgical procedures result in varying degrees of pain, requiring effective pain relief measures for optimal recovery.
The chronic pain segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period
By pain type, the chronic pain segment dominated the market share in 2023. This is attributed to growth in prevalence of chronic pain and rise in incidence of chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. These conditions can lead to neuropathic pain, visceral pain, or pain associated with cancer treatments, chemotherapy, or surgical procedures, necessitating long-term pain management strategies.
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Regional Outlook
North America to maintain its dominance by 2033
North America dominated the market share in 2023. This is attributed to advanced healthcare systems, rise in prevalence of chronic pain conditions, and greater accessibility to healthcare services. These regions also witness significant research and development activities, leading to the introduction of innovative pain management therapies and medications. However, in emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, the pain management drugs market is experiencing rapid growth driven by increase in healthcare expenditure, expansion in pharmaceutical industries, and rise in awareness about pain management.
Key Players
Novartis AG
Eli Lilly & Company
Abbott Laboratories
Endo Health Solutions, Inc.
Purdue Pharma L.P.
Pfizer, Inc.
Viatris Inc.
Merck & Co. Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
GlaxoSmithKline Plc
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global pain management drugs market. These players have adopted different strategies such as agreement, product approval, clinical trials and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
Recent Developments in Pain Management Drugs Market Worldwide
In January 2024 , Heron Therapeutics, Inc. a commercial-stage biotechnology company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its supplemental New Drug Application for ZYNRELEF to expand the indication for soft tissue and orthopedic surgical procedures including foot and ankle, and other procedures in which direct exposure to articular cartilage is avoided. ZYNRELEF is the first and only therapy for postoperative pain management to be rigorously tested in Phase 3 studies and demonstrate superiority to bupivacaine solution, the current standard-of-care.
In December 2022 , Tris Pharma, Inc. (Tris), a fully integrated, innovation-driven pharmaceutical company focused on CNS disorders announced new clinical data from its oral human abuse potential study in patients who are nondependent recreational opioid users, which demonstrate that cebranopadol (TRN-228) possesses significantly less likeability at high doses, above the therapeutic range versus immediate release (IR) formulations of tramadol or oxycodone. Cebranopadol is a novel, dual nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor and -opioid peptide (MOP) receptor agonist in development for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.
In June 2021 , Johnson & Johnson and its U.S.-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies announced a settlement agreement with the State of New York and its participating subdivisions, including Nassau County and Suffolk County , resolving their opioid-related claims against the Company.
In June 2021 , Eli Lilly and Company and Incyte presented data from post-hoc analyses that suggested OLUMIANT (baricitinib) 4 mg tablet reduced pain and duration of morning joint stiffness, and improved overall physical function at 12 weeks, among patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as compared to HUMIRA (adalimumab) and placebo.
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SOURCE Allied Market Research
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Waichman LLP, a national law firm representing 9/11 victims and their loved ones strongly condemns the recent plea deal reached by the United States government with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and two of his co-defendants as reported by CNN .
The plea agreement, announced by the Defense Department, allows Mohammed and his co-defendants, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin' Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for life sentences instead of facing the death penalty. This decision comes after decades of legal complications and delays that have hindered the trial process.
"We are deeply disappointed and appalled by this plea agreement," said Jerrold S. Parker, the founding attorney at Parker Waichman LLP. "The horrific events of 9/11 forever changed the lives of countless individuals, and justice demands that those responsible face the full weight of the law. This deal, which spares the perpetrators from the possibility of the death penalty, is an affront to the victims and their loved ones who have waited over two decades for justice."
Mohammed, known as KSM, was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and charged in 2008 with a litany of crimes including terrorism, conspiracy, and murder in violation of the law of war. The case has been plagued by legal challenges, particularly concerning the admissibility of evidence, resulting in prolonged delays and stalled proceedings.
"This plea agreement undermines the principles of justice and accountability," added attorney Jerrold S. Parker. "Our firm stands with the 9/11 victims and their loved ones in condemning the decision to offer a plea bargain that eliminates the potential for the death penalty and urging the government to reconsider its approach to handling cases of such magnitude and impact in the future."
Parker Waichman LLP remains committed to supporting the 9/11 community and advocating for the rights of victims and their loved ones. The firm continues to assist individuals with 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund claims ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve.
9/11 victims and their loved ones who would like more information about filing a claim are encouraged to visit the firm's website at YourLawyer.com or contact Parker Waichman LLP at 1-800-YOUR-LAWYER (1-800-968-7529).
About Parker Waichman LLP
Parker Waichman LLP is a national law firm dedicated to advocating for the rights of 9/11 victims and their loved ones. With a commitment to achieving justice and holding wrongdoers accountable, the firm has recovered billions of dollars for its clients. Parker Waichman LLP handles a wide range of personal injury cases, including 9/11 victim claims, medical malpractice, defective products, and more.
Contact:
Raymond C. Silverman, Partner
Parker Waichman LLP
6 Harbor Park Drive
Port Washington, NY 11050
1-800-YOUR-LAWYER
(1-800-968-7529)
[email protected]
https://www.yourlawyer.com/
SOURCE Parker Waichman LLP
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global polyester straps market size is estimated to grow by USD 1.21 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% during the forecast period. Polyester straps have emerged as a viable option to steel strapping is driving market growth, with a trend towards flourishing e-commerce industry encouraging demand. However, alternatives such as polypropylene strapping are hamperinggrowth of polyester straps market poses a challenge. Key market players include Auto Strap India, Campanini ugo Srl, CONSENT Group, Crown Holdings Inc., DAE YANG STRAPS, DuBose Strapping Inc., Fromm Holding AG, GREENBRIDGE, Industrial Yarns Pty Ltd., LINDER GmbH, Messersi Packaging Srl, Mosca GmbH, Narrowtex Pty Ltd., National Webbing Products Co., North Shore Strapping Inc., Plastex Extruders Ltd., Samuel Son and Co. Ltd., Teufelberger Holding AG, Plastic Strapping Co. Ltd., and UNIVERSAL STRAPPING Corp..
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global polyester straps market 2024-2028
Get a detailed analysis on regions, market segments, customer landscape, and companies - Click for the snapshot of this report
Forecast period 2024-2028 Base Year 2023 Historic Data 2018 - 2022 Segment Covered Grade Type (Machine grade and Hand grade) and Geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa) Region Covered APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Key companies profiled Auto Strap India, Campanini ugo Srl, CONSENT Group, Crown Holdings Inc., DAE YANG STRAPS, DuBose Strapping Inc., Fromm Holding AG, GREENBRIDGE, Industrial Yarns Pty Ltd., LINDER GmbH, Messersi Packaging Srl, Mosca GmbH, Narrowtex Pty Ltd., National Webbing Products Co., North Shore Strapping Inc., Plastex Extruders Ltd., Samuel Son and Co. Ltd., Teufelberger Holding AG, Plastic Strapping Co. Ltd., and UNIVERSAL STRAPPING Corp.
Key Market Trends Fueling Growth
The e-commerce industry's growth is driving significant changes in various sectors, including textiles and electronics. Online shopping's convenience has led to a shift from traditional purchasing methods. E-commerce simplifies business transactions, optimizes distribution channels, and reduces transaction costs. Moreover, the global credit payment system's development simplifies payments and minimizes risks. In the realm of e-commerce, effective packaging is crucial for brand equity and customer loyalty. Corrugated boxes, secured with polyester straps, ensure product safety during transportation. Consequently, the global polyester straps market is poised to expand due to the e-commerce sector's growth. This trend is expected to continue during the forecast period.
The Polyester Straps Market is witnessing significant trends in various industries such as Electronics, Construction, Textiles, and Food & Beverage. Brands are focusing on profit margins by differentiating their products through custom-printed polyester straps, enhancing brand visibility. Logistical partners play a crucial role in supply chain operations, ensuring cargo safety and timely delivery. Environmental sustainability is a key concern, with manufacturers turning to recycled polyester straps and circular economy solutions. Lightweight polyester straps offer cost savings and reduced carbon emissions. Safety precautions are essential in strap manufacturing, with packing grade, width, break strength, and thickness being critical factors. Electrical, Chemical, and Fertilizer industries also utilize polyester straps for bundling and packaging. The future market growth depends on the analysis period, consumer attention, and the ability to meet specific industry requirements. Strap manufacturers must adhere to safety standards and offer sustainable, recyclable materials to meet the evolving needs of their clients.
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Market Challenges
Polypropylene strapping serves as an affordable option for moderate-duty applications, including bundling, unitizing, and palletizing. Applications for polypropylene strapping span across various industries, such as newspapers, magazines, food goods, appliances, corrugated boxes, cut paper, and cartons. The higher elongation property of polypropylene strapping makes it a preferred choice in these applications. Consequently, the market for polyester straps experiences a decline due to the increasing preference for polypropylene straps in light to medium-duty jobs. This trend negatively impacts the growth of the global polyester straps market during the forecast period.
The Polyester Straps Market faces several challenges in areas of branding, profit margins, logistical partnerships, and supply chain operations. Environmental sustainability is a growing concern with increasing focus on recyclable materials and reducing carbon emissions. Brands seek to differentiate themselves through sustainable products and brand visibility. Custom-printed polyester straps offer branding opportunities, but manufacturers must consider consumer attention, analysis period, safety precautions, packing grade, width, break strength, thickness, and electrical applications in various industries like electronics, construction, textiles, and food and beverage. Recycled polyester straps contribute to the circular economy and lightweight options enable customization. Ensuring cargo safety, bundling, and logistics are crucial for final consumers and packaging materials. Understanding these challenges is essential for manufacturers to remain competitive in the future market of Polyethylene Terephthalate straps.
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Segment Overview
This polyester straps market report extensively covers market segmentation by
Grade Type
1.1 Machine grade
1.2 Hand grade
Geography
2.1 APAC
2.2 North America
2.3 Europe
2.4 South America
2.5 Middle East and Africa
1.1 Machine grade-
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Research Analysis
Polyester straps, manufactured from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), are a popular choice in various industries due to their durability, lightweight, and versatility. The global polyester straps market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by increasing demand from sectors such as logistics, construction, and electronics. Recycled polyester straps are gaining popularity due to the circular economy trend, offering a sustainable alternative to virgin polyester. Manufacturers focus on customization and branding opportunities, catering to specific industry requirements and customer preferences. The market offers a wide range of polyester straps in various widths, break strengths, and thicknesses, suitable for diverse applications. Cargo safety is a major concern, leading to the use of polyester straps in bundling and securing goods during transportation. Polyester straps find extensive use in industries like electrical, electronics, construction and allied, paper, textiles, chemical, fertilizers, apparels, and allied sectors. The final consumer benefits from the increased safety, durability, and cost-effectiveness of these straps.
Market Research Overview
Polyester straps, manufactured from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), have gained significant popularity in various industries due to their durability, lightweight, and cost-effectiveness. The future market for polyester straps is projected to grow, driven by the increasing demand for circular economy solutions and sustainability in supply chain operations. Manufacturers focus on producing recycled polyester straps, reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmental sustainability. Customization and branding opportunities are key features, allowing for product differentiation and increased brand visibility. The market caters to diverse sectors such as logistics, cargo safety, packaging materials, electronics, construction, textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, apparels, food, and beverages. With the increasing focus on safety precautions and logistical partners, polyester straps offer bundling solutions for efficient transport and storage. The analysis period for the polyester straps market considers trends, growth drivers, challenges, and opportunities. Key factors include the width, break strength, thickness, and electrical properties of the straps. The market offers profit margins for manufacturers and branding opportunities for final consumers.
Table of Contents:
1 Executive Summary
2 Market Landscape
3 Market Sizing
4 Historic Market Size
5 Five Forces Analysis
6 Market Segmentation
Grade Type
Machine Grade
Hand Grade
Geography
APAC
North America
Europe
South America
Middle East And Africa
7 Customer Landscape
8 Geographic Landscape
9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends
10 Company Landscape
11 Company Analysis
12 Appendix
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.
With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.
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SOURCE Technavio
WILMINGTON, N.C., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PolyQuest, Inc. (PolyQuest) unveiled today, the addition of four exceptional talents to its team. This strategic move underscores its unwavering commitment to further growth and expansion in its thermoplastics distribution business. PolyQuest welcomed Andy Fredericks, Brian Goldberg, John Sarrao, and James Nelson all distinguished industry experts poised to further elevate PolyQuest's industry standing.
PolyQuest welcomed the addition of four exceptional talents to its team, further elevating its industry standing. Post this PolyQuest Employee Spotlight: Andy Fredericks, John Sarrao, James Nelson, Brian Goldberg PolyQuest, Thermoplastic Resins For Every Application
"PolyQuest is forging ahead in exciting new directions. The addition of Andy, Brian, John, and James will be seamless within our organization. It's very rare to find external talents such as these in one package with the same DNA structure as PolyQuest. We welcome them with open arms," stated John Marinelli, CEO of PolyQuest.
To further these efforts, during the Covid era, PolyQuest made strategic investments to implement new, modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions that streamline its business processes, improve data analytics, and support future growth. PolyQuest is now ready to responsibly yet rapidly, scale its distribution business while maintaining a customer-centric focus with servitude as its overriding core principle.
In conclusion, John Marinelli affirmed, "Although we have traditional values in building and nurturing industry relationships, our unmatched capabilities to oversee the supply chain and swiftly customize solutions for our customers stems from our people and our technologies. This is an enduring commitment."
About PolyQuest, Inc.
PolyQuest is a privately held thermoplastic resin distributor headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina with U.S. facilities in Darlington, South Carolina; Florence, South Carolina; and Farmingdale, New York. PolyQuest maintains a global reach offering one of the broadest resin catalogs in the hemisphere for the bottle, sheet, strapping, film, fiber, compounding, and injection molding markets. Contact us to learn more about PolyQuest as a partner for your PET, PP, PE, HIPS, and rPET materials needs and processing solutions.
SOURCE PolyQuest, Inc.
Organizations Receiving Part of the $5.7 Million Foster a Thriving San Diego Art Scene
Prebys funds these grantees as part of a commitment to Accessibility, Creativity, and Financial Viability
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2023, The Conrad Prebys Foundation introduced a strategic plan focused on creating community well-being through the affirmation of purpose, opportunity, and belonging for every resident. The plan was based on more than a hundred interviews and a listening tour across the county.
The foundation funds visual and performing arts, medical research, health care, and youth success and holds a vision in the arts for San Diego County over the next 10 - 20 years. The vision identifies investment in community-based arts groups will help achieve a vision of:
Great Art for All : Ensuring that great art is created by and accessible to the entire community.
: Ensuring that great art is created by and accessible to the entire community. National Recognition : Establishing San Diego's arts and culture landscape as a leader in culturally inclusive and excellent art.
: Establishing San Diego's arts and culture landscape as a leader in culturally inclusive and excellent art. Financial Strength: Supporting artists and cultural practitioners and the arts economy to provide exceptional arts experiences to the community.
NEW STUDY: San Diego Is One of the Most Culturally Robust Regions in the U.S.
At the same time, according to a new study by Americans for the Arts, A new study of the economic impact of the arts ranks San Diego County as one of the most "culturally robust" regions in the United States. The study also finds that "nonprofit arts organizations generated nearly $1.4 billion in economic activity in 2022, supported over 19,000 jobs, and served 19.2 million visitors."
One could say the timing of the Prebys grant announcement coming on the heels of the new study is serendipitous. Prebys recognizes that investing in our arts and culture community helps to build a more prosperous region for all San Diegans.
About the Arts and Culture Landscape
As a part of their vision, Prebys invited organizations to apply for grants based on their potential to expand audiences, serve diverse communities, uplift underrepresented artists, and align with the initiative's goals. 38 awards were made to local organizations. initial invitation, each applicant completed a thorough and intentional application process ensuring the alignment of the organization's work and the grant's intended outcomes.
The Arts and Culture Landscape, also known as Arts Ecosystem, grant awards aim to empower arts organizations across the region by:
Boosting Capacity : Enhancing staffing, improving facilities, and fostering strategic partnerships.
: Enhancing staffing, improving facilities, and fostering strategic partnerships. Expanding Audiences : Engaging new and diverse audiences to broaden cultural participation.
: Engaging new and diverse audiences to broaden cultural participation. Enhancing Relevance : Tailoring initiatives to the unique dynamics of the San Diego region.
: Tailoring initiatives to the unique dynamics of the region. Promoting Sustainability: Introducing sustainable practices for the long-term viability of local nonprofits.
About the Grantees
"When combined with Prebys 2023 Arts grantees, these organizations paint a more comprehensive picture of the region's arts and culture ecosystem, reflecting our commitment to fostering a robust and inclusive cultural landscape," said Grant Oliphant, CEO of the Prebys Foundation. "The Conrad Prebys Foundation is thrilled to announce the 2024 "Arts Ecosystem" grantees, an initiative designed to invigorate San Diego County's vibrant arts and culture landscape."
The awarded organizations represent the rich tapestry of art, culture, and creativity in San Diego County. They serve diverse populations, including individuals with disabilities and border communities. Many of these organizations work collaboratively, advocate for arts causes, and support local governments, aligning closely with the Prebys mission to build countywide arts capacity. The grantees include:
Organization Name Award La Jolla Music Society $325,000 San Diego Art Matters $260,000 San Diego Museum of Art $325,000 The Old Globe $325,000 Asian Culture and Media Alliance Inc. $200,000 Asian Story Theater $150,000 Barona Cultural Center & Museum $125,000 Blindspot Collective $150,000 Borrego Art Institute $100,000 The Front Arte y Cultura at Casa Familiar Inc. $125,000 Center for World Music $150,000 Classics 4 Kids $110,000 Cygnet Theatre Company $200,000 Friends of Friendship Park $200,000 Imperial Beach Arts Bureau $195,000 INSITE $75,000 Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego $130,000 La Mesa Park and Recreation Foundation $120,000 Loud Fridge Theatre Group $50,000 Mainly Mozart, Inc. $180,000 Mingei International Museum $150,000 Museum of Us $250,000 New Village Arts $100,000 ARTS DISTRICT Liberty Station $150,000 OnStage Playhouse Inc. $36,000 Outside the Lens $100,000 Pacific Arts Movement $125,000 Playwrights Project $100,000 WorldBeat Cultural Center $100,000 Reuben H Fleet Science Center $200,000 San Diego Museum Council Inc $150,000 San Diego Opera $200,000 San Diego Performing Arts League $100,000 The High Steppers Drill Team, Inc. $100,000 Trinity One Theatre Troupe Inc. $130,000 TuYo Theatre Inc. $140,000 Wheelchair Dancers Organization $70,000 Write Out Loud $80,000 Grand Total $5,776,000
"Prebys looks forward to continuing to partner with each grantee and learn from their experiences," said Emily Young, Vice President of Prebys Foundation. "Our hope is that they grow their organizations by investing in their staff, practitioners, and volunteers to serve the communities as they see fit."
During the funding cycle, organizations will report on how the funds help and what additional support they need to further a vibrant arts and culture in the region.
Quotes from the Awardees
When asked about their vision for their continued work, those receiving the awards provided the following insight:
Asian Culture and Media Alliance Inc. - "ACMA is deeply humbled and grateful for the generous support from the Conrad Prebys Foundation. This significant grant marks a pivotal moment for us, enabling the creation of the ACMA Digital Media Arts Academy that will serve as a cornerstone in providing not only greatly expanded capacity for our existing programs but also benefit our arts ecosystem by cultivating a new space for enhanced community engagement opportunities and facilities for supporting emerging artists." Cathlyn Choi, Founder and Executive Director.
Blindspot Collective - "We are deeply grateful to the Prebys Foundation for their generous support, which will significantly enhance our capacity to serve historically excluded artists and communities. This grant will allow us to pursue permanent space in San Diego, providing a dedicated home for innovative and inclusive theater which will not only benefit our organization but the broader sector. With this support, we are excited to expand our reach and deepen our impact on the cultural ecosystem of our region." - Blake McCarty, Executive Artistic Director
Center for World Music - "We are thankful for the Prebys Foundation's considerate approach and transformative impact," stated Monica Emery, executive director of the Center for World Music. "The Arts Ecosystem grant will enhance our ability to facilitate meaningful connections through world music and dance, nurturing a deep sense of belonging for all."
Classics 4 Kids - "Classics 4 Kids is excited to continue expanding our live orchestra performances, in-school assemblies, and virtual music programs with the support of the Arts Ecosystem Grant. We look forward to deepening our partnerships and reaching more under-resourced and historically underrepresented communities throughout San Diego County." - Kiran Shelat, Executive Director
Cygnet Theatre Company - "San Diego is a vibrant center for arts and culture, and this funding exemplifies our organization's dedication to harnessing the power of theatre to make a positive impact on people and places. We take great pride in the abundance of talented local artists, collectives, musicians, and theaters who continually create impactful works of art that showcase the diversity of our communities. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Prebys Foundation for their support of Cygnet Theatre and the arts in our region." Sean Murray, Artistic Director
Friends of Friendship Park - "All of us at the Friends of Friendship Park are grateful to the Prebys Foundation for investing in the values of transnational solidarity and belonging. The cross-border meeting place known as Friendship Park holds unique potential to serve as a resplendent platform for these values in an age when separation, suspicion, and fearmongering are given such powerful voice." - John Fanestil, Executive Director
Imperial Beach Arts Bureau - "At IBAB, we have a simple goal of making art accessible and fun for everyone that comes to Imperial Beach. We want people to have good memories of their time spent in Imperial Beach, and remembering all the art is a big part of those memories" - Justin Anderson, IBAB President.
La Mesa Park and Recreation Foundation "We are incredible honored and thrilled to receive this grant" said Misty Thompson, Executive Director, "This support marks a significant milestone for our community's arts and cultural development. Thanks to the Prebys Foundation, we are building a vibrant cultural landscape where art and expression can thrive."
Mingei International Museum - "Mingei is thrilled to partner with Prebys Foundation to fulfill our commitment to sparking community connections. These funds will enable the Museum to collaborate with local organizations and artists through a series of creative and accessible community-centered programs." - Jessica Hanson York, Executive Director & CEO
Museum of Us "The "Race: Power, Resistance & Change" exhibit will be a community-centered platform for regional BIPOC artists to share their own narratives, challenge stereotypes and explore the complexities of the cultural constructs of Race. It will expose visitors to the experience of resistance, identity and advocacy for systemic change from the perspective of historically marginalized communities. We are deeply grateful to the Prebys Foundation for supporting this important work." - Micah Parzen, CEO
New Village Arts - "New Village Arts is honored to receive support from the Prebys Foundation in support of our mission of creating adventurous artistic experiences to awaken the human spirit. These funds will be utilized to support the diverse staff at New Village Arts, creating sustainability and enabling growth for the organization. The Prebys Foundation is leading the way in philanthropic support in our region and the impact of their generosity will be felt for generations to come." - Kristianne Kurner, Founder and Executive Artistic Director
Outside the Lens - "Outside the Lens cultivates confidence, creativity, and connection in the next generation of changemakers. We are so grateful for the support of the Prebys Foundation, which will play a pivotal role in expanding our out-of-school programming for San Diego teenagers, creating new opportunities for underserved youth to engage in creative expression and experience community connection."- Sarah Beckman, OTL Executive Director
Pacific Arts Movement - "This partnership underscores our shared commitment to nurturing the next generation of storytellers and ensuring diverse voices are heard and amplified.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Prebys Foundation for their dedication to the arts and their belief in the transformative power of storytelling. Together, we are making a significant impact on the lives of aspiring filmmakers and enriching our cultural landscape.
Thank you for your unwavering support and generosity. This summer marks the 20th year of Reel Voices, and we are excited about the many more years to come." Charles Thunyakij, Reel Voices Education Coordinator
Reuben H Fleet Science Center - "The Fleet Science Center is excited to continue the work that was started with the Art for Planetary Health initiative. We look forward to co-creating programs with community partners and deepening the Fleet's existing relationships in the communities of San Ysidro, National City, Barrio Logan and the Greater Neighborhoods of Southeastern San Diego." Steven Snyder, PhD, President and CEO
San Diego Museum Council Inc - "The Prebys Foundation is directly helping the San Deigo Museum Council make museums more accessible for all San Diegans. With their funding, we are able to remove economic barriers for all people to enjoy the cultural and educational benefits of museums, while also increasing access for museums throughout the region." Bob Lehman, Executive Director
San Diego Museum of Art - "The San Diego Museum of Art is incredibly grateful to the Prebys Foundation for their support of arts in our community. This Prebys grant helps enable critical infrastructure upgrades that will equip us to continue inspiring, educating, and cultivating curiosity in San Diego and beyond." -- Roxana Velasquez, Maruja Baldwin Executive Director and CEO
San Diego Performing Arts League - "The San Diego Performing Arts League is dedicated to fostering a vibrant arts community by ensuring accessible and inclusive opportunities for all. Our mission is to not only enhance public access to the arts, but also to support performing arts professionals in securing meaningful job opportunities. Through support from the Prebys Foundation, we aim to enrich the cultural landscape of San Diego and empower artists to thrive." Jay Henslee, SDPAL Board President
About Prebys Foundation:
Prebys Foundation is the largest independent private foundation in San Diego County, a unique tri-national area encompassing communities from San Diego, Tijuana, and the Kumeyaay Nation. The foundation works to create an inclusive, equitable, and dynamic future for all San Diegans. Prebys advances excellence and shared opportunity through investments in groundbreaking institutions, ideas, and people to ensure more people in the region are financially secure, healthy, empowered, and connected. For more information about the Prebys Foundation, visit prebysfdn.org.
SOURCE The Conrad Prebys Foundation
ACCRA, Ghana, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 31 (local time), a large batch of LiuGong (000528.SZ) equipment was officially delivered to the Ghanaian government to support The District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) as part of the local economic development plan. The Ghanaian government held a grand project launch ceremony at Independence Square in Accra. Approximately 3,000 people attended the event, including Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Mr. Li Yaohong, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, officials from various Ghanaian government departments, LiuGong Chairman & CEO Zeng Guang'an, and Senior Vice President Luo Guobing.
Address by Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana
"Ghana is at a critical stage of rapid development. To achieve economic takeoff, it is essential to first address the key issue of infrastructure construction. The government's procurement of a thousand units of LiuGong equipment has profound significance for improving transportation conditions in our rural areas and enhancing local livelihoods."
Address by Zeng Guang'an, Chairman & CEO of LiuGong
"LiuGong has been active in Africa since the 1990s through Chinese government aid programs. Today, LiuGong supplies equipment and services to numerous customers and major projects across the continent, with over 30,000 units currently in use. Moreover, LiuGong is committed to public welfare and social sustainability. Last year, we launched the Green Alliance Initiative to support public welfare projects in Africa. This year, our project started in South Africa and is planned to be expanded to other countries, aiming to provide clean water to local residents and lay the foundation for a healthy and sustainable life for African people."
LiuGong has provided a thousand units of a full range of construction machinery for DRIP project. These machines will be distributed to 261 counties in Ghana to aid in local economic and social development. In addition, LiuGong has established a call center and spare parts depot in Ghana and set up 16 regional service centers nationwide, offering 24/7 professional services. These service centers aim to respond quickly to customer needs and ensure efficient operation of the equipment. LiuGong also plans to collaborate with local universities to cultivate engineering machinery talent, further advancing localized operations in Africa.
Additionally, on the day prior to the event, LiuGong Chairman & CEO Zeng Guang'an, Senior Vice President Luo Guobing, and other senior executives were received by Ghana's President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The two parties engaged in in-depth discussions regarding LiuGong's business development in Ghana and envisioned promising future collaborations. This meeting further solidified the close cooperative relationship between LiuGong and the Ghanaian government.
In the future, LiuGong will continue to increase investment in the African market, establishing subsidiaries and offices in key countries, deepening relationships with local partners, and building a comprehensive distribution network to contribute more significantly to Africa's modernization process.
SOURCE LiuGong
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Browse in-depth TOC on "Process Automation and Instrumentation Market"
110 Tables
60 Figures
270 Pages
Process Automation and Instrumentation Market Report Scope:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $ 74.2 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $ 98.6 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% Market Size Available for 20202029 Forecast Period 20242029 Forecast Units Value (USD Million/Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Transmitter, Analyzer, PLC, DCS, SCADA, HMI, MES, Industry and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World Key Market Challenge Integration with existing systems and infrastructure Key Market Opportunities Rise of Cloud-based Solutions Key Market Drivers Increasing focus of manufacturing firms on achieving cost saving and better efficiency
Field instruments dominated the global process automation and instrumentation market in 2024.
Field Instruments is expected to dominate the global process automation and instrumentation market in instruments. Field instruments excel in providing accurate and reliable measurements of variables such as temperature, pressure and flow. The ability to provide predictive maintenance through continuous monitoring also helps reduce downtime and operating costs, making them indispensable in the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, food and beverage industry. Field instruments also help in cost saving by reducing manual monitoring and minimizing errors associated with human intervention. They are essential to maintain optimal operational efficiency and safety in industrial systems.
HMI to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period of 2024 to 2029.
Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) are poised to experience the highest growth rate (CAGR) within the process automation market. HMI provide a user-friendly interface that allows operators to monitor, control, and optimize production processes. It helps in efficient decision making, improved productivity and reduces human error. Increasing complexity of processes, rise of IIoT and a focus on security all combine to make HMIs the most dynamic part of the process automation market. The emergence of cloud-based HMI solutions and the increasing use of mobile devices for remote monitoring and control are expected to contribute to the high growth rate of the HMI segment in the process automation market during the forecast period.
Pharmaceuticals to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period of 2024 to 2029.
Pharmaceutical Industry is expected to grow at the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the process automation and instrumentation market, owing to increasing demand for sophisticated tools and equipment to support drug discovery, development, analysis, and modeling of compounds. Companies focus on growth through innovation and adoption of advanced automation technologies, such as human-machine interface (HMI), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), it is expected that operations will increase efficiency, reduce reliance on manual processes, and improve compliance with stringent regulatory standards, contributing to the highest CAGR in the process automation and instrumentation market.
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Asia Pacific to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period of 2024 to 2029.
Asia Pacific is expected to grow with the highest CAGR in the global process automation and instrumentation industry. In Asia Pacific, the demand for process automation and instrumentation solutions is due to rapid industrialization in countries like China, India, and Vietnam which is driving the demand for efficient and automated production processes. The region has shown investments in research and developments while increasing the adoption of advanced technologies, thereby boosting demand for automation solutions. And the government policies aimed at promoting automation and digitalization is further boosts the market. The region's established industries, such as pharmaceuticals, oil & gas, also boost the demand for process automation solutions.
Major companies operating in this process automation and instrumentation companies include ABB (Switzerland), Emerson Electric Co. (US), Siemens (Germany), General Electric Company (US), and Schneider Electric (France).
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INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To help employers and employees address the issue of increasing out-of-pocket health costs, Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America is enhancing its group ancillary insurance offerings with an innovative supplemental health solution. Powered by Ansel Health, an insurance technology company, the new offering enables quick and easy benefit payouts to members when one of 13,000 covered conditions is diagnosed.
Simple, Comprehensive and Effective Coverage Offers Peace of Mind
"As health care costs continue to increase, many employers are looking for solutions that ease the burden of unexpected medical expenses for employees," said Diana Steinhoff, LMHC, President and CEO of Renaissance. "This inventive supplemental health plan provides comprehensive coverage for a broad range of conditions, no medical underwriting requirements, a simplified claims experience and easy administration for employers."
Designed to complement traditional health insurance, supplemental health insurance provides an extra source of support to help cover bills due to a health issue. Plans pay a cash benefit based on diagnosis, with no accident or hospital admission required. In addition, benefit amounts can be customized to help offset health insurance cost sharing. Employers may choose to fund all or a portion of premiums or offer supplemental insurance as a voluntary benefit where the employee pays the premium.
The benefit administration and claims are easily managed through an online platform and mobile app, providing a streamlined experience and expedited benefit payments. Designed with simplicity in mind, the product also offers dedicated support for both employers and employees if questions arise.
Phased Rollout to Begin in Late 2024 in Select Texas and Utah Markets
Renaissance is continually enhancing its benefits solutions with offerings that empower customers to achieve their financial and wellness goals. This new product fits perfectly with that mission. The company will roll out the ability to quote a new supplemental health insurance solution, powered by Ansel, in select Texas and Utah markets in late 2024. Renaissance is targeting a nationwide footprint for this offering, along with an integrated member experience in 2025.
Currently, Renaissance provides customizable dental, vision, life and disability plans to employer groups nationwide, as well as accident insurance to groups in select states. The company specializes in serving smaller groups of up to 250 employees, and it also offers dental and vision insurance for individuals.
Focusing on Employee Wellbeing Provides Bottom Line Benefits, Too
Based on research by Gallup, employers who care for their employee health and wellbeing also see numerous measurable benefits, from higher customer engagement, productivity and profitability to lower turnover and fewer safety incidents.1
"Pursuing strategies to improve healthcare affordability and remove barriers to visiting the doctor enables organizations to enhance their benefits and in turn, help attract and retain workers," said John Feeney, Vice President, Group Sales & Market Development at Renaissance. "We are excited to add this innovative new benefit to our portfolio to assist brokers and clients in creating smart, but simple solutions to bolster employee wellbeing, as well as organizational success."
1 Gallup, "What is Employee Wellbeing? And Why Does It Matter?" https://www.gallup.com/workplace/404105/importance-of-employee-wellbeing.aspx.aspx. Accessed July 2024.
About Renaissance
Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America and its sister company Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of New York underwrite ancillary benefits for employer groups and individuals nationwide. Dental, vision, life and disability insurance comprise the core line of the companies' ancillary benefits solutions. With headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., Renaissance companies are focused on providing their members and partners with outstanding products and services. Visit renaissancebenefits.com , and find us on Facebook , LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) .
About Ansel Health Inc.
Founded in 2019, Ansel Health Inc. ("Ansel") is an insurance technology company on a mission to build a world where health hardships don't create financial hardships. Their new type of supplemental health insurance plan covers 13,000+ conditions and pays cash benefits upon diagnosis of a covered condition with no accident or hospitalization requirements. Ansel is made available in partnership with established insurance carriers that insure tens of millions of Americans and their families. For more information, visit joinansel.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
SOURCE Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America
Digital Offering Allows Defense Tech Provider to Democratize its Offering to Public Investors
PALM BAY, Fla., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Reticulate Micro, Inc. ("Reticulate Micro," "Reticulate" or the "Company"), a commercial and defense technology company dedicated to delivering trusted and resilient communications over any transport and in any environment, has launched its Regulation A stock offering to raise up to $10 million (the "Reg A Offering") to support Reticulate's product and market launch efforts as a leading provider of video compression and tactical and SATCOM management solutions. Its flagship product, VAST, is designed to enable ultra-efficient streaming video and situational awareness in bandwidth-challenged environments.
Reticulate's offering was qualified with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") this week and allows anyone to now invest in the Company. The Reg A Offering has an offering price of $3.50 per unit. Each unit includes one share of the Company's Class A Common Stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company's Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $5.50 per share. The minimum investment is $700 for 200 units and is open to all investors.
The lead selling agents for the transaction include Boustead Securities, LLC, a leading full-service investment banking firm and licensed FINRA member, and Digital Offering LLC, a next-generation investment bank focused on technology and innovation and helping high-quality private and public growth companies access U.S. capital markets.
"We are delighted to launch our capital raise with such an experienced investment banking team who share our vision to democratize our offering to a broad investment pool," said Michael Chermak, Executive Chairman of Reticulate Micro.
Reticulate will utilize the DealMaker platform which allows the public to invest directly in Reticulate's stock: https://invest.reticulate.io
The Company plans to use the proceeds from the Reg A Offering to scale sales and marketing as well as operations, invest in new product development, and expand its IP portfolio.
"We are excited to leverage the funds from our Reg A Offering to accelerate the development and delivery of our cutting-edge VAST video compression technology, ensuring we stay at the forefront of innovation in national security, healthcare, and critical infrastructure," said Joshua Cryer, President and CEO of Reticulate Micro.
Investors can receive additional information on the offering either on Reticulate's investor page at https://reticulate.io/investors/ or via email at [email protected].
About Reticulate Micro, Inc.
Reticulate Micro, Inc ., with headquarters in Palm Bay, Florida, is a commercial and defense technology company dedicated to delivering trusted and resilient communications over any transport and in any environment. Reticulate is building one of the world's first post-quantum-encrypted open-systems platforms for robust video streaming, simplified terminal management and satellite mobile connectivity in austere environments and diverse orbital regimes. Serving the defense, mobility, broadcasting, enterprise infrastructure monitoring and security sectors, Reticulate Micro and its newest business segment Reticulate Space embrace open standards across its software and product offerings.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. In addition, our representatives or we may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing from time to time. We base these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the available information. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future performance, including our financial performance and projections, revenue and earnings growth, and business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical facts, particularly those that use terminology such as "intends," "may," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "contemplates," "estimates," "believes," "plans," "projected," "predicts," "potential," or "hopes" or the negative of these or similar terms.
Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the offering statement filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Company does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.
The offering will be made only by means of an offering circular. An offering statement on Form 1-A relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has become qualified. The securities offered by the Company are highly speculative. Investing in shares of the Company involves significant risks. The investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Furthermore, investors must understand that such investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. No public market currently exists for the securities, and if a public market develops following the offering, it may not continue.
The Company intends to list its securities on a national exchange and doing so entails significant ongoing corporate obligations including but not limited to disclosure, filing and notification requirements, as well compliance with applicable continued quantitative and qualitative listing standards. For additional information on the Company, the offering and any other related topics, please review the Form 1-A offering circular that can be found at the following location EDGAR Entity Landing Page ( sec.gov ). Additional information concerning Risk Factors related to the offering, including those related to the business, government regulations, intellectual property and the offering in general, can be found in the risk factor section of the Form 1-A offering circular.
Contact:
Media:
Reticulate Micro Media Relations
[email protected]
Investor Relations:
Reticulate Micro Investor Relations
[email protected]
SOURCE Reticulate Micro, Inc.
DALLAS, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Senske Services, a premier provider of home services, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Tee Time Lawn Care, a leading lawn care provider based in Illinois. This strategic acquisition aligns with Senske's commitment to expanding its footprint and delivering exceptional services to more customers.
Founded in 2005 by Joseph Daou, Tee Time Lawn Care has built a solid reputation for its high-quality lawn care services and customer-centric approach throughout Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.
"We are thrilled to welcome Tee Time Lawn Care to the Senske Family of Companies," said Casey Taylor, CEO of Senske Services. "Tee Time's dedication to excellence and customer satisfaction aligns perfectly with our values, and we are tremendously excited about further expansion into the Midwest."
Joseph Daou, owner of Tee Time Lawn Care, shared his thoughts on the acquisition: "After nearly two decades of serving our communities, I am pleased to entrust Tee Time Lawn Care to Senske Services. Their reputation for quality service and customer care assures me that our clients will continue to receive the best lawn care in the industry."
The integration of Tee Time Lawn Care into Senske will be seamless, ensuring that customers continue to receive the high level of service they have come to expect. This acquisition will also provide Tee Time employees with access to enhanced resources and opportunities for professional development within Senske's growing organization. Tee Time employees and customers will be managed by Pro Turf & Pro Pest Solutions, a platform brand within the Senske Family of Companies, based in Kansas City, Missouri.
About Senske Services: Since securing investments from the private equity firm GTCR, the Senske Family of Companies has added twelve brands to its portfolio. Senske serves customers in fifteen U.S. states as well as Canada and remains committed to its international expansion strategy by actively seeking partnerships with distinguished home services companies.
More on Senske's M&A process can be found at www.senske.com/why-senske/mergers-and-acquisitions/.
SOURCE Senske Services
HOUSTON, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Potts Law Firm has filed a civil lawsuit against Leroy "Art" Adam, a resident of Round Rock, Texas. This lawsuit comes in addition to the Williamson County District Attorney charging Leroy "Art" Adam with a felony count of indecency with a child under criminal case no. 24-1087-K277.
Leroy Art Adam, 2024
The facts of this case are tragic, horrific to say the least. The victim Jane Doe is 9 years old. The civil lawsuit against Adam reminds us that "Every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their dwelling and surrounding environments," said National Managing Partner Derek Potts. "Sexual abuse of children is a crisis that we can't ignore or turn a blind eye to. As a society, one should have a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior and discrimination."
Leroy "Art" Adam, 2024
The sexual abuse alleged in the civil complaint would destroy any child' s sense of safety, turning a safe abode into a nightmare. The lawsuit (Case No. 24-1432-C395), filed in the 395th District Court of Williamson County, Texas alleges that from 2019 through at least early 2024, Leroy "Art" Adam subjected his own grandchild, Jane Doe, to severe, pervasive sexual abuse, harassment not limited to sexual contact, inappropriate touching, solicitation of nude photos and sexual comments.
This lawsuit will also serve as a message to people who have control over their homes to encourage community dialogue, prohibit victim shaming and any sort of discrimination and/or criminal behavior.
The Potts Law Firm is the nation's leading firm representing survivors in child sexual abuse cases.
SOURCE Potts Law Firm
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against FutureFuel Corp. ("FutureFuel" or the "Company") (NYSE: FF). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
The class action concerns whether FutureFuel and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
You have until August 23, 2024 , to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired FutureFuel 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 10, 2024, FutureFuel disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it "has identified a correction required to be made to its historical consolidated statements of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2023, nine months ended September 30, 2023 and year ended December 31, 2023", "relat[ing] solely to the reported amount of 'Other assets' and the resulting total amount of 'Net Cash Flows From Operating Activities' and the reported amount of 'Collateralization of derivative instruments' and the resulting total amount of 'Net Cash Flows from Investing Activities' in the respective consolidated statements of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2023, nine months ended September 30, 2023 and year ended December 31, 2023 (collectively, the 'Correction')." Accordingly, FutureFuel advised that certain of the Company's previous financial statements should no longer be relied upon and would be restated.
On this news, FutureFuel's stock price fell $0.47 per share, or 8.55%, to close at $5.03 per share on May 13, 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.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Dril-Quip, Inc. ("Dril-Quip" or the "Company") (NYSE: DRQ). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Dril-Quip and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On July 8, 2024, Dril-Quip disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had identified "an error in the classification of certain inventory write-downs from 2021." Specifically, the Company disclosed that it "misclassified inventory write-downs from 2021 totaling approximately $67 million, including $19.3 million related to the 2018 global strategic plan and approximately $47.7 million due to the discontinuation of certain product categories under the 2021 global strategic plan. The Company classified these charges as 'Restructuring and other charges'; however, these charges should have been classified in 'Cost of sales' in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, in accordance with ASC 420-10-S99-3. As a result, 'Cost of sales' was understated and 'Restructuring and other charges' was overstated by $67 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the 'Affected Period')." Accordingly, Dril-Quip stated that its prior statements regarding the Affected Period "should no longer be relied upon" and will be restated. Dril-Quip further stated that "the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023 were not effective."
On this news, Dril-Quip's stock price fell $1.76 per share, or 9.9%, to close at $16.01 per share on July 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.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Stellantis N.V. ("Stellantis" or the "Company") (NYSE: STLA). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Stellantis and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On July 25, 2024, Stellantis issued a press release announcing its financial results for the first half of 2024. The Company reported a steep drop in earnings that fell below forecasts, citing weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations. In addition, Stellantis's Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares indicated that the Company was ready to dispose of underperforming brands in its portfolio, while Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight disclosed the need to take "decisive actions to address operational challenges" in North America, including reducing production and prices for the Company's vehicles.
On this news, Stellantis's stock price fell $1.51 per share, or 7.7%, to close at $18.09 per share on July 25, 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.
CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
Ended the Second Quarter 2024 with $1.14 Billion of Liquidity
DANIA BEACH, Fla., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit Airlines, Inc. ("Spirit" or the "Company") (NYSE: SAVE) today reported second quarter 2024 financial results.
Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results
(unaudited)
As Reported
Adjusted1 Total operating revenues $1,280.9 million
$1,280.9 million Operating income (loss) $(152.5) million
$(166.9) million Operating margin (11.9) %
(13.0) % Net income (loss) $(192.9) million
$(157.9) million Diluted earnings (loss) per share $(1.76)
$(1.44)
"Summer demand remains robust and load factors have been strong; however, significant industry capacity increases together with ancillary pricing changes in the competitive environment have made it difficult to increase yields, resulting in disappointing revenue results for the second quarter of 2024," said Ted Christie, Spirit's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The continued intense competitive battle for the price-sensitive leisure traveler further reinforces our belief that we are on the right path with our transformation plan to redefine low-fare travel with new, high-value travel options that will allow Guests to choose an elevated experience at an affordable price. I want to thank our entire team for their dedication and patience as we execute on these initiatives intended to drive improvement in overall revenue production and put us on the path to profitability."
Transforming our Guest Experience
During the second quarter, Spirit began to execute on its transformation plan to better align its business model with the current market dynamics. On July 30, 2024, Spirit announced the next phase of its go forward strategy. The Company is introducing new offerings, including brand new premium selections, as part of a significant transformation that delivers an even friendlier, more comfortable, and cost-effective travel experience. The new premium selections and experience will range from elevated to economical to meet the needs of all travelers. Spirit will begin offering the new travel options for booking on Aug. 16 and launch the newly transformed Guest experience by August 27, 2024.To date, announced changes include:
Four travel options: Go Big, Go Comfy, Go Savvy and Go
Designated priority check-in at more than 20 airports for Guests who purchase the Go Big fare option or are Free Spirit Gold members or Free Spirit World Elite Mastercard holders
Enhanced boarding experience aimed to reduce boarding time and enhance operational performance
Expanded Guest-friendly policies: All four travel options include the flexibility of no change or cancel fees Increased checked bag weight allowance up to 50 pounds Extended Future Travel Vouchers expiration to 12 months (for vouchers issued on or after June 3, 2024 )
Delivering on Cost Saving Initiatives and Network Changes
On track to achieve $100 million of annual run-rate cost savings with approximately $75 million expected to be achieved by year-end 2024
of annual run-rate cost savings with approximately expected to be achieved by year-end 2024 Initiatives include: Temporarily suspending the recruitment of pilots and flight attendants and related training costs Offering voluntary unpaid leaves of absences to flight attendants Right-sizing overhead and non-crew operational positions Reducing discretionary capital spend Furloughing approximately 240 pilots and downgrading approximately 100 captains
Realigning the network Compared to the third quarter 2023, in the third quarter 2024 the Company will have exited 42 markets and added 77 new ones Offering more day of week routes which allows for route expansion at a lower risk profile Aggressively managing capacity to better match seasonal and daily demand variances Aligning capacity to markets where the supply/demand trends are more in balance
In addition to other liquidity-enhancing initiatives, the Company deferred all aircraft on order with Airbus that were scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2025 through the end of 2026 to 2030-2031
Second Quarter 2024 Operations
System completion factor of 98.5 percent
System controllable completion factor 2 of 99.8 percent
of 99.8 percent Capacity increase of 1.7 percent year over year
Load factor of 83.2 percent, an increase of 0.3 pts year over year
Aircraft utilization of 10.6 hours, down 6.2 percent compared to the second quarter last year of 11.3 hours, primarily due to aircraft unavailable for operational service due to PW1100G-JM geared turbo fan engine availability issues ("AOG")
Second Quarter 2024 Revenues
Elevated domestic industry capacity restrained the Company's ability to drive increased ticket yields, pressuring fare revenue per passenger flight segment ("segment") during the second quarter of 2024. The Company also experienced downward pressure on non-ticket revenue per segment, primarily due to the elimination of charging for change and cancellation fees and competitive price reductions of ancillary items.
Total operating revenues of $1,280.9 million , a decrease of 10.6 percent year over year
, a decrease of 10.6 percent year over year Total revenue per ASM ("TRASM") of 9.05 cents , a decrease of 12.1 percent year over year on 1.7 percent more capacity
, a decrease of 12.1 percent year over year on 1.7 percent more capacity Total revenue per segment of $108.46 , a decrease of 15.3 percent year over year
, a decrease of 15.3 percent year over year Fare revenue per segment of $45.02 , a decrease of 22.2 percent year over year
, a decrease of 22.2 percent year over year Non-ticket revenue per segment of $63.44 ,1 a decrease of 9.6 percent year over year
As the Company executes on its transformation strategy, it anticipates that over time it will be able to drive improvement in total revenue per segment.
Second Quarter 2024 Cost Performance
Total operating expense of $1,433.4 million and adjusted operating expenses of $1,447.8 million 1
and adjusted operating expenses of Adjusted non-fuel cost of $1,040.5 million 1
Average fuel price per gallon of $2.78
Total non-operating expense of $37.1 million
Second Quarter 2024 Liquidity and Capital Deployment
Ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, short-term investment securities and liquidity available under the Company's revolving credit facility of $1.1 billion
Extended the final maturity of its $300 million revolving credit facility to September 30, 2026 , subject to certain conditions
revolving credit facility to , subject to certain conditions Recorded pre-delivery deposit refunds, net of pre-delivery payments of $162.2 million for the six months ending June 30, 2024 , partially offset by $60.6 million spent on the purchase of property and equipment
for the six months ending , partially offset by spent on the purchase of property and equipment Recognized $57.1 million 1 of AOG credits on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of Cash Flows, bringing the year-to-date benefit recognized to $75.0 million 1
of AOG credits on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of Cash Flows, bringing the year-to-date benefit recognized to Estimates AOG credits to be issued in 2024 by Pratt & Whitney for AOG aircraft will benefit full year 2024 liquidity by approximately $150 million to $200 million
"The Spirit management team is focused on returning to profitability, and we believe the transformation plan we recently announced places us on the path to improved financial performance," said Fred Cromer, Spirit's Chief Financial Officer. "We will continue to aggressively manage our costs to maintain our position as a low-cost leader in the industry and to make every effort to maintain adequate liquidity. Earlier this week, we closed on a Direct Lease and Pre-Delivery Payment Transaction that raised, in the aggregate, approximately $186 million. We expect to end the year 2024 with over $1.0 billion of liquidity, including unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, short-term investment securities, liquidity available under our revolving credit facility and additional liquidity initiatives, assuming that we are able to close those initiatives that are currently in process. Meanwhile, we remain in active discussions with the advisors to the noteholders to address the upcoming debt maturities and will provide updates on our progress when appropriate."
Second Quarter 2024 Fleet and NEO Engine Update
Took delivery of four new A320neo aircraft and four new A321neo aircraft
Retired five A319ceo aircraft
Ended the quarter with a fleet of 210 aircraft
Secured $37.2 million of AOG credits to be issued by Pratt & Whitney based on AOG days during the quarter
of AOG credits to be issued by Pratt & Whitney based on AOG days during the quarter Recorded $7.1 million of AOG credits within the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations, of which $3.6 million was recorded as a credit within maintenance, materials and repairs, $2.0 million was recorded as credit within aircraft rent and $1.5 million was recorded as a credit to depreciation and amortization
of AOG credits within the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations, of which was recorded as a credit within maintenance, materials and repairs, was recorded as credit within aircraft rent and was recorded as a credit to depreciation and amortization Estimates that it will average about 20 AOG aircraft for the full year 2024
Spirit intends to discuss appropriate arrangements with Pratt & Whitney in due course for any Spirit AOG aircraft after December 31, 2024
Conference Call/Webcast Detail
Spirit will conduct a conference call to discuss these results today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern U.S. Time. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at https://ir.spirit.com. An archive of the webcast will be available under "Events & Presentations" for 60 days.
About Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is a leading low-fare carrier committed to delivering the best value in the sky by offering an enhanced travel experience with flexible, affordable options. Spirit serves destinations throughout the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean with its Fit Fleet, one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets in the U.S. Spirit is committed to inspiring positive change in the communities it serves through the Spirit Charitable Foundation. Discover elevated travel options with exceptional value at spirit.com.
Forward Looking Guidance
The forward-looking guidance items provided in this release are based on the Company's current estimates and are not a guarantee of future performance. There could be significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Spirit undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements or estimates.
Investors are encouraged to read this press release in conjunction with the company's Investor Update which provides additional information about the company's forward-looking estimates for certain financial metrics and is included along with this press release in the Current Report on Form 8-K furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Investor Update is also available at https://ir.spirit.com. Management will also discuss certain business outlook items during the quarterly earnings conference call.
Investors are also encouraged to read the Company's periodic and current reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, for additional information regarding the Company.
End Notes
(1) See "Reconciliation of Reported Amounts to Adjusted (Non-GAAP) Items" tables below for more details. (2) Excludes the following events, which are outside of the Company's control, from the calculation of completion factor: weather, air traffic and uncontrolled airport/runway closures, which may include acts of nature, disabled aircraft incidents on the runway, political/civil unrest and disturbances preventing normal operations within airline control, among others, and any city/state closures as declared by local authorities and asserted by our Security department.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements in this release and certain oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company contain various forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") which are subject to the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements are based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. All statements other than statements of historical facts are "forward-looking statements" for purposes of these provisions. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "project," "predict," "potential," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, guidance for 2024 and statements regarding the Company's intentions and expectations regarding revenues, cash levels, capacity and passenger demand, additional financing, capital spending, operating costs and expenses, pre-tax income, pre-tax margin, taxes, hiring and furloughs, aircraft deliveries, stakeholders, negotiations and settlement with Pratt & Whitney regarding neo engine availability issues, resolving outstanding indebtedness, vendors and government support. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors include, among others, results of operations and financial condition, the competitive environment in our industry, our ability to keep costs low and the impact of worldwide economic conditions, including the impact of economic cycles or downturns on customer travel behavior and other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as supplemented in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. Risks or uncertainties (i) that are not currently known to us, (ii) that we currently deem to be immaterial, or (iii) that could apply to any company, could also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or future results. Additional information concerning certain factors is contained in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(unaudited, in thousands, except per-share amounts)
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
June 30, Percent
June 30, Percent
2024
2023
Change
2024
2023 Change Operating revenues:
Passenger $ 1,253,803
$ 1,410,061
(11.1)
$ 2,493,113
$ 2,737,534 (8.9) Other 27,086
22,411
20.9
53,313
44,712 19.2 Total operating revenues 1,280,889
1,432,472
(10.6)
2,546,426
2,782,246 (8.5)
Operating expenses:
Aircraft fuel 407,296
391,032
4.2
813,647
878,743 (7.4) Salaries, wages and benefits 418,378
407,705
2.6
849,861
796,890 6.6 Landing fees and other rents 116,064
106,487
9.0
222,782
203,832 9.3 Aircraft rent 125,339
92,101
36.1
240,545
177,368 35.6 Depreciation and amortization 84,486
80,542
4.9
165,832
158,533 4.6 Maintenance, materials and repairs 52,453
56,825
(7.7)
107,368
111,239 (3.5) Distribution 45,923
50,701
(9.4)
91,099
98,718 (7.7) Special charges (credits) (381)
19,972
(101.9)
35,877
33,955 5.7 Loss (gain) on disposal of assets (14,047)
802
NM
(17,076)
7,902 NM Other operating 197,890
206,094
(4.0)
396,340
407,250 (2.7) Total operating expenses 1,433,401
1,412,261
1.5
2,906,275
2,874,430 1.1
Operating income (loss) (152,512)
20,211
NM
(359,849)
(92,184) NM
Other (income) expense:
Interest expense 54,307
28,880
88.0
109,116
80,673 35.3 Loss (gain) on extinguishment of debt
NM
(14,996)
NM Capitalized interest (5,689)
(8,445)
(32.6)
(15,692)
(16,093) (2.5) Interest income (12,169)
(15,962)
(23.8)
(25,759)
(31,396) (18.0) Other (income) expense 665
766
NM
(65,825)
1,308 NM Total other (income) expense 37,114
5,239
NM
(13,156)
34,492 NM
Income (loss) before income taxes (189,626)
14,972
NM
(346,693)
(126,676) NM Provision (benefit) for income taxes 3,301
17,321
(80.9)
(11,131)
(20,416) (45.5)
Net income (loss) $ (192,927)
$ (2,349)
NM
$ (335,562)
$ (106,260) NM Basic earnings (loss) per share $ (1.76)
$ (0.02)
NM
$ (3.07)
$ (0.97) NM Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ (1.76)
$ (0.02)
NM
$ (3.07)
$ (0.97) NM
Weighted-average shares, basic 109,506
109,161
0.3
109,468
109,136 0.3 Weighted-average shares, diluted 109,506
109,161
0.3
109,468
109,136 0.3
NM: "Not Meaningful"
SPIRIT AIRLINES, INC.
Selected Operating Statistics
(unaudited)
Three Months Ended June 30,
Change Operating Statistics 2024
2023
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands) 14,146,192
13,908,113
1.7 % Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands) 11,766,847
11,532,450
2.0 % Load factor (%) 83.2
82.9
0.3 pts Passenger flight segments (thousands) 11,810
11,189
5.6 % Departures 75,925
74,787
1.5 % Total operating revenue per ASM (TRASM) (cents) 9.05
10.30
(12.1) % Average yield (cents) 10.89
12.42
(12.3) % Fare revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 45.02
57.86
(22.2) % Non-ticket revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 63.44
70.17
(9.6) % Total revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 108.46
128.03
(15.3) % CASM (cents) 10.13
10.15
(0.2) % Adjusted CASM (cents) (1) 10.23
9.96
2.7 % Adjusted CASM ex-fuel (cents) (1)(2) 7.36
7.15
2.9 % Fuel gallons consumed (thousands) 146,686
149,513
(1.9) % Average fuel cost per gallon ($) 2.78
2.62
6.1 % Aircraft at end of period 210
198
6.1 % Average daily aircraft utilization (hours) 10.6
11.3
(6.2) % Average stage length (miles) 981
1,016
(3.8) %
Six Months Ended June 30,
Change Operating Statistics 2024
2023
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands) 27,635,211
27,117,249
1.9 % Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands) 22,649,463
22,207,330
2.0 % Load factor (%) 82.0
81.9
0.1 pts Passenger flight segments (thousands) 22,624
21,787
3.8 % Departures 147,846
147,536
0.2 % Total operating revenue per ASM (TRASM) (cents) 9.21
10.26
(10.2) % Average yield (cents) 11.24
12.53
(10.3) % Fare revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 46.48
57.66
(19.4) % Non-ticket revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 66.07
70.04
(5.7) % Total revenue per passenger flight segment ($) 112.55
127.70
(11.9) % CASM (cents) 10.52
10.60
(0.8) % Adjusted CASM (cents) (1) 10.45
10.42
0.3 % Adjusted CASM ex-fuel (cents) (1)(2) 7.51
7.18
4.6 % Fuel gallons consumed (thousands) 286,826
291,855
(1.7) % Average fuel cost per gallon ($) 2.84
3.01
(5.6) % Aircraft at end of period 210
198
6.1 % Average daily aircraft utilization (hours) 10.5
11.3
(7.1) % Average stage length (miles) 988
1,004
(2.0) %
(1) Excludes operating special items. (2) Excludes fuel expense and operating special items.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted operating expenses, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted operating margin, Adjusted operating margin adjusted for AOG credits, Adjusted income (loss) before income taxes, Adjusted pre-tax margin, Adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted provision (benefit) for income taxes, Adjusted net income (loss) per share, diluted, Adjusted CASM and Adjusted CASM ex-fuel. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided as supplemental information to the financial information presented in this press release that is calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and these non-GAAP financial measures are presented because management believes that they supplement or enhance management's, analysts' and investors' overall understanding of the Company's underlying financial performance and trends and facilitate comparisons among current, past and future periods.
Because the non-GAAP financial measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered superior to and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP financial measures presented in the press release and may not be the same as or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies due to possible differences in the method of calculation and in the items being adjusted. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.
The information below provides an explanation of certain adjustments reflected in the non-GAAP financial measures and shows a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures reported in this press release (other than forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures) to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Within the financial tables presented, certain columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers. Per unit amounts presented are calculated from the underlying amounts.
The Company believes that adjusting for a litigation loss contingency (recorded within other operating expenses within the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations), loss (gain) on disposal of assets and special charges (credits) is useful to investors because these items are not indicative of the Company's ongoing performance and the adjustments are similar to those made by our peers and allow for enhanced comparability to other airlines.
Operating expenses per available seat mile ("CASM") is a common metric used in the airline industry to measure an airline's cost structure and efficiency. We exclude aircraft fuel and related taxes and special items from operating expenses to determine Adjusted CASM ex-fuel. We also believe that excluding fuel costs from certain measures is useful to investors because it provides an additional measure of management's performance excluding the effects of a significant cost item over which management has limited influence and increases comparability with other airlines that also provide a similar metric.
Reconciliation of Reported Amounts to Adjusted (Non-GAAP) Items (See Note Regarding Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures) Within the tables presented, certain amounts may not add due to the use of rounded numbers (in thousands, except per share or per unit amounts) (unaudited)
Three Months Ended
June 30,
2024
2023 Operating revenues
Fare $ 531,652
$ 647,344 Non-fare 722,151
762,717 Total passenger revenues 1,253,803
1,410,061 Other revenues 27,086
22,411 Total operating revenues $ 1,280,889
$ 1,432,472
Non-ticket revenues (1) $ 749,237
$ 785,128
Passenger segments 11,810
11,189
Non-ticket revenue per passenger flight segment ($) $ 63.44
$ 70.17
Special Items (2)
Operating special items include the following:
Litigation loss contingency (3) $
$ 6,000 Loss (gain) on disposal of assets (4) (14,047)
802 Operating special charges (credits) (5) (381)
19,972 Total operating special items $ (14,428)
$ 26,774
Total operating expenses, as reported $ 1,433,401
$ 1,412,261 Less: Operating special items (14,428)
26,774 Adj. Operating expenses, non-GAAP (6) $ 1,447,829
$ 1,385,487 Less: Aircraft fuel expense 407,296
391,032 Adj. Operating expenses excluding fuel, non-GAAP (7) $ 1,040,533
$ 994,455
Available seat miles 14,146,192
13,908,113
CASM (cents) 10.13
10.15 Adj. CASM (cents) (6) 10.23
9.96 Adj. CASM ex-fuel (cents) (7) 7.36
7.15
Reconciliation of Reported Amounts to Adjusted (Non-GAAP) Items (See Note Regarding Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures) Within the tables presented, certain amounts may not add due to the use of rounded numbers (in thousands, except per share or per unit amounts) (unaudited)
Three Months Ended
June 30,
2024
2023 Operating income (loss), as reported $ (152,512)
$ 20,211 Operating margin (11.9) %
1.4 % Add: Operating special items expense (14,428)
26,774 Adj. Operating income (loss), non-GAAP (6) $ (166,940)
$ 46,985 Adj. Operating margin, non-GAAP (6) (13.0) %
3.3 %
Add: Adj. for AOG credit $ 30,128
$ Adj. Operating income (loss), non-GAAP (8) $ (136,812)
$ Adj. Operating margin adj. for AOG credits (8) (10.7) %
%
Income (loss) before income taxes, as reported $ (189,626)
$ 14,972 Pre-tax margin (14.8) %
1.0 % Less: Operating special items expense (14,428)
26,774 Adj. Income (loss) before income taxes, non-GAAP (9) $ (204,054)
$ 41,746 Adj. Pre-tax margin, non-GAAP (9) (15.9) %
2.9 %
Provision (benefit) for income taxes, as reported $ 3,301
$ 17,321 Less: Net income (loss) tax impact of special items 49,417
7,886 Adj. Provision (benefit) for income taxes, non-GAAP (10) $ (46,116)
$ 9,435
Net income (loss), as reported $ (192,927)
$ (2,349) Less: Operating special items expense (14,428)
26,774 Less: Net income (loss) tax impact of special items 49,417
7,886 Adj. Net income (loss), non-GAAP (9) $ (157,938)
$ 32,311
Weighted-average shares, diluted 109,506
111,711 Net income (loss) per share, diluted, as reported $ (1.76)
$ (0.02) Add: Impact of special items (0.13)
0.25 Add: Tax impact of special items (11) 0.45
0.07 Adj. Net income (loss) per share, diluted, non-GAAP (2) $ (1.44)
$ 0.29
(1) Non-ticket revenues equal the sum of non-fare passenger revenues and other revenues. (2) Refer to the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional information. (3) 2023 includes a $6 million litigation loss contingency (recorded within other operating expenses within the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations). (4) 2024 includes gains on four aircraft sale-leaseback transactions and net gains on the sale of five A319 airframes and nine engines. 2023 includes losses related to the write-off of obsolete assets and other adjustments, partially offset by gains on three aircraft sale-leaseback transactions and net gains on the sale of three A319 airframes and four A319 engines. (5) 2023 includes legal, advisory, retention award program and other fees related to the former Agreement and Plan of Merger with JetBlue and Sundown Acquisition Corp. (6) Excludes operating special items. Refer to the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional information. (7) Excludes operating special items and aircraft fuel expense. Refer to the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional information. (8) Excludes special items and adjusts for the difference between the AOG credits to be received related to the AOG aircraft in the second quarter 2024 and the AOG credits recognized in the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations for the second quarter 2024. (9) Excludes total special items. Refer to the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for additional information. (10) The Company determined the Adjusted Provision (benefit) for income taxes using its statutory tax rate. (11) Reflects the difference between the Company's GAAP Provision (benefit) for income taxes and Adjusted Provision (benefit) for income taxes as presented on a per share basis.
The following supplemental information is provided to illustrate how the AOG credits earned during the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 were recognized on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.
AOG credits were recognized on the Company's condensed consolidated statements of cash flows as follows:
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended (in millions) June 30, 2024
June 30, 2024 Net income (loss): $ 7.1
$ 8.7
Less:
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in)
operations:
Depreciation and amortization 1.5
1.5 Add:
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Deferred heavy maintenance 35.8
43.9 Net cash provided (used in) operating activities $ 41.4
$ 51.1
Investing activities:
Purchase of property and equipment $ 15.8
$ 23.9 Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ 15.8
$ 23.9
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash related
to AOG credits recognized $ 57.1
$ 75.0
For the full year 2024 the Company estimates AOG credits to be issued by Pratt & Whitney in 2024 will benefit 2024 liquidity by approximately $150 million to $200 million. Through June 30, 2024, Pratt & Whitney has agreed to issue the Company $93.9 million in AOG credits, of which the Company has recognized $75.0 million. The difference remaining between the amount of credits Pratt & Whitney has agreed to issue and the amount the Company has recognized will be recognized in the future as reductions in the cost basis of goods and services purchased from Pratt & Whitney.
SOURCE Spirit Airlines
The structural steel tube market is growing due to rise in construction activities, increase in infrastructure investments, and rise in demand for durable, versatile building materials. Advances in manufacturing technology and sustainable practices further drive the market growth, positioning structural steel tubes as a critical component in modern construction and engineering projects.
WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Structural Steel Tube Market By Type (Hot-Rolled Steel and Cold-Rolled Steel), Material (Stainless Steel Tube, Carbon Steel Tube, Alloy Steel Tube, and Others), Sales Type (Direct, Distribution), and Application (Industrial Machinery, Medical, Aerospace and Defense, Transportation, Construction, Automotive, Energy, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, "the structural steel tube market" was valued at $105.3 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $167.5 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2024 to 2033.
Prime determinants of structural steel tube market growth
The global structural steel tube market is experiencing growth due to infrastructure development and technological advancements. However, fluctuations in raw material prices and environmental regulations hinder the market growth. Moreover, rise in demand for steel tubes from emerging markets, and global awareness towards sustainability provide opportunities for expanding the structural steel tube market.
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Report coverage & details:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2024203 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2023 $105.3 million Market Size in 2033 $167.5 billion CAGR 4.8 % No. of Pages in Report 375 Segments Covered Type, Material, Sales Type, Application, and Region Drivers Infrastructure development Technological advancements Opportunity Rise in demand for steel tubes from emerging markets Global awareness towards sustainability Restraint Fluctuating raw material price Environment guidelines
The hot-rolled steel segment is expected to dominate during the forecast period.
The hot-rolled steel type segment dominated the structural steel tube market in 2023, due to its superior mechanical properties, cost-effectiveness, and versatility in various industries. Hot-rolled steel tubes are manufactured by rolling steel at high temperatures, which makes the steel easier to shape and form, resulting in stronger and more durable products. This process also allows the production of larger sizes and varied shapes, catering to diverse construction and industrial applications.
Hot-rolled steel tubes are preferred in construction projects for their robustness, that are essential for structural integrity in buildings, bridges, and other infrastructure. Additionally, they offer better weldability and machinability, simplifying fabrication and reducing labor costs. The lower production costs of hot-rolled steel compared to cold-rolled alternatives make it a more economical choice for large-scale projects. These factors collectively drive the dominance of hot-rolled steel tubes in the structural steel tube market, meeting the high demand for reliable and affordable building materials.
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The carbon steel tube segment is expected to dominate during the forecast period.
The carbon steel tube material segment dominated the structural steel tube market in 2023, due to its superior mechanical properties, cost-effectiveness, and wide availability. Carbon steel tubes offer high tensile strength, durability, and resistance to wear and tear, making them ideal for demanding construction and engineering applications. In addition, carbon steel is more affordable compared to other materials like stainless steel or aluminum, providing a cost-efficient solution for large-scale projects. Its versatility allows for easy fabrication and welding, further enhancing its appeal in various industries such as construction, automotive, and manufacturing. Moreover, advancements in carbon steel production techniques have improved its quality and performance, reinforcing its dominance in the market. The combination of these factors such as strength, affordability, versatility, and technological advancements ensures that carbon steel tubes remain the preferred choice for structural applications, driving their significant market share.
The distribution segment is expected to dominate during the forecast period.
The distribution segment dominated the structural steel tube market in 2023, due to its extensive network, which ensures wide market coverage and accessibility. Distributors often have established relationships with numerous buyers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, enabling efficient supply chain management and timely delivery of products. Their ability to offer various products from multiple manufacturers also provides customers with a broader selection, enhancing their purchasing convenience.
The construction segment dominated the structural steel tube market in 2023.
The construction segment dominated the structural steel tube market in 2023, due to the extensive use of these tubes in various infrastructure projects, including commercial buildings, residential complexes, and industrial facilities. Structural steel tubes offer high strength, durability, and flexibility, making them ideal for withstanding heavy loads and ensuring structural integrity in construction. In addition, the growing trend of urbanization and the need for modern infrastructure drive the demand for structural steel tubes in the construction industry.
However, the medical segment is the fastest-growing due to the increasing adoption of advanced medical equipment and devices. Structural steel tubes are essential in manufacturing hospital beds, surgical instruments, and diagnostic equipment due to their biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and ease of sterilization. The rise in healthcare infrastructure development, coupled with advancements in medical technology, fuels the rapid growth of structural steel tubes in the medical sector, catering to the escalating healthcare demands.
The Asia-pacific segment to dominate the market by 2033.
Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in 2023. Rapid urbanization and industrialization in countries like China and India drive significant demand for construction and infrastructure projects. These nations invest heavily in building residential, commercial, and industrial structures, requiring substantial quantities of structural steel tubes for their strength and durability.
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In addition, government initiatives and policies in the region, aimed at improving infrastructure and boosting economic growth, further stimulate market demand. The availability of raw materials and cost-effective manufacturing processes in Asia-Pacific contributes to its leading position. Moreover, the expansion of the automotive and aerospace industries in the Asia-Pacific region fuels the need for structural steel tubes in various applications. Technological advancements and innovations in steel production enhance product quality and performance, making the region a key player in the global structural steel tube market.
Leading Market Players: -
Arcelor Mittal
Tata Steel
JFE Steel Corporation
Nippon Steel Corporation.
Posco Holdings Inc.
Baosteel Group Corporation
Hyundai Steel
Nucor Corporation
Maanshan Iron and Steel Company Limited
Gerdau S.A.
Apl Apollo Tubes Ltd.
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the structural steel tube market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
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Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
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SOURCE Allied Market Research
According to AdoptAClassroom.org, 92% of teachers nationwide have students whose families cannot afford to purchase school supplies for their children. This has led to teachers spending an average of $860 per year to help provide for their classrooms.
Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc.: "At Subaru, we believe that every student deserves a fair opportunity at a quality education. We are incredibly proud of the progress achieved in supporting over 750,000 students, and we know the importance of continuing to support students and teachers around the country to have the best learning environment possible."
Together, Subaru and its retailers are working to help students in high-needs* schools by providing teachers across the country with funding to purchase these supplies and resources. Many participating retailers will also be donating school supply kits with materials that are highly requested by teachers.
Ann Pifer, Executive Director of AdoptAClassroom.org: "This record number of students being supported would not be possible without the help of the Subaru community. We are grateful to extend our partnership with Subaru for a fourth year in a row and sincerely thank Subaru and its retailers for the difference they make in the lives and educational opportunities of students and teachers around the country."
To kick off the 2024 program, Subaru will continue to support students in the Camden City School District (CCSD) by once again adopting all kindergarten to fifth grade (K-5) classrooms near the automaker's headquarters in Camden, NJ. This latest hometown effort will impact over 2,090 students and 122 classrooms across eight different schools. Adopting every elementary school in the CCSD is just one of the many ways Subaru continues to do its part to be More Than a Car Company for its community.
To learn more about the Subaru Loves Learning initiative and the partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org, visit subaru.com/learning or follow #SubaruLovesLearning on social media.
*High-need is defined as a school that has a Title I Schoolwide Program and/or a school where 40% or more of the student population qualifies for the Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Program.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts, and accessories through a network of about 640 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill plants, including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., the only U.S. automobile manufacturing plant designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA and the SOA Foundation have donated more than $320 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged over 100,000 volunteer hours. Subaru is dedicated to being More Than a Car Company and to making the world a better place. For additional information, visit media.subaru.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
About AdoptAClassroom.org
AdoptAClassroom.org believes every child deserves the tools and materials they need to learn and thrive in school. To achieve this, teachers are spending an average of $860 of their own money each year on their classrooms. AdoptAClassroom.org is a national nonprofit that funds PreK-12 teachers and schools across the U.S. to help equip more classrooms and students for success and offset the financial burden on teachers. Since 1998, AdoptAClassroom.org has raised $73 million and equipped more than seven million students across the U.S. 90% of all funded classrooms are considered high needs. The 501(c)(3) holds the highest 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and the highest transparency rating offered by Candid/GuideStar. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.adoptaclassroom.org .
Diane Anton
Subaru of America, Inc.
856-488-5093
[email protected]
Adam Leiter
Subaru of America, Inc.
(856) 488-8668
[email protected]
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SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.
America's Most Trusted Home Builder built this year's charity home
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Morrison, America's Most Trusted Home Builder, and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA) today announced the completion of the HBA Benefit Home located in the Taylor Morrison Travisso community. Taylor Morrison donated the residential lot and built the charity home. The proceeds of the sale will benefit the HBA, and the HBA will donate half of the funds to HomeAid Austin, a local non-profit providing supportive housing and services for the at risk and unhoused population.
The HBA Benefit Home is the annual construction of a home built mostly if not entirely through donations of construction management, materials, supplies, labor and financial support of the members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin. The Benefit Home offers the HBA a unique opportunity to give back to the larger community, specifically to designated beneficiaries who are significantly and positively impacting the Greater Austin community.
"Our team was truly inspired to sponsor and build this year's Benefit Home, as we are community-centric and strive to create lasting impressions on our neighbors," said Taylor Morrison Austin Division President, April Whitaker. "We are thankful for the opportunity to continue our philanthropic work with the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and look forward to seeing how the proceeds bring projects to fruition for HomeAid Austin."
Since the construction of the first Benefit Home in 1991, the HBA of Greater Austin and its members have raised over $2.7 million for local charities through this program.
"For over three decades, the Benefit Home has played a significant role in giving back to the community and it wouldn't be possible without support from the sponsors and members of the HBA," said Home Builders Association of Greater Austin CEO, Taylor Jackson. "Taylor Morrison continues to positively impact the local community through its philanthropy, and we could not be more grateful for their contribution as this year's sponsor and builder."
About Taylor Morrison
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is one of the nation's leading homebuilders and developers. We serve a wide array of consumers from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury and resort lifestyle homebuyers and renters under our family of brandsincluding Taylor Morrison, Esplanade, Darling Homes Collection by Taylor Morrison and Yardly. From 2016-2024, Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America's Most Trusted Builder by Lifestory Research. Our strong commitment to sustainability, our communities and our team is highlighted in our latest annual Sustainability and Belonging Report.
For more information about Taylor Morrison, please visit www.taylormorrison.com.
About the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA)
Since 1953, the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA) has served as the leading professional trade organization dedicated to residential construction and remodeling in Central Texas. With more than 750 member companies and thousands of community members, the HBA works with government, public, business and community organizations in six counties Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Lee, Travis, and Williamson.
About HomeAid Austin
HomeAid Austin's mission is to build new lives for Austin's individuals and families who are at risk of or are currently unhoused through construction and community outreach. Through value engineering, which includes deeply discounted supplies and materials along with donated labor, the organization aids build projects across the entire continuum of care, from emergency shelters and transitional housing to permanent/supportive housing. Every HomeAid project supports an agency that provides services that help residents move toward self-sufficiency, such as education and job skills training and physical and emotional support.
CONTACT: Tara Shultz
(480) 466-3339
[email protected]
SOURCE Taylor Morrison
TYLER, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Sam Eljammal, MD is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member for his contributions in Leading Critical Care Medicine.
Sam Eljammal
Dr. Sam Eljammal stands as a beacon of expertise in critical care medicine, dedicating his career to treating critically ill patients in the intensive care unit. With a commitment to excellence and compassion, Dr. Eljammal performs all necessary procedures with precision, supported by a team of expert medical professionals. Additionally, he has been honored with the appointment as the Medical Director for the Tyler Continuous Care Hospital.
Dr. Eljammal's journey in medicine began with a solid foundation, earning his MD from King Hassan II Medical School in Casablanca, Morocco. He further honed his skills through rigorous training, completing his internal medicine residency and fellowship in pulmonology and critical care medicine at the University of Southern California. Board certified in internal medicine, pulmonology, and critical care medicine, Dr. Eljammal brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his practice.
Throughout his career, Dr. Eljammal has been actively involved in professional associations, including the Texas Medical Board, the Medical Association of Smith County, and the Society for Critical Care Medicine. He also demonstrates his commitment to community well-being through participation in medical awareness events sponsored by Christus Health.
As a critical care medicine based in Tyler, Texas, Dr. Eljammal's dedication to his patients is unwavering. He attributes much of his success to the guidance and mentorship of esteemed colleagues, including Zea Borok, MD; Michael Irwin, MD; and David Kelly, MD.
With a steadfast commitment to excellence and a passion for serving his community, Dr. Sam Eljammal continues to make a profound impact in the field of critical care medicine. His leadership and expertise ensure that critically ill patients receive the highest level of care, paving the way for brighter and healthier futures.
Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]
SOURCE The Inner Circle
From beds to lamps to pedestals, digital and retail icon Ballard Designs shows lovely organic shapeliness in its new assortment this August.
ATLANTA, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Organic modern bedroom trends dominate the decorating conversation in shelter magazines, social channels, and home fashion. Increasingly popular, the style blends the best of modern design with cozy neutrals, organic shapes, and natural textures to create a look that feels warm, invitingly serene, and just right for today.
New, organic modern bedroom furnishings at Ballard Designs starting August, 2024. Serenity, calm and cozy in trending shapes and colors. The Dover spool bed 4 poster, new at Ballard Designs, part of the new bedroom furniture collection for 2024.
This month, omnichannel retailer Ballard Designs introduces new home furnishings and decor perfect for designing the ideal organic modern bedroom. At its heart and soul, this trending bedroom look is about serenity. Achieving that soothing mood can be as simple as reserving space for yourself.
According to company president, Karen Mooney, the timing of Ballard's latest product releases couldn't be better.
"Now more than ever, we all need a special place to retreat from the noisy world outside," Mooney said. "With summer's end and the hectic fall and holidays ahead, it's important to create a self-space in your bedroom where you can relax your body, soothe your mind, and rejuvenate your soul."
The organic modern bedroom is as much about feel as it is looks. Cozy textiles and rugs play integral parts in the design, providing the comfort, texture, and warmth needed for a serene, tranquil environment.
Ballard's new Amina Rug is hand tufted of plush wool in cozy tones.
The yarns are Gabbeh-dyed to capture the look of a handmade tribal antique.
Ballard's new Gali Pillow picks up on the artisan theme.
Wonderfully soft with a chenille-like hand, the vintage Persian floral motif is blooming in hues of sage green, orange, and cinnamon all earthy tones that help ground the soothing space.
picks up on the artisan theme.
Art and accents transform a bedroom into a truly personal haven. In Ballard's soon-to-be-released "Go the Distance" landscape, water, woods, and sky meld into a dreamy world of restful color. Soft brushstrokes of deep green, French blue, and lavender provide the perfect antidote for a restless mind.
"Every bedroom retreat needs a special spot for curling up, reading, and just being you," Ballard's president Mooney adds. "A comfortable chair by the window, a sculptural lamp for warm glow, and a cozy throw are really all it takes to create that nurturing, self-care moment."
Natural wood elements are also key in achieving the organic modern style.
Ballard's new Dover Bed captures the romance of classic American spool furniture in hand carved solid oak.
The shapely spindle details add warmth and artisanal texture to your bedroom retreat, making it feel cozy and inviting.
Simple lines and rustic finishes are another ingredient when creating the perfect bedroom. Ballard Designs' chunky Rebekah round pedestal table offers both.
Sculpted of cast aluminum, the chunky belly base is hand finished in faux aged verdigris for a punch of rustic green color. The reclaimed pine wood top with rich brown stain adds dramatic contrast and utilizes sustainable materials, both basic principles of organic modern design.
About Ballard Designs
Since 1982, Ballard Designs has offered a unique curation of home furnishings and decor from all periods and provenance. Its designers travel the world for inspiration, translating the latest trends in fashion, color and style into finely crafted, proprietary products. Ballard Designs is part of Qurate Retail Group which includes QVC, HSN, Frontgate, Garnet Hill and Grandin Road.
Media Contact:
Ann Bailey | 404-603-7239 | 381159@email4pr.
SOURCE Ballard Designs
Charlotte residents will have expanded access to baked-to-order treats delivered straight to their door.
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiff's Treats, the original warm cookie delivery company, has officially launched a new delivery-only outpost in Charlotte's Belgate neighborhood today, August 1st, marking the newest delivery location in North Carolina for the beloved baked goods and gifting brand, complementing retail locations in Waverly, Uptown, and NorthPark. Charlotte-area residents can continue to spread cookie kindness and celebrate occasions of all kinds with their loved ones, enjoying gifts of hot and fresh treats that are baked-to-order and delivered on-demand.
Tiff's Treats
"We are excited to expand Tiff's Treats in Charlotte," said Tiffany Chen, co-founder and chief creative officer of Tiff's Treats. "We look forward to continuing to provide our signature treats to this community and being a resource for reliable, personal, and affordable gifting through sweet treats, whether it's a major milestone or a treat yourself occasion."
Founded by Tiffany and Leon Chen when they were sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin, the brand has earned millions of loyal fans with its unique straight-from-the-oven delivery model and has grown to over 130 locations and counting. This opening is one of the many recent growth milestones for Tiff's Treats this summer, which will continue to expand in other cities and states throughout the year.
Charlotte residents will be able to have treats baked-to-order and delivered warm to their doorstep Monday Sunday from 10 a.m. 9:15 p.m. Cookie flavors include all of Tiff's Treats' classic favorites, as well as a rotating Flavor of the Month. Flavors include Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Sugar Cookie with M&Ms, Double Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Pecan Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, White Chip Almond, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Catering trays, milk and select specialty packaging will be available for special occasions like birthdays and thank you's. The new locations will also boast a new flavor in honor of Tiff's Treats' 25th anniversary, Birthday Confetti with white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
Residents in Charlotte can also receive 50% off their first order of warm cookies from Tiff's Treats when they sign up at this link HERE.
Tiff's Treats warm cookie delivery is available now in the Charlotte Belgate area. Orders can be placed through cookiedelivery.com, the Tiff's Treats mobile app, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
ABOUT TIFF'S TREATS
In 1999, Tiffany Taylor accidentally stood up Leon Chen for a date. As an apology, she baked and delivered a batch of warm cookies, and the concept of warm cookie delivery was born. Tiff and Leon, just 19-year-old sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin at the time, opened Tiff's Treats with $20, a cell phone and a dream. Since then, the business has grown to over 130 retail distribution locations and counting in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, California, Kentucky, and New Mexico, with more than 1,700 employees. The founders are now married and the business continues to grow, but Tiff's Treats has the same core mission: creating memorable moments with treats baked to order and delivered warm. Customers can order online at cookiedelivery.com, with the Tiff's Treats app or by phone, all supported by industry-leading technology and customer service.
SOURCE Tiff's Treats
The delivery-only location is the brand's first venture into the Greensboro metro area, following openings in Charlotte and Raleigh.
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiff's Treats , the original warm cookie delivery company, officially launched a new delivery-only outpost in Greensboro, North Carolina today August 1st, marking the eighth location in the state for the beloved baked goods and gifting brand, and the first Tiff's Treats location in Greensboro.
Greensboro-area residents will be able to spread cookie kindness and celebrate occasions of all kinds with their loved ones, enjoying gifts of hot and fresh treats that are baked-to-order and delivered on-demand.
Tiff's Treats (PRNewsfoto/Tiff's Treats)
"We're ecstatic to expand the reach of Tiff's Treats in the Tar Heel State," said Tiffany Chen, co-founder and chief creative officer of Tiff's Treats. "Our fans have been asking for us to come to Greensboro for years, and we're so glad that dream is now a reality. We hope that the community will embrace the idea of cookie kindness and share a bit of love with their friends and family with gifts of warm cookie deliveries for all of life's special occasions."
Founded by Tiffany and Leon Chen when they were sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin, the brand has earned millions of loyal fans with its unique straight-from-the-oven delivery model and has grown to over 130 locations and counting. The Greensboro opening is the latest step of many growth milestones for Tiff's Treats, which will continue to expand in other states throughout the year and recently opened two new delivery-only locations in the Raleigh area.
Greensboro residents will be able to have treats baked-to-order and delivered warm to their doorstep Monday Sunday from 10 a.m. 9:15 p.m. Cookie flavors include all of Tiff's Treats' classic favorites, as well as a rotating Flavor of the Month. Flavors include Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Sugar Cookie with M&Ms, Double Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Pecan Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, White Chip Almond, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Catering trays, milk and select specialty packaging will be available for special occasions like birthdays and thank you's. The new locations will also boast a new flavor in honor of Tiff's Treats' 25th anniversary, Birthday Confetti with white chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles.
Residents in Greensboro can also receive 50% off their first order of warm cookies from Tiff's Treats when they sign up at this link HERE .
Greensboro's Tiff's Treats delivery will officially launch on August 1st. Orders can be placed through cookiedelivery.com , the Tiff's Treats mobile app, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
ABOUT TIFF'S TREATS
In 1999, Tiffany Taylor accidentally stood up Leon Chen for a date. As an apology, she baked and delivered a batch of warm cookies, and the concept of warm cookie delivery was born. Tiff and Leon, just 19-year-old sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin at the time, opened Tiff's Treats with $20, a cell phone and a dream. Since then, the business has grown to over 130 retail distribution locations and counting in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, California, Kentucky, and New Mexico, with more than 1,700 employees. The founders are now married and the business continues to grow, but Tiff's Treats has the same core mission: creating memorable moments with treats baked to order and delivered warm . Customers can order online at cookiedelivery.com, with the Tiff's Treats app or by phone, all supported by industry-leading technology and customer service.
SOURCE Tiff's Treats
VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard today announced an upcoming change to the portfolio managers of Vanguard Health Care Fund. Jean Hynes will step down as co-portfolio manager of the fund in January 2025. Ms. Hynes will continue to serve as the CEO and a Managing Partner of Wellington Management. Rebecca Sykes, CFA, who has worked closely with Ms. Hynes since joining Wellington Management's Health Care Team in 2007 and has advised the fund as co-portfolio manager since May 2023, will become the sole portfolio manager. The change is part of a thoughtful, long-term succession plan that ensures continuity for investors in the industry's largest health care fund.
Ms. Hynes has focused on the health care sector throughout her 33-year career at Wellington Management, and she has served as a portfolio manager on the Health Care Fund since 2008. During her distinguished tenure as a portfolio manager, the Health Care Fund has outperformed its benchmark by more than 1.6% per year, and fund assets have doubled from $23 billion to $48 billion as of June 30, 2024. Ms. Hynes will continue to serve as a resource to Ms. Sykes and the broader Wellington Health Care Team.
"Jean is a widely respected and incredibly talented leader and investor with deep knowledge of the health care sector built over decades," said Karin Risi, managing director of Strategy, Product, Marketing and Communications at Vanguard. "Vanguard is indebted to Jean for all she's doneand continues to dofor our clients, including the fund's impressive performance under her leadership and her strong commitment to developing a highly skilled and experienced team of health care investors. We have full confidence in Rebecca as she steps up to be the sole portfolio manager of Vanguard Health Care Fund."
Ms. Sykes joined Wellington Management as a member of the Health Care Team in 2007. She is a Global Industry Analyst and health care portfolio manager, and team leader for Wellington's 15-person Health Care sector research team. Ms. Sykes earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School and a B.S. in economics, finance, and healthcare management from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated magna cum laude. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.
"The Vanguard Health Care Fund has such an amazing legacy, going back to 1984 with original portfolio manager Edward Owens, who was a legendary investor, a mentor to me, and a visionary leader of our Health Care Team," said Ms. Hynes. "I am confident that the fund's shareholders are in good hands with Rebecca Sykes at the helm. She is an experienced and extremely skilled investor and a great example of the depth of Wellington Management's investment talent. I'm excited to see her take over as the fund's lead portfolio manager."
Throughout her tenure at Wellington, Ms. Hynes was a Global Industry Analyst covering the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors through 2013, became sole portfolio manager and leader of the Health Care Team in 2013, was elected one of three Managing Partners in 2014, and was appointed CEO in 2021. She is the fifth CEO in the firm's history and the first female to hold the position. Ms. Hynes is a recipient of several industry awards including Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance for the last five years and Morningstar's Top Female Fund Managers of 2024.
About Vanguard
Founded in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's leading investment management companies. The firm offers investments, advice, and retirement services to tens of millions of individual investors around the globedirectly, through workplace plans, and through financial intermediaries. Vanguard operates under a unique, investor-owned structure where Vanguard fund shareholders own the funds, which in turn own Vanguard. As such, Vanguard adheres to a simple purpose: To take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly, and to give them the best chance for investment success. For more information, visit vanguard.com.
For more information about Vanguard funds, visit vanguard.com or call 800-523-1036 to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information about a fund are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.
The performance data shown represent past performance, which is not a guarantee of future results. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate, so that investors' shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data cited. You can view Vanguard Health Care Fund current month-end-performance data and standardized performance (1-, 5-, and 10-year returns) and expense ratio information here.
All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.
2024 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
SOURCE Vanguard
POMONA, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Western University of Health Sciences has selected John Tegzes, MA, VMD, Dipl. ABVT, as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, effective July 15, 2024. Dr. Tegzes is highly accomplished with an extensive career that spans over three decades and encompasses clinical practice, academia, research, and leadership roles.
John Tegzes, MA, VMD, Dipl. ABVT, is the new Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences. (Jeff Malet, WesternU)
Dr. Tegzes began his tenure at WesternU as an Associate Professor of Toxicology for the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2003 the year of CVM's inaugural class. He has also taught toxicology for the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and the College of Pharmacy. He served as Director of WesternU's Interprofessional Practice & Education (IPE) program and as CVM's interim dean. He is a prolific researcher and author whose research interests include interprofessional education, toxicology, and animal health.
"We are excited about the future of the College of Veterinary Medicine as we move forward with this appointment," said WesternU Provost and Chief Academic Officer Paula M. Crone, DO '92. "We are confident that Dr. Tegzes will provide the expertise, stability and guidance needed to achieve our goals."
Dr. Tegzes earned his Veterinariae Medicinae Doctoris (VMD) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts, Applied Psychology (MA) from the University of Santa Monica, and a Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, Nursing (BSN) from Thomas Jefferson University.
Dr. Tegzes' dedication to research, teaching, and leadership makes him a highly influential figure in veterinary medicine and interprofessional collaboration. He has served on advisory committees for the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), Association of Medical Educators of Europe (AMEE), and Veterinary Education Worldwide (ViEW).
Dr. Tegzes is a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice. He serves on the ASPIRE Executive Board of the Association of Medical Educators of Europe (AMEE). He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology and holds a veterinary license in California. He has contributed to over 50 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters. He has presented his work at national and international conferences. He has also made appearances on television and radio to discuss animal health and toxicology.
He is an avid champion of Interprofessional Education (IPE), and a significant portion of Dr. Tegzes' career has focused on developing and advocating for IPE. He has held leadership positions in numerous organizations promoting IPE, including the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), and the Interprofessional Professionalism Collaborative.
Dr. Tegzes said he is committed to fostering a community where every student, faculty and staff member feels valued, supported and empowered to excel. Together, CVM will pursue academic excellence, promote interprofessional collaboration, and enhance the veterinary care of animals.
"I am deeply honored to lead the College of Veterinary Medicine at a time when the veterinary profession, and how we educate future veterinarians, is expanding and evolving. I truly believe that it has never been a better time to become a veterinarian, and I am completely devoted to supporting our current and future students in their professional journeys and supporting and nurturing our faculty and staff," Dr. Tegzes said. "I genuinely believe that our future, as a college and as a profession, will be forged through a collaborative spirit as we approach the challenges ahead. I hope to bring together diversity of thought and perspectives as we navigate our pathways."
About Western University of Health Sciences
Western University of Health Sciences (www.westernu.edu), located in Pomona, Calif. and Lebanon, Ore., is an independent nonprofit health professions university, conferring degrees in biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences, dental medicine, medical sciences, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and veterinary medicine. WesternU is home to WesternU Health, where the best in collaborative health care services is offered.
SOURCE Western University of Health Sciences
America's original work boot brand and Metallica's workforce education initiative come together to launch a limited-edition Rancher Boot that benefits the skilled trades.
ROCKFORD, Mich., Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolverine, the 141-year-old boot and clothing company, and Metallica Scholars, the workforce education initiative within Metallica's foundation, All Within My Hands (AWMH) have once again united to champion the next generation of skilled workers. Banding together since 2019, Wolverine and Metallica Scholars have released their fifth collection of co-branded products, where half of the proceeds benefit skilled workers.
Wolverine and Metallica Scholars Launch Fifth Collection to Champion Skilled Trades Workers.
The latest collaboration between Wolverine and Metallica Scholars brings an edgy twist to Wolverine's classic Wellington boot. Crafted with premium materials and waterproof full-grain leather, the Wolverine x Metallica Scholars Rancher Boot blends a timeless western silhouette with a bold, blackened pattern that features custom skull artwork by Metallica collaborator Brandon Heart. Built with Wolverine's quality craftsmanship, these boots are ready for anything, from tackling the workday grind or rocking out in the snake pit. The boots will retail for $169.95 on wolverine.com.
"Wolverine is proud to continue our partnership with Metallica Scholars in supporting the next generation of skilled workers," said Scott Schoessel, Wolverine Boots Chief Marketing Officer. "The skilled labor workforce still faces a critical shortage, and this partnership has been pivotal in our team's mission to bridge that gap. We are excited to unveil our fifth collection together, capturing the perfect mix of style, quality, and a great purpose."
In addition to the limited-edition rancher boots, the Wolverine x Metallica Scholars collection features an assortment of apparel and accessories, including:
Wolverine x Metallica Scholars Trucker Hat (retailing for $19.95 )
) Wolverine x Metallica Scholars Tee (retailing for $24.95 )
) Wolverine x Metallica Scholars Bandana (retailing for $14.95 )
) Wolverine x Metallica Scholars Socks 3pk (retailing for $22.95 )
"Wolverine has been a strong, dedicated partner to Metallica Scholars from the very beginning," said Pete Delgrosso, AWMH Executive Director. "Our team is honored to stand together for the fifth year of our partnership to continue championing the future of skilled workers."
Wolverine will be donating half of the sales from this limited-edition style directly to Metallica Scholars, helping more individuals forge their own paths within the skilled trades.
The Wolverine x Metallica Scholars limited-edition collection is now available at wolverine.com/metallica
ABOUT WOLVERINE
Wolverine, the 141-year-old boot and clothing company, is on a mission to honor the spirit and tenacity of the American worker and build the next generation of skilled trades people. Taking pride in crafting durable boots with unrivaled craftsmanship and the highest quality materials, Wolverine is dedicated to serving hardworking people all over the world. Through Project Bootstrap, Wolverine has contributed over $2 million to organizations in support of the skilled trades. For more information, visit www.wolverine.com. Wolverine is a division of Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW)
ABOUT ALL WITHIN MY HANDS
Founded in 2017, AWMH is a non-profit, philanthropic organization created by the members and management of Metallica dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. Metallica Scholars is a major workforce education initiative that provides direct support to community colleges, in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges, to enhance career and technical education programs. These programs provide skills and services to students who are looking to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program. 100% of donations made to AWMH go directly to local organizations that the Foundation supports. Please visit AllWithinMyHands.org for more information.
SOURCE Wolverine
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Tehran, Aug 1 : Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a media report said, citing three unnamed Iranian officials.
Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced that Haniyeh had been killed, The New York Times quoted the three Iranian officials as saying.
Of the three officials, two are members of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the report said.
Khamenei in a message published on his website stressed that Israel prepared the ground for a "harsh punishment" for itself.
In two statements on Wednesday, the IRGC accused Israel of assassinating Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards at their residence in Tehran in a "terrorist attack".
It extended condolences over the "martyrdom" of Haniyeh and his bodyguard, adding Haniyeh was among the dignitaries invited to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday and had, over the past years, paid numerous visits to Iran.
The IRGC condemned the "criminal act" as in defiance of international regulations and laws, saying Israel "will receive a harsh and painful response" from Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also, in a post on social media platform X, expressed condolences over Haniyeh's "martyrdom", saying Iran would defend its territorial integrity, dignity, honour, and pride and make the Israelis, which he described as "terrorist occupiers", regret their "cowardly move".
Beirut, Aug 1 : The body of Fouad Shokor, Hezbollah's top military commander who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, was found under the rubble in Dahie in Beirut's southern suburbs, local media reported, citing sources close to Hezbollah.
An Israeli drone fired on Tuesday evening three missiles at a position near the Shura Council of Hezbollah, aiming to target Shokor, a senior military advisor to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The attack on Dahie also killed five others and wounded around 74 people, Xinhua news agency reported.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack, saying Lebanon preserves its right to take all necessary measures to deter the aggression.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : A 22-year-old woman and her child drowned in a waterlogged drain in Delhi's Ghazipur, said officials here on Thursday.
According to the police, the woman and her child were out to buy household items when they fell into a waterlogged drain and drowned.
Delhi Police said, "Further legal action is being taken by Police Station Ghazipur East Delhi."
The bodies of the two were later recovered, said the officials.
AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar blamed the DDA for the deaths. In a post on X, he wrote in Hindi that due to the lack of any kind of barricading near the drain being built by DDA on the border of Khoda Colony of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, a woman and her 2.5-year-old daughter died after falling into that drain.
He demanded that the Lt. Governor take strict action against the "careless DDA officers and file a police case".
Heavy rainfall brought the national capital to a standstill on Wednesday evening causing severe waterlogging in several parts of the national capital, choking key stretches with unending traffic and leaving thousands of people stranded on roads.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi announced shutting all schools on Thursday in the city. "In light of the very heavy rainfall this evening and the forecast of heavy rainfall tomorrow, all schools both government and private will remain closed on August 1st," she said in a post on 'X'.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that rainy conditions will continue in the national capital till August 5.
Tel Aviv, August 1 : Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have geared up for any Iranian assault on Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday morning.
Sources in Israel's Defense Minister's office told IANS that after the statement of Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei about a retaliatory attack on Israel, the IDF has prepared itself for any eventuality.
Iran, according to sources in Israel's defence ministry, is likely to accelerate attack on it using its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, and Houtis in the sea.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the public face of Hamas in Tehran where he had rubbed shoulders with other state heads during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president on Tuesday, had shocked Iran.
Haniyeh, it may be recalled, had a one-to-one meeting with Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, hours before he was assassinated.
Israel's defence ministry sources told IANS that according to its intelligence reports, there could be a few strikes by Iran either directly or through its proxies, and added that Israel was prepared for it.
The Israel Security Council, in its urgent meeting on Wednesday, has ordered the strengthening of its military base in Tel Aviv and Haifa following the open threat by Khamenei.
Tehran, Aug 1 : Iran would seek revenge for the alleged Israeli assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in a "well-managed" way without escalating the regional crisis, an Iranian expert said.
Tehran, Aug 1 (IANS) Iran would seek revenge for the alleged Israeli assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in a "well-managed" way without escalating the regional crisis, an Iranian expert said.
"We would witness an escalation of tension in the region, but in a managed way," Hassan Beheshtipour, a Tehran-based international affairs analyst, told Xinhua.
Beheshtipour emphasised that intensifying the crisis is not in Iran's interest nor in that of the resistance groups. He noted Iran's past actions, such as its measured response to the deadly Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria in early April, as examples of Iran's strategic approach, Xinhua news agency reported.
Haniyeh, who was invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit, according to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which accused Israel of carrying out the "terrorist attack" and vowed "a harsh and painful response."
Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had prepared the ground for a "harsh punishment" for itself.
The alleged Israeli assassination of Haniyeh occurred a day after Israel claimed that a strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut had killed Fouad Shokor, Hezbollah's top military commander.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would respond with overwhelming force to any counter-attacks, following the deaths of Haniyeh and Shokor.
He said the country is prepared "for any scenario," adding it "will exact a very heavy price against any aggression -- from any front."
Mumbai, Aug 1 : Indian equity indices opened at a lifetime high on Thursday following positive global cues.
In the early trading hours, Sensex and Nifty made a new all-time high of 82,129 and 25,078 respectively.
At 9.41 a.m., Sensex was up 299 points or 0.37 per cent at 82,040 and Nifty was up 101 points or 0.41 per cent at 25,051.
Buying is also seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks. The Nifty midcap 100 index is up 213 points or 0.36 per cent at 59,222 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index was at 19,227, up 90 points or 0.47 per cent.
There is a positive trend in the stock market also. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,503 shares are in the green and 570 shares are in the red.
In the Sensex pack, Maruti Suzuki, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Axis Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank are the top gainers. M&M, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv are the top losers.
On the global front, the markets of Seoul, Bangkok and Jakarta are trading briskly. At the same time, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong are in red. The US markets closed positive on Wednesday.
Market experts said, "The Fed chief signalling a possible rate cut in September is positive for global equity markets. More importantly, his comments that the US economy is normalising is a shot in the arm for bulls."
"A serious geopolitical risk is the escalation of tensions in West Asia following the killing of the top Hamas leader in Iran. The risk of a regional aggravation of the Gaza war is high," they added.
Los Angeles, Aug 1 : Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck attended the New York premiere of 'The Instigators', where Matt Damon opened up about his friendship with Casey Affleck and his brother Ben Affleck.
The Affleck brothers and Matt Damon have been friends for more than 25 years since the latter and Ben co-wrote 'Good Will Hunting'.
Matt Damon said that after all these years, there are no surprises with the two siblings.
He told People: "They're consistently great. They're consistently incredible partners to work with. And no, there aren't really, usually, any surprises."
While the three collaborators will "get in creative arguments", Damon noted: "Those are healthy, and we know each other well enough that our feelings don't really get involved and our egos don't get involved. So it's a pretty healthy working relationship with both of them."
As per People, Damon and Casey, returned to their hometown of Boston to shoot the film in 2023. However, the project almost didn't come to fruition until Casey enlisted help from Damon's wife, Luciana Barroso, Damon confirmed. Casey asked Barroso, 48, to get Damon to read 'The Instigators' script.
Damon noted that Barroso also served as a producer on the film, adding that "like Casey and like Ben" he "just trusts her taste."
"So when they say something, when they dig their heels in on something any of them do I pay attention," he admitted. "We all have blind spots creatively or otherwise. And, when I see somebody that I agree with so much feeling strongly about something, I look really carefully at it."
As per the movie's official synopsis, 'The Instigators' follows Damon and Casey as Rory and Cobby: a father and an ex-con who team up to steal from a corrupt politician. When things go awry, the reluctant duo enlist the help of Rory's therapist to evade capture. The movie is directed by Doug Liman, and written by Casey and Chuck Maclean.
Casey also told ExtraTV in an interview alongside Damon earlier this week that Barroso was instrumental in getting Damon to join him in the movie.
"I went through Lucy," Casey said, referring to Barroso, "Who's way more agreeable and has got better taste than Matt does."
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
During this, PM Modi received his counterpart, and both leaders shared a warm hug as they greeted each other. After this, the Vietnamese PM inspected a Guard of Honour by the Indian defence forces.
PM Modi and Pham Minh Chinh then met the ministers and delegations of the two countries.
Later, Pham Minh paid his tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat.
He will engage in bilateral discussions with PM Modi, who will also host a luncheon in honour of the visiting delegation.
Chinh reached New Delhi late on Tuesday evening for a three-day state visit, aiming to further strengthen the age-old ties between the two countries.
The Vietnam PM is also scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the visit.
On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishanakar called on the visiting Prime Minister and appreciated his guidance in bolstering the India-Vietnam bilateral relations.
"Honoured to call on PM Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam during his State visit to India. Appreciate his guidance on our bilateral relationship and on regional and global issues of mutual interest," the EAM said in a post on 'X'.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister also addressed a business event organised in the national capital on Wednesday. He stated that India's interest in exploring investments in Vietnam will extend cooperation into new areas such as transportation, economy, digitalisation and energy.
He also appreciated the economic and trade cooperation as a "beacon of cooperation" between the two nations and called on to raise the bilateral trade to $20 billion.
He also hailed the development of India under the leadership of PM Modi.
India-Vietnam relations have been on the upswing since the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during PM Modi's visit to Hanoi in 2016.
PM Modi has maintained Vietnam's importance as an important pillar of India's 'Act East' policy and the Indo-Pacific vision while seeking to enhance the scope of the bilateral relationship, including defence partnership, besides working for expeditious progress on the existing initiatives.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) platform has seen around 88 lakh candidate registrations till June, along with 9.59 lakh mobile app downloads and 7.63 lakh candidates being enrolled for online courses.
SIDH offers 752 online courses, leading to 7.37 lakh minutes of digital content readily available and accessible for learners, informed Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development, Jayant Chaudhary.
According to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the primary objective of the platform is to provide a comprehensive and accessible platform for skill enhancement, offering industry-relevant skill courses, job opportunities, and entrepreneurship support.
"SIDH is at the intersection of two of the most important initiatives of the government -- Skill India and Digital India," said the Minister.
It aims to serve India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for skill development, education, employment and entrepreneurship landscape.
Envisioned to integrate with MSME and facilitate access to entrepreneurship schemes for the learners and job seekers, it offers courses and apprenticeship opportunities to the learners.
The minister also informed that there are 19 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) out of 33 which are exclusively for women.
These women NSTIs offer 19 courses under the Craft Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) as well as 23 courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS).
To empower women entrepreneurs and spur economic growth, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has also unveiled the Women Entrepreneurship Programme.
This is aimed to address the distinct challenges that women face when starting and growing businesses.
In partnership with Britannia Industries Limited, the initiative will also offer financial grants and feature their products and services on the Skill India Digital Hub.
"In the skilling segment, under Jan Shikshan Sansthan, 82 per cent of our trainees are women. In the PMKVY short-term training programme, close to 45 per cent of the participants are women," said Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district as a 'Calamity of Serious Nature'.
Declaring it a calamity of a severe nature will allow MPs to recommend works up to Rs 1 crore from their MPLAD funds for the affected areas, Tharoor, who is also Chairman of Chemicals and Fertisliser Committee of Parliament, said in a letter to the Home Minister on Wednesday.
He said that the said move will surely be invaluable in supporting the painstaking efforts for rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
A series of devastating landslides struck the Wayanad district of Kerala, claiming over hundred lives and leaving many more severely injured in hospitals, his letter read.
He said, "This disaster of unimaginable proportions has left behind a harrowing tale of death and destruction. The rescue operations involving the armed forces, the Coast Guard, the National Disaster Response Force and other agencies continue their pitched battle against the vagaries of nature.
"The landslides have wreaked havoc upon countless lives and as such, it is of grave importance to extend all possible support to the people of Wayanad. Such is the scale of the disaster that it necessitates a coordinated and generous response from all sections of the society," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
The death toll in the Wayanad landslide tragedy has reached 264 while around 200 people are still missing, officials said.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 1 : Cyber Wing of the Kerala Police on Thursday registered a case against a social media handle for criticising Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over seeking funds for the Chief Minister Dearness Relief Fund (CMDRF) for Wayanad natural disaster.
The Kerala Police said that a case has been registered against the X profile 'Kozhikodans 2.0' which asked people not to contribute to the CMDRF.
Police warned people from spreading rumours against the CMDRF and persons who indulge in such rumour-mongering will be booked.
People across the country and political divide have contributed to the CMDRF including the Adani Group Chairperson Gautam Adani and others.
More than 1,200 people have been rescued in Wayanad so far while the death toll has reached 264 with 200 people missing.
A massive rescue operation is currently underway in four districts of Wayanad -- Churalpara, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.
Washington, Aug 1 : The mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on US soil, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and two of his accomplices have agreed to plead guilty, the Pentagon said in a statement.
They are held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Pentagon said that the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case said the statement.
The official said that the specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time.
The three accused, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, and then were again charged jointly and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, attacks against the US, the Pentagon said.
US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the plea deals. "The Biden-Harris Administrationas cowardice in the face of terror is a national disgrace. The plea deal with terrorists, including those behind the 9/11 attacks, is a revolting abdication of the governmentas responsibility to defend America and provide justice" McConnell stated on X.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Lung cancer is the most common cancer that can spread to the brain and create secondary cancer, said experts on Thursday, on World Lung Cancer Day.
World Lung Cancer Day is observed every year on August 1 to raise awareness around lung cancer -- a leading cause of mortality worldwide.
In India, lung cancer accounts for an annual incidence of 72,510 cases, making up 5.8 per cent of all cancer cases and ranking as the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, according to a recent study published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health.
The health experts noted that a significant challenge arises when lung cancer metastasizes to critical parts of the body, such as the brain.
"Brain metastases are a prevalent complication across various cancer types, particularly among lung cancer patients," Praveen Gupta, Principal Director & Chief of Neurology, Fortis Hospital, told IANS.
"About 10 per cent of newly diagnosed patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) develop brain metastases. Lung cancer accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of primary tumours in these cases," he added.
Addressing brain metastases requires a multidisciplinary approach involving oncologists, neurologists, and palliative care specialists to meet the complex needs of patients.
The primary goals are to alleviate symptoms, extend survival, and enhance the overall quality of life through personalised treatment plans and supportive care.
"Common symptoms of brain metastases include persistent headaches, seizures, cognitive impairments, personality changes, and difficulties with motor functions or speech. These symptoms result from cancerous cells disrupting normal brain function, causing swelling, pressure, and damage to neural pathways," Gupta said.
Lung cancer that has spread to the brain can be treated via therapies such as radiation, and systemic chemotherapy. These interventions aim to manage both the primary lung cancer and brain metastases.
Tobacco smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer in India, contributing to a significant proportion of cases.
"Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, responsible for about 85 per cent of all cases. Quitting smoking is the most effective way to reduce the risk," Pavan Yadav, Lead Consultant - Interventional Pulmonology & Lung Transplantation, Aster RV Hospital, told IANS.
"However, exposure to environmental pollutants, occupational hazards, and genetic factors also play crucial roles in the development of this disease," he added.
Early cancer detection and screening, however, play a crucial role in improving lung cancer outcomes.
When lung cancer is diagnosed at an early stage before it has spread to other parts of the body, there is a higher chance of successful treatment and potential cure, Yadav said.
He also recommended screening programmes like Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans for high-risk individuals such as heavy smokers and those with a family history of the disease.
The experts also called to quit smoking and to recognise warning signs "such as persistent cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, hoarseness, unexplained weight loss, and coughing up blood, can prompt individuals to seek medical evaluation if they experience these signs".
Mumbai, Aug 1 : Actress Kriti Kharbanda, who will be next seen in 'Risky Romeo', is expressing her love for her husband, actor Pulkit Samrat through poetry.
Recently, she took to her Instagram Stories and shared a picture of herself with her husband. She wrote on the picture: "Neend is coming, neend is going, husband is amazing."
Kriti and Pulkit tied the knot at Delhi NCR's ITC Grand Bharat in March this year. As per reports, they specially curated a food menu filled with delicacies from different parts of the country for their guests.
Later, they took to their Instagram accounts and shared a joint post along with a sweet note. The two dated for a couple of years before tying the knot. Pulkit was previously married to Shweta Rohira.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Pulkit was last seen in the comedy film 'Fukrey 3'. Kriti will be next seen in 'Risky Romeo' in which she shares the screen with Sunny Singh.
The actress recently completed 15 years in cinema and expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the audience and her peers for making the journey memorable.
She wrote at the time: "I've spent the last 15 years, pretty much the majority of my life, being an actor. What started out as a hobby, as a way to pay the bills and be recognised slowly grew into a passion! A passion that I didn't even know existed inside of me."
Kriti shared that during her journey, she grew as a human being and as an actor.
New York, Aug 1 : India "will never be a formal ally or partner of the United States" as it is "also a great power" with "its own beliefs, its own interests" but the two can act as allies on the global stage, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has declared.
Not being a formal ally "doesn't mean that we cannot have the strongest possible relationships as allied nations on the global stage," he said on Tuesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington
"I do believe that we bent India's trajectory in ways that are consequential and very much in our interests," he added.
He stressed that ties with India are "probably the most important relationship for the United States to get right".
Campbell's characterisation of India acting on its interests and having alliances to reach objectives without formal pacts reflects External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's foreign policy rubric of strategic autonomy.
He gave the assessments of ties with India during a committee hearing on strategic competition with China while replying to an interjection from Republican Senator James Risch, who said that front page pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi embracing Russia's President Vladimir Putin during his recent Moscow visit were a "bitter pill to swallow".
However, he did add that India is an "important actor. There's no question about it" and acknowledged India's and Russia's "geographical location" and "historical connection".
Campbell said, "I think we're likely to hear news of India engaging more directly in Ukraine. I'm grateful for that. I think India wants to play a responsible role globally."
"One of the hardest things to keep in mind is that India is also a great power and it has its own beliefs, its own interests," he said.
"There are very few other countries in the world that have such an appeal to the Global South and their ability to engage there is unmatched and we are seeking to work with them," he said of India's strategic importance to the US in the context of China's international diplomacy.
"You've got to take comfort in some of these things and recognise fundamentally, that in a number of things that we're engaged in, India is an active and supportive partner," he said.
On Washingtonas cooperation with New Delhi, Campbell said, "We've supported them in intelligence and military along the Line of Actual Control (on the border with China and) in the Indian Ocean".
Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a tense standoff along the Line of Actual Control with periodic clashes.
In the last major incident, about 20 Indian soldiers and several Chinese were killed in a confrontation in 2022 with makeshift weapons in an area where firearms are mutually banned.
On ties that bind at the level of people, Campbell spoke of the Indian diaspora in the US and the favourable sentiments in India towards the US.
There is a "wonderful diaspora in the United States that connects our two great countries", he said.
"I believe that the vast majority of people in India want a better relationship with the United States," he said. "They're grateful for our bipartisan attention. They liked the work that we've done together in education and technology".
New Delhi, Aug 1 : The use of antibiotics in preterm babies, as a lifesaving measure, may make them vulnerable to microbial resistance, claims a study.
Preterm infants are vulnerable to infections and require early antibiotic interventions. However, the new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, reveals that these life-saving measures come with significant effects on the infants' nasopharyngeal microbiomes.
Researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Rigshospitalet in Denmark conducted a study on 198 nasopharyngeal aspirate samples from 36 preterm infants, born between 28 and 32 weeks of gestational age.
The infants were divided into two groups: those who received antibiotics within the first 24 hours of life due to an increased risk for early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS), and those who did not receive antibiotics. The samples were collected from birth up to 8a"10 months of age.
The results showed the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) associated with the nosocomial pathogen Serratia marcescens, which remained in the nasopharynx of 92 per cent of affected infants long after hospital discharge. Serratia marcescens is an antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Achal Dhariwal, from the Institute of Oral Biology, at the University of Oslo said the study highlights "the importance of hospital environments in shaping the preterm infants' resistome (the antibiotic resistance genes)".
While the study found no lasting alterations in the nasopharyngeal resistome beyond the early months of life, the consistent presence of resistance genes associated with Serratia marcescens highlights the lingering impact of hospitalisation, said the team calling for the "judicious" use of antibiotics.
Bengaluru, Aug 1 : Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Thursday that Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's decision to issue a show cause notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam was not incorrect.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Home Minister G. Parameshwara here, Kharge said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had received the show cause notice and would provide an appropriate response to it.
When asked about CM Siddaramaiah holding a meeting with his close associates, Minister Kharge stated that it was natural for CM Siddaramaiah to discuss the matter with his cabinet colleagues and others to gather suggestions.
"The notice was issued to CM Siddaramaiah without prior information, which he deemed an incorrect measure. CM Siddaramaiah had already provided sufficient information to the Governor and submitted relevant documents. Despite this, the show cause notice was issued. If this is the case, from where is the script coming to initiate action against CM Siddaramaiah?" Kharge said.
According to sources, the Governor is likely to grant sanction for prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah based on a MUDA land scam-related complaint by social activist T.J. Abraham.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah organised a breakfast meeting at his residence in Bengaluru for his cabinet colleagues, and will also chair a cabinet meeting. Sources said that the cabinet is likely to pass a one-line resolution against the Governor.
Shimla, Aug 1 : Two bodies were recovered and over 50 people went missing due to multiple cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu, Shimla and Mandi districts.
"Two additional battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed by the Centre for relief and rescue operations," Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said on Thursday.
After chairing a high-level meeting here to review the rescue and relief operations, the CM said Rampur Tehsil in Shimla, Padhar Tehsil in Mandi and Jaon in Nirmand Village of Kullu were the worst hit.
The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have been requested to remain on high alert to handle any exigency as the Met department predicted that heavy rainfall would continue for the next 36 hours.
The tourist resort of Manali has been cut off after damage to the National Highway.
The calamity occurred at around 4.40 A.M., the CM told the media.
He added that there was damage to the dam of the Malan hydropower project in Kullu.
"There is some damage to the project. We are monitoring the situation and the government is working on a war footing," he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to CM Sukhu on the phone to assess the situation following the cloudbursts that caused significant disruption in the Samej Khad area in Rampur in Shimla District.
HM Shah assured the CM Sukhu of central assistance and the support of the NDRF.
The CM, who is visiting disaster-hit areas, said two bodies were recovered and teams of NDRF, SDRF, police, Home Guard and fire services have been engaged in relief, search and rescue operations.
"The local administration has been instructed to carry out relief and rescue operations smoothly. I am in touch with officials and monitoring the relief and rescue operations," he wrote on X, adding, "the state government is committed to provide all possible assistance."
The main impact of the cloudbursts was seen in areas in Kullu District and in areas in Shimla District bordering Kullu.
In Rampur at least 36 people have gone missing. Teams of the ITBP, SDRF and Home Guards are conducting search and rescue operations there.
According to Mandi Police, a cloudburst occurred in Rajban Village near Terang in which two houses were washed away and one house was partially damaged. Nine people have been missing since then and one injured person has been rescued.
The Meteorological office in Shimla has issued an 'Orange' alert for heavy to very heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, at isolated places in the state for the next 24 hours.
Reports say flash floods in the Beas and Parvati rivers in Kullu District have damaged public and private property.
After heavy rain, a portion of the hydropower project in Malana located on the Parvati River has been damaged.
The Kullu administration has issued an alert, advising people not to go near the river and water channels.
Union Minister and BJP Chief, JP Nadda spoke to the CM and assured all possible help from the Central government.
Nadda also spoke to former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and directed all BJP workers to engage in relief operations.
The weather office also warned of the possibility of landslides and flash floods in vulnerable areas of Kullu, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla and Kinnaur districts.
Heavy damage to public and private property was reported from Palchan to Patlikuhal in Kullu District.
Scores of bridges in Palchan and Nehrukund have been damaged due to flooding in the river, officials said.
A newly-constructed vegetable market building collapsed in Kullu.
The National Highway between Kullu and Manali has been blocked due to a flood near Kalath. Seeing the rising waters, people living on the river banks in Nehrukund, Bahang, Rangdi, Aloo Ground, Kalath, 17 Mile, 15 Mile and Patlikuhal fled from their homes.
The road in Palchan has also been damaged.
The Manali-Leh road has been closed due to massive landslides and the Manali administration remained busy throughout the night alerting people.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) (Manali) Raman Sharma told the media that the police personnel kept alerting the people living on the river banks by sounding sirens throughout the night.
He urged people to leave their homes only in case of emergency and not to travel.
Indian authorities have hit leading IT outsourcer Infosys with a US$3.9 billion tax demand and some news reports suggest the pursuit of alleged unpaid taxes will soon target other big names.
According to the UKs Financial Times the demand came as the Indian IT industry was showing early signs of recovery following a worldwide tech spending slowdown. Indeed, Infosys and other relevant players, like Tata Consultancy Services, posted buoyant quarterly earnings earlier in July.
Infosys has apparently been issued notices for payment of goods and services tax (GST) by agencies in its home state of Karnataka and from the national Directorate General of GST Intelligence for the period of July 2017 to March 2022.
The tax demand relates to expenses incurred by overseas branch offices, says Infosys, whose headquarters, like those of a number of IT companies, are in the Karnataka capital Bengaluru. It does not agree that GST applies on these expenses.
Reuters, however, suggests Indian authorities may soon issue notices to more major IT services firms in an investigation of alleged tax evasion related to work done by their overseas offices. Reuters says these overseas offices carry out projects for Indian IT firms and provide services to international clients, among other functions.
This isn't just about IT, however. In the last year, Indias GST department has sent more than 1,000 notices to companies, including Life Insurance Corporation of India, Dr Reddys Laboratories and Ultratech Cement.
Tax authorities have also issued notices to online gaming companies demanding a total of about 1 trillion rupees (about US$12 billion) in taxes that they have allegedly evaded. Many companies have challenged these demands in tribunals and courts.
This isnt the first backdated tax claim from Indian officials, as Vodafone, a company that has successfully fought retrospective taxes, might point out.
As we reported at the end of the 14-year dispute, the Indian government decided to nullify its own tax demands against Vodafone, apparently to improve perceptions of its stance on taxation in order to encourage foreign investment into the market. But could the recent drive to pursue alleged unpaid taxes undermine this effort?
New Delhi, August 1 : Seven people died and three were injured due to heavy rainfall in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday evening.
Heavy rain led to waterlogging in most areas of Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad, causing inconvenience to citizens.
In Delhi, one person died, and two were injured after a house collapsed.
In Uttar Pradesh's Khoda area, a mother and daughter died after falling into a sewer due to waterlogging and in the state's Gautam Buddha Nagar District, two people lost their lives due to a wall collapse following heavy rain.
Three people died in Haryana's Gurugram after being electrocuted due to the waterlogging on Wednesday night and in the state's Faridabad area, one person drowned due to flooding.
Late on Wednesday evening, heavy rain caused the roof of a gym to collapse in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida, injuring two people.
Police rescued the injured and other trapped people with the help of local residents.
Office-goers in Delhi-NCR spent hours driving back home through waterlogged roads and slow moving traffic on Wednesday evening.
One office-goer from Noida said, "I live in Sector 50 and I work in Sector 16. The roads on Sector 16 were flooded and it became difficult to get to the cars parked outside due to the waterlogging. The drive back home that usually takes me 20 minutes took me an hour as most of the roads in Noida were waterlogged and at one point I was scared that my car would get stalled and I would be stranded."
Due to heavy rain and waterlogging, Delhi Police received 2,945 calls related to traffic jams.
Additionally, there were 127 calls reporting waterlogging in various parts of the city. The police also received 27 calls regarding house collapses and 50 calls about trees falling due to strong winds and rain.
Due to the rainfall, ten flights scheduled to land in Delhi were diverted. Eight flights were redirected to Jaipur and two to Lucknow.
Srinagar, Aug 1 : A bear attacked a farmer on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district which created panic in the area.
Officials said that the farmer was working in his agricultural field in the Kokernag area of the district when a bear attacked him.
"The victim identified as Ghulam Nabi Muglu of Loharsanzi village in Kokernag tehsil was shifted to a sub-district hospital in Kokernag town in injured condition. He has been referred by doctors to a government medical college hospital in Anantnag town for specialised treatment," officials said.
The bear attack has created panic in the whole area and the officials have assured of the villagers.
On Monday evening, a 50-year-old woman lost her life after being attacked by a wild bear in the Mirpora village in North Kashmir.
A man was critically injured after a bear attacked him in the Handwara area of Kupwara district on Thursday.
Incidents of Man-Animal conflict have alarmingly increased in Kashmir for some time now. This is attributed by ecologists to the growing human and wildlife population that has brought the two in direct conflict with each other.
Due to the encroachment of natural habitats of wildlife by humans, the area for animals has shrunken. Due to the depletion of their natural habitats, the wild animals have moved towards human settlements looking for food, shelter, etc. The ecological solution to Man-Animal conflict is to respect and preserve the habitats of wild animals and ensure non-interference into such habitats by human beings.
The staff of the Wildlife Protection Department has been catching bears and leopards that are found prowling in human settlements by using tranquillizer guns and then relocating them to their natural habitats.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : She smiles that for her it is easy to relate to Kashmiri Pandits in India more than even the Parsis here who came from Iran long back.
Having spent years documenting the Kashmiri Pandit population across Kashmir, Jammu, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, Iranian photographer Sarah Jabbari is all set to showcase her solo photography exhibition 'Selective 'Sympathy' curated by Georgina Maddox at Gallery Art Positive from July 31 to August 31 in New Delhi.
She tells IANS that it was not hard for her to feel a major ancestral mutuality between them and the Iranians, which made her very comfortable.
"Both groups -- Indo-Iranian communities share roots in the Gothic and Vedic periods. If you look at the architecture in northern Iran and Kashmir, it would not be hard to find similar structures. Even the cuisine of the two are very similar," she stresses.
Adding that both groups share a history of conversions as Iranians were Zoroastrians who converted to Islam.
The photographer says: "Even in the contemporary time, the migration and in a way the self-exile of millions of Iranians reminds me of what happened to Pandits. In short, I would say Kashmiri Pandits are a mirror to Iran, to its past, present and perhaps a mutual and similar destiny."
Talking about her numerous visits to Kashmir where she spent considerable time with the Pandit community, she remembers the days spent with a Kashmiri family.
"Not just one, all Kashmiri Pandit families were extremely kind and helpful, their house and lifestyle were very familiar to what we have in Iran. Being there, I felt closest to my subjects as they have lived there for thousands of years so it filled me with emotions that they are still standing. They were not afraid of being there as they believed in destiny. Frankly, I am extremely proud of those who are still living in Kashmir. They're true symbols of resistance," she says.
For someone who began the work on this project in January 2019 in Kashmir before the pandemic hit and the Pulwama attack did not take place and had to pause after she contacted Covid and "challenges in personal life" only to re-start it in 2023, Jabbari insists on calling the Pandits the lost cousins of Iranians.
Stressing that from ethnicity to cultural heritage, in pre and post-Islamic eras, Iranians and Pandits have much in common, she says that the social life experience in terms of change of religion in historical and contemporary contexts is another mutual understanding.
"I believe there's a mutual destiny too. An important point is the title given to Kashmir as 'Iran-e-Saghir' or the small Iran. Some assume it's because of the influence of the Persian culture in post-Islamic times but indeed it's because of many things in common rooted in thousands of years of mutual ancestry. Of course, by the arrival of Islam and the 'post-Islamic Persian culture' to the Valley, similarities became more," she adds.
The best part about the work she has done on the displaced community is the fact that there is no tone of 'victimhood'. Stressing that in Iran, people tend to have the mentality of victimhood and blame everything on the Arabs' attack on Iran in the 7th AD which led to the collapse of the Sasanian empire and mass conversation in Iran from Zoroastrianism to Islam.
She adds: "I looked at Pandits not as victims but as proud survivors who lost everything but resisted and flourished again in the worst situation. I look at them as human beings who are strong and resilient, honourable people who have pride. I guess talking about their victimhood is essential but in a proper channel that could be constructive. Otherwise, it leads to their objectification, and I do not want to objectify these honourable people."
Convinced that photography gives her access to the lives of people, she says the enthusiasm of the subjects and their curiosity are always inspiring.
"The camera gives you a reason to connect to people and I love that. The best is the memories you make with your subjects during the shoot. When they let you in and share their food with you, they open their heart to you. There is no price for this human relationship and experience," says the photographer.
Recalling that during her days in Kashmir, some moments made her extremely emotional -- a Kashmiri Pandit man who replied to her question on the key part of their resistance.
He told her that there was only one reason they survived -- education.
A Kashmiri Pandit woman insisted that she had forgiven all the pain, and in the end, we are humans, who without love are nothing.
"Both these conversations made me cry," recalls Jabbari, who recently completed a Ph D research on the history of photography of Iran and the Parsis of India in the 19th century through the lens of gender in a comparative study.
Stressing that she has always admired India considering the way crores of people belonging to different religions, casts and ethnicities live together, this photographer has always been interested in long-term documentary photography projects with a focus on human relations and cultural and religious issues.
She hopes, "I wish, I could continue working with an unbiased lens looking for hope and humanity, and I wish all the best for the Kashmiri Pandit community."
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Venture capital (VC) investment in India surged considerably to $4 billion in the April-June period (Q2 2024), from $2.9 billion in the previous quarter, a report said on Thursday.
On the other hand, China saw a massive decline in VC investment from $13.5 billion to $6.9 billion in the same period.
VC investment is expected to continue to pick up in India, driven in part by the country's stable government and positive economic environment, according to a KPMG report.
During the quarter, VC investors in India focused on more traditional sectors for investment, including fintech, electric vehicles, and consumer technologies.
Unlike many other jurisdictions where investment in the consumer-focused technology space has dried up dramatically, India's population and demographics have kept investment in the space relatively resilient, the report mentioned.
The IPO market in India continued to be robust. The capital markets saw all-time highs during Q2a24, feeding the appetite of venture companies looking to raise funds in the public markets.
"Investors continue to remain optimistic about India and as mentioned in the previous edition, our expectations of VC investments to bounce back are now playing out," said Nitish Poddar, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity, KPMG in India.
Strong demographics, robust economy and a vibrant capital market are the real drivers behind this optimism.
"Investors will however remain cautious and will continue to back sectors and companies which have a good operating model and an assured path to profitability," Poddar added.
VC investment in Asia dropped from $20.8 billion to $17.4 billion, driven largely by a decline in China.
"VC investment in other jurisdictions in the region saw solid increases. In Singapore, it rose from $1 billion to $2.6 billion, and in Japan, it rose from $842 million to $1.1 billion. Consumer e-commerce companies raised the largest rounds in Asia in Q2 2024," the findings showed.
Global VC investment rose from $75.4 billion in Q1 to a five-quarter high of $94.3 billion in Q2.
Heading into Q3, VC investment globally is expected to remain relatively steady, with AI continuing to attract a large share of funding, said the report.
Bengaluru, August 1 : Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi stated on Thursday that the joint BJP-JD(S) Bengaluru-Mysuru padyatra (foot march) against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will go on as planned from August 3.
Pralhad Joshi said this while answering questions by reporters in New Delhi regarding Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy's announcement that his party JD(S) would not participate in the march.
Union Minister Joshi said he would speak to Union Minister Kumaraswamy and ensure that the padyatra takes place as planned.
"I will also speak to BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi who have raised their voice against the state BJP leadership," he stated.
"Everything will be sorted out as the JD(S) is the NDA's main partner. The office-bearers of the BJP will speak to them and if there are any issues, they will be sorted out," he said.
Sources said that Kumaraswamy has expressed his unhappiness to BJP National President, JP Nadda, over the 'neglect' of JD(S) by the BJP while planning a foot march.
Kumaraswamy had also insisted that BJP General Secretary Preetham Gowda should not be seen anywhere in the padyatra otherwise his party won't participate in the event.
After discussions with JP Nadda and minister Joshi, the JD(S) leader conveyed to them that he would speak to his father, former Prime Minister, HD Deve Gowda and take a final call on the issue.
Earlier, Kumaraswamy had lashed out at the BJP stating that he can't share the stage with Preetham Gowda who distributed pen drives containing the sex videos of his nephew Prajwal Revanna who is now in jail.
"Preetham Gowda has fed poison to my family so how can I share the dais with him?" Kumaraswamy had said.
Seoul, Aug 1 : South Korean army operations troops on Thursday wrapped up an exercise around an island off the west coast designed to strengthen their maritime infiltration capabilities, officials said.
The exercise, which began July 22, took place around Anmyeon Island, 123 kilometers southwest of Seoul, involving some 150 personnel under the Army Special Warfare Command and about 20 pieces of equipment, such as special operations boats, Yonhap news agency reported.
During the drills, the troops trained on infiltrating coastlines aboard the inflatable boats and eliminating threats in target areas, according to the army.
The exercise also mobilized coastal defense personnel from the 32nd Infantry Division to serve as troops defending against the infiltrating special forces, it said.
The army said the exercise served to strengthen the operational capabilities of special forces and coastal defense personnel, adding that it plans to improve training methods to enhance troop readiness.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : India on Thursday summoned the Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to register a strong protest over the death of an Indian fisherman during a collision between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat five nautical miles north of Katchatheevu Island, earlier in the day.
Out of the four Indian fishermen who were on board the vessel, one lost his life and another is missing. Two of the fishermen have been rescued and brought ashore to Kankesanthurai. A search is ongoing for the missing Indian fisherman.
The MEA said that the Indian Consulate officials in Jaffna have been instructed to "immediately rush" to Kankesanthurai and extend all possible assistance to the fishermen and their families.
"The Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi was called in today morning to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was registered over the incident. We expressed our shock and anguish at the unfortunate loss of life. Our High Commissioner in Colombo will also be raising the matter with the Sri Lankan government later today," the MEA stated.
The ministry added that the Indian government has always emphasised the need to deal with issues pertaining to fishermen in a humane and humanitarian manner.
"Existing understandings between the two governments in that regard must be strictly observed. Utmost efforts should be made to ensure that there is no recurrence or resort to the use of force.
"Government attaches the highest priority to the safety and security of Indian fishermen. Issues relating to Indian fishermen have been raised regularly at the highest levels with the Sri Lankan leadership," it added.
London, Aug 1 : The Global Chess League, a joint venture between FIDE and Tech Mahindra, on Wednesday announced its star-studded list of men players for the second season, scheduled to be held from October 3 to 12 at Friends House in London.
London, Aug 1 (IANS) The Global Chess League, a joint venture between FIDE and Tech Mahindra, on Wednesday announced its star-studded list of men players for the second season, scheduled to be held from October 3 to 12 at Friends House in London.
Joining the ranks of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Viswanathan Anand in the second season are returning Superstars, including World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi, World No. 6 Nodirbek Abdusattorov, World No. 8 Praggnanandhaa R, and World No. 10 Wei Yi. Praggnanandhaa, who stole the limelight in the prodigy round of the first season and was awarded Player of the Tournament for his exceptional performance, will compete in the Superstar men's category.
Making the competition even more compelling, Vidit Gujrathi, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Richard Rapport, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Teimour Radjabov, Alexander Grischuk, Parham Maghsoodloo, and Vladislav Artemiev will also be a part of the 12-member list of Superstar men players for the second season.
Praggnanandhaa, who has had a memorable year in the world of chess, said, "I am thrilled to be back for the second season of the Global Chess League. The inaugural season was a remarkable learning experience as I got to play alongside Magnus Carlsen and other top players. I am looking forward to an exciting season with my team in this unique televised chess event. I am sure chess fans will be captivated by this exciting team chess format."
Former FIDE World Rapid Champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, added, "The roster of players is incredibly strong, and the format challenges players and teams alike. I am looking forward to another memorable outing with my team in the Global Chess League."
Sameer Pathak, CEO of the Global Chess League, said, "We are delighted to announce the list of Superstar men players for the upcoming season. These elite players are poised to deliver thrilling and unforgettable games for their teams in the league's innovative format that incentivizes risk-taking. We are confident that these players will deliver a remarkable chess spectacle in London."
The first-of-its-kind franchise-based league features a total of six teams consisting of six players - one Icon player, two Superstar male players, two Superstar female players, and one prodigy in each team. In the tournament, each team will play a total of 10 matches in a double round-robin format, with the winner of each match being decided in a best-of-six board scoring system.
Hyderabad, Aug 1 : Legislators of the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) were detained by the police when they staged a protest in Assembly premises, demanding an apology from Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for his alleged objectionable remarks against two women MLAs of the party.
BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao and other MLAs were evicted from the premises after they protested before the Chief Minister's chambers.
The Assembly Marshals physically lifted the BRS legislators out of the Assembly building. The protesting MLAs were shifted to police vehicles and were later dropped at BRS headquarters Telangana Bhavan.
The MLAs, who were wearing black badges, began the protest outside the Chief Minister's chambers in Assembly premises after walking out of the Assembly to protest the denial of mike to their party legislator P. Sabitha Indra Reddy to speak.
The BRS members stood up as soon as the House met for the day, demanding that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikarmarka apologise for their remarks against Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunita Lakshma Reddy made in the House on Wednesday.
As Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar proceeded with the listed business, the BRS MLAs trooped into the well of the House, raising slogans.
They tried to disrupt the proceedings when Industry Minister D. Sridhar Babu was speaking on the Skill University Bill.
Despite repeated appeals by the Speaker to the main Opposition MLAs to resume their seats, they continued the protest.
Amid the protest, the Speaker conducted the proceedings.
Intervening in the debate, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy made a statement, welcoming the Supreme Court's judgment on the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes for reservation.
Sridhar Babu, who is also the Minister for Legislative Affairs, took strong exception to the sloganeering by the BRS members and appealed them to change their behaviour.
AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi urged the Speaker to bring the House in order. He wanted the government to either give an opportunity to speak to the main Opposition MLAs or suspend them.
Sridhar Babu said the government wants the Opposition to participate in the debate on important legislations.
On repeated demands by Owaisi, the Speaker allowed BRS MLA Harish Rao to speak on the Supreme Court judgment.
The former Minister found fault with the way the House proceedings were being conducted and termed the House 'Kaurava Sabha'.
After welcoming the Supreme Court order, when Harish Rao started speaking about the Chief Minister's remarks about women MLAs, the Speaker switched off his mike.
Agitated over this, the BRS MLAs walked out and sat in front of the Chief Minister's chambers. However, Sabitha Indra Reddy and Sunita Lakshma Reddy remained in the House, demanding an opportunity to speak.
The BRS has called for a state-wide protest against the Chief Minister's remarks.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had made the remarks while referring to defection of Sabitha Indra Reddy to BRS after winning the Assembly election on a Congress ticket in 2018.
Hyderabad, Aug 1 : Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court order that the state government can sub-classify Scheduled Castes for quota and declared that his state would be the first to implement it.
Making a statement in the Assembly, CM Revanth Reddy said, "I heartily welcome the order of the Supreme Court. I thank the Constitutional Bench for the historic judgment."
CM Reddy said that six out of seven judges allowed states to opt for categorisation.
CM Reddy said that after the strong arguments put forward by the Telangana government, the Supreme Court gave a favourable verdict for Madigas and sub-castes that have been fighting for categorisation for decades.
"Telangana will be the first state to implement SC categorisation. We take this responsibility of implementing it," he said.
CM Reddy said if necessary, the government would issue an Ordinance to implement the Supreme Court order in job notifications issued recently.
CM Reddy noted that lakhs of youth from Madigas and sub-castes had been fighting for SC categorisation into ABCD sub-categories.
"For 27 years they fought in united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," he said and recalled that he and then Congress MLA, SA Sampath Kumar, were suspended from the Assembly by the previous government when they had moved an adjournment for debate on the issue.
CM Reddy said the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) had promised to take an all-party delegation to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister but betrayed Madigas by not taking the team.
CM Reddy said after the Congress came to power, on the suggestion of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, he along with former Deputy Chief Minister and present Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and others met the Advocate General and sent him to Delhi to speak to legal experts and appoint a senior advocate.
"As a result of the strong arguments put forward by the Telangana government, the Supreme Court has given the judgment in favour of Madigas and sub-castes," CM Reddy said.
Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said the Supreme Court order fulfilled a 50-year-old dream.
"This is a historic day. It was a long-cherished dream. I have become a bit emotional today," he said.
He stated that categorisation was not against any section but only to remove the imbalance.
BJP floor leader Maheshwar Reddy termed the Supreme Court order as 'historic'. He said PM Modi fulfilled his word by backing the 70-year-old struggle.
He recalled that the PM had declared his support for SC categorisation at a public meeting in Hyderabad last year.
AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and CPI member K Sambasiva Rao also welcomed the Supreme Court judgment.
Recent African cable news includes a milestone for Namibia with the inauguration of its Equiano cable station and plans for a 2Africa cable landing in Pakistan.
Telecom Namibia, at the moment celebrating 32 years of service, is said to be leading the celebrations of the Namibian activation of Googles Equiano undersea cable, which, local news reports suggest, positions the country to become a regional information and communication technology (ICT) hub. The Telecom Namibia Equiano Cable Station was inaugurated this week in the western Swakopmund.
The high-capacity cable links Namibia to Europe via Portugal and to the rest of Africa by way of Cape Town and Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa.
According to Stanley Shanapinda, Telecom Namibia CEO, his company has implemented a 100G link via Equiano between Swakopmund and Johannesburg, easing congestion on terrestrial routes and reducing latency to South Africa.
Meanwhile another African cable is going even further as Pakistan telco firm Transworld Associates (TWA) announces plans to land the 2Africa cable in Karachi, Pakistan.
At 45,000 kilometres, it is the worlds largest subsea cable network and will connect 33 countries with 46 landing points in Europe and Asia.
In this case an extension to the original 2Africa cable, known as 2Africa Pearls, is involved. Announced in 2021, it offers plans for further landing points in Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia.
China Mobile International and Meta are the consortium parties responsible for the Karachi portion of the cable. They have contracted Transworld Associates to operate and own the landing.
TWA says it plans to connect a Tier III-quality carrier-neutral data centre collocated at the telcos cable landing station, to the 2Africa cable and other cable systems.
Karachi is currently home to at least seven cables, with more going live or landing soon.
Transworld Associates owns the Transworld-1 cable, connecting Pakistan to the UAE and Oman. It is also a consortium member of the SeaMeWe-5 submarine cable project.
Mumbai, Aug 1 : The upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel Honey Bunny' is set to drop on OTT on November 7, this year.
The release date of the show was revealed after the noise metre (breathing decibel threshold) hit the score of 100 at the Mehboob Studios in the Bandra West area of Mumbai on Thursday.
The special event was attended by Bollywood star Varun Dhawan and his co-star from the show, Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Varun, who spoke to media on the sidelines of the event shared that the creators of the show issued strict directions to him about this show being his single point focus and that he could not take up any other project, a film or even a brand film.
'Citadel Honey Bunny' is the Indian counterpart of the larger global series 'Citadel' which starred Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in the lead.
Varun also revealed that he was a little surprised as he thought that there would be very elaborate sets since it's a Prime Video show. However, the actor soon went on field and took to the streets in 'Thane' and 'Bhandup' areas of Mumbai. He shared that he was told this was being done to bring authenticity to the show's narrative.
The actor also shared that this is the second time in his career after 'Badlapur' where he is part of a dark narrative.
'Citadel Honey Bunny' also stars Kay Kay Menon.
The show drops on Prime Video on November 7.
Seoul, Aug 1 : The South Korean Unification Ministry on Thursday unveiled a monument near the inter-Korean border to commemorate North Korean defectors who lost their lives during escapes from the repressive regime.
The monument was set up at the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, a border city just south of the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas, the ministry said in a release, Yonhap news agency reported.
The move came as the government has designated July 14 as the official day for North Korean defectors. The date marks the enactment of the law on protecting North Korean defectors and supporting their settlement, which came into effect on this date in 1997.
The ministry held a ceremony to unveil the monument, bringing together Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho; Tae Yong-ho, the Secretary-General for the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council; and around 60 North Korean defectors.
The monument has the inscription, "To commemorate the 'yearning' and 'courage' of North Korean defectors for freedom, and to honour those who sacrificed their lives during their defection journey."
In a speech, Minister Kim emphasised the significance of the establishment of North Korean defectors' day and the monument, expressing his commitment to spreading their noble courage.
South Korea has a longstanding policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who wish to live in the South. Currently, South Korea is home to more than 34,000 North Korean defectors. The flow of defectors continues amid chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression in North Korea.
In the first half of the year, the number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea reached 105, slightly up from 99 the previous year.
New Delhi, August 1 : Emphasising that India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' and Vietnam's 'Vision 2045' continue to accelerate development and have opened up many new areas of mutual cooperation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Thursday that both countries have decided to further strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by adopting a "new plan of action".
"New steps have been taken for cooperation in the field of defence and security. The Army Software Park built in Nha Trang was inaugurated today. The agreed US$300 million credit line will strengthen Vietnam's maritime security. We have also decided that cooperation will be strengthened on the issues of terrorism and cyber security," PM Modi announced while addressing the media along with Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
Both leaders held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi who also hosted a luncheon in the honour of the visiting high-level delegation from Hanoi, which included several ministers, deputy ministers and business leaders.
In his remarks, PM Modi highlighted how the dimensions of relations between New Delhi and Hanoi have expanded and deepened over the last 10 years with the relationship transforming into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
"Our bilateral trade has increased by more than 85 per cent. Mutual cooperation has expanded in energy, technology, and development partnership. Mutual cooperation in defence and security areas has gained new momentum. Over the past decade, connectivity has increased. And today we have more than 50 direct flights between the two countries. Along with this, tourism is continuously increasing, and people have also been given the facility of e-visa," said PM Modi.
He also mentioned the extensive conservation and restoration work done by the Archaeological Survey of India at the UNESCO heritage site of My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam province of Vietnam.
"As we all know, Buddhism is our shared heritage, which has connected the people of both the countries at a spiritual level. We invite people from Vietnam to the Buddhist circuit in India. And we want the youth of Vietnam to also take benefit of the Nalanda University," stated PM Modi.
India-Vietnam relations have been on the upswing since the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Hanoi in 2016.
PM Modi has maintained Vietnam's importance as an important pillar of India's 'Act East' policy and the Indo-Pacific vision, while seeking to enhance the scope of the bilateral relationship - including defence partnership - besides working for expeditious progress on existing initiatives.
"In our Act East policy and our Indo-Pacific vision, Vietnam is our important partner. There is a good agreement between our views about the Indo-Pacific. We support evolution, not expansionism. We will continue our cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific. We welcome Vietnam's decision to join CDRI," he said on Thursday.
Taking several steps to strengthen the relationship, both countries, revealed PM Modi, have reached an agreement between the central banks for digital payment connectivity.
"We have decided to focus on the areas of green economy and new emerging technologies. We agree that, to realise the mutual trade potential, the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement should be concluded as early as possible. Each other's capabilities in energy and port development will be harnessed for mutual benefit.
Work will also be done towards connecting the Private Sector, Small and Medium Enterprises and Start-ups of both the countries," commented PM Modi.
Earlier in the day, Pham Minh Chinh received a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan and also visited Raj Ghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Seoul, Aug 1 : North Korea may have sustained huge casualties from the latest downpour in border areas along the Amnok River, South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Thursday, amid a news report that the number of those who died or went missing could reach as high as around 1,500.
North Korea's border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Phyongan were pummeled by heavy rains, with more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmlands left submerged, according to state media. But it did not disclose details about casualties, Yonhap news agency reported.
The Unification Ministry said the North may have suffered "considerable" casualties though its material damage from the latest downpours appears to be smaller than those in 2010, 2016 and 2020.
Citing satellite imagery, the ministry said the recent torrential rain inundated Wihwa Island of Sinuiju, an island in the Amnok River, and Uiju County, as well as the city of Manpo in Jagang Province.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the flood-hit areas of Sinuiju and Uiju County on Sunday and guided an operation to rescue around 5,000 isolated residents. The North's state media said the military successfully saved some 4,200 people by mobilising the Air Force's helicopters.
Kim called for "strictly punishing" those who neglected their duties at an emergency politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held in Sinuiju earlier this week. The North replaced the public security minister and chiefs of the WPK's provincial committees.
It marked the first time that North Korea has convened such an emergency politburo meeting solely on flood damage, according to the Unification Ministry.
Asked if the government is considering providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea, a ministry official told reporters that he has nothing to say at the current stage.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi arrived in Wayanad's Chooramala, one of the worst hit regions by the catastrophic landslides, on Thursday.
Congress leaders, aided by rescue teams and paramilitary forces, are visiting multiple locations of the landslide-hit region to take stock of the damages and devastation.
Chooramala, a small town near Meppadi of Wayanad is an idyllic and picturesque location with tea plantations on one side and a river on the other side, but it turned into a valley of death and destruction after landslides hit it hard on July 30.
Rahul and Priyanka will also visit three relief camps in Meppadi and meet the affected families. They are expected to extend a "healing touch" to the victims and also express solidarity with them, in such times of difficulty and despair.
They will visit three relief camps operating at Govt Higher Secondary School, St Joseph UP School, and Dr Moopen's Medical College in Wayanad's Meppadi.
Notably, Rahul and Priyanka were scheduled to visit Wayanad on Wednesday but their schedule was put off because of adverse weather situations and incessant rains.
"Priyanka and I were scheduled to visit Wayanad to meet with families affected by the landslide and take stock of the situation. However, due to incessant rains and adverse weather conditions, we have been informed by authorities that we will not be able to land," Rahul wrote on X earlier.
Notably, Rahul Gandhi has been an MP from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he got elected from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad constituencies but he chose the former over the latter.
Priyanka Gandhi is likely to contest polls from Wayanad, whenever elections happen.
Seoul, Aug 1 : South Korea's top military officer held video talks with his new Australian counterpart on Thursday to discuss ways to enhance bilateral security cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and Adm. David Johnston, Australia's new chief of the defence force, assessed the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and discussed ways for military cooperation, according to the JCS, Yonhap news agency reported.
The two sides agreed to the need to expand combined exercises and personnel exchanges, noting their bilateral ties as "comprehensive strategic partners" and as countries that pursue a "rules-based security order," it said.
Kim also thanked Johnston for Australia's participation in operations to monitor North Korea's violations of UN Security Council resolutions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, such as illegal ship-to-ship transfers of goods.
The talks took place at Australia's request as part of the country's efforts to strengthen cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the JCS.
Kolkata, Aug 1 : With the BJP continuing to boycott his speech in the Assembly for his recent comment at a public event that there is a "need to spread Islam among non-Muslims", Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday that he has always been secular with no intention to hurt anyone.
Kolkata, Aug 1 (IANS) With the BJP continuing to boycott his speech in the Assembly for his recent comment at a public event that there is a "need to spread Islam among non-Muslims", Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday that he has always been secular with no intention to hurt anyone.
He made the statement on the floor of the House referring to his July 3 speech made at a community gathering where he reportedly said, "Those who are not born in Islam are unfortunate... We have to bring them under the fold of Islam."
The remark has drawn sharp reactions from the BJP legislators, who have boycotted Hakim's speech in the Assembly demanding he withdraw his controversial "spreading of Islam" statement.
On Thursday, Speaker Biman Bandopadhay asked Hakim to explain his stand to end the continuing impasse over the issue. The Speaker also requested the BJP legislators to remain present in the House and listen to the Minister's explanation.
Claiming that whatever he said at the gathering was misinterpreted, Hakim said, "Do any of you consider me as a non-secular person? I have always adopted the secular path. There is no point in creating an uproar over what I said at a religious programme."
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari stopped him midway and said that no one had any objection to Hakim attending a religious gathering.
"However, he was invited there as a state Minister and also as the Kolkata Mayor. We also attend different religious functions. It is quite natural that when you attend a religious programme of a particular community, you will praise that religion. But it is not fair to invite people from other religions to join yours," Adhikari said.
Hakim replied that he was invited to the religious gathering since he belonged to that religion.
"Although I am a Muslim by faith, I participate in festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja. I think there is no need to create a controversy over the issue. I had no intention to hurt anyone," the Minister said.
Bengaluru, Aug 1 : The Karnataka government on Thursday launched a comprehensive Cyber Security Policy 2024 to combat rising levels of cyber-crimes and promote awareness to protect the state's digital infrastructure.
The policy has been collaboratively drafted by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and Science and Technology, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance), and the Home Department, in consultation with relevant stakeholders from both the government and private sectors.
The policy was also reviewed by the Indian Institute of Science, which is the anchor institute for the stateas K-tech Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security (CYSECK).
Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge said, "The Government of Karnataka, recognising the rising importance of cybersecurity, has meticulously crafted this policy to establish a resilient and secure cyberspace for our citizens and enterprises."
He emphasized that the policy, aligned with national and international efforts highlights Karnatakaas proactive stance in addressing cyber threats. He expressed confidence that its implementation would significantly protect the stateas digital infrastructure.
"It will also foster innovation and growth within the cybersecurity sector, ensuring that Karnataka remains at the forefront of technological advancement and becomes the leading cybersecurity hub of the country," he added.
The policy aims to build a dynamic, secure, and resilient cyberspace for all G2G, G2B, and G2C services of the Government of Karnataka. "Beyond establishing a secure cyber ecosystem, the policy aims to create an assurance framework, strengthen the regulatory framework, quickly respond to security threats, protect critical information, reduce supply chain risks, and develop human resources," Priyank Kharge said.
He also launched a skilling programme by network giant CISCO. Kharge said, "This partnership with CISCO is a testament to our commitment to fostering a secure digital environment. By training 40,000 individuals, with a special emphasis on empowering women, we are not only addressing the skills gap but also promoting inclusivity in the tech sector."
This policy has two parts: The first part focuses on building a strong cybersecurity ecosystem across all segments of society, including the public, academia, industry, startups and the government. The second part of the policy focuses on strengthening the cybersecurity posture of the stateas IT assets. Whilst the first part will be in the public domain, the second part will be internal to the stateas IT teams and departments for their implementations.
The total financial outflow for the implementation of the Cyber Security Policy for five years is about Rs103.87 crore, which would be met from the budgetary allocation of the Department of IT, BT and Science and Technology. Out of this, Rs 23.74 crore would go towards providing incentives and concessions.
Guwahati, Aug 1 : Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Thursday asserted that the state government will promote digital classes in the schools along with physical teaching.
He said the Education Department's digital attendance system will be utilised to bring down the school dropout rate.
The schools in Assam re-opened on Thursday after the summer vacation that lasted for a month.
Pegu interacted virtually with the teachers of at least 7,779 schools.
He said, "As the academic session for this year resumed after a gap of one month, I addressed the teachers through virtual mode. I wish them good luck for the upcoming days."
The minister mentioned that the Education Department has been working to promote digital education in schools.
"We have decided to give thrust on imparting teaching through digital mode. The majority of schools in Assam are equipped with smart classrooms along with seamless internet connectivity," he added.
Meanwhile, Pegu also said that the state government has been considering bringing down the school dropout ratio.
"We have installed a digital attendance system for students and teachers in the schools. Students' attendance is being strictly monitored and necessary steps will be taken to increase the turnout. Once the attendance can be increased, the school dropout rates will automatically come down," the education minister said.
Seoul, Aug 1 : South Korea on Thursday proposed providing humanitarian aid to North Korea over damage from the recent downpours in its northern border areas along the Amnok River, as the North is believed to have sustained huge casualties.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said it is willing to urgently support the North Korean flood victims with the necessary supplies from a humanitarian and fraternal perspective through the Korean Red Cross, Yonhap news agency reported.
"We are ready to discuss the items, scale and method of support with the North Korean counterpart. We expect North Korea's swift response," said Park Jong-sul, secretary general of the Korean Red Cross, expressing his "deep sympathy" for the victims.
North Korea's border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Pyongan were pummeled by heavy rain, with more than 4,100 houses and nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland left submerged, according to the North's state media.
The North did not disclose details about casualties, but the unification ministry said North Korea may have sustained "considerable" casualties amid a news report that the number of those who died or went missing probably exceeded around 1,000.
The latest aid proposal came despite heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's continued provocative acts and its increased animosity toward South Korea.
The government has said it is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea regardless of the political and security situation on the peninsula.
However, it remains uncertain whether North Korea would accept the aid proposal.
The unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, noted that it marked the government's first proposal for flood damage relief to the North since 2012. At that time, North Korea rejected the offer.
"(If Pyongyang accepts the offer) we will discuss the items and scale of support with the North. The supplies of food and medicine for the displaced will be prioritized," said a ministry official on the condition of anonymity.
The latest offer marked the second proposal on humanitarian aid under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the official said. The ministry proposed having working-level contact with North Korea in May 2022 over COVID-19 quarantine supplies.
The official said the government is ready to discuss details through various methods, including face-to-face meetings or coordinating through a third country.
The government chose to use the press to deliver its intent for aid, as North Korea has remained unresponsive to the inter-Korean liaison communication channel since April last year.
North Korea is vulnerable to natural disasters due to its lack of infrastructure, with heavy rains, in particular, displacing thousands of people in the impoverished country.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the flood-hit areas of Sinuiju and Uiju County on Sunday and guided an operation to rescue around 5,000 isolated residents.
Earlier this week, the country convened a rare emergency politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea to discuss ways to cope with the flood damage.
Thailands National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has reportedly changed its strategy for allocating two unsold satellite orbital slots after last weeks auction failed to attract any bids.
According to the Bangkok Post, the NBTC board voted unanimously to sell the orbital slot packages of 50.5 East and 142 E via a beauty contest method instead, under which participants can set their own bidding details and name their price.
NBTC commissioner Sompop Purivigraipong said top priority will be given to proposals that mainly focus in helping Thailand keep the rights to the orbital slots, the report said.
The rights to the 50.5 E slot will expire early next year, while the 142 E slot will expire in 2027. Thailand which considers the orbital slots to be national assets will have to surrender them to the International Telecommunication Union if it cant get anyone to purchase them before then.
The NBTC has been trying to find someone to buy the slots since at least January 2023, when it held an auction for five sets of orbital slots. Thaicom affiliate Space Tech Innovation paid THB797 million (US$22.1 million) for two sets (78.5 E and 119.5 E/120 E), and state telco National Telecom (NT) paid THB9.07 million for the 126 E slot. However, the slots for 50.5 E and 142 E went unsold.
The NBTC hoped to sell the slots in an auction this month. However, the bid deadline of July 23 came and went with no submissions. The Post reports that Prompt Technology and Thaicom subsidiary TC Space picked up bid envelopes, but neither firm ultimately followed through.
The result was largely expected by industry watchers. At an NBTC focus group meeting in April 2023 to discuss how best to allocate the two slots, satellite players said they would prefer any method except an auction.
Sompop said the NBTC board aims to have the criteria for the beauty contest finalised in the next couple of weeks, while the contest is slated to take place sometime in September.
If the beauty contest also flops, the NBTCs remaining option is to take ownership of the slots itself, the report said. Sompop said the NBTC office will conduct a feasibility study on this and submit it to the board within two weeks, although he added, "It is unclear whether the NBTC can act as an operator to reserve the rights to use the orbital slots by renting a satellite and drag it into the 50.5 E location before the expiry date.
As a safety net, the NBTC will also seeks extensions from the ITU to keep hold of the slots until it can sell off the packages, the report said.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Young women are at an increased risk of recurrence of uterine fibroids majorly due to lifestyle habits and genetics, said experts on Thursday.
Uterine fibroids are benign tumours of the uterus that frequently occur in women during their childbearing years. They are usually not malignant; however, they cause many problems, such as pain, heavy menses, and sometimes even infertility.
While myomectomy surgically removes fibroids by preserving the uterus, the fibroids tend to recur.
"In India, around 15-33 per cent of fibroids recur after myomectomy. There are many reasons for the recurrence of fibroids but importantly the main reasons are: genetic tendency and lifestyle habits," Ila Jalote - Consultant, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Manipal Hospital, Gurugram, told IANS
"Uterine fibroids are becoming a major gynaecological concern. Although the precise cause of uterine fibroids is still unknown, the factors that are frequently associated with the condition include genetics and certain lifestyle factors," added Madhuri Vidyashankar P, Consultant Gynaecologist, Hysteroscopic & Laparoscopic Surgeon, Motherhood Hospitals, Bengaluru.
The actual causes of fibroids remain unknown; however, several studies suggest a combination of factors.
Fibroid growth is induced by hormones like oestrogen, which stimulate lining growth in the uterus. Genetics also plays a role since those whose families have had previous cases of fibroid development stand at higher risk. Other things that increase oneas chances of having this disease include the early onset of menstruation, obesity, and a lack of vitamin D.
"The symptoms of fibroids depend on their size, number, and position. Some women never experience any symptoms at all, while others can go through a lot of discomfort, like excessive menstrual bleeding, pain or pressure in the pelvis, frequent urination, difficulties during defecation, painful sexual intercourse," Jalote said.
Fibroids can also impact conception and pregnancy. Depending on their size and location, they physically block fallopian tubes, preventing sperm from reaching the egg or a fertilised egg from implanting in the uterus, the doctor said.
Fibroids can also increase the risk of miscarriage, especially in the first trimester, and also affect the baby by leading to preterm labour and breech position (feet or buttocks first).
"Fibroids can interfere with placental development or cause the placenta to detach from the uterine wall (placental abruption), both of which can be dangerous for the baby," Jalote said.
Vidyashankar said that uterine fibroids can occasionally present without any symptoms, which makes them very harmful to reproductive health if not identified early on.
"At least 50 per cent of fibroids are thought to be asymptomatic, however, this number is probably underestimated because it is based on women whose fibroids are unintentionally discovered during pelvic exams, ultrasounds, or cervical screenings," the doctor said emphasising the need for early screening and annual physical examinations.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : The Supreme Court on Thursday suggested the application of the "creamy layer" principle to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for availing benefits of affirmative action.
A 7-judge Constitution Bench was dealing with the question of whether a sub-classification amongst reserved category groups for giving more beneficial treatment would be permissible under the Constitution.
In a 6:1 decision, the majority overturned its 2004 judgement, which had ruled against giving preferential treatment to certain sub-castes within scheduled castes (SCs). However, the apex court clarified that while providing for sub-classification, the government would not be entitled to reserve 100 per cent seats available for SCs in favour of a particular sub-class to the exclusion of other castes in the List.
In his detailed opinion, Justice B.R. Gavai said: "When the 9-Judge Bench in Indra Sawhney held that applicability of such a test (creamy layer test) insofar as Other Backward Classes are concerned would advance equality as enshrined in the Constitution, then why such a test should not also be made applicable to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe."
"Can a child of IAS/IPS or Civil Service officers be equated with a child of a disadvantaged member belonging to Scheduled Castes, studying in a Gram Panchayat/Zilla Parishad school in a village?" he asked.
Justice Gavai said putting the children of the parents from the SCs and STs who, on account of the benefit of reservation, have reached a high position and ceased to be socially, economically and educationally backward and the children of parents doing manual work in the villages in the same category would defeat the constitutional mandate.
He said that if a person after availing the benefit of reservation achieved a position of a peon or maybe a sweeper, he would continue to belong to a socially, economically and educationally backward class, however, the people, who, after having availed the benefits of reservation, have reached the high echelons in life cannot be considered to be socially, economically and educationally backward, so as to continue availing the benefit of affirmative action.
"They (the latter ones) have already reached a stage where on their own accord they should walk out of the special provisions and give way to the deserving and needy," he opined.
Justice Gavai's opinion, supported by Justices Vikram Nath, Pankaj Mithal, and Satish Chandra Sharma, stressed that the government must evolve a policy for identifying the creamy layer even from the SCs and STs so as to exclude them from the benefit of affirmative action.
"In my view, only this and this alone can achieve the real equality as enshrined under the Constitution," he said.
On similar lines, Justice Nath said: "The criteria for exclusion of creamy layer for the purpose of affirmative action could be different from the criteria as applicable to the Other Backward Classes."
Justice Mithal suggested limiting reservation to one generation only, saying periodical exercise has to be undertaken to exclude the class of person who after taking advantage of reservation has come to march, shoulder to shoulder with the general category.
"The reservation, if any, has to be limited only for the first generation or one generation and if any generation in the family has taken advantage of the reservation and has achieved higher status, the benefit of reservation would not be logically available to the second generation."
Similarly, Justice Sharma said for the full realisation of substantive equality, the identification of the "creamy layer" qua SCs and STs ought to become a "constitutional imperative".
In 2004, a 5-judge Constitution Bench in E.V. Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh case had held that the members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) form homogeneous groups incapable of further regrouping or classification. The Chinnaiah judgement had said that to re-group the Scheduled Castes specified in the Presidential Notification issued under Article 341 of the Constitution would be tantamount to discrimination in reverse and would attract the wrath of Article 14 of the Constitution.
In 2020, a 5-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra (now retired) opined that the E.V. Chinnaiah ruling is required to be revisited by a larger Bench saying that the benefit of reservation is not percolating down to the neediest and poorest of the poor. Thereafter, reference was made to a 7-judge to decide an appeal filed by the Punjab government against the ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the 2006 Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act providing afirst preferencea to Balmikis and Mazbhi Sikh castes under the SC quota.
--IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 1 : The BJP announced on Thursday that the JD(S) would take part in the joint padyatra from Bengaluru to Mysuru seeking resignation of CM Siddaramaiah over allegations of corruption.
JD(S) Karnataka President and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy will inaugurate the padyatra along with former CM, BS Yediyurappa.
The declaration was made at a joint press conference in New Delhi by the Karnataka in-charge Radhamohan Das, state BJP President BY Vijayendra and Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi.
Vijayendra stated that the BJP and JD(S) will jointly take up the agitation and take the matter to the logical conclusion.
He said the differences between the two parties had been sorted out and on Saturday at 8.30 A.M. the padyatra will begin from Bengaluru and all MPs, MLAs, party workers of BJP and JD(S) will take part.
Radhamohan Das alleged that the Karnataka government had indulged in a Rs 4,000 crore scam and also gobbled money belonging to Dalits in the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Board case.
"We, as an Opposition, comprising both BJP and the JD(S) have decided to take up the padyatra. The regional leaders will lead the agitation," he stated.
When asked about Kumaraswamy raising objection to the presence of BJP General Secretary Preetham Gowda, he stated that the BJP does not give importance to individuals, it's always about the organisation.
"We have come to a consensus, if you want more clarity, Kumaraswamy can be approached and he will convey that all differences have been sorted out," Radhamohan Das stated.
When asked whether any national leaders were taking part, Radhamohan Das maintained, no national leader was taking part and the state leaders would fight it out.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi stated, the BJP and JD(S) will take out the padyatra as decided from August 3 as the communication gaps between BJP and JD(S) had been set right.
"We have spoken about it and the issue is fixed. Everything is sorted out. The leaders of both parties will take part in the padyatra," Joshi stated.
Just a few hours ago, Joshi, Vijayendra and Das had met Kumaraswamy in a bid to pacify him.
HD Kumaraswamy had lashed out at the BJP and declared that his party, the JD(S) would not take part in the August 3 foot march to Mysuru and not even extend moral support.
According to sources, the BJP leaders held a meeting with Kumaraswamy at his office in New Delhi seeking his support for the padyatra by resolving their mutual issues.
JD(S) leaders Bandeppa Kashempur and JD(S) MP Mallesh Babu were also present in the meeting.
Earlier, Kumaraswamy expressed strong resentment over the BJP's decision to include former MLA from Hassan, Preetham Gowda in its foot march.
Kumaraswamy lashed out saying it was impossible for him to share the dais with Preetham Gowda who had distributed pen drives in connection with the sex video case involving Prajwal Revanna.
Union Minister Kumaraswamy's nephew Prajwal Revanna is the main accused in the sex videos case and he is presently in jail.
Expressing strong outrage over the call to include Preetham Gowda in the BJP's foot march, Kumaraswamy questioned, "Is it possible to share a platform with someone who has poisoned former PM HD Deve Gowda's (his father) family?
"Are you inviting someone like Preetham Gowda, who is intent on destroying Deve Gowda's family, to the meeting which I am attending?"
He expressed disappointment, saying, "I am saddened by this matter. Why should we support the foot march? Who is this Preetham Gowda? We know who distributed pen drives on the streets of Hassan. This person has poisoned Deve Gowda's family. How can we share a platform with such a person?"
Mumbai, Aug 1 : Bollywood star Varun Dhawan has revealed that his father and director David Dhawan didn't like what the actor became after doing 'Badlapur'.
On Thursday, Varun attended the special teaser launch event of his upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' at the Mehboob Studios in the Bandra west area of Mumbai, along with his co-star Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the show creators Raj & DK and the music director duo Sachin-Jigar.
Varun interacted with the media stationed at the venue, and shared that his character in the revenge drama 'Badlapur', in which he was pitted against Nawazuddin Siddiqui, took a toll on him and bled into his personal life.
The actor revealed that he started behaving differently during the making of 'Badlapur' and the character triggered a change in his personality.
Varun then shared that his role in 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' is also in a dark space but is not as disturbing as it was in 'Badlapur'.
What's interesting is that David was all praise for Varun and how he handled his character during the making of the show.
'Badlapur' is a neo-noir action thriller film directed by Sriram Raghavan of 'Andhadhun' fame. The film was based on the novel 'Death's Dark Abyss' by Italian writer Massimo Carlotto. It also stars Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak, Kumud Mishra, Divya Dutta and Radhika Apte.
Elsewhere during the event, Varun also revealed that his upcoming spy action streaming show 'Citadel: Honey Bunny' has a one take action sequence which lasts for 12 minutes.
'Citadel: Honey Bunny', which is the Indian counterpart of the global streaming series 'Citadel', features many exhilarating moments and action sequences, of which the one with a runtime of 12 minutes, stands out.
Varun also lauded Samantha for her dedication towards the series and pulling off action sequences despite battling her medical condition.
He said Samantha's physical training for the show outdid his preparations.
The actor told the media, "She has inspired me, the creators, and put up a terrific show."
New Delhi, Aug 1 : A Japanese parliamentary and business delegation led by Fukushiro Nukaga, Speaker of House of Representatives of Japan, met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar in New Delhi as both countries continue to further strengthen their growing partnership.
"Engaging discussion on enhancing India-Japan partnership in business, investments, education and technology. Expanding contacts in research, manufacturing and human talent and skill base will advance our cooperation," Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.
During the meeting, the EAM also spoke on the shared imperative of building trusted, resilient and reliable supply chains, especially in the field of digital and critical and emerging technologies.
Earlier this week, during his visit to Tokyo for the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, Jaishankar had emphasised on increase Japanese investments rapidly.
"There are 1,400 Japanese businesses operating in India. We would like to see that number grow. And we have an investment target of 5 trillion yen, that is $42 billion by 2027. In India, I must tell you that Japan has long been associated with economic and technology advancement. It is not just the example of Japanese progress itself, but it is also reflected in the history of our collaboration," the EAM said in his remarks at the Japan National Press Club.
He had highlighted that it is also "very much in Japan's own interest" to accelerate the emergence of resilient and reliable supply chains, as well as transparent and trusted digital collaboration.
The EAM had also mentioned that the full potential of India-Japan relations is still to be realised, especially in the light of the changing global scenario.
"We believe that both Japan and our relationship will be well served through greater utilization of skilled Indian professionals in the Japanese economy," he stated.
Hyderabad, Aug 1 : Adani Logistics, O9 Solutions, Dr Reddy's Labs, State Bank of India (SBI), National Academy of Construction (NAC), Retailers Association of India, and Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association will be the industry partners for Telangana's Skill University, the state Assembly was informed on Thursday.
The Assembly passed the Young India Skill University Telangana (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2024, setting the stage for setting up of the institution which will equip students with skills to meet the industry demand.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced that the partner companies will design curriculum, train students in their respective sectors and provide jobs.
The university, which will start functioning from a temporary campus at the Engineering Staff College of India, will give admission to 2,000 students for the academic year 2024-25. To begin with, it will offer courses in six verticals in partnership with industries.
For the School of Pharma and Life Sciences, the industrial partner will be Dr Reddy's Labs. School of E-commerce and Logistics will be established in partnership with Adani Logistics and O9 Solutions. The State Bank of India (SBI) and Physics Wallah will be partners for the School of Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI). The National Academy of Construction (NAC) has come forward for the School of Construction and Interiors. The School of Retail Operations and Management will be operated in partnership with the Retailers Association of India. For the School of Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics, Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association will be the partner.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, the Chief Minister said he would be laying the foundation stone for the permanent campus of the university at Net Zero City at Mucherla on the outskirts of Hyderabad later on Thursday.
To come up in a public-private partnership, the university will focus on delivering comprehensive skill training and job opportunities to students.
Assuring that it will not charge like the Indian School of Business (ISB) or corporate universities, he said the average annual fee for the courses will be Rs 50,000.
"If necessary, the government will reimburse the fee of SC, ST, OCBC, and minority students," he said.
Earlier, Industry and Information Technology Minister D. Sridhar Babu said the Skill University would help create skilled human resources and thus enable the state to attract new industries and investors from all over the world. The minister said 17 verticals have been identified for starting courses - Healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences, Artificial Intelligence & Information Sciences, Tourism & Hospitality, Automotive & Electric Vehicles, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), Animation & Visual Effects, Gaming & Comics, Construction and Interiors, Advanced Manufacturing, Retail Operations & Management, E-commerce & Logistics, Renewable Energy, Food Processing & Agriculture, Beauty & Wellness, Media, Gaming & Films, and Electronics & Semiconductor and Digital Designs.
From the academic year 2025-26, the intake will be increased to 10,000. The university will offer degree, undergraduate, PG, diploma, certificate courses, and executive programmes.
While focusing on the requirements of Telangana, Skill University will prepare students for the national and international market. It will also have a career development centre and will impart soft skills, communication, social awareness, and digital and financial literacy.
While reiterating the government's commitment to fill 2 lakh vacancies in government departments, the minister said the government can't provide jobs to all the unemployed.
Stating that there are over 20 lakh unemployed youth in the state, he said the Skill University would fill the skill gap to make them job-ready to meet the requirements of the industry. "This will be a win-win situation for both students and industry," he said. He said the government prepared the plan for the Skill University after holding a series of discussions with industrialists, vice-chancellors, principals of colleges, and students.
He said 50 per cent of all courses will have a practical component. Industrial apprenticeship will also be part of the courses. The courses will be in tune with the framework of the University Grants Commission and the National Council for Vocational Education and Training. It will also be in line with National Education Policy 2020.
The university will be modelled on the lines of IIIT Hyderabad, Skill and Entrepreneurship University, Delhi, and Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana. The PPP project will be in the line with IIIT Hyderabad framework. He said the educational systems of Germany, China, South Korea, and Singapore were also analysed. These countries have linked vocational education with their traditional education system in tune with industrial demand.
Bengaluru, Aug 1 : Union Minister of State (MoS) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday asked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to tender his resignation and face investigation on charges of "corruption" and "misuse" of power.
Bengaluru, Aug 1 (IANS) Union Minister of State (MoS) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday asked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to tender his resignation and face investigation on charges of "corruption" and "misuse" of power.
"The Congress government had previously issued a notice to former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa through the Governor. Today, the Karnataka Cabinet has decided against the Governor. The state government is acting against the law and the Constitution," Shobha told media persons.
She said that if Siddaramaiah is not guilty then why is he afraid?
"You should resign and face the investigation. If you are innocent, then you will return to power. You must respond to the Governor's notice. Siddaramaiah is an accused now. Instead, there is a conspiracy against the Governor," the MoS said
A private complaint has been filed against Siddaramaiah in relation to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land allocations.
She said that Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot requested a report from the Chief Secretary on Wednesday, adding that another report had also previously been submitted to the Governor.
"However, the Karnataka Cabinet has decided to press for the withdrawal of the Governor's notice related to the MUDA case and pursue legal action," Shobha stated.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka also said that the Congress government is "fearful" over the Governor's notice.
"The complaint was not filed by the BJP or JD-S but a social activist. There is a provision for a citizen to question the loot of the state exchequer. Under that provision, the complaint has been lodged. Siddaramaiah has agreed on the floor of the House that not Rs 178 crore but Rs 89 crore have been misappropriated. In MUDA case, he agrees to have received sites but maintains that it is legal," the LoP said.
He said that the violations of law in the case have come out and the Governor has initiated steps in a democratic manner.
"The exclusion of Siddaramaiah from the Cabinet meeting held today proves that he indulged in wrongdoings," the LoP said.
Hyderabad, Aug 1 : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday said that he considers women MLAs his sisters, a day after his remarks about two BRS MLAs triggered chaos in the Assembly.
Speaking in the Assembly, he lashed out at the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), saying the party is "using" sisters to play politics and stall the proceedings of the House.
He was reacting to the protest by BRS MLAs who earlier staged a walk-out and held a sit-in outside his chambers in Assembly premises, demanding his apology over allegedly insulting remarks made against BRS women MLAs P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and V. Sunita Lakshma Reddy.
Denying that he made any insulting remarks, the Chief Minister said he considers them his sisters.
He clarified that he only said a sister left Congress after inviting him to the party and joined BRS for a ministerial berth. "For the other sister, I campaigned and two cases registered against me are still pending in the court," he said.
He appealed to Sabita Indra Reddy and Sunita Lakshma Reddy to not fall into the trap of BRS
Targeting BRS working president K. T Rama Rao, he remarked, "I will not roam around doing politics if my sister is in jail."
The opposition leader went to New Delhi and entered a secret deal despite his own sister being in Tihar Jail, he said.
He alleged that after Wednesday's proceedings in the House, BRS supporters posted memes on social media insulting Tribal Minister Seethakka.
He alleged that BRS leader and former chief minister KCR is not coming to the Assembly as he does not want to sit in front of the Speaker who is a Dalit.
CM Revanth Reddy said it was Congress that gave political life to KCR, and Harish Rao also became a minister because of the Congress party.
"The opposition creates a ruckus in the House when they are given mikes. They stage protests before the podium when they are denied opportunity, he said.
BRS leaders focused only on political gains and neglected people's issues in the House, he claimed.
The BRS leaders obstructed the House from debating the farm loan waiver scheme by using women MLAs as puppets.
He alleged that the main opposition does not want to discuss Skill University.
Seoul, Aug 1 : South Korea expresses "deep concern" over the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East and urges all parties to exercise restraint and seek diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
"Our government expresses deep concern over the recent sharp escalation of tensions in the Middle East," ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a commentary, Yonhap news agency reported.
"We strongly urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint and hope that diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions, including ceasefire and negotiations on the release of hostages, will continue without interruption," he said.
Tensions have heightened in the already devastated region in the wake of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of the Hamas militant group who had been leading the negotiations on pausing the conflict with Israel.
His death has dampened the prospects for the negotiations on ending the war, as Iran has claimed Israel's responsibility for the killing and threatened to retaliate.
Fears of a wider regional clash have also gripped the Middle East following Saturday's rocket attack on a town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children. Israel has accused Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah of being behind the attack.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : As many as 5,162 projects amounting to Rs 91,143 crore have been taken up under the Smart City Mission in the country, of which 4,548 projects worth Rs 76,735 crore (84 per cent of total projects) have been completed, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Under the Smart City Mission, 100 cities have been selected, of which 66 cities have a population of less than 10 lakh. This includes 12 cities having less than 1 lakh population, 33 cities having a population between 1-5 lakh and 21 cities with a population between 5-10 lakh (as per Census 2011). An amount of Rs 29,693 crore of central assistance has been released to these 66 cities," the minister explained.
The Ministry also assists states and Union Territories through its Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) and Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0).
Central assistance is sanctioned to states and Union Territories and not to cities.
The schemes are implemented by the States/UTs in accordance with the Mission/Scheme guidelines, the minister further stated.
The minister also provided detailed data on the central assistance allocated and released to all the states and Union Territories under AMRUT 2.0 and SBM-U 2.0.
As per the provisions of the Constitution, matters relating to urban development fall within the purview of states and Urban Local Bodies.
However, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) provides programmatic support to the states/Union Territories (UTs) in their urban development agenda through its flagship programmes, he added.
Malaysian telco CelcomDigi officially submitted its proposal to build Malaysias second 5G network on Wednesday, while rival telco U Mobile has signed more MoUs including a new financing deal geared towards making its own case to be the new 5G operator.
CelcomDigi said it has submitted its proposal for the deployment of Malaysias second 5G network to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), claiming it's in the best position to deliver the most affordable, fast, and efficient rollout of the new 5G network.
Among its qualifications, CelcomDigi said it operates the widest 4G network in the country (with 18,000 sites) thats also 5G-ready, and also has the biggest network of tower and infrastructure companies to facilitate expedient deployment. CelcomDigi also noted that over two-thirds of its network will be modernised by the end of this year.
Then theres CelcomDigis service portfolio, which includes digital solutions increasingly powered by AI via its recently launched CelcomDigi AI Experience Centre (AiX) collaboration hub.
CelcomDigi also touted its ecosystem of global and local technology partners, and the global expertise of its shareholders Axiata and Telenor to drive rapid innovation of new emerging technology solutions for consumers and enterprises.
We have an opportunity to capitalise and build on the existing solid infrastructure, financial strength and robust ecosystem that we have invested in, said CelcomDigi CEO Idham Nawawi in a statement.
CelcomDigi isnt the only one angling to lead construction of the second 5G network. Maxis and U Mobile have also stated their intentions to be part of the action, although U Mobile has been the most aggressive in terms of publicly signing deals in preparation for it.
U Mobile gets 5G financing and more
On Wednesday, U Mobile said it has signed an MoU with AmBank Group, who will provide financing solutions to cover the cost of rolling out the second 5G network.
We appreciate their commitment in providing us with the financial solutions to accelerate the deployment of the second 5G network in Malaysia," said U Mobile CFO Sandy Tsang, who added the deal would further strengthen U Mobiles ability to implement the network cost-effectively and efficiently.
The AmBank Group deal is one of several U Mobile has signed in the past month to position itself as a contender for the second network.
Earlier this week, U Mobile signed an MoU with Time dotCom to develop customised backhaul solutions using Times fibre backhaul network to support U Mobiles 5G deployment strategy and technical requirements.
Last Friday, U Mobile announced it had formed strategic partnerships with eight state-backed network facility provider companies (SBCs) from the PPIT Consortium (AKA Persatuan Penyedia Infrastruktur Telekomunikasi Malaysia) to streamline the 5G rollout process by collaborating on knowledge sharing and provision of access to tower structures, space, power and expedited site implementations.
Under that deal, U Mobile and the eight SBCs which include D Harmoni Telco Infra, Konsortium Jaringan Selangor, Perlis Comm, Infra Quest, Sacofa, Desabina Industries, PDC Telecommunication Services and PINS Network Solutions will also establish cost-efficient commercial models for various infrastructure requirements including built-to-suit sites, co-locations and site upgrades, with the goal of establishing a competitive and sustainable offering between U Mobile and PPIT Consortium.
U Mobile has also signed tower-related MoUs with PPIT Consortium member EdgePoint Towers and Edotco (whose subsidiary Yiked Bina is also a consortium member) to further its 5G ambitions.
While both CelcomDigi and U Mobile are keen to be the new 5G player, theyre also 5G collaborators. The two operators signed an MoU at Mobile World Congress 2024 in February to collaborate on developing use cases for 5G-Advanced as part of a broader agreement to share 100 multi-operator core network sites across Malaysia.
CelcomDigi and U Mobile also signed a separate deal with ZTE at the event to demonstrate the capabilities of 5G-A, AI and digital solutions for real-time live broadcasting. On Tuesday, the three companies announced they will run a live TV broadcast using 5G-A during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Sukma Games on August 17.
Decision by the end of this year
The Malaysian government has been planning to launch a second 5G wholesale network to compete with existing 5G operator DNB since May 2023. U Mobile and CelcomDigi (via subsidiary Infranation) completed a deal to buy stakes in DNB via share subscription agreements (SSAs) in June, along with Maxis and YTL, while Telekom Malaysias SSA is expected to finalised this month.
The SSAs come with an option that allows each telco to sell their DNB stake in order to take a stake in the second 5G network. They are not allowed to own stakes in both.
According to The Edge Malaysia, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo has said the process of selecting an operator to switch from DNB to the second network should be completed by the end of this year.
Jaipur, Aug 1 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Thursday announced assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of three deceased who lost their lives due to drowning in the basement of a house amid heavy rains in Jaipur.
The Chief Minister said that Rs 4 lakh each has been sanctioned from the Disaster Relief Funds and Rs 1 lakh each from the Chief Minister Relief Fund.
Kamal Shah (23), Puja Saini (19) and Poorvi Saini (6) died in Jaipur in the VKI area due to drowning while they were in the basement area of their house. All the three deceased are from Ara in Bihar.
Earlier, the Chief Minister also chaired a meeting on disaster relief which was attended by the Chief Secretary and other senior officers from divisions and districts.
Jammu, Aug 1 : Security forces on Thursday recovered arms, ammunition and explosives in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri District.
Officials said, "On a specific input received by the security forces, a joint team of the police, Army and BSF launched a search operation in Kalakote area of Rajouri District.
"During the searches, a huge cache of arms and ammunition along with explosives was recovered in the area.
"The recoveries include one AK-47 Rifle with 2 magazines, one pistol, two hand grenades and other arms and ammunition."
Security forces are carrying out cordon and search operations almost daily in the hilly districts of Jammu division like Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur.
The all-out operation to eradicate terrorism from Jammu division has become the top priority of the security forces after the militants carried out ambush attacks against the Army in these areas.
The Army has already deployed over 4,000 of its elite commando forces and those trained in mountain warfare to eradicate the group of 40-50 foreign mercenaries reportedly operating in these areas.
--IANS
sq-zi/rad
New Delhi, Aug 1 : Dennis Francis, President of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), has highlighted the contribution of mobile phones and digital banking services in India in lifting 800 million people out of poverty.
Addressing the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on 'Accelerating progress towards Zero Hunger for the current and future generations' on Tuesday, Francis gave India's example while explaining the change that technology and innovation can bring in the lives of people from developing countries.
"India has been able to lift 800 million people out of poverty over the last five or six years simply by the use of a smartphone. Rural farmers in India, who never had a relationship with a banking system, are now able to transact all their businesses on their smartphone," Francis, a seasoned diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago, told the gathering.
"They pay their bills and they receive payments for orders... 800 million people lifted out of poverty because there is a high level of internet penetration in India and almost everyone has a cellphone," he added.
The UNGA President then went on to speak on closing the gap between the developed and developing countries of the world with respect to technology and innovation.
"The playing field is not levelled. This is, in fact, an important descriptor of the distinction between the Global North and Global South. Rather that gap being closed, we are witnessing it being widened, indicative of the fact that this calls for urgent action on the part of all states to address it," he mentioned.
The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained its commitment to expanding digital transactions in the Indian economy over the last many years.
Digital payment transactions have registered unprecedented growth in India during the past 10 years with the UPI having emerged as the preferred payment mode of the citizens.
The increase in digital transactions in India's economy, the government believes, has provided numerous benefits for growth as it promotes financial inclusion, enhances transparency in systems, fosters innovation, and provides valuable data for informed decision-making leading to the strengthening of the economy and driving sustainable growth.
Chateauroux, Aug 1 : Shooter Swapnil Kusale added a third medal to India's tally, winning a bronze medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the Paris Olympics here on Thursday. The 28-year-old said he kept his breath in control and did not glance at the leaderboard during his final.
Kusale also became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal in the Men's 50m 3 Position event. It was also the third shooting medal in the rifle event after Abhinav Bindra's gold in the 10m air rifle in the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Gagan Narang's bronze in the same event in the London Olympics 2012.
Kusale shot a score of 451.4, to finish behind China's Yukun Liu (gold) and Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish (silver). He had ended seventh in the qualification round with a total score of 590.
aI feel great. I was a little nervous and my heart is still racing. Ultimately, it's a sport and I'm proud to have brought home a bronze for India," Kusale said after clinching a medal for the country.
"I didn't target anything and just focussed solely on my breathing. I was not looking at the leaderboard and sticking to what I'd been practicing for many years. I was also neglecting the leaderboard announcement as I only wanted the Indian fans to make noise. It was making me feel good and I wanted to see them happy," he added.
The man from Kolhapur felt short on words to express his feelings about holding the medal in his hands but remained committed to being grounded.
aI'm not sure if I'll feel different when I will have the medal in my hands. I definitely feel something inside, but I'm just used to staying grounded," he said.
Detailing his mindset in the final, Kusale said he kept things simple and didn't focus on minimum points in any particular event.
"In my mind, I wasn't targetting any particular points in each event and was focussing on procedures and kept on doing them. I didn't see anything else and I'm proud of that," he said.
About his routine before the final on Thursday, Kusale said he did not have anything to eat.
"There were butterflies in my stomach, so I just had black tea (before the final). I love drinking tea but I can't have it so I drank black tea. Every time, before the match, I chant God's name," the Indian shooter added.
Imphal, Aug 1 : Manipur Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge after an altercation between violence-hit Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and security forces in Imphal East District on Thursday.
Police said that around 100 IDPs from Akampat relief camp organised a protest rally but the security forces stopped it, leading to a heated altercation and then clashes.
The IDPs, including women holding placards and banners, organised the rally demanding their rehabilitation at Moreh in Tengnoupal District and a solution to the ethnic violence so that they could return to their homes at the earliest.
The protestors said that they were living in relief camps in harsh conditions and demanded that the government ensure security and funds to rebuild their homes.
Local people also joined the rally towards the official residence of the Chief Minister and hurled stones at the security forces.
Eyewitnesses said that several people among the IDPs were injured in the clashes but the numbers remain unconfirmed.
Police officials said that the IDPs did not take permission to hold the rally and they came out on the streets holding placards and shouting slogans.
A local journalist who was covering the protest claimed that he was assaulted by police personnel.
The rally was organised by the Committee on Protection of Meitei Victims.
The IDPs have been sheltered in the Akampat relief camp in Imphal East District since the ethnic violence in Manipur broke out in May last year so far claiming 226 lives, injuring over a thousand and displacing over 70,000 people belonging to Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh told the Assembly on Wednesday that over 59,400 displaced people are currently sheltered in 302 relief camps in the state and 11,133 houses have been burned in the ethnic riot.
Shimla, Aug 1 : Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday expressed grief over the natural calamity in the state and prayed for the safety of more than 50 missing people.
Reports of loss of life and property due to torrential rains that triggered landslides and flash floods are coming from all over the state.
"More than 50 people are missing and many houses have been damaged due to floods."
Two died and more than 50 people have been feared missing after five cloudbursts hit Kullu, Shimla and Mandi districts on Thursday.
A government spokesperson said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would visit the Rampur area of Shimla district on Friday to take stock of the damage caused by the cloudburst.
Expressing condolences to those who lost their lives during the calamity and prayed for providing strength to the affected families, the former CM said, adding that during this tragedy, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands with the state government.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Chief Minister Sukhu and has assured to provide every support. I have also spoken to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and reviewed the situation and have also informed the Central BJP leadership about the actual situation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured to provide all necessary resources for relief and rescue work. NDRF teams are ready to deal with every situation and are engaged in relief and rescue work," the former CM Thakur said in a statement.
He added that the government should identify disaster-prone areas as soon as possible and make proper arrangements for the safety of people living there to minimise loss.
He said that he also spoke to Union Health Minister and BJP President J.P. Nadda and apprised him about the prevailing situation.
BJP President Nadda called upon all the party workers, office-bearers and public representatives at all levels to fully support the state government in relief and rescue operations.
The Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur also urged BJP workers to come forward and help all the affected families in every possible way.
He advised the residents and tourists to take precautions and avoid unnecessary travel.
The former Chief Minister also urged the people in the state to stay away from rivers and streams and help each other in case of emergency.
Tehran, Aug 1 : Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
He made the plea in phone calls with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, while stressing that Iran reserved its "inherent and legitimate" right to retaliate the "blatant crime," according to statements released by his ministry.
Speaking to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Bagheri Kani said Israel had seriously jeopardized regional stability and security by crossing several red lines, citing its "terrorist aggression" in assassinating Haniyeh and violating Iran's national security.
The strike on Haniyeh, widely attributed to Israel, was not acknowledged or commented upon by the Israeli government.
Bagheri Kani stressed that Iran would take a "regret-inducing and decisive action" against Israel to make it "eternally rue its constant insanity," calling for convening an emergency OIC meeting to discuss the "conspicuous Israeli crime."
The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and action against Iran's territorial integrity, assessing the region's current circumstances as "critical and dangerous."
He highlighted the necessity of de-escalating tensions in the region, welcoming the holding of the OIC meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.
In his phone call with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Bagheri Kani urged all regional and Muslim states to take action to counter the "terrorist aggression" by Israel.
The Egyptian minister said his country had, in an official statement, condemned the "criminal" move of assassinating Haniyeh, while supporting Iran's initiative for convening an OIC meeting to counter the "terrorist actions."
With Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Bagheri Kani said, "Israel martyred a prominent figure of the Muslim world and an indefatigable warrior of the Palestinian resistance."
Urging for the OIC meeting, Bagheri Kani called on all regional states to condemn the "heinous Israeli crime" and take "decisive" actions to counter such "terrorist moves."
Fidan condemned the "terrorist move," saying TArkiye fully supported Iran's "legitimate and diplomatic" initiative to hold an emergency OIC meeting.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in his phone call with Bagheri Kani, expressed condemnation of the assassination of Haniyeh, and welcomed the immediate holding of an OIC meeting.
Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit, according to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which said Israel had carried out the "terrorist attack" and vowed "a harsh and painful response."
Jerusalem, Aug 1 : US carriers United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, along with British Airways, have temporarily suspended their flights to Israel amid growing tensions in the region, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported on Thursday.
Delta said that its flights are suspended through Friday, "due to ongoing conflict in the region," while United did not specify dates.
Both airlines, operating flight routes between New York and Tel Aviv, said they are closely monitoring the security situation to determine their next steps, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kan also reported that Thursday's early morning flights from Munich to Tel Aviv by German carrier Lufthansa, along with Austrian Airlines' Vienna-Tel Aviv flights, were diverted to Cyprus and Bulgaria.
Lufthansa explained in a statement that the diversion was a precautionary measure due to security activity and emphasized that the safety of passengers and crew remains the airline's top priority.
Beirut, Aug 1 : Hassan Ghayyad, the owner of a kids' apparel boutique in Marjeyoun, southern Lebanon, has observed a significant drop in customer traffic at his shop lately.
"For the first time since October 8 (last year), residents in this area have stopped their purchases entirely for the past few days," Ghayyad told Xinhua news agency.
The shop owner attributed the downturn to the heightened tensions between Hezbollah and Israel in recent days. Israel threatened to launch a military operation that will make Hezbollah pay a heavy price after a rocket attack in the Golan Heights killed 12 youngsters and wounded several others.
Hezbollah said it had "absolutely nothing to do with the incident" and dismissed the allegations as false, while insisting on responding without restrictions to any Israeli aggression against Lebanon and its resistance.
The escalating series of events is casting a pall of tense atmosphere over the southern regions of Lebanon.
Ghayyad said most shop owners and commercial establishments in his area have closed their doors, and traffic has decreased significantly. Meanwhile, many families have moved to other regions, for fear of a potential military flare-up.
Picnickers and swimmers, once fixtures on southern beaches, have now vanished, and a notable displacement trend has been observed in most towns.
Salah Sabrawi, the mayor of Abbasiyeh in the western sector of the border area, told Xinhua, "The situation in southern Lebanon is unstable, and around 5 to 8 percent of the residents were displaced over the past 48 hours due to recent military developments."
"We are monitoring the situation before thinking about displacement again, especially since we have adapted to our situation, and it is not easy to experience displacement a second time," Lama Al-Hajj, who was displaced eight months ago from a border village to the southern city of Tyre, told Xinhua. "But if the war expands, we may have to move again."
For Hanan Abu Ali, a housewife from the southeast town of Marjeyoun, keeping an eye on the evolving dynamics between Israel and Hezbollah has become a daily ritual.
"My family of five and I follow the developments almost continuously through social media. We can no longer differentiate between the correct and fake news, but we are almost certain that the mutual military strikes have become an inevitable reality," she told Xinhua.
Jihan Hamdan, 50, from the southeast town of Shebaa, had already packed her bags with some of her family's identification papers and a few summer clothes.
"We are baffled and do not know where to go, as danger is everywhere in these difficult times," she said.
Echoing Hamdan's sentiment, Nabil Assi, a university student in his twenties, told Xinhua, "We are now facing the unknown. The military strikes can reach most areas, and the war is expanding and may go out of control. We do not know what awaits us, as the future is bleak."
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
Kolkata, Aug 1 : The Border Security Force (BSF) has apprehended an Indian tout instrumental in helping Bangladeshi infiltrators cross over the India-Bangladesh border into the country.
The incident was reported from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district after the BSF drove back a group of 20-25 Bangladeshis from the Indian territory. A BSF trooper also fired one round after the infiltrators attempted to mob him.
"This incident took place at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday under the jurisdiction of the Ranghat Border Outpost. There was intelligence input regarding a possible attempt by infiltrators to cross over into India through a riverine stretch that is unfenced. The Commander of the 68 Battalion alerted his troops, which spotted a group of 20-25 people gathering on the bank of the Kodalia River, a natural boundary between India and Bangladesh.
"As they attempted to cross the river, the BSF jawans ordered them to retreat. The group did not heed the warning and entered the Indian territory. When one of our jawans rushed forward, the infiltrators - armed with sharp-edged weapons - tried to surround him.
"The jawan was then forced to fire a round at the Bangladeshis who fled across the river. When a search was carried out, a man was found hiding on the Indian side of the river. He attempted to escape but was caught," said A.K. Arya, DIG and spokesperson, South Bengal Frontier, BSF.
The man was taken to the Ranghat BOP where he confessed that he was waiting there to take charge of the infiltrators and take them further inside the Indian territory from where they could disperse and mingle with the people.
The arrested person is a resident of North 24 Parganas.
According to Arya, such infiltration attempts are taking place regularly along the international border under the jurisdiction of the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF.
Jawans are being mobbed and even attacked with lethal weapons and are forced to retaliate with stun grenades, pump action guns, and even rifles to thwart such efforts. Flag meetings are held with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) after every such incident but there seems to be no credible action from their side, the DIG said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to make a decision on the protective status of grizzly bears in the next six months but it is unclear how sweeping it may be.
A declaration by a high ranking agency official in a federal lawsuit and a settlement between Idaho and the federal government indicate the agency plans to either revise the current listing of grizzly bears or begin rulemaking to remove them from Endangered-Species-Act protections altogether by Jan. 31.
The move will include a tangle of separate but related ESA decisions about grizzlies in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The federal government is reviewing petitions by Wyoming and Montana asking that grizzlies, listed as a threatened species, be stripped of federal protection in specific geographic areas. The Wyoming petition pertains to bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem an area around Yellowstone National Park that is predominantly in the Cowboy State but also includes parts of Montana and Idaho. The Montana petition relates to grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem a vast area in and around Glacier National Park.
The federal agency rejected a petition from Idaho that asked it to strip grizzlies of ESA protections across the entire Lower 48 States. But Idaho sued and in a settlement agreement last winter, the federal agency said it would consider both a full, nation-wide delisting of grizzly bears and a presumably narrower revision to the current listing.
Idaho argues that grizzly bears are fully recovered and federal protections should be dropped. But the state also contends the Fish and Wildlife Service made a critical error when it listed grizzly bears as endangered in 1975. In that process, the federal government protected grizzlies across the entire Lower 48 states. Idaho says that violates ESA rules and the bears should have been listed in much narrower geographic areas known as distinct population segments.
Idaho and neighboring states have worked for more than 40 years in a broad-based effort to support and sustain healthy and reasonable grizzly populations in our states, but legal and bureaucratic gridlock has kept robust populations of grizzly bears unnecessarily under ESA protection. The settlement provides a path to escape regulations that are not necessary in Idaho, Gov. Brad Little said in a news release last winter.
Washington, Aug 1 : American journalists Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan are coming home to the United States in a prisoner swap with Russia, according to US media reports.
The exchange is said to be taking place at an airfield in Ankara, these reports said citing Turkish officials.
There was no official statement or confirmation from the US yet.
Gershkovich, the 32-year-old correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was arrested by Russian authorities in March 2023 for espionage. He was convicted last month and sentenced to 16 years in a high-security prison. Whelan, a 54-year-old ex-Marine, was arrested in Russia in 2018 for espionage and was serving a 16-year jail term.
--IANS
yrj/vd
Warsaw, Aug 1 : As Poland commemorates the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday to attend the ceremony.
Steinmeier is the second German president invited to this commemoration in Poland, following Roman Herzog in 1994. Together with Polish President Andrzej Duda, he paid tribute to the victims of the Wola Massacre, the mass murder of civilians in Warsaw's Wola district carried out by German forces from Aug. 5 to Aug. 12, 1944.
During the ceremony on Wednesday, Steinmeier asked for forgiveness for German atrocities committed in Poland during World War II, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Warsaw Uprising, which began on Aug. 1, 1944, was the largest underground military operation in German-occupied Europe. Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 insurgents fought for over two months, resulting in the deaths of about 18,000 insurgents and up to 180,000 civilians.
Following the suppression of the uprising, around 500,000 residents were expelled from the city, and Warsaw was almost entirely destroyed.
Abuja, Aug 1 : At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured after a deadly explosion at a local night market in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno late Wednesday, police said Thursday.
The deadly explosion followed the detonation of an improvised explosive device, allegedly by the Boko Haram terror group, at a marketplace in Kawuri, a town in the Kondauga local government area of the state, Yusuf Lawan, the police chief in Borno, told Xinhua news agency by telephone Thursday morning.
Lawan said a team of police personnel was immediately deployed to the scene to cordon off the area from further explosions while restoring normalcy.
Following the deadly explosion, the police have imposed a 24-hour curfew across the state, said Nahum Daso, a spokesman for the police in Borno, in a separate statement.
"The curfew is a measure to prevent further loss of lives and property and to allow security agencies to maintain control and ensure public safety," he said, adding that residents were expected to stay indoors and avoid "any unnecessary movements during the curfew period."
Mumbai, Aug 1 : Tata Motors on Thursday reported a 74 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 5,566 crore for the April-June quarter of the current financial year (2024-25), compared to the same period of the previous year, on the back of higher sales of its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs 3,203 crore in the April-June quarter last year.
Tata Motors' revenue from operations rose 5.7 per cent to Rs 1,07,316 crore during the first quarter from Rs 1,01,528 crore a year ago. Revenue of the companyas UK subsidiary JLR increased by 5.4 per cent during the quarter to 7.3 billion pounds driven by favourable volume, mix and material cost improvements, according to a company statement.
The share of JLR models increased to 68 per cent of the total revenue.
In the Indian market, Tata Motors commercial vehicle revenues grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 17,800 crore, while EBIT margins improved 2.4 per cent to 8.9 per cent on the back of better realisations and material cost savings, the company said.
Passenger vehicle revenues fell 7.7 per cent, reflecting "challenging market conditions", but EBITDA at 5.8 per cent expanded 0.5 per cent, driven by material cost reductions, according to the company statement.
Tata Motors also said that the proposed demerger of the company into two separate listed entities is expected to conclude in 12 to 15 months.
"In furtherance to the announcement made on March 4, 2024, the Board of Directors of Tata Motors Limited (TML), today, has approved a Composite Scheme of Arrangement amongst TML, TML Commercial Vehicles Limited (TMLCV), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited (TMPV) and their respective shareholders," the company said.
Pursuant to the scheme, shareholders of TML will receive one share of TMLCV of face value Rs 2 fully paid up for every one fully paid-up share of Rs 2 held in TML of the same class, the company added.
Further, the merger of Tata Motors Finance with Tata Capital is also underway and expected to conclude over the course of the next 9 to 12 months, it said. Tata Motors shares are hovering at Rs 1,142.65 on the NSE.
Washington, August 1 : US President Joe Biden on Thursday expressed his deepest condolences to those affected by the devastating landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district.
"Jill and I extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by the deadly landslides in the state of Kerala in India," the US President said in a statement.
"Our prayers are with the victims of this tragic event, and we mourn with the families who have lost loved ones. We commend the bravery of the Indian service members and first responders supporting the complex recovery effort. We will continue to hold the people of India in our thoughts during this difficult time," he added.
Back-to-back landslides devastated Wayanad late on Tuesday night, leaving at least 281 dead and over 200 missing with scores of habitations wiped out.
The massive rescue operation, involving personnel from all three armed forces, police, disaster relief agencies, and fire services besides locals and volunteers, is currently on at the four worst-affected landslide areas of Wayanad -- Churalpara, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday the army has informed him that there is no chance of any more survivors in the worst-affected areas.
A bailey bridge at Churalmala is now ready and will enable big earth-moving equipment to reach the places which have been cut off.
"Now the need of the hour is for a proper rehabilitation programme and we have already started working on it. We do have good experience of handling rehabilitation and hence it will be done," the Chief Minister said.
More than 8,000 people have been evacuated safely and put up in 82 relief camps.
Chennai, Aug 1 : Tamil Nadu unit BJP president K. Annamalai has written a letter to External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, regarding the alleged mid-sea attack by the Sri Lankan Navy on fishermen from Rameswaram on July 31 late night.
His letter follows a mid-sea incident near Neduntheevu in which four fishermen from Tamil Nadu were allegedly attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy.
In his letter, Annamalai said: "The recent surge in arrests of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy is a matter of grave concern. The tragic incident on July 31, resulting in the death of one of our fishermen and arrest of two others underscores the urgent need for your intervention."
The BJP leader in a statement in the letter also said that one among the four fishermen went missing and demanded the intervention of the External Affairs Ministry in the early release of apprehended fishermen.
He also requested the Union Minister for deployment of the Indian Coast Guard to find the missing fisherman.
It may be recalled that fishermen and their families in Rameswaram conducted a road blockade in protest to the alleged attack by the Sri Lankan Navy in mid-sea leading to the death of one fisherman, Malaisamy.
One fisherman, Ramachandran is missing while two others, Muthu Muniyandi and Mookaiya are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy.
Imphal, Aug 1 : Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Thursday said the state government is engaging itself to resolve the ethnic crisis in the state and several rounds of talks were held between influential leaders and various stakeholders.
Biren Singh, who also holds the Home portfolio, told the Assembly that the state government has made serious efforts to resolve the crisis and talks with the assistance of a few MLAs and other members of different communities were held in Assamas Silchar.
"I am strongly hopeful that some positive outcome would come up from the ongoing talks," he told the house without elaborating who all are involved in the talks.
Terming the ongoing ethnic unrest in Manipur as an "unexpected and unwanted turn of events", Biren Singh said that the government is taking steps very cautiously so that any negative effects do not occur.
"Some issues are being politicised and exaggerated causing complications of the situation. I appeal to all not to do any such activities which would derail the peace process," he said, as he expressed optimism about finding a solution to the ongoing ethnic unrest in the state.
Responding to the queries of the members, the Chief Minister said that so far 226 people have been killed, as many as 11,133 houses have been set on fire leading to the complete destruction of 4,569 homes, and 11,892 cases have been registered in different police stations in connection with the ethnic violence that broke out in May last year.
A total of 39 individuals are reported missing.
The agricultural sector has been severely hit, with farmlands belonging to 5,554 farmers affected, jeopardising their livelihoods, he said.
The state government has established 302 relief camps to provide shelter to 59,414 internally displaced persons.
The Chief Minister last week went to Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog meeting (on July 27) and the BJP Chief Ministersa two-day Conclave; both were presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He held separate meetings with several Union Ministers and Central leaders including Union Minister and BJP President J.P. Nadda and discussed the situation in the state.
Jaipur, Aug 1 : Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari said on Thursday that she has directed government officials to resolve the problem of waterlogging here following the death of three people, including a child, due to drowning in the basement of their house caused by flooding amid heavy rain in the Vishwakarma Industrial Area.
The Deputy Chief Minister and BJP MLA from Vidyadhar Assembly constituency, has expressed grief over the death of 23-year-old Kamal Shah, 19-year-old Pooja Saini and six-year-old Poorvi Saini, all residents of Arrah district in Bihar.
On receiving information about the incident early Thursday morning, Diya Kumari sent municipal corporation teams with pumps and machines to the spot and instructed them to start rescue and relief work along with draining out the water.
After strict instructions from the Deputy Chief Minister, officials of the district administration reached the spot.
Diya Kumari visited the Kanwatia Hospital and met the families of the three deceased victims offering her condolences.
Later, she visited the site and took stock of the situation.
The shortage of water pumps with the Municipal Corporation will also be resolved so that at least one pump is available in every Assembly constituency, the Deputy Chief Minister said.
She added that the state government will work by making a plan for the rehabilitation of the people living in the Vishwakarma Industrial Area.
Diya Kumari thanked Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and said that the latter took immediate action as soon as received information about the incident and announced a financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each from the Disaster Relief Fund and Rs 1 lakh each from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the familes of the deceased victims.
New Delhi, Aug 1 : In a commendable testament to India's growing potential, the indigenously produced goods are making their presence felt on foreign shores. The latest in the array of products going global is the 'Made in Varanasi' badges which are shining bright on the uniforms of armed forces pertaining to many countries including the US and African nations.
Notably, army badges of many countries including the US, UK, Oman, Uganda etc., are made in the narrow streets of Varanasi.
Shadab Alam is among a group of locals whose family has been engaged in the enterprise for three generations.
For years, his family along with other residents of Varanasi have contributed immensely in giving the city a global recognition.
As the indigenously produced badges and flags are showcased on uniforms of world's most powerful armies, it has given new vigour to the 'Made in India' campaign.
Shadab in a conversation with IANS also spoke about the intricacies of foreign armies badge manufacturing. He said that the 'Made in Varanasi' badges got a major boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014.
"As the badge-making enterprise got listed under GI tag after 2014, the business got a new pace and direction. A lot of orders are being received, leading to many more employment than before. We have added 30 female and 25 male staff to our workforce," he said.
Shadab also said that when French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Varanasi sometime ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted him a French envelope, which was made by his team.
Reports suggest that about 5,000 to 10,000 orders are received on an annual basis. The business has been running for long time but this has found new momentum in the last few years.
As Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of PM Modi, this also reflects government's focus and thrust on the 'Made in India' pitch.
Kohima, Aug 1 : The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) on Thursday said that it would not accept the Indian Constitution and reiterated the separate flag and constitution demand.
The influential Naga body claimed "as the Central government admits the historical fact that sovereign Naga people had not given their consent to join the Indian Union, the question of accepting the Indian Constitution does not arise".
"Thus, acknowledging the position of the Nagas and appreciating the intricacies of the Indian system, the government of India, during the tenure of the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, proposed the option of solving the problem on the basis of the principle of shared-sovereignty, which was subsequently signed under the leadership of the present Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on August 3, 2015," the NSCN-IM said in a statement.
It said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "NSCN-IM General Secretary/Ato Kilonser (the Chief Negotiator) of NSCN/GPRN along with high dignitaries from both the parties wherein the government of India has duly recognised and acknowledged the unique history and sovereignty of Nagalim".
Announcing that the NSCN-IM would observe the 9th year anniversary of the "historic" Framework Agreement (FA) signed on August 3, 2015, the Naga body said that "the FA is a testament of Central government recognising Nagalim as a sovereign state".
"Therefore, Nagalim national flag and constitution are an integral part of FA and duly recognised and acknowledged in the letter and spirit of FA.
"The Nagas should treasure and hold on the FA unsparingly lest we miss the sure promise of God. Why should we allow doubt and confusion to seal the doom of our fate ? Our course is set: we are very sure and certain of what is ours and what we must be," the NSCN-IM stated.
More than 90 rounds of meetings were held between the government and the Naga groups over the decades-old unresolved Naga political issue.
The NSCN-IM has remained unyielding on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas as well as integration of Naga-inhabited areas spread over four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, besides Myanmar.
Police were told a 30-year-old man from Moscow was riding a motorcycle southbound when he was hit by a sedan headed northbound driven by an 80-year-old Farmington man.
The agency said in the news release the motorcyclist was thrown from the bike and struck a vehicle that was stopped along the highway. He was flown by a helicopter to a local hospital.
The Latah County Sheriffs Office, Moscow Rural Volunteer Fire Department and the Idaho Transportation Department assisted Idaho State Police troopers with the crash.
Mumbai, August 1 : The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) on Thursday congratulated the newly-appointed Governor of Maharashtra, C.P. Radhakrishnan, wishing for his successful stint in office.
On behalf of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Abhay Swarup Swami and Tirth Swarup Swami met the Maharashtra Governor at his official residence and extended greetings. The BAPS swamis prayed for his successful tenure and also hoped that the humanitarian works would continue, as has been done by him for years.
Radhakrishnan, who maintains a long association with the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, also recalled his memories of Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj during the meeting.
Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 21st Governor of Maharashtra on Wednesday, replacing Ramesh Bais whose term came to an end. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya.
After the ceremony, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadanvis and Ajit Pawar welcomed the Governor by presenting him bouquets.
Before he was appointed the Maharashtra Governor, Radhakrishnan served as the Governor of Jharkhand for nearly one-and-a-half years.
He also held additional charge as Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry for brief periods.
With more than four decades of experience, Radhakrishnan is a respected figure in Tamil Nadu politics.
He started as an RSS worker and became the state executive committee member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of BJP) in 1974.
Akola/Sindhudurg : , Aug 1 (IANS) Ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC Amol Mitkari staged a protest outside the office of Akola Superintendent of Police (SP), demanding action against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for issuing death threats to him, here on Thursday.
In a vicious rebuff to Mitkari, MNS leader Ameya Khopkar slammed the NCP, saying that the "Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is the President of a stolen party" and if persons like Mitkari dare to criticise MNS President Raj Thackeray, "then they will face the consequences".
"Who is this Mitkari? He is a kerosene thiefa I have told my men that if anybody insults Raj Thackeray, teach him a lesson. If some second-third rung leaders, like Mitkari, don't stop their tirade against us, then we will strip him and beat him up. You want to lodge police complaints, go ahead, we are not scared," warned Khopkar, speaking to media persons in Sindhudurg.
Two days after his vehicle was attacked in a government guest house complex, Mitkari and his supporters staged a sit-in protest outside the office of SP Bachchan Singh, demanding strong action against the accused in the incident that has led to a war of words between the NCP and MNS.
Mitkari is upset that of the 13 MNS activists and local leaders booked by the Akola police, three were released on bail within hours while four others were detained on Thursday by the Civil Lines police station, which is investigating the matter.
"I was expecting that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would intervene in the mattera They (MNS) have openly issued threats to kill me. Is it their father's rule in the state?" Mitkari told media persons on Thursday evening.
He has also levelled allegations against the police personnel for allegedly helping some of the accused, including the MNS's local office-bearers, to escape from the spot after the Tuesday (July 30) violence, that saw one of the MNS activists Jay Malokar, 24, dying of heart attack later.
Incidentally, Ajit Pawar had called up Mitkari on Wednesday and taken a detailed briefing on the July 31 incident and assured he would do the needful in the matter.
New Delhi, August 1 : Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Wayanad in Kerala on Thursday, three days after landslides wreaked havoc in the region killing over 280 people.
Now, questions are being raised about the timing and purpose of Rahul Gandhi's visit, with social media users criticising both him and his sister.
BJP leader Shivam Tyagi wrote on X, "Rahul Gandhi's fashion show at the Wayanad disaster, 3 days late, 232 cameras, 20 guards so that 'King' Rahul isn't touched, and one person assigned to pick up his sandals.
"Zero work, zero responsibility, and James Bond-like showiness. He has come to polish his image, not to save the people of Wayanad."
The post in Hindi prompted questions about the timing and purpose of Rahul Gandhi's visit.
In response to Tyagi's post, a user named Vivek Singh Paliwal wrote, "In the Wayanad landslide, 256 people have died so far and hundreds are injured. After that, the prince thought that it was a good opportunity for a photo session. That's why he set out with his entourage and cameras."
He also included the hashtag #OpportunisticRahulGandhi.
Meanwhile, another user responded to Shivam's post by saying, "This is the grandeur of the prince. Moreover, the other prince (a reference to Akhilesh Yadav) has become his disciple."
Durgaprasad, another user, asked, "Which movie scene is this from", while Kuldeep Vyas commented, "He took his sister along because she has to contest elections from Wayanad."
Meanwhile, a user named Neeraj Mishra wrote, "They talk about equal justice, but couldn't even pick up their own sandals? Why should someone else do it? Political vultures have gone there as tourists."
Shivam Tyagi had earlier said in a post, "This Gandhi family is a panauti (disaster); wherever they go, they cause national ruin. Rahul was the MP from Wayanad, and Priyanka is the upcoming MP. But both brother and sister are enjoying the rainy season in Delhi. And the RSS volunteers, whom they criticise, are the ones helping people in Wayanad."
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Wayanad to inspect the area and meet with the victims' families.
They offered condolences and assured every possible help to the victims.
Rahul Gandhi said he stands with the people of Wayanad and is ready to provide all possible assistance. Priyanka Gandhi also expressed sorrow over the incident and assured the victims of every possible help.
She said the Congress is ready to assist the victims in every possible way.
The landslides that occurred in Wayanad in the wee hours of Wednesday have completely devastated four villages, leaving behind a scene of devastation.
The rescue efforts are ongoing but are being hampered by heavy rainfall and further landslides.
Hyderabad, Aug 1 : Meeting a key demand of unemployed youth and students, the Telangana government on Thursday approved the job calendar, which will be presented in the Assembly for a debate on Friday.
The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
The job calendar will give fixed time schedules for job recruitment in the government departments.
Following protests by unemployed and student bodies over job recruitments, Revanth Reddy had last month announced that the job calendar will be released after discussion during the Budget session of the legislature.
Revenue Minister P. Srinivas Reddy told media persons after the Cabinet meeting that the Congress government will honour all the promises made in the elections.
The Cabinet discussed the issue of ration cards along with health cards, which will contain the health profiles of the citizens. It decided to set up a ministerial subcommittee comprising the Ministers of Civil Supplies, Revenue, and Health to work out modalities.
The meeting passed a resolution condoling the loss of human lives in the landslides caused by heavy rains in Keralaas Wayanad. It conveyed its sympathies to the families of the victims. The minister said the government was ready to provide the required help for relief measures.
The Cabinet resolved to constitute a sub-committee on the merger of villages along the Outer Ring Road into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Ministers Seethakka, Sridhar Babu, and Ponnam Prabhakar will be members of the sub-committee.
It approved the release of Rs.437 crore for the completion of the Gouravelli irrigation project. It decided to prepare revised estimates with the necessary funds for the acquisition of 2,000 acres of land.
The Cabinet also decided to send once again the names of M. Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan to the Governor for their nomination as members of the Legislative Council under the Governoras quota. The nominations were earlier sent back by the Governor following the High Court order.
The Cabinet decided to give the job of Municipal Commissioner to Hari Ratan, son of Intelligence Director General Rajiv Ratan who passed away recently in the line of duty. It also decided to provide the job of deputy tahsildar to the son of Additional DG P. Murali, who recently died on duty.
Agartala, Aug 1 : Despite strict vigilance by the Border Security Force (BSF), infiltration from trouble-torn Bangladesh continues unabated as eight more Bangladeshi nationals, including two women and two Indian touts were arrested by security personnel here on Thursday, an official said.
Officials said that the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel apprehended the eight Bangladesh nationals, including two women, at the Agartala railway station "before they could board the train to move to some other area in India". The Bangladeshi nationals had entered Tripura illegally through a clandestine route.
Aged between 19 to 38, they are residents of Rajshahi, Chittagong, Mymensingh and Kishoreganj districts, an official said, adding "they were trying to go to Delhi or Bengaluru in search of jobs".
The Bangladeshi nationals along with the two Indian touts -- residents of Tripura's Sepahijala district -- would be produced in court on Friday.
Over the last two-and-a-half months, more than 165 Bangladeshi nationals and 32 Rohingyas were arrested by the GRP, BSF, and Tripura Police from the Agartala railway station and various other places in Tripura after they illegally entered India.
In view of ongoing unrest in Bangladesh, the Border Security Force (BSF) has stepped up its vigilance along the 856-km border with Tripura and maintained close coordination with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at various levels, a BSF spokesman said on Thursday.
He said that to maintain close coordination with Bangladesh border guarding forces, during July, in addition to the Inspector General BSF-Region Commander BGB level conference, four Commandant level flag meetings and 150 Company Commander/Border Out Post (BOP) level meetings with BGB were held.
Amaravati, Aug 1 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court order that the states are empowered to make sub-classifications of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for granting quotas within the reserved category to uplift more underprivileged castes.
In his address at a programme in Kurnool district, he said that his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) believes that justice should be done to every section of society.
Naidu, who as the then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh had introduced SC categorisation in 1997, said social justice should prevail.
"Justice to all sections is the slogan of TDP," he said.
He recalled that the TDP government headed by him in united Andhra Pradesh had divided SCs into ABCD categories for reservation.
"Justice should be done to every section. The TDP followed this even in allotting tickets for elections," he said, adding that the TDP was the first party in the country to introduce SC classification after constituting Justice Ramachandra Raju Commission.
Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh also welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the SC categorisation issue. Lokesh said Naidu had implemented social justice 30 years ago and the implementation of categorisation through the Presidential Ordinance created job opportunities for many people.
"We are committed to the categorisation promise made in the election. Economic and political development of all social classes is the agenda of TDP," he said.
The TDP said SC categorisation was introduced in 1997 with the sole aim that the fruits of Independence should be extended to everyone as per the population ratio and to alleviate poverty. With the assent of the then President K. R. Narayanan, A, B, C, and D categorisation came into effect, ensuring reservation quotas to various castes as per their population ratio and backwardness.
Though the High Court had dismissed it, the categorisation was re-introduced in 2000.
"22,000 youth from Madugas and other sub-castes got jobs between 2000 and 2004 following the implementation of categorization. Had this been continued, equal justice would have been available," the TDP said in a statement.
The Supreme Court delivered a judgment on November 5, 2004, that only Parliament has the right to decide on categorisation. Following this judgment, the Centre constituted the Usha Mehra Commission, which submitted its report in May 2008. "The report made it clear that Madiga sub-castes did not get due justice in the reservations being implemented now but when the categorisation was in force during 2000-2004 satisfactory results were yielded," it said.
The TDP wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on October 10, 2012, with an appeal to introduce a bill in Parliament on SC categorisation to amend the Constitution.
Kolkata, Aug 2 : A motion moved by the ruling Trinamool Congress against the three new criminal laws was passed in the West Bengal Assembly through a voice vote on Thursday after a detailed debate on the matter for the past two days.
The new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, with effect from July 1.
However, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that passing a motion in any state Assembly against a central law cleared by the Parliament is meaningless.
According to Adhikari, since the three criminal laws have been implemented nationally, a motion passed against them in the Bengal Assembly will not impact its implementation in any way.
While participating in the debate on the issue, Adhikari also floated a proposal that the state government should bring a law to stop cross-border infiltration and ban forceful religious conversion in Bengal.
"If you have the courage, bring these two new laws," Adhikari said.
Responding to Adhikari, state Law Minister Malay Ghatak said that both the Parliament and the state Assemblies have the power to enact laws.
"The Constitution has given the right to the state Assembly to amend certain Central laws according to the needs of the state," he said.
On June 20, 11 days before the three new criminal laws came into force, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to postpone their implementation.
The Chief Minister had argued that any far-reaching legal change would require meticulous groundwork to ensure its effective enforcement and administration.
Bengaluru, Aug 2 : The Congress government in Karnataka on Thursday appealled to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the showcause notice issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam matter.
The government also urged the Governor to reject the petition by social activist T.J. Abraham.
Addressing a press conference at the Vidhana Soudha, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said: "The council of ministers strongly urge the honourable Governor to withdraw notice issued to CM Siddaramaiah and also to reject the said petition by T.J. Abraham. We make this appeal with all humility and humbleness. I want to bring it to the notice of the people of the state that this is murder of democracy and the Constitution."
The Cabinet meeting held on Thursday elaborately discussed the showcause notice issued to Siddaramaiah.
"On July 26, social activist T.J. Abraham had issued the letter (of complaint) and the Chief Secretary had given a detailed response. Within minutes of receiving the complaint, the showcause notice was issued by the Governor," Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar further elaborated that the showcause notice by the Governor to CM reads: "I have received notice by T.J. Abraham. The petitioner submitted allegations against you and your family members for violations of sections of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Prevention of Corruption Act. On perusal of the request, allegations seem to be serious and are in prima facie nature. A complaint has already been lodged with the Lokayukta in this regard under Sections 117, 17A, 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
"Therefore, I direct you to submit a response in seven days on why prosecution should not be granted against you?"
The Deputy CM wondered: "Why is this haste? What's the background? Isn't there any democracy? The allegations need to be proved in findings and commissions must approve of them. There is no investigation and the judicial committee is probing the matter. What is the urgency? There are no inquiries against the CM. How can the Governor go through and read more than 200 pages of documents within minutes and send notice?"
He said that a 'false' case was made against Siddaramaiah in the MUDA scam "to ensure his downfall".
"This government has the blessings of the people and the matter is widely discussed. The entire sequence of events and the admitted facts and circumstances based on the available records lead to an unequivocal conclusion that there is gross misuse of the Constitutional Office of the Governor and a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations," Shivakumar said while detailing the decisions taken during the Cabinet meeting.
"The Governor ought to have, under the present set of facts and circumstances, acted only on the aid and advice of the council of ministers and not at his discretion. The honourable Governor, while proceeding to issue the showcause notice has failed to apply his mind to the facts of the case and did not consider the material available on record. The governor ought to have taken into consideration the reply submitted by the chief secretary dated July 26, received by him at around 6.30 p.m. on the same day.
"The Governor has failed to take note of the fact that the application for sanction suffers from serious legal infirmities. The Governor failed to take note of the fact that the application for sanction was also premature.
"The Governor failed to take note of the fact that the entire allegations made by the applicant does not reveal any offence punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 or the BNSS 2023. The Governor failed to take note of the fact that T.J. Abraham comes with criminal antecedents having criminal cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him. His acts are motivated and lacks bonafides and suffers from factual and legal malafides," Shivakumar further detailed.
Lucknow, Aug 2 : The state Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) on Thursday referred the Uttar Pradesh Nazul Properties (Management and Utilization for Public Purposes) Bill, 2024, to the Select Committee, a day after it was passed in the Assembly amid uproar by the opposition.
The decision was taken after MLC and state BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary asked the chair to refer the bill to the Select Committee for consideration. Other members of the Council supported Chaudhary's demand, after which the bill was referred to the select committee.
Sources said some BJP MLAs had met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after the bill was passed in the Assembly and expressed their displeasure over it. Subsequently, the Chief Minister agreed to send it to the Select Committee of the Legislative Council.
Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel on Thursday termed the bill "unnecessary" and "against the sentiments of the common man".
In a post on X, she said, "The bill related to Nazul land has been sent to the Select Committee of the Legislative Council for discussion today. I firmly believe that the Nazul land bill, which has been brought without extensive discussion, is not only unnecessary but also against the sentiments of the common man."
In another post, she said that the Uttar Pradesh government should immediately withdraw the bill and strict action should be taken against "those officials who have misled (the government) in this matter".
A new law in Idaho requires clinicians to seek consent from a parent or legal guardian for all health care services provided to minors outside of an emergency.
The law also states that parents may sue a provider, health care organization or government entity that breaks the law for monetary damages and attorneys fees.
Previously, minors between roughly 14 and 18, or those deemed able to comprehend the nature and risks of treatment, could consent to a range of health care services including treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, substance use disorder treatment and mental health services.
Caitlin OBrien is a lawyer at the Coeur d Alene-based law group Smith + Malek, where she focuses on health care law working with Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Lawmakers have described the measure as an effort to protect children, naming the new law the Parents Rights in Medical Decision-Making Act.
However, OBrien said, the law as written leaves a gap in access to care for children who do not have a parent involved in their life and do not have a legal guardian.
They might be living with a grandparent, or an aunt, an uncle, a neighbor, or friend that hasnt gone through the court system to be appointed legal guardian, she said. Theres nobody to consent for their health care, and they cant do it themselves.
Matthew Lassen is a member of CHAS Healths medical director team, and the only director located in Idaho. In response to the new law, CHAS Health implemented a blanket medical consent form parents can fill out annually, he said.
Lassen said CHAS always encourages parents to be active in their childrens health care. However, the biggest concern that providers face is for minors theyll have to turn away because a parent is unavailable, or unwilling to consent to care for sensitive issues related to things such as sexuality, substance use disorder or mental health services.
Moscow, Aug 2 : President Vladimir Putin late on Thursday met Russian citizens, who were detained in foreign countries and returned to their homeland after a prisoners' exchange deal, at Vnukovo Airport here.
Putin congratulated them and announced that they will be nominated for state awards.
"First of all, I want to congratulate you all on your return to your homeland. Now I want to address those of you who are directly involved in military service. I want to thank you for your loyalty to the oath, your duty and the homeland, which has never forgotten you for a minute a" and here you are at home," the President said while addressing them at the airport.
The meeting was also attended by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin and Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov.
The prisoner swap deal, mediated by Turkey, involved seven countries -- the US, Norway, Germany, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Slovenia.
The most notable Russian prisoner released in the exchange was Vadim Krasikov, who was jailed for life in Germany for the 2019 murder in Berlin of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a former Chechen separatist leader. The Germans were reluctant to release but, according to reports, Biden personally got involved and called Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Beirut, Aug 2 : Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has announced that it targeted Israeli sites with rockets in response to an airstrike on southern Lebanon that killed four Syrians.
"In response to the attack that targeted Chamaa and the martyrdom of several civilians, the Islamic Resistance fighters bombed today enemy army sites in western Galilee and the settlement of Matzuva with dozens of Katyusha rockets," it said in a statement on Thursday.
Hezbollah added that it also attacked the Jal al-Alam site with rockets, Xinhua news agency reported.
Lebanese military sources told the news agency that the Lebanese army monitored the launching of about 70 surface-to-surface rockets in two separate batches from the Lebanese side into Israel, and some of them were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system.
Israel's public broadcaster, KAN, reported that the rockets were launched towards the Western Galilee, with 15 of them being intercepted.
The Israeli army in a statement said that five projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israel, some of which were intercepted, and the rest fell in open areas. No injuries were reported.
The latest attacks came amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel following Tuesday's Israeli attack on Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs, killing Hezbollah's top military commander, Fouad Shokor. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah threatened a definite and painful response to the Israeli attack at the appropriate time and place.
Swedish audiobook streaming and media conglomerate Storytel, which runs Audiobooks.com in the U.S., has reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, ending June 30. The company's sales increased by 9%, to 924 million SEK (approximately $86m), while operating profit reached 47 million SEK ($4.4m), a significant improvement from a loss of 29 million SEK ($2.7m) in the same period last year. EBITDA rose to 110 million SEK ($10.3 m), compared to 42 million SEK ($3.9m) in 2023. The company exceeded 2.3 million paying subscribers in the quarter, growing its customer base by nearly 15%.
The news of the profits prompted outgoing CEO Johannes Larcher to call these results "the best financial performance in the history of the company." He added: "The continued revenue growth, coupled with a higher internal share of content, and a significantly improved cost structure due to the measures implemented late last year and early this year, has made us firmly profitable, and we are proud to deliver bottom line profitability this quarter."
Profitability comes in the wake of significant cuts at the company, especially among employees. Last year, the company had 665 full time employees in the second quarter; in the same period this year, Storytel said, that number was been reduced to 531. Storytel also recently announced a leadership change, with Bodil Ericsson Torp appointed as its next CEO, effective October 1. Torp, previously CEO of VO2 Cap Holding, brings experience from her longterm role as a Bonnier executive as well as stints at other media companies.
In the streaming segment, which covers audiobooks, podcasts and subscriptions, sales grew 9%, to 868 million SEK ($81.5m), with 570 million SEK ($53.5m) from Nordic subscribers and 298 million SEK ($28m) from other markets. The publishing segment, which includes print and digital books, saw net sales increase by 16%, to 263 million SEK ($26.7m).
The company also sold off the Finnish publisher Aula & Co, which it acquired in 2021, a move described as a strategic decision. Aula & Co is primarily known as a publisher of translations of bestselling English-language fiction, and the divestment may have been prompted by the extent to which many Finns are reading bestselling books in the original English.
In its report, Storytel touted the success of some of its own original and exclusive content, noting that the Danish true crime title My Brother in 75 Parts drove significant new signups in Denmark, while Denise Rudberg's Storytel Original, Her Last Step, was the most-listened-to title on Storytel in Sweden for May. The company has a long-term development deal with the popular author.
"Storytel is still mid-journey, and the best is yet to come," Larcher said.
Sigmund Freud is having something of a moment. Psychoanalysis is suddenly everywhere: on such hit shows as Couples Therapy, where troubled lovers probe their unconscious minds; in upstart magazines, including Parapraxis, which applies the tenets of the talking cure to modern life and politics; at bookstores, where new titles on the Viennese psychologist, who died in 1939, hit shelves at a steady clip; and, of course, on social media, where Freudian memes abound.
Now, Freud is getting yet another update for the modern age. In June, Rowman & Littlefield published a reimagined version of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, widely considered to be the bedrock of the psychoanalytical canon. Translated and edited by James Strachey throughout the 1950s and 60s, the final volume of the Standard Edition was published by Hogarth Press 50 years ago, in 1974. The new 24-volume, 8,100-plus-page Revised Standard Edition has been three decades in the making, with psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist Mark Solms spearheading the once-in-a-generation project.
In 1989, Solms began translating Freuds neuroscientific writings, which amount to more than 200 individual titles, fewer than 10 of which had previously been translated into English. This endeavor put him on the radar of the U.K.based Institute of Psychoanalysis (IOPA), which had recently decided, amid growing criticisms of Stracheys translations, that a revised version of the Standard Edition was sorely needed. The IOPA appointed Solms as editor of the Revised Standard Edition in 1994.
Assembling the Revised Standard Edition, Solms said, was a mammoth task. He not only needed to revise Stracheys translations, but update his editorial apparatus to accommodate and incorporate the reams of Freud scholarship that have come out since the 1960s, much of which needed to be translated. Plus, Solms had to add and translate some 50-odd new works by Freudsome omitted from the Standard Edition, others discovered in the last half centurywhich include previously unknown notes, letters, and essays on such topics as homosexuality and womens rights, which Solms said reveal Freud to have been more progressive than has been appreciated.
Solms was uniquely suited to the task of translating Freud's newly discovered writings, having grown up in a part of Namibia where the late-19th-century German dialect of Freud's era is still spoken. He is also an ambitious and fastidious scholar and editor, completely reworking the Standard Edition's index and bibliography and adding nearly 1,400 entries throughout the editing process. Solms lamented that the sheer amount of work required to put together the edition, which he did alongside his day job as a neuroscientist and clinician, is why, sadly, it has taken me a full 30 years to complete it!
The two dozen volumes of the original Standard Edition were copublished from 1953 to 1974 by the IOPA and Hogarth Press, which was established in 1917 by Virginia and Leonard Woolf and is now an imprint of Penguin Random House. Solms said that it was initially assumed that the IOPA would publish the Revised Standard Edition with PRH, but the IOPAs publications committee instead decided to invite a number of publishers to make proposals. Rowman & Littlefield was selected unanimously. The selection was made, above all, Solms said, on the basis that they were an independent publisher that would give the Revised Standard Edition the bespoke attention that it requires and deserves.
R&L was eager to make the Freudian canon available to a new generation of scholars, practitioners, students, and general readers with the Revised Standard Edition, said Julie Kirsch, VP and publisher of R&L. In its pitch, R&L proposed a plan to make the Revised Standard Edition available globally in print and digital editions, and to build a secondary product portfolio of works related to the new edition, which Kirsch believes sealed the deal. Plus, she added, seeing as R&L already had a strong presence in psychoanalytic publishing thanks to its 2003 acquisition of Jason Aronson Publishers, the publisher felt confident it could not only do the job right but reach the works intended audience.
The RSE has made it increasingly possible to understand the continuity between Freuds work as a neuroscientist and his role as the architect of psychoanalysis, Kirsch said. We need this revised edition so that Freuds work speaks clearly to a society that has changed in so many ways, while his insights into the fundamental nature of human beings remain a foundation of our understanding of ourselves.
As an indie publisher, R&L hopes to continue the legacy of Hogarth, which was a small press when it published the Standard Edition, Kirsch said. She echoed Solms in noting that the independent spirit and business model of both R&L and Hogarth was in large part why the IOPA chose to partner with R&L, just as it had with Hogarth a century before. (Hogarth Press and the IOPA first agreed to copublish Freuds works in English in 1924.) The Revised Edition was copublished by the IOPA and R&Ls academic division, which was acquired by Bloomsbury in May, and is distributed by National Book Network in the U.S. and Ingram Publisher Services internationally.
As for the forces behind Freud's resurgence, Kirsch and Solms agree that it's because his ideas are both timeless and timely. Kirsch calls Freud's theories essential to understanding the human condition," not to mention ubiquitous in everyday life. Its easy to forget how many of his concepts have entered our mainstream vocabulary, said Kirsch, who cited his enormous impact on art, literary criticism, philosophy, and popular culture.
Solms sees the culture's "growing disenchantment" with the treatment of psychiatric drugs as a panacea, as well as the fact that Freuds major scientific claims have been increasingly supportedperhaps surprisinglyby neuropsychological research findings, as reasons for Freuds renewed relevance. He added that, because "we are living in such troubled times," Freud's work has become a salient reminder of "all of how irrational we human beings are."
Phyllis Marie Dixon Blain passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Phyllis was born in Knowles, Okla., on June 14, 1932, to Robert and Daile Dixon. She spent her childhood in Oklahoma City where she attended elementary school and high school.
In her early 20s, she and a girlfriend decided to see the country and ended up in Spokane. She met her husband-to-be on a blind date and a year later married. They were blessed with three wonderful children. She was a homemaker, loving mother and grandmother. Her unique sense of humor was much appreciated. She was fortunate to have traveled all over the world with her husband in his work.
She and Harold lived in Moscow for 37 years before downsizing and moving to Hayden where they lived for the next 21 years.
Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Robert, James, Larry; and son David.
Since last October, the Biden administration has pursued one objective in the Middle East: de-escalation. But this policy has succeeded only in deterring Israel from acting independently in pursuit of its security interests in Gaza and around the region. As the simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates including the IDFs killing of senior military commander Fuad Shukr in response to Hezbollahs missile strike that killed a dozen Druze children in Majdal Shams over the weekend rather than avoid war, this policy guarantees it.
When Hezbollah joined Hamas in attacking Israel on October 8 (the day after the Hamas attack), Jerusalem considered postponing a Gaza campaign to address the threat from Lebanon. With its arsenal of 150,000 to 200,000 Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles, Hezbollah poses a far greater strategic threat to the Jewish state than Hamas. Hezbollahs unprovoked attack the first cross-border strike since the 2006 Second Lebanon War provided Israel an opportunity to remove what has become an Iranian sword of Damocles to its north.
However, to avert regional escalation, Biden had sent an aircraft carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean and issued a warning to those thinking of taking advantage of the situationdont. While these measures were ostensibly addressed to Hezbollah and Iran, they also served to restrain Israel. In a partial bow to American pressure, Israels newly formed unity war cabinet chose to first focus on the imperative of rescuing the hostages and defeating Hamas in Gaza.
attacks Though Israel was deterred, Hezbollah was not, and began waging a war of attrition. To date, the Iranian proxy has launched over 5,000against civilian and military targets in Israel, forcing the government to evacuate communities within five kilometers of the border.
Israel has responded with artillery and air strikes against sites in Lebanon and Syria to target Hezbollahs military infrastructure, killing over 300 of its fighters and senior commanders.
However, Israel is unable to commit to a larger campaign in the north until it concludes its kinetic operations in the south, which the Biden administration has deliberately drawn out by restraining Israels operational freedom against Hamas for fear excessive collateral damage might anger the Democratic Partys progressive base.
All the while, an estimated 80,000 Israelis remain internally displaced from their homes as refugees. In effect, the administrations deterrence policy against Israel has allowed Hezbollah to successfully depopulate part of the Jewish state of its Jewish residents.
In the meantime, the Biden administration, along with European partners, has pursued diplomatic channels to negotiate between a major non-NATO ally and a US-designated terror organization. However, as Hezbollah remains as equally committed to destroying Israel as Israel is to not being destroyed, this futile effort has only succeeded in further limiting Israels ability to restore security to its northern border.
Then came the night of April 13, when Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones against Israel. The first-ever direct strike between the two countries marked a paradigm shift in the region. Though the United States, Israel and regional partners successfully shot down over 99% of the projectiles, Israel considered a forceful response to restore its own deterrence against its greatest foe.
However, in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu that evening, President Biden warned that if you launch a big attack on Iran, youre on your own. Without the support of the United States, Israel elected for a low-level response that demonstrated its capacity to strike Iran but did nothing to reset the strategic balance in the region.
In restraining Israel from responding as necessary to strategic threats from multiple fronts, the administration signals to our enemies that they can strike our ally with impunity.
favors Israel may soon be able to finally launch a war that restores security and deterrence to its northern border. The recent killing of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif and overall success of the IDFs operation in Rafah suggests the Gaza campaign could be winding down, and the Israeli publica full force attack against Hezbollah.
However, due to the Biden administrations deterrence, after nearly 10 months of fighting Hamas, the operational window of opportunity for Israel to engage in a war in Lebanon which would be far more expansive and destructive than the one it is fighting in Gaza may have closed.
While a cessation of hostilities would allow the IDF time to resupply and could see some or most Israelis return to their homes in the north, their long-term security remains in jeopardy.
In the meantime, Iran will replenish Hezbollahs arsenal and continue its sprint for a nuclear weapon; Secretary of State Blinken recently stated Tehran is probably one to two weeks away from producing enough weapons grade material.
The Biden administrations anti-Israel deterrence has undermined our ally and emboldened our enemies, which in the Middle East is a recipe for future war.
Daniel Flesch in a Visiting Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
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TLC
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 07/31/2024
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: Before the 90 Days' Season 7 premiere date and cast of eight new couples have been announced by TLC.The seventh season of : Before the 90 Days will premiere Sunday, September 1 at 8PM ET/PT on TLC.The new season of : Before the 90 Days will follow eight Americans traveling to Nigeria, Philippines, Ghana, Poland, Brazil, Jordan, South Africa, and Croatia to meet their online partners for the first time.The eight couples starring on the spinoff next season include Tigerlily, a 41-year-old from Texas, and Adnan, a 23-year-old from Jordan; Rayne, a 38-year-old from New Mexico, and Chidi, a 34-year-old from Nigeria; Loren, a 33-year-old from Nevada, and Faith, a 31-year-old from the Philippines; and Niles, a 28-year-old from Alabama, and Matilda, a 23-year-old from Ghana.: Before the 90 Days' new season will also star Joe, a 34-year-old from Florida, and Magda, a 23-year-old from Poland; Brian, a 52-year-old from Illinois, and Ingrid, a 33-year-old from Brazil; Veah, a 27-year-old from Florida, and Sunny, a 26-year-old from South Africa; and Vanja, a 41-year-old from Florida, and Bozo, a 38-year-old from Croatia.: Before the 90 Days' new season will follow the end of : Happily Ever After?'s eighth season, which is currently airing Sunday nights on TLC."While overseas, the couples attempt to navigate the cultural and personality differences they inevitably face as they take their relationship," according to TLC.In most : Before the 90 Days cases, a pair of lovebirds are hoping to get engaged and begin the K-1 Visa process.A sneak peek of : Before the 90 Days' upcoming seventh season shows a lot of drama will be taking place next season."I'm in South Africa! I'm so excited to meet my boyfriend Sunny. But Sunny doesn't know that I brought my ex-boyfriend here with me," Veah tells the cameras.Loren admits, "My dream is to marry Faith, but I don't think she fully understands how broke I am... It's complicated, because in America, I'm homeless."Chidi warns Rayne that he won't be having sex with her until marriage, and a lot of fighting breaks out between couples.Adnan, for instance, appears to have trust issues and tells Tigerlily that she's small-minded.Click thelink below to view photos and descriptions of : Before the 90 Days' Season 7 couples and learn more about them!
BEGIN GALLERY >>
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
Around 10 a.m. on Monday morning, University of Georgia administration released a statement in response to pro-Palestinian demonstrators encampment and the arrests on North Campus.
Earlier that morning, around 25 demonstrators set up tents and a netted barricade on the Old College front lawn, joining college campuses across the country in demonstrations in support of Palestine. Sixteen arrests were made as police cleared signs and tents from the quad.
'Is the Agniveer scheme or their post-retirement re-employment in paramilitary forces or in the state governments the BJP's answer to the crying need on the job front?'
'Or, even Finance Minister Sitharaman's one-year internship scheme in the public and private sector, is it a permanent solution, either?', asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
IMAGE: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replies to members's questions about the Budget, July 30, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo/SansadTV
Critics of the ruling BJP in general and Modi 3.0 in particular have been running down Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's record-breaking seventh Budget for a variety of reasons.
But what they cannot deny is that the steep cut in the duties for gold import has made the glittering yellow metal relatively affordable to the common man when compared to Pre-budget prices.
No, the steep fall in bullion prices is not to levels that had existed a hundred years ago, or even ten or five years ago.
But the fact that prices and affordability apart, there is a cringing desire in every Indian, male or female, to purchase even that one gram, where a sovereign is impossible, for a daughter's wedding or a grandchild's first birthday, is the mood and trend-setter all the same.
But will it all be adequate to upset the daily dose of 'economic empowerment' that women-folk enjoy in Opposition-ruled states, starting with the DMK's Tamil Nadu, in the form of free bus-ride and the like?
That is a different question, for a different time.
If nothing else, barring the middle class, whose numbers, however, are reportedly burgeoning still, especially in terms of lifestyle and lifestyle expenses, gold is not something that the poor and the needy expect on their plates every day, morning, evening and night.
If perchance, the import duty cuts cause gold prices to tumble down even more than already, then, yes, the BJP may have created at least one 'feel-good factor' that was evading Modi 2.0 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
In the process, if the BJP-NDA alliance, including post-poll entrant in the now-ruling TDP in Andhra Pradesh, could manage the numbers, that was god-given, not man-made.
Maybe, Modi was 'right' when he said that he was a 'god-given leader' in one of his campaign rallies in a later phase of the parliamentary polls.
However, the same cannot be said about the post-Budget prime ministerial declaration that most BJP state governments would prioritise Agniveer returnees for recruitments at their levels.
This is a knee-jerk reaction to post-poll analyses that replacing regular long-serving military recruitments with the short-term Agniveer project was among the reasons for poll reversals, especially in Uttar Pradesh with its single largest number of 80 Lok Sabha seats.
Of course, the PM was only repeating what those BJP chief ministers or governments had already said.
But neither he, nor any of those chief ministers, explained what that 'preference' will be, or how it will be formalised or worked into the system.
Do they mean that they would show it up as an add-on quota for government jobs at the level of individual states?
If so, what kind of legal or Constitutional amendments would it entail?
Could it be an omnibus Constitutional amendment to authorise individual state governments to fix additional quotas for Agniveers as the First Amendment (1951) had empowered them to do in the case of those communities that they identified as 'Backward Classes'?
After all, the Modi Centre, while creating a new category called 'economic reservations', came up with a Constitutional amendment, over and above the 50 per cent uppernlimit fixed decades back in the 'Mandal case' (Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, 1992).
The Supreme Court upheld the 10 per cent quota for the Economic Weaker Sections, caste no bar, by a 3-2 majority in 2022 (Janhit Abhiyan Akhil Bhratiya Kushwaha Mahasabha & Others vs Union of India & Others).
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi arrives for a meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party chief ministers at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, July 27, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo
It does not stop there. If the BJP's electoral reversals owed (also) to the Agniveer scheme elbowing out regular military recruitments in some parts of the country, it was not just about jobs -- which anyway does not flow near automatically under the promised project(s).
The Agniveer returnees would have to compete like any other for the jobs advertised by state governments and maybe state PSUs, too.
There, a select few from even among the Agniveers would be accommodated, not all of them.
Incidentally, both the Agniveer recruitments and the returnees' induction into state government jobs would not be numerically as high as they would be in the case of recruitment for the three arms of the armed forces, starting with the army.
Two, the patriotic pride and the sense of contribution to the nation's security and well-being that go with military service in many villages and communities across vast swathes, especially in north India, has to be felt to be believed.
If they considered the Agniveer scheme as a very poor substitute for military service, the new announcement of accommodating some of the returnees in state government jobs may be seen as an insult, if not adding insult to injury.
For many families from among them can trace back generations without break as having served in the armed forces -- and that, more than the salary and pension-benefits that go with military service -- was a qualification for prospective grooms.
The question is is the Agniveer scheme, for instance, or their post-retirement re-employment in paramilitary forces or in the state governments, the BJP's answer to the crying need on the job front?
Or, even Finance Minister Sitharaman's 'one-year internship' scheme in public and private sector organisations, is it a permanent solution, either?
Even Congress critics of the scheme stopped with recalling how it formed a part of their poll manifesto, like a few other promises in the Union Budget this time.
Possibly, not to be embarrassed further about the past after Modi and his BJP colleagues sought to do it one more time on the 'Emergency anniversary' in Parliament especially this year round, they did not mention it -- but it was hugely publicised and also became popular in a sense, when introduced as a part of Indira Gandhi's 'Twenty-Point Programme' during the same period.
For a populous and industrialised country like India, the manufacturing sector has been the main source of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled employment, especially for the blue, brown and grey collars.
The 21st century manufacturing is more profits-based and hence technology-based, and so there are fewer jobs out there with each passing year.
The services sector, which has sort of become the mainstay of the nation's economy and employment market, too, has limitations for providing jobs to these segments.
Under-employment and relatively inadequate pay and perks, compared to their parental and grandparental generation, is the bane.
In the post-Independence past, governments at the Centre and in the states over-staffed their offices across the board, to create more and more jobs.
Leave aside their pays and pay-rises, even their pensions became a problematic albatross around the governments' necks that in the Economic Reforms era especially, the public sector too has been looking at cutting down on establishment costs.
This has its own consequences for job creation, in a country that will take years if not decades to arrive at a balanced approach to population growth/reduction on the one hand and economic compulsions on the other.
The question of employability or otherwise and the like would have to wait.
IMAGE: Candidates undergo selection as Agniveers at Khelgaon in Ranchi, July 27, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo
For those suffering from selective amnesia, Tamil Nadu's bold chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, sort of tried to address the issue by refusing pay hikes for government employees when they protested in a big way during her second term (2001 to 2006).
She thought that a decade after the arrival of the reforms era, her government could introduce an element of economic discipline in the affairs of the state government -- and also declined procurement price-rise for farmers, even in matters of such procurement.
Yes, it led to massive protests by the government employees on the one hand and farmers on the other -- both separately and at different times, all between 2001 and 2003.
Jayalalithaa also sacked 100,000 state government employees through an omnibus government order, overnight. The Supreme Court of India upheld the mass sacking of state government employees.
Be that as it may, the ruling AIADMK, in the company of its then BJP ally ruling the Centre, lost all 39 Lok Sabha seats, that too by huge margins, in 2004.
In a state where the traditional hold of the Dravidian political rivals was already waning, 2 million government employees and pensioners, with an average four voters in the family, constituted the single largest voter constituency, that too equitably distributed across districts.
That was in an electorate that stood at around 40 million at the time.
In the post-poll scenario, the Jayalalithaa government modified most of the reforms agenda, making them employee- and farmer-friendly.
The credibility gap of the government on continuing with these promises in a continuing term was wide, and the leadership also did not have the time to mend its ways even more, or convince the voters, more.
So, in the assembly elections that followed two years later, in 2006, the ruling AIADMK still lost -- but more honourably than the rival DMK parent had lost in near-similar circumstances pertaining to political credibility and governmental sincerity, before and later.
Is anyone there reading the writing on the wall?
N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.'
'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
IMAGE: SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB. Rescuers carry the body of a victim at a landslide site. Photograph: C K Thanseer/Reuters
Located in the Western Ghats, Wayanad has been witnessing landslides during the monsoon season.
Scientist and ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil had warned of natural calamities in 2010 itself.
Dr Gadgil headed the Western Ghats ecology experts panel set up by the Union ministry of environment and forests in 2010.
When the Gadgil report (external link) came out, it shocked state governments in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The report raised serious concerns about the state governments' seriousness in dealing with ecologically sensitive areas.
The report had recommended that several areas in Kerala which come under the Western Ghats should be classified as ecologically sensitive, which was ignored then, and is still being ignored.
Subsequently, every government rejected the report, with the disastrous consequences that are witnessed currently.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Professor Madhav Gadgil after the Wayanad landslides on what the government could, and should, have done to avert such disasters.
During the Kerala floods in 2018, you had warned about future natural disasters in Kerala. And now we have the landslides in Wayanad that have led to so many deaths. Why do you think this happened? Are heavy rains the primary reason for the landslides in Wayanad?
Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad. There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.
For instance, there are rock quarries which are in the vicinity of the area where landslides took place.
These rock quarries with their blasting send shockwaves that disturb the rock structure, which results in them becoming more fragile. And this has been going on without a break.
The risk of such disasters has therefore increased in the last 10 years.
There are false data given. For example, there is a village called Koottickal where the government said there are only three rock quarries in the area whereas Google Maps was showing 30 rock quarries.
So the risk of landslides has increased in these areas and when heavy rainfalls happen it triggers such things.
Were any lessons learnt from the 2018 Kerala floods to ensure that landslide like incidents will not be repeated?
The nation is being ruled by people who without any doubt support muddied interest. They care a damn about the livelihood and lives of common people.
The fishing community is deprived of fisheries because of pollution and the pollution department gives false data as if there is no pollution (in rivers or seas).
When fishermen hold peaceful demonstrations against these polluters the government uses the police act against these fishermen to arrest them and suppress their voice. This is recorded in our report.
What is nation? Nation is in the grip of a small coterie.
Your critics had stated that your report was excessively environment friendly and not based on ground realities. What would you say to them now? Were you hurt by such criticism?
You read the report and then make allegations.
Who is hurt? I am not. I am a scientist and everything that I wrote in my report is grounded and written in careful observation.
We have given evidence to it and the report is empirically valid though politically it may not be correct.
Your report had stated that the entire Western Ghat be notified as Ecological Sensitive Areas (ESAs). The Kasturirangan committee that followed reduced it to 37% Was this a disastrous move looking back?
Kasturirangan being a responsible government employee made a statement that the local community has no say in economic decision making.
If the quarry is leading to landslides and killing the locals, they have no right to protest against the quarry. This is what is mentioned in the Kasturirangan report.
Sadly, the floods of 2018 in Kerala and now the Wayanad landslides prove that you were right. What can be done to reverse things so that such calamities do not happen in the future?
Become a law-abiding country. We are arresting people when they are protesting against quarrying which is done undemocratically. This must be changed.
From a lawless society we have to become a lawful society.
Which are the commercial activities that need to stop immediately at the Western Ghats?
The quarry and mining work can go on. The question, however, is how can they be managed properly?
In Goa, I have friends in a village of South Goa where the gram sabha has proposed that they will do mining which has been stopped because of illegalities. The gram sabha has undertaken that they will do mining very carefully without damaging the environment. They will give employment to local people, and these are the things that can be done.
What happened to all those environmental awards like the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar? Are there no national awards or recognition given to environmentalists any more?
I don't know about awards. I am not interested.
Landslides and floods were not to be seen in the Western Ghats in the 1960s and 1970s when development activities were not on such a large scale. Is it true?
Let me go back further in history. I am very much interested in Maratha history and Karnataka history, too. I have many documents from that period.
There were absolutely no landslides in that period of 1600s. In Pune, there is a geologist who has studied all landslides which are small and big ones. His study shows that the frequency of landslides in Maharashtra Western Ghats has increased 100-fold.
This has happened because of reckless construction of roads, railways and housing.
Housing?
Yes, they are not building homes for the poor (in the Western Ghats) but they are building second homes and third homes for India's rich class.
But we need connectivity and roads like the Samruddhi Expressway to connect our cities for better transport, isn't it?
You can check in Vidarbha and find that the Samruddhi Expressway cuts through a major hillock adjoining the village. Cutting that hillock has led to drying up of springs on which village ponds and irrigation was dependent. Now, the hyenas are coming to villages and attacking children (because water is not found easily).
The Samruddhi Expressway has not taken into consideration environment or the effects that it is causing to the people staying around that expressway.
One of the points in your report was that the government is not interested in natural based resources which is the real livelihood of the country and instead interested in industrial development which does not create much of employment. Will we have to change this mindset to save our ecology?
It depends on what kind of industrial development we are pursuing. Certainly, not water polluting industries in coastal areas which destroy the fishing industry and the livelihood of a large number of fisherfolk.
There are technologies which are in place which makes it possible for industries not to pollute the river or seawater but then the profit margins are reduced if you implement such technologies.
And there is no way anybody penalises such industries. So things go on.
Do you regret that if your report was fully implemented then this tragedy could have been averted?
I was very honest and straightforward. And whether it is the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) government or the BJP or whichever political party, they never wanted my report.
I never expected that my report will be accepted but I did expect what is happening now, that it will be paid attention to.
This is the reason that even 13 years after I submitted it discussions are going on regarding my report.
I am satisfied that my report played a role in highlighting what is going on and has brought it to the notice of the people of India.
Irans new president Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn into office July 30, at a time of mounting tensions over the conflicts between Israel and Irans proxies in the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Pezeshkian has praised the so-called resistance front fighting against Israel and said Iranian support for it was a religious obligation.
Later on Pezeshkians inauguration day, tensions rose even higher, when Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader who had attended the inauguration, was assassinated in Tehran. Just hours earlier, Fouad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, was killed in Beirut by an Israeli missile strike.
The United States, which had no involvement in the attacks, has repeatedly underscored Israels right to defend itself. The U.S., however, is calling for renewed efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflicts - in the near term, by coming to agreement on the current ceasefire proposal for the conflict in Gaza.
In his swearing-in address, Iranian President Pezeshkian, in addition to expressing support for Palestinians, advocated for normal relations with the world, and deplored the economic sanctions which have been imposed on Iran by the United States and other countries. He vowed to work for their removal and called them oppressive and unjust.
State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the United States has a different view of injustice when it comes to Iran:
What the United States thinks is unjust is the Iranian regimes treatment of women and girls. ... What we think is unjust is the way ... we have seen the Iranian regime crackdown, time and time and time again, on just basic protests, basic people making their voices heard, expressing their opinion about actions that this Iranian regime [is] undertaking. Those are the true injustices that the Iranian people are facing. It is the ones that are inflicted by the Iranian regime itself on its own people.
Spokesperson Patel said the United States is going to judge the Iranian regime on the actions that it takes, not any empty words. In the past, he noted, those actions have included violating its nuclear obligations; exporting terrorism; funding proxy groups; as well as disregarding basic fundamentals of democracy, basic fundamentals of human rights.
If [Iran] is interested in being a member and party to the international world order, said Spokesperson Patel, it needs to begin by respecting and abiding by the international world order.
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
IMAGE: Search and rescue operations underway in Wayanad. Photograph: ANI Photo
"Most climate change related issues have no solutions in one or two or three terms in office. So the politicians do not want to touch it, except come in to manage the rehabilitation," says former Caravan editor Dr Vinod K Jose.
Dr Jose grew up in Wayanad and returned after working in New York and New Delhi for 25 years.
An alumnus of Manipal University, Jamia Milia Islamia and the Columbia Journalism School, he has a master's in communication and a PhD in Sociology of Media. He was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and is currently working on a book on Indian politics.
In an e-mail interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih, Dr Jose explains what Wayanad has experienced in the last few years and gives insights into the reasons behind the tragedy.
The first of a two-part interview:
This is the latest catastrophe that has occurred in Kerala during the monsoon. Five years ago there was a similar devastation in other parts of Kerala during torrential rainfall.
Both these tragedies occurred during the LDF government's tenure.
What has been Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's attitude and response to environmental concerns and dangers?
In Kerala whoever is in power, you see the society, administration and the government comes forward single-mindedly to carry out relief work. We have seen this over and over again in many tragedies.
From what I can see, the Pinarayi Vijayan government is not any different, and they are coordinating relief work as well as a state government can do.
But the question is not just about how well you respond after a tragedy. The question is also about what you do to mitigate the tragedy if a natural calamity occurs so that the casualties of people and property are far less than what we see.
The second larger question is also are these natural calamities avoidable, and if yes, how?
IMAGE: Engineers and soldiers from the Madras Engineers Group construct a bridge in Choorlamala. Photograph: IaSouthern/X
What has been the sentiment among the people in the aftermath of this tragedy?
How have the local people, the district and state responded to the tragedy?
There's a great deal of coordination between the revenue department, the local administration, the state administration, the disaster management authority, air force and the army.
I don't think there has been any delay in the different wings of the government kicking into action post-tragedy.
The challenge going forward will be to rebuild the two villages. Houses need to be built. Roads and bridges need to be fixed. The school needs work etc.
IMAGE: Army personnel conduct rescue operations in landslides hit Wayanad. Photograph: IaSouthern/X
When we were covering Rahul Gandhi's election in 2019, we learnt that there was no railway station in Wayanad district because of ecological reasons -- could you explain what are some of the reasons that make this region so environmentally fragile?
There's no railway in Wayanad, partly because even under the British, and post-Independence too, the feasibility studies showed it would be unviable.
Plus, even though Wayanad is part of Kerala, geographically it is easier to travel to Mysore or Bangalore. To reach any other district of Kerala, people of Wayanad need to take the ghat road, and climb around 1,000 metres down. Building the railways from the hills to the plains will be outrageously costly. Everyone is used to road transport.
The British who used to grow timber to use in the railway tracks, and the Jewish, Arab, Chinese and European travellers who came to the nearby ports to buy the spices and coffee grown here, all of them, relied on the narrow paths winding down to the planes from the Western Ghats. If not the maritime trade from Kozhikode, Thalassery or Cochin, the goods travelled inland to Mysore and from there to Chennai, Hyderabad or Mumbai.
Railways did not make commercial sense for the terrain of Wayanad. The reason was not ecology.
IMAGE: A view of landslide hit Wayanad. Photograph: INC Kerala/X
Ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil, chairman of the Western Ghats Ecological Expert Panel, has said as reported in The Hindu that this was a man-made disaster and the state government did not adhere to recommendations that would prevent such disasters.
His report when it first came was regarded as very polarising. In your opinion, why was it so?
Gadgil is one of the finest ecologists in India. But he is also a highly misunderstood man in the last ten years, after he produced the Western Ghats Ecology Expert report.
When his report first came, the way everyone went about dramatising the recommendations, people in the Western Ghats feared that they would immediately get evicted from their homes.
When we talk about the Western Ghats, we are talking about 25 crore (250 million) people living in a stretch of 1,500 kilometres. His intention as I understand was to put a stop to new industrial-level constructions and mining activities in areas identified as ecologically sensitive.
Ideally, that shouldn't be a problem for anyone thinking futuristic of their natural habitat. But as soon as the report came, the farmers and the forest dependent communities got really scared. Politicians, as usual tried to ignore it first, but then when they realised they would lose the support of people, took the side of the farmers and the forest dependent communities.
Using the fear and the uncertainty that the report created, the real estate lobby managed to purchase lots of land at cheap rate. Once the dust got settled a bit, in places like Wayanad for instance, the administration passed rules that have restricted the height of buildings etc. So the report had some effect in some places. But I think the reason why the Gadgil Report got such a villainous reputation was because of a bunch of reasons.
First of all, the local people felt that in the one-and-half-year long time that Gadgil took to prepare the Ecology Report, he did not consult the local bodies, the elected representatives, and farmers unions. Therefore, they felt the report ended up as partisan, siding on the side of environmentalism over the livelihood of the people.
Second, Gadgil's report came six years after a historic legislation that was passed in Parliament, the 2006 Forest Rights Act, which gave the Adivasi people and forest dependent castes the right to cultivate in the forest.
The Act was historic since across India, the forest dependent people had no say in the usage of the land of their ancestor. There were numerous agitations on this question of alienated land of Adivasis, one of which happened in Wayanad itself, the Muthanga agitation which led to police firing in 2003.
Besides giving the tribal people the right to cultivate inside the forest, the Forest Act in 2006 had also made it mandatory that any corporation in future planning to mine in forest land must get permission from the local panchayat.
It made it almost impossible for a few politicians and businessmen in the state capitals and the national capital to decide the future of a jungle. Local body self governance was at the centre of this decision making.
IMAGE: Rescue operations in full swing in Wayanad. Photograph: C K Thanseer/Reuters
Gadgil's report, in the contrary said the forest land should not be used for non-forest purpose, thereby stopping the cultivation rights that the adivasis were given by the Forest Act. Gadgil's assertion was seen by many of these forest dependent communities and the activists as an attack on what they achieved for the first time in India.
History also was on their side, since it was such communities and the local people who stopped many devastating projects in the past. For instance, a few kilometres south of where the current tragedy in Wayanad took place now was the pristine Silent Valley, and in the 1980s, (then prime minister) Indira Gandhi wanted to build a massive hydro power project there.
It was not the environmentalists in the big cities, but the local people, who stopped that project then. So in the classic debate of environmentalism versus livelihood of people, the Gadgil Report did not come across as nuanced and careful as it must have been.
While the content of his report might still have agreeable points for all sides for the interest of ecology, the way it came across as talking down to the people, without adequate consultations, and seemingly diluting the Forest Act, Gadgil became a villain.
Subsequently, he spent many years explaining himself saying he was misunderstood, and his report did not mean the people should get evicted, and it did not mean the spice or coffee farms need to be shut, and the local panchayat could decide at the end on the developmental activities etc. But public opinion somehow was set.
In fact, the other narrative that needs to be read along with the Gadgil report is the man-animal conflict, another affiliated issue connected to both environment and ecology.
Gadgil was of the opinion that the wild animals posing threat to humans must be hunted down, and such huntings should be legalised. Gadgil wants the local panchayats to handle such huntings. Any animal, grown beyond a certain number and is of threat to the people must be culled out, he says.
But the environmental extremists or people living in the cities talking without knowing the nuances, are angry with Gadgil on this. But the local people, or even Gadgil for instance do not say go kill the wild animals in the forest, but if the population of such animals increase so much inside the forest, and they come out frequently, and destroy the livelihood of the people, then the situation is different.
Gadgil says wild animals must be restricted inside the forest and national parks itself.
The forest department and the environmentalists were on one side on this, and both had no stake in either the land, or their livelihood did not come from slogging in the field. They painted the people as villains. So once again, without much delay from the Gadgil Report, this debate became the second issue for people to feel there was an effort to evict them from the Western Ghats.
In the man-animal conflict the villains were the forest department itself. They spearhead large scale industrialisation inside the forest. The teak plantations, not a natural plant to the Western Ghats, for instance gives hundreds of crore rupees annually to the forest department in Kerala.
In Karnataka this revenue is even more. Besides what these teak plantations bring legally to the state exchequer, auctioning of timber is also a good opportunity for corruption.
When the ecosystem inside the forest is destroyed, animals don't get food inside the forest. They don't even have water to drink inside the forest in the summer months, and come out to the villages. Elephants come for fruits for instance, which are plenty in the farmers's fields. So again, the bigger question of what's going on inside the forest, is not asked.
When the forest department must make sure the animals get their food, fruits and water inside the forest, and build proper fencing to demarcate the human areas from the forests, the issue of the man-animal conflict can be brought under control. After all we are talking about the fears of 25 crore people.
On any question of the ecology of the Western Ghats, whether issues arising out of landslides, or the man-animal conflicts, we will need to work in consultation with the multiple stakeholders. Top down policy prescriptions, or judicial orders would be counter productive.
IMAGE: MES Raseena Matriculation students in Chennai, July 31, 2024, pay a candlelight tribute to the victims of the Wayanad landslide. Photograph: ANI Photo
What are some of the man-made reasons behind tragedies such as the current one?
From what we understand so far, the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslide did not start in those two villages. The landslide started several kilometres inside the forest.
We don't even know if it is technically called a landslide, or something else. But assuming it is a landslide in the common parlance we call it, there are a few possibilities.
Obviously, the tragedy is so huge, since people living near the river bank was quite high. They were poor people, many working in the tea plantation nearby, owned by Harrisons Malayalam, whose owner is Harsh Goenka, the billionaire. I checked his twitter feed today, and he is asking the government to help the people.
Of course, the government must do what it must. But if Goenka adopted these two villages, compensated all who died and rendered homeless, and reconstructed the roads and schools --that's being a good corporate citizen.
His plantation is the lifeline of these two villages. His tea plantations in Mundakkai-Chooralmala could ideally be home for millions of trees.
As far as the reasons, clearly, climate change is the main villain. We are seeing an age of extremes. In Wayanad for instance, this summer was the worst. And this monsoon has been the longest after a long time.
It started raining on June 1st, as the monsoon calendar goes here, and it has been continuously raining since then. In two days before the landslide, the rainfall it seems was over 500 mm.
A city like Delhi get flooded with just one-tenth of that rain. So clearly, there was a problem of scale of the rainfall in Wayanad leading to the landslide.
It must be connected to climate change. Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable. Most climate change related issues have no solutions in one or two or three terms in office. So the politicians do not want to touch it, except come in to manage the rehabilitation.
In deciding why the scale of the tragedy was so high, of course, the constructions that came about in the downstream must also be looked into. But clearly, to find a lasting solution, the inquiry should be truthful.
Part 2 of the interview: 'Landslides Used To Be Quite Frequent In The Olden Days'
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Despite facing inclement weather, rising water levels and the challenges of working through the night, the Madras Engineers Group team completed the bridge at landslide-hit Choorlamala in Wayanad.
Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
IMAGE: Major General V T Mathew,General Officer Commanding Karnataka and Kerala sub area, who is charge of rescue operations, briefs Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on the ongoing rescue effort, here and below. Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
IMAGE: 'A Bridge never too far for #IndianArmy, be it in war or in peace. Valiant #MadrasSappers constructed an improvised 100ft foot bridge overnight and opened for public. This will further aid the rescue operations and assist in quick evacuation of stranded people', here and below. Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
IMAGE: Indian Army engineers and soldiers work through adverse conditions to complete the Chooralmala bridge. Photograph: @IaSouthern/X
IMAGE: 'The Indian Army, in coordination with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, conducted search operations at three locations -- Attamala, Mundakkai and Chooralmala. Each team is accompanied by a dog squad.
Five JCBs have been shifted to the west side of the stream to clear debris and facilitate search operations', here and below. Photograph: Indian Army/ANI Photo
Photograph: Indian Army/ANI Photo
Photograph: Indian Army/ANI Photo
Photograph: Indian Army/ANI Photo
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com and Anant Salvi/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com
Lieutenant General Hitesh Bhalla, General Officer Commanding, Fire and Fury Corps visited forward posts of the Siachen Brigade in eastern Ladakh near Demchok to review operational preparedness on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.
IMAGE: Lieutenant General Hitesh Bhalla arrives at the forward posts. All photographs: ANI Photo
IMAGE: The general interacts with soldiers at the post, here and below.
IMAGE: The general signs the guest book...
IMAGE: ... and poses for a photograph with soldiers of the Siachen Brigade, here and below...
IMAGE: ... and presents a memento to the Siachen Brigade.
IMAGE: A view of the mountains in eastern Ladakh, 3 km from the Line of Actual Control, here and below.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com, Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
The Unique Identification Authority of India can be directed to disclose to court the data of a missing person in a sealed cover in exceptional circumstances, the Delhi high court has ruled.
Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
The high court said in a habeas corpus case, there is a sense of urgency with which the court has to act as the missing person could be in danger and under such circumstances, the UIDAI can be directed to provide the data forthwith.
A habeas corpus petition is filed seeking direction to produce a person who is missing or has been illegally detained.
considering the urgency of the matter, and in order to safeguard the safety and security of an individual, UIDAI can also be directed by the high court dealing with the habeas corpus petition, in exceptional cases such as the present one, to disclose the data to the court in a sealed cover, even without being afforded a prior hearing, a bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma said.
The bench referred to the Supreme Court's KS Puttuswamy judgment in which the right to privacy was held as a fundamental right and said it is a settled proposition that the data provided to the UIDAI while making an Aadhaar card is private and personal information of an individual.
The same (data) needs to be maintained with confidentiality and secrecy should be ensured by the UIDAI. Under normal circumstances the data given by any individual for preparing an Aadhaar card would be the personal data of the said individual and would be governed by the law of privacy. However, sometimes there are exceptions to this, the high court said.
The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition by a daughter seeking direction to the police to produce her mother who has been missing since May 2019.
The court was informed that though the woman has been missing for over five years, her Aadhaar data has been updated and it mentioned her most recent address and mobile number.
The mother of the petitioner is currently not traceable despite repeated efforts made by the Delhi Police. The daughter has information that recently the Aadhaar card of the mother has been updated. Under such circumstances, in a habeas corpus writ petition when the Aadhaar card of the missing person may have been updated, the court dealing with such a petition would not be able to hear the person concerned who is the holder of Aadhaar card and is missing, it said.
The Delhi police, in its status report, submitted that there was no trace of the petitioner's mother.
The high court said the only information now available is on the basis of the updated Aadhaar data and provided the updated address and mobile number of the woman to the police for investigation.
In an order passed on July 30 and uploaded on Wednesday, the court asked the police to file an updated status report on her whereabouts.
Let an updated status report be filed by the Delhi police. If there is any updating or editing of information with regard to the Aadhaar card of the mother of the petitioner by the next date of hearing, the same shall also be provided in a sealed cover to the court, by the UIDAI, on the next date of hearing, the bench said and listed the matter for further proceedings on August 20.
It said the police should use the data of the missing person only for tracing her and maintain confidentiality.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held discussions with his cabinet colleagues in the wake of the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reportedly issuing him a 'show-cause notice', seen as a precursor to sanctioning his prosecution in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam'.
IMAGE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. Photograph: ANI Photo
The Governor has reportedly asked the chief minister to explain why prosecution sanction must not be accorded in connection with the alleged irregularities in the distribution of sites to land losers by MUDA, including to his wife Parvathi.
During a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah is said to have discussed with the ministers regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command's directions on the issue.
Siddaramaiah, however, skipped a cabinet meeting which discussed the 'show-cause notice'.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said Siddaramaiah authorised Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to chair the meeting.
Parameshwara said since the cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to him by the Governor, ministers requested the chief minister not to attend it.
Earlier on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah along with Shivakumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
The Governor's move comes after a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party legislators met the Governor on July 25 and submitted to him a memorandum demanding transfer of the MUDA case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a probe and resignation of the chief minister, and advocate-activist T J Abraham seeking sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah.
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been 'acquired' by the MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
The Congress government on July 14 constituted a single member inquiry commission under former high court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
Meanwhile, ministers in the Siddaramaiah cabinet took exception to the Governor issuing the notice to the CM.
Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre saw it as a 'conspiracy to topple a democratically elected government'.
"We will wage a legal and political battle", he said.
"We will take it legally," Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge told reporters.
Kharge said the notice has been served 'without any information and without seeking clarification'.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday rejected a plea challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the temple-mosque dispute in Mathura, and ruled that the 'religious character' of Shahi Idgah needs to be determined.
IMAGE: A view of the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex and Shahi Eidgah Mosque, in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Photograph: ANI Photo
The court dismissed the Muslim side's contention that the suits filed by Hindu litigants relating to the dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple and the adjacent mosque violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act -- and were thus not maintainable.
The 1991 Act prohibits changing the religious character of any shrine from what existed on the day of the country's Independence. It exempted only the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute from its purview.
The cases filed by the Hindu side seek the 'removal' of the Aurangzeb-era mosque they claim was built after demolishing a temple that once stood there.
Shahi Masjid committee secretary Tanvir Ahmad said they are studying the high court order and will approach the Supreme Court against it.
In his ruling, Justice Mayank Kumar Jain said the 1991 Act did not define the term 'religious character' and the "disputed" place cannot have a dual religious character -- of a temple and a mosque, which are 'adverse to each other' -- at the same time.
"Either the place is a temple or a mosque. Thus, I find that the religious character of the disputed place as it existed on August 15, 1947 is to be determined by documentary as well as oral evidence led by both the parties," the judge said.
He concluded that the cases "do not appear to be barred by any provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995: the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991; the Specific Relief Act, 1963; the Limitation Act, 1963 and Order XIII Rule 3A of the Code of Civil Procedure Code, 1908".
Hindu side counsel Vishnu Shankar Jain told reporters that with the dismissal of the plea challenging maintainability, the high court will continue to hear all related cases on the temple-mosque issue.
Jain also said the Hindu side will now move the Supreme Court asking it to vacate its stay on an earlier Allahabad High Court order that had allowed a survey of the mosque.
The Hindu litigants claim the mosque holds signs suggesting that it was a temple once.
The mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had argued that the suits were barred under Places of Worship Act and other laws. On May 31, the Allahabad high court reserved its judgment on this maintainability plea after hearing both sides.
However, the court reopened the hearing at the request of Shahi Idgah counsel Mehmood Pracha. The judgment, pronounced Thursday, was finally reserved on June 6.
The high court has now fixed August 12 as the date for framing of issues.
The Mathura dispute mirrors the legal tussle in Varanasi, where the Gyanvapi mosque and the Kashi Vishwanath temple are located next to each other.
Last December, the Allahabad high court dismissed pleas challenging the maintainability of a 1991 suit seeking the 'restoration' of a temple where the Gyanvapi mosque stands.
"Either the Gyanvapi compound has a Hindu religious character or a Muslim religious character. It can't have dual character at the same time," Justice
Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had then said, while ruling that the Varanasi case was not barred under the Places of Worship Act.
The search for survivors continues after several devastating landslides triggered by heavy rainfall hit the hills in Wayanad district.
Caution: Graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
IMAGE: Drone views shows landslide sites, here and below. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: A drone view shows Army and rescue teams building a temporary bridge to cross a river at a landslide site. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: A drone view shows members of rescue teams crossing a temporary bridge to reach a landslide site, here and below. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: Soldiers help the rescued to cross a temporary bridge at a landslide site. Photograph: C K Thanseer/Reuters
IMAGE: A 68-member disaster response team from the Southern Naval Command with a medical team and equipment conducts rescue and relief operations at landslides hit Wayanad. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: The Southern Naval Command disaster response team conduct rescue operations. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Territorial Army and Defence Security Corps personnel rescue 19 workers from Madhya Pradesh stranded at the Vanarani tea estate. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: The workers from MP stranded at the Vanarani tea estate. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB. Rescuers prepare to move the body of a victim from a landslide site. Photograph: C K Thanseer/Reuters
IMAGE: Rescuers hold a stretcher as the search for survivors continues. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: Search and rescue operations underway at Chooralmala in Wayanad. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: A dog squad joins the search and rescue operations at Chooralmala. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: A man weeps as he speaks to relatives after his home and autorickshaw were destroyed. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: Damaged vehicles and shops. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: A destroyed home. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: An excavator clears tree branches as rescue operations continue. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: An excavator digs next to a damaged building. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: A volunteer throws a bottle of water to a man during rescue operations. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: Volunteers eat food as rescue operations continue. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
IMAGE: Coast Guard disaster relief teams en route to Wayanad to provide relief materials to the landslide-affected people, here and below. Photograph: ANI Photo
Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: IAF personnel after rescuing stranded people from landslide sites. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: The National Flag flies at half-mast at the Kerala assembly in Thiruvananthapuram as a two-day mourning is observed in the state for victims of the Wayanad landslides. Photograph: ANI Photo
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Thursday said the state government is working towards peace talks and has held several meetings in Assam's Silchar.
IMAGE: A candlelight march being taken out to demand peace in violence-hit Manipur, at DDSC Stadium, Dimapur, September 3, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo
"We are making immense efforts towards peace talks with the assistance of MLAs and other members. Meetings have been held in Silchar, and we will soon make an announcement," Singh told the assembly without elaborating on who are involved in the meetings.
He described the ongoing violence as an "unexpected and unwanted turn of events" and added, "Given the grim law and order situation, taking extreme measures, including arrests, might have negative repercussions."
Singh also noted that some issues are being politicised, which is complicating the situation.
"There are elements which are politicising certain issues that cannot be immediately handled now. I appeal to all not to engage in such activities," Singh said.
In response to Congress MLA Ranjit Singh's question about violence occurring despite the presence of over 38,000 state forces, Singh said, "An investigation is being conducted by a retired Supreme Court judge. The findings will identify the lapses that contributed to the violence, and responsibility will be fixed based on the inquiry's conclusions."
Replying to a query from Congress MLA Surajkumar Okram, Singh said, "So far, 226 people have been killed in the violence. There have been delays in arresting culprits in certain cases due to mob-like conditions. There have also been instances of groups obstructing security forces."
Meanwhile, clashes erupted between Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) residing in a relief camp and security forces in Manipur's Imphal East district on Thursday after tear gas was used to disperse a protest rally, the police said.
Approximately 100 IDPs from Akampat relief camp in the district attempted to stage a protest but were stopped by security forces, leading to an altercation, they added.
The relief camp residents, holding placards and banners, were demanding their rehabilitation and a resolution to the ethnic violence in the state so they could return to their homes at Moreh in Tengnoupal district, and other areas.
Ethnic violence in the state which started in May 2023 has so far claimed 226 lives and left over 59,000 people displaced, officials said.
Locals also joined the fray, hurling stones at the security forces. The protesters managed to continue their rally for about 1 km but were stopped at Singjamei in Imphal West district after additional security reinforcements, including CRPF personnel, arrived.
Reports of assaults and injuries have surfaced but the numbers remain unconfirmed.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh told the assembly on Wednesday that 226 people have died due to the ethnic violence in the state. Singh noted that over 59,000 displaced people are currently sheltered in relief camps and 11,133 houses have been burned in the unrest.
Eighteen Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs were suspended from the assembly till 2 pm of August 2 and were removed by marshals after they refused to leave the House on Thursday.
IMAGE: Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs holding a massive banner protest against the state government over various issues, in Ranchi on Wednesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto took action against the BJP members after they created ruckus in the House in protest against the eviction of opposition MLAs by marshals on the previous day and Chief Minister Hemant Soren's 'refusal' to reply to their queries.
Leader of the Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri alleged that dictatorship prevails in Jharkhand, since the BJP MLAs did not hurl bombs in the House as was done by revolutionaries in Delhi assembly in 1929 but followed the non-violent path of Mahatma Gandhi.
He also alleged that action was taken against the saffron party legislators at the behest of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government.
Several BJP MLAs of Jharkhand spent Wednesday night in the assembly lobby after marshals evicted them from the well of the House where they were protesting against Soren's alleged refusal to reply to their questions on key issues including employment.
The House proceedings were scheduled to begin at 11 am on Thursday.
The BJP legislators, however, trooped into the well ahead of the start of the session and raised slogans demanding resignation of the chief minister. They were also seen tearing some documents while protesting.
Members of the ruling and opposition parties were seen exchanging heated arguments.
As the chaotic situation continued after the House assembled, Mahto suspended 18 of the 20 BJP legislators present. Since they refused to leave even after being suspended, he called marshals who removed those opposition members.
The Speaker said the Assembly Ethics Committee will probe the matter and submit a report to him within a week.
He then adjourned the house till 12.30 pm.
BJP legislators told reporters outside the assembly that democracy was 'murdered' by the Speaker at the behest of the JMM-led government in the state.
The Leader of the Opposition claimed that Thursday's act showed that the state government has turned into a dictator.
"We requested the government to reply to questions on issues related to the people. What happened is an attempt to suppress the voice of opposition MLAs," Bauri said.
The ruling JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance added a black chapter to the history of the assembly, he claimed.
When the House re-assembled at 12.30 pm, Bauri said this was the black day in democracy after Emergency.
"We did not bomb the House like British Parliament. We followed Bapu's Ahimsa," he said adding that 18 MLAs were suspended under government pressure.
He was referring to the 1929 incident when Bhagat Singh threw two low-intensity bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi to 'make the deaf hear' and inspire fellow Indians to fight the British.
Bauri said, "We just demanded the CM's reply on promises made by the JMM-led alliance when it came to power in 2019."
Bauri and Neelkanth Munda who were not suspended then staged a walkout.
Sudesh Mahto, chief of BJP ally Ajsu Party, urged the Speaker to reconsider the decision to suspend 18 MLAs.
He said the matter could have been placed before the Business Advisory Committee before such an extreme step.
The speaker replied, "There is a limit to toleration. Everyone has the right to disagree but disagreement had turned into aggression here and they crossed the boundary."
After that, proceedings continued for a little over half an hour before the Speaker adjourned the House till 11 am on Friday.
Outside the assembly, Bauri told reporters: "We will uproot this government. Our electricity was cut off, we were stopped from going to toilets by the government yesterday. People are watching all and they would give a befitting reply to the JMM."
The assembly elections in the state are due later this year.
The opposition BJP and All Jharkhand Students' Union Party MLAs were evicted by marshals from the House to the lobby late last night after they refused to budge from the Well even after the House was adjourned around 3 pm.
Several BJP legislators slept on bed covers and blankets on the floor of the lobby near the entrance of the assembly building on Wednesday night.
The Karnataka government on Thursday "strongly advised" Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the showcause notice he issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority site allotment 'scam', and alleged that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime.
IMAGE: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot (right) being welcomed by state CM Siddaramaiah on his arrival for the joint session of the state assembly, as state legislative council chairman Basavaraj Horatti (centre) looks on, at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru, February 12, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo
The council of ministers discussed the showcause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the constitutional office' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.
Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted.
"...Hence, the request of the petitioner needs to be processed as per provisions of section 17(A) and 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023...", the governor had said in his notice to the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the council of ministers which lasted five hours, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, flanked by seven cabinet colleagues, said the governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham has criminal antecedents, including cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him.
The council strongly urged the governor to withdraw the notice and to proceed forthwith to reject the application for sanction filed by Abraham, he said.
"I am hopeful that the governor will withdraw the notice and uphold the dignity of his office in spite of any pressure."
Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the governor, in issuing the showcause notice, has acted in undue haste, circumventing all procedural requirements.
He described the governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution'.
"There is no case for prosecution here," he asserted.
"(This action against) a chief minister who has been elected with a huge majority in a democratic set up is a murder of democracy and detrimental to the Constitution by (sic) the Centre... the central government is using the governor..." he said.
Shivakumar said that Abraham had submitted a letter to the governor on July 26.
On the same day, the chief secretary had personally given a detailed reply to the governor on the issue through a report, as sought by him earlier.
"Without looking into the aspects and issues, the genuinity (sic) of the report of the chief secretary, the governor has issued a show cause notice (to CM) on July 26... This is a political, malafide show cause notice. We never expected this from the governor. He could have studied and looked into the report submitted by the chief secretary," he said.
The chief minister skipped today's meeting of the council of ministers and authorised Shivakumar to chair it.
Home minister G Parameshwara said since the cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to the CM the governor, ministers requested the chief minister to skip it.
Earlier on Thursday at a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah held discussions with his cabinet colleagues regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high command's directions on the issue.
The chief minister's legal advisor AS Ponnanna, an MLA, who was also present at the press meet, said as per Article 163 of the Constitution, the governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers and at his discretion when provided under the Constitution.
He further said: "Prior approval under Section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act can be sought only by the investigation officer after due verification, not by TJ Abraham."
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 percent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
On July 14, the Congress government constituted a single-member inquiry commission under former high court Judge Justice PN Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
Siddaramaiah, along with Shivakumar, on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
For the sixteenth time since its February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation called a meeting of the UN Security Council to complain about Western support of Ukraine as it defends itself. Russias representative attempted to paint the government there as a long-time puppet regime doing the Wests bidding that is, attacking Russia. In particular, Russia is incensed at the West supplying weapons and war materiel to Ukraine.
According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. Contrary to the Russian Federations claims, Western weapons are not the cause of this war, nor the reason for its prolongation. Indeed, if Russia withdraws from Ukraine today, and the war would be over.
Russias hypocrisy is once again on full display, said U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the U.N., Robert Wood. Despite repeated calls from more than 140 countries for Russia to end its war of aggression, a few countries have deepened their support to Russia.
Despite its calls on countries not to prolong the conflict, China is exporting to Russia nitrocellulose machine tools, microelectronics, optics, and UAV and cruise missile technology that are prolonging and enabling Russias violation of the UN Charter through its invasion of Ukraine, he said.
Collectively, exports from China have given the Russian war effort a lifeline and are increasing the threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security, said Ambassador Wood.
Then there is Russias new pact with North Korea. In exchange for North Korean arms, Russia shields the DPRK and its ballistic missile program from UN scrutiny.
The DPRK has unlawfully transferred dozens of ballistic missiles and over 15,000 containers of munitions to aid Russias war against Ukraine, prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people, said Ambassador Wood.
Credible reporting suggests that Moscow plans to follow the same playbook with Tehran, elevating bilateral ties with a comprehensive bilateral agreement, he said.
Iran is another country that continues to fuel Russias war of aggression with direct military support, providing Iranian UAVs, which the Kremlin is using to devastating effect against Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure.
We urge all countries to cease military cooperation with Russia, and to halt materiel and political support for its war of aggression against Ukraine, said Ambassador Wood. The United States will continue to stand by Ukraine. We will continue to call for justice for the victims of the Kremlins war of aggression, and accountability for those responsible.
A Delhi court Thursday denied anticipatory bail to former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and disability quota benefits, saying these are serious allegations that "require a thorough investigation".
IMAGE: Former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar. Photograph: ANI on X
"Custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish involvement of the other persons involved in conspiracy," Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala said.
Khedkar, who has not been arrested in the case, had approached the court through her lawyer, saying she faces "immediate threat of arrest".
Hearing the plea, the judge said the case is "only the tip of the iceberg", and asked the Union Public Service Commission to have a relook at its recommendations made in the recent past and the Delhi police to widen its scope of the investigation.
He said the UPSC is required to find out candidates who might have illegally availed of attempts beyond permissible limits, obtained benefits of OBC (non-creamy layer) and Persons with Benchmark Disability quota despite being not entitled.
The judge directed the Delhi police to conduct its investigation "in all fairness" to find out candidates recommended in recent past who might have illegally availed of such benefits.
The judge further directed the police to find out whether some insider from the UPSC also helped Khedkar.
In order to maintain its reputation, fairness, sanctity and the faith of aspirants and the general public, there is need on the part of the UPSC to strengthen its SOP (standard operating procedure) to ensure that such an event does not occur in future, the judge said.
The judge made the observation while noting that the officers appointed by the UPSC are the backbone of the country and "the faith of the society at large shall be lost if a thorough investigation to find out the truth is not conducted".
"The applicant has been able to breach the wall of the UPSC not only once but repeatedly with deceitful means. The faith of the society at large shall be lost if a thorough investigation to find out the truth is not conducted. The accused has not only cheated and defrauded the UPSC but the lawful rights of eligible aspirant with benchmark disability aspirants have been snatched by the accused," the judge said.
The judge said the UPSC was required to maintain the highest degree of transparency and fairness in its standard operating procedure.
"It is an admitted case of the complainant also that its SOP has been breached by the accused, therefore, the complainant should introspect because its scrutiny system has failed to curb the breach'. The present case may be only the tip of the iceberg because if the applicant/accused can breach the scrutiny system of the complainant, why not others," the judge said.
While denying anticipatory bail to Khedkar, the judge said the documents placed on record by her itself showed her "guilty mind" and the presence of mens rea (criminal intent).
In response to Khedkar's claim she was falsely implicated in the case and was a victim of media trial and witch-hunt, the judge said the argument was not tenable because there were sufficient incriminating material on record. "Therefore, reporting of the incriminating material which is on record could not be considered as 'media trial' or 'witch hunt," the judge said.
The judge said prima facie the entire conspiracy was going on for last many years in a pre-planned manner, therefore, the custodial interrogation is required to unearth the conspiracy and find out the persons who were involved in this conspiracy.
"The accused has cheated the complainant by mis-representation," the judge said.
He said the accused in order to attain the mis-representation has got prepared various documents to support her claim. "The conspiracy has been hatched in a pre-planned manner. The conspiracy was executed by the accused in many years. The accused alone could not have executed the conspiracy without the assistance of some outsider or insider," the judge said.
On Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's candidature and debarred her from future exams.
She was accused of 'misrepresenting information' in her application for the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination, 2022.
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
IMAGE: NDRF teams conduct rescue operation after cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains wash away many houses and roads. Photographs: @SukhuSukhvinder
The state emergency operation centre said the cloudbursts took place in Nirmand, Sainj and Malana areas in Kullu, Padhar in Mandi and Rampur in Shimla districts.
The local Meteorological office has issued a 'red alert' of heavy to extremely heavy rains along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in three districts of Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Thursday.
A cloudburst near Shrikhand Mahadev on Wednesday night triggered flash floods in Sarpara, Ganvi and Kurban nallahs, and as a result, the water in Samej Khud (nallah) in the Rampur subdivision of the Shimla district rose leaving two people dead and about 30 missing, Superintendent of Police (SP), Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.
Four people have been rescued from the spot. The rescue operation is challenging as roads have been washed away, Shimla Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anupam Kashyap said.
The Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been damaged at several places due to landslides, an official said.
The Shimla DC and SP, who were on the spot, said that teams of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police, State Disaster Response Force, police and home guards have started rescue operations and the help of drones is being taken to locate the missing persons.
Another cloudburst in the Rajban village near Terang in the Padhar subdivision of the Mandi district on Wednesday night left three persons dead and seven missing. Two houses were washed away while another was damaged, officials said.
Bodies of Chandi Devi (75), Chaitri Devi (90) and Baijru Ram (80) have been recovered and an injured person (25-year-old Ram Singh) has been rescued in serious condition, the officials added.
A cloudburst also occurred in Kullu district, leaving seven people missing.
"Seven people are missing and about eight-nine houses have been washed away in Bhagipul area of Nirmand block in Kullu district and CISF and special Home Guard (quick response team) have been deputed for search operation to locate the missing persons, Deputy Commissioner Kullu, Torul S Raveesh told the PTI.
She said three people were missing and three-four houses have been damaged in Samej on the border of Shimla district. A breach was also reported in Malana Dam but the situation is under control.
Some people are stuck in the Malana I hydropower project. They are in underground buildings and safe and NDRF and Home Guard teams are making efforts to rescue them, she said adding that the Manali-Chandigarh National Highway has been breached at numerous places due to landslides and gushing waters of River Beas.
All educational institutions and schools in the district have been closed for two days, she said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and took stock of the situation arising due to the cloudburst in the state, and assured him of all help from the Centre.
Speaking with reporters after an emergency meeting on the matter, Sukhu said that massive damage has been caused in Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts since Wednesday night and about 50 persons are missing and Manali has been cut off by road.
Sukhu said that state emergency operation centres have also been set up at 13 places in the state for disaster monitoring and directed the district administrations to provide immediate relief to the affected families, and construct Bailey bridges.
Five transport drones will be made available to enable the police to carry out transportation activities in the affected areas and 50 generators would be given to the police to ensure power back up.
He urged people to take precautionary measures and avoid going near rivulets and rivers.
Shah and Union Minister J P Nadda have assured all possible help, he said and added that support from the Army and the Air Force would be sought and the state would get two more teams of the NDRF to help in the disaster.
Nadda has sought a detailed report from the chief minister and assured all possible help from the Modi government.
'Received sad news of massive damage due to cloudbursts at different places in HP, had detailed talks on phone with chief minister regarding continuous natural disasters in the state and assured all possible help from Modi government,' Nadda posted on X.
He also appealed to the BJP leaders and workers to reach out to the affected people and provide them relief.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi also condoled the loss of lives in the cloudburst incidents and asked party workers to extend help to those affected.
State Revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said massive damage has been caused due to heavy rains and cloudburst in the state.
Road connectivity has been hampered in the affected areas. Four motorable bridges and footbridges have been washed away and rescue operations are going on in full swing, he said, adding the apple crop has also been damaged.
Shimla-Junga road was closed due to landslide and reports of vehicles being buried in debris in Rajnagar in Churah assembly constituency in Chamba and roads blocked in Hamirpur district have also poured in.
Heavy rains have lashed parts of Himachal since Wednesday evening and Palampur with 212 mm of rain was wettest in the state followed by Chauri (203 mm), Dharamshala (183.2 mm) Jogindernagar (161 mm), Kangra (150 mm), Sujanpur Tira (142 mm), Baijnath (135 mm), Nadaun 9103.5 mm) , Poanta Sahib(121.2 mm), Nahan (98.9m mm), Kufri (84.5 mm), Shimla (64.6 mm), Sainj (61 mm), Bilaspur (56 mm) and Berthin (50 mm).
Heavy to very heavy rain has been recorded at 20 stations in the state and the rainfall would continue in the state, said meteorological expert Sandeep Sharma, adding that an orange alert of heavy rain has been issued for Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Mandi districts on Thursday.
The wet spell would continue for the next four-five days in the state. Data recorded till Tuesday showed that rain-related incidents had claimed 65 lives since the onset of monsoon on June 27. The state has also suffered losses to the tune of Rs 433 crore, according to the state's Emergency Operation Centre.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the release of three American citizens and one green-card holder who were imprisoned in Russia, under a prisoners' swap deal with the Russian authorities.
IMAGE: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (right), who faces charges of espionage, stands inside an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia July 19, 2024. Photograph: Dmitry Chasovitin/Reuters
Among those released were the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmashev. This was part of multi-country deal with Russia.
The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy. All told, we've negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over, Biden said.
Their brutal ordeal is over and they're free. Moments ago, the families and I were able to speak to them on the telephone from the Oval Office. They're out of Russia earlier today. They were flown to Turkey and soon they'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families. This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here, the president told reporters in Washington, DC.
Biden said under the deal, Russia has released 16 prisoners. Eight Russians being held in the West will be sent home as well. The 16 prisoners that Russia has released include four Americans, five Germans, and seven Russian citizens who are political prisoners in their own country, he said.
Biden said he is grateful to the US allies, including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey, who stood with them throughout the tough and complex negotiations to achieve this outcome.
This is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.
And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family. My Administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office. Still, too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones, and I have no higher priority as President than bringing those Americans home, he said.
Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong, Biden said.
Amidst online smear campaigns discouraging people from sending funds to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund, donations poured in from various quarters, with celebrities and institutions offering lakhs of rupees and some even pledging to construct houses for those who lost everything in the devastating landslides that hit Kerala's Wayanad.
IMAGE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (second from right) visits the landslide-affected Chooralmala to assess the ongoing rescue operations, in Wayanad, August 1, 2024 Photograph: ANI Photo
The Kerala police on Thursday launched an investigation into an alleged social media campaign against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district. The campaign was aimed at motivating people to reject the CM's appeal for disaster relief, it said.
Tamil actors, including Kamal Haasan, Surya, Vikram, Karthi and Jyothika, donated to the CMDRF.
Malayalam stars Mammootty, his son Dulquer Salman, Fahad Faasil, and Nazriya, among others, also donated to the relief fund for Wayanad.
While Haasan donated Rs 25 lakh, Jyothika, Surya, and Karthi together donated Rs 50 lakh.
Mammootty donated Rs 20 lakh and Dulquer gave Rs 15 lakh. Fahad and Nazriya donated Rs 25 lakh.
Noted filmmaker Anand Patwardhan on Thursday donated Rs 2,20,000 which he bagged as prize money in the recently concluded 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala.
While all the state ministers have decided to donate one month's salary, the Communist Party of India, a major ally of the ruling Left Front government has also decided that all its elected members to the assembly as well as Parliament will donate their one month's salary.
United Democratic Front convenor and senior Congress leader MM Hassan on Thursday donated his one month's salary to the CMDRF.
LDF MLA KT Jaleel has donated Rs 5 lakh.
While, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation donated Rs 1 crore to the CMDRF, the Kerala State Small Industries Association has offered to construct 10 houses on one acre of land, which will be identified later, and hand them over to those who lost their residences.
Aster DM Healthcare Group, which operates Wayanad's Dr Moopen's Medical College where numerous landslide victims have been admitted, has announced that the treatment will be given free of cost.
The hospital group has also announced that it will contribute Rs 1.5 crore to the CMDRF and also pledged Rs 2.5 crore to construct houses for the landslide victims.
The VPS group which operates the Lakeshore hospital in Kochi has offered medical supplies worth Rs 1 crore.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist's Tamil Nadu and Tripura state committees have donated Rs 10 lakh each to the CMDRF.
The Ayurveda Medical Association has handed over a cheque for Rs 10 lakh to the CMDRF.
Senior vice president of IBM Dinesh Nirmal has donated Rs 25 lakh towards the disaster relief fund.
Apart from these, numerous known and unknown persons have donated various amounts to the CMDRF.
Vijayan had made a public appeal to contribute to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund to help the survivors of the landslides rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the rescue mission in the landslide-hit Mundakkai region of Wayanad could take a few more days, and appointed a cabinet sub-committee of four ministers to coordinate the rescue efforts.
IMAGE: Search and rescue operations continue in the landslide-affected Chooralmala area triggered by heavy rainfall, in Wayanad on Thursday. Photograph: ANI Photo
The four ministers will be camping in Wayanad where the landslides triggered by torrential rains have left at least 177 people dead.
Vijayan, who met the media after an all-party meeting, praised the 'commendable' efforts of the rescue workers, especially the Indian Army.
The chief minister told the media that the Army representatives had apprised him that all those who could be saved from the debris have been rescued.
"There are so many missing people. We have recovered so many bodies from many parts of the region. The rescue workers have recovered many bodies from the Chaliyar River. Many body parts were also recovered," the chief minister added.
He said the scale of the rescue work is such that it cannot be completed in a short period of time.
"As of now, 12 ministers are camping in Wayanad. Now the all-party meeting has decided that four ministers will camp here to coordinate the rescue operations," Vijayan said.
Vijayan said Revenue Minister K Rajan, Forest Minister A K Saseendran, PWD and Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, and SC/ST Department Minister O R Kelu will camp in the district.
The chief minister said that many people of the area were still missing, and it had initially been difficult to begin the search operations due to the massive accumulation of soil at the landslide spot.
"Initially, it was not possible to take big machines for rescue operations. But now that the Army is completing the construction of the Bailey Bridge, the mission will be easier," Vijayan added.
With the completion of the Bailey Bridge between Chooralmala and Mundakkai, being built by the Army, the required equipment for rescue operations can be transported to disaster-affected areas.
When reporters asked about rehabilitation efforts, the chief minister said the state's experience with helping people rebuild their lives and livelihoods in the instances of previous natural disasters would be tapped to help the survivors of the Wayanad tragedy
Special priority will be given to resume the education of disaster-affected children, Vijayan said, adding that they will be given the opportunity to continue their education wherever they are.
"Arrangements for this will be made by the local bodies and the education department," he added.
Moreover, the survivors are being offered counselling by the state department of health to help them deal with the psychological trauma caused by the disaster.
Speaking about the numerous families housed in relief camps, the chief minister asked the media to to respect their privacy and refrain from shooting and reporting inside the encampments.
The chief minister said that anyone, including reporters, who wants to meet the survivors can do so outside the camps, with due respect given to the privacy of others.
On the possibility of the outbreak of infections at the camps, he said, "Measures will be taken to prevent the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases in the area. The instructions issued regarding this by the Department of Health shall be followed by all."
Vijayan added that steps will be taken to reproduce or reissue important certificates and documents to those who have lost them in the disaster.
He also said that the carcasses of domestic animals will be buried safely.
After the press conference, Vijayan received cheques donated by various organisations to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
Addressing the all-party meeting, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said the state would stand together during this crisis and overcome it.
"The opposition will completely support the state government in the rescue efforts. Those who are missing should be traced," Satheesan was quoted as saying in a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office.
Satheesan also suggested that the services of experts from CUSAT (Cochin University of Science and Technology) should be employed to ensure that such incidents are prevented in the future.
Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League's leader P K Kunhalikutty urged the authorities to speed up the rehabilitation of the survivors.
At the meeting, it was also decided that the details of migrant workers who lost their lives in the tragedy would be collected swiftly. It is suspected that workers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Assam, among other states, were employed at a tea estate near Wayanad.
The opposition leader visited the relief camps and consoled the survivors.
Vijayan visited the disaster-hit areas along with the ministers and met the army officials who constructed the Bailey Bridge.
The chief minister said that searches of the disaster-affected area and the river would continue in the hope of recovering the bodies of the missing persons.
China on Thursday conveyed its 'heartfelt appreciation' to the Indian Navy for rescuing a critically injured Chinese mariner from a cargo ship off the Mumbai coast and providing him with timely medical treatment.
IMAGE: Indian Navy successfully evacuates a critically injured Chinese Mariner from Bulk Carrier ZHONG SHAN MEN, 200nm (approx 370km) from Mumbai, on Wednesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
The critically injured 51-year-old Chinese mariner, who reportedly suffered heavy blood loss, was airlifted by an Indian naval helicopter amid choppy waters and strong winds from a bulk carrier approximately 370 km from Mumbai (200 nautical miles) and provided medical care on July 24.
"The Indian side swiftly came to his rescue and provided him with timely medical treatment. He is now in stable condition and recovering back in China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing here responding to a question from the official Chinese media.
"Chinese side expresses its heartfelt appreciation to all the departments and personnel of the Indian side who overcame challenging conditions on the scene and carried out this humanitarian operation," Lin said.
The Indian Navy helicopter airlifted the critically injured Chinese mariner from a Panama-flag-bearing bulk carrier 'Zhong Shan Men' in the wee hours and transported to an air station and subsequently shifted to a hospital for further medical management.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai coordinated the operation with the Indian Navy for the timely evacuation of the patient, notwithstanding the border standoff at the Line of Actual Control with China.
A woman was groped by a rowdy group on a waterlogged street in Lucknow, prompting the arrest of 16 men, action against eight policemen including a deputy commissioner of police and a cryptic remark in the assembly by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He said a "bullet train" will be run for the offenders.
IMAGE: Commuters ply through a flooded road amid torrential rains, near Ambedkar Park, in Lucknow on July 31, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo
The alleged offenders were arrested after the woman who was riding pillion on a motorcycle was targeted Wednesday on a waterlogged street in the posh Gomti Nagar area.
Five police personnel, including the local police station in-charge, were suspended for negligence. And deputy commissioner of police (East Lucknow), additional DCP and assistant commissioner of police were shunted, an official statement said Thursday.
While speaking in the assembly on the state's supplementary budget, the chief minister referred to the incident, naming two of the alleged offenders.
The first criminal is Pawan Yadav, the other criminal is Mohammed Arbaaz. These are people of sadbhavna' (goodwill)," he said, and suggested that no Sadbhavna train' will be run for them.
Inkey liye bullet train chalegi, chinta mat karo (The bullet train will run for them, don't worry)," Adityanath told the House.
And preparations are being made for the bullet train, he said, adding that anyone who plays with women's safety will bear the consequences.
A video on social media shows a group of men splashing water on a motorcycle as it wades through the waterlogged road. The men quickly surround the motorcycle and some start pulling it from behind.
Amidst the melee, while the man driving the motorcycle tries to push through, at least one of the accused gropes the woman who is riding pillion. The men stop pulling the motorcycle only when the woman falls down.
"Taking cognizance of the incident, an FIR was lodged at Gomti Nagar police station. Police formed four different teams, including a crime team, to apprehend the culprits, a police statement said.
"As a result, 16 accused were arrested and based on the evidence collected and the CCTV footage, additional relevant sections have been added to the FIR," it said.
The accused were booked under sections 191(2) (rioting) and 74 (assault or use of criminal force with intent to outrage modesty) and other provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, it said.
Lucknow police commissioner Amrendra Kumar Sengar said two of the arrested accused, Pawan Yadav and Sunil Kumar, were identified through CCTV footage on Wednesday night.
They led police to two others, Mohammed Arbaaz and Viraj Sahu.
Acknowledging "apparent negligence" in handling the situation, the police statement said DCP (East Lucknow) Prabal Pratap Singh, Additional DCP Amit Kumawat and ACP Anshu Jain have been removed from their positions with immediate effect.
Inspector in-charge Deepak Kumar Pandey, police post in-charge Rishi Vivek and three other police personnel present at the 'chowki' -- sub-inspector Kapil Kumar and constables Dharmveer and Virendra Kumar -- were suspended, the statement said.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)
Today
Cloudy with showers. High 59F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Tonight
A shower or two around the area early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 41F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)
Today
Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Tonight
Chance of a shower or two during the evening, followed by partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 41F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Russia, the United States, and several other countries have carried out the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War, freeing 16 people -- including RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan -- from Russian and Belarusian prisons, while eight Russians were returned home.
U.S. President Joe Biden hailed the historic exchange on August 1 at a White House news conference with several family members of the Americans who had been jailed at his side.
"Their brutal ordeal is over," Biden said, calling the deal that made the exchange possible "a feat of diplomacy."
Biden slammed Russia for conducting "show trials" that led to the imprisonment of Gershkovich, Whelan, and Kurmasheva, saying "all three were falsely accused of being spies."
The prisoner swap also included dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen who was imprisoned for making critical remarks about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. government released a photo showing Gershkovich, Kurmasheva, and Whelan on a plane, saying they were on their way back home. Kara-Murza was to fly to Germany, but he told Biden in a call that he hopes to visit the United States soon.
The family members who joined Biden for the news conference included Kurmasheva's husband, Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL, and their two daughters, Bibi and Miriam. Biden said the prisoner swap was an "incredible relief" for all the family members present, adding that they had spoken to their freed loved ones by phone from the Oval Office right before the news conference.
The White House released a photo showing Kurmasheva's daughters in the Oval Office leaning over a telephone and speaking to their mother.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Butorin said he and his daughters are "overwhelmed with emotions, still trying to process what actually happened to us today, being in the White House, hearing Alsu's voice from the Oval Office, next to President Biden. That was something very special.
"But it's been an incredibly difficult year for us, and I'm glad we're at the end of this journey, and now we look forward to hugging Alsu, and to helping her reintegrate into the free world after so many months of unjust imprisonment in Russia."
During the news conference, Biden motioned for Kurmashevas daughter, Miriam, to come closer, telling reporters that August 2 was her 13th birthday and then asking everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her. The teen was emotional as Biden put an arm around her shoulders and then wiped away a tear before walking back to her sister and father, who embraced her.
Now she gets to celebrate with her mom, Biden said. Thats what this is all about -- families able to be together again. Like they should have been all along.
Biden said the prisoner swap required "significant concessions" from Germany, which released FSB Colonel Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the murder in 2019 of a former Chechen militant in Berlin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the decision to release the convicted hit man had been difficult.
"Nobody took this decision to deport a murderer sentenced to life imprisonment after only a few years...lightly," Scholz said, speaking in Cologne, Germany, where some of the released prisoners were due to arrive.
"The state's interest in seeing him punished had to be weighed against the danger to the bodies and in some cases the lives of innocent people in prison in Russia and political prisoners," he told reporters.
Biden said Germany asked for nothing in exchange. The president added that the prisoner swap was "a powerful example of why it is important to have friends in the world."
Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey "stood with us," Biden said. "They made bold and brave decisions, released prisoners being held in their countries who were justifiably being held, and provided the logistical support to get the Americans home."
Biden said earlier in a statement that all told, the United States and its partners, in particular Germany, negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia and Belarus -- including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country.
Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) said on August 1 it played "a major mediation role" in the swap involving 26 people from prisons in seven countries, "which is the most comprehensive in recent times."
It said the negotiations allowed for the exchange of "Russian citizens and citizens of Western countries imprisoned in the U.S.A., Germany, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, Russia, and Belarus, adding that German mercenary Rico Krieger imprisoned in Belarus and Russian dissident Ilya Yashin and Kraskiov imprisoned in Germany were also released.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel called the exchange "the largest multi-country swap of its kind." Speaking at a briefing on August 1, he said the Americans would be back in the United States within hours to be reunited with their families.
The White House announced that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee in the November 5 election, would welcome them at 11:30 p.m. local time.
The eight freed Russians arrived in Moscow late on August 1. Putin welcomed them after they landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
"I want to congratulate you on your return to the motherland," Putin said in comments broadcast on state TV. Addressing those who had served in Russia's military, he added: "I want to thank you for your loyalty to the oath, duty, and the motherland, which did not forget about you."
William Courtney, a career U.S. foreign service officer who worked on U.S.-Soviet arms talks before becoming U.S. ambassador to Georgia and Kazakhstan after the breakup of the Soviet Union, spoke with RFE/RL about the latest swap.
"I think it sends a message to the world that the Kremlin really would like to offload some of these internationally prominent prisoners because detaining them doesn't help Russia's image," said Courtney, now an analyst at the Washington-based think tank Rand Corp.
He said Russia didn't want Kara Murza to die in prison, like opposition politician Aleksei Navalny did in an Arctic gulag in February, "because Russia got only bad publicity" out of that.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by TASS as saying the Kremlin hoped those who had left Russia would stay away.
"I believe that all our enemies should stay [abroad], and all those who are not our enemies should return. That's my point of view," TASS cited Peskov as saying.
News of the prisoner swap was also welcomed by U.S. lawmakers; however, some Republicans questioned the "steep price" that the United States had to pay.
"Those returning to Russia are some of [Russian President Vladimir] Putins most valuable assets who will be glad to return to their villainous ways," said Senator Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Representative Michael McCaul (Republican-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on X that he celebrated the news but remains "concerned that continuing to trade innocent Americans for actual Russian criminals held in the U.S. and elsewhere sends a dangerous message to Putin that only encourages further hostage taking."
Speculation of a swap had grown in recent days as defense lawyers for several high-profile people being held in Russian prison facilities said the whereabouts of their clients were unknown, a situation that often arises when inmates are being moved.
One of the first signs that the swap had started on August 1 came from a group of Russian lawyers and rights defenders known as Pervy Otdel, which posted a message on Telegram noting the flight track of an Antonov plane that had been previously involved in prisoner exchanges.
Data from the flight-tracking site Flightradar24 confirmed the plane's movements, while the Russian media outlet Agenstvo reported that several special Russian government planes in recent days had traveled to and from regions where prisons holding dissidents are being held.
Meanwhile, four Russians who have been charged or jailed in the United States disappeared from a database of inmates operated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons prior to the announcement of the prisoner swap.
Israel has claimed that the successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has likely been "eliminated," while U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called Tehran the greatest adversary of the United States.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 8 said that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, was an "organization without a head."
"Nasrallah was eliminated -- his replacement was probably also eliminated," Gallant told officers at the military's northern command center without providing details.
"There's no one to make decisions, no one to act," he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later echoed those comments, saying, "We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities."
"We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the replacement of the replacement," Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party. Hezbollahs political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.
Hashem Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official and a cousin of Nasrallah, was widely expected to be named to the group's top position, but his whereabouts and condition are a mystery since an Israeli strike hit a suspected Hezbollah leadership meeting on October 2.
Hezbollah has not commented on Safieddine's fate, although unidentified members have told various media that the group had lost contact with him since the attack.
Safieddine has been declared a global terrorist by the United States.
Meanwhile, Harris told CBS TV's 60 Minutes program in an interview that she considered Iran to be the greatest adversary of the United States.
"Iran has American blood on their hands," she said. "And what we saw in terms of just this attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles, what we need to do to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power -- that is one of my highest priorities."
Harris -- the Democratic presidential nominee who will face Republican Donald Trump in the November 5 election -- declined to speculate on whether the United States would take military action itself should proof be uncovered that Iran is building a nuclear weapon.
Tehran has denied it is building such weapons and says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
The comments came as the battered and bloodied leadership of Hezbollah suggested it might be ready to negotiate a cease-fire with Israel
Deputy leader Naim Qassem, in a televised speech, for the first time did not suggest that ending the war in Gaza was a precondition to reaching a truce with Israel in Lebanon.
Qassem said the group backed an effort by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, to reach a deal to halt the fighting.
Late on October 8, the Syrian government said that seven civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Damascus. A war monitor said the strike targeted a building used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.
Israel did not immediately comment and the reports could not be verified.
The Israeli military said earlier on October 8 that it had killed another senior Hezbollah commander, a day after marking the somber anniversary of a Hamas attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people.
Suhail Husseini, who was responsible for overseeing the logistics, budget, and management of Hezbollah, was killed in a targeted attack on October 7, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
"Husseini played a crucial role in weapon transfers between Iran and Hezbollah," the statement said, adding that he was also in charge of distributing advanced weapons to the group's members and for its "most sensitive projects" that included operations against Israel.
The IDF said Husseini was also a member of the Jihad Council, the supreme military body of Hezbollah.
There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.
The Israeli announcement came after Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets on October 7 into Israel, where President Isaac Herzog led a national moment of silence to mark the start of last year's Hamas attack, which started at Kibbutz Reim in the south of the country.
Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union.
In Washington on October 7, President Joe Biden condemned Hamas on the anniversary, while also stating again the U.S. administration's commitment to reaching cease-fire agreements to end fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon.
"On this solemn anniversary, let us bear witness to the unspeakable brutality of the October 7 attacks but also to the beauty of the lives that were stolen that day," Biden said in a statement.
In Jerusalem, relatives of the some 100 hostages still in Hamas captivity, out of a total of 250, gathered outside Netanyahu's residence and stood in silence as a siren wailed in a gesture of protest against what relatives say is the failure of the government to secure their loved ones' release.
The conflict in Gaza is still raging while Israel is now fighting on a second front in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.
Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas. Some 90 percent of the population of Gaza has been displaced and large areas have been destroyed by Israeli bombardments.
The Israeli military said on October 7 that over the past year it has bombed more than 40,000 targets in Gaza, found 4,700 tunnel shafts and destroyed 1,000 rocket launcher sites.
Israel in recent weeks has been carrying out air strikes across Lebanon, including Beirut, and has staged a ground invasion into south Lebanon in its drive to wipe out Hezbollah's capabilities and leadership.
In the attacks, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and dozens of other leaders of the group.
On October 6, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters that Ismail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force -- the overseas arm of the IRGC -- had also not been heard from in recent days since traveling to Lebanon.
Tel Avivs campaign against Hezbollah prompted Iran to respond by attacking Israel with a large wave of rockets that were largely shot down by Israeli air defenses without causing substantial damage, but the attack renewed fears of a larger regional conflict.
Gallant on October 6 threatened Iran that it might eventually find itself looking like Beirut or Gaza -- which has also been battered over the past year -- if Tehran attempts to further harm Israel.
With reporting by CBS and AP
Negotiations aimed at ending Israels devastating war in the Gaza Strip were faltering even before the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
But Haniyehs assassination in a suspected Israeli strike in Iran on July 31 makes a cease-fire deal, or even the continuation of talks, even less likely.
The 62-year-old had played a key role in internationally brokered talks on reaching a permanent cease-fire in the Palestinian enclave and securing the release of scores of Israeli hostages. He was also considered a relative moderate within the organization.
How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?" asked Qatars Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on July 31. The Arab Gulf state, along with Egypt, has brokered the monthslong talks.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed a similar sentiment, stating that the killing undermined the peace talks.
Hamas's military wing said Haniyehs assassination in a Tehran suburb was a watershed that would take the war to new levels.
Despite its threats, Hamas may not have the military capacity to retaliate. It is already reeling from Israels brutal 10-month war in Gaza that has killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health officials in the territory.
Even then, the group is unlikely to be eager to engage in further talks now. Beyond the prospect of a boycott, there are also practical considerations.
Haniyeh was a highly experienced figure with global recognition who was used to managing relations with key allies across the Middle East and beyond. Some of the last photos of him show him embracing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Based in Qatar, he was able to travel and turn up at important meetings.
His death leaves a significant void, and it is unclear who will succeed him.
Yehya Al-Sinwar is the head of Hamass armed wing and widely seen as the mastermind of the groups October 7 attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis. Hundreds of others were taken hostage. He is currently believed to be hiding in Gaza.
Another senior figure, Zaher Jabarin, heads the group in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which is partly run by the Palestinian Authority. He is also in hiding.
Israel has vowed to wipe out the Hamas leadership, and both men are seen as prime targets.
A new leader could emerge from Hamass political office in Qatar, but that is likely to take time and it is not clear what position they would take.
Haniyeh had been cast by some as a pragmatist in contrast to more hard-line elements of Hamas based in Gaza. But he was also a U.S.-designated terrorist and voiced support for the October 7 attacks.
Even if Hamas decides to keep talking, it is unclear who would have the capacity and authority to represent the group in the high-stakes negotiations.
Iranian state TV said Haniyehs killing would delay further talks by several months.
It has also been suggested by many observers that the assassination of Haniyeh heightens the risk of a regional conflict. Khamenei quickly blamed Israel and promised that Iran would avenge Haniyehs death, adding credence to those concerns.
A major escalation would likely make the prospect of Israel-Hamas talks taking place, let alone making progress, even more distant.
But much will depend on the actions of Iran and its network of militant groups and proxies in the region. In weighing up their response, Tehran and its allies are likely to tread a fine line between saving face and provoking a damaging Israeli reprisal.
If Iran can avoid a serious escalation, that would remove one barrier to restarting talks between Israel and Hamas in the future.
But that is considered a big if.
Iran has also blamed the United States for Haniyehs killing because of Washingtons military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied that Washington had any involvement in or prior knowledge of an attack.
But he was notably cautious about commenting on where Haniyehs assassination leaves the prospects for a truce in Gaza, merely saying on July 31 that the imperative of getting a cease-fire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains."
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.
BUDAPEST -- Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary has stubbornly refused to join EU efforts to punish and isolate Moscow.
And that behavior was on full display earlier this week when reports emerged that Budapest would make it easier for nationals from Russia and Belarus -- which has aided its ally with the full-scale Ukraine invasion -- to enter the country. Many of those people were workers, Budapest claimed, needed to work on a nuclear power plant that Russia is helping Hungary to build.
But few were convinced by Hungary's expansion of its "national card" visa scheme, sparking a fresh spat between Brussels and Budapest. One senior European politician warned the expansion could lead to a fresh wave of Russian spies entering the European Union, after many were kicked out from European capitals in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Since the start of Russia's war, Hungary, led by its nationalist-conservative prime minister, Viktor Orban, has blocked, watered down, or delayed aid packages to Ukraine. Orban, long criticized for his friendly ties with Vladimir Putin, faced a fresh backlash earlier this month after traveling to Moscow to meet with the Russian president after a stop in Kyiv. With Hungary currently holding the EU's six-month rotating presidency, Orban cast the visit as a peace mission, but EU leaders made clear he did not represent them on his travels.
With Russia considered a "threat" to EU security, according to a European Commission spokesperson, the EU's executive branch said it will contact Hungarian officials regarding the new visa program, "to clarify the scope of this scheme and whether it falls under EU rules," Anitta Hipper, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, told Current Time.
What Are The Concerns?
Under the proposed scheme, Russians and Belarusians would largely forego any security background checks, and that has many worried.
"Their reasons related to the [nuclear power] plant may be somewhat valid. But what we can question is whether this legal construction was necessary to exclude them from security clearances," explained Daniel Hegedus, a senior fellow focusing on Central Europe, at the Washington, D.C.-based German Marshall Fund, in comments to RFE/RL.
Those security concerns were echoed by Manfred Weber, head of the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament, in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, a copy of which was published by the Financial Times on July 30.
The "questionable" new rules "create grave loopholes for espionage activities...potentially allowing large numbers of Russians to enter Hungary with minimal supervision, posing a serious risk to national security," Weber said.
In a post on X on July 30, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs rejected what he characterized as Weber's "lies" as "absurd and hypocritical because it is precisely the Brussels institutions...that are doing everything in their power to ensure that Hungary is forced to dismantle its strict border protection and asylum system, allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into the country and thus into the European Union."
Kovacs did not comment directly on the controversial new immigration rules.
In July, Hungary published details of a new fast-track visa system for citizens of eight countries -- including Russia and Belarus -- to enter Hungary without security checks or other restrictions. Budapest has said many would be employed in the building of the Paks II nuclear power plant in central Hungary, which is being carried out by Russia's state nuclear giant Rosatom.
Under the new rules, when entering Hungary, Russian citizens will also be entering the EU and the border-control-free Schengen zone, which also includes non-EU members Norway and Switzerland, if they possess a valid visa and have no ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rules on issuing working permits are a matter for each EU member state, and, despite Schengen's open borders, member countries are still allowed to deny entry for a number of reasons, including previous entry bans or if a person is considered a threat to public security or health.
But Western sanctions in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine include a ban on Russian-owned airlines operating in EU airspace, making it more difficult for Russian nationals to travel to the EU.
Others question whether there is a need for any Russian technical know-how at the Paks nuclear power plant. In 2014, Orban and Putin signed a deal to build two more reactors at the site, but the project has long been dogged by delays.
The actual installation of nuclear technology -- the alleged reasons Russian and Belarusian experts would be required -- is not imminent, largely due to Rosatom's failure to fulfill EU safety requirements, explained Andras Racz, a Russian expert at Budapest's Corvinus University.
"It is completely incomprehensible why an unspecified number of Russians should be allowed into the Hungarian labor market," he told RFE/RL's Hungarian Service.
Why Now?
Some have noted Budapest's announcement came shortly after Orban returned from Moscow, suggesting it may have been finalized there by the Hungarian leader and Putin.
However, the German Marshall Fund's Hegedus suspects the deal was "in the pipeline for a while."
"Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet on a bimonthly basis. So, there is a high-level of coordination between the two governments," Hegedus said, adding the timing of the announcement was likely not a coincidence.
"Hungary holding the EU's presidency offers them some protection. They can get by with all these provocations because other countries are reluctant to take any action against Hungary because it holds the rotating presidency. It would set a precedent if they did," Hegedus said.
Hungary has been suspected of being a backdoor for Russian spies in the past. A year ago, Washington pressured it to withdraw from the International Investment Bank, a Russian-controlled financial institution. The bank, which relocated its headquarters to Budapest from Moscow in 2019, was long viewed with suspicion as its Russian staff had diplomatic immunity.
Shortly after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European capitals kicked out some 600 of its diplomats, about 400 of whom were believed to be spies.
"Hungary is now the locomotive of those who hate the European Union and are doing everything to destroy it from within. And our patience will run out sooner or later," Lithuanian EU parliamentarian and former Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene told Current Time on July 31.
Much of the Russian spy activity has returned, according to a February report by the Royal United Services Institute, a British-based defense think tank.
"The Europeans had a sense of security that the Russian spies are not there anymore, that their capabilities have been significantly curtailed. But the problem is they have not been. They are mightier than ever," Marina Miron, an analyst at King's College London's Department of War Studies, told VOA in March.
And now Hungary may be about to open the door to more Russian spies, suggested Hegedus.
"We should not be naive to believe Russia will not use the opportunity to bring in Russian intelligence agents."
* China is on the cusp of an industrial revolution powered increasingly by basic research, where AI technology is rapidly emerging as a key catalyst for the advancement of frontier sciences.
* The Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China, launched a project to harness the power of AI in advancing frontier scientific research.
* "AI4Science has enormous potential and will comprehensively transform the process from scientific research to industrial application," said E Weinan, a professor from Peking University.
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- At a state-of-the-art lab, a researcher scribbles a chemical formula on the smart glass surface.
Instantly, with a digital command, the robotic "scientist" empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) launches into executing a sequence of tasks including material retrieval, reagent addition, reaction initiation, monitoring and testing, all with the ease and precision of a culinary expert preparing a dish.
This vivid scenario unfolds within the cutting-edge automated laboratory at XtalPi's Shanghai headquarters. Here, AI is revolutionizing the field of new drug discovery, infusing the process with unprecedented efficiency and innovation.
This photo taken on March 1, 2024 shows robotic workstations developed by XtalPi Inc. in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Hong Zehua)
China is on the cusp of an industrial revolution powered increasingly by basic research, where AI technology is rapidly emerging as a key catalyst for the advancement of frontier sciences.
In recent years, the prowess of machine learning and the emergence of generative AI technologies in tackling complex mathematical challenges have combined to usher in a transformative approach to scientific inquiry -- AI for Science (AI4Science).
This innovative paradigm is redefining the boundaries of research, enabling deeper exploration and discovery across various scientific disciplines.
Last year, the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China, launched a project to harness the power of AI in advancing frontier scientific research.
The project is designed to deploy sophisticated AI models and algorithms to drive breakthroughs in genetic studies and stimulate significant progress in the field of biological breeding.
NEW MODELS
Earlier this month, OpenLAM, a Chinese open-sourced large language model (LLM), introduced a suite of seven innovative model solutions tailored to address complex challenges in areas such as alloy development, pharmaceutical small molecules, solid-state battery technology, semiconductors and high-temperature superconductivity.
AI technology has also made significant strides in enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of weather forecasting, revolutionizing the way that people predict and prepare for meteorological events.
A Shanghai team has developed an AI weather forecast system named FengWu, based on multi-model and multi-task deep learning architecture, capable of generating high-precision global meteorological forecast results for the following 10 days in just 30 seconds.
Compared with traditional physical models, FengWu reduces the rate of error by 19.4 percent and extends the forecast range to 10.75 days based on reanalysis data, according to the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, one of its developers.
"The FengWu model exemplifies the transformative potential of AI within the realms of Earth sciences and beyond," said Ouyang Wanli, the lab's lead scientist.
Visitors look at Pangu Weather AI model developed by Huawei during the 2023 World AI Conference in Shanghai, east China, July 6, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)
Pangu Weather, another cutting-edge model developed by Huawei, is also making waves in the field of meteorology with its precise weather forecasts.
Its predictive accuracy, ranging from a period of one hour to seven days, has surpassed that of several meteorological centers in Europe and the United States for these same periods.
According to the Central Meteorological Observatory of China, the model showed impressive performance in the trajectory prediction of Typhoon Mawar in June 2023 and was successfully utilized in forecasting Typhoon Doksuri last year.
Moreover, in the vast expanses of the universe beyond our planet, AI is proving its capabilities, contributing to our understanding and exploration of the cosmos.
In a pioneering collaboration with the National Astronomical Observatories, Tencent, a Chinese tech giant, is spearheading a star exploration initiative that utilizes AI to boost the efficiency of pulsar searches conducted by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST).
Remarkably, this AI-assisted approach can complete data processing work in three days that would otherwise have taken a year.
The initiative has already detected two fast radio bursts via the processing of celestial survey data, thereby contributing to studies that aim to deepen our understanding of the universe's origins.
NEW DISCOVERY
A research team in China's eastern coastal city of Yantai has successfully trained an artificial intelligence system for the purpose of catalyst screening. From an extensive pool of more than 14,000 potential candidates, they have pinpointed four molecular formulas, all of which have yielded highly satisfactory outcomes.
"Using conventional approaches, a seasoned analyst could perform approximately 20 experiments annually. To explore such a vast array of candidates, it would have required the efforts of 20 analysts over the span of 35 years," said Liao Zengtai, chairman of Wanhua Chemical.
"However, with the adoption of AI, this extensive endeavor was completed in a mere six months," Liao added.
The chemical supplier stands out as a pioneering enterprise that has mastered comprehensive manufacturing technology across the entire production chain of nylon 12, a polymer with excellent mechanical and corrosion-proof properties.
A researcher records experimental data at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in north China's Tianjin, Jan. 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)
Another team from the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has leveraged AI algorithms to design a de novo type of enzyme called cytochrome P450, which is known as a "universal catalyst" in the field of industrial biotechnology.
The catalytic capability of this enzyme has seen a 1.3- to 3.5-fold enhancement, according to the researchers.
AI technologies are instrumental in the intelligent optimization of chemical synthesis pathways, thus enabling the automation of lab procedures and expediting the discovery of new materials through sophisticated high-throughput screening, said Yang Jinlong, a professor from the University of Science and Technology of China.
Zhang Linfeng, the president of the AI for Science Institute in Beijing, cited an example of the enigmatic growth of lithium dendrites, which can render lithium batteries inoperative and remains an unsolved puzzle.
This is largely due to the limitations of conventional techniques in capturing the rapid, millisecond-scale transformations involving hundreds of thousands of atoms, according to Zhang.
Zhang's team and scientists from Peking University have worked with CATL, China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, to develop new battery materials.
"The use of AI, particularly large language models, offers a promising avenue to achieve both precision and efficiency in this challenging domain," Zhang explained.
Zhang is also a founder of DP Technology, a Beijing-based startup that utilizes AI for molecular modeling to offer industrial design across a spectrum of industries, including bio-pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and chemical engineering.
DP Technology has been listed in CB Insight's AI 100 ranking in 2024. This exemplifies the significant shift of China's AI4Science from the confines of research labs to the broader market arena, emerging as a highly sought-after investment opportunity.
MindRank, a Hangzhou-based biotech firm, utilized its own AI drug discovery to develop a small molecule medication. The AI tool assisted it to achieve an impressive feat which saw the research team identifying a preclinical candidate among nearly 100 molecules in just eight months.
The drug MDR-001 has now received clinical trial approvals in both China and the United States, targeting conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Visitors experience the iFlytek Spark AI-powered model at the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, east China, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
AI4Science is set to exert a deep and lasting influence on the realm of basic sciences, with ripple effects extending to subsequent technological innovations and the field of smart manufacturing, according to a report by Crystal Stream Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital investor.
"AI4Science has enormous potential and will comprehensively transform the process from scientific research to industrial application," said E Weinan, a professor from Peking University.
"It represents the best opportunity in the history of China's sci-tech innovation," he added.
(Video reporters: Sun Qing ;Video editors: Zhang Nan, Wei Yin, Liu Yutian, Wang Han)
Editor: JYZ
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, will not influence the peace process toward ending the Israeli-Hamas war because peace is not on the agenda at this point.
Olmert told RFE/RLs Radio Farda in an interview on July 31 that Irans response to the killing will be shaped by Tehrans belief that Israel carried out the attack, regardless of the fact that Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Whether we did it or not is less important, said Olmert, who was heavily involved in unsuccessful efforts to work out a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority while serving as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. It's what they [Iran] think happened that will probably determine their reaction.
Haniyehs death on Iranian territory and Israels targeting of Tehran-backed groups involved in attacks against Israel have sparked fears of a direct conflict between Iran and Israel and a broader Middle East conflict.
In a July 31 post on Telegram, Hamas announced that the 62-year-old Haniyeh was killed in an "air strike on his residence in Tehran. Haniyeh, who headed Hamass political headquarters in Qatar, was in the Iranian capital with other leaders of Irans axis of resistance opposing Israel to attend the July 30 the inauguration of newly elected President Masud Pezeshkian.
While Israel has not commented on the incident, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge against Israel over the killing. The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that Khamenei ordered a direct strike against Israel during an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council on July 31. Pezeshkian said in a July 31 statement that Iran "will defend its territorial integrity" after the attack, without providing details.
Haniyeh was heavily involved in internationally brokered talks on reaching a permanent cease-fire to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The 10-month war, sparked by a deadly assault on Israel on October 7 launched by Hamas and other Palestinian extremist groups, has killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly civilians, according to health officials in Gaza.
Haniyehs killing came just a day after Israel said it had killed Fuad Shukr, a commander of the Iranian proxy Lebanese Hizballah, which Israel said was behind a July 28 rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 Israeli youths.
Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) confirmed on August 1 that Shukr was killed in Beirut in strikes Israel said it had launched against Hizballah targets in Lebanon.
Israel has described the July 28 attack as the deadliest since the October 7 assault by Hamas in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds were taken hostage.
Israel vowed to wipe out Hamass leadership after the October 7 assault and has demanded the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.
Haniyeh, who was a U.S.-designated terrorist and was seen in a video released by Hamas celebrating the success of the October 7 assault, was a marked man. But he was also seen as a relative moderate compared to those in Hamass militant wing and was key to securing a cease-fire, the release of Israeli hostages, and a possible peace deal.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert downplayed the impact Haniyehs death will have on any peace negotiations.
I don't think that it will in any way influence the chances for peace, because peace is not on the agenda altogether at this point, Olmert told Radio Farda. It may create some more difficulties in the process of reaching an agreement about the hostages.
Olmert served as prime minister as a member of the hard-line Likud party currently chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his time in office he endorsed the Arab peace initiative to end the longstanding Arab-Israeli conflict and was a supporter of a two-state solution to the Gaza crisis.
In 2006, a member of Olmerts cabinet said that an attack on Irans nuclear facilities was unavoidable considering the apparent failure of international sanctions to deny Iran technology that could be used to develop a nuclear weapon. A spokesperson for Olmert subsequently said that all options must remain on the table and that more could be done to put financial pressure on Tehran.
In 2012, then-former Prime Minister Olmert opposed the idea of strikes against Irans controversial nuclear facilities.
Speaking to Radio Farda on July 31, Olmert said that the Iranians will look for a way to react to the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh.
However, he said that the fact that the Israeli government did not officially take responsibility for his killing will influence the extremity of the Iranian reaction.
I think it will be somewhat more moderate than under different circumstances, Olmert said.
Olmert expressed hope that an expected Iranian response would not spark a broader Middle East war directly pitting Iran against Israel, saying that retaliation beyond a direct retaliatory attack launched by Iran in April would be a mistake.
Iran and its partners and proxies launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Israeli territory on April 13-14 in retaliation for an attack that Tehran said Israel carried out earlier that month against an Iranian Embassy compound.
Seven IRGC members, including top commanders, were killed in the April 1 strike, which Israel did not take responsibility for. The Iranian retaliatory attack caused little damage, with most of the Iranian missiles and drones shot down or otherwise failing to reach their targets.
After Iran reported downing a handful of small drones over the central city of Isfahan on April 19, which again was seen as a likely Israeli counterstrike for which it did not claim responsibility, fears of a wider conflict died down somewhat when Irans muted response was taken as an attempt to avert further escalation.
I'm not certain that this is entirely in the interest of Iran and they may live to regret every such action, Olmert said. I think that the lesson they should have learned from the April confrontation is that even when you shoot hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, others, you are not going to cause such damage that you have planned to make, and you lose your deterrence, and you lose the power of your threat.
The killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, has thrown the Middle East into crisis.
But his assassination in a suspected Israeli strike in Iran on July 31 and the heightened risk of a broader war also have implications in the wider region, including for Iran's eastern neighbors, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Experts say Kabul and Islamabad will likely struggle with the security, economic, and political fallout from a major escalation in the Middle East.
But a potential regional war involving Iran is unlikely to directly drag in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which have cordial relations with Tehran, experts say.
"The attacks will not draw either country into direct participation in the conflicts such as by offering to send fighters," said Marvin Weinbaum, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan studies at the Middle East Institute think tank in Washington.
Pakistan and the Taliban both directly blamed Israel for Haniyeh's assassination, which Tehran has also blamed on its archenemy.
Islamabad denounced the killing as an act of "terrorism," and hundreds of supporters of a Pakistan Islamist party held a symbolic funeral for Haniyeh near Islamabad on July 31.
'Making Life Harder For Afghans'
Iran is on friendly terms with the Taliban. Tehran is also the biggest trading partner of the cash-strapped and internationally unrecognized Taliban-led government. Kabul is dependent on Iranian ports for most of its imports and exports amid tensions with neighboring Pakistan.
The Islamic republic is also home to around 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees. The remittances they send back home keep many impoverished families afloat in Afghanistan, which has grappled with an economic crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Graeme Smith, a senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said rising tensions in the Middle East "could have destabilizing consequences for the fragile situation in Afghanistan."
Smith said the risk is that a conflict involving Iran will harden the country's borders with Afghanistan, "making life harder for Afghans."
He said Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, the largest in the world, could worsen if its borders with Iran are closed.
"The exit route from that crisis depends on renewed trade across the region," he said. "[But it] requires borders opening to the flow of goods and labor."
Pakistan Not To Become 'Directly Involved'
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans and millions of Pakistanis work as laborers and traders in the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries.
A potential regional war could disrupt the flow of Afghan and Pakistani migrant workers heading to the Gulf. That would deal a major blow to Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which are both heavily dependent on remittances sent from abroad.
In Pakistan, some political parties and the media have called for Islamabad to take a more hard-line approach to Israel, which is not formally recognized by the South Asian country.
But Weinbaum said the "general feeling among [Pakistani] policymakers is that the country has enough security concerns of its own not to become directly involved."
Faced with rising militant attacks in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, Islamabad's choices are limited.
"There are also worries about an American reaction if Pakistan makes any military commitments [to Iran]," Weinbaum said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are home to millions of Shi'ite Muslims. And Iran, a Shi'a-majority country, could look to Shi'ite communities living in its eastern neighbors for recruits in the event of a war.
During the Syrian civil war, Iran recruited, trained, and armed thousands of Shi'ite fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight. Many of those fighters who survived have returned home as the war has died down.
BUDAPEST -- In villages and towns across Hungary, adoring crowds gather to hear Peter Magyar speak, their enthusiasm spilling over onto social media where they post selfies taken with the 43-year-old opposition politician.
In just a few months, Magyar has gone from being the unknown husband of the former justice minister to becoming the great new hope for Hungary's opposition. He is also possibly the most dangerous challenger that Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary's populist nationalist-conservative leader who has been in power since 2010, has ever faced.
In European Parliament elections in June, Magyar's newly formed Tisza party received 30 percent of the vote. And in local elections held at the same time, Tisza took the same number of seats as Orban's ruling Fidesz party on the Budapest city council.
Apathetic Youth
Much of Magyar's success is his ability to mobilize young people, a generation known for political apathy. According to 2018 research by Policy Solutions, a progressive political research institute based in Budapest, only 17 percent of 18-29-year-olds vote.
For Hungarians under 35, they have only ever seen Fidesz win an election -- and most of them aren't supportive of the ruling party. A June survey by independent Budapest-based pollster Median found that only 7 percent of people below 30 would vote for Fidesz.
"[Fidesz] are becoming more of a pensioners' party," says Peter Kreko, a political scientist at the independent Budapest-based Political Capital think tank. According to the Median poll, 63 percent of their voters are above the age of 50.
Many young people are deeply disillusioned with the electoral process, with only 22 percent of Hungarians under the age of 30 believing in the fairness of elections, according to a 2021 study sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation. Critics in Hungary and abroad have accused Orban's party of manipulating the nation's electoral system, clamping down on independent media, and dismantling Hungary's democratic institutions.
"What is it like here [in Hungary]? I would say it's futureless," says Reka, a 30-year old student, who preferred to not give her family name to protect her identity.
It is young people like Reka who have been drawn to Magyar and Tisza. According to Median, 46 percent of Tisza's voters are under 40, compared to 19 percent for Fidesz and 18 percent for the main left-wing coalition.
Social Media Appeal
Magyar's appeal lies in his bright, youthful appearance and a campaign style that resonates with young people. The Tisza team maintains an active social media presence, with Magyar himself sometimes entering the comments to take on the party's critics.
"Peter Magyar communicates normally, seeing his audience as intelligent people," says Sara Darnot, 29, a Budapest-based lawyer. "He's not dumbing his message down."
More than just savvy social media, Magyar's policies appeal to many younger voters. He has promised new housing programs, a beneficial tax system for freelancers, and pledged to support small businesses and the independent media.
A former lawyer, diplomat, and businessman closely connected to Fidesz, Magyar rose to political prominence in March following a child sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the ruling party. As the ex-husband of former Justice Minister Judit Varga, who resigned due to the scandal, Magyar gave up his positions in government-run companies and then made public accusations about what he said was the pervasive corruption and nepotism in the Orban administration.
It is his past as a Fidesz loyalist and insider that has concerned many voters. Plus, many young, opposition-minded Hungarians don't think he's left-wing enough. In an interview with independent Hungarian radio station Klubradio, Magyar denied being a liberal, claiming he was a "national liberal or a conservative liberal."
Politically, Tisza remains hard to pin down. The party supports lowering tax on fruit and vegetables, a program for rehabilitating villages, and founding separate ministries for education, health care, and environmental protection. Yet, for other issues that many young people care about -- abortion or migration, for example -- Magyar has not indicated where he stands.
"A party based on youth and one person is fragile," warns Kreko from Political Capital. He says that Tisza's young voter base could lead to instability in the party. "From research on youth, we know that the mainstream changes quickly," he says.
This is what Aron Vasanyi, the 27-year-old press officer of the centrist Momentum party, has also found. Many young people who previously voted for Momentum abandoned the party at the last elections, preferring to vote for Magyar. "The young generation change jobs, partners, homes, and voting preferences easily," he says.
Others, such as student Reka, have expressed concerns about Tisza's lack of experience in governance. "But at least [Magyar] managed to shake things up," she acknowledges.
Brain Drain
The most damning indicator of the political hopelessness of Hungary's youth is the country's brain drain. In 2023, a record 35,000 Hungarians left the country, mostly to live and work elsewhere in the EU, over 15 times more than in 2003. And, in 2023, over 40 percent of people aged 18-29 planned on leaving Hungary within three years, the largest percentage in the bloc after Cyprus, EU research has shown.
Gaspar Kerekjarto, a 28-year-old social worker, moved with his partner to Austria for financial reasons. "The social sphere is incredibly underpaid. We want to get married, have kids, and for this we had to leave the country."
Both Fidesz and Tisza have recognized the need to entice young Hungarians back home, given the labor shortage and the detrimental economic effects of the brain drain.
The Fidesz government has tried to lure young people back by promising loans and other financial help. Magyar has also promised to implement a "detailed program" to enable young people to move back home, but the details remain unclear.
"Young people are the hardest to get home," says Balazs Lang, a 49-year-old journalist and administrator of a Facebook group for expats voting for Tisza. "You have to promise them a lot. Those over 70 would go home for [a lot less]."
Despite the skepticism, many young Hungarians see Magyar as an opportunity for change. "We want to move back to a free country," Lang says.
Kerekjarto, himself a Tisza voter, agreed. "There's no guarantee that it will be good, but here's an opportunity we can't miss. We have to try," he says.
A veteran human rights activist. A married couple who worked for years in deep-cover aliases. Two American journalists. The son of a Russian lawmaker.
The list of people released on August 1 in a multiple-country prisoner swap, the largest of its kind since the Cold War, is a diverse and sweeping roster of personalities and backgrounds, a mix of people with little to nothing in common -- except being swept up in months of high-stakes, closed-door diplomatic wrangling.
Some were convicted by U.S. juries and sentenced to U.S. prison terms. Some were picked up on dubious allegations of espionage and railroaded through a Russian judicial system with little pretense of fair justice.
All 24 are now being set free, to either their home countries or elsewhere.
Here's a comprehensive list of the people released on August 1, listed by country.
Held In Russia
Evan Gershkovich
Evan Gershkovich, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, was found guilty on July 19 by a court in Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government have rejected as politically motivated, and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The 32-year-old was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg.
Accredited by Russia's Foreign Ministry and based out of The Wall Street Journal's Moscow bureau, Gershkovich was accused of trying to access classified information. Gershkovich was the first American journalist to be arrested on spy accusations in post-Soviet Russia.
Last month, prosecutors accused him of working on behalf of the CIA. The Wall Street Journal Journal has vehemently denied the accusation, calling the case against him a sham.
Gershkovich, who had been held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison, was officially designated as wrongfully detained.
Vladimir Kara-Murza
An opposition activist and former journalist, Vladimir Kara-Murza survived two near-fatal illnesses that U.S. authorities classified as "intentional poisoning." His denunciations of the all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a treason conviction and a 25-year prison sentence.
Kara-Murza, who worked closely with assassinated Putin foe Boris Nemtsov, also cultivated strong ties with members of U.S. Congress, which he leveraged to influence U.S. policy toward Russia.
Despite warnings, Kara-Murza returned from living abroad to Russia to continue his political work. In April 2022, about two months after the Ukraine invasion, he was detained by police in Moscow for allegedly disobeying police orders.
Later that year, prosecutors filed treason charges, and in April 2023 he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was sent to a maximum-security facility in the Siberian region of Omsk, where he was also placed in solitary confinement cells.
In the months leading up to his release, his allies had warned that his health had deteriorated, and he had lost an alarming amount of weight in the maximum-security prison where he was serving his sentence -- one of the longest ever handed to a Kremlin opponent.
Alsu Kurmasheva
Alsu Kurmasheva, a Prague-based editor for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, was detained by authorities in June 2023 as she was visiting relatives in the central Russian region of Tatarstan.
A dual Russian-U.S. citizen, she was initially charged with not declaring her U.S. passport, and released, but barred from leaving the country.
That October, however, she was arrested and hit with additional charges of being an undeclared foreign agent -- under a draconian law targeting journalists, civil society activists, and others. She was later hit with an additional charge: distributing "fake" news about the Russian military, a charge stemming apparently from her work editing a book about Russians opposed to the Ukraine war.
On July 19, Kurmasheva was convicted by a Tatarstan court and sentenced to 6 years in prison, after a secret, closed-door trial.
Paul Whelan
Paul Whelan, 54, was arrested in December 2018 while visiting Moscow for a friend's wedding, and accused of receiving a computer flash drive that contained classified information.
A former U.S. Marine who was working as a corporate security executive at the time, Whelan has said he was set up in a sting operation and that he thought the thumb drive contained vacation photographs from his friend. In June 2020, a Russian court convicted him of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
His time has been spent largely in a prison in the central region of Mordovia. Whelan's family and the U.S. government have called his conviction a sham and a mockery of justice. Whelan, who also holds British, Canadian, and Irish citizenship, was designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained.
Ilya Yashin
Ilya Yashin, 41, has been a stalwart of street protests in the Putin era and was also a close ally of Nemtsov, presenting a report on Russian involvement in the war in Ukraine's Donbas region that Nemtsov had been working on when he was shot dead in 2015.
A local lawmaker who was chairman of his Moscow district council in 2017-21, Yashin was convicted and sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in December 2022 over criticism of what he has called Russia's "monstrous war" in Ukraine.
The charge stemmed from YouTube posts in which Yashin spoke about the killings of civilians in Bucha, a city outside Kyiv where survivors, rights activists, and Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces committed atrocities before withdrawing following Russia's failure to capture the capital.
In his final court appearance before the verdict, Yashin urged Putin to "stop the madness" and end the war by withdrawing Russia's forces from Ukraine, adding: "Your name is now firmly associated with the words 'death' and 'destruction.'"
Oleg Orlov
Oleg Orlov, 71, is one of the most experienced and respected human rights activists in Russia, with a record of advocacy stretching back to the Soviet era and encompassing reporting on abuses in Moscow, Chechnya, and nationwide.
A co-chairman of the now outlawed Nobel Peace Prize-winning Memorial human rights center, Orlov was convicted in February of repeatedly discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 30 months in prison, a ruling that was upheld in July.
The charge against Orlov stems from an article in which he condemned the Ukraine invasion and said that Russia was "slipping back into totalitarianism, but this time the fascist kind."
"The bloody war that Putin's regime has unleashed in Ukraine is not only the mass murder of people and the annihilation of infrastructure, economy, and cultural sites. Not only the destruction of the foundations of international law," he wrote. "It is also a severe blow to the future of Russia."
Kevin Lik
Lik, a dual German-Russian citizen, was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2023 after being convicted of treason following a closed-door trial. He was 18 years old at the time of his conviction.
A resident of the North Caucasus region of Adygea, Lik was found guilty of observing and photographing the local military base and sending the pictures by e-mail to a representative of a foreign government, according to Russian prosecutors.
Memorial designated Lik a political prisoner.
Aleksandra Skochilenko
Aleksandra Skochilenko, 33, is a St. Petersburg artist who protested against the Ukraine invasion shortly after Putin launched it in February 2022 by replacing five shelf tags in a grocery store with information about the war.
One said that Russia had "bombed an art school in Mariupol where about 400 people were seeking shelter." Another read, "Putin has been lying to you from the television screen for 20 years. The result of these lies is our willingness to accept war and senseless deaths."
Skochilenko, who usually goes by the familiar form of her name, Sasha, was convicted in November 2022 of distributing false information about the Russian military and sentenced to seven years in prison. She argued that the words on the tags were the truth.
"My great-grandfather didn't participate in World War II for four years so that Russia would become a fascist state and attack Ukraine," Skochilenko wrote on one of them. In a final statement in court, she wondered aloud why the state was frightened by "five tiny pieces of paper."
Andrei Pivovarov
Andrei Pivovarov, 42, is the former executive director of the now-defunct pro-democracy Open Russia movement set up by exiled former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He was detained in May 2021 after being taken off a Warsaw-bound plane just before takeoff from St. Petersburg and sentenced to four years in prison in July 2022 on a charge of heading an "undesirable organization."
Memorial has declared Pivovarov a political prisoner, saying his right to a fair trial was violated.
The "undesirable organizations" law, adopted in 2015, was part of a series of regulations pushed by the Kremlin that squeezed many nonprofit and NGOs that received funding from foreign sources -- mainly from Europe and the United States.
These laws are widely seen as a tool to stamp out political dissent and tighten the Kremlin's control over the countrys political landscape.
Ksenia Fadeyeva
Ksenia Fadeyeva, 32, is a former local lawmaker and the former head of the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's regional office in the Siberian city of Tomsk. In December 2023, she was convicted on charges including organizing activities of an extremist group and was handed a nine-year prison term.
Her lawyer, Semyon Vodnev, called the judge's ruling "illegal, ungrounded, and unjust." He argued, among other things, that Fadeyeva had ended her involvement with Navalny's organization before it was labeled extremist in 2021.
At the time of her conviction, Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, hailed Fadeyeva as "honest and brave" and said that those who fabricated the criminal case against her would eventually face punishment.
In May, a court rejected Fadeyeva's appeal and Tomsk officials stripped her of her mandate in the city council in June.
Demuri Voronin
Political scientist Demuri Voronin, a Russian-German national, was convicted on a high treason charge and sentenced to 13 years and three months in prison by the Moscow City Court in March 2023.
Voronin was arrested in Moscow in 2021, hours before he was due to depart to Berlin. The case materials were classified, but Voronin was mentioned in a high treason case against journalist Ivan Safronov, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in September 2022 and was declared a political prisoner by Memorial.
Voronin owned a consulting company in Moscow that collaborated with noted journalists.
Patrick Schoebel
Patrick Schoebel, a German, was arrested at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg earlier this year after officers who searched him said they found cannabis gummies. Accused of drug possession and smuggling, Schoebel was jailed in Moscow.
The Russian Federal Customs Service said Schoebel told the authorities he brought 10 gummies from Germany into Russia to have a more "restful sleep" on long flights. Russia claimed that a test of the gummies found they contained a banned substance.
Schoebel had faced up to seven years in prison, according to the Customs Service and Russian state media reports. At the time of the prisoner swap, it was not immediately clear whether he had been tried.
German Moyzhes
German Moyzhes, a dual German-Russian citizen who was living in St. Petersburg, is a lawyer and reportedly a managing partner in a company that provides support to Russians seeking residence permits in the European Union. He has also been a public advocate for pedestrian and cyclist-friendly streets.
Moyzhes was arrested in late May while riding his bicycle along an embankment in St. Petersburg, accused of treason, and sent to the Lefortovo prison. It was unclear whether his trial had begun when the exchange took place.
Lilia Chanysheva
Lilia Chanysheva, 42, is the former head of the branch of Navalny's political network in Ufa, the capital of the Bashkortostan region. The network, established for Navalny's unsuccessful bid to get on the 2018 presidential ballot and challenge Vladimir Putin, was branded "extremist" in 2021.
In June 2023, Chanysheva was convicted of crimes including creating an extremist community and inciting extremism and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. The regional Supreme Court later extended her term by two years, saying the initial sentence was too lenient.
In comments to RFE/RL from jail before her conviction, Chanysheva described the case against her as "not only political, but actually absurd." Navalny, who died in suspicious circumstances in prison in February 2024, testified in her trial 10 months earlier.
"Think about the beautiful Russia of the future that we will achieve. Thanks to you and people like you, we will do this. You are a rock. I never doubted you, not for one second. I am so happy I know you," Navalny said. "You have inspired a huge number of people."
Vadim Ostanin
Vadim Ostanin, 47, is the former head of a local branch of Navalny's team in the Siberian city of Barnaul.
He was arrested in December 2021 and charged with organizing an extremist community and propagating the activities of a noncommercial organization that encroaches on citizens' privacy and rights.
The charges were related to the activities of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, which published numerous investigations into corruption and cronyism involving Putin and his close associates, as well as other top Russian officials.
Ostanin was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2023 for activities that Navalny's supporters called "legal political work." Memorial designated him a political prisoner.
Held In Belarus
Rico Krieger
A German citizen, Rico Krieger, 30, was sentenced to death in Belarus in June, before he was pardoned by Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka on July 30. Lukashenka's office provided no additional information about the reasoning behind the pardon.
Details of Krieger's case were not known until the Vyasna human rights group reported that he was sentenced to death in June for mercenary activity, terrorism, creating an extremist group, intentionally damaging a vehicle, and illegal operations with firearms and explosives.
According to Vyasna, it was the first trial in Belarus for "mercenary activity" and the charges were connected to the Kalinouski Regiment, a group of anti-government Belarusian exiles fighting for Ukraine. The Kalinouski Regiment denies any connection to the case.
Krieger was born in Berlin and worked as a paramedic for the German Red Cross, according to Vyasna. He has a young son, who lives in Germany.
He worked previously as a special security officer for the U.S. State Department in Berlin, where he gained experience in armed security operations. He then moved to health care and worked as a nurse specializing in emergency medical care.
Held In Germany
Vadim Krasikov
Vadim Krasikov, 59, also known as Vadim Sokolov, is a former Russian FSB officer currently serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder of ex-Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin.
German prosecutors stated that Krasikov shot Khangoshvili from a bicycle before attempting to flee. He was arrested after being seen changing clothes behind a bush.
The German investigation identified Krasikov as a senior officer in the FSB's Vympel special forces unit. Additionally, a joint investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel found connections between Krasikov and the FSB, linking him to other crimes.
Prosecutors in Germany claimed that Moscow ordered the assassination because Khangoshvili had commanded separatist forces in Russia's North Caucasus region from 2000 to 2004 and was seeking refuge in Germany.
In 2015, Khangoshvili survived a daylight assassination attempt in central Tbilisi, where he was shot four times in the arm and shoulder.
Krasikov has been serving his sentence in a German prison since 2021.
Held In Norway
Mikhail Mikushin
Norwegian investigators in 2023 announced that an academic who claimed Brazilian citizenship and who worked as a university lecturer was in fact an undercover Russian agent named Mikhail Mikushin.
Mikushin had first traveled to Norway, to work at the Arctic University of Norway in 2021, identifying himself as Jose Assis Giammaria, according to Norwegian media. But year later, he was arrested, first on charges of lying about his identity, and then later with being a Russian spy.
In 2023, Mikushin reportedly confessed to using a false identity.
He has been held in an Oslo prison, and had faced up to three years in prison under Norwegian espionage laws.
Held In The United States
Vladislav Klyushin
An IT entrepreneur who ran a Moscow company linked to the Russian government, Vladislav Klyushin was arrested on a ski trip in Switzerland in March 2021 on a U.S. arrest warrant for insider trading. He was accused of using hacked press releases to make stock trades.
After extradition to the United States, he was found guilty by a U.S. jury and sentenced to nine years in prison in September 2023.
During the trial, U.S. prosecutors repeatedly referenced Klyushin's partnership with a man identified as an officer with the Russian military intelligence agency widely known as the GRU. That man, Ivan Yermakov, was charged in a separate indictment brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for the hacking of the Democratic Party during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Vadim Konoshchenok
Vadim Konoshchenok, 49, is a suspected Russian intelligence agent who was detained by Estonian authorities in October 2022. At the time of his detention on a U.S. arrest warrant, U.S. prosecutors said that Konoshchenok was attempting to cross into Russia while carrying some three dozen types of microelectronics and electronic components.
They called Konoshchenok "a critical participant in a scheme to provide sensitive, American-made electronics and ammunition in furtherance of Russia's war efforts and weapons development" in violation of U.S. sanctions.
He was taken into U.S. custody in July 2023. He pleaded not guilty to charges that, if convicted, could have resulted in a maximum 30-year prison sentence.
Roman Seleznyov
The son of a member of Russia's lower house of parliament, Roman Seleznyov was arrested by U.S. authorities in 2014 on an arrest warrant for credit card fraud. His arrest, at an airport in the Maldives, followed by a quick extradition to the U.S. territory of Guam, sparked accusations by Moscow that he was kidnapped.
U.S. investigators said they uncovered his online activities in the late 2000s and asked the Federal Security Service for help. But his online footprint soon disappeared, leading U.S. investigators to believe Russia was protecting him.
Seleznyov, whose name was spelled Seleznev in U.S. court papers, eventually received a 27-year sentence -- one of the harshest sentences ever handed down to a Russian hacker because he chose to fight his case despite a preponderance of evidence rather than cooperate.
Held In Slovenia
Anna Dultseva And Artyom Dultsev (aka Maria Rosa Mayer Munos And Ludwig Gisch)
Ludwig Gisch and Maria Rosa Mayer Munos are Russian citizens using aliases who were arrested in Slovenia in December 2022 on charges of spying for Russia. Shortly before the prisoner swap, the couple pleaded guilty to "spying and falsifying documents." Their real names are believed to be Artyom Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, and they both hold Argentinian passports and are around 40 years old.
In 2017, the couple moved to Slovenia, where the husband ran an IT company and the wife operated an Internet art gallery. Media reports stated that they used Slovenia as a base to provide cash to Russian sleeper agents in the EU.
Following their guilty plea, a Ljubljana court on July 31 sentenced them to more than 18 months in prison but then ordered their expulsion.
Held In Poland
Pablo Gonzalez (aka Pavel Rubtsov)
Pablo Gonzalez is a Spanish-Russian freelance journalist who was arrested in Poland in February 2022 on charges of spying for Russia. Poland's ABW counterintelligence agency said in a statement at the time that it had identified him as an agent of Russian military intelligence.
Gonzalez, who was born in Russia and is also known by his Russian name, Pavel Rubtsov, was alleged by Polish intelligence to have "carried out activities for Russia using his journalistic status," including in "zones affected by armed conflicts and areas of political tension."
He was charged with "participating in the activities of foreign intelligence against Poland."
The independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo reported shortly after Gonzalezs arrest that he had compiled reports on Nemtsovs daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, after befriending her.
Press-freedom watchdogs said Gonzalez should not be targeted for his journalistic activities and urged Poland to substantiate the charges against him.
Among the media outlets that Gonzalez had provided reporting to is the U.S.-funded broadcaster VOA, which said it had taken six stories from him in 2020-21 and conducted a review of his work following his arrest.
With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Todd Prince, AP, AFP, the BBC, and The Moscow Times
A sculpture titled "Marco Polo" is on display at "Marco Polo in China" exhibition at the Academy of the Arts of Drawing (Accademia delle Arti del Disegno) in Florence, Italy, on July 23, 2024. (Photo by Fu Xiao/Xinhua)
FLORENCE, Italy, July 23 (Xinhua) -- A middle-aged man sits upright on horseback, gazing firmly into the distance. His bushy beard and distinctive headgear hint at his Western origin.
This small sculpture, exuding a bronze sheen with simplistic yet expressive Chinese aesthetics, is at an exhibition that is currently being held at the Academy of the Arts of Drawing (Accademia delle Arti del Disegno) in Florence, Italy, and the sculpture depicts none other than the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo.
Titled "Marco Polo in China," the exhibition commemorates the 700th anniversary of the famous Italian explorer's death through sculptures and paintings by Wu Weishan, the renowned international artist and curator of the National Art Museum of China, showcasing Marco Polo's journey to China centuries ago and engaging audiences worldwide.
As Wu 's first solo exhibition in Florence, the exhibition features about 50 pieces by the artist, including well-known works, unfinished sculptures, and his latest paintings.
The Academy, with a history dating back to 1563, is known for its focus on art research and creation, regularly hosting exhibitions and seminars to promote artists and their works.
According to Cristina Acidini, the director of the academy, through this exhibition, the academy hopes to honor Marco Polo, a great emissary of cultural exchange between East and West. She told Xinhua in an interview that Marco Polo is an eternal symbol of global exploration.
"Today, we can travel more conveniently, but that doesn't mean we truly understand others. Marco Polo is a model for us to continue learning and staying open," she said.
At the exhibition, a series of Wu's latest Chinese landscape paintings were displayed on one side of the gallery, with Italian scenery in Chinese ink paintings on the opposite side. The gallery also features portraits of many ancient Chinese and Italian figures such as Laozi, Qu Yuan, and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Maria, a visitor from Spain, told Xinhua that the exhibited works impressed her with a simple yet expressive style. "Seeing these artworks imbued with ancient Chinese charm allowed me to imagine Marco Polo's experiences in China," she said.
Acidini said that through the sculptures, Marco Polo is placed in the same space with famous Chinese philosophers and poets, creating a dialogue that transcends time and space.
Many visitors shared their thoughts in a guestbook at the venue. One, signing as "S.H.," wrote: "What a surprising variety of forms and styles, all of them are beautiful."
Acidini said that art is a very effective bridge for intercultural communication because it can be expressed visually without using language or requiring specific background knowledge. "Sino-Italian artistic exchanges are excellent ways to gain a deeper understanding of each other," she said.
According to Antonio Di Tommaso, curator of the exhibition, and also the head of the sculpture department at the Academy of the Arts of Drawing, Wu has a profound understanding of Marco Polo's life and history, and he told this story through his expert medium.
The exhibition, which runs from July 9 to 28, is organized by the Academy and hosted by the China-Italy Contemporary Art Association.
Photo taken on July 23, 2024 shows sculptures and paintings at "Marco Polo in China" exhibition at the Academy of the Arts of Drawing (Accademia delle Arti del Disegno) in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Fu Xiao/Xinhua)
Editor: JYZ
Several Americans and other Westerners have been freed, along with a number of Russian citizens who had been jailed in their own country, in a major prisoner swap involving multiple nations. Why did President Vladimir Putin's government release them, and why now?
Here are three reasons.
'Patriots' And Prisoners
During his 25 years as president or prime minister, Putin has increasingly sent signals to Russians about the kind of people he sees, or wants them to believe he sees, as valuable: loyal figures who serve what he casts as the interests of the state, even if -- and perhaps especially if -- their actions are an affront to the West.
These signals have become clearer than ever since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has decorated soldiers from units accused of committing atrocities in the neighboring country and has clamped down ever harder on all forms of dissent, and particularly anti-war activism, at home.
Putin, a longtime officer of the Soviet KGB and the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) before his rise to the heights of power, has repeatedly sought to show that the Kremlin elevates and protects those it sees as the right kind of Russian, including those seen as loyal members of the security services.
A glaring example of Putin's projected values is Vadim Krasikov, the former FSB officer seen as the central figure -- at least for Putin -- of the prisoner swap. Krasikov had been serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 murder, in broad daylight in a prominent Berlin park, of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen and former field commander in Chechnya.
Prosecutors in Germany claimed Moscow ordered the assassination because Khangoshvili had commanded separatist forces in Russia's North Caucasus region from 2000 to 2004 in the Second Chechen War, which helped cement Putin's authority when he publicly played the lead role in pursuing it as prime minister in 1999 and then as president starting in 2000.
In an interview with U.S. media figure Tucker Carlson in February, Putin praised Krasikov without naming him, referring to "a person [who], due to patriotic sentiments, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals," and made clear that he wanted to secure the convicted murderer's release and return to Russia.
Enemies Of The State?
The flip side of holding up people like Krasikov as examples is the Russian state's mounting pressure on political opponents, civil society groups, and dissenters, particularly those -- be they well-known or unknown to the general public -- who have spoken out against the war on Ukraine.
Several of the Russians who had been imprisoned in their own country before the swap had been convicted, in trials seen in the West as entirely politically motivated, of treason or involvement in purported "extremist" activities. Others were found guilty of discrediting the Russian military or spreading what Putin's government deems false information about the war against Ukraine.
While professing to take no interest in the cases against these defendants over the years and avoiding even mentioning the name of Aleksei Navalny, the political foe who died in suspicious circumstances in an Arctic prison, Putin has repeatedly said that anyone who breaks the law must be punished.
By releasing them, however, he sends a signal that's the opposite of the message delivered about Krasikov: Good riddance to people the Kremlin portrays as enemies of the state and pawns of the West.
In March 2022, shortly after launching the invasion of Ukraine, Putin said Russians "will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a fly that has accidentally flown into their mouths."
At the same time, Putin can claim to be acting out of humanitarian interests, as he has done in the past with prisoners such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Meanwhile, the death of Navalny -- which his widow and many others blame on Putin -- has enabled Russia to conduct the prisoner exchange without releasing the one opponent he may not have wanted to see at liberty, even abroad. Allies of Navalny had claimed that a swap deal that would have included his release and Krasikov's was in the works when he died.
The November Factor
The prisoner swap follows U.S.-Russian negotiations on the issue and comes just over three months before the U.S. presidential election. President Joe Biden, who has been vocal about the desire to secure the release of Americans held in Russia and elsewhere on what Washington says are spurious charges, withdrew his bid for reelection last month.
U.S.-Russian ties are close to a nadir, extremely strained by Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine. Whoever wins the U.S. election on November 5, former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, releasing several Americans held in Russia cleans the slate to some degree ahead of the vote and the next U.S. president's four-year term.
Simply put, it alleviates one major irritant in relations between the two countries, one reason for the United States to be tough on Russia. Putin, who appears to be focused almost solely on the war against Ukraine, might try to use the prisoner exchange to undermine U.S. support for aid to Ukraine, particular in Congress, or to seek concessions on sanctions imposed over the war.
The Kremlin may see "an opportunity to try to isolate Ukraine," said Sam Greene, a professor at the King's Russia Institute at King's College London. "By making this exchange, Moscow is seeking to demonstrate that (a) it can negotiate in good faith, and (b) it is willing to do deals with the West."
"This will strengthen the hand of those who have been calling for Western governments to impose a cease-fire on Kyiv and weaken those who see such a cease-fire as detrimental to Ukrainian and European security in the near, medium and long terms," Greene wrote on X.
"Sowing doubt in the West about the utility of continuing to support Ukraine may be enough of a win -- but the Kremlin is taking a risk," Greene added. "If it doesn't work, and if support continues, what bargaining chips does it have left? Only escalation, really."
Despite his own public suggestions to the contrary, many analysts say Putin would prefer Trump win the election, and there had been speculation that the Kremlin might deny Biden the satisfaction of securing the release of Americans but approve a swap after the election if Trump were to win -- again, with the hope of smoothing the path for U.S. concessions on Ukraine or regional security issues.
However, doing so could come across to audiences at home as obsequious, and if Harris wins as an unneeded concession, so the Kremlin may have considered it safest to act now. In addition, Biden is a known quantity, and the Kremlin might be less confident about how Trump or Harris would approach the matter.
On the other hand, the timing of the exchange may have little to do with the U.S. election cycle, hinging more on when negotiations advanced to the point at which a swap was possible, as well as factors such as Putin's eagerness to bring Krasikov back to Russia.
Meanwhile, despite the scope of the swap, several Americans and others apparently still held in Russia -- and seen widely in the West as hostages -- remain as bargaining chips for the Kremlin. And if disputes arise in the West about the wisdom of freeing the convicted murderer Krasikov, Putin will welcome that development.
In any case, regardless of the timing, the prisoner exchange put Russia in a place where Putin, over a quarter-century in power, has always been eager for it to be: at the table with the United States.
A 56-year-old man signed up to fight for Ukraine against the Russian invasion despite having previously had both lower legs amputated. Vasyl Shtefko joined the army at the very start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and served for six months before being discharged on medical grounds. But he was then injured in a grenade attack after starting work as a local councilor.
"Squid Game" Season 2 Release Date Announced with New Olympics-Like Theme
The global sensation Squid Game is making a highly anticipating return.
Squid Game Season 2 Release Date: The global sensation Squid Game is making a highly anticipating return. Netflix has just announced that Season 2 will premiere on December 26, 2024, with a final season set to follow in 2025. This thrilling drama, which captivated audiences worldwide in 2020, is gearing up for a dramatic continuation.
The exciting news was shared with fans through a heartfelt letter from Hwang Dong-hyuk, the visionary behind the series who serves as its executive producer, writer, and director. Alongside the announcement, Netflix released a teaser that promises more intense and gripping moments. The clip features a dramatic track race, not for glory, but for survival, setting the stage for the high-stakes drama to come. As the chaos unfolds and bodies fall, the enigmatic Frontman signals that the real game is about to begin.
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Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who made history at the 74th Primetime Emmys by becoming the first Asian to win Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, returns to his multifaceted role as director, writer, and producer for the new season. Fans can also look forward to seeing familiar faces from Season 1, including Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo.
Joining the returning cast are an impressive array of new actors: Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, Jo Yu-ri, and Won Ji-an. This new ensemble is set to bring fresh energy and intrigue to the series.
As the countdown to the new season begins, fans around the globe are eagerly awaiting what promises to be another thrilling chapter in the Squid Game saga.
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( For more updates apart from, Squid Game Season 2 Release Date Announced with New Olympics-Themed Teaser Watch Now!, stay tuned to Rozana spokesman)
Telangana Waives Rs 12,000 Crore Farm Loans in 12 Days, 6 Lakh Farmers Benefited
Telangana Waives Rs 12,000 Crore Farm Loans in 12 Days, 6 Lakh Farmers Benefited
Telangana Waives Rs 12,000 Crore Farm Loans in 12 Days, 6 Lakh Farmers Benefited: Releasing funds under the second phase of the farm loan waiver scheme benefiting 6.40 lakh farmers in Telangana, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said that his government waived Rs 12,000 Crore worth of farm loans in just 12 days.
Announcing the farm loan waiver on Tuesday, Reddy said "While India attained Independence in August, farmers in the Telangana state also got freedom from the mounting debt burden in the same month and the farming community was relieved after the waiver of farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh".
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The Chief Minister further said that the waiver of farm loans by allocating a whopping Rs 31,000 Crore funds at one go created a new record in the history of the country.
"No state in the history of the country has waived such a large amount of farmers' loans so far", he said, maintaining that political parties usually remember the farmers during the election period and lure them with promises and that there are no elections and no political interests in the waiver of farm loans except safeguarding the interests of the distressed farmers.
While the assembly session is going on, Revanth Reddy launched the second phase of the farm loan waiver scheme up to Rs 2 lakh at the Assembly premises in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
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Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad, Council Chairman Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, state ministers and MLAs participated in the distribution of cheques to the farmers and the entire premises wore a festive atmosphere.
The Chief Minister announced that the loans up to Rs 2 lakh of all farmers will be waived by depositing Rs 6,198 Crore in 6.40 lakh farmers' accounts directly.
Himachal Pradesh Death Toll: Cloudbursts Claim Lives and Leave Dozens Missing
Late last night, a cloudburst struck the Samej Khad area of Rampur
Himachal Pradesh Weather Update, Cloudburst Death Toll: A devastating series of cloudburst incidents in Himachal Pradesh has resulted in the death of two individuals and left over 50 people missing. The severe weather events have prompted a large-scale search and rescue operation across the affected regions.
Late last night, a cloudburst struck the Samej Khad area of Rampur in Shimla district, unleashing torrents of water that caused sudden and severe flooding. Rescue efforts are underway, led by teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), local police, and home guards. Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap confirmed that drones are being employed to aid in locating the missing individuals.
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Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has taken immediate action, convening a meeting to assess the situation. He reported that the initial cloudburst occurred around 4:40 AM, resulting in two confirmed fatalities and approximately 50 individuals still unaccounted for. The chief minister indicated that heavy rain is expected to continue over the next 36 hours, which could complicate rescue operations.
In addition to the Rampur incident, another cloudburst was reported in Thaltukhod, within the Padhar subdivision of Mandi district. This event has resulted in one confirmed death and nine people reported missing. The district administration and NDRF teams have been deployed to assist with the situation.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been in contact with Chief Minister Sukhu, offering central assistance and the support of the NDRF. Shah assured Sukhu that the central government is committed to providing all necessary resources for the ongoing rescue operations.
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Union Health Minister and BJP National President JP Nadda has also weighed in, urging all BJP cadres to participate in the relief and rescue efforts. A statement from his office emphasized that Nadda has spoken to both Chief Minister Sukhu and former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, directing party workers to engage in aiding those affected.
Former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur expressed his concern over the repeated weather-related disasters impacting Himachal Pradesh. Thakur highlighted the significant damages, including the impact on the Malana (First) hydro power project in Kullu district and widespread destruction in Mandi district. He stressed the urgency of focusing on rescue efforts amidst the escalating crisis.
Amid the chaos, alarming visuals have emerged from various parts of Himachal Pradesh, showing the Beas River swollen and surging through valleys and towns, exacerbating the already dire situation.
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As the region braces for further rainfall, emergency teams continue to work tirelessly to locate the missing and provide relief to those affected by this catastrophic weather event.
(For more updates apart from Himachal Pradesh Weather Update, Cloudburst Death Toll, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Rain Wreaks Havoc in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand | 2 Dead, 50 Missing in Shimla
On Thursday morning, catastrophic scenes unfolded across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Weather Alert: On Thursday morning, catastrophic scenes unfolded across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as severe rainfall and cloudbursts caused widespread damage. In Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, a building collapsed and was swept away by the floodwaters, as captured in distressing video footage. Simultaneously, in Uttarakhand, dramatic scenes emerged of pilgrims being airlifted from the Badrinath Yatra route and floodwaters inundating Jageshwar Dham.
The intense rainfall has resulted in tragic losses and significant disruption. In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rains have claimed two lives, and around 50 people are reported missing in Shimla, with 33 feared missing in Rampur and three in Kullu. In Uttarakhand, the death toll has reached five, including two children, with 200 pilgrims stranded due to disruptions on the Kedarnath yatra route.
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The Mandakini River in Sonprayag has necessitated the evacuation of residents to safer areas, and three houses were moved in Thati village, Budha Kedar. In Kullu, the River Beas is flowing rapidly with increased water levels.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has visited the affected areas in Baheda Tehri Garhwal to oversee ongoing rescue and relief efforts. In response to the crisis in Himachal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured support from the Centre, including the deployment of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams for rescue and relief operations.
The NDRF, police, and local rescue units are grappling with significant challenges, including river erosion and washed-out routes. Banshidhar Tiwari, Director General (Information), reported that approximately 20 to 25 meters of footpath near Bhimbali, Kedarnath, has been washed away, with boulders blocking key routes.
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In Himachal Pradesh, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Torul S. Ravish highlighted extensive damage, particularly in the Nirmand block, where two Public Works Department (PWD) bridges were washed away and 8-9 houses were lost. Search and rescue operations are underway with the assistance of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and NDRF teams.
In light of the severe weather, registrations for the Char Dham Yatra have been temporarily suspended, and a safety advisory has been issued urging devotees to postpone their travel. DGP Abhinav Kumar emphasized, The Meteorological Department has issued an alert for heavy rain in most districts of Uttarakhand. Your safety is our priority.
(For more updates apart from, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Weather Alert, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Bohemia meet Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, praises her for 'fighting for the rights'
Pakistani rapper, mainly associated with Punjabi language music industry,
Pakistani rapper, mainly associated with Punjabi language music industry, recently met Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who has been busy campaigning for former US President Doland Trump ahead of US Presidential Elections 2024.
Bohemia is considered to be the pioneer of the Desi hip hop industry.
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Recently, he met with a an American lawyer and Republican Party official Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who is the former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party.
The rapper took to his social media and uploaded a photo with her. He wrote in the caption: "I want to thank Harmeet Kaur Dhillon ji @pnjaban. Shes a phone call away from @realDonaldTrump as his lawyer, and member of the Republican National Committee, fighting for our rights. Yet she still took the time to speak with me, and hear my concerns!"
( For more updates apart from, Bohemia meeting with Harmeet Kaur Dhillon , stay tuned to Rozana spokesman)
Australia will on Friday release Q2 figures for producer prices, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
Producer prices are expected to rise 1.0 percent on quarter and 4.4 percent on year after adding 0.9 percent on quarter and 4.3 percent on year in the three months prior.
South Korea will see July figures for consumer prices, with forecasts calling for an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 2.5 percent on year following the 0.2 percent monthly decline and the 2.4 percent annual increase in June.
Japan will provide July numbers for its monetary base, with analysts looking for an increase of 0.9 percent on year - up from 0.6 percent in June.
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.
The euro area manufacturing sector continued to contract on steep reduction in orders and output in July, final data from S&P Global showed on Thursday.
Further, official data showed that the unemployment rate in the currency bloc edged up in June as firms scaled back their staffing capacity amid weak economic activity.
The HCOB manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index posted 45.8 in July, unchanged from June and above the flash estimate of 45.6.
There was a marked reduction in the of the euro area's goods-producing , the survey showed.
"The widely held belief that the eurozone's recovery would pick up speed in the second half of the year is taking a hit, thanks to the latest HCOB PMI index for the manufacturing sector," Hamburg Commercial Bank Chief Economist Cyrus de la Rubia said.
Earlier this year, the sector was expected to climb out of the production slump, but the doubts that surfaced in June have been intensified by an accelerated decline in production in July, de la Rubia noted.
"Given this weak data, we'll probably need to lower our GDP growth forecast for the year from 0.8%," the economist added.
The survey showed that the steep reduction in new orders led to a contraction in output and workforce numbers decreased the most since last December.
There were further decreases in purchasing activity and inventories, while confidence softened to a four-month low.
The survey showed a marked acceleration of cost pressures as input prices increased at the fastest pace in a year-and-a-half. Meanwhile, manufacturers refrained from passing on greater cost burden to clients.
Germany and France, the bloc's two largest economies, saw their respective index values falling to three-month and six-month lows, respectively. Spain was the strongest performer so far this year. At the same time, Italy's manufacturing continued to improve but remained in the contraction zone.
The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector gathered pace in July. The final PMI slid to 43.2 from 43.5 in June. The flash score was 42.6. The current 25-month sequence of sub-50 readings was the longest on record since 1996.
France's manufacturing activity contracted further in July. The indicator slid to 44.0 in July from 45.4 in June.
Spain's manufacturing economy continued to expand, albeit at softer pace. The factory PMI posted 51.0 in July, down from 52.3 in the previous month and the lowest in the current six-month growth sequence.
Italy's manufacturing downturn eased in July with both output and new orders dropping at slower rates. The factory PMI rose more-than-expected to 47.4 in July from 45.7 in the prior month. The reading was forecast to climb to 46.0.
Elsewhere, Eurostat reported that the unemployment rate in the euro area posted 6.5 percent in June, up from 6.4 percent in May. Economists had forecast the jobless rate to remain unchanged at 6.4 percent.
The number of people out of work increased by 41,000 from May and by 81,000 from the previous year.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate dropped slightly to 14.1 percent from 14.2 percent.
RTTNews Economic Calendar helps you stay ahead of the curve and is updated in real-time. Get your Economic Calendar today and make data-driven decisions.
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Business News
Iran has alleged that Israel carried out the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh with the approval and intelligence support of the United States.
This allegation was made by the permanent representative of Iran to the UN at the Security Council on Wednesday.
As requested by Iran, an emergency meeting of the Security Council was convened to discuss the latest flare-up of hostilities in the Middle East.
"The responsibility of the United States as their strategic ally, and main supporters of the Israeli regime in the region cannot be overlooked in this horrific crime," Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the Council.
"Israel was also pursuing [a] political goal with this act, aiming to disrupt the first day of the new government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has prioritized strengthening peace and stability in the region, and enhancing cooperation and constructive engagement with international community," he added.
"This act of terror is another manifestation of Israel's decades-long pattern of terrorism and sabotage targeting Palestinians and other supporters of the Palestinian cause across the region and beyond," said the Iranian diplomat.
Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Iranian capital Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
The political leader of the Palestinian militant outfit was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and to hold talks with Iranian leaders.
Hamas alleged that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike, but Israel did not respond to it.
U.S. Ambassador to UN Robert Wood denied his country's involvement in the strikes on Lebanon or in the death of Ismail Haniyeh.
Meanwhile, New York Times reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued an order to "strike Israel directly" in retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
Shares of BMW Group were losing around 2 percent in the German trading after the automajor reported Thursday weak profit, revenues and deliveries in its second quarter. Looking ahead for fiscal 2024, the company continues to expect Group profit before tax to decrease slightly due to higher manufacturing and fixed costs.
For fiscal 2024, the company continues to expect an EBIT margin of between 8 and 10 percent for the Automotive segment, compared to prior year's 9.8 percent.
BMW Group expects to see slight growth in customer deliveries worldwide in the full year. In China, the company expects the economic situation to begin to stabilize in the third quarter.
In its second quarter, net profit declined 8.6 percent to 2.71 billion euros from last year's 2.96 billion euros. Earnings per share were 4.15 euros, down 5.5 percent from 4.39 euros a year ago.
Group earnings before tax or EBT was 3.86 billion euros, down 8.6 percent from last year. The EBT margin came in at 10.5 percent, down from 11.3 percent last year.
Revenues edged down 0.7 percent to 36.94 billion euros from last year's 37.22 billion euros. Adjusted for currency effects, Group revenues remained largely unchanged.
Automotive Segment revenues were 1.4 percent higher from last year to 32.07 billion euros, with favourable volume and product mix effects arising from deliveries to the dealership organisation.
In total, the company delivered 618,743 units of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles in the second quarter, down 1.3 percent from last year's 626,726 vehicles.
The company noted that pricing measures implemented in the previous year compensated for some of the increased level of competition, which was particularly strong in China. Sales went up slightly in the USA and remained in line with the previous year in Europe.
Motorcycles segment deliveries grew 2.6 percent to 66,638 units in the quarter.
In Germany, BMW shares were trading at 84.16 euros, down 1.93 percent.
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Business News
Several major airlines, including United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL), Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Air India, have suspended their flights to Israel due to the escalating tensions in the region. This decision came after reports that the Israeli government's forces had killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
The situation has raised concerns about the potential spread of conflict in the Middle East. While Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of the assassination, Israel has not confirmed its involvement.
Delta has suspended its flights until August 2, citing the ongoing conflict, while United has halted its Newark to Tel Aviv route until further notice. Delta is offering a travel waiver for customers with travel booked to or from Tel Aviv before August 14. Both airlines, operating flights between New York and Tel Aviv, closely monitor the security situation.
According to Israel National News, Air India, the only foreign carrier to fly between Israel and East Asia, announced that its flights were canceled as well. Lowcost carriers Wizair and Rayanair's flights are continuing as scheduled but the companies are looking into the continuation of the flight schedule.
Following United and Delta, the Lufthansa Group has also canceled flights to Israel amid growing concerns about the conflict. This decision came after a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Tel Aviv was diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus, and passengers were informed that the flight would not continue to Tel Aviv due to security protocols.
An Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Ben Gurion Airport was also redirected to Bulgaria for refueling before heading back to Vienna. Lufthansa has emphasized that passenger and crew safety remains their priority, and the diversions were precautionary measures due to security activities.
Flight services to Israel have been frequently disrupted due to the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and previous incidents of conflict in the region, resulting in several interruptions in airline operations. The flight cancellations have left many Israelis stranded abroad, leading to efforts to arrange alternative travel plans. Israeli carriers are responding by adding flights from Athens to accommodate those wishing to return.
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Business News
The Biden administration has introduced a new plan that would prevent airlines from requiring parents to pay extra to sit next to their children during flights. Under this proposal, both U.S. and international airlines would be required to seat children aged 13 and under next to their parents or guardians at no additional cost.
This is part of a larger effort to eliminate what the administration calls " junk fees," which could have a significant impact on airlines' revenue. If this proposed rule is implemented, a family of four could potentially save up to $200 on a round trip.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized that many U.S. airlines do not currently guarantee that families can sit together without incurring additional charges. He stated, "The idea that parents ought to be seated next to their own children on a flight is common sense, and also seems like something that ought to be standard practice. If you were flying with your child, you should expect to fly next to them."
According to the proposal, airlines would face penalties for each instance of charging a family seating fee, with each child not seated beside a parent or guardian considered a separate violation.
In cases where it's not possible to arrange adjacent seating for multiple young children, airlines will need to position them across the aisle from, directly in front of, or directly behind their parent or accompanying adult, as noted by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
If adjacent seats are not available, carriers must either fully refund passengers or allow them to wait and see if family seating becomes available. The DOT also insists that refunds or no-cost rebooking options should be provided when adjacent seating cannot be guaranteed, should passengers choose not to take the flight.
It's worth noting that airlines such as Allegiant, Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest, Spirit, and United do not ensure adjacent seating for children, while Frontier, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines do provide that guarantee.
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Business News
The upcoming 2024 Kawasaki Versys-X 300 will be the companys third localized bike after the Ninja 300 and W175
Kawasaki does not have an able competitor in 300-500cc ADV motorcycle space. Royal Enfields Himalayan 450 sees high demand along with the KTM 390 Adventure. Kawasaki used to be operational in this segment and is eager to re-establish a presence again. Thats where the new Kawasaki Versys-X 300 comes into action.
2024 Kawasaki Versys-X 300
Kawasaki India is now actively testing the new 2024 Kawasaki Versys-X 300. Slated for launch in India sometime later this year, it gains several feature updates over the earlier model. The test model spied near Ooty, Tamil Nadu, is similar to the model currently on sale in global markets.
The sporty adventure motorcycle will be heavily localized to ensure more affordable pricing as compared to its earlier counterpart which was priced at Rs 4.60 lakh (ex-showroom. Local manufacture should allow for lower taxes allowing the company to price the new Versys-X 300 in a sub Rs 4 lakh range.
This will allow Versys-X 300 to ably compete with the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 which starts at Rs 2.85 lakh (Ex-sh) and the KTM 390 Adventure which starts at around Rs 3.4 lakh (Ex-sh). This will be the companys third localized bike after the Ninja 300 and W175.
Where features are concerned, the new Versys-X 300 will be largely the same as its earlier counterpart. It will weigh around 185 kg, and get spoked wheels with tubed tyres measuring 19 inchers front and 17 inchers rear. Ground clearance will stand at 180mm and travel suspension at 150mm.
A tall windscreen with large side fairings, a semi-digital display unit, an upswept exhaust and tall-riding height will also be a part of its makeup along with a single-piece stepped-up seat and raised handlebars.
Specs and features
As observed by our source, Kawasaki Versys-X 300 will get halogen headlights and turn indicators. The instrument cluster was identical to that of what Ninja 300 offers. Kawasaki test engineer informed our source that the convoy (Ninja 300 alongside) arrived from Pune and the bike will launch around March 2024.
This particular test mule had panniers too and will be sold as an optional extra. Mechanically, India-spec Kawasaki Versys X-300 will share its engine with Ninja 300. This 296cc engine in Ninja 300 makes 39 hp power at 11,500 rpm and 26.1 Nm torque at 10,000 rpm mated to a 6-speed gearbox.
The engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox and gets an assist and slipper clutch. It will receive RSU telescopic suspension at the front and mono shock at the rear while braking will be via disc brakes at both ends with dual channel Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS).
Previously, Versys-X 300 was launched via CBU route and commanded a hefty Rs 4.60 lakh (ex-showroom) price tag. India-spec 2024 Kawasaki Versys X-300 is taking the localisation route and prices could go below Rs 4 lakh. Once launched, it will compete with the KTM 390 Adventure, BMW G310 GS, and Royal Enfield Himalayan in the domestic market.
Also read Kawasaki KLX230S ADV spied testing in India
Triumph 400 Anniversary Celebration Offer extension will keep Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450s pricing in check establishing VFM quotient
Exactly a year ago in July 2023, Triumph Motorcycles entered the affordable single-cylinder category. The company achieved this by a strategic partnership with Bajaj Auto. Speed 400 was the first to launch at Rs 2.23 lakh, followed by Scrambler 400X launch in October 2024 at Rs 2.63 lakh (Ex-sh).
Fast forwarding to July 2024, Triumph India launched Anniversary Celebration Offer and slashed Rs 10,000 off the price tag. Thus bringing the price of Speed 400 to Rs 2.24 lakh (Ex-sh) and Scrambler 400X to Rs 2.54 lakh (Ex-sh). Now, Triumph just announced that they will extend this Anniversary Celebration Offer till 31st August 2024.
Triumph 400 Anniversary Offer Extended
The British brand is mentioned that the extension of Anniversary Celebration Offer is due to multiple new milestones achieved in the Indian market. Within a year of launch, Triumph has extended its dealer network to as many as 100 showrooms. Another milestone is Triumph 400 motorcycles being exported to 50 countries. lastly, global sales of Triumph 400 bikes exceeded 50,000 units.
The 350cc to 500cc segment has been heated up quite a bit today, than it was a couple of years ago. Within this space, there is a race amongst the high-performance offerings to sack the top spot. Leading the charts is Bajaj along with its alliance partners like Triumph, KTM, and Husqvarna.
Individually, Royal Enfield takes the cake with Himalayan 450. Pulsar NS400Z trails the Himalayan 450 in sales, despite packing incredible value-for-money proposition. Trailing Pulsar NS400Z is Triumphs 400 duo (Speed 400 and Scrambler 400X).
Now, a new contender has entered the chat from Royal Enfield with immense sales potential than Himalayan 450. Were talking about the Guerrilla 450 recently launched starting from Rs 2.39 lakh (Ex-sh). With Anniversary Celebration Offer extended to August 31st, Triumph 400 buyers will enjoy reduced pricing that undercuts Guerrilla 450s.
Statement from Bajaj Auto
Mr. Sumeet Narang, President Pro-Biking, Bajaj Auto Ltd. commented. It has been a round of serial celebrations for us as we mark the first anniversary of the Bajaj Auto & Triumph Motorcycles collaboration. We crossed sales of 50,000 Triumph 400s across 50 countries. We also expanded to over 100 best-in-class showrooms in 75 cities, bringing the Triumph experience to more riders in India.
In response to overwhelming bookings and retails, we are extending the anniversary offer till 31st Aug 2024. The incredible response to our Modern Classics is a testament to our commitment to exceptional customer service and our Ride & Community programs which ensure a truly immersive Triumph ownership journey.
Hazel Park Take It or Leave It Pantry at 569 E. Mapledale Ave.
Ive always been taught that if youre going to do something, do it right or dont do it at all. My dad was a very big advocate of that, Nickerson says.
At the end of a small cul-de-sac stands a two-story house clad in white and brown, its lawn hugging the curved sidewalk and street. Its nestled there within a truncated stretch of Garfield Avenue and in between a series of homes that could be found just about anywhere in Hazel Park. It may look like an ordinary house on an ordinary street; its most definitely not.Its upstairs where Beth Nickerson lives, but the main floor belongs to Ms. Beth.Ive always been taught that if youre going to do something, do it right or dont do it at all. My dad was a very big advocate of that, Nickerson says.As such, it likely comes as no surprise to those that know her that Nickerson has sacrificed her own living quarters to dedicate more space to the infants and young children she and her staff care for here at Little Bloomers Childcare , a state-licensed childcare provider. What started with a dedicated childcare area in the front of the house has since expanded to cover the entirety of the first floor, as well as spilling out into all of her backyard.Her dining room now has a toddler-sized craft table with toddler-sized seats. Its here where Ms. Beth and her employees lead the children through crafts and activities at various points throughout the day. And its here where Beth Nickerson sits down for dinner after the young ones have gone home toddler-sized seats and all.Nickerson wouldnt have it any other way.I have three rooms upstairs, and thats my living space. So that might be the only thing someone would say is a downfall of running an in-home childcare business, Nickerson says.But when you love what you do, is it really work?When people talk about community, they talk about Nickersons Hazel Park. Family means a lot here, and that definition of family stretches well beyond blood relation. Nickerson moved here in 2010, first as an in-home grandma with her sons family on Coy Street before moving to her Garfield Avenue home, just two blocks away, in 2016. Nickerson counts her 19-year-old granddaughter among her three employees, all of whom are from Hazel Park. Even her two youngest grandsons attended daycare here.Of the few hundred children Little Bloomers has cared for since first launching in 2011, Nickerson says that approximately 70 percent of them have been from Hazel Park. Sometimes she runs into them at the store, and sometimes the toddlers from her first year in business have already grown taller than Ms. Beth herself.The fact that they remember me makes me feel good. Ive left a positive impact on that family, which is what I want. I want to leave a positive impact on families and children so that when the kids get older, they want to go to school and theyre not afraid to go to school, she says. I want them to be excited to learn.Hazel Park can be a close-knit community, she says, and she appreciates how people help each other out. Just one block north of Little Bloomers, on Mapledale, is the Hazel Park Take It or Leave It Pantry . Akin to a Little Free Library one might see in this neighborhood or that, the Take It or Leave It Pantry offers free perishable food items to those in need, humbly provided from an outdoor cupboard built in someone's front yard.My granddaughter Chloe, shes 13. Shes always asking, Do you have anything you want to put in there? She loves to go over and add to it, Nickerson says. And I like that because something like the pantry teaches our youth how important it is to give, share, and to look out for each other.That spirit extends through Nickersons philosophy for Little Bloomers. Its why she keeps her rates more affordable than many other childcare centers around the area, in-home or otherwise. And in keeping her childcare services in-home while leading a small staff, Nickerson and her team can provide more quality time to a group of infants and toddlers that never tops 14 children.I think its really important that the kids get to know us and we get to know them, so that we can better meet their needs, she says.As Nickerson decided to offer more and more of her living space to better meet the needs of Little Bloomers, her daycare expanded from her front room and into her dining room-turned-craft area, and eventually into her living room and beyond. One room is designed for toddlers, and a separate room is designed for infants. There are two different toddler nap rooms one for the easy sleepers and another for those who might take a minute. And her kitchen serves breakfast and lunch to the children as part of the Mid Michigan Child Care Food Program.Leading a Mother Goose Time-accredited preschool program each September through June, Nickerson plans to focus on providing more science lessons and hands-on activities this coming season. In her downtime, shes been scrolling social media looking for science projects shes found, and saved, many.Whether shes upstairs or downstairs, shes always Ms. Beth.I'm always thinking about daycare. I really am. It doesn't stop at five o'clock, Nickerson says.It's like a way of living.Find Little Bloomers Daycare on Facebook
Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Kalamazoo Public Department of Safety took to the horses for the Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
The JR Clark Band performed at this year's Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
The JiR Clark Band performed at this year's Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
The Out of Favor Boys, a Blues Fest staple, have been performing since 2003. Fran Dwight
Southwest Michigan's Out of Favor Boys received a warm welcome at the 30th Annual Kalamazoo Blues Fest sponsored by the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association. Fran Dwight
Kalamazoo's Out of Favor Boys have been performing at the Blues Fest since its inception. Fran Dwight
Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Six bands performed for large crowds at the 30th Annual Blues Fest on Saturday. Fran Dwight
The JR Clark Band performed at this year's Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Blues Fest returned to its launching spot at Arcadia Creek Festival Site. Fran Dwight
The 2024 Blues Fest drew old timers and newcomers at its 30th year on Saturday. Fran Dwight
Kalamazoo's Out of Favor Boys have been performing at the Blues Fest since its inception. Fran Dwight
The JR Clark Band performed at this year's Kalamazoo Blues Fest. Fran Dwight
Fran Dwight The Out of Favor Boys, a Blues Fest staple, have been performing since 2003.
Fran Dwight The 2024 Blues Fest drew old timers and newcomers at its 30th year on Saturday.
Fran Dwight Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight Kalamazoo's Out of Favor Boys have been performing at the Blues Fest since its inception.
Fran Dwight Blues Fest returned to its launching spot at Arcadia Creek Festival Site.
Fran Dwight Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez performed at the Kalamazoo Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight The JR Clark Band performed at this year's Kalamazoo Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight Mandalyn and the Hunters performed at this year's Blues Fest.
Fran Dwight
Fran Dwight Little Ed and the Blue Imperials performed at this year's Blues Fest.
This story is part of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave's On the Ground Kalamazoo series Please scroll through the carousel above for more photos. All photos are by Fran Dwight.The 30th Annual Blues Fest returned to its birthplace at the Arcadia Creek Festival Site on Saturday, July 27. This year's theme was Blues in the Zoo and featured a lineup of six bands: The Out of Favor Boys (a festival stalwart), JR Clark Band, Mandalyn and the Hunters, The Jimmy's, Nikki Hill with Laura Chavez, and Little Ed and the Blue Imperials. Heads were nodding and feet were tapping at this year's performances, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Valley Blues Association which is committed to "keeping the Blues alive!"
ASIA
DPRK (North Korea)
Expected Council Action
In August, the Chair of the 1718 Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl (Switzerland), is scheduled to brief Council members in closed consultations on the 90-day report regarding the Committees work.
Key Recent Developments
The DPRK has continued to build closer ties with Russia in recent months. On 19 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with DPRK leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, where the two leaders signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. According to media reports, the treaty refers to several measures intended to boost relations between the DRPK and Russia, including exchanges and joint research in science and technology, cooperation at the UN and other international organisations, and joint actions to strengthen defence capabilities. Most notably, the treaty reportedly provides that in case any one of the two sides is put in a state of war by an armed invasion from an individual state or several states, the other side shall provide military and other assistance with all means in its possession without delay in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and the laws of the DPRK and [Russia].
Following the summit, Kim characterised the treaty as elevating relations between the DPRK and Russia to a new high level of alliance, while Putin thanked the DPRK for taking an objective and balanced stance on Ukraine and understanding the true original causes of this crisis. Putin also criticised the 1718 DPRK sanctions regime and called for it to be revised. In remarks delivered to the press on 21 June, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasised that the sanctions had been approved by the Council and said that any relationship that any country has with [the] DPRK, including the Russian Federation, must entirely abide by those sanctions.
On 28 June, the Council convened for an open briefing on the DPRK. The meeting was requested by France, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the US to discuss unlawful arms transfers from the DPRK. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu and Executive Director of Conflict Armament Research Jonah Leff briefed.
The open briefing took place three months after Russia vetoed a draft resolution that would have extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee for another year, until 30 April 2025. (For more information, see our 22 March Whats in Blue story.) In a statement delivered on behalf of 50 member states and the European Union on 1 May, the day after the Panels mandate expired, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (US) criticised Russias veto and emphasised the need to consider how to continue access to this kind of objective, independent analysis in order to address the DPRKs unlawful WMD and ballistic missile advancements.
Since the expiration of the Panels mandate, reports have continued to emerge regarding the DPRKs efforts to evade UN sanctions and mitigate their effects. On 3 May, the White House announced that during March Russia shipped refined petroleum to the DPRK at levels that appear to violate a cap imposed by the 1718 sanctions regime. In mid-May, several former members of the Panel reportedly provided an unfinished report to the 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee containing evidence suggesting that the DPRK laundered $147.5 million through a virtual currency platform in March.
The DPRK has continued to test its weapons systems and military technology in recent months. On 27 May, the DPRK announced that its latest attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite had been unsuccessful. DPRK state media reported that the launch of the new satellite carrier rocket failed when it exploded in mid-air during the flight of the first stage and claimed that the rocket used in the launch had utilised a new liquid oxygen and petroleum engine. The Council convened for an open briefing to discuss the failed launch on 31 May following a request from France, Japan, Malta, the ROK, the UK, and the US. Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari briefed. The DPRK has also recently conducted several missile tests, including the 1 July launch of a ballistic missile that DPRK state media claimed was capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead.
On 12 June, the Council convened for an open briefing on the human rights situation in the DPRK at the request of Japan, the ROK, the UK, and the US. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK Elizabeth Salmon, and DPRK refugee Gumhyok Kim briefed. (For more information, see our 11 June Whats in Blue story.)
From 13 to 16 July, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Qu Dongyu visited the DPRK. Qus trip marked the first occasion that a UN official has travelled to the DPRK since the country partially reopened its borders in August 2023.
Human Rights-related Developments
On 16 July, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report on forced labour in the DPRK. Among other matters, the report concludes that people in the DPRK are controlled and exploited through an extensive and multi-layered system of forced labour that is directed towards the interests of the state and institutionalised through various means, including prisons, schools, compulsory state-allocated employment, and overseas work.
Key Issues and Options
The expiration of the Panels mandate has created a significant issue for the Council. While the Council could choose to adopt a resolution requesting that the Secretary-General reconstitute the Panel, this appears unlikely given the prevailing dynamics among Council members.
Those members who support independent oversight of the 1718 DPRK sanctions regime could choose to push for the General Assembly to establish a mechanism comparable to the Panel. This mechanism could be tasked with performing functions similar to those assigned to the Panel, including analysing information regarding the implementation of the 1718 sanctions regime, preparing reports, and making appropriate recommendations. These members could also choose to establish a body to monitor the 1718 DPRK regime outside UN fora.
Council Dynamics
The Council is deeply divided over the DPRK. The P3 (France, the UK, and the US) and other like-minded countries, including Japan and the ROK, support using sanctions to manage the threat posed by the DPRK and often call on member states to comply with existing Council resolutions. Many of these members have urged the DPRK to engage in dialogue and abandon its weapons programmes, while emphasising that it is responsible for escalating tensions. Some of these members also call for the Council to show unity and respond to the DPRKs weapons tests and argue that China and Russia have emboldened it by blocking Council action on the file.
China and Russia, on the other hand, blame the US for heightening tensions and accuse it of not doing enough to incentivise the DPRK to participate in denuclearisation talks. These two members have also contended that sanctions should be eased because of their impact on the humanitarian situation and continue to express their support for a draft resolution circulated by China in October 2021 that would provide sanctions relief to the DPRK if adopted.
The divisions between Council members were evident during the negotiations of the US draft resolution on the Panels mandate. In a statement delivered before the vote on this draft, Russia claimed that the Panel had ceased to carry out its obligations and said that the sanctions regime no longer reflects realities on the ground, imposes a heavy burden on the population of the DPRK, and has failed to achieve the international communitys stated aims. It further argued that a provision requiring an annual review of the regime was needed to address these issues. China expressed support for an annual review of the regime and called on the Council to consider the draft resolution it circulated in October 2021.
Other Council members strongly criticised Russias veto, arguing that it undermines the global non-proliferation regime and emboldens the DPRK in its attempts to evade sanctions. Several membersincluding France, Japan, the ROK, the UK, and the USlinked the veto to Russias alleged purchase of arms from the DPRK. Some of these members emphasised that the 1718 regime remained in place and said that they would continue efforts to monitor and enforce its provisions.
It appears that some Council members are currently considering whether and how to establish an alternative to the Panel, including outside the Council. While some members are open to this idea, other members are apparently concerned about possible unforeseen implications and the precedent that such a mechanism would create.
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THEMATIC ISSUES
In Hindsight: The Geneva Conventions at 75: Much Work to be Done
On 12 August, the Geneva Conventions turn 75. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described these foundational treaties in international humanitarian law (IHL) as one of humanitys most important accomplishments of the last century. Switzerland is organising an informal visit of Council members to Geneva to mark the occasion and to take a closer look at the meaning and purpose of the Conventions, which have been universally ratified.
In recent years, blatant disregard for IHL has been a feature of conflicts around the world, including several on the Councils agenda. For the Security Council, the anniversary offers a time for sombre and sober reflection.
What do the Geneva Conventions Say?
The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols contain rules designed to protect civilians and those who can no longer engage in conflict, such as wounded and sick soldiers and prisoners of war. The Fourth Geneva Convention focuses on civilians and includes detailed provisions on their treatment, status, and rights. It also includes rules relating to humanitarian access, which are frequently referred to in contemporary discussions on the protection of civilians.
All four conventions contain an identical Article 3, which applies to non-international armed conflicts. Among other things, it prohibits acts with respect to persons taking no active part in hostilities. These violations include:
Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture;
Taking of hostages;
Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; and
The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees widely recognised as indispensable.
The Fourth Geneva Convention also sets out rules relating to accountability for grave breaches. Under Article 146, for example, parties to the Convention undertake to enact legislation that provides for penal sanctions for persons who commit grave breaches.
The Growing Harm to Civilians in Armed Conflict
That the Security Council has continued to play a key normative role in promoting some of the principles that underpin IHL is substantiated in a 2024 policy brief by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reviewing the Councils consideration of its protection of civilians agenda during the years 2019-2023. The brief describes ways in which the Council has pronounced itself on the obligations of conflict parties, including with respect to the conduct of hostilities and the protections accorded to specific people and objects in conflict. It notes that the Council has consistently integrated protection language into country-specific resolutions, including in the mandates of peace operations, most of which are called upon to investigate, monitor, analyse and report on IHL and IHRL [international human rights law] violations and abuses. It adds that the most common protection of civilians-related listing criteria for Security Council-authorised sanctions relate to violations of IHL and IHRL abuses.
The Councils pronouncements notwithstanding, OCHA offers a grim assessment of the status of the protection of civilians in armed conflict, finding that the existing gap between the growing normative framework and the realities experienced by civilians in conflict-affected contexts across the world has remained, if not widened, in the past five years.
The Secretary-Generals May 2024 report on the protection of civilians in 2023 similarly observes that in many conflictsincluding issues on the Councils agenda such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria, and Ukrainecompliance with international humanitarian law and human rights law is often lackingand the demands of the Councils protection of civilians resolutions of the past 25 years have gone largely unheeded. In 2023, hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed or suffered appalling injuries as victims of deliberate or indiscriminate attacks, as well as purportedly lawful attacks under international humanitarian law: that year, the UN recorded more than 33,443 civilian deaths in armed conflict, representing a 72 percent increase over 2022. Not all civilian deaths in conflict can be attributed to violations of international law. But the lack of adherence to the laws and norms of war and what ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric Egger calls the elasticity in how IHL is being interpreted are contributing to this high civilian death toll.
Challenges in the UNSC
Why do Council resolutions on protection matters, including in relation to IHL, go unheeded? In some cases, Council members, both permanent and elected, are directly involved or have strategic interests in conflicts under discussion. This has hampered the Councils leverage in resolving wars and in mitigating harm done to civilians by IHL violations. Conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and Syria are notable examples of this.
Longstanding concerns that some members express about interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and a willingness to defer to regional actors even when they are slow to act, can also limit the Councils engagement. A case in point was the civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia: from 2020 to 2022 some members preferred to have the Council take a back seat to regional actors, severely limiting its scope of action while the fighting raged, with reports of extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, the use of starvation as a military tactic, and the denial and obstruction of humanitarian access.
The war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas have focused international attention on how great power interests can hamper the Councils work. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Council has, by and large, been a bystander amidst reports of attacks on civilian infrastructure, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, summary executions, torture, and sexual violence. It has adopted only one resolution on Ukraine since the start of the war, a Uniting for Peace resolution, which referred the issue to the General Assembly for an Emergency Special Session (ESS) precisely because of Council gridlock. (As this is considered a procedural matter, the resolution was not subject to the veto, which is why Russia was unable to block it.) Although the General Assembly has adopted seven resolutions in the Ukraine ESS since February 2022, its resolutions lack the political and legal standing of Security Council resolutions and cannot, for example, impose binding obligations on member states under the UN Charter.
A divided Council has also failed to protect civilians and uphold IHL in Gaza during the current war that began with the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. The Councils response to the conflict in Gaza has featured contentious and prolonged negotiations, with multiple failed adoptions. The US, which has provided Israel with political and military backing throughout the war, has severely constrained the Councils ability to respond to the crisis. It has vetoed three draft resolutions on the conflict. As well, China and Russia have vetoed two US-proposed draft resolutions on the war. The four resolutions that have been adopted on the crisis have largely gone unimplemented. The Gaza conflict has included violations of IHL and IHRL, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, according to a 27 May report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and Israel, covering the period 7 October to 31 December 2023.
An additional challenge has been the loss of support for some of the Councils robust toolsfor example, peacekeeping and sanctionswhich have historically been used to protect civilians and promote accountability. In part, the waning support for these tools reflects perceptions that they are failing to promote peace and security. The value of UN peacekeeping, once an area of broad agreement among Council members, is increasingly being called into question; tasking the AU or multinational actors, such as the multinational security support (MSS) mission in Haiti, are the most widely considered alternatives at present, as reflected in A New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-Generals July 2023 policy brief. Similarly, some Council members are skeptical about the effectiveness of sanctions regimes, and in certain cases, believe that they harm the ability of target countries to serve their populations.
Geopolitical interests also shape members calculations with respect to the Councils robust tools. The Mali sanctions regime, which included violations of IHRL or IHL among its listing criteria, fell victim to a Russian veto in July 2023. In June 2023, Mali withdrew its consent for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)a large peacekeeping operation with a robust protection mandatewhich has since been shuttered. The P3 (France, the UK, and the US) and their allies have criticised the involvement of the Wagner Group, a Russian security company now renamed the Africa Corps, in Mali, a former French colony that until 2022 hosted French military forces.
Tension in the Council around legal accountability measures is not new, but has sharpened, judging by its approach to the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Three of the five permanent members (China, Russia, and the US) are not state parties to the ICC. While the Council referred two cases to the ICCSudan (Darfur) in 2005 and Libya in 2011such a referral today feels unthinkable, given the antagonism towards the court from some key Council members. Russia, which has regularly criticised the ICC, has amplified its opposition since the Courts 17 March 2023 announcement that it had issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russias commissioner for childrens rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for allegedly committing the war crimes of unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia. For example, in the semi-annual briefing of the ICC prosecutor on the courts work in Darfur in January, Russia said that for some 20 years, the ICC has been engaged in sabotaging the mandates of the Security Council, shifting the blame to national authorities, the complex security situation or a lack of resources.
The US, meanwhile, has continued to back Israel over Gaza, notwithstanding the fact that in May, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, announced that he was filing applications for warrants of arrest before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.[1] In fact, the US government has hosted both officials since the applications were filed.
Silver Linings?
The 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions invites reflection on how the norms and values they embody can be implemented in todays difficult environment. One heartening sign is that, notwithstanding the divisions in the Council, some members have continued to assert the importance of IHL and call out violations. In recent months, many elected Council members have done so in statements on issues such as Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine. This is also evident in the language of resolutions penned by elected members on Gaza, including resolution 2728, which was drafted by the E10 as a whole and demanded an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
The Councils toolsincluding those that promote prevention, protect civilians, and enhance accountabilityneed to be reinvigorated. Nearly ten years since the report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, it is worth revisiting how to strengthen UN peace operations in light of recent developments. Similarly, with the adoption of resolution 2744 in July, the resurrected Informal Working Group of the Security Council on General UN Sanctions Issues, whose previous iteration operated from 2000 to 2006, could provide a useful forum for building trust and understanding around the use of UN sanctions.
In September, member states are expected to adopt the Pact for the Future, laying out their vision for the future of multilateralism. As a consensus document, the end product may not be bold and innovative. However, it could allow members to reaffirm the importance of international humanitarian and human rights law, and offer ideas for how to mitigate the barbarous effects of war on civilians.
[1] Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for various counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes for the Head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar; the Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas military wing) Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif; and was doing so for the now assassinated Head of Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.
MIDDLE EAST
Lebanon
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ahead of its 31 August expiry. Prior to that, Council members will hold closed consultations on UNIFIL. Khaled Khiari, the Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, is the anticipated briefer.
Council members are also likely to watch developments in Lebanon, Israel, and the region closely and evaluate whether additional Council action is required.
Key Recent Developments
Following the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on 7 October 2023, near-daily exchanges of fire across the Blue Line between Israel and Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon have continued, with the intensification of strikes and bellicose rhetoric by Israeli and Hezbollah officials in recent months raising concerns about the possibility of an all-out war. (While not representing an international border, the Blue Line acts in practice as a boundary between Lebanon and Israel in the absence of an agreed-upon border between the two states. Any unauthorised crossing of the Blue Line constitutes a violation of resolution 1701, which in 2006 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. For background on the war in Gaza, see The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question brief in our July Monthly Forecast.)
The exchanges of fire have resulted in casualties among combatants and civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. A 16 July update by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that over 460 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the escalation in early October, including at least 100 civilians. According to figures cited by the Associated Press on 20 July, 21 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed in Israel. The exchanges of fire have displaced tens of thousands of people, caused property and environmental damage, and generated unexploded ordnance contamination on both sides of the Blue Line. (For more, see the Lebanon brief in our July Monthly Forecast.)
Developments in late July have the potential to change the trajectory of the confrontation and lead to a wider regional escalation. On 26 July, twelve children were killed in a rocket strike on the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan. Israel accused Hezbollah of being responsible for the strike, while Hezbollah denied having any role in it, with some analysts suggesting that the strike could have been a misfire. On 30 July, Israel claimed responsibility for the killing of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on the Haret Hreik suburb of Beirut, saying that Fuad was responsible for, among other things, the strike in Majdal Shams. Besides Fuad, five civilians, including two children, were killed in the Beirut strike.
A few hours after Fuads assassination, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Irans capital, Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration ceremony of Irans President Masoud Pezeshkian. While Israel neither claimed nor denied responsibility for Haniyehs killing, it had reportedly pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks in Israel. Iran and Hamas accused Israel of Haniyehs assassination, with Iran stating in a 31 July letter to the Security Council that the killing could not have occurred without US authorisation and intelligence (S/2024/584). US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied that the US knew of, or was involved in, the operation in Tehran. Developments related to Haniyehs assassination were discussed in a 31 July Security Council emergency briefing requested by Algeria, China, and Russia following Irans request in its 31 July letter. The meeting was held under The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question agenda item.
On 24 July, Council members held a briefing in consultations on the Secretary-Generals 12 July report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which covers the period from 21 February to 20 June. According to the report, UNIFIL recorded over 1,500 trajectories of projectiles fired from north of the Blue Line and more than 3,000 from south of the Blue Line, each trajectory possibly representing multiple projectiles.
The report described the use of artillery, anti-tank guided missiles, surface-to-air missiles, mortars, rockets, and drones by Hezbollah and air and drone strikes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with UNIFIL observing the use of white phosphorus ammunitions in artillery strikes on Lebanese territory on at least three occasions. (Human rights organisations have attributed the use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon to Israel.)
The Secretary-Generals report says that UNIFIL conducted Blue Line vehicle patrols and counter-rocket-launching patrols in close coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Operational activities such as foot patrols and air operations remained suspended, however, except for a limited number of foot patrols in areas sufficiently distant from the Blue Line. While the freedom of movement of the mission was respected in most cases, the report said that UNIFIL continued to experience restrictions, noting that in several such incidents, the LAF helped to resolve the situation through dialogue. UNIFIL also facilitated movement of civilians and civilian activities, such as infrastructure repairs, in areas close to the Blue Line.
UNIFIL registered 25 instances of impacts on UN positions during the reporting period, with the missions headquarters in Naqurah being one of the most affected sites, and two incidents in March during which UN personnel suffered injuries during patrols. The report further noted that the LAF did not engage in the breaches of the cessation of hostilities, despite coming under fire, including on one occasion in which LAF soldiers were reportedly injured as the result of white phosphorus shell explosions.
Lebanon has been without a president for almost two years since Michel Aouns term ended on 31 October 2022, with opposing politico-sectarian blocks unable to agree on a candidate. The presidential vacuum is compounded by the fact that, over two years since the 15 May 2022 legislative elections, Lebanons government remains in caretaker status.
Almost four years since the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion, the inquiry into responsibility for the blast remains stalled.
Key Issues and Options
Averting a full-scale war in Lebanon and a possible regional conflagration are pivotal issues for the Security Council. A ceasefire in Gazahowever remote the possibility currently appearsmight contribute to de-escalating the situation along the Blue Line and in the wider region.
UNIFILs mandate renewal is a key issue for the Security Council in August. Protecting the mandates integrity against a backdrop of escalating violence and uncertainty is an important issue for the Security Council. The Council could extend UNIFILs mandate for one year without changes to the missions mandate and configuration. The upcoming negotiations are likely to be complicated by issues on which Council members disagree sharply, including the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and the war in Gaza. This may result in Council members opting to pursue a straightforward renewal of the missions mandate.
Resolution 2695which in August 2023 extended UNIFILs mandate until 31 Augustwas adopted with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions (Russia and China), marking the first non-unanimous renewal of UNIFILs mandate since 1985. Although the lack of unanimity was caused by diverging positions on how language on the missions freedom of movement was framed and negotiated rather than a lack of support for UNIFILs mandate, re-establishing Council unity on UNIFILs reauthorisation is likely to be an important issue for several Council members and may send a message of stability to the region.
Additional issues include the various violations of resolution 1701 identified in the Secretary-Generals report, such as the fire exchanges across the Blue Line; the maintenance by Hezbollah and other armed groups of weapons outside the control of the Lebanese state in the area between the Litani River and the Blue Line; the IDFs continuing occupation of northern Ghajar, a village which straddles the Blue Line, and its adjacent area north of the Blue Line; and violations of Lebanese and Israeli airspace and sovereignty. The report also noted that, if confirmed, alleged arms transfers to non-state armed actors in Lebanon would also constitute a violation of resolution 1701.
That the root causes of the hostility between Israel and Hezbollah and of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remain unaddressed is a long-standing issue.
Council Dynamics
Sharp differences persist in Security Council members views of Hezbollah. Some members distinguish between Hezbollahs political and military wings and have designated only its military wing as a terrorist organisation; other members, including the UK and the US, have listed Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organisation. On the other hand, Russia sees Hezbollah as a legitimate sociopolitical force in Lebanon. Despite these differences, Council members agree that a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah must be avoided.
Council members are also broadly supportive of UNIFIL. Nevertheless, the negotiations of resolution 2695 proved difficult. The resolution retained language introduced for the first time in 2022 reaffirming that, pursuant to the Agreement on the Status of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (SOFA), UNIFIL does not require prior authorisation to undertake its tasks and that it is authorised to conduct its operations independently. During the negotiations, however, the phrase while continuing to coordinate with the Government of Lebanon, as per the SOFA was added in an attempt to address the demands by the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, echoed in the Council by China and Russia, to remove language about UNIFILs not needing prior authorisation to undertake its tasks.
China and Russia also asked and initially obtained the removal of a reference demanding that the parties guarantee UNIFILs freedom of movement, including by allowing announced and unannounced patrols. It seems, however, that then-Council member United Arab Emirates was particularly unhappy with these changes, apparently leading France (the penholder on Lebanon) to reinsert the language on announced and unannounced patrols in the draft text that had already been put in blue. In its explanation of vote Russia lamented the change, saying that the final version of the text failed to maintain the fragile compromise previously reached. China explained its abstention by saying that the resolution did not fully address the concerns expressed by Lebanon and some Council members.
Unsurprisingly, differences have also emerged among Council members regarding how to address the relationship between the war in Gaza and the escalation across the Blue Line. In June, members were apparently unable to agree on a press statement proposed by France calling for de-escalation along the Blue Line. It seems that Algeria and Russia argued for including a reference to the situation in Gaza. Apparently, Russia also requested adding language on coordination between UNIFIL and the LAF. For its part, the US opposed the idea of issuing a Council press statement, apparently arguing in favour of giving space to diplomatic efforts on the ground.
At the 17 July open debate on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the US expressed support for a straightforward extension of UNFILs mandate. At the same meeting, Lebanon announced that in June it had submitted a request to the UN for the renewal of UNIFILs mandate without any modification.
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AFRICA
Libya
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will hold its bimonthly briefing on the situation in Libya. Deputy Special Representative and Political Officer in Charge of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Koury will brief the Council on recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country and on the Secretary-Generals most recent report on UNSMIL. The chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki (Japan), is also expected to brief on the committees activities.
Key Recent Developments
The political impasse in Libya continues between the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, and the eastern-based Government of National Stability (GNS), led by Prime Minister Osama Hamad and aligned with the House of Representatives (HoR) and the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of General Khalifa Haftar. The prolonged stalemate involving the rival governments has persisted since the indefinite postponement of elections that had been scheduled for December 2021 and is a key driver of Libyas political, security, and economic instability.
Recent efforts by both the UN and national actors to facilitate agreement on a new roadmap for national elections to unify the countrys divided governments have not borne fruit. The joint 6+6 committeewhich was established by the HoR and the GNU-affiliated High State Council (HSC) to draft electoral laws to enable elections and includes six representatives from each bodypresented its initial draft legislation in June 2023. Because of persistent disagreement about certain provisions in that draft, however, the committee subsequently amended the proposed legislation in September 2023. The HoR approved this version, but HSC leader Mohamed Takala rejected it, instead endorsing the previous draft. Takala is considered a close ally of Dbeibah.
A subsequent attempt by Special Representative Abdoulaye Bathily to mediate an agreement between the stakeholders was unsuccessful. (Bathily has since stepped down.) Parallel to that effort, the heads of the HoR, the HSC, and the Presidential Councilwhich was established under the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement to serve as the countrys head of statemet on 10 March in Cairo under the auspices of the League of Arab States (LAS). In a joint statement following the meeting, the three leaders said that they had agreed on the need to establish a unified interim government to organise elections and had decided to set up a technical committee within a specified period of time to build consensus on the 6+6 committees legislation, consider amendments, and resolve contested issues. The talks did not include Dbeibah, who has opposed the establishment of a new interim government prior to elections.
The heads of the HoR, HSC, and Presidential Council were expected to attend another meeting hosted by the LAS in mid-July to further develop their proposal. However, these discussions were put on hold after the HoR on 10 July unilaterally approved an additional $18.3 billion budget for the GNS, supplementing the original annual budget that the HoR had passed in April, which its lawmakers subsequently deemed insufficient. Funds for the additional budget would be drawn from the Central Bank of Libya, the countrys sole depository for state revenues, which services both governments. Takala opposed the adoption of the additional budget, which he argued had no legal effect without the HSCs approval, and reportedly withdrew from the scheduled follow-up meeting of the HoR, HSC, and Presidential Council under the LAS format.
Instead, on 18 July members of the HoR and HSC met independently in Cairo, outside the structures of the LAS. In an outcome statement, the lawmakers agreed on the need to establish a unified interim government, to hold elections according to the electoral laws already issued by the HoR, and to develop a joint electoral roadmap on this basis. In a 20 July statement, UNSMIL took note of the meeting and welcomed steps in support of the political process towards elections but reiterated its previous calls for such steps to be inclusive and involve all relevant stakeholders to ensure the outcomes lead to a politically implementable solutionan apparent reference to the GNUs continued absence from the talks.
Regarding the security situation, the 2020 ceasefire agreement continues to hold. However, sporadic violence has persisted between criminal groups and rival militias in the countrys western region, primarily in the coastal town of Zawiya, where one civilian was reportedly killed and 22 injured in clashes in mid-May. On 1 July, authorities re-opened the nearby Ras Jdir border crossing into Tunisia after a three-month closure following repeated confrontations between local authorities and GNU-affiliated security forces. Independent analysts have cited control over illicit economic activities such as drug smuggling and human trafficking as the main source of these tensions in the region.
On 16 July, Libyas High National Elections Commission (HNEC) announced that it had completed the first phase of the voter registration process for the countrys municipal elections. This phase of the process was open to 60 municipalities and registered over 210,000 voters after HNEC twice extended the registration period to facilitate higher-than-expected participation. In a statement, UNSMIL congratulated HNEC for its achievement in challenging circumstances and commended those who registered to vote for demonstrating their commitment to choosing their local leaders. The statement further urged Libyan authorities to provide the necessary resources to facilitate the next steps in the municipal electoral process, and it encouraged HNEC and other Libyan institutions to continue efforts to increase the participation of women, who currently make up 29 percent of registered voters. The second phase of the registration process for the remaining municipalities will begin after the full results of the first phase have been published and verified. The municipal elections are expected to take place later this year, although a specific date has not yet been set.
Women, Peace, and Security
On 25 June, the Informal Experts Group (IEG) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) met on the situation in Libya. Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs and Officer-in-Charge of UNSMIL Stephanie Koury briefed. Among other issues, Koury and Council members apparently discussed womens participation in the upcoming municipal elections as both voters and candidates, and efforts to guarantee womens safe participation in a context where politically active women have faced threats and violence, including sexual violence. IEG members also inquired about UN efforts to counter restrictions and reprisals against civil society in Libya and strategies to support accountability for gender-based crimes. It seems that other issues discussed at the meeting included arrests and detentions of Libyans, including women, for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and concerns raised by women human rights defenders (WHRDs) about reprisals for engaging or trying to engage with the UN.
UN Women, as the IEG Secretariat, apparently recommended that the Security Council retain all existing gender-related language from resolution 2702 in its upcoming decisions on Libya, including provisions on the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence. It seems that UN Women also recommended that the Council condemn and call for accountability for any threats, attacks and killings of women participating in public life, including WHRDs. UN Women further recommended requesting UNSMIL to prioritise activities related to the protection and promotion of womens rights, and to monitor and report on threats and reprisals against WHRDs.
Human Rights-Related Developments
On 9 July, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) conducted an interactive dialogue on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the technical assistance and capacity-building that it has provided to Libya (A/HRC/56/70).
The report noted that Libya continued to experience an accountability deficit, marked by the erosion of the rule of law, including attacks on judges, prosecutors and lawyers, due process concerns, and legislative enactments undermining the independence of the judiciary. The report also found that migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers continued to experience gross and widespread human rights violations and abuses at the hands of state and non-state actors.
The report indicated that the absence of a comprehensive human rights-based national reconciliation and transitional justice process has allowed cycles of violence and impunity to persist. OHCHR recommended immediate steps to protect and promote the rights of women, human rights defenders, civil society actors, journalists, intellectuals, and other persons at heightened risk of human rights violations and abuses.
On 11 July, during the same session, the HRC adopted a resolution (A/HRC/RES/56/16) requesting OHCHR to continue to provide technical assistance and capacity-building to improve human rights in Libya.
Key Issues and Options
Supporting political momentum towards national elections to unify Libyas divided governments remains the key issue for the Security Council. In this context, an important objective for the Council is to help foster common political ground between the countrys rival governments to reach an inclusive agreement on electoral laws, including the possible establishment of a unified interim government to organise the elections.
To receive additional perspectives on the political process in Libya, especially womens participation, the Council could consider inviting a woman civil society representative to participate in the August briefing. A civil society briefer could also shed additional light on the human rights situation in the country. It is essential that members and the UN take all possible measures to keep briefers safe, in consultation with the briefer, including carrying out risk assessments, developing protection plans, and responding to any reprisals.
Following the resignation of Special Representative Bathily in April, another issue for the Council is the Secretary-Generals appointment of his successor. When former Special Envoy Jan Kubis resigned in November 2021, it took nearly a year to identify a successor, leading to Bathilys appointment in September 2022. (Resolution 2629 of 29 April 2022 changed UNSMILs leadership position from a Special Envoy to a Special Representative.) Several Council members have urged a quicker appointment this time, although political differences may again complicate the process, and the Secretary-General had not yet officially nominated a candidate at the time of writing.
Council and Wider Dynamics
Council members remain united on the need for a Libyan-led, inclusive political process resulting in elections that will help to restore political, security, and economic stability to the country. They also remain broadly supportive of the UNs mediation role towards this end.
Broader geopolitical tensions still influence Council dynamics with respect to Libya, however. The US and other Western members remain concerned about Russias presence in the eastern part of the country that is under Haftars control, which has reportedly included recent arms shipments to the port of Tobruk. For its part, Russia routinely blames Libyas current instability on the NATO-led military intervention in 2011 and accuses Western countries of seeking to exploit Libyas oil reserves for economic gain.
The UK is the penholder on Libya.
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THE SECURITY COUNCIL
Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africas effective representation in the UN Security Council
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council is expected to convene for a high-level debate titled Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africas effective representation in the UN Security Council under the Maintenance of International Peace and Security agenda item. Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio plans to chair the meeting. The briefers are expected to include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; Dennis Francis, the President of the UN General Assembly; and a civil society representative.
No formal outcome is anticipated.
Background and Recent Developments
In recent years, the struggles of the Security Council in addressing major conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan and elsewhere have fuelled long-standing calls for its reform. Many advocates of Council reform note that the composition of the Council, which was founded in 1945, reflects an anachronistic world order. This perspective was echoed in A New Agenda for Peace by the Secretary-General, who wrote, A Security Council that is more representative of the geopolitical realities of today, and of the contributions that different parts of the world make to global peace, is urgently needed.
The common position of the African Union (AU) on Security Council reform, known as The Ezulwini Consensus, is based on the communique it adopted in Addis Ababa in March 2005. It calls for Africa to have not less than two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats on the Security Council. (It currently has no permanent seats and three non-permanent seats on the Council.) The common position further states that while Africa is opposed in principle to the veto, so long as it exists, and as a matter of common justice, it should be made available to all permanent members of the Security Council. In July 2005, the AU Assembly reaffirmed the Ezulwini Consensus in the Sirte Declaration on the Reform of the United Nations.
The AUs Committee of Ten (C-10)a group of ten African states (Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Libya, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia) that advocates internationally for the Ezulwini Consensusheld a summit meeting in Oyala, Equatorial Guinea, from 22 to 24 November 2023. In the summit communique, the C-10 reaffirmed that the Common African position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration remains the only viable option for Africa to successfully achieve its objectives. The C-10 also decided to strengthen its efforts to promote this position in the UN Security Council reform process, addressing the historical injustice of African underrepresentation.
A C-10 ministerial meeting was convened in Algiers, Algeria, from 9 to 10 June. In the outcome document, the C-10 said that Africas participation in the September Summit of the Future should be at the highest level, especially C-10 Heads of State and Government, to further solidify the aspirations of the continent and language input in the Pact for the Future. (This pact is the envisioned outcome of the Summit of the Future planned for September and designed to provide a blueprint for the future of multilateralism.) It further reiterated that the C-10 ministers should meet with their counterparts among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council during the opening of the UN General Assembly (that is, high-level week in September), in keeping with a decision made at the Oyala summit.
The Intergovernmental Negotiations on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other related matters to the Security Council (IGN) is currently negotiating its input to the Pact for the Future. The IGN co-chairsAmbassador Tareq Albanai (Kuwait) and Ambassador Alexander Marschik (Austria)circulated the most recent iteration of the document to member states on 14 June. In it, the IGN calls for an enlarged Security Council of 21 to 27 seats, adding that the enlargement should redress the historical injustice against Africa as a priority and, while treating Africa as a special case, serve to improve the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups.
Council Dynamics
Algeria, Mozambique, and Sierra Leonethe three African members of the Councilhave publicly championed the AUs perspective on Council reform. At the 16 July ministerial-level open debate on Multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order, Algeria and Sierra Leone explicitly referred to the historical injustice done to Africa regarding Security Council membership, and Mozambique argued that the need for reform should account for the common African position (that is, the Ezulwini Consensus). Echoing the common position, Sierra Leone, which currently chairs the C-10, called for increasing African representation in both permanent and elected categories, noting that much of the Councils work focuses on the continent. In this regard, 78 of the Councils 204 meetings in 2023 on country or region-specific situations (38.24 percent) were on African matters, more than any other region. In addition, of the 49 formal outcomes (45 resolutions and four presidential statements) that the Council adopted in 2023 focusing on country or regional issues, more than half (51.02 percent or 22 resolutions and three presidential statements) dealt with Africa.
The permanent Council members have publicly expressed support for structural reform of the Security Council, including by adding seats for underrepresented regions such as Africa. The US says that it supports expanding the permanent and elected membership of the Council, including permanent seats for Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. France and the UK have also said that they support expansion of both the permanent and elected membership of the Council, including permanent representation for Africa. At the General Assembly debate on 24 September 2022, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov noted that the Council needed to adapt to todays reality and that this should be done through a broader representation of African, Asian and Latin American countries. China has indicated that it espouses greater representation of developing countries on the Council.
Notwithstanding generic statements of support for structural reform, it is unclear how the permanent members would react if a critical mass of UN member states coalesced around a concrete reform proposal that required them to vote on it in the General Assembly. Reforming the composition of the Council and the use of the veto would require amending the Charter. The bar to do this is high. Any reform would require a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly membershipas well as ratification by two-thirds of UN member states, including all the permanent members, through their respective constitutional processesin accordance with Article 108 of the UN Charter.
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Overview
In August, Sierra Leone will hold the presidency of the Security Council.
Sierra Leone plans to organise two signature events. The first is a debate titled Addressing the historical injustice and enhancing Africas effective representation in the UN Security Council under the Maintenance of international peace and security agenda item. Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis, and a civil society representative.
The second signature event is an open debate titled A New Agenda for Peace Addressing global, regional and national aspects of conflict prevention under the Peacebuilding and sustaining peace agenda item. Sierra Leones Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support; Bankole Adeoye, African Union (AU) Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Hawa Sally Samai, Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone, a body established by an act signed by Sierra Leones Parliament in December 2020 with a mandate to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts; and a civil society representative.
Additionally, Sierra Leone intends to convene a briefing on the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda, focusing on sustaining WPS commitments in the context of accelerated drawdown of peace operations. The expected briefers are UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, and a civil society representative.
Also anticipated in August is a briefing on the Secretary-Generals biannual strategic-level report on the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) to international peace and security.
This month, several Council members will undertake a visit to Geneva following an invitation from Switzerland to mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.
Middle Eastern issues on the programme of work in August are:
African issues on the programme of work this month are:
Libya , meeting on the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the work of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee;
Somalia , authorisation of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and meeting to review the concept of operations (CONOPs) of the ATMIS follow-on mission pursuant to resolution 2741 of 28 June, which reauthorised ATMIS mandate until 12 August;
Sudan , the semi-annual briefing of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan on the ICCs Darfur-related activities ;
South Sudan , briefing and consultations on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); and
Central Africa , expected exchange of letters to renew the mandate of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).
The only Asian issue scheduled this month is a briefing on the work of the 1718 Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee.
As in previous months, the Council may hold one or more meetings on Ukraine in August. Council members are also likely to hold a meeting under any other business to mark the 16th anniversary of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
Other issues could be raised during the month depending on developments.
PEACEMAKING, PEACEKEEPING AND PEACEBUILDING
Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will hold an open debate on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, one of the signature events of Sierra Leones Council presidency, focusing on national and regional conflict prevention strategies. Sierra Leones Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy Musa Kabba, is expected to chair the meeting. The anticipated briefers are Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Elizabeth Spehar; AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye; Executive Secretary of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion in Sierra Leone Hawa Samai, and a civil society representative.
Key Recent Developments
On 20 July 2023, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented his policy brief, A New Agenda for Peace (NAfP), which underscored the urgency of focusing on conflict prevention consistent with Sustainable Development Goal 16.1, through which all states are committed to reducing all forms of violence. The NAfP emphasised that preventive tools in Article 33 of the UN Charter have been underutilised. (Article 33 directs parties to any dispute to seek a solution by peaceful means, including negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and judicial settlement. It further asserts that the Security Council shall, when it deems necessary, call upon the parties to settle their dispute by such means.)
The NAfP recommended that member states and regional organisations develop prevention strategies to address the different drivers and enablers of violence and conflict in societies. It stressed that these strategies should have cross-regional dimensions to address transboundary threats, collectively harvesting and building on the wealth of knowledge and expertise existing at the national level on effective conflict prevention measures. The NAfP further recommended that the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) create a mechanism to mobilise political and financial support for national and regional strategies of states that are interested in receiving international assistance for developing and implementing their strategies.
On 26 January 2023, Japan convened an open debate on Investment in people to enhance resilience against complex challenges as a signature event of its Security Council presidency during the month. The discussion explored the need to invest in conflict prevention and peacebuilding as one of its core subjects, a theme of A New Agenda for Peace, which had not yet been released.
On 13 March, Japan also convened an open debate on Promoting Conflict PreventionEmpowering All Actors Including Women and Youth. Following the meeting, sixty-seven member states issued a joint statement at the press stakeout in which they committed to work together to effectively incorporate proposals and recommendations made by various countries and regions into the Councils activities to further promote conflict prevention.
On 22 March, the PBC held an ambassadorial-level meeting on national efforts for prevention and peacebuilding, with the objective of providing a platform for member states to share good practices and lessons learned on these issues. Kenya, Norway, and Timor-Leste shared experiences based on their national prevention and peacebuilding efforts. The meeting encouraged member states to continue using the PBC as a forum for sharing experiences, best practices, and lessons learned on developing national prevention and peacebuilding strategies. It also underscored the need to promote inclusivity in these endeavours and called for stronger partnerships among international, regional, national, and local actors.
Key Issues and Options
The key issue is how to support the implementation of the recommendations contained in the NAfP regarding conflict prevention, particularly how to implement prevention strategies at the national and regional levels. The open debate could provide an opportunity for member states to share their experiences in developing national prevention strategies.
Another key issue is the need to generate the political will, resources, and capacities to support the effective implementation of national and regional strategies. Many countries have strategies for the prevention of violent extremism, crime, or domestic violence, along with national development strategies, which contain elements or precedents of a national prevention strategy. Regional strategies that have been developed to target structural drivers or root causes of conflict and may be discussed at the August open debate include the Regional Strategy for Stabilization, Recovery, and Resilience (RS-SRR) of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the UN Strategy for Peace Consolidation, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution in the Great Lakes region.
A related issue is whether and how the open debate can feed into the ongoing negotiation on the Pact for the Futurethe outcome document expected to be adopted at the Summit of the Future in Septemberparticularly the language on conflict prevention. The co-facilitators of the negotiation, Germany and Namibia, circulated a second revised text on 17 July. The draft text, among other things, underscores the need to:
prioritise conflict prevention and resolution by revitalising and implementing existing mechanisms for peaceful dispute settlement;
develop and implement new mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution, confidence-building, early warning, and crisis management at sub-regional, regional, and international levels to address new and emerging threats to peace and security;
intensify diplomacy and mediation efforts to ease tensions, including early diplomatic interventions;
urge the Secretary-General to actively use his good offices and encourage him to bring any matter that may threaten international peace and security to the attention of the Security Council; and
support the role of regional and sub-regional organisations in diplomacy, mediation, and peaceful dispute resolution, and strengthen coordination and cooperation between these organisations and the United Nations.
An additional important issue is how to leverage the role of the PBC in supporting national and regional efforts to develop prevention strategies and mobilise financial and political support for their implementation. Regarding the PBC, the draft Pact for the Future stresses the following:
enhancing the PBCs role as a platform for building and sustaining peace by sharing best practices among member states and mobilising political and financial support for national prevention and peacebuilding efforts, particularly to avoid conflict relapse;
making greater use of the PBC to support nationally owned peacebuilding and prevention efforts; enhancing its advisory, bridging, and convening roles; and facilitating the inclusion of stakeholders perspectives on peacebuilding through dialogue with civil society actors; and
establishing more systematic and strategic partnerships with international, regional, and sub-regional organisations, including international financial institutions, to bolster peacebuilding efforts, mobilise resources, and align national development, peacebuilding, and prevention approaches.
At some point, Council members could potentially consider a new resolution on conflict prevention. This could update resolution 2171 of 21 August 2014, the Councils most recent resolution dealing directly with conflict prevention, and focus on areas improving the UNs efforts in this regard.
Council Dynamics
The Security Council has struggled to engage effectively in prevention, often because of concerns about interference in states internal affairs, a particular impediment to addressing intra-state conflict. Past initiatives like Horizon Scanning and Situational Awareness briefings for the Council to identify potential conflict situations have failed to gain traction, partially because of these concerns. Even after conflict erupts, states frequently try to block the Council from discussing such situations because of sensitivities over external interference and the stigma often associated with being on the Councils agenda. Current geopolitical dynamics have made the Councils preventive engagement particularly complicated.
Useful prevention tools that Council members all appear to value are the UNs regional offices for West Africa, Central Africa, and Central Asia (UNOWAS, UNOCA, and UNRCCA), known for their early warning and good offices activities. These offices also support states and sub-regional organisations in developing responses to structural conflict drivers and helping to promote common analysis and coherence among UN agencies, funds, and programmes for more conflict-sensitive development assistance.
Several Council members are interested in seeing the Council strengthen its engagement on prevention. Sierra Leones organisation of this open debate is a further expression of its interest in prevention and peacebuilding. Japan capitalised on its two presidencies in January 2023 and March to facilitate discussion on these interrelated topics. The UK has traditionally been a proponent of improving the Councils engagement on prevention.
Meanwhile, there appears to be rising interest among UN member states in having the PBC become more explicitly involved in prevention, given its mandate to address issues that lie between peace and development and the PBCs practice of discussing situations only with the consent of the country concerned. Some states remain hesitant, however, to endorse the PBCs role as a conflict prevention platform. (For more, see the In Hindsight on the Security Council and conflict prevention in our March Monthly Forecast.)
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AFRICA
Somalia
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council is expected to extend the authorisation of the African Union (AU) Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which expires on 12 August.
Council members are expected to receive a written update from the Secretary-General by 31 August on the modalities and timeline for the transition of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) to the UN Country Team, as requested by the Council in a 16 May letter.
The mandate of UNSOM is set to expire on 31 October and was most recently renewed by resolution 2705 of 31 October 2023.
Key Recent Developments
In a 21 June communique, the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) endorsed the establishment of a new AU-led and UN-authorised mission for Somalia in support of Somalias federal government following the expected departure of ATMIS in December. It decided that this mission must be given a strong political mandate, with its scope, size, posture, composition, and duration aligning with the countrys security threats. The AUPSC requested the AU Commission (the organisations secretariat) to develop financing options for this mission in consultation with the UN, including through Security Council resolution 2719 of 21 December 2023 on the financing of AU-led peace support operations (AUPSOs). It also requested the AU Commission to submit by the end of July a concept of operations (CONOPs), including the mandate, configuration, and duration of the new mission, as well as timelines for the transition from ATMIS, in consultation with the Somali government, ATMIS and other relevant stakeholders.
On 28 June, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2741, reauthorising ATMIS and extending the drawdown of 2,000 ATMIS personnel until 12 August. The resolution encouraged the AU Commission to include benchmarks in the CONOPs, with clear indicators and milestones to measure progress and a comprehensive exit strategy. (For background and more information, see the Somalia brief in our June Monthly Forecast and 28 June Whats in Blue story.)
On 17 July, a nine-member AU delegation concluded a four-day visit to Somalia. During the visit, the delegation met with officials of ATMIS, the Somali government, and the troop-contributing countries (TCCs) as well as members of the Core Security Partners Groupthe EU, the UN, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US. The discussions apparently focused on the size, mandate, timelines, and exit strategy of the post-ATMIS mission.
Tensions continued between Ethiopia and Somalia against the backdrop of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic in the northern region of Somalia, on 1 January. (For background, see the Somalia brief in our February 2024 Monthly Forecast and 28 January and 22 June Whats in Blue stories.)
On 1 July, the foreign ministers of Ethiopia and Somalia convened in Ankara for mediation talks facilitated by Turkiye. Both parties engaged in separate discussions with Turkiye to address their differences and explore perspectives towards addressing them within a mutually acceptable framework. They further agreed to hold a second round of discussions on 2 September. However, it appears that the talks did not yield significant progress with both sides continuing their truculent rhetoric thereafter. In a 4 July address to Parliament, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed the importance of sea access to the countrys economy and claimed that Ethiopia signed the 1 January MoU only after all its neighbouring countries, including Somalia, rejected its request for support. On the other hand, Somali President Hassan Sheik Mohamud said, in remarks to the joint session of his countrys Parliament on 6 July, that the Ethiopian government continues to evade its responsibility for its diplomatic misstepand has never engaged with us in a neighbourly manner to resolve the current issue. He further claimed that Turkiye had proposed mediation at Ethiopias request; however, Ethiopias position remained unchanged, which led to the postponement of talks.
On 15 July, local Marehaan clan militia ambushed and looted a convoy of trucks transporting heavy weapons near the town of Abudwaaq in central Somalia. The weapons reportedly included machine guns, anti-aircraft weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades. The origin of these weapons remains contested, but reports suggest that the convoy crossed into Somalia from Ethiopia and was escorted by personnel from the Somali National Intelligence Agency. The clashes apparently resulted in the deaths of at least five people, with some reports indicating a death toll as high as 20. The incident has raised significant concerns amidst the potential for these weapons to be acquired by Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaida, as well as escalating inter-clan conflicts within the country. While some reports have linked the arms shipment to a political leader in Somalias Galmudug state, Somali officials maintain that government security forces seized the weapons from illegal weapons traders. The Council lifted the arms embargo on the Somali government through resolution 2741 of 1 December 2023, adopted unanimously. (For more information, see our 1 December 2023 Whats in Blue story.)
On 18 July, Somali President Mohamud convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to address the looting of the weapons convoy. A press release issued after the meeting said that the NSC had instructed the Ministry of Internal Security to submit a detailed report and recommendations within two weeks, including identifying those responsible and proposing strict measures to prevent similar incidents. The NSC also agreed to impose a total ban on the trade, smuggling, and any other business related to weapons and ammunition within the country by non-state actors.
On 22 July, clashes broke out between Somali security forces and Al-Shabaab militants in the west and south of Kismayo town in Jubaland state. According to media reports, the fighting erupted after the militants carried out coordinated attacks against military bases manned by federal and regional forces in three villages in the state, which were captured from Al-Shabaab earlier in July. The Somali Defense Ministry claimed that the forces repulsed the attack and, in a counter-offensive, killed more than 80 militants, while the Jubaland regional forces reported the number of militants killed to be approximately 135.
Key Issues and Options
The key issue for Council members in August will be the reauthorisation of the ATMIS mandate, which was extended until 12 August pursuant to resolution 2741. A related issue is the ATMIS drawdown process and post-ATMIS security arrangements. Council members are expected to convene a meeting upon receipt of the CONOPs for the post-ATMIS mission, which was anticipated to be submitted to the Council by 31 July, to review it and discuss subsequent steps.
Regarding the ATMIS mandate, the likely option for Council members is to reauthorise ATMIS and extend the drawdown of 2,000 troops until the end of September. In the same resolution, the Council could request the Secretary-General to work with the AU and other relevant stakeholders to finalise the overall design of the follow-on mission, provide a cost estimate, and articulate a range of options for financing the mission, including through resolution 2719. The Council could also ask the Secretary-General, jointly with the AU and in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to produce a consolidated CONOPs for the follow-on mission as well as the role and responsibilities of the UN Support Office in Somalia.
The other important issue for Council members is the future of UNSOM. The Council is likely to be guided by Somalias request as contained in its letters circulated to members on 8 and 10 May, the Secretary-Generals written update, which is expected by 31 August, and the various discussions on post-ATMIS security arrangements. In his remarks during the 24 June Council meeting on Somalia, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia and Head of UNSOM James Swan said that a joint technical committee comprising senior officials from Somalias federal government and the UN had been established to outline the planning process for the transition. The committee held its first meeting on 22 June.
Council Dynamics
Council members support the Somali governments priorities and recognise the many challenges the country faces, including the persistent insecurity caused by the terrorist activities of Al-Shabaab. They also support ongoing efforts to fight the group. Some members, however, believe that a security approach will not be sufficient and underscore the need to make progress in governance, justice, and economic reforms. Other Council members emphasise the need for progress in implementing the Somali Transition Plan, including national force generation.
Although Council members seem to agree on continuing security support to Somalia post-ATMIS, views differ on how such efforts should be financed. The US is apparently not keen to consider a follow-on mission in Somalia within the framework of resolution 2719. Some other Council members also share this view. These members seem to believe that there is a lack of clarity on the modalities of implementing resolution 2719, including burden-sharing. Apparently, the US preference is to apply the resolution to an entirely new AUPSO with a narrow set of tasks and a defined timeline. The EU, a major financial contributor to ATMIS, advocates a sustainable financing model based on diversified contributions and a significant element of cost-sharing, including the possible use of the AU Peace Fund and Crisis Reserve Facility.
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AFRICA
South Sudan
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will hold a briefing, followed by consultations, to discuss the situation in South Sudan. Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Nicholas Haysom is anticipated to brief on the Secretary-Generals 90-day report on South Sudan, circulated to Council members on 29 July, and developments in the country.
The mandate of UNMISS expires on 30 April 2025.
Key Recent Developments
On 9 May, high-level mediation talks (known as the Tumaini initiative) between the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) and the non-signatories to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), facilitated by Kenya, commenced in Nairobi. Kenyan President William Ruto appointed former Kenyan army commander Lazarus Sumbeiywo as the chief mediator for the South Sudanese peace process.
On 15 July, the parties reportedly reached agreements on eight protocols under the Tumaini initiative, including issues related to humanitarian access and support; trust- and confidence-building measures; a permanent ceasefire; security arrangements, and reforms; and land disputes. The agreement apparently provides for an inclusive governance structure among the government, opposition groups, and other stakeholders, covering areas such as executive roles, legislature, security, constitutional processes, and elections management. However, Riek Machar, South Sudans first Vice President and the leader of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLM-IO), reportedly decided to withdraw from the talks, arguing that the agreed protocols fail to recognise the revitalised agreement and establish alternative institutions to replace or run in parallel with those in the revitalised agreement. He asserted that the Tumaini Initiative was only supposed to be a mediation forum for the parties to agree on a document that could serve as an annex to the revitalised agreement, thereby bringing the non-signatories into the fold, and not a stand-alone agreement.
On 3 July, South Sudans Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) passed the controversial National Security Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill 2024, which reportedly grants the National Security Service broad powers to arrest and detain without a warrant individuals suspected of a crime, particularly under emergency circumstances and in instances of crimes against the state. The SPLM-IO rejected the legislation, saying that it goes against the spirit of the revitalised agreement and undermines security sector reforms. The hold-out groups participating in the Tumaini initiative also expressed their opposition to the legislation and called for reconstituting the National Security Service into a civilian intelligence service with the mandate to gather intelligence without powers of arrest, detention, and interference in political processes. In a 10 July joint statement, the embassies of Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK, the US, and the EU expressed grave concern about the passage of this legislation, noting that it constituted a significant step away from the opening of political and civic space, which is a prerequisite for genuine and peaceful elections to take place.
In a 5 July press release, the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced that the much-awaited national elections will be held on 22 December. However, South Sudans information minister said the next day (6 July) that the presidency will decide the election date based on the outcome of the Tumaini initiative talks. On 7 July, the SPLM-IO political bureau adopted a resolution rejecting the proposed date. It argued that the NEC failed to take into consideration the pre-requisites for holding the elections, including the transitional security arrangements and the drafting of the permanent constitution. In an 11 July joint press release, the AU Mission in South Sudan, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and UNMISS urged the parties to the R-ARCSS to provide clarity on the electoral roadmap and reach consensus on the way forward.
The humanitarian situation in the country remains difficult, with nearly nine million peoplealmost 76 percent of the countrys populationin need of humanitarian assistance and 7.1 million people facing high levels of food insecurity. At the same time, recent months have witnessed an increase in incidents that impeded humanitarian access. According to a 6 June humanitarian access snapshot by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 47 incidents related to humanitarian access restrictions were reported in May, 23 of which involved violence against humanitarian personnel and assets. Meanwhile, other incidents were attributed to bureaucratic impediments and operational interference.
Human Rights-Related Developments
In a 10 July press release, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said that the National Security Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill 2024 would entrench arbitrary detention and further repression by South Sudans National Security Service. Yasmin Sooka, the Chair of the Commission, called for the bill to be returned to the legislators to make amendments that align with the governments commitment to scrap this institutions arrest powers, which are systematically abused and unlawful.
On 17 July, the UNMISS Human Rights Division released its quarterly brief on violence affecting civilians (covering January to March), which reported that widespread attacks against civilians persist across South Sudan, driven primarily by subnational armed violence. During the reporting period, the brief documented 240 incidents of violence affecting 913 civilians. In comparison to the previous quarter (October to December 2023), the brief reported an eight percent increase in the number of documented violent incidents (from 223 to 240) and a six percent increase in the number of victims documented (from 862 to 913).
Key Issues and Options
An ongoing concern for the Council is the significant political and security challenges in South Sudan stemming from the delays in implementing the R-ARCSS. A key issue in this regard is what the Council can do to encourage the parties to make progress towards implementing the outstanding tasks (including finalising transitional security arrangements, drafting a new constitution, and establishing an election dispute resolution mechanism) and reach consensus on the modalities for holding elections, expected to take place in December. Looking ahead to the general elections, several members may reiterate their call for these to be peaceful, transparent, inclusive, and credible. They may also continue to encourage South Sudanese authorities to promote free civic space and call on all parties to engage in dialogue and seek consensus to resolve any election-related disputes.
Council members might be keen to follow up on the progress of the inter-party dialogue and the Tumaini initiative mediation talks.
Ahead of the election period, Council members could consider a visiting mission to South Sudan to assess the situation on the ground and engage with the various parties to the R-ARCSS. (The last Council visiting mission to South Sudan was in 2019.)
An additional key issue for Council members is the humanitarian and food security situations. An option would be to seek regular briefings on these matters from OCHA.
The impact of the conflict in neighbouring Sudan on the humanitarian, political, and security situations in South Sudan remains a matter of concern for Council members. The final report of the Panel of Experts assisting the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee, dated 29 April, said that several senior South Sudanese government officials have confirmed the participation of mercenaries of South Sudanese origin in the Sudan conflict and have cautioned that this may trigger further illicit movement of firearms across the Sudan-South Sudan border. Reports have also suggested that the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary group and one of the warring parties in the Sudan conflict, had secured a supply route from South Sudan for fuel.
Council Dynamics
Most Council members share similar concerns about the delays in implementing the R-ARCSS, the ongoing sub-national and intercommunal violence, and the economic and humanitarian crises in South Sudan. There are, however, differences in tone in members statements. Some members, such as the US, are more critical than others about what they perceive to be the South Sudanese governments lack of political will to implement the R-ARCSS. During the 5 March Council briefing on the situation in South Sudan, the US said that in the absence of urgent action from the South Sudanese government, allocating further financial resources for election preparationssends a wrong message. It added that future funding for the elections must be accompanied by a renewed push on the South Sudanese peace process and improved humanitarian access.
On the other hand, Council members such as China, Russia, and the members of the A3 plus one (Algeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Guyana) are less critical of the government. In their statements, these members often highlight the progress the South Sudanese government has made amidst the countrys severe challenges, including the dire humanitarian situation, intercommunal violence, and the economic crisis. These members advocate for enhanced international financial support to assist South Sudan in its political transition and strengthen its capacity.
The US is the penholder on South Sudan, and Ambassador Michael Imran Kanu (Sierra Leone) chairs the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee.
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Status Update since our July Forecast
The Middle East, including the Palestinian Question
On 2 July, the Security Council held an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question (S/PV.9678). Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag briefed.
On 17 July, the Security Council convened its quarterly open debate on The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chaired the meeting. To accommodate all speakers, the meeting was resumed and completed on 19 July (S/PV.9678 and Resumptions I and II). Earle Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of the UN Secretary-General, briefed.
On 26 July, the Security Council held a briefing on the humanitarian situation in Gaza under The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question agenda item (S/PV.9694). Deputy Commissioner-General (Operational Support) of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Antonia Marie De Meo and the Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator at the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Muhannad Hadi briefed. The meeting was called by Algeria, China, and Russia.
On 31 July, the Security Council held an emergency briefing under The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question agenda item to discuss developments related to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran (S/PV.9696). The meeting was called by Algeria, China, and Russia following a request from Iran (S/2024/584). Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo briefed.
Myanmar Meeting under Any Other Business
On 3 July, Council members discussed the humanitarian situation in Myanmar under any other business. The Republic of Korea (ROK), the UK, and the US requested the meeting after a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse was looted and burned in the town of Maungdaw in Rakhine State on 22 June. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya briefed.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
On 8 July, the Security Council held a briefing and consultations on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the work of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) (S/PV.9681). Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and Head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita briefed. The DRC and Rwanda also participated in the meeting under rule 37 of the Councils provisional rules of procedure.
During the meeting, Council members discussed the implementation of MONUSCOs disengagement plan, agreed with the Congolese government and endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 2717 of 19 December 2023. At the time of writing, Council members were negotiating a draft text proposed by France and Sierra Leone, co-penholders on the DRC, to authorise MONUSCO to provide limited operational and logistical support to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).
Stepping Up Preventive Action: From Environmental Challenges to Opportunities for Peace
On Monday (8 July), Council members held an Arria-formula meeting on Stepping up Preventive Action: From Environmental Challenges to Opportunities for Peace. Slovenia organised the meeting together with Guyana, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Sierra Leone. The briefers were Amy Pope, the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa Hanna Serwaa Tetteh; and Nohora Alejandra Quiguantar, the founder of Tejiendo Pensamiento-Indigenous Women for the Climate in Colombia.
Ukraine
On 9 July, the Security Council held an emergency meeting on Ukraine (S/PV.9682). Ecuador and France (supported by Slovenia, the UK, and the US) requested the meeting following a series of Russian missile attacks targeting multiple cities across Ukraine on 8 July, including a strike that caused significant damage to the Okhmatdyt childrens hospital in Kyiv. Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya and Volodymyr Zhovnir, a cardiac surgeon and activist, briefed the Council.
On 25 July, the Council convened for an open briefing under the Threats to international peace and security agenda item (S/PV.9693). Russia requested the meeting to discuss the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Adedeji Ebo briefed.
Cyprus
On 11 July, Council members held closed consultations on the situation in Cyprus. Special Representative and Head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Colin Stewart briefed the Council, presenting the Secretary-Generals report on his good offices in Cyprus (S/2024/526) and on UNFICYP (S/2024/527).
Colombia
On 11 July, the Security Council held an open briefing on Colombia (S/PV.9683). Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia Carlos Ruiz Massieu briefed on recent developments and the Secretary-Generals latest 90-day report on the mission (S/2024/509). The Council was also briefed by Diego Tovar, an ex-combatant from the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejercito del Pueblo (FARC-EP) and signatory to the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace concluded in 2016 between the government of Colombia and the former FARC-EP. Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego represented his country at the Council meeting for the first time since taking office in August 2022. The meeting also marked the first time that a former FARC-EP member briefed the Council in person.
On 18 July, Council members issued a press statement on Colombia (SC/15768), in which they re-emphasised the importance of ensuring the comprehensive implementation of the 2016 agreement. Among other issues, they expressed concern about continuing violence, noting that conflict-related violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, as well as violations against children, such as recruitment and use, continue to disproportionately affect indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. The statement referenced the Colombian governments dialogue efforts with armed groups operating in the country, calling for the strengthening of the ceasefire with the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), including the return to prior commitments to protect the civilian population with a view to improve security in the territories.
Haiti
On 12 July, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2743, renewing the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) for another year, until 15 July 2025.
On 3 July, the Council received its regular quarterly briefing from Special Representative and Head of BINUH Maria Isabel Salvador on recent political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country and on the Secretary-Generals latest report on BINUH. Haitis interim prime minister Garry Conille participated in the meeting under rule 39 of the Councils provisional rules of procedure. Canada (on behalf of the Economic and Social Council Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti), the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Saint Kitts and Nevis (on behalf of the Caribbean Community) also participated.
West Africa and the Sahel
On 12 July, Special Representative and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) Leonardo Santos Simao briefed the Council (S/PV.9685), presenting the Secretary-Generals biannual report on West Africa and the Sahel and the activities of UNOWAS (S/2024/521). Following the public session, Council members held closed consultations with Simao.
During July, Council members agreed to a draft letter that took note of the Secretary-Generals recommendation in his November 2023 and May 2024 letters to the Council to end the Secretariats reporting obligations on the Group of Five for the Sahel Joint Force. In their letter responding to this recommendation, Council members requested that the Secretary-General provide three annual reports on West Africa and the Sahel and the activities of UNOWASrather than two such annual reportsin 2024 and 2025.
Multilateral Cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order
On 16 July, the Security Council held a ministerial-level open debate on Multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order under the Maintenance of international peace and security agenda item (S/PV.9686 and Resumption I). Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chaired the meeting, which was one of the signature events of Russias July Council presidency. There were no briefers.
UN Sanctions
On 19 July, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2744, strengthening the mandate of the Focal Point for Delisting, which was established by resolution 1730 of 19 December 2006 to receive requests for delisting from UN sanctions regimes. Resolution 2744 also established an Informal Working Group of the Security Council on General UN Sanctions Issues, a previous iteration of which was active between 2000 and 2006. The resolution, which was co-penned by Malta and the US, was co-sponsored by 52 member states.
Cooperation between the UN and Regional Organisations
On 19 July, the Security Council held a debate on cooperation between the UN and regional and subregional organisations (S/PV.9688), focusing on the role of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in maintaining international peace and security. Russia, a founding member of these three organisations, convened the debate as a signature event of its July Council presidency, and its Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin chaired the meeting. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Elizabeth Spehar, CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev, and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming briefed.
UNRCCA (Central Asia)
On 23 July, Council members held closed consultations on the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNRCCA Kaha Imnadze briefed.
Central African Republic
On 30 July, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2745, lifting the arms embargo on the CAR and renewing the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee until 31 August 2025, which henceforth will be known as the Panel of Experts pursuant to resolution 2745. The Council also extended all other sanctions measures targeted against armed groups and associated individuals until 31 July 2025.
AFRICA
Sudan
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will receive the semi-annual briefing of International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Asad Ahmad Khan on the ICCs Darfur-related activities.
Background and Key Recent Developments
More than 17 years after the Councils ICC referral on the situation in Darfur, through resolution 1593 of 31 March 2005, the first trial opened on 5 April 2022 with the case of Prosecutor v. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb). Abd-Al-Rahman, reportedly a former leader of the Janjaweed militia, is accused of 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed between August 2003 and approximately April 2004 in Darfur. The prosecution presented evidence from 81 witnesses during the trial and concluded its case on 28 February 2023. Subsequently, the defence for Abd-Al-Rahman made its opening statement from 19 to 20 October 2023 before Trial Chamber I of the ICC, following which the defence proceeded to call witnesses and present its case. Between 14 January 2022 and 6 May, the Trial Chamber authorised the participation of 1,331 victims in the trial proceedings. (For background, see the brief on Sudan in our January Monthly Forecast.)
Four arrest warrants issued by the ICC remain outstandingagainst Omar Al Bashir, former Sudanese President; Ahmad Muhammad Harun, former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior; Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, former Sudanese Minister of National Defence; and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, commander-in-chief of the Justice and Equality Movement at the time of the warrant. Pursuant to resolution 1593 and the subsequent orders of the ICC, Sudan remains under an obligation to surrender the four remaining suspects to the court.
In his 29 January briefing to the Council, Khan said that the failure to execute arrest warrants for those indicted by the court had contributed to the climate of impunity and the outbreak of violence that commenced in April [2023] and that continues today. He added that there is reason to believe that Rome Statute crimes are being perpetrated in Darfur by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group, in the current fighting, although he did not specify which type or types of crimes he was referencing under the statute. (Under the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over four crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.)
Since the onset of the current conflict in April 2023, more than 18,650 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a non-governmental organisation that collects conflict-related data, as at 12 July. (For background and more information, see the brief on Sudan in our June Monthly Forecast and 17 June Whats in Blue story.)
According to the ICC Prosecutors most recent reportsubmitted to the Council on 29 January, pursuant to resolution 1593the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has accelerated investigations with respect to crimes committed in Darfur as part of the current hostilities. To this end, the OTP deployed investigative missions to the region and carried out extensive open-source investigations and analyses. The report indicated that outreach missions had also been conducted to refugee camps in eastern Chad and noted that investigations into the current hostilities include crimes committed in El-Geneina, with other areas of Darfur also of significant interest because of alleged crimes in these states.
With respect to the investigations of other individuals subject to arrest warrants in the Darfur situation, the prosecutors report said that these suspects were detained in Kober prison in Khartoum before the outbreak of conflict in Sudan in April 2023. Several reports, however, indicated that prisoners were either released from, escaped, or otherwise left Kober prison. The report also took note of accounts suggesting that Al Bashir and Hussein remained in the custody of the SAF at the Al-Alia military hospital in Omdurman. It noted that Harun remained at large in eastern Sudan and that Sudanese authorities were able to communicate with him. During the period covered by the report, the OTP was able to strengthen the case against Harun by collecting additional relevant information.
In her remarks during the annual open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, held on 21 May, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu raised alarm about the spiralling situation in Sudan which she said bears all the marks of risk of genocide, with strong allegations that this crime has already been committed.
The final report of the Panel of Experts assisting the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee, dated 15 January, underscored that in West Darfur (particularly in El Geneina, Sirba, Murne, and Masteri), the RSF and allied militias specifically targeted the Masalit community and systematically violated international humanitarian law. The report indicated that some of these violations might constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Human Rights-Related Developments
In a 26 June press release, a group of UN experts warned that the extent of hunger and displacementin Sudan today is unprecedented and never witnessed before. It also expressed concerns about the deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers and local volunteers, which it said has undermined aid operations, putting millions of people at further risk of starvation.
On 12 July, the UN Human Rights expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, issued a statement after his five-day visit to Port Sudan. He called on authorities immediately to address four key priority areas: ensuring the protection of civilians by refraining from indiscriminate attacks; permitting unhindered humanitarian access, including by expediting administrative processes; refraining from arbitrary arrests and detentions; and ensuring accountability for human rights violations and abuses.
The International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, established by the Human Rights Council in October 2023, visited Chad from 30 June to 18 July and travelled to several areas in eastern Chad along the border with Sudan, including Adre, Farchana, and Abeche. In its press release following the visit, the mission noted that it had documented disturbing patterns of grave human rights violations and called on the international community urgently to step up efforts to end the conflict.
Women, Peace and Security
As the Councils president for June, the Republic of Korea (ROK) elected to include a focus on women, peace and security (WPS) at the 18 June Council briefing on Sudan. Several participants addressed WPS issues during the meeting. In her briefing, Director of OCHAs Operations and Advocacy Division Edem Wosornu said that the UN Population Fund received reports of women and girls being raped and subjected to other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) as they leave their homes in search of food, with local women-led organisations reporting rising suicide rates among survivors and shrinking access to services. Limiaa Ahmed, Senior Programme Director of the non-governmental organisation Sudan Family Planning Association, stressed that although womens rights and women-led organisations have spared no effort to assist women and girls affected by GBV, they are severely underfunded and do not have the capacity to cope with the scale of violence against women and girls. Malta, Slovenia, and Switzerland condemned sexual violence against women and girls, and the ROK urged the warring parties to maintain strict command-and-control systems over their forces. Ecuador noted that the political path to peace must ensure the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of Sudanese women. Similarly, Japan said that womens meaningful participation in political decision-making is a precondition to creating lasting peace and security.
Key Issues and Options
An underlying key issue for the Council is how to promote justice and accountability for past atrocities committed in Darfur and for the ongoing violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law by the Sudanese warring parties across the country.
Another key issue for the Council is how to enhance cooperation between the ICC prosecutor and relevant Sudanese authorities.
In the upcoming Council meeting on Sudan, several Council members, including the P3 (France, the UK, and the US) and like-minded members, may welcome the efforts of the OTP in leading investigations regarding ongoing hostilities and the work done by the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan. These members may encourage the ICCs cooperation with third states, as well as with regional and civil society organisations. They may call upon the Sudanese warring parties to uphold international humanitarian law and cooperate with investigative agencies in carrying out their work.
In addition to receiving Khans briefing, Council members supportive of the ICCs work in Sudan could consider requesting a briefing from the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to spotlight the crimes being committed in the conflict.
Council Dynamics
The Council is divided on the work of the ICC. Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, the ROK, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the UK are state parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Algeria, China, Mozambique, Russia, and the US are not. These distinctions, however, do not necessarily reflect how members view the courts work on Sudan. For instance, the US has supported the ICCs efforts regarding Sudan.
In December 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he had determined that members of the SAF and the RSF had committed war crimes in Sudan. He further determined that members of the RSF and allied militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. This determination, Blinken said, provides force and renewed urgency to African and international efforts to end the violence, address the humanitarian and human rights crisis, and work towards meaningful justice for victims and the affected communities that ends decades of impunity.
At the last semi-annual briefing on 29 January, wide-ranging views were expressed about the ICCs work in relation to Darfur. Most members welcomed the progress on Abd-Al-Rahmans trial while calling on Sudan to increase its cooperation with the court, including by providing access to key witnesses. These members also welcomed and supported the efforts by the OTP to conduct investigations into crimes committed as part of the ongoing hostilities in Sudan. At the same time, Russia declared that [t]he regrettable, if not outright tragic, effects of the Councils involvement of the ICC in the situations in Libya and Darfur teach us one thing only: the Council made a mistake by transferring these situations to the ICC, a mistake that must not be repeated. It is important to assess the damage that this entity has caused to specific countries.
Russias negative view of the ICC hardened following the courts announcement on 17 March 2023 that it had issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for childrens rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for allegedly committing the war crime of unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The UK is the penholder on Sudan, and the US is the penholder on Sudan sanctions.
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MIDDLE EAST
Syria
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will hold a meeting on the political process and the humanitarian situation in Syria.
Key Recent Developments
On 30 June, anti-refugee protests broke out in central Turkiye following a reported incident of sexual harassment of a child in the city of Kayseri, allegedly by a Syrian refugee. According to media reports, Turkish police arrested at least 474 people for targeting properties and assets belonging to Syrian refugees in Turkiye. In response, demonstrations erupted the next day (1 July) in several parts of north-west Syria, including Afrin, al-Bab, Azez, and Jarablus. The protests reportedly turned violent, leading to clashes with Turkish armed forces present inside Syria, in which at least eight people were killed and more than 20 others injured.
In a 2 July press briefing, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said that protesters reportedly attacked vehicles, buildings, and commercial trucks entering the Bab al-Salam crossing on the Syria-Turkiye border. He noted that some medical teams operating in Afrin and al-Bab and several non-governmental organisations had suspended their operations. He also reported that fuel shortages had led to power outages and communications breakdowns.
In response to persistent insecurity, Turkish authorities closed all three crossings on the Syria-Turkiye borderBab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salam, and Al Raeeused by UN agencies and partners to conduct humanitarian operations. However, the Bab al-Hawa crossing was re-opened on 3 July while the other crossings resumed operations on 8 July.
On 10 July, the Syrian government announced its decision to extend its authorisation for the use of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing until 13 January 2025. The Syrian governments authorisation for the use of the Bab al-Salam and Al Raee border crossings is scheduled to expire on 13 August.
Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula travelled to the Al Hasakeh Governorate in northeast Syria from 7 to 10 July. During his visit, Abdelmoula met with various stakeholders and visited several humanitarian projects, including a water filtration station installed in Hasakeh city. He also visited camps for refugees and internally displaced persons, including Al Holwhich hosts more than 41,000 people, 90 percent of whom are women and children, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). At the end of his visit, he highlighted the growing humanitarian needs in the area due to severe water shortages, destruction of civilian infrastructure, climate shocks, displacement, and economic decline. He also stressed the need to complement emergency assistance activities with early recovery programming.
Despite the rising humanitarian needs across the country, securing funding has been a challenge for the UN and partner agencies. At the time of writing, Syrias 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which called for $4.07 billion, was only 20.5 percent funded.
Syria and Turkiye have apparently indicated a renewed interest in pursuing diplomatic rapprochement. Since last year, Russia and Iran have led efforts to mend ties between the two countries. The foreign ministers of the four countries met in Moscow on 10 May 2023 to advance these efforts; however, the talks apparently stalled, with Syria insisting on the withdrawal of Turkish armed forces from northern Syria. (For background, see the Syria brief in our June 2023 Monthly Forecast.) It appears that Iraq has also made efforts recently to mediate between the two sides. According to media reports, in a 31 May press interview, the Iraqi prime minister acknowledged these efforts and said that Iraq is trying to create grounds for reconciliation and dialogue between the two countries.
During a 26 June meeting with the Russian Presidents Special Representative on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed his openness to all initiatives regarding Syrian-Turkish relations, based on respect for Syrian sovereignty. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has similarly expressed his desire to improve relations with Syria. In a 7 July statement, Erdogan said that he may extend an invitation to al-Assad to visit Turkiye at any moment. According to media reports, the local council of the city of al-Bab in eastern Aleppo governorate announced in June the opening of the Abu al-Zandeen crossing, which connects the area controlled by the Syrian National Armya coalition of armed groups allegedly backed by Turkiyeand the region under the control of the Syrian government. The announcement reportedly came against the backdrop of Turkish-Russian efforts to normalise economic relations between opposition-held areas and regime-controlled territories.
Airstrikes, allegedly by Israel, continue to target sites across Syria. On 14 July, airstrikes reportedly hit several military sites and a residential building in Damascus, killing one Syrian soldier and injuring three others. Media reports quoted Israeli Defense Forces as saying that the strikes were conducted in response to two drones that were launched from Syria towards the north of Eilat, Israel, the previous day (13 July). On 15 July, an airstrike that hit a car on the al-Saboura highway near Damascus killed a Syrian businessman, Muhammad Bara Qatirji, who reportedly had ties to the Syrian government as well as Iran-backed militias in the region, including Hezbollah, and was sanctioned by the US for facilitating shipments of fuel and weapons to the Syrian regime.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) continues to pose a significant security threat in Syria. In a 16 July statement on X (formerly Twitter), the US Central Command said that ISIS claimed 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria during the first half of this year; if sustained at the current pace, the number of attacks in 2024 will more than double the number claimed by Daesh in 2023. Between January and June, the US and the Syrian Democratic Forcesa primarily Kurdish group opposing the Syrian governmentconducted 59 operations, which resulted in the deaths of 14 Daesh operatives and the detention of 92 others.
Human Rights-Related Developments
In a 1 July statement, Alice Jill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, called on Syrian authorities to implement the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 16 November 2023 and to take action to eradicate all forms of torture and ill-treatment in the country. She raised alarm about reports indicating that torture continues to be practiced on a large scale in Syria in flagrant disregard for the lives, and the physical and psychological health of thousands of individuals who are in detention centres operated by the Syrian government.
In its 16 November 2023 provisional measures, the ICJ ordered Syria to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and ensure that its officials, as well as any organizations or persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any acts of torture or other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (For background and more information, see the Syria brief in our December 2023 Monthly Forecast.)
On 3 July, during the 56th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that the long-running conflict in Syria and its consequences have become further entrenched, adding that impunity and lawlessness have shaped a grim reality for all Syrians, with no end in sight. He highlighted several instances of abuses, including monetary extortion of civilians by security forces and militias, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances, the detention of Syrian refugees returning from Lebanon, and drug trafficking and smuggling involving both pro- and anti-government factions. Pinheiro urged member states to act urgently in three critical areas: repatriating their nationals detained in north-east Syria since 2019; reviewing the imposition of unilateral coercive measures on Syria to mitigate their unintended consequences on civilians; and increasing support for Syrias 2024 HRP.
Key Issues and Options
A key issue for Council members is the ongoing hostilities in Syria. Continuing violence and the lack of accountability threaten to destabilise the country further. The deteriorating socioeconomic conditions in the country are also of concern. Determining how the Council can address the spillover effects of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and de-escalate rising tensions in the region, including in Syria, is an important issue for the Council.
One option would be for the co-chairs of the Informal Expert Group on the Protection of Civilians (Switzerland and the UK) to hold a meeting on the situation in Syria to receive briefings from relevant UN entities about the impact of the conflict on civilians.
Another important issue for the Council is maintaining international attention on the situation in Syria when its focus has largely shifted to other crises, such as those in Gaza and Ukraine.
As well, a key issue is how to alleviate the growing humanitarian needs throughout the country. Council members could consider adopting a press statement calling on the international community to scale up the humanitarian response in Syria.
The need to break the underlying political impasse in the country and support the Special Envoys work in this regard is another key issue. The Council could consider holding a private meeting with relevant stakeholders to discuss the impediments to the resumption of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, including the issue of venue, and support Pedersens efforts to reinvigorate the political process. (A private meeting is a closed, formal meeting format; unlike closed consultations, non-Council member states are allowed to participate in this format.)
Council Dynamics
Over the years, Syria has been one of the most divisive files on the Councils agenda. China and Russia are supportive of the Syrian government, emphasising the need to respect the countrys sovereignty and territorial integrity and drawing connections between unilateral coercive measures on Syria and the challenging humanitarian and economic situations in the country. In contrast, the P3 (France, the UK, and the US) and other like-minded members criticise the government for violating international humanitarian law and human rights law, arbitrarily detaining people, not engaging meaningfully in political dialogue, and not creating conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees.
Russia has consistently criticised the presence of US forces in Syria, accusing them of destabilising the country. The US maintains that its deployment of forces in the country remains focused on fighting Daesh and has blamed Damascus for allowing Iranian-backed militias to operate in the country.
Council members also have diverging views on normalising ties with the Syrian government. While the US and like-minded members continue to oppose engagement with the government, China and Russia have advocated for the normalisation of ties. In a 2 July press briefing, the US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the US would not normalise relations with the Assad government absent authentic progress toward a political solution to the underlying conflict. He added that the US had been clear with regional partners, including Turkiye, that any engagement must focus on human rights, improving the humanitarian conditions and the security situation for all Syrians.
Switzerland is the penholder on the Syria humanitarian file.
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THEMATIC ISSUES
Women, Peace and Security
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council will hold a briefing on Sustaining Women, Peace and Security Commitments in the context of accelerated drawdown of peace operations. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous, and a civil society representative are the anticipated briefers.
It appears that Sierra Leone intends to draw the Councils attention to challenges for the implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda and gender equality during and in the aftermath of drawdowns, reconfigurations, and accelerated terminations of UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions.
Background and Key Recent Developments
UN peace operations transitions have emerged as a key focus of Security Council attention in the context of the termination of the mandates of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali in June 2023 and the UN Integrated Transition Mission in Sudan in December 2023, as well as the drawdown of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from the end of 2023. Looking ahead, in May, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was renewed for a final 19-month period until December 2025, after which the mission will cease its operations. Also in May, Somalia sent two letters to Council members; the first calling for the swift conclusion of the necessary procedures for the termination of the [m]ission by the end of the mandate in October. The second letter expressed Somalias readiness to engage with relevant stakeholders in the preparation of [a] complex transition process within [the] appropriate timeframe.
Strained relations between host countries and missions, as well as divisions among Security Council members, which are then exploited by host country leaders, have made recent transitions particularly challenging. In these circumstances, host governments may compel UN missions to withdraw in haste, possibly undermining gains made during their presence and with potentially dangerous consequences for civilians if the security vacuum left by the mission is not adequately filled. (For background, see our UN Transitions in a Fractured Multilateral Environment research report.)
Additional risks and challenges for the WPS agenda in these contexts include a decline in attention to, and monitoring of, womens participation in peace and political processes; womens rights; sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV); and attacks on women human rights defenders and peacebuilders.
The Council has held several thematic discussions on UN peace operation transitions in general, most recently in an open debate organised by former Council member Ireland in September 2021. Members have also begun to address the effects of such processes on specific capacities of UN peace operations. For instance, the Councils latest annual open debate on children and armed conflict, held on 26 June, spotlighted the need to preserve and transfer child protection data and capacities during the transition of UN peace operations.
Augusts briefing will mark the first time that the Security Council focuses specifically on challenges of accelerated drawdowns for the WPS agenda. Some of these concerns have been touched upon in recent meetings of the Informal Experts Group (IEG) on WPS, such as the 6 November 2023 meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the 26 January meeting on Sudan, and the 8 April meeting on Iraq.
Adopted following the September 2021 open debate, resolution 2594 was the first thematic Security Council resolution on transitions. It recognised that mission reconfiguration may entail increased risks for civilians, including women, and emphasised the need for peace operations to engage at the earliest possible stage in integrated planning and coordination on transitions with the UN presence on the ground, the host state and other national stakeholders including civil society.
Resolution 2594 requested the Secretary-General to make sure that a comprehensive gender analysis; technical gender expertise; and the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women are included throughout the transition process, as well as to ensure the inclusion of youth and measures to safeguard the interests of persons with disabilities. It further requested the Secretary-General to make sure that their needs are fully integrated in all prioritised and sequenced stages of a mission mandate and mission transitions. (This language was likely based on resolution 2242 on WPS. Adopted in 2015, resolution 2242 had already urged the UN to make sure that gender analysis and technical gender expertise were included in mission drawdowns, and that womens needs and participation were integrated in all sequenced stages of mission mandates.)
The June 2022 Secretary-Generals report on transitions in UN peace operations included examples of UN approaches to gender-responsive conflict analysis and integration of gender equality into transition processes. It noted the need for additional planning, monitoring and evaluation capacities, including on human rights and gender mainstreaming, as part of integrated transition teams in missions.
In his latest report on CRSV, issued in April 2024, the Secretary-General noted that with the accelerated drawdown of peace operations in Mali and Sudan, the UN encountered significant challenges in sustaining the implementation of Security Council resolutions on CRSV. The report called for the timely deployment of womens protection advisers, noting, however, that the level of human and budgetary resources allocated to their deployment is far from commensurate with the scale of the challenge. More broadly, the 2023 Secretary-Generals annual report on WPS recommended that UN member states ensure that predictable resources are made available for gender equality and WPS programming and expertise during drawdowns and transitions.
Women civil society representatives have highlighted these and other issues in their briefings at the Security Council. In her briefing at the 11 December 2023 meeting on the DRC, National Coordinator of the NGO Solidarite Feminine pour la Paix Sandrine Lusamba addressed MONUSCOs drawdown. She recommended that MONUSCO and the UN Country Team work with local and national NGOs to develop indicators to evaluate the security situation in the country, measuring the protection and promotion of womens human rights, including in the areas of gender-based violence, attacks on women human rights defenders, sexual and reproductive rights and the meaningful participation of women. Lusamba also recommended that donors support the DRC government so that it can fulfil its protection responsibilities. She further called for funding the UN humanitarian response plan for the DRC, and women-led and womens rights organisations.
Key Issues and Options
The pivotal issue for the Security Council remains the full implementation of the WPS agenda and its impact on the ground. A key issue for Council members supportive of the agenda is to preserve and strengthen WPS language in thematic and country-specific outcomes and to follow up on the implementation of these decisions.
Regarding the topic of the briefing, an option for Council members is to politically and materially support comprehensive, context-specific, coordinated, and gender-responsive strategies for transition processes and the post-drawdown period by both the UN and host states. At Augusts briefing and in relevant Council decisions, members could call for the meaningful participation of feminist and womens rights organisations as well as women human rights defenders in determining such strategies, and follow up on the effective inclusion of such advice.
Members could also call for and adequately fund mechanisms for the continuity, preservation, and transfer of knowledge and capacity on monitoring the implementation of the WPS agenda across all its pillars (participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery) including, for instance, monitoring sexual and gender-based violence and attacks on women human rights defenders and peacebuilders. Members can further provide enhanced support to the deployment of gender advisers and women protection advisers in peace operations, including those undergoing transitions.
As the organiser of this briefing, Sierra Leone could prepare a chairs summary of the meeting to capture salient themes of the discussion to be circulated in a Council letter.
Council Dynamics
Most Council members are generally supportive of the WPS agenda. However, the prevalent assessment, including among several Council members and civil society actors, is that the dynamics on this file remain difficult and unconducive to the adoption of new WPS outcomes, these difficulties being further complicated by the Councils polarisation in the context of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Supportive members and civil society organisations emphasise instead the need to close the persisting gap in the implementation of the framework set out in the Councils WPS resolutions and the numerous domestic and regional initiatives it generated. Feminist civil society organisationssuch as the Womens International League for Peace and Freedomhave criticised Security Council members who express rhetorical support for the WPS agenda, human rights and the rule of law, while simultaneously contributing to violence and insecurity around the globe.
Council members retained WPS-related language in several resolutions and were, at times, able to strengthen it. For instance, in June the Council adopted resolution 2736 which, among other things, demands that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) halt the siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in Sudan. For the first time since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in April 2023, this resolution encouraged engagement by UN and regional actors to advance peace and an inclusive Sudanese-led political process with the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women.
At the same time, Russia and China often challenge the inclusion of language on WPS in Security Council products. Russia has regularly argued that the Councils engagement on WPS should be limited to the consideration of womens issues in a context of the maintenance of peace and security and in connection to situations that are on the Councils agenda, since human rights and the role of women are already discussed in other UN forums such as the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.
Russia has advanced a similar argument regarding the human rights and gender aspects of transitions and peacekeeping, saying that providing States with long-term assistance in the areas of development and human rights through peacekeeping organizations is not appropriate, and calling for reducing peacekeepers secondary and non-core tasks, especially those on the human rights, social and gender fronts. During the negotiations of UNAMIs final mandate renewal Russia opposed the inclusion of WPS language.
Council members Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the UK, and the US have given continuity to the Shared Commitments on WPS initiative, which was started in 2021 by Ireland, Kenya, and Mexico. It seems that these members held regular strategy meetings and tried to coordinate their positions on key WPS issues. They have also held seven WPS-focused press stakeouts this year in connection with Council meetings, including on Sudan, the Great Lakes and Afghanistan.
Engagement on some commitments remained uneven, however. Only Malta and the ROK have used their Security Council presidencies in 2024 to focus a mandated country-specific meeting on WPS, respectively on the Great Lakes and Sudan. In April, Malta also focused the annual open debate on CRSV on demilitarisation and gender-responsive arms control, seemingly the first time that this annual open debate addressed this issue.
It also appears that commitment holders have yet to develop coordinated strategies to implement their pledge to draw attention to, and follow up on, the recommendations and priority issues raised by civil society briefers in Council meetings.
The UK is the penholder on WPS, and the US is the penholder on CRSV. Sierra Leone and Switzerland are the co-chairs of the IEG on WPS.
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MIDDLE EAST
Yemen
Expected Council Action
In August, the Security Council is expected to hold a briefing, followed by closed consultations, on Yemen. UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg and a representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are expected to brief. The Head of the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), Major General Michael Beary, will brief in consultations.
Key Recent Developments
Attacks by the Houthi rebel group on Israel and commercial shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways threatened a further escalation of violence in Yemen. On 19 July, a Houthi-claimed drone attack hit a residential building in Tel Aviv, killing one civilian and injuring at least ten others. According to Israeli authorities, the strike was carried out by an Iranian model of a Samad-3 uncrewed aerial vehicle that had been adapted for long-distance flights. It was the first deadly Houthi attack against Israel, which had intercepted multiple drones and missiles that the group launched since October 2023 in response to its military campaign in Gaza that followed the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks against Israel.
On 20 July, Israel carried out retaliatory airstrikes in the Hodeidah Port area, killing nine people and injuring 83 others, according to the Houthi-run Ministry of Health. This marked the first publicly acknowledged Israeli strike inside Yemeni territory. Israel claimed that it had struck sites used for military purposes, saying that Iran has been using Hodeidah Port to supply weapons to the Houthis. In a 20 July statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree maintained that the bombing struck civilian targets, including a power station that supplies the city of Hodeidah with electricity and fuel tanks. He said that the Houthis will continue to conduct operations against Israel. Meanwhile, continuing US-led strikes against Houthi targets since January have not appeared to slow Houthi attacks against commercial shipping.
The Council held a briefing on the escalation on 22 July, which France, the UK, and the US requested following a letter to the Council from Israel on the attack against Tel Aviv. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and Major General Beary briefed. DiCarlo noted that the extent of the damage to Hodeidah Port had yet to be confirmed, though local authorities had reported that the port was functioning at a limited capacity. Hodeidah Port serves as the entry point for the majority of Yemens critical imports, such as food, and the strikes heightened concerns about damage that could worsen Yemens humanitarian crisis.
The next day, the Council held its monthly briefing and consultations on Yemen. Grundberg expressed concerns about Yemens trajectory of escalation, which had reached a new and dangerous level. However, in a rare recent positive development, Grundberg announced an agreement reached the day before between the Houthis and the Yemeni government to de-escalate the economic warfare that the sides have been waging against each other. According to the agreement, the parties committed to several measures and requested the UNs support in implementing them. Those measures called for:
cancelling all the recent decisions and procedures against banks by both sides and refraining in the future from any similar decisions or procedures;
resuming Yemenia Airways flights between Sanaa and Jordan and increasing the number of flights to three per day, as well as operating flights from Sanaa to Cairo and India daily or as needed;
addressing the administrative, technical, and financial challenges faced by Yemenia Airways; and
initiating meetings to discuss all economic and humanitarian issues based on the UN roadmap for an inter-Yemeni political process.
Grundberg thanked Saudi Arabia for its role in brokering the deal, while underscoring the need for the parties to engage in good faith and address underlying issues. The deal followed the revocation of the licenses of six Yemeni banks by the government-controlled Central Bank of Yemen on 7 July for failing to relocate their offices from the Houthi-held city of Sanaa to Aden. The move threatened to exclude Houthi-held areas from using the SWIFT banking system.
Grundberg and Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya, who briefed as well, also highlighted the continued detention of 13 UN staff and of dozens of other Yemeni nationals from local and international aid organisations, civil society and the private sector whom the Houthis arrested in early June. They repeated UN demands for their immediate release. Msuya additionally drew attention to the importance of Hodeidah Port, which she called a lifeline for millions of Yemenis. There are no viable alternatives to receive commercial imports at scale, she said, adding, Infrastructure that plays such an indispensable role must be spared.
Earlier, on 6 July, the Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees Agreement met in Oman. According to a statement by the Office of the Special Envoy, which co-chairs the committee with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the talks led to a significant breakthrough, with the sides reaching an understanding on releasing Mohamed Qahtana political leader aligned with the Yemeni government whom the Houthis have held incommunicado since 2015. The statement added that the sides had agreed to a follow-up meeting to finalise the list of detainees to be freed and the details of Qahtans release.
On 8 July, the Council renewed the mandate of UNMHA, in resolution 2742, until 14 July 2025.
Human Rights-Related Developments
On 9 July, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) remains extremely concerned about the well-being of the 13 UN staff and several employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who have been held incommunicado for more than a month by Houthis. Additionally, two UN staff members have been in prolonged detention since November 2021 and August 2023, according to Laurence. He called on those states and entities with influence over the Houthis to help secure the safe and prompt release of all detained UN and NGO staff. Voicing concern over the conditions of captivity, the spokesperson also urged the de facto authorities to ensure that those detained are treated with full respect for their human rights and are able to contact their families and legal representatives. The 13 UN staff detained include six who work for OHCHR; one each from the Office of the Special Envoy in Yemen, the UN Development Programme, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization; and two from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Key Issues and Options
Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and Israel, retaliatory US-led strikes, and now Israeli strikes on Houthi targets are key issues. The crisis has frozen Yemen peace talks: Omani-facilitated talks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia on a peace agreement and Grundbergs efforts to develop a roadmap for a ceasefire and an inter-Yemeni political process. The stalled processes and the risk to the gains that had been made in talks since Yemens April 2022 truce remain key issues.
Members are likely to monitor developments. They could encourage the parties to engage in good faith with the Special Envoy to implement the economic measures that they have committed to and to use the momentum of this process to refocus on a broader political process.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen, where 18.2 million people require assistance and protection services, remains a key issue. In addition to the importance of Hodeidah Port for responding to this need, Msuya also highlighted at the 23 July briefing worsening food insecurity because of the pause in food assistance in the Houthi-controlled north since December 2023 and deteriorating economic conditions across the country.
The detention of humanitarian staff could further undermine the ability of the UN and other partners to provide assistance. The Yemen sanctions designation criteria include the obstruction or impediment of humanitarian assistance. Council members could consider expanding sanctions designations on Houthi officials if they do not release the detained personnel.
Another issue, related to the sanctions regime, is the reports that Iranian ships have travelled to Hodeidah Port since October 2023 without informing the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), which provides clearance for and inspects ships travelling to Houthi-controlled ports to ensure compliance with the arms embargo against the group. These reports follow the end of ship inspections by the Saudi-led coalition, which it also conducted on vessels travelling to Hodeidah, after it began peace talks with the Houthis in October 2022.
Council Dynamics
Yemen is an issue on which Council members have maintained general unity in support of UN mediation to achieve a sustainable resolution to the conflict. The Red Sea crisis, however, has produced some notable divisions, despite all members having called for an end to the Houthi attacks on shipping and being concerned about the consequences for maritime security and Yemens peace process.
Algeria, China, and Russia abstained on the vote adopting resolution 2722 in January on the Red Sea crisis because of their concerns over its wording, particularly on the right of states to defend their merchant vessels, which they argue does not reflect international law. China and Russia have also criticised the US-led strikes against the Houthis on Yemeni territory, since, as they contend, exceed the mandate of the resolution, which did not authorise such attacks. Moreover, the three countries regularly highlight the need to end the war in Gaza as the best way to resolve the crisis in the Red Sea.
The US has called for the Council to take further action to impede Irans supply of arms to the Houthis, including by strengthening UNVIM, which was established in 2016 through an agreement between the UN and the Yemeni government and relies on voluntary funding. Further punitive measures by the Council against the Houthis or Iran would seem unlikely, however, given Council dynamics. Traditionally, Russia seeks to streamline references to the Houthis and is reluctant to single them out in Council products. A red line for Russia has also been Council products identifying Iran as violating the arms embargo against the Houthis.
The renewal of UNMHA in July proved uncontentious. No members proposed changes to the mandate, leading to swift agreement on the renewal.
The UK is the penholder on Yemen. The US and Japan have served as co-penholders on the Red Sea crisis. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang (Republic of Korea) chairs the 2140 Yemen Sanctions Committee.
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All eyes at the end of the week would be on the US jobs market - geopolitics permitting.
At 1230 BST, the Department of Labor was expected to announce that the pace of hiring dipped to 175,000 during the month of July.
That would be down from a preliminary estimate of 206,000 for the month of June; however, revisions to previous months' figures could end up being key.
Average hourly earnings meanwhile were expected to rise by 0.3%.
No major economic data were due out in the UK, but at 1115 BST Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill was to deliver a speech.
French and Italian industrial production data for June would be published at 0645 BST and 0800 BST, respectively.
For IAG's interim results, UBS analyst Jarrod Castle believed that investors would be focusing on the carrier's outlook for summer 2024, as well as the potential for capital returns.
Castle's estimates were calling for second quarter revenues of around 8.2bn, against 7.7bn one year earlier.
That was expected to yield a quarterly operating profit of 1.013bn and net income of 673m.
IAG had posted operating profit and net income of 1.2 and 1.0bn for the comparable year earlier period, respectively.
Friday 02 August
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Q2
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B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI), Burberry Group, Bytes Technology Group , Discoverie Group, GB Group, Helical, Intermediate Capital Group, JPMorgan European Discovery Trust, Norcros, Record, Tate & Lyle, Vianet Group, Vodafone Group, Workspace Group, Young & Co's Brewery 'A' Shares, Young & Co's Brewery (Non-Voting)
photo: Douglas Kirkland
Herbie Hancock is one of the major jazz musicians of the latter half of the 20th century, paying his dues with mentors like Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. He came into his own as a bandleader in the 1970s, fusing funk, rock, blues, and pop music into his signature style with the Mwandishi Band and seminal fusion album Headhunters. He's perhaps best known by mainstream audiences for the song "Rockit," from his album Future Shock, which he played at the 1983 Grammy Awards.
He's continued to write and perform, producing diverse albums, and winning 14 Grammy awards, including 2008 Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters.
Herbie Hancock has been a practicing Buddhist most of his adult life, and continues to be of service to young musicians as the 2014 Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University, giving six lectures on "The Ethics of Jazz."
His memoir, Herbie Hancock: Possibilities, recalls the musician's childhood in Chicago as a young prodigy pianist, his interest in engineering and gadgetry, his discovery of jazz and playing for Miles Davis, his solo career (both before and after Davis), and his eventual explorations in funk jazz fusion. The book relates Hancock's Buddhist philosophy to music, human relationships and life in general. The final chapters reveal his struggles with drug addiction, particularly with crack cocaine, and his journey to sobriety.
One of the themes in your book is moving forward and not getting stuck in the past. You've evolved musically each and every time by letting the past go.
It takes courage to do that, too. But what's involved with that is the process of going beyond the comfort zone and exploring pasts. Because eventually, something, whatever you are doing, gets comfortable. That's when you need to break down those walls, not create new ones, because the idea is continual evolution. Continuing to learn, continuing to be open and continuing to explore.
Why do you think you're that way? Why do you and, say, Miles Davis, continually evolve, be open and just let things go?
I've had the great fortune that so many circumstances in my life have encouraged me to explore. For example, Miles Davis continually explored. He encouraged his musicians. He told us he paid us to practice on the bandstand, in the moment and in front of people, and not just kind of prepare something in our hotel room and then bring that to bandstand.
He wanted there to be truth in the music. I mean that's really the spirit of jazz: to respond to the moment. So he was a great encouragement from his activities in music, and also from what he brought from musicians in his band.
My own interest in science and innate curiosity are some of my main characteristics. That's the way I am. It pushed me in that direction. I'm an early adopter. I like tech toys. And I like trying to put things together that everybody says can't be done.
Jazz was a popular musical form when you started playing. What do you think about the current state of popular music?
It was fairly popular, sure, but it was more popular in the '20s and the '30s. Actually, once bebop came in with Charlie Parker, it was popular then, but it wasn't as popular as it had been. It was more of a connoisseur's music. Don't forget we were playing clubs in the '60s, but we weren't playing a lot of concerts. And then it evolved. There aren't many clubs anymore. Now, it's mostly concert work. It's changed, but I'm very hopeful because I see a lot of young people gravitating toward jazz. It wasn't taught in school when I was young. When I first started to play jazz, there was only Dick Grove's school. I don't know when it started, maybe in the late '40s or '50s. But now, a lot of colleges and universities have jazz programs. Some high schools have jazz programs. As a matter of fact, I'm chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. We have programs in elementary schools and high schools. And it's also included in American history in a lot of schools, thanks to the Monk Institute. That is one of our programs.
What was the hardest thing in writing this book?
The hardest thing for me was to expose the fact that I had a problem with freebasing on crack cocaine.
This is the first time that you've been public about that.
Right. It's the first time. As a matter of fact, I'd been really trying to suppress that. Not just forget about it, but make it go away and disappear. But that's a process of working toward denial. That's never a good thing, because things will fester; it did happen. I did experience that, I went through that. But I conquered it. And, thanks to my daughter and my wife encouraging me, I put it in the book. They said it might help some other people. That's when a light bulb went on, and I realized, I'm a Buddhist, and what we always talk about is that we practice for ourselves and we practice for others. We try to encourage other people. We have this phrase we use: "turning poison into medicine." Here's a way I can turn do that. I can transform what I went through as a struggle into a victory that I can share with other people. Perhaps I can help someone in some way.
How does that process of coming out and being public about something you struggled with affect your life?
It emphasizes the fact that I'm a human being. Although people may look at my life thinking I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I wasn't. Throughout the book, you can see that I wasn't. I mean I had great things, I had really encouraging parents, which is something that a lot of people don't have. That's great for your foundation of your life. My parents were always encouraging, even though we didn't have a lot of money.
I believe as a Buddhist that the whole point of life is you have the capacity for writing your own story, and not just have it written for you by external circumstances. Or by things that happened to you in the past. We all have struggles and obstacles we have to face from time to time. If we didn't have those struggles and obstacles, our lives would be really boring. There would be no victories. No way to learn. We can turn those struggles into benefits for ourselves, and for others by using them as tools for our own forward motion and our own evolution. That will make them important. That will turn them from darkness into enlightenment. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor
Amy Neff
(photo: Sylvie Rosokoff)
Amy Neff's debut novel is The Days I Loved You Most (Park Row), a stunning love story and immersive family drama set in a New England beach town. Neff lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and their rescue dog.
Joseph and Evelyn are genuine, fully developed characters, their marriage a remarkable example of lifelong devotion. Were they inspired by real people?
That means so much to hear, thank you. Joseph and Evelyn are completely works of fiction; their story is not my family story, although their setting is inspired by my family place. That said, I was lucky to have great examples growing up which have informed my definition of love. My grandparents had a beautiful marriage for over 50 years, until we lost my grandfather swiftly and unexpectedly to cancer. The years my grandmother lived without him always struck me as bittersweet, seeing grandchildren marry and snuggling great grandchildren, but not being able to share those happy moments with the one she loved most.
Jane refers to her parents' relationship as "impenetrable, a united front to a fault." What is the cost of this exceptional, almost exclusionary, marital bond for the rest of the family?
Their great love affects each of their three children in different ways. Jane, their oldest, is disillusioned by a damaging relationship in her past, and bristles against the idea that you need another person to be complete. Thomas is extremely private and guards his emotions, prioritizing his career over his marriage. Violet, their youngest, idealizes her parent's relationship as a fairy-tale romance, and the reality of her own marriage always pales in comparison. Their children have always understood that if forced to choose, their parents would choose each other, and that devotion turns into the catalyst for Joseph and Evelyn's unthinkable decision.
Stonybrook is a fictionalized version of the New England beach town where your family summered. Which aspects of your own experiences did you incorporate into the book?
I wanted to explore all that comes with committing not only to another person, but to a place. I grew up spending summers on a shared lot with my extended family. The two cottages were revolving doors of cousins, aunts and uncles, and my summers were filled with sun-soaked beach days and big family dinners with people shouting over each other to be heard. It was the most beautiful chaos and an idyllic childhood. It is a very special place to me, and the sense of calm and belonging I feel along the shore imprinted on me so deeply I wanted to capture those feelings within the pages of this book.
At its core, The Days I Loved You Most is a captivating love story with Joseph and Evelyn as the primary narrators, but it also includes the perspectives of their three adult children. What made you decide to add Jane, Thomas, and Violet?
When I set out to write this novel, it was important to me that it remained first and foremost a love story. Originally, and for many drafts, the only two points of view were Joseph's and Evelyn's. An editor I worked with along the way made the case for hearing from their children, because as much as it is a love story, it is also a family story, and the decisions made between them don't exist in a vacuum. I loved writing those three chapters because they give crucial context and alternate perspectives to explore. I had spent so much time with the family that their voices came easily, as though they had been banging on the door, relieved to finally be let out. I'm so glad they got to speak for themselves.
You mention that The Days I Loved You Most has been a lesson in novel writing. May I ask you to expand on that and share insight into the challenges of breaking into the publishing industry as a debut writer?
I have always been an avid reader, so I had a sense of what worked, and had been writing all my life. But I embarked on this journey blissfully naive, for the fun and challenge of it, and followed where it led. I learned a lot about structure and pacing as I went, but I think some of the magic for me was the not knowing. I wasn't trying to hit certain beats, or follow a formula. These things can be incredibly helpful, and certainly is more efficient. But the meandering was all discovery and play. When I took the novel as far as I could on my own, I worked with editors that brought out different elements, and I learned so much from each draft. Breaking into the industry was much harder. It took me five years of querying this book to get a literary agent. Each batch of rejections, I revised again. I dug in deeper, uncovering layers to the characters, their motivations and fears, and the book was better for every year spent working on it.
How would you describe your creative process?
I am very disciplined. I like yellow legal pads and notecards and carving out overly ambitious schedules. To revise, I'd break down the weeks or months it would take, and then divide the number of chapters based on that timeframe. For the better half of my writing journey, I was pregnant and/or raising babies and toddlers full time. I don't write every day. It's not possible for this phase of life, at least for me. But I made time where I could, in early mornings, late nights, during the short-lived era of naptime, and in the rare stretches I could steal away thanks to sitters and grandparents. I took my self-imposed writing schedule seriously, long before there was anyone else holding me accountable. I found a way to move forward, even if I only had minutes. And there were stretches when I didn't touch the book at all. There are chapters that I wrote in one sitting, and ones that have been reworked and threaded throughout, and many scenes that were written and cut completely. I wrote far more than what ended up in the final version, and that helped me understand my characters on a far deeper level.
Do you have advice for fledgling authors launching their writing life while navigating the demands of raising a family?
Be patient with yourself. There is such an emphasis on getting published quickly, and getting your book out there fast. Don't buy into this. My journey was 10 years long. I started querying before I had children, and my children are now three and nearly five. It's not a race, and it's okay if it takes longer than you expect. My book is better for the years spent in revisions. Outsource what you can, ask for help. Take your writing seriously. Carve out time, but remember this season with your family is precious and fleeting, too. It's okay to not write every day. Stick with whatever you can commit to. The only one who can write your book is you, but give yourself grace when inevitably someone throws up, or your perfect flow is interrupted by someone needing to be wiped. As long as you keep going, you'll get there. --Shahina Piyarali
Epsilon Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., a prominent entity in the aircraft cabin interior and refurbishment sector, has announced a strategic partnership with 4Repair, a leading European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 certified organization. This collaboration underscores Epsilon Aerospace's dedication to enhancing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) services within India's aerospace infrastructure. By integrating advanced capabilities and nurturing local expertise, the partnership aims to establish a state-of-the-art facility for the maintenance and repair of aircraft composite parts in India, as formalized through a recently signed MoU between the two companies.
The facility is designed to support aircraft operators by offering local repair services for complex composite and structural parts, including control surfaces, flaps, and radomes. This initiative aligns with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, aiming to enhance indigenous capabilities and reduce reliance on overseas maintenance services.
India has emerged as the third-largest domestic aviation market globally. The size of India's aviation market is to grow to USD 26.08 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.08% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2030. India also plays an important role in the military aircraft market due to its acquisition of new aircraft and indigenous development of military aviation technologies. The Indian government's allocation of resources towards enhancing aviation infrastructure and capabilities is expected to fuel the MRO sector.
The global MRO market, driven by growth in fleet size, is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5%, reaching USD 126.6 billion by 2032, according to a recent KPMG report. In contrast, the Indian MRO industry, currently in its early stages, had an estimated market size of USD 1.2 billion in 2022, representing 1 to 1.2% of the global market. However, India has significant potential to harness domestic aircraft fleet growth and its engineering capabilities to emerge as a market leader in the MRO industry, aiming to meet 90% of local demand by 2047.
This collaboration demonstrates the commitment of both companies to achieving operational excellence in India's MRO sector. It aims to create job opportunities, enhance skill development, and contribute to economic growth and sustainability goals. The state-of-the-art facility will efficiently meet the increasing demand for maintenance services in India, ensuring that regional airlines benefit from timely and high-quality repairs of critical aircraft components.
Naveen Chawla CEO Epsilon Aerospace, said, "The collaboration will pave the way for pioneering solutions, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and global best practices to elevate India as a preferred destination for aerospace MRO services in the Asia-Pacific region".
In a significant step towards developing Indigenous state-of-the-art next-generation telecommunications technology, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT Mandi) has signed an agreement with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the premier Telecom R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India for the development of 'Cell-Free 6G Access Points'.
The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, which has been designed for providing funding support to domestic companies, Indian startups, academia and R&D institutions involved in technology design, development, commercialization of telecommunication products and solutions. This scheme aims to enable affordable broadband and mobile services, playing a significant role in bridging the digital divide across India.
Traditional mobile networks use cellular topologies in which each cell is serviced by a single base station like 4G/5G to service mobile customers. Cell-Free Massive MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) eliminates the idea of cells and cell boundaries by deploying several access points (APs) across a vast region to serve many user devices at the same time. A large number of APs are dedicated to each user within their coverage area, meaning a single user may be supported by many APs. This ensures ubiquitous connectivity to the users, eliminates dead zones, enhances signal strength, and significantly boosts data speeds, offering an exceptional user experience even in densely populated areas.
This 6G project will focus on developing APs for enabling the upcoming 6G radio access networks and also aims to contribute to the 6G standardization activity, drive commercialization, generate intellectual property rights (IPRs), and develop a skilled workforce to support the emerging 6G landscape.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony attended by the CEO, C-DOT - Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, the principal investigator - Dr Abhay Kumar Sah from IIT Roorkee, the co-investigator - Dr Adarsh Patel from IIT Mandi along with the Director of C-DOT - Dr Pankaj Kumar Dalela.
At the event, Dr Sah and Dr Patel affirmed their dedication to advancing next-generation communication technologies, aligning with the Prime Minister's Bharat 6G Vision. They expressed their gratitude to DOT and C-DOT for the opportunity to collaborate on this research, emphasizing that it bolsters efforts to enhance cutting-edge research capabilities and infrastructure in the telecom sector.
Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DOT underscored the key role of indigenously designed & developed technologies in meeting the specific requirements of communication for our diverse country, reaffirming the commitment towards 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. He also said this will help us generating IPRs in 6G domain and emerging technologies in the area of 6G.
Prof. K.K. Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, remarked, " This partnership with C-DOT marks a pivotal step in our commitment to indigenous development of state-of-the-art telecommunications technologies. IIT Roorkee is proud to lead this initiative, which aligns perfectly with our mission to foster innovation and excellence in research. This collaboration significantly contributes to India's 6G vision and reinforces our position as a leader in technological advancements.
Representatives from C-DOT, IIT Roorkee, and IIT Mandi expressed their enthusiasm and commitment to this collaborative endeavor, underscoring their dedication to developing and shaping India's 6G vision.
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TVS Mobility, the holding company for businesses managed by the T S Rajam family members, has today announced that it has signed an MoU with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), a globally integrated business enterprise with a network of around 1,700 group companies, to launch TVS Mobility Mitsubishi Employee Exchange Program (TMMEEP).
To start this agreement, MC Japan and/or its partners will host employees from TVS Mobility, offering skill development and training in Automotive and Mobility sector covering, inspection in auctions, service mechanics, etc. On the other hand, TVS Mobility India will host employees from MC providing them insights in the digital deployment in Aftermarket business and supporting the growth of the Independent Aftermarket. Employees under 45 years of age with over 3 years of service with TVS Mobility Group and Mitsubishi Corporation are eligible for this exchange program.
This exchange program, a first-of-its-kind initiative, is designed to foster mutual growth and innovation, facilitate seamless cross-learning, enhancing skills, domain knowledge and sharing business management expertise besides training the next generation of leaders within the two organisations.
Commenting on this initiative, Mr. R. Dinesh, Director, TVS Mobility group said, We are excited to embark on this journey with Mitsubishi Corporation as there is a huge scope to address skill gaps and share best practices between the two organisations. Further, this platform will enable us to leverage our synergies and identify mutually beneficial projects and initiatives, which could be explored through this two-way cooperation. I am sure this program, through cross learning, will propel both companies to achieve greater heights and collaborative success.
Commenting on this initiative, Mr.Wakabayashi, Executive Vice President & Mobility Group CEO, Mitsubishi Corporation said "We are pleased to expand mobility business in the Indian market together with the TVS Mobility Group, who has a long history, a proven track record and is trusted by customers. Since we began collaborating with TVS Mobility in 2018 on the TASL/Ki (Automotive spare parts distribution and after-sales service) business, we have strengthened, expanded and deepened our relationship including our recent announcement to join hands with TVS VMS for multibrand dealership business.. With this mutual personnel exchange program, we hope that employees of both companies will not only acquire skills, know-how and expertise, but also gain a deeper understanding of each other's cultures, and contribute to the development of both companies and the development of Japan-India relations over the long term".
An Upstate New York-based insurance company appears to be going out of business as it urges customers to find a new carrier.
We regret to inform our agents and policyholders that our financial position has continued to deteriorate, Adirondack Insurance Exchange said on its website. We urge all current customers to begin working with their independent agent to secure new coverage with a rated carrier, immediately.
A letter was also sent to customers earlier this month, telling them to find new insurance coverage as it begins a transition plan for existing policies.
According to the Times-Union, the Buffalo-based company is withdrawing from the New York market entirely the only state where it operates. Its unclear how many customers will be affected, but Adirondack Insurance Exchange had an estimated 7,000 home and auto insurance customers in the Capital Region alone.
The news comes weeks after Demotech, Inc., a provider of financial stability ratings of property-casualty insurance companies, said it withdrew its financial stability rating for AIE.
Industry experts told the Times-Union that Adirondack Insurance Exchanges troubles likely began with rates that were too low to keep covering claims and maintain required reserves. AIE also faced competition from better-insulated firms... with rising rates on the reinsurance markets, or the backup insurance that all insurance carriers buy from large international firms.
According to the Albany newspaper, AIE customers will still have protection under the states Property Casualty Insurance Security Fund, which provides up to $1 million in coverage when an insurance company becomes insolvent.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Adirondack Insurance Exchange is a subsidiary of Allstate. AIE is a member-owned reciprocal exchange managed by National General, a subsidiary of Allstate.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A 50-year-old Staten Island man charged in a shooting earlier this year that prompted an emergency response in the boroughs North Shore will do prison time.
Troy Hairston, of Netherland Avenue in Mariners Harbor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the March 16 incident, which played out on a residential block in his neighborhood.
Deborah Uraga has been visiting the Monmouth County grave of her father, George S. Jonas Sr., on his birthday and on Fathers Day every year since he died at age 78 on May 16, 1993.
But two days after Fathers Day this year, Uraga discovered a disturbing and devastating truth. The funeral home kept Jonass remains in their basement for 31 years instead of burying them, according to a lawsuit filed July 3.
After three decades of visiting what she thought was her late fathers cremains, the plaintiff was finally provided with decedents cremains on June 19, states a suit filed in Superior Court of Union County.
Uraga, 69, of Garwood, says the discovery that her father had not been buried has caused her severe emotional distress and mental anguish.
She has been denied her right to grieve the death of her late father for over 31 years and is now forced to relive the loss of her beloved father, the lawsuit states.
The suit claims the John F. Pfleger Funeral Home, Mount Olivet Cemetery, and St. James R.C. Church, all of Monmouth County, misrepresented that Jonas remains were interred in the family plot, along with his wife, son and a daughter.
Representatives of the funeral home and church did not immediately respond on Thursday to NJ Advance Medias requests for comment on the lawsuit.
George S. Jonas died on May 16, 1993.ABC-7
ABC7ny.com, which first reported the story, obtained a statement from the funeral home saying the arrangements had been handled properly, but files were missing that could provide details on why the interment was not carried out.
Simply stated, the visitation was provided, the cremation occurred, and we have been in custody of Mr. Jonas cremated remains up until they were turned over to the family at their request, the funeral home said, according to ABCny.com.
All attempts by our funeral home to seek final disposition instructions from the Jonas family next of kin remained unanswered until we attempted to provide an honorable burial of this mans cremated remains in our states veteran cemetery, the statement said.
Ed Cardoza, superintendent of Mount Olivet Cemetery, told NJ Advance Media his records show that no service or burial was ever scheduled for George S. Jonas and that his name does not appear on the grave stone.
I dont know why were getting sued, Cardoza said. Nobodys ever scheduled a funeral for this person.
Like the funeral home, Cardoza said attempts were made in 1993 to contact the family, but there was no response.
According to the lawsuit, Uraga received a Facebook message on June 18 from a U.S. Air Force veteran trying to provide full military burials for other vets whose remains have been unclaimed.
The message read: If your dad was George S. Jonas and died on 5/16/1993 in Middletown, Vietnam Veterans of America is trying to locate family for permission to inter his unclaimed remains at BG William C. Doyle Veterans Cemetery with full military honors.
Uraga told ABC7ny.com the revelation that her father had not been interred in the family plot left her shocked and in disbelief.
He (the veteran) said they were sitting in the basement of the funeral parlor. Hes just sitting there for 31 years, Uraga told the news station.
Uraga took possession of her fathers cremains and filed the lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages for negligence, mishandling of human remains, and severe emotional distress.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Fun-On-Us in Dongan Hills was recently filled with energetic children, laughter and an unwavering sense of community.
What may have seemed like an ordinary get-together was actually an event for over 50 Ukrainian refugees, organized by Natalia Travilina, the founder of the TraNa Relief Association.
We are meeting amazing Ukrainian families with their kids...we would love to unite them together, Travilina said. We are so happy to embrace them. We are enriching their lives because they escaped the war. Many people lost everything. And, here in America, they begin a new life from scratch. Its not easy, its a different country, different culture everything is new and people dont know each other.
The TraNa Relief Association is a nonprofit organization that helps Ukrainian refugees build their lives in the United States. By providing valuable resources and information to newly-arrived individuals, TraNa which stands for Temporary Relief Assistance by National Association aims to make the international transition as smooth as possible.
On Thursday, July 25, 2024, over 50 Ukrainian refugees gathered at Fun-On-Us in Dongan Hills for a community-building event hosted by the TraNa Relief Association. (Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara)Sonya Gugliara
They are great people, many people have been telling me very difficult stories, how they had to stay in the basement, where the bombing was. They had to stay weeks, sometimes no food, no light, nothing. Travilina continued. They are real people escaping the war, and I am glad that we can help them here and provide them with anything they need.
According to Travilina, during the first month of the war in 2022, the organization helped over 25,000 Ukrainians flee the country and safely arrive in America through government programs. Since then, TraNa Relief Association has helped thousands more individuals.
Although the day was centered around teenagers who are getting acclimated to America, people of all ages attended and mingled at the event.
On Thursday, July 25, 2024, over 50 Ukrainian refugees gathered at Fun-On-Us in Dongan Hills for a community-building event hosted by the TraNa Relief Association. (Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara)Sonya Gugliara
Were hosting a teen night. I just feel like theres always something going on for two, three, four-year-olds, but theres nothing for older kids, Nicole Frantser, the owner of Fun-On-Us, said. Im always for Ukraine, so if there is any way I can help out.
Guests were given a meal and a $20 gift card to a local grocery store. At the event, TraNa discussed resources for Ukrainian refugees to utilize, specifically about work authorization.
Attendees enjoyed the gathering and felt it was a great way to support their community.
Valyeriya Sobolevska, a 13-year-old Staten Islander who came to from Ukraine in 2022, discussed how she felt at the event.
From left to right, Berana Duka, Marko Kepi, Natalia Travilina, Solomiya Momot and Lily Zaffaranloo on Thursday, July 25, 2024. Over 50 Ukrainian refugees gathered at Fun-On-Us in Dongan Hills for a community-building event hosted by the TraNa Relief Association. (Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara)Sonya Gugliara
Yeah, its pretty fun and you get to know a lot of people and new friends, Sobolevska said.
She discussed her transition from Ukraine to the United States, explaining that although it was a challenging change, she is thriving in her new environment.
It may be difficult, but its fine. I have a lot of friends here and I found company that I like, and a place that I can be myself, Sobolevska said with a smile.
Alleysa and her husband Vasili, a veteran of the Ukrainian military, were also at the event. Alleysa said it was her first time gathering with the Ukrainian community since arriving on Staten Island just a few weeks ago.
I like it, its a beautiful area, Alleysa said about living in the borough.
Another attendee, 44-year-old Svitlana Ponomarova, opened up about her experiences since coming to America. After she arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2023, she came to Staten Island and is now studying accounting at the Manhattan School of Digital Technology in Brooklyn.
Today was so fun, there were many people around. Its a good community, Ponomarova said.
Travilina explained that TraNa Relief Association goes above and beyond to support Ukrainian Refugees. People can contact volunteers at any time of day and can reach out with all of their concerns. Volunteers help refugees overcome obstacles, from providing rides home from the airport to finding refugees sponsors for their green cards.
On Thursday, July 25, 2024, over 50 Ukrainian refugees gathered at Fun-On-Us in Dongan Hills for a community-building event hosted by the TraNa Relief Association. (Staten Island Advance/Sonya Gugliara)Sonya Gugliara
Several politicians and representatives from their offices came to show their support for Ukrainian refugees and the TraNa Relief Associations mission, including Republican candidate for New York State Senate Marko Kepi; Lily Zafaranloo, Director of Community Affairs at U.S. House of Representatives and Director of Operations at Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis office; and Solomiya Momot from Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spantons office.
Were happy to be here, happy to support, Momot said. This is great, especially for the teens because I know they have a lot of these events for adults, but for teen networking, this is a great initiative.
I applaud this organization for helping them find jobs, find homes and not depending on the state the whole time. Its a really great thing that theyre helping each other and also reaching out to open up more channels, more gates for them to find easier and faster ways to help them, Kepi said.
For more information about TraNa or to donate, call (929) 800-0052 or email TraNaRelief@gmail.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton recently visited with some Staten Islanders who are in the business of improving NYCs streets.
On July 17, City Asphalt -- a Staten Island company that supplies asphalt for the boroughs roads -- hosted Scarcella-Spanton and gave a behind-the-scenes tour to a select group from Northfield Bank, various construction companies and the Senators office.
City Asphalt opened a state-of-the-art asphalt plant on South Avenue in April 2020, giving Staten Island contractors the convenience of sourcing their asphalt locally rather than traveling to New Jersey or Queens.
The company has been meeting much of Staten Islands asphalt needs, including the North Shore area that Scarcella-Spanton represents and resides in, and where Northfield Bank has been established since 1887.
Left to right: Erik Larsen, Senior Vice President of Northfield Bank of the NJ East Region; Regina Boukhvalova, Senior Vice President of the Business Development Office; Mike DiRenzo of City Asphalt; Gus Pinho of City Asphalt; Evarett Cruz, CEO of JRCRUZ Corporation; Danny Lefkowitz, owner of Ace Mohawk Consulting; State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton; Matheew Cruz of City Asphalt; Robin Lefkowitz, Executive Vice President, Director of Business Development and Branch Administration for Northfield Bank; and Steve Klein, President and CEO at Northfield Bank.(Courtesy of City Asphalt)City Asphalt
It was wonderful to tour City Asphalt to see the impact of the work they do firsthand, Scarcella-Spanton said. Our roads keep Staten Islanders moving. Maintenance of our boroughs infrastructure is of utmost importance. I am glad that we have a local supplier of asphalt right in our backyard as we continue to invest in the future of our roadways.
She added that it was fascinating to see the process and learn about their efforts in sustainability.
State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton tours City Asphalt. (Courtesy of City Asphalt)City Asphalt
Having a borough-based plant saves contractors time and money by eliminating long drives and expensive tolls. It also ensures the asphalt is able to be poured while its still hot, making it more durable and less likely to crack.
Having to come back from New Jersey or Queens, the asphalt would get cold. That was one of the reasons Staten Islands roads were in poor condition, because when you pave with cold material, it doesnt hold up as well as when you pave with hot material, Matt Cruz, general manager of City Asphalt, told the Staten Island Advance in 2020.
City Asphalt provided an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour for a select group from Northfield Bank, along with State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton. (Courtesy of City Asphalt)City Asphalt
The plant uses Gencor Industries latest technology to produce up to 400 tons of asphalt per hour and store up to 1,800 tons at once.
In a 2023 article on the Green Initiatives impact on the asphalt industry, Cruz highlights how the sector is adapting to environmental concerns. The Green Initiative encourages the use of recycled materials, warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technology, and porous asphalt to cut carbon footprints and energy consumption. By adopting these practices, the industry is advancing toward greater sustainability and reducing its environmental impact.
Vice President Kamala Harris is trying for a promotion that isnt all that easy to get.
While being vice president might seem like a pretty good stepping stone to the Oval Office, just 15 of the 49 veeps in American history have become president.
And most of those assumed the higher office upon the death of their boss, the president.
Another number have been elected president in their own right, either immediately following their terms as vice president or later.
And one man who served as both president and vice president had the most unique path to power in American history.
With Harris looking to become the 16th vice president to also serve as president, heres a look at the others, one of which should be very familiar to Harris.
The electeds
Six presidents have been elected in their own right after serving as vice president:
John Adams
President John Adams.Advance file photo
Served as George Washingtons vice president for two terms before being elected president in 1796, the first veep to ascend to the presidency. He served one term.
Thomas Jefferson
President Thomas Jefferson.Advance file photo
Was vice president under Adams before being elected president in 1800, when he tied for electoral votes with Aaron Burr and the election was decided in the House of Representatives.
Martin Van Buren
President Martin Van Buren.Advance file photo
Old Kinderhook served as vice president under Andrew Jackson, was elected president in 1836 and served one term. He made unsuccessful White House bids in 1844 and 1848, getting 10% of the vote as the Free Soil Party candidate in 1848.
Richard Nixon
President Richard Nixon. AP
Served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower beginning in 1953 and then lost the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy. But Nixon bounced back, winning the White House in 1968 and again, in a landslide, in 1972. He resigned amid the Watergate scandal.
George H.W. Bush
President George H.W. BushLC-
Served two terms under Ronald Reagan starting in 1981 and won the presidency immediately following in 1988, but lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton.
Joe Biden
President Joe Biden walks on stage before speaking in Las Vegas, July 16, 2024.(AP Photo/David Becker, File)AP
Was Barack Obamas ultra-loyal vice president for eight years, but Obama in 2016 backed Hillary Clinton for president. Biden won the White House in 2020, his third try for the brass ring. He pulled out of the 2024 race earlier this month and backed Harris.
The successors
Eight vice presidents have assumed the presidency upon the death of the president:
John Tyler
President John Tyler.Advance file photo
Took over the Oval Office in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died after just a month in office, the shortest presidential term in history. Tyler served one term.
Millard Fillmore
President Millard Fillmore.Advance file photo
Became the 13th president of the United States upon the death of Zachary Taylor in 1850. He did not win nomination for a term of his own.
Andrew Johnson
President Andrew Johnson.Advance file photo
Assumed the presidency after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Johnson served until 1869.
Chester A. Arthur
President Chester A. Arthur.Advance file photo
Became the second vice president to ascend to the Oval Office following the assassination of the president, in this case, James Garfield, in 1881. Arthur served until 1885.
Teddy Roosevelt
President Theodore Roosevelt.Advance file photo
Became president following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. Won a term in his own right in 1904. Did not seek re-election in 1908, but tried a comeback in 1912, which was unsuccessful.
Calvin Coolidge
President Calvin Coolidge.Advance file photo
Silent Cal became president in 1923 upon the death of Warren Harding. Coolidge was famously sworn in by his own father, a justice of the peace and notary public, in the middle of the night in the family home in Vermont, where Coolidge had been vacationing.
Harry S. Truman
President Harry S. Truman.Advance file photo
Truman, the last of Franklin Roosevelts vice presidents, assumed the presidency when after FDR died in 1945. Truman won a term in his own right in the upset, Dewey Defeats Truman election of 1948.
Lyndon Johnson
President Lyndon Johnson.Advance file photo
Became president following Kennedys assassination in 1963. Was elected in his own right in a landslide in 1964 but bowed out of the 1968 race after a worse-than-expected showing in the New Hampshire primary.
The unicorn
Only one man in American history has served as vice president and as president without ever being elected to either office by voters: Gerald Ford.
President Gerald Ford.Trenton Times photo
Ford became vice president under Nixon in 1973 after veep Spiro Agnew resigned amid scandal. Ford then ascended to the presidency in 1974 when Nixon resigned because of Watergate.
Ford lost his own election bid to Jimmy Carter in 1976.
The also-rans
Some vice presidents have run for president and lost, the most recent including Hubert Humphrey in 1968; Walter Mondale in 1984, and Al Gore in 2000.
A GOP strategist said former President Donald Trump did crap the bed when he mocked Vice President Kamala Harris racial identity on Wednesday.
He did crap the bed, Republican strategist Scott Jennings said on CNN. The only question is whether hes going to roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.
Taking questions at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Trump said of Harris, I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. I dont know, is she Indian or is she Black?
Harris is the first female vice president in American history and the first vice president of color. She is in line to become the first woman of color to be nominated by a major party for president.
Harris father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian, and the vice president has identified as Black and South Asian throughout her career, according to The Hill.
Trump later posted a 2019 video of Harris cooking with Indian American comedian Mindy Kaling.
Crazy Kamala is saying shes Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity! he wrote in the post.
Trumps running mate, JD Vance, called Trumps NABJ remarks and the reaction to them hysterical, The Hill said. Vances wife is Indian American.
I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris, Vance told reporters on his campaign plane Wednesday night, The Hill said. Shes flip-flopped on every issue. Shes fake. Shes phony. And I think our whole campaign is going to have a very fun time pointing that out. And it sounds like the president kicked us off in stride.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The race for the White House is heating up, with a new poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump in various key states that could decide the election.
A recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, which included responses from 4,973 registered voters between July 24-28 in seven battleground states, shows Harris leading Trump in four out of seven states, with Trump leading two and a tie in the final one.
The poll shows Harris leading Trump in Arizona (49%-47%), Michigan (53% - 42%), Nevada (47%-45%) and Wisconsin (49%-47%). Trump leads Harris in North Carolina (48%-46%) and Pennsylvania (50%-46%), with the two tied in Georgia (47%-47%).
On average, across the seven swing states, Harris currently leads Trump 48% to 47%, though all figures are within the polls margin of error for the individual states, meaning the race is viewed statistically as a dead heat.
Even after expanding the polling to include additional candidates, Harris maintained a one-point lead on Trump (45%-44%), with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. polling third at 5%.
In the last poll conducted by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, former President Trump led in battleground states by two points.
The three-point swing has been driven by Harris surging popularity among young, Black and Hispanic voters, a group Biden had struggled to connect with, according to recent polls.
Polling aggregation site, RealClearPolling.com, shows Harris making positive strides since Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, with the vice president leading Trump in three of the last four conducted polls.
No shot.
Thats what Gov. Kathy Hochul thinks of former President Donald Trumps chances of winning New York state in this years presidential election, according to amNewYork.
No Republican has won New York in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan did it in 1980 and 1984.
Hochul was responding to upstate GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Trump ally, who during the Republican National Convention said that Trump would be the first Republican in a generation to win the Empire State.
During an interview with CNNs Kate Bolduan, Hochul said that the chances of a Trump victory in New York were zero, zero, zero.
She said that she was confident that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, would keep New York in the blue column this fall.
Donald Trump will not win New York state, Hochul said. Kamala Harris and her running mate will win New York state.
Polls last month had showed Trump trailing by just 8 points in New York, before President Joe Biden pulled out of the race.
Trump lost the state to Biden by 23.1 points four years ago and lost to Hillary Clinton here by 22.5 points in 2016.
Said Hochul, And something else thats going to happen in New York state we are going to win back the House of Representatives.
There are a number of New York House seats that the Dems hope to flip into their column, which could help the national party regain control of the House.
Hochul said shed been raising money for the state Democratic organization and opening campaign headquarters in rural communities.
The battleground for the House of Representatives goes from Long Island up to the rural parts of the Hudson Valley, she said.
You knew it had to happen.
Maya Rudolph will reprise her Emmy-winning role as Vice President Kamala Harris this season as Saturday Night Live takes on Election 2024, Deadline reported.
The iconic NBC show marks its 50th anniversary season this year.
Fans have been clamoring for Rudolphs return to SNL ever since Harris stepped in as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president when President Joe Biden withdrew from the race last month.
Pre-production on Season 3 of Rudolphs Loot comedy series on Apple TV+ has been postponed, with cast and crew being told it was for scheduling reasons.
Reps for Rudolph and Saturday Night Live did not return media calls for comment.
CNN reported that Harris herself likes Rudolphs impression of her.
I grew up watching Saturday Night Live, she toldSeth Meyers in a 2019 interview. The thought that anyone would be in any way depicting me on Saturday Night Live was just I was a bit overwhelmed.
I will tell you that I fully intend to make sure she (Rudolph) has a full eight years of work on SNL, Harris joked at the time.
No word yet on who will play former President Donald Trump in the upcoming season of SNL. James Austin Johnson portrayed the Republican most recently on the show.
The new season of SNL will premiere on Sept. 28.
Harris presence in the race has also been a boon for the HBO Max show Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
That show has seen a surge in viewership ever since Harris was tapped as Bidens White House successor.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed Regional Express (Rex) expansion into capital city services as the reason behind its fall into administration, as pressure on the government to help fund its regional services intensifies.
Albanese said the regional connectivity Rex provides must continue, but its decision to fly on the Golden Triangle between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne had been misguided. His comments have ramped up the blame game between political parties, aviation experts and industry leaders as to why two Australian airlines have hit financial woes in less than three months.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed Rexs business strategy for its failure, while former competition tsar Rod Sims points to years of policy failures. Credit: Andrew Taylor
It is a tough industry, aviation, Albanese told reporters on Thursday.
There are a range of issues relating to Rex. One is that a regional airline made decisions to invest in routes that they hadnt previously gone in.
High above Antarctica, a polar vortex swirls. When its in robust shape, its icy winds swirl in a circular pattern, keeping a ring of freezing weather contained above the frozen continent.
This year, something else is happening. As warmer than average air temperatures have been recorded above Antarctica, the polar vortex has weakened, causing it to lose stability.
As its circular pattern slackens, its edges have pushed into southern Australia, creating icy conditions and freezing winds.
On Tuesday, Sydney shivered through an apparent temperature of 0.6 degrees, despite recording 7.6 degrees at 7.30am. In Melbourne on Thursday, the temperature plummeted to minus 1 at Avalon Airport at 7.40am.
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Eating outJust open This friendly wine bar is winning over Glen Iris with $20 pastas and chicken-salt spicy margs With no hospo experience, only a passion for good food, wine and service, two couples have transformed their local wine bar into Central Park Cellars. Tomas Telegramma and Dani Valent August 1, 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
As featured in the September 2024 hit list. See all stories .
More openings you need to know about An old Elwood milk bar has been reborn as Dickens Street Grocer
City favourite Miznon opens a suburban spin-off (with new dishes)
opens a suburban spin-off (with new dishes) Cosy Italian Lulu is bringing all things carby and cheesy to Malvern When Glen Iris wine bar Tom Pockett Cellars closed, a quartet of regulars rallied to buy it. Despite having no hospo experience, they turned it into Central Park Cellars. Since the bars reboot late last year, the long-time local couples behind it Michael and Paula Stephenson, and Fiona Doyle and Craig Buffham have been working to incrementally zhoosh up the experience, while keeping it familiar for fellow regulars. Central Park Cellars in Glen Iris is evolving into a local destination. We didnt want to throw it on its head, says Michael. A lot of people loved it as it was.
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The industrial Burke Road space is now brighter, with more comfy seating inside and out. And bringing on Sardinian-born chef Andrea Serreli (ex-Tipico) gave the menu an Italian edge: think charred octopus with nduja romesco and handmade gnocchi with slow-cooked duck ragu. Plus, $20 pasta or risotto deals on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Quality, reasonably priced wines are aplenty, but theyre shaking more cocktails than expected. The Salted Hen is Central Park Cellars take on the spicy marg. People loved the chicken salt on our chips so much we added it to the rim of a cocktail, says Fiona. The Salted Hen is a spicy marg with house-made jalapeno syrup. Open Wed 3pm-late; Thu-Sat noon-late; Sun noon-9pm
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155 Burke Road, Glen Iris, centralparkcellars.com.au Tomas Telegramma A southside milk bar is reimagined, complete with speedy coffee thats a rarity in these parts An old Elwood milk bar has been reborn as Dickens Street Grocer, a smart food store with outdoor seating for pastries, coffee and sandwiches. Its a perfect location, a thoroughfare between St Kilda Botanical Gardens and the beach, says owner Nicholas Totos.
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Dickens Street Grocer has transformed an old milk bar a few streets from the beach. Supplied Fresh produce, dry goods and a well-stocked fridge mean locals can swing by for gourmet basics, upmarket treats, bunches of flowers and ready meals. There was instant interest from residents, who are already coming by in droves, often with their dogs. Oat lattes seem to be the brew of choice around here, says Totos. And the first change we made was to install hooks for dogs - everyone seems to have one or two. The liquor licence process is underway; as the weather warms up, one window may become a panini and smoothie hatch; and there are plans to go all-out with window decorations for Halloween and Christmas. Dickens Street Grocer in Elwood combines cafe and convenient corner store in one. Supplied
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Totos family owns Ambient Food Group, which includes a wholesale bakery (its bread stocks the shelves here), South Melbourne Markets Emerald Deli and a number of cafes in city buildings. The team is used to serving office workers who want a speedy flat white. I noticed when we were looking around [this] area that I sometimes waited a long time for a coffee. We could be doing the quickest coffee in Elwood, says Totos. Open daily 7am-4pm 48 Dickens Street, Elwood, instagram.com/dickensstreetgrocer Dani Valent
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Miznons cult cauliflower is now available at a second location Hardware Lane pita palace Miznon is bringing its Israeli street food to a sun-drenched corner on Derby Street, Collingwood. Its the second Melbourne location for the brand, started by Israeli chef Eyal Shani. Born in Tel Aviv in 2011, Miznon then expanded to Paris, Vienna, New York City and, in 2017, to Melbourne. Miznons second location in Collingwood. Simon Schluter With more of a neighbourhood feel than its CBD counterpart, Miznon Collingwood has a red-brick facade and huge windows all around that open up to the street.
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The menu is mostly familiar because it wouldnt be Miznon without the golden-crusted baby cauliflower, roasted whole, and the abu kamal (like a lamb kebab in a pita, says venue manager Nicole Guzman), a long-time bestseller among meat-eaters. But there are a few new dishes youll only find here. Collingwoods reputation precedes it, says head chef Afik Gal, so weve added some more vegetarian and vegan options. One is a sabich featuring oven-baked eggplant, either in a pita or on a plate alongside potato, hard-boiled egg and more. Miznons only-in-Collingwood plant-based sabich pita. Simon Schluter And if you like it hot, theres a mezze plate with three fiery sauces including house-made harissa topped with a grilled chilli and pita off-cuts for dipping. Open Tue-Sat noon-3pm, 5.30pm-9pm
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54 Derby Street, Collingwood, miznonaustralia.com Tomas Telegramma Malvern strip strengthens its dining cred with cosy Italian local Lulu When Angus Brettingham-Moore opened Essie in an old Malvern music school in 2019, he hadnt planned for the wine bar to double as a restaurant. But he always thought the Station Street strip could do with more dining options. Five years later, he has taken matters into his own hands, opening warmly lit 45-seat Italian diner Lulu less than 100 metres down the road, so it and Essie can feed off each other.
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Earthy tones, including that of a burnt-orange banquette, make Lulu cosier. Arianna Harry Photography Theres already been a large contingent of diners I know from Essie, says Brettingham-Moore. Its lovely to see those guys and their continued support. The lure? Crowd-pleasing Italian dishes by chef Rob Bramante (ex-Tiamo). Start with fluffy focaccia and freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters with Campari vinaigrette. Then move on to leopard-crusted, stone-baked pizzas made with a 72-hour-fermented dough (the mortadella, pistachio and buffalo mozzarella is a clear-cut favourite, says Brettingham-Moore) and spanner-crab linguine with prawn bisque and brandy sauce. Mortadella, pistachio and buffalo mozzarella pizza has been an early hit at Lulu. Arianna Harry Photography
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If youre partial to a post-meal coffee hit, you can get it in a few different forms: in a big slab of tiramisu, in a caffeinated riff on the negroni, and in a classic espresso martini. The cosy space, curated by local interior designer Alexandra Cerny, has been kitted out in earthy tones, including a curved burnt-orange banquette, sand-coloured tiles and textured walls. A statement steel-topped bar was made for casual drop-in wines. Open Wed-Thu 5pm-late; Fri-Sun noon-late 11 Station Street, Malvern, lulumalvern.com Tomas Telegramma
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Eating outNow closed Sydney dining scene hit with its biggest closure yet Cirrus Dining co-owners Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt of the Bentley Restaurant Group have announced the waterfront venue will have its final service on September 1. Scott Bolles August 1, 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
Sydneys gruelling toll of hospitality closures has claimed perhaps its biggest scalp yet, with the Bentley Restaurant Group announcing it will close its luxe two-hat Cirrus Dining at Barangaroo. The seafood-focussed fine-diner will serve its last abalone schnitzel on September 1 after an eight-year run on the Barangaroo waterfront. The Barangaroo restaurant when it opened in 2016. Christopher Pearce The development has seen a number of recent closures, with Hamish Ingham and Rebecca Lines closing Tequila Daisy and Korean restaurateur David Bae shutting the doors early at his Soot pop-up. In a joint statement from Bentley Restaurant Group co-owners Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt, they described the decision to close as bittersweet.
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Whilst we wanted to extend our lease, we were unable to strike a deal with our new landlord, the statement said. While the pair were disappointed with the decision, they said it makes way for new opportunities, which will be announced soon. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved at Cirrus. We feel like we are going out on a high, with two hats in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, as well as currently holding the title of the Australian Wine List of the Year. Marron with lemonade fruit and sea banana from the opening menu. Christopher Pearce Savage and Hildebrandt were seen as key signings when Barangaroo opened for business, and the corner site Cirrus Dining occupied was so prized it was briefly home to, prior to their opening, the 2016 pop-up from international food royalty Rene Redzepi from Noma restaurant in Copenhagen.
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The site didnt come without its problems. In Cirrus early years it faced towards another building site, Crown Sydney, a looming reminder of even more restaurant competition on the way. In recent times, construction has begun on the waterfront at Pier Pavilion. A Barangaroo restaurateur, who asked not to be named, said mid-week trade had been affected by nearby office workers slow to return to a five-day week following COVID. Brent Savage (left) and Bentley Groups Nick Hildebrandt at one of their other projects, Brasserie 1930. Kristoffer Paulsen Bentley Restaurant Group has been busy elsewhere, recently rebooting Monopole in the Sydney CBD as a French restaurant and last year opening an Asian-inspired restaurant, King Clarence. Cirrus Dining will host a handful of events before closing including a Crablis Sunday, a Cirrus alumni event and for the restaurants final service on Fathers Day.
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A breakaway faction of anti-coeducation campaigners have failed in their bid to stop plans by Newington College to admit girls to the historic private school.
At a special general meeting at the colleges Centennial Hall on Wednesday night, members of the schools old boys union elected Edward Miller as its new president, defeating the Save Newington group by approximately 1400 votes to 1100.
All-boys private school Newington College plans to become fully co-educational by 2033. Credit: Steven Siewert
The Old Newingtonians Union has been embroiled in a bitter public feud for months, with one group of members, known as Save Newington, opposing the move to co-ed, while another faction, Your ONU, is more supportive of the move to enrol girls.
Miller, who graduated from Newington in 2008 and led the Your ONU coalition, campaigned on a unity ticket, vowing not to resist the all-boys schools plans to become fully co-educational within a decade.
Australian inventions Wi-Fi, the black box, plastic skin and the bionic ear have swept the world.
So did the modern milk bar, a 1932 invention by Greek-Australian entrepreneur Mick Adams, real name Joachim Tavlaridis, touting the milkshakes as a glass full of health for four pennies.
The shopfront as it looked in 1932. Credit: National Project Archives
Yet for decades, the modern milk bar with banks of electric milkshake makers was thought to be an American innovation or was attributed to another cafe owner.
The record was corrected on Wednesday after years of lobbying by Adams family. They include his daughters, Lilian Keldoulis and Helen Gerondis, who have since died, the Greek community, historian Leonard Janiszewski and photographer Effy Alexakis.
Large bushland blocks similar to where two police officers and a curious neighbour were gunned down by religious extremists in Queensland were known for having mantraps and signs threatening to shoot upon entry, a coroner has heard.
The three people were killed at a remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, on the afternoon of December 12, 2022 when an arrest warrant turned into an ambush.
The shooters, Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train, armed with high-powered rifles, were killed by responding police after a tense, hours-long standoff.
Constable Craig Loveland testified on Thursday at the inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court.
A review which aims to identify potential sites for a new state primary school in Brisbanes western suburbs should be finished by the end of the year.
Last year, the Education Department pushed out the opening of a new inner-west school by five years, with authorities considering deals with the private sector to get it built.
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The flood-prone Toowong Bowls Club site had been chosen as the preferred site to ease enrolment pressure on Indooroopilly, Ironside and Toowong state schools, with the new school set to open in 2024.
But the Toowong plan was scrapped after community opposition, and the government also said the $90 million school was not required as soon as anticipated.
In budget estimates, Education Minister Di Farmer confirmed a review to identify potential sites for a new primary school would completed by the end of 2024.
The difficulty of finding a site in quite built up areas is obviously significant, she said.
The Hamad crime syndicate remains a live and active threat in Melbournes underworld war and to the safety of the public, with police telling a court they fear a mass casualty event despite a slew of arrests and operations against the top-ranked gang.
The polices claim was made during a bail hearing for suspected lieutenant Majid Alibadi, who has been accused of orchestrating a campaign of extortion, firebombing attacks and witness intimidation as part of the so-called tobacco war on behalf of exiled kingpin Kazem Hamad.
Majid Alibadi. Credit: Jason South
The gang has allegedly been linked by police intelligence and underworld sources to more than 70 firebombings, numerous shootings and at least two murders since Hamad was released from prison in mid-2023 and deported to his native Iraq.
Alibadi, who was arrested and charged with extortion and arson offences in January, has been labelled by police as Hamads regional operations manager.
Richmond player Marlion Pickett will face trial over allegations he was involved in stealing more than $380,000 in a spate of commercial burglaries across Perth last summer after pleading not guilty on Thursday.
The 32-year-old is facing 12 charges, including stealing, criminal damage to a property and aggravated burglary, after police alleged Pickett and his brother-in-law, along with four other co-accused, targeted businesses in Perth and the northern suburbs of Nollamara, Girrawheen and Beechboro, and the regional town of Beverley, between December 2022 and January 2023, taking money from safes.
Marlion Pickett (centre) outside court in Perth. Credit: AAP
On one occasion, $325,000 was allegedly taken from a currency exchange.
After Pickett was charged, prosecutors alleged he was tied to the crimes because his phone pinged near one of the burglary locations at the time the offence was being committed.
For a while, Marie* complied with the threats from her ex-boyfriend.
The business student living in Perth told her if she did not help him with assignments and send him money, he would send naked pictures of her to friends, family and the wider community.
The student was jailed over the revenge porn threats. Credit: Louise Kennerley
Marie, 22, lived in Mauritius and was petrified of the photos being distributed and damaging her and her familys reputation.
She claimed the threats made to her by Karan Singh Purmah, now 33, led to her feeling suicidal, so she took action and went to the local authorities with the text messages in hand.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. In honor of its 150th anniversary, Kapital Bank, the country's first bank, organized a training program titled The Beginning of the Right Path in collaboration with Baku State University. During the event, students participated in various training sessions, intellectual and entertaining games, and the winning team was awarded a trophy. The main objective of the event was to support students personal development and career planning.
As part of the training program, Kapital Bank employees conducted sessions on topics such as personal development and teamwork skills, IT security, your rights in the workplace, and career planning and advancement.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Alish Aghamirzayev, Vice-Rector for Social Issues, Student Affairs and Public Relations at Baku State University, discussed the social projects implemented at the university and emphasized that the joint project with Kapital Bank would be beneficial for the students career building.
It should be noted that more than 100 members of the BSU Volunteers organization, the Student Trade Union Committee, and the Student Youth Organization also participated in the training program.
Kapital Bank, the country's first bank, is part of PASHA Holding. Kapital Bank has the largest service network in Azerbaijan with 119 branches and 53 departments all over the country. For more detailed information about the banks products and services, please refer to https://kapitalbank.az website, 196 Call Centre or the banks various social network pages. To apply for a consumer loan visit https://kbl.az/prgtk, for a Birbank installment card visit https://kbl.az/prcrc.
Emma Tucker, the Journals top editor, called it a day of great joy and said: I cannot even begin to describe the happiness and relief that this news brings and I know all of you wil feel the same. Biden placed securing the release of Americans held wrongfully overseas at the top of his foreign policy agenda for the six months before he leaves office. In his Oval Office address to the American people discussing his recent decision to drop his bid for a second term, the Democrat said, Were also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world. Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan pose with an American flag in the airport lounge in Ankara, Turkey after being freed. Credit: Getty Images In addition to Kara-Murza, a Kremlin critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer serving 25 years on charges of treason widely seen as politically motivated, the Russians released included Oleg Orlov, co-chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial, and associates of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Five German citizens also were released, including a German national held in Belarus. The Russian side got Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany in 2021 of killing a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park two years earlier, apparently on the orders of Moscows security services.
Russia also received two alleged sleeper agents who were jailed in Slovenia, as well as three men charged by federal authorities in the US, including Roman Seleznev, a convicted computer hacker and the son of a Russian lawmaker, and Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected Russian intelligence operative accused of providing American-made electronics and ammunition to the Russian military. Norway returned an academic arrested on suspicions of being a Russian spy, and Poland also sent back a man it detained. Putin gave Russian nationals freed in a historic prisoner exchange with the West a heros welcome on Thursday as they stepped off a plane in Moscow, promising them state awards and a conversation about their futures. Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Vadim Krasikov upon arrival of freed Russian prisoners at Vnukovo government airport outside Moscow, Russia. Credit: AP The first to disembark, wearing a baseball cap and a tracksuit top, was Krasikov, the hitman, whom Putin hugged. Inside the airport building, Putin, who looked visibly pleased, told the returnees:
First of all, I would like to congratulate you all on your return to the Motherland. Now I would like to address those of you who have a direct connection to military service. I want to thank you for your loyalty to your oath and your duty to your Motherland, which has never forgotten you for a moment. All of you will be presented with state awards. I will see you again, we will talk about your future. Speculation had mounted for weeks that a swap was near because of a confluence of unusual developments, including a startingly quick trial and conviction for Gershkovich, which Washington regarded as a sham. He was sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison. In a trial that concluded in two days in secrecy in the same week as Gershkovichs, Kurmasheva was convicted on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military that her family, employer and US officials rejected.
Also in recent days, several other figures imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine or over their work with Navalny were moved from prison to unknown locations. Gershkovich was arrested March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, without offering any evidence, that he was gathering secret information for the US. The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, he moved to Russia in 2017 to work for The Moscow Times newspaper before being hired by the Journal in 2022. He had more than a dozen closed hearings over the extension of his pretrial detention or appeals for his release. He was taken to the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared in the defendants cage, often smiling for the many cameras. Alexander Vinnik is escorted by police officers from a Greek courthouse in 2017. Credit: Giannis Papanikos/AP US officials last year made an offer to swap Gershkovich that was rejected by Russia, and Bidens Democratic administration had not made public any possible deals since then.
Beirut: Lebanons powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah vowed a definite response to Israels killing of its top military commander, saying the strike had crossed red lines and the decades-old rivalry between foes had entered a new phase.
The resistance cannot but respond. This is definite, said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in a televised address on Thursday (US time) to mark the funeral of the slain commander, attended by mourners clad in black waving the groups yellow-and-green flag.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks at the funeral of their top commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike. Credit: AP
We are looking for a real response, not a performative response, and for real opportunities. A studied response, Nasrallah said.
An Israeli strike on Hezbollahs stronghold in the southern suburb of Beirut on Tuesday killed Fuad Shukr, head of the groups military operations, along with an Iranian military adviser and five civilians.
For months now, Netanyahu has viewed a war with Iran as a potent means to camouflage his failure to eradicate Hamas (whose military leader, Yahya Sinwar, remains in charge of the resistance), and secure the release of Israeli hostages 10 months into his militarys scorched-earth operations in Gaza. Such a war would also, in his mind, deflect widespread opposition at home and abroad. Additionally, Netanyahu has sought to oblige the United States Israels key security guarantor to instrumentally participate in a war that Israel cannot win on its own.
The killing of Haniyeh and Shukur fulfil several objectives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It tallies with his aim to hunt Hamas leaders wherever they are, to cripple Hezbollah as a threat to Israel, and to signal powerfully to Tehrans leaders that it can reach wherever and whatever it wants in Iran.
Israel has once more daringly challenged its arch enemies, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, to retaliate. The potential for a regional inferno with major powers involvement has never been higher.
Israel knows it is no longer a dominant power in the region. Its vulnerability was first tested by Hamas October 7 offensives and subsequent resilience and Hezbollahs cross-border firing, with its flailing dominance in the region tested again in April during Irans direct missile and drone attacks in response to Israels bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus. Though most of the Iranian projectiles were shot down, it was US, British, French and Jordanian forces that oversaw the successful interceptions.
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The US shares Israels opposition to the threat of an Iranian-led axis of resistance, of which Hezbollah is the most powerful sub-national militant force in the world, and has committed itself to defend Israel in the event of an all-out war. Even so, it is fully cognisant of the wider danger of such a conflict.
America knows that Iran enjoys close strategic ties with its major adversaries Russia and China, not to mention North Korea and that their support cannot be ruled out should a regional confrontation come to pass. As a result, the Biden administration has opposed any direct US participation in a regional war and has engaged in intense diplomacy to prevent further escalation. Yet, one of the biggest problems for the US is that it lacks the necessary leverage to restrain either Israel or its adversaries. Netanyahu has persistently defied Washingtons cautions. And Tehran, along with its allies, views the US as a hegemonic power and committed backer of Israel despite its continued illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and its rejection of a two-state solution.
Israel crossed a redline by assassinating Haniyeh on Iranian soil. Normally based in Qatar, he was an honoured guest visiting to celebrate the recent election of President Masoud Pezeshkian. The strike breached Iranian security and sovereignty, and embarrassed the Iranian leadership for not being able to protect a visiting ally. Though Pezeshkian comes from the moderate faction of politics and has a reformist policy agenda, he now has no option but to join hands with his conservative opponents, who swirl around the powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in any direct or indirect retaliatory actions towards Israel. What form this retaliation, along with that of Hezbollah, will take and when it eventuates will be critical.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten, under the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina, has taken swift and decisive action to address the tragic shooting incident that occurred last Sunday.
In the wake of this incident, responsible ministries and departments have commenced preliminary discussions, investigations, and established agreements aimed at enhancing policies promoting public safety and preventing similar occurrences in the future.
Ensuring the safety and security of our citizens and visitors is of paramount importance, said Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina. We are committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to implement effective measures that will protect our community.
In addition to the governments proactive measures, Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina, who is also the current acting Minister of Health, played a crucial role in facilitating the air ambulance evacuation of the injured music artist to his home country of Trinidad. This complex operation required coordination with various stakeholders to ensure the artists safe return.
Reaching out to the necessary authorities and ensuring the artists safe evacuation was a priority for us, stated Prime Minister Mercelina. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the police department, the dedicated staff at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), and all those involved for their unwavering support and professionalism during this critical time.
Special thanks to the police department that guaranteed the safe environment for the health professionals to execute their tasks.
The music artist was successfully transported early Wednesday evening, following initial challenges in securing a host hospital in Trinidad. This delay was promptly addressed by the Prime Minister in cooperation with SZV, SMMC, and the relevant authorities in Trinidad to arrange for the payment and logistics of the air ambulance evacuation.
We are relieved to report that the music artist has arrived safely in Trinidad and remains in stable condition, where he is expected to receive further medical treatment, added Prime Minister Mercelina.
The Government of St. Maarten remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all individuals within its borders and will continue to work diligently with local and international partners to uphold this commitment.
UK's Starmer warns social media firms to uphold law over misinformation
London, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned social media companies Thursday they must uphold laws around spreading incendiary misinformation, following unrest blamed on the sharing of unverified details about the Southport knife attack.
Addressing the nation from his Downing Street office and residence, Starmer pointed the finger at the role of the firms in two nights of violence after Monday's stabbing spree in the seaside town near Liverpool.
"Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime," the UK leader said.
"It's happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere."
Monday's attack left three young girls dead and five more children critically injured alongside two adults.
A 17-year-old, named Thursday as Axel Rudakubana, has been hit with a slew of murder and attempted murder charges.
Social media platforms like X have been heavily criticised for helping to spread misinformation about the suspect, including around his identity, faith and background.
Speculation online that he was Muslim or an immigrant helped fuel anger around the attack, according to experts, with rioters targeting a mosque in the Southport disturbances.
In his remarks, Starmer acknowledged there was "a balance to be struck" by social media platforms over tackling misinformation online while permitting free speech.
But he warned: "Inciting violence online is a criminal offence and that is not a matter of free speech. It is a criminal offence."
The country's former chief prosecutor, the UK leader added platform providers' services were "an amazing opportunity that we all enjoy as a country" but cautioned "there is also a responsibility that goes with it".
"That's a space for a mature conversation to take place," he said.
Starmer was speaking after meeting UK police chiefs to discuss the two nights of unrest seen since Monday's tragedy.
He vowed "we will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe" following the Downing Street discussion.
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Apple logs higher sales, quarterly profit beats forecast
San Francisco, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Apple's quarterly profit rose from a year ago, the company said Thursday, besting analyst forecasts and giving its shares a boost in after-hours trading.
The iPhone maker reported a $21.4 billion profit in the three months ending in June, on $85.8 billion in revenue over the period.
The revenue is a new record for the June quarter, and a five percent jump from a year ago, CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.
Cook added that the company looks forward to sharing new tools involving Apple Intelligence with users -- referring to its suite of AI features.
Apple has been under pressure to win over doubters on its artificial intelligence strategy after Microsoft and Google rolled out products in swift succession. The Cupertino-based company unveiled Apple Intelligence in June.
"For better or worse, Apple has married its AI efforts to other key parts of its core business, particularly the iPhone," said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne.
He added that the effectiveness of its AI investments will mainly be evaluated through device sales and potential growth in subscription revenue.
On Thursday, Apple reported iPhone revenue of $39.3 billion for the quarter, slightly below the same period a year ago.
It logged solid growth in the iPad segment, with $7.2 billion in revenue.
Apple added in a statement that it hit a new high in active devices across geographic segments, without giving specific figures.
The company's shares edged up 0.5 percent in after-hours trading.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Yelo Bank offers farmers a credit card with excellent conditions for daily and emergency expenses. The Bank introduces an agro-credit card for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in agriculture, with the following benefits:
Loan amount: up to 5000 AZN
Credit line term: 24 months
Grace period: up to 12 months
Possibility of reusing the credit line
Fast registration
The main advantage of the card is a grace period of up to 12 months, applicable to all withdrawn funds, regardless of the amount.
The Yelo application, with a simple interface, is available 24/7 to control expenses and loan payments. The agrocredit card is free, and cash withdrawals at Yelo Bank ATMs and offices, as well as at Azerpocht ATMs, are commission-free.
Yelo Bank, rapidly developing in digital services, will soon introduce new products for business owners and improve a number of current services. More details: https://bit.ly/3yctDsf
Need more information about our banking services? Then call 981 or visit our Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, or yelo.az accounts.
Yelo Bank Brighter Banking!
Canadian warship sails through Taiwan Strait
Taipei, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Taiwan's defence ministry said Thursday that a Canadian warship sailed a day earlier through the Taiwan Strait, a sensitive waterway separating the democratic island from China.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military and political pressure as relations have plunged in recent years.
The navies of the United States and its Western allies, meanwhile, have increased "freedom of navigation" crossings through the strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering Beijing.
Taipei said Thursday that the Canadian ship's transit took place Wednesday, with the warship travelling "from north to south".
"The military has monitored the situation and no anomaly was detected in our surroundings," the defence ministry statement said.
The Halifax-class frigate "HMCS Montreal recently conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait", the Canadian Joint Operations Command confirmed on social media platform X without providing a date.
"Canada supports the rules-based international order by operating in accordance with international law," it said.
"Our activities promote peace, resilience, and security in the Indo Pacific."
Though Taiwan has only a dozen diplomatic allies, it maintains strong partnerships with various Western democracies like the United States, which is its biggest weapons seller.
Last November, US and Canadian warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, their second joint passage in two months -- a move that put Beijing's armed forces on "high alert", according to China's Eastern Theatre Command.
Taiwan's military has been reporting near-daily sightings of Chinese warships around its waters, as well as sorties by drones and fighter jets around the island.
On Thursday, the defence ministry said 29 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels were detected in a 24-hour window ending at 6 am (2200 GMT Wednesday).
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BP to develop new oil and gas fields in Iraq
Baghdad, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Iraq signed an agreement with British energy giant British Petroleum on Thursday to develop four oil and gas fields in the northern province of Kirkuk.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani and BP's CEO Murray Auchincloss, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani's media office said.
"The memorandum includes the rehabilitation and development of the four oilfields under the North Oil Company in Kirkuk: the Kirkuk oilfield, Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz oilfields," the statement said.
"This initiative is part of the government's efforts to optimally invest in promising energy opportunities, aiming to increase and enhance oil production and gas and solar energy investments," it added.
BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.
According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.
But Iraq aims to keep exploring to boost its crude reserves to more than 160 billion barrels, Abdel Ghani said in May.
Despite its vast oil reserves, Iraq hopes to increase natural gas production to help reduce dependence on imports from neighbouring Iran, a crucial supplier for Iraqi power generation.
Sudani has repeatedly stressed the need for Iraq to diversify energy sources to ease Iraq's chronic power outages, especially during summer.
To reduce its dependence on Iranian gas, Baghdad has started importing electricity from Jordan and Turkey, and it hopes to start connecting to the electricity grid of Gulf countries later this year.
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Israel confirms Hamas military chief Deif killed in July strike
Jerusalem, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Israel's army confirmed on Thursday that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed in an air strike last month in the southern Gaza Strip.
The announcement came a day after Hamas and Iran said the Palestinian movement's chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Israel has not commented on that report.
"Mohammed Deif, the Osama bin Laden of Gaza was eliminated" on July 13, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said.
This is a "significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas" in Gaza, Gallant added.
The army said fighter jets had struck Khan Yunis on July 13 and "following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike".
He was killed along with one of his top commanders, Rafa Salama, the military said.
Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said more than 90 people had been killed in that strike but Hamas has denied Deif was among them.
"Deif initiated, planned, and executed the October 7th massacre," the military said.
On that day the militant Islamist group attacked southern Israel, resulting in the death of 1,197 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Deif became head of Hamas's armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in 2002.
He was among Israel's most wanted man for nearly three decades and on a US list of "international terrorists" since 2015.
"During the war, he commanded Hamas's terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas's military wing," the military said.
Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab al-Masri, was born in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in 1965.
The word Deif means "visitor" or "guest" and some say he chose it because he was always on the move with Israeli hunters on his trail, never spending more than one night in the same place.
- 'Cat with nine lives' -
In videos, Deif has appeared masked or shown in a silhouette, while rare photographs have circulated of one of Israel's most wanted men.
In January, Israel released a picture of Deif showing him with one eye missing, without specifying when it was taken.
His enemies dubbed him the "cat with nine lives" because of his many close calls with death.
In 2014, Israel launched an air strike on Gaza, killing Deif's wife and a seven-month-old son.
It was Deif who announced the start of the Hamas attack -- operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" -- in an audio message on October 7.
Deif became involved in Hamas in the 1980s when he was a student at the Gaza Islamic University.
He is said to have played a key role in the huge network of tunnels built beneath Gaza.
He was detained by Israel since the 1980s and spent about two years in a prison run by the Palestinian Authority. He was released or escaped, reports said.
In May, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested a warrant for his arrest -- alongside with Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza who is still being hunted by Israel -- for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas political leader Haniyeh, who was killed Wednesday in the Iranian capital, was also on that list.
The prosecutor has also sought warrants for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Gallant.
During the October 7 attack, militants also seized 251 people, 111 are still captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's military campaign since then has killed 39,480 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the territory, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.
Sweden and US sign cooperation pact on nuclear energy
Stockholm, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Sweden's government said Thursday that it had signed an agreement with the United States to support the development of new nuclear power in both countries.
The two countries "will exchange experience on issues related to policy, research and innovation related to supply chains, financing models, skills supply and development of advanced nuclear fuel," the government said in a statement.
"This is good for Sweden, the United States, the labour market and competitiveness," Energy Minister Ebba Busch said in the statement.
The government said that both Sweden and the United States "have extensive experience of nuclear power and there are plans in both countries to develop it".
In November 2023, Stockholm presented a roadmap for a "massive expansion" of nuclear power in the coming decades to meet growing electricity demand.
As a first step, Stockholm intends to build reactors with a total capacity of at least 2,500 megawatts by 2035, followed by a "massive expansion" by 2045.
Sweden currently operates six nuclear reactors at three different nuclear power plants.
Former Russian MP says wounded by drone attack in Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
A drone attack near Kyiv injured former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov, he said Thursday, posting pictures of his bloodied face.
Ponomaryov, 48, fled to Ukraine and gained citizenship after opposing Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Ponomaryov said that he was hurt by an overnight drone attack on his house near Kyiv.
"This thing blew in very forcefully, right in front of the threshold of the house, and loads of shrapnel flew into me," Ponomaryov wrote on Facebook.
He said that the attack happened at night after the all-clear had sounded and that he did not hear air defences firing at the drone.
He posted photos showing fragments of a Russian Shahed drone, trees cut by an attack and a crater in a paved area.
"My guards ran up and put out the fire quickly but there was a lot of blood and I had to go to hospital very quickly," he said.
He said that he was around five metres "from death" and that the attack came after drones were downed near the house on Tuesday night, blowing out several windows.
Ukraine's National Police said a drone attack on Thursday morning in the Kyiv region wounded a man and his wife, who were hospitalised, and damaged two private houses.
It posted a photo of a large house with windows blown out and damaged roof and balconies.
A police spokesperson told AFP that she could not disclose personal data of those injured.
Ponomaryov was a Russian lawmaker from 2007 to 2016 and was the only MP to vote against the annexation of Crimea.
Charged with embezzlement shortly after, he went into exile and obtained Ukrainian citizenship.
Until this week he headed the political wing of the Freedom of Russia Legion, a unit of ethnic Russians who are fighting on the side of Kyiv and have carried out armed raids across the border.
The Legion had announced Wednesday that it had unilaterally cut ties with Ponomaryov and no longer had a political wing.
"Unfortunately in these two years we have not managed to reach the announced political aims," it said on Telegram.
Ponomaryov wrote on Facebook that "Russian authorities have been trying to get me for a long time" and that he has "very serious guards" after four assassination attempts.
Ukraine's air force said Thursday that its forces downed seven drones overnight including in the Kyiv region.
'Catastrophic' gearbox failure led to deadly 2023 US Osprey crash
Washington, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
A "catastrophic" failure of a gearbox caused the crash of a CV-22B Osprey aircraft off Japan last year that killed eight military personnel, the US Air Force said Thursday.
The late November crash during a military exercise prompted a multi-month grounding of the aircraft -- which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and also fly like an airplane -- and a more than five-month investigation into the incident.
The crash "was caused by a catastrophic failure of the left-hand prop rotor gearbox that created a rapidly cascading failure of the aircraft's drive system, resulting in an instantaneous asymmetric lift condition that was unrecoverable" by the crew, the Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement.
Contributing factors to the crash "include inadequate risk management and ineffective crew resource management," it said.
Ospreys have suffered a string of fatal accidents, including a crash in northern Australia that killed three US Marines in August, and another in Norway during NATO training exercises in 2022 that left four dead.
Three Marines were killed in 2017 when another Osprey crashed off Australia's north coast and 19 Marines died when their Osprey crashed during drills in Arizona in 2000.
The United States also temporarily grounded the aircraft in Japan in 2016 after an Osprey crash-landed off Okinawa.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special assignments, Elchin Amirbayov, has discussed the Baku-Yerevan normalization process in the US, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Embassy in the US, and Azerbaijan's Permanent Mission to the UN.
During a working visit to the US, Amirbayov held a series of meetings with senior representatives of the US government, during which cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US was also discussed.
According to the embassy, he met with Special Assistant to the US President, Senior Director for Europe at NSC (National Security Council), Michael Carpenter, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien, Principal DAS EUR (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs), Yuri Kim, Director, Office of Central Asian Affairs, Brian Stimmler, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper, and Senator Pete Ricketts for Nebraska.
"Constructive and useful discussions were held covering the bilateral agenda, the current state of affairs in the peace process, and recent developments in the region," the embassy said.
Amirbayov also met with the representatives of prominent think tanks at the roundtable organized by the US Institute of Peace. Azerbaijan-US relations, the current status and prospects of the ongoing Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process, and regional and international security issues were discussed during the event.
According to Azerbaijan's Permanent Mission to the UN, within the framework of a working visit to New York, Amirbayov met with Dicarlo Rosemary, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and discussed the current status and prospects of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process and recent developments in the region.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Hezbollah killing was Israel's only air strike that night: army
Jerusalem, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Israel's army said Thursday it carried out only one air strike in the region overnight on Tuesday when it killed Hezbollah's military commander in a Beirut suburb.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari was commenting when asked about the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an unclaimed attack in Tehran before dawn on Wednesday.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the death of Haniyeh, which has sent tensions soaring and raised fears of reprisals by Iran. Israel has claimed responsibility for the strike that killed Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr.
Rear Admiral Hagari, when asked about a report that Haniyeh was killed by a pre-planted bomb rather than a missile, said Israel carried out only one air strike across the Middle East that night.
"I want to make things clear: there was no other Israeli aerial attack, neither by missile or drone, that night in all the Middle East. I won't say anything more," he told an online briefing.
The New York Times, quoting Middle East and US officials, said on Thursday that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb that had been smuggled into the guesthouse where he was staying.
Iranian media have said he died in an air strike at 2:00 am Wednesday on his lodgings in northern Tehran.
Hagari insisted that Israel, backed by its allies, was ready for any possible reprisals.
"Our defensive systems are very good. Additionally, we have international partners who have increased their forces in the region to assist us against the threats," he said.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza erupted on October 7 after Palestinian militants attacked Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 people during the attack, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Since the October 7 attack, Israel has mounted a blistering military campaign in Gaza that has killed at least 39,480 people, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation, Trend reports.
Dear madam President,
On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all your people on the occasion of the national holiday of the Swiss Confederation.
I believe that the relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland will continue to develop based on friendship and cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in line with the interests of our peoples. I am confident that we will cooperate closely with Switzerland in the fight against climate change within the framework of COP29, which will be hosted by our country in November.
On such a remarkable day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities, and the Swiss Confederation everlasting welfare and prosperity, the letter reads.
During her testimony at Nassars trial she said: The scars of this horrific abuse continue to live with all of us. I worked incredibly hard to make sure that my presence could help maintain a connection between the failures [around the Nassar case] and the competition at Tokyo 2020, she said. She added: That has proven to be an exceptionally difficult burden for me to carry, particularly when required to travel to Tokyo without the support of any of my family. I am a strong individual and I will persevere, but I never should have been left alone to suffer the abuse of Larry Nassar. And the only reason I did, was because of the failures that lie at the heart of the abuse that you are now asked to investigate.
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Ukraines air force said on Wednesday that it had shot down all 89 Shahed drones launched by Russia in a night-time attack, in what was one of the largest drone barrages this year.
As ever, we continue to speak to our communities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to ensure we have our teams where they need to be and we are constantly reviewing our patrol plans to reassure residents.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on awarding cinema workers, Trend reports.
Azerbaijani cinema employees were awarded for their merits in the development of this sphere.
The decree, guided by paragraphs 23 and 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, tasked to:
1. award the following persons with the Taraggi medal for merits in the development of Azerbaijani cinematography:
Ramziya Jilgamli
Gulshan Guliyeva
Rovshan Mammadov
Bayram Najafov
Adalat Yunusov
2. provide a personal pension of the President of Azerbaijan for many years of fruitful activity in the development of Azerbaijani cinematography to the following persons:
Firangiz Gurbanova
Akif Rustamov
And I would ask that anybody that does intend to engage in any form of protest activity follows the advice that we issue to the public regularly on this, the advice is you should engage with the police and to stay lawful, you must not endanger the safety of yourself or anybody else.
I have visited the scene myself this evening and have been in touch with the Chief Inspector. This incident was exacerbated by people from outside our community who came here determined to cause unrest. I would like to pay tribute to the brave police officers who worked hard to restore order.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. A total of 94 international observers from 23 countries and five organizations have been registered in connection with the snap parliamentary election in Azerbaijan so far, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said at today's meeting of the CEC, Trend reports.
On June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the dissolution of the Azerbaijani Parliament of the sixth convocation and the appointment of an extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament.
The snap election is scheduled for September 1, 2024.
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The Employers' Association of Romanian Accounting Entrepreneurs (PACR) is calling for an end to what they say are "chaotic regulations" in the RO e-VAT system and to make tax authorities responsible at the same level as taxpayers.
The employers are voicing "deep disappointment" with the implementation of the RO e-VAT system, arguing that it should be abolished, given a recent order of the chairman of the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) introducing a pre-filled VAT return, considered "inadequate and inopportune."
"If the tax authorities insist on the implementation of the pre-filled VAT return, we would have expected that the amounts presumed by the authorities regarding the VAT payable or VAT to be recovered would be owned up by them."
The amounts, they say, especially the VAT payable "requested by the tax authority from taxpayers, are not owned up by the authorities, which shows that the system cannot work efficiently."
The employers also point to parts that are not owned up by the tax authorities.
"Row 38: 'VAT to be paid during the reporting period' - this fundamental element for the national budget, estimated at about RON120 billion from VAT, is not owned up by the authorities. The lack of this information can distort the national budget. Row 41: 'VAT payable cumulatively' - the most important information for any tax analysis, indicating the VAT due cumulatively by the taxpayer, is not included in the pre-filled statement. Row 44: 'Negative VAT amount to be paid' - although the term negative' is used, it represents the VAT to be refunded from the national budget to the taxpayer, essential for the national budget and taxpayers, especially for those who make investments or are exporters," according to the employers.
The employers say the analysis of the controversial piece of legislation and the challenging situation ensuing the recent order of the ANAF chairman was carried out by Adrian Benta, a tax consultant and financial auditor.
On Thursday, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu asked the minister of education, Ligia Deca, to come up with proposals to complete and amend the legislation in order to take measures in relation to the sexual harassment cases in the university environment.
"We start with a topic that has been in the forefront of public life in recent days - specific cases of sexual harassment in the university environment. We definitely cannot accept such situations and there will be no tolerance for such acts, regardless of the name of the aggressor," said the prime minister, at the beginning of the Government meeting.
He added that it is essential for the authorities to take the necessary measures.
"I ask the minister of education, Ms. Ligia Deca, to come next week with proposals to complete and amend the legislation, in dialogue with the National Council of Rectors. I think our society expects a simple and clear fact - the law should really protect the victims, and the aggressors should be quickly brought to justice," Ciolacu said.
The chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Nicolae Ciuca, declared on Thursday that there is no question for president Klaus Iohannis to occupy a position of European commissioner, being asked if he would be willing to take over the position of interim president of Romania in the event that president Klaus Iohannis would obtain a position of European commissioner.
"First of all, there is no question of president Klaus Iohannis occupying a position of European commissioner. Secondly, this is not about my availability, but about the provisions of the duties that are established for the President of the Senate," Ciuca said at PNL headquarters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made proposals for ambassadorial positions, which it has submitted to the select committees of the Romanian Parliament, with the request for a hearing, the ministry informs on Thursday.
Thus, George Gabriel Bologan is proposed ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. He has been a presidential adviser (Department of Foreign Policy) since February 2024. Previously, he was Consul General of Romania in Milan (2012), Ambassador of Romania to Italy (2016-2022) and Ambassador of Romania to the Kingdom of Spain (2022-2024).
Dan Stoenescu is proposed ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He has been in charge of the European Union affairs in Syria since September 2021.
Sergiu Nistor is proposed as ambassador to Latvia. He has been a presidential adviser (Department of Culture, Cults and National Minorities) since January 2015.
Carmen Ileana Mihalcescu is the MAE proposal as ambassador to Greece. She has been Consul General of Romania in Thessaloniki since 2023.
Nicolae Comanescu is proposed as ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He has been State Counselor for Foreign Policy and Strategic Affairs in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Government of Romania, since June 2023.
Radu-Mihail Filip is the MAE proposal as ambassador to Uruguay. He is spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and director of the Spokesperson and Media Relations Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since June 2022.
Sena Latif is proposed as ambassador to the Republic of India, the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, residing in New Delhi. She is a career diplomat, with 19 years of experience, deputy head of mission at the Romanian Embassy in France, where, between 2022 and 2023, she also held the position of head of mission (charge d'affaires ad interim).
After the hearings in the select committees of the Romanian Parliament and obtaining their opinion, respectively after receiving the approval from the receiving state, the president of Romania will sign the accreditation decrees and the letters of credence.
Romanian winegrowers are calling on the authorities to take action as per the national legislation and keep on firing anti-hail rockets, cautioning that a possible halt of the hail suppression service will affect the production of the local industry.
"The Romanian Winegrowers Club (CVR) has learned with concern of the request sent by a part of Prahova County farmers and agricultural producers to have the hail suppression service suspended and draws attention to the fact that this initiative does not have the assent of all agricultural sectors," the CVR said in a release on Thursday, pointing out that the local wine sector entrepreneurs support the activity of the Managing Authority of the National Anti-Hail and Precipitation Increase System (AASNACP) that helps prevent extreme phenomena and generate an increase in precipitation of up to 20 percent.
Last week, Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu announced during a visit to Vrancea County that he ordered the halt of anti-hail rocket firing in Prahova County after more than 90 percent of the farmers asked for this.
"As for the other farmers from other counties, they need to put their bona fide signatures on an official request for the halt of the hail suppression service. But then no one will qualify for compensation for any damage caused by hail in the respective areas," the minister declared for AGERPRES.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has received a visiting delegation headed by the head of the General Directorate for Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye Mehmet Samsar, the Azerbaijani ministry told Trend.
During the meeting, the participants addressed the challenges and opportunities related to the existing alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, explored avenues for cooperation in multilateral formats, and discussed regional and international security concerns.
It was highlighted that mutual visits and intergovernmental consultations play a crucial role in facilitating in-depth discussions on bilateral and regional matters. The importance of strengthening collaboration within various trilateral and multilateral frameworks, as well as international and regional organizations, including the Organization of Turkic States, was underscored.
Minister Bayramov provided a detailed update on the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He highlighted ongoing obstacles to peace, including Armenia's constitutional claims that challenge Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as actions by third states that contribute to Armenia's militarization and regional instability.
It was emphasized that these threats impede peace, stability, regional cooperation, the development of transport links, and overall regional normalization, underscoring the need to address these challenges.
The sides also exchanged views on other bilateral and regional matters of mutual interest.
Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. The activities of Azerbaijan's Pirallahi Industrial Park, managed by the Economic Zones Development Agency, contribute to the development of the pharmaceutical industry, meeting the population's need for medicines, stimulating local production, and employment, Trend reports via agency.
According to the agency, seven business entities with an investment capital of more than 121 million manat ($71 million) have been granted resident status in the industrial park, and two of them have already started production activities.
The industrial park has made products worth 53 million manat ($31 million) to date.
The agency emphasized that up to 41 million manat ($24 million) have been invested in the Pirallahi Industrial Park, creating more than 150 permanent jobs.
Additionally, existing projects are expected to attract more than 76 million manat ($45 million) in investments and create more than 400 jobs.
To note, the Pirallahi Industrial Park was established in 2016 by a decree of the head of state.
Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Airman 1st Class Tyler Jacobs, 19, died July 14, 2024, when his vehicle crashed into a roadside garage near Misawa Air Base, Japan. (Facebook)
The Air Force has identified the airman who died July 14 when a car crashed into a roadside garage near Misawa Air Base, Japan.
Airman 1st Class Tyler Jacobs, 19, died that morning in the crash near Misawa Station that killed another occupant, injured a third and set the garage on fire, according to Japanese police and an Air Force news release Wednesday.
The Air Force did not identify Jacobs hometown. On his Facebook page, Jacobs listed Chattanooga, Tenn.
Jacobs and Mikio Imanami, 26, of Rokkasho village, were believed to have burned to death in the 4 a.m. crash, a Misawa Police spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
The crash victims were too badly burned to immediately identify, the Misawa Police spokesman said on July 16. The previous day, a spokesman for the 35th Fighter Wing said the Air Force had identified the airman but withheld his name pending family notification.
Misawa police are still investigating the accidents cause but found that Jacobs, the driver, had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit in Japan, according to the police spokesman.
The legal limit for driving under the influence in Japan is 0.03%. By comparison, the legal limit across the U.S. is uniformly 0.08%.
A surviving passenger, Yuta Onoue, 20, was treated at a local hospital for a broken leg and burns to his back.
A base spokeswoman, Senior Airman Brieanna Bolfing, referred questions about Jacobs duty assignment to Misawa city police. A Misawa Police spokesman declined Wednesday to provide that information.
The base is still planning a memorial service for Jacobs and the return of his remains to his family, Bolfing said.
The Air Force has received Tylers body from the local Japanese Government, the airmans father, Jason Jacobs, of St. Petersburg, Fla., posted on his Facebook page Tuesday. We think his body should be sent home to Florida sometime next week.
The family expects to hold a funeral service on Aug. 10 at the Cavalry Catholic Cemetery in Clearwater, Fla., he wrote.
Australian air force Flight Lt. Jaqui Ozanne refuels a fighter jet aboard at KC-30A tanker over Australias Northern Territory, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE TINDAL, Australia F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lighting II stealth fighters took turns flying as red air the opposing force during multinational airpower drills Down Under, mimicking the threat the United States and its allies might face in a conflict with China or Russia.
Pitch Black, a biennial exercise that began July 12 and ends Friday, brought 140 aircraft and 4,400 personnel from 21 nations to the Northern Territory and neighboring Queensland.
U.S. Air Force F-22s, Australian F-35As and Italian F-35Bs soared over the Outback in high-tech mock dogfights.
The fifth-generation aircraft, loaded with advance sensors and other avionics, alternated in friendly and aggressor roles, said Australian air force Squadron Leader Eamon Hamilton, a spokesman for Pitch Black, at RAAF Tindal on Thursday.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor takes off from Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal during the Pitch Black exercise, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
Red air pilots mimic the tactics of advanced Russian and Chinese fighters they might encounter in a real-world conflict.
Chinas J-20 Mighty Dragon fighter, launched in 2017, is thought to incorporate stolen F-35 technology. Russias new Sukoi Su-57 fighter also boasts stealth capabilities and has seen combat in Ukraine.
F-22s and F-35s as the opposition at Pitch Black makes sense, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
With appropriate limits on speed, maneuverability, avionics settings, and weapons they can replicate potential adversary aircraft, said the former deputy commander of what is now called Indo-Pacific Command.
Italian F-35B Lightning IIs stealth fighters fly over Australias Norhern Territory during Pitch Black drills, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
Flying opposition tactics, techniques and procedures as red air gives Raptor and Lightning II pilots a deeper understanding of what to expect in combat, Leaf said.
The Raptors in Australia are from the 27th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base LangleyEustis, Va., according to information posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Services website.
Six Raptors, deployed to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, are at Tindal for Pitch Black, detachment commander Lt. Col. Ryan Nickell told reporters during a Zoom interview Wednesday.
Its an absolute benefit being here for Pitch Black, he said, highlighting the chance to work with many foreign aircraft and train in a massive amount of airspace.
The Raptors primarily served as escorts during the exercise, Nickell said.
Its the first Pitch Black that we have participated in, and it happens to be the largest Pitch Black, he said.
Air Force Maj. Aaron Kim flies a KC-30A tanker over Australias Northern Territory during Pitch Black drills, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
The Raptors are operating out of facilities used by the Tindal-based 75 Squadron, which flies Lightning IIs, Nickell said.
Having face-to-face debriefs and face-to-face briefings with these guys is huge, he said.
Nickell said he saw little difference in capability between European and Asian pilots and aircraft at Pitch Black.
They fly similar platforms, he said. Everybody is trying to pitch in.
Alongside the Americans at Tindal, Australian air force Flight Lt. Jaqui Ozanne operated the boom on a KC-30A tanker assigned to No. 33 Squadron from RAAF Amberley in Queensland.
Her tanker refueled German, Italian and Spanish Typhoons, Italian F-35Bs and an Australian F/A-18 Hornet on Thursday.
On Wednesday the tanker refueled Raptors from Tindal. It also performed an elephant walk with five of the F-22s and six Australian F-35As from No. 75 Squadron, she said.
We love having the Americans come to Australia, she said after her mission Thursday. They always bring good energy and a good attitude, and we learn a lot.
The incoming commander of Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Capt. Stephen Steacy, salutes at the Aug. 1, 2024, change-of-command ceremony at the base on the Greek island of Crete. (Facebook/NSA Souda Bay)
A Navy pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours and experience managing a helicopter squadron in the Indo-Pacific assumed command Thursday of Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the Greek Island of Crete.
Capt. Stephen Steacy relieved Capt. Odin Klug, who had led the base since July 2022, NSA Souda Bay said in a statement Thursday. Rear Adm. Brad Collins, commanding officer of Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central, presided over the change-of-command ceremony.
In taking command, Steacy acknowledged the bases increasingly vital role in the services operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Small but strategically situated, NSA Souda Bay provides support for Navy operations, including port services. It is the homeport for the expeditionary sea base USS Hershel Woody Williams, which is assigned to U.S. Africa Command.
Our location is key to the Navys ability to respond swiftly and effectively to nearby crises, the California native and George Washington University graduate said during the ceremony.
Rear Adm. Brad Collins, left, head of Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central, shakes hands Aug. 1, 2024, with the outgoing commander of Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece, Capt. Odin Klug, as new commander Capt. Stephen Steacy watches. (Facebook/NSA Souda Bay)
Steacys assignments include executive officer and commanding officer of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 77 deployed throughout the Indo-Pacific as part of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, according to his Navy biography.
He also was assistant navigator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Most recently, he was associate director for integration in the Chief of Naval Operations assessments division, his biography states.
Klug was praised for his leadership during the ongoing mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the fight against attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Also, several joint task forces were stood up during his Souda Bay tenure in response to the Israel-Hamas war, according to the statement.
Klug was recognized for strengthening ties between the U.S. and Greece. Several months before his arrival, the two countries inked a defense cooperation deal that gives American forces greater access to Greek bases.
Klugs next assignment is at Navy Installations Command headquarters in Washington.
A platoon leader with the 1st Republic of Korea Division looks through a set of binoculars toward North Korea from his position in the Demilitarized Zone. (Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes)
This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition Aug. 16, 1960. It is republished unedited in its original form.
With the 1ST ROK DIV., Korea Farmers in the Republic of Korea may pray for rain, but ROK soldiers manning the Demilitarized Zone here dread the annual summer deluge as a season of mud.
The soldiers live in isolated battle positions and perform a tense, lonely job year round.
Soldiers of the 1st Republic of Korea Division keep their machine gun ready for any threats against their outpost on the Demilitarized Zone. (Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes)
But its worse when it rains.
The narrow roads that lead to their positions turn into quagmires and are impassable even for emergency use. Stocking up for a hard summer, the soldier lay in the months supply of food before the downpours begin.
Helicopters stand by to aid them in case of flood or other emergency.
The rain falls on famous battle sites. The 1st ROK Div. soldiers stand a 24-hour watch and can look into north Korea at Heartbreak Ridge, scene of some of the bitterest fighting in the Korean War.
Workers at the U.S. Embassy in Havana leave the building on Sept. 29, 2017, after the State Department announced that it was withdrawing all but essential diplomats from the embassy. (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) Spies, active-duty military, FBI agents, diplomats and at least 15 children are among the 334 Americans who have qualified to get treatment for Havana Syndrome in specialized military health facilities numbers that conflict with an earlier assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies minimizing the problem.
The new data was published Monday in a study conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office between February 2023 and June this year, which examined the challenges patients face accessing care in the military health system and whether the Department of Defense has facilitated it, as required by federal law.
The office, which conducts audits and investigations for the U.S. Congress, concluded that Americans affected by these still unexplained cases of what the government refers to as anomalous health incidents struggled to get proper care, confirming earlier reports by the Miami Herald that some had been denied medical treatment by their agencies and suffered retaliation.
According to the report, almost half of the 65 patients interviewed told investigators that they have been stigmatized by their employer after reporting experiencing one of these incidents, which led to negative effects on their career.
Some were pulled from their work assignments, referred to psychologists, had their security clearances delayed, were placed on leave or lost their jobs, the report says. They attributed these experiences to their agencies not believing them, according to the document.
The new report also includes previously undisclosed details about the Americans affected by these mysterious incidents, which have taken place on U.S. soil, in Cuba and several countries since at least 2014. The study, commissioned by the Senate in 2022, also raises new questions about how the U.S. government and, in particular, the intelligence community have handled the investigation.
As of January 2024, 334 people, including active-duty military personnel, current and former federal employees from other agencies, and their family members, had qualified for care in the military health system. According to Department of Defense estimates cited in the report, at least 15 children had qualified for treatment as of December 2023.
The total number of people affected in these mysterious events is likely higher because some were never treated in military health facilities, including many of those affected in Havana between 2016 and 2017.
Spies, diplomats, FBI agents targeted
Most of the officials affected come from U.S. spy agencies and the Department of Defense.
As of April this year, 257 non-military current and former government employees and family members had qualified for treatment, 88 of whom came from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the report says.
Another 74 were referred by the Department of Defense, including employees of intelligence agencies, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as well as civilian employees from the military services.
The list includes 28 people referred by the FBI, 44 by the State Department and 26 from the Departments of Homeland Security and Agriculture, the National Security Council, and the United States Agency for International Development.
The report does not include an exact number of active and former military affected because the focus was on civilian access to the military health service, said Kimberly Gianopoulos, managing director for International Affairs and Trade at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The victims have described being exposed to sensory phenomena such as pressure and noise coming from a specific location and have developed brain trauma and a variety of other symptoms like vertigo, tinnitus, migraine, visual problems and cognitive impairment.
The symptoms can be long-term and debilitating. At least one victim, CIA case officer Zoe Moulton, has died. She died in April after being diagnosed with cancer.
A controversial assessment by some agencies in the U.S. intelligence community published in March last year concluded that it was unlikely that a foreign adversary was attacking U.S. personnel and dismissed most cases as having been caused by pre-existing conditions and other environmental factors.
But to qualify for treatment in the military health system, a doctor must certify a brain injury or other significant symptoms that a known cause or a pre-existing condition cannot explain. Patients are referred to centers in the Defense Intrepid Network for Traumatic Brain Injury and Brain Health.
The new report does not explain the apparent contradiction between the official intelligence assessment and the high number of people who have qualified for treatment.
It notes that the intelligence agencies writing the assessment had different confidence levels in their conclusions and had gaps in the information collected. It also mentions other government-funded studies that have reached different conclusions, including a report for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that concluded that commercially available devices using radiofrequency or ultrasound technology could explain the Havana Syndrome.
Research on the subject has been riddled with problems and has provided contradictory results, the report notes, due to the lack of a precise definition and information about these incidents, a highly diverse population in terms of clinical symptoms and timing from incident to assessment; as well as the classified nature of the affected individuals circumstances and their work.
After a team of National Institutes of Health researchers said in March they did not find signs of brain injuries in people affected by the Havana Syndrome after analyzing some MRI scans, other scientists immediately questioned the results. A group of patients involved in the study accused the investigators of bias, misreporting the data under pressure from the CIA and mishandling confidential medical information. The National Institutes of Health halted the study and launched an investigation as a result.
A broken system
The congressional report paints a portrait of a system that was put in place to help these patients but failed to do so correctly because of bureaucracy, communication gaps and a lack of trained staff.
The patients reported inconsistent support from their agencies, a lack of information about the care process and treatment options available once they were accepted at military health facilities, and difficulty scheduling appointments to the point that some gave up and sought treatment in the civilian sector. Staff shortages at the Department of Defense units that were supposed to deal with these patients left them without a point of contact for months, the report found.
In six cases, agencies did not inform patients that the Department of Defense had approved their Military Health Service access until they specifically inquired, the report says. These delays in communication ranged from three weeks to over a year.
Parents of children affected by these incidents felt particularly frustrated, the report says, because they did not have a clear point of contact to work within the pediatric unit and struggled to schedule appointments.
The Department of Defense has also been unable to maintain a proper registry of the patients who have received treatment in its facilities, the report found, hindering future research. The agency accepted all the recommendations made in the study, including implementing a new unit in charge of coordinating care for Havana Syndrome patients.
However, the problems found by investigators go beyond accessing specialized medical care. Patients are also struggling to get compensation under federal laws that benefit those injured at work. and the 2021 Havana Act, which pays compensation for victims of brain injuries suffered in the line of duty.
The report noted that some agencies, like the Department of Defense, had not issued guidance on obtaining Havana Act payments. The agency published such a proposal on Monday when the report was published.
A recent U.S. Department of Labor rule added more red tape to Havana Syndrome patients trying to get compensation for disability or death. The Department now requires that claims for additional conditions beyond traumatic brain injuries will now require a review by a District Medical Advisor. The rule will impact both new and already accepted claims.
We need to prove a brain injury. But doctors we are sent to are told not to write brain injury. And theyll never accept anything else additional, a Havana Syndrome patient who asked not to be named said. This how theyre making it go away.
2024 McClatchy Washington Bureau.
Visit at mcclatchydc.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Fumio Kishida, Japanese Premier is gearing up to spill the beans on an economic aid package for Central Asian countries, and this package includes a game-changing trade route across the Caspian Sea that will bridge the gap between the region and Europe, Trend reports via the Japan Times.
During his August 912 tour of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, the prime minister will meet with the heads of state from five Central Asian nations in Kazakhstan to unveil the proposal.
The initiative aims to kill two birds with one stone by strengthening Japan's ties with Central Asia and tipping the scales against Russia's traditional influence in the region. Japan hopes the new export route will be a game-changer for Central Asian countries, giving them a leg up in achieving economic independence.
The plan also includes measures to promote economic decarbonization and incorporates technology and loans from Japanese companies for projects like natural gas processing.
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Bella Kuykendall, now 3, with her mother Kaitlin Kuykendall, an Army spouse. (Kaitlin Kuykendall)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii The parents of a toddler who was physically abused by employees at a Navy child care center in Hawaii intend to file a lawsuit in federal court alleging the service was negligent.
Attorneys for Jeremy and Kaitlin Kuykendall, whose 15-month-old daughter Bella was abused in 2022 at the Ford Island Child Development Center, filed a pre-litigation SF-95 claim on Wednesday, according to a news release that day by Just Well Law, the Austin, Texas-based firm representing the family.
Filing the claim is the first step in seeking compensation under the Federal Tort Claims Act in federal court.
Two center employees were convicted in Hawaii District Court of misdemeanor assault in the case and handed jail terms in January.
Video footage from August 2022 revealed that employees pinched, slapped, squeezed, shook and smothered the toddler, according to the SF-95 claim. At times, the employees made the girl punch herself.
The SF-95 claim alleges the Navy was negligent in its oversight of the day care facility.
The necessary background checks were either inadequately performed or completely overlooked, allowing individuals unfit for childcare responsibilities to be employed at the facility, the claim states. At least one employee and potentially more were hired without the completion of necessary background checks.
The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.
In an interview with Stars and Stripes in 2023, Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall said he and his wife had noticed bruising on Bellas legs and an unusual redness on her cheeks soon after she started attending the day care. Her demeanor also changed.
The Kuykendalls brought their concerns to the day care director on Aug. 26, 2022, and the Honolulu Police Department was called in to investigate.
The director initially said they could view video from the day cares closed-circuit system, but that offer was quickly withdrawn, the SF-95 claim states.
The investigation languished, and the couple felt that Navy officials were downplaying the episode, the claim states.
Four months later, the Kuykendalls acquired complete access to videos from the days Bella had attended the day care.
[Jeremy] spent hundreds of hours reviewing 75 hours of footage from multiple angles that ultimately confirmed their worst fears, the SF-95 claim states.
Over the three days spent at the CDC, [Bella] was consistently isolated, mishandled, neglected, and/or assaulted by three separate caregivers, the claim states. What started as negligent or basic inappropriate care on her first day rapidly escalated to violent acts.
On her third and final day of attendance, Bella was assaulted from the time she was dropped off until the time she was picked up, the claim states.
On that day, she experienced a host of batteries, including being pinched in multiple locations on her body including the back of her thighs, stomach, head, neck, and the side of her face, the claim states.
She was kicked in her side, forcefully pulled by her wrist, pinned down, hit on the back of her head, held in a chokehold, and excessively squeezed, the claim states.
During nap time, caregivers wrapped her blanket so tightly around her body and head that she could not move.
After Jeremy Kuykendall lodged a formal complaint with the inspector general at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Quantico, Va., criminal cases were filed against two workers from the child care center by local Honolulu prosecutors, the claim states.
Analyn DeGuzman and Marilyn Kanekoa were each charged with assault in the third degree.
During separate hearings Jan. 17 in Honolulu, DeGuzman was given 30 days in jail and Kanekoa received eight.
Attorneys for the family allege that the Navy failed to follow policy mandating that CCTV video footage be displayed in the lobby during operational hours.
During the week of [Bellas] attendance, fewer than five TVs were operational, with none showing footage from [her] classroom, a breach of the centers guidelines, the claim states.
There were obstructions in the camera view due to artwork hanging from the ceiling and the placement of [Bellas] cot between a bookshelf and a table, both of which are against [policy], the claim states.
The Pentagons inspector general announced in May that investigators would evaluate how the Defense Department and military services respond to child abuse allegations at its day care facilities.
The evaluation will look at how allegations are addressed and communicated to parents.
Japanese soldiers set up a Patriot missile defense battery during a demonstration at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in August 2017. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO Japan will begin selling domestically produced missiles to the United States in a bid to bolster U.S. weapon supplies in the region.
The U.S. will purchase approximately $19.6 million worth of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors, or PAC-3 missiles, the Japanese Defense Ministrys agency for acquisition, technology and logistics said in a Sunday news release.
The number of missiles included in the deal was not disclosed.
U.S. stocks of PAC-3 missiles, commonly used in the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system, have decreased over the past year due to U.S. support for Ukraine.
The missiles transferred to the U.S. forces will complement the U.S. force inventory and help strengthen security and defense cooperation with the United States, as well as contribute to Japans security and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the agency said.
Japan has given Ukraine equipment, but no weaponry, in part due to public opposition, said James Brown, an international affairs expert at Temple Universitys Japan campus.
By providing Japanese-made PAC-3 missiles to the United States, Japan can indirectly assist Ukraine with much-needed air-defense systems, but without provoking a public backlash, Brown told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday.
The deal marks the first time a Japanese-manufactured weapon will be transferred back to the licensee since Tokyo revised its guidelines on weapons transfers to other countries, an agency official said by phone Tuesday.
Some Japanese officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
Japan in December revised rules governing the transfer of weapons produced under license. Missiles under the new deal will be transferred from the Japan Air Self-Defense Forces stockpile back to the U.S.
An unidentified spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of Defense by email Monday declined to comment on the subject and referred Stars and Stripes to Department of Defense press releases.
The deal follows security talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday, when the four committed to pursuing increased production of PAC-3 interceptors and advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles.
The four ministers in a joint statement Sunday welcomed high-priority efforts to expand co-production of the two missiles to meet the critical demands for such advanced systems.
Japans Mitsubishi Heavy Industries makes approximately 30 PAC-3 missiles per year under a license from Lockheed Martin and is capable of increasing production to 60 per year, the Japan Times reported July 20.
Aranakigaa, a spring about a quarter-mile from Marine Corps Air Station Futenmas southwestern fence line, is pictured in Ginowan city, Okinawa, on Aug. 1, 2024. The spring registered 1.1 micrograms of PFAS per liter, 22 times the provisional standard, according to an annual report released by the Okinawa prefectures Environmental Protection Division in April. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, Okinawa Okinawa added four more checkpoints outside this U.S. base in its hunt for the source of PFAS in nearby wells, the prefecture announced in a meeting Wednesday.
The prefecture began digging the checkpoints last week between MCAS Futenma and wells registering high levels of PFAS contamination, a spokesman for the prefectures Environmental Protection Division said by phone Thursday. The prefecture announced the additional checkpoints at a meeting of PFAS experts on Wednesday in Naha.
The checkpoints part of a three-year project to find the source of PFAS contamination in the affected wells may be finished in August or September, the spokesman said. Eight checkpoints four per year were dug in 2022 and 2023, he added.
I think we will be able to get data by around October and hope we can show it in November when the next meeting will happen, the spokesman said.
Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
We still think that contaminated groundwater is accumulated or exists under MCAS Futenma and this is flowing to these wells, the spokesman said.
Researchers at two Okinawa universities also discovered PFOS a component of PFAS at levels 82 times Japans national average in porcupinefish caught in a canal where groundwater from MCAS Futenma flows, according to a Thursday report by Okinawa Times.
Japans Ministry of the Environment surveys the level of chemical substances in living organisms each fiscal year.
Professor Yutaka Tashiro of Meio University, who conducted the study with associate professor Takuma Ito of Okinawa International University, could not be reached by email Thursday. The report was not available online.
PFAS and its components, PFOS and PFOA, are found in firefighting aqueous film forming foam, once commonly used on some U.S. military bases. They are also found in a wide variety of consumer products, including nonstick cookware and stain-resistant clothing and fabrics.
In April 2020, 38,000 gallons of firefighting foam spilled into a stream and neighborhood near MCAS Futenma.
The Defense Department has removed the firefighting foam from all its Navy and Marine Corps bases in Japan and from all Army bases and Misawa Air Base on Honshu, the largest of the countrys four main islands, U.S. Forces Japan said in June 2023.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dubbed PFAS and its components forever chemicals because they persist a long time in the environment. They pose a potential danger to the bodys immune system and may be linked to kidney and testicular cancer, low birth weight and lower anti-body response to vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The prefectures Environmental Protection Division discovered PFAS above Japans provisional safe drinking water standard in 19 of 37 sites it sampled around MCAS Futenma between August 2023 and January, according to an annual report released by the division in April. Japans provisional standard is 0.05 micrograms per liter.
Vladimir Kara-Murza speaks in front of the Russian Embassy in 2018 in Washington. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a longtime opposition politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post Opinions contributor who is serving a 25-year sentence in Russia for treason because he criticized the war in Ukraine, was being moved from the penal colony where he was being held, prison officials said on Wednesday, to an uncertain destination.
Officials from Russias penitentiary service told Reuters that Kara-Murza was being transferred from the colony, IK-6 in the Siberian city of Omsk, but would not say to where. Kara-Murza has been in poor health, but his lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, said that the defense team could not get access to their client at an Omsk hospital for two consecutive days.
Prokhorovs statement, on Facebook, added to mounting speculation by lawyers, prisoners relatives and journalists that the United States, Germany and potentially other countries are preparing for a sweeping prisoner swap with Russia.
Also this week, at least seven other political prisoners in Russia disappeared from the colonies where they were being held, including opposition figures Ilya Yashin, Lilia Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeeva, as well as activist Oleg Orlov and artist Alexandra Skochilenko, a move that lawyers described as extremely unusual. In addition to Kara-Murza, two other prisoners were reported to have gone missing Wednesday, bringing to 10 the total number suddenly out of communication.
According to Prokhorov, Kara-Murza is due to appear in court on Thursday, but it is not clear whether the hearing will be held. At the same time, he said, hospital administrators would not confirm that Kara-Murza had been moved.
Plane spotters on Wednesday reported that a special government aircraft, part of the flight squadron Russia, which is managed by the presidential administration, visited several regions where the missing prisoners were being held before returning to Moscow, prompting speculation that some of them were moved to the capital.
A lawyer for Paul Whelan, an American former Marine who was convicted of spying in 2020 and is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia, said that she is unaware of his whereabouts and cannot contact him.
There are rumors about a possible exchange, the lawyer, Olga Karlova, told the Interfax news agency. I sent a request to the colony administration, but they are not responding.
Karlova said she requested that the Public Monitoring Commission, a government body overseeing prisoners across Russia, visit Whelan and establish his whereabouts. Eva Merkacheva, a member of the commission, said the group did not have any information about a potential swap but did not rule it out.
Could this be a group exchange? Anything is possible, Merkacheva wrote on her Telegram blog. This has never happened in modern Russian history, but in Soviet history it did. Could this be a pardon? In the case of some, it could have been (as they wrote a petition to the president), but the rest did not do this.
Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist serving a six-year sentence for spreading fakes about the Russian military, was not brought to a scheduled court hearing on Friday, her employer, RusNews, posted on its Telegram channel.
Prisoners relatives and friends said they are unaware of the reasons for the transfers.
A lawyer for one prisoner told The Washington Post on Tuesday that the defense team did not get any heads-up about a potential swap, but everything looks very unusual and extraordinary; something very unusual is going on.
I dont believe in coincidences; it looks like well-coordinated actions, the lawyer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of concern about legal repercussions for communicating with a foreign news organization.
There was no confirmation from American or Russian officials that the prisoner movements were connected to an exchange. However, senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have said that talks are underway for an exchange that would involve the American journalist Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, convicted in Russia this month of espionage charges that he, his employers and the U.S. government say are baseless.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday declined to comment on the possibility of a prisoner exchange, as he did the day before when also asked about the speculation.
On Tuesday, Rico Krieger, a German citizen who was sentenced to death after being convicted in Belarus of terrorism, was pardoned in a surprise move by the countrys authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko. Some analysts suggested that Krieger could be involved in a swap as Russia is known to be seeking the release of Vadim Krasikov, an assassin serving a life sentence in Germany.
Russia also holds a 19-year-old dual Russian-German citizen, Kevin Lik, who was recently sentenced to four years for treason. On Tuesday, Lik disappeared from a colony in the remote northern Arkhangelsk region.
U.S. Army Capt. Matthew Clark was sentenced Aug. 1, 2024, at Kleber Kaserne in Kaiserslautern, Germany, after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Clarks punishment is a year in prison and dismissal from the Army. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany An Army officer with nearly two decades of service was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in prison and dismissal from the military after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
Capt. Matthew Clarks sentence was handed down by Lt. Col. Thomas Hynes after a daylong court session at Kleber Kaserne. Based on his guilty plea, Clark faced up to 10 years in prison.
Clark, 44, was originally charged with five counts of child pornography possession but pleaded guilty to only one count as part of his agreement with prosecutors.
The decision to be tried by a judge instead of a jury was made after his arraignment in March, leading to Thursdays proceedings.
A former enlisted soldier on active-duty orders as a reservist, Clark was stationed in Stuttgart in March 2022, when his then-girlfriend, Sophia Wagner, found the explicit imagery on his personal laptop, prosecutors said.
Clark was last assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, said Maj. Javon Starnes, a command spokesman.
Captain Clark participated in the abuse of at least nine different children, as noted in the stipulation of fact, lead prosecutor Capt. Victoria Jones said. Every viewing, every download is another iteration of that abuse.
The court also reviewed impact statements from victims representatives that detailed the enduring trauma caused by the exploitation in the imagery downloaded and viewed by Clark.
Wagner, a German citizen, met Clark as a renter in her parents property. She attended the hearing but was not allowed to testify because the court ruled that she was not a direct victim.
It was hard (to see this imagery), especially because I work as a preschool teacher and deal with young children every day, Wagner said in an interview Thursday.
It deeply affected my trust in people. I realized that these children will suffer for the rest of their lives because of what was done to them.
The defense underscored Clarks lengthy record of service. Over his 18-year career, he completed four combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and received numerous accolades, including the Air Medal for his actions as a Black Hawk crew chief and door gunner.
Attorney Joseph Jordan sought leniency for Clark, telling the judge that he makes the mortgage payments for his elderly mother and has been receiving psychological treatment for the past two years.
Clark also made a statement to the court in which he expressed remorse for his actions.
I believe people should acknowledge their mistakes and stand up and take responsibility, he said. Ive crossed the line, but Ive never intentionally tried to hurt anyone.
As a result of his dismissal from the Army, Clark will lose military benefits such as his pension.
Wagner told Stars and Stripes that although Clark had taken a measure of responsibility, her heart aches for the children affected by his crime.
Justice doesnt always equate to true fairness, especially when considering the lifelong impact on these young victims, she said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Azerbaijan and the UAE have discussed the progress on joint green energy initiatives, Trend reports via the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy.
According to the statement, this issue was discussed at a meeting between the co-chairs of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade, and Technical Cooperation between the governments of Azerbaijan and the UAE, namely the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, and his UAE counterpart, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, in Azerbaijan's Shusha city.
"The meeting noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE are based on the principles of mutual friendship and respect, highlighting the important role of the political will of the heads of state of the two countries in developing cooperation.
A special role for mutual visits and ongoing discussions in identifying new directions for bilateral relations was emphasized. It was brought to attention that the activities of the Trade Representative Office of Azerbaijan in the UAE and the Azerbaijani Trade House in Dubai contribute to the development of business connections.
The bilateral meeting highlighted the existing great potential for developing cooperation, stressing the importance of further increasing mutual trade volumes and diversifying its structure. Discussions were held on potential investment projects in the fields of green energy and tourism, as well as the progress of negotiations on signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the UAE.
Afterward, the 9th session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade, and Technical Cooperation between the governments of Azerbaijan and the UAE took place.
Speaking at the session, Jabbarov noted the successful development of the partnership between Azerbaijan and the UAE.
The minister emphasized the growth of trade turnover between the countries and the positive results of joint initiatives.
Participants in the event were briefed on the favorable business and investment environment created in our country, the activities of industrial zones and the Alat Free Economic Zone, as well as the 'open door' policy conducted for foreign investors. Investors from the UAE were invited to take advantage of the applied investment support mechanisms and participate in the implementation of joint projects.
The UAE minister of economy expressed satisfaction with the visit to Azerbaijan and the organization of the commission's meeting in Shusha.
He stressed the country's significant development, drawing attention to important energy, transport, and logistics projects implemented at Azerbaijan's initiative.
Confidence was expressed that the measures taken to strengthen multifaceted cooperation between the two countries would contribute to the realization of new joint projects and the development of trade and economic relations.
The parties also discussed issues of strengthening bilateral partnerships, implementing joint initiatives in green energy and other areas, and potential areas of cooperation within the framework of COP29.
At the end of the 9th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Trade, and Technical Cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UAE, a protocol was signed.
The document signed by Jabbarov and Al Marri envisages the expansion of cooperation in trade and investment, support for small and medium-sized businesses, innovation and digitalization, energy, including green energy, industry, agriculture, food security, environmental protection, land reclamation and water resources management, transport and logistics, communications and high technologies, science and education, tourism, healthcare, culture, and others," the statement added.
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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stands before a giant photograph showing al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, at his home in Gaza City in April 2018. (Heidi Levine/The Washington Post)
Israel has pursued its enemies from afar for decades, targeting Hamas leaders not only in the Palestinian territories but much farther afield.
The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday likely adds to the list. Hamas has described the death of Haniyeh, the head of its political wing, as an assassination. The group, along with Iran, blamed Israel for the killing and vowed retaliation raising fears that the Middle East could be plunged into further chaos.
The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli prime ministers office declined to comment on Haniyehs death in Tehran, and Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Israel does sometimes confirm its role in targeted killings. The Israeli military said this week that it had killed Fuad Shukr, whom it called Hezbollahs most senior military commander, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday. Israels military said the attack on Shukr was retaliation for a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. But often the country has refused to confirm its role in targeted killings across borders, preferring a strategic ambiguity that allows a veil of deniability.
Here are some of the other significant plots to kill Hamas leaders that have been linked to Israel. Yahya Ayyash, 1996
Yahya Ayyash, the chief bombmaker for Hamas, was killed by answering a rigged cellular phone in Gaza in 1996. Nicknamed The Engineer, Ayyash was likely targeted by Israeli agents, The Washington Post previously reported.
Ayyash was believed to be responsible for introducing suicide bombings as a terrorism weapon against Israel, the New York Times reported in 1996, adding that Israel considered him the mastermind behind terrorist attacks since 1992 that had claimed at least 60 lives and wounded hundreds.
While nobody claimed responsibility for Ayyashs killing, Israeli state radio first reported his death, citing informed Israeli sources. Ayyashs killing sparked a string of fatal bus bombings in Israel. Khaled Meshal, 1997
Khaled Meshal, a Hamas leader who grew up in the West Bank, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997. Meshal left the West Bank after the Israeli takeover in 1967, moving to Kuwait and then in 1991 to Jordan, where he was an active member of Hamas. He became the chief of Hamass political bureau in 1996, as reported by The Post.
One year later, while on a street in Amman, the Jordanian capital, Meshal was injected in the ear with a lethal poison by the Mossad, Israels overseas intelligence agency, in an operation approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Meshal survived, after Jordans King Hussein arrested the agents responsible and threatened to break a newly minted peace accord with Israel if it did not provide the poisons antidote. The agents were later released in exchange for an apology for the botched assassination and the release of 20 Palestinian prisoners.
The Hamas leader continued to live in Jordan until 1999, when the group was banned by the king; then he moved to Qatar, then Syria, and back to Qatar. Meshal became the groups top political leader in 2004 after Israel assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Hamass political leader in Gaza, Abdel Aziz Rantisi.
Meshal remains a senior figure in Hamas. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 2004
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza City in March 2004. Yassin, a wheelchair-bound Palestinian cleric, was among those who established Hamas in 1987.
Yassin spent years of his life in an Israeli prison. In 1983 he was arrested by Israeli forces for allegedly forming an underground organization and possessing weapons. He was released two years later as part of a prisoner swap, according to Al Jazeera.
In 1989, he was arrested again and sentenced to 40 years in prison, charged with inciting violence and ordering the killing of an Israeli soldier. He was released in 1997 after Jordans King Hussein struck a deal with Israel.
Following Yassins death, Rantisi was named his successor, though Rantisi was killed in an Israeli airstrike less than a month later. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, 2004
Abdel Aziz Rantisi had been the top Hamas leader inside the Gaza Strip for barely a month when an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles on his white Subaru sedan in the streets of Gaza and assassinated him alongside two bodyguards in April 2004.
Rantisi had taken the helm after Yassins assassination that March. Formerly a pediatrician, Rantisi was known for his lack of compromise with Israel and could mobilize tens of thousands of Palestinians into the streets within hours.
The missiles had come three days after President George W. Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and vowed to wipe out Palestinian terrorism, according to a Post story from 2004.
Israel defended the assassination.
We are preventing terrorist attacks, and part of the prevention is to go after terrorists like Rantisi, said Gideon Meir, deputy director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Anyone who will replace him and will continue this business of terrorism against Israel is a legitimate target.
Rantisi was taken to al-Shifa Hospital, where he died.
Israel will regret this revenge is coming, Haniyeh told reporters at the hospital at the time. This blood will not be wasted. The battle will not weaken our determination or break our will. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 2010
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas operative, was assassinated in a hotel room in Dubai in January 2010. Hamas officials accused Israel of the killing and vowed revenge. Israeli officials, in keeping with standard policy on such allegations, did not comment, The Post reported at the time. Mabhouh was one of the founders of Hamass military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and was widely known for his involvement in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989, The Post reported.
Citing medical reports supplied to the family, Mabhouhs brother said the documents indicated that Mabhouh had been subjected to electric shocks and strangulation.
Dubais official media office did not mention a cause of death but quoted police and security officials who said Mabhouh entered the country on Jan. 19 and was found dead within a day, suggesting that his movements were being tracked. Cate Brown, Susannah George and Mohamad El Chamaa contributed to this report.
Hamas former political leader Ismail Haniyeh, left, and Yehiya Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind behind Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that killed at least 1,200 people. ()
Israels military confirmed Thursday it had killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif), in an operation in July. The news came a day after the head of Hamass political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Deifs death was a significant step towards eliminating Hamas as a military and governing organization. Hamas did not immediately confirm or deny the Israel Defense Forces announcement, though it had previously denied Deif had been killed.
Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for Haniyehs killing, although Israeli officials have declined to comment on that operation.
Israeli forces see the targeting of Hamas leaders as key to eliminating the group, even as experts warn that theres no single figurehead whose death would serve as a knockout blow to the movement.
Israel has killed several high-ranking Hamas officials since the group attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza border in October. Some Hamas leaders live in the Gaza Strip, while others are scattered across the Middle East, in Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey.
Here are some of Hamass key figures - many of whom have been killed.
Ismail Haniyeh
Haniyeh was the head of Hamass political operations and conducted much of his work from the Qatari capital, Doha. His role, according to analysts, was to be the public face of Hamas, spread the groups political rhetoric and raise money to fund its operations. He had been under U.S. economic sanctions since 2018.
Haniyeh was involved in the cease-fire negotiations with Israel through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, although the two sides struggled to reach an agreement.
Several of Haniyehs close family members, including three of his sons, at least two of his grandchildren, and his sister and her family, were killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent months.
With the political and military leaders of Hamas kept separate - geographically and organizationally - it is unclear to what extent political leaders such as Haniyeh knew about the Oct. 7 attack.
Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007, following an election to determine who would preside over the enclave after Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. No elections have been held since 2006. Haniyeh was chosen by members of the group to be president of its political bureau in 2017.
Hamas said Haniyeh was killed Wednesday as he visited Tehran for the inauguration of its new president, and that he was killed by a missile that targeted him in the state guesthouse where he was staying.
Yehiya Sinwar
Yehiya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is known by Israelis as the butcher of Khan Younis, his hometown in southern Gaza. He previously undertook counterintelligence work for Hamas, targeting spies and informants within the group.
He is believed to be one of the few Hamas leaders who planned the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and is thought to be hiding in or around Khan Younis in tunnels, said Jonathan Lord, a senior fellow and director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
The scale of Oct. 7 can be attributed to Sinwars methodical approach to creating the plan and communicating about in a very analog way, Lord said. Sinwar, he added, kept discussions off devices that could be tapped by Israeli intelligence and kept the circle of those who knew about the attack very small.
Sinwar spent two decades in an Israeli prison for orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers. He speaks fluent Hebrew and is considered to have a deep understanding of Israel.
He was released from prison in 2011 as part of a large prisoner swap that involved the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Mohammed Deif
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif), a shadowy figure who rarely spoke or appeared in public, had led the al-Qassam Brigades for more than two decades. Israel targeted Deif in an operation July 13 in the Mawasi area of southern Gaza. At least 90 people were killed in the operation, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
We can now confirm: Mohammed Deif was eliminated, the Israel Defense Forces wrote on X Thursday. It said his death was confirmed after an intelligence assessment.
Not much is known about Deif. He was born in Khan Younis in 1965 and became a founding member of the al-Qassam Brigades in 1991, rising through the ranks to eventually lead the organization after its chief commander was killed in 2002.
Deif had survived multiple attempts on his life over the years. Israel has said he was one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attacks, without providing details about his role.
Hes a legend, a member of a Hamas security detail told The Washington Post of Deif in 2014. Imad Falouji, a former senior Hamas leader, also told The Post then that Deif kept a low profile, moving around with different passports and different identities.
Marwan Issa
Marwan Issa, deputy commander of Hamass military wing and a right-hand man to Deif, was killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza in March, the White House confirmed.
Hamass number three, Marwan Issa, was killed in an Israeli operation, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the time. The rest of the top leaders are in hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network. And justice will come for them, too. We are helping to ensure that.
Issa was believed to have run many of Hamass day-to-day operations, said Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. With Deif spending much of his life incognito, Issa helped run logistical operations for the al-Qassem Brigades. Israel considered Issa a very significant threat, Byman added.
Mohammed Sinwar
Mohammed Sinwar is the right-hand man to his brother, Yehiya Sinwar. Although he has long been rumored to have been killed, the IDF has indicated recently that he is alive. It said in early November that it had raided Mohammeds office, where it said it found military doctrine documents. In December, the IDF also released what it said was video of Mohammed in a car inside a Gaza tunnel.
If Israel assassinates the Sinwar brothers and Deif, it could find a way to declare victory and end the war in Gaza, Lord, the analyst, said.
Khaled Meshal
Once the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal is now in charge of the groups diaspora office, cultivating support for Hamas abroad, including among Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.
After the Oct. 7 attack and the start of Israels war in Gaza, Meshal called for protests in Muslim nations, saying in a recorded statement, This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you; you all know your responsibility.
Meshal survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 1997. The attempted killing, in the Jordanian capital, Amman, threw Jordans relations with Israel into disarray. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also prime minister in 1997, ordered the poisoning, U.S. and Israeli officials said at the time. Meshal survived after officials from the United States and Jordan demanded that Israel give him the antidote.
He has said the assassination attempt was a pivotal moment in his life, calling it his second birth.
Saleh Arouri
Saleh Arouri, who was second-in-command of Hamass political wing, was killed in a Beirut suburb on Jan. 2. Hezbollah, the Iranian-aligned militant and political group in Lebanon that has engaged in skirmishes with Israel, said Arouri was killed by a drone armed with three rockets. Hezbollah said Israel was to blame for the attack, but Israel has not claimed responsibility for the killing.
Arouri had been imprisoned in Israel on multiple occasions and was a founder of the al-Qassam Brigades. Israel accused him in 2014 of planning the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers, triggering an Israeli response in Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians.
Arouris death in Beirut sent a signal to Hamas leaders outside Gaza that they were not immune to the risk of assassination.
Andrew Jeong, Victoria Bisset, Sarah Dadouch, Steve Hendrix, Claire Parker, Adam Taylor and Sudarsan Raghavan contributed to this report.
Emergency personnel respond to a report of a gas leak in Sterling, Va., on July 31, 2024. A failed valve was the cause of last nights ammonia leak that evacuated a large industrial building in Sterling and sent employees to several local area hospitals. (Loudoun County Fire and Rescue)
At least 33 people were taken to hospitals Wednesday night after ammonia leaked inside a culinary facility near Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to Loudoun County Fire and Rescue. A department spokeswoman said five of the victims were transported with very serious, potentially life-threatening conditions.
The incident occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. at Cuisine Solutions, the spokeswoman said. The company has a global reach, partnering with mega retailers such as Costco and Target to provide meal kits and food offerings such as a popular egg bite breakfast item sold at Starbucks, according to its website.
Headquartered in Sterling, Cuisine Solutions is an industry leader in commercializing a culinary technique known as sous vide, which uses temperature-controlled water to slowly cook food in a vacuum-sealed bag. From chicken tenders to lamb shanks with portobello mushrooms, their products are ubiquitous - found on airlines and at conventions, hotels, cruises and in the prepared meal section of grocery stores.
Wednesdays incident occurred in a building in the 22400 block of Sous Vide Lane in Sterling, at a commercial complex north of the airport.
A company representative did not immediately comment Thursday morning. The company, which also has a presence in Alexandria, recently partnered with the regions professional rugby team, Old Glory DC.
In a statement posted online, authorities said firefighters and other first responders from Fairfax and Prince William counties assisted, along with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Five of the people taken to hospitals suffered significant symptoms, according to updated information provided by the fire department Thursday morning.
The fire department spokeswoman said that among those taken to hospitals, 17 people had serious injuries and 11 had minor injuries. Their conditions could not immediately be determined Thursday morning.
It was not immediately clear what caused the leak or how ammonia was being used at the facility. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, inhaling ammonia gas, which is colorless and has a distinct odor, can cause short-term respiratory problems. Prolonged exposure can cause coughing and wheezing and impaired lung functions.
Auditors estimated claims processing mistakes for veterans seeking full disability totaled $100 million between May 2022 and April 2023, but the value could be as high as $250 million. Most of the mistakes resulted in underpayment to veterans, according to an inspector general report. (Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON Workers with the Department of Veterans Affairs made mistakes costing $100 million when reviewing veterans claims for full disability connected to injuries and illnesses from military service, a new report from the agencys inspector general concluded.
About 75% of claims for a 100% disability rating that auditors reviewed between May 2022 and April 2023 were improperly processed, resulting in overpayments and underpayments, according to the July report.
Thats way too high of a number and, frankly, unacceptable, Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, said last week at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committees subpanel on disability assistance and memorial affairs.
The findings were the focus of a House hearing that looked at ways to improve education and training for processors to review and render decisions on disability claims.
The errors were the result of processors failing to follow VA policies and procedures for deciding compensation in complex claims for full disability, according to the findings.
When claims processors have to redo their work, and when veterans and survivors have to appeal incorrect decisions on their claims, that adds months or years to how long veterans and survivors must wait to finally receive the benefits they are eligible for, said Luttrell, the committee chairman and a Navy veteran.
Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., said processors have larger workloads due to the volume of claims filed since passage of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, known as the PACT Act.
Signed into law in 2022, the PACT Act provides disability compensation for veterans suffering illnesses linked to toxic exposure from burn pits, radiation and other hazardous materials during military duty.
The VA has onboarded thousands of processors seemingly overnight in response to the PACT Act. Even the most robust system would be strained, Pappas said. Claims processors need the training and support from managers under increasing production quotas.
Elizabeth Curda, director of education, workforce and income security issues at the Government Accountability Office, echoed those comments.
She said the large volume of disability claims that veterans are filing can have an impact on the quality of the claim review. Curda also said it is essential to have effective onboarding and training for new employees as well as ongoing education and development for the existing workforce.
The VA moved from on-the-job training for new processors to web-based and classroom education during the coronavirus pandemic. That practice continues.
As a result, new processors do not learn with the tools and technology that they will use as workers, said Linda Parker-Cooks, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 138, representing the Veterans Benefits Administration regional office in Detroit.
They need to review claims in the system and gain hands-on experience with technology they will use every day, she said.
Parker-Cooks said new employees are not adequately trained to analyze the evidence that veterans present when seeking 100% disability. Instead, they are presented with printed examples of outcomes.
Monthly compensation amounts from the VA are based on a veterans disability rating. A veteran who is considered unemployable can receive a 100% disability rating.
When a veteran is unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities, VA policy states that the veteran should be rated totally disabled also referred to as total disability based on individual unemployability, according to the inspector general report.
Auditors also found a large percentage of veterans were directed to undergo additional medical exams that were not needed to support their claims.
Calling a veteran into an unnecessary exam is expensive, confusing to the veteran and delays the process. Its a big issue. We have a lot of work to do, said Ronald Burke, the VA deputy undersecretary for policy and oversight.
Luttrell said many veterans are giving up on pursuing disability claims because of incorrect decisions and the time it takes to appeal a decision. The appeals process can extend for months or years before a final decision is rendered.
Statistical samples of claims that were approved and denied for veterans seeking 100% disability were reviewed by auditors, according to the report.
Though auditors estimated processing mistakes cost $100 million, they said the value could be as high as $250 million. Most of the mistakes resulted in underpayment to veterans, according to the findings.
Burke said the agency is overhauling and modernizing training to improve the quality of decision making. He said the changes will include making class sizes smaller and giving new employees access to real cases in a more immersive learning environment.
Weve asked ourselves what can we do better? We are out in the field talking to claims processors. Were listening to ideas and criticisms, he said.
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Retired Army Capt. Paul Bucha, a Medal of Honor recipient, died Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at the age of 80. He received the award in May 1970 for his actions during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON Retired Army Capt. Paul Bud Bucha, a Medal of Honor recipient, died Wednesday in West Haven, Conn. He was 80.
Bucha, a longtime resident of Ridgefield, Conn., received the Medal of Honor in May 1970 for his actions during the Vietnam War. Until his death, Bucha was the only living Medal of Honor recipient in the state, according to a statement from Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Veterans Affairs Commissioner Ron Welch.
Medal of Honor recipients Paul Bucha, left, and John Finn at a reception in Washington, D.C. in 2007. Bucha died July 31, 2024 at age 80. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes) Medal of Honor recipient Paul Bucha at a National Medal of Honor Day wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery in March, 2009. Bucha died July 31, 2024 at age 80. ( Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes ) Medal of Honor recipients Robert L. Howard, left, and Paul Bucha at a National Medal of Honor Day wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery in March, 2009. Bucha died July 31, 2024 at age 80. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Paul Bucha is an American hero whose service to our country inspired many, including those who went on themselves to make the selfless decision to enlist in the military, Lamont said. Following his military service, he went on to work with several organizations that provide services to veterans and the military community.
Bucha was born Aug. 1, 1943, in Washington, D.C., to an Army officer father. He was an All-American swimmer at Ladue Horton Watkins High School before being selected for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated 18th in his Army class in 1965, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
The honor was awarded to Bucha for actions that he took on March 16-18, 1968, as commanding officer of Company D on a reconnaissance-in-force mission against enemy forces near Phuoc Vinh in the Binh Duong province of Vietnam.
On March 18, his unit encountered an overwhelming enemy attack.
Capt. Bucha, with complete disregard for his safety, moved to the threatened area to direct the defense and ordered reinforcements to the aid of the lead element, according to his Medal of Honor citation. Seeing that his men were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from a concealed bunker located some 40 meters to the front of the positions, Capt. Bucha crawled through the hail of fire to single-handedly destroy the bunker with grenades.
He received a shrapnel wound during this action.
Returning to the perimeter of the fight, Bucha observed that his unit could not hold its positions and repel the wave of enemy assaults. He ordered a withdrawal to a more defensible position. Throughout the night, Bucha encouraged his men, distributed ammunition and directed artillery and helicopter gunship fire.
Using flashlights in complete view of enemy snipers, he directed the medical evacuation of three air-ambulance loads of seriously wounded personnel and the helicopter supply of his company, according to his medal citation.
Bucha led a rescue party at daybreak to recover the dead and wounded members of the ambushed force.
After the Army in 1972, Bucha became prominent in business ventures, veterans support organizations and politics. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1993 but served as a foreign policy adviser for former President Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign.
The UFC star narrowly avoided a jail sentence when he appeared in court yesterday where Judge David McHugh described McGregor's dangerous driving as "persistent, prolonged and deliberate"
Conor McGregor has reacted to his two-year road ban for his appalling dangerous driving conviction, saying hes been fighting my whole life.
The UFC star narrowly avoided a jail sentence when he appeared in court yesterday where Judge David McHugh described McGregor's dangerous driving as "persistent, prolonged and deliberate".
Posting a picture of himself on Instagram as he arrived at Blanchardstown District Court he wrote: Ive been fighting my whole life..its worked out but, alongside a laughing emoji and a snippet of a song by Future featuring Drake.
The photo shows McGregor looking serious as he makes his way into court with a snippet from the rap song Life is good playing in the background.
Workin' on the weekend like usual. Way off in the deep end like usual, are among the lyrics in the song.
McGregor admitted to the "appalling" episode of dangerous driving where he drove in a bus lane, jumped a red light and nearly collided with another vehicle.
McGregor's Instagram post
McGregor (36) told a garda "are you taking the piss" after he was asked to step out of his car on Dublin's M50.
He also told the garda he was waiting to get out of his car because he "needed his security to catch up".
A garda witness said he was driving at speeds of more than 160kph trying to catch McGregor's vehicle.
Judge David McHugh said this incident was an appalling series of breaches of road traffic rules, and described McGregor's dangerous driving as "persistent, prolonged and deliberate".
Judge McHugh convicted and fined McGregor 5,000 and banned him from driving for two years.
The judge also imposed a five month jail sentence suspended for two years.
The defendant, of The Paddocks, Castledillon, Straffan, Co Kildare, admitted careless driving at the M50 southbound and dangerous driving at the N4/M50 interchange.
McGregor was initially charged with uninsured and unlicensed driving, but those matters were struck out after produced his documents, which were in order.
Garda Denis Lordan told Blanchardstown District Court he was stopped at traffic lights at the junction of Lucan Road/R136 at 5.34pm on March 22, 2022, when he looked in his left wing mirror and saw a vehicle travelling along the bus lane at speed.
The vehicle, a convertible, drove through the red light, failing to stop, and merged from the bus lane onto the Lucan Road, all in one movement.
The car merged from the bus lane at high speed, and a second vehicle was forced to stop to avoid a collision.
Gda Lordan said McGregor drove at high speed and out onto the roundabout outside Woodies without stopping. The car drove on the bus lane eastbound on the N4, before crossing the bus lane out onto the fast lane.
Gda Lordan said McGregor drove at high speed on the N4, and the garda said he was doing more than 160kph trying to catch the vehicle.
McGregor tried to undertake a car on the last lane, moving into the middle lane, before moving back out onto the fast lane, the court heard.
He took the slip road, which has two lanes, to the M50. McGregor took the inside slip lane, moving to the outside lane over the hash markings, and causing dust to rise.
Gda Lordan said McGregor drove onto the M50 southbound, moving from the fast lane to undertake a vehicle, before moving back to the fast lane.
The garda said he tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused to pull over. McGregor finally pulled over onto the hard shoulder, he said.
Gda Lordan told the driver to get out of the vehicle. McGregor said to him: "are you taking the piss? You want me to get out of the car, out of the vehicle on the M50?"
Gda Lordan said he asked McGregor six or seven times to get out of the vehicle, and the defendant told him he was waiting because he "needed his security to catch up".
The garda said he eventually opened the car door, and McGregor got out. He was arrested and taken back to the garda station where he was charged.
The court heard McGregor had 20 previous convictions, mostly for minor road traffic matters.
Defence lawyer David Staunton said that McGregor offered his apology to the court, and he regretted the incident.
Mr Staunton said McGregor was acutely aware of the impact his behaviour had on others.
The defendant was also very, very aware and acknowledged the difficulties driving like that can cause to others.
Mr Staunton said the defendant had given back to his community, had a number of businesses and employed a lot of people.
McGregor's father, who had been ill, was in court to support him, Mr Staunton said.
Judge McHugh said McGregor put his life and the lives of other road users at risk, and he was considering an outright prison sentence due to the nature and degree of dangerous driving.
Mr Staunton urged the judge to consider all other options, as prison should be a last resort.
In all the circumstances, Judge McHugh said he would impose a five month suspended sentence.
McGregor, wearing a three piece blue check suit, sat in the dock with his hands clasped for the duration of the hearing. He did not address the court.
Dean O'Brien (38) was served with the book of evidence when he appeared on bail before Blanchardstown District Court
Dean O'Brien of Blakestown Cottages in Clonsilla is charged with drug offences
A Dublin man charged with drug offences after gardai seized an estimated 200,000 of cannabis and zopiclone tablets from an abandoned car has been sent for trial.
Dean O'Brien (38) was served with the book of evidence when he appeared on bail before Blanchardstown District Court.
The accused, of Blakestown Cottages in Clonsilla, is charged with possession of cannabis and zopiclone tablets as well as having the drugs for the purposes of sale or supply.
The incident allegedly took place at Whitestown Park in Mulhuddart on August 5, last year.
It is alleged that uniformed gardai came across an abandoned car, and when they searched it, they found the drugs.
Mr O'Brien is further charged under Section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act, where the alleged value of the cannabis was greater than 13,000.
In this case, gardai previously alleged the street value of the drugs was 200,000, subject to analysis.
A state solicitor said the book of evidence had been served on the accused, who goes forward to the next sittings of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge David McHugh gave Mr O'Brien the formal alibi caution.
The judge assigned defence solicitor Mark O'Sullivan and one junior counsel on free legal aid.
Given the seriousness of the allegations, Judge McHugh also assigned a second senior counsel on free legal aid.
Mr O'Brien has not yet indicated a plea to the charges.
The lethal medicine, containing pentobarbital sodium, is only allowed to be stored at a veterinary practice and to be administered intravenously by a vet
A Dublin veterinary surgeon has been fined 12,500, while a supervisor at a dog pound has been fined 400, for their roles in the unlawful administration of a euthanasia drug to two dogs in 2020.
The two cases are the latest in a series of prosecutions at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court relating to events at Ashton Dog Pound over the weekend of July 24, 2020, when a drug known as Dolethal was given orally to two dogs who later died.
The lethal medicine, containing pentobarbital sodium, is only allowed to be stored at a veterinary practice and to be administered intravenously by a vet.
Vet Sydney Nagle (65) of the Oaks, Hollystown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing or permitting someone other than a vet to have this medicine in their possession and control.
Nagle also admitted to four counts related to his failure to keep records including batch numbers, serial numbers, sales and purchases of this animal remedy, and his failure to keep these records for five years.
Raymond Connolly (56) of Claddagh Green, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts relating to possessing the vet-only medicine and causing or permitting a lay person to administer it to the two dogs over the weekend in question.
The court heard that it had been decided previously at the pound that the two dogs, an Akita and a Bichon Frise, were to be put down.
The dogs suffered symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea after they were dosed with Dolethal. One dog died while the other was humanely euthanised some days later.
In a ruling, Judge Martin Nolan said he had no doubt that Nagle was a fine vet who has done considerable service to animals and animal owners.
But Judge Nolan said the drug in question was particularly dangerous and can only be administered intravenously, by a vet.
He is a professional vet, required to know the law by textbook. He should have known that and he didn't know it, he added.
Judge Nolan gave Nagle, of Cara Veterinary Group, six months to pay the sum of 12,500.
The judge described Nagle as a friendly and cooperative man with no previous convictions, and said he was likely to face some consequences as a result of an ongoing fitness-to-practise inquiry by the Veterinary Council of Ireland.
Judge Nolan accepted that it was an established practice at this pound to administer Dolethal without a vet.
Hugh Hartnett SC, counsel for Nagle, presented a number of testimonials which spoke highly of the vet, including from a veterinary colleague, animal owners and proprietors of kennels and a cattery.
A picture emerges of a dedicated vet, said Mr Hartnett, who said Nagle accepted responsibility for not being appraised of the finer points of the law.
Nagle, who has been a practising vet since 1982, told gardai that he was naive and did not know at the time that it was an offence.
I accept it was my responsibility to know the law. I regret my naivety. At no time did I cause any pain or suffering to any animal; I tried to do my best, Nagle said.
Judge Nolan described Connolly's culpability as quite low as he said he could not have been expected to know the intricacies of the law.
He did what was done before; he followed instructions. He was administering drugs to dogs and thought it was normal procedure, the judge said of Connolly.
It was illegal on many fronts and probably dangerous for himself and other employees, added Judge Nolan, giving Connolly six months to pay the fine of 400.
Garda Aine McQuillan told Paul Carroll SC, prosecuting, that a member of staff at Ashton Dog Pound emailed the Bridewell Garda Station over the weekend in question, outlining their concerns for the welfare of the two dogs.
Gardai went to the pound the following week and discovered the unlawful use of the animal-only remedy, which is labelled as such on the bottle.
The court heard that Connolly, who was the pound supervisor, and two other staff members, administered the drug.
Connolly would have held the dogs by a pole that has a mechanism to hold them about the neck, while the other staff squirted the drug into the dogs' mouths and into their food.
Gardai established that Cara Veterinary Practice, of which Nagle was principal, sold about 30 bottles of Dolethal to the pound between January 2019 and July 2020.
The drug was sold for 20 per bottle, and Nagle had a monthly retainer of 800 with the pound to supply them with the medicine.
The longstanding practice at the pound was that staff would orally give some of the drug to sedate dogs deemed dangerous and then the vet would arrive some hours later to administer it intravenously in order to euthanise the dogs, the court heard.
Connolly has no previous convictions.
James Dwyer SC, counsel for Connolly, said he worked as a chef and a head porter at several Dublin hospitals before starting work at the pound in 2017.
Connolly has also trained dogs for the blind, the court heard.
Testimonials for Connolly, including from a couple who kept horses beside the pound, described him as conscientious and caring.
Connolly was unemployed for a long time because of this case, counsel said, but has recently got work for a local authority.
A letter was also submitted from Pieta House where Connolly got counselling after hitting rock bottom last year, the court heard.
The case has had a significant impact on him but he is making a recovery, counsel said.
A former manager of the pound, Donal Moroney (70), of Ayrfield Drive, Coolock, was fined 500 last month for allowing Dolethal to be stored at the pound and administered unlawfully to two dogs.
The former owner of the pound, David Stone, was fined 30,000 in February 2023 for three similar charges.
Stone (66), of Hazelbrook, Loughlinstown, Ratoath, Co Meath, had been running the pound since 1996 and had contracts with local councils including Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown county council.
Sonia Connolly allegedly provided an eyebrow blade used by a second attacker to cut the 16-year-old boy who was left permanently scarred
A woman has been jailed for 20 months over an attack on a teenage boy who was "slashed" with a blade from his ear to the back of his neck on a double-decker bus in Dublin.
Sonia Connolly (37) of Conyngham Road, Dublin 8 was accused of violent disorder on May 18 last year.
She allegedly provided an eyebrow blade used by a second attacker to cut the 16-year-old boy who was left permanently scarred.
She pleaded guilty to affray when she appeared before Judge Elma Sheahan at Criminal Courts of Justice yesterday who handed down the sentence.
The violence disorder charge was not proceeded with.
Ms Connolly had previously appeared before Judge David McHugh at Dublin District Court in January of this year after gardai received instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Detective Garda Keith Morrissey told the judge at that time that the woman "had nothing to say" to the charge
The DPP directed trial on indictment in the Circuit Court, which has wider sentencing powers.
Ms Connolly did not address the court, which heard objections to her bail due to the seriousness of the case.
Detective Garda Morrissey alleged that two males and two females, including the accused, boarded a number 16 bus and went upstairs. The injured party got on later in south Dublin.
The contested bail hearing was told that an argument broke out among Ms Connolly's group, and one of the men left them and "shouted back at the three remaining members".
The injured party, sitting near the front, made eye contact with the man, and there was a brief verbal exchange before a "fight broke out".
A second male from the group joined the first, and it was claimed the pair attacked the boy with punches.
It was alleged Ms Connolly made her way from the back of the bus to the two males and handed the first male an eyebrow blade, which he used to slash the back of the teen's neck for 20 centimetres from the left earlobe to the centre of the back of the neck".
The court heard the blade "broke in two pieces during the assault".
It was claimed the accused held the teen's head and got blood on her hand. The male was left holding the blade handle when they got off.
But the accused allegedly re-boarded, "went upstairs and retrieved the blade" and left again.
The injured party received 25 stitches. The detective handed into court photos of the boy's injuries.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor John Quinn, the detective accepted the accused had health problems and had been in hospital before the case.
The court heard she suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and had recently obtained secure accommodation.
Mr Quinn said his presumed innocent client would abide by bail terms.
Judge McHugh said Ms Connolly was accused of a serious offence but enjoyed the presumption of innocence and would get bail with strict conditions.
He ordered her to provide her phone number to gardai and remain contactable, sign on daily at a garda station and reside at her current address.
The judge set her bond at 150 and ordered her to return to the same District Court on March 15.
Two other men are already before the courts on connected charges.
Victim finally sees justice done after first telling gardai about crimes 23 YEARS ago
Sex predator and former Dublin Bus driver Fergus Delaney is finally behind bars after pleading guilty to four counts of the sexual assault of 14-year-old Sinead Lay in 2000 and 2001.
The pervert was remanded in custody on Monday by Judge Kerida Naidoo, for sentencing in October, more than 23 years after courageous Sinead and her mother first reported his crimes to gardai.
In the intervening years, it has taken two more complaints from Sinead to gardai, a GSOC investigation, two complaints to Tusla and a civil case in the High Court which concluded Delaney had groomed and raped her to force the State to prosecute him.
I feel relief for myself and for the public he has been remanded in custody, Sinead told the Sunday World following Mondays proceedings,
He is a dangerous predator.
He has shown no remorse for what he did to me and he has no insight into the damage he caused by his actions.
Delaney was a Dublin Bus driver
He actually claimed to gardai when he was finally arrested that he was in a relationship with me.
He blamed me, he said I was the one who seduced him.
He was in his late 30s I was 14 years old!
Speaking of her battle for justice and of how, as a victim, she was let down by gardai and Tusla time and time again, Sinead said she had been forced to move mountains to force the State to prosecute her abuser.
Initially I went to the gardai with my mother in 2001, she recalled.
I sat in the garda station, still only a child, and told a female garda exactly what he did to me.
That was a horrible experience for any child to go through and yet nothing was done about it.
In fact, worse than nothing.
A couple of months after Id made my statement, I got a call from gardai warning me not to be harassing Fergus Delaney.
Sinead said she went back to gardai a second time in her early twenties.
But she said she felt the investigation carried out on foot of her complaint was inadequate.
The DPP came back and said no charges, she recalled.
I then went to GSOC (the garda ombudsman) to complain,
But they came back and said theyd hadnt found any deficiencies in the investigation - there was nothing to be done.
Nor was Sineads experience at the hands of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency much better.
Sinead Lay never gave up her fight for justice
I first went to Tusla in 2011, Sinead recalled.
It wasnt until six years later I got a letter from them saying, sorry about the delay, were now in a position to assess your case.
When I first spoke to them, in 2011, I went in and spoke to two social workers.
I went into graphic detail about what he had done to me.
And then I heard absolutely nothing for six or seven years.
But, finally, when they did come back to me after renewing contact, they said my complaints were founded.
Around this time, Sinead had also initiated a case in the High Court seeking to have Delaney held responsible in the civil court.
In May 2019, Judge Kevin Cross awarded Sinead total damages of 300,000 after finding Delaney had groomed, sexually assaulted and raped her on multiple occasions between November 2000 and August 2001.
None of this is or was her own fault, the High Court judge said.
She was not of an age in any way to consent to the attention given or what was done to her.
The only person responsible is the defendant.
Fergus Delaney
Armed with newspaper reports from the civil case and the findings of Tusla, Sinead went back to gardai seeking justice for a third and final time.
Its shocking to have to say this but, as a victim, I had to make a nuisance of myself, Sinead said.
I told them Id taken this to the High Court and won and that Tusla had investigated my complaint and confirmed it was founded.
I brought in all the newspaper articles.
I didnt care how crazy it looked.
I had to do it because this man was still driving a Dublin Bus, he still had access to children.
I told the gardai they needed to look into it properly.
And thats when, to be fair, they did take it seriously.
And the investigating gardai this time round Ciara and Danielle, were excellent.
But it has taken more than 20 years to get to this point.
You hear these stories about victims who were afraid to speak up when they were kids but who finally got the courage to speak out as adults.
I wasnt one of those people.
I told the very people I was supposed to tell.
Thats the really sad thing here and its what really hurts and annoys me.
Sinead said, in light of her own arduous battle for justice, she isnt able to issue a blanket statement to other victims urging them to come forward.
It depends on what you, the person this happened to, needs to move on, she said.
Its a very personal and subjective journey.
If I had known in the beginning what I would have to do to get to this point, would I have done it?
The answer is probably not!
I was retraumatised again and again by the system that was meant to help me.
I would say be prepared for a long drawn out battle.
And, possibly, to not get the outcome you are looking for.
You may have to move mountains.
I am who I am today because of what I went through to get this to where it is now.
I feel it has given me character and the strength not to take no for an answer when something is wrong.
There needs to be accountability.
I do hope that my story is a warning to anyone considering abusing a child that we grow up!
That child you plan on abusing will one day grow up and come seeking justice.
The day may come, as it has come for Fergus Delaney, that you will be put behind bars.
That you may one day lose everything if you do this, your reputation, your family, your liberty!
If nothing else, I hope my story sends that warning to these people.
Convicted child abuser Fergus Delaney will be sentenced for his crimes in October of this year.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on each of the four counts of the section 2 sexual assault of Sinead Lay.
John Ryan admitted a charge of fraud by abuse of position and was handed a 12-month sentence, which was suspended for 18 months
A Belfast man who padded out his wages by falsifying his timesheets whilst employed as an agency worker with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) today avoided a jail term.
John Ryan admitted a charge of fraud by abuse of position and was handed a 12-month sentence, which was suspended for 18 months, at Belfast Crown Court.
As he imposed the sentence, Judge Neil Rafferty KC told the 35-year old, from Dunmisk Walk, that his offending was stupid and that he was always going to be caught.
Ryans offending occurred over a period spanning from February 13, 2018, to September 22, 2019.
The court heard that, via a recruitment agency, Ryan began working with the NIHE in June 2017.
His offending came to light in September 2019 and, after being interviewed by a senior manager within the NIHE, he left his position as a clerical worker.
As an agency worker, Ryan was required to lodge timesheets to a supervising officer with the NIHE. These timesheets were then signed off and passed to the recruitment agency.
However, over an 18-month period, Judge Rafferty said that Ryan padded out his hours on a weekly basis, adding hours to his timesheet so that he could then claim for work that he hadnt actually done.
The loss to the NIHE amounted to 19,946.10, with Judge Rafferty saying Ryans offending was committed over a sustained period.
Defence barrister Michael Ward highlighted the delay in bringing the case to court, which Crown barrister James Johnston accepted was significant.
Mr Ward also said that whilst Ryan manipulated the system for his own financial gain by lodging inaccurate timesheets, the offending was very different than someone who was in a position of financial trust.
Defence submissions revealed that Ryan, after leaving this position, obtained full-time employment. It also emerged that he has a clear criminal record and has not committed any further offending.
Judge Rafferty said that whilst there was a delay in the case, it has afforded this offender an opportunity to show that he has, and continues, to stay out of trouble.
Addressing Ryan as he stood in the dock, Judge Rafferty told him: You were always going to be caught. At some point there is always an internal audit and that internal audit was always going to compare your timesheets with the timings recorded.
The moment that happened, you were guaranteed to be convicted. It was stupid and it was short-sighted.
You seem to be back on the straight and narrow. Let this be a one-off learning for you.
Before leaving the court, Ryan was warned of the consequences should he re-offend over the next 18 months.
The four male victims were assaulted with a bladed weapon, suffering life-threatening injuries which led to them being hospitalised.
POLICE on the Algarve have arrested an Irish tourist on suspicion of attempted homicide after several Dutch holidaymakers were
injured.
Earlier this week it emerged weapons were used during a mass fight at an apart-hotel in the resort of Albufeira involving Irish and Dutch guests.
Police sources had said they were expecting to make arrests after identifying those involved.
On Wednesday, they confirmed the detention and gave details about the scale of the altercation, saying four men had been stabbed and suffered life-threatening injuries following initial reports the life of just one of the victims had been in danger.
The violence flared around 4.30am on Monday at the three-star Soldoiro Tourist Apartments in Albufeiras Praia da Oura area.
Local reports said an argument started between the two groups over the loud music coming from the Dutch tourists apartment.
It was initially understood there were casualties on both sides, although police sources said the injured men aged between 17 and 21 were all from Holland.
In their first official comments so far on the incident, a spokesman for the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) force on the Algarve said: The PJ arrested a 19-year-old man yesterday on strong evidence that he had committed the offence of aggravated attempted homicide which took place
in the early hours of the morning on July 29 in the municipality of Albufeira.
The four male victims were assaulted with a bladed weapon, suffering life-threatening injuries which led to them being hospitalised.
According to the PJ's Southern Directorate, the attacks followed an argument which triggered exchanges of insults that quickly escalated to physical confrontation.
The attacks were carried out in an intense and violent manner between three Irish citizens and nine Dutch citizens, aged between 17 and 21, inside the apartment complex where they were staying.
In the course of the police enquiries, evidence was collected that led to the full identification of the suspect and his subsequent arrest.
The detainee will be brought before the competent judicial authorities for questioning.
It was not immediately clear this afternoon whether the unnamed suspect, who police sources confirmed was an Irish national, had already appeared before a judge.
The courts will have to decide whether to remand him in custody or release him on conditional bail pending an ongoing inquiry.
Reports on the day of the incident said three knives had been seized by police. Detectives have not made any official comment on the weapons confiscated.
A police source said after news of the stabbings first emerged on Monday: According to the witnesses, the Irish group who were on an upper floor at the tourist apartment block started complaining about the noise coming from the Dutch groups apartment on the ground floor.
There appears to have been a big argument between them.
When officers arrived the fight was over and officers focus was on taking care of the wounded.
Detectives have not yet said whether they expect to make further arrests later on.
A dog warden said the heat in the house was unreal. The dogs were distressed and the pups were in an awful state.
A pit bull breeder has been jailed for eight months after he was found guilty of neglect of dogs and failing to provide them with sufficient food or uncontaminated water.
Anthony Costello (44) had left two adult female dogs in cages, and they had no food or water. Seven pups were in makeshift pens in a back room of his house, and their food was contaminated by faeces.
A dog warden said the heat in the house was unreal. The dogs were distressed and the pups were in an awful state.
Costello denied the charges, claiming he spent eight hours in Swords Garda Station, so the dogs had been left on their own all day and had been p***ing and s***ing.
Asked by Judge Dermot Dempsey if the condition of the dogs was consistent with Costello being away from the house for six hours, the dog warden replied: No.
Judge Dempsey imposed an eight-month sentence. He banned Costello from owning or training dogs for 10 years.
The defendant, of Applewood Mews in Swords, was found guilty of neglect of a dog, and failing to supply a sufficient quantity of food or uncontaminated drinking water.
Sergeant Alan Byrne told Swords District Court that gardai got a vile smell when they searched Costellos house on November 18, 2022.
Sgt Byrne said a female dog was in a travel cage in the hall, while a second was in a front room. The sergeant took a video of the scene, which was shown to the court.
Dog warden Stuart Murphy said the pit bull in the travel cage had no food or water and was barely able to move. He said the second dog, a black pit bull bitch, was going crazy.
Mr Murphy said he heard yelping, and he went into a bathroom, which had paw marks and faeces.
In a back room, he found two makeshift pens containing seven pups. They were in an awful state, their food was contaminated and they had no access to clean water.
In cross-examination, Sgt Byrne accepted the dogs did not have fleas, while Mr Murphy said physically the dogs looked alright, but mentally they were in distress.
In his evidence, Costello accepted the video doesnt look great. He said his house kept flooding with raw sewage from the neighbours, and the house was a building site.
He said he had fed the dogs that morning and walked the older females. He further claimed that faeces was rubble and dirt.
Defence lawyer Annette Kealy said dogs were important to Costello. He had owned and bred them for 20 years, and won awards at dog shows.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 1. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Trend reports via the president's press service.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union.
They also exchanged views on current international issues and regional cooperation among Central Asian countries.
To note, Josep Borrell is also set to visit Kyrgyzstan. The visit presents a significant chance to reaffirm the EU's dedication to strengthening ties with both nations and the entire Central Asian region, even in the face of a difficult geopolitical climate.
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Authorities in Ireland want him sent back to face weapons and violent disorder charges from incidents in 2018 and 2019.
Drogheda gang boss Brendan Maguire refused to appear at his extradition hearing in Westminster Magistrates Court today.
The hearing which had been scheduled for this morning did not take place because he refused to attend, according to the UKs court service.
Last month it was heard Maguire would fight the case on the grounds that his life is in danger in Ireland and that he was never charged with the offences cited in the warrant.
It also emerged during an application for bail that he still has a bullet lodged in his neck and has post-traumatic stress disorder after the 2019 attempt on his life.
Brendan Maguire
He had been shot six times and narrowly escaped death just months after his brother Owen was shot and left permanently disabled.
Authorities in Ireland want him sent back to face weapons and violent disorder charges from incidents in 2018 and 2019.
Maguire has since been living in the Manchester area with his wife and three children and denied being a fugitive from Ireland.
Opposing his bail application, a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service said: The offending itself appears to be gang-related and there is potential for assistance in absconding.
The magistrate said he appreciates these are accusations not convictions as well as the family circumstances and health issues that were referred to in court.
However, I cant ignore the seriousness of the allegations you face. There may well be a custodial sentence passed if you are convicted.
This is not a case that in my view where bail can be granted.
In that hearing Maguire appeared by video link from Wandsworth Prison in which he spoke initially to confirm his name and date of birth.
He refused to make an appearance today.
Maguire is considered a senior member of the gang headed up by his brother Owen Maguire and now deceased gangster Cornelius Price.
His brother Owen Maguire was left permanently disabled after also surviving being shot by gangland hitman Robbie Lawlor in July 2018.
Brendan reportedly travelled back to Ireland briefly for a family celebration last year and appeared in photos posted on social media.
He was also spotted at the lavish funeral of gang Cornelius Price in January 2023 in Rochdale last January.
The involvement of Price and the Maguire brothers in drug dealing in the north-east of Ireland was laid in evidence presented to the High Court by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Brendan Maguire was described in the evidence as a person of significant strength and is the person that collects the money owed for drugs or uses intimidation when required.
His brother Owen Maguire was left permanently disabled after he survived an assassination attempt by gangland hitman Robbie Lawlor in July 2018.
Members of the Maguire/Price Organised Criminal Gang are believed to be behind the murders of William Maughan and Ana Varslavane who disappeared in 2015.
The previous year Benjamin Whitehouse was shot dead in his car in Balbriggan in a killing suspected to have been carried out by members of the gang.
They were also involved in the lethal gangland feud in Drogheda with members believed to have carried out the killing of Keith Branigan in August 2019.
The Dublin criminal, aged in his 20s, is serving a lengthy jail term over a murder plot linked to the Hutch-Kinahan feud.
A jailed Kinahan cartel hitman has emerged as a suspect for ordering a petrol bomb attack on a prison officers house.
The officers home in Co Meath was targeted this week in an attack believed to be directly linked to his work.
He and his wife were in the property at the time of the attack, but were uninjured.
Detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry, including whether a jailed gunman who worked for the cartel, is connected to the incident.
The Dublin criminal, aged in his 20s, is serving a lengthy jail term over a murder plot linked to the Hutch-Kinahan feud.
The Sunday World understands the mans prison cell was recently searched and an illegal mobile phone was recovered.
Sources said that incident is being looked at as a possible motive for the firebombing.
The prison officer is highly regarded and has been doing significant work in seizing contraband from the jail, the source said.
The cartel hitman had a phone taken from him in the past few weeks, so depending on what intelligence is on the phone, it could be seen as a costly device to lose.
Unfortunately, this may have been reason enough to target the prison officer for simply doing his job and doing it well.
The officer is attached to a specialist unit within the jail system that carries out intelligence work and targeted operations.
The Kinahan associate has previously been involved in other incidents behind bars and has been transferred between prisons because of his behaviour.
While he has emerged as a suspect in the probe, investigators are also following a number of other lines of inquiry.
In an operation on the same day that the Kinahan mobster had his phone seized, a high-level member of the McCarthy-Dundon crime gang also had his cell searched and contraband was recovered.
He was subsequently taken from the division he was on and moved to a more restrictive regime. Investigators believe this may be another possible motive for the fire-bombing.
On Tuesday, a search was carried out at a Dublin prison, with cells searched from top to bottom.
We previously revealed how the criminal involved in the attack burnt his own hand, with gardai carrying out inquiries with hospitals to determine if a man presented in recent days with similar injuries.
It is understood that a Skoda Octavia, used in the arson attack was stolen in the Crumlin area of Dublin last November.
The car, which was fitted with false plates, was found burnt out just a short distance from the prison officers home in Co Meath.
The Prison Officers Association has condemned the attack as extremely sinister in nature, saying it could have led to loss of life.
The associations deputy general secretary Gabriel Keaveny has called on the justice minister and the garda commissioner to take whatever action is necessary to ensure prison officers and their families are safe in their own homes.
Murderer will have to serve his life sentence for killing Elaine OHara in 2012
Graham Dwyer's last bid for freedom has failed. Photo: Collins
Graham Dwyer has lost his last-ditch appeal against his 2015 conviction for the murder of Elaine OHara.
It comes after more than a decade of anguish for the OHara family, who have endured appeal after appeal by the killer.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that evidence of mobile phone data was admissible at Dwyers trial.
The Court of Appeal rejected Dwyers appeal last year on all grounds.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear this final appeal as it said it raised issues of law of exceptional public importance.
Dwyer has now exhausted all his legal options and will continue to serve his life sentence.
The original murder trial jury found that Dwyer stabbed Ms OHara to death on Killakee Mountain in Rathfarnham, Dublin, on August 22, 2012.
Im a sadist. I enjoy others pain
Ms OHara had been suffering from depression and had left a psychiatric hospital earlier that day.
Dwyer was a married man at the time and had met his victim through a website.
The trial had heard he was a violent sadomasochist who had been filmed stabbing sexual partners, one of whom gave evidence against him.
Sadistic killer Graham Dwyer
Mobile phone data played a large part in the prosecution case as it helped link Dwyer to Ms OHara and to locations connected with the murder.
Dwyer had denied murdering Ms OHara and claimed she was suicidal when she disappeared.
Dwyers trial was told a Nokia phone found in Vartry Reservoir in Co Wicklow in 2013 was used to send Ms OHara messages, including one about stabbing, culminating in a text dated August 22, the last day she was seen, to go down to the shore and wait.
My urge to rape, stab and kill is huge. You have to help me control or satisfy it
The prosecution argued that phone, and another phone found in the reservoir, were secret Master and Slave phones Dwyer and Ms OHara used almost exclusively to contact each other.
Thousands of disturbing text messages, backed up on Ms OHaras laptop, revealed the unwavering control and power her Sir (Dwyer) had over his Slave (OHara) and the mental torment she suffered throughout their on/off BDSM sexual relationship, which involved Dwyer knifing her for his sexual pleasure.
It was Ms OHara a fan of TV crime dramas who had warned Dwyer about the dangers of being caught for murder through DNA and phone mast coverage.
Technology is a killer now Sir, she had texted him, more than a year before she was murdered.
That phone data used in the trial included messages from Dwyer to Ms OHara in which he spoke of his desire to rape and murder.
In one text, he told Ms OHara: Im a sadist. I enjoy others pain. You should help me inflict pain on you and help me with my fantasies.
The late Elaine O'Hara
Another in June 2011 read: I want to stick my knife in flesh while sexually aroused... blood turns me on and Id like to stab a girl to death.
Another message, sent in April 2011, said: If you ever want to die, promise me I can do it.
My urge to rape, stab and kill is huge. You have to help me control or satisfy it, he told her on another occasion.
I want to kill someone and also I want to hurt u as a punishment
Im having lots of thoughts about killing u, he told her in one text in July 2011 just over a year before he murdered her.
He added: I want to kill someone and also I want to hurt u as a punishment.
Dwyer fulfilled his fantasy when he lured Ms OHara to Shanganagh Cemetery in south Co Dublin and then brought her to Killakee Wood in the Dublin Mountains.
Gardai mounted a major investigation to prove to a jury that Dwyer was in a secret relationship with Ms OHara and murdered her for his own sexual gratification.
Dwyer later won a significant legal challenge against the inclusion of the mobile data in his trial, having argued that accessing retained data contravened EU law.
He tried to overturn his murder conviction at the Court of Appeal, but that case was dismissed on all grounds last year.
Dwyer then took his case to the Supreme Court the highest court in the country.
Dwyer fulfilled his fantasy when he lured Ms OHara to Shanganagh Cemetery
Yesterday, its judges ruled unanimously that the mobile phone evidence used to convict him was legally admissible during the 2015 murder trial.
As Dwyers appeal was dismissed, Ms OHaras family members hugged one another in the court chamber.
After the ruling, they released a statement that said they were relieved the Supreme Court had upheld the appeal courts verdict.
They said they had experienced a long and arduous criminal trial, with many challenges to the jurys verdict over the years.
The family thanked the gardai and the detectives who investigated the murder.
They added that they hoped Ms OHara could now finally rest in peace.
The court was told that the woman was seeking to have her partner's barring order varied by consent.
A judge has granted a court application allowing a man who is barred from having contact with his partner to attend the birth of their child.
The application was made by the man's pregnant partner at a court in Co Donegal today.
The woman made the application as part of cases being dealt with under a list of Family Law matters at the court.
The court was told that the woman was seeking to have her partner's barring order varied by consent.
The judge in the case was told that the woman is due to have the child at a future date at Letterkenny University Hospital.
The pregnant woman, who was present in court, applied through her solicitor to allow her partner to attend the birth.
No specific time details of the lifting of the barring order was given in court.
The judge asked if there was a date for the birth but this was not given.
The judge said she would make an order allowing the application "in accordance with hospital procedures."
The solicitor in the case representing the man told the court that when originally arrested, a condition of his bail was that he resided outside Donegal.
The judge said that an application could be made down the line to vary the bail so as to allow the application.
When leaving the court, the judge addressed the woman saying "Good luck with everything."
Jonathan Abraham, 47, was arrested in Dublin on Tuesday
A London-based rabbi accused of travelling to Ireland to perform an illegal circumcision on a young child has been refused bail.
Jonathan Abraham, 47, was arrested in Dublin on Tuesday and is charged with carrying out a surgical procedure, male circumcision on a child, without being a registered medical practitioner at an address in Dublin 15.
The father of 10 appeared before Judge Michael Connellan at Dublin District Court today.
Detective Garda Megan Furey told the judge that Mr Abraham "made no reply" when charged at Blanchardstown garda station.
There were objections to bail due to the seriousness of the case.
The detective said the offence, contrary to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, could result in a maximum fine of 130,000 and five years' imprisonment.
Detective Garda Furey said there was strong evidence in support of the charge. Gardai entered an address in Dublin 15, just after 1 pm on Tuesday, with the homeowners' consent.
According to the detective, they observed the accused "dressed in a white robe, a doctor's-style coat, with blue gloves and a scalpel in his hand.
The court heard there was a table in the middle of the room with a changing pad, scissors and other medical supplies and implements.
"Gardai at this time also observed a very young child on the changing pad naked," she said, adding that they established that a circumcision procedure had already been carried out on another child at the premises.
The detective told the court that a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and "it's envisaged that there will be multiple further charges in due course".
Citing "significant flight risk" fears, she said that the accused flew into Ireland on July 30 around noon and had a return flight booked for the same evening. She added that he had no ties to this jurisdiction and did not have any property, assets or dependents in this country.
She described him as a man of means and had grave concerns that he would evade justice, adding that he had a strong incentive to leave the country.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor Tertius Van Eeden, she agreed that if the DPP directed that the case stay in the District Court, the penalties would be considerably lower: a maximum of six months imprisonment and a fine of up to 5,000.
He put it to the detective that she left that out during her bail objections and that it was too enthusiastic to suggest the case would go to a higher level, but she did not accept that suggestion.
In later exchanges with the defence, the detective agreed that the accused had not held himself out to be a doctor, and she accepted that he was a rabbi.
The garda detective claimed he had not given any information about his training and that he used the name rabbi Y. Abraham. The solicitor replied that the Y was for Yoni, Hebrew for Jonathan.
The solicitor said his client was a member of the Initiation Society, which governs the practice or procedures of the Jewish faith, specifically circumcisions.
Mr Van Eeden added that his client, who did not address the court, was registered as a mohel, the Hebrew word for a person qualified to carry out circumcisions.
The detective conceded she was informed of this and said enquiries were still being conducted.
When asked if she had done any Google research about that, she said she only learned this at about 8pm on Wednesday.
Pleading for bail, Mr Van Eeden said the Initiation Society was the oldest Anglo-Jewish organisation founded in 1745. As a mohel, he was allowed to perform circumcisions and had done so for more than 13 years, and he was fully trained medically and ethically to perform them.
The solicitor submitted that in the Jewish community, only a mohel could perform such procedures, and he was insured to do them.
Mr Van Eeden submitted that if his client had performed the same procedures in England, it would have been completely legal.
However, the judge pointed out that it was a separate jurisdiction.
The solicitor stressed that these were allegations at this stage, and his client had no prior convictions and had the presumption of innocence.
The court heard he was the primary breadwinner for his family and also received state benefits while his wife worked part-time tutoring children with learning difficulties.
The solicitor said that his client could face a lengthy period in custody, and the trial venue has not been confirmed.
He added that a 5,000 independent surety could be offered, and Mr Abraham would obey conditions not to perform such procedures in Ireland.
Judge Connellan refused bail due to the seriousness of the case, potential flight risk and strength of evidence.
Legal aid was granted to the accused, who was remanded in custody pending directions from the DPP. Mr Abraham has yet to enter a plea and will appear again on August 6 at Cloverhill District Court.
They are also seeking the driver of a car that was set on fire nearby
Gardai say they are on the lookout for anyone with unexplained burns to the hands who may have sought medical help after the home of a prison officer was targeted in a firebomb attack in Co Meath.
Gardai are investigating the incident of criminal damage by fire in the Trim area at around 11.30pm on Monday.
They are also seeking the driver of a car that was set on fire nearby.
Gardai are also appealing for any information on any person with unexplained burns to the hands or who has presented for any medical advice or treatment for burns to their hands since the night of Monday, July 29, a garda spokesperson said.
No injuries have been reported where the blaze broke out.
The scene was preserved and a technical examination was carried out, gardai said.
A window in the officers home was broken when the petrol bomb was thrown into a downstairs room.
The prison officer and his wife were believed to have been in the house at the time but there were no reports of injuries.
We previously reported that Gardai have been checking with hospitals to see if a male has presented with severe injuries to his hand.
It is understood the prison officer was targeted after he was involved in a number of seizures and searches of inmates cells.
Gardai are appealing to anyone who may have information to contact them, particularly anyone who observed any unusual activity between 10.30pm and midnight on Monday.
Any road users or pedestrians who were travelling in the area during this time and who may have camera footage (including dash cam) are asked to make this available to gardai, a spokesperson said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Trim Garda Station 046 948 1540, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
Detectives are following a number of lines of inquiry, including whether a jailed gunman who worked for the Kinahan cartel, is connected to the incident.
The Dublin criminal, aged in his 20s, is serving a lengthy jail term over a murder plot linked to the Hutch-Kinahan feud.
The Sunday World understands the mans prison cell was recently searched and an illegal mobile phone was recovered.
Sources said that incident is being looked at as a possible motive for the firebombing.
The prison officer is highly regarded and has been doing significant work in seizing contraband from the jail, the source said.
The cartel hitman had a phone taken from him in the past few weeks, so depending on what intelligence is on the phone, it could be seen as a costly device to lose.
Unfortunately, this may have been reason enough to target the prison officer for simply doing his job and doing it well.
The Prison Officers Association has condemned the attack.
Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court
An inmate was sentenced to more than four years on Thursday for his role in the 2018 killing of Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison.
Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an assault charge. He could have faced up to 10 years in prison. DeCologero was already serving a 25-year sentence handed down in 2006 after he was convicted of buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.
Prosecutors initially had said DeCologero and inmate Fotios Freddy Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly bludgeon the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida. But on Thursday, both prosecutors and the defence said DeCologero only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger.
US District Judge Thomas Kleeh said the sentence was fair, just and appropriate and strikes the balance the court is trying to seek.
'Whitey' Bulger, Jr. poses for a mugshot on his arrival at the Federal Penitentiary at Alcatraz on November 16, 1959 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
DeCologero, 50, declined to speak when given the opportunity to address the court. Defense attorney Patrick Nash began by conveying an apology from DeCologero to Bulger's family as well as the inmate's own relatives.
Nash described DeCologero as the victim of an abusive and neglectful upbringing.
Paul has had an incredibly difficult life, Nash said. As a result of that, Paul is a person who is easily led. Anyone who shows him attention, he's easily led.
An uncle eventually took in DeCologero and made him part of a criminal organization, Nash said.
In Bulger's killing, Paul was involved," Nash said. "He is guilty. But his role was limited.
Assistant US Attorney Brandon Flower declined to comment after the sentencing.
According to court records, inmates found out ahead of time that Bulger would be arriving at Hazelton. An inmate previously told a grand jury that DeCologero said to him that Bulger was a snitch and they planned to kill him as soon as he came into their unit.
Prosecutors have said DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulgers cell. Geas hit Bulger, while DeCologero served as a lookout and helped cover Bulger's body, Flower said on Thursday. DeCologero's DNA was found on two blankets, the prosecutor said.
Geas has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries up to a life sentence. His hearing is scheduled for September 6. Last year, the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.
Another inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI special agents. McKinnon got credit for spending 22 months in custody after his 2022 indictment, was given no additional prison time and was returned to Florida to finish his supervised release. McKinnon had served out a sentence for stealing guns from a firearms dealer.
James 'Whitey' Bulger mugshot in 2011. Photo: US Bureau of Prisons/Getty
Plea deals for the three men were disclosed May 13. Geas and DeCologero were identified as suspects shortly after Bulgers death, but they remained uncharged for years as the investigation dragged on.
Prior to Bulger's death, employees at Hazelton had been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing. After Bulger was killed, prison officials were criticized for placing him in the general population instead of more protective housing.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation found in 2022 that the killing was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the federal Bureau of Prisons. The inspector general found no evidence of malicious intent by any bureau employees but said a series of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters.
In July, the US Senate passed legislation to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the Bureau of Prisons following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and 80s, was also an FBI informant who provided the agency with information on the main rival to his gang.
He became one of the nations most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, thanks to a tip from his FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run.
Read more Three men charged with murder of notorious Irish mob boss James Whitey Bulger
Bulger was convicted in 2013 in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
DeCologero, who was in a gang led by his uncle, was convicted of buying heroin that was used to try to kill a teenage girl because his uncle feared she would betray the crew to police. After the heroin did not kill her, another man broke her neck, dismembered her body and buried her remains in the woods, court records say.
Geas was a close associate of the Mafia and acted as an enforcer but was not an official made member because he is Greek, not Italian. He and his brother were sentenced to life in 2011 for their roles in several violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Adolfo Big Al Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. Another mobster ordered Brunos killing because he was upset that he had talked to the FBI, prosecutors said.
Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary said that despite not being an adult, the boy can be named because he will turn 18 next week
Riot police hold back protesters near a burning police vehicle after disorder broke out on July 30, 2024 in Southport, England.
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana (centre) covering his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, following a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport. Picture date: Thursday August 1, 2024. PA Photo. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered the dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside. Eight other children suffered knife wounds - with five of them in a critical condition - while two adults were also critically hurt. See PA story COURTS Southport. Photo credit should read: Elizabeth Cook /PA Wire
A 17-year-old boy charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder for the stabbings at a dance class in northwest England was named in court on Thursday as Axel Rudakubana, as he made his first court appearance.
Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary said that despite not being an adult, the boy can be named because he will turn 18 next week.
The appearance in Liverpool Crown Court came after the shocking crime inspired two nights of violent unrest across England and UK prime minister Keir Starmer summoned British police chiefs to address the crisis Thursday.
The attack Monday on children at a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance class shocked a country where knife crime is a long-standing and vexing problem, though mass stabbings are rare. The deaths have been used by far-right activists to stoke anger at immigrants and Muslims though the suspect is not an immigrant, and his religion has not been disclosed.
The suspect, who police said was born in Britain, has not been charged with terrorism offenses but faces three counts of murder over the deaths of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.
He also has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight children and two adults who were injured.
The three girls who were killed (from left) Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Aguiar
The adults, who were listed in critical condition, were publicly named for the first time as Leanne Lucas, who led the dance class, and John Hayes, who worked nearby and intervened in the attack to protect children. The wounded children cannot be named because of their ages.
Two of the children were discharged Thursday, Alder Hey Childrens hospital said. Five others were in stable condition at the hospital.
Police have not disclosed a motive for the crime, but other new details emerged during the suspect's first appearance at Liverpool Magistrates' Court.
The alleged murder weapon was a kitchen knife with a curved blade, according to an additional charge he faces. It was also revealed that the suspect is just a week shy of becoming an adult when he turns 18.
The suspect, wearing a gray tracksuit, smiled briefly at reporters before sitting down in the courtroom. He then pulled his sweatshirt above his nose and held his head low during the brief hearing. He did not speak.
Neither the teen's parents nor family members of victims were in court.
Far-right demonstrators fueled, in part, by online misinformation have held several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and causing a melee near the prime minister's office in London the next day.
Starmers office said he would tell police leaders that while the right to peaceful protest must be protected at all costs, he will be clear that criminals who exploit that right in order to sow hatred and carry out violent acts will face the full force of the law.
Hundreds of protesters chanting we want our country back hurled beer cans and bottles near the prime ministers Downing Street residence in London on Wednesday evening, and launched flares at a nearby statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill. More than 100 people were arrested for offenses including violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker, Londons Metropolitan Police force said.
Police officers were pelted with bottles and eggs in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, where a police car was set ablaze, as far-right groups seek to stir anger over an attack they have sought to link to immigrants. A smaller disturbance was reported in Manchester.
On Tuesday night a crowd of several hundred people hurled bricks and bottles at riot police in Southport, set garbage bins and vehicles on fire and looted a store, hours after a peaceful vigil for the stabbing victims.
I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at the level of violence that was shown towards my officers, Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said. Some of the first responders who attended that awful scene on Monday ... then were faced with that level of violence.
Police said a name circulating on social media purported to be the suspect's spread by far-right activists and accounts of murky origin purporting to be news organizations was incorrect and that the suspect was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum-seeker.
Patrick Hurley, a local lawmaker, said the violence by beered-up thugs was the result of propaganda and lies spread on social media.
This misinformation doesnt just exist on peoples internet browsers and on peoples phones. It has real world impact, he said.
Britains worst attack on children was in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 primary school children and their teacher in a school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland. The United Kingdom subsequently banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.
While knives are used in about 40pc of homicides each year, mass stabbings are unusual. But a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, by far the most commonly used instruments in U.K. homicides.
Chinese car giant unveils a glimpse into the future with their premium Yangwang
Motormouths was invited to BYD headquarters this week to get a sneak peek at these utterly bonkers cars.
Under the Yangwang brand, which is the luxury division of Chinese superbrand BYD, we were shown around the two-seater fully-electric supercar the U9, and their gigantic hybrid luxury SUV the U8.
The cars had already made a huge impression at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK the previous week, but now was our turn to get behind the wheel and have a poke around the insane vehicles.
The only problem is, these are unlikely to make it onto Irish roads. But that didnt stop the giddy press from having a good old root around the cars to play with some of the tech features and experience the potential that may filter through to BYD in their new cars over the coming years.
The Yangwang U9 shows BYDs innovation
Irish BYD importer MDL hosted the event and Sales Director Ciaran Allen told Motormouths: In the Yangwang U8 and U9, the ability of BYD to lead the industry in the use of technology is demonstrated in a range of features that have the potential to transfer into their mainstream production models over time.
So, think of them as the pinnacle of luxury and performance that pushes the boundaries of automotive innovation and cross your fingers that some of the wow factor we got to witness and try out on Monday will filter down into the next generation of the current BYD line up or the new models due out in the future.
So far we have three models on sale, the Dolphin hatchback, the compact SUV Atto 3 and the super slick Seal saloon. The Seal U DMi is also due out later in the year, which Daragh got drive in Spain earlier this year.
But what about these two models? Well, the Yangwang U8 is a range-extending hybrid that is jam packed with luxury. It has a 300hp electric motor in each wheel for a grand total of 1,200hp, and it can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds.
Now read that paragraph again while knowing that it weighs 3.5 tonnes and measures over 5.3m in length. Those electric motors are powered by a 49kWh battery, while a 2ltr four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine acts as a range extender to charge up the battery when youre on the move. BYD is quoting a range of up to 1,000km.
But waittheres more. It swims too. Theres a float function that can see the car stay buoyant for up to half an hour while moving at 3km/h. Just what you need to beat the 30km/h Dublin quays traffic.
Theres four-wheel steering also that offers you the tank turn allowing the U8 to turn in its own length.
Inside, the Yangwang U8 has digital displays for the driver and all three passengers, while the central touchscreen offers a wide range of functions, and theres another in the rear.
Then there is the U9, which is incredibly based on the same e4 Platform as the U8, yet this thing could not be any more different. The two-seat all-electric supercar features butterfly doors and an 80kWh battery thats capable of delivering a range of up to 450km.
One of the quirky features on this is the innovative twin pump design meaning it can be charged from two sources at the same time. In theory, the U9 can be recharged from 30 to 80 per cent capacity in 10 minutes.
Can you imagine an EV driver pulling up to a charge point and seeing this supercar sitting there using both cables to charge?! Were not sure that is going to take off to be honest.
But this car may actually be able to take off because its top speed is 309km/h with 1680 Nm of torque and 1300 bhp. It can do 0-100km/h in 2.3 seconds. Thats not far off F1 numbers right there.
Asked about the pricing and the BYD bosses couldnt give the gathered press an answer but Ciaran Allen did say whatever you think they are worth you can more than likely half that price in keeping with BYDs extremely competitive pricing.
Mondays event may not have given us a chance to drive these cars but it did give us an insight into the extremely luxury and tech advancements that BYD can achieve. Lets just hope that some of that drifts into cars that are actually sold here.
Donegal holidaymaker Stuart Wilson felt forced to intervene as 6ft 3in intoxicated man became aggressive mid-flight
Stuart Wilson, from Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal, who intervened in an air-rage incident on a Ryanair flight earlier this month. Photo: Joe Dunne
An airline passenger has said he felt compelled to act as airline security when a drunk passenger lost his temper on a flight.
Donegal farmer Stuart Wilson (52) said there were people vaping and drinking on the flight when an intoxicated man woke up and went into a rage.
This guy was sleeping, Mr Wilson said.
Apart from their drinking and vaping, it was peaceful. But then he woke up and went bananas. His girlfriend was sitting with him and he just went into this rage.
You could tell hed been drinking a lot. I dont know if drugs were used, but this was outrageous behaviour.
He knocked his girlfriends glasses off her head and started punching the baggage bins above his head. He punched the ceiling and the armrests, the seat in front.
Mr Wilson, from Dunfanaghy, a rural village in Co Donegal, was on a flight from Manchester Airport to Lanzarote on July 1. The farmer said he chose to fly from Manchester to save money.
He was looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.
Ryanair passenger tells of his 'flight from hell' from Manchester to Lanzarote
However, he said he experienced the opposite.
This guy was roaring, calling his girlfriend a slut, a slapper, a whore, Mr Wilson said. He kept calling her a whore.
He was roaring abuse at her and wouldnt sit down. We were trying to get him to settle down and he was having none of it.
His girlfriend was inconsolable. She was crying and shaking. Her friends were giving her more vodka, trying to calm her down.
Everyone was trying to get him to stop. There were kids on the plane and an older person. People were crying, they were so upset.
An older person on the plane was crying. People were roaring for him to stop.
Mr Wilson said the aggressive man was seated in a row near him in an aisle seat.
I was worried about the young woman, as he was getting increasingly aggressive, he said.
I went up and stood in front of him and the whole thing took off.
I told him clearly, Im not taking any of your s**t, youre not doing anything to your girlfriend.
I said, no one is getting touched on this plane.
The young girl thanked me for helping her. I dare not to think what might have happened
Despite getting up the courage and intervening to try calm the situation, Mr Wilson said he was annoyed that he was put in such a position.
Im not security, I was a passenger on a flight, he said.
Mr Wilson said at one point, staff managed to move the man to the back of the plane, but he returned to his seat.
He came back and got into a conflict with one of the other men. He pushed his head into another mans head hard, so hard the other man fell over, Mr Wilson said.
He (the aggressor) was around 6ft 3in and around 100 kilos. And the other guy was only small, around 5ft 8in and thin.
Mr Wilson said he felt like he had to become air security and step in to try to control the situation, on the flight from hell.
The whole thing lasted about an hour, on and off, he said.
Surely its got to be protocol to land and for someone like that to be arrested. People couldnt believe it when he got off the plane and just walked away.
An elderly woman came up to me afterwards and thanked me. She said she didnt know what shed have done if I wasnt there.
A couple beside me said they were writing to Ryanair and I tried getting in touch with them (Ryanair), but theyre impossible to contact.
Are we going to become like America with air security because of people behaving in such an aggressive manner?
Mr Wilson said he witnessed two men beating the man when he was leaving the airport in Lanzarote.
I saw him then in Lanzarote with a bandage on his head and Id heard theyd broken his ribs, Mr Wilson said.
The young girl thanked me for helping her. I dare not to think what might have happened, but this isnt normal and it shouldnt ever be allowed to happen on any flight, ever.
If anything went any further, if I started to try to put him in a headlock, I was afraid I would get arrested.
Are we going to become like America with air security because of people behaving in such an aggressive manner?
Theres no excuse. It just ruins things for everyone. People didnt take videos of this aggression because they were afraid they might be next it was that bad.
In response to queries, a Ryanair spokesperson said: A pair of passengers on this flight from Manchester to Lanzarote (July 1) became disruptive inflight.
Crew defused the situation and moved one of the disruptive passengers to the other end of the aircraft for the remainder of the flight, which landed in Lanzarote as scheduled without any further disruption.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of these passengers unruly behaviour.
The IAA said there has been a threefold increase in unruly passenger behaviour
The spokesperson added: The safety and well-being of our crew and passengers is Ryanairs number one priority and we try to eradicate unruly behaviour onboard our aircraft.
We will continue to work closely with An Garda Siochana, the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority), Irish airports and the wider aviation industry to eliminate all forms of unruly behaviour in airport terminals and onboard our aircraft.
Ryanair staff are understood to have acted according to standard operating procedure in their efforts to deal with the passenger.
It is understood they were not aware of the full extent of the incident outlined by Mr Wilson.
Ryanair said it is supporting the Irish aviation industrys joint campaign to tackle unruly passengers.
The NotOnMyFlight campaign is an industry declaration to stop unruly passenger behaviour in airports and on flights.
All Irish airlines and airports, An Garda Siochana, the IAA, AirNav Ireland, ground handlers and international aviation organisations have come together to combat the issue of disruptive and dangerous behaviour.
The IAA said there has been a threefold increase in unruly passenger behaviour reported between 2019 and last year.
Unruly behaviour can include intoxication, aggressive or inappropriate behaviour, as well as not following the directions of flight crew.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 1. Investments in the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) will improve land connectivity with the EU, said Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Trend reports.
He made the remark during a press conference after a meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu.
"Connectivity is another key word. Connectivity is an area of mutual interest. Upcoming investments will enhance land connectivity by supporting the development of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor," he said.
As Borrell noted, the Horizontal Aviation Agreement, which is almost ready to be installed, will boost air connectivity between the European Union and Kazakhstan.
"It will be easier for me to visit you and for you to visit me, and Europeans will have more facilities to come and visit your beautiful country," the High Representative pointed out.
The Middle Corridor is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor.
The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching Europe.
The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
A large plume of smoke can be seen from across the city and by passengers flying in and out of Dublin Airport
Smoke plume seen across Dublin as firefighters battle large blaze
Emergency services are battling a large fire at an industrial premises in the Clonshaugh/Coolock area of North Dublin, which can be seen from across the city.
A large plume of smoke can be seen from across the city and by passengers flying in and out of Dublin Airport.
Gardai and Dublin Fire Brigade are currently attending the fire at a business and industrial estate in the Clonshaugh/Coolock area of Dublin 17.
Flights at the airport have not been affected, although local people have been advised to remain indoors.
An image of the scene in the Clonshaugh area. Source: Dublin Fire Brigade
Gardai from Santry Station are currently providing assistance to Dublin Fire Brigade at an industrial fire occurring at a premises in the Clonshaugh are of Dublin 17, a garda spokesperson said.
Six fire engines including a turntable ladder are at an industrial unit fire off the Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock, Dublin Fire Brigade said.
At 16.59 hrs Dublin Fire Brigade received multiple 999 calls reporting a fire in an industrial unit off the Oscar Traynor Road.
At present six fire engines including a turntable ladder are fighting the fire and Dublin Fire Brigade are advising as a precaution for local residents to close all windows and doors if affected by smoke.
"This is an ongoing operation and we expect to be at scene for the foreseeable, Dublin Fire Brigade said in an updated statement.
If you can smell smoke we're advising local residents to close all windows and doors as a precaution
Smoke is drifting across the locality, they advised.
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A garda spokesperson added that Dublin Fire Brigade currently have primacy at the scene.
"Gardai are assisting with traffic management at this time, they said.
The industrial premises is around 2km from the disused former Crown Paints factory earmarked for asylum accommodation that has been the focus of protests and arson attacks in recent weeks, leading to initial online speculation that that premises was again on fire. However, this evenings fire is at a different location.
Dublin Airport has said the fire, close to the airport, is not impacting any flights.
A fire in the Santry area is resulting in smoke blowing towards the airport this evening. This is not impacting on operations at the airport and flights continue to operate as normal.
"The airport team, in collaboration with AirNav Ireland, continue to monitor the situation, a spokesperson for airport operator DAA said.
Social media users from across the city have been posting pictures and videos of the large blaze.
Emergency services are at the scene of a massive fire in Coolock in north dublin @rtenews pic.twitter.com/o4EIpuw75X Samantha Libreri (@SamanthaLibreri) August 1, 2024
The fire is visible from Dublin Airport also.
A fire in North Dublin, seen from Dublin Airport pic.twitter.com/XVE7vvL3NO Diari Liffey (@DiariLiffey) August 1, 2024
Here is the fire from a closer angle posted by one social media user
Darragh Reid (26) died in the single-vehicle crash on the Trim to Navan Road last Sunday night
A young Navan man described as a beautiful soul will be laid to rest this weekend after he lost his life in a car crash in Co Meath.
Funeral details have been confirmed for Darragh Reid (26) who was killed in the single-vehicle crash on the Trim to Navan Road last Sunday night.
A notice on RIP.ie states that the death has occurred of Darragh Reid, of Athlumney, Navan, Meath, tragically following an accident.
Predeceased by his grandparents Mary and Owen Reid, (Darragh was) dearly loved by his heartbroken parents Natalie and Karl, the notice reads.
Loving brother to Christopher, Stephanie and Elora, (he will be) sadly missed by his parents, brother, sisters, grandparents Eddie and Ann McCabe, uncles, aunties, cousins, relatives and friends.
Darragh will be reposing at his home on Friday from 4pm to 7pm. A celebration of Darragh's life will take place on Saturday at 12 noon in St Joseph's Chapel of Rest, Old Johnstown, Navan followed by burial in St Finian's Cemetery, Old Athboy Road, Navan.
People have left numerous messages of sympathy in the condolences section of the page including one that reads: Thinking of Darraghs family and friends at this time. A beautiful soul who brought such laughter and kindness into my life.
Another added: We are all so very sorry to hear the shocking news. Such a terrible loss for you all. Our prayers and thoughts are with you as you move through these surreal days.
One person has written how they were: Thinking of you all at this very sad time but in particular Elora. May God give you all the strength to get through the days, weeks and months ahead.
Another added: Heartbreaking news to hear of Darragh's passing. We will forever remember the laughs we all shared both in the work place and on our nights out.
Privileged to have had you part of our life. Condolences to you all during this devastating time. Rest in peace Darragh.
Locals said that Darragh loved cars and regularly travelled to car events all over the country.
One friend said: Still cant believe it, I love and miss you bro.
Another said: Rest in peace Darragh . Thank you for all the laughs we shared! Thoughts and prayers are with your family!"
Earlier, his heartbroken family paid tribute to him, saying you couldnt ask for a better son.
He has two siblings with special needs, and he was a great advocate and carer for them. There was no one in the world like him. He went into social care and he wanted to change the world, his mother Natalie told the Irish Independent.
Darragh was the second eldest in the family of four children.
While he had studied social care and had plans to open his own care facility in the future, he was working and studying in refrigeration, and was due to go to Cork to further his studies in the coming weeks.
He would be the first to help you if you were in trouble. He was a treasure, Natalie explained.
Darraghs younger sister Elora described him as an excellent mentor and brother.
He used to say, dont judge the book, read the book. That was his motto, she said.
Darraghs father Karl said he loved his car.
He had only been hoovering and polishing it yesterday. And he was a very safe driver. He had an old head on young shoulders. Were all shocked. We really dont know what happened, he said.
Darragh is survived by his parents Natalie and Karl, and his siblings Elora, Stephanie and Christopher.
And he had two dogs that he loved as well, said Elora.
Shortly before 10pm, gardai and emergency services responded to the single-vehicle crash on the R161 Trim to Navan Road at Philpotstown near Navan.
The driver and sole occupant of the car, Darragh, was treated at the scene before being brought by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where he was later pronounced dead.
I am sending so much love and solidarity to the Southport community
Violence broke out in the wake of the Southport stabbings
The Brazilian delivery driver who was hailed a hero after intervening in a knife attack in which multiple children were injured in Dublin City has expressed his sorrow over the Southport stabbings.
Caio Benicio, who was one of the first on the scene to disarm a knife-wielding attacker in the November 23 incident in Parnell Square said it was awful to see history repeating itself.
Caio, originally from Rio de Janeiro, used his helmet to fend off the attacker in Dublin, posted the message on the 'Buy Caio Benicio a pint' GoFundMe page.
He wrote: "It's awful to see history repeating itself with innocent children being attacked. I am sending so much love and solidarity to the Southport community and I wanted to share how you wonderful people who supported me last year can do the same."
He also shared the link https://gfme.co/supportingsouthport.
Meanwhile, the family of one of the children who was injured in the November 23 incident also offered a message of support, saying: "Our hearts go out to the families of the children in England."
Violence broke out in the wake of the Southport stabbings
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder and attempted murder after the mass stabbing in Southport.
Three children, six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, died as a result of the attack at The Hart Space community centre.
A Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop for children aged between seven and 11-years-of-age was taking place at the time of the attack in the seaside town north of Liverpool.
The suspect, who is from the nearby village of Banks in Lancashire, but was born in Cardiff, Wales, was arrested on Monday.
He has been charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a knife.
He will appear at Liverpool City Magistrates Court this morning.
Eight other children suffered stab wounds in the attack, and five of them remain in a critical condition.
Two adults - including one of the organisers of the event - are also in critical condition after being injured.
More than 100 people were arrested in London on Wednesday night as a violent protest broke out in the wake of the Southport attack.
Flares were thrown towards the gates of Downing Street and some among the crowd threw cans and glass bottles.
Protesters later tried to kick down a fence as they were confronted by riot police.
Those arrested were detained for offences including violent disorder, assault on an emergency worker and breach of protest conditions, the Metropolitan Police said.
Riot police were also pelted with glass bottles in Manchester, after protesters targeted a Holiday Inn hotel where migrants are believed to be housed.
The most chaotic riots, however, were seen in Hartlepool where thugs were seen throwing objects at riot police, striking their shields and setting a police car on fire.
Despite appeals from Southport locals, including Elsie's mother, who called for the violence to stop after police vans were set on fire and bricks were hurled in violence that left 53 officers injured on Tuesday.
The former glamour model has had five facelifts already.
Katie Price is set to undergo her sixth facelift, forking out thousands of pounds for the procedure at a Turkish clinic.
The former glamour model has had five facelifts already as well as numerous other cosmetic enhancements such as rhinoplasty, lip fillers, breast augmentation, and a Brazilian butt lift (BBL).
She jetted out to Turkey with boyfriend JJ Slater this weekend to attend a consultation for her upcoming procedure at Trio Clinic in Istanbul, which will set her back a whopping 10,000 (almost 12,000).
Katie was joined by a camera crew as she documented the trip, taking photos in a surgical gown and hair net with pen markings mapping out her face.
She posed for photos while holding up a mirror to inspect the surgeons work.
The 46-year-old will also get some work done on her veneers while in Turkey.
On her Instagram Stories, she reshared a post from Dentica International in Istanbul where a dentist can be seen examining her teeth during a consultation.
Last month, Katie revealed that her five children are fine with her surgery habits.
I just think theyre used to me doing it. Its the norm for them. I dont even tell anyone now, not even my mum, because she just moans at me, she told Heat.
The kids are just like: Oh, its just you, isnt it, Mum? Junior always says: Mum, youre beautiful, you dont need anything. Youre stunning anyway. But they know thats just me".
It comes after Katie failed to appear at her 760,000 (900,000) bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday.
Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Catherine Burton said Ms Price had received "very clear warnings" that she must attend the hearing, where she was due to face questions about her finances.
A judge at a previous hearing said the former glamour model risked arrest if she did not attend further court dates, adding that evidence must be provided if she could not appear.
Issuing the arrest warrant, Judge Burton said that Ms Price had "failed to attend today's hearing" and had provided no explanation for her absence.
She said: "It is in my judgment necessary that the court issue a warrant for Ms Price's arrest.
"She has no real excuse in failing to attend today's hearing."
She continued: "The reason for her absence today is irrelevant."
Katie later shared a statement on her Instagram account saying shes "aware of the severity of her financial situation.
The mum-of-five said: Whilst I'm currently aware of the severity of my current personal financial situation with my ongoing bankruptcy, I am today shocked that whilst away working for a documentary on corrective surgeries that I should find myself yet again headline news.
The media in my opinion once again are trying to cause continued humiliation to myself and family. There are far greater and more pressing issues going on around the world that are more important and I'm sure most people are bored reading stories that are constantly misrepresented.
I am continuing to to cooperate with the relevant people on matters to the best of my ability which will be addressed after my return from work.
"Despite consistent stories trying to humiliate me on my personal misfortunes, I am neither embarrassed or ashamed. I own my situation and I am trying my best to work my out out of it and put matters right.
Katie added that she is currently going through challenging times and is trying her best.
She continued: I have to continue in my work in order to satisfy these bankruptcy orders which is all I am trying to do right now. I am however not running from matters and will continue to take matters with great seriousness.
I am doing the best I cam to rectify things during extremely challenging times. Once again I would like to highlight there are far greater and more news worthy stories.
I will continue to work on my mental health disorders for the sake of my self and my family and do the best I can.
Ms Price was declared bankrupt in November 2019 and again in March this year.
At a hearing in February, she was ordered to pay 40pc of her monthly income from adult subscription website OnlyFans to the trustee for the next three years, in relation to her first bankruptcy.
She was then declared bankrupt for a second time in March due to an unpaid tax bill worth more than 750,000 (890,000) owed to HM Revenue & Customs.
New Zealanders have raised $1.44m for the national network of rescue helicopters, in a record-breaking year for the Westpac Chopper Appeal.
The total is the highest in the annual appeals history and includes $72,930 raised in the Bay of Plenty region for the Philips Search & Rescue Trust.
Westpac NZ chief executive Catherine McGrath is thankful to everyone who has contributed in some way or form to directly support the choppers life-saving services.
The amount raised by New Zealand communities, despite cost of living challenges, shows the generosity of New Zealanders and how much we all value our chopper crews.
Whether youve donated the spare change in your pocket to a collector on Chopper Street Appeal day, cycled the 235km from Invercargill to Queenstown in the Westpac Chopper Bike ride, or taken part in a bake sale, quiz night or auction event, a huge thank you.
Every dollar remains in the region it was raised and goes to your local helicopter trust, helping keep the rescue helicopter network flying 365 days a year.
Our connection with the rescue helicopters goes back over 40 years, and our staff around the country are passionate about working with locals to raise funds to help keep their communities safe.
The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Fundraising drives by Westpac employees included:
-The Million Dollar Bike Ride from Queenstown to Invercargill, featuring renowned broadcaster Patrick Gower, Westpac Ambassador and All Blacks legend Richie McCaw, Black Sticks champion Gemma McCaw, Olympic gold medal rower Nathan Cohen and local rescue helicopter crews, raised $150,601;
-Bucket collectors on Street Appeal Day all around the country raised $97,887.
-Westpac Matamata Branch quiz night raised $34,305;
No matter where you are in the country, the rescue helicopter network means critical medical and rescue help is never far away, even in the most remote locations.
Weve heard from patients that when youre in need of a lifesaving medical transfer, or stuck in the wilderness, the sound of the helicopter approaching is the most wonderful sound of all.
As well as sponsoring the rescue helicopters, Westpac funds the marketing and administration costs of the Chopper Appeal and distributes all funds raised back to donors local rescue helicopter trust.
Donations to Chopper Appeal are accepted all year round. More information and rescue stories can be found at www.chopperappeal.co.nz.
- SunLive
The New Zealand Defence Force contribution to the Solomon Islands Assistance Force has ended, with the four deployed NZDF personnel having recently returned to New Zealand.
The SIAF deployed to Honiara in late November 2021 after a request from Solomon Islands Government to support the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in restoring peace and stability following a period of civil unrest.
The contingent has continued to support Solomon Island police to maintain peace and stability, including through community engagement and reassurance.
Over the course of the operation, the NZDF personnel have worked alongside New Zealand Police, Australian Defence Force, Australian Federal Police, Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Fiji Police Force and Royal Solomon Islands Police Force personnel.
In September 2023 the mandate for this deployment was extended through to mid-2024.
Senior National Officer, Major Stephen Challies, has held the role of Chief of Staff/Operations Officer for the Multinational Police Support Group.
A veteran of Angola, Bosnia, Timor-Leste, Kosovo and South Sudan, he has enjoyed the challenge and variation of the work.
An (unidentifiable) member of the NZDF contingent lowers the New Zealand Ensign at the completion of the New Zealand and Australian support to SIAF.
One of my personal highlights has been working with the Australian 7th Brigade to provide security support as part of the national general elections.
The Commanding Officer specifically tasked myself and the Regimental Sergeant Major, Warrant Officer Class One Adam Orlowski, as his eyes and ears on the ground during the elections. This was an honour and highlighted our particular skills and access to the community and with Solomon Island police.
Other highlights included gaining a greater understanding of our very deep historical and family links to the 13,000 strong 3rd (NZ) Division that served here during the Second World War, and working on the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Camp tunnel project at Bloody Ridge.
There were up to 5000 RNZAF personnel serving here in Honiara during the Second World War.
The New Zealand flag is lowered in the same location at the completion of New Zealands deployment to Solomon Islands during the Second World War.
Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour, says the NZDF has been proud to work with Solomon Islands Government on the SIAF mission.
This has been a key example of the value of Pacific-led solutions to Pacific challenges.
The NZDF stands ready to partner with our Pacific neighbours when the need arises. We look forward to working with Solomon Islands Government again.
Police are appealing to the public for information leading to the location of Rawhiti Okaharm Tokona.
A warrant has been issued for Tokonas arrest and he is wanted by police.
According to a police statement, Tokona is believed to be in the Waikato or Bay of Plenty districts and may have travelled within these areas.
Members of the public are urged not to approach Tokona.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 1. For the European Union, Kazakhstan is an enormous stepping stone between East and West, said Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Trend reports via the European External Action Service (EEAS).
His comment came during a press conference following his meeting with Murat Nurtleu, the foreign minister of Kazakhstan.
"Kazakhstan has a strategic geographical position; it is a great bridge between Europe and Asia. Under the leadership of President [Kassym-Jomart] Tokayev, Kazakhstan has embarked on a path of wide-ranging political and economic reforms that we support. We support this path to modernization, where economic and political reforms should go hand in hand," he said.
Borrell noted that the EU is keen on getting down to brass tacks and beefing up its collaboration with Kazakhstan.
"As my mandate representing the European Union will end in three months, it was important for me to come here to Astana to reaffirm our strong interest and commitment to strengthen [our] cooperation with Central Asia as a whole and with Kazakhstan, the biggest country in the region in particular," he pointed out.
Earlier, Borrell held a meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Takoyev. During the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union. They also had a meeting of the minds on current international issues and the importance of regional cooperation among Central Asian countries.
Antonio J. Guerrero / Chus Heredia Antequera / Malaga Thursday, 1 August 2024, 19:37 | Updated 20:07h. Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace
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August has started off hot in the province of Malaga. The threat of an amber alert was more than fulfilled and the thermometers shot up, with the highest official record being in Alora: where the afternoon temperature registered a stifling 44.2C. That was the official figure from Spain's state weather agency (Aemet), on what has been, in general terms, the hottest day of the year in the province so far. Tomorrow (Friday), the amber weather alert will be activated again between 1 pm and 9 pm. There is a significant risk of exceeding 39 degrees on the Costa del Sol and in the Axarquia and Guadalhorce valley areas the temperatures could again exceed 40C.
Meanwhile today, in Coin temperatures reached 42.5C this Thursday. Just behind was Alpandeire (41.3 degrees), Estepona (40.3) and Cortes de la Frontera (40), which surpassed the psychological barrier.
Very close to 40 were Malaga Airport (39.4C), Malaga Consul (39 degrees), Torremolinos (38.6), Benahavis (38.5), Fuente de Piedra (38.3), Antequera (38), and Ronda (37.2).
Residents and visitors in Velez-Malaga saw 35.7C, Rincon (34.8), Nerja (34.1), Algarrobo (34), and Marbella (33 degrees in the port) have breathed a little easier.
On the first day of the month temperatures hit almost 50C in the street in Antequera, in the north of Malaga province. It reached 48C in the sun and 42 degrees in the shade in the early afternoon, on another very hot day in the town.
The outside thermometers in the town's street reached 48 degrees at 5.30pm at the Hermanos Mir Munoz pharmacy in Avenida de Pio XII. At the same time, at the Cervera pharmacy in San Agustin, which was already in the shade, the temperature was 42 degrees.
For days now, the streets of Antequera have been deserted since midday. There are those who prefer to stay at home with awnings providing shade, window blinds down and air conditioning on; and those who go in search of the swimming pools or the beach. Since the beginning of July, the town's municipal swimming pool has also been open on Friday and Saturday nights in a bid to allow people to take a refreshing dip in the evening.
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New York MrBeast, YouTubes biggest star and a philanthropic force with nearly unrivaled influence among young audiences, acknowledged Wednesday that he used inappropriate language in his early online days, as numerous controversies bubbled up around him and a former collaborator.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, and his reported $700 million empire have come under new fire in recent weeks after accusations of past racist comments by Donaldson surfaced along with allegations that a longtime colleague made inappropriate sexual comments to minors.
When Jimmy was a teenager he acted like many kids and used inappropriate language while trying to be funny, a spokesperson for the YouTuber said in a statement to The Associated Press. Over the years he has repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language. After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world.
His highly produced videos of whimsical challenges and lavish gifts, often accompanied by expressive thumbnails and punchy titles, have drawn a record 307 million Youtube subscribers. His latest uploads include Ages 1 - 100 Decide Who Wins $250,000 and I Built 100 Houses And Gave Them Away! which, like most of his videos, garnered more than 100 million views.
The philanthropic sector has received this content with a mix of praise for encouraging direct generosity and criticism of exploitative inspiration porn. Donaldsons greater ambition made itself plain in recent years through the launch of his snack brand Feastables, a branded burger chain with reviews bad enough that he sued the company behind it, and an Amazon Prime Video deal for a 1,000-contestant reality competition show.
But before overtaking YouTube with his often-absurd charitable acts, Donaldson built a sizable following as a gaming content creator who sometimes interacted with viewers on livestreams.
Blind ambition for attention
In a 2017 clip circulated by YouTube influencer Rosanna Pansino in a July 24 post on X, Donaldson responded to a viewer who commented about selling Black people for money and said that the most I would pay is probably 300. Donaldson also used a homophobic slur at multiple points. After one commenter repeated a racial slur, Donaldson eventually instructed his audience to stop using that word in the chat.
Pansino told AP shed worked on various potential business ventures with Donaldson over the last several years, though none ever launched. Last fall, she complained publicly about an edit of her appearance in a MrBeast video, though eventually deleted the posts after she said she received death threats from fans.
Pansino said that contrary to popular opinion, its just not true that Donaldson has always made family friendly content.
His first videos, where he was trying to be an edgy gamer and streamer, and he said horrible things and nasty things I didnt know that, Pansino said. I had no idea that history was there.
In a separate clip from a May 2017 podcast appearance, Donaldson suggested he would have sex with the rapper Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli and who was 14 years old at the time. The video has since been removed for violating YouTubes community guidelines.
Podcast co-host Leon Lush defended Donaldson in a video posted on X last week. Lush said Donaldson clarified later on the episode that he wouldnt do that because Bregoli was way too young and had joked they should say something offensive that people can take out of context.
Lush added that the recording is cringe in hindsight and dismissed the outcry as a molehill turning into a mountain.
Being unfunny seems like the worst offense here. When you mix a propensity for dark humor with blind ambition for attention, you get this content sometimes, Lush said. Was being edgy the best strategy? Certainly not, although it did work sometimes as far as getting attention.
Collaborator controversy
Those clips emerged as internet sleuths alleged that longtime MrBeast collaborator Ava Kris Tyson interacted inappropriately with minors online.
Under scrutiny are Tysons past conversations with an underage teenage fan, including public posts where the two discussed nude images and anime pornography. The fan denied any exploitation in a July 22 post on X, describing such accusations as massive lies and twisting the truth.
In a July 24 post on X, Nate Weyman said he and the fan had done unpaid technical work running Tysons streams and would all play video games together for hours on end. Weyman said Tyson had a private Discord server with about 10 people, mostly other minors around 14 years old, and would frequently spam the server with pornographic images.
Tyson announced her departure from all things MrBeast and social media in a July 23 post on X. Donaldson posted on July 24 that he was disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts and is hiring independent investigators to look into the allegations.
Tyson has been the target of transphobic attacks since she came out last year as transgender. Last April, Donaldson defended his close friend against a video describing her as a nightmare for MrBeast. Donaldson wrote on X then that this is getting absurd, affirmed their friendship and said this transphobia was starting to anger him.
Giveaways questioned
Last week, a former employee accused Donaldson of rigging the contests in his videos, running illegal lotteries and deceiving his fans. The person made the sweeping accusations under an alias in a YouTube video that has reached over 6.9 million views since it was posted last week.
Donaldson has not publicly responded to the unsubstantiated claims. Chucky Appleby, who co-founded YouTube analytics platform ViewStats alongside Donaldson, said the former employee was fired within a month after displaying erratic behavior. In a July 29 post on X, Appleby denied accusations that MrBeast fakes videos and said it would have been impossible to hide scripted segments from the countless people on set.
Jimmy spends unfathomable amounts of money and time to ensure the integrity of what he does, Appleby said. I hate to see it come into question with a bunch of lies.
AP direct messaged several social media users behind the range of accusations, as well as the underage fan.
Matthew Wade, a La Trobe University sociology lecturer focused on ethics of charity, credited Beast Philanthropy for establishing partnerships with esteemed philanthropic organizations. The gauche tone and occasional crassness of Donaldsons style might have been well worth his truly extraordinary reach for nonprofits eager to drive support toward their causes, Wade told AP in an email.
But risk calculations could shift, he said.
Charities and philanthropic foundations cannot gamble with their reputation, Wade said. They must be seen as above reproach, and the steady accumulation of controversies around the MrBeast brand may too easily tarnish the pristine glow of their own.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, August 1. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create an Uzbek-Kyrgyz Expert Council, Trend reports.
The memorandum was signed on July 30, 2024, between the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS) and the National Institute of Strategic Initiatives under the President of Kyrgyzstan.
The formation of the council is aimed at providing a structured and regular framework for expert dialogue between the two countries, following the high-level Uzbek-Kyrgyz summit held on July 1819, 2024.
The council will focus on analyzing the current state of and identifying new growth opportunities in trade, economic, industrial, technological, and cultural cooperation.
Experts will also work on advancing the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the construction of the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant. These projects are expected to have a significant impact on the economic development of the region.
A roadmap has been agreed upon, outlining joint conferences, seminars, roundtables, and research on topics of mutual interest to be conducted by the end of 2024.
Whitestown, N.Y. A 37-year-old Madison County man died Wednesday afternoon after his pickup truck went off a road and crashed into a home, sheriffs deputies said.
Zechariah L. Lightsey, of Canastota, was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado east on Clark Mills Road at around 3:33 p.m. when his truck veered into the opposite lane and off the road, Oneida County deputies said. It crashed into a mailbox, a utility pole and finally a home, deputies said.
Lightsey was declared dead at the scene. No one inside the home was hurt, deputies said.
Deputies are investigating why the truck crashed.
Staff writer Fernando Alba covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, question or comment? Reach him at falba@syracuse.com.
Join NY Cannabis Insider for its next industry meetup in NYC on Aug. 13, 2024. Tickets available now.
After over a year of work, the New York State Cannabis Workforce Initiative has launched a jobs board to help employers in the states legal weed industry staff up and assist job-seekers.
CWI launched the beta version of its jobs board, CannaJobsLink, in mid-July, and will be optimizing it over the next few months, said David Serrano, CWIs project manager. But CannaJobsLink is already operational, and is garnering excitement among marijuana industry employers, he said.
Were 10 for 10 every employer that weve shown the system to has signed up to our programming, Serrano said. Its really great to see that there are jobs available in the market, and employers are coming in very excited to hire a workforce.
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CWI is a state-funded collaborative effort of the nonprofit Workforce Development Institute and Cornell Universitys School of Industrial & Labor Relations. The organization has trained hundreds of people on the basics of the cannabis industry since 2022, including through its traveling two-day Seed-to-Success Statewide Live Workshop.
CWIs job board aggregates cannabis industry job postings in New York State from sites like KayaPush, Indeed and others, Serrano said. Right now there are about 80 postings on the site, and Serrano expects there will be between 300 and 400 active job postings at any given time when the CannaJobsLink site is fully launched.
An important aspect of CannaJobsLink, Serrano said, is its free and doesnt require users to create an account. The lack of gatekeeping will allow anyone whos interested in a job in New York cannabis to use the board as a tool, he said.
We definitely try to make it as efficient as possible, said Serrano, who added that the job postings from the board are already being sent to students in their databases, as well as people who have signed up for CWIs programming.
Additionally, CWI is working with employers on the job listings theyre posting, Serrano said.
Its more than just sharing a job opportunity which is critical but its also making sure that the employer feels supported through the process that they have resources for how to hire, Serrano said.
CWI is using a two-pronged approach to cannabis education with expertise from Cornell and the Workforce Development Institute. WDI is creating training focused on industry education, while Cornell is providing information about worker rights and employers legal responsibilities.
Since the initiative launched in late 2021, its work has been funded by a $3,025,000 budget allocation from New Yorks state legislature to Cornell, along with an appropriation last year of $3,000,000.
Our partnership with employers is also a training partnership, Serrano said. In addition to helping them find workers, we are giving them training and resources to not only hire those workers effectively and lawfully, but also to be a good employer for the longevity of their operation.
Disclosure: The Cannabis Workforce Initiative is a sponsor of NY Cannabis Insider events.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003 in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. The man accused of being the main plotter in al-Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has agreed to plead guilty, The Defense Department said Wednesday. (AP Photo, FILE)ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Minister Heydon Launches Positive Mental Health Guidance for Farming Community.
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Farm Safety, Martin Heydon T.D., recently launched the joint Mental Health Ireland/Teagasc leaflet Sowing the Seeds of Support: Positive Mental Health Guidance for the Farming Community.
Pictured at the launch of 'Sowing the Seeds of Support: Positive Mental Health Guidance for the Farming Community' leaflet (left to right): Dr David Meredith, Dr Diana Van Doorn, both Teagasc; Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Farm Safety, Martin Heydon T.D. and Dr John McNamara, Teagasc.
Welcoming the publication of the leaflet, Minister Heydon said: This initiative will provide invaluable advice for the farming community on recognising and managing stress. The content in the leaflet is based on recent research findings and sets out useful coping strategies and pointers on how to minimise stress.
The publication was prepared by Ms Finola Colgan, Mental Health Ireland and Teagasc Health and Safety Specialists Dr John McNamara and Mr Francis Bligh. Researchers Dr David Meredith and Dr Diana van Doorn contributed data on recent Teagasc research findings to the publication.
Research on farmers mental health was part of the Farmers have Hearts cardiovascular health programme completed in 2023. Researchers found that 13.5% of farmers reported stress at the start of the project, based on a validated scale in a large sample (868), but that this reduced to 8% after one year when farmers availed of a health check and received health promotion messages.
A recent study by Dublin City University and Teagasc revealed that almost one in four farmers reported burnout and half of farmers reported sleep issues which are associated with stress. The research also identified that knowing when, where and how to seek help when necessary, is an important part of taking care of your mental health.
Minister Heydon added: The Total Health Model underpins the positive messages in the leaflet, whereby farm safety, health and mental health are interrelated and need to be actively managed as a unit. Recognising the need to improve the mental wellbeing of our farmers, I am implementing a number of initiatives including the expanded On Feirm Ground 2 Programme. This initiative is just one of a series of initiatives that my Department is implementing in support of the safety, health and wellbeing of our farmers.
Ms Colgan emphasised that stress is an individual experience, and the leaflet provides a list of the signs of stress to assist with identifying and dealing with it. Ms Colgan said:
Each person needs to be able to recognise the signs of stress, and how to alleviate the stress by responding to its sources. Seeking support from a reputable source should be considered.
Highlighting the practical benefit of the leaflet when engaging with farmers, Dr McNamara from Teagasc stated: The FarMHealth project found that a session of at least 30 minutes duration can help farmers to understand how to manage their mental health. This leaflet will be used at Teagasc events and discussion groups to provide guidance to farmers and to assist them in improving their health and stress management.
Francis Bligh from Teagasc spoke about how taking regular breaks from farming benefits farmers mental wellbeing, and that good work organisation and regular breaks allows farmers to re-focus and have a better work/life balance. Mr Bligh also pointed out that Teagasc and Mental Health Ireland have a comprehensive publication Coping with the Pressures of Farming, available on their websites.
Teagasc and Mental Health Ireland acknowledge the use of material on the signs of stress from the IFA Leaflet Lets Talk Dealing with Stress.
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Vintage Tractor Show | Panningen, The Netherlands
I have posted about tractor-pulling and vintage tractors before. Last weekend the 43rd edition of the IHF Panningen was held.
https://ihf-festival.nl
The largest gathering of vintage tractors in Europe. I had never been yet, so I started my vintage 1982 Mercedes W123 early Sunday morning and headed south. For those familiar with the Netherlands, Panningen is a small town southeast of Eindhoven. It is located in the province of Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands.
This International Historic Festival is pretty huge. It attracts some 25000 visitors. I must admit although I did hear some German and Flemish, my impression was it is largely a Dutch crowd, both participants and visitors.
It is entirely run by volunteers. One of the reasons I like these tractor festivals is because of the crowd it attracts. These are, as you would expect, mostly from the farming communities. And as you will see it is a real family outing, watching tractors. Lots of things for the kids to do and see.
The lady with the trolly is very typical for Dutch people on a day out. Be it at the beach, out in the woods, or here at a festival. You pile the kids and everything you need for the day into the trolly and pull it along!
First things first. After an hour and a half driving on a warm, sunny day in a vintage car with no AC, I was ready for some coffee and a snack. So I got myself some of these tokens. One token cost one euro. You pay in all the food stands with tokens. Everything was quite cheap! Coffee, tea, softdrinks and even a glass of beer or wine was one token!
One of the first vehicles I bumped into, was a working steam model tractor!
Look at this; vintage tractor galore! Next to vintage tractors, there were also a lot of stationary engines on display. You will get to see some of those too. Stationary engines were used in the olden days to provide power to all sorts of farming machinery.
Gorgeous combination!
Love the engine details
This tractor was an aircraft tug, that worked in the UK for many years, around the 1960/70s.
Although the vast majority of vehicles on display were tractors, there were a couple of vintage cars. And some vintage trucks too.
Here you a gorgeous Saab. In Dutch, it is known as a "katterug" (A cat's back)
One thing about tractors, more often than not, the colour will tell you immediately what brand it is!
Of course, on an event like this there were quite a number of these market stalls selling model Tractors and farming equipment.
As the day wore on I saw more and more little boys and their dads walking around with some of these!
Look at this, it might be vintage, it is still impressive!!
If you have read some of my other threads you will have picked up on the fact that I am a huge Unimog fan. Mrs. D has vetoed getting one, but at least I can have a good look at quite a few of them here. They come in a bewildering amount of different versions. This appears to be the Long Wheelbase version.
There were also quite a number of these "track" vehicles. Here is a whole trailer full on them. These were all built in the early 1940s.
Two of my friends from my model engine building forum were present as well. They were giving a demonstration in brazing. Here you see Wiel explaining it all. He is quite amazing, he can braze weld just about any material. If you like, you could have a try yourself!
This articulated tractor is massive, from the 70s!
You will notice that some of these tractors have been restored to factory-new conditions, while others look as if they have received no maintenance at all for the last twenty years. One of each, restored and unrestored side by side.
Tractors as far as the eye can see. And make no mistake, just about every single one of them, was brought onto these display fields under their own power. Some might look old and beaten, but they still run!!
A gorgeous Hanomag.
The show was spread out over multiple fields. On each field, they also had an area where the old tractors were put to work. Here you see one of these vintage tractor pulling a vintage ground levelling machine.
It also meant there was a constant coming and going of tractors driving through the public on their way for a demonstration or coming back to be put on display again.
Another huge articulated tractor. John Deere.
I like tractors! All tractors. I don't know much about tractors at all if I'm honest. I just like to look at them and see them at work. As it turned out, this particularly event I visited also showed me a vintage demonstration on making barbed wire. That in itself was worth the trip. See below for the little video!I have posted about tractor-pulling and vintage tractors before. Last weekend the 43rd edition of the IHF Panningen was held.The largest gathering of vintage tractors in Europe. I had never been yet, so I started my vintage 1982 Mercedes W123 early Sunday morning and headed south. For those familiar with the Netherlands, Panningen is a small town southeast of Eindhoven. It is located in the province of Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands.This International Historic Festival is pretty huge. It attracts some 25000 visitors. I must admit although I did hear some German and Flemish, my impression was it is largely a Dutch crowd, both participants and visitors.It is entirely run by volunteers. One of the reasons I like these tractor festivals is because of the crowd it attracts. These are, as you would expect, mostly from the farming communities. And as you will see it is a real family outing, watching tractors. Lots of things for the kids to do and see.The lady with the trolly is very typical for Dutch people on a day out. Be it at the beach, out in the woods, or here at a festival. You pile the kids and everything you need for the day into the trolly and pull it along!First things first. After an hour and a half driving on a warm, sunny day in a vintage car with no AC, I was ready for some coffee and a snack. So I got myself some of these tokens. One token cost one euro. You pay in all the food stands with tokens. Everything was quite cheap! Coffee, tea, softdrinks and even a glass of beer or wine was one token!One of the first vehicles I bumped into, was a working steam model tractor!Look at this; vintage tractor galore! Next to vintage tractors, there were also a lot of stationary engines on display. You will get to see some of those too. Stationary engines were used in the olden days to provide power to all sorts of farming machinery.Gorgeous combination!Love the engine detailsThis tractor was an aircraft tug, that worked in the UK for many years, around the 1960/70s.Although the vast majority of vehicles on display were tractors, there were a couple of vintage cars. And some vintage trucks too.Here you a gorgeous Saab. In Dutch, it is known as a "katterug" (A cat's back)One thing about tractors, more often than not, the colour will tell you immediately what brand it is!Of course, on an event like this there were quite a number of these market stalls selling model Tractors and farming equipment.As the day wore on I saw more and more little boys and their dads walking around with some of these!Look at this, it might be vintage, it is still impressive!!If you have read some of my other threads you will have picked up on the fact that I am a huge Unimog fan. Mrs. D has vetoed getting one, but at least I can have a good look at quite a few of them here. They come in a bewildering amount of different versions. This appears to be the Long Wheelbase version.There were also quite a number of these "track" vehicles. Here is a whole trailer full on them. These were all built in the early 1940s.Two of my friends from my model engine building forum were present as well. They were giving a demonstration in brazing. Here you see Wiel explaining it all. He is quite amazing, he can braze weld just about any material. If you like, you could have a try yourself!This articulated tractor is massive, from the 70s!You will notice that some of these tractors have been restored to factory-new conditions, while others look as if they have received no maintenance at all for the last twenty years. One of each, restored and unrestored side by side.Tractors as far as the eye can see. And make no mistake, just about every single one of them, was brought onto these display fields under their own power. Some might look old and beaten, but they still run!!A gorgeous Hanomag.The show was spread out over multiple fields. On each field, they also had an area where the old tractors were put to work. Here you see one of these vintage tractor pulling a vintage ground levelling machine.It also meant there was a constant coming and going of tractors driving through the public on their way for a demonstration or coming back to be put on display again.Another huge articulated tractor. John Deere. Last edited by Axe77 : 1st August 2024 at 18:51 . Reason: Minor edit.
Highly anticipated: About a month ago, some leaked European retail listings suggested that AMD's upcoming Zen 5 processors might launch at lower prices than Zen 4. With the Ryzen 9000 CPU release date just a week away, newly leaked US listings from Best Buy seemingly confirm earlier speculation, with the top two Ryzen chips debuting $100 below their predecessors.
Reliable tipster @momomo_us has shared screenshots revealing US and European prices for every Ryzen 9000 series CPU and the two new Ryzen 5000 processors. The Zen 5 chips will be markedly cheaper than their Zen 4 counterparts.
The most detailed leak comes from Best Buy, showing the top two CPUs the Ryzen 9 9950X and 9900X launching at $599 and $449, respectively. Both processors are priced $100 below their Ryzen 7000 equivalents. Price reductions are smaller for the mid-range Zen 5 parts, with the Ryzen 7 9700X debuting at $359 and the Ryzen 5 9600XT at $249.
AMD's new AM4 chips are also included with the company's previously confirmed prices. The Ryzen 9 5900XT and Ryzen 7 5800XT are priced at $349 and $249, respectively, but may not offer exceptional value compared to the Ryzen 5800X, which is available for just $180.
Slovenian retailer Funtech offered an early look at European Zen 5 pricing a month ago. Although the their listings were lower than expected, Momomo has shared French and Belgian store pages that undercut the MSRPs further. Now-removed listings from LDLC positioned the 9950X at 749, the 9900X at 559, the 9700X at 444, and the 9600X at 384.
The Ryzen 9000 series is expected to offer a significant performance boost over Zen 4, despite the lower prices. The flagship 9950X is a 16-core, 32-thread CPU clocked at 5.7GHz, with a theoretical maximum of 5.85GHz.
A recent liquid nitrogen-cooled overclocking demonstration pushed it to a record-breaking 6.5GHz.
Meanwhile, the 12-core, 24-thread 9900X reaches 5.6GHz. Further down the lineup, the 9700X features eight Zen 5 cores with 16 threads and a top frequency of 5.5GHz. The most affordable chip in the launch lineup, the 9600X, includes six cores and 12 threads with a 5.4GHz clock.
The four processors were initially set to launch on Wednesday, but AMD delayed them at the last minute due to a packaging-related issue. Although the company hasn't disclosed the exact reason, information has surfaced suggesting that the labels on the CPUs had typos that would mislead customers. The Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X will now launch on August 8, while the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X will arrive on August 15.
The big picture: Some analysts predicted the Xbox Series X would outsell the PlayStation 5 in 2020. Instead, Sony's console has likely sold more than double the Xbox Series S and X. The situation is so dire that Microsoft hasn't disclosed precise unit sales in over a year and has begun releasing its games on competing consoles. The company's latest earnings call certainly won't improve investor outlook concerning the future of Xbox hardware.
Xbox console sales suffered a staggering year-over-year decline during the quarter ending June 30. The situation regarding Xbox hardware has been dire for a while, but Microsoft's larger gaming business has performed well.
Although revenue from Xbox hardware decreased by 42 percent compared to the same quarter last year, general gaming revenue increased by 44 percent. Moreover, revenue from Xbox content and services rose by 61 percent. Microsoft didn't specify what that number encompasses, but it likely aggregates Xbox software, Game Pass subscriptions, PC games sold through Microsoft's storefront, and games the company published on all platforms.
Microsoft said its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard significantly impacted gaming financials, including first-party titles that performed above expectations. Since the purchase, revenue from games like Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch 2, and Candy Crush Saga has contributed to the company's bottom line. Conversely, third-party software revenue was weak, but Microsoft didn't elaborate on that area.
The company expects the trends it reported to generally continue into the next quarter, with overall gaming revenue rising by over 30 percent. Xbox content and services could grow by over 50 percent, but Microsoft predicts that console hardware sales will keep falling.
Solid Xbox unit sales numbers haven't emerged since last year when the console manufacturer confirmed that Series S and X had sold over 21 million combined. In comparison, Sony has sold around 56 million PlayStation 5 consoles as of the end of April 2024. Meanwhile, Nintendo has sold 141 million Switch units, though it has been on the market for nearly three years longer than the Sony and Microsoft machines.
A healthy outlook for gaming revenue despite struggles with hardware sales suggests that Microsoft's hardware-agnostic strategy is working. The company has focused on offering games on various hardware platforms and over the cloud. Despite de-emphasizing Xbox hardware somewhat, ambitious plans for a successor to the console are in the works.
Why it matters: The US has long utilized large drones, but warfare is evolving, and adversaries are increasingly employing smaller drones. To counter this growing threat, the Army is turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Software company Camgian recently secured a substantial $55 million contract to enhance the Army's existing Integrated Air and Missile Defense systems with advanced kill chain automation technology.
The objective is to enhance sensor survivability while streamlining the kill chain to provide faster, more reliable decision-making. Under the multi-year deal, Camgian will work closely with the Army to integrate its Reactor platform an AI-powered system trained through reinforcement learning into the IAMD architecture.
The IAMD is a comprehensive system designed to protect the US and its allies from various airborne threats, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial systems. Camgian's Reactor technology aims to automatically provide the optimal engagement solution for defeating drone swarms and aerial attacks. It will quickly offer on-the-move recommendations, assigning the right weapons to the right targets at the right time.
This should reduce cognitive overload on warfighters by providing a tailored course of action for each threat situation. The platform is compatible with multi-modal sensors such as passive RF, acoustics, radar, electro-optics/infrared, and laser range finders. It also integrates with a range of effector systems, both kinetic and non-kinetic.
Camgian CEO and founder Gary Butler stated that winning on today's battlefield is all about "closing kill chains faster than adversaries," and that this contract allows the company to work closely with the Army's IAMD community to deliver new capabilities that enable warfighters to operate at "machine speed."
On the broader counter-drone front, the Department of Defense held its most challenging demonstration yet. Dubbed "Demo Five," the June event pitted vendor systems against swarms of up to 50 drones converging on targets in an intense real-world test of sensors, shooters, and AI technology.
It's fair to say that the increasing focus on drones in recent years highlights how countering them has become a major priority for maintaining US military superiority.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, August 1. Turkmenistan last week noted an increase in sales on its State Commodity and Raw Material Exchange, the total amount of which amounted to more than $38.7 million, Trend reports.
According to the exchange, this is 2.7 times more than in the previous reporting period, during which the cost of raw materials sold amounted to $14 million.
Enterprises from the UAE, Turkiye and Afghanistan purchased diesel fuel, low-sulfur heating oil, liquefied gas produced at the technological installations of the Turkmennebit State Concern, as well as edible salt (Turkmenhimiya State Concern) for industrial use.
Furthermore, smooth-colored and jacquard terry products were sold to entrepreneurs in exchange for foreign currency.
Turkmenistan's businessmen purchased polypropylene (Turkmennebit State Concern) and flat glass for the domestic market for a total of almost 12 million Turkmen manat ($3.3 million).
Last week's auctions of Turkmenistan's State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange yielded 21 transactions.
Meanwhile, on July 29, 1994, Turkmenistan established the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. It is the most important body of state regulation for export-import operations.
A hot potato: Reddit has been making moves as part of a crackdown on companies indiscriminately scraping the website for AI training purposes. Its philosophy is that AI companies stand to make millions or billions on large language models they are developing with resources they do not own. It's analogous to someone taking two-by-fours from a lumberyard to build their house just because the yard doesn't have a locked gate. But the issue goes way beyond Reddit and is central to how the open web has worked so far.
The Robots Exclusion Protocol is a web standard used to control and manage web crawler and bot access to websites. Defined by the robots.txt file, it tells search engines which parts of a site can be crawled or indexed, helping webmasters protect sensitive content and manage traffic efficiently. However, it works on the honor system with few ways to enforce it.
Last week, Ars Technica was reporting that Reddit posts were not appearing in any search engines except for Google. It's no big mystery that Reddit already penned a $60 million licensing deal with Alphabet to use its content for training meanwhile Reddit has been increasingly ranking at the top of Google searches this past year (quid pro quo, or maybe not...).
The company also recently notified users that it changed its robots.txt file to exclude bots and crawlers that didn't have permission to access its data. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said he believes in an open internet but that companies now use search engine web crawlers to scrape information for profit, a far cry from their historical use. "I think the traditional value exchange from search engines has changed," Huffman told The Verge.
"Search and summarization and training are merging, and the value exchange of crawling in exchange for traffic back is becoming muddied."
To this point, Huffman said that blocking companies unwilling to pay for data harvesting has been "a real pain in the ass," prompting the changes to Reddit's robots.txt. For the most part, companies have respected Reddit's wishes, and several, including Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity, have entered negotiations to license its content.
Hoffman said that the biggest thorn in his side is that some companies scraping Reddit data are turning around and selling it to other AI firms via their APIs. He specifically called out Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman for recently comparing all public data on the internet to "freeware."
"We've had Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity act as though all of the content on the internet is free for them to use," said Huffman. "That's their real position." While Microsoft Bing has been gracious in respecting Reddit's decision to block its crawlers, the company managed to slip in a denigrating remark.
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman: the social contract for content that is on the open web is that it's "freeware" for training AI models pic.twitter.com/FN1xrqnJC0 Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) June 26, 2024
"Reddit has blocked Bing from crawling their site for search, favoring another search engine and impacting competition from Bing and Bing-powered engines," Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston said last week. "We honor the directions provided by websites that do not want content on their pages to be used with our generative AI models."
So far, Google and OpenAI are the only search engines on Reddit's whitelist. If other engines return anything but outdated Reddit content, then they are not abiding by the website's robots.txt document.
Reddit profiting from user-generated content through these licensing deals is still a hot potato. On the one hand, the lucrative fees do not go into the pockets of the community who make up Reddit's forums. On the other hand, these licensing deals are not much different from those of other companies.
OpenAI already pays licensing fees to large publishers like Dotdash Meredith, Axel Springer, the Associate Press, and The Atlantic. It is unconfirmed but doubtful that these publications pass those profits to their writers via raises or bonuses. Does that make it right? No, and the courts are still trying to decide about this unprecedented activity. However, it's par for the course at this point.
And this very issue is not limited to Reddit but all online publishers, big and small. In the race against AI training abuse, Reddit is one of the few with the muscle and influence to call out AI companies. While big media companies try to monetize and reach agreements, the rest of the internet is struggling. In fact, some subreddits have their own bots that copy and paste entire written content from original sources and display it as the first comment in the thread, effectively copying the content and then selling that to AI companies.
Until there are governing regulations, the AI gold rush will be like the California gold rush of 1848. Artificial intelligence firms will continue flocking to shovel AI products down everyone's throats for profit or to gather more data. Meanwhile, companies like Reddit and Vox will keep handing them the shovels.
Image credit: Jernej Furman
Arava Venkata Kesava Sai Kumar, known as Sai Kumar Arava, specializes in combining AI, machine learning, and data to glean insights into consumer behavior. Currently, both B2B and B2C businesses often struggle to identify the ideal audience for campaigns, especially for personalization and recommendations. Out of billions of potential customers, they want to target the right people to align with each campaign. Sai asks the question, "Why do this randomly when they can tap into data and sophisticated machine learning models?"
The need for specialists in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is rapidly outstripping the rate at which new professionals can be trained. Unfortunately, the number of graduates equipped with these essential skills remains significantly below the rising demand.
However, the field of AI and ML is not without its luminaries, who are making indelible contributions. Four emerging stars, in particular, stand out:
Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the "Godfather of AI," is a cognitive psychologist and computer scientist renowned for his groundbreaking work in deep learning. His research on neural networks and backpropagation algorithms has been foundational to many of today's AI advancements. Hinton's ongoing work continues to push the boundaries of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Ian Goodfellow, known for inventing Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), has made significant contributions to the field of deep learning. His work has revolutionized the way machines generate and manipulate data, opening up new possibilities in areas such as image synthesis and style transfer. Goodfellow's innovations continue to influence both academic research and industrial applications of AI.
Jurgen Schmidhuber, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, has made substantial contributions to deep learning and artificial neural networks. His work on long short-term memory (LSTM) has been crucial in advancing sequence learning tasks in AI. Schmidhuber's research continues to shape the future of AI, particularly in areas of unsupervised learning and artificial curiosity.
Sai Kumar Arava, a distinguished figure in the realm of AI and machine learning, has forged a remarkable career that bridges the worlds of academia and industry. Predicting Sai's career trajectory required no fancy analytics, however. Sai's fascination with math and computer science began in his childhood, leading him to excel in numerous math competitions and develop a strong interest in programming. This early passion culminated in a specific expertise in machine learning and AI. His first job as a data scientist allowed him to explore the world of data. This was followed by positions as an Algorithmic Engineer and Machine Learning Engineer. This extensive experience eventually led him to his leadership position at Adobe, where he develops AI-driven solutions.
Pioneering AI Services for Enterprise Customers
During his tenure at Adobe, Sai has led the development of groundbreaking AI services that have significantly impacted the company's intelligent service offerings. As the lead architect for Attribution.ai, Customer AI, and Adobe Mix Modeler (AMM), Sai has revolutionized how businesses approach conversion propensity and measure marketing channel performance. These innovative tools have not only boosted user engagement but have also provided Adobe's enterprise customers with powerful insights for decision-making.
Sai's work has directly impacted some of the biggest names in the industry. His AI solutions have been leveraged by companies like Nvidia, Disney, Home Depot, Walgreens, and MLB, generating billions of insights that have been consumed by enterprise customers for critical decision-making processes. The value realization achieved for these services has translated into millions of dollars in revenue for Adobe.
Advancing the Field with Deep Learning and Attribution and Propensity Models
One of Sai's most notable achievements is the development and patenting of "Deep Neural Nets with Attention for Multi-touch Attribution." This innovative work, which has garnered more than 70 citations, was published and presented at ADKDD 2018. The impact of this research extends beyond academia, as it has been successfully implemented in Adobe's attribution models, significantly enhancing the company's ability to provide accurate and actionable insights to its clients.
Sai's contributions to the field of attribution modeling don't stop there. He has also patented influential models, including "Determining Algorithmic Multi-Channel Media Attribution Based on Discrete Time Survival Modeling." This patent has not only advanced the theoretical understanding of attribution modeling but have also had practical applications in optimizing ad distribution and budget allocation for Adobe's clients.
Bridging AI and Business Value
What sets Sai apart is his ability to translate complex AI and ML concepts into tangible business value. His approach involves direct engagement with clients to identify and validate use cases, ensuring that the AI solutions developed under his leadership address real-world business challenges. This client-centric approach has been instrumental in driving revenue growth and establishing Adobe as a leader in AI-powered marketing solutions.
Sai's expertise extends to the cutting-edge domain of generative AI. He has been instrumental in launching several generative AI interfaces for Adobe's current services, significantly increasing adoption among customers. His recent work on improving the capabilities of Large Language Model-based marketing analytics copilots with semantic search and fine-tuning, published in the International Journal on Cybernetics & Informatics, showcases his commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI in marketing analytics.
Putting the 'Intelligence' in Market Intelligence
A key component of Sai's expertise in machine learning and AI is setting delivery metrics. This involves analyzing huge amounts of data to discover insights that businesses can act on to drive growth. By understanding customer behaviors and patterns, businesses can tailor their campaigns more effectively. This ensures that their marketing efforts are relevant, not random, and reach the most appropriate audiences.
Sai focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) services like customer AI and predictive lead scoring. These services enhance business operations by identifying marketing opportunities and inefficiencies. This allows marketing analysts to set up predictions specific to a company's needs. Sai's AI expertise makes it easy for marketers to predict customer behavior, measure the impact of a campaign, and help provide a better return on every investment. Among the many other contributions of Sai's efforts are greater cost efficiencies at accelerating speed to market, higher accuracy at understanding the "what" and "why" behind predictive consumer insights, and faster insights that allow businesses to pivot quickly if necessary.
From optimizing portfolio performance for advertisers to developing sophisticated attribution models that impact millions of customers, Sai Kumar Arava's career exemplifies the transformative potential of AI and machine learning. His journey continues to inspire the next generation of AI and ML specialists to push the boundaries of innovation while maintaining a steadfast commitment to ethical AI practices and tangible business value.
As the field of AI and ML continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, visionaries like Sai Kumar Arava are not just keeping upthey're leading the charge, shaping the future of technology and its impact on businesses and society at large.
Japanese researchers have reportedly developed a novel artificial intelligence model that can predict male infertility using a basic blood test with approximately 74% accuracy.
The AI system can forecast male infertility with approximately 74% accuracy by examining hormone levels in the blood test. Significantly, it has shown a 100% success rate in detecting non-obstructive azoospermia, a condition characterized by the absence of sperm in the semen.
Hideyuki Kobayashi, an Associate Professor at Toho University School of Medicine in Japan, who conducted the study, stated that they examined the levels of FSH, LH, PRL, total testosterone, and E2 in blood serum to research male infertility.
The AI model was created by utilizing information from male infertility patients who underwent semen and hormone testing from 2011 to 2020. Subjects over 18 years old were considered in the study. The majority of individuals were of Japanese descent with an average age of roughly 36 years.
The model uses the sum of motile sperm, which is determined by semen volume, sperm concentration, and sperm motility, as a point of comparison. The AI model checks if the overall sperm count is normal by comparing each patient's results to the WHO laboratory manual reference values.
The research made use of specialized AI software named Prediction One, which is exclusively accessible in Japanese at present. This software streamlines the creation of AI models, enabling researchers with limited programming skills to get involved.
Read Also : Alarming Study Suggests Hepatitis E Virus Could Be Sexually Transmitted, Linked to Male Infertility
AI Model Effectiveness
To confirm the effectiveness of the AI model, the researchers conducted tests using data from 188 patients in 2021 and 166 patients in 2022. This time, the accuracy rates were reduced to 58% in 2021 and 68% in 2022.
However, it is important to note that the AI model maintained 100% accuracy in predicting non-obstructive azoospermia, a severe form of infertility, in both years.
Artificial Remedies to Infertility
While AI is improving male infertility tests, this year also saw scientists developing lab-grown testicle organoids that closely imitate natural testes, potentially revolutionizing infertility treatment.
Organoids, small 3D organs created mainly from stem cells, have transformed the exploration of different organs and tissues, enabling scientists to simulate disease conditions and evaluate potential therapies.
Organoids have been created for various organs like the brain, heart, and intestines in the last ten years, but there has been a lack of testicle organoids until recently.
To fill this lack of scientific knowledge, researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel have developed testicle organoids using neonatal mouse cells. Under the guidance of Dr. Nitzan Gonen, an expert in fetal gender identification, the team created synthetic testicles that closely mimic real ones.
The creation of these testicular organoids could potentially improve the development and function of testicles, especially in the case of disorders of sexual development (DSD) and male infertility.
Gonen and her colleagues believe that these synthetic testes could offer a useful representation for fundamental studies, giving an understanding of the processes behind sex determination and infertility.
The artificial testes are small organoids created from real mouse testicular tissue. Researchers believe that organoids provide a more precise depiction of the intricate cellular structure and interactions present in natural organs, as compared to traditional two-dimensional cell cultures.
By carefully employing cultivation methods, the team managed to cultivate testicle organoids in a laboratory setting for an impressive nine weeks. Researchers can study important processes like sperm production and hormone synthesis in a controlled lab setting due to the longer lifespan.
The development of the oil industry does not stand still. In order to adapt to new challenges, it is necessary to utilize global experience and advanced technologies that ensure not only the efficiency of field development but also the safety of employees. Our expert, Ruslan Mardanov, shared his extensive experience in these areas.
For over 25 years, Ruslan has been involved in Oil and Gas Field Exploration and Development. He has a wealth of experience in the oil and gas provinces of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Uzbekistan, offshore fields in the Gulf of Guinea (West Africa), North Caspian (Kazakhstan), and the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, Ruslan's skills have been appreciated by major international companies: he has worked as an engineer and manager for TNK-BP, LUKOIL, HESS, Eni, Chevron, Statoil, and Aker Energy.
Ruslan, you have been working in oil and gas production for 25 years. How did you come to work in the industry?
Personally, I have been connected with it, without exaggeration, all my life. I was born into an oilman's familymy father, a geologist, was engaged in prospecting, exploration, and development of fields in Tatarstan and Western Siberia. He often took me to work, and I watched how engineers work in the office and in the field. There, I learned all the processes of field development: how wells are drilled, repaired, and maintained and how pipelines and infrastructure are built.
That is precisely why choosing a profession in the oil industry was only natural for me. When the time came to decide on a university to enter, I did not hesitate to apply to the Industrial University of Tyumen, majoring in the development of oil and gas fields. There, I studied fundamental sciences, such as geology, reservoir physics, and chemistry, specialized in analysis and design of field development, calculated project economics, and production operations. All of the above laid a good foundation for starting my career.
How did you start your oil industry journey? What projects have you worked on?
Since my first year in university, every summer vacation, I used to work in the field, mostly as an oil production and well research operator. It was by no means a waste of my vacation, as I liked the work very much.
However, what I consider to be the real start of my career is my work at the Tyumen branch of SurgutNIPIneft, the Project and Research Institute, where I got a job in my third year of studies. First, I completed an internship, and then I became a full-fledged employee. My mentors were both true professionals and wonderful people: Vladimir Sonich, Rifkhat Bulatov, Alexander Malyshev, Alexey Cheremisin, and Yury Baturin.
Working at the Research Institute reinforced my theoretical knowledge with practice. For instance, I participated in the integrated engineering design of the oil fields of Surgutneftegaz. There, we studied the geological features of the fields, estimated oil reserves, selected locations for drilling wells, and developed new technologies.
Nevertheless, I wanted to work in the oilfield like my father. Four years later, I joined TNK-BP, where I worked as a Production Engineer at the Kalchensky field, the southernmost field in the Tyumen Region. There, I was responsible for well research and construction, workover and scheduled maintenance, selecting equipment, supervising the drilling process and production.
Surely, working in a small oilfield gave me invaluable experience, which formed the foundation of my career. The whole technological process opened up in front of me in full view: well construction, working with downhole and surface equipment, collecting, preparing, and selling oil and gas. In such an environment, you can clearly realize the importance of your role and responsibility for your work.
Your expertise is not limited to local projects. You have worked in Asia, Africa, Mexico, and the Middle East. How did you get a job abroad?
Having gained rich production experience at TNK-BP, I returned to the Research Institute and worked for several years at the Tyumen branch of LUKOIL Engineering. There, I was involved in preparing geological and technical programs and analyzing the current status of the development of Western Siberian fields.
In 2008, LUKOIL Overseas invited me to lead the field development departments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Azerbaijan. In addition to producing assets, we accompanied exploration work in Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Iran, and Iraq. We evaluated many new business development projects around the worldeven exotic ones such as open-pit tar sands mining in Canada and Madagascar.
My experience of working and living abroad began in 2010 when LUKOIL acquired a project in Iraq and sent me to Dubai to work for the Middle East and Africa Regional Directorate. There, I gained invaluable experience that broadened my professional horizons and allowed me to make a significant contribution to solving complex problems. I built LUKOIL's relationships with international companies and government agencies, participated in tenders, and continued to improve my knowledge of natural resource development and production.
What was the most memorable project you worked on?
I would like to point out the deepwater projects of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. LUKOIL acquired several projects in that region in 2011, and their implementation required unique knowledge of ultra-deepwater field development, which no one in the company had at the time.
I became part of a young and ambitious team that, in order to gain the necessary skills, went on an internship to Houston, the center of competence for offshore field development, where project teams of such oil and gas giants as Chevron, Exxon, BP, and Occidental worked.
In collaboration with HESS's leading experts in deepwater production, we developed project documentation for a deepwater offshore field in the Republic of Ghanathere was only one such project in the world before us.
Obviously, any project requires high-quality and detailed baseline data. So, the more data you have, the less likely you are to make mistakes, which in deepwater development can be extremely costly. Therefore, we have developed a methodology for modeling surveys that optimizes drilling rig operating time and reduces costs. For example, our assessment resulted in a decision not to drill a well, which saved the company more than $600 million.
This experience was invaluable to me. I not only gained deep knowledge in offshore field development but also mastered new technologies that optimize costs and speed up the development process.
In your opinion, how does the work organization in Russia and abroad differ?
First of all, the mentality is, surely, different: foreign managers at all levels are always available and completely open. Then, I would also like to point out that foreign companies have extremely transparent work processes and flexible work schedules. At the same time, they set very high requirements for results, procedures, and safety.
Abroad, working in multidisciplinary teams, where every decision is made in close cooperation with representatives of related disciplines, is very common. This way, the whole team is responsible for the final product.
Thanks to this approach, specialists from different areas work together, sharing knowledge and experience. The results are impressive: decisions are made in a more balanced and informed manner, and the quality and efficiency of work are improved.
Now you work in a Research Institute. What tasks and problems of the oil and gas industry does it help to solve?
The foundation of my successful career lies in alternating practical and analytical experience. Having field experience and working in a research institute, I constantly change my views, reaching new levels of understanding of project implementation processes.
The primary assets of oil and gas companies are the reserves beneath the earth's surface. Our task is to find optimal methods for extracting oil and gas that are safe for both people and the environment, with maximum economic benefit.
In the early stages of development, the information about a field is limited, and decisions are made considering uncertainties and assumptions. As new data becomes available, we optimize resource extraction and review previously made decisions. This process is continuous and spans the entire lifecycle of the field.
Currently, I actively participate in conferences and workshops, both corporate and international. For example, I moderated a series of multidisciplinary workshops for offshore field development in Kazakhstan. These workshops synthesized unique experiences from implementing projects in the Caspian Sea, where we proposed solutions that transformed a project considered unprofitable for over ten years into an economically viable one.
I believe that participation in such events is an excellent opportunity to broaden your horizons, network with industry experts, and continue professional development.
What challenges and prospects, in your opinion, is the oil industry facing?
The oil and gas sector is undergoing a transformation due to the urgent need to transition to more sustainable and environmentally friendly extraction methods. Key trends will include digitalization, automation, and the integration of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The industry's development prospects are closely linked to global trends and energy resource demand. Alternative energy sources are actively developing. The industry must successfully adapt to these new conditionsto meet market demands and preserve the environment; there is a need to consider implementing innovative technologies and sustainable development practices. Traditional and alternative energy sources can complement each other very effectively; the future lies in their synergy.
In the Russian oil and gas sector, there is a need to work on technological independence. For example, in Upstream (exploration and production), issues such as software, high-tech services, equipment, and access to international databases are critical. In Midstream/Downstream, there are challenges with shortages of components and spare parts. These issues are actively discussed at industry congresses and symposiums.
Sanctions have significantly affected the Russian oil and gas industry, jeopardizing the implementation of key projectsespecially in the Arctic and on the shelf. Restrictions on access to advanced technologies and equipment are slowing down geological exploration and reducing the quality of oil and gas reserves.
The lack of domestic equipment and technologies in oil refining poses risks to the safety and the stable operation of plants. It is becoming clear that enterprises urgently need modernization and increased safety standards.
It is evident that the government needs to participate in solving these issues at the legislative level, for example, by easing tax burdens or providing financial subsidies to the industry.
Sanction-related difficulties, on one hand, hinder the implementation of many projects, but on the other hand, they provide opportunities for Russian developers and stimulate the development of domestic technologies.
Samsung has introduced a significant privacy upgrade with its latest One UI 6.1.1 update, featuring new security enhancements for both Quick Share and Samsung Cloud.
To know if your specific smartphone model is eligible for this upgrade, check this out.
Quick Share Gets a Privacy Boost
Quick Share, Samsung's convenient file-sharing service, has received a much-needed privacy upgrade. The newly introduced Private Sharing mode empowers users to control the visibility and lifespan of shared files. This feature allows users to set expiration timers, ensuring that shared content remains accessible only for a predetermined period.
Related Article : New Samsung Galaxy S25 Lineup Will Boast Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Processors Worldwide, Kuo Says
Samsung Cloud Enhances Data Protection
According to The Sun, Samsung Cloud is also benefiting from the latest update with the introduction of end-to-end encryption. This robust security measure ensures that files stored in the cloud are protected with the highest level of encryption, making them accessible only to the device owner. To activate this feature, users can navigate to the Security and privacy settings.
Device Compatibility
The new security features are initially available for the Galaxy S24 series, with broader compatibility expected to expand to other eligible devices in the coming weeks. Samsung has yet to confirm a complete list of compatible models, but it's likely that devices running One UI 6.1.1 will be able to access these enhancements.
Galaxy S24 series
Galaxy S23 series, including S23 FE
Galaxy S22 series
Galaxy Z Fold 5
Galaxy Z Flip 5
Galaxy Z Fold 4
Galaxy Z Flip 4
Safeguarding Your Data
These latest updates from Samsung underscore the company's commitment to user privacy and data protection. By implementing stronger security measures for file sharing and cloud storage, Samsung aims to provide users with greater peace of mind. As technology continues to evolve, it's essential for companies to prioritize user security, and Samsung's efforts in this area are commendable.
When it comes to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Ultra, early rumors suggest it's coming sometime in October. At the same time, he Fold 6 Slim is also rumored to arrive in the same month.
According to Tech Times, Samsung wanted to achieve a thinner design for the Z Fold 6 Ultra/Slim, but this poses some challenges on its part. If they want to do this, there's a need to sacrifice the S Pen support.
Chinese smartphone makers are now known for their foldables including the Honor Magic V3 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 4. This forces the South Korean tech giant to improve the quality of its foldable handsets even further.
This competition indicates that Samsung should strive harder to attract more people to invest in foldables. It's a healthy indication that the market is not revolving around the same maker since innovation is always around the corner.
The new direction for Reddit is leveraging its user data for AI training at a certain price, but the social news aggregator recently discovered a behind-the-back approach done by Microsoft. Reddit made a grand revelation about it by calling out Big Tech who allegedly "scraped" its data on the platform and used it for AI training without striking any deals with the company.
It did not stop there, as Reddit has also revealed other companies who had their hands reaching for its data, without paying or asking for consent.
Reddit Calls Out Microsoft for Data Scraping
It was recently revealed by Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman, via an interview, that several companies have accessed its platform without permission, with software giant Microsoft called out for allegedly scraping data. However, Microsoft was not the only company named for doing so, as other AI search engine platforms including Anthropic and Perlexitywere also identified.
Previously, Reddit vowed that whoever tries to access the platform without consent or striking a deal with them would either be blocked or have limited access.
It was revealed by Huffman that some of the websites that it caught were already blocked by Reddit, but others were reached out to for negotiations.
Read Also : Reddit-Infused ChatGPT Will Soon Be a Reality with New OpenAI Deal
Reddit CEO Wants Them to Pay
Huffman claimed that Microsoft was among those who are "refusing" negotiations with them, but a Reddit spokesperson clarified that the software company tried to strike up a deal but no agreements were made. That being said, Huffman wants these companies to pay them for scraping data off Reddit, and refusing to do so will end up withthem being blocked.
Reddit's Data is Up for Sale
A controversial move by Reddit last year centered on putting a price on using its data or accessing its API which led to apps from third-party developers shutting down and facing public backlash and protest. It was also revealed amidst this controversial issue that Reddit has been selling its user data to third-party clients to use for AI model training.
Days later this early 2024, Reddit officially filed for its initial public offering (IPO) which was long speculated by the company as previous reports speculated it to go public. Users and reports were able to connect the dots on its user data sale for AI training and its expensive API pricing that it was because of the social networking platform's plan for its IPO.
Moreover, Reddit made it official that it made a deal with Google that allowed Big Tech to access its user data for AI training in exchange for a whopping $60 million fee per year. After Reddit vowed to block companies for illegal data access, it named new names that have been accessing its platform to scrape data, now wanting them to pay, and has since banned them for access.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is presently still docked at the International Space Station after its first crewed flight, but its current situation for its anticipated return to the planet remains unknown. In several days, the Boeing Starliner would already have spent two full months since first docking to the space station in early June and bringing two NASA astronauts to orbit.
June's test flight of the Starliner was nowhere near perfect, particularly as the astronauts encountered significant problems that prompted them to manually fly it to the ISS.
Boeing Starliner Remains Docked to the ISS; Return Flight Still Unknown
Boeing announced via its latest update that several feats and tests were done regarding the Starliner spacecraft, with these essential for the upcoming return of the vessel. Remote teams from Houston's Mission Control Center and Boeing's Mission Control Center (BMCC) over at Kennedy Space Center conducted these tests.
Among some of the tests done was practicing Starliner's undocking procedure via an integrated simulation, in partnership with the International Space Station (ISS).
Part of these tests were Starliner's passengers, Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams from NASA, Starliner-1 crew Commander Scott Tingle and Pilot Mike Fincke conducting it via the Boeing Mission Simulator, and Josh Kutryk, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) participating from Houston.
Boeing, NASA Revealed Starliner Passing its Tests
According to Boeing, its practice, preparations, refilling, and inspection of the Starliner have already been done, with the spacecraft passing the tests that are needed for its return flight. However, there are still other items on its checklist before it can clear the Starliner for its next flight.
There are still no dates confirmed by the company, but this is its next focus for the spacecraft's return.
Boeing's Starliner and What Went Wrong
The fated first launch of the Boeing Starliner is infamously known for facing significant delays and rescheduling from the company due to problems it encountered while still on the ground. However, it defied the odds in June when the company launched it using ULA's Atlas V, but it faced a helium leak while on the way to the ISS which prompted the astronauts to manually fly it.
It was initially claimed that Starliner's problems would only lead to its return flight being delayed for several days, particularly as the ground crew and astronauts who boarded the spacecraft would assess it. Previously, it was revealedby Boeing and NASA that Starliner would be returning to Earth come June 25 and landing by June 26, with the companies not being able to fulfill it.
Like when it was still on Earth, Boeing and NASA pushed back on its schedule to have the spacecraft return to the planet alongside its two astronauts who rode the spacecraft. After completing its ground tests, Starliner yet again passed the latest checks that put it closer to its fated return, but despite being cleared, there are still a lot more on its list before choosing a date for Starliner's comeback.
A Taiwanese government-affiliated research center has fallen victim to a cyberattack orchestrated by a hacking group believed to be linked to the Chinese government. The attack, which occurred in July 2023, resulted in the theft of passwords and sensitive documents.
Cisco's Talos threat intelligence group identified the perpetrators as members of APT41, a state-sponsored espionage group with ties to China's Ministry of State Security. The hackers employed outdated Microsoft Office software to gain unauthorized access to the research center's systems.
Escalating Cyber Tensions Between Taiwan and China
The cyberattack underscores the growing tensions between Taiwan and China. The self-governing island has become a focal point of geopolitical rivalry, with China asserting its sovereignty over the territory.
Cyber espionage has emerged as a key tool for Beijing to gather intelligence and exert influence.
According to Bloomberg, the compromised Taiwanese research center is part of a broader pattern of Chinese cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure and government institutions. Recent reports indicate a surge in such activities, prompting Taiwan to bolster its cybersecurity defenses with the assistance of foreign experts.
APT41: A Persistent Threat
APT41, the hacking group responsible for the attack, has a history of targeting high-value targets, including government agencies and private companies. The group has been implicated in numerous cyber espionage campaigns, demonstrating its capabilities and persistence.
The theft of sensitive information from the Taiwanese research center highlights the ongoing threat posed by state-sponsored cyberattacks.
Another Group of China-Backed Hackers
A week ago, another group of state-sponsored hackers dubbed Daggergly launched a malware attack on select organizations in Taiwan and a US non-governmental organization based in China, according to The Hacker News.
The gang of threat actors which hailed from Beijing engaged in "internal espionage" where it exploited a vulnerability within the Apache HTTP server. From here, the cyberattackers were able to send the MgBot malware to the systems.
According to Symantec, Daggerfly is capable of immediately updating its malware toolset to deliver heavy damage with minimal disruption to the organizations.
Last year, another group of Chinese threat actors under "Flax Typhoon" attacked government agencies in Taiwan. According to Microsoft, the group's modus operandi involves unauthorized access to the networks.
Microsoft added that Flax Typhoon was first discovered in mid-2021. At the time, the group was seen attacking critical sectors in Taiwan. Aside from the government agencies, they also specialized in attacking educational institutions, tech firms, and other infrastructures.
It's important to note that the group's activities are not only limited to Taiwan. It's been said that there were traces of attacks in other regions including Southeast Asia, Africa, and North America.
Regarding the tools used in hacking, the group reportedly relies on the Juicy Potato privilege escalation tool, China Chopper web shell, the SoftEther virtual private network (VPN) client, and Mimikatz.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, August 1. Belarusian producers are showing growing interest in the transit capabilities of Turkmenistan, Trend reports.
This was highlighted during a meeting between the Belarusian Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Vyacheslav Beskosty, and the Director General of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers, Mammethan Chakyev, who also serves as the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Belarus-Turkmenistan Commission on Economic Cooperation.
The discussions focused on the current state and future prospects of bilateral trade and economic relations, including plans for the next session of the Intergovernmental Commission.
The sides expressed a desire to strengthen business contacts between entrepreneurs from the two countries.
Moreover, on July 31, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov met with Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Minsk, Nazarguly Shagulyev. They discussed various aspects of Belarus-Turkmenistan cooperation at the bilateral level, including the schedule of upcoming meetings and visits.
Additionally, the parties noted the positive developments in educational collaboration, particularly the training of Turkmen students in Belarusian universities.
Gunfire, bombs as Colombia guerrillas flex muscles ahead of COP16
Jamundi, Colombia, July 31 (AFP) Jul 31, 2024
Weary of gunfire and bombs, Ana Munoz recently closed her shop in a hamlet near the city of Cali, which will host a UN biodiversity summit in October that has been threatened by Colombian guerrillas.
Residents of the small town of Robles, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Cali, say violence has reached new levels leading up to the COP16 meeting.
In July, Munoz, 40, and her family hunkered down in their home for four hours as a gun battle raged outside between security forces and an armed group known as the EMC.
Earlier that day, she heard a motorcycle loaded with explosives crash into a neighbor's house.
Like many in the town, the neighbor fled in fear of the rebels, who are dissident fighters from the former FARC guerrilla movement who rejected a 2016 peace agreement and renamed themselves the Central General Staff (EMC).
"Almost everyone has left," said Munoz, packing up the bags of animal feed she sells to take to another, safer, part of town.
In July, the EMC warned the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity "will fail even if they militarize the city with gringos (foreigners)."
On Tuesday, dressed in camouflage and armed with rifles, the rebels assured in a video that they would respect the COP16.
Either way, their presence has authorities on edge.
The summit security manager, General William Castano, said more than 10,000 uniformed officers supported by Interpol, Europol and Ameripol, were working on a defense and intelligence plan dubbed the "Hummingbird Plan".
The idea is to "minimize criminals' attempts to affect security at the COP."
- 'Very worrying'-
Much of Robles is now deserted. Walls are riddled with bullet holes or damaged by explosions and broken glass marks the entrance to some homes.
Soldiers and tanks keep close watch of the surroundings.
The situation is much the same in other towns in the southwestern Valle del Cauca department, of which Cali is the capital.
The area is an EMC stronghold, and is the main coca-growing region in the nation, the world's largest cocaine producer.
"It is very worrying," said Munoz about the threat to the summit nearby in Cali, Colombia's third largest city, home to 2.2 million inhabitants.
A dozen heads of state have already confirmed their attendance, according to Cali mayor Alejandro Eder.
When the motorcycle bomb exploded, Fabio Diaz, 69, and his wife, who live a few meters away, threw themselves to the ground.
According to the couple, about 50 chickens that they fatten up to sell have died from fright in a string of recent attacks.
"When one is at home and a spoon falls, you tense up," said Diaz, who earns a few coins guiding car and bus drivers through the labyrinth of streets that security forces have barricaded.
He has barely heard about the summit, but said it would be ideal if "they provide security for all of us. We want peace, we want to smile again."
- 'Checkmate' -
In the main park in Robles, three military tanks accompanied by soldiers and police keep watch.
The state Ombudsman's Office warned this year that the FARC dissidents have the wider municipality of Jamundi in "checkmate" due to recruitment, kidnappings, extortion and homicides.
On July 18, the mayor, Eder, traveled to New York to work on a cooperation plan with its police, which are experts in anti-terrorism. Some officers will soon travel to Cali to assess local security forces, particularly on intelligence matters.
"We take any threat seriously," Eder told AFP. However, he said he feels "calm", and sure that COP16 will be a success.
As is often the case in Colombia, the most brutal violence takes place in remote villages, while armed groups infiltrate cities in a more covert manner.
In Cali, a city full of trees and criss-crossed by rivers, COP16 is seen by many as a sign of hope.
"There is no need to be afraid," said Abraham Murillo, a 60-year-old public archivist.
"Is a success for the city and it should happen."
But others are more cautious.
"The guerrillas have indeed threatened a lot," said Carlos Riano, a 72-year-old pensioner, adding he was unsure if authorities could stop them from carrying out attacks.
"We will see how real their threats are."
Nigeria unveils elephant sculpture to highlight illegal tusk trade
Abuja, July 31 (AFP) Jul 31, 2024
Nigeria's minister of state for the environment unveiled an elephant-shaped sculpture made with confiscated ivory on Wednesday -- the country's latest bid to raise awareness as it struggles to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
The moulded grey statue incorporates ground-down fragments from a record $11 million, 2.5-tonne haul of seized tusks destroyed by the authorities in January, as well as pulverised pangolin scales.
As he unwrapped the sculpture at the National Park Service headquarters in Abuja, minister of state for the environment Iziaq Kunle Salako said it was a "symbol of renewed hope for Nigerian wildlife".
But he warned that poachers were "very tenacious and do not give up easily".
"Demand for wild animal parts and derivatives persists with a surge in black markets," he said. "We must therefore be resolute, enforce our laws and upscale the deployment of technology in fighting these criminals."
Salako said the sculpture, about the height of a human, was intended as a "monument in memory of hundreds of elephants killed illegally and as a symbol of our unwavering commitment to wildlife conservation".
International trade in ivory has been banned since 1989 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
But it has not stopped wildlife traders operating in Nigeria, where the number of elephants has plummeted from hundreds of thousands to under 400 due to poaching and habitat loss, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society NGO.
The UN's Office on Drugs and Crime says Nigeria has also become the main transit hub for trafficking illicit wildlife products from East and Central Africa.
Among these are the scales of African pangolins, small mammals coveted for use in traditional medicine including in China and Vietnam.
One dead in Colorado blaze as fires ravage US west
Los Angeles, United States, July 31 (AFP) Jul 31, 2024
One person has died in a Colorado wildfire, officials said Wednesday, as around a hundred infernos continue to blaze across western US states and a dangerous new heat wave looms.
The death occurred at a home near the town of Lyons, after a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon and consumed several buildings. It remains zero percent contained, despite the efforts of over 120 firefighters.
Firefighters discovered "human remains in one of the residences," Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said.
"I can confirm for you that we do have one fatality associated with this fire," he added, without providing further details.
At 1,550 acres (630 hectares), the so-called "Stone Canyon Fire" is far from the largest of the dozens currently scorching the western United States.
Fires are raging across the region, in a summer that has brought successive, intense heat waves that have dried out vegetation to create tinder-dry conditions.
California, Oregon and Washington states have been particularly affected.
In California, the Park Fire has swelled to 390,000 acres burnt, making it the fifth-largest conflagration in the state's history by area affected.
Reinforcements have been sent from as far as Texas to help control the blaze, which is 18 percent contained.
It was allegedly sparked last week by a man pushing a burning car into a ravine, according to local prosecutors, who have charged the suspect with arson.
The massive fire has forced the evacuation of thousands of people from a region around 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of state capital Sacramento.
Vast clouds of smoke have reached neighboring states.
Further south, in central California, firefighters on Wednesday were also battling a large blaze in the Sequoia National Forest, home to world-famous giant sequoia trees.
A slight drop in temperatures has helped with efforts to combat both fires in recent days, but a new heat wave is expected to sweep across the American West from Thursday.
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged people to remain extremely vigilant, with months of high fire risk still ahead in a region where climate change has lengthened the fire season to almost year-round.
"Remember (...) it's not just August, September and October, but likely November, December, that we'll be fighting the ferocity of Mother Nature and these fires," he told a press conference.
Repeated heat waves and extreme weather events are accelerated by climate change, which is linked to humanity's reliance on fossil fuels, according to scientists.
Two killed, 28 missing in north India floods
New Delhi, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Heavy monsoon downpours in India's Himalayan foothills triggered flash floods that killed two people, officials said Thursday, with the hunt on for around 28 others still missing.
Fatal floods and landslides are common across India during the annual monsoon but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency, intensity and unpredictability.
Rescue crews worked through the night at two flood sites in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.
Mandi district official Madan Kumar told AFP that rescuers had recovered two bodies.
"One other person is seriously injured and eight people are missing," said Kumar.
"Several houses have been damaged."
In neighbouring Shimla district, a popular tourist destination in India's rugged north, local official Abhishek Verma said rescue crews were searching for around 20 more people believed missing.
Landslides and flash floods killed more than 70 people in the state last year, also washing away arterial roads that left thousands stranded.
Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies.
They are vital for agriculture -- and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for South Asia's nearly two billion people -- but also bring regular destruction.
At least 176 people were killed in the southern state of Kerala this week when landslides hit villages and tea plantations, with search and rescue operations ongoing.
"India will continue to see more and more of these kinds of impacts in the future," Kartiki Negi of the Indian environment think tank Climate Trends told AFP this week.
str-sai/gle/pbt
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow received Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Trend reports via Turkmenistan State News Agency (TDH).
The sides talked about exploring new avenues to amp up their energy game.
"During the meeting, key issues were discussed, including the transportation of Turkmen gas to Turkiye and Europe, and the construction of a power plant on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea. President Berdimuhamedow affirmed Turkmenistan's readiness to continue energy sector cooperation with Turkiye, grounded in centuries-old ties and mutual trust," the report stated.
Special attention was given to the potential participation of Turkish companies in developing Turkmenistan's fuel and energy sector, ore mining, transportation and communications, agriculture, and investments.
"In this context, President Berdimuhamedow emphasized that Turkiye holds a leading position in Turkmenistan's foreign trade and highlighted the significant opportunities for furthering bilateral and regional relations," the Turkmen state agency reported.
A key focus of the meeting was the discussion of documents signed in March, including the "Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the Field of Hydrocarbon Resources" and the "Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation on the Development of Partnership in the Field of Natural Gas."
"These documents provide a crucial legal foundation for the continued expansion of bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector," TDH noted.
Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Pakistan's second-largest city Lahore hit by record rain: weather agency
Lahore, Pakistan, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore was deluged with record-breaking rainfall on Thursday, the national weather agency said, with hospitals flooded and power cuts reported.
The eastern city of 13 million people was lashed by almost 360 millimetres of rain in three hours, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said, breaking a previous record of 332 millimetres over three hours in July 1980.
"This was record-breaking rainfall," the agency's deputy director Farooq Dar told AFP.
One person was killed by electrocution as a result of the cloudburst on Thursday morning, local police said.
The agency had forecast a wetter-than-usual monsoon season this year in Pakistan, one of the countries experts say is most vulnerable to extreme weather being spurred by climate change.
Climate activists arrested in latest UK airport disruption
London, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Several climate activists were arrested Thursday after staging a protest at London's Heathrow Airport, the latest such disruption by the Just Stop Oil group targeting airports.
Police said seven people were arrested after they blocked a "passenger search area" at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, adding that "minimal disruption" was caused.
Just Stop Oil, which has planned or carried out at least four such protests in July, said 17 were arrested in relation to the action, with seven at the airport and at least ten elsewhere.
A picture posted by the group on social media showed several people blocking entry gates inside Heathrow Airport's departure area, carrying orange slogans saying "oil kills" and "sign the treaty".
The protests targeting aviation during the summer travel season are organised by climate groups from across Europe as part of the "Oil Kills" coalition.
They are demanding that governments sign an international treaty pledging to end oil, coal and gas extraction and burning by the end of the decade.
Earlier this week, two Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested for spraying Heathrow's departure walls and boards with paint, and eight others for blocking gates at Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest.
Heathrow and Gatwick airports previously obtained court orders to stop environmental activists from entering their grounds.
Colombia rebels to halt attacks during UN biodiversity summit
Bogota, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Colombia's EMC guerrilla group said Thursday it would halt offensive actions during the COP16 UN biodiversity summit it had previously threatened in the city of Cali.
The rebels, composed of dissidents who broke away from the FARC guerrilla movement when that group signed a peace deal in 2016, said in a statement they had "decreed the suspension of offensive military operations against public forces in the city of Cali, in the period between October 11 and November 6."
The summit runs from October 21 to November 1.
The EMC (Central General Staff) has ramped up attacks in towns around Cali in recent months, with a spate of bombings and shootings setting authorities on edge.
In July, the EMC warned the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity "will fail even if they militarize the city with gringos (foreigners)."
The event hopes to attract some 12,000 delegates and exhibitors, as well as heads of state, to one of the world's most biodiverse countries.
The summit security manager, General William Castano, recently said more than 10,000 uniformed officers supported by Interpol, Europol and Ameripol were working on defense and intelligence cooperation dubbed the "Hummingbird Plan."
The idea is to "minimize criminals' attempts to affect security at the COP," he said.
Cali is the capital of the southwestern Valle del Cauca department, an EMC stronghold and the main coca-growing region in the nation, the world's largest cocaine producer.
Being granted COP16 host status was a major coup for Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, who campaigned on an ambitious conservation and climate change program.
Petro has seen his quest to achieve "total peace" in a nation struggling to emerge from decades of armed conflict bogged down in complicated negotiations with a variety of armed groups.
The EMC recently split into supporters of Petro's peace efforts and opponents led by a man known as Ivan Mordisco, who commands an estimated 2,000 men.
Rights groups accuse guerrillas in Colombia of taking advantage of various ceasefires to expand their influence by seizing more territory and recruiting new members.
Signs of life spark hope for UK's felled Sycamore Gap tree
London, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
New shoots have appeared at the stump of one of the UK's most beloved and photographed trees after it was illegally cut down last year, a conservation charity said Thursday.
The news has sparked hope that the Sycamore Gap tree in northern England could "live on", the National Trust added.
The tree, which grew for more than 200 years in a picturesque dip in the Northumberland landscape alongside Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was found felled in September 2023.
Efforts have been underway to see if the tree in Northumberland National Park could regrow after it was determined that the stump was still alive.
Now, eight new shoots have emerged, which "could develop significant new growth to form as 'new' trees around the original stump", according to the National Trust and the Northumberland National Park Authority.
The sycamore became internationally famous when it was used for a scene in the 1991 blockbuster film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", starring Kevin Costner.
The regrowth was spotted during a routine check by park ranger Gary Pickles, who called the discovery "serendipitous".
"I've done this walk several times over the last year, but this time it was different, there was something new -- the trunk was showing signs of regeneration," Pickles said.
Andrew Pond, general manager for the National Trust at Hadrian's Wall, said officials "always had hope that nature would find a way to recover, and to see signs of life, just ten months on, is astonishing".
The National Trust, which looks after UK heritage and nature conservation, and the park authority said they would leave the shoots to grow for "a few years" to see how they develop.
"We'll also do what we can to protect the root zone, and to avoid any compaction. The next few weeks and months are vitally important for the success of these shoots forming into the reinvigorated tree", Pond said.
To protect the shoots, the authorities have asked visitors to keep away from the stump and not touch the shoots, as well as not leave ashes in the area -- done by people who have special memories associated with the site.
There are also plans to "extend fencing around the site", according to the statement.
Two men have been charged with criminal damage over the felling of the tree and damage to Hadrian's Wall.
Daniel Graham, 38, pleaded not guilty while Adam Carruthers, 31, entered no plea in May.
Hadrian's Wall was started in AD 122 during the reign of emperor Hadrian, and marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north.
Zambia to import electricity as drought slashes hydropower
Lusaka, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
Zambia announced Thursday it will import electricity from neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe as drought slashes hydropower output, leading to blackouts of up to 16 hours a day.
The state-owned power company ZESCO will procure 218 megawatts of power from South Africa's Eskom and the Zimbabwe Power Company, Energy Minister Makozo Chikote said.
"The electricity procured from the two companies is expected to be injected in the grid within the month of August," Chikote told a press conference.
The southern Africa nation declared in February a national disaster because of the drought, which has been exacerbated by climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon.
ZESCO has been forced to limit power supplies to around eight hours per day due to low water levels in its dams, which produce around 80 percent of its power.
At the end of July, ZESCO could only supply less than half of the country's peak demand, the minister said, putting the power deficit at around 1,360 megawatts.
Other measures the government hopes will ease the crippling blackouts include the deployment of diesel generators to hospitals, schools and other key facilities, and accelerated private investment in power generation.
Chikote also announced that Zambia has agreed on tax-free imports on solar power equipment.
The outages are holding back economic activity, with small business being the most affected, the minister said.
Zambia is facing its worst drought on record with some areas receiving less than 50 percent of their usual annual rainfall, the World Food Programme has said.
The result is major crop losses and deaths of livestock, with millions of people facing food and water shortages, aid agencies say.
5.0 quake hits Italy's Calabria, no immediate damage
Rome, Aug 1 (AFP) Aug 01, 2024
A 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck Italy's southern region of Calabria late Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The quake was centred three kilometres west of Pietrapaola in the province of Cosenza on the Ionian Sea, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
Fire officials wrote on X that there had been no reports of damage or calls for help, but checks were ongoing.
Pietrapaola Mayor Manuela Labonia told RaiNews 24 that "the situation is calm".
But, she said, residents felt "other tremors, less strong ones," after the first quake, and "we are all in the street."
The head of INGV, Carlo Doglioni, told RaiNews 24 there had been various tremors in the area in recent days, and the agency was monitoring the situation.
"We don't know if this is the maximum (tremor) in the sequence," Doglioni said.
On social media, some people reported feeling the earthquake as far away as Bari, Puglia, some 250 kilometres (150 miles) to the north.
ams/ach/giv
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. Latvia is cooperating with Uzbekistan within the strengthening of traditional transport corridors as well as on the development of alternative transport routes, such as the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) or the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor), Acting State Secretary of Latvias Ministry of Transport Ligita Austrupe told Trend in an exclusive interview.
Our road haulers are ready to use alternative corridors of TRACECA, or Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, and we see the interest also from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries to use alternative routes. When comparing two routes from Uzbekistan to Latvia the traditional one via Kazakhstan and Russia and an alternative such as the TRACECA corridor and the Middle Corridor we consider all aspects, both economic and political. It is essential to compute the transport and logistics expenses, but equally important is to mitigate political risks by developing as many new alternatives as feasible. Pursuing this strategy aligns with our shared interests, she said.
Ligita Austrupe noted that the Latvian transport sector traditionally plays an important role in ensuring connectivity between Europe, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries. Latvia can use its railway network, which has the same gauge as in Central Asia, dense road network, and Riga international airport, which serves as the regional aviation hub in the Baltics and has an extensive network of connections throughout Europe, to enhance connectivity.
"For Uzbekistan and the region, as well as for Europe, it is important to enhance connectivity with Central Asia. Given that the Central Asian region lacks access to the worlds oceans, logistics costs are significantly higher. Therefore, improved connectivity would be beneficial for all parties involved," the acting state secretary emphasized.
She stressed that the Ministry also recognizes considerable potential in the growth of exports from Uzbekistan to Europe and other international markets, which includes the creation of sorting and distribution facilities for Uzbek cargo at Latvian ports. Several projects have already been successfully implemented by Latvian and Uzbek entrepreneurs for Uzbekistan's agricultural and textile goods distribution to the European market.
Ligita Austrupe added that in recent years, the flow of railway and road cargo between Uzbekistan and Latvia has been increasing. Latvia perceives significant potential to develop new cargo flows between Uzbekistan and the global markets through its territory.
"Specifically, we identify excellent prospects for creating consistent logistics flows of imported goods from Western Europe, the US, the UK, and Canada to Uzbekistan. This initiative aims to support and facilitate the industrial development of Uzbekistan across various sectors, including energy, geology, mining, machinery, construction, transportation, agriculture, and other industries. Our geographical positioning is advantageous, and we have experience serving the transit route from Latvia to the US and the NATO Northern Distribution Network in Afghanistan through Uzbekistan," she noted.
According to the acting state secretary of the ministry, road transport from Uzbekistan to Latvia is growing, and there is significant potential to strengthen intermodal transport links between Uzbekistan and Western, Central, and Northern Europe through Latvian ports and across the Baltic Sea. Uzbek haulers can benefit from numerous advantages, including transit through intermediary countries and the use of transport permits.
"We should also note very successful cooperation in the field of aviation. There are regular passenger flights between Riga and Tashkent provided by Uzbekistan Airways, which is a very popular connection route for passengers between Central Asia and the Baltics. In 2023, 42,000 passengers used this flight route, marking the highest historical passenger number. This establishes an excellent foundation for further cooperation between Latvia, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries in cargo aviation, postal services, and e-commerce," Ligita Austrupe emphasized.
She noted that Uzbek entrepreneurs are active in Latvia in developing consolidation and distribution centers for goods within Latvia. Similarly, Latvian entrepreneurs could establish similar enterprises to distribute Latvian food or timber products in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia. All these bilateral business activities could potentially lead to the development of mutually beneficial infrastructure projects.
"From the Latvian perspective, we could offer our expertise in the creation of IT and communication infrastructures. Furthermore, we are open to participating in multilateral investment projects in Latvia and Uzbekistan in partnership with our European and US partners. We would be highly interested in exploring opportunities for such mutually beneficial projects," the acting state secretary of Latvias Ministry of Transport added.
Earlier, Uzbekistan and Latvia reached an agreement on granting forms of special permits for organizing cargo transportation by road through Latvian ports.
The Head of Public Transport Service Department at the Latvian Ministry of Transport, Annija Novikova, noted that Latvia is ready to provide comprehensive assistance in creating favorable conditions for national carriers of Uzbekistan within the framework of mutual cooperation.
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Review Eating outSouth Yarra Bet youve never had a hot sushi roll like this before, Melbourne Oshan is a culinary tale of tropical Brazil told via sushi and fruity jyos. Dani Valent August 2, 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
As featured in the September 2024 hit list. See all stories .
1 / 8 Go-to dish: Tempura hot rolls filled with avocado and topped with a slice of strawberry. Bonnie Savage 2 / 8 Cod jyo. Bonnie Savage 3 / 8 Oshans nigiri selection is more limited compared to the citys other omakase restaurants. Bonnie Savage 4 / 8 Oshan is a stand-in for ocean and its the seas blues, greens and kelp-browns that dominate the plush decor. Bonnie Savage 5 / 8 Tiradito (salmon and tuna are dressed in the chefs secret sauce). Bonnie Savage 6 / 8 Jyos (vegetable-wrapped rice rolls). uth Yarra Bonnie Savage 7 / 8 Chef Peterson Maia Machado Correia behind the counter at Oshan. Bonnie Savage 8 / 8 A colourful takeaway platter from Oshan Contemporary Sushi. Supplied Previous Slide Next Slide 14 / 20 How we score Japanese$$$$ Toorak Road, South Yarra, can seem predictable. Trams trundle by regularly, silver tracks gleaming in their wake. Car parkers get bitten by clearways every single peak hour. Any time of day or night, 38-year-old bistro France-Soir spills over with Bordeaux-fuelled bonhomie. Further along, by the train station, theres always someone struggling with the spice at Dainty on Toorak, the recently rebadged Dainty Sichuan. But not everything feels preordained on this storied, moneyed shopping strip. Halfway down the hill, behind sheer curtains, theres a surprise: a culinary tale of tropical Brazil told via sushi. Pretty, peaceful and poised, Oshan is a project by first-time restaurateurs Peterson Maia Machado Correia, a Brazilian chef, and Vanessa Fodera, the woman who inspired him to stay in Australia after he arrived in 2019.
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Chef Peterson Maia Machado Correia behind the counter at Oshan. Bonnie Savage Chef Peterson is from Sao Paulo, a sprawling megalopolis known for having the biggest Japanese community of any city outside Japan. Roughly 2 million Japanese emigrants and their descendants live in Brazil, most of them in Sao Paulo. So it comes as no surprise to learn that Japanese food is a strong strand in the dining scene and that sushi is ubiquitous. Sushi is steeped in rules and tradition, but its also adaptable, changing as it travels. The inside-out California roll hails from Los Angeles in the 1960s. The munchable handrolls in every Australian food court are our own chunky invention and filled with everything from Peking duck to tinned tuna. And in Sao Paulo, sushi often incorporates fruits such as guava and mango, cream cheese is a popular inclusion and there are tempura-fried hot rolls. Bourke Streets slick new sushi train (driven by dining big guns) has plates from just $4.80 Peterson trained under a traditional sushi chef you know it was old-school because he spent eight months washing rice and cutting vegetables before he was allowed to touch a fish. He further developed his style while working in Ibiza, first at a branch of Japanese fusion restaurant Nobu, then at party palace Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel, which has multiple catering outlets.
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One day, a Russian oligarch asked him to become the chef on his super-yacht. Peterson spoke little English and unwittingly said yes. Do you know what you just agreed to? asked a colleague. No, admitted Peterson. He wriggled out of the yacht job and decided hed better learn English. Australias sun and surf beckoned, but somehow he ended up in the shivery bay city of Melbourne. Oshan is a stand-in for ocean and its the seas blues, greens and kelp-browns that dominate the plush decor at this one-room restaurant. Theres seating for 25, but numbers are restricted to 15, five of them at a comfortable counter, where the chef hands you your dishes directly. Diners can choose from six- ($155), eight- ($195), and 10-course ($245) menus that generally include Petersons signatures. In Sao Paulo, sushi often incorporates fruits such as guava and mango, cream cheese is a popular inclusion and there are tempura-fried hot rolls. You might start with sunomono, a lively, vinegar-soused cucumber salad topped with octopus and passionfruit dressing.
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Tiradito is a spin on Peruvian marinated fish: here, salmon and tuna are dressed in the chefs secret sauce, a well-balanced condiment similar to ponzu, a citrus-dashi-soy. Jyos (vegetable-wrapped rice rolls). uth Yarra Bonnie Savage I love the jyos, a selection of rice parcels with vegetable wrappers. A shaving of
cucumber encases tuna and caviar; tempura eggplant is wrapped around scallop and dressed with mango-orange sauce; flame-seared cabbage is the wrapper for a vegan bite of shiitake mushrooms and shaved Brazil nut. Hot rice rolls filled with avocado and topped with a slice of strawberry are a light-hearted bridge to a dessert of matcha panna cotta. Over the past five years, Melbourne has welcomed about a dozen high-end omakase restaurants, which serve a progression of small courses to diners who put their trust in the chef. The South American angle is interesting, and the experience here is cosseted and calm, but Oshans use of local seafood feels limited, with New Zealand-farmed salmon, locally farmed kingfish
and wild bluefin tuna repeated across the menu.
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The 60-piece platter ($295) is arrestingly gorgeous, with fish rolled into florets and included in a variety of delightful and satisfying morsels. I could imagine eating this in a coastal cabin with a view of the waves, enjoying Oshan and ocean at the same time. The low-down Vibe: Plush sushi salon Go-to dish: Tempura hot rolls (part of a set menu, $155-$245) Drinks: Sake is a new passion for co-owner Vanessa Fodera, who matches the rice wine to each dish Cost: $155-$245 per person, excluding drinks This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine
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Our digital and physical lives have never been more intertwined, but pretty soon, it will be a little bit easier for Australians to disconnect. A new law will allow Australia to follow in the footsteps of countries like France by enshrining employees rights to unplug and ignore that late night Slack message or email.
From August 26, changes to the Australian Fair Work Act means workers will have the formal right to disconnect from all work communication outside of their usual work hours (for small businesses, these changes come into effect from August 2025).
John Hopkins, Associate Professor of Management at Swinburne, welcomes the change. Over the last two decades, the growth in digital technologies has really meant that everybody is available 24/7. Contact happens whenever is convenient for the sender or the caller and we dont have any laws around it, so I think this is certainly a step in the right direction, he says.
Is it going to be perfect? I very much doubt it, but its better than what weve got currently, which is gothic.
But switching off after hours is easier said than done. While workplace cultural changes go beyond the individual, here are some strategies to help you properly disconnect come August 26.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said this afternoon that Hamas terrorism needs to be defeated at any cost a sharp contrast to the foreign ministers position that Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.
The Liberal leaders comments at a press conference in Perth came around the same time as Penny Wong spoke in Adelaide today and again called for a Gaza ceasefire.
At odds: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, James Brickwood
Circling back to Duttons media appearance earlier, the opposition leader was in Western Australia to campaign alongside the Liberal candidate for Curtin, Tom White. So-called teal MP Kate Chaney won the Perth seat off the party at the last election.
But Dutton was also asked about the conflict in the Middle East amid heightened tensions and his recent trip. Heres some of his exchange with journalists, edited for length and clarity.
Reporter: Your trip to Israel has it dimmed your hope that conflict can be resolved?
Dutton: I think the raw emotion that we saw on the ground, in the kibbutz community where we went, where you saw many of the houses have been cleaned up but, the gun attacks, the safe rooms that have been breached, children being dragged out, the videos of people, including young women being slaughtered. All of that is something that most people youd hope would never see. So the continuation of that Hamas-style terrorist activity needs to be defeated at any cost.
Dutton later said he thought the Jewish community here in Australia feels incredibly abandoned by the prime minister and emphasised Hamas was still thought to hold over 100 hostages in a tunnel network under Gaza so you can understand the raw emotion that is evident [in Israel].
Reporter: But [if] you rightfully condemn Hamas What about condemning Israel for its part in the slaughter of innocent people on the other side?
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Dutton: Well, one of the things that we heard, as you know, is that Hamas hides their captives within the local community under hospitals. They hide their weapons and their rocket systems in residential areas. Hamas has no regard for Jews, and it has even less regard, in my judgement, for people who are living in the Palestinian territories. So, Israels right to defend herself, as is the right for Australia to defend itself against terrorist activity, shouldnt be questioned.
Do we want to see conflict in the Middle East? No, I want to see it come to an end tomorrow, and theres a deal thats on the table. But the hostages need to be released and nobody wants to see any child, regardless of their religious affiliation, or their parents religious affiliation, suffer at all of course not.
But what we know is that Hamas conducted a terrorist strike on Israel. It was the biggest attack and loss of life of people of Jewish faith since the Holocaust, where 6 million people were gassed and murdered. We should never forget the lessons of history.
The popular American actor and producer Matt Damon attended the premiere of his new movie The Instigators surrounded by his family. The 53-year-old actor appeared on the red carpet in New York with six of his closest women, including his children, mother, and girlfriend.
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The celebrity's wife Luciana Barroso, who also became the film's producer, came to support her husband with the couple's three daughters: Isabella, Gia and Stella. The official event was also joined by the star's mother, Nancy Karlsson-Page, and the heiress of the star's chosen one, Alexia, People writes.
For the gala, Matt Damon chose a restrained gray-beige suit that went well with a contrasting white T-shirt and sneakers. The celebrity's companions opted for exquisite fitted dresses, which they complemented with elegant heels.
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After appearing in the biographical film Oppenheimer, which gained great popularity among fans, Matt Damon decided to take part in a comedy film produced by his beloved woman. According to the celebrity, he was confident in the good quality of the thriller, as talented screenwriters Chuck McLean and Casey Affleck worked on it, in addition to Luciana Barroso.
"She's one of those people whose tastes I completely trust, just like Casey and Ben (Affleck). So when they say something, or insist on something, no matter which one of them does it, I pay attention. We all have blind spots in creativity or other things. When I see that someone whose opinion I completely agree with has strong feelings about something, I look closely at it," the actor said.
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The relationship between an avid sailor and a brothel owner will form part of a police investigation after their mysterious deaths on board a yacht on Sydneys north shore.
The bodies of Peter Ray, 56, and Lixin Wang, 60, were found on the 47-foot yacht moored at Tunks Park in Cammeray on Wednesday night.
Police removed two bodies from the yacht on Thursday morning. Credit: Nick Moir
Police were told the pair had planned to stay on the 47-foot yacht Taloha on Monday night. However, a friend became concerned when they hadnt returned to land by Wednesday night and raised the alarm.
When Sydney Water Police officers boarded the yacht about 9pm, they found the couples bodies.
A Sydney man has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack at a busy shopping centre after he allegedly threw bottles of explosive chemicals around a bathroom.
On Wednesday, July 24, police arrested Sebastian Newman, 21, after reports of a man acting suspiciously on level one of the Westfield Miranda shopping centre just after 2pm.
Sebastian Newman allegedly planned a terrorist attack at Westfield Miranda in Sydneys south. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Police and shopping centre security have been on high alert since the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing attack on April 13 when six people were murdered. The incidents are not related.
Police established several crime scenes at the Miranda centre without any evacuations across the five-level centre, located about 30 kilometres south of Sydneys CBD, and home to more than 400 stores.
Stationery giant Officeworks is facing a human rights complaint after a staff member was filmed refusing to laminate a Jewish newspaper because she was pro-Palestine.
Documents filed in May with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and seen by this masthead allege that a Jewish man, who asked to remain anonymous, was denied a laminating service at an Officeworks in Elsternwick because the staff member was uncomfortable.
Footage shows an Officeworks employee refusing to laminate a copy of the Jewish News due to her political beliefs. Credit: YouTube
The incident is the latest in a climate of hostility in Melbourne over the war in Gaza. After Hamas killed 1200 people in an attack on October 7, Israels bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians since October and displaced almost 90 per cent of Gazans.
The man, who began filming a video of the March confrontation midway through the exchange, pressed the woman to explain why she would not laminate a page from The Australian Jewish News published earlier this year.
And in other news, Football West has launched an investigation after spectators from two junior soccer clubs became embroiled in an off-field brawl that left one person injured and children shaken and traumatised.
The altercation occurred during an Under 9s game between Floreat Athena and Stirling Lions Football Clubs at Britannia Oval in Mount Hawthorn on Sunday, July 28.
In a statement released by Floreat Athena Football Clubs board to parents, it revealed at least one person had sustained physical injuries in the incident which had been captured on video later published by ABC Radio Perth.
The club confirmed it was now taking statements from witnesses and had alerted its governing body Football West, which was in the process of conducting its own probe into the incident.
WA Police have also been advised.
Those involved in the brawl have since been barred from attending future games until the club and Football West conclude their investigations.
A spokesperson from Football West told WAtoday it condemned the unacceptable scenes witnessed.
Read the full story here.
Palestinian refugees will be able to call Australia home rather than being forced to return in a major Albanese government move to deal with the Gaza crisis as the opposition hardens its support for Israel and warns of risks posed by refugees.
Senior federal government sources, who asked to remain anonymous as the policy was being finalised, revealed a new special visa pathway would be created for Palestinians in a move set to re-energise the political feud over Labors handling of the conflict.
Demonstrators walk through Melbournes CBD during a pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne last month. Credit: AAP
It follows months of lobbying by advocates who say those fleeing Gaza have struggled to put food on the table because the temporary visitor visas they were granted prevent them from working or accessing Medicare.
Labor is working on the details of the humanitarian push as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton affirmed the Coalitions support for Israel in a meeting with its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand to end the war.
July total sales increased 4 %; Year-to-date total sales up 2 %
Best July for Elantra HEV, Santa Fe HEV, Tucson HEV, and Palisade
Hybrid total sales increase 67% in July
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 1, 2024 -- Hyundai Motor America reported total July sales of 69,202 units, a 4% increase compared with July 2023. Hyundai set total sales records in July for Elantra HEV (+13%), Santa Fe HEV (+75%), Tucson HEV (+109%) and Palisade (+50%).
Hyundai's total hybrid sales were up 67% in July. Retail sales of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles represented 25% of the retail sales mix, with IONIQ 5 retail sales increasing 1.4%. Retail sales for Sonata (+65%) and Palisade (+41%) also climbed. This was also the best ever month in retail and total sales for the Tucson HEV.
"Despite a challenging start to July as the CDK disruption began to resolve, Hyundai achieved a solid 4% increase in total sales, fueled by our HEV and EV lineup," said Randy Parker, CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "Our overall total sales results in July reflect the sustained consumer demand for diversified product portfolio."
July Total Sales Summary
Jul-24 Jul-23 % Chg 2024
YTD 2023
YTD % Chg Hyundai 69,202 66,527 +4.0 % 468,725 461,140 +1.6 %
July Product and Corporate Activities
Hyundai President and Global COO Jose Munoz Named Executive of the Year by NEMPA: President and chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Company, and president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America Jose Munoz was named Executive of the Year by the New England Motor Press Association (NEMPA) at the media organizations' annual award ceremony in Boston .
President and chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Company, and president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America Jose Munoz was named Executive of the Year by the New England Motor Press Association (NEMPA) at the media organizations' annual award ceremony in . Hyundai Strengthens U.S. Marketing Team: Hyundai Motor America has restructured its marketing department creating two new divisions: marketing creative and marketing performance.
Hyundai Motor America has restructured its marketing department creating two new divisions: marketing creative and marketing performance. Hyundai Announces 2025 Model Year Changes: Hyundai released a summary of changes to its lineup for the 2025 model year.
Hyundai released a summary of changes to its lineup for the 2025 model year. Hyundai Launches "It's OK" Advertisement During the 2024 Summer Games: Celebrating the start of the 2024 Summer Games, Hyundai launched a new advertisement titled "It's OK." The sports-themed ad highlights the importance of finding joy in your journey even if that means taking a break from playing a particular sport and trying something new.
Celebrating the start of the 2024 Summer Games, Hyundai launched a new advertisement titled "It's OK." The sports-themed ad highlights the importance of finding joy in your journey even if that means taking a break from playing a particular sport and trying something new. Santa Fe Named Top Midsize SUV in J.D. Power 2024 U.S. APEAL Study: J.D. Power has named the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe as the most appealing vehicle in the midsize SUV segment in the 2024 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study SM
J.D. Power has named the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe as the most appealing vehicle in the midsize SUV segment in the 2024 U.S. Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study 2025 Tucson SUV Pricing Released: Hyundai released pricing for its thoroughly refreshed 2025 Tucson compact SUV, starting at $29,750 , including a $1,395 destination charge.
Hyundai released pricing for its thoroughly refreshed 2025 compact SUV, starting at , including a destination charge. Santa Fe Named Best U.S.-Built SUV by American Cars and Racing: Hyundai's all-new 2024 Santa Fe has been named Best U.S.- Built SUV by American Cars and Racing.
Hyundai's all-new 2024 Santa Fe has been named Best U.S.- Built SUV by American Cars and Racing. Hyundai Launches New Marketing Campaign: Hyundai launched a marketing campaign tilted "Quality Isn't a Luxury" highlighting the quality, dependability, reliability, and safety of its vehicles.
Hyundai launched a marketing campaign tilted "Quality Isn't a Luxury" highlighting the quality, dependability, reliability, and safety of its vehicles. Hyundai Donates To Support Child Passenger and Pedestrian Safety: Hyundai Motor America announced its donation of $100,000 to Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) towards its Injury Prevention and Child Passenger Safety Program.
Model Total Sales
Vehicles Jul-24 Jul-23 % Chg 2024
YTD 2023
YTD % Chg Elantra 13,764 11,898 +16 % 76,053 86,636 -12 % Ioniq 5 3,416 4,135 -17 % 22,144 17,776 +25 % Ioniq 6 778 1,745 -55 % 7,690 4,990 +54 % Kona 6,713 6,123 +10 % 53,252 44,048 +21 % Nexo 2 34 -94 % 79 139 -43 % Palisade 8,635 5,752 +50 % 62,382 45,199 +38 % Santa Cruz 2,615 2,903 -10 % 20,560 22,953 -10 % Santa Fe 8,989 10,612 -15 % 65,611 71,754 -9 % Sonata 5,755 3,209 +79 % 36,902 30,543 +21 % Tucson 16,135 17,534 -8 % 108,281 118,125 -8 % Venue 2,400 2,581 -7 % 15,771 18,940 -17 %
Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Company's Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in Califor
nia, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama assembly plant, the all-new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (in development in Georgia), and several cutting-edge R&D facilities. These operations, combined with those of Hyundai's 835 independent dealers, contribute $20.1 billion annually and 190,000 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to a recent economic impact report. For more information, visit http://www.hyundainews.com.
Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok
SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
The alleged rivalry between the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has been well documented. A new book by a royal expert sheds more light on why problems began to arise between the two couples.
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In his new work, titled Catherine, Princess of Wales: A Biography of the Future Queen, Robert Jobson discussed the events that led to the royal split. In an excerpt published by the Daily Mail, the author wrote: "Initially, the public reaction to Meghan was overwhelmingly positive, with the 'new kids in the family' grabbing most of the headlines - to the point where William and Catherine may have unknowingly raised the temperature. There was talk of pettiness and even envy."
As soon as the problems began, relations between the newly minted in-laws deteriorated markedly. "The cracks between the two couples continued to widen over petty grievances," explained Jobson. Soon the situation became irreparable, writes Marie Claire.
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Although it is unclear whether Kate and William were actually jealous of Meghan and Harry, there were obvious changes in their relationship. The royal expert also recalled one of the situations that allegedly occurred between Kate and Meghan. "There was a time when Meghan asked to borrow a lip gloss, and Harry thought that Catherine was reluctant to give hers away," Jobson says. According to him, Middleton "cringed" after Markle squeezed some gloss onto her finger and applied it to her lips.
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Prince Harry and Prince William, who once seemed close, have also suddenly fallen out of favor. "Inevitably, details of the royal brothers' troubled relationship were leaked, as well as the fact that Catherine and Meghan also had a falling out," the excerpt reads.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Russian actor and Kitchen star Dmitry Nazarov, who left Russia for France with his wife after the outbreak of a full-scale war, wrote another poem in which he described how he imagines the ideal Russia and what he is "fighting" for after fleeing to Europe. He stated that his country is now in so-called captivity, which seriously angered his compatriots.
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The actor still has no hope that anyone will be able to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Vladimir Putin, but as we can see, he himself is not ready to do anything except write angry poetry. However, Nazarov, as a born Russian, romanticizes the war. This is clear from one phrase in his poem "Homeland" published on social media: "Our homeland is gently rude."
Gentle rudeness are two words that cannot be combined. Instead, only Russians consider this normal, as evidenced by the cult of war, fierce respect for the military, who de facto bathe in blood, violence as a form of demonstration of love, and much more.
"I'm fighting for my homeland. / Not for the one that's in captivity today / Not for the one that, in the arms of Marxism, / Choking, flew to the bottom / Not for the one that was whipped with whips / Torn nostrils, scorned the nail / That, in rebellion, burned at the stake / I'm fighting for a different Russia./ Not for the one that loved the yoke for the bar's mercy / But for the one that has not yet developed / And has not been washed away by misfortune," Nazarov read part of the poem.
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These few stanzas show that the actor does not like the way of life and customs of his homeland, so he dreams of something that has never been inherent in the Russian Federation: "I'm for the one that was not created." At the same time, the actor calls Russians slaves who are ready to do anything "for the lord's mercy."
"I stand for the homeland that is sung / By the wild, fabulous, Russian tongue / And the tears of a poet's delight / And the dream of an age-old love./ I explain it cruelly and directly / To all who cannot understand it,/ For everyone has their own mother,/ So what does the motherland have to do with it?/ It is not the motherland that judges us, but the judges./ Our homeland is gently rough,/ Territory, life and all people,/ So, homeland is destiny./ There is neither mother nor child of propaganda, Our homeland is destiny./ I am fed to the gills with lies,/ The cross is supposed to be placed on my forehead," the second half of the poem reads.
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Nazarov stated that he wants to see Russia identical to the one sung about in songs and fairy tales, that is, as this style is called in Ukraine, "sharovarna" with balalaika and vodka, in the snow and with bears. However, later he notes that the fatherland is fate, and contradicts himself because instead of submitting to fate and staying in Russia, the actor for some reason went to France and from there tells Russians what they should be like.
His compatriots did not like this harsh poem, so in the comments of one popular Telegram public "Worse than that" they pelted him with stones:
"I'm not even going to listen to this cockroach. He makes me sick."
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"I wish he would stop with the kosorylivka. Let him fight for it in his new homeland. He is a fighter."
"If it wasn't for SVO, he would still be writing poetry on his desk about the weather and nature, and now he's talking to the whole world."
"The level of insanity is just overwhelming."
"For some reason, there are no poems about how happy he is to live in a wonderful country. They have been striving to get there all their lives from the dictatorship. This is the moment, enjoy it! But no. What's up to their necks, does not give rest."
"And they give a lot of American money for this? A cent a line? Then it's clear why this endless conveyor belt of poetry is there."
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Interestingly, on Instagram, under this video, people really sing his praises, thank him for his poetry, and encourage him to write more:
"It's so nice to listen to people who have their heads on straight."
"Powerful, strong, tough and piercingly accurate and tender. Thank you. The whole history of Russia in a few lines."
"Creativity that is worthy of respect."
"It's good that there are people like you."
As a reminder, the actor publicly refused to support the war in Ukraine, after which he was fired from the theater, and harassed and a criminal case was opened for "discrediting the Russian army." However, in March last year, he also spoke out against supporting the Ukrainian army because he was against the war: "People should not kill people."
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Nazarov does not hide the fact that he receives threats from "fans" from the Russian Federation. Russians continue to send him and his family angry messages saying that the artist should have his skull fractured and his wife shot.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Capri is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea that is part of the Italian province of Naples. It is known for its stunning natural beauty and historical monuments.
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For many years, this place has been attracting thousands of tourists, among whom you can often see world stars. But recently it became known that a barrier against tourist boats will be built there, The Telegraph reports.
Currently, the number of tourists on the island exceeds the total population. In May and June, an average of 16,000 foreigners visit Capri, which has a population of only 13,000.
But with popularity comes problems, as crowds of people put considerable pressure on the island's ecosystem and infrastructure. This year, local authorities decided to take measures to preserve the natural beauty of Capri and reduce the negative impact of mass tourism.
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Anacapri Mayor Franco Cerrotta proposed to install a barrier of 40 buoys at a distance of 100 meters from the shore. It will stretch for 6 kilometers around the western edge of the island, which will limit access to the most famous and beautiful places. Visitors will be forced to anchor outside this perimeter, and tour operators organizing day cruises to the Blue Grotto will have to change their routes.
"No one has the right to harm the environment or risk injuring children in swimming areas," Cerrott said in an interview with The Telegraph.
Public and business reaction
Tourism brings significant revenues to the economy, and a barrier can reduce the number of tourists willing to enjoy the views from the water. Therefore, not everyone supports the new measures. Boat rental companies are outraged, saying the barrier will hurt their business.
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However, some locals support the mayor's initiative. They emphasize the need to protect the island ecosystem and reduce pressure on infrastructure.
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Everyone and their dog has been strutting around in Hallensteins' comfort clothing line. Wherever you turn, a hoodie scribed with 'Leisure Club' is IN YOUR FACE!
While the sweats range has been around for well over a year, it began trending big time with Kiwis earlier this year.
It's like the entire country collectively decided these sweatshirts and trackies are the go-to fits for everything from gym sessions to shopping runs in 2024.
One Kiwi has proved the point with a single trip to the mall. "POV you live in NZ," TikTok user Ezzil wrote. "Leisure club is taking over."
Ezzil captured a bunch of youguns all wearing the clothing line around a Palmerston North shopping centre and they all had one thing in common - they were all sporting 'Leisure Club'.
One commenter hilariously compared the clip to the Kathmandu puffer jacket era of the early 2010s, and if you lived through that, I get it, and I salute you.
While Hallensteins is known for being a men's clothing store, it hasn't stopped the gals from grabbing themselves a hoodie or two.
Why? 'Leisure Club' is giving popular Aussie clothing brand White Fox a run for its money.
While White Fox is super cute, it's HELLA expenny. And at almost half the price for the same vibe, it's a more affordable choice for the gals.
'Love Island AU' contestants Mitch Hibberd and Aaron Waters have been seen strutting their stuff in these fits, and even the NZ Warriors are wearing them - if the Wahs have anything to do with it, you know people will jump on the bandwagon.
So, what's the verdict? Are we jumping on the 'Leisure Club' hype or will we let this trend join the pile of regrettable fashion choices?
Authorities remaintight-lipped Allegations ofharassment,child abuse atBhilai school
Staff Reporter :
BHILAI,
AN ANONYMOUS letter addressed to the District Education Officer has revealed serious allegations involving a reputed school in Risali, Bhilai. According to the letter, the harassment claims involve the Head Mistress of the Junior Wing who is accused of mistreating teachers. Allegations include publicly insulting staff, making them wait for hours outside her office, and threatening to remove classroom chairs, among other issues. However, there is another issue of an alleged sexual assault on a 5-year-old girl of the same school that has been widely circulated on social media. In the child abuse case as per the social media reports there is an alleged attempt by the school management and authorities to suppress the matter. There is allegation that when the parents reported the incident to police, instead of receiving support, they faced pressure to drop the case.
The child abuse case began when the girl child, a student in KG-I, complained of pain in her private area upon returning home on July 5. After being questioned, she disclosed that an uncle at school had touched her inappropriately. Her parents sought medical attention immediately; an MD referred them to a gynecologist, who confirmed bleeding and white discharge. The following day, when the family approached the school, the Principal initially agreed to file an FIR and promised action but later denied that any such incident occurred. The family claims that the CCTV footage was destroyed during this period to cover up the incident. The girls family, prominent local businessmen, found themselves uncertain about how to proceed. They reportedly informed the matter to a senior officer and a public representative. Despite the gynaecologists findings, which should have prompted an immediate medical examination and FIR under the POCSO Act, the police are reportedly making excuses. MiC member Shiju Anthony said that more than the safety of children the authorities seems to be more concerned about damaging the schools reputation.
The familys attempts to involve an MLA were also met with failure, as the MLA later reneged on his commitment to act. Durg Range Inspector General of Police Ram Gopal Garg, when contacted stated that the police are working on the case and advised collecting more details from the SP, Durg. Despite various stories circulating on social media, there has been no official statement. All attempts by the newspaper to obtain an official version on the subject have been unsuccessful. A senior police official from Durg, speaking on condition of anonymity, has denied any sexual assault on the child in question. However, the medical report mentions bleeding and a white discharge which is not external. It has also come to light that the childs parents met a senior officer in Bhilai but have not filed a formal written complaint. Following their meeting, a senior female officer was assigned to investigate the matter.
It is reported that the parents are not permitting the investigating officer to meet the child. Additionally, sources indicate that the CCTV footage has been preserved and not tampered with as claimed. Seema Nayak, Assistant Director District Education Office Durg head of the team deputed by District Education Officer Durg A K Mishra to investigate the matter of child abuse refused to comment on the matter stating she is not authorised to comment on this issue. Repeated attempts to contact DEO A K Mishra on his mobile were unsuccessful, as he was not available for comment
BEYOND POLITICS
UNION Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman has asserted that the Oppositions accusation is totally false that some States have been denied justice in budgetary allocation. Figures prove otherwise, Mrs. Sitharaman said in her reply to the discussion on Budget 2024-25 in Lok Sabha, while asking the Opposition to stop spreading narratives based on falsehood. Several leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have made similar appeals to the Opposition in the past several months -- even through the election campaign. This is a fully justified expectation from a responsible Opposition in a democratic system. For, if the Opposition is using planned falsehood on which to base its anti-Government narrative, then the sufferer in the long run is the people and democracy. The outcome of the Lok Sabha elections have proved that falsehood did not help the Opposition to post a victory on the wall. No matter what kind of falsehood it resorted to, the Opposition could not budge the NDA Government from power and Mr. Narendra Modi returned for a historic, consecutive third term, the only Prime Minister to do that after Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru.
The lies such as the NDAs plan to alter the Constitution or withdraw social benefits of affirmative action to Muslims did not make much difference to the overall outcome of the Lok Sabha elections. Some figures did change, all right, here and there. Despite those, Mr. Modi managed to return to power with an authentic majority. True, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not win a majority on its own. Yet, the NDA that has had a pre-election agreement proved its clear majority in the Lok Sabha -- in the process proving that all Opposition narrative based on falsehood did not have a popular acceptance. It is obvious from this experience that utter falsehood will never help any political party to win. Unfortunately, the political masterminds of the combined Opposition did not realise the hidden danger of continued rejection by people in its narrative based on falsehood. Its election managers did not realise that nobody can fool all the people for all the time.
Yet, the Opposition appears to be happy with its limited gains in the electoral battle in the past some time. In other words, the Opposition is not likely to learn the right lesson from the 2024 election experience. During the Budget session of Parliament, the Opposition continued its politics of false narrative -- and got severely rebuffed by countless numbers of ruling party Members of Parliament as well as Ministers etc. Even the presiding officers in both the Houses warned the Opposition Members from indulging in lie-telling and deliberately negative propaganda about issues that did not exist in the first place -- like the accusation that many States have been deprived of appropriate budgetary allocations. It was obvious from the Oppositions approach that it had really not studied the Budget 2024-25 but indulged only in superficial accusations that did not stand the scrutiny on the basis of truth. Many of its accusations were figments of imagination and did not stick in any manner.
The Opposition possibly hoped to continue to bother the Government with the help of falsehood. But that did not help in any manner whatsoever -- and the Opposition got rebuffed almost at every step during the ongoing session of Parliament. No matter all those setbacks, the Opposition is less likely to learn right lessons beyond politics. It appears slated to keep indulging in falsehood. Its masterminds will not realise that in the long run, such an approach will not help its cause. But then, with jaundiced eyes, the Opposition cannot be expected to see the right thing in a right manner.
The Japanese automotive market seems to be about to undergo significant changes. Three major car manufacturers have decided to expand their cooperation by merging into a joint structure.
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According to Reuters, Mitsubishi is also planning to join the newly formed Honda-Nissan alliance soon. The companies plan to work together to confront the challenges of the modern market, such as pressure from Chinese competitors, especially in the field of electric vehicles, and growing requirements for environmental friendliness of cars.
The terms of the agreement signed in March between Honda and Nissan provide for cooperation in the development of automotive software platforms, key components related to electric vehicles, and additional products. Mitsubishi joining this agreement will strengthen these efforts. It also makes sense given that Nissan has a 34% stake in the company.
Reports suggest that the likely expansion of cooperation between the three manufacturers has already benefited them. Soon after the information about the possible signing of the agreement appeared, Mitsubishi shares rose by 6.3%, Nissan also showed an increase of 2.8%, and Honda - by 2.6%. However, nothing is known for certain about the details of the future deal. Analysts suggest that it may involve the production of a joint plug-in hybrid and the development of compact cars.
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The cooperation of the three companies should reduce research and development costs and speed up work on them. This is expected to give Japanese companies a certain advantage over Chinese automakers. It is worth noting that Nissan and Mitsubishi have been working together with French Renault since 1999.
The potential merger of Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi will not be the first such phenomenon in the Japanese automotive market this year. A few months ago, Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru teamed up to develop a new generation of internal combustion engines. They plan to focus on hybrid powertrains and compatibility with carbon-neutral fuels. Toyota is preparing several inline four-cylinder engines, Mazda is improving its rotary technology for electric vehicles with an increased range, and Subaru is improving its proprietary opposed engine.
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DELAYS POST DERAILMENT Give passengers of Vid harrowing time as Railways time-table goes haywire
Staff Reporter :
TRAVELLERS continue to bear the brunt of delay as several trains on Mumbai-Howrah-Mumbai route are running behind their scheduled time due to which their long-drawn plans have gone haywire. After the derailment of Mumbai-bound Mail in Jharkhand, the route is yet to return to normalcy. The trains that started exHowrah on July 30 were running via diverted route as the site of derailment was yet to be restored. Due to long route the train timings have gone for a toss putting the travellers in limbo.
Mumbai end also, the passengers on board Vidarbha Express (T rain No. 12105)had a nightmarish experience due to disruption in movement of trains on the route. Travellers on board the train said they had quite a traumatic experience. Due to the long delay, the train halted at several roadside stations or somewhere in the middle. While train running behind schedule is no issue, at least officials could have made arrangements for food and water. Since it is an overnight journey from Mumbai to Nagpur, the train does not have a pantry. But, when the train gets delayed for several hours, it becomes difficult for travellers to manage food and water.
One of the travellers said that throughout the journey from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Nagpur, the travellers had no access to food or water. There was no way one could know the reason for so much delay faced by Gondia boundVidarbha Express since the route was all okay till Nagpur As per information, the train started a few minutes late from CSMT, and it contributed to severe delay enroute. Especially, fromThane station onwards, the Vidarbha Express lagged behind and at Nagpur, it arrived more than six hours behind scheduled time. Meanwhile, Train No. 18109 Tata Nagar-Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Itwari Station stands cancelled while Train No. 18110 exItwari to Tata Nagar will run only upto Bilaspur/ Train No. 18029 LTT-Shalimar Express is cancelled for August 1 and ex-LTT and also Train No. 12261 CSMT-Howrah Duronto Express is also cancelled on August 1. The decision was necessary as pair trains could not reach the Mumbai end due to disruption on the route.
From
Govt sends proposal to extend tenure of DGP Ashok Juneja
By Mukesh S Singh :
RAIPUR
AFTER a relentless search for the next state police chief finally the Chhattisgarh Government has send a proposal to extend the service tenure of the Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Juneja, by another six months. Juneja, a 1989-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre officer of Chhattisgarh, is due for his retirement on August 4, just 4 days later. A proposal for this has been prepared by the C h h a t t i s g a r h Governments Home Department, which got the approval from the Government, a senior IPS officer familiar with the situation told The Hitavada. According to this IPS officer, the proposal for the extension of the incumbent DGP was necessitated as the panel has not yet been sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to decide the next face of DGP in Chhattisgarh.
He (Juneja) on the account of several merits and situational demand, may indeed get the post-retirement assignment, which is well in tune with exigency measures, like one recently exercised and executed by the Centre in giving one year extension in service of Tapan Kumar Deka, Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB), he maintained. According to this officer, the proposal sent by C h h a t t i s g a r h Governments Home Department with clearance from the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, will be put forth before the Centre seeking approval for the extension in service for a period of six months beyond August 4, 2024 or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of the provisions of All India Services Rules, 1958.
Moreover, the proposal has been carefully drafted after seeking legal opinion in view of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the 2006 Prakash Singh case, which fixed rules for appointment and removal of DGPs in states to ensure that the policing system in the states stays out of political interference, he added. Notably, the Apex court in its 2006 order, among other directions stated, The Director General of Police of the State shall be selected by the State Government from amongst the three senior most officers of the Department who have been empanelled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience for heading the police force. And, once he has been selected for the job, he should have a minimum tenure of at least two years irrespective of his date of superannuation.
However, the extended term beyond the date of superannuation should be a reasonable period. Some of the states have adopted a practice to appoint the Director General of Police on the last date of retirement as a consequence of which the person continues for two years after his date of superannuation. Such a practice will not be in conformity with the spirit of the direction. This recent proposal seems to have sparked controversy in the government circles, as Ashok Junejas appointment as DGP on November 11, 2021, was criticised for allegedly disregarding Supreme Court guidelines. Juneja was appointed over five senior IPS officers in Chhattisgarh, replacing Durgesh Madhaw Awasthi, a 1986 batch IPS officer from the Chhattisgarh cadre.
Interestingly, this situation has come up while the State already has three senior IPS officers viz Arun Deo Gautam and Pawan Deo both from the 1992 batch and Himanshu Gupta a 1994 batch. Gautam and Gupta were recently elevated to the rank of Special Director General of Police (SDGP). Pawan Deos promotion, which was previously put on hold, has now reportedly been approved for elevation to the rank of Special Director General of Police (SDGP).
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas supremeleader, killed in airstrike in Iran
BEIRUT,
Ismail was on Israels hit-list since Oct 7 attack
Iran and Hamas blame Israel for killing, Israel has not commented
He had attended swearing-in of Irans new President on Tuesday
ISMAIL Haniyeh, Hamas supreme leader in exile who landed on Israels hit-list after the militant group staged its surprise October 7 attacks, was killed in an airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday. He was 62. Iran and the militant blamed Israel for a shock assassination that risks escalating the conflict even as the US and other nations were scrambling to prevent an all-out regional war. Hamas said Haniyeh was killed at his residence in Tehran in an Israeli airstrike after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Irans new President. Israel has not commented on the accusation.
Hours after theOctober 7 attacks, Haniyeh appeared in a video releasedbyHamasleading prayers with other top Hamas officials. They thanked God for the success of the attack, which blasted through Israels vaunted defences and resulted in the deadliest assault in Israels history.
Haniyehs death makes him the latest Hamas official to be killed by Israel since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, when militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. The devastating Israel-Hamas war the attacks set off has become the deadliest and longest in the ArabIsraeli conflict. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Gaza. While Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar is believed to have been the mastermind of the attacks, Haniyeh, seen as a more moderate force in Hamas, lauded them as a humiliating blow to Israels aura of invincibility.
The Al-Aqsa flood was an earthquake that struck the heart of the Zionist entity and has made major changes at the world level, Haniyeh said in a speech in Iran during the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May. We will continue the resistance against this enemy until we liberate our land, all our land, Haniyeh said
ON RISING DENGUE, CHIKUNGUNYA CASES HC asks for detailed affidavit on situation
Staff Reporter :
Advocate who, in a PIL, raised concerns over lack of preventive measures by NMC asked to submit affidavit within a week
TAKING cognisance of a news report by The Hitavada about the surge in Dengue and Chikungunya cases in Nagpur, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed Adv Tejal Agre to submit a detailed affidavit regarding the situation. This development came after the advocate raised concerns about the lack of preventive measures by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in addressing thespread of the diseases. In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filedin 2014, social worker Anil Agre had urgedthe court to mandate proactive measuresagainst Dengue and Malaria. AdvTejal Agre, through a recent application in the PIL, informed the court that there had been anotable increase in the number of cases, yet the NMC has not implemented effective preventive strategies.
The division bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri hasinstructed Adv Agre to file the affidavit bynext week. The report published on July 28highlighted a troubling trend: Nagpur is experiencing a higher number of chikungunya cases compared to Dengue. Of 304 tested cases this year, 38 were positive for Dengue and 88 for chikungunya. Health experts attribute the rise in chikungunya to stagnant water, which serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, increased by high humidity and the continued use of water coolers without proper maintenance .
Russian military begins3rd round of drills withtactical nuclear weapons
MOSCOW :
THE Russian military on Wednesday began a third round of drills with tactical nuclear weapons, part of the Kremlins messaging intended to force theWest tolimititssupport for Ukraine. The Russian Defence Ministry said thedrillswill feature units of the central and southern military districts armed with Iskander shortrange missiles. They will practicereceivingnuclearweapons from storage and deploying them to designated launch areas.Themaneuvers will also include air force units that will arm their warplanes with nuclearweapons and perform patrol flights. The ministry said the drills are intended to maintain troops readiness for combat missions.
Tactical nuclear weapons include bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on a battlefield. They are typically farless powerful than strategic weapons massive warheads that armintercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to obliterate entire cities. The previous two rounds of the maneuvers were held inMay andJune.ThedrillsinJunewere conducted jointly withthearmed forcesofRussias allyBelarus. Last year, Russia movedsome of its tactical nuclearweapons into neighbouring Belarus, which also bordersUkraine and NATO membersPoland, Latvia and Lithuania.
Belarus authoritarianPresident AlexanderLukashenkohasreliedoncloseties with Russia and providedhiscountry asastaging groundfor sending troops to Ukrainein February 2022. Russian President VladimirPutin and his officials haverepeatedly reminded theWestabout the countrys nuclearmight in a bid to discourageNATO allies from ramping uptheir support for Kyiv.
Ukraine's decision to impose sanctions against the Russian company Lukoil does not threaten the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia. Oil transit through the "Druzhba" pipeline can continue even now, as Lukoil formally ceases to be the owner of oil on the Russian-Ukrainian border.
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From now on, Russian oil is considered the property of European importing companies. This was stated by the Vice President of the European Commission (EC) for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, Reuters reports.
The EC's assessment, according to the agency, is contained in a letter addressed to the foreign ministers of Hungary and Slovakia. Dombrovskis said that the decision was based on information received from the Hungarian energy company MOL.
"The oil becomes the property of trading companies on the Russian-Ukrainian border, and therefore is not subject to sanctions... The European Commission services have preliminarily concluded that urgent consultations are probably not justified, as there is currently no indication of an immediate risk to the security of supply," the statement said.
Earlier, after talks with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine remains a reliable transit country, "but only for those countries that value freedom and the rule of law." The threat is Russia, its hybrid energy war against the Slovak people, its blackmail and political ultimatums," Shmyhal explained.
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As a reminder, in the second half of July, Hungary and Slovakia announced that they would stop supplying oil from the Russian company Lukoil, which is on the NSDC sanctions list, through Ukraine. As a result, both countries accused Ukraine of violating the EU Association Agreement and asked the European Commission to start consultations on the trade part of the agreement with Ukraine. In addition, a number of high-ranking Slovak politicians resorted to blackmail and threats:
Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that this is a "crisis situation and Slovakia does not intend to be a hostage to Ukrainian-Russian relations" and supported Hungary in its decision to block the European fund for military aid to Ukraine;
Ukraine; Minister of Foreign Affairs Juraj Blanar accused the European Commission of deliberately delaying the resolution of the situation;
Defense Minister Robert Kalinak and President Peter Pellegrini threatened to cut off electricity and gas supplies to Ukraine. However, these supplies are mainly provided by private companies that profit from them.
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The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Serhii Tykhyi, said that Ukraine is ready to take part in consultations on resolving the conflict with Hungary and Slovakia. The main condition is that such consultations should be convened at the European level.
Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
In Kyiv's Sviatoshynskyi district, sapper divers found the remains of a Russian strategic cruise missile X-101. Specialists discovered them while inspecting the waters of a local pond.
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This was reported by the press service of the Mobile Rescue Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The explosive find was taken to a special landfill.
"In Kyiv, sapper divers of the Mobile Rescue Center of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine found and removed the remains of a Russian strategic cruise missile X-101. They were found in one of the ponds after previous enemy shelling of the city and transported to a special training ground for further destruction by controlled explosion," the statement said.
The X-101 is a Russian strategic air-to-ground cruise missile using radar-avoidance technologies. It was widely used during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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As a reminder, the undetonated remains of an anti-tank missile system were found in Irpin, Kyiv region, on the territory of a former recreation camp. The remains of the missile were stuck in the trunk of an old pine tree at a height of about 12 meters.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, the wreckage of a Russian UAV was found during a cleanup in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. The incident happened on Saturday, July 27, near the ponds of the same name.
Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Russian army fears that the Ukrainian Armed Forces may attack its forces in the temporarily occupied territories with the help of American F-16 fighters. To hunt for Western aircraft, which have been reported to have arrived in Ukraine in recent days, the Russians have deployed Buk in Donetsk region.
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This was reported by agents of the Atesh military guerrilla movement. They published a photo of Russian military equipment and indicated its coordinates.
It is noted that the invaders deployed the Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile system in the temporarily occupied Volnovakha district of Donetsk region.
"It seems that due to the new arrivals of fourth-generation F-16 fighters to Ukraine, the occupiers are forced to deploy additional air defense systems closer to the front line," Atesh writes.
Coordinates of the enemy's military equipment: 47,5337226, 37,2052414. The movement added that it will continue to monitor the activities of the Russian Armed Forces to identify targets for further destruction.
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As OBOZ.UA reported, the day before, Bloomberg wrote that the first batch of F-16 fighter jets from NATO allies had already arrived in Ukraine. However, the President's Office said that Kyiv would not officially confirm this information. They also did not comment on the alleged arrival of F-16s in the United States.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Chinese FM holds talks with Zambian counterpart
Xinhua) 10:31, August 01, 2024
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, in Beijing, capital of China, July 31, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, in Beijing on Wednesday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that last year, the two heads of state jointly announced the elevation of China-Zambia relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, leading bilateral relations on a new journey.
China appreciates Zambia's adherence to the one-China principle and stands ready to consolidate the foundation of mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, Wang said.
He called on the two sides to jointly activate the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, coordinate the comprehensive development along the line, help Zambia turn its resource advantages into development momentum, and enhance its independent development capacity and industrialization level.
Wang also briefed Haimbe on the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, saying that China will focus on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization, which will bring new opportunities to developing countries including Zambia.
China is willing to strengthen the exchange of governance experience with Zambia, support it in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions and help to advance its modernization process, he said.
Noting that the new summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Beijing this September, Wang said that China is ready to take this opportunity to work with African countries to make the event a success, carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Africa, and take the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future to a new level.
Haimbe offered congratulations on the success of the plenum, saying that Zambia looks forward to learning from the successful experience of the CPC in party governance, improving its own governance capacity and better serving the Zambian people.
Zambia cherishes its traditional friendship with China and will, as always, abide by the one-China principle and support China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Haimbe said.
"President Hichilema paid a successful visit to China last year. He is looking forward to attending the new FOCAC summit and believes that the summit will be a complete success," said Haimbe.
Haimbe said that Zambia is willing to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties to push for greater development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.
He added that more Chinese enterprises are welcome to invest in Zambia and the two countries are willing to strengthen cooperation on agriculture, energy and mining.
The two sides agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional affairs.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said that the United States is concerned about the advance of Russian occupation forces in Ukraine. He also praised Ukraine for its successful mobilization.
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This was reported by Reuters. According to the Pentagon chief, the United States will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine.
"Austin said that the United States is concerned about Russia's progress in Ukraine, to which Washington will continue to provide security assistance," the report said.
At the same time, he noted that he was encouraged by Ukraine's ability to attract more people to join its army.
"I applaud what the Ukrainians continue to do to make sure they can stand. Ukrainians are very determined people," he added.
Earlier, the Pentagon chief said that the United States does not consider a large-scale war in the Middle East inevitable. Washington is doing everything possible to reduce tensions in the region and leave room for diplomacy.
As a reminder, the Pentagon announced the purchase of interceptors for the Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems for Ukraine. The amount of assistance is 2.2 billion dollars.
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Creating more and more confusion Toeing the false narratives
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It is getting more and more confusing and in such a scenario talking about putting Manipur on the track of peace and normalcy sounds like a pipe dream. It was just the other day that fingers were pointed at illegal migrants, poppy plantations-in short the drug cartel, the War on Drugs and crackdown on illegal occupation of land inside Protected and Reserved Forests as the prime reasons for the violence erupting on May 3, 2023 and today suddenly one is given to believe that the violence started due to the ruling of the Manipur High Court directing the State Government to send the socio-economic and ethnographic report of the Meiteis to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs to study the feasibility of whether the Meitei community fits the bill to be included in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of India or not. First it was Union Home Minister Amit Shah who pointed at the ruling of the High Court of Manipur and today Chief Minister N Biren seems to be toeing the same line. Playing into the hands of the All Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM) one may say for the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 was staged under this theme, but this lie can be called out by anyone as facts say that the rally ended peacefully at the Naga dominated districts of Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul with Churachandpur first erupting in violence and which quickly spread to Kangpokpi and Moreh. Just days before the violence of May 3, 2023, Churachandpur was already on the edge and one just has to recall how the Churachandpur Open Gym which was set to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister was set on fire on April 28, 2023. The arson came amid the strong voice of opposition raised by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) against the survey of Protected/Reserved Forest in Chura-chandpur and Pherzawl by the State Government. This itself should tell a story of its own and one wonders how the order of the High Court asking the State Government to send the report, which was sought by the Centre way back in 2013, could be the reason for the outbreak of the present crisis. Toeing this line would amount to digesting the lies that have been cooked up to further serve the false narratives that have been fed to the rest of the country. ATSUM, ITLF, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and the Kuki Inpi, Manipur would know that it is not the job of the Judiciary to decide which community fits the bill to be declared a Scheduled Tribe and herein should lie exposed the lies that were woven so dexterously to feed the rest of the country and the world. If the State Government is under the impression that the time is not conducive the send the report, then it should say so instead of taking cover under a story cooked up the ITLF, CoTU, ATSUM and KIM. Or should one say that here is a point where the State Government meets eye to eye with these organisations ?
For Manipur to talk of peace or take the next step towards normalcy or the next meaningful step, it should not rest on a premise of falsehood. This would go against the understanding of working things out for any resolution based on falsehood would be extremely shaky and this fact should not blow over the heads of the Government, either at Delhi or Imphal. This is where Delhi would need to accept the fact that the High Court order had nothing to do with the violence erupting on May 3, 2023 and one is left wondering why the Centre has not bothered to just take a look at the days before May 3 last year ? Or is it a case of Imphal failing to present the case of Manipur effectively before Delhi ? Either way it is disappointing that after more than a year of the violence erupting the Government at Imphal should today toe a line that has been floated so mischievously. Imphal and Delhi should also not overlook the fact that in all the years of the ST for Meiteis demand there has not been a single case of violence or anything coming near the understanding of extremism. This is where it becomes extremely crucial for Imphal not to be blind to the facts and not keep changing ones posturing on the ongoing ethnic clash. If it is about the ST for Meiteis demand and the ruling of the High Court then what explains the finger pointing exercise at illegal immigrants and the drive against poppy plantations earlier ? The Government needs to be clear on this.
Educational exposure of ideas, assumptions or hypotheses, based on proven facts" (which need not be strictly current affairs) Value in judgments are excluded, and the text comes close to an opinion article, without judging or making forecasts , just formulating hypotheses, giving motivated explanations and bringing together a variety of data
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh is threatening to open a new front in Israels ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza over its October 7 massacre. Since that day, diplomatic efforts of the U.S. and its allies have largely focused on preventing the conflict from spilling over to the Middle East. The brutal Israeli response to the October 7 attack has not yet reversed the steps taken to de-escalate the conflict in the region (the Abraham Accords or the thaw between Saudi Arabia and Iran). All of that is up in the air again.
Beyond the effects that killing Haniyeh might have on the ceasefire Israel and Hamas were negotiating (with the mediation of Egypt and Qatar), striking him in Tehran constitutes a clear warning to Iran, the patron of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes the aforementioned Palestinian group. Opinions are divided between those who fear the response of the Islamic Republic and those who are convinced that the Iranian regime will not enter into a war to defend Hamas.
The former base their concerns on Irans official statements (We consider it our duty to take vengeance, said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei). While the latter point to Irans actions since October 7, in particular Tehrans measured response to the assassination by an Israeli missile of several Revolutionary Guard commanders in its Damascus consulate last April, and the disregard with which it reacted to the subsequent bombing of a military base in Isfahan. But Wednesdays attack (which Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for) has heightened the risk: it was a strike against an officers residence in the capital of the Islamic Republic.
For one thing, it is a blow to Irans security apparatus, led by the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The timing, just hours after the inauguration of Masoud Pezeshkian as president, adds insult to injury. Israels ability to penetrate Irans anti-aircraft defenses is humiliating for a regime that continuously makes threats against the West in general, and Israel in particular. Only last week, the outgoing Minister of Intelligence, Esmail Khatib, boasted that his greatest achievement had been breaking up [Israeli secret service] Mossads infiltration network. But what seems to be broken, or at least badly damaged, is the internal structure of his department.
The Islamic Republic has found its match in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While waiting for the harsh punishment that Khamenei has vowed to take against the Zionist regime, the brazen assassination of Haniyeh puts the new president in a difficult position. Pezeshkians top priorities (in particular, improving relations with the West, as its sanctions over the Iran nuclear program are crippling the economy) have been postponed by the urgency of retaliation, which in turn is sabotaging the chances of rapprochement with the West. Any possible negotiation to restore the nuclear agreement is up in the air. And Irans neighbors are watching with concern as tensions continue to rise.
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Our favourite Australians, Hoodoo Gurus, will rock across New Zealand in April for three concerts celebrating 40 years since their seminal debut album Stoneage Romeos.
The Sound and Plus1 are delighted to present Hoodoo Gurus live in New Zealand.
Hoodoo Gurus New Zealand tour is hot on the heels of their massive 47-date tour across the United States and Australia packed with sold-out audiences celebrating the anniversary and the Stoneage Romeos vinyl collectors set.
Stoneage Romeos was the Gurus debut album and featured the hits Leilani, Tojo, My Girl and I Want You Back. It won Best Debut Album at the 1984 Countdown Awards and has consistently appeared in the Top 10 on almost every best ever Australian album list.
The album, along with the bands regular New Zealand tours from 1984 onwards firmly cemented their Kiwi fanbase. They were last in New Zealand in March 2023, wooing crowds as headliners of the Sounds Series festivals.
Back to the Stoneage 2024 tour will see the band play the Stoneage Romeos album in full followed by a selection of hit songs and fan favourites like Whats My Scene, Bittersweet, Like Wow Wipeout, 1000 Miles Away, and many more!
Anandamay Barman, the BJP MLA from Matigara Naxalbari has appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee to urgently prepare for preventing the spread of dengue and malaria during the monsoon season in Siliguri and its surrounding areas.
Mr Barman emphasized the high risk of these vector-borne diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, during this time and stressed the need for proactive measures to prevent and control any potential outbreaks.
The BJP MLA also reported that there have already been over 100 cases in Siliguri sub-division, with over 50 cases in Matigara alone, including Patharghata, Matigara, Atharakhai, and Medical College and Hospital areas. Unfortunately, one child has also passed away recently due to these diseases.
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He also reassured the CM of his willingness to work together to combat these diseases in the region and offered suggestions on how Miss Banerjee can prepare.
He requested an increase in surveillance systems to detect early signs of dengue and malaria cases, as well as ensuring a sufficient stockpile of essential medicines, diagnostic kits, insecticides, and other medical supplies for potential outbreaks. Additionally, he recommended conducting public awareness campaigns through various media platforms and community meetings to educate people about preventive measures such as sanitation and fumigation drives to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds.
In a letter to the CM, Mr Barman reiterated his commitment as an elected representative of this constituency to support her efforts in safeguarding the health and well-being of the people.
He offered his assistance and resources for implementing these measures and urged them to work together towards this common goal.
HUDCO regional office, Kolkata organized a yoga session for the students at Bidhannagar Municipal School, Salt Lake on Monday as a part of International Yoga Day celebration, followed by a tree plantation programme under the campaign #Plant 4Mother in association with Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. This is the part of Yoga Sessions being organized by HUDCO for students at schools throughout the country for creating awareness about yoga as a part of its CSR initiative.
Debesh Chakraborty, regional chief, HUDCO Kolkata regional office highlighted HUDCOs operations throughout the nation and acknowledged the support of the state government as the key stakeholder. He welcomed Krishna Chakraborty, mayor, BMC as the chief guest of the programme. Sujay Sarkar, municipal commissioner, BMC, Bhaswati Chakraborty, principal of Bidhannagar Municipal School, were present at the programme, among others.
The mayor highlighted the importance of yoga and physical training right from school days for ones well being and advised everyone to wholeheartedly integrate yoga/karate /any form of physical training into their daily routine.
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A yoga session was conducted for around 250 students of Class VIII.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will attend the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People on 9 August in Jhargram.
She is likely to reach Jhargram on 8 August and is likely to hold an administrative review meeting.
The programme to observe the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People on 9 August will be held in the afternoon. Local youths will take part in a cultural programme.
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After coming to power in 2011, Miss Banerjees repeated visits to Jhargram helped people of the region to regain their confidence. During the Left Front regime, the area was under the control of the Maoists and that had affected the life and livelihood of the local people. People stopped visiting the area fearing attack by the Maoists any moment.
Miss Banerjee visited the area and won the confidence of local people. A stadium was constructed, along with a super specialty hospital. Sadhu Ram Chand Murmu University has been set up under her initiative. The infrastructure of the district has been improved by the construction of a bridge at Lalgarh along with improvement in the condition of the roads.
Jhargram has come up fast as a favourite tourist destination. Beside state-run hotels, private hotels and home stays, farm stays have also become popular there. People are visiting the district throughout the year and the tribal museum and tribal fairs have attracted the people across the globe.
To revive the traditional folk culture, the state government distributes musical instruments free to the folk artists, who also get a monthly stipend. Special drives have been conducted to issue caste certificates.
Business leaders in Mexico are in the crosshairs of organized crime, which has diversified its business activities and now affects all links in the production chain: from agricultural activity to the distribution and sale of products. And those who speak out pay for it with their lives. Julio Cesar Almanza Armas, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Matamoros, was killed on Tuesday afternoon after a dozen bullets were fired at his cars window. His last public words have drawn attention: Businesspeople are hostages of criminal gangs and extortion has practically become a national sport, he said on Telediario Radio in Tampico.
On July 8, Minerva Perez Castro, the leader of the Fishing Chamber of the state of Baja California, also dared to talk to the media about the need for greater security against illegal fishing and extortion. They are selling products in the same markets, but they save on production costs. We need more surveillance on the coasts, she said. Hours later, shots opened 16 holes in the windows of her van. Both Perez Castro and Almanza Armas were at the doors of their offices when they were murdered.
On Tuesday morning, Almanza Armas was talking on the phone with Octavio de la Torre, the national president of the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (Concanaco). The two discussed the violence, crime and extortion faced by businesses in Tamaulipas the same problems that at the root of the business leaders murder.
Businesses in Tamaulipas began complaining following the closure of all OXXO convenience stores and gas stations in the city of Nuevo Laredo, on the northern border of Mexico. In total, 191 stores and seven gas stations lowered the shutters last Friday and will not open until the necessary security conditions are met. Before he was shot, Almanza Armas who was also vice president of Strategic Binational Affairs on the Borders of Concanaco spoke out about the closures to the media. Just a few hours after speaking to him, he was taken away from us, De la Torre told EL PAIS by phone on Wednesday.
Tamaulipas is the northern state closest to Central America. In other words, it is the shortest route for the thousands of migrants who cross Mexico in the hopes of reaching the U.S. border. As a result, human trafficking and extortion has become a lucrative business for organized crime. Whats more, Tamaulipas is the Mexican state with the highest number of border crossings 17 in total.
At these crossings, all kinds of goods, legal and illegal, are taken into the United States in a multimillion-dollar trafficking network controlled by force. The fearsome Zetas and the Gulf Cartel predecessors of the current Northeast Cartel extort businesspeople in Tamaulipas, charging them a piso, an illegal tax for permission to carry out their commercial activity. The Northeast Cartel has cells that are out of control, explains Raul Benitez Manaut, a UNAM researcher and security expert. Businessmen have no choice but to collaborate.
A National Guard officer in front of the National Chamber of Commerce, where Almanza Armas was murdered, on July 30. STR (EFE)
Almanza Armas was aware of the problem, and had been fighting against the insecurity faced by commercial establishments for some time. Today, his last words are echoed by Dario Mercado, vice president of Concanaco, who was on his way to Tamaulipas on Wednesday. In the last 20 years, crime has not stopped growing in Tamaulipas. Where before they controlled drug and human trafficking, now they are seeking to permeate the value chains and are becoming criminal monopolies of legal activities, he explains by phone. Mercado is referring not only to the primary sector agriculture , but also to commercial markets such as chicken shops. They force merchants to supply their products at the price they want and under their conditions.
This is happening across practically all of Mexico, but Tamaulipas is a big market for the cartels. In Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, they have focused more on smuggling huachicol [pirated gasoline] at the border, and in other parts of the country, they already control construction materials. Six months ago, we detected that the cartels wanted to extend this business to Matamoros, we were trying to stop it, says Mercado, who adds that he and Almanza Armas were working with the Attorney Generals Office to stop the cartels from gaining control of the construction materials industry.
Then OXXO decided to shut all its stores and gas stations in Nuevo Laredo, and Almanza Armas was killed in Matamoros. The illegal tax affects all levels of the commercial chain, says Mercado, from avocados to buying a car in the United States that has crossed the border illegally. In the Tamaulipas area, everything is permeated by crime, and each border has its particular phenomenon. The word drug trafficking has become too small to describe the activities of the cartels. It affects fishing in Baja California, avocados in Michoacan, chicken shops in Guerrero and street markets in Mexico City. Meanwhile, in the south, violent crime continues to wreak havoc in Chiapas.
Mexicos authorities are trying to address the problem. The governor of Tamaulipas, Americo Villarreal, offered his condolences to the family of Almanza Armas. And promises have been made that everything possible will be done to find his murderers and lock them up, which rarely happens in Mexico. Tamaulipas security spokesperson, Jorge Cuellar, called on OXXOs to report crimes as soon as possible. He told the media that this is the only way that the state prosecutors can operate properly.
The president of Concanaco, Octavio de la Torre, told EL PAIS: We are seeking the reform of the Penal Code because normally the victim is required to report [a crime], and that is re-victimizing. This has already made progress in the State of Mexico, where we have managed to start investigations ex officio. In Mexico, a country wracked by fear of organized crime, filing a report is no small feat. We are concerned, yes, these issues spark fear, says De la Torre. He acknowledged the work of state governments in combating insecurity and violence, but hoped that efforts in this area would be redoubled.
Concanaco is the oldest in Mexico, it is 108 years old and is currently present in 1,857 municipalities throughout the country, says De la Torre Ninety percent of our members are small, family-run businesses, with no more than five people in many cases, explains the president of Concanaco. These are the people who are being affected by crime. We are calling for security for citizens because that is essential for the development of the community, he says.
Mexicos development is currently focused on nearshoring: the relocation of foreign companies, mainly American, to the Mexican side of the border, where production costs are lower. This relocation is expected to bring a large number of jobs and lead to better social welfare in many states. But where there is business, there is crime, which, according to many experts, is more organized than governments.
In recent months, there has been a diversification of illicit criminal activities, particularly in the dispute over border customs for the transfer of huachicol and the control of mines, the Lantia Intelligence firm in April states in its monthly report on violence and criminal gangs. This phenomenon is a cause for concern, since it does not guarantee economically reliable territories for foreign investment in the context of the relocation of production chains. Cartel violence also leads to internal displacement, as seen in Chiapas and Nuevo Leon, two examples listed by Lantia Intelligence.
In Tamaulipas, the cities of Nuevo Laredo, Guerrero, Mier, Miguel Aleman, Diaz Ordaz, Reynosa, Rio Bravo and Matamoros are on alert, according to the report. The document states that the key players in the state are the Northeast Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), as well as Los Escorpiones and Los Metros. Like a thousand-headed serpent, crime is branching out in all directions. It is likely that some organizations will finance themselves in these new illicit markets in an attempt to challenge the Northeast Cartel, something that could happen in the medium term, says Lantia Intelligence.
Business leader De la Torre hopes that justice will be done and is hopeful about the negotiations with Mexican authorities to increase security for businesses across the country. Julio was loved and admired by everyone in the Concanaco, his father was also from this organization. He has left a widow and several children, now we are seeing how we take care of the needs they present. We are just good citizens
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I have never learned to compromise with injustice, and I never will, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote on Facebook last night.
Meanwhile speculation was rife that MP from Maldaha South Isha Khan Chaudhari will be next president of Parades Congress Committee.
Mr Chowdhury is angry with the Congress high command. He became furious when he was referred to as the former Pradesh Congress president during a meeting in Delhi. He is upset with AICC observer Ghulam Mir and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. On Tuesday night, Adhir expressed his anger in a post on his social media handle.
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He clearly stated, I have never learned to compromise with injustice, and I never will. This senior Congress leader has always been seen standing by the party workers. On this day as well, he stood by Congress workers and highlighted the atrocities by Trinamul. He voiced his concerns on social media. Adhir wrote, Our people are being beaten up. The workers are being beaten day and night by Trinamul, if we dont speak for them, who will?
The Congress leader questioned, Then how can we remain silent against Trinamul? If we do, it would be an injustice to my fellow workers! I cant do that. Adhir further stated that Delhi should also listen to the workers who have been fighting day and night, protesting on the streets with the partys flag.
The overall coal production witnessed a significant upswing in July, reaching 74.07 Million Tonnes (MT), the Ministry of Coal said on Thursday.
This surpasses the 69.42 MT recorded in the same month last year, representing an increase of 6.69%.
The data further said that the production of Coal India Limited (CIL) rose to 55.04 MT in July, marking a growth of 2.54% compared to 53.67 MT in July 2023.
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The cumulative coal production up to July 2024 has seen a commendable leap of 321.45 MT (provisional) in FY 24-25 as compared to 292.80 MT during the same period in FY 23-24, with a growth of 9.78%.
The cumulative coal dispatch witnessed a significant boost in July 2024, touching 79.54 MT, compared to 76.05 MT recorded in July 2023, with a growth rate of 4.58%, the Coal Ministry said.
The cumulative coal dispatch up to July 2024 stood at 341.61 MT (provisional) in FY 24-25, compared to 316.54 MT during the corresponding period in FY 23-24, with a commendable growth of 7.92%.
Further, as of 31.07.2024, the coal stock held by coal companies witnessed a notable surge, reaching 86.8 MT. This surge reflects an impressive annual growth rate of 43.85%, the ministry data said.
Vesting orders issued for 10 mines:
On Thursday, the Minister of Coal, G Kishan Reddy, issued vesting orders for ten strategically important mines, marking a significant advancement in the nations coal production capabilities.
This initiative, which includes one fully explored and nine partially explored mines, is set to enhance energy security and drive economic growth across the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.
These ten mines have the potential to substantially contribute to the nations energy security and industrial growth. Furthermore, they hold a substantial 2395 MT geological reserve, indicating a robust foundation for sustained coal production.
These mines are expected to generate an annual revenue of Rs 166.36 crore and will attract a capital investment of Rs 150 crore. They will provide employment to about ~1352 people, both directly and indirectly, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva alleged on Thursday that over the past two to three years, Delhis sewer system and storm water drainage have completely collapsed which points to a scam related to the desilting of drains.
He said a CBI investigation is necessary in the matter as the corruption under the Delhi government has culminated in the Rajendra Nagar incident in which lives of three UPSC aspirants were cut short.
Addressing a press conference here, Sachdeva lamented that even light rain causes waterlogging on Delhis roads.
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Media chief of the saffron partys Delhi unit Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who organized the press conference, said it wont be an exaggeration to say the state government has crossed all limits of corruption, and the newly-emerged desilting scam would be the final nail in the coffin for this government.
Sachdeva further claimed that since 1998 the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been in power in Delhi, but the party was dedicated to public service through the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, ensuring thorough cleaning of small drains and colony sewers. However, in the past two years, waterlogging has been observed on both main roads and colony streets alike, he alleged.
The Delhi BJP chief said to study the issue, the party formed an internal committee comprising MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh, senior municipal councilor Sandeep Kapoor, and spokesperson and media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
The committee was tasked with investigating the reasons for the increased waterlogging over the past two years, Sachdeva added.
He said Delhi BJPs internal committee had warned around June 20, 2024, that the desilting of drains and sewers was not being carried out by any relevant department of the Delhi government or the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and accordingly the party had alerted the Delhi government through a press conference that no preparations were being made for the monsoon, but the government did not take notice, Sachdeva claimed.
The first monsoon rain on June 28, 2024, exposed the false claims of the Delhi government, the BJP leader alleged.
The Delhi BJP chief further said that the Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, Delhi Jal Board, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi are responsible for the desilting of drains and sewers. However, none of the departments disposed of even a single truck of silt at the designated Singhola Khampur site or any other landfill site, indicating that no cleaning has taken place during the mentioned period, Sachdeva claimed.
He called it a clear scam worth hundreds of crores of rupees has occurred in the desilting of drains in Delhi. The chief minister, ministers, MLAs, contractors, and some lower-level officials of the Delhi government are all involved, and a CBI investigation is necessary. This corruption has culminated in the Rajendra Nagar incident, he added.
Fans of actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood have displayed their admiration in a monumental way, erecting a towering 100-foot poster adorned with the Indian flag in his honor. This grand gesture came on the heels of Soods announcement on his birthday that his much-anticipated directorial debut, Fateh, is slated to hit theaters on January 10, 2025.
The news of Fatehs release date has sparked immense excitement among fans, who have eagerly awaited details about the action-packed film. Produced by Zee Studios and Shakti Sagar Productions, Fateh promises to push the boundaries of Indian action cinema. It delves into the gritty world of cybercrime, drawing inspiration from real-life incidents and featuring a star-studded cast.
The real hero gets a heroic birthday celebration. A 100 feet standee was made by fans in Andhra to honour the real life hero@SonuSood pic.twitter.com/IM4ku5LbWS Advertisement BA Rajus Team (@baraju_SuperHit) July 31, 2024
Alongside Sonu Sood, the film stars the illustrious Naseeruddin Shah portraying a pivotal role as a hacker, adding to the anticipation. Jacqueline Fernandez also joins the ensemble, heightening expectations with her involvement in the project.
The films production values are set to match those of Hollywood blockbusters, with action sequences crafted by renowned stunt coordinator Lee Whittaker. Filming spanned multiple international locations, including India, the USA, Russia, and Poland, underscoring the global scale and ambition of Fateh.
Sonu Soods multifaceted career has endeared him to audiences not just for his acting prowess but also for his philanthropic endeavors, especially during the challenging times of the pandemic. His fans gesture of erecting a massive poster reflects the deep respect and admiration they hold for him, celebrating his contributions both on-screen and off-screen.
As anticipation builds towards the release of Fateh, Sonu Soods fans are poised to support him wholeheartedly, ensuring that the film makes a resounding impact as it arrives on the big screen in early 2025.
BLACKPINK sensation is set to star alongside Park Jung Min, known for his roles in Hellbound, Deliver Us from Evil and smugglers in a thrilling drama set against a zombie apocalypse in downtown Seoul. Poised to stream on local platform Coupang Play, the makers have dropped tantalizing snippets from the gripping show. The upcoming drama has been co-written by the Oscar-winning writer Han Ji Won who penned Parasite. Adapted from Han Sang Woons novel Influenza, Newtopia is slated for a 2025 release and also stars Kim Joon Han.
Following the news of Jisoos casting, the BLACKPINK fandom, who call themselves BLINKS have been brimming with anticipation as they speculate the plotline that is being developed by ace writers.
On August 1, the streaming platform, Coupang Play officially announced the star-studded cast of its 2025 series Newtopia in a press release. The platform also unveiled glimpses from the sets featuring Jisoo and Jung Min in fresh looks. The drama is set against a viral outbreak that transforms infected individuals into zombies. The lead actors will portray lovers navigating the outbreak as they desperately search for each other.
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Catch the Newtopia stills here:
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coupang Play (@coupangplay)
Park Jung-min, plays the leading man who initially encounters the zombie outbreak during his mandatory military service. His girlfriend, Kang Young Ju, (played by Jisoo) is an engineer with a new job who is waiting for his release. Separately, they navigate the city and fight off zombie attacks as they try to reunite.
The slated drama, Newtopia is being helmed by Yoon Sung-Hyun, who previously directed hit crime thrillers and dramas like Time to Hunt, Bleak Night and Jury. Joining the team as script writers are A Shop for Killers writer Ji Ho Jin in collaboration with Han Ji Won who previously worked on penning the Oscar-winning film Parasite and Okja.
Previously, on the acting front, Jisoo appeared in multiple cameos in several K-dramas while taking up a major role in the 2020 period action-comedy series Snowdrop. The K-pop idol also had a minor role in Dr Cheon and the Lost Talisman and is reported to be associated with Omniscient Readers Viewpoint, a multi-part film adaptation of a popular webtoon.
Makers of Citadel: Honey Bunny starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan have announced the release date of the anticipated series with a compelling teaser featuring high-octane action sequences, grit, and flamboyance. Created by Raj and DK, the directorial duo behind The Family Man, Guns and Gulaabs and Farzi, the Indian adaptation of the Hollywood show has been penned by Sita R. Menon alongside the duo. The slated series has been backed by D2R Films, Amazon MGM Studios, and executive produced by the Russo Brothers AGBO. Citadel: Honney Bunny will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on November 7.
The upcoming series is an amalgamation of a gritty spy thriller and an alluring love story, created against the backdrop of the 90s. The teaser features the cast looking dapper as they engage in pulse-pounding action sequences with sounds of cocking guns and revving cars bolstering the trill quotient. With a modernised rendition of Raat Baki playing in the background, the trailer promises a gripping and compelling narrative exuding the 90s charm, bringing together an ensemble cast and an ace team working behind the scenes.
Catch the Citadel: Honey Bunny teaser here:
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As reported by Variety, Nikhil Madhok, head of originals at Prime Video India revealed that Citadel: Honey Bunny is poised to take the audience back to the genesis of the international clandestine spy agency, going deeper into the exploration of its foundation, activities, influence, and rise in the signature style of Raj & DK that the audience has come to admire over time. The Indian adaptation of the series marks Samanthas second collaboration with the duo and the series will also star the celebrated star Kay Kay Menon, who played a key role in Farzi. The director duo also expressed confidence over the slated series and expressed gratitude towards the ensemble cast for helping them realise their vision.
The World of Citadel found its inception with Priyanka Chopra and Richard Maddens 2023 eponymous series which became Prime Videos second most-watched original series outside the U.S. and fourth most-watched show worldwide, just after 24 days of release. Citadel and its subsequent original spy thriller series are being created across the globe, elevating the story of the spy agency- Citadel and its nemesis syndicate, Manticore. Each original series from the Citadel Universe stars local talent and is created, produced and filmed in the region, resulting in unique shows rooted in the cultural identities of the respective countries of origin.
Ahead of the Indian adaptations release, the Japanese original variant Citadel: Diana is poised to premiere on October 10. On the other hand, the Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden series is set for a second season with the production going on floors this year with Joe Russo helming the instalment.
Excitement is reaching a fever pitch as the much-anticipated Thangalaan gears up for its grand release on August 15, 2024. Following a captivating trailer and the infectious beats of its first song Murga Murgi, the films creators are pulling out all the stops to keep fans buzzing. Theyve kicked off what theyre calling Thangalaan Month, a lead-up to the big day, promising an exhilarating journey for audiences everywhere.
The announcement came with a stunning poster shared on social media, accompanied by a message that teased, A storm is on its way. The #Thangalaan month begins! Get ready for an adventurous ride #ThangalaanFromAug15. This declaration has ignited a frenzy among fans eager to experience the cinematic spectacle promised by the film.
Advertisement View this post on Instagram A post shared by Thangalaan (@thangalaanthemovie)
Adding to the excitement, the entire cast of Thangalaan is set to embark on a whirlwind tour across major cities in India. Beginning in Hyderabad on August 4th, the tour will touch down in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Kochi, allowing enthusiasts the chance to meet stars like Chiyaan Vikram, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Malavika Mohanan, and others, alongside director Pa Ranjith.
Thangalaan promises to deliver a gripping narrative inspired by the real-life exploits surrounding the discovery of the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) during British colonial rule. This tale of exploitation and intrigue is set to add another feather to the cap of South Indian cinema, known for pushing boundaries with its storytelling.
With Chiyaan Vikram and Malavika Mohanan in pivotal roles, Thangalaan will hit screens worldwide in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam languages. The films soundtrack, composed by GV Prakash Kumar, is expected to complement the intense drama unfolding on screen.
As anticipation mounts and the countdown to August 15th begins, Thangalaan looks set to captivate audiences with its unique narrative and stellar performances, marking another milestone in the cinematic landscape of the South.
Pop icon Taylor Swift has expressed her deep shock and sorrow following a tragic stabbing incident at a dance class themed around her music in Southport, England. The attack, which took place on Monday, July 29, resulted in the deaths of three young girls and left several others critically injured.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Taylor Swift conveyed her grief over the senseless violence of stabbing. The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders, she wrote. These were just little kids at a dance class I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.
The stabbing resulted in the immediate deaths of two girls, aged six and seven, with a third girl, aged nine, succumbing to her injuries on the following day, July 30. The Merseyside Police confirmed that in addition to the fatalities, eight other children sustained stab wounds, with five in critical condition. Two adults who were also injured during the incident are reported to be in a serious condition.
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Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy described the horrifying scene, explaining that the attacker entered the venue with a knife and began targeting the children. We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked, Kennedy said during a press conference.
The devastating news has prompted a wave of responses from prominent figures. King Charles III and Queen Camilla expressed their profound shock and sadness over the incident. My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport, King Charles stated through the royal familys social media channels.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also voiced his deep concern, noting that the entire country has been left in shock by the events. The whole country is deeply shocked at what theyve seen in Southport, Starmer said in a statement to broadcasters.
The community of Southport, along with the nation, is grappling with the aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy, as authorities continue to investigate the motives behind the attack.
In a big setback for the Muslim side, Allahabad High Court said that the civil suit filed by the Hindu side is maintainable in the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute case of Mathura.
The verdict was given by a single judge bench of Justice Mayank Kumar Jain on the maintainability of 18 civil suits pending in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah case on Thursday.
The Eidgah Committee announced they would challenge the high courts decision in the Supreme Court.
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The court held a long hearing for days at end on the petition filed by the Muslim side regarding the maintainability of all the civil suits. After this, the decision was reserved in June last. The Civil suits from the Hindu side demanded removal of the structure of the Shahi Idgah Mosque, handing over the possession of the land and the reconstruction of the temple.
It is claimed through the petitions that the Shahi Idgah mosque, dating back to the time of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, was constructed after allegedly demolishing the temple built at the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Therefore Hindus have the right to worship at that disputed site.
At the same time, raising questions on the legal status of the plaintiffs, the Muslim side claimed that there was no dispute between Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust and the Shahi Idgah Committee. They claimed that the parties raising the dispute have no relation, association, or concern with the Janmabhoomi Trust and Idgah Committee.
Apart from this, it has also been argued that the Idgah site is Waqf property. The mosque was established on August 15, 1947. Now, the form of a religious place cannot be changed under the Right to Worship Act.
Hindu parties arguments were that the entire two-and-a-half-acre area of Idgah is the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Krishna and the Shahi Idgah Mosque Committee does not have any such record of the land. They claim that Shahi Idgah Mosque has been constructed by demolishing Shri Krishna Temple. Besides, without ownership rights, the Waqf Board has declared this land Waqf property without any valid process.
However, the Muslim side argues that there was an agreement reached between the two parties on this land in 1968. It is not right to call the agreement wrong after 60 years. Therefore, the case is not maintainable.
They also claim that the case is not maintainable even under the Places of Worship Act 1991.The identity and nature of the religious place will remain the same as it was on August 15, 1947.
Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, the Delhi Police has prohibited the flying of sub-conventional aerial platforms like paragliders, hang-gliders and hot air balloons in the national capital from August 2 to August 16, keeping in mind the precautionary security measure in the national capital.
An order to this effect was issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on Thursday.
It has been reported that certain criminal, anti-social elements or terrorists inimical to India may pose a threat to the safety of the general public, dignitaries and vital installations by the use of sub-conventional aerial platforms like paragliders, paramotors, hang-gliders, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small sized powered aircraft, or by para-jumping from aircrafts, the order read.
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Therefore, the Delhi Police commissioner has prohibited flying of such aerial platforms over the jurisdiction of the national capital on the occasion of Independence Day and doing so shall be punishable under section 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), it said.
This order shall come into force with effect from Friday and shall remain in force for a period of 15 days up to August 16 (both days inclusive) unless withdrawn earlier, the order stated.
Weapons possession, organized crime, money laundering and trafficking of multiple substances, including fentanyl, and conspiracy to murder at least four rival drug traffickers while serving as one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. These are just some of the 7 felony counts that Ismael El Mayo Zambada will have to answer for in the United States. On Thursday, the 76-year-old drug lord on Thursday will appear again in a courthouse of the Western District of Texas, in the border city of El Paso, where his legal team will receive an update on the status of the court process. He made his first appearance last week, when he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The prosecution requested that the case be recognized as unusual and complex and asked the judge on Wednesday for more time given the enormous volume of evidence, the delicate nature of the crimes and the accuseds high profile, according to a document to which this newspaper has had access.
Zambada was seen in a wheelchair at his first hearing on Friday, held just hours after he was arrested at a rural New Mexico airport alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of El Chapo Guzman. The drug lord waived his right to be present at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, where an investigating judge ordered him to be held without bail. Thursdays hearing does require El Mayo to appear in court, at least according to the courts calendar.
Zambadas defense has had to manage both the start of the trial in the U.S., and the media circus surrounding the case. Frank Perez the lawyer who represents both Zambada and his son Vicente Vicentillo Zambada Niebla dropped a bombshell last weekend, claiming that the 76-year-old had been kidnapped and betrayed by Guzman Lopez. He argued that El Chapos son handed him over to U.S. authorities, after being subdued by around six men wearing military uniforms. He also stated that his client had not negotiated his surrender with the United States: Zambada never set foot in prison in more than five decades of his cartel career.
The federal court in El Paso, Texas, on July 31. ANDRES LEIGHTON (EFE)
Jeffrey Lichtman, the attorney for El Chapos son, broke his silence and denied the allegations on Tuesday. When lawyers who are trying to score points with the media make accusations, then I ignore that because its meaningless, said Lichtman, who also represented El Chapo in the so-called trial of the century in 2018. In that trial, Guzman was sentenced to life in prison after Vicentillo and Jesus Rey Zambada, El Mayos brother, testified against him. The lawyer also denied that Guzman Lopez reached an agreement to surrender to the U.S., a point that had been widely accepted, according to information shared by the United States and Mexican governments after the arrest.
The case became even more complicated on Wednesday after Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza, who appeared before the media as the legal representative of the Guzman family in Mexico, contradicted Perez and Lichtman, stating that El Mayo and El Chapos son turned themselves in voluntarily, after negotiating with U.S. authorities for four years. The lawyer said there was neither betrayal nor kidnapping. Gonzalez Meza said in a statement that the relationship between the families that run the Sinaloa Cartel has been impeccable and denied that an internal war could break out in the criminal organization after the controversial arrest.
Hours earlier, another widely accepted aspect of the arrest was also called into question. In a press conference, the governor of the Mexican state of Sonora, Alfonso Durazo, said that the plane that took El Mayo and Guzman Lopez to the U.S. did not depart from Hermosillo, the state capital, as the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had initially reported last week. Durazo former federal Secretary of Security said that no aircraft with the characteristics of the plane that landed in New Mexico had been registered in airport records. Mexicos Attorney Generals Office has opened an investigation to find out what really happened in the hours before the arrest.
In legal terms, the charges facing El Mayo in Texas are just a fraction of the sprawling accusations he faces in different jurisdictions in the United States. The case in the El Paso court only involves federal crimes committed on Texas soil or that affected that state. The case in question was opened in 2012 and concerns the war waged by the Sinaloa Cartel against the Juarez Cartel, on the border between the two countries.
It is established, for example, that El Mayo and El Chapo were involved, along with their lieutenants, in the torture and murder of three rival drug lords, identified only by their initials: R. M. V., his brother J. M. V. and his uncle G. M. A. The murder was ordered in May 2010, after the three men were kidnapped at R. M. V.'s wedding in Ciudad Juarez. Their bodies were found by police days later, after being abandoned in the back of a pick-up truck.
The two criminal bosses are also accused of the murder of S. S., a trafficker who lost a 670-pound shipment after a seizure in Texas in August 2009. The modus operandi was similar, according to U.S. authorities: S. S. was kidnapped by several men, interrogated, and finally executed in Juarez. The indictment points to the use of extreme violence, the public display of the victims body, including the dismemberment of body parts in a ritualistic or symbolic way, and written warning messages, known as narco banners.
Guzman and Zambada, the men behind the Sinaloa Cartel criminal empire one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world are seen as the top leaders: the people who managed the trafficking of illicit drugs, collected the profits, oversaw the money laundering, coordinated the shipment of weapons and resources to their allies, and ordered the elimination of their rivals. The case involves 22 other defendants: eleven were extradited to the United States, three were killed in Mexico after the charges were filed, eight more pleaded guilty, and two more were sentenced to life in prison in 2021. It is understood, from the legal documents, that El Mayo was the last to fall.
The court document details that FBI and DEA agents were present at the arrest of Zambada and Guzman Lopez last Thursday, after the men got off the plane. Nothing else is said about the arrest. The prosecution argued that due to the exceptional nature of the case, the 70-day period to move forward with the judicial process and prepare for an eventual trial should be extended. The defense has supported the extension, which will have to be ratified by the judge.
There is still the possibility that El Mayo, whose health has deteriorated in recent months, will be transferred to another of the states where he is accused or that he may be offered some kind of collaboration agreement with the justice system. Amid the competing accounts of betrayal and secret deals, the future of one of the most elusive and feared Mexican drug lords in history is just beginning to be decided in U.S. courts.
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Viillagers from various areas of rural Delhi, including Shahbad Mohammadpur, Pochanpur, Palam, Amrai, Bagdola, and surrounding regions staged a protest against the Delhi Jal Board on Thursday in support of their demand.
The demonstration, led by Chaudhary Surender Solanki, the head of Palam 360 Khap, at the Delhi Jal Boards booster pumping station located in Dwarka Sector 20, highlighted the severe drinking water and waterlogging issues faced by the villagers.
Speaking on the occasion, Solanki said there was a serious issue of sewage overflow in the villages and colonies which disrupt many lives and even causing fatalities. He accused Jal Board officials of negligence and said despite repeated demands, no action had been taken to clean the sewers.
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He said in the name of urbanization, the villages have been turned into slums and that the officials are no longer paying attention to the villagers complaints.
The protesters demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the Jal Board by breaking earthen pots and raising slogans against the Jal Board.
A significant number of women also participated in the protest, raising their voices against the water authority.
Following the protest, the Chief Engineer of the Jal Board met with the panchayat and assured them that the issues would be resolved within a week and also apologized to the villagers.
Responding to this Solanki stated that the villagers would not tolerate disrespect, and if the issues were not resolved, further agitation would continue.
The government, on Thursday, advised Indian nationals against travelling to Lebanon till further notice and leaves the country amid the escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
In view of recent developments and potential threats to the region, Indian nationals are strongly advised against travelling to Lebanon till further notice, an advisory from the Indian Embassy in Beirut said.
All Indian nationals are also strongly advised to leave Lebanon. Those who remain for any reason are advised to exercise caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut through their email id: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, the embassy said in the advisory posted on X.
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The advisory came two days after Israel targeted Hezbollahs top military commander Fouad Shukur in a strike in southern Beirut.
Israel later confirmed that it had killed Shukur, who, it alleged, was behind the weekend rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 youths.
Delhi was brought to a near standstill as torrential rains battered the city on Wednesday night, leading to severe waterlogging and widespread disruptions.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of more heavy showers, urging residents to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
The downpour disrupted daily life in the national capital with schools across the city ordered to remain shut on August 1, following an announcement by Delhi Minister Atishi, who cited the hazardous conditions caused by the relentless rains.
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In one tragic incident, a woman and her three-year-old son drowned after slipping into a waterlogged drain near Khoda Colony in Ghazipur.
The heavy rains also led to a wall collapse at a private school in Daryaganj, damaging a car parked nearby.
Air traffic was severely disrupted, with at least ten flights to Delhi being diverted to Jaipur and Lucknow due to the adverse weather conditions. Airlines have also issued warnings about potential further disruptions as the city braces for more rain.
The IMD recorded significant rainfall across Delhi, with the Salwan station in Mayur Vihar receiving 147.5 mm of rain between 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and 7:15 a.m. Thursday.
Other stations reported similarly heavy rainfall, with 113 mm recorded at Najafgarh, and over 100 mm at the Lodhi Road, Delhi University, and Safdarjung observatories.
The citys already struggling infrastructure buckled under the weight of the heavy rain, with police urging residents to avoid submerged areas.
In a social media post, the Delhi Police issued warnings, advising commuters to avoid traveling to Mundka due to severe waterlogging and potholes along the Rohtak Road, which had become a major hazard.
In nearby Gurgaon, three men tragically lost their lives after being electrocuted near the IFFCO Chowk metro station. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Wednesday when the men were wading through water and came into contact with a live wire that had been submerged due to the rains.
According to police reports, a fallen tree had caused the wires to break, leading to the fatal incident.
Heavy damage to public and private property was reported on Thursday owing to the downpour that triggered a flash flood downstream in the Beas River from Palchan to Patlikuhal in Himachal Pradeshs Kullu district.
No loss of life has been reported in the Kullu and Mandi districts so far.
Scores of bridges in Palchan and Nehrukund have been damaged due to flooding in the river, officials said.
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A newly constructed vegetable market building collapsed in Kullu. The National Highway between Kullu and Manali has been hampered due to a flood near Kalath.
Seeing the rising waters, people living on the river banks in Nehrukund, Bahang, Rangdi, Aloo Ground, Kalath, 17 Mile, 15 Mile and Patlikuhal fled from their homes. The road in Palchan has been damaged.
The Manali-Leh road has been closed due to massive landslides. The Manali administration remained busy throughout the night alerting people.
Rain has been continuing since Wednesday evening. Although the water level of the Beas River has decreased, the danger persists.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) (Manali) Raman Sharma told the media that the police personnel kept alerting the people living on the river banks by sounding sirens throughout the night. He urged people to leave their homes only in case of emergency and not to travel.
In a latest escalation in the confrontation faced by Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait, a Rmeswaram fisherman was killed in a collision involving a fishing trawler and Lankan Naval patrol vessel mid sea on Wednesday night.
Badly damaged in the collision, the boat started sinking near Neduntheevu (Delft island) in Sri Lankan territory, the fishermen were thrown off, leaving them struggle for life in mid sea.
According to the fisheries Department and the fishermen in Rameswaram, Malaichamy (59) was declared dead while two others Mookaiah(54) of Virudhunagar, Muthu Muniandi (57) were arrested and taken to Kankesanthurai.
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The body of the deceased was handed over to Indian authorities in Jaffna. A search is on for V Ramachandran (64), who is missing.
With the news of the fishermans death spreading like wild fire, the coastal belt along Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram had turned tense since Thursday morning. Demanding that the government register a case of murder against the Sri Lankan naval personnel for the death of Malaichamy, people resorted to a road blockade in Rameswaram.
According to fishermen association leaders, the island navy has exceeded the limits in the guise of containing poaching in their territorial waters. Early on Wednesday morning, nearly 2000 fishermen in 349 boats have set sail in the Palk Strait
Condemning the killing of the Indian fishermen by the Lankan navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the deceased. Political parties across the spectrum have registered their condemnation and urged the Centre to take punitive action against Colombo.
Meanwhile the Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement said that the Acting High Commissioner of the island nation was summoned and a strong protest was lodged. We expressed our shock and anguish at the unfortunate loss of of life. Our High Commissioner in Colombo will also be raising the matter with the Sri Lankan government, it said.
More than 15 people died and four went missing due to heavy rains in Uttarakhand since Wednesday evening as the Himalayan state witnessed two cloudbursts in the night. More than 1,500 tourists and pilgrims were rescued by the SDRF as normal public lives were paralised.
Cloudburst at Lincholi led to complete blockade of the Kedarnath pilgrimage route leaving more than 15,500 pilgrims stranded four kilometers away from the shrine.
State Emergency Operation Center (SEOC) informed that three members of a family, including a husband-wife duo, were perished under the debris of a hotel that crumbled down owing to the cloudburst at Jikhyani area of Ghansali block in Tehri while a woman in the Rohida area of the states summer capital Gairsain was buried under the muck and debris as a thick mass of the land fell on her house roof resulting into its collapse.
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In another rain-inflicted incident six persons, including two children, 10-year old Aas Mohammad and 8-year old girl Nagma, died in Haridwar. Nagma, Aas Mohammad and two other were buried under the debris and eight family members were injured as their house collapsed in the Bahadrabad area of Roorkee in Haridwar.
In yet another incident in Haridwar two persons died of electrocution at Roorkee bus stand late Wednesday night amid heavy rains. Four persons, including two Delhi based tourists, died in Dehradun in the last 24 hours. Arjun Singh Rana, 55 years and 35-year old Sundar Singh died as they were swept away by a swelled monsoon rivulet in Dehradun late Wednesday night while two tourists from Sultanpuri in Delhi drowned in Sahastradhara water stream where they had gone for bathing with their third friend who was saved by the locals. The Ill fated Delhi tourists were swept away by the sudden rise in water level in the river they had gone for bathing on Thursday afternoon.
The rain havoc was witnessed in Kumaon as well. A 48-year old man at Dhari area died of being hit by a rock coming down from the hill top while two boys one in Haldwani an another in Bageshwar were swept in overflowing seasonal rivulets. The missing boys were yet to be found by the rescue teams deployed there. Apart from this two other missing persons were from Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts.
On the other hand, more than 1,500 kedarnath pilgrims were rescued by the SDRF as they were stranded since Wednesday night due to a cloudburst at Lincholi close to the shrine area. Cloudburst resulted in washing away almost 70 meters of the road near Bhimbali police post. All the stranded pilgrims were safely taken to a nearby Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVM) building and Bhimbali police post in the night. As many as 425 pilgrims were airlifted on Thursday while rescue of the remaining pilgrims were in process informed Rudraprayag district magistrate Ashutosh Gaharwar. More than 1100 tourists were rescued and shifted to the safer places through alternate routes created by the SDRF teams.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the two cloudburst sites in Tehri and Rudraprayag on Thursday and directed officials to be alert according to the weather forecast and warnings issued by the meteorological department. Dhami conducted an aerial survey of the cloudburst area at Lincholi in order to understand the situation.
State government stands fully behind the disaster affected people and will leave no stone unturned to provide all support to them. Safety of the people and their properties is the first priority of the state government. District administration and officers concerned must ensure adequate timely restoration of the broken roads, power and drinking water supplies said Dhami.
Around 300 roads were still blocked in different parts of the state, impairing vehicular movements and routine public life especially in the hills.Routine public life large areas in the plains and Dehradun were marred by water logging and rain water gushes in the homes. Engineers and teams of the BRO and PWD, state police and other agencies were working hard to restore the road connectivity in the hills.
Assuring that an ordinance will be brought in if required, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said that Telangana will be the first state to implement the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in reservation after the Supreme Court passed an order to that effect. The demand for sub-classification within reservation has been a long-standing issue for the Madiga, a numerically superior sub-caste within the Scheduled Castes in the two Telugu states. They had been agitating for the past three decades for equitable representation and reservation within the SC quota.
In unified Andhra Pradesh, it was TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu who first introduced sub-classification in the reservation for SCs, but it was struck down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2004 in the case of EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh. This judgment was overturned by the apex court on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had held a separate rally to woo the Madigas last year before the Assembly election in Telangana, had also promised to expedite the matter which was in the Supreme Court. An emotional Mandakrishna Madiga, who spearheaded the movement, was earnestly comforted by the Prime Minister as the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) had pledged support to the BJP in elections.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, speaking in the Assembly, thanked the apex court and said, On behalf of the state government, I am announcing that Telangana will be the first state to implement the sub-classification. He promised that the state government would take appropriate steps to implement the sub-classification in the upcoming job notifications. If required, an ordinance will be brought in, said the Chief Minister. He added that his government had engaged senior Supreme Court lawyer Sidharth Luthra to argue in favour of categorisation. The government had also sent Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and State Health Minister Damodar Rajnarasimha to New Delhi to provide necessary information and other support to the legal team.
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The BRS also welcomed the Supreme Courts verdict with its working president KT Rama Rao acknowledging that the persistent struggle by the Madiga community has borne fruit. He called on the Congress government to immediately initiate the steps to implement the classification.
MRPS president Mandakrishna Madiga, who spearheaded the 30-year-long struggle to secure justice for his community, recalled Naidus contribution to their cause. Hailing the judgment, Mandakrishna said: Dharma has won while dedicating the victory to the children of the MRPS members who lost their lives during the struggle. MRPS has been fighting for this sub-classification for the past 30 years. We eagerly awaited this moment while agitating against the injustice meted out to the community. Several people lost their lives during the movement, he recalled. He said he was confident that Revanth Reddy in Telangana and Naidu in Andhra Pradesh would restore sub-classification within the SC reservation.
Slamming the West Bengal and Jharkhand governments on the Rohingya infiltration issue, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the instances of Rohingyas entering eastern India have significantly increased, posing a serious threat of demographic invasion.
The Assam Chief Minister said that illegal immigration by Rohingyas is a big problem for the security of the country.
The system of West Bengal to curb infiltration is weak. I request the Central government to resolve this issue as soon as possible, Sarma told the media.
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He said that recently, the Tripura Police have arrested a large number of Rohingyas. Last year, the Assam Police also busted a Rohingya infiltration network a matter which was also investigated by the NIA.
Sarma said that the Centre should take up the issue of Rohingyas with the West Bengal government in an urgent manner.
Demographic changes in several states in eastern and northern India are happening which would come as shocking news once a census is conducted. Due to the appeasement policies, we are not able to control it and Indian states are suffering the entire country is suffering.
The incumbent West Bengal government is very soft about infiltration despite demography changing in Bengal, Sarma said, adding that in the 2024 and 2019 voter lists, the change of demography is very visible.
Due to our constant steps and close monitoring, Assam is no longer a safe haven for illegal immigrants. However, West Bengal and Jharkhand are silent on the issue, Sarma said.
Suggesting steps similar to those taken by Tripura against the infiltration, the Assam Chief Minister said that if the infiltration does not stop now, the entire country would face a demographic invasion.
Rohingyas are continuously coming to India through the India-Bangladesh border and many states are already suffering from the demographic invasion.
Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees recent statement that the state would provide shelter to those coming from Bangladesh, the Assam Chief Minister said that the neighbouring country has not even endorsed such a statement.
Meanwhile, over the last two-and-a-half months, more than 155 Bangladeshi nationals and 32 Rohingyas have been apprehended by the Government Railway Police, Border Security Force and Tripura Police from the Agartala railway station and various other places in Tripura after they illegally entered India.
Describing civil services as the steel frame of governance, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday commended the dedication and hard work of the personnel of the Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) Civilian Services in taking forward the ongoing works, including efforts to attain Aatmanirbharta, and contributing to the welfare of soldiers.
You are an important link between the Armed Forces and the rest of the civilian government. There is a need to further strengthen your capabilities for enhanced efficiency, the defence minister said while addressing the 83rd AFHQ Civilian Services Day here.
He called upon the personnel of the AFHQ Civilian Services to continue enhancing their skills in todays fast-changing times for efficient policy making and implementation and execution of reforms being undertaken in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
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Singh added that the three Services form a large part of the functioning in MoD and the AFHQ cadre ensures that the possibility of group-think, which results in poor decision-making, is negated in policy formulation.
Unprecedented reforms have been undertaken in MoD in the last five years, and there has been tremendous progress in several areas. Our achievements have been recognised globally. This has happened due to team work. The Armed Forces and Civil Services should work together from Command Headquarters and Service Headquarters to the Ministry for better output. By including AFHQ Civil Services officers in key roles in MoD, the quality of decision making will improve, he added.
Singh urged the Department of Defence to explore the possibilities of better career progression for the personnel of AFHQ Civilian Services.
As their capabilities increase, their career progression will improve, and these personnel will be able to provide better support to the Armed Forces, bolstering our defence system. Ensuring better career progression will also attract best candidates to the AFHQ Civil Service, he said.
He exhorted the personnel to pay attention to the core values of honesty, discipline and uniformity. The defence minister was of the view that everyone deserves respect, irrespective of their position or rank, emphasising that ego must be shed and the personnel must work as a team.
He called for learning from one another, which makes even hard work easy to accomplish.
The devastating landslides that hit Wayanad on Tuesday early morning killed 283 people, while 240 people, including 29 children went missing,with the death toll seemingly rising as rescue and recovery efforts continue.
The picturesque villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai, which were among the sought after destination of tourists, now resembled as graveyards with flattened houses, collapsed buildings, mangled vehicles, boulders, huge uprooted trees and mud. It is not yet clear how many people are trapped under the debris. Many people were also washed away for kilometres in the gushing mountain water.
As the rescue operations reach its third day the entire people of Kerala folds their hands before the rescue and relief team, who are wading through knee-deep slush searching for life under mounds of debris, risking their own lives.
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The rescue teams of the army, navy , NDRF, Fire force and coast guard carrying out a detailed search at three locations at Attamala, Mundakkai and Chooralmala. The rescue operators are facing with adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings for survivors or bodies.
The rescue teams operations have been facing obstacles as Mundakkai, where one of the big landslides happened, has been cut off from the rest of the district after the only bridge to the area was swept away in the landslide.
In such a situation, the army men formed human chains with ropes to safely evacuate residents fromMundakkai. In areas where the situation was even more precarious, people were ferried across a turbulent river on wooden platforms.
Meanwhile, the army has completed the construction of a 190-m-long Bailey bridge over Chooralmala river by Thursday after noon, to connect Chooralmala to Mundakkai. A team from the Madras Engineer Group, also known as the Madras Sappers, were engaged in the construction This bridge will help to speed up the rescue operations. More machineries including excavators meant for the rescue operations could be moved through this bridge.
The Army has established a Command and Control Centre in Kozhikode, led by Maj Gen Vinod Mathew, General Officer Commanding of the Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, and Brig Arjun Segan, to oversee Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.
It was only after the arrival of the army that the process of rescue operations became more professional and got it accelerated and intensified.
Around 500 soldiers are present in the landslide-hit areas in various sectors. Soldiers from the Defence Security Corps(DSC)Centre in Kannur,a medical team from the military hospital in Kannur and soldiers from the Kozhikode territorial army are present in the affected areas.
In this connection,the heavy rains lashing at Mundakkai and Punchiri Mattam, the epicenter of the landslide, created a severe crisis for the rescue operations on Thursday after noon.The rescue workers have been called back due to the fear of landslides The mission will resume after favorable weather conditions.
The Wayanad has been devastated by three landslides that occurred at Meppadi, Mundakkai and Chooralmala within a span of 4 hours. The first landslide occurred in Mundakkai town at around 1 am on Tuesday during heavy rain, washing away houses and families. While the rescue operations were ongoing, a second landslide struck near Chooralmala School at around 2 am.Then a third landslide occurred at around 4am.
Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha villages were the areas hit and cut off by the landslides. Mundakkai town was completely swept away by the landslide.
Most of the victims were asleep when the landslides struck between 1 am. and 4 am on Tuesday. Huge boulders and uprooted trees rushed down from Mundakkai to Chooralmala, causing severe damage. The heavy water surge from the hilltop altered the small Iruvazhinji river, flooding everything along its banks. Several houses were destroyed, a temple and a mosque were submerged, and a school building was severely damaged.
Of the bodies recovered so far, some bodies have been found in the Chaliyar river, which flows into neighbouring Malappuram district.The river carried around 80 bodies, or rather parts of human bodies mutilated by the vengeful landslide, for around 25 km to Pothukallu near Nilambur in Malappuram district.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi reached Meppadi on Thursday after noon. Leaders including K C Venugopala and V D Satheesan have accompanied them. They visited the landslide hit Choorimala, relief camps in Meppadi Govt Higher Secondary School, St Joseph UP School and Dr Moopans Medical College, hospital in Meppadi.
The non-governmental human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the United States government for allowing the use of solitary confinement in its prisons, and in particular in immigration detention centers, where detainees have been held in isolation for periods of time that the U.N. considers torture. The international organization not only called for an end to solitary confinement, but also to gradually abolish the process of detaining undocumented immigrants. Imposing solitary confinement is an extreme deprivation of rights that is disproportionate to any legitimate state interest in the immigration detention context, states HRW.
The call comes the same month that detainees in two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in California, run by the GEO Group, began a labor and hunger strike to protest the living conditions they are subjected to while awaiting deportation. The detainees at Golden State Annex in McFarland, 130 miles from Los Angeles, and those at Mesa Verde in Bakersfield denounced the standards of medical care and food, their isolation due to the end of free phone calls and the use of solitary confinement.
Relatives and former detainees had planned to protest this week outside ICE offices in San Francisco over the treatment they received in these detention centers. The hunger strike ended for health reasons, according to the California Collaborative for Immigrants Justice (CCIJ). Edwin Carmona Ruiz, from CCIJ, condemned the use of solitary confinement, arguing that private companies that manage prisons use solitary confinement to silence protests.
HRW says that nationwide, prison authorities hold about 122,000 people in solitary confinement for 22 hours or more a day. Between 2018 and 2023, ICE has detained more than 14,000 migrants in solitary confinement. Thats according to a report from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in collaboration with the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC), based on government data obtained thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.
These two organizations were able to confirm that the average time in solitary confinement in ICE facilities was 27 days, which exceeds the 15-day threshold that the U.N. experts consider a form of torture. Holding children or people with psychological disabilities in solitary confinement is also a form of torture, no matter how long it lasts.
According to the PHR report, in several hundred cases, a detainee was held in solitary confinement for at least 90 days, and in 42 cases, it lasted more than a year. Many of these cases involved people with mental health problems, who are often subjected to this regime as a disciplinary measure for minor infractions or as reprisals for protests regarding their treatment in detention.
The treatment of people in immigration detention facilities and the excessive, punitive use of solitary confinement is not only contrary to ICEs own policies and guidance but also violates U.S. constitutional law and international human rights law, PHE states in the reports conclusions on what they describe as a degrading form of treatment.
The Human Rights Watch call also warns that the use of solitary confinement disproportionally affects Black immigrants, especially Caribbean and African immigrants, and aggravates the effects of traumatic experiences. Segregation the term used by ICE worsens mental health and increases the risk of suicide.
The NGO also calls for immigration detention to be used as a last resort, and recalls that the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has long called for an end to the detention of people who are in deportation proceedings.
The United States has had Alternative to Detention (ATD) programs since 2004 that allow non-citizens to remain in their communities, continue to attend to family obligations and prepare for immigration proceedings. According to data from Syracuse University, ICE has 37,004 people in detention facilities as of July 2024 and 177,670 families and individuals in ATD and monitoring programs.
The data from Syracuse University found that from the beginning of the Biden administration until the end of 2022, 377,980 people have been under this type of monitoring and ATD regime. Since the beginning of 2023, these numbers began to fall and are now at one of their lowest point since January 2022, a drop that coincides with the US. governments recent decisions to limit asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Indias decision to maintain stringent restrictions on Chinese investments, despite some high-level support for easing these measures, underscores the delicate balance between economic interests and national security concerns. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyals reaffirmation that there is no rethinking on this issue, despite suggestions to the contrary from government officials, highlights the complexities at play. The 2020 border clashes in the Himalayas significantly strained India-China relations. These events led to heightened scrutiny and tighter regulations on Chinese investments in India.
While these measures were necessary from a national security standpoint, they also had economic repercussions, given Chinas significant role in global trade and investment flows. Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswarans suggestion that India should welcome more Chinese investments to boost exports and address the growing trade deficit with China presents one side of an economic argument. Allowing targeted Chinese investments, particularly in sectors that can enhance Indias manufacturing capabilities and export potential, could indeed provide a much-needed boost to the economy. The logic is straightforward: by attracting foreign capital and technology, India can enhance its industrial base, create jobs, and increase its competitiveness in global markets. However, Mr Goyals firm stance against easing restrictions reflects a broader and more cautious approach.
The primary concern is that opening up to Chinese investments, even in non-sensitive sectors like solar panels and battery manufacturing, could still pose risks to national security and critical infrastructure. The experience of other countries has shown that economic dependence can be exploited for strategic leverage, especially by the Chinese, and India is wary of such vulnerabilities. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans support for easing restrictions, particularly in non-sensitive sectors, indicates recognition of the potential economic benefits of Chinese investment. The focus on areas like solar energy and battery manufacturing aligns with Indias broader strategic goals of advancing renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. These sectors are not only crucial for sustainable development but also for enhancing energy security. Therefore, targeted Chinese investments could play a positive role, without compromising national security, it is hoped. The challenge lies in striking a balance that safeguards national interests while also leveraging economic opportunities.
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A nuanced approach could involve stringent regulatory frameworks that allow for selective investments, ensuring thorough vetting of Chinese companies and their potential impact on national security. Enhanced transparency and stronger oversight mechanisms could mitigate risks while fostering a conducive environment for beneficial foreign investments. Moreover, India could also explore strengthening partnerships with other countries to diversify its sources of foreign investment. By building robust economic relationships with a broader range of international partners, India can reduce its reliance on any single country, thereby enhancing its strategic autonomy and economic resilience. Moving forward, a balanced and nuanced strategy that incorporates stringent regulatory measures, selective investments, and diversified international partnerships could enable India to navigate these complex dynamics effectively. This approach would not only safeguard national interests but also support long-term economic growth and development
India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, making water-sharing a critical and complex issue, as both countries rely heavily on these waters. The complexity is enhanced by the fact that water is a state subject in India, meaning states through which these rivers flow are key stakeholders. Although the Union government handles foreign policy and international rivers, it must consider the interests of these states, which can be affected by international treaties.
As India and Bangladesh aim for a shared vision of the future, finding a solution to these water-sharing issues becomes imperative. Despite sharing 54 rivers, India and Bangladesh have only reached water-sharing agreements for the Ganges and Kushiara rivers. The 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, also known as the Farakka Agreement, regulates the water sharing of the Ganges River between the two countries and is set to expire in 2026. This treaty has been crucial in managing the water flow between India and Bangladesh through the Farakka Barrage, affecting both upper riparian India and lower riparian Bangladesh. The Farakka Barrage has become contentious, with states like West Bengal and Bihar blaming it for erosion, siltation, and floods in their regions. These concerns have influenced their stance on the treaty renewal.
While both India and Bangladesh wish to renew the treaty and a technical committee is examining the issue, opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remains strong. Bihar has also opposed the Farakka Barrage in the past, citing siltation and erosion. Bihars Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, argues that the harm caused by the Farakka Barrage now outweigh its benefits. While the concerns of these states may have merit, disturbing the Ganges Treaty could exacerbate watersharing tensions between India and Bangladesh. Issues of siltation and erosion might be better addressed through river dredging. Among the shared rivers, the Teesta garners the most attention.
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However, an agreement on its water sharing has been elusive due to its importance to both countries. In India, the Teesta flows through Sikkim and West Bengal. Sikkim has seen the development of hydro-electric projects, while West Bengal has implemented new irrigation projects. These developments have changed water consumption patterns. For West Bengal, the Teesta is crucial for irrigation, while Bangladesh relies on it for irrigation in its northern part, a key food production area. Bangladesh claims that most of the 111,000 hectares of irrigable land in the Teesta basin cannot be cultivated during the dry season. Securing the cooperation of West Bengal regarding the Teesta remains challenging. An interim agreement was nearly signed in 2011 during Manmohan Singhs visit to Bangladesh, but Mamata Banerjee withdrew from the delegation at the last moment. Since then, her stance on the issue has only hardened. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has attempted to break the deadlock over Teesta water sharing by involving China.
In July 2020, the Ministry of Water Resources of Bangladesh requested a $983 million loan from China to implement a project on Teesta river, as stated in a letter to Bangladeshs Economic Relations Division. The Bangladesh government will cover 15 per cent of the total project cost, approximately $130 million. The project includes dredging the river for navigability, constructing strong embankments, developing townships and industries on both sides of the river, and creating a water reservoir and irrigation systems. This project known as the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project (TRCMRP) has faced criticism from Bangladeshi environmentalists. A demonstration by a Chinese company revealed that the project involves reducing the rivers width and increasing its depth through dredging, and building embankments on both sides.
The project also plans to recover 170 square kilometers of land on both sides of the river by using dredged soil, and to construct housing and industrial parks on the reclaimed land. Currently, the maximum width of the Teesta River is 5.1 kilometers, with an average width of 3.1 kilometers. Under the TRCMRP, this width will be reduced to between 0.7 and 1 kilometer, which could severely impact the rivers velocity and water carrying capacity. India has expressed concerns about the Teesta River project due to its implementation by Chinese entities. Large-scale projects awarded to China are typically executed by staterun firms, raising fears that critical information, such as water flow data, could be accessed by the Chinese side.
Additionally, the projects location in Bangladesh would enable Chinese personnel to establish a presence near the Siliguri Corridor, or the chickens neck the narrow strip of land that connects the rest of India with its strategic north-eastern region. To address these concerns, India has shown interest in implementing its own project on the Teesta. An agreement in this regard was reached during the recent visit of Sheikh Hasina to Delhi. A technical team will study the project. Sheikh Hasina expressed a preference for India to implement the project, given that the Teesta flows from India into Bangladesh. She also stated that if Bangladesh is to receive water from the Teesta, then India should be responsible for implementing the project. This marks a shift from water sharing to water conservation and management of the Teesta river within Bangladesh.
There are plans to build reservoirs in Bangladesh to manage Teesta water, with India committing to send a technical team to assist in this effort. The new focus will be on water flow management rather than water sharing. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Bangladesh has also stated that it seeks an early conclusion to a watersharing deal on the Teesta. It seems both sides now clearly recognize the difficulty in achieving a water-sharing agreement on the Teesta in the near future. However, to improve the situation for Bangladesh and to work towards a shared destiny, both sides have decided to implement the Teesta project.
This could be a good interim arrangement, as the earlier planned interim agreement on the Teesta could not be signed. While water-sharing between India and Bangladesh is fraught with challenges, addressing these issues with sensitivity to state interests and exploring technical solutions like dredging and building reservoirs could pave the way for more sustainable and cooperative management of shared water resources.
(The writer is Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.)
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has partnered with private lender IDBI Bank to launch the IDBI-IITM Secure Systems Lab (I22SSL), a cybersecurity laboratory, here on Wednesday.
The cybersecurity laboratory will develop and deploy security solutions in crucial sectors such as healthcare, fintech and aerospace among others, IIT Madras said.
The lab will focus on creating market-ready intellectual properties (IP) in cybersecurity, productisation and commercialisation of research work, especially for mobile technologies, IIT Madras added.
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The lab was inaugurated at the IIT Madras campus on Tuesday by Rakesh Sharma, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IDBI Bank in the presence of Prof V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras and other officials.
With the rapid growth of Internet connectivity and automation, many critical sectors such as Banking, Finance and Insurance, Transportation, Government, Power and Energy, Telecom, and Strategic and Public Enterprises, depend considerably on Information and Communication Technologies. This has led to an explosion of cyber-attacks on these infrastructures by hackers.
The lab would focus on cybersecurity in systems deployed in industries such as banking, automotive, power and telecommunications, among others, and undertake experimental evaluation and assessment exercises. The researchers would also develop test cases for testing, carry out vulnerability research, and help devise hardening guidelines. It would help Enterprise Systems in managing cybersecurity risks in real-time, IIT Madras said.
This initiative is a testament to IDBI Banks commitment to proactively combating cyber threats and ensuring the security of data and information. We are optimistic that through such initiatives, we can together enhance our ability to anticipate, identify, and neutralize potential threats building a more secure environment for all, Sharma said.
The finance sector, being a critical information infrastructure that forms the foundation of the economy of our country is facing increasing number of cybersecurity challenges on a day-to-day basis. It is very important to continuously keep studying the threat landscape and come out with effective proactive protection mechanisms. This joint effort between IIT Madras and IDBI is very timely and we aspire to comprehensively address the security challenge, Kamakoti said.
The I2SSL, IIT Madras, plans to ingeniously design systems for critical applications such as hardware firewalls, point-of-sale devices, and mobile banking. Security would be achieved using memory safe languages, tagged architectures that provide fine grained access control, memory encryption, and an indigenously developed Trusted Platform Module (TPM).
According to IIT Madras, in the area of cryptography, researchers will work towards developing hardware accelerators for crypto-primitives including symmetric and asymmetric-key cryptography as well as post-quantum cryptography.
Calling the twin strikes by Israel killing senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah during a 24-hour period a dangerous escalation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an international diplomatic push to prevent a broader regional conflict.
The international community must work together to urgently prevent any actions that could push the entire Middle East over the edge, with a devastating impact on civilians, the UN chiefs Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an audacious strike inside Iran on Wednesday during his visit for the swearing-in of newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Hamas.
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A short while earlier, Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an air strike in Beirut.
The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages, a massive increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the Blue Line that separates Lebanon from Israel, Dujarric said.
While Guterres has been calling for maximum restraint, it alone is not enough at this extremely sensitive time and he urges all to vigorously work towards regional de-escalation, the spokesperson added.
Irans UN Mission warned of an escalation, saying in an X post: The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator.
While Israel military confirmed it had taken out Shukr, Israel was silent on the killing of Haniyeh, a serious setback to ceasefire efforts in Gaza because the Qatar-based leader was a key negotiator with Israel for a ceasefire and the return of hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attack.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 1, 2024 - 22:40 | All, World, Japan
Japan has requested the extradition of the founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, who was arrested in Greenland last month, the Danish government said Thursday.
Paul Watson had been placed on an Interpol wanted list at Japan's request on suspicion of forcibly obstructing the country's so-called research whaling.
Provided there are no grounds to reject the request, the Danish Justice Ministry said, Greenland police will investigate whether to proceed with the extradition, with the ministry making the final decision.
Watson, 73, was detained on July 21 as his boat docked in Nuuk in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, to refuel while en route to intercept Japan's Kangei Maru whaling ship in the North Pacific.
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation has urged the Danish government to release him, claiming the International Criminal Police Organization's "red notice" for his arrest was "politically motivated."
Many Western countries are against whaling, with French President Emmanuel Macron voicing opposition to Watson's extradition.
A French online petition demanding his release has garnered around 670,000 signatures, according to media reports.
Watson, who is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, was a member of the environmental protection group Greenpeace but left it and founded Sea Shepherd in 1977. He also split from Sea Shepherd in 2022.
Related coverage:
Japan plans to add another whale species to commercial hunting list
U.S. drops anti-whaling wording opposed by Japan in Indo-Pacific pact
Shillong - The Vascular Society of India was started on August 6th, 1994. Every year on this occasion, Vascular Surgeons celebrate this day in the form of creating awareness of the importance of vascular health.
Vascular surgeons treat disorders related to blood vessels in the whole body, except those of the heart and brain. These disorders include peripheral arterial disease, aneurysm, carotid artery stenosis, complicated arterio-venous fistulas, and arterio-venous malformation. Patients at risk of most of these disorders include those who are elderly, diabetics, hypertensives, smokers, and chronic kidney disease.
Creating awareness to the public that these conditions are risk factors for vascular diseases is our aim. Educating them as well on how these diseases can aggravate vascular disease and how to prevent them will ensure that the awareness created is meaningful.
One of the endeavors of the Vascular Society of India is to create an Amputation-free India and an Amputation Free World. With the motto of Save a limb, Save a life, we as Vascular surgeons wish to create awareness of all the causes and aggravating factors that can lead to amputation.
India is the Diabetic Capital of the world and up to 80% of amputation of diabetic patients is preventable. In India, every year ~1lakh population with diabetes lose their limb to amputation. Every 20 seconds, a diabetic loses a limb. The numbers are staggering when the disease itself is preventable and manageable.
Smokers as young as 18 years of age have lost their limbs to amputation. The worst part of losing a limb at such a young age is the tragic burden that they have to carry for the rest of their lives, and affecting the future of the family as well.
Amputation can be prevented by controlling the risk factors of peripheral vascular disease smoking, diabetes, and hypertension. If patients with PVD symptoms are detected early on, they can be given medical management. With further progress of the disease, investigations and interventions are indicated. If not managed at the right time, patients with peripheral vascular disease will develop non-healing wounds or ulcers, followed by gangrene of the leg, which may then require an amputation.
Vascular surgeons stand between patients and amputation, but the sad reality is that most patients reach us at a very late stage when nothing more can be offered.
We hope that through this awareness program, people and patients become more self-conscious of their vascular health and approach vascular surgeons at the right time. Shillong is one of the cities participating in this event and a 5km run will be held here on the 3rd August 2024, starting from MFA grounds in Polo, at 6AM.
Let's work towards better Vascular Health and a Brighter, Healthier Future. Every step brings us closer!
REGISTER NOW and be part of this movement. We look forward to seeing you there!
Join Now: https://bit.ly/vsi-walkthon
Let's walk to achieve the goal of achieving an Amputation Free India and an Amputation Free World.
By Dr Neelamjingbha Sun, Assistant Professor, NEIGRHIMS, Shillong, Meghalaya
New Delhi (India), July 30: Raksha Bandhan, the festival celebrating the unique bond between brothers and sisters, is a time to show your love and appreciation. While tying a rakhi around your brother's wrist is a cherished tradition, giving a thoughtful gift to your sister is just as important. A well-chosen gift can express your affection and make your sister feel special. In this press release, we will guide you through finding the perfect Rakhi gifts for sister, ensuring she knows just how much she means to you.
The Importance of Giving Gifts to Your Sister
Gifts are a way to express your emotions and strengthen the bond with your sister. They are tokens of love, appreciation, and the special connection you share. Whether it's a small, heartfelt gift or an elaborate present, the thought and effort you put into selecting it make all the difference. A well-chosen gift can create lasting memories and show your sister how much you care.
Rakhi Gifts for Sister
Rakhi Gift Hampers for Sisters
Rakhi gift hampers are an excellent choice for sisters who enjoy a variety of treats. These hampers can be filled with sweets, chocolates, skincare products, or even gourmet snacks. They are a great way to spoil your sister with multiple surprises in one package. Some popular options include:
The Ultimate Pamper Hamper: A selection of skincare products, gourmet chocolates, and a stylish rakhi.
The Sweet Tooth Hamper: Packed with her favorite candies, chocolates, and a beautiful rakhi.
Personalized Gift Boxes
Personalized gift boxes add a special touch to your Rakhi gifts. Customizing items with your sister's name, initials, or a heartfelt message shows that you put extra thought into her present. These boxes can include personalized mugs, keychains, photo frames, and more.
Customized Memories Box : Features a personalized photo frame, a custom mug, and a lovely rakhi.
Engraved Keepsakes Box: Includes an engraved pen, a personalized notebook, and an elegant rakhi.
Gift Boxes for Kids
If your sister is still a child, there are plenty of Rakhi gift boxes tailored for younger girls. These boxes often contain toys, snacks, and fun activities to keep them entertained.
Adventure Kid Box: Filled with dolls, puzzles, and a princess-themed rakhi.
Creative Kid Box: Includes coloring books, crayons, and a colorful rakhi.
Unique Gifts for Sister
For sisters who have everything, finding a unique gift can be challenging but rewarding. Think outside the box with gifts that cater to her hobbies or interests.
Gadget Lovers Delight: A cool gadget like a Bluetooth speaker, along with a tech-themed rakhi.
Fitness Enthusiast Set: Gym accessories like a water bottle, resistance bands, and a sporty rakhi.
Choose Confetti Gifts to Make this Rakhi Memorable
Raksha Bandhan is a perfect occasion to show your sister how much she means to you. Selecting the right Rakhi gift can make this celebration even more memorable. Whether it's a thoughtfully curated gift hamper, a personalized box, or a unique item that reflects her personality, your gift will undoubtedly make her feel loved and appreciated. At Confetti Gifts, we offer the best gifts for sister on Rakhi, ensuring high quality and a touch of personalization. Explore our wide range of rakhi gift hampers for sisters, personalized gift boxes, and unique gifts for sister to find the perfect present that celebrates your special bond. Make this Raksha Bandhan unforgettable with Confetti Gifts.
Tata Motors (TML) will demerge its commercial vehicle business into a separate listed entity, with the shareholders of the company set to receive one share of the new Tata Motors CV business for every one share held in Tata Motors, under a composite scheme of arrangement approved by the board of directors on Thursday.
Tata Motors is the largest truck and bus maker in the country. Over the last few years, it has also emerged as the largest electric passenger vehicle company, while also strengthening its market share in the ICE (internal combustion engine) passenger vehicle space. To capitalise on their individual strengths and opportunities, the company's board had in March approved plans to demerge Tata Motors into two separate listed entities.
This would help them better capitalise on the opportunities in the market by enhancing their focus and agility, chairman N. Chandrasekaran had said. It would lead to a superior experience for customers, better growth prospects for its employees and enhanced value for shareholders, he had added.
As a part of the scheme, the truck and business business will now be demerged into a separate company, with TML shareholders getting an identical shareholding (1:1) in both the listed entities.
Once the scheme is effective, the two businesses will also be renamed, resulting in two separate listed entities. The passenger vehicle business, electric vehicle business, Jaguar Land Rover and their related investments will be under Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (TMPV) and the resulting company carrying on the CV business will be Tata Motors Limited.
"These actions would further empower the respective business groups to pursue their differentiated strategies with greater agility while reinforcing accountability and will enhance shareholder value," it said.
The scheme will not have any adverse impact on employees, customers, creditors and other business partners, TML added.
The company on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,566 crore, up 74 per cent from a year ago profit of Rs 3,203 crore. Revenue, on the other hand, was at Rs 1.08 lakh crore, compared with Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the year ago quarter.
Tata Motors has seen some slowdown in the domestic passenger vehicle business, with PV sales declining 1.1 per cent and EV volumes falling near 14 per cent.
According to Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Motors PV, retails had slowed in the first quarter due to intense heat waves across the country and the general elections and the company had proactively adjusted its wholesales in line with retails to keep channel inventories under control.
EV sales were impacted largely due to a "sharp" decline in fleet demand post the end of the Fame II subsidies, which had provided incentives for EV purchases. The fleet segment accounts for almost 20 per cent of EV volumes.
P. Balaji, the CFO of Tata Motors said some amount of moderation in PV sales was expected after two strong years. He is hopeful of PV sales rebounding through the rest of the year aided by new product launches and the festive season. Tata Motors will launch the much anticipated Curvv, its first coupe SUV next week. The EV version of the Curvv will be launched first, followed by the ICE (internal combustion engine) version.
Balaji also hoped the incentives for EVs would come back, which would help sales regrow.
Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2019 shows a Chinese white dolphin bursting through the surface in Sanniang bay in Qinzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zhao Yi/Xinhua)
NANNING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- In Qinzhou, an important port city connecting south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ASEAN countries, the port construction process had not been very smooth despite its favorable geographical location, only because of dolphins.
In 2005, the planning for Qinzhou Port was adjusted westward to move the port area further away from the habitat of the Chinese white dolphins, even though that significantly increased the cost of port construction.
Four years later, a new road was built that only served to separate the port's industrial zone and the conservation area of the dolphins. Besides, a project with an investment of 3.8 billion yuan (about 532.6 million U.S. dollars) near Sanniang Bay in Qinzhou was also halted to prioritize the conservation of the dolphins.
An endangered species under first-class national protection in China, the Chinese white dolphin was included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2008. Sanniang Bay, located along the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea, is dubbed the "hometown of Chinese white dolphins."
Pan Yue, a researcher at the Chinese white dolphin conservation center located at Sanniang Bay, was ready to drive a mini speedboat out to sea early before the sun rose above the sea horizon.
"The time before the sunrise and after the sunset is best for going out to sea to observe the Chinese white dolphins. We spent about 180 days a year on the sea for observation, so that we can accurately know the habits of the species," Pan said.
In 2004, a scientific research team from Peking University established the center for the conservation of Chinese white dolphins in the Sanniang Bay Village. The team's research findings indicate that the population of Chinese white dolphins living in Sanniang Bay sees new dolphin cubs every year, suggesting a high reproductive potential.
"There were only about 96 Chinese white dolphins in the area in 2004, but thankfully, the number has grown to nearly 300 now," Pan said, adding that the awareness of dolphin protection has also significantly increased among the locals.
Bryde's whales, another national first-class protected aquatic animal mainly living in tropical and subtropical waters, are now frequently spotted preying on fish in the waters near Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf.
Chen Mo, an associate researcher from the Guangxi Academy of Sciences, has been studying the species in the area since 2016.
"We identified only about 10 individuals in the population of Bryde's whales from 2016 to 2018. Now, the number has exceeded 60 and continues to grow," Chen said.
To maintain clean waters and preserve the island's ecological environment, the municipal government of Beihai City in Guangxi issued a regulation in July 2018, explicitly prohibiting the use of disposable food containers, non-degradable plastic bags, and plastic films on Weizhou Island.
"The Beibu Gulf boasts various endangered animals and plants and diverse marine ecosystems. Due to its natural conditions and less disturbance caused by coastal economic activities, the biodiversity in the region is being well-preserved," said Guan Jieyao, director of the laboratory of Guangxi Beibu Gulf marine biodiversity conservation under Beibu Gulf University.
Ning Yun, deputy director and chief engineer of Guangxi's department of ecology and environment, said that the marine ecological environment in Guangxi was continuously improving in 2023.
"We will continue to monitor the status of typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs, and further expand the survey of important marine indicator species such as Chinese white dolphins and Bryde's whales, and of fishery biodiversity," Ning said.
Mollywood actor Fahadh Faasil and his partner Nazriya Nazim made a contribution of Rs 25 lakh to Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the victims of landslides in Wayanad of Kerala.
As many as 288 people have been killed in the massive landslides that hit the district two days ago. The number is expected to go up as the rescue teams remove debris.
Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim join fellow actors Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan, Rashmika Mandanna, Vikram and Suriya in making contribution to the relief fund.
We write to you with a heavy heart for the people of Wayanad. The ongoing efforts of our government alongside volunteers, rescue teams and organizations involved in providing aid and support to the affected communities have been commendable. The dedication and resilience of our people have been truly inspiring and we feel compelled to extend our support during this challenging time, Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim wrote in a statement.
To aid in the relief and rehabilitation efforts, we are making a donation of Rs 25,00,000/- (Twenty- Five Lakhs Only) to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. We hope this modest contribution will help provide necessary assistance to those in dire need. Our thoughts and prayers are with our people as we navigate through this difficult period. Together, may we endure and overcome.
The contribution was made through the production company Fahadh Faasil And Friends.
The closing show of India Couture Week (ICW) 2024 was all about paying homage to Indias rich textile heritage and artisanal craftsmanship. Actors Rashmika Mandanna and Vicky Kaushal, dressed in shades of white with gold embellishments, made an enigmatic pair as they turned showstoppers for the Falguni & Shane Peacock show.
Celebrating Indian craftsmanship, models walked as a medley of Indian songs played in the background, including A.R. Rahmans Ye Jo Des Hai Tera.
The designer duo marked their 20-year anniversary with the grand finale of FDCI's Hyundai ICW 2024 in association with Reliance Brands with the unveiling of their latest collection 'Rang Mahal', along with a showcase of jewellery brand Tanishqs collection. The Rang Mahal collection was presented in collaboration with Swadesh, a brand that champions India's textile heritage and craftsmanship.
The collaboration has brought out a unique capsule displaying a range of sarees that feature textile-led crafts such as Kanjivaram silks, renowned for their luxurious texture and intricate motifs, woven with real gold and silver zari threads, along with a FSP monogram woven into the saree and dupatta borders. The capsule also includes Banarasi brocade lehengas and Chikankari, seamlessly combined with Falguni Shane Peacock's signature flourishes. This also marks the first time that the designers have worked with Indian weaves and textiles, celebrating indigenous weavers.
"Rang Mahal is more than just a collection; it is a homage to the artisans, the storytellers, and the custodians of our cultural legacy. Our collaboration with Swadesh brings forth the finest handwoven textiles, celebrating India's rich artisanal heritage. As each model graces the runway, they carry with them the spirit of India's past and the promise of its future, wrapped in the splendor of our cultural history, preserved and celebrated through fashion, says Falguni Shane Peacock.
The haute couture collection by FSP has been inspired by the regal and dreamy aspects of India's royal heritage. Rang Mahal or "Palace of Colours," draws from fifty iconic elements of India's rich history: grand palaces, lavish lifestyles, and exquisite craftsmanship. Luxurious silks, rich velvets, and intricate embroideries evoke the splendour of royal courts. Each piece is a tribute to the timeless elegance and sophistication of India's royal heritage, crafted by master artisans who carry the legacy of their ancestors. This collection celebrates the rich diversity and vivid hues defining our culture and tradition, drawing inspiration from India's majestic symbols: resplendent parrots and peacocks, serene swans, powerful horses and elephants, magnificent tigers, mystical palaces, traditional diyas, the melodious sitar, the sacred banyan tree and peepal leaf, expressive mudras, fragrant roses, the spiritual conch, revered cows, intricate paisleys and Kashmiri thread work, the unparalleled Taj Mahal, and sparkling diamonds.
In light of the Wayanad landslide that claimed over 250 lives, Popular movie actors Vikram and Rashmika Mandanna made donations to the Kerala Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF). Rashmika Mandanna made a contribution of Rs 10 lakh to the CMDRF while Tamil superstar Vikram contributed Rs 20 lakh.
"Pained by the sad news of the devastation caused by the recent landslide in Kerala's #Wayanad district that left over 150 people dead, 197 injured and several others missing, Actor @chiyaan today donated a sum of Rs 20 lakhs to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund," Vikram's publicist Yuvraaj said on X.
Pained by the sad news of the devastation caused by the recent landslide in Kerala's #Wayanad district that left over 150 people dead, 197 injured and several others missing, Actor @chiyaan today donated a sum of Rs 20 lakhs to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. pic.twitter.com/mxb7O7YSSN Yuvraaj (@proyuvraaj) July 31, 2024
Earlier, Tamil actors Suriya, Karthi and Jyothika had together made a contribution of Rs 50 lakhs. "#WayanadLandslide my thoughts and prayers with the families.. Heartbreaking..! Respects to all members of Government agencies and people on the field helping the families with rescue operations," Suriya had tweeted.
.#WayanadLandslide my thoughts and prayers with the families.. Heartbreaking..! Respects to all members of Government agencies and people on the field helping the families with rescue operations Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) July 31, 2024
Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains hit Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha hamlets of Wayanad in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 280 people, including women and children, so far.
Rahul, Priyanka visit Wayanad
Congress leader and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the landslide-affected area of Chooralmala on Thursday afternoon.
After reaching the spot amidst the rain, Gandhi and his sister left for the Community Health Centre in Meppadi, party sources said. From there, the two will then proceed to Dr Moopen's Medical College and two relief camps at Meppadi, they said. AICC general secretary and Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal is also accompanying them.
ALSO READ | 'Wayanad landslide a man-made disaster': BJP MP Tejasvi Surya
Rahul Gandhi, who won from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 general elections, had again won from here this year. However, as he also won from the Raebareli LS seat in Uttar Pradesh, he gave up the Wayanad constituency from where Priyanka is expected to contest when a by-election is held. Rahul and Priyanka landed at Kannur airport at 9.30 am and then travelled to Wayanad by road.
In a shocking incident in northern Bihar's Supaul district, a nursery boy shot a senior student with a handgun that he reportedly brought from school. A class 3 student aged 10 was shot in the arm and was rushed to the hospital.
The owner of the institution was arrested by the police following the incident, local media reports said.
According to Bihar Police, the nursery child brought the gun to school in the Lalpatti area hidden in his bag. The family of the injured kin said that they saw the gun's magazine on the scene where their son was shot. The family told the media that the school authorities informed them that the boy had suffered a small injury. It was when they arrived they understood that the child had suffered a bullet injury. The boy had targeted their son's chest region but hit his arm in the process, they reportedly alleged.
Later, the school was attacked by angry locals who vandalised the principal's office and several classrooms, LiveHindustan said in a report.
The Hindi media said the nursery student strayed into the victim and pulled the trigger. The boy and his father are absconding with the firearm, it added.
The police are in the process of finding out how the boy managed to bring the weapon to school. To avoid such situations in future, the police asked schools across Supaul to be vigilant about student backpacks. Parents should also keep an eye on their wards to avoid such situations, they added.
A Border Security Force (BSF) personnel fired at international intruders in West Bengal's Nadia district after she was assaulted on Wednesday. The constable was attacked by around 14 infiltrators before a second BSF jawan reached the spot.
According to a statement released by BSF, a woman constable on duty at the Indo-Bangla border noticed several people approaching the border fence in the Ranaghat area in the early hours of Wednesday. As they tried to enter India from the Bangladesh side, she rushed towards them and stood in their way. Armed with knives and swords, they tried to intimidate the constable as she issued them a verbal warning.
As the BSF constable remained unbudged, the intruders surrounded and attacked her. A second BSF jawan reached the spot and tried to disperse the infiltrators using a stun grenade. But they were unmoved by the explosion, forcing the woman officer to draw her weapon.
"...fellow jawan also reached the spot and threw a stun grenade towards the intruders, which failed to deter them. To stop illegal crossing and in self-defence, the constable fired one round towards the intruders," the BSF statement said.
The paramilitary force said it is likely that an attacker was attacked in the firing. Since it was before dawn, the group used the darkness for cover and scrammed back to the Bangladeshi side of the border.
In another development, an infiltration bid from the Pakistani side was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu and Kashmir late Wednesday when an intruder was shot dead, officials said on Thursday. The intrusion attempt happened along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. The vigilant BSF troops near the Khora post late Wednesday noticed the infiltrator trying to make it to the Indian side.
The intruder paid no heed to the warnings from BSF personnel and was subsequently fired upon, news agency PTI quoted the official statement as saying.
The tenuous peace in Manipur faces an imminent challenge from the protests being planned by the Kuki-Zo community against the purported move of the Centre to bring CRPF into the hill districts of Bishnupur-Churachandpur replacing two battalions of Assam Rifles for law and order duties.
The move is being seen by the Kuki-Zo community as a deliberate attempt to remove the Assam Rifles whom they feel has played a neutral role during the ethnic violence witnessed in Manipur in the last one year.
Intelligence reports suggest the Kuki-Zo groups are planning to protest during the transition phase when the CRPF moves in to replace the Assam Rifles. The process will take some time, security sources said.
On Thursday, a meeting was held at the group centre of CRPF in neighbouring Assam between representatives of the Assam Rifles and members of different communities who agreed to take measures to ensure peace is maintained during the transition period by ensuring there are no incidents of arson and firing and all stakeholders cooperate with security forces.
The security rejig in Manipur reflects a re-assessment of the role of central forces deployed in the tiny northeastern state like the Army, Assam Rifles, Manipur police and central paramilitary forces resulting in not only multiplicity of forces, but also confusion over the role of central forces.
The Assam Rifles, popularly known as Sentinels of the Northeast, has been a border guarding force along the Indo-Myanmar border deployed in counter insurgency operations and to assist in maintaining peace in the region. Its contribution in counter insurgency operations in Northeast has been significant as the region has witnessed a sharp decline in threats from insurgent groups over the years.
On the other hand, the CRPF is a central armed police force deployed in law and order duties to assist state governments in maintaining internal security in different parts of the country.
Security sources told THE WEEK that the expansion of duties of the CRPF in hill districts will be for law and order duties as the existing security challenges are predominantly an outcome of ethnic clashes last year, rather than an insurgency problem. There is a reassessment whether AR needs to remain deployed in active law and order duties within the state, said a state official. The message is two pronged. It reflects an attempt being made by the Centre to treat the simmering tensions in Manipur as a law and order problem. Rather, the CRPF personnel, coming from other locations, would also convey a message of neutrality, said the official.
But it is an uphill task. There is simmering suspicion as some of the Kuki-Zo groups, especially women groups in the Hill districts, who are planning to stage protest, believe that the CRPF does not have the local knowledge and expertise to handle the sensitivities of the people in the districts. A press statement issued by Zomi Mothers Association, Kuki Women Union, MPC Womens Wing and others urged the Centre to reconsider its decision in the interest of peace and stability in Churachandpur.
The statement said, If the government remains adamant in its decision to remove nine Assam Rifles Battalions from their present place of posting, we want to make it unequivocally clear that the Civil Society Organisations and the people of Churachandpur will not remain mute spectators.
We are prepared to mobilise and undertake all necessary measures to ensure that our voices are heard and that justice prevails, it said.
The security brass is watching the developments closely and is on its feet to prevent a law and order fallout that can disrupt peace in the state once again. Almost a dozen Assam Rifles battalions have been deployed in Manipur over the years, said a senior security official, and it is the prerogative of the union home ministry to revise the deployment of forces as per requirements and threat assessments across the country.
Sources said the Union home ministry is toying with the idea of deploying more boots on ground in Jammu where security challenges are mounting during the ongoing counter terror operations.
The process of CRPF deployment may take weeks or months, but the lessons of the past one year has shown the need to overcome a trust deficit in Manipur. Whether it is the CRPF or the Assam Rifles, the challenge for the home ministry in coming days will be to maintain peace as it makes a fresh attempt to revise the role of central forces deployed in the complex security landscape of Manipur.
The ministry of home affairs has increased the amount of money that the director generals of paramilitary forces and other intelligence agencies can offer to informers and interpreters in operational areas.
The revised order from the ministry is applicable to director generals of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Assam Riffles, the National Security Guards (NSG), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the National Police Academy (NPA).
The limit, which was Rs. 50 at a time and Rs 500 annually, has been hiked to Rs. 3,000 at a time per person. The overall amount has been increased to Rs 30,000 per annum.
Besides, the government has also revised the fund for the maintenance of Pakistan and Bangladesh nationals. The amount has been hiked from Rs. 15 per head per day to 51.43 per head per day, according to an ANI report. This amount includes money for three mealsbreakfast, lunch and dinner.
There has also been an increase in the amount to be spent on visitors from India or abroad who have been contacted by security agencies for discussions on important matters. The amount has been Rs 2,000 to Rs. 50,000 per annum.
Another infiltration bid from the Pakistani side was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF) in Jammu and Kashmir late Wednesday when an intruder was shot dead, officials said on Thursday.
The intrusion attempt happened along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. The vigilant BSF troops near the Khora post late Wednesday noticed the infiltrator trying to make it to the Indian side.
The intruder paid no heed to the warnings from BSF personnel and was subsequently fired upon, news agency PTI quoted the official statement as saying.
Senior BSF and police officials have reached the area of incident and efforts are on to retrieve the body.
A Delhi court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail petition of former trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar whose candidature was cancelled following allegations of 'misrepresenting information' and misuse of power.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala directed the Delhi Police to investigate if Khedkar had got any help from anyone inside the Union Public Service Commission and if any other person had availed of benefits under OBC and PwD quotas without entitlement.
During the hearing, the prosecution as well as the counsel appearing for the UPSC opposed Khedkars application, saying that she has "cheated the system".
"This person has abused the law and process of law. The chances of her abusing the law is still there. She is a resourceful person," the UPSCs counsel told the court.
The UPSC on Wednesday cancelled the provisional candidature of Khedkar and also debarred her from all future examinations or selections for fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the examination rules by faking her identity.
"The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules," the commission had said.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch has booked Pooja for misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam.
A case under section 420 (cheating), 464 (making a document in the name of a fictitious person), 465 (forgery) and 471 (passing off a forged document as genuine) of IPC and under sections 89 and 91 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and 66D of the Information Technology Act has been registered against Khedkar.
The Pune Police has already launched an investigation against Khedkar over the alleged unauthorised use of a red-blue beacon light and 'Maharashtra Government' sticker on her private Audi car.
With rescue operations in the aftermath of Wayanad landslides resuming for the third day, search is on for 240 people who were reported missing. Six more deaths were reported on Thursday morning, taking the toll to 276 while over 200 were wounded.
At least 8,302 people were accommodated across 82 relief camps. Autopsy was completed on 167 bodies. Of these, 96 were identified including 77 men, 67 women and 22 children, according to district authorities.
The Army is setting up bailey bridges brought from Bengaluru and Delhi amid adverse weather conditions in the region. A Command and Control Centre has been set up in Kozhikode under the supervision of Maj Gen VT Mathew, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area, along with Brig Arjun Segan to coordinate Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts.
Nine districts were issued yellow alert and holidays were declared for schools in 10 districts. IMD expects the rain to lose intensity in central and northern Kerala on Thursday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will chair an all-party meeting during the day. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will visit Wayanad on Thursday after postponing it due to adverse weather conditions on Wednesday.
YANGON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar police have seized 13,500 kg of controlled chemicals sodium cyanide in Shan state of eastern Myanmar, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, the country's anti-narcotics police raided a house in Nawnghkio township of Shan state on Monday and confiscated the chemicals stored in iron barrels that were buried in the yard.
The seized drugs had a street value of 81 million kyats (about 38,571 U.S. dollars), the CCDAC said.
Two suspects involved in the case have been charged under the related law and further investigation is underway, it said.
Rescue operations in Wayanad has entered third day and till Wednesday, 1,000 persons including children have been rescued from landslide-affected areas by joint forces. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has reached Wayanad and he would review the rescue operations. He has also convened an all-party meeting to discuss rescue and relief measures.
Revenue Minister K. Rajan said it is a crucial day for rescue operations and social workers have been deployed along with the armed forces for it. Over 1,600 personnel including social workers have been deployed for rescue operations. Chief minister will be visiting the affected areas later today.
A review meeting of rescue operations has begun at Wayanad district collectorate. Chief Secretary K. Venu and State Police Chief Shaikh Darvesh Sahib are also accompanying the chief minister.
#WATCH | Wayanad Landslide | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan travelling to Wayanad from Kozhikode. The chief secretary Dr V Venu and DGP, Shaik Darvesh Sahib are accompanying him
(Source - CMO) pic.twitter.com/WKsuzK6eYc ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2024
The Army said the construction of bailey bridge would be completed by Thursday afternoon and heavy equipment could be moved for rescue operation after that. Indian Army Brigadier Arjun Segan, Commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre told ANI, A metallic footbridge was built overnight and we hope the construction of bailey bridge could be completed by afternoon. He added the bridge is of 24 ton category and construction work were progressing overnight. Heavy rescue equipment like excavators could be moved for rescue operations on completion of the bridge, officials said.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are en route to Wayanad and have landed at kannur Airport. The leaders will be visiting relief camps and meeting victims. Over 8,000 persons are sheltered in over 80 relief camps across the district.
Scores of still feared trapped under the debris as two major landslides triggered by torrential rains left a trail of destruction in Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala and Noolpuzha villages in the wee hours of Tuesday. According to official sources, around 200 houses were completely damaged in the landslides.
After Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's death in Tehran, Iran gears for a 'direct' retaliation attack against Israel. Top Iranian officials are set to meet the representatives of Iran's regional allies from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday to discuss the strategies.
With Haniyeh's 'assassination' on Wednesday, the prospects of a regional war are looming and experts believe that it has already led to instability in the Middle East. The killing of Hezbollah's senior commander on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike has also widened the conflict between Israel, Iran and its proxies.
"Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the meeting in Tehran to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against the Zionist regime (Israel)," a senior Iranian official was quoted by Reuters.
ALSO READ | Could Ismail Haniyeh's death spark a regional war?
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are set to attend the meeting.
Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of carrying out the airstrike that killed Haniyeh in Tehran. However, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar, speaking at a military graduation ceremony in Israel late on Wednesday, warned Israel will act against anyone planning to harm its citizens."We are also strongly prepared in defence. Hundreds of aerial defence soldiers, along with air control personnel, are stationed across the country with the best systems, ready to carry out their mission," said Bar.
After its leader's death, Hamas' armed wing warned of serious repercussions. However, after nearly 10 months of the Gaza war, it has little capacity to damage Tel Aviv.
As fears of mounting escalation, Iran's acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri spoke with regional counterparts to discuss the concerns.
Kani spoke separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi.
Also, after the elimination of two key targets, Israel on Thursday confirmed the death of Hamas leader Mohammed Deif in the July 13 strike on Khan Younis. However, Hamas has not confirmed the death.
A member of the Hamas political bureau Izzat Al Rishq said that confirming or denying the martyrdom of any of the Qassam leaders is the responsibility of the Qassam Brigades leadership and the movement leadership.
Unless either of them announces it, no news published in the media or by any other parties can be confirmed, Al Rishq added.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday was assassinated by an explosive device that had been covertly 'smuggled' into the Tehran guesthouse, said a New York Times report.
The report quoting Middle Eastern officials said that the bomb had been hidden about two months ago in the guesthouse, where Haniyeh was known to be staying. Haniyeh was staying at the guesthouse which was under the security blanket of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Sources familiar with the matter said the device was remotely detonated once Haniyeh was inside the room. The explosion had caused partial collapse of the exterior wall, shattered some windows and shook the building.
Hamas and Iran accused Israel behind Haniyeh's assassination. However, Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for the presidential inauguration. It was not the first time Haniyeh was staying at the guesthouse in northern Tehran. He had stayed there several times while visiting Tehran.
The report also said that the Israeli intelligence officials briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation after the strike.
On Wednesday, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US had received no advance knowledge of the assassination plot.
With the new details of Haniyehs assassination, questions are being raised on Irans huge security lapse. Officials are yet to ascertain how the explosives were planted inside the guesthouse.
According to Middle Eastern officials, the planning and execution of the act took months.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad staying next door was however unhurt. His room was not badly damaged as well.
After Haniyehs assassination, Iran has vowed a retaliation attack against Israel. Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it was Irans duty to strike back.
"Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the meeting in Tehran to find the best and most effective way to retaliate against the Zionist regime (Israel)," a senior Iranian official was quoted by Reuters.
The Indian embassy in Beirut has issued an advisory, warning citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon as tensions simmer in the Middle East over recent killings of Hamas chief and Hezbollah's top commander.
The embassy has also asked citizen in Lebanon to restrict their travel and to keep in touch with it via email or phone number. All Indian nationals in Lebanon are advised to exercise caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with Embassy of India in Beirut through their email id: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +96176860128, the advisory read.
ALSO READ: Who was Ismail Haniyeh? Hamas confirms its chief killed in 'Zionist raid' in Tehran
The IDF had claimed that Fuad Shukr, a top military commander of Hezbollah, was killed in an airstrike on an eight-storey apartment building in Beirut on Tuesday. Shukr had Bashar al-Assad's troops fight Syrian rebels during the civil war in the war-torn country and was wanted by the US for his alleged involvement in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.
ALSO READ: Who was Fuad Shukr? Israel's IDF says Hezbollah top commander killed in Beirut airstrike
Meanwhile, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed along with his bodyguard in the Iranian capital on Tuesday after Israel allegedly targeted a building. He was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei has ordered direct strike on Israel after the killings. Countries like the US, the UK and Australia have issued similar advisories to their citizens.
The targeted killing of Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on the early morning of July 30, purportedly by Israel has put the West Asian conflict into a deadly spiral.
Aside from a successfully intercepted drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13, Iran had thus far avoided a direct all-out war with Israel.
On Wednesday, Irans all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei minced no words that a direct Iranian offensive was on the way.
Khamenei said: The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.
We consider it our duty to avenge his blood in this bitter and horrific incident that came to pass in the Islamic Republic's territory."
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) too put out a statement vowing that the Axis of Resistance and especially Iran will hit back, indicating an impending direct attack by Iran.
Symbolic of deadly intent, Iran raised the red flag of Imam Hossein over the Jamkaran Mosque in Qoman act that followed after the April 1 assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020, near the Baghdad International Airport. Soleimani headed the al-Quds Force, the most elite unit of the IRGC.
Haniyeh, along with many global leaders, including senior Indian minister Nitin Gadkari, were in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Irans new president Masoud Pezeshkian.
The killing also puts into light the extent to which Israeli intelligence and security forces have penetrated into Iran.
The 62-year-old Hamas leader, who assumed the leadership role in the organization in 2017, was staying in accommodation facilitated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in north Tehran.
Although three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in April, Haniyeh had been among the main voices in supporting a peace plan. His death will strengthen the military leadership of the organisation led by militaristic leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.
Already under a lot of domestic pressure, an all-out war would also help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to uplift his political fortunes as his tenure is expected to continue only till the tenure of the war. Corruption charges, anger over Israels failure to stop last years October 7 attack by Hamas in Gaza, continue to plague him.
There is seething anger against Netanyahu also because of his inept handling of the hostage crisis. Many Israeli hostages have died in Israeli bombings and friendly fire ordered by the PM.
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a key figure in cease-fire negotiations with Israel, was assassinated in Tehran on July 31. He was in Iran for the inauguration of the new president and was killed shortly after meeting with Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Haniyeh, 62, was in Iran on a diplomatic visa and was staying at a guesthouse run by the Revolutionary Guards. Reports indicate that he was killed by a missile at around 2am Tehran time, along with his bodyguard.
Both Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of orchestrating the assassination, but Israel has not yet responded to these allegations.
Haniyeh, a long-time head of Hamass politburo, was a key figure in the group's diplomatic efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict. As a moderate and centrist within Hamas, he played a pivotal role in the groups development, including overseeing its takeover of Gaza in 2006 and managing the administration of the territory.
Born in 1962 in the Shati refugee camp north of Gaza City, Haniyeh came from a family displaced from what is now Ashkelon in Israel. He was a founding member of Hamas when the group was established in 1988. Haniyeh played a significant role during the first Intifada, which led to his expulsion to southern Lebanon, then under Israeli occupation. In 2006, he became the senior-most Hamas leader in Gaza, the same year the group won parliamentary elections against the Fatah faction, and he briefly served as prime minister. After Israels withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's subsequent control of the territory, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh as prime minister due to the Wests refusal to engage with Hamas.
In 2017, Haniyeh was appointed head of Hamass political bureau. The following year, the US state department designated him a terrorist. In 2019, Haniyeh moved to Doha, where he led Hamas's international diplomatic efforts. He was succeeded in Gaza by Yahya Sinwar, who is known as one of the key architects of the October 7 attacks on Israel. Recent Israeli strikes had inflicted significant personal losses on Haniyeh, including the deaths of three of his sons and several grandchildren in April, and his sister and her family in June.
Just hours before Haniyeh's assassination, Israeli fighter jets conducted an operation in Beiruts southern suburbs, killing Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah leader. The two assassinations have rapidly altered the political and security landscape of the Middle East, especially as Israel and Hamas seemed close to reaching a ceasefire after nearly 10 months of intense conflict that has caused tens of thousands of casualties.
The timing of the two assassinations suggests that they might be part of Israel's response to a recent Hezbollah rocket attack on the Golan Heights that resulted in the deaths of 12 Israelis, including children. Alternatively, it could indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may not be fully committed to ending the conflict and could be aiming to prolong it until after the US presidential elections, possibly hoping for a more favourable settlement under a potential Trump administration.
Reports from Israeli newspapers a few weeks ago suggested that Netanyahu was attempting to undermine the peace process by leaking sensitive information about ceasefire proposals, further hinting at a strategy to derail the negotiations.
Following the attacks on Haniyeh and the Hezbollah leader, there are significant concerns about how Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah will respond. The primary worry is Irans reaction to the attack on its soil and whether it could lead to a broader regional conflict. Earlier this year, Iran and Israel targeted each other's territories, after an escalation caused by Israels assassination of two Iranian generals by a bomb attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Given the nature of Haniyehs assassination and the loss of face for the Iranian security apparatus, a retaliatory response from Iran seems likely.
According to Iranian officials, Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel at an emergency meeting of Irans Supreme National Security Council. He has framed avenging Haniyehs death as a duty since the it occurred on Iranian soil. Khamenei has also directed the Revolutionary Guards and the military to be ready in the face of its likely escalation and retaliation from Israel or the United States.
Hamas is expected to swiftly appoint a new leader for its political wing to replace Haniyeh. The group is likely to continue its operations and maintain its organisational structure, as it has several leaders capable of stepping into the role. However, Haniyeh's death could shift Hamas further to the right, leading to more hardline positions. This loss may also hinder Hamas's ability to pursue ceasefire negotiations effectively. The Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, has described the assassination as a significant and potentially dangerous event with broader regional implications, suggesting that Israel has made a strategic miscalculation.
Israel had the capability to kill Haniyeh in Doha, where he lived. It could have done so in Turkey, a country he visited frequently. But it chose to do so in Iran, and that, too, a day after the new president was inaugurated. Since 2019, Haniyeh had visited Iran more than 15 times, but he was never targeted. The attack now is clearly a message, intended to humiliate Iran. In that sense, it conveys the impression that Netanyahu, in fact, wants a wider regional conflict, and he does not want the ongoing war to end. It seems his political survival and his ability to stay out of prison depends on keeping Israel in a prolonged state of war.
Netanyahu has also made it difficult for Iran and the US to start negotiations, during the final days of the Biden presidency. Biden had indicated that one of his priorities in his remaining days as president is to find a lasting solution to the Gaza crisis. The new Iranian president is a reformer, he campaigned on talking to the US, but Haniyeh's assassination makes it virtually impossible for the two sides to move forward.
Except for Netanyahu, it appears to be a loss-loss situation for everyone with a stake in Middle East peace.
The US has announced that it has entered into a pretrial deal with the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti-Pakistani engineer, and two other co-accused in the 2001 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The agreement reached after 27 months of negotiations takes the death sentence off the table for Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi, prosecutors said in a letter sent to the families of 9/11 victims and survivors shortly before the Department of Defense announced the news in a press release Wednesday.
Mohammed and his co-defendants, who have spent almost two decades in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will enter guilty pleas at a plea hearing that could come as early as next week, according to the letter obtained by CNN.
The settlement agreements with the Pentagon bring partial closure to a case that has dragged on for years and become mired in legal delays over whether the evidence extracted through torture during their interrogations was admissible in court.
On September 11, 2001, two hijacked passenger planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane struck the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth plane, heading to Washington, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back with the hijackers.
Many family members of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks want the 9/11 defendants put to death. Since a trial became increasingly unlikely, plea bargains were widely viewed as the only way to resolve the case, the US media reported.
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case, the US Department of Defence said in a press release.
"The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time," it said.
The three accused, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were initially charged jointly and arraigned on June 5, 2008, and then were again charged jointly and arraigned a second time on May 5, 2012, in connection with their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, the release said.
The letter says that the families now have 45 days to submit questions to be answered by the alleged co-conspirators by the end of the year.
Before his birth, Mohammed's parents immigrated to Kuwait from Pakistan's Balochistan province. Mohammed, a US-educated engineer, was captured on March 1, 2003, in Pakistan and held with other Al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Prosecutors argued that he came up with the idea of hijacking and flying planes into US buildings to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, and later helped recruit and train some of the hijackers.
Meanwhile, an official with Amnesty International USA called the pre-trial agreement "welcome news" that will prompt some accountability for the 9/11 attacks and justice for its victims and survivors.
"We are also pleased that there is finally an outcome for at least some of the accused, who were tortured and then languished in detention without trial for more than two decades," Daphne Eviatar, director of the group's Security with Human Rights programme, said on Wednesday.
Eviatar said the announcement should mark the "beginning of the end" for the military prison.
The Biden administration has sought to close Guantanamo prison facility quietly. By last year, the number of people held at the facility was 30, down from the nearly 800 who were there at its peak, NBC News reported.
Widespread unrest and protests erupted in several regions of the United Kingdom after the tragic death of three young girls in Southport. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday called a meeting of the police chiefs and took stock of the situation.
Over 100 people were arrested on Wednesday for offences including violent disorder, assaulting police officers and breach of protest conditions. It is believed that the protests erupted after social media misinformation claiming the male suspect behind the stabbing was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived illegally in the country on a boat.
The 17-year-old suspect arrested in connection with the incident was charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a knife.
ALSO READ: UK: Man goes on stabbing spree, injures eight including children in Southport
Violent protests took place outside Downing Street in London. Protests also erupted in Southport, Hartlepool, north-east England, Aldershot and south-east England.
We could hear the protesters chanting stop the boats, and save our kids. The protests were clearly driven by circulating misinformation, said a police officer.
Met Police Superintendent Neil Holyoak said they were speaking to the protest organisers as well as local community groups, businesses and religious leaders, in particular the Muslim community who have been impacted by the protest.
Police equipped with riot gear were deployed on the streets. Flares were thrown towards the gates of Downing Streets. Protesters also threw cans and glass bottles at the police, they also kicked down a fence. Police had to use force to disperse the crowd.
Arrests were made from Hartlepool and Aldershot.
Regarding the arrest of the suspect, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said, "Whilst these charges are a significant milestone within this investigation, this remains very much a live investigation and we continue to work with our partners from Lancashire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW).
Three children six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar died after the suspect went on a stabbing spree at The Hart Space community centre.
The kids had come to participate in the "Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop" aimed at primary school children. Eight other children were injured in the stabbing incident. The condition of five children remains critical. Two adults, including one of the organisers of the event, also suffered critical injuries.
On July 30, Paul Dans, head of the Heritage Foundation's ultraconservative Project 2025, resigned from his position. Dans, who led the movement to draft the blueprint for a second Donald Trump presidency, stepped down amid mounting criticism about the project, including some from the former president himself.
Dans, who served as senior adviser in the first Trump's administration, played a key role in outlining ambitious conservative plans for a potential Republican return to the White House. However, in recent months, Trump has realised that the project was hurting him electorally and has repeatedly criticised it, dismissing some of its proposals as absolutely ridiculous and abysmal and distancing himself from the initiative. Chris LaCivita, a top Trump adviser, called it as a pain in the a*s for the Trump campaign.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, confirmed Dans's resignation. He said Dans was also leaving the Foundation and he wanted to concentrate on Trump's re-election efforts. The Trump campaign, however, issued a statement, saying that the resignation should serve as a warning to those trying to associate themselves with Trump without authorisation and also expressed satisfaction about the project's demise. There are, however, multiple reports that Project 2025 is not being shut down, and what has happened was only a reshuffle of resources.
Project 2025, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundationa think tank known for shaping personnel and policies for Republican administrations since the Reagan erawas launched before Trump officially entered the 2024 race. It is aimed at preparing a detailed plan for the first 180 days of a new Trump administration, especially aligning every federal agency with its conservative agenda. In addition, it plans to recruit and train thousands of individuals loyal to the conservative movement for federal government positions. The project clearly has the potential to significantly impact daily life for millions of Americans.
Despite the Trump campaign distancing itself from the project, the fact that its 900-page report has been crafted by some of Trump's close allies cannot be overlooked. The report proposes a significant expansion of presidential power and a reduction in the independence of federal agencies. American media outlets have identified nearly 250 individuals linked to Trump working on the project. Among them are six former cabinet members, four individuals whom Trump nominated as ambassadors and several proponents of his controversial immigration policies.
Notable contributors include former housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson, former acting defence secretary Chris Miller, deputy White House chief of staff Rick Dearborn, former OMB (office of management and budget) director Russ Vought and senior homeland security official Ken Cuccinelli. Former White House personnel director John McEntee, known for purging officials perceived to be disloyal to Trump, played a key role in gathering staff recommendations for the project.
The American Accountability Foundation, one of the organisations that advised Project 2025, has compiled a list of federal employees it believes could obstruct Trumps plans for a second term. The Heritage Foundation paid it $100,000 for its services.
Project 2025 supports increasing the number of political appointees aligned with the president within the executive branch, with a plan to replace many of the serving nonpartisan career civil servants, whom Trump calls the deep state. While critics argue that this could lead to abuse of power and political favouritism, Trump supports these proposals and is expected to implement them if given the opportunity. It also calls for an executive order that would appoint political figures to any confidential, policy-determining, policymaking, or policy-advocating positionsa strategy Trump employed at the end of his presidency, which President Joe Biden subsequently overturned.
The project calls for a downsized federal government, which can be achieved by by disbanding federal agencies, such as the department of educationan idea previously supported by Trumpand the department of homeland security. It also recommends privatising agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and ensuring absolute presidential control over the executive branch. The project's opening section says that a modern conservative presidents role is to limit, control and direct the executive branch on behalf of the American people.
The project wants the department of health and human services to adopt a biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family. It plans to criminalise pornography, reject abortion as a form of health care and dismantle climate protections. It looks at imposing caps on the federal funding that states can receive for Medicaid expenses and introducing additional eligibility requirements for the plan, hurting the poor and the needy. It also recommends restricting food stamps and similar social welfare programmes.
On abortion, although Project 2025 does not explicitly call for a total ban, it proposes several measures to significantly restrict access to the procedure. These include directing the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the drug mifepristone, using the Comstock Act to prevent abortion equipment or medication by postan approach activists criticise as a backdoor method to restrict abortionprohibiting federal funds from being used for abortion-related health care coverage, requiring states to report all abortions to the federal government and prohibiting funding for patients travelling across state lines for reproductive health care.
On climate change, the project proposes cutting federal funding for research and investment in renewable energy and asking the next president to "stop the war on oil and natural gas. It aims to repeal preventive climate change measures and replace carbon-reduction goals with increased fossil fuel energy production and a focus on "energy security.
The project supports a two-tier individual tax system with rates of 15 per cent and 30 per cent, wants to bring down the corporate income tax rate and lower tax rates for high-income investors.
On immigration, the project looks at a major overhaul, including the immediate deportation of unaccompanied children, increased funding for the southern border wall and fees for asylum seekers. It also suggests pausing funding for NGOs aiding immigration. Additionally, it wants to replace the current employment visa process, family-based chain migration and lottery systems with a merit-based system designed to grant visas only to the most qualified individuals.
The project plans to block federal financial aid for up to two-thirds of American college students if their state allows certain immigrant groups, including Dreamers (children who were brought to the US without documentation) with legal status, to access in-state tuition. It also aims to terminate the legal status of five lakh Dreamers by cutting staff for processing renewal applications and using backlog numbers to automatically suspend application intake for large categories of legal immigration. Furthermore, it proposes suspending updates to the annual eligible country lists for H-2A and H-2B temporary worker visas, which would exclude most immigrants from working in agriculture, construction, hospitality and forestry sectors. Even more alarmingly, Project 2025 wants the new administration use its existing authority to aggressively suspend the issuance of all visas for citizens of countries deemed recalcitrant in accepting deported nationals. As of June 2020, 13 countries, including China and India, are classified as recalcitrant.
No wonder, Democrats see a political opening by associating Project 2025 with Trump, repeatedly warning that it represents his extreme agenda for a potential second term. While Trump has been trying to distance himself from the project, his vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is seen closely linked with Heritage Foundation's Roberts. He recently wrote the forward to a book by Roberts, which calls for a second American revolution. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon, wrote Vance.
In a series of news releases, social media posts and television ads, the Democrats are painting the ideas from Project 2025 as an authoritarian MAGA blueprint. The Harris campaign said Trump was mistaken if he thought that he could distance himself from the initiative. It said the policies proposed by the group were likely to be "inflicted" on the country if Trump were to take office again.
Project 2025 is on the ballot because Donald Trump is on the ballot. This is his agenda, written by his allies, to inflict on our country, said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, campaign manager for Harris. Hiding the 920-page blueprint from the American people does not make it less realin fact, it should make voters more concerned about what else Trump and his allies are hiding.
Kolkata, Aug 1 (PTI) Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the crisis gripping the jute sector, which is affecting lakhs of farmers, mill workers and other stakeholders.
In a letter to the PM, Ray highlighted the plummeting raw jute prices, which have fallen below the Minimum Support Price (MSP), causing financial distress to farmers.
He claimed that inadequate government procurement of B Twill bags (a type of sack), non-compliance by the sugar industry with mandatory jute packaging norms and the apathy of the Ministry of Textiles are reasons for the crisis in the sector.
Ray urged Modi to intervene in those issues to save various stakeholders of the jute sector.
An estimated 4 crore farmers and 3.5 lakh jute mill workers in the country, mostly in West Bengal, are dependent on the industry.
The Rajya Sabha MP stressed the need for timely intervention which, he said, is crucial to stabilise the market, secure livelihoods and maintain the operational capacity of jute mills.
In his letter written on Wednesday, Ray warned that the welfare of thousands of jute mill workers and farmers, as well as the integrity and stability of the jute industry, depends on the PM's prompt action.
The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) has also highlighted several pressing issues at the 32nd Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"The jute industry is operating at 55 per cent capacity, affecting over 50,000 workers. The demand for jute bags is projected to drop to 30 lakh bales for 2024-25," IJMA Deputy Chairman Rishav Kajaria said.
GAZA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Two journalists were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their vehicle in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said on Wednesday.
The attack targeted the vehicle carrying Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, said the sources who require anonymity.
Al-Ghoul worked as an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza City, while al-Rifi had worked as a cameraman with him for several months during the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, according to the sources.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army on the attack.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the "crime" committed by the Israeli army against a group of journalists who were fulfilling their professional duties by covering events in the Shati camp.
The syndicate said in a press release that the "new crime" of killing al-Ghoul and al-Rifi represented a blatant violation of international laws and norms that guarantee the protection and freedom of journalists.
The statement held the Israeli army "fully responsible for this crime, which is part of a context of escalating assassination operations and a systematic policy to suppress the truth and silence the Palestinian voice."
It called on the international community and the International Federation of Journalists to condemn the "crime," protect Palestinian journalists, and conduct an independent investigation to hold those responsible accountable.
The deaths of al-Ghoul and al-Rifi bring the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, to 165, according to the Hamas-run Media Office.
Lucknow, Aug 1 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that the state has achieved a revenue surplus status and is now capable of meeting most of its requirements independently.
Speaking during the Assembly's monsoon session about the supplementary budget, he said, To support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of a 5 trillion dollar economy and to establish the state as a one trillion dollar economy, we have introduced a supplementary budget of over Rs 12,000 crore."
He said that 44 per cent of the funds from the original budget for the 2024-25 financial year have been released, with 20 per cent already utilized and added that now the size of the basic budget for the 2024-25 financial year has now reached Rs 7.5 lakh crore, which is double the size of the 2015-16 budget.
On the need of a supplementary budget, he said that the scope of the state budget has been expanded to meet the growing needs of the state.
After passing the original budget in February, its implementation began immediately with the start of the financial year in April. The original budget for 2024-25 was Rs 7.36 lakh crore and despite the onset of general elections shortly after the financial year began, 44 per cent of the budget has been released for various departments, and over 20 per cent has already been spent.
He said, This supplementary budget will boost investment in Uttar Pradesh. Today, both the GDP and per capita income of the state have more than doubled. When we came to power, our economy was ranked sixth or seventh in the country, and the state was facing an identity crisis. However, that perception has changed, and today UP has become the second-largest economy in the country.
The Chief Minister stated that Uttar Pradesh has successfully increased its share in the National GDP. Previously, the states share was 6-7 per cent, but it has now risen to 9-10 per cent. He highlighted that UP is now among the states that have established themselves as revenue surplus through effective resource mobilization, enabling the state to meet most of its requirements internally.
He said strict measures were implemented to combat tax evasion. He pointed out that in 2017, UPs Credit Deposit (CD) ratio was 44 per cent, but it has now increased to 60 per cent, indicating a rise in employment opportunities.
The supplementary budget includes funding for the Ganga Expressway to complete its main carriageway by December 2024, ahead of the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh in 2025. This project aims to provide a seamless connection between Western and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Work is also progressing on the Chitrakoot Link Expressway, Gorakhpur Link Expressway, and Ballia Link Expressway. A new expressway is also being planned to connect the Agra-Lucknow Expressway with Shahjahanpur and Farrukhabad.
The government is also working to connect the Purvanchal Expressway with the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and enhance interstate connectivity by upgrading to four-lane roads, making Uttar Pradesh more accessible to visitors.
Preparations are underway for the India-Nepal Friendship Gate on the Nepal border, symbolizing a warm welcome to visitors in cooperation with neighbouring states, he said.
He said plans are afoot to establish the BIDA (Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority) in Bundelkhand, with construction underway on 36,000 acres of land. This initiative aims to create a new industrial city akin to Noida, revitalizing the Bundelkhand region after 46 years.
The state has also launched the Rapid Rail service between Delhi and Meerut, significantly reducing travel time from three and a half to four hours to 40 to 45 minutes, thanks to a 12-lane expressway and the new rail service, he said.
Earlier, speaking on the budget, Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey said that the Supplementary budget is brought only when there is extreme need.
"The original budget was passed in February itself and a large part of it is yet to be spent and even in those subjects for which we have brought the full budget, a huge amount of budget is still left.
While making the budget, the finance minister has a big responsibility to consider the possibilities of the entire state and then prepare the budget but at the time when the budget was being made, I think you did not consider the need for supplementary items," he said.
"Within six months, you got the idea for something and for which you have brought the supplementary budget. then I think this way is also a kind of financial irregularity. The government had passed its budget in February and the financial approvals that you have issued have also not been completed," he said.
"Today, there is a practice that wherever the Chief Minister or any minister goes, they make an announcement there. When the announcement is made, it has to be fulfilled. There is no provision for it in the budget, so you have to make arrangements for it in the supplementary budget," he said.
Parliamentary Affairs minister, Suresh Kumar Khanna replying to him said that there is a provision of supplementary budget and there is no irregularity in this.
Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona and other party leaders also briefly shared their views on the budget. Later, it was passed with a voice vote in the assembly and it was adjourned sine die.
Jaipur, Aug 1 (PTI) The 16th Finance Commission in its report will consider the freebie schemes run by the states and the Centre meant to provide individual benefits as these have a deep impact on finances, Chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Thursday.
He said that in this view the commission also has to see that macroeconomic and financial stability is maintained in the country so it will consider the issue in its report.
"The schemes that provide individual benefits that are given by the state and perhaps by the Centre also, have a deep impact on the finances.
"Keeping it in view the commission also has to see that macroeconomic and financial stability is maintained in the country. This comes within our mandate," Panagariya told reporters here.
He further said, "So, the Finance Commission will definitely consider it. Whether we will be able to say something on it or not and what we will say, it will take time. It may take six-seven months."
After the formation of the 16th Finance Commission in the country, the commission is assessing the financial condition of the states. After holding discussions with the states and the central government, the commission will give its recommendations.
Earlier, the Commission members held talks Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, Deputy CM Premchand Bairwa along with other officials of the state government.
After the meeting, Panagariya said, "The state government has demanded 50 per cent share in taxes from the Centre instead of present 41 per cent share."
He said that the government also demanded a change in the standards of sharing between the states in view of the state's geography, area and special circumstances.
The Chairman said that in a presentation it was highlighted that Rajasthan is the largest state in the country in terms of area and two-thirds area of the state is desert. Around 21 per cent of the country's wasteland is in Rajasthan and there is about 1071 km of international border here.
The state government said that due to low population density in the state, more expenditure is incurred on infrastructure to provide basic facilities to the people.
Around 75 per cent of the population of Rajasthan lives in villages.
At the same time, the population of SC-ST here is also 31 per cent and water shortage is a big problem in the state.
On the demand for special state status for Rajasthan, Panagariya said, "Nothing can be said about it right now. We have visited four states right now. We have to visit 24 more states. Only after that, something can be said about it."
Chennai, 1st August 2024: Kauvery Hospital, a leading multi-specialty healthcare provider in Tamil Nadu, proudly announces a remarkable milestone in its pursuit of medical excellence. The hospital successfully performed six robotic-assisted surgeries in a single day, underscoring its commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology for superior patient outcomes. This achievement also marks the hospital crossing over 100 robotic-assisted surgeries, setting a new benchmark in advanced surgical care.
The state-of-the-art Da Vinci 4th generation robotic system used at Kauvery Hospital is renowned for its precision and minimally invasive capabilities. This advanced technology enables surgeons to perform complex and delicate procedures with enhanced accuracy, reducing recovery time and improving overall patient experience.
Speaking on the advanced Robotic Surgery, Dr Swaminthan Sambandam, Director- Liver, Multi-Organ Transplant Surgery, Robotic GI and Hepato Pancreato Biliary Surgery, says Robotic-assisted surgery has revolutionized the way we approach complex cases,where hands of a surgeon may not be able to reach the most intricate parts, however with robotic assisted surgeries the surgeons can control the movement of the robotic arms thereby making it possible to reach difficult areas, and enabling us to perform intricate procedures.
The robotic wrists can move 360 degrees, thereby helping surgeons to perform procedures such as complex gallbladder removal, hernia repair, kidney transplants, hysterectomies, donor hepatectomy and oncological surgeries with unparalleled precision. The robotic surgeries have also been proven to reduce hospital stays by 50%, and patients can get back to routine life much faster when compared to other methods of surgery. We had successfully performed 6 surgeries in a single day including one Kidney Transplant with a fantastic team of surgeons, anesthetists and nursing team. " added Dr Swaminathan
Kauvery Hospital stands out as a healthcare institution in Tamil Nadu offering the most affordable robotic surgery options. This initiative aligns with the hospital's mission to make world-class healthcare affordable to all, ensuring that advanced medical treatments are within reach for a broader demographic. With Robotic Assisted Surgery, patients can experience faster recovery, lesser pain and shorter hospital stay. With over 100 robotic-assisted surgeries completed, our team of expert surgeons and dedicated medical professionals ensures that our patients receive the best possible outcomes, says Dr Aravindan Selvaraj Co-Founder and Executive Director Kauvery Group of Hospitals.
As per the IRDAI guidelines majority of health insurance companies cover robotic surgeries thus maximizing the accessibility to a wider population.
(Disclaimer : The above Press Release is provided by HT Syndication and PTI will not take any editorial responsibility of this content.). PTI PWR
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In our hyperconnected world, cross-border transactions demand speed, security, and simplicity. XoomPay has emerged as a pioneer in this space, offering innovative payment solutions since 2015. With a strong focus on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, and South Africa, XoomPay provides tailored services for these key markets. Users benefit from rapid withdrawals, currency exchanges, and payments, streamlining financial management.
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The tool works well because it has an amazing turn rate of over 87%. As this measure shows, XoomPay can handle deals easily and successfully. By making its systems and processes more efficient, XoomPay makes sure that users have a smooth experience and that transactions fail as little as possible.
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The platform's commitment to customer happiness is shown even more by the range of help options it provides. XoomPay offers quick and dependable help for many issues, such as handling transactions, setting up integrations, and general questions. Businesses can easily handle their payment processes with this strong support system, and they can get expert help whenever they need it. The customer service team at XoomPay is dedicated to quickly and effectively addressing issues, whether they are technical or more complicated.
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XoomPay is dedicated to innovation and providing outstanding value to its clients even as it develops further. The platform's leadership position in the global payments sector is cemented by its capacity to adapt to market changes and technical improvements. With a foundation based on safe transactions, a user-friendly interface, and unmatched customer service, XoomPay is well-positioned to transform the payments industry going forward.
XoomPay was founded in 2015 and has since developed into a reputable supplier of payment gateway services for both individuals and companies. Its success has been fueled by its persistent commitment to quality, secure platform, and worldwide reach. The trajectory of XoomPay is evidence of its capacity to enable people and transform the nature of cross-border transactions.
(Disclaimer : The above Press Release is provided by HT Syndication and PTI will not take any editorial responsibility of this content.). PTI PWR
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New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai on Thursday reported a dip in wholesales in July as companies reduced vehicle dispatches to dealers amid moderation in demand.
Maruti Suzuki India said its total domestic passenger vehicle sales stood at 1,37,463 units in July against 1,52,126 units in the year-ago month, down 9.64 per cent.
The company's sales of mini segment cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, were higher at 9,960 units last month compared to 9,590 units in the year-ago period.
However, sales of compact cars consisting of Baleno, Celerio, Dzire, Ignis, Swift and WagonR were lower at 58,682 units compared to 67,102 units in July 2023.
Similarly, utility vehicles Brezza, Ertiga, Fronx, Grand Vitara, Invicto, Jimny, and XL6 also clocked lower sales at 56,302 last month against 62,049 units in the same period last year, the company said.
Rival Hyundai Motor India said its domestic dispatch of vehicles to dealers saw a dip of 3 per cent to 49,013 units last month from 50,701 units in the year-ago period.
Similarly, Tata Motors said its total domestic sales dipped 11 per cent and stood at 70,161 units last month as against 78,844 units in the year-ago period.
Mahindra & Mahindra however reported a 15 per cent increase in passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market to 41,623 units last month against 36,205 units in the year-ago period.
Kia India said its domestic sales rose 2.5 per cent year on year to 20,507 units in July as compared with 20,002 units sold in July 2023.
In the two-wheeler space, Bajaj Auto said its total domestic sales (including commercial vehicles) rose 18 per cent to 2,10,997 units in the last month compared to 1,79,263 units sold in the same month last year.
TVS Motor Company said its domestic two-wheeler sales grew 8 per cent to 2,54,250 units in July over 2,35,230 units in the year-ago period.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) said its domestic sales for the last month registered a 41 per cent YoY growth at 4,39,118 units.
Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) Stock markets remained on a record-smashing course for the fifth straight day on Thursday, with Sensex and Nifty settled at record-high levels after buying in index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 126.21 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at a new lifetime high of 81,867.55. In the intra-day session, it soared 388.15 points, or 0.47 per cent, to hit an all-time intra-day high of 82,129.49.
The NSE Nifty rose 59.75 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 25,010.90. Intraday, it scaled the record 25,000 level for the first time, rising 127.15 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 25,078.30.
From the Sensex stocks, Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Nestle India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Maruti Suzuki India and Reliance Industries were the major gainers.
In contrast, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors were the laggards.
Brent crude -- the global oil benchmark -- rose 0.98 per cent to USD 81.63 per barrel in futures trade.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed in the negative territory, while Seoul ended in the green.
The European markets were quoting lower in the mid-session deals on Thursday. The US stocks settled in the green territory in overnight trade on Wednesday.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday and offloaded shares worth Rs 3,462.36 crore, according to exchange data.
On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled higher by 285.94 points or 0.35 per cent at 81,741.34 -- its all-time closing high -- while NSE Nifty rose 93.85 points or 0.38 per cent to close at an all-time high of 24,951.15.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) BJP member Kangana Ranaut, who was allegedly slapped by a woman CISF constable at Chandigarh airport recently, on Thursday sought to know whether the government has any monitoring system for scrutiny of CISF personnel at airports to detect any negative influence on them, resulting in bad behaviour towards passengers.
Ranaut posed the question in the Lok Sabha to the civil aviation ministry.
She wanted to know from the Civil Aviation Ministry "whether the government has any monitoring system for scrutiny of CISF personnel at airports to know about their involvement/influence by some negative elements or activities which results in bad behaviour with passengers".
In a written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the measures taken to ensure professional conduct of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at airports include a Personal Information System, a web-based project, where the personal and professional profile of deployed personnel are updated by supervisory officers.
Personal Profile Sheet and dossier of all CISF personnel are maintained at the unit level and the same is transferred to the next place of posting. The specific remarks/comments in the personal profile sheet of the individual are taken into account while deploying them at the public interface, he added.
"Social media monitoring of CISF personnel is done at unit/zone/sector level to know about involvement/influence of some negative elements," Mohol said, adding that the mentor and buddy pair system has also been implemented at every unit/airport to evaluate the psychological state of CISF personnel.
According to the minister, regular behaviour detection/soft skill training is imparted to CISF personnel.
Besides, he said motivational and awareness sessions are organised at the unit level regularly to enhance the morale and motivation of CISF personnel to perform their duties diligently and professionally.
On June 6, Ranaut said she was allegedly hit in the face and abused by a woman CISF constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport.
Constable Kulwinder Kaur, who appeared to be upset with Ranaut over her stance on the farmers' protests, was suspended and an FIR lodged against her, officials had said.
CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) provides security at airports.
Guwahati, Aug 1 (PTI) A consumer court directed Sony Mobile Communication along with its two sales and service outlets in Assam to pay more than Rs 50,000 to a woman, whose mobile phone was not repaired by the company nearly nine years ago.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Kamrup in an order on July 26 directed Sony Mobile Communication, its retail outlet Sony Center at Christian Basti and Sony Service Center at Rajgarh Main Road to pay the compensation within 45 days.
The commission directed the three accused parties to pay an amount of Rs 40,000 with 10 per cent interest to the complainant Nina Bairagi for "physical harassment and mental agony" from the date of filing the case.
Further, they were directed to pay an amount of Rs 10,000 to the complainant as a cost of proceedings, the order stated.
The commission also mentioned in the judgment that if the decretal amount is not paid by the respondents within 45 days, then they will have to pay 12 per cent interest on the amount till its realisation.
After a prolonged trial and proceedings since the filing of the case in 2016, the commission convicted Sony Mobile for its deficiency in service and also directed to repair the mobile handset within 45 days besides paying the compensation.
Bairagi had purchased a Sony Mobile handset from the Sony Center on August 10, 2015, on payment of Rs 52,990. After one month, the phone dropped from her hand and as a result, it became inoperative.
The complainant had then approached the Sony Service Center, but the service engineer informed her that the repair of the said model was not available and the only option left was to get a replacement at a cost of Rs 25,000.
Bairagi had also contacted the service head of Sony Mobile at its country headquarters in New Delhi several times through emails but in spite of assurance to redress the grievance within 48 hours, it was not done.
After that, she filed a complaint with the Consumers' Legal Protection Forum, Assam. On the basis of that grievance, the forum filed a case with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Kamrup.
The three respondents had in their written statement to the commission termed the complaint "frivolous" and was an "apt illustration of flagrant abuse of the benevolent provision of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986".
Jaipur, Aug 1 (PTI) Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Thursday requested the Finance Commission to recommend additional financial assistance to the state because of difficult geographical conditions and a severe water crisis in Rajasthan.
The chief minister chaired a meeting with the delegation of 16th Finance Commission at the Secretariat on Thursday.
He said that Rajasthan has a vast land area and scattered population, due to which it costs more to provide basic facilities like education, medical and health, drinking water, electricity, communication facilities etc. to the common people compared to other states.
He said that keeping in mind this additional cost and the geographical situation of the state, financial resources should be provided to the state.
Sharma said that the state has to face heat waves almost every year, which affect the livelihood of the residents of both rural and urban areas.
Also, crops are damaged due to desert locusts. Keeping this in mind, the threat of heat waves and desert locusts should be considered a natural disaster and they should be included in the definition of natural disaster in the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF).
The Chief Minister requested the Finance Commission (FC) to develop a formula for the distribution of central taxes, which would become a means of removing regional disparities and help allocate more resources to provide important minimum infrastructure for all areas and sections of society.
He also urged the FC to give special importance to the area of the state while finalizing the share of the states in the central tax income. He also requested the Finance Commission to restart the maintenance grants for roads and bridges, irrigation assets and forests.
Sharma said that irregular and uncertain monsoon is a big challenge for the agriculture-based economy of the state. The state is facing extreme difficulties due to limited and continuously decreasing water resources. The Finance Commission should also consider giving grants for water deficit, he said.
The Chief Minister requested the Finance Commission to recommend an increase in the grants for the local bodies of Rajasthan.
Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Diya Kumari urged the Commission to adopt a standard approach in view of the difficult geographical conditions of the state and in accordance with the aspirations of 8 crore people of the state.
Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that the Commission is visiting the states and getting suggestions from them. After Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, this is the fourth visit of the Commission to Rajasthan. The suggestions received from the states are being heard seriously.
Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant said that Rajasthan is the largest state in the country. Mainly the districts of the western region face challenges in achieving the goal of service delivery. Due to limited resources, the state is dependent on central funds.
Additional Chief Secretary Finance Akhil Arora presented the social and economic condition of Rajasthan before the Commission through a presentation.
He urged the commission to provide financial assistance to the state based on the ranking of Sustainable Development Goals.
Jaipur, Aug 1 (PTI) The Rajasthan government on Thursday said it will host an investment summit in December this year to attract investors in the state.
The 'Rising Rajasthan' Investment Summit will be held in Jaipur from December 9 to 11.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma chaired a meeting on the issue with Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant and other officials on Thursday.
The chief minister also launched the 'Single-point investor interface' of the state government. Through this platform investors can express their intent online and get their proposals approved.
Soon after the launch of this initiative, the Bureau of Investment Promotion, the nodal department for organising 'Rising Rajasthan', received investment proposals worth more than Rs 8,000 crore, a release said.
"The objective of the summit is to attract domestic and foreign companies, international institutions and investors to the state," the release said quoting Sharma.
"The government is taking every possible initiative to ensure a better environment for industrial investment in the state. Under this, the investment summit is being organized which will create ample employment opportunities along with the development of the state," the release said.
Sharma said that the state government will provide all possible help to the investors to give concrete shape to the investments coming to the state through this event.
The chief minister also launched the logo of 'Rising Rajasthan'.
Industry Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore said that Rajasthan has immense potential for development and hence it is an ideal state for investors.
"Through the 'Rising Rajasthan' investment summit, we do not want to just sign MoUs but bring real investments to Rajasthan," he said.
BEIRUT, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Hassan Ghayyad, the owner of a kids' apparel boutique in Marjeyoun, southern Lebanon, has observed a significant drop in customer traffic at his shop lately.
"For the first time since October 8 (last year), residents in this area have stopped their purchases entirely for the past few days," Ghayyad told Xinhua.
The shop owner attributed the downturn to the heightened tensions between Hezbollah and Israel in recent days. Israel threatened to launch a military operation that will make Hezbollah pay a heavy price after a rocket attack in the Golan Heights killed 12 youngsters and wounded several others.
Hezbollah said it had "absolutely nothing to do with the incident" and dismissed the allegations as false, while insisting on responding without restrictions to any Israeli aggression against Lebanon and its resistance.
The escalating series of events is casting a pall of tense atmosphere over the southern regions of Lebanon.
Ghayyad said most shop owners and commercial establishments in his area have closed their doors, and traffic has decreased significantly. Meanwhile, many families have moved to other regions, for fear of a potential military flare-up.
Picnickers and swimmers, once fixtures on southern beaches, have now vanished, and a notable displacement trend has been observed in most towns.
Salah Sabrawi, the mayor of Abbasiyeh in the western sector of the border area, told Xinhua, "The situation in southern Lebanon is unstable, and around 5 to 8 percent of the residents were displaced over the past 48 hours due to recent military developments."
"We are monitoring the situation before thinking about displacement again, especially since we have adapted to our situation, and it is not easy to experience displacement a second time," Lama Al-Hajj, who was displaced eight months ago from a border village to the southern city of Tyre, told Xinhua. "But if the war expands, we may have to move again."
For Hanan Abu Ali, a housewife from the southeast town of Marjeyoun, keeping an eye on the evolving dynamics between Israel and Hezbollah has become a daily ritual.
"My family of five and I follow the developments almost continuously through social media. We can no longer differentiate between the correct and fake news, but we are almost certain that the mutual military strikes have become an inevitable reality," she told Xinhua.
Jihan Hamdan, 50, from the southeast town of Shebaa, had already packed her bags with some of her family's identification papers and a few summer clothes.
"We are baffled and do not know where to go, as danger is everywhere in these difficult times," she said.
Echoing Hamdan's sentiment, Nabil Assi, a university student in his twenties, told Xinhua, "We are now facing the unknown. The military strikes can reach most areas, and the war is expanding and may go out of control. We do not know what awaits us, as the future is bleak."
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) A day after the national capital experienced severe waterlogging, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday slammed the AAP government for not implementing the drainage master plan and asked it to take the necessary steps at the earliest.
The minister also stressed the importance of modern infrastructure and its regular upkeep, as urbanisation is rising at a high pace.
Replying to a short discussion on the working of his ministry in the Rajya Sabha, Khattar also asserted that urban problems cannot be resolved unless respective administrations take strict against those violating building bylaws.
"The national capital did not implement the drainage master plan. Had it implemented (the master plan) properly, the Delhi government and MCD would have succeeded in completing the desilting process," he added.
Khattar, who was Haryana Chief Minister for two consecutive terms, said that both the Delhi government and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) should work towards the implementation of the master plan in the public interest.
Heavy rainfall unleashed chaos in Delhi on Wednesday evening, inundating large parts of the city, while key stretches were choked with unending traffic snarls, leaving people stranded for hours.
The minister highlighted the works done by the Modi government in the past for the betterment of the urban infrastructure in the country and moving towards achieving the goal of 'housing for all'.
He said one of the major decisions of the Modi 3.0 government is to build 3 crore more homes under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).
Bangkok, Aug 1 (AP) China has sanctioned a United States lawmaker for frequently interfering in China's domestic affairs, in its latest effort to express displeasure with US politicians who have criticised China's policy and practice.
The sanction against Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, is symbolic, since the congressman has no assets in China or business dealings there. The sanction includes freezing his assets and properties in China, prohibiting any organization or individual in China from conducting transactions or working with him, and denying him and his family a visa to enter the country, according to a statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the social media platform X, McGovern called the sanctions absurd and said he would wear his as a badge of honour.
If (Chinese) leaders don't like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record, McGovern wrote on X. They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.
McGovern is the ranking member of the House Committee on Rules, and he co-chairs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He also is a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on China's human rights record.
Beijing has previously sanctioned a number of US lawmakers, former Trump administration officials, and companies.
It sanctioned Rep. Michael McCaul, also chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former Rep. Michael Gallagher over their support for Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own. In 2020 it sanctioned Rep. Chris Smith and several U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
McGovern and McCaul, along with two senators, last year introduced bicameral legislation calling for stronger US support for Tibet, a region in China where human rights groups have criticized authorities for the treatment of ethnic Tibetans. Congress approved the bill in June, and President Joe Biden signed it into law in July. (AP) RHL
Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Aug 1 (PTI) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has alleged that the left Democratic Party bosses have installed Kamala Harris as a "puppet candidate" who is "totally scripted, owned, and controlled" by the donors and the power brokers.
The former president's remarks came at an election rally in Pennsylvania, a state where he escaped an assassination attempt on July 13.
The radical left Democrat party bosses have installed a puppet candidate to fight only for themselves. Kamala Harris got zero votes. She's totally scripted, owned, and controlled by the donors and the power brokers who created her campaign and who rip off our government and make billions and billions of dollars, Trump, 78, said.
Trump has intensified his attacks on Harris as the race for the November 5 presidential election gained momentum with opinion polls showing that the Vice President has narrowed the gap with her Republican rival.
Trump accused Harris, 59, of lying about 81-year-old Joe Biden's mental and physical condition.
After lying to the country for years about Joe Biden's mental and physical condition, Kamala is now being given a personality makeover. Don't forget, four weeks ago, she was, like, considered the worst. Not smart. Terrible. The worst Vice President in history, he told his supporters who numbered 15,000 inside the indoor auditorium.
Several thousands of his supporters could not get inside. People stood in queues for several hours and at one point the line extended for more than a mile.
All of a sudden, she's the new Margaret Thatcher. .. No, I don't think so. Everything about Kamala Harris rollout, it's phony and it's fake, he alleged.
Reiterating his allegations that President Joe Biden destroyed the country, Trump claimed that Harris, who is now the presumptive presidential nominee, is worse than him.
Because she's a real radical left. He's a phony radical left. He didn't believe this stuff. He didn't believe in open borders, and she does. She wants to open your borders. She wants to have all-electric cars. She loves the all-electric car mandate. She destroyed San Francisco. But she's the architect of the border invasion, trying to pretend she's strong on border security. She's now pretending that she was never called the border czar, he said.
Harris, he alleged, is a failed Vice President leading a failed administration while trying to convince others that she represents hope and change.
Well, she does represent change. If she wants to turn us into a communist country, that's her change. She was voted the most unpopular vice president in history, he said.
The contrast could not be more stark. On the one hand, you have a radical left puppet candidate who is fake, fake, fake. And on the other hand, you have a president who will fight, fight, fight for America, Trump said.
Washington, Aug 1 (PTI) Describing India as a great power which will never be a formal ally or partner of the US, the Biden administration has told lawmakers that New Delhi wants to play a responsible role globally.
These remarks were made by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a hearing on US-China Competitiveness Beyond the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday, amidst indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Kyiv later this month against the backdrop of renewed global efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine.
One of the hardest things to keep in mind is that India is also a great power. It has its own beliefs and its own interests. They will never be a formal ally or partner of the United States. But it doesn't mean that we cannot have the strongest of possible relationships as allied nations on the global stage, Kurt told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the hearing.
He was responding to a question from Senator James Risch about the recent Moscow visit of Prime Minister Modi for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
You said it effectively about Russia, I'm not going to add to that directly. I think we're likely to hear news of India engaging more directly in Ukraine. I'm grateful for that. I think India wants to play a responsible role globally, he said.
There are very few other countries in the world that have such an appeal to the Global South. And their ability to engage there is unmatched and we are seeking to work with them there in Africa and elsewhere, Campbell told the lawmakers.
I actually believe it's probably the most important relationship for the United States to get right. Huge capacity, a wonderful diaspora in the United States that connects our two great countries. I believe that the vast majority of people in India want a better relationship with the United States, he said.
They're grateful for our bipartisan attention. They like the work that we've done together in education and technology. We've supported them in intelligence and military along the Line of Actual Control. And in the Indian Ocean, we've stepped up in a variety of areas. That's important. And I do believe that we've bent India's trajectory in ways that are consequential and very much in our interests, Campbell said.
Modi was in Russia for two days from July 8-9 for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that has been watched closely by the West amidst the raging Ukraine conflict.
This was Prime Minister Modis first visit to Russia since the war started between Moscow and Kyiv in February 2022.
During his talks with Putin on July 9, Prime Minister Modi told him that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets.
Washington, Aug 1 (PTI) Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has accused Vice President Kamala Harris of leaning into 'identity politics' and claimed that she only considered herself Indian-American when "convenient."
Ramaswamy, who supports the Republican Party's nominee Donald Trump now, said that Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, leaned on her Indian American heritage while running for office in California, where there is a significant Asian American population, but has since shifted her focus away from that identity on the national stage.
The 38-year-old Indian-American biotech entrepreneur drew a comparison between Harris' heritage and his own to share his views on the subject.
"On a very personal level, my parents were immigrants to this country, legal immigrants from southern India- the very same part of India that (Harris') mother also immigrated from," he told Fox News.
"I think it's a hard fact... it's a fact whether you like it or not, that many Indian-Americans in the US are indeed somewhat offended by the way Kamala has suddenly cast aside the Indian-American side of identity," Ramaswamy said.
She leaned into it when she ran for Office in California- big Asian-American and Indian-American population, he said.
"So she wore that when it was convenient. She's wearing a different identity now when it is politically convenient on a national stage," he alleged.
He said he does not think Americans should be relying on these ethnic identities at all.
"We're actually American. And the problem is, when you're Kamala Harris and you actually lean into your identity politics, then you open the door to that type of criticism," he said.
"But if you ask me, that shouldn't be how this election is decided one way or another. It should be decided on our own identity as Americans and what our vision is for the future of our country. And the number one thing missing in Kamala Harris' candidacy is that she lacks that vision for the country," he added.
Harris, 59, is Indian American and African American. Her mother emigrated from India, and her father emigrated from Jamaica.
Former President Trump also mocked Vice President Harriss heritage during a combative live interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention, saying she happened to turn Black in recent years.
Colombo, Aug 1 (PTI) An Indian fisherman was killed and another went missing following a collision on Thursday morning between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat allegedly poaching in the island nation's territorial waters, according to a media report.
The incident took place around five nautical miles north of Katchatheevu Island.
Navy spokesperson Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya said that the incident occurred off Delft Island while the Navy was conducting an operation to chase away the alleged Indian poaching trawlers, Daily Mirror online reported.
He claimed that the Indian trawler, carrying four fishermen, capsized due to aggressive manoeuvres and rough sea conditions.
"One fisherman is missing and the Navy is conducting a search operation to locate him. One of the rescued fishermen was admitted to the Punkuduthivu Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The other two fishermen are reported to be in stable condition, the spokesman said.
He said the Indian authorities have been informed of the incident.
In New Delhi, the Sri Lankan acting high commissioner was called to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was registered over the incident.
The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan territorial waters.
The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each others waters.
Dhaka, Aug 1 (PTI) Bangladesh on Thursday banned the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law following nationwide unrest, citing the threat posed by the fundamentalist party to public security.
A notification issued by the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday confirmed the ban on the Islamist party, a key ally of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The Bangladesh government on Tuesday decided to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami following the deadly nationwide students protests over quotas in government jobs, accusing it of exploiting the movement that left at least 150 people dead.
The development comes after a meeting of the ruling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas Awami League-led 14-party alliance passed a resolution earlier this week that Jamaat must be banned from politics.
The recent decision to ban Jamaat comes over 50 years after its initial prohibition in 1972 for "misusing religion for political purposes".
Colombo, Aug 1 (PTI) An Indian fisherman was killed and another went missing following a collision on Thursday morning between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat allegedly poaching in the island nation's territorial waters, the Navy said here.
The incident happened off the coast to the West of the Delft islet in Jaffna, Navy spokesman Captain Gayan Wickremasuriya said.
The Navy was trying to arrest or to make them flee. But they moved aggressively, causing a collision with the Naval craft, he said.
He claimed that the Indian trawler, carrying four fishermen, capsized due to aggressive manoeuvres and rough sea conditions.
The Indian trawler was toppled and sunk when the four fishermen jumped to the sea to avoid being arrested, Wickremasuriya said.
One fisherman is missing and the Navy is conducting a search operation to locate him. One of the rescued fishermen was admitted to the Punkuduthivu Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
The other two remain in Naval custody. The magisterial inquiry on the dead would be held in Jaffna on Friday, the Naval spokesman said.
In New Delhi, the Sri Lankan acting high commissioner was called to the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest was registered over the incident.
Meanwhile, the Indian Indian High Commission in Colombo and the Indian Consulate in Jaffna in cooperation with the Sri Lankan government authorities secured the release of 20 Indian fishermen.
"DHC @DrSatyanjal and other officials met the fishermen today, ascertained their well-being and assured their repatriation within a day," the High Commission here posted on X along with some photographs of the meeting.
The fishermen issue is a contentious one in the ties between India and Sri Lanka, with Lankan Navy personnel even firing at Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait and seizing their boats in several alleged incidents of illegally entering Sri Lankan territorial waters.
On June 25, a senior sailor from the Sri Lanka Navy Special Boat Squadron died in an incident blamed on the aggressive manoeuvres of an Indian trawler, resisting its seizure, the Sri Lankan Navy said.
The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each others waters.
Washington, Aug 1 (PTI) Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has launched a racially insensitive attack against Kamala Harris by questioning whether she is Indian or Black, drawing a sharp reaction from his Democratic rival who termed his remarks "the same old show" of "divisiveness" and "disrespect".
Trump, 78, falsely claimed Vice President Harris had only emphasised her Asian-American heritage until recently when, he claimed, "she became a black person".
Ive known her a long time, indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didnt know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black," Trump said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday, as the race for the November 5 presidential election gained momentum with opinion polls showing that Harris has narrowed the gap with her Republican rival.
"So I don't know - Is she Indian? Or is she black?"
Harris' mother is originally from India, and her father is from Jamaica.
As an undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, a historically black school in Washington, and belongs to Alpha Kappa Alpha, the country's oldest Black sorority. She was also the president of the Black Law Students Association while studying at the University of California's law school in San Francisco, and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus during her time in the Senate.
When one of the journalists who was interviewing Trump on stage tried to tell him that Harris had always identified as Black and had attended a historically Black university, the former president continued: I respect either one, but she obviously doesnt. Because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she went she became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that too.
Trumps comments prompted immediate criticism.
Speaking at an event in Houston Wednesday for the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, a historically Black sorority, Harris told the crowd that "this afternoon, Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show."
"The divisiveness and the disrespect, and let me just say, the American people deserve better."
Harris, 59, did not directly address the content of Trump's words but said that Americans "deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts, we deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us, they are an essential source of our strength."
Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler earlier said the "hostility Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president."
"Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in," Tyler said. "Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us."
At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to Trump's jab at Harris, calling the former president's comments "insulting."
"As a person of colour, as a Black woman, who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive, it's insulting," Jean-Pierre said.
"No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one's right. It is someone's own decision. It is I'll add this only she can speak to her experience."
Trump has a history of attacking his opponents on the basis of race.
He falsely accused Barack Obama, the country's first black president, of not being born in the US.
Trump attacked the former UN ambassador and his Republican primary opponent Nikki Haley by falsely claiming she could not be president because her parents were not US citizens when she was born.
Harris has faced a series of attacks since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. Republicans have criticised the decision, saying she was chosen only because of her race.
Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee, called her a "DEI vice-president" - a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
On Wednesday, Scott pushed Trump to clarify whether he believed Harris was a "DEI hire". He replied: "I really don't know, could be."
Harris has described growing up engaged with her Indian heritage and often visited the country. Her mother also immersed her two daughters in the black culture of Oakland, California - where she was raised, she said.
Trump also attacked Harris' credentials during the discussion, saying she had failed her bar exam early in her legal career.
"I'm just giving you the facts. She didn't pass her bar exam and she didn't think she would pass it and she didn't think she was going to ever pass it and I don't know what happened. Maybe she passed it," he said.
Harris graduated from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1989. The New York Times reported that she failed her first attempt and passed at the second. The state bar of California says less than half of those who sit the test pass on the first attempt.
Responding to Trump's comments, second gentleman Doug Emhoff said that the former president was a worse version of an already horrible person with his remarks.
The insults.. its horrible, its terrible, it shows a lack of character but its a distraction, Emhoff said at a campaign fundraiser in Maine. Its about whats at stake in this election.
Arizona Senator. Mark Kelly, seen as a potential running mate for Harris, slammed Trumps remarks, saying they were the comments of a desperate, scared old man who is, over the last week especially, having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor.
London, Aug 1 (PTI) A planned incremental hike in the minimum income threshold for British nationals and permanent residents applying to bring family members to join them in the UK, a move impacting several Indian families, has been shelved by the new Labour Party government.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons in a written statement this week that there will be no further hike on the current GBP 29,000 annual income requirement until the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) completes a review into the impact of the hikes on families.
The MAC has also been tasked to review the reliance of some key sectors on international recruitment, in particular IT and engineering, which rely on significant levels of international recruitment, including from India.
The family immigration rules, including the minimum income requirement, need to balance a respect for family life with ensuring that the economic wellbeing of the UK is maintained, Cooper states.
To help ensure that we reach the right balance and have a solid evidence base for any change, I will commission the MAC to review the financial requirements in the family immigration rules. The minimum income requirement is currently set at GBP 29,000, and there will be no further changes until the MAC review is complete, she notes.
As part of a package of measures to curb migration in December last year, the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led Conservative government had announced that from April this year, the minimum salary or income required by British nationals to sponsor long-term Family Visas for spouses or parents will rise from GBP 18,600 to GBP 29,000 and then be followed by further increases to GBP 38,700 in line with the minimum income requirement for the Skilled Worker Visa route.
Analysts had flagged that this steep hike will have a wide-ranging impact on the family plans of those on lower incomes. Indians made up the second-highest cohort under the Family Visa category in 2023 (5,248), after Pakistanis (14,330) and ahead of Bangladeshis (3,534) as the top three nationalities sponsoring such visas, as per UK Home Office statistics from earlier this year.
Setting out her migration strategy, newly appointed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has set out plans to strengthen the MAC so that it can highlight key sectors where labour market failures mean that there is an over-reliance on international recruitment.
As a first step, I am commissioning the MAC to review the reliance of key sectors on international recruitment. In particular, I am asking the MAC to look at IT and engineering occupations that have consistently, over a decade or more, been included on shortage occupation lists and relied on significant levels of international recruitment, Cooper told the Commons.
These occupational groups are in the top 10 occupational groups in the UK that have the highest percentage of their workforce made up of new foreign workers who have been issued visas, she said.
Her plans to strengthen MAC include deployment of additional Home Office staff to its secretariat to ensure it is able to work more strategically to forecast future trends, while continuing to review and provide independent, evidence-based recommendations on key areas of the immigration system.
Meanwhile, many of the other Tory government visa curbs have been carried forward by the new Labour regime, including restrictions on overseas students and care workers to bring family dependents on their visas.
Cooper noted: This government strongly value the economic and academic contribution that international students make to this country, including those here on the graduate visa, and that is why it is important to ensure that the system is effective and not open to abuse.
Therefore, we will continue with the previously announced measures to ensure that international students, the institutions they are coming to study at and the immigration system as a whole are protected from those who wish to exploit it working closely with DfE (Department for Education) to ensure that the measures are effective.
Pointing the finger at the Tories for data showing that net migration trebled in five years, the minister said her focus will be on aligning migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the country.
People gather in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tunis, Tunisia, on July 31, 2024. Tunisia strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Tunisia considered the assassination as a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of states and a disregard for all human and moral values and international conventions, said a statement made by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday evening. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)
TUNIS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Tunisia considered the assassination as a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of states and a disregard for all human and moral values and international conventions, said a statement made by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday evening.
"This heinous assassination adds to the long list of the bloody history of the heinous operations carried out by the Zionist occupation before and after the occupation of Palestine against many figures who defended the Palestinian right," reads the statement.
Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike on his residence in Tehran after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
On the same day, Tunisia also condemned an Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital on Tuesday, saying "the attack on Lebanon's security and sovereignty is a flagrant violation of all international pacts and laws."
People gather in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tunis, Tunisia, on July 31, 2024. Tunisia strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Tunisia considered the assassination as a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of states and a disregard for all human and moral values and international conventions, said a statement made by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday evening. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua)
Jerusalem, Aug 1 (AP) The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement came a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas' top political leader.
The rapid events this week have left US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators scrambling to salvage talks for a cease-fire deal in Gaza. At the same time, international diplomats tried to avert an escalation into all-out regional war after the assassination in Tehran of Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh, Israel's killing of a top Hezbollah commander in a Beirut strike and now Israel's announcement of Deif's death.
There was no immediate comment on the Israeli claim by Hamas, which had previously said Deif survived the July strike in Gaza. A member of Hamas' political bureau, Izzat al-Risheq, said in a statement Thursday that confirming or denying his death is the responsibility of the group's military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades, which so far has been silent.
The apparent elimination of Haniyeh and Deif two of Hamas' most senior figures brings a victory for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
After meeting with military officials Thursday, Netanyahu declared that Deif's death enforces a simple principle that we have established, that whoever hurts us, we hurt them.
We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any arena, Netanyahu said.
The assassinations also put him at a crossroads.
They present him with a potential political off-ramp to end the war, allowing him to retreat from his lofty promises of total victory while showing Israelis that Hamas' military capabilities suffered a debilitating blow.
The killings could also lead him to harden Israel's position in cease-fire talks, with Israeli officials insisting the blows to Hamas will force it to compromise. Hamas could dig in as well in the talks or quit them entirely.
Israel believes that Deif, the head of Hamas' military, and Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, were the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Sinwar is believed to remain in hiding in Gaza.
Israel targeted Deif in a July 13 strike that hit a compound on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military said at the time that another Hamas commander, Rafa Salama, was killed. More than 90 other people, including displaced civilians in nearby tents, were killed in the strike, Gaza health officials said at the time.
In a statement Thursday, the Israeli military said that following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike.
In its 10-month-old campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza, Israel has killed some 39,480 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,100 others, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 80% of the population of 2.3 million has been driven from their homes, the vast majority crammed into tent camps in the southwest corner of the territory, with limited food and water.
So far Netanyahu has said he is determined to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed. Far-right nationalist coalition partners, on whom he relies to stay in power, have threatened to bolt the government if he halts the war.
After the announcement on Deif, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the defeat of Hamas is closer than ever. He said the military would continue to eliminate thousands of other terrorists until our security is restored and we bring the hostages home.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike that killed Deif was a significant milestone toward achieving the goals of the war. The results of this operation reflect that Hamas is an organization in disintegration, he wrote on X.
Deif was one of the founders of Hamas' military wing in the 1990s. He led the Qassam Brigades for decades through campaigns of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, volleys of rocket fire into Israel and repeated past Israeli assaults on Gaza since Hamas took power there in 2007.
He remained a mysterious, underground figure in Gaza. He never appeared in public, was hardly ever photographed and only rarely was his voice heard in audio statements. He survived a string of Israeli assassination attempts.
Haniyeh's killing in particular threw into disarray months of efforts at reaching a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage release. Haniyeh had been a main negotiator in those talks.
Qatari and Egyptian officials had tense exchanges with US counterparts over the assassination, said an Egyptian official with direct knowledge of the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal discussions.
While the US has been pressing Egyptian and Qatari mediators to get Hamas to compromise, the Americans can't pressure the other party, Israel to refrain from provocative acts, the Egyptian official said, calling the assassination reckless.
Qatar's prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, expressed frustration in a post on social media, saying: Can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the US had no prior knowledge of the strike in Tehran that killed Haniyeh.
The Egyptian official said no deal was likely in the near future since Hamas must now name Haniyeh's replacement. Mediators had been waiting for Hamas' response on the latest version of the deal. Instead, after Haniyeh's funeral, expected Friday, he said they will reach out to Hamas officials to explore the next steps.
After Haniyeh's assassination, Iran vowed revenge against Israel, and the killing of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut could also bring reprisals and fuel fears of a wider spiral of escalation.
The Egyptian official now said the priority was preventing full-scale war.
Meanwhile in Beirut's southern suburbs, hundreds of black-clad mourners packed an auditorium Thursday for Shukur's funeral procession. Many of them held Hezbollah flags or photos of Shukur. An escort of red-capped fighters carried Shukur's coffin, also draped in a Hezbollah flag, down the aisle to the backing of a military band. (AP) ZH
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Tallinn (Estonia), Aug 1 (AP) After years of isolation behind the bars and high walls of US penitentiaries and Russian penal colonies, the prisoners will find themselves suddenly free, an emotional moment culminating from long, back-channel negotiations between Washington and Moscow.
Sometimes, they see those who are part of the swap as they pass each other on an airport tarmac or, as in the Cold War, the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin to Potsdam. In decades of prisoner exchanges, those released have included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete.
Thursday's historic exchange was an especially complex affair involving months of talks among several countries before planes flew the large number of prisoners to freedom.
Some notable previous swaps:
BRITTNEY GRINER AND VIKTOR BOUT
The Dec. 9, 2022, exchange of the WNBA star for a Russian arms trader nicknamed the "merchant of death" was notable and controversial for the magnitude of its disparities.
Griner had been arrested 10 months earlier on arrival at a Moscow airport when vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She was convicted of drug charges and sentenced to nine years in prison, a harsh sentence even in low-tolerance Russia.
Bout was arrested in 2008 in a US sting operation in Thailand for offering to sell surface-to-air missiles to men masquerading as Colombian rebels. He eventually was extradited to the United States and convicted of charges, including conspiring to kill US nationals, and sentenced to 25 years.
Griner's celebrity status made her case highly visible, and the Biden administration worked intensively to win her release, which came at the airport in Abu Dhabi. Critics said Washington had caved in to political pressure by swapping an arms dealer for a famous athlete.
TREVOR REED AND KONSTANTIN YAROSHENKO
The exchange of Reed and Yaroshenko was notable because it came amid soaring tensions only two months after Russia started its full-scale war in Ukraine.
Reed, an ex-Marine, was arrested in 2019 in Moscow for assaulting a police while allegedly drunk. Reed denied the allegations and then-US Ambassador John Sullivan said the case was so preposterous that "even the judge laughed," but Reed got a sentence of nine years.
Yaroshenko, a pilot, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia for involvement in a lucrative cocaine distribution scheme. He was extradited to the US and sentenced to 20 years.
The April 7, 2022, exchange took place at an airport in Turkey.
THE SLEEPERS
In June 2010, US officials rounded up 10 Russians alleged to be "sleeper agents" living under false identities without specific espionage missions to be activated as needed. Most of the intelligence they gathered apparently was of low significance.
One exception was Anna Chapman, who captured attention in the tabloids with her long red hair and model-like features.
They Russians were exchanged the next month at the Vienna airport in an unusual swap for four Russians imprisoned in their homeland, including Sergei Skripal, a double agent working with the British intelligence service. Skripal took up residence in the UK, where he and his daughter suffered near-fatal nerve agent poisoning eight years later that officials blamed on Russia.
RUDOLF ABEL AND FRANCIS GARY POWERS
In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Abel and Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the US-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany.
Abel was the alias of British-born William Fisher, who moved to the Soviet Union and joined its intelligence operations in the 1920s. Posted to the US in 1948, he was arrested on espionage charges in 1957 and sentenced to 30 years.
Powers piloted a U-2 high-altitude photo reconnaissance plane that was shot down over central Russia in 1960. Because of the highly sensitive nature of the flight, which was to photograph military facilities, Powers' gear included a coin coated with neurotoxin to be used to kill himself if discovered, but he did not use it.
The exchange on the "Bridge of Spies," as it was known, was depicted in the 2015 film of the same name. (AP) ZH
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Washington, Aug 1 (AP) President Joe Biden says detained Americans are coming home and their brutal ordeal is over'.
Addressing the nation from the White House State Room, Biden said it was a feat of diplomacy that brought home Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Kurmasheva and Kara-Murza. He said multiple countries worked together to get it done.
As Biden made his statement at the White House, he was joined by relatives of the freed Americans.
The US president said he and the families had spoken to their relatives by phone from the Oval Office minutes before his address. Biden called the release an incredible relief for the families and a feat of diplomacy.
Biden said the work to bring home those wrongfully detained began during his transition into the presidency. And he said his administration has brought home 70 Americans, many since before I took office.
The United States and Russia completed a 24-person prisoner swap on Thursday, the largest in post-Soviet history, with Moscow releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich and fellow American Whelan in a multinational deal that set some two dozen people free, according to officials in Turkey, where the exchange took place. (AP)
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Peshawar, Aug 1 (PTI) Violent clashes between warring tribes in Pakistan's restive northwestern Kurram district ended on Thursday after the two sides agreed on a peace agreement brokered by jirga leaders as the death toll rose to 50 in the week-long fighting that also left more than 225 people injured, a senior official said.
All clashes in Kurram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, have stopped after the peace agreement, said Deputy Commissioner Javed Ullah Mehsud.
The peace agreement was reached at a grand tribal jirga held separately between the warring Shia and Sunni factions at Markazi Imam Bargah and Sadda Jirga Hall Parachinar headquarters of Kurram district, officials said.
The leading tribal elders from both sides inked the agreement.
Under the agreement, both the tribes agreed to cooperate with the government in the maintenance of public order. Any party violating the peace agreement will pay a fine up to Rs.12 crore as per the deal.
Moreover, tight security would be ensured on all the main highways and roads in the district.
The inter district roads have been opened for vehicular traffic.
According to the police and district administration, armed clashes started seven days ago between Sunni and Shia tribes in the Upper Kurram district, which has witnessed deadly conflicts among tribes and religious groups as well as sectarian clashes and militant attacks in the past.
The clashes between Boshehra and Maleekhel tribesmen turned into sectarian skirmishes and spread to other areas, including Peewar, Tangi, Balishkhel, Khaar Kalay, Maqbal, Kunj Alizai, Para Chamkani, and Karman.
Officials with the help of tribal elders, military leadership, police and district administration earlier brokered a truce between Shia and Sunni tribes on Sunday.
Washington, Aug 1 (PTI) US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the release of three American citizens and one green-card holder who were imprisoned in Russia, under a prisoners' swap deal with the Russian authorities.
Among those released were the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmashev. This was part of multi-country deal with Russia.
The deal that secured their freedom was a feat of diplomacy. All told, weve negotiated the release of 16 people from Russia including five Germans and seven Russian citizens who were political prisoners in their own country. Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years. All have endured unimaginable suffering and uncertainty. Today, their agony is over, Biden said.
The brutal ordeal is over and they're free. Moments ago, the families and I were able to speak to them on the telephone from the Oval Office. They're out of Russia earlier today. They were flown to Turkey and soon they'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families. This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here, the president told reporters here.
Biden said under the deal, Russia has released 16 prisoners. Eight Russians being held in the West will be sent home as well. The 16 prisoners that Russia has released include four Americans, five Germans, and seven Russian citizens who are political prisoners in their own country, he said.
Biden said he is grateful to the US allies, including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, and Turkey, who stood with them throughout the tough and complex negotiations to achieve this outcome.
This is a powerful example of why its vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer.
And let me be clear: I will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family. My Administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office. Still, too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones, and I have no higher priority as President than bringing those Americans home, he said.
Today, we celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families. We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you. We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong, Biden said.
Thane, Aug 1 (PTI) Police have arrested three persons from Navi Mumbai for allegedly stealing mobile phones and other items worth Rs 17 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane city two weeks back, an official said.
"Some miscreants had entered the shop located in APMC Market area in Navi Mumbai's Vashi on July 14, and stole mobile phones and other items worth more than Rs 17 lakh," Sunil Shinde of the Navi Mumbai police's central crime unit told reporters.
Following the incident, two teams were formed to trace the accused and based on the technical and intelligence inputs, zeroed in on the culprits in Turbhe village of Navi Mumbai, he said.
The police recovered the entire booty from them, including 101 packed smartphones, 26 branded smart watches, 10 ear buds and other electronic goods, totally worth Rs 17,19,606, he said.
An FIR under sections 331(4) (house breaking), 305 (theft), 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered against the accused, identified as Selvaraj Mani Nadar (55), Naresh Kumar Munnilal Varma (27) and Aniket Samsher Yadav (19), the official said.
During their interrogation, it came to light that Nadar had 12 cases registered against him at nine police stations, while one case was registered against Yadav at the Sanpada station, he said.
Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the Western Region at 1700 HRS.
BOM13 MH-KUSALE-LD PARENTS
* We let him focus on his goal, didnt even call him yesterday: Shooter Swapnils parents
Mumbai: The parents of Olympic shooting bronze medalist Swapnil Kusale on Thursday said they were sure he would win a medal for the tricolour and the country.
BOM5 MH-HC-MARATHA QUOTA-COMMISSION
Exceptional backwardness in Maratha community, its members deserve quota: Panel to HC
Mumbai: There is an "exceptional backwardness" among persons from the Maratha community and the entire group is looked down upon, hence they deserve reservation in educational institutions and government jobs, a Backward Classes Commission has submitted to the Bombay High Court.
BOM6 MP-DIARRHOEA-DEATHS
Diarrhoea claims 17 lives in 3 districts of MP in ongoing rainy season
Jabalpur: Seventeen persons have died due to diarrhoea in three districts of Jabalpur division in Madhya Pradesh so far in the ongoing rainy season, a health official said on Thursday.
BES7 MH-CM-UDDHAV-FADNAVIS
CM Shinde attacks Uddhav over challenge to Fadnavis; takes jibe about strength
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday took a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray over the latter's dare to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and said those talking of challenging others must realise if they have the strength to do so.
BOM10 MP-HC-EVM-DIGVIJAYA
Digvijaya Singh moves HC over EVM after poll defeat; notice issued
Indore: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to BJP leader Rodmal Nagar and the Election Commission (EC) seeking their responses on a petition challenging Nagar's election from the Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat.
BOM11 MH-MNS-VANDALISM-MITKARI
4 MNS workers held for vandalising NCP MLC Mitkari's car; he says police shielding accused
Akola: Police on Thursday detained four Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers in connection with the attack on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC Amol Mitkari's car in Akola two days ago, an official said.
BOM3 MH-MVA-MEETING
Maharashtra assembly polls: MVA to meet on Aug 7 to discuss seat-sharing, other issues
Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra will hold a meeting on August 7 to discuss seat-sharing and other aspects related to the upcoming state assembly elections, a senior leader has said.
BOM2 MH-GOVERNOR-CHAITYA BHOOMI
New Maharashtra Governor visits Chaitya Bhoomi
Mumbai: A day after taking charge as the Governor of Maharashtra, C P Radhakrishnan on Thursday visited the Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai and offered floral tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. ***
Pune, Aug 1 (PTI) A three-and-half-year-old girl died after the metal gate of a housing society in Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune fell on her, a police official said on Thursday.
The incident took place in Bopkhel on Wednesday when she was playing with other children, he said.
A video of the incident, which showed a child running towards a house to inform residents, went viral on social media.
In the video, a man can be seen arriving at the site and lifting the injured child.
"While they were playing, one child closed the sliding metal gate. The gate fell when the three-and-half-year-old child ran towards it. It seems the gate came out of the sliding channel and fell. An accidental death case has been registered," the Pimpri Chinchwad police station official said.
Katni, Aug 1 (PTI) Four youngsters were killed on Thursday evening after their car collided with a bus near Surkhi Mod in Madhya Pradesh's Katni district, a police official said.
The deceased, identified as Rohan Dube (20), Priyanshu Dube (17), Atul Mishra (30) and Akshay Singh (17), were proceeding to Umaria when the accident took place, NKJ police station in-charge Neeraj Dube said.
"They were declared dead on arrival by doctors at a nearby hospital. The bus driver fled from the spot. Efforts are on to nab him. The bus and car have been impounded," the official said.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding with British oil giant BP Thursday to develop four oil and gas fields in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani oversaw the signing ceremony of the memorandum between the Iraqi Oil Ministry and BP, according to the minister's media office.
The memorandum includes the rehabilitation and development of the four fields of the government-owned North Oil Company in the province, according to the statement.
This deal is part of the government's efforts to enhance the development of the energy sector, it added.
Iraq's economy heavily relies on crude oil exports, which account for about 90 percent of the country's revenues.
Kolkata, Aug 1 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Thursday criticised the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for accusing the saffron party of dividing West Bengal, saying his party has no such plans.
He also hit out at the TMC's decision to introduce a resolution and motion in the state assembly on Monday to oppose alleged attempts to divide the state.
He claimed that the TMC is obstructing the development of the northern districts of the state, a blueprint of which was proposed by BJPs Bengal president and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar.
"The BJP has never advocated for dividing West Bengal, nor has it included such a proposal in any manifesto. Our founder, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, was instrumental in the formation of West Bengal. Like everyone else, we (BJP) also cherish Bengal," Ghosh said outside the assembly.
He accused the TMC of engaging in politics aimed at dividing the state for electoral gains. "The people of Bengal should be aware of those using division as a political tool," he added.
Ghosh criticised the TMC for allegedly deceiving the people of north Bengal and being opposed to its development. He highlighted that Majumdar had outlined a development plan for the region.
"The people of north Bengal have been deceived by different governments which have ruled the state since Independence. The TMC is against development of north Bengal," Ghosh said.
During his visit to the assembly to meet party MLAs and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Ghosh noted that the TMC had established a separate North Bengal Development department, Uttar Kanya (a branch secretariat), and formed the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), which he said had not improved conditions in the region.
"I came to the assembly to meet my party MLAs and media friends and also to celebrate my 60th birthday," Ghosh said.
Patna, Aug 1 (PTI) A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday claimed that the Supreme Court judgement on sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and economically more backward vindicates the state governments old stand.
State minister and JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said that the Bihar government has already created sub-categories like Mahadalits and ati-pichda (extremely backward classes).
These sub-quotas ensure that reservation benefits reach the most needy people. It is for the same reason that there is another category called creamy layer, which covers the relatively better-off people among SCs, STs and OBCs, who no longer require the facility. The Supreme Court's judgement vindicates the Bihar governments old stand," the state parliamentary affairs minister told PTI.
'Creamy layer refers to a class of persons within reserved categories. who are socially and economically advanced. At present, the concept of 'creamy layer' is applicable only to the reservation for OBCs.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation for the uplift of castes that are socially and economically more backward.
A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, by a majority of 6:1, set aside the apex court's five-judge bench verdict of 2014 in the EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh case which had held that no sub-classification of Scheduled Castes (SCs) can be allowed as they are a homogeneous class in themselves.
Latehar, Aug 1 (PTI) Five Kanwar Yatra pilgrims were electrocuted to death in Jharkhand's Latehar district on Thursday morning when their vehicle came into contact with a high-tension overhead wire, police said. Three others were injured.
The incident happened at Tam Tam Tola in Balumath police station area around 3 am. The pilgrims were returning from Baba Baidyanath temple in Deoghar when their vehicle hit an electricity pole, police added.
"A high-tension overhead wire fell on their vehicle. Five people were killed and three others injured," Balumath sub-divisional police officer Ashutosh Kumar Satyam told PTI.
The injured have been admitted to a hospital, police added.
Kolkata, Aug 1 (PTI) The West Bengal assembly on Thursday passed a resolution seeking a review by the Union government of the new laws implemented in the country replacing the IPC and the CrPC.
Opposition BJP members criticised the resolution, arguing that it was a waste of the House's time given that the new laws had already come into effect.
They dismissed the TMC members' claims that the new laws were "draconian and anti-people" as unsubstantiated.
Following a two-day discussion on the resolution, which was brought by the state's Law Minister Moloy Ghatak and other Trinamool Congress members, the House passed it on voice vote.
The resolution urged upon the Centre through the West Bengal government to review the new laws to evolve consensus views of jurists, social activists and citizens in the interest of good governance and to protect the principles of fundamental rights and natural justice.
The three new criminal laws - Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into effect across the country from July 1, replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act respectively.
Opposing the resolution, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that stakeholders' opinions, including that of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were taken before the Bill was passed in Parliament.
He stated that Banerjee had sent her opinion, suggestions and objections by letter to the Union government on the matter in November 2023, maintaining that she said that before enacting the new laws, utmost care must be taken and all stakeholders must be consulted.
He said that the Union Home Minister had replied to Banerjee's letter in the second week of December 2023.
Adhikari said the Union government enacted the three laws under powers vested in it under the Concurrent List given in the Constitution and as such the resolution and its discussion meant wasting the valuable time of the Assembly.
Kohima, Aug 1 (PTI) Lone Nagaland MP S Supongmeren Jamir on Thursday alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has been "delaying" in finding a solution to the Naga political problem.
The Congress MP also said his party has been committed to fight for an early solution to the problem.
Despite having two agreements, the Centre has been delaying in finding a solution to the Naga political issue. Instead of early implementation of the two agreements, the Union government started changing interlocutors who had already signed the agreements and declared that the peace talks had been completed, Jamir alleged.
The union government held separate parleys with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) since 1997 and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) comprising seven organisations since 2017.
The Centre signed a framework agreement with the NSCN(IM) on August 3, 2015, and also entered into an agreed position with NNPGs in December 2017.
However, the Centre has not accepted the NSCN-IMs demand for a separate constitution and flag for the Nagas, which, according to officials, is delaying the final solution.
The Congress leader also slammed all MLAs of the 60-member Nagaland Assembly for coming together to have an opposition-less government in the state.
Jamir, who is the state Congress president, said, Our party is committed to fight for an early solution.
The Congress is open to suggestions from NGOs, government and national workers towards finding a solution to the Naga political issue, he said during a press conference at the party office here.
Asked if the party high command would support the Naga peace talks, Jamir claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is fully aware of the issues.
He also said that the Naga people wanted a solution and they had raised the 'no solution no election' slogan in the 2018 state assembly polls but it was the BJP, which said election for solution.
They (BJP) are making false promises but Naga people are still hoping that BJP will bring drastic changes. It will not. So people have to come forward and raise voices for their rights, he added.
Agartala, Aug 1 (PTI) The Border Security Force Tripura frontier is monitoring the developments in Bangladesh and maintaining close coordination with Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) at various levels, a senior BSF official said.
Bangladesh recently witnessed violent clashes between the police and mostly student protesters demanding an end to a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971.
"Due to the ongoing situation, the BSF is constantly monitoring the development across the border and maintaining close coordination at various levels", he said.
The senior official said in addition to the IG BSF- Region Commander level conference in July, four Commandant level flag meetings and 150 Company Commander /BOP level meetings with BGB were held.
The border areas which are vulnerable are being dominated by BSF and BGB jointly by carrying out special coordinated patrols, he said, adding over 100 such patrols have been carried out during July.
He said the efforts have reinforced the mutual trust between the two border guarding forces and have greatly enhanced the synergy.
"This was visible in the recent safe return of students from Bangladesh through the Tripura Border. BSF was instrumental in facilitating the safe return of more than 900 students till date, he said.
According to him, the BSF Tripura Frontier has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to prevent trans-border crime and illegal infiltration. "Troops on the border have been augmented especially in areas which are vulnerable to smuggling and infiltration. Surveillance has been stepped up and thermal imagers and drones have been inducted", he said.
The official said Inspector General (IG), Tripura Frontier, Patel Piyush Purushottam Das has directed all field commanders to step up coordination with all agencies including state police, TSR, GRP, RPF, Customs, Revenue Intelligence and other agencies for sharing of intelligence and carrying out joint operation both on border and hinterland against illegal infiltrators and trans border smugglers.
"In the month of July, 56 cases of firing from Non-Lethal weapons took place in the border area in which more than 70 rounds were fired to prevent the trans-border criminals and infiltrators. It has been reliably learnt that 6 trans-border criminals have sustained injuries due to the firing", he said.
Samba/Jammu, Aug 1 (PTI) A Pakistani intruder has been shot dead by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, officials said on Thursday.
The infiltrator was spotted moving into Indian territory near the Khora post late Wednesday, the officials said.
They said the intruder paid no heed to the warnings from BSF personnel and was subsequently fired upon.
Senior BSF and police officials have reached the area of incident and efforts are on to retrieve the body.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Seven students from India died in violence or attacks in three foreign countries this year, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh shared the data in a written response to queries on the number of students from India killed in attacks in foreign countries during the last five years.
According to the data, 124 students from India died this year in various foreign countries due to "accidents or medical causes".
He was also asked about the number of students from India who had died of accidents and medical causes in foreign countries during the last five years.
Of the seven students who died due to violence or attacks this year, four were in Canada, two in the US and one in Australia.
According to the tabular data shared in the response, five students from India died as a result of violence or attacks in two countries -- four in the US and one in Canada -- in 2023.
In 2022, the corresponding figure was two -- one each in Canada and the UK. In 2021, one person died in China.
Of the 124 students who died in accidents or medical causes this year, 37 were in the US and 31 in Canada.
The corresponding figure for 2023 was 170.
The minister also said that according to data collated from Indian missions and posts abroad, the total number of Indian students in foreign universities was estimated at 1.33 million as on January 1.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) An Indian fisherman was killed and another went missing following a collision on Thursday morning between a Sri Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat around five nautical miles north of Katchatheevu Island, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The Sri Lankan acting high commissioner was called to the MEA and a strong protest was registered over the incident, it said.
"We expressed our shock and anguish at the unfortunate loss of life. Our High Commissioner in Colombo will also be raising the matter with the Sri Lankan government later today," the MEA said.
BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The General Office of China's State Council has released a set of guidelines for maintaining high-level participation in basic medical insurance program in the long term.
According to the guidelines, China will encourage people already covered by the basic medical insurance program, which has covered 1.334 billion, or over 95 percent, of its population at the end of 2023, to continue participating without quitting.
As stated in the guidelines, starting from 2025, people who have continuously participated in the basic medical insurance program for four years can receive an incentive for each additional year of further continuous participation, which is a yearly increase of no less than 1,000 yuan (140 U.S. dollars) of their maximum insurance payout limit for major illnesses.
From next year, people who participate in the basic medical insurance program but have not used any medical insurance fund reimbursements during the whole year can have the maximum payout limit for major illnesses increased by no less than 1,000 yuan in the following year.
The guidelines also state that from 2025, people who have once quit the basic medical insurance program will need to wait for at least three months after the insurance is resumed before they can use reimbursement again.
Fan Weidong, an official with the National Healthcare Security Administration, said at a press conference on Thursday that such policies are aimed at protecting the interests of all people participating in the basic medical insurance program and sustaining the stable operation of the medical insurance funds.
The guidelines were adopted at a State Council executive meeting in June.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Opposition INDIA bloc parties have demanded that the working of the Union Home Ministry be discussed in Rajya Sabha as the House is deliberating on various ministries after the Budget presentation.
Sources said opposition parties made the proposal on Tuesday during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee to decide which ministries should be discussed in the House.
On Wednesday, a Rajya Sabha bulletin said the BAC decided to discuss the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, on which the deliberations were initiated by the BJP, and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, which will be started by the Congress.
The BAC also recommended two more ministries will be taken up during the Session and may be finalised by the Chairman in due course after consultations, the Rajya Sabha bulletin said.
It was also recommended that the TMC and the DMK may initiate the discussion on the remaining Ministries.
A source said INDIA bloc parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) , Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) backed the demand that the Home Ministry should be discussed in the House. The demand was backed also by the Biju Janata Dal.
The Rajya Sabha has a limited role in the passing of money bills, including the finance bill.
While the Lower House discusses demands for grants for selected ministries, the Rajya Sabha holds discussion on the working of some of the ministries.
Lucknow, Aug 1 (PTI) Samajwadi Party MLAs raised slogans in the well of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Thursday over the demolition of a platform built to install former Cabinet Minister Hari Shankar Tiwaris statue in Gorakhpur.
As soon as the House met, SP leader Kamal Akhtar raised the issue in the assembly.
Leader of Opposition Mata Prasad Pandey said that the platform was constructed for installation of the statue after the village head wrote to the district magistrate and he was also given permission for the same.
The SP members entered the well of the House and raised slogans.
Speaker Satish Mahana said that as no notice was given on the issue he could not seek reply from the government.
When the SP members insisted, the Speaker said that he would ask the government to look into the matter.
Earlier, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav raised the matter through a post on X.
He said, "Till now, BJP's bulldozer used to run on shops and houses, now it has started running on the honour and respect of those who are not more as well. Getting the proposed site of installation of the statue of late Harishankar Tiwari, former Cabinet Minister of UP and seven times MLA from Chillupar, demolished by the BJP government is a highly objectionable act."
"The site should be immediately rebuilt so that the statue can be installed with respect on his birth anniversary day, August 5," he said.
Tiwari was a founding member of the Loktantrik Congress party and was a cabinet minister from 1997 to 2007 in Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta, Rajnath Singh, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav-led governments.
He passed away on May 16 last year after prolonged illness.
Tiwari was considered a political heavy weight and had established himself as a leader of Brahmins in the state.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Thursday addressed select ministers and parliamentarians from India, Bangladesh and Egypt, along with heads of philanthropies from international climate organisations, on energy transition.
Together, the leaders of different nations can drive collaborative efforts towards a sustainable and equitable energy future, he said.
"It was a pleasure to address the gathering of select ministers and parliamentarians from India, Bangladesh and Egypt, along with heads of philanthropies from international climate organisations, in New Delhi today," he said in a post on X.
The Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha said he was happy to do his bit in shaping the dialogue between leaders of the Global South on energy transition.
Meanwhile, Gogoi was also part of a Congress delegation that met Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who is on a visit to India.
"Honoured to meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in New Delhi today, with CPP (Congress Parliamentary Party) Chairperson Smt Sonia Gandhi ji and Congress President Shri @kharge ji," he said in another post on X.
"We had a fruitful discussion about strengthening India-Vietnam relations," he added.
New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) The Public Works Department (PWD) has greenlit a major project to upgrade and strengthen the Okhla Estate Road between Sarita Vihar Underpass and Guru Ravidas Marg T-Point in South East Delhi, a critical artery for the bustling areas of Tughlakabad, Okhla, and Kalkaji, a statement said.
While approving the project, PWD Minister Atishi said, "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has promised to provide excellent road infrastructure to Delhiites. In this direction, we are creating a world-class and safe transport network in the city by following international standards. In this direction, the government will upgrade Okhla Estate Road, an important road in South-East Delhi".
While approving the project, Atishi also instructed the officials that all the standards of security and quality should be followed with commitment during the strengthening and that the commuters should not face any problems.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 1 (PTI) A scientific research institute under the central government has been working without break for the last two days to prepare food items with longer shelf life for the survivors of landslides in Wayanad.
A team of scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here has converted their incubation cell for technology transfer into a food processing and production unit with more than 70 people, including research scholars volunteering to help, working in one shift to prepare 1000 packets of each food item.
They are using an exclusive technology developed by the institute to provide extra shelf life to food items like Upma, which the director said has a high protein value.
"One is upma; we increased the protein content of it by 10 per cent. And we use retort processing and retort pouches that will keep the food fresh for at least one month. Then we have poha mixed with ground nuts in dried form, which also has a shelf life of one month. We also have millet puffs for kids," C Anandharamakrishnan, director of CSIR-NIIST, told PTI.
He said the prime aim was to pack and send food items that are readily consumable and have a longer shelf life.
Anandharamakrishnan said their unit is equipped to produce more if further requirements come, and they aim to complete the first batch by Thursday evening.
"We are planning to hand over the consignment to the Thiruvananthapuram district collector by this evening," the director said.
NIIST never had a full-fledged production capability at their technology incubation cell, but they used the existing infrastructure and converted it into a round-the-clock production line.
"The retort process is a high-temperature, high-pressure process. With this process, any food item could be kept fresh for two to three months. A minimum of one month is our guarantee," V V Venugopal, head of the Department of Agroprocessing and Technology, told PTI.
He said the Poha mix does not have any moisture content, so it could be kept for longer days and readily consumed.
These food packets will be sent to the landslide-affected area through the district administration, where they will be distributed among the survivors.
The devastating landslides in Wayanad district have killed 173 people and left about 200 injured, and authorities are struggling to trace the missing and continue the rescue efforts in challenging terrain without heavy machinery to uncover debris and buried victims.
Bengaluru, Aug 1 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Thursday "strongly advised" Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the show cause notice he issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and alleged that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime.
The Council of Ministers discussed the show cause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the Constitutional Office'' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.
Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted.
"...Hence, the request of the petitioner needs to be processed as per provisions of section 17(A) and 19 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023...", the governor had said in his notice to the chief minister.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers which lasted five hours, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, flanked by seven cabinet colleagues, said the governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham has criminal antecedents, including cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him.
The council strongly urged the governor to withdraw the notice and to proceed forthwith to reject the application for sanction filed by Abraham, he said. "I am hopeful that the governor will withdraw the notice and uphold the dignity of his office in spite of any pressure."
Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the governor, in issuing the show cause notice, has acted in undue haste, circumventing all procedural requirements.
He described the governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution''.
"There is no case for prosecution here," he asserted. "(This action against) a chief minister who has been elected with a huge majority in a democratic set up is a murder of democracy and detrimental to the Constitution by (sic) the Centre... the central government is using the governor..." he said.
Shivakumar said that Abraham had submitted a letter to the governor on July 26. On the same day, the chief secretary had personally given a detailed reply to the governor on the issue through a report, as sought by him earlier.
"Without looking into the aspects and issues, the genuinity (sic) of the report of the chief secretary, the governor has issued a show cause notice (to CM) on July 26... This is a political, malafide show cause notice. We never expected this from the governor. He could have studied and looked into the report submitted by the chief secretary," he said.
The chief minister skipped today's meeting of the Council of Ministers and authorised Shivakumar to chair it.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said since the Cabinet was slated to discuss the notice issued to the CM the governor, ministers requested the chief minister to skip it.
Earlier today at a breakfast meeting, Siddaramaiah held discussions with his cabinet colleagues regarding a political and legal strategy and the Congress high commands directions on the issue.
The chief minister's Legal Advisor A S Ponnanna, a MLA, who was also present at the press meet, said as per Article 163 of the Constitution, the governor has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers and at his discretion when provided under the Constitution.
He further said: "Prior approval under section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act can be sought only by the investigation officer after due verification, not by T J Abraham."
In the MUDA 'scam', it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
BJP leaders have claimed that the MUDA 'scam' is of the magnitude of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
On July 14, the Congress government constituted a single-member inquiry commission under former High Court Judge Justice P N Desai to probe the MUDA 'scam'.
Siddaramaiah, along with Shivakumar, on Tuesday met Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala in New Delhi and held discussions.
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 1 (PTI) The Kerala police on Thursday registered 14 FIRs against social media accounts that campaigned against donating to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, following the Wayanad landslide incidents.
The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) said here that 194 such posts were found on social media, and notices were sent to social media platforms to remove them.
Out of the 14 FIRs registered across the state, four are in Thiruvananthapuram City, two each in Kochi city and Palakkad and one each in Kollam city, Ernakulam Rural, Thrissur City, Malappuram, Wayanad, and Thiruvananthapuram Rural, it said in a release here.
Police said to monitor fake campaigns against the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, cyber patrolling on social media has been intensified.
"Legal action will be taken against those creating and sharing such posts," the police warned.
The social media campaign was launched after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called upon everyone to contribute to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) in order to help those affected by the landslides.
Meanwhile, the office of Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, filed a complaint with the state police chief against a fake social media campaign that claimed he had appealed to not contribute to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund in the wake of the Wayanad disaster.
The complaint states that such fake campaigns are being carried out with the ulterior motive of creating political divisions among the people when the state is unitedly facing a disaster.
It demands immediate legal action against those who created and spread fake news in the name of the opposition leader.
The massive landslides struck Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday morning, killing at least 177 people and injuring many. With nearly 200 people missing, the death toll is expected to rise.
Amritsar, Aug 1 (PTI) The Punjab Police on Thursday said it has busted a trans-border narcotics smuggling network with the arrest of a person, adding that 3.5 kg heroin was recovered from his possession.
Commissioner of Police (CP), Amritsar, Ranjit Singh Dhillon said the accused has been identified as Gurmej Singh of Bhindi Saidan Ajnala.
Police said Rs one lakh cash has also been recovered from him.
Dhillon said Gurmej was allegedly in touch with Pakistan-based drug smugglers. Drones were used to smuggle drugs from across the border, he said, adding that further investigations are on in the case.
Police got a tip-off that Gurmej had retrieved the drug consignment and was waiting to deliver it to someone in the area of Chheharta in Amritsar.
Police teams laid a trap and arrested him from the area of Ghanupur Kale.
Thane, Aug 1 (PTI) A couple was injured after the plaster of the ceiling of their flat in Maharashtra's Thane city fell on them in the wee hours of Thursday, a civic official said.
The incident occurred around 4 am in the ground floor flat of a two-storey building in Bedekar Nagar area of Diwa, he said.
"The ceiling plaster fell on the couple when they were asleep," Yasin Tadvi, chief of the Disaster Management Cell of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), said.
The injured were identified as Santosh Shinde (41) and his wife Sharmila (35). Both of them were admitted to a civic hospital in Kalwa, he said.
The building is 15 years old, he added.
Students attend the "Belt and Road" International Ceramic Education Alliance Ceramic Creation Camp in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)
NANCHANG, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- When Marine Michele-Ange Nathalie Chaleron sat down at her potter's wheel, she was delighted to find that her every touch breathed life into the once shapeless porcelain clay.
This summer, 24-year-old Chaleron's enthusiasm for ceramics brought her across Eurasia to Jingdezhen, a hub of China's ceramics industry.
The city is located in east China's Jiangxi Province and is known around the world as the "porcelain capital," with a history of ceramics spanning more than 2,000 years.
This profound history continues to spur innovation. With its strong cultural magnetism, Jingdezhen has become a window through which the world can experience China's development and appreciate Chinese culture.
From June 28 to July 28, Jingdezhen Ceramic University held the "Belt and Road" International Ceramic Education Alliance Ceramic Creation Camp in the city.
Alongside over 100 international ceramics enthusiasts from nine countries, Chaleron spent her summer holiday learning new skills, taking part in cultural exchange and gaining hands-on creative experience.
During the event, she and her fellow camp participants placed their ceramic creations into a wood-fired kiln, with many experiencing the traditional firing method for the first time.
"We don't even know what one-of-a-kind creations will be revealed until we reach the moment to open the kiln. That's amazing," Chaleron said, brimming with visible excitement.
Having studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Art de Dijon (ENSA Dijon) in France, Chaleron has long been captivated by this art form and has taught herself to create her own ceramics.
Speaking to Xinhua, she said that she tries to incorporate local cultural elements into her work whenever she travels to a new place, creating a new world at her fingertips.
"During my time in Jingdezhen, the Chinese teachers and fellow participants here have been incredibly willing to share their knowledge and skills. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and have gained so much," she said.
Rebecca Zhang, 19, who hails from the United States, said that the Jingdezhen camp has a magnetic pull and is a communication platform for ceramics enthusiasts.
"This camp has given us demos from local masters. I've learned a lot of new techniques and skills that I've never seen before," Zhang said. "Each master was really specialized in their craft. They were very knowledgeable and had so much to share, and it was a lot to take in."
Zhang also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn from some of China's most skilled artisans, and for the sense of community she experienced in the city.
"Art is universal. We are glad to see more and more young people participate in cultural exchange in Jingdezhen. They can better know each other through the porcelain," Amel Nafti, director of ENSA Dijon, said when she visited Chaleron during the event.
Marine Michele-Ange Nathalie Chaleron paints on a porcelain body in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, July 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)
No one knows the importance of selecting the right running mate better than Vice President Kamala Harris. With Harris now the leading candidate to succeed President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, heres a look at the top contenders to be on the ticket.
Andy Beshear
The Kentucky governor secured his reputation as a rising party star by beating Donald Trump-endorsed candidates in a Republican stronghold.
Beshear displayed a disciplined, tenacious style in winning reelection last year by defeating then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The governor has urged Democrats to follow his winning formula by focusing on the everyday concerns of Americans, from good-paying jobs to quality education and health care.
Beshear, 46, supports abortion rights, but in Kentucky, he has tailored his message to push back against what he calls an extreme ban that lacks exceptions for rape and incest victims.
He won widespread praise for his empathy and attention to detail in guiding the Bluegrass State through the COVID-19 pandemic and leading the response to tornadoes and flooding that caused massive damage. He honed his speaking skills by holding regular news conferences that often last an hour or so.
Beshear has presided over record economic growth in Kentucky, and he typically begins his briefings by promoting the states latest economic wins. He frequently mentions his Christian faith and how it guides his policymaking.
A lawyer by trade, Beshear won election as state attorney general in 2015. He then unseated Trump-backed Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019.
Beshear entered politics with a strong pedigree as the son of two-term Gov. Steve Beshear, but has faced tougher political obstacles. Andy Beshear, unlike his father, has dealt with an entirely GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican lawmakers have stymied some of his priorities. One of them is state-funded preschool for every Kentucky 4-year-old.
Mark Kelly
The Arizona senator leveraged his career as an astronaut to build a brand as a moderate in a state that long supported Republicans.
In his two campaigns the first in 2020 to finish the term of the late Republican Sen. John McCain and the second two years later for a full term Kelly has earned more votes than any other Democrat on the ballot. He outpolled Biden, who narrowly won Arizona, by 2 percentage points in 2020.
Kellys first turn in the national political spotlight came through tragedy. His wife, then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head while meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson. The shooting left six people dead and spawned an early reckoning with political violence and partisan rancor.
Giffords survival made her a national inspiration but snuffed out a promising political career of her own. She and Kelly went on to found a gun-control advocacy group, and Giffords has been a powerful surrogate as Kelly has taken her place in politics.
In the Senate, Kelly has focused on national security and the military as well as the drought plaguing the U.S. West. He was instrumental in crafting the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill signed by Biden to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
Kelly was a Navy test pilot and flew 39 combat missions during the Gulf War before joining NASA, where he flew four missions on the space shuttle.
Originally from New Jersey, he settled with Giffords in Tucson after retiring from NASA and the Navy.
Unlike Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat two years before Kelly but later left the party to become an independent, Kelly has managed to retain the support of the partys grassroots base without alienating independent voters.
Josh Shapiro
Shapiro is halfway through his second year as Pennsylvanias governor after easily winning his last election by trouncing a far-right, Trump-endorsed candidate.
Shapiro, 51, has been a surrogate for Biden, backing the president in appearances on cable networks, and has years of experience making Trump the focus of his attacks, first as state attorney general and now as governor.
He has won three statewide races two as attorney general, one as governor with a tightly scripted, disciplined campaign style, offering voters something of a lower-key alternative to the states brash political star, Sen. John Fetterman.
As governor, Shapiro has begun to shed a buttoned-down public demeanor and become more confident and plain-spoken. In one recent MSNBC appearance, he said Trump should quit whining and stop [expletive] talking America.
Shapiro, who is Jewish, has aggressively confronted what he viewed as antisemitism cropping up from pro-Palestinian demonstrations and has professed solidarity with Israel in its drive to eliminate Hamas.
He is a staunch proponent of abortion rights in Pennsylvania and routinely promotes his victories in court against Trump, including beating back challenges to the 2020 election results.
He also has positioned himself as a moderate on energy issues in the nations No. 2 natural gas state and plays up the need for bipartisanship in the politically divided state government.
Tim Walz
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is a military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families.
Walz, 60, has taken on greater national visibility since a 2023 legislative session that he calls one of the most consequential and productive in state history. He was elected chair of the Democratic Governors Association in December. He has served often as a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris advocate, and has made increasingly frequent appearances on national television.
Walz won the first of six terms in Congress in 2006 from a mostly rural southern Minnesota district, and used the office to champion veterans issues. He served 24 years in the Army National Guard, rising to command sergeant major, one of the highest enlisted ranks in the military.
When first elected governor in 2018, Walz had to find ways to work with a Legislature that was split between a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-led Senate. Minnesota has a history of divided government, though, and the arrangement was surprisingly productive in his first year. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit Minnesota early in his second year, and bipartisan cooperation soon frayed.
Walz won reelection by nearly 8 points in 2022, and Democrats kept control of the House and flipped the Senate to win full control of both chambers and the governors office for the first time in eight years.
Walz and other Democrats went into the 2023 legislative session with an ambitious agenda and a whopping $17.6 billion budget surplus to help fund it. Their proudest accomplishments included sweeping protections for abortion rights.
(AP)
Spirit Airlines is moving farther away from its history as a fee-happy budget airline and will start selling tickets that include some of its most popular extras in bundles.
The Florida-based airline said Tuesday the top ticket will be a Go Big package that includes priority check-in, a roomier seat, snacks and drinks, a checked bag, a carry-on bag and free WiFi.
CEO Ted Christie said the changes are taking low-fare travel to new heights. They also indicate the deep trouble with Spirits longtime business model.
The airline with bright yellow planes hasnt made a full-year profit since 2019 it has lost nearly $2.4 billion since leading industry analysts to mull whether a bankruptcy filing could be in Spirits future.
Full-service carriers Delta and United account for an outsized share of the U.S. airline industrys profit, and they are doing it by focusing on premium flyers while also selling bare-bones basic economy fares that compete with Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant for travelers on tight budgets.
The budget carriers have suffered more than the giants from a glut of flights within the United States, which has led to price-cutting. Delta, United and American have a booming business right now in long-haul international flights that can offset weak pricing power at home. Spirit does not.
The budget carriers are trying to adapt. Frontier Airlines which, like Spirit, has been losing money for more than four years matched a pandemic-era move by the bigger airlines and dropped flight-change and cancellation fees for many customers this spring. Spirit quickly copied the move.
Spirit has other problems, including a looming debt payment of more than $1 billion and a shortage of planes because some of its jets are grounded for inspections and repairs of Pratt & Whitney engines. Spirit expects compensation of up to $200 million from the engine maker, but its condition is dire enough that Spirit announced in April it would furlough some pilots and delay delivery of new jets.
TD Cowen analysts downgraded Spirit shares to Sell this month and said if Spirit cant renegotiate its debt or return leased planes to lessors, a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing is possible.
Spirits announcement Tuesday targets travelers who might not consider a budget airline.
It said customers will be able to book any of the four new ticket bundles starting Aug. 16. That means they wont be available during the height of summer-vacation travel but will be in use over the busy Labor Day holiday.
We listened to our guests and are excited to deliver what they want: choices for an elevated experience that are affordable and provide unparalleled value, Christie said in a statement issued by Spirit.
Spirit shares gained 5% in afternoon trading but are down more than 80% this year.
(AP)
A Toronto father and son have been charged with multiple terrorism-related offences, including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit of the ISIS, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested on July 28 in a Richmond Hill hotel room after a month-long investigation. The pair face a total of nine charges, including weapons offences for possession of an axe and a machete.
RCMP Supt. James Parr said the alleged attack was targeted at Toronto, but the exact nature of the threat is under a publication ban.
Both men are Canadian citizens and were not known to police before the investigation began in early July. The RCMP received information from various sources, including tipsters and governmental agencies, which led to the charges.
A charge sheet also alleges Ahmad Fouad Mostafa Eldidi committed an aggravated assault for the benefit of the Islamic State in 2015 outside of Canada.
The pair are currently being held in police custody and are scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday.
The RCMP emphasized that there is no ongoing danger to residents of Toronto.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Vice President Kamala Harris appears to have energized Democrats in the early days of her candidacy, with the surge in warm feelings extending across multiple groups, including some key Democratic constituencies that had been especially tepid about President Joe Biden, a new poll shows.
About 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted after Biden withdrew from the race.
In a separate AP-NORC poll, taken before Biden dropped out but after his debate against Republican former President Donald Trump, only about 4 in 10 Democrats said they were somewhat or very satisfied that he was the Democratic Partys likely nominee for president.
The rapidly changing views among Democrats in such a short time span underscore how swiftly the party from rank-and-file voters to elected officials has coalesced behind Harris as its standard-bearer, motivated by the fresh face at the top of the ticket and newfound confidence in the partys prospects against Trump in November.
Gary Hines, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said he wasnt particularly impressed by Harris first presidential bid but now, shes shown shes up to the task, can do the work, has proven that shes running a strong campaign so far and maybe on a bigger level, shes somebody that can beat Donald Trump. All those factors have ignited an enthusiasm in Hines that wasnt there when Biden was still in the race, he said.
I really want to go out and maybe knock on doors, which I wouldve never done, said Hines, 68. Its jazzed me up quite a bit.
Americans are also more likely to say that Harris would make a good president than they were earlier in July, a shift that was primarily driven by Democrats. They still see a tough contest looming, though: A majority of U.S. adults, 56%, say that if Trump and Harris are their parties nominees for the general election in November, Trump is more likely to win.
Lauren Schulman, a Democrat from Pompano Beach, Florida, said she admires Biden and what he has accomplished during his presidency. But she said with him at the top of the ticket, I have just been so terrified that we were going to lose.
With Harris, on the other hand, shes been a bright, shining star, said Schulman, 66, noting that the vice president is smart and shes younger, and she even comes off younger than she is. That makes such a huge contrast with Trump.
Growing enthusiasm for Harris especially compared to Biden
About 7 in 10 Black adults and about half of Hispanic adults would be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee a marked increase from earlier in July, when about half of Black adults and 15% of Hispanic adults felt satisfied with Biden as the Democrats expected nominee. (The poll did not include enough Asian adults to analyze their responses separately.)
The share of younger adults (those under the age of 45) who say they would be satisfied with Harris as the nominee, at around 4 in 10, is higher than the 17% who said they were satisfied with Biden in July.
Bryan Seigler, a Democrat from Raleigh, North Carolina, praised Harris broad appeal and pointed to a contrast that Democrats werent able to make before.
Donald Trump is the old guy now, said Seigler, 36.
The new poll shows that Harris overall favorability has risen slightly, from 39% at the beginning of the summer before the debate to 46% now. Democrats opinions of Harris have also shifted in a slightly more positive direction. Eight in 10 Democrats have a positive view of Harris, up slightly from around 7 in 10 in early June.
Harris would be a historic candidate she would be the first woman to win the presidency, as well as the first Black woman, the first South Asian American, and the first Asian American. Around 4 in 10 Americans say that it would be a good thing for the country to elect either a woman or a person of color to be president. Even more about 6 in 10 when asked about electing a person of color and about half when asked about electing a woman say it does not matter.
Majorities of Democrats, however, say it would be good for the country to elect a woman or person of color.
Views of Bidens decision
Most Americans, 54%, say they have heard or read a lot about Bidens decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. About three-quarters of Americans approve of his decision to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for president, including most Democrats and Republicans.
For many Democrats, Bidens catastrophic June 27 debate showed that even if they were largely satisfied with his accomplishments during his time in office the incumbent president should not be running for a second term because of concerns about how his age was affecting his public performance or his ability to campaign effectively against Trump.
When I watched the debate, you could just tell his cognitive ability was hardly there, said Julian Castaneda, a Democrat in Pocatello, Idaho. He had a hard time forming sentences and a lot of his responses, I couldnt even understand what he was saying. At his age right now, it was appropriate for him to stand aside.
Bidens choice to endorse Harris as the Democratic nominee for president is slightly more divisive, with about half of U.S. adults in support, though Democrats overwhelmingly approve. There are similar levels of support for Bidens decision to serve out the rest of his presidential term.
Withdrawing from the race didnt do much to change Americans views of Biden overall. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of how Biden is handling his job as president. That number is roughly in line with where it has been for the last two years. Bidens favorability ratings are similar to where they were before he dropped out of the race, with about 4 in 10 adults and about three-quarters of Democrats holding a positive view.
Americans see a tough election contest for Harris
Even as the new Harris campaign has reasons for optimism, the vice president faces an opponent who is better known by the country and who has a reputation for a loyal base of support.
Most Americans perceive Trump as having the advantage going into the November election. A majority of U.S. adults say that if Trump and Harris are the candidates, Trump is more likely to win. About 9 in 10 Republicans say Trump is more likely to become president, while only about 7 in 10 Democrats say that about Harris.
Schulman thinks Harris is more likely to win this fall. Still, she added: Democrats, were like a real, nervous, paranoid bunch these days.
___
The poll of 1,143 adults was conducted July 25-29, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
(AP)
New Jerseys ban on the AR-15 rifle is unconstitutional, but the states cap on magazines over 10 rounds passes constitutional muster, a federal judge said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridans 69-page opinion says he was compelled to rule as he did because of the Supreme Courts rulings in firearms cases, particularly the 2022 Bruen decision that expanded gun rights.
Sheridans ruling left both 2nd Amendment advocates and the state attorney general planning appeals. The judge temporarily delayed the order for 30 days.
Pointing to the high courts precedents, Sheridan suggested Congress and the president could do more to curb gun-related violence nationwide.
It is hard to accept the Supreme Courts pronouncements that certain firearms policy choices are off the table when frequently, radical individuals possess and use these same firearms for evil purposes, he wrote.
Sheridan added: Where the Supreme Court has set for the law of our Nation, as a lower court, I am bound to follow it. This principle combined with the reckless inaction of our governmental leaders to address the mass shooting tragedy afflicting our Nation necessitates the Courts decision.
Nine other states and the District of Columbia have laws similar to New Jerseys, covering New York, Los Angeles and other major cities as well as the sites of massacres such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six adults were killed by a shooter armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon.
Bans on so-called assault weapons are immoral and unconstitutional. FPC will continue to fight forward until all of these bans are eliminated throughout the United States, said Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, one of the plaintiffs.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a statement the ruling undermines public safety.
The AR-15 is an instrument designed for warfare that inflicts catastrophic mass injuries, and is the weapon of choice for the epidemic of mass shootings that have ravaged so many communities across this nation, he said.
He added: We look forward to pressing our arguments on appeal.
Several challenges to state assault weapons bans have cited the Bruen decision.
A gun rights group has challenged Connecticuts landmark 2013 gun control law, passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, that bans assault weapons, including certain AR-15-style rifles and large capacity magazines. A federal judge last year rejected a request by the National Association for Gun Rights to temporarily block the law while litigation continues, and an appeal of that ruling is pending before a federal appeals court.
New Jersey has among the strictest gun laws in the country, particularly under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who has signed a number of measures into law, including the 2018 large capacity magazine ban at the center of this weeks ruling. More measures Murphy signed in 2022 include allowing the attorney general to use the states public nuisance law to go after gun makers in court. A message seeking comment Wednesday was left with a spokesperson for the governor.
The states assault weapons ban dates to 1990 and includes various other weapons, but Sheridan focused on the Colt AR-15, citing the plaintiffs concentration on that weapon in their court filings, and the law specifying that make of the rifle. The large capacity magazine bill signed by Murphy lowered the limit from 15 rounds to 10 against the protest of 2nd Amendment advocates. The bills sponsors said the goal was to reduce the potential for mass casualties in shootings.
(AP)
The Polish and German presidents bowed their heads to the cadence of a military drum as they paid tribute Thursday to Poles slaughtered by Nazi Germany during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 on the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the ill-fated revolt.
As Poland marked the hallowed day, news broke that the oldest surviving insurgent of the uprising, 106-year-old Barbara Sowa, died in the morning. With very few survivors left to take part in the ceremonies, it was a poignant reminder of the passing away of the generation shaped by the sacrifice of World War II.
Later, the city will stop and sirens will wail to pay tribute to the insurgents. Taylor Swift, who is giving the first of three concerts Thursday evening in Warsaw, warned her fans on social media not to panic when they hear the sirens. Many are traveling from far away for the performance.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stood together, heads bowed, to remember those days of August in 1944. They paid tribute to the Wola Massacre, the mass-murder of civilians of Warsaws Wola district carried out by the Germans from Aug. 5 to Aug. 12, 1944.
They were led out of their homes, tenement houses, their homes were set on fire, and they themselves were shot in the streets, and their bodies were burned. Several tons of ashes were collected from the streets and squares of Wola, in order to place them in a common grave, Duda said.
The German presidents bowed head and other symbolic gestures signaled remorse for the crimes of his nation. That Steinmeier lays a wreath, bows his head, kneels before the commemorative cross, calls for respect, said Duda, speaking for the nation under brutal occupation from 1939-1945, which suffered the extermination of millions of its citizens, Christian and Jewish, and the near-total destruction of its capital city.
Many Poles feel the gestures of remorse are not enough, and the previous nationalist government in power from 2015-23 allied with Duda demanded $1.3 trillion from Germany in war reparations. Germany says it will not pay and the matter was settled with compensation paid to East Bloc nations in the years after the war and with territory given up to Poland.
The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which took power last December, has toned down the demands but says it would still like Berlin to consider possibilities for compensation.
Warsaws revolt began Aug. 1, 1944, by the clandestine Home Army, which acted on orders from Polands government-in-exile in London.
The aim was to free the capital from German occupiers and take control of the country ahead of the advancing Soviet army. Moscow, intending to rule postwar Poland, withheld help and kept its Red Army positioned on the other side of the Vistula River as the capital bled and burned.
The Nazis, with their professional army and superior weaponry, killed 200,000 Polish fighters and civilians and razed the city in revenge.
Today the uprising is remembered by Poles as one of the most important moments in a long history of independence struggles, often against Russia. The courage of the fighters remains a defining memory in the Polish image of itself as a nation willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
(AP)
The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet thats been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years.
Western countries have pledged F-16s to Kyiv, and some have arrived in Ukraine, officials in Washington and Ukraine confirmed to The Associated Press. The fighter jets are expected to start flying sorties in Ukrainian skies soon and will be a much-needed boost to the countrys current fleet of Soviet-era jets that are laboring to counter Russias invasion.
United States President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for used F-16s to be deployed to Ukraine, though the U.S. wont be providing any of its own planes. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of them over coming months in what could be a slow trickle of deliveries.
Though Russias recent battlefield gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is adding up as Ukraine gradually yields ground.
The F-16s will enhance Ukraines military strength, especially by upgrading its air defenses. But analysts say they wont turn the tide of the war on their own.
Heres what to know:
What can F-16s bring to the Ukrainian war effort?
The F-16s will likely have three core missions, says Federico Borsari of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine; suppress enemy air defense systems; and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles.
They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war), Borsari says.
A lot of information about the F-16 deployment is classified, including what Western governments allow them to hit and what weapons they will send with the aircraft.
The F-16s could carry United Kingdom-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia. They might also get long-range air-to-air missiles that would threaten Russian bombers and fighter jets. The planes advanced radars will allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.
Commanding the skies is an essential part of a wars ground campaign, as planes offer air cover to troops. But supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russias sophisticated air defense systems.
At the very least, the fighter jets could have a psychological effect on Russian pilots, and offer a morale boost for Ukrainians toiling against the Kremlins forces.
What are the challenges for Ukraine?
Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at Kings College London ticks off a long list of challenges the F-16s will bring for Ukraine.
The roughly nine-month training in the U.S. and Europe for Ukrainian pilots amounted to a crash course compared with the usual three-year course for Western pilots in what Miron calls a very complex piece of machinery. That will mean limitations on their performance.
The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews.
Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems. Quality airfields are also a must as the F-16 air intake is close to the tarmac and runs the danger of sucking debris and dirt into the engine.
So many associated issues need to be sorted out, Miron says.
Ukrainian pilots with no combat experience in F-16s may shy away from engaging in dogfights.
How will Russia react?
Russian President Vladimir Putin would savor the image that destroying F-16s from NATO countries would bring.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the F-16s will not be a magic pill that changes the course of the conflict. He added that Russian authorities have already offered rewards to servicemen who destroy F-16s.
The Kremlins forces will likely try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already been targeting Ukraines limited number of suitable airfields.
The Ukrainians will need to park the F-16s in hardened hangars, disperse them between various locations, station decoy model aircraft and be ready to take off quickly in the event of an air raid warning, analysts say.
Ukraine has said it might keep some of the fighter jets at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes. That prompted a harsh response from Putin, who warned that any Western air base hosting the Ukrainian fighter jets would be a legitimate target for the Kremlins forces.
U.S. officials said the F-16s would be based in Ukraine.
In the air, the Ukrainian F-16s will be up against Russias formidable S-300 and S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile systems that can target multiple aircraft at a time. Russias military also has what are estimated to be several hundred operational fighter jets, as well as sophisticated air surveillance radars.
Russias Su-35 fighter jet will be one of the biggest threats to the F-16, Borsari of CEPA says. It has a long-range radar that allows it to track and engage up to eight targets at a time across a wide area.
Even so, the Russians are aware that theyll be up against a more formidable aircraft than they have met so far in the war and will likely adopt a more careful approach.
How will Ukraine protect the F-16s?
Although Russian forces will try to strike the F-16s at the airbases where they are kept, Ukraine has robust defenses to protect the fighter jets against such attacks, says Ukrainian aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi.
Ukraine has robust capabilities to protect its airfields with anti-aircraft defenses to deflect (Russian) attacks, Khrapchynskyi told The Associated Press. During the entire time since Russia has invaded Ukraine, it has been actively trying to hit Ukrainian airfields, but they have been somewhat unsuccessful.
Khrapchynskyi said the F-16s will significantly increase the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to protect the countrys air space from Russian attacks and increase the range that Ukraine can strike strategic targets in Russia.
With the acquisition of F-16 aircraft, we will be able to solve a number of problems that are currently hurting Ukraine. These include: Russias massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S-300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv, says Khrapchynskyi. We are talking about receiving F-16 aircraft, in my opinion, this will significantly help Ukraine to cope with the Russian aggression that is taking place now.
(AP)
A bill to expand the child tax credit and restore some tax breaks for businesses failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday as Republicans largely opposed the measure, arguing they would be in position to get a better deal next year.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dared Republicans to vote against the tax cut package before lawmakers headed home for the month. He said they would be voting against tax cuts for many low-income families and local businesses.
The legislation fell far short of the 60 votes needed to advance the measure, with a vote of 48 in favor and 44 opposed. Three Republicans Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Rick Scott of Florida joined with Democrats in support. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, independents who caucus with Democrats, were opposed.
Both parties are trying to spotlight issues they believe will play well with voters in November. Schumer put the onus on Republicans to block tax cuts that were sought by the business community and that would financially help an estimated 16 million families when fully in effect. He was also looking to counter assertions from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, that Democrats are anti-family.
The question is, will Senate Republicans join us to give Americans a tax break or will they stand in the way? Schumer said before the vote.
The roughly $79 billion package passed the House overwhelmingly in January by a 357-70 vote, but has stalled in the Senate. Republicans were calling for the bill to go through the Senate Finance Committee, in a process that would allow lawmakers to offer amendments to address their concerns, but that did not happen.
There were behind-the-scenes negotiations, but senators from both parties accused the other of not being serious.
The child tax credit is $2,000 per qualifying child. The bill aims to make the credit more fully available to low-income families by gradually making more of the credit refundable. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the changes amounted to cash welfare instead of relief for working taxpayers.
Im not so certain the American people are impressed by message votes, McConnell said. And I dont think theyll give out points for incomplete work.
The bill was fashioned through negotiations by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. It would restore full, immediate deductions that businesses can take for the purchase of new equipment and machinery, and for domestic research and development expenses. The tax breaks had lapsed as a cost-containment measure under provisions of the 2017 tax bill that Republicans approved under the Trump administration.
The changes in the child tax credit would lift as many as 500,000 out of poverty when the proposal was fully in effect, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank.
The bill would be paid for by speeding up the cutoff date by which companies could submit retroactive claims for employees they kept on the payrolls during the COVID-19 pandemic. The IRS has said a significant majority of retroactive claims are at a high risk of fraud.
With the bill seemingly lacking the support necessary to overcome procedural hurdles, Schumer had opted for months not to bring it up for a vote. But the election season presented an opportunity for Democrats to spotlight the issue and Vance. Schumer even referenced the junior senator from Ohio when speaking on the Senate floor, leaving no doubt that Vance was part of their thinking in holding the vote.
Vance claimed in a Fox News interview that Vice President Kamala Harris, the leading candidate now to be the Democrats White House nominee, was calling for an end to the child tax credit. But the Biden administration led the effort to bolster the child tax credit during the pandemic and tried unsuccessfully to continue the expansion, which temporarily increased the credit to $3,000 a year, added 17-year-olds and boosted the amount to $3,600 for children under age 6.
Schumer called Vances claim plain old nonsense and said the 2021 expansion was one of the most significant achievements Democrats have had under the Biden-Harris administration.
Vance also suggested in 2021 that political leaders who did not have biological children dont really have a direct stake in the country. He reaffirmed those remarks after clips of them resurfaced, saying this week on the SiriusXM radio program The Megyn Kelly Show that the Democratic Party had become anti-family and anti-child.
Vance was in Arizona visiting the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday and did not attend the vote. His office did not reply to a question of how he would have voted.
Wyden, meanwhile, said: Theres always a lot of talk among Republicans about supporting families, competing with China, and cracking down on fraud in government programs, but they just rejected a bill that would accomplish all of that in one package.
Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, both in competitive races this fall, spoke on the Senate floor in support of the bill. But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called Thursdays action the latest in a series of show votes designed to fail but would provide Democrats with a talking point or two on the campaign trail.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said there are good things in the legislation, but if were in a position to do this next year, it will be a much stronger bill.
Thune said it wont be hard for Republicans to rebuff criticism that they were insufficiently supportive of tax relief for businesses and families.
There are certain issues that voters instinctively know that Republicans are better on, Thune said. They may try to make that argument in a political ad, but I think itll be hard to sustain when most voters know that it was the Republicans in 2017 that cut taxes and that next year it will be Republicans who extend those tax cuts if we have the majority.
(AP)
In an overnight operation, the IDF demolished the home of Murad Dahadhah, a Palestinian terrorist responsible for a fatal shooting attack in the West Bank in January.
The attack, which occurred on Route 465 near the settlement of Ateret, claimed the lives of two individuals: Amar Mansour, a 33-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, and Lara Tannous, a 42-year-old Palestinian pharmacist from Ramallah.
Dahadhah was arrested, along with two alleged accomplices, a day after the January 7 attack. The IDF has issued demolition orders to the families of the other suspects accused of participating in the attack.
The demolition operation took place in the West Bank village of Atara, where Dahadhahs home was located. Israeli security authorities have classified the shooting as a terror attack with nationalist motives, despite the victims being Palestinians.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Israel is on high alert as it awaits retaliatory responses to its high-profile targeted eliminations of terror leaders in the capital cities of its two most powerful enemies, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah.
Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an order on Wednesday to carry out a direct strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the New York Times reported.
The IDF has bolstered Israels missile defense systems, Air Force fighter jets are patrolling the skies, and ground forces along the northern border are at increased alertness.
The assessment in Israel is that Iran and Hezbollah may carry out a coordinated and combined attack on its common enemy Israel. The IDF is also preparing for the possibility that Iran and Hezbollah may considerably delay a retaliatory attack to increase their readiness and cause prolonged tension in Israel. Irans Revolutionary Guards have vowed to carry out a special action against Israel that could take weeks to plan.
As of yet, the IDF has not issued any changes to the Home Front Commands guidelines, and all regular civilian activities are allowed to continue as usual, including at Israels borders and Ben-Gurion Airport. However, countries abroad are also on heightened alert and several airlines have canceled their flights to Israel.
The lack of public restrictions indicates the IDF is preparing for Israels military infrastructure to be targeted rather than civilian areas. According to NYT, Iran intends to target military sites near Tel Aviv or Haifa.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
YANGON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar police have arrested five suspects who snatched cash on a street in Thonse town of Bago region, the state-run daily Myanma Alinn reported on Thursday.
The theft occurred at around 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday when a local man placed his 20 million kyats of cash (about 9,523 U.S. dollars), which he had withdrawn from a bank, on his motorcycle and went to have a salad at a shop, the report said.
A group of five men on four motorcycles arrived at the scene and snatched the cash from the motorcycle, the report added.
The suspects were arrested on the same day in Letpadan township of Bago region, it said, adding that they were charged at the Thonse police station.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that top Pentagon and military officials were stunned by Israels elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran.
According to the report, the Biden administration was not informed in advance of Israels plans to eliminate Haniyeh. US military officials were particularly stunned by its execution in the Iranian capital, humiliating the regime and making it difficult for it not to respond.
However, a senior US military official told The Times that despite Irans embarrassment, it is still hesitant to launch an all-out war with Israel.
Meanwhile, US and EU diplomatic officials are urgently holding discussions with their Iranian counterparts in attempts to deter a major war in the Middle East, UKs Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The report said that senior EU diplomat Enrique Moran flew to Tehran and held talks there on Wednesday.
Everyone since last night is putting pressure on Tehran to not respond and to contain this, a Western diplomat said.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
Several Turkish media outlets fell for fake news when they took an Israeli joke about the assassin who killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh seriously.
Following Haniyehs death, some Israeli social media users joked around that the assassins name was Amit Nakesh, a play on the word hamitnakesh, [] which means the assassin.
The outlets not only named Amit Nakesh but provided specific details about his persona, writing that Nakesh is a well-known Mossad agent and a former IDF officer who worked for many years in several of Israels security agencies.
Another Turkish media outlet wrote that Amit Nakesh is probably an Israeli of Indian origin since Amit is a common Indian name [apparently unaware that its a common Israeli name as well.]
This isnt the first time that foreign media outlets have fallen into the trap of Israeli jokes. Following the helicopter crash that killed the Butcher of Tehran Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi a French media outlet reported that the name of the pilot was Eli Kopter.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
An outrageous video shows an employee of the Officeworks store in Elsternwick, a suburb of Melbourne, refusing to carry out a laminating job because she is pro-Palestine.
In a typical display of utter ignorance, she couldnt even explain why being pro-Palestine meant that she couldnt laminate the page, which was an article in the Australian Jewish News about a group of Australians who traveled to Israel to help victims of the October 7 Hamas assault. And of course, she definitely didnt explain why her personal views prevented her from carrying out her job and treating her customers equally.
The incident occurred in March but is making headlines now after the Jewish customer, who said he suffered tremendous shock and embarrassment from the incident, decided to take legal action. The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) shared the video on Thursday.
It should be noted that the customers decision to take legal action was only made after he wrote a letter to Officeworks demanding an apology and the termination of the workers employment. Their response was to offer him a $100 voucher and promise to investigate the matter.
This incident has caused my family and me significant distress and has raised concerns about whether it is safe to visit our local stores and conduct our usual activities, he said in a statement shared with the ADC.
ADC chairman Dr. Dvir Abramovich said: Treating Jewish people differently because of who they are is discrimination plain and simple and Officeworks Elsternwick might as well have posted a sign in the store saying, No service for Jews, Zionists or supporters of Israel. Imagine the public outrage if a member of the LGBTQI community, or an Indigenous Australian or a disabled person were turned away? It may begin with the Jews being turned away from a public business, but it will not end with the Jews, and red lines are now being crossed that I never thought Id see in my lifetime.
The customer, who chose to remain anonymous, told Sky News Australia that he felt vilified and discriminated by the incident. He added that he is even considering moving his family to Israel due to the increasing antisemitism in the country since October 7.
I find myself telling my family: Its a matter of when were moving to Israel, but not if.'
He is suing Officeworks under the Equal Opportunities Act for racial and religious vilification. [It should be noted that he was wearing a yarmulke during the incident.]
Australian Jewish News editor-in-chief Gareth Narunsky said he was shocked to hear about the incident, especially since AJN represents a broad range of Australian Jews with diverse opinions. To deny a customer who simply wants to laminate an article from our publication reeks of ignorance and antisemitism.
Although Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter issued a statement saying that the team members views are not Officeworks views and appropriate disciplinary action was taken, the antisemitic employee has not been dismissed. The store also did not issue a public apology.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
Seven airlines Delta, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Air India have canceled all flights to Israel due to increasing tensions with Iran.
The cancellations come after a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Tel Aviv was diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus, and then returned to Germany due to crew concerns about flying to Israel. FlyDubai has also canceled some of its scheduled flights.
Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport had massive crowds on Thursday, with many attempting to catch the last flights out of the country in anticipation of further cancellations. Others are seeking to cancel their flights due to fears of being unable to return to Israel.
The flight cancellations occur as Israel prepares for potential retaliation following the recent assassinations of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Israel is bracing for potential attacks from Iran and Hezbollah in response to the killings of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr, and is working to finalize a regional and international coalition to thwart these attacks, according to Channel 12.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss this joint effort with US President Joe Biden in an upcoming conversation. Britains Defense Secretary John Healey is also set to visit Israel to discuss the matter.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has publicly said that the US would help defend Israel if it is attacked in the wake of Haniyehs killing.
Israel has conveyed a message to Hezbollah via third parties, warning that if the group responds to the killing of Shukr, it will be considered army against army. However, if Hezbollah targets civilians, Israel will consider it a broad war and may target Lebanese infrastructure.
A senior Israeli source says the current high state of military preparation could last for several days, and that while Hezbollah may respond quickly, Iran may take longer to decide on a response.
In his call with Netanyahu, Biden is expected to press for flexibility in efforts to conclude a ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza. However, Netanyahu believes that only military pressure has yielded Hamas flexibility to date, and that now is not the time to ease up.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
The White House has announced new defensive military deployments by the US to bolster Israels defenses following the assassinations of Hezbollah senior general Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
This update was shared in the readout of a Thursday call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The statement did not provide further details on the specific defensive measures being implemented.
The following is the full statement:
President Biden spoke today with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. The President reaffirmed his commitment to Israels security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. The President discussed efforts to support Israels defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive U.S. military deployments. Together with this commitment to Israels defense, the President stressed the importance of ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region. Vice President Harris also joined the call.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
Barclays pre-tax profits fell 9% in first six months of the year
Barclays profits slumped in the fist half, as a strong performance in its investment banking division failed to offset a decline in its core UK businesses.
The FTSE 100-listed lenders pre-tax profits fell 9 per cent in the first-half to 4.2billion, beating estimates of 3.8billion but down from 4.6billion a year ago.
Group income was flat at 6.3billion in the second quarter, beating expectations of 6.16billion and bringing total half-year income to 13.3billion, down 2 per cent year-on-year.
Barclays reports dip in first-half profits as investment bank income fails to offset weakness in UK business
Income from Barclays UK business fell 4 per cent in the second quarter, as higher structural hedge income was more than offset by mortgage margin pressure and adverse product dynamics in deposits.
This was partially offset by income from the investment bank, which rose 10 per cent in the three months to June.
It was a bumper second quarter for equities with income up 24 per cent, compared with an 18 per cent increase for Morgan Stanley and 21 per cent JP Morgan.
Barclays US consumer bank saw income increase by 5 per cent to 1.68billion due to higher credit card balances, but this also came with a small increase in credit defaults.
Barclays increased the overall level of its impairment charge to 900million.
The lender also announced another share buyback of up to 750million, per analyst expectations, after announcing a 1billion scheme in its last results and an interim dividend of 2.9p.
Between this year and 2026, Barclays is estimating an extremely ambitious 10billion of returns, which are increasingly likely to be skewed towards buybacks rather than a progressive dividend policy, said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
On Wednesday, HSBC announced a similar buyback scheme, targeting $3billion worth of shares after the lenders profits beat expectations.
Barclays said it was upgrading its target for return on tangible equity, which is a measure of profitability, to greater than 12 per cent by 2026.
CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan said: We are making good progress on our three-year plan, with a RoTE of 11.1 per cent in the first half of 2024, which puts us on track for our target of greater than 10 per cent RoTE in 2024.
The lender also said it was targeting income of 30billion by 2026.
Shares in Barclays were up 1.45 per cent in morning trading and over 50 per cent year-to-date. It is the second best performer amongst the large UK banks behind Natwest.
Hunter said: While the shares reacted positively to the update, the move was perhaps tempered by much of the good news already being in the price.
A stellar six months has seen the share price rising by 58%, leading to a gain of 51 per cent over the last year, as compared to a rise of 9.2 per cent for the wider FTSE100.
Barclays is a group with deep pockets and a diversified business model, and the longer-term outlook remains one which continues to attract investors. Indeed, the market consensus of the shares as a buy has recently edged past NatWest, such that Barclays is currently the preferred play in the sector.
Participants attend the Hong Ting Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 31, 2024. The Hong Ting Forum, themed "China and Africa Join Hands Together to Modernization," was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Wednesday, drawing dozens of participants, including policymakers, diplomats, industry executives, media personnel and scholars. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Ting Forum, themed "China and Africa Join Hands Together to Modernization," was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Wednesday, drawing dozens of participants, including policymakers, diplomats, industry executives, media personnel and scholars.
Convened by Xinhua News Agency Africa Regional Bureau, the half-day symposium discussed innovative ways to strengthen Sino-African cooperation across diverse sectors and achieve renewal.
There was a consensus among participants at the Hong Ting Forum that both Africa and China have a shared aspiration to prosper and modernize by leveraging partnerships and mutual learning.
Cavince Adhere, a Nairobi-based international relations scholar, observed that a fruitful Sino-African cooperation will form the foundation for fostering economic modernization, creating jobs and spreading prosperity evenly.
While acknowledging China's huge footprint in African economies, Adhere called for enhanced cooperation in digital inclusion, green transition, technology transfer, health, agriculture and security to achieve mutual benefits.
In Kenya, Adhere said China has been instrumental in the modernization of the country's infrastructure, boosting economic growth through enhanced movement of goods and services.
Steve Zhao, chief executive officer of MOJA Expressway Company Limited, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), noted that by tapping into Chinese technology, capital and expertise, African countries will benefit from modernization powered by improved transport networks.
The 27.1-km Nairobi Expressway, built by CRBC through a public-private partnership and now operated by MOJA, has boosted Kenya's modernization through seamless mobility of manpower and cargo, Zhao said.
Julius Thairu, chief commercial and customer officer of Kenya Airways, the national carrier, said the dream of establishing a Sino-African air "Silk Road" is slowly being realized to promote connectivity, trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.
Thairu said strategic partnerships between African and Chinese airlines have been forged as part of the air "Silk Road" to strengthen commercial ties and people-to-people exchanges.
African countries have been inspired by China's rallying call for countries to pursue modernization that suits their local conditions and spread benefits equitably, said Samuel Maina, editor-in-chief of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, the state-funded broadcaster.
Maina underscored the urgency of powering Africa's modernization by leveraging partnerships with China in strategic areas like healthcare, education, agriculture, energy and infrastructure.
"Africa can draw valuable lessons from the Chinese modernization journey to inform its development strategies," Maina said, adding that partnerships in the areas of innovation, advanced manufacturing and e-commerce will hasten modernization.
Uwharrie Capital Corp (OTCMKTS:UWHR Get Free Report) shares were down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $7.65 and last traded at $7.70. Approximately 5,221 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 135% from the average daily volume of 2,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.75.
Uwharrie Capital Stock Performance
The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $7.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.70.
About Uwharrie Capital
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Uwharrie Capital Corp operates as the bank holding company for Uwharrie Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in North Carolina. It accepts personal and commercial checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.
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BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council and the Central Military Commission have issued a set of regulations for the settlement of veterans, aiming to better protect their rights and interests.
The document, which will take effect on Sept. 1, outlines the settlement procedure for veterans, and clarifies that the location for veterans' settlement should be determined according to their needs for work and the locations of their families, with their contributions during their period of military service taken into consideration.
Highlighting support for employment and starting up businesses, the regulations urge joint efforts from the military and civilian sectors to conduct skills training before and after retirement from the military. The document specifies that after leaving active duty, veterans are entitled to enjoy related benefits according to law.
Shares of Abitibi Royalties Inc. (CVE:RZZ Get Free Report) fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as C$26.80 and last traded at C$27.00. 4,550 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 3,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$27.15.
Abitibi Royalties Price Performance
The stock has a market cap of C$336.50 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -168.75. The companys fifty day simple moving average is C$27.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$27.00.
About Abitibi Royalties
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Abitibi Royalties Inc engages in exploring, evaluating, and promoting mineral properties and other projects in Canada. Its flagship royalty is 3% net smelter return royalty located on the eastern portion of the Canadian Malartic mine that includes the East Malartic, Odyssey, Sladen, Sheehan, Jeffrey, Barnat Extension, Gouldie Zone, and the Charlie Zone.
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MOSCOW, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Navy has completed extensive military exercises involving the Baltic, Northern, and Pacific Fleets, as well as the Caspian Flotilla, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Thursday.
"Units and formations of the Russian Navy, which participated in scheduled exercises within the operational zones of the Northern, Pacific, and Baltic Fleets, as well as the area of responsibility of the Caspian Flotilla, have begun to withdraw forces. Crews of the ships, which carried out training and combat tasks as assigned, will soon return to their permanent bases," the statement said.
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Alexander Moiseyev said that the exercises achieved their goal of assessing the actions of naval command authorities at all levels and verifying the readiness of ship crews, naval aviation units, and coastal troops to perform their designated tasks.
Moiseyev added that the Navy's General Staff will conduct a detailed analysis of the actions of surface forces, naval aviation, and coastal units as part of the comprehensive combat training activities.
Approximately 300 surface ships, boats, submarines, and support vessels, around 50 aircraft, more than 200 pieces of military and special equipment, and over 20,000 military personnel and civilian staff from various units and formations participated in the exercises.
Over several days, ship crews, naval aviation units, and coastal troops executed more than 300 combat exercises with practical weapon use, including anti-aircraft missile firing and artillery shooting at sea and air training targets.
During the exercises, fleet and Caspian Flotilla command authorities also practiced coordination with other security agencies and federal executive bodies in organizing the defense of bases, preventing illegal activities at sea, and conducting water rescue operations.
JOHANNESBURG, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Hamas International Relations Director for East, Central and Southern Africa Emad Saber on Wednesday condemned the killing of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
"It is clear that the Zionists do not seek peace, and do not care about the safety of their captives. The assassination of our leaders will never weaken or defeat us; it will only increase our steadfastness, our strength, and our unwavering determination to achieve our rights and our liberation," said Saber, who is based in South Africa.
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed early Wednesday when their residence was hit in the Iranian capital of Tehran, according to a statement by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, adding the attack was under investigation and the results would be announced later. Israel has no comment on the incident yet.
Saber vowed that Palestinians will continue to fight for their freedom and self-determination. The killing of the Hamas leader will not break the will of the Palestinians to "resist military occupation, apartheid and colonialism," he said.
Saber also blamed "the Israeli military machine" and its supporters for the onslaught in Gaza and the West Bank.
"Gaza has been reduced to rubble ... some communities in the West Bank have been besieged and repeatedly attacked," he said.
Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 7 last year, following a surprise attack by Hamas militants in which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
According to Gaza-based health authorities, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 39,445 Palestinians in the coastal enclave and displaced approximately 2 million people.
WELLINGTON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- China Southern Airlines will resume its direct service between New Zealand's Christchurch and south China's Guangzhou for an expanded summer season, starting at the end of October.
The airline will fly seven days a week during the peak season between Dec. 17, 2024 and Feb. 12, 2025, with 75 percent more seats than during the same period last year, which is a boost for the Chinese New Year period, Christchurch Airport said on Thursday.
This is a boon for all those choosing to celebrate the Chinese New Year in New Zealand's South Island, as well as providing more opportunities for travel and commerce, bringing significant benefits for travelers and the regional economy, said a statement of the airport.
For eight years since 2016, The Chinese airline has offered direct flights to Christchurch, with close to 400,000 passengers using the Guangzhou service, it said.
Gordon Bevan, general manager of aeronautical development at Christchurch Airport, said a memorandum of understanding was signed with China Southern Airlines earlier this year, which not only aims to boost tourism but also focuses on enhancing education and high-value cargo services, boosting regional economy and international connectivity.
The return of China Southern Airlines and the increased services for Chinese New Year will provide a valuable two-way connection for more than 20,000 Chinese residents living in the South Island to reunite with their friends and family, celebrate their traditions, and enjoy the festivities as they welcome in the Year of the Snake, Bevan said.
Currently, China Southern Airlines operates a regular air route between Auckland in New Zealand's North Island and Guangzhou.
Hezbollah members attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel is "in a very high preparedness level" for any scenario, both defensively and offensively.
"We will exact a very heavy price for any act of aggression against us from any front," he said following a situational assessment at the Home Front Command.
The remarks were made as Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
"You do not know what red line you have crossed," Nasrallah said in a speech made as part of Shokor's funeral, adding that "the war has entered a new phase." Hezbollah has "new commanders who can replace Shokor and others," he said, adding that the upcoming campaign will involve Iran, Yemen, and Iraq, in addition to Gaza and Lebanon.
Nasrallah also denied Hezbollah's involvement in the weekend's rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 youngsters.
Israel claimed responsibility for the killing of Shokor, saying it was a retaliation for the rocket fire, but has yet to confirm its involvement in the killing of Haniyeh.
Hezbollah members attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Supporters attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Hezbollah members attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Supporters attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Hezbollah members attend the funeral of Fouad Shokor in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1, 2024. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that the Lebanon-based military group and party will avenge the assassinations of Fouad Shokor, a senior military advisor to Nasrallah, in Beirut and Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
Irish citizen Paul Whelan has been released from prison in Russia as part of a prisoner exchange today negotiated between the Kremlin and Western countries.
Mr Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan who also holds Irish citizenship, was designated as wrongfully detained following his arrest in December 2018 after he had travelled to Russia for a wedding.
He was convicted of espionage charges which he and the US said were false, and was serving a 16-year sentence.
His release comes as part of the biggest prisoner swap between the US and Russia in post-Soviet history.
READ MORE - ALERT: Gardai and family issue urgent appeal for missing woman last seen over a month ago
Others released by Moscow include Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has joint Russian and British nationality.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has welcomed Whelans release, saying he has received confirmation from the US government that Whelans release was part of the prisoner swap that had been negotiated over many months.
I have spoken to the US Ambassador in Ireland who confirmed the news, Harris said in a statement.
I know this will be an enormous relief to his family who have campaigned for many years for his release.
I would also like to thank Irelands diplomatic team in Russia and our consular team in Dublin for their years of tireless work on this case.
A huge fire has broken out at an industrial estate in north Dublin this evening.
Units from Dublin Fire Brigade are at the scene of the large fire, which is currently burning at the Clonshaugh industrial unit in Coolock in north Dublin.
The alert was raised just before 5pm.
Thick columns of dark smoke can be seen rising from the Camfil building in Port Tunnel Business Park in Dublin 17 in footage shared by one of our readers. Flames can be seen on top of the building as the fire rages.
That is some fire out in Clonshaugh (near Coolock).
Im standing in our office in city centre and can see it it from here pic.twitter.com/rsQUykvPbS Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) August 1, 2024
Dublin Fire Brigade and Gardai are at the scene of the incident. Five fire engines, including a turntable ladder are at the scene on the Oscar Traynor Road.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade said: "Five fire engines including a turntable ladder are at an industrial unit fire off the Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock. If you can smell smoke we're advising local residents to close all windows and doors as a precaution. Smoke is drifting across the locality."
More to follow.
JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military confirmed on Thursday that Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas's military wing, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in July, following weeks of uncertainty about his condition after the attack.
An Israeli airstrike targeted Deif on July 13, but Hamas denied he was in the area during the attack.
"Following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike," Israel's military said in a press statement.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
Israel's military said that Deif was killed by a warplane bombing in Khan Yunis. At least 90 other people were killed in the bombing, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel also said that Rafa'a Salameh, the commander of Hamas's Khan Yunis Brigade, was killed in the bombing.
Deif, 58, head of Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, had survived at least seven previous assassination attempts by Israel.
Ranked number two in Hamas in Gaza, Deif commanded Hamas's operations during the ongoing conflict, issuing directives to senior members of its military wing, according to the Israeli military.
This photo provided by the interviewee shows professor Liu Xiaofeng talking with a graduate student on a humanoid robot at Hohai University in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 1, 2024. (Xinhua)
NANJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Despite the summer vacation, Liu Xiaofeng, a professor at Hohai University in east China's Jiangsu Province, and his research team have remained immersed in the laboratory, focusing on developing humanoid robots with highly expressive facial features.
Eyeing on optimizing human-robot emotional interaction technology, the research team has developed a new algorithm for generating facial expressions on humanoid robots.
At its 26th annual meeting on July 2, the China Association of Science and Technology listed research on emotionally intelligent digital humans and robots at the top of the 10 major cutting-edge scientific issues of 2024.
On the same day, Liu's team published their findings -- a new approach for action unit (AU)-driven facial expression disentangled synthesis -- in the international journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
Humanoid robots often struggle to convey the intricate and authentic facial expressions characteristic of humans, potentially hampering user engagement, Liu said.
"To address this challenge, we introduced a comprehensive two-stage methodology to empower our autonomous affective robot with the capacity to exhibit rich and natural facial expressions," he added.
Liu explained that in the first stage, their method generates nuanced robot facial expression images guided by AUs. In the subsequent phase, they actualize an affective robot with multifaceted degrees of freedom for facial movements, enabling it to embody the synthesized fine-grained facial expressions.
Ni Rongrong, from Changzhou University who is a co-author of the paper, said that people may be more familiar with various "digital humans" and "virtual anchors," which can generate a variety of real-time expressions.
However, humanoid robots face specific constraints, such as the size and number of motors, which make this more challenging, Ni added. "For example, the humanoid robot we previously used had only nine micro motors beneath its facial surface, far fewer than the number of muscles in a human face."
Therefore, according to Ni, the team divided the nine motors on the humanoid robot's face into 17 AUs to enable richer expressions and smoother transitions through coordinated movements.
Liu said that the team of researchers plans to expand the number of facial AUs and endow a robot with delicate expressions autonomously.
Liu believes that as the emotional interaction capabilities of humanoid robots continue to advance, these robots -- equipped with both high emotional and intellectual quotients -- will become widely used in nursing homes, kindergartens, special education schools, and other settings.
"The humanoid robots will not only assist or replace humans in completing some tasks but also bring more emotional value," he said.
This photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows heavy-duty equipment being handed over by LiuGong Machinery at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
ACCRA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese company LiuGong Machinery on Wednesday handed over 2,200 heavy-duty equipment to the Ghanaian government to support the country's District Road Improvement Program (DRIP).
The equipment, which included motor graders, bulldozers, concrete mixers, back wheel loaders, rollers, tipper trucks, and water tanks, was purchased by the government of Ghana for road maintenance across the country.
During the handover ceremony, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the project marked an important milestone in Ghana's pursuit of infrastructure development.
Akufo-Addo noted that despite the considerable progress made in the country's development, many roads, especially in deprived districts, remained in deplorable state, hampering economic activities and development efforts.
"Road infrastructure is the backbone of economic growth and social development. Roads connect communities, facilitate trade, enable access to education and healthcare, and ultimately improve the quality of life of the citizenry," Akufo-Addo stated.
He added that this is why the DRIP was critical to empower the various local government administrations with the equipment necessary to rehabilitate and maintain roads in their communities.
"We continue to appreciate warmly the cooperation between the government and people of Ghana and the government and people of China and may the cooperation flourish," Akufo-Addo said.
Zeng Guang'an, chief executive officer of LiuGong Machinery, said the company was glad to be part of such a massive project in Ghana, a country that holds an important position in Africa's development with a dynamic economy and rich resources.
"We are looking forward to continuing cooperation and contributing to a prosperous Ghana," he added.
This photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows heavy-duty equipment being handed over by LiuGong Machinery at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
This photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows heavy-duty equipment being handed over by LiuGong Machinery at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
This photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows heavy-duty equipment being handed over by LiuGong Machinery at a ceremony in Accra, Ghana. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
CANBERRA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has denounced Japan's decision to expand its commercial whaling.
Tanya Plibersek, minister for the environment and water, on Thursday condemned Japan's move to add fin whales to its list of commercial whalers will target.
"Australia is deeply disappointed by Japan's decision to expand its commercial whaling program by adding fin whales," she said in a statement.
Fin whales are the second-largest whale species in the world and are listed as vulnerable to extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
Japan's Fisheries Agency in May proposed expanding commercial whaling in the country's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone to include fin whales. In June the agency announced that it has authorized the hunting of up to 59 fin whales in the North Pacific in 2024.
Plibersek said on Thursday that Australia is opposed to all commercial whaling and called for all countries to end the practice.
"Australia's efforts through the International Whaling Commission have contributed to a whaling-free Southern Ocean and a decline in commercial whaling around the world. Australia will continue to advocate for the protection and conservation of whales and the health of our ocean for future generations," she said.
This photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a view of the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial drone photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
This photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows the scenery of the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An off-road vehicle runs in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, July 30, 2024. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
This photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows the starry night sky over the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial drone photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
A drone photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows tourists taking photos of camels in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial drone photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial panoramic photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial panoramic photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows the scenery of the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
This photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a view of the Badain Jaran Desert at sunset in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial drone photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
An aerial drone photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows camels in the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
This photo taken on July 30, 2024 shows a view of the Badain Jaran Desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Located in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China, the Badain Jaran Desert is the country's third largest desert and second largest drifting desert.
China's Badain Jaran Desert -- Towers of Sand and Lakes, was included on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in New Delhi, India. (Xinhua/Bei He)
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's direct overseas purchase hit a record high in the second quarter thanks to rising popularity of Chinese online platforms, statistical office data showed Thursday.
Local customers bought 2.02 trillion won (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) worth of products directly in the cyberspace during the April-June quarter, up 25.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the largest quarterly figure since relevant data began to be compiled in 2014.
The record overseas purchase came on the back of the growing popularity of Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as AliExpress and Temu, among domestic customers.
Online direct purchase from China surged 64.8 percent from a year earlier to 1.24 trillion won (907.5 million dollars) in the second quarter, accounting for 61.4 percent of the total.
It was followed by the United States with 424.9 billion won (310.9 million dollars) and Japan with 134.6 billion won (98.5 million dollars).
Of the total products directly purchased through overseas e-commerce platforms, clothing and fashion items took up the highest 43.7 percent, trailed by food and beverage with 18.6 percent and daily necessities and car accessories with 8.7 percent.
Meanwhile, direct overseas sales by South Korean online vendors reduced 6.7 percent over the year to 448.9 billion won (328.5 million dollars) in the second quarter.
It marked the first fall in four quarters since the second quarter of last year.
The Hong Ting Forum, themed "China and Africa Join Hands Together to Modernization," was held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Wednesday, drawing dozens of participants, including policymakers, diplomats, industry executives, media personnel and scholars.
We don't know if our dear readers have a voting outfit selected but we merely serve to remind that temperatures will probably be hot along with tempers.
As always, booty shorts provide a nice breeze for both better & worse . . . Very much like decisions at the voting both.
And that'll have to qualify as a quick intro to this latest gathering of local voting news.
Check TKC news gathering . . .
We Blogged This News Last Week But Mayor Q Recycled The Same Report This Morning . . .
KC mayor warns against Missouri voters supporting Amendment 4, about police funding The amendment's supporters say "adequate funding is needed" to keep Kansas City safe, but Mayor Quinton Lucas opposes the proposed amendment because it "takes power" from local officials.
Meth Town Change Underway
Original Independence City Charter author supports changes on next week's ballot It's been more than 60 years since the Independence City Charter was first adopted and nearly 40 years since its citizens helped update the document, but city officials hope that changes soon.
Hipsters Entertain Pentagon Progressive
Josh Hawley thinks "masculinity" is under attack, but his Marine Veteran contender for Missouri Senate isn't playing culture war games Lucas Kunce is running against Josh Hawley for Missouri State Senate. Here is what you should know about the Democrat before voting.
Show-Me House Cleaning Redux
Missouri Senate primary elections will test incumbents in a year of historic turnover Missouri Democrats are hoping that abortion and minimum wage ballot initiatives will help boost the party to its biggest gains of century. How much of a stranglehold the GOP will have in the Senate will be decided in six districts, five of which are in major metro areas.
Kansas Declines Excitement
'Boring is very good': New group called Kansans First endorses moderate Republicans Kansans First is a new group endorsing moderate candidates over extremists for state offices this election season.
Show-Me MAGA Fight
In Missouri Senate District 31, a Freedom Caucus incumbent faces a challenge from two House members Incumbent state Sen. Rick Brattin is running for reelection for the first time. His opponents say Brattin is an obstructionist and that they want to restore order to the Missouri Senate.
Reporting Rock Chalk Weaponry
Kansas Republican supports stock ban for Congress. He won't say what he'll do with his own Pressure has been increasing to prevent members of Congress and their families from owning, buying or trading stock, after several lawmakers appeared to make big trades ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bitter Fight In The Stix
Cass County incumbent fights to retain State Senate seat Rick Brattin, Mike Haffner and Dan Houx are facing off against each other in the Republican primary for the 31st District Missouri senate seat.
Golden Ghetto Legal Power Play
Democratic challengers say Johnson County DA office needs to change. Can they flip the seat? In the primary election, longtime prosecutor Vanessa Riebli runs against second-time candidate Zach Thomas. Both try to unseat Steve Howe.
Politicos Going Bust
Missouri's GOP gubernatorial primary as a hand of Texas Hold 'Em, part three: The river * Missouri Independent What's the best way to explain the GOP primary for Missouri governor? How about using a hand of Texas Hold 'Em.
Local Democracy Help Wanted
Wanted: Poll Workers. Must Love Democracy. A coalition is making a national push to encourage hundreds of thousands of Americans to serve as poll workers in November's presidential election.
Developing . . .
Lots of info to consider tonight as old school crime news resurfaces along with more deets about pending cases, recent allegations and public safety cost consequences.
Check TKC news gathering . . .
Pharmacist Robert Courtney expected to be released on Wednesday to home confinement July 31 is the day Robert Courtney is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in Colorado to home confinement.
3 men await trial in deadly shooting at Chiefs Super Bowl rally The cases against three men charged in the Chiefs rally shooting, which killed one woman and injured more than 20 others, are moving through the court system.
Kansas court reporter's state certificate revoked amid blackmail, abuse allegations * Kansas Reflector Kansas Supreme Court revokes certificate of former Wyandotte County court reporter amid allegations she physicially abused people and attempted blackmail.
Rocks hitting, damaging cars in Northland neighborhood, frustrating drivers People living near Kellybrook Elementary School are complaining of someone throwing rocks at their cars as they drive past.
Businessman charged with wire fraud after $4 million stolen from clients A businessman in Flordia now faces federal charges of wire fraud for $4 million in funds stolen from clients in Kansas and Missouri.
Man sentenced for 2023 south Kansas City deadly shooting of 66-year-old A 40-year-old Kansas City, Missouri man was sentenced for a 2023 shooting in south Kansas City that left a 66-year-old man dead.
Chevy pickup believed to have been used in fatal drive-by shooting in Kansas City's Northland Clay County Sheriff's Office released a video of a dark blue or black 1996-98 Chevrolet Silverado 4X4 Z71 pickup believed to have been used in a drive-by shooting that killed a teen in Avondale, a small city near North Kansas City Hospital.
Substance abuse costing Missouri $8.5 billion every year, new estimates reveal A new estimate from the Missouri Department of Mental Health said the societal cost of substance use disorders is $8.5 billion.
California man sentenced to prison after flight forced to land in Kansas City A California man has been sentenced to prison after he attempted to open an emergency exit mid-flight and forced an American Airlines flight to land in Kansas City.
Developing . . .
Activists fight for control of the narrative in the aftermath of a horrific tragedy.
To wit . . .
THE KC DEFENDER SHARES RACIALLY CHARGED ACCUSATIONS AGAINST OWNERS & MEDIA IN DEFENSE OF PARENTS CONFRONTING NEGLECT CHARGES!!!
They call it the "latest manifestation of violent neglect by slumlords."
Here's how they report the situation . . .
"In a heart-wrenching, outraging tragedy, a 3-year-old Black toddler fell to his death from an 8th-floor window at Independence Towers after his parents had repeatedly asked their slumlord to fix the broken window.
"To make matters worse, prosecutors have now charged the grieving parents with child endangerment, compounding their unimaginable loss with criminalization and incarceration."
Another quote accuses mainstream media of complicity . . .
"White Media Criminalizes & Plasters Mugshots of Black Parent Victims
"Adding insult to injury, Kansas Citys largest TV stationsFOX4, KMBC, and KCTVhave plastered the mugshots of the grieving parents, Moses Lee Bass Jr. and Destiny Randle, across screens, portraying them as negligent and criminal.
"This media narrative is a gross distortion of the truth, shifting the blame away from the real culprit: the slumlord and company who neglected their responsibilities and allowed these dangerous conditions to persist."
Meanwhile . . .
Other residents of Independence Towers claim there is more than enough blame to go around as they advocate for their own safety.
Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .
KC Slumlord Neglect Leads to Black Baby's Death from 8th Story Window; Rage Mounts After Parents Unjustly Jailed In a horrifying injustice, a Black baby fell to death from an 8th story window at Independence Towers after months-long slumlord neglect. Community demands justice after grieving parents are jailed and criminalized.
Parents face life imprisonment after son's fatal fall from window at the Independence Towers Destiny Randle and Moses Bass could face life in prison after their 3-year-old son fell through a window and plunged eight stories to his death.
Independence Towers residents say blame is shared in toddler's death From no hot water, to screens not being on all of the windows, to some of the building being deemed unsafe, to no air conditioning. Residents insist that blame should be shared with the complex.
Developing . . .
Apropos for #TBT . . . We merely note this occasion to the aftermath of a historic episode in local healthcare wherein a doctor betrayed the trust of an entire community.
The aftermath . . .
"Courtney pleaded guilty to charges of tampering with medicine. He was expected to serve 30 years in prison but was released on July 31, 2024 eight years early."
Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .
Pharmacist Robert Courtney expected to be released on Wednesday to home confinement July 31 is the day Robert Courtney is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in Colorado to home confinement.
NANJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ship export revenue in east China's Jiangsu Province totaled 50.02 billion yuan (6.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half (H1) of 2024, an increase of 72.1 percent year on year and ranking top in China, according to local customs authorities on Thursday.
The value of the province's ship exports accounted for 34.1 percent of the country's total in the same period, according to Nanjing Customs.
Jiangsu has established a ship-building industry cluster, manufacturing a wide range of vessels, such as high-end cruise liners, cargo ships, "ro-ro" (roll-on/roll-off) ships, liquefied natural gas (LNG) transporting vessels, and self-elevating wind turbine installation vessels.
Customs data shows that in the first half of the year, the province's exports of container ships, liquified cargo ships and bulk carriers had increased by 153 percent, 77 percent and 32.3 percent, respectively.
Song Shuming, general manager of Jiangsu Yangzi-Mitsui Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., said the company will build and deliver 15 ships this year, a record high in the company's history.
The Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, delivered 20 new ships in the first half of 2024 -- resulting in export value doubling year on year.
Wang Yi, the company's director of customs affairs, said that the company has nearly 100 orders in hand, with production plans scheduled through the year 2028.
Nanjing Customs has vowed to continue to improve customs clearing efficiency to help boost ship exports.
Fishing boats depart for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishing boats depart for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishermen prepare for fishing at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 31, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows fishing boats departing for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows fishing boats at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishing boats depart for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows fishing boats departing for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows fishing boats at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on July 31, 2024 shows fishing boats at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishing boats depart for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows fishing boats departing for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishermen prepare for fishing at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 31, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishermen prepare for fishing at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 31, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
A drone photo taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows fishing boats departing for fishing from the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishermen prepare for fishing at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 31, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Fishermen prepare for fishing at the Shenjiamen fishing port in Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 31, 2024. Four types of fishing boats with special permission set sail on Thursday after a three-month summer fishing ban in the East China Sea. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
From critical infrastructure repairs in Zhytomyr Oblast to a recent delivery of Mistral MANPADS that arrived less than a month ago, since the beginning of the Kremlin-ordered full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has continuously stepped up to aid the Ukrainian people in their fight for liberty and liberation against the Russian invaders.
In addition to providing aid to Ukraine, which by some accounts is the highest in percentage of national GDP, the Estonian government has already announced a plan to allocate .25% of its annual Gross Domestic Product to support Ukraines efforts at victory. With this in mind, along with the recent appointment of the now former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the head diplomat for the EUs Foreign Policy, Ukrinform sat down during the week of the NATO summit in Washington D.C. for an exclusive interview with the Estonian Ambassador to the United States, Kristjan Prikk.
In a free-wheeling conversation with Ukrinform that touched on a diverse array of topics, from Ukraines fight against Russian imperialism and genocide to the role of Estonia in NATO and what lies ahead for Europe, Ambassador Prikk defended democracy, explained Putin's threat to the world, and shed light on the Moscow regimes' flaunting of international norms.
On why Estonians feel a connection to what Ukrainians face against Russia:
Someone being sent to Siberia, someone coming back from the Soviet Gulag, someones family member being shot and killed. The Soviet period is very personal. Every Estonian family has these stories about family members being shot, killed, deported, made to flee to the west from Soviet Occupation.
On Russia posing a threat to Europe outside of Ukraine:
Yes, I absolutely feel that unless aggression as the tool of statecraft is completely discredited unless Russia is defeated in Ukraine, we are only going to see this tragedy in other parts of Europe and against other parts of Europe. This is about defeating the imperial, colonial wars of aggression.
On the mutual history between Estonia and Ukraine:
During the Paris Peace Conference after the First World War, Estonian and Ukrainian delegations were working together to gain recognition for our respective independence.
On the importance of trade with Ukraine:
Ukraine was the first country that we concluded the zero to zero free trade agreement. We were interested in a big market close to us, but we also had a very clear understanding that a free, prosperous, democratic Ukraine is important to the existence of other free, prosperous, democratic countries in our part of the world.
On the idea of Estonia as a post-Soviet nation:
I feel really offended when I hear this term being used when someone writes or speaks about Estonia. First, we never became part of the Soviet Union voluntarily; this was a cruel and illegal annexation and occupation. Second, this cruel, illegal occupation and annexation ended 33 years ago. The more Estonia is ranked among the top countries in areas such as rule of law, freedom of the press, and ease of access for business, the more this term sounds utterly stupid and irrelevant.
On the benefits of NATO membership for Estonia:
The benefits that came with NATO are plentiful, but mostly, it is about a heightened sense of security, the sense of the future that people are not constantly thinking about whether there will be a tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
On Putins fear of NATO:
NATO is this ultimate forum for discussing and charting the future of security in Europe, and this is what I believe angers Putin, the war criminal. There is this organization where were going to stick together and where they can decide the future by themselves, among themselves.
On Russias ultimate goal for Ukraine:
The statements that people connected to the Russian regime, including Putin, and the statements they have released throughout this war, including over recent days and weeks, indicate they dont have any intention to stop short of annihilation of Ukraines identity.
On the fear of escalation:
He (Putin) is trying to scare the world. The whole issue of escalation leaves me puzzled often because NATO has been the world champion in deterrence for the past 75 years. When it comes to vertical escalation, there is very little where they can go. They (the Russian Federation) have been doing the kinds of things that many believed would never happen again in history. They use weapons to attack civilian targets and the most vulnerable. The number of medical facilities, hospitals, and schools that have been deliberately attacked in Ukraine is in the hundreds.
On Russian use of chemical weapons against Ukraine:
They certainly have used chemical agents. They have used different weapons considered kind of illegal, and of using weapons that most countries dont use these days.
On the potential of Russia in using nuclear weapons:
I dont think Russia has anything to win either on the battlefield or politically from using tactical nuclear weapons. They only have a lot to lose.
On the global impact of Ukraines fight for liberation:
This is not just about Ukraine or just about the future of Ukraine; its about the future of wider security in Europe and, by extension, the rules that came globally. If Putin comes away with the notion that the aggression actually paid off, if this is the kind of conclusion, then this will not just be a problem for Ukraine. Unfortunately, this will not only be a problem for the countries that border Russia. This will be a problem for every country, which, at one point, may have to face the imperial instincts of its neighbor. This is a problem for everyone, not just Ukraine, not only Estonia, but every country in the world. If Russian is not taught a lesson, who on earth would think that Russia then stop there and wont start another round of violation of agreements and another round of atrocities, in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe or the world for that matter?
On the use of the Russian language outside of Russia:
The language itself is not usually the problem. What is the problem is if the language is used as a conduit for imperial propaganda. If it is used to draft the next generation of people who then get immersed in the Russian imperial view while degrading the role and importance of other nations and languages and culture. The use of subversion and the spread of hateful imperial propaganda behind the teaching of the (Russian) language should not be something we tolerate in the rest of the world.
*Interviews have been modified for length and clarity.
Sergeant Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, Armed Forces of Ukraine
The author's opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Ukrinform's editorial board.
ANKARA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has witnessed "impressive" development with the eradication of poverty for all of its inhabitants, a veteran Turkish journalist has said.
"Xinjiang is a success story of Chinese socialism. Poverty there has been eradicated," Hasan Bogun, who visited the region in 2023, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"It was once one of the poorest regions of China maybe a couple of decades before, but now there is no poverty anymore, it does not exist anymore," said Bogun, who has been working as a journalist since 1983.
As a member of a journalist delegation, Bogun visited several cities in Xinjiang, including Urumqi, Turpan and Kashgar.
He said the media delegation visited various facilities in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, a very modern and developed city.
"The infrastructure is very developed, the health system is also very developed and reaches all villages," Bogun said.
"This is not as it is presented by some Western media outlets, with people allegedly being oppressed there. There are no tensions in Xinjiang. I was expecting a more remote and underdeveloped region, it is certainly not like that," Bogun added.
When noting that the Chinese government pays great attention to delivering the benefits of development to the local residents, Bogun said that all-inclusive projects in health, social security and infrastructure have transformed Xinjiang into a modern, bustling region.
In multi-ethnic communities around the world, ethnic issues have often arisen, and this is also true in some Western countries, the journalist observed.
"Development is seen as the solution to ethnic issues" by China in Xinjiang, and the Uygur people of Xinjiang are enjoying their lives freely while preserving their own unique culture, Bogun said.
There are many different ethnic groups in Xinjiang and "cultural differences are a good thing," he said, adding that "China is promoting these differences and does not try to eradicate them."
A Maryland judge has ordered Johns Hopkins University to pay $6 million to students affected by the shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by student Elena Botts, who alleged the university breached its contract by ceasing in-person education and access to campus facilities in March 2020. Botts sought prorated tuition refunds and fee reimbursements for herself and other students during the period affected by the switch to remote learning.
Under the court order, Johns Hopkins must distribute $6 million to students who were enrolled during that semester and have not yet received refunds.
"We are very confident in the quality of the education and services we provided to our students throughout the pandemic, including through a variety of financial, academic, and other supports. We do not agree with the merits of this suit, but we are pleased to see it resolved," the university told 11 News in a Wednesday statement.
Chairman Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Zubair Motiwala on Thursday announced that the second edition of "FOODAg-24" would be held from August 9 to 11 at Expo Centre and hoped that it would generate $ 1 billion business as compared to previous event's $ 450 million
KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Chairman Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Zubair Motiwala on Thursday announced that the second edition of "FOODAg-24" would be held from August 9 to 11 at Expo Centre and hoped that it would generate $ 1 billion business as compared to previous event's $ 450 million.
He said this while addressing a press conference here at TDAP office.
The Chairman TDAP said that Pakistan's agriculture sector demonstrated impressive growth, with agro and food product export surpassing $ 8 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24, which is 37 percent increase compared to previous year. This remarkable surge underscores the sector's growing significance in the global market.
"TDAP is organizing second edition of the International Food and Agriculture Exhibition "FOODAg-2024" which is scheduled to be held from August 9 to 11 here at Expo Centre.
Under the theme "Growing a Sustainable Future", the exhibition will showcase Pakistan's substantial contributions to global food security, empowering exporters to display their products, explore joint venture opportunity with international partners and elevate the qualitative standards of Pakistan's agricultural produce, Motiwala added.
He said China has been designated as Guest of Honour country for the event. An exclusive Pak-China Agro Trade and Investment Conference will be held on the second day of the event, highlighting the robust trade relationship between the two nations, Motiwala said, adding that the exhibition will feature over 350 companies, showcasing a wide range of Pakistan's strengths in both raw and processed agro and food products. He said the product lineup includes seafood, cereals, fruits, vegetables, dates, spices, dairy, Hallal meat, poultry, edible oil/ghee, salt, confectionary and processed foods.
He said the rice sector will have a significant presence with more than 45 companies participating. In addition to the main exhibition, a series of sideline activities will emphasize potential of various sectors. "Along with a conference on impacts of climate change,10 specialized seminars will cover topics of Horticulture, seafood, dairy potential, intellectual property connecting agricultural exports through the Transporters Internationaux Routiers (TIR), value addition, e-commerce opportunities in the agri sector".
He told global Cuisine Show will also be held, featuring chefs from 15 countries who will prepare international cuisines using Pakistani ingredients.
He said the exhibition will also host 800 buyers from 75 countries with significant presence from China. In selection of buyers, we have focussed more on China region, ASEAN, cars and Africa as these regions contribute 80% of our agro export.
Last year, we had exported more than $ 1.2 billion rice to Africa region therefore we have invited buyers from 30 African countries. Secondly, we had exported $ 1.5 billion export to ASEAN region and focused on Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, he expressed.
Zubair Motiwala said in order to further promote agriculture sector, major media outlets such as China Economic Net (China), Metro tv (Indonesia) Salamnews(Turkmenistan), Egyptian newspaper Elmasry, Elyoum and BTN (Rawanda) were invited to cover the event.
He said in last edition, business of $ 450 million was generated and expecting to generate $ 1 billion business during second edition for which all 6 halls have been reserved.
Director General TDAP Athar Khokhar and others were also present on the occasion.
LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Heavy rain in several parts of the provincial capital on Thursday resulted in loss of three lives and injuries to seven people.
According to a Rescue-1122 spokesman, the roof of a house in a suburban village near Baba Bulleh Shah Interchange at Gajjumata Lahore collapsed, which resulted in one death and injuries to five people.
Another roof collapsed at Shaukat Khanum Chowk, in which two people suffered injuries. One of the injured was taken to Jinnah Hospital for treatment.
In two other incidents, electric shock claimed lives of two citizens. A 30-year-old man travelling by a motorbike suffered an electric shock after coming into contact with an electricity pole. The deceased could not be identified. The other incident took place on the premises of Kot Lakhpat police station, where a citizen touched an electricity pole accidently, suffered a severe electric shock. He was taken to the General Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
LONDON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is facing scrutiny over its handling of the child abuse image scandal involving one of its highest-paid former presenters.
Huw Edwards, a renowned BBC newsreader known for covering high-profile events such as the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children. According to law in the United Kingdom (UK), "making" such images can include actions like opening, accessing, downloading, storing content, or receiving unsolicited images via social media.
In a statement following Edwards's guilty plea, the BBC expressed shock at the court's revelations, stating, "There can be no place for such abhorrent behavior."
Court records indicate Edwards received 41 indecent images of children between December 2020 and August 2021. Seven images were classified as category A, the most serious, while 12 were category B and 22 were category C. Most category A images depicted children aged 13 to 15, with two clips showing a child aged around seven to nine, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Metropolitan Police began investigating Edwards after discovering his WhatsApp conversation with Alex Williams, a convicted pedophile, during an unrelated probe. Edwards is scheduled to appear in court in September.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and BBC Director General Tim Davie are expected to discuss the BBC's handling of the Edwards case via phone on Thursday. Key questions include why the BBC did not terminate Edwards's employment upon learning of his arrest and why he continued to receive his salary for five months until his resignation.
The BBC stated that at the time of Edwards's arrest, "no charges had been brought against Mr. Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health." They added, "If at any point during the period Mr. Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge, he was no longer an employee of the BBC."
It was recently disclosed that Edwards earned between 475,000 pounds (606,502 U.S. dollars) and 479,999 pounds (612,885 U.S. dollars) in the 2023-24 financial year, making him the BBC's third-highest-paid presenter. The BBC acknowledged that it was aware of Edwards's arrest on suspicion of serious offenses in November 2023. He was formally charged in June.
Edwards resigned from the BBC in April, citing medical advice. He had not been on air since July 2023.
The Balochistan Assembly on Thursday has unanimously passed a joint condemnation resolution of the attack on Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 20 by a gang of extremists and killing of Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) The Balochistan Assembly on Thursday has unanimously passed a joint condemnation resolution of the attack on Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 20 by a gang of extremists and killing of Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
It added that some miscreants attacked Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, pelting it with stones and desecrating the Pakistani flag through a proper agenda.
While the flag is the symbol and identity of any country and its respect is necessary for every person across the globe.
The Pakistanis have been hurtled by this disgusting act.
Therefore, the house strongly condemned the attack on Pakistani consulate and emphasising the Federal government to covey its concern to German government.
The House has demanded the German government to take strict action against the gang of extremists and arrest those involved in the attack on the consulate so that such incidents do not happened in the future.
Under the Vienna Convention 1963, it was the responsibility of the host country to protect the sanctity of the consular premises and ensure the security of diplomats.
The Balochistan Assembly also passed a resolution against the killing of Hamass political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who died in an overnight air strike in Tehran.
It is said that the house has strongly condemned the assassination attack on Ismail Haniyeh, the great leader of the Palestine Liberation Movement and the political head of Hamas, was martyred in an in Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, 2024.
With his martyrdom, the Muslim Ummah, especially Palestine, lost a great revolutionary leader and Mujahid.
Throughout his life, he played a vital role for the rights of the oppressed Palestinian people and their freedom and highlighted the issue of Palestine at global level.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, leading a five-member delegation, met with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House on Thursday.
The prime minister welcomed Secretary-General Scotland on her first official visit to Pakistan. Appreciating the Commonwealths consistent support for Pakistans socio-economic and democratic institutions, the prime minister reaffirmed the governments desire to work with the Commonwealth on issues of common interest, particularly on youth empowerment, good governance and climate change.
Noting that young people below the age of 30 accounted for two-thirds of Pakistans population, the prime minister said that providing modern education and technical training to the youth was one of the governments highest priorities. He highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Prime Ministers Youth Programme and reiterated the governments commitment to working with the Commonwealth to help Pakistans youth by enhancing access and opportunities for them in todays high-tech global economy.
Secretary-General Scotland appreciated the Prime Ministers Youth Programme and said that the prime ministers leadership and direct supervision of this Programme was reflective of his personal interest and commitment to youth empowerment initiatives.
In order to further improve the performance of government departments and know progress in real time, Ms Patricia offered the Commonwealth's Performance Management System. She also invited Pakistan to join the Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CAIC).
The prime minister expressed keen desire to evaluate the Commonwealth Performance Management System for further improving governance and transparency in Pakistans public sector.
He also welcomed the invitation to join CAIC where Pakistans youth will have opportunities for training and could benefit from global innovations such as cloud computing and generative AI and shall be more empowered to play their role in sustainable economic development.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also described combating climate change as a common priority for both Pakistan and the Commonwealth. He appreciated the Secretary-Generals climate advocacy for Pakistan, following the devastating 2022 floods. The prime minister said Pakistan wanted to work with the Commonwealth in helping mobilize more international support for climate-vulnerable countries like Pakistan at the forthcoming COP29 in Baku.
Secretary-General Scotland appreciated the Governments efforts for post-flood reconstruction and hoped that the international community would provide more support in building Pakistans climate resilience.
Looking forward towards the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa later this year, the prime minister and the Commonwealth Secretary-General discussed ways in which the two sides could coordinate on building consensus on key issues of mutual interest and chart a roadmap for the Commonwealth.
The prime minister congratulated Secretary-General Commonwealth on successfully steering the Commonwealth through a time of significant global change, and wished her a successful and productive stay in Pakistan.
Chairman PM Youth program Rana Mashhood and SAPM Syed Tariq Fatemi also attended the meeting.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Hunerkada successfully concluded its six-week Children's Art Workshop on Thursday with an exclusive showcase of the artistics endeavours of the children at the Islamabad Art Gallery in F-9 Park today.
The exhibition featured artwork created by the young participants, highlighting their creativity and progress. The event was graced by Chairman Mr. Jamal Shah and Hunerkada Director, Amna Shah, hosted the showcase.
Over the past six weeks, children aged 5-15 participated in an enriching art workshop led by experienced instructors from Hunerkada.
The workshop provided a comprehensive exploration of various artistic techniques, including drawing, painting, sculpture, and mixed media.
The participants were encouraged to experiment with different materials and develop their unique artistic voices.
The showcase displayed a diverse range of artworks, reflecting the creativity and talent nurtured throughout the workshop.
The event offered a unique opportunity for families, friends, and the public to celebrate the young artists' achievements.
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Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday pledged to revamp Pakistan's economy by emulating China's model, with the objective of achieving similar economic success on a smaller scal
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday pledged to revamp Pakistan's economy by emulating China's model, with the objective of achieving similar economic success on a smaller scale.
Speaking to a 12-member Chinese delegation led by Wang Fukang, the prime minister said that during his recent visit to China, he requested President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang to send experts to Pakistan. "The goal is to model Pakistan's economy after China's. Today, these experts are here, and were confident that progress will follow soon."
Welcoming the delegation by emphasizing that China and Pakistan were eternal friends, with a friendship that knew no bounds, he emphasized that industrial cooperation was crucial at this time and expressed hope that it could be shifted to Pakistan.
He believes that joint ventures and cooperation would create a win-win situation.
He said the delegations visit was highly reassuring, and expressed hope that it would be both useful and productive for Pakistan.
He anticipated that it would enhance bilateral arrangements in areas such as industry, agriculture, economic zones, and help increase Pakistans capacity to produce agricultural items in high demand in China.
He noted that Pakistan could meet Chinese requirements by exporting high-quality goods and exploring opportunities in mining and minerals, IT, and export zones. He also suggested relocating certain industries to Pakistan due to China's shift towards more advanced and sophisticated industrial ventures.
He stated that the federal cabinet has decided to offer free visas to Chinese citizens starting August 14, demonstrating Pakistans commitment. He emphasized that Sino-Pak relations were higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the oceans.
The delegation, comprising representatives from 10 different Chinese ministries, was visiting Pakistan to enhance cooperation across various sectors.
They will provide input on Chinese investment, the second phase of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and boosting Pakistani exports. Additionally, they will review and offer recommendations on IT, agriculture, industry, investment, energy, minerals, special economic zones, and communication.
He stated that Pakistan has implemented robust measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal overseeing these efforts. The government was committed to maintaining stringent security and preventing any breaches. Those responsible for any harmful acts will be held accountable.
Additionally, he conveyed deep sorrow on behalf of his government and people for the loss of Chinese citizens in Bisham a few months ago. The Prime Minister stated that those responsible for the killings of Chinese citizens have been arrested and will get exemplary punishment.
He mentioned that he has held several meetings with law enforcement agencies, the Interior Secretary, and NECTA.
Speaking on the occasion, delegation head, Wang Fukang stated that technical cooperation would further strengthen Pak-China strategic relations and expressed gratitude to Pakistan for its hospitality.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control Mohsin Naqvi, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Economic AffairsAhad Khan Cheema, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatmi, Coordinator to the Prime Minister Rana Ahsan Afzam, and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, along with other senior officials.
Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Senator Rubina Khalid during her visit to the Peshawar Tehsil Office on Thursday emphasized that there will be zero tolerance against any misbehavior with the women beneficiaries
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Senator Rubina Khalid during her visit to the Peshawar Tehsil Office on Thursday emphasized that there will be zero tolerance against any misbehavior with the women beneficiaries.
The purpose of the visit was to monitor the arrangements at the office and review the facilities provided for the deserving women receiving Kafaalat and educational stipends. Rubina Khalid engaged with the beneficiaries, listened to their issues, and provided guidance, particularly to the needy and elderly women in the program.
In her conversation with the media, Senator Rubina Khalid reflected on the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto for the welfare of poor women in Pakistan, which led to the establishment of BISP.
"The program was founded by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto while she was in exile in Dubai and was implemented by President Asif Ali Zardari in 2008," she recounted.
Highlighting the transparency measures in place, she noted that BISP payment centers were set up following instructions from President Asif Ali Zardari.
Rubina Khalid also announced that President Asif Ali Zardari directed the opening of bank accounts for deserving women to streamline their access to stipends.
Stressing the importance of skill development and technical education, she stated, "Empowering women with skills and technical education is crucial for their economic independence and the overall development of our society."
She called upon the media to play a proactive role in creating awareness among beneficiaries about the program's benefits and guidelines.
Rubina Khalid issued a stern warning to beneficiaries to ignore any communication from numbers other than the official 8171 and cautioned against handing over their National Identity Cards to anyone to prevent fraud.
She reaffirmed BISP's dedication to protecting the rights of women and ensuring they receive their due support with dignity.
MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani Thursday gave a go-ahead signal for the launch of artificially intelligent traffic management systems in Multan and Bahawalpur cities to cope with rising traffic pressure and tasked officials to list problematic points in order to install AI-powered sophisticated tools and software applications.
Virtual 3D speed breakers would be installed at important cross-sections experiencing enormous traffic pressure to create an optical illusion to guide motorists and bike-riders when to slow speed and stop. One out of six AI-powered traffic management softwares would be installed in the traffic signals, according to an official release issued here.
On the orders of ACS, a software engineer bureaucrat, Deputy Secretary Abdul Saboor Thakur, is leading a committee of engineers from development authorities of Multan and Bahawalpur to come up with a comprehensive policy on deploying AI and it's tools.
Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel, Secretary Services engineer Amjad Shoaib Khan Tareen, additional secretary Farooq Dogar, deputy secretaries Nayyar Mustafa, Abdul Saboor Thakur, DG Bahawalpur Development Authority (BDA) Mahboob Alam, Additional DG Multan Development Authority (MDA) Ms Qurat ul Ain Wazir, Prof.
Dr. Naveed Yasir from AI department of Emerson University, besides traffic police officials from Multan and Bahawalpur attended the meeting, whic was chaired by ACS Fuad Hashim Rabbani that discussed employing artificial intelligence in managing traffic in detail.
Saqib Ali Steel said on the occasion that six models of AI applications were available for deployment. He said that MDA and BDA would provide infrastructure facilities for AI-powered traffic control system in their respective cities.
Engineer Amjad Shoaib Khan Tareen said that a model 3D speed breaker would be installed in front of main gate of Emerson university on Bosan road.
ADG MDA Qurat ul Ain Wazir said, three roads in Multan were traffic busy including Bosan road, metro route and inner city road.
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PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) The week-long celebrations of World Breastfeeding is underway at a local hotel here Thursday. The event aims to recognize the critical role breastfeeding plays in ensuring the health and well-being of infants and mothers alike.
Celebrated globally from August 1-7, this week brings together communities, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to advocate for breastfeeding support. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), we dedicate the entire month of August to this cause, focusing on the theme "Closing the Gap; Breastfeeding Support for All.
The four key messagesearly initiation, exclusive breastfeeding, age-appropriate complementary feeding, and breastfeeding up to two yearsare crucial for promoting optimal health and development in infants.
By focusing on these areas, communities and healthcare systems can work together to overcome barriers and provide the necessary support for breastfeeding mothers.
The Holy Quran recommends breastfeeding for two years but acknowledges that some mothers may not be able to do so for the full period. Alternative options are available in such cases.
A woman who breastfeeds another child is recognized and supported in Islam, Razaat in islam holds not just the act of breastfeeding but also the legal, social, and spiritual dimensions of the practice.
Breastfeeding is both a duty for the mother and a responsibility of the father or guardian to support her financially during this time. Breastfeeding is seen as an act of compassion and obedience to Allah, beyond just its physical benefits.
The Holy Qur'an emphasizes breastfeeding until 24 months of age in numerous verses (such as verse 233 of Al- Baqarah, verse 15 of Al-Ahqaf, verse 14 of Luqman, verse 23 of Nisa, verse 6 of Talaq, verse 2 of Hajj, verses 12 and 7 of Qasas).
Mothers shall breastfeed their children for two whole years, for those who wish to complete the term."
His gestation and weaning period is thirty months.
And if they should be pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth. And if they breastfeed for you, then give them their payment.
These verses collectively highlight the significance of breastfeeding, portraying it as a natural and integral part of early childhood development in Islam.
The benefits of breastfeeding are well-proven. Breast milk provides essential nutrients, antibodies, and enzymes vital for a baby's growth and development. It lowers the risk of diseases like respiratory infections, diabetes, and obesity in infants.
For mothers, breastfeeding aids postpartum recovery, reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and strengthens the bond with their baby. Research shows breastfeeding is crucial for healthy child development. The WHO and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, then continued breastfeeding with other foods for up to two years or more.
Breastfeeding is the most natural and cost-effective nutrition intervention for child survival and development. It reduces healthcare costs by decreasing illness in mothers and children and saves families money on formula milk and medical treatments. Healthier children also grow into more productive adults, benefiting the workforce and economy. Investing in breastfeeding support saves on healthcare costs and boosts economic productivity.
UNICEF continues to play a pivotal role in supporting breastfeeding and nutrition programs across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in collaboration with the government and CSOs. Through its comprehensive nutrition program, UNICEF, and the Department of Health (DoH) are working to ensure that every child has the best start in life.
The ceremony was also attended by UNICEF Chief Field Officer Peshawar Radoslaw Rzehaq, Principal ZAB PGPI Dr. Shaheen Afridi, Dr. Hussain, President Pakistan Pediatric Association, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chapter and Dr. Abdul Hameed, Pediatric Specialist who also spoke on this occasion and supported breastfeeding.
Shengjin, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Albanian port boss Sander Marashi is more used to handling cargoes of scrap metal than the thousands of migrants soon be sent from Italy to have their asylum claims processed outside the EU.
Shengjin port is key to a controversial deal between the Adriatic neighbours which would see Albania take in migrants plucked from the seas off Italy.
After being registered by Italian officials in the port in Albania's north, the asylum seekers would then be held at a camp run by Rome in a former Albanian military base in nearby Gjader.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the first migrants were expected to arrive at the port on August 1.
But with the asylum seekers' housing -- which Italy was meant to build -- far from finished, that deadline is set to be missed. And Italian authorities are reluctant to provide a new start date.
Yet Marashi, a former army officer, insisted that Shengjin -- the country's third largest port -- was ready to receive migrants.
"The work here has been completed for around 20 days. The centre is ready to welcome immigrants," Marashi told AFP.
In Gjader -- where AFP saw only a few assembled housing units -- "work continues at an accelerated pace".
Italy is in charge of security inside the centres with Albanian police responsible outside and "during the transport of migrants from one zone to the other", according to Taulant Balla, who was Albania's interior minister until last month.
Marashi, 56, will have to tread delicate diplomatic waters as he helps manage the movement of thousands of asylum seekers through the new system.
That will involve working closely with Italian authorities, who have been handed a large part of the port now officially under Rome's jurisdiction.
His staff will not be able to "enter the migrant centre... unless the Italians ask us".
"We will help them if they need reinforcement," Marashi told AFP, his desk cluttered with paperwork.
He said the port was ready to manage the risks.
"There may be attempts to escape.
But if this happens, we have planned procedures," he added.
"Security will of course be reinforced even outside the port. We will carry out strict checks on all vehicles and all people, to prevent access to people who would like to take advantage of these men."
Albania has experienced the other side of the migration equation for years.
After the collapse of its hardline communist government in the early 1990s, and the chaos that followed, hundreds of thousands fled the country for a better life abroad.
"Emigration is the bane of society. No one wants to leave their country for pleasure," said Marashi.
Having watched his daughter move abroad and resettle in England with her family, the port boss said he knew that from personal experience.
"Since 1990, many Albanians have left the country -- the majority for Italy," he told AFP, recalling the chaotic scenes of desperate people clambering onto cargo ships and boats.
"I was 21 then and I still have them in front of my eyes," he said.
It was this collective memory that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said spurred the country to repay Italy's hospitality then by agreeing to the asylum deal with Rome now.
The deal, however, has been widely panned by human rights groups who say the agreement undermines international law.
Despite the criticism, Marashi was confident in the plan.
"Italy has extensive experience in managing migration crises and is obliged to respect all conventions, including the Geneva Convention," he said.
To prepare, his staff have been trained by police and intelligence services "to manage possible security problems". Rights groups, however, have not been part of that training.
Marashi said he and his team are well aware that they will be some of the first faces the migrants see when they arrive and understand the responsibility that comes with it.
"We, the inhabitants of this region, know very well what it means to emigrate," he told AFP.
"We are a small country, a small region but with a very big heart."
Bogota, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Colombia's EMC guerrilla group said Thursday it would halt offensive actions during the COP16 UN biodiversity summit it had previously threatened in the city of Cali.
The rebels, composed of dissidents who broke away from the FARC guerrilla movement when that group signed a peace deal in 2016, said in a statement they had "decreed the suspension of offensive military operations against public forces in the city of Cali, in the period between October 11 and November 6."
The summit runs from October 21 to November 1.
The EMC (Central General Staff) has ramped up attacks in towns around Cali in recent months, with a spate of bombings and shootings setting authorities on edge.
In July, the EMC warned the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity "will fail even if they militarize the city with gringos (foreigners)."
The event hopes to attract some 12,000 delegates and exhibitors, as well as heads of state, to one of the world's most biodiverse countries.
The summit security manager, General William Castano, recently said more than 10,000 uniformed officers supported by Interpol, Europol and Ameripol were working on defense and intelligence cooperation dubbed the "Hummingbird Plan.
"
The idea is to "minimize criminals' attempts to affect security at the COP," he said.
Cali is the capital of the southwestern Valle del Cauca department, an EMC stronghold and the main coca-growing region in the nation, the world's largest cocaine producer.
Being granted COP16 host status was a major coup for Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, who campaigned on an ambitious conservation and climate change program.
Petro has seen his quest to achieve "total peace" in a nation struggling to emerge from decades of armed conflict bogged down in complicated negotiations with a variety of armed groups.
The EMC recently split into supporters of Petro's peace efforts and opponents led by a man known as Ivan Mordisco, who commands an estimated 2,000 men.
Rights groups accuse guerrillas in Colombia of taking advantage of various ceasefires to expand their influence by seizing more territory and recruiting new members.
El-Alamein, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih met yesterday with Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development Affairs and Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.
The two sides explored ways to enhance and expand cooperation, particularly in attracting Saudi investments to the Egyptian health sector, including pharmaceuticals, and complementary industries. Abdel Ghaffar emphasized the depth of the historical relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt and the aspiration to leverage the two countries' strategic geographic location to support investments in the health sector across Asia, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Al-Falih praised the efforts to promote investment cooperation between the two brotherly countries at the governmental and private sector levels, which aligns with their shared development goals. Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Saleh bin Eid Al-Husseini attended the meeting.
A visitor looks at rock painting rubbings at an art center in Shangye Village of Baita Town in Xianju County, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)
HANGZHOU, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Kangxiao from Xianju County in east China recently proposed an initiative to assign a unique color to each of the county's 17 townships.
These proposed colors will reflect local characteristics and will be incorporated into future tourism planning layouts to create distinctive visual identities.
This proposal is the latest effort by Zhu, a native of Zhejiang Province's Xianju and a "rural development partner" in Baita Township, to revitalize his hometown.
"Connecting townships with fixed colors makes Xianju more memorable," Zhu explained.
In Zhejiang, the birthplace of the landmark Green Rural Revival Program, rural transformation over the past 20 years has evolved from merely improving living conditions to delivering common prosperity while building beautiful villages.
In this context, concepts like "village CEOs" and "rural development partners" have emerged, as rural regions actively seek expertise to bolster their development.
"The partners will revitalize the idle assets in collaboration with the government and village collective economies. In return, they will receive favorable policies for business operations," said Shen Jiang, Party chief of Baita Township.
Xianju, with its picturesque landscapes, lives up to its name, which means "a place where immortals reside." However, its mountainous terrain has historically limited its development.
Over the years, Xianju has embraced the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," phasing out polluting industries and developing scenic areas.
Amid the recent wave of integrating culture and tourism in China, Zhu returned to Xianju after nearly three decades, utilizing his experience in cultural and artistic business to explore Xianju's millennium-old rock painting art.
In 2023, Zhu rented an idle building from a village collective economy within the core area of the Shenxianju scenic spot -- one of China's top-rated attractions -- to establish an art center dedicated to Xianju rock painting.
The modern white building houses a great number of rock painting rubbings, vibrant local intangible cultural heritage art and diverse exquisite cultural products. To generate revenue, the exhibition hall is connected to a rock painting workshop for visitors and a cafe.
As a rural development partner, Zhu has specific performance indicators, including attracting 10,000 visitors to the local homestay industry within a year.
"Tourism and culture are inseparable. Scenic beauty draws visitors, but rich cultural experiences make them stay longer," Zhu said.
Meanwhile, eight kilometers north of the art center, the Xianju snack industrial park, a project led by another returnee Xu Ziyong, is in its final stages of development and will be operational soon.
Xianju is known for three things: tourism, waxberry cultivation and traditional Chinese snacks. Currently, over 30,000 Xianju residents run more than 10,000 snack bars across the Yangtze River Delta region covering four provincial-level regions of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shanghai, selling items like stuffed baked flatbread and steamed dumplings.
Before returning to Xianju, Xu ran 12 snack shops in Jiangsu's Suzhou city where he developed a digital platform to connect Xianju snack workers along the Yangtze River Delta.
"Xianju snack industry faces two challenges: the scattered nature of individual businesses and the lack of contribution to Xianju's economy," Xu explained.
In 2021, Xu returned to Xianju and established a semi-finished product factory, providing customized products for Xianju snack vendors nationwide and promoting employment among villagers.
After becoming a partner, Xu rented land in Baita Township to create the 6.8-mu (about 0.45 hectares) Xianju snack industrial park. The park will offer whole industrial chain services, ranging from agricultural product purchasing and shared facilities for storage and packaging to brand building and online sales, fostering the growth of startup snack businesses and industry clustering in Xianju.
"In the past, one family would get rich from their business. Now, we aim to achieve prosperity for everyone through industry clustering," Xu said.
Recently, Xu and other Xianju rural development partners met with the village CEO of Lizu Village in Zhejiang's Yiwu City, at a studio in a centuries-old village named Gaoqian.
They discussed how to introduce new industries like the cultural creative industry and dining to Gaoqian Village while preserving its ancient courtyards, drawing lessons from Lizu's early success.
Currently, Gaoqian Village's collective economy has rented out villagers' idle properties to develop homestays with cultural tourism development teams from within Zhejiang.
One beneficiary of this initiative is waxberry farmer Wang Jin, who earns an additional 70,000 yuan (around 9,815 U.S. dollars) annually by renting out his three houses.
In Xianju, there are now 76 partners like Zhu and Xu. Additionally, around 2,000 talents have returned to their hometowns under the county government's "talent return" initiative, supported by economic and policy incentives.
"We welcome talent from all over the country to come to Xianju. Beautiful villages are fertile ground for anyone with ambitions," said Xu Qiaoling, deputy head of the organization department under Xianju county's Party committee.
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Chicago, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Aug, 2024) Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris had decided to "turn Black" for political gain, as he attacked his Democratic White House rival during a combative and inflammatory interaction with African American journalists in Chicago.
The Republican former president's provocation marked an escalation of the 78-year-old's vitriol against Harris, whom he falsely accused of having identified as Indian but then, "all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she became a Black person."
Harris, who has long identified as Black and graduated from a historically Black university, "was always of Indian heritage" but then "happened to turn Black," Trump told a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists.
"So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?"
Trump's identity assault was at the heart of a hostile interaction with Black reporters, one of whom he berated for asking about his history of offensive remarks about Black people.
"I think it's disgraceful," he said of the questioning. "I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln."
The combative remarks by Trump, who has been eager to improve his performance with Black voters, are likely to send shockwaves through the 2024 White House contest.
They come as the former president, convicted two months ago of felony fraud related to hush money payments to a porn star, struggles to formulate a new strategy less than 100 days before the election.
He holds a campaign rally later Wednesday in Pennsylvania, a battleground state where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt earlier this month.
The Republican's White House bid was thrown into chaos on July 21 when President Joe Biden, 81, withdrew his candidacy, backing Harris as the Democratic nominee.
Since then, the 59-year-old Harris has seen her favorability ratings jump and raked in $200 million in campaign donations.
Trump, who had placed Biden's health at the heart of the election, now finds himself up against someone nearly two decades his junior, a trailblazer who became the country's first Black, female and South Asian-origin vice president.
The seismic shake-up has forced Trump and the Republicans to recalibrate rapidly, and it appears they are struggling to settle on a line of attack.
As "Lyin' Kamala," "Laughin' Kamala" and "Crazy Kamala" all failed to stick, Trump's broadsides have become increasingly incendiary and untethered to reality.
Over the last week, Trump has falsely accused the vice president of being anti-Semitic -- despite her decade-long marriage to a Jewish man, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff -- and has claimed outrageously that she supports the murder of newborn babies.
The Harris campaign slammed Trump's Wednesday remarks as "personal attacks and insults" and the latest example of "the same hostility he has shown throughout his life."
Harris, whose mother was an Indian immigrant and father was Jamaican, has long identified as Black.
"My mother was very well aware that she was raising two Black girls to be two Black women, and she did that instilling in us pride in our culture and cultures," she said in a 2020 Biden-Harris video.
Trump and Republicans have launched more traditional political attacks, highlighting Harris's pivots on positions she took while trying to carve out a lane in the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential nominating contest.
Harris no longer supports abolishing private health insurance or a government buyback scheme for guns. She has also disavowed positions against fracking and in favor of expanding the Supreme Court.
"San Francisco liberal @VP Kamala Harris can't decide where she stands on the most basic issues," Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin posted on X.
And Trump suggested in an interview this week with Fox news that Harris would be considered weak and "like a play toy" by other world leaders.
"They're going to walk all over her," he said.
The messaging appears to have had little impact, as Harris has erased Trump's lead in multiple key battleground states in the days since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to a new Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll.
Saturday will see Trump head to Atlanta, Georgia, where he will campaign alongside running mate J.D. Vance.
The 39-year-old senator from Ohio was once a staunch critic of Trump, but changed his tune to become one of his most vocal supporters.
Since Vance's selection as Trump's running mate, a series of videos of controversial past statements have emerged, including one in which he mocks some Democratic women as "childless cat ladies."
Harris travels later Wednesday to Houston, Texas, to address a gathering of African American students.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. social media giant Meta Platforms, Inc., parent of Facebook and Instagram, reported on Wednesday an upbeat revenue and earnings for the second quarter, better than expected.
In the second quarter, the California-based company had a total revenue of 39.07 billion U.S. dollars, a 22 percent increase year on year.
Meta's quarterly net income jumped to 13.47 billion dollars, up 73 percent from 7.79 billion dollars year on year. The diluted earnings per share for the quarter increased to 5.16 dollars from 2.98 dollars in the same period of 2023, said Meta.
The number of daily active users for Meta's family of apps increased 7 percent year on year to 3.27 billion on average for June 2024. The company's headcount was 70,799 as of June 30, a decrease of 1 percent from a year earlier.
"We had a strong quarter, and Meta AI is on track to be the most used AI assistant in the world by the end of the year," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. "We've released the first frontier-level open source AI model, we continue to see good traction with our Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and we're driving good growth across our apps."
The company expected the third quarter total revenue to be in the range of 38.5 billion to 41 billion dollars, and the full-year 2024 capital expenditures to be in the range of 37 billion to 40 billion dollars.
In addition, Meta said it continues to monitor an active regulatory landscape, including the increasing legal and regulatory headwinds in the European Union and the United States that could significantly impact its business and financial results.
Officials in Nigerias Borno state say 19 people were killed and at least 20 injured when a bomb exploded in a popular tea house late Wednesday, the second major attack in recent weeks.
Security and government officials say the bombing occurred at about 8pm local time in Kawuri village, about 50 kilometers from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, where the officials say the wounded were taken for treatment.
Officials said the bomb was planted and it was not a suicide attack. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Boko Haram jihadist group and their rivals, Islamic State West Africa Province, are both active in Borno.
According to local media reports, Nigerian authorities could implement movement restrictions, vehicle checks, or curfew measures on short notice in response to the assault.
The bombing comes weeks after a series of coordinated attacks by suspected female suicide bombers that killed 32 in Borno state's Gwoza area where security officials say they targeted a wedding, a hospital and a funeral.
Borno is at the center of a 15-year Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. Although the Nigerian military has degraded the capabilities of the militants, they still carry out deadly attacks against civilians and security targets.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
China and democratic countries, including Australia and Japan, have increased their efforts to deepen engagement with Pacific Island countries in recent weeks, intensifying what some regional politicians and analysts describe as great power competition, especially in the security sector.
Geopolitical competition continues to intensify in the Pacific region as traditional partners [roll out] new activities while new partners continue to show new interests, said Mihai Sora, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute in Australia.
Earlier this month, Jeremiah Manele and Charlot Salwai, the prime ministers of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, made high-profile trips to China, during which they vowed to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership with China.
After wrapping up his first trip to China as Solomon Islands prime minister, Manele announced on July 16 that China is providing more than $20 million worth of budgetary support to the Pacific Island country. The Chinese government has yet to confirm the news publicly.
China also reiterated its commitment to help support and train the Solomon Islands police force, which began after Honiara signed two controversial security deals with Beijing over the last two years.
Meanwhile, leaders from 18 Pacific Island countries agreed to enhance Japans role in the regions development following a three-day summit in Tokyo in mid-July. Tokyo and Pacific Island nations also announced a joint action plan for increasing port calls by Japans Self-Defense Force as well as deepening cooperation between coast guard agencies.
Sora said Japans desire to deepen cooperation with Pacific countries in the security sector is a departure from its traditional role as an aid donor.
We are seeing increased anxiety from Japan with respect to Chinas role and impact on international security, and they are particularly concerned with Chinas push into the security space in the Pacific, he told VOA in a video interview.
In a joint declaration issued at the end of the Pacific Islands leaders meeting, Japan and Pacific Island nations expressed "strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by the threat or use of force or coercion anywhere in the world. They didnt identify China in the document.
Sora said Japans efforts are aimed at upholding the rules-based order in the Pacific region and it hopes to increase engagement with regional countries in maritime security.
Australia, which has traditionally been a security provider to regional countries, is looking into helping the Solomon Islands double the size of its police force as Canberra grows increasingly wary of Honiaras police deal with Beijing.
Australia is also providing support to Pacific Island countries development needs, including a plan announced this week to open a new undersea cable connectivity and resilience center. The establishment of the center aims to help regional countries grow their digital economies by expanding data network connectivity.
However, some politicians from Pacific Island countries view major democracies efforts to deepen ties with regional countries as potentially problematic.
Instead of sending officials focusing on development to engage with Pacific Island nations, major democracies are sending more security folks to facilitate the dialogues, said Peter Kenilorea Jr., a leading independent member of parliament from the Solomon Islands.
He says that while Chinas attempt to increase security ties with Pacific Island countries remains his top concern, democratic countries efforts to counter Chinas growing security presence in the Pacific region are overshadowing regional countries urgent development needs.
While attention from major democracies is there, it is not the right attention for regional countries, Kenilorea told VOA on the sidelines of the IPAC Summit in Taipei, adding that Pacific Island countries should try to direct the focus back to their development needs during dialogues with big democratic countries.
Some experts say politicians from other Pacific Island countries have expressed similar concerns about the increasing focus on security and competition with China in the Pacific region.
There is a very healthy degree of skepticism among Pacific leaders about what is driving major democracies engagement with them, said Tess Newton Cain, an adjunct associate professor at Griffith Asia Institute in Australia.
They are very clear that the reason everybody wants to be their friend and everybody wants to talk to them is because they see this as a way of containing China, she told VOA by phone.
Despite Pacific Island nations desire to steer engagement with major powers back to development, Sora said concern about Chinas growing presence in the Pacific region remains the main driver of democratic countries efforts in the region.
Concerns about Chinas activities in the Pacific region allow lawmakers to mobilize more resources than if they were just looking at the region through the traditional development lens, he said.
But he adds that the securitization of the Pacific region is an inescapable trend.
What differentiates various actors approaches is their commitment to transparency and coordination of their activities with Pacific Islands priorities, Sora said.
As great power competition in the Pacific region will likely intensify in the near future, Kenilorea Jr. said the key for Pacific Island countries to safeguard their interests is to maneuver together.
I think regionalism is where we can counter some of these big power challenges that we are going through, he told VOA.
China issued sanctions on U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, the sponsor of a bill advocating for a peaceful resolution of the China-Tibet dispute China views Tibet as an "inseparable part of China since ancient times," despite supporters of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the Dalai Lama saying that Tibet has historically been independent.
Framed as a response to McGoverns efforts to undermine Chinese territorial sovereignty, the sanctions freeze the representatives Chinese assets, prohibit organizations or individuals in China from engaging with him, and ban him and his family from entering Chinese territory, according to a publication from Chinese state-media agency Xinhua.
McGovern has no assets or business dealings in China, according to The Associated Press.
McGoverns Tibet-China Dispute Act, which passed through the House in mid-June, gives the State Department increased authority to counter Chinese disinformation about Tibet and promotes the resumption of talks between Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama. No such talks have occurred since 2010.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on July 12.
China stands accused of large-scale human rights abuses in Tibet, which the congressman hoped to alleviate with this legislation.
If PRC leaders dont like it when people speak out against their horrific human rights record, maybe they should improve their horrific human rights record, McGovern told VOA in a written statement Thursday. They can start by ending their oppression of Tibetans, ending their genocide in Xinjiang, and ending their crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, he added.
"In the meantime, these absurd sanctions against me only serve to highlight how PRC leaders are afraid of free and open debate. They seek to punish and silence those who disagree with them. But the world is watching what they do, and people who care about human rights will not be silent. I will proudly wear this sanction as a badge of honor," he said.
In a statement released on June 12 when the bill passed the House, McGovern said, "The Peoples Republic of China has systematically denied Tibetans the right to self-determination and continues to deliberately erase Tibetan religion, culture, and language."
"The ongoing oppression of the Tibetan people is a grave tragedy, and our bill provides further tools that empower both America and the international community to stand up for justice and peace," he said.
Among the signees of the statement were House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Senator Todd Young, McGovern and Senator Jeff Merkley.
In a response, Chinese state-sponsored media Xinhua said the Tibet-China Dispute Act "grossly interferes in Chinas internal affairs," violates international law and distorts historical facts to suppress China and encourage Tibetan separatist movements.
This is not the first time China has sanctioned a U.S. representative for their involvement in an issue that threatens Chinese territorial homogeneity. Over the last year, China has sanctioned both Representative McCaul and former Representative Mike Gallagher over their support for Taiwan.
China is expanding its imports of semi-processed agriculture from Africa in an effort to address a trade imbalance and also as a way of diversifying global food chains amid geo-political tensions. Kate Bartlett visits South Africas rural Limpopo province where avocado farmers are getting ready to export their products to the Chinese market for the first time. Video editor: Zaheer Cassim
A British organization that focuses on bringing more transparency to ties between China and the United Kingdom says one of the countrys biggest China institutes at a top university, Kings College London, received almost all of its funds from one single donor a wealthy Hong Kong businessman who has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
In a report released Sunday, UK-China Transparency said 99.9% of funding for the Lau China Institute, or LCI, came from Lau Ming-wai, who has served as an adviser to the Hong Kong government working on Hong Kong integration with China. He was also given a formal role at a body overseen by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, the report said.
The United Front Work Department coordinates domestic and foreign influence campaigns for the Chinese Communist Party and is part of a broader effort known as United Front work that aims to co-opt individuals and silence opposition to the party.
Lau received his bachelor's and doctorate degrees from Kings College London and donated at least $14.1 million to support the institute, according to the report.
UK-China Transparency said it has sought information from King's College under the Freedom of Information Act about the details of Lau's collaboration with the Institute and any terms or restrictions on Lau's donation. It also asked whether Lau has any requirements for the appointment of the institute's director.
The university confirmed Laus donations but declined to provide the other information.
UK-China Transparency then complained to the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office, which supported King's College's position. The organization has since appealed to a body known as the First-tier Tribunal to try to force the college to disclose more information.
A British government spokesperson told VOA that it is the responsibility of higher education providers to ensure they have adequate governance and risk management procedures in place, including on the acceptance of donations.
We expect the sector to be alert to security risks when collaborating with international partners, conducting appropriate due diligence to comply with legislation and consider risks, including potential threats to freedom of speech and academic freedom, the spokesperson said in an emailed statement Thursday.
The LCI was established in 2011 as part of the School of Global Affairs at King's College London. The institute has 76 members, including 30 doctoral students and 11 core members. Its projects include several topics that are considered sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party.
Kerry Brown, director of the LCI, received an award from a Chinese government-owned think tank in 2020 for "telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voices."
Brown is a former British diplomat who previously worked for the China Section of his countrys Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as first secretary of the U.K. Embassy in Beijing. He is a frequent contributor to Chinese state media.
VOA contacted Brown for comment but did not receive a response at time of publication.
However, Brown said in an interview with VOA in February that while there were legitimate security reasons that made the U.K. have reservations about Chinese investment, the U.K.'s options would be greatly reduced if China was rejected altogether.
"You either accept that China poses problems and you try and deal with them, or you accept that you can't deal with China and you don't take any of the economic benefits that come from that, he said. It's about the conversation. It's about embracing how complex this could be."
In a summary report released in 2020, the LCI thanked Lau for his continued support, noting that the institute works with several institutions around the world, including Transparency International, the World Bank, BHP Billiton and the G20. The LCI has become an important source of information for policymakers and the public to discuss China, the report said.
A spokesperson for King's College London told VOA that as a matter of policy, all of its institutes operate independently from donors, who have no influence over the focus of any research undertaken by the institutes.
We are proud of the work of our global institutes in bringing together leading academics to critically examine and deliver country-focused research and expertise that helps shape and inform global understanding," the spokesperson said.
The close ties between U.K. universities and China have been under the spotlight in recent years, particularly in the economic and educational sectors.
A report by the U.K. Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee last year warned that "China has taken advantage of the policy of successive British governments to boost economic ties between the U.K. and China, which has enabled it to advance its commercial, science and technology, and industrial goals in order to gain a strategic advantage."
In February, a British government spokesperson told VOA, "We continue to talk to the sector to ensure advice, and measures on tackling security risks in international collaboration remains relevant and proportionate.
The spokesperson said China was added in May 2023 to a list of countries subject to export controls on certain items with potential military uses.
In April, Oliver Dowden, the U.K. deputy prime minister at the time, said the government would impose stricter oversight of higher education institutions, thereby strengthening protection for sensitive technology and reducing reliance on foreign funding. The move aims to prevent foreign interference in national security, especially from countries that "ignore the rules-based international order."
Observers said the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act is an important tool for that purpose. However, the Labour Party's education secretary announced this week that the bill's implementation would be halted to ensure the "financial stability" of the higher education sector.
Brown said last year that his colleagues at King's College London were well aware of the problems that arose in their interactions with Chinese students and were not naive. He believes it is important to understand and listen to the voices of Chinese students in the U.K., as they are an important part of the academic community.
At the same time, he stressed that cooperation with China is still necessary, especially in areas such as life sciences and medical research, as these are common global issues.
VOA's Adrianna Zhang, Yu-wen Cheng and Daniel Schearf contributed to this report.
Chinese electric vehicle behemoth BYD announced a new partnership this week with Uber that aims to bring 100,000 new EVs to the ride-sharing app globally.
The international collaboration, which starts in Europe and Latin America, will expand to the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, offering accessible pricing and financing for BYDs EVs on Ubers platform.
Analysts say the agreement is just one example of how Beijing is still finding ways to penetrate international markets to continue expanding its global lead in the EV sector, despite looming tariffs and increased concern about Chinese electric vehicle dominance.
One notable country left out of the BYD-Uber agreement is the United States, which is expected to start implementing a 100% tariff rate on Chinese EVs later this month.
The EU and U.S. recently announced plans to hit Chinese EVs with tariffs amid concerns that a potential flood of cheaper electric vehicles could hit their markets and affect domestic automakers.
China says the moves are protectionist, but Washington and Brussels argue that Beijings big subsidies for electric vehicles are to blame.
Nearshoring and partnerships
Although the United States is not included in the BYD-Uber agreement, Chengyi Lin, an affiliate professor at Insead University, said, The question really is, to me, not whether Chinese EVs are going to go into the U.S. market; the question is, really, how?
Lin, along with other experts, add that nearshoring transferring factories and manufacturing operations to a neighboring country and manufacturing abroad are other ways for China to continue entering global markets, including the United States.
China has already set up a manufacturing facility in Thailand because there's huge demand in Southeast Asia. That could happen for [the] North American market as well, or for [the] European market, Lin explained.
BYD announced plans in July to build a billion-dollar factory in Turkey, and late last year it announced the construction of a plant in Hungary. Both countries have close ties with Beijing and are part of the EU.
Nearshoring, particularly in Mexico, is one route for China to gain access to the U.S. EV market, said Tom Moerenhout, professor and critical materials lead at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy.
The biggest threat is that they [Chinese electric vehicles] come in the country via Mexico or via other countries with which the U.S. has a very advanced trade agreement, he said.
So, the way that looks like is, basically, Chinese EV companies set up shop in Mexico and as a result, they are able to export to the United States, he said.
BYD is already in talks in Mexico to build a factory there, and even as Canada considers its own EV tariffs, Reuters reported earlier this week that the company is looking to enter the market there as well.
Back doors
Currently, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, allows the relatively free flow of goods between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, [which] does leave space for Chinese components to be coming from Mexico, said Mark Kennedy, director of the Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition at the Wilson Center.
But Moerenhout and Kennedy noted that the U.S. is already working to make sure China is not taking advantage of the trade agreement.
The U.S. trade representative [Katherine Tai] has very clearly said to Mexico, and publicly, the fact that China might bring in electric vehicles through Mexico, and then export them under this trade agreement, is a problem for us, said Moerenhout.
Kennedy said that there is sharp focus from both the [Biden] administration and Congress that we not allow USMCA to be a back door for Chinese goods that we were otherwise hoping to not be included in American supply chain.
Part of the reason for the United States and EUs fear of Chinas EV dominance, Lin said, is the potential for new cars to upend the traditional automobile industry.
Chinese EVs are not only cheap but at high quality with better technology, he said.
When you have such a good quality and low-priced product into the market, the traditional industry might be disrupted.
Green transition vs. jobs
In addition, the United States and EU see Chinas EV dominance as a potential threat to the advancement of their own green technology industries and job markets.
The EU fears Chinas growing market share threatens 2.5 million auto industry workers as well as 10.3 million more people whose jobs indirectly depend on producing electric vehicles.
China says efforts taken by the U.S. and EU are unjustified and potentially slowing down the global-green transition.
Lin said that despite concerns, electric vehicles can have a meaningful impact in moving the green transition forward.
If you really want to drive meaningful change around energy transition within transportation, mass market adoption of electric vehicles is key, he told VOA.
Kennedy said the U.S. and EU are in a tough situation in which they must balance protecting their own industries against advancing the green transition.
I mean it's the old walking and chewing gum at the same time challenge, he said. We want to move on the green transition, we want to maintain an industrial base. If you're only worried about the green transition, allowing cheap EV vehicles might accelerate your path toward that end.
But, he added, it could also leave a hollowed-out industrial core.
In June 2024, Russia and North Korea drew concern from Western governments by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership amid Russias invasion of Ukraine.
A month earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest to announce a comprehensive strategic partnership with Hungary, a European Union and NATO member state. And just the previous year, Vietnam elevated its ties with the United States to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
But while these phrases are often used in diplomacy, their meaning can vary.
Countries use terms like strategic partnership and comprehensive partnership to describe different types of diplomatic relations. While some may involve a formal treaty, these partnerships are often informal and broadly defined relationships that simply provide a general framework for bilateral cooperation.
A comprehensive partnership may signal a general intent to cooperate across a broad range of issues, while strategic partnerships may have a narrower but deeper focus on particular sectors such as trade, energy or counterterrorism. A comprehensive strategic partnership, then, implies both broad-based cooperation and a commitment to specific joint pursuits.
However, there is no universal international standard for how these terms are defined. That is for the individual countries to determine.
Vietnam, for example, uses all three categories to indicate different tiers of bilateral relations, with comprehensive strategic partnership being the highest. Yet the fact that Vietnam maintains this status with China despite their conflicts in the South China Sea and with both the United States and Russia despite their current standoff over Ukraine means there are limits to how far these partnerships can go without upsetting the diplomatic balance.
In the case of China and Hungary, the announcement mostly reiterated an already-existing economic relationship and a commitment to proceed with previously planned projects rather than introducing new initiatives.
Russia and North Koreas partnership, on the other hand, involves a formal pact that includes guarantees of military assistance in case of attack, though some experts believe this still falls short of a direct military alliance.
Other countries may use similar terms without necessarily implying a tiered approach.
The United States has in the past announced strategic partnerships with countries such as India and Qatar. It also applies the term to NATO allies such as Romania, as well as other allies like Ukraine.
Partnerships can even extend to organizations beyond national governments. Beyond Vietnam, the United States has established a comprehensive strategic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations a regional grouping that also includes Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
And Egypt recently issued a joint announcement of a strategic and comprehensive partnership with the European Union as they work to address migration.
In all cases, the terminology used to designate a partnership matters less than how each of the parties interprets it and what specific agreements, treaties and trade deals it entails. But although partnership announcements may be largely rhetorical, they remain important tools of diplomacy in a time of global upheaval and realignment.
CHANGSHA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- As of 7 a.m. on Thursday, heavy rainfall had affected over 1.2 million residents in central China's Hunan Province. In response, various resources have been mobilized for rescue and relief work.
The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Thursday that the area of damaged crops caused by Typhoon Gaemi has reached 127,000 hectares, and 96,500 people have been safely relocated.
As of Wednesday, the provincial aviation emergency rescue center deployed four helicopters to participate in rescue operations in Zixing City, one of the areas severely affected by the rainfall. A total of 258 flights have been conducted, transporting approximately 73 tonnes of supplies and transferring 92 injured individuals and pregnant women.
Currently, the province continues to maintain a Level II emergency response for flooding and a Level III emergency response for geological disasters. Rescue teams are still working tirelessly to address the ongoing impact of Typhoon Gaemi.
China has a four-tier emergency response system for flood control and geological disasters, with Level I being the most urgent response.
The families of some of the 346 people killed in two Boeing Max jetliner crashes have asked a federal judge to reject a plea agreement Boeing and the U.S. Justice Department have proposed. Instead, the families want the judge to schedule a jury trial for Boeing.
Boeing and the Justice Department recently finalized an agreement for Boeing to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit fraud to settle allegations that it deceived Federal Aviation Administration regulators who approved the 737 Max and then broke a 2021 settlement that would have let the company escape criminal prosecution.
The case against Boeing stems from two Boeing 737 Max crashes - in Indonesia in 2018 and in Ethiopia in 2019 - and Boeings misrepresentations about a key software feature involved in both incidents.
The decision to accept the deal or put Boeing on trial is now in the hands U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. OConnor wrote in a ruling last year, according to Reuters, that "Boeing's crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history."
Paul Cassell, one of the lawyers representing relatives of the crash victims, wrote in a court filing the proposed fine of up to $487 million is inadequate and at the very least is based on misleading accounting and inaccurate accounting.
Cassell also said in his filing that the fine fails to reflect that Boeings crime killed 346 innocent victims. He described the plea agreement as morally reprehensible.
Meanwhile, another lawyer representing the families whose loved ones crashed in the Boeing aircraft over Indonesia, also said he wants the judge to decline the plea agreement. Sanjiv Singh wrote in his filing that many of the families in Southeast Asia have not received proper restitution for their losses. Instead, he said his clients were pressured to sign likely illegal releases which preyed upon them at their weakest, most vulnerable moments" shortly after the crash.
Another lawyer had suggested that the Justice Department may be favoring Boeing, the worlds largest aerospace company, over the families because Boeing is a major U.S. government contractor.
"To actually charge Boeing and its senior management with the actual crimes committed, including the homicide of 346 passengers, would make any explanation of ongoing business dealings difficult and uncomfortable, particularly in an election year," Adrian Vuckovich wrote.
Boeing and the Justice Department have 14 days to respond to the families' filings, the Associated Press reports.
A rare visit by the head of the Food and Agricultural Organization to North Korea has drawn criticism from former U.S. officials and humanitarian experts, with some raising the possibility of the U.N. official, a former Chinese official, using his position to serve Chinas political interests.
FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, currently in his second term and who formerly served as Chinas vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, took a rare trip to Pyongyang, July 13-16, and praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for making great achievement in food security and agricultural development, according to a FAO statement.
Qus trip was the first by an aid organization since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
For several decades, North Korea has suffered chronic food shortages exacerbated by recurring famine and floods damaging harvests. A FAO report released in July described North Koreas food situation as fragile.
Hit again by heavy rains that flooded vast farmlands in Sinuiju and Uiju near the Chinese border, Kim expressed deep concern at an emergency meeting held to restore the damage after inspecting flood-hit areas, said state-run KCNA on Wednesday.
The fact that North Korea has suffered periodic famines and for the head of the FAO to praise the countrys food situation is beyond ironic, said Kevin Moley, former U.S. ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva from 2001 to 2006.
Its nothing more or less than a political agenda between China and North Korea, he added.
Other former U.S. officials and analysts said the visit seems to have been made to benefit bilateral interests of Beijing and Pyongyang.
Qus comments were probably an attempt by the DPRK leadership to use the U.N. to tell the world everything is fine at a time when we have evidence there was a second famine from 2018 to 2023 that killed tens of thousands or more, said Andrew Natsios, who served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2001 to 2006.
The Chinese government is worried of an increase in Russian influence in the DPRK and a decline in [its own] influence. The Russians are providing food to North Korea beginning last year in exchange for the DPRK providing them artillery shells, which the Russians are running out of in the Ukraine war, added Natsios, the director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University.
North Koreas official name is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
China has long been the primary food aid provider to North Korea, and deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang since Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Pyongyang in June is believed to make Beijing nervous about its own influence on North Korea.
VOA contacted the FAO for its comments on the criticism of Qus Pyongyang visit but did not receive a reply.
Max-Otto Baumann, a senior researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, said China might be interested in promoting agricultural productivity in North Korea through the FAO.
He said that could be done with little transparency and accountability such as through Qus signature Hand-in-Hand Initiative seen by some FAO insiders and diplomats as a continuation of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is aimed at eradicating poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition through data-driven agricultural transformation.
Courtney Fung, a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute, said the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang sends an implicit message that Chinas leadership role at the FAO can gain access to North Korea when other leaders cannot or have not, while advancing ostensibly apolitical technical solutions for global governance problems.
The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang was the first to release a statement about Qus trip there ahead of the FAO.
Qu has been accused of using the FAO as a vehicle to spread Chinas influence in countries the agency serves and to fulfill Beijings goals in the several occasions in the past.
On the other hand, Jerome Sauvage, the U.N. resident coordinator in North Korea from 2009 to 2013, said, No FAO director-general has ever been completely protected from the influence of their country of origin.
Qus connection with China actually facilitates the reentry of one U.N. agency into DPRK, he added.
Bradley Babson, a former World Bank adviser and a current advisory council member of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said Qus trip does not seem to be motivated by Chinas political interest but rather by trying to help North Korea find a better way to feed its people with U.N. support.
Iran held a funeral Thursday for Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, whose killing in Tehran has added to fears of a regional conflict.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended the funeral proceedings along with Irans new President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for Pezeshkians swearing-in, and Hamas said Haniyeh will be buried Friday in Qatar where he was based.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not comment directly on the attack Thursday as he visited Mongolia, but he called for calm in the Middle East.
"Right now, the path that the region is on is toward more conflict, more violence, more suffering, more insecurity and it is crucial that we break the cycle and that starts with the cease-fire that weve been working on, which I believe is not only achievable, it has to be achieved," Blinken said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that Haniyehs assassination and Israels killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut "represent a dangerous escalation" of tensions in the region.
Guterres said in a statement that at a time when "all efforts" should be focused on reaching a cease-fire in the nearly 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid to famished Palestinians, instead "what we are seeing are efforts to undermine these goals."
Israel on Tuesday evening killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, in an airstrike in Beirut. Israel said Shukur was responsible for a July 27 attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel on Thursday also said it confirmed that a July 13 Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis killed the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday the Jewish state "will exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front" but did not mention the assassination of Haniyeh.
Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, told VOA that it is clear Israel was responsible for Haniyehs killing, and that it is part of an Israeli strategy to respond to its own failures in the October 7 attack, including a lack of deterrence against Hamas.
"It was very clear that if that was left unaddressed, other actors like Hezbollah could get similar ideas," Berman said. "So, everything that Israel has done since, both in terms of the Gaza war, but also long-range strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, attacks in Syria, attacks in Lebanon, and now the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is intended as part of a long-term strategy to rebuild Israeli deterrence."
The U.S. State Department urged Americans to avoid travel to the entirety of Lebanon, not just the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon for which it had previously issued do-not-travel guidance. Britain and Australia similarly warned their citizens.
Khamenei vowed to retaliate for Haniyehs killing, saying Israel "prepared a harsh punishment for itself."
"We consider his revenge as our duty," Khamenei said in a statement on his official website, noting Haniyeh was "a dear guest in our home."
Hamas armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also vowed to retaliate and warned of "major repercussions" for the Middle East.
Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told VOA that because Haniyeh was killed on Iranian soil, there is a question about whether Iran will leave it to its proxies such as Hezbollah, the Yemen-based Houthis or militias in Iraq and Syria to respond, or whether Iran will act like it did in April in response to an Israeli airstrike on Irans consulate in Syria and launch its own attacks on Israel.
"I think we should assume at a basic level that the proxies will respond," Goldberg said. "The question is whether Iran enters the battlefield again directly."
Norman Roule, a former U.S. intelligence manager for Iran, told VOA there is a "high likelihood" Iran will respond, but that it will need to consider a type of action that shows it can hit Israel without starting a regional conflict.
"The supreme leader has stated that Iran must respond to this," Roule said. "The Revolutionary Guard, which would have been responsible along with other Iranian authorities for Ismail Haniyehs protection will have been humiliated and will need to restore their sense of face, and last of all, Irans proxies will look to Iran to demonstrate that it has a deterrent capacity."
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told VOA that in addition to a direct attack on Israel, other options for Iran would be maritime provocations and ramping up its nuclear program.
"It can also attempt terror plots throughout the region and also elsewhere abroad, targeting Israeli diplomatic facilities and installations in those countries," Brodsky said. "There are a variety of options that the Islamic Republic will try to employ. But at the same time, the Islamic Republic does not want to get involved likely in a direct war between with Israel and the United States, because in that contest, the Islamic Republic stands to lose mightily."
Haniyehs death comes nearly 10 months after Iran-backed Hamas launched a terror attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
Israels counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 39,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, while Israel says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters it has killed.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been trying for months to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but that process faced serious questions after Haniyehs killing.
Israeli forces continued their Gaza campaign Thursday with airstrikes in Khan Younis and ground operations in Rafah and central Gaza, the military said.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
German airline Lufthansa announced Thursday that it is canceling all passenger and cargo flights to and from Israel until at least August 8.
Citing a current development in the region for the pause on flights, the Lufthansa spokesperson also said the carrier is extending its suspension of flights to and from Beirut until August 12.
Numerous airlines have halted flights to the Middle East as tensions in the region grow. Lebanon is bracing for expected retaliation from Israel after a strike on Saturday killed 12 children and teenagers in an Israeli-occupied area of the Golan Heights.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah denies any involvement in the attack.
Lufthansa Groups announcement comes a day after the United States Embassy in Lebanon issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters.
There is no clarity about the losses days after the Malian military and the supporting Russian Defense Ministrys Wagner units clashed with Tuareg separatist rebels and al-Qaida affiliate JNIM fighters in the desert near the border with Algeria.
The news reports vary from 20 to 80 Wagner troops killed. No official in Russia commented on the fighting or specified loses. Mali issued a vague statement about significant losses, after initially claiming that only two of its servicemen were killed in the attack.
The fighting took place in the northeastern town of Tinzaouaten between July 22 and 27, when the Malian army and Wagner troops came under attack from Tuareg rebels, possibly in coalition with the JNIM. The Russian sources say the final attack came immediately after a strong sandstorm.
A week earlier, the Malian Army and Wagner troops announced they had recaptured some areas from Tuareg rebels.
The Associated Press reported that Russias Wagner unit suffered its biggest losses to date on African soil.
What happened during the five days of fighting remains subject to propaganda and disinformation.
On July 27, the Malian army claimed it had killed at least 20 terrorists and destroyed several vehicles and a large amount of military equipment.
It then went on to declare its losses:
There were two dead, ten wounded, two armored personnel carriers, and two pickup trucks were disabled.
That is misleading.
The Tuareg rebels in coalition with JNIM (Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin), distributed videos and photos of the aftermath saying they had killed 10 Malian soldiers and over 50 Wagnerites.
The footage went viral on social media, and independent investigative journalists verified most of the videos and images, confirming the heavy losses suffered by the Wagner troops and the Malian military and thus discrediting the armys version of the events and casualties.
The Tuareg rebels said they had taken hostage several Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters."
On July 30, the Wagner group said in a post on its Telegram massaging app it had suffered heavy losses during the attack, which lasted five days in Malis north, but it provided no figures.
However, international media outlets, including AP, Reuters and BBC, reported that "between 20 and 80 Wagner fighters" were killed during the attack.
Russia's state-run news agency, TASS, reported that only three Russian fighters survived the battle, and their commander Sergey Shevchenko was among those killed in action.
On July 30, the Malian army, while trying to do damage control, issued another statement admitting it had suffered significant losses, without stating the actual figures of the dead or injured.
The Malian army and Wagner said that the military and the Wagner fighters [were] killed in combat" while on patrol in northern Mali in Tinzawaten village near the Algeria border.
The Malian government has referred to the Wagner troops as Russian military trainers since their arrival in Mali in December 2021. At the time, Wagner was a paramilitary group operating covertly on behalf of the Russian government. Russian President Vladimir Putin officially placed Wagner under the command of the Russian Defense Ministry in 2023, after the death of the groups founders Evgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin in a plane crash.
On February 8, the U.S. State Department, in a report titled The Wagner Groups Atrocities in Africa: The Lies and the Truths, said, Before Wagners deployment to Mali, Russia highlighted false narratives like those it deployed about [Central African Republic], repeating the myth that Russian instructors would bring peace, stability, and would also have new success at fighting counterterrorism in the country.
A United Nations investigation said last year that more than 500 people were killed the vast majority summarily executed by Malian troops and foreign military personnel during a five-day military operation in the village of Moura in the Mopti region of central Mali in March 2022.
Human Rights Watch and other human rights watchdogs accused Wagner of war crimes in Africa, including rape, torture and defilement.
Residents of Kastigarh, a sub-district in central Jammu and Kashmir, say they are staying close to their homes following a recent attack by anti-India militants that injured two soldiers who were sheltering in a dilapidated school after a patrol.
A large group of Indian forces had decided to rest in the school after a long search in the area. At around 2 a.m. we woke up to gunfire and realized that militants had attacked them, said a local resident who requested anonymity to discuss the pre-dawn July 18 incident.
Since then we have been living in fear. People prefer not to venture alone, especially after dark, for safety, he told VOA.
The patrol at Kastigarh was part of a larger effort of the Indian army to search for anti-India militants believed to be hiding in the dense forests and remote areas of the larger Doda district, which includes Kastigarh.
In recent months, the Jammu region of the disputed Himalayan territory has witnessed 14 skirmishes between anti-India militants and security forces, resulting in the deaths of 10 soldiers, nine civilians and five militants.
This is the first attack in our village in 20 years. I remember the previous incident that took place in 2004 during the elections, Kumar said. Soldiers nowadays regularly patrol in our area and during that time we feel secure, he added, saying that the villagers did not observe any suspicious activity before or after the shootout.
In June 2023, VOA reported a resurgence of militancy by separatist insurgents in Jammu after a 14-year gap. This year, the armed conflict has expanded from two to four districts, including the Hindu-dominated Reasi district.
The deployment of troops to address border tensions with China in Ladakh has resulted in a relatively lower presence of security forces in certain areas of Jammu, said Deependra Singh Hooda, a former commanding-in-chief of the Indian armys Northern Command.
This reduced security presence has provided an opportunity for terrorists to establish a foothold and increase their activities in the region, he told VOA.
The first major attack of the year took place in Reasi district on June 9, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his oath for a third consecutive term. Militants reportedly chased a passenger vehicle carrying Hindu pilgrims and later opened fire on it. The driver lost control and the vehicle fell into a gorge, resulting in the deaths of nine pilgrims, including an infant.
India blames Pakistan for the rise in militancy in the part of the disputed territory under New Delhi's control. Islamabad rejects the charge.
Ayaz Gul and Sarah Zaman contributed to this report.
A United Nations-backed food security report concluded Thursday that more than a year of war in Sudan has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, including a displaced persons camp that houses more than a half-million people.
"According to the report, catastrophic hunger conditions are projected for the first time in the history of the IPC survey in Sudan, and 14 areas have been declared 'at risk of famine' in the coming months," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters about the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global monitor for food insecurity.
The IPC does not declare famine but provides the evidence for an official declaration to be made.
The IPC says famine conditions are prevalent in North Darfur, including at the Zamzam displacement camp, which is about 12 kilometers (7 miles) south of the regional capital, El Fasher, and are likely to persist through the end of October.
The U.N. says intensified fighting in El Fasher has displaced about 320,000 people since mid-April, with about 150,000 to 200,000 of them believed to have moved to Zamzam camp since mid-May. It says the camp population has expanded to over half a million in just a few weeks.
Fighting between rival generals leading the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces for the past 15 months has severely hindered humanitarian access, exacerbating the hunger crisis.
In addition to the areas facing famine, the U.N. warns that half the country's population about 25.6 million people are at crisis levels or worse of food insecurity.
Dujarric said the World Food Program is rapidly increasing its emergency response and trying to find new ways to reach millions of people across Sudan, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
"Our colleagues at WFP are telling us that we are in a race against time to stop famine in its tracks," Dujarric said. "But there is an urgent need for a massive increase in funding to ramp up assistance at the scale required to avert famine."
The United Nations has appealed for $2.7 billion this year for Sudan but has received about a third of that $870 million.
"We and our partners warn that if the war doesn't stop, more and more people are being pushed into catastrophic levels of hunger," Dujarric said.
Nongovernmental organization Mercy Corps said the IPC famine report is "merely the tip of the iceberg."
"We can only imagine the extent of starvation and deprivation in other regions where we lack similar data, particularly in the 14 areas identified in the latest IPC report, including Greater Darfur, the Kordofan areas, and Khartoum State," Barrett Alexander, Mercy Corps' director of programs for Sudan, said in a statement.
He said a recent assessment by his team in Central and South Darfur found that 9 out of 10 children, particularly those under age 5, are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition.
On Monday, the U.N. Security Council expressed its concern about the humanitarian situation, urging the international community to increase assistance.
On July 18, the United States announced an additional $203 million in humanitarian assistance to support those affected by the conflict both inside Sudan and those who have fled to neighboring countries.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the IPC report confirms what was known already that people have been and continue to die in Sudan from starvation.
"Families who fled horrific violence have been going hungry for months," she said in a statement. "Children have been eating dirt and leaves, and every day, babies have been starving to death."
She urged the warring parties to attend the cease-fire talks in Switzerland on August 14, which the United States is mediating, and Switzerland and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting.
The United States is facing a series of unprecedented threats from foreign intelligence agencies, some of which are increasingly cooperating with each other to gain an advantage, according to a newly approved strategy to blunt the impact of espionage.
The National Counterintelligence Strategy, signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, calls out Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as the main culprits, identifying Moscow and Beijing as the most significant intelligence threats.
But the document warns they are increasingly launching more aggressive operations and even working together, or with others, to undermine the U.S.
U.S. counterintelligence officials see our leading adversaries cooperating more frequently with one another, enhancing the threat they pose, the strategy warns, adding that many PRC [Peoples Republic of China], Russian, and Iranian intelligence activities still go undetected.
Commercial entities are playing increasingly important enabling roles, it adds.
In some cases, foreign spy services are turning to widely available products to better conduct surveillance or collect massive amounts of data. In other instances, spies are using technology to infiltrate critical systems belonging both to the U.S. government and private entities.
A growing number of commercial firms are flooding the market with high-quality cyber intrusion tools, expanding the pool of [foreign intelligence] actors that can threaten our networks and people, the strategy says.
But U.S. intelligence officials have warned that in other cases, adversaries are turning to private companies to mask their involvement.
Earlier this week, a U.S. intelligence official warned that Russia in particular was turning to private Russian companies in its effort to meddle with the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
This includes outsourcing its efforts to commercial firms to hide its hand, the official said.
Officials accused Beijing of also using companies in China and in the Middle East and Latin America to push disinformation campaigns and carry out other influence operations.
China and Russia have repeatedly dismissed such accusations, with Beijing accusing the U.S. of being the biggest disseminator of disinformation.
The warning of growing intelligence cooperation among key U.S. adversaries, however, echoes warnings of a growing collaboration on other fronts.
U.S. and Western officials have recently accused Russia, China, Iran and North Korea of forming a new Axis of Evil, working together to supply Moscow with weapons and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.
"It is a concern. It is a concern that you have both China, North Korea, Russia, Iran countries that are not necessarily coordinated in the past looking to figure out how they can have impact," U.S. President Joe Biden said during a news conference last month.
"There is no time to lose," a NATO official told VOA, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the expanding cooperation. "This must be a key priority for all our allies.
The new U.S. counterintelligence strategy seeks to provide U.S. intelligence agencies with a road map to counter the growing threats.
Part of that involves investing in technologies and programs to help U.S. intelligence agencies better detect plots, anticipate threats and more widely share that information with other government agencies and allies.
The strategy also calls for more use of artificial intelligence, or AI, to better defend against espionage activities and to launch offensive campaigns aimed at disrupting foreign plots.
Foreign intelligence and security services and their proxies persist in seeking to acquire our most sensitive information, technology and intellectual property. Nonstate actors are following suit, Biden wrote in an introduction to the new counterintelligence strategy.
The strategy, he added, ensures we are well-positioned to counter foreign intelligence threats.
The United States has moved to significantly strengthen its alliances in the Indo-Pacific in recent days amid the security threat from China including a major upgrade of its military command in Japan. Just how ready are the United States and its allies to act if conflict erupts? Henry Ridgwell reports from Tokyo.
Ukraine said Thursday its air defenses shot down seven Russian aerial drones that targeted areas in central and eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian air force said the intercepts took place over the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Poltava regions.
In the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian shelling killed one person and damaged homes, while a missile attack injured one person.
Russias defense ministry said Wednesday it shot down a Ukrainian aerial drone over the Belgorod region, which is located across the border from Kharkiv.
Belgorod Vyacheslav Gladkov said Ukrainian drones struck three villages, damaging at least five homes. Gladkov said there were no reports of injuries.
In Bryansk, another border region, officials said air defenses shot down three Ukrainian aerial drones, but that there were no reports of injuries or damage.
Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov reported a Ukrainian drone attack that hit a bus and injured the driver.
U.S. officials said Wednesday Ukraine had received its first shipment of F-16 fighter jets from the West, something Ukraine has been seeking for months to help it beat back the Russian invasion of its territory.
Ukraine says the F-16s are crucial because of their ability to suppress enemy air defenses.
Western allies have been slow in agreeing to supply the jets because they were fearful of escalating the conflict with Russia.
It was not immediately clear how many of the jets were included in the shipment.
NATO members Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands have pledged to provide more than 60 of the jets to Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to allow allies to send the U.S.-built jets to Ukraine a year ago, after repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO allies.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
NEW DELHI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 21 people were killed and over 50 others went missing as torrential rains triggering cloudbursts, landslides, flooding and waterlogging wreaked havoc in north India, officials said Thursday.
Heavy rains battered the Indian capital territory and its outskirts Wednesday evening and left most parts of the city waterlogged. The rains and inundation of roads severely affected traffic, leaving commuters stranded for hours.
Reports said at least 10 people -- five in Delhi, three in Gurugram and two in Greater Noida -- were killed in the rain-related incidents.
The incessant downpour, which saw parts of the city receive record rainfall, prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue a red alert for Delhi. The IMD advised residents to stay indoors, secure their homes, and avoid unnecessary travel. The situation also prompted the Delhi government to close all schools on Thursday.
The cloudbursts caused massive devastation in the three districts in the northern part of India by damaging bridges, houses and roads.
Videos shared on social media show a building housing a vegetable market collapsing on a road.
The local government has pressed into service disaster response force personnel to help trace the missing. Officials had been instructed to make all necessary arrangements.
On Tuesday, multiple landslides hit the southern Indian state of Kerala's Wayanad district, causing large-scale destruction to life and property.
According to India's official broadcaster All India Radio, the death toll in the landslide-affected region has risen to 260.
A full-scale rescue and relief operation involving NDRF, army and Air Force personnel is underway in the affected area to help survivors, trace the missing and pull out bodies from the debris.
U.S. Democrats began voting Thursday to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as their 2024 presidential candidate to run against former Republican President Donald Trump in the November election for a new four-year term in the White House.
Nearly 4,000 Democratic activists and politicians sent in signatures supporting Harris at the start of a five-day electronic vote ahead of the party's four-day national convention from August 19 to 22 in Chicago.
Harris is expected to name her vice presidential running mate in the coming days and then embark on a string of rallies through several political battleground states that both Harris and Trump need to win to claim the presidency.
The Democratic faithful voting to nominate Harris originally were picked in state-by-state party primary elections and caucuses earlier this year to vote for the reelection nomination of President Joe Biden.
But when the 81-year-old Biden ended his campaign last month after a stumbling debate against Trump in late June and endorsed Harris, 59, the party adherents quickly coalesced behind her candidacy. No other major opponent emerged to challenge her for the nomination.
Harris won the support of 99% of the delegates who signed petitions in the party's nominating contest, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement, while no one else met the qualifying threshold of 300 signatures.
"Our delegates have an important responsibility and opportunity in the days ahead to cast their history-making ballots for Vice President Harris, ensuring that she will be on the ballot in every state this November," said Jaime Harrison, the national party chair.
"Our party has met this unprecedented moment with a transparent, democratic and orderly process to unite behind a nominee with a proven record who will lead us in the fight ahead," he said.
Harris will become the first Black and South Asian woman to ever secure a major U.S. party's presidential nomination.
With the November 5 election less than 100 days away, polling across the U.S. and in key states shows Harris and Trump locked in a closely contested race.
The head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, its eighth attempt to kill him.
Deif was believed to be one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant movement, which triggered the Gaza war now in its tenth month.
The operation stoked fears of wider escalation in a region shaken by the Gaza war and a worsening conflict in Lebanon. Israel has sought to show it can get anyone, anywhere. It has assassinated or attempted to kill leaders of Hamas and key operatives since the group was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Two years later, Hamas carried out its first attacks on Israeli military targets, including the kidnap and killing of two Israeli soldiers.
Here is a list of Palestinian leaders and operatives who were targeted by the most powerful and sophisticated military in the Middle East.
Yahya Ayyash
Elusive Islamic militant mastermind behind a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings nicknamed "The Engineer", was killed in then PLO-ruled Gaza. He died on Jan. 5, 1996, when his cellular phone exploded in his hands. Palestinians blamed Israel, which declined to take responsibility. Hamas retaliated in four suicide attacks that killed 59 people in three Israeli cities over nine days in February and March.
Khaled Meshaal
Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal became known around the world in 1997 after Israeli agents injected him with poison in a botched assassination attempt on a street outside his office in the Jordanian capital Amman.
The hit, ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, so enraged Jordan's then-King Hussein that he spoke of hanging the would-be killers and scrapping Jordan's peace treaty with Israel unless the antidote was handed over.
Israel did so, and also agreed to free Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, only to assassinate him seven years later in Gaza.
Ahmed Yassin
Israel killed the quadriplegic co-founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed, in a helicopter missile strike on March 22, 2004 as he left a mosque in Gaza City. Israel attempted to kill him in 2003 while he was at the house of a Hamas member in Gaza.
Thousands of Palestinians marched in Gaza shouting calls of revenge and threatened to "send death to every home" in Israel.
His death led to widespread protests and condemnation from the Palestinian territories and the broader Muslim world and marked a significant escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, underlining the deep-seated tensions and the challenges of achieving peace in the region.
Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantissi
An Israeli helicopter missile strike on a car in Gaza City killed Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi on April 17, 2004.
Two bodyguards were also killed. The Hamas leadership went into hiding and the identity of Rantissias successor was kept secret.
His assassination came shortly after he had taken over as Hamas leader in Gaza following the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Adnan Al-Ghoul
Hamas master bomber Adnan Al-Ghoul was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Oct. 21, 2004. Ghoul was number 2 in the military wing of Hamas and known as the "Father of the Qassam" rocket, a makeshift missile frequently fired into Israeli towns.
Nizar Rayyan
A cleric widely regarded as one of Hamas's most hardline political leaders, had called for renewed suicide bombings inside Israel. Two of his four wives and seven of his children were also killed in the bombing in Jabalya refugee camp on Jan. 1, 2009. Days later, an Israeli airstrike killed Hamas's Interior Minister Saeed Seyyam, in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 15. Seyyam was in charge of 13,000 Hamas police and security men.
Saleh Al-Arouri
An Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh killed Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri on Jan. 2, 2024. Arouri was also the founder of Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades.
Ismail Haniyeh
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Iran, the Palestinian militant group said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of Haniyeh, hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for the country's new president, and said it was investigating.
Iranian media reported that he was staying at "a special residence for war veterans in north Tehran". Iran's NourNews said Haniyeh's residence was hit by an airborne projectile.
Haniyeh was killed by a missile that hit him "directly" in a state guesthouse where he was staying, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told a news conference in Tehran, quoting witnesses who were with Haniyeh.
Mohammed Deif
Israel's military said Deif was killed after fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Younis on July 13th after an intelligence assessment. The elusive Deif had survived seven Israel assassination attempts.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli announcement, which came as crowds gathered in Tehran for the funeral procession of Hamas's leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war, now in its 300th day.
A spokeswoman from the United States Embassy in Harare has refuted allegations by Harare that its diplomat is on the run after allegedly killing an 11-year-old girl in a road traffic accident in Dema, 60 kilometers west of the capital, Harare.
Zimbabwe has identified the diplomat as Eric Kimpton, the US Embassy Second Secretary.
In an exclusive audio response to questions sent by VOA Zimbabwe Services Studio 7, a spokeswoman for the embassy said, The US embassy expressed its sincere condolences and deep sadness regarding the tragic death of a school-aged girl near Dema, Zimbabwe on June 3rd, 2024.
She added, The US embassy including the US diplomat involved in the accident transparently complied with local officials following the accident. The diplomat involved in the accident has since departed Zimbabwe. US embassy representatives have been in communication with the family and community including attendance at the funeral and support for the girls family. The US embassy recognizes the devastation of this accident for all involved and will continue to communicate and cooperate with the police and other officials as they complete their investigation. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones, of the girl.
Harare Response
Reached for comment, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman, Commissioner Paul Nyathi told VOA that, "The police who attended the scene were told by senior US embassy officials that he (Kimpton) needed a period to rest but were told later he was no longer in the country. The documentation process hasn't been completed and the matter is still before the police because we could not proceed with the formalities in his absence. It appears he is no longer coming back to Zimbabwe. Investigations have stalled."
In an interview with the state-leaning Herald newspaper, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications), George Charamba was less diplomatic.
He said, No one, from whichever country or continent, is allowed to spill innocent Zimbabwean blood and get away with it. The behaviour of diplomats must be consistent with the dignity of their profession but also with the expectations of the Vienna Convention. When a diplomat is involved in a fatal traffic accident, uses the pretext of counselling, which he thinks is only available in his country, and then decides to stay away from the police, he or she moves from being a diplomat to a fugitive and there are adequate instruments which Zimbabwe can summon to bring that diplomat to account. We will do precisely that."
Diplomatic Immunity
Texas-based human rights lawyer, Kennedy Masiye, says diplomats are protected under international law.
Masiye said, Diplomats are protected from prosecution under international law. Zimbabwe is signatory to the Vienna Convention that protects diplomats from being prosecuted criminally or in civil court.
Masiye admitted that Harare can ask for a waiver, though he notes that it is up to Washington to lift the immunity for the diplomat to stand trial.
According to the U.S. Department of State Office for Foreign Mission Diplomatic and Consular Immunity: Guidance for Law Enforcement and Judicial Authorities: "The principle of diplomatic immunity is one of the oldest elements of foreign relations."
It further says, "Ancient Greek and Roman governments, for example, accorded special status to envoys, and the basic concept has evolved and endured until the present. As a matter of international law, diplomatic immunity was primarily based on custom and international practice until quite recently. In the period since World War II, a number of international conventions (most noteworthy, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations) have been concluded. These conventions have formalized the customary rules and made their application more uniform."
China is expanding its imports of semi-processed agriculture from Africa in an effort to address a trade imbalance and also as a way of diversifying global food chains amid geo-political tensions. Avocado farmers are getting ready to export their products to the Chinese market for the first time.
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Sudanese military authorities confirmed that a graduation ceremony held Wednesday in the nations Genit Army Base was interrupted by a drone strike that killed five people, excluding Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF.
UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called on the parties concerned to take tangible actions to push for deescalation and the restoration of peace and tranquility in the Middle East region.
China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh that took place in Iran's capital Tehran, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, in remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
Denouncing the act as a blatant attempt to sabotage peace efforts and wantonly trampled on the fundamental UN Charter principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, Fu said China is deeply worried about an exacerbation of the upheaval in the region that this incident may trigger.
He expressed disappointment over the ceasefire negotiations. "Over two months ago, the council adopted Resolution 2735. As of now, however, ceasefire negotiations have yet to yield any progress, while the spillover effects of this conflict are increasingly visible, with the tensions between Lebanon and Israel, between Syria and Israel, and in the Red Sea sounding the alarm frequently."
"The Middle East situation is hanging by a thread, much to the concern of the international community," he warned,
"Given the severity of the situation, the parties concerned must heed the international calls for a ceasefire and cessation of fighting," said the ambassador, urging the parties to implement Security Council resolutions fully, actively coordinate with and support international good offices, and take tangible actions to push for deescalation and the restoration of peace and tranquility in the region.
"They must not act singlemindedly and repeatedly take provocative or risky actions to stoke escalations," he said. "We strongly object to and condemn the recent irresponsible acts, including Israel's attack on Southern Beirut."
Emphasizing that "military means and abuse of force offer no solution and will only lead to a bigger crisis," Fu said the continued deterioration of the Middle East situation is directly attributable to the continuous failure to implement a ceasefire in Gaza.
He called on all parties to comply with the overwhelming international consensus and work jointly for an immediate ceasefire to save lives, mitigate the impact of the havoc, and contain any spillovers. "We urge Israel to implement council resolutions in full, immediately halt all its military operations in Gaza, and immediately stop its collective punishment of the people in Gaza."
Fu also urged countries with major influence to put more pressure and work more vigorously on the parties concerned and make tangible good-faith efforts to put out the flames of war in Gaza.
The first thing you need to know about Pippa Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers) is that she has a bob. The second is that she almost always wears overalls. And the third is that, unlike her party-animal friends who drink booze and go on hot dates Pip is a huge fan of school. Homework. The grind. These three characteristics (the bob, the overalls, the education dedication) should tell you everything you need to know about Pippa Fitz-Amobi, our leading lady in A Good Girls Guide to Murder. She is bookish, clever, and, most important, Not Like the Other Girls. Instead of a senior year spent throwing parties and slacking off, 17-year-old Pip has set her sights on a convoluted capstone: solving the disappearance of Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies).
This is not the first time weve met Pip, who comes from Holly Jacksons 2019 novel of the same name. It is, however, the first time were seeing Pippa in the flesh, and Myers perfectly embodies headstrong Pip. As well soon learn, its fun to be a little irritated with Pippa while we simultaneously root for her to crack the case. She and that damn bob and those overalls go too far; we shake our heads and insist shed be better off quitting while shes ahead, but we keep watching because weve all gone too far with a little gossip, havent we?
Its been five years since the scandal surrounding golden girl Andie Bell and her boyfriend, Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), rocked Pippas hometown, an English village so quaint that its named Little Kilton. On April 19, 2019, Andie disappeared in the middle of the night. Just a couple of days later, police found Sal dead in the woods, overdosed on painkillers. Without an alibi for the night of Andies disappearance, Sal was ruled her killer posthumously. There wasnt even a trial police immediately claimed he died by suicide, riddled with grief after allegedly killing Andie. Sal did send a text to his father confessing to the crime hours before he died. Andie was never found.
So, case closed?
No. Now, its 2024, and Pip isnt satisfied with this conclusion. Pippa could research the case in her spare time, but wheres the fun in that? She is going to prove Sal innocent for her Extended Project Qualification get ready to hear the acronym EPQ endlessly which is the British way to describe a senior-year thesis mixed with a college application essay. While you maybe wrote something about being on the debate team for your college essay, and I wrote about being in theater, Pippa solved a whole damn murder case.
Apart from school, theres another reason why Pippa is doing this; frankly, its a little flimsy. Pippa believes Sal to be innocent because he was kind to her as a kid. Good guys dont kill people, Pippa tells her best friend, Cara Ward (Asha Banks). Important to note: Cara is the younger sister of Sals friend Naomi (Yasmin Al-Khudhairi), meaning Pip grew up around sweet Sal. Plus, if Sal didnt do it, that also means that the killer is still lurking around Little Kilton. But, cmon good guys do kill people, Pippa. Its the oldest plot twist in the book.
There are a lot of timestamps, receipts, and case-related history the first episode has to get across, and for the most part, the show seamlessly integrates this into Pippas conversations. Sometimes, though, we get a clunky exposition moment like when were forced to watch Pip build a crime-scene wall in her room, circling her Persons of Interest in red ink and writing zingers like WHERE WAS SAL? on her timeline. Well, Pippa, thats the question, isnt it? No need to emulate John Krasinkis whiteboard in A Quiet Place here; we got the gist before you literally spelled it out for us.
Pippa begins with an obvious, if amateur, plan. Armed with a tin of homemade muffins, Pip bribes Ravi Singh (Zain Iqbal), the cute younger brother of Sal, to talk to her. These two really kick it off. The pheromones are pheremoning as the pair chat literature, homework, and school. But Pippa soon swings in with a big confession: These muffins were actually baked to convince Ravi to spill the deets about his dead brother.
Ravi, peeved that Pip pulled a bait and switch, tells her to leave him alone. He has every right to be wary about Pippa. Not only did Ravi lose his older brother, townsfolk have been traumatizing the Singh family ever since Sals death. I am firmly planted in the Protect Ravi at All Costs camp. Get a job! Stay away from him!
Pippa carries out yet another ill-advised plan. Later, while hanging out with Cara, Pip uses her as a way to further wedge herself into the case. Pip wants to interview Naomi for her EPQ. Cara brushes her off; Naomi is too depressed about the Sal case to get involved. But Pippa ignores her friends request, sneaks out of the room, and tiptoes downstairs to find Naomi, who is mumbling something about missing jammy dodgers. Pip immediately uses that as a way in: Speaking of missing, does Naomi remember where she was on April 19, 2019, the night Andie Bell disappeared?
Naomi hesitantly recalls the night. Before Andie went missing, Sal was kicking it at Max Hastingss (Henry Ashton) house with Naomi. They were playing Super Mario Party, which is important for two reasons. First, the exact game will later be contested. Second, Mario Party is the best game, and its inconceivable that anyone playing it could be a killer. Pip should factor this key detail into her EPQ. Sal left at 10:30 p.m., and was only seen later at 12:50 a.m. by his dad when he returned home.
Pip wants more info on some alibi Naomi mentioned. Well, wouldnt you know it! Pips mom (Anna Maxwell Martin) just so happens to be in a book club with Ms. Hastings, who is just so happening looking for waitresses to work a big Hastings family party this weekend. Thus, Max becomes Pippas next target. Pip drags Cara along with her to serve Champagne at the event, as if betraying her and interviewing Naomi werent enough.
To make matters worse, Pippa abandons bottle-girl duty, stalking Max down to the basement. Poor Cara! But Pip gets whats coming to her: Max is a scumbag. Pippa demands answers about Sals alibi, but Max wants a quid pro quo deal where he gets something out of the conversation, too. For every question he answers, Pippa must take a shot. Thats what you get for treating sweet Cara like trash.
Pippa starts downing shots and Max finally offers some long-awaited insight. Shot: What is this alibi Naomi mentioned? Chaser: Sal asked Max and his friends to lie to the police and say he actually left at 12:50 a.m., which he didnt. Sals friends told the police the truth. Shot: What were they doing that night? Chaser: They were playing FIFA, not Mario Party. Shot: What did Max know about Sals new girlfriend? Chaser: Max literally never spoke to Andie.
Max is an untrustworthy douchebag. FIFA and not Super Mario Party? Bail, Pippa.
While exiting the party, a drunken Pip confesses to Cara that she also interviewed Naomi. They have a screaming match, Cara continues to be far too good a friend for Pip, and both leave the party in tears. Perhaps its time for Pip to hit pause on this EPQ and research, I dont know, literally anything else? But, again: This is Pippa Fitz-Amobi were talking about. She may not be sporting her overalls unless theyre on underneath her glitzy waitress costume but that bob is going to keep bobbing.
Pip rolls up to the Singh household after the party, tears clinging to her eyes. Ravi tells her to go away again, but she rambles on about how important this is to her. Finally, he cracks. Ravi has something hes been dying to show someone, anyone, for the past five years: Sals phone. On it, two messages could prove Sals innocence.
The first, on April 19: Goin 2 Max house after school 2nite will be bak late
The second, on April 22: It was me. I did it. Im so sorry.
Sal never typed out any punctuation. He simplified to to 2. Why, then, would his confession be so perfectly written? Theres only one answer here, Pip and Ravi agree: Someone else sent the confession. Now that Pips persistence has finally won her a singular ally who, lucky for her, is a key witness in the case theres actually a solid reason for her to continue the investigation.
Ring a Bell?
Pippa reads Jane Eyre at the corner store while her friends steal booze. (Again: Not Like the Other Girls .) Cute factoid: Charlotte Bronte wrote the novel under the pen name Currer Bell. Andie Bell, Currer Bell. Related? Side note: Couldnt Pippa have done her EPQ on, say, bildungsroman novels?
Pips friend Lauren (Yali Topol Margalith), a tertiary character in this saga, is also at the Hastings party, on a date with a guy named Ant (Monty Eliot). (Ant?!?) Pip hates Ant because he says pacifically instead of specifically. This show is really great at a realistic characterization of teens there were at least three of these guys in my high school.
Some guy at the Hastings party tells Pippa to stop being so nosy and plays the old Got your nose! trick on her. Dark forces are at work here, Pippa whispers to Cara. A good-looking man just tried to steal my nose.
Photo: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Authorities arrested 14 people as the result of a human-trafficking sting operation targeting sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims, the California Department of Justice announced in a press release. According to the release, ten potential victims including nine adults and a 16-year-old girl were recovered and offered support services. As part of the operation conducted by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force from July 25 to July 27, law-enforcement agents went undercover as sex buyers and posted ads soliciting sex. Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large-scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit, California attorney general Rob Bonta said in a statement. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. Meanwhile, the convention has suggested that it did not know about the sting. Obviously we find this very disturbing and, while we were not made aware of this operation, it is our understanding that the arrests were made outside of the event, SDCC said in a statement to IGN. We work closely with a variety of law-enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.
Hey, at least Timothys having fun, right? That kid, who may or may not still be the Antichrist, is giggling away while every other character on Evil is suffering. It really is the agony and the ecstasy over here, babes! Weve officially reached the final four episodes of this show (I have to keep typing it so I actually believe it) these are the four episodes Robert and Michelle King were given to wrap things up once Evil was given the axe. Those very meta scenes in which characters were in disbelief that the Archdiocese was terminating the assessor program even though it proved to be quite successful but it doesnt make any sense, its all about money, is the gist of the responses are both absolutely delicious and also heartbreaking. Alas, here we are. While Fear of the Future remains yet another fine outing in this excellent season-four run, you can certainly feel the pressure of drawing things in this complex, meaty show to an end. Theres a lot to cover and little time to do it, and those constraints show themselves a bit. With the pressure cooker of a timeline both outside the show and within it, in regards to the Big Evil and the 60 and the Antichrist stuff, imagine my surprise when I realized that this episode wasnt putting the mythology front and center, but some gorgeous character work. What a time we are having!
The crux of this episode is set off by two events: First, Kurt Boggs goes to deliver Sheryls envelope to Andy and walks in on Andy having sex with a woman who is not Kristen while both participants are wearing animal masks (yes, that kink is back). The second is when a woman named Ellie (Anna Chlumsky joins the Evil crew!) shows up at Sheryls funeral and hits it off with Kristen, who really could use a gal pal, only to inform Kristen that, surprise, she is actually her daughter Laura from 30 years in the future. She stepped into a wormhole created by the particle accelerator and has come back to tell her mother that tomorrow shes going to learn Andy is cheating on her and shell divorce him and in six months David will leave the priesthood because hes in love with her. I dont know about you guys, but I guessed pretty early on that the two events were connected. Even so, realizing that Ellie is actually the woman from the mental-health clinic that Andys sleeping with doesnt make what transpires any less compelling. I mean, we are watching Kristen lose everything at a wildly rapid (perhaps, some might say, too rapid?) pace. Shes lost her mother, her job, and her marriage seemingly in one fell swoop. She doesnt seem like the same woman who would murder a man with an ice axe, but with this much trauma and whatever fresh hell awaits with Timothy and Leland all bets are off.
Lets talk about her immediate response, though. Kristen doesnt want to believe that Ellie is a time-traveling Laura who has stepped through a wormhole to inform her mother of her fathers infidelity, but after a little visit from her Night Terror Demon George, she just cant shake it. When she calls Andy to calm her fears, he assumes Kurt has already told her and uses the phrase Ive met someone, meaning its more than just sex. Kristen goes off, and friends, it is a thing to behold. Just that moment of her keeping direct eye contact with Andy and slowly sweeping everything off his dresser really fuels my soul. Now, to be fair to Andy, as Kristen finds out at the end of the episode thanks to Sheryls second flash drive, he has had blood and brain matter drained out of his body for months and is highly susceptible to manipulation. Not to mention, Kristen has cheated on Andy as well. (And when Andy brings up David, Kristen really pops off.) Although, her little car tryst was a onetime thing, while Andy seems to have feelings attached to this woman from across the hall. Perhaps the end of their marriage does warrant a bigger conversation but also, be better, dude.
Kristen comes home sobbing and finds Ben at her house and crumples into him. She tells him everything about Andy and about the woman from the future. Everyone needs a friend like Ben. Not only is he constantly at Kristens fixing stuff around the house, but she can say things like, She said she came through a wormhole, and he doesnt laugh at her. He also, though, points out that coming back 30 years to tell someone about a cheating spouse is highly suspect. Not to mention, Ben immediately offers to kill Andy for her, which on this show well, you know. I love that Kristens response here is to ask him how and he immediately offers up poison. Shed rather Andy get an STD and die a slow, agonizing death. Our little sickos never disappoint!
The other kind of wonderful thing Ben does is let David know all of this is going on because Ben knows that Kristen needs David. (And that David needs Kristen.) David is hesitant because those feelings for Kristen hes been trying to repress are only getting stronger Demon Kristen seems to be a permanent fixture these days, and let us not forget about his I wish I had two lives sentiment; bathtubs havent been the same since. But of course David goes to see her.
The girls overheard her conversation with Ben, so rather than have to explain anything more before shes ready, Kristen moves her conversation with David to the office. This private space only ratchets up the sexual tension between these two. The blocking of this scene is gorgeous. Theyre keeping their distance from one another David is especially aware of not getting too close but you can practically feel the pull between them. It doesnt take too long for Kristen to ask for what she really needs from him: For him to hold her. It is certainly the sexiest comfort hug my stupid little eyes have ever seen. The fact that, again, in the midst of so much going down within the mythology, we linger on this hug for as long as we do is yet another example of Evil really owning its many flavors. Sure, its a horror show and full of social commentary, its a thriller, and even funnier than most comedies on TV at times, but in the end, perhaps its a love story, too?
I know Ben would back me up here. Its Ben who finally stops all the tiptoeing around David and Kristens obvious connection and asks David flat out: Why are you a fucking priest, David? The man obviously loves Kristen and she loves him, too. They should be together. David opens up about things hes obviously been bottling up for so long. Of course, he thinks about a life with Kristen; of course, he thinks about leaving the priesthood to be with her. But he has made a commitment to God. If that sounds like the Middle Ages to you, he says, borrowing a phrase Kristen used on him earlier, then fuck it, I am the Middle Ages. He emphatically tells Ben that he will not break his promise because he is tired of the broken promises in this world. He remains a priest and committed to his faith because it shows him what is right and what is wrong and he is sick thinking about the amount of evil out there. I will not break this promise, even if it breaks me. Even if I need Kristen.
The delivery here yet another great Mike Colter scene; someone make this guy a romantic leading man tomorrow is full of passion and emotion, but theres anger and a bitterness, too. Its easy to believe that David really believes all of this to be true. And, yet, isnt the argument kind of flimsy? I was ready for Ben to take it in and follow up with a question about committing to Kristen. Isnt that good and right, too?
While the boy chat is going on, Ellie shows up at the Bouchard house with a gift for Timothy. Only Laura is home, but Ellie insists on handing it directly to Lexis, if possible. Its all very ominous! Thankfully, the Bouchard women are pretty smart. While Ellie is in the bathroom, Laura runs out and grabs her license plate. When Kristen gets home, she makes sure not to let anyone touch the onesie in the box Ellie left. Both are great instincts. Ben runs with both and discovers that the onesie has been doused in a nerve agent and that the car was recently stolen by a patient from a doctor at Andys mental-health clinic.
As Ben and his sister, Karima, are putting two and two together about the Ellie/Laura of it all, Ellie has returned to the Bouchard house. Its late, but Lynn winds up lured outside thanks to that pesky demon-detector app and runs right into Ellie, now armed with a box cutter and seeming more unhinged than ever. Kristen is upstairs listening to her daughter scream for help but unable to do anything because, yup, you guessed it, another paralyzing night terror. Lynn flees, but not before Ellie dumps all of this info on her about Lexis, that she will help Timothy bring on the end times, that something is wrong inside of her. Ellie might be batshit crazy, but I have to believe some of it is going to stick with Lynn. Will we get a big sister confrontation? Will Lexis be redeemed when all of this is done? I do not know and we do not have the time at the moment! Because now Ellie is upstairs.
Thankfully, Lauras home, because this kid is crushing it. She heard her future self might be in town, and she said NOT TODAY. She uses that handy-dandy air horn to surprise Ellie before she suffocates Timothy. Kristen, finally able to break free from her nightmare, uses the stun gun. Ben arrives, and they realize Ellie must be Andys new girlfriend. Then they realize that she has escaped out the second-floor window. This woman is resourceful!
By the time Kristen and David get to Andys clinic, Andy and Ellie have already run off together. Ellie did, however, leave behind a certain flash drive shes been obsessed with watching, in case you were wondering how she learned all of that information about Lexis and Timothy and the end of the world. Does this mean Andy is still in the dark about his missing brain matter? Will that change things once he learns the truth about whats happened to him? Apologies for all of these questions, but Evil is really setting up a whole bunch of plot that is going to need to be resolved in just three episodes.
It doesnt matter at the moment. What matters is that Kristen and David are once again alone together. Unfortunately, the mood is less can we make out for a little and more I have some terrible news. David, at the top of the hour, was made pastor of St. Josephs because Father Ignatius has retired. (I refuse to believe this is the last well see of Wallace Shawn, though.) He assumes, and is later proved correct, that this promotion reeks of the Black Bluff, in which a Black person is promoted to a position of power when there is no power left in this case, the parish is going under financially, which means it will close down under Davids leadership. This also means that its David who has to deliver the news about the assessor program getting the first cut. He has to inform Kristen that on top of everything, shes also losing her job. Kristen lets out a small that tracks laugh because, man, has she had a week. And as we all know from this show and from life, generally and repeatedly, if youre not laughing, youre crying, you know what I mean?
Church Bulletin
Some items of note in regards to the now arrested Leland Townsend: He still cannot remote view into David without hearing crippling marching band music. His bumbling lawyer, Mr. Stick (John Carroll Lynch!!), advises him to take an insanity plea, which Leland than threatens Kurt into helping him secure. Just as Leland is about to fire Mr. Stick, the man shows up in court no longer bumbling and Leland now sees him as possibly the most terrifying demon Evils deployed. He is, apparently, the Evil coming to New York, and he tells Leland that if he fires Stick, he will eat [Lelands] brain out of [his] skull like soup. Leland keeps Stick around.
Okay, this demon is grotesque, what with all the skulls and teeth and the bodies it is dragging behind it, but I let out a big laugh when I saw that even in demon form it still had Sticks mustache.
George the Demon snorting Sheryls ashes while wearing a Sheryl wig? I really missed that guy.
The fact that Lexiss most pressing question after learning that her parents are headed for divorce is Is Father Acosta our dad now? sent me.
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Photo: Mat Hayward/Getty Images for The Latinx House
How do you write like youre running out of time? After the success of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda went on a songwriting streak, contributing to the soundtracks of movies like Moana, Encanto, and The Little Mermaid. He did write lyrics for this years production of New York, New York, so its not like he stayed completely away from Broadway, of course. And now hes making his way back to the stage almost. On August 1, Miranda officially revealed an upcoming concept album for a Warriors musical that he wrote in collaboration with actress and playwright Eisa Davis. The adaptation of the 1979 cult-classic film, itself based on Sol Yuricks 1965 novel, will feature a star-studded cast, per the press release. It was previously reported by Bloomberg that the album will feature both pop and Broadway stars were hoping Laura Benanti gets on a track with Playboi Carti, basically. The album is out on October 18, executive produced by Nas. Yes, that Nas.
Weve spent the past three years musicalizing the Warriors journey home, from the South Bronx to Coney Island, Miranda and Davis said in a statement. Along the way weve gotten to work with a lot of our favorite artists, and well be announcing their roles on the album in the weeks ahead. The plot follows a fictional New York City gang that is falsely accused of killing another gangs leader. So, you know, its a bit of a tone shift from something like Scuttlebutt.
This post has been updated.
Ka-Maya-la. Photo: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Whos ready for Lorne Michaels to throw another big birthday bash? This fall, Saturday Night Live is back on NBC for its 50th season. Michaels has been teasing this anniversary for a while now, telling the New York Times in 2022 that the big five-oh would be a big event. Well bring everyone back from all 50 years and hosts and all of that, he said at the time. It will be a very emotional and very strong thing. As SNL 50s September 28 premiere date approaches, what else do we actually know about the milestone season? Below, the latest update: an Emmy-worthy lineup of hosts and musical guests.
Its hosting season!
The first five hosts and musical guests got pinned to the bulletin board on September 18. Emmy winner Jean Smart will host the premiere with Jelly Roll as musical guest, and there will be shows every Saturday from September 28 through November 2 except October 26. Upcoming host/musical-guest duos include Nate Bargatze with Coldplay, Ariana Grande with Stevie Nicks, Michael Keaton with Billie Eilish, and John Mulaney with Chappell Roan.
Maya Rudolph is reportedly ready to serve
the country, by dusting off her Kamala Harris impression. On July 31, Deadline reported that production on Loot season three has been pushed back, giving Rudolph time to contribute to the memeification of the vice-president on SNL for the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election. Neither Rudolph nor SNL has directly confirmed the news, but it feels inevitable. Missing the opportunity to get her back would be (coco)nuts. If they need any other political characters cast, we have some options.
There will be some changes to the cast.
A couple familiar faces wont be returning. Punkie Johnson, who joined the show in 2020 as a featured player and was promoted to repertory player in 2022, shared in an August 1 Instagram post that she is leaving SNL with no bad blood. A day later, fellow cast member Molly Kearney also took to Instagram to announce their departure. Kearney, who made history as SNLs first nonbinary cast member, joined the show as a featured player in 2022. Chloe Troast, who joined as a featured player in 2023, will not be returning as well.
Some new cast members are joining in on the celebrations. On September 9, Emil Wakim, Ashley Padilla, and Jane Wickline were announced as the new featured players joining the cast for the 50th season.
Three new writers are RSVPing to the party; Allie Levitan, Moss Perricone, and Carl Tart have been added as writers on September 22, just a few days before the season premiere. With the new additions, three other writers have left the show as well; Alex English explained on August 28 on Instagram that he was not asked to return to the show after three seasons. Vannessa Jackson and Gary Richardson were both confirmed to not return this season.
New writers are added to the mix.
Were getting a three-hour special.
In May, NBC announced that it would celebrate the shows anniversary with a prime-time special on February 16, airing from 8 to 11 p.m. ET. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the network said the three-hour event would cap a celebratory weekend in SNLs honor. Sounds like itll have everything.
This post has been updated.
Photo: Apple TV+
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, sons of Boston (adjacent), have had Hollywoods most famous best bro-ship since their breakthrough Good Will Hunting, a movie in which they, not coincidentally, played best bros. Their bond that has weathered career ups and downs and various high-profile relationships as well as, more recently, homoerotic fan cams and monetization by way of Dunkin commercials. They sometimes seem like two halves of a single movie star, with Damon versatile and smart and generally much better onscreen than in public, and Affleck an incredible if reluctant tabloid fixture whos never entirely figured out his acting career a duality that means its always a little disorienting when the younger Affleck, Casey, gets thrown in the mix. Casey looks and sounds enough like Ben to feel like late-season recasting when paired with Damon, but while hes a better actor with a worse behind-the-scenes record, hes also meaner and sharper, capable of coming across as an actual dirtbag. When he and Damon played hiking buddies who get lost in the desert in Gus Van Sants Gerry, it made sense that the film ended with one of them strangling the other out of both mercy and exasperation. And in The Instigators, Casey and Damons characters, even when they begrudgingly arrive at an understanding, genuinely want nothing to do with one another.
This dynamic is disastrous for whats meant to be a romp of a buddy picture, but its also kind of interesting. Casey Affleck wrote the screenplay for The Instigators with Chuck MacLean (Doug Liman directs), and while theres no reason to believe his part was ever intended for anyone else, the film nevertheless plays like an indirect comment on the Matt and Ben Show. As Rory, a depressive former Marine who embarks on his first venture into the wrong side of the law in order to pay off child support and other debts from his defunct marriage, Damon feels like hes waiting for the arrival of a more familiar screen partner who doesnt ever show up. This other Affleck doesnt lob the ball back to his co-star so much as spike it every time. As alcoholic ex-con Cobby, Casey fires off a stream of insults and complaints that not even a bullet wound can put a stop to, intermittently punctuated by a fuck your mother. Its a role that plays into Afflecks defeated aura and wiseass edge Cobby is basically doing color commentary on his own life, as though he isnt an active participant in his own bad decisions. If Damon is lost as Rory, whose suicidal ideation is primarily expressed by way of low energy, thats in part because Affleck doesnt really need a scene partner. He seems ready and willing to carry the movie on his own.
Despite this, The Instigators does have a stacked cast. Hong Chau gamely plays straight woman to the two lead doofuses as Dr. Donna Rivera, Rorys psychiatrist, whos roped into their mess when what was supposed to be a straightforward robbery of the mayors election-night party goes wrong. As that mayor, a corrupt incumbent named Miccelli, Ron Perlman looks like he could be in Dick Tracy without any prosthetics, while Toby Jones is enjoyable as his squirrelly lawyer. Michael Stuhlbarg is arguably having the best time of anyone, hollering and wearing a fur coat as a local gangster, with Alfred Molina playing his bakery-owning partner. But Ving Rhames, as a tank-driving member of the BPDs Special Operations Unit, and Paul Walter Hauser, as a chain-wearing would-be tough, give him a run for the money. (Jack Harlow is also around for some reason.) This ensemble would, in the hands of another director, feel like an abundance of riches, but Liman opts to give The Instigators a grubby, underdone style that dulls a lot of the supporting casts colorful work. He shoots the film as if unaware of the moments that are meant to be funny, and has no rhythm for the bickering dialogue. When Donna agrees to be held hostage by a desperate Rory in order to treat Cobbys gunshot wound, it plays like a stressed-out discussion of professional ethics rather than the madcap sequence its meant to be.
That complaint could be leveled at the inciting incident, too, a stickup attempt to snatch Miccellis kickbacks that ends with Rory and Cobby on the run. Liman mangles the escalation from disaster to disaster, but the sequence at least preps us for how many Boston gags to expect going forward. The references come fast and frequent, from Cobby claiming that hot-wiring cars is a mandatory extracurricular in Quincy to quips about trigger-happy security guards having failed their Statie tests to the universally agreed-upon view that Montreal, a place no one has been to, is where you go when you have to flee town for good. More than anything, The Instigators is ethnic comedy if being a white guy from Boston counts as its own ethnicity, an argument that Damon and the Afflecks have spent a good portion of their careers making. Those local specifics and in-jokes may not amount to much, but they are what distinguishes this film from other half-baked crime movies. Would it be better if Ben was in it? Probably not, but itd be whatd you expect, the latest installment in their self-mythologized friendship, instead of a mess thats at war with itself for most of its run time.
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export grew for the 10th successive month due to solid demand for locally-made tech products, government data showed Thursday.
Export, which accounts for around half of the export-driven economy, advanced 13.9 percent from a year earlier to 57.49 billion U.S. dollars in July, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The outbound shipment kept an upward trend since October last year.
Import expanded 10.5 percent over the year to 53.88 billion dollars in July, sending the trade surplus to 3.62 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in black for the 14th consecutive month since June last year.
Of the country's 15 major export items, 11 products saw an increase in outbound shipment.
Semiconductor shipment soared 50.4 percent from a year earlier to 11.2 billion dollars in July, continuing to rise for the ninth straight month.
The rapid expansion was attributed to chip demand relevant to artificial intelligence (AI), higher memory chip prices, and the launch of new tech products.
Display panel export added 2.4 percent to 1.73 billion dollars last month, maintaining an upward trend for the 12th consecutive month on the back of robust demand for flat screens used for smartphones.
Mobile device shipment jumped 53.6 percent to 1.46 billion dollars on higher replacement demand, while computer export surged 61.6 percent to 1.17 billion dollars amid the continued demand for solid-state drive (SSD).
Automotive export fell 9.1 percent to 5.37 billion dollars owing to summer vacations for major carmakers, but auto parts shipment climbed 9.5 percent to 2.22 billion dollars, turning upward in three months.
General machinery shipment increased 12.5 percent to 4.95 billion dollars, marking the first rebound in three months on strong demand from the United States, Latin America and the Middle East.
Shipment for oil products and petrochemicals gained in double figures to 4.53 billion dollars and 4.18 billion dollars each amid the higher crude oil prices.
Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged 83.8 dollars per barrel in July, up 4.2 percent compared with the same month of last year.
Home appliances export mounted 9.4 percent to 730 million dollars, but shipment for steel and secondary batteries shrank in single digits to 2.79 billion dollars and 740 million dollars respectively.
Export to the United States swelled 9.3 percent from a year earlier to 10.18 billion dollars in July, keeping an upward trend for the 12th successive month since August last year.
Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew 12.1 percent to 9.95 billion dollars on strong demand from Vietnam, but export to the European Union (EU) shed 1.4 percent to 5.55 billion dollars due to lower car demand.
Export to Japan, Latin America, India and the Middle East all increased in double digits last month.
Regarding import items, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, climbed 11.9 percent to 10.92 billion dollars in July compared to the same month of last year.
Non-energy imports gained 10.2 percent to 42.95 billion dollars on higher demand for semiconductors and naphtha.
Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done?
NANNING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- In Qinzhou, an important port city connecting south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ASEAN countries, the port construction process had not been very smooth despite its favorable geographical location, only because of dolphins.
In 2005, the planning for Qinzhou Port was adjusted westward to move the port area further away from the habitat of the Chinese white dolphins, even though that significantly increased the cost of port construction.
Four years later, a new road was built that only served to separate the port's industrial zone and the conservation area of the dolphins. Besides, a project with an investment of 3.8 billion yuan (about 532.6 million U.S. dollars) near Sanniang Bay in Qinzhou was also halted to prioritize the conservation of the dolphins.
An endangered species under first-class national protection in China, the Chinese white dolphin was included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2008. Sanniang Bay, located along the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea, is dubbed the "hometown of Chinese white dolphins."
Pan Yue, a researcher at the Chinese white dolphin conservation center located at Sanniang Bay, was ready to drive a mini speedboat out to sea early before the sun rose above the sea horizon.
"The time before the sunrise and after the sunset is best for going out to sea to observe the Chinese white dolphins. We spent about 180 days a year on the sea for observation, so that we can accurately know the habits of the species," Pan said.
In 2004, a scientific research team from Peking University established the center for the conservation of Chinese white dolphins in the Sanniang Bay Village. The team's research findings indicate that the population of Chinese white dolphins living in Sanniang Bay sees new dolphin cubs every year, suggesting a high reproductive potential.
"There were only about 96 Chinese white dolphins in the area in 2004, but thankfully, the number has grown to nearly 300 now," Pan said, adding that the awareness of dolphin protection has also significantly increased among the locals.
Bryde's whales, another national first-class protected aquatic animal mainly living in tropical and subtropical waters, are now frequently spotted preying on fish in the waters near Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf.
Chen Mo, an associate researcher from the Guangxi Academy of Sciences, has been studying the species in the area since 2016.
"We identified only about 10 individuals in the population of Bryde's whales from 2016 to 2018. Now, the number has exceeded 60 and continues to grow," Chen said.
To maintain clean waters and preserve the island's ecological environment, the municipal government of Beihai City in Guangxi issued a regulation in July 2018, explicitly prohibiting the use of disposable food containers, non-degradable plastic bags, and plastic films on Weizhou Island.
"The Beibu Gulf boasts various endangered animals and plants and diverse marine ecosystems. Due to its natural conditions and less disturbance caused by coastal economic activities, the biodiversity in the region is being well-preserved," said Guan Jieyao, director of the laboratory of Guangxi Beibu Gulf marine biodiversity conservation under Beibu Gulf University.
Ning Yun, deputy director and chief engineer of Guangxi's department of ecology and environment, said that the marine ecological environment in Guangxi was continuously improving in 2023.
"We will continue to monitor the status of typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs, and further expand the survey of important marine indicator species such as Chinese white dolphins and Bryde's whales, and of fishery biodiversity," Ning said.
Enzo's Cafe
The popular local Enzos Cafe and Deli have made the decision to close their doors, for the time being, following significant roadworks in Ferrybank.
Cavaliere brothers, Adriano and Dario Cavaliere, owners of Enzo's, have said the lack of progress on the Ferrybank roadworks, together with 'severe lack of parking' left them with no alternative. The closure of Marymount for two months and the lack of progress on roadworks and severe lack of parking on Fountain Street has effectively rendered the cafe unviable in the short term.
The brothers intend to continue with plans to redevelop and re-open as soon as possible, with a sit-down restaurant in the adjoining premises. Hopefully when all the works are completed and the new Railway Station up and running that Ferrybank will prove to be a thriving place to do business.
Late Vera Frisby
The death has occurred of Vera Frisby (nee: Warren) Sweet Briar Lawn, Tramore, and formerly of Rockenham, Ferrybank, at University Hospital Waterford, on Tuesday, July 30. Formerly of The Irish Kidney Association, she was predeceased by her parents Mattie and Joan Warren. Vera will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her husband Edward, her loving sons Mark, Ward and Derek, her adoring grandchildren James, Joe and Rose; her daughters-in-law Majella, Charlotte and Kathy; her sisters and brothers Margaret, Joan, Ken and Gerald. She will be forever missed by all her nieces and nephews all her relatives, extended family, wonderful neighbours and many friends. The Waterford Branch of the IKA acknowledges the unstinting work of Vera and her husband Eddie for being the mainstay of the newly renovated apartments in Riverstown, Tramore, in 2021. Vera was laid to rest in St Declans Cemetery, Tramore following Requiem Mass in the Church of the Holy Cross on Friday, August 2.
Late Aoife Walsh
The death took place of former Abbey Park resident Aoife Walsh, late of Rathinure, Glenmore, on Tuesday, July 30. She was predeceased by her father John and will be sadly missed by her much-loved son Ruaidri, her loving mother Anne, her partner PJ, sisters Grainne, Ceara, Roisin and Enda, brother John, nieces and nephews: Cloideach, Luke, Caolan, Aine, Tadhg, Ide, Cillin and Fodhla, brothers-in-law Brendan, Diarmuid and Mark, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends. She was buried following Requiem Mass in St. James Church, Glenmore.
Tidy Towns
More great work carried out voluntary for Ferrybank Tidy Towns by local resident, Roscommon man, Damien Donoghue. When Damien became aware of the Ferrybank Tidy Towns being re-launched, he offered to help by cleaning up our Rockenham Green, and it's a huge improvement. As part of his tidy up, the old plaque which is on the green behind the Grotto on Rockenham Green, beats the inscription: 'Bord Na Mona Award 'Best Residential Estate' Munster Tidy Towns Competition 1978' (46 years ago). The group had a great response to the call for help with the relaunching of the Ferrybank Tidy Towns. Their immediate focus is to improve the area and route, which the Pride of Place judges will be passing on August 29. If you'd like to help in any way, email ferrybankcn@gmail.com.
Late St Hanora Mary (Nuala) Mullins
On Sunday, July 28, Sr Hanora Mary (Nuala) Mullins of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Madonna House, Ferrybank, formerly of Athlacca, Co Limerick, passed away peacefully in the exceptional care and love of her community and carers, aged 97 years. She was predeceased by her parents Michael and Mai Mullins (nee: Halpin), brothers Willie, John and Dermot, sister Kathleen. Sr Nuala will be sadly missed by her brothers Michael, Tony and Gerard, her nephews and their families Gerry, Fiona, Mark, Melissa, Melina, David, Miriam and Sadhb and her niece Nuala and her family Damian, Eoin and Rachel, grand nieces, grand nephews, The Sacred Heart of Mary Sisters, Madonna House community, relatives and her many friends. Sr Nuala was buried on Monday, July 29, in the Convent Cemetery after Requiem Mass in The Sacred Heart Church, Ferrybank.
Wedding Bells
Congratulations to Brian Kinsella, Rockenham and Camila Byrne, who were married recently in Church of the Assumption, Slieverue. Also congratulations to Brona Wemyss, Glenmore and Dave Hearne, St Johns Park who were married recently in the Sacred Heart Church, Ferrybank.
Church Cleaning
Ferrybank Church Cleaning group is a small group of people who keep our beautiful church clean and tidy. They hoover, sweep, polish, dust and clean. More volunteers are always welcome so if you would be in a position to help out, even one hour a week would be appreciated, please contact the Parish Office. Many hands make light work.
Kilkenny People
An interesting opinion piece written by journalist Christopher Dunne in last weeks Kilkenny People in the relationship between Kilkenny and Waterford summarised..'Since tensions peaked in 2017 around the county boundary dispute between Kilkenny and Waterford, much progress has been made. Communication and understanding between the two sides have been crucial in realizing the potential of planned infrastructure in the region. Through Piltown Municipal District meetings in Ferrybank, its evident that collaboration is yielding positive results.
Kilkenny County Council and Waterford City and County Council have been working together on projects benefiting both counties, such as the South-East Greenway and North Quays Project. This cooperation is vital for developing a new local area plan for Ferrybank and Belview and has influenced the Waterford Metropolitan Area Strategic Plan, thanks to South Kilkenny councillors.
The appointment of Lar Power, former Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Economic Development and Planning at Waterford City and County Council, as Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council, and Sean McKeown, former acting Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council, as Chief Executive of Waterford City and County Council, is promising. Their experience on both sides of the border is expected to enhance collaboration.
Belview Port exemplifies the benefits of cooperation, serving as an economic driver and hub for wind turbine infrastructure importation and a docking point for cruise ships. The Cabinet's approval to include the Rosslare-Waterford railway line in the EUs TEN-T rail network is a win for both counties, stemming from the All-Island Strategic Review published in July 2023.
A strong partnership between Kilkenny and Waterford is essential for a connected and thriving South-East region. While friendly rivalries remain, the growing cooperation marks a positive step forward.
Emergency services are currently at the scene of a blaze on the outskirts of Waterford City.
A derelict building which once was a cash and carry, is alight with smoke bellowing through the Kilbarry community and at least six units of Waterford Fire Service are in attendance at present.
The public are being asked to avoid the area and residents in the area should close all windows and doors.
Smoke bellowing from the derelict building in Kilbarry, Waterford.
An Garda Siochana has road diversions in place.
It's not yet known if any injuries have been reported or how the fire began.
The Waterford News & Star will have an update shortly...
There were 96 adults in Waterford accessing emergency accommodation during the week of June 24 - 30, 2024, the highest in the South East region. That figure was 28 people more than a year prior in June, 2023.
Kilkenny and Carlow both registered 43 adults in June, whilst Wexford registered 69 adults. Tipperary had the lowest in the region, with 40. In the South East, a total of 291 adults were in emergency accommodation, equating to 3 per cent of Irelands total amount.
Across the country the figure was 9,899 adults total, which was an increase of 1,064 since June 2023.
Commenting on the reports, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien, said: The Progress Report also records a total of 630 households, including 786 adults and 259 families, exiting homelessness in the quarter.
Meanwhile, during a Leaders Questions session in the Dail this week, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: There are growing numbers, and in some instances coming into the country directly to avail of emergency accommodation from Europe. That happens. In that context, we have a challenge in terms of them, under the framework, not being eligible for social housing. That requires emergency accommodation.
The key, in my view, is prevention and then rapid exit from homelessness as quickly as we can. The most effective way to do that is the supply of more houses.
This weekend, thousands of people will be arriving at Curraghmore Estate for the All Together Now festival.
Waterford City and County Council have issued a few updates about travelling to the festival.
Ticket holders arriving at the festival on Friday by taxi or getting dropped off by private vehicles will be directed to the designated drop-off zone at Highfield Business Park, Portlaw (X91 D934) accessed from the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange.
Waterford Council also noted that ticket holders can avail of the free shuttle bus, which will operate on Friday from 9am to 9.30pm and returning Monday from 8am to 1pm.
Festival organisers advise travellers to not use sat nav in driving to the festival, but to follow the directions posted on the festival website.
People travelling from Waterford City should travel the M9 to its end at Grannagh Proceed towards the N25 (west towards Cork) via the N25 Interchange.
At the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange (Carrick Road Roundabout) motorists will be directed right at the roundabout towards the R680 through the town of Portlaw. In Portlaw, they will be directed out the Clonegam Road and enter via Gate 6 for access to the car park.
Motorists from Dublin, the North and the East, are advised to travel the M9 to its end at Grannagh Proceed towards the N25 (west towards Cork) via the N25 Interchange.
At the N25 Kilmeaden Interchange (Carrick Road Roundabout) motorists will be directed right at the roundabout towards the R680 through the town of Portlaw where they will be directed out the Clonegam Road and enter via Gate 6 for access to the car park.
Motorists coming from the southwest and Cork will directed left off the N25 at Lemybrien. They will then use the R676 road, traveling north, then joining the event traffic at Crehana Junction of R676 - R677, then entering to event via Gate 5.
Motorists from the West and Midlands, travelling via M7/M8/N24 , are advised to Travel East along the N24, then turn right at Kilsheelan to the R680. At the end of the R680, south of Carrick-on-Suir, they turn right at the T-Junction with the R676. They will then continue along this regional road and be directed left to the R677 towards Gate 5 (General)
The carpark will be open on Friday, August 2nd at 9am. Traveling by road between 9 am - 1 pm is one of the quietest time to travel to the festival.
Bus Eireann are also offering journeys from Cork, Dublin and Waterford through their Expressway service.
Drop off at the site is prohibited on Monday and Friday.
To keep up to date with traffic, install the All Together Now App or follow their social media.
A County Waterford based boat club is making waves ahead of its 10th anniversary celebration which will see it give people an opportunity to engage in free water activities and a summer barbecue.
The Villierstown Boathouse is inviting the community to their 10th anniversary celebration Saturday, August 17 and it will also give people a chance to recognise its work in the area and supporting sustainable tourism.
The club is part of the Villierstown Education and Culture Project (VECP) a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity. Along with a range of free water activities on the Blackwater River, there will be a summer BBQ and music. People will be able to enjoy tasters of kayaking, SUPs, river tours and self-drive boats, starting at 3.30pm and running on the hour, with the last slot at 5.30pm.
The Deputy Mayor of Waterford City and County Council, Councillor Adam Wyse, will also be in attendance to help mark the occasion.
The Villierstown Boathouse has two initiatives, community membership and Blackwater Eco Tours - the tourism arm of the organisation offering river activities and glamping pods.
The picturesque are outside the boathouse
A spokesperson told Waterford News & Star there are currently 300 members with the organisation drawing people mainly from nearby villages, but also as far away as Mallow and Fermoy, to enjoy the beautiful river and popular facilities.
These include water activities, safety courses, and access to the clubhouse including a food and drink station, changing room, lockers, bathroom, kitchenette and seating areas.
Blackwater Eco Tours provide guided river tours, self-drive boats, kayaking, canoeing, woodland walking trails and glamping pods.
Both projects employ five people, with staff and volunteers on-site daily to assist with activities.
Commenting on the celebration, VECP Chairperson, Vincent Mernin, said: The anniversary is really important to us as we feel it marks ten years of positive work to support the local community, groups, economy, and sustainable tourism."
Its about fostering the community to build a place where we can make it a great place to live while growing and keeping employment levels," he said.
"We believe were an example to communities across Ireland of what can be achieved when a rural community takes ownership of its future," he added.
River tours are very popular
Vincent went on to comment: Were also in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) so theres a need to respect the environment whilst ensuring tourism and activities remain at a sustainable level."
I want to say a special thanks to all the people involved in Villierstown Boathouse and all projects, who have volunteered their time to make it happen," he said.
All the hard work will be on show on Saturday, August 17," he added.
"Were looking forward to welcoming the local community and groups to come and try the river activities and enjoy a tasty BBQ."
Kayaking is part of the overall range of activities
Since 2010, the VECP has strived to develop education, arts and culture in the village and preserve the community spirit while taking steps to build a better future for Villierstown. It currently has 10 members on the board, on a voluntary basis. Other initiatives under the VECP include the Villierstown Montessori School and the Villierstown Enterprise Centre with office space.
People are advised to bring wet gear or a change of clothes for taking part in the water activities starting at 3.30pm at Villierstown Boathouse.
Even where holdings dont influence ministerial decisions, they create a perception of a conflict of interest which can damage public confidence in our political system, says Johnson. In America, scrutiny of politicians share trades is nothing new, and rightly so, with numerous suspicious trades occurring before large market moves. Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Credit: Getty Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democrat and former speaker, is satirically regarded as one of the best traders of all time. She reportedly returned a portfolio gain of 65 per cent in 2023, easily beating the S&P 500s gain of 24 per cent, as well as the returns of every hedge fund on Wall Street.
With an estimated net worth of $US250 million ($381.7 million), she famously bought $US5 million of Nvidia shares in July 2023, before the chipmaker rocketed 180 per cent in the following 6 months. Last year, while studying a journalism degree in New York, I briefly managed the Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker Twitter account, which tracks unusual trades made by American politicians. I documented multiple trades by politicians shortly before the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, in which several politicians sold millions of dollars of banking shares days before the prices of regional banks plummeted. One of the most bizarre I uncovered, and one that was run by the Wall Street Journal, was a New York congresswoman who purchased shares in one of the failing banks a day before they were taken over, jumping 30 per cent the next day. These trades were only uncovered thanks to independently created registers, such as the Capitol Trades website, that tracks the disclosures, the size and date of congressional trades. We have no such tool in Australia, other than the parliamentary register of interests, which provides scant information, only requiring parliamentarians interests be declared.
While we dont have any Nancy Pelosis (that we know of), we do have a Barnaby Joyce, who appears to be taking a liking to meme stocks. Barnaby Joyce has declared interests in various mining shares, Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Recently, a most curious disclosure from Barnaby Joyces register of interests is the purchases in the defunct Bougainville Copper in March of this year. In the same filing, Joyce discloses the opening of Superhero and Spaceship trading accounts. Bougainville Copper is a Papua New Guinean company that has not undertaken any operations since 1989 but from February to March became a meme stock, jumping over 100 per cent on multiple days following an announcement relating to an exploration permit. Joyce has also declared a purchase of Lynas shares, the largest rare earths producer outside of China, for one of his children a month before Gina Rinehart, to whom he has had much to do with, also took a substantial holding in.
Other notable recent trades included those of Keith Pitt, the former resources minister who, earlier this month, purchased shares in several fossil fuel companies Stanmore Resources, Woodside, Whitehaven Coal, and Coronado Global Resources. Also not afraid of coal is Pauline Hanson, who has a declared an investment in Queensland coal company Bowen Coking Coal. Then there is Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearneys spouse Leigh Hubbard, who appears to be a lithium and rare earths speculator. In Kearneys 2022 declaration of interests, she reveals his holdings in Vulcan Energy, Syrah Resources, Galan Lithium, Lake Resources, Arafura Rare Earths (which received $840 million from Labor in March) and Northern Minerals, which was recently the subject of forced divestment from Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Ged Kearneys husband Leigh Hubbard has 36 shareholdings across various regulated and subsidised companies. Its not a good look, says Johnson.
To be clear, I am not suggesting any insider trading or anything untoward has or is occurring in our politics, but rather there is a perception that it could occur under the existing system. Loading Family and staff purchases should be considered the same as purchases made by the members of parliament and be subject to equal levels of restrictions and scrutiny in any new legislation. At the very least, the public should have access to information regarding the size and exact date of transactions as they do in the US. From my experience as a trader, I can tell you the ASX is already as leaky as a sieve when it comes to share prices moving significantly before market-sensitive announcements such as contract wins or drilling results. If America is moving to ban politicians from trading shares, we should trump them and go one better in banning backbenchers, their immediate family and staffers too.
Alexis Wrights mighty year has got significantly mightier after her epic satire Praiseworthy was named winner of the $60,000 Miles Franklin award. Wright becomes the first writer to win both the Miles and the Stella prizes for the same book, having already picked up the award for best writing by an Australian woman in May.
Wright is now a two-time winner of both prizes, having previously won the Miles in 2007 for Carpentaria and the Stella in 2018 for Tracker, her multi-voiced biography of Aboriginal activist Tracker Tilmouth.
Wright said winning both prizes was monumental and the success of Praiseworthy and its publication in the UK and the US, where The New York Times described it as the most ambitious and accomplished Australian novel of this century, had made it a huge year for her.
Alexis Wright says we need works of scale to really think about issues. Credit: Wolter Peeters
The other books on the Miles shortlist were: Only Sound Remains, Hossein Asgari; Wall, Jen Craig; Anam, Andre Dao; The Bell of the World, Gregory Day, and Hospital, Sanya Rushdi.
The Americans
7plus
Take this opportunity to binge it while you can. Its close to a decade since one of the best dramas of the 21st century has been available on a free-to-air service, and now all six seasons of The Americans 75 episodes! are out from behind the various paywalls that have enclosed them. Its fitting that a show in which revealing their true selves was a risk the characters could rarely afford can finally, six years after it concluded, step out into the open.
Having watched this series year after year from its debut in 2013 onwards, I still wonder whether its architects, Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, knew what they truly had. The concept was fascinating, but open-ended.
In this image released by FX, Matthew Rhys, left, and Keri Russell in The Americans Credit: AP
In 1981, as the Cold War ramps up, a pair of deep-cover KGB spies from the Soviet Union live undercover in the suburbs of Washington DC. Elizabeth and Philip Jennings (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) run a travel agency, have two children and covertly work to compromise Americas national security.
BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh early Wednesday has triggered widespread condemnation, jeopardizing the ongoing, fragile Gaza truce talks and putting the region at great risk of intensified violence.
Haniyeh, who was in the Iranian capital Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, was killed together with his bodyguard in an airstrike before Wednesday dawn. The assassination was attributed to Israel by both Iran and Hamas, though Israel has not officially confirmed it yet.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei extended condolences to the Palestinian people, stressing that Israel has prepared the ground for a "harsh punishment" for itself. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in a statement condemned the "criminal act" as being in defiance of international regulations and laws, saying Israel "will receive a harsh and painful response" from Iran.
The killing of Haniyeh, one of the key figures in the indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas over the past months, would probably undermine efforts to reach a truce deal in Gaza. Currently, mediators are waiting for a response from Hamas to a revised proposal that Israel raised on Sunday.
A source close to Hamas told Xinhua that Haniyeh was expected to discuss the political and field developments related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip with the Iranian president.
Qatar, the main negotiator between the two sides, expressed doubts about continuing talks. "Political assassinations and the continued targeting of civilians in Gaza during negotiations lead us to ask: How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? Peace needs serious partners," Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani wrote on the social media platform X.
Another important mediator, Egypt, also warned that the killing would "ignite confrontations in the region in a way that causes serious security consequences."
"The coincidence of this regional escalation amid lack of progress in the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza increases the complexity of the situation, indicates the absence of Israeli political will for achieving calm, and undermines Egypt and its partners' efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In Israel, families of the hostages that had been taken also voiced their concerns that efforts to bring their loved ones home would be jeopardized. It was "appalling" that once again the Israeli government chose to kill senior Hamas officials first before rescuing the hostages, the cousin of a hostage told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The Israeli TV Channel 13 reported that negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal would be suspended for weeks or even months following Haniyeh's death, citing an estimation presented to the Israeli government on Wednesday.
Apart from the truce negotiations, concerns are growing that violence in the region may escalate as a result of the assassination.
The New York Times reported later Wednesday that Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel following the killing of Haniyeh, probably a combined drone and missile attack on military sites in Israel, citing several Iranian officials who had been briefed on the matter. The retaliation might be carried out in coordination with other armed groups in regional countries such as Yemen, Syria and Iraq "for maximum effect," according to the report.
In a broadcast address to the nation on Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israelis that "challenging days are ahead," vowing his country "will exact a very heavy price against any aggression -- from any front," without mentioning the killing of Haniyeh.
An Israeli government source told Xinhua that Israel was preparing for "days of fighting," and has boosted its defense on multiple fronts. But so far, there has been no change to the Home Front Command's instructions to the public.
Ahmed Rafiq Awad, a Ramallah-based political expert, told Xinhua that the assassination will no doubt impede the truce talks and lead to the continuation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The expert noted that the axis of resistance might respond to the attack with "large and dangerous" operations, further expanding the current conflict.
The assassination, through which Israel hopes to restrain the Iranians, will backfire on Israel, said Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg.
Israel has "crossed a massive line," and its adamant actions would unite the axis of resistance and push the international community back away from Israel, Goldberg added.
George Brandis account of the creation of the Department of Home Affairs is not right. So, reluctant as I am to correct my learned friend, let me set the record straight.
There had been for many years a proposal to bring all the domestic national security agencies together in one department, modelled on the United Kingdoms Home Office. It was Labor Party policy from 2001 under Kim Beazley to 2007 under Kevin Rudd.
Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announces the appointment of Peter Dutton (centre) as minister for home affairs in 2017, flanked by then-attorney-general George Brandis (right). Credit: Andrew Meares
Rudd commissioned former ambassador to China Ric Smith to undertake a review of domestic security and while Smith did not recommend the creation of a department in line with Labor policy, he did conclude that a small co-ordinating Department of Home Affairs could be effective at leading Australias counterterrorism effort if it focused on strategic issues.
Several domestic security reviews undertaken in 2015, before I was prime minister, were supportive of the home affairs concept, although did not go so far as to formally recommend it.
Tech behemoths could be slapped with big new taxes after publishers warned the federal government against pushing Facebook owner Meta into abandoning news content altogether, creating a news desert on local social media.
Smaller online news outlets have urged Labor not to enforce a Morrison government-era code that would start a long arbitration process in the hope of reaching new deals for tech giants to pay Australian media firms for their content.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland are leading the governments attempts to rein in big tech. Credit: Ben Symons
Those outlets, including The Daily Aus and Broadsheet, worry Meta will follow through on a threat, first reported by this masthead, to block all news content from Facebook and Instagram, crippling platforms reliant on social media for clicks.
The fear of news-free social media feeds has opened up the possibility that Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who is leading Labors negotiations with Meta, will opt against designating Meta under the news media bargaining code to avoid the company ditching news in Australia. Under legislation brought in by the Coalition in 2021, the minister can designate a digital platform to negotiate with news media companies if it refuses to do so of its own accord.
BEIRUT, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Thursday filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and the UN chief through its permanent mission in New York, requesting the council members to condemn the Israeli cyber-attacks on Lebanon.
The ministry said in a statement that "cyber-attacks pose a serious threat to civil aviation services and threaten the security and safety of communications networks, devices, applications, and electronic data in Lebanese vital facilities and installations."
The ministry also instructed its permanent mission in Geneva to file a complaint with the headquarters of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), requesting that the union "takes the necessary technical measures to stop these attacks and help Lebanon ensure the smooth functioning of communications networks."
The filed complaints were based on a report from the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications, which identified an interference source in northern Israel. The interference led to a decline in the accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in Lebanon, affecting transportation and communication services.
The report also highlighted frequent alerts from the Network Time Protocol Server, showing the repeated loss of the GPS signal and a decline in the quality of service offered by mobile phone network operators.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a relocation site in Zhoumensi Town of Zixing City, central China's Hunan Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Li visited disaster-hit residents and inspected flood-control work on Thursday in Chenzhou, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
CHANGSHA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for all-out efforts to ensure effective flood-control and disaster-relief work, as well as to protect the lives and property of the people.
Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when visiting disaster-hit residents and inspecting flood-control work on Thursday in Chenzhou, central China's Hunan Province.
Li visited two flood-hit villages in the city of Zixing, one of the areas most affected by intense typhoon-induced rains, to learn about progress on disaster relief and the extent of the damage.
He said every effort must be made to search for and rescue the missing people, restore infrastructure such as roads, power networks and communications, and guard against secondary disasters like mountain torrents and mudslides.
The premier extended his regards to frontline rescuers, encouraging them to continue the rescue efforts while also taking care of their own safety.
After the inspection, Li presided over an on-site meeting for flood control and disaster relief. He said that no effort should be spared in flood-relief work, and people's safety should always be the top priority.
Li also stressed the need to ensure the safety of key dikes, reservoirs and infrastructure, promptly allocate disaster-relief funds and materials, actively promote post-disaster reconstruction, and accelerate the construction of major disaster-prevention projects.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a flood-hit village in Zhoumensi Town of Zixing City, central China's Hunan Province, Aug. 1, 2024. Li visited disaster-hit residents and inspected flood-control work on Thursday in Chenzhou, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Castlebar councillors have voted to give the green light to a skate park development despite some objections from local residents.
Residents from St Patricks Avenue addressed a meeting of Castlebar Municipal District on the issue. Their homes are 100 metres away from the proposed park located close to the entrance of Lough Lannagh. Maura Lavelle told the meeting that residents were not opposed to a skate park for Castlebar but did not feel the location was the most suitable.
She said residents had grave concerns about noise, anti-social behaviour and possible road safety issues, given its location close to a main road.
We have nothing against the skaters; it's more the people it will attract afterwards, said the St Patricks Avenue homeowner.
Ms Lavelle said she did not believe that other areas of Lough Lannagh were properly explored by the council.
Cllr Blackie Gavin asked if the Knockaphunta site which is being developed for sporting amenities by the council could be looked at.
Its very important we take peoples views on board before a decision is made, he stated.
I am in favour of the project and I support the proposal but at a different location, Cllr Michael Kilcoyne added.
Cllr Al McDonnell said he looked at Westports skate park and found no noise issues for residents. He said he cant see noise issues for St Patricks Avenue residents given the presence of the busy main road.
Head of Castlebar Municipal District, David Mellett, told councillors that a change of location would see 120,000 in funding which has to be spent on Phase One of the project by November go up in smoke. He said other sites had been looked at but the proposed location was deemed the most suitable. He said it was important that younger users would not be left isolated in the park.
Cllr Kilcoyne proposed granting Part 8 approval for the project but at a different location. However, he was only supported by Cllr Gavin following a vote. The project in its current form will now proceed.
The more observant of my readers will have noted that, by kind consent of the editor, the Return of Loftus at Large went missing this past couple of weeks, so I suppose one could say that the return of the column this week might correctly be referred to as The Second Coming.
Whether or which, it is with considerable relief that I can now reveal that my truancy was all in the interests of extending our medical knowledge and paving the way for a more simplified (if that is possible!) procedure to repair an aneurism of the aorta. Your columnist was at the cutting edge of a breakthrough in aneurism repair.
At this point, it is appropriate to admit that up to May 14 of this year, I was blissfully unaware of what an aneurism was and equally ignorant of the consequences of said aneurism sitting on top of my aorta. I did have a hazy notion that I had an aorta but had no clue as to what function it performed. Sometimes, it is just as well not to know about these things. Leave it to the professionals, would be my approach.
And so it came about that I was introduced to Professor Sherif Sultan in the Galway Clinic. He is not a man who treats lightly with aneurisms. Not to put a tooth in it, he reckons that if the aneurism goes pop, thats it. End of the road. Kaput. So he put me on his list for the introduction of a stent that would, in some way, fix the aneurism. I did not ask for the detail because it would not mean anything to a non-medical person such as myself. He called me in for a number of x-rays and ultrasounds and such like to establish that I was in shape to undergo this repair job on the aneurism.
I was giving the thumbs up myself, thinking I was as fit as a fiddle, but in stepped Dr Gordon Pate, Consultant Cardiologist, who spotted a number of deficiencies in the veins going to the heart and decided repairs had to be carried out before any job could be done on the aneurism. (Without referring to Dr Pate by name, I made brief mention of these stents in the veins in a column last May backend when I paid tribute to the excellence of our health service.)
All of this, naturally, delayed the operation to repair the aneurism and it allowed the opportunity to hear further insights from Prof Sultan. He called to see me in my hospital bed and me having some family members visiting and announced that there was nothing really to worry about as there was a 98% success rate in aneurism repairs. Now everybody naturally latches on to the 98% and thinks thats great. But when you are lying on the bed anticipating, perhaps dreading, whats coming, the 2% becomes relevant. Still, there is nothing for it but to place your faith in the experts, accept that there is a far greater chance of being killed on our Irish roads and give a gung-ho thumbs up to the upcoming procedure.
I can understand if, my dear reader, you find the pace of this column to be somewhat turgid. The simple fact of the matter is that there are things in life that set their own pace. I had another chat with Professor Sultan or, being more precise, he had a chat with me. It was on the subject of alcohol consumption and it was even more unnerving than his 98% revelation re aneurism success rates. He is not a fan of alcohol. I detected that at the start of the conversation so I resorted to bending the truth in my responses. I have no doubt that he saw through me especially when I referred to units rather than pints. This is something that the medical profession would like the public, especially the drinking public, to engage with. Measure your drinking by units and your consumption will go down. Well all be better off. Thats another rant off my chest.. perhaps less pressure on the aneurism, which is now repaired.
So, finally, we come to my role in this ground-breaking piece of medical history. It was a minor role but quite important. I had no speaking lines, and no walk-on role. I was not even to be seen as an extra. In fact, I was wheeled in and was out for the count, so Ill let Professor Sultan, as detailed in his LinkedIn page, and speaking for his incredible team of essential performers, take up the story:
We are proud to announce the successful launch of the GORE TBE Endo-Thoracic Graft at Galway Clinic, part of the Blackrock Health Group. The first-of-its-kind procedure using this FDA-approved device was performed by the esteemed Master of Endovascular Surgery, Professor Sherif Sultan, alongside his highly skilled vascular team.
The GORE TBE Endo-Thoracic Graft is specifically designed for simplified, minimally invasive Zone 2 Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) procedures. This innovative device aims to maximise clinical outcomes while minimising the potential risks and complexities associated with open debranching or revascularisation surgeries.
Commenting on the ground-breaking procedure, Professor Sultan stated: "The GORE TBE device has demonstrated exceptional safety and efficacy, particularly in patients requiring TEVAR without an adequate landing zone.
This device offers an ideal solution for lesions in Zone 2, ensuring continued antegrade perfusion of the left subclavian artery (LSA) without necessitating endograft modifications, parallel stenting techniques, or additional open revascularisation."
One of the significant advantages of the GORE TBE Endo-Thoracic Graft is its user-friendly design, which does not require a learning curve. Our experience in elective settings allowed us to develop immediate comfort with the device, thereby improving our success rates in more urgent settings," added Professor Sultan.
"This landmark procedure at Galway Clinic underscores the clinic's commitment to leveraging advanced medical technologies to enhance patient care. The introduction of the GORE TBE Endo-Thoracic Graft represents a significant advancement in the treatment of complex aortic conditions, providing a new and effective option for patients in need of Zone 2 aortic repair."
You will understand why I left it to Professor Sultan to speak of these ground-breaking developments. I can grasp what has been achieved but cant take in the detail. We dont need to understand the detail. We have people to do that for us. It goes without saying that I appreciate the wonderful people who work in our health service and who produce such incredible results.
When I came around after the anaesthetic, I found myself in Room 1 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where I was wonderfully, caringly and professionally looked after by the most exquisite team of nurses. In the team were Irish, Indian, African, female and male nurses. There may have been other nationalities. I dislike having to make reference to nationality but unfortunately in todays Ireland of bigots and racists, it is necessary to do so.
I just wonder what kind of a medical service we would have in this country if we were to ask all those people of colour, other than white, or nationality, other than Irish, to return to their countries of origin and leave us to our own devices.
For sure, we would have a hell of a poor medical service. We would have a hell of a poor country. It is time the bigots and racists were called out for what they are. It is past time we properly recognised and appreciated the magnificent contribution being made daily by our immigrants.
Thought for the day
Nuair a bhionn an fion istigh, bionn an chiall amuigh
NEW DELHI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- India and Vietnam on Thursday signed a plan of action for the implementation of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership over the next five years, during the ongoing state visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, announced the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Besides, both sides signed six memoranda of understanding in various fields, including taxation, agricultural research and education, law and justice, radio and television, medicinal plants, and maritime cooperation.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Pham Minh Chinh arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday for a three-day state visit.
He held a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday afternoon. Later in the day, the visiting prime minister called upon President of India Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
According to MEA, the two sides also announced two dollar-credit-line agreements amounting to 300 million U.S. dollars.
SYDNEY, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-headquartered lithium mining giant Albemarle has declared its decision to axe processing operations of its Kemerton lithium hydroxide conversion site in Western Australia, with a spokesperson flagging "market conditions" and "commercial realities" as the sole reason.
According to a statement obtained by Xinhua on Thursday, Albemarle Corporation took actions to "proactively respond to ongoing industry headwinds, particularly in the lithium value chain, so it can preserve long-term competitiveness."
Kent Masters, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, revealed that the long-term growth potential for their end markets remained strong.
"Given the dynamics of the global markets we serve, we must be able to pivot and pace as necessary to maintain our leading position," he added.
For the operation of the Kemerton lithium hydroxide conversion plant, the company decided to stop construction activities at Train 3, idle production at Train 2 and place the unit in care and maintenance, as well as focus manufacturing efforts on the continued ramp and qualification of Train 1.
"Today's decisions regarding Kemerton are entirely due to market conditions and the commercial realities that lithium prices will stay lower for longer. This has nothing to do with State and Federal government policies," said a spokesperson from Albemarle's Australia Branch.
Albemarle pledged to still employ around 460 people at the Kemerton plant and continue investment into Western Australia's economic growth.
The two-train lithium hydroxide processing plant at Kemerton is located near Bunbury in Western Australia's southwest region, manufacturing value-added lithium products.
In June last year, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission confirmed a 1-billion-Australian-dollar (about 652.7 million U.S. dollars) funding by Albemarle to add two new processing trains to the Kemerton site.
"This investment, combined with the existing two trains at Kemerton owned under Albemarle's joint venture with Mineral Resources, represents the biggest investment by any company in downstream processing of lithium in Australia. It will make Albemarle the largest producer of lithium in Australia," said the commission.
It was also estimated that once fully operational, the two new trains would double the plant's forecast annual output by 50,000 metric tonnes to 100,000 metric tonnes per annum.
"This is enough lithium hydroxide to manufacture batteries for approximately 2.4 million electric vehicles. Construction is set to begin immediately, with the first train operational by 2026," the commission added.
As one of Australia's largest lithium producers, Albemarle also holds strategic investments in lithium mining, such as Wodgina Lithium Mine joint venture in the Pilbara, and a shareholding in the Greenbushes lithium mine.
In response to Albemarle's decision to downgrade operations at Kemerton, Australian Minister for Resources Madeleine King commented that it underlines the continuing volatility of international critical minerals markets.
"Market concentration and volatility in demand have caused extreme price changes in lithium markets, including an 80 percent fall in lithium hydroxide prices over the last 12 months," said King.
The minister has been advised that 300 Albemarle employees would be directly affected by the scaled-back activities.
As part of its Future Made in Australia agenda, the federal government unveiled a Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive in May, valued at 17.6 billion Australian dollars (about 11.4 billion U.S. dollars) over 14 years to boost the processing and value-adding of critical minerals onshore.
King saw the production tax credits as an aid to build Australia's sovereign capability, increase local resilience, add additional value to the country's commodities, and grow jobs.
"Current conditions in lithium markets highlight the importance of policy support for Australia's critical minerals sector to help address distortions in global markets and secure opportunities for Australia to be a key supplier of high quality refined critical minerals," she said.
The Great Reshuffling
When: Friday, 02 August 2024 - Friday, 02 August 2024 Where: Hybrid Event
SCIS Seminar Room, North Lodge, Parktown Management Campus, 2 St David's Place, Parktown Start time: 9:00 Enquiries: katrina.lehmann-grube@wits.ac.za
kitso.kgaboesele@wits.ac.za
RSVP: Zoom registration Cost: Free but registration is required.
SCIS invites you to a seminar with Prof. David Hughes titled The Great Reshuffling on 2 August 2024, 09:00 - 10:30 (SAST).
The Southern Centre for Inequality Studies invites you to a hybrid seminar with Professor David McDermott Hughes titled The Great Reshuffling on 2 August 2024, 09:00 - 10:30 (SAST).
Abstract:
The Global North should brace for a demographic and cartographic reshuffling. The current trajectory of climate and fossil fuels may render much of the Global South uninhabitable. Heat waves, combined with political collapse and economic inequality, are already driving people across the sea and desert. Migrants are also crossing borders with a high death toll. What would it take to remove those international boundaries and the entire system of exclusion and xenophobia underwriting them? The very question seems quixotic. But what is necessary must be possible, at least to imagine. David Hughes imagines a right of free passage independent of territory and against the grain of nationalism, sovereignty, and indigenous entitlements. He will draw upon ethnography conducted on the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border (in the 1990s) and on the Spain-Morocco border (in the 2010s). In both places, hosts incorporated migrants with care and at the bottom of social hierarchies. There is no utopia here: the great reshuffling will revive archaic forms of domination and servitude from local to planetary scales. Even so, reshuffling beats is surely preferable to suffering in place.
About the speaker:
David Hughes is a Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He has worked as an activist scholar of race, inequality, and natural resources since the late 1980s. In southern Africa, he worked for a variety of NGOs and wrote ethnographies of settler colonialism and land reform: From Enslavement to Environmentalism (2007) and Whiteness in Zimbabwe (2010). Then, in Trinidad and Tobago, he carried out ethnography on petroleum geologists, publishing Energy without Conscience (2017). His fourth book, Who Owns the Wind?, proposes a post-oil energy transition more just than the current one (not) taking place. Hughes has served as president and chief negotiator of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, his faculty labour union. He currently serves on the Climate Justice Task Force of the American Federation of Teachers.
Gauteng learners impress at WitsIE with solutions to Joburg gas explosion
Forty teams of learners from schools across Gauteng participated in part two of the Wits Integrated Experience (WitsIE) Short Course.
The journey began in June with part one of the course, as learners embarked on a multidisciplinary real-world problem-solving exercise with guidance from the five faculties at Wits. This year, they were assigned to investigate the methane gas leak that caused an explosion on Lillian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street) that rocked the Johannesburg city centre in 2023.
Learners partnered with Wits academics to investigate ways of assessing failing infrastructure and potential damage caused, as well as the possible impact on local communities, processing data collected and proposing how to deal with such a crisis from various disciplines in all faculties.
Part two of this course saw young minds brimming with enthusiasm as they presented their innovative Response Plans to a panel of experts. A total of 40 teams participated with 8 teams competing with each other per category in five venues. One team from each venue was then awarded a first-place prize.
Five schools emerged as winners of the Response Plan Challenge. On the same day, the collective efforts of all the students culminated in an awards ceremony during which certificates and prizes were distributed
"For the first time, the R25 000 prize money for winning schools was withdrawn and split amongst all participants. The university decided to shift focus from the hyper-competitiveness of the event but rather hone in more on experiential learning that develops critical thinking and where every participant is acknowledged," said Zodwa Ndebele from the School's Liaison Office.
The winning teams included:
Al Aqsa High School Eden College King David High School, Linksfield second teams Roedean School (SA) St Dominics Catholic School for Girls
"We had to sacrifice a lot of time during our holidays to meet up, plan, and come up with ideas. We had to do a lot of research. We all contributed equally and it all paid off," said grade 11 pupil Muhammed Raees Kathrada representing his winning team from Al Aqsa High School.
The winning team from St Dominics Catholic School praised Wits for the opportunity to participate in this interdisciplinary course. "We are very excited and we are very proud of ourselves", said team representative Alyssa Joao.
"Wits is a great university, and I really appreciate that they give us opportunities like this to really learn, expand our knowledge and show what we can do," she added.
Learners thanked their teachers for the unwavering support they received throughout the process.
TEHRAN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh.
He made the plea in phone calls with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar, while stressing that Iran reserved its "inherent and legitimate" right to retaliate the "blatant crime," according to statements released by his ministry.
Speaking to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Bagheri Kani said Israel had seriously jeopardized regional stability and security by crossing several red lines, citing its "terrorist aggression" in assassinating Haniyeh and violating Iran's national security.
The strike on Haniyeh, widely attributed to Israel, was not acknowledged or commented upon by the Israeli government.
Bagheri Kani stressed that Iran would take a "regret-inducing and decisive action" against Israel to make it "eternally rue its constant insanity," calling for convening an emergency OIC meeting to discuss the "conspicuous Israeli crime."
The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and action against Iran's territorial integrity, assessing the region's current circumstances as "critical and dangerous."
He highlighted the necessity of de-escalating tensions in the region, welcoming the holding of the OIC meeting.
In his phone call with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Bagheri Kani urged all regional and Muslim states to take action to counter the "terrorist aggression" by Israel.
The Egyptian minister said his country had, in an official statement, condemned the "criminal" move of assassinating Haniyeh, while supporting Iran's initiative for convening an OIC meeting to counter the "terrorist actions."
With Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Bagheri Kani said, "Israel martyred a prominent figure of the Muslim world and an indefatigable warrior of the Palestinian resistance."
Urging for the OIC meeting, Bagheri Kani called on all regional states to condemn the "heinous Israeli crime" and take "decisive" actions to counter such "terrorist moves."
Fidan condemned the "terrorist move," saying Turkiye fully supported Iran's "legitimate and diplomatic" initiative to hold an emergency OIC meeting.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in his phone call with Bagheri Kani, expressed condemnation of the assassination of Haniyeh, and welcomed the immediate holding of an OIC meeting.
Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit, according to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which said Israel had carried out the "terrorist attack" and vowed "a harsh and painful response."
African archaeology has neglected Namibias deserts
Scientists now know when an ancient lake supported human life in the Namib Sand Sea.
Desert regions in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula have been well studied by archaeologists as the home of early humans and as routes of migration along green corridors.
The archaeology of southern Africas west coast desert belt has not received the same attention.
The Namib Sand Sea, part of the Namib Desert, is on the west coast of Namibia. It is a hyperarid landscape of towering dunes, occupying about 34,000km between the towns of Luderitz in the south and Walvis Bay in the north. However, there are clues that this environment was not always so dry and inhospitable, suggesting that there is more to be learnt about ancient human life here.
We are part of an interdisciplinary research team of physical geographers, archaeologists and geospatial scientists, interested in the long-term history of deserts and human-environmental interactions.
Our research provides a timeframe for the presence of a small freshwater lake that once existed in the Namib Sand Sea. This lake was fed by an ancient river and is surrounded by a rich record of stone tools from the African Middle Stone Age (made between about 300,000 years ago and 20,000 years ago), indicating that people ventured into this landscape and used this occasional water source.
Dating the former lake site, Narabeb, makes it clearer when ancient humans would have been able to live here. It draws attention to the Namib Sand Sea as a place archaeologists should study to learn more about far-reaching and deep human connections across southern Africa.
An ancient lake and shifting sand dunes
Today, Narabeb is a landscape dominated by long sand dunes that tower more than 100 metres high over the former lake site. There is no standing water here and the landscape receives little to no rain most years. However, thats probably not what our ancient ancestors would have seen here. Away from the lake, they might have seen a relatively flat plain, seasonally covered by grasses, beside a river.
The clue is in sediments at the site: mud layers that were laid down by water. To find out how long ago the lake was at Narabeb, we needed to date these layers.
We used a technique called luminescence dating basically, making sand glow to tell the time. Sand grains release a trapped signal that builds up when sand is buried underground, and is reset when sand is exposed to sunlight. Using this technique, we can date when different layers were last on the surface before they got buried. We dated the sand beneath and above layers of mud that were deposited by water. Our results show that the lake was present at Narabeb at some point between 231,000 20,000 and 223,000 19,000 years ago and again about 135,000 11,000 years ago.
Another clue is the shape of the landscape east of Narabeb. It is dune free, reminding us that ancient humans were not the only things migrating in the Namib Sand Sea. Have the dunes been on the move? For how long? And how quickly?
Drilling to the centre of these dunes to work that out remains logistically impossible. Instead, we used a novel mathematical model.
The modelling suggests that it would have taken around 210,000 years to accumulate the amount of sand around Narabeb (those 110m high dunes). This number is remarkably close to the oldest age for the lake. This suggests that the dunes may only just have been starting to form and that a river was supplying the lake with fresh water, supporting animals and attracting people. The sediments at Narabeb also clearly tell us that a river once flowed where there are now dunes.
The winds have pushed dunes from the south and west to north and east, creating barriers for the river and hindering movement of people and animals along the water course.
Ancient human presence
At other sites in the Namib we have found Early Stone Age tools from an earlier species of the Homo genus. This is part of a growing body of evidence, adding to research in the Kalahari desert in the centre of southern Africa, that suggests southern African desert landscapes are more important to the story of human evolution and technological innovation than has been supposed.
The artefacts from Narabeb fit into the Middle Stone Age type of stone tool technology. Narabeb is a particularly rich site for stone tools, suggesting people made tools here for a long time and perhaps visited the site over many generations.
This research illustrates the need for a comprehensive study of areas that have not been on the map of the major routes of human and animal migration. These might reveal exciting records of cultural diffusion, innovation and adaptation to marginal and changing environments.
Our results also make us think about the dynamic nature of environmental conditions in one of Earths oldest desert regions. It has long been thought that the Namib has been consistently very dry for around 10 million years and not a place capable of containing green corridors at the times of interest for archaeologists. Now we can challenge that idea.
Future steps
Recent funding from the Leverhulme Trust will allow us to extend our fieldwork, documenting archaeological sites and dating these green corridors across more of this landscape. A 100 mile (160km) initial foot survey along the ancient river course has revealed an expansive artefact-littered landscape. We also need to know more about where ancient populations found the materials they used to make stone tools.
This will allow us to piece together a network of archaeological sites and show where human migration might have been possible in this part of southern Africa. Up to now, its been a gap in the archaeological map.
More work is also needed to understand the shifts in climate that allowed the rivers to flow into the Namib. This Southern Hemisphere, west coast desert has a very different setting to north Africa and Arabia, which have good frameworks for understanding their periodic green corridors. Ongoing work with the wider scientific community, including climate modellers, may create a clearer picture of the Namibs green corridors.
Abi Stone, Reader in Physical Geography, University of Manchester and Dominic Stratford, Professor of Archaeology, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
People attend a gathering denouncing the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Sidon, Lebanon, on July 31, 2024. Hezbollah on Wednesday offered its condolences for the death of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing as a grave danger. On the same day, a gathering took place in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, where people protested against the assassination of Haniyeh. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
BEIRUT, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah issued on Wednesday a statement mourning its top military commander Fouad Shokor, who was killed by Israel a day earlier in Dahieh, Beirut's southern suburbs.
"Our resistance presents him as a symbol of decisive commitment and firm resolve to continue the jihad until the liberation of the land, the holy sites, and the people from the injustice and brutality of this usurping, criminal, and murderous entity," said the statement.
Fouad Shokor's martyrdom will be a strong motivation for his fellow fighters to move forward with steadfastness and courage to preserve the achievements, victories, and capabilities, and to achieve the goals and hopes this great leader was looking forward to, it added.
Hezbollah Leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech on Thursday afternoon to voice Hezbollah's political stance with regard to this attack, according to the statement.
An Israeli drone fired on Tuesday evening three missiles at a position near the Shura Council of Hezbollah in the Dahieh suburbs in southern Beirut, killing Shokor and five other people and wounding 74 others.
People attend a gathering denouncing the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Sidon, Lebanon, on July 31, 2024. Hezbollah on Wednesday offered its condolences for the death of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing as a grave danger.
On the same day, a gathering took place in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, where people protested against the assassination of Haniyeh. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
A woman attends a gathering denouncing the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Sidon, Lebanon, on July 31, 2024. Hezbollah on Wednesday offered its condolences for the death of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing as a grave danger.
On the same day, a gathering took place in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, where people protested against the assassination of Haniyeh. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
People attend a gathering denouncing the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Sidon, Lebanon, on July 31, 2024. Hezbollah on Wednesday offered its condolences for the death of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing as a grave danger.
On the same day, a gathering took place in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, where people protested against the assassination of Haniyeh. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
People attend a gathering denouncing the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Sidon, Lebanon, on July 31, 2024. Hezbollah on Wednesday offered its condolences for the death of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, while Lebanon's prime minister condemned the killing as a grave danger.
On the same day, a gathering took place in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, where people protested against the assassination of Haniyeh. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
This photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows a Delta flight taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
United Airlines and Delta suspended their flights to and from Tel Aviv, citing "security reasons."
NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines on late Wednesday temporarily suspended their flights to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv amid heightening tensions in the Middle East region.
United Airlines suspended its daily services to and from Tel Aviv, beginning with Wednesday evening's flight from Newark Liberty International Airport in New York to Tel Aviv, the company said, citing "security reasons."
"We continue to closely monitor the situation and will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews," a company spokesperson said in an announcement.
Delta paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through Friday, Aug. 2, "due to ongoing conflict in the region," the airline said on its website.
Delta has issued a waiver for customers who booked travel to/from Tel Aviv before Aug. 14, allowing them to change their plans without paying a fare difference.
The airline said it "is continuously monitoring the evolving security environment and assessing our operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports. "
The U.S. Department of State updated a travel advisory for the Mideast region on Wednesday, warning U.S. citizens not to travel to Northern Israel and the West Bank, due to the rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as armed conflicts.
TEHRAN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Mournful people from different walks of life in the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday held a funeral procession for Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an alleged Israeli attack a day before.
The ceremony officially began at 8:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) at the University of Tehran, where Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayers for the Hamas chief and his security guard, who was killed in the same attack.
The funeral prayers were attended by many top Iranian commanders and officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, as well as a large number of mourners.
Prior to the prayers, Qalibaf extended condolences over the tragic incident, saying, "It is our duty to respond (to Haniyeh's assassination) at the appropriate place and time."
Israel would pay a "heavy price for its cowardly attack against Iran's secure territory," Qalibaf stressed.
Following the prayers, Khamenei met Haniyeh's children and Hamas officials.
During the procession, a huge number of Iranians, including top officials and military commanders, accompanied the Hamas leader's body from the University of Tehran to the iconic Azadi square in central Tehran, while chanting slogans in condemnation of Israel and the United States, holding pictures of Haniyeh, Iran's leader and General Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian commander who was killed in an attack by the United States in Iraq in January 2020, and waving Iranian and Palestinian flags.
Speaking to reporters during the procession, the Iranian officials said that Israel would definitely be punished for its "act of terror."
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani said Israel would certainly receive a far "stronger slap" compared to the one Iran delivered to it on April 14 in response to an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier that month, according to the official news agency IRNA.
At the end of the ceremony, which lasted for four hours, the Iranians bade a final farewell to the Hamas leader before the transfer of his body to the Qatari capital Doha to be laid to rest.
Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit.
Iran accused Israel of carrying out the assassination while Israel has yet to confirm its involvement.
ABUJA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured after a deadly explosion at a local night market in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno late Wednesday, police said Thursday.
The deadly explosion followed the detonation of an improvised explosive device, allegedly by the Boko Haram terror group, at a marketplace in Kawuri, a town in the Kondauga local government area of the state, Yusuf Lawan, the police chief in Borno, told Xinhua by telephone Thursday morning.
Lawan said a team of police personnel was immediately deployed to the scene to cordon off the area from further explosions while restoring normalcy.
Following the deadly explosion, the police have imposed a 24-hour curfew across the state, said Nahum Daso, a spokesman for the police in Borno, in a separate statement.
"The curfew is a measure to prevent further loss of lives and property and to allow security agencies to maintain control and ensure public safety," he said, adding that residents were expected to stay indoors and avoid "any unnecessary movements during the curfew period."
JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The South African government on Thursday condemned the "targeted assassination" of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas.
In a statement issued by South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the government expressed its "heartfelt condolences" to the Haniyeh family and the leadership and people of Palestine.
Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their residence in the Iranian capital of Tehran was hit early Wednesday, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said in a statement, adding the attack was under investigation and the results would be announced later. Israel has no comment on the incident yet.
"South Africa is concerned that the assassination of Dr. Haniyeh and the continuous targeting of civilians in Gaza will further spiral the already tense situation in the entire region," the statement said. "South Africa urges that a thorough investigation be conducted and call on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid any acts that would escalate tensions in the particularly fragile region."
"Such acts of extrajudicial killings violate international law and the principles of human rights, undermining global efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East," the statement quoted South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola as saying.
"No country is above the law and all nations must respect international law, particularly the principles outlined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," he said.
South Africa also called for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire, reiterating its view that "the international community must act immediately to bring to an end the genocide in Gaza, end impunity, end the aggression meted against Palestinians and end the illegal occupation by Israel."
"Nothing can justify the deliberate killings and injuring of civilians as an entire population endures destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history," read the statement. "Continuing Israeli occupation, destruction of infrastructure, collective punishment, and extrajudicial assassinations would make the realization of a peaceful solution in the Middle East much more difficult to achieve."
Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza on Oct. 7 last year, following a surprise attack by Hamas militants in which about 1,200 people in Israel were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
According to Gaza-based health authorities, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 39,445 Palestinians in the coastal enclave and displaced approximately 2 million people.
Rescuers work at a landslide devastated area in India's southern state of Kerala, Aug.1, 2024. The death toll of Tuesday's massive landslides in India's southern state of Kerala rose to 256, confirmed the state's Health Minister Veena George on Thursday while speaking to local media. (UNI/Handout via Xinhua)
NEW DELHI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of Tuesday's massive landslides in India's southern state of Kerala rose to 256, confirmed the state's Health Minister Veena George on Thursday while speaking to local media.
She said one of the main focuses of the state government was to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the area, since it was still raining there and bodies lay under the rubble of the landslides.
"So far we have conducted post-mortem on 256 dead bodies, which includes human body parts too. 154 dead bodies have been handed over to the district administration after the post-mortem. Genetic samples of human body-parts recovered are being collected and DNA tests on dead bodies are also being conducted. It will help us in identifying the dead bodies and human limbs at a later stage," the minister told media.
"I visited the hospitals and relief camps. Our priority is to provide psychological support, and focus on controlling contagious diseases," said the official.
According to her, another 220 persons were still missing, and the rescue work was on to pull out the injured persons from under the rubble of the landslides.
Within a span of two hours three landslides had hit the Meppadi area of Kerala's Wayanad district early on Tuesday morning amid heavy rain, while the people were still asleep. The tragedy was described as one the biggest in recent times in the southern state.
The state government had set up relief camps to accommodate those rendered homeless after the natural tragedy. Over 3,500 people were rehabilitated in these relief camps.
Thousands of personnel of the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, the National Disaster Response Force, state-level disaster management body, local police, doctors, medical teams, and other local administration officials were put into service to carry out the rescue work, and also provide relief and succor to the survivors, a local government official told Xinhua over phone.
This photo taken on Aug. 1, 2024 shows a view of the landslide devastated area in India's southern state of Kerala. The death toll of Tuesday's massive landslides in India's southern state of Kerala rose to 256, confirmed the state's Health Minister Veena George on Thursday while speaking to local media. (UNI/Handout via Xinhua)
Rescuers work at a landslide devastated area in India's southern state of Kerala, Aug.1, 2024. The death toll of Tuesday's massive landslides in India's southern state of Kerala rose to 256, confirmed the state's Health Minister Veena George on Thursday while speaking to local media. (UNI/Handout via Xinhua)
CANBERRA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy has described a new government report on the welfare of First Nations people as deeply troubling.
The Productivity Commission, the government's primary review and advisory body, on Wednesday published its latest report on Closing the Gap, the national strategy to reduce the structural disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The report found that five of the 19 Closing the Gap targets are on track to be met and that progress on four targets has gone backward.
According to the new data, the number of Indigenous Australians imprisoned, taking their own lives and losing their children to out-of-home care has increased from baseline levels.
In 2021, 34.3 percent of Indigenous children commencing school were considered developmentally on track, down from 35.2 percent in 2018.
McCarthy, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, said in a statement on Thursday that a bipartisan approach was needed to close the gap.
"These figures are deeply troubling, but I am determined to work in partnership with First Nations Australians, the Coalition of Peaks and State and Territory governments to bring about positive change," she said.
"I will be reaching out to my colleagues across the parliament to seek a bipartisan approach to Indigenous affairs."
The life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has narrowed, the report said, but a target of zero gap by 2031 is not on track.
Indigenous people born in 2020-2022 had a life expectancy of 71.9 years for males and 75.6 years for females compared to 81.2 years and 85.3 years for non-Indigenous males and females respectively.
Suicide was the leading cause of death for Indigenous Australians aged 15-39 in 2022.
Targets concerning healthy birth weights of Indigenous children, the proportion of Indigenous children enrolled in preschool, Indigenous employment and the proportion of Australia's land mass and sea area covered under Indigenous legal rights are on track to be met.
Boeing announced on Wednesday that it had hired a new chief executive officer at the same time the airline manufacturer reported it had lost $1.4 billion in the second quarter of the year.
The logo for Boeing appears on a screen above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, July 13, 2021. [AP Photo/Richard Drew]
In a press release, Boeing said its board of directors has elected Robert K. Kelly Ortberg as the companys new president and chief executive officer, effective August 8, 2024. Ortberg will also serve on Boeings Board of Directors.
Ortberg, who is a career aerospace engineer and executive with 35 years in the industry, replaces Dave Calhoun, who announced in March that he was retiring. Calhoun resigned amid a series of near-catastrophic safety failures and a recent sweetheart plea deal with the US Justice Department over Boeings fraudulent response to two crashes of its 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
Ortberg, age 64, worked at Rockwell Collins, a designer and manufacturer of avionics, communications and information systems for the aerospace industry for 30 years before he became company president and CEO in 2013. During his tenure, Ortberg led numerous mergers and acquisitions, including the integration of Rockwell Collins into the multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies).
The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing would pay Ortberg $17.25 million in cash and stock for taking the job, plus $22 million a year, of which roughly $4.5 million would be in cash and the rest in equity. The Journal report added, Although the agreement is open-ended, the company said it wouldnt apply its mandatory retirement age to Ortberg until April 2031.
Also on Wednesday, Boeing announced that it had lost $1.4 billion in the quarter ending in June, bringing its total losses in 2024 to $1.8 billion and cumulative core operating losses since 2019 to $33.3 billion.
In the company statement on the deepening financial crisis of Boeing, outgoing CEO Calhoun claimed substantial progress strengthening our quality management system and positioning our company for the future.
A primary objective of Ortberg is to oversee the acquisition of a key Boeing supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which has been at the center of the quality and safety failures of the 737 MAX jets.
Spirit manufactured the fuselage involved in the door plug that blew out of an Alaska Airlines jet during takeoff in January. In an investigation, federal aviation authorities say the fuselage made at Spirits factory in Wichita, Kansas, had defective rivets or fasteners, while they believe Boeing also failed to put back bolts needed to secure the door plug when it was opened for a repair at its plant in Renton, Washington.
The door plug failure is one of many safety and quality problems originating at Spirit. Boeing announced on July 1 that it had agreed to acquire Spirit in an all-stock transaction valued at $4.7 billion. As part of the deal, it is expected that Spirit will shut down factories, including some in Europe, that make parts for Boeing rival Airbus.
On July 7, Boeing announced it had accepted a deal offered by the US Department of Justice and pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government in its response to the two crashes of its 737 MAX planes, one in Indonesia on October 29, 2018 and the other in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019. Both planes went into unrecoverable nosedives minutes after takeoff due to the malfunction of an automated system designed and installed by Boeing.
The New York Times was enthusiastic about the hiring of Ortberg, saying industry experts welcomed the announcement and quoting aerospace and defense analyst Ken Herbert as saying, We believe this is a strong and safe pick.
However, what the Wall Street Journal and New York Times left out of their reports on the new CEO is the fact that two weeks ago more than 33,000 Boeing machinists voted by 99.9 percent to strike the corporation when their contract expires on September 12.
The workers, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), are demanding wage increases, cost-of-living increases, restoration of benefits and an improvement in safety and quality control in the Boeing factories.
CNN referred to the strike vote, calling it the most immediate problem for Ortberg. CNN also reported that Calhoun spoke to investors about the likelihood of a strike, saying that the company knows the Machinists union, which represents those workers, will have a big ask on wages, but that the company is willing to reward its workers and is doing everything it can to avoid a strike.
Calhoun, the entire executive management of Boeing and the Biden administration are relying on the union leadership of the IAM to prevent strike action and impose another rotten contract upon the workers.
However, rank-and-file machinists are well aware of the repeated sellouts by the IAM bureaucracy, including in the last contract in 2008 following a 57-day strike. The strike was betrayed by the corporatist IAM leadership, and a supposed four-year contract was signed that the union extended repeatedly beginning in 2012. The workers only received a 1 percent wage increase in 2014.
A strike by Boeing machinists in September would bring the workers into a direct confrontation with the Biden White House and the Democratic Party reelection campaign and its presumptive nominee of Kamala Harris.
In particular, a strike by 30,000 Boeing workers would disrupt the US-backed war against Russia in Ukraine. The US-supplied long-range missiles being used by Ukraine for firing deep into Russian territory are made by Boeing. The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) from Boeing are also being supplied to increase the number of 100-mile missiles being used by Ukraine.
According to a report in Reuters in January, The glide-bomb will allow Ukraines military to hit targets at twice the distance reachable by the rockets it now fires from the U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and could force Russia to move supplies even farther from the front lines.
There is no doubt the IAM will do everything possible to prevent Boeing workers from going on strike. A year ago, the IAM leadership announced the endorsement of the Biden-Harris ticket, claiming it was secured by a vote of the 600,000 members of the union in a democratic process that included a general membership vote open to all U.S. members in good standing.
Without stating exactly how many members of the union voted, the IAM leadership claimed a majority vote for Biden with the participating IAM State Council Presidents, the IAMs elected political leaders from each state, voting to endorse the Democratic Party presidential campaign.
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday that polio had been detected in Gaza and warned that urgent preventive measures had to be taken to protect children from the infection, which can cause death or crippling paralysis.
A boy sitting amongst rubble in Yarmouk Sports Stadium Friday, July 5, 2024 in Gaza City [AP Photo/AP Photo]
The detection of polio in Gaza is another reminder of the dire conditions the population is facing, the WHO director wrote on X, referring to the Israeli military onslaught on the Palestinian enclave. The persistence of the conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable threats such as polio.
The WHO has dispatched a million doses of polio vaccine to the Israeli-occupied territory, but how they will reach the population, particularly the children, under conditions of continuous military violence is unknown.
The Gaza Health Ministry declared a polio epidemic Monday based on testing of wastewater samples. No actual cases have yet been reported, but the chaotic conditions in Gaza, with constant bombing and shelling and forced movements of population make any systematic monitoring for the disease impossible.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the ministry warned that polio poses a health threat to the residents of Gaza and neighboring countries, referring to both Israel and Egypt, the two countries which border on the Gaza Strip, as well as the wider Middle East.
Gaza has been polio-free for a quarter of a century, thanks to effective mass vaccination, but this health achievement, like all the social gains of the Palestinians, is threatened with utter destruction under the impact of Israeli bombs, missiles and tank shells.
Miles of tents line the beaches and empty lots and fields, people are piled into tents in clothes that have not been washed for months, children are playing in and drinking from puddles of water contaminated with sewage.
The primary means of spread for polio is fecal-oral contamination, and the targeting of water and sanitary facilities by the Israel Defense Forces has as a conscious aim the spreading of infectious disease to decimate the Palestinian population.
Repeatedly during the ongoing genocide, health authorities had warned that the destruction of critical infrastructure would bring with it a public health crisis. And last week, six of seven routine sewage samples detected the virus.
The UN noted that besides polio, diseases like Hepatitis A, dysentery, and other gastrointestinal disorders are widespread and continue to rise. More than one million respiratory infections have been documented. Scabies and lice are running rampant among the population. And as many have noted, this is only the beginning of the broader public health crisis that the exhausted and trodden population will see adding to their historic misery.
Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician, speaking with Al-Jazeera, called the detection of polio a ticking time bomb. She added, Normally if you have a case of polio, youre going to isolate them, youre going to make sure that they use a bathroom that nobody else uses, make sure that theyre not in close proximity to other people, [but] thats impossible. You have everybody clustering in refugee camps at the moment without vaccines for at least the past nine months, including children who would otherwise have been vaccinated for polio and adults who, in the setting of an outbreak, should receive a booster, including healthcare workers.
Dr. Medhat Abbas, director general of Al Shifa Medical Complex, told the press that the streets were full of sewage. Personal hygiene is absent. You cant wash your hands, even after youve used the bathroom, he said. So, theres pollution and this disease is spread through feces.
In May, Oxfams Middle East director, Sally Abi Khalil, lamented, The situation is desperate, with so many people in Gaza living in fear and being forced to endure inhumane and unsanitary conditions caused by sustained Israeli bombardment. One colleague told me there was so much human waste in the streets, it literally smelt like disease.
She said at that time: Israels military assault on Rafah could be devastating, not only because of the risk of mass civilian casualties, but also the repercussions of vast numbers of people being forced to move. With the infrastructure already beyond breaking point, little or no healthcare available, and widespread malnutrition this could quickly escalate into a major epidemic.
This week, Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, the World Health Organizations (WHO) health emergency team lead for Gaza and the West Bank, told NPR, Its a very dangerous disease. And, in the situation of Gaza, its beyond dangerous. The limited investigation indicates the virus came from Egypt sometime in September before the commencement of hostilities.
Another important element in the policy of extermination through disease is the blockade-imposed famine, which starves some victims to death and weakens the resistance to infection among many more.
This is combined with the military offensive on hospitals, clinics, and healthcare workers that has killed 500 physicians, 50 of them specialists. More than 200 medical staff have been imprisoned in detainee camps in Southern Israel where they undergo violent interrogations. Twenty of 36 hospitals have been completely destroyed and the rest are functioning under most barbaric conditions. The sick and injured have no place to turn to address any of their immediate and life-threatening injuries and illnesses.
In response to the reports of polio, Israel said it was offering soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip the polio vaccine to be administered during routine troop turnover, although it was not mandatory for them to accept it. The Israeli army also indicated it would allow international groups to bring the polio vaccine into the enclave. According to the WHO, more than a million polio vaccine doses were being brought in to be given over the coming weeks.
Even before the military assault on the defenseless enclave, in March 2023, Israeli physicians were urging the government and medical community to respond to an outbreak of polio and prioritize and vaccinate the 176,000 Israeli children who had never received any doses. At the time, four children had been diagnosed with polio, and one had paralysis in his limbs. Prior to that outbreak, Israel had no clinical cases of polio between 1988 and 2022.
Prosecutors in Washington D.C. announced on July 25 that they would drop charges against 11 people out of the 25 total who were arrested for protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to the United States Capitol last week.
The decision to drop the charges only a day later demonstrates the overt lawlessness of the police forces, who often detain and abuse protesters without a second thought. It is not uncommon for prosecutors to initially decline to press charges against individuals arrested during protests, especially those that turn violent, noted the Washington Post.
The newspaper cites the former US assistant attorney for Washington D.C., Rizwan Qureshi, who added, when prosecutors bring cases, they have an obligation to look at the evidence individually and determine if they can present these facts and prove beyond a reasonable doubt the offense here.
Despite the obvious weakness of the cases, it is possible for the attorney generals office to reinstate the charges and have those individuals rearrested.
U.S. Capitol Police detain demonstrators protesting against the genocide in Gaza by Israel before a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. [AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
Netanyahus appearance before Congress after being extended a bipartisan invitation to speak prompted massive outrage against the Israeli war criminal and his handlers in the American state. To date, the official number of dead in Gaza are more than 39,000. A far-higher calculation is provided by the prestigious Lancet peer-reviewed medical journal, which published an estimate, on conservative assumptions, of nearly 190,000 dead.
Of those that were arrested in Washington, many were given misdemeanor charges for small acts of vandalism. Further revealing the fraudulent character of the official justification for the genocidal campaign, several of those arrested last week were family members of Israeli hostages seeking to denounce Netanyahus nine-month war on Gaza which has done nothing to free their loved ones.
Of the 14 remaining charges, one of them is for a 15 year old from Ohio who allegedly assaulted a police officer. Ten people were arrested near Union Station, and eight of them are being charged.
During the incident at Union Station, police deployed chemical irritants on the crowd and clashed with protesters. A few people were arrested after climbing a statue of Christopher Columbus and spray-painting it. Three others, Sonia Krishan, 21, Nathaniel Lawrence, 19, and Roger Miller, 43, were arrested for lowering an American flag at a flagpole and replacing it with a Palestinian flag. The American flag was then burned by demonstrators.
In comments cited by the Post, Lawrence stated it didnt seem right that the US flag was sitting higher than the Palestinian flag, given that the US government just stands there and lets [the genocide] happen. Prosecutors later increased the charges against those who removed the flag, charging all of them with one count each of attempted theft, a felony that carries a heavier sentence than the other charges.
Essa Ejelat, 33, was arrested and charged with threatening to do bodily harm to a police officer after he pointed his finger at a cop and allegedly threatened them. Frederick Coates, 25, Momamome Crow, 23, and Antonio Somerville, 23, were arrested for carrying weapons which supposedly included bats, batons and a dart gun.
The prosecutors decision to drop nearly half of the cases provoked immediate outrage from the D.C. police union. Gus Papathanasiou of the Metropolitan Police Departments Fraternal Order of Police declared that the prosecutors were giving free passes to criminals. The union officials also stated that they were unhappy with the number of arrests made, saying that they would have liked to have arrested many more people if it werent for their staffing levels.
The US political establishment has also swung behind the police, denouncing the protesters for exercising their First Amendment rights. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) took to X/Twitter to denounce protesters and demand that [o]ur nations leaders on both sides of this aisle must fully denounce this and make clear that antisemitism has no place in America.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gave a reply Wednesday that was equal parts thuggish and ignorant when asked by Rachel Scott of ABC News about the mob of supporters who broke into the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and assaulted numerous police officers as they attempted to overturn his electoral loss. He claimed that the protesters against Netanyahu fought with police much more openly than I could show on January 6, although Scott had noted that 140 police were injured in the 2021 mob assault.
Democratic Vice President and presumed presidential nominee Kamala Harris issued an official statement the day after the anti-Netanyahu, anti-genocide demonstrations in which she said that despicable acts were the product of unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. Harris also accused protesters of being antisemitic: I support the right to peacefully protest, but lets be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation.
Harris statement is a damning exposure of the lie, presented by the Democratic Party and its various supporters, that she would somehow be more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people, to say nothing about the right to protest.
With more than three years at the side of Genocide Joe Biden at the helm of American imperialism, Harris has the same fundamental policy outlook. In her private meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris reaffirmed her absolute support for Israels attacks on Palestine.
Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans offer any progressive solution to the crisis of the capitalist system. Their answers are provided through the wars abroad that they wage and the attacks on living standards and democratic rights at home. As the Socialist Equality Partys speakers presented at their rally on Wednesday outside the US Capitol, the solution cannot be through appeals to capitalist parties, but through mobilization of the working class as an international force against genocide, war and reaction.
With Israels genocidal assault on Gaza now in its tenth month, the Netanyahu regime and its US imperialist paymasters and arms providers are relentlessly pushing the Middle East over the precipice and into the abyss of an all-out regional war.
In what was simultaneously a calculated provocation and an act of extreme recklessness, Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamass political wing, in Irans capital early Wednesday morning.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press briefing after his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. [AP Photo/Vahid Salemi]
Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Irans new president, was killed along with his bodyguard when a guided missile, said by Iranian authorities to have been launched from outside the country, hit the compound where he was staying.
Only hours before this brazen act of criminality, Israeli drones demolished a five-story building in a heavily populated area of Beirut. Described by the Israeli government as targeted, the drone strike killed five and injured scores of other residents of the apartment block. The five fatalities included Fuad Shukr, said to be the right-hand man of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and two children aged 10 and 6.
The Gaza-born 62 year-old Haniyeh was Hamass chief negotiator in the protracted, on-again off-again Gaza war peace negotiations.
How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side? asked Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has hosted the peace negotiations, in a post on X.
The reality is the negotiations have been a Biden-Harris administration-orchestrated sham. Israel, with the full support of the US, Canada and the European imperialist powers, has used them as a smokescreen for its continuing prosecution, through mass murder, ethnic cleansing and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, of a final solution to the Palestinian question.
Haniyehs summary execution was a war crime. That it was carried out on Iranian soil and amid the ceremonies marking the assumption of office by a new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, adds a further explosive dimension of criminality and provocation.
The Israeli strike was aimed at humiliating Iran, destabilizing its leadership, undermining confidence in its security forces and, last but not least, forcing it to respond, providing Israel with a pretext for still more aggression. Just hours before his death, Haniyeh had met with Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
For an Israeli government that is pursuing genocide and is responsibleaccording to The Lancet, one of the worlds leading medical journalsfor at least 186,000 deaths during the Gaza War, there are truly no limits. Still, the execution of Haniyeh, who for the last seven years had headed Hamass Politburo and prior to that led the civil administration in Gaza, represents a new level of lawlessness and brutality in international relations. By way of comparison, Israels murder by missile strike of the head of Hamass political wing would be akin to Russia using a drone to kill Ukrainian President Zelensky when he was visiting Washington or Berlin.
In the imperialist capitals, this is no cause for even a quiver of embarrassment. Their universal response to the Israeli strikes in Tehran and Beirut has been to threaten Iran and Hezbollah and reaffirm their unflinching commitment to Israeli self-defence.
As is now a familiar pattern after every Israeli escalation, there has been a flurry of statements from Washington, London, Berlin and Paris that blame Iran and its allies for the growing threat of a wider war and demand they stand down. Hezbollahs attacks on Israel must stop, exclaimed German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. It is important to prevent a regional conflagration.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood, in an emergency Security Council session Wednesday afternoon, declared: We call on the Security Council to send an unambiguous message to Hezbollah by standing with Israel as it defends itself against Hezbollahs repeated attacks.
Continuing in the same vein, Wood demanded the Security Council take actions, including possibly new sanctions, to hold Iran accountable and address repeated action by its terrorist proxies.
Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the US was not aware of or involved in the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran. Even if one were to accept that Tel Aviv did not share the operational details, Washingtons hands are smeared with the blood of this crime.
Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other White House officials have been publicly urging Israel to make greater use of targeted assassinations against Hamas and its allies. Moreover, even amid the so-called peace negotiations, Washington has been pressing Qatar to expel the Hamas leadership in exile.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has issued an ominously worded statement preparing the population for an expansion of the war. Citizens of Israel, he declared, challenging days lie ahead. Since the strike in Beirut there are threats sounding from all directions We are prepared for any scenario [and] will exact a heavy price for any aggression.
Since Netanyahus visit to Washington last week, which included meetings with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, Israel has gone on a rampage. In addition to the attacks on Beirut and Tehran, Israel has carried out strikes in southern Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. On July 20, it struck Yemens port of Hodeida, which is under the control of the Houthi insurgency.
The timing of Israels escalation of the war makes clear that the expansion of the Gaza genocide into a major regional conflict was greenlighted by Washington during Netanyahus visit. At the key public event of his trip, his July 24 address to a joint session of Congress, the Israeli prime minister centered much of his remarks on bellicose denunciations of Iran.
Turning reality on its head, he painted Tehran as the aggressor, just as he grotesquely claimed there have been almost no civilian casualties in Gaza. To boisterous applause, Netanyahu declared that in fighting Iran and its allies, Israel was waging Americas fight and that Israel deserved Washingtons unstinting support in using genocidal methods and otherwise shredding international law. If Israels hands are tied, he declared, America is next.
Exactly how the war will develop in the coming days and weeks cannot be said with any certainty. What is incontestable is that the crisis of the Israeli regime and its imperialist backers, above all, Washington, and the logic of the war they have initiatedthe predatory aims they are pursuing and the escalating violence and recklessness with which they are seeking to realize themlead inexorably to a region-wide Mideast war, with the US joining in the assault on Iran and its allies.
Such a war could rapidly draw in a host of regional and great powers and threaten to ignite a global conflagration. At issue would be the fate of the region that is the worlds largest exporter of oil, and that, because of its location at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa, is of enormous geo-strategic importance.
The imperialist powers, led by the US, have backed Israel to the hilt in its genocide for they see the Gaza war as a first step to realizing their plans for the establishment of unbridled imperialist domination over the Middle East. Moreover, as Biden and Blinken have themselves made clear, the war they are prosecuting alongside Israel is only one front in a developing global war. Securing domination over the Middle East is viewed as critical to subjugating Russia, with which the US and NATO powers are already at war, and prevailing in what is an all-sided military-strategic and economic offensive against China.
As in the late 1930s, various regional conflicts are inexorably merging into a new imperialist world war. If such a catastrophe is to be avoidedand it must be avoidedthe global working class must be mobilized as an independent political force, united in struggle against imperialist war and the capitalist system which is its source.
The rally the Socialist Equality Party organized outside the July 24 joint session of the US Congress that was addressed by Netanyahu outlined the programmatic foundations for such a struggle, uniting the fight against war, the degradations of capitalism and the defense of democratic rights with the fight for social equality and workers power.
Socialist Equality Party (Canada) members have supported workers at Canada Post over recent months in the establishment of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC). The PWRFC aims to seize control of the contract struggle from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) bureaucracy, which is in a corporatist partnership with the crown corporations management and federal Liberal government. Rejecting the CUPW apparatus insistence that Canada Post be run as a profit-making concern, the PWRFC demands that the postal service operate as a public utility, with decisions on wages, workplace safety, workloads, and other conditions determined by the rank and file.
A Canada Post office in Winnipeg, Manitoba [AP Photo/Trevor Hagan]
In the days leading up to and at its founding meeting on June 16, postal workers reviewed and discussed the committees founding statement. It declares in part,
In opposition to the conspirators in Canada Post management, the federal government and the CUPW bureaucracy, we reject the claim that Canada Post must be run as a profit-making corporate enterprise. We oppose the use of new technologies to step up exploitation. We demand that workers on the shop floor make decisions about the operation of the postal service, the implementation of new technologies, and our wages and benefits. The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee will fight for these objectives in a political struggle against the corporatist partnership between CUPW, corporate management and the Liberal government. We will do so in alliance with workers throughout the logistics sector, workers across Canadapublic and privatewho all have a stake in our struggle to defend public services and worker rights, and postal workers throughout the world.
As part of its fight to establish the rank-and-file committee, the World Socialist Web Site has sharply criticized left-talking militant CUPW bureaucrats who have postured as defenders of workers interests. A key experience in this regard was the presidency of Mike Palecek, a former member of the pseudo-left Fightback group, affiliated with the International Marxist Tendency. Palecek was propelled to the presidency to control widespread anger among rank-and-file postal workers following the union leaderships capitulation to the Tory Harper governments strikebreaking legislation in 2011. Under Paleceks leadership, CUPW campaigned for the election of the pro-war, pro-austerity Trudeau Liberal government in 2015 and sold out the 2018 postal workers strike.
Rank-and-file Canada Post workers have written in to the WSWS to share their experiences of ruthless exploitation and union-backed concessions. Individuals associated with the bureaucracy have also inquired about the committee. One of these was Matthew Aitken, a former CUPW local president. Aitken wrote to us in the lead-up to the PWRFCs founding meeting:
I am interested in the committee because of my involvement with the CUPW over the last six years. I was local president in Kelowna from 2018 to 2020, and in Winnipeg from 2021 to 2023. I helped get Roland Schmidt elected to 3rd [vice president] in 2022, and worked on Julee Sandersons campaign [for union president] last year. I stood at the entrance to convention last year holding a sign that read, Vote for Julee, and I asked delegates to vote for Julee to save our union and I meant it. I am very much opposed to the actions of the CUPWs national executive board and believe our union needs wholesale reform.
Given the bureaucracys intimate partnership with management and pervasive management harassment of rank-and-file workers at Canada Post, we had serious concerns about allowing Aitken to join the PWRFCs founding meeting, which involved Canada Post workers who could have been identified and victimized. Moreover, the WSWS is familiar with union bureaucrats seeking a radical left cover for their rotten opportunist politics. WSWS writer Steve Hill therefore forwarded Aitken a draft of the PWRFCs founding statement and requested a further discussion in order to determine whether his interest in the committee was genuine.
Aitken responded angrily,
Hi Steve, I read the discussion paper and take issue with some of the points raised. I would also like to ask the authors why they think Brother Palecek lied to the membership. I dont have the same opinion, and when I read those lines, I can clearly tell whomever wrote them did not read NEB [National Executive Board] minutes from Paleceks time as president. I think they would find that Palecek was essentially an island on that board, and as any person working with committees should know, the decision of that is the committees, not necessarily the president. Palecek dissented on many of the votes and issues that I believe the authors were referencing without being specific. If it were journalism, it would be shoddy. I dont mind some of the plans listed in the document, but I find some of them to be very naive. I think the authors are either out of touch with their workfloors or they have never actually been on a CUPW workfloor. Im uncomfortable with the idea of meeting alone with a group of non-CUPW members to be screened to be able to join a group of CUPW members. I do not have time to meet with a group of people who will deliberate on my character and deem me worthy or unworthy of joining. I dont need anyones approval in that way. I am a postal worker. Delivered mail on Friday. I wish you all the best with your organizing of postal workers. Please do not reach out to me with offers like this in the future. I am no longer interested in being involved. In solidarity, Matthew Aitken
Hill sent the following letter in response to Aitken, who has failed to respond after several weeks.
***
Dear Brother Matthew,
I think its important that we clarify some of the issues you raised in your last email.
The Sunday, June 16 meeting was a political meeting with workers who are CUPW members and was organized with the assistance of Socialist Equality Party members. Many of the workers we engage with around the world are wary of being exposed to company (or union) snoops during such meetings, so we take our responsibility to protect their identity and interests seriously.
This approach is all the more important at Canada Post, where, as I am sure you are aware, management harassment and intimidation is a major issue and the CUPW bureaucracy colludes with this same management to attack workers rights. We make no bones about the fact that we are opposed in principle to inviting current union bureaucrats to these discussions. In the case of someone like yourself, who previously held a senior position within the union but says they have broken with the bureaucracy, we make no apologies for vetting them thoroughly before deciding whether we should allow them to attend. Anyone committed to advancing the interests of rank-and-file workers will easily understand why.
Workers who are drawn to the World Socialist Web Site appreciate our political analysis, including unmatched coverage of the struggles of the working class around the world, because they know from bitter personal experience that the unions are no longer fighting organizations of the working class. The WSWS provides the context and history necessary for the working class to understand the current state of the world, how we got here and what to do nextincluding, crucially, why the unions and the political parties they support, like the NDP, have failed the working class.
Our plans and demands are far from naive and are in fact the result of more than a century of serious analysis and collective experience. Our socialist-internationalist political program is the only solution to the problems of a world wracked by economic crises, a global pandemic, an ongoing genocide in Gaza and the looming danger of a nuclear war.
Over the past four decades, we have explained how the trade union bureaucracies have become transformed into appendages of the corporations and state apparatus. Staffed by well-paid bureaucrats who have more in common with the bosses and government ministers than the workers they claim to represent, these organizations have been the main obstacle that has prevented all workers, postal workers included, from fighting back against the sustained attack on wages and living standards imposed by the ruling elite. They play this role not because of the failings of individual leaders, but because they are inseparably tied to the nation-state and defend capitalist private profit. Under conditions of the globalization of production and an ever-deepening capitalist crisis, the union bureaucracies are compelled to side with their own corporate elites as they step up the exploitation of the working class to stay competitive with their rivals.
Our criticism of former CUPW President Mike Palecek is not based on whether he voted this way or that on a particular issue, or whether he lied. Rather, it concerns his fraudulent claims, in line with his long-time associates in the pseudo-left (and the misnamed) International Marxist Tendency, that the union could be transformed into an organization fighting for workers interests. Our position is that this militant program was aimed at maintaining the bureaucracys credibility in the eyes of the workers after the miserable betrayal of 2011, and covering up its deepening collaboration with the Trudeau Liberal government after 2015.
In the run-up to the October 2015 federal election, Palecek played a leading role in the unions Anybody but Conservative campaign. This initiative, endorsed by all the major unions in Canada, promoted the Liberals as a progressive alternative, paving the way for their return to power after a decade of Conservative rule under Stephen Harper.
In the contract negotiations of 2016, Mike Palecek led the CUPW bureaucracy in vehemently opposing any job action by postal workers on the grounds that nothing should be allowed to disrupt the work of a Liberal government task force into the future of the post office. The union offered to work with big business to make Canada Post better serve their needs and then signed on to a two-year contract that left in place all the concessions extorted from workers in 2011.
CUPW mounted a Save Canada Post campaign calling for developing new revenue streams, like postal banking, endorsing the proposition that Canada Post must be run as a profit-making enterprise.
Unsurprisingly, the Liberal government-appointed task force proposed a whole slew of anti-worker cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of five-day-a-week mail delivery, privatization of 800 additional postal stations, consolidation of postal-sorting plants, and pension cuts.
In 2018, despite being armed with an overwhelming strike mandate, Palecek refused to call a nationwide strike. Instead, he restricted postal workers to a campaign of regional rotating strikes, which he himself acknowledged was aimed at having as little impact on Canada Posts business operations as possible. Palecek and the CUPW apparatus claimed that by keeping workers on a tight leash and issuing no appeal for broader working class support in the defence of public services and workers rights, a back-to-work law could be avoided. This only emboldened the big-business Liberal government.
The CUPW bureaucrats worked to avoid a serious clash between postal workers and the government because it would have exposed the need to expand the struggle, rally support from the working class and transform the strike into a working class political struggle against the Liberal government and big business as a whole. The CUPW bureaucracy, as well as the Canadian Labour Congress, feared this prospect more than anything else.
As I viewed with my own eyes this week, CUPW continues to follow the same strategy. Using banners at a local Canada Post depot, the union is mounting a miserable public appeal urging Justin Trudeau to show respect for postal workers, i.e., the same man who oversaw the criminalization of their strike in 2018. The union has no intention now, or ever in the future, to seriously confront not just particular governments, but the economic system that offers only greater exploitation to the working class.
We urge you to study the record of Paleceks history and draw the necessary political conclusions from it. Above all, these are that nothing can be achieved for rank-and-file postal workers by seeking to reform the corporatist union bureaucracy and that new organizations of class struggle, rank-and-file committees, must be established to lead workers in a political fight and unify them with their colleagues around the world.
Our offer remains open to arrange a discussion with you on these issues and any other points of disagreement you may have.
Fraternally,
Steve Hill
On Wednesday, in a bid to appeal to a layer of upper middle class African Americans, former President Donald Trump appeared in person for a sit-down panel interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago. The interview was conducted by Rachel Scott of ABC News, Kadia Goba of Semafor and, a Trump favorite, Harris Faulkner of Fox News.
Former President Donald Trump, left, moderated by, from left, ABC's Rachel Scott, Semafor's Nadia Goba and FOX News' Harris Faulkner, speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Chicago. [AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast]
The convention has previously hosted a bevy of former and aspiring Democratic presidents, including Bill Clinton, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Besides Trump, Republican President George W. Bush appears to be the only other Republican president who has spoken at an NABJ convention.
Trumps appearance immediately descended into the gutter when he took exception to the first question posed by ABCs Scott, who said, You have used words like animal and rabid to describe black district attorneys. Youve attacked black journalistscalling them a loser, saying the questions that they asked are, quote, stupid and racist.
Turning to Trumps chummy relationship with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, Scott noted, Youve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. She then asked, So my question sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?
Trump refused to answer the very nasty and disgraceful question and instead attacked Scott for being employed by ABC ... a fake news network.
Turning to Republican attacks on the ethnic identity of Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Scott asked Trump if he rejected Republicans characterization of her as a D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) hire?
Trump, again, refused to answer the question. Scott pressed if he thought Harris is only on the ticket because she was a black woman?
Trump claimed he only knew her from her Indian heritage until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn black.
So I dont know, is she Indian or is she black? Trump asked, adding, I respect either one, obviously she doesnt.
Harriss father is a Jamaican immigrant and a professor at Stanford University, while her mother is an immigrant from India. Despite speaking in front of a room of African Americans, Trump is apparently incapable of understanding the concept of multiracial families.
While much of the mainstream press focused on Trumps attacks on Harriss identity, near the end of the truncated interview, in response to a question from Scott, Trump promised to pardon violent January 6 fascists if he was re-elected.
Oh, absolutely I would, Trump said. An incredulous Scott retorted, Theyve been convicted.
When the audience reacted positively to Scotts comment, Trump responded, Well, they were convicted by a very, very tough system. He then pivoted to attacking anti-police violence protesters, falsely claiming they suffered no consequences for exercising their right to protest unending police murder.
Scott emphasized the well-documented violent character of the January 6 coup, noting that there is video of Trump supporters beating and dragging Capitol Police officers. Trump responded by defending Ashli Babbitt, a former Air Force veteran and QAnon fascist who was shot and killed by police while attempting to breach the interior of the Capitol.
They shot a young lady in the face who was protesting, Trump said, then falsely claimed that you know, nobody died that day.
In between his racialist attacks on Harris and defense of January 6, Trump railed against immigrants. He repeated his well-worn fascist talking points about an invasion of migrants stealing black jobs. Asked to define what a black job was, Trump replied, Its anybody who has a job.
The convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, and represented Trumps first major appearance in the city in nearly five years. As part of his fascistic rhetoric, Trump regularly denigrates cities with large African American populations such as Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Atlanta as dens of crime and violence.
Outside the event, a few hundred people protested Trumps appearance in the city. Some chanted, Say it loud, say it clear! Racists are not welcome here! Others carried signs in support of immigrant rights and Palestine, a few in support of Kamala Harris.
Prior to the conference, Trump attacked Harris on his social media network for not appearing at the event. Trump wrote:
Crazy Kamala disrespectfully refused to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Conference, but I am on my way to meet with em now in Chicago. Because of which, shell probably end up doing, she has no choice, but rememberit is only for that reason!
President Joe Biden had been previously scheduled to appear at the event, until he dropped out of the presidential race. Campaign staff for Harris confirmed prior to the event that the presumptive Democratic nominee would also appear for questions in September, either in person or virtually.
The fact that NABJ hosted Trump by himself provoked a crisis within the organization. Prior to the event, several members of the group condemned organizers for hosting Trump due to his previous attacks on members of the press, including black journalists.
2017 NABJ Journalist of the Year recipient and MSNBC contributor April Ryan wrote on X/Twitter Tuesday:
The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then-president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact. To have a presumed orchestrated session with the former president is an affront to what this organization stands for and a slap in the face to the Black women journalists (NABJ journalists of the year) who had to protect themselves from the wrath of this Republican presidential nominee who is promoting an authoritarian agenda that plans to destroy this nation and her democracy with his Project 2025. I object to this NABJ session with Donald Trump in Chicago.
Washington Post columnist and NAJB co-chair Karen Attiah announced on Tuesday that she was stepping down from her position over Trumps invitation, noting that her decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format.
Responding to Trumps statements at a campaign event Wednesday, Kamala Harris offered the banalities that made her a non-entity until recently:
JAKARTA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Thursday strongly condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh that had happened in Tehran, Iran.
"Such acts of violence and murder are intolerable, and they occurred within the sovereign territory of Iran," Widodo said.
Vice President Ma'ruf Amin criticized the assassination during the Hamas leader's visit for the inauguration of the Iranian president as unethical.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the assassination was a provocation that could escalate conflicts in the region and derail ongoing negotiations.
A meeting in Tokyo on Monday of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a de facto military alliance of the US, Japan, India and Australia, threatened China and proclaimed Washingtons determination to maintain dominance in the Indo-Pacific, including through a further naval build-up in the region.
From left: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after the Quad meeting in Tokyo, July 29, 2024. [AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama]
The meeting was held at the foreign-minister level and included US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In his remarks, Blinken referenced the full gamut of US imperialist operations globally, including its push for a coup in Venezuela, its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the war in Gaza, i.e., the American-armed and -financed genocide of Palestinians.
However, Blinken and his counterparts in their separate remarks and joint statement emphasised the centrality of the Indo-Pacific to imperialist geopolitics. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated that the US allies were facing the most confronting circumstances in our region in decades.
The joint statement included generalities about peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, as such documents always do. But the central thrust was a clear and bellicose denunciation of China.
Very prominent was a declaration of the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the US has always refused to sign, but which it nevertheless uses as a battering ram against Beijing.
The Quad foreign ministers stated: We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion. That was a barely veiled reference to longstanding territorial disputes between China and countries in the region, particularly the Philippines, which the US has deliberately inflamed over the past 15 years.
The statement added: We also express our serious concern about the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, the increasing use of various kinds of dangerous maneuvers, and efforts to disrupt other countries offshore resource exploitation activities.
Over recent months, with aggressive US support, the Philippines has come to the brink of open conflict with China over the Second Thomas Shoal and other disputed features in the South China Sea.
The statement then outlined a series of measures that, taken together, represent a further naval build-up directed against China.
These included a geographic expansion of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness. It is essentially a US-led network for intensive surveillance of the seas and oceans of the Indo-Pacific. Blinken declared that the US was seeking to integrate into this network, involving signal location data and satellite technology, countries all across the region.
Among the first priorities is the opening of an Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region in Gujarat, India, which will pool surveillance from participating countries, with a particular focus on South Asia. The increasing integration of India and particularly its navy into the US-led war drive against China is one of the central purposes of the Quad.
The leaders declared that they would expand naval exercises throughout the region, under conditions where provocative US allied operations, including by Australia, have led to near-clashes with Chinese forces.
They pledged to develop a Quad maritime legal dialogue, which would focus our expertise on international law of the sea issues in support of our efforts to uphold the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. That would be an instrument for bolstering the territorial claims of Chinese adversaries such as the Philippines, and for seeking to criminalise Beijings naval operations.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded with a statement accusing the Quad meeting of artificially creating tension, inciting confrontation and containing the development of other countries, and of seeking to tar Chinas normal military development and national defence policy.
The response was undoubtedly motivated by the fact that the Quad meeting was part of a broader regional push by the US. Straight from Tokyo, Blinken together with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin flew to Manila, for the first two-plus-two leaders meeting in the history of American-Filipino relations.
Blinken and Austin declared that they would upgrade their alliance with the Philippines and announced half a billion dollars in military aid, which is part of a $2 billion fund approved by the US Congress for the region, explicitly aimed at confronting Chinese aggression.
The week prior to the Quad meeting, Australia was a particular focus of this offensive. On July 26, the Chiefs of Navy for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US held a joint meeting in Perth, Western Australia, where they pledged to deepen a military build-up under the AUKUS pact between the three nations.
The chiefs issued a Statement of Intent for Lethality, pledging to press ahead with plans to upgrade the naval capabilities of each of the countries. That includes plans for a vast acquisition of missile and strike weapons for Australias naval fleet, as well as its acquisition, under the AUKUS pact, of nuclear-powered attack submarines, to be purchased first from the US and then jointly developed with Britain.
Given the intense political instability in the US and Britain, the meeting had the character of an assertion by the military-intelligence establishment that nothing would be permitted to get in the way of the military expansion.
An article in the Australian Financial Review, for instance, noted the unprecedented character of the visit. The chiefs of the US and British navies have reassured Australia about their commitment to AUKUS, after the recent change of government in Britain and the rising prospect of Donald Trump coming back as American president, it declared.
The visit by the US and British military leaders toured the strategically located HMAS Stirling naval base in Perth, Western Australia, adjacent to the Indian Ocean.
The chiefs emphasised their determination to proceed with plans for the expanded basing of US and British naval assets, including nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable attack submarines. Visits by such craft have already begun to accelerate, and Stirling is set to become a de facto US and British naval base by 2027 at the latest.
The US and British naval chiefs were then the headline speakers at the annual Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference. The three-day event in Perth was titled Where AUKUS Meets the Quad, pointing to the central role of Australia and particularly the Stirling base, to US efforts to ring China militarily.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles hailed the gathering as the single biggest gathering of defence security ever in Perth. It underscored the geostrategic significance of Perth as the literal fulcrum between the Indo and the Pacific, he said, a city that would be home of the Submarine Rotational Force-West, which is one of the key early expressions of AUKUS.
The flurry of activity in the Indo-Pacific, clearly directed against China, again underscores the global character of the US-led war drive. Even as it is setting the Middle East ablaze in partnership with the fascistic Israeli regime, and actively engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Eastern Europe, American imperialism is recklessly confronting China which is viewed as the chief threat to US capitalist dominance.
ULAN BATOR, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- An imported case of measles has been confirmed in Mongolia, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Disease (NCCD) on Thursday.
"The patient is a 47-year-old Mongolian citizen who recently returned from abroad. Over 150 individuals who had close contact with the patient have been identified and vaccinated," Jantsansengee Baigalmaa, head of the NCCD, told a press conference.
She urged citizens to adhere to infection prevention measures, including wearing masks in public places, washing hands regularly, and getting vaccinated against measles at least 14 days before traveling to countries where the infection has been reported.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease transmitted by respiratory droplets and direct contact. The disease can be prevented by immunization. Common complications include fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat and inflamed eyes.
There is no specific treatment for measles, and most people recover within two to three weeks.
YANGON, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will investigate the impact of forest pests and diseases in the Mekong River Basin, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the natural resources ministry Daw Zin Mar Tun told Xinhua on Thursday.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation will implement the "Investigation of Forest Pests and Diseases in the Natural Forest of the Mekong River Basin of Myanmar" project with Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) special fund in the fiscal year 2024-25, the official said.
This project will be conducted in the natural forests of Kengtung and Tachileik townships of Shan State and will span two years, she said.
"Combating pests in the agriculture and forestry sectors is essential, but overuse of chemical insecticides can damage ecosystems and harm human health. To address this issue, we will first investigate how pests occupy forests and work on reducing pest-related diseases," she said.
"Preserving forests and keeping them free from pests directly benefits local people who rely on these forests. We will provide awareness training and support to the local communities. Additionally, for those interested in forest farming, we will offer awareness programs and technological support," she added.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the ministry implemented a project focused on the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, which is still ongoing.
Two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker shares a name with a 19th century alpinist, the first woman to summit the Matterhorn, in 1871, and the Eiger, in 1864 (feats she accomplished in a full-length dress traditional womens attire in the Victorian era).
In her new documentary, Walker tells the story of a present-day climber, Lhakpa Sherpa, a native of Nepal who has written her name into the mountaineering record books: Lhakpa has summited Mount Everest an astounding 10 times, more than any other woman.
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On the heels (or crampons) of a theatrical run that qualifies it for Oscar consideration, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa debuts on Netflix today.
Lhakpa Sherpa in Mountain Queen
Anyone who sees the movie can imagine how much I wanted to do justice to Lhakpas story and her whole family, Walker explained at a recent Q&A at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles. I felt like if ever someone deserved having the best documentary made about them, its Lhakpa.
Whats remarkable about Lhakpa is not only what she has accomplished as a climber, but the obstacles she overcame to fulfill her dream of ascending the worlds tallest mountain. In the patriarchal culture of Nepal, girls like her were denied an education; instead of getting her own chance to study, Lhakpa strapped her younger brother to her back and toted him off to class.
Two hours to school there and back every single day, Walker tells Deadline. She says that shes a very good yellow school bus, but she didnt get an education. To this day shes illiterate and its held her back so much.
Lhakpa Sherpa climbs Mount Everest.
Lhakpas grandmother attempted to discourage her ambition of climbing Everest by telling Lhakpa that Yetis lurked on the mountain, eager to snatch her if she stepped foot on the slopes. That did not deter Lhakpa, nor did her gender when boys in her village first got the opportunity to work as porters on mountain climbs. She demonstrated her might to prove she could handle the task.
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
She picked up a rock. She said, My cousin, this boy, cannot throw this rock. I can throw this rock, look! Walker says. So she cut her hair off and she got a job by pretending to be a boy, this incredibly physically demanding job as a porter carrying a hundred pounds up mountains for days on end. And then she got promoted to kitchen boy where you have to run extra fast you set up the kitchen tent and cook dinner by the time the Western tourists get up there, and she was being promoted up the ranks. But that was the beginning of her having to work so extra hard for what she wanted.
Through circumstances explained in the film, Lhakpa was able to convince the prime minister of Nepal to allow her to attempt a climb of Mt. Everest. On May 18, 2000, she became the first Nepali woman to reach the summit of Everest and return safely (in 1993, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa summited Everest but died during the descent). She may have grown up without wealth, education, or opportunity, but she has never lacked determination.
Im a wild girl, nature girl, she says in Mountain Queen. I want what my heart want.
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Lhakpa found love twice, but not the fairytale kind. She had a son by a Nepali man, but he cheated on her. Later, she met George Dijmarescu on Everest, a man of tremendous physical strength who had settled in the U.S. after escaping communist Romania. They made a life together in Connecticut, raising their two daughters Sunny and Shiny. Lhakpa worked cleaning houses, and during climbing season she and George would return to Everest to summit the mountain. George could climb it without supplemental oxygen, despite smoking and drinking during ascents.
But the relationship with Dijmarescu would almost cost Lhakpa her life. As seen in the film, drinking brings out a mean and violent streak in him and at one point he punches her, a moment recorded on video. [He] becomes very violent and even knocks her out, on camera, at basecamp, Walker recounts, and she has a near death experience.
She goes through this incredible suffering and yet she manages to keep climbing, Walker continues. She says, Everest fixes my soul. Everest is my doctor. Shes very much tuned into the natural world, and it very much is her church, and climbing is an expiation for her. Its how she sort of works with all the difficulties shes been through and transcends them.
L-R Shiny Dijmarescu, Lhakpa Sherpa, and Sunny Dijmarescu in Mountain Queen
Lhakpa would go on to raise Sunny and Shiny as a single mother. Grown into young women, Sunny and Shiny become an important part of Mountain Queen as their mother embarks on another attempted climb of Mount Everest in 2022. Shiny joins her mom for part of the ascent, ascending as far as basecamp.
It was scary at first, but I think being by my moms side and with my family around me gave me the confidence to keep going, Shiny said at the Academy screening Q&A. I was just really grateful to have experienced it.
Sunny stayed home in Connecticut during that climb, appearing to suffer from depression. It was Lhakpas goal for the Everest climb to bring mother and daughters closer together, and their joint appearance at several Q&As, including the Academys, indicates the degree of healing they have experienced.
Describing the impact of the documentary on her, Sunny said, Its made me more mature, and I understood my moms story, where shes coming from.
(L-R) Lhakpa Sherpa, Sunny Dijmarescu, Lucy Walker, and Shiny Dijmarescu attend the world premiere of Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
Walker has directed more than two dozen films, series, and shorts, including Blindsight, a 2006 documentary also shot on Mount Everest. She earned Academy Award nominations for her feature documentary Waste Land and the doc short The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa is expected to be another Oscar contender.
The movies uplifting. And despite some of the really heavy subject matter, its not at all, I dont think, depressing. On the contrary, I think it couldnt be more uplifting, Walker says, describing Lhakpa as hilarious and charming. And the world is going to see that July 31st 190 countries, including very strikingly, its going to be the first ever thing that Netflix has put Nepali subtitles on. And thats going to be really impactful. I think its going to really shift the culture in that region because it is a very patriarchal society, still, in which it is hard for people to believe what women and girls are capable of.
I think that her story being available, its going to be of tremendous importance in the world and Im really excited for that.
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Cuba Gooding Jr. is trying to restore his career after scandal. What he's saying about reclaiming his spot in Hollywood.
Cuba Gooding Jr.s new film, The Firing Squad, is about redemption and thats also the theme of his press tour.
In recent years, the actor best known for his Oscar-winning role in Jerry Maguire has faced multiple sexual assault allegations. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of forcible touching and is a co-defendant, alongside Sean Diddy Combs, in a sexual assault lawsuit. Now, as he promotes the Christian film, from Epoch Studios, hes addressing the allegations. Gooding said all the turmoil has made him only stronger and he feels confident hell be welcomed back into mainstream Hollywood again.
What is Gooding saying?
In a July 31 interview on News Nations Dan Abrams Live, the host asked Gooding if he expressed regret, sorrow, apologies for what happened and Gooding said its made him into a better person.
Everything that happens in my life is for a reason, Gooding replied. I believe that, and if I continue to walk on my path, whatever that is, I know that the end result [will] be to make me stronger, to be a better person, to be a better father and right now that's the moment I am in.
Gooding was confident hell be accepted back into the main fold of Hollywood and be hired by big film studios again in the future.
Oh, sure, he said. One hundred percent. You got to remember, we in Hollywood talk to each other. We see each other Im in the Hamptons now, referring to the playground for the rich and famous on Long Island, N.Y. You go to a restaurant and you walk in, when you have a bad headline, everyone goes, Hang in there. [People] come up to me on the street all the time and yell, 'Show me the money' and 'I see what you're going through.'
In an interview with Extra, he was asked about taking accountability and Gooding insisted he had.
Ive walked my journey and understood that there are things and theres people and reactions in society that are shifting, he said. Life is about adjusting. People feel that Im accessible to them, so I come in contact with all kinds of people, from people who adore you to people who are offended by you, people who feel you're aggressive. And you have to learn that as you walk on this path, you must stay neutral.
He continued, You have to make sure that you know your intention. You have to be accountable for your own actions, and I have been. People have spoken positive and negative, but I cant control that.
Gooding called the sexual assault lawsuit filed against him and Diddy by music producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones the most ridiculous thing ever, adding, Welcome to being a celebrity! Welcome to my world.
As for critics who think its convenient hes found faith amid the scandals, he told the outlet, Its that old saying: You cant please people every time. But people who want to celebrate artistry, thats my job and that's my only mission in life.
What has Gooding been accused of?
Gooding was arrested in 2019 after a woman claimed he groped her at a New York City nightclub. Two other women came forward in the criminal case with similar allegations. In 2022, Gooding pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching against one of the women, avoiding jail time. As part of the deal, he admitted to subjecting the other women to nonconsensual physical contact.
There have also been a number of civil lawsuits. In 2020, Gooding was sued by a Jane Doe who accused him of raping her twice in a New York City hotel room in 2013. Just as the case was to go to trial, in June 2023, Gooding reached a last-minute settlement with the accuser.
In November 2023, before the New York's Adult Survivors Act expired, Gooding was hit with two sexual assault civil lawsuits filed by two of the victims in his criminal case. Kelsey Harbert claimed Gooding grabbed her breast at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in 2018. The other plaintiff is Jasmine Abbay, a waitress at LAVO restaurant and nightclub, said Gooding forced his tongue into her mouth without her consent when she brought drinks to his table.
Cuba Gooding Jr. in New York Criminal Court in 2022 for his sentencing hearing after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of forcibly touching. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
In March 2024, Jones named Gooding as a defendant in a civil lawsuit, alleging that the actor sexually harassed and assaulted him while on Sean Diddy Combss yacht.
What is Goodings new film about?
Gooding plays a drug dealer-turned-Christian in The Firing Squad, which is based on a true story about three men facing execution and how their faith helped them on that journey.
I read [the script] and I wept and wept and wept at the end of it, Gooding said in an interview on Christian Broadcasting Networks The 700 Club. "It unlocked, again, a faith I have in God and the walk that I have with him.
Gooding talked about how the film co-starring Kevin Sorbo and James Barrington shows that God is with people in the worst of times, He is not going anywhere. Even in the darkest moment, even in the afterlife, He's there for you ... no matter what you're going through.
Timothy Chey, the writer and director of the film, out Aug. 2, said in the same interview that Gooding, whom he previously directed in the 2014 film Freedom, is a changed man in Christ. He and I prayed the other day, and I really felt the Holy Spirit in his fervent prayer.
The outlet reported that Goodings commitment to his faith was on display at the films premiere. He led an altar call, when worshipers come forward to express their commitment to their faith.
Since Goodings legal problems began to unfurl, hes appeared in the films Life in a Year (2020) and The Weapon (2023). The Firing Squad is one of three films he has out this year, previously including Skeletons in the Closet co-starring Terrence Howard and Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace with Denise Richards.
Kayla Kosmalski, 18, of Middletown, will compete for the Miss Teen USA crown in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Kayla Kosmalski, 18, of Middletown, will compete for the Miss Teen USA crown in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 1.
CORRECTION: Kayla Kosmalski will attend Wilmington University. An earlier version of this story named another college choice cited in one of Kosmalski's TikTok videos.
TikTok star Kayla Kosmalski has a knack for going viral, and it's bound to happen again if the Middletown resident gets crowned Miss Teen USA in Los Angeles this week.
The competition features 51 accomplished young women representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 1. The event will be broadcasted on The CW Network from 8-10 p.m. EST.
Kosmalski, 18, made history in April when she became the first contestant with Down syndrome ever to win the Miss Delaware Teen USA pageant, a victory that qualified her to compete for the national crown in LA this week.
She's been competing in pageants since she was a little girl.
Delaware teen Kayla Kosmalski has over 403,000 TikTok fans
In early spring, before she graduated from Middletown High, Kosmalski's TikTok account ballooned from 236,000 followers and now includes more than 403,000 fans. Her most popular video has 28.4 million views.
The influencer's TikTok page features lots of videos from her cheerleading days at Middletown High, along with clips of her competing on the swim team.
Kosmalski has charmed fans this year with various videos about the four-year colleges shes been accepted into, including the University of Delaware, Penn State and Loyola University. The TikTok star has settled on Wilmington University where she'll be on the cheer team, says her mom, Amy Kosmalksi.
Kayla Kosmalski lands movie role from TikTok fame
The teen makes a point to share TikToks of herself having fun and living life.
The purpose of her TikTok platform is to "promote acceptance and inclusion of Kayla and all of her friends like her," Kayla's mom recently told The News Journal/Delaware Online in a profile article about the TikTok influencer published March 20, the day before Kayla attended a red-carpet event in Oviedo, Florida, for her debut film role in the inspirational movie "I Win."
Kayla landed a role in "I Win" after director Robin Hoffman found her on TikTok, which led to an audition, she said. The film was shot last year in Orlando and Kayla spent four weeks on set, first arriving in June and then flying back out to film her fourth and final week in October.
"I Win" is an uplifting drama distributed through Hoffys Heart Productions and is a tale of bullying and friendship. It shines a light on others with Down syndrome like Kayla.
The movie includes cameos from Kaylas parents, grandma and younger siblings Logan and Brynnley.
Kayla's mom previously told The News Journal the goal is for the film to get picked up by a major streaming platform.
Cool Delaware events in August: Festivals & more that you shouldn't ignore
Kayla Kosmalski talks Down syndrome before Miss Teen USA
In Kayla's latest TikTok video, posted on July 21, she explained how she's been getting prepared for the Miss USA Teen pageant.
"The truth is I've been preparing my whole life. Countless hours of speech therapy. And physical therapy. Working hard to learn basic things that come natural to most. Like walking," Kayla said in the TikTok.
"I've worked hard to prove to myself and the world that people with Down syndrome belong on every stage and every space. We shouldn't have to prove our worth. But often times we do.
Better parks access: 'All-terrain' wheelchair available for use in Delaware state park. Other accessible parks
"As Miss Teen USA I will show the world that EVERYONE BELONGS. And that being kind is far greater than bullying. My message to the world is this ... the only disability in life is a bad attitude," she said.
"Whatever dream you have, you can achieve it. Dream big. Work hard. Anything is possible when you believe!"
How can I watch Miss Teen USA 2024?
The pageant will broadcast on The CW Network from 8-10 p.m. EST on Thursday, Aug. 1. For more info, visit themissusa.com.
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware TikTok teen competes for Miss Teen USA crown in Los Angeles
Elon Musk Mocked for Claiming Christianity Is Under Attack While Wearing Baphomet Armor With Upside Down Crosses in His Profile Pic
Last weekend, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to X-formerly-Twitter, an app that he also owns, to declare that "unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish."
The CEO provided no other context for the comment, which was posted on July 27. But the statement notably came shortly after the release of his recent interview with alt-right podcaster Jordan Peterson, in which the billionaire said that he is a "big believer in the principles of Christianity," as well as amid accusations that the Paris Olympics had aired an offensively "woke" interpretation of the Last Supper that featured a diverse cast of performers, including drag queens.
Musk weighed in on the controversy, writing in a June 26 X post published the evening before he declared that Christianity is at risk of perishing that the performance was "extremely disrespectful to Christians." He also responded with a 100 emoji to an outrage post declaring that if the Olympics had "dared to mock Muslims, Paris would be in flames right now." (All of these accusations were ultimately baseless, however, as the scene was in fact a recreation of the the feast of Dionysus, which celebrates the Greek God of wine and festivity.)
Needless to say, Musk has the freedoms of both speech and religion to say whatever he feels like saying about Christianity. But some users, particularly in light of Musk's outrage regarding the Definitely-Not-Last-Supper controversy, were quick to point out his hypocrisy: after all, in Musk's current X profile picture, he's literally wearing a suit of Satanic armor engraved with a goat-headed depiction of the pagan Baphomet idol and upside-down crosses.
"Elon's brave contribution towards the preservation of Christianity," Dilly Hussein, the deputy editor at the Islamic outlet 5Pillars, wrote in response to Musk's post, including an armored photo of Musk in which the upside-down cross on his back is clearly visible.
"This you?" added X power user Jules Suzdaltsev, also affixed with a photo of Musks's goat-headed armor.
https://twitter.com/DillyHussain88/status/1817482755548004607
Musk originally wore the suit to supermodel Heidi Klum's 2022 Halloween party, at which Klum herself famously dressed as a worm.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587317099843796992
At the time, Musk's costume drew ire from many Christians, who found the outfit disrespectful. The Gateway Pundit, a far-right digital publisher, even argued that it was "fair to question why the world's richest man" and "major US Defense contractor" is "wearing the Baphomet coupled with inverted crosses as if its a badge of honor." These are obviously some deeply conspiratorial claims, but the juxtaposition remains.
Again, at the end of the day, Musk can believe and say what he wants to about Christianity. But when the pot is mistakenly calling the kettle sacrilegious, it's hard to ignore the irony.
More on Elon Musk: Free Speech Absolutist Elon Musk Keeps Using X to Suppress Views He Doesn't Agree With
The Korean variety show Jinnys Kitchen season 2 is all set to air episode 6 this week. The show features popular actors and celebrities running a restaurant abroad and serving their customers authentic Korean cuisine. While the first season saw them serve popular Korean street food in a quaint Mexican town, season 2 landed them in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Episode 6 of Jinnys Kitchen season 2 will see the team handle another day of business, but this time more systematically. Cast members participating in Jinnys Ttukbaegi (Kitchen) include Lee Seo-Jin, Jung Yu-Mi, Park Seo-Joon, Choi Woo-Shik, and Go Min-Si. If the preview trailer is anything to go by, the members works seamlessly this time, even with the crowd rush.
Jinnys Kitchen season 2 episode 6: When is the release date?
Jinnys Kitchen season 2 episode 5 will be released on Friday, August 2, 2024. It will air on tvN at 8:40 p.m. KST, 5:10 p.m. IST, and 7:40 a.m. ET. Viewers who dont have access to the television network can watch the show later on Amazon Prime Video.
This weeks episode will see Park Seo-Joon take on the role of the head chef once more after last weeks success. Not only will he receive the well-deserved star badge from Lee Seo-Jin, but he will also aim to continue the success streak. To beat the cold in Iceland, the team will offer their customers a new dish: Sundubu-jjigae (Korean spicy soft tofu). According to the trailer, Park Seo-Joons predictions benefit the team as the dish sells well.
The upcoming episode will also see a long queue outside the restaurant. But this time, the team will develop a new strategy with the help of business major Lee Seo-Jin to run the kitchen with a system and form a peaceful management.
Where to watch the Korean variety show Jinnys Kitchen season 2 episode 6?
Viewers can tune in to Jinnys Kitchen season 2 episode 6 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Individuals who dont have a subscription can create an account on Amazon and subscribe to Prime Video at their convenience. Moreover, all the previous episodes are available to watch on the streaming service.
Dont forget to tune in to this weeks Jinnys Kitchen season 2 on Friday at 8:40 p.m. KST on tvN.
The post Jinnys Kitchen Season 2 Episode 6: Release Date & Where to Watch Online? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
From a young age, award-winning artist Tara Shakti knew she wanted to pursue a career creating paintings that empowered other women. What she didnt predict was that her work would one day be launched to the moon as a lasting memorial to human creativity.
Growing up in Madagascar, off the eastern coast of southern Africa, Shakti was raised by a family of artists and was encouraged by her older brother to begin painting with bold colors at just seven years of age. Inspired by the intricacies of Renaissance paintings, she went on to pursue her passion for painting Accademia dArte in Florence, eventually moving to Paris to study the art market at the Drouot Auction House.
Shaktis work sheds light on pressing issues such as human trafficking and systemic oppression. Growing up and seeing how women are mistreated, it filled my conscience, she told CNN. I want to use my art to highlight issues about women. I hope to raise voices to do something to help people.
Shakti is one of 35,000 contemporary artists, writers, poets, podcasters, sculptors, musicians and filmmakers from across the globe whose work is being sent up to the moon via the Lunar Codex project.
Tara Shakti will be the first Malagasy artist to have her work sent to the moon. She hopes to empower other women through her paintings. - Tara Shakti
The initiative will launch work from 247 countries, indigenous nations, and territories divided across six time capsules that will be sent to the moon over 18 months. The first successful launch was onboard the Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and landed in the lunar south pole last February. Another three were successfully launched earlier this year.
A ride share with NASA
Self-funding the Lunar Codex is Canadian physicist, artist and entrepreneur Dr. Samuel Peralta, who describes the project as a message-in-a-bottle archival medium to showcase the beauty of human creativity. Peralta, who is also chairman of Toronto-based media and technology company Incandence, hopes the project will become a global endeavor to champion underrepresented perspectives. The main criterion for nomination is that artists work should have been included in a curated exhibit, collection, anthology or similar.
The cultural artifacts are copied onto digital memory cards or inscribed into dime-sized nickel-based Nanofiche, an analogue format that can be read with a microscope and store up to 150,000 pages of text or photos on a single 8.5 by 11-inch sheet. This high-density storage medium is designed to last for billions of years on the moon. The Nanofiche is then sealed and bolted onto the lunar lander before its launch.
You could think of us as a ride share with NASA, said Peralta, explaining the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander launching Shaktis art will carry NASAs VIPER rover as its main payload, with the Lunar Codex one of several secondary payloads onboard.
Five of Shaktis paintings will be included in the Codex Polaris time capsule, which will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket onboard the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander in February 2025.
An honor of immeasurable magnitude
Shaktis work has already received international recognition. She was honored with the Mosaic 2019 Expose Award in New York for her series Archives, received the Leonardo da Vinci Award in Florence, in February 2022, and was awarded the Medal of Recognition from the Embassy of Madagascar later that year.
Shakti's Archive III will be part of the moon collection. She says the painting acknowledges womens history of oppression, which still exists today. Shakti adds that the woman pictured, firmly seated yet imbued with an aura of defiance, represents a commitment to ensuring that future generations do not have to endure the same fate. - Tara Shakti
The artist was invited by Peralta to submit her work for the project after he discovered her paintings through social media earlier this year.
To have my work launched to the moon is an honor of immeasurable magnitude, Shakti told CNN in an email. It is a landmark achievement not only for myself but for the broader Malagasy (Madagascan) art community and reaffirms the significance of my heritage and the stories I strive to share through my art.
I want to introduce people to Madagascar, my homeland. How we are, how we behave, our traditions and our clothing. The country is twice the size of France, for example so there is lots of culture, she said.
Among Shaktis selected paintings is a large-format work titled The Keepers of the Lost Wisdom, which depicts the knowledge and strength passed down through generations of Malagasy women. Also going to the moon will be her painting titled La Reine, (The Queen, in English) which she says emphasizes the complexities and beauty of the feminine experience. Another piece, Astrochelys Radiata, highlights Madagascars unique biodiversity.
Shaktis painting Astrochelys Radiata will also be onboard NASAs Griffin lunar lander. She says the painting offers an "emotional consideration "of Madagascars endangered turtles and the need to protect the islands wildlife. - Tara Shakti
While living and working in Paris, Tara Shaktis incorporation of traditional Malagasy themes in modernist compositions establish a unique voice in contemporary art archived in the Lunar Codex collection, said Peralta.
Although Shakti is currently the only confirmed Malagasy artist whose work will be featured, Peralta encourages artists from Madagascar and elsewhere to submit their portfolio for review and possible inclusion, which is free of charge.
Other artists whose work has already been launched as part of the Lunar Codex project include Ada Limon, the current U.S. poet laureate, who wrote a poem for NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft bound for Jupiter in October, and Didi Mendez, a Cuban American artist and curator whose work was included in the successful February launch.
The real power of the Lunar project is to inspire artists of today. If theyre toiling in obscurity and wondering whether their work will amount to anything, now they can be sure of their works immortality, Peralta said. After all, why are we making art if not to leave it for the future, to have a part of ourselves that will last even after were done?
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have announced details of an unofficial royal tour to Colombia.
Francia Marquez, the Vice President of Colombia, said in a statement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had accepted her invitation to visit the South American country.
She said the Sussexes will visit the capital, Bogota, as well as Cartagena and Cali for meaningful interactions with leaders, youth, and women who embody the aspirations and voices of Colombians committed to progress.
The visit comes several months before the first Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, to be held in Colombia this November, she said.
Harry and Meghan Playing Rival Royals Is Palace Nightmare: Source
The Archewell Foundation, founded by The Duke and Duchess, is renowned for its global leadership in fostering a safer online environment, said the vice president. The forthcoming conference will unveil a comprehensive framework for creating safer physical and digital spaces, tackling issues such as cyberbullying, online exploitation, and the mental health impacts of these threats.
It will offer actionable solutions and commitments for countries around the world. During their visit, The Duke and Duchess, as well as The Archewell Foundation, will engage in several activities related to this important topic.
We are confident that their visit will further illuminate Colombias role as a beacon of culture and innovation.
They are no longer representing the British royal family, but this will be the second foreign trip for the couple this year. They visited Nigeria for three days in May.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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JERUSALEM, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. carriers United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, along with British Airways, have temporarily suspended their flights to Israel amid growing tensions in the region, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported on Thursday.
Delta said that its flights are suspended through Friday, "due to ongoing conflict in the region," while United did not specify dates.
Both airlines, operating flight routes between New York and Tel Aviv, said they are closely monitoring the security situation to determine their next steps.
Kan also reported that Thursday's early morning flights from Munich to Tel Aviv by German carrier Lufthansa, along with Austrian Airlines' Vienna-Tel Aviv flights, were diverted to Cyprus and Bulgaria.
Lufthansa explained in a statement that the diversion was a precautionary measure due to security activity and emphasized that the safety of passengers and crew remains the airline's top priority.
Milo J - Credit: Florencia Dozzo*
The first and last thing you hear on Milo Js new album 166 is Argentine musical icon Charly Garcia.
The album opens with the father of Argentinian rock declaring, We need to prohibit autotune. Thank you very much, sampled from comments he made at the 2018 Gardel Awards. The cameo comes just after the track Rock Star, an autotune-filled cut that features Milos fellow rapper Duki. Garcias words playfully contrast the sound of the LP, which uses autotune as an instrument throughout.
More from Rolling Stone
Its like See where autotune brought us and where its going, explains Milo over Zoom from Argentina. Its doing so with a lot of respect for Charly, which is also why we sample him at the end. After 12 tracks, the LP ends with a sample of Garcias iconic 1983 song, Los Dinosaurios, written about authoritarian rule over Argentina at the time. Milo got permission to use the clip. We didnt want this to be a mocking of his legacy. We wanted to show where autotune has brought us, Milo explains.
At just 17, Milo J has become one of the most promising rappers out of South America, thanks to his impressive lyricism and slick flow. Before dropping his debut album, he had already launched a collaborative EP with Argentine producer Bizarrap, who introduced the star to a wider audience. He rarely does interviews, instead opting to spend time in his home studio, where he wrote 166, his ode to Argentina and its changing music scene.
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This is a very Argentine album, but its not a cliche one, he says. Its about taking that Argentinidad to more places. Its an album for everyone, and we made it with that in mind.
The album is named after the bus Milo would take as a 14-year-old kid from his native Moron into Buenos Aires, the epicenter of Argentinas music scene, to get time in the studio. To go to any of the studios, you had to take that bus. It wasnt the fastest, but it was the cheapest way to get there. The message of the album is how we took 166 to make our dreams come true, Milo explains. The album reimagines taking the same bus and getting his art to new places. Its also about reliving what this all cost me to get here, he adds.
Dressed in a jersey of the Argentinian national team just days after Argentina won the Copa America, Milo J sat down with Rolling Stone and broke down the songs on his album 166.
3 Pecados Despues
We made 3 Pecados Despues at a song camp. I went with [producer] Lisan. We had spent the day making songs, and he was already ready to go to bed. I sent him some mate and was like, We need to make a beat. I got some lyrics and I woke him up. I think the lyrics are the thesis of the album. Thats why we wanted it to be the opening track on the album.
Hippie
This song started as a happy trap song, but I was in touch with Zecca and he asked, Can I change the chords? He completely changed it to minor notes and it became a completely different message. I had to change some of the bars. At a second camp with Zecca, we decided to sample Los Dinosaurios by Charly Garcia. There was a dictatorship here in Argentina and he dropped this song as a protest. We wanted to sample the song at the end, knowing its a full circle because the album starts with Charly saying, Hay que prohibir el autotune. Muchas gracias. It opens and closes with Charly, who is very significant to the music scene in Argentina. Hes a one-of-a-kind artist. Its a sort of homage. We spoke to his wife, and we showed them the song, and he accepted. I dont know if he liked it, but he accepted!
La Tola y El Velero feat. Morad
This was the first song we made for the album. I made it while on tour in Spain when I met Morad. It was all very organic. We connected via Instagram, and I was a fan of his. We got together, I took a train from Barcelona and we met in the studio. The song was done in 5 minutes, because he wrote straight 2 minutes of bars in 20 minutes. I was mind-blown. Hes literally a machine. I used to struggle with writing in the studio. Most of my songs are written at home, but I started writing in the studio with this album. When I met Morad, I was in that transitionary period.
Paraiso (Dana)
I needed a song on here that talked about the impact of narcotics on the body. It was a song that we didnt think people would want to listen to. In the middle of the song is Dana, which complements the story of Paraiso. Paraiso is like if you had a night, and Dana is like having an epiphany after that crazy night. We made the second part 15 days before the album dropped. We had the team with stress attacks! We were wondering if we should separate the songs. I always thought we should put them together because it was very new and it fit so well on the album. Its the weirdest song on the album. Theres also about it feeling computerized and trappy. At the end of the song, were singing a classic Argentine trap called De La Risa by Malandro, so we wanted to pay tribute to it. And what better place than to put it than on the trappiest song?
Alioli
This is an ironic take on the effects of immediate fame. I dont want to say I went through that so much, but it was a lot to become known overnight. It ended up affecting me a bit. It starts with a lower-sounding intro, but then later it becomes a much happier song. Its about hiding the effects of fame at the beginning. The last line on the track is from a song I wrote when I was 13. Theres a video online somewhere of me singing that song in a McDonalds. The same lyrics represent me today: Right now, no hay plan. Secuencias fea de la vida me dejaron mal. (Right now, there is no plan. An ugly sequences of life left me feeling bad.) I wrote it when I was 13, but it keeps representing me today. Not everyone will get it, but it makes sense to me.
Best of Rolling Stone
Though depression lurks around the edges of The Instigators, Doug Limans heist movie is a loosely amiable return to South Boston for Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who also co-wrote the film.
In the films opening moments, Rory (Damon), a former Marine, tells his therapist, Dr. Rivera (Hong Chau), that after a lifetime of screw ups and disappointments, hes not so much forlorn as simply ready to cash in his ticket. His phrase is a telling one for a film where midlife disappointments and a ramshackle heist-gone-wrong plot collide in farcical ways. As a last-ditch effort and to raise $32,480 for his child support payments, Rory signs up with a criminal band of misfits to steal election-night payouts to a corrupt Boston mayor (Ron Perlman) running for reelection.
Therapists have made their ways into crime dramas like The Sopranos, but The Instigators (in theaters Thursday, on Apple TV+ Aug. 9) adds a novel wrinkle by bringing Dr. Rivera along for the ride. When Rory and Cobby (Affleck) go on the run, she tags along as a hostage by choice.
But it takes a little time for the buddy comedy to develop. First, The Instigators works in a large percentage of todays top character actors among them Michael Stuhlbarg, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, Toby Jones and Paul Walter Hauser all of whom raise the bar in this rudderless but winningly shaggy action comedy.
Liman, the director of Go, The Bourne Identity and the recent Road House, has always had a knack for freewheeling ensembles and for getting the most out of his stars charisma. The Instigators may be a modern streaming movie but its a decidedly old-school kind of caper, stock full of local color and peopled with faces youre happy to see. Its a product of Damon and Ben Afflecks Artists Equity, which produced the film from the script by Casey Affleck and City on the Hill creator Chuck MacLean.
For them, the blue-collar Boston terrain of The Instigators is about as a cozy as bleacher seat in Fenway Park. The Instigators doesnt live up to other Damon-Afflecks Beantown-set movies (Good Will Hunting, Gone Baby Gone, The Town), and some of their Dunkin Donuts-adjacent schtick is at least approaching stale. You could call it a homecoming but its more like they never left.
So, yes, this is them very much in their element, but that goes especially true for Affleck, the main reason to see The Instigators. His Cobby is a drunk and convict who enlists in the heist out of a lack of other options. Its an ill-considered scheme by a pair of small-time gangsters (Stuhlbarg, Molina), one of whom runs a bakery as a front. They dispatch a trigger-happy small-time crook (Jack Harlow) to lead the mission, a debacle from the get go. Nothing goes right, not even the expected election result, and out of the melee clatter Cobby and Rory, with a special police investigator (Rhames) in steadfast pursuit.
On the run, their double act Damons earnest deadpan, Afflecks smart-aleck flippancy works as well as it ever has, even if the script could use a touch more wit. Affleck makes up for it with his melancholic motormouth routine, one that gets an even better foil once Chau, the talented co-star of The Whale and Showing Up, is roped into their escape. Though Liman knows how to mix action and comedy as well as anyone, The Instigators is better whenever there's less going on.
The Instigators, an Apple release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for pervasive language and some violence. Running time: 101 minutes. In Finnish with English subtitles. Three stars out of four.
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Considering the switch to a natural deodorant? Theres good reasonand not because the synthetic options are subpar. (We love those ones, too.) But because there are so many natural moisture-absorbing and odor-fighting ingredients to be mined, that the best natural deodorant options offer something for everyone, even those of us who are dependent on aluminum-packed antiperspirant deodorants to counter sweat and stink.
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But dont just grab the first thing that promises to be natural: As you probably know, this term has become buzzier and buzzier over the years, and many brands are touting naturally sourced ingredients as opposed to naturals-only recipes. Again, its not that the non-naturals are bad, but it boils down to the consumer receiving something that he or she is promised, as opposed to being misled into believing. (After all, think of all the non-natural products out there, from face creams to medicines to sunscreens; theres no need to point the finger at non-natural deodorants as a bad thing.)
Still, you should know what youre buying: When selecting a natural deodorant, I recommend reading the inactive ingredient list on the back, advises board-certified dermatologist Milton Moore, co-founder of LIV Dermatology & Aesthetics in San Antonio, T.X., as well as Holly Hall Supply Co. skincare. There are several compounds to stay away from if you want a natural-only formula, he adds: The primary things to skip are aluminum, propylene glycol, phthalates, parabens, talc, and triclosan. Always be aware of greenwashing, a type of false advertising and marketing used to mislead consumers into believing products are all natural with words like natural scent and aluminum-free, he says, echoing our skeptical sentiments.
Read on for our pick for the best natural deodorants, along with insights into the best natural ingredients, from Moore and his LIV Dermatology co-founder, and board-certified dermatologist Tessa Cervantes. And remember, if youre switching from synthetic to natural, there is a period where the skin needs to adjust to the new product, meaning you might feel like its not working at firstespecially if switching from an antiperspirant. The halting of aluminum-containing deodorants could cause an increase in sweat production as well as the release of an unfamiliar body odor, says Moore. As each persons biology is different, the interim phase can last from a few days to three to four weeks [before the natural deodorant really feels effective]. So, stay patient.
The Best Ingredients to Look For in Natural Deodorants
There are two categories of active ingredients in natural deodorants: those that control stink (by fighting off odorous bacteria), and those that prevent moisture accumulation (not just for comforts sake, but because moisture also attracts the bacteria).
For controlling moisture: Its important to understand that natural deodorants wick excess moisture rather than decrease sweat and moisture altogetherideally leaving the underarms dry, says Moore. Starches such as arrowroot powder, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and kaolin clay are great options that brands use to wick excess moisture. Charcoal is also a great option for absorbing moisture and detoxifying the skin.
For odor control: Moore stresses the importance of understanding why our bodies produce a natural odor in the first place (and its more than just bacterial proliferation).
There are two types of sweat glands, eccrine and apocrine, he says. Eccrine sweat glands occur over most of the body and open directly onto the skins surface while apocrine glands open into the hair follicles, leading to the surface of the skin. The latter, apocrine, becomes active during puberty and is associated with the underarm and groin areas of the body. These produce an odorless protein-rich sweat that gets broken down by bacteria which then causes an odor. To mitigate the odor, brands mask it with natural fragrances like an essential oil such as lavender, grapefruit, and tea tree. Another common inclusion is pre- and probiotic ingredients, which will feed the good bacteria in the skin, and balance the microbiome in their favor while they squash the odorous bacteria.
Theres one controversial ingredient that makes skin inhospitable for the bacteria, too: Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. Its highly alkaline pH level can lead to irritation. So, while it is technically natural, Moore notes that its difficult to find an ingredient that works quite as effectively. So, it might be worth testing out a deodorant with baking soda, just to see if your skin will tolerate it. (Truth be told, most people will be fine, or else these wouldnt be on the market.) As for alternates to baking soda: We have found that lauric acid content in unrefined coconut oil can reduce odor-causing bacteria in moist areas such as under the arm, and provides hydration and barrier protection for the skin, Moore says.
Other Ways to Reduce Sweating
If youre looking for a more permanent solution to sweat and odor, then Cervantes recommends pairing adjunctive therapy with a natural deodorant. To decrease the bacteria in the underarm, use a gentle wash that contains hypochlorous acid, which is created by white blood cells that naturally exist in the body, she says. Hypochlorous acid is safe and more effective as a disinfectant, often used to treat open wounds around the eyes and mouth. One brand of body wash that accomplishes this is CLn.
And in severe cases, candidates can even consider destroying sweat glands in targeted areas altogether. This can be done with Morpheus8 [radiofrequency/microneedling] or Miradry [thermal energy], both of which have a 90 to 92 percent reduction in the glands via delivery of heat to the area, Cervantes explains. Ask your board-certified dermatologist about these procedures, and which might be right for you.
Not ready to haul out those big guns? Read on for the best natural deodorants weve tested and recommend.
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Aesop Deodorant Roll On
Aesop Deodorant Roll On
This Aesop formulas milky texture dries down to prevent both moisture and odor, thanks to the vetiver root powder and wasabi it contains.
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Price: $35
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Baxter of California Cedarwood and Oakmass Deodorant
Baxter of California Cedarwood and Oakmass Deodorant
Did you think they just made shaving gear? Baxters delightful clear deodorant stick is one of our go-tos, and the brand recently released it in a calming, woody scent of cedar and oakmoss.
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Price: $22
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Weleda Sage Deodorant Spray
Weleda Sage Deodorant Spray
Weledas deodorant spray has a loyal and devoted fanbase, thanks to its effective non-aerosol formula and its potent doses of botanicals. In this case, thats sage, but the Swiss brand also makes versions scented with citrus and wild rose.
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Price: $14.49
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Corpus No. Green Deodorant Stick
Corpus No. Green Deodorant Stick
Corpuss clean formulas are so delightfully scented, you almost wish they released them as colognes. Until that happens, No. Green (bergamot, cardamom, orange blossom) will have to do as a stick.
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Price: $26
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Malin + Goetz Eucalyptus Deodorant
Malin + Goetz Eucalyptus Deodorant
The bracing scent of eucalyptus (to say nothing of its anti-odor benefits) takes center stage in this best-selling stick. Its vegan formula goes on clear, so you wont have to worry about wearing it with your favorite black knit polo.
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Price: $24
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Patricks ND1
Patricks ND1
Patricks squeezed a ton of good stuff into its natural deodorant, including Niodor. This vegan ingredient is derived from plant sources and works as effectively as sticks with aluminum salts. Plus, it smells like a long-lost Serge Lutens draft you wish you could spray on your puls points.
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Price: $60
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Best Overall: Native Deodorant
Best Overall: Native Deodorant
We share this top pick along with Dr. Cervantes, who recommend Native to her patients that have any sensitivity issues with aluminum. Or they simply want to use a deodorant thats natural and free of chemicals, she says. And consider all of the deodorizing ingredients in play with this recipe: Baking soda, shea butter, and coconut oil bounce bad bacteria, while a probiotic blend fuels the good bacteria as an added defense in the effort. You can choose froma bunch of scents (or none at all), but this eucalyptus-mint is a tingly, refreshing candidate.
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Price: $12.97
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Best Spray: Ursa Major Sublime Sage Spray Deodorant
Best Spray: Ursa Major Sublime Sage Spray Deodorant
A spritz of Ursa Majors soothing sage spray is your dream come true and bacterias worst nightmare: It neutralizes bacteria with lemon myrtle, blankets odor with a yeast ferment, and even smells like freshly picked herbs. All together, there are 23 natural ingredients comprising this surprisingly effective spritz. Dont be fooled by the small vessel either, as it should last you a third of the year.
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Price: $18
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Best Balm: AKT Deodorant Balm
Best Balm: AKT Deodorant Balm
We previously sang our praises about AKT, the UK-native deodorant balm that is suitable for the entire body. It combines baking soda with zinc oxide and shea butter to reduce bacteria, along with Vitamin E and calendula to soothe and nourish skin. A pea-sized amount will satisfy each pit, and youll quickly adjust to the process of massaging deodorant into your underarm (ticklish or not). Choose their Onsen scent in the deep blue vesselits like a dip in a Japanese onsen at Lake Kawaguchiko; lavender, yuzu, and vetiver tether together for a soothing, refreshing zeal.
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Price: $29
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Best Prebiotic: Caudalie Vinofresh Natural Stick Deodorant
Best Prebiotic: Caudalie Vinofresh Natural Stick Deodorant
Well call this one natural-ish, for its use of naturally prebiotic grape water which will help reduce odorous bacteria and balance the pits microbiome, while simultaneously hydrating the skin. Theres a lot of good to be sourced from those French vineyards (not just the wine, that is), all the way down to the eucalyptus-raisin scent that this refreshing roll-on casts.
Buy Now on Nordstrom:
Price: $16
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Best Baking-Soda Free: Salt & Stone Natural Deodorant Gel
Best Baking-Soda Free: Salt & Stone Natural Deodorant Gel
If youve got super sensitive skin, then its best to avoid baking soda from the jump. Worry not, because there are plenty of BS-less picks out there, including this exceptional gel deodorant from Salt & Stone. Its powered by probiotics to help fuel the good bacteria (in the war against bad bacteria), and contains a blend of hyaluronic acid, spirulina, and nourishing oils to keep the skin calm, hydrated, and nourished.
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Price: $20
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Best for Fastest Results: Schmidts Charcoal & Magnesium Natural Deodorant
Best for Fastest Results: Schmidts Charcoal & Magnesium Natural Deodorant
Just like charcoal is a terrific purifier in face masks, scalp masks, and even toothpastes, its equally effective at purifying the pits. It absorbs moisture to keep skin dry, while magnesium neutralizes any odors that might make it past that initial moisture shield. This remains one of Amazons top-rated natural deodorants, too, with an impressive 4.5usually, in the natural deodorant department, there are an overwhelming number of naive negative reviews from people who werent patient enough to yield results. So a 4.5, well, thats about as stellar as it gets, and is evidence of the shortened window that Schmidts needs to detox your skin from the synthetic picks.
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Price: $19.93 (2-pack)
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Argon the German shepherd is recovering from neglect at the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County and will begin chemotherapy soon
Courtesy of German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County Argon the German shepherd with Maria Dales
On July 3, hikers found Argon the German shepherd abandoned at Malibu Creek Canyon in California with zip ties around his mouth and neck
After his rescue, Argon was brought to the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County (GSROC) for treatment and care
GSROC discovered the dog had lymphoma a week after Argon arrived and is planning to start the canine on chemotherapy
Argon the German shepherd is adjusting to a new life and surprising diagnosis after his July rescue from Malibu Creek Canyon in California.
On July 3, hikers spotted Argon wandering around the rugged environment with his mouth zip-tied shut and another zip tie around his neck. The Good Samaritans removed the restraints around the abandoned dog's mouth and called 911 for help.
With assistance from rescuers, Argon made his way to the Palmdale Animal Care Center for medical attention. Shortly after this rescue, Maria Dales, the founder and executive director of German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County (GSROC), started receiving calls about the canine.
"When the story about Argon broke on local news, our phones and emails went crazy. Hundreds of animal lovers were reaching out to ask us to please get involved," Dales tells PEOPLE.
Moved by the abuse Argon had overcome to get to the Palmdale Animal Care Center, Dales reached out to the facility to see if GSROC could take over the German shepherd's care.
"Our rescue has previously assisted abused and neglected dogs, so we were poised and eager to help," she adds.
Palmdale Animal Care Center agreed and approved GSROC to pick up Argon. After a four-hour round trip through difficult California traffic, Argon was at GSROC and in front of Dales.
Maria Dales Argon the German shepherd dog
"I can usually hold it together when I see the sad cases, but to see this shell of a majestic creature made me cry. It's unthinkable that someone deliberately did such a heinous thing to such a gentle animal," Dales says of her first in-person meeting with Argon.
The founder shares that, upon arrival, Argon was scared and emotionally checked out from the cruelty he endured.
"He didn't want to be touched. He cringed when I touched his head gently. He never tried to snap or snarl. He had clearly given up and was just existing, not living. His eyes were vacant, with no light in them at all. He wouldn't meet anyone's gaze," Dales remembers.
Related: Yacht Rescues Stranded Dog Found Paddling in Florida Bay Over a Mile from Shore
Physically, the dog was underweight and had swollen legs, lumps under his neck, and ear infections. The swelling and lumps especially concerned GSROC, who feared the issue might be symptoms of cancer. So, the rescue started Argon's medical treatment, and a few medical tests were performed on the dog.
"He required fluids, antibiotics for ear infections, x-rays, blood work, and multiple meals of soft food every day," Dales says of how GSROC initially addressed Argon's health needs.
Test results came back a week later and unfortunately confirmed GSROC's fears: Argon had multicentric B cell lymphoma, the most common variety of lymphoma in dogs, according to Dales.
Courtesy of German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County Maria Dales and Argon the dog
"It felt like yet another cruel blow dealt to an incredible dog that had already been through so much," she says.
GSROC didn't stay despondent for long. After learning Argon's diagnosis, the rescue determined the best path forward. For the moment, GSROC plans to start Argon on chemotherapy and see how he responds.
"As long as his body can support the treatment, he will undergo 15 weeks of chemotherapy that includes oral and injected medication. This is uncharted territory for our rescue--we have never had a dog that required this aggressive treatment, so we will be carefully monitoring how well he feels during the treatment," Dales says of what comes next, emphasizing that Argon's overall comfort and happiness are the top priority.
Related: 'Shy' Dog Finds a Forever Home After 2 Years in Florida Shelter: 'Finally at Peace'
"If at any point we believe that it is causing him physical distress, we will discontinue right away. We don't believe in making him feel sicker to make him feel better. That seems like a different type of cruelty for a dog that has just learned to trust again," she adds.
If Argon does respond well to treatment, he is expected to live comfortably for another 11 to 24 months, plenty of time for him to enjoy the love of a caring home.
GSROC has received an "outpouring of applications" from animal lovers looking to adopt Argon. The rescue is carefully reviewing each one to determine which setting is best for Argon.
"It's a huge responsibility because we want him to feel happy as well as safe," Dales says about the choice; she also notes that GSROC has 80 other "beautiful" dogs looking for homes.
Maria Dales Argon at the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County
Argon is starting to open up after more than three weeks at GSROC but remains guarded.
"For the first time, he extended a paw to ask for another treat, so we were all overjoyed. It felt like he was starting to relax," Dales shares, adding that the German shepherd "is still wary of new people touching him. He never ever snaps, but he doesn't welcome pets either."
The rescue director hopes that learning more about neglect's effects on innocent animals inspires others to make more compassionate decisions when caring for pets.
"There is no place for animal cruelty in a civilized world. Argon was helpless, and someone evil preyed upon his helplessness. What this poor dog endured is unthinkable. The antidote for cruelty is compassion," she says.
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Animal lovers looking to help Argon through this challenging time are encouraged to donate to his medical expenses, which are "costly and ongoing." GSROC is also working to raise funds to turn a portion of their kennel into a dog park so their "resident orphans can stroll and relax."
"It's so gratifying to see what a determined group of like-minded animal lovers can accomplish when they know that lives are depending on them. I would urge everyone who loves animals to get engaged to help end the senseless suffering of animals of all species," Dales says.
According to the GSROC founder, the rescue and others are still searching for the individual responsible for dumping a zip-tied Argon in the canyon.
"We believe that someone, somewhere, knows something. A seven-year-old dog didn't magically appear out of thin air someone must have seen him declining. So far, there haven't been any viable tips, but with a $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of his abuser, we are optimistic that Argon will have justice," she says.
To learn more about GSROC and support the nonprofit's efforts, visit the rescue's website and social media accounts.
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We asked Mark Cuban how he's going to disrupt Big Pharma. He said it's pretty straightforward, actually.
We asked Mark Cuban how he's going to disrupt Big Pharma. He said it's pretty straightforward, actually.
In 2022, the "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban set up a no-frills, low-cost online pharmacy.
Since then, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. has amassed more than 2,000 offerings, mostly generics.
Recently, the billionaire has expanded into imports, competing directly with Big Pharma.
Mark Cuban is on a mission to upend Big Pharma.
In early 2022, Cuban founded Cost Plus Drugs, a discount pill-mailing service that promised to take some of the bloat out of America's pharmaceutical system by delivering drugs to consumers at lower, more-transparent price points.
Here's how it works: Cost Plus Drugs, as the name implies, gets drugs directly from manufacturers, cutting out the pharmaceutical middlemen and their extra costs. You pay a 15% markup to Cost Plus Drugs, plus a fixed $5 for labor on each medication and $5 for shipping.
Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Getty Images
Typically, drug pricing is clear as mud
Take Viagra, for example. How much will a name-brand 30-day supply of the biggest dose of the "little blue pill" (100 mg) cost you? Great question. Without insurance, it could be anywhere from about $2,000 to upward of $3,000. A generic form of the same 30-day supply might start at about $250 but can exceed $1,000.
Cost Plus tells consumers that it pays the manufacturer $3 for that same 30-day supply of 100 mg generic Viagra tablets. It slaps on a 15% ($0.60) markup, plus $5 for "pharmacy labor" and voila: a 30-day supply of sildenafil citrate for $8.60 (plus shipping and taxes).
The company has over 2,000 drugs on offer this way, mainly generics. It's everything from unbranded Crestor (about $6 to $7 a month, plus shipping) to generic Silvadene for wounds (about $10 to $11 a tube). You can replace a trip to the pharmacy with a few minutes of computer time: Create an online account, then connect with your doctor, who'll place your prescription order electronically.
Cuban, the veteran "Shark Tank" investor and billionaire part owner of the Dallas Mavericks, isn't necessarily expecting his mail-order pharmacy to make him millions of dollars richer. Rather, his goal with Cost Plus, he says, is to change the "game" of drug pricing.
"We are completely transparent, with the same price for anyone and everyone," Cuban told Business Insider via email. "We believe that when all data is transparent, then the market becomes efficient. At that point, prices will drop significantly."
Importing $15 penicillin to compete with $500 shots from Pfizer is just the beginning
alfexe/Getty Images
Cost Plus has been bullish about its ultimate ambitions to end the secretive, uneven world of US drug pricing. And it's increasingly stepping out of the generic world and going after big, brand-name drugmakers such as Pfizer and Novo Nordisk.
Earlier this year, the company started up a manufacturing plant in Texas aimed at alleviating drug shortages. And this summer, it signed an import deal with a Portuguese pharmaceutical brand to bring cheaper penicillin shots to clinicians in the US, who've been dealing with a surging nationwide syphilis outbreak that has cleaned out the US supply.
Normally, Pfizer is the only American manufacturer of this specific shot, called Bicillin L-A, but it has been in short supply of that medication for over a year. For now, the US Food and Drug Administration is allowing Cost Plus to import Portuguese penicillin to the US ($15) but only until Pfizer's (about $500 or over) supply comes back out of shortage, likely in early 2025.
"We are going to try to do the same thing for any med that is in shortage where we feel we can save patients a material amount of money," Cuban said. And he didn't outright dismiss my idea that the same could be done in the future for chemotherapy medications or GLP-1 weight-loss shots like Wegovy, which have both been in severe shortages for many months.
"Where we can find a high-quality source that meets all regulatory requirements, we will do our best to import them," he said.
One regulatory change that would bring down healthcare costs across the board
Over the next decade, he said he expected Cost Plus to add more branded medications and move into "high-end specialty therapeutics."
But he acknowledged his strategy could only go so far without firmer regulations aimed at showing consumers what drugs actually cost to produce. If he had his way, Cuban said that every healthcare provider, pharmacy middleman, and "any affiliated in any way company" would be required to "publish their un-redacted contracts, for all to see."
"Prices could drop 30% across all of healthcare in a year," he said. "Transparency would end all the payment games."
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Danish Secret to Happy Kids reveals tips to make children more independent and it doesnt involve homework
If you're a parent, skip the homework and send your kids outside to play. That's according to journalist Helen Russell, who penned a book called "The Danish Secret to Happy Kids" drawing helpful tidbits from Nordic countries' unique parenting styles.
When Becca and Jordan Itkowitz moved back to La Grange, Illinois, after three years in Denmark with their two sons, Evan, 8, and Max, 10, they experienced culture shock.
Soon after moving stateside in 2017, Becca received a call from school that Max had thrown a snowball during recess.
Not at anyone, mind you, Becca told The Post. Just throwing a snowball because its fun and hes a kid. I laughed and agreed to talk to him about American school rules and how snow can be perceived as a weapon.'
Becca and Jordan Itkowitz moved back to the US from Denmark with their two sons, Evan, 8, and Max, 10. Courtesy Itkowitz Family
Max was also chastised for picking up a stick. In Denmark, picking up sticks was always to build a fort or just play, she said.
That stood in stark contrast to what they had experienced in Denmark, where children in kindergarten are given by American norms enormous latitude.
They have the opportunity to play in the rain, cook over fires and are able to take safe and age-appropriate risks, Becca explained.
Becca Itkowitz said her kids played outside often in Denmark. Courtesy Itkowitz Family
Danish people can teach us quite a bit about raising children, according to British journalist Helen Russell, especially since the country has consistently been voted one of the happiest in the world since the 1970s.
Currently living in Denmark with her husband and three children, she explored neighboring Nordic nations unique parenting styles a far cry from American tiger moms and helicopter parents in her book, The Danish Secret to Happy Kids.
The Danish Secret to Happy Kids explores how the Viking way could lead to a happier childhood. Sourcebooks
To start, theres less pressure on academics, Russell told The Post.
Youre not starting school until the age of 6 (in Demark, 7 in Finland), she explained, adding that there is a huge emphasis on playing.
Play is so valued, she said. Now, theres so much research showing how important it is, how actually learning through play is still so valuable. And in the Nordic countries, thats kind of celebrated.
Russell currently lives in Denmark with her husband and three children. Courtesy of Helen Russell
Even the school experience is markedly different than the US educational system.
Theres no homework till around the age of 11, she said. Usually theres not tests until much later, around the age of 16.
Russell said that inclement weather is no excuse for staying inside, sharing that there is an old adage: Theres no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.
The more I read books to my kids from the US or the UK, theyre all, like, And the kids couldnt go out to play because it was raining. And that just doesnt happen here, she divulged. You get chucked out no matter what.
Along with improving mental health, Russell found that time outside helps to develop mastery.
Play is so valued, Russell said, noting that her children often do outdoor activities. Now, theres so much research showing how important it is. Courtesy of Helen Russell
Youre getting stronger, more confident, more robust physically, Russell said. Weve read enough lifestyle pieces to see that we feel better from it, but somehow were not giving that to our kids in the US, in the UK.
And all that outside play must be doing something right: Denmark consistently tops the World Happiness Report, which rates peoples happiness from 130 countries and takes into account life expectancy, the DGP and social support.
Russell also remarked that Nordic kids are not expected to go through childhood without some bruises and broken limbs.
I would regularly pick up my kids with some scrapes, she shared, adding that oftentimes it had come from some physical activity like climbing a tree.
However, she astutely noted that this laissez-faire attitude is a massive privilege of having tax-funded health care so that a broken arm is not a medical bankruptcy. Its just a broken arm.
Russell said its not like Danish parents want their children to get hurt; there is instead an attitude that parents are harming their kids if we do not let them have adventurous, risky play.
They think that giving kids these experiences and letting them stretch themselves, like being outside in all weathers, helps them to develop kind of confidence and to be more resilient.
Sean McEvoy lived in Denmark for seven years from 2017 to 2023 with his wife, Amy, and three sons. Amy McEvoy
Sean McEvoy, who lived in Denmark for seven years from 2017 to 2023 with his wife, Amy, and three sons, said they also noticed the differences immediately.
Three-year-olds were like whittling with sharp knives and, like, tending and starting fires, he told The Post. And then, youd be, like, Where did that 3-year-old go? and then you would look up and theyd be in like the tallest branches of the tree, and the parents were either cooking their own sausages or drinking a beer or just kind of around but not, like, hovering over the toddlers to make sure that they didnt like come to some terrible calamity.
The McEvoys three sons. Amy McEvoy
McEvoy said he also realized that there is a huge difference in the way Danes approach education.
We lived in New York City for a very long time, and the culture around school and education and academics was extremely hands-on, he said. What we found in Denmark, especially at younger ages, is the Danish sort of philosophy of education is children need to learn to love learning before theyre going to be ready to be tested on anything.
Sam and Amy McEvoy said it took time to get reacclimated back into the American school routine. Amy McEvoy
He admitted that it took some getting used to as they would ask one of their sons what he had learned at school, and he would reach in his pocket and pull out stones and dead bugs and be, like, I found all of these and we made a fire.'
Their concerns grew when they would visit stateside family and cousins their sons age would be reading. However, McEvoy explained that in six months, it was like a switch flipped, and all of a sudden he was reading and reading at a very high level.
I think their philosophy is, like, Dont do it until theyre ready, but get them ready very gradually. Dont burn them out on desk learning early like getting them to a point where theyre ready to really take on more rigorous academics.
But dont do it too early, or youll turn them away and bore them.
Kentucky Queer Bourbon Week to have tastings, distillery tours, drag brunches and more
Bourbon, once seen as your fathers drink by a generation that tuned in, turned on and dropped out, increasingly has been embraced by a diverse audience of drinkers.
There are Bourbon Women chapters, the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild and, now, a Queer Bourbon Week in Kentucky. Its the first year for an event that organizers hope will become a whiskey mainstay.
The event will take place between October 2-6 in eight locations across Kentucky, including Lexington, Bardstown, Bullitt County, Frankfort, Louisville, Northern Kentucky, Paducah and Winchester. The week-long event was inspired by other events across the country, like Gay Wine Weekend in Sonoma, Calf., and Queer Beer Fest in Washington, DC.
From my Covington home to seven other amazing destinations around the state, we are excited for you to join us for a week of festivities honoring Kentuckys LGBTQ+ culture and bourbon tradition alongside the top bourbon brands in the world, Missy Spears, executive director of Queer Kentucky, said in a press release.
Kentuckys Queer Bourbon Week will take place from October 2-6 and will feature events in eight locations across Kentucky, including Lexington.
There will be multiple events throughout the week, such as cocktail classes, bourbon 101 lessons, behind-the-scenes distillery tours, drag brunches, multi-course dinners and a tasting event featuring Kentuckys only LGBTQ-owned distillery, event planners said in the press release. Events, listed on the website, in Lexington include:
Many bourbon partners from across Kentucky are included in the weeks lineup. Event planners said the activities are designed to foster safety, belonging and togetherness while raising funds for Queer Kentucky and other Kentucky-based LGBTQ+ community service organizations.
Select hotels, including 21c Museum Hotels (Louisville &